Jammu, October 24
Renovation work of Shri Ranbishewar temple is likely to be completed by the end of the current financial year. Once completed, the temple would be a major attraction for tourists in the border area of the Jammu region.

Built by Maharaja Ranbir Singh in 1846, the temple was used as an inn by traders travelling between India and Pakistan via Suchetgarh. But after the partition, the temple remained abandoned for many years and the disturbed situation on the border had left many bullet marks on walls of the temple.

Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora laid the foundation stone for the restoration work of the temple in April. The conservation work would be completed at a cost of Rs 1.25 crore.

“The renovation work of the temple will be completed by end of March next year. We have constructed a parking, two flower shops, a restaurant and a dormitory. Also, we are planning to work on the landscape of the temple,” said Robin Singh Mehta, Director Tourism, Jammu.

“A large number of tourists visit Suhetgarh to see the border, the rush is more on weekends and we are hopeful that the temple will be a good attraction for those visiting Suhetgarh. This will give a boost to the border tourism,” he added.

Chajju Ram, a resident of Suchetgarh, said, “The government never gave preference to the temple. There are bullet marks on walls of the temple and after the partition I have never seen the temple in a good condition, though a large number of tourists visit the octroi post.”

The Darmarth Trust also never took the temple seriously. Even priests were sent on punishment posting here and as a result the temple lost its sheen, he said, adding that they were hopeful that more and more people would visit the village after renovation of the temple.

Katra, October 24
The number of pilgrims visiting the cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi here would cross the one-crore figure in a calendar year.

An official of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board said the number of pilgrims visiting the shrine this Navaratra was about 3.15 lakh and this year they were expecting the total number of pilgrims to cross the 10 million mark of the last year.

The number has already crossed 85 lakh which is four lakh more than the corresponding period of the last year.

The authorities are repairing and upgrading the 12-km mountainous trek from Katra, the base camp, to provide comfort to the pilgrims. "We are adding more toilets and repairing the old ones," the officer said. 

Rajouri, October 24
Mountains in Peer Panchal and Tuti, Kutti ranges of Rajouri and Poonch districts of the state received season’s first snowfall yesterday night. Following snowfall, a sharp decline in the minimum temperature by several degrees Celsius was witnessed in the region.

Everest Mountaineering Club, Rajouri, general secretary Maharajkar Singh Ishar said snowfall was witnessed on the highest peaks of Peer Panjal ranges, including Tuti and Kutti, Peer Gali Range, Dharal area of Shakarmarg, Dakyar and other peaks. 

Jammu, October 24
As the marriage season has started, many people have started setting up marriage pandals illegally on roads, thus hampering the movement of traffic. In several localities, people encroach upon roads and parks due to which commuters have to face a lot of difficulties.

In several areas of Gandhi Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Trikuta Nagar, Sarwal, Satwari and Jeewan Nagar, residents also set up Pooja pandals which also create a lot of problems for the public.

“I was just passing through an area, but found the inner road blocked. I had to take a long turn to reach my house,” said Ashok Sharma, a resident of Gandhi Nagar.

There are nearly 114 banquet halls in Jammu, mostly used for marriages and other social functions. In order to cut expenses, people use open roads near their homes to organise events.

“No one is taking any serious note and violations are going on in the city. At times high pitched music systems also blare,” said an employee of the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC).

However, JMC Commissioner KL Khajuria said no permission was given for any marriage function.

It is pertinent to mention that the government had issued closure notices to 114 banquet halls in Jammu in March 2010 that had been constructed illegally without adhering to the norms of the Municipal Corporation.

Jammu, October 24
A 55-year-old woman was found murdered in Kathua town this morning. The maid of the deceased found her lying dead on the floor of her house. The deceased has been identified as Soma Devi, wife of late Dhruv Singh.

Sources said Soma had serious injury marks on her body her neck. It is believed that the woman was killed by burglars as her jewellery items and cash were found missing.— TNS

Jammu, October 24
Even after announcement of grand plans to give a modern look to the Transport Nagar, most of the plans have never been implemented.

Starting from basic amenities like drinking water facility, uninterrupted power and water supply, better road conditions, general hygiene, the Transport Nagar possess none of these even though the state government earns a large amount of revenue from there.

At times, truck drivers suffer major damages to their vehicles and receive injuries as their vehicles get struck on roads, which are today a pile of dust and stones.

The area was set up to house offices that deal with inter-state transport. There are also offices set up by movers and packers. However, the area suffers from poor civic facilities and absence of electric infrastructure.

“Every time representatives of various trade organisations running their business establishments demand basic facilities, only assurances are given,” said Bhushan Thakur, who runs a business there.

Sources said a tug of war and lack of coordination between the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) and the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) had added to the miseries of businessmen as both the authorities had been washing their hands off from providing basic amenities.

“The problem is that none of the organisations has total control over the area and this is the main reason for the lack of coordination,” said an official of the JMC.

During rainy season, lanes and roads turn into open drains as water gets accumulated in potholes and drenches leaving no space to walk and during summers, tonnes of dust remains suspended in the air which makes it even difficult for people to recognise one another.

Chamber and Commerce and Industry president YV Sharma said they had taken up the issue with the government. “We have presented a memorandum to the government and it has been assured that all the basic amenities will be provided. Let us see when they will start work.” Sharma said.

JMC Commissioner KL Khajuria claimed that plans were afoot to give a major facelift to the area for which a detailed project report had been sent to the government. 

Jammu, October 24
Participation in district, state and national championship may be a routine for sportspersons belonging to urban areas in the state but it is still a distant dream for those living in remote areas in different districts of the state due to non-constitution of district bodies by the sports associations affiliated with the J&K State Sports Council.

Sources said out of the total 48 sports associations affiliated with the J&K State Sports Council, there were a few associations who had constituted their district bodies to conduct activities.

Sources further claimed that due to non-constitution of district units, the activities of these affiliated sports associations had been confined to urban areas only thereby depriving the sportspersons of rural areas to compete in the events.

“These sports associations are enjoying monopoly and they are dictating terms as well,” a source in the sports council said. “For example, if any association conducts a state championship at MA Stadium or any other venue in Jammu, it is mandatory for all the 22 districts to participate in the competition but unfortunately that doesn’t happen because there are no district bodies at all,” he claimed.

“There is no dearth of talent among sportspersons of remote areas in districts like Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Reasi but the question is how will they come to know about the competition when the associations have failed to constitute district bodies to conduct activities for further selection of players in state or national level competitions,” the source added.

“Not once, but we have asked these associations a number of times to constitute a district body in every district of the state in a bid to explore hidden potential of budding sportspersons especially residing in far flung areas but in vain,” he maintained. “In fact, the associations are only interested in approaching influential persons to nominate them as patron but they are least bothered about the dire need to constitute district bodies,” the source said.

MS Baba, Chief Sports Officer, J&K State Sports Council, while confirming the development, said: “It is a serious issue and the council is fully aware of it”. “The council has tried its level best to convince the associations to constitute district bodies but of no avail,” Baba added.

Katra, October 24
The eight-day-long  Navratra festival in Katra culminated on a musical note yesterday. Sanjeet Kumar won the first prize in the final event of All India Devotional Song Competition (AIDSC), which was organised by the Department of Tourism, J&K, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), Katra, district administration, Reasi and different local associations of Katra.

Sanjeet Kumar, who originally hails from Katra, is presently settled in Mumbai. He is a disciple of bollywood singer Suresh Wadekar.

Chandan Kumar of Jammu clinched the second prize while third prize was jointly shared by Mohinder Soni and Mukteshi Sharma, both from Jammu, respectively.

Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Pardeep Gupta was the chief guest on the occasion.

Reasi MLA Baldev Raj Sharma, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board additional chief executive officer Dr Mandeep K Bhandari, deputy commissioner, Udhmapur, PK Pole, deputy commissioner, Reasi, Nirmal Sharma, director Tourism RS Mehta, joint director Information Soujanya Sharma, additional SP, Katra, Mohan Lal, members of Navratra festival celebration committee, prominent citizens, large number of local people and pilgrims were also present at the occasion.

Various bollywood personalities, including managing director, Venus Tapes and Records, Ganesh Jain; managing director, Tips Industries Ltd, Ramesh Taurani; producer-director Madhur Bhandarkar; trade analyst and producer Vikas Mohan and chief executive officer, Zee Jagran, Barkha Arora were the judges of the mega final.

Pardeep Gupta complemented the managing committee of Navratra Festival and other organisations for extending their cooperation in making the event a grand success. He said the annual festival gained prominence at the national and international-level, besides providing a platform to the budding artists. Many artists, especially the winners of previous All India Devotional Song contest were proving their worth in the film industry, he said.

Additional chief executive officer, SMVDSB, Katra lauded the efforts of all organisations associated with the Navratra festival for its successful culmination. He said it was the result of coordinated and sincere efforts put in by different agencies, especially the people of Katra that the festival had achieved excellence in every field and was recognised as a festival of culture, traditions, talent and harmony.

The chief guest awarded gold, worth Rs one lakh to the winner, who bagged the first position. The cheques, worth Rs 25,000 and Rs 15,000, were awarded to second and third winners, respectively.

Batote, October 24
A medical camp was organised by the district police at Mangota Marmat in Doda district under the aegis of the J&K Police Civic Action Programme on Tuesday.

As many as 450 villagers of Behota, Mandol, Sarak, Kanthi and Kathriyar were examined by Dr Irfan Tassaduq, Dr Mubashir Gazi Mintoo, Dr Hamid Parray and Dr Manjit Singh and were provided free medicines.

DSP Ajaz Zargar interacted with the people and highlighted the aims and objectives of the medical camp in the presence of inspector Sajjad Haider and sub-inspector Jan Mohammed. 

Jammu, October 24
National Secular Forum (NSF) today threatened to launch indefinite protests at tehsil-level from November 3 if the state government does not make announcement for conducting recruitment rally for border youth in RS Pura and Bishnah till then.

Talking to the media persons, Vikas Sharma, NSF state president, criticised the state government for its alleged failure to fulfil its commitment.

He said the state government had conducted recruitment rally for youth in Akhnoor and Nargotra areas but it ignored the border villages in RS Pura and Bishnah sector.

He said that problems being faced by the youth in these areas should be taken on top priority. The youth from the border areas should also be given preference in government jobs and other services, he said.

Sharma took on the Minister for Medical and Technical Education, Youth Affairs, RS Chib for making hollow promises and said he tried to hurt sentiments of the youth belonging to poor families.

“It was promised that the youth residing in the border villages will be given preference in the police department and special recruitment drive will be conducted for them. While other villages in Jammu were covered under the drive, the areas falling in RS Pura and Bishnah sector were ignored and the youth were deprived of their legitimate rights,” the NSF president said.

He said most of the youth in these villages had crossed the age limit for recruitment in the police department while others are at the verge of over age. “The government should seriously look into the demands of border youth and immediate recruitment should be conducted so that they are delivered justice,” Sharma demanded. 

Jammu, October 24
At a time when the ruling National Conference has been facing severe criticism for ‘disempowering’ State Information Commission (SIC), a local RTI activist today filed an application written with his blood for seeking details of a suspected murder of a housewife.

Deepak Sharma shows the application written with blood in Jammu on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph

Deepak Sharma alleged that he was not provided with details of “crime scene observation report of a suspected murder” by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and was also miffed over “casual approach” of the commission to nail the FSL authorities on their “repeated refusal to furnish the details”.

He said he was compelled to write the application in blood because the SIC had allegedly failed to perform its duty.

“One and half years have passed since I had filed the application under the RTI Act wherein I had sought the detailed copy of a crime scene report of a suspected murder of a woman, Santosh Kumari, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances at her husband’s residence on January 29, 2011.,” Sharma told reporters here.

He said the police, in its investigation, concluded that it was a case of suicide as the body of the deceased was found hanging from a ceiling fan. “The FSL experts had concluded that there was no injury marks on the throat as they ruled out the hanging theory. It was a suspected murder and the police wanted to hush up the case. Similarly, the FSL authorities have refused to provide details,” Sharma alleged.

The activist said the Public Information Officer (PIO), FSL, Jammu, had turned down his application under section 8(g) of the RTI Act citing that the investigation was still on.

“By that time, the police had produced the challan in the court and the reason was quite vague. We contested the PIO decision and approached the first appellant authority which also refused to act firmly on my complaint. On August 16 last year, we approached the SIC but all in vain. The commission, without hearing the complainant, disposed off the application, maintaining that you have been provided with all the details by the PIO,” Sharma said.

To ascertain the facts and get the information, the same RTI application was filed by some other person with the FSL, he said, adding that the PIO again stated that the matter had been decided by the commission and the application was rejected.

He has urged the Governor and the Chief Justice for justice and seeks an impartial probe into the conduct of the commission and to ascertain the facts about the relation of the commission and the public authority.

Jammu, October 24
Farida Kouser clinched gold medal in the U-16 girls’ 100m sprint in the Poonch district athletic meet today. The event is being organised by the District Athletic Association, Poonch, in collaboration with the J&K State Sports Council at the sports stadium, Poonch.

Nagdh Tabassum and Ruksana Kouser had to settle for the silver and bronze medals, respectively in the same event.

In U-16 girls’ 200m, Fareeda Kouser, Shahnaz Akhter and Navdeep Kour clinched the gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Robina Kouser fetched the yellow metal in 400m race while Nasreen Akhter and Shamim Akhter claimed the silver and bronze medals respectively. In 800 m, Nagdh Tabassum, Nazia Kouser and Shazia Kouser bagged the first three places.

Meanwhile, in the U-16 girls’ 1,500m event, Shamshad Begum, Rubina Kouser and Shamim Akhter clinched the gold, silver and bronze respectively.

In the U-16 boys’, the 100m sprint gold medal went to Mohammad Sarfaraz while the silver and bronze medal were bagged by Yaar Mohammad and Istekar Ahmed, respectively.

In the 200m race, the gold medal was claimed by Yaar Mohammad while the silver medal went to Zafar Ahmed and the bronze medal to Abdul Gani. Navab Ahmed claimed the gold medal in 400m race whereas Mohammad Sadeeq and Manvinder Singh clinched the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

In U-16 boys’ 800m, Satinder Pal Singh, Harpreet Singh and Akshay Kumar claimed the first three spots while in 1500m, Gurpreet Singh, Ajaz Khan and Rahial Qasim bagged the gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Jammu, October 24
It was a rare occasion when Kashmiri Muslim Mahideen Shah started the musical function ‘Mehendiraat’ by reciting bhajans on the wedding of a state government employee Amit Koul.

A Kashmiri artiste performs at a Kashmiri Pandit wedding in Jammu on Wednesday. A Tribune Photograph

Though the mass exodus of the Kashmiri Pandit community created a gulf between the two communities and the minority community kept struggling to keep their culture alive even in the exile, but even after 22 years, the community was seen performing their old traditions with the same enthusiasm.

“We have come from Kashmir for two months and have a lot of weddings to attend. Marriage season is over in the Valley but it is in here. And once we are performing here, they have a demand to start and end the musical night with the bhajan so we do the same,” said Mahideen Shah.

“It is not only our party but many other singing groups do the same as art has no religion and in any form is pure. I don’t think that it should hurt anyone’s sentiments,” he said. The artists perform ‘Chakker’, a traditional Kashmiri folk dance that is being performed on some special occasions like weddings, ring ceremonies and other such occasions.

Moti Lal Koul, father of the groom said, “A Kashmiri Mehendiraat is not possible without Chakker and only Kashmiri Muslims perform it. So during the marriage season, they come especially from Kashmir to perform at the weddings. At least it has kept the age old tradition alive.”

“The best part is that these artists respect our tradition and sing bhajans for us. None among us has an objection on having Kashmiri Muslim singers for the Mehendiraat. ,” he said.