Digdol (Ramban), May 20
Seventeen persons were killed and 24 injured when a Srinagar-bound bus fell into a 400 feet deep gorge at Digdol on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in the wee hours of Tuesday. The quick response team, including the police, State Disaster Response Force, volunteers of District Red Cross Society, jawans of Territorial Army and CRPF, carried out the rescue operation.

Most of the victims hailed from Gujarat but had settled in Punjab, Jharkhand and Poonch. Most of them were vendors of old clothes. Five victims hailed from Jammu and Kashmir, four from Punjab and three from Rajasthan. The driver and conductor of the bus fled after the accident. Fifty-one passengers were travelling in the bus when the accident took place.

“Eighteen critically injured persons were airlifted to Government Medical College and Hospital in Jammu,” said a police officer.

Minister for Planning Ajay Sadhotra, Minister of State for Home Sajad Kichlu and ADGP K Rajendera enquired about the health of injured admitted to the Ramban district hospital. The administration released Rs 10,000 each for the injured and announced Rs 1 lakh each to the families of those killed in the accident. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Governor NN Vohra, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council Amrit Malhotra and Speaker Mubarak Gul have expressed grief over the death of 17 persons in the accident.

Jammu, May 20
Except the first slot in the merit list, girls have again outshone boys in the annual result of Class X examination announced by the Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education (JKBOSE) in the summer zone of the state. The total pass percentage is 64.34 per cent, best in the recent years.

As many as 53,323 candidates had appeared in the examination and 34,326 managed to clear it. The top 20 positions have been shared by 224 candidates, among them 136 are girls and 88 boys.

The first position was clinched by Abhimanyu Kalsotra of St Peters High School, BC Road, who secured 98.4 per cent (492 marks out of 500). The second position was clinched by Romani Gupta of Christ School, Nowshera, with 98.2 per cent (491 marks).

The third position was secured by Vijay Lakshmi of National Academy High School, Udhampur, with 98 per cent (490 marks). The fourth position was shared by Harshdeep Kour of St Peters High Secondary School, Karan Bagh, and Nahida Choudhary of International Higher Secondary, Rajouri, with 97.8 per cent (489 marks).

The fifth position was shared by Rajat Gupta of Unique Academy, Bharat Nagar, and Smriti Sharma, D Devi Higher Secondary School, Rajpura Mangotrian, with 97.6 per cent (488 marks).

Interestingly, the sixth position was shared by Eva Chibber of Carmel Convent High School, Kunjwani, Shriya Aggarwal of JK Public School, Panjthirthi, Jaspreet Kaur of St Peters High School, Chandan Kumar of St Annes Convent School, Basohli, Uamakshi Sharma of Holy Family Convent School Nagri, Parole, Jas Simran Kaur of Christ School, Poonch, Prabh Simran Kour of Christ School, Poonch, Asiya Ferdous of International Higher Secondary School, Rajouri, and Tanv Sharma of Shiv Public Higher Secondary School, Bari Brahmana, with 97.4 per cent (487 marks).

Jammu, May 20
The Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education (JKBOSE) today declared Class X exam result and it was a moment of joy for students who found their names in the merit list released by the board.

Several schools organised functions to celebrate the success of the students in the exam.

Abhimanyu Kalsotra, student of St Peters School, Jammu, who secured the first position with 98.4 per cent (492 out of 500 marks), credited his success to his parents and teachers who guided him. "I owe my success to my teachers, parents and friends as without their support this success was not possible. I want to be a civil engineer, so I have opted for non-medical. My aim is to be an IAS officer and serve the society," said Abhimanyu.

Giving an advise to students, Abhimanyu said it was not necessary to sit for 24 hours to study. "I used to study for four hours during exams and two hours during regular days. It is important to give your 100 per cent attention during the class teaching and that is enough to clear the concepts,” he said.

“It is an extremely proud moment for us. We are feeling on cloud nine. We motivate Abhimanyu by saying that if Narendra Modi after being a tea-seller can be the Prime Minister of the country, why cannot you achieve your goal? Good days have finally come for us,” said the parents of Abhimanyu Kalsotra candidly.

"I m feeling extremely happy and right now I do not have words to describe my feelings. I really worked hard for this. I want to be a computer engineer," said Jaspreet Kour, student of St Peter’s School, who has bagged the sixth position with 97.40 per cent marks.

"We have bagged the first position along with seven others. I congratulate to all students, parents and teachers for their hard work .It is a satisfying result for all of us ’, said Rev Fr Stalin Raj, principal of St Peter’s School.

Meanwhile, Shiksha Niketan Higher Secondary School, Jammu, have also shown a marvellous success with 18 positions, 172 distinctions and 35 first divisions. Pass percentage is 100 per cent. Students said they were able to pass with flying colours due to the dedication and hard work they put in their studies along with efforts of their teachers and parents.

Anantnag, May 20
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti has expressed hope that Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi will not only initiate dialogue for the resolution of the Kashmir issue but also work for friendly ties with Pakistan.

She was talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of her party's victory rally at Dak Bungalow here today.

"Vajpayee had initiated dialogue process with Pakistan and the Congress took that forward to a certain extent," said Mehbooba, adding she hoped that Modi would build on to that process initiated by the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"Modi reiterated in his speech made in Jammu that he will take forward Vajpayee's legacy. We hope that he delivers what he has promised," said Mehbooba.

"We hope that he (Modi) works for the resolution of Kashmir issue and makes ties with Pakistan friendlier," she added.

This was the first public rally held by the PDP in south Kashmir after a thumping win on all three parliamentary seats in the Kashmir region.

Mehbooba managed to defeat her closest competitor and outgoing parliamentarian Mehboob Beg with a margin of over 65,000 votes.

Terming the victory as a mandate by the people of Kashmir, Mehbooba said the people had reposed their faith in her party.

“The way people have voted for a change, our party is going to get a majority in the upcoming Assembly elections," said Mehbooba.

She said the people of Kashmir had high hopes with her party. She criticised the ruling National Conference (NC) for using government machinery to enforce a boycott.

"They are exploiting the youth to meet political ends. First they use them for a boycott and then get them arrested putting their future at stake," said Mehbooba.

Srinagar, May 20
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the moderate faction of separatist Hurriyat Conference, has been placed under detention at his residence in the city here, his party today said.

The separatist leader was detained a day ahead of his father Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq and another separatist leader Abdul Gani Lone’s assassination anniversary that was scheduled to be observed with a rally in the city here.

“The police today placed Mirwaiz under house arrest. He was scheduled to address a gathering at Jamia Masjid in view of Hafta-e-Shuhda (Martyrs’ Week),” said Shahid-ul-Islam, media adviser to the moderate Hurriyat Conference.

The moderate separatist amalgam had called for a shutdown in the region on May 21 and had also scheduled a commemorative rally at the city’s Eidgah ground, where the two slain leaders were buried.

Mirwaiz’s father, who was also a Mirwaiz (the chief preacher), was killed in 1990 by militants who barged into his residence and shot him dead. Lone, another key separatist leader who once headed the united Hurriyat Conference, was assassinated on May 21 in 2002 at a similar commemoration rally as is scheduled for tomorrow.

The separatist group said several of its other leaders had also been taken into preventive custody. The police did not issue any statement about the detention.

Udhampur, May 20
An Indian Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) jawan was killed in an accidental shooting at the Chak Morh here while he was cleaning his service weapon, the police said.

The slain Indian Tibetan Border Police jawan has been identified as constable Rakesh Kumar of the 15 Battalion of the Indian Tibetan Border Police.

The incident occurred when Kumar was cleaning his service pistol and trigger was pressed accidentally, the police said.

He was rushed to District Hospital, Udhampur, where doctors declared him brought dead.

The police have registered a case in this regard and have started further investigations.

Srinagar, May 20
Hundreds of people on Tuesday attended the funeral of the slain Kashmiri Army soldier who was killed in an encounter in central Kashmir’s Budgam district on Monday.

Three other soldiers were also injured in a gunfight at Kausar-mulla village of Budgam district, nearly 25 km from here, on Monday afternoon. A group of four top militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), including commander of the outfit in Kashmir Mohammad Qasim, managed to give the Army the slip after the encounter.

The body of slain solider Mushtaq Mir, a resident of Qaiser Mohalla Chadroo, was laid to rest at his native village. Mir was a sepoy with 162 battalion of the Territorial Army and was currently attached to the 53 Rashtriya Rifles, the unit which carried out the operation on Monday along with the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the J&K Police. Hundreds of local residents and relatives of the slain soldier assembled in his native village and attended the funeral.

This was a clear departure from the norm as mourning the death of an Indian Army soldier is a rare occurrence in the Valley. Mir had joined the Army almost eight years ago and was on leave when he got a call on Monday from his unit to resume duty immediately. Mir is survived by his wife and two children.

Meanwhile, the security forces said the militants managed to escape from the hilly village when a cordon was being laid in the area.

“Militants opened indiscriminate firing when the cordon was being laid in the area,” said a senior security official. The search operation was called off on Monday, but a tight vigil is being maintained in the area, he added.

Jammu, May 20
In 2014, it seems, the Army has perhaps set a new precedent in Jammu and Kashmir of forgetting to pay proper last respects, at least in case of a soldier, who made supreme sacrifice in the line of duty in the Akhnoor sector on Sunday.

The case in point here was of Sepoy Bhikale Uttam Balu of the 2 Maratha Light Infantry, who sacrificed his life in the line of duty on May 18 at Jogwan forward area along the Line of Control (LoC) in Akhnoor sub-division of Jammu.

The soldier died around 11 am on May 18 and his body was flown to Military Hospital, Udhampur.

Though the GOC, 16 Corps, Lt Gen KH Singh offered his deepest condolences to the family of Sepoy Bhikale, who is survived by his wife and a daughter, no wreath laying ceremony was held anywhere in Jammu in honour of the slain soldier, except at his unit by his fellow soldiers.

Hitherto the media houses in the state had been swiftly getting bulletins and photographs of wreath laying ceremony of martyred soldiers from the Defence Ministry offices here but in case of this soldier nothing of this sort happened.

When contacted a Defence spokesperson said the body of the martyred soldier was flown from the Technical Airport in Jammu around 3.40 pm to his native place in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, yesterday.

“The wreath laying ceremony and the last respects with full military honours would be paid to the soldier at his native place,” said the spokesperson.

However, a reliable source divulged that a wreath laying ceremony was held at the unit level of 2 Maratha Light Infantry in Khour (Keri) area in Akhnoor by Bhikale’s fellow soldiers.

“A wreath-laying ceremony was neither held at the 10 Infantry Division (Crossed Swords Division) in Akhnoor nor at the Northern Command Headquarters in Udhampur and at the Technical Airport in Jammu, which otherwise is a standard practice in case of martyred soldiers,” the source said.

Meanwhile, following The Tribune queries, a late evening bulletin issued around 8.20 pm last evening by Defence Ministry spokesperson read: “The mortal remains of this brave soldier were dispatched with full military honours to his native village in Kolhapur in Maharashtra.”

“Before he began his final journey, he was honoured in a small ceremony in his battalion by his fellow soldiers. Wreaths were also laid on behalf of General Officer Commanding, White Knight Corps, and other senior officers to commemorate his sacrifice,” the statement read.

Srinagar, May 20
The J&K Bank today announced a major reduction in interest rates charged on loans to the business community. The decision was taken in the backdrop of the demand of Valley-based traders' bodies that had been urging the bank to charge "fair" lending rates especially in view of the losses suffered by them during turmoil post the eruption of militancy in the state.

J&K Bank chairman Mushtaq Ahmad said the bank had conducted an exercise following which they decided to reduce the interest rates for loans taken by the businessmen ranging between 25 basis points and 1 per cent.

He announced this during a meeting held with the Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA), an amalgam of various traders' bodies, at the SKICC on the banks of the Dal Lake.

The bank chairman said they had taken several steps for the development of the business community and that they were clearing business proposals within a period of one month only. For the benefit of the artisans' community, he said the bank would be dedicating special staff to look after the process of providing loans to them.

Mohammad Yasin Khan, chairman of the KEA, which had been pleading for reduction in interest rates, said they wanted that J&K Bank should grow, but at the same time the local business community too should get benefits.

KEA chief spokesman Siraj Ahmad welcomed the bank decision and described it as their major achievement.

Meanwhile, the J&K Bank chairman said they would take tough measures against loan defaulters.

Regarding various grievances of the businessmen, he said they should contact its helpline in case they were facing problems.

Highlighting the achievements of the bank, he said they had around 750 ATMs across the state right now and its branches would increase from 800 to 1,000 soon.

Pahalgam, May 20
This flagship meadow resort in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district is fast turning into an ugly assemblage of urban structures.

The mushrooming growth of hotels and guesthouses at the resort has also affected the water quality of the Lidder river, considered to be the lifeline of the meadow resort.

Waste littered along the riverbed

The overwhelming air of serenity on the way to Pahalgam, which passes through calm villages nestled along the river, gets vanished into a stench of dung once the resort’s main bazaar is reached.

The unwarranted and unplanned growth of commercial establishments, including hotels, most of which have come up without any checks and balances during the past decade or so has turned this resort into any other urban stopover, blocking the view to anything and everything that can be clubbed as nature.

With the number of hotels and guesthouses in the area crossing the 370 mark, the sanitation at Pahalgam is awful as garbage is dumped on the slopes of the resort and some hotel staff even washing the bed sheets and towels on the river.

A ban on the construction “within the 200-metre radius” on each side of the Lidder river has not helped in retrieving the now-scarred landscape of the meadow as most of the existing structures have been built in stark violation of this rule.

At Movra, on Pahalgam’s outskirts, where the rafting point is located, newly constructed hotels and guesthouses have come up along the edge of the river bank.

The Pahalgam Development Authority is even constructing its own Sewage Treatment Plant within a 20-metre radius of the river, at the entrance of the meadow resort, which officials said was not impacted by the court guidelines as the ban had “no retrospective effect”.

The danger, however, is that an immense amount of waste and sewage has been dumped into the gushing Lidder river, one of the main tributaries of the Jhelum river.

The authorities, which woke up to the issue of dumping of sewage in the Lidder river only after the High Court issued orders to seal the hotels which fail to install Sewage Treatment Plants last year, are themselves dumping tons of trash on the outskirts of the meadow in “unscientific ways”.

“We have a garbage disposal landfill site at Sarbal (on the outskirts of Pahalgam bowl). It is not yet scientifically managed,” an official of the Pahalgam Development Authority told The Tribune.

“Whatever garbage is generated, it is dumped there,” the official said.?

As per the data provided by the Municipal Corporation, Pahalgam, 561.86 metric ton of solid waste is generated at the resort every month, out of which 412.5 metric ton is generated by hotels and restaurants.

“It is surprising to note that one-fourth of the hotels practise open littering of waste, either along roadside or outside their premises,” noted an official document.

A study by the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Kashmir has found that the water quality of the Lidder has deteriorated with the increased tourist inflow and maximal agricultural and horticultural activity in the Pahalgam area during summer months.

“The huge quantity of garbage, in dispersed form, is being disposed of around these areas and finally finds its way into the Lidder river,” the study said and warned of an increase of chemicals in its content, which was changing the ecology of the river.

The study concluded that “heavy sewage ingress” into the Lidder, from hotels, commercial places and residential areas, was also responsible for the deteriorating water quality of the river.

Despite the High Court order, a recent report by the Pollution Control Board said 55 B-class hotels, which have 19 or less bed capacity, were operating without its consent.

“We are doing a regular monitoring on weekly basis, those hotels which are found violating the norms are being sealed or their commercial operations suspended,” said the Regional Director of the Pollution Control Board.

The Master Plan Pahalgam-2025, which was formulated in 2005, has been found “at fault on many grounds” and has basic planning errors, poor implementation and lack of enforcement, an official document revealed.

“It lacked in unbiased vision and sensitivity among town planners otherwise required for such a fragile area,” it suggested.

Serenity lost

• 561.86 metric tonne of solid waste is generated at the resort every month. Out of this, 412.5 metric tonne is generated by hotels and restaurants
• Water quality of the Lidder has deteriorated with the increased tourist inflow and a heightened agricultural and horticultural activity in the Pahalgam area during summer months, says study
• Master Plan Pahalgam-2025 has been found at fault on many grounds and has basic planning errors, poor implementation and lack of enforcement.

Kupwara, May 20
Residents of Kuligam village in the Lolab valley of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district today protested against the Public Heath Engineering (PHE) Department over the supply of potable water.

The angry villagers, including women and children, blocked the Kupwara-Lolab road for about four hours.

The protesters alleged that at least 200 people from the village were suffering from typhoid due to consumption of contaminated water in the absence of proper supply.

“About 200 men, women and children have taken ill due to consumption of contaminated water from a well — the only source of water in the village. We made several representations to the authorities concerned to provide water supply to the village, but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears,” said Mohammad Shafi Ahmad Wani.

“We will be forced to intensify protests, if the PHE does not ensure water supply to the village before Friday,” he said.

The protesters beating pitchers sat on the road and raised slogans against the district administration.

Due to incessant rain during the past one month, the water in the well has become contaminated, said Abdul Hamid Khan.

PHE officials rushed to the spot and assured protesters that their problem would be addressed at the earliest.

Assistant Executive Engineer, PHE, Abdul Majeed said tanker service would be provided to the village till the department makes arrangements for the routine supply.

Srinagar, May 20
The 85 km-long Bandipore-Gurez road was thrown open to vehicular traffic after remaining closed for the winter months due to accumulation of heavy snow on the Rajdhan Pass.

The Gurez area, along the Line of Control (LoC), like the Ladakh region, remains cut off from the rest of the world due to the accumulation of snow on the high peaks through which these roads pass.

The General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lt Gen Gurmit Singh, formally opened the road at the Rajdhan Pass, 42 km from the district headquarters of Bandipore.

Brig RK Sharma, Chief Engineer of the Beacon Project of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), and other senior officials of the civil and police administration were also present.

Speaking on the occasion, Lt Gen Gurmit Singh appreciated the role of the men and machinery of the Beacon Project in snow clearance on the Rajdhan Pass in a record time. The road was under deep snow as the Himalayan ranges witnessed a heavy snow last winter making it difficult for the Beacon machinery to restore the road communication.

On May 17, the strategic 434 km-long Srinagar-Leh road was also thrown open to traffic after the winter months.

Srinagar, May 20
In a clear rebuff to separatists, panchayat members in J&K have decided not to resign from their posts.

Kashmiri separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Yasin Malik and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had recently suggested to sarpanches and panches that they should resign from their posts after a group of panchayat members met them in the wake of militant attacks on them.

“We held daylong deliberations over the issue today and we have decided not to submit the resignations,” chairman of the J&K Panchayat Conference Shafiq Mir told The Tribune. “Those asking for our resignation have no moral grounds to do so as people have reposed faith in us and elected us during the historic elections in 2011,” he added.

The Panchayat Conference — an umbrella organisation of over 33,000 panches and sarpanches — claims to be fighting for the empowerment of panchayats.

Jammu, May 20
Chief Education Officer (CEO) Tarsem Lal today attached two employees of the Zonal Education Office, Satwari, to his office and ordered the withholding of salaries of over half a dozen absentee teachers during the inspection of schools in the Satwari and Miran Sahib zones.

The Chief Education Officer along with Rajesh Kumar, in charge RET, inspected the zonal education offices of the two zones, besides Middle School, Satwari Cantonment, Primary School, Satwari, Primary School, Gadhi Garh, High School (Boys), Brij Nagar, Middle School, Nand Pur, Miran Sahib, Primary School, Moralian, and Middle School, Moralian.

At the Zonal Education Office, Satwari, Tarsem Lal attached NA Quershi, master, and Narian Baru, teacher, to the CEO's office after finding that the two employees working in the office for the last eight years were not marking attendance in the office.

They have been attached till detailed inquiry is completed.

He also asked the ZEO to withhold the salaries of the ZEPO, Satwari, and three senior assistants who were found absent, till further order.

The ZEO was also directed to explain why the punctuality register of the office had not been maintained properly and submit a report within three days in this regard.

At Zonal Education Office, Miran Sahib, the CEO ordered the withholding of salaries of the two officials found absent. Similarly, the salaries of one each absentee teacher of Primary School, Satwari, and Primary School, Gadhi Garh, were withheld till inquiry.

Jammu, May 20
The University of Jammu today launched online application forms for the Jammu University Entrance Test (JUET)-2014.

Launching the online facility, Prof Mohan Paul Singh Ishar, Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu, said, "From the current academic year, the students appearing for the JUET for admission to various academic programmes on the main campus, off-site campuses, and affiliated colleges of the university have to fill online application form for the entrance test."

He said the online system would help students and they could easily fill the form. Prof Ishar complimented Guneet Singh Sudan, in charge, Centre for IT-enabled Services and Management, and his staff for developing the solution.

Meanwhile, the sale of brochures at designated counters and filling of online application forms commenced today.

The candidates have to fill the online application form at their own by logging on to the university website after purchasing the brochure from the designated counters. Students can fill online application forms without late fee upto June 3 and with late fee till June 6.

The JUET-2014 will be conducted from June 20 to June 25 at four different test centres across the state. The result of JUET-2014 will be declared on July 4.

Srinagar, May 20
Central University of Kashmir (CUK) Chancellor Srikumar Banerjee today underscored the need to introduce programmes in the university which would have greater employability in the market.

Interacting with the faculty and students of the university at its Zainakote academic block, he focused on entrepreneurial skill development and asked the faculty to put in their best efforts to educate and train students so that they could compete with their counterparts globally.

The Chancellor asked the Deans of Schools to tie up with top-notch educational institutions, including IIMs and IITs, in the country so that the students could get exposure in their respective academic disciplines. He further stressed for establishing linkages with the corporate sector across the country for internship training and placement of the students.

During the deliberations, the Chancellor emphasised upon the assessment and accreditation of the university by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).

"This shall be a process starting from assessment at the internal level to ascertain the strengths and weaknesses in order to obtain appreciable ranking," he added. He further said the performance of the CUK would be in accordance with the international standards, besides the parameters set by the National Accrediting Agencies.

Officiating Vice Chancellor Mehraj-ud-Din said the university had taken up the process of NAAC accreditation on top priority and in this regard a committee had been constituted to prepare the self-study report. He said the work on pre-engineered structures at Ganderbal would be taken up soon, enabling the university to start academic functioning on its designated campus.

Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah were earlier briefed about the master plan of the university approved by the EC, the highest body of the university, during interaction of the Chancellor with them, he added.

Registrar Mohammad Afzal Zargar said, "The university puts in sustained efforts to meet the targets within a set schedule."

Welcoming the Chancellor, a detailed report about various initiatives taken up by the university during last year was presented by the registrar.

Banerjee distributed certificates among the students who had participated in the blood donation camp organised by the university last year.

Srinagar, May 20
Sri Kumar Banerjee, noted nuclear scientist and Chancellor of the Central University of Kashmir met Governor NN Vohra here today and briefed him about the to-date status of infrastructural development of the varsity in Ganderbal district.

The Governor, who is also the Chancellor of the Central University Jammu, apprised Banerjee of the present position regarding the growth of varsity’s campus at Bagla village in Samba district.

The Chancellors exchanged their views and experiences about the difficulties arising from the scarcity of experienced and qualified teachers and also discussed larger issues relating to the purposeful advancement of higher education in Jammu and Kashmir.

For ensuring rapid and balanced growth of both the Central varsity campuses, the Chancellors agreed that it would be profitable for having regular interactions between the two Vice Chancellors, besides participation in each others’ executive committees for securing mutually beneficial convergences.

Srinagar, May 20
The Islamic University of Science and Technology, Awantipora, organised one-day seminar on the latest trends in information technology on its campus here today.

Minister of State for Information Technology, Science and Technology Feroz Ahmad Khan was the chief guest on the occasion.

Vice Chancellor, Islamic University of Science & Technology, AR Trag and Director, National Institute of Technology, Srinagar, Rajat Gupta were the guests of honour.

The minister, in his address, stated that the state had established state data centres to ensure implementation of the security standards towards the safety of applications and data store in the data centre.

He said various policies were being implemented to safeguard integrity and safety of information of various departments.

Feroz said the Information Technology Department had extended security by having network operation centres and information security personnel.

Jammu, May 20
As many as 14 persons received serious injuries when the bus they were travelling in overturned this morning.

The bus, bearing registration number JK 02 W-5231, was on its way to Bilamwar from Katra and when it reached near Majalta, the driver of the bus, Mahadev Singh, resident of Panthal, Katra, lost his control over the vehicle and the bus overturned.

As many as 14 persons were injured, out of which seven were shifted to Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu, and two reffered to Udhampur.

The police have impounded the vehicle and registered a case under Sections 279 and 337 of the RPC at the Majalta police station.

Udhampur, May 20
One person has been killed and 17 others injured in two road accidents here.

A motorcyclist was crushed to death by a truck on the Dhar road late last night, the police said here today. The deceased has been identified as Ashish Gupta, a shopkeeper, from Sattani, Udhampur.

In another incident, 17 persons were injured when a bus in which they were traveling skidded off the road and turned turtle near the Baryalta Morh in Majalta .

Seventeen people were injured, seven of them seriously, when a bus on its way to Billawer from Katra skidded off the road at Baryalta, the police said.

Soon after the accident, the police team from Majalta police station launched a rescue operation and shifted all the injured to public health centre at Majalta where from two were referred to Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu. Seven of the remaining injured were shifted to District Hospital, Udhampur, it added.

Doda, May 20
A machine operator with L&T died after the machine he was working on overturned in the Drabshala area of Kishtwar district today.

The operator was busy clearing a link road in the area when the incident happened, the police said. The deceased has been identified as Sajjad Ahmed of Gandoh. — OC

Jammu, May 20
The All Jammu Hotels and Lodges Association (AJHLA) has hailed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for a landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections and expressed hope that the new government would complete the pending projects in the Jammu region.

Members of the All Jammu Hotels and Lodges Association, in a meeting here today under the chairmanship of its president Inderjeet Khajuria, have, however, expressed concern that the two BJP MPs elected from the Jammu region have won elections in the name of Narendra Modi and not on account of their own popularity.

The association has urged upon the BJP MPs to take up the issue of the slow pace of work on tourism-related projects in Jammu, which has affected the sector badly, with the Union government.

“The coming up of an artificial lake in Jammu and installation of a sewerage disposal plant to spare the Tawi from being polluted city by the refuse and night soil being flown into it are held up for want of funds. The two MPs should ask the Union government to provide enough fundssoon for this purpose,” Khajuria said.

"The cable car project between Peer Kho and Bahu Fort has still not been taken up, even after the foundation stone lying ceremonially held a few months ago. Further, the project of modernisation and uplift of the general bus stand in Jammu is still nowhere in site," he said.

Jammu, May 20
A veterans’ rally was organised at Kiari in Leh district yesterday by the Trishul Division of the Fire and Fury Corps of the Army.

A Defence spokesperson here said over 70 veterans and four Veer Naris from the Kiari sub-division participated in the rally.

The rally was attended by civilian and military officials from various departments which deal with the issues of veterans and zila sainik welfare officer from Leh, he added.

They attended the event and interacted with veterans and Veer Naris.

The rally was organised with the aim of addressing issues pertaining to veterans and Veer Naris.

The spokesperson said as part of the rally, a military camp with surgical, dental, ENT and lab facilities was organised. The rally was conducted with the aim to ensure that the veterans and their families were looked after and their basic requirements were met.

The veterans and the Veer Naris thanked the Army authorities for conducting the rally.