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Trust vote: NC, PDP sailing in Cong boat
ASI discovers historical deposits
Admission process begins
at JU
Cong, PDP blame each other
Congress in damage control mode again
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Water shortage hits Jammu
Pilgrims undeterred by sudden spurt in violence
Association condemns cancellation of posts
Homage to martyrs
Assembly Polls
2 LeT men among 3 killed
BSF nabs Afghan militant
Unified Command to assess security situation today
Vohra stresses on conservation of Dal
Army ‘bans’ farmers’ entry across fence
Banihal blast: 4 picked up
Abdullah dynasty only after power: PDP
2 ultras held turn out to be ex-teachers
Woman Electrocuted
Patwari caught taking bribe
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Trust vote: NC, PDP sailing in Cong boat
Jammu, July 21 The move of the PDP and the NC has baffled many here as they recall former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad flaying both these parties at a recent rally, saying, "Jealous of our achievements, the parties that didn't see eye to eye ganged up to topple the Congress government as they knew had we lasted for another three months they would have been left with no issue." It has also given ammunition to their rivals, particularly the BJP, which is on a high in the aftermath of the Amarnath land row, to attack them. "It is sheer opportunism. These were the parties that pulled down the Azad government in the state and now look, how shamelessly they have come out in the support of the Congress at the Centre," said former state BJP chief Nirmal Singh. He said the BJP would raise this issue and "expose the real face" of these parties in the coming Assembly elections. He also lashed out at the Congress for joining hands with the "anti-nationalist parties" to save its government. He accused the PDP and the NC of trying to weaken India in Jammu and Kashmir. Speaking on the issue, Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party chief Bhim Singh painted the Congress, the PDP and the NC as "enemies of Jammu". He said "They may have different names, but have same class and character." Earlier, justifying its stand, PDP supremo Mehbooba Mufti had said former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's deviation from the Common Minimum Programme and healing touch policy forced her party to take the extreme step of withdrawing support to the state government. The PDP leadership also made no bones about the good rapport it shares with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. As far as the NC is concerned, political observers feel that the party didn't want to be seen siding with the BJP-led NDA in the wake of the Amarnath land row in the state. Also if the NC had abstained it would have given the impression that the party is toeing the NDA line, they said. |
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ASI discovers historical deposits
Jammu, July 21 The historical findings in the shape of painted grey ware (PGW) shreds related to Mahabharata era in archeological lexicon, were found recently during the course of excavation of a mound called Tibba Naa-me- Shah, falling in Chauhana Chak village of Marh block in Jammu district. The excavation work, which was initially taken up on a small scale under the supervision of archeologist, Srinagar, R. Krishnaiah, in June this year , will again be taken up exhaustively after August, as the rainy season would hamper the salvage operation of the archeological site. During the process, 14 layers of the mound were exposed to depth of about 8 metres. It was at layer 13 that the ASI laid its hand on a unique discovery of the habitational deposits represented by the red and grey ware pottery, sources said. The sources said PGW shreds were discovered in shapes like bowls, basins, vases, lids, storage jars, spouts, stamped pottery and lamps. After putting the excavated material to carbon dating, it was found they belonged to the period 1000 BC. Such findings were normally related to the Mahabharata era and were earlier found in Punjab also. Also, a number of antiquities in the shape of beads of terracotta and semiprecious stone, bangle fragment of terracotta and shell, animal figurine terracotta, bone pendent, hopscotch and gamesman were unearthed from the Tibba site which was just 5 km from the Indo-Pak border. |
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Admission process begins
at JU
Jammu, July 21 The campus witnessed heavy rush of admission seekers besides information bureaus set up by various student organisations near the Dean’s office. Besides the main campus, the process also went underway in various off-site and satellite campuses, including Bhaderwah, Kathua, Udhampur, Poonch, Ram Nagar, Reasi and Doda. University authorities said interested candidates were supposed to obtain the admission forms from respective campuses and submit them in the University. The list of selected candidates would be displayed by August 12. |
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Cong, PDP blame each other
Jammu, July 21 Leaders from both the parties had launched scathing attacks on each other and missed no opportunity to expose their misdeeds while being in the government.It all started with the Akhnoor rally where former Chief Minister Azad accused Pakistan and Saudi Arabia of bankrolling the parties behind the violent stir on the Amarnath land row. “The whole issue was blown out of proportion by these forces, worried over the pace of development carried out by my government in the last over two-and-a-half years,” Azad said. “They had no issue to go to polls, so they made land to the shrine board an issue and incited religious and regional passions of the people,” he added. Congress leader Mangat Ram Sharma alleged the PDP ministers for they used to speak the language of Pakistan.He also claimed that “had it not been for the generosity shown by Azad some of the PDP ministers facing corruption charges would have been languishing in jail". Sharply reacting to these charges, senior PDP leader Ved Mahajan accused Sharma of being neck deep in corruption. However, political observers here felt the Congress and the PDP were attacking each other, keeping an eye on the forthcoming Assembly elections. |
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Congress in damage control mode again
Jammu, July 21 But this time to clear its stand on the Nitish Sengupta Committee report on the Amarnath yatra after Union water resources minister and state Congress chief Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz apparently stirred the hornet’s nest by raising the issue during the party convention last Friday. The BJP had attacked Prof Soz for his remarks, alleging that he had suggested curtailment of the yatra period from two months to one and restricted the number of pilgrims to 75,000, which they said, were the recommendations of the Nitish Sengupta Committee. The BJP went on to dub Prof Soz’s alleged suggestion as“outrageous and fundamentally communal besides, a direct interference in the religious affairs of Hindus”. Reacting sharply to the BJP’s charges, the Congress has now accused the BJP of trying to mislead the public by “mischievously distorting” the version of Prof Soz with regard to the panel
report. PCC Spokesman Ravinder Sharma said, “Nowhere in his speech Prof Soz has suggested to restrict the number of pilgrims or limit the duration of the pilgrimage.” He said the resolution adopted at the Congress convention read: “The committee while appreciating the decision of the government to provide all sorts of civic amenities to pilgrims right from the entry point to the holy cave shrine through the tourism department with an augmented budget, urged the government to consider other recommendations of the Sengupta panel for the smooth conduct of the
yatra.” He said people were aware that when the row started, it was the Congress leadership which had backed the decision of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board
(SASB) regarding the period of the yatra, which led to an increase in the number of pilgrims. “The Congress has only sought the attention of the authorities towards the safety and welfare of pilgrims,” he added. The Nitish Sengupta Committee constituted in 1996 had recommended that the number of pilgrims from both the routes should be restricted to 3,500 per day and the yatra should not be extended beyond a month. |
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Water shortage hits Jammu
Jammu, July 21 Though almost the entire city is facing an acute shortage of drinking water, areas like Bantalab, Roopnagar, Janipur, Rehari, Channi, Bhatandi and Satwari are the worst-affected. In Bharat Nagar, Bantalab, water is supplied to people once a week, Chandji Kakroo, a resident, averred. “Water is supplied for one hour in two days,” A.K. Koul, a resident of Rehari, said. “Taps remain dry in their locality and water is supplied to them through tankers once in 3 days which has made people’s life miserable,” G.H. Reshi, another resident, said. Meanwhile, S.P. Kanotra, superintendent engineer, public health engineering (PHE), said the city's water requirement was 3.5 crore gallon per day, whereas they were supplying 2.4 crore gallon daily. Kanotra said they would overcome half the shortage with the help of their water filtration plants at Sheetli. However, he could not specify any time limit for the same. |
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Pilgrims undeterred by sudden spurt in violence
Jammu, July 21 Talking to The Tribune at yatri bhawan base camp here, Sharad Acharya of Nagpur said, “Though my family is little concerned over the violence, we would not return without paying obeisance at the cave shrine.” Acharya had come along with five other family members including his wife, two children and two brothers. “We know the Shivalingam has already melted and in the last few days there had been a spurt in militancy but very few people get this opportunity to visit the holy cave,” said Poonam, Sharad's wife. Arunav Ghosh from Kolkatta, who had come here along with two other friends said, “We have been visiting the shrine from the last three years and had seen such violent attacks in the past as well. There is no fear-psychosis whatsoever. We just want to scale the difficult terrain and pay obeisance at the holy cave.” Ramakant Dubey from Allahabad also expressed similar views and looked eager enough to reach the cave shrine. “Dying with a burning desire to pay obeisance at the cave shrine would be like attaining nirvana,” said Dubey. In the backdrop of renewed attacks by militants in the valley, security apparatus for the pilgrims has been tightened. According to intelligence sources, top brass of the CRPF, Army, BSF and police, on the instructions of Governor N.N. Vohra, reviewed the security in a meeting at Srinagar. They said not only road-opening parties have been asked to clear the routes in right earnest but also security had been beefed right up to Pahalgam and Baltal. Apart from beefing up security in the valley and other strategic locations, more troopers have also been deployed at sensitive places on the 300-km-long Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, they added. Meanwhile, amidst tight security arrangements 978 pilgrims left Jammu base camp for the cave shrine this morning. |
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Association condemns cancellation of posts
Jammu, July 21 “In 2003 and 2007, the police had advertised vacancies for the posts of sub-inspectors and computer operators, respectively, but all of a sudden it announced the cancellation of posts in a local daily,” he said. He added students had been preparing for the examination for long but the cancellation had caused great resentment in them.Vikas said if the exams were not held on time, the association would resort to protest demonstration. |
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Assembly Polls
Jammu, July 21 Congress spokesperson Ravinder Sharma said “We are not in a hurry.Let the electoral rolls be updated and completed first.” He further said the Election Committee would receive the list from each district unit which would be screened and, if required, some addition alternation made.The final list would be submitted to the party high command for final approval. Sharma said as far as the Congress was concerned the number of partymen keen to get the ticket was so large that it would be difficult for the committee to make a choice.The Congress planned to contest at least 80 out of 87 seats in the state.In 2002 it had contested 78 seats and won 20. Provincial president of the NC, Ajay Sadhotra, said “We have started the exercise on shortlisting those partymen who are going to be fielded in diferent constituencies.” He said the final decision of selecting the candidates would be taken by the party’s parliamentary board. As far the BSP is concerned it has selected party candidates in more than 35 constituencies.It plans to contest all 87 seats. The BJP and the Panthers Party have shortlisted candidates for over 20 seats.While the former plans to field its candidates in about 50 constituencies, the latter has decided to contest more than 35 seats. The PDP which plans to contest over 70 seats has shortlisted candidates for 20 constituencies. Majority of them are former ministers and legislators who had won in 2002 poll. In the previous elections the NC had won 28 seats, the PDP 16, the Panthers Party four and the BJP and BSP one each.
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2 LeT men among 3 killed
Srinagar, July 21 The area was cordoned off and the fire was returned and in the ensuing clash two LeT militants were killed. The militants were identified as Sageer Ahmad Shah and Abid Khan from Rampora, Sopore in Baramulla district. However, a spokesman of the zonal police headquarters, Kashmir range, said acting on a tip-off, the police cordoned off Nagabal Derand village in Ganderbal district at around 6 pm yesterday. The militants attempted to attack the convoy bound for Srinagar from Baltal. Senior police officers denied the reports that the militants had attacked the yatra convoy and that any damage had been caused to the vehicle carrying the Amarnath pilgrims. They said militants were hiding in the village about 500 yards away from the main road and they had been trapped by the police and the Army. Those killed in the encounter have been identified as Syed Abid Ahmad alias Akasha from Narwal in Punjab, Pakistan, and Sageer Shah alias Garian, resident of Ebatabad Subah Sarah, Pakistan. The 5 RR later also joined the operation. Ammunition recovered from the spot included two AK-47 rifles, 10 AK magazines, two grenades and 96 rounds, the police said. In another incident, the police and the Army killed a battalion commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen in Peth Waddar Bala area of Handwara in Kupwara district of north Kashmir. He was identified as Abdul Ahad alias Haroon, from Rajwar area, and the recoveries made from the site of encounter included one AK 47 rifle, three magazines, two grenades and 15 AK rounds. Unidentified militants lobbed a grenade towards building of the Dangiwacha Police Station in Baramulla district, which exploded outside the premises without causing any damage. Meanwhile, protest demonstrations were held by the ponywallahs and labourers at the tourist spot of Gulmarg today in protest against yesterday's grenade explosion. Two persons including a tourist and a local boy were killed and five others injured in the explosion. The labourers and ponywallsh burnt rubber tyres and demanded immediate arrest of those behind the blast. |
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BSF nabs Afghan militant
Srinagar, July 21 On being interrogated, the militant revealed that he was a native of Balochistan and took up militancy in 2007 in lieu of Rs 10,000 as month salary and help to his family. He along with nine Pakistani militants of the Harkat outfit made an infiltration bid on intervening night of July 11 and 12 through the Tangdhar sector in Kupwara. When the BSF and the Army fired at militants, nine of them retreated to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. But the Afghan militant could not catch up with the group. The BSF said he survived in the thick jungle for a week waiting for an opportunity to move into Pakistan. He was carrying fake Indian currency worth Rs 1.25 lakh besides arms and ammunition. This entire money was meant to be handed over to a commander who would receive them in Kashmir. |
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Unified Command to assess security situation today
Srinagar, July 21 This was informed by chief secretary S.S. Kapur, while interacting with mediapersons at the civil secretariat here today. Kapur said the recent militant attacks which killed 13 security personnel and injured a large number of people in the past four days, had raised concerns over the law and order situation. Kapur also expressed concern on the militant attack in Gulmarg yesterday which killed a tourist from UP and a 16-year-old ponywallah. “It’s a big setback to tourism and a large number of locals who depend upon it. I believe people in Gulmarg and Tangmarh area are observing a protest today against it,” he said. Kapur also announced a series of welfare measures taken up the Governor during a meeting of principal secretaries of various departments. “The government has addressed the long-pending demands of the tribal population and set up an independent directorate of tribal welfare to plan and implement uplift measures for the tribal population. Tribals comprise over 20 per cent of the state population,” Kapur added. Kapur also announced that civil servants getting inducted through the KAS services would enjoy similar seniority throughout their career if they were from the same batch. “The practise was discontinued in 1971 and resulted in “distorted” administrative structures as many officers rose to become seniors to those who had joined service before them,” he added. Kapur said, “It happened because of more opportunities in some departments and we have decided to discontinue this practice. It's rationalisation of the administrative order and as a senior bureaucrat myself, I believe seniority is sacrosanct,” he said. Kapur said another major decision was the induction of over 468 employees into government jobs. |
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Vohra stresses on conservation of Dal
Srinagar, July 21 Taking a review of the Dal-Nageen lake conservation and management plan here today, Vohra observed that inter-department interactions under one roof would help in plugging the bottlenecks in executing the project. This, he said, assumed added significance in view of the limited working season available in the valley. Vohra suggested that along side expediting work on the sewerage treatment plants (STPs), the completion of lateral connectivity in the designated areas also had to be met. For this purpose, a master plan must be worked out to ensure time-bound completion of all works, Vohra maintained. Expressing concern over the shrinking of the Dal Lake, Vohra stressed the need for launching a mass movement involving non-governmental organisations, society, interest groups, students and the general public at large, to preserve and conserve the lake, which he described as the “Soul of Kashmir”. Vohra said the conservation of the lake would not only be a big boon for the tourism industry but would also entail world-acclamation in view of the global concern for preserving ecology and environment. He, however, expressed anguish over the inflow of toxic effluents into the lake besides, floating polythenes and plastic materials and called for evolving a scientific mechanism to ensure their proper garbage disposal. Vohra advised for an urgent enactment of a legal framework for checking civic violations and suggested that people should be made aware through a sustained campaign about their duties. Vohra also stressed upon the need for de-weeding in the Dal Lake and suggested the involvement of students and voluntary organisations in supplementing this effort. For acquiring lake cleansing machinery in a time-bound basis, Vohra also suggested the formation a a coordination committee. He also called for the satellite imaging of the lake to ascertain its latest status. Besides the conservation and management plan drawn up for the lake, the resettlement and rehabilitation plan was also discussed in the meeting. The meeting was informed that out of Rs 298.79 crore earmarked under the conservation and management plan, about Rs 150 crore had been spent till June this year. |
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Army ‘bans’ farmers’ entry across fence
Sawjian (Poonch), July 21 The women reportedly protested when they were not allowed by the Army authorities to return before the scheduled timing after carrying out farming activities on the Indian side near the LoC on July 14 at Uripora village here. This comes after a group of 15-20 women - having their land between the first and last fence of the double fence before the LoC - had reportedly returned two or three hours after crossing over the first fence from Nariyan gate at the scheduled timing for crossing over at 8 am or 9 am and had asked the sentries posted at the gate of the fence to open the gate beyond the scheduled timing for closing of gate between 3 pm or 4 pm. Army sentries of the 4 Bihar unit deployed at the gate of the first fence had reportedly refused to open the gate on the pretext that they were not the authority to open or close the gate beyond scheduled timing. The women then turned violent and allegedly raised slogans against the Army for not allowing them to come back after carrying out their farming activities. “We crossed the first fence at 8 am for carrying out routine farming activities. As we had some urgent work at home we returned back at 11 am. We requested the sentries to open the gate but they refused to do so and instead started hurling abuses on us,” said a protester. Even as women protesters levelled serious allegations against the sentries posted at the Nariyan gate, the Army authorities claimed that the women forced the sentries to open the gate before scheduled timing of 3-4 pm but they refused to do so without seeking permission from the higher authorities. |
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Banihal blast: 4 picked up
Jammu, July 21 Thirty-four people were injured, including four security personnel, when militants lobbed a grenade on a CRPF company in Banihal town of Ramban district. “The suspects have been put under sustained questioning in connection with the grenade attack,” sources said. However, security has been beefed up in the entire area, including mountainous Ramban, Batote, Ramsoo, Banihal, Chanderkote and Patnitop areas, while alert has been sounded.
— UNI |
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Abdullah dynasty only after power: PDP
Srinagar, July 21 The PDP leaders have been engaged in a series of public meetings across the Kashmir valley, particularly after the imposition of President’s rule and dissolution of the State Assembly, due to the forthcoming elections. Senior PDP leader and former minister, Abdul Aziz Zargar, while addressing a day-long party convention at Damhal Hanjipora in south Kashmir today, lashed out at the NC, saying the party since its inception had relied upon hollow sloganeering and never fulfilled what it promised. “POTA, STF, draconian laws, poor development, corruption, nepotism, and favouritism are the products of the NC and it was the PDP which cleared this menace after it came to power”, Zargar said. He said his party had bridged the gap between India and Pakistan which not only brought an era of peace and stability but brought development in the state. Zargar said people of the state had suffered immense tragedies due to the Indo-Pak hostility. He said both the countries could gain by maintaining friendly relationships. Meanwhile, senior PDP leader and former finance minister, Tariq Hameed Karra, while addressing a workers convention in the Khansahib constituency in Budgam district today, said the NC without acknowledging their own failures while in power was busy in shifting blames, which indicated an “absolute frustration” in their ranks. Karra said the concern for human rights or the slogan of porous border in Farooq Abdullah’s time was unknown. “Human rights violation and the STF terror were the order of the day during Farooq’s time”, Karra added. He said the NC should open their eyes to that fact that their 50-year-long miserable performance had not purged from the public memory. Karra said the recent disclosure made by BJP leader L.K. Advani in his biography that NC patron Dr Farooq Abdullah preferred a Cabinet post for his son at the Centre to autonomy for the state, clearly demonstrated that the Abdullah dynasty was only after power. “Farooq was the first chief minister in India who implemented the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). He strengthened the special operations group (SOG) of the police to inflict more atrocities on the people and misrepresented Kashmiris on every forum”, Karra said. |
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2 ultras held turn out to be ex-teachers
Rajouri, July 21 Police sources claimed that Shafiq Ahmed of Dodasan Bala, a former contractual lecturer of geography at Government Degree College, Rajouri and Khalid-ul-Haq, a former contractual lecturer of Urdu at Government Higher Secondary School, Manjakote, were escorting Abu Adil, a Pakistani Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commander to take him for a meeting with Abu Jaffa, before the trio was arrested. It was mainly on the information of these two former contractual lecturers that the Thannamandi-based 43 RR of the Army and SOG launched a joint operation in Kunda village of Thannamandi area to nab the LeT commander Abu Jaffa. In the operation, Army major Bhanu Pratap Singh and SOG head constable Anjeeb Rana were killed besides two other Army jawans Gyan Prakash and Ravinder Singh and Indian Reserve Police (IRP) constable Zaffar Javed were injured. However, Abu Jaffa along with all of his aides managed to escape from the area unhurt. Police sources said for Shafiq Ahmed, who used to teach geography till May 31 this year, this was the first terror attempt, while for Khalid-ul-Haq it was a second one. Khalid along with his father Abdul Haq (an employee in the Public Health Engineering department) was arrested by security forces after their involvement surfaced in militancy related activities in 2002 after which they were sent to joint interrogation centre. SSP, Rajouri, Rajesh Kumar expressed his ignorance about the involvement of Khalid and Shafiq in the militancy related incident that resulted in the death of Army major and SOG head constable. |
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Woman Electrocuted
Jammu, July 21 The petitioners included Kailasho’s husband and minor daughters. Kailasho was electrocuted on November 14, 2000, in the compound of her house in Nagulta village, when a live electric wire laid by the PDD fell on her, resulting in her instantaneous death due to burn injuries. The petitioners, as such, claimed compensation of Rs 2 lakh. On denial of their liability to compensate the petitioners, the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Udhampur, was directed to hold an inquiry and determine negligence on part of the PDD officials. The CJM, Udhampur, after holding an inquiry came to the conclusion that the respondents were guilty of carelessness and negligence as due care was not taken by them, while maintaining electric wires, which passed through the compound of the petitioners’ house. Justice J.P. Singh while allowing the petition observed: “Responsibility to supply electric energy in the area where Kailasho had died was that of the state-respondents, is a position which has not been disputed by the state. If the energy so transmitted by the respondents causes injury or death of a human being, who gets unknowingly trapped into it, the primary liability to compensate the suffer is that of the supplier of the electric energy. So long as the voltage of electricity transmitted through the wires is potentially of dangerous dimensions, the managers of its supply have the added duty to take all safety measures to prevent escape of such energy and to see that wires carrying this energy, function well and do not permit escape of energy either by their snapping or otherwise. The authorities responsible for dealing in dangerous commodities have an extra duty to chalk out measures to prevent mishaps.”
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Patwari caught taking bribe
Jammu, July 21 Sunny in his complaint had alleged that Shahnaz had been demanding a sum of Rs 5,000 from him for the past couple of months for demarcating a piece of ancestral land in his favour at Saketar. |
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