Jammu, October 11
While the government has given a go ahead to the proposal for construction of a multi-level parking building at Gandhi Nagar, four other such projects announced about four years ago are yet to see the light of the day.

The plan to construct multi-level parking lots at the general bus stand, Super Bazaar, Doctors' Lane and Kachi Chawni, which are worst hit by parking problems, was mooted four years ago but so far, the civic bodies have failed to identify land and sort out legal issues with local residents.

In the absence of parking space, private vehicles are parked haphazardly on both sides of roads in front of shops. Moreover, rehris selling eatables stationed on roadsides too adds to the woes of commuters.

Meanwhile, residents have expressed their ire about construction of a parking lot over a public park at Gandhi Nagar.

“They need to look for another site for construction. Why do they want to destroy a public park, which is used by local residents? There is a huge land of Auqaf Board. They can plan to construct the parking building on that land as it has not been utilised for several decades," said Sushil Sharma, a local resident.

The increasing number of vehicles coupled with limited road infrastructure and paucity of parking space has been affecting the traffic flow in the city. Traffic congestion is emerging as the biggest problem in the city and in the absence of proper management, it is adding to commuters' woes.

Chief Engineer (R&B) Tehsim Mustafa said, “We will take up the issue with local residents. Though the plan is still at the drawing board, locals have raised opposition. As far as other projects are concerned, its the Jammu Development Authority and the Jammu Municipal Corporation, which can clarify their status,” Mustafa said.

JDA vice-chairman KL Khajuria said the government has already announced that multi-parking projects would be taken up under the Private Public Participation (PPP) mode. “There are some issues related to land and funds and they have almost been sorted out. The construction of parking lots has been given a priority,” said Khajuria.

The city has around five lakh vehicles and about 3,000 new vehicles are bought in the city every month. Besides, vehicles from surrounding areas add to the parking chaos in the city.

Jammu, October 11
The Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) of employees has agreed to "give time" to the government for fulfilling their demands and deferred their strike till December 15. They have urged the government to release the employees who were arrested in the Valley a few days ago.

The state government has assured implementation of pending demands of the employees before December 15 during a meeting held with JCC leaders and Chief Secretary Mohammad Iqbal Khandey at Srinagar.

Gafoor Ahmed Dar, JCC leader, who was released on Thursday after five days from the Central Jail, Amphalla, said the JCC had decided to give time to the government to pronounce its decision on their demands till December 15.

"In the meeting on September 27, the government again asked us to give time till December 15, but we refused their request and started the agitation. Now we have unanimously decided to give one more chance to the government to implement its agreement with the JCC," said Gafoor Ahmed Dar.

"We have requested the government to release all the employees who were arrested by the police at Srinagar," he said.

He said the government had agreed to consider their genuine demands, including the enhancement of the retirement age from 58 years to 60 years from January 1, 2014, removal of pay anomalies of different cadres and regularisation of daily rated workers and regularisation policy for casual labour/ITI trained need-based workers who have been engaged after 1994. So, the JCC has decided to give them time on the basis of their verbal assurance."

Jammu, October 11
The brazen violation by private nursing homes continues in Jammu and Kashmir as the state government has adopted a 'go slow policy' to inspect and complete the registration process of the mini-hospitals, which have become money-minting machines.

In a clear violation of the Supreme Court (SC) directions, no action has been taken against the violators as business interests of some politically-connected persons who run majority of these nursing homes is a main reason for the tardy approach.

The Apex court had passed the directions in 2010 to streamline the functioning of nursing homes, as the state had faced an embarrassing situation when the inspection of 29 nursing homes in the Jammu division and 25 in the Kashmir valley had showed that only four in Jammu and five in the Valley were complying with norms.

"The Apex court had given 25 per cent exemption from the new guidelines for the functioning and infrastructure facilities, but even those are not being met. Only thing the Health Department has done is to register them without proper inspection to save its skin," said a source from the Health Department.

The department does not follow guidelines to conduct inspection of these mini-hospitals and clinics periodically for verification of prescribed norms.

However, the Deputy Director Health, Jammu, Dr AK Amla, maintained that the registration process was going on and the process would be completed soon. "Many of the nursing homes have revamped their infrastructure, while others have sought more time so we are waiting for the report," he added.

In 2012, the Directorate of Health Services had admitted that private hospitals, nursing homes and clinical establishments often don't submit details or maintain records pertaining to births, deaths and miscarriages cases treated in their establishments.

Nadeem Qadri, who runs an NGO, said there was a need to curb the business-like approach of the nursing homes as when the patients face any problem, government hospitals are forced to accept them. "In most of the pregnancy cases, these clinics charge somewhere between Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000 but when a medical problem emerges, they are sent to a state-run hospital. They don't even wait for a normal delivery and Caesarian is preferred," Qadri said.

As per the figures, there are a total of 1,530 private nursing homes and clinical establishments, laboratories, ultrasound units existing in the state. About 944 such units exist in the Kashmir region while 586 in the Jammu region.

Jammu, October 11
A day after announcing to resume the milk supply within municipal limits, milkmen, mostly Gujjars, today asked the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) to upgrade its procedure of testing milk, alleging that it was "obsolete and below national standards".

"To save milk from converting into curd, a limited amount of ice is added to maintain the temperature of milk in summer season, which generally has a minute effect on it but there is no change in its fat content. This can no way be termed as adulteration," Jameel Choudhary of the Dodhi Gujjar Association told reporters here.

He dared the civic body to show any provision or norm of the Food Safety Act, which allowed them to destroy milk during the collection of samples.

He demanded that the rates of milk and other milk products be enhanced with immediate effect as the Gujjars had been suffering losses because of high cost of cattle feed and fodder.

JMC officials, meanwhile, blame the state government for its failure to release funds for purchase of mobile testing labs to check milk adulteration at all entry points of the city.

"A proposal to purchase new mobile testing labs to check the quality of milk was mooted

last year after the release of an alarming report by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) in January 2012. The report stated that 83 per cent of milk sold in urban areas of the state was not safe for consumption. However, the proposal is yet to be implemented due to red tapism," said an official.

In 2012, the FSSAI had collected 18 samples from different areas of the state as part of its nationwide study and had found that most common form of adulteration in the state was that related to Glucose and Skimmed Milk Products (SMP).

"The civic body is still dependent on the lab which takes days to give out the results. Mobile labs can provide us with a tool for on-the-spot checking," the official said.

Kiran Wattal, JMC Commissioner, and Vinod Sharma, JMC Health officer, were unavailable for comments. 

Jammu, October 11
There have been complaints about the behaviour of postgraduate (PG) doctors towards patients and their attendants in Government Medical College (GMC) hospital.

These PG doctors are managing the emergency department of the GMC hospital and witness a huge rush of patients throughout. As specialised doctors are only available during the day hours, the PG doctors manage the affairs during night hours.

At a time when the number of patients has increased in GMC after the dengue breakout in some areas of the Jammu region, pressure on PG doctors has increased. Some of the patients said doctors shouted on them and their attendants due to which they were hesitant to approach them.

“While I was in the GMC emergency unit on Wednesday night along with my friend, who was ill, a PG doctor shouted on me when we asked for help,” said Suhail Raja, a resident of Doda.

“After sometime, when the same doctor made a round in the room and checked patients, she did not attend my friend who was in pain,” he said.

Hospital staff said PG doctors in the GMC had to be on duty for 36 to 72 hours in one go, due to which they lost their patience and shouted on small things. They said the shortage of doctors at the hospital had increased the pressure on these PG doctors.

“Yes, we are facing a shortage of doctors but a PG doctor should behave properly with patients and attendants as they are doing service to mankind. They might be facing problems in their personal lives but that doesn’t give them the right to shout on patients,” said Dr Ravinder Rattan Paul, Medical Superintendent, GMC hospital, Jammu.

Paul said he would sensitise doctors about the need to behave cordially with patients.

Meanwhile, with the increase in the influx of patients suspected to be suffering from dengue, in the hospital, the administration has increased the manpower. “We have mobilised our resources and more doctors have been deployed to take care of the the rush of patients in the hospital,” Dr Paul said.

Jammu, October 11
The illegal use of domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders for commercial purposes continues in Jammu.

Despite ban on black marketing, distributors continue to sell cylinders to local shopkeepers.

Several restaurants, hotels and dhabas are using domestic cylinders in violation of the rules set by the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department. Also, the poor quality LPG kits are being fitted in school vans, posing a threat to the life of schoolchildren.

Despite all this, the authorities concerned remain a mute spectator. Even after repeated pleas, the department concerned hastaken no step to redress the problem.

“The domestic gas cylinders that are provided to people on subsidy by the government are being used commercially, leading to scarcity of LPG in the market, besides causing loss to government exchequer,” said Avinash Sharma, a university student.

Shopkeepers are ready to pay any amount for the refilling of the LPG, whereas due to their increasing demand of LPG, locals are craving for refilling.

Since there is a limit set by the Centre on the consumption of gas cylinders per family per year, people are facing hardships, particularly in the rural areas.

Batote, October 11
Residents of surrounding hamlets of Saroli top, located on the confluence of Ramban, Doda and Udhampur districts, will no longer have to trek 8km to fetch drinking water through a dense forest on the steep mountain slope in Doda district.

Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) Sham Lal Bhagat had commissioned a drinking water scheme at the Saroli Mata shrine on the eve of a fair marking the conclusion of the Khank Mata-Saroli Mata Yatra recently.

The three-day yatra had been an annual affair since 2011 which culminates on the second navratra at the Saroli Mata shrine after starting from Khank Mata Mandir at Kanderi nallah in Doda on the first Navratra.

According to the MLC, the drinking water scheme, incurring a cost of Rs 11 lakh, has been sanctioned by him from his Constituency Development Fund.

Like every year, a grand fair was attended by about 7,000 pilgrims from Ramban and Doda districts, besides 1,000 yatries from the Shudhmahadev area of Udhampur district. 

Jammu, October 11
Dogra College of Education organised an inter-collegiate symposium in which students from Dogra Law College, Degree College and College of Education participated. The topic of the symposium was "Vartmaan Samay Mein Hindi ka Yogdaan".

On the occasion, as many as 12 participants took part in the symposium wherein they expressed concern over the role and importance of Hindi language in present day scenario.

All speakers were of the opinion that the status of Hindi as a national language must be maintained and steps must be taken at the government level to make it a language of the common masses.

Speaking on the occasion, Shefali Sharma, vice-principal of the college, emphasised that English was a foreign language and it could never be the language of common masses.

Ghambir Dev Singh Charak, member trustee, Dogra Educational Trust and member, Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee (ZRUCC), was the chief guest on the occasion. In his address, Charak highlighted the use and significance of Hindi language not only in our daily life, but also in terms of rich cultural heritage which Hindi language has inherited since the times immemorial.

Prominent among those who were present on the occasion were Prof BD Damral, director-cum-principal, Dogra College of Education, Bela Thakur, academic coordinator, College of Education and lecturers from various colleges.

Srinagar, October 11
The Department of Posts (DoP), Jammu and Kashmir circle, held ‘Mail Day’ today as a part of its week-long National Postal Week celebrations.

A DoP official said the department created awareness on the ‘use of pincodes’ today, He said camps had been set up at several places to create awareness among people over the services offered by the DoP.

Chief Postmaster General, Jammu and Kashmir circle, Chandra Prakash, said the celebrations would continue till October 15 as the Postal Week had kick-started on last Wednesday.

On the activities scheduled from tomorrow, he said: “Philately Day on October 12 will mark the holding of philately workshops. On the Business Development Day on October 14, we will hold customer meets and organise customer awareness programs to educate public about the initiatives being taken by the department to provide better services. On the occasion of the Postal Life Insurance Day on October 15, melas will be organised in cities and villages for creating awareness on insurance products.”

Jammu, October 11
PG Department, MIER College of Education, organised an exhibition on teaching aids. Dr Arun K Gupta, chairman, MIER, inaugurated the exhibition. He was assisted by Dr Renu Gupta, director of the institute.

Also present on the occasion were Dr Surinder Kaur, Controller of Examinations, Dr BL Raina, HoD, MEd Dept, Dr Annie Koul, HoD, BEd Dept and Dr HR Shan, head, research wing of MIER College of Education.

The exhibition was the culmination of the two-day teaching aids workshop in which students were given an orientation regarding different kinds of teaching aids, conventional/ non-conventional, projected and non-projected, three-dimensional aids, transparencies, working models, powerpoint presentations, usage of smart class etc.

The resource person for the workshop was Dr Nishta Rana. Dr Gupta interacted with students and emphasised upon the significance of teaching aids in providing a multi-sensory experience to the learners and facilitating the teaching-learning process.

Jammu, October 11
The Department of Students Welfare, University of Jammu, today organised the ‘Mime, Mimicry and Mono-Acting’ competitions under the ongoing ‘Display Your Talent’ at the Brigadier Rajinder Singh auditorium on the campus here.

In the mime competition, the team from the Trikuta College of Computer Science and Management Studies, Jammu, emerged winner while Government Women College, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu and Postgraduate Integrated, University of Jammu, bagged the second and third prizes, respectively.

The certificates of merit were awarded to the GGM Science College, Jammu, and Government Women College, Parade, Jammu.

“Action speaks louder than words”, this was depicted by the young participants in their Mime presentations on various themes such as female foeticides, politics, water conversation and Damini.

Prof Keshav Sharma, Controller of Examination, University of Jammu, was the chief guest on the occasion and distributed prizes to the winners during the Mime competition.

In the mimicry contest, Masood Qadir from the Government MAM College, Jammu awarded with third prize for his performance whereas Pallavi Kunwar from Government Women College, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu bagged the certificate of merit.

In the mono-acting event, Ramnik Kour from the Government College for Women Parade, Jammu, bagged the third prize while Jagpreet from The Law School, University of Jammu, and Avinash Lakhnotra from the GGM Science College, Jammu, were awarded certificates of merit. Prof Yash Pal Sharma, Anil Sharma and Vinod Dheer were the adjudicators for all events.

Hema Gandotra, Department of Sociology, was the teacher in-charge who apprised the participants of the rules and regulations of the event. 

Jammu, October 11
Bollywood actor Aftab Shivdasani today said the response to the "boldness" in his recent movie ‘Grand Masti’ was beyond expectations.

“We had added some more boldness in Grand Masti with an expectation that people may digest it, but we are surprised to see the great response from public. It was really beyond expectations," said Aftab Shivdasani during his visit to the city today.

“I was quite hesitant during the shoot of Grand Masti. I had to do so many retakes but I am thankful to all my fans for making this movie a big hit,” he said while addressing mediapersons.

Grand Masti, which released on September 13, has done well at the box office. Despite being an "adult comedy", the movie is doing good business worldwide, including Jammu.

Aftab said he was visiting Jammu for the first time and expressed happiness over getting a chance to visit the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine during the ongoing navratras.

Aftab was in the city to announce the commencement of the All India Devotional Song Competition. He will be one of the judges in the competition. He said the mega final of the competition would be held on Saturday.

Aftab expressed his desire to shoot in the state. “I would love to shoot in Jammu and Kashmir. I always wanted to come here for a shoot, but didn’t get any chance.”

The actor left for Katra to pay obeisance at Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine.

He was accompanied with his girlfriend Nin Dusanj, Ganesh Jain, managing director, Venus Records, and filmmaker Vikas Mohan.