Jammu, May 9
City residents were kept in the dark on some traffic signals installed at busy rotaries being on blinker mode in the name of “relocation”. In fact, at least eight traffic signals out of a total of 30 were put on blinker mode for six months just to facilitate “smooth” movement of ministers, bureaucrats and other VIPs’ cavalcades.

Five out of eight traffic signals were made functional at their original places while others would remain on blinker mode “for the time being” in view of traffic rush on city roads.

The administration had said that these signals were put on blinker mode on “trial basis” to assess the flow of traffic and had announced that new points would be identified in the city to relocate these signals.

Eight traffic signals installed at Panama Chowk, Ambphalla, Panjthirthi, behind Civil Secretariat, Shaheedi Chowk, Shalamar Chowk, Vivekananad Chowk and Indira Chowk were put on blinker mode on trial basis. Three signals installed at Indira Chowk, Shaheedi Chowk and Shalamar Chowk would remain on blinker mode.

Traffic signals rendered non-functional on a couple of busy roads in Jammu. Tribune photos: Anand Sharma

Jammu, May 9
The state International Human Rights Organisation today organised an awareness workshop on women’s rights.

Organisation Chairman Raman Magotra while briefing the mediapersons said the objective of the workshop was to make women aware of their rights with regard to rape, domestic violence and suicide cases.

Manik Raj, an IPS officer, was the chief guest on the occasion and Kailash Verma, chairperson, Jammu Credit Cooperative Bank, was the guest of honour.

Rupali Sharma, organiser of the programme, said the focus should be on economic development of women by providing them opportunities related to entrepreneurship and technical training. Speakers informed participants about about the police control room and its numbers.

Jammu, May 9
The functioning of the Revenue Department has been paralysed for more than a month in the state, as the meeting with commissioner secretary Finance failed to achieve any breakthrough. The indefinite strike of the All-Jammu and Kashmir Patwari Association (AJKPA) thus entered its 32nd day on Thursday.

Patwaris and Gardawars have been protesting at the Deputy Commissioner’s and Divisional Commissioner’s offices in Jammu for more than a month, under the banner of AJKPA.

A delegation of the AJKPA today met Commissioner secretary finance Vinod Koul, but the assurance of the Commissioner secretary failed to satisfy the delegation.

"We are on an indefinite strike till the government fulfils our long-pending demands, which were agreed upon by them. The meeting with Commissioner Secretary was not fruitful, as he was just giving assurance to look into the matter, but we want them to take action,” said Sanjeevan Kumar, tehsil president, AJKPA.

“The government had agreed to all our demands and assured us action by March 31, 2012, but it is unfortunate that despite the tireless efforts of the association by means of prayers and petitions, the government has not taken any step to resolve the long-standing issues,” he added.

Earlier, the Minister of State for Revenue and Rehabilitation, Ajaz Ahmad Khan, also talked to the delegation of Patwaris in the first week of their strike, but nothing came out of the meeting and the strike is on till date.

Meanwhile, people were approaching offices for their work, but returning disappointed. "I had to sell my land, as I needed some money for my daughter's marriage, but due to the strike, I can't process the documentation of the transfer of land," said Bashir Ahmed from Sidhra.

"I approached the patwari concerned, but he refused to process the file. I will have to wait till the strike ends," he added.

The AJKPA is demanding removal of pay disparity with retrospect effect, stoppage of direct recruitment of Naib Tahsildar, enhancement of PSC examination chances from four to eight, establishment of department enquiry cell, transparency in transfer policy, re-organisation of patwari halqas, construction of patwar khanas and enhancement of sair kharcha (SK) and other allowances. The file pertaining to disparity in pay, after going through different stages and having got the consent of the pay anomaly committee, is supposed to be struggling to get the final signature of the Finance Minister since January 4, 2013. 

Jammu, May 9
The Parents Coordination Committee (PCC) has welcomed the verdict of the state High Court wherein it has directed the management of all private schools to receive only the monthly tuition fee from the parents.

Raj Kumar Gupta, president of the committee and Raj Dev Sharma, convener, while briefing the media today, said it would further tighten the noose around the management of private schools indulging in illegal fee hike and annual charges.

It may be mentioned here that Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir had recently issued a notice to Commissioner/Secretary Education and Director School Education and ordered that the management of the private schools should not charge the fee under the heads which were not prescribed in the rules.

“We, the parents of students of private schools in Jammu, were pressing demands for rollback of alleged illegal fee hike and annual charges levied by private schools in 
Jammu and Kashmir,” said the office-bearers of the committee.

“We have also conducted a series of protests in different parts of Jammu city during the last few months so that the authorities would take concrete steps to curb the alleged illegal framework of the private schools and nexus between the educational authorities and educational agencies,” they added.

Meanwhile, the office-bearers had requested the parents to deposit only monthly tuition fee every month till the final decision on the writ in he court.

• Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir had recently issued a notice to Commissioner/Secretary Education and Director School Education and ordered that the management of the private schools should not charge the fee under the heads which were not prescribed in the rules
• “We, the parents of students of private schools in Jammu, were pressing demands for rollback of alleged illegal fee hike and annual charges levied by private schools in J&K,” said the office-bearers of the committee

Jammu, May 9
In a bid to encourage youth to take up football in Jammu, former football player Baichung Bhutia has launched an academy at KC Public School here.

He said the Baichung Bhutia Football Schools (BBFS) in Jammu was the tenth such football training school in the country. Nine such schools already have over 600 children enrolled for training in the sport.

Bhutia said after his retirement, he had been travelling non-stop across the country to create awareness among young children about football and the importance of the grass-roots level coaching. He said he wanted to provide opportunity to children to learn from trained professionals with excellent infrastructure and allied facilities.

When asked why KC Public School was chosen for the purpose in Jammu, Bhutia said the school had supported his project and had the basic infrastructure required for the same.

Bhutia said for promoting sports and games in the country, associations should work in a more organised system to earn credibility. He said federations, too, should make state associations more accountable and answerable.

He said, “Unlike China and other such countries, which produce extraordinary stuff through their organised system, India hardly provides enough support to sportspersons. Funds allocated to promote sports, too, are not enough.”

He said apart from lack of infrastructural facilities in the country, there was also no sponsorship from corporate houses.

Recently, coaches of the BBFS, under the supervision of its head coach Jose Tavares, a former Portuguese international player, had organised a six-day coaches’ camp at KC Public School to impart training skills to local coaches. Some of the local coaches were also identified to run the academy.

Meanwhile, R Thakur, principal, KC Public School; BBSF operations head for North India Ankit Arora; and Surinder Singh Bunty, resident secretary, Jammu and Kashmir Football Association, too briefed the media about the initiative. Sudershan Mahajan, chairman, KC Public School, and local football coach Satpal Singh were also present on the occasion.

Jammu, May 9
A tour for differently abled children to Dehli, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri was flagged in by Lt Gen HJS Sachdev, chief of staff (COS), northern zone, today. The tour was organised by Rashtriya Rifles based at Banihal.

Mohammed Amir Guth and Nazakat Ali are grateful to the Army for identifying them as participants of the 10-day journey.

The tour included a visit to Qutab Minar, Taj Mahal, Buland Darwaza, apart from a meeting with President Pranab Mukherji.

The COS hoped that the excursion would leave a memorable imprint on the participants’ minds and motivate them to move ahead in life with new vigour and confidence.

Fourteen differently abled children, including three wheelchair-bound children, eight using crutches and three with upper limb disability, from far-flung villages of Banihal in Ramban district were part of the tour.

The tour gave an opportunity to these children to witness rich cultural heritage of India and development in the country.

Jammu, May 9
The SOS Hermann Gmeiner School today organised an investiture ceremony. Colonel Rahul Bali, group commander, NCC, was the chief guest on this occasion.

Principal of the school RK Dhar and teachers were present during the ceremony.

The programme began with the lighting of a lamp followed by presentation of cultural events, including solo dance competition, Rajasthani folk dance and ghazal singing.

The head boy, Aman Jotshi, and the head girl, Shagun Bharti, vice-head boy Manpreet Singh, vice-head girl Akanksha Pandita along with group captains, vice-group captains and prefects of the four houses, namely Jhelum House, Chenab House, Ravi House and Tawi House, were presented badges by the chief guest.

Speaking on the occasion, colonel Rahul Bali urged students to work hard to achieve their goals. He also laid stress on character building and development of leadership qualities.

Bali interacted with students and told them about the significance of the Indian Army. He encouraged them to take up a career in the Army to serve the nation.

Jammu, May 9
The Tribune team today gave away consolation prizes and participation certificates to students of Model Academy who participated in ‘The Tribune Cognizance Scrap Book Competition’.

Karan Gupta and Arihan Gupta bagged consolation prizes. Participation certificates were bagged by Ananya Gupta, Abhishek Sanotra, Mohammad Lukhman, Poornima and Jijnath.

Model Academy director Aditya Gupta, principal Rupa Gupta and coordinator Manju Vali were also present on the occasion.

Jammu, May 9
Students of the MHAC School, Nagbani, bagged top positions in a recently concluded inter-school competition. The topic of the competition, which was conducted by JK Public School, Kunjwani, was ‘Best out of Waste’.

Navtika Srivastava, Aksha Padha and Roshni Anand bagged the first, second and third prizes, respectively. School principal Alok Betab congratulated the winners.

Jammu, May 9
A two-day Inter-School Tournament of Arnas Zone was inaugurated by Arnas Block Development Officer YA Khan in the presences of Reasi Department of Youth Services and Sports Officer Dr Swaran Singh.

The officers interacted with participants and encouraged them to play with a true sportsman spirit.

The tournament is being organised under the supervision of Zonal Physical Education Officer Pardeep Singh.

The Higher Secondary School, Salal, got the better of the Higher Secondary School, Judda, by 15 points in kabaddi.

In kho-kho, the Higher Secondary School, Arnas, beat the Higher Secondary School, Judda, by 9 points.

In volleyball, the Higher Secondary School, Dharmari, beat the Higher Secondary School, Chinkah, by 2-1 sets.

The set scores read 12-15, 15-8, 15-13. In wrestling (42 kg), Sudershan Lal got the better of Mohammad Imran. Angrez Singh beat Rakesh Sharma in the 48-kg weight category.

In the 52-kg category, Rakesh Kumar got the better of Altaf Hussain.

In the under-14 girls’ section, the Government Middle School, Arnas, beat the Government Middle School, Kanthan, by 6 points.

In the under-17 age group, the Higher Secondary School, Salal, beat the Higher Secondary School, Arnas, by 12 points.

In the under-14 kho-kho, the Government Middle School, Arnas, beat the Government Middle School, Kanthan, by 16 points.

In the under-17 age group, the Higher Secondary School, Arnas, beat the High School, Chinkah, by 11 points.

The matches were officiated by Ashok Kumar, Ranjit Singh, Rajesh Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Vikrant Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Naseer Ahmed, Vijay Kumar and Harjit Singh.

Jammu, May 9
The CMP School, Nud, defeated the Navodaya Vidyalaya, Dhalote, by one point to clinch the under-14 kho-kho title in the ongoing inter-school tournament of Samba zone here today.

The tournament is being organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports.

In the under-17 category, the Modern Institute of Education, Sumb, outplayed the Navodaya Vidyalaya, Dhalote, by one point.

In the under-14 kabaddi event, the Modern Institute of Education, Sumb, beat the Bartiya Vidya Mandir by 10 points. In the under-17 age group, the Navodaya Vidyalaya, Dhalote, defeated the High School, Taloor, by 23 points.

In the under-14 volleyball event, the Middle School, Sadoh, beat the Navodaya Vidyalaya, Dhalote, by 3-0. The Higher Secondary School, Nanak Chak, trounced the KJC School, Samba, by 3-1 in the under-17 volleyball event.

In Vijaypur zone events, the BBN School defeated the Middle School, Jakh, by one point in the under-14 kho-kho. In the under-17 age group, the Neta Ji Academy had the last laugh against the Higher Secondary School, Vijaypur, by two points.

In the under-14 kabaddi event, the Middle School, Ranjari, beat the Middle School, Sangwal, by two points.

In the under-17 age group, the Higher Secondary School, Jakh, trounced the High School, Palli, by four points.

In the under-17 volleyball event, the High School, Suchani, defeated the Higher Secondary School, Rahya, by 2-0.

In Ramgarh zone, the Higher Secondary school, Khanpur, beat the Middle School, Gho Brahmana, by nine points in the under-14 kabaddi tournament.

In the under-17 age group, the Higher Secondary School, Khanpur, toppled the High School, Koulpur. In the under-17 volleyball event, the Higher Secondary School, Ramgarh, beat the Higher Secondary School, Gho Brahmana, by 3-0.

In Purmandal zone, the Humanity Public School defeated the Higher Secondary School, Smailpur, in the under-17 kabaddi event.

In the kho-kho event, the High School, Meen Sarkar, beat the Humanity School by 7 points.