J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Mufti fulfils demands of govt employees
Jammu, December 16
Accepting all major demands of government employees, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today announced the merger of 50 per cent dearness allowance with basic pay and also released two pending DA instalments.

LeT militant, jawan among three killed
Srinagar, December 16
A Lashkar-e-Toiba militant and a jawan were among three persons killed in separate encounters in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said today. They said troops launched a cordon-and-search operation in the Talee Dhar forest belt of Baderwah tehsil in Doda district last night.

Army celebrates victory over Pakistan
Jammu, December 16
Northern Command today celebrated the 33rd jubilee of the historic victory of Indian armed forces over Pakistan resulting in the liberation of Bangladesh.

Panel to assess NGOs’ working
Jammu, December 16
The government has constituted a three-member committee to assess the working of non-government organisations in the state. The nominated members are the Managing Director, J&K Women Corporation, the Vice-Chancellor, and the Director, Regional Research Laboratory, Jammu.

Mufti fulfils demands of govt employees
Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 16
Accepting all major demands of government employees, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today announced the merger of 50 per cent dearness allowance (DA) with basic pay and also released two pending DA instalments.

The announcement was made by the Chief Minister following a meeting of the Cabinet.

It has been decided to enhance the house rent allowance by 7.5 per cent. This would result in an additional annual burden of Rs 350 crore on the exchequer.

The employees had threatened to go on a strike from December 20 in case their demands were not met. They had observed a two-day strike last month. The government had set up a three-member committee to look into their demands.

It was decided that a separate committee would be constituted to look into the demand for increasing the retirement age to 60 from the existing 58 years.

The Cabinet has also decided to increase the wages of daily-wage employees to Rs 70 from the existing Rs 60. This will be applicable to employees engaged after 1994.

Terming the employees as the vehicles of change of the government, the Chief Minister hoped the decision would instil a sense of dedication and devotion among them.

He said his government had been striving for providing maximum facilities to its employees to ensure work culture and job satisfaction.

LeT militant, jawan among three killed

Srinagar, December 16
A Lashkar-e-Toiba militant and a jawan were among three persons killed in separate encounters in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said today.

They said troops launched a cordon-and-search operation in the Talee Dhar forest belt of Baderwah tehsil in Doda district last night.

In the subsequent encounter that took place between the troops and militants, one LeT militant, codenamed Abu Amira, was killed. One AK rifle, 3 magazines, 7 grenades and 110 cartridges were seized, the sources said in Jammu.

In another encounter, Army jawan Joginder Singh was killed and another injured, they said, adding militants later escaped.

A BSF spokesman said here that acting on a specific information, troops of 42 battalion, BSF, killed an unidentified militant in an encounter at Ichgoz village, near Dangarpora, in the Rajpora area.

He said an AK rifle, three magazines, 66 cartridges, two hand grenades, a transistor and Rs 1450 were seized from the slain militant.

JAMMU: A police constable and six Special Police Officers (SPOs) have been suspended in Doda district for not resisting the militants who looted a police post at Singpora, near Chhatroo, in Doda district yesterday.

They have been kept under suspension pending inquiry against them, police sources said.

Apart from looting weapons from the police post, the militants had also beat up constables and SPOs deployed there.

At least three police personnel were injured when militants attacked Khanyar police station in Srinagar this evening.

Official sources said the militants hurled a hand grenade towards the police station at around 6.40 pm.

The grenade exploded just outside the heavily guarded police station, causing injuries to three police personnel, who were hospitalised.

The sources said the security forces in the nearby bunkers fired some shots in the air. — PTI, UNI

Army celebrates victory over Pakistan
Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 16
Northern Command today celebrated the 33rd jubilee of the historic victory of Indian armed forces over Pakistan resulting in the liberation of Bangladesh.

The celebrations commenced with the laying of wreaths at Dhruva War Memorial at Udhampur by the Chief of Staff, Lieut-Gen Balbir Singh, the station Commander and other serving and retired Army officers. This was followed by a get-together of Army personnel, civilian dignitaries and ex-servicemen to honour the war veterans.

The Chief of Staff, who presided over the function, highlighted the victories in 1971 particularly in Partappur, Kargil, Tangdhar, Poonch and Shakargarh sectors.

Lieut-Gen Sudhir Sharma, GOC of 16 Corps, presided over a function organised by Crossed Swords Division to pay tributes to the war heroes at the War Memorial, Akhnoor. Major-Gen B.S. Jamval, GOC of 10 Infantry Division, and Brig D.K. Myane, Station Commander, Akhnoor, and a number of officers, JCOs and others paid tributes to the martyrs.

Tiger Division commemorated Vijay Diwas at a function at Jammu cantonment at the Tiger War Memorial. Wreaths were laid by the GOC of Tiger Division, Major-Gen Vinay Sharma, formation commanders, retired soldiers and police and civilian dignitaries.

Panel to assess NGOs’ working
Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 16
The government has constituted a three-member committee to assess the working of non-government organisations in the state.

The nominated members are the Managing Director, J&K Women Corporation, the Vice-Chancellor, and the Director, Regional Research Laboratory, Jammu.

The committee will assess the work done by J&K Ex-Servicemen League under the “support of training and empowerment programme for women”. The committee has been constituted as per the Central Government’s directions to assess the functioning of the NGOs for release of funds and other allied facilities given to them.