Jammu, May 23
Many of the state government departments have failed to update their official websites for the past several months, which creates confusion among the internet users.

The official website of the Traffic Police, Jammu, Roads and Buildings (R&B) Department, Tourism Department and many others have not been updated for several months and some of them for more than a year. One has to wait for about 15 minutes to let computer open the website of the Tourism Department.

The official website of the Traffic Police has not been updated for more than a year. The data about accidents in the state is available till 2012 on the website and even after two days of taking charge as the DGP by K Rajendra, the official website of the Jammu and Kashmir Police shows Ashok Prasad as the DGP.

The website of the Director, Tourism, takes more than 15 minutes to open, but there is nothing more than beautiful pictures on the website. Even the names and mobile numbers of the officials are not available on the website.

Moreover, the Public Works Department (Roads and Buildings) has not updated the names and contact numbers of its officials on its website. Sheikh Abdul Hamid took charge as Chief Engineer PWD(R&B) from Thaseen Mustafa in October, 2013, but on the official website the name and contact number of Thaseen Mustafa still exists.

Rita Koul, Under Secretary, IT Department, Jammu and Kashmir, said, “We create the websites, but every department has its own IT expert, who has to update day-to-day SROs, notices and other developments in the department.”

Jammu, May 23
Nirvana Academy, a cultural organisation, organised a mesmerising Dogri folk music programme, "Duggar Rang", at KL Saigal Hall today.

Krishan Lal Verma, famous tabla player, was the chief guest, while Vikrant Dogra, vice-president of the Federation of Indian Blood Donors, was the special guest.

Nirvana Academy president Hitesh Badyal started the programme with a condolence speech to mourn the death of legendary Dogri folk singer Pradhuman Singh Jindrahia. An honorary member of the Nirvana Academy, a prolific poet and folk singer, Jindrahia has 10 books to his credit comprising Dogri songs, bhajans and folk songs.

Introducing the artistes to the jam-packed audience, Badyal took pride in showcasing the most outstanding young singers of the state who have made their name in the music world with their sheer capability and hard work.

Ten singing sensations of the state - Kuldeep Kumar, Victor, Arti, Asha, Amit Bhawra, Ankit, Pranav, Ruchi, Riya and Nikhil - featured in the programme of Dogri folk music. Haripriya and Kunwar - two child artistes of the state - also enthralled the audience with their melodious voice.

The programme started with a bhajan, written by Praduman Singh Jindrahia. Kuldeep Kumar sung "Tus ge jaani jaan prahu ji" and paid tribute to legendary folk singer Jindrahia. Kuldeep Kumar a classical trained singer brought the flavour of the Dogri music in his singing and transported audience to Duggar culture through his mesmerising folk songs.

Jammu, May 23
The Sir Syed Memorial Society of Surankote organised a dental check-up camp at Louis Braille Memorial Residential School.

A team of doctors, consisting of Dr Zahib Ahmad Sudhan, Registrar, and Dr RN Sharma, Chief Dentist, from Indra Gandhi Government Dental College, Jammu, examined about 40 visually impaired boys and girls.

Tooth brushes and pastes were distributed among students by Syed Shahzada Bano, chairperson of the Sir Syed Memorial Society.

Jammu, May 23
The CRPF is expected to deploy about 6,500 men for this year’s annual Amarnath pilgrimage.

The 44-day pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine nestled in the south Kashmir Himalayas at a height of 14,500 feet is scheduled to begin from June 28 and conclude on August 10.

Apart from the CRPF, the pilgrimage is protected and facilitated by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, BSF and the Army. All these forces form part of the multi-tier security grid. “This year there is a proposal to deploy around 65 companies of the CRPF from Jammu to the cave shrine, including the twin routes of Baltal and Pahalgam,” said a senior CRPF officer.

He said that last year the CRPF had deployed 60 companies. “However, this year the figure is likely to be increased from 60 companies to 65 companies,” he said.

The officer said 12 companies, including a couple of women companies, are likely to be deployed in the Jammu region while 53 companies, including two companies of women constables, are likely to be deployed in Kashmir, including the twin routes that lead to the cave shrine and the shrine area.

One company on an average has 80 to 100 personnel.

The officer said the cave shrine area again was likely to be guarded by the highly motivated and well trained team of 10 CRPF commandos equipped with Israeli X-95 guns.

“The upper reaches of the cave area is guarded by the Army while our commandos remain in the cave area to have a foolproof security grid,” he said.

The Yatri Niwas base camp here on the banks of the Tawi would be guarded by 500 CRPF personnel.

Srinagar, May 23
The work on the 12-kilometre road close to the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Uri sector has stopped after the Pakistan army objected to it. The Indian Army, however, claims to have sorted out the issue with its Pakistan army.

The Baramulla-based General Officer Commanding of the 19 Infantry Division, Major General Anil Chauhan, said the Army had taken up the issue of the road construction with the Pakistan army through the hotline at Kaman Uri.

“Initially, Pakistani was reluctant to allow the construction work. But we told them that the road is not for any military purpose but is meant for the inhabitants of villages in the area close to the LoC. They have now conveyed that they have no objection to the road construction. We have also informed the civil authorities about the same and it is now up to the civil authorities to decide when to resume the work,” Major General Chauhan told The Tribune.

The construction work on the single lane road from Saidpora village to Hathlanga village, close to the LoC in the Uri sector and 100 km from here, was being carried out under the Centre-sponsored Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). The work was halted last week after the Pakistan army objected to it.

It is for the second time in the past seven months that the Pakistan army has objected to construction work close to the LoC in Kashmir. In October last year, work on a school building close to the LoC in Kupwara district was stopped after the Pakistan army objected to it. The work was, however, resumed after a fortnight. Sources said the work on the Hathlanga road was going on since last year. When the work on the final 2 km was being carried out last week, Pakistan made announcements on the microphone that the work should be stopped.

Srinagar, May 23
All India Congress Committee general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad and JK Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Saifuddin Soz today met Congress leaders and discussed the reasons for the debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections at a meeting here today.

Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir and others attended the meeting.

The meeting was held for obtaining inputs from the ministers on how to improve performance and promote interests of the Congress in the state, the party spokesperson said.

They discussed many issues related to rejuvenating the Congress in the state, improving coordination between the Council of Ministers and the party and other subjects related to rendering services to the people.

The two leaders urged the ministers to recognise important issues for the Cabinet meeting, which is scheduled to be held in few days.

Ghulam Nabi Azad lost to Jitender Singh (BJP) and Arshad Malik (PDP) from the Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency. 

Jammu, May 23
An aeroplane, initially believed to be from Pakistan on a reconnaissance mission, allegedly violated the Indian airspace in the Suchetgarh area of Jammu district near the Indo-Pak border this morning. However, the plane turned out to be an international flight of Thai Airways which had to “deviate from its track due to bad weather”.

The alleged violation happened in the high skies over the stretch between Suchetgarh and Abdulian in the RS Pura sector from 9.55 am to 9.57 am.

However, the Border Security Force and Defence Ministry spokesperson Lt Col Manish Mehta denied any air space violation.

Lt Col Mehta said, “Flights are deviating from their path to circumvent the weather. There was no intrusion or airspace violation.”

“The bad weather had compelled the commercial flight to take a diversion of 29 nautical miles from its pre-decided route. The flight had taken proper permission from the Airlines Reporting Corporation,” sources said.

There had been instances in the past when Pakistani flying machines had violated the Indian airspace along the international border.

Srinagar, May 23
Recording its displeasure over the pace of investigation into the MBBS paper scam case, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court today asked the crime branch to employ all the legal options available to secure the arrest of 17 absconders.

The HC also directed the trail court — special anti-corruption court — to submit the report of proceedings into the matter on fortnightly basis.

The directions were issued by the Division Bench of the High Court headed by Chief Justice MM Kumar, which is monitoring the investigation into the case.

The MBBS scam involves the sale of CET-2012 question papers by former Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE) chairman and prime accused Mushtaq Peer in lieu of Rs 60 lakh through his brokers.

“We record our displeasure with regard to the procedure followed by the investigation agency,” the Bench observed today as the matter came up before it.

“The investigating officer shall take all necessary steps in the form of availing the procedure which deals with attaching property of absconding accused, their bank account and their salary in order to ensure that they are subjected to criminal law of the state,” the Bench observed.

Out of the total of 46 accused persons charged in the case, 17 have been evading arrest and have subsequently been declared as proclaimed offenders by the court.

The special anti-corruption court here on May 7 had ordered for attaching the properties of seven accused persons.

Earlier on March 16, the trial court had declared 14 accused persons as the pro-claimed offenders, including the seven persons whose properties have been ordered to be attached.

“Their (absconders’) evil designs shall be defeated by equally galvanised steps to be taken by the investigation agency,” the High Court said, while directing the departments like Forest, Health, Education and PDD, where some of these absconders are serving, to ensure that disciplinary action in accordance with law is initiated against them.

“The status reports by various departments where these absconders are serving shall be filed thorough Drawing and Disbursing Officers…whether such officers were drawing salary from March 2014 till date so as to reveal whether they were present in (their respective) departments or not,” it observed.

The High Court in its orders also said it hopes and trusts that the investigation in the scam in respect of the Common Entrance Test (CET) conducted in the year 2009, 2010, and 2011 is carried out religiously and strictly in accordance with the provisions of law.

The High Court also asked the trail court to take the matter seriously and on priority basis by avoiding long adjournments and submit report of the proceedings to the Registrar Judicial every fortnight.

Srinagar, May 23
Governor NN Vohra has appreciated the role played by the Voluntary Health Association in sensitising the public about the deleterious effects of smoking and consumption of tobacco products.

He was speaking at the inaugural function of the “State-level orientation workshop for stakeholders on the implementation of National Tobacco Control Programme”, organised by the J&K Voluntary Health Association in collaboration with the International union against tuberculosis and lung diseases, at Nigeen Club, here today.

The Governor stressed the need for raising awareness about the consequences of smoking and consumption of tobacco and its products and collaborative efforts being made by all stakeholders, particularly Health, Education and Police Departments of the state, to deal with such harmful habits.

He urged Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, AG Mir and Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Farooq Ahmad Shah to launch a campaign for removing all hoardings and advertisements, which promote the sale of tobacco products, from the public places in the city.

The Governor also suggested the authorities concerned to involve volunteers from the State Red Cross Society and Boys Scouts and Girl Guides organisations in the campaign.

He said time-bound steps were needed by agencies concerned for the effective implementation of the National Tobacco Control Programme in the state.

He also released the translated version of “Health workers guide for tobacco control” in Urdu.

GQ Allaqaband, chairman, JK Voluntary Health Association (JKVHA); Bilquees Jameela, vice- chairperson, JKVHA; AM Mir, executive director, JKVHA; Saleem-Ur-Rehman, director, health services, Kashmir and AG Mir, IGP, Kashmir, spoke on the issues of creating awareness and monitoring strategies to control tobacco use in the state.

Ravinder Kumar, Technical Officer (Tobacco Control), Government of India, made a power point presentation to provide an overview of the National Tobacco Control Programme and the its implementation in the state. A documentary on the damaging effects of the tobacco use was screened at the function. 

Srinagar, May 23
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra arrived in Srinagar on a two-day visit today to review the security situation in Kashmir.

The Army Commander on his arrival was received by Srinagar-based Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen Gurmit Singh and was briefed on the current operational situation on the Line of Control (LoC) and internal security environment prevailing in the hinterland, a Defence spokesperson said.

He lauded the efforts of the Chinar Corps in providing environmental security during recently held elections, the spokesperson said.

The General Chachra also complimented the Chinar Warriors for their professionalism, steadfastness and dedication and wished them operational success in future, the spokesman said.

During his visit, he would also be visiting the LC formations and troops deployed in the forward areas, and interact with the officers and troops. Lieutenant General Chachra is also scheduled to call on Governor NN Vohra.

Earlier, he called on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and discussed the prevailing security situation and the measures undertaken by the Army towards sustained peace in the Valley.

Srinagar, May 23
The Army and the police, in a joint operation, today recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition from two militant hideouts in the north Kashmir.

Acting on a specific input, the Army and the police busted a militant hideout in the Poshwani area of Pattan in Baramulla district and recovered arms and ammunition from there, the Army said.

“Security forces recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition, which included two AK 47 rifles along with three magazines and 79 rounds of ammunition, three rounds of RPG, one round of 51mm RPG, one UBGL, 13 rounds of UBGL, three IED circuit along with approximately 100 grams of explosive, four hand grenades and other equipment,” a Defence spokesperson said.

In another join operation, a hideout was busted in Okhapani forests in the Handwara area of frontier Kupwara district, the spokesperson said.

A large quantity of dry ration, cooking oil, condiments and other items required for construction of hideout were recovered, the spokesperson said. — TNS

Srinagar, May 23
The Jammu & Kashmir State Vigilance Organisation today registered a case against four education department officials and two others for alleged embezzlement of scholarship funds meant for students belonging to the Pahari and Gujjar and the Bakerwal communities in Kupwara district.

The case was registered after preliminary inquiry revealed that the scholarship money to the tune of lakhs was withdrawn fraudulently in the Vilgam zone of Kupwara district during 2009-11, a vigilance spokesman said.

The accused are the then Zonal Education Officer of Vilgam, Mohammad Syed Shah; Zonal Education Planning Officer Mohi-ud-Din Wani, member the State Advisory Board for Development of Pahari-Speaking People Abdul Majid Zindadil, and headmaster of Vilgam and in charge of scholarship Sonaullah. Shah and Wani allegedly hatched a conspiracy with Zindadil and Sonaullah to prepare fake and forged lists of Pahari and Gujjar and Bakerwal students, and showed disbursement of Rs 6.27 lakh as scholarship in the 2009-10.

Similarly in 2010-11, Wani allegedly exaggerated the lists of such students submitted by the schools concerned by incorporating names of non-existing beneficiaries. The list was then authenticated by the then Zonal Education Officer of Vilgam, Ali Mohammad Dar.

"The officers, along with member of the Gujjar and Bakerwal Advertisement Board of Kupwara Mohammad Yaseen Badana, have shown disbursement of Rs 12.10 lakh as per the fictitious acquaintance/disbursement register," the spokesman said.

"Verification revealed that the officials increased the number of Pahari and Gujjar and Bakerwal students to 1,984 against 996, thereby causing a huge loss to the state exchequer," he said. — PTI

Jammu, May 23
The 14th J&K State Sport Climbing Championship will be organised by the Mountaineering Association of J&K in collaboration with Sprawling Buds School, Lakshmi Puram, Chinore, Jammu, from May 29 to 30.

About 200 climbers from various districts of the state, including Jammu, Anantnag, Srinagar and Budgam, will vie for top honours in the two-day long competition.

The competitions will be conducted on the pre-fabricated 40 ft-high Tenzing Norgay Sport Climbing Wall on the Sprawling Buds School premises in six categories of men and women (born in 1997 and earlier), boys and girls (born in 1998, 1999 and 2000) and sub-junior boys and girls (born in 2001 and after).

Whereas men, women, boys and girls will compete both in lead climbing and speed climbing, the sub-junior boys and girls will participate in lead climbing only.

Interested climbers should contact the office of the Mountaineering Association of J&K at 75-76, Sarwal Colony, Jammu, or contact Ram Khajuria on mobile number 94191-96378.

National and zonal medal winners as well as reigning state champions in all the categories are exempted from registration fee