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Valley shut over cap on LPG cylinders
Govt asked to solve cooking gas issue
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Geelani held; flays govt for LPG crisis
Hundreds of Class X students not allowed to appear in annual exams
Fulfil assurances, commitments of predecessors: KEA to Shinde
6 days on, bodies of Kupwara accident victims recovered
Striking power employees to hold protest at dist HQ today
Woman kills father-in-law
Welfare body seeks ‘disturbed community’ status for Kashmiri Pandits
Patients suffer as machine gathers dust
Union Tourism Secretary, Kishtwar MLA meet Guv
3-day golf tourney gets under way
Valley echos with mesmerising voices
Computer museum inaugurated at Uri
Power crisis hits wedding celebrations in north Kashmir
US educationist delivers lecture
on research studies
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Valley shut over cap on LPG cylinders
Srinagar, October 12 Most of the schools, offices and business establishments remained closed while the public transport remained off the roads. The maximum effect of the strike was felt at Lal Chowk, the City Centre and adjoining areas. The affect of the strike was felt at uptown areas of the summer capital too due to non-availability of the public transport. However, a few shops remained open in the uptown areas. Reports reaching here said normal life was disrupted at other parts of the Valley as well. While calling for today’s strike earlier this week, KEA chairman Mohammad Yasin Khan had warned that they would take the “fight” against the LPG cap "to the roads" if the government failed to increase the number of subsidised cylinders per year. Civil society group, Kashmir Centre for Civil and Development Studies, too, has already threatened an agitation if the government failed to take steps in this regard. While Finance Minister A R Rather had recently stated in the Legislative Assembly that the state government would loose Rs 260 crore annually if it announced subsidy on its own for three additional cylinders, the state government has already taken up the matter with the Centre. Protesters block highway Local residents blocked the highway at Umarabad area of the city and protested against the rise in LPG prices, a police spokesman said. However, the police chased them away and restored the traffic on the highway, the spokesman added. Meanwhile, protesters threw stones at the police at Bohri Kadal and Rajouri Kadal areas of the old city. "Police exercising maximum restrain and chased them away. No one was hurt in the incident," the spokesman said. CPI-M supports strike The CPI-M today extended support to the KEA strike. While urging the people to launch collective protests to compel the government to heed their voice, CPI-M state secretary M Y Tarigami said the party would continue its resistance against such anti-people measures. Tarigami said: “A series of decisions taken by the UPA Government over the years, including diesel price hike, has triggered unprecedented price rise….these measures are breaking the backbone of common man.”
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Govt asked to solve cooking gas issue
Srinagar, October 12 “Until now, Kashmiris were suffering for basic amenities like water and electricity and now they are being forced to suffer for cooking gas and new ways are being invented to increase their problems,” Mirwaiz, chairman of moderate Hurriyat Conference, said while addressing a Friday gathering at Jamia Masjid here. He said: “Jammu and Kashmir is a cold region which needs “excessive" gas supply to survive during winter months.” Mirwaiz, who recently returned from a foreign trip, said the government was living in a “dream world” and had no idea of the sufferings faced by the people. “Instead of spending on talking, they should fulfill their responsibility and promises made during the elections,” Mirwaiz said. The Valley is simmering over the recently announced LPG cap which allows a family to have only six gas cylinders per year and go through a hectic paper verification of the connections. In recent days, several trade unions and political parties have spoken against and carried out protests demanding the government to roll back the order.
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Geelani held; flays govt for LPG crisis
Srinagar, October 12 Akbar said: “It is the ‘27th consecutive week’ this year that Geelani has been stopped from offering Friday congregational prayers. Earlier, before the arrest, Geelani flayed the state government for creating LPG crisis. “Under a plan, mountains of problems are being created for the people. Today, it is the LPG crisis, tomorrow it will be the food crisis,” said Geelani. He said the LPG crisis was part of a long-term plan of the India’s imperialistic design to force Kashmiris into acceptance. “In future also, people will face these issues … the only way out for the Kashmiris is to walk the path of self reliance,” he said. The 82-year-old separatist leader also criticised the police for booking young students under the Public Safety Act, which empowers the authorities to detain a person for a long period without any trial.
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Hundreds of Class X students not allowed to appear in annual exams
Kupwara, October 12 Director, School Education, Mohd Shafi Rather said it was a sheer violation of the rules and regulations. “The School Education Department will take a note of the issue,” he said. The head of the School Education Department said the examinations were already in progress and nothing could be done at this stage. “They can appear as private candidates,” he said. Students said they were not allowed to appear in the annual examination after they fared badly in the golden tests conducted by the school managements. They alleged that to cover-up poor performances of teachers, students were made the scapegoat. “The school managements have spoiled a crucial year of their career. They did so to cover up poor performances of teachers. The students are upset due to unjustified act of the school managements,” said Bashir Ahmad, a parent of a student who was barred from appearing in the annual examination. At least 19 regular students were shown the door by the school management of the Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Trehgam, sources said. Similarly, at Gulgam high school, only 20 students out of the total 47 were allowed to appear in the examinations, said the sources. Out of 96 students at Laderwan high school, only 45 were allowed to sit in the examination. At least 20 students were barred from appearing in the examination by the Boys’ Higher Secondary School, Trehgam. Sources said many more students from different schools in Trehgam and Shumnag were also not allowed to appear in the examinations.
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Fulfil assurances, commitments of predecessors: KEA to Shinde
Srinagar, October 12 “We had met then Home Minister P. Chidambram in 2010 where we had demanded revocation of all draconian laws and acts, including AFSPA and Disturbed Area Act from the state. We hope the present Home Minister fulfills the commitments and assurances of his predecessor for the purpose of peace, prosperity and economic growth of the state,” KEA chief advisor Siraj Ahmad said. Stating that they had also demanded release of all innocent youths who had become victims of the “uprising” in 2010, Siraj said: “However, irony is that no tangible headway has been made in behalf of our demands till date. AFSPA is still in force, innocent youth are still being harassed and jailed under the PSA and other Acts which absolutely go contrary to the assurances and commitments given by then Home Minister.” Siraj said the Centre was making assurances only when Kashmir was “burning” while asserting that the unresolved Kashmir issue was the “biggest impediment” in the economic growth of the state. “Without settling the issue, peace will not prevail and as a result, people of the state particularly, Kashmir, will always lag behind in regards to its economic growth,” he added.
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6 days on, bodies of Kupwara accident victims recovered
Kupwara, October 12 The victims have been identified as Kafil Ahmad Paswal and his wife, Mehmooda Akthar, Mohammad Umer, and driver Mohammad Munsha, all residents of Amrohi Karnah. On October 6, the victims had left the bordering Karnah for Kupwara in an Alto car bearing registration JK 09-6915. The deceased had met with an accident near Sadhana Pass along the Karnah-Kupwara road, located at a height of around 11,000 feet above the sea level. The bodies were recovered from a deep gorge near the Sadhana Pass. Relatives of Paswal had lodged a missing report at the Kupwara police station stating that four persons of Amrohi Karnah had gone missing on October 6. The police and district administration immediately swung into action and started search operations near the pass. "It was found that the car had crossed the Sadhana Pass on October 6 after making an entry with CMP post but didn't cross the TP near Chowkibal, which is the last entry point for vehicles," said Gulzar Ahmad Mir, Naib Tehsildar, Kralpora, who supervised the search and rescue operation. The official added: "We found wreckage of the car around 400 feet in a deep gorge near "stage two" area on this side of Sadhana Pass, around 40 km away from Kupwara town. Bodies of the victims were also lying in the car." Kafil Ahmad was the brother of Muhammad Rafi Paswal, PRO to Forest and Environment Minister Main Altaf Ahmad. Pertinently, eight persons had lost their lives last month on the Kupwara-Karnah road when an overloaded Sumo plunged into a deep gorge.
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Striking power employees to hold protest at dist HQ today
Srinagar, October 12 Over 20,000 employees of the Power Development Department (PDD) have been on a strike for the past 12 days and the protest has badly affected electricity supply in many parts of the Valley. Power supply in many areas continues to remain cut for several hours together. “So for, the authorities have not accepted our demands. We have decided to hold protest demonstrations at our respective division and district headquarters,” said Kashmir Electrical Employees’ Union (EEU) president Abdul Salaam Rajpouri. The EEU has been demanding health insurance, proper distribution of welfare fund, designations in keeping with work and fixing of duty hours for the employees of the PDD. The president said talks with the government and PDD authorities were currently underway. |
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Woman kills father-in-law
Srinagar, October 12 The deceased has been identified as Hayat Chopan, a resident of Warpora village near Handwara town, a police spokesperson said. The police spokesman said 70-year-old Chopan was killed when his daughter-in-law hit him on his head with an unknown object at their residence. Chopan died on the spot, the spokesperson said. A case has been registered at the Handwara Police Station in this regard and further investigations are on. |
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Welfare body seeks ‘disturbed community’ status for Kashmiri Pandits
Srinagar, October 12 "The hapless condition of our community has been totally ignored by the state and the Central Government. Every policy or slogan, be it Bharat Nirman or Naya Kashmir, has been anti-Kashmiri Pandits. Our community should be declared ‘disturbed community’ at the national-level so that rehabilitation of migrants and non-migrants are resolved on priority basis," HWSK president A K Rajpuri said while addressing a press conference here. Rajpuri urged both the mainstream and separatist leadership to go beyond sloganeering regarding their return and rehabilitation. "We only hear slogans from the government and Hurriyat that Kashmir is incomplete without Pandits. The Prime Minister's package of 2008 for our rehabilitation too has not been properly implemented," he said. Seeking an answer from the state government over the "voluminous money" received in the "name of rehabilitation" of the KPs, Rajpuri said: "We do not know where all the money is going. We only hear of tall rehabilitation schemes but we are living in dire straits." He said 70 non-migrant families were living in rented houses and they had failed to find accommodations at the colonies set up for KPs. However, Rajpuri said it would be better if the KPs were rehabilitated at their original places instead of being housed in separate colonies. Rajpuri said the Muslim community was extending all possible help to them and the majority community was “not responsible” for their migration out of the Valley. The HWSK also demanded employment package for non-migrant KP youths and management of the Valley-based Hindu shrines by local KPs. Speaking on the occasion, HWSK spokesman Chunni Lal regretted that the package announced by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for their rehabilitation in June earlier this year had not taken a practical shape.
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Patients suffer as machine gathers dust
Srinagar, October 12 The hospital caters to the medical needs of over four lakh people from at least 40 villages. Patients said they had to cover a distance of around 25 km to get the USG test done at Kupwara hospital or at private laboratories. “I have to wait in a long queue at Kupwara hospital to get the USG test done. A doctor at the Sogam hospital had asked for the test,” said Rafiqa of Devar, 12 km away from Sogam. Many other patients complained that they were denied the USG test by doctors at Kupwara hospital and had to get the same done at private laboratories. “I paid Rs 500 for the test at ESS BEE Diagnostic Centre in Kupwara. A doctor at Kupwara hospital told me that he was bound to give priority to patients of his own hospital,” said Mohd Sultan of Sogam. The hospital receives over 150 patients everyday at its Out Patient Department (OPD) from across the Lolab valley. Local residents said their problems would be aggravated in emergency cases due to non-functioning of the machine. Apart from a radiologist, the hospital also lacks the services of 10 assistant surgeons, two gynecologists, two physicians, two pediatricians, three dental assistants and nine pharmacists. The hospital has only two wards to accommodate a huge rush of patients. One ward has been kept for post-operative treatment and other as a general ward. BMO of the hospital was transferred in the first week of October and
the post is still lying vacant. |
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Union Tourism Secretary, Kishtwar MLA meet Guv
Srinagar, October 12 The Governor urged Dewan to consider regular visits to the state to encourage and assist initiatives which lead to the emergence of aesthetic concepts, architectural designs which are harmonious with the natural landscape and mountains of the state and protection of the environment, the spokesperson said. MLA Kishtwar Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo also called on Governor Vohra at Raj Bhavan today and presented to him the development-oriented demands of his constituency. “The issues raised by Kichloo with the Governor were the setting up of Shri Chandi Mata Machail Yatra Shrine Board on the pattern of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board to facilitate the increasing number of pilgrims and provision of employment for local youth in the upcoming hydroelectric power projects in the area,” said the spokesperson. The MLA also raised the issue of launching special recruitment drives for the youth of far-flung areas of Paddar, Nagseni, Dachhan, Marwah, Warwan and Chhatroo in the state police and Central Para-military Forces. Kichloo invited the Governor to be the Chief Guest at the annual day function of the Islamia Faridiya Educational and Research Institute, Kishtwar, being celebrated on November 10 and 11. |
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3-day golf tourney gets under way
Anantnag, October 12 According to reports, a total of 108 golfers are participating in the tourney out of which 52 are from Chandigarh and delhi, including 16 female participants. The tournament was inaugurated by Mushtaq Ahmad Chaaya, chairman, Mushtaq group of hotels in the presence of Member Parliament Dr Mehboob Baig; Political Advisor to the Chief Minister Divender Rana and the Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, Farooq Ahmad Shah. “It’s a welcome step to boost golf tourism in the Valley. The presence of golfers from different parts of the country is overwhelming,” said Mushtaq Ahmad Chaaya. The Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, Farooq Ahmad Shah said such tournaments will uplift the tourism in the Valley and generate employment for the local residents. “The golfers from outside the Valley had all the praises for our golf course in Pahalgam and said that that they will love to return and play golf here,” said the Deputy Commissioner. The next round of the tournament will be played on October 13 in Gulmarg. The tournament will conclude at the Royal Springs Golf Course, Srinagar, on October 14.
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Valley echos with mesmerising voices
Srinagar, October 12 Series of cultural events organised by the J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages drew people in large numbers to the cultural bonanza in the cities of Kishtwar, Doda and Bhaderwah. A composite mushaira, was held at the Tourist Reception Centre, Kishtwar, on Tuesday that saw local poets recite their verses in different languages before an invited audience. About 20 poets from different parts of the district participated in the mushaira. The artists performed in Punjabi, Urdu, Kashmiri and Sirazi languages and dialects. The two-hour-long electrifying musical event was attended by the Deputy Commissioner, Doda, Farooq Ahmad Khan. |
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Computer museum inaugurated at Uri
Srinagar, October 12 “Once children visit the computer museum they will get to know the journey of computers. The museum traces the origin and history of the earliest computers and takes the visitors through an impressive journey,” said Rawat. The GOC claimed that the computer museum was first of its kind in the country. He said, “The museum has been laid out in six sections, which are history of computers, inside the CPU, input and output devices, value added systems and futuristic trends in computers.” “The museum has some really entrancing equipment which also facilitates a visitor’s personal interaction with computer technology,” said the GOC. He said, “In fact, the museum has so many pieces of equipment which the present day generation will never get a chance to see and learn from.” Kalapahar Brigade Commander Brigadier BS Raju, who had set up the museum in Uri, invited the people to visit the museum. “People from all sections of the society should come and visit the museum
and utilise the facilities,” said Raju. |
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Power crisis hits wedding celebrations in north Kashmir
Kupwara, October 12 “Wedding nights have been reduced to low-key events due to acute shortage of power, kerosene oil and LPG that has forced a few families to defer the marriage plans in anticipation of improvement in power situation in our village,” said Javid Ahmad, a resident of Awoora, 12 km from Kupwara town. Javid have been searching for kerosene oil at various depots in Kupwara and Awoora since Tuesday but to no avail as the marriage ceremony of his brother, Ishfaq Ahmad, has been slated for Sunday. “For the past two weeks, the power supply has been really erratic, especially during nights. I must get some kerosene oil for a generator to light the house on the wedding night,” he said. The marriage season is at its peak in view of the winter season. On an average, 10 to 15 marriages are solemnised everyday in the Valley. The season will come to an end by the last week of October. People said celebrations were marred due to power crisis. “The marriage ceremony is identified with the wedding-night celebrations, which have been hit due to shortage of power in far-flung areas of Kupwara,” said Ghulam Rasool of Guzriyal. Several families, who were to solemnise weddings in the coming days, have deferred the ceremonies in view of power shortage. “Due to erratic power supply, especially in the unmetered areas, I deferred the marriage ceremony of my daughter till October 22. Earlier, it was slated to be held on October 12 and 13,” said Shabir Shah of Karihama.
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US educationist delivers lecture
on research studies
Srinagar, October 12 He said, “In India no one is spending money for the research on the important areas like chronic diseases, instead they are spending huge money for the research on the less important things.” Addressing a gathering of faculty members and students of IUST, Dr Javeed emphasised that the research should not be only for one’s own interest but it should be for the overall benefit of the people. While referring to their intellectual acumen Dr Javeed said, “You have a tremendous potential and if you utilise your intellectual capability efficiently you will definitely get good ideas for your researches and with the result strong researches.” He emphasised the salience of research papers publications in today’s world and that they should be written in simple language which could be easily understood. “As an evaluator I have rejected many research papers because of the tough language used by the researchers,” he said. |
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Normal life remained affected across Kashmir valley today due to a strike called by the Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA), an amalgam of various traders’ bodies.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who heads a moderate separatist faction, today criticised the cap on the number of subsidised LPG cylinders and asked the state government to fulfill the promises it made prior to elections.
Srinagar, October 12
Union Tourism Secretary Parvez Dewan today called on Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra at Raj
Bhavan. During their meeting, the Governor and the Union Tourism Secretary discussed a range of issues relating to the promotion of well planned tourism in Jammu and Kashmir which has vast potential for generating employment.
Srinagar, October 12
Sources said the machine bought at a cost of around Rs 4 lakh had not been put to use ever since it was installed in the hospital. “The new machine has never been put to use since it was installed. The hospital lacks services of a radiologist needed for operating the machine,” the sources said.
Dr Javeed, who originally hails from Kashmir, said there was a need for serious researches in India as rest of the world is far ahead of what is being done here.