The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Speedy justice to sanity on roads, it’s all in govt kitty for 2012
Arteev Sharma
Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 31
Riding high on a ‘peaceful’ calendar year 2011 compared to a ‘bloody’ 2010, the state government is agog and optimistic as well about 2012.

It wants to start off on a positive note and expects to realise its dreams of ensuring good governance and expediting developmental activities in the state.

The state’s law and police departments have chalked out their strategies for ensuring good governance and speedy justice at the doorstep of the people.

While the state Law Department has planned to enhance its infrastructure, the police has resolved to imbibe a ‘sense of security’ among the people of the state.

The Tribune talked to the law and police officials to find out how they are looking ahead.

GH Tantray, Secretary, Law Department, J&K, said, “Around two lakh cases are pending in different courts across the state. Our main thrust will be to ensure speedy justice to the people, developing infrastructure in all courts and expansion of judiciary. We are creating 40 to 50 new courts, including district and sub-ordinate courts across the state, particularly in far-off places to bring judicial system closer to the people.”

“Two new courts will be established in each district while vacant posts of judges will be filled on a fast-track basis. There are 22 districts in Jammu and Kashmir. Two important legislations, comprising the Police Reforms Act and Juvenile Justice Act will be introduced in the Legislative Assembly and we are hopeful for their successful implementation in 2012,” he added.

Dilbagh Singh, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Jammu, said, “We will continue to maintain high-standard of people-friendly policing with vigour in 2012. At present, Jammu streets are virtually safe for the people and our resolve for next year is to make Jammu a ‘crime-free society’ with the active participation and involvement of the people. Though no society can be crime-free yet we will ensure safe and secure atmosphere for the people.”

Hemant Kumar Lohia, IGP (Traffic), J&K, said, “We want to create more awareness among the people about road safety rules. The department will also make efforts to enhance its infrastructure for streamlining the traffic, checking road violations and reducing the number of accidents. We are hopeful that the traffic department will be able to install CCTV cameras on all vulnerable points, implementation of High Security Registration Plates (HSRPs) project, computerisation of records and good synergy between traffic and transport department vis-à-vis sharing traffic records.”

“Apart from this, the department is also hopeful for improvement in road engineering to reduce the number of road mishaps. The installation of GPRS in all vehicles to check road violations and to reduce theft incidents will be our priority.”

2012: Sports infrastructure development on govt mind
Varun Suthra
Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 31
The state government has finally decided to develop requisite sports infrastructure in the state in 2012 after the dismal performance of state’s sportspersons, barring a few good shows, in various national level tournaments in 2011.

Minister for Sports RS Chib told The Tribune, “We are trying our best to make 2012 more fruitful for the development of sports in the state, as the Centre will provide all possible help in this regard.”

We are going to have three synthetic soccer fields in the state. One of them will be laid at GGM Science College here while two others will be laid in Kashmir, one at Polo Ground and another at Amar Singh College, he said.

Hockey has always remained on life support system due to the government’s apathy, the minister said. He added four astro-turf playfields would be set up in 2012.

The Centre had provided Rs 5 crore for the project and the play fields would come up in the Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions, said Chib. The minster said 12 archery centres would be established with four centres each for Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.

“The Central government will also provide for a multipurpose hall at Jammu to cater to the needs of sportspersons at MA Stadium because the existing multipurpose hall is insufficient to accommodate all the games,” Chib said.

On the dilapidated condition of the only swimming pool at MA Stadium, he said efforts were afoot to repair it so that it could become functional before the summer season. He said a multipurpose sports complex “Guindin” was also under construction in Srinagar.

Our effort will be to expedite the work on these projects so that they can be completed at the earliest, he added.

The construction work on Government College of Physical Education, Ganderbal, will also be expedited. The college was earlier functioning from a rented building, he said, adding the college building would come up at an estimated cost of Rs 35 crore.

The minister said the efforts were on to establish sports fields and stadiums at subdivision level.

Holding civic bodies’ elections a real challenge before govt
Dinesh Manhotra /TNS

Jammu, December 31
The state government, though, has claimed that the year 2011 was a year of public empowerment, the real challenge before the Omar Abdullah-led regime is to fulfil its commitment of conducting civic bodies elections, which have been delayed without any solid reason.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had directed his officers to complete the process of holding civic bodies’ elections by May 15, 2012 at any cost. Elections for civic bodies were scheduled to be held in the month of February 2010, but the same were delayed due to one or the other reason.

Opposition parties have also targeted the National Conference (NC)-Congress regime for the “inordinate” delay in conducting the elections.

The former Chief Minister and patron of the PDP, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, while addressing series of public meetings in Jammu city recently, repeatedly said the delayed tactics being adopted by the government in conducting civic bodies elections reflect the dictatorial mindset of the ruling NC.

He claimed that the state has been losing a whooping amount of Rs 500 crore annually due to failure of the state government to constitute duly elected civic bodies. It was during the regime of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in the year 2005 that civic bodies elections were held after a gap of more than two decades.

Earlier, the government had claimed that elections would be held after completion of the delimitation process of the municipal committees and councils.

Now the process of delimitation has been completed in which proposal has been made to create 191 wards in the newly created 16 municipal committees at Langate, Watergam, Chadoora, Devsar, Yaripora, Mehmoodpura, Qaimoh, Frisal, Ashmuqam, Shangus, Seer Hamdan, Ashmuji, Thatri, Purana Dooror, Kalkakote and Surankote.

While as 191 new wards have been created for new municipal committees, 65 wards have been increased in the already existing municipal committees, councils and corporations. With the addition and rationalisation, number of the wards in municipal councils and committees would go up to 1046. During 2005 urban local bodies’ polls, elections were held for 790 wards.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, while addressing a meeting of the officers on December 10, had directed the authorities concerned to complete the election process of civic bodies, including Municipal Corporations of Jammu and Srinagar, by May 12, 2012.

After Chief Minister’s directions, Housing and Urban Department and Election Department have expedited the process, but political observers were of the view that holding civic bodies elections were the biggest challenge before Omar Abdullah government in the year 2012.

While the principle opposition party, PDP, has doubted the intension of the government, the BJP on the other hand observed that without extending 74th amendment of the Indian Constitution in the state, there is no reason to conduct civic bodies’ elections.

The BJP has been repeatedly asking the state government to hold municipal elections in the state only after the implementation of the 74th amendment of the constitution which ensures that civic bodies function as “institutions of self-governance”.

“The National Conference-Congress coalition government is showing its adamant posture in going ahead with farcical election process to elect the Municipal Corporations, Councils and Committees without implementing the 74th amendment of the Indian Constitution”, said BJP spokesman Jatinder Singh.

Governor, CM greet people on New Year
Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 31
Governor NN Vohra has extended New Year greetings to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and prayed for their well-being.

He has expressed the hope that 2012 would usher in sustained peace, progress and prosperity in the state.

In his New Year message, the Governor said the outgoing year was marked by significant improvement in the overall security situation, elections to panchayats after many years and commencement of the process to establish Panchayati Raj Institutions in the state.

Saying that the maintenance of peace and normalcy was an essential pre-requisite for achieving growth and development, the Governor said in 2011 nearly 11 lakh tourists visited the state, a record number of over one crore pilgrims visited the cave shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi and more than 6.35 lakh yatris visited the Shri Amarnathji Shrine.

The arrival of nearly 1.18 crore visitors to the state gave a boost to its economy.

The Governor appealed to all segments of society and shades of opinion to join hands for ensuring maintenance of sustained normalcy in all parts of the state to enable the development process and to alleviate the difficulties faced by the people.

In his New Year’s greeting message, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed the hope that 2012 would be a year of peace and progress for the state and the country.

Kashmir reeling under intense cold
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 31
With mercury remaining around sub-zero level, the Kashmir valley continued to reel under intense cold wave conditions. A Met official here said the forecast for the next 24 hours was mainly dry and cold. There is a possibility of rain or snowfall from January 4 to 7.

This would be the first welcome gesture of the Chillai Kalan, peak winter period which began on December 21 last. It started with rains in the plains and snowfall in the upper reaches around the Valley.

The lowest temperature here last night was recorded at minus 4.3° C while the day temperature rose to 10.5° C.

During this period, according to Met officials, the normal maximum temperature in Srinagar remains at 6°C while the normal minimum temperature is minus 2°C.

The tourist resort of Gulmarg recorded a maximum temperature of 4.6 degrees and minimum of minus 9 degrees. Pahalgam recorded a maximum of 10.2 degrees and a minimum of minus 7.4 degrees.

Educational tour of girl students ends

Jammu, December 31
An educational tour organised exclusively for girl students of Mendhar tehsil of militancy-infested Poonch district was flagged in today by Lt-Gen AS Nandal, GOC, White Knight Corps at Nagrota, 13 kms from here.

The tour was aptly named ‘Carvan-e-Aman’, as its aim was to bring awareness about the educational and professional avenues available to students and also to highlight the rich cultural heritage of the country.

The tour covered a distance of nearly 1,600 kms by bus over a period of 10 days. Students were taken to Jallianwala Bagh, Golden Temple and Wagah-Attari joint check post in Amritsar and Science City in Kapurthala. They also got a glimpse of Punjabi culture and enjoyed local cuisines.

Students also visited one of the most well-planned cities of the country, Chandigarh, and there they taken to the Rock Garden and Sukhna Lake.

Then students were taken to Dehradun where they visited the Indian Military Academy and Forest Research Institute. Thereafter, they visited the IAS Academy at a picturesque Mussoorie.

The high point of the tour was students’ interaction with the Governor of Uttarakhand, Margaret Alva, and children relished an elaborate tea at her residence. On her insistence they attended the annual function of a reputed school in Dehradun, which provided them an insight into the various cultural programmes and activities in other schools.

While interacting with girl students, Lt Gen Nandal said the girls have an important place in society and they should propagate the message of peace in their surroundings. They should study well and become good citizens of the country. — TNS

‘Ghair Zaruri Log’ depicts Manto’s unique characters
Varun Suthra/TNS

Jammu, December 31
The Amateur Theatre Group, Jammu, staged an Urdu play ‘Ghair Zaroori Log’ on the third day of the ongoing Budshah Theatre Festival at Abhinav Theatre Auditorium here today. The play was based on the famous stories of an eminent Urdu writer Sadat Hassan Manto. Adopted in the form of a play by Shahid Anwar, it was directed by Mushtaq Kak.

The presentation was a beautiful blend of Manto’s most celebrated characters. Mutterings of Bishan Singh, a unique character in Manto’s master piece ‘Toba Tek Singh’ and the writer’s controversial, but unique way of depicting the pain of women, which showcased the dual character of contemporary society, was well presented on stage. Struggle of pen and life, deeply sensed by Manto, was the highlight. Although, Urdu was not the mother tongue of the onstage actors, but they tried to maintain the dialect.

444 join BSF as constables

Srinagar, December 31
A fresh batch of 444 constables of the BSF took oath to serve the country at a colourful attestation-cum-passing out parade at its Subsidiary Training Centre (STC) near here today.

Speaking on the occasion, IG, BSF, Kashmir Frontier, Anil Kamboj congratulated the recruits for the excellent parade and wished them good luck for future.

The IG also lauded the role of officers and training staff of the STC, in shaping the young men to shoulder the responsibility placed on them and rise to the expectations of the nation.

These recruits, hailing from different parts of the country completed 34 weeks of rigorous basic training at the camp. During the training they were put through various dimensions and aspects of training, involving physical fitness and mental robustness, effective use of arms, map reading and maintaining utmost discipline. Training has also been imparted to them in fields of engineering, field craft, minor tactics, anti-terrorism, counter-insurgency, commando operations and respect for human rights.

The parade was commanded by constable Sandok Singh. The IG also gave away medals of all round first to constables Ishru and Jasveer Singh, all round second to constables Daler Singh and Ravipal Sharma, best shot to constables Parveen Verma and Rohit Choudhary, best in physical endurance went to constables Hilal Ahmed Dar and Sunny Kumar and best in drill to constables Dalip Singh and Sandok Singh. — TNS

Army releases book on iconic shrines
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 31
The Army has brought out a coffee table book ‘Iconic Shrines of Kashmir’ to showcase some of the prominent shrines of the Valley, existing even in inaccessible areas.

The book was released by Minister of Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir, in presence of Lt Gen SA Hasnain, GOC of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, at a function in the Pattan area of Baramulla district yesterday.

The foreword of the book has been written by Governor NN Vohra and has messages from Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and GOC-in-C of the Northern Command Lt Gen KT Parnaik.

The book highlights the rich religious diversity, tolerance and harmony, as an eternal hallmark of Kashmir.

Man held for brother’s murder
Tribune News Service

Udhampur, December 31
The police claimed to have cracked the murder of Ghulam Rasool. It has booked Ghulam’s brother Talib Hussain and his accomplice Lehar Singh for the murder.

Ghulam Rasool was murdered at his house in Harote Kote village of Reasi district on the intervening night of December 26 and 27. Talib Hussain and his accomplice Lehar Singh are residents of the same village.

Sources said a sharp-edged weapon was used to commit the crime. The head of the deceased was almost chopped off from his torso.

J. Sambyal, SHO, police station, Reasi, said the evidence collected from the scene of crime as well as the testimony of witnesses suggested that the murder was committed by Talib Hussain and his accomplice. The preliminary investigations suggested that the illicit relationship between the Ghulam’s wife and Talib may have been the motive for the murder. Further investigation is on to determine other possible motives, if any. The police is also collecting other evidences to build a foolproof case against the accused for their alleged involvement in the act.

Panch held for theft
Our Correspondent

Srinagar, December 31
Two bike lifters, including a panch, were arrested at Zainpora in Shopian district, the police said on Friday. They have been identified as Abdul Rashid Sheikh and Khursheed Ahmad Dar. Rashid is the panch of Durpora village in Zainpora.

Three motorcycles were recovered from their possession.

Arrest warrant issued against ex-employee of Radio Kashmir

Jammu, December 31
A Jammu court issued bailable arrest warrant against GKS Malik, the then Deputy Director, News, Radio Kashmir, Srinagar, after she failed to appear in a defamation case filed against her by Dr Javaid Rahi, chief editor of Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages.

Dr Javaid Rahi had approached the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jammu, with a complaint under Section 500 of the RPC against GKS Malik, who had levelled serious allegations against him in a letter.

The complaint was subsequently transferred to the court of Special Mobile Magistrate Electricity, Jammu, by the CJM. The case shall come up for next hearing on February 13, 2012. — TNS