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Ration shortage sparks protest, 15 hurt in lathicharge
My autobiography won’t be bundle of lies: Farooq
Tibetans protest outside UN Office
A Tibetan carries his child on his back during a protest in Srinagar on Wednesday. Tribune photo by Mohd Amin War
Female foeticide goes on unabated
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Cancer-affected detainee set free
J&K Bank to digitise
rare manuscripts
These schools lack basic facilities
Govt health centres no help to villagers
A trade that crosses enemy lines
27,000 income-generating units set up
Ensure foolproof security grid: Experts
Two killed in mishap
Efforts on to identify 50,000 jobs
3 die in mishaps
3 die in separate mishaps
General Chowdhary takes charge
Armyman killed
NC bags mayor’s post
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Ration shortage sparks protest, 15 hurt in lathicharge
Udhampur, March 26 The police used the force to disperse the people who had blocked traffic on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. Some policemen including SHO Udhampur also received injuries when enraged residents pelted stones on cops after the lathicharge. Tension flared up in the Udhampur town and all the injured have been admitted in the hospital for treatment. To lodge protest against failure of the CAPD to ensure supply of ration in government depots, residents of Udhampur this afternoon took out a protest in the town. Led by leaders of all political parties and joined by a large number of women, people sat on dharna on Dhar road demanding assurance from the deputy commissioner regarding adequate supply of ration in the CAPD runs outlets. Although the dharna continued for more than eight hours, no senior officer reached the spot to pacify the agitating people, who were demanding at least assurance from the authorities to mitigate their miseries. Irked over indifferent attitude of the authorities, slogan-shouting people then trooped towards Jammu-Srinagar national highway to block the traffic. Passing different bazaars of the town, the procession reached in front of the TCP where people sat on the road and resorted to shouting slogans against the CAPD department. As the protestors were adamant to block the traffic on the national highway, the police resorted to cane charge to disperse the mob. Some protestors including councilor Ashwani Khajuria and some women received injuries in the lathicharge. Situation took an ugly turn when some people resorted to pelting stones on the cops. SHO Udhampur Jagdev Singh along with some women police personnel were injured in the stone pelting. The cops later chased away the youth, who were pelting stones on policemen and controlled the situation from further
worsening. Later in the evening a meeting of All Parties Coordination Committee was held in which it was decided to intensify the ongoing agitation. Activists of all parties strongly condemned the unprovoked lathicharge on peaceful precisionists. DIG Udhampur-Reasi zone Alok Puri later told The Tribune that the police used mild force to disperse some people who were blocking traffic on the national highway. Udhampur town and its adjoining localities have been facing acute shortage of ration in government runs depots. Later in the evening Deputy Commissioner Udhampur O P Kalandari ordered suspension of Tehsil Supply Officer of CAPD Bansi Lal Gupta and Salesman Dewan Singh for their failure to supply ration in the government runs depots. The DC said sanctioned quota was allotted to the outlets but these officials failed to ensure supply. |
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My autobiography won’t be bundle of lies: Farooq
Jammu, March 26 Reacting to the controversy triggered by L.K. Advani’s memoirs “My country, My Life”, the National Conference patron said his autobiography would be based on brazen truth and clarity. It may be recalled here that Advani in his autobiography accused Farooq of trading autonomy resolution to stay in power during the NDA rule. Drawing parallels between Jammu and Kashmir and Tibet, Farooq said, “If the BJP’s ultimate aim is to abrogate Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir then India has deliberately maintained a discreet silence on Tibet because both parts of the south Asian region want greater autonomy.” The senior Abdullah was fielding media queries after commemorating first anniversary of a weekly newspaper here this
morning. “I don’t care what Advani has written in his autobiography. A local daily predicted turbulent phase for me in election year in the backdrop of Advani’s book. However, I don’t think so,” he said. “What can I say about a home minister, who was oblivious of Jaswant Singh’s Kandahar visit,” Farooq said sarcastically, adding, “Whatever he has penned down in his book about autonomy report vis-à-vis softening of the NC stand is totally wrong and misleading.” “In fact we were about to part ways with the NDA government when my mother had passed away but Advani and Atal Behari Vajpayee requested us not to resort to any such move,” he said. He questioned as to why the NDA government appointed K.C. Pant and Arun Jaitley as interlocutors to hold discussions with the NC leadership on the autonomy report when both of them had turned a blind eye to such an important issue. “If they were not seeing the report then what they had been doing,” mocked the former chief minister. “The day I write my autobiography, it would not be a bundle of lies. In fact each word in it would be crystal clear and based on truth,” he said. He further said, “Our autonomy report lies with the Government of India and with every country of the world but India is not ready to acknowledge it.” Taking a cue from unrest in Tibet, he said,
“When the whole world has supported Tibetans in their cause, why India has maintained a discreet silence. Because India has apprehensions that China would tell her to first set its own house in order.” |
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Tibetans protest outside UN Office
Srinagar, March 26 The protesters shouted slogans outside the United Nations office here against the Chinese crackdown on the their countrymen in Tibet and demanded an investigation by international agency like the United Nations into, what they alleged, is Chinese brutal use of force to quell the violence. “Our people are being killed there and our culture destroyed. And we don't really know what's happening there. How many people have been killed, how many injured? China should be asked to let the world know what's happening in Tibet,” protestor Mustinko Sonhu said. However, the police prevented them from entering the UN premises where they wanted to handover a memorandum. The protestors, who would be not more than 75, were carrying banners reading “Free Tibet” and Tibetan flags also. This is the first time Tibetans have held a public demonstration in the valley supporting their cause in Tibet. Most of the Tibetans, anywhere between 1,000 to 1,500 living in the valley are traders and an overwhelming majority of them are Muslims. |
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Female foeticide goes on unabated
Jammu, March 26 Among the 22 districts of the state, Jammu district has attained the dubious distinction of having the lowest sex ratio of 820 females to 1,000 males in the age group of 0 to 4 years. In certain areas, it has alarmingly dropped to 700 females per 1,000 males. “Though the state has implemented the Jammu and Kashmir Preconception and Prenatal Sex Selection/Determination Act, female foeticide goes on silently in some private nursing homes and clinics,” said a senior gynaecologist at SMGS hospital. She said, “On the false pretext of congenital abnormality in foetus, expecting women in connivance with some gynaecologists abort their pregnancies in private nursing homes.” “In 12 to 14 week-old pregnancies, a radiologist with a simple sonography test can easily determine the sex of the baby and aborting a girl child is not an uphill task”, she added. She said, “The malpractice has been going on clandestinely and such gynaecologists charge anything between Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 to get the job done.” An official of the state health department said, “Though provisions of punishment are there in the Act, the first instance proving a gynaecologist guilty is a tough job. I don’t remember exactly if anyone has ever been convicted by the court of law during my 16 years of service.” He said, “There is no severe punishment under the Act to the gynaecologist, so even if one is found guilty, he or she has to remit a nominal fine.” Another gynaecologist at SMGS hospital said, “A gynaecologist under the garb of anti-natal check up for foetal well being can easily abort pregnancies and law can’t do much to prevent him or her.” A recent government survey made a startling revelation that out of seven newly born children, one girl was being aborted. A radiologist at a private nursing home said, “People force us to disclose the sex of the baby who undergo a sonography test.” She added that sometimes they had to do oblige people. |
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Cancer-affected detainee set free
Srinagar, March 26 The court passed the directions on a petition filed by the detainee Muhammad Yaqoob through his counsel challenging his detention under Public Safety Act (PSA). The petition also prayed for compensation of Rs 10 lakh illegal detention of Yaqoob, who lost his father when he was in jail. The High Court directed the authorities to produce him in person before the principle and sessions judge Srinagar and ensure his release on March 31. The court said the state has no powers to invoke second PSA on the same grounds set aside by the court earlier. According to petition Yaqoob was arrested in 2006 and lodged in the Zakura Police Station under Arms Act. Later he was booked under PSA and shifted to Kot Balwal jail in Jammu. However, the detention was challenged and court quashed his detention and ordered his release in March last year. Yaqoob was later shifted to central jail since he was facing trail in the court of 3rd additional sessons judge here. However, despite being granted bail in July 2007, he was not released After the death of his father, his mother request to release him was turned down and instead he was again booked under PSA. During the detention, Yaqoob was detected as a cancer patient. The high court directed the state through the senior superintendent of police to produce him in person before the principle and sessions court on March 31. The court also directed that the principle and sessions judge should ensure his release in the court. — UNI
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J&K Bank to digitise
rare manuscripts
Srinagar, March 26 “The bank as part of its ambitious project now plans to digitise and archive very old and rare manuscripts in the Ladakh region in the state,” bank chairman Haseeb Drabu said. The Cultural Heritage Preservation Project, according to Drabu, launched two years back as part of the bank’s social responsibility, was aimed at creating awareness among the people of the state about the importance of preservation of cultural heritage. “We thought of looking beyond commerce and act as a corporate citizen for the welfare of the people. So we started this project,” Drabu said. The bank released a CD last year, which contained a collection of old Kashmiri numbers rendered by Raj Begum and Ghulam Hassan Sofi. He also said the bank had restored garden, ‘Bagh-I- Waris Khan’, to its pristine glory in the interior city and was trying to recreate the lost aura of ‘Badamwari’ (almond garden) within, which “till now is just a nostalgic reminiscence of the past”, as part of the ambitious project. The bank has also been featuring the rare paintings of Jammu and Kashmir in its calendars and greeting cards to educate the people about the cultural heritage of the border state. The ‘Thangka’ art of Ladakhi and Bhasoli paintings have been featured in this year’s calendars. Drabu said an art gallery would be established to showcase the paintings and different shades of life in the state since 1880 through photographs. He also urged the state government to include the cultural heritage of Kashmir “which cuts across all cultural, religious and ethnic barriers” in school and college curricula in the state. The bank has also planned to organise workshops, seminars and debates to initiate “constructive” measures to preserve the heritage for the future generations. Even as the geographical factors of the three regions of the state - Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh - might look different, they had so much in common acquired through age-old close association among the people of the state, he said. The common cultural heritage of the state was reflected in its literature, language, arts, crafts and music, the bank
chairman said. “So preserving cultural heritage is an important aspect, which needs attention and resources. And it cannot be ignored,” he said.
— PTI |
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These schools lack basic facilities
Jammu, March 26 The schools that are aimed at providing basic education to the students of these areas lack basic infrastructure, including desks, benches, blackboards etc. Various middle and primary schools in Marh block of the Jammu division do not even have proper sanitation facilities for the students. “There are many schools in Parwah, Patinal, Dabkaramdin, Bador in Marh block that do not have proper toilet facility for female students and they have to go back to their houses to use the toilet facility there,” said Sudesh Mallah, director of the SoS village, Jammu, whose organisation provides financial assistance to these school. A primary school at Dabkaramdin in the same block did not have window panes and the school building was in dilapidated condition, he added. A school in Parwah village in the Marh block was situated on the roadside and there was no boundary wall and many small children were subjected to frequent road accidents, Mallah said. “You cannot take a chance with the lives of these innocent children,” he said. “We visited various schools in the remote villages of the division and found that in many schools, the concept of day meal was absent and the schools that run the day meal scheme provide substandard food to the children, thus playing with the health of those students,” he added. The SoS village has submitted a proposal to its headquarters to raise funds for these schools to help them improve infrastructure there. “We even donated Rs 20,000 each to these schools. We installed blackboards. Whatever we can do in our limited resources we did that, but finally it is the state government who has to look into it,” Mallah said.
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Govt health centres no help to villagers
Jammu, March 26 The doctors, who have been posted by the state administration to look after the health sector in rural areas, seldom attend these health centers thus the local population is subjected to numerous hardships. In the recent past, many people in remote areas lost their lives due to unavailability of the proper healthcare facilities in their villages. “When the people in these remote villages don’t find a doctor in the government healthcare centers they have no other option but to visit local chemist shops, the chemists without any knowledge of disease prescribes medicines to these people, thus risking their lives,” said Ashwani Kumar, a social worker in Jammu. Just three days ago nine-month-old Sumeet fell victim to the negligence of the medical staff in the Khor village of Jammu division. The baby was not feeling well when his parents took him to a local health center in Khor village, but because of the absence of doctors there, his parents had to take him to a local chemist shop. “The doctor who sits on the shop was not there, his attendant gave an injection to the child, on our way back home the child expired,” said Purshotam Lal, Sumeet’s father. The incident took place on the same day when Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was conducting an extensive tour of the Khor village, to apprise the people with the developmental works undertaken by his government. The residents in these villages blame that a ‘nexus’ between doctors and local chemists exists in the area, whereas the doctors don’t come to the government healthcare centres and people are left with no other option but to take their patients to these chemists. “You can find a clear violation of rules in these areas, as one chemist operates three to four chemist shops on one license,” said Vinod Kumar, a local resident of Khor village. He said, “The state government has to rise up to the expectations of the common man and must fulfill the promises that it had made to the people before it came to power. Healthcare is the basic right of a man and the government cannot deny it.” Repeated attempts to contact health minister Mangat Ram Sharma proved futile.
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A trade that crosses enemy lines
Abdullian (Indo-Pak
border), March 26 Though soldiers of the Border Security Forces (BSF) deployed to guard the international border between the two countries claim that they had successfully curbed the menace of drug peddling in the village, sources said drug peddlers had adopted various other means to peddle narcotics. The peddlers have adopted various methods of transporting drugs between the two countries. According to sources, a peddler from the Pakistan border throws a consignment packed in a polythene bag across the border fence, which is then lifted by his partner on the Indian side. “First they pass on the message that they would be throwing a consignment on a particular location and after that they throw the consignment from across the fence, which is taken by a peddler from the other side,” an official of the BSF told The Tribune on the condition of anonymity. To check cross-border infiltration and to keep a check on drug peddlers from across the border, the Indian government had erected a barbed fence. Though the fence was able to check cross-border infiltration, the illegal trade of narcotics continues unabated. Sources revealed that families, who had their relatives living on the other side of the border, usually indulged in the trade. When contacted Jammu-based public relations officer of the BSF refused
to comment. |
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27,000 income-generating units set up
Srinagar, March 26 In the district coordination committee meeting of leading banks, he accompanied by Nabard and RBI officials reviewed the development works and said more than 5,961 units have been established in priority sector with a financial assistance of Rs 181.99 crore and 21,725 units with a loan facility of Rs 647.45 crore in non-priority sector. Under agriculture sector, 180 units while under trade and services sector 5,199 units have been established with an investment of Rs 148 crore. Under various government-sponsored schemes, 1,316 beneficiaries have been provided financial assistance of Rs 17.61 crore for setting up of up to February this year, he said. Iqbal asked the sponsoring agencies and banks to speed up the process of flow of credit to needy persons and ensure hassle free procedures so that entrepreneurs get non-stop service in availing the credit from banks. He also stressed for greater synergy among line departments for achieving targets. It may be mentioned that there is a complaint among people here that banks are reluctant to give them loans and credit-debit ration in the state is among the lowest in the country.
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Ensure foolproof security grid: Experts
Jammu, March 26 Security experts have not ruled out the possibility of militants resorting to violence in order to prevent people from casting their votes. A senior police officer said hardliners among separatists and several militant groups had already given a call for the boycott of polls despite the fact that the chief of the Muzaffarabad-based United Jehad Council, Syed
Salahuddin, had announced that militants would not use weapons during elections unless security forces forced people to cast their votes. He said the announcement had already been opposed by the Jamaitul Mujahideen,a constituent of the Jehad Council, which indicated that the hawks among separatists would not hesitate to motivate their youths to scare people with the view to boycott polls. At the same time, senior police functionaries do not fear of a major upsurge in incidents of violence during the polls. |
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Two killed in mishap
Udhampur, March 26 According to the police, three persons were near Gool when a roadside tree suddenly fell upon them. All of them were trapped under the tree. Although the locals rushed to the spot to rescue them, one of the victims died instantly while other two received severe injuries. With the help of the local police, the injured were rushed to the Ramban hospital. On their way to the hospital, one of them succumbed to his injuries. One of the deceased has been identified as Ghulam Rasool of Gool while as identity of the second deceased was yet to be established.
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Efforts on to identify 50,000 jobs
Srinagar, March 26 He said the government was making efforts to identify more than 50,000 vacancies which would be filled through a fast-track recruitment drive. Addressing a public meeting in Kangan, which is his constituency also, he asked youth to come forward and cooperate for carrying forward the development process successfully. He said several projects were under execution in Ganderbal district to improve the socio-economic profile of the people. |
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3 die in mishaps
Srinagar, March 26 Two more persons were killed and 10 others injured, one of them critically, when a Sopore-bound bus met with an accident at Paribal, 10 km from Bandipora,
yesterday. Two persons, Mohammad Maqbool Chopan and Abdul Majeed Palla, died on spot. Injured Tahira Bano was referred to the SKIMS in Srinagar for treatment, while the other injured were hospitalised at the sub-district hospital, Bandipora. All were reported to be out of danger. |
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3 die in separate mishaps
Jammu, March 26
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General Chowdhary takes charge
Jammu, March 26 General Chowdhary was commissioned into the Jat Regiment in 1973 and has taken part in various operations while deployed in counter-insurgency
environment.
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Armyman killed
Srinagar, March 26 |
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NC bags mayor’s post
Srinagar, March 26 The election of Sagar, who was the deputy mayor of the house, was a easy affair for the NC as the party commands an absolute majority with 39 members in the 66-member corporation while the second biggest party PDP has only 16 seats. |
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Srinagar, March 26
