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Jammu cries foul as govt favours valley in tourism
Govt awaits SC nod for cable car project
Patnitop helipad project fails to take off
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Jammu celebrates the spirit of womanhood
Shiv Khori Festival
BSF trains border youths for recruitment in CRPF, ITBP
Youth undergoing pre-recruitment training sessions by the BSF at Suchetgarh in the RS Pura sector of Jammu. A
Tribune photo
We’ve not been paid for six months, say ReT teachers
Tara for streamlining education department
English learning labs in Jammu
Security of drivers of Kashmir-bound vehicles sought
For 3 lakh families, wait for ration cards gets longer
Personality development workshop concludes
Recruitment of teachers for 278 posts soon
Civic works worth Rs 29 lakh get underway
Army provides tents for Batote landslide victims
CRPF win volleyball match
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Jammu cries foul as govt favours valley in tourism
Jammu, March 8 According to the official figures, the Kashmir division, including Ladakh region was allocated Rs 281 crore under various heads over the past three years while Jammu had got lesser share with the government allocating only Rs 133 crore for tourism infrastructure at various places. “Under the state plan, Rs 204.81 crore was allocated to the Kashmir division over last three years, while Jammu region gets only Rs 88.70 crore for the same period. In the current financial year, Rs 66.48 crore was allocated to the Kashmir division, including Ladakh, while Jammu got only Rs 24.35 crore," sources say. Jammu was also 'discriminated' vis-à-vis allocation of funds under the centrally sponsored schemes. "Kashmir division was allocated Rs 76.72 crore under centrally sponsored schemes in last three years, while Jammu received Rs 44.15 crore to develop tourism infrastructure for the period," official sources said. Under the 13th Finance Commission, Jammu got Rs 8.51 crore in the current financial year while no fund allocation was made for Kashmir division this year. Similarly, Jammu received Rs 15.20 crore over last two years on the recommendations of the Special Task Force constituted by the Centre to examine the allocations in terms of infrastructure needs and make suitable recommendations to overcome the deficiencies in the region. Similar task force was also constituted for Ladakh region which didn't receive even a single paisa over last two years. However, Minister for Tourism GA Mir, in a written reply tabled in the Legislative Assembly has defended the "inequitable" allocation of funds. He said an assembly segment was not a unit of development for the tourism sector. "The funding under the sector is made on the basis of tourism potential of the area," he said. Various groups from Jammu have been accusing the state government for adopting "step-motherly" treatment with various development related activities especially raising infrastructure at tourist places in Jammu. The ruling coalition had been discriminating against the region in all development sectors. It had announced a package of Rs 1,100 crore for Dal Lake and Rs 386 crore for Wullar Lake but the lakes of Mansar and Surinsar had been given peanuts in the name of development, leader of the Panthers Legislature Party Harsh Dev Singh said. Sources said 65 lakh tourists, including 20.86 lakh Amarnath pilgrims had visited Kashmir Valley from 2008 to 2012, while 4.38 crore Vaishno Devi pilgrims apart from domestic and foreign tourists had visited Jammu region for the same period. "A total of 5.84 lakh tourists visited Ladakh region-which is considered a cold desert in the world," sources said. Though tourists and pilgrims visiting Jammu region outnumbered Kashmir division, the government was yet to pay attention for the development of infrastructure at tourist places in Jammu. Divided development
— GA Mir, Minister for Tourism |
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Govt awaits SC nod for cable car project
Jammu, March 8 However, the legislators of Jammu-based opposition parties created uproar over the government's “discriminatory attitude” towards Jammu region vis-à-vis creating infrastructure at tourist places and staged a walkout from the State Legislative Assembly in protest against, what they termed, were "repeated hollow assurances" of the government on the project. It all began during the question hour when the Jammu State Morcha (JSM) leader Ashwani Kumar Sharma slammed the state government for its failure to start work on the cable car project between Bagh-e-Bahu to Mubarak Mandi even after the lapse of several years. "The state government should tell people why the project got delayed for years. It has been making hollow assurances for long which will not be tolerated," Sharma said in a raised voice. Minister for Urban Development and Urban Local Bodies, Nawang Rigzin Jora, on behalf of the tourism minister tried to pacify the agitating member. He said the project had got delayed because the government was awaiting the approval of the Supreme Court's Empowered Committee and the land had not been transferred for the project so far. The agitating member staged a walkout from the House. Jora, however, assured that the work on the cable car project would be taken up soon after completion of the formalities. Jugal Kishore Sharma, BJP MLA from Nagrota assembly segment, also lashed out at the state government for "adopting discriminatory policies" towards tourist places of Jammu region. “Nothing has been done to improve infrastructure at tourist places like Jajjar Kotli, Surinsar and Mansar lakes, cable car project between Bagh-e-Bahu and Mubarak Mandi. This government is working under the diktats of Kashmiri leadership and the people of Jammu will not tolerate it," Sharma claimed. He also slammed the Congress ministers from Jammu for maintaining silence on the issue. He also staged a walkout from the House in protest against the government's alleged discriminatory policies. |
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Patnitop helipad project fails to take off
Jammu, March 8 Patnitop, 112 km from Jammu, is a major tourist attraction, despite failure of the successive government’s to create better infrastructure at the site. A senior officer of the Tourism Department said the project may face more delays as happened to the 2.6-km ropeway project, which was started in 2007, but was dragged to the Supreme Court (SC) by a green group after they filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). As per the Detailed Project Report (DPR), an aerial ropeway was to start from Kud covering Sangote and Karla. On August 9, 2007, the government had entered into an agreement with the Nagarjuna Construction Company to construct the ropeway project at Patnitop. It would have been the first ever project of its kind in the tourism sector in Jammu and Kashmir with the 100 per cent financial support from a private player. “A study by the experts from the Jammu University will be initiated next month and the feasibility report will be submitted to the Union Government,” said Tourism Minister, Ghulam Ahmed Mir. Minister said to build helipads at high altitude places in Rajouri, Poonch, Doda and Udhampur districts on south of Pir Panjal in the state was part of the project to boost tourism infrastructure. Asked about the delay in the ropeway project, Minister said the process had been initiated to get clearance on the points sought by the court. Uttaranchal and Jammu & Kashmir have submitted three proposals under the destination development project to the ministry for approval and funding. The Ministry of Tourism is to provide Central Financial Assistance to states and Union Territories to construct heliports. |
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Jammu celebrates the spirit of womanhood
Jammu, March 8 The minister was addressing a function organised to mark the International Women’s Day at Government Women College Parade, here today. The function was organised by the J&K State Women Development Corporation in collaboration with the Centre for Women Studies, GWC Parade. Several self-help groups and home science students presented impressive cultural shows on the occasion to highlight various issues of women. The Catholic Social Service Society organised a rally at Smailpur. Swarn Lata, vice-chairperson, J&K state Advisory and Ashwani Khajuria, Assistant Commissioner Revenue, Samba, were among those present on the occasion. While speaking on the occasion, chief guest of the function Swarn Lata congratulated the Catholic Social Service Society for carrying out works related to the development of women in the Jammu region. She also asked women to be aware of
their rights and to fight collectively for the protection of their rights. Bhartiya Janata Party Mahila Morcha leaders and activists under the leadership of state president Priya Sethi, too, organised a function, which was attended by a
large number of women from various parts of the province. Over five dozen shawls and other items were distributed among poor and needy women on the
occasion. The Atman College of Education celebrated the International Women’s Day by organising inter-college competitions, wherin a large
number of colleges participated. |
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70 wrestlers to participate in dangal this year
Our Correspondent
Katra, March 8 The decision of organising the dangal was taken in a meeting held at Reasi, under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner, Reasi, Nirmal Sharma who is also the vice-chairman of the Shiv Khori Shrine Board. Shiv Kumar Sharma, president of the J&K Indian Style Wrestling Association, said the association has been organising the dangal for the past 14 years. This year around 70 wrestlers would participate in the event. The winner of the first bout would be awarded with the ‘Shiv Khori Kesari-2013’ title, in addition to the traditional ‘Silver Gurj (Gadda) and Patta’ and a cash prize. The event would be held on Mud Akhara. Others who attended the meeting were Chief Agriculture Officer Reasi, RK Safaya, Dy SP (Headquarter) JS Salathia, Assistant Director of Tourism, Katra, Vinakshi Koul, AD CAPD, Kewal Krishan, Assistant Controller of Food, ML Magotra, District Social Welfare Officer Suresh Sharma, District Youth Services and Sports Officer SS Chib, CMO Dr Menia, ACD, Reasi, Rakesh Kumar, DPO Rohit Sharma and Tehsildar RK Anand.
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BSF trains border youths for recruitment in CRPF, ITBP
Jammu, March 8 “The BSF has started imparting training to 2,128 youth in border areas of the Jammu region in physical events, general knowledge, analytical aptitude and basic knowledge of Hindi and English so that they do well in recruitment rallies of various Central armed police forces,” said DIG, BSF Jammu Frontier, JS Oberoi. During Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir last year, several deputations from border areas had complained to him about lack of avenues for youths in paramilitary forces. They had also submitted memorandums to the Home Minister for conducting pre-recruitment training programmes for the youths of border areas to enable them to do well in recruitment rallies. “The BSF has started imparting physical training and education to the aspirants so that they can confidently appear in recruitment rallies,” said another BSF officer. “Under a month-long pre-training programme, aspirants are being trained at various border outposts (BoP)of the BSF along the international border in the Jammu region and villages close to it,” he said. The officer said 125 aspirants were being trained at Pargwal, 109 in Akhnoor, 300 in Mangral village, 100 at Octroi border outpost, 316 in Kot Kuba and Budhjwar, 100 in Suchetgarh and Manguchak, 30 at Barota, 150 at Pansar Karol Krishna, 550 at Nandpur Gram Panchayat, 170 at Sufadhar and Thangar villages, 10 at Dhamkund tehsil headquarters and 20 at Khanetar. The BSF has also been given the responsibility to organise recruitment rallies in the state and in border districts of Meghalaya, Tripura, West Bengal and
Punjab. |
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We’ve not been paid for six months, say ReT teachers
Poonch, March 8 Poonch district president of the ReT teachers’ association Najam Jafri said the department was violating labour laws. “These teachers are performing their duties honestly in remote areas in Poonch district with utmost dedication but in return they are being exploited,” he said. The teachers flayed the officials concerned for their failure to manage the department properly. “Due to the unjustified delay in the release of salaries, all the ReT regularised teachers have been facing immense problems for the past six months. We are finding it hard to run our families and meet our daily expenses in the absence of our wages,” said a teacher. The teachers appealed to Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, who is also holding the charge of Education Minister, to intervene in the matter and release the pending wages at the earliest. ReT teachers in Poonch also held several protests in the district. Poonch Chief Education Officer Ashraf Chowhan said, “In the district, we need Rs 9 crore to release all the pending salaries to all ReT regularized teachers but we have received only Rs 51 lakh. As far as the salary of a head teacher is concerned, we need Rs 1.10 crore but we have received only Rs 41 lakh.” “I have forwarded the received amount to the ZEOs proportionally for the disbursement,” Chowhan said.
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Tara for streamlining education department
Jammu, Friday 8 He said a motivated workforce went a long way in performing duties effectively. He said all the stakeholders and functionaries in the department should work together to
deliver quality education to students. “After taking over the charge of the department, I have made efforts to promote transparency and professionalism so that teachers get a conducive atmosphere to work and ultimately, attend to their duty of guiding students with utmost dedication,” he said.Tara Chand was addressing a joint deputation of the J&K School Education Employees Co-ordination Committee here today. The deputation was lead by Qayoom Wani and comprised representatives of various employee bodies. |
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English learning labs in Jammu
Jammu, March 8 It is assisting the school by replacing traditional computer labs with portable language labs. The teaching would include a projector for visual aid. Engaging activities are further embedded into the programme to allow students to record and compare their speaking skills with an expert voice, thus making instant review possible. In recent times, a steady rise in the need of learning English has been witnessed in the state. Following the immense requirement and significance of the language, EnglishEdge with an attempt to make learning more effective and interactive, has come up with the labs. Vivek Agarwal, Founder & CEO, EnglishEdge said, “We have established our reach in various states across India and entering Jammu is yet another achievement for us. Looking at the recent scenario, there is a huge need for well experienced professionals and services to guide the students.” |
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Security of drivers of Kashmir-bound vehicles sought
Jammu, March 8 NNO activists raised
slogans against the state government for its failure to take concrete measures to ensure safety of
the drivers of Kashmir-bound vehicles. Some miscreants had yesterday smashed window panes of some Kashmir-bound vehicles near
Anantnag and had allegedly manhandled drivers belonging to the Jammu region. “We strongly condemn such acts as drivers from Jammu and others areas are becoming victims in the Kashmir valley. It puts a question mark on the government, which has failed to take any action against the miscreants who are bent upon creating law and order problems in Kashmir,” said Ramneek Singh Sasan, general secretary, NNO. He sought Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s intervention in this regard. |
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For 3 lakh families, wait for ration cards gets longer
Jammu, March 8 Nearly three lakh families are waiting for new ration cards to be included into the PDS. The state government has expressed its helplessness as the Centre was yet to take any decision. The government has submitted the names of newborn and newly married women are being entered in old ration cards in Legislative Assembly. No new ration cards were being issued to the new family units. “The matter has been taken up with the Centre to provide additional ration to cover the families left out as per the 2011 Census and when the quota is released families will be covered under the PDS,” as per the response of the government in the Assembly. Due to the shortage of ration, the government is diverting the ration from
Above Poverty Line (APL) category to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, particularly living in the rural and far-flung areas of the state. Data says three lakh families were without ration cards in the state and the government was providing ration to 19.71 lakh families as per as the 2001 Census. However, as per Census 2011, the total population of the state is 125.48 lakh, which is 22.73 lakh families at an average size of 5.52 persons per family. At the moment thousands of families living in Kishtwar, Bhaderwah, Warwan, Poonch, Rajouri and Doda in Jammu region and Kupwara, Handwara, Anantnag in the Valley were facing shortage of ration. The quota of ration for the APL families has been increased from 35 kg to 40 kg per month, but scarcity of ration is the main hindrance, which had led to the failure of this new scheme. |
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Personality development workshop concludes
Katra, March 8 In his address, he said such workshops were very useful for students. He advised them to take active part in such workshops and events. He also highlighted the importance of the establishment of
EOC, which provided better opportunities to the student community, especially to the students belonging to the
SC/ST/OBC (NCL)/ Minorities/ General (BPL). Rajesh Aggarwal, renowned motivational speaker and life coach from New Delhi, delivered an expert lecture and conducted the whole session. During the entire session, he dwelt upon improving knowledge, attitude and various skills to achieve success in any field.
Balbir Singh, in charge of coaching classes, stressed upon the importance of soft skills and their development in students to produce good citizens and successful professionals. He added that EOC started special coaching classes in Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning, communication skills by internal faculty members and prominent experts from various institutes of the country. |
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Recruitment of teachers for 278 posts soon
Jammu, March 8 Tara Chand said there were 878 sanctioned posts of teachers and 202 masters in the segment comprising three zones of Ghagwal, Hiranagar and Marheen. "As many as 278 posts of teachers and 10 masters are laying vacant in the three educational zones of Hiranagar. The posts of masters in Kathua will be filled shortly by adjusting newly promoted teachers through the Departmental Promotion Committee," he said. He said the selections for 697 posts of teachers of Kathua, including Hiranagar constituency, had been received from the Services Selection Board and appointment orders will be issued by the Chief Education Officer, Kathua. Case of 499 posts of teachers had been referred to the SSB, the minister said. |
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Civic works worth Rs 29 lakh get underway
Jammu, March 8 Development works include covering of the nullah near Panj Mandir in Trikuta Nagar and construction of lanes and drains at Nanak Nagar, Sector-6, to be completed at Rs 29 lakh. Bhalla asked the UEED to complete the slab work over the nullah at Panj Mandir within the stipulated time. He also asked the officers to monitor the quality of the construction work and the material being used. He said the government was committed to building durable assets. He said the government was aware of the problems of the people and was making all efforts to fulfill their demand on priority. |
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Army provides tents for Batote landslide victims
Batote, March 8 The forecast of rainfall on March 10 and 11 by the Indian Meteorogical Department, Srinagar has spread panic in Rakhjudog as residents of nearby villagers fear damage to their properties. “We have recommended compensation of Rs 15,000 and Rs 35,000 under the National Calamity Relief Fund (NCRF) to the owners of fully damaged mud or kutcha houses as well as to the owner of a concrete (pucca) house, respectively,” said SA Bhat. |
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Jammu, March 8
