Anantnag, December 14
People of far-flung rural areas of South Kashmir have grown all the more apprehensive of the difficult times ahead. Residents of remote areas in Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian districts say that they are indeed caught up with hard times.

“The authorities do take care of the major towns; however, for people of far-flung areas, the snowfall has come as a nightmare. We get cut off from the rest of the world,” said Abdul Majeed, a resident of Rakhibrah village of Anantnag district.

He said last year, for 10 days after the snowfall, they remained cut off from the rest of the valley, not having even basic amenities like drinking water, medicine and electricity. Villages like Ranipora, Kuther, Andoora, Narovpora, Andarwan, Wailoo and many other villages in Anantnag district have similar tales to relate.

Locals of Khuri-Batpora, Ranbirpora and other villages adjoining Damhal Hanjipora area of Kulgam district complained that the roads in their area were not cleared at all after the snowfall last year and to make things worse, they faced acute shortage of water and electricity.

“This year, we hope against hope that the administration will take care of things and it will not make us suffer like in the last so many years,” said Abdul Ahad Mir of Khuri Batpora village in Kulgam district. Prespora, Zadoora and Lonepora villages of Pulwama district, as well as Batmarg, Vanpora and Kellar villages of Shopian district recount the difficult times they have had to face in the past.

“We run out of basic amenities and then nobody cares for our well-being,” said Abdul Samad of Zadoora village in Pulwama district.

The authorities maintain they are all geared up and all the departments pertaining to essential services have been put on high alert.

“I have talked to all the departments concerned and everybody is geared up,” said Farooq Ahmad Shah, District Development Commissioner, Anantnag.

He said any official found neglecting his duties will be dealt with strictly.

Meanwhile, the District Development Commissioner Kulgam, Mir Jahangir, also assured that they are all ready and geared up.

“We held a meeting and have prioritised the areas. We will keep a snow-cutting machine in the Damhal Hanjipora area on standby and make sure that the snow is cleared in time,” said the DDC. Officials of the other two districts also assured speedy action.

Srinagar, December 14
Incessant rain and snow over the past two days have led to water-logging in many parts of the city. The water-logged streets caused problems to pedestrians and vehicles were moving at a slow pace at many places.

“Whenever we get rains, the roads at many places including Residency Road and areas in the vicinity of City Centre Lal Chowk are water-logged and turn muddy. The authorities wake up only for a while when faced with a problem, but no pre-emptive measures are taken,” said Jehangir Ahmad, a local.

Meanwhile, Ali Mohammad Sagar, Minister for Rural Development, Panchayat Raj, Law Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, toured several parts of the city to take stock of problems faced by the people including water-logging.

“The minister suggested remedial measures for water-logging to officers of Flood Control Department and said that necessary steps should be taken to ensure that water-logging does not occur in low-lying areas of the city,” said an official.

Srinagar, December 14
The Jammu and Kashmir government has suspended a gynaecologist who has been charged by police with murdering a newborn in Kupwara.

The gynaecologist Shan-i-Alam, posted at Sub-District Hospital, Kupwara, was arrested on December 12 along with his associates Naseema, a part-time sweeper in the hospital and Nazir Ahmad Mochi of Muqam Shahwali after it surfaced that the trio had murdered the newborn and later dumped the body in a nearby stream.

“We have suspended the doctor and a show-cause notice has been issued against him,” Director Health Kashmir, Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman, said. “An inquiry has been initiated against the doctor.” Police had recovered a body of a newborn from a stream on December 10. Upon investigation, police was able to reach the woman who had given birth to the baby.

“Following interrogation, the woman told the police the name of the doctor and his two associates who carried out the delivery at the hospital,” police had said.

Police investigations found that the baby was born alive and was later dumped in a nearby stream due to which he died.

Sources said Alam has, in the past too, found to have been involved in unethical practices. In fact, police had registered a case under Section 315 (Act done with intent to prevent child from being born alive or to cause it to die after birth) in police station Tangmarg Baramulla. The doctor had been chargesheeted in that case too, which is being heard in the court of law.

Alam was posted in the Sub-district Hospital Kupwara last year and was also practicing at a private clinic in the border town.

Srinagar, December 14
The Higher Secondary Schools of the Kashmir division and winter zones of the Jammu division will be closed from tomorrow for a two-and-a-half month winter break, as per the School Education Department directive.

As the cold waves had intensified over the past few weeks in the Valley, attending schools was difficult for the students, teachers and parents. With Kashmir experiencing its first snowfall of the season yesterday, the winter vacations had brought cheer for the students.

“It had become difficult for the students to attend early morning classes in the shivering cold. We thank the Department of School Education in taking the timely measure which prevents trouble to the students,” Rashid Beigh, a parent said.

Although, a majority of the primary/upper-primary schools had closed on December 3, reports of some private schools, who were still conducting the Classes for VIII and VII standards were pouring in. “We will take stern action against any private institution, who is found taking classes, against violation of the government orders,” a School Education Department official said.

Srinagar, December 14
The pen-down strike of the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), an amalgam of various employees' bodies, today affected work at government offices across the Kashmir valley.

The JCC had called for a two-day strike from today to protest against the government’s failure to fulfil their long-pending demands.

Talking to the Tribune, JCC leader Farooq Trali claimed that “90 per cent work was affected” across government offices in Kashmir. He said the JCC would intensify protests if the government continues to “cold-shoulder” their demands.

Trali said the next in the series of protests would be finalised in a JCC meeting in Jammu today. He said the programme would be announced tomorrow as the JCC was planning to hold a sit-in outside the Raj Bhavan in Jammu. “The next course of action will be announced after our sit-in tomorrow wherein all the senior JCC leaders would be present,” Trali said.

Pertinently, after a series of protests and strikes by the employees earlier this year, the government had made an agreement with the JCC wherein the employees were assured that a decision on their demands would be announced by September 30. The JCC then resumed protests, saying the government had ‘betrayed’ them.

The employees’ demands include release of arrears recommended by the Sixth Pay Commission, enhancement of retirement age from 58 to 60 years, removal of pay anomalies and regularisation of daily wagers and casual workers working in various government departments.

The other JCC demands are inclusion of five years of contractual service of Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) teachers in the service book and regularisation of education volunteers after seven years of service.

Srinagar, December 14
Four persons have been injured in two road accidents in the Valley, the police said. A CRPF ambulance hit a motorcycle at Boulevard Road near Shankar Acharya crossing in the city here resulting in injuries to the motorcyclist, identified as Nissar Ahmad Wani, a resident of Nishat area.

The injured has been shifted to hospital and a case has been registered, the police said. In another accident, a Beacon vehicle hit and injured three students of BEd College at the Model Town in north Kashmir’s Sopore area. All the injured have been shifted to hospital for treatment, the police said.

Kupwara, December 14
A man-eater leopard, who is posing threat to the lives of people, in Doosepora and Rationpora villages of Kupwara district is avoiding the trap set up by the Wildlife Department since Tuesday.

A senior wildlife official said they were desperately waiting for the leopard to enter into the cage and get trapped. “The animal has not entered the cage for the past four days. Given the increasing movement of the animal in human habitations, we expected to trap it in just two days, but the leopard cleverly escaped,” he said.

Living amid increasing scare of wild animals, the local residents are equally desperate to see the animal trapped in the cage. They said the man-eater leopards have devoured dozens of cattle and were posing great dangers to the human lives, especially the children. At least six persons have been injured in the attacks by the wild animals in these villages during the past one year.

Facing mounting pressure for failing to deal with the increasing scare of wild animals in many villages of Kupwara district, the Wildlife Department on Tuesday had set up cages to trap a leopard in Doosepora and Rationpora villages.

“We are hopeful to trap the animal in the next few days. At times, it takes a few weeks as the leopards, being clever, do not get trapped easily,” said the official.

The Wildlife Department has deputed a team of officials in the villages to constantly monitor the cages. “If we do not succeed in trapping the animal till Monday, we may remove the traps and lay it at a different place in the villages. Sometimes animals sense trouble and change their ways and in such cases cages need to be changed from one place to another,” he said.

Residents of some other villages in Lolab, including Charkote, Maidanpora, Dardpora and Warnow said the increasing movement of the wild animals was posing threat to their lives. They appealed the wildlife authorities to put cages in these villages and trap the animals on prowl. 

Srinagar, December 14
A treasurer of St Joseph Higher Secondary School in North Kashmir’s Baramulla district has been arrested for fraudulently withdrawing Rs 42 lakh from CP Fund of the employees of the school, police today said.

The chargesheet was filed against the accused in the court today, a police spokesman said. The spokesman said the principal of the school had lodged a complaint alleging that while scrutinising the books of accounts pertaining to CP fund of staff members, huge discrepancies had been observed.

Preliminary investigations revealed that there has been a huge withdrawal and transfer of the money from the individual CP Fund accounts of a number of school employees without their consent and knowledge, the spokesman said.

A case under sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 406 of RPC was registered and a special investigation team was constituted under the supervision of DSP Headquarters Baramulla who initiated the investigation.

A Special Investigation Team seized documents and withdrawal forms, paying-in-slips from J-K Bank branch Baramulla and upon investigation, it was found that the CP funds were withdrawn by the treasurer Javid Ahmad Wani, a resident of Delina, the spokesman said

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
The 35th Inter Frontier Athletic Meet 2012 of the Border Security Force (BSF) that started on December 10 was declared closed today by the BSF, Jammu Frontier, IG, Rajiv Krishna.

A coloruful march past was carried out by the players, which was followed by a cultural programme presented by students of the BSF School, Paloura.

Jammu emerged winners, followed by Rajasthan and Punjab respectively. Later, the IG distributed medals to the winners and the teams and also addressed the gathering present at the BSF stadium, Paloura.

A total of 13 frontiers of the BSF from across the country participated in the sports meet, in which as many as 800 sportsmen in variosu disciplines showed their physical skills.

Jammu, December 14
Members of Bar fraternity have greeted the J&K National Panthers Party (JKNPP) chairman and senior Supreme Court lawyer Bhim Singh on his election to the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Executive Committee.

Several advocates in the Supreme Court today greeted Singh on his victory as the senior executive member of the SCBA.

Several advocates expressed hope that the association would turn active in promoting the interest of the lawyers’ fraternity and strengthening healthy cooperation between the Bar and the Bench. Singh was among six senior executive members, who were declared elected on Thursday.

Jammu, November 14
The 61st All India Police Hockey Championship, which started on December 7, concluded here this evening.

Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani was the chief guest on the closing ceremony. The championship was hosted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP), which lasted for eight days. 26 teams from various states and union territories participated in the championship.

Addressing the function, Nasir Aslam Wani said Jammu and Kashmir has been playing a pivotal role in promoting sports in the state and honing skills of the youth. He said such events provide an opportunity to the sports lovers to witness high-tech competitions among national-level teams and inspire them to refine their talent.

The minister said players of the state, who excel outstanding in the national events, would be provided advanced coaching so that they could represent the country in international competitions. He said the state government was considering to make available job avenues for the outstanding sportspersons in the state.

Earlier, the Director General of Police (DGP), Ashok Prasad said the JKP had been organising sports events at various levels to refine the talent within and outside the department. He said the endeavours had yielded good results and our players brought laurels at different national, international competitions for the state and the organisation. The JKP has stood high in the sports arena, besides its professional duties and the organisation has hosted different national-level championships in the state, he added.

The DGP disclosed that more than 26 teams representing various states and central police organisations participated in the eight-day long championship.