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2 killed in flash floods, three students rescued
PDP accuses Omar of corruption, govt refutes charge
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Ultras provoking youths in Doda to throw stones
Jammu, August 25 Terrorists in Doda have been instigating naïve and gullible youths to throw stones at a post of the Special Task Force near Bihota in the mountainous district. “In the Marmat region of Doda, August 24, a few misguided boys were observed throwing stones towards a STF post near Bihota,” stated a Defence release issued here today.
Painting exhibition begins at Akhnoor
Governor reviews relief measures in Leh
Oil Tankers Association stops fuel supply across state
3 killed in road mishaps
Resurfacing Work
Kashmir issue: Centre urged to convene Round Table
Squall disrupts power supply in Jammu region
MC books 4 defaulters
Family welfare week ends
NCC staff, cadets plant saplings
Two commit suicide
Militants’ sympathiser held
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2 killed in flash floods, three students rescued
Jammu, August 25 The rain in the last 24 hours increased the water level in the Chenab, Ravi, Tawi, Sanglad, Charsu, Basantar, Khanetar and Ujh rivers. The worst-affected districts due to the flash floods were Jammu, Poonch, Kathua, Reasi, Udhampur and Ramban. Ranjeet Singh, a resident of Bajoon village in Kalakote tehsil of Rajouri, was killed after his house was damaged in the flash floods last night, the police said. It added that the body had been retrieved from the debris of the house and would be handed over to the deceased’s family after a post-mortem. In another incident, a person was washed away in the flash floods in the Ravi in Kathua district today. The police said the body had been fished out and was kept in a mortuary. The identity of the deceased was being ascertained. Meanwhile, the three students, who were trapped in the flash floods in the Ujh around 2:30 pm, were rescued after two hours by the Army, the IAF and the police in the Rajbagh area of Kathua district today. The police said the students were returning from school when the water level of the river increased suddenly and they got trapped in the flash floods. However, they were airlifted by an IAF helicopter to Jammu where they were handed over to their families later in the evening. In another incident, two women were injured when the wall of a house collapsed at Lakhanpur in Kathua district. They were referred to the GMCH, Jammu, where their condition was said to be critical, sources said. The rain in the region also affected road traffic at Hiranagar in Kathua district, as some roads were partially washed away. However, the water level in the Chenab is still under the danger mark. An official of the civil administration said the water level in the Chenab near the Akhnoor Bridge was measured around 30 feet today, which is two feet below the danger mark. Earlier, the Chenab always posed a threat to the area residents during rains. It also brought miseries to the residents of Jammu, as rainwater entered a number of houses, shops and other buildings. The worst-affected parts of the city were Sunjwan, Durga Nagar and Circular Road. Rainwater also entered some government buildings and caused damages. The yard of the State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) here was also inundated. An official of the Met Department said 76.8 mm of rain was recorded today. He said, “There is a possibility of more rain in the next 48 hours in the region.” |
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PDP accuses Omar of corruption, govt refutes charge
Srinagar, August 25 PDP general secretary and MLA Nizamuddin Bhat, at the party headquarters here this afternoon, said the issues were being taken before people, as the government had systematically demolished institutions like the Accountability Commission and the Information Commission. He alleged that public sentiments were being suppressed by the use of force, which had resulted in the collapse of the political and administrative system. Other legislators and senior party leaders, including Abdula Rehman Veeri, Abdul Haq and Mansoor Hussain, were also present on the occasion. Bhat alleged that the Chief Minister was accused of receiving huge kickbacks in the allotment of the Rattle power project that was allotted on the BOOT basis. He also claimed that the entire amount of Rs 26 crore available in the secret fund of the Chief Minister was withdrawn recently. Bhat said the only project that had been completed during the past 20 months of this government was the house for the Chief Minister on the Gupkar road at a cost of Rs 20 crore. There were reports of certain precious antiques having been pilfered from the Tosh Khana and installed in the Chief Minister’s residence and his family wardrobe, Bhat said. The Chief Minister, he said, had ordered a vigilance inquiry into the alleged corrupt practices of four of his senior ministers. An inquiry was supposed to be completed in 10 days but nothing was known about it yet. “The reports had alleged investment by some ministers in foreign countries and the acquisition of property by them in India,” he added. Describing the PDP’s accusations as “baseless and unsubstantiated”, the state government vehemently denied the charges saying the Chief Minister had decided to sue those who made the allegations. Within hours of the PDP levelling charges against the Chief Minister, Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather said here this evening that instead of a constructive approach in view of the prevailing situation, the opposition had levelled the charges against the government and the Chief Minister. “We should not stoop so low in the prevailing situation,” Rather said at a press conference, as he referred to the allegations made by PDP. The approach should not be adopted, he said, and urged the party to join hands in efforts to stabilise the situation. The Finance Minister said the government was making all possible efforts to contain the ongoing violence and end the killings by the security forces. He denied the allegations one by one as he referred to the charge of kickbacks of Rs 500 crore in the Rattle power project saying there was nothing to prove it. Second, on the cost of Rs 20 crore on the construction of the Chief Minister’s house, the Finance Minister said the total estimated cost of the house was only Rs 2 crore and out of which Rs 1.5 crore had been spent so far. There was no truth in shifting of the antique items from the Tosh Khana to the Chief Minister’s house and everything was intact, he added. Referring to the allegations against some ministers, Rather said the case had been referred to the Vigilance Organisation and investigations were on. On the withdrawal of the entire amount of Rs 26 crore from the Chief Minister’s Secret Fund, the Finance Minister said there was no truth in the charge. The total amount was not even half the amount referred to by the PDP, he added. |
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Ultras provoking youths in Doda to throw stones
Jammu, August 25 After observing the unusual trend for two days, STF personnel along with Rashtriya Rifles troops tried to approach the boys in order to dissuade them from indulging in the unlawful act. However, while the soldiers were approaching them, terrorists hiding nearby opened fire on them and immediately fled into the thick forest, added the release. The Rashtriya Rifles along with the STF has launched a manhunt for the terrorists. The release further stated the recent incident of stone throwing, so far unheard of in the Doda region, indicates that these acts were not due to genuine grievances of the local youth, but acts instigated by terrorists with an aim of creating disturbance and provoking security forces to retaliate against civilians. However, it was to the credit of security forces in Doda and adjoining districts that they displayed due restraint and continued to retain the confidence of local populace while surgically operating against the terrorists, the release read further. |
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One injured in firing, accused arrested
Jammu, August 25 The police said both were neighbours and criminals, too, as some complaints had been received against them. The incident happened when 18-year-old Vikas came out of his house this morning and the accused, Sunny, who was awaiting for him in his Scorpio vehicle on the street, allegedly opened fire six rounds from a pistol, sources said. They added one bullet hit the abdomen of the victim, Vikas, injuring him severly. After hearing a loud noise of the firing, the victim’s brother, Ajay, rushed towards Sunny, who again allegedly fired a bullet at him, which went brushing his arm. Sunny escaped in his SUV after committing the crime, sources said. However, the police arrested the accused and seized the pistol used in the crime along with the Scorpio vehicle. A case under the Section 307, 34 of the RPC and 3/25 of the Arms Act has been registered against Sunny and some unidentified persons at Bakshi Nagar police station. SHO, Bakshi Nagar police station, Tahir said, “We are investigating the matter and the accused has already been arrested.” He added other accused would be arrested only after recording the statement of the victim, had been admitted to GMCH here in a critical condition. |
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Painting exhibition begins at Akhnoor
Akhnoor, August 25 Major-General Rakesh Sharma, patron of the school, inaugurated the exhibition, which is open for all the schools till August 26. Principal of the school KCS Mehta said around 20,000 students from various schools of the state participated in the painting competition. “The best paintings collected from various government, central, private and Army schools were displayed at today’s exhibition,” said Mehta. Students of Army School, namely, Vinay Singh of Class IX, Simran Karmakar of Class VII and Akarsh Sachan of Class III, whose paintings were displayed in the exhibition, were confident of a positive result for the CWG. Vinay said, “I did a lot of hard work for the painting competition and I am happy as my painting is displayed in the exhibition. I am hopeful that my painting will be selected for the Games.” Expressing similar views, Akarsh said, “I am expecting that my painting will be selected for the CWG. Through this way, I will get an opportunity to watch the Games in Delhi.” The Principal said a CWG committee was organising painting competitions all across the country, the responsibility of which was given to Shoobh Art Centre, Delhi. Mehta said around 2,000 schools had participated in the nationwide painting competitions. The theme of the competition was “My Dream Sport”. “The aim of the competition was to support and nurture Indian visual artists early in their career by providing them a forum to display their artistic talent to the country and open the doors for future opportunity,”
said Mehta. The overall best 100 paintings from the country would be displayed during the prize distribution function at Delhi. The teachers and the students of the best performing schools would be invited and honoured by the chief guest of
the CWG. |
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National Highway
Project
Jammu, August 25 Talking to media here today, SCOA president Vikram Randhawa said, “We appreciate Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for approaching Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath to ensure that locals get maximum jobs in the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway project. The association claimed that in a letter to Kamal Nath, the Chief Minister underlined the need for giving preference to the people of the state in the national highway project so as to address the problem of unemployment. Randhawa said, the state has well-qualified, experienced engineers, ITI-trained youth and skilled workers who could help in effectively implementing various centrally sponsored projects. “It is needless to say that we in this state are facing a serious problem of unemployment and, therefore, if the companies (executing the NH-1A project) engage educated youths, including technical, skilled and unskilled workers, the problem could be solved to a considerable extent,” he added. He, however, expressed regret over the fact that the local stone-crushing industry had been left demoralised as various agencies constructing the national highway had established their own units. “Local industries have enough potential to meet the requirements,” he averred. |
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Good Samaritans of Ladakh
August 25 “When I told a friend, Isabel, in Germany about the tragedy, she wanted to help the flood-affected and sent warm clothes for nearly 300 children which I am distributing now,” Tundup said, and added Isabel had also sent medicines and vitamins for the children. Various non-government organisations have also come forward to help and have been providing relief and rehabilitation material, besides taking care of the children. “We are taking care of 67 children of such families from the worst- affected Choglamsar village.Some of them have lost their parents and are not able to understand what has happened.We are taking care of them,” said Jigmet, a volunteer with an NGO, “Save the Children”, that has set up tented accommodation in Himank village. Tundup Tsewng looks after the distribution of relief material among the 167 affected families in the village. “I make sure that there is proper distribution of the relief material that comes here,” Tundup said. There are many others who despite losing their loved ones and their belongings have come forward to help the victims. “There are many villagers who helped rescue those buried under the debris.They saved many lives.There are many unsung heroes who risked their lives and saved others,” said Rinchen Namgyal, general secretary of the youth wing of the Ladakh Buddhist Association, which is engaged in relief and rescue works. |
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Governor reviews relief measures in Leh
Srinagar, August 25 The Governor stressed the need for formulating an action plan and then ensuring its time-bound implementation, particularly in regard to the reconstruction of homes. This would involve ready access to the required construction material in view of the limited time available before the onset of the winter. He emphasised on prioritising the high altitude and far-flung areas. The Governor was informed that all efforts were under way to secure the timely supply of construction material, foodgrains and other essential commodities. He stressed the need for the restoration of flood-affected agricultural land.A team of experts from the SKUAST, Kashmir, would be asked to visit Leh and its surrounding areas for extending the technical advice for the urgent reclamation of the flood- affected land, which was presently assessed at about 3,500-4,000 acre. The Deputy Commissioner and the SP were directed to establish a pragmatic mechanism for timely dissemination of news from reliable sources about a natural or man-made calamity, particularly in regard to the remote areas of the district to enable the administration to launch rescue and relief operations. |
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Clashes in Srinagar, curfew reimposed
Srinagar, August 25 Umar Qayoom, a resident of the Soura locality, who was admitted to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences on Friday after being injured in a clash, died today. The residents alleged that he had been severely beaten by the police which resulted in his death. However, the police said he was arrested along with two other youths last week and later bailed out. Later, some of the residents indulged in arson and stone throwing on an armed police picket. A mob also resorted to stone throwing on vehicles in Pampore on the national highway. According to the District Magistrate, Srinagar, the curfew which was reimposed in the areas under the jurisdiction of Bemina, Qamarwari, Nowhatta, Khanyar, MR Gunj, Safakadal and Maisuma police stations and some other areas would remain in force tomorrow also. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik was released today after over two-month-long
detention. |
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Oil Tankers Association stops fuel supply across state
Jammu, August 25 “On August 21, two of our drivers again became easy target of frenzied mobs in Bijbehara where some mischievous elements forcibly removed their clothes and then rubbed a wild shrub on their bodies causing them severe skin allergies,” association president Anan Sharma told The Tribune. Before doing so, the elements had said that this time they would not beat the drivers because the government had been compensating them with money. So, first they roughed up our drivers and then rubbed wild shrubs on their half-naked bodies causing them severe skin ailments, said Sharma. “In the wake of such incidents where our drivers were being beaten up and harassed by frenzied mobs, we suspended fuel supplies in the entire state, including supplies to the security forces from this morning”, he added. The association president said that half of the filling stations across Jammu had already turned empty. “Though the government was always quick to come out with assurances to protect valley- bound oil tankers, it remained mute spectator to our problems,” he said.Under such circumstances, they had no option than to suspend fuel supplies in the entire state. Jammu Divisional Commissioner Pawan Kotwal has now invited the oil tankers association tomorrow morning for another round of meeting to break the deadlock. “The state government had promised us to accommodate our tankers in the Army convoy so as to avoid them from stone throwers but the Army men discarded us on the ground that by accommodating our tankers their vehicles, too, were being targeted by the mobs,” said Sharma. |
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3 killed in road mishaps
Jammu, August 25 In the first accident, an Alto car that was on its way to Jammu from Srinagar skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge near Nachlana village in the Banihal area of Ramban this morning. A couple, identified as Raviji Kaul and his wife, Sarita Kaul, travelling in the car, died on the spot ,the police said. The bodies were sent to the hospital for a postmortem. As soon as the news reached their house, a pall of gloom descended on the Mohinder Nagar locality here. A relative of the deceased said Raviji Kaul was a senior officer at the Town Hall branch of the bank, while his wife was working at the Shalamar branch of the bank. The relative added the deceased was survived by two daughters and a son. In another accident, one person was killed and another seriously injured when a boulder hit a Santro car near Ramban, the police said. It further said the car was moving towards Srinagar from Jammu and near the Seri area in Ramban, a boulder hit the car in which 37-year-old Mushtaq Ahmed Ganai was killed. The one who sustained severe injuries was rushed to government hospital in Ramban and later referred to the government hospital in Srinagar. The police said five persons were travelling in the vehicle and alertness of the driver saved the lives of others, as he did not stop the car even after the boulder fell on the vehicle. He took the vehicle to the hospital. |
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Resurfacing Work
Srinagar, August 25 The runway needed to abe resurfaced,said director of the airport, VK Gupta.The process would take almost two weeks. In April, the Defence Ministry had asked the state government to shift the operations of private airlines to the Awantipora airbase on the outskirts of Srinagar.Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had objected to the move as it would have severely affected tourism in the Valley. On the Chief Minister’s request, the ministry had postponed the resurfacing work till September. The decision to close the airport for almost a fortnight has angered the people in the Valley, as they say that they are already facing restrictions on their movement due to continuous strike calls by the chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Sayeed Ali Shah Geelani. “The separatists have restricted the movement on the ground and now the Defence Ministry will restrict the movement by air in Kashmir,” said Tasleem Ahmed, a local resident. People say they shift serious patients for specialised treatment outside the Valley by air. “It takes almost one day to reach Jammu by road. So, serious patients are shifted to other parts of the country by air. But if the airport is closed, it will create problems for the people here,” said a resident. |
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Kashmir issue: Centre urged to convene Round Table
Jammu, August 25 Mann said there was a need to break the prevailing stalemate in the Valley as the situation was deteriorating everyday. He appealed to all political parties, including separatist leaders like Sayeed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, to come forward for a dialogue so as to restore peace in the Valley. “Dialogue is the only mean to resolve all issues,” he said. Before reaching Jammu, Mann had met Geelani, the Mirwaiz, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and PDP leaders Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti. “During my meeting with these leaders, I urged them to take some initiatives to stop bloodshed in Kashmir as it is the responsibility of all sensible persons to act at this juncture,” he said. |
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Squall disrupts power supply in Jammu region
Jammu, August 25 Reports said a 6.3 MV transformer and 12 electricity poles had been damaged due to incessant rainfall in Bishnah since early this morning, affecting the power supply in Arnia and some other areas. “We are on the job but it will take some time for us to fix the problem,” said a PDD official from Bishnah. Similarly, supply lines in Parmandal, Bhatindi, Sunjwan, Narwal, Sidhra, Nagrota have also been damaged due to a heavy rain.
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MC books 4 defaulters
Jammu, August 25 According to a statement issued here, the team checked around 52 food establishments/vendors in the city. A fine of Rs 4,000 was also charged from the defaulters on the spot. The team destroyed 100 kg of unwholesome/excess coloured used sweets and about 25 kg of unclaimed khoya which was lifted from Satwari and Hari Market areas. Besides this, food samples comprising milk sweets and curd were also lifted and sent to Public Analyst for determining the standard of purity. |
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Family welfare week ends
Jammu, August 25 The event also included medical camps, a painting competition, a healthy baby competition, best house competition, lectures on stress management and marital harmony, AIDS and personality development. |
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NCC staff, cadets plant saplings
Jammu, August 25 Saplings were provided by the Forest Department. A number of events like seminars, poster making competitions and awareness rallies have been conducted over the last seven days by NCC cadets. |
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Two commit suicide
Jammu, August 25 In another incident, Sonu, a labourer in his thirties, who was brought to the GMCH here from Katra yesterday after he consumed some poisonous substance, was declared dead, added the police. Cases had been registered and the police had started investigations. |
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Militants’ sympathiser held
Jammu, August 25 Reports revealed that Shah had been providing logistic support, shelter, eatables to the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists from time to time. He was being interrogated for his involvement
in other militancy-related cases. A case was also registered in Ramban police station. |
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