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PDP protests against power crisis
12 PDP workers hurt in cane-charge
7 revenue officials, 38 civilians chargesheeted
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Hurriyat laments UN ‘failure’ to resolve Kashmir issue
School for Blind inmates allege harassment
Rawalpora Land Scam
Army hands over de-mined land to villagers
Consumer panel upholds compensation
Vaishno Devi shrine board
Popularisenon-conventional energy: Farooq
4 held in first cyber fraud in Valley
3 succumb to injuries
Search on for militants in Ramban
9 hurt in clash
Army pays tributes to martyr
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PDP protests against power crisis
Srinagar, January 4 The demonstration, led by party president Mehbooba Mufti, was also in protest against the shortage of LPG cylinders, kerosene and other essential commodities.The party demanded that power generation projects should be taken back from the NHPC. Addressing the demonstrators, the PDP president lamented the failure of the state government on all fronts which had added to the miseries of people and reversed all gains the state had made on political and development fronts. She said her party had deliberately adopted a low profile in the past three months in the hope that the state government would learn some lessons from its failure on all fronts. The party was also watching the situation in the light of an eight-point agenda announced by the Union Government as a guide to the state and had hoped some relief would be provided to the common man. “But the so-called agenda proved to be yet another cruel joke played on people which was implemented only in breach”, she said, and alleged that instead of releasing youth and political detainees, the police was arresting more. Mehbooba said the power crisis represented a colossal failure of the government that had affected all sections of society. “We believe power is a fundamental right , especially in extreme climatic conditions as life these days is completely dependent on electricity, and the previous government had ensured regular supply ”, she said. It seemed spreading darkness was the only policy that the NC pursued with effect.Otherwise, it was inconceivable as to what happened to the system in just a year, Mehbooba said.
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12 PDP workers hurt in cane-charge
Jammu, January 4 The workers held a rally from the party headquarters in Gandhi Nagar and marched to the Civil Secretariat raising anti-government slogans. The police cane charged the activists at Bikram Chowk when they were marching towards the Civil Secretariat. However, no one sustained serious injuries. As the protesters reached the Tawi Bridge at Bikram Chowk, the police blocked their entry, which led to a clash. A senior police officer said the cops resorted to the cane charge to disperse the mob and added that it was mild and no one was injured. However,PDP leaders said the use of force against the peaceful marchers was deplorable as it reflected the mindset of the state government to curb genuine and peaceful protests. Lashing out at the state government for the price rise and alleging failure on all fronts, particularly in security matters,the senior vice-president of the PDP, TS Bajwa, who was leading the rally said, “The government instead of giving basic amenities like water and electricity to the people was trying to punish them by using canes”. Bajwa added that the common man had been badly hit by inflation and the party would continue its protest. He also described the two-year tenure of the present coalition government as the “worst period” in the history of the state. Meanwhile, huge queues of vehicles were witnessed on all roads leading to the chowk. The traffic came to a standstill and vehicles were stopped near the Bikram Chowk. The vehicular movement could be resumed only after an hour.
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7 revenue officials, 38 civilians chargesheeted
Jammu, January 4 The Crime Branch, with the assistance of the nodal agency for computerisation, reproduced the whole record on a CD, tallied it and completed the investigation. Raja said it was found that the revenue officials in connivance with local land brokers converted the government land “kahcharai” into proprietary land fraudulently and sold the same to innocent people through pseudo owners created by them and thereby defrauding people and the government of crores of rupees. He said most of the purchasers were of handed over plots on the government land, which was under water.
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Hurriyat laments UN ‘failure’ to resolve Kashmir issue
Srinagar, January 4 This was observed at a seminar on “UN Resolution-Legal base for Kashmir dispute”, organised by the party here in connection with the UN resolutions on Kashmir dated January 5, 1949. The chairman of the moderate faction, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, presided over the seminar which was attended by senior leaders, including former Hurriyat Conference chairman Abdul Ghani Bhat, JKLF chairman Yasin Malik, Nayeem Khan and prominent writer Dr Javed Iqbal. Yasin Malik regretted that the BJP was changing its stand on Kashmir and issuing threats to hoist the National Flag at Lal Chowk on January 26. He referred to various initiatives taken by the BJP- led NDA regime during which the then Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, had made serious efforts to solve the problem. He said Vajpayee extended the hand of friendship to Pakistan and engaged Pakistan and the separatist leadership in a dialogue process. But, now the party was not sincere in its approach as it had threatened to hoist the Tricolour at Lal Chowk, Malik said. The Mirwaiz said the UN, which had passed resolutions vis-à-vis Kashmir on January 5, 1949, had failed to deliver and the Kashmir issue. He reiterated the demand for the right to self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He said the people of Kashmir were not a party to the dispute but were its masters. “Let the message go across the globe that the Kashmir issue should be resolved in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,”he added. The state had turned into a police state and was being ruled by the Army. The Hurriyat leader vowed to take the “ongoing freedom struggle” to its logical end. The former Hurriyat Conference chairman, Abdul Ghani Bhat, in his remarks said the UN resolutions
were a legal base for the Kashmir issue.
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School for Blind inmates allege harassment
Jammu, January 4 They said if the government failed to do so, then they would start a hunger strike. This was disclosed by the inmates of the school during a function organised by the school to mark the 202th birth anniversary of Louis Braille. Mahmood Rana, Director, Social Welfare, was the chief guest. The school provides board and lodging facilities to 25 boys hailing from different areas of the state. “Here we are being treated like criminals. Many restrictions have been put on us. We cannot read when we want, we cannot have food and clothes of our choice. When we informed the superintendent about our problems, instead of solving these, she harassed us,” alleged the inmates. “We are subjected to injustice and no one is there to listen to our woes. Besides her (superintendent), her personal security officer also restricts our movement within the school premises,” alleged an inmate. “We are mentally disturbed since she joined the school last year. We have come here for pursuing education. We are not criminals,” he added. Every year on the World Braille Day, the inmates are provided clothes and other necessary items as per their choice by the school authorities. However, this time they rejected these and added that the cloths were not of their choice and were of inferior quality. Rejecting all allegations, Khalida Begum said, “I am shocked by the allegations of the inmates”. She added, “Earlier, we used to get Rs 75,000 for purchasing clothes and other necessary items for the students on World Braille Day, but this time, the government had given us Rs 1 lakh for the same. But the students have not accepted the clothes and other items so far,” Begum added.
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Rawalpora Land Scam
Jammu, January 4 He said in order to sabotage the process of investigation, the revenue officials damaged the records . The Crime Branch, with the assistance of the nodal agency for computerisation, reproduced the whole record on a CD, tallied it and completed the investigation. Raja said it was found that the revenue officials in connivance with local land brokers converted the government land “kahcharai” into proprietary land fraudulently and sold the same to innocent people through pseudo owners created by them and thereby defrauding people and the government of crores of rupees. Raja said most of the purchasers of were handed over plots on the government land, which was under water, while others were still searching for the plots. Revenue officials, namely Mohammad Amin Andrabi and Mohammad Skinder Malik, then tehsildars of Budgam; Omkar Nath Koul, then girdhwar of halqa Ralwalpora; Ghulam Mohammad Ganai, Ghulam Hassan Sofi, Ghulam Nabi Ganai and Mohammad Subhan Wani, then patwaris of Rawalpora; and a battery of notorious land brokers of Rawalpora, including Wali Mohammad Malik, a resident of Peer-Bagh, Hyderpora, were produced in court.
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Army hands over de-mined land to villagers
Jammu, January 4 The troops of the Bawan Brigade under the aegis of the Crossed Swords Division cleared the place. The area was later handed over in a simple ceremony along the Zero Line to Pawan Kumar Sharma, assistant commissioner, Revenue Department by the Commander Bawan Brigade in the presence of locals, civil administration officials and Army personnel. The Army so far has cleared about 1,300 kanals of land close to the Zero Line and handed it over to farmers. During the process of de-mining, soldiers had to be extra cautious because of the persistent danger of drifted and displaced mines. However, the Army de-mining teams operated under harsh weather conditions and worked tirelessly to meet the deadline. The handing over ceremony was attended by a large section of people from the border areas. A volleyball match between the Army and the locals was organised on the ground cleared by the Army. |
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Missing luggage on air
travel
Jammu, January 4 “The respondent is not governed by the provisions of the Carriage by Air Act, 1972, but the parties are governed by the J&K Consumer Protection Act, 1987, which is a special Act and came into force later. It was the duty of the appellants to ascertain whether such imposed conditions under the Carriage by Air Act, 1972 regarding the declaration and fixed rate of alleged loss to the valuable items contained in the missing attaché were incorporated in the air tickets or not. Those conditions should have been in the knowledge of the respondent. No such condition has been either shown or proved in the tickets which were used before undertaking the air journey. In the absence of any such privity of contract, unilateral defence raised cannot be acceped”, the commission ruled. Dr Inder Parkash Gupta and his wife travelled on November 19, 2010,on a flight from Banglore via Mumbai to Jammu on tickets purchased in Jammu through the Internet. One VIP attaché and one bag, which was a “checked-in luggage” was reflected against the registered number in their tickets. After disembarking and reaching the lounge, the complainants were surprised to know that their luggage was found missing at the unloading counter. Immediately, a complaint was lodged. After a gap of one month, a missing bag was returned with damage caused to it as well as the articles contained therein. However, the attaché containing valuable items worth Rs 82,950 could not be traced. The Divisional Consumer Forum, Jammu, which was moved ordered the airline to give compensation to Gupta. The airline challenged the award before the state commission,which dismissed the appeal.
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Vaishno Devi shrine board
Jammu, January 4 They also travelled in the solar-powered battery cars on the premises. Farooq also sanctioned six solar-based power projects to be installed at various installations of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board With the commissioning of the solar energy plants for lighting and water heating purposes, Raj Bhawan has demonstrated the usefulness of exploiting non-conventional energy sources. The Governor and Farooq inspected the 20 KW solar power plant, which provides energy for illuminating security lights in the complex. They also reviewed the operation of the solar water heating system installed on the rooftop of the building. With the commissioning of this plant, 2000 litres of hot water is now available for daily use in the Raj Bhawan. The work on the installation of a solar power plant and a solar water heating system at the Srinagar Raj Bhawan shall commence shortly. On the pattern of the initiatives taken in Rashtrapati Bhawan, the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had sanctioned a project for implementation in the Raj Bhawans in Jammu and Srinagar, involving an expenditure of Rs 1 crore, under its Special Area Demonstration Programme. Later, the Governor and Farooq held a meeting to review the implementation of the project sanctioned for both Raj Bhawans and expressed satisfaction over its time-bound implementation in Jammu. The Governor asked his Principal Secretary RK Goyal to ensure the completion of the installation of the solar power plant and the solar water heating system at Raj Bhawan in Srinagar in a fixed time-line. The meeting also reviewed the status of various projects sanctioned by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. It was informed that the board had since commissioned a 5 KW solar power plant at the
cave shrine, which provides power for illumination in the tunnels, and a 5,000 litres per day capacity solar water heating system at the Niharika Complex at Katra. Earlier, on the directions of the Governor, who is also the chairman of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, RK Goyal, CEO of the shrine board, had submitted a proposal for setting up six additional solar power-based systems at various installations of the board. During his meeting with the Governor, Farooq gave him copies of the formal sanction orderswith regard to the aforesaid projects. The Governor thanked Farooq for the speedy sanction of the proposed projects During the meeting, the Governor and Farooq discussed the scope of the optimal exploitation of the huge potential of the non-conventional energy sources, including solar energy, wind energy, geo-thermal energy and mini and micro-hydel projects, in the state. |
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Popularisenon-conventional energy: Farooq
Jammu, January 4 He was interacting with mediapersons after inaugurating two solar power plants at the Sub-District Hospital in RS Pura and the Government Emergency Hospital at Vijaypur, near here, today. Both power plants constructed at a cost of Rs 42.29 lakh by the J&K Energy Development Agency (JKEDA) are expected to cater to the power requirements of both hospitals. Farooq said the Central government was keen on promoting the solar energy system throughout the country and many states had adopted it. Farmers in Punjab and other states were using the system for operating irrigation pumps for which the Union government was providing 95 per cent subsidy. He asked for creating awareness among people about the benefits of solar energy in Jammu and Kashmir so that people adopt this alternate source of power. He said the state government had a meagre power generation of its own and was spending a huge portion of the Budget on purchasing electricity. It is the need of the hour to encourage the people to adopt this system in a big way. He said on the request of the state government all hospitals would be provided with solar power plants to meet their electricity requirements, he added. Farooq said the subject regarding conservation of energy should be introduced in the syllabi of the students at primary and secondary levels so that the younger generations were made acquainted with the latest trends in science and technology. Impressing upon the people living in remote and far flung areas of the state, Farooq said the Department of Energy was providing equipment and technical know how to the aspirants of new and renewable energy. He called upon one and all to strengthen the hands of the state government in the implementation of Central and state energy related schemes to ensure the success of the projects.
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4 held in first cyber fraud in Valley
Srinagar, January 4 The police also suspects the involvement of a Nigerian national in the fraud and is keeping him under the scanner. “It is the first case of its kind in the Valley, the first cyber-related bank fraud carried out by using tampered credit cards which are cloned and linked”, said SSP, Srinagar, Asiq Bukhari. The police believed this could be the tip of the iceberg and the arrests could lead to the busting of a major gang involved in bank frauds across the country and outside the country. “On December 30 , the police received a complaint from a jeweller, Zahoor Ahmed, proprietor of Shahjee Jewellers, that a local boy, had swiped his HDFC and SBI cards to digitally transfer Rs 1,35,000 as advance payment for gold ornaments which he had selected at a cost of Rs 1,80,000.However,the jeweller received a call from HDFC Bank informing him that the transaction was fraudulent”, the SSP said. Investigation revealed that the boy, Nisar Ahmad Sheikh,had made the transaction. After his arrest, Sheikh named two more persons, Shafiq Sheikh and Faisal Khan, both residents of Mumbai, who were also arrested in connection with the case. “They all worked at the behest of a Mumbai resident who might be the kingpin of the racket.We have also recovered around 18 credit and debit cards of various banks”, said the police officer. The SSP said the suspected kingpin, Sumear,stayed in Srinagar for three days and later left for Mumbai. “Money was transferred from a hacked account to another account. They used card-cloning and card-linking to hack into the accounts”, Bukhari said. “We came to know that the two arrested Mumbai residents reached Srinagar on December 22 and stayed in a hotel and in connivance with local boy committed digital fraudulent transactions on December 23, 24 and 30 for Rs 95,550, Rs 95,550 and Rs 1,35,000 by using five fake cards”, he said.
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3 succumb to injuries
Jammu, January 4 Geeta Thakur (40), wife of a CRPF constable and resident of the Ban Talab area, was admitted to the hospital after she suffered severe burn injuries in a fire. She died in the hospital today. Geeta along with her husband were taken to the hospital after they sustained burn injuries in their residential quarter on December 30 last year. In another incident, a septuagenarian woman, Ram Kaur, died at the GMCH today. She was admitted to the hospital on January 2 after a vehicle hit her in the Raipur Satwari area here. In yet another incident, 40-year-old Amarnath, a resident of Nagrota, who was admitted to the hospital yesterday after he suffered severe burn injuries, died today. Amarnath had suffered a severe electric shock while repairing electricity wires at Nagrota. |
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Search on for militants in Ramban
Udhampur, January 4 The operation was launched in the Bignari area of Gool tehsil last evening to trace the militants who had reportedly killed two jawans of the Territorial Army on the night of December 31, 2010. A heavy exchange of fire followed but DIG, Doda Police Range, MK Sinha told The Tribune over phone that the operation yielded nothing so far as the militants seemed to have escaped because the security forces could not enter the densely forested area as the night fell. Sinha expressed ignorance about the identity of the militants. “The report that the militants belonged to the Lashker-e-Toiba and especially about the presence of its commander Moosa in the area, is a mere conjecture. Nothing can be said about their identity till they are killed or captured,” he said. Asked whether the militants in question were involved in the killing of two TA jawans, Sinha said it seemed the possibility. He added that though the militants seemed to have escaped, the operation against them had not been called off. The security forces were still on their trail. The search was continuing where the security forces had a brief exchange of fire with them. “The footprints and bloodstains indicated that they have escaped. But we have placed ambushes in the area where the militants possibly could have escaped to,” added Sinha.
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9 hurt in clash
Jammu, January 4 It added that a few of them sustained severe injuries and were admitted to the Government Medical College and Hospital, where their condition was said to be stable. A case has been registered against nine persons. — TNS |
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Army pays tributes to martyr
Udhampur, January 4 Sharif was a highly motivated soldier belonging to the 163 Infantry Battalion of the TA (H&H). He was instrumental in numerous successful counter-terrorist operations in the Gool area of Ramban district. The TA Battalion is raised on the concept of “Sons of the soil” . —
TNS |
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Srinagar, January 4
Twelve activists of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) were injured in a cane charge by the police here today when they were protesting against price rise and demanding basic amenities.
Srinagar, January 4
