Jammu, August 3
A year on, traffic signal lights continue to be a failure in regulating traffic chaos in the winter capital of the state. Many of the lights have been put on blinker mode and commuters continue to violate the signals in Jammu.

The much-awaited electric traffic signals lights were inaugurated a year ago on August 4, 2012 at Bikram Chowk by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, with the hope that the city's traffic system will be regulated.

Chaos continues in the city and people hardly bother about the traffic signal.

However, traffic cops have fined Rs 2,241 (compound-Rs 1,793 + court - Rs 448) traffic signal violators till June this year and collected Rs 1,79,300.

Despite conducting several surveys before establishing the lights at 30 places around the city, most of them proved useless just weeks after they were thrown open in September last year, creating more chaos and problems for the drivers. These lights have been put on blinker mode.

Senior officers in traffic police are now thinking what to do with the signals which were to be relocated, as they have been installed at wrong places.

The traffic light project was undertaken by the JMC at a cost of Rs 250 lakh and a total of 30 lights were installed in the city in a phased manner. The company Omaxe was given the project for installation of traffic signals in Jammu under the supervision of Jammu Municipal Corporation.

In the project, 60 points of Jammu have to be covered for installing the signals in two phases. In the first phase, signals were set up at 30 places including Satwari Chowk, Gangyal, Green Belt, Gole Market, Bikram Chowk, Jewel, Panama Chowk, Narwal, KC Chowk, Shakuntala Chowk, Rehari and Janipur besides other crossings of the city.

SSP traffic Manmohan Singh said, "We have achieved great success in regulating traffic at some points like Bikram Chowk, Divisional Commissioner's Office Chowk, Green Belt Chowk and Satwari. Some points like Shaheedi Chowk and Vivekanand Chowk have been permanently put on blinker mode, as they were causing confusion among the commuters."

"In the peak hours, we put Kachi Chawni and High Court Chowk on blinker mode to regularise traffic; we have also proposed some more points like the railway station, Bahu Plaza, Gandhi Nagar Gurdwara and Kunjwani Chowk for installation of traffic signal lights," he added.The SSP further said the traffic cops are vigilantly keeping a check on traffic violations at all the signals, and impose a heavy challan on the violators.

Batote, August 3
With the succumbing of two more injured in the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar, last night, the death toll in the LPG cylinder blast accident at Maitra in Ramban on July 29, has gone up to five.

As many as 10 persons, including eight of a family with four infants and three women, a sub-inspector and a constable, had received burn injuries in an LPG cylinder blast in the house of Mohammed Yasin Naik, a retired BSF Head Constable. According to the family sources, MY Naik (66) and his grandson Ayan (1), who died last night had both received 80 per cent burns.

Naik’s wife Parveena Akhter (60) with 95 per cent burns, daughter Razia Begum (30) with 75 per cent burns, daughter-in-law Nasima and their tenants sub-inspector Dipak Sharma (40) with 50 per cent burns and SG constable, Narinder Singh (36) with 65 per cent burns, both of the Traffic Police, are reportedly very critical.

According to neighbours, the fire broke out in the house due to leakage of gas during the refilling of the 5 kg cylinder from a 14.2 kg cylinder in the kitchen, while a heater was on.

Nazia (8), Sahil (6), and Zoya (4) had succumbed to their injuries in the hospital the next day on July 30 in the SKIMS. Naik’s son and son-in-law were away on their jobs on the fateful day.

When the cylinder had exploded all persons were sitting in the adjoining rooms.

Jammu, August 3
The state Power Development Department (PDD) takes four-five days to replace damaged transformers as their own workshop is out of order and the Small Scale Industries Association (SSIA) is overburdened.

The power situation in Jammu has gone from bad to worse as nearly 20 to 30 transformers get damaged every day and the PDD workshop is out of order as a part of the machinery is damaged. The PDD has the option to get the damaged transformers repaired from the Small Scale Industries Association (SSIA), which has been overburdened. According to sources, the SSIA is delaying repair of these transformers as bills of crores of rupees, pending with the department, have not been released.

Many transformers are damaged in almost all the localities of the Jammu, including Trikuta Nagar, Channi, Nanak Nagar, Talab Tillo, Bantalab, Janipur etc.

Gurbachan Singh, Superintending Engineer, PDD, said, “A machine is out of order, due to which the repair work is suffering. We are totally dependent on the SSIA to get the transformers repaired.”

“It takes four-five days to repair a transformer due to moisture in the environment. We do not have a spare transformer in the store, so it takes more than four days to replace a damaged transformer,” he added.

Sources said the department has paid a meagre Rs 20 lakh against the liability of more than 10 crores for repair of the transformers and this amount has accumulated over the last few years. If the SSIA stops the repair work, it will further increase the power woes and people would be the sufferers. Residents of many localities are continuously protesting against the department, but power supply continues to be disrupted.

Jammu, August 3
In absence of a dedicated public transport system and dependence of a major chunk of population on mini buses in the city, daily travel is not only frustrating but also a harrowing experience.

Sudden parking by mini buses on busy roads has become a major cause of traffic jams and over-speeding by drivers has already claimed several lives, which is another problem.

Most drivers don’t follow the traffic lights, particularly at Bikram Chowk, Janipur, Kachi Chawni and Indira Chowk. The approved seating capacity of Tata 407 mini bus is 17 while for Swaraj Mazda, it is 21, but an overwhelming majority of the mini buses is not following the rules.

The drivers compete with one another for passengers and pose a threat to their lives as well as those of pedestrians; however, traffic police personnel turn a blind eye to violations.

Drivers and conductors are not wearing the mandatory khaki uniform despite directions by the district administration. At times, high-pitched music makes drivers almost crazy and they speed up the vehicles, ignoring the fact that passengers are in them.

Thousands of people face risk to their lives every day by travelling in these road monsters. Playing of high-pitch music by the drivers, overcrowding and reckless driving have become an everyday phenomenon.

Despite several drives launched by the traffic police to streamline traffic movement in the city, it seems there is no one to render mini buses safer.

Katra, August 3
A mysterious skeletal disorder that rendered many people physically challenged in Arai village of Poonch district has finally been identified as a rare genetic skeletal disorder. As many as 50 persons have been identified with the problem.

A couple of months ago, a team headed by Dr Swarkar Sharma, assistant professor, School of Biotechnology, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), had visited Arai village in Reasi district. The purpose was to understand more about this unknown disorder and collect familiar data. The people prominently involved in understanding the genetic nature and identification of the disorder were Dr Ekta Rai, assistant professor, School of Biotechnology, Dr KK Pandita, Batra Hospital, Dr Carol Wise, Texas Scottish Rite Hosptal, Dallas USA; Dr Shiro Ikegawa, RIKEN Centre for Integrative Medical Science, Japan, Dr K Thangaraj, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad and Dr Parvinder Kumar, Assistant Professor, Jammu University.

Dr KK Pandita and Dr Sushil Razdan, renowned clinicians, contributed in understanding the clinical perspectives of the disorder. They also arranged for radiological and biochemical diagnostic tests for some of the patients. These tests were very critical, mainly to rule out “Kaschin-Beck Disease”-a disorder with similar phenotype (physical appearance) and frequent in the Tibetan region of China.

The disease has finally been diagnosed as “Progressive Pseudorheumatoid Arthropathy of Childhood” (PPAC) also known as “Spondyloepiphyseal Dysplasia Tarda with Progressive Arthropathy” (SEDT-PA). The age of onset is usually reported to be three to eight years and the only known treatments are physiotherapy in young ones and surgical corrections involving hip and knee replacements in the mature patients.

“Knowing the gene responsible and understanding the biological mechanism, by which it is involved in the etiology of a rare disorder, is very important. So far worldwide, mutations in the gene named “WISP3” are reported to be responsible for the onset of the PPAC. Presently, we are working towards the screening of this gene for mutations in the families from the Arai village to ascertain if the same is responsible for the disorder. For the purpose and to speed up the DNA sequencing work, we are taking support from Ankit Mahajan and Prof Manoj Dhar, Department of Biotechnology, Jammu University. However, keeping in mind the extent of disorder’s prevalence in Arai population, there is a possibility that the gene may not be involved. In such situations, new state of the art “Next Generation Sequencing” technologies are very helpful in identifying the new gene mutations, if needed," Dr Swarkar said.

It is suggested that the children of the area should be provided multi vitamins and nutrients because such deficiencies have been scientifically reported to exaggerate the extent of disorders. As this disorder is genetically recessive, marriage as such should not be a problem in terms of risk of disorder transmission to next generation.

Jammu, August 3
Considering the socio-economic conditions in J&K and strong commitment shown by the state government to implement the Centrally-sponsored National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) to reach a saturation level within a period of five years to cover all vulnerable rural households, a proposal has been mooted by the Centre to provide adequate funds to the state as a special dispensation.

The total requirement of funds for covering two thirds households over a five-year period, starting from 2013-14, is estimated to be Rs 755.32 crore, out of which the requirement of funds for the remaining part of the current five year plan would be Rs 478.70 crore.

Sources said the state sees in the NRLM an opportunity to form a strong network of institutions of poor women and put them on the path of economic recovery, progress and redemption from poverty. Sources said it would be difficult for the state to achieve the coverage of all vulnerable rural households, in case annual allocation of funds was made only on the basis of poverty ratio (5.4 per cent as per the National Sample Survey Organisation). The current entitlement of the state is 0.65 per cent of the total allocation under the NRLM.

In addition, it was also agreed to change the funding pattern between the Centre and the state of J&K from the current 75:25 to 90:10 ratio. This change was proposed keeping in view the fact that the substantial increase in the annual allocations would impose a greater financial burden on the state government which they may find difficult to meet.

Sources said as per the approved 12th Plan outlay, the estimated allocation available for J&K, as per poverty ratio, would be approximately Rs 110 crore. Therefore, keeping in view the larger coverage and the change in the funding pattern proposed, the additional allocation that would have to be provided to J&K for the current five year period would be approximately Rs 320.80 crore. This will be met out of the approved 12th Plan NRLM outlay.

It may be mentioned here that the restructuring of the Centrally-sponsored ‘Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana’ (SGSY) and its renaming as the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) also known as Aajeevika, was approved on June 26, 2010. The framework for the implementation for the NRLM was approved by the Union Ministry on December 9, 2010, and the scheme was formally launched on June 3, 2011.

Requirement of funds The total requirement of funds for covering two thirds households over a five-year period, starting from 2013-14, is estimated to be Rs 755.32 crore, out of which the requirement of funds for the remaining part of the current five year plan will be Rs 478.70 crore. It will be difficult for the state to achieve the coverage of all vulnerable rural households, in case annual allocation of funds was made only on the basis of poverty ratio (5.4 per cent as per the National Sample Survey Organisation). The current entitlement of the state is 0.65 per cent of the total allocation under the NRLM.

Katra, August 3
The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) introduced its cellular services here in 2003. But even after being in operation for the last ten years, the state-owned telecom company has been unable to provide a quality mobile or data connectivity to its subscribers, regardless of its claims of offering hassle-free telephonic experience to its customers.

Poor cellular connectivity for the past few weeks has become a source of inconvenience for lakh of BSNL subscribers in the Reasi district.

Despite BSNL being the first cellular service provider in the state and having the largest postpaid customer base across the state, the company, according to the subscribers, has failed to come up to the expectations of the users here.

Subscribers of the BSNL said the service had gone from bad to worse over the past few weeks, largely due to its own 'unprofessional conduct' and 'slackness'.

Day in and day out, the dismayed customers have a plethora of complaints against the BSNL authorities, including poor connectivity, call drops, weak signal and countless others, but to the utter disappointment of the subscribers, there is no one to pay heed to their grievances, the subscribers complained.

They said despite stiff competition from the private mobile service providers, the BSNL service had not shown any signs of improvement, rather it had become more 'irritable'.

“We are disappointed with the poor BSNL service, which has failed to improve over the years. It seems that there is no troubleshooting initiative from the telecom company. During the past few weeks, the situation has become horrible as despite repeated attempts, calls made from cell phones fail to materialise. We could only hear a recorded voice saying 'the number does not exist, please check the number you have dialled' or 'the number you have dialled is out of coverage area," said Sanjeev Kumar, a BSNL subscriber.

“The BSNL is giving us a tough time. Despite being loyal subscribers of the telecom company, poor connectivity, frequent call drops, particularly at tourism destinations, is adding up to our woes and affecting our business,” said Sonu Kholi, a tour operator in Katra.

With BSNL subscribers getting no respite from the poor services, according to market observers, they have now started switching over to other service providers and shifting loyalties has gained momentum with the introduction of mobile phone number portability scheme recently, where a subscriber can change service provider while retaining their allotted number.

"BSNL subscribers are mostly switching over to other private mobile service providers largely after the Central government introduced the mobile number portability," said Rajinder Parshad, a franchise owner of cellular company said.

The situation in rural areas like Shiv Khori, Pouni, Salal, Arnas, Mahore is even worse than the urban areas.

AK Sharma, Telecom District Manager, Udhampur circle, when contacted, said, “We are helpless; we are trying our best to improve the services in the areas. If subscribers are not happy with our services, they have no other option (operators) to choose from.”

Poonch, August 3
The first batch of the annual Shri Buddha Amarnath pilgrimage comprising 1,500 pilgrims paid obeisance at Buddha Amarnath, Rajpura Mandi, today.

As many as 927 pilgrims from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Bengaluru reached Dashnami Akhara, Poonch, last night and were accorded rousing welcome. Hundreds of local devotees from the state reached Poonch and Mandi last night and performed darshan.

With 1,500 pilgrims performing pilgrimage at Buddha Amarnath today, the total pilgrims visiting the Buddha Amarnath have touched 10,000 this month.

The Buddha Amarnath Committee, Bajrang Dal, Vishav Hindu Parishad and Dashnami Akhara, Poonch, have made adequate arrangements for the stay of pilgrims at various places in Poonch.

Earlier, Poonch DC Sajjad Ahmed Khan flagged off the first batch to Shri Buddha Amarnath from the College Ground, Poonch. Shamsheer Hussain, Superintendent of Police, Poonch, was also present on the occasion.

The Buddha Amarnath yatra is becoming increasingly popular in the state and is a symbol of fraternity and communal amity.

Jammu, August 3
Ram Khajuria, general secretary of the Mountaineering Association of J&K, has been nominated as the judge for the 19th National Sport Climbing Championship scheduled to be held in Bangalore from October 28 to 31 by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, New Delhi.

Khajuria is among the five judges selected by the foundation for the conduct of the national championship.

The other judges are Ajit Kushe, Parkash Kelshekar, Irani Saikia and Debabrata Mukherjee. Akash Ganesh will be the trainee judge.

Ram Khajuria, who is the secretary of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, North Zone committee, has been the president of the jury of the North Zone Sport Climbing Competitions for a number of years.

Jammu, August 3
Expressing concern over the recurrence of earthquake in the Doda-Kishtwar region, National Conference provincial president Devender Singh Rana and Congress MLA from Inderwal, GM Saroori, have made fervent appeal to the Centre for expeditious sanction of the relief package for the tremor victims of the area.

In a statement issued here, Rana said, "The area has been rattled by a series of tremors in the recent months and the two districts have suffered immense damages."

Saying that the Chief Minister has been vociferously pursuing the issue with the Centre Government, Rana expressed an hope for early release of funds as recommended by the state Cabinet. He made a fervent appeal to all political parties to rise above party lines and plead the genuine cause of the victims before the Centre.

The provincial president also referred to tremor jolts felt in the twin districts yesterday and today and called for initiating necessary measures to save public life and property in the event of natural calamity.

Saroori, on the other hand, said, "The thrust has to be laid on the disaster management preparation. This area has witnessed many earthquakes and should be prepared for the disaster management," the Congress MLA said. People are living in very bad conditions. They have lost their homes, animals and farms so we ask the Centre Government and the state government to help the victims to survive."

Jammu, August 3
Vanmahotsava was celebrated in Army Public School (APS), Akhnoor. Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) chairperson Patnaik was the chief guest while Sumita Dey was the guest of honour. The function started with the cultural programme followed by speech on the subject.

Thereafter, 800 trees of various varieties were planted by students and teachers on the school campus. The first sapling was planted by the chief guest. Earlier, chairman Brig SK Dey and Principal KCS Mehta received the chief guest and guest of honour. Others who planted the saplings included Col VK Sharma, Col VLM Mohan, Col Randhawa, Lt Col SK Sharma. Later, Patnaik, who is a Padmashree awardee, interacted with students and advised them to take interest in the academic and other activities. — TNS

Jammu, August 3
Minister for Planning Development, Labour and Employment, Ajay Sadhotra today conferred “Sanstha Samman” on Dr Neeraj Vohra, renowned acupressure doctor of Jammu.

The function was held at the KL Sehgal Hall, Abhinav Theatre wherein Prof Savita Bakshi, Additional Secretary, Cultural Academy, was the guest of honour. A citation, shawl and a memento was presented to the doctor. Ajay Sadhotra said acupressure had become increasingly popular in the recent years. While appreciating Dr Neeraj Vohra, he said he was a skilled acupressurist and had given relief to many people who were suffering from various diseases. — TNS

Jammu, August 3
The Peoples' Revolutionary Movement (PRM) has reiterated its resolve for the continuation of movement for the reorganisation of the state with separate Assemblies/Legislative powers (state).

While briefing mediapersons here today, PRM president Rajinder Jamwal today called upon the people of Jammu to forge greater unity. He also blamed the Government of India for alleged unbridled jurisdiction to Kashmiri leadership even to decide the fate of Jammu.Cautioning the people of Jammu to remain vigilant, Rajinder Jamwal said there was a need to channelise the energy in the right direction. — TNS