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Wednesday,
August 22, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Move to
shift Farooq to Centre China
helps Pak build another N-power plant Jawan,
ultra die in encounter Gujjars,
Bakerwals ‘getting raw deal’ Students
clash with cops, CM cancels meeting |
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Need for
privatising housing sector: Shah Villagers
seek repair of road
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Move to shift Farooq
to Centre New Delhi, August 21 A corollary of this move is to pitchfork Dr Abdullah’s son and Union Minister Omar Farooq Abdullah into J & K politics and project him as the BJP-National Conference combine’s chief ministerial candidate for the state Assembly elections which fall due in October 2002, well-placed sources said here today. Incidentally, the J & K assembly has tenure of six years, the only state in the country to have this prerogative because of special circumstances. However, sources made it clear, the move is still in infancy and a lot of fine-tuning is required before its implementation. It is understood that a final decision in this regard would be taken after the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Whether Dr Farooq Abdullah is brought here as a Cabinet Minister or in more elevated position is a question being debated in top circles of the Vajpayee government. The Chief Minister’s son is keen to take charge of his home native state but has already made it known that he would do so only when his father is not there because he did not favour two pillars of power. Significantly for the Vajpayee government, ideologues of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS) are warm to the idea of giving a central role to Dr Farooq Abdullah and passing over of the political mantle to his son. The stock of Mr Omar Abdullah has gone up in past few months. Its manifestation is the recent shuffling of his portfolio — from Minister of State of Commerce to External Affairs. This move, decidedly a promotion, showed that the government was projecting him as its show window to the world, especially the Muslim world. A section of the BJP and the RSS leadership feels that the image of Dr Farooq Abdullah is not good among the electorate and for this purpose a change of leadership could do the trick. It is understood that the Chief Minister, who reportedly is toying with the idea of holding assembly elections this year itself, is holding his horses as the political situation is still in a
flux. |
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China helps Pak build another N-power
plant Jammu, August 21 While over one crore people in Jammu and Kashmir fume and fret under the acute power crisis, the Government of Pakistan has sanctioned Rs 43 million for Chasnup-2 project which is estimated to cost about Rs 39 billion. On the completion the project will have an installed capacity of generating over 330 MW of electricity. It was due to the Chinese assistance that Pakistan was able to complete Chasnup-1 with an installed capacity of 337 MW. And with the assistance of Canada Pakistan had built a nuclear power project in Karachi in 1972. The project has the capacity to generate 137 MWs of electricity. Experts here are of the view that the way Islamabad has started investing money on building nuclear power projects indicated that Pakistan had felt satisfied with its nuclear programme for meeting any nuclear threat. These experts, basing their information on reports from across the border, said Pakistan had neither suspended nor abandoned its nuclear weapons programme. Besides the nuclear arsenal the Pakistani scientists are engaged in giving nuclear shape to its missile programme. And in both these programmes the assistance from the Chinese experts has been made available. Though in the past two years the quantum of Chinese assistance in developing highly sophisticated nuclear weapons and long-range missiles has been reduced following Beijing’s concern over the activities of Pakistan-aided fundamentalists in Sinkiang province. However, on this side of the border the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, had suggested to the Centre to set up one nuclear power project in Kathua which could meet the power crisis in Jammu and neighbouring states. The Centre is yet to take a decision because it is weighing the safety factor as Kathua too is a border district. |
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Jawan, ultra die in encounter Srinagar, August 21 Troops guarding the northern borders saw two Pakistani militants attempting to sneak into the valley from across the border through the Tangdhar Sector in Kupwara district last night. The intruders, armed with sophisticated weapons, were asked to surrender. However, they opened fire and in the ensuing gun-battle, both were killed. A Pika gun with 45 rounds, an AK assault rifle, three magazine and 20 grenades were recovered from the site. A self-styled battalion commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Manzoor Ahmad Shah and a Pakistani militant, Abu Hamza of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, were killed in another gunbattle which took place in Drugmulla forests in Kupwara district yesterday. Troops of the Rashtriya Rifles killed another Hizbul Mujahideen militant in an encounter during search operations at Shamashpur near Khannabal in Anantnag district of south Kashmir last night. A rifle and some ammunition were recovered from him. An unidentified militant and a jawan were killed in an operation at Chandigam in Sogam area of Kupwara district today. The operation was launched in the area after militants ambushed a patrol party, triggering an encounter. The sources said militants shot dead two persons, one each at Dardpora in Kupwara and Durmunah in Badgam district, early today. Militants exchanged fire with police guards posted at the residence of Ghulam Mohiuddin Dar at Krusan-Lalpora in Kupwara district last night. An Army jawan was injured when militants opened fire on a patrol party at Khundru in Anantnag district early today. The troops retaliated, but the militants managed to escape. The sources said the Army arrested five youths boys who were recruited by militants for arms training at Aloosa in Bandipor area of Baramula district last night. They were arrested during an operation launched in the village. The Army smashed three militant hideouts, one each at Bondagam-Magam in Baramula district and Dekra and Keegam in Kupwara district yesterday.
PTI |
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Gujjars, Bakerwals ‘getting raw deal’ Jammu, August 21 At a recent convention of Gujjars and Bakerwals in Jammu, a resolution adopted made a startling disclosure. While claiming that the total population of the two tribes had touched 25 lakh, the resolution said that not more than Rs 6 crore had been sanctioned for their welfare under the sub-plan while Rs 103 crore had been earmarked for various development works in Leh and Kargil districts, which have a total population of Rs 2.30 lakh. It said the 10 per cent quota under the Scheduled Tribe status was not at all adhered to by the state government when it started appointing teachers under the Rehbar Taleem scheme. For instance, in Budgam district, out of 329 teachers selected, six belonged to the Gujjar and Bakerwal community against the quota of 33, in Doda two were selected out of 458 and in Jammu 10 out of 513. According to Haji Buland Khan, vice-chairman of the Gujjar Welfare Board, the government should have sent educated youths belonging to his tribe for training. He said 25 posts under the Scheduled Tribe category had remained vacant since 1995. He said more than 816 posts, under a similar category, had not been filled with Gujjars and Bakerwals. He said special measures were called for to encourage youths of these two tribes to go in for higher education. The resolution also referred to the major drive that the National Conference government had launched in 1996 to tackle the problem of unemployment. Under the programme, over 1 lakh educated youths were given jobs in different departments but the youths belonging to Gujjars and Bakerwal got a “very, very poor share”. While alleging that discriminatory treatment had been meted out to the two tribes, the Gujjar leaders referred to the plight of over 70 shepherds who had taken 50,000 flocks to Suru valley in Zanskar for grazing. The resolution said these shepherds were denied permission to enter the Suru valley, with the state government passing the buck to the Army authorities and vice versa. It expressed concern over the death of 3,000 head of cattle near Chalnthang as these had nothing to graze upon. The convention demanded proper share for the two tribes in the state legislature and in the Council of Ministers. It could be possible if the government reserved Assembly seats under the Scheduled Tribe category as was the case with Scheduled Castes, the resolution said. |
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Students clash with cops, CM cancels meeting Srinagar, August 21 Official sources said the demonstrators, mostly students, were protesting against the shifting of Higher Secondary School from Kargil to another area. The protesters resorted to stone-pelting at three different places in the town when Dr Abdullah was addressing a District Development Board meeting there. The Superintendent of Police was also injured in the violence. The demonstrators set on fire the dais from where the Chief Minister was scheduled to address the meeting. Dr Abdullah later returned to the capital city. An official spokesman, confirming the incident, said the school was shifted to another area due to poor condition of the schoolbuilding. The new building was inaugurated by Dr Abdullah last week. However, the students complained that there was no transport facility to the new school.
UNI |
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Need for privatising housing sector:
Shah Srinagar, August 21 Mr Shah, while presiding over the 66th meeting of the Board of Directors of the Srinagar Development Authority (SDA) here yesterday, said with growing population and limited land resources available in the state the urban local bodies had been put to a challenging task of providing housing facilities and better civic amenities to the people. To overcome the challenge, he said a proper land use and housing policy might be adopted and people be educated about the land use management. The existing Urban Land Ceiling Act must be followed in letter and spirit while constructing housing colonies and other establishments in urban areas. He asked the SDA to prepare detailed project and feasibility reports and conduct
socioeconomic surveys before acquiring land. Availability of basic amenities like safe drinking water, electricity and roads should be taken into consideration in this regard, he added. The minister said the mushrooming up of private housing colonies which were either ill-planned or un-planned had created various problems for the urban local bodies in providing basic amenities to these colonies. Most of these colonies had turned into slums, causing various problems in Srinagar city, he added. Mr Shah asked the SDA to provide developed housing plots to the needy persons at affordable costs so as to check the price hike by private agencies and ensure a regular control over these agencies. The meeting which was also attended by the Commissioner and the Secretary of the Housing and Urban Development, the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, the Director Budgets, the Vice-Chairman, SDA, the Administrator, Srinagar Municipality, the Director Land Management, SDA, and the Chief Town Planner, Kashmir, decided that 1,500 kanals of land at Mujgund would be transferred to the SDA by the Revenue Department by the end of October this year for developing housing colonies. It was decided in the meeting that budget estimates of the SDA for the year 2001-02 would be reviewed for an approval by a sub-committee under the chairmanship of the Financial Commissioner very shortly. A sub-committee under the chairmanship of the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, would assess the cost of land measuring about 18 kanals at Bemina before handing it over to the Police Department by the SDA. The meeting also approved a project for building parking lots at Boulevard and the construction of additional floors of the SDA office complex at
Bemina. |
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Villagers
seek repair of road Udhampur, August 21 Most of the speakers alleged that the main road connecting Jaganoo with the rest of the area was totally damaged and despite a number of representations the authorities concerned had done nothing to get it repaired. Havaldar Kamlu Ram (retd) and Mr Parkash Sharma of Baghpur and Tharnada villagers alleged that the ration shop was situated at a far off place and ration was not being distributed in time. They demanded that a ration shop should be opened at a central place and ration should be distributed in time. Mr Rajinder Kumar, assured the gathering that he would highlight their demands before the appropriate authorities and try to solve them. |
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