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PDP targets Congress over NC’s failure to empower panchayats
Assembly not to debate clemency for Afzal Guru
Grand Mufti defends expulsion of Christian priests
Saffron growers get assistance from govt
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JU holds symposium on bioinformatics
World Wetlands Day
Kashmiri Pandits demand to visit Shardha Temple in PoK remains unheard
Pre-Budget proposals
10-year-old boy dies, 4 injured in fire mishap
Power booster: Police to get over 500 solar plants
Man run over by minibus
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PDP targets Congress over NC’s failure to empower panchayats
Jammu, February 2 Besides attacking the NC for alleged misgovernance in the state, PDP leaders have also started targeting the Congress for ignoring people’s aspirations to stay in power. The PDP leadership was expecting that after completion of the three-year tenure of Omar Abdullah, Congress leaders would take up the issue of rotational chief ministership. As the state Congress leadership has failed to convince its party high command on the issue, the PDP has now intensified its attack on the Congress also. Although former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and party president Mehbooba Mufti have been avoiding a direct attack on the Congress, other senior party leaders are taking every opportunity to “expose” the Congress for compromising with the aspirations of the people for their lust for power. Of late at every public meeting, PDP leaders have been lambasting the Congress for not seriously pursuing the case of panchayat members who have been demanding powers on a par with those given in other parts of the country. Former Rajya Sabha member and vice-president of the PDP Trilok Singh Bajwa, while addressing a public meeting at Langer a couple of days ago, took Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief Saifuddin Soz to task for just giving a statement in favour of empowerment of panchayats. “Soz is trying to hoodwink people by repeatedly giving statements in favour of giving powers to the panchayats by incorporating the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution in the state,” Bajwa observed and added that the Congress was a partner in the government and without its (Congress) support the government would not be able to survive. “If the Congress is so serious about giving powers to the panchayats why are its leaders hesitating to give an ultimatum to the NC leadership on the issue,” he said. The PDP leaders are also criticising the Congress leadership for not opposing the “deceit tactics” of the NC to “undermine the democratic institutions in the state”. “The Congress is equally responsible for the inordinate delay in conducting civic bodies elections in the state,” remarked PDP leader Ved Mahajan while addressing a rally at Nagrota on Wednesday. He said it was really unfortunate that the Congress leadership had been blindly following “anti-people policies” of the NC by ignoring the wishes and aspirations of the people. PDP general secretary Balbir Singh also stepped up attack on the Congress for not opposing the undemocratic policies of the NC. Singh, while addressing a series of public meetings in border areas of Kathua today, said corruption had been rampant in the state and the Congress was equally responsible for the prevailing “mess and anarchy”. He also pointed out that adequate powers were not given to panchayats due to the non-serious attitude of the Congress. |
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Assembly not to debate clemency for Afzal Guru
Jammu, February 2 The Independent MLA from Langate, Engineer Abdul Rasheed, had brought the resolution during the autumn session of the House last year. Though Rasheed is planning to bring a fresh resolution seeking amnesty for Afzal Guru, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Mohammad Akbar Lone said it (resolution) would not be admitted again. “Once a resolution gets debated, rejected or lapsed in the Assembly, a member cannot take it up again and submit it to the Assembly. He is barred from bringing this resolution back to the House and if he again submits the resolution on the same issue, it will not be admitted as per the law of the Assembly,” the Speaker told The Tribune. In September last year, though the Assembly Secretariat had admitted the resolution yet it could not be taken up for discussion following large-scale pandemonium and uproar in the House. “It (resolution) had put the Central as well as the state governments in the dock. The embattled Congress-led UPA government didn’t want to either discuss or get the resolution passed in the state Legislative Assembly. The resolution was scuttled tactfully after both governments faced widespread criticism in the country,” said a senior official who declined to be identified. On August 31 last, the debate over amnesty to Parliament attack convict started after the Chief Minister asked on mircro-blogging networking site Twitter whether public response would have been “muted” if his Assembly had sought mercy for Afzal Guru. “If J&K assembly had passed a resolution similar to the Tamil Nadu one for Afzal Guru would the reaction have been as muted? I think not,” Omar had tweeted. Recently, Omar reportedly admitted that the tweet on Afzal Guru was to pre-empt the principal opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as he had specific information that there was actually a race on between the Independent MLA and the opposition. “Knowing this was coming, I thought that I should put the cat among the pigeons…,” the Chief Minister had said. All-party meeting on Feb 19
Jammu: Speaker of the state Legislative Assembly Mohammad Akbar Lone on Thursday disclosed that he would convene an all-party meeting on February 19 to seek the cooperation of all political parties for the upcoming budget session commencing on February 23. “We have decided to hold a meeting of the representatives of all parties on February 19 to seek their full cooperation and support for smooth and fruitful budget session. If it is the responsibility of the custodian of the House (Speaker) to maintain decorum in the House, it is also the members’ duty to cooperate for the smooth conduct of the House proceedings,” Lone said. Lone also disclosed that he had called a meeting of the state administration on February 9 to discuss the arrangements being made for the forthcoming |
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Grand Mufti defends expulsion of Christian priests
Srinagar, February 2 In an apparent dig at the chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the Grand Mufti in a statement said it was “unfortunate and intriguing” that criticism of the Sharia court’s decision was coming from the people “who profess Islam as their faith”. Geelani had questioned the Sharia court’s decree, ordering expulsion of five Christian missionaries, including Pastor CM Khanna, who was accused of converting Muslim youth to Christianity through allurement and immoral activities. “I am not surprised by what is being published by some reporters because of their prejudice and proclivities. What is unfortunate and intriguing is that such statements are coming from some members of the community, who professes Islam as their faith,” the Grand Mufti was quoted as saying in the statement issued by the court yesterday. “This matter is not a political one nor of personal aggrandisement or publicity, but purely a matter of Islamic faith. It was agonising to note that some of our boys and girls were being converted to Christianity by unethical allurements and immoral inducements. I personally believe that this is a more important matter than any other public issue related to our community,” the statement said. The Grand Mufti said persons involved in converting Muslim boys and girls to Christianity by illegal and unethical means were expelled from the state in order to maintain amity and fraternal relations between communities and to avoid bad blood and unwarranted confrontation between them. “It needs to be made clear that there is no ban on the functioning of missionary schools, which have contributed a lot to the spread of education in the state. It is only the wrongdoers, who have been identified for action,” he added. —
PTI
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Saffron growers get assistance from govt
Srinagar, February 2 The Department of Agriculture distributed the cheques among the growers in saffron-rich area of Pampore, 16 km from here, yesterday, an official spokesman said today. Commissioner Secretary, Agriculture Production, Navin Kumar Choudhary said various incentives were provided to farmers under the National Mission on Saffron for adopting the latest technology for cultivation and mechanisation of the crop. He called upon the growers to avail the benefits of the mission and asked the growers to coordinate with the Agriculture Department. He said a Spice Park was being set up under the mission that would provide online national and international market facilities to the growers at doorsteps, besides providing quality control facilities to them. Director, Agriculture, Kashmir, Farooq A Lone said 122 borewells were being provided to the growers to enhance the saffron production. Under the Mission 50 per cent subsidy is being provided for purchase of weeders and hot dryers for saffron growers, he said, adding Rs 13.93 crore was distributed as an incentive under the National Mission on Saffron among 3,500 growers so far. On the occasion, the Department of Horticulture, Kashmir, also distributed incentive cheques worth Rs 18 lakh among 138 fruit growers of Pulwama district, who had purchased farm machinery and established borewells. Meanwhile, the Agriculture Production department also distributed cheques worth Rs 22 lakh to 145 progressive orchardists at a separate function in Pulwama district for purchase and installation of different farm equipment like motor-power sprayer, deep borewells, farm tractors, power tillers and foot pumps, the spokesman said. —
PTI |
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JU holds symposium on bioinformatics
Jammu, February 2 The event was sponsored by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, under the Biotechnology Information System Network System (BTIS net) programme. Minister for Information Science and Technology Aga Syed Rohullah Mehdi was the chief guest on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, the minister said the government was keen to promote biotechnology and bioinformatics, as these were the priority areas of research and development in the present era. Vice Chancellor of the SMVDU Prof RNK Bamezai said bioinformatics had great implication in generating genomic information to understand human diseases and in the identification of new molecular targets for drug discovery. Prof Bikram S Gill from the Kansas State University, USA, delivered a plenary lecture. He said India had done a lot in physics and chemistry and was now growing in leaps and bounds in the discipline of biotechnology. About 300 delegates, including professors of different universities of India, scientists, deans and registrar of the University of Jammu, researchers, scholars, doctors, and students attended the symposium. |
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World Wetlands Day
Jammu, February 2 Various non-governmental organisations, including the Association for Welfare of Senior Citizens, Jammu, the Ayurvedic Society for Health Awareness (ASHA), Jammu, and the Karan Ishav Social Welfare Society, RS Pura, took
part in the event. Government Degree College, RS Pura, and about 18 schools also participated in
the event. Over 500 students participated in the poster making, painting competition, photography and story writing competitions organised on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, Dr CM Seth, state chairperson of the WWF, said huge public response was witnessed with the maximum participation of private schools in the event. “Enormous efforts are required to generate awareness about the significance of migratory birds. But increased public participation in such events is a positive sign,” he added.
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Kashmiri Pandits demand to visit Shardha Temple in PoK remains unheard
Jammu, February 2 In a joint statement, the Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan, SM Krishna and Hina Rabbani Khar, respectively, had said the cross-LoC travel would be expanded on both sides of the LoC to include visits for tourism and religious pilgrimage. They had said the modalities would be worked out by both the sides. But even after six months of the announcement, no step has been taken to open the Shardha Temple for the pilgrimage. The All Pandit Migrant Coordination Committee wrote a letter in this regard to the secretary of the Minister of External Affairs, seeking permission to visit the Shardha Peeth temple in Muzaraffabad. “Since the people of Kashmir have already began to avail the opportunity to visit relatives, the Kashmiri Pandits have been left behind, as their holy places also exist there. We request the government to take the matter with the Pakistan counterpart, as they had also agreed for the pilgrimage across the LoC,” the letter read. The Shardha shrine is barely 10 miles across the LoC in the Kupwara region, in the upper Kishenganga valley (also called the Neelam valley), in a small Shardhi village. The shrine is situated on top of a hillock on the left bank of the Kishenganga. Prof Ayaz Rasool Nazki, a noted scholar, who was the first person from India to visit the holy shrine after the Partition in 2007 said, “When I reached there, I got a very sweet surprise. Despite the devastating earthquake of 2005 the shrine had not witnessed much devastation. The people there consider it a sacred place.” “But it could not save itself from the vagaries of nature. For the last four years I have been demanding that the authorities should come forward to look after the shrine. Shardha University has produced 5,000 scholars, we cannot see it turning into ruins,” he added.
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Pre-Budget proposals
Jammu, February 2 “We had pre-budget discussions with Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather on January 27 wherein we submitted a detailed memorandum to the government,” JCCI president YV Sharma told The Tribune. Water and power are the two most vital parameters, which act as strong foundations not only for the overall development of trade and industry but also contribute significantly to improving the quality of life of the people. We are sure that the government’s focused attention will be on development and augmentation of the facilities of these two important elements of the social infrastructure while presenting the annual budget for 2012-2013, he added. The JCCI has also suggested that the government should spare sufficient funds not only for exploiting the hydel power capacity but also for setting up small thermal power stations in rural sector. Sharma appreciated the government move to take over Salal and Uri hydel power projects from the NHPC so as to utilise the electricity for the speedy development of the state. He said the JCCI would also like to see Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah get a nuclear power plant in the state. “We can even think of setting up a solar park in private-public mode at Jammu for making equipment for harnessing solar energy. We request the government to make sufficient provision for the development of this sector,” said Sharma. The JCCI has also asked the government to come up with an effective plan to use the water of the Chenab River to overcome the problem of water shortage in Jammu. “We requested the government to allot sufficient funds to make this scheme operational in record time,” said the JCCI president. The JCCI has also urged the Finance Minister to provide sufficient financial support in the budget to employment guarantee scheme and skill development scheme to effectively tackle the problem of unemployment. “Along with this we were of the view that expansion of trade and industry also had a vast potential of providing jobs to the educated entrepreneurs, skilled, semi-skilled and even unskilled workforce. Therefore, adequate provisions should be made for the development of these sectors,” said Sharma. The public-private partnership mode should also be encouraged and munificent grants, concessions, land at cheap rates, loans on subsidised rates, tax holidays and all possible help and guidance should be provided to developers of such institutions, he added. |
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10-year-old boy dies, 4 injured in fire mishap
Srinagar, February 2 He said the injured, Nissar Ahmad Tantray, his wife, Zamrooda, and their daughter, Zeenat, and son, Salim, were admitted to Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital here. Preliminary investigations revealed that the house had caught fire due to the leakage of the LPG, he said, adding the house suffered extensive damage in the incident. In a separate incident, three residential houses were damaged in a fire in the Safakadal locality of Srinagar last night, but no one was injured, the spokesman added. — PTI |
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Power booster: Police to get over 500 solar plants
Srinagar, February 2 This is the fifth major solar energy initiative supported by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in the state in the current year, an official spokesman from New Delhi said yesterday. It stated that the proposal by the J&K Police envisages setting up of 523 solar photovoltaic power plants with an aggregate capacity of 1.4 MW at various establishments of the state police. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 38 crore, and 90 per cent of it would be contributed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy as Central Finance Assistance. The project is expected to be completed in a year’s time. The installations of these power plants would enable uninterrupted power supply to various police installations. In particular, reliable power supply to far-flung and remote police stations and outposts would ensure regular connectivity and quicker action in both routine law and order and anti-terrorist activities.
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Jammu, February 2 The deceased has been identified as Mohammad Hanief, 66, a resident of Pulwama. The police said the rashly driven minibus hit the man near Exhibition Ground when he was crossing the road. The victim died on the spot. — TNS |
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The Jammu and Kashmir chapter of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-India, in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest, Centre for Environment Education and Paryavaran Mitra celebrated the Gharana Wetland Birding Fair, in connection with the World Wetlands Day at the Gharana Wetland today.
The decision has been taken following nationwide uproar and political storm last year, particularly after the tweet of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah favouring clemency for the 2002 Parliament attack convict.