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Demand for road link via HP gains ground
Curtail role of security forces, says Mehbooba |
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Strike paralyses work in govt offices
Samiti to hold protest tomorrow
LPG shortage in Doda, Kishtwar
Denied exam duty, 3 teachers thrash colleague
Ruling alliance communally biased: BJP
10 injured as youths clash with cops
Youths pelt security personnel with stones during a protest in Srinagar on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Amin War
Omar will overcome all challenges,says Farooq
VC rues poor intake capacity of Kashmir varsity
Highway opens after brief closure
Industrial growth
vital for overall progress: Omar
Govt plans to revive wool industry
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Demand for road link via HP gains ground
Udhampur, February 11 Residents of this hilly belt have been demanding the completion and opening of the 50 km-long Bhaderwah-Chamba road. After 200-metre stretch between Assar and Trungal sank last week, the twin districts of Kishtwar and Doda had been cut off from the rest of the world for the past five days. After a survey, geological experts have unofficially told the authorities that the road on the bank of the reservoir of the Baglihar hydroelectric project has become weak due to continuous soil erosion in this belt and it is not possible to protect this stretch for a long period. Although the authorities maintained a guarded silence over the position of the road between Assar and Khelani, sources said the state government had been exploring the possibility of opening either the Bani-Bhaderwah or Chamba-Bhaderwah roads to ensure the supply of essential commodities in this belt. A senior officer, on the condition of anonymity, told the Tribune that in case the government decided to open the Bani-Bhaderwah road, it would take at least one month to ready this road for vehicular traffic. “And the only option in present circumstances is to press the Air Force into service to ensure the supply of ration and other essential commodities”, he said. Sources in the administration said the work on the alternative stretch between Assar and Trungal had been going on a war footing, but geological experts had already warned that this would not last long as most of the stretch on the highway had become weak after seeping of water in mountains. “Instead of wasting time, the government should start the construction of the Bhaderwah-Chamba road to connect this belt with the rest of the country”, demanded Kousal Kotwal, a resident of Bhaderwah. Kotwal alleged that due to political reasons the work on this road was stopped and it was high time to complete this project that would boost tourism also. The Union Ministry for Surface Transport and Highways had cleared the 50 km Bhaderwah-Chamba road project. The Centre had sanctioned Rs 73.30 crore to the state government for it. This road was once functional for several months about two decades ago and after the emergence of militancy, no maintenance and repair work was carried out, resulting in its virtual closure. The total length of this road project is 50 km up to Khundli Maral on the Himachal border. |
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Curtail role of security forces, says Mehbooba
Jammu, February 11 Addressing the media after being elected as PDP legislature party leader, Mehbooba said, “We need to trust people. The way people turned out to vote in large numbers despite a difficult situation and emotive issues, it would be a befitting tribute to them if the government reduces the strength of the security forces and withdraws the AFSPA.” She credited the previous PDP-led government for restoring the sense of security in the state. “The new government is fortunate enough to have a peaceful atmosphere in the state as the militancy is at its fag end,” she said. Asked as to how the PDP would coordinate with the BJP while in the Opposition, Mehbooba said the BJP had its own agenda and it had every right to work on it. However, she said the PDP’s agenda was not confined to any one region. “When in power, we worked for the resolution of the Kashmir issue and equitable development of all three regions and will continue to follow the same policy in the opposition as well,” she added. Referring to the strained Indo-Pakistan relations after the Mumbai attack, she said the role of the PDP became all the more crucial when there was so much “war mongering” going around. About today’s meeting, Mehbooba said the legislators thoroughly discussed the strategy to be adopted in the forthcoming session of the Assembly. They resolved to play an effective and responsible role for not only seeking the resolution of the Kashmir issue, but also addressing the developmental and governance concerns of the people in all regions and sub-regions of the state. “I think people have more expectations from the PDP than the government,” she said. Earlier, the party unanimously elected Mehbooba as the leader of the legislature party at a specially convened session of legislators at the party headquarters here. Her name was proposed by senior party leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussein Baig. All legislators unanimously acknowledged. Former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was also present at the meeting. The PDP legislators also unanimously chose Homshalibugh MLA Sofi Abdul Gaffar as the party’s chief whip in the Legislative Assembly. Murtaza Hussain Khan would lead the party in the Legislative Council. Soon after the election of the chief whip, the PDP issued directions to all its legislators to be present in Jammu on February 13 for voting in favour of the party candidate, Sayeed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, for election to the Rajya Sabha. |
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Strike paralyses work in govt offices
Jammu, February 11 The strike call has been given by the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) of Jammu and Kashmir government employees, which is demanding the implementation of the pay panel report and enhancement in retirement age from 58 to 60 years. However, emergency and essential services in hospitals and public utility departments were kept out of the purview of the strike. The striking employees are also demanding the regularisation of services of temporary workers, a transparent transfer policy and the revival of mediclaim insurance policy. It may be recalled here that Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather had said the government earnestly wanted to implement the pay panel report. He had sought time from the employees, requesting them not to go on strike. The state government needed a whopping Rs 3,800 crore to implement the recommendations with retrospective effect from January 1, 2006, for 4.5 lakh employees, while it needed another Rs 200 crore for the pensioners. And to dole out the benefits, the state government would have to bear a recurring expenditure of Rs 1,380 crore every year. Peeved over the nonchalant attitude of the state government in implementing the recommendations, the JCC had decided to announce another agitation for three days beginning February 16, said a spokesperson for the JCC. Yet again Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather reiterated stand of his government to implement in principle the pay panel report. “We have taken up the matter with the union government for the allocation of funds to fulfil the demand of the employees,” he said. The issue could not be pursued further because Prime Minister was indisposed, he added. Leh: Besides the implementation of the pay commission report, the State Government Employees Association, Leh Ladakh, have also raised other demands. Association president Tsering Murup, while addressing the striking employees at the Polo Ground here today, said they wanted the state government to restore allowances, including compensatory allowance, and pay special duty allowances that include bad climate tribal area allowances and special compensatory hill area and special compensatory (remove locality) allowance. Justifying their demands, Murup said the employees from other regions of the state often showed reluctant to work in Ladakh due to harsh conditions and meagre allowances. They presented a memorandum to the government through the Deputy Commissioner, Leh. There were also reports of a pen-down strike from other parts of Ladakh. |
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Samiti to hold protest tomorrow
Jammu, February 11 Addressing a press conference here, Samiti convener Lila Karan Sharma said the government's non-serious approach towards other issues like withdrawal of cases registered against the land protesters and compensation to the traders, who suffered losses during the agitation, had forced the samiti to resort to protests once again. He claimed that the samiti had received overwhelming support from all quarters, including the political parties that were committed to extending all support to the samiti’s programmes. He said the samiti might revive the agitation if the government failed to address these issues at the earliest. |
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LPG shortage in Doda, Kishtwar
Udhampur, February 11 On the one hand there is severe cold in this belt while on the other shortage of fuel compounding problems of common masses. Due to panic buying, LPG cylinders are not available in Kishtwar and Doda districts. Vikas Behl, state-level coordinator of the oil industries, too admitted that situation was not good. “We tried to supply LPG but failed due to non-availability of labour for transporting cylinders from one side to another,” Behl told The Tribune that labourers taking advantage of the prevailing situation were demanding Rs 300 per cylinder for carrying one place to another, which was unaffordable for the dealers. To ensure supply of LPG, the local authorities should intervene and make arrangement for transporting cylinders from Assar to Trungal, he said. He warned that if supply was not made within a day, situation would be worse in this area. Meanwhile, former, minister and member Legislative Council Mohammad Sharief Niaz in a statement has demanded chopper service for the people of Doda and Kishtwar districts in view of the road blockage at Trungal Assar. A large chunk of road portion had been washed away and it had become difficult to transport essential commodities to the area. He has also demanded for immediate restoration of the Bani-Bhaderwa road so that essential supplies are restored to the area. Niaz has demanded that an alternative road from Kussar- Sudhmahadev to Dranga- Marmat of Doda district may be taken up in hand by way of construction of a tunnel, which will reduce the road length from Jammu to Doda up to 50 km. |
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Denied exam duty, 3 teachers thrash colleague
Udhampur, February 11 Reports said Shahnez Hussain, a teacher deputed at the office of chief education officer (CEO), Kishtwar, was returning home when he was intercepted by three of his colleagues. After a verbal duel, the three teachers allegedly thrashed him in full public view and tried to snatch some official documents from him. After giving him a severe thrashing, the trio warned Shahnez against ignoring their directions. Shahnez straightway went to the police station and lodged a written complaint against the assailants. The matter was also brought to the notice of the higher authorities of the Education Department. Although officers of the Education Department are maintaining silence over the incident, it has exposed the mismanagement in the department. It is widely alleged that a group of teachers has been active in Kishtwar that is helping students in mass copying during examinations. This group pressures the officers concerned to deploy teachers of their choice in some examination centres so as to ensure easy copying. The menace of copying in the remote areas of Kishtwar district is going on unchecked, notwithstanding the claims of the authorities. Some teachers used to allow students copying in the examinations in exchange for hefty amounts. In the inaccessible areas of Kishtwar district, especially at Marwah, Decchan and Wardwan, such gangs are active with the connivance of some teaching staff. Sources said Shahnez Hussain, for quite some time, was facing pressure from various quarters to deploy some teachers at select examination centres. Instead of succumbing to the pressure, he deployed some teachers of high integrity at the centres notorious for copying. |
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Ruling alliance communally biased: BJP
Jammu, February 11 “The four candidates fielded by the Congress and NC belong to the Muslim community and come from Muslim-dominated areas indicating communal mindset of these parties,” state BJP president Ashok Khajuria alleged while addressing a press conference here today. He said the Congress candidates, Union Minister for Water Resources Saif-ud-din Soz and former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who were declared elected unopposed, as well as the NC nominees Dr Farooq Abdullah and Mohammad Shafi Uri represent Kashmir region and not Hindu-dominated Jammu or Buddhist-dominated Ladakh regions of the state. The BJP has also taken exception to the government’s “negligent attitude” towards the promises made to the employees regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the sixth pay commission. He also demanded immediate withdrawal of the Public Safety Act (PSA) imposed on Dinesh Bharti. |
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10 injured as youths clash with cops
Srinagar, February 11 The trouble started when the police tried to prevent the demonstrators from taking out a march in the Maisuma area. This agitated the youth, who pelted police and CRPF personnel with stones. The police chased away the youth and in the process at least four persons were injured. There were also reports of clashes between the protesters and the police in Baramulla town, where the police chased away the agitated youth. Shops and offices were closed, though some government establishments like post offices were open, attendance was thin. Transport services were largely off the roads and a few private vehicles could be seen plying in long intervals. Supporters of Bhat want his mortal remains, buried on the Tihar jail premises, to be handed over to his family that would bury it at his native village in Trehgam in Kupwara district. Amid the rhetoric of separatists, a curious development is taking place which Kashmir-watchers would observe keenly. Bhat’s youngest and only surviving brother Zahoor Bhat has quietly returned home from the PoK, where he had been staying for years with his family and was connected with the JKLF faction led by Amanullah Khan. He is believed to have struck a deal with the government in lieu of leading a life at his home. He has returned almost after 20 years while his mother, whose other sons have died either in encounters after turning militants or met natural death, ekes out an existence in the village. |
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Omar will overcome all challenges,says Farooq
Jammu, February 11 “The state had already been in dire straits and he (Omar) has just completed five weeks in office, so how can I judge his performance in such a short span of time,” responded Farooq while fielding media queries at the party headquarters here today. He has to fetch Rs 3,800 crore for implementing the 6th Pay Commission recommendations and a big stretch of road in Assar has been washed away cutting off Doda and Kishtwar districts with the rest of the country, said Farooq, adding that Omar has been really overstretched. When asked about the headless state women commission vis-à-vis his election promise to strengthen various panels, he said: “We earnestly want to strengthen various panels but the RS polls came up after which the state has to conduct Assembly session and then we would be having LS polls. “Though the government has to decide about it, I think that after elections and other pre-occupations were over then only we can appoint a chairperson to the women commission,” he said. On intellectuals, including former bureaucrats and lawyers, joining political parties, he described it a healthy sign for the society at large. Hitherto, politicians had an image of thieves and plunderers but with their entry in political parties a positive change had come, Farooq said. Meanwhile, president of the Jammu Bar Association Sunil Sethi joined the NC. Son of late Justice RP Sethi, first-ever chairperson of the State Accountability Commission, Sunil Sethi said he joined the NC to serve poor and downtrodden strata of society. |
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VC rues poor intake capacity of Kashmir varsity
Srinagar, February 11 A large number of graduates and postgraduates are added to the lot of the unemployed youth every year, at least in the Kashmir valley, where over 120 colleges, including professional colleges, are affiliated to the University of Kashmir. “We have the problem of intake capacity”, said vice-chancellor of the university Prof Riyaz Punjabi. In an exclusive interview with the Tribune, the vice-chancellor said every year 36,000 graduates appear in the entrance test for various postgraduate courses in the university, and out of whom 28,000 qualify for admissions. But, he lamented, the intake capacity of the university was only between 2,000 and 2,500, that constituted only 7.40 per cent of the total qualified candidates. The vice-chancellor said the attention of a visiting team of the University Grants Commission (UGC) recently was brought to this aspect. The UGC team, he said, had appreciated various facets of the university saying it had all the ingredients of a centre of excellence. In order to increase its intake capacity, the university was trying to increase it to 50 per cent in some courses and 100 per cent in other courses, he said. “Even then the intake capacity would increase only to 15 per cent”, the vice-chancellor lamented. Riyaz Punjabi said special attention was being paid to e-governance to avoid paper work. A proposal for this purpose had already been submitted to the Ministry for Communication and Technology envisaging a sanction of Rs 4.43 crore. “We have started the process of examination and registration of students under the digital programme, which would facilitate the records of the students from secondary level to the award of Ph.D.”, he said. |
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Highway opens after brief closure
Srinagar, February 11 The cold conditions in the valley remained, though there was a slight rise in day temperature and sun shone in Srinagar as well, albeit for a brief period. Meanwhile a woman died due to cold here today. The Met Department has predicted rain and snow for the next 24 hours at isolated places. Srinagar received 14.2 mm of rain mixed with a touch of snow between 8.30 am yesterday and 8.30 am today and this was all as rain had stopped in the morning. Qazigund, the first town in Kashmir for one coming from Jammu, had a falll of 28.2 mm of rain and snow. The maximum temperature in Srinagar was 7.5°C, while the minimum was 0.2°C. Mercury fell below zero in Pehalgam and Kupwara, town in the north, and touched -0.6°C. Meanwhile, a 50-year-old woman died due to suspected cold conditions in Baramulla district, making it the sixth death under similar circumstances in less than a week. The body of the non-Kashmiri woman, whose identity could not be established immediately, was found at a bus stand in Baramulla this morning, official sources said. |
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Industrial growth
vital for overall progress: Omar
Srinagar, February 11 He was speaking on the occasion of unveiling of the foundation stone of Aegis’ first BPO Centre at Industrial Estate, Rangreth, near here, yesterday. The Chief Minister said though the Centre would not bring an overnight change in providing jobs to the educated and trained youth in the state, it would go a long way in future. He pointed out that even if the strength of government employees in the state at present was reduced by two lakhs, there would be no problem in the functioning of the government. Over 4.50 lakh employees of the state government were already demanding implementation of the recommendations of Sixth Pay Commission and enhancement in the retirement age-limit from 58 to 60 years. Omar said an amount of Rs 5,300 crore was being spent on the salaries of state employees, while the implementation of Sixth Pay Commission recommendations would add up Rs 1,600 crore. He added that in the case of retrospective effect of these implementations, an additional amount of Rs 2,800 crore would be required. |
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Govt plans to revive wool industry
Srinagar, February 11 “The revival of the wool industry is being attended on priority and the matter is under the active consideration of the government,” Abdullah told a deputation here today. Describing the industry as the mainstay of the economy of rural areas, the Chief Minister said its revival would help better the socioeconomic profile of a large segment of population, directly and indirectly. The deputations from different areas, including Pulwama, Kulgam, Anantnag, Ganderbal, Srinagar and Beerwah, met the Chief Minister. —
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Jammu, February 11
Srinagar, February 11
