Jammu, November 18
While China has issued regular visas to artists and sportspersons from the state, its denial of visa to Lt-Gen BS Jaswal, GOC-in-C, Northern Command, recently did not augur well with the Army.

Though none in the Northern Command came on record over the issue for obvious reasons, Army officers say, “China has some reservations when it comes to granting regular visas to officers from the Northern and Eastern Commands of the Army.”

Recently, China denied a visa to Lt-Gen Jaswal, GOC-in-C, Northern Command, on the grounds that he commanded “sensitive” Jammu and Kashmir, allegedly a disputed territory between India and Pakistan. As part of military exchanges between the two countries, General Jaswal had to visit China this year.

“China stakes claim over a large territory in Arunachal Pradesh while it considers Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory. Hence, Beijing will always have reservations over issuing visas to officers of the armed forces posted in Arunachal Pradesh and Kashmir,” said an Army officer.

By denying the visa to Jaswal, China had created a bit of bitterness in its diplomatic ties with India and at the same time had spoiled relations between the two armies to some extent, he added.

The president of the Jammu and Kashmir Poorva Sainik Seva Parishad, Brig SS Saini (retd), felt that it was high time for the Indian government to seriously consider the recent developments along the border with China.

“China has laid a network of roads and a railway line all along our border, but it seems our government has not learnt any lesson from the past experiences,” said Brig Saini. Instead of getting engrossed in trivial issues, those at the helm of affairs should be aware of the designs of the neighbouring country, he added.

Another officer, however, felt that a strong reaction from India to China’s decision of issuing stapled visas to Indian residents of Jammu and Kashmir followed by the recent remarks of the External Affairs Minister and US President Obama’s visit to India compelled Beijing to promptly adopt reconciliatory measures.

“Regular visas to sportspersons and artists from Jammu and Kashmir, who are participating in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, are the result of all these factors, which is a positive development,” he said.

It may be stated here that a Jammu singer, Tanya Gupta, who is all set to enthral the audience at the closing ceremony of the Asian Games, has been issued a regular visa while a sculptor, Bishamber Mehta from Kathua, has recently been to China on a regular visa.

Srinagar, November 18
A day after stray violence in Kashmir on Eid, the Valley remained peaceful today with people distributing meat of sacrificial animals.

"The situation across the Valley remained peaceful as there was no report of any untoward incident from anywhere so far," a police spokesman said.

However, two children suffered injuries while bursting firecrackers in the Dulbagh area on the outskirts of the city. Those injured have been identified as Akhtar Pathan and Aqib Ahmad Kuchay. Both have been admitted to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences. Their condition was stated to be stable, the spokesman said.

The Valley witnessed protests at several places soon after Eid-ul-Azha prayers yesterday, leaving a protester and a policeman injured. A police vehicle was also torched by protestors in Anantnag district.

The police vehicle was set ablaze by angry protestors at Janglat Mandi in Anantnag district town, 55 km from here.

The situation remained by and large peaceful today with people celebrating the festival with religious fervour and gaiety. However, the overcast sky, intermittent rain and icy winds proved a spoilsport as the sudden change in the weather forced the children to stay indoor.

Despite a drop in the day temperature, a large number of private vehicles were plying on the city roads as people distributed the mutton of sacrificial animals among friends and relatives and exchanged Eid greetings.

Almost all shops and business establishments, private offices, educational institutions, government offices, banks and courts remained closed on account of the two-day holiday in connection with the festival.

Police and CRPF personnel, who have been deployed in strength to maintain law and order, were seen patrolling the roads and keeping vigil in sensitive areas.

New Delhi, November 18
The cost of the project to provide a rail link to the Kashmir valley has risen by six times. The 294-km-long Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail project was initially estimated to cost Rs 2,500 crore as on March 2001.

However, according to a review report of the Ministry of Statistics and Planning, the cost has escalated to Rs 16,000 crore, which is more than six times the original cost. Considered to be the most challenging rail project being undertaken by the Railways, the construction of the line is expected to be completed by 2017.

“This is the most difficult terrain involving more than 1,000 major and minor bridges and many tunnels. There are so many factors responsible for the delay and cost escalation,” said a senior Railway Ministry official.

Train services were introduced in the Valley for the first time two years ago after the completion of the 119-km-long Qazigund-Baramulla section, which is part of the Kashmir rail link project.

However, the train service was suspended on the route due to the law and order problem, the official said, adding the service would resume on the return of normalcy. According to railways, the Udhampur-Katra section and Banihal-Qazigund section, which are part of the project, are expected to be completed by March 2012. — PTI

Jammu, November 18
Even as the state unit of the BJP has announced a series of programmes to launch an aggressive campaign against the ruling coalition, local party leaders are finding it difficult to counter the criticism of different groups that the party is playing the role of a “cooperative Opposition”.

Senior party leaders are working overtime to remove the tag of becoming the “B” team of the ruling National Conference (NC), but their efforts have failed so far.

Interestingly, despite opposing a controversial speech of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on the floor of the Legislative Assembly on the accession of the state to India on October 6, there is a feeling among Jammu-based groups that the BJP’s campaign against the Chief Minister was nothing but a “fixed match” to hoodwink the people of Jammu.

Chairman of Panthers Party Bhim Singh has suggested to Central leaders of the BJP to either wind up the state unit or merge it with the ruling NC because local leaders are more interested in serving interests of the ruling party rather than addressing wishes and aspirations of people of their own constituency. Singh narrated various examples when BJP leaders brazenly came out to protect the NC.

Not only the Panthers Party but also some smaller political groups have questioned the intentions of the BJP leaders in opposing the NC now. “All the BJP leaders were sitting in the Assembly when the Chief Minister was making the statement on accession.Why didn’t they react at that time?”, asked Rajnesh Verma, an activist of a pro-Jammu organisation, who charged local BJP leaders with playing a friendly match with the ruling party. He argued it was all due to the understanding with the BJP leaders that the Chief Minister never took the party seriously. He said when BJP workers were "protesting" in the city against Omar's statement on accession, the Chief Minister was reiterating the statement after the opening of the Civil Secretariat in Jammu as part of the Durbar move.

While recalling the role of BJP leaders after the statement of Omar, Bhim Singh said the Panthers Party had given a call for a Jammu bandh, but it was opposed by the BJP. “It was the Panthers Party which challenged the irresponsible and anti-India speech of the Chief Minister, but the BJP remained a silent spectator”, he said and pointed out that the so-called campaign of the party was only to protect the NC.

The Panthers Party has already hijacked the pro-Jammu agenda of the BJP and now the party has started an aggressive campaign to “expose” the party in the masses to strengthen its base in the areas considered as its strongholds.

Meanwhile, the BJP today once again announced to launch a statewide agitation against the utterances of the Chief Minister on the issue of accession as also the continuation of discrimination against Jammu. A programme in this regard will be announced on November 20 at a rally of party workers in the presence of national leaders in Jammu.

This was disclosed by state party president Shamsher Singh Manhas while addressing meetings of activists in Dayala Chak and Kathua today.

Jammu, November 18
The People’s Action and Public Accountability (PAPA), an NGO, today criticised the role of opposition parties in handling the issue of rise in corruption in the country and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s silence over the issue.

“The media has been exposing corrupt Union ministers and other higher officials one after the another, yet the political parties in the opposition, especially the BJP, has not responsibly taken such issues to their logical conclusion,” said president of the association S Deep Singh in a statement issued here today.

Deep stressed the formulation of a concrete policy to curb the menace of corruption in the light of the resignation of the Maharashtra Chief Minister and the Union Telecom Minister as well as the irregularities associated with the Commonwealth Games.

“The entire country has been shocked by such instances of corruption at the higher level in the government. People expect reassurance from the Prime Minister but his silence is giving a wrong message,” he said.

“One feels demoralised to see the non-seriousness of our politicians over the serious issues confronting the country. Issues like corruption can never be tolerated and it must be dealt with strictly,” he said.

Jammu, November 18
Chanting “Jai Mata Di”, nearly 2,200 pilgrims of Mata Vaishno Devi from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh started their return journey from the Jammu Tawi Railway Station here today.

The pilgrims, belonging to the Maa Vaisno Devi Darshan Seva Mandli, Jabalpur, had hired a full train for the purpose and had started the pilgrimage from Jabalpur on November 14.

As the train arrived at the railway station today, the pilgrims started dancing on the beats of drums, presenting an altogether different picture.

Dharmen, a pilgrim, said, “It was our first pilgrimage to the cave shrine and it gave us peace and happiness. Now, we have decided to come here every year.” He said some musicians and singers also accompanied them. “We performed a “jagran” at the Vaishno Devi bhawan on November 16 night,” he added. The train rented with the chants of “Jai Mata Di”.

Muthi (Jammu), November 18
Former Indian medium pacer Irfan Pathan, who visited the city this morning to select a team for Ambuja Cement, is quite confident that he would participate in World Cup 2011.

Irfan is the brand ambassador of Ambuja Cement.

The cricketer, who has played a number of International One Day matches and Test Series, said, “I am struggling hard to return to Team India. Presently, I am practicing at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bangalore, to improve my skills,” adding that it was not in his hands to get selected in the team, that was done by selectors.

He said, “It is part and parcel of any cricketer’s life and the player is not responsible for it. See, if every player scores a ton, then the team’s score would be 1,100 runs in a match, which is not possible.”

Replying to a query about the involvement of some Pakistani cricketers in match fixing, he said, “If there are one or two black sheeps in a team, then it doesn’t mean that the entire team is equally responsible.”

Giving tips to budding cricketers, he said, “One should play with full confidence, without having any fear in mind, only then can the goal be achieved.”

Before arriving in the city, the player had to face harrowing time, as the flight he boarded had to wait midair to get landing clearance from the Jammu Airport Authority.

Before leaving the city, he also made it clear that he had no marriage plans near future.

“The day I opt to get marry will not be kept secret and I will tell everyone about the girl and the date of wedding,” he said.

New Delhi, November 18
The Army has expressed “severe displeasure” against a Colonel, who has been indicted by a Court of Inquiry for alleged irregularities in the construction of a building in Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir.

Col Sunil Khosla, Commanding Officer of the 5171 ASC Battalion, in 2008, was reprimanded by the Northern Army Commander, Lt-Gen BS Jaswal, after the CoI submitted its report.

Under the Army Act, an officer awarded a “severe displeasure” by a Commander is barred for promotion for three years. In case the sentence is given by the Army Chief, the officer is permanently barred from promotion.

The CoI was launched after the Udhampur-based Northern Army Command received an anonymous complaint against Col Khosla, Army sources told PTI here.

In the complaint, it was alleged that the officer, while commanding this battalion in Udhampur, had threatened a jawan to get a guard room constructed in the unit at his own expense or else face disciplinary action, they added.

Taking action on the complaint, the CoI submitted its report to Lt-Gen Jaswal last year. After going through the inquiry report, under administrative action, Lt-Gen Jaswal decided to issue a show cause notice to Col Khosla. After receiving the officer’s reply, the Army Commander expressed “severe displeasure” over his conduct in the case.

Meanwhile, Col Khosla has filed a statutory complaint against the action with the Army Headquarters here and also approached the Armed Forces Tribunal in this regard. — PTI

Jammu, November 18
Acting on a complaint of a Delhi resident, the Railway police today arrested four persons on a charge of robbing passengers after offering them “intoxicated” soft drinks during train journeys.

The police also recovered cash and stolen items from them. It said Sushil Parkash Gupta of Delhi lodged a complaint with railway police station here on October 15 that two persons offered him a soft drink on September 20 when he was travelling in a train and robbed him of Rs 53,000, two mobile phones and some other articles.

It added the complainant further alleged that the accused kept him captive for three days and when he came back to his senses, he found himself in Delhi.

After receiving the complaint, the railway police constituted a special team and arrested four persons, all residents of Bihar, namely, Suresh Kumar, Ranjit Kumar, Vinod Kumar and Ranjay Kumar.

SSP, Railway, Vijay Kumar said Rs 36,500, two mobile phones and three travel bags had been recovered from the possession of the accused.He also appreciated the efforts of SDPO Dushyant Sharma and SHO Rajinder Bhradwaj in nabbing the accused.

Explaining the modus operandi, the SSP said the accused mixed some intoxicants in the drink before offering it to the passengers and robbed them.

“We are interrogating the accused as they might have robbed some more passengers ,” he added.

Jammu, November 18
To reduce traffic congestion on the outskirts of Jammu city, especially in the newly deployed colonies near the bypass, the government is planning to construct a flyover from the Marble market to Greater Kailash. This flyover will help decongest traffic in the Channi Himmat, Trikuta Nagar, Greater Kailash and Sainik Colony areas.

Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla announced this while addressing a function at Trikuta Nagar here today. He said a Rs 9 crore project for a two-lane flyover had been submitted to the Roads and Buildings (R&B) Ministry for funding.

Bhalla said the coalition government was making all efforts to provide all civic amenities to people at the doorstep.

He said a proposal for the inclusion of left- out colonies in his constituency within the municipal limits was under the active consideration of the Housing and Urban Development Ministry. He added that after approval, the areas, including Apna Vihar, Sunjwan, Bathindi and Bandhu Rakh, besides the remaining area of Sainik colony, would come under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation.

The minister said the government had earmarked Rs 1 crore for the construction of a rotary near Nidesh Apartments in Trikuta Nagar on modern lines. After the completion of the formalities of tenders, the construction work would start, he added.

For the proper rehabilitation of displaced families of Kashmiri Pandits, Bhalla said the Central government had sanctioned Rs 1,618.41 crore for the purpose.

He added that the coalition government had also constructed pre-fabricated accommodations for Kashmiri Pandit migrants at Vessu in Anantnag district at a cost of Rs 30 crore.

These accommodations were meant for the employees selected under the Prime Minister’s Employment Package, who would be posted in the twin districts of Anantnag and Kulgam, he said.

Jammu, November 18
With a number of private schools in the city not observing holidays announced by the government in connection with Eid, the Education Department today fined five schools Rs 5,000 each for remaining open on the festival.

The Chief Education Officer (CEO), Natha Ram Dhingra, said here that a team of Education Department officials found the five schools open despite the declaration of two holidays.

“We got a tip-off that a number of private schools were functioning despite a holiday. Our team found five schools functioning. They have been fined Rs 5,000 each,” Dhingra said. He said the schools were Vimal Public School, Bakshi Nagar; Jack Angels School, Bakshi Nagar; Anuradha Higher Secondary School, Muthi; GS High School, Muthi; and Shanti Swarup School, Sarwal.

He said a number of complaints were received from parents yesterday also after which a team was constituted to ascertain the facts. The five schools had been told to deposit the fine amount with the treasury.

Jammu, November 18
A singer from Channi Himmat and a sportsperson, presently employed in Citizen’s Cooperative Bank Ltd from Jammu, are going to represent India in the ongoing 16th Asian Games in China.

Jammu-based singer Tanya Gupta has been selected to perform at the closing ceremony in Guangzhou where the Games are being held.

Kuldeep Kumar Gupta, general secretary of Jammu and Kashmir Amateur Kabaddi Association, has been nominated as technical official by the Asian Kabaddi Federation from India for the Indian Kabaddi team.

Kuldeep is expected to join the Kabaddi team on November 19 and return on November 29.

Earlier, he had been nominated as technical officer for the 14th Asian Games held at Busan, Korea.

After qualifying the All-India Referee’s examination and international referee’s examination, he has become the first sportsperson in Kabaddi to represent the state on an international platform.

Similarly, Tanya will be the first girl from the state to perform at the Asiad in China next week.

Tanya would be singing in Dogri, the native language of the Jammu region, at the closing ceremony. She will partner Ravi Tripathi, a singer from Uttar Pradesh.

“I am excited at this opportunity that has been offered to me. It would be a proud moment for me. It would be an opportunity for me to show my talent and tell the world that Jammu is rich with talent,” Tanya said on Wednesday.

Tanya, in her early 20s, has been a music student since her college days. She has taken lessons in classical music from teachers across the country. She would be flying to Mumbai on Friday, before taking a flight to China.

Jammu, November 18
In the ongoing BSF Inter-Frontier sports meet at the BSF stadium in Paloura here, athletes from North Bengal Frontier dominated the show by bagging two gold medals today in triple jump and javelin throw.

Sadhen Roy and Nareh of North Bengal Frontier clinched gold and silver medals, respectively, in the triple jump event.

Again, in javelin throw, North Bengal Frontier dominated the event. SK Upadhayaya and Ranjeeth Singh were the athletes who clinched gold and silver medals, respectively.

Laxman Tadu of Tripura Fronter clinched gold medal in 400 metres hurdle race and Senthal M of North Bengal, KS Niwas of Jammu Frontier bagged silver and bronze medals, respectively.

In another 400 metres race, Jatinder Singh of Punjab Frontier claimed gold medal, while Gurpreet Singh of A&M Frontier and Suresh Kumar of Rajasthan Frontier claimed silver and bronze medals, respectively.