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Army may soon vacate prime land in Srinagar
Border tension directly impacts development, says Omar
SC nod for Mubarak Mandi cable car
SaMaPa award for German Ambassador, Pt Birju Maharaj
PDP for rationalisation of land with armed forces
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Govt has tourism plans for Tosamaidan
Militant arrested in Bandipora
Azad to arrive in Jammu today
Vohra, Mir discuss timely delivery of fertilisers to farmers
Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir briefs Governor NN Vohra about agricultural activities at Raj Bhawan in Jammu on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph
Restrictions in Srinagar for Muharram processions
Paramilitary personnel deployed in Srinagar to enforce restrictions on the eighth day of Muharram in Srinagar on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Amin War
State unit of Janata Party merges with BJP
State told to improve delivery mechanism of rural job scheme
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Army may soon vacate prime land in Srinagar
Srinagar, November 13 The state government has asked Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Shailendra Kumar to look for an alternative site for the Army. In the past, the Army had been insisting on a site around Shariafabad on the outskirts of city in lieu of the Tatoo Ground. “But now the Army has agreed to shift from the Tatoo Ground even if the alternative land is provided elsewhere,” said Shailendra. “Hopefully, the Army will vacate the Tatoo Ground before the Durbar returns to Srinagar,” he added. Government sources said the major hurdle in shifting of the camp from the city was that the Army was demanding land around Shariafabad, which also houses the headquarters of the Kilo Force, the Army’s counter-insurgency force. The sources said the Army had agreed in 1988 to vacate the ground. “After they had agreed, the Army wanted an alternative site at Shariafabad and Hanjik in Budgam district. The government provided alternative land to Army at Shariafabad and they took possession of it but did not vacate the Tatoo Ground,” a source said. “The Army, however, has been saying that it is yet to get full possession of the Shariafabad land that was promised by the state,” the source said. The state government plans to construct a recreational facility at the Tatoo Ground. Tatoo Ground |
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Border tension directly impacts development, says Omar
Jammu, November 13 He said the tension at the Line of Control and the international border across Jammu and Kashmir directly impacted tranquillity and the development process in the state and endangered the life and property of residents living along the frontiers. “The ceasefire violations and shelling not only make the people leave their homes, but also severely hampers the agricultural operations causing economic stress to the border people,” Omar said. Interacting with farmers at the international border near the Chinore farm --- some 25 km from Jammu city, Omar expressed satisfaction over the status of ceasefire and hoped it would continue for the larger interest of people, particularly the farmers residing on the frontiers. The Chief Minister inquired about the welfare of the people and received a brief from them about the prevailing situation and the status of their agricultural operations. He gave directions to the Agriculture Department to provide all help to the border farmers for launching successful agricultural operations. He asked the department to keep better seeds, fertilisers and other agricultural inputs adequately available to the agriculturists in the border areas. Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir, Minister for Planning and Development Ajay Sadhotra and Minister of State for Agriculture Nazir Ahmad
Gurezi, besides Divisional Officers accompanied the Chief Minister. Lays foundation of power project in
Doda Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today laid the foundation of the 48-MW Lower Kalnai Hydroelectric Project at Thathri in Doda district. He said the project would help in making the state self-reliant in power generation and achieving financial autonomy. Omar said a 500-MW thermal project would be set up soon from the coal block allotted by the Union government to the state. While addressing a public meeting after laying the foundation stone, Omar said indigenous generation of hydro energy is aimed at achieving economic goals and generate substantial employment and business activities for youth, particularly in far-off villages and remote areas. The Lower Kalnai Hydroelectric Project is located on the Lower Kalnai
Nallah, a tributary of the Chenab river in Thathri town of Doda district, about 200 km from Jammu. The project envisages construction of a 49-m high concrete gravity dam across the nallah at
Dunadi, about 200 m downstream of the confluence of Upper Kalnai Nallah and Kangunegad
Nallah. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 576.87 crore and it is scheduled to be completed in four years. “The target is to generate 9,000 MW of power within next seven to eight years and necessary edifice has already been laid to achieve this stupendous task,” Omar said, adding that the projects for generation of 2,000 MWs of hydroelectricity have been cleared and are under various stages of implementation. He said indigenous electricity generation would not only enable the state to provide 24x7 power supply to both domestic and commercial consumers but its export would generate enough funds to launch wide-ranging development projects in various sectors of development. The Chief Minister said that the power companies had been given strict directions to employ locals in various project-related works. He said power companies had also been roped in to collaborate with seven Industrial Training Institutes so that a required skill set could be imparted to students, who could be absorbed in upcoming power projects. He said these companies had also been directed to allot feasible works to local contractors and transport operators so that economic benefits could be divided among various sectors.
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SC nod for Mubarak Mandi cable car
Jammu, November 13
The Supreme Court gave its environment clearance to the ropeway project on November 11. It is one of the major projects to develop Jammu as an independent tourism destination. It will help the Tourism Department attract thousands of tourists and Vaishno Devi pilgrims to the winter capital every year. “We have recently got environmental clearance from the Supreme Court for laying the cable car project between the historic Mubarak Mandi and Bahu Fort. We have funds for the project, which got delayed due to a public interest litigation filed in the Supreme Court. We have already completed all departmental formalities and the construction work will be undertaken within a month’s time,” Minister for Tourism Ghulam Ahmad Mir told mediapersons here. On the recommendation of the State Board of Wildlife, headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the National Board of Wildlife had forwarded the project for environmental clearance to the Supreme Court. J&K Cable Car Corporation has been entrusted with the construction of the cable car project. The proposed ropeway will have 37 cabin lines from Mubarak Mandi — the royal residence of erstwhile Dogra rulers in Jammu and Kashmir — to Mahamaya Park and Shahbad. It will have two sections across the Tawi river, one from Peerkho near Mubarak Mandi to Mahamaya Park and another from Mahamaya Park to Shahbad. Each cabin will have a capacity of six seats with modern ventilation facilities. The Tourism Minister said a team constituted by the Supreme Court had also inspected the site for the Patnitop cable car project. The presentation made by the tourism department to get environmental clearance was quite effective and the state was hopeful of getting a clearance soon, he added. Project to begin within a month — Ghulam Ahmad Mir, Minister for Tourism |
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SaMaPa award for German Ambassador, Pt Birju Maharaj
Srinagar, November 13 The exclusive national-level honours pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir were announced by the General Secretary of the SaMaPa, internationally acclaimed santoor maestro Abhay Rustum Sopori, in New Delhi today. Abhay enjoys the distinction of having performed with the internationally known music maestro, Zubin Mehta, in his maiden show at Srinagar on September 7 this year. The awards will be given away from November 22 to 24 during the ninth edition of the academy’s annual festival, the SaMaPa Sangeet Sammelan, the topmost classical music festival of Delhi and one of the most prestigious festivals of the country, a statement of the SaMaPa said. The ‘SaMaPa Kala Vardhan Samman’ is being conferred upon Michael Steiner. The ‘SaMaPa Vitasta Award’, carries a cash reward of Rs 50,000 each and is being conferred upon Pandit Birju Maharaj and Pandit Anup Jalota. The ‘SaMaPa Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Award’, which carries a cash reward of Rs 25,000, is being conferred upon the veteran musician of Jammu and Kashmir, Abdul Gani Rather (Trali). Arun Chatterjee is being honoured with the ‘SaMaPa Acharya Abhinavgupt Samman’, which carries a cash reward of Rs 11,000. While announcing the awards, Abhay Rustum Sopori said they were decided by the SaMaPa board comprising chairman Pandit Bhajan Sopori, patrons Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister for
New and Renewable Energy, and Shameema Azad, veteran singer of Jammu and Kashmir, vice-president and eminent musicologist Pandit Vijay Shankar Mishra and other committee members. The SaMaPa is a cultural movement translating from a deep-rooted vision of its chairman and members of the Board in creating a unique, unbiased and empowering national-level platform for presentation, propagation, and teaching of traditional music and performing arts to artistes and the young talent. It is acclaimed for being a cultural bridge of the state with the rest of the country.
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PDP for rationalisation of land with armed forces
Srinagar, November 13 Addressing a series of rallies in the Kupwara constituency, she referred to the debate about the extension of lease to Tosamaidan as a firing range for the Army. “The highland has tremendous tourism potential and that fact needs to be considered by taking a decision on the subject. But it is not just Tosamaidan, the entire issue of land needed for defence purposes and currently under the use of the forces needs to be seriously examined for a rational decision,” Mehbooba said.— TNS
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Govt has tourism plans for Tosamaidan
Jammu, November 13 “No doubt Tosamaidan is an attractive place but Sita Haran --- a place about 8 km from Tosamaidan --- has even greater scope for tourism. The government is contemplating to propose a development authority in the name of Tosamaidan to encourage tourists to visit the place,” the minister told reporters here. He said, “Even if the (development) authority is established, it would take several years to develop the area, since the road connectivity to Sita Haran is not good.” He, however, evaded the question on whether the Army was given further lease extension, saying the matter was before the government. Yesterday, the Army agreed to consider alternative sites (for the firing range), if offered by the state government, during a Civil-Military Liaison Conference held at Nagrota in Jammu. The Army has applied for the re-notification of over 11,000 kanals in Tosamaidan (king of meadows) in central Kashmir’s Budgam district on lease for its firing range.
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Militant arrested in Bandipora
Srinagar, November 13 “After a tip-off, Sheikh’s vehicle was intercepted
at a naka. We also recovered one pistol, two grenades and a magazine from his possession,”
said a source. The sources said Sheikh was a militant who was arrested but later released. “He is now active again,” the source said.
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Azad to arrive in Jammu today
Jammu, November 13 Azad's visit is being termed important because on Tuesday his staunch supporter and Minister of Roads and Buildings (R&B) in the coalition government Abdul Majid Wani had told a section of media that Azad was the best choice for the chief ministerial candidate of Congress party in Jammu and Kashmir for 2014 Assembly elections. During his visit, Azad will cover all six assembly segments of Doda to further tighten his grip of the region, which is considered the citadel of Congress due to his influence in the belt, Azad's native place. The erstwhile district comprises Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban. It was all due to the influence of Azad that Congress had won five out of the total six assembly seats of this region. But the support base of Congress has been shrinking here for the quite some time now. After the August 9 Kishtwar riots, communal divide has further widened in the belt, where Congress had support base among both the communities. The party is the worst victim of the communal divide so it has to start a damage-control exercise before the Lok Sabha elections, especially as the BJP has managed to strengthen its base in the region. "Besides inaugurating some development projects in the region, Azad would also address public meetings to strengthen communal harmony and brotherhood in the region", G M Saroori, Congress MLA from Inderwal and a staunch supporter of Azad told The Tribune. He said Azad was the only figure who had been regarded as the most respected leader of all sections of the society. Azad is visiting Kishtwar for the first time after the August 9 riots to interact with cross sections of
the society. As per his itinerary, after addressing a series of public meetings and interacting with a number of deputations at Ramban, Kishtwar and Doda districts, Azad would address a 'Diwali Milan' function organised by Jammu Lawyers to spread the message of brotherhood and communal harmony. |
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Vohra, Mir discuss timely delivery of fertilisers to farmers
Jammu, November 13 They discussed the specific measures which have been implemented and those underway for increasing the seed replacement rate for potato, maize, wheat and rice crops and the steps taken to ensure the timely delivery of the required fertilisers to the farmers and growers. The Governor and the minister also discussed other issues relating to the growth and development of the state.
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Restrictions in Srinagar for Muharram processions
Srinagar, November 13 The restrictions were imposed in areas under the jurisdiction of seven police stations in and around the commercial hub Lal Chowk. A large contingent of the police and the CRPF sealed the arterial roads in the city at multiple points with concertina wires. This resulted in chaos and confusion on various city roads, as people coming from uptown and downtown areas towards the city centre were caught in huge traffic jams. “It was very difficult to reach the courts today, as there was mess all around on the roads leading to the city centre. There were traffic jams on all roads as the police stopped vehicles from moving towards the city centre,” said a High Court lawyer. Hundreds of police and paramilitary forces armed with riot gear had sealed the entry and exit points leading to the Abiguzar area near Lal Chowk, from where from mourners were scheduled to take out a procession. Muharram processions, which are part of the mourning by members of the Shia sect of Muslims, have been banned in Kashmir since 1989. Shia Muslims mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, in the Iraqi city of Karbala in the year 680. The city localities where the restrictions were imposed come under police stations of Shaheed Gunj, Maisuma, Kothibagh, Batamaloo, Ram Munshi Bagh and Karan Nagar. Despite these restrictions, many mourners reached the Jehangir Chowk area of the city and raised slogans. However, they were later chased by the police. In many areas, the police used tear-smoke shells to disperse the processionists. Though people rued the restrictions imposed on Muharram processions in the city, the administration justified its actions saying that people had been informed in advance about the restrictions during Muharram days. “We had already informed the people through media and newspapers that there would be restrictions today. Still we did not impose restrictions or curfew in the entire Srinagar city,” said District Magistrate, Srinagar, Farooq Shah. “The restrictions are in place only in the areas falling under the seven police stations, which forms the core where the people try to take out processions,” he said, adding that the restrictions were put in place “to ensure that there is no law and order problem.” “It is in the interest of the public at large if there is no law and order problem,” he said while justifying the administrative decision.
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State unit of Janata Party merges with BJP
Jammu, November 13 Welcoming the leaders into the party fold, Khanna said merging of the state unit of the Janata Party with the BJP was a testimony to the fact that the Modi wave was sweeping the minds of all communities and sections across the country. He said our opponents who had been time and again making attempts to paint the BJP as a communal party were now themselves hiding to escape the public wrath for creating confusion in their minds for vote-bank politics. “This cheap politics of the Congress and its allies has been exposed and every Indian has realised that the BJP is the party which treats all regions, religions and sections equal and works for their equitable development and welfare without any discrimination,” he said Sharma, on this occasion, said after the announcement of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP, the Congress was finding it difficult to reach to the people and answer as to what it had done for the country and its people. “Every Indian citizen is today aware that the Congress has no concrete foreign policy. It lacks the will to contain prices and check corruption. The only achievement of the UPA has been mis-governance, promoting the dynastic rule and working for a handful of big capital houses and black-marketers,” he said. Janata Party working president Shabir Ahmed Dar, Abdul Rehman Tikri, Sher Dil Khan, Abdul Hamid, Shagufta, Shanu, Javed Ahmed, Abdul Aziz Chauhan and other prominent leaders joined the BJP. |
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State told to improve delivery mechanism of rural job scheme
Jammu, November 13 The issues on which changes have been proposed in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and guidelines were taken up for discussion during the meeting. The Ministry stated that the MGNREGS, being a continuing programme, would not be affected by the model code of conduct and would be continued. “Although the Act has mandated payment of wages within 15 days, delay in payment of wages is both widespread and chronic. The delays occur due to system failures which can be rectified. In order to overcome the delay, split the period between the closure of muster rolls and generation of wage list into sub-processes, fixing time limits for each sub-process and persons responsible. Enter the details of these so that the system can generate the compensation payable,” a statement from the Ministry said. Sources said the state government had raised concerns in the implementation of the Delay Compensation System, claiming that the existing infrastructure (staff, paying agencies) was not sufficient to ensure the payment in 15 days, and to beef it up, it needed more resources than what was made available. Sources added that after hearing the state, the Rural Development Ministry exhorted to think from the side of the wage-seekers and consider ways to improve the implementation system, which could ensure better service delivery. They said outcome orientation is important to ensure that unproductive works are not taken up for execution and the quality of works is maintained as per standards. The state will prepare a module to guide the functionaries on the expected outcomes for each type of work and train them in using it. To begin with, NREGASoft will be modified to capture the expected outcomes. |
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Jammu, November 13 
Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir met Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhawan here today.
The Agriculture Minister briefed the Governor about the total fresh and dry
fruit production in the recently concluded horticulture season.
Normal life was thrown out of gear in Srinagar as the state government today imposed restrictions in many parts of the city to prevent people from taking out Muharram processions.
The restrictions were imposed in areas under the jurisdiction of seven police stations in and around the commercial hub Lal
Chowk.
