Tuesday January 31, 20174 DISTRICTS

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STATE TIMES NEWS BHADARWAH: To observeage-old tradition and totake blessings of Lord Shivaand Parvati while celebrat-ing 'Kanchouth' festival,early morning women folkof Bhadarwah and itsadjoining areas were seengoing towards their respec-tive temples on Monday.The main programmes werereported from Kotli,Ghatha, Khakhal, GuptGanga, Chinote and othertemples of the area.

The Kanchouth which isparticularly for women fallsin the month of endingJanuary or February everyyear.

Like Karwa Chouth that is

celebrated in plains,Kanchoth is celebrated inthis hilly Bhadarwah area.Both fasting festivals arecelebrated by women topray for long-life of theirhusbands and in both styleis almost same. The onlydifference is the timing.Where as Kanchouth falls inwinters, Karwa Chouth iscelebrated during autumn.

According to a womanGeeta Devi of Kotli,onKarwa Chouth womenbreak their fast when themoon appears while in caseof Kanchouth the fast isbroken after Gouri Poojaduring the day.

To celebrate this occasionwith full of tradition, ladies

dressed in their bestsuits(mostly red) and orna-ments gathered at theirnearby water bodies wherethey perform Pooja andthen sing Bhajan and danceone by one.

Ladies also offer'Thel'(respect) to one andall, irrespective of creed andcaste; age and sex and get inreturn their blessing'Suhagan Bho'(long liveyour husband).

The ladies are supposed totake food in every housethey visit. In some cases itso happens that they have totake their meals in scores ofhouses each day. In thenight ladies gather, singGhurai (Bhajan) and dance.During these three days thekitchen is managed by hus-bands.

While speaking to mediasome women includingLalta Devi, Janar Devi,Reva Kotwal, Rekha Devi,Shashi Lata and ShuddaDevi informed that this fes-tival is celebrated asanniversary of Shiv-Parvatimarriage and like KarwaChouth women ofBhadarwah fast today totake blessings of Shiv-Parvati and seek long lifefor their husbands.

Women celebrate Kanchouth festival

Women performing rituals during Kanchouth at Bhadarwah.

STATE TIMES NEWS KATRA: The 32nd meetingof the Governing Body ofShri Mata Vaishno DeviNarayana SuperspecialityHospital (SSH), Kakryal washeld here under the chair-manship of Dr. S. S Bloeria,Member, Shri Mata VaishnoDevi Shrine Board andChairman of the GoverningBody of the Hospital.

The Governing Body exten-sively reviewed the function-ing of the hospital since itslast nine months of opera-tionalisation and expressedsatisfaction over its perform-ance. It took a number ofimportant decisions for fur-ther strengthening, expand-ing and upgrading variousdiagnostic, treatment andinfrastructure facilities aswell as equipments on contin-uing basis to meet the upcom-ing and futuristic require-ments of this tertiary medicalcare hospital. In this context,Dr. Bloeria emphasised theneed for positioning of moreand more highly experiencedand renowned medicos as wellas the equipments in variousdepartments, whereverrequired.

Those who participated inthe meeting included B. BVyas, FinancialCommissioner, Planning andDevelopment, who is alsoChairman of the Finance andAudit Committee of theHospital and Ajeet KumarSahu, Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Shri Mata VaishnoDevi Shrine Board; bothmembers of the GoverningBody; Dr. M. K. Kumar,Additional CEO; Dr. (Brig)Man Mohan Harjai, ChiefAdministrative Officer,SMVDNSH; and other con-cerned officers from theShrine Board side. Thosewho took part in theGoverning Body meetingdeliberations on behalf ofNVDSHPL/NH included Dr.Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, ViceChairman, MD and GroupCEO NH and member of theGoverning Body of theHospital; V. Kesavan, GroupCFO, NH; A. Nagarajan,Senior Vice PresidentFinance, NH; Sunil KumarCN, Zonal Director, NH andCEO, SMVDNSH and Dr.Sirish Dhoble, ClinicalDirector, SuperspecialityHospital, Kakryal.

The meeting also discussedthe modalities for setting upthe PET Scan facility at theearliest in the best interest ofpatient care as such a facilityis not available elsewhere inthe State. Further, regardingoperationalising the organtransplant facility at theSuperspeciality HospitalKakryal, Dr. Raghuvanshiinformed the meeting thatthe matter in regard to secur-ing the required licences isbeing persistently followed upand other facilities are beingput in place for this purpose.He informed that the hospitalis contemplating for earlycommencing of kidney trans-plant, which will be followedby bone marrow and livertransplant facilities.

The meeting also decidedthat the hospital will startOPD consultation in Jammuin February 2017. TheGoverning Body wasinformed that eight majorTPAs have now empanelledthe hospital for providingcashless treatment to patientscovered under various medicalinsurance policies. Soon thehospital will be empanelled by12 more such TPAs.

SSH Kakryal to start OPD consultation in Jammu from Feb

Woman booked forpossessing illicit liquor

STATE TIMES NEWS KATHUA: Excise Department on Monday booked one personunder Sec 48 of the J and K Excise Act, besides destroying187 pouches of illicit liquor and 600 kgs of Lahan during dif-ferent raids carried out against illicit liquor in Excise RangeKathua.

Under the active supervision of the Deputy ExciseCommissioner (Executive), Jammu, Ghanshyam Singh, theExcise Team Kathua led by ETO, Excise Range Kathua,Sandeep Gupta along with Arun Kumar Inspector Excise,raided Khokyal, Kangdyal and Shatyal areas of KathuaDistrict to arrest the menace of illicit distillation of liquor.

During the course of raids one person namely Simla aliasMunni wife of Dev Raj resident of Kangdyal, Nagri, Kathuawas booked under sec 48 of J and K Excise Act for possessionof illicit liquor.

In the process more than 600 kilograms of Lahan and 187pouches of illicit liquor were recovered and later destroyed bythe team on spot.

Three drug peddlers arrested STATE TIMES NEWS

POONCH: Police on Monday arrested three drug peddlersand recovered drugs from their possession.

As per details, a Police Party of Police Station Surankoteunder supervision of DySP Hqtr Mohan Sharma headed bySHO Charanjeet laid a Naka at Potha bypass, stopped oneswift car bearing temporary No JMU.BJ 9302 for checking.During checking of the persons boarded in the car, policerecovered one gram brown sugar from Waseem Akram son ofMushtaq Hussain resident of Surankote, 20 grams Charasfrom Vikram Sharma son of Mohinder Sharma resident ofSurankote and 40 grams Charas from Tariq Mehmood son ofMohd. Aslam resident of Potha. All the three were arrestedand a case vide FIR No 16/17 under section 8/20/21/22NDPS Act was registered against them at Police StationSurankote.

STATE TIMES NEWS RAJOURI: A farmersawareness programme on'Weather based AgroAdvisory and its Impact OnAgricultural Sector' was con-ducted at block Siot of dis-trict Rajouri by Agro-meteo-rological Field Unit(AMFU), RARS, Rajouri ofSKUAST - J on Monday.

About 55 farmers partici-pated in this programme.The awareness programmewas initiated under the guid-ance of Dr. J. P Sharma,Director Research,SKUAST -Jammu. Themain objective of the pro-gramme was to help ourfarmers to manage weatherrelated uncertainties in dayto day agricultural activitiesparticularly during rabi sea-son.

The proceeding of thetraining programme wasstarted by Dr. Vinod Gupta,Incharge, RARS, Rajouri,

wherein he highlighted theimportance of organisingthis programme to sensitisethe farmers of hilly regionabout weather and climateinformation and its applica-tions in their farm opera-tions. He motivated thefarmers to take maximumadvantage from this aware-ness programme as well asthe services provided by the

RARS, (SKUAST - J),Rajouri.

Dr. Mahender Singh, Headand Nodal Officer, AgrometResearch Centre, SKUAST -Jammu highlighted the useof weather and climate basedagro-advisories in day to dayagriculture activities andstressed upon the farmers tomake more and more utilisa-tion of Gramin Krishi

Mausam Sewa (GKMS)Services rendered by IndiaMetrological Department(IMD) and role of SMS serv-ices in the area.

Dr. Rohit Sharma,Technical Officer (Agro-meteorology) gave informa-tion on importance ofagromet advisory services.

Dr. Vikas Sharma,(Scientist, Agronomy)focused on agronomic prac-tices taken in various Rabicrops in the area. Dr.Deepak Kumar, Scientist,RARS, Rajouri emphasisedon the role of weather factorson disease development andtheir management in wheatand mustard crop.

On this occasion RameshSharma a progressivefarmer from Siot also inter-acted with the farmers alongwith the Sat Pal, Sarpanchof the village Siot. Dr. RohitSharma presented the voteof thanks to the farmers.

Farmers imparted awareness onweather-based agro advisory services

Organisers along with farmers during the programme at Rajouri.

STATE TIMES NEWSRAMBAN: All Jammu andKashmir PanchayatConference (AJKPC)Ramban staged a protestagainst the RuralDevelopment Department(RDD) for its 'failure' in clear-ing liabilities since long time inthe works being done underthe Mahatma GandhiNational Rural EmploymentGuarantee Act (MGNREGA),in front of Block DevelopmentOffice (BDO). Addressing the

gathering, ConferenceDistrict President FarooqChoudhary alleged thatthough the UnionGovernment had releasedfunds to the government forclearing the MGNREGA,14th FC, SBA, IHHL, IAYliabilities, the department wasdeliberately not clearing them.

The minister concerned andsenior officers sitting in thecivil secretariat should payattention to the miseries ofpoor people. He claimed that

district Ramban was amongthe district which paid lowestto its MGNREGA workers.He warned if the concerndepartment does not fulfill ourdemands within a week theconference will go for indefi-nite strike in district adminis-tration complex. Talking tomedia persons AssistantCommissioner Development(ACD) Ramban JahangirKhandey said that the depart-ment will fulfill their genuinedemands at the earliest.

AJKPC holds protest against RDD

Members of AJKPC raising slogans during the protest at Ramban.

Shopkeepers refuseto accept Rs 10 coins

STATE TIMES NEWSNOWSHERA: The com-mon people have resentednon-acceptance of tenrupee coin by the shop-keepers on the groundsbest known to them.

President BeoparMandal Dharamvir Gupta,Samaj Sudhar CommitteePfresident Gopal Sharmaand Kamal Gupta saidthat there should be nohesitation in accepting thecoin of Rs 10 but it hasbecome a routine witheverybody not to accept thecoin.

Even the Manager ofJammu and KashmirBank said that thereshould be reason to refusethe coin when the bankitself is accepting it.

People have appealed tothe Administration toissue suitable notice to thepublic not to refuse accept-ing the ten rupee coin fail-ing which an FIR shouldbe registered in police sta-tion against such person.

STATE TIMES NEWS AKHNOOR: The worst dis-criminated in Indian society isthe girl child, the futuremother about whom holyscriptures hold that heavenlies at feet of mother. S.SBijral former IGP StateConvener of BBBP calledupon Jammuites to welcomegirl child and correctabysmally fallen Child SexRatio (CSR) of 795 against1,000 boys in the district.

Addressing students ofBoys Higher SecondarySchool Akhnoor, Little StarPublic High School Akhnoor,Tiny Aspirant Public HighSchool Jourian and Govt.Higher Secondary schoolJourian, in four separatefunctions, Bijral enumeratedcapabilities of girl child that

has earned her title of homebuilder, first teacher of newborn and role model of count-less who happened to have ledthe world. He lamented thatthis gift of God without whomthe continuation of life on theplanet is impossible is beingeliminated in the womb abus-ing the scientific technology.He called upon youth to beambassador of this campaignfor country's sake SeemaSharma, the Principal of TinyAspirant Public High SchoolJourian impressed with thecampaign objectives and thegoals volunteered to associatewith this national projectlaunched by PM NarinderModi. She resented socialthinking of worshipping god-desses but not welcomingbirth of the girl child who is

far superior biologically thanmales. Anju Dogra StateCommittee Member anchoredthe functions and called uponsociety to protect, nurtureand educate girl child withsame sincerity as they do forboys. Kuldip Singh a leadingmember of local society volun-tarily joined to push forwardthe national campaign. Sevengirl students of TAPs HighSchool Jourian, 22 Hr.Sec.School, Jourian and 8 of LSPHigh School Akhnoor whoexcelled in the bord exam of8th and 10th standard weredecorated with Beti BachaoBeti Padhao medals. Bannerscarrying this holistic messageof PM Narinder Modi werefixed in the school premises toserve a daily reminder to theyouth.

Youth need to save girl child: Bijral

Former IGP and State Convener of BBBP S.S Bijral along with students during the programme.

STATE TIMES NEWS REASI: In the chain oftraining programmes toempower women in ruralareas under its CSRProgramme, Salal PowerStation of NHPC Limitedorganised 15 days 'SkillDevelopment Programmeon Knitting and Weaving'for local rural women atvillage Agharballian, Reasion Monday . M.G Ghai,Chief Engineer (Civil),Salal Power Station was theChief Guest who inaugurat-ed the programme. Amongothers, J.K Sharma,Manager (HR), officersfrom NHPC limited andlocals were present on theoccasion.

Speaking on the occasion,Ghai said that developing

skills in women is a steptowards women empower-ment. He further advisedthe women to make a judi-cious use of the time duringthese 15 days, enablingthem to learn smoothly.

Pertinent to mention thatsimilar centres were openedat village Seela, Reasi on25th Jan 2017 and at vil-lage Bidda on 27th Jan2017 to continue for a fort-night.

Salal Power Station holds skill developmenttraining for rural womenfolk

Officials of Salal Power Station along with participants.

STATE TIMES NEWS REASI: Krishi Vigyan Kendra(KVK), Reasi of Sher-e-Kashmir University ofAgricultural Sciences andTechnology of Jammu(SKUAST-J) is imparting sixdays long training programmeon organic farming/naturalfarming/cow basedeconomy/sustainable agricul-ture at Organic TrainingCentre, Talwara of ReasiDistrict in which a batch of 30farmers is being trained.

The programme has beenorganised under the guidanceof Associate DirectorExtension (ADE) andIncharge of all the KVKs ofSKUAST-J, Dr.R.K Arora.Scientist and Head of KrishiVigyan Kendra (KVK), Reasi,Dr. Banarsi Lal inaugurated

the programme. Dr.Sanjay Kaushal, Scientist

educated the farmers on organ-ic agricultural techniques toproduce maximum yield of thecrops. Dr. Mandeep SinghAzad stressed on the scientificorganic animal husbandry andexplained the use of organicchemicals for the treatment ofvarious diseases in the animals.He educated the farmers on thePanchgavaya preparation andits use for their animals.Dr.Suja Nabi Qureshi,Scientist elaborated scientificguidelines on organic horticul-ture.

Hans Raj, a progressiveorganic crops grower shared hisexperiences on organic farming.In this programme Dr. JagdishKumar, Manohar Lal and oth-ers were also present.

Six-day training byKVK gets underway

STATE TIMES NEWS AKHNOOR: MaharajaHarisingh DAV Cent.Public School Akhnoorpaid rich tributes to theFather of Nation,Mahatma Gandhi Ji on his69th Death Anniversary inthe school premises. On this occasion a specialassembly was organised inwhich school staff and stu-

dents kept two minutessilence for the departedsoul.

Principal of the Schoolthrew light on the contri-bution of Gandhi andapprised the gatheringthat Gandhi followed thepath of non-violence forthe freedom of India. Weshould follow his foot-prints.

RAMNAGAR: The staffand Students at GDCRamnagar paid tributes tothe Father of the NationMahatma Gandhi Ji on hisDeath Anniversary.

Principal of the CollegeProf. Tara Nath along withProf. Brinder Chib, Prof.Satish Kumar, Dr. PankajSharma (Coordinator ofthe Programme) and otherstaff members paid floraltributes to the Father ofthe Nation.

Nitin and Kewal fromB.A Sem I expressed theirviews to adopt GandhianPhilosophy in life by fol-lowing goals of truth andnon-violence.

From staff Prof. BrinderSingh and Shashi Singhthrew more light on thelife and principles ofGandhi Ji.

NCC Cadet KewalKumar extended formalvote of thanks to all pres-ent.

Tributes paid to Mahatma Gandhi

Tributes being paid to Mahatma Gandhi at Ramnagar.

STATE TIMES NEWSPOONCH : In a religious function organised in BabaBeeram ShahiDera of 1008Bhai DharamDatt Ji Maharajand his successor108 Bhai KrishanDatt Ji Maharaj,his son LokeshDatt has been for-mally coronatedas 108 Shri GuruBhai Ji Maharajon Monday.Thousands ofdevotees fromPoonch, Mendhar,Rajouri, Nowshera, Jammu, Udhampur and many otherstates of the country were present on the occasion besidesPresident Sanatan Dharam Sabha Satish Sassan, GeneralSecretary District Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee,Advocate Rajinder Singh and other prominent persons ofthe town.

Bhai Krishan Datt Ji Maharaj who left for his heavenlyabode a few days back had himself nominated Bhai LokeshDatt Ji Maharaj to succeed him. The function of coronationwas accomplished in the presence of Guru Mata Smt RajDulari Ji. After formal Ardas, Langar Prasad was servedto the participants.

Bhai Lokesh formally coronated

STATE TIMES NEWSR S PURA: The MLA RSPura Gagan Bhagat onMonday visited various wardsof the RS Pura town along-with the officers of MunicipalCommittee and commencedthe work for construction oflanes and drains in Ward Nos1,2,4 and 11 which will becompleted at a cost of Rs 18lakh.

The MLA also announcedfunds for a new transformer

in Ward No 2. Whileaddressing a big gathering hesaid that Central Governmentis committed to the overalldevelopment in the State andsaid that there is no dearth ofthe funds for this purpose.Prominent among those pres-ent on the occasion includeBJP Mandal PresidentNatha Ram, Sity presentInderjit Sudan, Om PrakashChachu, Kishor Sharma,Ajay Kumar and others.

MLA announces funds fornew tranformers