|
|
|
|
|
Families of cloudburst victims given ration, financial aid
Central University of Jammu |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Chopra Murder Case
Samba rape case
Omar’s security breached
BJP, PDP-backed sarpanches allege politicisation of official function
Bias against Ladakh
Geelani placed under house arrest
22 shells recovered from dry canal
Amarnath Yatra
Mehbooba expresses grief
Morcha supports Bhim Singh’s campaign
BSP to start
anti-corruption drive from June 29
Money dispute led to Sopore shopkeeper’s killing: IGP
Hailstorm damages fruit crops
|
|
Families of cloudburst victims given ration, financial aid
Jammu, June 10
However, there has been no clue about those feared dead in the calamity that affected a 5-km area in Baggar. The administration has put the toll at three. Meanwhile, the district administration has provided Rs 10,000 each to next of kin of the three victims, besides distributing 50 kg of rice and 50 kg of flour each to 16 affected families. Talking to The Tribune, Deputy Commissioner, Doda, Farooq Ahmed Khan said, “ One-way traffic on the 1.5 km stretch of the road between Batote and Assar, which was damaged at nine places, has been restored while five light motor vehicles have been retrieved”. Asked about those missing and feared dead in the incident, Khan put the number at three, saying, “For the time being, their families have been given Rs 10,000 each and one quintal of free ration. Sixteen other families, whose roadside eateries were swept away , have also been given one quintal each of free ration”. The families of those presumed dead would also be given Rs 1 lakh each out of the NCRF after the completion of the assessment work, said the Deputy Commissioner. Three missing persons, presumed to be dead, had been identified as Mohan Lal, 22, son of Devi Das of Rangarh (Baggar); Khalid Hussain, 27, son of Mohammad Shafi of Kurmail, and the driver of an earthmover, Abdul Razaq (37), a resident of Kurmail. The area that bore the brunt of the cloudburst lay between Karmail and Kannota, near Ramgarh in the Assar block. Assistant Commissioner, Revenue, Naresh Kumar had been assigned the task of distributing relief and cash assistance among the affected families,he said. The Deputy Commissioner said search operations were abandoned today and no body was recovered from the debris. The district administration had also arranged relief material like blankets and tents via the Red Cross , said the Deputy Commissioner, and added that around 30 vehicles, which were abandoned in the aftermath of the cloudburst, had also been retrieved.
|
|
Central University of Jammu
Jammu, June 10 Malik, accompanied by Education Minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayed and Minister for Medical and Technical Education RS Chib, had met Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal during a meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education in New Delhi recently and discussed the issue. Malik, while talking to The Tribune over the phone today, said, “The issue was discussed with Sibal, who assured us of the appointment of a local person as the Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Jammu soon. He was serious about the matter”. He added that, “The appointment process will take some more time”. Asked whether any special team or committee has been constituted to visit the state for the appointment of a person from the Jammu region as the Vice-Chancellor , Malik said, “There is no team coming to the state, but experts will definitely play their role”. Some local organisations have been demanding the appointment of a person from the Jammu region as the Vice-Chancellor of the university. Activists of these organisations had held a number of protests in this regard. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, during his speech in the last Budget session, had blamed local leaders for the inordinate delay in the appointment and politicising the issue. The process to set up the Central University of Jammu and the Central University of Kashmir was started in 2009. Though the Central University of Kashmir started functioning last year, in the absence of the Vice-Chancellor, the functioning of the Central University of Jammu was yet to start. The Union HRD Ministry had earlier rejected a number of candidates. |
|
Chopra Murder Case
Jammu, June 10 Sources said the police had requested for a 14-day remand for the duo. Another associate of Wazir, Raju Simblia, who was also detained by the police for questioning, today recorded his statement against Wazir. In his statement before the Magistrate, he corroborated the statement of another accused, Surinder Singh, alias Kala. Simblia reportedly stated that he was also invited by Wazir to his house, where a conspiracy was hatched to eliminate businessman Rajinder Bhushan Chopra. Sources said the Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by DIG Farooq Khan, was questioning senior police officers, a contractor and a cement businessman, who was said to be the son of a former Cabinet minister, and a veteran Congress leader. The sources said Kala, who earlier gave the statement against Wazir in the court, was also once his close associate. However, two years ago, they developed differences after the Narwal double murder case in which Gurnam Singh and his maternal uncle, Rajinder Singh, were stabbed to death on February 5 last year.The deceased were relatives of Surinder, who were allegedly murdered by persons close to Wazir. Surinder,who claimed to be the prime witness in the double murder case had recorded his statement against eight persons. On the basis of the statement, the eight accused were arrested. However, during the trial, one of the accused attacked Surinder on the court premises on January 29 this year. Meanwhile, a group of people belonging to the Sikh community held a protest at Nanak Nagar here today in support of Wazir. They alleged a political conspiracy against Wazir and claimed that he was being framed in the case. Addressing a joint press conference, the SAD (Badal), the SAD (A), the Sikh Students Federation, the All-J&K Sikh Intellectual Circle, the Sikh Noujawan Sabha and the Sikh for Justice said the NC leader was innocent. The representatives of the organisations condemned his arrest and alleged that the statement of Kala against Wazir had been doctored.
|
|
Samba rape case
Jammu, June 10 The victim, a second-year student of education in Dogra College at Bari Brahmana, had ended her life by consuming poison at her hostel room on September 20, 2007, after meeting Gaffar, aka Capt Aman Kumar. Though the police had closed the case describing it as a suicide, the victim’s family, which suspected foul play, demanded a thorough probe into the incident. The girl belonged to Rajasthan. “Responding to our letter, the Northern Command traced the accused,Lance Naik Abdul Gaffar,who posed as Capt Aman Kumar to lure the girl in 2010.He is now posted with the Southern Command,” SSP, Samba, Israr Khan told The Tribune. Till October 2010, the accused served with the Medical Corps of the Northern Command before being transferred to the 158 Medical Regiment of the Southern Command, said the SSP. He said the accused was identified from a photograph by one of his colleagues, Naresh Kumar,who also confirmed that Gaffar had an affair with a second-year college student and used to meet her. But he could not confirm whether Gaffar had introduced himself as a Captain to the victim. The Northern Command has now requested the Southern Command to bring the accused to the Army’s Station Headquarters at Bari Brahmana for being produced before the SSP, Samba. Meanwhile, the SSP talked to the father of the victim today and assured him that the culprit would be brought to book soon. He told The Tribune that the post-mortem revealed that the victim might have been raped by one or more persons. The girl had been brutally raped, as was evident from the injury marks on her body, he added.
|
|
Jammu, June 10 According to eyewitnesses, the constable was about 10-metre away from the Chief Minister who was about to board a helicopter.However, he was overpowered by the security guards. Though the senior police officers were tightlipped about the incident, it is being seen as a breach of the Z plus security cover of the Chief Minister . — TNS
|
|
BJP, PDP-backed sarpanches allege politicisation of official function
Jammu, June 10 The function was held in connection with the inauguration of a four-day training camp for the newly-elected panchayat members of the RS Pura and Bishnah areas. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah inaugurated it. The panchayat members supported by the BJP expressed resentment against the ignoring of MLA Suchetgarh Choudhary Sham Lal while activists of the PDP were annoyed over Gurmeet Singh Bajwa, a sarpanch of the border belt,not being allowed to speak at the function. An MBA from Derbyshire University, UK, Bajwa hit the headlines after he was elected as a sarpanch of the Kaloen panchayat, RS Pura. “I repeatedly approached the authorities concerned to allow me to speak, but to no avail,” Bajwa told The Tribune over phone, and added that he, along with a few other sarpanches and panches, would boycott the training camp. “Only panchayat members belonging to the Congress and the NC were allowed to speak. Therefore, there is no use attending the camp,” he said. BJP MLA Choudhary Sham Lal defended the decision of the supporters of his party to boycott the function. “It was an official function and being a local MLA, my name should have been mentioned on the invitation card,” Choudhary said, and charged the government with politicising the function, which was organised by the Rural Development Department. GC Sharma, Block Development Officer, RS Pura, said, “The list of those who were allowed to speak was prepared by someone else and I had been assigned some other job at the function”. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, while inaugurating the training camp, said the state had lost about Rs 1,500 crore of the Central grants for not having panchayats in place in the state. “Now, we expect between Rs 400 and Rs 500 crore annual Central grants to be utilised by the panches and sarpanches at the panchayat level,” he said. “Panchayats have also to play their role in making the public delivery service more effective in the sectors of health, education, water supply, CAPD, agriculture and allied sectors,” Omar added. He assured that the administration had been sensitised in regard to the importance and powers of the public representatives.
|
|
|
Bias against Ladakh
Jammu, June 10 It has conducted an extensive tour of the region and interacted with a cross-section of society. Addressing a press conference here today, chief spokesman for the state unit of the party Jatinder Singh released three letters written by Rajnath Singh to Dr Manmohan Singh. In the letters, Rajnath highlighted discrimination against the Ladakh region and gave some suggestions for development in this backward belt of the state. He pointed out that a high-level committee appointed by the Vajpayee-led NDA government had recommended in 1999 the development of an alternative safe link from Ladakh via the Zanskar valley to Manali. As a follow up, the NDA government had also sanctioned the construction of the road, but ever since the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government had taken over, there had been no progress on this project. The BJP stated that, “Ladakh is strategically a highly sensitive region and it is unfortunate that we are unable to provide a road link within the region at a time when neighbouring countries like China are developing road and rail links in the border areas to gain access to the Line of Control (LoC)”. The letter also highlighted the poor road and communication links in the Kargil region. Rajnath urged the Prime Minister to address these issues urgently, especially as Kargil had a special place in India’s national history where people belonging to all communities, including Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists, lived in harmony. These people showed their patriotic commitment during the Kargil War when they actively cooperated with the Army.
|
|
|
Geelani placed under house arrest
Srinagar, June 10 According to sources, the police and the CRPF were deployed since early in the morning outside Geelani’s residence and he was told not to move out of Every Friday,the authorities have been imposing restrictions on Geelani's movements. “Whenever and wherever he addressed the Friday prayers, violence followed. He won’t be allowed to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere in the Valley,” a police source said. Geelani had given a statewide bandh call for Saturday and asked people to assemble at the Eidgah grounds in Old City to commemorate the first death anniversary of Tufail Ahmed Matoo, who was allegedly killed by the police when a teargas shell had hit him on the head.
|
|
|
22 shells recovered from dry canal
The shells were recovered near a bridge that connects Kalu Chak and Gangyal. Though the police feigned ignorance over the type of shells and their use in warfare,it said these would be defused at an isolated place. Shells recovered from a canal in the Greater Kailash area of Jammu on Friday. Tribune photo: Inderjeet Singh
|
|
|
Amarnath Yatra
Jammu, June 10 Talking to The Tribune, Niyas president Surinder Mohan Aggarwal confirmed that the niyas, at a meeting with Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Pawan Kotwal, agreed to conduct an aerial recce of the Baltal track and the Amarnath cave shrine to take stock of the situation and explore the feasibility of starting the pilgrimage early. The administration said a three-member team of the niyas along with some officials of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board would take cognisance of the condition of the track vis-à-vis the accumulation of snow on the higher reaches. “But after yesterday’s meeting, we have not received any other message so far,” said Aggarwal. The niyas, it may be stated, had announced to start the Amarnath yatra from June 14 against the schedule announced by the shrine board. Besides, it had also started online registration for the yatra and set up a base camp at Geeta Bhawan. However, despite repeated attempts, the Divisional Commissioner could not be contacted.
|
|
|
Cloudburst
Srinagar, June 10 In a statement here today, Mehbooba expressed sympathies with the bereaved families and prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured in the natural calamity. She asked the state government to provide all possible assistance and relief to the affected. — TNS |
|
|
Re-organisation of State
Jammu, June 10 The meeting appreciated the programme launched by the Panthers Party for creating awareness among the people about the demand for re-organisation of the state. The meeting observed that the new action plan of the Panthers Party vindicated the position taken by the JSM that trifurcation was the only option to resolve the Kashmir issue. “Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir have separate geographical, historical, cultural and political identities and their aspirations are exclusive and contradictory to each other. Furthermore, the Jammu and Ladakh regions have been subjected to discrimination in all spheres under the Kashmir domination,” the meeting observed. Those who attended the meeting included HB Khajuria, Divender Sharma, Nathu Ram Gupta, Brig Anil Gupta (retd), Chandra Uday Sharma, Variender Mangotra, Surjeet Singh, Yash Paul Gupta, Jagdish Sharma, Rattan Kapoor and Sanjay Tagotra. |
|
|
BSP to start
anti-corruption drive from June 29
Jammu, June 10 Addressing a function of senior party workers here yesterday, national general secretary of the BSP Narinder Kashyap said the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre and the Omar-led coalition regime in state had crossed all limits of corruption. He said the BSP had decided to start a nationwide campaign against corruption. He added that the campaign would be launched at the district and tehsil levels to expose anti-people and pro-rich polices of the UPA regime. Kashyap said the BSP would be strengthened in the state and a special policy formulated for the purpose. He added that the BSP had already decided to take up the issue of the OBCs in the state, as this section of society had been facing a lot of hardship in the region. He
added that the Mandal Commission’s report was yet to be implemented in
the state. The in charge of the Jammu and Kashmir Parkash Bharati and state president of the party, Tulsi Dass Langeh, also addressed the meeting. |
|
|
Money dispute led to Sopore shopkeeper’s killing: IGP
Srinagar, June 10 Afzal was shot dead near Pratap Park in Srinagar. The arrested persons have been identified as Farooq, Parvaiz and Shabir. Giving the details, IGP, Kashmir, SM Sahai said during investigation, it discovered that the killing was not a militancy-related incident and was instead “a criminal conspiracy”. He added that Afzal was into the business of money lending and a cheque for Rs 32.7 lakh was recovered from him. “Two persons, namely Farooq Ahmad Dar and Parvaiz Ahmad Tantray, both residents of Reban in Sopore, had an old dispute over money with Afzal. The investigations revealed the conspiracy behind the murder, Sahai said. On the day of the murder, Farooq brought Afzal to Srinagar for encashing the cheque given to him by Parvaiz through Dar. Parvaiz, son of Ghulam Nabi Tantray, along with Shabir Ahmad Parray and Lateef Ahmad, also came to Srinagar. Latif is a former militant of the Hizbul Mujahideen. “Lateef was carrying a pistol. Farooq identified Afzal while walking alongside him. Parvaiz was waiting for them in his car near the Abi Guzer crossing,” the IG said Afzal, along with Farooq, reached near Pratap Park, with Lateef and Shabir following them. On reaching near the Pratap Park Residency Road, Lateef fired upon Afzal from pointblank and fled in the car.
|
|
|
Hailstorm damages fruit crops
Srinagar, June 10 “Unripe apple and walnut fruit fell due to the hailstorm. We faced a lot of damage after waiting for a year,” said Ghulam Nabi, a fruit grower of Pattan Singhpora. The Valley has a large number of fruit growers.They have appealed to the government to assess the losses. “The government should take stock of the damage caused to our crop due to the calamity. It should give compensation to the fruit growers whose livelihood completely depends on the fruit business,” said Khursheed Ahmed, general-secretary of the Baramulla Fruit Growers’ Association. — TNS |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Jammu, June 10
Jammu, June 10