Srinagar, February 28
In the case pertaining to killing of teenager Zahid Farooq, five civilian witnesses today deposed before the BSF-appointed General Security Forces Court (GSFC), which is holding a trial of the two accused BSF personnel in the teenage boy’s murder.

The BSF authorities had summoned six civilian witnesses for recording their statements before the BSF court. However, only five were able to depose today.

Earlier, on February 1 and 2, seven civilian witnesses, including the lone eyewitness in the case, had recorded their statements before the General Security Forces Court at sector headquarters of the BSF in Srinagar.

“The BSF authorities had summoned six persons from our locality for deposing before the BSF court, of whom, the statements of five were recorded today. The sixth person has been asked to record his statement on Saturday, March 2,” Farooq Ahmad Sheikh, father of the slain youth, told The Tribune.

The five persons who appeared before the court today, he said, include Ali Mohammad Sheikh, Nissar Ahmad Bhat, Ghulam Qadir Bhat, Javed Ahmad and Mohammad Ismail.

Farooq said on behalf of the family, no lawyer is representing their case before the BSF court. “We had asked the BSF authorities that the family be allowed to appoint a lawyer to represent our point of view, but we were told it is not needed,” he said, adding that the civilian witnesses who record their statements before the BSF-appointed court are not being provided copies of their recorded statements.

Zahid Farooq, a teenaged boy from Berin, Nishat, was killed in firing by BSF men on February 5, 2010, in Nishat area of Srinagar.

The police, after registering an FIR in the incident, had arrested a BSF commander RK Birdi and his subordinate and charged them for murder under Section 302 of Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).

Both the accused were later handed over to the BSF authorities by Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Srinagar for trying them before a BSF-appointed General Security Forces Court.

The police chargesheet had named 15 civilian witnesses in the case, of whom, 12 have appeared before the General Security Forces Court so far. These include five civilians who appeared before it today.

Srinagar, February 28
One person died while another was injured in different road accidents across the Kashmir Valley, the Police said on Thursday. In Kulgam district of south Kashmir, a lady was killed during a road accident.

“A Tata Mobile (JK01T/3369) hit and injured a lady Sitara Begum, wife of Mohammad Ramzan Bhat, resident of Gufbal Quimoh, at Gufbal, Kulgam,” a police spokesman said. The injured woman, he said, was admitted in Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura in Srinagar, where she succumbed to her injuries.

“A case has been registered,” he added. Another person was injured in a road accident in Handwara tehsil in north Kashmir.

“A Tata Magic (JK09/8261) and Sumo (JK09/8624) collided near Petrol Pump, Chogal Handwara on National Highway, which resulted in injuries to Mohammad Shafi Dar, son of Sonaullah, resident of Chogal, who was travelling in the Magic,” the police spokesman said.

The injured was admitted in hospital for treatment, he said, adding that a case had been registered. — TNS

Srinagar, February 28
Due to the curfew/strike period in the Valley, the dates for applying to various postgraduate degree and diploma courses at Kashmir University have been extended from February 20 to March 2.

Kashmir University officials said the entrance examination for admission to KU would be held from March 11 to March 20 as per the revised notification which was issued by the Dean Academic Affairs, KU, today.

The availability of online application forms has certainly brought down the problems students have been facing otherwise while applying for courses in the main campus.

The students have been provided with a choice to opt for various courses (in the order of their preference) through a single online application form.

The toughest part of the examination lies ahead, with tens of thousands of students battling it out for 3,500 seats in 37 postgraduate degree and diploma courses at Kashmir 
University.

“We are receiving a huge number of applications as has always been the trend and there are limited seats available. Rough estimates right now put the number of applications received at more than 30,000. This number is going to definitely surge to at least 40,000 in the next three days,” an administrative official at Kashmir University said.

KU Vice Chancellor Prof Talat Ahmad had earlier said during the last 
academic session (2012-2013), 35,000 application forms from students 
were received for a total of 3,500 seats.

With KU authorities ruling out the possibility of further increase in the intake capacity of the KU campus, the students would have to apply in the two other Universities, Central University - Kashmir and Islamic University of Science and Technology Awantipora respectively.

IUST and Central University Kashmir would be starting their admission processes in March which is also expected to invite applications in thousands.

“We will start our admissions in March with the online application format. The admissions take place through a common Central University admission test and admissions are open to students from all over the country,” Arshad Ahmad, spokesperson, CUK, said.

Srinagar, February 28
BSNL Srinagar has relaunched its discount scheme for clearing outstanding dues of landlines/WLL and mobile (postpaid) services for realisation of outstanding dues against the closed connections, an official of the telecom company said.

He said the facility had been offered in view of the “huge response and willingness of the defaulters to pay the amount”. After the clearance of outstanding amount, the services to the esteemed customers would be restored immediately, the BSNL official added.

He said the BSNL had also announced a special relief scheme for the customers for settlement of disputes in respect of high broadband usage bills under “Samadhan” scheme.

Srinagar, February 28
Maternity care in the Valley is falling apart due to patient rush, with only one tertiary maternity care hospital, Lal Ded, Srinagar, catering to the health care requirements of women in the Valley.

LD Hospital, which is a 500-bed hospital, is over-burdened as there are around 700 patients on a routine basis admitted in the in-patient department (IPD) section of the hospital as per the hospital’s registration figures.

Medical Superintendent, LD Hospital, Dr Mushtaq Rather, says the out-patient department (OPD) of the hospital receives 600-700 patients every day.

“We admit around 110 patients to IPD every day. There is clearly huge influx of patients into the hospital, which is beyond the capacity we have here,” adds Dr Mushtaq.

In order to relieve LD Hospital of burgeoning patient rush, a new block is being constructed alongside the old block with an additional 200-bed capacity, which has already missed its deadline for completion, December 2012.

Authorities say work on construction of the new block by Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) and Urban Environmental Engineering Department (UEED) has been expedited and the new block will be ready by May.

“Medical Education Minister Taj Mohiuddin inspected the construction work of the new block and has ordered quick completion of the new block. This will be certainly a big relief for patients, who have a hard time in seeking appointments, as well as the doctors,” Dr Mushtaq told The Tribune.

While LD Hospital is the mainstay for maternity care in the Valley due to its city-centric location, there is another maternity hospital on the city’s outskirts, Sanat Nagar (uptown Srinagar), whose functioning is marred by lack of adequate staff and proper infrastructure.

Though established in 1986, the hospital’s status has been reduced to a general OPD centre functioning under the name of Government Maternity Home, Sanat Nagar.

The hospital now works as general OPD centre as the name has been changed from Government Maternity Home to Maternity Home-cum-General OPD.

Due to the state government’s indifference towards strengthening the staff of the hospital and lapse in infrastructure, patients refrain from seeking treatment at the hospital.

With no specialists available, seeking treatment for patients is a futile exercise.

The maternity home employees say on an average, 20-30 patients visit the OPD centre and the hospital has been instrumental in providing flu treatments, ultrasound and other lab tests and immunisation programmes here.

“In serious childbirth cases, we refer the patients to the main branch as we are not equipped enough to deal with such cases here,” an official said, wishing anonymity.

Some hopes are now pinned on the proposed Maternity and Child Care Hospital, which is to be constructed in Bemina Srinagar over 60 kanal land.

Construction of the maternity hospital would be funded by the Centre; the cost has been estimated at Rs 50 crore.

The construction of the hospital will be overseen by the Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation (HSCC). The time-frame for the construction of the maternity and child care hospital has been fixed as two years, with the soil testing and the building plan process already having been completed.

Srinagar, February 28
Three structures were damaged in different fire incidents across Kashmir valley, a police spokesman said today.

Due to electric short-circuit, fire broke out in a residence at Gojwaranagar here.

In another incident, fire broke out in a cowshed at Shopri Bugh on the outskirts of the city.

The cowshed was damaged completely. According to a police spokesman, two calves sustained severe burn injuries.

In another incident, fire broke out in a cowshed at Chandergee in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. A cow and a calf died due to suffocation while the cowshed got partially damaged, the spokesman said.

Srinagar, February 28
Weather improved in most parts of Kashmir today following days of incessant snow and rainfall. Officials of the Meteorological Department have forecast that the Valley would witness dry weather conditions in the coming days.

The day temperature increased slightly as compared to temperatures in past few days. “Srinagar city recorded 10.3 degrees Celsius as the maximum temperature today. It had recorded 9.8 degrees Celsius yesterday,” an official of the Meteorological Department said.

Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir, recorded 7.9 degrees Celsius as the maximum temperature and border town Kupwara recorded 8.5 degrees Celsius as the maximum temperature. Tourist resort Pahalgam in south Kashmir recorded 7 degrees Celsius as the maximum temperature.

“While most parts of the Valley remained dry after an overnight rain and snowfall, Pahalgam recorded 1.8 mm rain and snow from morning till 5.30 pm today,” the official said.

The minimum temperatures recorded at Srinagar, Qazigund, Pahalgam and Kupwara were 1.9, 0.2, -2.4 and 0.2 degrees Celsius, respectively. Ski resort Gulmarg in north Kashmir remained the coldest place, recording -9.5 degrees Celsius as the minimum temperature.

In view of the snowfall earlier, the authorities had yesterday sounded an avalanche warning for two days in the upper reaches of the Valley. The avalanche advisory is effective for north Kashmir’s Nowgam, Chowkibal, Budnambal, Karnah, Keran, Jumagand, Kenthawali, Machil and Lashdat areas.

While traffic was suspended for several hours on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway due to inclement weather conditions yesterday, one-way traffic plied on the highway today. A traffic police official said one-way traffic plied from Jammu to Srinagar today. He said one-way traffic would ply from Srinagar to Jammu tomorrow. The traffic on the highway, which is Kashmir’s only surface link to the rest of the country, was restored yesterday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Ladakh region continued to remain in the grip of cold wave. Leh and Kargil recorded 2.8 and 4 degrees Celsius maximum temperatures, respectively. The minimum temperatures at Leh and Kargil were -4.8 and -8.4 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Srinagar, February 28
The Agriculture Department today organised an awareness camp for farmers in the Kangan area of Ganderbal district in which local panchayat members and a large number of farmers participated.

The farmers were apprised about various initiatives being undertaken by the department under various Centrally sponsored schemes for boosting the agricultural production, a spokesman said.

“On the occasion, Chief Agriculture Officer SA Shah said in the current financial year, 14 farm tractors, one power tiller, 100 irrigation pump sets, six tubewells, 50 poly green houses, 10 vermi-compost units, one borewell and other power and manually operated equipment were provided to farmers of Kangan sub-division,” the spokesman said.

While quoting him, the spokesman said in this regard, an amount of Rs 43 lakh was being given to farmers. “In addition, Rs 50 lakh have been earmarked for undertaking different activities in two watershed projects of Wangth and Anderwan of the sub division,” he said.

Jammu, February 28
The Panun Kashmir (PK), a frontal organisation of displaced Kashmiri Hindus, will organise a national seminar to make people across the country aware about the “need for re-organisation of Jammu and Kashmir to safeguard the interests of minorities”, in New Delhi on March 3.

Kuldeep Raina, general secretary, PK, said, ”Eminent speakers and leaders from various national parties will participate in the conference. Speakers from the state will bring to the fore the aspirations of the nationalist forces and the minorities of the state.”

He said nationalist people of the state were demanding political re-organisation for the implementation of the Indian Constitution in letter and spirit in the state. “Their long-time demands have been the creation of the homeland with the union territory on the north and east of the Jhelum in Kashmir for displaced Kashmiri Hindus, union territory of Ladakh and the settlement of refugees from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).”

Raina said the women’s wing of the PK, ‘Daughters of Vitasta’, would also organise a women’s conference in Jammu on March 24. He said the thrust of the women’s conference would be on the role of Kashmiri Pandit women towards the resurgence of the community to counter social evils. 

Jammu, February 28
The seven-member wrestling team of Jammu and Kashmir today left for Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, to participate in the All India Invitational Indian Style Wrestling Championship and Mahan Bharat Kesari Title 2013 slated to be held from February 28.

The team was selected during selection trials-cum-screening conducted by the J&K Indian Style Wrestling Association at MA Stadium in Jammu under the overall supervision of its president Shiv Kumar Sharma.

The team comprises Sachin Kumar (51 kg) of Samba, Shami (55 kg) of Jammu, Rohit Kumar (60 kg) of Jammu, Aniyat Ali (66 kg) of Jammu, Rakesh Kumar (74 kg) of Jammu, Gopal Sharma (84 kg) of Jammu and Sujjan Ali (96 kg) of Jammu. Mulkh Raj Sharma is accompanying the team as coach. Prem Kumar is the team manager and Bansi Lal Tidyal is the technical official.

J&K Indian Style Wrestling Association members who were present on the occasion include general secretary Rakesh Khajuria and treasurer RR Sharma. J&K Indian Style Wrestling Association president Shiv Kumar Sharma has announced a cash prize of Rs 31,000 for the gold medal winner and Rs 21,000 and 11,000 for silver and bronze medallists, respectively.

Katra, February 28
The Entrepreneurship Development Cell, College of Management, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), organised a ‘Business Plan Competition’ here today.

The competition aimes at fostering the spirit of entrepreneurship among the participants.

The event was inaugurated and chaired by SMVDU Vice-Chancellor Prof SK Jain. He encouraged the participants to hold discussions and debate over dimensions of various business opportunities existing in the state, especially in nearby areas.

A total of 23 groups of students from various institutes of the state such as the TBS, MIET, SPMR College, Hospitality Department, TMS, BGSB University and the SMVDU participated in the event, wherein they proposed their business plans.

Among the Post Graduate teams, the team of Natasha Kaul, Naveed Majeed and Sudheepa Alluwalia from the College of Management, SMVDU, got the first prize for their business presentation.

The team of Bilal Baseerat and Manjo Kumar from The Business School, University of Jammu, got the second prize.

The third position was secured by Supriya Kilam and Beenish Hussain from the College of Management, SMVDU.

In the Under Graduate category, the team of Ishan Tiwari and Nayan Tiwari from the SMVDU got the first prize. Sanchit Jain, Aanchal Talla and Reshav Mahajan from the SPMR College of Commerce scored the second position. 

Jammu, February 28
The Children’s Welfare Society today submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah demanding amendment to the current Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act.

Submitting a memorandum to the Chief Minister, Gurdeep Singh Sasan, chairman, Children’s Welfare Society, expressed surprise over the recommendations of the J&K State Advisory Board for Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act in its latest meeting held in November last.

He said female foeticide was “murder, criminal conspiracy, violence against a particular gender, besides being unethical.

The society appealed to the Chief Minster to bring necessary amendments to the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act and book the perpetrators under Sections 302 and 120B of the IPC/RPC and other relevant sections.

The society also sought to make it mandatory for all sonographic centres to go online regarding information. It said there was a need to bring transparency in sonographic tests conducted on pregnant women and also make mandatory for such clinics to maintain proper details of the tests conducted on pregnant women on their website.

Expressing concern over the alarming rise in crimes against women, the society urged the Chief Minister to make necessary amendments to Sections 375, 376, 354 and 509 of the IPC/RPC and make provision for giving death penalty to perpetrators of such heinous crimes.

Women candidates should be exempted from payment of fees for appearing in competitive examinations, the society demanded.

Women should be allotted minimum quota of 33 per cent for jobs in government departments and public sector undertakings (PSUs), recruitment boards and judiciary.

Anita Rachpal Singh, Dr KS Kotwal, Dr Vionod Bhityal, Dr SK Gupta, Advocate Surinder Singh, Prof Surjeet Kour, Dr Swarn Singh, Dr Priyanka, Dr Harjinder Kour and Prof Sushma were among the signatories to the memorandum. 

Jammu, February 28
In a bid to fill up vacant posts of doctors for providing improved health care facilities to people living in inaccessible areas, the government has engaged 136 unemployed doctors under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

Minister of State for Health Shabir Ahmed Khan distributed engagement and posting orders among the selected doctors at a function held at the NRHM office here today — TNS