Jammu, August 21
RSS chief Mohanrao Bhagwat said here today that the expulsion of Jaswant Singh from the BJP was that party’s internal matter and the RSS had no role in the decision.

Talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of an interaction with the media at Ved Mandir Complex, Amphala, Bhagwat insisted that Jinnah was not secular, as he had led a movement for a separate state of Pakistan. The RSS had no ill-feelings for Sardar Patel, he added.

“One should move on. Partition was a collective failure of Indian leadership. Any leader who had the power to call shots at that time was responsible. Sardar Patel’s action of banning the RSS may have been necessary for that time’s government, but that does not mean he can be held responsible for Partition.”

To a query on how can the RSS distance itself from the BJP as many of the party’s top leaders are from the RSS, Bhagwat said many RSS activists were running businesses for which the organisation could not be held responsible. “The BJP is to be held accountable for its own activities,” he said.

Earlier, interacting with mediapersons, Bhagwat while referring to the Chintan Baithak of the BJP, said change was the law of nature. “We have changed and will change in future as well. The BJP too can’t resist change. But how and in what manner the party should change is its own prerogative.”

On the contentious issue of the central university in the state, Bhagwat said, “The RSS understands the university is meant for the Jammu region and if it is so then it should be set up there. We are against discrimination of any kind.”

He reiterated that the RSS was against the special status to Jammu and Kashmir. “The special status under Article 370 is actually blocking development. It should go.”

Bhagwat would spend four days in Jammu, where he would address RSS sanchalaks and hold meetings with them.

Jammu, August 21
The Jawahar Tunnel will lose the distinction of being the longest road tunnel in the country as the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is constructing two new tunnels to reduce distance between Jammu and Srinagar.

While one tunnel, 9.2 km long, is being constructed from Chenani to Nasri, the other, 8.2 km long, will run through the Pir Panjal, parallel to the Jawahar Tunnel.

The NHAI has received funds for the project and has invited bids for the mega construction.

Colonel MK Jain, project director, NHAI, said: “The entire project will cost Rs 8,700 crore. The NHAI has started the procedure of inviting bidding for this.”

Colonel Jain hoped the project would not hold up due to acquisition problems, as land from nine districts falling in this stretch would be used.

“We hope that District Commissioners will expedite the matter by acquiring land from land owners by distributing money to them and we can have the possession of land,” he said.

These tunnels would reduce the travel time by three hours between Jammu and Srinagar. Besides, heavy traffic on the road would be reduced.

Other salient features of the route will be that it will obliterate weather-related problem such as deposition of snow, which has been creating long delays and obstructions on the route.

Besides the tunnels, the NHAI is improving curves on the stretch of 8.75 km, passing from 21 km Banihal to Qazigund, to accommodate the rush of traffic.

Jammu, August 21
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) today demanded the setting up of a Tawi-Ujh Rivers’ Development Authority for treating and preserving the two water bodies of the Jammu province.

Addressing party leaders here today, Thakur Randhir Singh, state NCP president and former minister, stressed that such a mechanism was imperative for checking soil erosion due to flashfloods in these two rivers.

Besides, the government should also ensure a judicious and scientific utilisation of waters of these rivers for giving a boost to agriculture, horticulture and herbal wealth so as to bring economic prosperity in the area, he added.

Thakur said a development authority could revolutionise agriculture and allied sectors, besides take care of the preservation of ecology and environment.

He regretted that all previous regimes in the state and at the Centre turned a blind eye to rivers of the Jammu region like the Ujh in Kathua, Basantar in Samba and the Tawi in Jammu.

“Such a lackadaisical attitude has washed away thousands of acres of fertile land in the Jammu region,” Thakur added.

He warned the government of a drought-like situation if it failed to preserve and treat these rivers at the earliest. If steps were not initiated on a war footing, Jammu would also become a desert like Ladakh, he added.

Later, a pledge was also taken on the occasion to preserve environment and increase the green cover up to the source of origin of these rivers till the last point before they flow into Pakistan.

Jammu, August 21
Students of various colleges continued with demonstrations under the banner of the Central University Andolan Samiti (CUAI) in favour of the demand for setting up of a central university in Jammu.

Routine class work remained affected as students of GGM Science College, SPMR College of Commerce and MAM College, boycotted classes and protested in the front of their colleges.

However, classes were conducted smoothly in the Government College for Women, Gandhi Nagar. Meanwhile, the Panthers Party launched a signature campaign at Kachi Chowni in favour of establishing the university in Jammu.

A torch rally was also carried out by members of the CUAS at Akhnoor this evening.

Srinagar, August 21
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has reiterated his government’s determination to cultivate peace for the fast development of far-flung and rural areas.

Addressing a public meeting at Kargil in the Ladakh region today, the Chief Minister said the government functionaries at all levels had been sensitised to work for making development projects a success. NC president and Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah also addressed the meeting.

The Chief Minister said the huge annual plan granted by the UPA government would help the state achieve new goals in the development scenario and provide basic amenities in the far-flung areas of the state. The Centre was being persuaded for the construction of a tunnel in Zojila Pass to make the Srinagar-Leh National Highway all-weather dependable road connectivity.

Farooq said hundreds of MWs of power could be generated in the region by utilising solar and wind energy and also by launching small hydroelectric projects. He assured every support to the state government from his ministry in the field of new and renewable energy.

Farooq asked the state administration and the LAHDC, Kargil, to formulate feasible projects for funding from the Centre.

Meanwhile, promising a new era of high-profile development, Omar said yesterday that the comprehensive and integrated economic uplift of all areas would be ensured in the state.

Addressing a public meeting in the Pattan area of Baramulla district yesterday, the Chief Minister said directions had been given to the administration to spend every penny of the Rs 5500-crore annual plan judiciously to benefit the people.

The Chief Minister said that he would monitor the development projects to ensure that the administration delivered on the ground. “I will work round the clock to seek your welfare and come up to the trust you have reposed in me and my government”, he said, adding that the administration had been sensitised at all levels to be at the beck and call of the people.

Referring to the development of villages and backward areas, the Chief Minister said hundreds of schemes in the fields of education, healthcare, road connectivity, PHE, power supply; sports, social welfare, etc. had already been launched.

Srinagar, August 21
The wall of a hotel building in central Lal Chowk collapsed here this afternoon damaging three rooms on the first floor. No loss of life or injury to anyone in the collapse was reported, though a policeman got injured while rescuing four persons from the building.

The incident took place around 12.15 pm when there was a heavy rush in the market, creating panic among passersby and shopkeepers in the adjacent Kokar Bazaar and Lal Chowk. A part of the building had collapsed yesterday, without causing any damage. Hotel Coronation in the building had closed down some time back, and there was no one inside the damaged structure.

Nearly 100 personnel of the Fire and Emergency Services were tasked to clear the debris. Police and CRPF personnel were deployed around the site to prevent the movement of people, who gathered in a large number. Traffic, however, plied normally after some time.

The police, according to a spokesman, was first to reach the spot. Head constable Sharief-ud-Din of Maisuma police station saw four persons trapped in the hotel. He without caring for his life rescued the four persons. However, he was injured and was taken to the hospital, where his condition was reported to be stable.

The five-storey building close to the damaged structure of Palladium Cinema, where a CRPF bunker is located, had been reconstructed after the damage early in 1993. Several adjoining commercial structures were damaged in an encounter between militants and the security forces in April 1993.

Udhampur, August 21
In an inhuman act, a woman threw her newborn baby girl into the dustbin just after delivery in the district hospital, Udhampur, yesterday and slipped away from the hospital. However, 12 families have approached the hospital authorities as well as the local administration to adopt the baby.

According to the police, a passerby spotted the newborn child lying in the dustbin behind the hospital, near the mortuary. He informed the hospital administration about the baby and she was taken to the hospital immediately for a medical examination and treatment. “The baby is healthy despite having remained unattended in the open for more than four hours,” sources in the hospital said. They said a team of doctors was observing the infant.

The hospital authorities informed the Udhampur police about the incident and a case was registered. Though the police has started investigation to identity the parents of the baby, hospital records suggested that a woman, Neelam Kumari, wife of Uttam Chand of Ramnagar, had delivered this baby yesterday and later thrown her into the dustbin.

“The woman might have written a fake address and name in the hospital records to hide her real identity,” police sources said. They admitted that according to the hospital Neelam Kumari, who delivered a baby girl yesterday, had slipped away from the hospital with the newborn.

Only two women gave birth to baby girls yesterday. While the other woman was still in the hospital, Neelam Kumari left the hospital unnoticed last night. The police has constituted two teams of identify the parents of the baby.

Meanwhile, 12 families have come forward to adopt the child.

Jammu, August 21
One more person has tested positive for H1N1 virus here, taking the total number to six since August 11.

Epidemiologist Dr RS Charak said a 51-year-old man from the Dilli area of Sainik Colony was tested positive for swine flu. The patient had been quarantined in his house, he said, adding that he was showing signs of improvement.

Sources said the patient might have contracted the virus from other source and not from his son, who had gone to Pune recently. However, blood report of his son was tested negative, they added.

Meanwhile, blood samples of two more suspected swine flu patients have been sent to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), New Delhi.

Srinagar, August 21
Minister for Rural Development Ali Mohammad Sagar said providing job to every job card holder under the NREGA had become a law under which the government was bound to pay wages even if it failed to provide employment to the card holder.

When asked about the number of employment days provided to job card holders under the NREGA during Question Hour in the Assembly here today, the minister said during the last financial year, nearly 79.24 lakh man days were generated under the scheme and an amount of Rs 86.89 crore was provided to job card holders.

He said wages to them were being paid according to the guidelines and instructions issued to them.

Jammu, August 21
The police went into a tizzy today after 35-year old Pradeep Kumar of Dogra Hall sustained a bullet injury in his right thigh in the Dogra Hall area.

Pradeep Kumar told the police that the bullet went off from the .32 bore revolver of his friend, Onkar Sharma of Amb Gharota area, who had come to meet him at his office.

The victim and his friend had licensed revolvers. While all rounds were found intact in the victim’s revolver, a shell of cartridges used in .32 bore revolvers was recovered from the spot, the police said.

The two friends wanted to exchange their weapons one of which went off accidentally in Pardeep’s office, injuring the victim, said the police.

The police said while Pardeep’s loaded revolver had been found, that of Onkar had been requisitioned. The police was ascertaining their credentials to find out if the two property dealers had a criminal past.