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JKLF chief held on way to Shopian
Baglihar reservoir full
Scorching heat brings tourists to Kashmir
Mobile phones ‘deadly weapon’ |
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Security plays spoilsport for Delhi family
Hotels’ body seeks inclusion of Jammu in tourism projects
Fee hike: 6-day ultimatum served
Child rescued from kidnapper PDP flays govt for power shortage MP apprised of problems in Nagrota Pilgrim dies on way to Amarnath Pak intruder shot dead in Akhnoor Cong leaders making ‘contradictory’ remarks: Gupta Saraf’s death mourned One dead, nine hurt in road mishaps Fear grips Rajouri after couple’s murder Accused named by suicide victim still at large
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JKLF chief held on way to Shopian
Srinagar, June 28 After restrictions were lifted on his movement this morning, Malik accompanied by senior leaders Shoukat Ahmad Bakshi, Noor Mohammad Kalwal and 22 party activists left for Shopian, 52 km from here, to express solidarity with the family of two women who were allegedly raped and killed on May 30. On reaching Awantipora in Pulwama district, 32 km from here, a police party intercepted the JKLF caravan and took them into preventive custody, official sources said. The sources said the step was taken to prevent Malik and his associates from reaching Shopian in view of the volatile situation in the South Kashmir town, where a general strike against the alleged rape and murder of Asiya and her sister-in-law Neelofar completed a month today. "We were apprehensive that the visit of the JKLF leaders might further deteriorate the situation there and therefore prevented them from visiting the place," the sources said.
— PTI |
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Baglihar reservoir full Jammu, June 28 The Chenab that feeds the reservoir of the Baglihar dam is snow fed and with the increase in the daytime temperature the rate of melting of snow has also increased resulting in an adequate water level in the Chenab. Speaking to The Tribune, chief engineer, Baglihar dam, Baljeet Singh Jamwal said, “As the Baglihar power project is based on the river, there is no scarcity of water. Instead the soaring temperature has come as a blessing as the water level in the Chenab has increased due to the melting of snow.” The first phase of the state-owned hydroelectric project has been running to its full capacity and is generating 450 MW of power.“For the past one month, the first phase of the project, that was recently commissioned, has been generating 450 MW of electricity,” Jamwal said. He said the capacity of the reservoir was also as per the agreement of the Indus Water Treaty and the water level was maintained at 836 metres above the sea level. “The minimum capacity of the reservoir is 386 metres, and right now it has maintained the normal MDDL (maximum drop down level), which is 400 cusec. The average discharge from the reservoir these days is 2,033 cubic metre per second, which is very good for the production of electricity,” Jamwal said. Fifty per cent of the electricity produced from the first phase of the Baglihar power project goes to the state Power Development Department, whereas remaining 50 per cent goes to the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation, which decides where to sell the power.
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Scorching heat brings tourists to Kashmir Srinagar, June 28 The roller-coaster ride of tourism industry in the valley, which has been hitting highs and lows for the past two years depending upon the whims of a section of its leadership, seems to have got a decisive upward push as Indian cities reel under the impact of baking sun coupled with long power cuts. The day temperature around 31° C in Srinagar is no longer comfortable to the local residents but for tourists like Das or Aslam Bhai, who hails from Ahmedabad, it is a huge respite away from their cities where the mercury has been consistently hovering much above 40° C. “We stayed in Pahalgam for two days and had to put on jackets in the evening. My family and friends would be amused when they see these photographs,” Das says. Anwar Ahad, who has a fleet of boats, says they always expected a good crowd of tourists at this time of the year. They suffered due to strikes in the past few weeks but the hot summer has done the trick for them. “Tourism has become very resilient. One week we are hit but tourists come in drove the next week as if nothing had happened. They no longer care for strikes as long as there is no violence,” he says. For Ahad and hundreds of boatmen, whose earning during these four or five months would run their family’s kitchen till the next summer, these are good times. Hotels, whether top end or economy, are largely full. Mohammad Yasin, a Gujarati who takes a couple of hotels in Srinagar on lease during the summer, does not have to say how busy the business has been. The reception of his hotel, located less than a kilometre of Dal, is crowded with Gujarati tourists. “People everywhere are praying for rain. But we pray that the heat continues for some more time. Earnings will be good,” Yasin says mischievously
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Mobile phones ‘deadly weapon’ Jammu, June 28 Recently, a renowned private mobile phone company had to deactivate more than 36,000 SIM cards as these were issued without verification. Security forces are worried as they don’t have figures about how many such SIM cards have landed into the hands of terrorists operating in the state. These ultras, besides using the mobile SIM cards for communication, are also using these to carry out terror attacks and exploding IEDs. “The first such case came into light when some militants forged the documents of a senior Army officer in the north Kashmir’s Baramulla district to get a SIM card. The very SIM was used in exploding an IED in which a senior Army officer was injured,” a senior police officer said. The Crime Branch, Jammu, had recently arrested dealers of the mobile phone companies who were selling SIM cards without verification and were even helping the “fake customers” in forging the documents. The use of mobile phones to explode IEDs is one of the easiest and widespread means of attacking security forces as the person (militant), who plants the IED at one place, can explode the same from sitting miles away from that place. “It is unfortunate that some dealers are helping these anti-national elements as a mobile phone-attached IED is one of the most deadly weapon in the hands of the terrorists,” an Army officer said. The security forces had issued strict guidelines to the mobile phone operators that they won’t issue any SIM card without proper verification.
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Security plays spoilsport for Delhi family Srinagar, June 28 Amit Goel, his wife Sonia, daughter Prakriti and son Sobit had come to Kashmir for the Amarnath yatra and sightseeing last week along with another family in their neighbourhood. They were to leave Kashmir for Delhi on Friday -- the day separatists had called for a protest march. As the two families travelled to the airport, the Goels let their daughter sit in the vehicle of their neighbour. As they proceeded, one of the cars was allowed to pass through a barricade in Dalgate while that of the Goels was stopped by the police, leading to an altercation with its driver and considerable delay, Amit said. When they reached the airport at 11.15 am, their daughter was in the Spicejet flight but they were not allowed to board it. "I requested the manager to let us board the plane as our daughter was already in it but he refused, saying that boarding for the 11.50 am flight has been closed," he alleged. Tourist Police SSP Mubarak Ganai said a complaint against the station manager and deputy manager of the airliner was being looked into. A Spicejet spokesman, however,denied any wrong-doing on the part of the airline staff, saying that the three had arrived after boarding was completed. — PTI
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Hotels’ body seeks inclusion of Jammu in tourism projects Jammu, June 28 The AJHLA today held a meeting under the chairmanship of Inderjeet Khajuria, which was attended by other office-bearers of the association. The meeting observed that while demanding Rs 1,700 crore from the Centre for the protection and preservation of the water bodies in Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had ignored the depleting water bodies in the Jammu region. Water bodies like the Mansar, Surisar and Tawi are drying but the Chief Minister paid no heed towards them, Khajuria said. He said the state had already obtained Rs 300 crore from the Centre for cleaning the lakes in Kashmir, whereas not a single penny has been spent on the de-weeding and cleaning of Mansar and Surisar lakes in Jammu. Over the years the Tawi, which is the lifeline of major parts of the Jammu region, has considerably depleted and shrunk, due to encroachments. The river is also being polluted due to the garbage dumps on its banks, Khajuria said. He demanded that a comprehensive project for preserving and developing the Tawi with an estimated cost of Rs 500 crore should be submitted to the Centre for the sanction of the amount and half of the money already sanctioned should be spent on cleaning and preserving the water bodies. The association also welcomed the announcement by the Union Secretary of Tourism that two mega projects would be taken up at a cost of Rs 50 crore for the upgrade of tourism infrastructure in the
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Fee hike: 6-day ultimatum served
Jammu, June 28 The protest was held against private schools which continue to charge exorbitant fee from students in the name of annual charges. The activist and parents jointly burnt the effigy of Education Minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed and raised slogans against the Education Department. They warned that if the government fails to take action against these private schools, they would block the National Highway on Sunday. Speaking on the occasion, Harjeet Singh, state president, Nirbhow Nirbair, said as Zahida Khan Parveen, director, school education, had earlier mentioned in a meet that the Education Department had a law to deal with private schools under such circumstances. Harjeet said the law was not being enforced by the government deliberately. Expressing resentment, they blamed that these schools were extracting hard-earned money of parents but no action had been taken against them so far.
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Child rescued from kidnapper Srinagar, June 28 The police said Ajay Kumar, who was working as a casual worker in Bulgam village in Sopore, had abducted Adnan Habib (5) on June 22. The police said the accused stayed close to kidnapped boy’s house and had developed good relations with his family. His father Habibullah Mir said Ajay lured the child to come along with him and since then they were never seen. The police said Ajay called Mir and asked for a ransom of Rs 5 lakh. The call by the kidnapper gave important leads to the police and they followed him to Jalandhar, then to Panipat and finally Kanpur. The police with the help of Kanpur police had arrested the kidnapper from Kanpur. The police said they had also arrested some of his accomplices as well. |
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PDP flays govt for power shortage Jammu, June 28 Senior PDP leader and party spokesman AK Sawhney said there was an acute shortage of basic amenities in the state, including potable water and electricity. Sawhney said in this scorching summer heat, the government seemed to be totally helpless in providing the masses with sufficient water and electricity. He said though the state had power projects like Baghliar, Salal and Dulhasti, there was dearth of power. “This is happening only due to the wrong policies of the state government. The government has sold out its projects and has not kept any share for the state in these projects,” Sawhney said. The PDP spokesman said there were unscheduled power cuts but the government had maintained a ‘criminal silence’ in the matter. He said the administration kept its eyes closed over the collapse of overhead tank at Paloura in Jammu as no action had yet been taken against the erring officials of the PHE, engineers and the contractors who made the tank.
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MP apprised of problems in Nagrota Jammu, June 28 The deputation apprised Madan Lal about the lack of basic amenities in the Nagrota constituency. It informed the MP that no development had been carried out in the Nagrota constituency and people were suffering from lack of basic amenities like education, medicare and road connectivity. The delegation informed Madan Lal that the PHE Mechanical Division was not working well as a result of which various hand pumps had not been working for the past many years, forcing the people to drink the Tawi water. Due to the PHE Department’s negligence residents of the Dhamooni area were facing a severe water shortage but the authorities concerned were yet to take remedial steps. Madan Lal assured the deputation that all efforts would be made to resolve their problems.
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Pilgrim dies on way to Amarnath Srinagar, June 28 Amla Lakshmi Dass of Gujarat suffered a massive heart attack last night at Wavbal on the traditional Pahalgam-Amarnath route in Anantnag district last night, official sources said, adding that he died before he could be provided any medical help. With this, the number of persons who died since the commencement of the yatra has reached 14. Jammu (TNS): A batch of 1,627 pilgrims on Sunday left in 58 vehicles from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp here for pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath. As per official sources, around 1,25,000 pilgrims have so far paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine of Amarnath. — TNS
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Pak intruder shot dead in Akhnoor Jammu, June 28 The Jammu-based BSF spokesman said: “The troops of the 26 Battalion of the BSF deployed on the Chak Phagwari border outpost in Khour village of Akhnoor sector witnessed some suspicious movement and challenged the intruder to stop.” When the intruder paid no heed to the warning and entered more than 30 m inside the International Border, the security personnel fired at him and he was killed on the spot, the spokesperson said. The identity of the killed intruder could not be ascertained yet. The body has been handed over to the police. However, nothing incriminating was found from or near the body.
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Cong leaders making ‘contradictory’ remarks: Gupta Jammu, June 28 Gupta said, “It has been encouraging secessionists and semi-secessionists- who are bent upon to malign the forces engaged in fighting cross-border terrorism and proxy war launched by the hostile neighbouring country”. Gupta said, in his recent visit to the state Vice-President Hamid Ansari said at a function in Kashmir University that the Prime Minister had agreed to revoke the Special Powers Act and the Disturbed Areas Act in Kashmir. "However, earlier Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had stated that the matter would be reconsidered at the end of summer, whereas Defence Minister AK Antony denied any troop reduction," he stated and added that all these contradictory statements were encouraging the elements who were out to disturb the situation in the valley and create conditions suitable for foreign inference.
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Saraf’s death mourned Jammu, June 28 SK Koul, general secretary, Confederation of Central Government Employees, J&K; Mir Nisar Ahmed, circle secretary, BSNL Employees Union, J&K; Sampat Prakash, senior vice-president, Hindu Mazdoor Kissan Panchyat Conference and Mohammad Ayub Ashmandri, president, All-India Handicrafts Employees Union, and president, All-India Trade Union Conference described the demise of Safar as an irreparable loss. |
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One dead, nine hurt in road mishaps Jammu, June 28 According to the police, a bus hit one motorcycle in the Supwal area, resulting in the on-the-spot death of Inderjeet Singh of Tanda (Samba), and injuries to Darwara Singh, also of Tanda. The injured was hospitalised. Eight other persons were admitted to Government Medical College, Jammu, after they sustained injuries in road accidents. |
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Fear grips Rajouri after couple’s murder Rajouri, June 28 Locals here were living without any fear in the past three years as security forces had eliminated top commanders of various militant outfits like Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), Hizbul Mujahideen-Pir Panjal Range, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen. However, after the killing of the couple by the militants, the locals are apprehending more such strikes. The militants killed the couple - Muhammad Lateef and Nasreen - despite the presence of an Army picket nearby at Nandan, which is just meters away from the house of the deceased. The killing is believed to be revenge as the militants suspected that Muhammad Lateef had helped the security forces in eliminating their accomplice Muhammad Yaseen of the Hizbul Mujahideen-Pir Panjal RangeAccused named by suicide victim still at large
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Accused named by suicide victim still at large Rajouri, June 28 However, the police is in the process of collecting handwritten specimen of the victim for matching it with the suicide note for sending it to the Forensic science laboratory in Jammu, to ascertain whether the note was actually written by the deceased. Rajouri SHO Rafiq Manhas, however, said efforts were on to nab them. The deceased had allegedly held his landlords responsible for him taking this extreme step by subjecting him to “mental torture” for the past 12 years. Sources further said Manzoor and Shakoor, landlords of Ahmed, were frequently levelling charges of misappropriation of money against the latter, which caused him mental agony and forced him to take the extreme step. |
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Srinagar, June 28
