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Land Dispute
Roads cry for repairs
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Delimitation
BJP calls govt anti-youth
Rail project behind schedule
Police to get more sniffer dogs
KU to be global hub of learning: VC
‘Fort’ school on verge of collapse
Norwegian tourist missing
Snowfall continues
Dogra youth await certificates
All is well with farmers: Minister
Mission Education
Hideout busted, arms recovered
Kashmir Issue
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Land Dispute
Jammu, January 10 Jammu and Kashmir deputy advocate-general A. S. Dogra received three bullet injuries in his abdomen when three persons on a motorcycle stopped his vehicle and fired at him while he was on his way back home from office at Muthi in North Jammu. According to eyewitnesses accompanying A.S. Dorga, he was stopped near his house and bullets were fired on him. Three men came on a bike and stopped our vehicle, they first attacked the driver, but when all of us stepped down from the vehicle they fired at Dogra and fled from the spot, said one of the eyewitnesses. Meanwhile, Dogra was shifted to the government medical college and hospital where his condition is stated to be critical. Though doctors are operating to remove the bullets, his situation is critical due to the loss of huge amount of blood from his body, a doctor told The Tribune. The dispute is on a piece of land measuring 22 kanals which belongs to A.S. Dogra but was sold by another party without informing him. The other party with the help of revenue authorities manipulated the records and sold the land for Rs 70 lakh, however when Dogra came to know about the sale of his land he filed a petition in the court which had given its judgment in his favor. They attacked him to remove him from the scene, B.S. Salathia, president of the Jammu Bar council told The Tribune. Meanwhile, the police says one of the assailant involved in the attack has been identified as Vishal. At the time of filing this report operation to save A.S. Dogra was still going on, however, his condition was stated to be critical. |
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Roads cry for repairs
Rajouri, January 10 What to talk of the condition of roads in rural areas, the roads here are in bad shape. Whereas the roads from Salani Bridge to Panja Chowk, from Panja Chowk to Jawahar Nagar and beyond the northern end of the Advanced Landing ground (ALG) are looked after by the BRO, the roads from Panja Chowk to Northern end of ALG ground, Abdullah Bridge to Nagesh Bridge are looked after by the Public Works Department (PWD). Residents allege that both the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and the PWD have failed to maintain the roads. They say both agencies have not repaired the roads here for over one decade and have embezzled funds worth crores of rupees meant for their maintenance. “Though the state government claims of building new roads, but roads need maintenance,” said Riyaz Ahmed, of ward No. 2 . The BRO which maintains majority of the roads here in this border township has a different take on the issue. “We don't get much funds for maintenance of roads in the town. How can we repair the roads without funds from the government?” asked a BRO official on the condition of anonymity. Deputy commissioner, Rajouri, Sheikh Rafiq Ahmed told The Tribune that the district administration had already started repair of many roads in the town. “We have started the repair work of the roads managed by the PWD. So far as roads looked after by the BRO are concerned, we have forwarded a proposal for the repair of the roads to the Centre and are awaiting funds,” the DC claimed. |
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Price hike issue puts govt on the mat
Jammu, January 10 Trouble started when minister for consumer affairs and public distribution Taj Mohi-ud-din stood up to answer the question on price rise of essential commodities raised by the members of the opposition bench during the ongoing budget session of the state legislature. Taj Mohi-ud-din while replying to a query about steps being taken to stop black marketing of essential commodities in the state said his department could not deploy an officer next to every shop to check the violations of government’s norms by the shopkeepers. The opposition members did not seem satisfied with minister’s reply as they stood up in protest and staged a walkout against what they called muscle power of the government. The infuriated opposition MLCs, including Bhim Singh of National Panthers Party, stood up from their benches and staged a walkout amidst heated exchange of words between treasury and opposition benches. Meanwhile, replying to the question by Congress MLC Mohammed Sharief Niaz, Taj Mohi-ud-din said that the price hike in the state was due to the hike of the price of essential commodities at the national level. Answering to a supplementary question from the opposition bench, the minister said various steps such as conducting market checking through departmental enforcement wings and fixation of prices in respect of daily consumption items like milk, meat and other food steps stand taken in this behalf. Later, the issue of allotment of colleges in the state also rocked the legislative council as the minister concerned was asked to explain the criteria for allotment of 18 degree colleges. |
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Delimitation
Jammu, January 10 Barely into the fourth day of the budget session, the National Conference (NC) legislators first grilled the coalition government for not tabling the Kundal Inquiry Report on the forest scam. Later, the Panthers Party, the State Morcha along with BJP legislators tightened the noose around the ruling alliance for its reluctance in framing the delimitation commission compelling Speaker Tara Chand to adjourn the lower house for nearly an hour today. Amidst mayhem that ruled the roost clear, divide between the NC and Jammu-based political parties over the delimitation of Assembly constituencies came to the fore. |
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BJP calls govt anti-youth
Jammu, January 10 Addressing day-long meeting of state working committee of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha at Muthi here, he said, “Youth in the state are the worst affected because of the policies of coalition government." “Every year thousands of youth pass out from colleges and universities with hopes of getting jobs but unfortunately they end up staging protest demonstrations and even attempting self-immolations," he said. |
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Rail project behind schedule
Udhampur, January 10 "I donot think that the Udhampur-Katra would be completed in 15 months", Mr Pandey told the reporters at Reasi after inspecting the project. He said that there was some technical difficulties in the completing this much-publicised project in time schedule. It is worthwhile to mention here that Northern Railway is constructing this 25 km Udhampur-Katra railway track . Earlier the rail link between these two towns was expected to be completed by March, 2005 but was delayed for various reasons. Last year it was promised to complete the project by the end of the year 2008. The Divisioner Commissioner, however, expressed his satisfaction over the work on Katra-Qazigund rail link. He said that the process of land acquisition and clearance from the forest department had been completed and pace of work was satisfactory. The Divisional Commissioner also inspected many developmental works in the town and gave on-spot instructions to the authorities. |
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Police to get more sniffer dogs
Jammu, January 10 Official sources said the police authorities have decided to bid for two species of the dogs only from those suppliers who are registered with the Kennel Club of India. According to the sources in police only those dogs, who have been fully vaccinated against various virus diseases, including Hepatitis, carno virus and para influenza, would be accepted in order to ensure that the existing dog squad was not infected. The need for increasing the sniffer dog squad has been felt as the police authorities have come to realise their role in counter insurgency operations and in detection of crime. These dogs have been used during road opening exercise for detecting IEDs and mines. |
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KU to be global hub of learning: VC
Srinagar, January 10 He also allays the “misperception” outside the valley about functioning of the university in the wake of turmoil saying it continued to be a “vibrant, functioning and active institute of learning” in Kashmir. In an exclusive interview with the Tribune at the Hazratbal campus in the university, Prof Riyaz Punjabi said the civil society in Kashmir had soon realised the importance of the education sector. “The civil society soon realised that it cannot afford to ignore the education sector in Kashmir,” Punjabi said. “It is a vibrant, functioning and active institution of learning in Kashmir”, Punjabi said. He, however, lamented that there were wrong impressions about the institution outside the valley, which needed to be rectified. He said in some teaching departments, many scholars were highly acclaimed and young people were talented, intelligent and hardworking. “They, however, need proper direction and that will be my top priority”, he said. “I also would like to enhance the interface in the university at the national and international-level,” Prof Punjabi said. He added that there was need to accelerate the exchange of scholars and he wanted the best of scholars to visit the university. Punjabi, who earlier worked as a teacher at the Law Faculty of the University of Kashmir, is an expert on the sociology of law and looks forward to bring entrepreneurs and NRIs in encouraging scholars in their placements. “I assure them about the efficiency and dedication of the scholars” qualifying from the university, Punjabi commented. He lamented that the ongoing trend would create unemployed graduates. In order to check this alarming trend, he said there was need to update the curriculum to bring it in tune with the latest requirements of the society. Describing it as a “big challenge”, Prof Punjabi sought the cooperation of his colleagues in the university and outside to devise new programmes to tackle unemployment. At the same time Punjabi pointed towards some obsolete research areas that needed to be brought in tune for a greater development in technological management, social sciences and languages. The focus has to be on quality research that would provide inputs for the government in policy making in the areas of education and technology. The new vice-chancellor aspires to create opportunities for students to develop their different faculties for which concentration would be on extra curricular, literary and sports activities. Prof Riyaz Punjabi, who started his teaching career at the Law faculty of the University of Kashmir, had also worked as the chairman of Distance Education, and Dean of Non-Formal Education. He had been associated with the JNU since 1992 at the Centre for Study of Social System at the School of Social Sciences. He has been a visiting professor at the Academy of Third World Studies at Jamia Millia, New Delhi. Punjabi is also a visiting professor on human rights at the India Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla and visiting fellow at the centre of South Asia Studies, Switzerland. He has delivered several foreign lectures, besides over 100 research articles in the national and international academic journals.
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‘Fort’ school on verge of collapse
Poonch, January 10 Established in the 1980’s, the school has got its name from the famous fort of Shesh Mahal. The school was once the palace of Dogra kings who ruled the state till India secured Independence from the British in August 1947. Later, former Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah handed over the fort to the school on April 20, 1980. After the 2005 earthquake, the school’s building was badly damaged. Since then it has been a major cause of worry for students who feel that the school’s building can tumble down anytime. “It hardly makes a difference that we are studying in a fort, but the fact that the building is badly damaged and can crash down anytime has been a cause of worry for us,” said Rabia Bano, a student. “It is quite risky here.” “We heard that UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had promised starting the reconstruction of our school, but nothing in this regard had been done so far,” she added. A senior officer in the district administration admitted that the Shesh Mahal building was quite risky for students and needed repairs. Meanwhile, director, school education, Avtar Krishan Raina admitted that the building was damaged and needed repair and renovation. “We have proposed repair and renovation of the building,” the director said.
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Norwegian tourist missing
Srinagar, January 10 The police said Francesca Rongne, who had checked in Hotel Green Heights in afternoon, left her hotel within minutes of arrival and has not been seen since. Incidentally, Rongne had gone missing last year also and was located by local guides a few days later. Gulmarg is rated as one of the most adventurous ski resorts in the world and its tantalising slopes are as treacherous as interesting for skiers. The police said she might have lost her way and rescue efforts were on to find her. |
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Snowfall continues
Srinagar, January 10 The met department has predicted snow and rain in the next 24 hours. The maximum temperature was 5.8 degree C while the minimum was zero degree C. |
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Dogra youth await certificates
Jammu, January 10 The process involves no big financial implications but would be a great help to Dogra youth while seeking jobs in different armed and paramilitary forces. A senior official of the General Administration Department said, “The file has been gathering dust in law department from the past two years awaiting signatures of the law minister.” Talking to The Tribune, Panthers Party legislator and former education minister Harsh Dev Singh said, “Two years ago health and medical education minister Mangat Ram Sharma had given an assurance on the floor of the house that Dogra certificates would be issued. However, as of now his assurance has turned out to be an eyewash.” Expressing regrets that a minister’s assurance on the floor of the house has not been honoured, Harsh said, “It amounts to contempt of the house. I have moved a petition before the legislative assembly speaker Tara Chand.” Official sources said, “Speaker Tara Chand in a correspondence to the chief secretary last year in August had expressed his annoyance over non-fulfilment of ministers’ assurances given during assembly sessions.” It may be mentioned here that legislators from opposition benches cry hoarse over non-implementation of ministers’ assurances doled out to them during assembly sessions. Sources maintained that natives of Kashmir and Ladakh regions get relaxation in physical measurement during recruitment drives by armed and para-military forces. “In fact the law department had suggested a proposal to have a seal on permanent resident certificate of Dogra youth but the process has not moved forwarded for inexplicable reasons,” they added. State morcha legislator Ashwani Sharma said, “It is a grave injustice with youth of the Jammu region. |
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All is well with farmers: Minister
Jammu, January 10 However, this was questioned by National Conference legislator Ajay Sadhotra, who disputed the minister’s claims and staged a walkout in the Legislative Assembly yesterday. Replying to a question by Sadhotra in the Legislative Assembly, Zargar claimed that unlike in other parts of the country, there was no agricultural crisis in the state. He asserted, with apparent pride, “Not a single case of suicide has been reported from anywhere in Jammu and Kashmir.” Sadhotra, however, alleged that farmers in the state were on the verge of starvation. Agriculture was becoming a costly affair and there were no fertilisers available to farmers, he added. To this, Zargar replied that there were sufficient stocks of fertilisers available across the state. Disputing the minister’s claims, Sadhotra alleged that he was misleading the House. Zargar remarked, “If any of the statements and claims made by me are found false, I will resign.” Not to be left behind, Sadhotra retorted, “If any of the charges levelled by me are found false, I will resign.” Actually it was the minister of state for agriculture Gharu Ram who was listed to reply to the question of Sadhotra. However, finding his junior colleague on the back foot, Zargar intervened with his assertions. Not convinced with the minister’s reply, Sadhotra staged a walkout and demanded setting up of a special House committee to look into the matter.
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Mission Education
Talwara (Reasi), January 10 The Uniform Force of Indian Army with the collaboration of district administration Reasi has decided to construct a Gujjar-Bakerwal hostel in this town to provide boarding lodging and free education to the children of this nomadic lot of the society. Named as Pir Panchal hostel, 50 children of Gujjars and Bakerwals hailing from remotest areas of Reasi, Rajouri and Ramban districts would be accommodated in this home for children. “It is hard reality that being the worst victim of the on going militancy, these nomadic communities lag behind as far as basic needs are concerned,” said General Officer Commanding (GoC) Uniform Force, Maj-Gen Panjikar addressing a function after laying foundation stone of the hostel. “Decision to construct Gujjar-Bakerwal hostel was taken to provide quality education to this most backward lot of the society so to remove biggest hurdle in their betterment and upliftment,” Maj-Gen Panjikar said and assured that quality education would be provided to the inmates of this hostel. He further assured the gathering that selection process would be institutionalised so that only genuine and deserving children could get admission in this hostel. He expressed optimism and was confident that the Gujjar and Bakerwal community will be benefited from this hostel since their children will have access to the quality education. While spelling out the efforts being made by the Army for the development of this area, Maj Gen said that many steps were taken by the force for the betterment of the people. He especially mentioned Ankur Home -which houses children orphaned by the on-going militancy. He also assured to construct a Primary Health Centre at Talwara for the local population. Divisional Commissioner, Sadhansu Pandey, who came all the way from Jammu to participate in this foundation stone laying function, lavished all praise on the Army for initiating some steps to ameliorate lot of the society. He said that it was all due to the efforts of the Army that situation has been moving towards normalcy. Earlier foundation stone of the hostel was laid by the GoC and Divisional Commissioner in the presence of large number of Gujjars and Bakerwals. The hostel is spread over nine kanals of land offered by the civil administration of Reasi. The two storeyed hostel will have six fully furnished dormitories with modern toilets and kitchen facilities. It will also house the warden's office, library, guest rooms and recreation facilities.
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Hideout busted, arms recovered
Poonch, January 10 Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Prebeet Singh Parihar said the police launched a search operation in Sanai forest last night. He said the police identified the natural cave like militant hideout in the morning and busted it. He further said a huge quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered from the hideout. Parihar said they seized I-Com wireless set along with four antennas, three Chinese grenades, three UBGL grenades, two AK magazines, a sniper magazine, three IED fuse, an IED battery, 86 rounds of pika gun, 80 rounds of AK rifle, six link pika, an RPG bomb and 400 gm of RDX. |
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Kashmir Issue
Jammu, January 10 Speaking in the State Legislative Council here today on the motion of thanks to the Governor's address, NC legislator Devinder Rana said the concept of working groups had not yielded any positive results so far. The Governor in his address had said the working groups had made significant process and a high power committee was being set up to monitor the implementation of the recommendations of the working groups. Rana alleged the working groups had failed to resolve the Kashmir issue with no progress in this direction. He remarked, “It appears to be a futile exercise aimed at giving some time and leverage to the powers that be.” The National Conference appears to be targeting the government on each of the points raised in the Governor's address be it the working groups' recommendations, the problem of unemployment or the "breakthrough" in starting Uri Muzffarbad bus service besides the issue of the return of the Kashmiri migrants back to valley. Rana also accused the state government of not formulating an effective policy to tackle the problem of unemployment among the youth in the valley and said they are being duped by the administration. Quoting figures from J&K statistical newsletter-2007, he said, more than one lakh unemployed youth have been registered with employment exchanges in the state but not even a single person has been placed during the last three years through this system. Commenting on Uri-Muzaffarabad road, he said hardly 0.0002 per cent population of the state could visit people across the Line of Control (LoC) in last three years and real purpose of opening roads was defeated. Rana reiterated his party stand suggesting that the contact across LoC should be ensured only through I-card system and formalities be simplified. He said, adding no proper policy has been devised to enable the return of migrants to the valley. |
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