Srinagar, August 23
Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir has said the state suffered Rs 406 crore losses in agriculture and Rs 100 crore in horticulture due to the continued dry spell and unfair weather.

Addressing a meeting of agriculture ministers in New Delhi, Mir said major kharif crops like maize, pulses, vegetables, paddy, oil seeds etc had suffered considerable loss.

He said the maize crop had suffered about 50 per cent damage, pulses 100 per cent and paddy 20 per cent loss due to water stress. He said the horticulture industry in the state too suffered badly due to minimal rainfall and fruits like apple, cherry, pear and walnut had suffered the maximum damage.

Mir said the quantum of loss in the Jammu province had been between 55 and 80 per cent, while in Kashmir about 20 to 30 per cent horticulture crop had been damaged.

The minister, according to an official spokesman, informed the meeting that though the Kashmir valley was not dependent on the monsoon, western disturbances determined the normal cropping efficiency here. But this time, he said, there was a departure from this normal meteorological phenomenon, which resulted in a drought-like situation.

Mir said water discharge into the perennial sources of irrigation like rivers and canals had also declined due to a decrease in precipitation. As a result, he said, the sowing of different crops and the transplantation of paddy got delayed, affecting the crop yield.

The minister informed the meeting that consequent upon this loss the reduction in foodgrain production was estimated to be at 4.5 lakh tonnes, which could further go up.

He said already the state received only 63,067 MTs of foodgrains per month against the actual requirement of 1.31 lakh MTs. He also sought additional support of fertilisers and seeds for starting an early rabi season in the state.

Udhampur, August 23
Infuriated over alleged harassment by officials, truck drivers this morning attacked a checking squad of the Motor Vehicle Department (MVD) near Jakhani and inflicted severe injuries to an inspector.

Sources said three of the four MVD officials managed to escape from the spot while as an inspector, identified as Rajesh Gupta, trapped in the stone pelting. The drivers assaulted him and extensively damaged the vehicle.

A team of the MVD has reportedly started checking the trucks near Jakhani on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway on late Saturday evening. This morning when the team was returning, a group of truck drivers, who had laid a ‘naka’ for them, resorted to stone-pelting.

The incident happened in front of a large number of people but no one come forward to rescue MVD officials. The truck drivers later managed to escape from the spot. After getting the information, the police rushed to the spot and shifted the injured official to the hospital.

Meanwhile, the Udhampur police has picked up about half a dozen suspects for identification parade. “We have registered a case,” the Udhampur SSP said.

Jammu, August 23
The entire Hindu community of the country is ready to stand with the agitating students of the Jammu region who have been demanding the setting up of the central university in Jammu.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who is on a three-day visit to the state, said today that like the last year’s Amarnath land agitation, this time too, the entire nation would stand behind the people of Jammu in support of their demand for setting up of the central university in Jammu.

“The people of Jammu should not feel they are alone. The entire Hindu community is with them,” Bhagwat said. He said some vested interests were bent upon to break the integrity of the country and divide the people on various lines. However, the community should remain united to fight any challenge, he said.

Commenting on the Kashmir issue, he said Kashmir was an integral part of India and no power could succeed in separating it from the nation.

Srinagar, August 23
Kashmiri Pandits today dismissed as ‘baseless’ claims made by the state government that it had renovated 90 of the 174 temples damaged during militancy. “The government’s claim is baseless as no temple has been renovated. Let the government identify the renovated temples or name the organisation that has received the ex gratia purported to have been given by it,” Vinod Pandita, chairman of the All-Party Migrants Coordination Committee, said today.

The government said in the Assembly yesterday that out of 174 temples damaged during militancy, 90 had been given ex gratia and renovated. Pandita also demanded a CBI probe into the encroachment of temples and their properties. “There were about 500 temples in the valley before the eruption of militancy. Of them 77 per cent had been occupied by politicians, bureaucrats and land mafia,” he alleged.

Pandita claimed that the government had constructed a forest checkpost and a public health centre on temple land at Sgam-Kokernag, 80 km from here, in Anantnag.

Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) president Sanjay Tickoo said “Kashmir had 565 temples in 1990 of which 522 have been damaged. Among these, 21 were completely destroyed while 21 are occupied by the security forces”. He also refuted the state government’s claim that 33,449 families of Kashmiri Pandits were registered with relief organisation in Jammu. What happened to the others who fled Kashmir after the outbreak of militancy? Tickoo asked.

Tickoo also termed as “false” the government claim for bringing back the migrants. “If government is really sincere, why is it spending crores of rupees in constructing residential flats in Jammu,” the KPSS president said. — PTI 

Udhampur, August 23
The disciplinary committee constituted by Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Saifuddin Soz has served show-cause notices on all rebel leaders who had contested the Assembly elections against official party candidates. These rebels have been directed to reply to the show cause notices within 10 days.

Party sources disclosed that RS Pathania, general secretary of the Pradesh Youth Congress, who had contested the Assembly election as a rebel candidate from Ramnagar in Udhampur district, had also been served the notice. Pathania, whose return to the party was almost finalised with the intervention of PYC chief Mohammad Amin Bhat, had to wait for some more time, as a strong lobby within the PCC had been opposing his home coming.

As a rebel candidate, Pathania had secured about 10,000 votes from the Ramnagar segment, while official Congress candidate Thakur Dass had got only 1,200 votes. It was all due to his performance in the Assembly elections that the party had decided to take him back. But due to pressure from a strong faction, his return was also delayed.

Interestingly, the Ramnagar unit of the Congress has been demanding the return of Pathania to the party, but due to pressure from a senior leader the disciplinary committee had been creating hurdles in his home coming. Pathania belongs to the Ghulam Nabi Azad’s lobby and the party had assured to take him back.

Besides Pathania, notices have also been served on Ashok Sharma, Balwan Singh, Shivdev Singh and Babu Singh. All these dissidents had contested the Assembly elections as rebel candidates and had secured more votes than the official party nominees.

To keep a check on indiscipline in the party, Soz had constituted a disciplinary committee headed by Thakur Hari Singh. For the past one month, the disciplinary committee had been examining cases of all leaders against whom complaints of indiscipline had been received. This committee had decided to first settle the cases of all those who had contested the Assembly elections as rebel candidates.

Srinagar, August 23
MLAs cutting across party lines have made a pitch for withdrawing incentives to big companies for setting up plants in the state and asked the government to give instead a boost to the state's domestic products like handicrafts and fruits.

Speaking against a series of concessions to industries, senior NC MLAs Mir Saifullah and Choudhary Ramzan yesterday asked the government in the Assembly to ponder over its industrial policy to revive the state's ailing fortunes in this all-important sector.

Ramzan said 16,119 of the 36,000 registered companies were "untraceable", which proved that thousands of companies were raised in names to benefit from incentives and concessions.

Panthers Party MLA Harshdev Singh supported the two MLAs and said the previous government had given subsidies to 2,992 units in Jammu and 12,855 in Kashmir and all of them later turned out to be fake units. "It requires a serious investigation," he demanded.

He said 169 units in Jammu and 190 in Kashmir were sick and the government had given loans to seven of them in Jammu and 59 in Kashmir. Harshdev Singh said the numbers of units given subsidies or loans indicated a bias of the government for Kashmir-based units and it should be avoided.

Harshdev Singh expressed his surprise over the sudden withdrawal of excise concessions to the units in J&K by the Centre, saying that it resulted in a loss to the state. The 100 per cent excise concession was meant to last 10 years but was withdrawn in the middle, he said, asking the state government to take up the matter with Delhi.

Mir Saifullah said thousands of companies were registered in the state only for subsidies and provided no real benefits to the state. "We should realise that big industrial houses would not come to the state and if they do, they will come only to benefit from our concessions and incentives. We should concentrate on our crafts and fruits which are big exports from our state," he said.

Srinagar, August 23
The Gujjars, through Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, have filed a case in a consumer court against eight cellular mobile companies. The firms have been accused of “consumer fraud, false advertising and deceptive trade practices by misrepresenting Gojri” - native language of Gujjars, a spokesperson for the foundation said here today. The mobile companies are BSNL, Airtel, Aircel, Vodafone, Reliance, Idea, Spice and Tata Indicom.

The spokesperson said the “ignorance and neglect” of Gojri language by these companies has compelled the body for initiating legal proceedings against them. This was stated by Javaid Rahi, national secretary of the foundation. The other reason, he said, was the almost defunct services provided by them. “One third of the consumers are Gojri speaking, but they have been ignored in providing quality service and computerised answers in Gojri.” In Jammu and Kashmir, the cellular mobile companies are providing services and ring tones in regional languages like Kashmiri, Dogri and Ladakhi while Gojri is being ignored. 

Srinagar, August 23
The PDP today threatened to mobilise public opinion against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) if it was not repealed. "We demand repealing the AFSPA. We would intensify mobilisation of public opinion against the draconian law," a party spokesman said.

"If ever it had any utility, the law has clearly outlived that and the vastly improved ground situation has made it an unnecessary tool of repression," he said, adding that it had to be repealed as the starting point for opening a new chapter of reconciliation.

Referring to the Prime Minister's remarks on Kashmir on Independence Day, the spokesman pointed out that it was after many years that the Independence Day message had undergone a total reversal from that of hope to despair by blocking the avenues of dialogue.

Recalling the success of the people in having their genuine demands about the Amarnath land and start of trade across the LoC conceded, the spokesman said these could be achieved only through peaceful and democratic assertion of people's power.

He said no gun or violent agitation could have made it possible and the PDP is confident that the AFSPA would also be rolled back under popular pressure which it would try to channelise in and outside the Assembly within the democratic space.

Stressing the need for reducing the presence of troops in civilian areas, the spokesman said the full revival of civil institutions could not be avoided for long. The security forces have to go back to the barracks after having fought violence, both in their own interest and that of the state and the country, he added. — PTI

Jammu, August 23
Concerned over the increased attempts of infiltration in the Jammu region, the BSF has decided to modernise border outposts (BoP). The BSF would increase its strength by adding 29 battalions and nine section headquarters, increasing its strength by 35,000 personnel.

The BSF will modernise 509 BoPs of which 305 would be on the eastern border with Bangladesh and the rest on the western border with Pakistan.

As per official sources, there has been a surge in cross-border infiltration which last year was the lowest. “While 126 militants managed to cross over to India last year, the numbers of infiltrators entering Indian territory in the past eight months of the current year has already crossed 236,” a senior police officer said.

Last week’s infiltration attempt by terrorists from the Ramgarh sector in the Jammu region has forced the BSF to take measures to augment its infrastructure and vigil along the border.

Whereas the BSF had claimed that it had foiled the infiltration attempt, intelligence reports say that four terrorists had managed to infiltrate.

“The BSF has cleaned bushes, installed tall lights and has increased the vigil at the spot from where the militants had managed to infiltrate into India last year,” said a resident of the Suchetgarh sector in Samba district from where militants had managed to infiltrate and launch a terrorist attack, killing six persons.

Rajouri, August 23
Exposing claims of the state government regarding its preparedness during the holy month of Ramazan, the Power Development Department (PDD) has resorted to unscheduled power cuts on the first day of the ongoing auspicious month.

According to the residents, the PDD had yesterday imposed a power cut for one-and-half hours and today also the unscheduled power cut from 12 noon to 4 pm was making things difficult for those who were on a fast amidst such humid weather conditions.

“Unscheduled power cut yesterday and today has marred the Ramzan celebrations,” said Tazeem Dar, political activist and resident of Kheora area of Rajouri.

“Every year the government claims of better preparedness during the holy

month. The unscheduled power cuts speak much of its hollow claims,” he added.

A senior officer of the PDD on the condition of anonymity said the department had to resort to unscheduled power cuts due to increase in load.

Srinagar, August 23
Asking the prospective innovators to dream big and set higher targets, Prof Ghulam Mohi-ud-din Bhat, chairman, GAIN Cell, has urged the youth to come out with innovative ideas so as to achieve bigger things in life.

Speaking at a meeting of GAIN Cell, Prof Bhat talked about some success stories and also stressed upon the importance of innovations in entrepreneurial adventures.

“This meeting is being organised as a part of sensitisation of people vis-à-vis promotion of culture of innovation. This would go a long way in encouraging people to set up their innovative units. This is a platform where innovators can share their ideas,” he said.

Prof Bhat said Entrepreneurship Development Cell (EDC) would provide technical expertise to the youth who want to come out with innovative things. “The EDC has come a long way in disseminating information about entrepreneurship and innovations,” he added.

Dr Vipin Kumar, chief innovative officer at the National Innovation Foundation said the body was set up by at Ahmedabad by the Department of Science and Technology in February 2000 to achieve its goals through a non-government spirit and by drawing upon the honeybee network with its collaborating partners.

Jammu, August 23
Justice Sunil Hali of the J&K High Court has dismissed the writ petition of Kashmira Singh Kahlon, while turning down his submissions that he being the senior most was ignored for promotion to the post of Deputy Commandant on October 10, 1998.

Kashmira Singh Kahlon sought quashing of the said order, in which his juniors had been promoted over and above him, and claimed promotion w.e.f the date his juniors were promoted and consequentially sought restoration of his seniority in the cadre of Deputy Commandant. He also sought annulment of inquiry proceedings initiated against him under provisions of the BSF Act and Rules.

However, the BSF stated that the official was accused of accepting money from a smuggler, Tapan Haldar, for giving a safe passage for smuggling of goods and maintaining illicit relations with a local woman.

He was tried by the General Security Force Court from February 3 to March 1 (2001) on seven charges and was awarded a sentence of forfeiture of three-year service for pension and one year for promotion.

On consideration for eventual promotion to the rank of Deputy Commandant by the DPC on November 10, 1998, he was found unfit due to institution of inquiries on serious allegations of connivance with smugglers and for having illicit relations with a woman, and resultantly was superseded. The petitioner’s seniority position was changed in view of fact that direct recruits were shown over and above him.Justice Sunil Hal, while dismissing the writ petition, observed: “There is no dispute that seniority is one of the criteria for promoting a person. But promotion has to be made after assessing the merit of the person. At the time when the matter with regard to promotion was under consideration, the petitioner’s conduct was already under scrutiny.

It was only after consideration of the service record, he was found unfit. The inquiry ultimately concluded in his conviction by the General Security Force Court (GSFC).

The petitioner has not questioned the findings of the GSFC except seeking a vague direction of quashing the proceedings. There is no specific prayer for quashing the findings of the GSFC, as such, no relief can be granted on this count.”