Srinagar, April 22
Over 1,000 persons were fined for various traffic rules violations here today and not a single bus driver was found wearing a khaki uniform. Similarly, no bus or other driver was wearing a seat belt as the Traffic Police started its much-hyped drive against violations after a month-long counselling programme.

“We launched a drive against traffic rules violations from today and fined over 1,000 offenders. None of the bus drivers was wearing a seat belt or khaki uniform. Even other drivers were not wearing seat belts while driving,” Superintendent of Police (SP) Traffic, Srinagar, Haseeb-ur-Rehman told The Tribune.

The traffic police started its drive after a month-long counselling programme, which was held at various parts of the city. While the police had decided to make the people aware about traffic rules before going tough against the violators, around 200 students were also involved during the awareness campaign.

The SP said the drive against traffic violators would continue on a daily basis from now onwards while admitting that it would take time to ensure that all bus drivers wear seat belts and khaki uniforms besides other drivers wear seat belts.

While the Traffic Police in the past has carried out several drives against traffic rules violators, the main focus of the present drive is towards ensuring that bus drivers wear khaki uniforms. Besides, there would be emphasis on drivers wearing seat belts, taking action against drivers jumping traffic signals and reservation of seats for women in private buses.

The Traffic Police will also hold a seminar tomorrow to get feedback from the students involved during the traffic awareness campaign at Kashmir University, Hazratbal premises.

The drive was scheduled to start yesterday but could not be launched due to inclement weather conditions.

Srinagar, April 22
The Palhalan village in north Kashmir remained shut for the fourth consecutive day today with security forces blocking entry to the village.

Palhalan village in Baramulla district is tense since the death of a local militant, Shabbir Ahmad Sheikh, who was killed in an encounter with the security forces on April 18 in Sopore’s Wogub village.

Shops in the village, located on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway and over 30 km from here, remained closed for the fourth day since Friday when the Lashkar-e-Toiba militant was buried there.

Protests had erupted in the area on Friday soon after the burial of Shabbir and later that day, the angry protesters had also burnt a private vehicle and took to stone-throwing on the highway.

To thwart further protests, the authorities had deployed the police and paramilitary forces in strength in the village and secured the highway.

The deployment of the forces continued even today.

“The situation in the village is normal now. The deployment is just a precautionary measure as we don’t want to take any chance,” a senior official of Baramulla told The Tribune.

The official added that the situation in the village was returning to normal as there had been no protests in the area since the past three days. “The aim of the deployment is to secure the highway as we don’t want the repeat of the Friday incident. Besides, there is no deployment of the police or CRPF inside the village,” he said.

Another police official in the area said if the situation permits, the authorities are likely to lift the police deployment tomorrow.

The police is reported to have identified 25 suspects believed to have been involved in burning the vehicle on Friday, which belonged to a private contractor.

However, the police officers are tight-lipped over the arrests, if any made, so far.

Anantnag, April 22
Most of the villages, including those identified as model villages, in Kokernag area of south Kashmir district remain devoid of basic amenities like drinking water, power supply and proper roads.

The list includes villages like Dramdalaw, Nai bisti bidder, Ahlan Bala, Kathanpora Gadole, Chree, Dar Mohalla, Gujjar Bati Hillpark, Redwani, Achu, Gugnar, Gorankhal, Darun, Urnarar, Razikang, Bessu, Matigabran, Tangpawa and Arinar.

Some of these villages had the privilege of power supply almost two decades earlier. However, the supply was snapped later.

“Quite often we come to know about the availability of electricity in our village when our elders recollect the memories of late eighties but now I am 18, and so far no one has made an effort to restore the electricity which was snapped two decades ago,” said Sartaj Ahmad, a resident of Achu.

Moreover, residents of the area, known for its fresh water springs, are devoid of any water supply scheme and women have to cover a long distance to fetch water.

Villagers say that they are forced to consume the muddy water from the small streams passing through the village as the Public Health Engineering (PHE) has never bothered to provide potable water.

Locals say there is often an outbreak of water-borne diseases during the summers.

Roads are another major hurdle for the villagers. “Most of these villages still do not have a proper road connectivity to other parts in the vicinity and villagers are forced to walk long distances on foot,” reports said.

Surprisingly, the condition of villages, identified as the model ones, is not better than the rest of them.

People face the same hardships and rue that identifying villages as model is a mere eyewash on part of the authorities.

“The government just identifies the villages as model villages and then leaves them at the mercy of their own. Lack of the very basic facilities in these villages is a proof of the official apathy,” said Sarpanch of one of the villages, requesting anonymity.

Bessu, Matigabran, Tangpawa and Sagam are some of the villages that have been identified as model villages. However, the villages lack all basic facilities.

official Apathy

* Some of these villages had the privilege of power supply almost two decades earlier. However, the supply was snapped later

* Residents are devoid of any water supply scheme and women have to cover a long distance to fetch water

* Most of these villages still do not have a proper road connectivity to other parts in the vicinity and villagers are forced to walk long distances on foot

Srinagar, April 22
The National Conference today asked the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to apologise to the people of Kashmir for their wrongdoings.

The ruling party also accused the opposition party of hatching conspiracies to weaken the special status of the state. “The PDP party never talked about the Kashmir issue when it was in power for fear of losing the Chief Minister’s seat and today they have the audacity to talk about the resolution of Kashmir,” alleged Nasir Aslam Wani, provincial president, National Conference, while addressing workers at the party’s headquarters here today.

Wani accused the PDP of not acting as a responsible opposition. “They have neither done anything when they were in power nor ever acted as a responsible opposition,” he said. “They got a BJP MP from Delhi for the furtherance of their agenda to abolish Article 370 which cleared all doubts that the PDP is the creation of the BJP, RSS and other communal forces.”

Wani accused the main opposition party of delivering biggest blow to special status of the state. “Your (PDP’s) patron was always involved in hatching conspiracies against the National Conference leadership whenever they would press for the resolution of the Kashmir issue,” Wani alleged. 

Srinagar, April 22
The Kashmir Bar Association has decided to release a book on Kashmir's ‘longest serving political’ prisoner Mohammad Qasim Faktoo.

Ashiq Hussain Faktoo, alias, Dr Mohammad Qasim, who is the husband of radical Islamic group Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Asiya Andrabi, is currently lodged at the Central Jail in Srinagar, where he is undergoing a life imprisonment in a murder case.

The book titled ‘Dr Qasim: The victim of political vendetta’, written by one of his friends, chronicles the life of one of Kashmir’s longest serving prisoners in jail and his trial under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (TADA).

Faktoo (45) has been incarcerated for the past 20 years out of the 23 years of militancy. “The executive committee of the Bar Association has decided to release the book compiled by a friend of Dr Qasim in Sadder court complex on Tuesday”, Bar general secretary Mohammad Ashraf Bhat said.

The book, he said, chronicles Faktoo’s 20 years of imprisonment in jail, his trial in the TADA court at Jammu and the appeal decided by the Supreme Court whereby Faktoo was given life imprisonment. Bhat added that the book would be released simultaneously in Delhi on Tuesday. In 2003, Faktoo was sentenced to life imprisonment for involvement in the murder of human rights activist Hriday Nath Wanchoo on December 5, 1992, and has completed 20 years in jail this year. Faktoo, who has completed his doctorate in Islamic studies while in jail, has denied the charges of murder and has accused the government of “persecution” for his political views.

The former Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen commander, Faktoo currently heads a faction of Muslim League and is considered close to chairman of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani. 

Srinagar, April 22
The police has registered a case against unidentified persons after a Pakistani flag, Lashkar-e-Toiba’s flag and pro-Taliban graffiti were found marked on an early 19th century hilltop fort in the city here.

The two flags were found pinned today morning on the huge wall of the fort which overseas the entire Srinagar city.

The fort, located atop a hill in the old city, was built in the early 19th century by the then Afghan governor of the region. Along with the two flags, large-sized anti-India graffiti and a pro-Taliban graffiti had also been marked on the fort’s wall.

It was not clear when the flags were pinned on the fort’s wall. A police official said a case with FIR number 26/2012 has been registered at the Nowhatta police station against unknown persons and an investigation had been started.

The official said the case has been registered under Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

This is not for the first time that such graffiti have appeared in the city. In recent months, similar graffiti have appeared at several locations of the city, including in Lal Chowk, the commercial nerve centre of the city, and in parts of the old city

Srinagar, April 22
The J&K Sports Development Association (JKSDA) is going to organise the 2nd Run for Old City (Shahr-e-Khaas) on May 7.

The run will be flagged off from the TRC ground and will pass through Munawarabad road, Baba Dawood Khaki Bridge, Baba Demb, Naidkadal, Bohri kadal, Saraf Kadal, Rajouri Kadal, Gojwara and will culminate at Islamia College gate.

It will be the third edition of the long-distance event that has been dedicated to the old city heritage, culture and talent. The run would be held in two categories, U-17 age group and open category for boys only.

Giving details about the event, JKSDA president Bashir Ahmad Malik said, “Last year, we organised a number of events that included ‘Run for Old City(Shahr-e-Khaas)’, Kashmir Cycling Challenge, Srinagar Marathon, Tour-de-Kashmir, prominently. All the events were a huge success in which huge number of athletes and cyclist participated.

He said that Run For Shahr-E-Khaas was the first long distance run of its type that is being held in the old city of Srinagar and uniqueness of the race route makes it extra special as it passes through every important area of the old city.

“It is a known fact that there is a lot of talent among the youths of the old city in sports activities and they have been bringing laurels to the state at various national and international events. So our aim is to dedicate this run to the old city talent, Heritage and Culture which is unique in itself,” he said.

The first two editions of the event held in 2011 and 2012, respectively, attracted huge number of participation with around 1,500 athletes taking part. However, this year the JKSDA is planning to make it even bigger by allowing around 2,500 athletes for participation.

“It is a competitive event and not a rally. The number of participation would be huge if we don’t make a certain limit. As we don’t want to compromise with the standard of sport we only allow limited numbers. However, keeping in view the response and requests of participants this year, we will allow around 2,500 athletes to participate,” Malik said.

“In 2011 and 2012, JK Bank came forward to sponsor the event and it was a great gesture on the part of them. This time, we have again requested them for the sponsorship and we are expecting that they will do it,” he said.

The inaugural event was won by Reyaz Ahmad of the JK Police, while Tanveer Hussain bagged second place. Umer finished third. The second edition was also won by Reyaz, while Taveer again finished second.

Malik said the JKSDA stands for the overall development of sports and welfare of players belonging to any sports discipline.

“The JKSDA is affiliated unit of the Sports Development Association of India (SDAI) in the state and it is for development of sports and welfare of players belonging to any sports discipline. We don’t trespass the authority of respective associations and have got nothing to do with their regular activities, but will support whenever they need that. Apart from cross-country, we are planning to organise many more events in future,” he said.

Organising secretary Reyaz Ahmad said, “This will be the second event organised by the JKSDA this season. The first five positions in both the categories will be rewarded with prizes and certificates would be given to each and every participant. It will be biggest run of the season and we are expecting around 2,500 athletes to participate in it. The U-17 category will involve schoolchildren while the open category will involve some of the well-known top athletes of the state.” 

Srinagar, April 22
A four-year-old girl drowned in a stream in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, while a 14-year-old boy died when he slipped down a hill near a south Kashmir town, the police today said.

Irtika Shafi (4) slipped into Pohru stream when she was playing outside her home in Haripora village near Handwara town in Kupwara district, a police spokesman said.

The body of the girl was later fished out and handed over to her family.

In another incident, a 14-year-old boy, identified as Waris Ahmad, died when he slipped down a hill at Woyen near Awantipora town in south Kashmir, the police spokesman said.

The boy was walking on a hilltop along with another teenager when he slipped and rolled down the hill. His body was later retrieved and handed over to his family. — TNS

Srinagar, April 22
On the eve of Earth Day, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Kashmir, is organising a series of activities in the Valley to create awareness about scientific, social and economic aspects of the earth system.

The Earth Day events shall continue till May 1 and there will be debates, painting/poster competition and campus cleaning day during the week.

The inaugural session of the Earth Day was held today on the University campus which was later followed by a brainstorming technical session on the theme titled ‘Research Strategies for understanding Earth System Science and its linkages with society’.

The inaugural session was presided over by Prof Shakil A Romshoo, Head, Department of Earth Sciences and was attended by various heads of Departments, faculty members from various Departments of KU, research scholars and students.

While presiding over the inaugural session, Prof Shakil Romshoo gave an overview of the frontier areas of research in earth sciences and showcased how the University was involved in cutting edge research in the field of earth sciences in partnership with national and international research institutes.

He emphasised the need for strengthening the collaborative efforts so that the benefits of the advancement in the field of science and technology were delivered to the community.

Srinagar, April 22
The cricketing season of the state kick-started today with the launch of the Jammu and Kashmir T20 Championship 2013 by the United Cricket Federation of India (UCFI).

The UCFI, in a course of next few months, aims to pick up best cricketers from the Valley, who will be selected as various cricket club members in both Jammu and Kashmir divisions.

The first match of the championship will be played on May 15 at the MA Stadium, Jammu, whereas the registration of players will start from May 5.

The winning team will be rewarded a cash price of Rs 3 lakh. The runners-up team will get Rs 1.5 lakh. The player of the series will get a motorbike as per the officials of the UCFI.