Senior Congress leader Karan Singh on Friday urged Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik to declare his father Hari Singh”s birth anniversary next week as a public holiday, asserting that it was due to the state”s erstwhile ruler that it became a part of India.

Singh, the former Sadar-e-Riyasat of Jammu and Kashmir, said that for many years there had been a strong demand to declare the birthday of Hari Singh as a public holiday.

“In fact, both my sons had a resolution to this effect passed in the legislative council some years ago, but so far no action has been taken. The birth anniversary is on Monday, September 23,” he said in a statement.

“Let us recall that it was due to Maharaja Hari Singh ji that Jammu and Kashmir state became a part of India when he signed the instrument of accession on October 26, 1947. Apart from that he was a progressive and a far-sighted ruler who instituted many social and economic reforms for the welfare of the people,” he said.

Singh said as far back as 1929, his father had declared all temples in the state open to Dalits.

“I urge the governor to declare this day as a public holiday,” he said

SRINAGAR, SEPTEMBER 18: The government has released around 16.5 crore rupees to complete major drainage and drinking water network projects in Srinagar.

This was informed here in a meeting with concerned departments held under the chairmanship of District Development Commissioner Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary.

The amount released under the Special Area Development Programme or SADP 2019-20 includes 13.5 crore rupees released to SMC Drainage and 3 crore rupees released to PHE Department.

 

The projects cover various areas across Srinagar and benefit a large population put together. Most of these projects either revamp the old existing infrastructure or fill infrastructural gaps in order to augment the vital facilities of drainage and drinking water network.

These include 26 works under the drainage sector and 4 works under that of drinking water network.

The former covers a total of some 9 kilometres of road length in areas across Srinagar including various low-lying areas and various areas in the old city. These include main roads as well as lanes — at Lal Chowk, Abi Guzar, Raj Bagh, IG Road, Mehjoor Nagar, Nowgam, Chanapora, Mominabad Batamaloo, Malroo Shalteng, Hamdaniya Colony Bemina, Zainakote, Kaluna Colony and Rose Avenue HMT, Bishamber Nagar, Mandibal Nowshera, Jamia Masjid to Zawoora, Shahanshah and Umer Colony Lal Bazar, Firdous Colony Buchpora among others.

This also includes construction of a dewatering station and sluice chamber at Nowgam at a cost of 85 lac rupees.

The projects under the PHE sector include replacement of worn-out water distribution system in Bemina area at 191 lac, installation of 100 mm dia DI main line from Zakura to Habbak for augmentation and improvement of water supply to these areas at 51.5 lac, realignment of supply line and construction of sluice chamber at Alamgari Bazar to make way for long-pending construction of drainage through the area at 45 lac, and installation of 100 mm dia main supply for augmenting WSS Gasoo supplies at 9.5 lac.

The meeting was informed that all these projects will be completed by the end of March 2020.

Dr Shahid while speaking on the occasion emphasised the importance of these projects and how these will bridge shortfalls in drainage and drinking water networks in these areas. He directed both the departments to ensure all these works are completed within the deadline.

Concerned officers including SE Drainage SMC and SE Hydraulics PHE and JD Planning Srinagar were present in the meeting.

SRINAGAR, SEPTEMBER 17: Staff Selection Commission (SSC) is going to conduct four examinations for the candidates of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh at Jammu, Samba, Leh and Chandigarh in the month of September.

According to the details, for Junior Engineers Examination-2018, the SSC will conduct the examination at Jammu, Samba, Leh from 23 September to 27 September. 4279 candidates are going to appear in the examination.

The examination of MTS (NT)-2018, for the remaining candidates of Srinagar centre, will be held on 27 September at Jammu. 2872 candidates are going to appear in the examination.

The examination for SI in CAPFs (Paper-11)-2018, will be conducted on 27 September in Chandigarh in which one candidate is going to appear.

Furthermore CHSL Exam (Tier-11)-2018, will be held at Jammu on 29 September in which 16 candidates will appear.

SSC had advised the candidates to download their admit cards containing information regarding date, shift, centre, venue of respective examinations and important instructions from the website of the SSC (www.sscnwr.org). SSC also said that the admit cards would also be sent to the individual candidate by e-mail and SMSs with the requisite information.

In case of any assistance, the students have been advised to contact the office of concerned Divisional Commissioner, Deputy Commissioners and Staff Selection Commission (North Western Region), Kendriya Sadan, Sector-9A, Chandigarh (UT) Phone-0172-2744366.