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Cabinet bans re-employment of officials in govt depts
Omar to Centre: Take up intrusion issue strongly with China
Army Chief interacts with troops in Kishtwar, Akhnoor
Suspects quizzed over Pakistan, LeT flags at Kashmir fort
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195 civilians fall prey to wild animals in 7 years
Central scheme for education of poor girls falls flat in J-K
Spurious drugs scam: TADA court issues non-bailable warrants against 15 accused
Remains of porter killed in ‘fake’ encounter in 1997 found abandoned
‘Completion of Banihal-Qazigund rail link section major achievement’
Moderate quake hits Valley
Machil
‘Fake’ Encounter Case
175 locals tested positive for HIV since 2009 at SKIMS
Response to agitation over Afzal Guru recedes
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Cabinet bans re-employment of officials in govt depts
Jammu, April 24 Sources said a senior minister moved the proposal to re-employ a senior bureaucrat on an important position in government but his proposal was strongly opposed by other ministers present at the Cabinet meeting. As there was no consensus among ministers on the issue of re-employment, the Cabinet accepted the proposal of the senior minister but decided to put a ban on re-employment in future. In the just concluded budget session of the Assembly, the issue of re-employment of “blue-eyed officers with political connections” was repeatedly raked up by the Opposition. Official documents reveal that despite having more than 6 lakh unemployed youth, the state government has re-employed 186 officials in various departments during the last four years. As many as 143 officials were re-employed during this period in various government departments and autonomous bodies across the state, while 43 others were appointed as consultants and advisors to the government and members of various autonomous bodies during the last two years. According to an official handout, the Cabinet today directed the General Administration Department not to entertain any such proposal and instructed the line departments also not to submit any such re-employment proposal. Meanwhile, the Cabinet today once again failed to finalise transfer of senior police officers. The main agenda of today’s Cabinet meeting was to appoint SSPs in different districts but no decision was taken. Sources said a list of 41 senior police officers was placed before the Cabinet but due to non-availability of the Director General of Police no decision was taken in this regard. As far as the police administration is concerned, three districts, namely Jammu, Kishtwar and Udhampur, are headless because SPs are officiating as SSPs in these districts. Two police officers S R Samuel and Udaya Baskar Billa were given promotion in today’s Cabinet meeting. The Cabinet also approved the creation of staff for the proposed J&K Heritage Conservation and Preservation Authority (JKHCPA). The posts created for the authority include Chief Conservationist, Conservation Assistant, Accounts Assistant, Junior Assistant and orderly. The move is aimed to make the JKHCPA functional. |
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Omar to Centre: Take up intrusion issue strongly with China
Jammu, April 24 “We would like the Central Government to take up the issue with both China and Pakistan strongly and on the same terms so that no such incident takes place in the future,” he said, adding that the Union Government’s dealing on such issues should be unambiguous and similar vis-a-vis both the neighbours. Addressing largely attended public meetings in remote areas of Bani, Lohai-Malhar and Dugain of Kathua district, about 300 km from here, the Chief Minister said that people of Jammu, Kashmir, Leh, Kargil and all other areas of the state had made sacrifices to maintain harmony and brotherhood in the state. “They want to be free from such intrusions and live in an atmosphere of calm and peace and carry on day-to-day life activities smoothly and without any interference”, he asserted. Omar said the state had witnessed militancy for a long period of over 20 years and suffered a lot in terms of losing precious human lives and by way of huge damage to the infrastructure and economy. He said the gun had “given us deep wounds and added difficulties in every sphere of life”. “Now we are in the process of restoring peace and tranquillity and a ray of light is in sight at the end of the dark tunnel,” he said. Omar said some people with vested interests were always out to hatch conspiracies and divide people through deceitful means. Without naming the PDP and the BJP, Omar said certain politicians despite receiving votes from people to highlight public issues in the legislature, indulged in boycotting the session. Such politicians liked to remain absent from the right forums, he added. The meetings were also addressed by MLC and National Conference provincial president Devender Singh Rana, former Deputy Speaker of the Assembly Ghulam Hyder Malik and several
sarpanches. |
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Army Chief interacts with troops in Kishtwar, Akhnoor
Jammu, April 24 The Army Chief’s two-day visit to the state came at a time when Chinese troops had intruded 10-km inside the Indian Territory in Ladakh. He flew to New Delhi this afternoon. The Chief of the Army Staff visited the Rashtriya Rifles headquarters at Dharmund and Sila as part of his visit to 16 Corps, said Defence spokesperson SN Acharya. “The Army chief was briefed on the current security situation by the respective GOCs. He also visited the Crossed Swords Division headquarters at Akhnoor. He was accompanied by GOC-in-C, Northern Command, Lt Gen KT Parnaik and GOC, 16 Corps, Lt Gen DS Hooda,” said the spokesperson. During his visit, General Bikram Singh reviewed the security scenario and discussed various issues related to the armed forces with formation commanders. He also interacted with troops deployed along the Line of Control and those on counter-insurgency duty. The Army Chief complimented the troops for their selfless sacrifices in ensuring the sanctity of the frontiers and facilitating the return of normalcy to the state. He exhorted the troops to uphold the core values of the Indian Army through dedication towards duty. Last evening, the Army chief met Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and briefed them about the Chinese intrusion in the Daulat Beg Oldie sector and the overall situation in the state. Hideout busted in Bandipora Srinagar: The police and the Army busted a hideout in Bandipora jungles on Tuesday night and recovered arms and ammunition. “During the search operation in the jungles of Chan Daji in the jurisdiction of Bandipora police station, one AK-47, one pistol, three AK-47 magazines, three pistol magazines, three hand grenades and other accessories were recovered,” the police said. — TNS |
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Suspects quizzed over Pakistan, LeT flags at Kashmir fort
Srinagar, April 24 A police official said the suspects were called for questioning but so far no breakthrough has been made. The officer said no one had been detained and no arrests had been made so far. Another police official said they had questioned at least three suspects, all of whom were released after nothing substantial came up against them. The police had earlier this week registered a case against unidentified persons after Pakistani and LeT militant outfit’s flags were put up and anti-India and pro-Taliban graffiti was found marked on the hilltop fort in the Srinagar’s old city. The two flags were found early morning on Monday on the huge rock wall of the fort. The fort was built in early 19th century by the then Afghan governor of the region. A CRPF platoon is based inside the fort. CRPF spokesman Sudhir Kumar said the flags and graffiti were on the outer wall of the fort, where no jawan had been deployed. It is not clear when the graffiti was made
and the flags were put up but they were discovered on Monday morning this week. The case was registered against unknown persons under Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act at the Nowhatta police station. This is not the first time when such a graffiti has appeared in the city. In recent months, similar markings have appeared at several locations of Srinagar, including Lal Chowk, the commercial nerve centre of the city, and some areas of the old city. |
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195 civilians fall prey to wild animals in 7 years
Jammu, April 24 Almost two or three man-animal conflict reports are being received daily from different parts of the state, particularly hilly regions. To check these incidents, the wildlife department has decided to set up control rooms at vulnerable areas. It is also likely to seek the help of wildlife experts. “The state has been confronting terror from wild animals. The number of such attacks has increased over the years. As many as 195 people were killed in man-animal conflict during the past seven years. The state reported 17 deaths and injuries to 399 people in attacks During 2011-12, sources said, 40 persons were killed and 562 injured in man-animal conflict across the state, while the number of casualties in 2010-11 was 30 apart from injuries to 525 civilians. “As many as 25 people lost their lives and 382 were injured in man-animal conflict during 2009-10, while the number of deaths in attacks by wild animals was 25 besides injuries to 342 civilians in 2008-09. In the year 2007-08, 28 people were killed and 247 civilians injured by wild animals,” a source said. The sources said the forest department had paid Rs 14 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of the deceased persons and Rs 34.95 lakh to 304 injured persons. Minister for Forests and Environment Mian Altaf, when contacted, said he had directed the officials of forest, wildlife and state forest corporation to set up control rooms at vulnerable areas to check the man-animal conflict on scientific lines. “This is a very serious as well as complicated issue. At the same time, there is a shortage of manpower in the department but the department is educating people living near the forest areas and wildlife centuries to adopt all protective measures to save their lives from the attack of wild animals. The officers have also been directed to take measures to preserve the habitat of wildlife so that wild animals are not forced to come near the human habitations,” Altaf said The minister said the government had also planned to increase the compensation amount for the deceased and injured persons in such incidents. “We are working on a proposal wherein the next of kin of the deceased in the man-animal conflict would get Rs 2 lakh instead of Rs 1 lakh. The injured would get Rs 50000, instead of Rs 30000,” Altaf said.
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Central scheme for education of poor girls
Srinagar, April 24 As per the official report of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, Bihar, Jharkhand and Gujarat have taken the lead in setting up Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas for facilitating education of girls from poor backgrounds while the performance of Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh is the worst. Nine schools were sanctioned for Jammu division but none has been established so far. In Kashmir, out of 30 sanctioned residential schools, only five have been set up. The only residential school sanctioned for Leh in the Ladakh region is already operational. A total of 422 girls are enrolled in these schools. The KGBV scheme was launched by the Centre in August 2004 for setting up residential schools with boarding facilities at the elementary level for girls belonging predominantly to the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and minorities in Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs) of the country. The report says although there are 72 EBBs in the state, the funds have been sanctioned for setting up 40 residential schools in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh divisions.
The administration, however, alarmed by the poor implementation of the KGBV will revive the work progress under the scheme after the Darbar moves to Srinagar in May. “I have spoken to former Director, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Yasha Mudgal who was looking into the implementation of the scheme till recently. There appears to have been some difficulties in acquiring allotted land in villages in the remotest areas of the state and delay in the construction work. Sometimes the inordinate delay is caused by the executing agencies (construction companies) which are supposed to construct residential buildings. However, in the next six months I assure we will achieve considerable success in the project,” said Kashmir Divisional Commisioner Shailendra Kumar. The KGBV scheme was merged with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Scheme (SSA) scheme on April 1, 2007, and the funds have been released through the state SSA societies. The state SSA societies are in turn supposed to divert the funds to various district administrations of the state where the schools are supposed to be set up. During the last nine years, the implementation of the KGBV scheme has been going on at a snail’s pace in J&K as is evident by the Union Ministry report. KGBVs provide boarding, lodging, uniforms, monthly stipends and scholarship to deserving students. |
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Spurious drugs scam: TADA court issues non-bailable warrants against 15 accused
Srinagar, April 24 Under the J&K Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940, the TADA court in Srinagar is also a designated court to hear complaints related to spurious and adulterated drugs in Kashmir. The warrants were issued today by presiding officer of the Srinagar TADA court Muzaffar Iqbal Qureshi after the drug inspector of Zone-6 in Srinagar filed a formal complaint-cum-charge sheet before the court today, naming 15 persons as accused in the supply of spurious drugs to various government hospitals in the state. “After taking cognisance of the complaint, the presiding officer of the Srinagar TADA Court today issued non-bailable warrants against 15 persons, including the suppliers, manufacturers and marketing agents of the particular spurious drugs,” said standing counsel of the state Mussavir Joo, who filed the complaint before the court on behalf of the J&K Drug Control Department today. Joo said the court had directed the police authorities concerned to arrest the accused persons named
in the complaint-cum-charge sheet and produce them before the court on the next hearing. The accused persons named in the complaint by the drug inspector include three persons from the supplier firm M/S Life Line Pharmaco Surgicals, four from Madlay Pharmaceuticals and three from Affay Parentrals and others from Sunrise Enterprises, the standing counsel said. He also revealed that the complaint-cum-charge sheet was filed before the designated TADA court after the samples of several drugs, medicines lifted from Barzulla Drug Control Store, which were “manufactured, supplied and marketed” by the accused named in the charge sheet were found to be “spurious” and “sub-standard” after an analysis by the Drug Control authorities. In the charge sheet, he said, punishment against the accused has been sought for the alleged offences committed under Sections 17 B, 18 A1 read with 27 A of the J&K Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940. He added that the punishment under these section, if convicted, ranges from seven years to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 10 lakh. The Crime Branch of the state police, which is also investigating the spurious drugs scam, has already arrested two brothers in the case. During the raids carried earlier this week, some incriminating documents and other material was recovered by the Crime Branch officials from the arrested persons. The Crime Branch has registered a spurious drugs case under Sections 274, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 120-B of the RPC read with Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 27 of the J&K Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 against the proprietors of M/s Life Line Pharmaco Surgicals and members of the purchase Committee-II of the state Health and Medical Education Department, Jammu, with regard to the supply and purchase of spurious drugs. |
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Remains of porter killed in ‘fake’ encounter in 1997 found abandoned
Rajouri, April 24 Confirming the reports, Chaman Basin, superintendent of District Hospital, Rajouri, said, “We have no records or documents at the hospital about the bodies of the persons who were killed in the Kotdhara area of Rajouri. Our sources and the storekeeper at the hospital told me that the mortal remains are of some people killed in an encounter by the Army in Kotdhara years ago.” According to reports, on October 9, 1997, jawans of 18 Dogra had picked up Abdul Aziz, Mohammed Yousuf and Abdul Aziz, all residents of Kotdhara village of Rajouri, and killed them in a staged encounter before leaving the Keri sector in 1997. The reports also said the family members of the deceased alleged that they (the three men) were killed by 18 Dogra personnel in a fake encounter and had been buried near the LoC in the Veer Badheshawar area. Acting on the complaints of the family members of the deceased, the then District Magistrate, PA Malik, had directed the then SSP, Rajouri, Farooq Khan, to investigate the matter. Khan had further deputed the DSP (Headquarters) on June 19, 2007, to carry out a probe. The reports further said on June 20, 2007, on the directions of the District Magistrate, the police had started the exhumation process. The police had recovered a skeleton from the burial site which Bago Begum had identified as that of her husband, Mohammed Yousuf, from his teeth and clothes. The reports said the human remains and the clothes that the Rajouri police had exhumed in the presence of the District Magistrate were brought to District Hospital, Rajouri, for conducting the DNA test to ascertain the claims of Bago Begum. The mortal remains were dumped in the store room of the old District Hospital building. The superintendent of District Hospital, Rajouri, said, “We have now shifted the remains to the new District Hospital building carefully. I don’t know how these remains came out of the store room.” DIG, Rajouri-Poonch Range, Danish Rana said, “We are investigating the matter to ascertain the facts.” |
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‘Completion of Banihal-Qazigund rail link section major achievement’
New Delhi, April 24 He said this was an achievement not only for the railway but also for the country. The section consists of only one tunnel, Pir Panjal Tunnel which is 11.2-km-long and is the longest transportation tunnel in India and the second longest in Asia. It will
connect Kashmir with the rest of India through a rail network. Gupta said the Aboher-Fazilka rail line, Rewari-Rhotak via Jhajhar new rail line and the broad-gauge rail line between Chandigarh and Ludhiana were another achievements of the Northern Railway. The traffic movement has started on these routes. He said with the efforts of its employees, the Northern Railway had seen an improvement of 33 per cent in punctuality in train operations against last year. During the period, 80 per cent punctuality has been noticed against 59 per cent during 2011-12, which was possible due to the hard work of its employees and maintenance of its machinery. |
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Moderate quake hits Valley
Srinagar, April 24 The quake with a magnitude of 5.7 on the Richter scale shook the region at 2.57 pm, an official of the state Meteorological Department said. The official said the epicentre of the earthquake was 65.1 km deep in the Hindu Kush mountain range of Afghanistan. The tremor shook buildings and houses in Srinagar city and sent panicky residents running for safety. No casualties or damage were reported from the Valley. Kashmir is located in a zone of high seismic activity. A massive earthquake struck the mountainous parts of north-west Kashmir in October 2005 leading to large-scale destruction. |
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Machil
‘Fake’ Encounter Case
Srinagar, April 24 Posting the matter for April 29, the CJM, Sopore, is now expected to issue a formal notice to the Commanding Officer of the concerned TA unit before handing over the custody of Abbas to the Army for subjecting him to general court-martial proceedings. Abbas is currently in judicial custody and his trial was on in the Baramualla sessions court along with two other civilians accused in the Machil ‘fake’ encounter case. Acting on a review petition by the Army in the 2010 Machil ‘fake’ encounter case, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court had on March 19 given the Army two weeks to take a decision for either trying Abbas in the civil courts or subjecting him to the general court-martial proceedings. “Acting on our plea, the Baramulla sessions court, which was holding the trial of the accused in the Machil case, has remitted the case file back to the CJM, Sopore, who is now expected to issue a formal notice to the Commanding Officer concerned to exercise his options under Section 125 of the Army Act,” said standing counsel for the Union of India Karnail Singh Wazir, who had filed the petition before the Baramulla trial court on behalf of the Army. Before handing over his custody to the Army, the CJM, Sopore, is supposed to issue a formal order in this regard, Karnail said, adding that the matter is posted before the CJM on April 29. On July 15, 2010, the police had presented a charge sheet against the accused under Section 302 before the CJM, Sopore. “It is prayed that the order passed by the High Court on July 4, 2012, be reviewed to the extent that the CO of the 161 Territorial Army of rifleman Abbas Hussain Shah be allowed to exercise the option under Section 125 of the Army Act for seeking his custody,” the Army had submitted in its review petition before the High Court. The petition was allowed by the High Court in March this year. The High Court in its July, 2012, judgment in the Machil fake encounter case had said accused No. 1 to 3 (two civilians and TA rifleman Abbas) should be dealt with by the CJM, Sopore, under law. For accused No. 4 to 11 (eight Army personnel), it had directed for bifurcating the charge sheet and handing over the accused to the Commanding Officer concerned for their trial before a general court-martial.
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175 locals tested positive for HIV since 2009 at SKIMS
The ART centre was set up at SKIMS in 2007. The records say since 2009 about 500 persons have been tested HIV positive at the
centre. They include non-locals, mostly security forces personnel, and 175 locals, both men and women, said Mohammad
Lateef, Senior Medical Officer at the ART centre. “A total of 120 locals have been detected with AIDS out of 175,” he said. Out of 175 locals, 88
per cent are men and 12 per cent women, the records reveal. The records of the ART centre also show that the number of local patients has been increasing
and non-locals decreasing. However, it is attributed to non-local
patients moving to other parts of the country. “Kashmir is not a high-prevalence HIV zone,” Lateef said, adding that the major reason for the spread of HIV in the Valley was drug addiction. During the past two years, mostly drug addicts, from some particular areas of the Valley, were being detected HIV positive “Addicts are at a high risk as they use common syringes,” he said. The highest prevalence of HIV is observed in the age groups between 31 and 40, followed by 41 and 50 and then 21 and 30. While an HIV positive woman delivered at Lal Ded Hospital in Srinagar earlier this year, 11 children below 10 years are under observation, the Senior Medical Officer said. The newborns of HIV positive couples are kept under observation for 18 months to confirm whether the infant is HIV positive. Around 10 HIV positive patients visit the ART centre daily and more than 20 persons visit its laboratory for various tests daily. “For us they are patients and once they realise the inhibition goes with time,” Lateef said. Though there are no rehabilitation centres for HIV or AIDS patients in the Valley as the number of these patients is far less as compared to other parts of the country, they tend to lead a normal life. The ART centre has attached to it all testing centres at major hospitals of Srinagar and 10
district hospitals of the Kashmir valley. The centre, under the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) programme, provides free of cost testing and treatment facilities and counselling by qualified counsellors
to patients.
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Response to agitation over Afzal Guru recedes
Srinagar, April 24 The separatist attempt to “mobilise” or “incite” the people on the issue of Guru’s hanging and later on the issue of return of his body has failed to lead to any groundswell as the shutdowns called by a separatist council, formed specifically to demand the return of Guru’s body, evoked rudimentary responses in later days. A separatist leader said the receding response to the separatist council’s shutdowns “was normal”. “Kashmir had remained closed for more than a month; for how long could it have continued?” he said. Prof Gul Mohammad Wani, who teaches Political Science at University of Kashmir, says there was no “political context” and “mood” for a prolonged agitation in Kashmir. Another political analyst, Professor Sheikh Showkat, who teaches law at the University of Kashmir, said, “There is no criterion to ascertain quantum of reaction that should have been generated in the aftermath of Afzal Guru (hanging). Same amount of resentment may be termed by some as success and others may assess it as failure,” he said.
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Srinagar, April 24
We would like the Central Government to take up the issue with both China and Pakistan strongly and on the same terms so that no such incident takes place in the
future
Srinagar, April 24