Rajouri, November 3
The Rajouri police claimed to have busted a fake degree racket operating in Nowshera and has arrested four persons, including a government employee, for cheating students and those seeking government jobs.

Police sources said the accused were distributing fake Class X and XII certificates of the National Institute of Open Schooling, Chandigarh.

The accused have been identified as Mohd Sadiq and Naseer Ahmad, Mohd Rashid, a class IV employee in PHE Department, and Majid, all residents of Potha in Dabbar.

Rajouri SSP Mubassir Latiffi said it came to notice one month ago when ceratin complaints were filed in this regard. A police team under the supervision of Noushera ASP Purshotam Sharma was constituted to verify the same, he said.

Further investigations are on and more people may be arrested soon, he added.

The SSP said one Lekh Raj got selected in the Border Security Force on the basis of fake certificate issued by the accused.

"During the service verification of Lekh Raj along with Karam Vir Singh and Sandeep Kumar was made from the NIOS, Chandigarh, it was found that the certificates were fake," said the SSP.

“It was found during verification that the institute existed in Chandigarh but it had not issued any of those certificates. A case was registered against the accused and they were arrested on Thursday,” said the SSP.

Further investigations revealed that 11 persons were issued fake certificates after charging hefty amounts. The beneficiaries were identified as Swaran Singh,

Sandeep Singh, Jasvinder Singh, Karam Vir Singh, Lalit Kumar, Ajay Singh, Mohd Aslam, Happy Singh, Vicky Kumar, Lekh Raj and a girl, all residents of Potha and Dabbar.

The accused were charging between Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 for the certificates, the police said.

The accused have been booked under Sections 420/421/467 and 468 of the RPC. “Investigation teams are trying to find out the sources as how the accused managed to get the fake degrees in the name of the NIOS, Chandigarh, the police added. 

Jammu, November 3
The All Jammu Hotels and Lodges Association today asked the Traffic Department to adhere to the decision taken earlier to shift idle buses from the general bus stand at BC Road to the yards specified for buses of different routes.

The association said the general bus stand should remain as a starting and terminal point for buses of all routes. A meeting of owners of hotels and lodges was held. Inderjeet Khajuria, president of the association, welcomed the move by the Jammu Traffic Police to instruct all the operators with interstate bus routes to have their parking at the Narwal parking yard and asked the authorities to clarify about the real intent of their move.

Khajuria said that conceding the “long standing and forceful” demand by trade organisations of Jammu, the authorities concerned had taken a final decision saying buses of all the routes would pick up passengers from the general bus stand, BC road and also drop the passenger there only.

“It was decided that all idle buses would be parked in separate yards specified for them. This decision should be scrupulously implemented,” he demanded. He warned that any deviation from this decision would be resisted. He said the move would hit traders as well as commuters in the city.

Jammu Tribune yesterday reported in these columns that the Traffic Police has started an exercise to shift all the interstate buses from BC road to the Interstate Bus Terminal (ISBT) at Narwal.

The association said the general bus stand in Jammu be beautified and upgraded by making it multi-storeyed. It also demanded space for parking of small vehicles and for those visiting the shopping complex.

It said a floor should be created to serve as runway for heavy vehicles.

Jammu, November 3
Notwithstanding a huge burden on the state exchequer due to the annual Darbar Move, political parties fine no gumption to question the practice as they may have to face certain ‘political repercussions’for this.

Though a debate on the relevance of the practice has been held in the academia for some time that was first started by the erstwhile Dogra ruler Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1872, but the issue has not been taken up as seriously in political circles.

Apart from a burdened exchequer, there are major logistical issues involved in ensuring the movement of 7,000-odd employees and documents.

The shift is traditionally seen as a bond between Jammu and Valley-- two politically and culturally distinct regions. Even during the height of insurgency in the 1990s, the movement continued under a tight guard of the Army.

In 1987, the National Conference government had tried to stop the practice by keeping the Civil Secretariat permanently in Srinagar but people from Jammu, Doda, Rajouri and Poonch opposed the move.

A report prepared by a committee constituted by the then Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah that comprised of senior bureaucrats Sheikh Ghulam Rasool, Muhammad Shafi Pandit and Sushma Chowdhry had concluded it would not be prudent to dispense with the practice given the geo-political scenario. It, however, had suggested to take steps to economise on costs.

“The political scenario in the state is very fluid. Each province is suspicious of the government’s move on the issue. No political party wants to hold serious discussion on how to do away with the practice despite having raised questions over its relevance,” said Prof Rekha Choudhary, a political analyst.

The government spends an average Rs 60 crore on the move every year which includes Rs 4.50 crore on carriage and transportation of official records and employees, judiciary and police, Rs 30 crore on boarding and lodging of employees.

Besides this, ministers, MLAs and around 300 bureaucrats (including IAS and KAS cadre) also move on the other side of the Banihal tunnel. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also opines the practice costs hundreds of crores besides creating problems for people with cases being shifted from one secretariat to another.

JK National Panthers Party MLA Harsh Dev Singh said, “If shifting of the capital is stopped, there will be a need for an alternative so that people in a diverse state like ours do not feel neglected. But no government has come with a strong alternative as of now.” 

Jammu, November 3
After facing flak for not implementing the grading system in letter and spirit, the J&K State Board of School Education (JKBOSE) is getting its act together to make the system fully operational from the next academic session.

A senior official of the JKBOSE, Javed Khatib, while confirming the development said, “Right now, the process is under way and it (the grading system) is likely to be implemented from the next academic session.”

“No doubt, the grading system was introduced on the patter of the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) with an objective to reduce mental stress of students but then it cannot be made operational at once,” he said.

“It is imperative that the system should be implemented in a phased manner which the JKBOSE is doing now because parents of the students are anxious to know the marks of their wards, which eventually puts a pressure on students,” he said.

“The reason behind the partial implementation of the grading system is to let both the parents and their wards get familiar with it so that there is no confusion once the system is fully implemented in future,” the official said.

Sources said the concept was announced a year and a half ago to reduce unnecessary stress on the minds of students, considering increasing suicides by students after the declaration of class 10th and 12th results.

Experts opine that students take the extreme step as they cannot bear the agony of ‘lagging behind’.

Sources claimed that the officials of the JKBOSE had failed to understand the logic of the grading system.

They said in the recently declared results, the JKBOSE had declared a comprehensive merit list negating the whole purpose of the system.

They said before the introduction of the system, it was imperative that the JKBOSE officials had been informed about the technicalities of the system but that could not be possible as the authorities conducted no training programmes for them. 

Jammu, November 3
Demanding police recruitment rallies for youths of border areas RS Pura and Bishnah, the National Secular Forum (NSF) today staged a demonstration outside the Tehsil Office, RS Pura.

Led by NSF president Vikas Sharma, the protesters raised slogans against the state government for allegedly ignoring the youth of the two areas while conducting police recruitment drives.

Sharma alleged that the government had conducted a recruitment rally for the youth of border areas Akhnoor and Nargotra but it had ignored the RS Pura and Bishnah sectors.

He said problems faced by the youth in these areas needed to be addressed as a priority. Apart from this, he demanded that youths from border areas should be given preference in government jobs and other services.

Sharma said just like the youths who were living near the international line of control, the youths belonging to border areas should also be included in the the Actual Line of Control category.

NSF state senior vice-president Surjit Choudhary said: “It was promised by the state government that youths residing in the border villages would be given preference in the police recruitment and a drive would be conducted for them. While other villages in Jammu were covered under the recruitment drive, the areas falling in the RS Pura sector were ignored.”

Later, a delegation of the NSF met RS Pura Sub-Divisional Magistrate SP Rakwal and apprised him of problems being faced by the youth of border areas. 

Jammu, November 3
Students of Presentation Convent Senior Secondary School today celebrated their annual day at the school auditorium here. Prof Deepshikha Kotwal, director, Law School, University of Jammu, was the chief guest while Kuria Kose, financial administrator, Diocese, Jammu-Srinagar, was the guest of honour.

The students presented colourful cultural items on the theme Vasudevay Kutumbakam to mark the occasion besides showcasing the story of seven dwarfs. The chief guest in her address lauded the efforts of teachers and highlighted their pivotal in shaping the lives of students.

Rosamma, principal, and Teresita, sister incharge, presented the vote of thanks.

Kathua, November 3
The first ever two-day Red Cross Mela, organised by the District Red Cross Society, began here today at the Sports Stadium with enthusiastic participation from locals and representatives of various social and religious organisations.

The fair, which has been organised to raise funds to help the Red Cross Society in its humanitarian initiatives, was inaugurated by Jammu Inspector General of Police Dilbagh Singh.

Various educational institutions, government departments and trade organisations had put up their stalls at the fair.

Kathua Deputy Commissioner and District Red Cross Society chairperson Zahida Parveen Khan welcomed the guests.

IGP Dilbagh Singh appreciated the spirit and enthusiasm of the organisers and participants. He appealed to the visiting students to participate in social service-oriented programmes. He urged people to donate generously for the District Red Cross Society to enable it to serve the needy at the time of distress. 

Jammu, November 3
“Though our state faces many problems, we are competing with other states with limited resources and the survey by India Today Conclave has shown that we have been improving.”

This was stated by Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Sham Lal Sharma, on the occasion of the state bagging the first position for its performance in the health sector. He claimed it was the outcome of sustained collective efforts in improving health care facilities.

Sharma told The Tribune that the state was committed to make every effort to safeguard and promote health of its people and ensure widespread and efficient medical services throughout the state.

“Keeping in view the importance of health care, which has a direct correlation with the welfare of the people, the government has been focusing sharply in bringing improvements in infrastructural facilities, availability of manpower, besides undertaking health sector reforms as per the changing needs and demands in the sector. As a result of the measures initiated, the public health system of the state has witnessed both quantitative and qualitative improvements over the years,” he added.

On the measures taken by the Health Department, he said with the support available under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), efforts had been made to strengthen the existing peripheral institutions in terms of infrastructure, machinery, equipment and manpower etc. “To reduce the unnecessary referrals, health institutions are being made to function on 24x7 basis, in a phased manner. The primary focus is on the efforts to reduce the maternal and child mortality and the total fertility rate,” he said.

Sharma claimed that the infant mortality rate of the state had gone down by 11.0 points from 52 in 2006 to 41 in 2011 and is also better than the National average of 44. Neo-natal mortality rate had also declined from 39 in 2007 to 35 in 2010.

Jammu, November 3
Despite the high court verdict in favour of the partner institutions of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) to complete the admission process for all programmes of the July 2012 cycle under the convergence scheme, the academic future of more than 5,000 students of the state hangs in the balance as the management of the IGNOU has instructed the institutions to submit their list of admissions at its office in New Delhi.

The IGNOU board of management in its recently held 113th meeting had decided to cancel the fresh admissions for all the programmes under the convergence scheme in the partner institutions spread across the country, including 25 in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sources said the verdict of the court had come as a relief for the partner institutions in the state after they were granted permission to finalise the list of students who had taken admissions in various programmes till June 25, 2012, but the clouds of uncertainty loom large over the future of Partner Institutions after this surprise move by the board of management of the IGNOU.

Sources claimed that the BEd and MEd courses in all the partner institutions in the state under the convergence scheme were stopped last year by the IGNOU authorities.

“We are extremely happy with this decision of the court because the admission process had reached midway when the IGNOU authorities decided to stop the process,” said a representative of an institute. “Just when the things started to settle down after the court decision, the board of management of the IGNOU asked the partner institutions to submit the admission list. We fail to understand the motive behind this,” he said.

“We are not sure if the partner institutions will be allowed by the IGNOU authorities to continue the admission process for the next academic session or this is the last time we have been allowed to do that,” representative of another partner institution said.

The convergence scheme was jointly conceived by the University Grants Commission (UGC), IGNOU, Distance Education Council (EDC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) under the guidance of the Ministry of Human Resources Development in November 2007. It became operational in March 2008. 

Jammu, November 3
Riding on a superb 80 runs off 137 balls by SP Gautam, the Jharkhand team managed to take a decisive lead of 159 runs against the J&K team at the end of the second day of the Ranji Trophy tournament being played at the GGM Science College Hostel Ground here today.

In reply to the 195 runs made by the J&K in their first innings, the visiting side bowled out for 354 runs in 116 overs.

Gautam struck 11 boundaries and a mighty heaves for the maximum in his impressive knock. International player SS Tiwary also lived up to the expectations by playing a brilliant knock of 72 runs off 132 balls. RN Nemaj contributed 75 runs that came off 145 balls. Sunny Suresh Gupta and MP Vardhan played brief knocks of 29 and 31 runs respectively.

For the J&K, PG Zargar was the wrecker-in-chief with a scalp of three wickets while Ramdayal Puniya took two wickets. Samiullah Beig, AA Sofi and AG Ahanger shared a wicket each.

Earlier, the J&K suffered a dramatic batting collapse owing to disciplined bowling performance by the visiting team bowlers.

Batting first after winning the toss, J&K openers Ian Dev Singh and Adil Reshi began on a cautious note. Ian Dev Singh was the first to go after a brief knock of 14 containing three hits to the fence. Another wicket fell, courtesy Arshad Bhat, leaving the hosts reeling at 23/2.

The duo of Adil and middle-order batsman Parvez Rasool consolidated the innings with a fine partnership of 54 thereby taking the scoreboard total to 77. Just when Parvez looked all set for a big one, he lost his cool and struck himself out with an individual score of 20 runs. Adil too ran himself out after scoring 41 runs.

Hardeep Singh was the top scorer for the J&K with a defiant 89-ball 49. He pierced as many as six boundaries. Abid Nabi and Dhruv Mahajan contributed 14 and 13 runs to the total respectively.

Finally, the J&K innings perished at 195 runs in 56.5 overs. For Jharkhand, left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem and speedster Shiv Shankar Rao were the chief destroyers with three wickets apiece. Off-spinner Sunny Gupta claimed two wickets while Rahul Shukla claimed one.

In reply, the Jharkhand got off to a steadied start posting 81 runs for the loss of one wicket at stumps. Opener Monish Vardhan was the lone batsman to go back to the pavilion after making 31 runs. RN Nimat was unbeaten at 42 runs.

The match is being officiated by Ulhas V Gandhe and Srinath as umpires.