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NC committed to UPA, no question of joining NDA, says Omar
NC leader backtracks from Modi remark, says UPA best option
PDP to script new chapter of peace in J&K: Mufti
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Srinagar
Master Plan
Parliament panel to visit Jammu today
Forest Minister for close monitoring of projects
Fill vacancies in education department: Deputy CM
Omar under attack for his ‘integral part’ remark
Ministers to address public grievances
Socio-eco development of remote areas on priority, says minister
Digital radiography inaugurated at Jammu hospital
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NC committed to UPA, no question of joining NDA, says Omar
All for UPA
Jammu, November 5 “I think after Gandhiji, he (Mufti) is the only person to say that he is not power hungry. People do not believe a person
who speaks a blatant lie,” Omar said. The Chief Minister, who is also the working president of the National Conference (NC), was addressing party workers at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan, the party headquarters in Jammu. The function was organised by the provincial unit of the party to welcome the Chief Minister in Jammu as the Durbar Move offices have reopened. He was welcomed by hundreds of people led by provincial president of the party Devender Singh Rana. Omar said, “People join politics for power and I agree that I am power hungry, but to serve people, to mitigate their difficulties; satiating their developmental needs, wiping out tears from their eyes and ensuring they enjoy the fruits of a prosperous life.” Attacking the PDP for holding a peace rally in Srinagar on Monday after the borders have turned silent, the Chief Minister said: “Where were they all these days when our people were getting bullets along the international border and the Line of Control.” The Chief Minister reiterated his statement on Modi, saying there was no
Modi wave in the country. “Whatever effect is there, it is on the Bharatiya Janata Party cadre.” “The effect was there in the country in 1984 when Rajiv Gandhi was contesting as PM candidate and in 1996 when Farooq sahib got two-thirds majority in J&K,” Omar said. The NC working president said, “Some quarters are trying to twist my statement by saying that the NC will join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). We are committed to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). We are not people who change horses’ midstream and it is better to remain out of power than compromise with the ideals nurtured by the towering party leadership.” Omar said that there was no question of making any compromise with the party’s principles and have any relationship with the NDA. “The NC is a party of principles and I know NC-Congress alliance is causing discomfiture to certain political entities, who want to create confusion.” Clearing the air about why the NC was part of the NDA from 1998 to 2004, Omar said, “We were there because of the liberal image of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and if he comes back as the NDA chief, we may think of going with him.”
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NC leader backtracks from Modi remark, says UPA best option
Additional general secretary of the NC Mustafa Kamal, who is Union Minister Farooq Abdullah’s brother and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s uncle, made a quick rebuttal of his remarks today morning and prevented his controversial comment about the possibility of an alliance with the NDA from snowballing further. NDA’s main alliance partner, BJP, has already announced Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate while the NC runs a government in Jammu and Kashmir in coalition with the Congress. The two are partners in the UPA. Kamal, while addressing a press conference at his residence in the city here, said, “I am of the firm belief that there is no meeting ground between Modi, who is communalism personified, and the NC is the epitome of secularism. As they say, never the twain shall meet,” Kamal said. He was accompanied by Kashmir province president of the party Nasir Aslam Wani. While ruling out an alliance, Kamal blamed the NDA of thrashing the greater autonomy resolution in 2000 when the NC was a part of the BJP-led alliance. The Chief Minister, who is also the working president of the NC, had earlier this year denied the possibility of becoming a part of the NDA. Kamal said the NC would go along with the UPA as in the past. He said any decision of partnership would be taken by the party high command, headed by Farooq Abdullah. “It is also my conviction that for peace, progress and prosperity of a country as vast and as diverse as India, we need a secular dispensation as the UPA at the Centre,” Kamal said. Kamal, who has issued several controversial statements in the past, backtracked from the comments which were attributed to him by a local news agency, in which he had said his party would support Modi, if he came to power in 2014. A senior NC leader, requesting not to be named, said the party was under pressure to come clear over Kamal’s Modi remarks. The leader, however, did not say whether the coalition partner, Congress, was exerting the pressure or it was coming from within the party. Kamal had told the news agency that his party would support Modi in the “interest of the people of the state”. “(NC founder) Sheikh (Mohammad Abdullah) sahib had said whichever government is formed in (New) Delhi, we have to be on its right side because we are a poor state. So, whether Modi or the Congress forms (the government), we have to keep good relations with them,” Kamal had said in the interview. He had further said NC’s Parliament members could support Modi. Kamal, however, backtracked from his comments today and instead blamed telephonic interviews for creating the confusion. |
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PDP to script new chapter of peace in J&K: Mufti
Jammu, November 5 “The PDP, with just 16 MLAs in its kitty, had proved during its tenure how to implement the agenda of peace and reconciliation,” he said, adding that it was the result of the party’s pro-peace agenda that the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had announced ceasefire on the borders and that initiative had brought positive chances in the lives of common people. Addressing a function to welcome Congress leader Swami Raj Sharma, who joined the PDP today, Mufti brought up the recent shelling on the international border and the Line of Control. He asserted that the PDP preached the message of peace and reconciliation from every nook and corner of the state to de-escalate tension on the borders. Recalling that the PDP had played a similar role when tension was high on border after the Parliament attack, Mufti said the credit went to his party for taking both the NDA and the UPA on board to initiate bold steps for restoring peace in the subcontinent. |
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Cong to get aggressive on panchayat powers
Jammu, November 5 All India Congress Committee (AICC) vice-president Rahul Gandhi is visiting Jammu on November 6 to address a panchayat conference and to interact with party leaders and workers. Local Congress leaders are annoyed about the remarks of NC additional general secretary Sheikh Mustafa Kamaal, who seizes every opportunity to criticise the Congress. On Monday, a statement attributed to Kamaal appeared in a section of media in which he stated that “if Narendra Modi becomes the Prime Minster of India, the National Conference will develop a ‘harmonious’ relationship with him”. Although Kamaal today refuted the news item yet local Congress leaders have decided to give a clear message to the NC during the rally on Wednesday. Party leaders will utilise the opportunity to lambast the NC for creating hurdles in empowering panchayats. The issue of extending the 73rd Amendment to
Indian Constitution in J&K is likely to be highlighted by the local leaders to corner the NC. A senior Congress leader on condition of anonymity admitted that relations between the two coalition partners were not cordial especially on the issue of empowering panchayats. “We have decided to adopt an aggressive posture during Rahul Gandhi’s visit to give a clear message to coalition partner,” he said. |
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Temple on border attracts pilgrims, tourists
Jammu, November 5 “The ancient Raghunath Temple (there is one in Jammu city as well) near the octroi border outpost of the BSF in the Suchetgarh area of the RS Pura sector in Jammu district has not only got a new lease of life, but now pilgrims regularly visit the place,” a BSF officer said. Interestingly, the temple is situated along the road connecting Jammu with Sialkot in Pakistan. Before the Partition, a rail track lay where the road now exists. On October 29 — the day of sector-level flag meeting between the BSF and the Pakistan Rangers to de-escalate the border tension —The Tribune team had found a considerable number of tourists at the place. “When there is no tension on the border around 50 to 60 pilgrims and tourists visit the temple every day. It has become possible after the place was renovated under the border tourism programme,” said Balbir Kumar, who hails from RS Pura. “The Tourism Department has restored the 200-year-old Raghunath temple to its original form. It has also preserved the nearby Muslim shrine and has set up a waiting hall and an information centre at the outpost. The department has also set up outlets for the pilgrims to purchase prasad,” he said. A Tourism Department official said in March this year the Union Government had sanctioned Rs 6.39 crore for giving an impetus to border tourism in the state, out of which Rs 3.50 crore was spent on the restoration and renovation works in Suchetgarh alone. “Similarly, we have developed some facilities at the famous shrine of Chamliyal in the Ramgarh sector of Samba district on the zero line. We will come up with more such places in due course of time,” he said. Meanwhile, a tourist from Amritsar said the ceremonial parade by smartly dressed men from both countries could also become possible at the octroi post on the pattern of the Wagah border. “It will add sparkle to tourism and more tourists will flock to the place.”
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Srinagar
Master Plan
Srinagar, November 5 The High Court has given the government till November 8 to spell out its policy decision with regard to the violations involving illegal structures. Taking a serious note of the violations, the
High Court had on October 31 directed the state government to identify and take action against officials responsible for facilitating violations of the Srinagar Master Plan. It
had also sought details of the movable and immovable properties of all these officials. The directions were passed by a division bench of the court in a public interest litigation on October 31, seeking action against illegal constructions and structures falling within Srinagar city. The matter is listed before the court for further consideration on Friday, when the government is expected to file its report about the policy decision with regard to the illegal structures which have come up over the years in Srinagar. Though the government has informed the court that over 3,000 violations of the master plan have been noted in Srinagar and the Srinagar Municipal Corporation has so for sealed 42 illegal structures in the city on the court directions, it is showing reluctance to take a strong view of the violations of the Srinagar Master Plan. It is probably because of the sheer number of the violations and the Assembly and parliamentary elections next year. This became evident on previous hearing when the High Court turned down a plea by Advocate General M Ishaq Qadri, who sought two more months for the government to evolve a policy decision with regard to the illegal structures. The court said the issue was of serious nature. The court also turned down the Advocate General’s request that it allow the functioning of the sealed properties on submission of bank guarantees/undertakings as an interim measure, subject to the finalisation of the government policy and the final decision by the court. The court, however, insisted that the government first spell out its policy decision with regard to the illegal structures as it would give an indication which way the government was heading. Following assurances by the Advocate General that action would be taken against the officials responsible for facilitating the master plan violations, the High Court asked the government to furnish information about the assets of the officials in whose wards the violations had taken place on the next hearing. Residential areas
turn commercial
The government has informed the court that over 3,000 violations of the Srinagar Master Plan have been noted over the years. The violations, which have been noted, involve flouting of various provisions of the master plan and civic rules. While many structures in Srinagar have been erected without valid building permission, many violators have flouted the rules of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation and constructed shopping malls and commercial structures. In some instances, many areas of the city such as Rajbagh, Karan Nagar and Jawahar Nagar, designated as residential in the master plan, have been converted into commercial areas. On September 30,
the High Court had observed that only those residential areas would be permitted for use which were conforming to the master plan and would not cause disturbance in
the peaceful living of the residents.
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Parliament panel to visit Jammu today
Jammu, November 5 The PSC Sub-Committee comprising members of various political parties will reach Jammu tomorrow. During their two-day stay, the committee members would interact with refugees, including the displaced Kashmiri Pandits. “First time our issue has been seriously heard by the Members of Parliament of various political parties. We are hopeful that this time some concrete step would be taken to address our long-pending problems,” said Labha Ram Gandhi, chairman of the West Pakistani Refugees Action Committee. Gandhi, who has interacted with the PSC members twice at Delhi, said most of the political parties were not aware that refugees from West Pakistan had not yet been given citizenship rights by the state government. “Some members were taken by surprise when we narrated our tale of woes to them,” he said. He said, “Some of the PSC members had promised to visit our camps.” Meanwhile, leader of the refugees from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) Narinder Singh charged the local administration with ignoring PoK and other refugees. He alleged that the local administration was trying to create a hurdle in the meeting of refugees with the visiting panel. “We have been facing hardships since 1947, so we should be given priority at the meeting with the visiting panel,” Singh said. All migrants and refugee groups have prepared a memorandum, to be submitted to the visiting panel. The Sub-Committee will visit the Purkhoo and Muthi migrant camps on November 6 and interact with migrants on November 7. As per an official handout, it has been decided that Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants), Jammu, Vinod Koul would be coordinating the meeting of the Kashmiri Pandit migrants with the Sub-Committee while the PRO, Custodian General, would coordinate in arranging the meeting of the refugees of 1947, 1965 and 1971 with the visiting panel on November 7. |
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Forest Minister for close monitoring of projects
Jammu, November 5 The Forest Minister chaired a high-level meeting to review the physical and financial achievements of the current fiscal action plans implemented under the state and Centre plans in the Jammu division today. He directed the authorities to book expenditure on the implementation of various action plans well in time and submit the utilisation certificates for the release of next instalments of the funds, especially under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority and the 13th Finance commission. This will ensure timely completion of the projects, besides carrying out other forest development activities in both divisions of the state, he said. Mian Altaf called for achieving 100 per cent targets under the plantation drive, especially on degraded and vacant forest land, with priority to the winter zone in the state. He emphasised that work in this regard should be visible on the ground and directed for the third-party monitoring and inspection. He issued instructions to the concerned officials for well-timed distribution of timber to the needy customers and said seized timber should be disposed of among genuine customers. “The fixed targets for extraction and distribution of timber to customers in both divisions should be ensured well in time,” he said. He said any negligence would be viewed seriously, inviting action against defaulting officials. The Forest Minister instructed for nomination of liaison officers of each wing of the department to pursue and sort out pending issues with the administrative and finance departments. He instructed the authorities concerned to project enhancement of the compensation to the victims of the man-animal conflict in the revised budget allocation so that the funds would be granted to disburse among the affected families. “Physical and financial achievements, registered under various plans for forest development, should be uploaded on the website of the Planning Department before the 10th of this month and the submission of the utilisation certificates of each project by all wings be ensured before the 25th of this month,” the minister said. He also directed the heads of the various wings of the department concerned for timely submission of the next fiscal plan. |
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Fill vacancies in education department: Deputy CM
Jammu, November 5 The meeting took a detailed review of the activities of the department in various districts of the province. The meeting was attended by Director, School Education, Jammu, TK Sharma and other officers of the department. Taking note of the vacancies in the department, the Deputy Chief Minister directed the officials concerned to take up the matter on priority and fill the vacant posts in a time-bound manner. He called for speeding up the process of recruitment besides fast-tracking promotions of the eligible workforce. “Rural and border belt students are suffering the most due to the shortage of staff. Recruitment and fast-track promotions will address the problem to quite an extent,” he added. He said the concept of recruiting Rebar-e-Talim (ReT) teachers in the areas where regular teachers were not available had shown results. “All vacant positions of ReTs should be filled within 15 days,” he added. Calling for regularisation of education volunteers, Tara Chand said all those volunteers who had completed seven years should be regularised with a period of one week and no delay on this part would be tolerated. The recruitment for socially and educationally backward areas and those near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) had been approved on the pattern of the ReT and would be completed at the earliest. Underscoring the need for completion of civil works undertaken in different schools in a time-bound manner, Tara Chand said the works should be expedited and the CEO concerned should personally monitor the pace and report delays if any to the authorities concerned. He said the infrastructure in the schools should commensurate with the strength of the students and directions had been issued to the executing agencies to hold proper consultations with heads of institutions before taking up construction in schools. |
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Omar under attack for his ‘integral part’ remark
Srinagar, November 5 On the opening day of the civil secretariat in Jammu on Monday, Omar had said Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of the country. The Chief Minister was earlier under attack from coalition partner, the Congress, and the opposition,
BJP, for repeatedly raking up the issue of accession. While clarifying, Omar said he had never used words such as “conditional” and “incomplete” with regard to the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the Indian Union. The moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, headed by Mirwaiz Umar
Farooq, while taking on the Chief Minister for his latest remark, said: “Saying one thing in Kashmir and another in Jammu, has been an old tactics of NC leaders.” “Chief Minister saying that Kashmir is an integral part of India and calling accession final is akin to changing colours like a chameleon. In fact, this tactics has been an old habit of the NC leadership,” a Hurriyat spokesperson said. He added that by taking recourse to contradictory and false statements in Srinagar and Jammu, the NC leadership has been unsuccessfully trying to achieve their political and vested interests. “Kashmir is an issue, which is pending resolution and by calling accession final and complete, the historical realties about Kashmir cannot be dismissed,” he said. Meanwhile, hardline Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani said: “This is an old tactic of Shiekh dynasty, wherein they issue one statement in Srinagar and another in New Delhi.” “By issuing contradictory and false statements, they (NC leadership) in fact exhibit their unprincipled and interest based politics,” Geelani said, adding that these people are “power hungry”. “For power they can go to any extent. When in power, New Delhi becomes their Mecca and when out of it, they invoke Pakistani sentiment by flaunting green handkerchief or showing Pakistan made rock salt to people,” Geelani said. While cautioning Omar over his fluctuating stance on accession of J&K, Member of Legislative Assembly from Langate and Awami Ittehad Party leader Engineer Rashid said the recent remarks have “eroded his credibility”. “Such statements would not make Omar New Delhi’s beloved nor will such statements make Kashmir India’s integral part,” Rashid said. “Omar Abdullah should come out of this illusion that by issuing different statements and different opinions over Kashmir issue he would be able to exploit the sentiments of Kashmiris like his grandfather Sheikh Abdullah,” Rashid
said. |
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Ministers to address public grievances
Srinagar, November 5 An official spokesman said the schedule of the ministers had been fixed till January end. Minister for Public Enterprises, Haj and Auqaf and Floriculture Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed is currently available for public till November 8.
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Socio-eco development of remote areas on priority, says minister
Srinagar, November 5 “The state government is committed to improving and upgrade the existing infrastructure with regard to road connectivity, water supply and power projects,” said Minister of Hajj, Auqaf, Floriculture and Public Enterprises, Peerzada Mohammad Syed, while addressing a public rally at Kokernag today. Earlier, Peerzada inaugurated a budgeted accommodation constructed by the Kokernag Development Authority (KDA) at a cost of Rs 385.73 lakh and tourist reception centre (TRC) at Kokernag constructed at a cost of 109.60 lakh. “The budgeted accommodation is equipped with modern facility having 26 rooms with attached necessities. The TRC is fully high-tech having a reception lobby, besides four multi-facility rooms,” said an official spokesman. The minister said a huge network of educational and health institution had been set up in the state, especially in the far-flung areas, so that the people could avail the benefits of development in a better way. Besides establishment of two degree colleges in the Breng constituency, various secondary and middle schools have been upgraded to higher levels so that education is taken on the doorsteps of the needy. |
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Digital radiography inaugurated at Jammu hospital
Jammu, November 5 Later, the minister visited Super Speciality Hospital, Jammu, interacted with the staff and faculty and reviewed its functioning. He also reviewed the availability of medicine, equipment and doctors at the hospital. During the meeting, funds requirement was felt to take care of the equipment and machines at the hospital. — TNS
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Srinagar, November 5