 |
|
Panthers latch on to Cong ‘big catch’
Mission
Kashmir
Committee on tourism policy to be floated soon: FM
Govt moves to check traffic jams
Baig helps ruling coalition call a truce
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pollution graveyard
YC leader killed in accident
Four Pak-made shells found
Cabinet nod to 18 new colleges
Disconnect for Day III
|
|
Panthers latch on to Cong ‘big catch’
Udhampur, December 14 Sardari Lal Dubey, who is considered as close confident of health minister Mangat Ram Sharma, today resigned from the Congress party and joined JKNPP in the presence of former education minister, Harsh Dev Singh and Udhampur MLA Balwant Singh Mankotia. To display his strengthen, Dubey organised a rally at his hometown of Katra in which he announced his decision to join Panthers Party. Joining of Dubey is considered as “big catch” for Panthers as party has been desperately looking for a strong candidate to contest next election from Reasi constituency. Dubey, who was denied Congress ticket in 2002 assembly elections, had been looking for other options as he had lost all hopes to get mandate in next elections. Although the party had appointed him secretary of PCC to placate him, he was not participating in any activity of Congress since 2002 after denied mandate. Buoyed over overwhelming response party has received during agitation for Talwara migrants, Panthers Party has been working over time to expand its base in newly created Reasi district. Panthers leaders have been continuously touring different areas of this district to woo people. Recently Panthers supremo Bhim Singh along with other senior leaders conducted whirlwind tour of this district through its Hak Insaf Yatra. Party leader Balwant Singh Mankotia told the Tribune that joining of Dubey was a big boost for Panthers. Mankotia admitted that party has been eying on both the seats of Reasi district namely Reasi and Mahore. Panthers leaders have reasons to concentrate on these two seats as party from time to time has been agitating on the issues relating to the people of this area. Whether the issue of the erstwhile Baridars of Mata Vaishno Devi or porters of the shrine, Panthers leaders have always lend their support to their agitation. Dubey, while defending his decision to join the Panthers Party, said it was high time for all right thinking people to work together to frustrate designs of anti-Jammu forces. He termed the Congress as a party of sycophants working against the interest of Jammu people. |
|
Talks only way out: Khursheed
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, December 14 He said a sustained effort was required to resolve the issues in Kashmir to ensure the participation of all sections in the elections and strengthen democracy. Talking to mediapersons at the end of his three-day visit to Kashmir, in connection with social sector issues, Khursheed said though he had no meetings with separatist Hurriyat Conference leaders, there were series of meetings with leaders from a cross section of the society. This would indirectly help in the dialogue process, he opined. He had met a number of leaders and representatives of various social sectors as part of the national mission for minority development. Without naming any organisations or leaders, Salman Khursheed said all those concerned should participate in the next elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Replying to questions, the senior Congress leader said any dialogue faced ups and down like that of the failed Centre-Hurriyat dialogue process. “But we should not give up hope,” he said and held that dialogue was necessary when some people had any complaints. “It was necessary to resolve issues through negotiations and only this process leads to an end to the problems.” Salman held that it were the people of Jammu and Kashmir to resolve the issues here through a sustained effort and sometimes the issues seemed to be difficult. He, however, added that these issues would not be resolved with the help of people from outside the state. He said a lot more needs to be done and he would be meeting Azad to further take up the implementation of all the central schemes in this trouble torn state. On the alleged violation of human rights and rigging in elections as claimed by the opposition National Conference, Khursheed said there should be a continued effort to check the issues. "We have to try to overcome failures,” he said and added that the human rights was a major issue. He hoped that the working conditions of the men in uniform would be further improved to further improve their approach towards people while fighting the trouble creators. The separatist Hurriyat Conference, however, has re-affirmed that there was no possibility of the resolution of Kashmir issue through any election process. Unless a final and everlasting solution of the Kashmir issue was found, no developmental or administrative measures would yield any results, a spokesman of the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) stated here and criticised the approach of the opposition National Conference in this direction. The APHC spokesman said since the dialogue process had already been started, there was a need to soften the political approach to further develop the talks. The spokesman added that Pakistan President Parvez Musharraf’s four-point formula was an adequate approach to find an acceptable and everlasting resolution of the Kashmir issue.
|
|
Committee on tourism policy to be floated soon: FM
Srinagar, December 14 Karra said the committee would be headed by economic advisor to the government, Dr Haseeb A. Drabu, and would have the secretaries of finance, Tourism and Planning Department, besides, representatives of tourism and trade as its members. The meeting was attended by economic advisor to the government, Dr Haseeb A. Drabu, finance commissioner B.B. Vyas, commissioner commercial taxes, Khawaja Bashir Ahmad, excise commissioner Abdul Hameed and other senior officers. Describing tourism, horticulture and handicraft as important sectors of the state’s economy, Karra said the need of the hour was to encourage these vital segments. He said Kashmir was a sought-after destination by tourists, but it had received a
setback since the late 80's. He said with the support of the people, the state government was trying its best to revive this segment of the economy. He said the aim of the coalition government was to restore peace and normalcy, for which it was working endlessly. Karra said the proposed policy would include revival packages, measures for improving infrastructure, long-term development schemes and adding new destinations to the tourism map. He said adequate funds would be ensured for proper marketing, promotion and publicity of tourism potential. Karra said generating resources was one of the main responsibilities of the government and people associated with tourism, trade, industry, commerce and transport were significant for the state’s development. The environs around us had to be kept in view, while formulating new policies, which he added, should be realistic, comprehensive and people-friendly. |
|
Govt moves to check traffic jams
Srinagar, December 14 This was stated at a high-level meeting presided by minister of finance, Tariq Hameed Karra, to review the arrangements for the Urs-e-Shah-e-Hamdan, Id-ul-Azha and Muharram today. Karra took stock of the situation which had arisen due to snowfall and closure of the Srinagar-Jammu national highway. The meeting was attended by the divisional commissioner, Mehboob Iqbal. He said the administration was ready to cope up with any kind of situation and essential commodities like ration, LPG, diesel, petrol and kerosene oil-stocks had been made. He said adequate bulking of commodities had also been done in inaccessible areas well ahead of time. Karra directed the divisional administration to ensure availability of essential commodities, including ration and LPG to the consumers. He said measures should be taken well in advance to tackle any kind of situation in view of the fluctuating weather conditions. Pointing out that he had received complaints of irregular power shutdowns from different parts of the valley, Karra said he had asked the Power Development Department (PDD) authorities to ensure regular supply of electricity to the consumers. He also called for intensifying steps to curb undue profiteering and black-marketing. Karra asked the administration to ensure speedy implementation of the decisions taken at the City Development Coordination Committee (CDCC) meetings so that all bottlenecks hampering the development of the city were removed at the earliest. He appreciated the speedy action taken at Zarabkhana and Kannikadal where the process of removing encroachments had been pending for years together.
|
|
Baig helps ruling coalition call a truce
Jammu, December 14 Sources said the Congress had earlier conveyed to Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mufti Mohd. Sayeed to desist from indulging in mudslinging against each other and strengthen the coalition
culture. However, Baig, who held a series of meetings with Mufti Sayeed, party chief Mehbooba Mufti and the Chief Minister, succeeded in narrowing down the differences between the two coalition partners. Senior PDP leader Ghulam Hassan Mir said, “Baig has been instrumental in bringing the Chief Minister and the Muftis closer than they were.” When asked as to how did Baig succeed, Mir said,
“Since he has been the common factor between the Chief Minister and the Muftis, he bridged the gap between the two sides.” Sources said Baig, even after quitting the Cabinet in September 2006, maintained cordial relations with Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and senior Congress leaders, which ultimately helped him in bridging the gap between the Chief Minister and the Muftis. |
|
Aquatic life, rivers take hit but who bothers
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria Tribune News Service
Jammu, December 14 A senior official of the SPCB on condition of anonymity said, “Haphazard industrialisation in Jammu in the backdrop of faulty checks has been constantly adding to air and water pollution.” “Per capita number of vehicles have also increased manifold in Jammu and they have been adding to air pollution without any serious exercise by the government to check emissions of greenhouse gases,” he said. He said, “In 1972 Gadigarh Nallah had 42 species of fishes, three of prawns, one of crab, five of tortoises and had a wide diversity of flora and fauna, but today it has become an industrial drain because the effluents contaminating the water have wiped out aquatic life.” “With around 23 channels of waste discharge continuing to flow directly or indirectly into Tawi River from Kishenpur Manwal right up to Makwal, the river water has been polluted,” he said, adding “waste discharge of Regional Research Laboratory still flow into Tawi River.” Tawi River largely caters to the needs of winter capital, particularly western parts of the city. A recent survey by the Jammu Municipal Corporation showed that out of 33 samples of water lifted from different places of the city, 32 were found unfit for human consumption.
|
|
YC leader killed in accident
Jammu, December 14 Azad conveyed his sympathies to the bereaved family and also prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul. The chief minister was also present at the cremation of Anand at the Jogi Gate cremation ground here this afternoon. Among those present at the cremation ground were Minister for Education Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, Minister for R&B Gulchain Singh Charak, Minister of State for Industries and Commerce Dr Romesh Chander Sharma and president, State Youth Congress and MLC Mohammad Amin Bhat.
|
||
|
Four Pak-made shells found
Jammu, December 14 According to an army spokesman a bag containing shells were recovered during the construction of a road in the Khour area of the border tehsil. The bombs were later defused safely by a team of the army accompanied by a bomb disposal squad.
|
||
|
Cabinet nod to 18 new colleges
Jammu, December 14 The meeting was attended by all ministers, including the Deputy Chief Minister, Muzaffar Hussian Baig. The completion of the Mughal Road that connects directly the Rajouri and Poonch regions with the Kashmir valley also came up for discussion. It was decided that immediate measures would be taken for its early completion. While to transfers were ordered in today's meeting, some officers were promoted.
|
||
|
Disconnect for Day III
Udhampur, December 14 Although services of the BSNL usually remained disrupted, fresh snowfall and incessant rain have further compounded the condition. Mobile, landline, dial-up and broadband services have been snapped since Wednesday. When contacted TDM Rajdev told the Tribune that the optical fibre cable had been snapped at various places due to the ongoing work of the widening of the Puldoda-Bhaderwah road.
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
