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28-year-old man found dead in Shopian village
Lawyers protest against spurious drug suppliers
Varsity students take on authorities over traffic management, encroachments in city
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Delay in master plans results in unrestricted constructions
Residents of Lolab village await bridge for years
Tension continues in Palhalan village
Partial shutdown in Baramulla
Parents lock school in protest against teachers’ shortage
Kashmiri poet Parwana joins PDP
Detention of political activists part of govt’s vendetta, says Geelani
Protest against Delhi rape
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28-year-old man found dead in Shopian village
Anantnag, April 23 As per reports, Bilal Ahmad Bhat, a postgraduate in economics and son of late Abdul Ahad Bhat, did not return home on Monday after evening prayers. The family, suspecting abduction, approached the local police station. “A report in this regard was entered in the daily diary of Shopian police station vide number 05,” the police said. However, on Tuesday morning some locals spotted the body of Bhat in a nearby apple orchard. “The body had torture marks,” said one of the deceased’s neighbours. Hundreds of villagers assembled outside the house of Muhammad Ramzan Shiekh and set the house on fire. “Some of the villagers said two of Sheikh’s sons were seen confirming Bhat’s whereabouts on Monday evening,” said Shopian Deputy Superintendent of Police (Headquarters), Manzoor Ahmad. “All four sons of Sheikh had fled the village during the intervening night,” he said. He said Muhammad Ramzan Sheikh has been detained for questioning and the police was investigating the matter. Two of Sheikh’s sons worked in Bhat’s household and allegedly had an altercation with their employers the day before. The police has lodged an FIR bearing number 56/2013 under Sections 364, 302 of the RPC. Hundreds of people from Baskuchan village marched towards the District Headquarters to lodge their protest. “We want the culprits to be booked immediately,” demanded the angry villagers. |
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Lawyers protest against spurious drug suppliers
Handwara, April 23 They alleged that several top-ranking government officials involved in the trade had not been inquired by the investigating agencies. “The government is shielding top officials involved in the trade. On the one hand, the government is eliminating people through security forces, on the other, through the menace of spurious drugs. The government has failed to book the accused despite clinching evidence of their involvement in it,” said Ghulam Nabi Kaboo, president of the Handwara Bar Association. Members of the civil society, Kashmir, also joined the protesters. They marched through the town and converged at the main chowk. They staged a sit-in there for about three hours. Many people, including traders, joined the protesters when they again started marching towards the office of the additional DC in the town. Chairperson of the civil society, Kashmir, Tahir Majid, demanded that the spurious drugs case be handed over to the CBI for fair investigation. He said such people deserved stern punishment for playing with the lives of people. “The sensitive case should be handed over to a Central Investigating Agency so that all culprits are sent behind bars. The ongoing investigations are moving at a snail’s pace and many top-ranking officials are shielded by the government,” said
Majid. |
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Varsity students take on authorities over traffic management, encroachments in city
Srinagar, April 23 During an interactive session with students of the Law Department at Kashmir University, Hazratbal premises, Srinagar’s Deputy Commissioner Farooq Shah, Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) Commissioner Dr GN Qasba and SP Traffic Haseeb-ur-Rehman faced a barrage of questions ranging from ‘dysfunctional’ traffic signals to encroachment by shopkeepers affecting the flow of traffic. When Shafqat Siddiqui, a student, questioned why streetlights at several city points were not functioning, the SMC Commissioner said the signals were sometimes put on a ‘blinker mode’ during VIP movement and the people felt that the same were not working. SP Traffic said engineering works at some traffic signals were yet to be completed due to which they were not functioning. He said the work to make them functional was going on. To a question posed by another student Iqram Ali over encroachments by shopkeepers in the Maharaja Bazaar and Karan Nagar areas of the city, Srinagar Deputy Commissioner said the authorities had taken a serious note of the matter and locals would see a ‘visible difference’ in a few days’ time. On the issue of overloading, Shah said the passengers too had to take responsibility towards ensuring that they don’t board overloaded buses. Regarding dearth of manpower in the Traffic Police, Haseeb-ur-Rehman said additional force had to be deployed in the department in three phases. “We received manpower only in the first phase in 2008 and we are likely to receive more manpower in the second phase in coming months,” he added. Talking to reporters later, the SP Traffic said they had organised an interactive session with the students to take feedback from them as around 300 KU students had been involved by the police during their counselling programmes to create awareness about traffic rules. The department had started the drive against traffic rules violators yesterday after a nearly month-long counselling drive. Before the interactive session, Deputy Inspector General, Traffic, Kashmir, Jagjit Kumar addressed the KU students where he said traffic management was a ‘challenge’. He said the Traffic Department was taking the required steps to decentralise and decongest Srinagar city while promising that a visible difference in this regard would be noticed in coming months. Speaking on the occasion, Dean and Head, Faculty of Law, Prof Farooq Ahmad Mir thanked the Traffic Department for their support and said the Department of Law would look forward to similar initiatives involving students in future. |
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Delay in master plans results in unrestricted constructions
Srinagar, April 23 The way unplanned development is taking place in many major towns of the Valley, including Baramulla, Sopore, Anatnag, Kulgam, Kupwara, Pulwama and various other towns, it is becoming a cause of concern for both local residents and the state government. “In the absence of any master plan draft for municipal committees whose mandate is to prepare plans for economic development and social justice, the civic bodies mostly violate the rules while giving building permissions for both commercial and residential buildings,” said Farooq Ahmed, a resident from Baramulla town. “These officials had been flouting even the rules through which building permissions are granted at present,” he added. The proposed draft master plan in the major towns is a broad policy framework for the development in the form of coherent set of proposals. “The unplanned development in the municipal towns is paving the way for drinking water and power crisis,” said an official at the Directorate of Local Bodies in Srinagar. “So there is an urgent need for having master plan draft for these towns so that we have planned growth in these areas too,” he added. The preparation of the master plan for towns is the primary responsibility of the Town Planning Organisation and they claim that they had already submitted the draft to the government for notification. “We have submitted the draft master plan for Baramulla town to the Law Department for notification. The draft plan for other major towns, including Ganderbal, Budgam, Kulgam and Anantnag, are under process and hopefully we should have these master plans for these towns soon,” Chief Town Planner Iftiqhar Hakim told The Tribune. The delay is giving way to unrestricted building constructions in various towns of the Valley. Slack Response
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Residents of Lolab village await bridge for years
Kupwara, April 23 As a temporary arrangement to help them cross to the other side of the nullah, local residents have placed logs of wood over the nullah. They said the absence of a bridge was posing threats to the lives of people, especially school going children. “In 2010, Rameez Ahmad Malla, a Class XI student, drowned into the nullah and his body was fished out two days later. Due to the absence of a proper bridge, another Class X student Zamrooda Akther drowned in 2011. In 2007, a woman Jana Begum slipped from temporarily erected logs of wood and drowned. Her body was retrieved on the next day at least a kilometre away from the spot,” said Irshad Ahmad Wani, a local resident. Disabled by both arms, Irshad also slipped and fell into the nullah in April last year but as the water level was low, he managed to reach the bank. Schoolchildren are most vulnerable to drowning into the
nullah. Parents said they accompany their children and help them reach the other side of the nullah. “Every morning, I accompany my two children to cross the nullah and reach the other side. On their return from school, I again help them reach the other side of the nullah. The water level rises in the nullah in March and April posing a serious threat to the lives of children,” said Abdul Aziz, another resident. We made several representations to the Roads and Buildings Department and the Deputy Commissioner of Kupwara to raise a footbridge on the nullah but to no avail, he said. |
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Tension continues in Palhalan village
Srinagar, April 23 The village is tense since the death of a local militant, Shabbir Ahmad Sheikh, who was killed in an encounter with security forces on April 18 in Sopore’s Wogub village. Since then the village had remained shut for five days to mourn the militant’s death. However, with situation improving in the village over the past four days, the authorities today lifted the deployment of security forces from the village. Though some shops and business establishments in the area had opened in the morning today, the entire area was shut again following rumours that some youth have been picked up by the police, eyewitness reports from the area said. Protests had erupted in the area on April 19 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. The police was reported to
have identified 25 suspects believed to have been involved in burning the vehicle on Friday, which belonged to a private contractor. The authorities are
tight-lipped about the arrests, if any made so far, and the police officers from the area are refusing to come on record in
this regard. |
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Partial shutdown in Baramulla
Srinagar, April 23 Residents said private vehicles and cabs were plying in the area while most shops and business establishments were shut. He said no incident of stone-throwing took place in the area. It was confirmed by two other residents of Baramulla town. Another resident said the shutdown had largely remained limited to shops and businesses in the area while traffic services remained unaffected. The shutdown was spontaneous and had not been called by any group or organisation, he said. Baramulla town has remained shut on
this day every year since 2008 when two local militant commanders, Tanveer Ahmad and Imtiyaz Ahmad, were killed in an encounter with security forces. |
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Parents lock school in protest against teachers’ shortage
Kupwara, April 23 They later protested against the authorities in front of the school, demanding more teaching staff for the students. They said the shortage had severely affected the education of students. They raised slogans against the Kupwara CEO for his ‘failure’ to solve their problems. “The authorities have put the career of students at stake by ignoring their problems. We made several representations to the DC and Kupwara CEO to appoint a few more teachers in the school but to no avail,” said sarpanch Abdul Samad Ganie. He said the parents were forced to lock the school to invite the attention of the authorities. There are only five teachers, including the headmaster, at the school. The students said due to the non-availability of science, social science and mathematics teachers in the school, they often miss classes of these subjects. “Most of the times, we miss classes of science, social science and maths, as there are no teachers available for these subjects here. We will not be able to complete the syllabus of these subjects if the teachers are not made available,” said Shabir Ahmad, a class X student. The school management said the teaching staff was forced to double-up due to shortage of teachers in a few important subjects. “The teachers are forced to teach subjects, including maths and science on rotational basis, but such an arrangement fails to address the problems of the students. There is an urgent need to post four teachers here in order to save students from academic loss,” said headmaster Mohd Shafi. Students from Muqam, Hayatpora, Devar and Dorosa are enrolled in the school. A group of students said they were forced to take tuitions of science and maths to cover the syllabus. “By ignoring the staff shortage problem, the authorities are playing with the career of students. We request the Education Minister to personally intervene into the matter and appoint teachers at the earliest,” said Abdul Ahad, a parent. |
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Kashmiri poet Parwana joins PDP
Srinagar,
April
23 Welcoming Parwana in the party fold, Bhat said Munawar’s joining the party would further strengthen to build a popular wave in favour of the PDP, which he said would sweep across the entire state. “People have realised the strong alternative was imperative to get the state out of the present instability caused by the misdeeds of the NC and its leadership,” said Bhat. A PDP spokesperson said retired subedar Sirajudin Khan and many other Gujjar leaders deserted the NC and Congress when they joined the PDP at a public meeting at Chanapal Chitti Bandi Bandipore. “While addressing the representatives from the Gujjar community, Bhat said and rued that the NC had been exploiting the resources of the poor community for their comfort and power for the past many decades,” said the spokesperson. “Now when the political awakening has reached the remotest corners, the Gujjar community is also ready to make up for their losses by supporting the agenda of change of the
PDP.” |
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Radio Kashmir honours Abdul Ahad Farhad
Srinagar, April 23 A spokesperson of Radio Kashmir said a paper on the contribution of Farhad to broadcasting and literature was presented by veteran poet and writer Ranjoor Tilgami. Broadcaster Abdul Rehman Bhat also spoke on the occasion. In another function in the auditorium, a prose anthology of Prof Mashal Sultanpuri was released. “Prof Rehman Rahi and Bashir Aarif, the DDG of Radio Kashmir, Srinagar, released the new literary pursuit of Sultanpuri,” said the spokesperson.Prof Majrooh Rashid presented a paper on the new released work. Organiser of both the functions Satish Vimal presented the vote of thanks. |
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Exhibition marks World Book and Copyright Day at KU
Srinagar, April 23 There is a need to revise the present form of our libraries. We should also think as to how we can help students in strengthening creativity in them,” he said. Chief librarian, Allama Iqbal Library, Dr Abdul Majeed Baba, dwelled upon the importance of inculcating reading habits among the youth. He said great books by great authors would continue to survive despite the technological revolution. “Both digital books and conventional books have their own role to play in society and they are going to serve their users in the times to come,” he stated. Dean, law faculty, Prof Farooq Ahmed Mir, talked about the laws governing the intellectual property and the monopoly of publishers on authors. He said due to the incorporation of the Intellectual Property Rights Act, authors felt secure about their works. Columnist and producer at the Educational Multimedia Research Centre (EMMRC) Ajaz-ul-Haque, while talking about the transformation from print to online media, said, “We have become technophobes and technology has rendered us more virtual than real.” On the sidelines of the function, a book and poster exhibition was also held, which showcased literary works of renowned authors of the Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions. |
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Detention of political activists part of govt’s vendetta, says Geelani
Srinagar, April 23 Geelani claimed the detentions had no ‘constitutional, legal or moral ground’. “All Kashmiri detainees fall in the category of political prisoners or prisoners of war and filing cases against them or sentencing them is against international laws,” he said. He leader said the state government was ‘playing a dangerous game’ by not providing political space to the separatists. “This policy will have repercussions in the future,” added
Geelani. — TNS |
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Step up Srinagar master plan revamp: SDA vice-chairperson
Srinagar, April 23 The new VC took extensive review of the master plan revamp and called for the completion of the process in a time-bound manner. “There is a need for transparency in the master plan revamp and taking on board various stakeholders to formulate a comprehensive developmental roadmap for the city,” he said. A spokesperson of the SDA said Rather was accorded a warm welcome by officials and employees at a function. He interacted with the SDA employees, assuring them of his full support in the betterment of the organisation. “Steps would be taken to strengthen the SDA setup so that it emerges a vibrant organisation vis-a-vis development of Srinagar city,” Rather said the SDA had a pivotal role in the futuristic planning and development of Srinagar city and the organisation had to gear up to come up to the expectations of the people. He also reviewed the functioning of various other wings of the SDA, including land management, enforcement, engineering, finance and revenue wings of the SDA. Rather said a proper inventory of the SDA assets, both land and commercial, should be maintained and nobody should be allowed to trespass the authority property. He also laid emphasis on strengthening of the enforcement wing of the SDA to check master plan violations in and around the city. He asked the revenue wing of the SDA to spruce up rent collection and, wherever needed, initiate legal action against defaulters. |
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Protest against Delhi rape
Srinagar, April 23 The JKMC, led by senior vice-president Shameema Raina, held a sit-in at the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) headquarters located at Maulana Azad Road. They also passed a resolution. “We, the Mahila Congress workers of Kashmir, strongly condemn the recent rape of a child in Delhi. Our heart goes out to the innocent child and her family. We urge the Centre and state governments to take strong action against the culprits involved in the committing rape,” read the resolution. |
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