Jammu, September 24
Private educational institutions care least for the Supreme Court guidelines for the safety of school children. Auto rickshaws and buses can be seen flouting these safety norms right under the nose of the administration. One can still find kids stacked into auto rickshaws, vans and old school buses zooming past without any speed limit.

After the a tragic accident in which a Class VII was crushed by her own school bus a few months back, the administration had constituted a committee to inspect all the school vehicles. The process was not followed for even for a few weeks.

Sources said the administration was aware of the fact that a majority of the vehicles used by the educational institutions were plying without physical fitness certification, helpers, trained drivers pre-requisite for carrying children, but officials turned a blind eye towards as owners were influential persons having political contacts.

On grounds, both the school managements, Director School Education (DSE) and the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) were not implementing laws strictly, endangering the lives of children. There have been several incidents when children had a close shave with death.

"Recent directions of the Traffic Police to private cabs to limit the number of students being ferried per vehicle gave cab owners the opportunity to raise the monthly charges, which burdened the parents," said Ramesh Kumar, a parent.

As per the rules, school buses should be painted yellow, should have a first aid box and a fire extinguisher and there should be a space fitted under the seats to keep the school bags safely, the doors of the bus should be fitted with reliable locks. Though most of the vehicles are coloured yellow, but other features have not been implemented.

"Only the direction on the colour is being followed but when it comes to safety and security of the children. Many vehicles are running illegally ferrying tiny tots, but no action has been taken against the management of such institutions," said Raj Gupta, president of Parents Association.

Transport officials often give fitness certificates to school buses just for a fresh coat of paint, thereby putting the lives of students and road-users at a risk while corrupt officials call the shots at the transport office that issues these certificates to school buses.

Batote, September 24
Rashtriya Rifles of Delta Force under the aegis of the headquarters, Suigarh Sector, provided hearing aid, crutches, walking sticks and wheelchairs to 20 differently-abled persons of Dhadkai village under Operation Sadbhavana at Gandoh tehsil in Doda district here today.

In all, six hearing aids, eight walking sticks, crutches and five wheel chairs were distributed free of cost by the Army.

The Commander, 4 Sector Rashtriya Rifles, distributed the aid in a function attended by villagers. 

Jammu, September 24
Member Legislative Council Vijay Bakaya inaugurated a 100-KVA transformer at Amrit Vihar, Barnai today. He said the area residents were facing frequent power cuts due to damages caused to the distribution transformers thus exposing the people to lot of hardships during hot weather conditions.

He asked the Power Development Department to take necessary action in this regard.

The funds for the installation of the transformer were sanctioned by the MLC from his constituency Development Fund (CDF).

The MLC assured the area residents that their legitimate demands would be fulfilled in a phased manner.

Responding to the demand of lying of new water pipes in the area, he said the matter will be given due consideration.

Amrit Vihar Welfare forum, president, Avtar Krishan Raina, thanked MLC for installation of 100-KVA transformer for which he has sanctioned Rs 4.56 lakh out of his CDF and urged MLC to redress other problems faced by residents of the colony as well.

Jammu, September 24
Fraudulent calls for lotteries have become a common problem these days. Such offers also come through emails but calls from the trusted Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) customer care number for lotteries has left many in city bewildered. Due to the reputation of the national telecom company, customers think twice before ignoring the call.

Kamini Sambyal, a resident, received a call from the customer care number (9419024365) of the BSNL on Sunday evening, which informed her that she had won Rs 10 Lakh in BSNL lotteries.

"A person named Raj Kumar said he was calling from the BSNL and that I had won a BSNL lottery worth Rs 10 Lakh. He then asked me about the bank details, but I asked him to call my husband for it."

"I got so excited that I had won a big amount of money from the BSNL. Due to the reputation of the company I could not doubt the genuineness of the call," she added.

He (Raj Kumar) later called her husband, Deepak Sharma, who asked him to send him a mail on his email.

"When he said that my wife had won Rs 10 Lakh, I felt suspicious and asked him to send me a mail," said Deepak Sharma.

"We all know that these kind of fraudulent calls have become a daily routine, so no one takes it seriously, but when it comes from BSNL customer care number, people may take that call seriously," he added.

Deepak also alleged that after receiving the call from 'The Tribune', the BSNL nodal officer, DK Kaul informed his wife that the number she was using did not belong to her and in the database of the BSNL it was registered in the name of a BSF employee. “The nodal officer told my wife that if she wanted, she could file an FIR against the BSNL, but she cannot do so as the number does not belong to her. I am surprised that the number was issued against my wife's name, how could it be registered in the name of a BSF employee,” he added.

Deepak said he will write to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) about the incident and request them to conduct a probe.

AK Mishra, General Manager, Mobile BSNL, Jammu and Kashmir said, “We are not aware of such calls. The BSNL does not call anyone for any kind of lottery. Someone might have hijacked our customer care number to cheat our customer. The customer should lodge an FIR against this call, as it is a matter of cyber crime. We will also issue advisory SMSes to our customers to make them aware about such fraud calls and check with our technical team that how the call has been made from this number,” he added.

We are not aware of such calls. The BSNL does not call anyone for any kind of lottery. Someone may have hijacked our customer care number to cheat our customers. The customer should lodge an FIR against this call, as it is a matter of cyber crime. We will also issue advisory SMSes to our customers to make them aware about such fraud calls and check with our technical team that how the calls have been made from this number
— Manmohan singh, ssp, traffic

Jammu, September 24
Despite giving time to the government till September 27 by the Joint Consultative committee (JCC) in the meeting with the cabinet Sub-committee, another group of employees namely the State Government Employees Joint Action Committee (SGEJAC) staged a protest against the government here today. The protesters also raised slogans against the government.

Suresh Sharma, leader of SGEJAC said, "The government has been failed to address our demands for regularisation of daily wagers, ad-hoc contractual and consolidated employees by farming five years policy for regularisation, removal of pay anomalies of all cadres, including clerical, release of DA instalment, budgetary support to the PSUs and release of balance arrears in one instalment."

“He said the government should immediately announce the implementations of the agreed demands of the employees, wasting time in the meetings is not a solution,” he added.

Jammu, September 24
Notwithstanding the claims of Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC), several areas in the old city area of Jammu remain cluttered with the filth and municipal waste.

Heap of garbage lays unattended at busy markets like Pacca Danga, Dhounthly Bazaar, Jain Bazaar and Moti Bazaar, not only affecting the health of the local residents, but also casting a spell on the surrounding environment.

Furthermore, uncovered vehicles collecting and transporting garbage from narrow roads are a common sight and have become a source of frequent traffic jams.

“The garbage remains unattended for hours together until it turns into a heap. The safai karamcharis mostly set the garbage on fire instead of taking it to the designated landfill site subjecting shopkeepers, local residents and pedestrians to great discomfort,” Chanchala Devi, who lives in the Pacca Danga area of the city, said.

“They don’t lift the municipal waste in time. Generally the clearing vehicle enters the market when there is large movement of people. It leads to traffic chaos in the market. And if somebody suggests them to lift the garbage during the early hours of the morning they enter into an argument and use offensive and abusive language. Though the matter has been brought into the notice of authorities several times, nothing has change on ground thus far,” she added.

Ashok Kumar, a shopkeeper in Dhounthly Bazaar said the waste management system of the civic body has gone for a toss.

“The garbage collecting vehicles enter the city as per the wish of the drivers, who don’t give a second thought to the inconvenience faced by the people in wake of the heavy traffic rush and movement of the people,” Kumar said.

“The municipal corporation should ensure that these vehicles should collect garbage early in the morning or during late night hours so that traffic mess is avoided,” he said.

A civil body official, on the condition of anonymity, said the corporation had announced to ply automated pick-up vehicles to collect municipal waste from the city, but the solid waste management plans were yet to bring the desired results.

As per the guidelines, the vehicles transporting solid waste and garbage should be properly covered and it should be designed in such a way that the multiple handling of waste, prior to final disposal, is evaded.

Also, the administration had imposed the ban on entry of heavy vehicles in city markets from 8 am to 8 pm, but the garbage lifting vehicles enter the city markets anytime causing severe traffic congestion on narrow roads.

Jammu, September 24
With an aim to create awareness among the youth, the State AIDS Control Society today started a four-day workshop at the Government Women College, Parade, here.

The workshop, which is being organised in association with the National AIDS Control Society, uses folk medium to give information to the students about the disease.

The four-day state-level workshop was inaugurated by Dr Madhu Khullar, Project Director Jammu and Kashmir State AIDS Control Society.

On the occasion Dr Sanjib K Chakravarty, IEC Consultant, National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), who is here to train the folk troupes, gave a detailed presentation about the role and duties of these groups that will perform in front of the people, especially in rural areas to spread awareness about the ways and means of preventing and controlling the diseases.

Dr Chakravarty also emphasised developing a script involving different folk forms of the region, so that the message on HIV/AIDS is complete and informative and reaches out to the people in their own language and culture.

Deputy Director IEC, Jammu and Kashmir State AIDS Control Society, Deepika B Thakur, on the occasion highlighted the significance of holding such workshop for folk groups.

She also highlighted the vital role of folk in bringing uniformity and clarity in spreading the message among rural masses.

“Though, Jammu and Kashmir lies in the low prevalence zone, it does not mean the threat of HIV/AIDS is any less here. We are making constant efforts to slow down the infection rate,” an official said.

Meanwhile, official sources conceded that despite constant endeavours to check the spread of HIV, the infection continued to spread in the state.

The state has eight voluntarily counselling and testing centres, four each in Kashmir and Jammu.

Rajouri, September 24
The 2-day Pahari language conference, organised by the J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, concluded here today with participating writers and scholars stressing on popularisation and promotion of the language and its literature.

A paper-reading session and a Mushaira were held today. Raja Nazar Bonyari, Nisar Rahi, Abdul Rashid Qureshi and Dr Abdul Haque Nayeemi read out their papers on various topics pertaining to the Pahari language. The session was presided over by Zaffar Iqbal Khan Manhas and Dr Sabir Mirza.

The conference was the fourth in the series of language conferences organised by the academy since October last. Earlier, conferences were held about Kashmiri, Dogri and Punjabi languages even similar conferences will be held soon with respect to Gojri,Urdu,Hindi and Bodhi languages.

Prominent writers, poets and a large number of lovers of Pahari language and literature attended the conference. They appreciated the contribution of the academy in the development of Pahari literature and underscored the need for literary activities in the promotion of languages and literature.

Jammu, September 24
Insisting that the Congress’ recent resolution over the implementation of the 73rd amendment of the constitution in the state was a “farce”, the BJP today said it will not allow its political rivals to take mileage over the issue.

The Congress during its recently held convention under All India Congress Committee general secretary and state in charge Ambika Soni here had demanded the implementation of the 73rd amendment in the state

“It only betrays the double standards followed by the Congress party on the issue. BJP will not allow the Congress party to take privilege of having the cake and eating it too by enacting this farce,” BJP state chief spokesman Dr Jitendra Singh said in a statement here today.

“The Congress party should make its stand clear on the issue of the 73rd and 74th amendments of the Panchayat Act and explain whether it genuinely supports the implementation of these amendments in J&K or not.”

Singh asked if the Congress does support the these amendments, then what prevents it from going ahead.

“Congress is a part of the government in the state. If it finds itself unable to carry forward its agenda, then the propriety demands that it should immediately step out of the coalition government,” he said. — TNS

Batote, September 24
The sarpanch of the Sana panchayat in Ramban district was assaulted here in full public glare allegedly by a BJP activist and his relatives.

The incident happened on Tuesday when sarpanch Mohd Rafiq Wani was having tea along with some of the villagers at a tea stall in the bus stand area of Batote.

It has been reported that Mohd Irshad Bhatti, a prominent BJP activist, along with his brother Nasir Ahmed, son Mohd Anjum Bhatti and one Mohd Tausir Mir got hold of the sarpanch and assaulted him.

A case has been registered against the accused after the medical examination of the sarpanch and a hunt has been launched to nab the culprits, police said.

The scuffle between Mohd Anjum and Jameel Ahmed, the nephew of the sarpanch on Friday was suspected to be the reason behind the incident. 

Jammu, September 24
The Aarakshan Virodhi Manch (AVM), Jammu, and the India against Reservation today jointly organised a function to pay tributes to those who lost their lives during the anti-Mandal agitation in 1990.

The Manch also urged that September 24 be celebrated as the Martyrs Day.

“The best way to pay homage to these people was to observe September 24 as Martyrs Day,” said Satpal Sharma, an office bearer of the manch. “The martyrs raised their voice against the discrimination and fight for equality, justice and liberty to all sections of the society irrespective of their caste, creed or religion,” added Ram Paul Seth.

The function started with the recitation of the Gayatri Mantra by Raj Kumar Banathia, vice-president of the manch.

Jammu, September 24
PG Arts, PG Law and Sciences and Model Institute of Engineering and Technology (MIET) notched up victories in the opening round of the Inter-Collegiate Football Tournament being played at the GGM Science College grounds here today.

While PG Arts defeated the Government Degree College, Samba, 3-0, PG Law and Sciences drubbed Government Degree College, Rajouri, 6-0 to advance to the next stage of the tournament.

In another match, Model Institute of Engineering and Technology got better of Government Degree College, Kathua.

Meanwhile, Government Degree College, Udhampur, got a bye against Government Degree College, Poonch.

A total of 17 teams are participating in the tournament, which was inaugurated by Kiran Wattal, Commissioner Jammu Municipal Corporation in the presence of Dr Satinder Singh, Nodal Principal, GGM Science College, Jammu, today.

Interacting with the players, Commissioner Jammu Municipal Corporation assured all possible help for the smooth conduct of the tournament.

Jammu, September 24
On the second day of the Display Your Talent 2013-14 event, the Department of Students Welfare, University of Jammu, today organised a flower arrangement and collage contest on the campus.

Professor Naresh Padha, former registrar of the university distributed the certificates of participation and prizes to the winners.

The first prize in the flower arrangement competition went to Sunnia Gupta from the Department of English, while the second prize was won by Shayaan Bhat from the MAM College.

The third prize was bagged by Roopam Sharma from the Department of English, University of Jammu.

The Certificates of merit were awarded to Priya Johal from the Law School, Tanika from the Department of Home Science and Saniya Bhasin from the Department of Computer Science and IT, University of Jammu.

The event was adjudicated by Dr KK Sharma, Ashwani Sharma and Dr Raj Kumar.

Dr Sanjay Sharma, teacher in charge, apprised the participants about the rules and regulations of the event and supervised the competition.

Dr Raj Kumar gave detailed tips to the participants on flower arrangement.

Later in the day, a collage competition on the topic of landscape, fantasy and portrait was organised.

Prof. Shailendra Singh, Associate Dean, distributed the certificates of participation and prizes to the winners.

The first prize was won by Rigzin Palzor, IMFA, while the second prize went to Tejaswani Khajuria from the Government Women College, Parade.

Hemant Magotra finished as the second runner-up.

The event was adjudicated by Bhushan Kesar and Manoj Chopra.