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European Parliament members to visit Srinagar
Chamliyal mela: Rangers to
cooperate
Gulmarg resort project work in full
swing
Two jawans killed in
ambush
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J&K to conserve Tibetan antelope
Nyas firm on
2-month yatra
Governor lays auditorium
stone
Mansbal lake to be
tourist destination
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European Parliament members to visit Srinagar New Delhi, June 21 The delegation is likely to do a comparative analysis of the ground situation in J&K as well as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir because the same delegation had earlier visited Pakistan and PoK in December last with the same objective. The delegation, led by Mr John Cushnahan, will spend three days in J&K. The EU Parliamentarians will hold discussions with state government functionaries and officials. The delegation comprises two members from Britain and one each from the Netherlands, Sweden and Italy. They are accompanied by senior officials of the EU Secretariat and representatives of major political parties in European Parliament. The team will be accompanied to Kashmir by EU Ambassador to India Francisco Da Camara Gomes. On the basis of their interaction with people and officials in J&K they will prepare their assessment report and submit it to European Parliament. The visiting dignitaries are members of European Parliament’s Committee of Defence, Foreign Affairs and Security. They may also take an aerial view of the Line of Control (LoC), they said. Soon after their arrival, the delegation met Centre’s Interlocutor on Jammu and Kashmir N.N. Vohra here this morning and discussed the situation in the state with him for nearly one-and-a-half hour. In another development, the visiting members of European Parliament today met Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad who told them that talks with Hurriyat and Pakistan would continue for restoration of normalcy in J&K. The minister said unlike in the past, the last few years had seen security forces earning great popularity among the local people by taking up various welfare schemes related to health and employment generation, an official release said. “Unlike the early nineties when 95 per cent of the militants were locals, these days locals make only 10 to 15 per cent of the militants active in the valley,” Mr Azad said. The minister said the people of Jammu and Kashmir had great confidence in both the local and central governments as the dialogue process had been started and 80 to 90 per cent of the infrastructure like bridges, schools and hospitals had been rebuilt in the last two years. |
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Chamliyal mela: Rangers to
cooperate
Jammu, June 21 The Pakistani Rangers had boycotted participation in the annual mela last year and refused to accept ‘shakkar’ and ‘sharbat’ causing disappointment among a large number of people across the border. For the past several years ‘shakkar and ‘sharbat’ from the shrine area have been found efficacious in treating chronic skin diseases. Prior to the 1971 war, people from across the border were allowed to come to the shrine and apply ‘shakkar’ and wash the affected portion with the water from the well. After the war, the border was sealed and owing to rising tension during the last several years, the Pakistani gunners even targeted the shrine. Two years ago pilgrims to the shrine from several states in the country were kept away from the shrine and were served ‘shakkar’ and ‘sharbat’ by the BSF men because of intermittent firing from across the border. A senior BSF officer said here today that since there was lull on the entire border and relation between India and Pakistan had eased, we expect peace at the annual mela. He said, “We have kept tractor-trailers and water tankers ready for carrying ‘shakkar’ and ‘sharbat’ to the border which the Rangers will distribute among people in Pakistan.” |
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Gulmarg resort project work in full
swing
Srinagar, June 21 When the second phase of the cable car from Kongdori to Apharwat becomes operational, it would be Asia’s highest and longest ropeway. The 11th Finance Commission has provided Rs 11 crore for the project. So far, Rs 10 crore has been spent on the project. Apprising the Public Undertaking Committee of legislators, the Managing Director, cable car project, Mr Farooq Ahmad Shah, said the project had realised Rs 1.02 crores till June 15 this year. During the same period last year, the project had realised Rs 42 crore. The committee of legislators is led by its Chairman, Peer Mohammad Hussain. The committee inspected the proposed site for a tented village and a lake in Gulmarg. It was informed that tented accommodation would be raised for 300 persons at Gulmarg. Thirty tents would be installed under the first phase of the programme. The committee was further informed that the lake and a children’s park would also come up at a cost of Rs. 1.25 crore. The cable car project had been taken up in 1989 to boost tourism development, but the work by French contractors had been abandoned in 1990 due to the eruption of militancy. The work was resumed later the project completed on January 29, 1998. Incorporated in 1988, the Jammu and Kashmir State Cable Car Corporation is the second profit-making corporation after J&K Cements Ltd., which is not taking any budgetary support from the government. The cable car corporation is working on five other major projects to boost tourism in the state, which has suffered a serious setback due to militancy over the past 14 years. One of these projects is a passenger ropeway from the Baba Reshi shrine to Gulmarg, for which the techno-economic feasibility study has been carried out. Work is also under way on the passenger ropeway to connect Boulevard with the Shankar Acharya temple overlooking the Dal Lake here. The other projects include the chairlift system at Patnitop on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway for facilitating skiing and promoting summer tourism in the area. The corporation also plans to set up a passenger ropeway from Jammu City to Bagh-e-Bahu up to Mahamaya. |
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Two jawans killed in
ambush
Jammu, June 21 The troops retaliated and in the ensuing gunfight, two jawans laid their lives while many others were injured. The wounded were airlifted to the Army hospital at Udhampur. Additional troops have been rushed to the area to track down the terrorists who have fled. Meanwhile, the BSF foiled an infiltration bid by three heavily armed terrorists through the fenced border in the Ranbirsinghpura sector, near here. The terrorists last night infiltrated from the Sialkot area of Pakistan to the Nikki Tawi belt. However, they fled when the BSF personnel challenged them. BSF has foiled an infiltration bid by three heavily armed militants, the first along the fenced International Border in the R.S. Pura sector of Jammu and Kashmir this year, officials said here today. The militants late last night crossed over from Pakistan’s Sailkote of the Nikki belt of the sector in Jammu division but fled back after BSF personnel challenged them and engaged them in an exchange of fire, they said. There was no casualty in the encounter, they said. SRINAGAR: Two unidentified militants holed in houses were killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir today, a senior BSF officer said. The militants were killed in a five-hour encounter at Mandoora-Batnoor village in the Tral area of South Kashmir. The houses in which they were hiding were gutted. Pulwama Deputy Inspector-General of BSF K. Srinivasan said here. He said the encounter broke out this morning when the BSF along with local police raided the village on specific information gathered by the police about the presence of some militants inside a house. Troops of Rashtriya Rifles also joined the search party and one of the militants was killed when the hiding ultras refused to surrender and instead opened fire on the troops around 11 am. Another militant fell to the bullets of the security forces around 3 pm.The BSF officer said the bodies of both militants were found from the scene of the encounter. Two AK assault rifles and some ammunition were also seized. Meanwhile, militants gunned down an activist of counter-insurgency Ikhwan group in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir today. Hamiddulah, a resident of Lowser village, was shot dead by unidentified militants at Matan Chowk around 9.30 am, official sources said. He was fired from point-blank range and died on the spot following which the ultras fled, taking advantage of the panic triggered by the shootout, they said. |
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J&K to conserve Tibetan antelope
Jammu, June 21 The antelope seasonally migrates to the north-eastern part of Ladakh from the Chang Chenmo valley and the Lingti Tsiang plains in the Akshai Chin region during the first week of June to early August. An estimated 100,000 Tibetan antelope inhabit the remote plateau of Tibet, and the Xinjiang and Qinghai provinces of China. The state government, in association with the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), is planning to initiate a breeding programme to conserve the endangered species. “We will provide a conducive environment by building new pastures and creating suitable conditions for the breeding programme,’’ Forest Minister Ghulam Mohi-u-Din Sofi said. International trade in Tibetan antelope products, including shahtoosh shawls, have been illegal since 1975 under the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to which India is a signatory. However, the Jammu and Kashmir Government had exempted itself from the international trade ban, saying that the shahtoosh production provided livelihood to the weaving community. Till the early 90s, the Shahtoosh industry was thriving in the state and it was estimated that the trade was worth $ 160 million. One shahtoosh shawl costs between Rs 75,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh. After a long-drawn battle between conservationists and the state government, the ban on the production of shahtoosh shawls was announced in August, 2002. The conservationists said the antelope was killed to extract fur. The state government, however, denied the charge, saying that the animal was not killed while extracting fur. —
UNI |
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Jammu, June 21 He said the decision to hold the pilgrimage for two months was taken at a meeting represented by the Nyas, All-Jammu Hotels and Lodges Association and some prominent citizens here yesterday. The date of commencement of the yatra would not be changed even if the government authorities did not cooperate. The meeting condemned Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s “adamancy” for not allowing the pilgrimage for two months despite appeals by several Hindu and trade organisations. The nyas will start registering pilgrims at some centres in Jammu a week before the commencent of the pilgrimage, Mr Dubey said. He said demonstrations against the government decision to curtail the yatra, would be held at several places tomorrow, during which protesters would tonsure their heads. —
PTI |
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Governor lays auditorium
stone
Jammu, June 21 The complex would include the Sheikh Noor-ud-din Noorani museum of heritage and the Rin-Chen Zong-Pa gallery of art. Chief Minister Mufti Mohd Sayeed was present on the occasion. The Governor appreciated the faculty and the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Amitabh Mattoo, for executing the promotional programmes with a sense of commitment to make it a great temple of learning. The Mufti described the upcoming auditorium as an expression of aspirations of the three regions of the state and said the government was determined to remove injustice and ensure balanced development of all areas. He said the cause of injustice was being removed and for the first time, people in all the three regions were feeling a sense of participation in decision-making and the development process. Professor Mattoo said the auditorium was a state-of-the-art project and the best in north India. |
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Mansbal lake to be
tourist destination Srinagar, June 21 This was stated by the Minister for Tourism, Mr Ghulam Hassan Mir, during his visit to the area in Baramula district yesterday. The availability of facilities for visiting tourists and local residents coming for picnics was also reviewed. Senior officials of the Tourism Department were directed to ensure the revamp of the boat club by the end of this month. |
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