Jammu, January 31
The Union Health Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, today, said since 1947, Pakistan had been aiding and abetting terrorism across India. Responding to questions of mediapersons at the valedictory function of the All-India Gandhian Global Family Session here, Azad said the involvement of some individuals or agencies in the Samjhauta blast didn’t mean that all agencies working in India had terror links. He said whenever approached, Pakistan was reluctant to share information about the Mumbai-terror attack and the Samjhauta blast.

“Pakistan is still pursuing the policy of aiding and abetting terrorism in India,” said Azad. On the recent incident of an RJD MLA’s bodyguard reportedly opening fire at two junior doctors in Bihar, the minister attributed the incident to poor infrastructure and shortage of manpower in hospitals.

“Though law and order is a state subject, we have initiated several measures to ensure security in all government hospitals, and in this context, the UPA government is raising the infrastructure and manpower, for which it has been spending Rs 15,000 crore every year,” he added.

“Similarly, the shortage of doctors will be overcome by appointing more doctors, and we hope that things will improve in the next three to four years,” Azad said. Earlier, in his valedictory address to the audience, Azad asked the people to be cautious of the parties indulging in religion-based politics.

“Religion based politics divides the society and poses a threat to secularism. People should follow Gandhiji’s principles and the path shown by him, he added,” the Minister added.

Jammu, January 31
Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, president of the Panun Kashmir,said here today the recent statement of the Finance Minister, Abdul Rahim Rather, regarding the implementation of the controversial Sageer Ahmed Report was unfortunate.

In a statement issued here, Chrungoo stressed that the said report was rejected as soon as it was announced last year. “There was an uproar regarding the contents of the report which was virtually the election manifesto of the National Conference. The report had sought to appease the protagonists of autonomy and self-rule,” said Chrungoo.

Chrungoo further said, “During the deliberations in the 5th Working Group on Centre-State relations, the views and aspirations of the majority members of the group could not find a mention in the final recommendations due to the pre-determined agenda of the government. As a result, there were mass protests and demonstrations and the report was finally rejected.”

He said now again, the same report was being brought in front of the public for political expediency. “The government having witnessed opposition to the contents of the report, tried to avoid the whole process by bringing in the interlocutors, who, in the end are trying to implement a similar agenda,” said Chrungoo.

He said the Panun Kashmir rejected any attempt to raise the issues of the said controversial report and would keep on co-operating with the other like-minded organisations and groups to reject this agenda.

Speaking at the meeting, Virender Raina, a member of the Panun Kashmir, said it was strange that the citizens of the country were not allowed to enter the state for hoisting the National Flag on Republic Day, whereas the separatist leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was allowed to go to Europe to propagate the separatist agenda at a conference in London.

Srinagar, January 31
Panchayati Raj, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar has said the state government has taken several steps to beautify and develop historical places in the city. He said the Ziarat-e-Mukhdoom Sahib, Jamia Masjid, Srinagar, and the shrine of Naqashband Sahib were being developed.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the Rs 16 lakh Bab-ul-Sultan near Srinagar, which is being constructed by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Sagar said an expansion project for the Ziarat Mukhdoom Sahib (RA) amounting to Rs 57 crore had been formulated. A cable car project from the Dal Lake up to the Ziarat Mukhdoom Sahib would also be constructed shortly, he added.

He said Rs 52 crore would be spent on the remodelling of the Jamia Masjid while Rs 49 crore was proposed to be spent on developing the Ziarat-e-Naqashband Sahib.

Sagar said Malla Khah being a historical graveyard of down town, some building in its vicinity would be relocated and rehabilitated at alternative sites. Community halls would also be constructed in the Malla Khah and Bab-Damb areas, he added.

About the unemployment problem, the minister said a special police recruitment drive would be launched in Nowhatta soon. Regarding the Kashmir issue, he said all political parties, including the Hurriyat Conference, should come together to hammer out a lasting solution so that people’s problems could be solved.

Srinagar, January 31
Admitting a PIL filed by separatist group JKLF on the killing of 17 civilians in the unrest in the Kashmir valley last year, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court today issued notices to the state government and others.

A Division Bench, comprising Justices Hakim Imtiyaz Hussain and Mohammad Yaqoob Mir, issued the notices to the respondents, including the state government, the Director-General of Police, the Director-General, CRPF, and the General-officer-Commanding of the Army's Northern Command.

The court issued the notices to the respondents, which are returnable in two weeks.The Bench also directed the state government to file a report about the status of investigations into the cases registered in connection with the killings by the next date of hearing, and asked the families of those killed to file a statement.

JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik, on January 14, had filed a PIL in the high court seeking several directions to the government and the security forces, including the registration of FIRs in connection with 117 deaths that took place during the disturbances last year. "The respondents be directed to register the cases wherever deaths have occurred and where the cases have not been registered under proper FIR," the JKLF chairman pleaded in his 30-page petition.

He had sought monitoring of the investigation by the high court in cases where FIRs had been registered, to ensure that proper evidence was collected and the investigation was taken to its logical conclusion. "This court may also constitute, appoint and direct the constitution of a high-level committee comprising men of eminence, to suggest ways to prevent such deaths in future, and to lay down norms to be publicly observed by the armed personnel before resorting to firing against the demonstrators," he said.

Malik also sought directions to the state and its agencies that in case of peaceful demonstrators or those who resorted to stone throwing, the use of live ammunition be avoided and only non-lethal ways of crowd control be employed. — PTI 

Jammu, January 31
A Division Bench comprising Justices JP Singh and Hasnain Masoodi of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in Jammu, while replying to an important query, “whether the amount of excise refund and interest subsidy received by an assessee, in pursuance to the incentives announced and sanctioned by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, pertaining to the Industrial Policy introduced in the state of J&K, is capital receipt, and thus not liable to tax under the Income Tax Act, 1961”, held that the excise duty refund, interest subsidy and insurance subsidy were not production incentives.

Aggrieved by the orders of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Amritsar Bench, Amritsar, against the orders of the Commissioner of Income Tax (A), Bathinda, upholding the orders of the income tax officers, denying them deductions under the Income Tax Act, 1961, on the excise refund and interest subsidy holding that the excise refund and interest subsidy received by them, in pursuance to the Industrial Policy and other concessions announced for Jammu and Kashmir by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, was revenue receipt and not capital receipt, hence liable to tax, the appellants-assessees approached the J&K High Court seeking setting aside of the orders of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, besides the orders of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) and assessing officers in respect of their income tax returns.

The Division Bench, while allowing the appeals filed under Section 260-A of the Income Tax Act, 1961, observed that “Looking at the purpose of eradication of the social problem of unemployment in the state of J&K by the acceleration of industrial development and removing backwardness of the area that lagged behind in industrial development, which is certainly a purpose in the public interest, the incentives provided by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the statutory notifications issued in this behalf, to the assesses cannot be construed as mere production and trade incentives, as held by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.”

The HC further held that “The finding of the tribunal that the incentives were revenue receipts is, accordingly, set aside holding the incentives to be capital receipts in the hands of the assessee. The appellant’s appeals before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Amritsar, against the orders of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) and income tax officers, shall therefore, revive for passing appropriate consequential orders thereon, in accordance with the law.”

Jammu, January 31
Demanding a special census for nomadic and semi-nomadic Gujjars and Bakerwals of the state, the community yesterday expressed distress over the exclusion of nomads during house-listing and preparation of the National Population Register in the first phase held between June and September last year.

In an appeal to the Union Government sent through the Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, the community urged for a correct enumeration of their tribe in the second and the last phases under the nomadic or “shelter-less category”.

Dr Javaid Rahi, secretary of the foundation, said: “We have demanded a special census of around six lakh nomadic, semi-nomadic and shelter-less Gujjars, Bakerwals and other migratory communities migrating to the warmer areas of the state”.

He suggested that the Registrar-General of India (RGI) should hold exclusive mapping to list the movement of nomads in the Himalayan region of the state and provide a new column in registration forms of the census by introducing "Nomadic Category" or "shelter-less category", which would help the enumerators to accommodate a big chunk of the tribal population during the process.

He said last year during the process of house-listing, lakhs of nomadic Gujjars-Bakerwals were not counted as they were under seasonal migration to upper reaches of the western Himalayas.

“We appeal to the Prime Minister's office to intervene and direct the RGI to conduct a special census of the Gujjar- Bakerwal nomads in Jammu and Kashmir and enter them in the National Population Register under a special and exclusive programme,” he added. 

Jammu, January 31
The Department of Urdu, University of Jammu in collaboration with the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language, New Delhi, today organised the second Manzar Azmi Memorial Lecture at the Prof Gyan Chand Jain Seminar Hall of the department.

According to a statement issued here, Prof Beigh Ahsas, Head of the Urdu Department , Central University, Hyderabad, was the key resourceperson who delivered a lecture on “Aims and Objectives of Research”. The Head of the Urdu Department, University of Jammu, Prof Shohab Inayat Malik, paid tributes to Prof Manzar Azmi who served the department for about 35 years.

While delivering the lecture, Prof Ahsas said research was an important genre of Urdu. “It has a relation to criticism also. A researcher must be dynamic, energetic and above all, dedicated”, said Prof Ahsas.

Describing Prof Azmi as a prominent researcher, Prof Ahsas discussed the qualities of his book, “Urdu Mein Tamseal Nigari,” and described it as a literary piece which had been prescribed in the syllabi of every university. The programme was presided over by former Director-General, Culture, Mohammad Yousf Taing while Director, School Education, Gulzar Ahmed Qureshi was the chief guest. Prof R.D Sharma, Dean, Academic Affairs, and Prof Qudoos Javed, former Head of Urdu Department, Kashmir University, were guests of honour. 

Srinagar, January 31
The Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Dr Asgar Samoon, inaugurated a two-day snow festival at Pahalgam today. The Director, Tourism, Farooq Shah, and the Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, S JaiPal Singh, were present on the occasion. Besides the participants of winter sports, a large number of people and tourists were also present.

Addressing the gathering, Samoon appreciated the Tourism Department for organising winter sports for the first time at Pahalgam. He said these would promote tourism in the famous hill resort.

The Divisional Commissioner said the winter sport lovers would be happy to know that the festival was being organised at Pahalgam. The Director, Tourism, said the department would also organise a spring festival at Pahalgam as most tourists visited preferred the health resort.

Udhampur, January 31
The police has arrested Mohan Lal (42), accused of murdering his minor daughter on Sunday in the house of his sister at Malhar village under Rehamble police station.

The police also handed over the body of the deceased, Aditi (3), to her mother after a post-mortem at the district hospital, Udhampur today.Though the police was informed during preliminary investigations that the accused was mentally unsound and was undergoing treatment, the family failed to provide evidence in this regard, said Raj Kumar, SHO, Rehamble police station.

The deceased was the youngest of three siblings. It is learnt that the wife of the accused used to leave her kids at the house of others in the village whenever she used to go to work. The incident has left everyone shell-shocked.

Jammu, January 31
A student of Class XII, Divya Sharma, a native of Rajouri, was killed after a truck hit the motorcycle she was riding near a fuel station on the Akhnoor Road in Patel Nagar here today.

The police said the girl was going to school with her cousin, Anil Sharma, who was driving the motorcycle when the truck hit their vehicle around 7:45 am. The girl was crushed under the truck and died on the spot.

Sources said the body remained unattended for quite sometime and was later taken to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) where a post-mortem was conducted.Later,it was handed over to the family of the deceased.

The Talab Tillo police registered a case and impounded the truck. A hunt was launched to nab the driver who escaped.

Jammu, January 31
An Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) was suspended for allegedly harassing a woman in the Rajbagh area of Kathua district yesterday, police sources said.

They added that the ASI, Nisar Ahmed, along with two other policemen allegedly entered the house of Beera Begum in the Rajbagh area claiming that she had given shelter to smugglers.

The woman lodged a complaint against Nisar following which a probe was initiated and the ASI suspended.

Arifa and Akhtar, were gunned down by three militants, including a Pakistani, at around 10 pm at Muslim Peer in Sopore town, 52 km from here, SP, Sopore, Altaf Ahmad said.

According to the preliminary investigations, the three Lashkar militants barged into the house and forcibly took the girls, aged between 16 to 18 years, the police said. "The girls were later shot dead by the militants near the Ziarat (shrine), Rahim Sahib. One of them was shot in the left eye," Ahmad said. The bodies of the girls were found near their house, he added.

However, it could not be immediately ascertained why the militants had targeted the sisters. Ahmad said the local militants involved in the killing had been identified as Wasim Ganaie and Muzaffar Naikoo.

Both the ultras are among the ‘A’ category militants, and carry a cash reward on their heads.