 |
Wednesday,
May 14, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Mufti losing popularity SI, 10 ultras killed in valley First car for Vaishno Devi
track Border fencing in Rajouri-Poonch sector
BJP sets up disciplinary
panel |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Seven-yr RI for rape
accused Water supply hit
|
|
Mufti losing popularity Jammu, May 13 Several factors were attributed to the downward curve in the Mufti’s popularity graph with the failure of the government to tackle the problem of unemployment being on the top. The Chief Minister had inherited several problems, the main being the memorandum of understanding the former National Conference government had signed with the Centre under which no new jobs were to be created to enable the state to receive at least 10 per cent hike in the annual plan allocations. And the PDP-Congress coalition government had no other alternative except to dole out Class IV jobs under SRP 43 to the victims of militancy. It could enrol several thousand educated youths under ‘Rehbr-i-Taleem’ scheme in which teachers received a monthly remuneration of Rs 1500. It was in this context that Mufti Sayeed had urged the Centre to fulfil the commitment of the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, that one lakh jobs were to be created for the youths in Jammu and Kashmir. Another factor was the government’s inability to check corruption. Also peoples’ problems were invariably attended at leisure. Whenever electricity supply was snapped in some parts of Jammu it took several hours to rectify the fault. During the last 24 hours drinking water supply in major area of posh Gandhi Nagar belt, which included the government colonies, remained suspended for over 20 hours. The Chief Minister had said that it would take time to change the system. But the people who suffered on account of unemployment, frequent power and drinking water crisis and corrupt practices in the government offices were fed up. There have been series of custodial killing cases, which included seven in the Chief Minister’s home belt of Bijebehar in south Kashmir in recent weeks. To top it all chairperson of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Ms Mehbooba Mufti, daughter of the Chief Minister, had been vocal in criticising the government for its inability to check violation of human rights by the security forces. Ms Mehbooba blamed the security forces for abusing human rights. Such indictment of the government prompted the National Conference leadership to demand the resignation of Mufti Sayeed. But the Chief Minister had his own problems. The Centre had not conceded a suitable economic package for the state ravaged by 13 years of militancy. The result was that a major chunk of the annual plan was being deducted at the source by way of interest on the central loan. Moreover, the Chief Minister did not get a free hand in tackling number of political, administrative and security problems since he was heading a coalition government. Also, security-related problems were usually handled by the Army and the paramilitary forces on which the Chief Minister had no direct control. Also there was a strong feeling in the PDP circles that a big chunk of people running the administration in the Civil Secretariat, police and other government departments continued to have pro-NC leanings. Hence they had been trying to create hurdles in the smooth functioning of the day to day administration. A senior National Conference leader and a former Finance Minister, Mr Abdul Rahim Rather, has said, “We have no need to join hands with the Congress or any other political group for toppling the coalition government because it will fall under its own weight.” But the supporters of the Mufti did not want the Chief Minister to treat Rather’s assertion as a political gimmick but initiate measures which could check the drift in the state administration. |
|
SI, 10 ultras killed in valley Srinagar, May 13 According to police sources, unidentified militants fired upon a patrol party of the police near the main chowk, Karan Nagar at about 6 pm this evening. The police officer, Sub-Inspector Foja Singh, was critically injured in the shootout and succumbed to his injuries while being shifted to the nearby SMHS hospital. The militants managed to escape, after the shootout, however, the area was cordoned off for conducting search for the assailants. Elsewhere 13 persons, including 10 militants and a woman, were killed while the security forces busted six militant hideouts seizing a big cache of arms and ammunition in Jammu and Kashmir since last night, a police spokesman said today. Seven unidentified militants were killed during an 18-hour encounter with the security forces in deep woods of Peer Panchal range, near Shopian in Pulwama district today. A defence spokesman said here that the bodies of seven militants were recovered from the jungles this afternoon after the exchange of fire ended at about 2.30 p.m. today. Seven AK rifles and two radio sets were recovered from the slain militants. The spokesman said the troops on a tip-off had cordoned off the area at about 7 p.m. last evening. The party was fired upon at about 9 p.m., which led to the encounter. Two Lashker-e-Toiba militants, including a self-styled district commander, were killed in an encounter with the security forces in Doda district last evening, the spokesman said. He said another Hizbul Mujahideen militant was killed by the security forces in the Kulgam area of Anantnag district. A woman identified as Fatima was shot dead by militants inside her house at Dardpora-Reshigund in Kupwara district of north Kashmir late last night, the spokesman said. He said militants killed two persons at Kasblari top in Poonch district and Larkati bridge in Rajouri district. The security forces busted three militant hideouts in the Surankote area of Poonch district. Three other militant hideouts were smashed by the security forces during search operations at Badran in Badgam district, Babademb in Srinagar and Gool in Udhampur district.
PTI |
|
First car for Vaishno Devi track Jammu, May 13 The eight-seater vehicle can accommodate seven to eight persons in addition to the driver, Additional Chief Executive Officer Shri Mata Vaishnov Devi Shrine Board Rohit Kansal said. However, out of the total distance of 16 km up to the holy cave, the vehicle would cover a distance of 6 km only from Adhkunwari to Vaishnov Devi Bhavan as the track above that was too steep for it to climb, he said. The vehicle had been subjected to several trial runs and was found fit for plying on the tough track, he added. The board was planning to purchase one more such car shortly to ensure that the vehicles remained stationed at two points on the track to facilitate a trouble-free pilgrimage for the devotees, Mr Kansal said. SRINAGAR: A meeting of the Select Committee on the Jammu and Kashmir Mata Vaishno Devi (Amendment) Bill 2003 was held under the chairmanship of Minister of State for Industries and Commerce Raman Mattoo in the Assembly Complex here last evening. The Chairman sought suggestions relating to the amendment of the Bill from the members of the committee. The members demanded copies of the Principal Act of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, 1988, for this purpose. Mr Mattoo sugessted that the Act should be amended in consultation with the ‘Tirupati Shrine Act’ which is one of the largest shrines in the country. The members also expressed desire to visit the Tirupati Shrine for assessment of arrangements and interaction with the management of the Tirupati Shrine Board. The committee members who attended the meeting include Prem Sagar, Kherm Lata Wakhloo, Shanti Devi, Raman, Jugal Kishore Sharma, Yogesh Sawhney and Balwant
Singh. PTI, UNI |
|
Border fencing in Rajouri-Poonch sector Rajouri, May 13 “We have begun border fencing along the LoC for the first time in the Rajouri-Poonch sector to stop cross-border infiltration of Pak ultras into the state,” General Officer Commanding, 16 Corps, Lt-Gen T.P.S. Brar, told a correspondent here. “This is the second major step in ending infiltration along the Indo-Pak border in Jammu and Kashmir after border fencing along the international border”, General Brar said. “The LoC fencing will be major way to stop them from entering the state and engineer trouble”, said the corps commander, who looks after the operational area from south of Pir Panjal. The LoC, meandering along the low-lying Kalidhar-Choki Chor mountain range in Jammu through the Hajipir mounts in Poonch to the Pir Panjal ranges in the Baramula-Kupwara district in Kashmir, had over 100 difficult infiltration routes into Jammu and Kashmir, he said. All passes to Kashmir and the 29 infiltration routes had been mined to stop armed intruders from entering Jammu and Kashmir, he said, adding that bullet-proof vests, night-vision devices and thermal imagers had been given to troops along the border.
PTI |
|
BJP sets up disciplinary
panel Jammu, May 13 The state BJP had served show-cause notices to veteran leader Shiv Charan Gupta, his son and Udhampur unit general secretary Pawan Gupta , state vice-president Chander Mohan Sharma, working committee member Kuldeep Raj Gupta and kisan morcha president Sohan Lal. Sources said initially, the party had decided to take disciplinary action against many other office-bearers, but the list was cut down as Dr Nirmal Singh did not want to open many fronts at the same time. These leaders had held a meeting to finalise arrangements for golden jubilee celebrations of the erstwhile Praja Parishad. |
|
Seven-yr RI for rape accused Jammu, May 13 First Additional Sessions Judge Jangh Bahadur Singh Jamwal, awarding the sentence yesterday, observed that the prosecutrix was a married woman and the accused, Balkar Singh, had committed the heinous act taking advantage of the fact that she was alone in the house. The prosecutrix had categorically said that her husband was away when the accused entered her house here and raped her on the evening of January 4, 2000, he said. Awarding seven years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 to the accused, the judge ordered that the accused would have to undergo simple imprisonment of two years in case of non-payment. The accused was also awarded a further one-year imprisonment and fine of Rs 1,000 on the charge of trespass and in case of default in payment of fine, he would have to undergo imprisonment for five months. However, all sentences would run concurrently, the court ordered.
PTI |
|
Water supply hit Jammu, May 13 The power supply was snapped last evening because of a storm and could not be restored till this afternoon by the Public Health engineering pumping house.
TNS |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
