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Friday,
June 20, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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J&K ASSEMBLY JCO, SI among 8
killed CPM rejects US role in Indo-Pak
talks 92 prisoners
released 61,723 registered for Amarnath
yatra |
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Srinagar
railway station by 2004: Nitish BJP ridicules Mufti’s claim Autonomy demand ‘obsolete’ School upgraded after 117
years
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J&K ASSEMBLY Srinagar, June 19 This was stated by the Minister for Labour and Employment, Mr Nawang Rigzin, in the Legislative Assembly today. He said the figure could be higher as registration with employment exchanges was not compulsory, adding that the government was making all-out efforts to generate employment opportunities for the youth. Amid noisy scenes during question hour over the issue of unemployment, the Speaker, Mr Tara Chand, announced to take up the matter for a half-an-hour discussion later. Replying to a clubbed question by seven legislators, Mr Rigzin said the Government of India has constituted a task force headed by the Cabinet Secretary for the implementation of the Prime Minister’s announcement about 1 lakh jobs in two years in the state, as the task is to be completed by August 2005. He said the Centre had agreed to relax the ban on fresh appointments against the available posts in the Central Government offices and nationalised banks functioning in the state. The Employment Department had been entrusted with the job of collecting information about the number of vacant posts available in these offices. The Minister for Education, Mr Harshdev Singh, replying to the questions by Mr Mushtaq Ahmad Bukhari, Haji Abdul Rashid Dar and Qaisar Jamsheed Dar informed the House that the opening of new colleges depended upon the resources available for developing infrastructure. He said the number of women students belonging to Surankote tehsil was too small to necessitate a women’s college at
Surankote. Replying to another question by Mr Abdul Gani Malik, the minster said plus two pass candidates were being appointed as teachers under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan. He said in case plus two candidates were not available, eligible candidates from the adjacent villages were considered for appointment. The Minister for Power, Mr Mohammad Sahrif Niaz, while replying to the supplimentaries in the Legislative Assembly, said Rs 58.88 crore had been spent for generating power through gas turbines during 2002-2003 till date. The Minister for Revenue, Hakim Mohammad Yaseen, said tehsildars were competent to issue permanent residence certificates till 1968 but in view of the issuance of such certificates to non-state subjects of J&K, the powers were withdrawn and Deputy Commissioners, Additional Deputy Commissioners, Subdivisional Magistrates and Assistant Commissioners were empowered to issue the
PRCs. |
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JCO, SI among 8 killed Srinagar, June 19 An official spokesman said security forces averted a major tragedy when they detected and defused a 60-kg powerful improvised explosive device planted by militants on the Kokernag-Anatnang road in south Kashmir last evening. Meanwhile, a militant was killed by security forces in an encounter at Choornar forest in the frontier district of Kupwara today. In another incident, militants kidnapped and later killed one Fareed Ahmad at Qazigund in south Kashmir late last night. In a major strike, militants attacked Village Defence Committee (VDC) members in Udhampur district, killing two VDC members and a teenaged boy and set ablaze two residential houses last night, the spokesman said. The militants killed VDC member Asgar Ali and a 12-year-old boy in Zamdri village in Udhampur district. Houses of two VDC members were torched. In Chinthal village in the district, he said, ultras shot dead a VDC member Mohammad Ismail last night. His rifle was also taken away by the militants, the spokesman added. A report from Baramulla said acting on a specific information, security forces conducted search operation at Drangbal in downtown Baramulla early this morning. Official sources said when the security forces were sealing the area around 3.30 a.m, militants hiding there opened fire with automatic weapons besides hurling grenades. In the ensuing clash two militants — Mohammad Yousuf and Mohammad Shafi — were killed. Residents of the area told UNI over phone that they heard loud explosions during the encounter. In another incident, security personnel resorted to lathicharge and firing in the air on the funeral procession of Mohammad Yousuf, in which pro-freedom slogans were being raised, near checkpost today. Sources said three persons were injured in the lathicharge and the condition of one of them is stated to be very critical. Shops and business establishments in the entire downtown remained closed in protest against the incident. Official sources said militants also attacked a BSF search party at Dalwan in the central Kashmir district of Badgam last evening killing a Sub-Inspector. However, the militants managed to escape under the cover of darkness. In another fierce encounter at Pulwama in south Kashmir, a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) laid down his life even as two militants, including a self-styled batallion commander of Hizbul Mujahideen were killed. Four militants were arrested by security forces while another was overpowered by villagers. An official spokesman said a militant entered the house of one Abdul Rashid Bhat at Kounserbal Kulgam. However, the households caught hold of him and handed him over to police. Security forces arrested two Hizbul Mujahideen militants carrying two AK rifles, four magaines and 131 rounds at Kangan Hall in south Kashmir, the spokesman said. One militant each was arrested at Watpora and Batmaloo during nightlong raids on suspected militant hideouts. Some arms and ammunition were also recovered from the possession of the militants. Security forces also conducted house-to-house searches at Malroo on the Srinagar-Bandipora Road and Stadium Colony in Badshah Nagar today. All men living in these localties were paraded before security informers.
— UNI, PTI |
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CPM rejects US role in Indo-Pak
talks Srinagar, June 19 “We do not need any middlemen… why is it that the US leaders visit India and then go to Pakistan?” said Mr Chatterjee, leader of the CPM parliamentary group in the Lok Sabha and chairman of the Standing Committee on Information Technology, while addressing the gathering at a reception given to him by the state unit of the CPM at Tagore Hall here this afternoon. Mr Chatterjee is on a three-day Kashmir visit. Referring to the recent visit of a delegation of Pakistan National Assembly members that has been reciprocated, Mr Chatterjee said there was a craving for peace in both countries but regretted that “fundamentalist forces” on both sides were responsible for creating troubles. He condemned cross-border terrorism and attempts to “politicising” the situation. Lauding the role of the Jammu and Kashmir Government, Mr Chatterjee said that there was a perceptible change in the atmosphere. Healing touch was the real solution to solve the problem, he added. Mufti Mohammad
Sayeed, Chief Minister, reiterated his government’s stand on the restoration of peace with dignity and asked the separatists that dialogue was the only way out to restore peace. He regretted that there was a wide gap between the mindset in the state and New Delhi. |
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92 prisoners released Srinagar, June 19 However, there are 560 more such prisoners in and outside the state, whose cases were lying pending for consideration, JK Home Minister Abdul Rehman Veeri said in a written reply. The government has an open mind on reviewing cases of imprisonment under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978, he said. Each case, he claimed, will be discussed depending upon merit. A high-level committee has already been formed for the purpose. The minister said 92 detenues, who were lodged in different jails in and outside the state, have been released by the government during the past nine months. As many as 53 — were released after their imprisonment was quashed by the state high court, according to the minister. He said nine prisoners had been released on parole while 26 others on the recommendations of a review committee headed by the state’s Financial Commissioner (Home). Four others were released on the recommendations of the state Advisory Board, Mr Veeri said. Out of the 560 people jailed under the Public Safety Act, 89, including 74 foreigners, are lodged in jails outside the state, the minister disclosed. Thirtytwo of them, he said, were lodged in Jodhpur Jail, 15 in Hazaribagh, 11 in Tihar Jail, 10 in Sangroor, eight in Naini, seven in Varanasi and six in Agra. Release of detenues was stopped after the BJP and several other organisation criticised the coalition government for setting free prisoners like former Huriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mohammad Yaseen Malik, Noor Mohammad Kalwal and other top separatist leaders. Later, a senior official from the Central government was included in the review committee, which subsequently could hold just one meeting as the Central representative was not available. The National Conference (NC) criticised the Mufti government for ‘’surrendering power regarding release the militants to the Centre’’. However, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayed announced on the floor of the house recently that his government was committed to release all detenues who are not involved in any crimes.
— UNI |
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61,723 registered for Amarnath yatra Jammu, June 19 “We have registered 61,723 pilgrims till today at 84 different J and K Bank branches across the country,” official sources said here today. “There is a heavy rush for the registration and if this situation continued, then the target of 1.12 lakh plus additional quota to 10,000 would be achieved within next three to four days,” they added. While the shrine board has fixed 1.12 lakh target of pilgrims for this year’s annual yatra, an additional quota of 10,000 to 13,000 pilgrims has also been fixed, taking the total to 1.25 lakh pilgrims, they said. Last year, 1,10,793 persons performed pilgrimage to the cave shrine, they said, adding that in 2001, 1,19,037 visited the shrine. The record so far was 1,73,334 pilgrims visiting in 2000, followed by 1,49,920 in 1998, 1,20,000 in 1996, 1,14,366 in 1999 and 79,035 in 1997. This year, one more route, Baltal, has been thrown open for pilgrimage apart from the Pahalgam-Chandanwari main route, officials of the Tourism Department said. Besides, 3,500 pilgrims would be allowed to trek to the cave shrine from Jammu each day, they said. In Jammu, 26 places have been demarcated with full security for housing pilgrims during the month-long yatra, they said.
— PTI |
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Srinagar railway station by 2004: Nitish Srinagar, June 19 Mr Kumar, who is on a two-day visit to the state to assess the progress of work on the rail project announced by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee last year, said the project would boost the economic activity in the valley. The Railway Minister, who was accompanied by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, told reporters that the railway department was working out a scheme for giving employment to those whose land has been acquired for the project. Talking to reporters after inspecting the work on the Srinagar railway station at Nowgam here, he said over Rs 450 crore had been disbursed in the valley as compensation. The roads that would be damaged due to the execution of the project would be repaired and upgraded with new technology, he said. He said the four-platform Srinagar railway station, to be built at a cost of Rs 6 crore, was being developed in such a way that it would become a tourist attraction. He said 85 per cent work had been completed and with the completion of the Qazigund-Baramula stretch by 2005, the train service within the valley would commence. With the completion of the Jalandhar-Jammu double lane track by 2007, the infrastructural constraints for introducing more trains in the state woule be overcome, he said. Talking about the recent rail accidents, Mr Kumar said it was a matter of concern. However, the number of accidents had gone down as compared to previous years, he said. “We are introducing fireproof coaches to prevent accidents in the future,” he said adding that the coaches would be replaced in a phased manner.
— PTI, UNI |
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BJP ridicules Mufti’s claim Jammu, June 19 Reacting to a statement made by the Chief Minister on the floor of the Assembly recently, BJP spokesman Hari Om said here yesterday that in the Jammu region the Congress had won 15 seats and had polled 29.75 per cent of the total votes on the plank of the establishment of three regional development boards. The BJP, he said had polled 11.68 per cent of the total votes polled on the slogan of the establishment of three regional councils. Dr Hari Om stated that other parties, including the Panthers Party and the state morcha, had polled 12.67 per cent votes and won five seats the parties had incorporated in their poll manifestos the demand for statehood for Jammu. He said the PIP, which was opposed to the reorganisation of the state, had polled only 1.76 per cent votes. The BJP leader said these figures indicated that a majority of people in the Jammu region were either for the reorganisation of the state or for setting up regional councils for ensuring fair allocation of funds. |
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Autonomy demand ‘obsolete’ Jammu, June 19 Stating this at a press conference here today, the President of the BJP, Dr Nirmal Singh, and the Union Minister of State for Defence, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, said: “We will fight separatism which has restricted the state’s full integration with the rest of the country.” The Union Minister described the demand for greater autonomy not only obsolete but also extraneous. “We should try for a better emotional and constitutional relation between the state and the rest of the country,” he said. |
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School upgraded after 117 years Jammu, June 19 Established by the erstwhile ruler of Jammu and Kashmir Maharaja Partap Singh, in 1886 along with neighbouring Reasi school, the primary school at Pourakotla, changed its history after being upgraded this week, the Minister of State for PHE, Flood Control and Irrigation, Mr Jugal Kishore, said today. He said the Reasi school was a higher secondary school and would soon be converted into a degree college. Nearly 1,000 to 2,000 students of this mountainous belt would be benifited by this upgradation, he said.
— PTI |
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