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Police to replace CRPF at Shopian camp
Former militant found dead in Baramulla
Coordination Committee nod for Cong to form Kargil council
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Ladakh International Film Festival begins today
Evolve new ways for sustained agricultural growth: Governor
HC confirms death to surrendered militant
Rape of mentally challenged girls
With eye on LS elections, PDP out to strengthen party in Jammu region
Premature transfer of babus a violation of govt policy
Cultural fest, painting camp begin in Kargil
Cabinet takes note of ceasefire violations
BJP Muslim Morcha protests against violence in UP
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Police to replace CRPF at Shopian camp
Srinagar, September 12 The Cabinet, which met here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, expressed grave concern over the recent incidents of violence in Shopian. It took stock of the investigation by the police into the incident of firing on September 7 at Gagran in Shopian and noted with dismay that there was no clarity on facts of the case even five days after the incident. The Cabinet directed the police authorities to determine the facts of the case, including the identity of the so far unidentified deceased person, within the next 48 hours. A judicial inquiry, to be conducted by a sitting judge of the High Court, could be ordered thereafter in case the facts were not established. Meanwhile, the Kashmir Divisional Commissioner today appointed Shopian District Magistrate Bashir Ahmad Bhat as the inquiry officer to inquire the firing which occurred at Gagran on September 7 and 11. Curfew continues in Shopian The restrictions were not eased on Thursday morning to prevent any untoward incident. Stray incidents of violence were, however, reported from some parts of the old town, sources said. Meanwhile, slain driver Rafi Hussain Rather’s family said he was on his way to his in-laws when he was shot dead. Geelani calls for strike |
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Former militant found dead in Baramulla
Srinagar, September 12 The police has, however, termed his death a case of “hit-and-run road accident”, but his family members have blamed security forces and agencies for his death. Abdul Rashid Sofi, alias Gazi Baba, hailing from the Kakerhamam locality of Baramulla, was found lying on the roadside at Nowpora village in a pool of blood this morning. The spot is around 2.5 km from the main Srinagar-Baramulla highway. His family members said Gazi had left for Anantnag town in south Kashmir on Wednesday morning to express his condolences with another People's League leader and Hurriyat member Mukhtar Ahmad Waza, whose mother had passed away a few days earlier. Gazi had boarded the last train to Baramulla from Anantnag railway station on Wednesday evening and was accompanied by party members up to Amargarh railway station in Sopore, they said. “He headed for Baramulla in the train from Amargarh railway station, but did not reach home,” said his relative Fayaz Ahmad. “Today morning we got a call that his body had been found on the road near Nowpora village in the Wagoora area. We brought his body here, and it has been taken to the district hospital in Baramulla for a post-mortem”, he said. Gazi’s relatives, however, suspect he might have been killed by security forces. “We fear he might have been killed by security forces”, Fayaz alleged. Meanwhile, as the word about the death of Gazi spread in Baramulla town, people came on the roads to protest his “mysterious” death and demanded an investigation. After the post-mortem, Gazi’s body was taken in a procession to his ancestral graveyard at Kakerhamam for burial. Police version |
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Coordination Committee nod for Cong to form Kargil council
Srinagar, September 12 Those who attended the meeting included Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand and Haj and Auqaf Minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed from the Congress. The National Conference (NC) leaders included Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Ali Mohammad Sagar and MLA Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan. “It was decided that the Congress be allowed to form the LAHDC, Kargil, and choose its leader as the chairman of the council,” said a statement of the JKPCC, issued after the meeting. “The Coordination Committee also agreed that the nomination of four persons on behalf of the National Conference to the LAHDC, Kargil, remains intact, but the four nominated members would not have voting rights,” it added. “The NC members, however, stressed that the legal position with respect to the voting rights of the four members be examined further. The Congress members agreed on the suggestion, but explained that as per the existing law, the nominated members do not have any voting rights.” “It was also agreed that the Coordination Committee would examine the Congress’ plea for sharing positions of nomination in the future, equally. This would remain on the agenda of the Coordination Committee,” the statement added. The crisis started following the nomination of the four NC members by the state government to the LAHDC on September 4, prior to the oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected 26 members of the council. The elections were held on August 22. The counting of votes took place on August 28, which brought out a fractured mandate. The Congress got 10 seats, NC eight and Independents eight. Even as the Congress was in the process of staking the claim to the council, the government nominated four NC members tilting the balance in its favour. The NC unit in Kargil later sent a list of 17 members (including those nominated) to the Deputy Commissioner, staking the claim to the council. This created a wedge between the two coalition parties, leading to a series of Coordination Committee meetings and separate meetings of NC and Congress ministers. Crisis resolved *
The Coordination Committee of the coalition parties resolved the crisis over the formation of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil, on Thursday *
The crisis started following the nomination of the four NC members by the state government to the LAHDC on September 4 even as the Congress, which emerged as the single largest party in the Kargil council elections, was in the process of staking claim to the council |
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Ladakh International Film Festival begins today
Leh, September 12 The three-day gala, which is set amid pristine and peaceful surroundings, is expected to draw a huge local and tourist audience with its new features. It does not come without its challenges. "There are infrastructural challenges," said Melwyn Williams Chirayath, founder, LIFF. "There is a 500-seater auditorium which is technically sound. That is where we have our main events, but we have to take a lot of equipment ourselves. Nobody is giving us aid on that front and we are having to fund it ourselves. We wish that the government had taken more interest," Chirayath added. He believes that for the success of a vision such as LIFF, local support is inherently important. This year, they have been able to expand their wings by organising movie screenings at makeshift theatres, two independent auditoriums and two school auditoriums, apart from the 500-seater space. "There are five venues this time," Chirayath said, adding how three Ladakhi film-makers were also in competition this year. The second LIFF was to be held in July, but was rescheduled due to floods in Uttarakhand. To be inaugurated by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the LIFF has its focus on 'Celebrating Womanhood' this time. Carrying forward the focus on women is also a flagship campaign on women called 'Campaign RED (Respect, Equality, Dignity)' which seeks to focus attention on current happenings of violence against women in every form and conditioning society to create a conducive environment for women. As part of the green carpet premiere, 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' and the documentary 'The Frontier Gandhi: Badshah Khan, a Torch for Peace' will be screened at the event. LIFF is an ecologically friendly event with the snow leopard as its mascot.— IANS
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Evolve new ways for sustained agricultural growth: Governor
Srinagar, September 12 He was delivering the valedictory address at the three-day “21st Annual Conference of Agricultural Economics Research Association, India”, hosted by the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST)-Kashmir, here today. The theme of the conference was “Sustainable Agricultural Growth for Improving Rural Livelihood Security”. The Governor, who is also the Chancellor of SKUAST-K, said there was a need to evolve agro-climatic zone-wise viable approaches for securing the objective of sustainable growth of agriculture, particularly for speedily improving rural livelihood security. Referring to the impact of global warming and climate change on agriculture and its allied sectors, he urged agri-scientists and agri-economists to come up with approaches for effectively mitigating the concerns and ensuring sustainable growth of agriculture, as the livelihood of a very large chunk of “our population was dependent on the sector”. He observed that there was no room for delay in evolving required technologies, methodologies, cropping patterns, new seeds and plant materials. He called for pilot projects to be launched on a time-bound basis to establish area and crop-specific demonstration plots of vegetables, cereals, pulses and oilseeds to enlarge the farmers’ awareness about improved agri-techniques and technologies and at the same time assess the efficacy of these approaches. The Governor observed that if success was to be achieved all recommended approaches would need to be put into modules and ways and means found to implement them within a given time frame. Vohra observed that rural livelihood security was important for establishing a more harmonious, developed and prosperous society. Eminent agri-scientists and agri-economists from the state and country held wide-ranging deliberations at the conference. The Governor was presented a memento by Tej Partap, Vice Chancellor of SKUAST-K. The Vice Chancellor said the conference provided a platform for eminent and young scientists to sit together and hold brain-storming sessions for evolving required approaches for sustainable growth of agriculture. He also dwelt upon the present and emerging issues relating to mountain agriculture. PG Chengappa, president of the Agricultural Economics Research Association, gave a resume of the deliberations and the recommendations of the three-day conference. He said 167 scientific papers were received for the conference. |
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HC confirms death to surrendered militant
Jammu, September 12 The Bench has held, "We are of the considered view that the present case falls within the category of rarest of rare cases. The act of the appellant warrants nothing short of the death sentence." Five persons were killed at Walkul village in Lolab under the Lalpora police station in Kupwara district on the night of March 16, 1997. An FIR under Sections 302, 449 and 34 of the Ranbir Penal Code was registered. Appellant Ghulam Mohi-ud-din Wani was booked along with Majid Ganai, who later died, and three personnel of the 118 Battalion of the BSF — constable Gurmeet Singh, inspector Gulzar Singh and constable Raj Kumar. Gulzar Singh and Raj Kumar were discharged during investigation and Gurmeet Singh's case was sent to the BSF court, which convicted him and awarded him 10 years' imprisonment, which was reduced to six years. Wani and Ganai were surrendered militants who were working for the BSF 118 Battalion Wanidurusa camp under Gulzar Singh at the time of the murders. They were given arms and ammunition by the BSF. The BSF personnel had assisted the appellant and his co-accused in eliminating the five persons. Guljani had an illicit relationship with Ganai and her marriage had ended. Her reconciliation with her former husband became the cause of the killing of the couple and their three children. One member of the family, who had a providential escape, turned an eyewitness in the case. The Division Bench confirmed the death sentence of the appellant. It observed, “The appellant and his co-accused Majid Ganai had participated in terrorist activities to disturb peace and tranquility in the state and enjoyed the shelter and courtesy of the BSF on the grounds of their desire to live and let other live peacefully. Their participation and involvement in this heinous crime makes it clear that their surrender was not because of their change of mindset.” The Bench stated, “There is nothing to show their amenability to reformation, as is evidenced by the fact that they had instigated BSF jawans to wreak their vengeance. Therefore, we are of the considered opinion that they were obsessed with criminal tendency all through. They surrendered their guns, but not their ideology, as their mindset was conditioned in that manner.” |
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Rape of mentally challenged girls
Jammu, September 12 The accused will be presented in a lower court in Jammu tomorrow. The sexual exploitation of the five mentally challenged minor girls at the Rotary Innerwheel Home for Mentally Retarded Girls at Channi Rama in Jammu came to the fore on September 4. The police later arrested the director and the watchman of the home. Three more persons were arrested in this connection by the police. One of the victims had said they were being raped by officials of the home for the past one year and had even apprised the warden of the home but no action was taken against any one. It was only after the police and the Jammu Deputy Commissioner received a complaint about the sexual exploitation of the girls that a team was constituted which conducted the medical tests of the girls and confirmed rape, on the basis of which the arrests were made. The issue was brought to the notice of the police more than a month ago and it was only on September 4 that two officials of the home were arrested. “The investigation is on and we are hopeful about arresting all those involved in the case. No one will be spared. Even if some one has 5 per cent role in the case, he or she will be arrested,” said a police officer. The police is also expected to record the statements of the other three accused tomorrow. They were arrested few days after the arrest of the two main accused. The issue of rape of mentally challenged girls has come to the fore in Jammu when the four convicts in the December 16 rape and murder of a woman in a moving bus in New Delhi are awaiting sentencing. The fate of the convicts is also expected to be sealed by a fast-track court in New Delhi tomorrow. |
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With eye on LS elections, PDP out to strengthen party in Jammu region
Jammu, September 12 While addressing a series of public meetings in Jammu city and adjoining localities, Sharma said the support of the Jammu people was must to make the PDP a strong voice of the state. He asked the people of the Jammu region to compare the three-year tenure of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed with the performance of the successive state governments and claimed that during the PDP’s tenure, equal treatment was given to all regions and sub-regions of the state. Dubbing the National Conference-Congress regime in the state as a directionless coalition, he sought the support of the people to throw out the corrupt dispensation which had failed to address the aspirations and wishes of the people. “The five-year tenure of this government is a dark period in the history of Jammu and Kashmir because the system of governance has completely collapsed and those at the helm of the affairs are brazenly indulging in looting the state exchequer,” said Sharma. “Legitimising corruption and eroding the sanctity of democratic institutions are noticeable achievements of the present government headed by Omar Abdullah,” he said. He said the National Conference and the Congress had decided to enter into an alliance after the 2008 Assembly elections only to enjoy power and loot the state exchequer. “It is really a matter of concern that for the last five years the coalition government has been functioning without any common programme and policy between the two partners,” he said. The PDP leader observed that the two parties had differences on all important issues but their leadership was united in looting the state and victimising the people. |
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Premature transfer of babus a violation of govt policy
Jammu, September 12 Officers in top positions in the state bureaucracy have been shifted from one department to another within months, even though the tenure of an officer or official has been fixed for a minimum of two years and up to a maximum of three years under the transfer policy which was conceived by none else but the Chief Minister himself in 2010. In the latest transfers, Saurabh Bhagat, IAS, was transferred from the Industries and Commerce Department and posted as Director, School Education, Jammu. On July 31, Bhagat had been transferred to the industries department from the Economic Reconstruction Agency. Another bureaucrat, Shaleen Kabra, IAS, who was holding the post of Commissioner-Secretary, Health and Medical Education, was transferred and posted as Member, J&K Special Tribunal. He was shifted for the third time within six months. Similarly, P.K. Pole, IAS, who was holding the charge of Director, School Education Jammu, till Wednesday, was transferred in just six months. Pole was earlier transferred to School Education Department from the post of Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, on March 15. The transfer of Farooq Ahmad Factoo, IAS, new Commissioner-Secretary, Industries & Commerce Department, from the post of Commissioner-Secretary, Floriculture, was also ordered within six months as he was shifted from the School Education Department on March 15. The Cabinet had recently ordered the transfers of 19 senior officers, including commissioners/secretaries of various departments. “Transfers and postings of senior officers are always made on political considerations but the government has always claimed that such decisions are made in the larger interest of the public. No senior officer can do justice to his or her work if he or she is transferred within a few months,” said a senior official of state administration. During the last Budget Session of state legislature, the Chief Minister, in a written reply, had admitted that 98 senior bureaucrats (IAS cadre) and 437 Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) officers had been transferred before the completion of the minimum prescribed tenure during the past three years. |
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Cultural fest, painting camp begin in Kargil
Srinagar, September 12 The festival and the seven-day All-India Painting Camp was inaugurated by Adviser to Chief Minister Qamar Ali Akhoon. JKAACL secretary Khalid Bashir Ahmad said the academy was also organising a series of cultural and literary programmes, including a heritage exhibition and conferences on Pahari, Urdu, Hindi and Ladakhi languages in the coming weeks. He said a calendar of important activities had been drawn for the next three months. He said a Kashmir heritage exhibition would be held on September 18 and 19 to showcase the rich legacy of the region through art, craft, musical instruments, archaeology, manuscripts and images. The exhibition will be held in Srinagar in association with the departments of archives, archaeology, museums and handicrafts and some non-government organisations. |
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Cabinet takes note of ceasefire violations
Srinagar, September 12 The Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here today, decided that the matter should be brought to the notice of the Union Minister for External Affairs so that it could be raised during his upcoming meeting with his Pakistani counterpart. The Cabinet also accorded sanction to the creation of 22 posts for Sri Partap Singh Museum in Srinagar. These included posts of Chief Curator, Assistant Accounts Officer, Document Assistant, Senior Conservator, Assistant Curator and Senior Museum Guide and ministerial and support staff. |
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BJP Muslim Morcha protests against violence in UP
Jammu, September 12 While addressing the protesters, speakers condemned the flare up in the communal incidents in UP and came down heavily on the Akhilesh Yadav-led government for failing to curb such incidents.
The speakers urged the people to maintain communal harmony and not pay heed to rumours. Randhawa lashed out at Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav, holding them responsible for the communal violence. He urged upon the President to impose the President’s rule in the state as the rulers had failed to maintain law and order. He said 107 incidents of communal violence had taken place in Uttar Pradesh in 17 months of the Samajwadi Party’s rule and nearly 100 innocent lives were lost in the communal incidents, which indicated the failure of the SP government. He said the Akhilesh Yadav-led government had no right to continue. Ramzan Mohammad, Sher Mohammed, Shabir Hussain, Allah Din, Ashok Sharma, Karamat Hussain, Mohammad Ashraf, Abdul Gabbar, Hyder Ali, Hamid Ali, Shams-u-din, Muneer Alam and Sadiq Hussain were present. |
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The state Cabinet today directed the Director General of Police, Ashok Prasad, to replace the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel at the Gagran camp with a contingent of the Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police.
The Cabinet, which met here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, expressed grave concern over the recent incidents of violence in
Shopian.
Governor NN Vohra has underscored the importance of ensuring effective coordination between the agricultural universities and various extension agencies of the government for pooling expertise and resources for securing sustained growth of the agricultural sector.
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat Yash Pal Sharma today sought the support of the people of the Jammu region to provide a strong political alternative in the state.
While addressing a series of public meetings in Jammu city and adjoining localities, Sharma said the support of the Jammu people was must to make the PDP a strong voice of the state.
Activists of the Muslim Morcha of the BJP today held a protest against the Uttar Pradesh Government for its failure to control communal riots.
The protest was held at Bathindi on the outskirts of Jammu city and was led by BJP Muslim Morcha district president Bashir Ahmed and BJP Industry Cell convener Chowdhary Vikram
Randhawa. A large number of people participated in it.
