The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	State dedicates 2013 to its daughters To strengthen campaign against female foeticide, proposes `1 lakh award for info on offenders Dinesh Manhotra Tribune News Service Jammu, January 1 The state government has decided to dedicate the year 2013 to its daughters as the gap between male-female ratio continues to be wide in some districtsa such as Jammu, Samba and Kathua even though the authorities have launched a comprehensive awareness campaign against female foeticide. On Monday while addressing a function, Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma announced that the state would dedicate the year 2013 to daughters and observe it as “Save the Girl Child” year. “As part of a campaign against female foeticide and to promote the girl child, the state health department will dedicate 2013 to daughters,” Sharma said. “The aggressive campaign launched by the government, after witnessing a drastic decline in the male-female ratio in the 0-6 age group in 2011 census, has received good results in many parts but some districts still lag behind the national average,” said Dr Yashpal Sharma, project director of National Rural Health Mission. He said “materialistic” and “urbanised” people of these “developed” districts were adopting modern techniques for female foeticide. While the national average ratio is 914 girls against 1,000 boys, it is 795 in Jammu, 836 in Kathua and 787 in Samba districts. Dr Sharma said that the real picture of “improved” male-female ratio would emerge in the next census but the block level review meetings conducted by the Health Department were showing encouraging trends. The juvenile gender ratio (0-6 years) has given sleepless nights to the Health Department as it is the most realistic indicator of trends in female foeticide and continuing discrimination against the girl child. The state has witnessed a steep fall in the male-female ratio, especially the juvenile gender ratio, during the last one decade. In 2001, the gender ratio (for 0-6 years) was 941 females against 1,000 males and it came down to 859 in 2011. The national average juvenile gender ratio is 914. “We are convening block-level meetings after every three years to get village-level feedback about the juvenile gender ratio,” he said and claimed that situation had improved in most parts of the state except the three districts. Sharma said the Health Department was also thinking about enhancing the cash reward for getting information of doctors or families involved in female foeticide. In 2011, the cash reward was Rs 25,000; it was hiked up to Rs 50,000 the next year. “Now we are planning to double the cash reward up to Rs 100,000,” he said. Jammu and Kashmir is the first state which has announced such an award. As against the national average ratio of 914 girls against 1000 boys, the male-female ratio in the state is 889 girls against 1,000 boys.
	Laws on sexual offences to be reviewed Tribune News Service Jammu, January 1 The state government has decided to review the existing laws relating to sexual offences and gender crimes. According to an official handout, on the directions of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Sagar convened a meeting yesterday to review the laws relating to rape. The meeting was attended by Advocate General MI Qadri, Law Secretary GH Tantray and senior officers of the Law Department. It was emphasised during the meeting that effective and stringent provisions were needed to be incorporated in the law relating to sexual offences to make it deterrent and in tune with the public sentiments. “The changes in the law will deal with various stages, including investigation, prosecution and trial of such cases. The department will also consult some subject experts to make it comprehensive and effective,” the official handout stated, adding, “It will include changes in substantive law Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) as well as the procedural laws (i.e. Criminal Procedure Code and the Evidence Act). Necessary initiatives will be taken to provide for fast-track investigation as well as fast-track trial within a shortest period.” It was further decided that a final draft of the Bill shall be prepared soon to place it before the Cabinet.
	2012 a year of consolidation, development, peace: Omar Tribune News Service Jammu, January 1 As New Year begins, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has underlined 2012 as the year of consolidation, of peace and development with the commitment of the government towards public empowerment, transparency, strengthening of institutions and making public service delivery legally time-bound. Many states have requested the Jammu and Kashmir Government to provide them with salient features of SKEWPY so that they can incorporate this initiative into their policy formulation for addressing the unemployment problem and open vistas of self-employment for youth. The Uttar Pradesh Government has also initiated a similar measure to that of VSA put in place by the Jammu and Kashmir Government to provide unemployment allowance to educated youth. Terming the previous year a successful one, Omar said despite many attempts by vested interests, 13 lakh tourists had visited the Valley, over 6 lakh had paid obeisance at the Amarnath cave shrine and over one crore people had visited the Vaishno Devi shrine. In yet another step to strengthen the panchayats and empower these ground level democratic units, the election to the four Legislative Council seats from the panchayat quota were conducted successfully. Also, the list of services classified under the Public Services Guarantee Act for a time-bound delivery has been updated from 50 to 70 services this year. Services like copy of an FIR, verification report from CID for passport, newly appointed candidates, certification of identity, issuance of character certificate, untraced report in accidents, stolen vehicles and theft cases in the Police Department have been brought under the ambit of the Act. In 2012, 35 Cabinet meetings were held in which 228 decisions were taken, aimed at launch of projects, creation of posts, infrastructure development and regularisation of ad hoc, contractual and consolidated employees, besides granting arrears and dearness allowance instalments to employees. The Cabinet approved 13 degree colleges in the state, conduct of the elections to the Municipal Corporations and Committees, implementation of Baglihar Hydel Project Stage-II, incentives for tourism as an industry, National Population Register project, convention centre at Jammu and constitution of State Planning Board. The state government also approved amendment in Employees Provident Fund, 1961, J&K Hindu Marriage Rules, 2012, and the J&K Marriage Laws Amendment Bill, 2012. The improvement and augmentation of Water Supply Scheme, Kishtwar, and enhancement of generation capacity of Ratle Hydroelectric Project from 690 to 850 MW was also approved during 2012. The Chief Minister inaugurated a 50 MVA 132/33 KV grid station at Magam, constructed at a cost of Rs 17.52 crore. He also energised 17-km-long transmission line between Pattan and Magam completed at a cost of Rs 4 crore. He also inaugurated 111 J&K Bank branches and ATMs to help extend business facilities to people in rural and far-off areas.
	Curfew lifted after 4 days, fresh clashes in Pulwama Suhail A Shah Anantnag, January 1 Curfew was lifted from Pulwama town and its adjoining areas after four days today. Violent clashes were witnessed in the area soon after the restrictions were eased off. Reports said several people were injured during the clashes, one of them critically, after civilians came out on streets to protest against the firing on civilians last week and damage to their shops during the fours days of curfew. Restrictions were imposed in this south Kashmir district after the Army allegedly fired at and injured at least 10 civilians after an encounter in the Bubgam area of the district last week. While the Army has been denying the allegations, a magisterial probe has been ordered into the firing incident by the district administration. “The police has lodged an FIR against the Army under Sections 307, 148, 427 of the RPC,” a police source said. Reports said the protester, who was critically injured in the clashes today, has been identified as Zubair Ahmad Pandit. Pandit was hit in his teeth by a tear gas shell and has been shifted to a hospital in Srinagar. The locals allege that their property has been damaged by the forces during the four days of curfew. “We came to open our shops for usual business after the four days of restrictions and found that our shops have been damaged and many makeshift sheds belonging to hawkers have been smashed,” said a local shopkeeper. Seeing the condition of their shops, things took an ugly turn in the town and shopkeepers started shouting anti-India and pro-freedom slogans. They demanded that the district administration should take a note of the things. The locals alleged that they were again fired upon indiscriminately and several people got injured in the act. The police, however, maintained that everything was normal in the area and the situation remained peaceful throughout the day. “There might have been stray incidents of violence in the adjoining villages of the town but things remained peaceful in the main town,” said Pulwama SP Javed Ahmad. A police statement further said the police has showed maximum restraint despite miscreants trying to disrupt peace by hurling stones at security personnel at Muran Chowk in the area.
	Andrabi Killing Case Court drops proceedings against Maj Avtar Singh Tribune News Service Srinagar, January 1 Nearly 16 years after Kashmiri lawyer and human activist Jaleel Andrabi was killed, a local court here has dropped the proceedings against the late Major Avtar Singh, who was the main accused in the case. The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, Rajeev Gupta, who was hearing the Jaleel Andrabi custodial murder case decided to drop the proceedings against Major Singh and close the file after he accepted the certificates authenticating the suicide of Major Singh in the US. Major Singh, named as the prime accused in the killing of Andrabi by the police, reportedly shot himself after gunning down his two children and wife at his Selma home in the US on June 9 last year. “The said certificates record the date of death of the accused as June 9, 2012. The particulars, as are mentioned in the certificates, are supportive of the facts about the death of the accused. The facts recorded in the certificates also conform to the identity of the accused as recorded in the charge sheet,” the CJM observed in his orders passed today. “From the circumstances, I am convinced that the accused has died on June 9, 2012. Accordingly, the proceedings against the accused are dropped and the file is consigned to the records,” the CJM observed while ordering the closure of the proceedings against Major Singh. The prosecution had submitted the certificates from Interpol (US National Central Bureau). The Case File March 8, 1996: Lawyer Jaleel Andrabi allegedly kidnapped by Maj Avtar Singh, who served in the Army in Kashmir during the 1990s March 27, 1996: Andrabi’s body fished out of the Jhelum in Srinagar June 9, 2012: Major Singh reportedly shot himself after gunning down his two children and wife at his Selma home in the US
	After rail trial run, focus on safety steps Tribune News Service Srinagar, January 1 After the successful trial run on the 17.5-km rail link last week, the focus has shifted towards safety measures in the country’s longest railway tunnel before the train is formally commissioned from Qazigund in Kashmir to Banihal in the Jammu region. “The 11-km Pir Panjal tunnel is ready and we are in the process of having all safety measures in case of any emergency,” said project manager of the Pir Panjal Tunnel project of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) Sharanappa Yalal. “All the electrical and mechanical works which mainly include safety aspects of the tunnel will be put in place before the train chugs between Qazigung and Banihal,” he said. The Pir Panjal tunnel on the rail track is the India's longest tunnel and Asia's second longest tunnel. The second longest tunnel in the country is the 6.5-km Karbude tunnel of Konkan Railway. The first longest tunnel in Asia is Wushaoling tunnel (20 km) in Gansu, China. Yalal said world-class ventilation would be provided inside the tunnel. “We are installing the latest technology — SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system— to control the train tunnel ventilation. The system will be placed at a distance of every 500 metres in the tunnel and it will automatically take out the smoke and the polluted air from the tunnel,” he said. The system will also help extinguish any fire in the train tunnel. The tunnel has also been provided with a parallel 3-metre-wide road for the movement of small vehicles in the case of any emergency. There are also plans to install CCTVs for safety of the tunnel. The trial run of the rail between Qazigund and Banihal was completed in 30 minutes on December 25. The railway traffic on the Qazigund-Banihal stretch would be started by April.
	Woman shot dead by NC leader’s son Tribune News Service Jammu, January 1 A woman was shot dead by the son of a National Conference (NC) leader after he allegedly fired at her in an “inebriated” condition in the Mahanpur area of Kathua district late last night. A police source said the woman allegedly was in a relationship with NC leader Raj Singh. Singh was present at her residence when the woman was shot dead. The woman, a mother of three, had a family dispute with her husband and had been putting up at her parental house in Mahanpur for the last two years. The accused has been identified as Pawan Dev Singh, alias Kukri. Raj Singh had contested the Assembly elections from Basohli constituency on the NC’s mandate. “Kukri along with his friends had consumed liquor last evening. His friends jeered at him while telling him about his father’s love affair with a woman. They told him that his father was still present at her residence,” a source said. Upset with the remarks of his friends, Kukri reportedly went home, picked up a double-barrel gun and rushed to the house of the woman, where he spotted his father and the woman in a room, the source said, adding that he fired at her around 11 pm, leading to splinter injuries in her abdomen. After committing the crime, the accused fled from the scene while the woman was rushed to a hospital where she died. A senior police officer said the father of the accused was detained while a manhunt had been launched to arrest the accused. The body of the woman was handed over to her parents after an autopsy. An FIR under Section 320, 460 and 3/25 of the Arms Act was registered at the Basohli police station against the accused.
	Rahul trying to bring Kargil on tourist map, says Soz Tribune News Service Srinagar, January 1 President of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) Prof Saifuddin Soz today said the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Rahul Gandhi was endeavouring to bring Kargil district of the Ladakh region on the tourist map of the state. “Rahul Gandhi is trying hard to bring Kargil district on the tourism map of the state,” Soz said in a statement issued here. He also thanked Rahul for “taking a keen interest in promoting” Kargil’s connectivity with the rest of the world vis-à-vis road, air and telecom connectivity. “Rahul has promoted connectivity in all these three fields in the recent months. He has taken personal interest in the construction of Zojila Tunnel and inauguration of Z-Morh Tunnel some months ago. He has also taken up with the telecom authorities, providing mobile towers, besides strengthening the telecommunication services in Kargil,” Soz said. He said it was due to Rahul’s efforts that a private company — Air Mantra — would start to and fro air service to Kargil. “The inaugural flight is expected to be scheduled on January 7 or 12. Rahul has requested me to represent him at the inauguration ceremony,” he said. Meanwhile, Soz addressed a gathering of Congress workers, sarpanches and panches at Rakhi Brah in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district yesterday. The JKPCC chief is currently holding a series of meetings with panchayat members across the Valley. He said the Congress was “steadfast on its assurance” to the panchayat members of the state in providing an honorarium and insurance cover to them.
	R-Day arrangements reviewed at Rajouri Our Correspondent Rajouri, January 1 To review arrangements for the Republic Day, the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri, Matloob Khan convened a high-level meeting of various departments here yesterday. During the meeting, the topics were discussed threadbare on the arrangements of security, traffic, power and water supply, cleanliness and fire safety measures in and around the venue, besides medicare, barricading and sitting arrangements. The main function would be held at the District Police Line, Rajouri, where VIP would hoist the tricolour and take salute to the march past of the contingents drawn from the police, the CRPF, the Army and students from various educational institutions. The Shehnai Vadan would be organised by the District Information Centre, Rajouri, in the wee hours. The ADC passed necessary instructions to all the officers concerned to make arrangements well in time. He urged people of the district to cooperate with the administration so that the occasion would be arranged in a well-planned manner.
	Pak targets posts in Poonch district Tribune News Service Jammu, January 1 On the eve of New Year, Pakistan violated the ceasefire agreement and targeted Indian forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Krishna Ghati (KG) sector with small arms in Poonch district. However, the Army maintained that there was no skirmish between the two sides last night. An Intelligence source said Pakistani troops fired on Indian forward posts of Kranti, Kirpan and Nangi Tekri from their Daku, Battal and Roza posts. “Around 11 pm yesterday, Pakistan troops opened small arms fire on Kranti, Kirpan and Nangi Tekri posts of the Indian Army prompting a calibrated response from the latter. The skirmish lasted till 1 am,” he said. However, there were no casualties or injuries, he added. Officiating Defence PRO SN Acharya maintained that there was no skirmish between the two sides last night. A defence source, however, said that during the intervening night of December 30 and 31 Pakistan troops had fired over 2,500 rounds in the same sector.
	IAF airlifts 203 stranded passengers from Leh Tribune News Service Jammu, January 1 After bad weather and poor visibility for the past five days hampered the evacuation of stranded passengers, the Indian Air Force (IAF) today airlifted 203 civilians, including 84 women, from Leh to the winter capital here. The aircraft, IL-76, launched special air sorties for the stranded passengers. “A total of 203 stranded civilians, including 84 women, besides children were airlifted to Jammu from Leh today by an IL-76 aircraft,” said officiating Defence PRO SN Acharya. The state government had earlier announced that special IAF sorties would be arranged for stranded passengers of the Leh region, which remains cut off from the rest of the Valley due to heavy snowfall on the Zojila Pass and the Kargil-Padum road. “The sorties from Jammu to Leh were suspended due to inclement weather conditions,” said Group Captain Sridhar, Officiating AOC of Air Force Station, Jammu, who personally supervised the entire operation from the Jammu air field. Sridhar said the IAF was ready and would carry out the task immediately in coordination with the civil administration as soon as the weather cleared. Sixtyfive Leh-bound passengers were to be airlifted from Jammu but the inclement weather didn’t allow the IAF to operate its flying machines. During the airlift operation, Chief Administrative Officer Shashikant Pati and air warriors of Air Force Station, Jammu, worked tirelessly with the full support of the civil administration for the smooth movement of the civilians. Every winter the IAF airlifts people from Ladakh to Jammu and Srinagar and vice-versa.
	National Conference provoking confrontation with Army Arun Joshi/TNS Jammu, January 1 It seems that the ruling National Conference is on the path to defame the Army and provoke a confrontation with the force. Without waiting for the law to take its course in the Pulwama firing incident, the National Conference has delivered its judgment. Even while the magisterial probe is yet to come out with its findings, the party has pronounced the Army guilty. Eight persons were injured in the post-encounter firing in the south Kashmir area. The incident, which took place after the fierce encounter in which two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed, is riddled with conflicting versions. Locals allege that the Army fired at civilians while the Army denies that its men did anything like that. The National Conference has suggested that the Army should “learn lessons from its past mistakes”. Though there is nothing wrong in invoking such an idea, but the context of 2010 violent protests and the counter action by the police and paramilitary forces that left 120 people dead is factually incorrect. The fake encounter at Machil (in April 2010) had evoked protests in some parts of north Kashmir, not across the Valley. But the protests had died down, and the Valley was looking towards newer and brighter things. Son of the soil Shah Faisal had made it to the top in the civil services in the country. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who was watching the protests in Srinagar ever since he took over the reins of the government, is on record for having said it for the umpteenth time that the “stone pelting is restricted to four to five police stations in Srinagar.” The protests were taking place much before Machil happened. Machil was a terribly bad incident. Three civilians were killed and they were described as terrorists coming from across the Line of Control. The Army’s theory of this gruesome incident had no takers. Omar had hauled the Army over the coals for the fake encounter simply for the reason that Army was in a denial mode, despite having ordered a court of inquiry. The witnesses’ account and the circumstantial evidence went against the Army. The soldiers had gone in for this bone-chilling incident for they cared more for their personal benefits rather than human lives. Two locals were also involved in facilitating the fake encounter to get their pound of flesh. What had caused the cycle of violent protests was the failure to engage with the restive youth, and the trigger for more space and support for protests was provided with the killing of an innocent student, Tufail Mattoo, in Rajouri Kadal, Srinagar, on June 11, 2010. And as the violence peaked, the government had to call the Army to stage flag marches in a bid to quell the protests. Ultimately, it was with the help of the Army that the situation was brought under control in September that year. The party spokesman has ridiculed the Army in his attempt to surpass other anti-Army groups in the Valley. He doesn’t seem to realise that the long-term consequences of such confrontation would not help either side, and the advantage would go to the vested interests who want to cash in on this type of confrontation. The Army, however, has chosen not to react to such provocative statements because it refuses to get drawn into a public spat.
	Huji posters trigger panic in Jammu Ravi Krishnan Khajuria Tribune News Service Jammu, January 1 Threatening posters allegedly issued by Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI) and Hizbul Mujahideen in the Gool and Arnas areas of Ramban and Reasi districts have sent shivers down the spines of panchayat members. The posters have asked the panchayat members to resign or face dire consequences. “The threatening posters purportedly issued by HuJI recently appeared in the Dharam area of Gool in Ramban district. We seized it immediately and an FIR under the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act stands registered at the Gool police station,” said a police officer, who declined to be named. The poster on HuJI’s letter head was a scanned print out written in Urdu in which sarpanches and panches were asked to resign or face dire consequences, said the officer. “We have started the investigations to know the veracity of these posters and who is behind them,” he said. Similar posters of HuJI and Hizb also appeared in the Arnas area of Reasi district. “Besides a similar threat to the panchayat members in Arnas via these posters, locals have also been asked to stop providing information to the security forces. The posters have been purportedly issued by Noman, a self-styled HuJI district commander,” said a police source. The railway construction companies engaged for the Kashmir rail project have also been asked to “mend their ways” and stop “harassing” local labourers, he added. Against the backdrop of fresh threats via these posters, the panchayat members have once again reiterated their demand of security from the state government. “There is no question of resigning. We didn’t bow to United Jehad Council (UJC) chief Salahuddin’s threat in the recent past and will not surrender before such threats via these posters,” said Shafiq Mir, chairman of the All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference. We will keep holding the flag of democracy in the state but appearance of such posters is certainly a serious matter because they negate the statement of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who had said there are no militants in the Jammu region, he added. He sought an immediate security cover for the panchayat members and said if anyone of them was harmed by militants then the state government would be held responsible. “The panchayat members are more at risk after the Legislative Council poll because they are now politically affiliated. Terror posters have started appearing in the Jammu region now and the Chief Minister wants to withdraw the Armed Forces Special Powers Act,” said Mir. In November last year, the UJC chief had issued similar threats asking the panchayat members to resign from their posts. Three panchayat members were killed in Kashmir last year.
	Nowshera rape: Police arrests 3 accused Our Correspondent Rajouri, January 1 The police has arrested all the three accused who were involved in alleged gang-rape of a woman in forward border area in Nowshera of Rajouri district today. Yesterday, a 25-year-old woman (name withheld) having two minor children, along with Kala Ram, husband of the victim, approached the local police station at Nowshera after, according to them, the village panchayat failed to settle their issue at the village level. The police lodged an FIR against the three accused on the complaint of the woman yesterday and arrested all the three accused involved in the case. The accused were identified as Kaka Ram (30), Madan Lal and Mohammed Rafiq (22) of Nowshera and an FIR was registered under Section 376 of the RPC.
	Pulwama firing incident PDP criticises government for creating atmosphere of fear Tribune News Service Srinagar, January 1 The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today criticised the coalition government for creating “an atmosphere of terror and fear” in the Pulwama area since last many days. In a statement issued here, PDP legislator from Pulwama Mohammad Khalil Bandh said youths from Pulwama were being forced to opt for violent methods as all means of expressing their emotions in a peaceful manner were being suppressed. “The way the government has clamped curfew in the area for the last more than four days makes it clear that the National Conference-led government wants to suppress the genuine anguish of the people by forcibly putting them under siege and arresting the youths during crackdowns,” the Pulwama legislator said. “Once again the educated youths are being pushed to the wall and reportedly forced to resort to violence due to repressive policies of the government,” Bandh said. The MLA said the government should ensure that all democratic channels of peaceful expression were available to people of the state as much as they were to people living in any part of the country. The MLA, while condemning the firing on peaceful protesters in Pulwama last week, called for a thorough probe into the unprovoked incident.