Jammu, July 5
Besides politics, the state is also clearly divided, when it comes to the literacy rate at the tehsil level. Most of the tehsils in the Jammu region have literacy rate above 70 per cent, while those in Kashmir have less than 50 per cent, clearly marking a regional divide on the education front.

Despite several shortcomings in the education delivery system in the state, as per the 2011 Census, the average literacy rate in the state is 68 per cent, showing an improvement from the 2001 Census, when people who could read and write was 55 per cent.

As per the data, top ten tehsils where the literacy rate could touch 100 per cent mark over the next few years are Jammu-86.1 per cent, RS Pura-85.1 per cent, Bishna-81.7 per cent, Samba-81.4, Nowshera-80.1, Leh-79.9, Hiranagar- 79.9 per cent, Sunderbani-79.1, Kathua-78.9, Akhnoor-78.1. Leh falls in Ladakh region.

The tehsils with poor literacy rate include Chathro-45.11 per cent and Gool Gulab Garh-48.38 per cent in erstwhile Doda district, Budhal with 49.97 per cent in Rajouri, while Char-e-Sharief-46 per cent, Beerwah-47.93 per cent, Damhal-Hanjipora-48.31 per cent, Budhal-49.97 per cent, Khan Sahib-50.88 per cent, Pahalgam-51.17, Kangan-52.84, which falls in the Valley are poor in terms of literacy rate.

As per the census figures, the total number of literates has jumped to 7,245,053 with 4,370,604 men and 2,874449 women, according to provisional figures. The percentage of literate persons is 68.74 with 78.26 per cent men and 58.01 per cent women.

In the overall education scenario, the Jammu division is far ahead in literacy as compared to Kashmir valley. While Kashmir division, including Ladakh is ahead in terms of the growth of population.

There is a network of 23,454 government schools and 4,719 private recognised schools (14,453 primary schools, 6,976 middle schools, 1,418 high schools, 607 higher secondary schools with enrolment of 23.40 lakh students enrolled from the primary to the secondary level.

Rajouri, July 5
Two employees of the District Hospital, Rajouri, were injured seriously in an attack by unidentified attendants of a patient yesterday.

The incident came to light in hospital when an attendant of a patient identified as Mohammed Ashraf, a resident of Rajouri, allegedly attacked hospital staff and wounded two employees of the District Hospital.

The victims have been identified as Asif Iqbal and Bal Krishan.

Superintendent of the District Hospital, Rajouri, Arun Sharma, alleged that few attendants of patients, who were allegedly under the influence of liquor, misbehaved with the hospital staff and also beat them at 8 pm yesterday.

“We have registered a case against the accused,” Sharma said.

Jammu, July 5
The base camp of Amarnath shrine at Baltal and Chandanwari has no telecom network. Despite this one can see kiosks of various telecom operators issuing “special” SIM cards to the pilgrims in Jammu. The cards have validity of four days but the telecom operators do not have network coverage at both the base camps at Baltal and Chandanwari or on the route of the holy cave. However, Airtel has network coverage only up to Baltal, Pehalgam and peripherals, but not in Chandanwari.

Taking advantage of the ban on roaming on pre-paid connections in the state, the telecom operators have set up their canopies at the Bhagwati Nagar base camp and some other popular spots in the city, to sell SIM cards to the pilgrims.

Shivani Malhotra, another pilgrim from Delhi said, “As my pre-paid connection was not working here, I had brought a SIM from here, but it was as good as my old pre-paid connection, I didn’t see any signal on my phone even after reaching Baltal.”

“These counters should be banned at the yatri Nawas, as they are misguiding pilgrims by selling dummy SIM cards,” she added.

“I brought an Aircel connection from Bhagwati Nagar, but it didn’t work along the entire route, network signal was only available at Jammu and Srinagar,” said Avinash Tiwari, a pilgrim from Lucknow.

“They are committing fraud with the pilgrims, they should inform that they do not have network coverage in Baltal,” he added.

Kapil Mahajan Nodal Officer of a telecom company in Jammu said, “I do not have any data or information regarding this.”

Business head of Vodafone, Jammu and Kashmir, Asit Shekhar said, “Our company informs those buying our connections, that on the two routes to Amarnath, telephone connectivity is available till Pahalgam which is on route 1 and the connectivity is available only till Ganderbal on route 2.”

“As our company does not have connectivity till the Amarnath cave, it is offering double talk time to its subscribers. We are also providing free calling facility through its booth at Pahalgam and Quazigund so that the pilgrims who do not have access to their relatives due to any reason can reach them and inform them about their well being,” he added.

Sundeep Talwar, head, circle operations, Jammu & Kashmir, Aircel, said, “We believe in giving best services to our customers but there are some challenges which we face due to very a difficult terrain which includes Baltal. We are committed to overcome these challenges and would have our coverage in these tough terrains very soon.”

Jammu, July 5
Traders likely to be affected due to the shifting of the general bus stand have warned to launch an agitation if it was shifted from BC Chowk.

In a statement, various trader associations have alleged that this was against the assurance given to the business community, including the Chamber and Commerce and Industry (CCI), Jammu, that only the bus stand for interstate buses will be shifted to Narwal, while the terminus point of the buses of all other routes will remain at the present BC Road site.

Assurances were given to the business community that the newly-constructed stand at Khanpur will serve only as a yard to park idle buses. But it appears that the authorities were only hoodwinking the general public as well as the business community, the traders allege.

The signatories to the statement warned that if the trading community and people at large in the city are pushed to the wall, they will be forced to adopt the path of agitation, to safeguard their interests. The business community cannot tolerate any harm to their business due to the ill-advised move of the government.

Those who signed a memorandum in this regard, include Jyoti Mahajan, president, Retail Dry Fruit Merchants, Mohan Lal Gupta, president, Municipal Market Traders, Gurdarshan Singh, president, Gummat Traders, Madhu Sharma, president, Shopkeepers Association, Bus Stand, Jammu, Rajender Sharma, president, BC Road Traders, Ramesh Tak, president, Traders Association, Bus Stand, Jammu, and Pritam Sharma, president, Kranti Dal.

Jammu, July 5
Gurpurb celebrated by Sikh community across Jammu to mark the birthday of Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru.

The main function was organised by the district Gurdwara Parbandak Committee (DGCP) at Gurdwara Chathi Pathshai, Talab Tillo, in which thousands of Sikh devotees took part.

A Ragi Jatha, led by Bhai Harcharan Singh, recited the kirtan on the occasion. Preacher Bhai Pinderpal Singh delivered a speech on the occasion.

Jammu, July 5
In a meeting of the J&K High Court Bar Association, Jammu, chaired by its president MK Bhardwaj, the decision of the Commercial Taxes Department, J&K State, whereby service tax is being levied upon advocates, was strongly condemned. Notices have also been issues to the advocates in this regard.

The Commercial Taxes Department has been stressed upon to withdraw the said notices forthwith for being “unconstitutional, arbitrary, discriminatory and without jurisdiction”. As a mark of protest against the unilateral decision of the department, the JK Bar Association has decided to observe a one-day token strike on July 6.

The meeting was attendant by Sindhu Sharma, vice-president of the association, Ranjit S Jamwal, general secretary, Prem N Sadotra, joint secretary and Gurveer Singh, treasure.

Jammu, July 5
Many from the city are dancing to the tunes of reality show winner Ankan Sen from Mumbai these days. Here to conduct a workshop, organised by Comprehensive Smart Studies (CSS) group at the Rotary Club from July 3 to 11, Sen is teaching them the moves of various modern dance forms.

Sen, a professional choreographer from Mumbai and the winner of dance reality show Just Dance, has been roped in to give people training in different dance forms.

The trainees at the workshop have been divided into four categories.

A local choreographer from Jammu said, “I am happy with this kind of an effort. Earlier, only local choreographers were called for such dance workshops, but for the first time a professional choreographer from Mumbai has been roped in”.

The students of this workshop will showcase their talent and what they are learning in the workshop on July 11, from 10 am to 12 am, and also from 6 pm to 8 pm, at Amar Singh Club, Jammu.

Jammu, July 5
Glocal University today said it intended to provide “world-class education”, customised as per local standards, to make its students skilled professionals.

Talking to mediapersons here, Dr Amir Ullah Khan, president of Glocal University, said the first batch of the university would be started in August this year and it would target admissions of over 40,000 students in the next five years.

“The University is a UGC recognised institution. It has been set up with a clear vision of providing world-class education with a local flavour,” Dr Khan said. Glocal University is being set up at Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh.

He said the University would start its academic career with seven major schools- School of Technology, School of Business, School of Computer Science, School of Media and Cultural Studies, School of Accounting and Commerce, School of Legal Studies and Research and School of Education and Research. — TNS

Jammu, July 5
Minister for Planning and Development Ajay Kumar Sadhotra, accompanied by Legislator and provincial president, National Conference (NC), Jammu, Devender Singh Rana paid obeisance at Gurdwara Tali Sahib, Canal Road here today and prayed for peace and tranquillity in Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing a congregation held on the occasion of Gurupurab, Sadhotra dwelt on the life and teachings of Guru Hargobind and said great gurus preached a harmonious society based on love, compassion and mutual co-existence.

The spirit of the eternal message held relevance now more than ever before as intolerance and greed was spreading tentacles and eating up the social fabric, he added.

Sadhotra called upon people to work for strengthening the bonds of brotherhood between various communities, which was the essence of the teachings of the Gurus.

Devender Singh Rana referred to the valour and far sightedness of Guru Hargobind and said His spiritual and temporal spirit would remain a guiding principle to work towards a just society based on equality, justice and compassion.

Greeting the people on Gurupurab, Rana said the preachings of righteousness, love and truth had been guiding the humanity for centuries and had helped it overcome the evils of hatred and intolerance. He hoped that such festivals would strengthen the bonds of amity between various communities and be the harbinger of peace and tranquillity in the state.