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Roads in poor state along China border, HM told
Three held in elderly woman’s death case
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39% decline in movement of Gujjars, Bakerwals in state
Security beefed up in
Katra ahead of Navaratras
Central scheme enables drop in infant mortality in J&K
BSF braces for winter surveillance
Kashmiri flavour to spice up Delhiites’
palate
Govt, police file reports on 2010 civilian killings
A file photo of the 2010 summer unrest in Srinagar.
Block development Council elections
Coalition will adopt all methods to capture top posts: PDP
Our struggle to empower panchayats would continue because elections to district development
councils (DDCs) are yet be held. — Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, PDP patern
Sanitation a casualty at Patnitop
Five of a family die in Rajouri accident
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Roads in poor state along China border, HM told
Jammu, October 7 “At Lukung near Pangong Tso, the Union Home Minister interacted with officers and jawans of the ITBP,” said a senior ITBP officer, who declined to be named. Lukung is located near the Line of Actual Control. “Via a detailed presentation, we briefed the minister about the security scenario along the LAC vis-à-vis incidents of Chinese transgression,” he added. Though classified reports on the situation along the LAC are regularly sent to the ITBP headquarters and the Home Ministry, we certainly gave a detailed presentation to the minister, he said. The officer, however, downplayed the recurrent incidents of Chinese transgression in Ladakh and also denied some media reports that the “People’s Liberation Army had recently stopped some our developmental works in the Demchok area”. Since the LAC has not been clearly demarcated between India and China, sometimes different perceptions of it result in such incidents, he added. The officer, however, asserted that the situation was not alarming as being reported by the media. But Demchok town, which is on the LAC, has had repeated incidents of Chinese transgression and incursion, sources say. In December 2009, China had lodged its protest with India regarding construction of a road in Demchok. The ITBP also drew the attention of the Union Home Minister to poor road connectivity and bad infrastructure in the strategically important region of Ladakh at a time when China has been rapidly ramping up its network of roads and bridges on the other side of the LAC, said the officer. The ITBP also apprised the minister about operational strength of the force along the LAC, he said. Accompanied by senior ITBP officers, including DIG, Ladakh headquarters, Jaspal Singh and Secretary, Border Management, Magotra, Shinde arrived at Lukung this morning in a chopper and returned after spending nearly two hours with the ITBP officials. Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, chairman Rigzin Spalbar said that he had raised the issue of Chinese incursions with Shinde last evening at a high-level meting urging him to get a thorough feedback from the ITBP on Chinese incursions in Ladakh. Incidentally, China has a large number of its soldiers in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir helping Pakistan raising a huge infrastructure on the other side of the Line of
Control.
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Recruitment norms may be eased for border areas
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde who concluded his maiden visit to state today said that the Union government would consider giving relaxation in physical standard and qualifications to the people of borders areas for recruitment in Central security forces.
“The Ministry of Home will consider giving relaxation to aspirants of border areas so that they can be recruited in ITBP,BSF and other central security forces,” Shinde said in Leh after inaugurating the Solar Power System. The Minister said the Ladakh region had got a tremendous potential for tourism-related activities. Earlier, Shinde inaugurated the Solar Power System, which he said would go a long way in catering to the power demands of the people living in the border areas.
— TNS
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Three held in elderly woman’s death case
Srinagar, October 7 The police said the accused special police officers (SPOs) were part of the team investigating the woman’s death. They have been identified as Fayaz Ahmed and Mohammad Ashraf. Besides these two, Majeed Dekka, the deceased’s son-in-law, has also been booked on the charges of theft, cheating and forest offence acts. “We have arrested two SPOs of the Kokernag police station and the son-in-law of the deceased woman, after registering a case under Sections 379 (theft) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the RPC and Section 6 of the Forest Act,” said a police officer. The 65-year-old woman, Mukthi, died on Friday night during a raid on her house at Ahlan Bala village in the Kokernag area after the police got information that there were drugs in
the house. The locals alleged that Mukthi was beaten up by the policemen after an altercation. “The policemen were accompanied by Majeed Dekka, who had misled them saying contraband drugs were dumped in the house. When the family raised objection to the raid, they trio manhandled and beat the elderly woman, resulting in her death,” a local alleged. As the news about the death spread on Saturday, villagers took to the streets and staged a protest against the police. “Dekka is a known smuggler in the area and he had a strained relationship with his in-laws and that is why he led the police to the house of Sulaiman Naikoo (Mukthi’s husband). The police should not have beaten the old woman,” another local said. The police said they were waiting for the woman’s postmortem report for further investigation in
the case. Meanwhile, the state government has directed the District Administration, Anatnag, to conduct a thorough probe into Mukhti’s death. The directions were issued by J&K Minister for Public Enterprises Peerzada Mohammad Sayed, who also visited the woman’s residence. The state Red Cross Society has given financial assistance to the kith and kin of the deceased. |
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39% decline in movement of Gujjars, Bakerwals in state
Jammu, October 7 Quoting a survey, Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation national secretary Javaid Rahi said more than 39 per cent Gujjars who were migratory by tradition have relinquished their nomadic lifestyle during the last 23 years of turmoil in the state, expressing concern that tribal migration could be history in the next few decades. In 2009, the decline in the migration was 37 per cent, he said. The survey states that in the “absence of disaster management polices for the tribals” of Northern states of India, the community suffers a heavy loss of life and livestock due to landslides, forest fires, snow and hail storms and man-animal conflict every year. It states that due to these natural calamities, the percentage of migratory groups of the nomadic Gujjars is decreasing. According to the survey, the main reason behind the declining tribal movement was the killing of hundreds of nomadic Gujjars in the upper reaches due to the turmoil in the state. Another reason, it stated, was the restrictions imposed by the security agencies and militants on tribal migration in the border and strategic areas.
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Security beefed up in
Katra ahead of Navaratras
Katra, October 7 Vehicles are being properly checked to foil any bid to sabotage peace in the region during the festival. Sources said Reasi SSP Thakur Raghuvir Singh, during a high level meeting of the Army, police and the civil administration held at
Katra, had asked the security forces to remain vigilant. The meeting was also attended by prominent locals. During the meeting, the SSP asked shopkeepers and other residents to inform police or other security agencies of any suspicious movement in their area. People were also asked not to touch any abandoned item as the same could be an explosive device. Meanwhile, the security forces have plugged several vintage points in Katra and have also launched a foot-patrolling drive in Trikuta Hills. Moreover, additional troops of
para-military forces have not only been deployed in the Katra base camp but also on the 13-km-long track to
Bhawan, said a police official, adding that various check points on the route had been strengthened and frisking had been intensified without creating any inconvenience for the pilgrims. The area around the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine has also been
sanitised. Hundreds of pilgrims from the state and across the country visit Katra every year during Navaratras to pay obeisance to ‘pindies’ (deities) in the cave shrine at
Bhawan, 13 km from the Katra base camp.
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Central scheme enables drop in infant mortality in J&K
Jammu, October 7 As per official data, the IMR in the state, which was 51 in 2007, declined to 43 in 2010. The figure is better than the national average of 47. Experts say strengthening of the health care infrastructure and on-ground implementation of various schemes had helped in checking infant mortality. An official source said various measures had been taken in this regard, including strengthening of the existing Facility-based Newborn Care Centres which have been setup under the NRHM in the last few years and implementation of the Home-based Newborn Care Programme under which newborns were provided care at home by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs). “Most importantly, Rs 2 crore has been kept at the disposal of the Government Medical Colleges for strengthening neonatal units at the GB Pant Hospital, Srinagar, and the SMGS Hospital, Jammu. Besides, Rs 19.8 lakh has been earmarked for the establishment of Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs) at these two institutions,” the source said. The major components of the Child Health Programme include the Facility-based Newborn Care (FBNC), Home-based Newborn Care (HBNC) and the Infant Death Review (IDR). The FBNC has a significant potential to improve newborn survival in the state. Under this programme, Special Newborn Care Units (SNCUs) have been set up at the District Hospitals (DHs), Newborn Stabilization Units (NBSUs) at the Community Health Centres (CHCs) and Newborn Care Corners (NBCCs) at the DHs, CHCs and the PHCs. Official data reveals eight SNCUs have been established till date and seven more will be established this year. During Also, 69 NBSU’s have been established and work to set up 14 others is underway. NHRM at work
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BSF braces for winter surveillance
Jammu, October 7 “After completing our investigations while digging up the trans-border tunnel up to the Zero Line in Chilyari a week back, we are on guard because militants are certainly present on the other side of the borderline and they make intrusions bids during the winter season,” BSF Jammu Frontier DIG NS Jamwal told The Tribune. Pakistani militants try to take advantage of foggy weather conditions to infiltrate into our territory in the winter but we are equally alert, said Jamwal. In fact, we take stock of the situation on a day-to-day basis, he said. The DIG, however, refused to give the figures and locations of militants kept in various launch pads on the other side of the IB. When asked if the BSF had been provided any equipment to detect tunnels along the IB, the DIG said, “All the procurements are done in Delhi and since the DG BSF is aware of the situation, some process must be definitely going on.” Earlier this year, the BSF had conducted trials of certain sophisticated surveillance equipment capable of monitoring through the fog to keep a hawk’s eye on the enemy including militants. “Besides night vision devices and hand-held thermal imagers, the BSF now has some more sophisticated equipment to ensure effective surveillance during the winter,” said a BSF source. During the winter, when passes in the rocky terrain along the 776-km-long Line of Control get plugged because of the snowfall, Pakistan shifts militants in launch pads on the other side of the International Border. The BSF has already increased patrolling all along the IB and ambushes are being done in vulnerable stretches, said the source. Moreover, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde will visit Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir next week to review the security situation in forward areas along the Indo-Pak border.
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Kashmiri flavour to spice up Delhiites’
palate
The association has approached the Jammu and Kashmir Bank for financial assistance to individuals and companies willing to set up food joints or tie up with Delhi-based restaurants. Srinagar Municipal Corporation Comissioner GN Qasba said this could open new opportunities for Kashmir’s business fraternity to set up a base in metros, especially when there is a demand for authentic Kashmiri cuisine. A real estate company, Imperia Structures Limited, is already envisioning a ‘Jammu and Kashmir Hub’ in the Greater Noida area of the NCR. “There is a shortage of bona fide Kashmiri restaurants in places such as Delhi where Kashmiri food is relished. Hence, we came up with the idea of opening big and small Kashmiri food joints there,” Khalid M Faridi, state business head, Imperia Structures Limited, told the Tribune. He said though the focus of the Jammu and Kashmir Hub was setting up food courts in all the major corporate parks in the NCR region, they would start with setting up a base in Greater Noida, where many companies are located. Faridi said the hub could also incorporate residential units and indigenous Kashmiri business units catering to demand for state handicrafts and shawls, apart from setting up tourism agencies. KHARA president Showkat Chaudhary said he hoped the concept would bring the state and its specialties closer to the people across the country.
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Govt, police file reports on 2010 civilian killings
Srinagar, October 7 The PIL was filed by chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Mohammad Yasin Malik in the High Court on January 10, 2011. It is listed before the High Court on October 8. “The state government has submitted its status report in response to the PIL, but it has not mentioned anything about the findings of the two-member Inquiry Commission (set up by the government) which had probed some of the civilian deaths which took place in 2010,” a lawyer connected with the PIL told The Tribune. “The government has cited an earlier High Court stay order which had barred the Inquiry Commission from making its finding public,” he said. However, the police in its status report has said the investigation in some cases has been completed. In many incidents, the police claims to have presented the challans as well, the lawyer added. While hearing the PIL on September 3, the High Court had directed the Commissioner Secretary, Home, to file an affidavit indicating the amount of ex gratia, if any, provided to the next of kin of those killed in the 2010 summer unrest and the report of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) constituted by the government to probe 117 civilian killings in the 2010 unrest. Besides, the High Court had also directed the police to file a status report in 37 cases wherein the police had claimed to have registered FIRs. Meanwhile, the PIL seeking investigation into the civilian killings is listed before a double bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Hasnain Massodi. The state in its earlier objections had sought the dismissal of the PIL.
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Block development Council elections
Jammu, October 7 The Congress, which is a partner of the coalition government headed by the National Conference, has yet to take a decision on the candidates supported by the latter. Although these elections will be held on a non-party basis, political parties will openly back their supporters who will contest as independent candidates in these elections. The panchayat elections too were held on a non-party basis but political parties had unofficially fielded their candidates. In block council elections, too, political parties will mobilise support for their “unofficial” candidates. The official handout of the Chief Electoral Officer stated that elections to the 143 block development councils all over the state would be held on November 7. The counting of the votes shall start immediately after the elections and results will be declared by the evening. Sources said local Congress leaders were not ready to support any National Conference candidate in the block development council elections, especially in Jammu region. “There is a feeling among the Congress leadership that the majority of party “candidates” had emerged victorious in the panchayat elections which were held in May-June 2011,” a source said, adding that the party would make its supporters contest for the posts of chairperson in BDCs. Congress leaders, while addressing a function on the occasion of birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, had dropped hints that the party would show its strength in the coming block development council elections. Although the block development council elections would be held purely on a non-party basis, these elections have become a prestige issue for all political parties. The Congress has already started the exercise to identify party’s supporters who can be fielded for the posts of chairperson. Similarly, the National Conference will also try to ensure that only their supporters capture the top posts. The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which claimed that the maximum number of its supporters had won the panchayat elections, also wants to show its strengthen to both the Congress and National Conference. In the fray The chairman of the BDC will be elected by the electoral college comprising elected panches and sarpanches of halqa panchayats falling within the block. A total number of 33,500 sarpanches and panches will participate in block council elections. Out of a total of 4,098 sarpanchs, 2,145 are in Kashmir division and 1,953 in Jammu division. Out of 29,402 panches, 15,767 are in Kashmir division and 13,635 in Jammu division Non-partisan poll in name only Although the block development council elections will be held on a non-party basis, political parties will openly back their supporters who will contest as independent candidates
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Coalition will adopt all methods to capture top posts: PDP
Jammu, October 7 Mufti, who was addressing a meeting in the Mahanpur area of Kathua district, reminded the gathering about the much publicised cross-voting episode during the Legislative Council elections in which seven BJP legislators had voted in favour of coalition candidates. “This regime can go to any extent to capture the posts of BDC chairperson,” he cautioned panches and sarpanches. Although elections to the BDCs would be held on a non-party basis, this regime would not hesitate to lure panchayat members with money power, he said while telling panches and sarpanches to elect persons with a clean image in their respective areas. “Our struggle to empower panchayats would continue because elections to district development councils (DDCs) are yet be held,” he said. Mufti asserted that the PDP would not allow the government to sabotage the process of strengthening the Panchayati Raj in the state. As Mufti was addressing locals in Mahanpur in the Basholi area, he seized the opportunity to talk about the delay in the settlement of compensation cases of those whose land was
submerged by the Ranjit Sagar Dam. While demanding due share of the state from the Ranjit Sagar Dam, he said the affected families should be rehabilitated. Locals had the first right on the power being generated from the project, he added. He promised that the PDP would also take up the issue of delay in completion of Shahpur Kandi Project downstream of Ranjit Sagar Dam with the Centre and the quarters concerned. He said farmers of the Kathua region were
suffering losses due to delay in non-implementation of a bilateral agreement with the Punjab Government over the Ranjit Sagar Dam project. He emphasised the need to take up with issue with the authorities concerned. “The PDP will effectively take up the issue”, he said, adding that the implementation of the agreement would change the
socio-economic conditions of the residents of Kathua district.
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Sanitation a casualty at Patnitop
Batote, October 7 “I have not seen such mess anywhere else,” said Naresh Arora of Ghaziabad, who is on a honeymoon trip to Patnitop. “No arrangement of periodical garbage collection was seen here,” he said. Sources said although there were 17 sweepers, dustbins and dumpers available at some places yet there was no arrangement of instant or regular clearance of garbage. “By next year, the number of dustbins and dumpers shall be doubled, hand barrows and other required equipments shall also be bought; the areas shall be distributed to the sweepers and made accountable for their duty. The construction of a Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) will start soon at Karla village. And I will order for the unlocking of the said urinal,” said Dr RK Kesar, Chief Executive Officer, Patnitop Development Authority, Kud.
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Five of a family die in Rajouri accident
Rajouri, October 7 Residents rushed to site and informed the local administration and the police for help. Sources said the injured had been referred to the Government Medical College, Jammu, as their condition was critical. The Nowshera Sub-Divisional Magistrate said the family was returning home after attending a ‘satsang’ in Thandi Khoe, Jammu, when they met with the accident. The truck with which their vehicle collided belonged to the Mechanical Engineering Department, Sundarbani.
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Srinagar, October 7
Claiming that it is all due to the aggressive campaign launched by the PDP that the state government was ultimately forced to announce block development council (BDC) elections in the state, former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today aired his apprehensions that the coalition regime might adopt “all methods” to capture the posts of BDC chairperson.
Srinagar, October 7