New Delhi, December 16
The three interlocutors, appointed to initiate a dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir, will begin their third visit to the state tomorrow. They are likely to submit the “broad contours” for a political settlement to the decades-old issue.

During their seven-day visit, the interlocutors will go to several district headquarters like Jammu, Rajouri, Poonch, Doda and Srinagar and interact with people cutting across the party lines and organisations and take their view on a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue.

When the interlocutors will submit the “broad contours” for a solution to the Kashmir issue, it will be deliberated by the Cabinet Committee on Security before giving the nod for initiating the process.

The group, comprising eminent journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, academician Radha Kumar and former Central Information Commissioner MM Ansari was appointed on October 13.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has recently said that the contours of a political solution to the Kashmir problem were expected to emerge in the next few months. He also said the first and second reports of the group of interlocutors for Jammu and Kashmir dealt with confidence-building measures.

Under their suggestions, demilitarisation steps have been taken, 66 youths have been released while 22 cases of the Public Safety Act have been withdrawn, sources said.

The Centre has sent “some” of its recommendations to the state for necessary action. “Action has been initiated on the recommendations. Some recommendations have been sent to the state government for necessary action. Some are under implementation,” a source said.

In its reports, the group had recommended expediting cases of undertrials, permitting peaceful protests, releasing militants and protesters against whom there were no serious charges, among others.

It also recommended training of the security forces, identifying jobs for young men and women in central and state government offices, scholarships for Kashmir students, enhancing monetary assistance to widows and orphans, efforts to trace missing persons and increasing monthly allowances to Kashmiri Pandits. — PTI 

Jammu, December 16
A doctor of the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) today could not find any bullet in the thigh of an alleged criminal, who was injured in a shootout with the police near Satyam Resorts on November 21.

Yudhveer, alias Babloo, a resident of RS Pura, was operated upon at the GMCH today but, surprisingly, the doctor did not find any bullet in his thigh.

It may be stated here that the GMCH authorities had told The Tribune over phone on November 29 that they could not remove the bullet because of the critical nature of the injury.

Even the family of Babloo had alleged that the doctors were citing one or the other reason for not removing the bullet from his thigh.

Talking to The Tribune over phone, Dr Paramjeet Singh, who operated upon Babloo today, said, “We have put plates in Babloo’s leg but no bullet was found in his thigh.” He added that the bullet might have bruised past his thigh.

In the shootout, Rakesh Kumar, alias Giri, a resident of RS Pura, was killed and Babloo was injured, while Sunny managed to flee.

In the case, the family of slain Giri had also filed an application in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court demanding a fair probe. The High Court had asked the Channi Himmat police to produce the status report.

The controversial shootout has put the police in the dock. One of the alleged criminal, Sunny, is still absconding.

Jammu, December 16
The Governor, N.N. Vohra, and the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, yesterday stressed the need for introducing job-oriented courses to enhance employability levels of the state youth.

They were reviewing the functioning of Jammu University at its 70th council meeting here yesterday.

The Governor and the Chief Minister asked for conducting a detailed audit of both state universities and bringing out their audit reports regularly for ensuring greater transparency in the functioning.

Vohra, who is the Chancellor of Jammu University, emphasised that such courses had to be taught, particularly in the seats of higher learning, which empowered the youth to get better placements in the obtaining and the emerging job markets.

Referring to various courses being taught in the university and those in the pipeline, the Governor observed that wherever required, the necessary recognition and approval must be obtained from the AICTE and other central authorities concerned in a time-bound manner for running these courses so that the students did not face any difficulty. He called for enforcing the required quality norms on affiliated colleges as well for ensuring allround academic excellence and quality of education in the state.

The Chief Minister, who is the Pro-Chancellor of the university, underscored the need for greater synergy between the universities of the state for sharing their resources, infrastructure and expertise for progressively enhancing the quality of education in Jammu and Kashmir, adding that this would go a long way in preparing the youth to compete successfully in the job market.

The Chief Minister described education as the most effective means to bring about healthy socio-economic transformation and asked the university to provide the students best educational facilities.

The Minister for Higher Education, Abdul Gani Malik, dwelt on various initiatives the government was taking to boost the education sector in the state.

The Vice-Chancellor, Jammu University, Prof Varun Sahni, in his presentation gave details of the achievements of the university in various arenas and threw light on the courses already taught and those in the pipeline. He also spoke about the status of the infrastructure building and the quality research projects undertaken to contribute to the economic development of the state.

The meeting discussed various agenda items in detail and took decisions. The Vice-Chancellor, University of Kashmir, Dr Riyaz Punjabi, Principal Secretary to the Governor, R. K. Goyal, Commissioner/Secretary, Finance, Sudhanshu Pandey, Commissioner/ Secretary, Higher Education, Tanveer Jahan, Registrar, Jammu University, Dr P. S. Pathania, Prof R. P. Bambah, Prof S. C. Gupta, Prof Archana Kesar, Prof N. K. Tripathi, Prof Mohammad Iqbal and Sanjay Verma participated in the meeting.

Udhampur, December 16
Vijay Diwas was celebrated at the Northern Command, Udhampur, today with the paying of tributes at the Dhruva War Memorial in remembrance of those valiant men who made the supreme sacrifice for the country.

The General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, Lt-Gen BS Jaswal, laid a wreath at the memorial . The ceremony was attended by all ranks of the Command Headquarters. Later, a function was organised at Bikram Park, Udhampur Military station, under the aegis of the 71 Sub Area.

Udhampur, December 16
Abdul Majid Wani, MLA, Doda, today visited remote areas of his constituency, including Jodhpur, Chankrathi, Manthorri, Panchal, Behrot, Sounsh, Dongru, Assissee, Mohalla and Battal, and reviewed various development works.

Wani also inspected roads at Dongru-Gadhetar and Mohalla. He visited the Community Information Centre at Model Village, Jodhpur, and interacted with people.

In the presence of officials of various government departments, the MLA directed the Irrigation Department to prepare a detailed project report for the Lift Irrigation Scheme from Chenab to this area, besides providing a sufficient number of cradle boxes at Thupp.

At Chankrathi, Wani informed people that a road connecting Manthorri with Kashriyan, Tringa, Shiva Asthan, Halk, Gujrari up to Malwana would be be taken up shortly under the ninth phase of the Prime Minister Gramin Sadak Yojana. He also assured that the power supply would improve with the implementation of the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana in Jatheli and adjoining areas.

After addressing a public meeting at Mohalla, the MLA inspected the civic facilities at Assissee, Barr Dramn and Gulmana. The area residents informed him about the lack of proper medicare facilities and need for new electricity receiving station in the area. Wani asked the Deputy Commissioner, Doda, and the Executive Engineer, Power Development Department, Doda, to provide immediate relief to the area residents.

Jammu, December 16
Following intense pressure from the security forces, terrorists are fleeing the state. “There is intense pressure on terrorists and they are fleeing the state,” IG, Jammu zone, Ashok Kumar Gupta told The Tribune.

This year, the security forces had killed top commanders of various terror outfits in the state and the surviving militants were now fleeing the state, he added.

“The state police has maintained a dossier of the fleeing militants and has been keeping a close watch on them. They are now being arrested from other parts of the country like the two who were nabbed in Himachal Pradesh yesterday,” the IG said, refusing to share the details.

It may be stated here that in the past one month at least five militants, who had fled the state, were arrested from New Delhi, Thane near Mumbai and Dehradun.

Intelligence sources told The Tribune that sensing the mood of the security forces, which had launched seek-and-destroy operations across the state, the militants were fleeing.

“Recently Pakistan trained terrorist Ghulam Nabi Sheikh, alias Javed Qureshi, and his accomplice Tanveer Ahmed were arrested from Dehradun; two LeT operatives Mohammed Shareef Makhandeen Thakkar and Mohammad Isaq Mohammad Rashid Kamalak, residents of Rajouri district, were held from Thane near Mumbai; while Hizbul Mujahideen Divisional Commander Abdullah Inqalabi was arrested from New Delhi,” they added.

The sources said after managing to escape, these militants had been in constant touch with their handlers in the PoK, who had given them the new assignment of activating sleeper cells, disrupt peace and target vital installations. They escaped to important cities like New Delhi, Mumbai and Dehradun to continue their disruptive activities clandestinely, they added.

Srinagar, December 16
The chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, today said a solution of the Kashmir issue within the present framework was not possible and called for a comprehensive dialogue between the three parties to the issue for a negotiated settlement.

Addressing a press conference here, he said:“Time is ripe for India,Pakistan and representatives of Jammu and Kashmir to settle the Kashmir issue”.The right to self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir was non-negotiable,he maintained while responding to a question about a statement of one of the Centre's interlocutors on Kashmir, Dilip Padgaonkar, in which he had reportedly said the PDP's self-rule formula could be one of the solutions to the Kashmir issue.

About the apparent change in China's policy over stapled visa for residents of Jammu and Kashmir,he claimed it did not affect the "disputed" nature of the state.“Whatever the issues between India and China, the international community is keen on impressing upon India and Pakistan to engage in resolving the Kashmir issue”.

The Mirwaiz also claimed that the deceased American representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, was in touch with the Kashmiri leadership. He, however, refused to elaborate.

He said the government was trying hard to portray the five-month- long agitation in the Valley as a struggle for monetary gains which was evident from the job packages announced by it.

The Mirwaiz said he would offer Friday prayers at Jamia Masjid tomorrow even if the government imposed curbs on his movement. “The government cannot stop me from following my religion. We will offer prayers," he said.

Jammu, December 16
The state government has decided to constitute a team of experts to conduct a comparative study of the Panchayati Raj Act in the rest of the country and the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act for a proper implementation of the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution of India in the state.The team will submit its report in a month.

The decision was taken at a Coordination Committee meeting of the National Conference(NC) and the Congress which was held after six months. Although the state Cabinet had approved some clauses of the 73rd Amendment, the Congress demanded that the said amendment should be extended fully to the state to make Panchayati Raj institutions more vibrant.

Highly placed sources in Congress said Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Saif-Ud-Din Soz, who is chairman of the Coordination Committee, took up the issue of the partial implementation of the 73rd Amendment and stressed the need for its full extension. Congress representatives were of the view that without this, panchayat elections would fail to serve any purpose. Leaders of the ruling coalition discussed the issue, but failed to evolve a consensus.It was then decided to set up a team of experts to look into the issue.

Congress members also drew the attention of the NC to provocative statements of its stalwart, Mustafa Kamal.However,the NC representatives pointed out controversial remarks of Health Minister Sham Lal at Bani in Kathua on December 5.

After the meeting, Soz said they discussed means to incorporate the 73rd Amendment in the state Act to fully empower the panchayats.

Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather, who represented the NC in the absence of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, said: “We will do a comparative study of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Act and the Panchayati Raj Act in the rest of the country .The two Acts will be studied before taking a final decision”.

Jammu, December 16
A deputation of the All J&K College Teachers Association called on Governor NN Vohra here today and submitted a memorandum of demands to him. The deputation was led by the president of the association, Dr Sanjay Verma.

The demands included the release of the arrears of the Sixth Pay Commission, enhancement of the retirement age and the creation of posts of professor in colleges.

Another deputation of the 10+2 Contractual Lecturers Forum met the Governor and submitted a memorandum to him demanding the regularisation of their services. The deputation was led by the president of the forum, Arun Bakshi.