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Yatra suspended from Pahalgam Should floods hit valley, govt will be helpless ‘Sensitive’ state averse to legalising gay sex
Anarchy in Kashmir has hit tourism: VHP |
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Rally
against ‘fleecing’ by CBSE schools Paddy farmers await rain Truckers’ strike hits business Surrendered ultra among two killed Vohra interacts with kids DGP nod to promotions
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Yatra suspended from Pahalgam Srinagar, July 3 However, a fresh batch of about 1,800 pilgrims was allowed to proceed towards the holy cave from the Baltal route, a spokesman of the shrine board said here. The spokesman said that Wavbal, Mahagunas Top and Poshpathri on the traditional Chandanwari-holy cave track recorded 4 to 6 inches snowfall since last night. The overall weather scenario in the entire yatra region was cloudy sky with intermittent rain. As many as 7,263 yatris performed darshan at the holy cave shrine on Thursday. Another batch of 1,726 yatris also proceeded from Jammu to the Pahalgam and Baltal base camps early in the morning today. |
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Should floods hit valley, govt will be helpless Jammu, July 3 And the government is helpless to do anything in this regard “as a majority of the flood channels have not been desilted for the past 33 years, our wetlands have vanished and construction has taken place on most of the flood channels and marshy land,” said Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Taj Mohiudin. The government requires Rs 1000 crore to make the Kashmir valley flood-resistant within four years. “There is a history in Kashmir that severe floods hit the valley every 50 years and the current year completes that period but I pray to God that no such floods hit the valley to wreak havoc”, the minister said. However, the Jammu region was much safer as various preventive measures had already been taken to protect the city from floods. About the strike call given by employees of the PHE Department protesting against the government’s new transfer policy the minister said: “The genuine demands of the union would be taken care of but there are many discrepancies in the appointment and posting of workers as many were employed violating the norms and many employees have not been transferred for decades. More disturbing is the fact that some of them were simultaneously working for more than one government departments.” He claimed that 10,000 of the 30,000 employees in the department never attended to their assigned jobs as they were engaged in other works while drawing their salaries for years. “Our transfer policy would not be rolled back as it aims at promoting work culture in the department,” Taj Mohiudin said.
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‘Sensitive’ state averse to legalising gay sex Jammu, July 3 “Jammu and Kashmir, which enjoys a special status under Article 370 and has the RPC, will not adopt the Delhi High Court’s judgement,” state Law Secretary AH Kochak told The Tribune. Kochak says though the Delhi High Court had given its verdict on Section 377 of the IPC vis-ŕ-vis homosexuality among consenting adults, it could not be permitted in our society here. We would examine the judgement, but it did not apply to Jammu and Kashmir, he said. “Our social ethos doesn’t allow homosexuality and hence it can not be permitted,” he added. However, president of the Bar Association Jammu (BAJ) Sunil Sethi said legally the judgement may be right, but morally it may not be. At the same time, Articles 14 (equality), 15 (non-discrimination) and 21(personal liberty) of the Constitution also applied to the Section 377 of the RPC in the state, said Sethi. Hence, the Delhi High Court’s judgement could be followed in the state if somebody challenged Section 377 of the RPC on the similar grounds, he added. Though it was for the Union government to decide, legal rights enshrined under the Constitution, particularly under Articles 14 and 21, had to be defended, he said. But if 126 countries had adopted gay sex, we could not follow them blindly, he added. Sethi’s predecessor BS Salathia felt that the judgement would result in society’s degradation. Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court judgement has not gone well with eunuchs in the state. President of the J&K Kinnar Samaj Saira Haji said:"this western concept of homoexuality doesn't belong to India, which is a land of sufis, saints and deities." We don't endorse legalisation of gay sex in the country as it would spoil younger generation”.
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Anarchy in Kashmir has hit tourism: VHP Jammu, July 3 Frequent strikes in the valley had caused huge losses to the tourism sector, including pilgrimages, VHP’s state president Ramakant Dubey said here today. Strikes had become a daily routine in Kashmir, where some political parties exploited sensitive issues to further their hidden agenda, said Dubey. He added that the withdrawal of the CRPF from Baramulla and other parts of the valley was a deep-rooted conspiracy. The government should seriously review its decision to withdraw the central forces from the valley, he said. He also demanded a high-level probe into the prevailing situation in the valley to expose the elements, who were trying to vitiate the atmosphere for their political interests. While the latest Shopian incident followed by the Baramulla incident had highlighted the total lawlessness in the valley, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had failed to tackle the situation, Dubey said. It had become a routine affair for some people to take to the streets, shout anti-national slogans and indulge in stone throwing on the security forces to provoke them and then level allegations of excesses by security personnel, he said. While agreeing to withdraw the CRPF from the valley without going into its pros and cons, the Union government had goofed, the VHP leader said. He added that the day was not far when the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) would also be revoked. |
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Rally
against ‘fleecing’ by CBSE schools Jammu, July 3 The protest rally from Fateh Singh Gurduwara passed through Shivaji Chowk, Gole Market, Gandhi Nagar and Asia Hotel before culminating at Press Club where an effigy of Education Minister Peer Zadha Mohammad Sayeed was burnt . Expressing annoyance, the parents once again submitted a memorandum to Zahidha Khan, Director, School Education, asking her to fix the fee structure of CBSE schools as soon as possible. They demanded that the school should charge the annual fee/ charges as per CBSE guidelines according to which it is 15 per cent of the total annual tuition fee instead of charging 50 per cent. Lambasting the authorities, the parents alleged that every year CBSE schools were extracting hard-earned money of the parents in the name of development funds, tuition fee, transport fee and now the annual charges.
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Paddy farmers await rain Jammu, July 3 “It is the peak season for the cultivation of paddy. We can delay the transplantation of paddy saplings of Basmati, but we cannot delay the cultivation of varieties like 1,410 Ratna, China and Sharwati,” said a modest farmer from RS Pura, Joginder Pal “Paddy gets mature within two months. If this crop gets delayed, it is likely to affect the crop next season,” he stated. He added: “The standing paddy saplings in the nursery are increasing our worries.” However, farmers waiting to cultivate maize are a happy lot, as the crop is sown in almost all areas. The crop has been already delayed by one week. Prof JP Sharma of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, said, “Maize is the prime crop of the region. It is sown everywhere in the region except for irrigated areas. It is sown in all hilly and intermediate zones like Udhampur, Rajouri, Poonch, Reasi, Ramnagr, Bhasoli Billawar and Chennil.”
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Truckers’ strike hits business Jammu, July 3 Vikas Gupta, a spokesman for the J&K Goods Carrier Association, Jammu, “The truck drivers are made to bear the penalty in form of sale tax on toll posts when goods in their truck are found to be shown undervalued in documents by the goods owners to evade tax. The trucks remain halted from three to four days, and the drivers are made to pay the penalty, besides Rs 1,000 per day for halting their vehicles to the owner of goods.” Gupta also said this procedure also delayed the transportation of goods of other people, as each truck carried goods of 60-70 persons at a time. The association has suggested to the government to charge the additional tax from the erring merchant as and when he paid the quarterly sale tax for under invoicing his goods. But no one in the government was thought the proposal was worth consideration. Due to the strike, the trade on both sides of Jammu and Kashmir has been affected. Tejwant Sarin, president of the Small Scale Industry Association, says, “I fully support the stand of the transporters, as they are being harassed and penalised for no fault of theirs. The government must find a solution to the problem soon, as the transportation of small goods consignments have already come to a halt on both sides.” The association has also decided to go on an indefinite strike.
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Surrendered ultra among two killed Udhampur, July 3 As the incident took place in the remotest area of Kishtwar district, the police got information about the killing this morning. DIG, Doda-Ramban range, Hemant Kumar Lohia told The Tribune that the militants killed a surrendered militant and kidnapped another person. He disclosed that there were reports that the militants also killed the kidnapped man this afternoon. According to the police, a group of armed militants entered the house of Tariq Ahmed, who is an alleged overground worker of the militants. A surrendered militant of the Hizbul Mujahidden, Abdul Majid Ganoo, along with Nazir Ahmed Kar was also in the house of Tariq. The militants resorted to indiscriminate firing on Ganoo, killing him on the spot. Some bullets also hit Tariq. The militants kidnapped Nazir. Tariq was taken to the local hospital from where he was later airlifted to Jammu for advanced treatment.Though the body of Nazir was yet to be recovered, sources said the militants killed him in the nearby jungle. The local police received the information that the body of Nazir was lying in the jungle. He was the son of Mohammad Ramzan, vice-sarpanch of the area. Ganoo, who was an active member of the Hizbul Mujahideen, had laid down arms last year. |
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Vohra interacts with kids Srinagar, July 3 The children, in the age group of 12 to 20 years, during their tour have met President Pratibha Patil, Maharashtra Governor SC Jamir and actor Govinda. They also visited the studios of Doordarshan Kendra, Mumbai. The children briefed the Governor that it was a lifetime opportunity for them to have had the rich experience of visiting various historical places in the country. For many of these kids, it was their first visit to any place outside the state.
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DGP nod to promotions Srinagar July 3 Those promoted out-of-turn included two constables and one selection-grade constable from Rajouri-Poonch range, besides four constables and one head constable from Jammu range. GOC Sapru meets Omar Srinagar, July 3 |
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