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Valley to witness high-profile visits
Indo-Pak talks must not sideline Kashmir issue, says Mehbooba
Omar’s governance-at-doorstep plan heading towards oblivion
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Heavy rain brings flash floods to Valley
Delhi
HC Blast
Problem of pvt schools underpaying teachers remains unaddressed
Indo-Pak
talks
Curtains down on Ladakh festival
Life returns to normal in Sopore
West Pak refugees plan ‘Parliament Chalo’ march
J&K wakes up to Aids threat
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Valley to witness high-profile visits
Srinagar, September 9 It will be the first visit of the Prime Minister to the state this year. He has been regularly visiting the state since 2004, when he had announced the Rs 24,000-crore Prime Minister Reconstruction Plan to make his vision of “Naya Kashmir” (new Kashmir of development and peace) a reality. Kashmir will also see two other high-profile visits this month, ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit, say highly placed sources. President Pranab Mukherjee will be undertaking his first visit to the Kashmir Valley, which has attracted more than 16 lakh tourists and pilgrims this year so far, since he assumed office. Cutting across party lines, the ruling National Conference and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party had voted for Mukherjee. Mukherjee’s visit towards the end of this month will be preceded by that of Vice-President M Hamid Ansari’s, who will be coming to the Valley on September 14. These visits hold special significance for the state and the message it would send out to the world is that the Valley is quiet and things are moving ahead despite desperate attempts from across the Line of Control, a reference to which was made by the Prime Minister on Saturday while addressing DGPs and IGs on the security scenario in the country. The Prime Minister had said: “In Jammu and Kashmir, we are beginning to see increasing infiltration attempts across the Line of Control and even the international border. “The comprehensive scheme of Maritime Domain Awareness to be led by the Navy will help strengthen coastal vigilance, whereas deployment of more permanent border obstacles and better sensors can improve the situation along the land borders. “Notwithstanding the recent pressure for infiltration into Jammu & Kashmir, the collaborative efforts of the police and security forces have led to a significant decline in the number of operating terrorists as also in terrorist violence in the state of the Jammu and Kashmir. “Improvement in the security environment resulted in a successful Amarnath yatra this year and in a record number of tourists visiting the state. The state has also successfully conducted the panchayat elections and is now poised to take up the responsibility of conducting elections to the urban local bodies.”
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Indo-Pak talks must not sideline Kashmir issue, says Mehbooba
Srinagar, September 9 Terming the signing of a new visa agreement between India and Pakistan on Saturday in Islamabad as a “great day”, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said it was “unfortunate” that the state had been “edged out” of the latest round of talks between the
two nations. “By alienating Kashmir, both India and Pakistan are not making the right decision,” Mehbooba told reporters at her Gupkar residence. “Jammu and Kashmir should have been the first beneficiary of this reconciliation, which we do not see happening.” She said isolating the Kashmir issue from the peace process could have “very bad” repercussions here. Mehbooba warned that her party would protest by all democratic means to demand inclusion of Kashmir in the Indo-Pak peace process. The peace process between India and Pakistan which began in 2003 had led to historic confidence-building measures on Kashmir, including a bus service from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad and cross-LoC trade between the two divided Kashmirs. In the recent rounds of peace talks, which had been put on hold after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Kashmir has largely remained sidelined. “J-K is not given its share when India and Pakistan are at peace with each other but J-K suffers the most when the two countries are at war… the repercussions of this will be very bad,” she said. Mehbooba said it was “a shame for our country” that a 12-year-old boy was arrested “for waging a war” on the state. She was referring to the August arrest of a minor boy in downtown Srinagar who was booked for being a part of the crowd which torched a police vehicle. “We should think where our relations have reached,” she said. The opposition leader said the state should be the “first and foremost” to reap the benefits of the reconciliatory process between India and Pakistan.
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Omar’s governance-at-doorstep plan heading towards oblivion
Jammu, September 9 The state Cabinet, which had decided in May this year to meet once a month in the remote and backward parts of the state to meet people, understand their problems and initiate developmental works accordingly, has apparently failed to keep its word as all Cabinet meetings are being held in the “air-conditioned hall” of the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar. The state government had announced that the Cabinet would meet at remote areas such as Gurez, Machil, Rajouri and Poonch of Jammu region. “In the last week of May, the state Cabinet had held its first meeting in Tangdhar village in Kupwara near the Line of Control, about 180 km from Srinagar. Since then, all the Cabinet meetings have taken place in the air-conditioned hall of the Civil Secretariat, indicating that Omar Abdullah and his colleagues have forgotten their resolve,” a
source said. Sources said the government had itself justified the claim of the Opposition that the move was a gimmick to attract cheap publicity and to put a burden on the state exchequer. The BJP state chief spokesperson, Jitendra Singh, said there was nothing unusual in it, considering the “inconsistent record” of the Omar-led government. “This is yet another glaring example of its inconsistency,” he remarked. Singh said the move had done nothing but waste the money of the state exchequer. “They think the move will help them in taking governance to the doorstep but the question is whether they are actually meeting people in these areas. It is the same group of ministers and bureaucrats which keeps interacting with each other without taking the people in the loop,” he added. National Panthers Party (NPP) working chairman Harsh Dev Singh too mocked the government for making “hollow announcements to engage and occupy the minds of the people”. “Nobody (from public) has any access to the entire Cabinet. If they are really concerned about public grievances, they should hold public darbars by inviting local MLAs, sarpanches and panches so that on-the-spot decisions can be taken. Unfortunately, there has been no follow-up of the announcements of this government,” he said. After chairing a Cabinet meeting in Karnah (Tangdhar), Omar had stated, “Time will tell if we are able to deliver the results of such Cabinet meetings to the areas we visit.” He had restarted the practice which was first put in place during his grandfather and National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah’s regime. |
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Heavy rain brings flash floods to Valley
Srinagar, September 9 Srinagar city received 22.5 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours, an official of the Meteorological Department said. The Met official said the maximum temperature recorded in the Valley on Sunday was 18.9°C, which is nearly 10 degrees below normal. The minimum temperature recorded in the city was 16.2°C. The Weather Department has said “heavy to very heavy rain could occur at a few places” in the state during the next 24 hours. “There is a possibility of flash floods in hilly areas,” the official said. An official of the State Disaster Management Cell said 33 people, who were trapped in a flash flood, were rescued after a day-long operation in south Kashmir’s Shopian district. Aamir Ali, coordinator of the Disaster Management Cell, said a flash flood had hit south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, where four boys were still trapped. Rains have brought a respite from the sweltering heat in the Kashmir valley, where mercury continued to be several notches above normal for most part of summer. Since mid-July this year, the weather had remained four to six degrees above normal in the Valley, which is otherwise known among tourist for its cool weather. A weak monsoon, which caused little rain in Kashmir, was blamed on the rise in temperature. The fresh spell of rainfall, which began on Friday evening, and is expect to continue for the next 24 hours, has brought the mercury down considerably. The maximum rainfall over the last 24 hours was received at Qazigund in south Kashmir, where the Met recorder 79.8 mm of rainfall. All towns and villages in south and north Kashmir were lashed by the rains. The tourist resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir recorded 29.2 mm of rainfall while Kupwara district in north Kashmir received 30.8 mm of rainfall, the Met official said. |
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Rains rekindle hopes of apple growers
Srinagar, September 9 Rain in August and September is considered good for the fruit industry and the horticulture sector of the Valley. “We are happy that after a long dry spell it is raining in Kashmir. Though production this year is expected to be low, the rain is definitely going to help in the ripening of the apple crop,” said Haji Mohammad Sultan, an apple grower from Baramulla district. The state produces around 18 to 22 lakh metric tonnes of different varieties of fresh and dry fruit, with 80 per cent of the production comprising apple varieties. Official estimates say over 10 lakh people are directly or indirectly associated with the fruit industry in Kashmir. For temperate crops like apple, almond and walnut, moist conditions and precipitation during late August and early September are necessary. “The rain in this season is highly beneficial for the apple crop. Thankfully, the dry spell, which persisted in the Valley, particularly in north Kashmir, for one and a half month is over,” said Dr Farooq Ahmad Lone, associate professor at the Division of Environmental Sciences, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir. Dr Farooq said if the dry and drought like conditions persisted during this season, the apple fruit would start withering and ripening would get delayed. “The rains will now recharge the soil and enhance its moisture content, which is going to replenish the moisture content of the apple fruit. The moisture also helps in ripening and development of the fruit colour,” he said. Since spring this year, the apple farmers of the Valley have been grappling with weather vagaries. The low temperatures during the flowering season substantially affected the apple crop this year. Later, high speed winds coupled with hailstorms damaged the apple fruit in many parts of the Valley, particularly in Shopian in south Kashmir. The apple farmers and orchard owners in other parts of the Kashmir valley are also waiting for the rains. “I am hopeful that whatever is left of the apple crop in Kashmir will get benefited by the rain. If the market conditions remain stable, the apple is expected to fetch good price this year,” said Ghulam Mohammad Lone, an apple grower from Ushkara village of north Kashmir. |
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Delhi
HC Blast
Jammu, September 9 Fifteen persons were killed and 80 others injured in the blast on September 7, 2011. “Reports of Junaid’s killing in inter-group rivalry are being verified but these have not been confirmed,” said Doda-Ramban-Kishtwar range DIG Garib Dass. “We have come across reports that he had been killed in inter-group rivalry but no solid evidence has come to the fore as yet,” he added. The DIG said the police was also keen on arresting Shakir Hussain, alias Chota Hafiz, as he was a confidant of Amir Kamal and could spill the beans vis-à-vis the blast. Police sources said following reports of Junaid’s killing, a police team had taken Sajad Ahmed Mir, alias Rizwan, an aide of another accused Amir Kamal, who was captured in an encounter on August 6, to the higher reaches of Kishtwar to trace his body. “The latest search had to be called off in view of bad weather in the upper reaches,” a source said. Rizwan was captured while Aamir Kamal along with his associate Mohammed Shafi Hajam was killed in the encounter with security forces in Kishtwar. Sources said since November, they had not heard of Junaid, who was suspected to have been killed by his own men from Hizbul Mujahideen. After the NIA had traced an email claiming responsibility for the blast to a cyber café in Kishtwar, it had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information leading to the arrest of Amir Kamal, Junaid Akram and Shakir Hussain, alias Chota Hafiz. Junaid is the younger brother of Dr Wasim Akram Malik, a medico, who had been pursuing his studies in Bangladesh when the ISI had reportedly approached him to carry out the blast outside the Delhi High Court. Dr Wasim is already in the custody of the National Investigating Agency and is facing trial for murder, criminal conspiracy and waging war against the country. The NIA had filed a chargesheet against six accused - Wasim Akram Malik, Aamir Abbas Dev, Abid Hussain, Chota Hafiz, Amir Kamal and Junaid Akram, all militants of Hizbul
Mujahideen.
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Opt for eco-tourism to protect environment, says Omar
Srinagar, September 9 The Chief Minister was addressing a public gathering at Dubjan after laying the foundation stone of Eco-Tourism Village at Heerpora on Mughal Road from the Shopian side today. Omar said the development of eco-villages along the picturesque Mughal Road would attract nature lovers and tourists to the area and help in generation of economy for the people. He said tourism embedded economic development and welfare of the state, as such its safeguard was the national duty of all residents. Omar asked people to plant trees and be actively involved in safeguarding forests of the state. Underlining the economic importance of Mughal Road, Omar said with the completion of the road, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah’s dream of connecting the Valley with Poonch and Rajouri via Shopian and open up backward pockets for economic betterment had been realised. The Chief Minister thanked the Central government for providing financial support to the state for the construction of the road. He said economic benefits of the road had started percolating to people in the remote area. He also laid foundations for forest, wildlife and tourist infrastructures in the area. Eco-Tourism Village at Heerpora is being developed at a cost of Rs 70 lakh. Out of the total money, Rs 50 lakh would be spent on infrastructure and Rs 20 lakh on the capacity building of youth of the area to help them take to tourism for earning livelihood. The Chief Minister also inaugurated a colony of wildlife at Dubjan and laid the foundation of a shelter shed at Peer Ki Gali. He said the last three and a half years of his government was a success story on both the peace and development fronts. He said the restoration of peace had helped in carrying forward development programmes at a faster pace and attended the public grievances with more attention and concentration. Minister for Forest Mian Altaf Ahmad, Minister for Tourism Nawang Rigzin Jora and Minister of State for R&B Javid Ahmad Dar accompanied the Chief Minister. |
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Problem of pvt schools underpaying teachers remains unaddressed
Srinagar, September 9 Most of the teachers working at the 2,453 private educational institutions registered with the Education Department are graduates, postgraduates or doctorates. However, when it comes to the salaries, some of them are paid as less as Rs 1,000-Rs 1,500 per month which is not even half of the salary drawn by a government teacher. The private schools are yet to comply with the wage standards as per the provisions of the SRO 123 under the J&K School Education Act. The problem has remained unaddressed since the Directorate of School Education requires written complaints from teachers to take action against the concerned school management. Many private schoolteachers, fearing ouster from their workplace, resist complaining to the government authorities. School Education Director Muhammad Shafi Rather said no complaint pertaining to wages had been received by a private schoolteacher so far. “According to the rules, if it is proved that a private school is paying insufficient salaries to its staff, it many even face de-recognition but teachers do not need to come forward and voice this issue,” he said. Teachers, on the other hand, claim that the managements of most of the schools have good rapport with bureaucrats, which makes the task of complaining risky and futile. The department, as of now, is sans a policy for monitoring the functioning of the private educational institutions, leave alone monitoring the salaries of private teachers. “The truth is that the government has failed to come up with specific guidelines which could secure the rights of teachers, especially in terms of wages. Our working hours are longer than those of the government schoolteachers but we are paid peanuts as compared to them,” Maaroosha Jan, a private schoolteacher, said.
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Indo-Pak talks
Srinagar, September 9 Soz said the latest round of talks for strengthening of the confidence building measures between India and Pakistan were fully supported by all political parties in both the countries. He hoped that the mood would be sustained, if Pakistan showed its resolve to fight terrorism to the best of its ability. He said this while interacting with people during his visit to various areas of the Pampore Assembly constituency today where he had gone to take stock of problems being faced by the people. He was accompanied by Minister of Youth Services and Sports RS Chib, vice-president of the JKPCC Ghulam Nabi Monga, general secretary of the party Mohammad Anwar Bhat and Congress functionaries. Soz assured the people that he would ensure adequate drinking water supply, medical facilities and repair of roads in the area. He said he would take up the issue of power supply in the area with the government. The JKPCC chief said the area had been neglected as far as civic amenities were concerned. He sanctioned funds for the provision of a transformer and a generator for operating computers at a school in the area. Chib told the people that he had issued instructions to the Director, Sports, for provision of a sports field in the area to promote sports among youth of the backward area. |
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Curtains down on Ladakh festival
Leh, September 9 Punjab Governor Shivraj Singh Patil was the chief guest on the occasion. He is in Leh district for a six-day visit to the region. The Punjab Governor will attend the meeting of the north-zone cultural centre board, scheduled to be held on September 10. He said, “The culture of Ladakh seems to be different but it is an important part of Indian culture and is the only way to connect it from different parts of the country.” He assured goodwill and support to Ladakh from the Punjab government. The chief executive councillor, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Rigzin Spalbar apprised the visiting dignitaries on the occasion. — OC |
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Centre sanctions Rs 700 cr for road network
Jammu, September 9 He informed this after laying the foundation stone of multipurpose community Hall at Mahasha Basti in Bahu Fort, here today. Bhalla said the state government has formulated a comprehensive plan to upgrade the standard of living of the urban poor. He said, a double-storey community hall complex would be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 50 lakh within six months, providing basic amenities to the urban poor. The local residents can avail it for arranging their social as well as religious functions on minimum charges, he said. The minister asked the authorities concerned to complete the project within a stipulated period of time. He said the government has taken various innovative measures to develop all the urban pockets on modern lines by providing all basic amenities like safe drinking water, road connectivity, healthcare, education, electricity, sewerage besides better lanes and drains. Laying stress on maintaining quality standards, Bhalla asked the authorities to conduct regular inspections to ensure use of quality material in development works undertaken by the government in every corner of the state. |
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Arms seized from hideout in Rajouri
Rajouri, September 9 The security forces seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition from the hideout. The cache included two AK-47 magazines, 38 rounds of AK-47, seven probable IEDs, four IED circuits, 10 hand grenades, 52 electric detonators, two papers, nine white plastic boxes with brown material (probable explosives), a broken mobile phone without a SIM card and two bandages. The hideout was located in the mountains of the Pir Panjal range. Reports said the search operation was launched in the morning after intelligence inputs about the presence of the hideout in the general area of Jaranwala. The area was cordoned off and a search operation was launched. The items recovered probably belonged to some militants operating in the area in the past and could have been used by terrorists. The timely recovery of the arms, ammunition and explosives has thwarted any untoward incident planned by militants. |
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Life returns to normal in Sopore
Kupwara, September 9 An eerie calm, however, prevailed in Barath Kalan, 7 km from Sopore, where militants killed SPO Reyaz Ahmad in the shootout. The condition of TA jawan Tariq Ahmad, who was critically injured in the firing, is stated to be critical. He is undergoing treatment at SKIMS in Soura, Srinagar. Reyaz Ahmad’s funeral, which was held this morning, was attended by a large number of people. Meanwhile, the police and paramilitary forces conducted searches in many houses in Barath Kalan and its adjoining areas. However, no arrests were made. The police has launched a hunt to nab the assailants, a police officer said.
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West Pak refugees plan ‘Parliament Chalo’ march
Jammu, September 9 Earlier, they had decided to start the march from Monday but after a meeting of their representatives this evening, they decided to postpone the march by a few days to involve more organisations in their struggle. “We will launch a ‘deciding battle’ this time. Taking note of the latest developments, we have decided to postpone our tomorrow’s Parliament Chalo cycle march by a few days,” said Labha Ram Gandhi, chairman of the West Pakistani Refugees Action Committee (WPSAC). He said the WPSAC had decided to rope in more organisations in its struggle for getting citizenship rights. “It is really encouraging for us that the NSCC has taken cognisance of our plight and served notices on the Centre and state government,” he said, adding that they had decided to meet representatives of all political parties at the national level to evolve a consensus on the issue. Labha Gandhi said the Kashmir-centric parties, be it the ruling National Conference or opposition Peoples Democratic Party, were opposing citizenship rights to West Pakistan refugees by taking the plea of the special status given to the state. The “stateless” West Pakistan refugees, a majority of them Dalits, have decided to go to Delhi on cycles to tell people about their plight and the inhuman treatment meted out to them by successive governments of the state. |
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J&K wakes up to Aids threat
Jammu, September 9 Sources said the Central government had released crores of rupees for providing medical help to the people but lack of effective coordination between the hospitals and the AIDS control society created lot of problems. There are 900 patients getting treatment from the AIDS control society, while 250 patients infected with the deadly virus have died so far. The virus is becoming a major threat particularly among the high risk groups. Project director JKSACS Dr Rakesh Khajuria said the new directive will help them to reach more and more people. “Health institutions provide better facilities and manpower and can contribute in effective planning in the respective districts. We had proposed government to provide us more help,” said Khajuria. There are 35 Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC) functional at district-level hospitals. A dozen of new ICTCs are in a process of being established. “Two antiretroviral treatment centres, one at the Sher-E-Kashmir Institute of Medical Science, Srinagar and another at the Government Medical College, Jammu, are providing care, support and treatment to the HIV patients,” project director said. Apart from six existing targeted intervention projects to prevent new infections, three new projects had been started covering truckers and injection drug users (IDUs). Moreover, two Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) services for IDUs, one each at the GMC, Srinagar and Jammu, will be made functional by October. |
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Jammu, September 9
