Srinagar, June 16
Just a day after Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said the Centre would announce policy measures for the return of Pandits to Kashmir in the next few days, non-migrant Pandits today threatened an agitation. They also threatened that they would not allow the migrant Pandits to return to the Valley in case they were not rehabilitated first.

“We will not allow the Centre to implement any package for the migrant Pandits and we will not allow them to return to Kashmir in case we are not rehabilitated first. Measures should first be announced for those who never left Kashmir after militancy,” said Hindu Welfare Society Kashmir (HWSK) spokesman Chunni Lal.

Around 630 non-migrant Pandit families, some internally displaced, living across the Valley for long have been seeking proper rehabilitation and a suitable employment package. They allege that the government is only bothered about the migrants and hardly care about those who have stayed back.

Lal said they would start a series of protests beginning Wednesday to highlight their demands and launch a “decisive” agitation in case they were not included in the measures to be announced by the Centre. “We will hold a march to Lal Chowk and then to the civil secretariat on Wednesday and announce future protests later,” he added. Meanwhile, the Kashmir unit of the BJP has appealed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to include non-migrants in the package that would be announced for the migrants.

“It is a praiseworthy and healthy decision taken by the Prime Minister to get back Kashmiri Pandits and settle them with full honour and dignity in the Valley. We hope the present government headed by Narendera Modi will show an interest towards the Valley-based Pandit families living in bad conditions. (Chief Minister) Omar Abdullah did not do anything for their betterment and never bothered about them,” said Avtar Kishan Jangoo, BJP vice-president for central Kashmir.

Pointing out that the non-migrants had suffered a lot after the eruption of militancy and “shared grief and sorrow” with the majority community, he said they were hopeful that they would not be excluded from the package.

Job package sought Around 630 non-migrant Pandit families, some internally displaced, living across the Valley for long have been seeking proper rehabilitation and a suitable employment package They allege that the government is only bothered about the migrants and hardly care about those who stayed back in the Valley The Kashmir unit of the BJP has appealed to the PM to include non-migrants in the package for the migrants

Srinagar, June 16
The Union Government has decided to expedite the installation of two full-body truck scanners for checking goods coming from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) at the two cross-LoC points — Uri and Poonch — in Jammu and Kashmir.

The issue, sources said, was taken up at a high-level security review meeting on Sunday which was co-chaired by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

“The Defence Minister promised that the installation of the full-body truck scanners at the two LoC points in Jammu and Kashmir would be expedited,” a top source said. “The issue was taken up during the meeting and it was pointed out that the proposal was pending from a quite a long time with the Union Government,” he added.

At present, the cross-LoC trade is done on a barter basis between Uri and Muzaffarabad, and Poonch and Rawalakot. The trade is restricted to 21 items.

The state government and various security agencies have been laying stress on the installation of scanners to stop smuggling of objectionable material.

Earlier this year, the cross-LoC trade was halted for over a month after the recovery of 114 kg of brown sugar that was being smuggled from the PoJK in a truck. The two sides also suspended the cross-LoC bus service for a few weeks.

The LoC bus service and the trade are considered the biggest confidence-building measures (CBM) between India and Pakistan.

The sources said the Defence Minister was informed during the security review meeting in Srinagar that there was an urgent need to install full-body truck scanners, which are capable of scanning standard cargo trucks without unloading and unpacking the cargo to avoid illegal transshipment of restricted items like arms, ammunition and chemicals.

Senior J&K government officials said a proposal for installing the two scanners was sent to the Centre in 2011.

Jammu, June 16
Encouraged by the Lok Sabha election results, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has finalised the names of candidates for most of the Assembly segments of Jammu province to take the lead from other parties in kick-starting the poll campaign.

At the meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), an apex decision making body of the party, the PDP leaders on Sunday approved the names of the candidates for most of the constituencies of Jammu province.

Sources in the party said the PDP leaders had chosen the candidates and their names would be made public soon.

The PDP won all three Lok Sabha segments of the Valley recently so the party has decided to continue the tempo till the completion of the Assembly elections.

Sources in the PDP said the party had decided to focus on some winnable seats of Jammu province and concentrate on Poonch and Rajouri districts and erstwhile Doda district so as to win a good number of seats in the two mountainous belts.

The twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri are the target area of the PDP because the party leaders are optimistic about their performance in the next Assembly elections and also because some influential leaders from this belt have recently joined the PDP.

In the entire Jammu region, the Poonch-Rajouri belt is the priority area of the PDP because in the last Assembly elections, the party had opened its account in this belt by winning two seats.

In the just concluded Lok Sabha elections, the PDP secured a good number of votes from this belt so it has been concentrating on this belt. The PDP is confident of giving a tough fight to its opponents on all seven Assembly segments of Poonch-Rajouri.

Sources said the party had finalised the names of its candidates for these two districts so that the campaign for the Assembly elections would be started as early as possible.

The sources said party president Mehbooba Mufti was going to start a whirlwind tour of the two districts to mobilise the party cadre for the coming Assembly elections.

As far as erstwhile Doda district is concerned, the PDP has identified some specific seats where it has decided to concentrate. 

Doda, June 16
A minor boy was among the two persons killed in the Bhagwah area of Doda district today morning when the minibus they were travelling in skidded off the track and rolled down into a gorge.

A total of 21 passengers were injured.

Reports said the minibus was on its way to Bhagwah from Doda and met with the accident at Balwas near Bhagwah around 8 am today. The bus rolled down into a 150-ft gorge reportedly due a technical defect in the vehicle.

Those travelling in the minibus were mostly government employees.

After the incident, locals rushed to the spot and started a rescue operation along with district administration teams, police, and volunteers from NGOs. They shifted all injured to District Hospital, Doda.

The two severely injured passengers, who succumbed to their injuries on way to the Doda hospital, were identified as Gulam Nabi, a government employee and a resident of Dhandal, and Amir, 15, a student and a resident of Chapnari in Doda, reports said.

Kesar Singh of Majmi, Nazir Jameel of Doda, Shahid of Kalal Sazan, Zia-Ul-Haq and Javed Ahmed, both residents of Doda, were taken to the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar, in a special aircraft of the Indian Air Force.

Superintendent of District Hospital, Doda, Mohammed Yakoob said: “We have received 21 injured passengers. Out of them five have been shifted to SKIMS for improved treatment after observing their critical condition.”

Minister for Roads and Buildings Abdul Majid Wani visited District Hospital, Doda, today afternoon to enquire about the health of the injured.

While speaking to mediapersons, the minister said, “The road was better, but the accident took place due to the negligence of the driver who failed to control the vehicle at a curve.”

“It is unfortunate, we lost two precious lives. I have directed the district administration to take stern action against drivers who use mobile phone while driving,” he said.

Srinagar, June 16
Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Shailendra Kumar today convened a meeting of divisional-level officers to take stock of preparedness and arrangements for the Amarnath yatra here.

The meeting was told that control rooms shall be set up at all halting stations en route to the holy cave.

Adequate availability of essentials, rice, flour, sugar, kerosene oil and LPG cylinders, besides medicare, power supply and drinking water facilities, were also reviewed at the meeting.

Kumar exhorted upon the deputy commissioners of the districts concerned to expedite the registration of ponywallas and labourers, besides repair and clear roads.

He also directed the officials to ensure availability of communication and parking facilities at Pahalgam, Chandanwari and Baltal for the yatris.

To facilitate the yatris, the Meteorological Department officials were told to provide weather forecasts on a daily basis. The Fire and Emergency Department was enjoined to set up fire tenders at all halting stations en route to the cave shrine.

Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Farooq Ahmad Shah, Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, Saugat Biswas, Deputy Commissioner, Ganderbal, Sarmad Hafeez, and Additional Chief Executive Officer of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board attended the meeting. — TNS

Srinagar, June 16
Almost two weeks ahead of commencement of the annual Amarnath yatra, the Army has decided to construct a 50-foot bridge at Baltal-Ganderbal to cater to the anticipated heavy rush for the annual pilgrimage this year. The bridge is expected to be ready by June 20.

A defence spokesman said the existing bridge had been damaged due to heavy snowfall this year and the authorities had requested the Army for assistance.

“The CEO of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board Rakesh Gupta mentioned that the civil administration had requested Lt Gen Gurmit Singh, GOC of Chinar Corps, for assistance,” the spokesman said.

Jammu, June 16
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today reaffirmed the determination of his government to revolutionise power generation in the state and provide an upper hand to Jammu and Kashmir in energy availability.

“The government has put in place an ambitious and stupendous power generation programme to achieve self-sufficiency and catapult the state’s economy and financial health,” Omar said. He added: “People will remember our government for this historic initiative when they will reap the fruit in this regard in the near future.”

The Chief Minister launched the second phase of the Re-structured Accelerated Power Development Reforms Programme (R-APDRP) for the Jammu division today to tone up the power supply system in the city and in Akhnoor, Bhaderwah, Doda, Jammu, Kathua, Kishtwar, Poonch, Rajouri, RS Pura, Samba and Udhampur towns to benefit 2,37,002 consumers on account of power supply and distribution.

The Chief Minister recently launched a similar programme in Srinagar for the Kashmir division to benefit 2,56,679 consumers under the R-APDRP.

Two 24X7 consumer care centres were also inaugurated by the Chief Minister today under the programme at Jammu and Srinagar for facilitating the consumers.

Omar said dozens of power projects in various stages of execution would accrue benefits to the people in the near future. He said these would make the state self-reliant in power generation to meet its domestic, agricultural and industrial needs, besides enabling it to sell the surplus energy and earn substantial revenue for meeting development requirements in all sectors. 

Anantnag, June 16
As the tourist season in Kashmir is in full swing, the roads in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam are a shambles, causing inconvenience to the locals and tourists.

The ordeal begins from Aishmuqam, more than 10 km ahead of Pahalgam. The road stretch was damaged due to the heavy snowfall in the winter this year.

The authorities, however, have done nothing to repair the road. The situation in Pahalgam is even worse. The Circuit Road in main town Pahalgam, housing most of the government and private hutments, has not been blacktopped since a couple of years.

Locals said despite repeated pleas to the departments concerned nothing had been done to repair the road.

The road is also taken by tourists who want to go horse riding. Ponywallahs feel hesitant to take tourists through the route.

Besides, the locals say the unmetalled road is causing health concerns among locals. “The road gets waterlogged in the winter and dusty in the summer. It is proving to be a health hazard,” said a resident of Pahalgam.

Another road which leads to the scenic Aru village, further south of Pahalgam, is also an example of utter negligence by the authorities.

“The tourist potential that this village holds is all going down the drain,” said Muhammad Amin, who owns a hut in Aru village.

“Our hotels are suffering heavy losses all because of the bad condition of this road,” Amin said.

The locals say the government has been making tall claims of developing new tourist destinations in Kashmir while the older ones are lacking infrastructure.

A senior official of the Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA) said they had been pleading with the agencies concerned to upgrade the roads. “Unfortunately, we have been cold-shouldered. The government departments responsible for the upgrade of the roads have, for unknown reasons, chosen to ignore our pleas,” said the PDA official.

While the departments continue to pass the buck, the tourists and the locals continue to suffer.

Jammu, June 16
The forensic laboratories in Jammu are reluctant to test samples taken from mid-day meals, served at educational institutions under a Central scheme.

This was disclosed by Hirdesh Kumar Singh, secretary, School Education Department, Jammu and Kashmir, at a recently held meeting of the Programme Approval Board to consider the annual work plan and budget 2014-15 of J&K for the mid-day meal scheme.

The meeting was held at New Delhi under the chairmanship of Rajarshi Bhattacharya, secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy (SE&L), Ministry of Human Resource Development.

The secretary, however, said the state government had initiated steps to randomly test cooked food samples at schools with the help of the Health Department.

The meeting was told that only 39 per cent of the schools had been inspected till December 2013.

Sources said the secretary, School Education Department, had said it becomes difficult to inspect cent per cent institutions serving the mid-day meals due to their poor topographical condition and shortage of manpower.

He said in order to improve infrastructure in the state, a meeting was convened under the chairmanship of the chief secretary which was attended by representatives of the Public Health Engineering Department, Urban and Rural Development Department and various other departments.

Sources said the state government had been told to utilise funds to engage manpower for better monitoring of the scheme.

The Ministry has advised the state to inspect at least 25 per cent of the total institutions during each quarter.

The secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, has advised the state to take corrective measures on poor performing indicators for overall improvement in the mid-day meal scheme.

The additional secretary said the state government may constitute a State Review Mission similar to the Joint Review Mission of the Centre for monitoring the performance of the scheme in poorly performing districts.

Under this method, the state authorities will take corrective action on the recommendations of the State Review Mission. The reports of the State Review Mission and action taken note on the recommendations will be shared with the Centre.

Jammu, June 16
Syed Junaid Hashmi on Monday joined the National Conference (NC). He said he would carry forward the mission of Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah by serving the people.

Welcoming Hashmi into the party fold on Monday, provincial NC president Devender Singh Rana said young people would strengthen the party at the grassroots and help achieve the objective of empowering the people both politically and economically.

He described the NC as a movement that had withstood the test of times, but never compromised on just causes of the people. He said Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah had been carrying forward the legacy.

Rana congratulated Hashmi and hoped that the journalist would put in his best to make the people aware of policies and programmes of the party.

Hashmi met the Chief Minister, who congratulated him on joining the 
NC. — TNS

Jammu, June 16
With the Jammu and Kashmir High Court scheduled to remain closed for the summer vacation from June 16 to 27, the Chief Justice has nominated vacations judges to hear matters which may be required to be immediately dealt with.

According to a notification issued by Registrar General recently, Justice Janak Raj Kotwal will be the vacation judge of the Jammu wing of the High Court from June 23 to June 27, while Justice Bansi Lal Bhat will be the vacation judge of the Srinagar wing for the corresponding period.

In an another order, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jammu, SC Katal nominated four Judicial Magistrates to function as Duty Magistrates during the vacation, dealing with emergent criminal cases of Jammu district.

Susheel Singh, Munsiff, Jammu, will hold the court from June 16 to June 19, while SS Bali, Sub-Judge, Jammu, will hold the court from June 20 to June 23.

Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jammu, will also function as Duty Magistrate from June 24 to June 26 and Sub-Registrar, Jammu, Khem Raj will hold the court from June 27 to June 30.

Srinagar, June 16
The ruling National Conference (NC) today held a special meeting of its Provincial Working Committee which urged the state government to create more jobs, implement infrastructural improvements in the power distribution system, reduce power tariff and allot ration to consumers as per the 2011 Census.

The meeting was presided over by party general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar. It adopted several resolution which included welcoming the decision to appoint Sagar to the new post, acknowledging the role played by former party general secretary Sheikh Nazir and pledging to continue its “unflinching and unfaltering faith in the leadership” of the party.

The meeting also adopted a resolution, expressing its “gratitude and appreciation” to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the state government for taking “landmark steps” to enhance the recruitment and employment policy, increasing the retirement age and upper age limit to apply for government jobs and meeting the “genuine demands” of Rehbar-e-Taleem teachers.

The Provincial Working Committee, which looks after the party affairs in the Kashmir region and also charts out the policies for the party, urged the state government to create more job opportunities for the youth.

It also urged the government to implement infrastructural improvements in the power distribution system “in order to mitigate problems faced by consumers” and reduce the power tariff “by taking into account the financial hardships of the common masses”.

The party’s provincial committee also urged the state government to allot ration to consumers as per the Census of 2011 “in a manner and measure of proportion that is just and adequate as per the requirements of the individual consumer”.

Additional general secretary of the party Sheikh Mustafa Kamal, provincial president of the party for the Kashmir region Nasir Aslam Wani, senior ministers, MLAs, MLCs, Provincial Committee of Youth National Conference, district presidents of the Kashmir region and representatives of the party’s women’s wing and student wing were present at the meeting.

Wani, who introduced the resolutions and the agenda for the meeting, reiterated the party's faith in its president, Farooq Abdullah, and party’s working president Omar Abdullah and welcomed Sagar’s appointment as the general secretary.

Sagar, who delivered a keynote address, implored the rank and file of the party to continue to support the directives of the party leaders “in letter and spirit”.

The NC general secretary said the party leadership was committed to taking “all necessary measures” to enhance the party's performance in the forthcoming Assembly elections and assured the party cadre that all decisions “would be taken after consulting them and evolving a consensus at the grass-roots level”.

Jammu, June 16
Given the “credibility crisis” after cross-voting in the legislative council elections in 2011 and the serious challenge of finding potential candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections, the BJP’s “mission 44 plus” to form the next government in Jammu and Kashmir appears to be a distant dream.

In the 87-member Assembly, excluding two nominated woman members, the BJP requires 44 members to form the government. It has only nine members at present, excluding two expelled MLAs.

The party is buoyed by its best-ever performance in the General Election and has set the target of “mission 44 plus” for Assembly elections. It had won three of the six parliamentary seats in the state.

The party had taken a lead over the Congress in at least 25 Assembly segments. Fifteen of those are in the Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat, nine in Udhampur-Doda and one in Ladakh. Insiders said the BJP had been facing a major challenge in selecting “potential and deserving” candidates for all 87 seats.

“It has been a Herculean task before the state unit of the party to find potential and deserving candidates for all 87 seats in the Assembly elections. The cross-voting fiasco in 2011, in which seven of the 11 MLAs voted against the party candidate in legislative council elections, dented the party’s image,” they said.

They said it would not be an easy task for the party leadership to find suitable candidates and replace the seven MLAs who were expelled on the charge of cross-voting. Five of them were taken back into the party fold before the General Election.

“The party managed to take a lead in at least 24 seats of the 37 segments of Jammu province because of Narendra Modi wave in the region. Despite the increase in vote percentage, the party’s performance on all 46 Assembly seats remained dismal. It took a lead in only one of the four seats in Ladakh,” they said.

A senior leader of the party said on the condition of anonymity, “The General Election was contested in Modi’s name. In the Assembly elections, the image of candidates matters. It is difficult for the party to select some candidates with a clean image.”

He said the party was trying to rope in some non-political persons with a clean image to replace some sitting MLAs, but this step was likely to mar the prospects of the party because of the danger of party rebels.

Prof Hari Om, political adviser to the state BJP president, claimed that the party would win 44 seats in the upcoming Assembly elections. “In the elections in 1998-99, the party had secured the maximum votes in 32 of the 37 Assembly segments in Jammu province he recalled.

“Despite the fact that the Congress and the National Conference had jointly fielded Ghulam Nabi Azad from the Udhampur-Doda parliamentary constituency, the BJP had taken a lead in a majority of segments. This will be repeated in the upcoming Assembly elections,” he said.He claimed that it was an open secret that Muslims voted in favour of the BJP. “People have rejected the National Conference and the Congress and are now looking for a better option. We will open our account in Kashmir and form the next government in the state,” he asserted.

Bridge too far? Finding candidates for all 87 seats Herculean task Trying to rope in non-political persons with clean image Took lead in 25 seats in General Election People rejected NC and Cong, claims Hari Om

Srinagar, June 16
Minister of State for Industry and Commerce Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo has stressed the need for extracting more minerals from the huge quantum available in Jammu and Kashmir to generate more revenue, adding that all projects of minerals like coal, gypsum and sapphire will be revitalised in a timely manner.

The minister, who is the chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Minerals Limited, was addressing the 165th meeting of board of directors on Monday. Financial Commissioner for Industry and Commerce Khurshid Ahmad Ganai was also present in the meeting.

The board announced the release of 20 per cent dearness allowance for employees of the corporation, which aggregated to 50 per cent. It confirmed the decision to increase project allowance from Rs 125 to Rs 300, which was enhanced during the previous meeting with representatives of the Mine Workers Union.

The minister was informed that a production of 20,179 metric tonne coal, 38,494 metric tonne gypsum and 2,212 gram sapphire was recorded during 2013-14, which realised Rs 10.8 crore in revenue. He was told that the corporation targeted to generate a revenue of Rs 20.92 crore during this financial year.

The minister was informed that 17,000 metric tonne of gypsum was extracted from the mine at Assar in Doda during 2013-14, generating a revenue of Rs 1.31 crore. He was told that the corporation envisaged producing 20,000 metric tonne of gypsum this financial year, which was expected to generate a revenue of Rs 1.62 crore.

The minister directed the corporation to expedite extraction of gypsum from the mine at Parlanka in Ramban through outsourcing at the earliest to improve revenue generation. The board reviewed the status of various mineral projects under implementation and reviewed the action taken report on previous board decisions.

Srinagar, June 16
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has underlined the importance of keeping all government medical hospitals fully equipped with necessary medicines and equipment. He has emphasised the need for making Jammu and Kashmir Medical Supplies Corporation Limited (JKMSCL) fully functional to render its responsibilities meticulously for public good.

The Chief Minister said on Monday that medical and health departments concerned should ensure the availability and supply of medicines and equipment as per prevailing practice till the time the corporation took over procurement fully so that there was no shortcoming on this count in health institutions.

Chairing the second meeting of the JKMSCL, he received a brief on decisions taken in the last board meeting, the status report and various other aspects of functioning and strengthening of the corporation.

Minister for Health and Medical Education Taj Mohi-ud-Din, Principal Secretary for Planning and Development BR Sharma, Commissioner Secretary for Health and Medical Education Gazzanfar Hussain, Managing Director of JKMSC Sheetal Nanda, Director of the ISM, Directors of Health from Kashmir and Jammu, principals of government medical colleges and principals of dental colleges were present in the meeting.

In a PowerPoint presentation, Nanda explained agenda points and briefed the board about functioning of the corporation and its programme to carry on its fundamental responsibility of procurement of standard medicines and equipment for health institutions. The board took various decisions on constitution of sub-committees and proposals put forth in the meeting for streamlining working of the corporation.

Meeting details Chief Minister says medical and health departments concerned should ensure the availability and supply of medicines and equipment as per prevailing practice till the time the corporation takes over procurement fully Receives brief on decisions taken in the last board meeting, the status report and various other aspects of functioning and strengthening of corporation JKMSC Managing Director Sheetal Nanda explains agenda points and briefs the board about functioning of the corporation and its programme to carry on its fundamental responsibility of procurement of standard medicines and equipment for health institutions. Board takes various decisions on constitution of sub-committees and proposals put forth in the meeting for streamlining working of the corporation

Singerwani, June 16
Thousands of cubic feet of timber in Pulwama and Shopian forests are decaying as there are no takers in the Forest Department to utilise the wood in these forests.

Every year, hundreds of trees in forests get uprooted either due to incessant rain or heavy snowfall. If the Forest Department tap this, it will prevent standing trees from being cut by wood smugglers.

The demand for timber is increasing each passing day and people are still relying on smugglers for its supply as the authorities have not been able to tap the resource judiciously.

Social activists in the area said fallen trees in the forests could ease the pressure on forests, which were being ruthlessly cut for meeting timber needs for construction.

“If the government, the Forest Department and the people have consensus on utilisation of fallen trees in the forests, their live parts can be conserved,” said Ghulam Mohammad Dar, a social activist in Pulwama.

Admitting that a large quantity of timber was decaying in the forests, Shopian Divisional Forest Officer Mohammad Ashraf Kotoo said the department had given the contract to the State Forest Cooperation.

“The corporation is the sole organisation that has been given the contract for fallen trees, but due to paucity of manpower, it is not able to manage all the timber produce of the forests that becomes available after rain and snowfall,” he said.

The Forest Department had been showing its apathy in tapping the resource of fallen trees properly and is putting in less efforts for bidding contracts.

Social activists said under proper supervision, timber from forests could easily be auctioned to private firms, which could shoulder the responsibility of managing fallen trees in forests to conserve live parts.

“Forests in Kashmir are the largest natural resource, which if harnessed properly, can change fortunes in the Valley,” Dar said. He added that the forests, if not managed properly, could bring disasters like flash floods and drought to the Valley.

Jammu, June 16
The University of Jammu today removed the Head of the Dogri Department, Prof Shiv Dev Singh Manhas, from the post on “flimsy grounds” and appointed Prof Archana Kesar as the new Head of Department (HoD).

In an official order handed over to Prof Mahnas, the university said the earlier order, which was kept in abeyance on February 20, was being implemented replacing him (Prof Manhas) with Prof Archana Kesar. The university has not given any reason for the removal of head of Dogri department.

On February 20, the university Registrar had issued an order stating, “The Vice Chancellor, in exercise of the powers vested in him under Statue 22 of Chapter III given at page 88 of the University Calendar 2010 Volume-I (as amended up to 68th University Council, 2009) is pleased to nominate Dr Archana Kesar, Professor, Department of Dogri, to act as Head of the Department of Dogri with immediate effect till further orders.”

At that time too, the Vice Chancellor had also not specified any reason for the nomination of Dr Archana Kesar as the new head of the Dogri Department. Prof Manhas has been changed four months before the completion of his tenure and his removal was seen as purely a “politically-motivated” decision.

A few answer scripts of M.Phil course of Dogri subject had got misplaced in January this year and the university had lodged an FIR with the police and constituted a high-level committee to conduct a probe into the misplacement of the answer scripts.

On March 10, the university had received the “misplaced” answer scripts, which were wrapped in an envelope, through “speed post” under mysterious circumstances. The university authorities are yet to complete the inquiry as who had stolen the answer scripts and sent them back to the department.

The scholars and the students of the department had demanded an impartial inquiry into the incident as they had alleged that it was a deliberate attempt by “vested interests” to tarnish the image of the Dogri Department.

Jammu, June 16
The Bharat Vikas Parishad (BVP) organised a state-level workshop of office-bearers of the branches and the state executive and conveners here.

National vice-president of the BVP Lalit Mahajan was the chief guest and national convener Sushil Sharma was the guest of honour. The function started with the lighting of lamp and the recitation of “Vande Matram”.

State president of the BVP Arun Sharma in his welcome address exhorted the office-bearers to work hard for the spread of the ideas and ideology of the BVP.

National convener Dr Santosh Gupta spoke on the role and the activities of the BVP, whereas zonal secretary Dr DR Kotwal highlighted various projects of the BVP. SN Sharma elaborated the BVP constitutional setup. Subhash Gupta and YR Gupta spoke on the importance of Sampark projects in the BVP.

Vijay Sharma stressed upon the importance of the Sewa projects in the organisation and also asked the branches to take up these projects. Prof Vijay Lakshmi spoke on the national group song competition projects.

RP Gandotra gave his views on the Guru Teg Bahadur Balidan Diwas project, whereas Ved Gupta spoke on the effective management of accounts by the branches. The state conveners of various projects also spoke on their respective projects and the branch representatives gave their opinions.

Jammu, June 16
The Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) Displaced People (DPs) Front today staged a protest rally in support of their long-pending demands.

The protest was held under the chairmanship of Captain (retd) Yudhvir Singh Chib, wherein a large number of people assembled outside the Press Club of Jammu and raised slogans against the state coalition government.

Yudhvir Singh, while speaking on the occasion, said the front was having great hope on the policy of the Central government-led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He stated that the Prime Minister would take necessary measures regarding the finalisation of the DPs issue.

“If the NDA government will solve our issue before October this year, we will fully support them in the upcoming Assembly elections of J&K in November,” Yudhvir said.

The main demands of the the front are enlistment of displaced people’s families who have not been registered yet, minimum grant of Rs 50 lakh per family as compensation for the loss like leaving properties/house hold items, ownership rights, for displaced people of 1947, 1965 and 1971, reservation in colleges, universities, professional colleges, technical colleges, IITs, employment etc.

Others who participated in the protest rally included Hari Singh, Jai Pal Sharma, Skandiya Devi, Pawan Slathia, Kulbir Singh, Kuldeep Singh, Sukhjinder Singh, Rasal Singh, Kashmir Singh, Thoru Singh Chib, Bablu, Raj Kumar Verma, Bimla Devi, Master Kehar Singh, Baldev Singh Chib and Harnam Singh.

Jammu, June 16
Activist of the General Line Teachers Forum (GLTF) held a protest in the city condemning the decision of the government of accepting the “unjustified and undue” demands of the Rehbar e Taleem (ReT), ie inclusion of five years of honorarium period of ReTs service for service benefit or seniority benefit and transfer policy.

The GLTF said the decision of the state government could immediately cause damage to thousands of general line teachers as this would jeopardise the normal process of the seniority of general line teacher. The decision of the government can revert the seniority of the general lines teacher.

“On the one hand, the RETs were appointed at the village level or ward level just after giving a simple application form and were appointed in the department as an ReT without facing any kind of competition and interview. On the other hand, general line teachers, having higher qualification in every respect, have gone through cumbersome procedure of the SSRB right from filling the application form and then facing the state-level written competition and interviews by the persons specialised in their field and finally getting selected through merit, including their excellent academic merit. Then how can the RETs be equally treated with general line teachers?” protesters asked.

The GLTF appeal to the state government to abolish or stop such kind of RET pattern of recruitment at the village level or ward level when thousands of unemployed trained and highly qualified youth are ready to serve the Education Department in a better way.

Those who were present on the occasion were Raman Deep Singh, Aman and Deelip.

Jmmu, June 16
The annual congregation of the Tidyal community will be held at Devsathan, Dati Mata Bachno Bowalian, Kathua, on June 19.

The arrangements for the congregation were finalised at a meeting of the executive committee of the All India Tidyal Biradari Committee under the chairmanship of Manohar Lal Tidyal, president of committee in Kathua today.

Tirath Ram Tidyal, general secretary of the committee, Bansi Lal Tidyal, Om Parkash Tidyal, Bodj Raj Tidyal and Pintu, all members, were also present in the meeting.

It was informed in the meeting that the “hawan” ceremony would be held at 8 am followed by religious sermons. The community lunch will be served 
at 1 pm.

The All India Tidyal Biradari Committee has requested all the members of the Tidyal community to participate along with their family members in large numbers.

Jammu, June 16
The Dogra College of Education organised a day-long state-level seminar on “Quality sustenance in teacher education – A great challenge” in the college auditorium.

In the inaugural session, the programme started with the lighting of ceremonial lamp. Gulchain Singh Charak, former Minister for Higher Education, was the chief guest.

In his address, he said the purpose of education was not just making a student literate, but to add rational thinking, knowledge, ability and self-sufficiency in him.

The keynote address was presented by Prof NR Sharma, Head, Department of Educational Studies, and Dean, Students Welfare, Central University of Jammu.

Prof Sharma pointed out that the teacher education was ultimately connected with society and conditioned by the ethos, culture and character of a nation, hence the teachers must be provided with the best possible professional education in order to raise the standards of education.

Prof BD Damral, Director-cum-Principal, Dogra College of Education, presented the welcome address.

The programme was divided into two technical sessions wherein professors, students and research scholars from across the state presented their papers on the themes. These included “Inclusiveness in the teacher education”, “Overcoming challenges in teacher education, “Curriculum transactional strategies and evaluation techniques in teacher education”, Need of integrated teacher education curriculum in changing and transforming the society”, “Quality versus quantity in teacher education” and “Uses of innovative practices in teacher education”. Dogra News Letter was released on the occasion. — TNS

Srinagar, June 16
At least 12 physically challenged were taken into preventive custody after members of the Jammu and Kashmir Handicapped Association (JKHA) held a protest here today. They were demanding monthly honorarium, low interest loans and allotment of land for themselves.

Members of the association protested against the alleged highhandedness of the police and said they wanted to present a memorandum to the Chief Minister.

“At a time when Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is taking people-friendly measures, he should not overlook our concerns and should meet us as well,” said Abdul Rashid Bhat, a JKHA member.

He said the handicapped people in the state should avail the same benefits for college admissions and government jobs as other reserved categories.

The association members said the state government had failed to implement various Supreme Court rulings for special provisions to the physically challenged.

Demands raised Reservations in government jobs Allocation of residential plots Hike in pension from Rs 400 to Rs 3,000 Loans on low interest

Srinagar, June 16
Aziz Hajni has been re-elected president and Mohammad Amin Bhat elected general secretary of the Adbee Markaz Kamraz (AMK), the largest and oldest federation of literary and cultural organisations of Kashmir.

The organisational elections of AMK were held on Sunday at Kashmir Women’s College of Education, Sopore, in which the office-bearers were elected for a period of three years through secret ballot.

A spokesman for the AMK said Hajni, a poet and writer, got elected unopposed for the third consecutive term as president.

Noted educationist Atiqa Bano and Farooq Rafiabadi were elected vice-presidents.

“There were three candidates for the post of general secretary — Mohammad Amin Bhat, Ajaz Ahmad Kakroo and Farooq Rafiabadi. Bhat won securing 57 votes, while his rivals Kakroo and Rafiabadi got 20 and 11 votes, respectively,” the spokesman said.

Ghulam Nabi Shakir was elected secretary, Khurshid Qureshi media secretary and Mohammad Ahsan Ahsan was re-elected as treasurer.

The spokesman said these were the 14th organisational elections of the AMK in which all constituent units participated.

“The new Executive Council and the Advisory Board will be constituted soon,” he added. 

Srinagar, June 16
A cardiologist from Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) has been awarded gold medal by Asia Pacific Vascular Society (APVS).

Dr Imran Hafeez, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cardiology, SKIMS, won the medal at APVS’s recently concluded workshop in Delhi. He has also been an offered overseas fellowship in endovascular interventions.

Director, SKIMS, Dr Showkat A Zargar said, “The institute appreciates acknowledgment and recognition to medical experts of SKIMS from various prestigious institutions in the country and abroad.”

Dr Hafeez did his MBBS from Government Medical College, Srinagar, in 2002, MD from SKIMS in 2007 and later completed DM in cardiology from SKIMS in 2011 and has many publications to his credit.

Formed in 2009, APVS is an international society of vascular interventionalists, cardiologists, vascular and cardiothoracic surgeons and interventional radiologists. The society is committed to research and education in the field of vascular diseases, in particular to the study the disease pattern in Asia Pacific region and other parts of the world, and to develop guidelines for their treatment. — TNS

Srinagar, June 16
Several Valley-based travel and trade bodies today registered their protest with the Director of the Airport Authority of India (AAI), Srinagar, Capt KS Rao, over the announcement of curtailment of flight timings to 4.30pm due to repair works.

“The authorities concerned have chosen a wrong time to undertake repairs. It is the peak tourist season and the Amarnath yatra is also on. It will cause a lot of inconvenience to passengers who have made their travel arrangements and hotel bookings in advance,” a statement issued by a delegation of various tourism and trade stakeholders said after a meeting with the Director, AAI.

Stating that the curtailment in flight timings would hit the tourism sector hard, the delegation suggested that the repair works on the runway should be deferred till the culmination of the Amarnath yatra on August 10.

“Surprisingly ,the authorities say they have informed the airlines well in advance, but the travel trade associations expressed shock over the failure of the airlines operators in not informing their pre-booked passengers about the decision of closure of the airport from 4.30pm for two months with effect from June 15,” the statement added.

The delegation that met with the Director, AAI, comprised heads of the Travel Agents Society of Kashmir (TASK), Travel Agents Association of Kashmir (TAAK), J&K Tourism Alliance (JKTA), Association of Kashmir Tour Operators (AKTO), Urban Travel Agents Association (UTTA) and the Adventure Tour Operators Association of Kashmir (ATOAK).

Srinagar, June 16
The department of cardiology has organised a second workshop on “Congenital Cardiac Surgery” at SKIMS in collaboration with “Healing Little Hearts” organisation, UK. The workshop began today and will end on June 21.

The overseas team includes experts from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, UK, and Glenfield Hospital, UK, working under one umbrella called “Healing Little Hearts” Organisation, UK. This is the second such workshop being conducted by the said organisation working under the patronage of Dr Sanjeev Nichani in collaboration with the Department of Cardiovascular Thorasic Surgery (CVTS), SKIMS.

The first workshop was conducted in March when seven patients were operated by a team of doctors from the said organisation, including experts from Alder Hay’s Hospital, Liverpool, UK, and Ormond Street Hospital for Children and Glenfiled Hospital, Leicester, UK, supported by experts from SKIMS.

The present team of overseas experts include Dr Sanjiv Nachani, consultant, Paediatric Cardiac Intensive Care, Dr Demetris Taliotis, consultant Paediatric Cardiology, Dr Aparna U Hoskote, consultant, Cardiac Intensive Care, Dr Lorenzo ScGrazioli, consultant, Paediatric Cardiac Anaesthesia, and Dr Attilio A Lotto, consultant Paediatric Cardiothoracic Surgeon, besides ICU and OT nurses. The team leader, Dr Nachani, expressed interest to help the department in future too.

Director, SKIMS, Dr Showkat A Zargar said the programme was initiated by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah during the inauguration of different projects, including Cardio-Thoracic Intensive Care Unit, on December 12, 2013, at SKIMS. 

Srinagar, June 16
Residents of Bilalabad Batamaloo today blocked the national highway in protest against the power supply shortage by the Power Development Department (PDD) in the area for the past few days.

The protesters blocked the national highway leading to traffic gridlock from Batamaloo to Tengpora, making commuters suffer for nearly an hour.

“There is no electricity in our area for the past 25 days. Despite bringing the issue to the notice of PDD officials, nothing has been so far, forcing us to come out on roads,” said Haleema, a resident of Bilalabad.

Raising anti-PDD slogans, the protesters said, “Though the authorities concerned charge a huge amount for providing electricity, when it comes to service, there are always problems. If we are late in paying bills, it takes them no time to disconnect our lines, but when it comes to providing services we are always forced to protest. Despite that the authorities turn deaf ears to our problems. Where will we go in this scorching heat? It is too difficult to remain without a fan or cooler. We are facing immense difficulties,” said local Bashir Ahmad.

Another protesting local said the issue was never solved. In winter too there were frequent cuts in the area. The protesters said despite approaching the officials of the PDD several times, nothing was done to repair the fault if there was any. The protesters blocked the national highway for nearly an hour making the commuters from north Kashmir suffer.

The chief engineer of the PDD said, “There may be a problem in a particular locality, but power supply is normal in rest of the areas. I will look into the problem and if there is any we will solve it.”