Jammu, August 12
Following violent incidents during the curfew yesterday, the Army imposed strict restrictions in the city today. However, no untoward incident was reported from the city and its outskirts.

The city of temples wore a deserted look today as Army personnel continued to flag march in the city. The Army had imposed more strictness in the curfew after stone-pelting incidents took place in many parts of the city yesterday.

No one was allowed to come out of their homes. All roads were blocked by the Army and police with barbed wires.

Some minor clashes were reported on the outskirts of the city. However, the police claims that no stone-pelting incidents were reported throughout the day.

There were reports that the police had detained more than 30 persons indulged in stone pelting. The police has, however, not confirmed the incident.

Some clashes were reported at Hyderpura, Janipur, Sarwal, Purani Mandi and City Chowk. Protesters also burnt tyres to block the roads in different parts of the city.

Highly-sensitive areas like Purani Mandi, City Chowk, New Plot, Janipur and Rehari were in the control of the Army and no clashes were reported from these localities. Residents were more interested in watching the proceedings of Parliament and Rajya Sabha due to Kishtwar violence.

However, a section of society was convinced with the resignation of the MoS, Home, Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo, and wanted the curfew to be lifted so that they could continue their routine jobs.

The district administration is apparently waiting for the decision of the BJP, as they fear that if the BJP extends the call of the strike, it may instigate further clashes in the city.

Deputy Commissioner AK Sahu said, “The situation in Jammu was normal today as strict curfew was imposed in the city. We are reviewing the overall situation and might think about the relaxation in the curfew.”

Jammu, August 12
With Jammu reeling under stringent curfew for two days, people are facing acute shortage of essential commodities and medicine across the region.

The situation is grim in both rural as well as urban areas, where people are facing scarcity of milk, bread and vegetables due to the restrictions imposed by the authorities.

In the last 48 hours, mealtimes have become meagre affairs in many households, with residents facing scarcity of fresh vegetables, cereals, cooking oil and domestic gas. Green vegetables have become a luxury and in many localities, potatoes have become the only source of sustenance.

“On Sunday, we were able to get vegetables and other commodities, but Monday morning it was difficult to find anything as the security forces did not allow movement of suppliers from rural areas,” said Sunil Sharma, a resident Domana.

“For two days, we have been caged. All shops and markets are closed and we could not get milk today. Today, the restrictions were strict in the city. Even chemist shops are closed,” said Rohit Sharma, a resident of New Plot.

Locals said the authorities did not allow the vehicles carrying milk to pass through the area and supply it to local shopkeepers.

Even a quick visit to a nearby ATM is not an option. More than 35 ATMs of different banks are closed or running out of cash. A senior bank officer said, “Almost all the branches in the region have been closed. We hope that things will get normal in the next few days.”

Meanwhile, due to curfew, the region is quickly running out of supplies. People are finding it difficult to purchase essential commodities.

"This is unprecedented in the history of the city, which, till the 2008-Amarnath land agitation, stayed calm at every provocation by the terrorists. But now it feels their tolerance level has crossed all limits,” said Shamsher Singh, a businessman.

Ever since the communal riots broke out in Kishtwar, the entire Jammu region is simmering with anger and continuous fear.

Rajouri, August 12
All the places in Rajouri continued to be under the strict vigilance of the Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel, as the state administration avoided any relaxation in the curfew.

The curfew was imposed in the town following the communal clashes in Kishtwar and other parts of the Jammu region on August 9.

People were forced to stay indoors and even the media personnel were not issued the curfew passes.

The local channels have been prohibited from airing the news and the Internet facilities on mobile phones and EVDO or dongal instruments have been held up.

“We have strict orders not to allow any curfew passes,” District Development Commissioner, Faqir Chand Bhagat, told The Tribune.

People in the meanwhile have been facing the hardships because of the shortage of food articles and other essential items, however, Bhagat said a meeting of the district administration, police and the Army will be held later in the day to assess the situation.

“We are going to hold meeting in the evening with senior police officers, army and other district administration to decide the further course of action,” he said.

Meanwhile, over 1,500 Budha Amarnath pilgrims who had been left stranded in Poonch from the past two days were yesterday evening escorted to their destination. 

Jammu, August 12
of Talab Khatikan, Mohalla Dalpatian, Residency Road, Link Road, Jain Bazaar, Mohalla Mastgarh and Mohalla Jatkatian expressed concern over the prevailing situation in the state.

Residents claimed that some anti-social elements were taking advantage and communalising the situation for their ulterior motives.

“It is a well-known fact that all communities are living with harmony in the state, but the incident that happened in Kishtwar is highly condemnable and cannot be justified,” the residents added.

“The political parties are trying to communalise the situation as the 2014 elections are nearing. Communal elements are raising their heads to get petty benefits. The activities of such elements are required to be curbed with iron hands so that harmony could be maintained irrespective of the fact to which community they belong,” the residents maintained.

The residents also demanded that the state government should appoint a judicial inquiry to be headed by a Supreme Court Judge, besides appealed to all people and political parties to come forward in normalising the ongoing situation.

Those who were present on the occasion included Hafeez-ur-Rehman, Bashir Ahmad Malik, Sanjeev Gupta, Devinder Singh, Ayub Beg, Ashiq Hussain, Raji Shaluja, Dr Shahid Mughal, Ajay Gandotra, Devinder Gupta, Vinod Kumar, Sudesh Dogra, Rinku, Happy, Kapoor, Parveen Singh, Davinder Joshi, Rashid Ahmad, Safdar Khan Manhas, Zeeshan Ali and Muhammad Farooq Salaria.

Meanwhile, the Sikh United Front also organised a peace rally in favour of maintaining communal harmony in the state. Sudarshan Singh Wazir, ex-president, State Gurudwara Parbandhak Board (SGPB), who led the rally, appealed to the people of the state to maintain communal harmony and brotherhood at any cost.

He also demanded strict action against the culprits who were responsible for creating trouble in the peaceful state.

Jammu, August 12
The Jammu State Morcha (JSM) today alleged that the Kishtwar violence against the minorities was planned to force their migration as happened in the Kashmir valley in 1990.

Addressing a meeting of activists, morcha president Virender Gupta said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, instead of blaming political parties for the riots, should look towards a policy of his government that had given free run to the secessionist forces.

“He should blame himself for not visualising the situation developing in Kishtwar and Doda districts for a few months. Anti-national elements kept harassing and provoking the people and nothing much was done to curb the situation,” he alleged. Gupta said that Chief Minister should hold his administration responsible for it because it did not took appropriate steps to preempt the unfortunate event and allowed the situation to aggravate. “We sense ulterior and motivated designs behind the Kishtwar riots, creating a grim situation for the minorities. The people of the state and those of Kishtwar district, in particular, do not have faith in the enquiry committee constituted by government,” he said.

He said it was a sinister move by terrorists to engineer exodus of the minority communities from the hilly areas of the state, particularly in the Jammu region, so that they could freely move and wage war against the Indian state.

“There is a need to expose those people who are behind this sinister design to divide the communities and create communal tensions in the state,” he alleged. —TNS

Jammu, August 12
In a major blow to the state in the effective implementation of the centrally sponsored Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS), the consumption of food grains under this scheme is less than the national average of 84 per cent.

This was revealed during the recent analysis of the implementation of the MDMS based upon the quarterly progress report (QPRs).

As far as utilisation of the cooking cost is concerned, it is also well below the national average of 86 per cent in the state. Other states/UTs under this category included Sikkim, Pondicherry, Manipur, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Daman and Diu, Gujarat, Chandigarh, Assam, Mizoram, Kerala, Delhi and Tripura.

“This is ironical. Children in these states suffer from debilitating, malnutrition and anaemia. The available resources under the MDMS are being utilised sub-optimally in these states. Moreover, the lack of synchronisation between utilisation of food grains and cooking cost also reflects a lack of focus and effective monitoring,” the report said.

Further, the MDMS coverage in the states/UTs is below 70 per cent. These include Jammu and Kashmir (60 per cent), Chandigarh (43 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (54 per cent), Jharkhand (59 per cent), Delhi (63 per cent), Pondicherry (66 per cent), Bihar (67 per cent), Rajasthan and Gujarat (69 per cent). The report said it shows that the resources allocated under the scheme had not been fully utilised in these states.

Sources said the guidelines for the MDMS provided that the mid-day meal should be served to all children attending school on each working day. All states/UTs have covered more than 90 per cent of the approved days at both primary and upper-primary level except Bihar (78 percent), Mizoram (86 percent), Jammu and Kashmir (86 per cent) and Assam (88 per cent). These states have covered less than 90 per cent of the approved days.

Analysis of the QPR further revealed that less than 50 per cent school inspection had been reported from Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Haryana, Podicherry, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram and Meghalaya for the 2012-13 financial year.

These state governments/UT administrations were advised to put in more emphasis on inspection of the MDMS at the school level for better implementation.

It may be mention here that the major goal of the MDMS is to provide mid-day meal to each and every child in the eligible schools to enhance enrolment and retention for the universal elementary education in the country. On the national level, 75 per cent of the enroled children have been covered under the scheme during the fourth quarter of 2012-13.

The loopholes Utilisation of the cooking cost is well below the national average of 86 per cent Less than 50 per cent school inspection has been reported from Jammu and Kashmir The state has covered less than 90 per cent of the approved days against the MDMS guidelines

Jammu, August 12
A 10-day educational-cum-motivational tour for girl students of Nowshera tehsil culminated today. Earlier, it was flagged off on August 2 for Lucknow, Agra and Dehradun by the Rashtriya Rifles under the aegis of Headquarters Counter Insurgency Force (Uniform).

The tour comprised 22 girl students and two teachers. Villagers, parents and teachers were highly appreciative and expressed their gratitude to the Army for initiating such tours.

Students visited Lucknow during the first three days of the tour where they visited Botanical Research Institute and Rumi Darwaza, Lamartiniere Girls College, Bara Imambara, Chotta Imambara, Sahara Gunj Mall, Regional Science City, IIM Lucknow, Zoo and Gautam Buddha Park.

The next destination was Agra where they visited the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Birbal Bhawan, Panch Mahal, Anguri Bagh, Agra College, Dayal Bagh, Jama Masjid and Fatehpur Sikri.

The final part of the tour was at Dehradun where they spent two days and visited Welham Girls School, Sahasradhara, Doon Girls School, Zonal Museum.

During the tour, students got the opportunity to interact with the Governors of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. They also got the opportunity to meet senior Army officers and interact with them.

The tour has resulted in fostering close relationship between locals and the Army. 

Jammu, August 12
Taking lessons from the lapses surfaced in the previous edition, the Directorate of Sports and Sports Physical Education, University of Jammu, has warned that if any non-bonafide student would be found participating in the upcoming inter-collegiate tournaments representing any college team by doing impersonation, the college concerned would be held solely responsible and would be immediately debarred from participation in all competitions in the upcoming edition of annual sports event commencing next month.

The crucial decision was taken in the recently concluded meeting of physical directors, teacher in charges of various colleges affiliated to JU in the office chamber of Director, Directorate of Sports and Physical Education, under the chairmanship of Director Prof Dhian S Bhau.

Sources said there were reports poured in about the inclusion of outsiders in the college teams in the last edition of the competition, adding that the JU authorities had taken this initiative in order to avoid any mess.

Sources added that a proposal was also discussed where teams and players without complete eligibility proforma, identity cards and team managers would not be allowed to participate in the inter-collegiate tournaments.

Besides, the department has decided to take action against the colleges who fails to project their teams in the inter-collegiate tournaments after confirming their entry. It was also resolved that if any college could not project their team in the upcoming competitions after confirming the entry due to any reason, they should inform in writing to the Director, Directorate of Sports and Physical Education, at least one week prior to the commencement of the said tournament/competition, through their principal, to avoid any inconvenience.

Further, it was resolved that the eligibility proforma of the team should be duly signed by the physical director/team in charge and principal of the college concerned, whereas the signatures of the principal were mandatory. It was also resolved that no team would be allowed to participate in any inter-collegiate tournaments without any team manager/in charge.

To consider the proposal not to entertain the late submitted TA/DA bills of officials and players, it was resolved that no TA/DA bills submitted after one month of their participation in the inter-collegiate tournaments would be entertained. The bills for February would not be accepted after February 25 at any cost. The bills submitted after February 25 would be returned back to the colleges concerned.