The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

7 killed as bus rolls into gorge
Ashutosh Sharma
Tribune News Service

An injured passenger being taken to the government hospital in Jammu on Sunday; and (right) police and rescue officials at the mishap site in Nandini, some 20km from Jammu. A Tribune photograph/AFP

Jammu, October 23
Seven persons, including five children, and an unborn child were killed and 28 others injured when a passenger bus rolled down into a gorge on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway here today, the police said. All the victims belonged to Chhattisgarh.

The police said the bus was on its way to Jammu from Srinagar when it skidded off the road and rolled down into a deep gorge at Nandini Morh, 40 km from here.

Five children, including a one-month-old baby, and two women died on the spot. The injured were rushed to the local Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH).

Thirty-year-old Savitri, one of the injured who was seven months pregnant, lost her unborn child after she was operated at the GMCH this evening.

The dead have been identified as Ratna (55), Geeta Devi (30), Munni (6), one-month-old Mangal Singh, Laxmi (12), Lokeshwar (7), and Dushal (5).

Seven of the injured passengers were said to be critical by doctors at the GMCH.

“The vehicle was on its way from Srinagar to Jammu when it met with the accident due to the negligence of the driver,” said a statement issued by the government.

Minister for Medical Education, Technical Education, Youth Services and Sports RS Chib visited the GMCH and enquired about the health of the injured persons. He announced Rs 25,000 for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 5,000 for the injured.

Governor NN Vohra also expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident. In a message, he expressed sympathy with the bereaved families and prayed for the early recovery of the injured in the accident.

AFSPA may go from four J-K districts
Srinagar, Budgam, Jammu, Samba likely to bid adieu to Act soon

New Delhi, October 23
Curtains are likely to be drawn on the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in four districts — two each in Jammu and Kashmir Valley — as the Jammu and Kashmir Government has set afoot plans to revoke the Disturbed Areas Act, a prelude for automatic revocation of the Act which gives extraordinary powers to the Army.

According to sources privy to the developments, the areas which may soon see AFSPA no more in force are Srinagar and Budgam districts in the Kashmir Valley and Jammu and parts of Samba districts in Jammu region.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had constituted two core groups comprising Director General of Police Kuldeep Khoda, Home Secretary B R Sharma and corps commanders of 15 Corps and 16 Corps separately to review the Disturbed Areas Act.

While Khoda and Sharma were the common members, 15 Corps Commander was member of the panel for Kashmir while 16 Corps Commander was member for the Jammu panel.

Recently, the high-powered panel comprising state and army officials met here again to review the withdrawal of the Disturbed Areas Act from some parts of the Valley which is seen as a precursor to lifting of the AFSPA from these areas.

The meeting was attended by the Director General of Police, the Principal Secretary (Home) and the Commander of the Army’s key 15 Corps (which guards the Line of Control in Kashmir Valley), Lt Gen S A Hasnain, during which the issue was debated extensively, the sources said today.

The panel was expected to meet soon after which a recommendation was likely to be made to the state Cabinet for revoking the Disturbed Areas Act from some areas, the sources said.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had said in his recent monthly press conference that if the Disturbed Areas Act was withdrawn by the state government, the AFSPA would be revoked automatically from those areas. This was followed by an announcement made by Omar at a police function hinting at the partial withdrawal of the AFSPA from few areas.

Although the Army has been contending that action against terrorists still takes place in the Valley, the sources said the state government and the Union Home Ministry were of the firm opinion that there was no need for the Act in these areas, which have not seen much Army action.

The figures being mentioned by the Army about killing of 19 militants in the last two months to support their case for continuity of the AFSPA was contended by the state as well as the Home Ministry by saying that these encounters had happened along the Line of Control and North Kashmir, especially in Sopore and the Lolab areas after the militants had managed to sneak in.

This year there were nine incidents in which terrorists were killed in Srinagar district. Out of these, the Jammu and Kashmir Police along with Central paramilitary forces were engaged in eight encounters. The Army was called out in one incident to lay cordon as the incident took place in a densely populated area and the state government wanted to prevent any collateral damage.

There was no incident in Budgam city of Central Kashmir and in Jammu and Samba districts where the state government plans to withdraw the controversial Act. — PTI

Pak violates ceasefire in Poonch
Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 23
In yet another violation of ceasefire, Pakistan troops fired at the forward Indian posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district last night, to facilitate heavily-armed militants sneak into Jammu and Kashmir, the security forces claimed here today. This is the second ceasefire violation by the Pakistan troops in the last one month.

Reports said the Indian forces detected the suspicious movement of a group of intruders in the Krishna Ghati sector and challenged them while they were trying to sneak into the Indian territory.

“The Pakistan troops opened heavy machine gun fire on the Indian posts, which led to retaliation from the Indian side. The exchange of gunfire lasted two hours,” reports said.

However, no casualty was reported from the Indian side. The Indian troops dismissed apprehension about the possible infiltration of militants claiming that “the infiltration bid was completely foiled.”

The Pakistan troops reportedly fired from the Bhattal post and the Pimpal post, on the Indian forward posts, Kranti and Kirpan, manned by troops of 17 Mahar regiment.

Pro-Jammu parties shun differences to celebrate Accession Day
Parties vow to oppose any move to weaken state’s ties with rest of India
Dinesh Manhotra
Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 23
Pro-Jammu parties shunned their political differences and came on a single platform today to celebrate Accession Day in a big way and to give a message to those who have been questioning the accession of the state with the Indian Union.

Representatives of the BJP, the Panthers Party, the Jammu State Morcha (JSM) and the Congress shared a common platform during the Accession Day celebration programme organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples’ Forum. They vowed to expose the designs of those, who had been working to weaken the state’s relations with the rest of the country.

Refugees from the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and representatives of the displaced Kashmir Pandits also participated in the function.

Senior Congress leader Abdul Gani Kohli shared the stage with BJP, Panthers Party and JSM MLAs in the function in which Janta Party president Subramanian Swamy was the chief guest.

Panthers Party MLA Balwant Singh Mankotia admitted that they had ideological differences with the BJP, but as far as the national interests were concerned, his party was ready to work unitedly with the BJP. Similar views were expressed by JSM MLA Ashwani Sharma, who called upon all nationalist forces of the state, including the Congress to shun their political differences to take on those who had been hatching conspiracies to weaken the state’s relations with India.

Speakers emphasised on the need for devising a strategy to frustrate the designs of anti-national forces active in the state. They said it was a high time for all the nationalist forces to work under a single platform. They also cautioned the people against the designs of some parties, who had been trying to create a divide among the people of the Jammu province in the name of region or religion.

Mankotia said the development of the Jammu region was not possible without getting a separate Secretariat and a separate Assembly. He pointed out that the just concluded Assembly session had ended without doing any productive business due to a fight between the NC and the PDP.

“The people of the Jammu region are the worst victims of the ongoing competition between the PDP and the NC to appease the secessionists to strengthen their vote banks in the Kashmir valley,” he said and asked all the political parties of Jammu to support the demand of a separate Secretariat for the Jammu province.

Subramanian Swamy threw light on the legal aspects of the state’s accession with India and pointed out that the decision of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru to take the Kashmir issue to the United Nations was illegal because he had not taken the Cabinet into confidence.

More big guns involved in 2G scam: Swamy
Dinesh Manhotra/TNS

Jammu, October 23
Expressing satisfaction over framing of charges against former Telecom Minister A Raja, Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi and 15 others in the 2G Spectrum scam, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy today claimed that the involvement of many more “big guns” would surface in the scandal “very soon”.

Interacting with mediapersons on the sidelines of Accession Day celebration function, Swamy claimed that during the trial of this high-profile case names of many other influential persons would be exposed as this “biggest ever” scam took place with the connivance of a number of people in powerful positions.

Swamy, whose PIL in the Supreme Court led to the CBI probe into the 2G Spectrum allocation case, demanded that Union Home P Chidambaram should step down to ensure a fair probe into the scam.

“As the CBI is working under the direct command of Chidambaram, it is impossible for the agency to conduct an impartial inquiry,” he observed, adding that he was demanding the resignation of the Union Home Minister as a citizen of the country.

On the situation of Jammu and Kashmir, Swamy ridiculed the Union Home Minister for terming Kashmir as a “unique problem” which required a “unique solution”.

“Instead of giving such statements, the Centre should immediately bring the state under the President’s rule,” he said when he was asked about the demand of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to repeal the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) from the state.

The Janata Party president observed that by demanding the withdrawal of AFSPA, Omar was trying to interfere with the issues related to the defence of the country and so he should be immediately sacked.

Polyclinic for ex-servicemen
Tribune News Service

Udhampur, October 23
In view of the long distances and difficulties involved in commuting to Udhampur, an Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) polyclinic was opened at Nagrota (Gujroo) in Kathua district yesterday, under the aegis of Headquarters of the Northern Command.

General Officer Commanding, 71 Sub Area, Maj Gen AK Sehgal inaugurated the polyclinic yesterday, in the presence of Brig Davis PP; Commander, 611 (Independent) Air Defence Brigade; Administration Commandant, 71 Sub Area, Brig Randhwal and other Army officers, civil dignitaries and a large number of ex-servicemen from the area.

A large number of ex-servicemen and widow pensioners reside in remote villages along the Dhar-Udhampur Road. Udhampur is the nearest military station with support facilities for the ex-servicemen and their dependents.

The new facility which was started as an ex-servicemen helpline with assistance from North Star Air Defence Brigade has now matured into a polyclinic, employing medical specialists and adequate staff. As per PRO of the Northern Command Lt Col Rajesh Kalia, the polyclinic which is functioning from a temporary hired accommodation would be shifted to a separate building, sanctioned by the Ministry of Defence.

Governor, Cabinet Secretary discuss welfare schemes
Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 23
Union Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth today called on Governor NN Vohra in Srinagar and discussed with him various issues relating to the implementation of the ongoing development programmes and welfare schemes for the state. They also discussed matters related to internal and external security management.

During an hour-and-a-half-long meeting, the Governor and the Cabinet Secretary discussed various flagship programmes and issues related to the implementation of the current year’s Annual Plan, the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan, Centre-sponsored schemes and other major infrastructure development projects.

Considerable attention was devoted to discussing the time frame within which 3-tier Panchayati Raj institutions would be established in the state. The Kashmir railway project taken up to link Qazigund with the new 11-km-long tunnel across the Pir Panjal, hydel power development, four-laning project of the national highway, growth of agriculture and its allied sectors also came up for discussion. The Governor emphasised the need for constant monitoring to secure the time-bound completion of all important development projects.

Later, the Governor hosted lunch for the high-level Central team of Secretaries, which included Alok Rawat, Secretary, Coordination; S. Ramadorai, Adviser to the Prime Minister (Skill Development); Sudha Pillai, Secretary, Planning Commission; and Prem Narain, Senior Adviser, Planning Commission.

A feast for theatre lovers
Tribune News Service

A scene from ‘Intizaar’, which was presented at Natrang Studio Theatre in Jammu on Sunday. A Tribune photograph

Jammu, October 23
Theatre and performing arts organisation Natrang staged five different plays at five different places in the state today.

The first show was a Hindi adaptation of Anton Checkov’s “Girgit”, directed by Balwant Thakur at Humhama in Srinagar. The second show “Choona Hai Aasmaan”, written and directed by Balwant Thakur, was staged at Kupwara in Kashmir. The third play “Tsal Goom”, staged in Kashmiri language, was written and directed by Munir Ahmad. It was staged at Kowoosa in Kashmir. The fourth play was yet another Kashmiri play “Do-Vout”, written and directed by Gulam Mohammad. It was presented at Tilgam in Baramula.

As part of the ongoing Sunday theatre series, the Urdu comedy play “Intizaar” was staged at the Natrang Studio Theatre here. The play, written by Saadat Hasan Manto, was adapted and directed by Sumeet Sharma. The contemporary elements added to the play sharpened its impact. The situational comedy further enhanced the presentation of the play. — TNS

Vocational training for 40 lakh youth

Srinagar, October 23
The state government has launched a skill development project under which 40 lakh youth will be imparted vocational training.

“Under the skill development mission, 40 lakh youth will be trained by 2022,” Minister for Youth Services and Sports RS Chib said yesterday, after inaugurating a 20-bed hostel block of Women Industrial Training Institute here. — PTI