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Minister: PDP ready to face mid-term poll
Give peace a chance: Mufti 25 kg of heroin seized, 1 held Pilgrim dies of heart attack |
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Minister: PDP ready to face mid-term poll Jammu, December 20 Mr Qarra, who was replying to questions of reporters in the Jammu Press Club here, said Mr Azad was being ill-advised by some politicians and bureaucrats. He hastened to say Mr Azad did not have ill intention against any partner of the coalition, but he was being misled on various issues. When reporters sought comments of Mr Qarra on reports of Mr Azad threatening that he would get the Assembly dissolved in case the ministers did not maintain discipline, he wondered whether the Chief Minister had the prerogative of the dissolution of the Assembly without consulting his Cabinet colleagues. He said the PDP was ready to face mid-term elections, but he did not find the situation had come for snap polls. Mr Qarra said the Chief Minister was the leader of the ministry, which was functioning like a team. Difference of opinion was the essence of democracy and everyone had the right to put forth his viewpoint. He said Mr Azad had rang him up in the evening and both had a very cordial discussion on certain matters. He said difference between the ministers was on certain basic issues that held essence of the coalition. He maintained the PDP-Congress coalition in the state was going in the night direction. Mr Qarra denied there were differences between the PDP and the Congress on the issue of leasing land at Gulmarg to develop tourism related infrastructure. The Cabinet had clearly specified the land would be leased only to state subjects. He said the introduction of self-rule had become an international issue. During his recent tour to the USA, Mufti Sayeed discussed the proposal with a cross-section of people from different parts of the world and it was appreciated by a majority of them. To questions about the public sector units in the red, Mr Qarra said two committees under the chairmanship of Mr Haseeb Drabu, chairman of the J&K Bank and Mr B.R. Kundal, Home Secretary, had been set up to suggest measures to deal with the units that were eating up resources of the state. The committees would categories the PSUs that could be revived by providing one-time budgetary allocation and those whose revival was not possible. In the latter case the employees might be asked to proceed on voluntary retirement. Mr Qarra said during the first year of the 11th Plan he proposed not only to shift the emphasis from the income growth to employment growth, but also introduce an element of public private-partnership (PPP). This model would be used innovatively for the maintenance of capital assets. |
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Give peace a chance: Mufti Jammu, December 20 The Mufti, who was speaking at a function organised on the death anniversary of Manohar Lal
Koul, former minister, said today that the determination and wisdom with which the leaders of India and Pakistan were working towards resolution of the Kashmir issue had generated new hope among the people of the state and they were expecting a positive outcome. He said not only of the state, but the fate of the entire sub-continent was hanging in balance as it had now developed huge stakes in the ongoing peace process. Culmination of the peace process had to be in the larger interest of the people. The PDP leader said during his recent visit to the USA, he was surprised to learn about the enthusiasm the peace process had generated among the people on the other side of Kashmir. They also want to be a part of the resolution for the peace and prosperity of the region. He said the people of state were the major stakeholders in the peace process as they were paying a huge price for it. Violence had not only caused damage to the life and property, but also destroyed its social and cultural fabric. Migration of the Pandits was one of the fallouts of this turmoil. Calling for complete end of the violence in the state, he said Pakistan must use, whatever influence it has, on militants to prevent further loss of life and property besides giving a chance for the peace process to succeed. |
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25 kg of heroin seized, 1 held
Jammu, December 20 A Pakistani resident, Mohammad Ashraf, has been arrested in this connection. Ashraf was returning to Pakistan from the Arnia sector in Ranbirsinghpura subdivision of Jammu after throwing the contraband worth about Rs 25 crore in a field when he was spotted by the cops. He was arrested on the spot. Twentyfive packets containing 1 kg of heroin each were recovered from him. During interrogation Ashraf told the police that he belonged to Kotgral Jhanda village in the Sialkot area. He was working as a carrier for some mafia in Pakistan that had links here, sources said.
— TNS |
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Pilgrim dies of heart attack
Jammu, December 20 Identified as Jai Lal of Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir, the pilgrim suffered the attack near the Vaishnodevi Temple early today, they said. He was taken to hospital where doctors declared him brought dead, they added.
— PTI |
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