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Human rights panel headless for 2 months
Doda, Kishtwar residents demand more filtration plants
Subdued Christmas in Valley this year
High Court orders striking lawyers to resume work
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Become role models of honesty, Governor tells youth
Two books released
923 constables join police in Baramulla
Police holds symposium in Rajouri
Political Buzz
Srinagar transporters directed to ply minibuses in evening
Army gives computers, furniture to schools
Engineer booked for getting promotion on fake order
Militant hideout busted
Ranjit Sagar Dam lake threatens to drown village
Guest lecture held
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Human rights panel headless for 2 months
Jammu, December 23 Official sources told The Tribune that investigations in some important cases like that of “unmarked graves” had come to a grinding halt in the absence of the Chairperson. The investigative wing of the commission had been headless following the transfer of IGP Gulzar Singh Slathia while the post of a member in the rights panel had also been lying vacant since the retirement of AR Khan. The Jammu and Kashmir Protection of Human Rights Act, 1997 provides for a Chairperson, who is or has been a judge of the High Court, one member, who is or has been a district judge, and three members to be appointed from among the persons having knowledge of or practical experience in matters related to human rights. The appointment of the Chairperson and the members is to be made by the Governor on the recommendation of a committee comprising the Chief Minister as its Chairperson and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Chairman of the Legislative Council, minister in-charge of the Ministry of Home, the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly and the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council as members. Sources said during the last three months at least 70 cases had been registered in the Jammu office of the commission. They added there was a need to appoint at least two permanent members in the Jammu office, besides making the commission office a Darbar Move office on the pattern of the State Accountability Commission. “The state Act provides for setting up sub-offices in militancy-affected areas like Rajouri, Poonch and Doda, but the same has not been done so far due to the apathetic attitude of the government,” they said. “The commission is operating from a cramped rented accommodation in Srinagar. It should have its headquarters in Jammu as well. Besides manpower, financial constraints are also a major impediment in the functioning of the commission,” they added. |
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Doda, Kishtwar residents demand more filtration plants
Udhampur, December 23 The Chenab valley region covering erstwhile Doda district, including Doda, Kishtwar and Bhadarwah areas, has always been vulnerable to water-borne diseases. In a major epidemic, around 3,500 diarrhoea cases were reported in September 2009, in Doda district alone. Besides, people suffer from dental and joints ailments allegedly due to the consumption of unhygienic water. “The number of plants announced is grossly insufficient and the existing ones are not working up to the technical standards. Hence, the number of plants, for instance, in Doda town needs to be doubled and the quality of water supply must be put to regular tests,” said Imtiaz Mir, a prominent lawyer. Doda has two plants and another smaller plant
is likely to be commissioned by March next year. “On an average between 300 and 400 diarrhoea cases are reported in the district during the winter while this number increases to around 900 in the summer,” CMO, Doda, Dr Mohammad Iqbal Zargar told The Tribune. President of the People’s Progressive Front, Kishtwar, Noor Hussain Malik also demanded that Kishtwar town alone needed at least two more plants besides the existing one, which was woefully inadequate to cater to the requirements of the local residents. “We have made several written representations to the higher PHE authorities but to no avail. The quality of water in the reservoirs in the periphery of Kishtwar is really bad due to lack of proper maintenance,” alleged Malik. Officials attributed the problem of unhygienic water to the depletion of natural springs in the region and the increasing dependence of people on nullahs, which being surface water contained impurities and caused diseases. “Hence, the government has formulated a policy to set up filtration plants at all nullahs to provide clean water in two years. We will soon start preparing estimates for the installation of three plants announced by the minister recently,” said JR Dogra, Superintending Engineer, Hydraulic Circle, Doda. Meanwhile, the minister sanctioned a filtration plant for Chatroo in Kishtwar, besides two at Thatri and Foxu in Doda district. He also reviewed the water supply scheme in Kishtwar and assessed the quality of filtration at the plant. He directed some infrastructural components at the plant to be upgraded immediately to ensure the supply of clean drinking water to the people. |
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Subdued Christmas in Valley this year
Udhampur, December 23 The subdued Christmas spirit among Christians is mainly attributed to a controversy over conversions involving the priest of the All Saints Church belonging to the Church of North India (CNI), located near Circuit House, Srinagar. The priest’s absence has hit the plan for festivities. Hence, this time there is no Nativity Play and Christmas dinner, which was being hosted for years for the miniscule Christian community at Broadway, a four star hotel, by its proprietor Kisan Amla, as a gesture of communal harmony. Another casualty is community lunch and sports competitions organised by the administration at Gulmarg on December 24 every year. It is estimated that the Christian population belonging to different denominations is only 200 plus families in Srinagar. “We are deputing a pastor from outside to conduct the special church service on the Christmas. Besides, I will also be going to Srinagar on the New Year church service so that our community members do not feel being left alone. Though they do not anticipate any unsavoury development, certainly they are feeling sad,” Bishop Samant Roy told The Tribune over the phone. As compared to the celebrations in Jammu, which this time added a new feature, the Christmas T20 Gold Cup Cricket Tournament, Srinagar, did not even witness the customary carol singing. “We sang Christmas carols only in the church this time. Instead of Broadway, our Sunday School children will stage a small Christmas play in the church itself. All prominent members of the church have already left for other places for the celebrations,” lamented Swaran Lata Kaul, secretary of the church committee. In sharp contrast, carol singing started from December 1 in Jammu by members of over 20 denomination churches. “We conducted the traditional candlelight church service on December 21. The Christmas Play will be staged tomorrow evening, followed by midnight service in our church,” said Sohan Lal, the pastor of Saint Paul’s Church, the biggest in Jammu having more than 1,000 members. This time a joint Christmas procession was also taken out in Jammu by all churches. The Christmas Gold Cup Football Tournament, in which teams from Delhi and Punjab are participating, will be organised by the All J&K Christian Welfare Association from December 26. Its semi-final and final matches will be telecast live by the DD Sports Channel. |
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High Court orders striking lawyers to resume work
Jammu, December 23 The Bench asked advocate SS Lehar, appearing for the Bar Association of Jammu (BAJ), as to how the lawyers’ abstinence from appearance in the court was justified in view of the Jammu and Kashmir Advocates (Regulation of Practice in the High Court and Subordinate Courts) Rules, 2003. Lehar, however, said he was not prepared on the issue as this was not the matter mentioned in the report of the Registrar General submitted to the Chief Justice. He sought some time to respond to the query according to the provisions of the Rules.
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Become role models of honesty, Governor tells youth
Jammu, December 23 The Governor was speaking at the inaugural session of a seminar-cum-workshop on the topic “All India Services: An Achievable Career Option” organised by the ASCENT Group in collaboration with the Department of Lifelong Learning at the University of Jammu here this evening. He said the youth of the state had brought laurels in all spheres of human endeavour. The Governor referred to the comparatively small number of youth from the state making it to the civil services and said whoever tried and worked hard had achieved success. He cited the example of Dr Shah Faisal, who had topped the All India Civil Services Examination in 2009, and said in the past few years many more youth were competing for civil services, which was a welcome development. Devender Singh Rana, political adviser to Chief Minister, said consistency, hard work, persistence and perseverance were the keys to success. He said hard work was always ahead of success. He complimented MS Pandit, Chairman of the ASCENT Group, for his effort in encouraging the youth of the state to compete for the civil services. In his keynote address, Prof Varun Sahni, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jammu, said civil services were still an instrument of positive social change. He said there was enormous talent in Jammu and Kashmir, adding that of the five best students he had taught in his entire teaching career, two of them were from the state. |
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Two books released
Jammu, December 23 “An Introduction to Real Analysis”, written by Bhat, clearly explains the real number system, sequences, limit and continuity of functions, differentiability, integration and fundamental theorems. The book is designed to serve as a textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students of mathematics. “Performance and Prospects of Small Scale Industries in the state of Jammu and Kashmir”, authored by Sharma, presents an easy to read exposition of the small scale industrial sector of the state. The book has been designed to acquaint scholars, students and other readers with the methodology of the measurement of growth, productivity and technical efficiency. The Governor complimented Bhat and Sharma for bringing out their publications and wished them success in their future endeavours. The Governor emphasised the need for bringing about continuous improvements in the textbooks at various levels. |
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923 constables join police in Baramulla
Srinagar, December 23 Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani termed the state police as one of the best forces in the country. He added that it had a vital role in maintaining lasting peace and order in the state. Wani said the police had successfully dealt with various challenges making the supreme sacrifice. The force has to increase its efficiency in different fields to deal with the challenges and strengthen the image of the organisation, he added. Wani was impressed by the performance of the recruits at the parade. He appreciated the professional police officers in taking extra pains in imparting basic training to them (recruits). He said the training imparted to the recruits in using non-lethal weapons to tackle law and order situations would strengthen the training skills of the force. The training courses oriented to tackle law and order situations had been yielding good results and the organisation had to make more advancement in such fields. The minister asked the outgoing recruits to adopt a protective behaviour while dealing with mobs and in other fields of policing and should consider themselves public servants. He hoped that the jawans would adhere to the pledge they took today. DGP Kuldeep Khoda said the police had strengthened its training infrastructure in all its training institutions across the state. The latest techniques of training had been introduced to acquaint the jawans and officers in various fields of policing. He said the jawans had been trained in different fields, including law and order duty. The 923 recruit constables, including 22 postgraduates and 265 graduates, had successfully completed the rigorous basic training course of nine months. Among the trainees 115 were computer trained and 167 having additional qualification like lab assistants, pharmacists, auto-mobile mechanics, air conditioner mechanics and electricians, the DGP said. |
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Police holds symposium in Rajouri
Jammu, December 23 DIG, Rajouri-Poonch Range, Rajesh Kumar was the chief guest while Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri, GA Khawja was the guest of honour on the occasion. Principal of the college MA Lone presided over the function. The initiative was taken by SSP, Rajouri, Vijay Singh Sambyal under the civic action programme to promote communal harmony and brotherhood among the college youth. Nearly 600 students, college professors and lecturers took part in the symposium. The DIG and the SSP gave away cash rewards and certificates to the participants.
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Political Buzz
Jammu, December 23 He added the NC-Congress coalition government was set to achieve economic welfare and peace in the state. Rana said the innovative measures put in place by the coalition government to reach out to the people of the state had started yielding results and massive works in all fields of development were in full swing. He said the coalition was working in close coordination to translate its agenda of total development of the state into a reality. Rana addressed meetings in panchayats of Jandrah, Nagola and Kanyala of the Nagrota Assembly constituency and said the working relation and bonds of mutual trust were getting stronger between the coalition partners. Govt failed to provide jobs
to youth: Harsh Dev Working chairman of the Panthers Party Harsh Dev Singh on Friday lambasted the state government for its tall talk and rhetoric over unemployment in the state and its total failure to address the problem. Harsh Dev said the government had made loud pronouncements to provide jobs to the unemployed youth during elections and later. He said the claim of the government to provide employment to five lakh youth under the new employment policy was a farce. Harsh Dev said the government had also announced jobs for 50,000 youth on August 15, 2010, but the implementing agencies had failed to take any action in this regard. People not secure in state: Bhim Singh Chairman of the Panthers Party Bhim Singh on Friday urged Governor NN Vohra to save the people of the state from corrupt, communal and anti-people government headed by a “missing” Chief Minister. He said a common peace loving citizen was not secure in the state. This was evident from the tragic incident, where a man, who refused to shut his shop during a protest, was killed in the broad day light and the police and the administration did nothing, he added. A person belonging to the NC died under mysterious circumstances in police custody and nothing was done. The state had become a death trap for innocent people and the people were living in a most insecure environment. “There is no electricity, drinking water, essential commodities, including food supply in the Valley. There would be no governance in Kashmir till ministers, the modern emperors, move from Jammu to Kashmir. The entire state is paralysed with the breakdown of the constitutional machinery,” he said. |
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Srinagar transporters directed to ply minibuses in evening
Srinagar, December 23 While chairing a meeting to discuss the traffic regulation system in Kashmir valley here yesterday, Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution and Transport Qamar Ali Akhoon asked the transporters to ply minibuses on the periphery of the city during late hours also. The directions were passed amid complaints of the non-availability of transport facilities during evening hours. The minister also said the regional transport offices in Kashmir would be computerised within the next four months. He said Rs 35 crore had been earned as revenue by the Transport Department against a target of Rs 41 crore till date during the current financial year. Under the Passengers Welfare Fund Scheme, Rs 46 lakh had been collected and of which Rs 16.50 lakh had been distributed among the relatives of the victims of road accidents. Meanwhile, an official said the Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation (JKSRTC) had earned a revenue of Rs 52.22 crore by November end during the current financial year. |
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Army gives computers, furniture to schools
Jammu, December 23 The function was attended by nearly 400 persons, including SDM, Nowshera, Shahid Iqbal; Additional SP Kaushal Kumar Sharma; SHO Deepak Jasrotia; Deputy Chief Education Officer Jitender Kour Behal and Zonal Education Officer, Nowshera, Trilok Singh. The SDM appreciated the gesture of the Army and urged the students to work hard in studies, using the facilities provided by the Army. Sarpanch of Quila Drahal village Paramjeet Singh said, “Computer education is not imparted in these remote schools. This step by the Army will definitely help our children develop the knowledge of computers and information technology.” Brig Rajeev Sirohi, Commander of the Tithwal Brigade, urged the teachers and the students to take full advantage of the facilities provided by the Army.
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Engineer booked for getting promotion on fake order
Jammu, December 23 The accused, Girdhari Lal, who in connivance with Bashir Ahmed Sofi, the then Deputy Director of the Urban Local Bodies, Kashmir, had managed his promotion fraudulently on the basis of a fake order. It is also alleged that Girdhari got appointed as a Junior Engineer by producing a fake diploma certificate. The Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (M), Jammu, had filed a written complaint with the Crime Branch Headquarters in this regard. Girdhari, who is at present working in the Engineering Wing of the Relief Organisation, has been promoted to the rank of Assistant Engineer on the basis of the fake order. A case under various sections of the RPC has been registered against the accused. |
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Militant hideout busted
Udhampur, December 23 On a tip-off, a joint column of the Rashtriya Rifles Battalion of the Army, under the aegis of the Counter Insurgency Force (Delta), and the police launched a search operation and seized three blankets, a pair of shoes, 15 candles, one gas cylinder with stove, a 10-litre jerry can, a battery charger, one pencil cell, one charger, one radio set antenna, one steel box, utensils and rations. It is believed that the hideout belonged to Hizbul Militant militant Qari Zubair, who was gunned down by the security forces in February. — TNS
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Ranjit Sagar Dam lake threatens to drown village Sabbar (Kathua), December 23 Sabbar village is now surrounded by water on three sides except a 200-m stretch that connects it with the main land. A temple and a playground on the fringes of the village have submerged. Nearly 80% of the houses have developed massive cracks. Of the 250 families living there, those who could afford to relocate have already moved to Jammu or Kathua town. A team of geologists from the University of Jammu headed by Prof GM Bhat visited the village. It had submitted a report stating that the Ranjit Sagar Dam, one of the highest earth-fill dams, was built on mud rocks. These had absorbed water over the time and were now gradually giving in. “The land on which the dam has been built is made of mud and sand rocks. These rocks swell after absorbing water. It is a gradual process, but the village is bound to sink. It’s just a matter of time,” said Bhat, who heads the Geology Department of the university. He also advised to construct only single-storey buildings in the village. Sabbar village is in the Kishanpur Mandi zone and has been facing a gradual process of land creeping for the last eight years. Sarpanch Vikram Singh said, “During the monsoon, most houses developed big cracks and we spent a fortune repairing them. But the cracks are back.” The sarpanch said they had made several representations seeking rehabilitation and relief, but were yet to receive any help. District Development Commissioner, Kathua, Zahida Parveen Khan admitted that the situation was alarming and said a ground report to relocate the residents was being prepared. Irrigation and Food Control Minister Taj Mohiuddin was unaware of the danger to the village. “This is news for me. Let me re-examine the geological report. If a threat exists, Punjab will have to compensate the villagers.” King Sambhog Pal had established the village during Shahjahan’s rule. Besides being witness to a rich culture, the village is home to an ancient temple, a government school built during pre-Independence days, a cultural club and six ponds that have dried up due to frequent tremors.
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Guest lecture held
Jammu, December 23 Pallav Moitera, former CEO of Paprika Media, was the resource person. He informed the students about various areas in electronic and online media and event sports management, which had been included in TV production, radio software, popular TV serials and the development of unique industry innovative media. Principal of the college Kiran Bakshi said, “The lecture will be beneficial to the students. They will get first-hand information about various educational options available to them in different parts of the world”. — TNS
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Jammu, December 23
Sabbar
(Kathua), December 23
