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Uproar over ignoring of MLAs
‘Liyaqat is innocent and wanted to lead a normal life’
BJP MLAs stage sit-in
to protest govt policies
Less than 12% govt employees women
Maj-Gen Kumar leads in signing organ donation pledge
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Dismiss government, says Panthers Party
Mehbooba expresses concern over situation in Kashmir
Governor approves proposal for promotion of
Dogri
Recent attacks point to more activity ahead
J-K takes the lead by collecting 1 crore ‘My Stamps’
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Uproar over ignoring of MLAs
Jammu, March 23 As soon as proceedings started this morning, Yashpal Kundal, Panthers Party MLA from Samba, stood up and displayed some news cutting to substantiate his allegations that ministers had been ignoring elected representatives while allotting development funds. Before the Speaker could react to his allegations, Kundal trooped to the well of the House and started shouting slogans. “The government has been brazenly indulging in violating rules and norms by ignoring MLAs while allotting funds,” he said. Panthers Party MLAs Harsh Dev Singh and Balwant Singh Mankotia joined their party colleague. Four MLAs of the splinter group of the BJP supported them. Harsh Dev Singh stood on his seat to raise his demand. “This is breach of MLA’s privilege. This is a glaring example of degrading a legislator,” he shouted. CPM member MY Tarigami and PDF member Hakim Yasin also stood on their seats in support of the members. Although the Speaker assured them that he would bring this matter to the notice of ministers concerned, the members resorted to shouting slogans. “Funds being distributed by ministers in constituencies of members in the opposition are from the money of taxpayers,” Tarigami said. He warned the government that this approach of would set a wrong precedent. The agitating members were pacified only when the Speaker assured them that he would take up this serious matter with the government. Failure of the government to solve problems of refugees from west Pakistan and PoK also rocked the Assembly. Ashwani Sharma of the JSM and RS Pora MLA Garu Ram staged a walkout. |
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‘Liyaqat is innocent and wanted to lead a normal life’
Kupwara, March 23 Akthar Nisa (43), Liyaqat’s wife, who accompanied him from Islamabad to Gorakhpur near Nepal, alleged that the police falsely dubbed him as a militant and an anti-national and showed recovery of weapons to take the credit. Nisa reached her parental home in Kralpora village, 20 km from Kupwara, today evening. After completing all legal formalities, including procuring visa and other necessary documents, she said Liyaqat was encouraged to return to his native home at Dardpora in Lolab, Kupwara district, following the state government’s rehabilitation policy, which promises the safe return and stay of former Kashmiri militants in their homeland who had crossed the Line of Control for arms training in Pakistan. The Delhi Police yesterday claimed to have arrested Liyaqat in Delhi and said an AK-56 rifle, three hand grenades, 220 gm of explosive, a memory card and dry fruits were recovered from his possession. Nisa said, “When we reached Gorakhpur near Nepal, the Army shifted us in a truck and took us to a hotel. Our luggage was checked and we were thoroughly frisked. I was made to stay in one room of the hotel and Liyaqat was taken into another room. Next morning, I was told that Liyaqat will be detained for a few days while I could leave for Jammu.” She said Liyaqat had decided to return to his native village in Kupwara district to lead a normal life. “I pleaded before them (Army) that he is innocent and has come to live in his native village but Army men did not listen to me and asked me to leave for Jammu. They said I will be joined by Liyaqat there,” she said. Nisa said, “Two Army men took Rs 2,000 from me for train tickets for Jammu.” “I repeatedly told them that I needed three tickets, including one for Liyaqat, but they refused and forcibly took me to the station where I boarded the train to Jammu,” she said. Nisa maintained that they were carrying three bags full of clothes and a few books. She was accompanied by her 22-year-old deaf and dumb daughter Jabeena to Jammu. She said Liyaqat was earning his livelihood by selling poultry birds at a farm in Karachi. “I met him (Liyaqat) in 2000 and we got married. He used to sell poultry birds to make a living and never indulged in any other act,” she said. Nisa is Liyaqat’s second wife while his first wife Amina Begum lives in Dardpora village with her two sons.
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BJP MLAs stage sit-in
to protest govt policies
Jammu, March 23 Accusing the National Conference-Congress coalition government of siding with terrorists and furthering an anti-national agenda, the four BJP MLAs staged a sit-in outside the legislative complex in protest against the reportedly pro-terrorist policies of the government. BJP Legislature Party leader Ashok Khajuria said, “The Governor should take cognisance of the anti-national agenda that the government is aggressively pursuing in Jammu and Kashmir to accomplish the nefarious designs of pro-Pakistan elements by disarming paramilitary forces and crying for mercy to terrorists.” He claimed that recent developments in the Assembly had exposed the true face of the ‘pro-terrorist’ coalition regime. The BJP was referring to the way the hours-long discussion on Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru's hanging was held in the Legislative Assembly and the manner in which the government had defended the disarming of paramilitary forces, resulting in encouragement to terrorists. |
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Less than 12% govt employees women
Jammu, March 23 The percentage of women in government jobs is not more than 12 per cent. The situation is worse in the Police Department where the number of women gazetted officers is not more than 3 per cent. Replying to a question of MLC Shehnaz Ganai in the Upper House, Minister of Finance Abdul Rahim Rather, on behalf of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, said the number of senior-scale women gazetted officers in the administration was 12.03 per cent while the number of junior-scale women officers was only 11.87 per cent of the total strength. There are only 6.7 per cent women gazetted officers and 9.8 per cent non-gazetted officers in the local bodies of both Jammu and Kashmir provinces. Although the government has opened women police stations and women cells in both Jammu and Kashmir provinces to keep a check on crimes against women, the presence of women officers is almost negligible in the Police Department. “The percentage of women employees in the Jammu and Kashmir Police (gazetted) is 3 per cent,” Rather informed the House. The presence of women in the crime wing of the police is 1.25 per cent while there is no woman DSP in the ministerial wing of the police. In the armed wing of the police, the presence of women is only 4.90 per cent. Similarly, not even a single woman has been deputed in the Special Security Group (SSG) constituted to provide security to VVIPs. What is more shocking is that not even a single woman has been recruited in the Information Technology Department. When Ganai asked whether the government was thinking of making provision for women in government jobs to remove the disparity, the minister said, “As of now, the government does not contemplate providing reservation to women in government jobs, though there are some posts in some departments where only women are eligible to apply.” The minister, however, informed the House that under the J&K Reservation Act, 2004, 50 per cent seats in each category, including open category, were reserved for women for admission to MBBS and
BDS. |
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Maj-Gen Kumar leads in signing organ donation pledge
Jammu, March 23 Apart from spreading awareness about the issue, the drive is aimed at removing from the minds of the people various misconceptions about organ donation and helping in removal of cultural barriers and taboos associated with it. As part of the drive, a series of informative lectures and interactive sessions were organised in the division and its lower formation to educate Army personnel and their families on various aspects of organ donation. Setting an example for others to emulate, Maj-Gen Ashwani Kumar pledged his organs for donation. A large number of Army personnel and their families also resolved to pledge their organs and help spread awareness about this noble cause. Organ transplant had now emerged as a viable approach for the management of end-stage organ diseases. |
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Dismiss government, says Panthers Party
Jammu, March 23 The party also demanded reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir on the basis of cultural, geographical and linguistic identity of each region with separate legislative assemblies, separate budgets and separate recruitment boards, public service commissions and planning commissions. “All regions of the state, including those under illegal occupation of Pakistan and those held by China, need to be reunited to make Jammu and Kashmir a federal democratic unit,” the party asserted. It was also mentioned in the resolution that then government led by Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah had extended the term of the Assembly from five to six years during the Emergency by implementing the 42nd Amendment. It was pointed out that the six-year term was reduced to a five-year term in the rest of the country after the Emergency ended. It demanded that the term should be reduced to five years in Jammu and Kashmir as well.
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Mehbooba expresses concern over situation in Kashmir
Srinagar, March 23 “The situation in the state, especially in the Valley, is a cause of concern. Though collective conscience is satisfied in a matter of seconds, collective punishment is continuing unabated,” she said during a press conference at the Muftis’ Gupkar residence. Accompanied by MLAs Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Rafi Ahmad Mir and Abdul Haq Khan, Mehbooba said restrictions and harassment of the youth were rampant in the Valley. She added that the party was not expecting anything from the coalition government as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had himself said he was helpless. Mehbooba pointed out that over 1,000 youth had been arrested and some of them released and rearrested after Afzal Guru’s hanging. She alleged that NC agents were “acting as informers … to make money”. She claimed, “It (arrests) has become a commercial activity for the ruling party.” “The government is ruling through the barrel of a gun,” she alleged. Most party MLAs were camping in their constituencies at present after the boycott of the ongoing Budget session of the Assembly. “This repression has already pushed young boys to pick up arms again. Even the latest arrest of Liyaqat Shah in New Delhi indicates that the industry to involve the Kashmiri youth for rewards and medals is thriving. The Kashmiri youth have become fodder for Congress-BJP electoral politics,” Mehbooba said. She added that jails had been filled again and leaders like Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Mohammad Yaseen Malik, Shabir Ahmed Shah and Nayeem Ahmed Khan, besides scores of others, had been arrested or put under house arrest. On reports of using pepper guns against protesters, Mehbooba said it was banned even in war. At least three persons had been documented by human rights organisations to have died of pepper gas, she said. She added they were identified as Abdul Rashid Sheikh, Mohammad Yousuf Sofi and Hajra, a woman, all from Srinagar. The failure of the rehabilitation policy for militants who wanted to live a normal life had turned it into another slogan, she claimed. The PDP president urged the government to come out with details of the youth who had applied for permission to return. |
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Governor approves proposal for promotion of
Dogri
Jammu, March 23 The Governor hoped that the Shrine Board’s support to the Dogri Sanstha would help the Dogri language to flourish and its literature reach a larger audience. Navin K Choudhary, Chief Executive Officer of the Shrine Board, said one book in Dogri (prose or poetry) would be selected every year by a committee comprising Dr SS Bloeria, Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Jammu and Member Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, as its Chairman, and Dr Ved Kumari Ghai, Prof Lalit Magotra, Dr Jitendra Udhampuri and Prof Shashi Pathania as its members, for translation and publication into Hindi and English. The decision has been taken consequent upon the Dogri Sanstha, Jammu, approaching the Shrine Board for help in promoting the Dogri language and literature. |
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Recent attacks point to more activity ahead
Jammu, March 23 “Going by recent terror attacks in Kashmir wherein five CRPF men were killed at Bemina, a border guard ambushed at Nowgam and a youth chased into a mosque and killed at Sopore, there is a likelihood of a hot summer this year,” said a senior Army officer on the condition of anonymity. The officer said two or three incidents could not be taken as an index of things to come. “Every summer, there are attempts to fuel terrorism. They have a strength of between 400 and 700 in the state while between 700 and 1,000 with weapons are on the other side of the Line of Control. They can step up violence any time. The recent incidents are a sign of more activity to come,” he said. “Every winter, especially from December to February, there is a lull in insurgency as terrorists recoup to attack from unexpected directions, like they did at Bemina and Nowgam,” he said. The officer said ultras in Kashmir always looked out for soft targets. He expressed regret that the thumb rule practice of road opening duties was stopped ever since the Army moved out of Nowgam in 2010. “The moment forces stop adhering to basics in an insurgency infested area, you expose yourself to attacks,” he said. |
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J-K takes the lead by collecting 1 crore ‘My Stamps’
Srinagar, March 23 My Stamp was launched last year to revive the postal services in the state and is now being adopted by the postal departments in other states. “My Stamp is a customised postage stamp with photographs of common people. It does restrict the stamps to bear the names of only influential people in society. These stamps have been used to highlight the importance of the glorious heritage of the state by putting some of the famous historical monuments on them,” said John Samuel, Chief Postmaster-General, J&K Circle. Samuel said the stamp exhibition by the department last year, which saw a huge public participation from the Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions of the state, proved that if the postal services were blended with the Internet facilities, they could be used again by the people. The department has decided to upgrade 20 post offices in the state, 10 each in the Jammu and Kashmir divisions within a month to boost the postal services. In the Kashmir division, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Qazigund, Chadoora, University of Kashmir campus, Karan Nagar, Lal Chowk, Brein and Verinag post offices will be upgraded, while in the Jammu division, Reasi, Banihal, Ramban, Batote, Jurian, Vijaypur, University of Jammu campus, Talab Tiloo, Railway Station, Jammu, and Hira Nagar post offices will be upgraded. The upgraded post offices will have an e-post facility, which is a blend of email and postal services. “Whosoever wishes his or her letter to be delivered in any part of J&K in one day, needs to send us an email and we will take the printed version of the mail and deliver it in the form of a postal letter. This will revolutionise the postal services in the state and fill in the gaps of slow delivery of postal mails,” said Samuel. The upgraded post offices will also have shops selling packaging and stationery material. Besides, these post offices will also be available for sending faxes and any fax received for any person would be delivered to his address by speed post. Currently, 1,700 post offices are functional in the state, according to the Department of Posts. |
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The Assembly today witnessed pandemonium over distribution of development funds in constituencies represented by members in the opposition.
Expressing serious concern over the situation in Kashmir, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti today said nothing was expected of the government in view of the assertions of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the wake of the recent killings.
The state Department of Posts has taken the lead in the country by collecting 1 crore ‘My Stamps’ containing pictures of state residents, historical monuments and even taglines.
