Jammu, October 26
Lakhs of LPG consumers in Jammu will face a harsh winter this year as the gas crisis is looming large over the region.

The cap on the supply of LPG cylinders per household put by the government has aggravated the worry of the common man.

There are about 15 lakh LPG consumers in the state out of which Jammu has nearly seven lakh domestic gas users. Sources said the oil companies were in no mood to overrule the directions of the Union Petroleum Ministry. With the Prime Minister remaining non-committal on putting J&K in special category region, the Consumers Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) is planning to stock additional kerosene oil in all districts before snowfall snaps the supply chain. Due to severe winter conditions from October to April, household consumption of LPG and kerosene oil shows remarkable increase. People will get only three subsidised refills for the next six months.

Subsidised rates of the refill will be Rs 412 and once a consumer is done with acquiring three cylinders, he has to buy cylinder on non-subsidized rates Rs 974.

A crucial meeting chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on October 25 also failed to reach any conclusion on increasing the subsidised LPG cylinder supply. The oil companies expressed helplessness in following the old method of distribution following directions from the Union Petroleum Ministry, it has been learnt.

“People are worried but we still have not lost hope. We will pursue the case with the Centre to treat J&K as a special category region. To deal with the crisis, additional kerosene is being procured and stocked,” CAPD Minister Qamar Ali Akhoon said.

CAPD Director, Jammu, Pervez Malik said efforts were being made to ensure stock availability in snow-bound areas.

“Of course, consumers will face problems. Our priority is to ensure supply. The oil companies need to coordinate well with us. K-Oil will be our second line of supply to ensure that people are able to cope with harsh winter,” Malik said. Sources said the government had asked the companies to speed up the verification process which is going on at a snail’s pace.

“Nothing is in our hands. Oil Companies took decision to block the connections and it is beyond our mandate to intervene. People should follow all the formalities. Supplies to these connections will remain suspended till then,” Malik said. 

Jammu, October 26
Residents of Kasim Nagar today held a huge demonstration against the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) for allegedly forcing them to evict the locality.

The protesters said they were being forced to demolish their huts where they had been living even before the formulation of the JDA.

Earlier, the protesters held a meeting which was presided over by PDP’s district president, Jammu, RK Bali, state secretary (labour cell), Rafique Malik and zone president Rashpal Baloria.

The residents said some “outsiders” at the behest of some politicians, administration and hooligans were threatening them to demolish their hutments.

The protesters asked as how some people who, they said, were residing in Rajiv Nagar and Goswami Basti, had purchased land even though they did not have state subject and voter’s identity.

RK Bali said it was sheer injustice to the poor residents as those living in pucca houses were not being harassed. Those living in huts were pressurized and harassed, he added.

He said instead of providing these people proper houses, the administration in connivance with some vested interests was trying to grab their land where they have been living for many decades. 

Jammu, October 26
Taking a note of inclusion of non-important disciplines in the National School Games, the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) has formulated new terms and conditions for inclusion of sports/games in the upcoming 58th edition of National School Games.

Sources said the SGFI has taken this decision after reports poured in from different sports departments of various states across the country, including J&K, regarding the creation of unrecognised associations by some individuals with ulterior motives and later using their influence to get them affiliated with the apex sports body conducting the National School Games.

The sources added that earlier the Department of Youth Services and Sports (DYSS) was conducting competitions at district, state and division level in only major disciplines. J&K sends its contingent in only major disciplines like kho-kho, kabaddi, football, fencing, badminton, swimming, table tennis, judo, volleyball, basketball, athletics etc and then selected the state contingent on the basis of their performance.

The sources added that the poor performance of state contingent in the competitions had given a chance to the individuals with ulterior motives to constitute a new association and then get it affiliated with the SGFI using their influence. This has not only put an additional burden on the department to conduct the competitions but it has also not been able to focus on important games/sports. The sources claimed that same is the case with the sports departments of other states across the country.

In order to streamline the situation, a sub-committee of the SGFI under the chairmanship of its secretary general Dr Rajesh Kumar Mishra held a meeting at Chhatrapati Shivaji Sports Complex in Pune recently to formulate a strategy.

The sub-committee decided that the popular sports/games of India which are in the Olympic Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian School Sports Federation and World School Games will be considered as regular sports/games of the SGFI.

The other terms and conditions decided in the meeting included that National Association should have proper registration under the Society Act, 1860, National Federation/Association should have state unit/association in all state/union territories and disciplines which are not listed in the SGFI but listed in the 2012-13 calendar should also fulfil all the terms and conditions within a maximum period of three years otherwise the disciplines will be removed from the SGFI calendar without any prior notice.

Meanwhile, Ashok Kumar, Deputy Director, Youth Services and Sports, who is also the vice-president of SGFI told The Tribune “The new terms and conditions introduced by the SGFI will definitely help in curbing this practice.” “It will also help the department to focus on bringing improvement in important disciplines,” he said.

Katra, October 26
The ongoing work on the Katra-Reasi national highway by the Border Road Organisation (BRO) has again disrupted the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited's (BSNL's) mobile services at Reasi and adjoining areas.

The BSNL's engineers informed that it will take another day for the normalcy to be restored.

The BSNL mobile users in Reasi, Arnas, Salal, Dharmari and Pouni areas had been experiencing congestion in the network from the past few days.

“There have been several complaints from the consumers in the areas and most of the remarks were related to call drops or line busy," said an officer from the transmission wing of the mobile service provider.

The BSNL's optical fibre cable (OFC) snapped because of the movement of earth-movers used in road widening work, leading to disruption in the telecommunication network.

"The base trans-receiving stations (BTS) located in the four areas have gone down. Out of the two damaged OFCs, one has been restored and restoration of the second is being carried out on a war-footing," a senior official said. 

Jammu, October 26
National Students Union of India (NSUI) today held a protest against the delay in the declaration of re-evaluation results of graduation (part II) by the Jammu University.

Abijot Singh and Amjad Mushtak Bhatt, who were leading the protest demonstration, said the delay in the results made the students suffer badly as the session was almost complete and any further delay could affect their future. They appealed the University authorities to declare the result within next two-to-three days otherwise the NSUI will fasten its agitation.

Various activists of the NSUI participated in the protest. 

Jammu, October 26
Ahead of the festive season, the shooting prices of the sweets consumed during the festivals have attracted sharp criticism from various sections of the society. Workers of the Dogra Front and Shiv Sena today took out a protest in the old city of Jammu against the unchecked prices of sweets.

The protestors under the leadership of state president Ashok Gupta held a protest outside the Press Club against the price hike on the sweets as they alleged that the sweet shop owners are involved in black marketing of sweets.

Gupta said the Consumer affairs and Public Distribution Department (CAPD) was acting as a mute spectator and appeared to have gone into deep slumber to check the overcharging and black-marketing of the essential commodities which were in huge demand.

“Despite the markets are full of consumers for shopping of essentials before the festivals, there is no trace of the various government agencies to check rising prices and over-charging by unscrupulous traders. The traders and manufacturers resort to malpractices so far as the quality of foodstuffs is concerned,” said Gupta.

He said the corruption continued to rule the roost in the state as the complaints of the consumers fall on deaf ears because.

He further said the prices of ghee and sugar were down by 30 per cent as compared to the last year, but instead they were being sold at higher price to the consumers. 

Jammu, October 26
Jammu Women Credit Cooperative Limited (JWCCL) will hold its fourth annual general meeting on November 4 at Dialachak.

The women of Hiranagar, Kathua and Dialackak will be educated about the schemes available at the bank. The Jammu Women Credit Cooperative Limited (JWCCL) was started in 2004 and registered in 2006 and has more than 12,000 members.

Chairperson of the JWCCL Kailash Verma said the decision to hold the meeting was taken at board of Directors meeting held on September 27. She said all the 12,500 women members of the 33 branches have been asked to attend the annual general meeting. 

Jammu, October 26
Vice-president of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) Hari Singh today expressed concern over the increasing pollution in the Tawi.

Singh said the river had become a garbage store of the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC).

“All the wastages of small factories, fish market and slaughter houses go into the river and is spoiling its ecology. Bad smell oozing out from the river is polluting its surrounding areas and increasing the possibility of spreading many diseases,” he said.

He said many projects were made by the state government to preserve the natural ecology of the river but it was unfortunate that these plans remained in files only.

He said the government should take immediate steps for the preservation of the natural ecology of the river and implement all those schemes announced by the government to protect it from further devastation.

The PCC leader demanded opening of paddy procurement centres in Ramgarh sector of Vijaypur block. He said there was no procurement centre in the border area of the Vijaypur block and the farmers were facing hardship to sell their paddy crops. 

Rajouri, October 26
The district bodies of Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal today observed accession day in two different places of Rajouri today.

To celebrate the accession day, BJP had organised a small gathering at the bus stand, Rajouri and VHP, Bagrang Dal near the tehsil office, Rajouri.

All the senior members of the district cadre were present on the occasion along with senior party leader Kuldeep Raj Gupta.

Gupta said, “It was this historic day that the state of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to the Indian dominin, when the then Maharaja Hari Singh used his authority and sign an instrument of accession on October 26, 1947.

He slammed Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani statement, where he threatened to launch an agitation after Eid against the plans to construct a road to Amarnath shrine in south Kashmir. He said Geelani was trying to disturb the situation of the state.

BJP state secretary Vibodh Gupta, Bajrang Dal district president Karan Thakur along with other party members were present on the occasion. 

Jammu, October 26
Giving call for full integration of the state with India and educating the youth about the significance of the Accession Day, various groups and student organisations today paid tribute to the last ruler of J&K Maharaja Hari Singh and soldiers who died fighting intruders in 1947.

October 26 marks the day when the Maharaja had signed the instrument of accession. The day holds significance as the Indian Army saved Kashmir, Ladakh and Jammu from foreign occupation.

“It is the 65th year and the youth need to know the history when state was under the shadows of marauding tribals. It should be celebrated as we did not fall and the Army saved us,” Dr Vikas Sharma, president, National Secular Forum (NSF), said.

Pratap Singh Jamwal, National Pathers Students Union (NPSU) president, said, “We celebrate the day to give befitting reply to fundamentalist and separatist forces that they are just a minority which opposed the arrival of the Army.”

BJP, Duggar Vichar Manch (DVM), JK Peoples Forum (JKPF) also observed the day.

BJP state president Shamsher Singh Manhas said, "Maharaja Hari Singh’s decision saved the state and it should be celebrated by every person in J&K.”

Several functions were organised in Udhampur, Kathua, Reasi, Ramanagr and RS Pura.

Duggar Vikas Manch (DVM) president Dineshwar Jamwal said younger generation has great responsibility to fight against the forces who were trying to separate J&K from India.

“Every year we invite school students to take part in cultural events at the Mubarak Mandi palace to create awareness among them about the history of the state,” said Jamwal. 

Katra, October 26
At least 10 persons were injured today when a passenger bus they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell downhill on another road near Simbal Choya, 10 km from Reasi here.

Reports said the driver of the bus (JK02U 6771) lost control over the vehicle. Reasi SHO Jatinder Singh Samyal said the injured were rushed to the District Hospital.

Eyewitnesses said had the fall been steeper, it could result in fatalities. The bus was on its way from Katra to Reasi. The vehicular traffic remained suspended for over three hours on the Reasi-Katra road resulting causing inconvenience to hundreds of pilgrims visiting the Shiv Khori Cave shrine.

Those critically injured were identified as Mohammad Sharif , Joginder Singh, Sachin Sudan , Madan Gopal Abrol, Pyush Ram, Parvez Ahmed and Rama Sharma. — OC

jammu, October 26
The Jammu Crime Branch today produced challan against a patwari and another person for allegedly committing forgery and tampering with revenue records.

The accused have been identified as Rashpal Singh (patwari) of Dhera in Akhnoor and Sarwan Kumar of Nai Basti in Ghulabgarh of RS Pura.

The spokesperson said they registered a case at Jammu Crime Branch police station on a written complaint lodged by a 60-year-old widow Rajji Devi of Kapoorpur village in RS Pura.

The complainant had alleged that the patwari and girdawar Kapoorpur halqa in connivance with one Sarwan Kumar changed the girdawari entries in revenue records in the name of Kumar.

A preliminary verification was conducted by Crime Branch sleuths. The allegations were found to be substantial.

The complainant had reportedly taken a loan of Rs 1,10,00 from Sarwan Kumar for a period of three years on condition that he would cultivate her 20-kanal agricultural land and receive the harvest as interest on loan amount.

"When Rajji Devi went to Sarwan Kumar to return his money, he refused to take it back saying the land in question was in his name," the spokesperson said.

She then approached the patwari concerned who initially refused to provide information on land.

Later, he told her that the girdawari of the land was in the name of Sarwan Kumar.

"The records pertaining to the land in question were requisitioned from the tehsildar which showed the patwari had changed the girdawari to give Sarwan undue benefit," added the spokesperson. — TNS

jammu, October 26
The police today arrested a middle-aged man for allegedly raping a seven-year-old girl at Jagti township, on the outskirts of Jammu city.

The accused was identified as Anil Kumar Raina, 36, a resident of Jagti.

The police said Raina took the girl to his place in the Kashmiri Pandit migrants township and committed the crime. — TNS