Ancient Shiva Cave Discovered in Reasi

An ancient Lord Shiva cave has been discovered on the high mountain near Thanpal in Salal area of district Reasi.

The area is tough terrain and nearly 2 hour on foot journey along Surman ‘Khud’. The villagers with their efforts managed to make narrow track up to the cave which is on the steep rocky mountain. On one side there is Salal dam and on the other at high mountain this cave.

The locals said that this cave was inaccessible due to its location but as they used to hear some kind of sounds from that area, nobody ever dared to go that side. A daring youth of the area namely Sunil Kumar, son of Paras Ram, armed with gun and assisted by 2-3 more youth, managed to reach up to the cave using ropes and his mountaineering skills. He saw a Shiva Lingam, stone idols of Shiva family, a statue of Saint and Hanuman. The cave appears to be almost equal to that of Shiv Khori. After this, the youth returned and told this matter to the whole village.

The next day, the village Sarpanch and some locals started digging track on the rocky mountain and with in few days they managed to reach there and saw the cave. They saw ‘Pindis’ and a big Shiva Lingam. The villagers narrated the matter to the local MLA and district administration. On their request, some officers including DC also visited the cave last week and they were astonished to see such a wonderful cave. They assured to develop the area and the cave for pilgrimage on the pattern of Shiv Khori.

There are two different routes one via Talwara-Siar Baba and Thanpal using boat over Salal dam and another one via Reasi Salal and yet another one via Bidda Dhayangarh Dam site.

Goa Arts and Literary Festival Begins

Giving detailed introduction of Kashmiriyat, Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah today said that Jammu and Kashmir represents a great civilization that nurtured pluralistic ethos, cultural diversity, brotherhood, universal détente and mutual love.

"The captivating natural beauty, cultural diversity in unity and rich heritage of Jammu and Kashmir has been unique brand and blend of this State", he said adding that artists, writers, poets and artisans with magical skills have made their mark internationally.

Addressing the inaugural function of 3rd Annual Goa Arts and Literary Festival at Kala Academy here, the Chief Minister said that Jammu and Kashmir has been land of art, culture, literature, folk, music and handicrafts. He said this speciality of the State has added colour to its bio-diversity and natural beauty. He said the highest degree of hospitality inherent in the people of this place has also earned name and fame to this place.

Highlighting the richness of Jammu and Kashmir in offering wide-ranging and diverse tourism attraction round the year to tourists, travellers, trekkers, skiers, golfers, adventure lovers and sportsperson, Omar Abdullah said that Kashmir globally known as 'Heaven on Earth' is on path to restore the tourism sheen which received heavy setback during the period of disturbance.

"Peace is rooting fast and this year State received about 12 lakh visitors, over 6 lakh Amarnath Yatris and lakhs of pilgrims of Mata Vaishno Devi", he said, adding the perception about the law and order situation and travelling to this part of the country is undergoing paradigm shift towards positivity.

"We have underlined the visit of lakhs of tourists here an economic activity and is being promoted in this perspective", he said adding that the efforts of the State Government to change the perception of people in their minds regarding visiting Jammu and Kashmir have yielded good results. "After Japan and Germany, Britain has also modified its negative advisory for the citizens regarding visiting Jammu and Kashmir. We hope other countries will also follow the suit", he added.

Omar Abdullah congratulated the organizers of the festival and said that the participation of artists and literary persons besides a group of folk artists from Jammu and Kashmir in Goa festival gives him great pleasure.

The Chief Minister also referred to the great sufi-saints, historians, travellers and scholars of high eminence, adding that their preaching and teachings have had great impact in the development of a tolerant society in the State. He said the secular characteristic and amity between various sections of the society has been trait of the people in this part of the country. He said that this trait has sustained all challenges and defeated onslaughts and attempts aimed at disturbing it.

He expressed the hope that this characteristic of the State will get further strengthened with the passage of time.

The Goa Arts and Literary Festival is a regular gathering of writers, poets, literature experts, painters, artists, readers, etc at the International Centre Goa.

A folk dance group of Jammu and Kashmir is also performing in the Festival besides participation by 12 literary persons.

Jammu Srinagar NH closed for traffic

Parts of Kashmir Valley experienced the first snowfall of the season overnight, including the Jawahar Tunnel area forcing closure of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.

The officials said here that the Srinagar–Jammu National highway is closed due to snowfall at Jawahar Tunnel and other places. Efforts are being made by Chief Engineer, Beacon, to clear the snow and re-open the road.

The officials said that the depth of snow recorded at various places this morning is: “Jawahar Tunnel 10 inches, Verinag 4 inches to 5 inches, Kokernag 3 inches to 5 inches, Pahalgam 5 inches, Anantnag 1 inch, Kulgam 3 inches, DH Pora one feet, Shopian one feet, Sedow one to one and a half feet, Gulmarg around 2 feet, Tangmarg 6 inches, Kupwara 3 inches, Lolab 4 inches to 5inches, Gund 6 inches, Gagangir 7 inches to 8 inches, Sonamarg 7inches, Ganderbal 1 inch, Baramulla 2 inches, Rafiabad 5 inches, Srinagar one inch, Bandipora 2 inches, Handwara 2 inches, Pulwama 3 inches.

The officials said that the Chief Engineer, Mechanical Engineering Department Kashmir started snow clearance operation in many areas of the Valley, where snow death exceeded 4 inches, including Gulmarg-Tangmarg Road, Verinag, Pahalgam, Kulgam, Shopian-Sedow, Ganderbal-Babanagri, Kupwara.

The Gulmarg-Tangmarg road has been re-opened for vehicular traffic, but only vehicles with 4x4 or anti-skid chains fitted on tyres are being allowed between Tangmarg and Gulmarg.

Heavy rush at Bahu Fort on Ist Navratra

The eight day Navratra festival witnessed a colourful start with Dy Chief Minister Tara Chand inaugurating the mega event at Katra, the base camp of holy cave shrine of Mata Vaishnodevi by lighting the sacred `Jyoti' while all the shrines of the `Goddess' at Bahu Fort, Chichi Mata, Sukrala and other places in the region saw heavy rush on fist day of Navratras today.

Navratra Festival, 17th in the series is being organized at Katra by Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine Board and Tourism Department in collaboration with the District administration. An impressive Shoba Yatra, depicting rich cultural heritage was also taken out at Katra town in connection with the celebrations. A large number of locals and senior officials from Board and other agencies participated in the event. The DyCM extended greetings to the people on this occasion.

MLA Reasi, Baldev Sharma, Addl Chief Executive Officer, SMVDSB Dr M K Bhandari, Director Tourism R S Mehta, DIG Jagjit Kumar, SSP Reasi Raghubir Singh and former president MC Katra Ambrish Mangotra were also present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, thousands of `Shiv Sainiks' from the State and outside took out a big rally in the winter capital city here before leaving for Katra Mata Vaishnodevi while all the shrines of the `Goddess' at Bahu Fort, Sukrala, Chichi Mata etc witnessed huge rush of devotees on first Navartra today.

A large number of `Shiv Sainiks', attired in traditional Dogri dress including turbans, assembled at Maulana Azad Stadium. Then led by the Sena leader from the State, Ashok Gupta, they took out a religious procession towards city. Over six thousand `Shiv Sainiks' from the State and outside took part in the procession passing. They were carrying `Trishuls'. A team of Brass band and drum-beaters was leading the large procession. `Shiv Sainiks' were raising religious slogans.

The district administration diverted the traffic to different routes but traffic jams were witnessed at many city bottle-necks during the procession this afternoon.

In Samba town also large procession was taken out by the Shiv Sainiks. Nearly 400 Sainiks started their procession from Chohata and then moved towards Main Bazar and Bus Stand. Local Sena leader Romesh Gupta was leading. Then they moved towards Jammu in buses fitted with Sena flags different vehicles. Similar, processions were taken out in Kathua and other towns of the region by Shiva Sainiks before leaving for Jammu.

A senior police official said that nearly 5500 Shiv Sainiks assembled at MA stadium and then took out procession in the city here. He claimed that over 3200 `Shiv Sainiks' in nearly 70 buses and minibuses besides other vehicles left for Katra Mata Vaishnodevi at around 4.15 pm from here today.

Meanwhile, heavy rush of pilgrims was witnessed a Mata Vaishnodevi Darbar, Bahu Fort, Chichi Mata Samba, Sukrala Mata, Bala Sundri Mata shrines Billawar & Nagri, Mata Pingla Ramnagar, Jorha Wali Mata at Bani and Jasrota Fort temple in Kathua. The additional deployment of police force has been made and necessary arrangements put in place for the devotees by the respective district administrations at these shrines. They were highly decorated by the management committees on Navratra festival.

Minister of State for Cooperatives, Finance and Planning Dr Manohar Lal Sharma inaugurated Navratra festival at Sukrala Mata shrine and paid obeisance at the holy shrine. He prayed for peace , progress and prosperity of the state. He greeted people on this occasion. A large number of devotees thronged the shrine on first day of Navratras. The minister also inaugurated an ATM counter of J&B Bank at Sukrala.

At Ramnagar, an impressive function was organized in connection with Navrta festival. MP Lal Singh in presence of DC Udhampur P K Pole, SDM Basantgarh Krishan Lal, SDPO and Tehsildar Ramnagar inaugurated festival by lighting 26th Akhand Jyoti of Mata Pingla, at Chabutra Ramnagar. A large number of people were present besides members of the Akhad Jyoti Committee. It was disclosed that grand Shoba Yatra will be taken out on 4th day of Navratra from Pingla Devi Chabutra at Ramnagar.

Meanwhile Divisional Commissioner Pardeep Gupta today inaugurated Navratra festival at Raghunath Mandir Chowk here today. The function in this connection was organized by Raghunath Bazar Businessmen Association led by Baldev Khullar. Commissioner JMC K L Khajuria, ADC rehana Batul were also present. They greeted people on this occasion. Entire market has been decorated by the association members.

Bhagwat Mahapurana Katha at Durga Nagar Concludes

Week long Bhagwat Mahapurana Katha organised by Shri Hari Kirtan Adhyatmik Jagriti Mission in collaboration with Shiv Shakti Mandir Committee, Roop Nagar Enclave, concluded at Shiv Shakti Mandir.

During the week-long Bhagwat Mahapurana Katha, large number of devotees from all walks of life participated and took away the blessings of Lord Krishna.

Throwing light on various chapters of Bhagwat Mahapurana, Bushan Lal Bhat, Sharangat, urged devotees to surrender themselves unconditionally in the feet of Lord Krishna and not waste their precious time in mundane affairs only.

On the concluding day, prasad was also served among the devotees. Besides, fruit and other essential materials were also distributed in Orphan Ashram and Old Age Ashram, Amphalla, Blind Ashram, Roop Nagar and Christian Ashram, Tali-Morh.

Navratra Festival 2012 at Bawe Wali Mata Temple

Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation, Raman Bhalla today asked the JDA, PDD, JMC, R&B, Health, Police and Traffic Departments to make all necessary arrangements at Shri Bawe Wali Mata temple for the smooth conduct of nine-day Navratras Festival.

The Minister said this while inspecting the arrangements made by the various departments at the temple, here this evening.

Officers of JMC, R&B, PHE, PDD, Health, Police and Traffic Departments accompanied the Minister.

Mr. Bhalla asked the JMC to complete the remaining works of temporary toilet blocks, including construction of water reservoir positively in double shifts for the convenience of devotees. He asked the PDD and JMC to make functional all the street lights in and around temple, including way side.

The Minister called upon the shopkeepers not to sell stale eatables to the visitors and beautify the area by displaying goods in an attractive manner with attractive sunshades for protection.

Mr. Bhalla said, "to meet the challenges in tourism, our emphasis is on diversification and providing requisite infrastructure facilities to the pilgrims and tourists in the State". He said that efforts are on to divert tourists of Mata Vaishno Devi to other pilgrim places and leisure and adventure spots of both the region and added that for the purpose Government was making all out efforts to upgrade the infrastructure and recreational facilities at tourist and holy places across the State.

The Minister said Tourist Reception Centres, wayside facilities and huts have been developed along the way to almost all the tourist destinations.

Giving the details of some initiatives taken by the Government for development and upgrading of tourism infrastructure in Jammu Division, the Minister said that the restoration and conservation work of Mubarak Mandi Heritage Complex would be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore, adding that out of which Rs.75 crore have been approved by the Centre for the current financial year.

He said that Government has sanctioned Rs. 3.5 crore for developing the river Tawi embankment area near Peer Kho Temple by constructing park, Tourist Reception Centre, artificial lake and viewpoints, adding that Rs. 90 lakh have been kept for construction of view points and road widening from Bahu Fort to Harki Poudi temple.

Saving water bodies in Kashmir

When god created the blue planet and filled the deep drenches with fresh water, he would have hardly thought that one day man will pollute it to such an extent where from it will become impossible to beat a retreat. The importance of water is becoming a worldwide issue and India does not fall too deep in the count. And in India, when we peep deep, J&K is found quite high up in the list.

Indeed, Srinagar is blessed with the deep depths of the Dal and the Pacific water of the Wullar besides the countless little rivers and streams. The valley might be decorated by these water bodies by nature itself, but only to be polluted with heap of waste by the people themselves.

The various aspects which are responsible for snatching the glory of these water bodies, we found five main cornerstones after a detailed case study of 25 days.

* Heavy drenching of Dal still unnoticed:-
When it comes to drenching, it has been going on from the past few years openly and unnoticed. The people to hold responsible are the boatmen residing in houseboats who every now and then try to convert a portion of the Dal into a kitchen garden. Our team has even found a company of boatmen cultivating vegetables on large scale for commercial purposes. On looking into the water and after a prolonged investigation, it was found that the Srinagar Development Authority (SDA) Department constructed a separate colony years ago near JVC Bemina to habitat the boatman on large scale and curb encroachment. The plan worked for a couple of years. But after that, to utmost surprise, these boatmen sold away these houses in colonies to earn revenue and rehabilitated to house-boats again on mass-scale to add to the problem.

* Waste-disposal into Dal:-
Valley produces tons of garbage every day. Besides the local people residing near the water bodies, some other vehicles ferrying waste from surrounding areas were found dumping heaps of garbage into these water bodies en mass.
The environmental activists reacted to the serious problem which later ended up in the construction of large pits for waste disposal and free dustbins especially to Dal residents.

* Sewage-flow Dal and Wullar:-
In the past few years, all the drains in the city and adjoining had one common destination? The Dal in the central and the Wullar in the northern side. Due to constant sewage flow into these water bodies, their size was decreased by around 15 kilometers which is shocking yet not surprising.

Taking notice of the serious problem, various sewage-treatment plants were established which ceased a problem to a greater extent but our team report suggests that there is still a lot of work to be done to tighten the screws on the grave problems.

* Use of toxic chemicals:-
To ensure early ripening of the fruits and increase the size and quantity of other commercial vegetables, valley-folk drove relentlessly towards profitable and lucrative markets by making use of chemicals which proved to be a disaster for the aquatic life.

The case study in Apple town of Kashmir sopore revealed to our team that decline in fish population in world famous Wullar lake was a consequence of the frequent use of toxic-chemicals. And that was not all! The use of these chemicals became so orthodox that they soon began to be supplied to every nook and corner of the valley. As ill luck would have it, the ultimate sufferer of the hazard was the aquatic life in general and surrounding population in particular.

As an evil consequence, Cholera cases were reported recently from several villages like Lawaypora.
This case study was enough to reveal the curtains which had not been raised from several previous dark years.

Vitasta Triyodashi 2012 Celebrated

Various functions were held across the State today in connection with celebration of Vitasta Triyodashi (Veyth Truvah) -the birth day of River Vitasta.

While Panun Kashmir and Kashmira Vahini held separate functions at Rajinder Park Canal, Vitasta Devasthan Prabandhak Committee Verinag organised the function at holy spring of Vitasta Mata at Veerinag in Kashmir valley, Non Camp Migrant Organisation celebrated the day at the banks of Ranbir Canal at Muthi while Vitasta Samaj Sewa held functions at Akhnoor on the bank of river Chander Bagha and TRT Nagrota respectively.

The PK function at Rajinder Park besides its leaders was attended by women activists also who performed pooja of the river in a traditional way.

Speaking on the occasion PK president Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo said there is an urgent need for the passage of the Temples and Shrines Bill to preserve the ancient heritage of Jammu and Kashmir.

He said Kashmiri Pandits would return to their own home land in Kashmir when there is free flow of Indian Constitution.

"There is a need to take massive confidence building measures to instill a sense of confidence among the displaced community. The outcome of the recent so called Apex Committee meeting in Kashmir does not inspires much confidence," Chrungoo said.

Chrungoo and his team mates including Ravinder Raina, Kamal Bhagati Virender Koul, Vijay Qazi and other members paid floral tributes to the river Goddess.

At the Kashmira Vahini function a large number of Kashmiri Pandit women along with men and children participated.

The program started with hoisting of the flag of Kashmira Vahini accompanied by holocaust dhun. Swami Kumar Ji, Swami Pran Nath Ji Garib "BHAIJE", Dr. Manmohan Shastri and B.L.Handoo Pre-sident Brahaman Mahamandal Kashmir inaugurated the function and threw light on "Vitasta Divas."

Nirmala Tickoo read the welcome address.

Bushan Lal Bhat Sharnagat and his fellow devotees enthralled the audience with their devotional musical concert. Several upcomming child artists including Anikate Hashia and Shannu Zadoo presented captivating musical hymns.

Khema Kaul spokesperson of Kashmira Vahini presented an overall review of Vahini. She emphasized the role Kashmira Vahini has been performing with regard to removing the draconian conditions attached to PM’s employment package and simultaneously drawing the attention of the President of India and Governor of J&K to the pathetic conditions of living in Jagati, enhancement of relief, enactment of Temple Bill, mischievous attempts of changing name of Villages, hillocks and like recent one of changing name of Srinagar to Shahar-e-Khas.

Mrs Gaytri Hashia presented vote of thanks and Meenakshi Sidha administered the oath to continue and intensify the struggle for homeland.

The function organised by Non Camp Migrant Organisation at Canal Bank Muthi started with Kanka Poojan which was followed by Bhajan Kirtan and Arti of godess river Vitasta.

The function was presided over by Swami Kumar Ji. He highlighted the significance of the day and also appealed the people to follow the teachings of Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta.

Besides president of Non Camp Organisation Nana Ji Dembi, its other leaders Ashok Pandita, Kashyap Tikoo and others also spoke on the occasion and threw light on the essence of celebrating these festivals.

The pooja of river Chanderbaga was performed at a function held at its bank at Akhnoor today by the activists of Vitasta Samaj Sewa led by Chand Ji Khar. The organization also celebrated the day at TRT Nagrota under the chairmanship of Nana Ji Pandita.

Reports reaching from Anantnag said hundreds of devotees thronged the holy spring of Vitasta on the occasion of Veyth Truvah. On the occasion a grand religious function was organised by Vitasta Devasthan Prabandhak Committee (Veerinag).

A Maha Yagya was solemnized under the supervision of Jyotshi Sham Lal Sharma while Moti Lal Koul and Madsudan Bhat were the Yajmans. The devotees were served with prashad after puranhauti. Besides the KPs from different parts of the country, a large number of local Muslims also attended the function.

The traditional flag was hoisted by Shambo Nath Bhat. The devotees also demanded renovation of Shiv Temple at Omoh, construction of two Hawan kunds one at Vitasta shrine and another at Omoh, dharamshalas at Vitasta and Omoh with all facilities of kitchen etc besides setting up a Police Check Post at Vitasta shrine.

Maha Yagya organized in Kandi Khass

Shri Sadhu Ganga Asthapan Trust in association with the Biradari of Village Kandi Khass, Kupwara Kashmir, organized a Maha Yagya at Sadhu Ganga Asthapan, here.

Thousands of devotees participated in the yagya which was performed for the first time in 22 years after the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in 1990.

A large number of people participated in the yagya and performed ‘darshan’ of famous ancient Asthapan in North Kashmir.

Apart from a huge number of Kashmiri Pandits, Army personnel and local populace attended the event with great enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, after the completion of five ‘Suhakars’, followed by ‘Puran Aahuti’, a Maha ‘Bhog’ was served to the devotees amidst ‘Bhajan’, ‘Kirtan’ and ‘Satsang’.

Elaborate security and allied arrangements were made by the State Government, while the cooperation of Army and local brethren was a delight to watch.

The yagya was held under the supervision of Som Nath Raina, Sohan Lal Raina, RK Raina Chuni Lal Raina, Satish Raina, Sanjay Raina and Omesh Raina.

Illegal Mining in Jammu and Kashmir

Illegal mining of sand and pebbles in various nullahs across Jammu-Lakhanpur Highway sector has caused serious damage to at least two major bridges, namely Devak and Balole. Portions of basements of these vital bridges have got exposed and partly washed away by the floods during current monsoons. Mining mafia has been lifting sand, stones and pebbles close to the basement pillars of the bridges rendering them vulnerable to flash flood damages. Despite a ban imposed by the authorities on illegal mining, the illegal activity continues unabated, mostly at night or in early hours. This is not possible without the connivance of supervising authorities supposed to impose the ban strictly. The cost of repairs to the damaged bridges, as disclosed by the authorities, will run into many crore rupees besides consuming several months for bringing it to completion. This is a major anti-national act and deserves to be taken serious note of. Persons involved in these clandestine activities should be given exemplary punishment. The mining mafia has to be exposed and their connections and conduits should be prosecuted under the law. Lifting of construction material obtained from the nullahs should be banned 500 meters up and down the site of all bridges of this crucial national highway.

Capping LPG cylinders in Jammu Kashmir

Chaotic situation has developed in regard to capping of LPG cylinders ordered by the Government after consultations with oil and gas majors in the country. On September 14, Union Government announced drastic reform in supply of LPG cylinders and fixed maximum of six cylinders per family per year on subsidized rates. However, additional cylinders would be available on higher rates. But this is not a uniform criterion. The Congress ruled states like Delhi will provide nine cylinders per family per year on subsidized rates and beyond that cylinders will be available on higher rates.

In the case of Jammu and Kashmir, only six cylinders per family per year have been allowed. It means that since half of the year (2012) is already gone, for the remaining period of six months till March 2013, each family in the State will get only three cylinders on subsidized rates. Anybody in need of extra cylinders will have to pay the higher price though that too is not sure because the Government is yet to decide what would be the price of non-subsidized cylinder.

This drastic decision has been taken by the Union Government in view of spiraling bill on energy resource in the country. The bill was likely to touch 200 lakh crore of rupees by the end of current financial year. The Prime Minister had touched on this point during his recent broadcast to the nation. He was emphatic in stating that some hard measures had to be taken to bridge over country's financial difficulties. Capping of the supply of LPG cylinders is the result of one such austerity measure. Hike in the price of diesel may not evoke as much of public resentment as the new policy of supply of LPG cylinders has evoked. The reason is that diesel is consumed by affluent sections of society and big business magnates who run diesel cars. But LPG is a dire necessity for all and curtailment of cylinder is going to adversely affect the middle and lower middle class of our population.

But the manner in which the entire matter is handled in our State has raised many fingers. Firstly, if Delhi ---- a Congress run State--- has been allowed nine cylinders per family per year, why should not this be possible for J&K State when we know that this hilly and mountainous State is debilitated economically in more than one way? Objectively speaking, the State should be allowed nine cylinders per family per year, and that would be justified in view of long winter and greater consumption as a consequence. Secondly, much chaos has been caused by asking consumers to get their gas cards re-verified although only three months back this exercise had been completed. Why are half hearted decisions taken by the gas outlets and why does the Government let them have their way. It is harassment of the people and unacceptable as it will call for PIL on a large scale. People have not forgotten the ordeal through which they were made to go when three months ago they were asked to get their gas cards verified. Re-enactment of that activity will earn the wrath of the people. Therefore the Government should immediately order stopping of re-validation of gas cards in the case of those that have already gone through the process.

Reports are coming in that besides ordinary consumers, even the Congress and NC activists including some ministers have expressed resentment to the capping of LPG cylinders to a maximum of 6 in the case of J&K State. Some ministers have even said that they would be raising the issue in the forthcoming cabinet meeting and will forcefully plead for a mechanism of rationalizing the decision. Revenue Minister disclosed that he has even written to the Chief Minister about people's resentment to the unjust capping of cylinders and demanded revision of the policy. He has also pointed out that re-validation of gas connection is harassment of civilian population.

In final analysis, it is true that the country is passing through financial hardship and the Government has to take drastic steps to check its deterioration. It is also true that ultimately people will have to bear the brunt. But at the same time, the reformative measures should be uniformly applicable, and secondly these should not cause harassment of the ordinary people. The Government should have worked out smooth transition from one set of conditions to another. Put in simple words, the Government has to do two things to bring this chaotic situation to an end. One is to increase the number of subsidized LPG cylinders from six per family per year to nine and second is to withdraw orders of re-verification of gas connections in such cases in which verification has already been done. This will ease the situation

Ring Roads for Jammu Srinagar

Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah today gave nod to the construction of Srinagar and Jammu Ring Roads to decongest traffic and provide alternate communication for commuters taking care up to the year 2042.

Approving the prestigious and most required two road projects involving an expenditure of abut Rs. 3000 crores at a meeting of high level officers of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Jammu and Kashmir State R&B Department here, the Chief Minister directed the NHAI, executing agency for the projects, to formulate the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) and put up the proposals to the R&B Department for finalization.

The proposed Ring Road project for Srinagar will start at Galander and meet the National Highway at Narbal Junction in its Phase-I. The road will be 4-lane with 6-lane future projection. Under the Phase-II of the project, a two-way road will start at Narbal and meet the National Highway in Ganderbal.

The project is likely to cost Rs. 1195 crores in Phase-I and Rs. 448 crores in the Phase-II. The road length in the Phase-I will be 34.72 kilometers and in the Phase-II, 27.2 kilometers. There will be a Toll Plaza at Narbal Junction. In the proposed 4-lane road project from Galander to Narbal there will be 155 culverts, two road-over bridges, two flyovers, five major junctions, 17 minor junctions and one Toll Plaza. The two-lane road from Narbal to Ganderbal will have 135 culverts, 5 major junctions and 9 minor junctions.

Omar said that the projects should keep room for widening from 4-lanes to 6-lanes and from 2-lanes to 4-lanes to cater to futuristic needs.

The Jammu 4-lane Ring Road involving an expenditure of Rs 1355 crores will have one Toll Plaza in each of the homogenous sections. It will start near Vijaypur (Raipur) and meet the National Highway at Akhnoor where from it will go up to Nagrota Bye-Pass. The road project will be about 60 kilometers in length. It will have 4 major bridges in Package-I and 4 similar bridges in package-II while the number of minor bridges in Package-I will be 5 and 4 in Package-II. The number of culverts in Package-I will be 215 and in Package-II 102. There will be two flyovers in each package while as two overhead bridges will be constructed in the Package-II.

Under the Package-I the road length from Raipur to Akhnoor will be 43 kilometers and in Package-II it will be 16.9 kilometers.

The Chief Minister said that creation of better communication facility in the cities, towns and rural areas has been focused in the development policy by his Government and all avenues are being explored to upgrade road communication facilities for better traffic management and commuting facilities to the people besides generating economic activities.

Omar said that up to the mark Ring Roads for the two cities of Srinagar and Jammu are need of the hour and to cater to the futuristic requirements of the two capitals growing on faster pace.

The Project Director NHAI explained the salient features of the proposed road projects and highlighted the main features of the projects.

Ganesh Festival 2012 in Jammu

Like other parts of the country the celebration of Ganesh Festival started with full religious fervour and gaiety in Jammu region from today with devotees setting up huge Pandals and installing the idols of Lord Ganesh for Pooja Archana at different places.

The 10 day -long Ganesh festival will culminate on September 29 with immersion of idols in rivers by the devotees in their respective areas. The devotees will perform pooja during all the ten days.

In connection with Ganesh festival the New Young Blood Organisation organized a function at Old age Home today. On the occasion Ganesh Pooja, Hawan and Bhandara was also organised. The festival will be celebrated up to September 29 from today at Samba under the supervision of the president of the organisation’s Samba unit, Mrs Neelam Singh Samyal, Ashok Verma chairman of the Organisation said.

The fruit, sweets and other material was distributed among the inmates of the Old Age Home here. Manohar Lal Saraf, Darshan Kumar, Dr K K, Raj Kumar, Jagdish Kumar, Mohan Singh, Sunita Sharma, Jaspal Singh, Daleep Kumar and others were present on the occasion.

Another function was organised by Narsingh Yuwa Mandal in connection with beginning of 10 day long Ganesh Festival at Narsingh Mandir Samba. The idol of Lord Ganesh was installed in the morning with pooja -archana by hundreds of devotees. The idol was brought in a huge rally of motor bikes by devotees.

D C Samba Mubarak Singh was also present on the occasion along with Tehsildar and other officers. The festival Committee members said that the festival will be celebrated up to September 28 and on September 29 the idol will be immersed at river Chanderbagha (Chenab) at Akhnoor. The arti and satsang will be held daily.

The members of Narsingh Yuva Mandal present on the occasion included Sanju Sharma, Vinod Singh, Kusum Khajuria , Anandi Mahajan, Akash Mahajan, Aryan Mehra, Sahil Gupta, Sachin Sharma , Sandeep Sharma and others.

Jammu Railway Station to get New Platform

Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Ferozepur Division of the Northern Railways, N C Goyal nowadays same that Jammu terminus can get further platform and additional line for the yards in close to future.

Talking to media-persons together with Ch Lal Singh, Member Parliament from Kathua-Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary body, adult male Goyal same, "the further platform and additional line for yards are sanctioned. The survey for an equivalent has already been conducted and also the locations identified", adding "as before long as different formalities during this regard area unit completed the work on further platform can begin".

Stating that project involves expenditure to the tune of Rs eighteen large integer, he said, "an quantity of Rs five large integer has already been sanctioned and technical problems area unit being sorted out for the commencement of work", adding "the new platform would have the capability for stationing of trains with twenty four to twenty five coaches. The creation of recent platform having capability quite that of the prevailing ones is additionally imperative seeable of the very fact that range of trains would increase following completion of doubling work".

In response to a matter, adult male Goyal same, "more organic process activities in Jammu terminus area unit within the offing and shortly once nod from the upper authorities and convenience of funds the work on an equivalent would begin". He disclosed that new signals would be put in on railway tracks and contemporary cabins for signal maintenance officers created.

Responding to a different question, the DRM same, "since Udhampur-Katra line is probably going to be opened by March 2013, many development activities area unit being planned for the Katra terminus wherever fourteen trains can arrive following empowerment of railway line".

"Recently, Governor of the State, N N Vohra had careful discussion on creation of facilities at Katra terminus. we tend to placed our difficulties before him and he in real time more matured an equivalent by passing necessary directions to the State administration", the DRM same.

The DRM disclosed that he together with Member of Parliament inspected 3 Railway Stations together with Kathua, Udhampur and Katra and enquired regarding the standing of organic process works occurring there.

Ch Lal Singh same that he has asked the Railway authorities to enhance facilities at Kathua terminus as despite being declared as Adarsh Station it's been lacking even basic amenities and facilities for the passengers. "I have additionally demanded that DMU service between Udhampur and Kathua ought to be augmented for the convenience of the native people", he said.

"Since massive chunk of Railway land at Lakhanpur is lying unutilized and is being encroached upon by some individuals, Northern Railways ought to establish progressive terminus at Lakhanpur", Ch Lal Singh stressed, adding the Northern Railways has additionally been asked to increase a lot of trains up to Udhampur terminus and construct product sheds there.

"In Reasi sizable amount of farmers have suffered immense losses as their agriculture land has either been nonheritable by the Railways for construction of road or suffered intensive harm as a result of selling of rubble by the project corporal punishment agency", the Member Parliament same, adding "I can take up this grave issue with the upper authorities for adequate compensation to the farmers and job to 1 member of these families whose land has been nonheritable for the development of railway line".

Ch Lal Singh same that he has additionally demanded separate railway division for Jammu and geographic area. "Since there's around four hundred kilometers of railway network during this State, there's all justification for creation of separate division for the State with DRM workplace at Jammu", he added.

Pakistani Refugees in Jammu and Kashmir

Sixty-five years after they were forced to leave their homes and strayed into Jammu and Kashmir in search of security of life, nearly 6000 Hindu and Sikh families, the 1947 partition refugees from Pakistan, have been "sympathetically" heard by the rulers in New Delhi. The irony is that many among the rulers who showed them sympathy in New Delhi are their former compatriots, who, by quirk of destiny, did not land in Jammu and Kashmir in the aftermath of the mayhem of 1947 as these more unfortunate ones did. The Prime Minister himself is one among the more fortunate refugees from Pakistan.

The one question that haunts them now is this: will the State administration be inclined to take serious note of the "request" of the Home Ministry to give a sympathetic deal to these lesser mortals? There seems no convincing answer to this question. If the State Government is that humane and unbiased as to respond to the entreaties of the Home Ministry, it would have found a solution to the issue long back and not protracted it over a long period of sixty-five years. A look in retrospect reveals the injustice done to these refugees by the State as well as the Union Government despite their unending supplication, appeals and protests. Theirs is a saga of gross denial of civic rights, blatant violation of human rights, transgression of international law and suppression of natural law flowing from moral philosophy that guides states in running their affairs. The semblance of justice which the Union Home Ministry expects the State Government to extend to them, if agreed to, will flow only to the third generation of these displaced people --- two of their generations having lived and died in destitution. Sometimes this belated eye-wash response by the Home Ministry seems more farcical than practical. Which constituency does the Home Ministry's passing the buck posture serve? That is what the third generation refugees would want to know.

Last time the issue of West Pakistan migrants in Jammu was heard when the Pradesh Congress Chief led a delegation of top political leadership of Jammu and met with the Prime Minister, Congress Chief, Home Minister and many other ministers. The delegation was given time and was also heard "with sympathy". Of course, on humanitarian grounds, Pradesh Congress Chief has done something very appreciable which no one did prior to him. The affected community will be thankful to him for having opened up their case with powers that be.

But to be realistic about the entire affair, this is only the first stage of struggle for winning human, political and civic rights of these people. For them and their political sympathisers, the more strident struggle now is with the State Government after the Union Home Ministry has referred the matter to the State Government with all the humility and servility at its command. The reason for the Home Ministry to be infinitely apologetic in referring the matter to the State Government is not that it is stridently following standard norms of protocol. The real reason is that firstly it is overcome by a sense of guilt and secondly but more importantly it has given nothing to the supplicants except profusion of lip-service and media hype. No law, no constitution and no legal instrument can be higher than the human law. And human law flows from the simple truth that man is the most rational creation of God. The State Government overlooked the constitution and the law of the land as well as Article 370 to which it attaches extraordinary political sanctity, and decided to welcome and rehabilitate the militants who had left their homes in Kashmir with the tacit purpose of becoming part of vast subversive machinery and party to the treasonable act of destroying the Indian State by force of arms. They acted in collusion with foreign subversives in not only extirpating a small religious minority of Kashmir but also in contriving cold blooded killing of thousands of innocent Kashmiris. Despite that we will not grudge the State government the humanistic aspect of accepting them back and rehabilitating them. The Union Home Ministry demonstrated its munificence by offering substantial financial support to the State for rehabilitating these seditionists. But where did that humanistic sensitivity evaporate in thin air in the case of the West Pakistan refugees who are languishing in neglect for last six decades. Home Ministry's sugar-coated rhetoric does not do them any good; it rather insulates negative elements in the State administration. The West Pakistan refugees of 1947 carnage expected a far realistic and non-political response from the Prime Minister if not others just because the Prime Minister, himself a victim of the partition, understands the severity of their case and its ramifications. Justice to them is both uncertain and delayed.

Dogri film Reet released on 21 Sept 2012

Giving a boost to emerging regional cinema in Jammu and Kashmir, latest Dogri feature film 'Reet' is all set to hit screen at Hari Talkies, here, on Sept 21, 2012.

Coming on the heels of already released and well received regional films like 'Maa Ni Mildi', 'Lakeer' and 'Kuggi Maar Doari', noteworthy aspect of the maiden venture of Navrudra Productions is that the film 'Reet' has been indigenously produced by using locally available acting and technical talent.

Speaking in a press conference at the Press Club, here today, Pankaj Khajuria, producer and director of film, who is also acting the lead role, said that 'Reet' is going to be a UFO release and other than Jammu it will also be shown through satellite in cinemas at Kathua and Udhampur.

He said that shot on digicam, with digital music, the film is a story of love betrayed by the custom of 'Dohri', an appalling social practice where a daughter is married in the family of daughter- in-law.

He further said for making regional films we need not to look towards Bollywood as enough acting and technical talent is locally available. He said the lead in this direction has already been taken by producer and directors like Amit Choudhary-'Maa Ni Mildi', Shiv Dutt-'Lakeer' and Neelam Phull-'Kuggi Maar Doari'. By producing 'Reet', our production house intends to start a healthy competition so that better and better films in Dogri are made and more and more viewers show interest in seeing films in mother tongue.

Pankaj Khajuria shared dais with Rajesh Khajuria, director of photography and cast of film including female lead Ridhima Singh, Janak Khajuria and Kusum Tickoo.

The music of the film is composed by Arvind, lyrics by B S Dardi and Rajneesh Gupta. Other members of film's cast include Madan Rangela, Raghunanthan Singh Bali, J R Sagar, Upendra, Shammi Malhotra, Neelam Singh, Santosh Sangra, Subhash Jamwal and others. The production of the film is designed by Akhil Gupta

Powerless Panchayats in Jammu Kashmir

Panchayat system is losing its space in Jammu and Kashmir State where the elected candidates are now-a-days tendering resignations to the ruling Government for not allowing them to establish their power point at village level. Decentralization of power is only in papers and not in the hands of the elected in general. Elections are already a year old, members have been elected but sarpanches are still powerless.

In our state Jammu and Kashmir initially during the regime of Maharaja Hari Singh, PRIs in a modest way were introduced in the State and several powers were also bestowed on them for raising taxes and non-taxes besides funding for addressing the infrastructural needs of the rural community. Panchayat adalats were also set up for resolution of local disputes of criminal and civil character by compromise, consensus and reconciliation. Panchayati Raj is the way to make a democratic nation and to give power to the local bodies for solving their issues.

J&K Panchayati Raj Act 1989 was brought in place by which three tiers Panchayati Raj system at Halqa, Block and District level, was prescribed as a step forward for de-centralization of the planning process and carrying out various developmental activities for rural upliftment through participatory management process. In J&K State, PRI election was held in 2001 and tangible steps were taken for empowering the Panchayats for their involvement on wholesome basis in the entire development process as also for looking after various subjects on root areas.

Decentralization of power to the grassroot level in India was the dream of the social reformers and the political parties. The concept of Panchayati Raj is nothing new. It was the dream of Gandhi, the father of the nation; its need was stressed by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, and again seconded by Late Jai Prakash Narayan. When late Rajiv Gandhi came to the helm of affairs in the country, he repeatedly stressed the importance of Panchayati Raj. He wanted to give equal power to those who are living in the villages and led their life on the track of equality from the base. He actually formed his views on the subject by under-taking whirlwind tours of rural India to familiarize himself with the realities of rural life, by holding frequent workshops of District Magistrates all over the country, and thus assessing their views and understanding their difficulties. Mahatma Gandhi was aware about the social life of the rural areas and to their needs which needed a special care. He then sought to give it constitutional sanction by proposing to add a new chapter to the Indian constitution in the form of the 64th amendment, through the Bill which he moved in the Parliament on the 15th of May, 1989.

Panchayati Raj is a system of governance in which gram (village) panchayats are the basic units of administration. It has three levels: Village, Block and District. Mahatma Gandhi advocated Panchayati Raj, a decentralized form of Government where each village is responsible for its own affairs, as the foundation of India's political system. State Governments adopted this during 1950s and 60s as laws were passed to establish Panchayats in various states. Through the 73rd Amendment in 1992 on April 23, 1993 the Institution of Panchayati Raj was accorded the Constitutional status. Regular elections to Panchayats every five years, proportionate seat reservation for SCs/STs, reservation of not less than 1/3 seats for women, Constitution of State Finance Commissions to recommend measures to improve the finances of Panchayats, Constitution of State Election Commission. We wish that the State Government shares their power with PRIs and make them the part of the democracy.

Reforms in Medical Services of jammu kashmir

Office bearers of Medical Association in Jammu as well as Srinagar have welcomed some reforms in medical services announced by the Minister for Medical Education R.S. Chib. Medical and Dental Colleges in both regions are faced with acute shortage of faculty members which has been adversely affecting availability of medical support to the public at large. As far as Government Medical College, Jammu is concerned, against 48 sanctioned posts of Professors, 26 are presently lying vacant while as 23 posts of Associate Professors against sanctioned strength of 49 are vacant. Similarly, against sanctioned strength of 67 Assistant Professors, only 33 are in position while, as 34 are lying vacant. The Medical College Srinagar is also reeling under acute shortage of faculty members. As against sanctioned strength of 69 Professors, only five are in position and 64 posts are lying vacant. Out of 74 sanctioned posts of Associate Professors, 40 are lying vacant while as 72 posts of Assistant Professors are lying vacant against the sanctioned strength of 125. Likewise, out of 232 posts of lecturers, 124 are lying vacant.

There is widespread appreciation among the faculty community that reduction of time bar for an Assistant Professor to become a Professor in nine years time will prove an incentive to the juniors and will make many vacancies available for new recruitment. It has also come to light that the Medical Council and Dental Council had been intermittently threatening de-recognition for the reason of lack of adequate faculty strength with them. Therefore the issue had become of much concern and now that looming threat will be lifted when fresh recruitment process begins.

We hope that along with the reforms in the services sector of the faculties, the Government will also take further measures to provide more efficient and more prompt medical services to the public. There should have been a clause to that purpose in the reformed rules of service for the medical faculties. Maybe the Minister for Medical Education will focus on that aspect also at some time.

First batch of Hajj pilgrims 2012

Omar sees off 1st batch of Hajj pilgrims

The 1st batch of Hajj pilgrims was seen off by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at Srinagar Airport this morning. The Minister of State for Hajj, Ajaz Ahmad Khan was also present on the occasion.

The Chief Minister while interacting with Hajj pilgrims prayed for their good health and successful performance of the Hajj. He enquired from them about the facilities provided by the concerned agencies at the Hajj House, Airport and other places to them.

Chief Minister expressed the hope that the operation of direct flights from Srinagar to Madinah Sharief by Indian Airlines will make the journey of Hajjis hassle-free.

National Handloom Expo 2012

Minister for Industries and Commerce, S S Slathia has called for exploring more marketing channels to facilitate artisans and weavers of the State sell their products in a hassle free manner.

Speaking to a large gathering of Handicraft artisans, and Handloom weavers, after inaugurating Dast-a-Hunnar, a 15 days National Handloom Expo, at Urban Haat here today, Mr Slathia said holding of regular Expos in different areas of the State, especially at prominent tourist destinations will go a long way in providing a platform to the artisans and weavers to show case and sell their products without exploitation of middleman.

The Mega Expo, sponsored by Development Commissioner Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles (GOI) is being organized in Srinagar after a gap of 26 long years wherein 80 stalls have been set up by artisans & weavers including 15 Handlooms Cooperative Societies from Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Panipat, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Banaras & Uttar Pradesh.

Mr. Slathia enjoined upon the officers and field agencies of Industries and Commerce especially Handloom and Handicrafts Departments to coordinate and dove-tail their schemes and programmes to promote world famous artifacts of the State in a big way.

Mr. Slathia called for strict quality control measures to preserve the artistic heritage of branded Kashmiri products like Pashmina Shawls and Kani shawls, adding that there should be no compromise on quality of handicraft and handloom products. He asked the law enforcement agencies to act tough against unscrupulous dealers who are indulging in sale of duplicate and fake products in the name of Kashmiri brand.

Earlier, the Minister went round various stalls and interacted with Handloom Weavers and Artisans.

The Director Handlooms, Mehraj-ud-Din Keenu, in his welcome address, gave a detailed account of the achievements of the department and schemes and programmes being implemented for promotion of handlooms and welfare of artisans and weavers of the State.

Vishwakarma Day 2012 in Jammu

Various functions were organized in connection with celebration of Vishwakarma Day today.

A function in this connection was held in the NHPC Regional office at Narwal near here. The function among others was attended by Jatinder Singh, Executive Director, other senior officers and employees of NHPC. On the occasion they paid obeisance to Lord Vishwakarma and offered Pooja to him. The function culminated with serving of prashad to gathering.

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) celebrated the day as National Labour Day in entire country. In J&K the members of the Union performed pooja of Lord Vishwakarma in their respective units i.e at Jammu, Reasi, Kathua, Samba, Udhampur, Rajouri and Kishtwar. They took a solemn pledge to work hard for the prosperity of the nation.

Laxman Ravinder Singh, senior leader BMS, Karnail Chand its president, Vijay Chandel its working president, Bushan Sharma, general secretary, Harbans Choudhary deputy general secretary and other senior leaders of the organization addressed the workers at different places. They demanded that the Vishwakarma Day be declared as a paid holiday all over the country as entire working class celebrates it and worship the Lord to invoke his blessings.

Addressing the workers Lakshman Ravinder Singh condemned the Central and State Governments for their failure to control prices and the poor workers have been put in great trouble due to anti people policies of the Governments.

Prabhandhak Committee Vishwakarma Temple Muthi organised a cultural programme on the eve of Vishwakarma Jayanti which was followed by hawan and Satsang. A large number of people from all walks of life attended the function. On the occasion Sat Verma and Darshan Verma performed Bhajan Kirtan in praise of Lord Vishwakarma. K C Raina ex president of the Pradesh Vishwakarma Sabha was the chief guest on the occasion. He threw light on Lord and significance of day especially for working class.

Shriya Bhat Mission Hospital holds orthopaedic camp

Shriya Bhat Mission Hospital and Research Centre Jammu in collaboration with Deepda Health Care Trust Delhi organized a special orthopaedic management camp here today.

In the camp 75 patients suffering from different orthopaedic ailments were examined by the eminent Ortho Surgeon from Delhi. Dr Sanjay Sarup. The patients were provided with free medicines for one month and X rays were got done on spot. The patients were provided the Physiotherapy advices by the Physiotherapists on spot.

In his lecture Dr Sarup informed that some bone deformity cases were seen among the children particularly from rural areas of Jammu. He informed that today many patients who can not afford the operation etc were selected for future treatment in Delhi free of cost by the Deepda Health Care Trust.

Vir Ji Bhat, general secretary R K Pandita A O of the Mission Hospital gave a full brief about the working of the hospital and its outdoor activities. They informed that the Hospital is trying to provide the medical facilities to the needy and poor patients.

Gul Gulshan Gulfam Film Completed

The budding regional cinema in J&K has got a shot in arm with completion of film ‘Gul Gulshan, Gulfam’, the shooting schedule of which completed in various parts of the State only a few days back.

The film produced by son of the soil, J L Bhan, under the banner of Jawahar Kiran Motion Pictures, is an cinematic initiative that would showcase for the first time Kashmiri and Dogra culture together on silver screen.

Written by Indu Razdan and directed by Sarfraz Alvi who assisted in direction of Bollywood film Chakradhar, the film ‘Gul Gulshan Gulfam’, is a story of two childhood friends Gul, a Kashmiri Pandit and Gulfam, a Kashmir Muslim, who got separated in early 1990’s due to turmoil in Valley.

Gulshan, the Dogra boy, now is the only college friend of Gul who understands his pain. The story takes a turn when Gulshan takes initiative to take Gul to the Valley and help him to meet his childhood friend Gulfam. But after lot of efforts both fail to locate Gulfam and decide to come back to Jammu. On the other hand Gulfam having apparently forgotten his friend Gul is troubled by unforgettable old memories.

The film, a sensitive take on topical issue of forced severance of tender human relations in wake of tragic turmoil, has in its cast all local actors who were chosen after an open audition at producer’s Jammu office at Sarwal in first week of July, 2012.

The cast of ‘Gul Gulshan Gulfam,’ doing various characters includes Vijay Koul son of veteran Kashmir stage actor Shadi Lal as ‘Gul’, Vikram Sharma, the star theatre artist

of Natrang as ‘Gulshan’, Arvin Tikko, again a theatre actor as ‘Gulfam’. The main female leads are Seema Rajput , a stage actor who has acted in J&K Academy’s production ‘Kunjoo Chanchalo’ and also worked in music albums, and Bela Thapa, an actor of Natrang.

Other supporting actors include Nazir Josh, TV artist known for role of a comedian king in Kashmiri serial ‘Ahed Raaj’, Arjun Manhas, Nirmala Koul, TV actor and singer, Vinod Bhushan, Jatinder, Rashid Shehnaz and others.

The music of the film is composed by Sumesh Vasudevan based in Mumbai and lyrics by P N Shad in Kashmiri and Rahul Arman in Dogri. The film after editing at Mumbai would be released shortly in different parts of the State.

DDK Srinagar Director attached

The Station Director of Doordarshan Kendra (DDK) Srinagar, Shammi Shair, was today attached to Doordarshan Headquarters in New Delhi and Qayoom Wadera, Director Doordarshan Kendra Leh, has been appointed as Director DDK Srinagar.

Shammi Shair was facing corruption charges and Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) and Doordarshan Vigilance are investigating the embezzlement charges leveled against her.

However, misleading the Additional Director General Doordarshan New Delhi, Ashok Jailkhani, about a TV anchor of "Good Morning J&K", daily morning show from DD Srinagar, who was arrested from a house boat and later released on bail proved to be proverbial last straw for her. She had informed the ADG that the TV anchor's uncle had passed away while she was in police lock as she failed to turn up for morning show.

Reports said that Jailkhani met the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Prasar Bharti, Jawahar Sircar, today and informed him about the incident. The two officers also discussed the corruption charges she is facing and decided to remove her from DDK Srinagar.

It may be mentioned here that CEO Prasar Bharti, Jawahar Sircar had said in July this year during an annual conference of the North Zone officers of the official electronic media at SKICC Srinagar that DDK, Srinagar had become a hub of corruption. He had assured that he will clear the mess and those responsible will not be spared. Sources said that removing the tainted director was another step towards that direction as first step was taken in July this year when former Director DDK Srinagar, Dr. Rafiq Masoodi, who was Deputy Director General (DDG) DD at New Delhi was suspended.

Masoodi was suspended for misappropriation of funds amounting to crores of rupees, allotting contracts without proper sanction, and projection of wrong facts regarding engagement of casual labours at DDK Srinagar. Besides this a Departmental inquiry had found that he had allegedly purchased 9000 segments for DD's Current Affairs morning show in 2009 and 2010.

The CEO had taken a serious note of the allegations leveled by the Private producers of Kashmir valley against Shammi Shair. They had told the CEO that she had failed to revive programme activity and had drawn crores of rupees in the name of her friends, relatives, acquaintances, neighbours and even her own drivers and domestic helps. The private producers had handed over several hundred page documents to the CEO as an evidence of her alleged frauds.

Diesel prices up by Rs 5 a litre

Biting the bullet, the Government today hiked diesel prices by a steep Rs 5.62 per litre and restricted the supply of subsidized cooking gas to 6 cylinders per household in a year to fetch an additional Rs 20,300 crore.

It, however, left kerosene rates untouched and spared an increase in petrol price by cutting excise duty by Rs 5.50 per litre.

Reeling under the criticism of a policy paralysis and facing an urgent need to cut down the ballooning oil subsidy of Rs 187,127 crore, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh took the decisions, which have come under strong attack from allies like TMC and SP. TMC and DMK ministers kept away from the meeting.

The biggest-ever hike of Rs 5 hike in diesel prices excluding VAT or local sales tax will make the commodity sell at Rs 46.95 per litre from tomorrow in the national capital as against Rs 41.32 a litre currently.

The CCPA decided that each household will get 6 cylinders of 14.2-kg per annum at the subsidized rate of Rs 399 and any requirement beyond that would have to be procured at the market rate of Rs 746 per bottle.

Diesel prices were last hiked by Rs 3.37 per litre in June last year.

State-owned oil firms were losing about Rs 6 per litre on petrol, a commodity, which was deregulated in June 2010 but rates of which have rarely moved in tandem with cost.

Even after the hike and restrictions on LPG, the Government will be left with an under-recovery of Rs 167,000 crore this fiscal which is more than Rs 138,541 crore of 2011-12.

The decisions to increase price of diesel and capping of LPG cylinders were taken in the backdrop of projected massive under-recoveries of Rs 1.87 lakh crore for the current fiscal on account of high international crude oil prices and sharp depreciation of rupee against US dollar.

As regards petrol, the release said, "No increase in the price of Petrol, although the current under-recovery on petrol is about Rs 6 per litre. The consequent loss to the OMCs will be offset through reduction in excise duty on petrol by Rs 5.30 per litre."

The capping of subsidised LPG cylinder to six in a year, it said, will help in reducing the under-recovery by about Rs 5,300 crore for the remaining part of the financial year.

However, it added that the under-recovery on sale of LPG during 2012-13, even after the cap, is estimated to be above Rs 32,000 crore.

The release further said that PDS kerosene, which is being sold at Rs 14.83 per litre (at Delhi), will result in under-recovery of Rs 32,000 crore in the current fiscal.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Petroleum & Natural Gas had earlier suggested capping of subsidized LPG cylinders to 6 per annum.

The capping supply of subsidized LPG cylinders at six per annum, it added, "will lead to saving of subsidy on one third of the total LPG cylinders. Two third of the total cylinders will still be supplied at subsidized rate".

About 44 per cent of the total LPG users, who consume six or less cylinders per annum, will not be affected by the Government's decision. Capping of cylinders, it added, "will also lead to reduction in misuse/diversion of subsidized cylinders".

The decisions, the release added, will still leave an under-recovery of about Rs 1.67 lakh crore in the current fiscal, up from Rs 1.38 lakh crore in the previous fiscal.

Longest Surviving Militant Arrested in Jammu kashmir

Mehraj-ud-Din Wani alias Javed alias Daand, the longest surviving militant of Kashmir who was arrested by police yesterday from Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and lodged in Kishtwar police station, was widely connected to top brass of militants, operating from Pakistan including Dawood Ibrahim, his younger brother Anees Ibrahim and United Jehad Council (UJC) chief Syed Salah-ud-Din.

Daand, who was among the first five youth who had joined militancy in Kashmir along with Salah-ud-Din, Hamid Sheikh, Yasin Malik etc had some top politicians of Jammu and Kashmir on his hit list when he was traveling from Nepal to Kashmir on the directions of Pakistan’s Army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), with whom he had close rapport.

Married to a Hindu girl in Nepal, named Sapna Goura of Kathmandu, Daand, a resident of Krank, Shivan Colony, Sopore in Kashmir, was stated to be in Nepal capital in the office of Pakistan Embassy along with official Arshad Ayub when IC-814 flight was hijacked from Nepal and taken to Kandahar after brief landing at Amritsar on December 24, 1999. India had to release Moulana Masood Azhar, the chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad in lieu of hijacked passengers along with two other top ultras Omar Sheikh and Mushtaq Latram. Name of Daand didn’t figure in Kandahar hijacking FIR as he had been operating with at least 25 code names.

Sources said there was also a possibility that Pakistan Embassy in Nepal had been used for pumping hawala money and arms into India, which were used for fanning terrorism in the country especially Jammu and Kashmir.

Daand had frequently traveled from India to Pakistan and Nepal on different identities using passports and visas arranged for him (in Pakistan) by Pakistan Army and ISI officials. He had a long list of contacts in Kashmir Valley, other parts of country, Pakistan, Nepal and Saudi Arabia.

Addressing a press conference here this afternoon, IGP Jammu Dilbagh Singh said Daand, a resident of Sopore belonged to first group of five militants from Kashmir, which had crossed over to Pakistan for arms training in 1988. He had returned to the Valley in 1989 after arms training and was presently in the rank of Salah-ud-Din, Dawood Ibrahim, Moulana Masood Azhar etc, all of whom figured in the list of ‘top 20’, wanted by India from Pakistan for fanning terrorism in the country.

He was part of Muslim Mujahideen in Pakistan initially but had later worked with almost all militant outfits including Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, Mr Singh said, describing arrest of Daand as a prize catch.

The IGP Jammu said the militant had traveled Pakistan and Nepal a number of times to mobilize support for militancy and generate hawala money for terrorists. He had been using different identities for his travel on Pakistani passports and visas, he added.

Dilbagh Singh said the militant has claimed during preliminary interrogation that he was on way to Kashmir for treatment of his brain tumour in Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura. However, his statement would be verified after medical examination, he added.

Mr Singh said the extent of Daand’s involvement in Kandahar hijacking was being probed. However, he added that Daand was close associate of Dawood Ibrahim and his younger brother Anees Ibrahim and had several times enjoyed their hospitality in Karachi including their Clifton restaurant.

Reliable sources said some top politicians of Jammu and Kashmir were on hit list of Daand and that was the reason for his traveling to Kashmir from Nepal. He had entered Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh a day before as an ordinary citizen on fake identity and then boarded a train to Jammu. He was traveling to Srinagar in a TATA Sumo when a Kishtwar police party on an input developed by an Intelligence agency nabbed him between Batote and Ramban yesterday. He was taken to Kishtwar for questioning.

Sources said since Daand was longest surviving militant, Pakistan Army and ISI had assigned him the task of using old militants and target top political leadership of the State to give a boost to the militancy.

"Very top politicians’’, sources remarked when asked as to who could be the targets of Daand.

In another significant disclosures, sources said, Daand was present in Pakistan Embassy at Kathmandu, Nepal in December 1999 when the militants hijacked Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar. A Pakistan Embassy official, Arshad Ayub and Daand were closeted with each other and the possibility of their involvement in the hijacking was not ruled out. India has quite often blamed Pakistan for hijacking as Moulana Masood Azhar, Omar Sheikh and Mushtaq Latram, all three militants released in lieu of the passengers, were later spotted in Pakistan.

Sources said Daand was being quizzed to ascertain his as well as Pakistan Embassy official Arshad Ayub in Kandahar hijacking.

DIG Doda-Ramban range Gareeb Dass was investigating the case and leading police team in interrogation of top militants.

Meanwhile, Major General Ramesh Babu, GOC, Counter Insurgency Force (Delta) said the arrest was made in a joint operation conducted by Army and police. He said it was a major success for security forces.

They added that Daand had traveled to Pakistan at least six times from India and paid more than a dozen trips from Pakistan to Nepal using different identities and passports. Pakistan Army and ISI officials mostly arranged his passports and visas.

During one of his trip from India to Pakistan, he was issued visa on the request of hardliner Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Police said they have evidence that Geelani had recommended Daand for issuance of Pakistani visa.

Initially, Daand was involved in various subversive activities but once he joined top brass of militants like Salah-ud-Din, Dawood Ibrahim etc, he started acting as motivator, fundraiser and launching commander for militants. He was instrumental in sending militants from Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country to Pakistan for arms training and arranging return of trained militants to India for carrying out terror acts.

He had also been instrumental in generating hawala funding for the militants of Kashmir from various foreign countries like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia etc.

Though six trips of Daand from India to Pakistan and over dozen flying visits from Pakistan to Nepal have been confirmed, sources said he might have traveled quite often between India, Pakistan and Nepal. During one of his trip, he married a Kathmandu’s Hindu girl, Sapna Goura showing his identity as Hindu on passport and visa, which he had managed with the help of Pakistan Army and ISI officials.

Sources said Daand was close associate of Dawood Ibrahim and his younger brother Anees Ibrahim besides United Jehad Council (UJC) chief Syed Salah-ud-Din, though there had been reports that he had fallen apart with Salah-ud-Din for past couple of years along with Saleem Qureshi, who had surrendered in Kashmir three years back.

Daand had generated huge hawala funds from Dawood and Anees and pumped them into the Kashmir Valley for funding militancy. He has admitted having visited and stayed quite often at Clifton residence of Dawood and Anees at Karachi and executed some tasks at their behest.

Sources said the involvement of Daand in Lajpat Nagar blast at New Delhi in 1996 was also under investigations. His two associates were involved in that blast. During questioning, his involvement was likely to surface in many terror activities not only within Jammu and Kashmir but also across the country as during past 25 years in militancy, he had developed contacts in India, Pakistan, Nepal and some Gulf countries.

Sources said though Daand had claimed that he was traveling to SKIMS in Srinagar from Kathmandu, Nepal for treatment of his brain tumour, sources said he could have easily afford such treatment anywhere in the world due to his close proximity with Dawood brothers, Pakistan Army and ISI.

"We have reports that he had been tasked to revive his contacts and target top politicians of the country’’, sources said.

Daand was a member of UJC, an umbrella group of several militant outfits.

Police said Daand had provided logistical support by giving fake travel documents to the five Pakistani men, who had hijacked IC-814.

The aircraft with 176 passengers on board, was hijacked by five Pakistani militants and forced to land in Amritsar, Lahore and Dubai before being taken to Kandahar, then Taliban’s bastion. Rupin Katyal, one of the 176 passengers on board, was killed during the seven-days stand-off.

Police said with the help of the Pakistan diplomat in Kathmandu, Mehraj-ud-Din had reportedly smuggled weapons, ammunition and fake currency into India.

The IGP Jammu said after his return from training in 1989, Daand had been arrested in Uri and sent to Kot Bhalwal Jail, where he came in contact with militants like Syed Salah-ud-Din, Nayeem Khan and Imran Rahi.

He was released and crossed several times to Pakistan on fake passports via Wagah border and also Nepal during the period to carry out the plans of militants, Dilbagh Singh said.

In Pakistan, he met top militants - Bilal Sidiqee, Ehsan Dar, Javaid Guru, who motivated him set up bases in Delhi and other places in 1992. Mehraj-ud-Din set up his network in Delhi, Saharanpur and Bangalore and carried out hawala operations, the IGP said.

In Delhi, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said, "we have to confirm the reports on Daand’s role in hijacking of IC-814 plane from Nepal to Kandahar in Afghanistan. If correct, I congratulate the J&K Police."

Comedy Drama competition

Mr. N N Vohra, Governor, inaugurated 11-day Comedy Drama competition 2012, organized by the Jammu Kashmir Film manufacturers And Artists Cooperative Ltd (JKFMAC) together with the State data Department and J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, at SKICC, here tonight.

The Governor conjointly free a book "Television Production Takneek Aur Tarseel" authored by Ashok Jailkhani, further Director General, Doordarshan, on this occasion.

This Comedy Drama competition, comprising plays in Kashmiri, Urdu, Dogri and Ladakhi, can depict the wonderful cultural heritage of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions. These plays are written and directed by acknowledge writers and theaterists.

Usha Vohra, First Lady, solon Gul, consultant to the Chief Minister, Vijay Bakaya, MLC, Chairman and Members of the Committee on Official Language of the law-makers of Kerala, presently on a visit of J&K, Ashok Jailkhani, further Director General, Doordarshan, Khalid Bashir, Secretary, J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, Zaffar Ahmad, Director, State data Department, Shabir Ahmad Buch, Director, Doordarshan, Jammu, Shami Shair, Director, Doordarshan, Srinagar, senior officers, functionaries of JKFMAC, writers, intellectuals, artists and an oversized variety of art and theatre lovers were gift on the occasion.

The Governor, discovered that tv, Radio, Theatre and alternative styles of mass media square measure terribly powerful suggests that to make awareness among the folks regarding the assorted development and welfare schemes launched by the govt., that go a protracted approach in fast the event method and promoting the welfare of the folks at giant. He accessorial that through the visual media even semi literate and uneducated persons living within the remote areas will pick up advised regarding the programmes and schemes being enforced for his or her welfare.

He aforementioned that involving the people in designing for his or her development contributes to evolving relevant welfare programmes. He aforementioned that well thought-about communication methods will facilitate the policy planners and directors to secure the simplest attainable results through the implementation of varied human development programmes.

The Governor recommended the necessity for fixing a Cultural Centre within the State that remains active throughout the year, organizing drama and art festivals so the inventive skills of the budding artists from every of the 3 regions of the State square measure tidy, the cultural traditions revived and people visiting the State get to understand the wonderful cultural heritage of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions.

Referring to man. Jailkhani's book, "Television Production Takneek Aur Tarseel", the Governor discovered that it had been useful that this volume has currently been translated into four languages and conjointly detected and appreciated abroad.

Mr. Jailkhani gave a resume of the "Television Production Takneek Aur Tarseel" and spoke regarding the aims and objects of scripting this volume.

Prof. Shafi Shauq, former Head, Department of Kashmiri, University of Kashmir, given a review of this book.

Earlier, in his welcome address, Shabbir Hyder, executive and Chief military officer of the JKFMAC, gave details of the second edition of the competition, the primary was organized last year.

Saadat Hassan Mantoo's celebrated play titled, "Tu Tu Main Main", was given on this occasion by the Amateur Theatre cluster, that was extremely appreciated by the audience.

Consolidation of water resources

Terming the last 3 years a golden era for the departments underneath his charge, Minister for PHE, Irrigation and control Taj Mohi -ud -Din nowadays aforementioned consolidation of water resources within the State was a serious action throughout the amount.

Addressing a public meeting at Bhanderkote in Tangmarg nowadays, the Minister aforementioned underneath his leadership several historic steps to preserve, defend and consolidate water resources within the State were taken by the govt.. He aforementioned J&K Water Resources Act 2010 was a vital milestone during this direction. He aforementioned many alternative steps were taken like construction of Ravi Canal and construction of lake Jammu Tawi, Chattabal weir and stabilization of water level in Jehlum, besides stabilization and improvement of the many previous and necessary irrigation schemes.

Mr Taj aforementioned around Rs. one thousand large integer are completed as water usage charges from varied agencies that is around one third of the State's total revenues. He aforementioned water usage charges collected would be utilzied for purchasing back power comes or rising water resources within the State. For this, he aforementioned recently associate ordinance was conjointly issued by the govt..

Responding to the native demands, the Minister proclaimed unleash of Rs one.50 large integer for water theme (WSS) at Bhanderkote. He conjointly directed for preparation of project for rising and maintaining Roose Kute Canal and upgradation of native reservoir and distribution network. He conjointly directed for completion of flood protection works within the space on priority.

The Minister conjointly directed for formulation of project report for irrigating orchards and kandi areas within the section.

Chief Engineer, PHE Kashmir G.R. Zargar and officers of district administration attended the Minister throughout.

Homeland solely resolution to finish race murder of KPs

Reiterating its demand of separate fatherland for seven large integer Kashmiri Hindus among natural depression with Union Territory standing, Panun Kashmir (PK) nowadays appealed the community folks to strengthen the organization because the fatherland was the sole answer to their all miseries and hardships.

The PK, that launched its fifth part of door to door awareness campaign among the displaced Hindus to accelerate the struggle for fatherland and Martyrs Day to apprise them of the abysmal and desperate condition of Kashmiri Pandits swing up in Jagti camp and alternative camps asked the community to accentuate the struggle for the cause.

Today's campaign was started from Barnai and Bantalab areas close to here underneath the leadership of Daya Krishan Kaul chairwoman PK.

Addressing the displaced Pandits, man Kaul reiterated the demand of fatherland for the seven large integer KPs living associate exiled life for over last twenty three years. He aforementioned the open threats given to KP youth in Kashmir appointed underneath PM's package and hopeless conditions of displaced Pandits swing up at Jagti concentration camp, alternative camps and rented accommodations clearly vindicates the Margdarshan resolution adopted by PK that was supported by the community in 1991 that a separate fatherland with UT standing be established on the North East of Kashmir natural depression with free flow of Indian Constitution and Indian nationhood to reverse the spiritual cleansing and race murder of KPs.

The other PK activists UN agency participated within the awareness campaign enclosed S K Handoo, Sanjay Raina (Trali), B L Koul, S K Gadoo and Sohan Lal Kaul.

The PK conjointly created associate charm to entire KP community to hitch the protest rally on Martyrs' Day at Press Club to pay tributes to Martyrs UN agency set down their lives for national cause and conjointly show commonality with Jagti camp dwellers. It conjointly reiterated its charm to the community that Sept fourteen be discovered as Black Day by availing mass causative leave, closing business institutions and wear black badges.

The meeting termed the curtailing of power and water to Jagti camp a grave human rights violation adopted by the govt. to force the exile Pandits to succumb so their voice of justice is chocked which can not be tolerated at any value.

2 Traffic men suspended for taking hafta

Deputy military officer of Traffic Police, Danish Rana nowadays suspended 2 Traffic men and disengaged another when they were caught taking 'hafta' from the vehicle operators on Jammu-Srinagar National route.Official sources aforementioned that DIG Traffic, Jammu was on his approach towards Srinagar in a very non-public vehicle once he detected 3 Traffic police personnel taking 'hafta' from a truck driver at Kunfar valley. The DIG directly stopped his vehicle and caught the boys in blue guilty whereas acceptive 'hafta'. associate quantity of Rs 780, that the Traffic police personnel had taken as 'hafta' from varied vehicle operators throughout the day was recovered from their possession.

Accordingly, DIG ordered suspension of DTI Javid Iqbal and choice Grade Constable Javeed and disengaged SPO Mohd Ishaq. SSP Traffic National route, Virender Sharma was directed to conduct inquiry and submit report among shortest attainable time.

Corruption in India

Mahatma Gandhi once said "Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be the inevitable products of democracy, but they undoubtedly are today". By this he meant that the basic idea of democracy was to empower the masses not to turn them into corrupt human beings. But somehow along the road that idea has been completely lost and what we have today is uncontrolled and unbridled corruption.

For any country to become a superpower it requires an efficient, hard working, dedicated and above all, a corruption free machinery.. The human nature is such that we can never be satiated. No matter what our riches are, we always have this urge to want more. In other words when people are dissatisfied with what they have they invent dishonest ways to acquire more, which is simply known as corruption. In the Indian society corruption has become so deep rooted that it is quite impossible not to encounter it in your daily routine. One of the major areas where corruption has set its roots deep is the Government, especially the lower bureaucracy, but with the recent telecom scams being unearthed and now the Coal scam it is quite evident that corruption has left no part of the government from its grasp. It rules one and all. If somehow we could remove the word 'corruption' from India then I'm sure that we would become a developed nation earlier than we think. Now the important question here is whether corruption has halted India's growth or, made it stagnant? Well I certainly feel that corruption is a like a malignant cancer and if we do not take strong preventive measures right now, then we might as well let it feed on us. If India aspires to be developed country it must fight this disease of corruption with an iron hand. There should be no exceptions. A strict law should be passed and defaulters harshly punished. Examples must be set so the future generations learn to stay away from this menace. With the likes of Anna Hazare taking up the baton to highlight the menace of corruption in India, the day is not far when India would finally break free from the tentacles of this disease.
As a matter of fact no country in the world is free from corruption but in these countries corruption is not as rampant and free as it is witnessed in India. I bet the USA also faces problems because of corruption but they have a better way of handling it, a much better way of punishing the errant people. As of present India ranks 93 out of 183 in the corruption perception index, a much better rank than its neighbours Pakistan and Bangladesh but much higher than that of China which ranks 72. When the C.B.I unearthed the 'great' 2G scam it was realized that it cost the exchequer a loss of 1.76 lakh crores, approximately $33 dollars in revenues. Can you imagine the amount of roads, or the number of schools or the number of hungry Indians that could have been fed or in general the amount of development work that could have been undertaken with that mount of money. The then union telecom minister A. Raja took now finds himself behind bars. That is not all. The Bofors scandal in which the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was implicated shook the conscience of the entire nation. Not even the office of the Prime Minister, supposedly one of the most respectable offices in the country, was free of corruption. The Telgi scam, the Bihar fodder scam in which the then Bihar Chief Minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav was involved, the Taj Corridor scam in which the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati was charged with corruption, and the very recent cash for votes scam in 2008 and the commonwealth scam in 2010 and now the coal mining scam which is called as mother of all scams as its resulting in a loss of approx 186,000 crore to the exchequer during the period 2004-2009 speaks volumes about the prevalent corruption scenario in India. Scams and development in India go hand in hand. Whenever there is some large development work, no matter in which part of India, some part of the tax payer's money is always siphoned off. Take the 2010 commonwealth games scam for instance. The commonwealth games which were supposed to showcase India to world were nothing but an embarrassment. First was the fear that the stadiums would never be constructed on time, with Melbourne unofficially kept on stand by. Secondly, the construction work was shoddy with most of the venues being completed in haste. Thirdly, most of the projects when completed had overrun their costs. And when finally an enquiry was set up to look into the commonwealth games debacle, it was found that the organizing committee had cost the exchequer a loss in excess of Rs. 23,500 crore. Nothing really happened except that it made up for one the most sensational news of 2010.In 2010 Anna Hazare, a social activist and a Gandhian got the nation's attention going on corruption with his fast until death unless a strong Anti Corruption Bill was passed in the Parliament. His fast at Jantar Mantar soon attracted thousands of people every day with the both the print and electronic media taking a strong stance against the Government for its apathetic attitude towards corruption.

Anna Hazare soon became the rallying cry for the millions of Indians of who were sick and tired of corruption and wanted the Government to act on it. The Government soon buckled and it promised to appoint a committee to draft a bill .The point here is that most of us Indians have witnessed or experienced corruption in one form or the other, and unless we raise our voice against it the government is just going to sit on it. It is unless we, the ordinary people, the heart of India, start doing something, only then would this evil be uprooted from our society. The fight against corruption has often been dubbed as the second fight for our independence. The first fight was to free our country of foreign powers while this fight would be to weed out all forms of corruption from our society.   

                                    By   Nayeem Wani

Lekhak staged by Nav Durga Kala Manch

Balwant Gargi’s famous play ‘Lekhak’ was staged today by Nav Durga Kala Manch at its Performing Art Studio, Jammu, in its ongoing Friday Theatre Series.

The play, which is directed by Aaditya Bhanu, is based on a writer, who is busy in writing a creative script for Radio. He undergoes various kinds of creative tensions but finally when he was going to end the script, he gets distracted by his neighbour, his friend and his relative.

The play beautifully portrayed the struggle of a creative writer, his effort, his energy, which he puts in creating a script. Without realizing his mental tension as when he is busy in writing script, everyone visits his home and starts telling their own problems. The play also depicts the life of a common man, who is busy in himself doing something for him, but fails to do so as he gets unfocussed by his colleagues and his work is affected and he gets depressed.

Dilshad Shazi as writer once again proved his mettle by doing such type of serious characters except comedy for which he is famous.

Tarun Sudershan Vasson as his relative was very much in character of a villager and portrayed his worth of acting too.

Reetu Manhas as his neighbour, Kamaljit Singh as his friend and Kibu Bharat as his servant too beautifully enacted their respective roles.

Make up was done by Reetu Manhas while lights were executed by Sudesh Thakur. The music was handled by Parveen Kumar and the presentation was done by Aaditya Bhanu.

Power production in Jammu and kashmir

Capacity production of power is that the dream of the Chief Minister. He needs that in next 5 years, the State ought to be able to manufacture 4000 MW of power to spice up its programme of creating the State self-sufficing during this major sector. we've the made water resources and that we would like harnessing the resource into generating power. There will be no justification for the State to be deficit in power once it's most of water resource obtainable. In his recent scrutiny of Baglihar Hydro electrical Project (BHEP) at Chanderkot in Ramban, it absolutely was reminded that the primary stage of 450 MW BHEP was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008 and therefore the project started industrial generation of power from Apr one, 2009. "The powerhouse has generated ten,724.06 million units of energy by the top of August 2012 value Rs four,027.450 large integer since its scrutiny against associate expenditure of Rs five,506.30 crore," a political candidate voice aforesaid. Presently pre-commencement works besides some essential works of stage second area unit below execution. associate expenditure of Rs 673 large integer has been incurred up to July 2012 on BHEP stage second, scheduled  to be commissioned by August 2015. All this augurs well for the state and hopefully when researching an extended ordeal of power shortage, the State can enter a replacement section of adequate power provide. this could naturally provides a boost to speedy industrial enterprise of the State and rejuvenation of arranged  off industries so as to revive the economic and monetary health of the State. The satisfying facet is that the Chief Minister has totally understood the importance of strengthening power sector and streamlining its generation, transmission and distribution system. varied reforms prompt for the PDD solely recently have sent a message that the current Government is seriously involved with delivery in forceful modification for improvement of power position within the State.

Land of Holy Shrine of Manzgam

Fifty canals of land encroached by native folks was demarcated by Revenue officers at Kheer Bhawani Asthapan Manzgam in Kulgam district of South geographical area nowadays.

The Tehsildar Damhal Hanjipora along side a team of Revenue Officers visited the holy shrine nowadays to demarcate the land. The Revenue authorities were motor-assisted by a team of Prabandhak Committee members of Kheer Bhawani Asthapan Manzgam. They enclosed Kuldeep Raina, T N Padroo, V S Lahori, A K Raina, Bushan Lal Kaul, O N Raina et al..

Besides the distinguished voters of Manzgam Khuri Batpora together with Sarpanch of Manzgam was conjointly gift on the occasion of the demarcation of the land. The encroachers totally cooperated with the Revenue authorities in restoring the land associated alternative fruit and non fruit trees to the holy shrine and therefore the dispute was settled in an lovable manner.