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Cong failed to tackle terrorism:
Rajnath
CM: Ensure victory of coalition candidates
Varsities need to work closely: Vohra
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Mining stopped as highway
TV Scam
Credit Card Scam
PC’s letter a poll gimmick: Refugees
Weather hampers Army operations in Gurez
Varsities need to work closely, says Vohra
More Dogri teachers sought
Girl marries ‘kidnapper’
7 factory workers sustain burns
Send troops to barracks, says Mufti
Annual day
Met forecasts volatile weather
Academy to promote folklore
It’s not jehad but
zulm, says ultra-turned maulvi Tourist flow declines Hizbul militant shot
Need for holistic approach towards disabled
Ex-servicemen hold rally
J&K Bank to open on Sunday
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Cong failed to tackle terrorism: Rajnath
Jammu, March 27 He thanked the people of Jammu for taking party from single seat to 11 in the Assembly elections and urged them to take it to 31 in the next Assembly elections so that the party could play decisive role in the formation of next government. He said the motive behind fielding Leela Karan Sharma as Lok Sabha candidate by the BJP was to honour the wish of people by rising above party politics. “The people of Jammu has set an example by holding a remarkable and tumultuous agitation to fight for its right through the Amarnath land agitation under the leadership of Leela Karan Sharma. Now I expect you to do the same by giving all your votes to BJP candidates to emerge as strong power in the region,” he said. He called the Congress a power-hungry party which earlier made coalition with the PDP and now with the NC to remain in power in the state, but it did not do anything for the people of Jammu in terms of ending its discrimination and delimitation policies. Rajnath also drew stark comparison between the Congress-led UPA government and Vajpayee-led NDA government. He said despite economic downturn in 2001, the Vajpayee government controlled inflation but the Congress failed to do so. He said the Vajpayee government drew confession from former Pakistan President Parvez Musharraf about terrorist camps operating on its soil but the Congress had performed poorly in tackling terrorism. He lambasted the UPA for questioning the authenticity of existence of Lord Rama in Ramsetu case. He also attacked PM Manmohan Singh for criticising LK Advani in dismantling Babri Masjid saying that stirring such issue during election time was meant to foment caste polarisation in the country.
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CM: Ensure victory of coalition candidates
Jammu, March 27 Chairing a meeting of party’s sitting legislators, defeated candidates of the Assembly elections, district presidents and district secretaries here this afternoon, Omar asked the leaders to gear up for the Lok Sabha poll. The state having six Lok Sabha seats would go to the polls in five phases beginning with the Jammu-Poonch seat on April 16. The ruling allies are contesting the Lok Sabha elections with a mutual understanding to reach out to people with policies and programmes of the coalition government and ensure the victory of the coalition candidates, he said. The Chief Minister also instructed recently appointed party’s district presidents and secretaries to coordinate with their counterparts in the Congress so as to get optimum results in favour of the coalition candidates. After meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi yesterday, the party has also constituted a seven-member committee that would coordinate with the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections. After the Lok Sabha elections, the party would launch a membership campaign to rope in good people with a neat and clean image to have a strong party cadre, said Omar. The NC had already received a shot in the arm a couple of days ago with the homecoming of Ghulam Qadir Pardesi. A very popular leader in Srinagar, Pardesi, who had contested the last Assembly elections on a PDP ticket from Sonawar, had lost by a wafer-thin margin of 99 votes to Farooq Abdullah. It has also been learnt that the NC would dissolve its ad hoc units after the elections and would hold fresh elections.
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Varsities need to work closely: Vohra
Jammu, March 27 Addressing the 68th meeting of the Jammu University Council here today, the Governor and the Chief Minister said higher and technical education was on the threshold of growth in the state. The setting up of off-site campuses and satellite centres and the establishment of a Central university in the state call for greater coordination between the institutions of higher learning to optimally utilise equipment and other facilities for ensuring regular upgrading of academic standards. The Governor, who is the Chancellor of the university, said for further streamlining the activities of the universities, university calendars should be updated on a dynamic basis and necessary modifications issued from time-to-time should be incorporated in it. The Governor further emphasised that the university councils should meet at least twice a year and the syndicates, academic councils and finance committees should meet at least once in a quarter. Vice-Chancellor of Jammu University Varun Sahni made a power point presentation in the meeting highlighting various aspects of the functioning and academic activities of the university. The meeting was attended by Vice-Chancellor, Kashmir University, Riyaz Punjabi and members of the council, including Ram Prakash Bambah, Veena Gupta, Subash Sharma, Mohammad Iqbal and NK Tripathi. Principal Secretary to Governor BB Vyas, Commissioner/Secretary, Finance, Sudhanshu Pandey, Commissioner/Secretary, Higher Education, NK Verma and registrar, Jammu University, GS Sambyal.
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Mining stopped as highway sinks
Assar (Ramban), March 27 It is believed that unscientific brisk mining is the main reason of degradation of mountains and weakening of rocks in this belt. Inhabitants of four villages — Ranka, Bulandpur, Kuthayara and Makala — have been bearing the brunt of unscientific brisk mining as many houses in these areas have developed cracks due to gradually sinking of rocks and continues soil erosion. Though environmentalists had been raising concern over soil erosion in this area due to huge extraction of gypsum, the authorities did not pay heed to their concerns and brisk mining of gypsum continued in this belt till the sinking of a portion of this strategic highway. After the sinking of a 200-metre stretch between Trungal and Assar on February 6, the Jammu Divisional Commissioner had given directions to the Geology and Mining Department to stop extraction of gypsum from this belt that has already been declared unsafe by geological experts. The Divisional Commissioner had also directed the department concerned to constitute a team of experts to investigate how much damage mining has caused to rocks and mountains of this belt. Brisk mining without adopting scientific measures is the main cause of ecological degradation in this belt, rued Mushtaq Ahmed, a resident of Assar, who charged the authorities with starting extraction of gypsum from unsafe areas also. Extraction of gypsum was started from Kouri Pani mines 40 years ago and mining continued till February 6. Geologist Harbans Lal Langeh admitted that mining was one of the reason of weakening of soil. He added that deforestation, seepage of water in the rocks etc were also contributing in the degradation of ecology of this belt. “We have submitted our report to the government and now a team from the Geological Survey of India would conduct further investigation,” Langeh said. |
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TV Scam
Rajouri, March 27 An officer with the investigating team probing the case told the Tribune that the interrogation of accused Yousuf Khan, an assistant with the Revenue Department in its Darhal tehsil office, and the verification of the department’s logbook had revealed the involvement of at least three more revenue officials in the scam. It was found that TV sets and dish antennas meant for anganwadi centres, schools and panchayat ghars had not reached the real beneficiaries in uncovered areas in more than four such cases. |
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Credit Card Scam
Jammu, March 27 Official sources told The Tribune that a team of the Crime Branch had gone to Delhi and conducted a raid at the Namibian’s flat recovering another laptop and few passports. “With the support of the Delhi Crime Branch we conducted the raid. The team has brought the laptop and passports. Now the information in the hard-disc would be deciphered to get more evidences of credit card scam, which had international connections,” a senior officer of the Crime Branch said. The officer also divulged that four famous businessmen running big outlets in Jammu, who had allegedly connived with the Namibian in swiping the cards, have also been grilled. Ravi Gupta of New Kashmir Emporium, Sanjeev Choudhary of Warmwell showroom, Ritesh Arora of New Sethi Automobiles and Tajendra Arora of KS Enterprises were subjected to questioning, he said. He, however, refused to divulge further details. The Namibian along with a girl from Darjeeling Sunita Subba were caught red-handed while swiping fake credit cards for around Rs 15,000 in an outlet on March 22. The Namibian had already operated in Jammu in September-October last year fraudulently swiping cards to the tune of Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4 lakh, sources said. A laptop, a swiping machine and another machine used for altering and topping-up fake cards had been seized from the arrested Namibian. The accused had been getting data of the genuine but stolen credit cards from his contacts in some foreign countries, they added.
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PC’s letter a poll gimmick: Refugees
Jammu, March 27 They said such promises were made by former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when they held a meeting with them on May 25, but those promises were never fulfilled. They were refused jobs in the Army and paramilitary forces. The Divisional Commissioner had refused knowledge of any such letter to them. Labha Ram, a refugee, termed it an election gimmick to garner 1.5 lakh votes of refugees. The letter of the Home Minister is a package that provides for concessions to children and grandchildren of refugees from West Pakistan settled in the state in technical education institutions approved by AICTE, bank loan facilities without collateral guarantees up to Rs 5 lakh and, provision of vocational training under skill development initiatives. |
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Weather hampers Army operations in Gurez
Srinagar, March 27 The police said it had been looking for these militants for some time as they were involved in a number of militant activities. Pakistanti passports were also seized from Parveez and Mudasir, hinting at their nexus with militants’ mentors across the border in Pakistan. The Army seized two pistols, two magazines, 10 rounds from their possession. Meanwhile, rain and snow in Gurez, where a group of militants tried to infiltrate into India, have hampered Army operations even as the Army said the operation was still on. There was no confirmation of the number of infiltrators. There was also no report of any fight in the forests of Kupwara district where a heavy gunfight between security forces and militants raged for seven days, killing 18 militants, all suspected foreigners and belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Eight Army men, all from elite para regiments and including a Major, also laid down their lives. Officials sources said forces deployed on the LoC had been put on high alert over the developments. “Additional troops were committed apprehending infiltration attempts by the militants. It goes without saying that we are maintaining as much vigil as possible,” an Army official said. The police also arrested an overground worker of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Rouf Ahmad Rather of Odura Kulgam, and seized four UBGL grenades. IED seized
SRINAGAR (PTI adds): The police on Friday seized an IED from a crowded place in Baramulla, 55 km from here. The IED, kept in a pressure cooker by militants, was found at a local vehicle stand in the morning when the place was bustling with passengers, the police said. The explosive device was later neutralised by a bomb disposal squad. |
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Varsities need to work closely, says Vohra
Jammu, March 27 Addressing the 68th meeting of the Jammu University Council here today, the Governor and the Chief Minister said higher and technical education was on the threshold of growth in the state. The setting up of off-site campuses and satellite centres and the establishment of a Central university in the state call for greater coordination between the institutions of higher learning to optimally utilise equipment and other facilities for ensuring regular upgrading of academic standards. The Governor, who is the Chancellor of the university, said for further streamlining the activities of the universities, university calendars should be updated on a dynamic basis and necessary modifications issued from time-to-time should be incorporated in it. The Governor further emphasised that the university councils should meet at least twice a year and the syndicates, academic councils and finance committees should meet at least once in a quarter. Vice-Chancellor of Jammu University Varun Sahni made a power point presentation in the meeting highlighting various aspects of the functioning and academic activities of the university. The meeting was attended by Vice-Chancellor, Kashmir University, Riyaz Punjabi and members of the council, including Ram Prakash Bambah, Veena Gupta, Subash Sharma, Mohammad Iqbal and NK Tripathi. Principal Secretary to Governor BB Vyas, Commissioner/Secretary, Finance, Sudhanshu Pandey, Commissioner/Secretary, Higher Education, NK Verma and registrar, Jammu University, GS Sambyal. |
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More Dogri teachers sought
Jammu, March 27 Addressing a press conference here today, president of the sanstha Lalit Magotra said in the 25 government degree colleges in Dogri speaking areas of the Jammu region, it was being taught in 18 colleges only. There were only four regular and 14 temporary teachers in these colleges, said Magotra. He appealed to the state government to advertise posts for filling vacancies of Dogri teachers in the rest of the colleges. Magotra also demanded that Dogri as a subject be introduced in the curriculum of all colleges in the Dogri speaking areas. Maintaining that the scene was equally grim at the school level, Magotra said there were about 425 higher secondary schools in the Jammu region, but there were only 25 lecturers appointed by the government to teach Dogri. |
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Girl marries ‘kidnapper’
Jammu, March 27 The couple had reportedly lodged a complaint with the Delhi police of alleged harassment to them by the girl’s family and subsequently moved the court. The runaway couple has reportedly got married. Acting upon the instructions of the court, the Delhi police restricted our police team to meet them, police sources said. The team was camping in Delhi since March 25, they said, adding that the team has been completing legal formalities through the court to restore the girl to her parents. However, family of the girl had lodged an FIR with the Nagrota police stating that their daughter had been kidnapped. |
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7 factory workers sustain burns
Jammu, March 27 Seven workers, who tried to douse the flames with water, sustained burn injuries, they added. Though a fire tender also reached the factory but the workers had controlled the fire by then. All seven workers were later shifted to Government Medical College, Jammu, but five were discharged after requisite treatment, said the police officer. The other two undergoing treatment at the GMC were stated to be out of danger. |
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Send troops to barracks, says Mufti
Srinagar, March 27 Referring to the recent incidents of killings at Bomai, Nowhatta and Khaigam, Mufti said these seemed to have vitiated the atmosphere and there was an urgent need to address the genuine concerns of the people. He urged the Centre to take concrete steps to restore the confidence of the people by adopting measures like scrapping of the AFSPA and sending the troops, deployed on internal security duties back to the barracks.
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Annual day
Udhampur, March 27 Verma released the newsletter of the college titled Campus News. Students of the college presented a cultural programme, including folk dances, skits and group songs. Simranpreet Kour was adjudged best all-round student of the year and was given a merit certificate and a trophy. |
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Met forecasts volatile weather
Srinagar, March 27 Srinagar received 6.1 mm of rains today between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm while Qazigund in south Kashmir got 2.2 mm of rains and tourist town of Pehalgam measured 10.4 mm. Officials attributed these rains to western disturbances and said weather might improve tomorrow but would change again. Higher reaches also received snow, they said. However, temperature in Kashmir hovered in a comfortable zone and the maximum temperature in Srinagar was 12.2°C, 3.5°C below normal, but the minimum temperature was recorded 3°C above normal at 8.2°C. As the minimum temperature on most of the days had been above normal, officials said it had been a warmer winter compared to previous year. The maximum temperature in Pehalgam and Qazigund was 12°C and 15.5°C while the minimum was 3.1°C and 5.5°C.
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Academy to promote folklore
Jammu, March 27 Talking to the mediapersons today, secretary of the academy Zafar Iqbal Manhas said the academy had chalked out a detailed programme for the Jammu, Kashmir and the Ladakh regions under which artistes from rural and far-flung areas would get a chance to perform at various national and international events. |
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It’s not jehad but
zulm, says ultra-turned maulvi Hafrada, March 27 “This is not jehad, this is zulm (atrocity). They have brought a bad name to a word with divine connotations because it suits their purpose,” the moulvi says. If their “jehad” makes a single person suffer for no fault of his, this is anything but jehad, he says, sympathising with the family of Mohiuddin Bajad, who lost his double-storeyed house. Illumdin was among the few men left in the village as most of the male members ran away while the fight between militants and the Army raged on in nearby forests. “Two of the dead militants would not be more than 20 years. I am a Muslim and I felt sympathy for them and their families. But I had nothing but anger for those who sent them to their death. Even if they were alive, they would have only brought misery to people,” Illumdin says. The maulvi, now living a religious life and teaching Islamic values to young kids, does not want to touch upon his militant past. Villagers said he had gone across the border in the early 90s, but was arrested soon after he returned. “He spent a few years in jail where he studied Islamic books. After his release, he has been living a normal life,” said a villager.
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Tourist flow declines Srinagar, March 27 The present scenario is quite contrary to the flow of tourists to the valley at this time of the spring season last year, when it was over 30 per cent, which had rolled out an encouraging annual figure of over 6.44 lakh, the highest number during the past five years. Those associated with tourism opine that the main reason behind the discouraging signals this year include last year’s agitation over the Amarnath land row, the Lok Sabha election process and the global economic recession. “The Amarnath land agitation last year had certainly its impact on the tourist flow this year,” opines former president of the Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHARA) Habibullah Mir. He said the timing of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections spread over all five phases in the state was not favourable. “During this period educational institutions outside Kashmir are closed for the summer vacations and most of the people would not prefer to be here during elections”, he commented. “We are now only looking for the Pooja holidays from the east”, during autumn season, he commented. “The scenario is grim and not so healthy”, commented senior vice-president of the KHARA Siraj Ahmad, adding that only 5 to 10 per cent of the bookings were there in the hotels at present. There is a bed capacity of over 20,000 in the hotels across the Kashmir valley. Though, there were enquiries for the bookings during April, the Kashmir valley is not being preferred by the tourists because of the election process. “Wrong signals have been going out on the situation in Kashmir, which was already trying to do away with the negative impact of the agitation over the last year’s Amarnath land row . The occupancy at this time of the season last year was much better”, he pointed out. He added that while only 400 entry tickets were sold on the inaugural day of the Tulip Garden earlier this week, there was a huge rush of over 5,000 tourists on the first day last year. He held that the government needed to launch a comprehensive promotional campaign this year. “It needs to change the mindset of domestic tourists over the Kashmir situation, otherwise we cannot attract them to Kashmir”, Siraj asserted. The houseboat owners are equally upset over the lean occupancy of about 10 per cent of over 1,000 bed capacity at present, against full bookings last year at this time, said an office-bearer of the Houseboat Owners Association, Bashir Ahmad.
Besides other factors, the unique industry of houseboats in the Dal Lake here has suffered owing to the insufficient government measures to check pollution in the water body.
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Hizbul militant shot Rajouri, March 27 Police sources told The Tribune that the state police and the BSF launched a search operation for militants hiding in the Baji Maal forest area of Kalakote here this evening. The security forces spotted a group of 10 militants. The militants fired on security men. They said in the ensuing encounter, which is still going on, a militant was killed. The identity of the slain militant is yet to
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Need for holistic approach towards disabled
Jammu, March 27 Usha said enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedom by disabled persons was vital for promotion of their inherent dignity. In her keynote address, Usha said 2.13 per cent of the total population of the country had been dealing with disabilities, adding that they also fight with various misconceptions and prejudices prevailing in society which are associated with their needs and abilities. She said there was a need for changing the mindset and dealing with them with sensitivity. Usha said any disability-related intervention should have gender dimension as women and girls with disabilities are often at a greater risk to violence, injury, abuse and neglect, both at home and outside. Exhorting the NGOs to strengthen families with disabled persons, she said private industries and organisations should provide special jobs and also a workable environment to facilitate their adjustment in society.
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BJP national president Rajnath Singh addressed a public rally at Parade Ground in Jammu today, kickstarting the party’s campaign for theLok Sabha elections.
He thanked the people of Jammu for taking party from single seat to 11 in the Assembly elections and urged them to take it to 31 in the next Assembly elections so that the party could play decisive role in the formation of next government.
