|
|
|
|
|
19 killed, 15 hurt as minibus falls into gorge in Ramban
Man-Animal Conflict
Tourist influx should end travel advisories: Omar
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Six Ex-corporators resign
NC exploits people to remain in power,
says Mehbooba
Centre to help promote adventure sports: Maken
Top LeT militant killed in Sopore
569 Pakistan ultras killed in 12 years
Health Department seals ultrasound centre
Boy killed in mishap
|
|
19 killed, 15 hurt as minibus falls into gorge in Ramban
Jammu, September 13 The minibus (JK-14-B-0180) was going from Ramban to Banihal when it fell into the gorge, about 170 km from here, on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, the police said. Rescue parties, consisting of police personnel and doctors,which were sent to the scene of the accident, took the injured and the dead out of the gorge. Kifayat Hyder, SSP, National Highways, told The Tribune over the phone that Army choppers were also pressed into service to airlift the injured to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Jammu, and the Government Hospital, Udhapmur. “I went to the scene of the accident and saw the marks of the tyres of the minibus before it skidded. It seems the driver applied the brakes, but lost control over the vehicle which fell into the gorge,” said Hyder, adding that no passenger was in a condition to give a statement. “The driver, Farid Ahmed (35), a resident of Neel village in Banihal, was also seriously injured and was not in a position to say anything about the mishap,” Hyder said. He said four passersby were also critically injured as they were crushed under the falling vehicle. “All the injured have been admitted to various hospitals across the region and their condition is said to be critical,” he said. The SSP said the vehicle was overloaded and there was no parapet on the road. Asked about the failure of the police to check the overloading of passenger vehicles and whether the department had written to the authorities concerned to install parapets, the SSP said, “We are trying our best to keep a check on overloading, but still the illegal practice is going on. Almost 65 per cent work of the installation of parapets on the national highway has been completed, but the stretch, where the accident occurred, is still without a parapet as rain and landslides occur there almost everyday.” Meanwhile, Higher Education Minister Abdul Gani Malik, along with a number of senior officials, visited the scene. He announced Rs 1 lakh as compensation each to next of kin of the deceased and Rs 10,000 to the injured from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund Pawan Kotwal, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, said over the phone, “Earlier, there were 17 casualties, but two more persons died at the GMCH. He also announced Rs 25,000 each each to next of kin of the deceased and Rs 10,000 each to the injured. Meanwhile, Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah have expressed grief over the loss of precious human lives in the accident. In a message, the Governor expressed sympathy with the bereaved families and prayed for the early recovery of those injured in the accident.
|
||
|
Man-Animal Conflict
Jammu, September 13 Upender Pachnanda, Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), explained the ways to avert man-animal conflict and save human lives as well as protect wildlife. He said children and women were soft targets of leopards, bears and monkeys and they should be alert while going to schools or for grazing their cattle in forests. “To spread awareness about the precautionary methods to save innocent lives, we have decided to organise a series of awareness camps in the rural areas of our division,” said Pachnanda. He sought the cooperation of local communities in protecting forests and the wildlife. He hoped that the department would get the maximum support of the villagers, who were easy targets of wild animals. “The villagers from the adjoining areas, including schoolchildren and their teachers, will be invited to the camps so that they can be made aware about the methods to handle any situation,” added Pachnanda. Giving more details, he said some NGOs like the Socio-Economic and Education Aid Society (SEEAS) would also be involved in the programme so that the maximum number of people could avail of its benefits. Pachnanda said the fast shrinking habitat of wildlife and the depletion of natural resources due to the increase in human population, unplanned development, biotic interference and change in land use were the main reasons behind the increase in such incidents. The Wildlife Department had last year launched an awareness campaign in and around various wildlife sanctuaries like Mansar, Surinsar, Jasrota, Nandini and Ramnagar to sensitise the people on how to manage and minimise the conflicts.
|
||
|
Tourist influx should end travel advisories: Omar
Srinagar, September 13 He said till now, 1.3 million visitors and yatris had visited the Valley, indicating the return of good days of tourism. “This should be a guiding observation for countries to remove the travel advisories they have issued to their citizens regarding travel to the state,” he said. Omar was addressing the 9th Annual Convention of Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) here.He said the concept of relating tourism activities with normalcy needed to be changed and tourism should be regarded as an economic activity. Omar said the department concerned should also produce a generation of trained personnel and guides in this field. The Chief Minister said the ATOAI could help the state move forward in this direction and train the local youth. He said the state had to concentrate on improving and upgrading the capacities, besides raising the necessary infrastructure. He said the local people associated with the tourism, especially the youth were required to learn from such conferences, understand the requirements and necessities of adventure tourism and also display their views regarding this activity. Omar said the adventure tourism in the state could be harnessed in a big way to generate jobs and give boost to the economy across the state. |
||
|
Six Ex-corporators resign
Jammu, September 13 Although the dates for the civic bodies elections are yet to be announced, six ex-corporators have left the party. While some influential corporators have shifted their loyalties to expelled party leader Chaman Lal Gupta, another powerful corporator has joined the Congress, giving a severe jolt to the BJP. The BJP received a severe setback when Shubh Chand Verma, a corporator from Trikuta Nagar joined the Congress two days ago. Verma, a staunch party supporter, had joined the Congress in the presence of Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla. Verma was one of the strong leaders of the BJP in the Gandhi Nagar Assembly where the party had already been facing a dearth of mass leaders. Bhalla, who represents the Gandhi Nagar Assembly segment had convinced Verma to leave the BJP and join the Congress. In the last JMC elections, Verma was among the three BJP corporators, who had managed to emerge victorious from the 24 wards, falling under the Gandhi Nagar Assembly segment. “Verma’s joining the Congress is a severe setback to the party, especially in the Gandhi Nagar Assembly segment,” a senior BJP leader told The Tribune and added that the cross-voting episode had badly dented the image of the party. Interestingly, when some corporators had shifted their loyalty to Chaman Lal Gupta, the BJP leadership had not taken the matter seriously, but after Verma joined the Congress, the party started a damage-control exercise. Today the BJP organised a meeting of the party workers at the Trikuta Nagar ward, which was represented by Verma, to give an impression to the workers that the party was not worried about its leader joining the Congress. BJP national executive committee member Jitendra Singh had especially gone to address the party workers and discuss the situation with them. “The matter of ex-corporator Shubh Chander Verma leaving the party was discussed. It was felt that his departure from the BJP will not affect the party and all residents of Trikuta Nagar are solidly behind the BJP,” a handout issued by the party stated. In the meeting, leaders made it clear that voters of the BJP were committed to the party ideology and not to any individual. They exhorted the workers to start a door-to-door campaign to further spread the message of the party. Sham Lal was appointed as ward president, Trikuta Nagar.
|
||
|
Visiting scientist dies while delivering lecture in Srinagar
Srinagar, September 13 Pathan, who was also the Group Director of the Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad, was delivering the presidential address at the inauguration of the conference. He was rushed to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) at Soura here, where the doctors declared him brought dead. Pathan had only been seven minutes into his address when he suffered the heart attack, one of the participants at the conference said. “Today, we need to focus on technological trends and see how these can help in good governance,” Pathan had said in his opening remarks. He said accountability, responsiveness and the rule of law were the most important things in G-governance. He assured the university of all the help and support in its endeavour to take the benefits of geomatics to the common man. About 100 professional delegates from various premier institutes of the country, besides state government officials are attending the conference. Meanwhile, Governor NN Vohra has mourned Pathan’s death. The Governor, who is the Chancellor of the university, expressed sympathy with the bereaved family and prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul. The Governor spoke over the phone to the Vice-Chancellor of the university from Jammu, where he had gone on tour, to ensure that Pathan’s family was provided all the necessary support. |
||
|
NC exploits people to remain in power,
says Mehbooba
Jammu, September
13 Addressing a public meeting at Banihal,the PDP leader said Jammu and Kashmir was a rich state with huge natural resources, which could be utilised for its overall development,but the NC,which had ruled the state for decades had completely failed on the development front. She said instead of giving priority to development, the ruling party’s leadership had always exploited the sentiments of the people to remain in power. “When in the Opposition, NC leaders adopted different means, while in power, their personal welfare was their priority,” she alleged and added that backwardness and underdevelopment of many parts of the state was the result of the wrong policies adopted by the successive NC regimes. “Deplorable conditions of roads in the Banihal area had led to the death of hundreds of people during the last few years, but the government was least bothered about such a huge number of casualties on roads”, she regretted. Highlighting the achievements of the then
PDP-Congress regime, she said with just 16 MLAs in its kitty, the PDP-led regime had carved out a path of equitable development in the state in which special priority was given to the backward and neglected areas. Terming the present regime as a failure, she said the only achievement of the three-year term of the regime was to legalise corruption and nepotism and inflict atrocities on innocent people. |
||
|
Centre to help promote adventure sports: Maken
Srinagar, September 13 Speaking on the occasion, Maken urged the trainees to sharpen their skills by taking the full advantage of the course and take it as a source of generating self- employment as well as employment for others. The Union minister said the Central government would extend all support to the state in promoting adventure sports keeping in view its potential in this regard. He said it also helped develop leadership quality and sportsmanship, thus infusing the qualities of discipline and obedience among the youth to understand their responsibility.He added that such a thing would be in the interest of the nation. He added the youth of the state had to play a vital role in strengthening the bonds of friendship and mutual understanding among the people through sports. Maken and Chib also flagged off a mountaineering expedition to the 6,135-metre Stok Kangri peak. |
||
|
Top LeT militant killed in Sopore
Srinagar,September 13 Uni, a Pakistan national, had been active in Kashmir for a decade and was involved in several attacks on the security forces, political workers and civilians in north Kashmir. He was also one of the accused in the murder of Jamiat-e-Ahlihadees chief Moulana Shoukat Ahmad Shah, who was killed in a bomb blast outside a Srinagar mosque in April this year. Acting on a tip-off about the presence of some LeT militants in the Baghat-e-Batpora locality in Sopore, about 55 km from here, a joint team of the police and the Rashtriya Rifles cordoned off the area around noon, official sources said. When the security forces were searching houses, the militants opened fire, leading to a gunbattle, which resulted in the killing of the top LeT militant, they said. The slain militant had escaped at least eight times in the last two years after being cornered during search operations.
|
||
|
569 Pakistan ultras killed in 12 years
Srinagar, September 13 According to statistics posted on the website of the state police, most of the killed militants were affiliated to the LeT. A total of 323 militants were killed between 1998 and 2002 when the LeT and the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) launched a series of suicide attacks on military and police installations. The four-year period coincided with the eruption of the Kargil war when the influx of Pakistan militants, affiliated to the LeT and the JeM increased. The number declined after the 9/11 terror strikes in the US, apparently due to the pressure exerted by Washington on Islamabad to curb militant activities on its soil. The data showed that 127 Pakistan militants were liquidated between January 2003 and December 2004. About 103 Pakistan militants were killed between January 2005 and December 2009, it said. Sixteen militants from the neighbouring country were eliminated in the first four months of 2010. — PTI |
||
|
Health Department seals ultrasound centre
Jammu, September 13 An official handout stated that during the police investigation in a case of female foeticide, it was detected that the accused couple had got their sex-determination test done from the Mata Santo Devi Ultrasound Centre. “A team of the Health Department, led by Chief Medical Officer, Jammu, in the presence of Executive Magistrate, RS Pura, today sealed the clinic and cancelled its registration,” the handout further stated. |
||
|
Boy killed in mishap
Jammu, September 13 The police said the deceased, Vishal Kumar, son of Ram Kumar, was crossing the road when the Tata Sumo going towards Narwal hit him around 2 pm. Though the driver, identified as Kishore Kumar, managed to flee after the accident leaving the vehicle, he was arrested later. An FIR had been lodged at Bagh-e-Bahu police station. Meanwhile, area residents held a protest against the authorities concerned for their failure to keep a check on rash driving. A number of such incidents had taken place in the area earlier also. In another mishap, a truck hit an Ambassador car in the Janipur area, severely injuring the car driver. The police said the injured was referred to the GMCH and his condition was said to be critical. The Janipur police has registered a case in this regard. “During preliminary investigations brake failure is being cited as the cause of the mishap,” it said.
|
|
| 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, September 13
Srinagar, September 13
Jammu, September
13
