Jammu, July 22
The J&K State Sports Council has relieved all the selection grade coaches, junior coaches and instructors of their additional responsibilities as in-charge. They have been asked to impart coaching exclusively to the budding youth.

Earlier, they were assigned to function as in charge of these units in addition to their duties.

Sources said the decision in this regard was taken by the General Council Office at its 53rd meeting held on February 19 under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister and Sports Minister. Sources said the follow-up action was approved by the Sports Minister on July 17.

Those who have been relieved from their additional duties include Surinder Pal Singh (gymnastics, in-charge, KK Hakhu, astro turf stadium, Satish Gupta, in charge, table tennis, Indoor Sports Complex, MA Stadium, Baljinder Pal Singh, athletics, in charge stadium, Kathua, Naveen Sharma, cricket, in charge, RS Pura Stadium, Sat Pal Singh, football, in charge Dussehra Ground, Gandhi Nagar, Saktish Kumar, basketball, in charge, GGM Science College ground), Iqbal Singh, football, in charge, Gandhi Nagar Play Field), Ajay Gupta, Kabaddi, in charge, Sports Stadium, Udhampur, Nirdosh Kumar, volleyball, in charge, Sports Stadium, Poonch and Bashir Ahmed, volleyball, in charge, Sports Stadium, Rajouri.

Sources said all of them have been directed to report to their respective Sports Officers within three days. After that, the Chief Sports Officer and Sports Officers will consult for further transfer of assignments to them.

The officials who have given additional charge are Ashok Singh, in charge, Mini Stadium/ swimming pool, MA Stadium, GGM Science College Ground, Ravi Singh, in charge, MA Stadium, Indoor Sports Complex. However, the remaining stadiums or playfields have to be supervised by the Sports Officers.

the load shedding

* The J&K State Sports Council has relieved all the selection grade coaches, junior coaches and instructors of their additional responsibilities as in-charge.

* The Sports Council has asked them to impart coaching exclusively to the budding sportspersons. 

Jammu, July 22
The Department of Youth Affairs and Sports has expressed displeasure over the alleged poor- utilisation of schemes to create sports infrastructure in the state. Sources said when the earlier schemes for sports infrastructure were transferred to the state sector in 2005, a large number of sports facilities were created, but these remained under-used for want of proper maintenance, coaches, equipment, etc.

In addition, sizeable infrastructure created specially, for the National Games also remains under-utilised or even unutilised. Sources said the authorities had stressed on the need to have an effective mechanism to encourage productive utilisation.

The issue was also discussed at the recently concluded Conference of Ministers of Youth Affairs and Sports of States/Union Territories held at New Delhi recently. Sources said the same issue was discussed at the Conference of State Sports Ministers held in 2009 and 2010 and it was unanimously resolved to introduce a comprehensive scheme to support the creation of urban sports infrastructure especially in states like J&K.

The matter was also taken up with the Planning Commission as well as the annual plan discussions. 

Jammu, July 22
Various Sikh organisations today demanded that the existing electoral rolls for the state gurdwara elections be updated before conducting elections.

Addressing mediapersons, leaders of the Sikh organizations today demanded that eligible voters should be included in the existing rolls and their photographs should be attached with electoral rolls so as to keep a check on bogus voters. "We also appeal to the Sikh voters in all the constituencies to get their names included in the voter lists," they said.

"The delimitation process in view of the creation of new districts in the state be initiated and completed after taking all district committees and other leading Sikh organisations into confidence," they said.

Leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal (B), Shiromani Akali Dal (A), All India Sikh Student Federation and other Sikh organisations also spoke.

They thanked the state government for announcing gurdwara elections as per the State Gurdwara Endowment Act, 1975.

Jammu, July 22
The Directorate of School Education, Jammu, has failed to update its official website for more than three months and it is full of confusion and errors.

The website, http://schedujammu.nic.in/, which is maintained by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) after getting information from the school education office, lacks all basic information about officials of the department. It carries contact information of those officials who have either reached superannuation or have been transferred to some other department.

One such example is of former Joint Director, Secondary Education, AK Saini, who reached his superannuation in April, but as per the official website, he is still occupying the post. The Joint Director, Secondary Education, is the second most senior official in the director office after the Director.

The officials of the office are blaming it on the NIC for not updating the website.

“From time to time, we send changes and updates to the NIC and it is their job to act upon it. We don’t know why they haven’t updated the website,” said Gurcharan Singh, an employee of the Directorate of School Education, who looks after the updates on the website.

The website does not contain any information on the present Director and names of other officials of the department.

The website does have details of the hierarchal setup of the Education Department, but without names.

The Directorate of School Education, Jammu, is the office that looks after the education up to the secondary level of the entire Jammu region.

“It is very unfortunate that the Directorate of School Education doesn’t keep its official website updated. This careless attitude gets reflected in other educational institutions at lower level,” said Aditya Sharma, who works at a telecommunication company in Jammu.

Akhnoor, July 22
Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Sham Lal Sharma said yesterday that the government was working on a plan to upgrade the interior roads connecting small towns and villages with the main roads.

He was speaking at a function organised to mark biannual congregation of Reen Bridari Panj Grian yesterday.

The minister also threw light on various schemes like Bharat Nirman, Prime Minister Grameen Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), NRHM, IWDP, ICDS, besides employment schemes like MGNREGA.

He also listed self-employment schemes well suited for the rural areas, particularly women, and asked the people to take up the activities having local potential.

He also listed the measures to provide safe drinking water to the people across the state. He said the department was also providing tap water to all educational institutions of the state.

Jammu, July 22
The National Mazdoor Conference (NMC) has asked the UPA government whether or not it is going to appoint the 7th Pay Commission. NMC president Subash Shastri said the announcement in this regard was made by the Finance Minister in the ensuing Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning on August 5.

Addressing a meeting of NMC activists, Shastri said the setting up of the 7th Pay Commission was the need of the hour as it dealt with one crore employees/ pensioners. He said this would be the major issue in the Lok Sabha elections.

Shastri pointed out that except 6th Pay Commission, all other pay commissions were constituted in the third year of every decade. He expressed hope that the government would take decision at the earliest and both Centre and state government employees and pensioners would be entitled for the 7th Pay Commission with effect from January 2016.

Pleading the cause of both Centre and state government employees and pensioners, Shastri said 50 per cent DA should be forthwith merged in their basic pay and pension, adding that till the new Pay Commission was constituted and its recommendations implemented, 20 per cent interim relief should also be sanctioned.

Other demands of the NMC included release of 10 per cent DA due from July1, 2013, in favour of the Centre and state government employees and pensioners, enhancing medical allowance to Rs 1,000 per month, monthly emoluments of daily wagers to Rs 10,000 per month, removal of all pay anomalies in SRO 93 and time-bound implementation policy for regularisation of daily wagers/casual and seasonal labour.

Rajan Babu Khajuria, Sham Lal Sharma Rakesh Padha, Anil Singh Slathia, Sunil Kochhar, Surinder Kumar, Ram Lal, Ram Pal Sharma Barkat Ram, Girdhari Lai Bhagat, Vijay Kumar Bhagat, Jograj, Sukhdev Singh, Kamal, Subash Sharma , Surrinder Kumar and Gopal Dass addressed the meeting.

other demands

* Release of 10 per cent DA due from July 1, 2013, in favour of the Centre and state government employees and pensioners

* Enhancing medical allowance to Rs 1,000 per month

* Hike in emoluments of daily wagers to Rs 10,000 per month

* Removal of pay anomalies in SRO 93

* Time-bound implementation policy for regularisation of daily wagers and seasonal labour

Rajouri, July 22
A cadre on “welding and electrical” is being organised by the Rashtriya Rifles Battalion, under the aegis of Headquarters Counter Insurgency Force (Uniform) for the unemployed youth hailing from remote and the backward border areas of Nowshera Tehsil(Jhangar), under the ongoing Operation Sadbhavana, from July 22 to 31.

A total of 20 unemployed youth from villages Bhawani, Saryah, Mangala, Kalsian and Lam will be attending the cadre. During the cadre, the participating youth will be imparted training on the theoretical and practical aspects on welding skills and also be familiarised with basic tools, and latest equipments being used for welding work. In addition to the above, the participants will also be provided financial guidance for finding jobs and financial assistance for starting own ventures.

Jammu, July 22
The heavy rain that lashed Jammu on Saturday morning has brought stones on the roads, creating troubles for bikers. Even after two days of heavy rain, the authorities are not paying heed towards the pathetic condition of the roads.

The rain has washed away many of the city road.

“All the roads of the city are filled with stones and it may cause accidents. The authorities should clean up the road to prevent the loss of lives,” said Avinash Dogra, a banker. Dr Vinod Sharma, health officer, Jammu Municipal Corporation, said, “It is not my job to clear the road but I am still doing it. The work has been delayed because of Sunday but we have succeeded in clearing many roads today and other will be taken care of by tomorrow.”

Jammu, July 22
The Mountaineering Association of Jammu and Kashmir is going to host the 1st Sub Junior North Zone Sport Climbing Championship for boys and girls at Sprawling Buds School, Chinore, from September 20 to 22.

The championship is being organised by the Mountaineering Association of Jammu and Kashmir under the aegis of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation North Zone Committee. It is being sponsored by the J&K State Sports Council.

Over 200 climbers from Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, besides the host Jammu and Kashmir, are expected to take part in the three-day event.

In a handout issued today, the association said only those climbers who are born in 2000 and after are eligible to participate in the competitions.

The association has also carved out a mini-boys and girls category (born in 2002 and after) out of the sub-junior category. The winners of this category will also be awarded.

The championship carries prize money of Rs 21,000. Almost all the prominent climbers of the north zone, including some national medalists, are likely to participate in the competition.

The specialised equipment for the competition will be arranged by the Mountaineering Association of J&K while the Indian Mountaineering Foundation North Zone Committee will provide technical support.

Chairperson of the IMF S Bhattacharjee will also be present on the occasion.

The association has already formed committees for making elaborate boarding, lodging and transport arrangements for comfortable stay of the participants and officials

Katra, July 22
The 6th Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE), sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology, GOI, began with an inaugural lecture on ‘Innovations: Why and how?’ by Prof Sudhir K Jain, Vice-Chancellor, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), at the Matrika Auditorium, here today.

Prof Jain talked about the importance of innovations in daily life and emphasised the need for innovations for exploiting global opportunities in the WTO era of global competition. In the talk, Prof Jain presented a slideshow on Jessica Cox, who was born without arms and acquired sport pilot license in USA to fly light sport aircraft using only her feet. Prof Jain greatly inspired the participants of the programme and advised them to innovate, invent, patent the inventions, be rich and do charity.

The INSPIRE is an innovative programme of the Department of Science and Technology, GOI, to attract talent. The basic objective of the INSPIRE camp is to communicate to the young attendees the excitement of creative pursuits of science and to attract talent to the study of the subject at an early stage.

In his welcome address, Dr Sunil Wanchoo, Director, School of Innovation and Community Development, said under the above scheme, the SMVDU had been organising the INSPIRE science internship summer camp since 2010. The first camp was held in April, 2010, second in June 2010, third in June 2011, fourth in December 2011 and the fifth in July 2012. Over 80 eminent scientists and academicians from all over the country had been mentors for these camps to train over 1875 young students from Jammu and Kashmir, he said.