Srinagar, August 22
The strike call by the Hurriyat faction led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani affected normal life today as an overwhelming majority of shops private offices remained closed.

The government did try its best to ensure presence of its employees in offices, as a strike provides many an excuse to keep away, but the unavailability of buses and SUVs, which ferry passengers around the valley, affected the traffic movement.

The Hurriyat had called for a strike against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement in his Independence Day address that the successful holding of back-to-back elections, first for the Assembly followed by for Parliament, made the separatists “irrelevant” in the state. “We wanted Manmohan Singh to know that we are as significant as we have always been,” a Hurriyat spokesperson said.

The separatist bastion of Baramulla old town and Sopore, the home town of Geelani, saw protests by his supporters and the police had to use force to disperse a stone-throwing crowd. Some people, including police personnel, were injured.

The summer capital ,otherwise, was largely quiet and saw a little more traffic than usually seen on strike days. Auto-rickshaws were running and some shops in the interiors and residential areas were open.

Apparently excited over some activities, the government went on to claim in a statement released in the evening that “normal activities in the Kashmir valley remained unaffected”. Offices and educational Institutions functioned normally with the presence of most of the employees, it said.

The spokesperson said shops and commercial establishments worked as usual in Lal Chowk and all other main areas of the city, a claim unlikely to be bought by many witnesses.

Srinagar, August 22
Legislative Assembly Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone today took a serious note of the complaint by an Independent member Ashwini Kumar Sharma against inadequate coverage provided by the State Information Department to the House proceedings.

The issue was raised by Ashwini Kumar soon after Question Hour. He said the issue regarding the coverage in the local print and electronic media had already been taken up in the House earlier. The Speaker during the first week of the Assembly session, in response to a similar complaint against the local print and electronic media, had left it to the conscience of the media. Most of the reporters missed Question Hour today due to the change in timings of the session that had been prorogued by an hour. The change, announced by the Speaker yesterday, was circulated by the department later this afternoon.

An agitated ruling coalition member, Vikar Rasool Wani of the Congress, walked out of the House after he failed to raise his issue during Zero Hour. Even as the Speaker cautioned him against pointing a finger at the government since he belonged to the treasury bench, Vikar continued with his agitation. The opposition members, mainly from the PDP, asked him to shift to their side, but he instead walked out of the House.

Even as other members, including Mubarak Gul (NC), adviser to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and Shabir Ahmad Khan (Cong), a Minister of State, advised him to return, Vikar walked out of the House in protest.

Since the Budget session of the Assembly began in the summer capital on July 27, several members were of the view that they were not getting due time to raise issues of public importance concerning their respective constituencies. A number of times, the members both from the ruling NC and the Congress and the PDP and the CPM had staged a walkout over the issue. The members had been vigorously trying to raise their issues both during Question Hour and Zero Hour, with the result not more than five questions out of the listed over 25 questions were being taken up during Question Hour daily.

Lone had been impressing upon the members not to make frequent interventions, particularly during Question Hour, much to the resentment of the members. He made a special plea to the members yesterday also not to lead to discussions while taking up supplementary questions, as the session was coming to a close soon. He told the members that he would like to accommodate more questions during Question Hour, while only five questions could be taken up during Question Hour today.

Srinagar, August 22
The government said today that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah never gave any assurance to provide government jobs or a stipend to unemployed youths in the state. “The CM did not give any assurance to provide government jobs or stipend or sustenance allowance to unemployed youths... It is pre-mature to make any commitment in this behalf at this juncture,” Minister for Labour and Employment Abdul Gani Malik told the Assembly in a written reply to a question by PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig. Omar had reportedly promised stipend to unemployed youth till they get jobs during election meetings.

Malik, however, said the financial and administrative implications of providing sustenance allowance to youth would need to be examined in depth before making any policy in this regard.

The government has created 11,163 posts in various departments during the current year, out of which 1,428 gazetted posts and 3,632 non-gazetted posts have been referred to two recruiting agencies PSC and SSRB.

Giving this information in reply to a question in the Legislative Assembly, Minister for Labour and Employment Abdul Gani Malik said 5,781 other posts had been referred to the Police Recruitment Board since January this year. He said despite limited resources, the government was committed to provide employment to the youth of the state, for which all alternatives in public, private and industrial sectors were being explored. A new skill development initiative was proposed to be established for imparting intensive skills to school dropouts and unemployed youth, he said.

The government has also come up with a Mission Skill Development Programme under which five million youth of the state would be trained in market-oriented trades to develop them as productive human resources up to 2022.

Srinagar, August 22
The government was keen on devolution of power to public representatives and sought to take people on board in the process of plan formation and execution of works in accordance with the local requirements. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said this while addressing public meetings in the Gurez area of Bandipore district in north Kashmir yesterday.

Promising a new era of development in the state, the Chief Minister said the coalition government was determined to provide equal opportunity to every area in the economic growth.

He said involvement of people in the process of planning and development was sine qua non to meet their development aspirations, especially in remote, far-flung and cut-off areas like Gurez, Tulail, Tangdar, Drass, Zanskar, Karnah, Padder, Marwah, Dachhan, Warwan etc.

“We have received a huge annual plan of Rs 5,500 crore, besides Rs 1,200 crore under the PMRP to carry forward the development of the state on fast track,” Omar said. He said the funds provided by the Centre this year were over and above the allocations.

Referring to the difficulties faced by the people in remote areas during winters due to the blockade of road communication by heavy snowfall, he said the government was actively considering hiring of M-17 helicopter service for these areas.

Jammu, August 22
The CBI today conducted simultaneous raids at five places and unearthed a fraud running into crores allegedly involving a senior banker of the State Bank of India (SBI) and two local businessmen.

Initial investigations showed a fraud of Rs 18 crore, sources in the CBI told The Tribune. One of the businessmen already owed Rs 82 crore to the bank.

The sources said while one of the two businessmen with the connivance of the banker availed a loan of Rs 4 crore in the name of around 12 fictitious firms, the other floated 15 fake firms to avail a loan of Rs 14 crore.

They said the second businessman also owed a whopping Rs 82 crore to the SBI. In total contravention to the rules, huge overdrafts were allowed to the two businessmen in the name of fake firms, they added.

LA Kachru, Chief Manager of the SBI at the Satwari branch, and other bank officials allegedly allowed overdrafts to the firms floated by businessmen Satish Gupta, a resident of Gandhi Nagar, and Dr Kulbhushan Nahar, a resident of Patel Market, Parade, the CBI souces added.

A senior CBI official said Kulbhushan had availed an overdraft of Rs 4 crore for fictitious firms, which he had floated in the name of his sons, father and employees. He runs an ayurvedic medicine factory and a clinic under the name of “Humane Clinic” in the industrial estate of Ashok Nagar. He had also been running his fake firms from one or two small rooms in the clinic, he added.

From the scrutiny of the bank’s records, the involvement of Kachru could not be ruled out, as no formalities, whatsoever, were followed for allowing an overdraft of Rs 4 crore to Kulbhushan, he said. Similarly, the CBI detected another fraud of Rs 14 crore in the same branch, the CBI official said.

He said an overdraft of Rs 14 crore was allowed to the owner of Surya Ved Products Limited, Satish Gupta, a resident of Gandhi Nagar. He also owed Rs 82 crore to the bank, he added. This businessman, who runs a factory in the Gangyal area, had also floated 15 fake firms, said the official.

“However, no arrests were made, but we seized relevant documents from all five places where sleuths of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) conducted simultaneous raids,” the CBI official said.

The raids were conducted in the factory of Dr Kulbhushan Nahar at Ashok Nagar, at his Patel Market residence, Satish Gupta’s factory in Gangyal, at his Gandhi Nagar residence and SBI Chief Manager Kachru’s Channi Himmat residence in Sector 3 here.

The five teams were headed by Additional SP, ACB, KL Raina and SSP MK Bhat supervised the entire operation.

Jammu, August 22
Chasing her dream of higher education, she stepped out of her home against the wishes of her parents, only to find her in the police net along with activists of a student organisation who tried to help her transform her dream into reality.

Marvi Salathia, a resident of Hatli Morh in Kathua, reportedly fled her home on Thursday last and approached the Progressive Students Association (PSA) in Jammu for help. The organisation got her admitted to Government College for Women, Gandhi Nagar, yesterday. However, the family of the girl lodged a missing report with the police maintaining that she had been kidnapped.

Marvi (19) passed the senior secondary exams this year in first division. She was allegedly being brutalised by the mother and her paramour, as she was opposed to their illicit relation and was not allowed to pursue higher education.

“My mother has extra-marital affairs and my father is a mute spectator to all this. She does not like me and wants me not to pursue my studies,” Marvi alleged while recording her statement to the police in front of students of Jammu University at Sarojini Naidu Women Hostel. She added: “No one had kidnapped or detained me here.”

“I was beaten up even during exams, but still I managed to secure 65 per cent marks in the higher secondary exams. I could not crack the common entrance test,” she repented.

“I was being threatened of dire consequences. My father works in Delhi and is knowingly silent over it. How can I risk my life by going back home? Henceforth, I have decided to live and study on my own,” she added.

On account of the missing report filed with the police, SHO Nayat Ali kept insisting on taking the girl to Kathua. He maintained that Marvi would be kept at Nari Niketan so that she could be produced before the court on Monday. However, Marvi and hostelers protested the police move saying she would stay with them as she was not a minor or a criminal.

Intriguingly, the father of the girl, who had come with the police party, did not utter a single word. Later, the police left the campus after recording Marvi’s statement.

“The police has been harassing our activists. So far, it has victimised our three associates,” alleged PSA president Rahul. He added, “Marvi came to Jammu after talking to Garib Dass, SSP, Kathua, over the phone on August 20. But now the police is working under pressure. It has been calling our activists to the police station at odd hours.” “We acted upon the complaint of the family. We have also recorded the statement of the girl, who is a major. She would be produced before the local court on Monday,” said the SHO.

Jammu, August 22
Prolonged dry spell in the region has caused a scarcity of fodder in the region. Following this, the spiralling cost of fodder has made milk dearer here.

Due to a low yield of wheat this year, the prices of wheat straw have witnessed an eight-fold increase in its prices. Earlier, wheat straw was available here at Rs 1 to 2 per kg, but now it is being sold at Rs 9 per kg.

“Despite selling milk at Rs 25 or Rs 30 per litre, we are incurring heavy losses. We will be ruined if the government failed to provide relief to us,” rued Wazir Khan, a milkman, adding that, “Before fixing the prices of milk, the government must take into consideration the rate of increase in the prices of fodder.”

The Gujjars are the worst hit as they are traditionally linked with milk production and its supply in Jammu. The fodder scarcity is likely to decrease the production of milk, leading to an increase in the prices of milk and milk products across the region.

“Jammu is a rain-fed area. Due to the delayed rain, there is no fodder. Earlier, we used to procure green fodder every year but this time we are not getting any supply from adjoining villages except from the areas situated along the Ranbir canal. But the supply is too scarce to meet the demand,” said Rehari, a fodder shop owner.

“People in our village are getting wheat straw from a neighbouring state,” said Roshan Singh, a trader of milk products from Kathua here.

He said city traders were charging exorbitant prices for fodder.

Srinagar, August 22
Agriculture and food-based estates can be developed in Kashmir as an alternative to combat unemployment.

Mohammad Ashraf, former Director Tourism, has said this during a seminar - Unemployment and lack of opportunities for Kashmir - organised by the All Jammu Kashmir Students Front here.

Ashraf said the youths should look beyond government jobs and stressed productive employment avenues.

He said the youths in Kashmir should concentrate on agriculture and food-based industrial sector.

He opined the local people should invest in the productive forms of generating employment instead of going after constructing lavish houses, big shopping complexes and hotels.

Udhampur, August 22
Nearly 5.8 lakh pilgrims from within and outside the state have visited Lord Shiva’s Cave Shrine in Sanger Hills of Ransoo village in Pouni block of Reasi district till August 20.

It was disclosed by District Development Commissioner, Reasi, Pandurang Pole, who is also the vice-chairman of the Shri Shiv Khori Shrine Board, during a meeting convened in his office.

Pole disclosed that during the same period of last calendar year, about 3.56 lakh pilgrims had darshan of the holy Shiv Lingam and other deities existing in the cave, thus, registering an increase of about 2.24 lakh pilgrims this time so far.

This shrine cave is now emerging as one of the most growing pilgrimage destination of Jammu province after the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine cave.

Threadbare discussion were held during the meeting with regard to improvement of facilities for pilgrims which include accommodation, drinking water, uninterrupted power supply, rain shelter sheds with toilets, medicare facilities, plantation of medicinal plants along the track, construction of bus stand at Ransoo, installation of railing around Shiv Lingam, barricading, fencing the en route track for safety of pilgrims, display of boards at suitable places etc.

The DDC issued on the spot instructions to the officers concerned for initiation of fresh initiatives and early completion of developmental projects already taken in hand to provide better infrastructure facilities to the pilgrims.