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Govt seeks more time to file response
Minister reviews progress of educational schemes
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Involve youth to avert environmental disasters, says experts
Workshop for panchayati raj representatives begins
Power department to set up grievance redressal cell
Traffic police unaware of govt order
School urges Governor to relocate bridge over Jhelum
Lolab residents protest against water scarcity
Jammu dist seal berth in football tourney
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Govt seeks more time to file response
Srinagar, August 22 The PIL alleged that Pahalgam Master Plan 2005-2025 was constituted by the Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA). It has not been made in accordance with its aims and objectives. It was also alleged that the Master Plan had been changed to benefit a particular group of persons in the area. After holding numerous hearings, the high court in 2011 had constituted an expert committee to study the master plan, which submitted its final report in November last year. As directed by the high court on July 22, the government was supposed to file its response to the report submitted by an expert committee constituted by the high court to study Pahalgam Master Plan and its violations today. As the matter came up for hearing before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Muzaffar Attar, Advocate-General Qadri sought more time to file the response by submitting that the government was reviewing the Pahalgam Master Plan. Granting the plea, the Bench has now posted the matter for further hearing on September 17. “The submission made by the Advocate-General that government is reviewing the Pahalgam Master Plan is very significant. The expert committee report has vindicated our position that the master plan was not people-friendly and it was changed to benefit a particular lot,” said lawyer Parvez Imroz after today’s hearing. According to sources, the five-member expert committee in its report has shed light on the illegal constructions by the violation of master plan besides holding the master plan erroneous. The petitioner had also submitted that the inhabitants of Pahalgam living there for generations were not allowed to make improvement to their dwellings as their area had been demarcated as non-permissible and green zone in the master plan. |
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Minister reviews progress of educational schemes
Srinagar, August 22 “The meeting discussed issues related to the construction of school buildings, uniform for students and creation of posts for teacher,” said an official spokesperson. He said the schools being run under the SSA and RMSA in Kathua district and their issues were particularly discussed in the meeting. Addressing the meeting, Sharma urged the officers to speed up the construction of school buildings so that the students living in far-flung areas are provided better educational infrastructure facilities of class rooms, libraries and science laboratories. Manohar Lal said adult education centres at village level play a pivotal role in the enhancement of capabilities of the unemployed youth and hence improves the economic condition of the area. He also directed the officers concerned for setting up of primary and middle schools in uncovered areas of Kathua district under the schemes launched by the central and the state government. “Principal Secretary to Chief Minister BB Vyas; Secretary Education Farooq Ahmad Factoo; Director School Education Kashmir Mohammad Shafi Rather; Director School Education Jammu Gulzar Qurashi; Director RMSA Hilal Ahmad Parray and Joint Director Planning Education department officers were present in the meeting,” the spokesperson said.
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Involve youth to avert environmental disasters, says experts
Srinagar, August 22 Various academicians and scientists pointed towards the loopholes in scientific and technological research as the main cause behind the non-availability of sufficient studies on Kashmir. Professor Talat Ahmad, Vice-Chancellor, University of Kashmir, emphasised on the need to capitalise various advantages of the Kashmir’s unique geography and bio-diversity. He said the students should develop acumen for making careers in bio-sciences and earth sciences. He said, “Recently we have started several disaster management courses at University of Kashmir for students to possess adequate natural disaster coping skills, especially when the Valley is seismically very active and prone to natural disasters”. Professor Abdul Wahid, Vice-Chancellor, Central University of Kashmir, expressed resentment over the lesser percentage of students in basic science courses and said various universities of Kashmir should start a rigorous programme for basic science courses so that interest among students remains intact. Professor Asis Datta, former Vice-Chancellor, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Delhi, said: “The youth are the future of the country. They should shoulder the responsibility of nation building.
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Workshop for panchayati raj representatives begins
Srinagar, August 22 The workshop is being organised jointly by the Institute of Management and Public Administration (IMPA) and Department of Rural Development in collaboration with the society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), New Delhi. Stressing on the need for adequate capacity building workshops for the panchayati raj representatives, Sagar said, “It is necessary to make them understand their duties and proper implementation of the democratic decentralisation of powers and various flagship schemes.” He said the government had already empowered the panches and sarpanches with the powers of 14 vital departments and in this regard the necessary orders had already been passed and instructions had been conveyed at the ground level. Madhav Lal, Chief Secretary, in his address said: “After holding successful panchayat elections, it has been proved that adequate powers given to panchayats in order to achieve the objectives of participatory planning process were sufficient.” He said that such workshops acted as a catalyst to move forward the plans of development. He stressed on focused attention at district and block levels with proper documentation of the processes underway. Director-General IMPA Dr Pawan Kotwal while giving a detailed account of capacity building of PRIs said, “As many as 400 department resource persons have been imparted necessary training so that they can conduct and impart further training sessions to the panchayati raj representatives in their respective areas.” He said various exposure tours to several panchayats in various states of the country had been organised in order to acquaint them with proper functioning of panchayat systems. |
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Power department to set up grievance redressal cell
Srinagar, August 22 This was disclosed today by the Principal Secretary, PDD, Sudanshu Pandey, while briefing Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the legislative Assembly about the achievements registered by the department. Lauding the PDD for providing uninterrupted power supply during the holy month of Ramadan, the PAC, however, urged the PDD authorities to make its enforcement wing more proactive to check power thefts. “The Committee, which met here under the chairmanship of MLA Rafi Ahmad Mir, stressed upon the authorities concerned to gear up their field functionaries to ensure maximum revenue from the consumers of the state as per target fixed for the purpose”, said a government spokesman. He said, “Threadbare discussions were also held on the Baglihar Power Project and audit paras pertaining to the PDD. However, after a satisfactory reply from the department, the Committee dropped the audit para pertaining to the PDD regarding excess payment due to admission of higher rates of duty tax.” The panel, spokesman said, also appreciated the department for recovering the tax amount from the firms who have executed the works. “The Principal Secretary, PDD, Sudanshu Pandey, who briefed the Committee about the achievements registered by the department, informed that an Independent Consumer Grievance Redressal Cell shall be set up within 3 months for the redressal of grievances of consumers regarding excess billing etc”, the spokesman said. Pandey told the panel that the department would procure electricity worth Rs 200 crore shortly. He also informed that the construction work on the Baglihar Power Project was on full swing.
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Traffic police unaware of govt order
Srinagar, August 22 The traffic police, which is to enforce the direction of the state government, claims that they are not privy to any such government order. “We have not received any such order from the Transport Department,” said Inspector-General of Police (Traffic) Muneer Khan. “As and when we receive the order we will enforce these directions.” On June 18, the Transport Commissioner and Chairman, Transport Authority, had issued a notification saying that “if the drivers fail to display the attested photocopy and details of their driver’s licence on the windscreen of their vehicles, it will entail appropriate action under law.” In the same notification, the government had also asked the conductors to have a licence. Transport Commissioner Mehraj Ahmed Kakroo said since the notification was issued by the government they have been trying to create awareness about these directions. “It is a fact that the traffic police has not got the copy of the notification. But we have been creating awareness about the new direction among the drivers who come to our various offices across the Valley,” Kakroo said. Residents allege that this shows the way government works in the state. “It is shocking that three months after the notification was issued, which would have helped in streamlining the traffic to some extent, the traffic police has not got the order for implementing it. This shows the seriousness with which the government works in Kashmir,” said Abdul Rashid, a social worker. “If the drivers display licence it would at least ensure that those who don’t have a licence will not drive the commercial vehicles,” he added. — Mehraj Ahmed Kakroo, Transport Commissioner |
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School urges Governor to relocate bridge over Jhelum
Srinagar, August 22 The delegation led by Sister Jyoti Thomas, Principal, Presentation Convent Higher Secondary School, Rajbagh, Srinagar, called on the Governor at the Raj Bhawan today and presented him a memorandum of demands. “In the memorandum, Sister Thomas urged the relocation of a bridge which is proposed to be constructed over the Jhelum. The Governor has asked AH Samoon, Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir, to convene an urgent meeting to solve the problem,” said an official. — TNS
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Lolab residents protest against water scarcity
Kupwara, August 22 Women protesters blocked the Lolab-Kupwara highway near Wawoora for hours. They have demanded the immediate restoration of water supply to their areas. “We do not have a single drop of water to drink. The water supply to these areas has been badly affected for the past three weeks,” said Zoona Begum, a protester. “We want an early restoration of water supply to our houses. We will not allow traffic to ply on the highway unless our demands are met,” said Shabir Ahmad, a local
resident. “A nearby stream has dried up due to prolonged dry spell. We have nothing to drink and to add to our miseries the water supply has been suspended for the past few weeks,” said a protester. Kupwara division executive engineer Reyaz Ahmad said water tankers had been pressed into service at some places to meet the water requirement of the area. —
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Jammu dist seal berth in football tourney
Jammu, August 22 Jammu district had achieved the feat by scripting wins in the U-14 and the U-17 age groups in the divisional-level inter-district tournament held at the GGM Science College football ground organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports (DYSS) under an overall supervision of Ashok Kumar, Deputy Director, Jammu. In the U-14 boys finals, Jammu drubbed Udhampur by a solitary goal in a keen contest. In the U-17 boys final, Jammu thrashed Rajouri by 3-0 in a one-sided contest. In all, 64 footballers from the three districts of Jammu participated in the event. Prominent among those present on the occasion were ZPEOs Manorama Sharma, Pushpa Sharma, Sarita Pandha, PEMs Jaswant Singh, Rakesh Kakar and PET Rattan Lal. The matches were
officiated by Bharat Bhushan Khajuria, Mohinder Singh, Bharat Bhushan Sharma, Rohit and Kushay Kumar. |
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The state government is reviewing the Pahalgam Master Plan and has sought time from the court to file its response.
The statement was made by Advocate-General Mohammad Ishaq Qadri today before a
High Court Division Bench, which was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL)
about Pahalgam Master Plan violations filed by the Pahalgam Peoples’ Welfare
Organisation.
In order to avert environmental disasters looming over the Kashmir valley, experts have suggested the intervention of young scientific minds from
the Valley itself. This came up during the Inspire programme at National Institute of Technology at
Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC).
Srinagar, August 22
According to traffic police records, most of the accidents happen as people without driver’s licence drive the commercial vehicles.