J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Gen Vij to visit border areas today
Jammu, January 21
While India was downplaying the Wednesday’s incident of mortar firing by Pakistani troops in the Poonch area, in another such incident 12 mortar shells were fired at the Cheel post in the Manjakot area last night from across the border. 

Khurana lambasts troop reduction
Jammu, January 21
Mr Madan Lal Khurana, senior BJP leader, today criticised the decision of the Congress-led Central Government to reduce the strength of troops in Jammu and Kashmir and demanded that the Centre should seriously view the recent violation of the 14-month-long ceasefire by Pakistan.

1,162 seats lying vacant in B.Ed colleges
Jammu, January 21
With as many as 1,162 B.Ed seats lying vacant in 10 private colleges, mostly in the terrorism-prone areas, here even after four sessions of counselling, Jammu University (JU) has decided to hold yet another counselling in a bid to fill these seats.

Call to boycott civic poll ignored
Jammu, January 21
Separatists have received a setback in the Kashmir valley where there was virtually no response to their call for boycott of the civic body elections. As many as 19 candidates were today declared elected unopposed for the municipal bodies of Baramula and Kupwara districts.

Hurriyat to boycott civic poll: Umer Farooq.  (28k, 56k)

Gen Vij to visit border areas today
Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 21
While India was downplaying the Wednesday’s incident of mortar firing by Pakistani troops in the Poonch area, in another such incident 12 mortar shells were fired at the Cheel post in the Manjakot area last night from across the border. This was the second violation of the nearly 14-month-long ceasefire by the Pakistani troops during the past two consecutive days.

The police said the Cheel post of the Indian Army came under mortar attack from across the border at 7.35 p.m. Reports of Pakistani firing in the Hamirpur area of Poonch had also been received.

The Army Chief, Gen N.C. Vij, who was scheduled to fly to the border areas this morning to assess the situation, was unable to go there because of bad weather. he might visit these area tomorrow.

Gen Vij addressed senior officers of the Army at the headquarters of the Northern Command at Udhampur.

A spokesman of the Army confirmed that seven mortar shells were fired at the Indian positions from across the border at Hamirpur. This was followed by small arms fire, but the Indian troops did not retaliate.

He said the troops were strictly observing the ceasefire and were exercising restraint.

However, Pakistan is denying that its troops were engaged in these incidents.

When the Director-General of Military Operations contacted his Pakistani counterpart after the earlier firing incident, he told him that the incident would be investigated.

It is worth mentioning that trained terrorists have been trying to infiltrate into India from across the border these days and 11 of them were killed by the troops in two separate incidents.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana told mediapersons here today that the Congress-led Central Government should seriously view these incidents of the violation of the ceasefire by Pakistan.

Khurana lambasts troop reduction
Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 21
Mr Madan Lal Khurana, senior BJP leader, today criticised the decision of the Congress-led Central Government to reduce the strength of troops in Jammu and Kashmir and demanded that the Centre should seriously view the recent violation of the 14-month-long ceasefire by Pakistan.

Mr Khurana was talking to mediapersons after launching the election campaign of the BJP for the civic elections in the state.

He said the Centre should not take the things lying down and should identify as to who fired 16 mortar shells in the Poonch town where a girl was wounded.

He said that a question mark has been put on the decision of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to de-induct troops from the state as a confidence building measure with Pakistan.

Mr Khurana said while on one hand Pakistan was engaged in peace talks with India, on the other hand it was involved in firing on the border town and infiltrating trained terrorists.

1,162 seats lying vacant in B.Ed colleges
Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 21
With as many as 1,162 B.Ed seats lying vacant in 10 private colleges, mostly in the terrorism-prone areas, here even after four sessions of counselling, Jammu University (JU) has decided to hold yet another counselling in a bid to fill these seats.

It is learnt that the two-day counselling will be held on January 24 and 25.

The JU faced an uphill task to fill the 13,680 seats in 65 teachers training colleges and had to conduct four counselling sessions stretching to 51 days. Even then all seats could not be filled as candidates were afraid to go to the areas that were a haven for ultras.

Most colleges are located in Rajouri, Poonch and Doda districts that have remained in the news because of incidents of terrorism.

Only 28 candidates turned up during the last counselling that was held on January 6 and 7. Colleges in the Kathua district and Jammu are the hot choice of candidates seeking admission from other states. Almost all seats in the colleges of these two districts were filled in the first counselling, but a lot of efforts had to be put in by JU for the other colleges.

Candidates from Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi generally seek admission in B.Ed colleges here. However, Himachal tops in admissions followed by Punjab. Candidates from Gurdaspur and Amritsar districts generally prefer seats in the colleges in the Kathua district from where their homes are at a distance of a few kilometres. The second choice is of the established colleges, particularly on the Jammu bypass where the Sainik Colony area has become a hub of activity because of these institutions.

A question mark was put on the validity of the B.Ed degree being granted by Jammu and Kashmir universities last year when the Rajasthan Government pointed out that the colleges were not recognised by the National Council of Teaching Education (NCTE) and this resulted in the candidates shying away from here.

However, the dispute has been solved as the NCTE Act was not applicable to Jammu and Kashmir because of the Article 370 under which the state enjoys a special status.

Certain students said they were not afraid of terrorism and pointed out that the B.Ed colleges in the Kashmir valley had many candidates from other states. Kashmir University had recently opened admission to the B.Ed colleges in its jurisdiction.

Jammu and Kashmir has become an important destination for the B.Ed courses as there are more than 120 private teacher training colleges. Interestingly, about 28 new B.Ed colleges were in the pipeline in the Jammu region.

The quality of training being provided by these colleges has come into focus following the controversy pertaining to extension of the NCTE Act. There were allegations that a number of B.Ed colleges were just like teaching shops and were not following the criteria fixed by the two universities.

Call to boycott civic poll ignored
Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 21
Separatists have received a setback in the Kashmir valley where there was virtually no response to their call for boycott of the civic body elections. As many as 19 candidates were today declared elected unopposed for the municipal bodies of Baramula and Kupwara districts.

The separatists appear to have been obliged only in one ward of Sopore where not a single nomination was received in Ward 7.

With this, as many as 1,097 candidates have been left in the fray for 273 wards of the districts of Baramula and Kupwara and the two municipal corporations of Jammu and Srinagar, for which polling would be held in the first phase.

The separatist leaders have been asking the people to boycott the civic body elections, but there were hardly any takers of their advice as there was great enthusiasm among the people for these elections, particularly in the valley.

Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed and various parties had urged the separatists to contest these elections as this was a chance for them to show their representative character in the valley.

A top separatist leader, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, told The Tribune that “we” represent the sentiments of Kashmiri and there was no need for us to contest the elections. He said that Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Yasser Arafat never contested the elections and yet they were leaders of masses.

According to a spokesman of the election office, the unopposed candidates were in the committees of Hunzar, Sopore, Baramula and Pattan in Baramula district and one in Kupwara town.

A total of 537 candidates were in the fray for the 71 wards of the Jammu Municipal Corporation and 217 for the 68 wards of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation.

Snow fails to dampen Id revelry

Srinagar, January 21
Despite snowfall, the Id-ul-Azha was today celebrated with religious fervour and gaiety throughout the Kashmir valley and Ladakh region. The Id prayers were offered throughout the valley and Leh and Kargil. However, the main congregations were held at the holy shrine of Hazrartbal, historic Jamia Mosque, Hazrat Mehboobul Aalam, Hazrat Mir Syed Yaqub Sonawar and Tourist Reception Centre mosque.

The prayers followed slaughtering of thousands of sheeps and goats, symbolising the sacrifice of Hazrat Ibrahim to seek the pleasure of God.

People in traditional dresses were seen greeting each other on the occasion.

The authorities had made special arrangement for the detenues to offer prayers in the detention centres where security personnel belonging to Muslim community also joined them.

Special arrangements were also made for the family members of detenues for their meeting. Authorities have also allowed food for the detenues brought by their family members.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor-General (rtd) S.K. Sinha and Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed greeted the people on the occasion of Id. — UNI