Jammu, September 8
Shocked over inhuman incident of sexual exploitation of differently abled girls in a Home for Differently Abled Children on the outskirts of Jammu city, civil society today took the initiative to involve religious leaders of all religions to launch a war on social evils. The Criminologists Society of J&K — an organisation of social activists and advocates, took this initiative and today invited religious leaders from different religions to a seminar to devise a joint strategy against social evils.

“Crime against women will continue unless and until the law abiding citizens and communities unite and a strong public opinion is created against all sorts of crime,” said Rameshwar Singh Jamwal, president of the society, while addressing the seminar.

Members of Rajput Sabha, Muslim Federation, Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Christian Welfare Association, Dharmarth Trust, Brahman Sabha, Mahajan Sabha, Khatri Sabha, Kashyap Rajput Sabha, Kabir Sabha, Bazigar Sabha, Kumhar Sabha, Kashyap Jagriti Manch, Dogra Sadar Sabha, Aggarwal Sabha, Mahasha Sudhar Sabha and many other organisations participated in the seminar.

He said there was a need for the civil society groups and religious preachers to help the society in controlling the menace. He suggested various measures including holding of seminars in their respective communities and educating young people against such social evils.

Advocate Balbir Singh Manhas said drug addiction had increased manifold in the state which was a very dangerous trend. He emphasised on the need to involve youth in social activities to take them away from menace like drug addiction.

Ranjit Singh Jamwal, another advocate, said involvement of the society was a must to keep a check on social evils, especially crime against women. He said the incident of sexually exploitation of differently abled girls was a cause for alarm and a reflection on the degradation of the society.

Crime against women will continue unless and until the law abiding citizens and communities unite and a strong public opinion is created against all sorts of crime
— Rameshwar Singh Jamwal, president, Criminologists Society of J&K

Jammu, September 8
Minister for Housing, Horticulture and Culture, Raman Bhalla today felicitated Indian Idol junior star singer Anmol Jaswal and his sister Vidhi Jaswal for their achievement.

Speaking during the function at Trikuta Nagar, Raman Bhalla urged upon the youth to pay thrust in gaining the solid knowledge, which will help them on national and international level.

Member, DRUCC, Northern Railways, Nitish Mahajan besides hundreds of music lovers, prominent citizens, civil administration officers, family members were present on the occasion. Bhalla congratulated Anmol Jaswal and his sister Vidhi Jaswal on showing excellent talent in Indian Idol competition.

The minister said Anmol Jaswal might not had been able to lift the Indian Idol trophy, but his performance as a singer had won him a lot of accolade. Bhalla said Anmol had become a household name and poster boy.

Anmol Jaswal informed that he had won many awards including Sangam Kala group competition, Bollywood music academy award.

He also attended as a Guest of Honour for Rangbhoomi competition and Bollywood music academy competitions and received a Jammu star award. Later, Bhalla presented a cash award of Rs 51,000 to Anmol Jaswal and Rs 11,000 to his sister Vidhi Jaswal, Indian Idol junior participants on their wonderful performances in the competition.

Jammu, September 8
Demanding immediate intervention of the Minister for Youth Services and Sports to reorganise taekwondo trials for the players of Jammu district, teachers and parents of players have alleged that District Youth Services and Sports Office (DYSSO), Jammu, did not allow students of below class VI (under-14) to participate in the recently concluded trials for selection in the forthcoming National School Games.

The aggrieved teachers and parents had written a letter to the authorities concerned, a copy of which is available with The Tribune, wherein they claimed that after knowing that Tirath Ram, district sports officer, had barred the players from taking part in the trials, they contacted him.

They alleged that the officer produced a fake rule book and told them that according to School Games Federation of India (SGFI) rules, students of below class VI were not eligible for participation. The parents claimed that as per the SGFI rules, players of the under-14 age group were eligible to compete in events. "Since the rules are same for everyone, it is not a good practice to make rules according to one's choice," it was stated.

"When the sub-junior team left for Pune for Taekwondo Federation of India (TFI) Nationals, he (Tirath Ram) intimated the parents of selected candidates of Jammu province to come for the state trials, which should have been held 10 days prior to the date of state trials for SGFI," parents and teachers claimed.

They stated that the players of Jammu province had proved their worth both at national and international levels.

"The performance of the players in the previous edition of the games is ample proof of their ability. Players who bagged medals in taekwondo were also from Jammu district. In fact, in the recently concluded TFI Nationals held at Pune, players of Jammu district clinched four medals," they maintained.

Meanwhile, Tirath Ram, DYSSO, Jammu, refuted the claims of the parents and teachers on the issue.

"The department has done nothing wrong in conducting competition as per schedule. It is the fault of the parents as well as teachers that they prefer to send their children for TFI Nationals rather than allowing their wards to take part in the competitions for them to get selected for the upcoming School National Games," the DYSSO maintained.

"If the parents and teachers have any complaints with the department, they should come to the office and we would sit together to sort things out," Tirath Ram added.

Jammu, September 8
Jammu and Kashmir Employees Joint Consultative Committee (EJCC), has decided to hold state-level protest demonstrations on Monday at all district headquarters of the state. They have also announced pen-down strike on September 10 and 11 on the call of united platform, headed by Rouf Ahmed Bhat, Mohammad Gafoor Dar and Abdul Qauoom Wani, senior leader of JCC.

While announcing the decision of the EJCC in joint press conference at Jammu, Mohammad Gafoor Dhar and other senior leaders of JCC appealed to the state government employees, teachers and public sector workers to show their active participation in the massive demonstrations on September 9 at all district headquarters.

On September 10 and 11, strike will be observed in all government departments and public sector corporations excluding, essential services to press the state government for immediate implementation of the agreement i.e. enhancement of retirement age from 58 years to 60, regularisation policy for all daily-rated workers, casual labourers, ITI trained and need base workers engaged after 1994, removal of pay anomalies of various categories including, clerical cadre, pre revised grade of Rs 6500- 10,500 and full budgetary support for public sector employees.

Others present at the press conference included KS Khalsa, Rohit George, Jagdish Sharma and Rajesh Khajuria.

Jammu, September 8
While a campaign has been initiated by the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) against adulteration and serving of unhygienic food to the consumers for the last three months, no steps have been taken to conduct necessary health checks on persons preparing and serving food to the consumers.

Under the Food Safety Act-2006, health check-up is mandatory to ensure that the staff working at the eating points don’t suffer from any infectious or skin disease.

The Municipal Corporation is organising awareness camps at different markets to inculcate in people associated with the food business the need to maintain cleanliness, but no strict action is taken against the violators.

Most of the people working in the eateries and eating points on roads belong to areas outside the state or rural areas and no steps are being taken to keep record of their medical health nor is any record of the traders engaged being submitted to the officials.

“There are thousands of persons working in hotels, restaurants, dhabas and other eateries who come into direct contact with the foodstuffs, but there is no way to detect whether they suffer from any disease. It is the civic body's duty”, said Sukesh Sharma, a Marketing Executive.

About a year back, the Municipal Corporation asked eateries to submit “fitness for work” certificate following concern being expressed by various NGOs and government agencies that people were getting low quality and unhygienic food in the city.

Municipal Health Officer Dr Vinod Sharma said they are creating awareness among the owners of food joints. "We are inspecting hygienic condition of the premises but educating the food operators regarding food safety act. Whenever we have pointed out the problems, owners of eateries have assured us they will take appropriate steps,” said Dr Sharma.

The health officer said it had already been decided to put a ban on issuance or renewal of the licence without production of the fitness certificate to ensure that the these food-sellers, regardless of the safety precautions they take at work, undergo a mandatory medical examination for ratifying their physical fitness in order to pursue their trade.

Meanwhile, a third awareness camp was organised at the JMC which was attended by manufacturing units (owner of flour mills, rice mills and spices grinders etc). The attendees were directed to maintain proper hygienic conditions in their manufacturing as well as storage units.

Jammu, September 8
The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) paid rich tributes to its founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah on his 31st death anniversary, in Jammu on Sunday.

The main function was organised at NC provincial headquarters, Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan, which was attended by NC leaders, workers and a few hundred people.

The NC provincial president of Jammu, Devender Singh Rana, said the biggest tribute to Sheikh Abdullah was to carry forward his mission by cementing the bonds of amity and isolating the elements hindering the process of peace, tranquillity and single entity of Jammu and Kashmir.

He referred to the recent incidents in Kishtwar as unfortunate and said the Bharatya Janata Party (BJP) got “so excited by the disturbed conditions” that it attempted to exploit the situation to derive cheap political mileage. “That BJP wanted to vitiate the atmosphere became evident when Narendra Modi gave an ugly twist to the incidents during his public meeting in Hyderabad and Arun Jaitely created a hype by landing at the Jammu Airport amid media glare when the administration was making sincere efforts to restore peace”, he said and expressed satisfaction that people saw through their “hidden agendas”.

“Being inheritors of the Sher-e-Kashmir’s grand movement, National Conference will fight tooth and nail the elements posing a threat to peace and brotherhood”, he said.

Recalling the contribution of Sheikh Abdullah, Rana said his role did not remain confided to a particular party, particular religion or a particular region. “He fought for the just cause of people of Jammu and Kashmir and left an indelible mark of sacrifice and selfless service”.

He said confiding the Sher-e-Kashmir in a myopic prism would be ignoring the historical facts as he was a legendary leader of his times whose contribution was as important as that of Mahatama Gandhi.

“Sheikh Sahib was a leader of an era, having international stature”, he maintained.

Earlier, Rana inaugurated a photo exhibition at Sher-Kashmir Bhawan, which depicted the various facets of the life of Sheikh Abdullah. The exhibition was organised by Pankaj Kohli, president, NC Sewa Dal, Jammu.

Other National Conference leaders also paid floral tributes to Sheikh Abdullah. They commenced the day with a visit to an old age home at Amphalla and distributed fruits and eatables among the inmates.

The death anniversary of Sher-e-Kashmir was observed at all the district headquarters across the Jammu region.

Being inheritors of the Sher-e-Kashmir's grand movement, National Conference will fight tooth and nail the elements posing a threat to peace and brotherhood
— Devender Singh Rana, NC provincial president of Jammu

Jammu, September 8
The All-India Gujjar Mahasabha (AIGM) has said the Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir were not provided their due rights and both the Central as well as state governments were depriving them of their rights.

While briefing the media today, the office-bearers of the AIGM put forth their demands and appealed to the authorities to fulfil them. The demands included immediate relief to the flood-affected people, considering Gojri language in the eight schedule of the Constitution, regularisation of colonies where the nomadic Gujjars and Bakerwals are residing, besides providing them with all the basic facilities etc.

“The state government must build the Gujjar colonies wherein the nomads can be accommodated and their children be provided security, education and dignity. Gujjars, who have been provided the status of ST of the state, may also be provided with the benefit of reservation in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and panchayat”, the AIGM demanded.

They further said government jobs, like posts of peon, service man, police constable etc, should be given to SC/ST people after they passed class VIII.

Jammu, September 8
The 3rd Jammu District Rope Skipping Championship, organised by the J&K Rope Skipping Association under the aegis of Rope Skipping Federation of India, concluded at Baby Caterers Hall, Rehari, today.

Around 250 players drawn from various schools and clubs participated in the event.

Detailed Result:

Speed Hop (U-11 boys): Bhuban Sharma, 1st; Prakhyat Chalotra, 2nd and Jasika Singh and Amandeep Kaur, 3rd.

Speed Hop (U-11 girls): Surbhi Sharma, 1st; Arushi Sharma, 2nd; Paras Mangotra and Harsh Mehara, 3rd.

Speed Hop (U-14 boys): Abhay, 1st; Tejpal Singh, 2nd and Sushil, 3rd.

Speed Hop (U-14 girls): Jasleen Kaur, 1st; Riya Bakshi, 2nd and Sakshi Dogra, 3rd.

Speed Hop (U-19 boys): Atul Jagotra, 1st; Apresh Jamwal, 2nd and Vijay Vikrant, 3rd.

Speed Hop (U-19 girls): Nitasha, 1st, Kajal, 2nd and Priyanaka, 3rd.

Speed 30 Sec (U-11 boys): Sourab Kumar, 1st, Aditya Vardhan, 2nd, Gorang Vaid and Harman Singh, 3rd.

Speed 30 Sec (U-11 girls): Arpan Pandita, 1st, Vidushi Verma, 2nd and Sudiksha Sharma, 3rd.

Speed 30 Sec (U-14 boys): Kumar Shantnu, 1st, Bhavanyu Bhagat, 2nd and Parjwal Dutta, 3rd.

Endurance 3 Minutes (U-11 girls): Rranali, 1st, Ruksana, 2nd and Ritika, 3rd.

Endurance 3 Minutes (U-14 boys): Sudanshu Sharma, 1st, Paras Mehra, 2nd and Vasu Sawhney, 3rd.

Endurance 3 Minutes (U-19 boys): Manish Langeh, 1st, Tushar, 2nd and Shubam Anthal, 3rd.

Free Style 45-75 Seconds (U-11 boys): Akshit Dingra, 1st, Harshvardhan, 2nd and Ishan Manga, 3rd.

Free Style 45-75 Seconds (U-14 boys): Sudanshu Sharma, 1st, Rahul Dogra, 2nd and Prajwal Dutta, 3rd.

Jammu, September 8
In a run-up to the elections of the Diploma Engineers Association, a meeting was held at Udhampur under the chairmanship of S C Goswami, in which a large number of diploma engineers from various wings participated.

While addressing the gathering, Goswami appealed to the cadre to provide support to the team headed by Upinder Singh in the forthcoming elections of the association on September 22.

Upinder Singh, presidential candidate in the elections, pledged before the cadre to fight for restoration of entry level grade from 5000-8000 to 6700-10700 and ensure that the promotion quota is enhanced from 20% to 50% so that every engineer gets at least two promotions before retirement.—TNS

Jammu, September 8
The Rashtriya Rifles battalion, based at Bagga in Mahore tehsil of Reasi district, saved the lives of Parveena and her brother Younus, who were attacked by a bear on Saturday. Both of them were collecting grass for their livestock in Kendora village when they were attacked by a black bear.

With no basic medical facilities and road connectivity in the vicinity, the villagers rushed the children to the nearest military camp at Gulabgarh village, where the Army administered them first aid, besides giving them stitches to control the blood flow.

They were kept under observation overnight and were shifted to Civil Hospital, Mahore, early today morning. 

Rajouri, September 8
In order to promote horticulture in Rajouri District of Jammu Division the Department of Horticulture organised a fruit show-cum-kisan mela at Rajouri today.

The show was inaugurated by Anil Kumar Sharma, director of horticulture, Jammu. Abdul Hamid, chief planning officer, Rajouri and Rajiv Mahajan, deputy director of horticulture, Central Jammu were also present on the occasion.

About 500 farmers and fruit growers from the far-flung areas of the Rajouri district participated in the event with their fruit exhibits.

The best exhibits were felicitated to encourage them. Besides, value added products such as jam, juice, pickles and squashes of different fruits were also displayed to boost the home-scale processing of surplus production.

Rajiv Mahajan, while addressing the farmers, briefed them about the different developmental schemes and programmes of the department and urged them to frequently interact with the field functionaries to take maximum benefit from these programmes.

The Chief Horticulture Officer, Rajouri, briefed them about the incentives available under various Centre-sponsored schemes like the Horticulture Mission for north East and Himalayan States (HMNH), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY) and National Mission on Medicinal Plants (NMMP). Farmers put forth several queries regarding horticulture activities which were addressed by the departmental experts.