J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Minister rules out talks with Pak
JAMMU, Nov 29 — The Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, has said that there was no question of holding talks with Pakistan unless Islamabad agreed to wind up the training camps for the militants across the border.

DoT chalks out plan for J&K circle
JAMMU, Nov 29 — The Department of Telecommunications has chalked out an ambitious plan for the Jammu and Kashmir circle for 2000-01. This was stated by the outgoing Chief General Manager, Telecom. (CGMT), Mr Rakesh Lalwani, at a press conference here yesterday.

IED defused at tourist centre
SRINAGAR, Nov 29 — Three persons, including a foreign mercenary, were killed in militancy-related incidents even as security forces averted a major tragedy by the timely detection of an improvised explosive device in the high-security Tourist Reception Centre here, official sources said today.

HCI to promote pilgrim tourism in J&K
JAMMU, Nov 29 — The Hotel Corporation of India has chalked out a programme to cater to the requirements of pilgrims going to the shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi and the holy cave of Amarnath.

Minister rules out talks with Pak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Nov 29 — The Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, has said that there was no question of holding talks with Pakistan unless Islamabad agreed to wind up the training camps for the militants across the border.

Prof Gupta told newsmen here today that there was question of initiating a dialogue with Islamabad so long it continued to provide moral and material assistance to militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Minister made it clear that if talks were to be resumed with Pakistan at any stage they would be held simply to resolve the ongoing turmoil in Kashmir and nothing else.

He blamed Pakistan for having lost two opportunities for promoting good relations with India. He said that the first opportunity had been provided by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, by initiating Lahore bus yatra. He said Pakistan violated the spirit of the Lahore declaration by launching an armed attack on the Indian posts and positions in Kargil and Dras over a year ago.

Prof Gupta said the second opportunity had come when Hizbul Mujahideen outfit announced a unilateral ceasefire in July last. He said that again Pakistan sabotaged the peace process.

In reply to a question he made it clear that the Prime Minister had offered the suspension of operations against the militants. He wanted the media and others not to mistake suspension in these operations for a ceasefire.

The Minister said the offer was part of a goodwill gesture. He added that in case talks were initiated with separatists, including the All-Party Hurriyat Conference, and other militant outfits they would be held for resolving the ongoing turmoil.

DoT chalks out plan for J&K circle
From Our Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 29 — The Department of Telecommunications has chalked out an ambitious plan for the Jammu and Kashmir circle for 2000-01. This was stated by the outgoing Chief General Manager, Telecom. (CGMT), Mr Rakesh Lalwani, at a press conference here yesterday.

Mr Lalwani said it was within the broad guidelines issued by the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited that STD facilities to all tehsil headquarters had been provided during the current year. He said Internet nodes had been planned for all secondary-switching areas in the first phase and to all district headquarters in the second phase.

He disclosed that the Jammu and Kashmir circle was also planning the 3K system for Jammu, 10K lines of the GSM mobile system comprising of 5K at Jammu, 4K at Srinagar and 1K at Udhampur and Anantnag. He informed that 74 VPT sets had been received so far, of which 17 sets had been installed.

Elucidating the achievements made from April, 1998, to October 31, 2000, Mr Lalwani said the equipped capacity had increased from 1,12,417 to 2,21,838 and the working connections increased from 89,362 to 1,52,168.

All district headquarters had been provided with modern C-DoT SBM/ main exchanges.

Referring to the Internet services, Mr Lalwani said the subscriber base of the Internet had grown and there were 96 channels in October, 1999, and the total Internet subscribers in the Jammu and Kashmir circle had risen to 2,824.

On the STD PCOs, he said during the current year, 1,328 PCOs had been opened of which 799 had started functioning at Jammu. Mr Lalwani added that 50 highway STD PCOs had been opened and the number of local PCOs had gone up to 213, of which 145 were at Jammu.

IED defused at tourist centre

SRINAGAR, Nov 29 (PTI) — Three persons, including a foreign mercenary, were killed in militancy-related incidents even as security forces averted a major tragedy by the timely detection of an improvised explosive device in the high-security Tourist Reception Centre (trc) here, official sources said today.

The 2 kg ied, tied with a grenade and planted in a tiffin box inside a bathroom in the trc complex, was detected at around 11.40 a.m, the sources said, adding that the bomb disposal squad neutralised the ied.

The detection of the explosive inside the trc building caused panic among employees of nearby local stations of the All-India Radio and Doordarshan Kendra, who were also residing in the trc since the eruption of militancy, they said.

Meanwhile, two jawans who were injured in an ied blast in Ananatnag district of south Kashmir yesterday succumbed to their injuries, taking the toll to five, the sources said.

Militants shot dead a shopkeeper inside his shop at Ikhrajpora in Jawahar Nagar locality of Srinagar this afternoon, they said.

Ultras shot dead a former militant of Hizbul Mujahideen, at Ganai mohalla in Mattan area of Anantnag district today. He was killed while returning home after offering morning prayers, the sources said.

HCI to promote pilgrim tourism in J&K
From M.L.Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Nov 29 — The Hotel Corporation of India has chalked out a programme to cater to the requirements of pilgrims going to the shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi and the holy cave of Amarnath.

Stating this at a news conference, the Managing Director of the Hotel Corporation of India (HCI), Mr R.C. Aggarwal, said here today that the HCI had plans of promoting tourist traffic to Jammu and Kashmir which included pilgrims to the holy shrines.

He complimented the efforts of the Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, who was present at the press conference, for motivating the HCI to introduce package tours for pilgrims.

Mr Aggarwal said the HCI would set up its centre in Jammu for providing composite packages to pilgrim tourists visiting Jammu and its adjoining areas. The HCI would provide pick up facilities for pilgrim tourists and other visitors at Jammu Railway Station and the airport. The transport facilities would be arranged by the HCI for these tourists visiting Katra and Patnitop.

Under the Paradise Scheme, the HCI would offer packages to tourists visiting Srinagar, Gulmarg, Pahalgam. The duration of these visits would range between four and six days.