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Zero deficit budget caters for aam aadmi
House sees uproar,
series of walkouts
PDP MLC stages walkout alleging ‘nepotism’
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Missing Sikh engineer
SC, ST organisation holds protest
Woman, paramour held for husband’s murder
In 3 yrs, 444 cases against security forces
Disaster mgmt plan of Udhampur revised
PDP out to woo displaced Kashmiri Pandits
Anti-encroachment drive by Katra MC
Council Chairman meets Governor
Court denies bail in murder case
Azad announces community hall for Doda
Avalanche alert extended
VHP chief booked
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Zero deficit budget caters for aam aadmi
Although the Finance Minister has presented zero deficit budget, the Economy Survey Report presented by the government a few days ago in the Assembly had presented a gloomy economic condition of the state. The Economy Survey Report stated that the state government had to repay a debt of Rs 31,272 crore. In his 85-minute speech, Rather proposed total exemption of VAT on domestic cooking gas. “Housewives have been weary of rising prices and keep on complaining that their home budget is going out of hand. With a view to improving their home budget, I am inclined to transfer a part of their burden to my budget. Accordingly, I announce complete removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) from domestic cooking gas. I do hope that with this measure, not only will the budgetary deficit of their homes get somewhat mitigated, the pressure on our Power Development Department for more and more energy supply shall also get reduced,” the Finance Minister said. He announced two more sops for empowerment of women. “Under the Beti Anmol Scheme, the government has decided to provide incentives to girl students from BPL families who are seeking admissions to the 11th class. I further propose to fully exempt such girl students from making any contributions to the authorised Local Funds of government higher secondary schools. This measure shall provide them additional financial relief, varying between Rs 600 and Rs 900,” he stated and added that forms for competing in various examinations would also be provided free of cost to the girls belonging to BPL families. Rather announced that the tax concession to the industry would continue. “The tax concession to the industry costs nearly Rs 500 crore annually. I had announced extension of the benefit of this tax concession to the industry for one more year or till adoption of the proposed GST regime by our state, whichever happens earlier. The period of concession expires on March 31, 2012. On the aforementioned consideration which is still valid, I announce continuation of the existing concession to the industrial units for a further period of one year up to March 31, 2013, or till adoption of the new GST regime by our state, whichever happens earlier,” he stated. To encourage the information technology (IT) sector, the Finance Minister also proposed to wholly exempt computers, pen drives, CDs, memory cards, chips, headphones, computer cleaning kits, and electronic diaries from VAT. He announced that 13.5 per cent VAT would be exempted from stationery items like adhesives, gums, glues, adhesive solutions, gum pastes, resins, tapes, tags, markers, sealing wax, paper envelops, pencils, crayons, highlighters, erasers, sharpeners, pencil and takhti. He also announced that IT institutes, IT coaching centres and IT educational institutions would be exempted from tax. The Finance Minister proposed to remove all types of medical, diagnostic and curative services from the levy of tax under the J&K GST Act. In order to facilitate and encourage scientific research, he proposed to exempt scientific equipment and critical chemicals, used by the research and development institutes in the state from the levy of entry tax. While defending his decision to propose a hike in the prices of tobacco products and liquor, Rather said smoking and drinking were harmful and equally undesirable. He proposed to increase VAT from 13.5 per cent to 25 per cent on the sale of cigarettes and others tobacco products. He also announced an increase in toll on the import of raw tobacco from Rs 150 per quintal to Rs 250 per quintal. The GST tax on liquor would go up from 25 to 30 per cent. The Finance Minister also announced various incentives for tourism in the state.
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House sees uproar,
series of walkouts
Jammu, March 5 It all started during Question Hour when all Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legislators were on their feet after Minister for Tourism Nawang Rigzin Jora, on the behalf of the Power Minister, “failed” to convince the MLAs on their queries related to construction of new sub-stations in the Homeshali Bugh Assembly segment in Kashmir. The PDP legislator, Abdul Gaffar Sofi, who raised the query, wanted to know the “specific measures” taken to improve the high tension and low tension network and construction of new sub-stations in his constituency. Responding to the question, Jora said a scheme, “Matching share for the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) grant for HT/LT improvement”, had been undertaken in the state, wherein legislators contributed up to Rs. 8.50 lakh from the CDF grant and the government contributed three times the amount to the maximum of Rs 25.50 lakh as “matching share” for replacement of decayed poles. “Under the scheme Rs 76.50 lakh were provided to the Homeshali Bugh constituency as matching share against the CDF contribution of Rs 25.50 lakh released by the MLA concerned during the last two fiscals,” the minister said. The legislator, however, alleged that the government didn’t pay even a single penny. While the minister repeatedly tried to convince the legislator, all PDP MLAs were on their feet, causing an uproar in the House. As the agitating legislators didn’t get any “specific reply”, they walked out from the House to register their protest. Later, senior PDP MLA, Abdul Rehman Veeri, on the behalf of his party leader Mehbooba Mufti, raised a query about the present status of various beautification projects, including the Jhelum river project, development of Idgah and construction of seven flyovers. Veeri criticised the government for the “sluggish pace” of projects, alleging that the government had failed to carry forward the development projects initiated by former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. “It was the PDP that had brought the Prime Minister’s package and liberal Asian Development Bank funding for various projects. We had also initiated beautification projects, including sewerage and drainage works, for twin capital cities but this government has failed to carry forward these projects,” he alleged. Countering the PDP legislator’s statement, Minister for Law Ali Mohammad Sagar, on the behalf of the Minister for Roads and Building, claimed that Farooq Abdullah had started these projects when he was the Chief Minister of the state and it was the PDP that had halted these projects. He also asked the legislator to tender an apology for the “irresponsible” statement. Irked by the minister’s remarks, all PDP legislators created an uproar, alleging that he (Sagar) was “misleading” the House. Later, they walked out from the House. In yet another walkout, the BJP, Panthers Party and the Jammu State Morcha (JSM) legislators created a pandemonium and raised slogans against the Custodian Department, alleging that occupants of the department’s property were being harassed. They demanded disbanding of the department.
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Sports Appointments
Jammu, March 5 “The Minister for Sports is not replying to my supplementary query. Did you invite applications through advertisements to fill the vacancies? Also, explain the promotion of a number of employees without adhering to the norms,” asked Murtaza. He alleged that the authorities concerned had made many backdoor appointments and carried departmental promotions by flouting the prescribed norms. Earlier, he sought a reply to the employment of individuals in the sports council and the youth services department since January, 2009 under arrangements other than the Service Selection and Recruitment Board on an ad hoc, seasonal, casual or need basis. In his reply, the Minister for Sports, RS Chib, said: “No one except Ammek Ahmad Khan, hailing from Anantnag, was engaged on a need basis for 89 days since 2009 in the youth services and sports department. He was not granted any extension by the department after the expiry of his tenure.” He then tabled a list of temporary appointments made in the sports council, revealing that seven appointments were made on a probation basis, 11 on a contract basis, 15 on a need basis and three against consolidated salaries. On the grant of promotions to certain employees by according higher grades and superseding senior members, Chib said no such promotions were granted in the non-gazetted cadre. However, some senior members in the gazetted cadre were not considered for promotions due their failure to seek permission while pursuing higher eduction. “Neither did the employees going for higher education seek permission nor did they avail of adequate leave during the corresponding period,” the minister added. Irked at the reply, Murtaza asked for details of the criteria followed by department. “Are you admitting that some of the cases in the gazetted cadre were not considered? If so, elucidate the criteria adopted. Under what rules were they debarred from getting departmental promotions?” he said. When the minister failed to furnish a reply, Murtaza staged a walkout, alleging that the government was maintaining a deliberate silence over a serious issue. He later told The Tribune that the government had skirted the main issue and that he would take the issue to the State Accountability Commission. |
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Police announces cash reward Our Correspondent Srinagar, March 5 Executive engineer Jagdeep Singh Bali had left his residence in the Magarmal Bagh area of the city on February 18 and had been untraceable ever since. After appeals from various quarters, the police today announced a cash reward of Rs 10,000 for any information that could lead to the recovery of the 57-year-old missing engineer. A police official said search parties had been deputed in all districts of the Valley as well as outside the state and that they were making all efforts to trace Bali. “A special police team has also been constituted and has been visiting places like gurdwaras, hospitals, bus stands and railway stations both in the Valley as well as outside. The police is also working in close coordination with the missing person’s family,” the police official said. The All-Parties Sikh Coordination Committee chairman, Jagmohan Singh Raina, has welcomed the police initiative, saying: “Even though the police has initiated action two weeks after he went missing, the announcement of a cash reward is a welcome move. We hope the missing person is located at the earliest.”
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Panthers Party seeks delimitation panel
Jammu, March 5 Addressing a gathering at Talab Tillo after leading a cycle rally, organised to promote the “reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir”, Mankotia said the Jammu region had been facing discrimination at the hands of successive governments for over 60 years. The only way to empower the masses of the Jammu region was to reorganise the state and delimit the
constituencies. Mankotia said people had been suffering due to the apathy of successive governments and it was high time that a delimitation commission was set up to remove the anomalies in the electoral process. He said such rallies would continue till the people of Jammu got their due share in all fields. He also appealed to the people to lend support to party candidates in the forthcoming municipal elections. He also regretted the fact that out of the 16 new municipalities announced, only four were for the Jammu region, while 12 were announced for the Kashmir region. He said these were some of the brazen instances of discrimination against the Jammu region. To end discrimination against the Jammu region, the reorganisation of the state was the only way out, he said.
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SC, ST organisation holds protest
Jammu, March 5 Thousands of members from all district units of the confederation participated in the rally that was held at the Exhibition Ground here. In addition to the members and leaders of the confederation, social and religious leaders also participated in the rally. They expressed their anguish over the discriminatory attitude of the government. The members of the organisation demanded 27 per cent reservation for the
OBCs, as recommended by the Mandal Commission report. RK Kalsotra, president of the state unit of the
organisation, instructed the cadre to remain ready for the big fight and directed that all members of the organisation should demand their rights. —
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Woman, paramour held for husband’s murder
Jammu, March 5 The police said the estranged wife with her paramour’s help committed the murder by suffocating the victim with a pillow. The deceased had solemnised a love
marriae with the woman seven years ago. The accused tried to mislead the police by dumping the deceased’s body on the
Jammu-Pathankot national highway to pass it off as a case of natural death or road mishap. The accused were identified as Surekha Devi and Dhan
Raj, alias Vicky, residents of Nud, Samba. The police said it had recovered a man’s body on the national highway on February 7. Sunil Singh’s body was found lying near an SRTC truck but it didn’t bear any injury marks. “A pair of shoes and a mobile phone were found nearby. The police started its investigation under Section 174,
CrPC, at the Vijaypur police station to ascertain the cause of death. The autopsy report suggested that the deceased had died due to internal injuries and external pressure on the chest,” the police said. As there was no apparent injury mark on the body, the investigators ruled out the possibility of dead due to road accident or assault. “An in-depth inquiry revealed that the victim had a verbal duel with his wife,
Surekha, on February 6. Nobody saw him alive thereafter,” the police said. The deceased, before joining the
SRTC, was running two shops at Nud, Samba, on a rental basis. “One of the shops was being looked after by his servant, Dhan
Raj, and the other by his wife. His wife and the servant had developed illicit relations, which led to strained relations between the couple,” the police said. After the altercation, Surekha called her paramour to her house. The two committed the murder by pinning the victim
down and suffocating him with a pillow. They also pounded the victim’s chest repeatedly. The deceased died on the spot and the two dumped the body on the national highway. |
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In 3 yrs, 444 cases against security forces
Jammu, March 5 In a reply to a question asked by the Langate MLA, Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who holds the charge of the Home Department, informed the Legislative Assembly that 140 FIRs were registered against security force personnel at various police stations in the Kashmir valley, while the number stood at 304 in the Jammu region. “Of these, 298 cases, including 68 in Kashmir and 230 in Jammu, were taken up in different courts of the state, while 98 cases were still under investigation,” the Chief Minister said. Giving district-wise details, he said 98 FIRs were registered in Jammu, while the number of cases against the police and security force personnel in Doda district during the past three years stood at 88. The highest number of FIRs in the Kashmir valley was registered in Srinagar district, where 36 personnel of the security forces and the state police were booked at various police stations during the three years. Of the 140 FIRs in Kashmir, five were of accidental nature. In the Ladakh region, nine FIRs, including five in Leh and four in Kargil, were registered against security personnel in the past three years. All FIRs had been registered since January 2009, when the National Conference-Congress coalition headed by Omar Abdullah came to power. Omar had been pitching for the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) that provides immunity to security forces fighting militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. |
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Disaster mgmt plan of Udhampur revised
Udhampur, March 5 The District Development Commissioner (DDC), Udhampur, PK Pole, who is also the chairman of the DDMA while reviewing the plan for Udhampur district in a meeting convened here recently constituted different committees by involving officials at the district and tehsil levels, in compliance with the disaster management rules framed by the state government. Being a hill district, several disaster-prone points have already been identified in Udhampur, especially along the national highway, where mainly landslides may occur. Flash floods in case of heavy rainfall cannot be ruled out. A recent heavy snowfall badly affected the power supply in remote areas, throwing life out of gear. Pole told The Tribune that a comprehensive management plan had been chalked out for the identification and description of tasks for the personnel concerned in case of tackling disasters “We have tried to dovetail this plan with other disaster-related plans, which are prepared by other agencies like the District Red Cross Society and Civil Defence Organisation,” added Pole.The plan prepared by the Civil Defence Organisation, Udhampur, was also discussed during the meeting. The Deputy Controller, Civil Defence, apprised the DDC that a series of training camps were being organised. —
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PDP out to woo displaced Kashmiri Pandits
Jammu, March 5 PDP patron and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed yesterday tried to strike an emotional chord with the Kashmiri Pandits living in Jammu and other parts of the country after migration since 1990. Addressing a meeting of prominent citizens in the Gole Gujral area on the outskirts of Jammu,
Mufti recalled his association with the Kashmiri Pandits and asserted that
only the PDP had the visionary policies to create an atmosphere of honourable return of the displaced community. Mufti said during his tenure, he had renovated the famous Khir Bhawani temple and initiated steps to improve the conditions of the displaced families living in various camps at Jammu. Without naming any political party, Mufti said some forces had created misunderstandings by launching malicious campaign against the PDP. “Our agenda is to address the aspirations of all sections of society,” he said, claiming that steps taken during the three-year tenure of the PDP were proof enough of the steps taken to fulfil the aspirations of all sections of society. “Mufti’s political life is like an open book,” he said. He said the policies and programmes of his party were formulated by accommodating the wishes and aspirations of all sections of society. “Our politics is not about attaining power alone,” he said. Reiterating that dialogue was the only way to solve all problems, he said the peace process initiated by his government was an irreversible process and the road map conceived by his party was the only way to establish sustainable peace in the subcontinent. He said the present regime had failed to keep its promises and the people were looking at the PDP as an alternative to have their aspirations fulfilled. |
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Anti-encroachment drive by Katra MC
Katra, March 4 The drive was carried out on Raesi Deputy Commissioner Sheetal Nanda’s instructions. The anti-encroachment drive was launched in the main bazaar, lower bus stand, upper bazaar and Udhampur-Banganga road areas. —
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Council Chairman meets Governor
Jammu, March 5 The two discussed issues relating to the socio-economic advancements in the state. This was Malhotra’s first meeting with the Governor after being elected the Chairman of Legislative Council recently. The Governor wished him success in the discharge of his responsibilities. Also, Dr Tej Partap, Vice-Chancellor, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir, called on the Governor at Raj Bhavan today. They reviewed the progress of various measures being taken by the university for the advancement of modern practices in agriculture and its allied sectors in the Kashmir and Ladakh regions, particularly in the rain-fed areas. Dr Partap also briefed the Governor, who is the Chancellor of the university, about the status of various ongoing research projects and the new species of plant materials developed and released by the university in the recent past. Meanwhile, Dr Mehboob Beg, Member of Parliament, met Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhavan here today. During the meeting,
Dr Beg discussed with the Governor issues relating to the efficient and timely implementation of various development and welfare schemes. Investiture
ceremony today Governor NN Vohra will present President’s Police Medals at an investiture ceremony at Raj Bhawan here tomorrow. The ceremony will also be attended by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and DGP Kuldeep Khoda. |
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Court denies bail in murder case
Jammu, March 5 Choudhary Rakesh Singh had claimed that he had been falsely implicated under Sections 409 and 120-B, Ranbir Panel Code.
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Azad announces community hall for Doda
Udhampur, March 5 The Deputy Commissioner of Doda, Farooq Ahmed Khan, told The Tribune over the phone that he had been asked to identify a suitable piece of land for the purpose. “A project report will be prepared thereafter and formalities for funding and construction will follow. I have instructed the officials concerned to start the exercise,” Khan said. The Doda MLA, Abdul Majid Wani, thanked the minister, who hails from Doda district, for announcing a community hall with all modern facilities. Doda currently has an old town hall that does not have any scope for expansion to meet the growing needs of the area residents. “Preference will be given to hosting conferences, conventions and other interactions, requiring the presence of people from outside, in the hall. It can otherwise be used for organising public functions like marriages,” said Wani. Though the details of the project are yet to be worked out, it is estimated to cost around Rs 3 crore. A minimum area of 2 kanal is required for the purpose and can be increased further, depending on the availability. Bhadarwah town, 30 km from Doda and Azad’s home constituency, has a multipurpose hall on the premises of Government Degree College. |
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Amidst hullabaloo and exchange of heated arguments, the Lower House today witnessed a series of walkouts on separate issues.
Katra, March 4
Jammu, March 5
Announcing benefits for the farming community, the Finance Minister announced exemption of all types of VAT on chemical fertilisers. “Chemical fertilisers, bio-fertilisers and micro-nutrients are extensively used for improving farm productivity. As a sequel to the earlier tax concessions, announced by me for my brothers engaged in agriculture, I propose to fully exempt all types of chemical fertilisers, bio-fertilisers and micro-nutrients from the levy of VAT.” He also announced that VAT would be exempted from all types of fungicides. Food grains would continue to be exempted from VAT, he added. 