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Monkeys gnaw at govt
efforts
Oil firms told to allow new LPG outlets by January
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Govt employees court arrest on Day 2 of strike
Jammu to get 826 new
water supply schemes soon: Minister
JKCA rolls out red carpet for Ranji players
Manjakote gets new treasury office
Govt to promote religious
tourism
NC hails peace initiatives taken by India, Pakistan
Red Cross Mela begins at Kala Kendra
Authorities take Legislative Assembly for a
ride
Kathua to hold Republic Day function at sports stadium
Double delight for J&K team
at National School Games
Symposium on energy conservation
Jammu clinches first slot at inter frontier athletic meet
Nagbani students excel in yoga c’ship
J&K pugilists bag four medals in police games
Vicky Club enters next round
Sports meet concludes
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Monkeys gnaw at govt
efforts
Jammu, December 15 The problem is serious in areas such as Panjthirthi. Direct fallout of the department’s failure has been a marked increase in the incidents of man- animal conflict. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), established by Legislative Assembly, had also expressed concern over the issue. The Wildlife Department has also been told to look for alternatives to deal with the rising simian population.
The PAC, headed by MLA Rafi Ahmad Mir, had directed the wildlife department authorities to take immediate short-term measures to shift the monkey population from Ahata Amar Singh and Panjtherthi areas to bring relief to the residents. The population of the city has grown and many areas on the outskirts have turned into concrete jungles, thereby bringing monkeys closer to human habitations. Monkeys often pounce on visitors carrying eatables. The monkeys have virtually taken over the Bahu Fort, Mohmaya temple; Mubarak Mandi Palace and Nagrota. Few years back the State Forest Department had decided to detain travellers, who were found feeding monkeys along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (1-A), but the plan remained on paper. The plan to shift them from localities was also dropped as a majority of the simians captured and left outside the city trekked their way back to the same place after some time. “A monkey lives for 12-13 years. We cannot even keep them in captivity, as it is very difficult to feed them for such a long period,” said an official. Minister for Forest Mian Altaf said, “We are studying strategies adopted across the world to deal with the man-animal conflict and new concepts will be introduced to deal with the issue.” Monkeys are slowly occupying Bag-e-Bahu garden forcing many visitors to skip their visit to the garden. MLA Rafi Ahmed Mir, “There is need to use scientific methods to end the problems arising of the rising monkey population and frequent conflict with the wild animals and we have decided that the PAC will keep a track of the efforts made by the state government in this regard.” Encroachment of their natural habitat by humans and building national highway close to the area has led to the monkey population penetrating into urban areas. “Visitors often feed these monkeys which attracts them towards the parks. We are trying to educate the people to stop doing so,” said a park official.
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Oil firms told to allow new LPG outlets by January
Jammu, December 15 The government had announced that it would open 65 new outlets in the rural areas to provide the facility of LPG to the people, but the cap on the subsidised cylinders by the Centre in September slowed down the process, as companies were involved verification process. New outlets were to be opened in 65 blocks of Jammu region and Kashmir province with a population of 4,000 and a potential of 60 connections. “We have ordered the oil companies to accelerate the process to establish gas agencies at the block level for which the formalities, including the requisite advertisements will be completed till January,” CAPD Minister Qamar Ali Akhoon said. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Limited, and Indian Oil Corporation distribute refills in the state. While the oil companies operating in the state have increased their retail outlets for petrol and diesel manifold over the years, they have miserably failed to expand the crucial LPG dealership network in the state for better distribution of cooking gas. As per the all-India norms there should have been 1,700 distributors to cater to the requirement of 10 lakh LPG consumers. Meanwhile, getting tough against the agencies, the CAPD department has directed distributors to display the rate of cylinders and gas supply position in their outlets which should be easily visible. “Government has also asked the oil companies to update Know Your Customer (KYC) forms within a month so that the consumers do not suffer anymore in getting cooking gas,” Akhoon said. About 1.25 lakh consumers were blocked by the companies in the Jammu region due to non-verification of connections in view of the policy to cap the number of subsidised cylinders to six per household per year. Though many of them have been regularised, but people still find it difficult to get gas refills in time.
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Govt employees court arrest on Day 2 of strike
Jammu, December 15 They were demanding that the state government should implement an agreement signed between a sub-committee appointed by the state government and employee unions in 2010 and 2012. It was agreed that the retirement age of the employees would be enhanced from 58 to 60 years and ad-hoc employees would be regularised, they said. Employees assembled near the MA Stadium in the morning before moving towards Raj Bhawan. The police stopped them on the way. Demanding regularisation of daily wagers, casual labourers, contractual and ad-hoc employees who have completed seven years of service in different departments, the Employees Joint Consultative Committee (EJCC) leader Muhammad Gafoor Dar said, “Administrative apathy towards genuine issues was against the ethos of justice and fair play. It was a cruel joke with these youngsters, who were engaged in various departments on an ad-hoc basis and have put many years in service.” “Labour laws across the state are being brazenly flouted. Besides factory-owners, the norms are being violated by the government itself,” Dar alleged. On the second day of the strike call routine work was affected in government offices, and people had to face a tough time getting their work done. Employees were on a two- day pen down strike across the state. Another Union member, Ganesh Khajuria said, “Till the agreement signed between the government and union representatives is not implemented we will continue to organise such agitations.” Enhancement in the retirement age is one of the key demands of the union, which had negotiated with the sub-committee on a number of issues, including the release of arrears on account of implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission report, removal of pay anomalies, conversion of the cost of living allowance (COLA) into dearness allowance (DA) and regularisation of daily wagers.
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Jammu to get 826 new
water supply schemes soon: Minister
Jammu, December 15 This was disclosed in a review meeting of the PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control sectors, chaired by Minister for PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control, Taj Mohi-ud-Din, here today. The members were informed that 826 water supply schemes under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme are in various stages of execution in Jammu at the cost of Rs 1,189 crore. He said 692 hand pumps had been installed in the province till November. In addition, 322 schools were covered under drinking water supply in the year. The Minister impressed upon engineers to avoid the overrun cost of schemes by sticking to the deadline. He also directed blacklisting of contractors who fail to complete works within the scheduled time. Taj directed the head of every division to visit the respective areas to supervise the estimates and execution of the schemes. He also asked them to prepare a database of all the schemes in operation in the state. He also asked the engineers to make good use of the geological atlas developed by the Department so that exploration of the sub- surface and groundwater becomes easy. In a separate review meeting, Taj asked the engineers to undertake cleaning of canals on a priority basis. He asked them to improve the distributory network of canals in view of the fact that an additional 500 cusecs of water is available for irrigation purposes this year.
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JKCA rolls out red carpet for Ranji players
Jammu, December 15 Sources said, JKCA chief Dr Abdullah, who is also the Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy had hosted a dinner for the victorious J&K Ranji Trophy team yesterday for their two wins on trot against Assam and Kerala, respectively. Sources said the J&K Chief Minister along with other dignitaries also attended the dinner and congratulated the team. “It is a great morale booster for the cricketers as the JKCA chief is all praises for their tremendous show against quality sides,” a source said. “Dr Abdullah also emphasised upon the selectors to keep an eye on the performance of youngsters of both provinces who are playing at various levels and provide them appropriate opportunities to prove their worth at the national level,” he added. “Expressing resentment over the recent issue of indiscipline shown by the senior cricketers of Kashmir namely Sammiullah Beig and Majid Dar, the JKCA president has warned that the state cricket body would not tolerate such behaviour from any player. Strict action will be taken against those found indulging in this kind of act in the future,” source claimed. “We are not against the senior cricketers. In fact, a complete team involves a blend of both young and experienced and for that the presence of seniors in the team is equally important,” a source said. “JKCA chief while hosting a dinner for the team had made his intentions pretty clear that he was satisfied with the balance maintained by the selection panel in the selection of the team and now it is for both the cricketers and the selectors to continue with their good work in the upcoming matches,” he said. Manzoor Wazir, JKCA Treasurer said, “After a pathetic performance at home, the team is playing exceptionally well and let us hope for the momentum to continue.” “JKCA president, Dr Farooq Abdullah has appreciated the performance of Ranji team while at the dinner,” he added.
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Manjakote gets new treasury office
Rajouri, December 15 This was the long pending demand of the local residents. After inaugurating the treasury, Rather also addressed a public rally where hundreds of party workers, panches, sarpanches and local residents gathered, despite chilly weather conditions since early morning. Addressing the rally, local leaders demanded, a Degree College for the area. Local MLA and MOS Shabir Ahmed Khan demanded a Sub-district Hospital for Thanamandi, CHC, Dongi and a Community Hall for Rajouri. Shabir Ahmed Khan said the finance minister has assured that he would provide all necessary help and support the needs of the people of the area.
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Govt to promote religious
tourism
Jammu, December 15 The 12-day long religious event is going to begin from December 25. About 5 lakh devotees from across the country are expected to attend the Mahayagya. Minister for Revenue Raman Bhalla today reviewed the arrangements made the district administration for the event. He interacted with large numbers of pilgrims of the Shri Diwarakanath Shastri Paviter Samadhi Sathal at Sohajana in Marh during his visit. He has said the government is paying attention to promote the varied pilgrimage potential in Sohajana village in Marh. To promote religious tourism, the state government has taken a series of steps. The authorities concerned are busy in creating proper infrastructure to attract pilgrims as well as tourists to the area. Bhalla directed the departments concerned to make all necessary arrangements at the venue so that pilgrims do not face any inconvenience during the 12-day long Mahayagya. He asked PDD to provide regular power supply and street lights at the venue. MLA Ashwani Sharma, District Development Commissioner Sanjeev Verma and other senior officers from PHE, PDD, JMC, R&B, health and police accompanied the minister.
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NC hails peace initiatives taken by India, Pakistan
Jammu, December 15 Addressing a meeting of party workers from Suchetgarh and Bishnah assembly segments, NC provincial president Rattan Lal Gupta urged the governments of India and Pakistan to enter into a sustained dialogue and find a permanent solution to the Kashmir problem. He also emphasised on streamlining the trade across the LoC where in the barter system should be replaced by the cash transfer system and opening of Jammu-Sialkot road, Nowshera Changer-Mirpur road, Kargil-Skardu road and Mendhar-Tattapani road . Taranjit Singh Tony, Kamal Arora, Laxmi Dutta, Jugal Mahajan, Balwinder Singh and panches and sarpanches of the border belt also spoke on the occasion. — TNS
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Red Cross Mela begins at Kala Kendra
Jammu, December 15 He said the Indian Red Cross Society is a pioneer organisation and rendering selfless philanthropic services for the betterment of the society. It has been rendering service to the destitute, disabled and other distressed classes, besides carrying out commendable work during natural calamities. “We all should support the organisation whole heartedly to fullfill its commitment,” Sham said. Lauding the efforts of organisers for holding the mela, the minister said the event would go a long-way in generating awareness amongst the people, especially students and helping in promoting the mandate of the organisation. He asked the students and younger generation to associate with the IRCS and contribute their valuable role. Jammu Divisional Commissioner Pradeep Gupta, who is also chairman of the IRCS Jammu Region, highlighted the importance of the society and said that efforts are afoot to involve more and more people in its fold. He gave brief resume of the functioning of the organisation and steps initiated to further improve it. |
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Authorities take Legislative Assembly for a
ride
Jammu, December 15
While referring to a hike in remuneration of ReTs in reply of which the government had on March 5, assured the Legislative Assembly that Rs 3,000 would be paid to ReTs with effect from April 2012, the CPI (M) leader regretted how the authorities concerned in the state take the House at a ride. Maintaining that any demands put forward by the government employees, who are a part of the system, can best be sorted out through a mutual dialogue, the government must shun the confrontational attitude and be responsive to the genuine concerns of its employees and find an amicable settlement of their demands. “Shrugging off from responsibilities by either sides was against the public interests,” he said while asking the government to release wages of the need- based workers and casual labourers of various government departments forthwith. “This hapless lot had been put to tremendous hardships despite toiling hard in pressing circumstances. It is irony of sorts that these workers are not being paid even minimum wages,” he said.
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Kathua to hold Republic Day function at sports stadium
Kathua, December 15 It was decided at the meeting that the main function will be held at the Sports Stadium, Kathua, where the VIP will unfurl the flag and take salute from the contingents of the district police,and other forces. The celebration on the day will begin with the playing of Shahnai Vadan and patriotic songs by the Information Department at the Deputy Commissioner Office and SSP Office, Kathua. DDC Zahid Khan directed the officers concerned to ensure arrangements like security, sanitation, barricading, water and power supply, transportation and illumination of important buildings on the Republic Day. |
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Double delight for J&K team
at National School Games
Jammu, December 15 With these wins, the J&K team created history by winning gold medals in each event. In the boys’ section, J&K got the better of Madhya Pradesh by 15 runs. Batting first, the host team accumulated 84 runs in the allotted 12 overs for the loss of seven wickets. Wahid and Amir were the top scorers with 28 and 16 runs respectively. In reply, Madhya Pradesh could manage to score 69 runs in their allotted quota of overs. For J&K, Omar and Sikander were the wreckers-in-chief with two wickets apiece. In the girls’ section, the J&K team overcame the challenge of Gujarat by nine wickets with consummate ease. Minister for Youth Services and Sports RS Chib was the chief guest on the occasion. He gave away winner and runners-up trophies to the teams. The minister congratulated the host team for their outstanding performance and lauded the efforts of the Department of Youth Services for organising the event. A total of 24 teams
participated in the championship held under the banner of the School Games Federation of India (SGFI). |
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Symposium on energy conservation
Jammu, December 15 Students laid stress on the conservation of energy resources, which are depleting at a fast rate. They also expressed concern about the needs of the future generation in respect of the resources. Principal Prof Sukham Chand presided over the function. —
TNS
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Jammu clinches first slot at inter frontier athletic meet
Jammu, December 15 Later, the IG BSF Jammu distributed medals among the winners. He addressed the gathering present at BSF Stadium, Paloura. A total of 13 frontiers of the BSF from across the country participated in the meet organised by the BSF Jammu Frontier. As many as 800 sportsmen had shown their skills in different discipline in the meet. Winners: 1. Jammu 2. Rajasthan 3. Punjab |
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Nagbani students excel in yoga c’ship
Jammu, December 15 Nagbani students bagged 8 medals, including 3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze. Keshav Chib claimed a gold medal in the U-11 age group while Nadeem Ahmed Wazir and Akash Sharma had to settle for a silver medal and a bronze medal respectively in the U-14 age group. In the U-17 boys’ category, Mohammad Hussain bagged gold, Naman Sharma got silver and Heemanshu Bhat claimed bronze. In the U-17 girls’ section, Akanksha Bhat clinched a gold medal while in the U-21 boys’ group, Pardeep Singh fetched a silver medal. |
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J&K pugilists bag four medals in police games
Jammu, December 15 Asha Jamwal clinched a silver medal while the bronze medals went to Khalida Bano, Shehnaz Akhter and Rajni Kumari. Director General of Police (DGP) Ashok Prasad had congratulated the medallists and their coach Inspector Satyakam Sharma for their achievements. ADGP (armed, law and order) K Rajendra, DIGs T Punchuk, Johnny William and JP Singh and other senior officers were also present at the function.
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Vicky Club enters next round
Jammu, December 15 Winning the toss and elected to bat first, KCC were all out at the score of 151 runs in 17 overs. Suresh was the top scorer with 58 runs in 29 balls. For the fielding side, Farooq and Babloo clinched three and two wickets respectively. In reply, the Vicky Club overhauled the target for the loss of five wickets in 17.5 overs. Farooq played a match-winning knock of 68 runs that came off 38 balls. Gagan contributed 27 runs to the team’s total. For KCC, Sanjay and Suresh took two and one wicket respectively. Farooq was declared the man of the match. The match was officiated by Zorawar Singh and Rajan Singh Bogal as umpires while Rohit Jamwal was the scorer.
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Sports meet concludes
Jammu, December 15 SHO Majalta Pardeep Gupta as the chief guest on distributed prizes among the winners. — TNS |
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Having failed to bring simian menace under control so far, the Wildlife Department has been told to do a rethink and formulate a new strategy to deal with the situation.
The state government has asked oil companies to complete the process of granting permission for new Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) outlets to be set up at the block- level by the end of January. The move comes to deal with scarcity of LPG. Delay in opening of new outlets has created a lot of problems for the consumers.
Jammu, December 15
Rajouri, December 15
Minister for Health Sham Lal Sharma inaugurated the 2-day Red Cross Mela organised by the IRCS Jammu Region, at Kala Kendra, here today.
He has called for further strengthening the Red Cross Society to achieve its objective. He stressed on the need for massive participation of all stakeholders of the society to make this vital organisation more vibrant and result-oriented.
Jammu, December 15
In a statement issued here today, Tarigami
has remarked that any further delay in meeting out the employees’ demands —regularisation of daily wagers and contractual staff, who have completed seven years of service, removal of pay anomalies, increase in remuneration of Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReTs), and payment of wages to causal and need-based labourers, would have adverse implications on the public.