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J&K Ministry reshuffle put on hold Hizbul
commander surrenders
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First-ever
tourists from Pak visit Sindhu fest Differences
between Mufti, Dy CM on yatra Extend
yatra, says Chhari-Mubarak Mahant VHP
holds training camp for women Protesters
block traffic 
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J&K Ministry reshuffle put on hold Jammu, June 19 Reliable sources told this correspondent here today that Congress leaders in Delhi turned down the idea of reshuffle when the Mufti along with the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, met them earlier this week. It is learnt that the Mufti may assign the Health portfolio to Mrs Suman Bhagat until two new ministers of the Congress are inducted in place of Mr Madan Lal Sharma and Mr Lal Singh who have gone to the Lok Sabha. Mr Lal Singh today submitted his resignation to the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, in Delhi. Mr Sharma has been asked by Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, Central Minister, to follow suit. The Public Works portfolio of Mr Sharma may temporarily be given to some Congress minister of the Kashmir valley. The Mufti had reportedly gone to Delhi with a proposal of sweeping changes in the ministry. A large-scale reshuffle would have led to bickering among the coalition partners. As things stand today, no minister is likely to be dropped and only two Congress MLAs may be inducted into the ministry in place of Mr Lal Singh and Mr Sharma. The idea of removing the Panthers Party from the coalition is also learnt to have been put on hold although the Deputy Chief Minister was insisting on this. The demand had come following the Chairman of the party, Mr Bhim Singh, contesting the Lok Sabha election from the Udhampur constituency against Mr Lal Singh. Moreover, he has publicly been criticising the policies of the Mufti government. The continuing tussle between the Finance Minister, Mr Muzaffar Beig and the Consumer Affairs Minister, Mr Taj Mohiuddin, had also triggered speculation that the latter may be removed from the ministry. |
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Hizbul commander surrenders Jammu, June 19 Identified as Abdul Latif, Alias Hamza, area commander of the Basantgarh sector in Udhampur district, he laid down arms and ammunition before a top official of the security forces in Kathua district. He surrendered one AK-47 rifle, a hand grenade, three magazines, 88 rounds, one radio set and an IED. With today’s surrender, a total of 37 militants, including commanders of different outfits, have surrendered before the Army and BSF troops during the last three months. Army troops who are responsible for these surrenders had been encouraging people in the remote areas to motivate militants and engineer their surrenders so that they can benefit from the rehabilitation policy announced by the Jammu and Kashmir government. SRINAGAR:
The Army has foiled a major infiltration bid by militants along the Line of Control in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, killing five ultras and seizing a huge cache of arms and ammunition from them, defence sources said on Saturday. The militants were killed by an ambush party of the army nearly two kilometres inside the LoC Near Machil sector. The ambush party observed some suspicious movement along the Line of Control following specific inputs that militants were gathering to cross over to the Indian side. The militants were challenged last night and a firefight ensued which lasted for nearly an hour. During search operations, bodies of two ultras were recovered by the jawans, they said. As the jawans were retrieving the bodies of the slain militants some milltants opened fire on them. The jawans retaliated the fire killing the remaining three
militants as well. Three AK rifles, several rocket-propelled grenade launchers and UBGLs have been recovered from the spot which lies on the top of a steep hillock near the LoC. A major tragedy was averted on Saturday when the security forces discovered a 10 kg improvised explosive device in the Kulgam area of Anantnag district in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said here. The IED, fitted in a gas cylinder and planted by the roadside at Parihar village was detected by a security forces’ patrol early this morning and later destroyed by the bomb disposal squad in Situ. The subsequent controlled explosion of the device prevented many a casualty as the IED was loaded with nails and iron scrap to enhance the deadliness of the blast. Meanwhile, four civilians were injured on Saturday when militants hurled a grenade towards a BSF vehicle at the Kulgam chowk in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district, official sources said. The grenade missed its target and exploded on the roadside, injuring four civilians.
— PTI |
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Greeting card bombs seized Jammu, June 19 The Army seized two such bombs that were being carried by a top deputy commander of the Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen (TuM), Abdul Haider, and his bodyguard, Abu Wahid, who were killed in an encounter at Surankot in Poonch district yesterday. Both terrorists were residents of Pakistan. These bombs explode as soon as these are opened, a security personnel said. The security network throughout the country has been alerted as the VVIPs could be targeted. It is learnt that the terrorists were also carrying telephone numbers of certain mediapersons. The documents recovered from the slain terrorists indicate that they were assigned the task of targeting certain sensitive installations in various parts of the country. |
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First-ever tourists from Pak visit Sindhu fest Leh, June 19 Janardhan Bhagwan Das, alias Sain Sadaram Sahib, was given a rousing reception when the organisers of the festival introduced him as the first-ever guest in Ladakh from the neighbouring country. Sain is the head priest of Sindh province in Pakistan and is being accompanied on his maiden visit to the border state by his associates — Lakshmi Chand, a singer, and Satram Das. The three are the first regular tourists from Pakistan visiting the state. Earlier, Pakistani nationals have come here either as officials or members of some delegations. The group has come on the invitation of the chairman of the Sindhi Academy, New Delhi, Suresh Keswani, who was also present on the occasion. Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed welcomed the guests and hoped that it would augur well for relations between India and Pakistan. He expressed the hope that in the years to come, more and more people from Pakistan would come here as tourists. Mr Sayeed presented gifts to Sain. The latter reciprocated the gesture with a Pakistani turban which, he said, he had brought specially for the Chief Minister. Asked how he felt to be in Jammu and Kashmir, the head priest replied that he was overwhelmed by the affection he received from the people and the visit was a great experience.
— UNI |
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Differences between Mufti, Dy CM on yatra Jammu, June 19 The issue came up at a function in the industrial estate at Bari Brahmanan, near here, where the two leaders had gone in the morning. While making a speech, Mr Sharma said that the duration of the pilgrimage should be extended to two months as a large number of devotees from various parts of the country were expected to visit the cave shrine in south Kashmir in August. However, the Mufti was quick in rejecting the demand at the same platform when his turn to speak came. He pointed out that it was a difficult task to provide security to the pilgrims on the nearly 400 km route between Pathankot and Pahalgam and beyond. It is learnt that Mr Sharma, during his recent meeting with the Union Home Minister, Mr Shivraj Patil, in Delhi urged him to ask the Mufti to soften his stand on the pilgrimage and also allow the Amarnath Shrine Board to carry its public utility material to the pilgrimage route. The state government has not allowed the board to carry the material for erecting shelters and mobile toilets to the yatra route. Mr Sharma is learnt to have asked the Home Minister to intervene and ask the state government not to create hurdles in the functioning of the shrine board. The Mufti had earlier locked horns with the Governor, Lt-Gen S.K. Sinha (retd), who is also the Chairman of the shrine board, on the latter’s proposal to extend the pilgrimage to two months. The Mufti has come under criticism on the issue as various organisations across the country have accused him of interfering in the religious affairs of Hindus. |
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Extend yatra, says Chhari-Mubarak Mahant Srinagar, June 19 This follows a row between the Governor, Lieut-Gen (retd) S.K. Sinha, who is also the Chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, and the government over the duration of the yatra. While the shrine board had announced to allow the annual yatra for two months, mainly via Baltal route, the state government citing security and other reasons announced that it would be organised only for one month beginning on July 29 from Jammu. Various religious organisations had demanded the extension of the yatra to two months in the upper reaches of Pahalgam in south Kashmir. Giving reasons for extending this year’s yatra to two months, the Mahant stated that an exceptional astronomical position had emerged this year the lunar calendar provided two auspicious “Shravan-Purnimas” falling on July 31 and August 30 this year. The holy “darshan” of the ice lingam of Lord Shiva on the these dates provided the rare occasion for the devotees to receive the blessings of Lord Shiva at the holy cave, he said. |
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VHP holds training camp for women Jammu, June 19 The camp provided training to females in the age group of 12 to 25 in karate, yoga and handling of lathis and guns. The training was given by experts, including some retired army and police officials, and was a regular feature, said Ramakant Dubey of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the VHP. The camp concluded last evening.
— PTI |
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Srinagar, June 19 People gathered on the highway early in the morning demanding the immediate release of the three youths who were allegedly picked up by the security forces last night, forcing the closure of the road, they said. Traffic was restored after senior officials of the district visited the scene and assured the protesters that they would look into the matter.
— PTI |
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Narrow escape for air passengers Srinagar, June 19 However, 12 passengers suffered minor injuries. Defence sources said the incident took place due to lack of coordination between the two flights by the air traffic control authorities.
— PTI |
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IAF blood donation camp on June 22 Jammu, June 19 The camp will be inaugurated by Air Cdre V. Babu. |
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