Jammu, May 30 
National Conference (NC) chief Omar Abdullah today expressed anguish about India denying visas to Pakistanis for participating in the Kashmir- specific conference of Pugwash that had been cancelled because of this reason. The conference was to be held at Mumbai on June 3 and 4.

Abdullah, after touring the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch for 10 days, said the step did not help the peace process between the two countries.

He said when Pakistan had no objection to giving visas to the J&K-based leaders of the BJP, the Congress,the National Conference and thePDP for participating in the Islamabad conference of Pugwash last year, why should India not reciprocate in the same manner.

Abdullah said he and leader of the opposition in the state Assembly Abdul Rahim Rather were among several leaders of the PDP, the BJP and the Congress, who were given visas by Pakistan to participate in the Pugwash meeting on Kashmir. Separatist leaders were also present in the Islamabad conference. He said although denying visas to the Pakistani participants would not damage the peace process, it created doubts.

The NC chief said his tour of the interior of Rajouri and Poonch districts showed development had come to a halt due to feud between the Congress and the PDP, ruling coalition partners.

He said “work culture” supposed to have been introduced in the state by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was no where to be seen.

He said the ministers belonging to the Congress and the PDP were not seeing eye to eye with each other. Certain projects had been inaugurated separately by the Congress and PDP ministers.

Udhampur, May 30
Enraged over the failure of the authorities to fish out the bodies of three youths who were killed in a road accident on Monday night, residents of Ghordi village here blocked the Jammu-Srinagar national highway today for more than two hours.

The residents lifted the dharna only after DIG (Udhampur-Doda range) L. M. Mohanty assured them that the administration would seek the Army’s help in this regard.

Family members of the deceased alleged that the administration was not serious as it had failed to fish out the bodies from the Tawi for the past 24 hours. They, along with a large number of locals, shouted slogans against the administration and blocked the highway traffic.

It was only after an assurance given by Mohanty that the dharna was lifted. On their demand, 14 EME Bn (Comd) and 10 Engr Regt of the Army were approached. Army personnel then fished out the ill-fated vehicle and the bodies.

Three persons of Ghodri village were killed in a road accident when their vehicle fell into the Tawi.

Srinagar, May 30
Students, holding degree in the alternative medicine of electropathy, are on an indefinite fast against the state government's apparent backtracking after it asked them to send applications so that they could be considered for absorption as doctors in alternative medicine and posted across the state. As their dharna completes 50 days on Friday, which they sardonically say will be observed as "golden jubilee function", the government has shown little sign of considering their demands in a state where unemployment has probably hit the youth the hardest.

"This government first gave us hope and then concrete promises. And when we were just full of hope of jobs, it simply backtracked," says burqa-clad Shabeena Altaf, who has been sitting on dharna with a large number of pass-outs from Naturo-Electro Homeo Medicos, New Delhi.

Though electropathy is not recognised by most of the states in India, but what has angered them, all with four-and-half years of degree, is that J&K government initially took a lead in promising them government jobs, raising their hopes, now turned into bitterness.

Then district development board, Kupwara, chairman Peerzada Mohammad Syed, now state Congress president, recognised bachelor of electropathy medicine and surgery, in an official meeting on July 14 last year and Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad followed it up offering them jobs in the National Rural Heath Mission, the agitators said. And soon his government came out with an advertisement on January 9 this year, asking them, having degrees in different forms of alternative medicine, to send applications by January 31 for consideration for jobs.

"We felt so good thinking that our dream was close to realisation," says Ashfaq Wani, who is heading the agitation. Ironically,the government slammed the doors on them, saying they were in "wrong" in offering them jobs. It said electropathy was not recognised by the central body of alternative medicines, offering the reason. "What a farce," says Altaf . The state government, she says, has long-recognised Amachi, a form of medication practised by tribals in the state. Amachi is not recognised by the central body.

The government has so far stuck to its decision not to recognise these practitioners of electropathy.

Srinagar, May 30
The Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) has decided, for the first time, to transport Amarnath yatris from Delhi to Baltal this year, besides operating special services from Jammu and Srinagar.

Transport minister Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen stated during his visit to Sonmarg and Baltal yesterday to oversee the arrangements for this year’s yatra. Preparations are on to provide facilities and other arrangements for the two-month-long Amarnath yatra, which begins on June 30 and concludes on August 28 coinciding with Raksha Bandhan this year.

The minister was accompanied by senior officers and reviewed the arrangements for the yatra. He was told that the Shrine Board had already raised some structures at the base camp, Baltal, while the erecting of tents had been started.

The minister discussed the contingency plan formulated for providing better transport and other facilities to the yatris visiting the Amarnath cave via Baltal. He directed the traffic police for regulating the traffic with the coordination of the Army to provide comfortable transport to the yatris. He said services would be made available to transport yatris from different destinations to the base camp-Baltal.

He directed the regulation of transport in a way that did not disturb Ladakh transport and supplies movement.He asked the deputy commissioner, Ganderbal, to fix fare for all types of passenger vehicles from Srinagar to Sonamarg and Baltal, besides rates for ponies and dandi-walas in addition to rates for various essential goods, sugar, kerosene and cooking gas for the Baltal base camp.The transporters found to be operating vehicles without permission from Srinagar to Baltal would be acted against,
he added.

A booking counter would be set up at Sonamarg, while the bus terminal constructed by the Tourism Department having 500-vehicle capacity would be completed before the commencement of yatra.

Hakeem Yaseen directed the Ganderbal police not to allow any yatri move from Baltal to cave ahead of the commencement of the yatra keeping in view the bad weather conditions in the area.

Rajouri, May 30
DAH Division of the Army has launched an integrated community health and development project for the health, development and happiness of people of remote villages near the Line of Control (LoC). The programme has been named Project Khushhal Sarhad: Khidmat-e-Khalaq.

A spokesperson for the Army in a statement here said Major- Gen Rajinder Singh, DAH Division, had inaugurated the programme on April 7 at Baisali village. He said under this programme, 11 health teams of the Army were going from house to house to survey health problems of people.

The spokesperson said under the programme, weight and blood pressure were being checked in their houses of the border people. He added that based on findings of the survey, treatment would be arranged.

He claimed that so far more than 2,500 houses had been visited by the Army's health teams.