The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Police recruits clash after India-Pak cricket match Two recruits injured; 3 instructors suspended for misconduct Arteev Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, March 19 Police Training School (PTS) in Kathua turned into a battlefield late last night when two groups of fresh recruits -- one hailing from the Kashmir valley and another from Jammu -- were engaged in a violent clash after India registered a win over Pakistan in a one-day international cricket match in Bangladesh. Two recruits received injuries in the scuffle. Taking cognisance of the “complete mishandling” of the situation, the training academy today suspended three trainers (instructors) and ordered departmental action against them. Top police officers, who rushed to the academy this morning, also organised a “darbar” for new recruits to restore normalcy there. Several right-wing organisations and the Bar Association, Kathua, however, staged demonstrations in the town to protest against the incident and demanded arrest of all those recruits who had “objected to the celebrations” of the Indian team’s victory over Pakistan. Lawyers also suspended work for the whole day. Sources told The Tribune that the trouble erupted around 9.45 pm when recruits from the Kashmir valley — some of whom were former stone-throwers — objected to the celebrations of the Indian team’s victory by Jammu-based recruits. “A verbal spat turned into a scuffle and then led to stone-throwing. Recruits putting up in other barracks intervened and this worsened the situation,” sources said, adding that a drunk constable even beat up some recruits with a lathi. An official spokesperson, however, said the incident had nothing to do with the cricket match and it took place after two recruits, identified as Imran Habib from Srinagar and Shabir Hussain of Poonch, got into an argument over switching off the barrack lights. “A verbal duel led to a scuffle between these two recruits. Meanwhile, other trainees putting up in the barracks also intervened which worsened the situation. During the scuffle some of the recruits received minor injuries,” the spokesperson said. The spokesperson said, “The fight had nothing to do with the cricket match played yesterday, and it was also being falsely projected as a fight between the Jammu recruits and the Kashmir recruits.” The Deputy Commissioner, Kathua, Zahida Parveen Khan, the SSP, J L Sharma, and the PTS Principal had tried to pacify the recruits last night. A team of senior police officers, including the IGP, Jammu, Dilbagh Singh, visited the PTS in the morning and organised a darbar. On the complaints of recruits, three instructors identified as constable Parshotam Singh, selection grade constable Muneer Hussain and constable Romal Singh were suspended for “misconduct and consuming alcohol” and departmental action was ordered against them.
	Govt must explain anti-India slogans by cops: BJP Tribune News Service Jammu, March 19 Taking strong exception to the anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans shouted by some policemen in the police academy in Kathua, chief spokesman of the state BJP Jitendra Singh has said that the NC-Congress coalition government owed an explanation not only to the people of the state but to the whole nation. Weren’t the anti-India slogans by policemen a violation of the service code of conduct and a serious act of sacrilege, he asked. He also suggested that the state government should revise its policy of recruiting former stone-throwers in police service without proper verification or else this could end up as a serious security risk. In a statement issued here, Singh said the situation was the consequence of a long rope given by the UPA government to the NC-led government. The NC was flouting all norms to appease the Kashmir separatist elements.
	Pak violates ceasefire in Rajouri Ravi Krishnan Khajuria/TNS Jammu, March 19 After a lull, Pakistan violated the mutually brokered ceasefire and targeted Indian forward posts by opening small arms and machine gun fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district late last night. The incident occurred in the Jhangar sector around 11.30 pm. “Yesterday around 11 pm eight to nine uniformed personnel of Pakistan Army were digging close to the LoC in the Jhangar sector of Rajouri district, in violation of ceasefire agreement between the two countries, which disallows construction of new defences within a radius of 500 metres of the LoC,” a senior Army officer told The Tribune. It has been learnt that Pak soldiers were digging a trench at a strategic place on the other side of the LoC, probably to provide cover fire to ultras during intrusion bids. Consequently, our troops manning the border challenged Pak troopers, but they fled to the Pakistan side, he added. However, after 15 minutes around 11.45 pm the Pakistan Army opened unprovoked fire at Indian posts from at least four of their posts with small arms and machine guns, compelling us to give them an appropriate response, said the officer. Indian troops guarding the border immediately took positions and fired back, he said, adding that there was no loss of life or damage to property in the firing incident. He said the exchange of fire lasted for an hour. Around 4 am our troops noticed three persons in the same area. They had crossed the LoC and had entered into our territory near the fence. Their movement had been detected with the help of surveillance devices, said the officer. Alert troops challenged the three persons, who opened fire on them, compelling the soldiers to retaliate. The exchange of fire continued for seven minutes before the trio vanished into bushes. This morning the Army launched a search operation in the area, but found nothing. The suspected ultras might have fled to Pakistan, he said. The officer added that a protest of ceasefire violation was being lodged with Pakistan Army via the hotline. The LoC had been dormant so far this year and this ceasefire violation has happened after a long time, he said.
	Chattisinghpora Massacre Govt permission must to prosecute Army personnel, SC told R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent New Delhi, March 19 The Centre today maintained in the Supreme Court that government permission was required under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) to prosecute Army personnel facing charges of fake encounters. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Haren Raval gave this information to a Bench comprising Justices BS Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar during the hearing of a case relating to an encounter in which seven persons were killed in Chattisinghpora, Jammu and Kashmir, by Army personnel in 2000. At the last hearing, the Bench had made the Centre a party to the case and wanted to know as to whether sanction was required under the AFSPA to court martial the accused. The Bench had issued notices to the Home and Defence ministries, seeking their views on the issue. Today, the Bench asked the ASG as to which authority was competent to grant sanction for the prosecution of the Army personnel allegedly involved in the Chattisinghpora incident. The Bench posted further hearing in the case for March 26 as the ASG said he would argue both on the need for sanction and the competent authority. The government has already taken a stand that sanction was necessary to proceed against the Army personnel even under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) or under the Army Act as the area fell under the disturbed category and the AFSPA was in force. The Bench had, however, expressed the opinion that chaos would prevail in the Army if it had to get government sanction even for holding court martial proceedings against its personnel. The CBI had approached the Supreme Court seeking vacation of its stay on the trial in the case in a Jammu and Kashmir court. The Army action had followed the killing of 36 civilians by militants in Chattisinghpora.
	Pandemonium in Assembly over West Pak refugees’ issue Dinesh Manhotra Tribune News Service Jammu, March 19 Opposition parties except the PDP today staged a walkout after creating an uproar in the House over the inhumane approach being adopted by the government towards West Pakistan refugees. As soon as the House assembled this morning, BJP Legislature Party leader Jugal Kishore Sharma raised the issue and drew attention of the government towards “Delhi chalo” march started by the refugees on Sunday. “A large number of refugees are on their way to Delhi to gherao Parliament,” he said and asked the government that why was it not granting the refugees citizenship rights. As Sharma was highlighting the plight of the refugees, his party colleagues began shouting slogans against the government. Panthers Party members also joined the BJP MLAs and demanded that citizenship rights should be given to West Pakistan refugees. The lone Jammu State Morcha (JSM) member, Ashwani Kumar, also joined the agitating members. All opposition members except those of the PDP resorted to slogan-shouting. The members sought a reply from the government as they alleged that the government was mum on the issue of the fate of the refugees and failure of the government to address their grievances. Both factions of the BJP in the Assembly jointly took up the issue in the House. “This is a glaring example of human rights violation. Those claiming to be champions of the cause of human rights have maintained a criminal silence on the issue,” shouted Ashwani Sharma and regretted that except mere promises nothing had been done to solve the problems of the refugees. Jugal Kishore Sharma, who had accompanied the refugees’ Delhi chalo march up to Pathankot from Jammu on Sunday, said these “stateless people” were left with no option but to the gherao Parliament to draw the attention of the country to their plight. Opposition members repeatedly asked the government to give a reply on the issue but there was no reaction from the government. However, Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone intervened and said that government was looking into the matter.
	Legislators grill Dy CM for discrepancies in electoral rolls Arteev Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, March 19 Legislators of the opposition parties today cornered the Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand, who also holds the charge of the Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) Department for “discrepancies and irregularities” in the electoral rolls of local bodies in the twin capital cities of the state. The PDP also criticised the Deputy Chief Minister for overlapping of panchayat and urban local bodies’ limits. Participating in the general debate on the grants of the Housing and Urban Development Department in the Legislative Assembly, Leader of the Panthers Legislator Party Harsh Dev Singh took on the department for “committing gross irregularities” in the electoral rolls of both the capital cities. “Nearly 20 wards falling under the Jammu Municipal Corporation limits have shown equal population and equal number of households. The wards from 10 to 29 (excluding ward number 11) have equal number of households written as 1,238 and their population stood at 7,438. It is hard to believe these figures,” Harsh Dev said. Harsh Dev also presented some figures related to electoral rolls of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) and disclosed that there were 35,438 voters in ward number 28 having a total area of 0.5 sqkm. “It is astonishing that the total population of ward number 49 in the SMC limit was 2,857, but the number of voters was 5,059. It is impossible to digest these facts,” he said, adding that these lists seemed to be prepared within the four walls of a room. The ruling National Conference legislator, Bimla Luthra, also criticised the department for “faulty” electoral rolls. PDP legislator Javed Mustafa Mir took a dig at the functioning of the department and alleged that the panchayat elections were conducted in one ward of the Chadoora constituency without notifying the area. “The area comes under the Municipal Committee, but the Rural Development Department conducted panchayat elections in the ward,” he maintained. Deputy Speaker Sartaz Madni also supported the issue raised by the PDP legislator and said the same had happened in his constituency.
	Shikara owners protest proposed ferry service M Aamir Khan Srinagar, March 19 In a novel way of protest, houseboat owners of the Jhelum river took out a procession in their shikaras (boats) against the government’s decision to launch ferry service. Carrying placards and black flags, the protesters rowed their boats on the river along the Court Road against the ferry service that the government intends to launch in order to ease the traffic flow on the city roads. “More than 150 families earn their livelihood through these houseboats on the Jhelum. Once the ferry service will begin, we will be left with nothing,” said a protester, Ghulam Qadir, who owns a houseboat on the Jhelum. The protesters demanded that their houseboats should be shifted to the Dal or Nigeen lakes, which also house these “floating palaces” and attract many tourists who visit the summer capital. “We are not against the ferry service or against the beautification of the Jhelum but we demand proper rehabilitation,” Qadir added. The protesters also appealed to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to take steps to save the houseboats, which are a unique part of Kashmir’s culture. “If we are not rehabilitated properly, the houseboats may soon become history as the government is also deregistering damaged houseboats,” they added. The government intends to start a ferry service on the Jhelum from Pampore in Pulwama district to Chattabal Wier here in the city. Under the Rs 323-crore plan, the authorities will also develop bandhs on the Jhelum from Sonawar to Dubji Ghat while 12 terminal buildings will come up from Pampore to Chattabal.
	National Agriculture Insurance Scheme Number of beneficiaries comes down sharply Varun Suthra/TNS Jammu, March 19 Alleging that owing to the neglect of the Agriculture Department the number of beneficiaries under the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS) in Jammu division has almost reduced to half in 2010-11 as compared to the preceding year, Congress MLC Ravinder Kumar Sharma has asked the government to take suitable measures to reach the optimum target audience. He has sought details of the amount spent during the past three years in each district and number of farmers benefited since the inception of the NAIS in the recent past. Minister for Medical Education RS Chib on behalf of Agriculture Minister said the NAIS scheme had been introduced in the state since 2002 and implemented from 2004-05 and its objectives were to provide insurance cover and financial support to farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crops as a result of natural calamities, pest attack and diseases. “The NAIS is aimed at encouraging the farmers to adopt progressive practices, high-value inputs and high technology in agriculture and to help stabilise farm incomes, particularly in disaster years,” he added. However, the details of the amount spent as premium subsidy and number of farmers benefited revealed that Rs 63,251 were spent in 2009-10 whereas Rs 36,556 were spent in 2010-11. Similarly, 4,347 farmers were beneficiaries in 2009-10 and the number was reduced to 2,442 in 2010-11. Pointing at the decline in the number of beneficiaries, Sharma asked, “Where are the government’s efforts if the number has been reduced to almost half. Figures prove that the scheme was not implemented in letter and spirit.” Chib replied that the government was not solely responsible. It also depended on the interest of the farmers as the number would apparently reduce if the farmers did not come forward to avail the scheme. Meanwhile, NC MLC Ajay Sadotra also joined the impromptu debate saying, “This is unfortunate that the government is not taking the issue seriously. I have reports that banks and insurance companies have been discouraging the practice as they could not draw much benefit from the schemes. I suggest that the government should make the schemes compulsory for the agencies.” Later, the minister assured the members that requisite measures would be taken. “We have some other schemes to help farming community and I assure on the floor of the House that the officials concerned would be directed to conduct various awareness campaigns for the target audience,” Chib said.
	Demand raised to empower panchayats Tribune News Service Jammu, March 19 A 19-member delegation of the Sarpanch and Panch Association, Mandi Block of Poonch district, called on Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhawan here today and presented to him a memorandum of demands. The demands presented to the Governor by the delegation led by Sayed Nissar Hussain Shah, president of the Association, included the speedy establishment of a three-tier Panchayati Raj system in the state, empowerment and strengthening of the Panchayati Raj institutions, ensuring greater involvement of sarpanches and panches in the formulation of development plans at the grass-roots level, urgent devolution of funds for carrying out development activities at the panchayat level and construction of Panchayat Ghars. Other demands included provision of honourarium to sarpanches and panches, effective implementation of MGNREGA by involving sarpanches and panches and installation of solar lights in the Mandi block of Poonch district. The Governor gave a patient hearing to the delegation and assured it that he will address Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats in this regard.
	Cloned pashmina goat Governor congratulates scientists Tribune News Service Jammu, March 19 Governor NN Vohra, who is the Chancellor of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), Kashmir, has congratulated Dr Riaz Ahmad Shah, Associate Professor, Animal Biotechnology, and his team of scientists at the university, for producing the world’s first cloned Pashmina goat.d Describing this as an extremely important achievement, the Governor, in a message to Dr Tej Partap, Vice-Chancellor of the University, observed that the new technology would have a vital role in the improvement of livestock productivity and make a major contribution towards a significant increase in the number of Pashmina goats in the state. This achievement, he added, has brought laurels to Dr Shah and his team and to the SKUAST-K, in the arena of biotechnology. The cloned Pashmina kid, delivered on March 9, has been named “Noori”, which means “the light” or “the light of hope and promise”. Dr Riaz is presently the principal investigator of the Pashmina Goat Cloning Project, which is being implemented at the Centre of Animal Biotechnology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Shuhama campus of the university.
	Steps to boost farm growth discussed Jammu, March 19 Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir called on Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhawan here this evening. During their meeting, the Governor and the Agriculture Minister discussed various important matters relating to the diversification of agriculture with a view to encourage cultivation of low volume high value crops, promotion of dairy and poultry farming, cultivation of vegetables and enhancing production and productivity of food grains and other crops. — TNS
	Sixth science camp VC talks about drug designing Jammu, March 19 Prof MP Singh Ishar, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jammu, today delivered a lecture at the sixth science camp organised by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, in collaboration with the postgraduate Department of Geology at Brigadier Rajinder Singh Auditorium, University of Jammu. Prof Ishar explained to aspiring students various aspects of pharmaceutical sciences, drug designing and drug development. Over 150 schoolchildren from the science stream participated in the camp. — TNS
	Jewellers hold stir against duty hike Our Correspondent Srinagar, March 19 Jewellers of the Kashmir valley staged a protest and extended their strike till March 22, demanding a rollback of the excise duty hike on gold and jewellery announced in the Budget. Under the banner of the All Kashmir Gold Dealers and Workers Association (AKGDWA), gold and jewellery shop owners took out a procession at the Hari Singh High Street area demanding a rollback of excise duty on gold and jewellery items. Association president Bashir Ahmad said jewellers were already facing many problems due to the increasing gold prices and the additional tax would affect their trade. Another protester said the hike in excise tax would hit their business in the coming days as the marriage season in the Valley usually starts by April-end. The AKGDWA extended their strike for three more days. The gold and jewellery shops in the city have been closed since Saturday last week.
	State to have two 200-bedded hospitals soon Tribune News Service Jammu, March 19 Minister of Medical Education RS Chib has said two new 200-bedded maternity hospitals, one each in Jammu and Srinagar, would come up soon. He informed the Assembly that the two hospitals would come up at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore each. He said Rs 10 crore for equipment and Rs 5 crore for each hospital has already been released. He also said that 200 beds had been added in paediatrics wing in the SMGS Hospital, Jammu, and 50 beds in emergency, thereby raising the bed strength to 1,975 from 1,725 in the associated hospitals. The minister said construction work on the 200-bedded Lal Daed hospital was going on full swing, adding that out of four storeys, work on the two storeys had been completed. He said the department would continue its focus on the development of infrastructure with a view to improving health services in the tertiary sector. On super specialty hospitals, he said a super specialty hospital in Jammu and an institute of traumatology at Srinagar were coming up at an estimated cost of Rs 135 crore, and would be commissioned soon.
	MK Dhar new Controller of Examinations Jammu, March 19 Professor Manoj K Dhar, Director, School for Biotechnology, University of Jammu (JU), has been given the charge as Controller of Examinations, JU. According to an official handout issued here today, Prof Dhar would hold the charge, in addition to his own duties, thereby relieving Prof GM Bhat from the additional charge of looking after the duties of the Controller of Examinations. — TNS
	Protest over lack of staff in school Car rams into protesters, 3 injured in Doda Udhampur, March 19 Three persons, including two students were injured when a car rammed into them near Dak Bungalow in Doda today. They were protesting against vacant posts of teachers in their school at Koti village. SP, Doda, Arif Rishu told The Tribune that the police arrested Shuja Khan, the owner of Khan Plaza, a prominent hotel in Doda in this regard. “We have arrested Shuja Khan and a case under Section 307 of the RPC has been registered against him,” said the SP. Protesters blocked the traffic to Doda city after the incident and relented only after the police arrested Khan. The injured have been admitted to District Hospital, Doda, where their condition is said to be stable. As per eyewitnesses, the incident took place when students, including girls and villagers were protesting against the lack of adequate staff in Government High School, Koti, near Dak Bungalow opposite the hotel. The hotel owner objected to their presence there and ran his car over the protesters when they refused to budge. Officials said the protesters had come to the office of the Chief Education Officer, Doda, near Dak Bungalow for redress of their grievance. The protest took an ugly turn after the incident. The eyewitnesses said the angry protesters damaged the car of Shuja Khan. The situation became normal after the arrest of the alleged accused, said the SP. — TNS
	Man dies after being electrocuted Katra, March 19 A middle-aged person died this afternoon after being electrocuted by a high-tension wire passing over the roof of his house. Sakhi Mohammad, 30, a resident of Bhaga village, had got on to the roof of his house to check the water tank. The high-tension wire was passing close to the water tank. When he opened the cover of the tank to check the water, he came in contact with the live high-tension wire. — OC