Jammu, October 15
A hailstorm, which lashed various parts of the region last night, dashed all hopes of the paddy farmers.

The hailstorm has flattened paddy crop on vast stretches of land in Marh, RS Pura, Ramgarh, Hiranagar and Kathua areas.

While a majority of the farmers, who had sown varieties like sharbati, PC 19 and 1410, had harvested their crop, those who opted for desi basmati and ratna were at the receiving end of the nature’s fury.

Talking to The Tribune, Manohar Lal, a farmer from Arnia village in RS Pura rice belt, rued that strong winds had damaged their paddy crop twice in the recent past and the last night’s hailstorm had only added to their losses.

“We are only counting our losses for the last few weeks and there is hardly any hope of gain left,” he said.

Tejinder Singh, another farmer from the affected area, said while most of the crop had been flattened, the remaining would be wilted once the sun peeped out of the clouds, leaving literally nothing for them to harvest.

Sham Singh, a progressive farmer, pegged the losses at a whopping 90 per cent.

“There is very little hope for the remaining 10 per cent crop, as either it will be wilted in sunlight or spoiled by another spell of hailstorm,” he said, adding that it will, in all probability, now be used as cattle feed.

Sukhdev Singh, a farmer from Kathua district, said they had spent Rs 7,600 per acre for cultivating paddy and this amount didn't include their personal labour, water and power charges.

“The government must take note of our plight and extend a compensation of Rs 12,000-15,000 per acre to the paddy farmers,” he said, adding that they will have to pay from their own pocket to get their fields cleared of the ruined paddy crop.

Om Prakash, a farmer from Vijaypur, said the worst-hit pockets were Ramgarh and Nawa Shahar, as the farmers there have suffered huge losses.

“While at some places the paddy crop has been totally ruined, in other areas the losses amount to around 75 per cent,” he added.

When contacted, agriculture director Vinod Bala Sharma said she has no idea about the losses suffered by the paddy farmers, as she was in Srinagar.

She said she would get the details about the damage caused due to hailstorm
tomorrow morning.

Jammu, October 15
Seeking implementation of recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission, members of the Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC) observed a complete strike under the leadership of Ram Kumar Sharma at the Mubarak Mandi Complex here today.

The committee members have also decided to hold a complete strike on November 11 and 12, which will also be observed in Kashmir, Delhi, Ladakh and Kargil.

President, EJAC, Ram Kumar Sharma said: “Those who are opposing our strike are government touts and are a creation of the previous Azad-led government”.

Sharma said besides implementation of recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission, they had also demanded regularisation of daily wagers, implementation of agreement reached between the government and the representatives of clerical staff for removal of pay irregularity, enhancement of retirement age from 58 to 60 and revival of medical insurance policy and LTC.

Prominent among those present included Gafoor Dar, Balwan Singh Jamwal, Popinder Singh and others.

Srinagar, October 15
The famous ski resort of Gulmarg experienced the first snowfall of the season, while the plains across the Kashmir valley were lashed by rains for the second day today.

However, movement of traffic on all vital roads, including 300-km Srinagar-Jammu and 434-km Srinagar-Leh national highways was smooth, official sources said.

It started to snow in Gulmarg hill resort, 52 kms from here, around 11 am, much to the delight of the hoteliers and other people connected with tourism which was hit hard by the agitation sparked by Amarnath land row.

“We are hopeful that the snowfall will attract tourists back to the valley,” said a hotelier.

He claimed that the occupancy in the hotels in the hill resort fell to zero after the eruption of the agitation in the valley in July.

Although the snowfall lasted for a brief period, small groups of tourists were seen enjoying the snow flakes.

The snow was followed by heavy rains over the past two days and about one feet of snow was deposited in the peripheral areas of the resort including Afarwath and Kangdoori, the sources said.

Snowfall also lashed other high altitude areas of the valley including Zojilla Pass on Srinagar-Leh highway forcing the authorities to suspend traffic on the vital road last night as a precautionary measure.

However, the traffic was allowed to move on the highway, the only road linking frontier region of Ladakh with rest of the state, this morning, the sources said.

Traffic on Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the only road connecting Kashmir with rest of the country also remained unaffected despite heavy rains and snowfall in the mountains over looking the arterial road.

Sadna Top on Srinagar-Tangdhar road experienced six inches of snowfall but the road remained through, the sources said.

Gurez also received snowfall but the road leading to the border town from Bandipora remains open, they said.

The 3,880 metre high cave shrine of Amarnath in South Kashmir Himalayas, 46 kms from Pahalgam hill resort and its adjoining areas including Mahagunas received over one feet of snow since yesterday, the sources said.

While, Srinagar and other plains received intermittent rains for the second day, virtually disrupting normal life.

The sudden change in the temperature in the valley has been attributed to the
Western disturbances from Arabian sea through Pakistan and Afghanistan by the
Met department.

The night temperature recorded in Srinagar was 8.8 degrees celsius, while the maximum temperature was 21.7 degree celsius yesterday. — PTI

Udhampur, October 15
Fear gripped the residents of Udhampur, following the recovery of a badly mutilated body of a middle-aged man who had been missing for the past five days.

During the past 10 days, three bodies with multiple injuries have been recovered from different areas of Udhampur town, but the police has failed to achieve any breakthrough in these murders.

Just two days back, a body was recovered from the railway station whose identity is yet to be established.

Similarly on October 6, the Udhampur Police recovered the body of a young girl who was reportedly murdered by some unidentified persons.

The residents of Rarrhi village of the Roundomail area spotted an unclaimed body
lying in a nullah.

After getting information, a police party rushed to the spot and seized the body.

The identity of the deceased was later established as Somraj, son of Kishan Chand, of the same area.

Somraj was a driver by profession and had been missing for the past five days.

Although the police has sent the body for a post-mortem, eye witnesses alleged it was a case of blind murder and there were multiple injuries on his body.

The recovery of three bodies during the past 10 days has sent a shock wave among the residents of Udhampur.

Although the police has yet not got any clue about the body recovered from the railway station, the police has reportedly got a lead in the murder of a young girl whose body was found near the Kalimata Temple.

The post-mortem report is awaited to ascertain the real cause of her death, but circumstantial evidences suggest she was strangulated, police sources said.

“We are waiting for the post-mortem report”, a police officer said and did not rule out the possibility of rape before the murder.

Jammu, October 15
Despite Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari terming the militants operative in the Kashmir valley as “terrorists”, the Pakistan army continues to assist militants in cross-border infiltration.

“The Pakistan army and Pakistan rangers have been supporting cross-border infiltration from across the border by violating the ceasefire and providing cover fire to the infiltrators”, a defence source told The Tribune.

As per sources, the Pakistani intelligence agencies and the militant leadership in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) were “desperate” to push in a large number of trained militants ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections and heavy snowfall in the higher reaches.

“We have radio intercepts that a large number of trained terrorist are waiting across the border for an opportunity to crossover into the Indian side”, the source said.

Sources further said: “After the snowfall in the higher reaches on the LoC, many areas would become inaccessible so the main motive of the militant leadership across the border is to push in trained people ahead of the Assembly elections and they are doing this with the help of the Pakistan army”.

Meanwhile, the increased vigil on the LoC by the Army has compelled militants across the border to try and cross into the Indian side from the international border.

However, in a majority of cases, the militants have failed to cross over.

An Army officer said: “As a result of increased vigil, militant groups operating in the state are not only facing resource crunch but also a manpower crunch”.

Public relations officer of the Udhampur-based Northern Command Col D.K. Kachari said: “The Army never lowered its vigil on the LoC and round the clock vigil is maintained to foil any attempts by these militants”.

When asked to comment on the changing pattern of infiltration attempts by the militants, Kachari said: “There is no set pattern of infiltration. They try to penetrate from wherever they find feasible”.

Jammu, October 15
With no checks in place at the entry points, Jammu University has become a favorite pastime destination for outsiders, especially for the roadside Romeos.

There are three main entry points to JU campus. The first gate leads to women hostel, the second gate leads to Dhanwantri library and the third gate leads to Zorawar Singh Auditorium.

There is no security guard at the first and third gates. At the second gate, guards man the entrance point but no one registers the name and particulars of visitors.

“You can find couples especially those who are not from JU, flocking the cafeteria near the cactus garden besides coffee booths,” said a female professor.

“The premises of the Director Distance Education (DDE) is also a favourite spot
of roadside Romeos, which clear indicates security lapses on the part of the
administration,” she added.

“Outsiders start pouring in the campus in the morning itself. Most of them could be traced zooming through the campus on their motorbikes or sitting under shady trees gazing at the female students, passing derogatory remarks,” she said, concerned over an increase in incidents of eve-teasing in the campus.

“Most of the times girl students don’t complain fearing sense of humiliation or confrontation but it leaves deep scars on their psyche and ultimately what suffers is their study,” said a student, pleading anonymity.

Vikas Sharma, president of the Jammu University Research Scholars Executive Association (JURSEA), said, “Security system has gone passive for quite some time and there is no check on entry of outsiders. We took up the matter with the authorities concerned but to no avail.”

“It's not that only boys come to spend leisurely hours in campus but girls too, so the restrictions should be imposed on all such elements who deem varsity as hot spot of entertainment," Sharma said.

He added that varsity authorities should also ensure that during this process genuine persons including guardians and parents of students don't get harassed.

When contacted, Dean Student Welfare and Chairman Campus security, Dhian Singh Bhau, said, “I took over the charge today itself. After taking cognisance of security lapses, steps would be taken to plug in all the loopholes accordingly.”

Srinagar, October 15
Several separatist and other organisations in the Kashmir valley today criticised the decision of the government to lease out 145 kanals of land at Pampore to the CRPF for 90 years.

In statements here, they said Jammu and Kashmir Industries Limited (JKIL) had reportedly decided to give on lease 145 kanals of land to the CRPF against a premium of Rs 22 crore.

Former chairman of the moderate Hurriyat Conference (HC), Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, condemned the decision.

He said already lakhs of kanals of land had been occupied by troops throughout Kashmir. ''We would fight this decision tooth and nail peacefully”, he said.

Mukhtar Ahmad Waza, acting chairman, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League (PL), expressed serious concern over the transfer of joinery mill land to the CRPF at saffron town Pampore and termed it as a deep-rooted conspiracy to strengthen the ''illegal occupation'' of Kashmir.

Patron of Mahaz-e-Azadi Mohammad Azam Inquilabi opposed the handing over of land of the joinery mill to the paramilitary force.

The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has urged the government to retract the decision as it would have serious fallouts, KCCI said.

It said the organisation had earlier made a proposal for setting up an integrated
park comprising manufacturing units related to weaving of carpets and shawls etc
in Kashmir.

The proposal was still pending and the land could be transferred for the project,
the KCCI said.

The Valley Citizens Council (VCC) has also raised voice against the decision, terming it as illegal and a conspiracy.

According to legal experts, the JKIL decision to lease out land to the CRPF is a
clear violation of the state’s Land Transfer Act, as leasing out land to any central
government department or agency necessitates approval of the state Cabinet and
the legislature.

The JKIL management cannot take any unilateral decision to lease out land to the CRPF without approval of the state legislature as it requires an amendment to the Transfer of Property Act, a legal expert said. — UNI

Shahdara Sharief (Rajouri), October 15
Even after four years the government undertook the road work to the shrine of Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah here, the completion of the project looks like a distant dream.

As a result, residents and pilgrims to the shrine are left to walk on dilapidated road.

Residents told The Tribune that the construction work on a 6.4-km-long stretch from Thanamandi to Shahdara Sharief was going on at a snails pace.

“The work started in 2004 when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was the chief minister.
The Public Works Department was given the task. It was presumed that the work
on the road would be completed within two years,” said Shabir Ahmed, a retired
government servant.

“But now the condition of road has changed from bad to worse. It’s only a pain for the residents and pilgrims,” he added.

The employees in the management of the Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah Shrine also regretted the slowness of the government.

“This is a shame for the government. It should at least rise from the slumber and get the work expedited,” said one employee on the condition of anonymity.

Suraj Gupta, PWD executive engineer, Rajouri, said they lack funds for the project.

“We received Rs 3 crore out of Rs 7.42 crore and with that money we have constructed two main bridges. We will be able to complete the road project as soon as we get the rest of the funds,” he said.

And if the funds come on time, the engineer said, we would probably complete the work by October next year.

Udhampur, October 15
Though the security forces seized a huge quantity of arms and ammunitions from the Marmat area, militants, including Hizbul Mujahideen ultra Jamail Ahmed Wani, managed to escape during the three-day-long search operation taking advantage of snowfall and heavy downpour.

Security forces had virtually sealed the entire area but continuous rains and snowfall hampered the operation, which was jointly launched by the Udhampur police and the Army in the Tringal Ghat area bordering Udhampur and Doda districts.

Sources said after getting information about Jamail Ahmed, the police launched a search operation in the Seozdhar area bordering Marmat belt of Doda district.

As the area is militancy-infested, the police sought assistance of the Army to
track down Jamail.

During the search operation, the militants fired at the security forces on late
Tuesday night.

Due to continuous rains and snowfall, the dreaded militants managed to give a
slip to the police.

One Pika gun, 25 kg of RDX, Chinese grenade, dry fruits, ration and other material were recovered from site.

Alok Puri, DIG, Udhampur-Reasi zone, said militants were planning to create a hideout in this remotest belt.

He said security forces cordoned off the whole area to track down the militants.

SRINAGAR: A militant was killed in an encounter in Kupwara district while security forces seized an improvised explosive device (IED), a police spokesman said today.

He said the security forces launched a joint operation at Khodi Sogam village early this morning following a tip off about the presence of militants there.

During the operation militants opened fire on a search party, leading to a gunbattle in which one militant was killed.

One AK rifle, four magazines, 40 rounds, a hand grenade and one pouch were seized from the slain militant.

The security forces averted a major tragedy when they recovered an improvised explosive device (IED) at Tangmerg-Gulmarg road which was later defused.

Jammu, October 15
Reacting to senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily’s “tirade” against the BJP for its stand on the state Assembly elections, the state BJP has accused the Congress-led UPA government of “becoming a party to the subversion of the democratic process” in the state.

Addressing a press conference here today, state BJP vice-president and spokesperson Hari Om said Moily’s view that the BJP was putting pressure on the Election Commission (EC) and politicising the issue of Assembly polls in the state showed “how politically bankrupt the Congress had turned”.

He said elections were a constitutional necessity and to ask the EC to hold the elections on time should not be construed as a “motivated” plea.

Commenting on Moily’s assertion that the EC had delayed elections in Jammu and Kashmir in the “national interest”, Hari Om said the country’s interest would have been better served by holding the elections on time along with five other states.

Moily said: “The holding of elections on time is imperative in view of the fact that the otherwise defeated and demoralised Kashmiri separatists have occupied a bulk of the political space in the valley.”

He said the exigency demanded active involvement of political leaders in the
democratic process so that they could regain the ground they had lost due
to their misdeeds.

Hari Om termed the exclusion of Jammu and Kashmir from the scheduled electoral exercise in several states as a conspiracy “hatched by the Central government, the state administration, local Congress leaders, the PDP and NC” to deprive people of the state of their democratic right to have a government of their choice.

“The people of Jammu would not forgive them and will avenge the onslaught on democracy by inflicting a crushing defeat on undemocratic forces as and when the elections take place”, he asserted.

He said the Congress, the PDP and the NC were well aware that people “would
punish them for their sins, including dirty communal politics” they played over the
Amarnath land row.

“By stalling the democratic process they have handed over their own political space to separatists on a platter”, Hari Om said.

Jammu, October 15
The delay in the start of the academic year due to the Amarnath land row agitation has forced the Jammu University (JU) to put off one of its major cultural event of the year, “Talent Hunt”.

According to the annual calendar of activities issued by the Department of Students Welfare, the event was to commence from October 15 in which students from colleges and associate campuses of the JU from across the region had to participate and present their talent in different art forms.

However, sources revealed that the department concerned had yet not held fresh elections for the students cultural council.

Resultantly, students have yet not received any information regarding such activities from their respective departments.

“Due to delayed start of the academic year, the mega cultural event has been running behind its schedule”, a group of students rehearsing at the Brigadier Rajinder Singh Auditorium said.

According to the annual calendar, the debate on population education will be held on November 5 this year, while the debate on cooperative movement is scheduled on November 10.

Similarly, the national debate on population education is to be held on November 21 and 22 this year, while the first phase of display your talent related to fine arts, will be held from November 21 and 22.

The Veeranna Aivalli Memorial debate competition is scheduled on December 15.

The inter-collegiate elocution contest on Gandhian Philosophy will be held on December 28 whereas the dates for north zone inter-university youth festival have to be finalised by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), New Delhi.

Display your talent phase II will be held from December 16 to 23 and the national debate on cooperative movement are to be notified by the National Council for Cooperative Training, New Delhi.

Also, dates for the national youth festival are to be decided, while the final phase
of “display your talent” related with theatre activities is to be held on February 11
next year.

Dean, Student Welfare, Dhian Singh Bhau said: “Elections for the cultural council of students would be held shortly before the next date is scheduled for the talent hunt. The programme had to be differed in the wake of delayed examination of post-graduation for the first and third semester”.

“We don't want to exclude any student from the purview of the art exhibition programme,” he added.

Jammu, October 15
With less than a fortnight left for commencement of cross-LoC trade, work is on at a hectic pace to ready the trade terminal and immigration centre in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

A nine-member central panel led by the Union home secretary T.S. Ragwan reviewed the progress of the under-construction trade terminal and Chakan-Da-Bagh-based immigration centre on the Line of Control (LoC) yesterday, official sources said.

The trade between Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)
will begin on October 21 via the Uri-Muzaffarabad road in the Kashmir Valley and
a week after that trade would start in Poonch-Rawakote section in Jammu region
on October 28.

The trade centre, which is coming up at Rangar, will have a truck terminal,
godowns, custom and immigration offices, scanning chambers with X-ray
machines, weighing bridge and security posts.

The central team fixed October 18 as the deadline for construction of the first phase of the terminal at Rangarh Nallah, three km from the LoC.

They also visited Chakan Da Bagh crossing point along LoC and were briefed by commanding officer of area, Col J.C. Yadav. — PTI

Srinagar, October 15
To provide better connectivity to the people of the Ladakh region, a comprehensive road communication programme is under progress in twin districts of Kargil and Leh, an official spokesman said today.

Work on 91 road projects costing about Rs 55.93 crore is presently in execution in Kargil district, the spokesman said.

Under NABARD and PMGSY more than 38 road projects at an estimated cost of Rs 44.33 crore are under progress in Kargil district, he said.

The road projects were expected to be completed by the end of the current financial year, he said, adding it would help to connect dozens of villages with the district headquarter, Kargil.

A road length of 1,230 km has been so far constructed in Leh district providing
road connectivity facilities to 99 villages of the district out of a total of 112
villages, he added.

Work on 40-km Kargil-Suru World Bank aided road project at an estimated cost of Rs 24.72 crore is also a pace Kargil, he said.

Over Rs 11 crore have been earmarked in the annual district plan for the year 2008-09 for development of the road sector in the district, he added. — PTI

In Bandipora district the upgradation work on four schemes at a cost of Rs 3.58 crore for providing safe drinking water to 60,000 additional population of 58 villages was also in progress, he added. — PTI

Srinagar, October 15
PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said today the space provided by deferring of a decision on Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir should be used to speed up the resolution and reconciliation process involving not only various shades of the political opinion, but all sections of society in the state.

Addressing PDP workers from Kokernag at his residence this afternoon, Sayeed said the latest developments in the state offer the Government of India an opportunity to reinforce its resolve of working through peaceful means and through public participation towards the resolution of the problem.

“I hope the historic opening of Srinagar-Muzafarabad and Poonch-Rawalakote roads for trade would be supplemented by some more bold initiatives, to facilitate the Kashmir resolution process, both on the bilateral and internal fronts,” he said.

He added that the recent developments have only reiterated the urgency of accelerating the peace process.

The PDP patron said the government must take measures at the political, economic, social and administrative fronts to regain the faith and trust of the people, shattered after some recent unfortunate and tragic incidents.

“While the democratic and political processes are fundamental to the larger public welfare, these have to be necessarily inclusive and participatory,” he said. — UNI

Srinagar, October 15
More than 26 top foreign and local militants have been killed in joint operations conducted by the police, Army and the CRPF, said the DGP while addressing a meeting of officers of Ladakh at Leh.

The DGP also held a meeting with the GOC, 14 Corps, and discussed the security scenario in the region.

Reviewing the overall security scenario in the Ladakh region, the DGP, who is currently on a tour to Ladakh, underscored the need for close rapport among security agencies to achieve better results.

Addressing jawans and officers at District Police Lines, Leh, the DGP said the recent decision on additional 1433 posts in the traffic wing and 2625 in the Railways would help streamline policing.