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Udhampur-Baramulla rail link to cost Rs 19,565 crore
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empowering panchayats
Central agencies seek custody of rogue policeman
Geelani slams Taliban for bombing civilians
Grenade sold to frame civilian as militant
Prosecution of cops from 1990 to 2011
Army jawan, cop held
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Trans-Border Tunnel
Jammu, August 26 “The BSF authorities have decided to start fresh digging across the fencing to find out the perfect alignment of the trans-border underground tunnel, which was detected near the Chilyari border outpost on July 28,” a source said. The source said the Geological Survey of India (GSI) had done the digging work on this side of the fencing and had detected a 540-metre-long portion of the tunnel. “The BSF has restarted the digging work across the fencing on its own to find out the exact alignment of the tunnel, which had been dug 25 feet under the surface from the other side of the border. The GSI team left the area almost a fortnight ago,” the source said. The BSF will continue the work for the next few days despite apprehensions that the Pakistan Rangers would try to sabotage the digging work across the fencing, the source said. “Though the authorities had already assumed that the tunnel was constructed to push infiltrators and smuggle narcotics into the Indian side, the BSF would try to gather some
more vital information vis-à-vis intention of the neighbouring country behind such an act.” A local farmer had raised the alarm about an underground tunnel after an area caved-in during rains at Chechwal village along the Chilyari post on July 28. The Union Home Secretary had not ruled out the possibility of more such tunnels along the border and said that the GSI would conduct a survey to detect underground tunnels, if any, along the Indo-Pak border. The BSF had sounded an alert and intensified its vigil following the detection of the tunnel. Singh had also drawn a connection between the discovery of the trans-border tunnel and recurring ceasefire violations by the Pakistan troops, saying the neighbouring country was trying to “mask” the
construction work of the tunnel through unprovoked firing. He had made it clear that India would take up the issue of cross-border firing with Pakistan and they (Pakistani rangers) would have to explain their action. |
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Udhampur-Baramulla rail link to cost Rs 19,565 crore
New Delhi, August 26 The rail link would connect the higher reaches of Kashmir with the rest of the country. The project, which has been divided into three legs, has seen the commissioning of the 119-km-long railway line between Qazigund and Baramulla. However, it is the other parts of the 345-km-long railway line between Udhampur and Baramulla, which are causing a delay in the project mainly due to difficult terrain and inhospitable weather. The railway authorities say 95 per cent work on the 25-km stretch between Udhampur and Katra has been completed and the work on the rest of the 5-km-long stretch is expected to be complete by the end of the year. The progress on the Katra-Qazigund stretch is the slowest. There has been only 13 per cent progress on the 148-km-long stretch. While the Qazigund-Banihal section in Kashmir is expected to be complete between 2012 and 2013, the remaining portion is expected to be complete by December 2017. While the project was initially expected to the complete by 2007, work on the 70-km-long Katra-Dharama stretch, which is part of the 148-km-long Katra-Qazigund section, remained suspended for more than a year due to geological problems during construction. An Expert Committee was appointed to examine various issues, including alternative alignments. Reports say the world’s highest rail bridge being constructed over the Chenab in Reasi district, which is part of the Udhampur-Baramulla railway line, is expected to be ready by December 2015. RAIL CONNECTIVITY
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Youth Cong to seek support of central leadership on Panchayat Act
Srinagar, August 26 All India Youth Congress (AIYC) president Rajeev Satav is scheduled to arrive in Kashmir on Tuesday. Pradesh Youth Congress president Shahnawaz Chaudhary said Satav would address a rally of young panches and sarpanches of south Kashmir in Anantnag on Tuesday. He said they would take up the issue of seeking extension of 73rd and 74th Amendments to the state with the leader. Choudhary said the issue had already been brought to the notice of the Congress high command. They would now urge the central leadership to play an active role in ensuring the implementation of the Act in the state. The Pradesh Youth Congress has been holding a series of district-wide demonstrations seeking implementation of the Act, but without success. A rally was held at Kargil in Ladakh region yesterday. They have already submitted memorandums to several offices of deputy commissioners across the state. “We will cover a few more districts in the Valley in the coming weeks. If our demands continue to be overlooked, we will intensify our protests and may even gherao the Secretariat or sit on a hunger strike. Our protests have been peaceful so far but we are being forced to resort to other means,” Chaudhary added. Some panchayat bodies too have threatened an agitation over the failure of the government to implement the 73rd Amendment or empower them. Sagar had recently rejected the demand saying the government was not bound to extend the 73rd Amendment. |
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empowering panchayats
Neither the ruling NC nor the opposition parties has taken a serious note of the campaign launched by the Pradesh Youth Congress (PYC) to incorporate the 73rd Amendment of the Indian Constitution in the existing Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act. The NC has smelt a game plan behind the campaign launched by the Congress youth wing for the empowerment of panchayats. The BJP and the Panthers Party took the Congress to task for staging the “drama” to hoodwink the masses. Although no senior NC leader has reacted to PYC’s campaign, it was the youth wing of the NC, which lambasted the youth wing of the Congress for indulging in “cheap politics”. “The Congress is an equal partner in the government so there is no reason for the youth wing of the Congress to launch a campaign for empowering the panchayats,” said Rahul Singh, senior leader of NC’s youth wing. He said Youth Congress leaders were trying to befool the people by launching such “fake” campaigns and added that adequate powers had already been given to the panchayats and there was no need to rake up the issue, especially by the coalition partner. The BJP while ridiculing the campaign of the Congress for panchayat empowerment said, “Extending the 73rd Amendment is a part of the Congress election manifesto, but the party is feeling so helpless and suffocated that it is coming out on the streets to demand the implementation of the Amendment.” Terming the Congress campaign as “bluff”, spokesman of the state unit of the BJP Jitendra Singh said, “If the state Congress leadership is honest about its intentions, then in keeping with the democratic propriety, the party should immediately withdraw from the coalition government, its ministers should immediately resign from the council of ministers and its leaders and workers should join hands with the BJP to launch a joint opposition agitation against the NC-led government.” Senior leader of the Panthers Party Balwant Singh Mankotia has also lambasted the Congress leadership for adopting double standards on the issue of panchayat empowerment. Mankotia pointed out that a high-level delegation had met the Prime Minister, UPA chairperson and Union Home Minister recently, but the delegation had ignored the issue of strengthening the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the state. |
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Central agencies seek custody of rogue policeman
Srinagar, August 26 Sources said a section of the J&K Police was not in favour of granting access to either the Intelligence Bureau or any other paramilitary force for custodial questioning of the arrested policeman. “The J&K Police had exposed this police-militant nexus. It is questioning the rogue policeman who is in our custody. The investigations are on. The central agencies lack the mandate to investigate the crime,” said a senior police officer. “Once we complete the investigations, we will share the results of the probe with the central agencies as part of the overall synergy between the state police, intelligence agencies and paramilitary forces,” he added. Shigan, alias Omar Mukthar, along with his accomplice Imtiyaaz Ahmed Gojri, alias Amir, was arrested last week for his involvement in 13 deadly attacks, including an assassination bid on Cabinet minister Ali Mohammad Sagar and an attack on the Civil Secretariat. The two were also allegedly involved in former DSP Abdul Hameed Bhat’s killing earlier this month in Srinagar. Shigan was posted in the security wing of the police and was deployed at the Srinagar residence of Bandipore SP Bashir Ahmed. This is the second time in the past three months that central agencies have sought the custody of rogue policemen. Central intelligence agencies had to face stiff resistance from the local police over the custody of four policemen arrested for their terror links by the J&K Police in June. After pressure from central agencies, the state police involved the Intelligence Bureau in interrogating the detained policemen. |
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Tourists soon to get a taste of unexplored Kashmir
Anantnag, August 26 “The idea is to make tourists stay for a prolonged time, which in turn will boost the tourism industry and address the unemployment problem in the state,” Minister for Tourism and Culture Nawang Rigzin Jora said at a seminar in the Kokernag area of south Kashmir. He said the time was ripe to think beyond Gulmarg and Pahalgam and explore the untapped tourism potential of other parts of Kashmir. “There is so much untapped potential in the tourism sector and so many places can be developed as major tourist destinations. This can be a major source of economic growth as well as employment generation in the state,” Jora said. He, however, said a fine balance was to be maintained so that tourism does not harm the environment. “The aim of the government will be to develop basic infrastructure at these 20 destinations and then private players can step in. We will facilitate their negotiations with locals for land acquisitions, however the rest of the development is to be safeguarded by the private players,” said the Minister. Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani said while the government was in the process of identifying new tourist destinations across the state, locals and private players in the industry should be ready to reap benefits of the government initiative. Wani added that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was supportive of any new ventures in the field of tourism and the government was going to continue the support. Asserting that tourism was not an indicator of peace in the Valley, the Minister said, “It is just an industry and like any other industry it is considered as an economic activity. It will be grossly unfair, if the huge influx of tourists is considered to be an indicator of peace,” he said. |
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Governor visits Aman Setu
Srinagar, August 26 An official spokesperson said the Governor was received by the General Officer Commanding, 19 Infantry Division; Commander, 12 Infantry Brigade; and other Army officers. First Lady Usha Vohra accompanied the Governor during the visit. “The GOC and the Commander briefed the Governor about the security situation in the Uri sector,” the spokesperson added. The Governor interacted with the officers and jawans. “The Governor lauded the officers and Army men for guarding the frontiers of the country in challenging conditions, far away from their homes,” the spokesperson said. Prior to the ceasefire along the LoC in 2003, the Indian and Pakistan soldiers used to exchange heavy fire and artillery at Kaman post. A bus service was launched between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad on April 7, 2005 through Aman Setu. The bus service is availed by divided families who have relatives on both sides of the LoC. Three years after the bus service, the LoC trade began on October 21, 2008.
— TNS |
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Geelani slams Taliban for bombing civilians
Geelani’s criticism of the Taliban, who are fighting against American-led NATO forces in Afghanistan and Pakistani army in the Pakistan’s tribal areas, has come as a surprise as Geelani is considered ideologically close to the world view propagated by the Islamist militia. “Shia-Sunni (infighting) is not Islam, burning of schools is not Islam and bombing unarmed (civilians), be it by the Americans or by the Taliban, is not Islam,” said Geelani while addressing an Eid-milan party at his residence here. He said the act of Taliban militants bombing civilians “puzzled” him. “With what inspiration Taliban, especially the Tehreek-e-Taliban, Pakistan, is doing so, is a puzzle to us,” said Geelani, who spoke more like a theologian than a politician — quoting extensively from the Quran and Urdu poetry by Mohammad Iqbal. A bulk of Pakistani Taliban militants come from Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province and its tribal areas. Many Pakistani militants killed in Kashmir in the last 20 years were from the same region. Geelani, however, maintained his Islamist tone, saying secularism and nationalism had failed to bring peace to the world and claimed “only” Islam could pacify the warring nations. Geelani, who had led the funeral prayers in absentia in Srinagar for the Taliban ally and Al-Qaida chief, Osama bin Laden, soon after his killing in Pakistan’s Abbottabad city, said only Islam could establish peace. |
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Grenade sold to frame civilian as militant
Rajouri, August 26 The police arrested the main accused, Aurangzeb, a resident of Gurdan Bala, and his three accomplices — Abdul Rashid, alias Kaka, a resident of Rajouri, constable Abdul Rahim, posted in Ramban district, and TA jawan Mohammed Hanief, a resident of Palma. The TA jawan had allegedly sold a grenade for Rs 5,000 to the constable, who tried to plant it in a shop owned by Javed Ahmed of Gurdanbala, Rajouri, with the help of Javed’s brother, Aurangzeb, sources said. On the intervening night of August 24 and 25, a police team caught Aurangzeb while breaking into the shop at Darhali Bridge. During search, a Chinese grenade was recovered from his possession. On questioning, he revealed that he had an altercation with his brother, Javed Iqbal, over some family dispute a few days ago and had conspired with Abdul Rashid, alias Kaka, to implicate his brother in a criminal case. Abdul Rashid along with constable Abdul Rahim allegedly procured a grenade from TA jawan Mohammed Hanief. The grenade was later handed over to Aurangzeb but he was caught while planting it in his brother’s shop. A case has been registered at the Rajouri police station. IGP Dilbag Singh dismissed the prevalence of arms smuggling and said: “It’s a conspiracy to take revenge. We will take action against those found guilty.” The accused were likely to be shifted to a joint interrogation centre (JIC) for interrogation.
the crime
The TA jawan had allegedly sold a grenade for Rs 5,000 to a constable, who tried to plant it in a shop owned by Javed Ahmed of Gurdanbala, Rajouri, with the help of Javed’s brother, Aurangzeb |
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Prosecution of cops from 1990 to 2011
Srinagar, August 26 The orders of the CIC, GR Sofi, came following a second appeal filed by human rights activist Khurram Parvez, who in his RTI application dated January 2012, had sought the total number of prosecutions ordered against the police personnel from 1990 till 2011. Khurram had also sought the names of persons prosecuted, their units and the results of the prosecutions, including the quantum of punishment ordered. He had also sought the details of the incidents alleged or found to have been committed and the status of the cases. Before the appellant approached the CIC with an appeal, the Public Information Officer (PIO) concerned of the Police Headquarters in his response had stated that the application could not be disposed of because it was wrongly addressed and had been delivered to the Director General’s office. While disposing of his first appeal, the First Appellant Authority of the police on March 9 had directed him to approach the PIOs concerned at various administrative levels in the police, which was objected to by the activist by filing a second appeal before the CIC. “Agreeing with the fact that there are a number of PIOs, who have been designated separately, the fact remains that the FAA should have directed the field formations to provide information to the appellant,” the CIC observed in his decision delivered recently. In their submissions, the representatives of the PHQ also resisted giving names of accused policemen for their personal security by invoking Section 8 (1) (f) of the RTI Act. However, the applicant during his submissions also did not insist on disclosing the names of individuals. “The FAA is directed to reconsider the appeal of the applicant, collect the information from various PIOs and provide it to the applicant within 40 days,” Sofi ordered, while disposing of the appeal under the RTI Act. |
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Shah Rukh to romance Katrina at Dal Lake
Srinagar, August 26 Shah Rukh Khan will arrive in Srinagar on Monday for the shooting of Yash Chopra’s untitled directorial film, which also stars Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma. The film will bring together Oscar winning musician AR Rahman and lyricist Gulzar. “Director Yash Chopra, his son and some of the crew members have arrived for a pre-shooting survey of venues,” said a police officer. “The film is likely to be shot at Pahalgam in south Kashmir, Dal Lake, Mughal Gardens and the foothills of the Zaberwan Hills in Srinagar,” he added. The shooting of the film is in progress in the Ladakh region. Shah Rukh is scheduled to shoot in the Valley for three days. The police said all security arrangements had been made for the shooting. “Keeping in view Shah Rukh’s popularity, we have deployed extra policemen for his security,” said the police officer. Officials of the Tourism Department said before the onset of militancy in the Valley, more than half of Bollywood movies were shot in Kashmir, but militancy put an end to it. The shooting of movies started again in the Valley in 1998. Filmmakers are again setting foot in Kashmir, but it will take time before Kashmir once again becomes a popular destination for filmmakers. Only three movies were shot in Kashmir between 1998 and 2003, which included ‘Meray Apne’ and ‘Mann’. Talat Parvaiz, Director, Tourism, Kashmir, said Shah Rukh’s visit to the Valley would go a long way in promoting tourism. “Shah Rukh’s film shooting in Kashmir will revive the love of Bollywood for Kashmir,” said Parvaiz. The films shot in Kashmir during the last decade after militancy declined included ‘Mission Kashmir’, ‘Yahaan’, ‘Lamha’, ‘Saat Khoon Maaf’ and ‘Sikandar’. Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali also shot ‘Rockstar’ in the Valley. “I have been trying to get filmmakers to Kashmir for some years,” said Nazir A Bakshi, a travel operator. “We hope that the filming of Shah Rukh’s movie will send out positive signals,” said Bakshi. Yash Chopra has also shot his popular films ‘Silsila’ and ‘Kabhi Kabhi’ in the Valley. |
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Rajouri, August 26 The police arrested the main accused, Aurangzeb, a resident of Gurdan Bala, and his three accomplices — Abdul Rashid, alias Kaka, a resident of Rajouri, constable Abdul Rahim, posted in Ramban district, and TA jawan Mohammed Hanief, a resident of Palma. — OC
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Jammu, August 26
Srinagar, August 26