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Sunday,
May 13, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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APHC has no plans to meet Pant Board to manage Amarnath yatra Panchayat election
schedule announced Commission to recommend
distribution of proceeds Day curfew lifted in Kishtwar
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APHC has no plans to meet Pant Jammu, May 12 A senior leader said: “We have already made our stand clear on the talks. We are for tripartite talks and at least permission to our team to visit Pakistan before the start of the parleys”. He said no purpose would be solved if the APHC called on Mr Pant as “he is too junior to decide a complex issue which has defied any solution for the past over 50 years”. It seems the Hurriyat Conference has adopted a defiant posture following an impression by its leadership that the government was neither serious in settling the Kashmir issue nor sincere in discussing the core issue and allied problems. He said had the government been sincere, it would have fulfilled its commitment made to the Hurriyat Conference regarding granting permission to its team to visit Pakistan. Though Mr Pant has not yet announced the date for his visit to Srinagar, a number of political leaders are waiting to meet him. But, those who matter seem to have decided against it. Pro-Pakistan militant groups have already expressed their anger against those willing to hold talks with Mr Pant. They carried out a grenade attack on the headquarters of the Democratic Freedom Party headed by Shabir Ahmed Shah. The party has started witnessing cracks. Its publicity chief, Hakim Abdul Rashid, has dissociated himself from Mr Shah’s decision. He had refused to accompany two DFP leaders sent to Delhi with a letter from Mr Shah. |
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Board to manage Amarnath yatra Srinagar, May 12 This information was given at a meeting chaired by the Governor, Mr Girish Chandra Saxena, who is also the Chairman of the Amarnath Shrine Board, at Pahalgam recently. Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and senior civil, police and security forces officers attended the meeting. They deliberated upon the arrangements for the yatra and discussed security measures for ensuring its smooth conduct, an official spokesman here said. It was decided that no current registration of yatris would be made at Jammu. This was to check the influx of unregistered yatris and the consequent inconvenience caused to them. Advance registration is made in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Jammu. Besides, four states have agreed to take the registration quota for enlisting the yatris. For the first time, online registration would also be available to the pilgrims. In another significant decision related to the regulation of the number of yatris, it was decided that the ceiling of registration would be 3500 per day as recommended by the Mukherjee Committee. Nobody would be allowed to proceed towards the holy cave beyond this number on a given day. This would ensure a safe flow of yatris on the arduous track to the cave shrine and reduce chances of casualty in case of inclement weather. The meeting decided against the setting up of langars in Pahalgam town as the town is not part of the yatra. However, there would be no restriction on the number of langars from Chandanwari to the holy cave or from Baltal to the cave. These langars have to be registered with the Director, Tourism, Kashmir. The base camp would now be shifted to Nunwan, ahead of Pahalgam town, where basic infrastructure would be raised. The yatris’ camp in Jammu would be set up at Nagrota. Speaking on the occasion, the Governor hoped that with the setting up of the board, the yatra would be a more pleasant experience for the yatris. He complimented the state administration for excellent arrangements for the yatra over the years. Since the number of yatris was increasing, their expectations also soared and the board would try to meet these expectations. Public facilities like shelters, toilets and canteens would be made available on the track en route to the cave shrine. To begin with, the Amarnath Shrine Board take up the management of the yatra directly from the Sangam to the holy cave. He said NGOs would be associated with the raising of facilities along the track. Dr Farooq Abdullah said the constitution of the board would go a long way in improving the facilities for yatris along the pilgrim route. Meanwhile, the first batch of registered yatris will leave Jammu on July 2, 2001 on way to Amarnath Yatra and the darshan of Shiv Lingam will commence from July 5, 2001. This was decided at a meeting convened here to review the arrangements in advance for the smooth conduct for the month-long yatra beginning on July 4. |
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Panchayat election
schedule announced Srinagar, May 12 According to the Chief Electoral Officer, who is also the election authority for the panchayat elections, the dates for filing of nomination papers for the Shopian block will be May 19, 21 and 22 while scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on May 23 and the last date for the withdrawal of candidatures will be May 25. The polling will be held on June 9, 2001. Similarly for the Kellar block, the dates for filing nomination papers will be May 23, 24 and 25. The date of scrutiny of nomination papers will be May 26 and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures will be May 28. The date of polling will be June 12, 2001. For the Pulwama and Kakapora blocks, the dates for filing of nomination papers have been fixed as May 26, 28 and 29. The date of scrutiny of nomination papers will be May 31, while the last date for the withdrawal of candidature is June 2. The polling in both blocks will be held on June 16, 2001. The dates for filing of nomination papers for the Tral and Pampore blocks will be May 28, 29 and 31. The date of scrutiny of nomination papers will be June 1, while the last date for the withdrawal of candidature will be June 4. The polling in both blocks will be held on June 19, 2001. |
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Commission to recommend
distribution of proceeds Jammu, May 12 The commission has recommended that the panchayats and municipalities should have adequate infrastructure so that they are able to raise financial resources on their own. In this context the state government has set up a four-member Municipal Finance Commission headed by Mr A.M. Lankar, former Commissioner, Finance. The other three members are Financial Commissioner, Planning, the Financial Commission, Finance, and Commissioner, Housing and Urban Development. The commission has been asked to recommend measures for distribution of net proceeds of taxes, duties, toll and fee leviable by the state between the state and the local bodies. The commission will determine the taxes, duties and fee which may be assigned to or appropriated by the corporation and municipalities. It will also recommend the pattern and quantum of grant-in-aid to the corporations and municipalities from the Consolidated Fund. In addition, the commission will list measures for improving the financial position of the civic bodies. The commission has been asked to submit its report to the government within six months. Since the panchayat poll in some packets of the state are yet to be completed, the Rural Development Department has been directed to untilise funds for the construction of ‘panchayat ghars’, pending devolution of funds to these institutions. For the past 23 years, panchayat elections have not been held as a result, most ‘panchayat ghars’ are in a bad shape and the state government requires huge sums for their reconstruction and renovation. |
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Day curfew lifted in Kishtwar Jammu, May 12 Reports reaching here said no untoward incident took place during curfew relaxation. Meanwhile, two civilians who were missing since Thursday when militants kidnapped 11 persons from Atholi, returned to their homes today. The police said when they were being dragged by the militants along with nine others, they managed to give them a slip and remained in hiding for two days. One of the three civilians wounded in the indiscriminate firing by the militants was today airlifted to Jammu Medical College as his condition deteriorated. The Hizb-ul-Mujahideen has denied its involvement in the killings. Its spokesman said the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen had never indulged in the massacre of minority community. Meanwhile, the death toll in the road accident near Katra yesterday has risen to eight after one more passenger succumbed to his injuries in hospital. Srinagar, May 12 |
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