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Help change mindset of investors, Omar tells CII
Samba police sends skeleton for DNA tests
People in Gurez vote for road connectivity
Students demand prof’s suspension
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3 Rajouri tehsils without power for week
Youth being lured back into militancy: DGP
Six suspended BJP MLAs not invited to BJP executive committee meeting
Man acquitted due to bureau’s failure to follow NDPS Act
Helpline for stress management in Valley
Sahay to visit tourist spots of Jammu soon
Surprise checking at food company
Army builds basketball court in Akhnoor
Strengthen democratic bodies
to check corruption: PDP
PHE Minister calls on Governor
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Help change mindset of investors, Omar tells CII
Addressing a joint meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and top officers of the state government, Omar asked the CII to take concrete steps in this regard and show results on ground. “I am keen to see CII members starting ventures in the state and playing an important role in generating wide-ranging economic activities for the youth. For the last two-and-a-half years we have had many meetings and deliberations with regard to the absorption of Jammu and Kashmir youth in the private job market by enhancing their skills and employability. Now is the time that groundbreaking takes place in this regard,” he said and stressed on the CII to be instrumental in helping projects in the public private partnership (PPP) mode in the state. “We are ready to provide you a package of incentives and satisfy your queries and apprehensions regarding investments in the state, especially in the Kashmir division,” Omar told the CII. He added that there were more uncertain places in the country than Kashmir where investors were investing. He asked the CII to help in bringing investors to the state to generate job opportunities. Omar welcomed the survey, analysis and reports prepared by the CII and its associate companies for enhancing the employability of the youth and giving a fillip to their skill development. He said something concrete needed to be done by the CII in collaboration with the state government and local players to do the practical job on ground. Chairman of the CII, Northern Region, Vijay Thadani, Chief Executive Officer, NIIT, Raju Choudhary, and the CII Head, Jammu and Kashmir, explained the salient features of the two reports prepared by the CII regarding the skill development in Jammu and Kashmir and the enhancement of employability of the educated youth. A report regarding the investment potential in the cold chain sector was also presented to the Chief Minister. Local investors, who are members of the CII, also presented their views on the subject and shared their experiences in the field. The meeting was attended by Minister for Industry SS Salathia, Minister of State for Cooperatives Manohar Lal, Chief Secretary Madhav Lal and other senior officers. Says no mid-term change of guard
Srinagar, June 18 Omar was here to attend a seminar-cum-workshop on “How to crack the civil services examination” for the civil services aspirants. “It is heartening to see so many civil services aspirants here,” Omar said in his address at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre. He appreciated that a growing number of Kashmir youth were eyeing the country’s main civil services exams and expressed hope someday he would see a youth from here holding the post of Cabinet or Foreign Secretary. — PTI |
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Samba police sends skeleton for DNA tests
Jammu, June 18 Giving details of the case, the Samba police said on May 8 this year the SDPO of Vijaypur, Master Popsy, found a femur bone of a human body, apparently of a minor being carried by a dog from a field near Vijaypur town. Since the place where the dog was seen carrying the bone was close to a graveyard, it was presumed that some dogs could have dug it from there. A close examination of the bone revealed that some flesh was still attached to it, so the officer informed the SSP, Samba, Israr Khan, who ordered him to check the reports of missing persons in all police stations of Samba district. The SSP also ordered the digging of the area around the place where the femur bone was found. The entire skeleton was unearthed within a four-metre radius. After the recovery of the skeleton, a special investigation team (SIT) started inquest proceedings. The police investigations have so far established that on April 2 this year Veena Devi, widow of Kaka Ram Sharma of Swankha Morh, had reported at Vijaypur police station that her nine-year-old son Shubam Sharma had gone missing on March 30. Accordingly, a missing report was filed and search operation conducted, but no clue could be found. Alarmed by the missing report of the child, secret inquiries were conducted, which revealed that Shubam might have been murdered as his dead father had left behind a sizeable property in his name. “Suspects have also been identified, but their identity has been kept secret. We will disclose their names after we get the DNA report,” said the SSP. “We are already into the process of ascertaining whether the skeleton recovered was that of Shubam or someone else. For the purpose, the DNA samples of Shubam’s mother Veena and his paternal aunt were being taken through the Forensic Science Laboratory and a medical board team,” he added. The Samba police is almost sure that it has cracked the murder case of the missing boy. “It is just a matter of a couple of tests and thorough interrogation of the prime suspects,” said the SSP. |
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People in Gurez vote for road connectivity
But despite facing a lot of hardships, people in a large number came out to vote during the 16th phase of the panchayat elections in the Gurez and Tulail blocks today. The voters say despite the fact that the siting MLA belongs to the National Conference, the area has been deprived of all basic amenities. Today, residents of various villages along the LoC came out to vote to elect panches and sarpanches to ensure that governance was delivered to them at the grass-roots level. “We remain cut off from the rest of the Valley and the country for more than six months during the winter. Our houses and the area are covered with a thick sheet of snow and we have to dig tunnels through the snow to move out,” said Haji Ghulam Rasool, a resident of Markoot village in the sector. The people here rue that the road connectivity to the entire sector is so poor that it takes almost an entire day to cover a distance of around 100 km from Bandipora to this village. “Though panches and the sarpanch won’t be able to solve our basic problem of connectivity with the rest of the Valley, we came out to vote so that they could solve other problems like drainage, potable water and electricity,” said Nazir Ahmed, a resident of the village. At Choorwan village, which is situated just a few yards from the zero line, the people say that the panches and the sarpanch will be able to redress their problems. “We have a middle school in our village, but when a student has to move to the high school he has to travel by a Tata Sumo by paying Rs 20 as fare. A person who earns only Rs 120 a day under the MGNREGA can’t think of sending his children to the high school. The government should start local buses to facilitate the movement of villagers and students,” said Abdul Raqib Lone, a resident of Choorwan village.
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Students demand prof’s suspension
Jammu, June 18 Sunil Sharma, a scholar of the Dogri Department and leader of the SSJAC, said, “Yesterday’s incident is a serious act of indiscipline on the part of the teacher and it should be condemned”. “Prof Sengupta slapped a student appearing in the examination without any reason and later attacked him with a sharp-edged weapon, which is not tolerable. We will go on a strike if the authorities did not suspend him,” he added. He alleged that the student, Lovejeet Singh, alias Jimmy, was injured in the attack by Sengupta. Meanwhile, Sengupta, who is a member of the flying squad, told The Tribune, “After receiving a few anonymous complaints of mass copying in the PhD entrance examination, I went there and found some students talking to each other. I tried to stop them from talking”. He added that, “I first told the students to sit straight. But when Lovejeet stood up and started glaring at me and using a foul language, I slapped him, as it is my duty to maintain the sanctity of the institution”. Sengupta said, “Suddenly, another student arm-locked me from behind and Lovejeet started hitting me”. He added that he had lodged a complaint in this regard and the university authorities had also constituted a committee to look into the matter. “I have full faith in the police and the university authorities. Whatever the decision be, I am ready to face it,” Sengupta said. |
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3 Rajouri tehsils without power for week
Jammu, June 18 In a statement issued here today, Sharma said the 20 MVA transformer at Kalakote had been overloaded for the past two years. The load on the said transformer was over 35 MVA. Sharma added that he and other legislators of the area had raised the issue several times. He added that he had also written to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah last year, seeking his intervention in the matter, which was also responded to by his office. However, he regretted that the genuine demand of the people was not met, making them furious. “The transformer has been completely damaged and Sunderbani, Nowshera and Kalakote tehsils have been without electricity for the last one week,” Sharma said. He urged the Chief Minister to personally intervene in the matter and direct the department concerned to arrange a proper transformer to restore power supply to the area immediately. He added that senior officials of the department had assured him of restoring power supply to the area within the next two days. |
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Youth being lured back into militancy: DGP
DGP Kuldeep Khoda said here today that the reports of the youth being lured back into militant activities were being continuously received and the government was trying to rehabilitate them. With the decline in militancy, the youth taking to the gun again had also come down, the DGP said. He added that efforts were on to engage the youth in productive activities. Replying to questions over some of the recent killings, the DGP said the gun, which was being supplied from across the border, was changing hands and was being used in criminal activities. It is worth mentioning here that the police arrested the two brothers of Manzoor Ahmad Dar in Shopian district yesterday, who was shot dead in his own house on Tuesday and recovered the weapon of offence. The investigations revealed that Manzoor’s two brothers, Farooq Ahmad Dar and Ashiq Hussain Dar had fired upon him with a pistol in the compound of their house. A Chinese pistol was recovered at the Pampore residence of Farooq Ahmad Dar. In order to channel the talent of the youth and prevent them from falling prey to the undesired elements, the DGP said besides supporting sports activities, youth clubs were being established across the state. So far 41 such clubs had been established, Khoda informed, adding that these were most needed in the Valley. Five community clubs had also been established with various facilities like libraries, newspapers, computers and sports equipment for the youth. “These steps have been taken to inculcate educational career among the youth,” Khoda said.
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Six suspended BJP MLAs not invited to BJP executive committee meeting
The meeting, which started this evening, was the first important meeting of the party after the April 13 cross-voting episode in which seven BJP MLAs had allegedly voted in favour of Congress and NC candidates. Following Gupta’s expulsion from the party on May 31, a few activists of the Sangh Parivar had started efforts to avoid a division in the party by opening a dialogue with the six suspended MLAs. It was the result of these efforts that the suspended MLAs had not given any controversial statement during the past 15 days. “It seems that a few insiders in the BJP are hell-bent upon creating a division in the party by sabotaging the efforts to persuade the suspended MLAs,” a senior activist of the Sangh Parivar told The Tribune. |
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Man acquitted due to bureau’s failure to follow NDPS Act
Jammu, June 18 On specific information that Suresh Kumar had recently received a consignment of charas, a team of intelligence officers along with two independent witnesses raided his house on October 13, 2001, and recovered 1.7 kg of charas. The officers recorded the statement of the accused, which according to the NCB was a voluntarily statement, wherein, the accused had admitted that 1.700 kg of charas and Rs 9,150 as sale proceeds of charas were recovered. He confessed to selling charas in small packs of .5 gm for more than 10 months. The Judge, while acquitting Suresh Kumar, observed that, “The Narcotics Control Bureau, while conducting search, seizure and investigation, has not strictly followed the provisions of the NDPS Act. The strict compliance of the provisions of the NDPS Act is mandatory in view of the stringent nature of the Act and hence the charge against the accused cannot be said to have been established”. The court dismissed the complaint filed by the Bureau and accordingly acquitted the accused after he had faced trial for about 10 years.
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Helpline for stress management in Valley
Srinagar, June 18 The Stress Management Helpline was inaugurated by Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani at the Police Control Room here. Wani said similar helplines would be established at other district centres in the Valley. “Stress levels have increased across the world. There is stress among people due to unemployment and human relationships”. Wani told reporters after inaugurating the helpline. He said there had been an increase in the suicide rate in the state. The Minister of State for Home was accompanied by DGP Kuldeep Khoda and other senior police officers. —
PTI |
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Sahay to visit tourist spots of Jammu soon
Jammu, June 18 According to a press note issued by the party here, Sahay gave a patient hearing to Sharma and assured him that he would plan a tour exclusively of the Jammu region soon and would visit all tourist spots mentioned in the memorandum. Sharma said lakes in the region had been grossly neglected, therefore, a special package for Mansar and Surinsar lakes had been demanded. These lakes, if developed from the tourism point of view, would attract the maximum number of tourists, Sharma added. He also demanded that the shrine of Bawe Wali Mata be developed. |
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Surprise checking at food company
Jammu, June 18 Samples had been collected and strict action would be taken if these were found unhygienic, the Drug Controller said. He added that the department had intensified its campaign against companies, which were not following the prescribed norms. |
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Army builds basketball court in Akhnoor
Jammu, June 18 Maj-Gen Rakesh Sharma, General Officer Commanding of the Crossed Swords Division, while inaugurating the court in the presence of a large number of civil and military dignitaries, invited the local youth to utilise the facility to the fullest. The Army in continuation of its efforts at contributing towards the development of border areas and extending welfare measures to local citizens has constructed a state-of-the-art synthetic surface floodlit basketball court, which could allow players to play during the day and at night. The court, which is the first of its kind along the Line of Control, will provide the local youth and the troops with a unique facility and experience of playing basketball under the floodlights. Maj-Gen Sharma also promised to provide proper coaching to young players of the area by Army sportspersons. An exhibition match under the floodlights was also organised to mark the inaugural ceremony. Payal Sharma, convener of the FWO, Crossed Swords Division, gave away prizes to sportspersons. A sports teacher of Pallanwala Secondary School said, “This is beyond anyone’s imagination that such a facility of international standards could be provided to children living in border areas and help in nurturing their talent”. Ramesh Kumar, 16, a resident of Kot Maira village was particularly happy. “I have seen basketball matches only on TV and wondered whether I would ever get a chance to play the game. This facility would fulfill my dream,” he said.
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Strengthen democratic bodies
to check corruption: PDP
Jammu, June 18 Addressing a press conference here today, former minister and spokesperson for the PDP Rangil Singh said while the civil society in the country had launched a rigorous campaign for the constitution of Lokpal, there was need to strengthen democratic institutions in the state to keep a check on corruption. “It is unfortunate that the present regime headed by Omar Abdullah has not only failed to check corruption, but has also legitimised corruption by deliberately making the institutions, which are helpful in curbing corruption, defunct as part of its game plan,” he alleged. Rangil Singh said there was no transparency and accountability in the administration, as the present dispensation was not interested in strengthening the institutions, which were helpful in keeping a check on corruption. |
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PHE Minister calls on Governor
Srinagar, June 18 They also discussed the losses accrued to the state because of the non-implementation of specific understandings related to the sharing of the Ravi water. — TNS
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For more than six months during the winter the Gurez sector, situated on the Line of Control in Bandipora district, remains cut off from the rest of the country and the Valley.
Srinagar, June 18
Gurez, (Line of control), June 18
Srinagar, June 18
Jammu, June 18