Jammu, December 22
In a major relief to cellphone users in the state, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today ordered the revocation of the ban on the Short Message Service (SMS) facility on post-paid connections in the state. However, the pre-paid cellphone users will have to wait for the facility to be restored.

At a high-level meeting chaired by the Chief Minister here today, a decision was taken to revoke the ban on the SMS facility on all postpaid connections after reviewing the overall security situation in the state. However, the ban on post-paid bulk messages would continue. BSNL and other private telecom companies operating in the state had been advised to start the service as soon as possible.

The meeting was attended by DGP Kuldeep Khoda and Principal Secretary, Home Department, BR Sharma. It may be stated here that the SMS facility was banned in the state on June 30 following the recent turmoil in the Kashmir valley.

However, BSNL officials in Jammu feigned ignorance about the revocation of the ban, saying they had no official information from the state government. While the ban had deprived the BSNL and six other private telecom operators of their revenue, policing had also taken a beating in the state.

The government had banned the facility to check troublemakers and rumour-mongers from fuelling the unrest in Kashmir with their inflammatory messages. From June 30 to November 30, the ban caused a loss of nearly Rs 7.50 crore to the BSNL. Sources say the government-owned PSU has been losing between Rs 1 crore and Rs 1.5 crore every month because of the ban. The private operators — Airtel, Aircel, Idea, Reliance, Vodafone and Tata Indicom — also provide services in the state.

Jammu, December 22
Even as the BJP kicked off its campaign against corruption at the national level along with other constituents of the NDA today, the party will focus on the Kashmir issue at its two-day conclave beginning here tomorrow.

Top leaders, including party president Nitin Gadkari, L.K Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Murli Manohar Joshi, Chief Ministers of party-ruled states, Deputy Chief Ministers and others will arrive here for the meeting.

A public rally shall also be held at Parade Ground on December 24.

Besides important issues like a JPC probe into the 2G scam, corruption in the Commonwealth Games, the Adarsh scam and the price rise, Kashmir will the main issue at a closed-door meeting of central office-bearers. They will hold discussions on the prevailing situation in the Valley and initiatives being taken by the UPA Government.

Sources said after discussing the recent steps taken by the Union Government, the party would announce its future course of action to counter attempts of the Centre to “appease” separatists. Some members of the BJP’s Kashmir cell were already camping in Jammu to prepare a document which would be discussed by the visiting leaders.

The BJP leadership had especially chosen Jammu for holding the meeting as it wanted to give a message to the ruling coalition in the state and the Centre that the party would not tolerate more concessions to appease Kashmir-centric parties or separatists. Usually, a meeting of the national party office-bearers was held a day before the executive to set the party’s agenda, but this time, the leadership had decided to hold it much before the executive meeting to be held in Guwahati on January 8 and 9,they said.

“It is indeed an important decision to hold meetings of the national office-bearers and the executive at different places ”, said Dr Nirmal Singh,BJP national executive member.

He said in view of the recent developments in Kashmir, the party had decided to hold the meeting in Jammu to give a clear message to the Centre that it should not succumb to separatists’ pressure.

Jammu, December 22
In a major police reshuffle, the state government has transferred 87 officials, including the IG, Jammu range, Ashok Gupta, who has been shifted to the Police Academy. Gupta has been replaced by Dilbagh Singh.

The decision on the reshuffle was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah last night. The meeting approved the postings of two new ADGPs Ram Lubhaya and S Gopal Reddy, both 1985 batch IPS officers.

Lubhaya will be looking after Home Guards while Reddy will be looking after the sensitive internal security and civil-military liaison, an official statement said here.

Deepak Kumar has been appointed as IG, Vigilance, while his batchmate Gulzar Singh has been made IG in the State Human Rights Commission. As many as eight DIGs have been transfered and 69 SPs of various districts and armed police battalions reshuffled. These include SP, Srinagar Airport, Bakir Samoon, who have been posted as the staff officer of IG (Traffic). The state CID, which is being headed by B Srinivas, also got a new team. — PTI

Jammu, December 22
Members of the Special Task Force for Jammu, headed by Dr Abhijit Sen, Member, Planning Commission, which arrived here today, called on Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhavan this evening.

During the two-hour-long meeting, the Governor, Dr Sen and members of the task force discussed the existing and emerging development concerns of the people of Jammu.

Sen informed the Governor about the meetings which the Task Force had so far and the feedback gathered about the thrust areas of development in the region.

Other members of the Special Task Force, Joint Secretary, (Plan Finance-I), Union Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure, Anjuly Chib Duggal; Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Dr Pawan Kotwal; Vice-Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, Dr Najeeb Jung; Professor of Economics, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, JNU, Dr Amaresh Dubey and Deputy Secretary (K-III), Union Ministry of Home Affairs, PP Singh, participated in the meeting.

The Principal Secretary to the Governor, RK Goyal, was also present.

Jammu, December 22
The All-Jammu and Kashmir Agriculture Daily Wagers Union, in association with the Jammu and Kashmir Daily Wagers Joint Action Committee and the All-Jammu and Kashmir Agriculture Employees Association, held a dharna at the agriculture complex at Talab Tillo today. At least 100 workers from agriculture and allied departments assembled at the complex and shouted slogans against the “anti-employee” policies of the government, demanding the regularisation of their services.

President of the daily wagers union Rajan Sharma criticised the government and sought the formulation of a policy for the regularisation of all daily wage employees who had worked for the Agriculture Department for a specific period.

“The services of all employees, who have been working with the department since 1994, should be regularised as per the agreement with the Employees Joint Action Committee,” he said.

Jammu, December 22
The Governor, N.N.Vohra, and the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, today reviewed the progress of various development works being executed to expand and upgrade infrastructure facilities to meet the obtaining and futuristic requirements at Katra and en route the Vaishno Devi shrine at a meeting held at Raj Bhavan here.

They reviewed the action taken on decisions at earlier meetings and reiterated that, in view of the expansion of Katra town and a progressive increase in the number of pilgrims visiting the cave shrine, all ongoing development schemes needed to be completed within time frames.

The Governor, who is also the Chairman of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, said there was no scope whatsoever for any delay in the implementation of development schemes under review. He stressed the need for availing the benefits available under various schemes of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for optimally harnessing solar energy to meet the requirements of lighting and water heating in Katra and elsewhere.

While reviewing the progress on the conservation and development of Bhimgarh Fort at Reasi, the Governor and the Chief Minister against emphasised the involvement of INTACH and the Department of Archives in the finalisation and implementation of the second phase of the project. The Governor observed that in view of the upcoming rail connectivity with Katra, the projects aimed at strengthening the arrangements for adequate supply of water, power and road connectivity should be accorded top priority.

The meeting was informed that a mega project, which had been earlier formulated for augmenting the water supply for Katra was awaiting funds, for which the matter would again be taken up with the Centre.

Referring to the need for taking all possible measures to check forest fires along the tracks to the shrine and in the rest of the area, the Governor asked R. K. Goyal,his Principal Secretary and the Chief Executive Officer of the board, to ensure the implementation of an action plan formulated by the Forest Department.

He said besides the creation of fire lines, water bodies should also be created, wherever possible, for dealing with forest fires. He said the field staff of the shrine board and all other agencies should be well-trained in disaster management and tackling forest fires. He issued instructions for organising mock drills in regard to forest fires and disaster management to assess the levels of preparedness. The meeting was informed that projects had been prepared for the revival of old ponds at Sanjichhat and Haathi Matha.

The Chief Minister said to ensure time-bound completion of all ongoing projects at Katra and along the tracks, all administrative secretaries concerned shall submit monthly progress reports simultaneously to the Governor and the Chief Minister and from March next year, the Chief Secretary would hold a review meeting every three months.

Jammu, December 22
The water bill of the Police Control Room (PCR) building for the past two years has shocked the department, as the amount that should have been between Rs 2,000 and 3,000, is 10 times more than it.

A senior police officer said the water bill issued by the Public Health and Engineering (PHE) Department for the past two years had shocked them. trouble.

“We were shocked to see the bill for the water connections issued for the PCR in the Parade area,” said the officer.

He added that they had been using three water connections at the PCR building for the past many years.

“We haven’t ever received a bill of such an exorbitant amount. Earlier, we usually paid between Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,000 for the same period,” he added.

However, there were a number of areas in the city where people had not received the bills for the water consumption for a long period.

RK Chalotra, SP, PCR, said, “We have received the bill for water connections at the PCR building,which is nearly 10 times than the actual amount. We have apprised senior officials concerned of the PHE Department of the matter”.

He added that the department had assured them that it would look into the matter and it would be sorted out at the earliest.

Jammu, December 22
In the militancy-plagued state, the Operation Sadbhavana is turning out to be a magic wand for the Army to gel with ‘alienated’ Kashmiris. Not only this, the programme has also succeeded in checking militancy to a considerable extent.

“When militancy was at its peak in the state during the 90s, the Army, as part of its strategy to check militancy and ensure development in the far-flung areas, launched Operation Sadbhavana in 1998,” said a senior Army officer.

“At that time, the local populace was being incited against us by the separatists and sympathisers of the militancy. So, we decided to win their hearts and minds via welfare programmes,” he added.

“The separatists in the state often accuse the Army of committing atrocities on Kashmiris for obvious reasons.

They have also been spreading canards against the Army. We also felt the need to come up with some welfare programme to reach out to the local populace in the remote and the militancy-plagued areas. Therefore, the Ministry of Defence asked us to go ahead with Operation Sadbhavana ,” he said.

Under the operation, the Army holds educational tours for schoolchildren, provides vocational training to men and women, holds free medical and veterinary camps, opens women empowerment centres and has constructed infrastructure for schools in the far-flung areas.

“We have also set up youth employment guidance nodes for career counselling for youths in militancy-infested areas,” the officer said.

He added that the sports tourneys organised by the Army were an instant hit among the youths, where they got an opportunity to channelise their energy.

Sources in the Army said there was a phase when youths were being misguided and lured into militancy.

“Though the trend had not died down as yet, there was a remarkable improvement in the situation now and we attribute the positive development to the programme,” they said.

“Through these welfare programmes, we have succeeded to a considerable extent in keeping the youths away from militancy,” they added.

Every fiscal year, the Army gets approximately between Rs 40 crore and Rs 50 crore from the Centre to implement the programme in the state,say sources, adding this year, the Nagrota-based White Knight Corps, got Rs 11 crore from the Centre for the purpose.

Though the state government gets plenty of funds from the Centre every year, it had not been able to reach out to the remote areas because of militancy and, therefore, the Army had decided to contribute its bit through the programme, they said.

“We have been able to succeed in our purpose to connect with people, ameliorate their socio-economic conditions, check militancy and at the same time remove a wrong perception of the Army created by separatists and others,” they added.

Jammu, December 22
The Jammu and Kashmir Physiotherapist Association (JKPA) alleged that the police misbehaved with protesting doctors while their rally was on its way to the Governor’s house this morning. The association alleged that the police stopped them from heading onwards and took three members of the association to the police station.

“As soon as we started rallying towards the Governor’s house to submit the memorandum and register our protest, the police stopped the protesters and took three members to the Rehari Police Chowki and then shifted them to the Pacca Danga Police Station,” a statement said.

It condemned the alleged misbehaviour of the police with the members of the JKPA, including women doctors, maintaining that there was no women cop on the occasion.

“Some cops were even using abusive language and used force on the women doctors. A few women members of the association fell unconscious after being assaulted,” the statement said, adding, the JKPA members were released at 7 pm.

Jammu, December 22
Expressing concern over the prevailing political situation in the state, the Panun Kashmir, headed by its president Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, appealed to the leadership and the national executive of the BJP to consider issues pertaining to national interests in the state at a meeting in Jammu today.

While addressing a press conference, Chrungoo said the nationalist forces, particularly the Hindu minorities of the state, had been experiencing a very confused period over the past two decades.

He said the state had been pushed to a similar situation that prevailed here in 1952-1953.

“The role, utterances and the statements of the interlocutors appointed for the state have created bundles of confusion and their reference of Kashmir as a ‘dispute’ or a ‘problem’ which needs a ‘political settlement’ is an invitation to political blackmail by the anti-India forces,” said Chrungoo.

He said the interlocutors’ statements regarding the ‘involvement of Pakistan’ and ‘self-rule and autonomy’ had made the confusion worse.

Members of the Panun Kashmir said the nationalist forces, particularly the Hindu minorities of the state, had been consistently given the treatment of a second class citizen in their own state.

“The Muslim precedence in all walks of life has become the guiding principle for the state government and the administration. The statement of the Chief Minister regarding the accession of the state, so-called rehabilitation policy for the terrorists from across the border, providing jobs to stone throwers in the Valley, policy of neglect towards the PoK refugees and the displaced community of the Kashmiri- Hindus are glaring examples to prove the anti-India mindset of the political class governing the state,” Chrungoo added.

Srinagar, December 22
Favouring a peaceful solution to the Kashmir problem, residents of Langate town in Kupwara district today said they would stop throwing stones during protests, if the Centre's interlocutors gave an assurance that there would be no violence against them by the security forces.

The offer came at an open meeting organised by independent Langate MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid with the three-member team of interlocutors led by journalist Dileep Padgaonkar at a government school here.

"We pledge to end the stone throwing during protests, if you can assure that the security forces will not use violence against us," a local resident said while interacting with the team.

His view was echoed by other residents.

Academician Radha Kumar, one of the interlocutors, said the message would be conveyed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when the team returned to Delhi.

She said they were happy to have a frank interaction with people in an open atmosphere. “I heard your anger and pain as well.We are committed to convey your pain and aspirations to the Prime Minister”,she said

She added that they were told by the Centre that the state government had been asked to speed up the process of the release of the youth, who had been arrested in the past few months.

The MLA said the Centre should initiate talks with militants for finding a durable solution to the Kashmir issue.

"The men with guns in their hands should also be included in the dialogue for ensuring an end to this conflict," he said, adding that both the ruling National Conference and the Opposition Peoples Democratic Party should formulate a common minimum programme for the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

The interlocutors, who are currently on their third visit to Jammu and Kashmir, are scheduled to return tomorrow.

Earlier, they had visited the state from October 23 to 28 and November 9 to 14.

Jammu, December 22
Students of KC International School celebrated the annual day function with zeal here today. Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand was the chief guest on the occasion.

According to a statement issued here, the function started with the lightning of a traditional lamp by the chief guest. Describing various activities of the school, Principal of the school Shubandru Sarkar highlighted its achievements during the year in various fields.

The tiny-tots of the school presented a dance item at the beginning of the function. Later, senior students of the school presented some items on the freedom struggle and highlighted the role of the freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh and the queen of Jhansi.

The Ladakhi dance presented by students enthralled the audience.

A presentation by the students on the Ladakh floods rendered the audience emotional.

Addressing the gathering, Tara Chand praised the students and the staff of the school for organising the function.

Jammu, December 22
The Rasa Javedani Memorial Literary Society has hailed the appointment of Padma Shree awardee Prof Amitabh Mattoo as the first Vice-Chancellor of Central University of Jammu.

A meeting of the society members was held under the chairmanship of society president Prof Shohab Inayat Malik yesterday.

The meeting was attended by senior vice-president of the society Ayaz Rasool Nazki, general secretary Aseer Kishtwari, joint secretary Ravi Thakur and Payre Hatash, Dr Mohammad Reyaz Ahmed and others members.

In a statement, Nazki thanked the President, Pratibha Devi Singh Patil, for clearing the name of Prof Amitabh Mattoo as the first Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Jammu.

Prof Nazki said the university would become a role model within a short span of time under the leadership of Mattoo.

Describing his appointment as a victory of secular forces, Ayaz Rasool Nazki said a new era of peace and prosperity would be started in the state.

Ravi Thakur said in the capacity of the Vice- Chancellor of the university, Mattoo took many steps in academic and cultural fields, including setting up of the General Zorawar Singh Auditorium, the Law School, the Biotechnology Department, besides several measures aimed at the welfare of teachers and the non-teaching staff.

Prof Malik described the appointment of Mattoo as a defeat of the communal forces.

He said Mattoo’s appointment would help students of three regions of the state.

He added that the university would become a centre of excellence under his dynamic leadership. 

Jammu, December 22
The National Conference and XXVII Convention of Indian Association of Sedimentologists on “Resource Potential of Sedimentary Basins” being organised by the Department of Geology, University of Jammu, was inaugurated here today.

According to a statement issued here, more than 150 persons, including foreigners, are participating in the conference. Prof Varun Sahni, Vice-chancellor, Jammu University, was the chief guest, while Dr M Sudhakar, adviser to the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, was the guest of honour. Prof SK Tandon, former Pro Vice-Chancellor, Delhi University, presided over the function.

Prof Sahni in his address highlighted the role of the Geology Department in the development of the university. He stressed the need for encouraging the young faculty members of the university to produce quality research papers and compete at the national and international levels. Dr M Sudhakar highlighted the role of the Ministry of Earth Sciences in promoting the exploration of natural resources. Prof Tandon described the role of the Indian Association of Sedimentologists and deliberated on the large river systems in India. He made a detailed presentation about the vanishing of Saraswati river and the breach in Kosi river in 2008, which flooded Bihar.

Prof Sahni felicitated Prof Tandon and Dr Sudhakar and presented shawls and mementos to them. At the inaugural function, the Department of Geology and the Jammu University Geology Alumni Association felicitated Ujawal Gupta, Vikas Sharma and Neeraj Kumar for their outstanding performances in sports, culture and academics, respectively. A special session was held to select a candidate for the Young Sedimentologist Award-2010. A poster session of the research papers was organised to select the five best posters. The awards to the winners would be presented at the valedictory function tomorrow.

Two parallel sessions were conducted on the themes “Evolution of Sedimentary Basins” and “Palaeogeography and Coastal Geodynamics”.