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PoK trade team arrives
Security in top gear as PM comes today
Our options on contesting
poll open: PDP
Jawan dies as Army foils infiltration bid
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Development Cong poll plank: Soz
Separatists call for bandh on Oct 11
Hostel mess in mess, JU students suffer
JSM decries indifferent attitude towards workers
Dussehra celebrated
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PoK trade team arrives
Jammu, October 9 President, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ram Sahai, said though the number of items to be exported from Jammu was only 7, a good beginning had been made to boost the economy of the state. “There is nothing to be disappointed. The current list is not final and it will undergo a review after every three months. Federation of Industries chairman Annil Suri said though at present, only two industrial products “carpets and mattresses” had been included in the list of the items to be traded, there was a huge trade potential that was waiting to be tapped by both the sides. “I have already talked to the PoK delegation’s head, Zulfikar Abbasi, and inclusion of more industrial products is very much on our agenda when he visits Jammu on October 12,” he said. On what Jammu’s industry could offer for trade to PoK, Suri said they could export iron and steel products, welding electrodes, pharmaceutical products, paints and chemicals, plastic products and menthol products to their new trading partner. Suri also reiterated the trading community’s demand to open trade routes through the international border. “Ours is a landlocked state and if routes like Suchetgarh-Sialkot and Nowshera-Mirpur are thrown open for trade, the industry in Jammu will gain a lot,” he averred. President of the Association of Small-scale Industries Rajesh Jain said cross-LoC trade would be a meaningful exercise only when more routes were opened and more items added to the trade list.
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Security in top gear as PM comes today
Srinagar, October 9 A UNI correspondent, who visited the Srinagar railway station at Nowgam, about 10 km from here, today, saw security personnel wearing bulletproof jackets and holding automatic weapons guarding the railway tracks from both sides, 48 hours before Dr Manmohan Singh would board the train as a symbolic gesture from Nowgam station, being considered the most modern one in the country. Official sources said the PM would arrive tomorrow in the afternoon from Jammu, where he was scheduled to inaugurate the 450-MW Baglihar hydroelectric project in the Doda region. Besides RPF, CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir police personnel have been deployed on both sides of the track from Srinagar station to Badgam. Sources said the security forces across the Kashmir valley were also put on high alert, particularly in the Dal Lake Area, where Dr Manmohan Singh would be staying.
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Our options on contesting
poll open: PDP
Jammu, October 9 “We have kept our options open whether to contest the election or not,”party general secretary Nizam-ud-Din Bhat said. Bhat said: “We have conveyed to the members of the Election Commission (EC) that the atmosphere was not yet conducive for the elections. We told the members that the situation in the state had not improved since September.” He said: “Before the poll schedule is announced, the government should take steps for diluting the communal divide, which is a product of the agitation over the Amarnath land row. They should initiate measures for mitigating peoples’ sufferings by taking into hand confidence-building measures.” “The final decision on the issue of participation in the elections would be taken by the party’s political affairs committee which would meet once the EC announced the poll schedule,” he added. CPM leader M.Y.Tarigami said: “Though we also suggested to the EC to postpone the poll process because the two-month-long agitation over the land row had forced political leaders to remain dormant, if the commission does not favour postponing the poll, we shall field our candidates.” Meanwhile, the BJP, NC, Panthers and the two factions of the BSP have already started their pre-poll campaign. Former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad will be the star campaigner for the Congress. Poll unlikely to be postponed
The Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are unlikely to be postponed till the next year. This has become evident from the discussions the members of the Election commission had with the state authorities and leaders of different mainstream political parties during its recent visit to the state. Official sources said though some political leaders, especially those belonging to the PDP, demanded that steps be taken for rehabilitating families of slain militants as part of confidence building measures, they conveyed to the commission members they were not opposed to the poll process. The PDP leaders also wanted the government to carry out demilitarisation before the poll schedule was announced. |
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Jawan dies as Army foils infiltration bid
Rajouri, October 9 Army sources said sepoy Amarjeet Singh, posted with the 2 Sikh LI, died after receiving a bullet injury during firing from infiltrators and the Pakistani army at Kanda (K-1) post in Keri sector. Amarjeet was a resident of Sangrur in Punjab. Sources said the Army foiled the infiltration bid and succeeded in pushing back intruders. Acting on an intelligence input that a group of 4-6 infiltrators might sneak into this side of the Line of Control (LOC), the Army laid an ambush near the Kanda post in Keri sector. “As soon as the infiltrator tried to sneak into this side, they were challenged by alert Indian troops, but the latter resorted to indiscriminate fire, killing the jawan”, sources said. Sources further averred that Indian troops returned the fire and the infiltrators were forced to flee back into POK after an hour-long encounter. During the encounter, Pakistani troops also allegedly fired from their PP post. Meanwhile, Jammu-based defence spokesman, Col D.K. Kathari confirmed that a jawan was killed after infiltrators resorted to indiscriminate fire.
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Development Cong poll plank: Soz
Jammu, October 9 To a query on alleged differences in the party, he dubbed it as a “routine affair” and said there was nothing serious. On the timing of Assembly elections, Prof Soz said the Election Commission had already assessed the ground situation and now it was up to it to see when the elections could be held. As far as the Congress was concerned, he said the party was ready for the elections. Regarding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s two-day visit to the state, he said it was purely an apolitical visit and had nothing to do with the elections. On cross-LoC trade, Prof Soz said it would not only improve Indo-Pak relations but also give a fillip to trade in both regions. Referring to the snapping of trade ties between the Jammu and Kashmir regions, he said though some differences had cropped up among the trading communities of two regions, the matter would be sorted out with the passage of time. Meanwhile, Vaishno Dutt Dogra, son of former BJP MLA Hans Raj Dogra, today joined the Congress. |
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Separatists call for bandh on Oct 11
Srinagar, October 9 The coordination committee has declared that the programme for march to the Lal Chowk continued to stand, the next date for which would be announced soon. This was disclosed by APHC chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq after a meeting of the coordination committee at Mirwaiz Manzil, Rajouri Kadal, here today. Those who attended the meeting included acting chairman of the hardline Hurriyat Conference, Ghulam Nabi Sumjhi, JKLF chairman, Mohammad Yasin Malik, Showkat Ahmad Shah of Jamiat-e-Ahl-e-Hadeeth, Mian Qayoom of the Bar Association and all representative members of the constituents of the coordination committee. The general strike on Saturday coincides with the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is scheduled to flag off the first train in the Kashmir valley here. Mirwaiz condemned the restrictions imposed by the administration on the Lal Chowk march scheduled for October 6 last. He reiterated the demand for resolution of the Kashmir issue through tripartite talks involving people of the state.
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Hostel mess in mess, JU students suffer
Jammu, October 9 According to reports, the old campus hostel has a capacity of 100 students and for the time being nearly 70 students from far-off places have been putting up in it. The boarders told The Tribune that the hostel mess is not functioning for the past months. Consequent upon it, students were forced to take their meals from outside at higher prices. “We have to compromise with the quality of food and also end up spending more on dinning outside,” said a group of students. “If we compromise on quality we have to resort to poor quality food at roadside eateries, but that takes toll on our health,” they rued They alleged that the plaster is peeling off hostel walls, which have not been whitewashed for the past many years. They further said bathrooms were in shabby condition and there were no floodlights in the premises. The computer lab is also non-operational as the computers were out of order for quite some time, they revealed. “Unlike other hostels of JU we have been faced with shortage of drinking water. The refrigerator and water-coolers are also out of order and nothing is being done in this context,” they said. Prof JU, BL Sharma, said, “There are only 25 students in the hostel at present out of which some were observing fast in the wake of Ramadan. Students have been asked to pay in advance so that hostel kitchen could start functioning when the students on leave return.” “The modernisation of bathrooms and renovation of building could not be undertaken due to two-month long turmoil in Jammu,” he added. |
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JSM decries indifferent attitude towards workers
Jammu, October 9 Morcha’s state vice-president and spokesman Anil Gour said the PHE workers of the Jammu region were not paid their daily wages for the past 10 months. “The JSM (P) strongly condemns the previous regime of the Congress-PDP coalition for its criminal negligence for the denial of equal wages to the same category of workers from Kashmir and Jammu," Gour said. "A judicial inquiry should be held to go into this unjust denial of the same wages to Jammu workers," he added. He expressed dismay and sought judicial action against guilty officials and ministers of the previous government responsible for the "blatant discrimination". "The workers of the Kashmir region get Rs 2,100 per month, while those working on the same post in Jammu are paid Rs 500 to Rs 700 per month," Gour added. The JSM (P) has demanded that the Governor should issue the necessary instructions to his advisers to immediately ensure that the workers in the Jammu region also get the same wages as their Kashmiri counterparts were getting and the arrears should also be released for the Jammu-based workers.
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Dussehra celebrated
Jammu, October 9 The main functions were held at the Parade ground and at the famous Dussehra ground in the Gandhi Nagar locality. Processions of Lord Rama and other Hindu gods and goddesses were taken out at various places. Elaborate security arrangements were also made to manage the huge rush of people. Meanwhile, reports of Dussehra celebrations also poured in from various other areas of the region. |
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A 20-member delegation of traders from Muzaffarabad after it crossed the Aman Setu bridge near Kaman Post on the LoC on Thursday.
Tribune photo: Mohd Amin War
