Srinagar, April 10
A 17-year-old girl consumed poison in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district last night and died at a hospital. She is the fourth teenager to end life in the region in the past 10 days.

The girl, whose identity has not been disclosed, was a resident of Nowgran-Pingal village of Baramulla district, a police spokesman said.

She was shifted to Primary Health Centre Boniyar from where she was referred to District Hospital Baramulla for treatment where she breathed her last, the spokesman said.

She is the fourth teenager to commit suicide in the region in the first 10 days of this month.

Earlier, 15-year-old Imran Ahmad Khan of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district committed suicide by hanging himself on April 1 and an 18-year-old girl of Gund Ibrahim village near Pattan town of Baramulla town hanged herself on April 4.

On the same day, another teenager - a 16-year-old girl - attempted to commit suicide by consuming poison at her house in Gundpora village of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. She was hospitalised and survived the suicide bid.

Earlier this week, on April 8, 14-year-old Mudassar Ahmad Shah of Chandseer village of Baramulla district became the third teenager to commit suicide. He also hanged himself at his home.

There has been a spurt in suicides in recent days in the region.

Suicidal tendencies are not limited to a particular age group in the region. It was evident on April 6 when a 70-year-old woman committed suicide by hanging herself at her house in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district.

Suicides in Kashmir have picked up drastically in recent years. Psychiatrists attribute it to a range of issues, including relationship stress, marital discord, family strain and unavailability of employment options.

Mental health experts have blamed crumbling social institutions like families, snapping of communication between different generations within a family, psycho-social factors, growing materialism and dearth of moral education classes in schools as some of the reasons for the rise in suicide cases in Kashmir.

A sociologist, who has studied the suicidal trends of the region, said nearly 60 per cent of those who end their lives are females and most of them are in the age group of 15-35.

Anantnag, April 10
Agricultural land across Anantnag is shrinking fast, courtesy rampant construction of commercial as well as residential structures in the district for over a decade.

Reports said despite the government imposing a ban on such constructions, they were going on in full swing.

“Rich and affluent people get the necessary permissions for construction over agricultural land. The ban remains in force for lesser mortals,” said an official in the Revenue Department.

He said constructions were going on at almost all the agricultural land stretches in the district and that the department had chosen not to interfere while the people with political clout continued to vandalise the agricultural land.

“You can see for yourself. The most evident of them all is the construction on the farm land along the Srinagar-Jammu national highway,” the official said.

“This stretch from Bijbehara to Batengoo used to be a lush green, open space of farm land five years ago. Now, the land has transformed into a concrete jungle with residential and commercial establishments multiplying like rabbits,” he said.

Same is the case with the other stretches of agricultural land across the district.

“The time is not far when Anantnag district will not produce any agricultural products and the blame would fall on the authorities,” said a local farmer, Abdul Hameed.

Sources said officials in the district administration who opposed such illegal constructions met with stiff resistance from political power houses of the state.

“What can we do if the government is not serious about enforcing such bans in letter and spirit? We have our hands tied and affluent people continue to use the fragile farm land as they please with the patronage of their political godfathers,” said a high-ranking official in the district administration on the condition of anonymity.

Srinagar, April 10
Protest march of casual workers of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department, who were demanding regularisation of service, was foiled by the police today.

Carrying placards, the protesters under the banner of PHE Joint Employees Association gathered near the Press Enclave here and raised slogans in favour of their demands. Talking to reporters, president of the association Sajad Ahmad Parrey said they were being meted out mere ‘lip service’ by the authorities. He said no major steps were being taken towards the fulfilment of their demands.

He said several casual employees had been working in the PHE Department for more than 10 years and were still awaiting regularisation of service. Parrey said their demands included regularisation of service and release of pending salaries. He also demanded that the salaries of the casual employees be released on a monthly basis.

He said they would continue their protests till their demands were met. “We are giving one week ultimatum to the government…if our pleas continue to fall on deaf ears, we will intensify our agitation beginning with another massive protest on April 18,” he said.

After protesting near the Press Enclave, the protesters attempted to take out a march towards the PHE office. However, the bid was foiled by the police, who resorted to cane charge.

Over 12 protesters were also detained while a few others sustained minor injuries in the police action. Movement of vehicular traffic in and around city centre Lal Chowk was briefly disrupted during the police action against the protesters.

Srinagar, April 10
Television cable network in the Valley stands paralysed with a majority of the cable operators in the Valley having failed to complete the digitisation process within the stipulated time.

The deadline for the completion of formalities in this regard was March 31.

Valley-based cable operators have asked for an extension of the deadline for digitising the cable services. However, the telecast of TV channels via cable without set-top box has been barred at a majority of the areas in the Valley.

Cable TV subscribers are irked by the sluggish approach of cable television operators who are yet to provide the set-top boxes required for the digitisation process.

At a few areas in Srinagar, cable operators have started distributing subscription forms even though the devices are yet to be set up.

Subscribers who have paid the subscription fee of Rs 250 per month in advance are aghast over the non-committal approach of cable operators and poor monitoring by the state government.

“Cable TV operators were given enough time to buy these devices but they have not even started collecting back the forms. We have paid our subscription fees but we still do not have access to any TV channel. Our cable operator is yet to approach us for the same. This attitude of cable operators is causing a lot of inconvenience to subscribers,” Muzaffar Ahmad, a Haba Kadal resident said.

Cable TV operators say the set-top boxes aren't necessarily to be bought by them and that people can buy these devices on their own from the market.

“We are in fact providing these devices at subsidised rates than the market price. Subscribers will have to bear with us because it is a matter of over ten thousand subscribers. The month-long clampdown post February 9 in the Valley proved detrimental to the digitisation process. We have asked for the extension of the deadline,” Junaid Ahmad, an employee of the Chanapora Cable TV Network said. 

Handwara, April 10
Launching a scathing attack on the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Independent MLA, Langate, Er Rasheed, yesterday blamed the mainstream political parties of befooling people with regard to resolution of the Kashmir dispute. He said the parties don’t have courage to resolve the dispute even within framework of the Constitution of India.

He was addressing a public gathering at Handwara. The MLA asked the NC and the PDP not to exploit sentiments of the people in the name of self-rule and autonomy. Rasheed also did not spare the separatists. He said they too had failed to achieve any progress with regard to resolution of the Kashmir issue despite receiving full support from the people.

“All Kashmiri leaders, whether from mainstream or separatist camp, should confess that despite receiving full support from public by one way or the other, no progress has been made in resolution towards the J&K dispute. New Delhi is taking everyone for a ride and is doing whatsoever possible to encourage infighting between the mainstream parties," he said.

"Kashmiri leaders will have to realise that the only way to achieve something is to be united, tolerate each other and try to accommodate each other’s genuine concerns,” he added.

The MLA asked the mainstream parties either to act and rise to the occasion or leave the political resolution of the Kashmir dispute to the separatist leaders. "As long as mainstream parties continue to befool Kashmiris in the public meetings and talk in tune with the interest of their masters in the Assembly, it will definitely give them power but at the cost of misery of the people of the state," he said.

He said Kashmiri migrants are welcome to their homes but they will have to accept that they are part and parcel of society. They should be mentally prepared to face hardships the way Kashmiri Muslims are facing, he added. 

Srinagar, April 10
The Army will organise a week-long recruitment rally in Anantnag district of south Kashmir later this month. An Army official said the rally will be held from April 18 to 24. Although the rally is being held in Anantnag, youth from all over the Valley can take part in the event, the official said.

He said the applicants from Shopian and Kulgam in south Kashmir besides Ganderbal in central Kashmir can report at the rally for screening on April 18. Similarly, the applicants from Bandipora and Baramulla in north Kashmir and Budgam in central Kashmir can report on April 19, from Anantnag and Srinagar on April 20, while applicants from Kupwara and Pulwama can report on April 21.

“Screening will be conducted for soldier (general duty), soldier (Clk/SKT), soldier (technical) and soldier (nursing assistant) during the rally. The screening will include physical fitness test, physical measurement test, checking of documents and a medical examination,” the official said.

“Selected candidates will not only get a lifetime opportunity to serve in various arms and services of the Army but will also be able to serve the nation with honour and dignity,” the official added.

The Army had held a similar recruitment rally in Anantnag last year. It was largely attended by the youth.

Srinagar, April 10
The Hajj Committee in Kashmir has informed the aspiring pilgrims to collect their cover numbers from Hajj House, Bemina.

“The Executive Officer, J&K State Hajj Committee, Srinagar, said all aspiring Hajj pilgrims of Kashmir division who have deposited their Hajj application forms for Hajj-2013 are asked to collect their cover number slips from Hajj House, Bemina, against the production of provisional receipts,” an official spokesman said here.

He said cover number slips, in case of applicants belonging to Jammu and Ladakh divisions, are being issued from the offices of their respective Deputy Commissioners on the dates to be notified separately.

“In case of error found in details shown in the cover number slips, it shall be reported to the office of Executive Officer, J&K State Hajj Committee, Srinagar, on or before April 18,” the spokesman added.

Srinagar, April 10
The Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Justice MM Kumar, yesterday kicked off a plantation drive at the newly constructed district court complex here. He planted a deodar sapling during the drive. “A special plantation drive organised by the Forest Department was kicked off by the Chief Justice of J&K, Justice MM Kumar, by planting a sapling here on Tuesday,” an official spokesman said.

During the drive, many deodar saplings were planted in the court complex, the spokesman added.

“Emphasising on the plantation of trees, the Chief Justice said plants have a pivotal role in maintaining ecological balance as well as sustaining life on the earth. Besides, plants are the source of various important medicines,” the spokesman quoted Justice Kumar as having said.

The complex is located in Mominabad, near Batamaloo bypass, in Srinagar. The state government plans to shift district courts from old Sadder Courts to the new complex by June this year. The construction of the new court complex had started in 2005.

Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir, Justice Ghulam Hasnain Masoodi, Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey, Justice Janak Raj Kotwal, Principal District and Sessions Judge, Srinagar, Mohammad Shafi Khan and Conservator of Forests, Srinagar Circle, Nisar Ahmad, also participated in the drive.

The new court complex will have adequate number of court rooms, facilities for judges and judicial staff, administrative sections, special services wing and car parking facilities.

The old complex located in the heart of the city is not spacious enough to accommodate the offices and various sections of the judiciary for carrying out its day-to-day work properly. Moreover, the condition of various buildings within the district court premises has also deteriorated.

Srinagar, April 10
Chief Minister’s political secretary Tanvir Sadiq today accused PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti of making “ridiculous accusations” against Omar Abdullah.

Sadiq, who previously held the post of National Conference’s spokesman, said the Opposition party leaders were foreseeing their defeat in the 2014 Assembly elections.

The PDP president had yesterday accused the ruling party of exploiting the issue of return of the mortal remains of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru ahead of the next year’s Assembly elections.

“After the boycott in the Assembly and their open fight in public between their leadership, it is clear that they are not only clueless but also foresee their humiliating defeat in 2014,” Sadiq said.

“She (Mufti) should get her facts right. It is Omar Abdullah’s NC which passed the Autonomy resolution in the Assembly, the only party which raised the issue both in Parliament and in the Assembly and remains the only party that seeks a peaceful solution to the issue and has a valid constitutional document in its support.”

Sadiq said the PDP’s vision document on ‘Self Rule’ had burst without a “whimper”. “Their duplicity has been exposed,” he said.

Asking the PDP president to come clear on the position of her party’s “senior most leaders”, he said, “One of their senior most Kashmiri leader had said if it is in the national interest then hang Afzal Guru, can they explain this?” He said this while drawing comparison with Abdullah’s opposition to Afzal’s hanging.

“They talk about Maqbool Bhat and are shedding crocodile tears, why doesn’t she clear the position of the same leader who was sent to defend Maqbool Bhat in the court,” he said.

Sadiq accused the PDP leaders of being the “real culprits” in hanging of Bhat and Guru. “When they had to defend either of the two, they either choose to remain silent or did not attend or defend them in the court,” Sadiq said.

Srinagar, April 10
Ghulam Jeelani Qadri, a senior official at the state’s Information Department, was bereaved when his uncle Mohammad Yousuf Qadri passed away on Wednesday.

The death of Qadri’s uncle has been mourned by the officials and non-gazetted employees of the J-K Information Department. A condolence meeting by the Non-Gazetted Employees Union of the Information Department’s Kashmir Division under the chairmanship of Union president Showkat Ahmad Khan was held to express sympathy with the bereaved family. They expressed grief and sorrow on his demise.

Employees of the department also participated in funeral prayers ‘Nimaz-e-Jinaza’ of the deceased and prayed for the eternal peace to the departed soul and endurance to the bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss.

The Joint Directorate of Information Kashmir, Deputy Directorate of Information (PR) Srinagar and District Information Centres also condoled the demise of Ghulam Jeelani Qadri’s uncle. 

Baramulla, April 10
To check black marketing and unauthorised sale of fertilisers, the law enforcement authorities today seized 346 quintals of spurious fertilisers from various areas in north Kashmir during raids, an official spokesman said here.

He said during the raids, a team of law enforcement from the Agriculture Department inspected various fertiliser sale centres in Dangiwach block at Rawocha, Zethan, Kangroosa, Pazalpora and Bakipora in north Kashmir's Baramulla district and seized substandard fertilisers.

“During these raids, about 318 quintals of urea and 28 quintals of DAP fertilisers were seized and the dealers were pulled up for violating the norms,” he said.