Jammu, December 10
Even as the state Cabinet today approved an amendment to the Panchayati Raj Act, the Congress,which is a partner in the ruling coalition, has certain reservations about it.

Although ministers belonging to the Congress, who attended the Cabinet meeting,did not oppose the amendment, the party has reservations about a partial extension of the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution of India to the state as its leadership has been demanding its proper implementation. A senior Congress leader on condition of anonymity said without properly implementing the amendment,there was no use of holding the panchayat poll.

“The amendment aims to provide a three-tier system of Panchayati Raj to hold the elections regularly after five years, to provide seat reservation for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women and to appoint a State Finance Commission to make recommendations on the financial powers of the panchayats”, he said, but regretted that the government had only approved a part of it, which would not help decentralise powers.

Congress sources said the party had already made it clear to the government that Panchayati Raj institutions should be strengthened and the 73 Amendment implemented properly.

The Working Group headed by Justice (retd) Sagheer Ahmed, in its report, had also emphasised on incorporating provisions of the 73rd Amendment in the J&K Panchayati Raj Act to decentralise powers. A spokesman of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), Ravinder Sharma, said the party would look into the amendment approved by the Cabinet before giving its reaction.”As far as the Congress is concerned, we have been demanding that the 73rd Amendment should be properly implemented in the state”, he said.

Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Saif-Ud- Din Soz has also been repeatedly demanding that the Panchayat Raj institutions in the state should be empowered on the pattern of the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution of India to fully democratise them and make them effective institutions of the local-self government.

Jammu, December 10
The Governor, N. N. Vohra, has stressed the need for time-bound formulation and implementation of projects for ensuring a holistic development of Ladakh, particularly with a view to achieving speedy economic development of the area and establishment of infrastructure, which would lead to an increase in tourist arrivals in Leh district and the areas beyond.

The Governor was interacting with the Chief Executive Councillor, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh, Rigzin Spalbar, who met him at Raj Bhavan here today along with four Executive Councillors, Dr Sonam Wangchuk, Sonam Dorjey, Abbas Abidin and Gurmet Dorjey.The Minister for Tourism and Culture, Nawang Rigzin Jora, and MLC, Leh, Norbo Gyalchan also participated in the meeting.

The Governor enquired from the delegation about the progress made in regard to the implementation of the proposed Master Plan for Leh town and the status of the restoration works in the flood- affected areas.

He observed that keeping in view the loss of life, property and agricultural land during this year’s unprecedented flash floods, vigorous efforts needed to be made to ensure a time-bound resettlement of the affected people. He particularly stressed the need for the rejuvenation of pasture lands and systematic implementation of the pashmina development programme in accordance with a well-considered plan collectively prepared by all experts concerned. He added that SKUAST-K and the related organisations possessing the requisite expertise, were duty-bound to support such efforts in a meaningful manner. He said he would ask the Vice-Chancellor, SKUAST-K, to urgently depute a team of experts to Leh for the purpose.

Spalbar briefed the Governor about the projects formulated in regard to solid waste management, the drainage system, the improvement of the road network, flood protection works,the augmentation of the drinking water supply, the pashmina development programme, etc, as well as the rehabilitation of the flood-affected.

Vohra observed that adequate financial support could be secured under various Centrally-sponsored schemes in regard to the projects in various sectors and added the council would need to pursue these projects at the appropriate level, to secure the desired results.

Earlier, the Chief Executive Councillor honoured the Governor by presenting to him a Khatak. The Governor wished the newly- elected LAHDC, Leh, all success.

Jammu, December 10
In an effort to reinvigorate the Jammu and Kashmir police and brace it up to face present challenges, the Director-General of Police, Kuldeep Khoda, has started a detailed review of various wings.In the first such meeting held here today, Khoda took a detailed review of security wing of the department.

Khoda stressed upon the participants to adhere to the guidelines laid down with regard to the security mechanism.

He said the department had set up its security grid since the start of the turmoil in the state and there was a challenge for the department from the security point of view.

He said the present scenario demanded more vigilance by security personnel as miscreants had changed their strategy.

He said, “We have to remain more vigilant to strengthen the security system in the state with no room for compromise on security aspect”.

Khoda said the security wing was an important component of the organisation, and in the present scenario, it had assumed more importance.

To overcome odd situations, the system had to be reviewed from time-to-time to strengthen the procedure, he added.

He asked the officers to supervise security arrangements and deployments personally so that there was no scope for any mischief.

Threadbare discussions were held in the meeting and the DGP sought suggestions from officers for strengthening the security wing.

He asked them to come up with proposals in this regard through the headquarters.

Earlier, the Inspector-General of Police, Security, Farooq Ahmed, gave a detailed powerpoint presentation on the working of the wing in the state. 

Srinagar, December 10
Demonstrations were held at several places across Kashmir in connection with World Human Rights Day, while separatist leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Syed Ali Geelani and Shabir Shah, were kept under house arrest here today.

Protests were held at several places here and in Sopore and Anantnag after the prayers following reports of clashes between the police and protesters. However, there were no reports of any injuries.Separatist leader Javed Ahmad Mir also led a demonstration. The chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who was kept under house arrest, expressed concern over the police action and condemned it.

Jammu, December 10
Members of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture, Science and Technology (SKUAST)Jammu Teacher Association today raised voice against the “biased attitude” of the state government towards the varsity.

In a statement issued here today, it was stated that in a meeting held under the chairmanship of president Narinder Singh, the members of the association expressed concern over the manner in which the Agriculture Minister had asked for a written assurance from the varsity for employment of students before the opening of the already approved College of Dairy Technology in SKUAST-Jammu.

Singh said, “The government has opened B.Tech in Information Technology, Computer Sciences, Microbiology, Engineering and more than 100 B.Ed colleges, where more than 20,000 students get admission every year without any guarantee of their employment. This reflects the biased attitude of the state government towards SKUAST-Jammu”.

“It is worrisome for the people of Jammu that this university has just two colleges since its inception in 1999, despite the approval of four more colleges. This step-motherly treatment has always been experienced by the well-wishers of SKUAST-Jammu,” he alleged.

He said five colleges had already started functioning under sister university SKUAST-Kashmir, but the government was reluctant to open already approved colleges for SKUAST-Jammu.

“The present system of working in the university is transparent, streamlined and accountable but some unscrupulous elements who have looted the varsity in the previous regime and now, fearing strict action, don’t want to see the SKUAST-Jammu progress,” he alleged.

Jammu, December 10
In what can be termed as an important step forward to check the use of agricultural land for other purposes , the state government has constituted a high-level committee comprising Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammed Sagar, Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir and Minister for Revenue Raman Bhalla.

Before coming out with legislation, the government has also sought public opinion on draft legislation of land use.

For the purpose, a draft of the Bill has been posted on the official website of the Law and Parliamentary Department, which is www.jklaw.nic.in.

The committee will have a comprehensive review of existing laws on land use for the restriction of conversion of agricultural land to other purposes and to make the law more stringent, which, in turn, will make the implementing agencies more accountable and also to provide for appropriate land use policy for the conversion of land, water bodies’ eco-system, besides being economically viable and socially acceptable.

According to a press release issued by the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the committee discussed the pros and cons of the issue at various meetings and draft legislation on the subject, “The Jammu and Kashmir Prohibition on Conversion of Agriculture Land for non-Agricultural Purposes Bill” had been prepared.

Interested persons or institutions could send their suggestions and views to Achal Sethi, Deputy Secretary, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Civil Secretariat, Room No. 3-F, here, or email to law-jk@nic.in or sethi.achal@gmail.com by or before December 20.

Jammu, December 10
A student of GGM Science College stabbed two of his classmates on the college premises with a sharp-edged weapon this morning.The police said Gagandeep Singh of the Simbal camp attacked Digvijay Singh of Bakshi Nagar and Neeraj Badyal of Janipur, all BSc 1st year students.

“Gagandeep Singh and an unidentified youth stabbed Digvijay and Neeraj Badyal on the college premises this morning with a weapon,” the police said.

After committing the crime, Gagandeep Singh and his accomplice escaped from the spot.

The victims, who sustained minor injuries, were rushed to a hospital from where they were discharged after first aid.

The police attributed the incident to political infighting due to college elections.

A case under Section 4/25 of the Arms Act has been registered against the accused and a manhunt launched to nab him.

Jammu, December 10
Highlighting the importance of statistics in the planning process, Governor NN Vohra today said the application of its basic principles could help achieve higher levels of growth in the varied sectors of economic development.

He was addressing the valedictory session of the three-day “International Conference on Development and Applications of Statistics in Emerging Areas of Science and Technology”, at the General Zorawar Singh Auditorium, Jammu University, here this evening.

The conference was organised by the Department of Statistics, University of Jammu, in conjunction with the XXX Annual Convention of the Indian Society of Probability and Statistics.

The Governor impressed upon young researchers to undertake relevant research to provide fresh impetus to the overall development process, enabling the application of statistical techniques in day-to-day operational activities.

In this connection, he referred to the early days of the post-Independence administration when crop-cutting samples used to be drawn by officers in the fields and the statistics of farm yields in varying agro-climatic environments were analysed to suitably re-orient the planning approach. He called for appropriate application of statistics for securing better developmental outcomes.

The Governor congratulated the Department of Statistics, Jammu University, on hosting this event in which practitioners of statistics from the country and abroad participated in large numbers.

The Governor conferred the Fellowship of the Indian Society for Probability and Statistics (ISPS) on president of the ISPS P Rajashekhara Reddy.

He also gave away awards and prizes to participating scientists.

Jammu University Vice-Chancellor Varun Sahni said such conferences enabled the varsity to expose its students and scholars to the latest research in different arenas of knowledge.

He said presentation of 350 research papers during the 3-day conference, besides lectures by experts, was a significant achievement.

Earlier, in his address of welcome,the convener of the conference, JP Singh Joorel, presented the conference report.

Jammu, December 10
Non-government organisations working in the Jammu province yesterday asked the Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB) to enhance their annual budget in view of the population and geography of the area.

At a meeting here yesterdy,the organisations requested CSWB chairperson Prema Cariappa to enhance the budget allocation for its present schemes in the state.

It was also proposed that the 20 per cent cut under the crèche programme made during the current financial year be revoked after inspection reports from the state board.

They also urged the chairperson for release of outstanding balance for family counselling centres, Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche Scheme and awareness generation programmes.

The meeting was presided over by Khem Lata Wakhlu, chairperson, Jammu and Kashmir Social Welfare Board, and attended by Executive Director, Secretary state Social Welfare Board, Gazanfar Ali besides representatives of NGOs of Jammu division.

Khem Lata Wakhlu on the occasion told the CSWB chairperson that during her visit to Srinagar in 2007, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had publicly announced that 1,000 crèches would be sanctioned to the state, but the promise had not been fulfilled so far.

The chairperson assured the NGOs that the points raised by them would be looked into. A vote of thanks was presented by Gazanfar Ali.

Jammu, December 10
About 120 papers were presented in four parallel sessions and 16 invited talks were delivered on the second day of the International

Conference on Development and Applications of Statistics in Emerging Areas of Science and Technology here yesterday.

According to a statement issued here, the conference is being organised by the Department of Statistics, University of Jammu.

Srinagar, December 10
A special police squad constituted recovered Rs 1,200 as fine from vendors selling cigarettes outside Tyndale Biscoe School and Burn Hall School here.Besides, Rs 1,100 was recovered as fine from people smoking in public places in violation of the rules prohibiting smoking.

The places inspected include GB Pant Hospital, Chest Disease Hospital and the Directorate of School Education. 

Udhampur, December 10
Three persons were killed and four, including a minor, injured when an oil tanker they were travelling in met with an accident near Jawahar Tunnel in Ramban district today.

SHO, Banihal, Sajid Mir said the accident took place near the tunnel towards the Banihal side. The tanker bearing registration number JK 12 2374 was on its way to Jammu from Pampore in the Kashmir valley.

A case was registered at Banihal police station.

The deceased included the driver, Pankaj (28) of Chenani in Udhampur district, Shakila (40) of Pampore and Rukhsana (25) of Pulwama while the injured were identified as Simi (20) and his sister, Tabassum (15) of Pampore, Sanah (2) of Pulwama and conductor Sohan Singh (20) of Tamatar Morh, Kud, Udhampur district.

The SHO informed that prime facie it seemed a case of negligent driving.