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Pressure to field Azad from Udhampur-Doda
mounts
Kerosene scarcity adds to people’s miseries
Educational standards on the wane in cooperative schools
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HC seeks fresh report from police over attack on Pakistani
prisoner
Caste no criteria for
winning elections in Jammu region
Rail track washed away by rain in south
Kashmir
Restrictions, protests in Bandipora for 4th day
Website of J&K Red Cross Society launched
Drug haul case: Judicial remand of PoK driver extended till April 1
LS polls historic opportunity for people to bring change: Mufti
PDP resumes campaigning, holds workers’ meeting
PDP seeks action against NC for violation of poll
code
Landslides disrupt traffic on highway
Rain exposes poor quality material used in road repair
KU students protest over mistakes in question papers
Recruitment board admits blunder in teacher selection list
Governor releases two research publications
Citing age as reason, Namgyal refuses to contest LS polls
Cong tells workers to make people aware of govt policies
Security deployment, election arrangements reviewed
Walkathon to save girl child
PDP demands Central package for snow-hit farmers
SMVDU VC flags off ‘Election Express’
Dogri sanstha holds literary meet
Leopard kills 31 sheep in Rajouri village
Woman raped in Udhampur Omar expresses grief over NC leader’s demise Domestic help held, stolen items recovered Holi celebrated with fervour in Valley
Governor apprised of displaced people’s problems
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Pressure to field Azad from Udhampur-Doda
mounts
Jammu, March 18 Choudhary Lal Singh, an outspoken Congress leader, is a sitting MP from the Udhampur-Doda segment. He had won elections from the seat two times in a row, but this time the entire Congress leadership is opposing his candidature and demanding that Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad contest from the prestigious seat. Highly placed sources in the Congress said Soz had made it clear to the high command that the entire leadership of the Udhampur-Doda segment was against repeating the sitting Lok Sabha member, so there was no reason to ignore views of the grassroot-level workers. “Soz has bluntly told the high command that he will not endorse the mandate if the same is issued in favour of Choudhary Lal Singh,” the sources said, adding that the JKPCC chief had told the Central leadership that all the Congress legislators of the Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha segment had written against giving ticket to Lal Singh. Sources said Soz told his loyalists that Lal Singh was on a sticky wicket because the entire organisation was opposing his candidature. So there was no need to support him at this juncture. He had reportedly told his loyalists that only Ghulam Nabi Azad had the capability to retain the prestigious seat so he (Soz) was mounting pressure on the high command to field Azad. Interestingly, the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir is divided and has two factions - one headed by JKPCC chief Saifuddin Soz and other by Azad - but on the issue of the candidate of the Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat all party leaders are united. Meanwhile, AICC secretary in charge J&K Congress Mainual Haque has submitted his report on the Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha segment. Haque was deputed by the Congress high command to get a feedback from the grassroot-level workers for giving ticket of the Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha segment. “I cannot disclose what report I have submitted because it is purely an organisational matter,” Haque told The Tribune over phone.
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Kerosene scarcity adds to people’s miseries
Jammu, March 18 A few years ago following a major scam detected by the Vigilance Department, about 1,000 licences were cancelled by the government after which the CAPD took over the distribution. However, in absence of required tankers and manpower, the plan failed. “Every month whenever a tanker comes to our area, it is a total chaos as hundreds of people almost fight with each other to get their turn,” said Kewal Krishna, a resident of Bhagwati Nagar. There are only 10 tankers with the department, which have been put in different areas in the city on a rotational basis, but long queues have become a routine affair whenever tankers reach at any place. At the moment, the department is getting an allocation of 2,772 kilolitre kerosene per month at the rate of 5 litre per family (ration card holder). People are also demanding that the government should enhance monthly supply to them from a uniform scale of 5 litre
per ration card to 10 litre per card. “How a family of five to six members will carry out cooking and illumination with 5-litre kerosene a month. The state government should take up the matter with the Centre so that people should get the original monthly quota of 10 litre per ration card,” said Sunita Devi, a housewife. However, Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan claimed that kerosene supply was being streamlined as more tankers would be made available. ? “New licences will be issued in the coming months so that people can get kerosene supply. The government has taken up the issue of increasing quota from 5 litre to 10 litre with the Central government,” the minister said.
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Educational standards on the wane in cooperative schools
Jammu, March 18 Sources said there were five schools within Jammu city which were being run by Cooperative School of Education and Research Institute Limited. “Four co-operative schools including Cooperative Public High School, Rehari, Ambphalla, Cooperative Public High School, Talab Tillo, Cooperative Public Higher Secondary School, Deeli, and Cooperative Public High School, Janipur, are functional while the fifth school located at Nanak Nagar was closed and it was merged with Deeli branch following high dropout of students,” sources said. The cooperative school at Nanak Nagar had 222 students in 2009 but it was merged with the Deeli branch after it was left with only 19 students in September last year. “Ever since government officials took over the new board of management, the education standards in all the cooperative schools has deteriorated abysmally. The management has already lost its validity to remain in office, but the government has shown no interest in conducting elections to have an elected board of management to save these institutions from extinction,” a senior official of the Cooperative Department told The Tribune. Giving details regarding decreasing enrolment in all co-operative schools, the official said the Cooperative Public High School, Rehari, Ambphalla, had 273 students in 2009 and the number come down 226 in 2014. Cooperative Public Higher Secondary School, Deeli, had 435 students in 2009 and the number has now gone down by 428. Similarly, Co-operative Public High School, Janipur, which had 211 students in 2009, has registered slight increase in enrolment which has gone up to 220. At Co-operative Public High School, Talab Tillo, which had 370 students in 2009, the number of total students had gone down to 242 this year. “The total strength of the schools has decreased from 1,512 to 1,116. It is all because of the fact that competent teachers, who have great reputation among the students, were shown the exit door from the school and they were replaced with some blue-eyed of the higher-ups,” said one of the school teachers. The teacher said the government should order a high-level probe through a credible agency to expose and stop the “misdeeds, acts of omission and commission and irregularities” being allegedly committed by the existing board of management. “The government also owes an explanation as to why it has not conducted elections to constitute the administrative boards of the cooperative organisations for the past three years,” the teacher said. Basharat Saleem, Registrar, Cooperative Department, passed the buck on the delay in conduct of elections to administrative boards of the co-operative organisations, saying “The secretary, Cooperative Department, can tell you better in this regard”. He also evaded the query on the irregularities in the functioning of cooperative schools being run by the department.
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HC seeks fresh report from police over attack on Pakistani
prisoner
Srinagar, March 18 In the status report, the
SSP, Jammu, and the Jail Superintendent have been asked to explain why proceedings have not been initiated against accused Anchal Kumar, who attacked and and injured the Pakistani
prisoner. Jameel Ahmad from Abbottabad in Pakistan, in his complaint, had alleged that he was attacked by a prisoner, Anchal Kumar, on the court premises in Jammu on September 28 in 2013. The matter was first brought to the notice of the High Court by the Kashmir Bar Association in November last year. The Bar, in its application, supported by a letter written by
Jameel, had sought directions to the authorities for ensuring safety and security of the inmates, particularly Pakistani detainees, lodged in jails across the state. “Our attention has been drawn to jail offences which are committed by detainee and undertrial while in police custody. It has been submitted that jail manual deals with discipline and punishment given to the person indulging in indiscipline while in jail,” a Division Bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Hasnain Masoodi observed in its orders made available today. The observations came following the perusal of the Action Taken Report by the
SSP, Jammu, in which he had submitted that the “September 28, 2013” incident was “non-cognisable” and “does not require registration of a criminal case.” In its directions on January 1, 2014, the High Court had directed the Jammu SSP to submit a report indicating the action taken. “Therefore, the latest status report is required to be filed by the
SSP, Jammu, along with the Superintendent Jail as to why proceedings have not been initiated against aforesaid Anchal Kumar who has been identified as a person causing injuries to Jameel Ahmad,” the High Court further observed in its orders while giving the respondents four weeks to file the status report. Case history
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Caste no criteria for
winning elections in Jammu region
Jammu, March 18 For long both the Congress and the BJP leaders have tried to give out an impression that only a Brahmin candidate could win election from the Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat, while a Rajput nominee has an edge over others when it comes to the Udhampur-Doda parliamentary segment. However going by the previous records, electorate in the Jammu region has least considered caste as a factor in deciding their representatives. Since 1967 to 2009, candidates of different castes and communities have won elections from the two parliamentary segments of the region. In 1967, when parliamentary elections were held for the first time in the state, Congress candidate Brig Ghansara Singh won the Udhampur-Doda seat. Thereafter it was Dr Karan Singh, son of late Dogra ruler of the Jammu and Kashmir Maharaja Hari Singh, who held the seat for three successive elections in 1971, 1977 and 1980. Karan Singh was also the first Sadar-e-Risayat of J&K. In
1985, it was Congress’ Girdhari Lal Dogra, a Brahmin, who won the
Udhampur-Doda seat. Interestingly, Dogra was pitted against Thakur Baldev Singh, a Rajput leader from Jan Sangh, who also remained the Finance Minister of the state for more than 15 years. In 1988 by-election, Congress leader Mohammad Ayub Khan defeated Bhim Singh, a Rajput by caste, to get to the Lok Sabha from the Udhampur-Doda segment, while it was Dharam Pal Sharma, a Brahmin, who won the prestigious seat in 1989. In
three successive Lok Sabha elections from 1996 BJP’s Prof Chaman Lal
Gupta won the seat, projected primarily as a Rajput dominated segment.
And in the last two parliamentary elections — 2004 and 2009 — it was
Congress leader Choudhary Lal Singh who held the seat. Situation is no different when it comes to the Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat, which has been projected as a Brahmin majority segment by the two national parties. Inderjeet Malhotra of the Congress held the Jammu-Poonch seat in 1967 and 1971, while Thakur Baldev Singh won the contest as and independent n 1977. Girdhari Lal Dogra won election from the seat in 1980 before Janak Raj Gupta held the constituency for two successive terms from 1984. In 1996, Congress leader Mangat Ram Sharma won elections from the Jammu-Poonch segm while Vaid Vaishno Dutt of BJP emerged winner in 1998 and 1999. Mangat Ram was Deputy Chief Minister during the PDP-Congress regime in the state from 2002 to 2005. In the 2002 by-election, following the death of Vaid Vaishno Dutt, Choudhary Talib Hussain of National Conference won the seat. Talib
Hussain, a Muslim Gujjar, overcame the challenge from Congress’ Madan
Lal Sharma, a Brahmin, and Rajput leader from BJP Dr Nirmal Singh. However,
Madan Lal Sharma has held the seat since 2004. Rising above caste For long, both the Congress and the BJP leaders have tried to give out an impression that only a Brahmin
candidate could win election from the Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat, while a Rajput nominee has an edge over the others when it comes to the Udhampur-Doda
parliamentary segment. However, going by the previous records, the electorate in the Jammu
region has least considered caste as a factor in deciding their representatives. |
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Rail track washed away by rain in south
Kashmir
Anantnag,
March 18 "We cannot call it suspension of rail services. However, the departure of the morning train from Banihal was delayed by about 140 minutes," said Chief Railway Controller Nand Lal. He said the snag was dealt with in due time and the services resumed as per schedule throughout the day. According to the reports from the maintenance site, the tracks were damaged badly and timely intervention by the railway staff averted a major tragedy. The commuters, however, said the delay in the morning train automatically delayed the following trains, much to their inconvenience. "We had to return from the railway station and take other means of public transport to reach our places of work," said Imtiyaz, a daily commuter. The morning train caters to a large number of working people who travel from different parts of south Kashmir to Srinagar and Budgam in central Kashmir and Baramulla in north Kashmir. Most parts of the Valley witnessed a heavy downpour, while the Meteorological Department had predicted moderate to heavy snowfall. Meanwhile, the traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was restored around 11am today, after remaining closed for several hours. We
had to curtail traffic last night after landslides occurred in Panthal
area along the national highway said a senior traffic police official. "Besides, it snowed at some places, including Banihal," he added. He said the traffic was restored on the national highway this morning after necessary maintenance work. |
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Restrictions, protests in Bandipora for 4th day
Srinagar, March 18 The official said restrictions were relaxed in Bandipora town, first time in the last four days, and situation had remained “under control”. “We will hold a review meeting in the evening and accordingly decide whether to continue the restrictions tomorrow. Hopefully, there will be no restrictions tomorrow,” the Bandipora Deputy Commissioner said. The Kashmir valley remained shut on Sunday and protesters clashed with the police and paramilitary personnel in various areas of north Kashmir during the past three days following the killing of the teenage boy.
Farhat Ahmad Dar, 16, a resident of the Sumbal area, was shot dead by the police during a protest at Naidkhai on Friday evening last week. A police statement said Farhat died when its personnel “fired in air” to disperse an “unruly mob”. The state government has ordered an inquiry into the killing, which will begin once the situation normalises in Bandipora district, the official said. The killing has evoked widespread anger in the region, drawn criticism from the political parties and the separatists and triggered protests in several parts of the Valley. The authorities had to impose restrictions to prevent clashes between protesters and security forces from spreading to other areas of the Valley.
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Website of J&K Red Cross Society launched
Jammu, March 18 The website provides links to different branches of the Red Cross Society in the state, at the national level and the world over. It has been launched to reach out to a maximum number of people in the state who are not aware of the activities of the Red Cross, its aims and objectives. Information related to the prices of medicines at Jan Aushadhi shops, detail of blood donors,
volunteers, fund-raising activities and accounts of the IRCS, J&K, can be obtained from the website. On the occasion, a powerpoint presentation, which gave a detailed account of the activities of the IRCS, J&K, was made by Roma Wani, honorary general secretary, IRCS, J&K. The Governor urged the IRCS to train volunteers and make them an important and valuable asset for society. He appreciated the proposed initiative of the Red Cross to position the volunteers for the guidance and help of the yatris during the Amarnath yatra. Navin K Choudhary, Principal Secretary to the Governor, Shantmanu, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Ajit
Sahu, Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, RC Puri, Secretary, Regional Red Cross Society, Jammu branch, and Piyush
Singla, W IAS (probationer), were present on the occasion.
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Drug haul case: Judicial remand of PoK driver extended till April 1
Srinagar, March 18 The court also directed the Union government to ensure consular services to driver
Awan, who is lodged in Srinagar Central Jail. The directions were passed by Principal and District Sessions Judge,
Baramulla, Rashid Ali Dar, while extending the judicial remand of Awan by 15 days. Awan had sought consular services in his plea to the court. The court also directed the jail authorities to allow the driver to talk to his family across the border over phone and provide proper clothing to him. The extension in the judicial remand was granted after the J&K Police, probing the international drug racket, pleaded that the investigations in the case were under progress. The J&K Police are likely to file a chargesheet in the case very shortly. The investigation into the drug haul by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has so far found that the consignment of brown sugar worth Rs 114 crore was to be unloaded in Amritsar, Punjab. While the two Kashmir traders, Tariq Ahmed Sheikh from Baramulla and Showkat Habib from
Bandipore, have been arrested and are in the judicial custody, an important link in the chain, a drug smuggler from Amritsar, Punjab, continues to evade arrest. The
cross-LoC trade on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route, had remained suspended for nearly 40 days after the recovery of brown sugar.
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LS polls historic opportunity for people to bring change: Mufti
Jammu, March 18 “The PDP — as credible and trusted voice of the people of the state — is leading the movement for change in Jammu and Kashmir,” Mufti said while addressing a meeting of Gujjar leaders from the Nagrota, Samba and Gandhi Nagar Assembly segments. The meeting was organised by Hamid Chowdhary, coordinator, Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat. Terming the parliamentary elections as a trailer for the Assembly polls, Mufti told the people to avail of this opportunity to send credible and trustworthy representatives to Parliament, who would represent their aspirations with sincerity and dedication. “The PDP has fielded trustworthy, credible, tested and capable candidates who have enough potential to take up people's issue in Parliament with conviction,” he said and told the people to compare PDP candidates with nominees of other political parties. The PDP patron said Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir had failed to utilise funds allotted to them under the Member Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS). “Some reports revealed that MPs of Jammu and Kashmir have failed to use more than Rs 33 crore under the MPLADS, resulting in withholding of funds to the tune of more than Rs 41 crore by the Centre,” he said and regretted that the failure of the MPs to utilise funds reflected their casual approach towards mitigating the woes of the people. “There is a need to elect those representatives who would serve the people with dedication and sincerity,” he said and added that the PDP candidates had proved their conviction and commitment towards solving the problems of the people. “We are contesting the Lok Sabha elections to give voice to the people’s wishes and aspirations,” he said, adding, “Unlike other political parties, our representatives would not maintain silence in Parliament over issues related to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.”
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PDP resumes campaigning, holds workers’ meeting
Srinagar, March 18 PDP president and party candidate for the Anantnag parliamentary seat Mehbooba Mufti is scheduled to meet party workers in Pulwama and Awantipora tomorrow. Sources said the PDP had decided to interact with party workers to get feedback from them before holding rallies in various parts of the Valley. “Because of the bad weather we had suspended political and election-related activities for some time. But now we are gearing up for the polls,” a party leader said. While addressing party workers in
Handwara, Baig said the Lok Sabha elections would provide an opportunity to the people of Kashmir to send “A vote for the PDP would be a vote for change as it is the only party that has ever been able to make a difference in the lives of people. The National Conference, which as a result of its conspiracies against the people of Kashmir, sell-outs and U-turns is reduced to a rump, is now a mere group of power seekers and they have shown their worst face in Parliament as they never raised their voice in PDP leaders MLA Nizamuddin Bhat, chief spokesperson Naeem Akhtar, MLA Abdul Haq Khan, former minister Ghulam Mohiudin Sofi and local leaders Ghulam Nabi
Panditpori, Fayaz Ahmad Mir, Irfan Panditpuri, Mohammad Amin Wani and Mohammad Shafi Dar were present.
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PDP seeks action against NC for violation of poll
code
Srinagar, March 18 “Apart from Chief Minister Omar Abdullah most of the ministers, parliamentarians and legislators participated in the lunch served through the police,” secretary, coordination,
PDP, wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner of India. The complaint further read that the national and local media widely reported that
“wazwan”, was served to the participants. “While nobody could question the choice of dishes, it was also reported that the feast was carried in police vehicles. Photographs that appeared in media along with some of the reports are enclosed for the perusal. They provide incontrovertible evidence in support of the reports,” the PDP stated in the complaint. “This is a brazen misuse of official machinery and resources for carrying out party activities on any given day,” the secretary, coordination, PDP mentioned. “In the context of the ongoing electoral exercise we believe this is an unabashed violation of the Model Code of Conduct, which deserves a serious notice by the Election Commission of India. We accordingly bring it to your kind notice for appropriate action so as to prevent the ruling parties from using state resources for their partisan ends,” the secretary added.
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Landslides disrupt traffic on highway
Jammu, March 18 Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on the Jammu-Srinagar and Batote-Doda-Kishtwar highway after the authorities were forced to stop traffic movement for nearly four hours. The traffic was, however, restored later in the day. “The Jammu-Srinagar highway was closed for about three hours in the morning, due to landslides at Panthal and heavy snow at the Jwahar tunnel. Similarly, due to disturbance at Raggi
Nallah, Prem Nagar and Bhala the Batote-Doda-Kishtwar road remained closed for about four hours,” Superintendent of Police, National Highway,
Ramban, Haseeb Mughal said. “The traffic has been restored and one-way movement from Srinagar to Jammu will be allowed on Wednesday,” he said. Today the traffic was allowed from Jammu to Srinagar. However, the vehicular movement was stopped from Jammu between 8am and 10am. Later, the authorities allowed vehicles to move towards Srinagar till 2:30 pm. About 6,000 vehicles crossed the Jwahar tunnel till the last report was filed while 2,000 more vehicles were expected to cross the point till late night, the traffic officials said.
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Rain exposes poor quality material used in road repair
Poonch, March 18 The GREF had repaired this road a few months ago. Commuters alleged that the GREF had not repaired the road according to the guidelines for constructing roads and misused the funds released for the road repair. They said the authorities concerned should take action against the General Reserve Engineer Force
(GREF) and officers who were involved in the road repair. The authorities should immediately get the potholes repaired. In Poonch district, most of the roads are under GREF and only it is responsible for repair of the roads. Sources told the Regional Voice that crores were utilised every year in the name of road repair, but the condition of roads remained unchanged. The locals demanded a vigilance probe into the matter so that bungling of funds or poor repair work could be stopped.
Poonch DC Sajjad Ahmed Khan said, “The Surankote-Poonch road is being repaired by the General Reserve Engineer Force
(GREF) and only it is answerable for the same. If the repair work is not satisfactory, I will look into the matter and necessary steps will be taken.” Despite repeated attempts, the Officiating Commander
(OC), GREF, was not available for comment.
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Rain aggravates waterlogging in Srinagar Srinagar, March 18 “For the eighth consecutive day, many parts of the city are still flooded with water. Today, the situation has turned graver. While some parts had dried up a bit, others such as Sarai Bala have been waterlogged for the past eight days,” said Yahya Ahmed, a resident of Magarmal Bagh. Residents were found complaining of waterlogging at Magarmal Bagh-Sarai Bala, HMT, Zainakote, Sanatnagar, Rawalpora, Nowgam, Natipora and Chanapora. As waterlogging problems persisted in areas near Sarai Bala and Hari Singh High Street, an official said blockades had developed in the drain system connecting these areas with the Daresh Kadal Dewatering Station and efforts to find the blockages were underway. Meanwhile, Srinagar Deputy Commissioner Farooq Ahmad Shah accompanied by the SMC Commissioner and other senior officials had yesterday visited HMT, Zainakote and adjoining areas to take stock of dewatering works being carried out in waterlogged areas. The Deputy Commissioner had directed the agencies concerned to speed up the dewatering process to facilitate the movement of people. DC, SMC commissioner take stock of situation Deputy Commissioner Farooq Ahmad Shah accompanied by the SMC Commissioner and other senior officials concerned had on Monday visited HMT, Zainakote and adjoining areas to take stock of dewatering works being carried out in waterlogged and inundated areas.
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KU students protest over mistakes in question papers Srinagar, March 18 Following the protests, the university admitted to the mistake and later updated the revised answer keys on its website. The state high court has observed that flawed question papers and later furnishing wrong answer keys leads to confusion and ambiguity among students. It was referring to the Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE) scandal, which rocked the state recently. The mathematics question paper alone had as many as nine wrong questions, which was admitted by the Dean, Academic Affairs, at KU, who is responsible for the entrance examinations, which are currently going on at KU for admission to various postgraduate courses. The botany paper had six wrong questions. Besides, a few other language papers also carried mistakes. The court had observed in the recent judgment that while answering the wrong questions, the students lose out on marks which adversely affects the merit of competing candidates. Meanwhile, the candidates have been protesting against the alleged irresponsible behaviour
of the university authorities for not being able to prepare accurate question papers. "Why doesn't the NET or civil administration examinations contain wrong questions? Careless attitude in framing the question papers cause utter confusion. Last year too there were major errors in the question papers. Later, KU published on its website that all erroneous questions have been cancelled," Mehraj Ahmad, an aspirant for postgraduate in mathematics, said. Sources said, "When it comes to setting up of question papers there are still no clear-cut guidelines on who frames the question papers. Sometimes it could be a faculty member or even a resident scholar. The fact is that nobody is held accountable and the Dean, Academic Affairs, looks at the overall process." Students have also lodged a written complaint with the Dean, Academic Affairs, and sought re-examination. However, Dean, Academic Affairs, KU, AM Shah said action would be taken against erring paper-setters. Students lodge plaint, seek re-examination Students have also lodged a written complaint with Dean, Academic Affairs, AM Shah and sought re-examination. However, Shah said action would be taken against erring paper-setters. Last year too, there were major errors in the question papers for
entrance exams.
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Recruitment board admits blunder in teacher selection list
Jammu, March 18 JKSSRB chairperson Shagufta Parveen said, “There was some mistake in the earlier list so we corrected the list and issued a revised list on March 3.” The candidates who were in the first list had started preparing for the interview but were shocked to see their names removed from the second
list. Neha Sharma, a candidate, said, “I was shocked to see that my name had been removed from the second list. I had started preparing for the interview but the second list has disappointed me and all other candidates who have been removed from the list.” Candidates charged the SSRB with favouritism and said the list was changed under some political influence. The candidates appealed to the state government to allow those selected earlier to take the interview for the post and set up an inquiry. About 700 candidates have been dropped from the revised list, 100 candidates from Samba, 200 from Udhampur and 50 candidates from Kishtwar districts.
Shagufta said, “We are maintaining complete transparency. We will show them (candidates) their answer scripts after the selection process is complete.”
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Governor releases two research publications
Jammu, March 18 Members of the Trust presented a copy of each book to the Governor. They urged the Governor to facilitate the smooth conduct of the Baba Buddha Amarnath yatra in Poonch district, sought his guidance for organising the Pir Panjal Cultural Festival, apprised him about the aspirations of the local people regarding the creation of
new administrative units and delimitation of Assembly constituencies and enhancing road connectivity with other
districts. The Governor assured the members of the Trust that he would take up the issues with the authorities. The Trust was represented by Prof Syed Musarraf Hussain Shah, Syed Aftab Hussain Shah, Prof Mohammad Saleem Wani, Ghulam Haider, Syed Abid Hussain Shah and Ghulam Nabi Sheikh. Navin K. Choudhary, Principal Secretary to the Governor, was present.
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Citing age as reason, Namgyal refuses to contest LS polls
Jammu, March 18 As per the agreement with the coalition partner National Conference, the Congress is going to contest elections from the Jammu-Poonch, Udhampur-Doda and Ladakh Lok Sabha segments. The party has prepared a panel of potential candidates for the Ladakh seat in which the name of P Namgyal was on the top. “I have contested many elections but this time I have refused to join the electoral battle due to my age”, Namgyal told The Tribune. He said, “My age does not allow me to travel the Ladakh Lok Sabha segment, which spread in the two-third of the total geographical area of the state”. Namgyal, former Lok Sabha member, said he had recommended the name of T Samphal as his choice for the Ladakh seat. “I have given my choice, but the decision has to be taken by the high command,” he said. P Namgyal, had won the Lok Sabha elections from the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat for four successive terms in 1980, 1984, 1989 and 1996. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, P Namgyal was the Congress candidate, but he lost to NC rebel candidate Hassan Khan. |
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Cong tells workers to make people aware of govt policies
Jammu, March 18 Addressing election rallies at RS Pura and Suchetgarh, which were jointly organised by the Congress and the National Conference, the minister said the work done by the UPA Government in its two terms at the Centre and the Congress-NC coalition government in the state needed to be highlighted by the workers to stake claim for securing votes for the aspiring joint candidate for the Jammu-Poonch Parliamentary constituency, Madan Lal Sharma, in the Lok Sabha elections. He said with the overwhelming support of the UPA Government, the state government headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah ensured massive infrastructural development in all essential sectors. Seeking mandate in favour of Sharma for the third term, the minister asked the people to elect the existing Member of Parliament. He alleged that other parties were promoting communal tension and disintegrating society in the name of religion, caste, creed and colour. Taking a dig at the BJP, the minister said the party had a “history of spreading communal tension in the country”. — TNS
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Security deployment, election arrangements reviewed
Jammu, March 18 The CEO said the state had 9,633 polling stations, out of which 4,059 had been declared critical at 3,461 polling locations. Special Director General of Police
(DGP) K Rajendra, Police Nodal Officer for the state, was also present at the meeting. He said the force deployment for the elections was being done keeping in the view the extension of poll time from 7am to 6 pm by the Election Commission of India. K Rajendra said so far 817 licenced weapons had been deposited, 376 persons had been bound/down under preventive sections of the
CrPC, 957 non-bailable warrants had been executed, 171 hamlets identified as vulnerable and 143 persons identified as probable source of trouble. Logistic arrangements for the paramilitary forces coming from outside for performing the election duty in the state was also discussed.
— TNS
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Walkathon to save girl child
Jammu, March 18 ‘Save girl child’ was the slogan of the walkathon. The main aim of the walkathon was to create awareness in society regarding the safety of girl child. The walkathon was flagged off by Devender Batra, Trustee, ASCOMS Hospital, Dr RP Kudyar, Director Principal, ASCOMS, at 4 pm. Faculty members and students of ASCOMS and various medical and dental colleges across the state participated in the walk that later culminated at the park opposite the Reserve Bank of India, Bahu Plaza. Students of ASCOMS have taken a pledge on the occasion that they will
create awareness in society to increase female sex-ratio and save girl child, which is the need of
the hour.
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PDP demands Central package for snow-hit farmers
Srinagar, March 18 She also stressed the need for permanent institutional safeguards for farmers and fruit growers through insurance and other interventions. A PDP statement said Mehbooba visited many areas in
Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam districts on Monday and took stock of the losses incurred, especially in the horticulture sector. It said people in large numbers met her and brought to her notice the widespread damage caused by the nature’s fury. The PDP president was told that the government had not initiated any survey or assessment of losses, the statement said. On March 15, the PDP chief had appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to send a team to assess the damage caused to crops and the fruit industry by the untimely snow in the state.
— TNS
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SMVDU VC flags off ‘Election Express’
Katra, March 18 The van has a polling booth, electronic voting machine, Form-6 for enrolment of voters, pledge letters, signature campaign boards, cultural troupe and a loud speaker for announcement. It will move across villages in the Assembly segments of Reasi, Gool-Arnas and Gulabgarh. The aim of starting the van is to register more voters till March 26 and after that it will cover the entire district with a message of electoral participation. A team of artistes will perform on the route of the Election Express, which will be coordinated by field officials of various departments. In the 30-day journey, the Election Express will spread the message of "informed and ethical voting".
— OC
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Dogri sanstha holds literary meet
Jammu, March 18 He also dwelt upon the literary merits of the presentation. Advocate Dogra Harish Kaila said the NDS was committed to the promotion of Dogri language and literature and providing a suitable platform to young and budding artists as well as established writers. Those who read their poems, songs and short stories included Sandeep Singh Jamwal, Suraj Prakash, Shambu Ram, Manjeet Singh Kamra, KL Dewana, Rajeshwar Bhakhri, Sham Talib, Ramesh Chadda and Yash Paul
Yash.
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Distribution
claims of streamlining kerosene distribution in Jammu, long queues of people waiting for hours to get 5 litre of kerosene every month tells a different story.
Jammu, March 18
Jammu, March 18
Jammu, March 18
A three-day-long medical festival ‘ARRHYTHMIA-2014’ of the Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences & Hospital (ASCOMS) began today with a walkathon organised by the college students from the Dussehra Ground to Bahu Plaza.
Holi functions were held in the camps of the security forces, including the Army, Border Security Force (BSF) and the Central Reserve Police Force
(CRPF). The jawans were seen splashing colours and distributing sweets at the camps. The main Holi function was held at the BSF Humhama Subsidiary Training Centre on the outskirts of the city, where revellers were seen dancing to Bollywood numbers.
— TNS
today.
Ambardar apprised the Governor of difficulties faced by the less-advantaged
sections of society in the Valley and the problems of displaced people from Kashmir.
He also urged that some mechanisms shall be put in place for introducing greater transparency, accountability in the administrative apparatus.
TNS
