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Friday,
January 17, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Cabinet
sanctions Kargil hill council Panel to
examine Kuchhai report Shun violence, Young
to separatists
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IED
targeting MLA detected Mufti to
monitor IT plan
Dry
winter worries Kashmiris Suman
Bhagat’s supporters block traffic 30 join
JKAS J&K
industrial policy soon Jammu
schools to open late
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Cabinet sanctions Kargil hill council Jammu, January 16 The decision was taken in the first meeting of the expanded Cabinet which was held here today under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. The Chief Secretary, Mr S.S. Bloreia, said the formal notification in terms of Section 3 (1) of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Act, 1997 would be issued fixing June 30, 2003 as the date from which the council in Kargil would come into being. The Kargil Autonomous hill development council would have the same structure and powers which were provided to the Leh council and would have a chief executive councillor, executive councillor and councillors. The Cabinet accorded approval to necessary funds in the state’s annual plan for setting up the council in Kargil. It was decided to invite tenders again for the disposal of 119 lakh gunny bags which have been lying in the stores of the Food and Supplies Department in the Kashmir Valley since 1998. The Cabinet ordered that the contract for the disposal of the gunny bags worth over Rs 11 crore should be finalised by the end of the current financial year. Mr Bloreia said the Cabinet approved the master plan for Srinagar. The earlier master plan had expired in 1991 and was extended till the notification of the new plan. The new master plan will cater to a projected population of 23.50 lakh which the city will have in 2021. The area under the master plan has been increased to 416 sq km from the existing 236 sq km by including 126 villages between Gallander in Srinagar to Narbal and Humhama to Nagbal. It provides for shifting of the transport agencies and the depots of government vehicles to Parimpora on the outskirts. New industrial estates will be developed at Machua, Ranbirgarh, Wagoora and Ompora. The master plan provides for a new 28 km-long ring road from Gallander to Narbal. |
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Panel to examine Kuchhai report Jammu, January 16 The police had later claimed that these five persons were responsible for the massacre. It was later discovered that these persons were innocent and had been shot dead in a fake encounter. The decision on the sub-committee was taken by the Cabinet, which met here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. The other two members of the sub-committee are Mr Muzaffar Hussain Beig, Finance Minister, and Mr Taj Mohiuddin, Food and Supplies Minister. The killing of these persons had created a controversy. The National Conference government led by Dr Farooq Abdullah had appointed a one-member commission headed by Mr Justice Kuchhai in March last when a laboratory at Kolkata reported that the DNA samples had been fudged. The bodies of the victims had been exhumed to take the DNA samples following the report of the Pandayan Commission, which had indicted the security forces and said these persons were innocent. The samples had allegedly been fudged when these were in police custody. An FIR had been registered by the police initially when the residents of the Pathribal area complained that these five persons were missing. Another commission had later been set up to probe the fudging incident. After considering the report of the commission, submitted to the government on December 16, 2002, the Cabinet decided to constitute a sub-committee to suggest further action. |
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Shun violence, Young
to separatists Srinagar, January 16 “I have to say that those parties that did not take part in the elections held last October missed an important opportunity to establish their democratic credentials and advance the political process,” British High Commissioner to India Sir Rob Young said after an hour-long meeting with Hurriyat leaders at its headquarters here. “I think they will be giving serious consideration as to how they can contribute to the political process here,” he said. Welcoming the Centre’s decision to open a dialogue with the representatives of the people of Kashmir and other groups and the state government’s response to it, Mr Young said: “We believe people in Jammu and Kashmir want peace and prosperity and return to a normal life.” Congratulating the Centre for holding free and fair assembly elections under difficult conditions, he said it was remarkable that so many people came out to contest the poll and cast their vote. “I do not think militancy has achieved anything in the state over the past 12 years except for personal misery and economic degradation.” “We do not think violence can achieve anything. We in the UK and in other countries in the West denounce terrorism in all its forms. It cannot be the way forward and the only way forward is through a dialogue and a democratic process,” he said. “So my message to everyone whom I have met here over the past three days has been very clear — renounce violence and join the political mainstream,” Mr Young, who is heading a visiting British delegation, said. Though Hurriyat leaders and the British delegation were scheduled to issue a joint statement after the meeting, only Mr Young emerged from it indicating that the two sides had not agreed on much, a fact confirmed by Hurriyat Chairman Abdul Gani Bhat later. Asked about Mr Young’s comment, Mr Bhat said: “It is not necessary that we follow what he says. He put forth his views and we heard him respectfully, we put across our case and he heard us seriously. We do not have to toe his line as we have our own stand on Kashmir issue and our own agenda to follow.” Mr Bhat said the two sides agreed that the Kashmir issue needed to be resolved through a dialogue. The British envoy said there should be talks between India and Kashmiris followed by a dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad.
PTI |
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IED targeting MLA detected Srinagar, January 16 Acting on specific information, BSF intelligence, troops of sector headquarters Zukoorah and 49 Battalion detected a lethal remote controlled
IED, weighing approximately 22 kg, made of RDX and having a necklace of 11 hand grenades closely tied, buried in the centre of the road near Teli Mohalla village in Sumbal
tehsil. The device was probably meant to target Mr Akbar Lone, the local National Conference MLA, who was scheduled to visit this area. JAMMU: Two hideouts were busted and a large quantity of arms and ammunition seized from Kandi and Mendhar areas of Rajouri and Poonch districts on Thursday, official sources said. The security forces, acting on a tip-off, busted a hideout at Phatakas in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch district early on Thursday and seized four AK rifles, seven magazines, 140 rounds, 50 pistol rounds, one pistol, three UBGL grenades and two kg of
RDX, they said. UNI, PTI |
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Mufti to
monitor IT plan Jammu, January 16 The
Chief Minister instructed that important sectors like textile and
treasury, revenue, power development and citizens’ services should
be brought under the ambit of e-governance on priority. He said
possibilities should also be explored for electronically monitoring
the implementation of the decisions of the recently held joint
meetings of the cabinet and district development boards. The Mufti
said the Secretariat Knowledge and Information Management System
should be made functional at the secretariat here. The Mufti said this
following a presentation on IT by the Principal Secretary, Information
Technology, Mr B.R. Singh, here today. |
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Dry winter worries Kashmiris Srinagar, January 16 The last “pleasant winter” with a considerable snowfall leading to greater water resources through the high mountains for the irrigation of paddy fields and more power generation from hydroelectric projects was witnessed in December 1990. The 4-ft-deep snow in most parts of the valley and much depth in the upper reaches kept the valley covered for over two months. “That was a good winter and better irrigation and drinking water was available throughout the next summer”, recalls a resident here. He laments that the valley has not witnessed such a winter over the past 12 years which has led to greater problems at different levels. Going by the concern of the Kashmiris over the continued dry winter which has caused concern among all sections of society and the state government as well, it does not seem to be “something abnormal”. The continued dry spells of winter, particularly during the past several years, have affected many areas. Firstly, there is a crisis of drinking water in most of the urban areas, like the capital city of Srinagar where only 80 per cent of the population has been provided with sufficient supply at the rate of 35 litres per capita per day. As of now, long queues of residents in many urban areas in Srinagar,
Anantnag, Baramula and Sopore are seen for getting a bucket of drinking water either from the already dried taps or water tankers being supplied by the Public Health Engineering Department
(PHE). Secondly, for farmers this dry winter does not augur well for the coming summer when they require adequate irrigating water to keep a required water level for the paddy fields. That has already affected most of the hill areas during the past several years. The farmers in these areas in almost all districts of the Kashmir valley opted for maize crops, thereby leaving a major chunk of population in the rural areas to rely on food other than rice, which remains the main food for the
Kashmiris. Thirdly, the decline in the level of snow, particularly on the mountains, has also been leading to the decline in power generation from the valley’s various hydroelectric projects. This lands the state government in much more financial constraints for the purchase of more power from the Northern Grid against heavy payments to keep adequate power supply in the valley. Against the earlier nine-hour daily power cut throughout the summer in the valley, the coalition government, headed by the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad
Sayeed, has, however, already taken several measures to minimise the curtailment which has been halved much to the relief of the common man in Kashmir. |
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Suman Bhagat’s supporters block traffic Jammu, January 16 Meanwhile Mr Raman Bhalla, another disgruntled Congress MLA has urged party workers to defer demonstrations and self-immolations. Yesterday the police prevented three supporters of Mr Bhalla from committing self-immolation. Mr Bhalla has registered protest against his exclusion from the list of the Congress nominees for the ministerial posts with Sonia Gandhi. Mr Bhalla named a couple of senior party leaders from Jammu who had extorted huge sums for allotting party tickets and making recommendations for the Council of Ministers, it is learnt. Ms Gandhi gave a hearing to Mr Bhalla and advised him to direct his supporters to exercise restraint. |
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30 join JKAS Jammu, January 16 Of the 30 officers, nine belong to Jammu and Kashmir Sacretariat (Gazetted) Service (Private Sacretariat), three to Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Officers (G) Service, five to J&K Excise and Taxation (G) Service and 13 to Jammu and Kashmir Social Welfare (G) Service. Fifteen posts have been reserved for deferred consideration sealed cover cases. The Cabinet also approved raising of recruitment age for government services by two years from 35 to 37 years. However, as regards entry into the Police Service, there will be no change in the recruitment age. With regard to the age limit for combined competitive examinations, it has been raised to 32 years for the general category candidates and 34 years for Scheduled Castes and scheduled tribes candidates. For the handicapped candidates, the age limit has been increased to 35 years. In the general category of services, the recruitment age limit has been increased from 35 to 40 years for the candidates belonging to the SC/ST. |
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J&K industrial policy soon Jammu, January 16 This was stated by the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, while discussing the problems confronting the small-scale industrial unit holders in the state at a joint meeting of officers of the Industry Department and the representatives of the SSI unit-holders here today. The Minister of State for Industries and Commerce, Mr Raman Mattoo and Secretary Industries, Mr Khurshid Ahmad
Malik, were also present. |
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Jammu schools to open late Jammu, January 16 The order will be applicable to all schools, including private institutions, Kendra Vidayalas, Army/BSF schools, an official spokesman said.
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