The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

3 hospitals may start DNB courses
Government looks to overcome shortage of specialist docs in Valley
Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 4
The J&K Government is exploring if it can introduce Diplomate of National Board (DNB) courses in three major district hospitals of the Valley to tide over the shortage of specialist doctors.

The Health Department had moved a proposal for DNB courses at district hospitals in Baramulla and Anantnag and also at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial (JLNM) Hospital in Rainawari, Srinagar.

“We want to introduce DNB courses in the three hospitals to meet the shortage of specialist doctors,” said Saleem-ur-Rehman, Director, Health Services.

“Medical colleges and universities fail to cater to the demand for specialist doctors. So we have moved the proposal to arm our district hospitals with specialist doctors after they qualify a national-level test,” he added.

The Health Department is already in touch with the National Board of Examination (NBE), which conducts the DNB courses on an all-India basis, for the inspection of the three hospitals for accreditation.

“We want our three hospitals to get the NBE accreditation so that some doctors can be allotted seats in these three hospitals after the centralised tests for admission to various DNB programmes. This will help us improve the healthcare facility in these districts as specialist doctors will be doing DNB courses at these hospital,” said another official.

“In the first stage, the Health Department proposes to start DNB courses in streams like medicines and surgery. The NBE looks to improve the quality of the medical education by elevating the level and establishing standards of postgraduate examinations in modern medicine on an all-India basis.

The Director (Health) said the three hospitals shortlisted for the DNB courses were following the stipulated guidelines to get accreditation from the NBE.

“Senior doctors at these hospital can teach the new students. We also follow all other guidelines,” Rehman added.

Valley continues to swelter
Tribune News Service

A boy dives into the Dal lake to seek some relief from the soaring temperatures in Srinagar. The city has witnessed a sudden rise in temperature over the past few days. Photo: Yawar Kabli

Srinagar, September 4
The Kashmir valley continues to swelter as the day and night temperatures continue to remain several degrees above normal. The day temperature on Tuesday remained slightly higher than the normal, bringing some respite from the heat of the previous weeks.

Srinagar city today recorded 29.6 °Celsius during the day which was slightly higher than the normal temperature of 29 °Celsius for this time of the year.

This departure from the normal temperature has been seen for the past two months, as monsoon has failed to bring much rain to the Valley, except for a brief period in late August when mild rain had brought down the soaring temperature for a few days.

Since mid-July this year, the temperature has remained four to six degrees above normal in the Valley, which otherwise is known for its cool weather.

The day and night temperature in Kashmir has remained nearly four degrees above normal in past two weeks. The respite came on Sunday night when brief showers brought the temperature down.

Kashmir is already past its prime summer season, which begins around May and last till August.

An official at the state meteorological department said: “Hot weather is likely to continue. We are expecting some respite in temperature from September 8 onwards.”

Lawyers thrash policeman for harassing woman colleague
Our Correspondent

Anantnag, September 4
A group of lawyers of the District Court today thrashed a policeman, posted at the Courts Complex, for allegedly harassing a woman lawyer.

Sources said the woman lawyer had complained to the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) claiming that the policeman, Kaiser Ahmad Dar, had been harassing her for some time. The policeman allegedly used abusive language against her when she tried to confront him today.

“The CJM summoned the policeman to his office but he failed to show up. The CJM then sent his security guard to fetch him,” said Muneer Ahmad Shawl, a senior lawyer.

He said the policeman tried to flee the scene but was nabbed by some lawyers and thrashed.

“Instead of lodging a complaint of eve-teasing against the policeman, the police, in a bid to protect their colleague, registered a case against lawyers,” said Muneer.

The police maintained that lawyers took the law into their own hands by assaulting the policeman.

“The policeman has been badly beaten up by lawyers and has been shifted to Srinagar in a critical state. Another policeman who tried to save him sustained injuries,” said Anantnag SSP RK Jalla.

He further said a case under Section 364 of the RPC had been registered against the lawyers and further investigations were on.

“They kidnapped the policeman and took him inside the courts complex with intent to kill,” the SSP said.

11 samples test positive for malaria, typhoid
Our Correspondent

Kupwara, September 4
The blood samples of 11 patients, who had taken ill at Manigah hamlet in Kapwara, have come out positive for malaria and typhoid.

The hospital authorities on Saturday had sent the blood samples of the 11 infected patients to a Srinagar laboratory for tests.

“The reports have confirmed that the patients are suffering from malaria, typhoid and viral infection. We will now initiate the requisite treatment,” said Dr Abdul Majid Wani, CMO, Kupwara.

At least 53 persons in Manigah hamlet, 15 km from Kupwara town, had taken ill over the past 10 days, giving rise to speculation about the mystery illness. People in the area had claimed that it was an outbreak of dengue.

The district medical chief said a team of doctors was monitoring the situation in the area.

8 yrs on, work on municipal mall not yet over
Suhail A Shah

Anantnag, September 4
The work on the Municipal Shopping Mall in the Lal Chowk area of Anantnag is yet to be completed despite having skipped its first deadline in 2005.

The then Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, while laying the foundation stone for the shopping mall in 2004, had dubbed it his dream project and set a one-year deadline for its completion.

Over eight years after missing the first deadline, the municipal council has only constructed around 20 shops out of the projected 150.

Aimed at providing state-of-the-art infrastructure to the traders of the district, the complex was set to cost Rs 10 crore. Over Rs 2.5 crore has already been spent on the project and the work is far from over.

“I had booked a shop in the complex for my son, but I don’t see the complex getting ready in the near future,” said Hameed Dar, a shopkeeper.

Local residents had hoped that the mall would overcome the paucity of parking space in the town to some extent. “The basement parking of the mall would have accommodated over 700 vehicles. But that doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon,” said Muhammad Aslam, a member of the Traders Federation, Islamabad.

Officials, however, say the project is a self-financed one and they hope to raise money from the market players to complete the construction.

“We have not been able to raise money from the market despite floating tenders time and again,” said Bashir Ahmad Nanda, Chief Executive Officer, Anantnag Municipal Council.

He said they would float tenders again in the coming days to raise some money.

HC Relief for teacher seeking passport
Directs police, passport authorities to act following his writ petition Ishfaq Tantry
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 4
In a major relief for a government teacher, who was denied passport for Haj pilgrimage, the J&K High Court has directed the police to furnish his verification report within a month, asks the authorities to issue a passport to him within two weeks after the report is submitted.

Mohammad Akbar Bhat, a senior government teacher, applied for a passport four years back with the hope of embarking on Haj, annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Over the years, he has not been issued travel documents by the passport authorities. The authorities also failed to inform him about the grounds on which he was denied passport.

Mohammad Akbar (57), a rsident of Sopore, is a master-grade teacher at Government Middle School in Bomia, north Kashmir.

“Left with no option, Bhat approached the J&K high Court with a writ petition seeking directions to the authorities to issue him a passport as he plans to go for Haj next year,” said A Tak, counsel for Bhat.

Tak said his client had applied for a fresh passport on July 14, 2008, but since then he had neither received his passport nor was he informed by the passport authorities in Srinagar about any adverse report against him.

After hearing his petition this week, Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir directed the CID wing of the J&K Police to submit the verification report for Bhat’s passport within a month.

“Respondent Nos 1 and 2 (passport authorities at New Delhi and Srinagar) are directed to consider the case of the petitioner for the issuance of a passport in his favour within two weeks,” said Justice Mansoor while disposing of the petition.

Submitting that travel was one of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, counsel Tak had said the legitimate right of his client had been denied.

Now, get water for breaking traffic rules
Week-long drive to educate offenders in Srinagar from today
M Aamir Khan
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 4
If you break traffic rules on city roads from tomorrow, there is every chance that you will be offered a glass of water along with a word of advice by senior traffic police officers. But this “special” treatment will be limited to a week, after which the violators will be dealt with firmly.

The traffic police is launching a counselling drive from tomorrow, wherein senior police officials will hold camps at three main city points.

DIG (Traffic) SA Watali, while talking to reporters, said the camps would be held for around a week and will target two-wheeler riders.

“We have been receiving several complaints of triple riding and stunt biking. Besides counselling, we also seek cooperation from the parents and public to make our drive successful,” he said.

On the problems being faced by the public with regard to the non-compliance of traffic signals at night hours and issues related to parking and other traffic offences, Watali said the “overburdened” traffic police lacked adequate manpower and the issue had been brought to the notice of the authorities concerned.

“Our men are on duty from 7 am to 9 pm. Once we get adequate manpower, the issues will be resolved. But implementing the rules without the cooperation of the public is not possible,” Watali added.

Srinagar SP (Traffic) Haseeb-ur-Rehman said the “special” treatment to the offenders would be followed by a “vigorous” challan campaign.

“We will offer water and counselling only for a limited period after which we will launch another drive wherein we will challan the offenders in a big way. Counselling on roads is a new concept and we hope that it will bear fruits,” he said.

The counselling camps will be held at Parray Pora, Exhibition Ground and near J&K Bank headquarters. The authorities say violators will be dealt with sternly after the drive.

Bar elections were transparent, says poll panel
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 4
The Bar Election Commission has clarified that the polls to the recently elected Bar executive body were conducted in a transparent manner.

The commission was reacting to a statement made by Shahid-ul-Islam, a spokesperson for the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference . It was alleged that the elections to the new Bar executive were rigged.

“The identification of the voters was confirmed by the polling agents who were with us in the voting hall,” said AR Keng of the HC Bar Election Commission. Hurriyat has reportedly made it clear that the views expressed by Shahid were individual and not of the amalgam.

Work hit

Work in courts, including the J&K High Court, was affected today in view of the shutdown call given by the hardline Hurriyat-led by Syed Ali Geelani.

The Kashmir Bar Council had supported the call and urged lawyers to abstain from work on September 4.

“A majority of lawyers today boycotted the High Court and the lower courts,” said a Bar spokesperson.

Geelani has demanded that affairs of the pilgrimage should be handed over to local Kashmiri Hindus and the duration and number of pilgrims be restricted.

Technical festival begins at Islamic University
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 4
A national level IT festival, Vastoorvan 2012, today commenced at Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST). It was inaugurated by Jammu and Kashmir Information Technology Minister Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi.

“State Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who was scheduled to inaugurate the festival missed the inaugural ceremony as his plane could not land due to inclement of weather at Srinagar airport,” said the university official spokesperson.

The festival is being organised by the IUST’s department of computer sciences.

It will see the active participation of many leading technical colleges and institutions from the country.

“Students from various universities and people from various industries are attending the event. The three-day event will witness interaction, competitions, speeches and lectures from the participants,” said the official.

The state IT minister while addressing the inaugural function said the government is seriously taking the issue of e-governance and has already initiated the process of digitalisation of government records. Kashmir will very soon have its first IT Park.

Course on women studies commences at KU
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 4
The UGC Academic Staff College, University Of Kashmir, today started a 21-day refresher course on women studies for college teachers drawn from various colleges of the country.

A spokesperson of the university said, “The event began at the conference room of the UGC Academic Staff College where dean course coordinator and director women studies centre, KU, Prof Nilofar Khan and Principal Amar Singh College were present at the inaugural event.”

Inaugurating the event Prof Zahoor Ahmad, principal, Amar singh college said that women issues have taken a center stage across the world and it was during industrialisation and liberalisation that perceptions about women changed for better.

"Zahoor also said that we must educate men besides women to see women take their rightful place in the society.

Education is the only tool to see the women being empowered to the extent where she will see her rights being honoured," said the spokesman.

Course coordinator and director women studies centre Nilofar Khan, talked about the importance of this course and gave a road map for the 21-day training.

She said that her center is putting in all the efforts to help equip the women to become good managers and know their rights and duties

Assembly issues provisional calendar
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 4
The Assembly Secretariat has issued the provisional calendar for the autumn session of Jammu an Kashmir Legislative Assembly commencing from October 1 in the summer capital.

The session will have seven business days.

The government business will be taken up on October 1, 3, 4, 8 and 10, whereas the Private Members’ Resolution will be taken up on October 5.

The Private Members’ Bills will be considered on October 9.

3 injured in road accidents

Srinagar, September 4
Three persons sustained injuries in different road accidents in the Valley since Monday evening.

The police said a passenger vehicle (JK 03 C 8962) hit an 11-year-old student, Adil Ahmad Naikoo, a resident of Bemidora, Kokernag, Anantnag. He was shifted to the Sub-District Hospital, Anantnag, for treatment. The police has registered a case in this regard. In another road accident, a motorcycle hit Shoaib Ahmad, a resident of Handew. He was shifted to SKIMS, Soura, Srinagar, for treatment. The Shopian police has registered a case in this regard. In another accident, one person sustained injuries when a motorcycle overturned at Sheeri in Baramulla district, resulting in injuries to Reyaz Ahmad.He was shifted to the Primary Health Centre, Sheeri. — TNS

Folk theatre reaches Bandipore
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 4
As part of its efforts to revive ‘Bandeh Peather’ (folk theatre) in Kashmir, the Sangeet Natak Akademi presented two plays in north Kashmir’s Bandipore district today.

The first play ‘Gharik Nayay’, written and directed by Sunaullah Bhat was staged at Boon Sumbal.

It attracted a large audience from the surrounding villages.

The play symbolised the problems faced by the people of Kashmir.

The artistes who participated in the play included Sonaullah Bhat, Ghulam Nabi Bhat, Aijaz Ahmed Bhat, Ishfaq Ahmed Bhat, Ghulam Ahmed Bhat, Mohd Sultan Bhat, Mohd Shafi Dar, Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, Abdul Rehman Dar, Ghulam Mohidin Dar, Ghulam Mohammad Dar, Ghulam Ahmed Dar, Ghulam Qadir Bhat, Abdul Majeed Malik and Mohammad Yousif Malik.

Later in the afternoon, people of Nowgam, Sumbal, witnessed another performance ‘Samajech Burie’, written and directed by Feroz Ahmed.

The play was presented by the artistes of the Manasbal Folk Theatre.

The plays were presented under the supervision Balwant Thakur, who was assisted by Mohammad Yaseen, Manzoor-ul-Haq and Shah-e-Jahan Ahmed Bhagat.

“Bandeh Peather unfolded the multi layers of society’s evils. Our societies are confronting with lot of social evils but few are our creations like overpopulation, gender inequality, and domestic violence. All these man-made creations have ruined the quality of life and have adversely affected the social peace. With the growing pace of population of Kashmir, the days are not far when this growing population will eat all its resources,” said Thakur while asserting that the folk theatre would help in creating awareness.

CAPD official meets sarpanches
Our Correspondent

Kupwara, September 4
Assistant Director, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD), Kupwara, visited the Sogam block in Lolab to take stock of availability of ration today.

He held a meeting with sarpanches and senior citizens of the area. The official will now hold a meeting with sarpanches of Wavoora block in Lolab on September 6.

Kerala, Odisha, Chandigarh register wins
Tribune News Service

Players in action during a football match at Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar on Tuesday. Tribune Photo: Amin War

Srinagar, September 4
In the ongoing U-17 boys football national tournament , which was kicked off yesterday by the J&K Governor at Bakshi Stadium Srinagar, four matches were played at various venues today.

In the first match played at Bakshi stadium, Kerala defeated Pondicherry by 7-0.

At Polo Ground in Srinagar, Odisha defeated Gujarat by 3-1. In another match, Goa defeated West Bengal by 3-0. At Kashmir University Ground, Chandigarh thrashed Nagaland by 2-1.