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Two escaped Huji militants caught from Doda forests
Army Chief finds support in Northern Army Commander
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IAF airlifts 103 passengers
BJP urges Speaker to accept split in party
Learn moral values, MLAs advised
Bring Valley on railway map: Soz
Government fails to check adulteration of milk
Tulip treat beckons tourists
Heated exchange between Speaker, Tourism Minister
Doda residents demand reconstruction of nullah
Omar optimistic about gradual revocation of AFSPA
World Wildlife Fund to provide aid to victims: Minister
Assembly passes Appropriation Bill
Arms, ammunition recovered in Rajouri
School timings changed
3 lakh pvt properties unoccupied in J-K
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Two escaped Huji militants caught from Doda forests
Udhampur, March 29 Four police personnel of the escort party, which was bringing the militants back to Udhampur jail after their appearance in the court at Kishtwar, were arrested on the charges of entering into a criminal conspiracy with the militants leading to their escape. “The two militants identified as Mohammad Abdullah, alias Sher Khan, of Sigadi Bhata village in Kishtwar district and Abdullan, alias Jamil, of Kanser village in Reasi district were arrested from the remote and dense Ansi Top forest area in Doda district about 5.30 pm. Both will be handed over to the Ramban district police for further investigation,” Doda SP Arif Rishu told The Tribune over phone. The daring escape staged by dodging the police escort party had sent the top brass of the state police into a tizzy. A massive manhunt had been launched in the area to catch them since their escape about 8 pm yesterday. The police had also flashed their photographs with other details and issued an appeal to the general public for providing information on them. “It was a meticulously planned joint operation under which CRPF and police personnel of Ramban and Doda district tracked the movement of both militants. Getting the information that both were looking for food, a police party in civvies posed as villagers and apprehended them,” added Ramban SP, Anil Magotra. Both were surrendered militants and had remained active in the Chatroo area of Kishtwar district. They got off from the police vehicle on the pretext of answering the call of nature between Batote and Patnitop on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway and escaped in the cover of darkness. A total of 11 undertrials were being taken back to Udhampur in the custody of 25 police personnel from Kishtwar. Sources said the laxity on part of the escorting police personnel was inexplicable because both militants were dreaded ones and kept in the most secure ward of the jail at Udhampur. This was conveyed to the police party which escorted them for the court appearance. Sher Khan has two cases pending in the court of the District and Sessions Judge, Kishtwar. He was earlier acquitted in three cases and given bail in one case. He was involved in the attack on an Army Colonel. His associate Jamil has three pending cases. He was brought to Udhampur jail in 2011 from the district jail in Amphalla, Jammu. Both were such a terror that residents of the area had publicly rejoiced when they had surrendered. |
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Army Chief finds support in Northern Army Commander
Jammu, March 29 When asked whether the Army was fully prepared to defend Jammu and Kashmir, which shares its borders with Pakistan and China, the Army Commander said, “The Northern Command is fully prepared to deal with any situation. However, whatever is being reported in the media (about Army lacking ammunition and essential equipment) is based on facts. That is why it is being talked about,” he added. He, however, refused to comment on the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Jammu and Kashmir saying that he had already made his stand clear on the issue. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had, yesterday, on the floor of the Lower House, said in the current year of 2012, the AFSPA might go away from peaceful areas of the state. |
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BJP urges Speaker to accept split in party
Addressing a press conference, state president of the BJP Shamsher Singh Manhas said the BJP had only four MLAs, namely Jugal Kishore, Ashok Khajuria, Sukhnandan Kumar and Sham Choudhary, in the House. He said once the party had conveyed to the Speaker its decision regarding disqualification of seven MLAs, he should accord recognition to the remaining four MLAs as BJP representatives. Manhas said the logic of status quo put forward by the Speaker was also misinterpreted because the status quo order was passed only after disqualification had been announced and hence it did not mean reversal of the existing position. Manhas expressed surprise that the MLA recognised by Speaker as Leader of the BJP Legislature Party was expelled from the party for six years by the high command on May 31, 2011. Manhas accused the NC-Congress coalition of conspiracy leading to the cross-voting by BJP MLAs during last year’s election to the Council and the present state of confusion on the issue.
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Learn moral values, MLAs advised
Jammu, March 29 While expecting absolute observance of Ethical Code of Conduct from the members, the committee laid stress on improving the image of politicians as some of them were implicated or involved in corruption charges which had tarnished their image in society. The purpose of constituting the Ethics Committee is to oversee the moral and ethical conduct of the members of the Assembly. Taking initiative to improve the image of the politicians, the Ethics Committees, in its report tabled today in the Assembly, stated that since the legislature was an important pillar of the system, it was the duty of every legislator to show transparency in his or her working. Asking the members to develop moral values, the committee suggested election reforms to check criminalisation of politics and the need to have the information on the assets of legislators put on a website for the general public. “It is the responsibility of political parties to prevent persons with criminal record from entering politics and it also falls upon the parties to monitor the conduct of their members,” the committee suggested and added that concrete measures should be taken to minimise the role of money in elections. The Ethics Committee of the Assembly comprises 13 members from different political parties. |
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Bring Valley on railway map: Soz
Srinagar, March 29 Making a statement in the Rajya Sabha today, Soz lamented that the commitment made by the Centre a decade ago could not be fulfilled, as the development of the rail line from Udhampur to the Kashmir valley could not take place. — TNS
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Government fails to check adulteration of milk
Jammu, March 29 Legislative Council members today grilled the government over the issue of unchecked milk adulteration in the state. PDP MLC Mohammad Ashraf Mir had sought the details of mechanism to check the quality of milk products produced and distributed by different industrial units and the periodicity of such checks with details of action taken against defaulters. Minister of State for Urban Development Nasir Aslam Wani replied that during 2011-12, 22 samples of various milk producers and suppliers had been lifted and checked by the Jammu Municipal Corporation, out of which three samples were reported to be adulterated or substandard. Similarly, 19 samples were lifted and checked by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, out of which six samples were reported substandard. On receipt of the report of public analysts, legal proceedings against defaulters, as per the relevant provision of the law had been initiated, the Minister added. Not satisfied with the reply, Mir retorted that the government was not serious over the issue and the authorities concerned had not taken desired initiatives. He said, “The government should blacklist defaulters and also initiate action against officials, who are involved in such criminal and abusive acts.” PDP MLC Murtaza Ahmed Khan also asked the government to specify the periodicity of lifting samples for monitoring. “Your reply does not specify the frequency of samples lifted and the action taken against defaulters in the past one year,” Khan added. Congress MLC BR Kundal said the government should also check how many milk-producing units had installed quality check machines, which was mandatory for establishing any such unit. Bashir Ahmed Veeri, Sheikh Ghulam Rasool, Bashir Ahmed Magray, Khalid Najeeb Suharwardhy, Ghulam Qadir Pardesi and Naresh Kumar Gupta also raised the issue. Syed Mohammad Rafiq Shah staged a walkout from the House on the issue. Later, to pacify the members, chairman of the Legislative Council Amrit Malhotra assured the legislators that he would examine the issue and bring his resolve on Friday. |
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Tulip treat beckons tourists
Srinagar, March 29
The garden was inaugurated by UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on this day in 2008. Spread over 35 hectares and five terraces with different colours of tulips, the garden is looked after by the Department of Floriculture. In all 10 lakh tulips are expected to bloom over the next few weeks. “Ours is a tourist state where the development and growth of tourism has a direct bearing on the economy”, the Chief Minister said, adding that one successful year of tourism last year gave a boost to economic growth in the Valley. He said the colourful tulip beds and the beautiful Zabarvan mountain range overlooking the garden and the world famous Dal Lake at its base mesmerises tourists and marks the arrival of spring in the Valley. The garden this year has been opened a week earlier so that tourists present here could visit it, he added. The Chief Minister said peace was imperative for productive and successful tourism and “all of us have to contribute positively towards maintaining peace”. “Tourists want to relish and enjoy the beautiful places in the Valley and stay here in a tranquil atmosphere. We have to provide them a suitable and calm atmosphere so that they can extend their stay,” the Chief Minister said. The arrival of over 13 lakh tourists to the Valley last year has revived the glory of the tourism sector, he said. “Our efforts this year should be to rope in more visitors from the country and abroad. Germany has already withdrawn the advisory regarding travelling to the Valley,” he said, expressing the hope that other countries would follow the suit. Minister for Floriculture Sham Lal Sharma, Minister of State for Roads and Buildings Javid Ahmad Dar, senior officers, domestic and local tourists and schoolchildren were also present. Director, Floriculture, Sunil Misri said more than 3.20 lakh tulip bulbs of eight new varieties had been sown in the garden this year.
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Heated exchange between Speaker, Tourism Minister
Jammu, March 29 Some PDP, BJP and ousted BJP MLAs requested Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone to club their questions, pertaining to the Power Department, with the question of MLA Ramban. The Minister, however, said it would be difficult to make a suitable reply to all the clubbed questions and requested the Speaker to allow him to make a reply on a serial number basis. Reacting to the assertion of the Minister, the Speaker said he (Jora) was supposed to have the replies of all the questions listed in the business of the day and it was his prerogative whether to club the questions. “I am not going to defend any minister. I am the custodian of the entire House,” he remarked. It invited sharp reaction from the Minister, who said, “Who is refusing to give an answer? I am not asking you to defend me.” The Speaker shot back and said, “Don’t get angry. Don’t shout. I am not going to defend any minister.” Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Sagar intervened and pacified the Minister, restoring order in the House. |
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Doda residents demand reconstruction of nullah
Udhampur, March 29 The nullah originating from the water filtration plant in the city passes through the populated Mohalla Sah and is full of garbage as no effort has been made to clean it. The residents of the area have complained of inconvenience, especially for children and old people, while crossing it. Former municipal councillor of Doda Imtiyaz Ahmed Zargar alleged that the garbage collected over the years has made it virtually impossible to identify the road which has been totally submerged in
the nullah. “It has become hazardous for commuters to cross it. The seepage during heavy rains
has affected boundary walls of nearby houses,” said Zargar. The residents also alleged that the garbage gets blocked by the water supply pipes laid by Public Health Engineering Department across the nullah. Since the nullah was constructed several years ago, it needs to be reconstructed as per the present-day requirements of the area,” asserted Zargar. Another resident Ghulam Hassan Pampori alleged that they had told
the administration about the poor civic condition but no action had been taken so far. |
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Omar optimistic about gradual revocation of AFSPA
Srinagar, March 29 Talking to mediapersons after throwing open the Tulip Garden here today, Omar said that his government was waiting for an opportune time to have consultations with the Army on the issue. The Army had raised its fears on the revocation of the AFSPA, when Omar had made an announcement to this effect on October 21 last year. He said the government was waiting for consultations with the Army on the revocation of the AFSPA. Referring to his speech made in the state Assembly in Jammu yesterday, the Chief Minister pointed out that his government was having regular consultations with the Centre for the revocation of the AFSPA. “There are many areas in the state where the situation has improved and, therefore, there is no need to have such laws,” Omar Abdullah said, adding that the government’s move in this regard was based on the ground situation. When asked about the report submitted by the three-member team of Interlocutors led by Dileep Padgaonkar to the Central government in October last year, Omar sought to address the issues taken up by the team during its year-long interaction. He held that there was a need to implement the recommendations. He said that the report should not be put on the backburner as it would give out the impression that the panel was constituted because of the summer agitation in 2010, when over 120 youth were killed in Kashmir. “The report has been submitted to the Union Home Minister and we |
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Man-animal conflict
Jammu, March 29 The Minister said the WWF had agreed to assist the J&K Wildlife Department for this purpose. He said the plan of the WWF-Nature was to hold a workshop on conflict issues to understand the problem, including areas, in which wild animals killed the livestock of local residents in large numbers. Mian Altaf said two incidents of leopard attack had taken place in Hamirpora village and Kakroosa in Doda constituency. He said a team of the Wildlife Department was stationed at Doda with all necessary accessories to address the man-animal conflict situation at a short notice. The Forest Minister said to address the man-animal conflict, the department had established control rooms at Doda, Kishtwar, Batote and Banihal. He said the meagre wildlife staff moves at a short notice, where man-animal conflicts take place. |
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Assembly passes Appropriation Bill
Jammu, March 29 This was stated by Minister for Finance and Ladakh Affairs Abdul Rahim Rather during a debate on the Appropriation Bill in the Legislative Assembly today. He said, “The Law Department has a full-fledged research and codification wing, which is examining the continuance of laws and statute books and their relevance in modern times.” He added that about 13 laws were declared as obsolete by the Act of the State in 2010. Rather said the government had initiated the process of inclusion of new services within the purview of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Services Guarantee Act, 2011. “So far the state government has notified 45 services, pertaining to six departments, to be delivered to eligible persons in a fixed time limit under the Act,” Rather added. He said to ensure the strict implementation of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Services Guarantee Act, 2011, a Public Services Management Cell had been constituted in the General Administration Department, recently. The Minister said in order to look into the demands for creation of new administrative units, the already constituted committee had submitted its report and was under examination of the government. Rather said during the current fiscal so far 108.23 crore had been released to the Panchayati Raj Institutions for the construction of 1,080 Panchayat Ghars under the 13th Finance Commission Award and further 63.40 crore had been authorised for community development and panchayat works under the state plan. “In all, 1,788 Panchayat Ghars are under construction presently under the 13th Finance Commission, MGNREGA and BRGF grants,” Rather said. Rather said to make items in the cross-LOC trade list more specific, a proposal had been sent by the Ministry of External Affairs to the Pakistan government for their response, adding that at present 21 different items were traded from Salamabad to Chakoti and from Chakan-da-Bagh to Rawalakote. The House unanimously passed the Appropriation Bill moved by the |
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Arms, ammunition recovered in Rajouri
Rajouri, March 29 Reports said, on specific inputs, the SOG in collaboration with the Rashtriya Rifles launched a joint search operation in the Dhori Maal forest area of Gambir Mughlan in Manjakote and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition hidden by militants. A wireless set, three UBGL grenades, four grenades, six Chinese hand grenades, three communication sets (two without antenna and one with antenna) were recovered from the hideout. SP, Rajouri, Mubassir Latifi said, “It is a six-month-old hideout of militants and we had specific inputs.” However, an FIR has been lodged at the Manjakote police station under Section 120 B and 121 A of the RPC. |
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School timings changed
Srinagar, March 29 |
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3 lakh pvt properties unoccupied in J-K
Srinagar, March 29 As per the census exercise conducted in 2001, only 2,40,003 structures were reported to be unoccupied. The number of vacant structures in urban areas has shown an increase of 74.08 per cent as 1,11,974 buildings are lying vacant in the cities and towns of the state as compared to 64,322 structures in 2001. A total of 1,92,439 structures are unoccupied in rural areas as compared to 1,75,681 in 2001. The number of educational institutions across the state has witnessed an increase of 64.33 per cent (31,843 in 2011 and 19,378 in 2001). The places of worships have increased from 32,025 to 49,135 over the past decade. The number of hotels, lodges and guest houses has only risen by 21.91 per cent (7,473 in 2011 and 6,130 in 2001) despite the fact that the state, especially the Kashmir valley, attracts a large number of tourists. Moreover, 8.4 per cent of the hotels in the state are lying vacant. The Census 2011 has also revealed an increase of 35.75 per cent in nuclear families. “In 2001, we had 10,91,635 nuclear families and now the number has risen to 14,81,895,” Saproo said. The census exercise was carried out by 27,000 enumerators under the supervision of deputy commissioners of respective districts of the state and reveals the findings of the data collected till September 2010. CENSUS 2011 |
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In a joint operation, the police and CRPF personnel today caught the two dreaded Huji militants from the forest area in Doda district after they escaped last evening from police custody.
Catering to the tourist season in the Valley, Tulip Garden was thrown open to public more than a week ahead of schedule by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here today.
The garden was inaugurated by UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on this day in 2008. Spread over 35 hectares and five terraces with different colours of
tulips
Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a seminar on “Afghanistan dynamics” at the University of Jammu here today, General Parnaik said, “The situation in the state is fine and there is nothing to worry.” “At this stage, I don’t want to say anything more. Things are just settling down,” he added.
Jammu, March 29
