 |
|
City council: Here BJP comes to Cong’s rescue
Khajuria wants BJP at centre stage
Amarnath Land Row
Samiti to hold hunger strike
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gupta disputes govt claims of progress
NC hails Vohra’s statement
APHC may not accept offer for talks
Vohra wants board to end water crisis at Katra
500 down with gastro in Anantnag
Omar to attend leadership conference in Pak
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah addressing party workers at his residence in Srinagar on Tuesday. — A Tribune photograph
NC defers decision on trust vote
Cong leaders want polls to be put off
PDP clears first list of election candidates
No clear stand on ceasefire violations
Gujjars seek minority status
Rs 105 cr under development schemes
Jawan commits suicide
2 ultras held
|
|
City council: Here BJP comes to Cong’s rescue
Udhampur, July 15 Although the Congress is the political enemy for the BJP at the national and the state-level, both parties have entered into an undeclared “alliance” here. Instead of availing the opportunity to dislodge the Congress chairman from the council, some BJP councillors have been indirectly supporting him to retain his seat. In 17-member Udhampur Municipal Council, both the BJP and the Congress have 7 members each, followed by two Panthers Party councillors and one independent. Ashok Gupta of the Congress had won election of the chairman with the support of two members of the Panthers Party. Following the Amarnath land row, the Panthers Party withdrew support and moved a “no-confidence motion” against the Congress chairman with the signature of all seven members of the BJP. After withdraw of support by the Panthers Party councillors, the Congress lost majority in the council. As the Panthers Party was pressuring the chairman to quit his post, a group of BJP councillors approached the executive officer of the council and distanced themselves from the campaign launched against the Congress chairman. They told the officer that they would not support the “no-confidence motion” moved by the Panthers Party. Although senior leaders have maintained a silence over undeclared “alliance” with the Congress in Udhampur, sources said the real fight in the coming Assembly election would be between the BJP and the Panthers Party in the district. In 2002 Assembly polls, the Panthers Party had wrested two seats from the BJP. The Panthers Party candidate had won even Udhampur proper seat, which was earlier considered citadel of the BJP. A group within the BJP was of the view that seeking the Panthers Party support to dislodge the Congress chairman just before the election would give wrong impression before the masses. “The Congress is not a force in Udhampur so our enemy number one is the Panthers Party”, said a senior leader while defending decision to protect the Congress chairman, adding that as far as Udhampur is concerned, we would not hesitate to take the Congress support to defeat the Panthers Party. Another group of the BJP is not happy with the decision of defending the Congress chairman. |
|
Khajuria wants BJP at centre stage
Jammu, July 15 Addressing a press conference here, state BJP president Ashok Khajuria said, “A vote for the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir will not only be a vote for the national unity but also a vote for a system that enables the Jammu people to compensate the enormous losses they have suffered at the hands of the Kashmiri-dominated and valley-centric successive governments in the state.” He said the story of Jammu province from 1947 to 2008 had been that of its neglect and marginalisation in all spheres and at all levels. The party also came out with figures to show what it termed as discriminatory approach adopted towards the province. Khajuria said while the area and a number of voters in Kashmir were less than Jammu, still it had been allotted more Assembly and Lok Sabha seats. Similarly, he said the revenue generation of Jammu was over 75 per cent as against the valley's under 20 per cent but when it came to expenditure, Jammu's share did not exceed 35 per cent in any sector while Kashmir never fell below 60 per cent. “The same applies to the areas of infrastructure, tourism and employment. The bias with Jammu is evident in almost every field,” he added. Meanwhile, lashing out at former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Khajuria said the senior Congress leader's utterances at a recent rally were nothing but a result of frustration. He alleged that Azad also used unparliamentary language in his speech that did not behove the leader of his stature. Replying to a query as to why the BJP did not meet Governor NN Vohra over the Amarnath land row, Khajuria said, “We had met the Governor after he took charge in the state. At that time we urged him not to take a decision over the issue in haste. However, the very next morning, he had asked the state government to take over the arrangements for Amarnath Yatra.” He said now that the BJP was part of the Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti and that it could not take any initiative on its own to hold talks with the Governor, adding that Vohra was yet to invite it for a dialogue on the land row. |
|
Amarnath Land Row
Jammu, July 15 Addressing mediapersons here today, Thakur Randhir Singh said in the wake of the land transfer row, the Governor must initiate tangible steps to arrest anguish and discontentment among the people of the region. The cancellation of land transfer order had seriously hurt the sentiments of people not only in the state but also across the country, he said. He said pent-up feelings of discrimination and discontentment led to the fall of Ghulam Nabi Azad government resulting in Governor’s rule in the state. He said the Congress too in no way can escape the responsibility of this sordid situation depriving benefits of the pilgrimage and tourism industry to taxi operators, shopkeepers and several others. “Inept handling of the situation by the erstwhile state government has severely hit livelihood of hundreds of families,” he added.
|
|
Samiti to hold hunger strike
Jammu, July 15 Addressing a press conference here, the samiti convener Leela Karan Sharma said it would hold peaceful protests during the Jammu bandh tomorrow. He also termed the Governor's reported statement “no land was taken nor any returned” as unfortunate. “If no land was taken and returned, what was the exercise that had been going on for the past three years? Why did the government first divert the land to the board and then revoke the order under pressure from separatists,” he asked. Referring to former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's recent statement about some separatists receiving funds from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, Sharma said, “It means Azad knew about their foreign links while he was running the government. If it was in his knowledge then why did he not act against them”? |
|
Gupta disputes govt claims of progress
Jammu, July 15 Addressing party activists from the Basohli, Kathua and Hiranagar areas, Prof Gupta observed that there was hardly a major promise that had been honoured by the Congress and attempts were now being made to hoodwink the people by making false claims. He said the biggest promise that was made and even included in the common minimum programme for their coalition was setting up of Delimitation Commission so as to bring to an end the "60-year- old political fraud" being played with the people of Jammu region by denying them their due share in the state Assembly. "Yet another promise in their manifesto was to have regional development boards for fair di tribution of funds and ensure equal development of all three regions of the state. Where are these boards," he questioned. |
|
NC hails Vohra’s statement
Jammu, July 15 In a joint statement issued here, district presidents of the National Conference while welcoming Vohra's announcement said that in order to strengthen democracy it was imperative to hold elections well in time. They further said whole of the country and the international community had been keenly watching political and democratic developments in the state and any attempt to delay the elections in Jammu and Kashmir would certainly send a wrong signal to the world community.
|
|
|
APHC may not accept offer for talks
Jammu, July 15 Though the separatist body has not taken a formal stand on whether to accept an invitation, if made by the Governor, for talks or not, senior APHC leader Abdul Gani Bhat said, “We will not accept any invitation from Vohra.” “We are already introduced to him as he had remained present during our meetings with L.K. Advani and later with Dr Manmohan Singh,” he said. Justifying his stand, Bhat said after the imposition of the Governor's rule, Vohra was not only the constitutional head of the state but also the government’s head and as such “it will be against the spirit of our constitution if we meet any head of the government in the state.” He said, “It is up to the party's executive committee to decided whether to meet Vohra or not.” Another APHC leader Shabir Ahmed Shah, who heads the Democratic Freedom Party, endorsed Bhat’s stand. Shah and Bhat said, “If we have to talk on the Kashmir issue we will do it with the leadership in Delhi and Islamabad and not with the Governor.” They said as the chief interlocutor, Vohra had one assignment and as the Governor he has altogether a new job to perform. Bhat said, “I do not think that as a seasoned bureaucrat, Vohra would “fish in troubled political waters by inviting us for talks.” Emphasising the need for resolving the Kashmir issue through bilateral and trilateral parleys, the APHC leaders expressed their dismay over the way the Government of India suspended the talks with them. They said despite our repeated pronouncements that “we were willing to hold dialogue with the Government of India, talks have remained suspended for the last three years.”
|
|
|
Vohra wants board to end water crisis at Katra
Udhampur, July 15 During his first visit to the holy shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi as Governor of the state, Vohra, who is also chairman of the board, enquired about the problems being faced by devotees and directed the authorities to take every possible step to ensure all facilities to pilgrims. Additional chief executive officer of the SMVSB M.K. Divedi and technical teams of the Board apprised the Governor about the problems being faced by the devotees. “Vohra discussed all aspects with the concerned officers and directed them to prepare a comprehensive plan to solve this problem once forever”, Divedi said following directions of the Governor, the SMVSB has approached the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department to start the work as early as possible. “The PHE department would identify the sources of water and would formulate some schemes to solve water crises. The SMVSB, on the other hand, would provide all possible help, including financial aid, to the concerned department in implementing such schemes,” Divedi said. Perennial shortage of water is the biggest problem for the inhabitants of Katra as well as for the devotees. On an average, 20,000 pilgrims arrive at Katra, the base camp of the shrine daily, to start their yatra towards the holy cave. Due to the huge influx of devotees, Katra town required 17 lakh gallons of water per day, but the supply is just 10 lakh gallons. “In the next 10 years the demand will be more than 32 lakh gallons per day”, Divedi said while pointing towards increase in the number of devotees every year.
|
|
|
500 down with gastro in Anantnag
Srinagar, July 15 The PHE chief engineer, Kashmir, has clarified that the existing water supply to Beijbehara town, which was being provided from the Kerikadal spring and three tube wells located at the housing colony, was free from contamination. He said the supply from these sources was being provided to the town since decades and there has been no complaint ever regarding contamination. He said the possible causes of infection could be use of water from canals and dug wells. However, he said the Public Health Engineering Department as a precautionary measure has collected samples from all sources of water supply in the town and has sent to a testing laboratory. The results were expected within a couple of days, he added. The Health Department has sent medical teams to educate people about the preventive measures to check spread of diarrhoea, gastroenteritis and other water borne diseases, especially during the rainy season, officials here said. The chief engineer has said germicides were being used to ensure supply of clean drinking water. He said the superintending engineer and executive engineer, PHE, were working with the Health Department to look into the problem of gastroenteritis in Beijbehara. The director, Health Services, Kashmir, has also asked people to use only boiled water, which, he said, was the best prevention and precaution for gastroenteritis and other water borne diseases. He said every year during summer months, diarrhoea and gastroenteritis cases occur in various villages due to rains and contamination in water sources. This was a seasonal phenomenon, he said, adding that in case of any problem, treatment was available in all the health centres and people can approach for treatment. |
|
|
Omar to attend leadership conference in Pak
Srinagar, July 15 The Kashmir Institute of International Relations is headed by Shah Ghulam Qadri, speaker of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and this would be the first ever conference to be attended only by the leaders of Kashmir from either side of the LoC, a spokesman of the NC said. He added the objective of this conference was to build consensus among the Kashmiri leaders across the LoC for a just durable solution to the Kashmir imbroglio and evolve a solution, which is acceptable to all. The conference would also work towards creating better Indo-Pak relations thereby seeking steps towards resolution of the Kashmir issue. It is also aimed at working towards process of inclusion of the Kashmiri leadership in the dialogue process aiming at a permanent resolution of the Kashmir issue as per the aspirations of all concerned, he said. During his tour Omar Abdullah would visit Islamabad and would put forward the National Conference’s view point on how to facilitate a people-to-people contact between the two sides of Jammu and Kashmir as also how to create conducive atmosphere to reach out for a resolution of the Kashmir issue and to find a viable sustainable long term solution to the Kashmir issue as per the aspirations of the people of the state. |
|
|
NC defers decision on trust vote
Srinagar, July 15 A party leader said the party’s core committee met in the house of Omar Abdullah and authorised him to take a final decision in the next few days. “Omar Abdullah after due deliberations on the subject will announce the party’s decision in this regard in the next few days,” he said in a statement. In his previous statements, Abdullah has spoken positively of the Indo-American nuclear deal. However, the dynamics of Jammu and Kashmir politics would be important in his final decision. The state will go in for elections later this year. The NC’s primary rival, the PDP, has already announced its support to the Congress in the trust vote. The PDP has a single MP in the form of party president Mahbooba Mufti. |
|
|
Cong leaders want polls to be put off
Jammu, July 15 A number of senior Congress leaders, including a couple of former legislators, today said: “We have conveyed to the PCC leadership that it should try to postpone the election so that we could get sufficient time for strengthening the party cadre, which has been rattled by the campaign launched by the fundamentalists over the revocation of the land diversion order.” “Let us get some time to strengthen the party cadre and if the election was held somewhere between end of October and middle of November, our party can be a loser,” a senior Congress leader said. The election has to be held before the middle of November 2008 because the new House has to reconstituted by November 17. Constitutional experts said if the Chief Election Commission decided in favour of deferment of the election, the state has to be placed under the President’s rule because the state Constitution provides for a six-month Governor rule. The Governor’s rule, they said, could last up to the middle of January. In reply to a question, the Congress leaders said: “We favour holding of the election somewhere in March 2009. Meanwhile, a delegation of the Congress called on Governor N.N. Vohra at the Raj Bhawan here and requested him that the pace set by Ghulam Nabi Azad for various development projects in the state be maintained. |
|
|
PDP clears first list of election candidates
Srinagar, July 15 However, the list has not been disclosed yet. It has been sent for the recommendation to party president Mehbooba Mufti. The board meeting, chaired by senior leader Muzaffar Hussain Beig, was attended by Moulana Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Tariq Hamid Kara, Mohammad Dilawar Mir and Peerzada Mansoor Hussain. A party spokesman said the norms for selection, set by the board are integrity, loyalty to the party, commitment to the PDP agenda and reputation in the public. The board also discussed some vital and critical issues related to the holding of elections and people’s participation in it. It was of the view that the time for obtaining photo identity cards should be extended by at least a month. The board was of the view that it should request the Chief Election Commissioner to visit the state to relax the rules of electoral identity cards as done in some other states and allow persons with any valid proofs of their identity to cast their votes in the coming elections. This is necessary to ensure that comparatively a high percentage of voters can cast their votes, the PDP spokesman said. He added that the board also noted that some poling booths were having very high number like 1,500 and above voters. It is virtually impossible for such a large number to cast their votes within prescribed times, he said. The Committee would approach the authorities to take a realistic view and rationalise the number of voters who can actually cast their votes within the prescribed time limit. |
|
|
No clear stand on ceasefire violations
Jammu, July 15 He said, “Nowadays the country is undergoing a politically weak phase wherein our energy-starving nation cannot compromise with the Indo-US nuclear deal, so in this hour we can’t spoil our relations with Pakistan.” According to intelligence sources, majority of the militant-launching pads in Pakistan were situated adjacent to the border of Poonch and Rajouri districts as the terrain in those districts provides a perfect platform for militants to infiltrate into the Indian side. The Pakistan Rangers violated the ceasefire in the Samba sector so as to push in a group of heavily armed militants. Jammu-based PRO of the ministry of defence Lt-Col S.D. Goswami said, “So long as militant training camps across the border are active and the militants continue to have the support of the Pakistani army, abrasions in the ceasefire violation will continue.” |
|
|
Gujjars seek minority status
Jammu, July 15 Led by Chowdhary Anwar Hussain, the delegation told the Governor that they were a neglected lot and grappling with the problems of insecurity and uncertainty in both the areas in the state. “We are bearing the brunt of hardship and extremism in Jammu as well as Kashmir,” they said. The delegation said 17 houses of the community members were damaged during the unrest in Jammu region over the Amarnath land row. They demanded an adequate security cover for the community members in the region. Front’s secretary-general Shah Mohammad Chaudhary said they had also sought action under the law against those who burnt the houses of the community members in Kathua and Samba districts during the curfew a few days ago. |
|
|
Rs 105 cr under development schemes
Srinagar, July 15 Besides, Rs 1 crore as special central assistance has been released for specific area schemes under the Cluster Approach for the development of border areas. Out of Rs 202.42 lakh allocated to the Police Department for implementation of different programmes, Rs 193.74 lakh have so far been spent. This was disclosed at a meeting of the State-level Screening Committee held under the chairmanship of chief secretary S.S. Kapur here yesterday to review the implementation of the programme. It reviewed the progress achieved under the programme for creating and upgrading civic amenities in 44 border blocks of the state and approved the action plan for the current financial year, an official spokesman here said. |
|
|
Jawan commits suicide
Jammu, July 15 The deceased has been identified as 26-year-old Mudassar of 9 Madras Regiment, a native of Belgaum in Karnataka. The jawan, who was on guard duty at 103 Engineering Unit in Nagrota Army cantonment, took out his rifle and shot himself at around 9.15 am. After hearing the gunshots, officers and jawans rushed to the spot and took him to a hospital, where he was declared as brought dead. However, the reason behind the suicide has not been ascertained so far. Army has ordered a court of inquiry into the incident while the Nagrota police has also registered a case. — TNS |
|
|
2 ultras held
Srinagar, July 15 In another operation, the police in Shopian district apprehended one over ground worker of the Al Bader outfit. Muzaffar Ahmad Chopan of Reshipora was nabbed and 126 rounds of Pika rifle were seized from him. — TNS |
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Jammu, July 15
Srinagar, July 15
Srinagar, July 15
