J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

BJP favours consensus on party chief
Jammu, July 20
Senior leaders of the state unit of the BJP favour a consensus candidate who could be installed as president of the party in October when the term of Dr Nirmal Singh ends as head of the party.

Rs 8.49 cr package for urban poor
Srinagar, July 20
A special package for self-employment for the urban poor under the SJSRY in Jammu and Kashmir with a Central assistance of Rs 8.49 crore was launched here yesterday.

Yajna in memory of Kargil martyrs
Jammu, July 20
Memories of the Kargil war were revived today for kin of the martyrs who had gathered at Drass to pay tributes to those soldiers who had laid down lives.

A widow of a martyr of the Sikh Regiment breaks down after seeing the name of her husband on the Vijay Stambh in Drass sector on Thursday.

Budha Amarnath yatra to go on for 13 days
Jammu, July 20
The VHP is at loggerheads with the state administration on the duration of the annual Budha Amarnath pilgrimage and today announced that it would stick to its original schedule of 13 days yatra.

Kashmiri folk singer dead
Srinagar, July 20
A popular Kashmiri folk singer, Ali Mohammad Sheikh, died at his ancestral house at Hajin in Baramulla district yesterday. He was 80 and had long association with the Srinagar Doordarshan, Radio Kashmir, Srinagar, and the Department of Information for several decades.

3 killed in road accident
Jammu, July 20
Three persons from Amritsar were killed and six injured as the Qualis in which they were travelling to the tourist spot of Patnitop rolled down into the Ashar Khud near Nandni on the Jammu-Srinagar highway today.

BJP favours consensus on party chief
Our Correspondent

Jammu, July 20
Senior leaders of the state unit of the BJP favour a consensus candidate who could be installed as president of the party in October when the term of Dr Nirmal Singh ends as head of the party.

Since the party constitution does not provide a leader to get elected for the fourth time, Dr Nirmal Singh,who kept the party flag flying in Jammu and Kashmir despite severe odds, has decided not to be in the fray as he spent about four years as party president.

At present, five senior party leaders, Prof.Chaman Lal Gupta, a former Union Minister of State for Defence, Prof. Hari Om, vice-president, Mr Kavinder Gupta, a former Mayor of the Jammu Municipal Corporation, Mr Ashok Khajuria, general secretary, and Thakur Ranjit Singh are in the reckoning for the post.

Dr Nirmal Singh said here today that the process of organisational elections would start from next month. Office-bearers for BJP units from the block to the district level were to be elected.

He said along with the election to the district committees, members of the state council would also be elected. After the completion of the process, an electoral college was to be constituted for electing the party's president.

One section of party workers and leaders wanted Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta as president of the BJP on the plea that when he held the post, the BJP had done well in 1996 elections.

Another set of party leaders favour Thakur Ranjit Singh who has remained uncontroversial and assisted the BJP unit in various ways. However, several BJP leaders are for Prof. Hari Om whose worth as party vice-president and spokesman has been already tested. They say Prof.Hari Om has been instrumental in formulating a number of party programmes.

On the basis of such a diverse opinion, the party high command is in favour of a consensus in order to avoid a contest which could leave traces of rancour.The party leadership wants an able politicians who has administrative and organisational skills to be elected as party president because the BJP needed to be strengthened to face the Assembly poll dues in 2008.

Rs 8.49 cr package for urban poor
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 20
A special package for self-employment for the urban poor under the SJSRY in Jammu and Kashmir with a Central assistance of Rs 8.49 crore was launched here yesterday. Launching the package Union Minister of State for Housing, Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja handed over the first cheque to the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad at a function here.

The Chief Minister said Srinagar and Jammu along with 70 other towns of the state would have modernised civic amenities within the next three years under national urban renewal mission.

Kumari Selja said before the commencement of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan some changes in provision of subsidy and other parameters would be further modified wherever required. She said viable micro-credit availability to the urban poor was being ensured and a task force had been constituted for the same. A national policy on urban street vendors had been formulated that would be further updated, she added. She also gave a detailed account of various schemes being implemented for urban employment and poverty alleviation.

The Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Mr Karra, referred to the aims and objectives of the SJSRY. He said the evaluation process to assess the exact number of urban poor had to be made more realistic and the parameters to determine it too should be state or city-specific.

The Minister said projects worth Rs 3,000 crore were in the pipeline for overall development of cities and towns in the state. 

Yajna in memory of Kargil martyrs
Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 20
Memories of the Kargil war were revived today for kin of the martyrs who had gathered at Drass to pay tributes to those soldiers who had laid down lives.

A large number of local people of the frontier region of Ladakh had also joined the families of the martyrs at Drass to remember the martyrs.

Swami Balak Yogeshwar Das, head of the Jammu-based Ati Vishnu Maha Yagya Samiti, has organised a nine-day yajna close to the Tiger Hill. This has provided an opportunity to the kin of the martyrs to visit the spot where the soldiers had laid down lives.

The yajna started yesterday. About 500 pandits, 50 granthis from Punjab, local maulvis and Buddhist lamas are participating in the sarva dharma yajna.

The martyrs’ families paid tributes to the soldiers at the Vijay Stambh in Drass sector.

Budha Amarnath yatra to go on for 13 days
Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 20
The VHP is at loggerheads with the state administration on the duration of the annual Budha Amarnath pilgrimage and today announced that it would stick to its original schedule of 13 days yatra.

The Budha Amarnath shrine is located in the border district of Poonch in the Jammu division.

Dr Ramakant Dubey, state VHP president, rejected the proposal of the authorities to curtail the pilgrimage in view of the terrorism in the district. He said the pilgrimage would begin strictly according to the original schedule on July 27 and culminate on August 8.

The state administration had said that the pilgrimage would begin on August 1 and end on August 7.

Dr. Dubey said the pilgrimage would begin from Poonch on July 27 even if the state government did not provide security to the pilgrims. He said the Divisional Commissioner, Mr Parmodh Jain, had suggested that the pilgrimage should be curtailed to seven days.

The holy shrine is situated about 23 km away from Poonch, but the route passes through certain worst terrorism-prone areas.

Dr.Dubey said the authorities were trying to create confusion about the pilgrimage. They first banned religious and patriotic slogans during the pilgrimage and now they were trying to scuttle the yatra, he alleged.

Kashmiri folk singer dead
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 20
A popular Kashmiri folk singer, Ali Mohammad Sheikh, died at his ancestral house at Hajin in Baramulla district yesterday. He was 80 and had long association with the Srinagar Doordarshan, Radio Kashmir, Srinagar, and the Department of Information for several decades.

He was remembered for his distinctive Chhakri and Kashmiri folk music throughout.

3 killed in road accident
Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 20
Three persons from Amritsar were killed and six injured as the Qualis in which they were travelling to the tourist spot of Patnitop rolled down into the Ashar Khud near Nandni on the Jammu-Srinagar highway today.