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Central Varsity
Central Varsity
Omar Abdullah assures steps to revoke AFSPA
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Govt to unbundle
power dept: CM
LeT militant shot dead in Kishtwar
Security vehicle attacked
Army a ‘big employer’ of state youths
High Court acquits militant
Drive to plant 4,500 saplings
Jammu gears up for Navratras
Scholars’ body threatens stir
Ban on sale of combat dresses
Poppy seized; one held
Man held on suspicion found innocent
CM favours talks with Pak, local leaders
Lecture on swine flu
2 test positive for swine flu
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Central Varsity
Srinagar, August 27 Uproarious scenes were witnessed when Abdul Gani Malik, Minister for Higher Education, gave a written reply to the clubbed question of six members, Harsh Dev Singh, Balwant Singh Mankotia, Mir Zahoor Ahmad, Yashpaul Kundal, Ashwani Kumar Sharma and Ashok Khajuria. Even as the question hour came to an end, the members from different parties raised anti-government slogans and walked out of the Assembly. Harsh Dev Singh of the Panthers Party said even after a lapse of eight months, no land had been identified by the government in any part of the state for the central university. He blamed the government for inaction and negligence and wanted to know whether the decision to set up the university had been withheld by the Central government. Intervening on the issue, Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla and Minister for Medical Education RS Chib said there was some delay while a delegation led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had a meeting with the Prime Minister to set up two universities in the state. The ministers clarified that there was no withholding of the decision to set up the central university already sanctioned. They added that a decision would be taken soon to resolve the crisis. Earlier the Higher Education Minister said the Central government had sanctioned a central university, an IIM, 11 OBC Degree Colleges, 18 polytechnics and five ITIs for the state, the locations for these were yet to be identified. He said 500 acres were required for the central university, and 200 acres for the IIM. Teams at the level of the Central and state governments had been constituted for the identification and inspection of the chosen sites. He said three sites in Jammu and four sites in the valley had been identified having different dimensions. |
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Central Varsity
Udhampur, August 27 Sources in the CUAS said instead of intensifying the on-going agitation, it had been decided to first strengthen the organisation at the grass-roots level to make the stir a mass movement. The samiti activists had been trying to rope in some non-political leaders who were active in the Amarnath land agitation, besides Muslim leaders. “Instead of depending on traditional politicians, we have selected some fresh and apolitical persons to lead the agitation,” a senior CUAS leader said. The CUAS is also involving more and more Muslim leaders to counter “the alleged vicious propaganda of Kashmiri rulers”. “Every struggle against discrimination with Jammu has been dubbed as communal by the Kashmiri rulers to defend their biased policies,” alleged Pawan Sharma, an activist of the CUAS. He said Muslims of Jammu would lead the agitation this time. During their visit to Ramnagar, the CUAS leaders sought the support of Muslims. It had also been maintaining a distance from BJP leaders. Though BJP activists had been active in the stir, its leaders had been asked not to come onto the front. |
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Omar Abdullah assures steps to revoke AFSPA
Srinagar, August 27 The Chief Minister was replying to the discussion on grants to the four departments under his supervision in the state Assembly here today. Omar said the discussion was more on politics than the demands for grants to four departments that invited 529 cut motions. Referring to incidents like Bomai and Shopian that rocked the valley, the Chief Minister said utmost care was taken to prevent any human rights violations. He assured the House and the people of the state that incidents like Shopian would not be repeated. Omar said that the situation that prevailed during the recent months due to Shopian incident when stone pelting and bandhs became a common feature, certain preventive measures were necessary. “I do not want leaders like Geelani sahib to be kept under detention…I wish to release them gradually”, he said. While Syed Bashir Ahmad, PDP member, walked out in protest against not being allowed to raise his issue, the Chief Minister criticised him for making much noise on issues like revocation of the AFSPA, human rights violations and political resolutions to the Kashmir issue. Holding that the PDP’s claims on fear psychosis among the people were wrong, Omar said there was a decline in the percentage of the incidents of violence, killings at the hands of militants and cross firing and other incidents. Omar revealed that 517 civilians were killed during the first seven months of the Mufti government, while the number was at 53 during the first seven months of the present coalition government. |
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Govt to unbundle
power dept: CM
Srinagar, August 27 Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said today that these were viable options to deal with problems bedeviling the power sector and gave a detailed reply to opposition members’ charge, with even some ruling alliance members expressing concern, that the government had forfeited its resources to central agencies like the NHPC while it suffered from an acute power shortage. He said the transmission and distribution losses in the state were a whopping 72 per cent and the government could get back only Rs 750 crore through bill payments against Rs 2200 crore it had spent on purchasing power. The CM said the Baglihar project had been handed over to the NHPC for only two years on a contractual basis because the successive state governments could not train their staff and raise resources required to run a massive project like Baglihar. He said raising money by selling shares of corporations in the open market could solve the state’s financial woes to an extent and the JKSPDC seemed to be the only government enterprise capable of attracting investors. “Much smaller companies raise huge money from the market so why not us. We need investment in the power sector,” he said. Omar Abdullah said it would not be proper to blame the Indus Water Treaty, which restricted the use of rivers flowing through the state by India, for the state’s power woes as they had been unable to utilise available resources. “We have a potential of generating 14000 MW but have realised only 12 per cent of it,” he said. He said his government was working to generate 4000 MW and these projects would take years to complete. He said the government had entered into MoUs with outside agencies for only three of these projects, which would generate over 1100 MW. “It would be wonderful if we could raise all generation plants on our own, but we do not have money. It is better to have something than nothing,” he said. |
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LeT militant shot dead in Kishtwar
Udhampur, August 27 Police sources said the security forces started a search operation on information about the presence of militants in the forest area of Sedwa in the Keshwan belt. Militants hiding there resorted to indiscriminate firing with automatic weapons. During the ensuing encounter, top LeT militant Ashif Iqbal, alias Abdul Salam, a resident of the Sheraj area in Doda, was killed. The slain militant had let loose a reign of terror in the Keshwan area. Another militant, Habibullah, reportedly managed to escape from the site. Salam's killing is being seen as a success by the security forces for he was coordinating the terror activities between the LeT and other outfits, including the Hizbul Mujahideen, in the area. Sources said Salam was earlier associated with the Hizbul Mujahideen. |
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Security vehicle attacked
Srinagar, August 27 The militants hurled the grenade towards the vehicle at Pattan, 27 km from here on the Srinagar-Baramulla National Highway this afternoon. It, however, missed the target and landed in an open drain, where it went off with a big bang without causing any casualty, the sources said. The police reached the spot and frisked pedestrians, who were moving on the road, but no one was arrested, they said. The attack took place at a time when security has been beefed up on the highway in view of the weekly bus service ‘Carvan-e-Aman’, between Srinagar and the PoK. The buses, however, plied as per schedule. They carried 37 residents of the PoK from this side to “Aman Sethu” (peace bridge) at the LoC in the Uri sector, and returned with 22 passengers, who had gone across to meet their relatives, the sources said.
— PTI |
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Films depicted Kashmir wrongly: Nandita
Srinagar, August 27 During a lecture organised here by the Anhad Institute of Media Studies (AIMS) today, Nandita said Kashmir had always been covered for wrong reasons with casualties hitting the headlines of newspapers. She said issues confronting people were neglected and not covered in right earnest. She stressed on carrying people-to-people contact between India and Pakistan while arriving at a solution to the Kashmir dispute. “People living at a particular place can analyse and judge situation in a better manner than those coming from outside. So local filmmakers should come forward and make films on the situation prevailing in their homeland,” says the actress. Nandita said Indian culture was not fragile that it could be ‘ruined’ by depiction of certain characters in some films. She says that films showing jingoism can lead to serious repercussions and it would be better if such films were
not made. “In the recent past films like ‘Lamhaa’ (yet to be released) have depicted the true picture of Kashmir,” the actress said. However, senior producer Mushtaque Ali Khan objected to this and said that Muslim staff of the ‘Lamhaa’ was taken away from shooting. He was supported by Shabir Mujahid, deputy director, Doordarshan Kendra, Srinagar, who said films like ‘Bub’ and ‘Sheen’ had distorted the image of Kashmir. Senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari who moderated the proceedings viewed that Kashmiris have plethora of complaints against Bollywood saying that films like ‘Roja’ and ‘Mission Kashmir’ portrayed a completely different picture about Kashmir. Gauhar Raza, director of the AIMS, said: “A small step like this will bring a change. We’ve taken the step to introduce personalities.” Later, Nandita awarded renowned Kashmiri poetesses during a special programme series — SUKOON (campaign against suicides) — at SKICC in Srinagar. |
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Army a ‘big employer’ of state youths
Udhampur, August 27 The Army is also boosting human resource development in the state, as it has employed a large number of youths. “Every year, 800 to 1,000 soldiers are recruited in the Army from the state,” said Brig G. Murali of the Udhampur-based Northern Command. “The Army has raised six Home and Hearth (H&H) battalions absorbing more than 6,582 youths from the state. The H&H employment is given to locals and members of families affected by militancy,” he said. The Army employs more than 15,000 porters and around 17,000 ponies. Besides providing employment to locals, the Army also adds to the economic growth of the state by procuring items of daily consumption at the local level. “Everyday, the Army procures 33,000 litres of milk that is around 25 per cent of the total daily requirement of the Army in the state,” said Brig Murali. The Army also makes other local purchases that costs more than Rs 800 crore to the state’s exchequer annually. “The Army pays Rs 800 crore annually to the state government in the form of electricity and other rental payments,” Brig Murali said. The Army has also undertaken various other developmental projects in the state. In period 2008-09, the Army constructed 14 bridges, while construction work on 22 bridges was being executed. “The Army runs 51 goodwill schools in the state, where 11,353 students study. It runs two residential schools also in the state. It sponsors 240 students to six residential schools in the country,” Brig Murali said. He added, “The Army also provides help to the state government schools in their renovation, construction of additional class rooms and other such facilities for the students.” Brig Murali said the Army “runs 10 hostels with a capacity of 620, 26 women empowerment centres with a strength of 738”. |
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High Court acquits militant
Jammu, August 27 A Division Bench, comprising Justices Hakim Imtiyaz Hussain and J P Singh, acquitted Bashir Ahmed, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Principal Sessions Judge, Kathua, for allegedly being instrumental in the murder of a policeman, Parshotam Singh, on October 13, 2007. After hearing counsel for the appellant and the Additional Advocate-General (AAG) for the state, the Bench observed that there was no sufficient evidence against Ahmed, who was also booked under the Arms Act. The Bench said it stood established that militants, who were present at Khandara Top hiding in a 'dhok' (high-altitude mud house), fired upon a police party which reached there, killing Parshotam Singh. But it could not be proved that there was a conspiracy between the militants and Ahmed in the cop’s killing. Justice Hussain observed that it was difficult to believe the prosecution version that it was at the instance of Ahmed that militants opened fire on the police party. It was also alleged that RDX was seized from Ahmed's house, but the prosecution had not produced any evidence in this regard, the Bench said and directed that the appellant shall be set free forthwith if not required in any other case.
— PTI |
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Drive to plant 4,500 saplings
Udhampur, August 27 This was decided in a meeting of district officers of various departments, private agencies and bankers held under the chairmanship of Ajay Khajuria, DDC, Udhampur, here today. In the meeting, most of the officers decided to plant saplings on the premises of their respective offices, besides undertake the responsibility to upkeep the saplings. Sham Swaroop Kalsotra, president of the Chambers of Commerce and Industries, Udhampur, and officers of industries, SICOP, assured to plant saplings in the Battal Ballian Industrial Complex. The DDC exhorted the officers, bankers and members of private organisations to put in sincere efforts to make the plantation drive a grand success. He also constituted a technical committee of officers with experts of floriculture, range office, BDO, who would look into the technicalities like proper spacing required for plantation in different locations and submit the report immediately. |
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Jammu gears up for Navratras
Jammu, August 27 Tourism director SK Sahni, who is handling the preparations, said: “The administration has been celebrating Navratras in a big way since 1996, seeing enthusiasm of the devotees to seek the blessings of Mata Vaishno Devi. Even this year, we are expecting a rush of three lakh devotees to reach Jammu.” He said: “This is the right time for the administration to make the most of this auspicious occasion to boost tourism. This year, the Tourism Department has added new attractions including Bahu Fort, Bagh-e-Bahu Garden, Riyasi Fort etc to celebrate Navratras.” Song, dance and wrestling competitions will be held and special buses will be plying on roads for the devotees during
the Navratras. |
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Scholars’ body threatens stir
Jammu, August 27 While addressing a press conference here, Vikas Sharma, state president of the JURSEA, said it was decided in a university council meeting, which was held two years ago, that learning centres of these two languages would come up soon. Sharma said by adopting delaying tactics towards this decision, the authorities concerned were clearly showing that the regional languages were of least importance. He also condemned the Academic Council for taking no interest in this matter so far. Meanwhile, Sharma said the Poonch Campus of Jammu University was in worst condition and nothing had been done by the Vice-Chancellor in this regard. |
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Ban on sale of combat dresses
Jammu, August 27 This has been done in view of the inputs from the security agencies that some parties are procuring, storing and selling combat clothes/ and dress in an unregulated manner, which is likely to result in these dresses passing into the hands of anti-national elements. Restrictions have also imposed on dumping, throwing any kind of carcasses/refuse etc., around the Air Force compound wall, the Civil Airport wall, besides from Panjtirthi to Sidhra bridge and the circular road to the Deputy Commissioner Office Chowk. This dumping of garbage/refuge is causing health hazards to the residents, commuters and also causing inconvenience to general public. These orders shall remain into force for two months. |
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Poppy seized; one held
Srinagar, August 27 Acting on a tip-off, the police raided a house at Brari Gund village in Chadoora, 16 km from here, and seized the contraband. Showkat Ahmad, owner of the house, was taken into custody and a case was registered against him. Meanwhile, a joint team of the Police and the Excise Department destroyed ‘bhang’ cultivation spread over seven hectares of land at Tulkhan and Hassanpora villages in the Bijbehara area on the Srinagar-Jammu National highway.
— PTI |
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Man held on suspicion found innocent
Jammu, August 27 Acting on a ‘tipoff’ the police arrested Shiva Verma of UP and recovered gold ornaments worth Rs 2 lakh and “fake” Indian currency of Rs 3,000 in the denomination of Rs 1,000 currency notes. However, after thorough investigations he turned out to be innocent. An officer said Shiva Verma had purchased gold ornaments against a proper receipt and the currency recovered from him was genuine. The family of the suspect produced the receipts of gold ornaments consisting of two chains and one necklace today, he said, adding that the currency notes were soiled but not fake.
— TNS |
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CM favours talks with Pak, local leaders
Srinagar, August 27 Speaking in the Assembly today, Omar said his government would try its best to initiate talks between two hostile countries and between New Delhi and Kashmir leaders. “We have seen in the past that talks either only between India and Pakistan or between New Delhi and Kashmir-based groups have not yielded the desired results. Two dimensional talks are a must,” he said. |
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Lecture on swine flu
Udhampur, August 27 Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Udhampur, Chander Prakash, who was invited to deliver a lecture on the subject, gave a detailed account of the symptoms and preventive measures required to prevent the spread of swine flu. He called upon the students to come forward and contribute to society by making people of their vicinity aware about the causes of spread of the disease and its cure. He also held an interaction session with the students and staff of the college. Principal of the college Ashok Kumar, professors and students were present on the occasion.
— TNS |
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2 test positive for swine flu
Jammu, August 27 Epidemiologist RS Charak said two defence personnel from Satwari cantonment, aged between 30 and 40 years, had tested positive for swine flu. They had already been quarantined and put on Tamiflu. They had recovered fully, he added. Meanwhile, one blood sample was sent to the NICD today
— TNS |
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