The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Hizb commander among 2 shot Dinesh Manhotra Tribune News Service Udhampur, March 9 Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed in an encounter with the security forces in Gool area of Ramban district today. Some arms and ammunitions were also seized from their possession. The Ramban SSP said the security forces launched a search operation in Gundi Asthanmarg area of Gool on a tip off about presence of some militants. In the fierce gun battle two militants identified as Abdul Majid Manhas of Gundi Asthanmarg and Altaf Hussain of Bhim Dhassa, Gool were killed. Abdul Majid was self-styled commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen and was active in this belt for the last one decade. He had gone to Pakistan six years ago and after his return, he was active in Gool area and had been involved in many terrorist activities. Altaf Hussain had joined the outfit two years ago and had been assigned the job of misleading teenagers. According to the police, one sniper rifle and one 303 rifle were seized from the slain militants. It is believed that the seized 303 rifle was snatched from the cops by militants in 2002 when a group of heavily armed terrorists had attacked the Indh Police Post and killed all cops deployed there. Meanwhile, the police failed to arrest deserter solider of the Territorial Army Zaffarullah who had ran away with weapons from the unit of the 8 Rashtriya Rifles. The security has been strengthened in whole Doda district, but the security forces so far failed to get any lead in this case.
	No Indian travels on bus to PoK Shariq Majeed Tribune News Service Rajouri, March 9 Not even a single Indian visitor crossed over to PoK on cross LoC Poonch Rawlakote bus service on the second consecutive week today. However, over 30 visitors from there reached India by the cross LoC bus service. Reliable sources in the district administration who manage the crossing over on the Indian side in Poonch district at the cross LoC point of Chakkan Da Bagh here said the internal political uncertainty in Pakistan had hit the government machinery badly in Pakistan as well as PoK. Because of the near complete failure of the government machinery in that country, the authorities dealing with giving clearance to aspiring Indian visitors could give the requisite permission. A local intelligence source claimed that since the passport office at Srinagar did not get the list of the aspiring visitors okayed by the PoK authorities, not even single Indian visitor could go on the cross LoC Poonch Rawlakote bus service for the second consecutive week in a row. Meanwhile, over 60 passengers from both sides crossed sides at Chakkan Da Bagh cross LoC terminal on the Poonch Rawlakote road. Among the PoK visitors to Indian side was Hakim Bi whose brother Hakim Din died a day before he could have met his sister who got separated from him during partition.
	Pak refugees hold dharna Seema Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, March 9 The West Pakistani Refugee Organisation held a dharna at Indira Chowk to draw the attention of the government toward their demands this morning. Labha Ram Ghandhi, president of the West Pakistani Refugee Action Committee, said the two lakh refugees were living here since year 1947, but still they had been denied the fundamental right of citizenship of the state. “All refugees who have migrated from Pakistan have been given the citizenship of India and they are enjoying all benefits bestowed by the Constitution. But the refugees like us, who came from West Pakistan and settled in Jammu and Kashmir, are not getting any facility from the Centre as well as the state government.” The Central government on a number of occasions assured them of taking up the matter with the Chief Minister, but nothing concrete had happened. The aggrieved people have asked for a special package for their rehabilitation. They also demanded right to vote in the state. “We are being neglected because we do not have a right to vote in the Assembly election. Unless we are beneficial for the political parties, they will continue to ignore us,” added Labha Ram. Their demands includes the allotment of government land, cultivation facilities, education free of cost to their children as well as reservation in jobs in the state. Labha Ram demanded the SC/OBC status for them. The certificates of namberdar, sarpanch and president of West Pakistan should be considered valid for the purpose.
	Insurance contract operative from time on policy DS Chauhan Legal Correspondent Jammu, March 9 A Division Bench comprising Justice Nirmal Singh and Justice JP Singh, while deciding an important question of law as to whether any insurance company can be held liable to indemnify the insured in the absence of a valid contract between the insured and the insurer, held that when there is a mention of a specific time in the insurance policy for its purchase then a special contract comes into being and the policy will be effective from the mentioned time alone. Shiv Kumar Sharma was seriously injured while travelling in a matador, which met with an accident on August 5, 1994. On a claim petition filed by him before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Jammu, he was awarded Rs 3.23 lakh minus the interim relief, along with an interest of 9 per cent per annum, to be satisfied by the owner and the driver as the offending vehicle was not insured with the insurance company at the time of the accident. The judgement passed by the tribunal was challenged by the appellants before a single Judge Bench, which after going through the records held that in the absence of a valid insurance contract no liability can be fastened upon the insurance company to pay the awarded amount of compensation. The appellants being legal heirs of the claimant, Shiv Kumar Sharma, challenged the judgement of the single Judge Bench on the grounds that the first appellate court committed a legal error in absolving the insurance company of its liability. It was argued that as the accident took place at 7.30 am on August 5, 1994, the insurance policy taken around 10 am would be deemed to be operative from the previous midnight. A Division Bench, while dismissing a Letters Patent Appeal (C), held that “when there is a special contract mentioning the time in the policy, it would be operative from that time and not fictionally from the previous midnight. The accident took place on August 5, 1994, at 7.30 am. “At the time of the accident, the insured was not having any insurance contract with the insurance company. The contract came into operation only at 10 am on the aforementioned date i.e after two-and-a-half hours of the accident, which time has been specifically mentioned in the certificate of insurance. “Thus, there having been no valid contract between the insured and the insurance company at the time of the accident, the insurance company cannot be held liable to satisfy the awarded compensation. For the reasons mentioned above, this appeal is found to be without merit and is dismissed.”
	Life crippled in parts of Srinagar Ehsan Fazili Tribune News Service Srinagar, March 9 A strict imposition of restrictions on the movement of people in downtown Srinagar crippled normal life in the area for the third consecutive day today, on the fourth day of mourning of the death of a youth in clashes at Nowhatta on Friday last. Even as undeclared curfew remained enforced in the area to prevent any untoward incident, protests were held in Rainawari and Chotta Bazaar localities this morning. The protesters indulged in stone throwing on police and CRPF personnel and were chased away. However, there were no reports of injuries to anyone in the incidents. Shahid Ahmad Ahangar, a youth from Rainawari locality, was killed due to bullet injuries during clashes at Nowhatta near Jamia Masjid on Friday last. A large number of people, including some separatist leaders, attended the fourth day mourning and special prayers on the occasion at Rainawari today. There has been strict restrictions on the movement of people since Saturday last to prevent any untoward incident. The police, while denying the reports of curfew restrictions, claimed that Section 144 had been imposed to maintain law and order. Life remained normal in other parts of the city where shops and business establishments were open and normal work continued in educational institutions, government offices and banks. Several separatist leaders, including APHC chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and hard line APHC acting chairman Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai, Bilal Lone and Zafar Akbar Bhat, continued to be under house arrest for the third consecutive day today. The Mirwaiz and Ashraf Sehrai have expressed concern over the situation and restrictions, particularly on the occasion of Id-e-Milad, as the people from interior Srinagar were not able to attend special congregations over the past few days.
	28 pc Puchal residents suffer from skin disease Our Correspondent Srinagar, March 9 Almost 28 per cent of people living in Puchal village of Pulwama district suffer from vitiligo (white patches on their skin). The skin disease in the area, 38 km from Srinagar city, is common. “Though the disease is not harmful, people want to get rid of it and they are careful in this respect. It is simply a pigmentation problem, but people want us to visit the area regularly,” says Dr Syed Shabir, chairman, de-addiction treatment and rehabilitation centre, a unit of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh Charitable Organisation. According to the doctor, the non-availability of safe drinking water has made matters worse for the residents. Dr Shabir along with a team of six doctors, four counsellors and three volunteers, conducted a medical camp yesterday and observed that mostly women were addicted to ‘naswar’ (earlier they puffed tobacco), whereas men mostly consumed alcohol and opium. The consumption of alcohol was found common among youths of the poverty-ridden village. Consisting of 900 households, most of the villagers worked as daily wage labourers, says Dr Shabir. “Alcohol is common among male population in the age group of 22-30. Its easy availability has made it common among the youth,” he adds. The doctor says, “Out of 811 persons who visited the camp, 20 per cent of them suffered from depression”.
	MLA bats for Home Guards Ravi Krishnan Khajuria Tribune News Service Jammu, March 9 JSM legislator Ashwani Kumar Sharma today staged a walkout from the Assembly accusing the government of being indifferent toward jawans of the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Defence and the Home Guards Organisation. The agitating jawans are demanding regularisation of their services for the past nearly three years. Seeking attention of Speaker Mohammed Akbar Lone during Question Hour, Ashwani said the government had turned a blind eye toward these jawans. A direction should come from the Chair to frame a sub-committee to look into their demands, he said, adding that instead of redressing their grievances they were cane-charged last evening. He requested the Speaker to depute a minister to look into the issue. Panthers Party’s Balwant Singh Mankotia and Jugal Kishore also joined Ashwani. However, as the Speaker continued with proceedings, Ashwani staged walkout. Later, Panthers Party legislator Harsh Dev Singh castigated the Roads and Buildings (R&B) Department for not providing him information sought under the RTI Act. Raising the issue during Question Hour, Harsh said he had given two notices to the R&B Department, but the latter didn’t provide him information. “The department has undermined the authority of the House,” he said, adding that R&B officials neither furnished him information under the RTI Act nor provided answers to his queries. The government has a Bill to provide for setting up the regime of right to information for people, but when a member of the House has been denied information sought under the Act, what will happen to a common man, he chided. BJP veteran Chaman Lal Gupta also supported Harsh while PDP MLA Javed Mustafa Mir accused the R&B Department of furnishing wrong information. Responding to members’ concern, Finance, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister AR Rather said “answers should be given to the members because they work hard in preparing their queries”. He said the government had brought a Bill for setting up the regime of right to information for people to secure access to information under the control of the public authorities so as to promote transparency and accountability. Hitherto, there was no deterrent for officials denying information sought under the Act, but now there would be a deterrent after the passage of the Bill, he said. He hoped the House would give consent to it.
	Women take to floriculture in a big way Tribune News Service Jammu, March 9 Amid dark clouds of economic meltdown, commercial cultivation of flower is booming in the Jammu region, with women taking the lead. Women in the region are opting for floriculture rather than traditional crops. A large number of women have set up floriculture businesses of their own in the past few months. Seeing the keenness of women to seek permission for setting up flower farms, the Directorate, Floriculture, is also encouraging them. Director, Floriculture, KK Sharma says, “The department has received requests from many women, who want permission to set up flower farms of their own. “We, too, than undertook a campaign to educate them about the modern techniques of flower farming. “Now, once these women entrepreneurs are fully involved, they will also contribute toward the export of different varieties of flowers.” Jyoti Bala, who started Floriculture business in Nagrota four months ago, is reaping good results and is sending the produce to various cities of the country. She says, “I am doing farming on 23 kanals by growing different varieties of flowers. In my pursuit, the Floriculture Department has helped me a lot. It gave me permission without delay. Now, I am able to make profits from the business.” The Floriculture Department is conducting camps at Nagrota, Bhaderwah, Jammu, Kathua, Samba, RS Pura and other areas of the region to train women for setting up flower farms. About 300 hectares in the state are under the cultivation of different varieties of flowers, particularly marigold, jasmine, aster, rose, chrysanthemum and tuberose. Sonali Kumar, Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Horticulture and Floriculture Production, says, “The government has chalked out plans to give impetus to floriculture, especially to women farmers. Proper Budget allocations would be made for promoting and developing the floriculture sector and modern facilities would be provided on a single platform to market flowers.” The J&K Flower Grower Association also has intensified efforts to make more and more women its members. Tejinder Singh, president of the association, says it held a seminar-cum-awareness programme in collaboration with the National Horticulture Board here today.
	State to have 4 more police schools Our Correspondent Jammu, March 9 It has been decided to set up four more police public schools in the state. This decision was taken at a high-level meeting held under the chairmanship of DGP Kuldeep Khoda here today. These schools would be located at the district headquarters of Anantnag, Baramulla, Doda and Rajouri. It was also decided to provide scholarships to students of such schools scoring more than 80 per cent marks in the 10th and 12th class examinations. The DGP disclosed that the police had also decided to provide free coaching to the meritorious wards of police personnel up to the rank of Inspector in Jammu and Srinagar schools to prepare them for various competitive examinations, including the Kashmir Administrative Service.
	NGO helps eunuch get her son treated Ashutosh Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, March 9 Having suffered humiliation for her humane act of adopting an abandoned child, Neeru, an eunuch, has finally got some respite. Her adopted son, Ajay (11), whose reproductive organ and left hand were badly damaged in an accident, was operated last week after around three years, courtesy Child Rights and You (CRY). Though she was treated as less than a human being, she faced discouragement and humiliation but remained committed to nourishing and protecting her adopted son. “I have sold all my jewellery for his medical treatment. Now, I was aghast, as there was no help coming from anywhere. Ajay was to undergo surgeries, otherwise, he would have lost his hand and reproductive organ. In a way, his life would have been ruined,” Neeru stated. “He used to remain indoor since the accident and was growing frail by the day. He would remain silent all the time and hardly smile,” Neeru said. She added, “My agony increased as and when I looked at his plight.” An NGO, CRY, came to the rescue of Neeru and her adopted child, as it got Ajay admitted to GMC Hospital. “We took the initiative on the part of CRY and it would not have been possible without the help of Head of the Department, Forensic Lab, Dr Bupesh Khajuria and Dr Ratnakar Sharma,” said Deepika Thusoo, coordinator of the state chapter of CRY. Ajay was allegedly thrown on high-tension electric wires by a neighbour from the rooftop at Pacca Deradar near Onechak in Bishnah in September 2006. Ajay suffered 75 per cent burns, sloughing of urethra, deformity of penis and skin loss along with the left hand that turned defunct since then. At present, Neeru is looking after Ajay in ward No. 4. She says though the hospital authorities are doing their best, she is finding it hard to meet the expenses. “Earlier, I used to earn something, but since the accident I cannot go for work and even some neighbour do not want us to live in the locality. They can harm Ajay,” she said. “My classmates and friends mock at me and taunt me. Now, I feel reluctant going to the school or play with other children,” said a depressed Ajay in a chocked voice. “We will have to perform additional surgeries on his penis and left hand,” said Dr Sharma, who operated upon Ajay, and expressed hope that he should get well.
	Govt to regulate fees of pvt schools Tribune News Service Jammu, March 9 With a view to regulate the fee structure, the government has directed private schools to charge academic fees from students once a year and made it mandatory to notify the same well before the commencement of the academic session. Chairing a high-level meeting of the Education Department here today, Minister for School Education Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed made it clear that no revision of fees shall be effected unless the same was approved by a committee constituted for the purpose. He said the government had decided to introduce history and culture of Jammu and Kashmir as a subject in the educational curriculum right from class IV to make students aware about the rich cultural ethos of the state. Peerzada said the primary education was the edifice on which the education of an individual stands and added that enough measures would be taken to strengthen the elementary education apparatus. It was also decided in the meeting that the Board of School Education (BOSE) would make it a point to issue an academic calendar containing information regarding all examinations to be conducted in the following year at the start of academic session. The calendar would also include other academic events to be held by the department during the year.
	Vohra, Omar greet people on Id Tribune News Service Jammu, March 9 Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today greeted the people on Id-i-Milad-un-Nabi. In a message, the Governor described Islam as a religion of peace. He said it was the holy day of birth of Prophet Mohammad, whose life was an embodiment of love, equality and brotherhood. Vohra hoped that the auspicious day would be a harbinger of harmony, brotherhood, peace, progress and prosperity in the state. Omar, too, felicitated the people hoping that the day would bring peace and harmony and put the state on the path of progress and prosperity. He stressed the need for the propagation of the message of peace, love, amity and brotherhood across the globe.
	CM mourns Ram Nath Shastri’s death Tribune News Service Jammu, March 9 Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has mourned the death of renowned Dogri litterateur Ram Nath Shastri, who died here last evening. Paying rich tributes to Prof Shastri, Omar said his contribution in promoting the Dogri language had been immense. He expressed sympathies with the bereaved family and prayed for peace of the departed soul. Meanwhile, a condolence meeting was organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages to mourn Shastri’s death. Prof. Bhim Singh, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party, also expressed shock at the death of Prof. Shastri.
	Declamation contest Tribune News Service Jammu, March 9 A declamation contest on “Our Women, Our State” was organised at the Jammu University here on Monday. As many as 15 students from various departments of the varsity as well as affiliated colleges participated in the event. Nami Jan, a student of Law School at the varsity, clinched the first prize. She spoke about the prevailing condition of women in the conflict-ridden state of J&K.