J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Centre to review J&K situation today
New Delhi, August 28
A high-level meeting in the Union Home Ministry is taking place tomorrow to review the situation in Poonch following the massacre of five persons of a family and the beheading of two priests.

Hurriyat not to contest poll
Srinagar, August 28
The Hurriyat Conference said today that it would not contest the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, dispelling speculations that it would change its stand regarding the poll.

J&K to have more apricot orchards
Srinagar, August 28
The Jammu and Kashmir Government has drawn up a plan for the establishment of new apricot orchards in view of its great potential in the state. The strategy includes promotion of apricot both by horizontal expansion and intensive management for increased per unit area production, official sources said today.

As part of Operation Sadhbhavana, Army officers distribute prizes among students in the inaccessible Kralpora block of the border district of Kupwara in north Kashmir. —Photo Amin War

Army’s computer programme
Srinagar, August 28
As part of Operation Sadhbhavana, the Army has launched a campaign about computer awareness among students in the remote area of Kralpora in the border district of Kupwara in north Kashmir.

• Tributes paid to Kargil hero
  
  

Centre to review J&K situation today
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 28
A high-level meeting in the Union Home Ministry is taking place tomorrow to review the situation in Poonch following the massacre of five persons of a family and the beheading of two priests.

The report of the district administration would also be available by then, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr I.D. Swamy, told ‘The Tribune’ tonight.

Asked whether a Central team would visit the area, Mr Swamy said, “the ground situation would be reviewed in the meeting and further course of action would be chalked out.”

Hurriyat not to contest poll

Srinagar, August 28
The Hurriyat Conference said today that it would not contest the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, dispelling speculations that it would change its stand regarding the poll.

“Fighting assembly elections cannot resolve the Kashmir issue, which is hanging fire for the past so many decades,” Hurriyat chairman Abdul Gani Bhat told a nine-member Delhi-based team of International Central for Peace Initiative, led by Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Tushar Gandhi.

“However, the Hurriyat is ready to fight the elections if held under the supervision of UN observers,” Bhat said. PTI

J&K to have more apricot orchards

Srinagar, August 28
The Jammu and Kashmir Government has drawn up a plan for the establishment of new apricot orchards in view of its great potential in the state. The strategy includes promotion of apricot both by horizontal expansion and intensive management for increased per unit area production, official sources said today.

Besides providing technical knowhow, 50 per cent subsidy on plant material, farm development, pit digging, tools and kits, chemical fertilisers, pesticides and fencing material would be made available to farmers, they said. Expenditure on account of subsidy component would be provided to the tune of Rs 8,000 per hectare. An area of 40 hectares was being covered under massive plantation programme this year, the sources said.

Apricot was mainly cultivated in the cold desert of the Ladakh region, besides other temperate areas of Jammu and Kashmir in the state, they said.

To provide high quality seedlings to farmers, the Horticulture Department was setting up an apricot nursery in Kargil district. Rs 2 lakh were being spent to establish the nursery this year alone. In addition, Rs 5 lakh were being utilised in apricot development programme during the current financial year, the sources said. PTI

Army’s computer programme
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 28
As part of Operation Sadhbhavana, the Army has launched a campaign about computer awareness among students in the remote area of Kralpora in the border district of Kupwara in north Kashmir.

The programme was inaugurated by Brig Prakash Menon of Trehgam Brigade at Kralpora yesterday. It was organised with a view to bringing about awareness in computer literacy among students, unemployed youth and teaching staff.

The unit, Ist Battalion of the 4th Gorkha Rifles, Panzgam, also has decided to sponsor deserving students belonging to economically poor class of Higher Secondary School, Kralpora, for a free computer course at the ICI, Kralpora.

Tributes paid to Kargil hero
Our Correspondent

Kathua, August 28
A function, ‘Amar Shaheed’, was held in the memory of Kargil hero Sub Girdhari Lal of 12 Jat Regiment at Kungwala village here. The Brigade Commander, Mr G.J. Singh, was the chief guest. MLA, Mr Somnath, SDPO Sambam, Col Mohan Singh and Tehsildar, Thakur Dass, among others paid tributes to the hero.