Udhampur, January 4
After conquering Poonch from the National Conference (NC), Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has now diverted his attention towards the erstwhile Doda - which is now divided into three districts - Kishtwar, Ramban and Doda.

The inclusion of Ghulam Mohammed Saroori in the ministry and the frequent visits of Ghulam Nabi Azad indicates that the Congress has been desperately trying to make inroads in the district before the Assembly elections. Saroori is a party MLA from the Inderwal Assembly segment of the newly created Kishtwar district.

Being a native of this district, Doda is prestigious as well as crucial for Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Furthermore to strengthen the National Conference in the next Assembly election, the Congress has to win the maximum seats from this mountainous belt.

“Now the situation has changed. For the first time a resident of Doda has become the Chief Minister of the state. So people will support the Congress and Ghulam Nabi Azad,” argued M.S. Niaz, a party leader. He said he was confident of sweeping the next elections from this district.

Like Poonch this mountainous belt has been considered as a citadel of the National Conference. Its two stalwarts, Atta-ullah Sohrawardy and Bashir Ahmed Kitchloo, have never allowed any other political group to make inroads in this district. It was only after the demise of both the leaders that the Congress managed to gain some ground here. But the party is still not in a position to win the maximum number of seats from this area.

Meanwhile, Sohrawardy’s son Khalid Najim Sohrawardy and Kitchloo’s son Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo have managed to maintained their stronghold here. Although Soharwardy had lost the last Assembly elections, he has a stronghold in Doda. As far as young Kitchloo is concerned, he had proved his popularity by winning the last Assembly elections despite the anti-National Conference wave that time.

In the 2002 Assembly elections, the Congress managed to win just two, out of the total eight seats, from Doda district. “Except promises this coalition has done nothing to mitigate woes of the masses, so people will give them a befitting reply in the next elections,” asserted Sajjad Kitchloo. He said except for granting a district status, the authorities had failed to streamline the functioning of the administration in Kishtwar.

The Congress on the other hand, has been banking on Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who it considers as the “son of the soil.” The party is confident of victory as Azad is native of this district. Furthermore, it was only during Azad’s regime that the district status was granted to Kishtwar and Ramban.

Jammu, January 4
The Panthers Party, once an ally of ruling Congress-led coalition government, has pulled up its socks to expose “corrupt” face of the coalition government in the forthcoming budget session.

Addressing media persons here today, party chairman Bhim Singh said, “New year expansion of the state cabinet by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has exposed the corrupt regime of Congress-People’s Democratic Party (PDP) combine.”

He said, “Tainted ministers have been given revenue earning departments while nearly 300 advocates have been appointed as government advocates at the cost of public money.”

“The ministers who were found guilty of malpractices and were sabotaging the interests of the state have been rewarded with additional portfolios,” said Singh, adding that “in the recent cabinet expansion Azad has completely ignored minority communities (Sikhs and Kashmiri Pandits) and women.”

“In the budget session starting January 7 the Panthers Party will expose corrupt and criminal face of the Congress-PDP alliance, which has crossed all limits,” added Singh.

Referring to delimitation commission, he said, “The Congress and the PDP in their common minimum programme had promised to frame the commission that was mandatory under the constitution.”

“The anti-people of policies of this government will be exposed on the floors of both the Houses,” he said.

He further said, “In the larger interest of people the party has brought seven new bills for consideration in the state legislature,” adding that “five bills have been moved by party legislator Harsh Dev while two have been moved by me.”

Rajouri, January 4
The Army along with the Special Operation Group of J&K Police yesterday busted a militant hideout in Narol forest area in Mendhar tehsil.

Earlier, the Army had succeeded to recover a cache of ammunition and equipments from Gajna area in Surankot tehsil of Poonch district.

The defence spokesperson said based on specific information, the troops of 38 Rashtriya Rifles (Madras) (13 Sector RR) under the aegis of Romeo Force recovered a cache from a natural cave in Gajna South East of Surankot today.

The recovered cache comprises one satelite phone charger with solar panel, one hand held radio set, 15 rounds assorted ammunition, IED materials, sleeping mats, communication matrix sheet, four diaries, pouches and other war like stores.

The SOG and troops of 39 Rashtriya Rifles busted a militant hideout and recovered a cache in Narol forest area in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch district. The recoveries include two LPG gas cylinders, three mobiles with SIM cards including one of Pakistan-based mobile service provider PAK-Tel. 

Srinagar, January 4
The Kashmir valley got some respite from the intense cold wave in view of cloudy conditions which raised the night temperature by 3 degrees.

The minimum temperature recorded last night was minus 4 degrees celsius as compared to minus 7 degrees celsius recorded the previous night, a Met office spokesman said.

However, the maximum temperature fell to 7 degrees celsius yesterday compared to 10.1 degrees celsius a day earlier, he said. The intense cold wave and the sharp dip in temperature has resulted in freezing of the Dal Lake for the past one week.

Five to six inches thick layer of ice had frozen along the banks of the lake while the interiors of the lake also froze but the thickness of the ice was much lesser.

There were also reports of frozen taps and water bodies from several parts of the valley, including the city.

While the night temperature was 2 degrees below normal, the day temperature was 4 degrees above normal for this time of the year, the spokesman said.

The 'abnormal' day and night temperatures in the valley has caused an extended dry spell due to which residents have been suffering from many weather-related ailments like soar throat, cough, common cold and fever.

The Met department has forecast the end of the dry spell as there is a possibility of rain or snow at isolated places in the valley over the next 48 hours. — PTI

Jammu, January 4
Despite huge potential of power generation, the state may not get any benefit from the government’s decision of allowing 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the power sector.

Jammu and Kashmir is one of the several border states, where a FDI proposal in any sector, particularly the power sector, will need prior clearance from the Union Home Ministry.

This is despite strong resistance put up by the Union Commerce Ministry, which has been arguing that such measures will discourage investors. The states which have come under the purview of the latest guidelines of the FDI include, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

Jammu and Kashmir has a huge potential to generate power from its unexploited hydraulic resources. Expert estimates have put the state's potential for hydraulic power generation at about 20,000 MW. The state has not been able to exploit even 10 per cent of its potential. The FDI could be the best panacea for a state which is starved of funds for development projects like power generation.

A senior official in the state government confirmed the move of the Union government. He disclosed that the decision was taken last year in the “national interest.” He said there was nothing unusual or wrong with the decision as the “country's security was paramount.”

At the same time, the guidelines would make it clear that the clearance from the home ministry would come within three weeks, he added. “This type of screening is important for a sensitive state like Jand K,” the official said.

Srinagar, January 4
Separatist outfit People’s Political Party has claimed that American spy agency, CIA, was behind the murder of Pakistan former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Elaborating on the matter, Hilal Ahmad War, chairman of People's Political Party, said, “The US wanted to grab nuclear resources of Pakistan and her elimination would destabilise Pakistan which would help Americans in seizing its nuclear plants.” The party also decided to build a trust in the memory of Benazir. “She was a friend of Kashmir and we want to keep her memory alive. She stood for democracy and we respect her for it,” said the chairman of People's Political Party, whose acronym PPP is same as that of Benazir's Pakistan's People Party.

War, who has authored a few books and is a votary of plebiscite, said the planned trust would organise events in her memory. The PPP leader criticised Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, leader of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat, saying he was after power and was looking for way out to compromise his stated position. 

Jammu, January 4
The first-ever Institute of Traumatology, to be constructed at a cost of Rs 120 crore, will soon be set up in Kashmir. The design of the prestigious project was presented to Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad at a high-level meeting here yesterday.

The Chief Minister asked for certain changes in the proposed project to protect old chinars in the upcoming complex site at Shireen Bagh in the summer capital. The proposed 200-bed institute is part of the programme to upgrade the medical college hospitals at Srinagar and Jammu, to the level of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

The Chief Minister asked the consultants and the project execution agency to make suitable changes in the design so that sufficient open space was available in the complex and the grand chinars standing in the premises were protected. He said this would add to the aesthetics and ambience of the hospital complex.

The Chief Minister also took stock of the construction work on the service block of the Jammu Medical College Hospital taken up recently.

Jammu, January 4
The state Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) has prepared the blueprint for four separate master plans for providing world-class amenities to the people of Jammu. The master plans have been prepared keeping in view the futuristic needs of the city that correspond with its growth in terms of area and population till the year 2036.

These include provision of drinking water, sewerage, drainage and disposal of solid waste. According to Pradeep Jain, chief executive officer, ERA, the master plans had been prepared keeping in view the growing needs of the city.

The ERA was set up in the year 2004 as a “special purpose vehicle” for availing multilateral and bilateral funding for undertaking rehabilitation as well as building new infrastructural facilities in the state with special focus on drinking water, sewerage and drainage facilities.

So far the ERA has negotiated loans with the Asian Development Bank to the tune of $450 million with the counterpart funding from the Government of India to the tune of Rs 487 crore.

Jain said the loan money was being spent on the rehabilitation of various infrastructure sectors over a period of four years from the year 2005 to 2009. The main focus would be on improving the water supply, storm water drainage, ensuring sanitation in Jammu and Srinagar, besides, improving the road network in urban and rural areas.

Rajouri, January 4
Believe it or not, despite witnessing hundreds of passengers getting killed in fatal accidents last year, twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch enjoy services of merely eight traffic policemen.

According to sources in the traffic department, there are four traffic policemen each in Rajouri and Poonch districts to monitor vehicular traffic movement. These four traffic policemen comprise one district traffic inspector (DTI) and his three subordinates.

“Since the number of traffic policemen is very less, it becomes difficult for them to manage the huge volume of traffic especially the commercial vehicles,” the sources said. “The commercial vehicle owners taking advantage of the low presence of the traffic police indulge in overloading, which is a major reason for increase in number of road accidents,” they added.

It is due to the less manpower in the traffic police department, the transport department-- faced with increased number of deaths of the passengers in road accidents in Rajouri and Poonch---had delegated powers to station house officers of police stations, tehsildars and naib-tehsildar to book the violators of traffic rules.

But since the officers concerned are busy with their routine work, the problem of overloading continuously goes unchecked.

Expressing helplessness to check overloading, a senior traffic police officer told TNS that since the number of traffic police officials in these twin border districts is only eight, it becomes difficult to manage huge traffic flow in Rajouri and Poonch districts.

“It is not possible for eight cops to make their presence at every place in this far flung and geographically vast region,” he said.

He further informed that the traffic police department has already requested the government to provide more traffic cops so that overloading is checked at block level in the state, but the later has failed to increase the manpower.

Transport minister Hakeem Muhammad Yaseen admitted that number of traffic policemen in twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch is quite less, but he said the shortage of traffic policemen exists across the state.

“There is shortage of manpower in the traffic police department. We are having only 10 per cent of the total requirement of traffic policemen in the state,” the transport minister said. “The home ministry holds the authority to increase the numbers and it should do the needful.”

Admitting that overloading has caused huge loss of human lives, the transport minister said more steps are in offing to check this menace.

Rajouri, January 4
Even as the entire north India continues to reel under intense cold wave, residents of Rajouri and Poonch district are facing a miserable time, owing to the marathon unscheduled power cuts.

The residents alleged that the Power Development Department (PDD) had been imposing long and unscheduled power cuts which had made their life miserable. They complained that power supply was erratic during the day as well as at night. They rued that even though the department as per its schedule had to curtail power for six hours, they imposed cuts for more than 12 hours.

“Since intense cold wave is prevailing here for the last few days, the only way to survive is to keep ourselves warm. But since there is no electricity in our area, we cannot use electronic gadgets. Our survival has become difficult,” said Azhar Ahmed, a resident of Bhella colony in Rajouri.

“The PDD should provide electricity as per the schedule.”

The residents complained that the PDD had failed to supply uninterrupted power for even an hour. Meanwhile, said a senior PDD officer said on the condition of anonymity, “It is true that we have to resort to unscheduled power cuts. It is because the system is overloaded.”

Jammu, January 4
After finance minister Tariq Hamid Karra reportedly coined an idea of having a separate currency in Jammu and Kashmir provided People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) “self-rule” proposal gets implemented, former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah reiterated his party’s stand and described “autonomy” as the only viable solution.

“I believe the currency will carry his (Karra’s) image,” remarked Abdullah, quickly adding, “Having separate currency in Jammu and Kashmir is his (Karra’s) personal view, so I have nothing to say 
about it.”

Farooq was fielding media queries after launching a Punjabi language fortnightly here this evening.

Endorsing restoration of pre-1953 status in the state, he said, “We will continue pursuing our autonomy document where in it has been clearly mentioned that foreign affairs, communication and defence shall be the center’s prerogative while other issued would be dealt by the state.”

When asked whether a big leader like Karra should have given such a statement, Farooq said, “Who says that he is a big leader? Small men like him keep on giving statements day in and day bout but such statements do not have any impact on the ground.”

To another query of recent cabinet expansion by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad vis-a-vis next Assembly elections standing few months away and induction of three new faces, the National Conference patron bracketed Azad’s move as a political gimmick.

“It is always up to the Chief Minister to decide about expansion of his council of ministers and the strength has now reached 25,” he said, adding “He could have increased the size to 40 or even 50.”

He said, “Elections are going to take place this year and this is just another political move to garner votes,” adding, “In the coming days people will see many more events.”

On the forthcoming budget session beginning January 7, he said, “The National Conference would not only raise issues of public importance but would also seek reply from this government.”

Earlier, he launched a Punjabi language fortnightly “Sant Samachar” named after freedom fighter late Sardar Sant Singh Tegh and advised the editorial team to refrain from yellow journalism.

Farooq also assured to do something good in memory of late Sardar Sant Singh Tegh, which in turn could inspire younger generation.

Prominent among others who attended the function were former minister and party’s Jammu province president Ajay Sadhotra, party’s senior vice-president Sardar Harbans Singh, noted human rights activist Balraj Puri, National Conference leader RL Gupta and former minister Sardar Gurmukh Singh.

Jammu, January 4
With the surfacing of various health related problems in Jammu in the last couple of years, more and more people are nowadays heading for health cum sliming centres.

A beeline of people suffering from obesity can be seen outside such health cum slimming centre in the city.

“On an average we get more than 20 queries from people who want to know more about various weight reducing packages offered by us,” said Aroona, manager of one of the newly opened health and slimming centre in Jammu.

Adding she said, “Many of our clients here belong to working class. The first thing our experts ask them is to quit junk food that contains lot of useless calories.”

Supporting Aroona’s claim, Dr Vinay Mahajan, a dietician in the city, said, “People majority office goers heavily rely on junk food by which they increase their intake of useless calories and thus putting up unnecessary body weight,” Vinay Mahajan, a dietician in Jammu.

“Obesity means when a person gains excess body weight, as compared to what his body mass should be at that age,” said the dietician.

Health experts here feel that various health related ailments caused by excessive body weight have also become common in the region.

“We receive many patients who suffer from various health related ailments caused due to excessive body weight,” said Mahajan. “Junk and roadside eateries are mostly responsible for these ailments. The ingredients used for the preparation of these food stuffs are substandard,” he added.