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Saturday,
March 8, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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3 NC members stage walkout J&K ASSEMBLY
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Vohra’s appointment
hailed Two LeT ultras gunned
down Gen Vij briefed
on border situation Army teams look for 25 missing
men Woman hurt in Pak
shelling Bari-Brahama dry port to be
commissioned in June
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3 NC members stage walkout Jammu, March 7 Soon after question hour the three members were on their feet protesting against the “ill treatment given to them by the Finance Minister.” They said in a chorus “When we met Mr Baig in his office chambers yesterday he behaved rudely with us and forced us to quit his chambers.” They wanted the Speaker to intervene in the matter. Mr Mushtaq Bukhari threatened to move a privilege motion against the minister, who was present in the House and remained calm. After raising a hue and cry the three walked out of the House. An hour later Mr Baig, while moving the vote on accounts, referred to the incident briefly. He said “when members expect funds coming out of the pockets of the Finance Minister one is bound to lose cool.” He apologised and said members should also realise the difficulties being faced by him in the light of severe financial difficulties. During zero hour one NC member, Mr Abdul Rahim Rather, raised the issue of killing of three civilians and wounding of several others by the security forces in Kreeri village in Baramulla district yesterday. He said such excesses and atrocities should be stopped and wondered why the coalition government had not been able to stop these atrocities when it had included this in its Common Minimum Programme. Several NC members on their feet supporting Mr Rather. At a later stage a senior ruling PDP member, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, also referred to the incident and condemned the way the security forces were using “innocent people as human shield against the militants.” The Finance Minister, Mr Muzaffar Hussain Baig, while criticising the security forces for committing excesses said inquiry had been ordered in this regard. He said the government had made it clear to the security agencies to fight militants without causing any harm to the innocent people and added “these security personnel who are using innocent people as human shield are the enemies of India and those found guilty would be punished.” During the question hour the government informed Mr Mohammad Syed Akhoon and Mir Saifullah (both NC) that there were nearly 1.34 lakh youth registered in the employment exchanges and the government was committed to provide job to them. Mr Abdul Rehman Verri, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, said the ban of fresh recruitment had been imposed by the previous NC Government and “we have no plan to lift it.” In reply to another question the government informed the House that after the completion of the survey on the construction of the Mughal Road, which could provide an alternate link between Jammu and Srinagar, the project, costing over Rs 159 crore, had been submitted to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for sanction. Meanwhile, according to a UNI report in his 50-minute speech on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor’s Address to the joint session of legislature, the Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said his government, with all financial constraints and increasing wage bill, would endeavour to formulate schemes for providing employment to urban unemployed. Assuring to consider one job for one family as per election manifesto, Mr Sayeed said a mechanism was being adopted to incorporate a column in the application forms for jobs seeking information whether any member of the seeker’s family had a government job. The employment should be focussed on enhancing productivity and not creating more and more daily wagers and class IV employees. Disapproving the policy of increasing an army of workless daily wagers, he said they were a strain on the state’s meagre resources. He said, 10,000 jobs are being created in education sector and 3,000 in the police. The Centre has agreed to remove the rider for filling up of freezed vacancies in Jammu and Kashmir as a special case in the state. The railways is absorbing about 500 engineers in its new project in the state besides opening avenues of employment for different categories of skilled and unskilled workers. Similarly, the construction of other projects like super national highway would unfold vast employment opportunities for the local youth in coming months. PTI add: The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, has said a comprehensive sewerage project for Srinagar would soon be formulated for the World Bank funding. Intervening during supplementaries to a question by Ali Mohamad Sagar today, the Chief Minister said owing to the positive response of the Bank, the government would seek funding for the project as has been done for the Rs 450 crore mega water supply scheme for Jammu. He assured seeking institutional funding for Kathua sewerage scheme and said the problem with regard to Brari Nambal sewerage would be looked into. Sayeed said the state’s housing minister, currently in Srinagar, had intimated him that the Srinagar city was almost submerged due to snow-rain waters. To meet such a situation, long term measures were required, he added. |
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J&K ASSEMBLY Jammu, March 7 He said “aid from the Centre should be treated assistance to the people.” Moving a vote-on-Account in the Assembly today the Finance Minister said if Delhi “treats Kashmir as the country’s crown it should prove it by rising above partisan politics and help the state to rebuild economy and financial infrastructure.” Delhi has to show how it treats the people of Jammu and Kashmir now and for ever, he said adding that the “future of Jammu and Kashmir is linked with the future of India.” Defending his moving a vote-on-Account instead of presenting regular Budget proposals Mr Beig said “it is an extraordinary and unusual situation in the state warranting unusual steps.” He said “our Budget proposals are ready but we have not completed the exercise of seeing where does our economy stand.” The Finance Minister said “first we have to determine where to go and how to go so that we can tell people about the actual fiscal situation.” “If we fail, we will go back to the people. We will not stick to power,” he said. He asked “what is the fun of being in power when we cannot provide jobs to educate youths, electricity and drinking water to the people?” Mr Beig cautioned the Centre against adopting old-fashioned strategy while releasing funds to the state because with rise in unemployment the educated youth “may become fuel. They will be used as fodder for those trading in death and violence.” Pointing towards the Opposition members, who earlier had criticised the government for moving a vote-on-Account instead of presenting regular Budget proposals Mr Beig asked “what is use of preparing Budget proposals when out of the annual allocation of Rs 2200 crore Rs 1600 crore were being spent by the state goverment on servicing the central debt annually?” He said “despite improvement in the realisation of tax arrears the internal resources were not sufficient enough to meet the wage bill of the employees.” The result, Me Beig said, was that “we have to bank on overdrafts, financial assistance from the Planning Commission, the Finance Commission and on the centrally-sponsored schemes.” He said “we do not want to bank on loans and overdrafts.” He disclosed that the overdraft with the Jammu and Kashmir Bank had touched over Rs 1200 crore and on which “we have to pay an interest at the rate of 14 per cent.” The Finance Minister said that the state government in general and the Chief Minister, Mufti Sayeed, had approached the Governor Reserve Bank of India, with the request that steps might be initiated to “help us in coming out of the fiscal morass.” He said that if either Rs 1000 crore was written off or the interest rate reduced to five to six per cent “it will change the contours of the Budget proposals.” He made a strong plea for not delaying the release of central assistance. In the connection he referred to the inordinate delay in the release of Rs 336 crore, which the Centre had agreed to sanction as additional financial assistance, and said the amount had been withheld because “we had not been able to reduce the deficit by 5 per cent annually.” “We cannot go in for horrowing from the market because of the failure to reduce the budgetary deficit by five per cent. As such we are caught in a web from where it is difficult to come out Mr Beig said. He requested the opposition NC members to support “our effort for securing all financial assistance from the Centre” and added that former Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah could play a role as he was a partner in the NDA. Members lauded Mr Beig for preparing a realistic Budget after moving the vote-on-Account for three months. |
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Vohra’s appointment hailed Srinagar, March 7 “Nominating Vohra as interlocutor is a positive step taken by the government. We hope the process of dialogue will be broad-based and New Delhi and Islamabad will enter into dialogue to settle the Kashmir and other issues through talks”, Rahi, who heads the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Party, said here. Addressing party workers, the former divisional commander of pro-Pakistan outfit Hizbul Mujahideen said the restoration of peace was on the agenda of the international community. “To respect the wishes and aspirations of the international community and the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the two countries should enter into dialogue and settle all disputes, including Kashmir”, he said. Rahi, who unsuccessfully contested the last Assembly elections from Kupwara, added “while dialogue with the people of the state and different groups is imperative for the restoration of peace, for permanent resolution to the issue, the governments of the two countries have more responsibilities”. Rahi was among the four former militants who entered into dialogue with the Centre in 1993-94. JAMMU: The process of dialogue is the only way to solve the “vexed and complex” issue of Jammu and Kashmir and restore peace and normalcy, Peoples’ Democratic Forum (PDF) legislative party leader Mohammad Yousef Tarigami said. “Nobody should question the wisdom and integrity of Centre’s new interlocutor on Kashmir, Mr N.N. Vohra, who has been asked to hold dialogue with the elected representatives and other sections in Jammu and Kashmir”, Mr Tarigami, also state secretary of the CPM, said. “There is no readymade solution to the Kashmir problem except through a dialogue”, Mr Tarigami, also member of the State Coordination Committee of Coalition Partners (SCCCP), told the state Assembly here.
PTI |
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Two LeT ultras gunned down Srinagar, March 7 Two LeT militants were killed after several hours of gunfight last night with troops of the Rashtriya Rifles at Ganiapora-Chandipora in the Ashmuqam area of Anantnag district, the spokesperson said. One of the militants was identified as Abdul Hami Khan, a resident of Ashmuqam, while the identity of the other was being ascertained, he said. The spokesperson said the house of one Mohammad Akbar Bhat was also gutted in the encounter. Some arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain ultras. The HuJI militants, identified as Ashiq Hussain and Mushtaq Ahmad, were arrested by the security forces during search operations at Chatpora village in Pulwama district. A pistol, a wireless set and some ammunition were recovered from them, the spokesperson said.
PTI |
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Gen Vij briefed
on border situation Jammu, March 7 The two discussed the border situation in the light of intermittent firing and shelling by the Pakistani troops. The Army chief was informed that the intensity of firing by the Pakistani troops had been reduced following suitable retaliatory measures taken by the Indian forces. Lt-Gen Brar explained to General Vij, who completed his two-day tour of the state today, that there was no laxity in the defence preparedness on the border and “our troops were fully alert for meeting any challenge.” General Vij also discussed the security scenario in Jammu region and he was informed that militants had been forced to be on the defensive. He was informed that the security forces continued carrying out operations against militants. Earlier, the Army chief visited forward areas in Rajouri, Poonch and farflung belts in Udhampur and Doda districts where he interacted with soldiers and officers. General Vij expressed satisfaction over the security and operational preparedness. |
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Army teams look for 25 missing
men Jammu, March 7 According to Defence Ministry authorities, the avalanches in a vast area in the Kargil sector on Monday have killed 10 soldiers and four porters so far. Sniffer dogs and specialised avalanche rescue equipment have been pressed into service right from Zojilla Pass, linking Kashmir with Ladakh to 19,000 ft high Siachen glacier for rescuing the missing persons. The defence authorities said helicopters could not be pressed into service for rescue operations because of bad weather and the Army teams were carrying out manual rescue operations. The authorities believed that late snow and tremors may have been the cause of avalanches in which more than 14 persons were buried alive and 4 were wounded. |
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Woman hurt in Pak shelling Jammu, March 7 Heavy small arms fire and mortar bomb shelling by the Pakistani troops were reported since last evening along LoC in civilian and forward defence locations in Jangard, Seria, Kalsian, Krishnagati, Kerni, Noushera, Bhawani, Choki Chora, Balakote and Laam areas of Poonch and Rajouri sectors, the sources said. A woman, identified as Drapati Devi, was wounded in shelling over Seria village in the Rajouri sector, the sources said adding that she was admitted to the hospital. Indian troops retaliated and the exchange of firing and shelling continued till this morning, the sources said adding that there was no casualty reported on the Indian side.
PTI |
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Bari-Brahama dry port to be
commissioned in June Jammu, March 7 On it’s commissioning, the dry port, also known as Inland Clearance Depot, will provide scientific warehousing of industrial raw material and finished goods, bonded warehousing facility, custom clearance and weighing facility, the Chief Secretary, Dr Sudhir S.
Bloeria, said while chairing a high-powered meeting of the State-level Export Promotion Committee
(SLEPC) here last evening. To be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 7.06 crore over 50
kanals, the state of the art Inland Clearance Depot at Bari-Brahmna would help in tapping the export potential of the state. Approving the setting up of Rs 3.47 crore air cargo complex at Rengreth in Srinagar, the Chief Secretary said earlier the Srinagar airport was handling only export cargo but with the availability of an air cargo at Srinagar itself, exports of Kashmir craft would get a
boost. UNI |
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