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7 of marriage party killed in mishap
An injured girl being taken to the GMCH in Jammu on Tuesday. She was hurt when the Tata Sumo she was travelling in along with other members of the marriage party fell into a gorge.
Tribune photo: Anand Sharma
CM looks for partners to boost infrastructure
Armed Forces Flag Day Fund |
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Varsity for banning PAU, GVK teams for next tourney
LUTF demands UT status for Ladakh
Non-payment of Salary
Extend job registration date, Sewa Dal to govt
Seminar on human rights concludes
Qureshi off ventilator, but still critical His party to go ahead with dialogue Union Home Secy to visit state on Dec 11
BJP demands Geelani’s arrest
15 cases lodged under PFA Act
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7 of marriage party killed in mishap
Jammu, December 8 The tragic mishap being attributed to reckless and drunken driving occurred around 11 am. The vehicle, part of a fleet carrying baratis, was on its way to Tringala in Batote from Baggar in Ramgarh. Official sources said 17 passengers were on board the ill-fated vehicle. While four persons were killed on the spot and two others died at the Batote hospital, another died while being airlifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here, they said. Those killed in the mishap included three women and a girl. The dead were later identified as Guddu Devi, Kamlesh Devi, Pinki Devi, Sapna, Bittu Ram, Suresh and Chatru Ram, all residents of Ramgarh. Soon after the mishap, Army, civil administration and local police swung into action and launched a rescue operation and shifted the injured and the dead to the Batote hospital. Giving further details, DC, Ramban, Kulbhushan Magotra said four baratis were killed on the spot while two died at the Batote hospital. Out of the 11 injured, nine critically hurt were airlifted in an Army chopper to Jammu. The DC attributed the cause of mishap to rash and drunken driving. The driver, who was reportedly drunk at the time of the mishap, was also killed. After starting off from Ramgarh they were overtaking each other and in the process the Tata Sumo driver, who was reportedly drunk, lost control over the vehicle, Magotra said. GMCH Medical Superintendent Dr Romesh Gupta said one of the victims, Chatru Ram, was brought dead, while eight injured, including two critical, had been hospitalised. The troops of Rashtriya Rifles from the Delta Force were rushed to the spot and an MI-17 helicopter was also pressed into service to evacuate the injured to Jammu, said a defence spokesperson. In another road mishap, a person was killed and 32 others were injured, five of them seriously, when a bus rolled down a gorge at the Khanetar nullah in Poonch district today. Manmohan Singh, SSP, Poonch, said Mohmmad Sharief of Bufliaz was killed and 32 others were injured in the mishap. The vehicle on its way to Surankote from Poonch developed a technical snag in its right wheel, causing the mishap, he said. Later, five critically injured were referred to the GMCH here. Meanwhile, Governor NN Vohra has expressed shock and grief over the loss of precious human lives on the Batote-Doda road. He expressed sympathy with the bereaved families and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured. |
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CM looks for partners to boost infrastructure
Jammu, December 8 “Other works of high class engineering construction like bridges, tunnels and highways can also be worked out with reputed private investors and companies in partnership or public-private partnership mode in the state to give a fillip to the reconstruction of public utility and economy sectors,” Omar said while addressing a meeting with the officers of Hindustan Construction Corporation (HCC). Omar said the state government focused on the creation of world class tourist infrastructure in the state to restore its pristine glory in the tourism sector. “There are numerous health resorts and places of natural beauty like Bangus Valley, which the government wants to showcase globally,” he said. He added that venturing in this sector by investors could be highly beneficial both for them as well as the state.” Health and education sectors could be other fields of mutual interests, he said. The Chief Minister said the high class expertise of the HCC in engineering and construction, infrastructure development, real estate building and urban development management provided a good scope for partnership or public-private partnership mode projects. The Chief Minister, while appreciating the work of HCC on the Mughal Road project, hoped that the tunnelling of Pir Panchal for Railways and the construction of Chutak, Uri and Nimoo Bazgo hydroelectric projects executed by the HCC would be put on fast track for early completion. “People are eagerly awaiting the completion of these projects,” he said. In the energy sector, the HCC is executing 330 MW, Rs 2,726 crore Kishanganga Hydroelectric project, 240 MW, Rs 575 crore Uri-II Hydroelectric project, 44 MW, Rs 410 crore Chutak Hydroelectric project and 45 MW, Rs 384 crore Nimoo Bazgo Hydroelectric project. The corporation is also constructing the 84 km Mughal Road and the 11 km Pir Panchal rail tunnel at the cost of Rs 580 crore. Ajit Gulabchand, Chairman and Managing Director of the HCC, while presenting the resume of the status of various projects the corporation is executing in the country, especially in the state, said the HCC had five decades of association with the state and it started the construction of a bridge on the Chenab in 1966. Various senior officers, ministers and bureaucrats were among those who attended the meeting. |
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Vohra urges people to donate generously
Tribune News Service
Jammu, December 8 Vohra lauded the role of the armed forces in the state and said their sacrifices were a testimony to their heroism, devotion and dedication. He added that many were injured or killed during various operations and the day was a solemn occasion to express gratitude to Army men and their families. The Governor also awarded Zila Sainik Welfare Officer, Jammu, Lt-Col RL Gangal (retd), Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, Ajay Khajuria, Zila Sainik Welfare Officer, Srinagar, Lt-Col NU Sheikh (retd) and Gambhir Dev Singh Charak for their efforts in mobilising resources for the fund. The Zila Sainik Welfare Officer, Jammu, has collected Rs 4 lakh, followed by the Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, with Rs 2.11 lakh and the Zila Sainik Welfare Officer, Srinagar, Rs 1.50 lakh. Charak has raised an individual collection of Rs 67,000 for the fund. Against a collection of Rs 14.57 lakh last year, Rs 15.16 lakh had already been collected this year. Among those present on the occasion were Chief Secretary SS Kapur, Financial Commissioner, Home, Verghese Samuel, Principal Secretary to the Governor, Raj Kumar Goyal, former minister Gulchain Singh Charak, president of the J&K Ex-Services League, Major-Gen GS Jamwal (retd), ammong others.
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Varsity for banning PAU, GVK teams for next tourney
Jammu, December 8 Six GKV players were injured in the attack and the GVK team was eliminated from the North Zone Inter-University Hockey (men’s) Championship. This was not for the first time that both teams were involved in such an incident. “This is shameful that both teams had an old dispute and they did not even speak to us before the incident. They actually tried to settle scores. Even officials accompanying them were not concerned that the teams could indulge in some unsavoury incident during the prestigious championship,” said Dhian Singh Bhau, Director, Sports Department ot Jammu University. Bhau termed the incident as the result of ‘an old rivalry’ and said they had already filed a written complaint with the police and had also provided all information available with them to assist the police to nab the accused, as early as possible. However, the accused were still eluding arrest. He said, “First, the teams had a dispute at Ludhiana in the same championship in 2007. Again they created a ruckus at Haridwar in 2008.” He added that GKV players had also hit the Olympian and present coach of the PAU team in one such incident. Now, we had elaborately reported this incident to the AIU, which would form a committee to take action and the decision would be announced within a couple of days, said Bhau.
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LUTF demands UT status for Ladakh
Leh, December 8 LUTF working president Dr Sonam Dawa, while addressing the meeting, said it was being organised to convey the UT status demand for Ladakh to the Centre. He added that the LUTF urged the Centre that Ladakh people would not settle for any thing less than the UT status for the region while finding a solution to the Kashmir issue. Earlier, they also organised a rally through Leh markets amid sloganeering in favour of the UT status and it that passed through main markets, old bus stand and culminated at Polo Ground. To express solidarity with the UT status demand, traders of Leh also closed their shops. Tsering Dorjey said the Centre had not involved the Ladakh representatives in the “quite talks” on the Kashmir issue and they would not accept any solution evolved by the leaders of Jammu and Kashmir regions alone. Urging the Centre to involve the LUTF representatives in the “quite talks”, LUTF leader Thiley Angmo said Ladakh had been a victim of discrimination under the Kashmir division of the state in all aspects, including the allocation of funds and policy formulation. Later, LUTF workers while welcoming the ongoing initiative of the Centre, adopted a resolution to pressure the Centre to involve their representatives in the “quite talks” to justify the UT status demand of Ladakh. |
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Division Bench quashes appeal against Single Judge order
DS Chauhan
Jammu, December 8 The respondent, BL Sadhu, had challenged the order retiring him compulsorily from service, which was quashed by the Single Judge on the ground that the disciplinary proceedings were initiated on the basis of rules that were not in vogue at that time. There is no dispute that the writ petitioner was issued the first chargesheet pertaining to his unauthorised absence from March 26, 1986, to November 2, 1998, which was followed by the second chargesheet dated July 19, 1992, which pertained to misfeasance and malfeasance in discharge of his official duties. The petitioner contended that he had not been paid salary since 1991, which prejudiced him as he could not defend himself in the manner he should have defended himself in the inquiry. On the conclusion of the inquiry, the punishment of compulsory retirement was imposed. The Division Bench further held that the writ petitioner did, in reply to the chargesheets, indicated that he had not been paid salary since 1991 and, accordingly, such non-payment would prevent him from appropriately contesting the disciplinary proceeding, still then, admittedly, as it appeared from the record, no attempt was made to pay salary.
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Extend job registration date, Sewa Dal to govt
Jammu, December 8 Addressing a press conference here, Sewa Dal chief Balwinder Singh Sambyal hailed the the employment policy announced by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. He suggested that fast-track employment, as announced by former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, should be extended in the entire state soon. He said employment in the government sector
be given to people from backward, Kandi and border areas on a priority basis . Sambyal also hailed the decision of creating an artificial lake in river Tawi and a new bridge over it. He hoped the new bridge would help control the traffic problem in Jammu city and suggested that some more flyovers were required to solve the congestion. |
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Seminar on human rights concludes
Akhnoor, December 8 On the concluding day, Director General of Police Kuldeep Khoda threw light on the commitment of security forces towards human rights in sub-conventional operations. He spoke at length on the issue of human rights and the role played by the security forces. Major General (retd) AJS Sandhu spoke about the issue of Army and human rights from a soldier’s perspective. Various distinguished speakers said cutting- edge technologies have been used by the forces to successfully counter militancy. The last session of the seminar was “Armed forces and media in sub-conventional operations” in which many renowned journalists threw light on the role played by the media in projecting the facts. |
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Qureshi off ventilator, but still critical Srinagar, December 8 “He (Qureshi) is slightly better since the ventilator was taken off yesterday,” said Hameed A. Zargar, Director of the SKIMS. He added that the patient was trying to make effort to recognise those attending on him. The patient had weakness on the right side of his body, Zargar said, adding that Qureshi had not been able to speak as yet. Qureshi was moving ahead on the scale of recovery and the progress could be assessed during the next one or two days, he said. On the nature of ‘missile injury’, Dr Zargar said it could have been caused due a bullet with only the difference in the point of contact. That is why the bones had been shattered, causing damage around. Qureshi was admitted to the SKIMS on Friday evening after he was injured in an attack by unknown persons near his house at Soura. He was operated upon for over three hours and has been undergoing treatment in the ICU. The attack on Qureshi, who has been close to APHC chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has been condemned by both separatist and mainstream parties, for the moderate approach towards the dialogue process. Meanwhile, RS Chib, Minister for Medical Education and Youth Services and Sports, today called on Qureshi at the hospital and enquired about his health. Accompanied by senior vice-president of the state Congress GN Monga, the minister met the family members, relatives and friends of Qureshi and expressed deep shock and anguish over the unfortunate incident. The minister also went round various wards of the institute and interacted with patients and attendants regarding the facilities being provided to them by the institute. Minister for State for Tourism Nasir Aslam Wani also visited the SKIMS to enquire about the condition of the separatist leader. He interacted with the family members of Qureshi and said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had given directions to the Director, SKIMS, on the first day of the incident to provide all medicare facilities to
Qureshi.
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His party to go ahead with dialogue
Srinagar, December 8 In its first meeting after the attack on Qureshi, presided over by Mohammad Mussadiq Aadil, the PPF, a constituent of the Hurriyat Conference, vowed to move ahead with the dialogue process. “It would extend all cooperation towards the dialogue process between Kashmir, India and Pakistan” to find a solution to the Kashmir problem, a spokesman for the PPF said here this evening. The meeting expressed concern over the approach of certain forces saying it would not be cowed down by such attacks. “Sellout is not our profession. It was practised long back?,” the spokesman said. He added that the dialogue process was ‘no sellout’. Such elements against the dialogue process were not able to make a progress and were coming in the way of others, the spokesman said. He added that such forces were creating confusion by indulging in different terms like bilateral or tripartite talks.
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Union Home Secy to visit state on Dec 11 Srinagar, December 8 During his
visit, the Union Home Secretary would be meeting senior state government
functionaries and officers of the police, CRPF and Army. The visit is
being regarded as significant in view of the recent attack on senior
separatist Hurriyat Conference leader Fazal-ul-Haq Qureshi. Ahead of
the Home Secretary’s visit, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had a meeting
with Home Minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi yesterday to discuss
various issues related to peace, security, and law and order situation
in the state. During the meeting, matters pertaining to the relocation
and redeployment of various wings of the security forces in the state
were also discussed. The overall security situation in the state was
also discussed. Both leaders reiterated the resolve to carry forward
the dialogue process to find a lasting solution to the Kashmir problem
that is acceptable to the people of the state. Omar Abdullah has said
his government was committed to the dialogue process. He appreciated the
stand of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in this respect and described it as a
positive sign. He said the continuation of the dialogue was a befitting
reply to those who wanted to derail it.
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BJP demands Geelani’s arrest
Jammu, December 8 In a statement, BJP spokesman Ramesh Arore blamed Geelani for the attack on moderate leader Fazal
Qureshi. “We demand the immediate arrest of this fundamentalist leader if the government is really serious about restoring peace in Kashmir and avoiding any further attacks on leaders,” he said. The BJP spokesman said Geelani had stated that he had no control over the militant groups and the incident was a reaction by those who did not want negotiations with the
Centre. “Geelani is responsible for the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and labourers belonging to Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh, as he has given the call for ousting them from Kashmir,” he stated. Meanwhile, the BJP today started the campaign to educate people about the dangers of the ‘quiet dialogue’. |
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15 cases lodged under PFA Act
Jammu, December 8 The team of food inspectors led by the Health Officer raided 42 establishments, including sweet shops, restaurants, juice stalls and food vendors in the Panama Chowk, Bahu Plaza, Green Belt Park, Gandhi Nagar, Nehru Market and Ware House areas. About 15 kg of ‘burfi’ and 10 kg of cooked food was found stale and was destroyed.
— TNS |
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18 kg poppy seized, one held
Jammu: The police arrested a drug peddler and seized 18 kg of poppy from his possession near Jhajjar Kotli on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on Tuesday morning. Acting on a tip-off, a police team intercepted a Toyota Qualis near Jhajjar Kotli and seized the contraband from Gurpreet Singh (18), a resident of Punjab.
— TNS |
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Seven members of a marriage party were killed and 10 others injured critically when a Tata Sumo they were traveling in plunged into a gorge on the Batote-Doda National Highway 1B, some 140 km from here, this morning.
