Jammu, October 5
The decision of the Union government to sanction relief to the tune of Rs 5 lakh each for those killed during the past three months in Kashmir turmoil has triggered a controversy.

Various political parties of Jammu have been demanding ex gratia relief for those who lost their lives during Amarnath land agitation in 2008.

While the BJP and the Panthers Party have taken up the issue in the current session of the Assembly, other social and political groups have stepped up campaign outside the House. Jammu groups have been demanding that equal treatment should be given to all three regions of the state.

They argued that there was no reason to deny families of deceased youth of the Jammu region the compensation as they too were residents of the state.

Harsh Dev Singh, Panthers Party leader and a former education minister, asked the Union government not to look towards Jammu with prejudice and play with sentiments of its people.

He condemned the “highly biased and discriminatory treatment” to the Jammu region in the matter of release of ex gratia to the kin of those who lost their lives during Amarnath land row.

Brig Suchait Singh (retd), convener of Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti (SAYSS), which had spearheaded the 63-day-long agitation in 2008, warned that they would not hesitate to take “some extreme step if compensation was not given to the martyrs of Amarnath agitation”. “There is no reason to give relief to victims of Kashmir violence and not to those who died in Amarnath agitation. If the government has decided to give ex gratia relief to stone-pelters who were killed during arson and rioting, youths of Jammu should also be given relief as they too were residents of this state,” he said.

He added that while entering into an agreement with the agitating people, the state government had promised to give ex gratia relief to the families of those who lost their lives during Amarnath land row. “Two years have passed since the agreement, but not even a single penny is given,” he said.

Meanwhile, the BJP has already started a campaign on the issue. Party’s strike call on September 30 on this issue had received an overwhelming response.

Srinagar, October 5
The Jammu and Kashmir government has launched two schemes for girl students belonging to economically deprived sections of the state.

More than 5,000 girls belonging to economically weaker sections of society in the state will benefit from the “Girl Child Scheme” and “Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme” announced by the government on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti, an official spokesman said here recently. The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of officers chaired by Minister for Education Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed recently.

Under the incentive for Girl Child Scheme, 5,016 girl students would be covered. “An amount of Rs 1.50 crore has been sanctioned for the scheme in which each girl will get Rs 3,000. The amount will be deposited in the form of fixed deposit in a bank for which zero balance accounts have already been opened in Jammu and Kashmir Bank in respective localities,” he said.

The students could encash this amount after successful completion of secondary education. Under the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme, girls, whose family income is less than Rs 3 lakh per annum, would be covered, he said.

“The girl candidates will have to appear in the National Talent Search Test to be conducted by the Board of School Education and ones who qualify the test will be sanctioned a scholarship of Rs 3,000 each for the completion of secondary education,” the spokesman added.

The aim of the schemes is to make education available to the underprivileged sections of society.

Meanwhile, Governor NN Vohra paid rich tributes to the Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi. Vohra described Mahatma as an apostle of peace and a staunch believer of non-violence and said the sacrifices and teachings of Mahatma are indelibly imprinted on the global conscience. — PTI

Leh, October 5
As part of the green initiative during the Common Wealth Games in Delhi, over 40,000 saplings would be planted on October 10 near world famous Hemis Monastery at Changga village in the district.

The mass plantation for an hour is being organised by Live to Love, an NGO, headed by Galwang Drukpa Rinpochey, Buddhist spiritual leader and head of Drukpa lineage of Buddhism. It is an effort of the organiser to break the existing world record, presently held by Peru.

Galwang Drukpa Rinpochey, the founder of Live to Love and Druk Pema Karpo School, which is commonly known as Rancho’s school, has been recently awarded the United Nation Millennium Goal for working on eco-friendly school building and teaching leadership skills to young women.

Lobzang Chinba, a member of Live to Love, who has been visiting people from all walks of life, appealing them to volunteer in the forthcoming mass plantation, said, “The mass plantation is in conjunction with the Common Wealth Games and is part of the green initiative of Live to Love. Under the initiative, more than one million trees would be planted in Ladakh and the process has already been started on September 12”.

Chinba further said saplings would be planted by volunteers and the response seemed overwhelming. The organiser is expecting over 8,000 volunteers, including 400 Buddhist monks and over 100 nuns.

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan and hosts of other national and international celebrities are also expected to witness the event in Ladakh.

Jammu, October 5
Secessionist voices like right to self-determination, referendum, plebiscite and freedom that emanate from Kashmir are nothing but a plan engineered by Pakistan since 1947 in a bid to see that some day it gains control of the river-rich Jammu and Kashmir.

Though a wishful thinking on their part to annex Kashmir, the ground reality could not be reversed, come what may, sources in the Army told The Tribune.

People doesn’t matter for the Pakistani establishment, this is evident from the fact that till date those in the PoK are considered second class citizens and those who migrated to Pakistan in 1947 are still called “Muhajirs”, living their lives under inhumane conditions.

“After waging four open wars and later switching over to proxy war in late 80s against India, Pakistan has not been able to annex even an inch of our land,” sources in the Army said.

However, the increasing closeness between Pakistan and China has become a cause of concern for the Army.

“We know that Chinese Army officials have a strategic interest in Pakistan and both of them have been laying a network of roads in the PoK, which goes against India from the security point of view,” they added.

Moreover, regular threats of Jihad against India emanating from Pakistan-based militant leaders have nothing to do with Kashmir, their real goal is to raise the pitch for Pakistan’s ambition to grab the water resources of Jammu and Kashmir, stated an Army handout.

Threats by Pakistan-based terrorist groups for Jihad against India’s so called ‘water terrorism’ shows the real strategic intent of Pakistan. The prime reason behind Pakistan stoking the fire of dispute over Kashmir is water as Jammu and Kashmir is the origin point for many rivers and tributaries of Indus river basin, which include Jhelum and Chenab, which primarily flows into Pakistan.

Pakistan has been apprehensive that in dire need, India would use its strategic advantage and withhold the flow, thus choking the agrarian economy of Pakistan.

The partition of India in 1947 meant headwaters of Pakistan’s irrigation system were in Indian territory and Pakistan feels that it needs to have physical control over the concerned headwaters to ease fears about India’s potential ability to turn a huge chunk of its land into desert.

However, the Indus Waters Treaty resolved most of these disputes over sharing of water and calling for mutual co-operation in this regard. But this treaty gave Pakistan an upper hand in monitoring the construction of dams and hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan on numerous occasions had approached World Bank on Baglihar Hydroelectric project over Chenab in Chanderkote and now Sawalakote project for arbitration.

Though World Bank had appointed a neutral adjudicator Prof Raymond Lafitte, the apex body had eventually given a go-ahead to India with slight changes in the design of the Baglihar project.

The handout stated that using the treaty as a mask, Pakistan has been obstructing the development of water resources in the state.

As the gap between water availability and requirements widens in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan’s desire to intensify Jihad operations will grow.

Agricultural development will be affected which in turn will produce a stratum of unemployed youth willing to service terrorist groups. This vicious cycle of depleting resources spawning unemployment and fuelling terrorism is feared to intensify in the near future. This is the main reason for Pakistan’s hue and cry against various hydroelectric power projects in the state.

Pakistan needs physical control over the Indus catchment region in Jammu and Kashmir. Therefore, it is resorting to fuel Jihad against India for the separation of Jammu and Kashmir.

To thwart the intentions of Pakistan, India must develop and tap the water resources to its maximum potential in Jammu and Kashmir. This will be beneficial for the development of the state as well.

Jammu, October 5
To discover young promising cricket talent in Jammu and Uttar Pradesh, Sprite Gully Cricket Championship is currently taking place in eight cities.

The championship is an initiative launched to provide youths with a unique opportunity to play the game of street cricket.

The championship aims at connecting and engaging youths across this part of the country by tapping their key passion, cricket.

Eight city finalists selected from the league matches will be awarded Rs 1 lakh each and runners up will receive a cash prize of Rs 50,000.

According to Srinivas Murthy, director marketing, flavours, Coca-Cola India, “Street cricket is the nursery of competitive sport in India. Cricket, especially Twenty20, is a passion among the youth today. We received tremendous response to gully cricket championship organised earlier this year and building on the same platform, we decided to further extend the initiative. In the new season, Sprite Gully Cricket champs will tap the cricketing talent across eight cities, including Jammu”.

The championship that began on September 10 involves around 3,000 young and budding cricketers from Agra, Lucknow, Allahabad, Moradabad, Varanasi, Gorakpur, Jammu and Kanpur.

As part of this initiative, winners selected from super league matches in each of the cities will receive a mega prize of Rs 4 lakh and cricket gear autographed by Kolkata Knight Riders team while runners up team will be awarded cash prize of Rs 1.5 lakh.

The championship is open for all young players between the age group of 15 and 35 years. The initiative is supported by an integrated marketing communication programme, which includes radio, Internet, besides on-ground entertainment activities.

Jammu, October 5
A Youth Employment and Guidance Node (YEGN) has been established in the Nowshera sector of Rajouri by the Nowshera Brigade under the aegis of the Ace of Spades Division.

The YEGN has been established to provide a platform with maximum material support to the youth of the local and far-flung border areas so as to make them aware of multi-dimensional education facilities and glut of employment opportunities in various fields. The Node has become popular amongst school and college children.

The commander, Nowshera Brigade, while inaugurating the YEGN, encouraged the youth to join the Node to obtain maximum assistance, directions and guidance so as to make their future bright.

More than 600 girls and boys have already been registered so far with the Node and have started acquiring guidance and assistance on their preferred careers. The Node has started receiving tremendous response not only from the youth, but also from their guardians who are extending their voice of appreciation for the Node. — TNS

Srinagar, October 5
A seminar was organised by Jammu and Kashmir Chapter of Special Olympics to celebrate the birth anniversary of Lt. Evenice Kennedy Shriver, founder of Special Olympics organised by J&K Chapter Al-Habib Special School Braien, Nishat.

Khawja Farooq Renzu, Director, Local Bodies, Kashmir, was the chief guest while Shiekh Abdul Qayoom, Chairman of Iqbal Islamic School, Braien, Nishat, and renowned educationist Muzffar Ahmad Bhat were the guests of honour.

Two special children, Altaf Ahmad and Fazian Shafi of the Al-Habib Special School were awarded on the occasion. Tyioba jan and Shoiaba Nazir of the school were also given certificates for attending various camps.

Khawja Farooq Renzu called upon the people to come forward for bringing smiles on the faces of special children by way of providing a platform to tap their hidden talent.

He said their parents had to show courage to accept the reality and it was their moral duty to provide them special attention, which would encourage them to participate in activities of their interest.

Recalling the contribution of Late Mother Teresa, he said her contribution “is the bacon for us to involve ourselves in these missionary works.”

Lauding the role of the management of AL- Habib Special School for Special Children, he said it should continue this nobel mission and assured every help in this connection.

Sheikh Abdul Qayoom, Chairman of Iqbal Islima School, Braien, said it was a missionary step to help such children but added that a lot more was needed to be done collectively to ensure specialized care for every disabled child of the Valley to tap his or her potential.

Srinagar, October 5
Minister for Agriculture GH Mir has informed the Legislative Assembly that due to prolonged spell of rain in the Kashmir Valley during May and June this year, it was initially apprehended that there might be heavy losses to fruit and cereal crops. Such prophesies of doom have fortunately not come true, he said, adding that a bumper paddy crop was ready to be harvested, which was expected to be the best ever in the recorded history.

Mir said apple crop was estimated to be 30 per cent higher than last year. He said all other fruit crops, except cherry and strawberry, have recorded all-time high yields. The brunt of bad weather during the late spring and early summer was borne by cherry and strawberry growers.

He said as against 2,000 metric tonnes of cherries sold in various markets outside the state last year, 1,900 metric tonnes of cherries were sold this year, over 700 metric tonnes of cherries were sold in markets within the state last year and 650 metric tonnes were sold in markets within the state this year.

Mir further said Baramulla district offers a good potential for sericulture development and the department has initiated a number of schemes for the benefit of farmers. There are 11 nurseries and 31 mulberry farms in the district.

He said presently there were about 1,000 rearing families engaged in sericulture in the district and cocoon production was registered to 37,000 kg during 2010-11 thereby generating an income of Rs 45 lakh for silkworm rearers in comparison to cocoon production of 33,000 kg with an income generation of Rs 34 lakh in 2009-10.

He said the Sopore constituency had about 138 silkworm rearers and cocoon production was about 7,000 kg with an income generation of Rs 7 lakh during the current year as compared to 6,000 kg of cocoon crop with an income of Rs 6 lakh during 2009-10. The department expects to double the number of rearers and cocoon production by the end of 2011-12.

The Minister was replying to a question raised by Haji Mohammad Ashraf.

Meanwhile Minister for Horticulture Sham Lal Sharma, in reply to the same question, apprised the House that the government had assessed the loss of fruit crops in the Valley at Rs 307 crore.

He said as per estimates, about 80 per cent damage had been caused to fruit crops in the Valley due to hailstorms. The compensation case has been worked out and sent to the Centre.

Replying to a supplementary raised by MY Tarigami, the Minister said the government was contemplating to introduce horticulture crop insurance in the state to safeguard the interests of fruit growers after consulting the neighbouring states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The BJP has been vociferously opposing any move to repeal or dilute the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in force in Jammu and Kashmir but some of its prominent leaders were not only unaware of the clauses of this Act but also the full form of the AFSPA.

Without going into the details of the clauses of the AFSPA, BJP leaders have been opposing this Act at different platforms to get political mileage.