Jammu, February 9
The state Cabinet, which met here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, approved the holding of the three-tier panchayat elections on a non-party basis and decided that the election process would be completed by May-end.

It also decided that the schedule for the elections would be worked out in consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer of the state and the elections would be held as per the existing Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Raj Act under the supervision of the Chief Electoral Officer. It also approved that the process for setting up a finance commission for panchayats would be expedited..

The Cabinet approved the proposal regarding the powers to be given to the Vice-Chairmen of District Planning and Development Boards to be formulated by the Administrative Department.

Meanwhile, the Opposition has reacted sharply to the decision of the state government to conduct the panchayat elections in accordance with the existing law. While the Panthers Party termed the decision as a fraud with the people of Jammu, the BJP warned that this autocratic action of the coalition government would prove to be counterproductive.

Although the Congress claimed that the government had accepted some of its suggestions, the Opposition flayed it for conceding to the undemocratic demands of its coalition partner National Congress. “The Congress has succumbed to pressure from the NC for the lust of power,” Panthers Party chief Bhim Singh told The Tribune. He added that conducting the panchayat elections in accordance with the existing law would further alienate people.

“In the existing law there is a provision for nomination, which is a clear example of the violation of the democratic norms,” Bhim Singh said and regretted that the government was not interested in empowering rural people.

The BJP, on the other hand, had yesterday announced to launch a mass movement against the decision of the state government to hold the elections without incorporating the 73rd Amendment of the Indian Constitution in the existing law. The BJP had warned that it would oppose the panchayat elections if they were held with incorporating the 73rd Amendment in the existing law fully.

“The Congress has succumbed to the pressure from the NC. Earlier, the Congress was advocating the incorporation of the 73rd Amendment in the Act, but now it agreed on holding the panchayat elections without getting its demand fulfilled,” state BJP president Shamsher Singh Manhas had said. He added that the Congress had succumbed to the pressure tactics of the NC, which would prove disastrous for the growth of democratic institutions in the state.

Manhas had said the government had turned a deaf ear to the repeated demands of the people over the issue. “If the government is sincere about empowering people at the grass-roots level, the elections need to be truly representative of the lowest strata of society through the local body elections,” he said. He reminded the Congress that the implementation of the amendment was part of its election manifesto.

Earlier the Congress has been pressuring the government to incorporate the 73rd Amendment in the existing law before announcing the panchayat elections. After the meeting of the Cabinet Sub-Committee comprisiministers belonging to both parties, the Congress conceded to the demand of the NC that the amendment be incorporated in the Panchayat Raj Act after the elections. 

n The elections to be held on a non-party basis and the process for it to be completed by May-end

n BJP flays government for not incorporating 73rd Amendment in the existing Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Raj Act

Jammu, February 9
The second phase of the Census-2011 related to population enumeration commenced in the state here today. The enumeration process was initiated by Governor NN Vohra and the First Lady, Usha Vohra, at Raj Bhavan.

A team of census officers headed by Farooq Ahmad, Director, Census Operations, Jammu and Kashmir; CS Sapru, Joint Director, Census; Sanjeev Verma, Deputy Commissioner, Jammu; and Babu Ram, Joint Commissioner, Jammu Municipal Corporation, called on the Governor for the launch of the second phase of the Census.

The Governor replied to the queries of officials, filled the requisite forms and recorded his signatures there.

Interacting with the Census officials, the Governor enquired about the number of officials deployed for the second phase and the arrangements made for the enumeration of the nomadic population in the state.

He stressed the need for enumerators and supervisors to ensure an accurate census as it would contribute to establishing a valid database for planning and framing policies and programmes by the Central and state governments for ensuring a balanced and equitable development of each of the three regions of the state.

Briefing the Governor, the Director, Census Operations, said around 30,000 enumerators and supervisors were deployed for the second phase, which would conclude on February 28. He added that a five-day revision round would be held to cover the remainder work.

He also briefed the Governor about the arrangements made for enumerating the nomadic population in their temporary habitats.

Those present on the occasion included RK Goyal, Principal Secretary to the Governor, besides Census supervisors and enumerators. 

Jammu, February 9
The BJP today received a setback when its entire unit of Srinagar district merged with the Youth Congress and expressed faith in the policies and programmes of the Congress.

At a function organised by senior vice-president of the Pradesh Youth Congress (PYC) RS Pathania at the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) headquarters, Srinagar district president of the BJP Farooq Ahmed Dar joined the Congress along with other senior leaders, namely Ghulam Mohammad Pandit and Fayaz Malik, and over 200 workers from the Kashmir valley. Shoaib Lone, state president of the Youth Congress, welcomed the new entrants into the party.

Speaking on occasion, Pathania said the merger of the BJP unit with the Youth Congress indicated that the Congress was becoming popular in the state, particularly in the Valley. He said the Congress had a strong following in the three regions of the state.

While taking a potshot at the fundamentalist parties, Pathania said the policies and programmes of the party had struck a direct chord with the youth of Kashmir and they were eager to join it. Dar, who quit the BJP, pledged full support to the Youth Congress.

Jammu, February 9
The tech-savvy Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, has rejected the rumours doing the rounds that the social networking sites, Facebook, Orkut and Hi5, have been banned in the state.

A recent report in media stated that the Chief Minister had given nod to ban Facebook in the state for security reasons and had sent a proposal for its final approval to the Central government.

Omar, replying to a follower on Twitter, a popular social networking site, tweeted, “Rubbish, If I had to ban it I’d have banned it last year at the height of the summer trouble.”

The Chief Minister’s reply came, when a Twitter follower, Atul Rajpal, asked whether the government was going to ban Facebook. Atul had asked, “Sir....there is a news in a Hindi daily that you are going to ban Facebook in J&K.” Replying to the query, Omar tweeted, it as rubbish.

During the turmoil in Kashmir valley last summer, the SMS services were banned across the state. The services, however, were restored later in December.

The Chief Minister is also gaining popularity among the youth, as he not only updates everyone through the social networking sites, but also redresses their complaints. This morning the Chief Minister tweeted, “Cabinet meeting, a visit to Jagti to see the progress and a District Development Board review meeting among other appointments. Busy day :-).”

After conducting the meeting, Omar again tweeted, “Cabinet clears Panchayat Elections for three-tier Panchayat structure in the state.” At least 5,784 persons are following Omar on Twitter.

Jammu, February 9
Governor NN Vohra cleared the appointment of GR Sufi as the Chief Information Commissioner of the state here today. The Governor had earlier returned the appointment file as the mandatory clearance of the Central Vigilance Commission was missing. Highly placed sources said the Governor approved the appointment as all necessary conditions had been completed.

Jammu, February 9
Air Vice-Marshal PS Gill, Air Officer Commanding (AOC), J&K, flagged off a ‘Cross-India Microlite Expedition 2011’ from the Udhampur airbase today.

Wing Commander Akhilesh Chauhan and his crew members will be flying the aircraft.

The expedition, undertaken by the Department of Adventure, Air Force HQ, will cover north to south and other expedition, from Surathgarh, will cover west to east.

The 15-day expedition from the north will cross several Air Force stations to reach Thiruvananthapuram.

“The objective of the expedition is to spread awareness about aviation as an adventure activity and promote the Air Force as a career option,” said SN Acharaya, Jammu-based officiating spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence.

Wing Commander Chauhan shared his flying experience with other members.

Jammu, February 9
The Department of Urdu, University of Jammu, organised a “meet the eminent poet” under ‘Bazafat’. Noted Urdu poet Parveen Kumar Ashk was the chief guest at the programme.

Prof Qudose Javeed, Head of the Urdu Department in Kashmir University, presided over the function. Prof Shohab Inayat Malik, head of the Urdu Department in Jammu University, Dr Mohd Reyaz and Prof MA Wani also shared the podium. The programme was attended by several students and scholars.

While delivering his welcome address, Prof Malik said Ashk was a poet par excellence and had many books to his credit. “Several Urdu literary organisations have awarded him. Ashk has projected the modern existential realities of life in his poetry,” he said.

Ashk said, “I started my poetic career when I was a student. Thereafter, I continued participating in Urdu mushairas”. He said ghazals were an important genre of the Urdu language. “It has come into Urdu from Persian. It is the most popular genre of the Urdu language,” he added.

The poet said Urdu had produced poets like Mir-Taki-Mir, Mirza Ghalib, Allama Iqbal and others who were experimental in ghazals.

He said Quli Qutab Shah was the first ghazal writer in Urdu. He also discussed the contribution of Wali Daccani, Ameer Khusroo and important poets of the early age in the development of ghazals.

In his address, Prof Quddose Javeed congratulated the Department of Urdu for organising the function. He said these programmes provided an opportunity to the students to interact with a poet or a writer.

Describing Ashk as a towering poet, Prof Javeed lauded his contributions to the development of the Urdu language.

The programme was conducted by Dr Mohd Reyaz Ahmed while Prof MA Wani presented the vote of thanks.

Jammu, February 9
Popular Model High School, Nanak Nagar, celebrated its 24th annual day here today. Minister of State for Cooperatives Manohar Lal Sharma was the chief guest while NH Malik, principal of Government Polytechnic College, was the guest of honour.

On the occasion, students presented colourful items, including songs, dances, bhangra and skits.

The students highlighted the effect of global warming and the importance of water in the skits.

Those who had excelled in academics and other curricular activities were awarded.

The minister appreciated the students for their performances.

He also promised to help in the grant of scholarships to the deserving students. Chairman of the school Dr AK Arora said, “This marks another step towards the extensive focus on education that we are providing and reinforce our commitment to bringing better education techniques marked by convenience and closeness to the students.”

Principal of the school Usha Sharma highlighted the achievements of the school and dis-cussed the importance of primary education as a parameter in the growth of society and the country. Varun Koul and Sheetal Sharma presented the vote of thanks.

Jammu, February 9
Chief Secretary Madhav Lal emphasised on monitoring of output in the government and asked for minimising the pendency of department inquiries by speeding up the process of conducting probes.

Chairing a meeting of administrative secretaries here this morning, Lal asked the administrative heads of various departments to ensure periodic monitoring and evaluation of activities of their respective departments.

He said reporting, as an important management tool, should be used to appraise the higher ups about not only the achievements but also shortcomings and difficulties in achieving the set targets.

Lal advised the administrative secretaries to take benefit of the Results Framework Document (RFD) for monitoring and evaluation of government programmes and policies.

The RFD had been prepared by the Monitoring Wing of the Cabinet Secretariat of the Central Government and was a part of its monitoring mechanism, he said.

The Chief Secretary told the administrative heads to ensure that pendency of department inquiries should be minimised by speeding up the process of conducting inquiries.

He was told that there were around 250 department inquiries pending adjudication. He asked the General Administrative Department to circulate department-wise lists of such cases so that these were taken up at the appropriate levels.

On the occasion, Principal Secretary, Planning and Development, Khursheed Ahmad Ganai, made a power-point presentation about the salient features of the RFD.

He said the document aimed at monitoring and evaluating achievements against the set targets.

Srinagar, February 9
Three persons are feared killed in a snow avalanche in the Shangus area of Anantnag district. A government school and at least 10 houses were damaged due to the fresh snowfall elsewhere in Kashmir on Monday last.

Ghulam Qadir and his two brothers Javed Ahmad Koka and Abdul Ahad had left the Chhatergul area near Shangus, about 30 km from Anatnag, yesterday to fetch firewood. When they did not return till late in the afternoon, their family members informed the locals and the police. The police and the Army launched a search operation in the Thimran area through the snow.

It is believed that the three persons were buried under a snow avalanche and efforts were on to recover the bodies. According to the police and the Army, the recovery of the bodies could take longer time due to the heavy snowfall in the area close to the forests.

The police said the roof of Government Primary School at Garkote, Uri in Baramulla district, and 10 houses in the area were partially damaged due to windstorm on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.

However, no loss of life or injury to anyone was reported in the incidents.

Meanwhile, MLA, Shangus, Mansoor Hussain expressed shock over the deaths. The MLA urged the district administration to speed up the work for the recovery the bodies and demanded adequate relief for the bereaved families. 

Srinagar, February 9
The police today arrested a person along with a leopard skin, which he had procured from a poacher in Kupwara district.

Ashiq Bukhari, SSP, Srinagar, said, “A leopard skin was recovered from the possession of Mogammad Shafi Nadaf of Haft Chinar Batamaloo.

He had clandestinely procured the skin from a poacher with the intention of selling it outside the state”.

The SSP said a case under Section 8/22 of the NDPS Act, Section 38 (2,3) 39 (2), 49 and Section 51 of the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Protection Amendment Act 2002, had been registered against the accused.

He added that the common leopard was enlisted in the Schedule 1 of the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Protection Act amended up to 2002 and Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972.

The leopard was also enlisted in the Appendix 1 of the Convention of International Trade on Endangered Species.

“The possession and trade of such animals are banned and is an offence under the Act.

The opinion of the Department of Wildlife Protection was also obtained for ascertaining the authenticity of the seized skin. Further raids are also expected in this connection,” he added.