SPECIAL COVERAGE
CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI


THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
image
J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R    E D I T I O N

protest over New Recruitment Policy
Admn decides to close gates of all colleges
Jammu, November 12
Policemen stand guard outside Goverment MAM College in Jammu on Saturday. The main gate of the college is also closed. After adopting various methods to foil the protests of students, the local administration has decided to close the main gates of all colleges in the city.


Policemen stand guard outside Goverment MAM College in Jammu on Saturday. The main gate of the college is also closed. Tribune photo: Inderjeet Singh

Mubarak Mandi Heritage Complex
3 years on, only a small portion renovated for President’s visit
Jammu, November 12
The portion of the Mubarak Mandi Heritage complex that has been renovated for the visit of President Pratibha Patil to Jammu. While the state government is all set to “showcase” a small renovated portion of the heritage complex of Mubarak Mandi.

The portion of the Mubarak Mandi Heritage complex that has been renovated for the visit of President Pratibha Patil to Jammu. Tribune photos: Inderjeet Singh

Killing of Hindus in Pak sparks protest
Jammu, November 12
Protesting the killing of three Hindus in the Sindh province of Pakistan, the Hindustan Shiv Sena today burnt an effigy of the neighbouring country and demanded protection for minority Hindus and Sikhs there.




YOUR TOWN
Jammu
Srinagar


EARLIER STORIES


Complaint on Facebook, offender challaned for overloading
Jammu, November 12
Social networking and micro-blogging sites like Facebook and Twitter are being used by government agencies to penalise traffic offenders in Jammu and Kashmir.

Govt plans courier service to Kargil, Gurez areas
Srinagar, November 12
The state government is working on a plan to start courier services to the Kargil and Gurez areas, which remain cut off due to heavy snowfall during winter. 

Man thrashed at Geelani’s rally is our man: Army
Srinagar, November 12
The Army has claimed that the man, who was beaten up by a mob on the suspicion that he had made an assassination bid on hardline Hurriyat faction chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani during a rally here, was actually a member of its “covert team”.

Thrashing of boy by teacher
Chief Education Officer to hold inquiry
Jammu, November 12
The Chief Education Officer (CEO), Rajouri, said today he would visit Government Higher Secondary School, Gambhir Mughlan, to probe the incident of November 3 when a teacher had allegedly thrashed a boy for his refusal to give the former the phone number of a girl student.

Decision to shift idle buses from bus stand hailed
Jammu, November 12
The Shopkeepers’ Association General Bus Stand, Jammu, has hailed the decision of the state authorities to shift idle buses from the bus stand to the newly constructed yard at Khanpur, near Nagrota.

Supporters of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and Army Rights hold a protest in support of the Army in New Delhi on Saturday.
Supporters of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and Army Rights hold a protest in support of the Army in New Delhi on Saturday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal

Govt college holds quiz competition
Jammu, November 12
The Career Counselling and Placement Cell of Government College for Women, Parade, in collaboration with the IIM, Bangalore, organised a quiz competition “United Minds” on the college premises here today.

JURSEA chief joins NC Students Union
Jammu, November 12
Jammu University Research Scholars Executive Association (JURSEA) president Rakesh Chib today joined the National Conference as president of the J&K National Conference Students Union (NCSU), Jammu province, along with his supporters.

Advani’s yatra to reach Jammu on Nov 16
Jammu, November 12
Veteran BJP leader LK Advani, who is on a 38-day Jan Chenta Yatra, will reach Jammu on a chartered plane instead of a specially-made rath (chariot) and fly back to Chandigarh the same day.

Members of the Progressive Students Association and the Gujjar Bakkerwal Students Association hold a protest against the new recruitment policy of the state government at the University of Jammu on Saturday.
Members of the Progressive Students Association and the Gujjar Bakkerwal Students Association hold a protest against the new recruitment policy of the state government at the University of Jammu on Saturday.Tribune photo: Inderjeet Singh

Awareness camp on eve of Diabetes Day
Jammu, November 12
On the eve of World Diabetes Day, Pir Panchal, an NGO, organised an awareness camp at Muthi Camp here today.

Infighting in BJP reason for poor response
Jammu, November 12
Notwithstanding the claims of the party, the Jan Jagran Yatra of the BJP received a lackluster response due to infighting in the party and the cross-voting controversy, which had badly dented its image and demoralised its workers.

 








Top








 

protest over New Recruitment Policy
Admn decides to close gates of all colleges
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 12
After adopting various methods to foil the protests of students, the local administration has decided to close the main gates of all colleges in the city. Students of the colleges and the University of Jammu are protesting against the state government for the past fortnight demanding the revocation of the new recruitment policy.

Sensing that the students may again try to ‘gherao’ the civil secretariat, the administration has decided to close the gates of the colleges. The administration had earlier foiled an attempt by the students to gherao the secretariat on November 9.

Following inputs that the students may try to hold a protest against the state government this afternoon, a large number of policemen were deployed in the city. Though the day passed off peacefully, some protests were reportedly held in colleges and the university.

However, the students said as it was a holiday in the university today, the strength of protesters was also less.

“The police has been using force to suppress our voice. Our leader Manik Sharma, who had held a protest outside the university, was arrested last night. Now, the police is not releasing him. We will continue with our protest. In the coming days, we will intensify the agitation,” said Talib Hussain, president of the All Gujjar and Bakarwal Students’ Association.

Though the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has stayed the implementation of the new recruitment policy till November 25, the students have been holding protests across the region.

Top

 

Mubarak Mandi Heritage Complex
3 years on, only a small portion renovated for
President’s visit
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service

A dilapidated portion of the complex.
A dilapidated portion of the complex. Tribune photos: Inderjeet Singh

Jammu, November 12
While the state government is all set to “showcase” a small renovated portion of the heritage complex of Mubarak Mandi, once the residence of the erstwhile Dogra rulers of the state, to the President on November 25, the major portion of it remains in a dilapidated condition.

However, the state government is in a fix as to how to hide the dilapidated portion of the Mubarak Mandi complex from President Pratibha Devisingh Patil during her visit to Jammu. The President is likely to inaugurate the renovated portion on November 25. Besides inaugurating the renovated portion, the President is also likely to visit the Dogra Art Museum in the vicinity of the heritage complex.

“It is true that the President is going to inaugurate the renovated portion of the Mubarak Mandi complex, but its remaining part speaks volumes about its utter neglect and vandalism it suffered over the years,” said an official.

The portion has been renovated at a cost of Rs 3.69 crore. The official said the paucity of funds had hampered the preservation work, which had now been taken up by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

“The bottomline is that this heritage complex has been dying a slow death due to the nonchalant attitude of successive governments,” he said.

He recalled that the renovation work of the big complex was started in 2008 during the regime of the then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. “Since then, only a small portion of the complex that housed the Foreign Department and the Army headquarters of the princely state, has been renovated and preserved,” the official said.

It may be stated here that following a detailed project report submitted by the Indian National Trust for Art and Culture Heritage (INTACH), the Union government had sanctioned Rs 296 crore for the renovation of the heritage complex.

Official sources expressed regrets that the Mubarak Mandi Heritage Society (MMHS), which was formed by the government and had been assigned the task of supervising the renovation work, had been mired in controversies in the past.

Top

 

 

Killing of Hindus in Pak sparks protest

Jammu, November 12
Protesting the killing of three Hindus in the Sindh province of Pakistan, the Hindustan Shiv Sena today burnt an effigy of the neighbouring country and demanded protection for minority Hindus and Sikhs there.

Led by its president, over 200 activists of the Hindustan Shiv Sena held a protest march in the city against the killings.

Displaying placards demanding protection for Hindus and Sikhs in the neighbouring country, they demanded exemplary punishment to the people involved in what they called ghastly murders.

According to reports, three Hindus were recently gunned down by some unidentified armed persons following a dispute between Hindus and Muslims in Shikarpur district of Sindh province.

The activists also observed a two-minute silence in memory of victims, Dr Ajit Kumar, Naresh Kumar, Ashok Kumar, and prayed for the speedy recovery of Dr Sirtapal, who was badly injured in firing. He is struggling for life in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a Karachi hospital. Kohli blamed the Pakistan police for patronising criminals.

There were frequent attacks on the members of the minorities in Pakistan and the people there were living under uncertain conditions, said Kohli. He added the Hindus and the Sikhs in Pakistan could not perform their religious activities freely and their religious places were in a dilapidated condition. — TNS

Top

 

Complaint on Facebook, offender challaned for overloading
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria/TNS
The photo of an overloaded minibus that was uploaded onto Facebook
The photo of an overloaded minibus that was uploaded onto Facebook

Jammu, November 12
Social networking and micro-blogging sites like Facebook and Twitter are being used by government agencies to penalise traffic offenders in Jammu and Kashmir.

Acting upon a Facebook link, the Traffic Police here has booked a minibus owner for overloading in Poonch.

Taking a serious note of a complaint on its Facebook page regarding the overloading of minibuses in Poonch, IGP, Traffic, ordered action against the violator.

Ayaz Mughal, a resident of Poonch, on November 8 had tagged a photo of the overloaded vehicle having registration number (JK 12/1860) onto the Facebook link of the Jammu and Kashmir Traffic Police and the personal link of the IG, Traffic.

The complainant, had requested the IGP to take note of the menace of overloading in Poonch. He had made a request that, “Already a lot of precious lives have been lost. The authorities please wake up from your slumber....”

Acting on the complainant, the Traffic Police authorities ensured that the offender was penalised. They would also provide local journalists, who had Facebook accounts, with challan numbers and the action taken against the violators.

Fulfilling their promise, the Traffic Police said today the minibus driver had been challaned for overloading and driving the vehicle without uniform. The complainant and the journalists have applauded the police action. The complainant, while appreciating the initiative of the Traffic Police, said, “Of course, they deserve many thanks”.

Top

 

Govt plans courier service to Kargil, Gurez areas
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, November 12
The state government is working on a plan to start courier services to the Kargil and Gurez areas, which remain cut off due to heavy snowfall during winter. The Minister for Transport and CAPD in consultation with the Indian Air Force (IAF) authorities will decide the date of the start of the Kargil courier service.

An official spokesman said arrangements were being made for operating an AN-32 Kargil courier service as per the terms of an MoU signed with the Union Ministry of Defence, to be operated between Srinagar-Kargil and Kargil-Jammu and MI-17 Air Force flights between Bandipore-Gurez and Kargil-Zanaskar.

In this connection, the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Asgar Hassan Samoon, had directed all the stakeholders to take necessary steps so that passengers from areas like Kargil, Zanaskar, Leh, Gurez, etc, which remained cut off due to heavy snowfall, did not face any difficulty, especially in the event of flight cancellations due to bad weather, he said. It had been reiterated that the Kargil courier service would operate between Srinagar and Kargil on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and between Kargil and Jammu on Tuesday, as per the past practice.

The State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) had been directed to make adequate arrangements for the transportation of passengers from Kargil House, Bemina, to the Srinagar airport and back. The Director, Airport Authority, Srinagar, had been directed to make necessary arrangements at the Srinagar airport.

With regard to the operation of Mi-17 flights between Kargil-Zanaskar and Bandipora-Gurez, instructions had been given to the Deputy Commissioners concerned to deploy Liaison Officers for the operationalisation of the air service. Tickets would be issued on the first come, first served basis and priority given to women, old persons, infants and patients.

Aamir Ali, Officer on Special Duty with the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, has been nominated the overall nodal officer and he has been authorised to liaise and coordinate with the State Civil Aviation Department and the IAF authorities for day-to-day matters related to the courier service and the Mi-17 flights.

Top

 

Man thrashed at Geelani’s rally is our man: Army

Srinagar, November 12
The Army has claimed that the man, who was beaten up by a mob on the suspicion that he had made an assassination bid on hardline Hurriyat faction chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani during a rally here, was actually a member of its “covert team”.

“An Army man was beaten up by a mob due to mistaken identity (at the public rally addressed by Geelani yesterday). They also snatched his service pistol, identity card and mobile phone,” a defence spokesman said in a statement issued here late last night.

A “covert team” of the Army and the state police was sent to Sopore, 55 km from here, to gather information about the presence of “terrorists” in the rally, he said.

Geelani’s faction claimed yesterday that an assassination attempt was made on his life by a man carrying a pistol at the rally but was nabbed by people.

“The man was nabbed and asked to show his identity card. Why would a man come to a rally with a pistol. It could possibly have been an attempt to target Geelani,” Hurriyat spokesman Ayaz Akbar had said.

The defence spokesperson said, “The man, who was seriously injured, was rescued by his colleagues, and admitted to the Army hospital. A case has been lodged by the Army against the miscreants.” Meanwhile, the police also denied that any attempt had been made on Geelani’s life. It said the man, Naik Kamlesh Kumar Mishra, who was beaten up by the mob, was working with the Army’s Military Intelligence. — PTI 

Top

 

Thrashing of boy by teacher
Chief Education Officer to hold inquiry
Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 12
The Chief Education Officer (CEO), Rajouri, said today he would visit Government Higher Secondary School, Gambhir Mughlan, to probe the incident of November 3 when a teacher had allegedly thrashed a boy for his refusal to give the former the phone number of a girl student.

ML Sharma, CEO, Rajouri, talking to The Tribune over the phone, said the school Principal had submitted to him an inquiry report, which proved that the teacher was innocent.“Now, I will go to the school to inquire into the things to know what exactly happened that day. The boy’s parents have been alleging that the teacher thrashed their son, when he refused to provide him (teacher) the phone number of a girl student. But the teacher in his statement has stated that he thrashed the boy on account of a disciplinary action,” said Sharma.

Top

 

Decision to shift idle buses from bus stand hailed
Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 12
The Shopkeepers’ Association General Bus Stand, Jammu, has hailed the decision of the state authorities to shift idle buses from the bus stand to the newly constructed yard at Khanpur, near Nagrota.

A deputation of bus stand shopkeepers today called on the IGP, Traffic, and conveyed their gratitude to him for the measure to remove chaos from the bus stand and ensure smooth flow of traffic.

The deputation, which was lead by YV Sharma, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, requested the IGP to enforce the decision strictly and impose a heavy fine on violators.

The shopkeepers complained that the buses picked and dropped passengers at various points from Tawi Bridge to Ambphalla, causing long traffic jams on the BC road and other points.

They requested the IGP to issue strict orders that the buses should pick and drop passengers in the General Bus Stand. No passenger should be picked or dropped between Tawi Bridge and Rehari Chowk. This would ease the traffic flow.

Top

 

Govt college holds quiz competition
Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 12
The Career Counselling and Placement Cell of Government College for Women, Parade, in collaboration with the IIM, Bangalore, organised a quiz competition “United Minds” on the college premises here today.

The main objective of the event was to create awareness among students about the Indian demographic divide and the need of globally benchmarked education system to empower the youth to shoulder India’s growth.

More than 20 teams of the college participated in the event.

Dr Kiran Bakshi, Principal of the college, encouraged the students.

She also appreciated the efforts of the Career Counselling and Placement Cell for organising such events. Later, the prizes were also distributed among the students.

Prof Parveen Singh, Coordinator, Career Counselling and Placement Cell, coordinated the whole programme.

Top

 

JURSEA chief joins NC Students Union
Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 12
Jammu University Research Scholars Executive Association (JURSEA) president Rakesh Chib today joined the National Conference as president of the J&K National Conference Students Union (NCSU), Jammu province, along with his supporters.

Provincial president, National Conference, Jammu province, Rattan Lal Gupta reconstituted the NCSU and appointed Rakesh Chib as its president and Yasir Khan as its provincial secretary.

Meanwhile, Rahul Sharma, the provincial president of the NCSU, has been taken into the youth body as the vice-president of the J&K Youth National Conference, Jammu province.

Rattan Lal Gupta welcomed the new entrants into the partyfold and asked them to work for the welfare of the students of Jammu province and educate them about their rights and duties.

He urged the body to become true representative of the students and highlight their genuine demands before the government for early redressal.

Rakesh Chib, the newly appointed provincial president of the NCSU, said he had joined the National Conference after due deliberations with his colleagues, who saw a hope under the leadership of young Chief Minister Omar Abdullah whose government was working to create job opportunities in the state.

Top

 

Advani’s yatra to reach Jammu on Nov 16
Dinesh Manhotra/TNS

Jammu, November 12
Veteran BJP leader LK Advani, who is on a 38-day Jan Chenta Yatra, will reach Jammu on a chartered plane instead of a specially-made rath (chariot) and fly back to Chandigarh the same day.

National general secretary of the party JP Nadda, who is coordinating Advani’s yatra in Jammu, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, told The Tribune that the former Deputy Prime Minister would reach Jammu on November 16 and address a public meeting in the Gandhi Nagar area as part of the yatra. On November 16, Advani would address three public meetings -- first in the Mandi area of Himachal Pradesh, second in Jammu, followed by one in Chandigarh. Nadda said due to his busy schedule Advani would straightway go to the venue of the rally here.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, national general secretary Ravi Shankar Prasad and others senior leaders would accompany Advani to Jammu.

Earlier, Nadda reviewed the preparations for Advani’s yatra here and directed the party workers to ensure their maximum participation in the rally.

Sources in the party said Nadda expressed unhappiness over the poor turnout at the rally at Jourian yesterday and told the party leaders that the prestige of the BJP was at stake and hence the function should not be taken lightly.

Meanwhile, rebels in the BJP were also planning some moves on the eve of the arrival of Advani’s yatra in Jammu to make their presence felt.

Sources close to the rebel leaders disclosed that some senior BJP leaders, especially those belonging to the Scheduled Castes Morcha, would resign on the eve of Advani’s arrival. Some rebel leaders would also try to meet Advani. Keeping in view demoralisation among the party workers and the poor response of the people to the rallies of the party earlier, the BJP had selected Gandhi Nagar as the venue for Advani’s rally to avoid embarrassment on the account of a low turnout.

Top

 

Awareness camp on eve of Diabetes Day

Jammu, November 12
On the eve of World Diabetes Day, Pir Panchal, an NGO, organised an awareness camp at Muthi Camp here today.

Dr Jitendra Singh, renowned diabetologist, National Professor and author, was the chief guest, who delivered a lecture on diabetes and provided blood testing, medicine and medical consultation to the patients free of cost.

Dr Singh said in and around the city, there was 15 per cent prevalence of diabetes .

Ramesh Hangloo, president of the NGO, also presented a detail of various social and awareness activities undertaken by Pir Panchal in the past several years. — TNS

Top

 

Infighting in BJP reason for poor response
Dinesh Manhotra
Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 12
Notwithstanding the claims of the party, the Jan Jagran Yatra of the BJP received a lackluster response due to infighting in the party and the cross-voting controversy, which had badly dented its image and demoralised its workers.

Despite “serious” efforts of some leaders the turnout during the yatra was very low at many places. Even in some areas where the party still had a strong following, the turnout was below the expectation of the party leadership.

Two programmes organised by the party at Reasi and Jourian to mark the conclusion of the yatra were by and large poor shows as the turnout there was not on the expected lines.

Jourian town, which was once considered the bastion of the erstwhile Jan Sangh and the BJP, the turnout in the rally there was “shocking” despite the fact that the party candidate had lost in the 2008 Assembly elections by a narrow margin. The rally was organised at Jourian to mark the culmination of the two yatras, which were taken out from Samba and Poonch areas, respectively. BJP national general secretary JP Nadda came all the way from Delhi to attend it but the party leadership failed to mobilise public for the programme.

“The local BJP leadership has lost its credibility. Instead of remaining committed to the ideology of the party, local leaders are more concerned about furthering their petty personal interests,” said octogenarian Mela Ram, a resident of Jourian, who had participated in the Ek Vidhan Ek Pardhan Ek Nishan movement launched by the Jan Sangh in the early 1950s. He added the cross-voting controversy had badly damaged the image of the party and the local leadership.

Shankar Dass, another supporter of the BJP, was not ready to buy the argument of the BJP leadership that they had taken action against those who had voted in the favour of the NC and Congress candidates in the Legislative Council elections on April 13. “We neither trust detractors nor loyalists. The present BJP leadership in the state has lost its credibility,” he said.

Similarly, at Reasi, where the party leadership had specially invited TV star Smriti Irani, the gathering was not on the expected lines. Reasi is also considered a stronghold of the BJP but the party failed to involve the people in the yatra.

“Due to infighting and misdeeds of some leaders, the party workers have been demoralised and there is no possibility of reviving their shattered confidence,” said a veteran BJP leader.

However, chief spokesman for the state BJP Jatinder Singh, while claiming that the yatra was successful, said the purpose of the yatra was to “rededicate ourselves to the service of the people and reassure them that the BJP will always be with them in the time of crisis”. “The aim of the yatra was to educate the people about rampant corruption in the state and we were successful in our mission,” he claimed.

Top

 





HOME PAGE | Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Opinions |
| Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi |
| Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail |