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Mufti takes on govt over corruption
Don’t dictate terms to Parliament, Omar tells Anna
Geelani cautions madrassas on funding row |
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Katra traders support lawyers’ bandh call
Govt mulls residential clusters for KPs in Valley
Non-lethal force ready to take on stone throwers
87 per cent increase in CT Dept revenue
Normalcy returns to Bishnah
Natrang stages ‘Diary Ke Panne’
A scene from the play ‘Diary Ke Panne’ presented at Natrang Studio Theatre in Jammu on Sunday. Tribune photo: Anand Sharma
Two drug peddlers arrested
Man held with fake currency
Annual Day celebrated
Students of DBN School perform a stage show during the annual day function at Zorawar Singh Auditorium in the University of Jammu on Sunday. A Tribune photograph
Political Buzz
Handicraft exhibition a big draw
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Mufti takes on govt over corruption
Jammu, December 18 Winding up the ongoing campaign of the PDP in Jammu, Mufti largely focused on the issue of corruption. Today's rally was held at Shakti Nagar, a stronghold of the Congress.
bid to disrupt rally Taking a cue from the reported displeasure shown by Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh over the slow implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Mufti said most of the Central schemes were defunct in the state because ruling elite was not serious in implementing these. He was of the opinion that such schemes were affected due to poor governance and lack of vision among those at the helm of affairs. "Due to lack of transparency and accountability, there is no check on the utilisation of funds allotted by the Centre for development and welfare schemes," he said. "It is unfortunate that schemes like JNNURM which are specially formulated for the development of urban areas, are not properly implemented in the state," Mufti said, adding that even welfare schemes like old age and widow pensions failed to take off because the government could not provide matching grants. “Rahul Gandhi has been effectively highlighting misappropriation of Central funds in Uttar Pradesh where the BSP is in power. I want to draw his attention to Jammu and Kashmir where his party is a partner in the government and where such bungling is going on at a large scale," the former CM said. The rally was organised by Bharat Choudhary, a local businessman who joined the PDP some days ago. |
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Don’t dictate terms to Parliament, Omar tells Anna
Jammu, December 18 "Someone needs to remind Anna and his team that they don't get to dictate terms to Parliament. Only the people of India get to do that, every five years," Abdullah posted on social networking site Twitter. His comments came in the backdrop of another round of confrontation between Team Anna and the Centre over the Lokpal Bill. The Chief Minister agreed with one of his followers on the social networking site who said the government allowed itself to be dictated by them (Team Anna). "I was just going to say that but thanks for saying it for me," Omar responded. Earlier, Soz had stated that going on fast and creating a wrong impression on Parliament was not acceptable. “We have a democratic system and laws can only be made in Parliament," he said, adding that laws could not be made in "chowks". Soz had predicted that Anna would see from his own experience that democracy could not be challenged . |
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Geelani cautions madrassas on funding row
Srinagar, December 18 "Even though this issue is not very important for us, but where has all the money gone," he added. The Opposition PDP yesterday demanded a White Paper on the release of Central funds to madrassas in the state. "There is a huge gap between the amount released by the Centre and the funds acknowledged by the state," the PDP said. Several organisations have already called for a probe claiming that they had neither received nor applied for any aid even as their names had figured in the list of madrassas for whom funds had been sanctioned.
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Katra traders support lawyers’ bandh call
Katra December 18 A meeting of members of Bar Association and local traders was held here today. Mandal president Naresh Kumar said the government had failed to understand the seriousness of the issue and take steps to ensure an early end to the inconvenience caused to the public due to the ongoing agitation. It had thus become important to exert pressure on the government for which the cooperation of all political, social, transport and trade organisations was a must, he added. Sunil Sharma, president, Bar Association, Katra, thanked the trade organisations for extending their support to their agitation. He gave an assurance on Bar’s resolve to fight for the interests of the common man. |
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Govt mulls residential clusters for KPs in Valley
Jammu, December 18 According to sources, the step has been taken in view of the failure of KPs to return to the Valley despite the announcement of Rs 1618-crore package by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008. Under the proposal, the government will provide residential plots in clusters to the families who desire to return to their native places with a financial assistance of Rs 20 lakh each for the construction of house. As per the Prime Minister's package, financial assistance of Rs 7.50 lakh for the construction of house was granted without offering any land. The government in the new proposal is focusing on residential clusters at one or two places in the districts where the displaced migrants will live in a secure environment. The sources said five such residential clusters would come up in Anantnag, two to three in Srinagar and Baramullah districts, two each in Budgam Kulgam, Pulwana and Kupwara districts and one each in Gandarbal, Shopian and Bandipora districts. Around 6,400 applications have been received from Kashmiri migrant families for their return to the Valley. Meanwhile, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Raman Bhalla said though the department was mulling over the issue, no concrete plan had been formed as yet. As per the record, over 65 per cent of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits do not own immovable property in the Valley. The erstwhile package could not impress them to return to their native places and construct houses. |
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Non-lethal force ready to take on stone throwers
Jammu, December 18 Official sources said the department had also procured less lethal and non-lethal weapons from foreign countries for the specially trained personnel to reduce unnecessary causalities of civilians while tackling violent clashes. The sources said, “After a highly challenging last year that witnessed killing of 100 people, most of them youth, and grievous injuries to 3000 policemen, it was decided that five battalions of armed police would be provided special training and latest equipments to deal with stone throwers”. IGP (Persons) S Owais Ahmad, who deals with the training of police personnel, said: “Two companies of each battalion have completed their specialised training to deal with any abnormal law and order situation in the state. They have been specifically trained to fight with stone throwers and rioters in Kashmir”. There are 31 battalions of the armed police in the state. The present strength of the civil police is 85,700 while the state government has requested to the Centre for raising 50 more battalions (50,000 policemen) to effectively deal with the situation. The IGP said there was no complacency on the part of department’s preparedness for any possible law and order unrest in the state, particularly in the Valley. “A single peaceful summer doesn’t allow for any complacency”. Owais said the department had procured the latest and modern equipment, including MP-5 guns and gloc pistols for specially trained force to reduce the number of casualties and fatal injuries while dealing with any abnormal situation. “The MP-5 gun, which is an upgraded version of old carbin, is especially designed for urban guerilla warfare while gloc pistol, which has been imported from the US, is effective in dealing with stone throwers and rioters,” he added. Official sources, however, said the force had also been equipped with pump-action gun, triple-action teargas grenades, anti-riot guns with plastic pellets, gas guns causing inflammations, tear smoke shells thrown with hands and multi-barrel smoke shell launchers to quell the protestors and reduce loss of human life. |
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87 per cent increase in CT Dept revenue
Srinagar, December 18 “The Commercial Taxes Department has realised revenue of Rs 695.58 crore upto October this year against a target of Rs 826.13 crore for the current financial year. The revenue realised during the last fiscal was only Rs 688 crore. The comparative increase registered this year accounts for Rs 325 crore, which marks about 87.54 per cent increase than the last year,” an official said here. He said the information was given during a periodical performance review meeting of the Commercial Taxes Department, chaired here by Finance and Ladakh Affairs Minister Abdul Rahim Rather yesterday. The official added, “It was also informed that an amount of Rs 301.22 crore has been realised against the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Rs 394.36 crore on account of the General Sales Tax (GST), which includes works contract, liquor, ATF and other services.” “The department has conducted 968 inspections upto October and recovered Rs 20.19 lakh as penalty from dealers for violating the VAT rules. About 750 industrial units have been granted remission of Rs 4.39 crore by the department during the same period. The revenue realised under the GST is Rs 5.77 crore and Rs 88 lakh under the VAT arrears. In addition, 3,089 seizer cases have been penalised and fine of Rs 63.95 lakh has been recovered from them,” the official added. The minister called for vigorous tax audits and assessments to check the possibilities of tax evasion. He said the tax revenue was the major source of income to the state exchequer and there should be no room for tax evasions or laxity in its realisation process. Rather said he would personally inspect various circles of the department to ensure close monitoring of performance indicators. |
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Normalcy returns to Bishnah
Jammu, December 18 The police said normalcy returned to the town this morning and all shops and business establishments were opened. At least 12 persons, including policemen received injuries in a violent clash that broke out between the police and angry protesters on Saturday evening. The police had to use tear-gas shells and cane-charge the protestors after they attacked the Bishnah police station. However, the police failed to achieve any breakthrough in arresting bovine smugglers, who had allegedly murdered the civilian. “We are conducting raids at different places to nab the murderers. We have constituted several teams and sent some of them to Punjab and other neighbouring states to apprehend the culprits,” SDPO, Ranbirsingh Pora, SS Sambyal said. Official sources said the bovine smugglers had attacked Mohan Lal and his sons yesterday after they came to know that he (Mohan Lal) had informed the cops about their illegal activities. “Mohan Lal was a police informer and this information was leaked to bovine smugglers by some policemen,” sources said. A large number of people had attacked Bishnah Police Station with stones and bricks on Saturday evening, causing extensive damage to it. “The police had reports of an impending group clash in Bishnah, but they didn’t intervene on time to avert the clash,” an eyewitness said. SSP, Jammu, Anand Jain, however, suspended SHO of Bishnah Police Station Satish Kumar for dereliction of duty. The SSP also ordered an inquiry into the entire incident. Meanwhile, SP, Headquarters, Shailender Singh has been asked to conduct an inquiry. Earlier, in the morning, a three-member team of doctors performed an autopsy on Mohan Lal at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Jammu.
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Natrang stages ‘Diary Ke Panne’
Jammu, December 18 As the title suggests, the play revolves around the diary of Lok Nath. The writer’s son finds a diary in a park and takes it home. The cover of the diary is so tempting and attractive that the writer cannot resist going through it, knowing that peeping into someone’s personal affairs is not a good habit. While reading the pages of the diary, he finds very interesting and dramatic life accounts of Lok Nath. The life of Lok Nath is portrayed in such an interesting manner that a common man identifies with each situation written in the diary. In the opening pages Lok Nath comes across as a disillusioned person to the extent that he has lost faith in God. As per the diary, cash starved Lok Nath starts tutoring the children of his boss, thinking that he would be able to please the hierarchy and make some money as well. Meanwhile, he comes across the sister-in-law of his boss. Lok Nath finds her attractive, charming and pleasing. Everyday he goes with a new plan to approach her, but is unable to do so. Finally he withdraws his plan for the reason that if his boss comes to know about his intentions he would lose his job. Vikram Sharma as Lok Nath portrayed the character of a common man. Gaurav Jamwal played the role of the narrator and demonstrated his acting skills. Uplaksh Singh did the production work. The lights were executed by Rahul Singh while Ankush Lakhnotra managed the sound. Mohammad Yaseen did the hall management. Neeraj Kant coordinated the show and Sumeet Sharma did the presentations. |
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Two drug peddlers arrested
Jammu, December 18 “The illegal consignment is reportedly being supplied to the youths in the adjoining areas of the district,” the spokesperson said. In a similar incident, the police laid down a naka near the Railway Bridge in Lakhanpur and apprehended Ashok Kumar alias, Shoku, a resident of Jandore. The police recovered 265 capsules of Parvan Spas and 20 Alprazolam tablets from his possession. The accused were booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and cases were registered against both the accused in the police stations at Kathua and Lakhanpur, respectively. |
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Man held with fake currency
Jammu, December 18 A case has been registered against him at Bakshi Nagar Police Station. — TNS
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Annual Day celebrated
Jammu, December 18 Sheetal Nanda, DC, Reasi, who was the chief guest on the occasion, impressed upon the students to work hard and uphold the high traditions of the school. |
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Political Buzz
Jammu, December 18 BJP highlights problems of Jammu city BJP state president Shamsher Singh Manhas, along with MLA Ashok Khajuria and Jammu district president Rajesh Gupta held a meeting of the party working committee in Jammu on Sunday. Addressing the inaugural session, Manhas said Jammu was the nerve centre for the party and BJP would further strengthen its base in the city. He said the party would effectively highlight problems being faced by its residents. He also said instead of solving problems of the people, parties like PDP, NC and Congress were trying to divide the residents. Panel flays government Activists of All-India Confederation of SC, ST and OBC Organisations on Sunday decided to oppose the “anti-weaker section policies” of the state government. A meeting of the confederation was held under the presidentship of RK Kalsotra in which participants devised a strategy to oppose the anti-reservation attitude of the present regime. It was alleged that the government had been floating the provisions of reservation in promotions and recruitments. Tributes paid to Kashmir trader Various social organisations in Jammu paid tributes to Tariq Ahmed Bhat who was allegedly killed by stone throwers in Kashmir valley. Ravinder Raina, state coordinator, Justice On Trial, a human rights body, said anti-social elements were responsible for human rights violation in Kashmir and poor Kashmiris were the main victims of it. He said Bhat was killed by stone throwers because he refused to support them. |
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Handicraft exhibition a big draw
Jammu, December 18 The exhibition, which started on December 8 showcases a variety of Kashmiri coats, shawls, pullovers and other products like Basohli paintings, Kashmiri papier-mache products, carpets and other handicrafts. Not only this, food stalls, music, joyrides for children are attracting a more number of people and children to the exhibition. Sharika Chouhan, a customer at one of the stalls in the exhibition said, “These exhibitions provide an opportunity to purchase the exquisite craftsmanship at one place. We get a lot of variety here, but these exhibitions should not be time-bound.” Minister for Industries and Commerce Surjit Singh Slathia said, “We have been organising these exhibitions-cum-sale across the country. A similar type of exhibition will be organised on December 23 at Ramleela Maidan in Jammu.” “We are doing our best to check the price of these products and we also provide 10 per cent discount on all the products to attract more customers,” the minister added. The exhibition also features decorative items like flower pots, bed sheets, cushion cover, pillows, curtains, bamboo and wood products etc. |
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Jammu, December 18 
Jammu, December 18 
