Jammu, October 11
The Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Front (JKDF)—a splinter group of the BJP— is making all-out efforts to cash in on the incident when three of its activists had created a ruckus in the state Assembly to highlight the plight of the unemployed youth.

The incident evoked widespread condemnation. However, the JKDF has mobilised younsters in support of the three youth who were detained after Monday’s incident.

The JKDF activists had been visiting different colleges and departments of the Jammu University to send a message to the youth that the front was committed to solving the problems of the unemployed educated youth.

The police, on the other hand, has got tough with the JKDF workers, whose protest entered the second day today.

The JKDF held protest demonstration at Talab Tillo Chowk today. The police resorted to baton charge to disperse the protesters.

Earlier, led by the JKDF general secretary, Vivek Raja, the protesters gathered at Talab Tillo and started the march against the government, amid shouting of slogans for the release of the arrested persons. The policemen swung into action and lathicharged the protestors.

JKDF leader Vivek Raja termed the police action as suppression of the voice of the youth who, for raising their legitimate demands, were being harassed, detained and humiliated.

“Three JKDF activists of Jammu must be released as they have not committed any crime. The action of the three youths was only aimed to attract the attention of public representatives towards the alarming situation which has arisen in the state due to unemployment. The JKDF agitation will continue till the release of the youths,” said Vivek Raja.

A three-hour token strike was observed by the Jammu Auto Operators Union at Prem Nagar, Jammu, to express solidarity with the detained JKDF youths and demanded their immediate release.

Among the others present during the token strike were Krishan Singh (president, Auto operators union), Kuldeep Singh (vice-president), Ramesh Kumar (general secretary).

Jammu, October 11
A trivial issue on verification of photo identity card today took a revolting turn at the campus of Government Degree College (GDC), Samba, after the students resorted to stone-throwing and damaging window panes at a private vehicle of the principal.

The students blocked the Jammu-Pathankot national highway for 15 minutes, demanding removal of the principal. The college authorities, however, constituted a committee to identify the trouble-makers.

The incident took place when a first-year student, identified as Ram Chander, son of Ram Naresh of Samba, had a heated argument with the college staff over the photo identity card.

“There were complaints that some outsiders were entering the college campus by posing themselves as students. They were even attending classes. The college authorities decided to restrict the entry of the outsiders and a decision was taken to allow only those students having a valid photo identity card,” college principal, Prof SK Sharma told The Tribune.

The principal said they had suspended three students of first-year after they misbehaved with the girl students at the college campus.

“The suspended students were also having shortage in class attendance. A first-year student today engaged into a verbal argument with the college staff on the main gate as there was no photo on his identity card. Being in the college uniform, he was allowed to enter the gate but he did not attend his class. When asked, he misbehaved and resorted to arguments. He was probably instigated by the suspended students and when reprimanded, the students made an issue out of the non-issue,” Prof Sharma said.

Eyewitnesses said the students raised slogans against the college authorities and came on the national highway in protest against the severe thrashing to the first-year student.

“They blocked the traffic on highway for 15 minutes. The district administration officers, including the Additional Deputy Commissioner and the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) rushed to the spot and pacified the protesting students. The students cleared the road and again entered the college. They not only smashed the private car of the principal but also resorted to window panes damaging window panes and the other property,” eyewitnesses said.

Later, the police authorities chased away the protesting students and restored the normalcy at the college campus.

The principal said they had constituted a disciplinary committee to look into the issue. 

Jammu, October 11
The International Day of the Girl Child was observed today at Government Hospital Sarwal, Jammu, where in Director Health Services Jammu Dr Madhu Khullar along with Dr Arun Sharma, medical superintendent, Government Hospital, Sarwal, Jammu presented gifts to new born girl babies in the hospital.

There were 11 baby girls in the gynecology wards out of which 5 were delivered by operation and 6 were delivered normally. As many as 10 baby girls in the children ward, out of which two were just delivered by caesarian and were just taken out from the operation theaters to be handed over to their attendants, were also presented with gifts by the Director Health Services Dr Madhu Khullar.

Director Health Services Dr Madhu Khullar said, “The International Day of the Girl Child gives people and organisations the opportunity to raise public awareness about the different types of discrimination and abuse that many girls’ across the world suffer from. The day shows importance of girls’ right to equal education and their fundamental freedoms. This Day is an opportunity to celebrate the power and potential of girls.” 

Jammu, October 11
Jammu and Kashmir Women Society today organsied a signature campaign at Dogra Higher Secondary School, Jammu, to spread awareness on the eve of ‘International Day of Girl Child’.

Uma Katal, manager, Dogra higher secondary school, inaugurated the campaign as a part of continuing the campaign for awakening the society about the rights of women.

Nirmal Padha, president, Jammu and Kashmir women society, apprised the gathering about the rights of the girl child, importance of gender equality in every field and requirement of nutritious diet during adolescence.

Sabdhya Manhas, councilor, Family Counseling Centre, presented the vote of thanks. 

Jammu, October 11
The employees of J&K Sports Council, who have pinned high hopes on the upcoming Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meeting regarding their promotion, have suffered a jolt as the meeting which was scheduled to be held on October 15 has been postponed by the authorities till further orders. Sources said this was for the third time that the crucial meeting had been postponed by the authorities without giving any specific reason behind the decision. Sources said the incomplete Annual Progress Reports (APRs) of the instructors of the sports council was one of the main reasons behind the inordinate delay in conducting the meeting.

Sources further claimed that newly appointed secretary Dalip Thusoo took a serious note of the prolonged delay in preparing the APRs and he immediately instructed the officials to complete the process so that there would be no further delay in holding the DPC. Sources said the last DPC meeting was held years back under Manoj Pant’s stint as secretary, sports council, there was not even a single meeting held till date after that. “A frequent reshuffle on the secretary’s post has been a major hurdle in conducting the DPC on time,” MS Baba, chief sports officer, state sports council said. “Not only the officer cadre is frustrated with this inordinate delay but other employees of the department are also badly affected,” he said. Apart from the promotion issue, some other important matters pertaining to overall welfare of the employees needed an action, said another sports council officer. The issue was also taken up during the previously held standing committee meeting of the sports council held under the chairmanship of Sports Minister RS Chib. Sources said the sports council had also not disbursed grant-in-aid to the affiliated associations who were yet to prepare their audit reports. 

Jammu, October 11
Students of Electronics and Communication Engineering of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra, brought laurels to the University by winning the second prize in All India Young Engineers Humanitarian Challenge-2012 (AIYEHYM-2012), conducted by the IEEE at Bangalore from September 20 to September 30. Vimal Mishra, Shubhadeep Purkayastha and IS Naveen from the Department of Electronics and Communication submitted a project- ‘Application of Moisture Sensor for Field Watering System for Farmers’ as a part of the challenge where the students had to apply technological solutions to the humanitarian problems. 

The contest was between various engineering and technological institutes of national repute. In the first round, 24 projects were shortlisted which included projects submitted by students of the SMVDU and 5 IITs. In the second round, the SMVDU and IIT Madras made into the list of top 10 projects chosen for the final demonstration. Finally, the project submitted by students of SMVDU was adjudged the second best by a jury of eminent personalities drawn from academia and industry leaving behind the project submitted by IIT Madras.Vice-Chancellor, SMVDU, RNK Bamezai in a meeting with the winning team discussed about the project and suggested to develop and install a working prototype in nearby fields for further testing and improvements. He stressed the need to work in inter-disciplinary research areas with thrust on the application of technology to more humanitarian problems, thereby contributing to the development of society, state and the nation.The project submitted by students of the SMVDU was guided by Swastik Gupta with other significant contributions by Amit Kant Pandit, Sanjeev Anand, Yatheshth Anand and Bhawani Singh. 

Jammu, October 11
Jammu and Kashmir police is going to organise Jashan-e-Dal and open Kashmir Marathon Shikara Race this month. This was informed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Armed Kashmir, Rouf-ul-Hassan during a meeting held at the Armed Police Headquarters today. The IGP said the festival is being organised under the Civic Action programme, adding that a large number of sportspersons were likely to participate in the events of water sports in the world famous Dal Lake. He said the JKP has been promoting water sports in the Valley and for the purpose, a three-day long Jashan-e-Dal will be organised at Nehru Park from October 17 to October 19. The event would include various sports events like water polo, kayak and canoe, swimming, shikara race, dragon boat race, demb boat race, half marathon and open Kashmir marathon shikara race and water skeiing. In swimming, the events will be held in free style, breast stroke, back stroke, relay, long distance open. 

Jammu, October 11
Jammu district clinched U-19 and U-17 boys’ titles in football and badminton, respectively while the fencers of Reasi district bagged rich haul of medals in the divisional level inter-district tournaments in multi-disciplines. Jammu thrashed Udhampur in U-19 boys’ football final match by 2-0 goals while in U-17 boys’ badminton final, Jammu beat Kathua by 2-0. In fencing, Reasi district clinched maximum medals followed by Jammu and Udhampur districts respectively.

The tournament was organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports under the overall supervision of Ashok Kumar, Deputy Director, Jammu. Sanjeev Verma, District Development Commissioner (DDC), Jammu, was the chief guest on the valedictory function and distributed prizes among the participating teams. ID Soni, state commissioner, Bharat Scouts and Guides; Professor Dhian Singh Bhau, director, Physical Education, University of Jammu; and MM Joshi, ex-wing commander, were present on the ocassion. Speaking on the occasion, DDC Jammu stressed upon the students to play the game with a sportsman spirit. 

Jammu, October 11
 Hari Singh, vice-president, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), has expressed serious concern over the shortage of fertilizers in Vijaypur block and demanded open sale of fertilizers instead of the restriction imposed on them. Singh was speaking in the meeting of the Block Congress Committee (BCC) Vijaypur, today. He said that there was a general complaint by the people of Vijaypur and Purmandal blocks that they were not getting adequate quantity of fertilizers.

Jammu, October 11
The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kishtwar, Ajay Kumar Gupta, today rejected the bail of Sajjad Hussain and Zakir Hussain , both residents of Tatani Saroor of Kishtwar accused, who had indulged in a sacrilegious act in Kishtwar recently. The accused had moved bail application before the CJM Kishtwar through their counsel pleading innocence.—TNS

Jammu, October 11
Crime Branch today produced a supplementary challan against five persons, including a former principal and a former medical superintendent of Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Jammu, in a 14-year-old cheating case.

The supplementary challan was produced in a case FIR no 34/1998 at Satwari Police Station against the accused persons identified as Darshan Lal Motton of Salerh, RS Pura; Dr RK Raina, the then principal of GMCH, Jammu; Jasbir Singh, the then superintendent of GMCH, Jammu; SD Bassi, the then assistant professor medicine at GMCH, Jammu, and Chandan Singh, the then cashier at GMCH, Jammu.

The official spokesperson said: “On April 1, 1998, assistant sub-inspector Brahm Dev Singh was posted to Satwari police station, on patrolling in the Narwal Pain area, things came to notice that Darshan Lal Motton was putting up in a house of Bansi Lal as a tenant. He had purchased an Esteem car and posed himself as a doctor and also as an advocate.”

He was in possession of a forged identity card and cheated number of persons by preparing forged documents. He fraudulently processed a case of one Toshi Devi, showing himself as her real brother for the grant of medical aid from the Medical Aid Trust, then as Chief Minister secretariat by forging the name of one Savitri Devi of Kalakote, who was admitted to the GMC hospital, Jammu, as a cancer patient, the spokesperson said.

On May 8, 2006, the Sessions Judge, Jammu, had made some observations in the instant case and the Crime Branch, Jammu, was directed to clear these observations.

The case was investigated thoroughly and after getting some documents examined through FSL Jammu, Section 5(2) of the PC Act Svt, 2006 was added and the case was finally concluded as challan. The supplementary challan was presented before the court of special judge, anti-corruption, Jammu, against the accused persons for judicial determination today, said the spokesperson. 

Jammu, October 11
Rakesh Roshan of BSF School, Paloura, bagged first position in U-19 boys’ long jump event of the district level inter-school athletic meet which commenced at BSF Sports Stadium, Paloura, today.Rakesh Singh of MHAC Nagbani and Shalinder of Higher Secondary School (HSS) Pallanwala had to settle for silver and bronze medals, respectively. 

In 5,000 mt U-19 boys’ event, Raj Kumar of HSS Dhakar claimed gold medal while in Shot put, Rizwan of Model Institute of Education and Research (MIER) fetched the gold metal. In 800 mt U-19 boys’ event, Karan Pal Singh of HS Sohal bagged gold medal while in U-17 boys’ event gold medal went to Dalip Sharma of Centre Basics HSS, Jammu.The U-17 Shotput gold went to Bunty Kumar of HSS Miran Sahib while Ravi Kumar of HSS Miran Sahib bagged gold medal in U-17 boys’ long jump event. The 3,000 mt U-17 boys’ event gold went to Parveen Kumar of HSS Sohanjana while in the 600 mt U-14 boys’ event gold was bagged by Sajad Ali of BSF Paloura.In the U-14 boys’ long jump event Sunpreet Singh of KC Public School claimed gold while Kajal Singh of MHAC Nagbani claimed gold in Shot put in U-14 age group.Over 500 boys’ drawn from various institutions of Jammu district are participating in the tournament which is being organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports.

Jammu, October 11
Government Degree College (GDC), Poonch, and Government College for Women (GCW), Gandhi Nagar, were declared joint winners in the Inter-Collegiate Hockey Championship played at University of Jammu here today. Both teams failed to score a goal in the stipulated time and after the request of managers of both teams, the teams were declared joint winners. 

Lida Singh, wife of Prof Mohan Paul Singh Ishar, Vice-Chancellor, University of Jammu, was the chief guest who was also introduced with the players and officials before the start of the match. Sports and Physical Education director Prof Dhian S Bhau and Prof Keshav Sharma from the Business School were also present on the occasion.

Jammu, October 11
Hosts J&K handball teams have entered into the final of the ongoing 29th Sub Junior boys and 14th Mini Girls Handball Championships being organised by J&K Handball Association at Indoor Stadium and Bakshi Stadium, Srinagar. In the sub-junior boys’ section, J&K toppled West Bengal in the semifinal match by 27-20 goals in a tough contest.

Virender scored 10 goals for the winning team. In the mini girls’ section, J&K girls notched up a narrow win over Delhi by 10-8 to secure a berth in the finals. Reshika Khajuria was the top scorer with six goals. In other matches of sub-junior boys’ section, UP beat AP by 4 goals (21-17), Bihar beat Maharashtra by 4 goals (33-29) and Delhi beat Rajasthan by 15 goals (23-8). In another match of mini girls’, Haryana beat Kerala by 9 goals (24-15).Jaipal Singh, Director Youth Services and Sports, was the chief guest in today’s matches. He also interacted with the players on the occasion. He was accompanied by SM Bali, Secretary General, Handball Federation of India; Ashok Kumar, Vice-President, School Games Federation of India (SGFI); Senior Vice-President, J&K Handball Association and Sheikh Fazal, former secretary, J&K State Sports Council.

Jammu, October 11
GGM Science College defeated Acharaya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences (ASCOMS) by 2-1 goals today in the ongoing Inter-Collegiate (men) Football Championship at University of Jammu. Tahir Shafi scored the first goal for ASCOMS but Science College scored an equaliser through Suraj Kuma. 

The third goal for the winner team was scored by Suraj Gupta. In another match, Mahant Bachiter Singh (MBS) College thrashed PG Arts by 5-3 goals through tie-breaker in a thrilling contest. Both teams scored a goal each in the stipulated time and the winner was decided through tie-breaker. In the third match, Bhargawa College defeated GDC Samba by 3-0 goals. Nitin Singh and Vishal Singh were the goal scorers. Tomorrow, GGM Science College will take on MBS College in the first semifinal match while Bhargawa College will face MAM College in the second semifinal 

Jammu, October 11
Azan Rashid, Umer Gasi, Majaz and Ishfaq Bhat have secured berth in the semifinals today in Junior snooker event of the 22nd Srinagar District Open Billiards and Snooker Championship being played at Sterling Snooker Club, Raj Bagh, Srinagar.In the first quarterfinal, Azan Rashid got the better of Sakib Khan by 2-0 (61-30, 68-31).