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Inspired youth find key to Civil Services
State’s first Muslim woman in IAS bats for peace
Five from Valley make it to elite list
Governor greets people
on Buddha Purnima
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Muslim board wants next President from state
CCTV to monitor policing, crime in Rajouri
Demand for minority status to Hindus gains momentum
Two Lashkar militants killed in Baramulla
Water transport launched on Jhelum
Kissan Sansad to discuss farmers’ issues on May 12, 13
Shopkeepers stage protest against delay in road repair
Panthers Party is ‘B’ team of PDP: Youth Cong
Pak violates ceasefire in Poonch
PDP patron bereaved
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Inspired youth find key to Civil Services
Apart from the prevailing peace, candidates and IAS aspirants credit the growing popularity of this career option to Shah Faesal, the topper of the Civil Services Examination-2010, who, they feel, is a source of inspiration for them. “There will always be a level of uncertainty among people during militancy, violence and unrest. The prevailing peace has given the youth a chance, especially in Kashmir, to think about various career options,” said Mohammad Aijaz, who made it to the IAS list declared yesterday. He observed that peace and tranquillity were “facilitating factors” for the youth to take a lead in any strata of life. “It was Shah Faesal who promoted self-belief in him. Shah Faesal success in the Civil Services examination in 2010 inspired me to overcome my shortcomings and achieve what I wanted,” Aijaz said. Last year, nine candidates from the state had cracked the Civil Services examination, while the number of such candidates in 2010 - the year when Shah Faesal topped the exam - was just four. In 2009, only three Kashmiri candidates had qualified for the Civil Services, while only one candidate had managed to crack the examination. Shah Faesal, who is presently posted as Assistant Commissioner in Budgam, said more doctors and candidates with engineering background from the state were cracking the coveted exam. “During the past 20 years, the youth in the state were focusing on career options in medical and engineering due to which their talent got locked in only those professions. This is the reason why the state hasn’t been able to produce a large number of IAS officers in the past. Now, more candidates with medical and engineering backgrounds are cracking the Civil Services examination, as they move away from the old mindset ,” Faesal said. He, however, differed with the opinion that the prevailing peace had contributed to the performance of youngsters in the examination. “During the period of agitations, the youngsters from the Kashmir valley performed quite well in class X, XII, medical and engineering competitive examination,” he said. “It is difficult to correlate the political situation with the people’s performance.” He further said the state had constantly been sending a good number of candidates to the Civil Services over the past three years and it would have a huge impact on the younger generation in the near future. Kashmir had witnessed peaceful summer last year when over 20 lakh tourists and pilgrims, including Amarnath yatris visited the Valley. Over 110 people were killed in large-scale violence and unrest for five months during the summer of 2010. The Jammu region, too, witnessed “zero infiltration” and “zero human rights” violation last year. |
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State’s first Muslim woman in IAS bats for peace
“Violence can never be a solution. Only peace can bring peace. And those who think violence can bring peace, they are mistaken. They have to change their mindset. Positive thinking and positive approach are the two mantras that can put the violence-hit state back on track,” Sehrish, a doctor, said on the prevailing peace in the Valley. She believed that education was key to solving all problems and the Kashmiri youth should try to get good education. In 2011, 25-year-old Ovessa Iqbal, a Muslim woman from remote Chachoot village in Ladakh region, had cracked the Civil Services examination but she didn’t make it to the IAS as she was ranked 572 on the list. Sehrish (25), daughter of state Legislative Council Member Syed Asghar Ali, secured 118th rank on the Civil Services list of 910 candidates. She was also the first Muslim woman to have topped the Kashmir Administrative Services (KAS) examination Urging “conservative” Muslim families that prevented their women from receiving good education, she said: “It is the right of every individual to get education under Islam. If you have good education, you can accomplish any feat. There shouldn’t be any restrictions on girls and women while pursuing education.” She said her parents never differentiated between her and her brother, Ahmad Asghar. “They provided me with equal opportunity and it is due to their support that I have achieved this milestone,” he remarked. Sehrish said the state had abundant “fertile brains” but the need was to create awareness among the people, especially the younger generation. Determination his mantra Mohammad Aijaz, who hails from the remote village of Dharna in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch district, believes “determination and passion” make all the difference between success and failure. Aijaz, who belongs to the Gujjar community and secured 168th rank on the list, said the youth living in the remote areas of the state could beat candidates from metros if they had “determination and passion”. “No barrier can stop you from accomplishing your goal, provided you have determination and passion. The candidates in metros will have a slight edge in terms of facilities and education, but one can beat them with self-confidence and self-belief,” Aijaz told The Tribune over the phone. In 2011, he had qualified for the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) and was currently posted as the Assistant Commissioner, Income Tax, Mumbai. The success of Shah Faesal, one of his close friends who topped the Civil Services examinations in 2010, inspired him to go for the IAS, he added. Aijaz did his schooling from a local school in Poonch and later joined an engineering college in Delhi to pursue BTech in mechanical engineering. |
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Five from Valley make it to elite list
Srinagar, May 5 Carrying forward his legacy, five youngsters have made it to the Civil Services this year from Kashmir. Of them, four have a medical background. They include Syed Aabid Rashid, Inam-ul-Haq Mengnoo and Manazir Jeelani Samoon, all medicos; Bashir Ahmed Bhat, a veterinarian; and Qazi Salman Ibrahim, an engineer. Syed Aabid (30), already an IPS officer from Srinagar, had put his medical career on hold and was selected last year to the Civil Services and awarded the IPS cadre. “Getting into the IAS was my cherished dream, so I tried my luck again this year and have found a place in the top 25 successful candidates,” said Aabid who is undergoing training at the National Police Academy, Hyderabad. “Though IPS is a tough job, there is diversification in the IAS and that is why I took the Civil Service examination for the second time to improve my ranking,” he told The Tribune. Another medico from the Valley, Inam-ul-Haq Mengnoo (25), hailing from Shopian district in south Kashmir, has secured 280th rank. Mengroo, was the topper when he appeared in the Common Entrance Test (CET) in 2003. “I am glad to have made it to the Civil Services,” he said. Bashir Ahmad Bhat (25), a veterinarian, hails from the volatile Sopore town in north Kashmir. His parents are illiterate. He had cleared the Kashmir Administrative Services (KAS) examination last year and was undergoing training when he learned that he had secured 434th rank in the IAS. “I owe the success to my parents, who have been a source of inspiration for me,” Bashir said, who had done his schooling from Sainik School, Mansbal. Manazir Jeelani Samoon (25) from remote Gurez in Bandipore district has secured 451th rank. Jeelani had completed his MBBS from the Government Medical College and appeared in the Civil Services examination for the first time in 2011. “After completing my internship, I did not apply for a job and instead started preparing for the Civil Services examination,” said Jeelani, whose father is the Head of Department, Clinical Haematology, SKIMS, Kashmir’s premier health institute. “My two brothers are also doctors, but I had always dreamt of being a civil servant,” he quipped The only engineer, Qazi Salman Ibrahim (28), hailing from Handwara in Kupwara district of north Kashmir, figured 459th on the list. He had done his schooling from Sopore. “After Shah Faesal made it to the IAS in 2010, I decided to give it a shot. I am glad that I have cleared the examination,” Salman said. Shah Faesal, Assistant Commissioner on probation in Budgam, who topped the list in 2010, said more and more doctors from the state were cracking the prestigious examination. |
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Governor greets people
on Buddha Purnima
Jammu, May 5 The Governor described the Lord Buddha as an apostle of peace whose message of non-violence assumes greater relevance today when the world is faced with growing intolerance, violence and terrorism. The Governor prayed for the well-being of the people of the state. |
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Muslim board wants next President from state
Jammu, May 5 Addressing a press conference, Haji Abdul Majid, national secretary of the board, proposed the names of PDP patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, Dr Karan Singh, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah for the post. “Some sections in the state are feeling alienated and if the next President is elected from J&K, it will send a clear message to them that Kashmir is an inseparable part of country,” Haji said. Majid said the nomination of the head of the country from the state would boost the feeling of nationalism among the younger generation. “Despite efforts by the successive Union governments to integrate the youth of the state emotionally with the country, grievances still remain among certain sections, which need to be addressed,” said Majid. He appealed to the political parties to reach a consensus on the proposal of the board. “Political parties should support the names suggested by us, as most of them are known faces in the country who have worked towards bringing the state closer to the rest of the country,” he said. Those present included Shamasullah Khan, Haji Ghulam Qadir Bhat, Mufti Muhammad Rafeeq, Khursheed Ahmad Bhat, Qari Ali Akbar, Moulana Muhammad Aslam, Haffizullah Bhat, Chowdhry Abdul Rashid, Sheikh Abdul Qayoom, Mudassar Majid, Pankaj Sangral, Deep Singh, Gurtaj Singh and Kuldeep K Rao. |
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CCTV to monitor policing, crime in Rajouri
Rajouri, May 5 Rajouri SP Mubassir Latifi said: “The police had decided to install CCTV cameras at various sensitive locations of the town, including bus stand, main Gujjar Mandi Chowk and other chowks of the town, to keep a check on anti-social and anti-national elements,” he said. The cameras would be operated from a Special Surveillance Centre to be set up in the Police Control Room. This follows the success of CCTV cameras in other cities and town like Katra to keep a check on crime. “CCTV cameras play a crucial role in keeping an eye on suspected individuals. It will also help manage traffic and curb crime,” he said. Latifi said the cameras would also streamline the system of the police department by keeping a strict vigil on the activities of policemen on the ground. It would help improve policing in the town, he said. “The proposal is still in its preliminary phase but we have completed the blueprint and sent it to the department for approval. The department will now decide on the number of cameras to be installed in Rajouri,” he added. |
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Demand for minority status to Hindus gains momentum
Jammu, May 5 While some groups have been devising strategies on how to take up this demand before the government, other factions are mulling over moving court to restore the “constitutional rights” of the “real” minorities of the state. “We have been having discussions with various organisations on holding an agitation on the issue. We will appeal to the state government to treat Hindus as a minority in Jammu and Kashmir,” said Jagdish Raj Dogra, president of the Santan Dharam Sabha, Jammu. “It is known to everyone that Hindus are in a minority but have been denied benefits of various Centrally-sponsored schemes for the uplift of minority communities in the country,” he said and argued that unlike in other parts of the country, the majority-minority composition was different in the state. BJP leader Ashok Khajuria, who had earlier raised this question in the Legislative Assembly, demanded that the state government should made some amendments so as to list Hindus as a minority community in the state. “I fail to understand why constitutional rights are being denied to a minority community in the state,” he said, adding that there was no reason to treat Hindus as the majority in Jammu and Kashmir. The state government today issued a notification in which applications were invited for post-matric scholarships from students of the minority communities. It has been mentioned in the notification that objective of this scheme is to award scholarships to meritorious students belonging to the economically-weaker sections of the minority community to enable them to pursue higher education from Class XI to Ph.D and technical/vocational courses for enhancing their employability. Although no senior official was ready to openly speak on the issue, some officials on condition of anonymity said this scheme had been launched by the Union Government so that minorities at the national level could benefit from this scheme. The 2001 census says the total population of Hindus in the state is 29.63 per cent. The religion-wise data of 2011 census is yet to be prepared. |
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Two Lashkar militants killed in Baramulla
Srinagar, May 5 This is the third militancy-related incident in the state so far this year. Suspected militants had snatched two rifles of policemen guarding a minority picket in Shopian district of south Kashmir yesterday. On a tip-off about the presence of militants in the area, a joint operation was launched by the police and 29 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) of the Army in Nilla village of Pattan area in Baramulla district last night. The militants opened fire on an advance party of security forces early this morning, triggering an encounter, the police said. According to the Defence spokesman, the contact with the hiding militants was established at 5.15 am and in the ensuing gunfight two armed militants were killed. During the operation, the Army took adequate precaution to ensure that there was no civilian casualty, the spokesman added. Partial damage was caused to the house of Ghulam Hassan Shah, in which the militants were hiding. However, there were no reports of any injury to any security personnel. The civilians in the village had been safely evacuated to avoid any harm, the reports said. The two militants, who were killed in the encounter, have been identified as Nissar Ahmad Mir, a resident of Nilla village, and Mohammad Abraham Janwari from Sopore. Two AK-47 rifles, six magazines and 101 rounds were recovered from the site of the encounter. |
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Water transport launched on Jhelum
Srinagar, May 5 The Tourism Department has arranged two motorboats for people. The Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control, Kashmir, Ahmed Muzaffar Lanker, has allotted the contract for the inland water transport to M/s Kashmir Motors and the boats are expected to reach Srinagar by the end of May. “The Divisional Commissioner has encouraged other entrepreneurs to come forward for the purchase of motorboats and deploy them for the water transport after taking a mandatory licence of Rs 1,000 from the Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control,” a government spokesman said. The Tourism Department has provided two motorboats which will run from the ghat at Lal Sheikh to Chattabal Wier on a daily basis from 9 am to 6 pm. The fare has been fixed at Rs 25 per person from one ghat to another and Rs 60 per person from Chattabal to Lal Chowk. |
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Kissan Sansad to discuss farmers’ issues on May 12, 13
Jammu, May 5 Addressing a press conference here yesterday, BJP Kissan Morcha national secretary Sukhminderpal Singh Grewal regretted that farmers were forced to commit suicide in various parts of the country due to the wrong policies being adopted by the UPA government. “A farmer is demoralised today with the rising input costs and hardly any returns,” Grewal said. He said since the formation of the Congress-led UPA government, woes of the farming community had been compounding. He maintained that holding of the Kissan Sansad was important because the government had turned a deaf ear to the demand of the farmers to convene a special session of Parliament for discussing the issues of the farming community. “At the Kissan Sansad, former chairman of the Farmers’ Commission MS Swaninathan, BJP national president Nitik Gadkari, Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitely, Chief Ministers of the BJP-ruled states, former BJP president Rajnath Singh, journalists working on farmers’ issues and some experts would discuss the issues of the farmers,” he said. The Kissan Morcha national secretary said issues, including minimum support price, land acquisition Bill, seed Bill and pesticides management Bill, would be thoroughly discussed in the meeting. State president of the BJP Kissan Morcha Karan Singh and others were also present in the press conference.— TNS |
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Shopkeepers stage protest against delay in road repair
Katra, May 5 However, the road was cleared by the local administration and the police later. The shopkeepers were assured that their demands would be taken into consideration and taken up with the higher authorities. Earlier, protesters alleged that no development was taking place in the holy town, especially on various sewerage projects taken up by the MC. They added that the MC had damaged all the roads and lanes of Katra town and made life miserable for people and traders. They alleged that neither the Public Works Department and Roads and Buildings Department nor the MC were ready to own the responsibility. The protesters demanded blacktopping of all the roads of Katra town and warned to intensify their agitation, if immediate measures were not taken to repair them. Those who were also present during the protest included Ajay Gupta, Ajay Khajura, Sanjay Khajuria and Rakesh. |
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Panthers Party is ‘B’ team of PDP: Youth Cong
Jammu, May 5 Addressing a press conference in Ramnagar today, senior vice-president of the Pradesh Youth Congress (PYC) RS Pathania lambasted the Panthers Party for “bartering” the mandate given to them by the people of Jammu. “Be it the behaviour and conduct within and outside the Assembly, it has acted more or less as the B-team of the PDP. By demanding the stoppage of the darbar move, release of all secessionist leaders and prisoners, reorganisation of the state and voting for PDP candidates in all the previous Rajya Sabha and the Legislative Council elections, it has exposed itself before the people of Jammu,” Pathania said. He said the controversial stances of the PDP, regarding the Dogra certificates, the Amarnath land and demands like self-rule, dual control and double currency also cannot be overlooked. — TNS |
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Pak violates ceasefire in Poonch
Jammu, May 5 Around 9.30 pm, Pakistani troops resorted to small arms fire in the Nangi Tekri area for about 15 minutes. They fired at least 300 rounds, he added. The spokesperson further said since the fire was ineffective, the Indian troops did not retaliate. “There was no loss of life or damage to property in the firing,” he said, adding that the Indian troops maintained restraint and did not fire back. “We have lodged a strong protest with the Pakistan authorities via hotline,” he added. Official sources said the Pakistani troops opened fire around 9.35 pm last night, which continued till 9.55 pm. “They resorted to intermittent fire between 9.55 pm and 10.10 pm,” a source said.
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PDP patron bereaved
Jammu, May 5 A two minutes silence was observed during the meeting for the peace of the departed soul. The meeting also expressed heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. Those who were also present in the meeting included Rangil Singh, Thakur Balbir Singh, Ved Mahajan, Daman Bhasin, Shanti Devi, Satpal Singh Charak, Fallail Singh, Bharat Bhushan Gupta, Surjeet Kour, Suresh Sharma, Captain Anil Gour, Romesh Koul, Narinder Singh Raina, Rajinder Singh Manhas, Nadeem Khan, Abhijit Jasrotia, HS Sodhi, Avtar Singh Khalsa, Rafiq Choudhary, Chander Singh Slathia, SK Raina, Ashok Sidha and Sukhvinder Singh. — TNS
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Jammu, May 5
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Jammu, May 5
