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Pahalgam, June 13
The grenade explosion here yesterday has temporarily dampened the flow of tourists. Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed gives autograph to tourists at Nehru Park in Srinagar on Sunday after assuring them of safety in the state.
Four militants among
10 killed in Kashmir
KAS chief denies bias in
selection
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Rs 1,150 cr sought from Centre
Amarnath Yatra from July
29
Chapnari massacre accused
held
Rs 10 lakh snatched from postal
employee
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Blast toll 5; Mufti assures
tourists
Pahalgam, June 13 Meanwhile with the death of one of the three seriously injured persons at the SMHS hospital in Srinagar this morning, the death toll has gone up to five. The deceased was identified as Mohit, son of Kanya Lal, from Ahmedabad. Others killed in the incident have been identified as Neelu, an eight-year-old girl, 10-year-old Rahtik and his father, Bahvesh from Mumbai, and Danish Halwai. Out of the injured persons evacuated to Anantnag, SKIMS and SMHS hospitals in Srinagar, 18 were discharged after treatment, while three seriously injured are undergoing treatment in Srinagar. Even as there were a few tourists seen in the area today, the booking in various hotels, huts and government hutments had not been cancelled by tourists following the incident. Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, accompanied by his daughter and PDP president, Ms Mehbooba Mufti visited the spot today and asked for details of the incident. He also interacted with tourists and organisations connected with the tourist trade. He told visiting media persons here that investigations into the cause of the incident were on and did not rule out the possibility of security lapse. He appealed to tourists not to get scared by the incident. He also referred to the recent attack on a convoy of the BSF at Lower Munda on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway in which 29 BSF men and their family members were killed. The Mufti expressed happiness over the approach of various sections of society who want an end to the sufferings of the people of Kashmir. He said that adequate security measures were already in place for the safety of the tourists. The Tourism Minister, Ghulam Hassan Mir, who also visited the area today, said the explosion did not dampen the spirits of the tourists. “The tourists do not feel scared and they are moving happily not only in Pahalgam, but at other tourist spots like Dal lake, Gulmarg, Sonmarg and Yusmarg”, Mir told TNS. This, he said, was because of the changed atmosphere over the past couple of years in the valley in particular and in the state in general. |
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Four militants among 10 killed in Kashmir
Srinagar, June 13 The other deceased were identified as Bahwesh, his son Ratik and daughter Neelu, residents of Mumbai and Danish Halwai of Uttar Pradesh. An encounter took place between the security forces and militants during a search operation at Jumagund in the frontier district of Kupwara. Four Lashkar militants, all Pakistanis, were killed. Four AK rifles, a wireless set, three grenades and 143 rounds were seized from the site of encounter. Militants entered the house of a former SPO Mushtaq Hussain at Dudsana Bala and fired upon the inmates with automatic weapons. Mushtaq and his father Barkat Hussain were killed in the firing. Militants hurled a hand grenade towards a security force joint patrol party near Bijbehara hospital in south Kashmir district of Anantnag last night, causing injuries to four persons. One of the injured, Special Police Officer Khurshid Ahmad later died in the hospital. Militants shot dead a municipal official Ghulam Nabi Ganai at Kunzer Bazar, while the body of another person Abdul Rashid Bhat, was recovered at Takia Farooq Shah village in Baramula district today. The Security forces arrested a Jaish-e-Mohammad militant at Banihal in Doda district last night. Jammu: The security forces on Sunday shot dead a militant in an encounter at Chhaprian in the Sawjian area of Poonch district while militants killed a man and his son in Rajouri district last night. Official sources said an unidentified extremist was shot dead by the security forces in a brief gun fight at Chhaprian, where two militants were killed yesterday. An AK rifle, five magazines, 137 rounds, two hand grenades, a radio set, 37 pencil cells and currency totalling Rs 17,000 were seized from the possession of the slain militant. In Rajouri district, three militants struck at the residence of Barkat Hussain at Dodasan Bala in the Thanamandi area and shot them dead after making some queries from them. Sources said militants killed the father and the son because they suspected them to be security forces’ informants. In Doda district, the Army apprehended Altaf Ahmad Sheikh, a Jaish-e-Mohammad militant, from the Banihal area last evening. He is a resident |
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KAS chief denies bias in
selection
Jammu, June 13 Mr Murtaza, who was talking to mediapersons here in a bid to settle the controversy regarding these selections started by some Kashmir-based politician, said the PSC looks at the “mud-slinging” as a machination not only to create a regional bias and communal disharmony but a serious impairment to the constitutional status of the Commission. He said there had never been a single instance or complaint of regional favouritism or nepotism. He wondered why those indulging in mud-slinging expected the PSC to select a larger number of candidates from the Kashmir valley when the applicants from the valley were less. Moreover, the candidates from Jammu fared better in the preliminary and the main examinations. Mr Murtaza said he himself belonged to Kashmir, but was not in a position to out of the way help the candidates from there. Without naming the Finance Minister, Mr Muzaffar Hussain Beig, or anyone, he said such persons who have no respect for a constitutional body like the PSC had no right to criticise these selections. He pointed out that many candidates belonging to the Kashmir valley had given their postal address of Jammu and as such they were also being considered as resident of Jammu. Giving details of the selections, Mr Murtaza said that government had referred 124 posts to the PSC but the number was subsequently increased to 138. As many as 12,472 candidates from Jammu and 7,815 from Kashmir had applied for the preliminary examination, but actually 9478 and 5884, respectively, appeared in the examination. Subsequently, a total number of 1,774 candidates qualified for the mains examination out of which 1218 were from Jammu and 556 from the Kashmir valley. Finally, 321 candidates from Jammu and 100 from the valley qualified for the viva-voce on the basis of which 102 candidates of Jammu and 37 of Kashmir cleared for the services. One candidate was allowed to appear in the main examination on the orders of the court. Giving details of the final list, Mr Murtaza said that of the 84 candidates in the open merit, 57 were from Jammu and 27 from Kashmir. The 11 candidates belonging to the Scheduled Caste category were from Jammu, while of the 12 candidates under the Scheduled Tribe category eight belonged to Jammu and four were from the valley. Of the 26 candidates selected from the backward areas, 21 were from Jammu and five from the valley. All the four candidates selected under the category of line of control were from Jammu, while one candidate each under the physically handicapped category was from Jammu and the valley. The PSC Chairman said the Commission could not be held responsible for this the young boys and girls in the valley were taking more interest in joining other streams like medical and engineering rather than the civil services. |
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Rs 1,150 cr sought from Centre
Srinagar, June 13 Mr Mehbooba, who airdashed to Srinagar yesterday in the wake of grenade attack on tourists in Pahalgam hill resort, said she also sought special assistance of Rs 300 crore this year and of Rs 200 crore for the next year to implement the Centre’s decision to merge 50 per cent of the dearness allowance (DA) into the employees’ salary. She said she pleaded for early decision on the matter so that mass development activities that have been taken up last year in the state do not suffer on account of inadequate funds. The Finance Minister, she said, assured that he would look into the matter and a decision in this regard would be taken on a priority. —
PTI |
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Amarnath Yatra from July
29
Srinagar, June 13 The first batch of yatris will arrive at Pahalgam, base camp of the yatra, on July 29 itself and thereafter they will be allowed to proceed to the holy cave on July 30, and after halt enroute, they will have the first darshan of the ice lingam of Lord Shiva on August 1. The decision was taken following discussions between Jammu and Kashmir Governor, Lt-Gen S.K. Sinha (retd), who is also chairman of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), and Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed recently. The announcement was made after a meeting chaired by Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and attended by other senior officials, including Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, and Director-General Tourism. This followed differences over the issue between the state government and the Amarnath Shrine Board, headed by the Governor, following the board’s decision to extend the yatra for two months. An official spokesman said here that due to limited holding capacity at Pahalgam and Baltal, it was decided that only 3,500 yatris would be allowed to proceed for darshan daily as per the practice. Of these, 2,700 would be allowed from Pahalgam and 800 from Baltal. The meeting also took some decisions to regulate the rush of yatris to avoid confusion and also expose the yatris to the vagaries of weather. The registration of yatris would be compulsory and done only through various branches of Jammu and Kashmir Bank. While 80 per cent registration would be made through conventional manner, 20 per cent would be done through the Internet on an experimental basis. The Internet registration would be available by accessing the website of the bank. The spokesman said the bank was asked to take necessary steps in consultation with the SASB for developing software for registration through the Internet subject to the allotted quota for a particular state. The registration through the Internet would be regulated and as the 20 per cent quota is exhausted, the system would entertain no further requests. |
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Chapnari massacre accused held
Jammu, June 13 On specific information, the police conducted a raid in the Bhagwa area of Doda district and arrested Attaullah. Attullah, who is a main accused in the Chapnari massacre on June 19, 1998, had been absconding. During preliminary investigation he has admitted the crime. He is being sent to joint interrogation centre for further questioning. —
PTI |
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Rs 10 lakh snatched from postal employee Jammu, June 13 Mr Baldev Raj, a cashier of Mubarik Mandi post office, was on his way to the head post office at Pacca Danga last evening when the youths threw chilly powder on him and took away his bag containing Rs 10.7 lakh. A case has been registered.
— PTI |
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