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Troop pullout cosmetic: APHC
Minister promises
slum-free state
Deputy CM highest petrol consumer
Councillor among 2 killed
Bandh in valley against VAT
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Troop pullout cosmetic: APHC
Jammu, March 17 According to a senior APHC leader, Prof Abdul Gani
Bhat, “It is not more than a trickle if 10,000 to 20,000 soldiers out of seven lakh are withdrawn from some parts of the state.” When reminded that Pakistan had not reciprocated India’s gesture in occupied Kashmir, Professor Bhat said, “Since there is neither any internal turmoil in occupied Kashmir nor the territory is disputed, there is no need for Islamabad to withdraw troops from civilian areas.” He said withdrawal of Indian forces from civilian areas and from the border would be a major confidence-building measure. To a question, the APHC leader said militancy-related violence would decline in case the troops were withdrawn from the civilian areas. He expressed satisfaction over the progress in confidence-building measures initiated by Delhi and Islamabad. He said first it was the enforcement of ceasefire on the
LoC, followed by a series of exchanges between political leaders, academics, artistes and journalists of the two countries. Another step, he said, was in the direction of opening of bus and rail routes between the two sides, which would be followed by improvement in trade. |
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Minister promises
slum-free state
Jammu, March 17 He also presented a major sewerage and drainage plan for the capital cities saying these would all meet the increasing requirements of the people of Srinagar and Jammu cities. Speaking in the Legislative Assembly about the demand for grants for the department under his charge, the Minister said that government had fixed a target for making the state slum-free by 2010 also all houseless persons would be provided shelter by 2020. He said comprehensive project for modernisation of sewerage and drainage systems in the two capital cities had been taken up. He said a Rs 1741 crore project for Srinagar city and another Rs 1740 crore for Jammu city would meet the requirement of the growing urban needs in these respective cities. The projects would be funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The money would be released next month. He said the ADB had approved Rs 160 crore for the drainage system in Jammu and Kashmir cities. He said that no area in the state would remain unattended. The Minister said municipal corporations in Jammu and Srinagar would soon be entrusted with all civic services. A committee headed by the Deputy Chief Minister had been constituted to work out modalities for delegation of powers to the corporations for taking over these functions. He said the government has also decided to introduce municipal accounting reforms to have correct assessment of the assets and liabilities of municipal bodies and to improve their credit worthiness. Referring to the unemployment problem in urban areas, the minister said 50 per cent subsidy would be provided on a bank loan of Rs 1 lakh to persons living below the poverty line for starting self-employment units. He said the guidelines for this had been relaxed by the Centre for Jammu and Kashmir in view of special situation here. In the tourism sector Mr Mir said 50 tourist villages would be developed in the state under the Prime Minister’s package. Mr Mir said the preservation of the water bodies was a focused area and no effort would be spared to restore the lost glory of the famous lakes like Dal. He said the state government had allocated Rs 36 crore for the development of the lake in the next year’s budget while the union government had provided another Rs 45 crore. The minister underscored the need for developing golf tourism in Jammu and Kashmir. He said the golf course at Gulmarg would be upgraded to bring it on par with international standards. The government also proposed to convert the existing 9-hole golf course at Pahalgam into an 18-hole course besides laying out new golf courses at Somamarg and Jammu. He said feasibility of setting up a golf course at Leh was also being studied. |
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Deputy CM highest petrol consumer
Jammu, March 17 This was stated by the Chief Minister in a written reply to a question of Mr Jugal Kishore (BJP) in the Assembly today. The Chief Minister informed the member that an expenditure of Rs 68.50 lakh had been incurred by the government towards the travelling and daily allowance of ministers this year against Rs 70.14 lakh last year. He said an expenditure of Rs 2.50 crore had been incurred on petrol consumed by vehicles of ministers. Last year the expenditure was Rs 2.13 crore. As many as 200 vehicles are placed at the disposal of 39 ministers who consumed 10.26 lakh litres of petrol and diesel in the past two years. The Minister of State for Tourism, Mr Jugal Kishore, has burnt fuel worth Rs 4.28 lakh this year. Mr Mangat Ram Sharma was also a frontrunner in charging TA and DA by claiming Rs 2.57 lakhs this year and Rs 4.64 lakh last year. The Chief Minister, Mufti Sayeed, perhaps claimed the lowest TA and DA amounting to Rs 95,000 this year and Rs 77,000 last year. However, he topped the list in expenditure towards telephone bills that was Rs 3.52 lakh this year, against Rs 3.23 lakh last year. The Deputy Chief Minister made telephone calls worth Rs 2.72 lakh this year and Rs 2.35 lakh last year. In a written reply to Mrs Shanti Devi, the Education Minister, Mr Harshdev Singh, informed that the government was considering fixing minimum wages for teachers of private schools. It has been made clear that the private schools shall not terminate the services of any teacher or other staff at their will. |
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Councillor among 2 killed
Srinagar, March 17 He said militants shot at and critically injured Fayaz Ahmad Mujoo near his Baghi-Islam house at Baramulla in North Kashmir today. Mr Fayaz, who recently won the local bodies elections and later joined the Congress, was immediately shifted to hospital where he was declared brought dead. Parvesh Kumar, who was injured in a grenade blast at Rajouri city chowk yesterday, died in hospital. With this the death toll in the incident has risen to two. Meanwhile, a militant surrendered along with a Chinese pistol, two magzines, 13 rounds of ammunition and one wireless set at Doda. The security forces busted three hideouts and recovered 5 kg RDX, four detonators, two hand grenades, an anti-personnel mine, four bombs of 9mm, a UBGL grenade, an AK rifle, a wireless set and 100 rounds of ammunition at Anantnag and Poonch last night. However, no one was arrested.
— UNI |
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Bandh in valley against VAT
Srinagar, March 17 The business community in Baramula, Kupwara, Anantnag, Budgam and Pulwama districts, besides the capital, closed their enterprises for the day in response to the bandh called by the Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF) against VAT implementation, official sources said. Traffic was plying as usual, although the KTMF had appealed to transporters to participate in the strike. Nearly 200 KTMF members gathered at Lal Chowk in downtown Srinagar and marched to Sher-e-Kashmir Park and raised slogans, describing the VAT as a “black law” against the trading
community. The federation also planned to submit a memorandum to the state government for revocation of the proposed law. There were no reports of any untoward incident from any part of the valley so far, the sources added.
— PTI |
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