Jammu, August 5
Protesting against the murder of a resident of the Jagti Tenement last night, hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) blocked the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway for six hours today. The protesters demanded the arrest of the murderers, compensation and government job to the family members of the deceased.

There was a long queue of vehicles on both the sides of the national highway and hundreds of passengers were left stranded on the highway since morning as the administration delayed action to clear the highway.

The KPs sat on the highway at Nagrota demanding action against the murderers.

The Deputy Commissioner and Senior Superintendent of Police visited the spot after six hours, but till then all the vehicles, including ambulances, remained stranded on the highway.

Three unidentified miscreants had stabbed a resident of the Jagti Camp with a sharp-edged weapon and managed to escape from the spot late last evening.

The victim was identified as Tej Krishan Tlashi (55) of the Kashmiri migrant camp, Jagti. KPs said three unidentified persons arrived in a Bolero bearing registration number JMU 7778 and kidnapped the victim’s son, Ankur Tlashi (22), who was playing outside.

The KPs said the miscreants took Ankur near a power station in Jagti and started beating him. When his father intervened, the miscreants stabbed him with a sharp-edged weapon.

He was immediately taken to a local hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. Following the incident, the KP community staged a protest at the Jagti Camp last night. They continued their protest by blocking the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway from 9 am to 3 pm. The protesters demanded an immediate arrest of the killers, a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family and a government job for the deceased’s son.

Shadi Lal Pandita, a KP leader at the Jagti Tenement, said, “Despite approaching the administration many times, it did not establish any police post at Jagti. We are living in the most unsecured area of Jammu. This is not the first time when a crime took place in this locality. The administration should immediately establish a police post at Jagti”.

“We are demanding the arrest of the murderers and strict action should be taken against them,” he added.

Pandita said the protest was called off only after an assurance from the Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, that Rs 1 lakh along with a job of SPO in the Police Department would be given to the deceased’s son.

However, the family was not satisfied with the amount announced by the Deputy Commissioner, as they were demanding a compensation of Rs 5 lakh from the state administration.

AK Sahu, Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, said, “We assured them that we will provide security at Jagti and the accused will be arrested within 24 hours. We also assured them that we will take up the matter of compensation with the government”.

On the issue of delaying the matter and harassment to the passengers, the Deputy Commissioner said, “We have cleared all the ambulances and it didn’t take six hours”.

Atul Goel, SSP, Jammu, said, “I do not have time to talk about the issue. Some of the accused have been arrested and others will be arrested soon. I do not have the figure how many have been arrested”.

Rajouri, August 5
With a view to creating an added tourist attraction in Rajouri town, the government will develop a hanging garden near the historical fort, Dani Dar.

This was stated by Minister for Health Shabir Ahmad Khan while reviewing the tourism activities being carried out through the Tourism Development Authority, Rajouri, here today.

The minister, who is also an MLA from the Rajouri Constituency, said the Centre on the recommendations of state government had already sanctioned a Rs 3.61-crore project for the development of the garden.

Shabir directed the chief executive officers concerned to ensure all codal formalities well in time and start the necessary work at the earliest.

The minister accompanied by the District Development Commissioner, Rajouri, and Chief Executive Officer, RDA, visited the proposed site, took stock of the land acquired for the development of the garden and directed the District Development Commissioner to ensure the development of the garden without any further delay. He also reviewed pace of several ongoing tourism development projects and directed the authorities concerned to outsource the complete infrastructure.

He also instructed for the timely completion of Biatul- Ziarat building at Shadra-Sharief.

Later, the Minister for Health convened a meeting of officers of the Health and Education Departments and reviewed the functioning of both these departments in the district. He directed the District Development Commissioner to formulate the field checking officers' committees to ensure punctuality and discipline in institutions especially in remote areas for the convenience of the people.

Jammu, August 5
The Empowered Committee of the Union Ministry of Rural Development has suggested the state government to create an enabling environment for disabled and other vulnerable persons (having specific needs) for their inclusion in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) activities.

The crucial meeting was held recently at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi, under the chairmanship of the Additional Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, to discuss and scrutinise labour budget estimates under the MGNREGA for 2013-14 submitted by the state government. The committee maintained that the state should conduct a work and time motion study besides preparing a separate schedule of rates (SoR) for physically challenged and other vulnerable sections of society.

Sources said the state was asked to ensure that wages were paid to workers on the basis of work out-turn. The works so completed should be measured and measurements recorded in the measurement books duly authorised and issued by a competent authority.

Further, a mid-year review of the state's performance against its labour projections would place in the month of October this year, the sources said.

The state was advised to regularly monitor the performance and if needed it could come back to the ministry for a revision in the agreed to labour demand with proper justification and supporting data. The Commissioner-Cum-Secretary, Rural Department and Panchayati Raj Department, J&K, presented labour projections before the committee. Institutional and programmatic issues on the implementation of the MGNREGA in the state were also discussed.

The sources added that the representative of the state government had said necessary action had been taken to operationalise the State Employment Guarantee Fund (SEGF). It was decided that for the financial year 2013-14, Central funds would be released to the state fund. It was observed that adequate progress was yet to be achieved in seeding of Aadhar numbers in the state.

The committee said in order to access the entitlements under the MGNREGS, wage seekers needed to be made aware of various provisions of the scheme. It asked the state government to organise MGNREGA workers into labour groups in a bid to provide a platform for articulating a collective voice and facilitating registration of wage demand in the rural areas. The state was also urged to complete the process of appointment of ombudsman for all the districts.

Jammu, August 5
Activists of the Dogra Front and Shiv Sena today held a protest against the rising prices of vegetable and other essential commodities in the state. The protesters alleged that the Central and state governments had failed to take necessary action against hoarding and black marketing due to which the common man was suffering.

Speaking on the occasion, Sena state president Ashok Gupta said the Congress-led UPA government had totally failed on all the fronts and the people across the country were facing the worst phase in their lives. He alleged that vegetable prices were in the hands of mafia and administration had no control over them nor were they taking any steps to address the issue.

“Earlier, vegetables used to get costly due to climatic factors but now pulses, cooking oil and other items are slowly going out of bounds of the common man,” Gupta said. He said the UPA government had failed to check the price rise due to its faulty economic policy and the common man was unable to bear the burden of inflation.

The protesters said the sharp fall of the rupee against the US dollar was at an all time low of 60.15. Apart from seriously hurting the national pride, this drastic fall was directly related to the gross mismanagement of the economy by the present government, they alleged. 

Jammu, August 5
Heavy rains till morning in Jammu brought more problems for the people here. As per the record of the Met Department, Srinagar, Jammu recorded 67.6mm of rain in the last 24 hours.

Due to the heavy rain last night, people living in the low lying areas of Canal road, Krishna Nagar, Greater Kailash, Sarwal, Roop Nagar, Top Sher Khanian, Gangayal, Preet Nagar, Bhgawati Nagar, Talab Tillo, Channi Himmat, Sainik Colony, parts of Nanak Nagar and Trikuta Nagar were the worst suffers.

The downpour exposed the false claims of the authorities as garbage dumped at various places started emanating foul smell inviting diseases.

However, the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) claimed that they had started the cleaning of narrow drains and lanes, but they failed to clear the garbage due to the lack of manpower.

An official of the Jammu Municipal Corporation said, “We are regularly cleaning all the lanes and drains of the city, but the continuous rain is making it difficult”.

Meanwhile, Tufail Hussain of Dana village, a daily wager employed with the PHE Department, got trapped in a flash flood while crossing the Darhali river. However, a police rescue team rushed to the spot and saved him. 

Jammu, August 5
Due to the lack of proper parking space on the premises of various schools, traffic chaos is witnessed outside these schools every day. Parents park their vehicles outside the schools every morning and afternoon, which creates a lot of trouble for the daily commuters.

Not only this, with drivers mounting pavements along the Satwari and Bikram Chowk road, some major mishap is inevitable.

The problem is particularly more outside Presentation Convent School, Delhi Public School (DPS) and St Peters School.

The road from Satwari to Bikram Chowk witnesses a heavy vehicular flow daily and erratic parking on the roadside by private vehicles and sometimes school buses adds to the menace.

Rahul Sharma, a commuter, said, “I frequently travel by this road and I always get struck for almost half-an-hour daily due to the mess created by the parking of vehicles outside the school”.

“Further, despite Supreme Court ruling regarding the safety of school busses carrying children, most of the private schools in the city are violating the norms, endangering the life of children,” he said.

Manmohan Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police, Traffic, Jammu, said, “The convent school doesn’t have the required parking space for private vehicles. I have time and again spoken to the management of the school. I have told them that whenever there is some function, they should inform us so that we can effectively tackle the traffic”.

“As Delhi Public School is at the Shaheedi Chowk, there is a lot of traffic there even if there is a parking space on the school premises. However, it takes a lot of time for us to clear the traffic there as the road is quite busy. I have also given them the solution for special deployment,” he added.

Jammu, August 5
The surveillance team of the Vigilance Organisation conducted a raid for verification into the allegations of corrupt and illegal practices by Suresh Kumar Rekhi, Deputy General Manager (DGM), Jammu Kashmir Project Construction Corporation (JKPCC), who had amassed a huge wealth disproportionate to his known source of income.

A search warrant was obtained from the Anti-Corruption Court, Jammu, and three different teams were constituted under the supervision of the SSP, Vigilance, who laid a pre-dawn swoop and conducted searches.

Besides many houses and buildings, a farm house near Vijaypur and luxury vehicles were detected. Many documents have been seized and are being scrutinised. An FIR has been lodged.

Jammu, August 5
A meeting of the Departmental-Related Standing Committee (DRSC) of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council under the chairmanship of MLC Naresh Gupta was held to review the functioning of the Education Department, here today.

Members of the DRSC committee, Ajat Shatru Singh, Jugal Kishore Sharma and Rani Gargi Blowria and special invitee GM Saroori were present at the meeting.

Discussions were held on the functioning of the department and its physical and financial achievements. The performance of the department, under various flagship programmes, was also deliberated upon.

Reviewing the ongoing projects, the members of the committee highlighted the need to ensure regular monitoring and coordination between the Education Department and executing agencies for time-bound completion of the projects. They recommended taking up of construction works of institutions in rural areas and ensure equitable allocation in terms of funds and creation of physical assets.

The committee directed the authorities concerned to clear a panel under the Rehbar-e-Taleem (RET) within one month and to ensure that vacancies under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan are filled within two months.

Jammu, August 5
The Raghunath Bazaar Businessmen Association (RBBA) today held a function to felicitate Jammu City East MLA Ashok Khajuria for giving Rs 5 lakh from his constituency development fund for the beautification of Ashoka Market in the bazaar.

The work on the project for improving drainage system and flooring of the market with decorative tiles has been completed. The function was presided over by Jammu Municipality Commissioner KL Khajuria while Director Tourism, Jammu, Sojanya Sharma was the guest of honour.

RBBA president Baldev Khullar thanked Ashok Khajuria for his gesture and also stressed the need for the beautification of other four markets within the bazaar— Janta Market, Amar Market, New Market and Raghunath Market. Ashok Khajuria announced another grant of Rs 5 lakh for improvement of these markets in the bazaar.

Khullar also stressed on the need to upgrade the side lanes of the Raghunath Bazaar for which he appealed to other MLAs and MLCs to contribute from their constituency development funds.

Khullar asked the Tourism Department to install LED wall at the Raghunath Chowk for the regular display of details about historical, tourist and pilgrimage spots of the region so as to motivate Vaishno Devi pilgrims and other tourists. He also appealed to the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) to install ornamental antique electric lamps in the adjoining market of the Raghunath bazaar to give it a heritage look. He also asked the Tourism Department to declare the entire Raghunath Bazaar area as a tourist area, on the pattern of Katra and Kud with providing all facilities like round-the-clock power supply and proper sanitation.

Others who attended the function included Mohit Gupta, Madan Mohan Sharma, Sanjay Sethi, Ashwani Kohli, Amit Ramesh Kapur, Bhubneshwar Gandotra, Om Prakash Mahajan, Ajesh Rohmetra, K L Bhalla, Sanjeev Kalara, Ashwani Arora, Pawan Sharma, Sanjay Gupta, Vikas Gupta, Sachin Khorana, Anup Jain and Nitish Chowdary.

Jammu, August 5
Students of GGM Science College, under the banner of National Panthers Students Union (NPSU), today staged a protest against the college administration at the main gate of the college.

The protest was led by Ashus Balloria, Avinash Sethi and Sanjay Sharma.

The students alleged that some outsiders were disturbing the peaceful atmosphere of the college. They showed their anger against the alleged failure of the authorities concerned to protect the students from miscreants entering the campus.

Addressing mediapersons, Ashu Balloria and Avinash Sethi said the outsiders had been threatening students and the college authority for their personal interests. 

Jammu, August 5
Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Sham Lal Sharma today called upon the youth to be conscious of their duties and rights for a better world to live in.

“Everyone must discharge his duties with sincerity and devotion to create a healthy and prosperous society,” the minister said.

This was stated by the minister while addressing a gathering after inaugurating additional 10 class rooms (G+1) and a toilet block at High School Kaneri, Zone Chowki Choura. The class rooms were constructed at a cost of Rs 50 lakh.

The minister said Akhnoor tehsil had witnessed a massive development in all sectors because of the effective planning. Various schemes, under R&B, PHE, PDD, health, tourism and education, had been initiated to achieve balanced development in the town.

Responding to local’s needs, including small-bridge connecting to the school, boundary wall, road improvement, installation of PHE pipes to uncovered areas and adequate staff at various schools, the mnister said all these issues would be looked into for an early redressal.

Jammu, August 5
The 3rd state-level award ceremony was organised by the Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF), New Delhi, at Gurjar Desh Charitable Trust, Channi Himmat, here yesterday.

The function was organised to felicitate students for participation in the SOF International Olympiads in Science, Cyber, Mathematics and English.

Minister for Housing and Horticulture Raman Bhalla was the chief guest on the occasion while Sunil Kumar Wanchoo, Assistant Professor and director in charge, School of Innovation and Community Development, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University and KC Singh were the guests of honour.

In the award ceremony, students from various schools of J&K were honoured by the dignitaries with prizes, trophies and medals. Scholarship for excellence in English was won by Rishab Mawa of Army Public School, Kaluchak and Venkat Sarkar of MV International School, Vijaypur.

A total of 35 principals and 34 teachers of the award-winning schools were specially acknowledged in recognition of performance of their schools and encouragement to the cause of enhancing learning in Science, Maths, English and Technology.

Masud Choudhary, Founder Vice-Chancellor (retd), Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri, BN Sharma, programme coordinator, SOF and Vijay Shankar Bhat, executive representative of the SOF, New Delhi, were also present on the occasion. 

Jammu, August 5
The Department of Youth Services and Sports (DYSS), Deputy Director Office, Jammu, will organise divisional-level inter-district competitions in various disciplines from August 12.

The competitions in the disciplines of U-19 carrom and U-19 chess will be held at Youth Hostel, Nagrota. The U-19 girls’ football event will be held on August 19 at GGM Science College Hostel Ground. The swimming contests in all age groups (boys’ and girls’) will be held from August 19 to 20.

The U-19 (boys and girls) tennis ball cricket tournament will be held on August 23 and 24 which will be followed by the U-19 kick boxing event to be held from August 29 to August 31 at the Indoor Complex, MA Stadium.

Thang-Ta, Squay, Jeet-Keenu-Do, rope skipping and gymnastics all age groups boys and girls events will commence on the same dates.

Judo (all age groups), badminton (U-19), wushu (U-17 and U-19), rope jump (U-19) and tae kwon do (all age groups) boys and girls competitions will be held on September 2 and September 3 at the Indoor Complex, MA Stadium.

Meanwhile, the department has constituted various committees for the smooth conduct of the competitions and appointed Ved Parkash, Deputy Director Youth Services and Sports, as chairman of the organising committee.

Zonal physical education officer (ZPEO) Jeet Singh has been nominated convener of the kick-boxing and jeet-keenu-do technical committee; physical education lecturers, Rajesh Dhar, Surinder Singh, Rajinder Choudhary, Vipan Bhalwal and Harcharan Singh have been named conveners of technical committees of tennis tall cricket, gymnastics, judo/tae kwon do, rope skipping/ jump rope and badminton, respectively. ZPEOs Sher Singh and HL Pandita have been named conveners of the technical committees of squay/thang-ta, swimming/ wushu respectively. Physical education masters, Tarseem Singh and Mohinder Singh, have been nominated conveners of the technical committees of carrom/chess and football, respectively.

Jammu, August 5
Sunderbani wrestlers emerged overall winners in the Rajouri District Wrestling Championship organised by the District Indian Style Wrestling Association at Government Higher Secondary School, Sunderbani.

GHSS Sunderbani principal OP Sharma was the chief guest in the valedictory function and he distributed prizes among the winners.

In the 45-kg category, Raman Sharma, Arjun Sharma and Arjun emerged winners, whereas in the 50-kg category, Bhushan Sharma and Jeet Kumar claimed the first and the second positions, respectively. The third position was jointly shared by Yash Pal and Ajay.

In the 55-kg category, Dheeraj secured the first position while the second and the third positions were claimed by Vishal and Ankush, respectively.

In the 60-kg category, Karan, Dheeraj and Devinder secured the first, second and third positions, respectively, while in the 66-kg category, Sishan Sharma and Ajay Singh bagged the first and the second positions, respectively. The third position was shared by Ajay Raina and Anil Kumar, respectively.

In the 74-kg category, Rajesh Kumar bagged the first position whereas the second position was claimed by Sachin Sharma.

Technical Committee chairman Mulkh Raj Sharma, general secretary Bansi Lal Tidyal, president Rachpal Singh, joint secretary Sanjeev Kumar Sharma and Rajinder Sharma, Ajay Sharma, Roshan Lal, and Yash Paul were also present.

Jammu, August 5
Shamsher Singh Manhas guided the Friends Cricket Club (FCC) to a win over the Young Rising Cricket Club (YRCC) in a low-scoring match of the T20 Knockout Cricket Tournament played at Government MAM College Ground.

Earlier batting first, the FCC was bundled out for a paltry 73 runs in the stipulated 20 overs. Shamsher Singh was the top scorer with 21 runs. For the YRCC, Gourav was the pick of the bowlers who scalped four wickets. Manish and Raju shared two wickets each.

In reply, the YRCC suffered a batting collapse and was skittled out for 68 runs in 19.2 overs. Govinda was the top scorer with 15 runs while Raju contributed 10 runs to the total. For the FCC, Shamsher was the wrecker-in-chief with a four-wicket haul. Bunty and Surinder claimed one wicket each. Shamsher was adjudged the man of the match. The tournament was organised by Surinder Singh, Anil Dhar and Sanjeev Raina.

Jammu, August 5
Ankit Gupta of Heritage School bagged two gold medals in the in line rink race events (U-19) of the Inter-School Skating Championship, Jammu District. The event was organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports (DYSS) at MA Stadium.

Ankit fetched his first gold medal in the in line rink race-IV 500 m. The second place in the event went to Akhil Sharma of JK Public School, while the third place went to Aryan Abrol of Jodhamal .

Ankit also bagged first place in the in line 1,000 m event, while Akhil and Aryan secured the second and the third place, respectively. In the the in line rink race-III of 500 m, Akhil Sharma of JKPS emerged winner while Ankit Gupta of Heritage and Aryan Abrol of Jodhamal Public School secured the second and the third place, respectively.

The competition in the girls' section will start tomorrow at the same venue.

Results:

U-17 category

In line quads 5,000 m road race: 1. Raghav, DPS, 2. Amit Pal, Banyan International, 3. Dhruv, RRL

In line rink race-II 500 m: 1. Parth Chib, MHAC Nagbani, 2. Kanav, KCIS, 3. Ayush Jaggi, JKPS

In line rink race-V 1,000 m: 1. Parth Chib, Nagbani, 2. Ayush Jaggi, JKPS, 3. Aryan Dubey, DPS

U-14 category

Quads rink race-II 1,000 m: 1.Rakshit Sawhney, Jodhamal Public School 2. Vasu Manhas, Jodhamal Public, 3 Dhruv, DPS

Quads road race: 1. Rakshit Sawhney, Jodhamal Public, 2. Vasu Manhas, Jodhamal Public, 3. Dhruv, DPS.

U-11 category

Rink race-III: 1. Kartikey Puri, Heritage Public, 2. Abhishek, KV-II, 3. Shivang, Jodhamal Public

Quads road race 2,000 m: 1. Kartikey, Heritage Public, 2. Abhishek, KV-II

In line road race 3,000 m: 1.Jaspreet, APS Jammu Cantonment, 2.Anurag, MHAC Nagbani 3.Dhruv, KCIS

In line rink race-IV 500 m: 1. Jaspreet, APS Jammu Cantonment, 2. Anurag, MHAC Nagbani, 3. Ridham, KC Gurukul