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Protest over paid darshan at Vaishno Devi
Members of the Jammu University Research Scholars Association protesting on the campus against the introduction of ‘paid darshan’ at the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine. —Tribune photo by Anand Sharma
Cong-PDP rift widens over Kundal’s candidature
Strawberry farming suffers a setback
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Hotels ‘encroach’ upon city roads
Hotel owners encroaching upon the roads in Jammu. —Tribune photo by Anand Sharma
Refugee front goes on
hunger strike
SHRC refers murder case to
DGP for reinvestigation
More CRPF companies for Amarnath yatris
Centre releases grant to modernise police force
Implement SC ban on felling of trees: Panel
Tourism industry laughs its way to bank
Sikh bodies condemn Geelani’s house arrest
Azad stresses on job-oriented education
Wife of IAF official dies mysteriously
Army busts militant hideout
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Protest over paid darshan at Vaishno Devi
Katra, June 3 After witnessing protests from some Hindu groups, it was the turn of the common people of the holy town to come on streets today to lodge their protest against the “commercialisation” of the pilgrimage of Vaishno Devi. A large number of pilgrims, who came from different parts of the country, also joined the protest and expressed their anger over the business mentality of the board. They alleged that the decision of the shrine board has been taken so as to debar poor people from darshan of the deity in the most revered cave. “We are a group of 25 persons and we have to pay at least Rs 5,000 to have darshan in time,” resented Ranjan Kumar, who had come all the way from Munger, Bihar. “In case we failed to give this additional fee it is not sure whether we will get the opportunity to have darshan of the deity or not,” he added. “This is a divine place where devotees come for mental peace but the shrine board has turned is sacred place into a business centre to earn money,” fumed Rajesh Chandel. “Do the poor have no right to perform pooja in the cave,” he asked. Traders, businessmen and locals started a protest demonstration from Raghunath temple and passed through different bazaars before culminating at the main bus stand. The protesters disrupted movement of vehicular traffic. Cutting across all party lines, leaders of all political groups participated in the protest and vowed to intensify their stir if the paid system of darshan was not stopped. After the protest, Baldev Sharma, leader of the action committee told The Tribune that a 31-member committee comprising representatives of all political, social and religious organisations has been constituted to intensify the stir. Baldev Sharma asked the government to intervene in this matter to restore sanctity of the shrine. Till this evening, traffic remained choked in ever-busy Katra town due to the protest. The shrine board introduced paid darshan system from Sunday mid-night. |
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Cong-PDP rift widens over Kundal’s candidature
Jammu, June 3 General secretary of the PDP, Nizam-ud-Din Bhat, today said, “I do not know whether the current situation warranted an early election but if the Assembly is dissolved, we are ready to fight the election. Let us go to the people and seek their mandate for ending the current political confusion.” However, several Congress leaders stated that there was no possibility of holding an early election. The next poll will be held as per the schedule in October. They said the rift between the Congress and the PDP over the selection of the bureaucrat who would replace B.R. Kundal was likely to be resolved next week. The PDP leadership has favoured to appoint a state subject as the chief secretary. They said soon after Kundal was inducted into the Cabinet, financial commissioner S.S. Kapoor was likely to be appointed as the chief secretary. Kapoor is the senior most bureaucrat, who hails from Himachal Pradesh. Official sources said Kapoor would have been appointed as the chief secretary on Monday or Tuesday had the PDP not opposed his candidature on the plea he was not a state subject. If the Congress agreed to the PDP’s suggestion, it would clear decks for S.L. Bhat to get the post of the chief secretary. But there were six officers senior to Bhat and senior politicians may not support the idea of having Kashmiri Pandits occupy two top posts of the chief secretary and the DGP. The only alternative being that if the PDP insists on its demand, the government may have to sanction the chief secretary's pay scale in favour of six officers, who are senior to S.L. Bhat. |
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Strawberry farming suffers a setback
Samba, June 3 President of the Jammu and Kashmir Strawberry Growers Association Shyam Singh said the strawberry farming had suffered a setback as the area under the strawberry cultivation had reduced to a large extent as compared to the last year. “Incessant rains in March last year had dashed all our hopes of reaping a rich harvest. We had suffered losses to the tune of crores. The Horticulture Department had pegged our losses at Rs 1.6 crore, but the state government didn’t pay a single penny to the rain-hit strawberry growers as compensation,” he lamented. “It was a nightmare for the strawberry growers. The strawberry fetches good price only in the months of February and March as no other fresh fruit arrives in the state during this period. I reduced the area under the strawberry to half as I didn’t want to relive the last year’s experience when we had to sell the strawberry at Rs 5 per box,” said Avtar Singh, a strawberry grower. Assistant director of the National Horticulture Board J.B. Singh also confirmed the trend, stating that they had 100 acres of land under the strawberry cultivation in the projects aided by the board last year. However, the figure has come down to 25 acres in the current year. He said the strawberry growers had opted for such varieties of flowers in which they could utilise the infrastructure raised for the strawberry cultivation. He said in absence of any primary processing unit this year, 80 per cent of the strawberry produce was consumed in the state, while the rest was supplied to the neighbouring states. J.L. Sharma, joint director, Horticulture, said “The farmers had suffered huge losses in the cultivation in the previous year as the demand could not match the supply.” Sharma felt that if some processing units evince interest in the purchase of strawberry, it would do a world of good to its cultivation. “As its cost of production is high, the farmers expect viable rates, which at times doesn’t materialise in the absence of any such unit,” he added.
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Hotels ‘encroach’ upon city roads
Jammu, June 3 Why? The hotel and restaurant owners have “encroached” upon the main roads in various parts of the city. The situation in Gumat chowk near the general bus stand is the worst where few big hotels situated on the roadside have encroached upon the main roads by placing iron dividers (barricades) there. A passerby informs that the hotel operators use the “encroached” roads as parking space exclusively for their customers and charge them for parking, violating all the government norms. And this is happening under the nose of the civil administration, as the Jammu town hall, which houses the Jammu Municipal Corporation is few yards away from this place, the passerby adds. “These iron dividers placed on the road have become a nuisance for not only the vehicular traffic but also for the pedestrians,” says Sandeep Singh, a local resident. He says, “These dividers have been responsible for various accidents in the area and are also responsible for long hours of traffic jams here.” “In addition to the encroachment, the hotels’ staff misbehaves with anyone who parks his vehicle on the road. If it’s a two-wheeler they drag it to other place and if it is a four-wheeler they puncture the tyres,” says Pardeep Kumar, a medical executive. As the traffic police and the municipal corporation have turned out to be mute spectators, the hotel and restaurant operators do whatever they want, rue locals. “The traffic police is least bothered so is the municipal corporation, while the common people are made to suffer as these hotel and restaurant owners continue to violate the government norms by placing these iron dividers on the road,” says Manohar Singh, a local resident. The locals have appealed to the traffic police and the corporation to take stringent action against those hotel and restaurant owners who have placed these dividers on the roads.
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Refugee front goes on
hunger strike
Jammu, June 3 Raising anti-government slogans, the refugees held a protest demonstration outside office of the divisional commissioner, Jammu, at Mubarakh Mandi complex. The refugees also criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for announcing Rs 50 crore package for the resettlement of the refugees. The Prime Minister during his public rally in Akhnoor insulted us. While he announced Rs 1,600 crore relief package for 3 lakh displaced Kashmiri Pandit migrants, only Rs 50 crore package was announced for 15 lakh refugees,” Captain Yudhvir Singh, president of the front, said. Adding he said, “We have been suffering for the past six decades, but no successive governments have addressed our genuine problems.” For the past few weeks, the refugees led by Captain Singh have intensified their agitation. Last week, members of the front tried to cross over to the Pakistani side from the Punjtoot sector of the Line of Control (LoC). Captain Singh said, “We are fed up with the treatment that we are being given. We have now decided to go on an indefinite hunger strike.” |
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SHRC refers murder case to
DGP for reinvestigation
Rajouri, June 3 “Since the allegations are serious in nature and the accused party is related to local minister Dr Romesh Sharma, therefore, transparency in the investigation should be adhered to,” said a SHRC statement. “The subject matter has been referred to the DGP for reinvestigation after hearing the petitioner and injured persons during the course of investigation,” it added. Dally Sharma, wife of victim Satpaul Sharma, in her complaint with the SHRC, had reportedly submitted that her husband was murdered by the relatives of Congress minister and Nowshera MLA Dr Romesh Sharma in August 2003. The petitioner had said their family had a land in Lamberi village in Nowshera and Jagdish Raj, brother-in-law of the minister, of the same village wanting to construct a road to his house used their land without seeking their permission. She had further said her family members were attacked in June 2003 by the relatives of the minister rendering her son Mukesh Kumar handicapped and her daughter Pammi Sharma injured. Two months after this incident Satpaul was murdered by the minister’s relatives, she had said. She lodged an FIR at the Nowshera police station and a case under Section 302/34 of the RPC was registered. Besides naming the minister, she named Tek Chand (brother of minister's brother-in-law), son of Punnu Ram, Ramesh Kumar, Dilip Kumar and Devinder Kumar, sons of Tek Chand and Ashwani Kumar (nephew of the minister and presently his public relation officer) son of Jagdish Raj in
the FIR. Dally said the minister using his official position managed to get his name omitted from the FIR. Police sources said the police had registered a case against some persons including the minister but during the investigation minister’s presence in the area at the time of murder was not established. “In the postmortem report, it was found that ammonium phosphate was injected into the body of Satpaul. Later the police stopped the investigation for unknown reasons and the case was handed over to the crime branch,” the sources said. “Presently a subordinate court at Nowshera is hearing the case,” the sources added. In the meantime, Dally Sharma, not satisfied with the investigations conducted by the police and the crime branch, approached the SHRC on September 17, 2003. “The verdict by the SHRC has vindicated my fight for justice,” said Dally. |
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More CRPF companies for Amarnath yatris
Jammu, June 3 The two-month long annual pilgrimage begins on June 18. Official sources said additional companies of the CRPF were being airlifted from Hyderabad to Jammu and Kashmir. Following sudden spurt in militancy in the form of Samba encounter and ceasefire violations the state government had sought adequate deployment of paramilitary forces to ensure incident-free yatra. Official sources divulged that airlifting of the paramilitary forces had started, adding that " the IAF has pressed into service its IL-76 and AN-32 planes to ferry CRPF companies." The Army, the BSF, the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police would also render their services in the two-month long pilgrimage, they said. A three-tier security grid would be put in place on Baltal and Pahalgam-the two tracks leading to the cave shrine. While the state police would deploy 30 companies for the security of Amarnath yatris, the state had sought 70 companies of the CRPF. Meanwhile, following intelligence inputs security in and around the winter capital has been upped. |
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Centre releases grant to modernise police force
Jammu, June 3 The Centre also released Rs 92 crore during the current year so far, said DGP Kuldeep Khoda, adding, “I hope that the financial aid might be further raised to enable us to modernise the police force by equipping it with sophisticated weapons and gadgets.” He also said “Modernisation of police is going to be a continuous process and the programme can be completed only with the help of financial assistance from the Centre.” In reply to a question, Khoda said, “Latest reports have revealed that infiltration bids by militants from across the border continue but most of these are being foiled by troops guarding the LoC and by the police.” Asked whether the police would go in for fresh recruitment drive, Khoda said “For the time recruitment has been stopped, but the process is still on for raising the 15th IRP Battalion in the state.” He said recruitment had been suspended, following complaints on direct recruitment carried out by senior government functionaries. He said the matter was being probed by the house committee of the state legislature and after the committee's report was submitted, the government would decide on fresh recruitments. He said “We will need at least 25 additional companies of paramilitary forces to strengthen the security grid during the ensuing Assembly election in the state and during the two-month-long annual Amarnath pilgrimage starting from June 18.”
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Implement SC ban on felling of trees: Panel
Srinagar, June 3 The committee said despite blanket ban by the Supreme court, green felling in the state was still going on. The committee issued instructions to the authorities to strictly enforce the ban on green felling. Only dry and dead trees needs to be allowed to cut for catering to the domestic needs, the committee asserted. An official spokesman said today the committee which met under the chairmanship of Dr Mustafa Kamal discussed various measures relating to save the environment and pollution control. It said the government should make all out efforts to save the environment and fauna and flora to attract more and more tourists in the state. It opined that a vigorous campaign needs to be launched for the awareness of general masses highlighting the significance of environment in our day-to-day life. The committee stressed the need for introduction of alternative for timber for construction of buildings and furniture. — UNI |
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Tourism industry laughs its way to bank
Jammu, June 3 Talking to The Tribune, Haji Khadar Mohd Dar, chairman of Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Association, admitted that with the arrival of tourists from different parts of the country the tourism sector in the valley has got a fillip. However, he feels that there is still scope of improvement. “Tourists these days have become very demanding and seek amenities on the lines of foreign hotels,” he said. “A majority of our hotels are offering accommodation under package tours to various scenic spots,” he added. Haji also had a word of praise for the media in promoting tourism. “The media has been quite careful in reporting any untoward incident in the recent past. If an incident occurring in Baramulla is reported to have taken place in Srinagar it takes a heavy toll on tourism,” he opined. Surinder Singh posted at the Tourism Department in Pahalgam said all the hotels were packed for the second successive year. He said a majority of the tourists were coming from Gujarat and West Bengal. “During that particular period, the tourists prefer visiting Gulmarg,” he added. Hamid, manager of the taxi stand at Lal Chowk, Srinagar, termed this season as better than that the last year. He said most of the tourists were heading towards Pahalgam, Gulmarg and Sonmarg. The state government too has taken various initiatives in the recent past to promote tourism in these three popular destinations. During the current financial year Rs 45.30 crore has been earmarked for upgrade of the existing infrastructure at various tourist resorts and for creating better facilities for the visitors in the new spots. The government has also identified 50 villagers that are to be developed as tourist hamlets.
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Sikh bodies condemn Geelani’s house arrest
Jammu, June 3 Addressing a press conference, Variner Jeet Singh, chairman, National Sikh Front said, “While the government allows elements like Raj Thackeray and Bal Thakeray to openly speak against other communities, then why the government is not allowing Geelani to take part in the conclave, being held to mark the anniversary of Operation Bluestar. “We claim to be a democratic country and then we put restrictions on people to participate in functions,” Singh said. The organisations have appealed to the state government to provide 10 per cent reservation to the Sikh community as has been granted by the state governments in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The forum also hailed the decision of the National Minority Commission in which it has asked to conduct a survey of all Sikhs living outside Punjab on the basis of the Sachar Commission Report, so that the community was given the facilities, being given to other minority communities as well. The organisation also expressed resentment that the Sikh community was being projected wrongly in some television programmes. “We demand that the government should constitute a censor board for television so that no programme hurting the sentiments of the people be aired,” Singh added.
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Azad stresses on job-oriented education
Kathua, June 3 Azad who was addressing a function after the inauguration of degree colleges at Kathua and Hiranagar said, “Education should empower youth and imbibe in them virtues of humanity and the spirit to fight against social evils.” Adding he said, “Emphasis laid by my government on the expansion of education has resulted into higher education reaching the doorsteps of the people living in remote areas of the state.” Azad said the youth should think beyond the saturated government job sector and opt for subjects with maximum employability. Earlier, Azad inaugurated Government Degree College for Women, Kathua, constructed at a cost of Rs 4.85 crore and Government Degree College, Hiranagar, constructed at a cost of Rs 4.94 crore. Azad said, “We have opened University campuses in Leh, Kargil, Kupwara, Poonch and Doda. We have also established and upgraded hundreds of primary-level, high-level and higher-level schools and colleges in the state.” He added that in the past four years 40 new degree colleges had been opened across the state. Azad said at the university-level, nine additional campuses were set up in Udhampur, Bhaderwah, Poonch, Kathua, Baramulla, Anantnag, Kupwara, Leh and Kargil, in addition to the already existing two main universities of Jammu and Kashmir.
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Wife of IAF official dies mysteriously
Udhampur, June 3 According to the police Babita Sharma, wife of Rajinder Kumar, an official of the Air Force, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in her rented house in Harey Rama Harey Krishana Street here. Landlord of the house, who found the woman hanging, informed the police about the incident. A police party rushed to the spot and took the body under its possession. Although husband of the deceased termed this incident as suicide case, the police was investigating all aspects. Police sources said the woman was hanging from the ceiling fan but her feet were touching the table. Furthermore, the police has also spotted some spots on the body of the deceased. This afternoon a post-mortem examination was conducted to ascertain the real cause of death. "It will take some time to arrive at a conclusion", the investigating officer said but informed that husband of the deceased was questioned by the police after the incident. The investigating officer further said that due to the death of the woman in mysterious circumstances her parents have been called from Khajaria district of Bihar. |
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Army busts militant hideout
Rajouri, June 3 Jammu-based defence spokesman Lt-Col S.D.Goswami said that based on specific information, troops of the 156 Territorial Army (TA) posted to Thanamandi busted a militant hideout in the general area and recovered cache here today. He said the recoveries from the hideout included a pistol, two Chinese made hand grenades, 72 Pika rifle rounds, 120 AK rifle rounds and other war-like stores. |
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Katra, June 3
Samba, June 3
Jammu, June 3
Jammu, June 3
