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Saturday,
April 14, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Pant prepares for talks sans
Hurriyat Militants kill
2 NC leaders CM addresses Doda,
Udhampur panches CM reviews security
situation Geelani’s daughter dies of haemorrhage FIR lodged against STF jawans |
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J&K
human development report in Dec Street performances mark Jammu Fest 52 selected for police force
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Pant prepares for talks sans Hurriyat New Delhi, April 13 Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission
K.C. Pant held discussions with officials of the state government and some “key-figures”, who have either served or are serving in the state, informed sources told PTI here. Mr Pant is also reported to have met some officials in the Home and Foreign ministries to discuss the Kashmir issue in totality. They said recently senior police official from the state briefed Mr Pant on arrested seccessionist leaders and militants besides continued efforts by Pakistan and its intelligence agencies to derail the peace process. These meetings were designed to prepare ground for a dialogue with the militants and seccessionist outfits of the state, the sources said. Taking a cue from failed talks between the Centre and Hiz-bul-Mujahideen, Mr Pant is maintaining a studied silence on the issue and evading all media queries. Baffled by the centre’s announcement of Mr Pant as the negotiator, the Hurriyat Conference is sticking to its stand for first sending its delegation to
pakistan, which on its return will hold talks with the Centre. However, it is very unlikely that the Centre will agree to it, the sources said. In a major peace initiative in the Kashmir, the Government on April 5 announced its decision to embark on a political dialogue without any pre-conditions. The Centre’s invitation for the dialogue covers a broad spectrum — the state government, all political parties, NGOs, trade unions, social and religious bodies as also Kashmiri militant organisations desirous of peace. The sources said it would be difficult for the Hurriyat to reject the offer as holding of talks without any pre-conditions was a one time demand of theirs. Already dissension has surfaced within the Hurriyat Conference over the Centre’s move with a senior Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Lone terming its Chairman Abdul Gani Bhat’s rejection of the offer as “his personal view”. Bhat had ruled out any talks with the Centre until the delegation of the Hurriyat was allowed to go to Pakistan.
PTI |
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Militants kill
2 NC leaders Srinagar, April 13 The police here said that militants shot dead Ghulam Mohammad Baba, popularly known as Muma Baba, a block secretary of the National Conference, at Drangbal in the Pampore area of Pulwama district, south of Srinagar today. Another National Conference activists, Ghulam Mohammad Khan, was killed and his son seriously injured when suspected militants fired at them at Beerwah in Budgam district today. During this shootout, his son Farooq Ahmad Khan was injured. He has been shifted to the hospital here. One civilian, Ghulam Hassan Shah was injured in a crossfire between militants and security forces at Sogam village the Lolab valley of Kupwara district in north Kashmir. A police spokesman said here that militants fired upon a patrol party of security forces in Sogam and in the retaliatory fire, one civilian was injured and one horse killed. Three militants, one of them a foreigner, were killed in an encounter with the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir police when the party was on its way from Kishtwar to Marwah in Doda district of Jammu region. One of the slain militants got washed away in river Chenab. Out of the remaining two, one was identified as Usman, a resident of Pakistan associated with Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen outfit. One AK 56 rifle, two magazines and one hand grenade were seized from the site of the encounter. |
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CM addresses Doda,
Udhampur panches Udhampur, April 13 He was addressing a day-long convention of panches and sarpanches of Udhampur and Doda districts here. He said those who nurture the hope of Kashmir becoming Pakistan or Azad were enemies of the people, as continued violence has brought nothing but miseries to the state. “We have to seek the solution of our problems from New Delhi,” he said, adding that the solution would not come either from Islamabad or New York. The Chief Minister ridiculed Pakistan for claiming to be a champion of Muslims and said that they did not bother about the vast chunk of the Muslim population at the time of Partition. Dr Abdullah said Panchayats should be strengthened and power decentralised at grassroot level. Felicitating the newly elected panches and sarpanches, he reminded them of their duty to serve people in rural areas. |
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CM reviews security
situation Srinagar, April 13 He also felicitated the people, particularly the Sikh community on Baisakhi and appealed to the people to maintain and strengthen age-old bonds of communal harmony and mutual brotherhood. While reviewing the security scenario in the valley, Dr Abdullah said the people were fed up with violence and realised that peace was imperative for development and prosperity. He said with the active cooperation of the people, the state would soon usher in an era of peace, progress and development. The Chief Minister also reviewed the progress on various development schemes under execution in the valley. These included the clearance of Dal Lake, Nageen Lake and Brari Nambal, which were being cleared on a war-footing, an official spokesman said. The Chief Minister urged the officers to look into the problems being faced by the people and take all possible measures to solve these within the available resources. He said due priority was being given to roads and a large number of major and minor bridges were being completed during the current financial year. |
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Geelani’s daughter dies of haemorrhage Jammu, April 13 Her husband Javed Ahmed is an engineer in the state government. The body of Suriya was taken to Srinagar for the last rites. She was married in 1990 and had then requested the government to release her father who was in detention to attend the wedding ceremony. She and her husband remained aloof from separatist politics. A large number of political leaders and prominent citizens called on Geelani in Srinagar to express grief over the demise of his daughter. |
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FIR lodged against STF jawans Udhampur, April 13 |
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J&K human
development report in Dec Jammu, April 13 The report is expected to be released by December 15. A government spokesman said the report would cover all districts with emphasis on villages, panchayats and blocks so that the merits and flows of the government policies could be identified. It would be a sort of an analysis on the core problems in the social sectors so that appropriate measures were taken to improve the situation. He said an attempt would be made to measure the progress made by the state in the field of health, nutrition, family welfare and assess the facilities available in the public and private sector, and the state’s performance in immunisation. The spokesman stated that the report would throw light on the overall income growth at the district level, employment generation and percentage of population living below the poverty line. Health and educational status of children, child labour and exploitation will also be examined. Once the report is prepared the government will have a clear picture about the grey areas which needed to be covered for the equal development of the state’s three regions and 14 districts. |
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Street performances mark Jammu Fest Jammu, April 13 Prominent artistes, poets, dancers and singers from various parts of the region led the procession which started from Ambedkar Chowk and culminated at the historic Amar Mahal. Several NGOs also participated in the programme organised by the Department of Tourism and the district administration. The state Academy of Art and Culture and the Information Department had assigned their artistes to stage nukkad performances and sing folk songs to depict the rich culture of the region. A large number of pilgrims to the Vaishno Devi shrine had a pleasant surprise when they were offered heavy concession by hoteliers and traders and their gift to the festival. According to the Commissioner, Tourism, Mr Parvez Dewan, the main aim of the festival was to introduce tourist resorts and pilgrim centres to domestic and foreign tourists who had been given a special offer to attend the festival. On the lush lawn of Amar Mahal, where prominent citizens belonging to different ethnic groups and other dignitaries were present, the Minister of State for Tourism, Ms Sakina Itoo, said that the region of Jammu had great potential for pilgrims, tourists and other holidayers. She said several tourist resorts, including Patnitop and Vaishno Devi shrine, were a big draw for the tourists. She said other shrines and historic places in Poonch, Doda, Udhampur were being developed to attract tourists. Referring to the historic Shiv Khouri temple near Reasi, she said that during the past five years, the place had witnessed a heavy rush of pilgrims. |
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52 selected for police force Kathua, April 13 The recruitment was held at two places — Sumb and Sarna near Chilla Denga in Samba tehsil. As many as 27 youths were selected at Sumb and 25 at Sarna. Out of the 52 youths, 32 belongs to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe category. |
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