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Kuldeep Dogra’s Mortal Remains
Job Racket
Day II: 20 hurt in Srinagar
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PM, Gen Kapoor discuss situation
Cong to bring no-confidence motion against mayor
Conjugal bliss
outweighs discord
Study centres in Jammu varsity hit a roadblock
Weeding in Dal begins, concerns remain
Nationalisation of Amarnath Road
‘BJP supported Kashmiri Pandits’
BJP failed to divide region: NC
NC blamed for Jammu’s problems
BSP gears up for
polls
2-yr RI for head constable
50 officials found absent, suspended
Vitasta divas celebrated
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Kuldeep Dogra’s Mortal Remains
Jammu, September 13 Purportedly hurt over the ‘provocative’ remarks of National Conference president Omar Abdullah on the Amarnath land row during the UPA government’s trust vote, Dogra committed suicide at the Parade Ground on July 23, flaring up the Jammu agitation. A Sangharsh Samiti spokesperson said: “Though the judicial commission headed by Justice (retd) O.P. Sharma had set September 13 as the last date of filing the affidavit, the date has now been extended to September 17.” The samiti has cited reasons of filing an exhaustive and elaborate affidavit incorporating eyewitnesses’ account of police brutalities with family members of the deceased, including his wife Shilpi, and disrespect to Dogra’s mortal remains, the spokeaman added. The commission has been requested to afford some more time for the purpose as some of the key eyewitness like former state BJP president Prof Nirmal Singh was away in Bangalore, attending the party’s national executive committee meeting, the spokesman said. “The way the police handled the situation showing disrespect to the mortal remains of Dogra amounts to the violation of human rights and religious beliefs of Hindus and hence we need sufficient time to draft an exhaustive affidavit putting everything in the right perspective,” he added. The spokesman said: “The then SDPO, Bakshi Nagar, M.L. Kaith had swooped in on the dharna site at the Parade Ground on the night of July 23 and Kuldeep’s body was not only dragged but they even tried to cremate it in the dead of night at Bishnah with tyres, alcohol and kerosene oil.” It may be recalled here that a complaint was also lodged with the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), demanding a high-level probe and exemplary punishment to the police officer responsible for the shameful act. |
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Job Racket
Jammu, September 13 Acting on a complaint filed by one Rachhpaul Singh Chib against former vice-chancellor Dr Nagendra Sharma and serving deputy registrar Ashok Koul under Section 11 of the State Accountability Commission Act, 2002, the SAC has served a notice to the two officials to appear before it. The former vice-chancellor got retired on August 31 this year. In his complaint, Chib alleged that Dr Nagendra Sharma made around 400 appointments during his tenure as the VC, which was in violation of the norms laid down by SKUAST-J. “The vice-chancellor had appointed several persons on ad hoc, contractual and consolidated basis since 2005 and the engagement orders issued in favour of these appointees were extended from time to time without adhering to the mandate of SKUAST-J statutes, 1983,” Chib said. It has been alleged that the VC did not adhere to Rule 14 of the J&K Civil Services (classification, control and appeal) Rule, 1956, while making such appointments. However, when the issue was highlighted, the former VC advertised around 115 posts to “hoodwink” the authorities. “This is the height of corruption that interviews for these advertised posts were conducted during the Jammu bandh when the entire region was under curfew”, a member of the SAC said. Dr R.K. Sharma, registrar, SKUAST-J, who also allegedly appointed some of his relatives in the department said: “The notice has been served at the personal level to the former VC and the deputy registrar who was the officiating registrar at that time. They themselves would be contesting the case”. “The allegations against me are false and fabricated”, Sharma said. Blaming the former VC, deputy registrar Ashok Koul said: “The VC used to order me to sign the papers and I did on his order. He is responsible for everything. My name is being dragged into it as being a subordinate, I was under obligation to obey his orders.” Ashok said: “It is very unfortunate that the notice is served at a time when the VC has retired and left for his native place in Bihar”. |
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Day II: 20 hurt in Srinagar
Srinagar, September 13 The trouble started when some young men in Maisuma area took to the streets, threw stones at security personnel and forced shops to close down, police said. Elsewhere, curfew restrictions continued in Baramulla and Shopian towns without relaxation. The curfew had been imposed in these towns after violent demonstrations in which one person was killed and 18 others injured in Shopian, while one civilian got killed and another injured in Baramulla town yesterday afternoon. On Friday, demonstrations had taken place on the call of separatist Coordination committee that has planned month-long protests after Friday prayers during the holy month followed by a “Lal Chowk chalo” call for October 6. The earlier call for a march on Lal Chowk for August 25 had been thwarted by the authorities by imposing a curfew and arresting senior separatist leaders. APHC chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who was allowed to address the Friday congregation after a three-week gap at Jamia Masjid yesterday, has been again put under house arrest. He was earlier arrested on the night of August 23 along with other leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani and prevented from marching on the chowk. They were released on September 1 but both Mirwaiz and Geelani continue to be under house arrest. A spokesman of the APHC said today that a heavy contingent of CRPF personnel had been deployed around the residence of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, preventing him from moving outside. Meanwhile, according to secretary, Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examination, the Common Entrance Test (CET) was held today without hitch in all the 21 centres in the state, including 10 in Srinagar. |
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PM, Gen Kapoor discuss situation
New Delhi, September 13 Kapoor, who met the Prime Minister on Thursday, is understood to have briefed him on his recent visit to the UK to intensify the comprehensive defence cooperation pact with India, official sources said. On the security scenario in the country, the sources said Kapoor briefed Singh on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the future security perception in the state where elections are expected to take place in the next few months. The heightened level of violence in the valley and increased infiltration bids by militants from across the Line of Control (LoC) also formed part of the briefing. Kapoor is also understood to have briefed the PM on the situation in Afghanistan in the wake of reports that Pakistan Army was aware of the bomb attack plot on the Indian Embassy in Kabul. Regarding his UK visit, the Army Chief said India’s Mechanised Forces were for the first time training and exercising with the British Army troops and elaborated on his discussions with the Army and UK Defence Ministry top brass. The recent visit of Israeli Army chief Maj Gen Avi Mizrahi also came up during the briefing.
— PTI |
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Cong to bring no-confidence motion against mayor
Jammu, September 13 Sources in the Congress told The Tribune that the party in consonance with corporators from other parties had been devising a strategy to move the no-confidence motion against the mayor. In this context PCC vice-president Dharampal Sharma had recently convened a meeting, they said, adding that a four-member committee headed by party MLC Amrit Malhotra, too, had been constituted for the purpose. The committee also includes PCC spokesperson Ravinder Sharma, Gurmukh Singh and Om Chopra, they added. The PCC has asked its corporators to abide by the decision of the four-member committee and those who go against the whip would face axe, they added. The sources said it would be a combined effort of the Congress, the National Conference, independent and some BJP corporators to topple the present incumbent from the mayoral post. Former Congress mayor and corporator of ward number 1 Narinder Singh said, “Ever since assuming the office present mayor Kavinder Gupta has failed to call the standing committee meetings on time.” He also utterly abused his official powers violating norms while promoting corporation employees, he added. Singh said in the Departmental Promotion Committee meetings the mayor
arbitrarily promoted certain employees against the norms. The present mayor has failed to serve the interest of the corporation and corporators, he said. He said, “We need a minimum of 36 corporators to move no-confidence motion against the mayor and we are confident of achieving the figure.” The 71-ward the JMC had 27 corporators of the Congress, 25 of the BJP, six of the National Conference, two of the PDP, one of the Shiv Sena, one of the BSP and nine independents. |
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Conjugal bliss
outweighs discord
Jammu, September 13 As against the 758 complaints lodged at the Canal Road Women Cell in 2007, this year, the figures by August stood at 333. Women
cell SHO Kirti Sharma, while talking to The Tribune said: “Till August
this year we received 333 complaints, out of which FIRs in 35 cases were
registered.” Sharma said the women cell was able to sort out half of
the remaining 298 complaints, convincing the couples and their in-laws
to live in harmony. Sharma, however, opined that rising awareness among couples to lead a contended life despite ups and downs might have been responsible for the decline in matrimonial disputes this year. Our first priority is to help couples sort out their differences through counselling, but in cases where we exhaust all options, registering FIRs becomes inevitable, Sharma added. Last year, the cell used to receive 80 to 90 complaints every month, but the average dropped to 40 complaints a month this year. Official sources said, last year the women cell received 758 complaints, out of which FIRs were registered in 37 cases, while 881 complaints (including pending complaints of 2006) were settled via negotiations. Paradoxically, in two cases, the dispute ended only after the court awarded divorce to the couples. Sharma said couples from rich and affluent families, too, were caught in the grip of marital discord as 35 per cent of the complaints received at the cell were from well-to-do families. Meanwhile,
another police officer said: “We get less complaints from rural areas
as compared to Jammu city. But in areas like Bishnah tehsil, R.S. Pura
and Akhnoor, we get a lot of complaints”. He said, though the number of complaints has dropped this year but we see lack of patience among the married couples as the root cause of such problems. The officer added that in most of the cases, couples dragged each other to the cell over trivial issues, which could easily be sorted out within the confines of their homes. |
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Study centres in Jammu varsity hit a roadblock
Jammu, September 13 The party to the entire mess is neither a separatist nor a religious group. Albeit its Jammu University which is eying the status of a central university. The dilatory tactics by the university administration has virtually obstructed the recruitment process for the Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusion (CSSEI) whereas the Centre for Ambedkar Studies has also run into rough weathers. This has led to great resentment among the students as well as marginalised classes. Both the centres are supposed to assess socio-economic conditions of marginalised and underprivileged classes in the militancy-hit state. The study centers have been assigned to conduct researches besides taking other welfare measures towards emancipation of the hapless lot. According to sources, out of the total grant of nearly Rs 2 crore, the university has already received initial amount of Rs 40 lakh from the UGC to start with appointment of faculty, including research staff, in the CSSEI. While, the Centre for Ambedkar Studies was set up in the university campus in 2006-07 with a UGC grant of over Rs 8 lakh per annum but unfortunately the centre is virtually locked up. Sources said internal bickering in the Department of Social Sciences has delayed the starting of both the centres. When contacted, interim director of the Center for Inclusion and Exclusion Studies and HoD political science, Kulwant Kour said, “Due to the two-month-long agitation, things could not be materialised in the specified time and it will take around three to four months to institutionalise the centre.” It would take two more months to advertise various posts for the newly-created centre. The HoD, Sociology Department, under which the Ambedkar Study Center is set up, said, “We held a lot many activities last year but this year we could not hold any activity due to the land row agitation.” State BSP president Yash Pal Bhagat said, “The state government is delaying the start intentionally as it does not want emancipation of the deprived and underprivileged classes.” He demanded for immediate commissioning of both the study centres. |
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Weeding in Dal begins, concerns remain
Srinagar, September 13 The administration has sent scores of workers across the length and breadth of the lake for the cleaning operation and tons of weeds plucked from it have been deposited on roads. A drive along its shore is full of sour smell emanating from wet weeds, but it has also gladdened people with belief that something could still be done to stem the rot in the lake, which remains a foremost attraction for domestic and foreign tourists alike. “Nobody trusts the state government to deliver. I do not think manual cleaning will be a permanent solution but I welcome the move as it would make the lake look more clean and beautiful,” said Abdul Aziz, a trader. A senior official of Lakes and Waterways Development Authority said the entire procedure of cleaning Dal had been marred by typical bureaucratic sloth and popular politics. “We need to remove thousands of families living by the Dal side illegally and rehabilitate them elsewhere. If that is not carried out, then one can forget about seeing the same lake that was here say 30 years back,” he said. |
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Nationalisation of Amarnath Road
Jammu, September 13 Rajnath in the inaugural session of the national executive meeting on September 13 had asked the Union government to nationalise the road of the Amarnath yatra. State BJP vice-president and spokesperson Prof Hari Om today said: “The suggestions put forth by Rajnath will solve the problem of Kashmiri Pandits once for all. It will be impossible for communal forces in Kashmir to vitiate the Amarnath yatra any more”, Prof Hari said. Reacting to the developments in Kashmir, Prof Hari urged the Centre to hand over the entire Kashmir valley to the Army. He said such an action had become highly imperative in view of the ongoing anti-India activities in Kashmir. Commenting on the refusal of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce (KCC) leaders to meet their Jammu counterparts, who had gone to Srinagar two days ago to discuss trade-related issues between the two regions, Prof Hari once again reiterated the party’s stand that cross-LoC trade through the Uri-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalkote roads would not be in the national interest. |
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‘BJP supported Kashmiri Pandits’
Jammu, September 13 Addressing a press conference, members of the Panun Kashmir expressed gratitude to BJP president Rajnath Singh for earmarking areas for Kashmiri Pandits in the valley in the three-day national executive meeting held at Bangalore. Chairman of the Panun Kashmir, Dr Agnishekhar, appreciated the BJP and said it had always espoused the cause of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits. Dr Agnishekhar said: “Panun Kashmir in its historic draft resolution has earmarked the area for the creation of a separate homeland on the north east of the Jhelum river. The creation of homeland with a UT status in the valley would secure the territorial and civilization imperatives of the Indian nation on the northwestern front”. In the Round Table conference convened by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Dr Agnishekhar said the continuous struggle of Kashmiri Pandits under the banner of the Panun Kashmir against separatist forces aided by Pakistan had made them the fountainheads of nationalistic response. Meanwhile, members of the Panun Kashmir also appealed to various national and regional parties to support their demand of a separate homeland. |
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BJP failed to divide region: NC
Jammu, September 13 NC leaders - district president, Jammu Urban, Chander Mohan Sharma; district president, Jammu Rural ‘A’, Satpal
Lakhotra; and district president, Jammu Rural ‘B’, Mohinder, said the track record of the BJP suggested that the party egged on exploiting the people of Jammu. |
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NC blamed for Jammu’s problems
Jammu, September 13 He asked Sadhotra to clear his and his party’s stand with regard to delimitation of the assembly constituencies and enhancement of seats in the assembly in favour of Jammu region, Jammu’s representation in the civil secretariat and in other government services including J&K Bank. Gupta blamed NC and Kashmiri leaders for the current state of affairs in the region and the state. He said that statement has been issued to “befool” the people of Jammu region and was an attempt at covering up what he called “unjust” actions of the NC against the people of Jammu region. |
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BSP gears up for
polls
Jammu, September 13 “BSP national general secretary and in charge J&K affairs Narinder Kashyap, who was in town for the last couple of days to review the party situation in the state, has announced fresh cadre with additional assignments in their respective constituencies,” said party sources. Kashyap, in a meeting convened last evening, after thorough discussions with the senior party members, allocated duly marked areas of operations as their in charges to all the leaders of the state unit, the sources confirmed. Besides BSP, state president Yash Pal Bhagat, who have been made the in charge of the Kathua, Samba and Jammu B constituencies, many other party leaders along with workers, have been allocated areas and they have been instructed to work for the party welfare, the sources asserted, saying, “the expansion of the organisation will be taken up next month.”
— UNI |
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2-yr RI for head constable
Jammu, September 13 Lal will serve an additional year in prison if he fails to pay the fine, special Judge, Anti-Corruption, Jammu, B.L. Bhatt said in his order on Saturday. According to the police, Tilak Raj of Rampura, Samba, lodged a written complaint stating that Sansar Chand gave him assurance to get a job in the Police Department. Chand then introduced Raj to head constable Chaman Lal, who posed himself as PA to DIG, Crime and Railways, and asked the complainant to pay him Rs 60,000 for the favour. The complainant paid a first installment of Rs 30,000 to Lal but he failed to arrange the job or refund the money. Lal is found guilty of cheating under the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).
— PTI |
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50 officials found absent, suspended
Srinagar, September 13 They said district development commissioner (DDC), Srinagar, conducted a surprise check of six government offices in the city yesterday following reports that officials were not doing their duty properly. During the checking 32 officials were found absent from duty, they said, adding, they were placed under suspension besides initiating disciplinary action against them. Sources said a checking squad inspected various offices at Bandiora in and found 18 officials absent from duty. They were placed under suspension. They said the authorities had impressed upon all government employees to adhere to punctuality in discharging their duties for the services of people.
— UNI |
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Vitasta divas celebrated
Jammu, September 13 Tributes were paid to Mata Vitasta on her birth anniversary as well as to the people who sacrificed their lives for the cause of the community and the nation. An oath was also taken to continue struggle for the establishment of a separate homeland. President of the organisation Ashwani Chrungu said, “The demand of homeland represents the core aspirations of the community and the nationalist forces of the state and is a guarantee to re-establish the indigenous people of the valley with a promise of living a full life in Kashmir. In the days to come, the struggle shall intensify and declared that the 2nd phase of the Kashmir Sankalp Yatra shall commence in October,” he said. |
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