Srinagar, August 18
The train services continued to run partially in Kashmir for the eight consecutive days.

The train in Kashmir has been plying partially between Banihal to Budgam from August 11 due to the security concerns. A railway official said they were waiting for a green signal from the security agencies to run the train up to Baramulla in north Kashmir.

“The train service up to Baramulla will be resumed only after getting clearance from the railway security force,” said the railway official.

Sources said after a rack was damaged during stone-pelting incidents at several stations in south Kashmir on August 10, the railway police had arrested dozens of youth and suspended the rail operations partially.

“As many of the arrested youth are from the north Kashmir, we suspect that there might be some trouble if we ply the train up to Baramulla. That is the reason why the train is plying only up to central Kashmir’s Budgam station. But a decision to ply the train up to Baramulla will be taken very soon,” said an official from the railway police.

The daily train commuters from north Kashmir are, however, angry with the railways for plying the train only up to Budgam.

Srinagar, August 18
The Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), an amalgam of various government employees' organisations, has reiterated its statewide protest call scheduled on August 22 that would be followed by a lockout strike the next day.

After a JCC meeting held here yesterday, employees’ leader Abdul Qayoom Wani said the employees would go ahead with the scheduled programme as the government had failed to address their grievances.

Earlier this month, the JCC had announced that the employees would protest on August 22 at Sher-e-Kashmir Park that would be followed by a march towards the Chief Minister’s residence. In Jammu, the employees would attempt to gherao the Civil Secretariat. The employees would hold a statewide lockout strike the next day on August 23 to press for the meeting of their long-pending demands.

The employees’ demands include release of arrears recommended by the Sixth Pay Commission, enhancement of retirement age from 58 to 60 years, removal of pay anomalies and regularisation of daily wagers and casual workers working in various government departments.

The other JCC demands are the inclusion of five years of contractual service of Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) teachers in the service book and regularisation of education volunteers after seven years of service.

After a series of protests and strikes by the employees last year, the government had reached an agreement with the JCC wherein the employees were assured that a decision on their demands would be announced by September 30. However, the JCC then resumed protests, saying the government had failed to fulfil the promises made to them. This year too, the government had urged the employee leaders to resolve their issues through talks but the same had been rejected by the JCC.

Srinagar, August 18
In an effort to put the picturesque locations of Gurez on the tourism map, the government is hosting a two-day-long “Gurez Festival” from Tuesday. As the festival had been postponed earlier, the authorities are now hopeful that the festival would promote the untapped locations of Gurez and market the area as a destination for adventure sports activities.

“Gurez has not been highlighted the way it should have been. By holding the festival, we want to bring Gurez into focus as the beauty of the area is distinct. There is also an immense scope for adventure sports activities like rafting, hiking, mountain- biking and others,” Joint Director, Tourism Department, Mohammad Hussain Mir told The Tribune.

He said the region was a trekking paradise as one could trek from Gurez to Drass in Ladakh region via Mushko valley. Even as Mir said the main aim of holding the festival was to bring the area on the tourism map, he said two to three tourist groups of bikers had already left for Gurez to participate in adventure sports activities. The government had to postpone the Gurez festival in June after the killing of two youth in north Kashmir’s Bandipore district that sparked protests in the area.

An official of the Tourism Department, which is organising the festival, said a host of musical and cultural programmes would be held during the festival while various departments like handicrafts, handlooms and health would set up their stalls there.

While the Valley had witnessed a tourist footfall during the last two years, the sector had been hit in the aftermath of the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in February earlier this year. Even as the arrivals had picked up later, inflow of visitors had been briefly affected due to ‘negative’ news emanating from the Valley in the aftermath of a militant attack at Hyderpora here in June.

Srinagar, August 18
Srinagar Municipal Corporation Commissioner GN Qasba today reviewed the status of food safety measures in a meeting with the health wing of the corporation.

The meeting was informed that 6,478 food establishments had been thoroughly checked since 2011 and a total of 3,580 food licences had been issued so far.

A health official informed the meeting that the team concerned had collected samples to ensure food safety among general public and in this regard, 387 samples had been taken from the market out of which 39 had been declared adulterated with 20 such persons prosecuted for violating norms and selling substandard food.

A sum of Rs 45.36 lakh had been collected by issuing food licences/registrations since 2011. Qasba gave directions to the concerned that there should not be any compromise on food quality and the markets should be frequently checked.

Srinagar, August 18
The Jammu and Kashmir Rugby Association (JKRA), in association with the Indian Rugby Football Union and under the supervision of the Jammu and Kashmir State Sports Council, will be organising a ‘Get Into Rugby’ orientation course on August 21.

A spokesperson for the JKRA said the orientation course was being conducted exclusively for local physical education teachers. He said the course would be conducted under the supervision of Nasser Hussain, captain of the Indian rugby team, at the Bakshi Stadium here.

Stating that the course was being held to promote rugby in the Valley as well as the state, the JKRA spokesperson said it would give the local physical education teachers a chance to come face to face with Indian rugby team head physiotherapist Dr Aijaz Ashai besides the captain. The JKRA had recently organised the 6th State Rugby Sevens Championship here in an effort to promote the game and over 400 players from Kupwara, Bandipora, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Budgam, Jammu, Anantnag, Pulwama and Srinagar had taken part in it.

Srinagar, August 18
Eminent cardiologist Dr Sheikh Jalal, who died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, on Saturday morning, was laid to rest at his native village in Namblabal, Pampore.

Dr Jalal’s body was flown from New Delhi to Srinagar on this morning and it was directly taken to his residence in Srinagar. The body was later shifted to his ancestral village in Namblabal, where hundreds of locals attended his funeral. A pall of gloom had descended the locality since Saturday.

Jalal used to examine patients free of cost at his native village twice a week.

A local committee of residents has called for a shutdown in the town on August 20 to mourn the death of the noted cardiologist.

Jalal, 64, was critically injured in a suspected militant attack on July 18, in which two of his body guards had died on the spot. Jalal, a former director of the Valley’s premiere Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), was shifted to Delhi on July 21 on the instance of Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and his family. He had received two bullets, one in his eye and another had hit his abdomen.

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad has expressed deep sorrow on the demise of the cardiologist.

“It is unfortunate that Dr Jalal is no more with us. He was an eminent cardiologist of the Valley and a caring doctor, who had been rendering super-specialty services to the people of the Valley even after retirement," said Azad.

“We have lost a devoted and highly motivated human being, who was always willing to help others. His services will be remembered for years to come,” the Union Minister said.

Minister of State for Health Shabir Ahmad Khan also expressed deep sorrow and grief over the Jalal’s demise.

“Dr Jalal’s death is a great loss to society in general and to the doctor’s fraternity in particular. His death has created a vacuum. He was also an able administrator,” he said.

In his condolence message, the minister expressed solidarity and sympathy with the bereaved family. He also prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul.

General Officer Commanding of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt-Gen Gurmit Singh also expressed heartfelt condolence over the untimely demise of the renowned cardiologist.

“Dr Jalal-ud-Din's death is a great loss to the poor people of the Valley for whom he was like a messiah,” Lt-Gen Singh added.

Srinagar, August 18
A resident of Haryana drowned in the Sindh river in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district today.

Srinagar, August 18
A woman was killed and three others injured in separate road accidents in the Kashmir valley, a police spokesman said here today.

Haleema Bano (45), a resident of Ratnag village in Kupwara district, was hit by a car near her house, the spokesperson said.

She was shifted to the Kupwara sub-district hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.

In another incident, a car met with an accident at Turigam in Kulgam district.

Two persons were injured and shifted to a hospital, the spokesperson said.

In yet another incident, a pedestrian was hit by a car near the Dhobiwan crossing in the Kunzar area of Baramulla district. He was shifted to hospital.

Srinagar, August 18
A year after public outcry against the high infant mortality rate in Kashmir's only paediatric hospital, the inquiry officer appointed by the state government has given a clean chit to the then Medical Superintendent, who was charged with dereliction of duty.

There is nothing that lends credence to the charge of lack of supervision, dereliction of duties, negligence and lack of devotion on the part of Dr Javed Ahmad Chaudhary (then Medical Superintendent)," the inquiry officer, Bipul Pathak (IAS), observed in his report submitted to the government last month.

The report listed several initiatives undertaken by Chaudhary during his four-month stint, saying it showed that he had made sincere efforts to improve the patient care and functioning of the hospital. — PTI

Srinagar, August 18
With Chief Minister Omar Abdullah getting into debates on the compensation to the victims of rape and acid attacks in the state, Kashmir University will host an important debate to discuss whether or not the state has enough laws to tackle the crime against women.

Department of Students’ Welfare, Kashmir University, in association with the Indian Institute of Public Administration, J&K Regional Branch (IIPA), will be organising a debate competition on ‘Laws are not powerless in preventing crime against women and children’ at Gandhi Bhawan, Kashmir University, on August 24.

Event coordinator Shahid Ali Khan said a three-member jury would evaluate the performance of the speakers in the debate competition on the basis of content, style, presentation, delivery and strategy adopted by the speakers.

“The best five debaters will be awarded cash prizes of Rs 2,000, Rs1,500, Rs 1,000 and two consolation prizes worth Rs 500,” said Khan.

Srinagar, August 18
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah showed his cricketing skills as he played the game with locals of Brenwar, a remote village in Budgam district, where he was "grounded" due to bad weather.

"Got stuck in Brenwar, Budgam earlier today (Saturday) when the weather grounded me. So played cricket with the locals," Omar wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter.

The Chief Minister had gone to the village yesterday to inspect the 7.5 MW Small Hydro Power Project (SHPP) set up on the IPP mode over Doodganga Nallah, a tributary of Sukhnag.

Omar said he was happy to be "grounded", apparently referring to the opportunity he got to do things that he would not be able to do in the normal course.

"I have never been happier to be grounded and more disappointed when the weather cleared and we took off," he said.

"With the wicket keeper more keen to report the proceedings of the match, I'll sneak a few byes," Omar tweeted.

He also posted a picture of himself in action while batting on the micro-blogging site.

Omar, an avid fan of cricket, follows the game keenly and tweets about matches and developments regularly. — PTI