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Three held for drawing pension on fake papers
SI killed, 3 injured in grenade attack
PSA slapped on Geelani |
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Omar meets PM, Sonia
Poonch residents back troops
NGO to the rescue of abandoned child
Central Varsity Issue
Delinking of terror from talks with Pak flayed
BJP threat to disrupt Assembly session
State to have anti-terror squad soon
Army holds course for vets
Youth found dead
Do’s and don’ts for solar eclipse
Girl killed in house collapse
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Three held for drawing pension on fake papers
Jammu, July 21 Giving details of the scam, Manohar Singh, SSP, Jammu, said the three cheaters -- Falail Singh of Channo Chack, Jeet Choudhary of Rakhburan and Jaswant Singh of Ban Kanachack -- were arrested. “The trio used to ‘process’ pension cases for old age, disabled and other schemes introduced by the Social Welfare Department, but after charging money from the naïve and gullible people,” said Manohar Singh. They forged all required documents, including forms, disability certificates, medical certificates and other supporting documents, to get pensions under various schemes, he added. The group had been active for the past seven to eight months and during the period they withdrew about Rs 30 lakh under various scheme using forged documents, the SSP said. The police also seized fake and forged certificates, including 202 certificates of financial assistance under the J&K Integrated Social Security Scheme 1994, 115 disability certificates, 117 ration card copies, 120 blank identity cards of the Handicapped Welfare Association, five state subject certificates, two applications for the handicapped and needy under the Indira Awas Yojna, two death certificates, old-age pension books and disabled pension books. The SSP said the perusal of the seized record revealed that more than 250 persons had been fraudulently drawing pensions on the basis of forged and fake documents, while 450 forms of same nature were under process. The police also seized some fake stamps, including that of Dr Kamaljeet Singh, an orthopaedician in Gandhi Nagar Hospital, Manmohar Singh said a case under sections 420, 467, 468 and 471, RPC, has been registered at Kanachak. The involvement of staff of the department could not be ruled out as the fraud of such a large scale would not have been possible without their support, the SSP said. However, it has been reliably learnt that one of the three fraudsters, Jaswant Singh, had been closely associated with a national political party. |
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SI killed, 3 injured in grenade attack
Srinagar, July 21 The police said the attack was on the Special Operations Group (SPO), the counter-terrorist squad of the state police, and the militants launched the grenade from a rifle to target the cops and CRPF personnel. SI Sethi Ram succumbed to his injuries, while constables Abdul Hameed, SPO Mohammad Shafi and CRPF jawan Hamton Hoti were admitted to a hospital with multiple injuries, the police said. Though police and CRPF personnel opened fire in retaliation, the ultras fled the scene. The security forces have cordoned off the area and a hunt has been launched to nab the militants involved in the attack - the first major strike in Shopian where the alleged rape and murder of two women on May 30 had triggered widespread protests and strike for 47 days. Militants had been trying to step up their activities in Shopian, benefiting from the 47-day-long strike in the district as the law enforcement agencies remained busy dealing with civil strife. Police sources said many militants had come to Shopian from the Rajouri-Poonch region through the Pir-Panjal range and were trying to rebuild their network after suffering some reverses in the last two years. Hizb ultra’s body found Jammu (PTI): Army troops on Tuesday found the body of a Hizb-ul Mujahideen militant in Doda district. Troops of the Rastriya Rifles found the body of Hizb militant Gulam Hassan,alias Gulzar, from the Trajwas area in Doda district, a defence official said. The body was handed over to the police, he said, adding that the reason behind the death was not known.
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PSA slapped on Geelani
Srinagar DC Meraj-ud-Din Kakroo said Geelani had been booked under the PSA for relentlessly trying to incite people against the interest of the country while frequenty calling for strikes and protests. Geelani, the key anti-India figure in Kashmir who has been spearheading separatist marches and protests since last year’s Amarnath land controversy, was bailed out by local courts in several cases under which the police had arrested him to stop him from walking free. Official sources said they invoked the PSA as the last resort against the 80-year-old leader. He was arrested after protests fuelled by him over the alleged rape and murder of two Shopain women virtually brought life to a standstill with no signs of improvement in the law and order situation. However, Geelani is unlikely to face any hardship usually associated with PSA detainees and the government would continue to lodge him in a comfortable hut, now declared a sub-jail, in Chasmashahi in Srinagar. The chairman of the hardline Hurriyat faction is currently in a Srinagar hospital. In another development, the High Court yesterday dismissed the government’s appeal to keep Asiya Andrabi, a firebrand Islamist woman leader lodged under the PSA, in a Jammu jail.
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Omar meets PM, Sonia
Srinagar, July 21 During his meeting with the Prime Minister, the two leaders and discussed the outlay of the annual plan 2009-10 for Rs 6,500 crore. Other issues discussed during the meeting included the extension of the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan till the end of the 11th Five Year Plan. The Chief Minister emphasised that the funding pattern of all centrally sponsored schemes should be in the ratio of 90:10 on an uniform basis. The issue relating to the four-lanning of the National Highway, which has a direct relation to improvement in the economy of different regions of the state, was also discussed, an official spokesman said. In order to meet expenditure on account of the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendation, the Chief Minister requested the Prime Minister for the release of an interim relief to meet the requirements. Another issue discussed in detail with the Prime Minister was the continuation of the power reform grant to the state government for the next five years. The Prime Minister assured Omar of his full support in making the state a model state. In his meeting with Sonia Gandhi, the Chief Minister discussed matters relating to the development of the state and the functioning of the coalition government. The two leaders reiterated the determination to strengthen the coalition in the state. Omar also called on Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and discussed with him issues pertaining to the power scenario in the state. Meanwhile, Omar also met state PCC chief Saifuddin Soz in New Delhi. They decided that a meeting of the coordination committee of coalition partners -- the Congress and the NC -- would be held soon to take decisions on “certain important matters of public importance”. Soz is also the chairman of the coordination committee. The two leaders, according to a spokesman for Soz, had a threadbare discussion on how best to focus attention on matters of urgent nature that could yield relief to the people. They agreed to make coordination between the two parties more effective so that the coalition’s resolve to strengthen good governance in the state was
fulfilled
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Poonch, July 21 The residents said: “It is easy for the political leaders to ask for demilitarisation as they stay under protective gear. The common men are shorn of any protection and need the forces to protect them.” “Those people who talk about demilitarisation have bodyguards around them to protect them. Who will protect us? We need troops to stay,” Ghulam Hussain, a resident, said. Villagers, who have formed Village Defence Committees (VDCs) and cooperate with the Army in fighting militancy in the region, said the political leaders should come and see the situation for themselves and then talk about withdrawal of troops from the region. “We want to tell Mehbooba Mufti and Sayed Ali Shah Geelani to ask their children to spend one night with us to understand the situation here. This used to be a militant’s stronghold and now if the troops are taken out from here then the militants will come in once again,” Tahir Fazal, VDC member, said. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, during his recent visit to Srinagar had clarified that as violence ebbs, the government is planning to withdraw some troops. —
ANI
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NGO to the rescue of abandoned child
Jammu, July 21 The child has been admitted to the SMGS Hospital by the police as she is suffering from jaundice. The parents of the baby are untraceable till now. OP Gupta, coordinator of the Childline, said: “We have agreed to bear the expenses of child and our associates will take care of the child by visiting the hospital.” “As the state does not have the provision of the Juvenile Justice Act under which the Child Welfare Committee, the apex body of the Childline, comes, so we do not have any facility and means to support such children. But we also do not want to see the child’s future hang in balance, so we will make sure that she gets properly looked after and handed over in right hands.” Gupta, who was also the mediator between the police and the couple who wanted to adopt the child, said when the couple refused to adopt the child through court’s permission, which is mandatory for such cases, it created suspicion about the genuineness of their claim. “The Childline is in touch with various NGOs. SOS Village - NGO for orphan children - has also given positive response to take care of the child till she gets settled in life. And if we come across genuine cases of adoption, we will think about that,” Gupta said.
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Central Varsity Issue
Udhampur, July 21 Even as the government has not yet officially announced to establish the university in Kashmir, political groups of the Jammu region have stepped up their agitation in different areas. The stir was earlier confined to Jammu but today both parties took out processions here and vowed to take, what they alleged, fight against injustice, to its logical end. Not only the BSP and the JKNPP, activists of various social, religious and political organisations of Udhampur have also announced to join the agitation . A meeting of Panthers Party workers held under the leadership of Udhampur MLA Balwant Singh Mankotia lambasted the NC-Congress regime for discriminating against the Jammu region.Mankotia exhorted the party workers to prepare for a long battle for the cause of Jammu. He regretted that land has been identified for setting up the university at Jammu but the authorities were now trying to shift it to the Kashmir valley. The state BSP has also warned the government against playing with the rights of people of the Jammu region. State BSP president Tulsi Dass Langeh said addressing party workers here that the party would not hesitate to take this fight to the streets. He expressed surprise over the attitude of ministers from the Jammu region who had maintained a criminal silence over injustice with this region.
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Delinking of terror from talks with Pak flayed
Jammu, July 21 “The decision has once again legitimised terrorism and the perpetuation of jihad against India at a time when Pakistan’s outlook about India has come under scanner,” he said. Chrungoo said, “Has the Union Cabinet and Parliament been informed about it and taken into confidence about this agreement and has the contours of it been discussed among mainstream political parties and before the entire nation. Why is it so that it was kept under wraps in India, whereas Pakistan seems to know about it. If what former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf had revealed about the contours of the settlement, it is easy to understand that India has eventually accepted a variant of the Dixon formula that divides Jammu and Kashmir along the Chenab.” |
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BJP threat to disrupt Assembly session
Jammu, July 21 He said, “We met Governor NN Vohra over the issue 10 days ago. The Governor told us clearly that the university would be built only in Jammu, and the IIM in Srinagar. Then how could Omar Abdullah after a few days say the Central University would have two branches, one in Srinagar, and another in Jammu,” Gupta said. The BJP would support Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti if it started an agitation over the issue, he added. “The major issues of unemployment, acute shortage of water and power supply in summer still stand unresolved. In such a situation, the government has no right to continue functioning any more,” the BJP leader said. He drew attention towards the drought-like situation in villages of Jammu, where farmers were having a tough time. “The state government should come forward to help the farmers by providing them with free ration, and compensation for their badly affected crops,” he added. On India’s readiness to resume dialogue with Pakistan, he flayed the Central government for changing its stand.
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State to have anti-terror squad soon
Jammu, July 21 Senior officials in the Police and Home Department confided to The Tribune that an endeavour had been initiated in this regard. The proposed ATS, to be headed by IGP (Crime) SM Sahai, would have its jurisdiction across the state and be given powers to take action, investigate and detain subversive elements involved in terror-related activities, sources in the counter insurgency wing said. A senior officer said considering the terror attacks in the state in the past 20 years the ATS should have been created long back, but it’s never too late to make a beginning in the present scenario when terrorism has become a global challenge. Sources in the Crime Branch said Sahai would head the anti-terror squad and ASP ZA Khan in consonance with the former would select a team of dedicated commandos. The officer said the need to constitute the ATS arose after the Special Operations Group (SOG) and the Special Task Force (STF) had been accused of committing human rights violations while combating terrorism. “During the previous PDP-led coalition government, SOG men in particular, were rendered a demoralised lot and a wrong impression had been created about them,” he said, adding that some political outfits had strongly advocated disbanding of the SOG. So there was a need to push the SOG and the STF on the back and come up with the ATS in the state, he said. Further, before embarking upon any mission the SOG and the STF had to seek prior permission from district SSPs, which would not be the case with the ATS, he said. Apart from this, the ATS would also be keeping a track at micro-level, including international gangs involved in Hawala racket and other illegal activities directly or indirectly linked with funding of terror activities in the state, he said. The manpower for the ATS would be met with from the state police.Delinking of terror from talks with Pak flayed
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Army holds course for vets
Udhampur, July 21 This project was organised for the first time for students from SKAUST, Jammu, after its tremendous success in SKUAST, Srinagar. I Brig. A.L Chavan, Commander, 71 Sub Area, who was the chief guest, presented certificates and an equine training manual to the interns who attended the course. This capsule programme would help the student to get expertise in veterinary science, especially to treat ponies and mules.
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Jammu, July 21 Official sources said Ashish Kumar Sharma, 27, son of Madan Mohan Sharma of Janipur Colony, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his room this morning by his family members. Ashish was working in a clinical laboratory in the Kachi Chowni area. The body has been shifted to the Government Medical College and the police has started investigations. Meanwhile, an unidentified man was run over by a goods train and killed at Sainik Colony this morning. The body has been shifted to the GMC for an autopsy and identification. — TNS
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Do’s and don’ts for solar eclipse
Srinagar, July 21 “A partial eclipse will be visible in the state which will begin at 5:40 am and greatest phase will be at 6:30 am in Srinagar. The eclipse will end at 7:24 am,” Aamir stated. He has advised people not to observe the eclipse with the naked eyes as this could damage eyesight. “Do not experiment with other filters unless you are certain that they are safe. Avoid all unnecessary risks. None of these homemade devices is safe,” the officer stated.
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Jammu, July 21 Official sources said Tannu Devi was killed while her eight-year-old brother Arun sustained injuries in the incident. Due to heavy rain in the region yesterday, the thatched roof of the kutcha house collapsed. Arun has been hospitalised in the sub-district hospital of Akhnoor. — TNS
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Srinagar, July 21
Srinagar, July 21