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CIVIC BODIES
EMPOWERMENT
Omar, Oppn MLAs spar over quota in block council poll
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Cabinet Meeting
Month after militant raid, work at Wular Lake project resumes
In 4 yrs, nearly 4,000 infants died in Srinagar hospital
Andrabi
custodial killing case
Lt Gen BS Pama given a warm send-off
Jammu students visit Delhi, courtesy CRPF
Geelani praises Afghan Taliban, for early marriage of girls
One hurt in Rajouri mine blast
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CIVIC BODIES EMPOWERMENT
Jammu, October 10 Congress leaders have decided to give a message to its coalition partner that the party would not hesitate to boycott the urban local bodies elections if the same would be held without incorporating the 74th Amendment to the Indian Constitution to the existing Jammu and Kashmir Urban Bodies Act. On August 28, the government had announced that the urban local bodies elections would be held by the end of December this year. Sources said there was a feeling among Congress leaders that their “aggressive” campaign in support of the 73rd Amendment had paid off because the coalition partner had virtually gone on the back foot on the issue. “Party leaders have realised that it is the appropriate time to further exert pressure on the NC leaders to get the 74th Amendment extended to the state before announcement of the schedule of the urban local bodies elections,” a source said, adding that this time the party would not accept any “compromise formula” of the NC. The Congress leadership in the state has been saying that without the 73rd Amendment, strengthening of the panchayat institution would not be possible. Now, the party is laying stress on the 74th Amendment for the “empowerment of local bodies in the real sense”. Meanwhile, JKPCC chief Saifuddin Soz has decided to give feedback to the party high command about the views of local leaders on the issue of the 73rd Amendment. Soz would reach Delhi on Friday to meet the party high command. Soz will try to convince the high command that any dilution on the demand to empower panchayats would prove disastrous for the party in the state, where panchayat members have pinned their hopes on the Congress. Congress has convened three important meetings to get feedback from the senior leaders on the 73rd Amendment. The issue was discussed in the Congress Legislature Party meeting followed by another meeting of senior leaders from the Kashmir Valley. The last meeting in this regard was held on Tuesday at Jammu. In all three meetings, Congress leaders have warned party leadership against diluting the stand on the 73rd Amendment.
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Omar, Oppn MLAs spar over quota in block council poll
Srinagar, October 10 Legislators of the National Panthers Party (NPP) and BJP protested in the Well of the Assembly during question hour demanding a reply over the reservation issue. The protesters returned to their seats after the Chief Minister stood up to reply. However, a war of words erupted when Omar questioned why they had not raised the reservation issue at the time of panchayat elections held last year. “We had kept reservations for panches only, not sarpanches. Why did you not raise any such questions when the elections to panchayats were held? Why are you creating a noise? You feel block development elections would weaken you… do this drama outside,” he said. Asserting that the NPP and BJP were “not” the well-wishers of the SCs and STs, Omar said the issue had been raised only to derail the BDC elections. He also said the government was committed to holding the elections for panchayat empowerment. During the Chief Minister’s statement, the NPP and BJP kept on raising slogans while NPP legislator Harsh Dev Singh said: “People are protesting… it will be injustice (for SCs, STs).” After Omar sat down, the NPP questioned the Congress’ silence over the extension of 73rd Amendment to the Indian Constitution to the state. However, Congress MLA GA Mir said the party was satisfied with Panchayati Raj Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar’s reply in the House yesterday over the empowerment of panchayats. The NPP legislators then staged a walkout. Sagar had said the government was open to considering all "good" suggestions with regard to strengthening the panchayat institution and also ready to incorporate all such "good" provisions of the 73rd Amendment to the J&K Panchayati Raj Act. The statement was made after the Congress had earlier upped the ante for the implementation of the 73rd Amendment in the state. |
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House adjourns sine die amid PDP walkout
Srinagar, October 10 While Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone adjourned the 10-day-long session, the PDP MLAs led by party president Mehbooba Mufti walked out of the House after the treasury bench did not issue a statement over questions listed by the opposition party. Mehbooba said the government had given contradictory replies to questions submitted by PDP legislators Peerzada Mansoor Hussain and Zulfikar Ali. “The government has failed to clarify on its contradictory replies on engagement of 43,000 casual labourers and daily wagers in various departments,” she said while waving written replies issued in the House. “The government’s backdoor appointment policy stands exposed as the figures show that 33,000 people out of 43,000 already have been appointed as daily wagers and causal labourers in different departments,” she added. Mehbooba had raised the issue before question hour as well following which the Speaker said the minister concerned would clarify the same. However, the proceedings were adjourned without any clarification. While the autumn session witnessed routine heated arguments between the treasury and opposition benches, the proceedings by and large were conducted smoothly barring an incident on Monday when three youths disrupted question hour by jumping on to the floor of the House from the visitors' gallery. The protesters, who waved the flag of Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Front party, were demanding implementation of the employment policy. The issues that came up for discussions included the Centre’s decision to cap subsidised cylinders and empowerment of panchayats. As seen in the past, no ugly scenes involving the Speaker and the PDP were witnessed. In fact, the Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone on many occasions came to the rescue of the opposition and pulled up the government. Lone supported the opposition bench when the Revenue Ministry failed to provide details of politicians, civil and police officers against whom encroachment cases are pending in the judicial and revenue courts. “You could have got information from other agencies,” the Speaker told the treasury bench last Thursday as Opposition members thumped their desks in approval. The Speaker also pulled up the Social Welfare Ministry last week for failing to appoint members for the Backward Classes Commission. |
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Cabinet
Meeting
Srinagar, October 10 To restructure and unbundle the J&K Power Development, 165 posts in different categories have been created. “With this arrangement, the sanctioned strength of the post of chief engineers has increased from seven to eight, superintendent engineers from 21 to 43 and executive engineers from 86 to 119,” an official spokesman said. The Cabinet also approved transfers and postings in the administration. Kargil Deputy Commissioner M Raju has been asked to report to the
General Administrative Department for his new posting. Dilshada Khan, has been transferred and posted as a member of the J&K Service Selection Board. The chief executive officer of the Jammu and Kashmir E-Governance Agency, Fida Hussain, has been transferred and posted as the Kargil Deputy Commissioner.
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Shinde likely to visit state again
Jammu/Poonch, October 10 “The Home Minister will visit Jammu and Srinagar on October 12 and 13 respectively and hopefully, will extend his stay till October 14,” state Home Secretary Iqbal Khanday told The Tribune. He has a lot of engagements, including a visit to Chakan-da-Bagh, said Khanday. “We haven’t received any written communication about the visit of the Home Minister but we have been sounded about his programme on October 12 and 13,” said Jammu Frontier BSF DIG NS Jamwal. Another senior BSF officer said the state government had kept the BSF on standby vis-à-vis Shinde’s visit. Jammu zone IGP Dilbag Singh also confirmed Home Minister’s probable visit to Jammu on October 12. “He is likely to visit forward areas along the IB on
October 12. He may go to the Octroi post in Suchetgarh and thereafter, is likely to visit Chakan-da-Bagh in Poonch,” said the IGP. Shinde will visit Chakan-da-Bagh trade centre to review the cross-LoC trade and to assess the required facilities at the Poonch-Rawalakote route to give a boost to the trade. Accompanied by some other senior officials from Delhi, he is scheduled to have a meeting with the trade authorities and traders here. Since the inception of the Poonch-Rawalakote trade, this will be the first such meeting of a Union Home Minister with trade stakeholders in the area. “The Poonch-Rawalakote trade is going to complete 4 years on October 21 and despite a barter system, trade worth over Rs 500 crore has been recorded (till date). The Home minister’s visit is a good sign,”said Poonch DC AK Sahu. The president of the Cross-LoC Traders Association, Pawan Anand, said the association would highlight demands such as a banking system for the trade instead of the present barter system and an increase from 21 items in the trade list to 50. Shinde is also likely to visit Banihal to inspect the ongoing Kashmir rail project. Moreover, he may chair a high-level meeting of the police, civil administration and the Army.
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Month after militant raid, work at Wular Lake project resumes
Srinagar, October 10 The Minister for Public Health Engineering and Irrigation Taj Mohiuddin told the Assembly that after the militant attack on the intervening night of August 27 and 28 at Adipore village near Sopore town, the government had deployed a company of the CRPF to bring confidence among the workers and the contractors on the site. “The work has resumed at the site. The labourers and the contractors who were scared are now slowly coming to work,” the minister said in a reply to the question of Chaman Lal Gupta during zero hour. Militants suspected to be associated with the pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideen outfit had swooped on the project site, threatened the labourers and damaged machinery of the Centre-funded lake conservation project on the edge of Asia’s largest fresh water lake. Police sources said militants suspected that the conservation project located close to suspended Tulbul Navigation Lock Project was part of the Wular Barrage project and in the name of conservation of the Wular Lake, the Government of India was violating the Indus Water Treaty. The work on Wular Barrage started in 1984 and it was suspended in 1989 on the advice of Ministry of Water Resources after Pakistan raised an objection saying that it violated the Indus Water Treaty. The minister, however, stressed that the project was not violating the Indus Water Treaty. “There is absolutely no violation of the Indus Water Treaty,” he said in the House. The minister said India was strong enough to take any challenge from any quarter which “wanted us to stop the construction work on the project. We will not succumb to any pressure.” |
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In 4 yrs, nearly 4,000 infants died in Srinagar hospital
Srinagar, October 10 A staggering 3,828 infant deaths have taken place in G B Pant Hospital from 2008 to August this year, the state government stated on Monday in the Legislative Council. Earlier this year the state Medical Education Department had appointed a leading doctor as an inquiry officer to look into the causes of high rate of infant deaths in the hospital. On the basis of the report submitted by the Director of SK Institute of Medical Sciences, the government had on May 17 attached the Medical Superintendent of G B Pant Hospital. The report had blamed the high rate of infant deaths in the hospital on lack of manpower, equipment and overall mismanagement of the services provided by the hospital. The data released by the government stated that the highest number of infant deaths had taken place last year when 886 infants died in the hospital followed
by 882 deaths in 2010 and 830 in 2008. In the first eight months of this year, the number of infant deaths reached 636 despite government claims that various steps had been taken to prevent them. The government said it had taken “various steps” to prevent such deaths by making administrative changes, deployment of manpower in a “coordinated manner” and provision of additional drugs. The hospital infection control measures were being strictly enforced and “refurbishing” of supportive services “such as uninterrupted electricity supply, oxygen supply, and repair and renovation of bathrooms and toilets”
had been done, the government added. |
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Andrabi
custodial killing case
Srinagar, October 10 On June 9, Major Singh reportedly shot himself after gunning down his wife and two children at his residence in Selma, California. He was the prime accused in the Jaleel Andrabi custodial killing case. The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Srinagar, Rajeev Gupta, who is hearing the case, today indicated that the court may itself take the measures for obtaining the Selma police report. While hearing the case on September 16, the CJM had given October 10 as the deadline to the prosecution to produce the copy of a report forwarded by the California’s Selma police station to the United States National Central Bureau, Washington, certifying the Major’s death. However, as the case came up for hearing before the court today, it was revealed that the prosecution had not been able to furnish the report. “Owing to failure of the prosecution to produce the report, the CJM today indicated that the court may take its own measures to procure the report from the authorities. However, the CJM did not specify the measures,” said advocate Hafizullah Mir, who is representing Andrabi’s family in the case. He said the case had been posted for further consideration on November 10. The family of slain human rights lawyer Jaleel Andrabi had on September 15 moved an application before the court , wherein an autopsy report and other relevant documents related to Major Avtar Singh’s death had been sought. In the application before the CJM, Jaleel’s family had also sought the autopsy reports of Singh’s family members, who were reportedly shot dead by Singh.
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Lt Gen BS Pama given a warm send-off
Jammu, October 10 General Pama was commissioned into 2/3 Gorkha Rifles (GR) on September 22, 1974. During his long service, Pama has held a sterling and balanced portfolio of command, staff and instructional appointments. The General has also had varied operational experiences in Jammu and Kashmir and other counter-insurgency and operational areas. A graduate from the Defence Services Staff College, the General has attended the Higher Command Course and the National Defence College Course. He has commanded 3/3 GR and an infantry brigade in the state, where he was awarded the Sena Medal for gallantry. General Pama commanded an infantry division in the Western Border. During his tenure as the Chief of Staff at the Headquarters Northern Command, he was instrumental in implementing and developing a number of infrastructural projects, including the Married Accommodation Project (MAP). He was actively involved in improving the quality of life of the troops, which resulted in the door-delivery of rations to them in Udhampur, and in initiating a ‘health and happiness’ drive for Army personnel and their families. Apart from an extremely successful army career, General Pama is a prolific writer and a keen sportsman. He has authored a book, ‘Paradigm Shift of Training in the Indian Army’, while on a fellowship with the
USI. |
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Jammu students visit Delhi, courtesy CRPF
New Delhi, October 10 “We saw the Golden Temple and were then taken to the Jallianwala Bagh, where we saw several bullet marks on a wall,” says Priyanka Pandita, a student of the J&K Police Public School. The excitement of these students buoyed the mood in the conference hall at the CRPF headquarters in Delhi. CRPF officials said the “Siksha Kiran” trip aims to empower girl students and bridge the gap between public and the force. But more importantly, it aims to give an opportunity to students to see new places Most of the participating students have never travelled beyond Jammu. The trip began on October 8 and will conclude on
October 16. |
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Geelani praises Afghan Taliban, for early marriage of girls
Srinagar, October 10 Speaking at the launch function of his autobiography, the Islamist leader, who espouses the cause of “Azaadi from Indian occupation”, also called for an early marriage of girls “when they have attained the marriageable age”, saying it was a way to get rid of the growing “cultural assault”. “You want your daughters to become doctors, engineers and pilots but before that, you should get them married when they attain a marriageable age,” Geelani said. He also asked parents to keep an eye on their children, on what they are doing and who they talk to. While praising the Afghan Taliban, Geelani said the group was “fighting against occupation and were doing a great jehad”. “We extend our support to them (Afghan Taliban),” he said. |
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One hurt in Rajouri mine blast
Rajouri, October 10 Raj Kumar (35) was cutting grass in a field when a mine accidentally exploded. Panic gripped the area after the explosion. Paramilitary forces rushed the spot to take stock of the situation. Raj was taken to a hospital at Nowshera where doctors referred him to the district hospital, Rajouri, said the police.
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