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Life disrupted in curfew-bound Srinagar
Now, LPG consumers may not get kerosene
Legislative Council Elections |
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Political parties depute ‘star campaigners’ in Jammu
Militants target police station in Sopore
Pilgrimage to PoK shrine: Pandits pin hopes on Mirwaiz’s Pak visit
More examination centres for recruitment to CPO posts
Woman ends life in Reasi
International biking event in December
A clarification
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Life disrupted in curfew-bound Srinagar
Srinagar, November 29 The restrictions in downtown adversely affected normal life in civil lines areas and there was thin attendance in government offices, educational institutions and the banks. Many shops and business establishments in different areas of the capital city also remained closed. No movement of people was allowed in the curfew-bound areas, leaving the roads and streets in these areas deserted as the police and CRPF men maintained a strict vigil. Barricades were set up and razor wires scrolled on the main routes leading to the downtown areas to prevent any movement in the curfew-bound areas. There was thin passenger transport plying on the city roads as the curfew-bound areas have the majority of the population of the city. Civil administration and police officials said the situation remained peaceful across the Srinagar city. “The situation remained peaceful in the entire district, including the curfew-bound areas,” said District Magistrate,
Srinagar, Baseer Ahmed Khan. The government sources said restrictions were likely to remain in force on Friday in Srinagar to prevent any untoward incident following the Friday prayers. The preventive measures were taken on Thursday evening in view of the tension that gripped several areas of the Valley on the reports of alleged act of sacrilege at magma in Budgam district of central Kashmir. The tension also gripped some areas of the densely populated capital Srinagar following the reports, prompting the authorities to impose curfew. The restrictions were imposed in areas falling under nine police stations of
Nowhatta, M R Gunj, Safakadal, Khanyaar, Rainawari, Nigeen, Lal Bazar, Zadibal and
Parimpora. In view of the curfew restrictions, the University of Kashmir postponed all examinations that were scheduled to be held today. In a fresh communiqué, the university has announced that all other examinations, except those being conducted in far-flung areas of
Gurez, Kargil and Tangdhar tomorrow, have also been postponed. |
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Now, LPG consumers may not get kerosene
Jammu, November 29 Officials said though the state had been resisting the Union Petroleum Ministry directive on the issue, it may have to abide by the decision like the rest of the country. The state government has so far not gone with the directive keeping in view the winter season, but the Central orders cannot be ignored for long. Lakhs of people are dependent on both LPG and kerosene during the harsh winter season. “We cannot resist the directive for long as other states have implemented it. The direct transfer of subsidy by the Central government in the bank accounts will be possible only then,” said an official. Due to severe winter condition from October to April, household consumption of fuel shows a steep increase during this period. However, during the next six months people will get only three subsidised LPG refills after the September 15 decision of the Union Government to restrict the supply of subsidised refills to 6 per year. Due to the cap, the state had asked oil companies to increase the supply of kerosene to the state so that people had an alternative to LPG. But with the Central directive on kerosene public sentiment could flare up in the state, which is already facing fuel and power shortage. People of several villages in
Pulwama, Rajouri and Kargil recently protested against fuel scarcity. In areas which remain cut off for six months, there is public anger against the Centre’s move on LPG. Director, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Pervez Malik said: “The government has to take a decision as all other states have already implemented the directive.” “There is nothing in our hands. It’s beyond our mandate to intervene. People should follow all the formalities,” Malik said. |
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Legislative Council Elections
Srinagar, November 29 The PDP termed Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s latest move of courting BJP as his new allies a brazen show of opportunism. “The National Conference (NC) has taken the political immorality to a new low by simultaneously entering into a coalition of expedience with the Congress and the BJP. As the NC has always survived on trickery, its latest move to woo back its old allies (BJP) is in tune with the party’s philosophy of political opportunism and deceit,” said PDP chief spokesman Naeem Akhtar in a statement issued here today. He said developing the NC-BJP bonhomie coincided with Rajya Sabha member Arun Jaitley’s recent visit to Jammu. Terming Omar Abdullah’s ‘ministerial berth’ bait a desperate attempt to keep the dissipating NC flock together and fully exploit disgruntled party legislators for the upcoming Legislative Council poll, Naeem Akhtar said Abdullahs have a history of adopting ‘use-and-throw’ policy for their survival. “The tragic death of Haji Yousuf Shah - a one-time close associate of Abdullahs - added the dangerous dimension of perilous ‘use-and-kill’ stratagem against the dissenters,” he said. Akhtar said Omar’s frantic efforts to lure, by whatever means, the disgruntled legislators to work for the party candidates in the upcoming Legislative Council poll, depicted the level of his insecurity. “It’s now a known fact that the Cabinet expansion seems to be a far-fetched move for the present government with only some 23 months left for the Assembly poll,” the spokesman said and added that Omar Abdullah, however, would be using the ‘ministerial berth’ bait for all the upcoming elections, including the Block Development Councils, municipalities and parliamentary elections. |
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Political parties depute ‘star campaigners’ in Jammu
Jammu, November 29
Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, Minister for Health Sham Lal Sharma, Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla and Minister for Sports RS Chib are campaigning from the Congress side to ensure the victory of coalition candidates. Minister for Industries and Commerce Surjeet Singh Slathia, political adviser to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Devender Singh Rana, Minister for Higher Education Abdul Gani Malik, senior leader Ajay Sadhotra and Sajjad Kichloo are campaigning in various areas to ensure the victory of the coalition candidates, Sham Lal Bhagat of the Congress and Shehnaz Ganai of the National Conference. To accelerate the ongoing campaign and to present a united face, Congress and National Conference leaders have been jointly addressing meetings of panches and sarpanches during the last one week. Senior leaders of the coalition parties today addressed joint meetings at the RS Pura, Akhnoor and Marh Assembly segments. Block level leaders of both the parties were present in the meeting. Although the BJP is a political force in the Jammu region, the party seems to have conceded defeat much before the elections. The BJP has
officially fielded two candidates, Rashpal Verma and Col Uttam Singh (retd), but the approach of the party to contest the elections looks casual. The way the campaign has been going on in a haphazard manner, it authenticates the allegation that the party is not seriously contesting these elections. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has, however, taken these elections very seriously because it wants to test its popularity in the Jammu region. The PDP has appointed former Finance Minister Tariq Hamid Karra as the campaign coordinator for the Jammu region. Besides Karra, other star campaigners for the PDP in the Jammu region are former Rajya Sabha member Trilok Singh Bajwa, Yashpal Sharma of Poonch and Darhal MLA Choudhary Zulfikar. Buoyed by the active participation of veteran leader Yashpal Sharma in the campaign, the party has been concentrating on the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri and the erstwhile Doda district. The party has devised a strategy to make its presence felt in the entire Jammu region. Although the National Panthers Party has its presence in some pockets of the Jammu region, the party has been utilising all its resources to show its strength. Bhim Singh, Harsh Dev Singh and Balwant Singh Mankotia are the star campaigners for the party to ensure the victory of their candidates, Anita Thakur and Mohammed Rafiq Chandel. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee chief Saifuddin Soz today addressed a meeting of sarpanches and panches at Akhnoor. In the meeting he said there was a broader understanding between the coalition partners for the empowerment of the Panchayati Raj Institutions on the pattern of the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution of India by incorporating the best provisions in the state Panchayati Raj Act. He said the poll for the Block Development Councils (BDC) were deferred for a short period to further empower them and to provide reservation to women, the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and other sections. Soz said the poll for the BDCs and district bodies would be held shortly after necessary amendments in the state Act. |
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Samajwadi Party to boycott elections
Jammu, November 29 A meeting of the office-bearers was held today to discuss the political scenario, particularly the Legislative Council elections. Endorsing the decision to boycott the Legislative Council elections, the meeting appealed to all the panches and sarpanches to boycott these elections because it was the Congress-National Conference alliance that had undermined the Panchayati Raj Institutions in Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting said during the last 65 years powers of the panchayats had been misused by politicians, legislators, ministers and bureaucrats who had developed a vested interest in creating a mess in the democratic institutions. The meeting pointed out that instead of holding elections to the Block Development Councils, the coalition parties were befooling the panchayat members in the name of Legislative Council elections. The meeting noted that the state being economically poor and dependent on the Central assistance could not bear the burden of the huge expenses being incurred in running the Legislative Council which had proved to be a “white elephant” on the state exchequer. |
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PDP luring sarpanches by money power: Omar
Ganderbal, November 29 He alleged that women panchayat members were reportedly being presented make-up kits by the PDP to tempt them to vote for PDP candidates. He ridiculed the PDP leadership for cultivating such undemocratic, illegal and enticing devises to gain support of panches and sarpanches in the forthcoming Legislative Council elections and said it would prove suicidal for this party. “They (PDP leadership) should understand that the panchayat members are reputed social activists of high stature and honesty and cannot be drawn in through such mundane and disgraceful methods,” he said, adding that the sarpanches and panches would teach them a befitting lesson for considering them saleable. Addressing a meeting of the panches and sarpanches here this morning, the Chief Minister said the NC-Congress coalition represented the voice of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and rendering public service equitably and holistically was the political agenda of both the parties. Omar said the coalition government created panchayats to shift the centre of power from the secretariat to the grass-roots level and involve public representatives at the panchayat level to participate in policy formulation and implementation of development schemes in accordance with the public requirements. He said in a state like Jammu and Kashmir were 70 per cent population resided in villages, the comprehensive development process was attainable through panchayats only. “This is our belief and we held the elections to panchayats. You are to us just like children are to their parents. Your nurture and growth is our desire. We know that we have rejuvenated the Panchayati Raj concept after a long period of 30 years and like a child you need our hand for development,” he said and added that the coalition is for an empowered and fully grown panchayat system in the state. The meeting was also attended by leaders of the National Conference and the Congress, including Mian Altaf Ahmed, Nasir Aslam Wani, Tanvir Sadiq and Ali Mohammad
Bhat. |
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Militants target police station in Sopore
Srinagar, November 29 Unidentified militants lobbed the hand grenade at the Sopore police station at 5.15 pm, a police official said. He said the grenade exploded on the premises of the police station but no one got injured during the incident. While the ultras managed to escape from the spot after the attack, the police have launched a manhunt to nab the unidentified militants. No militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. The grenade was lobbed a day after one CRPF constable of Madhya Pradesh identified as Praveen Singh Rajput of 73 Battalion was killed in a militant attack in Bemina locality on the outskirts of the city at 2.30 am yesterday. In another attack that had also taken place yesterday, three persons, including two CRPF personnel, were injured in a grenade blast in Bijbehara town of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. The injured persons had been identified as constable Rao Vilas Pujar, ASI Venus Reddy and Umar Habib Jodisaz, a resident of the Sicop area in Bijbehara town. |
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Pilgrimage to PoK shrine: Pandits pin hopes on Mirwaiz’s Pak visit
Srinagar, November 29 “It has always been our wish to visit the Sharda temple. Now that Mirwaiz is scheduled to visit Pakistan, we want him to raise the issue with Pakistan so that we are able to visit this shrine which is thousands of years old... We would also like to be a part of the delegation that is going to Pakistan,” Anantnag Praphandak Committee (APC) chairman Jigen Goja told The Tribune over the phone. Mirwaiz, who heads the moderate Hurriyat conglomerate, is currently holding deliberations with a cross-section of people in the Valley to build a “broader consensus” over the Kashmir issue ahead of his Pakistan visit scheduled on December 15. Goja, who is currently in Jammu, said an APC delegation after holding consultations with other Kashmiri Pandits would visit Kashmir next month and meet Mirwaiz with their demand. “As he is currently talking to the civil society and others, we want that he should also raise this important issue pertaining to our community.... Moreover, the visit to the shrine is not just our demand but also of other (Pandit) groups," he added. Goja said the Shardha Devi shrine had immense religious significance for them and that there were “no reasons” for not allowing them to visit the temple as there were “no problems” while visiting Nankana Sahib in Punjab, Pakistan. Several groups for long have been demanding pilgrimages to the Sharda temple, which is located across the Line of Control (LoC). While it has been a long-pending demand of the All Parties Migrant Coordination Committee (APMCC) to visit the shrine, the Akhil Bhartiya Gujjar Mahasabha (ABGM) had recently urged the state and Central governments to open the route to the shrine via Jumagund village of the border district of Kupwara. |
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State sees increase in HIV patients
Jammu, November 29 “The state, as of today, has 3,492 HIV positive patients. In the past six months from April 1 to October 31, when 53,405 people volunteered for HIV tests at 35 voluntary counselling and testing centres (VCTC), 253 new cases were detected in the state, 43 in Kashmir and 210 in the Jammu region,” said Dr Rakesh Khajuria, Project Director of the J&K State AIDS Prevention and Control Society. Dr Khajuria called it an achievement of society in bringing the hidden disease to the surface. The state had 1,410 HIV positive patients in 2007, 1,594 in 2008, 1,811 in 2009, 2,300 in 2010, 3,213 in 2011 and the figure rose to 3,492 till October 31 this year. Despite an increase in the number of HIV patients, Jammu and Kashmir is still considered a low prevalence state in the country. A sentinel survey in 2010-11 had estimated 5,400 HIV patients in the state. “We have detected nearly 3,500 cases, which means the remaining cases are hidden and need to be brought to the fore for proper support and care,” Dr Khajuria said. He said a similar nationwide sentinel survey had estimated the figure of HIV positive patients at 2.4 million, out of which 15 lakh have been detected so far. “In other words, 9 lakh HIV carriers still remain hidden across the country,” he said. He said the state had 2,865 HIV patients in pre-anti retiroviral therapy centres in Srinagar and Jammu. “Out of 2,865 such patients, 1,095 are presently on anti-retiroviral therapy - 966 in Jammu and 129 in Kashmir,” he said. Dr Khajuria said society had initiated sustained campaigns to create awareness among people. With the help of NGOs we are also giving focused attention under targeted intervention projects to high risk groups like sex workers, intravenous drug users, truckers, migrant labourers and tourists. In 2009, Jammu and Kashmir had topped the national charts in creating awareness among the people about HIV. Patient count
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More examination centres for recruitment to CPO posts
Jammu, November 29 “Though the examination is to be held at various examination centres across India but we also want to provide employment opportunities to youth of North-East states, including Jammu and Kashmir, especially those living
in far-flung areas of border districts,” said the chairman. “Earlier, the SSC examination for recruitment to posts in various ministries and departments was conducted at only three centres in J&K, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, but that did not serve our purpose as many posts remained vacant last year. The SSC recently had a meeting with the state chief secretary and other senior officials to find out a possible solution. A decision was finally taken to add five more examination centres so that the maximum number of youth avail the opportunity,” said Raghupathy. “In Jammu division, the examination will be conducted at Rajouri and Doda while in the Kashmir division, Baramulla and Anantnag will be the examination centres. The examination centres are also in Ladakh, Leh and Kargil. In 2011, out of 384 posts that were advertised specifically for border districts of J&K, only 12 were filled.” “Similarly, out of 377 posts in 2012, only 125 have been filled so far. Keeping this in mind, we are now focusing on reaching out to the maximum youth residing in border districts of the state, Kupwara, Anantnag, Poonch, Rajouri, Jammu, Kathua, Leh and Kargil,” said Raghupathy. Commenting upon the recruitments made during the last three years for various posts by the North-West region, SSC, Chandigarh, the chairman said, “Out of 48,494 applications received in the North-West region, 743 candidates were selected in 2009-10. Out of 1,62,015 applications received in 2010-11, 630 recruitments were made. For 2011-12 and 2012-13 (as on date), 4,269 and 3,449 candidates were recruited out of 7,25,394 and 7,23,459 applications received in the Chandigarh office, respectively.” SK Ranjan, Deputy Regional Director, North Western Region Office, SSC, Chandigarh, was also present on the occasion. Meanwhile, the advertisement for recruitment to posts of GD constable
and rifleman in the CPO will be published on December 15. The last date for submitting the applications is January 11, 2013. There is a special concession for J&K residents and the last date for them to submit the applications is January 18. |
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Woman ends life in Reasi
Katra, November 29 Police officers said Bena Devi (26) was found unconscious by her family members and was shifted to the district hospital in Reasi. The police said she was referred to Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu, due to her critical condition. She died on her way to Jammu. It said Bena had married Lakshman Singh some years ago. Her husband had died in a road accident soon after the marriage. Bena had been living a stressful life after her husband’s death, the police said. “Two months ago, she came to Sai village and was staying with her parents. As the woman was in depression, she allegedly ended her life,” the police said. |
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International biking event in December
Srinagar, November 28 The event named Tour De International Motor Cycling Race is being organised by the state government at Royal Springs Golf Course here on December 4, a government spokesman said. A high-level meeting
was convened in Srinagar by Minister for Medical and Technical Education and Sports RS Chib yesterday to take stock of the arrangements made by the district administration for the forthcoming event. “The Sports Minister
told the departments concerned to fully cooperate with each other to make the event successful,” the spokesman said. |
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In the report ‘Ex-BJP legislators to support NC candidates’ (Nov 29, J&K edition), certain words were inadvertently dropped from the statement of Devender Singh Rana, political adviser to the J&K Chief Minister.
His original statement said: “…while the National Conference appreciates Professor Chaman Lal Gupta and six other legislators
if they have offered to support the National Conference in the Legislative Council elections, the party can accept the support if it is extended to both candidates of the coalition, Sham Lal Bhagat of
the Congress and Dr Shenaz Ganai of the National Conference”. The political adviser further said the issue of the ensuing Legislative Council elections was not even discussed in the meeting between the CM and the six legislators. Only certain developmental issues were raised by the legislators. |
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While the situation remained peaceful and without any untoward incident, normal life in downtown Srinagar was disrupted today due to curfew imposed in areas under nine police stations.
Srinagar, November 29
