New Delhi, August 5
Former Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir SS Baloria was today appointed the first Vice-Chancellor (V-C) of the Central University of Jammu.

His appointment was approved late this evening by President Pratibha Patil in her capacity as the Visitor of Central Universities and will now be notified by the Central government.

Baloria will be the Vice-Chancellor for two years, government sources said. He would not get a regular tenure, which was normally five years for a Vice-Chancellor,they said.

As reported first by The Tribune last week, the Centre had worked out an interim arrangement to appoint a former bureaucrat from the state as Vice-Chancellor and charge him with the responsibility of establishing the institution, the academic session of which has already been delayed by two years.

The Search and Selection Committee set up to recommend a panel of names for the selection of the Vice-Chancellor would have taken long (the search process would go on for the next Vice-Chancellor) and the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry did not want to delay things further. “The first Vice-Chancellor won’t have a regular tenure, but will have enough time to build the university. The understanding here is that he won’t get another tenure. He faces a tough task,” HRD Ministry sources told The Tribune today.

The name of Baloria, who was the Chief Secretary under the PDP-led coalition government headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in the state in 2002, was recommended for appointment by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal. Since the PDP, the NC and the Congress in the state had agreed on Baloria’s name, Sibal recommended a one-man panel to the President for approval.

Baloria is the father-in-law of Devender Rana, political adviser to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and his wife, Rani, has been a Congress worker.

This is a rare occasion where the Centre has bypassed the search process to select the Vice-Chancellor. The step was taken to avoid any further delay in the start of the academic session of the university in the politically-sensitive state, where protests had greeted the Search Committee’s earlier decision to appoint Prof Amitabh Mattoo, a Kashmiri Pandit, as the Vice-Chancellor of the Central university. Jammu-based groups had opposed Mattoo’s selection demanding that a local be made the Vice-Chancellor.Mattoo had later declined the post. “Baloria is from Jammu and fits the bill,” sources said.

Asked if the Centre was competent to appoint a Vice-Chancellor by sending only one name for selection to the President, HRD Ministry sources said the Central Universities Act permitted the Visitor to appoint the first Vice-Chancellor of any Central university in her wisdom. “In all subsequent appointments, the search process will have to be mandatory. But the first Vice-Chancellor can be appointed by the Visitor.We went in for this arrangement in Jammu keeping in mind the politically sensitive nature of the issue,” the sources added.

The Centre is hoping Baloria, being a local,will be accepted and his administrative experience will help him in the job. “To make the Central University of Jammu operational, all help will have to be sourced from the state government. Bolaria’s acceptance across parties will help,” the ministry sources said.

Sibal finalised the name after consultations with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The university, for which land has been identified, will now hopefully take off.

Srinagar, August 5
While senior separatist leaders were kept under house arrest to prevent any law and order problem, protests were held at various places after Friday prayers today. The hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Geelani had called for “peaceful protests” after the Friday prayers against the custodial death of Nazim Rashid Shalla in Sopore last week.

The separatist leaders, including Geelani, moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Shabir Ahmad Shah, were kept under house arrest to prevent them from leading any protest.

Protests were held in the Nowhatta area in downtown after the prayers at Jamia Masjid against the Mirwaiz’s house arrest. Later, a Hurriyat Conference spokesman said the party condemned the government’s move to keep the Mirwaiz under house arrest. Quoting the Mirwaiz, he said the restrictions were an interference in the religious affairs of the people as Fridays were regarded as the most auspicious days, particularly during the holy month of Ramzan.

Meanwhile, a police spokesman said, the situation remained normal and under control across the Kashmir valley. The prayers concluded peacefully across the Valley, though later some miscreants resorted to stone throwing at the police and the security forces at the main market, Sopore, Jamia Masjid, Srinagar, Gojwara and Nowhatta. The police, however, exercised restraint. The miscreants were chased away and no one was hurt in the incidents, the spokesman added.

Jammu, August 5
To intensify its campaign against the SAD-BJP government in Punjab, the Congress has decided to launch a Parivartan Yatra in the last week of September to mobilise public opinion.

All the Union ministers from Punjab, besides MPs and local leaders will participate in the yatra, which will start from Madhopur and cover all the 117 Assembly segments of Punjab.

Interacting with mediapersons here, Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and in-charge of the Congress affairs in Punjab Gulchain Singh Charak said today that the party would intensify its campaign against the SAD-BJP government for its failure on all fronts. “I, along with other Punjab leaders, will start a campaign from August 17 to September 8 to educate the masses about the anti-people policies of the SAD-BJP regime in Punjab,” Charak said. He added that all the districts of Punjab would be covered during the campaign.

He said the campaign would be followed by the Parivartan Yatra in the last week of September. “Our campaign against the Punjab government will continue till the Assembly elections in the state,” he asserted. “The Punjab government has lost credibility and the people want change,” he said.

Talking about the death of a farmer in Mansa in Punjab during a protest against land acquisition for a power plant, Charak regretted that the SAD-BJP government was committing atrocities on farmers.

Speaking about the proposed yatra, Charak said all Congress leaders from Punjab would be involved in it. “All the Union ministers and Congress MPs from Punjab, the PPCC chief and other senior leaders would take part in the yatra,” he said.

Charak, who was appointed the in-charge of the Congress affairs in Punjab in March, claimed that there was no factionalism in the party. “All Congressmen in Punjab are united and working to defeat the SAD-BJP combine in the coming Assembly elections,” he said and ruled out the possibility of an alliance with any party for the elections.

Jammu, August 5
Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and in-charge of the Punjab Congress affairs, Gulchain Singh Charak, has resigned from the post of vice-chairman of the governing body of the Mubarak Mandi Heritage Society. He also resigned as chairman of the executive committee of the society.

In a letter to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also the chairman of the governing body of the society, Charak stated that he had decided to resign from the posts because the Congress had given him important assignments.”I wish to inform you that since March 2011, I have been made a member of the CWC and assigned the duty as in-charge of the states viz Punjab, Chandigarh and Bihar, by the Congress president. My presence in Delhi is a pre-requisite for the new assignment. I am obliged to tender my resignation as the vice- chairman of the governing body and chairman of the executive committee of the society with immediate effect,” Charak stated in his letter.

Jammu, August 5
On a call given by the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), government employees began a two-day strike today.

Besides other things, the employees have been demanding the grant of the Sixth Pay Commission’s arrears and enhancement of the retirement age to 60.

While some of the employees’ unions stayed away from the strike, routine work was affected in various offices.

Protest demonstrations were held outside the Divisional Commissioner’s office here at Rail Head.

Leaders of the JCC, which claims to represent nearly 40 unions, described the strike as successful.

The JCC leaders once again asked the government to either accept their demands or face a much bigger agitation in the days to come.

The state has over 4.5 lakh government employees in all the three regions. JCC leader Ram Kumar said despite efforts by some vested interests to sabotage the strike, it remained a big success.

The JCC has given a call to take out protest rallies in the capital city tomorrow to compel the state government to concede the demands of the agitating employees.

However, the sharp divide between the JCC and other employee’s unions was clearly noticed today as some unions of the employees had declared to keep away from the JCC’s call.

The JCC claimed that reports from various districts of the state, including Jammu, Kathua, Doda, Udhampur, Rajouri, Poonch, Bhaderwah, Reasi, Kishtwar and Samba, suggested that protests were also held there.

Jammu, August 5
Though Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing a relatively calm summer this year, DGP Kuldeep Khoda said here today that more than 300 militants were waiting across the Line of Control (LoC) to infiltrate into the state before the the winter.

Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a function, the DGP said, “There is information about the number of militants at various launching pads across the LoC waiting to intrude into Jammu and Kashmir.The number is around 300.”

It may be recalled here that on July 16, the GOC of Nagrota-based White Knight Corps, Lt-Gen JP Nehra, had put the number of militants between 400 and 450.

The DGP said the militants on the other side of the LoC had been asked by their “mentors” to infiltrate into the state as the mountain passes closed due to the snowfall in the winter.

On the counter-insurgency and counter-infiltration operations, Khoda said there had been a fall of around 70 per cent in the militancy-related incidents across the Jammu region. At the same time, there had been a decrease in the number of militants active in the region, he said and attributed the constantly dwindling number of militants to the relentless counter-insurgency operations and the waning support of the people to militancy.

“But intrusion bids are still being made from across the border and instructions are being given to them (militants) to attempt infiltration,” the DGP said. He added that there had been infiltration bids along the border in the Kashmir valley as well.

Khoda, however, evaded a question regarding the number of militants having infiltrated into the state this summer. “Our strategy is that if anyone manages to infiltrate, he should be eliminated. And, we have been successful,” he said. He added that as compared to last year, the number of infiltration bids were fewer this year.

Srinagar, August 5
An amount of Rs 5.64 crore has been paid to next of kin (NoK) of those who died during the cloudburst in Leh last year. The amount includes Rs 1.98 crore under the National Calamity Relief Fund (NCRF), Rs 1.83 crore under the Chief Minister’s Relief fund and Rs 1.83 crore under the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.

Meanwhile, 387 fully damaged houses have been completely reconstructed while 277 houses are under construction.

This was stated at a high-level meeting convened under the chairmanship of the Minister for Finance and Ladakh Affairs, Abdul Rahim Rather, at Leh yesterday, an official spokesman said.

The meeting was informed that 257 persons had died in the natural calamity. An ex-gratia relief to 198 NoKs of deceased persons had been paid while 35 persons, being foreign nationals or not being entitled to relief, could not be paid the relief. It was informed that a total of 664 houses were fully damaged and 783 houses were partially damaged.

Under the NCRF, fully damaged 664 houses were provided Rs 12,000 per house and partially damaged 783 houses were paid a relief of Rs 1,500 per house.

The meeting was informed that the reconstruction work on SNM Hospital, Leh, was going on in full swing. The block F of the hospital has been made fully functional.

While reviewing the restoration work of water supply scheme in Leh town, Rather urged for its complete restoration as early as possible.

So far 80 per cent restoration has been completed at a cost of Rs 4 crore. The complete restoration of the scheme would involve over Rs 7 crore.

The meeting was informed that about Rs 19.77 crore under the NCRF had been fully utilised for temporary restoration of various works.

The minister also handed over the possession of 11 houses, constructed by the CII, to the beneficiaries. He lauded the CII for the philanthropic work and hoped that other NGOs shall also contribute in the reconstruction of calamity-affected Leh region.

The meeting was attended by the Chairman and Councillor of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh , the Development Commissioner, Leh, and district heads of various departments.

Katra, August 5
The GOC-in-C, Northern Command, Lt-Gen KT Parnaik, today inaugurated the Dhruva Centre for Technological Solutions conceptualised as a hub for finding pragmatic solutions for the needs of the Army units by making use of the latest technology prevalent in the world.

In his address, the Army Commander talked about the relevance of technology in the current scenario of rapid modernisation and transformation.

He appreciated the ongoing efforts of the Army and called upon all present to actively participate by contributing innovative ideas. He said the centre was conceived on a sound foundation to enable solutions for adaptation, transition and knowledge management.

The Director-General of EME, Lt-Gen IJ Singh, who was also present on the occasion complimented the team for establishing a pragmatic facility in the form of a single-point solution centre for addressing all the technological challenges in the Northern Command.

Jammu, August 5
DGP Kuldeep Khoda chaired a meeting of senior officers of the police, traffic and the CID here today.

The meeting was convened with a specific agenda related to organised crime with special reference to burglaries, theft of vehicles, chain snatching, inquest proceedings,cases relating to industries, cross-border crime and traffic regulations in Jammu city and on the Lakhanpur-Jammu Highway.

Khoda was accompanied by Additional DGP (Armed) K Rajendra Kumar.

DIG, Jammu and Kashmir Range, Farooq Khan; SSP, Jammu, Anand Jain; SSP, Samba, Israr Khan and SSP, Kathua, JL Sharma gave a detailed account of the cases registered with reference to the agenda while IGP, Traffic, HK Lohia and DIG, Traffic, Danish Rana, spoke about the traffic regulations on the NH-1A from Lakhanpur to Jammu and in Jammu city.

IGP, Jammu, Dilbag Singh, informed the DGP that he had recently held a second quarter target review meeting with the Range DIGs and district SSPs and observed that in some areas there had been an outstanding achievement while in other areas, more efforts were required to achieve the targets.

The DGP expressed concern over the poor detection of crime relating to burglaries, vehicle thefts and chain snatching.

He asked the district SSPs to focus on the issue in a professional manner and check the recurrence of such incidents. He issued directions that supervisory officers concerned should personally visit the sites of all suspicious death incidents to evaluate the circumstantial evidence available and make on-the-spot enquires.

Khoda asked the district SSPs to identify the crime- prone areas and take appropriate measures to check the incidents.

He appreciated the steps taken to check bovine smuggling and curb the drug menace.

The DGP expressed concern over the poor image enjoyed by traffic police personnel and asked the IGP, Traffic, Jammu and Kashmir and the DIG, Traffic, Jammu, to adopt innovative measures, which would include installation of CCTV cameras at Lakhanpur to be monitored by the PCR, Kathua, and checking of required papers of vehicles at identified places on the national highway and at Lakhanpur and deployment of handpicked police personnel to man these check posts.

Srinagar, August 5
CPM state secretary MY Tarigami has said the elections to the local bodies should also be held on a non-party basis like the recently-held panchayat poll.

“The issues confronting the people in cities and towns in the state are essentially concerning development and are non-political. As such, it is imperative that the municipal elections should be held on a non-party basis,” Tarigami, MLA, Kulgam said while stressing the need to have the local bodies in place at the earliest. Srinagar and Jammu needed well-planned development and the public representatives elected locally could work with dedication towards this end, Tarigami said in a statement. — TNS

Jammu, August 5
A core group meeting was held at the headquarters of the White Knight Corps at Nagrota, 13 km from here,yesterday.

The meeting was chaired by Lt-Gen JP Nehra, Security Adviser to the Jammu and Kashmir Government for the Jammu region and General Officer Commanding, White Knight Corps. Those present at the meeting were DGP Kuldeep Khoda and senior Army, police and civil administration officials.

The officials included K Rajendra Kumar, ADGP, Law and Order, Dr Pawan Kotwal, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Dilbag Singh, IGP, Jammu, AK Jain, IG, BSF, Jammu, Parag Jain, Additional Secretary / Commissioner (NZ), SB, B Srinivas, IG, CID, Farooq Ahmed, IG, Railways (J&K), Dinesh Kumar, IG CRPF, Anurag Kumar, Deputy Director, SIB, Jammu, and General Officers Commanding of the formations under the White Knight Corps.

The meeting reviewed the security in the Jammu region, particularly in view of the forthcoming Independence Day.

The Security Adviser complimented the security forces, intelligence agencies and the civil administration for maintaining peace and tranquillity in the region and for achieving a high degree of synergy in efficiently handling the challenges of internal security in the Jammu Region.

He stated there was a need to be more vigilant in view of the possibility of militants attempting to disrupt the prevailing peace in the region, especially during the coming days on account of Independence Day.

The downward slide in terrorism was attributed to the high degree of dedication and effectiveness achieved by all the security agencies in the state.This should not lull us into complacency as the infrastructure of militants across the LoC was still intact. He reiterated zero tolerance for human rights violations.

Srinagar, August 5
Basher Bashir,Chairman of the Sheikh-ul-Aalam Chair, Kashmir University,yesterday briefed the Governor, NN Vohra, about various activities being carried out under the aegis of the Sheikh-ul-Aalam Chair.

The Governor stressed the importance of every possible effort to collect the manuscripts of all the writings of Sheikh-ul-Aalam and establish a museum to preserve them. The Governor observed that it was necessary to start a time-bound programme to translate the works of the great philosopher into various languages and have these printed for the widest possible circulation at affordable prices.

Bashir presented to the Governor, who is the Chancellor of Kashmir University, a set of three publications, two in English and one in the Kashmiri language. These include “Aalamdar”, a research journal of the Sheikh-ul-Aalam Chair;”Noor”, a newsletter of the Chair;and a book written by Prof Bashir in the Kashmiri language, titled “Yiman Padan Me Vetsar Goutshy”, a Sahitya Akademi Award winning book for the year 2010. He also presented to the Governor a copy of a shortdocumentary,”Phrov”,prepared by the Chair.

Srinagar, August 5
The PDP has blamed the NC-led coalition government for its failure to come up to the expectations of Kashmiri Pandits.

In a statement issued here yesterday, Ashok Bhatt, president of the minority cell of the PDP, said the Centre had provided huge funds for rehabilitating the Kashmiri Pandits, shifting migrants to the Jagti Township, Nagrota, Jammu, and the Prime Minister's Employment Package for them. But both packages failed due to the lackadaisical attitude of the present government, he alleged.

The buildings had developed cracks and posed a threat to the lives of the migrant residents. It had created panic among the residents of the Jagti Township, who were risking their lives while staying there. Besides, there was a serious shortage of water and electricity in the township, he added.

Although 1,765 employees were recruited under the Prime Minister's package, a few of them had not received their salaries for the past six months, Bhatt said. He added that no proper accommodation had been provided to them.

The employees were facing serious problems because of a financial crisis, he added.

Terming the implementation of the Prime Minister's package a complete failure, Bhatt said the government was not serious to resolve the pending issues.

The service record, seniority list, promotion and other vital data of the migrant employees had not been maintained, which could have serious repercussions for the employees, Bhatt added. Referring to the issues of the non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits, the PDP leader alleged that they had always been denied access to the Prime Minister's package.

Jammu, August 5
Member of the Legislative Council and general secretary of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) Ravinder Sharma has expressed concern over the scarcity of water and power in the Sunderbani and Nowshera areas of Rajouri district.

Sharma, who conducted a tour of several panchayats of the two areas, said the locals had been facing problems due to the power crisis following a damage to a transformer at the grid station in Kalakote. “The transformer installed at the Kalakote grid is overloaded and as a result, the entire area is facing power cuts, which has also affected the water supply schemes,” he said.

Sharma demanded that steps should be taken to install a newly-sanctioned transformer at the Kalakote grid. He also demanded that the grid station at Siot should be set up without further delay and a detailed enquiry should be conducted into the allotment of tenders.

He also addressed meetings at Siot-Mangiot, Seri Dabbar, Keri and Darat and took stock of the problems highlighted by the sarpanches and local leaders of the areas. He also inspected the material supplied for the construction of a bridge at the model village,Mangiot, which had been dumped at the construction site six years ago. However, the construction of the bridge had not been completed.

The main problems highlighted in the meetings pertained to transformers, electricity poles, non-functioning of several water supply schemes and the upgradation of roads and better road connectivity.

Jammu, August 5
The first meeting of the newly constituted Scam Investigation Committee of the state unit of the BJP was held here yesterday under the chairmanship of the state president of the party, Shamsher Singh Manhas.

The constitution of the committee was announced last week by the national secretary of the BJP, Kirit Somaiya.

At the meeting, a proposal was made for an on-the-spot tour of Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts to be undertaken by the committee members on August 10 and 11 for which Somaiya would come from Delhi.

Manhas said the party had launched a countrywide campaign against corruption. “While a number of scams have been unearthed during the rule of the Congress-led UPA at the Centre, our state has also witnessed a number of scams, which involve ministers and bureaucrats,” he said and added that the role of the committee would be to expose major scams, which had earned the state the notoriety of being the second-most corrupt state in the country.

He said the committee would visit each district of the state and gather relevant evidences.

Dr Jitendra Singh said 33 major scams in the state had already been identified and the report of 11 scams would be placed before the media and the people on November 15. He appealed to the public to come forward with whatever documentation or evidence they had in their possession about the scams and corruption cases so that the committee could do the necessary follow-up and redress them through various administrative, legal and other means.