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Safe roads a long way ahead
Cop accused of thrashing man for refusing bribe transferred
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Paying ‘delayed’ electricity bills a race against time
NABARD to AIR info about schemes
Doda district hospital patients deprived of a sip of healthy water
State fails to set up play field
assn
Fix accountability for lapses in ADB schemes: Panthers Party
Narwal mandi to soon have modern multi-utility cold storage: Bhalla
Impressive debut for Shubam
Khajuria
Baba Mir Shah Akhara bag wrestling trophy
Surya Risers win J&K Corporate Premier League
ZRUCC member inspects facilities at city railway station
JMC strays from aim to remove animals from city
road Doctors’ team claims to have diagnosed mysterious bone disease
Wani reviews progress of ERA projects Sarpanch, BDO accused of embezzlement
Lawyers oppose service tax
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Safe roads a long way ahead
Jammu, July 23 Several interior roads in Channi Rama, Narwal, Transport Nagar, Bishnah, Janipur, Muthi, Bantalab Gangyal, Digiana, Jeevan Nagar, Shanker Vihar, Preet Nagar, Nanak Nagar, Sanjay Nagar, Channi Himmat, Channi Rama, Ambika Colony, Bhagwati Nagar, Trikuta Nagar and Samba district suffered severe damage with the officials from the Department of Roads and Building (R&B) saying they were assessing the situation before the restoration work could begin. Officials said roads in Samba, which received 127 mm rainfall between July 19 and 20, also got washed away at several places. “Due to the flooding after heavy rainfall, several portions of the road in our area got washed away leaving potholes. We hope that it will be repaired soon. People are facing a lot of problems," said Rafiq Malik, a resident of Channi Rama. The drains of many areas got choked due to garbage and overflowing water entered many houses and shops. “No agency is ready to remove garbage from the streets. It is creating a health hazard for the residents. Municipal Corporation should lift solid waste scattered around the city," said Rajesh Sharma, a resident. Officials said house collapse in the old city area on July 20 was a wake up call for the authorities as the weak base led to the disaster. "Illegal construction near the Circular Road, Gujjar Nagar and the old city area on the banks of river Tawi could lead to a major catastrophe anytime as houses built on hillocks, having weak foundation could spell disaster in case of heavy rainfall," said Bushan Parimoo, an environmentalist. Thousands live in these areas unmindful of the dangers involved. However, the government is a mere mute spectator, because shifting them would involve shifting lakhs of residents. “The road repair work will be carried out only after the monsoon. It is not possible before that. We are assessing the damage to the infrastructure. Roads get damaged during the rainy season,” Chief Engineer, R&B , Tehsim Mustafa.
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Cop accused of thrashing man for refusing bribe transferred
Tribune News Service
Jammu, July 23 In a damage-control exercise, the traffic police department, attached the accused Sub-Inspector and later transferred him to the Kashmir zone. The driver, Sanjay Kumar, 28, a resident of Nagbani, was rushed to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Jammu, in an unconscious condition by senior officers of traffic police and pedestrians where his condition was stated to be normal. The incident took place when the driver was on way to dispatch vegetables and fruits. He was intercepted by the traffic policemen headed by Sub-Inspector, Mohan Lal Pandita. "The sub-inspector asked for entry (hafta) fee of Rs 300 for the current month and argued with me after I offered just Rs 100. Abuses from the police followed and a scuffle ensued. They beat me up mercilessly that too in full public view," said the victim at the GMCH, Jammu. He said his fault was that he could not pay hafta on time and the traffic policemen put a 'penalty' on him for delay in paying the “entry fee”. Manmohan Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic), Jammu, said the Sub-Inspector who allegedly thrashed the driver was immediately attached with District Police Line and was later transferred to Kashmir Zone on the directions of Inspector General of Police, (IGP) Traffic, J&K, Mohammad Muneer Khan.
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Paying ‘delayed’ electricity bills a race against time
Tribune News Service
Jammu, July 23 Customers of the New Plot to Roop Nagar who are required to pay bills at the Janipur branch of the J&K Bank, face three long queues. “I have not paid my electricity bill for the last three months because of the long queues," said Ankush Khajuria, a resident of Roop Nagar. “No one has the time to stand in queues for hours, the department should make some alternate options for bill payment," he added. The bank branch manager said, "We have made three separate counters exclusively for payment of electricity bills, but due to heavy rush in the last days, people have to stand in the queues." More than 7,000 customers have to pay bill in this branch before the 27th of every month but the department starts distributing the bills only from the 20th of every month. The bills are generated by the 12th of every month. Gurbachan Singh, Superintending Engineer (SE) PDD said, “We are planning to distribute the customers to other branches for their convenience. I will check why the distribution of bills is being delayed.”
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NABARD to AIR info about schemes
Jammu, July 23 NABARD, Jammu & Kashmir Regional office, Jammu is involved in the process of financial inclusion of the rural population in the state and has taken various initiatives for the same. To facilitate the Regional Rural Banks and Co-operative banks to reach out to the rural masses, NABARD has extended financial support to these banks. NABARD has sanctioned a CBS project during 2010-11 with an assistance of Rs 328.74 lakh to Ellaquai Dehati Bank, Srinagar and one CBS project to the J&K Grameen Bank, Jammu, involving an assistance of Rs 933 lakh. A fully computerised mobile van each involving funding support of Rs 4.5 lakh have been provided to the banks. The J&K Grameen Bank was also sanctioned Rs.42.19 lakh for providing 30,000 smart cards to farmers. This message is also being spread through street theatre in the rural areas of Samba. In addition, NABARD has sanctioned 70 programmes for conducting village-level workshops in their area of operation, by providing financial support to the J&K Grameen Bank and Ellaquai Dehati Bank. NABARD is also organising field-level workshops and putting up hoardings at prominent places viz., BDO Office, ADC/DDC Office.
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Doda district hospital patients deprived of a sip of healthy water
Tribune News Service
Doda, July 23 During monsoon, the situation gets grim as the water supply gets polluted and passes through different streams before reaching the hospital. "Even the water coolers installed outside the hospital wards is filled with unhygienic water without any proper filtration," said Rashida Begum, who had come to hospital along her daughter-in-law for maternity purpose. Another attendant, Nek Balwan, of Bhaderwah, reached here to see his brother to the doctor said, "The state of affairs in the hospitals is becoming from bad to worse with every passing day. Even healthy persons can fall ill due to the water here." "Only option is to buy water from outside. Poor patients cannot afford it. Hundreds of patients of far-flung areas are being treated in the hospital everyday. Safe and healthy drinking water is crucial to maintain the fluid level in the patient's body," he added. The District Hospital, Doda, caters to more than 2 lakh population of the district. Even critical cases are shifted from the sub-district hospitals of Bhaderwah and Gundoh to the hospital. An official of the PHE department Doda said a new drinking water tank would be built at the out-patient department in the hospital shortly. “We are looking for help from the hospital authorities for the installation of more purified drinking water tanks," he claimed.
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State fails to set up play field
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Had to form the body under the guidelines of National Playing Fields Association Vikas Sharma Tribune News Service
Jammu, July 23 Sources said the state governments and union territories (UTs) were requested to set up State-Level Playing Fields Associations on priority. The concept of the NPFAI and its objectives were discussed in detail in the Conferences of Sports Ministers in 2009 and 2010, where all state sports ministers assured that the State-Level Playing Fields Associations would be formed on priority. Sources added that in the recently concluded conference, the matter was taken up with the concerned authorities representing their respective states and UTs. They were again urged to take serious measures to form the associations. The states which have formed the associations are Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram, West Bengal, Manipur, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. Of the 10 state associations, four associations in Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh have been affiliated to the NPFAI and a sum of Rs 50 lakh each, out of the Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme (USIS), has been sanctioned to the state associations. This grant is for the purpose of creation of a fund for furtherance of the overall objectives to protect, promote, preserve, develop and improve playing fields, playgrounds etc. Sources claimed that the reason behind the non-formation of the association by J&K is the lack of effective mechanism to execute various schemes of the Union Sports Ministry. The authorities have not been able to focus their attention on the issue and as a result, have been deprived of financial grant. Further, general guidelines for development of play fields are being finalised for circulation to state governments and other stake holders. States are expected to adopt the NPFAI guidelines with suitable modifications according to the local requirements. The NPFAI was established in February 2009 as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. It was formally launched on 26th February, 2009. Concerned about the shortage of open spaces and playing fields in the country and diversion of some existing fields to other activities, it was considered necessary to evolve an institutional arrangement to protect open spaces and playing fields. Accordingly, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports took the initiative of setting up the NPFAI.
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Fix accountability for lapses in ADB schemes: Panthers Party
Tribune News Service
Jammu, July 23 “The ERA was entrusted with the task of execution of several roads, bridges, sewerage, drainage and channelisation projects, funded by the Asia Development Bank (ADB) scheme, but majority of these have been abandoned or left half-done,” JKNPP working chairman Harsh Dev Singh said in a statement here. Making special mention of Bani-Daggar road, Doda-Bharat road, Udhampur-Ramnagar road and Kalai-Saki Maidan road, he said the roads were the “worst victims of official apathy and red tape”. “These roads were taken up for construction in 2006-07 but are either incomplete or have been abandoned, thus providing the most glaring instance of abuse of public resources. Likewise, several sewerage and drainage projects sanctioned under the ADB and taken up by the ERA have also met the same fate,” Singh said. He said work on the channelisation and rehabilitation of primary drains was abandoned midway with old Jammu city and the Patta Bohri area having been completely ignored and work on Janipur Nullah having been left half done. He said there was a lot of resentment in Shakti Nagar, Subash Nagar, Rajpura and the adjoining area of cremation ground which were ignored under the Janipur Nullah Scheme of the ADB. He also pointed out “lapses and apathetic approach” of the ERA in construction work on Bikram Chowk flyover scheme, sanctioned at Rs 65 crore under Loan II of the ADB, the foundation of which was laid on May 26 this year. He sought a proper mechanism so as to ensure that the huge funds provided under ADB schemes were not plundered, leakages were plugged and sanctioned projects completed on time.
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Narwal mandi to soon have modern multi-utility cold storage: Bhalla
Tribune News Service
Jammu, July 23 He said a detailed project report, costing Rs. 2 crore, had already been prepared and the steps were afoot to start the work soon. Bhalla stated this while interacting with traders during his visit to fruit and vegetable mandi at Narwal. Anil Sharma, Director Horticulture, Jammu, Rajesh Gupta, president, Fruit Association, Ramesh Parihar, president, Vegetable Association, Digvijay Gupta, chief executive, Mandis Association and Priyadarshini Parihar, Director Marketing, accompanied him. Bhalla informed that the land available with the HPMC would be utilised for construction of the cold storage. He said the government was very keen to develop all the fruit and vegetable mandis with modern basic facilities. He assured the traders that their genuine issues regarding drainage and sewerage of the mandi, augmentation of tube well to overcome the water supply scarcity, lack of basic infrastructure and delayed completion of gutted and additional new sheds would be redressed on priority. He instructed the concerned agencies to construct a meeting hall in the fruit mandi at the earliest. He directed the ERA to start the augmentation work on tube well and overhead tank. He also directed the constructing agency of the Horticulture Department to start the mechanisation and drainage facility at the fruit and vegetable markets after the monsoon season, for which the government had released Rs 50 lakh out of Rs 2 crore. He said, in addition to completion of two auction platforms, the government had released Rs 1.70 crore for renovation of dilapidated auction sheds. The government had planned to set up fruit and vegetable mandis at all potential areas of the state so that the farmers could get marketing facilities at their doorsteps, he added. He stressed upon exploring new markets to promote the horticulture products of the state. Horticulture was the mainstay of the economy of the state and all out efforts would be made to promote the vital sector appropriately across the country, he said.
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Impressive debut for Shubam
Khajuria
Tribune News Service
Jammu, July 23 Shubam scored 52 runs off 61 balls, studded with ten hits to the fence. He, along with another opener A A Herwadkar, stitched 79 runs for the first wicket. Shubam was caught by Samarawickarama off the bowling of Jayasinghe. At stumps, the Indian team was comfortably placed at 244/2 in 69 overs.
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Baba Mir Shah Akhara bag wrestling trophy
Tribune News Service
Jammu, July 23 Bajrangi Akhara, Jammu, finished runners-up by scoring 19 points. Technical officials who helped in conducting the daylong event included Mulk Raj Sharma, NIS Wrestling Coach, Bansi Lal Tidyal, chairman Technical Committee, , Kulbir Singh, general secretary, Govind Singh, Raj Hussian, Om Parkash Sharma, Krishan Lal, Mohammad Fareed, Subash Singh Chib and Balraj Sharma. The championship was held under the overall supervision of Shiv Kumar Sharma, president, the J&K Indian Style Wrestling Association, wherein 63 wrestlers participated in six weight categories 55 kg, 60 kg, 66 kg, 74 kg, 84 kg and 120 kg. SA Raina, director, Rural Development Department, Jammu, was the chief guest on the occasion and presented medals and certificates to the wrestlers. Inderjeet Khajuria, senior vice-president, the J&K Indian Style Wrestling Association and president, Jammu District, presided over the function.
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Surya Risers win J&K Corporate Premier League
Tribune News Service
Jammu, July 23 Winning the toss and batting first, the opening pair, Vikas and Pranav Gupta of Surya Risers, provided a solid start to the team. Vikas made 29 runs off 20 balls with the help of three fours and two sixes while Pranav contributed 27 off 20 balls, studded with three hits to the fence. Skipper Ian Dev Singh and Guru Partap Singh chipped in with 13 runs each while Rompy contributed 9 runs. For Jumbo Gladiators, Raman Dutta, Kuldeep Kumar, Hiten Dalal and Soumay Jain shared a wicket apiece. In reply, Jumbo Gladiators was skittled out for 105 runs in 18 overs and lost the match by 13 runs. Parveen Singh (19), skipper Ram Dayal (18) and Sahil Aggarwal (11) were the notable contributors. Rompy Sharma was the main strike bowler with a four-wicket haul for Surya Risers. Inderjeet Singh took two wickets while Vikas, Abhishek and Sourab claimed one wicket each. Rompy was presented with HDFC man of the match title by Satish Gupta, owner of Surya Risers, while Vikas was presented the TCI maximum sixes award. The presentation team included Farooq Amin, CEO of JKCPL and owner of Kanwal Tigers, Abdul Qayoom, general secretary, JKCPL and former J&K Ranji Trophy skipper and Satish Gupta. The match was officiated by BCCI panel umpire Amit Bansal and Sudhir Singh as umpires while Dheeraj and Mohsin acted as the scorers. Former International umpire SK Bansal was the match referee. Tomorrow, Simula Bulls will take on Jumbo Gladiators at the same venue.
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ZRUCC member inspects facilities at city railway station
Tribune News Service
Jammu, July 23 There are about one crore pilgrims coming to Mata Vaishno Devi, Baba Amarnath ji and other religious & tourist places in the state. Keeping the fact in mind that Jammu is a part of the Northern zone of the country, has become a very important Railway station in the Northern Railways, they assured to strive for providing the proper facilities to the Railway users coming from different parts of the country. Both Charak and Gurnam Singh appealed the users to bring to their notice the issues of concern or problems being faced by them to take up the same with the railway authorities for their early redress.
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JMC strays from aim to remove animals from city roads Jammu, July 23 Animals caught several times by the JMC’s anti-animal squad return to the roads, particularly National Highways, creating a dangerous situation for the travellers. “We have approached the officials to establish a cattle pond and impose a fine on people who release their domestic cattle near public places, but it seems they are not interested in doing anything,” said Shashi Sharma, a local trader at Kachi Chawani. On an average, the JMC catches nearly 10 stray cattle daily. The impounded cattle are auctioned thrice a month and in case the claimants do not come, the cattle are either handed over to NGOs or released into the forest areas. Mostly, the unclaimed and unsold animals are released near the forests at Jajjar Kotli, Samba Rakh, Purmandal and Akhnoor, but find their way back to the city or fall prey to bovine smugglers. Many commuters said at times they had narrowly missed hitting the animals, which had become a major threat for passengers. There have been many incidents, when commuters have received grievous injuries after hitting these stray animals. |
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Doctors’ team claims to have diagnosed mysterious
bone disease Poonch, July 23 The villagers have been suffering from the disease for decades. The Tribune in its June 17, 2012, issue had highlighted the same. Dr Swarkar Sharma, an expert in Human Genetics, who headed the team of doctors which diagnosed the disease, said, "Clinical features of rare disorders are very often poorly understood due to their low prevalence. At times, these rare disorders remain uncharacterised or the patients are misdiagnosed and get poor medical attention. Therefore, it is hard to develop therapies and good clinical practice in such situations. We came across such an incidence," said Dr Swarkar Sharma. “We visited the village and conducted clinical screening at a private diagnostic centre. Dr Pandita and Dr Razdan arranged the screening. I communicated the scanned x-rays, MRI images etc to my international collaborators who are great orthopaedic surgeons in Japan, China and USA. Along with their help and our local radiologists to diagnose of the disorder," Sharma said. “It took us two months with the help of renowned international orthopaedic surgeons and radiologists to diagnose the disorder with confidence as "Progressive Pseudorheumatoid Athropathy of Childhood (PPAC) also known as Spondyloepiphyseal Dysplasia Tarda with Progressive Arthropathy (SEDT-PA)." "I felt like looking at it deeply when I read about it. I discussed it with Dr Ekta Rai, who too is a Human Geneticist and Dr KK Pandita, a renowned clinician. Our thanks to the local community which helped us to conduct a one-day camp," Sharma said. |
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Wani reviews
progress of ERA projects Jammu, July 23 He passed these directions after observing slow pace of work on the project while chairing a meeting held here today to review status of work on the projects being executed by the Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) in Jammu region. Minister of State for Cooperative Dr Manohar Lal Sharma was also present in the meeting. He directed the executing agency to accelerate the pace of construction work and adhere to the quality standards in the use of material, besides specifications and norm set for the project. The road project is being executed by the ERA at an estimated cost of Rs 30 crore. |
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Sarpanch, BDO
accused of embezzlement Jammu, July 23 He levelled the charges after obtaining information on work done in Gurrekarah under the Right to Information (RTI) Act from the office of BDO. While briefing the media today, Hussain, along with Tariq Hussain and Riaz Zargar, said it was also ascertained that job cards were issued in favour of deceased, old aged, infirm people and students and the amount was withdrawn fraudulently. “The corruption in preparing job cards can be gauged from the fact that the sarpanch managed to prepare seven job cards in the name of his family members. Interestingly, three job cards were prepared in the name of the sarpanch himself, two in the name of his wife and one in his mother’s name. Also he managed to prepare 17 job cards in the name of his in-laws whereas under MGNREGA, only one job card is to be issued to one person”, they claimed. The trio further claimed that Mohammad Ayaz, sarpanch of Gurrekarah, falling under Gandoh Block in Doda District, in connivance with officials of Block Development Office (BDO), had embezzled several lakhs of rupees under MGNREGA scheme. They added that during 2011, the Rural Development Department had sanctioned a plan of Rs 36 lakh for Gurrekarah, out of which the authorities of BDO showed expenditure of Rs 18 lakh on different department works. “That too was not utilised judiciously,” he alleged. He said the nexus between sarpanch and BDO officers led to misappropriation of money worth lakhs as the work done was only on papers and not on ground. Hussain claimed that he had lodged a complaint with the State Vigilance Organisation and it took one year to start investigations into the matter. All three requested the Vigilance Commissioner to re-launch investigations and bring the facts to light and initiate stern actions against the corrupt sarpanch and BDO officials for looting the public exchequer. They also threatened that if no action was taken, a movement would be launched across the Doda district. |
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Roads damaged at several places in the district due to the recent heavy rainfall could take months to repair. The civic authorities have even failed to remove solid waste, brought by flooded drains, from the roads. Cleanliness is next to godliness but the temple city now wears an ugly
look.
A load-carrier driver was allegedly assaulted by a Sub-Inspector and his subordinates in full public view today.
Jammu, July 23
