Jammu, December 14
Incessant rains brought normal life to a grinding halt across Jammu region today, snapping road connectivity between two capital cities and disrupting air and rail traffic. Intense cold wave also claimed two lives in the winter capital city, while the people continued to reel under freezing conditions in all the 10 districts of the region.

The police said that two beggars died near Super Specialty Hospital, Jammu, and at B. C Road due to cold conditions that engulfed the entire region since yesterday afternoon. The identity of two could not be ascertained.

The 300-km-long Jammu-Srinagar national highway and the Mughal Road, which connect Kashmir Valley with rest of the country, remained closed for traffic due to accumulation of snow and slippery conditions with hundreds of vehicles remaining stranded on highway, causing great inconvenience to passengers.

Official sources said accumulation of snow and slippery conditions on both sides of the Jawahar Tunnel and Patnitop areas forced traffic department to suspend the movement of vehicles on highway late last evening. "Hundreds of light motor and heavy vehicles were stranded between Patnitop and Banihal stretches since last night. The Border Road Organisation (BRO) pressed its men and machinery to clear the snow and finally restored the one-way traffic on the highway," sources said.

They said around two to three feet snow had accumulated at Patnitop and Jawahar Tunnel areas and the efforts were being made to clear the snow to restore normal traffic on highway.

Faisal Qureshi, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) National Highway, Ramban said the police cleared around 300 stranded vehicles from Patnitop, Batote and Ramban areas today. "It is still snowing and there was nearly three feet snow near Jawahar Tunnel. We didn't allow any fresh vehicle to proceed towards Kashmir from Jammu and vice-versa.”

He, however, said there were around 200 vehicles, including 70 passenger vehicles were still stranded. "We are constantly monitoring the situation and fresh vehicle will be allowed towards Kashmir Valley or Jammu only after the improvement in the weather," the DSP said.

Sources said the supply of essential commodities was badly affected in Ramban, Doda and Kishwar districts. "The students of Class XI had a harrowing time on the first day of their exams due to bone chilling cold inside the dark examination halls following power failure and lack of heating arrangements," they said.

Similarly, the hilly areas in Surankote and Mandi tehsils of district Poonch received heavy snowfall affecting normal life and forcing the closure of Mughal Road and Dehra Ki Gali road. Surankote and Mandi towns also received snowfall in the morning, disrupting normal life. Road connectivity in major areas like Sabjian, Loran and Mandi of district Poonch was also affected.

Reports from border district Rajouri said heavy snowfall in high altitude areas of Peer Panjal ranges and rain in plains crippled normal life. Water and electricity supply remained affected across the district.

"The entire Rajouri district has remained without electricity, water and other necessary amenities after heavy snowfall. The people had to walk a long distance to fetch drinking water from streams in freezing conditions. Nearly four feet snow was recorded at Peer Ki Gali while several villages remained cut off from district headquarters due to snowfall and landslides triggered by incessant rains," reports said.

Ashok Sharma, Superintendent of Police (Anti-hijacking), Jammu Airport, said rain disrupted the normal movement of air traffic. "The Leh-bound flight was cancelled while a Srinagar-bound Spice Jet flight from Delhi could not land at Jammu Airport because of inclement weather. Several flights got delayed due to poor visibility," Sharma said.

A senior railway official said several trains were running behind schedule due to poor visibility and continuous downpour.

Meanwhile, 300 Kashmir-bound passengers, including 50 women and two dozen children were stranded at General Bus Stand Jammu since last evening.

(with inputs from RK Kichlu, Ramban, Darshan Bharti, Poonch and Ranjit Thakur, Rajouri)

Jammu, December 14
Though routine work was affected in government offices, but there was partial response to the protest call given by the Employees Joint Consultative Committee (EJCC).

The employees were protesting against the delay in the implementation of an agreement signed between the employees union and Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather to increase the retirement age from 58 to 60 years. Employees today held a demonstration in their respective offices across the state.

On December 15, they have given a call for a march to be taken towards Raj Bhawan to submit a memorandum to Governor NN Vohra.

The employee unions are demanding implementation of an agreement signed between the government sub-committee and the union representatives, in 2011, which include enhancing the retirement age from 58 to 60 years.

A senior member of the union Muhammad Gafoor Dar said agitation was the only path for them as Omar Abdullah had failed to fulfil its promise with the 4.50 lakh employees of the state.

The strike call has been given to protest against the delay on part of the government to implement the recommendation of a high- level committee headed by Chief Secretary Madhav Lal to enhance the retirement age of employees and end pay anomaly in the clerical cadre.

Ganesh Khajuria and Kulwant Singh also addressed several demonstrations and urged the government to implement points of agreement. “Coalition government cannot suppress us. It has backtracked from its commitment. We are fighting for our rights and tomorrow we will hold a major rally,” said Kulwant Singh, a union leader.

Few days back Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather had urged the unions to sit for dialogue to resolve the issues so that the common man does not have to face problems.

Jammu, December 14
The Traffic Police, Jammu Range, challaned 46,779 vehicles and imposed a fine of Rs 81.33 lakh. The action was taken after a two-week awareness programme organised by the Traffic Police in September to educate drivers about traffic rules.

DIG, Traffic, Jammu Range, Shakeel Ahmed Beig, said on an average 800 traffic violators are being challaned daily and Rs 1.35 lakh compound money is being realised from the violators on a daily basis to curb overloading, over speeding, rash driving, plying two wheelers without helmet, overcharging by auto rickshaws, jumping of red light and wrong parking etc.

DIG said special drive would be launched against seat-belt violations from December 17. He said wearing seat belts is the most effective way to protect people during a crash. —TNS

Jammu, December 14
The J&K Employees Provident Funds (and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act-1961 has been implemented in the state after amendment. Under the Act, the rate of contribution from the employer will be 12 per cent, which was only 8.33 per cent before. The state legislature had passed the Bill in October and it has been formally implemented in the state.

The Act will be applicable on establishments having 10 or more workers instead of five or more persons earlier and those units which are already covered under the Act will be deemed to be covered forever or till closure of the factory.

“All covered units will have to deposit the provident fund contribution at the rate of 12 per cent with effect from November.

In case of failure, the amount will be recovered from the defaulters along with penalties," said Additional Provident Fund Commissioner, Kamal Mahendro.

To reconcile the conflicting interests of labour and the industry, a high-level committee was constituted to discuss issues of the Federation of Industries to increase the limit of the applicability the said Act from 5 to 10 workers.

The committee held several meetings and recommended that the threshold limit of the number of employees in an establishment to be brought under the EPF Scheme should be raised from 5 to 10, respectively, provided that the establishments covered at present, and having employees less than ten, will continue to be within the ambit of the scheme in respect of the employees already covered; and the rate of contribution of the employers' will be increased from 8.33 per cent to 12 per cent. 

Jammu, December 14
To discourage illegal parking, the state Transport Department has decided to impose heavy penalty on residents for parking their vehicles outside their homes. The proposal is the first step to ensure that the residents, who want to buy a car or two-wheeler, will have to produce a proof of the parking space at their residences before getting their vehicles registered with the Regional Transport Office.

A senior official, on the condition of anonymity, said the number of vehicles had outnumbered the total number of households in Jammu district. Nearly three lakh new vehicles have been registered over the past decade leading to severe congestion and shrinking of the parking space in many parts of the city.

"A constant rise in the number of vehicles has led to serious parking problem in various localities. Residents park their vehicles alongside interior roads and lanes. The haphazard parking of vehicles has led to congestion and frequent traffic jams thereby causing great inconvenience to the residents," a senior transport official said.

The official said the road length of the district had, more or less, remained same over these years which had resulted in shrinking of the parking space.

"In 2011, over 52,000 new vehicles were registered in Jammu. An unbridled increase in the vehicular population continues this year too as 27,000 new vehicles entered city roads over the past six months," the official said.

He said there was an immediate need to devise a strong mechanism to deal with the prevailing chaos in the localities. "We have received a number of complaints from prominent residents who wanted strict action against all those people who park their cars alongside lanes and roads in localities, thereby disrupting normal movement of vehicles," the official said.

Mehraj Kakroo, Transport Commissioner, J&K, said the department was contemplating to charge residents for parking their cars alongside roads and lanes. "Many localities are facing a major problem of traffic congestion because people park cars outside their residences, which disrupts normal traffic on the interior roads and lanes," the Commissioner said.

To obtain parking space proof from car owners prior to the registration of their vehicles, Kakroo said it was a cumbersome exercise to get a parking proof from a car owner if he or she turns up to the Regional Transport Office for the registration of his or her vehicle. “What we can do is to impose a hefty parking penalty on the residents who park their cars on the inside roads. We are seriously considering this idea to discourage illegal parking,” he said.

Sources attribute the shrinking parking space to bureaucratic red tapism, which was a major bottleneck in the creation of multi-tier parking lots in the city. "The much-ambitious project to construct multi-tier parking lot at the existing bus stand has run into rough weather. Similarly, the projects to have multi-tier parking complexes at Super Bazaar, Parade, Panjthirthi and Shalamar too have been facing bureaucratic obstacles," sources said.

Batote, December 14
One of the two recently elected Member of Legislative Council (MLC) from Jammu province, Shamlal Bhagat of Indian National Congress (INC), was given a rousing welcome in Bazaar, Mansar, Berthal and Thor villages in Batote and at Kanderi nallah in Assar block by the workers and leaders of INC, panches, sarpanches, hundreds of villagers and kin today.

It was his maiden visit to his village after being elected. He was greeted with slogans, drum beats and crackers by the people.

Among the prominent persons who greeted him included Doda District Working President, Mohd Hanief Shah, Ramban District Women President, Narinder Kaur, Ramban District Youth President, Rashid Malik and prominent local leaders including Janak Singh, Pritam Singh, Shahrukh Bhatti, Tariq Malik and Rafiq Malik.

Speaking on the occasion, all leaders thanked the state and central INC leadership including former CM and Union Health Minister, GN Azad and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for nominating a candidate of Ramban constituency from Assar block of Doda district.

They urged the party high command to get an elected INC leader of Ramban or Doda district recommended for state cabinet berth.

Speaking on the occasion, Bhagat thanked everyone for providing him support during the election. 

Jammu, December 14
The Jammu and Kashmir Dharmarth Trust today honoured various officers, Muslim federations, social organisations and press media for their cooperation in organising religious functions successfully.

J&K Dharmarth Trust Council trustee MK Ajatshatru Singh was the chief guest on the occasion. The function was attended by MLC Vijay Bakaya, J&K Dharmarth Trust member council and Major Gen (retd) RS Jamwal, Jammu District Development Commissioner president Sanjeev Verma, Heritage and Joint Director Information director Soujanya Sharma, administrator Rajeshwar Chand Jamwal and secretary Shashi Khajuria.

Cash Welfare grants were also presented to various social organisations like Jammu Yatri Bhawan, Bal Niketan, Ved Mandir, Home for Age and Infirm, SOS Children Channi Himmat, Khushat Rog Ashram Bhagwati Nagar, Gou Raksha Samiti, Sanatan Dharam Sabha, Samaj Kalayan Kendra, Deaf and Dumb, Rashtriya Bhasha Parchar Samiti Nanak Nagar, Jammu, besides prizes were distributed among 19 tableaus, who participated in Janmashtmi Rath Yatra.

Speaking on the occasion Ajatshatru Singh expressed gratitude to the participants for their exceptional contribution for making the rath yatra and other darmarth functions a grand success.

Jammu, December 14
The National Conference Students Union (NCSU) today took the examination wing of the Jammu University to task for delay in the semester results of various post-graduate courses.

Talking to the media persons here, NCSU provincial president Rakesh Chib said the entire examination system had collapsed on the Jammu University campus as the authorities failed to declare the semester results of Mathematics, English, MCA, Sociology, Economics and Hindi subjects, examination for which were conducted almost seven months back.

“The university was playing with the future of the students. There is no seriousness in examination wing as the students, who appeared in the second and fourth semester examination, are the worst affected as they would not be able to get admissions in another university,” Chib said.

He alleged that university was making claims on implementation of the academic calendar but had failed in declaring the result. He said it was easy to make academic calendar but to implement it, it needs proper management. He said the officers concerned had failed on all fronts in controlling the affairs of the examination wing. 

Jammu, December 14
A three-day-long conference on strengthening Cross-LoC relations commenced here today. Prominent scholars and lawmakers from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Jammu and Kashmir took part on the first day.

The conference organised by the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation (CDR) New Delhi was aimed to bring members of the civil society from both sides of the LoC together to strengthen peace initiatives in the region. “Cross LoC interaction is necessary at the moment as economic relations are key for stability and more people to people contact,” said YV Sharma, president of the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industries while addressing the conference.

The conference was conceived in the backdrop of the current upturn in bilateral relations between India and Pakistan, especially regarding liberalisation of the visa regime and trade. There has been no corresponding liberalization in the Kashmir-related CBMs, participants said.

The conference would explore ways to strengthen the scope of people-to-people contacts across the LoC, explore ways to strengthen current CBMs, and partnerships across the LoC.

Jammu, December 14
Controversy over the death of a one-and-half-an-year-old girl due to alleged negligence of the doctors at the SMGS hospital refuses to die down with Shri Ram Sena (SRS) demanding an “in-depth” inquiry into the role of Dr Aniece Choudhary, Principal of the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Jammu.

In a statement issued here today, Rajiv Mahajan, SRS state president, said had a bronchoscope been conducted by the doctors in time, the child could have been saved.

“A maize seed was stuck in the throat blocking the windpipe which should not have caused the death of the infant had the doctors handled the case properly. However, the unfortunate child died because Dr Aniece Choudhary kept bronchoscopes, the machines required to carry out the minor surgical procedure, in his own custody,” Mahajan alleged.

He alleged that no other doctor was allowed to use these machines. “The Department of Health and Medical Education should conduct an inquiry as to whether doctors other than Dr Aniece Choudhary could have conducted the required surgery and saved the life of the child belonging to the remote area of Doda. The child survived for several days after being brought from Doda but she could not survive the callousness of the Principal,” he said.

Mahajan appealed to the Principal Secretary, Health and Medical Education Department, Manoj Dwivedi, to inquire into the circumstances which led to the infant’s death.

He also warned the authorities that if the guilty were not booked and a proper inquiry was not conducted, his organization would be forced to hold protests against the Principal. The child was brought from Doda the SMGS hospital after a corn seed choked her windpipe on December 8. The family alleged that the girl was denied proper treatment in the hospital and she died allegedly due to negligence of the doctors at 2 am on Wednesday. The administration has ordered an inquiry into the death of the girl.

Yesterday, the Citizen Forum had demanded a thorough inquiry into the role of Principal, alleging that Dr Choudhary, who is the overall head of the ENT department of the GMCH, Jammu, was personally responsible for the “flip-flop” in the case.