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Adulteration on HC radar
Will hospitals coming up at Bemina deliver the goods?
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PDD ‘casual’ labourers go without pay for a year
As Tata leaves, billing and disconnection woes galore
20-year-old woman ends life
Three houses gutted in fire
Chronic lack of fire-fighting equipment
Handwara villagers face water scarcity
Dal periphery freezes as temperature dips
J&K Bank conducts review meeting
Pulwama limps back to normalcy
Geelani appeals to UN Secy General to resolve K-issue
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Adulteration on HC radar
Srinagar, January 2 The court has also ordered continuous testing of the milk being sold in the market. These directions were issued today by a Division Bench of the High Court comprising Justice Verinder Singh and Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar, which is hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking implementation of food safety standards to check food adulteration in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. “We are surprised to find that in October and November 2012, only four samples (of food items) have been taken in the city of Srinagar (for testing). In this factual situation, we are not satisfied with the performance of the (food safety) authorities concerned,” the Bench observed in its detailed orders passed today. The government and the officials concerned, the Bench directed, will provide all the “necessary paraphernalia” for making provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 “effective and visible on the ground”. The court also expressed its concern over reports of adulteration of food items and directed the authorities to carry out regular checking. “Authorities concerned in all districts of the state are directed to take samples on a weekly basis from all the factories/industrial units which manufacture and produce spices of all kinds. The samples should be taken in respect of other eatables too,” the court directed. The samples, it said, will be sent to laboratories concerned in accordance with the mandate contained in the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. “The authorities concerned will initiate action in accordance with law on the basis of the report so received. The samples will also be taken in respect of food items/eatables which are imported into the state of J&K from other states of the country and which are available in the market, on a weekly basis and sent for testing to the laboratories concerned and thereafter, appropriate action in accordance with law be taken in the matter,” the Bench further said, asking the respondent authorities to file compliance report in this regard before January 31. “The respondents are (also) directed to continuously keep testing the milk which is being sold in the market and to proceed in the accordance with law, where samples are found to be adulterated,” the Bench said, asking the authorities to initiate action against the violators. WHAT THE PIL SAYS
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Will hospitals coming up at Bemina deliver the goods?
Srinagar, January 2 The hospitals — having 200 beds each for maternity and child care — are coming up at Bemina, over land measuring 60 kanal. These hospitals would cater to the healthcare needs of mothers and children. Health experts say the land for setting the two hospitals is not sufficient. “For setting up a 100-bedded hospital, 80 kanal land is required. It is shocking that hospitals having 400 beds is coming up over 60 kanal land, that too in an area which is flood-prone,” said a doctor. “It looks that the government does have any futuristic vision, but it is trying to show it is doing various things after the public outrage over a high number of deaths of infants at GB Pant Hospital last year,” he added. Once the new hospital building is ready at Bemina, the government plans to shift the Valley’s only children hospital, GB Pant Hospital, to Bemina. At present, the GB Pant Hospital is a nearly 140-bedded paediatric hospital. “Once the two hospitals at Bemina get functional, there would be a mess and the government needs to acquire more land for setting up the hospital,” said another doctor. A senior health official said they would try to acquire more land for the hospital. “We are trying to have more land for the two hospitals,” he said. The maternity hospital will be funded by the Centre whereas the construction of the children hospital will be taken up with the state’s resources. “The maternity hospital will be constructed at an approved outlay of Rs 50 crore while the children hospital will cost about Rs 60 crore. Both these hospitals will be inter-connected and have several common facilities for convenience of patients. The building plan for both these hospitals was finalised recently,” said an official. He said soil-testing and ground-work had already been completed for these projects.
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PDD ‘casual’ labourers go without pay for a year
Srinagar, January 2 “We have been forced to go on an indefinite strike as the government is not addressing our genuine demands. We have been without salaries for the past one year and no one in the official machinery is bothered,” said a protester. He added that the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had sanctioned some money for the salaries of “casual” labourers last year. “But we have no idea as to where that money has gone. We have been forced to start an indefinite strike as our families are suffering because we have no money to feed them,” he added. Another protester said over 3,000 “casual” labourers were on strike today. “We will not call off the strike till our salaries are released,” he added. Half a dozen protesters were detained as they refused to disperse. The police said those detained were later released. |
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As Tata leaves, billing and disconnection woes galore
Srinagar, January 2 After announcing that it would wind up operations by January 18, Tata Teleservices had shut its offices, with its officials remaining non-committal over the manner in which it would reimburse the customers for advance payments and also for the devices that would get defunct. However, e-mails sent by the customer care centre of the company had promised that the customers would continue to enjoy internet services till January 18. “I was informed through an e-mail that I can enjoy the service till January 18, but my connection was snapped a few days back. On top of that, I am getting reminders that I should pay my bill even though Tata has shut its outlets where we would pay the bill. If the company has shut its billing counters, how can it expect its customers to pay bills?” said a miffed Tata Photon subscriber. Another subscriber said he had paid the bill online, for which he had not received a receipt. “As Tata shut its outlet, I paid the bill online, but did not get a receipt that I need for reimbursement from my office. After I contacted the customer care, they failed to give me a satisfactory reply,” he said. “The company has left the state in a bad taste even though it had earlier promised sops for the youth here.” Pertinently, the company's decision to wind up its operations in the state had come to the fore soon after the former chairman of the Tata Group Ratan Tata's visit here in October last year along with a delegation of corporate India’s top brass and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi, jobs being thereby promised for the local youth. @Meanwhile, Tata photon subscribers are still waiting for an announcement from the company regarding its decision on reimbursements to the customers. An e-mail from the company last month had said it would announce the same after directions from its "upper departments".
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20-year-old woman ends life
Srinagar, January 2 The woman was taken to nearby Sub-District Hospital Karnah, where she died. Her body has been handed over to the next of kin for last rites.Police has registered a case under Section 174 of CrPC to investigate how and under what circumstances the woman died, the spokesman said. There has been a spurt in suicides and attempted suicides across the region over the last few years. — TNS |
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Three houses gutted in fire
Srinagar, January 2 Fire broke out at the joint residence of Farooq Ahmad Pandith, Mohammad Ayoub Pandith and Abdul Aziz Pandith, sons of Ghulam Mohammad Pandith, at Nowpora area of Khanyar in the city here, resulting in complete damage to the house, a police spokesman said. The fire was brought under control with the help fire tenders and local police units, the spokesman said. In another incident of fire, joint residence of Ghulam Rasool Khosa and Javid Ahmad Mir at Chowdry Bagh area of Rainawari in the city here was caught in a blaze, resulting in partial damage to the house. In Satboyian village of Kupwara district, fire completely damaged the house of Bashir Ahmad Khatana. The blaze was brought under control with the help of local police and fire tenders. A case has been registered, the spokesman said.
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Chronic lack of fire-fighting equipment
Srinagar, January 2 Last year, short-circuit in the Science block of the university triggered a fire, which caused considerable damage to the laboratory instruments and classroom furniture due to lack of instant fire-fighting mechanism in the university. While there are many heritage buildings (old structures) housing various departments, libraries and even residential quarters, made of timber wood, thus being highly prone to fire incidents, adequate fire-fighting infrastructure is seemingly absent. Except for the five hostels in the campus where a few fire extinguishers were installed many years back, which have become useless, the rest of the campus sans fire prevention mechanism. Residents of Maulana Anwar Shah Boys Hostel on the Naseem Bagh campus of the university decried half-hearted measures of the authorities in ensuring implementation of fire-fighting measures and upgradation of infrastructure. They said three years back, when the university’s 50-year-old Shiekh-ul-Alam Hostel was caught in fire, almost 26 student rooms of the hostel were gutted in no time. “At that time, the top floor caught fire, and the effects were disastrous. Even the first and ground floors’ property was damaged due to the blaze. Many students lost their precious degree certificates and research work and other valuable possessions in that horrendous fire incident and are yet to get over that tragedy,” a resident scholar said. Kashmir University authorities say in order to address the long-pending concern of the students and faculty, a disaster management panel headed by Chief Proctor, KU, has been constituted to look into disaster preparedness arrangements, including fire-fighting measures. “Recently, we called a meeting which was attended by not only varsity officials but also by officials of disaster management department and state administration wherein steps taken for effective disaster management and prevention of disasters were discussed. We have thereby constituted a panel, headed by Chief Proctor, which will oversee implementation of such measures and give us the estimates of necessary funding required for upgradation of infrastructure,” Prof Zaffer Reshi, Registrar, Kashmir University, said. |
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Handwara villagers face water scarcity
Handwara, January 2 They said the Public Health Engineering (PHE) adviser Handwara had suspended the water tanker service to the villages for the past one week, which has aggravated their problems. According to them, the villages including Woskhora, Pohru Chakla, Hanji Shat and Ahanger Mohalla, falling in the radius of 5 km from Handwara were yet to be provided the water supply facility. Fatima Begum of Pohru Chakla said, "My children make use of a hand-cart to fetch water in buckets and other utensils from Pohru nullah, which is half-a-km from our village. In absence of water supply facility, we are forced to consume contained water from the nullah." Another resident complained, "The PHE division Handwara suspended the tanker supply last week, forcing us to consume contaminated water from nullah. In the intense cold, women folk are forced to leave their houses early in the morning to collect water from the nullah." Locals said despite repeated pleas, the authorities had not provided them the water supply facility over the past years. "We made several representations to officers including DC Kupwara to provide us the drinking water facility, but they always made false assurances," complained Ghulam Hassan, resident of Hanji Shat. Executive PHE division Mohd Afzal said the division will soon start work to provide the villagers the facility. He said at least three water tankers will also be pressed into service to provide drinking water to the villagers. "I must admit that at least 400 households in these villages are facing shortage of water. We will provide them drinking water through tankers on a regular basis. The division will also start work on water supply scheme to provide them the facility in the near future," said the officer.
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Dal periphery freezes as temperature dips
Srinagar, January 2 Local residents living in the vicinity of Dal lake here said a thin layer of frost was seen till noon today. “The peripheries of the lake remained covered with a thin layer of frost,” said Nasir Hussain, a resident of Mir Behri area. “The shikarawallas (boatmen) had to break the ice before rowing their boats,” he added. The peripheries of the lake and other bodies usually freeze in the morning hours during the ‘Chilla kalaan’- Kashmir’s harshest 40-day winter period beginning on December 21. The lake freezes completely in case harsher winter conditions are witnessed. Even as the day remained sunny, minimum temperatures in the Valley dipped further as compared to the previous night. Srinagar city saw a low of minus 3.9°C as compared to previous night’s temperature of minus 2.5°C an official of the Meteorological Department said. Similarly, Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir, saw a low of minus 5.0 degrees Celsius as compared to 2.5 the night before. Night temperatures at other parts of Kashmir too dipped further. The ski resort of Gulmarg, which is covered in a snow blanket in north Kashmir, recorded the coldest night temperature. The resort saw a low of minus 9.2 °C while the border town of Kupwara recorded minus 3.0 degrees minimum temperature. The tourist resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir saw a low of minus 7.7 °C. Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Kupwara had recorded minus 8.2, minus 5.4 and minus 2.6 °C minimum temperatures, respectively, the previous night. The maximum temperatures recorded at Srinagar, Qazigund, Pahalgam and Kupwara were 9.2, 9.5, 7.0 and 10.2 °C, respectively.
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J&K Bank conducts review meeting
Srinagar, January 2 The bank spokesman said the meeting was held to review achievements under the District Credit Plan (DCP) 2012-13. “District Development Commissioner (DDC), Baramulla, chaired the meeting. Lead District Manager (LDM), Baramulla, placed before the house the details of achievements made by the financial institutions as on September 30 last year, under the DCP of Rs 685.12 crore with priority sector portion of Rs 550.12 crore,” the spokesman added. DDC Baramulla advised all the banks and the sponsoring agencies functioning in the district to work in coordination so that the targets of development were achieved. |
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Pulwama limps back to normalcy
Anantnag, January 2 Sources said Pulwama town and its peripheries came back to life after all the shops, commercial establishments and government offices resumed their work today. “The traffic plied on normally and no untoward incident was reported from any part of the district,” sources said. About 14 youth, who were arrested on Tuesday after clashes, were also released by the police after a meeting with the Traders’ Federation of the district. “The police agreed upon the unconditional release of the 14 youth, who were arrested on Tuesday evening. This is the reason that the area remained peaceful today,” sources said. The curfew was lifted after four days from the area, however, widespread clashes were reported from many areas of the district soon after the restrictions were eased off. Several people were injured during the clashes, one of them critically. “The critically injured youth, identified as Zubair Ahmad Pandit, had been hit on his mouth by a tear gas shell and was shifted to Srinagar hospital for treatment,” sources said. The local shopkeepers had alleged that their shops were ransacked during the curfew and the makeshift shops of hawkers were completely destroyed. Curfew had been imposed in south Kashmir district after the Army allegedly fired and injured at least 10 civilians during an encounter in Budgam area of the district, in which two local LeT militants were also killed. While the Army has been vehemently denying the allegations, a magisterial probe has been ordered in to the firing incident by the district administration. “The police too have lodged an FIR against the Army, bearing number 399/ 2012, under Sections 307, 148, 427 of the RPC,” sources said.
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Geelani appeals to UN Secy General to resolve K-issue
Srinagar, January 2 Geelani made the appeal to the UN chief three days ahead of the 64th anniversary of the world body’s Kashmir resolution, passed in 1949 on January 5, which forms the bedrock of the Kashmir's separatist struggle. “Kashmir dispute stands as the biggest hurdle for the peace, stability and development of south Asia and it is because of this that there is uncertainty in the entire region,” Geelani said as he appealed UN Secretary General to solve the issue. The January 5 UN resolution, which was passed immediately after a ceasefire was brokered between Indian and Pakistani forces fighting in Kashmir, calls for a plebiscite to be held in the region to decide whether Kashmir will merge with India or Pakistan. Separatists over the decades have demanded the UN resolution to be implemented as the only solution to Kashmir issue. The hardline group will also organise a seminar ‘Honorable, democratic and lasting solution - self determination’ on January 5 to commemorate the day.
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Concerned over increased adulteration of food items, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has directed government authorities concerned to take the samples.
While night temperatures further dipped across the Valley, the peripheries of Dal lake froze as a result in the morning hours.
Local residents living in the vicinity of Dal lake here said a thin layer of frost was seen till noon today. “The peripheries of the lake remained covered with a thin layer of frost,” said Nasir
Hussain, a resident of Mir Behri area.
