Srinagar, May 26
With Narendra Modi taking oath as the 15th Prime Minister, all eyes in Kashmir are on the bilateral meeting between him and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif scheduled for Tuesday.

Carrying a “message of peace”, Nawaz Sharif arrived in New Delhi on Monday afternoon to attend Narendra Modi’s swearing-in at Rashtrapati Bhawan in the evening. Sharif was scheduled to meet Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday.

The moderate Hurriyat faction hopes that the new government in Delhi takes serious and comprehensive steps with Pakistan and the people of Kashmir to pave the way for a resolution to the Kashmir issue.

“The Hurriyat hopes that the new government, while accepting the historical and political reality of the Kashmir issue, will initiate serious and comprehensive efforts to pave the way for its resolution in the future,” the moderate Hurriyat Conference headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said.

It hoped that these efforts would “result in an end to the miseries” of the Kashmiri people. It said the resolution of the Kashmir problem for friendly Indo-Pak relations and lasting peace in the region had become inevitable as this dispute had been the basic reason for sour relations between the two neighbours since 1947.

Terming the invite to Nawaz Sharif as a bold initiative of Narendra Modi, the Democratic Party of Nationalist headed by Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir said it hoped that the “settlement of the Kashmir issue would be a priority” of the new government.

“The heads of both countries have shown magnanimity to come close to each other. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are immediate beneficiaries of friendship between India and Pakistan,” the party said.

It termed the invite to SAARC heads, including Nawaz Sharif, for the swearing-in as an example of good diplomacy. “The meeting will bring confidence among the two nations to take initiatives to resolve peacefully all issues, including Kashmir,” it added.

“The Bar feels that it is high time for India to fulfil its promise and assurance extended to the people of Kashmir by its leaders from time to time and devise a workable mechanism on the basis of Security Council resolutions to solve the Kashmir issue,” the Bar said after a meeting of its executive body.

The Bar said it would write to heads of SAARC member countries who had been invited to New Delhi to “put pressure on India to grant the right of self-determination to the people of Kashmir in accordance with Security Council resolutions”. 

Srinagar, May 26
The Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA), an amalgam of Valley’s businessmen and industrialists, today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Gujarat development model may not help bring back economic stability to debt-ridden J&K unless political issues are addressed.

KEA chairperson Muhammad Yasin Khan said unlike in other states, J&K’s economy was hugely impacted by political instability.

He said over the past many years, corporate giants which have been investing heavily in the private sector elsewhere in the country, were hesitant in investing in Jammu and Kashmir due to political turmoil and violence.

“Economy is tied to political situation and, therefore, normalisation of the situation is a key to economic progress. Two years back when Rahul Gandhi brought with him Indian corporate tycoons such as Ratan Tata, Aditya Birla and Azim Premji (to the state), they expressed the apprehension of investing in the Valley due to political crisis. We have not seen any major growth in economy due to the turmoil despite tax concessions and other packages,” Khan said.

Imad Shafi, a Ph.D scholar in economics and marketing at the University of Kashmir, believes that a relatively non-existent private sector in the state is responsible for the economic backwardness of the state.

“For the last two decades, people have been relying on the government sector. Even the state government has expressed its inability to adjust the burgeoning number of unemployed educated youth in the government sector. The same was proved by scrapping of the flawed recruitment policy by the state government recently. New avenues can be only found in the private sector where investment from the Indian corporate is a must,” Imad said.

Srinagar, May 26
As hopes of displaced Kashmiri Pandits’ return to the Valley have been rekindled with the formation of the new government at the Centre, many among the community, who never left Kashmir after the eruption of militancy in 1990, too have some expectations from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, there some who have no hopes at all.

The non-migrant Pandits, who were credited with having kept the “nationalism alive” as they preferred to stay back in Kashmir when most of their counterparts left the Valley, say their rehabilitation was “imperative” to the return of displaced community members.

“The new government has to think about us first. When we will be rehabilitated, only then others can return. The previous Central Government and the present state government completely neglected us during the last five years,” said Hindu Welfare Society Kashmir (HWSK) spokesman Chunni Lal.

“How can Pandits from outside the Valley return when they see our sorry plight?” Chunni Lal asked.

Despite promises, Chunni Lal said, the government had failed to suitably rehabilitate them and packages announced for the non-migrant Pandit community, especially related to unemployed youth, had come a cropper.

“For the last 25 years, 51 internally displaced families are living in miserable condition, leaving their ancestral places and settling down at rented accommodations at different places. The government only makes tall promises and announces packages of rehabilitation and employment, but utterly fails when it comes to implementation,” he said.

While non-migrants like Chunni Lal have some expectations that the new government at the Centre would address their issues, others have got no hope at all.

Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) president Sanjay Tickoo said they had “no hopes” from the new government.

He said the successive governments at the Centre led by both the UPA and the NDA had failed to address their issues and only made promises.

“We have got no hopes. We had even met (former prime minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayee a couple of times and then we were lauded for keeping nationalism alive. However, the government had only been concerned about the issues of return of migrants and (rehabilitation of) militants,” Tickoo alleged.

As per the KPSS, 651 non-migrant families were currently living in the Valley.

Srinagar, May 26
It was business as usual on the streets of Kashmir’s main city, Srinagar, as the clock struck 6 in the evening and Narendra Modi took oath as the 15th Prime Minister.

There was little enthusiasm and interest in the city about the oath-taking ceremony in New Delhi as shopkeepers attended to their shops and others rushed home on a busy evening.

The only buzz about Modi’s swearing-in was seen on social networking sites where Kashmiri netizens expressed mixed emotions, ranging from hope to fear.

“With love, hope and fear from Kashmir,” Irtif Lone, a Srinagar resident and an entrepreneur, signed off his letter to Modi.

The letter, published on an online portal, included a brief story when Lone was studying in Chattisgarh at the time of the Gujarat riots in 2002.

“I was a student then, studying in Chhattisgarh...the riots scared me so much that I went home, never to return,” he wrote.

The riots have remained etched in the memory of many Kashmiris, including former Union Minister Farooq Abdullah and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

The father-son duo, who lead the state’s ruling National Conference, extensively used anti-Modi diatribes during their election campaign.

For Lone and many others in Kashmir, the new ruling party, BJP, and the new prime minister lead to more apprehensions than a promise.

“There are expectations but with a tinge of cynicism. Modi’s history is something which cannot be forgotten, but I believe now the Indian government will be quite direct with respect to Kashmir. I believe there will be no doublespeak regarding Indian policies and programmes,” said Nauman Bedar, another Srinagar resident.

Bedar welcomed the invitation to SAARC leaders. “I hope the political aspiration of Kashmiris will be respected and counted in decision-making,” he said.

The BJP won negligible 1.36 per cent votes in Kashmir’s three constituencies.

Many Kashmiris see former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who took an unprecedented leap and initiated peace talks with Pakistan to solve the Kashmir issue, as an exceptional BJP leader. They have, however, little confidence about Modi following a similar path. 

Jammu, May 26
The displaced Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) today said the return of KPs to the Kashmir valley was purely a “political issue” and it should to be dealt with politically. They expressed hope that the new government at the Centre would initiate measures to ameliorate their sufferings.

“We welcome the new government at the Centre and congratulate the new Cabinet led by Narendra Modi. We hope that the new government will take into consideration the plight of the displaced KP community,” a representative the Joint Forum of KP Organisations told reporters here.

Members said there was no gainsaying that the previous governments had done little in addressing the “humanitarian and political” issues concerning the community. “We sincerely hope and believe that the new government will generate a positive atmosphere and also to open new vistas for the displaced minority community of Kashmir,” they said.

They said the KP community had been the “victim of the fundamentalist and terrorist forces” in the Valley. “The recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs were never allowed to be implemented in letter and spirit by the politico-administrative set up of the state. Even the Union Home Ministry was never sincere and focused on addressing the sufferings of the displaced community,” said a representative.

Members said time had come to address the “geo-political” aspirations of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits for which the new government needs to open a direct dialogue with the genuine representatives of the community, they said.

As a confidence-building measure, the government should immediately take up the issue of encroachments of the Kashmiri Pandit properties and temples in Kashmir and announce special unconditional job package for KP youth, they said.

KP leaders who addressed the press conference were Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, president, Panun Kashmir; HL Chatta, president, All State Kashmiri Pandits Conference; HN Jattu, president, All India Kashmir Pandits Conference; DN Kissu, chairman, All Displaced Kashmir Pandits Union Forum; Prem Singh, president, Kashmir Sikh Displaced Forum; and Virender Raina, official spokesperson, Joint Forum.

Srinagar, May 26
Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today greeted people on Shab-i-Meraj, being observed tonight.

The Governor expressed the hope that the celebration of the occasion would further strengthen the bonds of amity, harmony and brotherhood and be a harbinger of peace, progress and prosperity in the state.

The chief minister said “the night provided us an opportunity to pray and seek forgiveness and blessings from the Almighty.”

He prayed for peace and prosperity of the state and its people and the country.

Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker Mubarak Gul and Legislative Council Chairman Amrit Malhotra and Cabinet ministers also extended Meraj greetings to the people in separate statements issued here.

Srinagar, May 26
The Army has claimed that the two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants who were killed in Kulgam district of south Kashmir on Sunday had planned to carry out a sensational attack on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.

“A recent intelligence input says this group was planning to carry out a spectacular strike on the national highway,” defence spokesman Lt Col NN Joshi said.

“The weapons recovered from the slain terrorists indicate that they were well up in the Lashkar cadre,” he added.

Zubair Ahmad Bhat, alias Musab, a resident of Nowpora in Kulgam and son of a police official, and Ishfaq Ahmad Bhat of Chakoo in Shopian were killed on Sunday during a gunfight in Nowpora village, 75 km from here.

Two AK rifles and two pistols were recovered from the encounter site. The slain militants belonged to the Maaz group of the Lashkar.

The police said this group was responsible for the attack on a polling party in Shopian on April 24, which left one schoolteacher dead and many injured.

A police spokesman in Srinagar said Zubair, one of the slain militants, was involved in the killing of Ghulam Mohammad Khan, a 73-year-old panch, at Wanpuh in Kulgam on May 9.

The killing of the National Conference panch took place a day after the final phase of polling for the General Election in Jammu and Kashmir.

The spokesman said the slain militant was responsible for killing a police constable of the special operation group at Arwani in Bijbehara on August 26 last year. The militants had snatched the service rifle of the slain policeman after the attack.

Zubair’s father was working with the Jammu and Kashmir Police and was posted in the Kellar area of Shopian district. The two slain militants had joined militant ranks last year.

Kulgam, May 26
A day after two Lashkar militants were gunned down in an encounter with security forces at Nowpora village of Frisal in Kulgam district, a complete shutdown was observed in the area today.

Militants hiding in the house of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) head man were killed after a brief encounter with the police, the Army and the CRPF yesterday.

While one of the militants was a local from Frisal another belonged to Chakkoo village in Shopian district.

Following the encounter, people in the area came out in large numbers and clashed with security forces.

The protests continued till late in the evening, even as the dead bodies of the militants were handed over and funerals carried out in their respective villages.

Hundreds of people attended the funeral processions of the slain militants.

This morning, however, the reports said shutdown amid sporadic clashes was witnessed in the Frisal area, bringing life to a complete stand still.

Meanwhile, in the nearby Khodweni and Qaimoh villages of Kulgam people observed a day-long shutdown against the arrest of a local youth on charges of stone throwing.

As per reports, the angry locals blocked the Anantnag-Kulgam road for the whole day while fighting pitched battles with the police and the CRPF.

The locals were demanding an immediate release of Dawood Gul, son of Gul Muhammad Sheikh, of Qaimoh.

Dawood, according to locals had been falsely implicated in the case of stone throwing and had been under detention since the last 21 days.

The blockade continued till the last reports came in causing extreme inconvenience to the commuters, including school children who failed to reach their respective schools due to the protest.

The police, however, maintained that Dawood was wanted in seven cases pertaining to stone-throwing.

Srinagar, May 26
A local court here today reserved its decision on the charges to be framed against Congress leader and former Minister of State for Health Shabir Ahmad Khan in the molestation case filed against him by a woman doctor early this year.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Srinagar, had on April 3 issued summons to Khan after the police produced a challan in the case, wherein the former minister was charged for the offences committed under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 RPC (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).

Khan is accused of making provocative advances towards the doctor and trying to molest her. After concluding the arguments on hearing of charge against Khan, the CJM court today reserved its final verdict, with the prosecution pressing for the charges made out against Khan by investigators. The court is expected to announce its decision next week.

Earlier on May 6, Khan had presented himself before the CJM court and had also moved an application pleading he was not informed by the police to appear before the court on April 3 when the charge-sheet was filed against him.

He had said the charge sheet was presented to the court in his absence. In the charge sheet, the investigations into the molestation case had revealed that the complainant had received several calls from the office of Khan. This had been established by the police after scrutiny of call detail records of the complainant’s phone number.

The woman doctor in her before the police had alleged that Khan made provocative advances and tried to molest her after she was summoned into his officer chamber on January 28 this year.

Srinagar, May 26
India resumed construction work on the 12-kilometre road close to the Line of Control (LoC) in the Uri sector of north Kashmir, which remained halted for nearly 10 days after objections by the Pakistani army.

The Indian Army had taken up the issue with their Pakistani counterparts last week after work on the road was halted.

“The construction work on the single-lane 12-kilometre road from Saidpora to Hathlanga in Uri sector was resumed,” said Baramulla Deputy Commissioner Farooq Ahmed Lone.

The road was being constructed under the centrally sponsored Prime Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY).

The executing agency stopped the work on May 15 after the Pakistani Army asked Indian labourers through a public address system to stop the work immediately.

The Pakistani Army had raised red flags and warned the labourers not to continue the work, citing violation of the treaty between the two countries of not undertaking any construction along the LoC.

A senior PMGSY official in Kashmir said the work was resumed after the Indian Army took up the issue through a hotline with the Pakistani army in the Uri sector.

“We were told by the Indian Army to resume the work on the road on Saturday. They informed us that Pakistani army officials were told that the road was being constructed by the civil administration for villagers and not for military purposes,” he said.

The road from Saidpora to Hathlanga was being constructed at a cost of nearly Rs 8 crore to connect three villages close to the LoC in the Uri sector.

The Pakistani army objected when Indian labourers started work beyond the anti-insurgency obstacle system close to the LoC near Hathlanga on May 15.

Srinagar, May 26
The Army and the police today busted a militant hideout in the Sungal Nar area of the Lolab forests in Kupwara district and seized arms and ammunition.

A defence spokesman said based on specific inputs, a joint operation was launched by a Rashtriya Rifles unit and the police today morning.

“During the search, an underground hideout was unearthed. One AK-47 with three magazines and 40 rounds of ammunition, one pistol, one RPG with three rounds of ammunition, a UBGL with eight rounds of ammunition, two Chinese hand grenades, one IED circuit and a radio set were recovered,” he said. — TNS

Kupwara, May 26
Contractual lecturers working at Government Higher Secondary schools today lodged a protested in support of their demand for an increase in salaries.

At present, these lecturers are being paid a monthly stipend of Rs 7,000.

The angry lecturers blocked the Sopore-Kupwara road in front of the DC office here for about two hours. The protesters said meagre wages paid to them were insufficient.

They appealed Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to intervene and announce a hike in their salaries.

“We take many classes as regular lecturers at Higher Secondary Schools, but are paid peanuts in return. We hardly manage to fulfil our needs. We appeal Omar Abdullah to personally intervene and address our just demand,” said Sajad Ahmad Mir.

The protesters also alleged that the promise made by the state government in 2011 to increase their salaries had not been fulfilled so far. ?

“At that time we were assured that our just demand will be fulfilled, but nothing has been done in this regard so far. We will be forced to intensify our protest if the government fails to address our issues at the earliest,” said Parveena Akhter.

The lecturers also demanded revocation of the nomenclature, according to which, they should be treated as “academic arrangement lecturers” or “teaching assistants” and not the contractual lecturers.

“We are entitled to a monthly stipend equivalent to the basic salary of the post, on which we are working. But the authorities continue to pay a deaf ear to our genuine demand,” said Ishfaq Ahmad.

Srinagar, May 26
At least 10 daily wage employees and casual labourers of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department were injured in police action today when they tried to take out a protest march in the city in support of their demands, including regularisation of daily-wage and casual workers.

Hundreds of daily wagers of the PHE Department assembled near Kothi Bagh Exchange Road in the morning and tried to march towards Lal Chowk as per their two-day protest programme. The police officials said they asked the employees to disperse, but they insisted to take the march forward.

The police resorted to lathi-charge and also used water cannons to disperse the protesters. The employees’ association chairman said more than 10 employees were injured in the lathicharge and some of whom are admitted to Srinagar’s Bone and Joint Hospital.

“There was heavy deployment of security personnel, who beat up the employees severely. More than 20 people got injured, two of them seriously, who have been admitted to the hospital,” said the chairman.

He said the tactics of the government could not stop them from seeking their demands. “We will not break down by the behaviour of the government. We will intensify our protests. Water supply to people will be stopped because more than 80 per cent of the department’s work load is on us. We will go for an indefinite strike,” he added.

The protest call was given by the Kashmir PHE Joint Employees Association in support of its demand for regularisation of daily wage workers, casual labourers and need-based workers who have been engaged in the department after 1994.

They said the successive governments have failed to come up with a solution to their long pending demands, which include release of pending salaries. “If we work more than regular employees then why are we underpaid and that too not on time. Where will we go,” the protesting employees said.

Over 12 people were taken into preventive custody to stop the employees from marching towards the busy Residency Road. The employees said as a mark of protest they would spend the night at the PHE headquarters in Lal Chowk and threatened to intensify their protest if their demands were not met immediately.

“The police used brute force against us. We condemn it and appeal to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to look into our genuine problems so that we are not forced to take any extreme step,” said Sajad Parray, a representative of the employees’ association.

The employees have been holding protest demonstrations in support of their demands. Over the past several months, the employees staged various demonstrations and sit-in protests to press for their demands.

Tomorrow, the employees will gherao the secretariat. Meanwhile, many locals and college students who were passing from the road at the time of the protest alleged that they too were beaten up by the police.

Srinagar, May 26
The three-day annual technical festival of National Institute of Technology (NIT), Srinagar, “Techvaganza” concluded with a prize distribution ceremony here today.

Director, NIT, Rajat Gupta said the country’s technical institutes had not figured among top 100 universities of the world. He advised the students to take up the innovations which would help improve the quality of research in the country.

He assured that festivals like these would continue to hold prime importance in the academic calendar of the institute.

Dean, Students Welfare, NIT, MF Lala said the initiative had been taken by the institute to create a platform for budding minds to share their technical ideas.

“The events like these go a long way in improving the technical abilities of young professionals and consequently help in raising the technical standards in the field,” Lala said.

The events which attracted participants included online workshop being conducted by Google students club on Android app development, adventure sports organised by National Adventure Foundation (NFA) and famed computer gaming competitions, including Counter Strike, FIFA and NFS.

During the course of three days, the department of physics organised a workshop on NANO Science in which the experts highlighted the growing technological advances in the field.

The other events of attraction included mystery box, fulcrum, workshop on “Matlab” conducted by the Electrical Department, Bridge The Gorge, Reser-Where, College Planning Estimation, Filter The Litter and Traffixing conducted by the Civil Engineering Department.

The workshop on open source technology in collaboration with the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR), Chandigarh, was successfully organised.

Srinagar, May 26
The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Kashmir (CCIK), today urged the state government to revive the export policy aimed at relaxation in guidelines for export of goods from outside the Valley.

The chamber said due to ban on export of silk items of Kashmir on credit basis, the export of silk items and carpets to other states has been affected.

The president of the association said this move would definitely affect the export of silk items and carpets from Kashmir.

The CCIK also expressed concern over the problems being faced by transporters and requested the commissioner of the Commercial Taxes Department to give relief to the goods transport sector and general traders regarding issue of VAT 65 and C forms.

Srinagar, May 26
Meraj-ul-Alam will be observed with traditional fervour across the Kashmir valley tomorrow, while the main religious functions are scheduled to be held at the revered Hazratbal shrine here that houses the holy relic of Prophet Muhammad.

Meraj-ul-Alam is traditionally observed after Shab-e-Meraj (Night of Ascent) as Muslims believe that Prophet Muhammad ascended to the highest level of heaven on this night of the Islamic calendar (27th Rajab).

Shab Khwani (nightlong prayers) will be held from tonight at several mosques and shrines across the Valley. The holy relic will be displayed for devotees tomorrow at Hazratbal, which has remained the centre of Meraj-related functions.

The holy relic of Prophet Muhammad is displayed especially for women the next day after Meraj-ul-Alam, while Friday following Meraj-ul-Alam will be observed at the Hazratbal next week. To ensure smooth movement of traffic to Hazratbal, the Traffic Police have issued a special route map.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Secretary to the Housing and Urban Development Department Satish Nehru visited the Hazratbal shrine today to review the arrangements made by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) for Meraj-ul-Alam.

The Commissioner Secretary directed the officials concerned to ensure quality sanitation and see that no garbage was seen anywhere in the lanes, bylanes or main roads around the shrines falling in their jurisdiction.

Srinagar MC Commissioner GN Qasba said the corporation had deputed additional hopper vehicles, roberts and sweeping machines for sanitation purpose.

Katra, May 26
Abhinandan Jain, adjunct professor, School of Business, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, and the IIM, Ahmedabad, conducted a three-day workshop on “Case Analysis and Case Discussion” for research scholars and faculty members at the university.

During the workshop, Jain enhanced and sharpened the analytical skills of the participants in various areas of case discussion and case analysis.

Prof Jain has wide experience in the area and has co-designed and taught various innovative and highly relevant courses such as customer-based business strategy. — OC

Jammu, May 26
With the rising temperatures in Jammu, transformers in the city and its adjoining areas are getting damaged due to an increase in the load.

The Power Development Department is facing a shortage of funds to repair these transformers due to which many areas are without electricity for days together.

People of affected areas have to wait for days together for the transformer to get repaired or for a new transformer, and that too, "after the intervention of influential people". Around 10 days ago, two transformers in the Chak Umrah and Arnia areas of Jammu rural got damaged and people had to wait for more than a week to get the electricity supply restored.

"Due to non-availability of transformers, all the work got stuck. We did not even get water as water pumps work on electricity," said Ashok Kumar of Chak Umrah village in Bishnah.

The rise in temperature with the non-availability of electricity made their lives miserable and people were looking for cooler places to spend time.

Officials of the Power Development Department in Jammu said almost everyday, transformers get damaged in the city as well as the adjoining areas. They said the department did not have enough funds to go for immediate repairs and so, people were living without electricity for days together.

"When the rush of repairing work at in-house workshops of the Power Development Department increases, the department goes for outside support for repair but liability of these workshops have increased tremendously and sometimes they refuse to repair transformers," said an official of the PDD, wishing anonymity.

The PDD official said last year, small-scale industries that repaired PDD transformers had received only a few lakh rupees while over Rs 2 crore was outstanding.

Despite repeated calls, PDD chief engineer was not available for comments.

Jammu, May 26
The police today took Jammu West Assembly Movement (JWAM) president Sunil Dimple in its custody for holding an anti-Pakistan rally in Jammu city.

Earlier, JWAM members burnt Pakistani flags and effigies and protested holding of talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif "till Pakistan stops terrorism".

The protesters raised slogans such as “Nawaz Sharif, go back, go back”, “Pakistan se baat cheet band karo, band karo”, "Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Shrif hai hai", “Pakistan ko muh tod jawab do, jawab do”.

Speaking on the occasion, Sunil Dimple said the Pakistani army and Nawaz Sharif were responsible for the beheading of Indian soldiers and recent attacks in Kathua Hiranagar police stations.

“We don’t support this invitation to Nawaz Sharif or Pakistan as they are killers of the innocent people of the state,” the JWAM president said.

He said Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh were an integral part of India and the people of the state and country should be taken into confidence before any such move with Pakistan.

Others who addressed the gathering are Dr Sham Sarrop, Randir Singh Bali, Vinod Suri and Harbans Tondan, Ramesh Chander Kohli, Dev Raj, Kulwant Sharma, Tarun Sharma, Romi, Arjun, Kulwant Sharma, Bansi Lal, Ashok Khana, Rakesh, Vipen, Mukesh, Vineet, Vijay Gupta, Shanker Das and Arjun.

The protest
JWAM members burnt Pakistani flags and effigies and protested holding of talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif "till Pakistan stops terrorism"

Jammu, May 26
Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Sham Lal Sharma today said all government as well as private schools should have a disaster risk reduction plan in place.

The minister was speaking during an awareness camp/seminar organised by the National Development Foundation (NDF), Jammu, on the topic "Ways of disaster risk reduction in schools".

Students drawn from five higher secondary schools of Akhnoor participated in the camp and the speakers highlighted different ways of disaster risk reduction.

Rajiv Khajuria, chief functionary of the NDF, in his address said the NDF had a Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Division, which imparted training to students and communities on disaster mitigation strategies.

Sulakshana Sharma, Programme Manager, NDF, briefed the gathering on various ways and aspects of the DRR.

Sham Lal Sharma said the state fell under the earthquake seismic zone 5 category and so, consciousness among children on various aspects of disaster management should be developed. He stressed the need to know fire fighting and rescue techniques and skills for first aid. Later, sports material was distributed to schools.

Jammu, May 26
A two-day workshop on coronary artery "Chronic Total Occlusion" (CTO) organised by the Department of Cardiology, Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Jammu, got under way here today.

The workshop has been organised in collaboration with Cardio Vascular Intervention (CVI), Hokusetsu Hospital, Japan. This is the fourth of its kind workshop being conducted in the Department of Cardiology, GMCH, Jammu.

The coronary artery CTO is complete or almost complete blockage of a coronary artery for 30 or more days. When one or more of the coronary arteries are completely blocked, a heart attack may occur, which damages the heart muscle.

Interacting with mediapersons here, Dr Sushil K Sharma, Head, Department of Cardiology, GMCH, said the workshop was an initiative to keep abreast with the latest in international trends in cardiology.

“We are doing a good number of complex procedures in coronary interventions with desired outcomes thereby helping a large number of cardiac patients visiting the GMCH,” he said.

He said the interaction with international faculty in the field of difficult interventions, especially coronary CTOs was important in improving the “patient outcome” in the subset of cardiac patients. “Our attempt is to see that most patients are benefited in this region by using such techniques,” he said.

Dr Wataru Nagamatsu, Director, CVI Hokusetsu Hospital, Japan, said they had achieved the success rate of 96 per cent in coronary CTO-related surgeries over the years and he had himself conducted over 2,500 such surgeries.

Jammu, May 26
A two-day refresher course on the “Case Information System (CIS) Pune version” was organised on the instructions of Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Justice MM Kumar and Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir, chairperson, e-court committee.

The course was conducted for court officials of Reasi, Rajouri, Poonch, Kulgam, Bandipora, Baramulla and Shopian districts at the State Judicial Academy. The court officials of these districts were imparted training on the use of the Case Information System developed by e-Committee, Supreme Court of India.

The training was conducted by District System Administrators Sajid Iqbal, Ashwani Raina and Suneet Thakur at the State Judicial Academy, Jammu, and by Prince Liaqat Ali Khan and Imran Nazir Shah at the State Judicial Academy, Srinagar.

Khalil Choudhary, Central Project Co-ordinator (e-Courts), High Court, harmonised these “training programs” for the court officials of the state. He said the key purpose of the training program was digitisation of the routine judicial and administrative tasks on computer.