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Cong, NC to fight LS poll together: Omar
Tribune Impact
Govt ignoring main issues: PDP
PDP MLA Zulfiqar Ali flashes documents in the Assembly before staging a walkout on Wednesday.
Tribune photo: Anand Sharma |
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Mayoral polls today
Bill to hike salaries of Guv, judges moved
RS poll: Panthers moves HC
Notice to bank top brass
Valley in grip of cold wave
Annual athletic meet begins
Tourism to get a boost, says Jora
7 killed as Tata Sumo falls
into nullah
One booked for ST evasion
Bridge to link Gurez with Bandipore opens
Omar inspects CM’s office
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Cong, NC to fight LS poll together: Omar
Srinagar, March 4 Omar was talking to mediapersons during a visit to Tulip Garden here today. Tulip Garden is being opened for public from March 20, when it is expected to be in full bloom. The Chief Minister said it was good if separatist leaders were thinking of joining electoral politics. He said by doing so they could put their point of view before people in a better way. He condemned the attack on Sri Lankan cricketers and described it as an unfortunate incident. Asked about Pakistan accusing India for the attack, he said the neighbouring country had not directly raised an accusing finger on India, but blamed some foreign powers. He said Pakistan was now itself a victim of terror and it urgently needed to realise it. Omar said economic recession had somewhat affected the tourism industry in the state and expressed hope that the tourists inflow would pick up in the coming months. He invited Bollywood movie makers to come to Kashmir for shooting. He inspected the works in progress to further beautify Tulip Garden. The Chief Minister was informed that the garden spread over 120 kanals had 12 lakh tulip bulbs of 60 varieties. One green house had also been erected for the cultivation of tulips for commercial purposes, which would generate employment opportunities in the private sector. He was further informed that the first Ancilla tulip flower of orange colour bloomed on February 6 last. |
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Tribune Impact Ashutosh Sharma Tribune News Service
Jammu, March 4 However, with the code of conduct coming into play due to the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, the government cannot announce any compensation immediately. A meeting on the issue was held in the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Samba, Sourav Bhagat, today. Sub divisional agriculture officer, Samba, Babu Singh said, “Climate is favouring the disease and if not controlled in time, damage can increase manifold in nearby villages too,” he warned. Babu Singh also said in an official meeting with the DC, the department had demanded funds so that it could purchase requisite fungicides to start a spraying drive in the affected areas. Though the administration is assessing the situation and suggesting several damage control measures, farmers are growing panicky, as they believe that by now it is too late to revive the crop affected by yellow rust in the border area from Samba up to Suchetgarh. “Having sprayed all kinds of fungicides suggested by agricultural officers, our shoulders are fatigued. We did not get desired results despite spending money and efforts on spraying chemicals in our fields,” said Paras Ram, a farmer at Chamlyal. MLA, Suchetgarh, Sham Choudhary has assured the farmers that he will ensure that the affected farmers get relief. MP Madan Lal Sharma stated that the administration was assessing the loss and we could not wait too long. Once the DC concerned and the chief agricultural officer presented their report we would take up the matter with the state government. Maintaining that the situation was grim, the MP added, “I am going to take up the matter with the Chief Minister so that farmers don’t face hardship on account of damage to their crops.”
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Govt ignoring main issues: PDP
Jammu March 4 Zulfiqar said before coming to power Omar Abdullah had promised to eradicate unemployment. However, he was now shying away from answering the issue in the House. Meanwhile, another MLA from Jammu’s Bishna constituency Ashwani Sharma also staged a walkout alleging that the government had failed to provide his constituency with a fire and emergency station despite an increase in fire incidents in the area. “The government had sanctioned a fire station at Bishna in 2005, but till date no work had started on it,” Sharma told the Tribune. Meanwhile, Minister for Rural Development Ali Mohammad Sagar informed the House that the Home Department had already surveyed the area for the establishment of a ‘D’ category fire and emergency station, but due to financial constraints it could not be built. Replying to a question on unemployment, Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather informed the House that recruitment agencies in the state had been directed to speed up the selection process to fill vacancies referred to them from time-to-time. “As a result, about 6,203 selections have been made in just last two months by the SSB in the non-gazetted cadre, whereas the Public Service Commission has made 412 selections in the gazetted cadre during the same period,” Rather said. Replying to a bunched question, Rather said out of 17,117
vacancies referred to the SSB, 2,074 selections were made in 2008, whereas the Public Service Commission had made 1,292 selections out of 4,141 referred vacancies during the same period. The minister said the Cabinet in its meeting on May 20 last year had decided to bring a legislation through an ordinance for regularising the services of ad hoc and contractual employees. |
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Mayoral polls today
Jammu, March 4 The election would be conducted in the Conference Hall of the Municipal Corporation tomorrow. One councillor from among the 70 would be elected as the presiding officer. For the Mayor’s post, the election process will be conducted under the supervision of the commissioner and the secretary of the MC and the presiding officer, whereas for the Deputy Mayor’s post the process will be conducted under the supervision of the commissioner, the secretary and the elected Mayor. There are 70 councillors in the MC and 36 votes are necessary for any candidate to win the election. In a House of 70 councillors, the BJP has 25, Congress 27, NC five, Shiv Sena one, PDP two, and 10 are Independent councillors. All candidates are working overtime to woo fellow councillors for vote. The fight for the Mayor’s post is likely between the candidates of the BJP and the Congress. Sitting Mayor and BJP candidate Kavinder Bhushan Gupta remained busy in door-to-door campaign since morning. He said he would win the election with majority votes. Congress candidate Rajni Bala, who is fighting for the Mayor’s post for the first time, also exuded confidence that she would become the first woman Mayor of the city. She also remained busy in door-to-door campaign the whole day. Though Independent candidate Sarinder Singh Singari considers himself out of the race, he also campaigned throughout the day today. He tried to convince the voters on the phone. Other three candidates for the Deputy Mayor’s post also campaigned. |
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Bill to hike salaries of Guv, judges moved
Jammu, March 4 If amended the Bill would increase the salary of the Governor from Rs 36,000 to Rs 1.10 lakh, the salary of the Chief Justice of the state high court would increase from Rs 30,000 to Rs 90,000 and the salary of other judges of the state high court would increase from Rs 26,000 to Rs 80,000. The new hike would take effect from January 2006. “The reason why the government introduced the Bill to enhance the salary of the Governor and the high court judges, as the hike has already been given by the other states. The hike would incur a burden of 2.87 crore on the state exchequer.” Rather told the House. The high court and Supreme Court judges (salaries and conditions of service) amendment ordinance, 2009, has already been passed by Parliament and signed by the President; the same would take effect from January 2006. For the development of the electric power projects in the state, the government also introduced a Bill to amend the Jammu and Kashmir State Electricity Regulatory Commission Act 2000 the Bill would provide a legal framework for the regulation of power tariff determined through a transparent bidding procedure. The government also said it intends to introduce a separate Bill under the special status enjoyed by the state under the Article 370 of the Indian constitution. |
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RS poll: Panthers moves HC
Jammu, March 4 Singh today presented an election petition to the registrar of the Jammu and Kashmir at Jammu High Court. Harsh Dev Singh in his petition has submitted to declare three biennial election notices to elect four Rajya Sabha members as illegal, unconstitutional, improper and mala fide on the grounds that all four seats fell vacant in the same period i.e. November, 2008 and all four Rajya Sabha members were to be elected for a period of six years by the same Electoral College. He said all of them fell in the same category and the Election Commission had connived with the ruling Congress and the NC by issuing three separate notifications to elect four Rajya Sabha members to benefit the ruling alliance and deny the Opposition to get the benefit of the system of proportional representation by the single transferable vote which is guaranteed under the Article 80 (4) of the Constitution and other provisions of the Constitution and the Representation of People Act, 1951. The Panthers Party leader has submitted that till the final disposal of the petition by the high court all four Rajya Sabha members from the state, who were elected “unconstitutionally”, should be restrained from participation in the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha. |
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Notice to bank top brass
Jammu, March 4 Recently, the bank had terminated the services of three employees and suspended three others on the grounds of violating bank rules. The aggrieved employees had given a representation to the Registrar, Cooperatives. Official sources told the Tribune that acting on the representation Rather, while adjudicating the matter, asked the bank management, including the chairman and the managing director, to put forth their statement. Rather would conduct a second hearing within this month and his verdict in the capacity of an arbitrator would be binding on the bank management, they said. The aggrieved employees had accused the bank management of behaving autocratically and asked the state government to disband the existing board of directors, besides reinstating the six employees. They had also demanded a probe into the alleged misappropriation of the bank’s assets. The services of Parminder Singh, Murli Lal and Raju Ganjoo were terminated by the bank, while three others were suspended. |
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Valley in grip of cold wave
Srinagar, March 4 A fresh spell of snow in the higher reaches and rain in the lower areas cooled the Kashmir valley today, where day temperature had shown an upward trend for the past week. Light to moderate snowfall occurred in the high mountain ranges surrounding the valley, including Kongdoori and Afterwat in Gulmarg in north Kashmir and Pahalgam in south Kashmir, the Met office said. The city received intermittent rain, causing the maximum to dip to 13.8°C. Plains are experiencing rains over the past few days and the weather has turned favourable for those who are taking part in skiing festival going on at health resort of Gulmarg. Areas like Baramulla and Uri witnessed rains on Tuesday with same getting intensified in evening. The Met department had predicted that rains would lash the valley from March 2 to 4. Most of the people believe that they are in tough season ahead as there has been less snowfall during this winter season. |
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Annual athletic meet begins
Jammu, March 4 Directorate of sports and physical education, JU, has organised the two-day long event. In a function at the university campus, former vice-chancellor MR Puri inaugurated the event. Puri stressed that if the university wanted to be an excellent institution of learning and research, it must excel in academics, sports and cultural activities alike. Varun Sahni, vice-chancellor said there was need for development of world-class sports infrastructure on the campus. Activities like shot put, hot step jump, broad jump for men and women, 800 meters race and high jump for women marked the first day of the event. |
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Tourism to get a boost, says Jora
Jammu, March 4 Reviewing pace of various works being executed under Verinag Tourism Development Authority (VTDA) here today, Jora said Verinag, the gateway to the Elysian vale, should be showcased as the prime tourist destination. Jora said Verinag was also main source of Jehlum river, the lifeline of the Kashmir region and needs to be developed for the tourists. He said the main objective for creation of the Tourism Development Authorities was to preserve the beauty of nature and create tourism infrastructure in consonance with the local resources and needs. He stressed upon the concerned authorities to redouble their efforts and work with devotion and dedication for ensuring time bound completion of all development works being executed under various Tourism Development Authorities. He was also informed that the authority was going to develop a land bank of 581 kanals to create the tourism infrastructure at Verinag and other places under the authority. |
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7 killed as Tata Sumo falls
into nullah
Udhampur, March 4 The remaining three victims were locals who were travelling with the NIT students in the ill-fated Tata Sumo. While six lost their lives on the spot, one succumbed to his injuries this morning. The deceased NIT students have been identified as Farooq Ahmed of
Jharkhand, Dalip Verma, Varun Sain and D Jagjit Kumar, all hailing from UP. The local victims have been identified as Javid of Nowgam and Marigma Akther and Ashmi
Bibi, both of Budgam. |
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Rs 2 lakh ornaments confiscated
Tribune News Service
Jammu, March 4 The police said Rajesh Kumar was spotted in a bylane of Ambphalla during routine checking. His frisking let to recovery of 6.7 kg of silver ornaments and 35 gm of gold ornaments worth Rs 2 lakh from his bag. Rajesh Kumar divulged that he had been bringing gold and silver ornaments from Naresh Jewellers in Guru Bazar, Amritsar, and had been selling them here without paying sales tax at Lakhanpur. Being a case of tax evasion the sales tax authorities were informed who confiscated the ornaments.
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Bridge to link Gurez with Bandipore opens
Srinagar, March 4 The bridge will improve connectivity as the Bandipur-Gurez road is only line of communication joining the Gurez valley with the rest of Jammu & Kashmir.
— TNS
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Omar inspects CM’s office
Srinagar, March 4 The Chief Minister instructed the additional secretary to the Chief Minister to get a feedback from the officers concerned regarding the directives issued to them for redressal of public grievances. |
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raising important issues in the House during Question Hour and was wasting the Assembly’s precious time on “non-important issues”.
