|
|
|
|
|
CET scam: Peer’s bail plea rejected
Missing 7-yr-old found dead
Class X results |
|
|
Not paid for 2 months, SPOs protest at GMC
Fund crunch cripples EDUSAT programme
After poll debacle, J&K Cong committee
revamp put off
Valley gets respite from chill
Pak national held near border
We empowered people to fight graft: Omar
CRPF rejigs security of ‘killer’ highway
stretch
A bullet hole on the glass of a shop after militants killed a CRPF jawan in Srinagar on December 11. A file photo
Central ministry raps state for Indira Awaas Yojana lacunae
State to get 8 teacher training
institutes
BJP pushes for Lokayukta in J&K
Irked sarpanches to boycott meetings with govt officers
Over 250 J&K former militants waiting in Nepal to enter India
NC questions Mufti’s moral standing on corruption
Bumhama residents protest against PHE department
City hosts live advanced operative lapro workshop
Protesters block the Srinagar-Baramulla highway in Srinagar on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Amin War
U-14 volleyball tourney
BJYM nominates office-bearers for Doda
Award for Ayoub Sabir
Doda shooters create history
Woman dies of heart attack seeing her cowshed burn
PDP alleges bungling in work allotment
|
|
CET scam: Peer’s bail plea rejected
Srinagar, December 17 Peer is the prime accused in the alleged scam involving the sale of Common Entrance Test (CET)-2012 question papers for selection to medical colleges. He is presently lodged in Central Jail Srinagar where he is serving an extended judicial remand of 15 days. He was arrested by the Crime Branch on November 23 and sent to police remand, which expired on December 7. Rejecting Peer’s bail, Special Judge, anti-corruption, Mohan Lal Manhas said this was the “fittest case” where “jail” and “not bail” was the appropriate remedy, keeping in view the “grave” nature of the crime committed by the accused. “In view of the report submitted by the Crime Branch, the nature of accusation against the applicant/ accused are very serious as he has hatched criminal conspiracy with co-accused Farooq Itoo, Haroon Rashid and other brokers and beneficiaries for sale of question papers to undeserving and less meritorious students for monetary considerations for selection in MBBS for the year 2012,” Manhas said. Observing that “corruption destroys societal will to progress” and “accelerates undeserved ambitions”, the judge said Mushtaq Peer was holding an office of public trust as the BOPEE chairman and was required to exhibit to himself to be a person of impeccable character and integrity. “Like Caesar’s wife, Peer was required to be above suspicion and should have discharged his duties with integrity and honesty… but the reverse happened as the applicant/accused, by indulging in the mega paper selling scam for monetary considerations, exhibited unacceptable character,” the court held. “His enlarging on bail at this stage would surely shatter the confidence of the people in the society whose interests are involved in the case,” the court observed. “In view of the aforesaid discussion, I, therefore, hold this is a fittest case where jail and not bail is the appropriate remedy,” Manhas said, while rejecting bail to Mushtaq Peer. The investigating agency must get “more time to collect evidence, he added. The case file
|
||
|
Missing 7-yr-old found dead
Jammu, December 17 Relatives said Sahil was playing with other children at around 6.30 pm on Monday, when he was last seen. "Sahil went missing all of a sudden and did not return home. The family members searched him in the area but in vain. They (family) lodged a missing complaint with the police at 2am," they said, adding that Sahil was found dead in the heap of paddy waste, when a woman residing in the neighbourhood went to her fields on Tuesday morning. She raised an alarm and called the family members. They said the boy's throat was slit and there were multiple injuries on the body. "One of his eyes was gouged out indicating that he was mercilessly killed," they said. The family, however, ruled out personal enmity. The police have no clue, whatsoever, as to why the minor was killed so brutally. "It is a blind murder case and we are yet to get a clue. An FSL team visited the spot and the body was shifted to the mortuary at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Jammu, for autopsy," a senior police official said. We are assessing as to why a seven-year-old was killed in such a brutal manner, the police official said. Sources said the administration has decided to constitute a board of doctors to conduct the post-mortem which will be done by Wednesday morning The police said it would be premature to comment on the reason which led to the killing. The incident reminds of a gruesome murder of Shalin Gupta, a 10-year-old boy of Nai Basti, who was kidnapped and murdered by two youth for ransom in 2010 leading to widespread protests across Jammu city.
|
||
|
Class X results
Srinagar, December 17 “This has become a routine now, government schools put in a flop show for no fault of poor students,” said GN
Var, general secretary of the JKPSUF. “This is a tragedy that at least 41 government schools have zero pass percentage. As many as 14,000 students have failed, the majority of them being from government schools,” he said while citing the gazette figures. The front said the private schools had done exemplary in the overall results. “Students from private schools have bagged almost all of top positions, whereas students from government schools have been struggling to get pass marks. This is despite the fact that private schools run on much lower budgets,” said Var. The front said that most of the children studying in government schools belong to poor families and the poor have to suffer here too. Though the government has been spending crores of rupees on these schools, all of it is going down the drain, the statement said. It said the government should rise above the prejudice and evolve a permanent solution to this problem. We (the front) had proposed to work with the government on a public-private partnership for improving the education standards of government schools. With the proposed partnership, we can accommodate the majority of government school students to better institutions. These poor students too have the right to quality education and we are ready to help them, said Var.
|
||
|
Not paid for 2 months, SPOs protest at GMC
Jammu, December 17 The SPOs resumed work after the Minister for Medical and Technical Education Taj-Mohi-Ud-Din visited the spot and pacified more than two dozen police personnel. Unlike other PSOs, who are being paid directly by the state police, those deployed for security at the medical college are being paid by the hospital. “Our plight is worse than labourers. We have families to feed. We serve with full dedication, but in return, our salaries are pending,” a protesting police personnel said. Another personnel claimed that they cannot even come out in open against the discrimination being meted out to them for fear of losing their jobs. “Even our officers are not taking up the issue with the hospital management and they have shown no interest in solving our problem,” he said. Meanwhile, neither the principal nor any other administrative officer of the medical college was available for comments. Thousands of patients regularly visit the hospital, which is one of the biggest in the region, and there have been several incidents of clashes between doctors and attendants. Keeping in view the daily inflow of people, foolproof security can be ensured only in presence of adequate security personnel. |
||
|
Fund crunch cripples EDUSAT programme
Jammu, December 17 As part of the education outreach programme, the infrastructure was installed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2007 at two hubs-Government College for Women (GCW), Gandhi Nagar, Jammu, and Government College for Women (GCW), MA Road, Srinagar, but it remains unutilised. These hubs are linked with about 100 secondary schools in rural and far-flung areas of the state. Sources said the state government is not ready to bear Rs 60 lakh for Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) to allow any private firm to keep the equipment running and the state has also failed to train its manpower to deal with the sophisticated equipment. ISRO had taken up maintenance work for three years (2008-11) thinking that J&K will bear the cost or train its own manpower. “Before the Planning Commission, officials had given a power-point presentation about this facility and other achievements, seeking additional funds for development of higher education,” an official source said. Director Colleges, Higher Education Department, Tariq Ahmad Kawoosa said the issue has been taken up with the government. “There are some technical issues and they will be sorted out soon. The final decision has to be taken by the government”. However, Kawoosa did not elaborate on the reason for the delay in releasing the funds as promised. “The way EDUSAT (V-Sat) facility has been abandoned clearly shows the callous attitude of the education department and exposes the government’s commitment towards much advertised Right to Education Act provisions. If the government is not in a position to undertake the maintenance in a manner as it is devised, it should not have made any commitment for its upkeep after the expiry of the contract with ISRO,” a senior bureaucrat said. Sources said despite taking a lead in initiating the project to overcome the shortage of teaching staff in educational institutions, including degree colleges and ITIs, the state has failed to achieve its targets so far, with the government taking little interest in the implementation of the project. What a waste
|
||
|
After poll debacle, J&K Cong committee
revamp put off
Jammu, December
17 It was announced that the new
executive committee of the JKPCC would be formed in the first week of
December, so loyalists of JKPCC chief Saifuddin Soz were hopeful that
they would be properly adjusted. But till date no action has been taken
in this regard. “The patience of Soz loyalists is running out as
there is a remote chance of the revamp of the JKPCC soon,” sources
said, adding that supporters of Soz were expecting important positions
in the party in exchange of their loyalty toward the JKPCC
chief. “The way things are taking place at the national level, there
are chances that Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad would return to
the state politics. If Azad returned to the state politics he will
overshadow all leaders and accommodate only his loyalists on important
positions,” a Soz loyalist told The Tribune. Highly placed sources in
the Congress said the high command had asked the state leadership to go
slow in the formation of the new executive committee as well as
appointing new district presidents. “Earlier, it was almost certain
that the new executive committee of the JKPCC would be announced in the
first week of December, but after the debacle of the party in the
Assembly elections of four states the high command has asked the state
leadership to hold on the process of revamping the party,” sources
said, adding that “decision to include new faces in the Congress would
be taken only after the revamp of the party at the national level”. Soz
was reappointed as the JKPCC president on April 4 this year and soon
after his appointment he had announced to constitute a new executive
committee and also to appoint new officer-bearers at block and district
levels. Almost eight months have passed but not even a single
appointment has been made so far. Last time it was in 2008 that the
office-bearers of the state unit were appointed and a jumbo JKPCC was
constituted and the same team is functioning till date. Some senior
leaders of other political parties who had joined the Congress in
October this year are also anxiously waiting for adjustment, but in the
changed political scenario chances of their proper rehabilitation are
also remote. On October 14 this year, Balbir Singh, former MLA from
Billawar and general secretary of the PDP, Murtaza Ahmed Khan, former
MLC from Mendhar, Master Tassaduq Hussain from Rajouri, former political
adviser to Union Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah Aslam Goni from Bhaderwah
were among 15 persons, including two former ministers and some
bureaucrats, who had joined the Congress with a hope that they would be
properly adjusted in the party. Change awaited
|
||
|
Valley gets respite from chill
Srinagar, December 17 Srinagar city had recorded the season’s lowest temperature last night when mercury here fell to a low of minus 4.3 degrees Celsius. Pahalgam resort in south Kashmir also recorded a warmer night as mercury there settled at a low of 0.4degrees Celsius, the official said. In north Kashmir’s Gulmarg resort, famous skiing destination, which received a spell of snowfall in recent days, the minimum temperature settled at minus 1.2 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature in south Kashmir’s Qazigund town was recorded at minus 2.3 degrees Celsius, the official said. Gulmarg and Qazigund were the two only places in the valley where mercury fell below the freezing point. The minimum temperature in north Kashmir’s frontier Kupwara fell to a low of 0.5 degrees Celsius, which was an increase of 5.2 degrees from the low of last night, the official said. Leh town in remote Ladakh region, which is located outside the Kashmir valley, continued to record freezing temperature as the mercury there fell to a low of minus 10.0 degrees Celsius. The Ladakh region remains cut-off from rest of the state during the winter as the mountainous pass at Zojilla, which connects Ladakh with Kashmir, remains buried under a heavy snow. In Kargil, another district in Ladakh, mercury fell to a low of minus 4.6°C overnight, the official said.
|
||
|
Pak national held near border
Poonch, December 17 SN Acharya, Jammu-based Defence PRO, confirmed the arrest and said the PoK youth was still in the Army custody. His interrogation was on till the last report came in. The SP, Poonch, Shamsheer Hussain, said the Army had not handed over the PoK national to the police. “Army officials may be in touch with their counterparts in Pakistan for a flag meeting for his (PoK national) repatriation," Shamsheer said. Sources said during the preliminary investigation the Army had just found Rs 420 in Pakistan currency, watch, shawl and an identity card from from the youth. As per reports he (PoK national) has not disclosed the reason why he has crossed the LoC.
|
||
|
We empowered people to fight graft: Omar
Anantnag/Pulwama, Dec 17 “We empowered the people legally to scan government functionaries from the Chief Minister to the lowest-ranking official by re-constituting the Accountability Commission, constituting the State Commission under the Right to Information Act (RTI) and the Vigilance Commission (VC). We enacted the Public Services Guarantee Act, put in place Third Party Monitoring (TPM), e-procurement and e-tendering in government departments,” he said, while addressing a gatherings in Tral in Pulwama and Khudwani in Anantnag district. He said any state citizen could bring any government functionary under full public scan right from the Chief Minister to the lowest official. “This is the visible anti-corruption initiative taken by my government which cannot be eclipsed by false propaganda,” he said. Talking to the people at Tral, Pulwama and Khudwani in South Kashmir during meetings with various sections of the society and National Conference workers today, Omar said his government not only constituted independent institutions to keep vigil on government functioning, but also gave teeth to the defunct ones so that people were empowered to bring the corrupt to the book. “My government, by introducing the Public Services Guarantee Act in the state, became among the few states in the country to have such a law,” he said. Shutdown in Tral A spontaneous complete shutdown was observed in South Kashmir’s Tral town on Tuesday to protest Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s visit to South Kashmir. All commercial establishments in the town remained closed through the day and traffic remained off roads. Omar was on a short visit to Tral to attend a party workers convention, reports said. A complete shutdown was also observed in the town during the CM’s last visit on November 22. |
||
|
CRPF rejigs security of ‘killer’ highway
stretch
Srinagar, December 17 Four deadly attacks have been carried out by militants at various spots on the stretch of the highway this year, including the recent hit-and-run attack on December 11. In the attacks, militants have shot dead eight Army soldiers, six CRPF and one BSF personnel. As per the standard operating procedure, the road stretch is sanitised and secured by the CRPF for the movement of security vehicles. “After the recent attack on a road opening party on the bypass, we have reorganised our highway security,” said PK Singh, Inspector General
(IG) of CRPF. “We have made the security more effective in various ways and also put more bullet-proof vehicles to ensure the safety of security vehicles on the road,” the CRPF IG said. More than 300 CRPF men have been deployed on the stretch. Army men have also been deployed in the peripheries around the highway for safeguarding the Army convoys which pass through the area. Sources said a Lashkar-e-Toiba module was carrying out attacks on the road stretch and militants had always been successful in fleeing after carrying out the attacks. “The highway from Pantha Chowk to Parimpora is located on the border of three districts, Srinagar, Budgam and
Pulwama. The militants take the advantage of this thing and disappear easily in any of the three districts after attacking security men on the route,” said a police officer. 10 months, 4 attacks
|
||
|
Central ministry raps state for Indira Awaas Yojana lacunae
Jammu, December 17 Sources said the complaints received by the ministry were broadly on the issues, which included non-involvement of gram sabha in the preparation of five year priority list/annual select list, tampering with wait list and five-year priority list, irregularities in the selection of beneficiaries, delay in release of payment, financial irregularities/misappropriation of funds, involvement of contractors, etc. “The state government will have the complaint inquired into by deputing a field investigation team. Further, it will be required to send an action taken report
(ATR) within three months of the receipt of the complaint. The ATR should include the action taken on the current case and also the systemic changes that the state proposes to carry out so that such grievances do not recur,” a statement from the ministry said. “For any category of complaints, if the state government fails to submit an ATR within the prescribed time period, the ministry shall issue a reminder giving a grace period of another two weeks with a caution that non-submission of ATR will lead to stoppage of funds. If required, the state government can ask for a reasonable additional time with justification,” it added. The statement from the ministry said at all levels of implementation, the state must ensure mandatory registration and monitoring of complaints/grievances to ensure timely action and
redressal. It also recommended the authorities for appointment of a nodal officer to interact with the Ministry of Rural Development on the matters of complaints/embezzlements/misappropriation of IAY funds. Sources divulged that MoRD had emphasised upon the need to establishing a complaint cell under the direct charge of Secretary, Rural Development, in the state for looking into all the complaints related to
IAY. The complaint cell might either be for complaints specifically related to IAY or for complaints related to
other programmes/schemes of the Ministry of Rural Development.
|
||
|
State to get 8 teacher training
institutes
Jammu, December 17 Hirdesh Kumar Singh, Secretary, School Education, who attended the meeting, said there were about 18,000 untrained teachers in the state. He said the authorities were in talks with the Indira Gandhi National Open University for providing distance learning courses for the teachers. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of the Secretary, School Education and Literacy (S&EL), Ministry of Human Resource Development
(HRD) at New Delhi. Sources said the Secretary had said the visit of the Joint Review Mission to the state had been fruitful, claiming that it spelt out a clear roadmap for the state on teacher education. Sources said after discussions, a committee of the HRD Ministry had approved the Central share of Rs 682.28 lakh for 2012-13 and financial assistance of Rs 2501.16 lakh for 2013-14 for the state for implementing the TE scheme. The state was also requested to clarify the bifurcation of
requirement/utilisation of funds in respect of the SC/ST/minority areas. The Secretary, SE&L, told the Secretary, School Education, that he would like to follow the system that was being followed in the case of other Centrally sponsored schemes such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha
Abhiyan. The sources said the state was also asked to prepare a perspective plan for five years to address the critical needs and ensure quality improvement in teacher education through systemic overhauls. As per the data, the amount approved by the HRD Ministry for salary of DIETs for 2013-14 was Rs 2072.56 lakh out of which the Central share was Rs 1554.42 lakh and Rs 518.14 lakh was the state share. Similarly, Rs 327.60 lakh was approved for conducting various programmes and activities for 2013-14. The Central share was Rs 245.70 lakh while the state share was Rs 81.90 lakh. Boost to education
|
||
|
BJP pushes for Lokayukta in J&K
Jammu, December 17 “This is a strange contradiction that for the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which is rated among the three most corrupt states of the country, the National Conference led government finds no need to appoint a Lokayukta,” chief spokesperson of the state BJP Dr Jitendra Singh said while referring to the NC’s support to the Lokpal in the Parliament. Singh said Jammu and Kashmir was already late in instituting the office of the Lokayukta, as most of the leading states already had a Lokayukta in place. “While Maharashtra was the first state to introduce the Lokayukta and the Upa-Lokayuktas Act in 1971, similar acts have subsequently been enacted by the states of Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi and Goa,” he said. “It is embarrassing that J&K enjoys the dubious distinction of being in the bracket of a handful of peripheral states like Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, etc… which are yet to enact provision for the Lokayukta,” Singh added. Meanwhile, expressing concern over the plight of the refugees from the West Pakistan, BJP state president Jugal Kishore Sharma said: “It was indeed unfortunate that these hapless and abandoned people have lost their three generations agitating for a dignified settlement.” Jugal also reminded the state and the Centre Government of the 1987 Supreme Court suggestions to make necessary changes in the relevant legislations to meet the demands of West Pakistan Refugees. “The ball has been in the court of both (the Congress and the National Conference) these governments for more than 25 years now and the refugees have been seen on streets to get justice as per the suggestions of the Supreme Court,” Jugal said while referring to the suggestions made by the
Apex Court. “The time has come when all political parties should come open on the issue and support the cause of the refugees, who have already suffered a lot during the past six decades and have the right to avail and enjoy all the rights availed by other citizens of the country,” he added.
|
||
|
Irked sarpanches to boycott meetings with govt officers
Rajouri, December 17 On the 17th day of every month panchayat members meet the representatives of 14 state departments, including the Public Health Engineering, Public Works Department, Power Development Department, etc…, to discuss the issues faced by the people of their respective panchayat segment and suggest ways to mitigate them. Today’s meeting was scheduled to be held at the Tourist Reception Centre at Palma, about 6 km from here. However, after waiting for over an hour for the state representatives, the sarpanches, who had assembled at the venue well in time, decided to boycott future meetings and held a protest against the government. It was only after 90 minutes that Block Development Officer Rafoq Choudhry reached Palm. Sarpanches, meanwhile, raised slogans against the government and the representatives of the state departments and said that they were being “fooled by the government” on the name of empowerment. “As per the government announcement, sarpanches can guide various state departments in the development works in their respective panchayats. But nobody cares about the elected members. The heads/representatives of these departments don’t bother to attend the scheduled meetings headed by the concerned BDO,” Danidhar sarpanch Darbar Choudhry alleged. “Today we were made to wait for more than two hours at the TRC at Palma, but no representative from any of these departments turned up to attend the scheduled meeting,” he said. “Now we have decided not to attend any such meeting in the future. We have also decided to hold protest against the government,” Choudhry added. Don’t ‘fool’ us On the 17th day of every month panchayat members meet the representatives of 14 state departments to discuss the issues faced by the people of their respective panchayat segment and suggest ways to mitigate them. However, the officials failed to reach the venue of today’s meeting, forcing sarpanches to stage a protest against the government. |
||
|
Over 250 J&K former militants waiting in Nepal to enter India
New Delhi, December 17 Sources said close to 200 people, including militants and their families, had crossed over to India in the past few months through official check posts of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), which guards the 1,751-km border. The SSB has also deputed specially chosen personnel, hailing from the state and conversant with the Kashmiri language, to man the locations from where ex-militants cross over to the Indian side. The issue came to light after a row over the arrest of Syed Liyaqat Shah by the Delhi Police on suspicion of being a Hizbul Mujahideen militant. The Jammu and Kashmir Police had claimed Shah was on his way to surrender in March this year. The Union Home Ministry had sometime ago institutionalised procedures to be followed for using the Nepal route for surrender of Kashmiri youths who had crossed over to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the 1990s. “The state government (state CID) has validated a list of such people and shared it with the Union Government (Home Ministry). The SSB is the nodal authority to receive such people coming from Nepal and hand them over to the J&K Police,” a senior official said. SSB chief Arun Chaudhary, during an interaction with mediapersons before the 50th Raising Day celebrations of the force, refused to give details of the procedures adopted on the open border in this regard. “I can just say this is a friendly border but we have seen in the last few years that some elements have started exploiting the frontier to carry out their nefarious designs in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. We are always alert,” the SSB Director General (DG) said. — PTI
|
||
|
NC questions Mufti’s moral standing on corruption
Jammu, December 17 “Such was the intensity of this stain that in 2007 the then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had to publicly admit and say that his government would do all that is required to remove this blot,” the leaders said in a joint statement, adding that there could be no telling commentary about the state of affairs in J&K under the
PDP-led government. Referring to the observations of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed about the Delhi elections and its impact on institutionalising transparency in the system, the leaders asked as to what the former Chief Minister was trying to make out. They referred to the alleged policy of divide and rule during the brief stint of
PDP-led government, which they called a “devastating chapter” in the political history of the state and its later machinations that led to regional and communal polarisation in the wake of the 2008 agitation. “The people are yet to come out of that nightmare, which had led Jammu and Kashmir to devastation and destruction,” they maintained. The NC leaders said during the tenure of the Mufti-led government corruption and nepotism were allegedly
institutionalised. “Several PDP legislators remained mired in controversies with some of them facing serious corruption charges. The State Accountability Commission had in fact indicted some of the legislators, who continue to be the frontal leaders of the party,”
they added.
|
||
|
Bumhama residents protest against PHE department
Kupwara, December 17 “Despite repeated pleas, the concerned PHE division at Kupwara did not bother to restore the water supply,” said Shameema Begum, adding that they will be forced to intensify the protest if the department did not take any immediate action. “We will be forced to intensify protests, if the water supply is not restored or round-the-clock tanker service is not provided without delay,” she said. The villagers said in the absence of the water supply, they were forced to fetch contaminated water for a nearby nullah. “The consumption of contaminated has led to the outbreak of water-borne diseases like cholera and gastroenteritis in the villages, but authorities are watching as mute spectators,” Nasir Ahmad said. However, following the assurance from officials of the PHE Department, the villagers called off the protest. “Tanker service will be pressed into service from tomorrow till the supply
is resorted,” an official of the PHE Department said.
|
||
|
City hosts live advanced operative lapro workshop
Srinagar, December 17 He said the workshop titled ‘Kashmir Health Services Laparo Update-2013’ was conducted at the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial (JLNM) Hospital in an effort to enhance the skills of laparoscopic surgeons across the Valley. He said such workshops would smoothen the advanced surgical procedures at district and sub-district levels, benefiting the patients at large and providing them tertiary care at their doorsteps. The workshop was inaugurated by DHSK director Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman while Dr Rafiq Ahmad Pampori, principal, Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar, was the guest of honour. The guest operating faculty at the workshop included Dr R Sarangi, senior laparoscopic surgeon, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, and Dr Shalabh Mohan, senior laparoscopic consultant, Max Hospital, Gurgaon. Kidney Hospital director Muneer Khan led the local operating faculty team which included Dr H Vaqar Ahmad, Dr Akhtar Ganai and Dr Nazir Wani. The workshop was attended by the surgeons of the Health Services, Kashmir Division, and the surgical faculty of GMC-Srinagar, SKIMS-Soura and SKIMS Medical College. Boosting healthcare
|
||
|
Valley gets respite from freezing cold
Srinagar, December 17 Srinagar city had recorded the season’s lowest temperature last night when mercury here fell to a low of minus 4.3 degrees Celsius. Pahalgam resort in south Kashmir also recorded a warmer night as mercury there settled at a low of 0.4degrees Celsius, the official said. In north Kashmir’s Gulmarg resort, famous skiing destination, which received a spell of snowfall in recent days, the minimum temperature settled at minus 1.2 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature in south Kashmir’s Qazigund town was recorded at minus 2.3 degrees Celsius, the official said. Gulmarg and Qazigund were the two only places in the valley where mercury fell below the freezing point. The minimum temperature in north Kashmir’s frontier Kupwara fell to a low of 0.5 degrees Celsius, which was an increase of 5.2 degrees from the low of last night, the official said. Leh town in remote Ladakh region, which is located outside the Kashmir valley, continued to record freezing temperature as the mercury there fell to a low of minus 10.0 degrees Celsius. The Ladakh region remains cut-off from rest of the state during the winter as the mountainous pass at Zojilla, which connects Ladakh with Kashmir, remains buried under a heavy snow. In Kargil, another district in Ladakh, mercury fell to a low of minus 4.6°C overnight, the official said.
|
||
|
Power cuts spark protests in Srinagar city
Srinagar, December 17 “Despite regular power cuts, we have received high electricity bills,” said Tariq Ahmed, a protester from Nundreshi Colony. Later, the police and officials of the Power Development Department (PDD) reached the spot and assured the protesters that they would look into the matter. There were also reports of protests against the poor power supply in Batamallo and Kawadar localities of the city. At both places, the protesters raised slogans against the government and the Power Development Department . The protesters at Kawadar alleged that the PDD was not adhering to its own schedule. “The authorities concerned do not follow their own electricity schedule. And we are forced to come on streets,” said a protester from Kawadar locality.
|
||
|
U-14 volleyball tourney
JAMMU, December 17 Director General, Youth Services and Sports,
Navin Aggarwal, told mediapersons on Tuesday that a total of 42 teams, including 22 boys and 20 girls from 22 states and union territories comprising 502 spikers (261 boys and 241 girls) would fight for top honours in the five-day long sporting extravaganza. He further informed that various committees have been formed by the department for successful conduct of the tournament. As many as six courts (3 each for boys and girls) have been prepared for conducting matches. Further, two practice courts have also been prepared for pre-match practice of participating teams. |
||
|
BJYM nominates office-bearers for Doda
Doda, December 17 Sushil Kumar, Vishal Gupta, Waseem Hassan Banday, Yoginder
Razdan, Sourab Gupta and Arun Kumar were appointed the district vice-presidents. Bablu Sharma and Manjeet Singh were appointed the district general secretaries. Mohinder Singh, Joginder Singh
Rana, Sanjay Sharma, Rajesh Sharma, Rajiv Parihar, Nand Gopal and Saddam Hussain Zargar were appointed the district
secretaries. Parminder Singh was made the office secretary, Sunny Thakur the media secretary, Omraj the publicity secretary, Gopal Dass Gupta the treasurer and Anil Kumar was made the spokesperson.
|
||
|
Award for Ayoub Sabir
Bashir Aarif, Deputy Director General of Radio Kashmir, Srinagar, described Sabir a living legend. He said it was an ‘honour for the Radio Kashmir, Srinagar, to felicitate him’. On the occasion, writer and critic Ghulam Nabi Aatash presented a paper on the life and contributions of
Sabir. Munir and Mir and his coral group enthraled the audience by singing two humourous songs of
Sabir. Poet and satirist Zarief Ahmad Zarief, who presided over the function, said: “Sabir has been writing for the last five decades ignoring all critics and that has made him a unique writer of his times.”
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
A special anti-corruption court rejected the bail plea of Board of Professional Entrance Examinations former chairman Mushtaq Ahmad Peer here today stating that he betrayed the trust reposed by aspiring meritorious students.
Peer is the prime accused in the alleged scam involving the sale of Common Entrance Test
(CET)-2012 question papers for selection to medical colleges.
The Kashmir valley got a considerable respite from the freezing chill of past nights as the mercury overnight settled above the zero-degree mark in maximum parts of the region.
The minimum temperature in Srinagar city settled at a low of 0.3 degrees Celsius, which was an increase of 4.6 notches from the minimum temperature of previous night, an official of the state Meteorological Department said.
Srinagar, December 17
Srinagar, December 17