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State to take over hydel projects from NHPC
Job scarcity bigger challenge than terrorism, says Omar Abdullah
‘Killing of minor by
tantrik’ |
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After overnight snow, dry spell in Valley till Feb 20
Youth turn to Facebook for K-solution
Chief Secy reviews public services
Katra MC daily wagers call off strike
Police takes steps to check human trafficking
State jails to get mobile jammers
Human Rights Commission
Police dept upgrading infrastructure: DGP
Panun Kashmir condemns attack on Israeli diplomats
Omar bats for e-tendering in major departments
Protests by NYC volunteers
Science lessons need to be
modernised: V-C
Rs 6 cr for medicare, other facilities at Jagti: Bhalla
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State to take over hydel projects from NHPC
An official spokesman said the sub-committee had recommended taking over various identified power projects, including Salal, Uri and Dulhasti. For this purpose, the J&K Power Development Corporation (JKPDC) will work out the value of the projects. The CSC has also recommended that there should be effective monitoring of all agreements, terms and conditions which have been made with the NHPC, keeping in view the benefits and rights of the state. The Development Commissioner, Power Department, shall be submitting monthly reports to the government with regard to any deviation in terms and conditions. In case any condition is not fulfilled by the NHPC, he will point out the same and submit the report on specific deviations. The CSC has pointed out that in 2000 there had been an MoU between the state government and the Centre with regard to seven hydel projects, including the Kishen Ganga, Uri-II, Badsar, Sewa-II, Pakul Dul, Neemo-Bazgo and Chutak. The agreement stipulates that all these seven projects are required to be handed back to the state government after their final execution by the NHPC. The sub-committee has suggested that the same formula shall be made applicable to all projects, including Salal, Uri, Dulhasti, and other projects which are not covered by a prior agreement. It says steps can be taken for implementation of the terms and conditions of the MoU in 2000 for such projects as well. Highly placed sources said at the Cabinet meeting, senior ministers of the National Conference (NC) stressed on the need to strengthen the coalition and asked their Congress colleagues not to pay heed to rumours. The issue of Peerzada’s resignation or charges levelled against PHE Minister Taj Mohiuddin were not discussed in the today’s meeting. The Cabinet also ordered the posting of Dr Ravi Kumar Jerath, Director General, Institute of Management, Public Administration and Rural Development (IMPA), as Financial Commissioner, Revenue, in place of Pramod Kumar Jain, who will take up the IMPA post. He also holds the additional charge of Chairman, J&K Special Tribunal. |
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Job scarcity bigger challenge than terrorism, says Omar Abdullah
Bari-Brahmana (Jammu),February 15 Jammu and Kashmir, on the pattern of northeastern states, enjoys dual industrial incentives by the state government as well as the Union government. Though Omar assured full support of his government to bring industries back on the rails and hoped that the Union government would once again dole out tax concessions to the industries in the state before presenting the next Union budget this year, he expressed his inability to freeze power tariff for the next three or four years. However, the government understands various concerns of the industry and tries its best from time to time to given an impetus to the industrial sector, he added. The Chief Minister also admitted that acquisition of land was the biggest constraint for the growth and expansion of industries in the state. We have already looked into this issue and we are trying to create more space for the industries akin to what is being done in Kathua district, he said. He also seized the opportunity to say some flagship industrial units that existed in the Bari-Brahmana industrial estate did not exist anymore but some new units had come up. “It is heartening to see some actual genuine manufacturing being done here. Each such unit is a success story. Investment from outside the state is also a healthy sign,” said Omar. He, however, admitted that industries faced certain problems, which needed to be addressed but he plainly refused to freeze the power tariff. “I can’t announce it. No way can we freeze power tariff for the next few years. But, certainly we can work out a plan for the next five years,” he said. Omar said the state had already been aiming at self-sufficiency in the power sector and wanted to exploit vast hydel power potential in the state. But he regretted that organised theft of power was rampant in the industrial sector. “My own department is involved in it but now we have decided to come down heavily on erring officials,” he said. |
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‘Killing of minor by
tantrik’
Jammu, February 15 The boy’s body was exhumed at Kul Dabbi village in Sunderbani tehsil of Rajouri district yesterday. Official sources said a police team led by the SHO, Police Station Sunderbani, Naveen Angral, visited the village and questioned Shibham’s neighbours to know the sequence of events that led to the death of the minor boy. The boy’s father, Raj Kumar, alias Raju Baba, who is alleged to have killed his youngest son, in the name of sacrifice to propitiate Baba Bhairav Nath, was released yesterday. The police has started investigations under Section 174 of the CrPC. “The body of the boy was handed over to his family after an autopsy. The police is awaiting the Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL) report, which is likely to be received in a week,” sources said, adding that the cause of death — whether the boy was murdered or died a natural death would be established only after the police gets the report. |
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After overnight snow, dry spell in Valley till Feb 20
Srinagar, February 15 The weatherman has forecast dry weather till February 20, adding that the Valley is likely to witness cold nights and warm days for the next few days. Srinagar city received two inches of snowfall and 4.6 mm of rain till morning while the ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district received three cm of snow, an official of the Meteorological Department said. Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir, received 17 cm of snowfall overnight and 17.2 mm of rain while the tourist resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir received 17 cm of snowfall and 46.6 mm of rain. The minimum temperatures recorded at Srinagar, Gulmarg and Pahalgam were minus 1.2 °C, minus 14.6 °C and minus 4.3 °C, respectively, a MeT official said. Srinagar recorded a maximum temperature of 7.5 °C while most parts of the Valley also witnessed above zero degree day temperatures. The medium range avalanche warning that was issued by the Disaster Management Cell on Monday remained in effect for the upper reaches of the Valley, especially areas close to the Line of Control.
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Youth turn to Facebook for K-solution
Srinagar, February 15 A random survey of Facebook pages on Kashmir and a qualitative reading of some of the popular blogs suggest that the Kashmir dispute and the separatist agenda dominate web-based discourses on Kashmir, states the Institute for Research on India and International Studies (IRIIS) in its report “A perception survey of media impact on the Kashmiri youth”. The findings have also revealed that the Valley youth have “firmly fixed their political gaze on local developments” and are actively participating in Kashmir-related discussions on as many as 317 pages set up on the social networking website, Facebook. While the IRIIS findings suggest that the youth have varying definitions of “azadi”, 238 anti-India Facebook pages have been set up that predominantly contain words like “Free Kashmir”, “Freedom” and “Quit Kashmir”. Of these, 58 pages are exclusively devoted to stone-pelters, like “Born Stone Pelter” and “Proud to be a stone-pelter”. At least 101 Facebook accounts have the word “free”, 11 contain “freedom”, nine contain “independent/independence”, 25 contain “quit” and 34 contain “Leave”. On the other hand, only 26 pro-India accounts have been listed in the IRIIS findings, while 53 accounts have been found to be “pro-Kashmir”. Regarding the interest of the youth in Kashmir affairs, the survey suggests that diverse media sources, including television, radio, newspapers and the Web, are accessed primarily for news on Kashmir. The findings of the survey conducted in six districts of the Valley, involving 1,500 youth, were released by the honorary director of the IRIIS, Navnita Chadha Behera, during a panel discussion chaired by Governor NN Vohra here last week. |
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Chief Secy reviews public services
Jammu, February 15 This is in addition to the 45 services already identified in six departments. Detailed deliberations were also held on the conduct of the coming budget session. The Chief Secretary asked all the administrative secretaries to prepare replies to the questions along with information for possible supplementary queries. Issues pertaining to the status of departmental websites, file monitoring system, infrastructural development in schools and status of various schemes were also discussed during the meeting.
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Katra MC daily wagers call off strike
Katra, February 15 After holding people of the town and devotees visiting the Vaishno Devi shrine to ransom for seven days, leaders of the Daily Wagers’ Union decided to call off their strike after getting an assurance from the Director, Local Bodies, Jammu, of looking into their demands. The daily wagers had gone on indefinite strike on February 9 after a permanent order was issued to an employee, Sunita Devi, who had been working as a computer assistant on a consolidated basis in the municipal committee. The strike had impacted various civic services After two hours of deliberations between the leaders of union and officials of the Local Bodies, Jammu, the former agreed to call off the strike this evening. FC Bhagat, Director, Local Bodies, Jammu, said no permanent appointment had been made in the municipal committee since 1994. “We have requested the state government to look into the matter and enhance the wages of the daily wagers and contract staff,” he added. |
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Police takes steps to check human trafficking
Jammu, February 14 The IGP, while speaking on the inaugural function of two-day workshop on “Anti-Human Trafficking”, highlighted the gravity of the issue. He said two anti-human trafficking units were already functional at Udhampur and Jammu and more such units would be opened at the district level. “Our endeavour is to spread the network of anti-human trafficking units to other districts,” he said. —
TNS
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State jails to get mobile jammers
Jammu, February 15 Three hypersensitive jails, including Central Jail, Srinagar, Central Jail, Kot Bhalwal and District Jail, Ambphalla, will be covered in the first phase while the remaining 10 district jails of the state will get the equipment in a phased-manner. Official sources said there were several instances when authorities recovered mobile phones, SIM cards and even some weapons from jail inmates. “Mobile phones and SIM cards were being smuggled inside the jails, in connivance with the jail officials. For instance, the authorities had recovered mobile phones and SIM cards from militants languishing in the Central Jail, Srinagar, last year and in 2006,” sources added. Similarly, the involvement of jail officials had also surfaced in the Central Jail, Kot Bhalwal, where the criminal-turned-businessman of Jammu, Nagar Singh, had allegedly hatched a conspiracy to eliminate key witnesses in the high profile Amandeep murder case through the illegal use of mobile phone. The then Jail Superintendent, Mirza Salim Beig, was arrested last year for his alleged involvement in the conspiracy. “We have started the process of installation of the new equipment, including full body X-ray scanners, SIM card detectors and mobile phone jammers to stop the illegal use of mobile phones inside the jails. Visitors will have to pass through full body X-ray scanners so that the entry of unwanted material inside the jail is stopped,” Director General Prisons, Jammu and Kashmir, Naveen Aggarwal, told The Tribune. The Director General said the jail officials would also be scanned prior to their duty hours to keep a check on any kind of wrongdoing. “So far our employees (police personnel) are being thoroughly frisked prior to their entry into the jail. The installation of the new equipment will ensure transparency and plug all loopholes,” Aggarwal maintained. He also disclosed that the state Prison Department had created separate barracks for hard core criminals and fresh prisoners. “Hard core criminals, including militants and young and fresh prisoners are being kept separately so that the latter, who are languishing in the jails for petty crimes, don’t get involved in serious crimes,” the Director General said. |
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Human Rights Commission
Jammu, February 15 For the past over three months, the “autonomous” human rights panel remains headless, as the government has not been able to find its new chairperson. The chair fell vacant after the incumbent completed his tenure in October last year, sources in the JKSHRC say. “Since the inception of the Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission in 1997, we have constantly been receiving complaints of human rights violations, including those of custodial deaths and disappearances, but in the absence of a chairperson, hearings in such cases cannot be initiated,” they say. Last year, the commission received around Under the Jammu and Kashmir Protection of Human Rights Act, 1997, the commission must have a chairperson, a retired judge of the High Court, say sources. “After we establish a case of human rights abuse, the commission recommends it to the government to provide relief to the victims and their kin depending upon the nature of the abuse,” says an official. It has always been the prerogative of the government to act upon the recommendations of the commission, he adds. Following rampant complaints of human rights abuses during the 1990s, when militancy was at its peak, the state government had formed the commission to show to its “seriousness” in providing justice to the victims and their families. “But 14 years on, the JKSHRC remains on the life-support system,” he quips. An inordinate delay in finding a new chairman to the rights panel has added to the pendency of cases. Besides the chairperson, the Act provides for the appointment of four members to the commission, with one of them being a retired judge of the district and sessions court. Apart from atrocities by militants, security forces have also been facing allegations of human rights violations, particularly in the Valley and districts like Rajouri, Poonch, Doda and Udhampur of the Jammu region, in the past. |
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Police dept upgrading infrastructure: DGP
Jammu, February 15 He said several buildings, barracks and alternative accommodations had been constructed at various locations across the state to house the district Police Lines, battalion headquarters, sub-divisional offices, police stations, police posts and provide better residential accommodation to officers and personnel. The DGP, while inspecting the construction works in Samba and Kathua districts yesterday, said during the past five years, major infrastructure had been raised under the modernisation programme in all districts of the state and handed over to the units concerned to house their offices as well as residences. “In order to enhance the living and working facilities for the personnel, the department is utilising around Rs 148 crore on upgrading these facilities, which includes Rs 56 crore on raising the building infrastructure,” he said. Khoda also commissioned various infrastructures in the two districts, including the district police office, CID office and Upper Subordinate Quarters at Nad Samba and multi-storey buildings at Kathua, Changran and Vijaypur. The DGP also visited the Police Technical Training Institute (PTTI), Vijaypur, and enquired about the training activities and discussed the requirements with regard to enhancing infrastructure at the institute. |
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Panun Kashmir condemns attack on Israeli diplomats
Jammu, February 15 Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, president, Panun Kashmir, while condemning the act said, “The serial bombings have a set pattern, which has been followed by terrorist groups all these years. Over the years some countries have pursued terrorism as an instrument of the state policy. There is a need to declare these countries as ‘terror exporting nations’ with appropriate international sanctions against them.” Virender Raina, national spokesperson, said India had been at the razor’s edge of global terror and the response of the Central government had been inadequate. Pakistan is the fountain head of global terror network, but has managed to pose as a terror victim. —
TNS
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Omar bats for e-tendering in major departments
Jammu, February 15 The Chief Minister posted e-tenders of the three departments on their respective websites for execution. The Chief Minister, while appreciating the necessity of the e-tendering process, said in the present hi-tech era, it was the most transparent and fair way of making tenders public. Not just bidders but the general public too could access the tenders and know the procedures adopted for the same, he added. At a meeting, the Chief Minister was informed that e-tenders of the SMC, GMC, SDA, JDA-UEED LAWADA, Housing Corporation and Local Bodies would be posted on the website of the Housing Department. In the Police Department, tenders for the procurement of various equipment and execution of various works would be posted on the website. The Power Development Corporation would set up a hub at the offices of each Chief Engineer to collect such tenders. Under the system, bids will be invited on the Net and the awards for the execution of works will be made online. All necessary steps had been taken by the Information Technology Department to ensure the safety of the e-tendering process. Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, who holds the portfolio of Housing and Urban Development, Minister of State for Home, Housing and PHE Nasir Aslam Wani, Principal Secretary, Home, BR Sharma, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister VV Vyas, Director General of Police Kuldeep Khoda, Principal Secretary, Power, Sudanshu Pandey and ADG K Rajindra were also present. |
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Protests by NYC volunteers
Jammu, February 15 Udhampur: NYC volunteers organised a protest rally in support of their demands today. Led by district president, NYC Association, Udhampur, Asif Ali, volunteers from all six block of the district held a rally from the Mini Stadium to the Deputy Commissioner Office Complex here. The protesters later submitted a memorandum of their demands to Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, PK Pole, seeking extension of services, enhancement of honorarium up to Rs 6,000 and timely release of their emolument. |
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Science lessons need to be
modernised: V-C
Jammu, February 15 He said this while delivering the inaugural remarks during the commencement of a three week refresher course in life sciences organised by Academic Staff College, JU. “In India, science teaching needs to be modernised. We try to teach everything to the students and leave very little for them to discover. Teachers can create inquisitiveness in their students,” said Prof Isher. He said teachers should be available all the time to the students for telling them the basics about the subject and clear their doubts, but should leave a wide scope for discussions. Isher said, “In your teaching methodologies you should adopt discussion modes to the optimum. It will surely help the students in developing a better understanding of the subject when they enter into a series of discussions.” He added, “With your teachings the students should start developing a liking for the subject and scoring good marks or clearing the exams should not be the only focus.” The V-C further said there was no dearth of knowledge and information resources in the contemporary world. If a student is given enough scope to explore, he or she could look at the unexplored areas of studies. Stressing the importance of refresher course and Academic Staff Colleges, he said, “Such courses and departments are meant to keep teachers updated with the latest trends in teaching methodologies. Now with the inclusion of the grading system, assignments and assessments, more Ranjeet Kalra, Assistant Director, Academic Staff College, told The Tribune, “About 25 participants from across the country have registered in the refresher course. We have been constantly organising such courses and
workshops and this is the third one.” Kalra said, “We make committees of the participants. They feel involved into the course, which gives them ample scope to learn, interact
and explore.” Those who were also present on the occasion included Prof Geeta Sumbali, Head, Department of Botany, Prof Neelam Saraf, Director, Academic Staff College, and Prof Anima Langer, Dean, Faculty of Life Sciences. |
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Rs 6 cr for medicare, other facilities at Jagti: Bhalla
Jammu, February 15 The government has also approved Rs 50 lakh for the construction of a stadium in the township, adding that the project is under progress and would be completed by May this year. Bhalla said the government had earmarked Rs 1 crore for the construction of an auditorium in the colony, besides Rs 1.5 crore for the establishment of an old age home with a capacity for 50 persons. The minister said this while addressing a meeting of officials at the Civil Secretariat here. The minister asked the school education authorities to provide library and laboratory facilities to the students of the community at Government Middle School and Government Higher Secondary School at Jagti. Regarding the posting of teaching and non-teaching staff, Bhalla asked the authorities concerned to post the staff from the recently closed Mishriwala Migrant School to those schools where the staff was less. —
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Volunteers of the National Youth Corps today staged a sit-in outside the Press Club, demanding regularisation of job and conversion of honorarium into salaries.
The volunteers, led by Mukesh Sharma, said: “Most of us are sole breadwinners of our families. We are not getting the honorarium regularly.
Jammu, February 15
Jammu, February 15
An official of the Disaster Management Cell said the Jammu-Srinagar national highway was opened to clear the stranded vehicles on Tuesday night.