|
|
|
|
|
Rains bring landslides, flash floods across Jammu
Rogue constable was targeting those against separatist movement
|
|
|
|
Congress leaders discuss refugee issue with PM, UPA chairperson
Rehabilitation sought for persons hit by Partition, Indo-Pak wars
Governor exhorts youth to take up research in science
Biometric attendance system gets rolling in civil secretariat
Pak firing in Arnia forces villagers to stay away from fields
Road to Amarnath Cave: Civil society slams Rather’s statement
Wamiq Farooq killing case
Accused in murder case escapes from Kathua jail
Army arrests two suspects near LoC in Poonch
|
|
Rains bring landslides, flash floods across Jammu
Jammu, August 22 Landslides hit the Seri, Shan and Marog areas, leading to blockage of traffic on Wednesday morning. A joint team of the Traffic Police and General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) started the clearing work, which was completed in the afternoon. Later in the day, the vehicular movement resumed on the road connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country. “Landslides were cleared at six different places on the highway and vehicular movement resumed on both sides by evening. We are monitoring the situation. We hope things will be normal as the rains subside,” said Faisal Qureshi, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Highway). Besides the highway, traffic on many other mountainous roads in the Jammu region was affected due to heavy rainfall, which lashed the region for over 48 hours. In the meanwhile, 12 families were shifted to safer places in Hadyal village in Basoli district due to danger of landslides. Heavy rain, which lashed the village, has loosened the soil which has damaged several homes. Locals held a protest against the administration for its failure to start rescue operations after the rainwater gushed in several homes in the area. People blocked the Kathua-Nagri road for more than an hour and demanded immediate relief assistance from the administration. “In the last two days, rainwater has damaged our properties but none from the administration has visited our area. It seems the government is totally ignoring us,” said Shamsher Singh, a local resident. At least two kutcha houses collapsed while standing crop in about one acre land, several pavements, water pipes and retention walls at agriculture fields were damaged in the heavy downpour that continued overnight in Ramban district today. Flash floods triggered by heavy rains over the past few days have created a havoc in the border areas of Rajouri district. Several bridges, houses and vehicles were washed away with the torrent. Even sub-power stations were not spared, the fallout of which was power breakdown in most of the areas. Since the beginning of the monsoon season, landslides have been a concern along the hilly border ranges of Rajouri. Together with the flash floods, they have caused extensive damage to property in the area. In Rajouri and adjoining areas of the district, around 50 houses were partially damaged. About 15 water mills collapsed in Manjakote area owing to lightning and landslides, sources said. An Assistant Executive Engineer (PDD), Rajouri, Munshi Khan, said, “Two sub-power stations were washed away in the Naban area of Rajouri town and many power pylons in Kalakote, Budhal, Dral, Gambir, Bamna and other areas of the border district were damaged.” “The Power Development Department has estimated losses to the tune of Rs 1 crore in district Rajouri in the last two days,” said Munshi. The intensity of the rainfall can be gauged from the fact that the entire road stretch from Rajouri to Nowshera witnessed massive destruction due to landslides. |
|
Rogue constable was targeting those against separatist movement
Srinagar, August 22 Abdul Rashid Shigan, working for more than a decade as a constable with the Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police, was on deputation with the department’s security wing when he was arrested on Monday. He was currently posted as security officer at the Srinagar residence of the Superintendent of Police for north Kashmir’s Bandipora district. His arrest along with that of his lone accomplice, a released former Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant Imtiyaz Ahmad Gojri, capped the 18-month-long police hunt for the attackers who had successfully penetrated the security ring to carry out brazen attacks. The duo had formed an independent militant squad, naming it Islamic Movement of Kashmir (IMK), and carried out motorcycle-borne attacks around the city. Before being recruited as a constable in 1998, Shigan was working as an over ground worker for Harkat-ul-Mujahideen militant Abdul Rehman, the police said. He was earlier detained under the Public Safety Act for having links with militants while he was undergoing the basic training course to become a constable. He was reinstated as constable after a court decision a couple of years later. In his last telephonic statement issued earlier this month to a local news agency, Shigan claimed responsibility for the assassination of four policemen, including the early August killing of a retired DSP, and made clear these were revenge attacks against specific targets. “We are not against all policemen. We respect those policemen who are pro-movement but we will keep chasing those who have harmed it and they will meet a brutal end,” IMK spokesman Umar Mukhtar, speaking in Urdu, told the news agency on phone. The police says Shigan himself was Omar Mukhtar and claim his handwriting has matched with the written statements issued by the IMK. The mobile phone from which the call was made has been recovered from Shigan’s possession, the police said. Shigan, while calling himself IMK spokesman Omar Mukhtar, had also warned of “Operation Qisas” (Revenge) against “policemen, pro-India political workers and those wearing the mask of freedom”, the last being a veiled reference to unspecified separatists who have “harmed the movement”. Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, SM Sahai said the apparent reason the police was being targeted was that the force had taken a “leadership role” in the anti-militancy operation in the state. “We are the one who are taking the brunt of the law and order situation. Subversions of this kind are not an unusual phenomenon in any insurgency-hit state,” he said. The police says Shigan had also built a small armoury “which included two AK-47 assault rifles and a Krinkov assault rifle, a compact version of AK series rifles and a dozen grenades”. He had hid them in the basement hideout in his house. The armoury was supplied by Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant Haq Nawaz, whose real name was Ghulam Nabi War. He was killed in July this year in Kangan in central Kashmir. At their three-room house in Batamaloo, Shigan’s distraught wife Mymoona Rashid said the family had not been told about the whereabouts of her husband. She said the house was raided on the evening of Eid-ul-Fitr and again hours later around midnight. |
|
Congress leaders discuss refugee issue with PM, UPA chairperson
Srinagar, August 22 A group of senior Congress leaders led by Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee chief Saifuddin Soz today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi and discussed issues related to affairs of the party
with them. Presently, three berths, two for the Congress and one for the National Conference, are vacant in the Cabinet. “The Congress ministers and a senior leader at the Centre discussed the possible Cabinet expansion,” said a Congress leader. “All the state party leaders said the party should get its due share in the Cabinet as early as possible.” The two Congress ministers, GM Saroori and Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, had resigned after they were alleged of misusing their power. The most important portfolio - Roads and Buildings - that belonged to the Congress as per the power sharing agreement is vacant and is being presently looked after by Minister of State for Roads and Buildings Javid Ahmad Dar. Many Congress leaders are reportedly lobbying for the portfolio. Peerzada was divested of the education portfolio after his son’s name surfaced in an alleged impersonation case. Sources in the Congress said former R&B Minister Saroori, who was sacked by the party after his daughter was accused of using an impersonator during a medical entrance exam in Jammu, has been lobbying for the ministry. Saroori, who is considered close to Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, has been blaming his detractors for trying to malign his imagine and being responsible for
his sacking. Soz said during their meeting with the Prime Minister and UPA chairperson today, party leaders discussed issues pertaining to 1947 refugees. “We discussed issues pertaining to West Pakistan refugees of 1947 and displaced persons of 1947, 1965 and 1971 from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The delegation submitted a memorandum and briefed the Prime Minister and UPA Chairperson about the long-pending demands and issues of refugees and displaced persons, who have settled in Jammu and Kashmir, especially in the Jammu region,” he said. |
|
Rehabilitation sought for persons hit by Partition, Indo-Pak wars
New Delhi, August 22 Led by JKPCC president Saifuddin Soz, the state Congress delegation met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. They sought rehabilitation of affected people living in various parts of the state. The delegation said West Pakistan refugees (of 1947) comprise 21,969 persons and 4,745 families. “No land was allotted to them. Some of them occupied 46,466 kanal of state/evacuee land, over which they have no propriety rights, as they are not state subjects,” the delegation said in a memorandum submitted to the PM. They sought action on state government recommendation of a one-time grant of Rs 15 lakh per family. “Since these demands are pending with the state government, children of 1947 refugees have no rights to seek employment in the state government. There is a need to create job opportunities in Central services and paramilitary forces,” the delegation said. The memorandum also sought land rights in the state for 25,319 families displaced from PoK in 1947. The displaced persons of 1965 and 1971 comprise families uprooted during the 1965 war from 13 villages of the Chhamb sector. These families did not return to their places after the war and settled in 27 locations in Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts. “Out of the total of 4,600 families displaced during the wars, 1,965 families say they have not been allotted land. However, the state government says the number of such deficient families is just 700,” the memorandum highlighted. |
|
Governor exhorts youth to take up research in science
Srinagar, August 22 About 550 students from 10 districts of Kashmir are participating in the event out of which 80 percent are girls. The programme is being organised to attract meritorious students of the Valley to the field of science and technological research. Governor Vohra, who was the chief guest in the event today, said boys should take inspiration from girls when it comes to academics since they are more zealous and committed to their studies. “I see a large number of girls in the audience which comprises some of the most talented students in valley. It is heartening to know that girls are doing way better than boys. I think boys should follow suit,” he said. The Governor welcomed the initiative, which is being funded by the Union Ministry of Science and Technology and conducted by the National Institute of Technology, Srinagar, and said Kashmiri youths should benefit from the initiative. Vohra asked the students to make the most of the opportunity to interact with some well-known scientists in these camps and take up science stream, if they wished to, by availing the support being offered to them. Minister for Higher Education Abdul Gani Malik said there was a need of adequate trained human resource to carry out speedy development in any area. He said there was also a need of well-planned management of knowledge, keeping in view the present and future requirements of the state in all the spheres of development. Former Vice-Chancellor (VC), Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, and renowned scientist Prof Asis Datta advised the young audience to put their thinking caps on and to start turning their ideas into realities. “I returned from the US to my country in 1973 to contribute in the area of scientific and technological research. That should be the primary objective of a person who desires to be a scientist,” Prof Dutta said. NIT Director Rajat Gupta said it was a positive sign that a lot of students in the audience had scored 100 percentile as it was not the case some years back. |
|
Biometric attendance system gets rolling in civil secretariat
Jammu, August 22 Dispensing with the manual of attendance, the state Information Technology Department has issued biometric smart cards to all employees, making it compulsory for them to mark their attendance electronically. Official sources said the General Administration Department (GAD) headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had directed all departments to monitor the attendance of employees on a daily basis and ensure strict implementation of the system by appointing nodal officers. “Earlier, the biometric smart card-based attendance system was introduced at the civil secretariat, but the employees deliberately overlooked the government decision by not marking their attendance electronically on a daily basis,” said a source, adding that the system was not fully complied with due to slackness on the part of heads of various departments. The sources added that the Chief Minister had taken strong exception of the “laxity” of departments, which were not monitoring the attendance on a daily basis, and has directed the administrative heads to tighten the noose around habitual latecomers, failing which they would face the music. “The nodal officers have been asked to forward the biometric attendance sheet on a daily basis (next day) to the in charge of the administration section of the department. The in charge administration section, after showing the name or names of employees on leave, training, official duty (outside the secretariat) will forward the consolidated statement of attendance or leave account to the Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) on the 25th of every month for preparation of salary bills. Late arrivals or early departure will be dealt in accordance with rules,” the GAD order stated. It further said all DDOs had been directed to ensure that the salary of the employees from September onward will be disbursed strictly as per the attendance provided by the in charge administration section. The attendance system was part of the e-governance project sponsored by the Central government and was installed with the help of Jammu and Kashmir Bank. Around 5,000 employees working in the civil secretariat have been issued smart cards for marking attendance electronically. The plan was conceived by the Congress-PDP coalition government headed by Ghulam Nabi Azad, but got delayed due to bureaucratic red-tapism. PUNCTUALITY PREFERRED
|
|
|
Pak firing in Arnia forces villagers to stay away from fields
Jammu, August 22 “Though there is no fresh firing by the Rangers, villagers did not go to their fields today. Yesterday, around a half a dozen villagers were trapped in the Pak firing in Pindi village,” said Sushil Sharma, a villager from Arnia. Sushil said a sense of insecurity and fear had gripped over 10,000 villagers in forward villages of Naryanpur, Trewa, Kathar, Kaku-De-Kothe, Choian, Pindi Camp, Pindi Charkan, Pindi Khurd, Chanana and Jabowal. He said no one from the district administration visited the Arnia sub-sector today to take allay the fear among the villagers. However, Jammu Deputy Commissioner Sanjeev Verma told The Tribune that two Tehsildars, besides officials of the local administration, had been rushed to the forward villages to take stock of the situation and address the concerns of the villagers. “We are aware of the matter and our officers are in constant touch with the people,” said Verma. The DC further said despite disturbance by Pakistan, the villagers had been putting up along the border in Arnia since many years. “There has been no migration from any of the forward villages in Arnia. We are keeping a tab on the situation,” said Verma. The MLA of the Bishnah Assembly constituency, Ashwani Sharma, said villages close to the Zero Line in the Arnia sub-sector were soft targets for the Rangers. “While the BSF is not allowing the people to go to their fields, Pakistan’s latest misadventure has caused fear among the villagers because a few days ago, a border guard was injured in the same sub-sector by the Rangers,” said Sharma. Sharma rued that despite it being a human problem, the state government had failed to provide plots to these villagers in safer zones. “Going by the track record, a ceasefire agreement with a hostile and unreliable neighbour cannot be banked upon anymore. The state government’s lackadaisical attitude has added to the woes of border villagers,” said Sharma. A similar situation had developed in Abdulian, Chandu Chack, Laiyian and other hamlets in the RS Pura sector following the Pakistan firing on August 16 and 17. |
|
|
Life back to normal in Valley after Eid
Srinagar, August 22 Public transport also plied normally today. However, functioning of several educational institutions remained affected for the third consecutive day. By and large Eid passed off peacefully, but stray incidents of stone-throwing were reported from the downtown area of Srinagar city and Sopore in Baramulla district after Eid congregational prayers on Monday. An angry mob, which was coming out of Eidgah after offering Eid prayers, reportedly torched a police vehicle. The protesters were protesting against the house arrest of separatist leaders. The police had to fire several rounds in air to restore normalcy in the area. Some policemen had a narrow escape during the incident. |
|
|
Road to Amarnath Cave: Civil society slams Rather’s statement
Jammu, August 22 The society has taken strong exception to the attempt of the state government to politicise the direction of the Supreme Court to provide basic facilities to the Amarnath pilgrims. A meeting of the state unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party was held yesterday under the chairmanship of its state president Tulsi Dass Langeh. The meeting strongly condemned the joint statement of Rather and Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma in which both the ministers had stated that the government had no plans to construct a road or ropeway to the Amarnath cave. A meeting of the coordination committee of social organisations of the Jammu region was also held under the chairmanship of Gopal Parthasarthi Sharma, convener of the Public Opinion Forum. The meeting observed that the government was playing into the hands of Hurriyat leaders. Sharma, while condemning those who were citing “a threat to ecology” to oppose a road to the cave shrine, said that where were these so-called environmentalists when hundreds of trees were cut down for the construction of the Mugal road. National Panthers Students Union, president also condemned the statement of Rather. He regretted that instead of creating facilities for the pilgrims, the government had been trying to discourage the pilgrims. The workers of the Dogra Front and the Shiv Sena also took out a protest march in the old city of Jammu. They shouted slogans against the Finance Minister and the Hurriyat Conference for politicising the verdict of the Supreme Court. |
|
|
Wamiq Farooq killing case
Srinagar, August 22 The CJM told the police to investigate into the circumstances that lead to the death of Wamiq. Wamiq, a Class VII student, was allegedly killed by a teargas shell fired by the police on January 31, 2010, in the downtown area of Srinagar. The directions of the court came following submission by advocate Ajaz A Dar, the appearing counsel for Wamiq’s family, that the SIT be directed to conduct the investigations into the case expeditiously and submit the progress report on a daily basis. The CJM, Rajeev Gupta, was also informed by the prosecution today that the SIT had been constituted strictly in accordance with the earlier court directions. “It appears that the SIT has been constituted for investigating the case under FIR 12/2010 of Police Station, Nowhatta, which again is not in consonance with the order of this court dated February 5, 2011. The import of the said order is not to investigate FIR 12/2010, but the SIT was constituted for investigating the circumstances which lead to the death of Wamiq Farooq,” the CJM observed in his orders passed today. The family has been maintaining that Wamiq was killed after a tear smoke shell fired by the police hit him on the head while he was playing carom. The police has named the boy as a “miscreant” in its FIR. Stating that the SIT has the mandate under Section 202 of the CrPC to investigate into the circumstances, the CJM ordered that it (SIT) should investigate the case in accordance with the order passed by the court on February 5, 2011. “The SIT shall report the progress of the investigation on a fortnightly basis through Ajaz Ahmad Khan, SP (Headquarters), Srinagar. The matter shall come up for further consideration on September 8, 2012,” the court said. |
|
|
Accused in murder case escapes from Kathua jail
Jammu, August 22 They said the inmate was engaged in some routine work in the jail. Suran, 35, a resident of Basohli, was undergoing trial in the murder case since 2008. All the 124 prisoners were present
during head count at 6 am, but Suran was reported missing. Navin Agarwal, ADGP, Prisons, along with other police officers also reached the jail to look into
the matter The Jammu and Kashmir Police and jail police have launched a manhunt to nab the prisoner on the run. Three on-duty jail officials have also been put under suspension. The
jail also houses about 50 militants. |
|
|
Army arrests two suspects near LoC in Poonch
Jammu, August 22 The arrested persons have been identified as Mohammad Sadiq, a resident of Noorkote village, and Sabar Hussain, a resident of Nakerkate village in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the spokesperson said. Nothing incriminating was recovered from their possession, he said. The spokesperson said the duo was
handed over to the police today afternoon. |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
