Jammu Apr 19 PTI Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit the 500-Kilowatt Solar Plant at Palli Panchayat in Jammu and Kashmirs Samba district has been completed in a record time of 20 days Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on TuesdaySingh accompanied by Central Electronics Limited chairman and Managing director Prakash Jain visited the plant and inspected the trial run of the newly installed solar plant which will make the village with about 340 houses the first in the Union Territory to become carbon neutralThe successful trial run of the solar plant was demonstrated to the minister of state in the Prime Ministers Office at the siteThe 500 Kilowatt Solar Plant installed on a total area of 6408 square metres was completed in a record time of 20 days that will provide clean electricity and light to 340 houses in the Panchayat the minister saidHe said a 25-member team worked round the clock to complete the Rs 275 crore project The electricity generated will be distributed to the village having a daily requirement of about 2000 units through the local grid power stationThe Prime Minister will inaugurate the solar plant during his scheduled visit to the Palli Panchayat on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day on April 24 He will also address a gathering including more than 30000 Panchayati Raj Institution PRI members of Jammu and KashmirPRIs from across the country will also be connected virtually for the Prime Ministers addressAround 20 stalls at the exhibition venue of the Prime Ministers programme are being put up by various departments and wings of the Union Ministry of Science and Technology which will display the latest technologies and innovations beneficial for rural areas and farmingSingh said a series of meetings were held in New Delhi between Union Ministers Jitendra Singh and Giriraj Singh to fine-tune exhibition themes for the Modis Jammu event during the last fortnightSome of the themes identified -- poverty and enhanced village livelihood Healthy village Child-friendly village Water sufficient village Clean and green village Self-sufficient infrastructure in the village Engendered development in the village to be implemented by different departments of the Science Ministry -- will bring about a revolutionary transformation in augmenting the household income of the rural populace he saidThe minister said stalls demonstrating best agriculture practices -- be it DBTs Bio-Tech Kisan Scheme drone farming -- will be supplemented by the Centres and UT governments innovative initiatives for the welfare of farmersStalls exhibiting Aroma Mission and Purple Revolution Floriculture mission modern uses of Bamboo waste-water management will also be set up he said adding that stalls showcasing the integration of Science and Technology with the themes of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj will be put up for the benefit of the common manThe minister said instead of having conventional stalls at the event efforts are being made to showcase the latest technology which can add value to farmers income and science-based demonstration with Panchayati Raj featuresAmong important innovations planned to be showcased are geospatial technology for rural development and farmers apps usable by farmers for the weather forecast for five days lavender cultivation -- famously known as the purple revolution biotechnology innovation to increase the produce of apple drone application for pesticide spray and waste treatment and shelf life of fruits to be increased through atomic radiation PTI TAS BAL BAL

Jammu Dec 27 PTI Two persons were arrested and 400 kilograms of poppy was seized from a Punjab-bound truck in Jammu and Kashmirs Samba district on Monday police said Acting on a credible input about the smuggling of narcotics a police party intercepted a truck at Mansar checkpoint on Udhampur- Mansar-Samba road they said During its checking 40 boxes filled with poppy weighing about 400 kilograms were recovered police said adding the truck was going to Punjab from Kashmir Truck driver Farooq Ahmed Ganie and his associate Shabir Ahmed Dar both residents of Pulwama district were arrested they said adding the vehicle was seized A case has been registered at police station Samba and further investigation started police said PTI AB AQS AQS

Jammu Dec 26 PTI Nearly 500 hectares of cultivable land lies unutilised between the border fencing and the International Border IB in Jammu and Kashmirs Samba district officials said on SundayThe administration is encouraging border farmers to cultivate the fields in the forward areas Deputy Commissioner Samba Anuradha Gupta said adding the practice was abandoned amid threats of cross-border shelling by PakistanBut India and Pakistan agreed to a renewed ceasefire in February along the Line of Control and the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir encouraging border farmers to cultivate their land beyond the border fencing she saidGupta said the district administration and Border Security Force BSF authorities would extend full cooperation to the farmers address their concerns and also support them in doing routine farming beyond the border fenceThe administration organised a visit to the Suchetgarh border in Jammu on Saturday to encourage Samba farmers to follow their counterparts here she saidBorder area farmers of Samba have resolved to start cultivation on the fields beyond the IB fence after the visit to the Suchetgarh sector where the BSF has facilitated resumption of agricultural activities on fields across the fence the officials saidThe tour was organised by the district administration of Samba in collaboration with the BSFSeventy-three farmers along with panchayat members from Rajpura Samba and Ramgarh had a detailed interaction with their counterparts at Suchetgarh and agriculture officers on cultivable crops and practices that can be taken up along the IB they saidThe officials said the uncultivated land across the fence can be sown with the help of the BSF and the farmers can be encouraged to take up agricultural activitiesWe stopped cultivation due to the fear of Pakistani firing Now with the governments encouragement farmers here Suchetgarh are cultivating their land beyond the fence and we can also resume cultivation under BSF security cover a visiting farmer said PTI TAS IJT

Jammu Oct 27 PTI Two more people were detained by police on Wednesday for allegedly raising pro-Pak slogans in Jammu and Kashmirs Samba district following a T20 World Cup match between India and Pakistan taking the total number of those detained to eight officials saidOn Monday night a case was registered and six people were detained in this connectionA senior officer of the district said Two more persons have been detained on Wednesday More persons are likely to be detained A video purportedly showing objectionable slogans being raised by a group of persons following a T20 World Cup match between India and Pakistan on Sunday surfacedThis triggered widespread protests by various social organisations in Samba districtVideos purportedly showing medical students at female and male hostels in Srinagar raising pro-Pakistan slogans have also surfaced PTI AB KJ

Jammu Sept 29 PTI Police have seized 23 kg of poppy from a Punjab-bound car on a highway and arrested a narcotic smuggler in Jammu and Kashmirs Samba district officials said Wednesday During checking of the said vehicle Tuesday a total of 23 kg of poppy packed in 37 polythene bags tactfully hidden in a fabricated cavity of the car was recovered they said The accused Rakesh Kumar a resident ofJalandhar was arrested on the spot The car was also impounded officials said A case has been registered and further investigation is underway they added PTI AB MGA MGA