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New party eating into BSP’s vote bank
LeT militant nabbed
Six labourers killed, 2 hurt in
Reasi mishap
State yearning for peace
Parties using ethnic groups as vote banks: UP minister
Pay VDCs or face protests, BJP tells govt
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BSF nabs Pak army jawan
PDP comes under NC fire
Militancy down, it’s PR time for cops
Indus Water Treaty
2 explosives defused
Man held for selling ‘fake’ tea
Police hand in glove with peddlers, allege protesters
Relief subsidy for industrial units
4 SSPs shifted
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New party eating into BSP’s vote bank
Udhampur, April 18 The first meeting of the NBP in Udhampur proved that the party leadership was more concerned about wooing BSP workers to expand its base in the Jammu province. The venue was flooded with garlanded pictures of Dr B.R. Ambedkar and BSP founder Kanshi Ram. The speakers tried to convince the gathering that they were the real followers of Dr Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram. Formed by rebel leaders of the BSP, the NBP had shown its strength by organising an impressive gathering at Jammu on April 14. Buoyed over the overwhelming response of the people, the NBP is now concentrating on other areas to strengthen its base before the next Assembly elections. “We have so far received a good response in Jammu and Kathua districts and now we want to concentrate on new areas. A large number of BSP cadre has already joined the NBP”, Chuni Lal, a senior leader told The Tribune. Parkash Ambedkar, grandson of Dr B.R. Ambedkar specially came to address the NBP rally. “The presence of Parkash Ambedkar in our first rally was a morale booster for all of us”, added Chuni Lal. Sources in the NBP said Parkash Ambedkar had given his consent to campaign for the party candidates in the Assembly elections. State president of the NBP, Dr Satpaul, had been assigned the job to woo BSP workers. “Already a large number of BSP workers have joined our party as they have realised that we are the real followers of Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram”, Dr Satpaul said. He added that it was too early to say how many senior BSP leaders would join the party. With the BSP trying to repeat its social engineering concept of Uttar Pradesh in the state, its rebels under the banner of the NBP, have been trying to unite SC-OBCs to attract voters.
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LeT militant nabbed
Udhampur, April 18 An over ground worker (OGW) involved in supplying weapons and arms to the ultra was also apprehended from the same place during the search operation. Acting on a tip-off, the Doda police and the 4 Rashtriya Rifles (Bihar) launched a joint search operation and apprehended one LeT militant, namely Ikhlaq Ahmed, from a hideout at Seri Bazar in Bhaderwah. A middle-aged man, acting as an OGW, was also nabbed by the security forces. He was identified as Abdul Samad Hajam, who supplied weapons and ration to the militants. Sources said Hajam had gone to supply arms to the militant who was hiding there for the last three days. One pistol, one magazine and ammunition were recovered from the militant’s possession.
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Six labourers killed, 2 hurt in
Reasi mishap
Udhampur, April 18 The
condition of the injured was stated to be critical. According to the police, the driver of the tipper, identified as Tara Singh of Pansa in
Reasi, lost control of the vehicle while negotiating a sharp turn and it rolled down into a deep gorge. The labourers were returning to their homes from the work site. The tipper was hired by UN Raju Company, which was entrusted with the job of constructing the world’s highest bridge on Chenab at
Kouri. Besides Tara Chand, others have been identified as Resham Singh and Shambhu Ram, both residents of Pattian in
Reasi, Dhani Ram, Sandeep Lal and Vishno, residents of Nepal. The workers in a meeting today paid tributes to the departed souls and demanded adequate
ex-gratia relief for the kith and kin of the deceased. Work on the Katra-Qazigund railway line project was also suspended as mark of respect to the killed
labourers. |
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State yearning for peace
Jammu, April 18 Seeing through the nefarious designs of Pakistan, the youth irrespective of their caste and creed, are now disenchanted with militancy. Having seen enough destruction in the past 20 years, they now yearn for peace and development, which alone can bring avenues to them. Talking to The Tribune, Alia, a Jammu girl working with a news channel at Mumbai, said, “Anyone with an intellectual quotient has never been inclined towards militancy.” Alia said an eye for an eye attitude would make the whole world blind. She, however, opined that militancy was not a premeditated move and happened gradually when people realised the futility of the gun. “As of today the situation has changed. People want to see Jammu and Kashmir emerge as a vibrant economy, she added. Payal Malhotra, a Jammu University student, said the world was fast emerging as a global village. “The focus of the world has now shifted from geo-politics to geo-development,” she said. A senior Army officer of the XVI Corps said separatists should not dance to the tunes of Pakistan and reconcile to the fact that borders can not be redrawn again. He added that local militants had also realised that they were befooled in the name of Jihad.He said some political parties still endorsed the ill-conceived plans of Pakistan in the form of proposals like self-rule, demilitarisation, revocation of AFSPA, free passage to militants into the state and greater autonomy etc. Once considered the hotbed of militancy, Doda, has also witnessed a steep decline in militancy-related incidents. When contacted, SSP, Doda, Manohar Singh said people no longer had any sympathy for militants. “Now militants are cold-shouldered by the people. In the absence of support and the police and security forces tightening noose, the remaining militants are on the tenterhooks, the SSP said.
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Parties using ethnic groups as
vote banks: UP minister
Jammu, April 18 Addressing mediapersons here this evening, Nagar claimed that Gujjars and Bakerwals had not been given their due share in all the spheres of life. Doling out party supremo Mayawati’s social engineering formula, he said, “BSP alone can bring a positive change for the two ethnic groups in the state.” He said the BSP president had given seven tickets to Gujjar community in Uttar Pradesh, out of whom five were elected to the legislative assembly. “All of them have been given portfolios by the UP Chief Minister in the state cabinet,” he added. He appealed to Gujjar and Bakerwal communities to change their destiny by joining the BSP. Party’s National General Secretary Narinder Kashyap, who also briefed media about party strategy in the upcoming assembly polls, said the party had already decided to field Najid Ullah from the Nagrota constituency. Exuding confidence about BSP capturing political power in the state, Kashyap said the second list of BSP candidates would be announced in the first week of May. He said buoyed by good response to the BSP, UP Power Minister Ram Vir Upadhaya and Member, Parliament, Mumtaz Ali, would also visit the state for party’s election campaign. |
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Pay VDCs or face protests, BJP tells govt
Jammu, April 18 Addressing media persons here today, state BJP general secretary and former MLA Bali Bhagat said, “Over 800 VDCs in Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar districts awaits their remuneration for the past six months.” “If Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad failed to release their pending remuneration by the end of this month, then the BJP would be forced to launch protest rallies,” he said. He charged the coalition government of harassing VDC members purely on political and communal grounds. “VDCs, special police officers (SPOs) and ex-servicemen have been playing an important role along with the security forces and the police in fighting militancy in the state but the government has deliberately turned a blind eye towards them,” he added. He also demanded formal and immediate sanction of funds to 735 VDCs, which have not been even a single penny from the past several years. Bhagat also accused Ghulam Nabi Azad of betraying the survivors of Kulhand massacre, to whom he had assured jobs in the police. Militants had killed 20 Hindus in Kulhand on April 30, 2006. |
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BSF nabs Pak army jawan
Jammu, April 18 Official sources told The Tribune that troopers of the 129 Battalion of the BSF nabbed Zahir Mohammed, resident of Dir district in Pakistan, from the border outpost at around 8.30 PM. Thirty-year-old Zahir, a sepoy in Sialkot-based 11 Punjab Regiment, deserted his regiment to escape the wrath of his company commander as he had proceeded on leave without proper
permission. For this a disciplinary action had been initiated against him.
An identity card and Pakistani currency worth Rs 1,380 were recovered from his possession.
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PDP comes under NC fire
Srinagar, April 18 For every suggestion, which comes out from the PDP camp, there is ‘sarcastic’ response from the NC side. Take for example the dual currency idea, proposed and often repeated by none other PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. The NC puts it this way. “First it was Karra currency and now it’s Pakistan currency.” Now these attacks have sharpened in view of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s forthcoming visit to Jammu and Kashmir. This visit would follow two recent visits of Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi within a fortnight. And the NC leadership in their election campaigns continues to target those ideas, which are either being coined by the PDP or the Congress. These include PDP’s self-rule, withdrawal of troops, dual currency, and Congress’ prosperity and double shift system of working in construction projects. The NC has also criticised the government on its failure to check rampant corruption and growing unemployment among the educated youth. The NC leaders question Mufti Sayeed’s demand for demilitarisation, withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), and promises on providing two government jobs to each family. In its pre-election campaign it has promised youth that it would provide job to at least one member of a family. For this purpose the party has constituted an economic cell headed by leader of the opposition in the Assembly, A.R. Rather. Senior NC leader Mehboob Beigh today reiterates the party’s demand on internal autonomy, scrapping of AFSPA, sending troops back to barracks and restoration of dialogue process with alienated section of the society. He says PDP president Mehbooba Mufti’s “meeting with Zardari on Indian High Commission’s request is highly objectionable.” He laments Kashmir could not be seen as a territorial dispute between the two countries, but a political issue concerning the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He urged all the separatist and mainstream political parties to resist the move to put Kashmir issue on backburner. “Resolution of the political issue is a political dispute involving 15 million people and cannot be resolved without taking people of Kashmir into confidence,” Beigh said. Therefore, the senior NC leader added that it could not be resolved through
any bilateral negotiations. |
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Militancy down, it’s PR time for cops
Srinagar, April 18 But as militancy figures come down and their interface with common man becomes wider, they have taken aboard professionals to help them learn some public relation exercises. Faculties from the Business School, Jammu University, descended in Srinagar to teach cops, over 200 of them ranging from constables to superintendents of police, how to improve their dealing with the public and their colleagues. “Srinagar is no longer a fear-stricken city with bullets fired and grenades lobbed every second day; it is a bustling town aspiring for the metro status, and the cops should reflect that change,” a participant said. Anil Gupta and Neelika Aroa of the Business School joined by Shahida Shireen and Altaf Ahmad of Staff Training College, J&K Bank, showed clips of Oscar-nominated Lagaan while teaching officers a lesson or two in “motivating their team and making them dream.” “There is a need for attitudinal change in their dealing with people and such developmental programmes would help them,” said Srinagar SSP S.A. Mujtaba. Cops were asked to brush up their softer skills in their dealing with the common man, who should not be “apprehensive” of them but “encouraged” to speak to them. A trick or two for stress management was also passed onto cops, who were asked to take it easy. Considered to be high-handed in their approach, the police in the valley was still believed to be carrying its tough anti-militancy postures during their interaction with civilians. “We do not enjoy a very good public image. But a change is a long term exercise and we are making efforts,” said ASI Mushtaq Lone.
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Indus Water Treaty
Srinagar, April 18 In a statement issued today, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said the negative and crippling fallout of the water sharing agreement with Pakistan under the IWT, had been acknowledged as the “most serious hurdle” in the state’s economic development. She added that restrictions on the usage of its water resources was a major area of concern and demanded adequate compensatory mechanism to tide over the state’s economic distress. Mehbooba said the transfer of leftover water resources to the NHPC in 2000 against a meagre royalty of 12 per cent electricity had further complicated the state’s development. She criticised the Opposition National Conference (NC) for allowing the arrangement when it was in power before the last Assembly elections. Mehbooba said from around 1,500 MWs of power being presently generated by the NHPC through its power projects in the state, it got only 180 MWs as royalty. She said when the Prime Minister visited the state in November, 2004, he had asked the people of Kashmir to take advantage of the new wave of economic dynamism sweeping the region. “I hope the Prime Minister during his upcoming visit to the state will mark the beginning of this process by announcing remedial measures for the economic excesses committed with the state from time to time”, she said. Mehbooba said sufficient energy along with a technological and industrial base in conformity with natural resources, increased market access, modern educational facilities and adequate jobs for the youth would be the party’s top priority.
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2 explosives defused
Srinagar, April 18 The explosive device was found near a degree college. Police sources said
that it created panic. People ran for safety as the news spread. They said the device might have been left behind by some militant group. In a similar case, a mortal shell was recovered near the community hall in Bijbehara, a town in south Kashmir. Police sources said they were trying to ascertain how the shell, generally used by troops, landed there. Later, the bomb disposal squad defused it. |
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Plan to improve trade ties
with Pak: Soz
Srinagar, April 18 He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi wanted peace, development and prosperity for people of the state and were considering to implement the recommendations of various committees on Kashmir. He said a comprehensive plan had been formulated to beautify Jhelum, adding, the day was not far when navigation transport would be restored in Jhelum from Khanabal to
Khadiniyar. He said other water bodies in the state would also be taken care of in a phased manner. The minister announced the release of Rs 20 lakh from his MPLAD Fund for the construction of drain and other development works in Palpora. Expressing concern over the condition of roads, he said the matter would soon be taken up with the state works minister. Regarding the problem of water, he said the engineer concerned would be asked to explore the possibility for digging tubewells to augment drinking water facility in the area. |
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Man held for selling ‘fake’ tea
Srinagar, April 18 They complained but got no clue until the police took lead from some locals and raided the shop of Sonaullah Dar and found out the secret. Dar, who owns a shop in Nowgam, would get packets and then print the logo of ‘Girnar’ brand on them. The final process was to fill sub-standard quality tea in these packets. “He would sell 250-gm packets at the original price and made tidy profit,” said local SHO cum inspector Nazir Ahmed Teli. He said Dar has been arrested and anticipated more people to be involved in the scandal. “In the coming days, we may arrest more people behind the racket,” he added. The police recovered hundreds of fake packets and has booked the accused under relevant sections of cheating and forgery.
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Police hand in glove with peddlers, allege protesters
Jammu, April 18 They alleged that these drug peddlers sell narcotics and other psychotropic drugs to the youth of the area without any fear. The protesters also burnt tyres disrupting the traffic movement on the busy road further. Visibly perturbed over rampant drug trafficking, they said in absence of job avenues their children have become drug addicts. One of the protestors and local leader advocate Amrik Singh said instead of initiating action against drug peddlers, the police encouraged them. Mohinder Singh, Harmeet Singh and Harbans Kaur echoed similar views. Later, Congress MLC Arvinder Singh Micky rushed to the spot and pacified agitating residents. He assured them that immediate action would be taken to stop drug trafficking so as to save the youth from getting ruined. When contacted, Micky said he would personally take up the matter with Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. “I am taking a deputation of residents to the Jammu SSP and would suggest him to frame a special squad to launch a crackdown on drug peddlers operating in the area,” he said. He said he would also meet the IGP Jammu tomorrow morning.
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Relief subsidy for industrial units
Jammu, April 18 An official spokesperson of the Industries and Commerce Department said the government would sanction the subsidy under the central package of incentives and subsidies. He said the State Level Committee (SLC) framed by the government has given the nod to sanction these payments under different incentives. The spokesperson said, the SLC sanctioned Rs 117 lakh in favour of 20 units on account of interest subsidy, Rs 55 lakh for seven units on account of capital investment subsidy and Rs 35 lakh to the five units under transport subsidy. |
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4 SSPs shifted
Jammu, April 18 Official sources said as per an order issued by the home department, Alok Kumar has been posted as SSP, Jammu, in place of Parminder Singh, who has been transferred and posted as SSP, Traffic, Jammu. SSP, Traffic, Jammu, Shafqat Watali has been transferred and posted as Commandant, IRP, 11th Battalion while Johny William has been transferred and posted as
SSP, Leh. The transfer orders issued today have filled the vacant post of SSP, Jammu, which had been given to Parminder Singh in stop-gap arrangement. Sources said Johny William’s transfer to Leh as SSP had brought an end to the long drawn-out battle of the Ladakh Union Territory Front
(LUTF). It may be mentioned here that LUTF had been accusing the previous SSP of supporting and giving undue advantage to Congress workers purportedly backed by the Industries and Commerce Minister Nawang Rigzin
Jora. |
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