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Attach properties of top municipal official: HC
Schools impart training in unrecognised martial arts
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Open manholes put lives of residents at risk
Militancy converted playfields into graveyards, says Omar
MBBS SCAM
Protest against MBBS scam grows louder in Kashmir valley
Valley’s leading hospital turns to experts to keep rodents at bay
Urban local bodies’ employees hold anti-govt protest
Media barred from attending Geelani's conference
Justice Mir to take over as Chief Justice of HP High Court
Allow OIC team to visit Kashmir, Centre urged
Rs 44 crore for security duties at Srinagar airport
Screening of first 35 mm film next month
Workshop on memory held at Rich Harvest School
Function to pay tributes to Kishore Kumar tomorrow
2 held for stabbing man
Wrong diagnosis: Dengue continues to claim lives
5 fined for smoking at public places
Modi to be invited to Kashmir after Jammu rally
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Attach properties of top municipal official: HC
Srinagar, November 21 It has also directed the Joint Commissioner of the Enforcement Wing of the SMC to furnish an affidavit and an undertaking about his property details within five days. It asked persons affected by the SMC sealing drive to prefer appeals before the tribunal. The orders were issued today by a High Court bench comprising Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar and Justice Ali Mohammad Magray while hearing a public interest litigation, seeking action against illegal constructions and structures falling within the Srinagar city limits. On November 12, the High Court had directed officials of the Enforcement Wing, including the Joint Commissioner and the Chief Enforcement Officer, to furnish property details registered in their names and in the names of their respective spouses and children by November 21. In compliance with the directions, the SMC counsel today submitted the affidavits and undertakings of 95 officials of the SMC, including the Chief Enforcement Officer, Hakim Ajaz Ali. But the property details of the SMC Joint Commissioner were not submitted. After perusal of the affidavits and the undertakings mentioning the property details of the SMC officials, the court took a note of the fact that the Chief Enforcement Officer had not given the revenue records of some of his properties. This prompted the Bench to direct the Deputy Commissioner (DC) concerned to take charge of Hakim Ajz Ali’s properties as mentioned in the affidavit. The bench further directed the DC concerned to report compliance of the court orders to the registrar judicial of the High Court after handing over the custody of the attached properties to the tehsildar concerned. The court told the SMC to issue notices in the cases where notices have not been issues so as to enable the affected parties to approach the tribunal or other statutory bodies with appeals within seven days. It directed the tribunal to take the appeals and the cases on a day-to-day basis and decide the matters preferably within 10 days keeping in view the urgency of the matter. The SMC has so for sealed 42 structures in the Srinagar city for violating the master plan and other norms. Besides, the government has informed the court that over the years, over 3,000 violations of the Srinagar Master Plan have been reported. The matter has been posted for further consideration on November 28. Court raps Bar president During the course of hearing of a PIL on Thursday, the High Court took exceptions to certain submissions by Bar president Mian Qayoom. He appeared before the bench praying for de-sealing of a structure belonging to one of his clients. During the arguments, Qayoom submitted that the structures which were under scrutiny for violating certain norms haven’t come overnight. “These structures have come up over the last 15 years in daytime, not overnight. Everybody has seen these structures come up, even the judges of the High Court,” Qayoom said. However, Justice Muzaffar Attar observed that being a senior lawyer, he (Qayoom) should be serious in his submissions. “Please be serious, you are making submissions before the court of law. We (the judges) have not seen it (structures coming up). You must have seen it,” Justice Attar observed while taking exception to Qayoom’s submissions. Qayoom pleaded that the High Court should legalise the violations on the pattern of Delhi, where, he said, over 200 illegal colonies had been regularised. “The court is not going to legalise any illegal act,” Justice Muzaffar Attar said. |
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Schools impart training in unrecognised martial arts
Jammu, November 21 Sources said school managements were conducting tournaments/competitions at domestic and national levels, besides conducting selection trials and sending teams for national-level tournaments, which were yet to be recognised by the Union Government and Indian Olympic Association (IOA). The sources added that the certificates, medals and positions achieved in these games later become a case of disputed eligibility, especially when the candidates approach for sports category benefits/weightage. Instructions were circulated to all educational institutions (both government and private) that they should not allow their students to compete in unrecognised events. The sources claimed that in spite of the warning, the practice was still common in private institutions and the parents of students were kept in dark and even asked to pay competition fee. "Such activities which are conducted with selfish and ulterior motives need to be curbed and stopped by one and all. Further, it has been observed that some individuals approach various quarters/organisations in different capacities and invite teams/players for participation in these unrecognised tournaments/unregistered games," a sports official claimed. The sources said the performance of sportspersons of the state had also gone down to a great extent in the Olympic discipline of judo, which was a genuine martial art event, in national games. Most of the players who had taken admission to MA Stadium are studying in private institutions and participating in non-affiliated competitions. When contacted, Tirath Ram, District Youth Services, and Sports Officer, Jammu, said, "The department has already issued strict instructions to the institutions not to encourage such type of unrecognised events. In fact, we have told our officials to concentrate only on Olympic martial arts events in schools," he added. |
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Open manholes put lives of residents at risk
Jammu, November 21 There is hardly a road where one doesn’t find uncovered manholes. Many of these are situated exactly in the middle of the roads at several places. There is always a huge vehicular traffic, besides a large number of schoolchildren use roads everyday while going to their schools, but no one is bothered to cover them. The Canal road, interior areas of Kachi Chawni, Talab Tillo, Janipur, Patoli, Subash Nagar are some of the worst-affected areas. The uncovered manholes also cause problems for vehicles that often get stuck in them. On the Patoli-Paloura road, there are many manholes having broken lids. A Central Government circular in 2009 had asked the departments of Roads and Buildings, Irrigation and Flood Control, Rural Development, Power Development, Public Health Engineering, Geology and Mining, Economic Reconstruction Agency, municipal corporations, committees and other local bodies to ensure that no bore well, manhole or pit is left open. “This carelessness of the authorities can cost our children their lives. We are always concerned about their safety,” said Suresh Sharma, resident of the Canal road area. At times, thieves steal the covers made of iron. Sometimes, heavy vehicles plying on roads damage manhole covers. No official of the Municipal Corporation was available for comment. |
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Militancy converted playfields into graveyards, says Omar
Tral, November 21 “You have witnessed a saga of fear and bloodshed in 25 years. It has only damaged us. Violence has not even transferred an inch of land from this side to that side but has given tears to every household in the state. It converted our playfields into graveyards and happy homes into mourning dens,” Omar said while addressing a rally in Tral town, a separatist stronghold south Kashmir. Omar struck a belligerent tone against militancy, choosing Tral town as the venue, where militants had fired several rounds close to the rally site on Wednesday evening. “They have not been able to deliver anything other than creating bloodshed and bundles of difficulties for people. Their claim of changing the system and the flag of the state totally proved a failure,” the Chief Minister said. The security arrangements in and around Tral town were stringent and most of the shops had remained shut through the day. The south Kashmir town is among the last few separatist strongholds in the region where militants have remained entrenched. Omar blamed “fear” among the town’s residents for the low attendance at his rally. “People have not shut their shops to receive me but it was because of fear that business has come to a halt today,” he said. The Chief Minister questioned the separatists and asked them whether violence had brought any changes in the state. He also questioned their campaign for the boycott of elections, saying that those who were sloganeering against voting were now talking about the provision of basic amenities. Omar said talking with Pakistan’s foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz would not help in providing electricity, roads and water to the people. About the recent scam of sale of CET papers, in which the former chairman of the Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE) is the main suspect, the Chief Minister said those involved in the sale were not from Delhi or Islamabad but “we are ourselves responsible for all the wrong.” “When our own officers could stoop so low for money and mar the rights of genuine and qualified youth, who can we blame,” he said. “If you want to sell roads and bridges, we can build them again but (we) cannot afford to sell irreparable lives,” the Chief Minister said. Omar said it was not the media or any opposition party which exposed the scam but “it was due to an inquiry that the government unearthed it”. He said persons involved in the scam had given degrees to those who did not qualify. “It has brought me shame as it happened in my tenure,” Omar said while promising a thorough investigation and “strict action” against those who bought and sold the papers. CM talks tough
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MBBS SCAM
Srinagar, November 21 BOPEE, chairman, RD Sharma said the investigations by the Crime Branch of the police were on and the matter was
subjudice. “We are following the investigation process closely. After directions are passed on to us, we will follow it up. Nothing can be done right now,” the BOPEE chairman said. An atmosphere of discontent has prevailed on the campus of Government Medical College,
Srinagar, following the Crime Branch report, which disclosed that 15 students who were selected in the CET-2012 were not allowed to sit for the first year MBBS exam and the names of some of them (with roll numbers) had been made public. Although, 10 students have failed the MBBS first year examination this year, students said the examination guidelines followed in the GMC and as prescribed by the University of Kashmir were relaxed. Students are promoted even if they fail twice in the annual MBBS exam. “It is only when a student fails thrice in the same batch, then he is not promoted. Batch promotions are hassle-free, hence even if students fail here in two attempts, they still get batch promotions. Failing the undeserving students is no justice as these students still get to sit in the next batch,” said Dr
Adil, member of the Government Medical College Students Association. Students said a similar scandal had come to the fore in 2003 when names of the students who had bought the question papers were made public. “Those students continued to study in the GMC despite strong reservations against them. Neither the GMC management nor BOPEE cancelled their admissions. The police had then come up with proofs regarding how a broker in New Delhi made deals with BOPEE officials for paper leak. The inquiries set up are usually hushed up, demotivating the students and leading to loss of MBBS seats,” said
Haamid, final year MBBS student at the GMC. Peer questioned for second day Srinagar:
The Crime Branch of the police continued to question the former chairman of the Board of Professional Entrance Examinations
(BOPEE) Mushtaq Peer for the second consecutive day on Thursday. Peer is suspected of selling the question papers of the Common Entrance Test-2012 to a conduit, who later sold them to candidates a day ahead of the exam last year. |
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Protest against MBBS scam grows louder in Kashmir valley
Srinagar, November 21 EJAC president and J&KTF chairman Abdul Qayum Wani today urged the state government to make the state medical entrance test more transparent by bringing the guidelines at par with the All-India Engineering Entrance Examinations (AIEEE), especially the consideration of class XII merit, as the eligibility to sit in the medical entrance examinations. He urged the state government to punish the guilty involved in the scam so that faith of people in the examination system was restored. "The MBBS scam is a big scar on the credibility of the examinations, especially the ones which lead to admissions to professional courses. The merit gets killed and the students feel discouraged. If the guilty are not brought to book and the students concerned not ousted, our education system will suffer," said Wani. Meanwhile, the Coaching Centres Association (CCA) president, GN Var, today appealed to the state government to take up the case in a fast-track court so that justice was speedily delivered. We want this case to be solved within the short possible time, said Var. "We have a bitter memory of previous cases, where the corrupt officials went scot-free due to their manipulation in the judicial process," said Var. The association demanded adequate compensation to the meritorious students who were declared unsuccessful. "Everybody is talking about the punishment of those non-deserving students, but nobody is talking about the compensation to those meritorious students," he added. The CCA sought a thorough probe into the matter. |
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Valley’s leading hospital turns to experts to keep rodents at bay
Srinagar, November 21 SKIMS, the only tertiary care hospital in the Valley, has sought help from pest control management companies for cleaning up rodents, cats, flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, termites and spiders in the hospital. The tender, published in a local daily, amounts to Rs 8.80 lakh. Unhygienic conditions at public hospitals in the Kashmir valley have always been a major problem with people complaining of a poor response from the authorities on
the issue. Complaints about unclean washrooms have remained widespread at the hospitals. SKIMS director Dr Showkat Zargar said the invitation tenders for rodent control was a
normal affair at the hospital. “It’s nothing new and is done in every hospital,” he said. However, the health officer of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), while acknowledging that there was a need to improved sanitation in all public hospitals, said that the SMC was trying to work on the issue. “I expect it to be better. It’s not up to the mark. There is a scope of improvement at Lal Ded Hospital
and SMHS hospital,” said Dr Shafaqat. Shafaqat added that the SMC had made it mandatory for all public hospitals to have proper rodent control system, but it had not been implemented till now. “We will have adequate rodent control system in all public places, including hospitals, in the coming times,” he said. To improve sanitation across all public hospitals in Srinagar, the SMC has started a drive on the instructions of its commissioner, GN Qasba. The drive has been started at LD hospital, SMHS, SKIMS and Bone and Joint hospital. Officials leading the drive said a huge quantity of garbage was lifted from hospitals and the areas were fumigated with disinfectants, lime stone and other cleansing agents. |
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Urban local bodies’ employees hold anti-govt protest
Srinagar, November 21 The Jammu and Kashmir Local Bodies Employees United Forum president, Manzoor Ahmad Pampori, who led the protesters after gathering at the Press Enclave area, said they were demonstrating against the state government’s failure to address their long-pending demands. He said despite holding frequent protests in the past, their pleas were falling on deaf ears. Pampori threatened to intensify protests in case their demands were not met. Their demands included implementation of service recruitment rules, release of 20 per cent arrears under the sixth pay commission, setting up of a transparent transfer policy within the department and regularisation of daily wagers and consolidated employees having more than 15 years service in the department. The forum is also demanding a time-bound settlement of pension and commutation cases, besides timely release of salaries. After staging protests, members of the JKLBEUF burnt an effigy of the state government. However, they were not allowed to march towards Lal
Chowk. |
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Media barred from attending Geelani's conference
Srinagar, November 21 Geelani had invited mediapersons to his Hyderpora residence today, but the police did not allow them to proceed towards his residence. The Hurriyat Conference said the press conference has been rescheduled for Saturday. "The Hurriyat terms the police action as undemocratic, unjustified and will hold the press conference on Saturday now to discuss important issues," said Ayz Akbar, a Hurriyat spokesman. |
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Justice Mir to take over as Chief Justice of HP High Court
Srinagar, November 21 Justice Mir, whose transfer orders were recently issued by the President, is expected to assume the charge of the acting Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. During the farewell party, which was organised at the Srinagar wing of the J&K High Court today, several judges, including Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir, Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attrar, Justice Ali Mohamamd Margay, and other judicial officials were present. As per the notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice on November 19, the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, in exercise of powers conferred with the Clause (1) of Article 222 of the Constitution of India read with Article 222 (1A) of the Constitution (application to Jammu & Kashmir) Order 1954 and after consultation with Governor NN Vohra and Chief Justice of India, Justice P Sathasivam, had transferred Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir of the J&K High Court as a judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. The President had also directed Justice Mir to assume the charge of the acting Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court on or before
December 3. |
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Allow OIC team to visit Kashmir, Centre urged
Srinagar, November 21 In a statement issued here today, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq expressed his wish that the world Muslim body should support Kashmiris on an economic front, besides the necessary political support to their freedom struggle. Mirwaiz stressed upon India that OIC Kashmir cell should be allowed to visit Jammu and Kashmir to know the real facts about the Kashmir dispute and take a stock of the ground situation. “He said the international body can play an effective role in resolving the hurdles on political and diplomatic level which are coming in the way of solving the vexed Kashmir dispute,” it added. |
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Rs 44 crore for security duties at Srinagar airport
Jammu, November 21 The security wing of the Jammu and Kashmir Police has been performing security duties at the Srinagar International Airport. The salary and fuel for the Airport Security Unit (APSU) was reimbursable from the AAI as per the orders of the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation. However, the claim on account of salary or fuel in respect of the APSU of the J&K Police was not reimbursed by the AAI due to some technical problems. “With the efforts of Abdul Rashid Bhat, SP Anti Hijacking Airport Srinagar, and cooperation of officers of the AAI, the reimbursement claim has been realised when the AAI released Rs 44 crore covering the period from 1999 to March, 2013 in three installments,” an official release said.
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Screening of first 35 mm film next month
Srinagar, November 21 The making of the film had created a lot of buzz earlier this year, especially after it had won an award at the Canada International Film Festival in April but its proper public screening was yet to be held. “The grand premier and the screenings of the film will be held in December at the convocation complex of the University of Kashmir,” said a statement issued by the film’s production team. — TNS
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Workshop on memory held at Rich Harvest School
Jammu, November 21 During the workshop, the trainer told students that the human brain has the capacity to compete with a super computer, but 90 per cent of brain remains unused. The trainer spoke on methods of how to use both parts of the brain and how to enhance their output. The techniques taught by the trainer included vocabulary learning, periodic table learning with exact recalling of the elements with atomic numbers, long theory learning techniques, general knowledge learning, speed squaring and how to score good in examination. He said these techniques help students learn better and quicker.
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Function to pay tributes to Kishore Kumar tomorrow
Jammu, November 21 Deepak Kumar, a noted singer and musician, will perform live along with two female singers, Sonali Dogra and Nandini Kapoor. “I have always followed Kishore’s singing in learning the music in my life. The musical evening will be dedicated to all the fans of Kishore Kumar and the people from various walks of life have been invited for the programme to be held at Police Auditorium,” Deepak Kumar told mediapersons here today.
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2 held for stabbing man
Jammu, November 21 An official spokesperson for the police said during the intervening night of November 13 and 14, some unknown assailants entered the house of Som Dutt, a resident of Dansal, but presently living at Thalora village of Majalta tehsil. “The assailants thrashed Som Dutt, brought him out of his house and stabbed him repeatedly with a sharp-edged weapon with the intention to kill him. They fled the spot after believing that Som Dutt has died,” the spokesperson said. On receiving the information about the attack, a police party from the Majalta police station rushed to the spot and took Som Dutt to the nearest hospital, where after first aid the injured was immediately shifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Jammu, for further treatment. During the course of investigation, the police raided various hideouts of the assailants and arrested both of them today. They were identified as Rajesh Kumar, alias Raju, and Yash Pal, alias Pintu, both residents of Chorli, Bishnah. An FIR under Sections 307, 455 and 34 of the RPC was registered at the Majalta police station and further investigations are on in the case. |
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Wrong diagnosis: Dengue continues to claim lives
Jammu, November 21 A few days back, Jyoti, wife of Sanjeev Kumar of Greater Kailash, Jammu, died after struggling with the fever for more than a week. Though the culprit here was a private hospital, which had failed to diagnose the disease, but the role of the Health Department is under scanner as it had claimed that all private hospitals have been asked to submit information about patients admitted to their hospitals with symptoms of dengue. Though the family shifted Jyoti to Government Medical College (GMC) and then to Ludhania, but she could not survive as her platelet count had reached below the 15,000 mark. According to sources in the Health Department, there have been several cases when people suffering from deadly dengue fever were given medicines for typhoid and viral fever and when their condition worsened private nursing homes hurriedly shifted them to government-run hospitals. Since late August, fever has been creating fear among residents in southern districts of Jammu, Kathua and Samba, where more than half a dozen people lost their lives and about 1,500 people were diagnosed with dengue fever. "The government had not made any preparation and it was after a protest rocked Samba that the administration woke up from its sleep. The government hospitals were not prepared and people had no choice but to rely on private nursing homes," claimed a Health Department official. Though people blamed the Health Department and other civic bodies for failure to control the spread of the disease, the administration has maintained that in most of the cases people relied more on testing methods of private medical labs, who fleeced gullible people. Director, Health, Dr GS Pathania claimed that they made every effort to contain the spread of denue fever. "There was some problem in initial weeks, but we managed to curb its spread. Problem arose as people didn't visit government hospitals and banked upon private nursing homes." To prevent panic, the Health Department had already banned Rapid Serology Test (NS1) for diagnosing dengue by the clinics, hospitals, nursing homes and clinical establishments and recommended the National Institute of Virology Kit commonly known as ELISA test for the detection of the fever. |
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5 fined for smoking at public places
Jammu, November 21 Despite the ban on smoking in public places, residents can be witnessed smoking openly at various public places in the city, like bus stands, railway stations and others. Today a team of officials, led by Health Officer Dr Vinod Sharma, conducted an extensive tour in the areas like Maheshpura, Prem Nagar, Gujjar Nagar, Industrial Area, Gangyal and Shastri Nagar and checked the quality of commonly used food items. A fine of Rs 11,000 was imposed on traders found using polythene bags. Moreover, four food samples of custard powder, baking powder, bread and confectionery items were taken from different parts of the city and sent to the Food Analyst for ascertaining their standard of purity. The MC has instructed traders not to use polythene bags, banned by the high court. |
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Mehbooba to fight LS poll from Anantnag
Srinagar, November 21 Mehbooba has been nominated as the candidate for the Anantnag parliamentary constituency while Karra will fight on the party’s ticket from the Srinagar parliamentary constituency, the party said in a statement. The announcement was made today by the party patron, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, at a meeting of senior leaders, legislators and party functionaries of the two parliamentary constituencies. The names of the candidates for the Baramulla and Ladakh constituencies will be announced later, the party said.
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Modi to be invited to Kashmir after Jammu rally
Srinagar, November 21 “We will invite him (Modi) to Kashmir and if he agrees, it would go a long way in strengthening the party base here,” media in charge, Kashmir, BJP, Altaf Thakur told The Tribune. The Valley-based BJP leaders will also urge Modi to look into reports of harassment faced by Muslim youth of J&K outside the state, Thakur said. However, he said a final memorandum to be presented to Modi would be prepared during a meeting of the BJP Kashmir unit scheduled here on Sunday. Thakur said just like their counterparts in Jammu, BJP leaders and workers here were trying their best to make the rally on December 1 a success. He said the Kashmir unit of the party was planning to dispatch 10,000 workers from here to Jammu. “We will try to send 1,000 workers from each district of the Valley,” he said. Meanwhile, a meeting of party workers was chaired here today by state president of the BJP Muslim Morcha Malik Mushtaq Noorabadi in connection with the preparations being made for the rally. Noorabadi said the rally would see the ‘maximum participation’ of party activists from the summer capital. “Lalkaar rally will be a milestone event in the political history of the state,” he said. BJP Muslim Morcha president, central Kashmir, Javed Ahmad Sofi said the party had assigned specific duties to workers across the Valley so that the Jammu rally was a success. Thakur said reparations for the rally, scheduled to be held at the MA Stadium, were in full swing. |
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Despite directives of the Central Government, civic bodies have failed to get the manholes covered in the city even as these death traps continue to put life and property of residents at risk. Many drivers have received injures after falling in these, particularly during night hours.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today condemned militancy in the region, blaming it for bringing devastation and for converting “playfields into graveyards”.
As voices for the nullification of alleged illegal admission of some students to medical colleges are growing, the Board of Professional Entrance Examinations
(BOPEE), which also holds the power to terminate the admissions, today said it would act after directions by the Jammu and Kashmir High
Court.
The authorities today foiled the scheduled press conference of hardline Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani by barring mediapersons to attend it.
Geelani had invited mediapersons to his Hyderpora residence today, but the police did not allow them to proceed towards his residence.
The Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) has sought help from expert companies to clean rodents on the hospital premises.
