Jammu, February 19
Various militant organisations fighting in the Kashmir valley are facing an acute resource crunch, as their supply lines from across the border have been cut off due to ongoing political activities in Pakistan.

Heavy snowfall and increased vigil by the Indian Army on the Line of Control (LoC) have also played a major role in the curtailment of the supply lines of militants fighting in the valley.

“As Pakistani ISI is busy with the ongoing political activities in their country, they have stopped the supply lines of the militant groups operative in the valley,” an intelligence source told The Tribune.

Speaking to The Tribune, Jammu-based PRO of the Ministry of Defence Lt-Col. S.D. Goswami said: “There are some 300 to 350 militants active in the south of the Pir Panchal range, out of which 75 to 100 are foreigners. Apart from other reasons, the poor weather conditions and the increased vigil by the Indian Army along the LoC have deprived them of their supplies.

The militants active in the state use high altitudes areas for stocking and winter hideouts, but due to the inclement weather they had to come down and are not in a condition to retrieve whatever they had stored.

“As the militants are not able to retrieve whatever they have stored, they come and merge with local population and it becomes very difficult to point out a militant from civilians if he carries no weapon,” said the PRO. The Army attributes the recent decline in militancy related violence to the resource crunch faced by the militants.

The Army has intelligence inputs that apart from resource crunch, various militant outfits operative in the valley are facing an acute shortage of manpower. As security forces have killed the top leadership of these militant outfits in the state, the outfits have become leaderless. “The youth of the valley is no longer motivated to join these outfits, so these outfits are also facing an acute shortage of manpower,” Goswami said.

He says that large number of surrenders and arrests of active militants have also forced the militant outfits to change their operational strategies. “When a militant is arrested or he surrenders, the other active militants change their strategy fearing that the militants who surrendered or was arrested would disclose all secrets of the outfit,” the PRO added.

However, the Army authorities are not complacence due to decline in the violence in the state as they fear that the present lull in the violence can be a warning for the upcoming events. “The present lull in the violence can be an indication that the militants are buying time to regroup and to start off their activities in the near future,” said an army officer.

Meanwhile, sources told The Tribune that the Army authorities were busy chalking out a strategy to tackle militants hiding in the upper reaches of the mountains as was done during the operation at Hill Kaka a few years ago.

Udhampur, February 19
Thanks to the “criminal negligence” of some officers of the Power Development Corporation (PDC), the state-owned 32-KW Chenani Hydro Electric Power Project remains non-functional for more than three years.

So what’s the result? The state exchequer has already suffered a loss of over Rs 100 crore and there is a recurring loss of Rs 1.38 crore every month. It was after three long years, power minister Babu Singh has taken note of this huge loss and initiated inquiry to fix responsibilities on those, who were responsible for this criminal negligence.

“Officers, who are responsible for this huge loss, have to face the music,” the minister told The Tribune and candidly admitted that it was a criminal negligence on the part of officers who were at the helm of the affairs.

“As per rough estimate, the state government has so far suffered a whopping loss of over Rs 100 crore since this project has been shut down,” he revealed and asserted that officers responsible for this huge loss would be singled out.

Constructed on the Tawi at Chenani, this project was dedicated to the nation by the then Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi in 1972. Due to land sliding and heavy snowfall, the project got damaged and generation of power was stopped in February 2005.

Since then the project, which used to supply power to many parts of the state, has been non-functional, despite being the fact that it required some minor technical repairs to generate power again.

The power minister, who had inspected damaged portion of the project last month, admitted that it was result of the casual approach of the officers that repair power could not complete in time.

“In the year 2005, the state government had asked the officers to prepare an estimate of the total cost required to repair the project but those at the helm of the affairs adopted delay tactics,” the minister said while quoting minutes of the meetings of District Development Board.

“I have directed to the authorities to appoint an electric engineer here to expedite the repairing work,” the minister said and admitted that many irregularities were found in the project. It is also learnt that the authorities have now decided to replace the old machinery to ensure the project commissioned by mid of March this year.

Srinagar, February 19
Seven persons were killed and three others injured in separate incidents in the Kashmir valley overnight, official sources said today.

Bodies of three persons, identified as Abdul Aziz Naikoo, Mohammad Jamal and Mohammad Ramzan Haja, reportedly buried under a snow avalanche, were recovered at Lar forest in north Kashmir, the sources said.

An unidentified body of a man was also recovered at Muniwar from Nallah, near railway track, Anantnag. The cause of his death was not immediately known, the sources said. The dead body of a 20-year-old student, identified as Javid Ahmad Dar, was found on the bank of Nallah Arpath, Anantnag.

In another incident, an employee of the Electricity Department named Abdul Razak Khan died due to electric shock at grid station, Sopore, in north Kashmir district of Baramulla, the sources said.

A 25-year-old woman, identified as Salima Fatima, died due to leakage of gas in her house at Chatter Kote, Kupwara, they added.

A driver and a conductor were injured after a tipper in which they were travelling turned turtle at Patinar Kohistan in Baramulla. The injured were hospitalised.

In a separate incident, a police constable named Tariq Ahmad was injured after his service weapon went off accidentally at Manigam police camp. — UNI

Jammu, February 19
Lack of planning in procurement of software, delay in creation of infrastructure and unplanned digitisation of old records is said to have resulted in waste of several crores of rupees that had been spent on the introduction of e-governance in the state, especially in the civil secretariat.

According to an official report, defective planning had left hardware and supporting software worth Rs 7.69 crore as “idle.”

The report said the plan of introducing e-governance programme in the civil secretariat was approved in April 2002. And for this purpose the government acquired a software solution Secretariat Knowledge Information and Management System (SKIMS) developed by Tata Consultancy Services. The purpose was to enhance the level in efficiency, bringing about transparency, improvement of turnaround of files and monitoring of secretariat functioning.

The government entered into an agreement with Tata Consultancy Services in May 2002 for implementing the project by end of August 2002 at a cost of Rs 3 crore. The state government had acquired the software tailor made for the Andhra Pradesh government and had accepted the software package without ensuring its customisation as per the requirements of the state. Interestingly, out of 430 applications only 274 were applicable to the state and only 18 were identified to be implemented without any customisation.

According to the report, out of 18 selected applications which could have been implemented at Srinagar and Jammu, attendance module was the only application put live and that too was used by only 25 employees out of 308 employees populated in the master table against a total of over 2,000 employees in the secretariat.

Jammu, February 19
To keep their culture and traditions alive, the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community held a Yegnopavit (maikhal) ceremony of nine Kashmiri Pandit boys at the Purkhu migrant camp on the outskirts of Jammu city.

The ceremony was organised by the Mochi Phali Saet Athrot Trust, an organisation of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits. The aim of the ceremony was to make the new generation aware about the customs and traditions of the displaced community.

“Our trust has been helping the needy families of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits to perform this basic sanskara (ritual). This is our small effort to help the new generation of the displaced Kashmiri Pandit families to know about their culture and traditions,” said Veer Ji Bhat, organiser of the event.

“In this context, we are performing the Yegnopavit of nine boys, who belong to not so well-off families,” he added.

Yegnopavit ritual is the basic and most important ritual amongst the Kashmiri Pandits, and the tradition dates back to many centuries.

The displaced community of the Kashmiri Pandits that is living in exile for the past 18 years after their mass migration from Kashmir valley following the eruption of the armed insurgency in the valley is taking measures to preserve its rich cultural traditions.

“Ceremonies like these help the community to bind together and make the new generation aware about our rich culture and traditions,” said K.L. Koul, treasure of the trust.

Apart from organising religious rituals for the youth of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits, the trust also arranges money for performing marriages of the poor Kashmiri Pandit girls.

“We collect money from within the community and help arrange the marriage of those girls whose parents have no means to spend on their marriage,” Bhat said.

“Yegnopavit and marriage are the most important rituals in our tradition and need to be performed according to our customs,” he added.

“Our exile from the valley was aimed at the complete extinction of our community, however, small efforts like this help us to maintain our different identity,” said Bhusan Lal, a displaced Kashmiri Pandit.

Jammu, February 19
A day-long media workshop here convinced one and all, including the medical fraternity and government functionaries, to adopt a social awakening process against female foeticide to check the dwindling sex ratio in the state.

Taking a look at the figures, it was found that the Jammu district has the lowest sex ratio of 820 females to 1,000 males in the age group of zero to four years in the state and it has alarmingly dropped to 700 in certain pockets of the winter capital.

However, summer capital Srinagar can take pride as it had the highest figures of 1,039 girls per 1,000 boys among all 22 districts.

Again the state as a whole has a disappointing ratio of 932 females to 1000 males and with no serious exercise over unscrupulous gynaecologists and radiologists the unethical practice of female foeticide goes on unabatedly.

Dr Sabu George, a social activist from Trivandrum, who long back had initiated a crusade against the menace, elucidated threadbare serious ramifications of misusing pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques.

Citing perturbing sex ratio of Punjab and Haryana, Dr George said, “Despite promulgation of the PNDT Act in 1994 and rules frame there under in January 1996 to ensure its implementation in the country, except for Jammu and Kashmir, female foeticide keeps showing an upward trend.”

“Even the elite class has been going for sex determination and subsequent killing of female child inside mother’s womb. The malpractice has to be stopped unless it becomes too late for us,” he said, adding “In India one million girls die inside mothers’ womb every year.”

On Jammu and Kashmir scenario, he said, “In capital city Jammu itself the ratio varies. To overcome the malady women have to be convinced first to say no to sex selection and sex determination and people themselves have to take a firm stand against female foeticide,” he added.

He said, “Some kind of pressure by the government has to be exerted on clinics equipped with techniques of sex selection 
and sex determination.”

A survey by Directorate of Economics and Statistics in 2006 in 14 districts in the age group of 0 to four years shows per 1,000 male ratio of girls as 820 in Jammu, 840 in Udhampur, 901 in Poonch, 906 in Rajouri, 927 in Baramulla, 931 in Budgam, 934 in Leh, 953 in Kupwara, 991 in Anantnag, 991 in Pulwama, 1019 in Kargil, 1031 in Doda and 1,039 in Srinagar.

But gathering at the workshop including medical fraternity and government functionaries yet again was a confused lot over the rules and implementation of J&K Preconception and Prenatal Sex Selection/Determination (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 2002.

Srinagar, February 19
Hundreds of houseboat owners today took to the streets demanding that all water bodies in the Kashmir valley should be handed over to any foreign company for their conservation.

Marching through different streets from famous Nehru Park in the Dal Lake to civil lines here, the houseboat owners of Dal, Nigeen, Chinar Bagh and Jehlum river alleged that the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) had failed to restore the pristine glory of the water bodies, particularly Dal Lake.

Hand over the water bodies to any foreign company before it was too late, they demanded. The LAWDA had completely failed to deliver what was expected from it, they said adding that it was responsible for the degradation of the Dal and Nigeen lakes since it took over the control of the water bodies.

They also rejected the socio-economic survey conducted by the Urban Environmental Engineering Department (UEED) in 1986, identifying a number of residential or other structures existing in the Dal basin. The survey conducted had now become irrelevant as the demographic index with regards to the family units and the size of population of Dal dwellers had gone up since, they said.

Demanding immediate stop of dismantling houses and other structures in the lake by the LAWDA and other agencies, they said the entire population living there should be shifted first and rehabilitated elsewhere.

More than 3.5 lakh trees and hundreds of illegal houses and other structures were razed to ground by the authorities in the Dal Lake and Chinar Bagh during the past one year. — UNI

Srinagar, February 19
In view of topography of Jammu and Kashmir, the state government accorded top priority to health sector while the National Rural Health Mission (NHRM) envisaging total healthcare, especially for women, has been launched in the state with liberal central funding.

Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said this while addressing the 30th governing body meeting of Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) here today. He stressed upon those at the helm of affairs of premier health institutions to consolidate their infrastructure, adding that the government had already initiated several measures for making specialised treatment available to the people at district and block levels.

He said the governing body of SKIMS had recently approved construction of 100-bedded maternity hospital to bolster the obstetrics and gynaecology department to ease pressure on Lal Ded Hospital, Srinagar. The proposed cost of the hospital would be Rs 15.82 crore. He said several measures were afoot for revamping SKIMS, particularly modernising the departments of linear accelerator, eco-cardiography and neo-natology.

Highlighting the importance of improved healthcare system, the chief minister said Government Medical College and Hospitals of Srinagar and Jammu were being brought under super-specialty health map.

He asked authorities that the latest diagnostic equipment required for these institutions needed to be listed before 2010. He appreciated the plan conceived for establishing a cancer hospital at Katra with a cost of Rs 100 crore.

Azad further said creation of manpower for running the health institutions successfully would be taken on priority and asked the secretary, health and medical education to explore possibility of appointing retired doctors, if required. He said eight trauma hospitals were presently under construction at various places and some of them were nearing completion. He said the doctors concerned would be imparted special training regarding trauma and emergency treatment.

The governing body discussed various issues for upgrading the SKIMS besides improving its functioning.

The meeting approved Resident, All-India Medical Council and Director, All-India Institute of Medical Science (AIMS) as members of the governing body of SKIMS.

Earlier, giving resume of the functioning of SKIMS, Director, Dr. A.H. Zargar said the present bed strength of the institute had risen to 600 from 160 and about 5 lakh people visited the institute for treatment purposes so far. He said the institute had earned a revenue of Rs 350 lakh so far.

The institute has attained the state of art technology, including video endoscopy, basketting-cum-stone crushing in urology, special theatre tables for CVTS, neurosurgery, general and urology surgery. He said laparoscopic system for general surgery and urology were also functioning in the institute. 

Srinagar, February 19
The Army made a clean sweep in the 15-km freestyle cross country race winning all three medals while Bhubhashvari won the first gold for Himachal Pradesh (HP) and hosts Jammu and Kashmir get second and third position in the 5-km freestyle cross country (women) in the fifth National Winter Games.

The Army also won gold while silver went to HP and bronze by High Altitude Warfare School in the Slalom (men) race.

In the 15-km freestyle cross country (Men), Anchok Durge of the Army crossed the distance in 34 minutes and secured first position, while Tashi Tandup ranked second by crossing the distance in 34.15 minutes and Gupta Bhadhur secured 3rd position (34.31 minutes).

In 5-KM freestyle cross country (Women) Bhubhashvari won the first gold for HP when she completed the race in 18:3:99 minutes.

Mahjabeen and Masooda Akhter won silver and bronze after they completed the race in 19:39:3 and 21:43:46 minutes, respectively, for the hosts. Kashmir got second and third positions respectively.

A large number of sports lovers and tourists witness the sports events.

There has been tremendous response to the games this time, this being the fifth edition.