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Ban on pepper gas: Authorities given three weeks to reply
Lights, camera, action back in Kashmir
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Protests erupt after CRPF vehicle hits school boy
Strike hits functioning of Revenue Dept
Govt asked to file reply on Geelani’s plea in a week
State BJP chief gets rousing welcome
Qazigund ‘Project Arrow’ post office inaugurated
ONGC team visits Kashmir varsity for training of students
NC responsible for all major decisions since 1931: PDP
Need for better neo-natal care facilities stressed
PDP ignored Srinagar, alleges NC
43 armed police officials get promotion
Two drown in Shopian
Girl found dead in Kulgam
Two killed, 8 injured in road mishaps
12-year-old boy injured
3 gamblers arrested
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Ban on pepper gas: Authorities given three weeks to reply
Srinagar, April 17 Earlier on March 19, the court had issued notices to the state government, state Director-General of Police and the Union Home Ministry, asking these respondents to file their objections to the PIL within two weeks. The PIL filed last month by a high court lawyer BA Misri was listed today before a Division Bench comprising Justice Mansoor A Mir and Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey. “Though the respondents were directed to file their objections within two weeks, the court today granted three weeks’ time to the authorities to file their response after the state counsel sought more time to file the same”, counsel and petitioner AM Misri told The Tribune. Apart from banning the use of pepper gas for crowd and riot control in Kashmir, the PIL had also prayed for compensating the victims in case of death or other health hazards suffered due to the exposure to pepper gas, which has been termed as ‘life threatening’ by health experts. “The police is rampantly using pepper gas and teargas to disburse mobs. This has far-reaching consequences on non-combatants, bystanders and dwellers”, it has been submitted in the PIL. Citing various media reports as evidence about the hazardous effects of the “noxious” pepper gas, the PIL had alleged that its use had already claimed several lives in the Valley, particularly in Srinagar, where large-scale use of pepper gas on protesters by the police and security forces had been witnessed in the wake of protests over the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. The PIL had said the exposure to pepper gas infuses multi-farious disorders, diseases and uneasiness, especially among children and elderly. “The police, unmindful of the direction of the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), is excessively using pepper gas even on the slightest provocation despite the fact that this gas is of hazardous nature and can induce or aggravate respiratory diseases, pulmonary edema, acute elevation in blood pressure which is associated with a risk of stroke and heart attack,” Misri had submitted in the PIL. |
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Lights, camera, action back in Kashmir
Srinagar, April 17 Aditya and Radhika were seen shooting for a song for Kannada movie “Sweety” at the Tulip Garden, which is located on the foothills of the Zabarwan range near the Dal Lake. “The film is being directed by Vijay Lakshmi and Aditya and Radhika shot a song sequence for the film, “Sweety”….it was a one-day shoot,” Tulip Garden in charge Javed Ahmad Shah told The Tribune. While Bollywood had started making a comeback to Kashmir earlier, no shooting had taken place here in the aftermath of the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in February this year. In January this year, Bollywood stars Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone had shot for Ayan Mukherji’s film “Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani” at tourist spots - Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Dal Lake. Superstar Shah Rukh Khan along with Anushka Sharma had shot for Yash Chopra’s last flick “Jab Tak Hai Jaan” last year. However, shooting for Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif starrer “Big Bang” had been cancelled last month due to the situation in the Valley. Shah said they were hopeful that more film crews would come to the Tulip Garden for shooting. Well-known Bollywood choreographer Saroj Khan had shot a song sequence for a movie, “Kaash Tum Hote”, at the Tulip Garden last year. In 2008, a song of Bollywood movie, “Sadiyaan”, was shot at the garden while a few scenes of a Tamil movie were also shot at the picturesque garden in the same year. Shah said tulip beds at the garden this year were laid on “Silsila” pattern. He said visitors to the garden expected to see tulips just like they were seen in the famous Bollywood song - “Dekha ek khwab” of “Silsila” fame. The Tulip Garden was thrown open to the public on March 28 and is likely to remain open till the end of this month subject to weather conditions. Even though tulips can be seen in full bloom for around a month only, the garden has been attracting visitors in large numbers from outside the Valley in advance as the prime tourist season would usually start by April end. |
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‘Android girl’ sets her eyes on creating Kashmiri dictionary
Srinagar, April 17 “Kashmiri dictionary is basically an idea which was suggested to me by one of my friends and I will give it a serious thought. It is definitely on my mind,” says Mehvish, known as ‘Kashmir’s Android girl’, a fresh engineering graduate in computer sciences from SSM College of Engineering, Baramulla. Mehvish, 23, like many other youngsters from the Valley is distancing away from the native Kashmiri language as it is being less spoken among youth and not taught in schools. However, an application (app), which fits Kashmiri dictionary into your mobile phone, will bridge that gap. “This will take time as I will have to put all the words together and need more research but it will be a savior for our language,” says the techie. Mehvish’s shot to fame in just 24 hours even reached Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. His feedback to Mehvish’s application on the Twitter read, “Well done!” Dial Kashmir, which has already created waves among the tech-savvies of the Valley, is rated 4.7 out of 5 on Google Play and has been installed by more than 1,000 persons. Being the first Kashmiri to mark her presence on Google Play and subsequently develop an application that tells you the contact numbers from gas agencies to municipalities to hospitals, the app is being loved by one and all. Mehvish’s Dial Kashmir has received rare reviews on Google Play, which includes non-resident Kashmiris as well. “Love to see the Kashmiri brains hitting Google play. Truly an honour for Kashmir and much more,” reads a review from Mohiuddin Abdul Qadir. |
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Protests erupt after CRPF vehicle hits school boy
Anantnag, April 17 “He was immediately rushed to the Sub-District Hospital, Kokernag, from where he was referred to the SKIMS for a specialised treatment,” the reports said. The locals said the Gypsy was a part of the escort to a senior CRPF official. The boy was hit near Hangalgund village. Soon after the accident, the people of the area came to streets and protested against the CRPF and raised slogans. The police swung into action and arrested the driver of the vehicle and impounded the Gypsy. “We have registered a case bearing FIR No 40/2013 under Section 279, 337 of the RPC in this regard,” a police official from the area said. |
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Strike hits functioning of Revenue Dept
Srinagar, April 17 “Our demands have been accepted by the government in 2010, but they are yet to be implemented on ground,” said J&K Patwar Association president Afaaq Ahmed. “We have been demanding that the salaries of nearly 1,000 patwaris, who were appointed in 2002, should be given at par with their predecessors and this time we have been forced to go on an indefinite strike,”
he added. He said in 2002, nearly 1,000 patwaris were recruited by the state government, but their basic salaries were kept lower than their predecessors. Apart from demanding the removal of pay anomalies, they have
also been seeking a ban on direct recruitment for naib tehsildar. The strike has badly affected the working of the Revenue Department and people accuse the government of being insensitive to mitigate their problems. “It is shocking that the government is not serious on solving the problems of the locals. The patwaris and girdawars are on an indefinite strike from the past 10 days and the government is silent on the issue. We have been suffering due to the strike,” said Mohammad Iqbal, a resident of Baramulla. “If their demands are genuine, they should be accepted. Otherwise the government should initiate action against them for troubling the people,” he added. Kashmir Divisional
Commissioner Shalinder Kumar said he came to know about the strike on Tuesday. “We will hold talks with the striking employees,” Kumar said. |
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Govt asked to file reply on Geelani’s plea in a week
Srinagar, April 17 On April 5, the court had asked the state government and other respondents to file their objections within 10 days. “The petition along with the application was listed before a single bench of the high court today. Though the authorities were supposed to file their objections, however, they have not filed the same. Now, the court has granted the government and other respondents a last opportunity of one week to file their objections to the application by Geelani,” said a counsel linked with the case. The high court is hearing a petition filed by Geelani in 2011 seeking directions for initiating contempt proceedings against the respondents for not complying with the previous high court directions about his “continuous house arrest” by the authorities. In his fresh application moved through advocate ZA Qureshi on April 5, Geelani, while rejecting the government’s response about his daily tour itinerary, had filed “day-to-day details” of his house detention. Geelani in his application had rejected the government’s claims that he stays at home out of his own free will. In his application, Geelani had sough to appear before the court to lead
the evidence and appear as his witness in the contempt petition. “To resolve this issue, (Geelani) wants to appear as a witness before the court in support of his application and the contention”, the application had read. The government in its affidavit filed before the HC on October 17, 2012, had submitted details of 500-day tour itinerary of Geelani, wherein out of the 500 days, he was shown to be at home for 39 days only. |
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State BJP chief gets rousing welcome
Srinagar, April 17 The Kashmir unit of the BJP held a function at a hotel here where Jugal was welcomed amid chanting of slogans. He was accompanied by BJP national secretary Dr Anil Jain and organising general secretary, J&K, Ashok Koul. Addressing a gathering of party leaders and workers, Kishore said the BJP would not ‘disappoint’ the people of Kashmir and work towards resolving the issues faced by them. Urging the party leaders and workers to gear up for the Assembly elections scheduled next year, he flayed the ruling National Conference for raking up the issue of restoration of autonomy to the state. “Since 2008, they did not talk about autonomy but the issue is being raked up ahead of the elections for political gains,” he said. National Conference president and Union Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah in his recent message in the party's online newsletter had said restoration of autonomy was the only solution to the political problems of the state. Kishore also censured the state government for 'failing' to empower panchayats and providing security to them. “All are unhappy here - be it the unemployed youth or the government employees,” he added. Stating that Kashmir had been ‘betrayed’, he said: “In Jammu, people feel that they are being discriminated against and all the development is being done in Kashmir. But when one comes here, once can notice that the condition here is the same.” Several senior leaders of the party also spoke
at the function that was anchored by general secretary of the BJP’s Kashmir unit Mohammad Altaf Thakur. Former People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader GM Mir joined the BJP on the occasion. Mir had unsuccessfully contested the 2008 Assembly elections from Handwara constituency on the PDP ticket. |
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Qazigund ‘Project Arrow’ post office inaugurated
Anantnag, April 17 John Samuel, Chief Postmaster-General (PMG), J&K Circle, was also present on the occasion. Samuel said in order to facilitate the people of Qazigund and nearby localities and the business establishments in Qazigund, the post office has been upgraded to fit into the needs of the people. “As many as 20 post offices are being upgraded and modernised with new facilities under ‘Project Arrow’, the Qazigund being the first in this year,” Samuel said. He said during the previous year many post offices in the Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh region were upgraded and modernised to make post offices customer-friendly. “This year, taking the work forward, a large-scale upgrade of post offices is taking place in the state,” Samuel said. The other post offices to be upgraded are Bandipora, Ganderbal, Chadoora, Kashmir University, Karan Nagar, Verinag, Brein and Lal Chowk in the Kashmir region. Dr Mehboob Beg appreciated the efforts taken by the PMG in the uplift of J&K postal circle on modern lines. “J&K Post has witnessed commendable improvement in the recent years under the leadership of John Samuel,” Beg said. “There were days when postal services served as the sole mean of communication between me and my father,” Beg said. “Despite the leaps we have taken in communication sector, postal services have not lost their relevance,” he added. |
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ONGC team visits Kashmir varsity for training of students
Srinagar, April 17 Om Suyun, general manager, Human Resource, ONGC, stressed the fact that Kashmiri youth were second to none in terms of competence and capabilities, but they needed to be trained to make them industry ready. The GM said the ONGC had initiated a programme to enhance employability and job opportunities to the Kashmiri youth. The company intends to train graduate and postgraduate mechanical and electrical engineers for a period of 90 days and based on their performance trained engineers would be considered for placements. University Vice Chancellor Talat Ahmad said the varsity had initiated several measures to develop a strong interface with the industry for addressing the issue of unemployment among the youth of Jammu and Kashmir. He advised the youth to take full advantage of their capabilities to explore avenues across the globe and assured the students of all possible help. Zaffar Ahmad, Registrar, University of Kashmir, said enhancing employability and creating employment opportunities was their top priority. He said, “We are willing to engage with top most companies of the country for creating industry academia interface for better opportunities for our youth.” Shabir A Bhat, director, career planning and counselling, Kashmir University, said employability of graduates had emerged as a serious issue. He said according some surveys conducted at national level indicated dissatisfaction and raised serious questions about the quality of education offered by the educational institutions across India and its relevance for the industry. He added that there was a need to revamp the educational system to prepare the youth for the challenges of tomorrow. |
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NC responsible for all major decisions since 1931: PDP
Srinagar, April 17 Addressing party workers of Uri today, she said on no scale could PDP, the youngest party of the state, be compared with the NC that has been in the driver's seat in most part of the last one century. She said speaking of PDP and NC in the same breath as objects of hate was an attempt by its apologists to bail out the ruling party of six decades and create an impression of non-availability of an alternative to it. She said the PDP was a response from the people to the need for a democratic alternative without which democracies are considered incomplete. “How can our party, founded only 12 years ago, be compared with the NC that has been responsible for all major decisions since 1931, which mostly had a devastating effect on the state?” Mehbooba asked. “During its brief tenure in the government, the PDP only brought relief and neutralised the impact of NC rule,” she added. On the scale of governance and showing J&K a way out of the decades long dark tunnel, Mehbooba said the PDP's stint in power with just 16 seats in the Assembly, its performance was something that weighs heavy over decades of NC's record. She said her party does not live in the past nor does it treat itself as at war with its political adversaries. "We only want to continue the unfinished agenda to bring permanent peace to the state, lift the siege around it, restore its dignity that has been grossly undermined and create conditions in which the people can prosper and our youth have a bright future," she said. Mehbooba said on all these issues a strong and successful beginning had been made in 2002 but subsequent events resulted in the reversal of that process. It is now for the people of this state to enable the party resuming and carrying forward that process which could liberate us from a constant fear, uncertainty and instability that has resulted in immense trouble to several generations of Kashmiris. |
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Need for better neo-natal care facilities stressed
Srinagar, April 17 "The infant mortality rate has come down from 35 in 2006 to 32 in 2011 but there is a need to make available adequate neo-natal care facilities to avoid the newborn deaths,” said Shabir at a day-long workshop on ‘Home-based newborn care- ASHA module’ organised by the Jammu and Kashmir National Rural Health Mission
here yesterday. The objective of the workshop was to sensitise the district resource persons, monitors and ASHA facilitators engaged for training the ASHAs at the block levels. The minister stressed the need to focus on
containing the neo-natal mortality by improving the facility-based and home-based newborn care in the state. |
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PDP ignored Srinagar, alleges NC
Srinagar, April 17 Wani, however, remained critical of the PDP blaming them for ignoring the development of Srinagar during their term. “It is known to everyone that during the PDP’s tenure, the development work of Srinagar was ignored at every level in a failed attempt to turn this historic city into ruins,” Wani said. Wani said ‘history is a witness’ that Srinagar has always been the capital of the region. “Srinagar is the political, social and cultural hub of Jammu and Kashmir and it is this historic city which has always provided guidance to the people of the state,” he said. The NC leader said Omar Abdullah’s government had done development works in every part of the state, including Srinagar, in contrast to the PDP government. “To restore the glory of the Srinagar city, the present government has started works with enthusiasm,” Wani said. Srinagar district president of National Conference Peer Aafaq Ahmad also addressed the meeting spelling out the works initiated during the Omar’s tenure. |
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43 armed police officials get promotion
Srinagar, April 17 A police spokesman said the DPC under the chairmanship of Additional Director General of Police (Armed) SM Sahai approved the promotions of 17 head constables to the rank of ASIs, eight ASIs to the rank of sub-inspectors and granted “in-situ” promotions to 18 officials of the JK Armed Police. The ADGP assured to convene DPC meetings in future for timely promotions in the armed police, the spokesman said. |
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Two drown in Shopian
Srinagar, April 17 His body was later
fished out and handed over to his family members for the last rites. Meanwhile, Shabir Ahmad Paul, a resident of Batapora Shopian, also fell into the Rambi Ara at Batapora Shopian. The body of Shabir
was fished out and handed over to his relatives for the last rites. The police has registered a case in this regard. |
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Girl found dead in Kulgam
Srinagar, April 17 “The body was shifted by the police to hospital for post-mortem,” said a police official. The body was handed over to the family after post-mortem. |
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Two killed, 8 injured in road mishaps
Srinagar, April 17 Two labourers identified as Mehta Paswan, a resident of Basmati in Bihar, and Bacho Reshi, a resident of Singianierva in Nepal, were killed on the spot and five others were injured in the accident. In another incident, three students were injured when their school bus turned turtle near Kakaw-ring, Charar-e-Sharief in Budgam. The injured were shifted to the sub-district hospital, Chadoora, for treatment. |
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12-year-old boy injured
Srinagar, April 17 Pervaiz Ahmad, a resident of Madmado village, was injured when he received an electric shock while playing in the compound of his home, a police spokesman said.
The spokesman said the boy was shifted to the sub-district hospital, Kupwara, from where he was referred to Srinagar for further treatment.
— TNS
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3 gamblers arrested
Srinagar, April 17 “Acting on a specific information, SHO Parimpora police station under the supervision of SP City West and SDPO West Srinagar apprehended them while gambling at Fruit Mandi Parimpora,” a police spokesman said. An amount of Rs 22,150 and playing cards have also been recovered from the gambling site. |
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