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KUPWARA SCHOOLBUS TRAGEDY
CRPF foils bid to damage tunnel
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Omar’s bold poser to separatists on what Pak has done to PoK
Finally, JKCA to resume cricketing activities
Young J-K officers on ‘mission IAS’
Geelani’s statement against co-existence: Panun Kashmir
Xen in dock for tampering with DoB certificate
Martyrs’ sacrifice in 1931 richest chapter in J&K’s history: CM
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KUPWARA SCHOOLBUS TRAGEDY
Srinagar, July 12 Three persons, including a student and a teacher, were killed and 43 others injured when the schoolbus taking students on an excursion fell into a gorge in north Kashmir's Baramulla district on Wednesday. “I got numerous calls from parents of Iqra Public School (in Khumriyal, Kupwara) who said that the children were shocked to hear about the cancellation of the registration of their school. So we took a lenient view today and decided not to cancel the registration of the school. But we have asked the school management to explain whether they adhered to the norms before taking the students to picnic,” the Director of School Education, Kashmir, Mohammad Shafi Rather, told The Tribune. The Director said that action would be taken against the school management if it was found that it had violated any rules. “We will not allow students of the school to suffer,” he added. Hours after yesterday’s accident, Rather had ordered the Chief Education Officer (CEO), Kupwara, to withdraw the registration of the private school for taking the schoolchildren for a picnic without the permission of the education department. “The Kupwara school has defied the government order as it proceeded on an outing without the permission of the education department,” the Director of School Education had said. The decision to cancel the registration was widely criticised and people blamed the government for taking a hasty decision. “An accident took place in Tangmarg because of the condition of the road. But the government de-registered the school. It is shocking,” said a Srinagar resident. Another resident from north Kashmir blamed government for the accident. “I wonder what was the mistake of the school. Nobody questioned the Road and Buildings Department for the accident. It is a route taken by hundreds of vehicles every day to reach Gulmarg and, unfortunately, the width of the road is not more than 10 feet,” said Abdul Samad, a resident of Baramulla. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had also reacted when he was asked on micro-blogging site twitter about the cancellation. “It has not been cancelled, I just verified from the authorities concerned,” Omar twitted. Meanwhile, 13 persons, including 10 students, are still admitted in various hospitals in Srinagar. “Out of the 43 injured, 30 have been discharged,” said the Station House Officer, Tangmarg, Bashir Ahmed. He said that the initial investigations by the police have found that the cause of the accident was rash driving. |
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CRPF foils bid to damage tunnel
Srinagar, July 12 The IED concealed in a box and planted underneath a culvert, about 350 metres short of the Jawahar Tunnel, was detected by jawans of the special Force 28 contingent of the CRPF around 9 pm yesterday. Disclosing this here today, the Inspector General (Ops) of the CRPF, B N Ramesh, said the IED fitted with an electric circuit was defused without causing any harm. The device has been sent for forensic examination, he said. The movement of traffic on the highway, which had been suspended following the detection of the explosive device, was restored around midnight, the IG said. The aim of planting the explosive device was probably to cause a sensation and create panic, he added. In view of the recent incidents, particularly the militant attack on a patrol party of the Army in which one jawan was killed and another injured at Pampore last Saturday, the troops have been put on high alert. “We were extremely alert,” the IG said, adding that the alert troops detected the green box in which the IED had been concealed during the ongoing operations. “A special team of the CRPF, Force 28, led by SI Nand Kishore Sinha was deployed on the highway,” disclosed the
IG.
tragedy averted
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Omar’s bold poser to separatists on what Pak has done to PoK
Jammu, July 12 This question has the potential to change the entire nature of the Indo-Pak dialogue and also invoke local sentiment on the issue. “Pakistan has gifted a big chunk of land to China and settled Pakistanis in the part of Kashmir under its control,” Omar said. Omar’s statement was directed at Geelani, who at a recent press conference had alleged that non-state subjects (non-permanent residents of Jammu of Kashmir) were to be settled in the garb of Kashmiri Pandits in the special colonies being set up in the Valley. It’s because of the special status of the state under Article 370, which Omar insisted would stay for ever, only state subjects can vote in the Assembly elections, get jobs and admission into professional institutions and own immovable property. Non-state subjects are not granted citizenship rights in Jammu and Kashmir. “We may be having hundreds of issues with India, but the country deserves our unqualified appreciation that it has not tampered with even a single inch of land of our state,” Omar said. While it seemed that Omar was responding to Geelani, but there is something more than what meets the eye. Omar, who champions the cause of restoration of greater autonomy, also declared that Indo-Pak dialogue was must for the solution of the Kashmir crisis. “India cannot solve it on its own”. Separatists, moderate or hardliners, had never been challenged on this issue ever before. Omar’s father and Union Minister Farooq Abdullah who was thrice Chief Minister of the state and a perennial critic of separatists, never asked this question, nor did Mufti Mohammad Sayeed or Ghulam Nabi Azad. They also never spoke of the Chinese army’s presence in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The separatists make an issue of the military presence in the state and call for strikes on one issue after another, especially on the alleged human rights violations. But they have never raised any such question. Now it is to be seen that how would separatists respond to this poser. hard talk by CM
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Finally, JKCA to resume cricketing activities
Jammu, July 12 JKCA Treasurer, Manzoor Wazir while confirming the development said, “The committee comprises six members from each province. Initially, the JKCA will organise three tournaments in Kashmir province including one for women which began yesterday,” Wazir said. “The Kashmir Province Committee include Abdur Rouf, ML Nehru, Majid Drabu, Shiban Lal, Iqbal Shah and one player representative Nayeem Ahmad Bakshi. The Jammu Province Committee comprises Romesh Mahajan, Mehboob Iqbal, Brijender Singh, Jang Bahadur, Tilak Singh and player representative Nirmal Singh,” Wazir added. “Two more tournaments are likely to commence from July 19 at Kashmir University and Islamia College,” he said. “The JKCA chief is fully aware of the concerns of the budding cricketers of the state and that is why we have taken this initiative,” Wazir said. The tournaments will be played in Baramulla, Anantnag, Ganderbal and Srinagar districts and the JKCA also plans to conduct more such tournaments in Kupwara and Sopore, he added. As far as the Jammu province is concerned, the committee has already been constituted by Dr Farooq Abdullah and the meeting is also likely to be convened to resume the domestic activities, the JKCA treasurer said. Asked about the availability of funds for conducting cricket tournaments, Wazir said the JKCA has requested the court for release of funds for this purpose and the court has allowed to spent Rs 40 lakh for conducting domestic activities in the state. The JKCA was under fire for not taking any concrete steps for resumption of cricket activities in J&K that were badly hampered aftermath of the much-publicised scam. It was only after the sate cricketers expressed resentment over the grim scenario, the association had decided to kick-start the sports activities.
PLAY POINT
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Young J-K officers on ‘mission IAS’
Srinagar, July 12 Aware that the younger lot here, especially in the rural areas, is very talented but lacks proper guidance, these KAS officers have been holding free counselling sessions across the Valley. They have also opened a page on the social networking website, which is accessed by thousands of aspirants. “The aspirants need guidance. They are talented but need to be groomed properly. Therefore, we thought we can play a vital role in enabling more youngsters crack the KAS and the IAS,” said Shoaib Noor, a KAS officer of the 2009 batch, who has been guiding youngsters along with three of his colleagues. Ishfaq Pandit, also from the 2009 batch, said, “We make sure that our classes are not confined to Srinagar city. People from other parts of the Valley need more guidance.” Due to their busy schedule, Shoaib said they held counselling sessions only once or twice a month but they were in touch with students regularly through Facebook. “While we pass on the information regarding holding of counselling sessions through Internet, many passouts share useful tips on our Facebook page. We also post questions and useful information pertaining to the KAS and the IAS examinations,” he said. The “Jammu and Kashmir KAS, IAS Aspirants” page administered by them on Facebook has nearly 10,000 followers. “Apart from counselling the aspirants, we tell them to make sure that they do not follow the herd mentality. We tell them that the IAS is just one of the options and just because more people are qualifying the exams, it does not mean that everyone needs to do the same,” Shoaib added. Besides Shoaib and Ishfaq, the counselling sessions are conducted by Malik Waseem and Dr Ruveda
Salam. WHAT IS EGGING THEM ON Interest in the IAS among the Kashmir Valley youth grew after a local youth, Dr Shah Faisal, topped the civil services examinations in 2010. The number of those cracking the elite examination rose to seven in 2011. Growing interest for the IAS became more pronounced when 10 youth from Jammu and Kashmir cleared this year’s all-India civil services exams. While Syed Abid Shah, already in the Indian Police Service (IPS), was ranked 23, Sehrish Asgar, who topped the Jammu and Kashmir combined services exam in 2010, secured the 118th rank this year. At present, Faisal is working as Assistant Commissioner (Revenue) in Kashmir’s Badgam district.
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Geelani’s statement against co-existence: Panun Kashmir
Jammu, July 12 “Geelani is working on the same lines of Hafiz Saeed and former Al-Qaeeda chief Laden and is instrumental in all bigger incidents in Kashmir. His statement (on rehabilitation of Kashmiri Hindus) is no less than an open declaration of genocide and reflects his abhorrence for coexistence and pluralism,” Panun Kashmir chairman Ajay Chrungoo said while talking to the reporters. The KP leader said the views articulated by Geelani that the transition camps built by the government for the Kashmiri Hindu employees in the Valley were aimed at demographic change only underlines the ‘extreme vulnerability’ of not only these employees but also the entire Kashmiri Hindu community living there. He further said Geelani was the mastermind of the genocide perpetrated on Kashmiri Hindus. The tolerance shown by various governments in the state and at the Centre to such leader was baffling, he added. “If Hafiz Saeed is responsible for terror activities across India, Geelani too is responsible for radicalisation in the Kashmir Valley. Organs and institutions of society as well as segments of the government machinery are suffering from ‘Geelani sicknesses’,” the Panun Kashmir chief said. He also took a dig at the Government of India for ‘negating the principles of rehabilitation policy’ alleging the Centre’s approach towards Kashmir was suicidal. “The government’s claim of a growing normalcy is ridiculous,” he said. Chrungoo also called upon the Centre and the state government to recognise dangers to the safety of the Kashmiri Hindu employees working in the Valley and shift them to Jammu before any untoward incident takes place. |
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Dalai Lama gets warm welcome in Srinagar
Srinagar, July 12 The Dalai Lama reciprocated the good wishes and prayed for peace, prosperity and development of the state. From the airport, Dalai Lama was flown to the Nehru helipad and later driven to the Nehru Guest House. The ministers who had accompanied the Chief Minister to receive the spiritual leader included Nawang Rigzin Jora, Perzada Mohammad Sayeed, Sham Lal Sharma and Shabir Ahmad Khan. |
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Xen in dock for tampering with DoB certificate
Srinagar, July 12 The Board of School Education (BoSE) has asked the state government to initiate legal action against Sahaf, who is presently posted as in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district. “We have received the communication from the BoSE and have written to the government about the issue of tampering and sought instructions in this regard,” Muzaffar Lanker, Chief Engineer, I&FC, said while talking to The Tribune. “We will act against the officer as per the law,” Lanker said. Sources said a complaint about the tampering of the date of birth by Sahaf and a superintendent engineer of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) was received by the government and a communication was sent on June 23 by the I&FC chief engineer to the Board of School Education to verify the allegation against Sahaf. In case of the superintendent engineer, the PHE is yet to write to the BoSE for verifying the allegations. On July 8, the joint secretary of the BOSE after verifying the allegations informed the chief engineer that Sahaf had tampered with his date of birth and sought legal action against him. “Due to the non availability of the permission form in the record section of this organisation, this office requested the principal, National High School, Srinagar where the officer (Sahaf) had passed his matriculation examination as a regular student to provide the school records for verification of date of birth. The record produced by the concerned institute clearly indicates that the date of birth of the candidate is October 28, 1955 and not October 28,1958 as shown in a copy of his certificate sent by your office for verification,” reads the letter issued by the joint secretary (verification), BoSE. “Therefore, the said copy of the qualification certificate be treated absolutely fake and fabricated. Further legal action as warranted by initiated accordingly,” it further read. |
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Martyrs’ sacrifice in 1931 richest chapter in J&K’s history: CM
Srinagar, July 12 Speaking on the eve of the Martyrs’ Day, Governor NN Vohra said the state was known for its glorious pluralistic tradition, amity and brotherhood. He urged the people to work towards restoring the glory of the Valley as an abode of peace and harmony. While paying tributes to the martyrs, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah described them as the heroes of the struggle against suppression and totalitarianism. “The sacrifice of the martyrs to free the society from autocracy for democracy and human dignity is one of the richest chapters of the history of Jammu and Kashmir,” he added. In a statement, Union Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah said the struggle of the martyrs sowed the seeds of democracy which was now in full bloom in Jammu and Kashmir. The spokesman of the National Conference (NC) said the party would observe the day in a simple manner keeping in view the recent fire incident at the revered Pir Dastageer Sahab shrine at Khanyar here. State Secretary CPI (M) and MLA Kulgam Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami said, “All of us need an in-depth introspection towards our social obligations vis-à-vis mission of the martyrs about a pluralistic and secular society.” Chairman of the moderate Hurriyat faction, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, had earlier called for a shutdown saying the separatist leaders would take out peaceful processions after the Friday prayers from various places towards the compound of the Naqshband Sahab shrine in downtown Srinagar where the martyrs lay buried.
— TNS |
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