Jammu, February 4
The pain of losing parents during Kargil War still troubles children orphaned during the conflict. At that point of time, the Central government took a step to take their responsibility, but now these children are at the mercy of good samaritans, as the Union Ministry for Human Resource Development has reportedly stopped giving stipulated financial aid.

The charitable home, Apna Ghar, a short stay home for women rendered destitute due to Kargil conflict, set up by the government at Trikuta Nagar was supposed to give shelter and bring up girl children and look after destitute women, who lost their parents or husbands in the war. Subsequently, the widows, however, left the home, but all 28 girl inmates, all students, are facing financial crisis.

The HRD ministry advances an annual grant of Rs 6 lakh, that is enhanced by 10 per cent on an yearly basis, to the charitable home. Sources said during 2009 the home got only the first instalment of Rs 3.48 lakh in May. The second instalment was expected in April.

The charitable home was started in 2000 to ensure social justice and equal opportunities to children whose fathers were working as potters with the security forces and died in the battle between India and Pakistan.

It is said that mothers of these inmates abandoned them after getting remarried. The government had come forward to secure the future of such children.

Inmates like Sonam, Amina and Fiza, who are students of class XII, had to leave their coaching classes in December last year as they could not pay their fees to the institutes. There are many other students who are exposed to similar vulnerabilities due to financial hardships.

The sources said recently an inmate had to undergo a surgery, but due to lack of money, all medical expenses were borne by civil people and a private hospital.

“The staff of the home have not been paid salaries for the past eight months. At present, some charitable organisations are helping the home meet the expenses. But still the paucity of funds are posing problems in the administration of the home,” they said and added, “even the home sometimes run short of ration.”

While the home staff denied commenting on the issue, repeated attempts to contact the secretary of the home proved futile.

Jammu, February 4
Working chairman of the Panthers Party and Ramnagar MLA Harsh Dev Singh has strongly condemned the Centre and the state government for alleged biased, capricious and discriminatory treatment doled out to the lakes and water bodies of the Jammu region in the matter of allocation of funds.

Reacting to the announcement of Union Minister for Environment Jairam Ramesh, who had announced Rs 300 crore for the preservation of Wullar as against Rs 3 crore for the Mansar lake, Harsh Dev said this was another dose of hostile discrimination to the Jammu region.

He pointed out that the state government had already prepared and projected to the Centre a proposal seeking Rs 1,100 crore for the Dal Lake and availed Rs 350 crore funding. He said likewise the state government had projected a requirement of Rs 2,200 crore for conservation of the Jhelum river to the neglect of its counterpart Tawi river in the Jammu region, which had, despite its historical and religious significance, been the victim of the government apathy and neglect.

Condemning the biased and partisan approach of the government, Harsh Dev said more than 80 lakh tourists visit Jammu every year, but the tourism potential of the area had not been exploited by the government due to its vested interests and biased attitude.

He sought equitable allotment of funds for the Mansar lake, Suransar lake, Dalsar lake and the Tawi river conservation project, besides adequate funding for tourist spots of the Jammu region. He sought inclusion of lakes of the Jammu region in the Lakes And Waterways Development Authority.

Srinagar, February 4
After cardiac problems, cancer is the second largest killer of people in the Kashmir valley.

As the world observes World Cancer Day today, this disease in the past few years has caused a large number of deaths in  the valley.

“The situation in the Kashmir valley is alarming, as people only come to know about the disease at an advanced stage,” said Shamshad Kralwari, a member of the Cancer Society of Kashmir. He said most of the cancer patients in the valley did not know that they were suffering from the disease and only came to know about it when their condition worsened.

After a sudden increase in the number of cancer patients in the valley, some doctors joined hands and established the Cancer Society of Kashmir with the aim to disseminate awareness about it among the masses, provide counselling and medicines free of cost to patients.

“After the alarming increase in cancer cases in the valley, we established the Cancer Society of Kashmir in March 1999. It was established with the aim to spread awareness about the disease,” said Dr Ashiq Hussain Naqshbandi, founder of the society. He said the cases of esophageal (food pipe) and gastric (stomach) cancer were spreading in the valley and were also responsible for most of the deaths.

“These two cancers are more prevalent due to the food habits of Kashmiri people. The other two main killers in Kashmir are lung cancer among males and breast cancer among women,” Dr Naqshbandi said. He said even as the society’s clinic checked patients only once a week, it got 20 to 25 new cases of cancer. Besides breast cancer, other main killers of women were the cancer of ovary, cervical and uterus.

“People lack awareness and a majority of the patients who come to us come at the advanced stage of the disease,” said Dr Shahida Mir, Principal of the Government Medical College, Srinagar. She said the survival rate among the patients, who come at the initial stage, was good as after surgery, chemotherapy and chemo radiation there was a good chance of their survival.

“The need is to spread awareness about the disease among the masses so they could come at the initial stage of the disease,” Dr Mir said. As per the World Health organisation, cancer is the leading cause of deaths around the world. The WHo estimates that 84 million people will die of cancer between 2005 and 2015.

Jammu, February 4
Expressing concern over the prevailing precarious situation in the valley, state BJP president Shamsher Singh Manhas said today that the present situation was the direct outcome of the hasty decisions of the Congress-led UPA government.

In a statement issued here today, Manhas said the common man in the valley had been suffering at the hands of anti-national elements, who have now replaced gun culture with new technique of stone throwing.

“Militancy in the valley started initially with the present day type of agitations - stone throwing - and finally ended in gun culture,” he reminded.

Referring to the recent revelations by the CRPF chief that Pakistan and ISI had now started pumping money in the valley for making payments to stone throwing and arson and loot, Manhas said the same had been facilitated and encouraged by the decision of the Centre to reduce the level of the security forces in the state to appease the PDP and the NC.

He said the situation in Kashmir had gone worse and it reminded of the situation prevailing in early 90s when militancy erupted in the state. He said there was no stage for any relaxation in the security measures in view of the developments which had been taking place for the past few days.

He said it was the result of the appeasement policies of the Congress-led UPA government, adding that whenever the Congress and the NC had joined hands in the state, anti-social and anti-national elements had received boost in carrying out their activities.

Manhas demanded the effected areas, especially Kupwara, be immediately handed over to the Army with a free hand to tackle the violent mobs, which were threatening life and property of the nationalist people.

Srinagar, February 4
Describing the situation in Kashmir as ‘out of control’, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has blamed the NC for deteriorating law and order situation in the state, particularly the Kashmir valley, with increasing unrest among people.

She has also welcomed the scheduled visit of Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram to Pakistan later this month to hold talks with his counterpart. “We welcome it and hope that the peace process started earlier by our party for holding talks with Pakistan and separatist leaders will be restart,” Mehbooba said while addressing a press conference at her Gupkar house here this afternoon. “We hope that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Pakistan Prime Minister will restart and revitalise the peace process started by us,” Mehbooba added. She held that it would also help end the ongoing tension and excesses being committed on the people of Kashmir.

The PDP president claimed that the situation in the state, particularly the Kashmir valley, which had been witnessing bandh and clashes over the past five days, was out of control. She added that it was taking a dangerous turn as youths, who had participated in the elections wholeheartedly, were getting disappointed. There was an atmosphere of reconciliation and the PDP had also brought a similar change in situation after the 2002 elections. “But during the past one year, anger among the youths is growing,” she said, adding that there was misgovernance and the government had no control over the situation.

Mehbooba also expressed concern over Chief Minister omar Abdullah’s comment in Baramulla the other day, where he had blamed “vested interests” for the present situation. She said Kashmir was identified with encounters and infiltrations only, while the situation was different in the state. “Why to talk only of encounters and infiltration? Why not to talk about those taking to the streets here?,” Mehbooba questioned.

Earlier, the PDP president and other MLAs did not visit the district headquarters town of Shopian in south Kashmir to attend the District Development Board review meeting that was chaired by the Chief Minister and some of his ministerial colleagues and MLAs. over 24 youths were picked up by the police and restrictions imposed in Shopian  ahead of the meeting, Mehbooba alleged.

Jammu,February 4
Employees of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department in support of their demands organised a demonstration here today.

Addressing the employees, a leader of the employees regretted that despite repeated assurances the authorities had not taken any steps to fulfill their long-pending demands. He demanded additional salaries for the employees. He further pointed out that the former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and present PHE Minister Taj Mohi-ud- Din had promised to fulfill this demand but nothing had been done in this regard.

The agitation employees warned that if their demands were not accepted by February 15, they would launch a pen-down strike. 

Jammu, February 4
The Jammu Joint Students’ Federation (JJSF) has suspended its agitation launched over the demand for relaxation in syllabus in three years’ degree courses.

While addressing a press conference here today, Pratap Singh Jamwal, state vice-president of the JJSF, said the agitation was suspended following an assurance from the Nodal Officer of colleges, Dr Sham Lal Gupta, that Jammu University was organising a high level meeting with the principals of various colleges tomorrow to consider their demand.

Jamwal warned that after February 6, the JJSF would boycott all colleges for an indefinite period if no fruitful results emerged in the meeting.

Jammu, February 4
A team of CBI sleuths arrested the deputy director of the Employees State Insurance Corporation of India (ESIC) for allegedly taking bribe from an industrialist in his office here today.

A CBI officer said industrialist Rakesh Kumar filed a complaint with the CBI alleging that Suresh Chander Kaushik had demanded Rs 40,000 as bribe from him.

He told The Tribune that after receiving the complaint they laid a trap and the officer was arrested red-handed taking bribe at his office at Sanjay Chowk this afternoon.

MK Bhat, SSP, CBI, said, “A case has been registered and we are interrogating the accused.”

Jammu, February 4
The Army today gunned down three Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI) militants, including a self-styled divisional commander Feroz Ahmed, alias Dawood, in a gunfight in Kishtwar district.

A jawan, identified as Ravi Kant of the 11 Rashtriya Rifles, a native of Kerala, also lost his life in the gunfight.

Acting on a tip-off, troops of the 11 Rashtriya Rifles assisted by the 26 Rashtriya Rifles launched a search-and-cordon operation in the Chicha forest area of Kishtwar district and succeeded in eliminating three HuJI militants, Army spokesperson Brig Gurdeep Singh said.

The troops killed Dawood and arrested his associate, Hafiza Bano, the spokesperson said. A week ago, the militant, who had been active in the state since 1994, had managed to give the security forces the slip from Tandar village along with two of his associates after killing two soldiers.

The troops seized two AK assault rifles and one SLR and the operation was still on, he said. The two other militants eliminated in the gunfight were identified as Nazir Ahmed, alias Furkan, and Mohmmad Ishaq.

Sources said Dawood also worked with the Lashker-e-Toiba and the Hizbul Mujahideen. Kishtwar district SP, Haseeb Mughal said, after killing two soldiers in Tandar village on January 28, the three militants, including Dawood and his associate, Hafiza Bano, alias Babli trekked for 12 hours all the way to Bhella on other side of a ridge. Since security forces were keeping a track they were eventually trapped in a Dhok deep in jungles near Bhella village this morning, he added.

“We presume that Bano might have been providing information to Dawood”,he said, adding that Dawood was one of the oldest surviving militants on the southern side of Pir Panjal range.

In July last year, he had killed two civilians, Abdul Majid and Nazir Ahmed, besides injuring Tariq Ahmed in Tandar, he said.

Jammu, February 4
The CRPF, which has played a significant role in combating militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, will soon have an intelligence wing.

The union home ministry recently gave its go-ahead to the proposal and the force is in the process of setting up intelligence units at the battalion-level, Special DG CRPF, NK Tripathi told The Tribune here today. “After we finish the process, the CRPF on the lines of the BSF, would also have its ‘G’ branch”, he added. He felt the intelligence wing would provide teeth to the force in conducting its operations.

Tripathi said the modalities were yet to be worked out.Similar intelligence units would also be set up in the Naxal-hit areas. The idea behind the union government’s nod to the proposal was to relieve the Army of the task of internal security, he said. Sources said the CRPF’s own intelligence wing would not only provide the force precise information, but would also play an effective role during counter-insurgency operations.