Jammu/Srinagar, July 19
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said better relations between India and Pakistan were essential for peace and progress in the subcontinent.

“A thaw in the ties between the two countries and peace in the area always give dividends to Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Addressing newly elected panchayat members of the Surankote, Poonch and Mendhar Assembly segments of Poonch district while inaugurating orientation training camps at the three places, Omar said his government had always worked for better Indo-Pak relations and supported peaceful settlement of all the issues between the two countries through a process of sustained dialogue.

“We will continue to work in this direction,” he asserted and added that peace was must to address all the issues of social, economic and political nature.

Omar said economic activities, the generation of employment and holistic development depended on peace and tranquillity. “All of us have to join hands to create peace and move forward on the road to progress”, the Chief Minister said, and added the people living in the border areas were aware of the benefits of peace, which enabled them to carry on their routine activities. “They are the ones who have to bear the brunt of uncertainty on the border,” Omar said.

Equating development and social justice with the empowerment of the people at the grass-roots level, the Chief Minister said faster and balanced progress in the hilly, remote and backward areas was associated with the establishment of the local self-government.

Congratulating the people of the state on their large-scale participation in the panchayat poll, the Chief Minister said a high-level committee under the Chief Secretary had identified the road map for transfer of functions, functionaries and funds to the panchayats and this would be announced soon.

Meanwhile, the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief, Saifuddin Soz, has expressed hope that the dialogue process,both at the internal and external levels, to resolve the Kashmir issue,would gather momentum soon.

Soz, accompanied by senior party leader and Minister of PHE, Flood Control and Irrigation Taj Mohiuddin, was addressing public meetings at Khag and Beerwah in Budgam district yesterday.

Soz, who recently met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna, hoped that the “dialogue process on the New Delhi-Islamabad axis and the New Delhi-Srinagar axis would gather momentum in the days to come”.

Addressing the meetings, Soz said that Pakistan’s civil society wanted an “abiding friendship” with India, and added that one of its prominent representatives had recently identified confidence-building measures (CBMs) that could be taken through an agreement between the two countries. The CBMs could bring a lot of relief to the people in the subcontinent.The measures included unrestricted use of mobile phones, unrestricted air travel, relief and relaxation in the visa regime, the establishment of an India-Pakistan Parliamentary Forum and unrestricted exchange of jurists, writers and others.

Reasi, July 19
The Reasi unit of the Congress, led by its president, held a protest against Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma yesterday for his alleged objectionable remarks against a party leader and former minister, who fought the last Assembly elections from Reasi unsuccessfully, and other senior leaders.

The politically-damaging development came in the wake of the Health Minister’s unsavoury remarks at an official function organised at Reasi on Saturday. Asked about the incident, Sharma said he did not feel necessary to comment against a handful of people, who held the protest. Led by the district Congress president, Pritam Singh, the supporters of the former minister burnt an effigy of the Health Minister in protest against “a deliberate attempt to score political points”. The former minister is considered close to the faction of Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Sources said though the former minister was scheduled to lead the protest, he later changed his mind.

Sharma had accused senior Congress leaders of not being serious about development works. He said this was the reason “why they lost the last Assembly elections”. The sources, however, said Sharma’s remarks indicated a new alignment among the Congress leaders in the Jammu region. The Health minister had also targeted three other former ministers, besides a Deputy Chief Minister.

The protesters, including sarpanches and panches, demanded that the Health Minister be sacked and disciplinary action taken against him. They also demanded an inquiry into a controversial hotel deal at Katra.

The protesters were also angry as Sharma criticised his own party leaders when a minister belonging to the NC and a sitting BJP MLA from Reasi were present at the function.

Jammu, July 19
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has allocated Rs 770 crore for rural infrastructure development in the state during the current financial year.

The bank has sanctioned Rs 54 crore for 80 projects consisting of 17 minor irrigation projects of Rs 19 crore, 26 rural drinking water supply schemes of Rs 25 crore and 37 animal/sheep husbandry projects of Rs 10 crore for creating veterinary facilities.

When the projects are completed, irrigation facilities for 1,994 hectares and drinking water facilities for 1,68,740 persons would be created. NABARD has given priority to animal and sheep husbandry to encourage dairy farming and sheep rearing in the state. The projects sanctioned would benefit the farmers of 699 villages in the state, a bank spokesperson said.

Doda, July 19
Forest officials have found the body of a leopardess in the Pogal forest area of Banihal tehsil in Ramban district yesterday. Ruling out that it was the same wildcat which created a scare in the Batote area, the officials said prime facie it appeared to be a case of natural death.

A team of forest guards, led by Range Officer Neeraj Gupta and Block Forest Officer Chail Singh Bali, found the leopardess’ body in the dense Pogal forests, about 25 km from the link road.

Range Officer and in-charge of Control Room, Wildlife Department, Batote, Lekhraj Shan reached the spot and recovered the body, which was taken to the department’s Chenab division, Kishtwar, for a post-mortem. “The exact cause of the leopardess’ death will be known after the post-mortem report is received,” Lekhraj told The Tribune over the phone.

The 5.6 feet-long wildcat was a young female. The officials said no external injury marks caused by a bullet or sharp-edged weapons were found on the body. It appeared that the animal might have died of some illness. About eight to 10 cases of natural death of leopards had been reported in the area under the Chenab division since 2006, said Lekhraj.

For the last two months, people of Ramban and Doda districts had been living in fear of leopards, particularly in Batote where a minor boy was killed by a leopard at Tamtalli village on May 10. Another minor girl was mauled by a leopard in ward number 2 in Batote last month. Several goats, sheep, cows and horses had also fallen prey to leopards in and around Batote.

Despite the Wildlife Department installing traps at several places in the Batote area and the Chief Wildlife Warden, Jammu and Kashmir, issuing the shoot-on-sight orders, no leopard had been trapped or killed so far. Control rooms had been set up at six places, including Batote, for the purpose. “We cannot say it is the same leopard, which was spotted in the Batote area. It is not possible for a leopard to cross the Chenab and move to the area where the body was found,” added Lekhraj.

Jammu, July 19
To present the viewpoint of “nationalist” forces of the state for the resolution of the Kashmir issue, the Jammu and Kashmir Study Circle has decided to hold a Roundtable Conference (RTC) on July 29 and 30 in Jammu.

The three interlocutors appointed by the Centre will participate in the conference.

The study group, comprising intellectuals of the Jammu region, has invited representatives of all sections of society, including some from the Valley, to discuss all the aspects of the Kashmir issue.

However, no politician will be allowed to address it.

“We have given our consent to participate in the Roundtable Conference,” Prof Radha Kumar, one of the interlocutors, told The Tribune over the phone. She said during the last RTC, which was held in Jammu on July 11 and 12, a delegation of the study group had met them and asked them to participate in the conference.

Dr Goutam Mengi, who is organising the proposed conference, told The Tribune that representatives of all sections of society had been invited to the RTC to make it credible, fruitful and result-oriented. “It is premature to say what issues will be discussed at the conference, but all the aspects relating to Jammu and Kashmir would be discussed,” he said.

After the appointment of the three interlocutors, the intellectuals with “nationalist” thinking hesitated to meet them (interlocutors) and repeatedly charged them with adopting a Kashmir- centric policy by ignoring the genuine grievances of the Jammu and Ladakh regions.

Sources said instead of adopting a hostile attitude towards the interlocutors, the study group had decided to approach them to put forth the viewpoint of the “nationalist” forces. “Our aim to hold a Roundtable Conference is to apprise the interlocutors of the viewpoint of nationalist forces,” said a member of the study group, adding, “a majority of the people of Jammu and Kashmir wanted peace and unity of the country and their aspirations must be incorporated in the recommendations to be made by the interlocutors.”

Sources said at the two-day conference, issues pertaining to discrimination against the weaker sections of society as well as the ethnic minorities, causes of the emergence of militancy, step-motherly treatment to the Jammu and Ladakh regions and other sub-regions of the state would be discussed. Representatives of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits had also been invited.

Jammu, July 19
The Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), J&K regional branch, today organised a one-day workshop on “Ethics in Public Administration” here.

Over 30 mid-level officers of various departments of the state government, including the police, industry, banks and the corporate sector, attended the workshop.

In his keynote address, Dr S S Bloeria, former Chief Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir, said that ethics were equated with “dharma” in the ancient Indian philosophy and the same stood for individual conduct.

He also spoke on Chanakya’s understanding of ethics where he believed in “shukhasya mulm dharma”,meaning those who worked with sincerity would be the happiest persons.

Dr Ashok Bhan, Chairman, IIPA and member, National Security Advisory Board, said unethical behavior pushed one into a vicious circle and managers in the government and private sectors must not fall prey to it. The nexus between politicians, bureaucracy and business had led to recent scams. He highlighted the need for electoral reforms, if “we have to come out of this morass”. He advised the participants to live within their means.

In the session on e-governance, DS Oberoi, senior systems analyst, DOEACC, highlighted the benefits of this process for checking corruption in the country. In the post-lunch session, Sheikh Shakeel and D C Raina, both senior advocates, Jammu and Kashmir High Court, spoke about the Right to Information (RTI) Act and the prevention of corruption, respectively.

Their presentations were followed by a panel discussion in which Justice (retd) O.P. Sharma and M .M. Khajooria, former DGP, Jammu and Kashmir, and Dr Ashok Bhan, former Vigilance Commissioner, highlighted some key issues related to “eroding legitimacy of state systems leading to the rise of the civil society against corruption in a big way.” They felt that the state institutions could still, if given independence and teeth, meet the requirements to curb corruption.

The workshop was coordinated by Prof Indu Aima and the vote of thanks was given by Dr Alka Sharma.