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Quality education needed to make youth competitive: Governor
NC fuelling dissidence in Cong, alleges
pro-Soz group
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Militant hideouts busted in Kishtwar, Anantnag
Omar, Mehbooba condemn youth’s killing at Handwara
Fresh snowfall attracts skiers to Gulmarg
Govt flayed for delay in relief to terror victims
Servant decamps with Rs 2.7 lakh
RIMO Club wins Ice Hockey Cup
Rain, snowfall forecast in region
Govt to upgrade high schools to colleges
Good response to Army’s recruitment rally
Raise in payments for exam duties demanded
Mystery shrouds tantrik’s death
Property of murder accused sealed
Absconding prisoner brought from Delhi
Three trucks carrying govt wheat seized
Militants’ sympathiser held
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Quality education needed to make youth competitive: Governor
Jammu, February 5 The Governor was interacting with the faculty and students on the Bhadarwah campus of Jammu University here today. The students apprised the Governor about various difficulties being faced by them and demanded various facilities, including the expansion of the library to provide larger space for MA (English) students, proper heating arrangements in classrooms during winter and better facilities in hostels. They also demanded that the university should play a pro-active role in organising campus placements. The Governor, who is the Chancellor of the university, held discussions with the rector of the Bhadarwah campus, dean and registrar of the university, and the campus faculty to ascertain how the pass-outs of the past two batches of the MBA, MCA and MA (English) had fared vis-à-vis gaining employment and whether there was need for any modification in the academic and training programmes. He impressed upon the students to work hard for a bright future
and to bring laurels to the state by excelling in their chosen fields. The Governor inspected a library, laboratories and enquired about the status of other infrastructure facilities on the campus. Meanwhile, the Governor later visited the RR headquarters and met the RR Sector Commander, Brig Pachory, the CO 4 RR, and other senior officers,
and discussed issues relating to militant activities in the area. Earlier, on his arrival at Khellani, a scenic tourist spot near Bhadarwah, the Governor and the First Lady, Usha Vohra, were received by the Deputy Commissioner, Doda, Farooq Ahmad Khan, and other police and sub-divisional officers. They witnessed a cultural programme presented by schoolchildren. The Governor was briefed about the tourist-centric facilities, which were set up in the Bhadarwah area. The Governor observed that the three regions of the state had been bestowed with natural beauty and splendour. He added that “we must benefit from this treasure by promoting tourism on a large scale as it has immense potential for ensuring a sustained economic growth”. |
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NC fuelling dissidence in Cong, alleges
pro-Soz group
Jammu, February 5 Though no government department was directly involved in mobilising people for the function of the pro-Azad group, the Congress leaders close to Soz alleged the hand of the government agencies in making the rival groups’ rally successful. To substantiate their allegation, these leaders pointed towards the presence of some NC leaders in the pro-Azad group’s rally. The pro-Azad faction, however, claimed that its function was purely non-political, as it was held under the banner of the Gandhi Global Family, which is a apolitical organisation. Sources said the pro-Soz faction was not expecting such a huge turnout in the rally of Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and it believed that without the government’s support it was impossible to organise such a big rally in Jammu city. A fuming pro-Soz faction was waiting for the visit of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram. “As the Union Home Minister has returned, our core group will sit to devise a strategy to counter the designs of the rival faction,” a leader close to Soz told The Tribune. He said their group had also decided to complain to the high command about the nexus between the pro-Azad faction and some leaders of the NC. The issue was also raised before the Union Home Minister but he did not give much importance to it. Interestingly, in the ongoing tussle between the two rival groups in the Congress, some ministers belonging to the party have been trying to remain neutral. Three Congress ministers, namely Taj Mohi-ud Din, Peerzada Mohammed Sayeed and Aijaz Khan, did not to attend any function on January 30, while another minister Shabir Ahmed Khan attended in both rallies. |
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Militant hideouts busted in Kishtwar, Anantnag
Udhampur/ Srinagar, Feb 5 As per officials, the seizure included one Pakistan-made pistol and a grenade, two Chinese grenades, one UBGL grenade, two magazines of pistol with five rounds, one magazine of AK-47 and 225 rounds of AK-47, a pair of Chinese binocular, two blankets and two kg rice. The stores seized from the hideout are believed to have the potential of causing large scale casualties and damage to property, and would have assisted the LeT, which is facing an acute shortage of arms and ammunition. The officials said the busting of Salman’s hideout also confirmed the presence of the dreaded LeT terrorists, who had been evading the security forces. The security forces are now gearing up to go all out to eliminate Salman. As per intelligence reports, he has been trying to recruit new cadres from the Chatru and Keshwan areas to make up for the declining strength of terrorists. Meanwhile, the security forces have unearthed a hideout of militants in the Kokernag area of Anantnag district and seized a huge quantity of explosives and ammunition, officials said here today. Army troops launched a search operation in the Vessu area of Kokernag, 80 km from here, last evening and busted the hideout, they said. They added that the seizure included six packets of explosives weighing around 30 kg, six hand grenades, five electronic detonators, 105 rounds of AK rifle ammunition and 10 rounds of Pika gun ammunition. Meanwhile, an explosion took place at Mustafabad on the Srinagar-Baramulla road last night, sources said.
There was no casualty in the blast, which triggered panic among locals. |
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Omar, Mehbooba condemn youth’s killing at Handwara
Srinagar, February 5 Earlier, Omar had posted on his twitter: “How can one not condemn the death of 21-year-old Manzoor at the hands of the Army late last night. Another needless death in a bloody Kashmir..”. He said he had been trying to understand the circumstances. “Lots of questions, but not enough answers at the moment,” he posted. Others who visited the village included Mohammad Ramzan, National Conference MLA from the Handwara constituency. The Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Asgar Samoon, and other senior civil and police officers also visited the village today. The PDP and several separatist organisations have condemned the killing of Magray. Condemning the incident, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti regretted that the coalition regime, headed by Omar Abdullah, had failed to control the killings of innocent civilians at the hands of the security forces. She said the cold-blooded murder of one more youth had exposed the claims of the state government, as it had done nothing except giving promises to control such incidents. “The killing of innocent civilians have been going on unabated, and the government has being indulging in farcical tactics,” she added. Mehbooba lamented that while the count of the dead, mostly youths, kept mounting, the government was busy deceiving people in the name of filing FIRs. “Over 120 innocent persons have been killed by the security forces during the last few months, but no action has been taken against any person so far,” she said. She added that the way the government was responding to such cold-blooded murders, reflected its insensitivity. The chairman of the hardline Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Geelani, in a statement from New Delhi, described the incident as “state terrorism”. He sought the resignation of the Omar government, as it had been unable to put an end to the series of killings. Referring to the killing of Zahid Farooq on this day here last year, Geelani said nothing had changed in Kashmir. Reiterating his demand for the complete withdrawal of troops, he said as long as the troops remained in Kashmir, there was no end in sight to such killings. JKLF chairman Yasin Maik and others have also condemned the killing.
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Fresh snowfall attracts skiers to Gulmarg
Gulmarg, February 5 The people associated with the hotel industry here said after suffering a huge loss during summer due to the unrest in the Valley, they were happy that the occupancy rate in their hotels had increased after the fresh snowfall. “We suffered huge losses during the summer due to the unrest, as their business nearly collapsed. But with the fresh snowfall here, a large number of skiers have thronged Gulmarg and most of the hotels report full occupancy,” said Abdul Hamid, a hotel owner in Gulmarg. A large number of tourists could be seen enjoying skiing in Gulmarg. They were also using the heli-skiing facility that was recently introduced in Gulmarg. “This is just awesome as we have not only been enjoying the gandola (cable car) ride on the hills of Afarwat but also enjoying the heli-skiing,” said David Mark, a tourist from Australia. The officials here said the ski lovers used gandola to reach the peak of the Afarwat mountain from where they skied down. “One has to stand in a queue to get a ticket at the Gulmarg gandola counter. People are enjoying their stay in Gulmarg,” said the tourism official. Instructions have also been given that no vehicle would be allowed beyond Tangmarg unless it had the 4x4 facility or the tyres were fitted with chains. This measure had been taken to avoid any mishap due to the slipping of vehicles. Meanwhile, the disaster management cell of the Kashmir division said fresh western disturbances were approaching Kashmir and they would cause moderate to heavy snowfall in the Valley from February 6 to 8. “In view of fresh western disturbances approaching the state, a widespread snowfall may occur at many places,” said Amir Ali, coordinator at the disaster management cell. He said the administration had also decided that only one-way traffic would be allowed on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway from Feburay 6 to 8. Meanwhile, an avalanche alert has been sounded in Gurez, Gugladara, Keran, Machil, Chowkibal and Tangdar. People living on the higher reaches of these areas have been advised to restrict their movement during the snowfall and not to venture into the avalanche-prone areas.
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Govt flayed for delay in relief to terror victims
Jammu, February 5 Addressing a joint press conference here, leaders of the movement regretted that despite repeated court directions, the state government had been adopting delaying tactics in giving relief to the Jammu migrants on a par with displaced people of Kashmir. The movement leaders said over 12,000 displaced people from Rajouri, Poonch, Reasi, Ramban, Doda, Kishtwar and Udhampur were on the verge of starvation, as the government was not giving them relief. They said these migrants had been living in different camps.They added hundreds of cases for compensation were pending before the authorities, but no action had been taken in this regard. The leaders said they had decided to hold protests at all tehsil headquarters from February 7 to 13, and a demonstration in Jammu on February 26 against the casual approach of the state government towards solving their problems. They added that over eight lakh people had been affected due to militancy in Jammu, but the state government was not taking their cause seriously. Former MLAs Farooq Mir, Bali Bhagat, Mohammad Aslam Kohli and Ravinder Raina also addressed the press conference.
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Servant decamps with Rs 2.7 lakh
Jammu, February 5 The police here said Rakesh Gupta filed a complaint that his servant, Hanumant, a resident of Bihar, committed a theft in his house last night and had gone missing since then. The police said acting on the complaint, a police team, along with forensic experts, visited the house and collected samples from there. A case has been registered at Trikuta Nagar police station in this regard. Mahesh Sharma, SHO, Trikuta Nagar police station said, “It is possible that the servant had a duplicate key of the house and committed the theft, as everything was found intact there.” Meanwhile, in another incident, the Trikuta Nagar police arrested Vinod Kumar, a resident of Kapurthala in Punjab, and recovered two stolen mobiles and Rs 5,000 belonging to a pilgrim of Mata Vaishno Devi from his possession. The police said they received a complaint that a theft took place at Vaishnavi Dham last night. A team was sent there, which arrested Vinod and recovered stolen goods.
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RIMO Club wins Ice Hockey Cup
Leh, February 5 Having started on January 27 here, five teams and a Canadian Embassy team from New Delhi participated in the tournament. Five exhibition matches between the Canadian Embassy team and all five local teams were also played during the tournament. The chairman of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, Rigzin Spalbar, who was the chief guest, while speaking at the closing ceremony of the tournament, said, “ The council will organise the Winter Tourism Promotion Ice Hockey Cup in a large scale next season, as the Sindu Darshan and the Ladakh Festival are organised, to promote tourism in Ladakh during winter. He added that other tourist attractions like monastic mask dance and folk dance would also be included in the tournament. To promote the winter tourism of Ladakh in European countries through ice hockey, Rigzin said, “The hill council has requested the Canadian Embassy to promote Ladakh as a destination for winter games in the embassies of European countries in New Delhi. He assured the gathering that at least an ice rink and an accommodation would be completed during the ongoing construction of the Ice Hockey Stadium by the next season.
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Rain, snowfall forecast in region
Jammu, February 5 “As per our study, there will be one or two spells of rain in the region in the next four to five days. The sky will also remain overcast,” said MK Khushu, chief scientist, Agronomy Department, Sher-e-Kashmir University for Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Chatha. He added, “The day temperature will dip, while the temperature at night will remain stable. It is all due to western disturbances. And the prevailing weather condition suggests that there will be fresh spells of rain in a few days.” “However, the weather conditions will change again after February 8,” he said. He added that, “ the minimum temperature was 11.2°C yesterday, while today it was 10.5°C, showing the impact of the western disturbances,” said Khushu. He added that the rain would also prove helpful for the crops, especially wheat. The maximum and minimum humidity recorded today was 85 pc and 45 per cent, respectively. Jammu witnessed light showers last night and the weather also remained cloudy throughout the day today.
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Govt to upgrade high schools to colleges
Jammu, February 5 Broad contours of the project were being worked out by a committee comprising experts and professionals in the field of education, he said. Education for girls was also being given utmost importance for the overall development of society, he added. Under the Rashtriya Madhayamik Shiksha Abhyan, 182 middle schools had been upgraded to high schools and several lakhs of rupees were being spent on these schools to upgrade their infrastructure, Peerzada said. — PTI
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Good response to Army’s recruitment rally
Jammu, February 5 The Director Recruiting of ARO, Jammu, Col Ravindran said, “It was the second day of the recruitment rally for all districts of the Jammu region. It saw a good response.” The recruiting officer also requested the aspirants to inform the recruiting office in case any tout or unauthorised person demanded money in lieu of recruitment. The rally will continue till February 10. |
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Raise in payments for exam duties demanded
Jammu, February 5 According to a statement issued here, the delegation demanded an immediate raise in the payments for duties assigned by the education board, including conduct of exams, evaluation, supervision, paper setting and other allied areas. The delegation apprised Dr Ahmed about various issues confronting the Plus 2 cadre and discussed various proposals for the betterment of the school education. It stressed the need for conducting workshops for evaluation, paper setting and conduct of examination. The forum also demanded reconstitution of all councils of the board.
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Mystery shrouds tantrik’s death
Jammu, February 5 The police said the tantrik, Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din, had gone to the house of Mohammad Razzaq, and died there. It added that the body was taken to the Government Medical College and Hospital for a post-mortem. Meanwhile, the Pouni Chak police has initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of CrPC in this regard. The police said the body bore no injury marks and the tantrik might have died because of a cardiac arrest. |
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Property of murder accused sealed
Jammu, February 5 The police said a team led by the SDPO, Akhnoor, sealed the house and some vacant plots of Sanjay Kumar, alias
Sanju, yesterday. It added that the accused was absconding for a long period and due to his involvement in a number of cases, the court yesterday directed the police to seal his property. Locals said some senior officials of the civil administration were also present on the spot. |
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Absconding prisoner brought from Delhi
Jammu, February 5 Rahul Gupta of Udhampur, who was arrested under the Public Safety Act, managed to reach Delhi after escaping from the GMCH here when
he was being taken to the hospital for a routine check-up. Following this, four policemen escorting him were suspended for negligence of duty. “A team led by sub-inspector Manpreet Singh brought the accused from Delhi here today,” said a senior police officer. He added that the accused was produced before a local court, which sent him to the Ambphalla jail. |
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Three trucks carrying govt wheat seized
Jammu, February 5 The police said acting on a tip-off a raid was conducted and the wheat bags were seized and the three trucks impounded. The drivers of the trucks were arrested and the investigation was on to find out the main culprit. A case has been registered at the Kathua police station in this regard.
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Militants’ sympathiser held
Jammu, February 5 An Army spokesperson said the joint column of the Rashtriya Rifles and the police apprehended Mohammad Noorani of Balsama. He was later handed over to the police for further investigation. An official spokesperson said Noorani was involved in passing information and providing hideouts to militants. |
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