 |
| Sunday,
August 5, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
|
Amarnath pilgrimage comes to an end
Probe into firing on
procession ordered No shift in APHC stand:
Bhat Govt bans private practice by
docs |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
3 cops killed, 5 hurt
in road mishap
|
|
Amarnath pilgrimage comes to an end Srinagar, August 4 Mahant Deepinder Giri led a group of more than 100 sadhus and pilgrims on the occasion of special prayers. The day also coincides with Raksha Bandhan, that was observed with religious fervour and gaiety today. Special prayers were offered at the Shankaracharya and other major temples here where the Hindus offered special prayers. The holy mace of Lord Shiva or the Chhari Mubarak that was led by the Mahant from here on Monday last was taken from Pahalgam on Wednesday and reached the cave early this morning after halting at various stages, including Chandanwari, Sheshnag and Panjtarni. More than 1,18,500 pilgrims from different parts of the country had darshan of the holy ice lingam of Lord Shiva at the cave shrine at a height of 13,500 ft above the sea level. The number of yatris has exceeded the target of 1.05 lakh pilgrims this year. The government had planned to restrict the Amarnath yatra to only 1.05 lakh pilgrims spread over 35 days with not more than 3500 pilgrims leaving from the base camp every day. The regulation of yatris was planned in view of the Nitish Sengupta Commission following the tragedy of 1996 when at least 250 pilgrims had died in heavy rains on the 30-km trek from Chandanwari to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath. This year, the Jammu and Kashmir Government has already constituted the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), a nine-member body with the Governor as its Chairman. Since the board, on the pattern of Vaishno Devi Shrine Board of Katra in Jammu, was in its infancy, it had to take up the regulation of pooja and yatra within a 5-km distance from the holy cave. Several other steps, including the construction of modern stairs near the cave and the widening of the Baltal cave trek, were taken by the board. “The yatris might have felt a lot of difference this year with the construction of toilets at various places”, said Mahant Deepinder Giri. This year’s yatra was marked by the attack by a suspected fidayeen of the Lashkar-e-Toiba at Sheshnag on July 21 in which at least seven persons, including two police officers, were
killed. |
|
Probe into firing on
procession ordered Srinagar, August 4 The government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident, the second in the area this year. The Deputy Commissioner, Budgam, Mr Rohit Kansal, told The Tribune that the orders for the appointment of a magistrate to probe the incident would be issued within a few days. A group of mediapersons, most of them cameramen and videographers, were thrashed by security forces after being prevented from reaching Magam on May 10. The mediapersons were on their way to the township to visit the site of an explosion at a camp of the security forces. According to the reports reaching here, the Army has denied involvement in the firing at the procession of mourners yesterday. The trouble, according to eyewitnesses, started when the mourners were agitated over the sight of vehicles of security forces on the main road. The mourners raised slogans against the security forces. Some of them started pelting stones on the security forces, while another report said some militants hiding in the procession fired towards the security forces. The security forces, sensing trouble, opened fire indiscriminately on the procession, killing two persons, one of them on the spot, and injuring at least seven. Those injured are undergoing treatment at the SMHS hospital and Bones and Joints Hospital here. The condition of two of them is stated to be critical. A large number of people had converged at Goigam, to observe the fourth day of mourning of the death of three militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen, including Mustafa Khan, a battalion commander. The three militants were killed in an encounter with security forces on Monday while they were holed up inside a shrine. Several separatist leaders, including Nayeem Ahmad Khan, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir National Front, attended the fourth day observance of mourning. Senior leaders of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, chairman, and former chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani, were kept under house arrest here to prevent them from visiting Goigam. |
|
No shift in APHC stand: Bhat New Delhi, August 4 “There is no shift from our earlier stand. We will not hold talks with Mr Pant,” APHC chairman Prof Abdul Gani Bhat told UNI over phone from Srinagar. “The chapter of Mr Pant’s activities has been closed as his agenda excludes resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” Prof Bhat said. However, the Chairman said the APHC was still awaiting a response from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to their letter seeking an audience with him. “We had sought a meeting with both Mr Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf during their summit talks. While we were able to meet Gen Musharraf, the Prime Minister has not responded so far,” he said. Prof Bhat said the conglomerate was not against Mr Pant as a person. “There is nothing against him,” he added. The APHC chairman said the situation in the Kashmir valley had worsened in the recent past. Yesterday, Mr Pant said it would not issue a fresh invitation of talks to the APHC.
UNI |
|
Govt bans private practice by docs Srinagar, August 4 Any violation of the ban would now come under the definition of criminal misconduct as per the Criminal Law (amendment) Ordinance, 2001, promulgated by the state government, he said. By another amendment in the Prevention of Corruption Act, a law has been made to take action against any member of the institute for criminal misconduct if he or she “resorts to private practice in any form or manner”. The ordinance also says “whosoever abets or aids in the omission of criminal misconduct under Section 1-A or allows his/her premises or nursing homes to be used for private practice in contravention of the said sub-section, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine which may extend up to Rs 10,000”. Meanwhile, Minister for Health and Medical Education, Mian Altaf Ahmed, has sought the cooperation of chemists and druggists for strict implementation of the government order to curb the mushrooming of chemist and druggist shops in the valley. During the past decade, the valley had witnessed a rapid growth of unlicensed chemist and druggist shops allegedly selling spurious and substandard drugs hazardous to health, the minister said. However, the government had allowed one time opportunity to these chemists to complete the formalities prescribed under SRO 192 issued recently, he added.
PTI |
|
3 cops killed, 5 hurt
in road mishap Srinagar, August 4 An official spokesman said the driver of the vehicle lost control following brake-failure. He said all three died on the spot and five injured policemen were admitted to a hospital.
UNI |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
