Srinagar, July 8
Union Home Secretary GK Pillai, who arrived in Srinagar yesterday, held a meeting with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to take stock of the situation even as strict restrictions continued in the Kashmir valley today.

Pillai also met senior civil and military officers, including DGP Kuldip Khoda, Special DGP of the CRPF, and Corps Commander of the 15 Corps of the Army.

The Army today held a flag march in armoured vehicles at various places across Srinagar. The situation in Kashmir worsened on Tuesday after four persons were killed allegedly in the CRPF firing during protests, forcing the authorities to call in the Army and impose indefinite curfew in the Valley.

Sources said 17 columns of the Army had been deployed in and around the city to control the situation and maintain law and order, besides the local police and the CRPF were there to enforce the curfew.

“There was no relaxation in the curfew for the past 48 hours, though the situation is tense but it is under control,” said a senior police officer.

The sources said the curfew put in place in some of north and south Kashmir towns was relaxed for sometime today. However, it was reimposed.

As per sources, apprehending trouble the authorities imposed fresh curfew in Baramulla, Sopore and Ganderbal, while curfew remained imposed in Ananatnag district where three youths were shot dead allegedly by the police and the CRPF on June 29.

In Srinagar, even as the Army remained deployed, thousands of protesters defied the curfew and held protests last night. Announcements were made from local mosques asking people to come out and protest. Sources said the security forces did not intervene during the night so there were no clashes.

Meanwhile, the Army has said it is out to support the police and the CRPF and is ready to move anywhere anytime to maintain law and order.

The separatists have condemned the move of deploying the Army. A statement issued by the chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, said, “The Army has always been India’s first and the last resort in handling Kashmir. They want to consolidate control over the territory and intimidate people.”

Srinagar, July 8
Union Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology Sachin Pilot commissioned a mobile phone connectivity at the Amarnath cave shrine today by making an inaugural call from there to Governor NN Vohra.

Pilot informed the Governor, who is also the chairman of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, that with the commissioning of this facility at the cave shrine, cellular phone connectivity would be available at Baltal, Chandanwari and the cave shrine, while other camp locations like Panjtarni and Sheshnag were expected to get connected with the mobile network within this week.

Pilot thanked the Governor and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for extending all required support and encouragement. The Governor lauded the efforts of the Ministry of Communications and IT for this first-ever initiative.

The CEO of the shrine board, RK Goyal, said as part of a number of new initiatives taken this year to progressively improve the management of the yatra the Governor had taken up the matter with the Union Communications Ministry for extending the mobile phone connectivity with a view to providing real time telecommunication facility at the shrine.

He also complimented BSNL for making the cellular phone connectivity functional at Baltal, Chandanwari, Panjtarni and at the shrine, which shall enable the yatris to stay in touch with their families.

Goyal added that the board had procured digital satellite phones during the ongoing yatra, which had been installed at crucial camps at Sheshnag, Panjtarni and the cave shrine, and had proved to be extremely useful in monitoring yatra arrangements as also the movement of the yatris.

Kathua, July 8
The death of a young woman due to the transfusion of wrong blood group at the time of delivery in the district hospital here last month, followed by yesterday’s inquiry report, has brought to light that the hospital’s blood bank has been functioning without an in charge or a doctor having an expertise of handling such emergency cases.

Since its creation a few years ago, no officer had till date been posted to head the blood bank here, Dr Rajinder Chopra, Medical Superintendent, admitted.

He, however, said following an inquiry report, it had again been suggested to the Health Department to immediately post some expert to head the blood bank.

“Further, a team of doctors comprising a gynaecologist, an anaesthetist and a physician has been asked to submit a ‘death review report’ so that such mishaps do not recur,” Dr Chopra said.

He said the hospital authorities had also asked for the posting of at least nine more specialist doctors and 15 nurses to meet the requirement of both indoor and outdoor patients. “Currently, we are facing an acute shortage of staff,” the Medical Superintendent said.

Meanwhile, based on the inquiry report, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Ashok Chanyal has placed under suspension laboratory technician Sawarn Kumar and nurse Gurbux Kour for their alleged negligence that resulted in the death of Ridhwan, 23, and her newborn baby in the district hospital here on June 23. The CMO said he had also recommended action against Dr Pushpa Raina, who was on duty in the gynaecology ward on that fateful day.

The inquiry committee in its report on July 7 had established that Ridhwan and her infant died at the time of delivery due to the transfusion of blood of wrong group. The patient needed blood group O+ while she was administered B+, which caused a severe reaction beyond remedy, Dr Chanyal said.

Ridhwan, wife of Kishore Kumar of village Chak Dssan, was admitted in the labour room of the district hospital here on June 22. After her death the next day, her relatives along with other villagers had thronged the hospital to lodge a protest, prompting the authorities concerned to probe into the incident of death due to negligence.

Jammu, July 8
After the CRPF took up the issue at the highest level, stone throwers in the Valley were booked and arrested under relevant sections of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) but only to be released later, in sharp contrast to what the Union Home Ministry had recently advised to the state government.

The Home Ministry had asked the state government to book troublemakers, particularly stone throwers, under the charge of rioting.

In the past two years, more than 1,700 CRPF jawans have been injured in stone-throwing incidents in the Valley. Sources in the CRPF said some of the troopers lost their eyesights and some got disfigured. “We always accorded the highest priority to human rights but unfortunately no one even whispered about human rights of our jawans, who work day in and day out under demanding situations,” they rued.

“Our jawans, who are here to maintain law and order in tandem with the state police, were even shot dead from the pointblank range in the past but no one protested against their killing,” the sources added.

“After 1,700 of our men were injured in stone throwing incidents, we raised objections at the right quarters and following the intervention of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and DGP Kuldeep Khoda, FIRs were lodged against some stone throwers but they were released later for reasons inexplicable,” they said. Describing the CRPF a victim of a deep-rooted conspiracy in the Valley, the sources said stone throwers were being paid on a daily basis by certain forces inimical to peace in the Valley.

“Intelligence reports say that the menace is being fuelled and funded from across the border by Pakistan’s ISI, for which stone throwers were initially getting Rs 50 a day, then Rs 100 a day and now anything between Rs 300 and Rs 500,” the sources said. Recently, the CRPF had trained five of its battalions in neighbouring Punjab to deal with the problem of stone throwing in Kashmir.

Srinagar, July 8
While the state government has gagged the media in Kashmir by restricting the movement of all journalists representing local, national and electronic media, it has extended all possible facilities to a team of journalists from New Delhi called for a special coverage of the ongoing turmoil in the Valley.

“Our curfew passes were cancelled and we were not allowed to move to the office. As a result today’s edition could not hit the stands. Even today we were not allowed to move out and hence there would be no edition tomorrow as well,” said the editor of a local newspaper.

The journalists working with various local, national and international news organisations in Kashmir have resented the treatment being meted out to them, as they say that being locals they could have presented a balanced news.

“It is ironic that while journalists from New Delhi have been accorded the status of state guests with official vehicles and PSOs at their disposal, the local journalists, including those representing national and international media, have been asked to stay at home,” Inayat Jehangir, Kashmir bureau chief of Daily Excelsior, told The Tribune.

He said the authorities had promised that fresh curfew passes would be issued soon but that did not happen even after 48 hours since the restrictions were imposed on the mediapersons in Kashmir.

Meanwhile, the Press Guild of Kashmir has expressed serious concern over the government’s decision to ban the local media while it extended all facilities to mediapersons from Delhi and other parts of the country coming here to cover the situation. Some journalists, who were in their office before the imposition of the curfew, are still stranded there, as they are not allowed to move out. “It has been 48 hours now that we are stranded in the office without food and water as we are not allowed to move out,” Amrit Pal Singh Bali, who represents PTC news channel, told The Tribune on phone from his office.

Another journalist Izhar Wani of French news agency AFP was not allowed to move out of his office to go to his house even thought his wife and two daughters had fainted after tear gas seeped into their house. “I have been trying my best to go home since then but I am not allowed to move out. I have never seen anything like this before,” Wani said.

Jammu, July 8
Residents of several villages in the Akhnoor division have been advised to keep away from newly-laid transmission lines. According to the Superintending Engineer, System and Operations, Circle-I, Gladni, Jammu, the 132 KV D/c Barn-Akhnoor Section of 132 KV D/c Barn-Siot-Kalakote transmission line, including the LILO for the Akhnoor Grid Station, shall be energised any time after 1 pm on July 9.

This line is passing through the villages, including Barn, Derwan, Seri, Ranjan, Jandyal, Dabber Mera, Karat Kotli, Kotli, Sarot, Duggah, Panthal, Balgarh, Mera Mandra, Janti, Khaduja, Sanayal and Army area. People are advised to stay away from the line and avoid any mis-happening, a government press note said. — TNS

Jammu, July 8
Activists of the Jammu Central University Morcha (JCUM) held a protest over delay in the appointment of Vice-Chancellor of Central University, Jammu, maintaining that the candidate should be a local person.

The morcha is an umbrella organisation of the People’s Revolutionary Movement, Duggar Pradesh Party, Dogra Liberation Front, Jammu State Morcha, SOS International, Sangram Sena, Jammu Joint Students Federation and the Students and Scholars Joint Action Committee.

Protesters gathered in front of the Divisional Commissioner’s office and expressed concern over the delay in the appointment of Vice-Chancellor. They alleged that the Central government had adopted a lackadaisical approach towards the Jammu region.

The protesters flayed the Human Resource Development Ministry and maintained that only a local candidate was acceptable as the Vice-Chancellor of Central University, Jammu.

Later, they submitted a memorandum to the President of India through the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu.

Jammu, July 8
Jammu University is expecting more candidates to get admission this year as compared to the previous year. These days, the university is witnessing a huge rush of admission seekers for various postgraduate courses.

Prof RD Sharma, dean, academic affairs, Jammu University, said, “Last year, we had issued around 6,000 admission forms to the candidates whereas this year we are expecting to sell more than 6,000 forms.”

The university has so far sold off around 5,747 admission forms to the candidates till date. Still fours days are left for the purchase and submission of the admission forms without a late fee of Rs 50.

The last date for purchase and submission of admission forms is July 12.

Though the rush of candidates is equal in all the 34 departments, majority of the candidates are opting for the job-oriented courses like MBA, B.Ed and LLb.

“Most students are opting for the courses which fall between professional and non-professional departments like B.Lib,” Prof RD Sharma said.

Similarly, the commerce department is also witnessing a huge rush of candidates. Prof Sharma said in the commerce department around 160 applicants have applied so far whereas the intake capacity of the department is only 45 seats.

Similarly, in B.Lib, the department has around 30 seats whereas around 400 candidates have applied for the course till date.

Meanwhile, considering the difficulties which the students had to face earlier for getting the documents attested during the time of admission, the university has allowed the candidates to submitted self-attested documents from this year.

The decision was hailed by the admission seekers but the candidates hailing from far-flung areas had to face a lot of difficulties on the campus.

Ruksana Akhtar, a candidate from Baderwah, said she faced a lot of difficulty in getting the affidavits as the person who was selling them on the campus closed the counter earlier.

“Yesterday, the counter was open till 5 pm. I got the affidavit from outside the campus after measuring half a kilometre under the sun,” she added.

Sharma said he would look into the matter. He added all the head of departments were instructed to ensure that the water coolers of their respective departments were functional. Sharma further said there was no space for opening a new counter on the campus as the campus is already overcrowded.

“Opening a new office/affidavit counter means putting burden on the university,” he said.

Jammu, July 8
Candidates seeking admission to undergraduate courses, whose names were not on the merit list, held a protest against the authorities of Government College for Women, Gandhi Nagar, here today. The protesters appealed to the college authorities for providing admission.

Nalini Kohli, Principal of the college, said it was difficult for her to provide admission to the candidates who did not fall in the merit list. However, she said though the college had filled the majority of the seats in both arts and science streams, more candidates would be admitted if there was any vacancy. “I have asked the candidates to confirm from the college about the possibility on Monday next.”

In the arts stream alone, the college has admitted around 1,100 candidates against 1,250 seats.

Jammu, July 8
Alleging rampant corruption in the state and failure of the Chief Minister’s grievance cell in redressing the problems of masses, the People’s Action and Public Accountability (PAPA), an NGO, has decided not to contend for the Chief Minister’s vigilance medal this year.

The president of the NGO, Deep Singh, said, “We have unanimously decided not to contend for the medal. It is also a protest against the state government for not conferring the medal upon any of the NGOs or societies during 2009.”

Deep further said there was no effective channel to meet the Chief Minister. “The grievance redressal cell of the Chief Minister is defunct while complaints numbering in thousands remain unaddressed,” he said, adding that “However, on the official website the same complaints stand disposed of while the officials concerned hardly bother to take cognisance or follow up action.”

Deep said, “Our association wants the Chief Minister to take some bold steps to curb corruption and ensure efficient governance to restore confidence among the masses at this crucial juncture.”