Jammu, April 23
Faced with a large number of industrial units closing down and rendering thousands of people unemployed, members of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, (J&K) have urged the central government to restore economic benefits extended to the industry in the state.

Addressing mediapersons here today on the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the state, the chamber's president, Ram Sahai said that the package of incentives which were granted for 10 years had been withdrawn after five-and-a-half-years which had serious consequences for the industry and its consequent impact on the socio-economic environment in the state.

"Both the central and state governments have been very concerned about reviving sick units, but the withdrawal of benefits would further aggravate the situation and adversely affect sick units," Sahai said.

The objective of the package had been to develop industrial culture and to generate employment opportunities for the youth who were falling into the trap of anti-national elements because of frustration. This objective, he added, would be lost.

After the incentives were announced in 2002, J&K attracted investment worth Rs 3,580 crore, resulting in 1,287 new units being set up and 69,000 jobs being generated.

Citing an example, Sahai said of the 57 units in the menthol industry in the state, 55 had shut down, thereby affecting 11,200 persons. The pharmaceutical sector is heading towards heavy losses and units in metal-related industry are also facing closure.

He said after withdrawal of the benefits industrial units would not be able to compete with similar units in other parts of the country as their cost of production would be much higher here. The withdrawal of incentives came at a time when the process of industrialisation had started giving dividends to the local population as well as the state.

Srinagar, April 23
The security forces in Baramulla district have killed two most-wanted Hizbul Mujahideen militants, who were the masterminds behind the flyover blast in Srinagar in March this year.

Baramulla SSP Anand Jain said Tanveer Ahmed Zargar alias Tanna Khan, a resident of the same district and veteran HM operator and his deputy Imtiaz alias Anna were killed in a fierce encounter.

Both were also wanted in other cases of murder and subversive activities.

At least two civilians, including the owner of the house, in which the militants had taken refuge, were also injured in the encounter.

Receiving information on the presence of the militants, trained in Pakistan, in Khawaja Bagh area, the police along with the 46 RR zeroed in on the target house of Mushtaq Ahmed Fafoo.

Giving the details of Tanveer Zargar in militant activities, the SSP said he and one Khalid Ahmad Shah on April 1 last year killed Congress leader Azhar Mohammad Kakroo alias Jan Mohammad Kakroo and injured his personal security officer.

The Army said both were instrumental in planning and executing terrorism incidents in Baramulla over the past five years and they were called “IED Doctors” for their conversance with explosives. They had also triggered blast at national highway in Baramulla in November 2006.

Srinagar, April 23
State unit of CPM today held a protest demonstration against the rise in prices of essential commodities and urged the state and Central government to initiate steps to relieve the masses of the burden.

The demonstration was led by CPM state secretary and MLA, M.Y. Tarigami, who also addressed a gathering of party workers and supports here. He expressed concern over the price rise and said the party had given a list of proposals to the government to check the prices of essential commodities.

A protest march was also taken out from Pratap Park, venue of the rally, to central Lal Chowk.

Earlier, Tarigami held a public meeting in his home constituency of Kulgam.

Jammu, April 23
The Congress-led coalition government is likely to sign an MoU with the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) to set up a joint venture, which would entitle the state to a measly 12 per cent royalty on three power projects.

The NHPC and the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation (JKPDC) will sign the MoU in the presence of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on April 26 here.

The state Cabinet is not only expected to give its nod to the joint venture but may agree for a 90-year lease to be signed with the NHPC for the 1000-MW Pakal Dul, 600-MW Kiru and 520-MW Kawar hydroelectric projects.

President of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Mehbooba Mufti, in a rally held at Kupwara yesterday, strongly castigated former chief minister Farooq Abdullah for bartering the state’s water resources in 2000 with the Centre for what she called “worthless” 12 per cent royalty.

Sources said under the MoU, a new joint venture, “Chenab Valley Power Projects Limited (CVPPL)” would be set up. The NHPC and the JKPDC would have 51 and 49 per cent equities, respectively.

Union minister of state for commerce and power, Jairam Ramesh, vide his recent letter to the state’s economic advisor, Dr Haseeb Drabu, and JKPDC managing director Sandeep Nayak, stated that chairman to the CVPPL would be a professional nominated by the state government, while the managing director would be chosen by the NHPC.

Spelling out major modalities in Jairam’s letter, he also stated that at least 80 per cent of group “C” and “D” staff would be the local populace, but in group “A” and “B,” one-third of the members would be deputed with 50 per cent each from the state and the NHPC.

The remaining two-third of group “A” an “B,” comprising 51 per cent, would be “free hiring” by the NHPC and 49 per cent hiring from within the state as the first choice.

Further, the J&K Bank would be the preferred banker for the three projects subject to terms offered by the bank to the CVPPL.

Sources said despite the JKPDC having the required infrastructure and expertise, the coalition government’s decision had raised many eyebrows.

The government should have pressed for 15 per cent royalty on the three projects, they said, adding, that 3 per cent loss meant losing 90 MW, which accrued to Rs 100 crore.

When other states like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana had been independently raising their power projects, why can’t the government see NHPC’s performance in the state, they said.

The NHPC has seven projects in the state, including the 250-MW Uri-II, 18-MW Chutak, 30-MW Nimmo Bazgo and 390-MW Dul Hasti projects, which took 25 years to come up.

Udhampur, April 23
To create more and more employment opportunities for educated youth of far-flung areas, Jammu University has decided to introduce job-oriented and professional courses on the Bhaderwah Campus of the university.

Vice-chancellor of the university, Prof Amitabh Mattoo, has apprised Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad about the decision taken by the university to make Bhaderwah campus as one of the premier institutions of higher learning.

The Chief Minister today visited Bhaderwah campus of the University of Jammu to take stock of the ongoing construction work at Sungli Bhaderwah in Doda district.

Accompanied by Vice-Chancellor, Prof Amitabh Mattoo and Managing Director (MD), Police Housing Corporation, Rajan Bakshi, the Chief Minister arrived here early in the morning and took stock of the 
situation.

Azad while taking stock of the ongoing construction work at Bhaderwah campus asked the Police Housing Corporation to speed up the construction work so that the classes are shifted to the upcoming campus, Sungli, Bhaderwah from the rented accommodation. The Chief Minister directed the officials and engineers of the corporation to increase the manpower so that the construction work may be completed before May 10, 2008.

Prof Mattoo briefed the chief minister about the ongoing construction of the art campus at Sungli and apprised the chief minister about the decision taken by the university to make Bhaderwah campus one of the premier educational 
institutes.

Prof Mattoo said soon after the campus was shifted from the rented accommodation to Sungli, Bhaderwah, the university will start more and more job-oriented courses. "We have already started MBA and MCA courses on Bhaderwah campus and the first batch of MBA is likely to come out and ready to join the real world of professionals in the corporate sector," Prof Mattoo said.

Srinagar, April 23
Kashmir university vice-chancellor Prof Riyaz Punjabi said possibilities were being explored for establishing a centre for comparative religious studies at the university.

He was speaking on the occasion of an extension lecture on “Importance of Study of Religion in Contemporary times”, presented by Prof T.N. Madan, emeritus professor of Sociology, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi, and chairman, Centre of Developing Societies. Prof Punjabi said the university provided a platform to students to discuss and debate issues, adding, that there was a need to inculcate values among them.

Prof T.N. Madan talked extensively on the importance of the study of religion and said there was need for a comparative study of religions.

A Kashmiri educated in Srinagar, Prof Madan, described growing globalisation as an outward pull, which had resulted in the loss of identities.

Jammu, April 23
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU) at Katra will set up a medical college by 2010-11.

This was stated by vice-chancellor of the university, Prof N.K. Bansal today. He said the university had recently signed MoUs with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine Jammu, Aachen University and Bochum Universities, Germany, Orel State Technical University, Russia and Kun Shan University, Taiwan.

Addressing mediapersons on the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the university, on the occasion of its first convocation on April 25,

Prof Bansal said the student assistantship programme (SAP) had been initiated to inculcate work culture and competitive spirit among students.

He said the SAP envisaged provisions of financial assistance in terms of full tuition fee waiver besides, cash assistance of Rs 1,000 per month to 5 per cent meritorious students, in various disciplines.

Prof Bansal said degrees would be conferred upon 101 students and three gold medals for excellence would also be awarded, two of which had been bagged by girls.

In order to have continuous interaction with the corporate world, a “Corporate Relations and Scientific Research Division” had been created., he added.

Prof Bansal said the university had 14 schools involved in quality education and research in engineering, management, sciences, philosophy, culture and languages.

The state department of environment and forest had funded the establishment of a herbal park, while the state forest research institutes had approved two projects related with the National Bamboo Mission Projects, he added.

Prof Bansal also informed that the central library building, school of architecture, student hostel, residential quarters, shopping complex and sports complex were under construction.

Kathua, April 23
Even as the mainstream political parties in the state have kick-started their election campaign to woo voters, people in various remote villages of Jammu region say that no government ever worked to mitigate their problems.

The Tribune team visited some of the villages in Kathua district, south of Jammu region, to know what people have to say about the upcoming assembly elections in the state, majority of them said that no party had so far fulfilled its promise.

“Our village lacks proper healthcare facility and hospital in Kathua has just become a first-aid centre, every time there is an emergency we have to rush patients to Jammu hospital,” said Krishan Kumar, a resident of Bani village of Kathua district.

Adding, he said, “If a woman starts having labour pain at night, we have to shift her to the district hospital as no doctor or health worker is available in the primary health centre here.”

The people here say that the incumbent government had promised to provide a better healthcare facility for the people of the region.

“Our foremost demand was a better healthcare facility, but the successive governments had failed to improve the same here,” said Natha Singh, another resident of Bani.

At a distance of 10 km from village Bani is situated Chandel village having a spring by the name of Chandel, people here have small orchards of apple, almonds and walnuts.

“We were promised that the fruit grown in our village would be cultivated at a larger scale; the government is about to end its tenure but no steps were taken in this regard. It could have improved our economy,” said Bishan Das, a resident of Chandel village.

People in Kathua district say though the state government had planned to do a lot to bring the district to the tourism map, but nothing much has been done on the ground level to attract tourists to visit the place.

“They promised to bring Kathua on tourism map like other parts of the state, and they even declared some of the places to be developed as a tourist spot, but despite the vast potential of the area for becoming a tourist hub, very little was done in this regard,” said Virinder Kumar, a postgraduate student from Basoli village of Kathua district.

Residents of village Mukand Pur Chaudhuriyai say that the government had promised to construct a bridge over the Bhag Nullah in the village, however, the promise stand unfulfilled.

“During rainy season, our links with the outside world gets disconnected and in the absence of a bridge we cannot cross the nullah when there is flood,” said Bashir Din, a resident of Mukand Pur Chaudhuriyai.

Jammu, April 23
Governor Lt-Gen S.K. Sinha (retd) has appreciated the progress made by the Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), Jammu.

Addressing the second meeting of the university council of SKUAST in Jammu today, Sinha said the university had made remarkable progress both in construction and academic and research activities. He expressed confidence that the university would be ranked among the top agricultural institutes in the country.

Sinha appreciated the direct farmer-scientist interaction launched by the university and said he also interacted with farmers during these innovative e-learning initiatives.

Also present on the occasion, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, called upon agricultural scientists to develop research and strategy to meet the impending challenge of food shortage which would confront the world.

Azad said double cropping in Kashmir and triple cropping in Jammu's tropical zone should be done to cope with the likely situation.

He also referred to the recent drought in Doda, Udhampur and Kathua districts and said about 90 per cent crops had been damaged.

Azad said he had a meeting with Union food minister who informed him that food shortage had assumed global proportions. He called for improvement in wheat, rice and maize seeds to ensure a better yield. He also stressed on crop rotation by farmers instead of sticking to one crop pattern.

Sinha complimented the Chief Minister for his contribution to the development of the university and said that it was due to his efforts that President Pratibha Patil had agreed to address the second convocation of the university.

Jammu, April 23
The rollback of the central incentive package to the state industries has started showing its cascading effect.

The worst affected are the Rs 300-crore non-ferrous industry and the menthol industry. According to the figures, around 70 to 80 nonferrous units have stopped production, and the manufacturing capacity in menthol units have also been reduced by around 75 per cent.

Speaking to The Tribune, Annil Suri, president of the Bari Brahmna Industrial Association, said, “The effect is already showing; majority of the nonferrous units in the state have shut down as they could not afford such a high cost of production.”

The menthol units that were set up in the state after the central government promised to provide excise incentive, have also reduced their production, and were also at the verge of closure.

“Earlier around 60 to 70 truck load of menthol were used to be transported out of the state on daily basis, but now only 10 to 12 trucks load of menthol are being sent out. With every passing day the production of menthol is decreasing as the unit holders cannot afford to incur such huge losses,” said Suri.

Moreover, along with the closure threat to these sick units, thousands of skilled labourers face an uncertain future.

According to Suri, 25,000 people in the state employed with the nonferrous units would be rendered unemployed if these units close down permanently.

Suri, however, said the industry holders in the state were hopeful that the decision of the rollback of the excise rebate given in the form of industrial incentive package would be taken back by the central government.

“We are hopeful that the Chief Minister would take up the issue with the Prime Minster during his visit to Jammu this week,” Suri said, adding, “If the decision of rollback is not withdrawn, the industry in the state of Jammu and Kashmir would die a slow death.”

Jammu, April 23
The meeting of the academic council of the Mata Vaishno Devi University will hold a meeting here tomorrow, to discuss measures for the smooth conduct of the university's first convocation, to be held on April 25.

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is scheduled to address the convocation.

University sources said the academic council would review the progress the campus had achieved and finalise its strategy for adding new teaching faculties and for upgrading the research wings.

The council would also highlight its achievements and future programmes in the speeches of the Governor, who is also the university’s chancellor, and the vice-chancellor in the convocation.

The Prime Minister, besides addressing the convocation, is scheduled to inaugurate the bridge on the Chenab at Akhnoor and commission the 390-MW Dhul Hasti power project in Kishtwar during his two-day stay in Jammu. Director general of police, Kuldeep Khoda today visited Ramban, Katra and Kishtwar to review the security arrangements ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit.

He said the security grid had been further strengthened in areas where the Prime Minister was scheduled to visit. Additional companies of police paramilitary forces had been deployed at Katra, 
Akhnoor and Kishtwar.

Srinagar, April 23
A special cell is being set up by the PDP to work for the welfare of the Gujjar, Bakerwal and Pahari communities in tune with the party’s policy of ensuring equitable political and economic empowerment for various sections of the society. This was announced by PDP president Mehbooba, while addressing a day-long Gujjar-Bakerwal-Pahari conference, at Akad in Pahalgam constituency of south Kashmir today.

The announcement made by Mehbboba has come at a time when various sections of the society, particularly the Gujjars and Bakerwals, have been raising their voice for grant of due share in the community’s welfare.

Mehbooba said members of these communities would be co-opted to work out wide-ranging short and long-term measures and policies for the welfare of these communities who had been exploited as a lucrative vote-bank without addressing their genuine concerns.

She said the initiatives taken by the PDP-led coalition government for the welfare of Gujjars, Bakerwals and Paharis were being widely acknowledged by these communities.

“In tune with our policy of ensuring equitable political and economic development of all the communities, regions and sub-regions of the state, the PDP would ensure that Gujjars, Bakerwals and Paharis get their due share”, she said.

She also cautioned the people against the nefarious designs of some who wanted to exploit Gujjars, Bakerwals, Paharis and other ethnic groups for electoral gains.

Stressing the need for working positively towards the welfare of these communities, Mehbooba said the government should accord proprietary rights of land to members of these communities in meadows, where they were presently living.

She also demanded the setting up of adequate number of anganwari centres in the areas inhabited by members of these communities.

Among other measures, Mehbooba called for extension of the recently announced agriculture loan waiver scheme to the livestock to benefit the members of these communities.

Srinagar, April 23
Sainyee, 40, was injured when he was attacked by a wild bear in Tral in Pulwama district today.

A resident of Karmulla, he was attacked by the bear when he ventured out of his home, located close to the forest area. He was severally injured and was shifted to the SKIMS, Srinagar, for treatment. His condition is said to be stable.

People living in areas located close to the forest live under constant threat of being attacked by wild animals and at least 20 cases of human casualty and injuries had been reported in the past five months, an official said.

Several wild animals have been killed by villagers in recent times, much to the annoyance of animal rights activists. A senior wildlife official told The Tribune that expanding human settlements had encroached upon the “prey area” of the beasts. “It's not that animals are entering our houses. But we are the ones encroaching upon their territory,” he said.

Sources said in the past fortnight, at least four persons had been injured by bears.