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Pakistan must respect ceasefire pact: Omar
Army registers protest, awaits Pak response
Pak shelling doesn’t hit cross-LoC trade
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Panchayats irked over Cong’s silence after poll cancellation
JKSPDC approves six more power projects
Highrises give quake-proof technology a miss
Punjab ex-DGP denies charge of DNA sample fudging
Govt finalising disaster management plan
38 injured as bus rolls into gorge
Ex-servicemen rally on October 23
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Pakistan must respect ceasefire pact: Omar
“If the ceasefire has been agreed on, I request them (Pakistan) that they should accept it. Otherwise, we also have guns and mortars and cannons. If we also begin to fire on them then where will it end,” Omar told reporters on the sidelines of a function in the city here. Three civilians, including a teenage boy, were killed when Pakistani soldiers from across the Line of Control opened fire on Churanda village in the Uri sector of Baramulla district on Tuesday. The incident was the first major ceasefire violation in the area which had led to civilian causalities. In the aftermath of a ceasefire agreement reached out between India and Pakistan in November 2003, guns had fallen silent across the treacherous and mountainous Line of Control and international border which otherwise witnessed routine shelling duels between the two armies. Though there have been intermittent violations of minor nature during the past decade, Tuesday’s breach of agreement was a major infringement as Pakistani soldiers resorted to use of heavy machine guns (HMGs) and mortar shelling. While expressing doubt over the intention of Pakistan, Omar said the recent ceasefire violations could either have been an attempt to help militants infiltrate into the state or internationalise the Kashmir issue. “We have always been saying that their intention doesn’t seem right. If ceasefire was working for so many years, what was the need to violate the ceasefire now?” the Chief Minister asked. |
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Army registers protest, awaits Pak response
Srinagar, October 17 "The flag meeting on the issue will be held after we get the Pakistani response," said another Army officer. Three civilians were killed in unprovoked firing by Pakistan soldiers on Tuesday morning at Churanda village, which is only 120 metres away from the LoC. The Pakistan troops fired 82 mm mortars shells, which have a range of 5 km, at the village. There has been no exchange of fire since Tuesday afternoon in the sector. The village is surrounded by Pakistan troops from three sides and the heavy shelling on Tuesday has spread panic among the villagers. Villagers today assembled outside the office of Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Uri, demanding protection. Villagers told the SDM that the Army was constructing a forward post in the village. “For the last four days, Pakistani soldiers had been urging the Indian Army through mega phones to stop the construction work.” The GOC, however, denied that a new forward post was being constructed in the village. “We have concrete inputs that terrorists are waiting to infiltrate before the winter and Pakistan troops will do everything to push them into Kashmir. There is no construction on of any forward post. But at times there is minor renovation of bunkers with winter ahead,” said Major General Rawat.
— TNS |
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Pak shelling doesn’t hit cross-LoC trade
As many as 29 trucks loaded with spices, Kashmiri embroidery items and other trade goods today morning left the Salamabad Trade Facilitation Centre in Uri for Chakoti in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Similarly from the Pakistani side, 13 trucks loaded with items such as dates and pomegranate crossed over to the Indian side through Aman Setu. On Tuesday, in a first major ceasefire violation in Uri sector for over in a decade, three civilians, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed in an “unprovoked” firing by Pakistani soldiers at Churanda village of Baramulla district, just a few miles away from the Salamabad Trade Facilitation Centre. “When trucks crossed over to the other side today morning via Aman Setu, I was present on the spot,” said Nazir Ahmad Baba, custodian, cross-LoC trade. “The environment was largely pleasant. Defence personnel from both sides were present during the crossing of the trucks. Everything went on smoothly,” Baba said. When the Pakistani side resorted to shelling in Uri Sector along the LoC on Tuesday, Aman Setu was abuzz with trade activity between the two parts of Kashmir. “The shelling did not affect the trade activity at all. On Tuesday, 30 trucks loaded with goods and fruits from this side crossed over to Chakoti in the PoK, while five trucks reached the Salamabad Trade Centre from Pakistani side,” Baba added. It usually takes four to five days for loaded trucks to reach their destination across the border. The crossing is permissible from Tuesday to Friday on both sides. As per the agreement, the cross-LoC traders are permitted to trade only 21 items, including Kashmiri apple, carpets, handicrafts and some fruits. The traders have been demanding introduction of a negative list of trade items to boost the cross-LoC trade in Kashmir for some time. trade uninterrupted
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CAG: Development of Jammu not proportionate to tourist inflow
Srinagar, October 17 “The developmental activities in Jammu have not been commensurate with the increased flow of tourists visiting both Kashmir and Mata Vaishno Devi shrine at Katra during the last few years,” states the CAG report that was tabled in the recently concluded autumn session of the Assembly. Stating that all three regions of the state attracted a large number of tourists, the report said Jammu was the gateway to the visitors and setting up of proper infrastructural facilities was essential. “To accommodate tourists, proper infrastructural facilities have to be in place. This is particularly essential in view of a large number of pilgrims who visit Vaishno Devi shrine,” it said. On both the potential and the exploitation of tourist spots apart from the Vaishno Devi shrine, the CAG report pointed out that the state government had taken up development of three places — Jhiri, Surinser and Dori Deggar villages — under the Rural Tourism Scheme and Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan. It also took up the development of the Raghunath Bazaar as a heritage project. However, the report stated, the implementation of the programme for the development of the Raghunath Bazaar had been “tardy” as the departments concerned with the execution of works had spent only Rs 1.06 crore on the project out of Rs 2.27 crore released by the state government till March 2011. The Raghunath Bazaar project was taken up in 2009-10 at an estimated cost of Rs 6.62 crore. Similarly, out of Rs 2.08 crore earmarked for the development of Jhiri, Surinser and Dori Deggar, only Rs 1.78 crore have been spent. The report has recommended that developmental projects should be taken up in a phased manner to develop tourist spots in the Jammu region. |
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Panchayats irked over Cong’s silence after poll cancellation
Jammu, October 17 They termed the National Conference as the “first enemy” of panchayats and lashed out at the Congress for “backstabbing” the sarpanches and panches in the name of empowering the Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs). “The NC leadership never intended to empower the panchayats and its coalition partner, Congress, has also backstabbed us. We were assured that the 73rd Amendment would be implemented in totality at the cost of cancellation of the BDC poll but no circular has been issued and elections have been cancelled for an indefinite period,” Shafiq Mir, convener, Jammu & Kashmir Panchayat Conference, told reporters here. He claimed, “I was called by one of the Cabinet ministers on October 12, when the Union Home Minister was in the state, regarding the BDC poll and he sought our support in cancelling these elections after assuring us incorporation of the 73rd Amendment in the state Panchayati Raj Act in letter and spirit.” He took a dig at the Congress for being silent on the issue after the poll cancellation. “Sarpanches and panches fear that these elections will not take place in the near future. The Congress should clear its position within two days and nothing less than the implementation of the 73rd Amendment will be acceptable to us now,” he maintained. Flanked by state Panchayat Coordination Committee general secretary Anil Sharma and other members of the organisation, Mir said the Congress had sought 20 days for the incorporation of all the provisions of the amendment in the state Panchayati Raj Act. |
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JKSPDC approves six more power projects
Srinagar, October 17 “The board approved six more projects, including five under the JK State Hydroelectric Projects Development Policy, 2011, and one under Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC), for which open tenders were floated by the JKSPDC,” the spokesman said. With these new power projects, the number of projects approved for allotment during 2012 so far has reached 11 with an aggregate capacity of 643 MW. These projects include state-owned JKSPDC projects of 450 MW Baglihar Hydro Electric Project (HEP) -II, 1.50 MW Pahalgam HEP 3rd Unit, 5 MW Puga Geo Thermal, 9 MW Dah HEP, 9 MW Hanu HEP and 37.5 MW Parnai HEP. The nod for the new projects was given at the 67th meeting of the Board of Directors of the JKSPDC here this evening. The Chief Minister said the corporation had to work hard to realize the goal of generating 6000 MWs of power envisaged under various projects approved for construction. The meeting was attended by state Chief Secretary Madhav Lal, Economic Adviser Jalil Ahmad Khan, Principal Secretary (Finance) M I Khandey, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister B B Vyas, Principal Secretary (Power) Sudhanshu Pandey, Member of Central Electricity Authority Alok Gupta, Managing Director of the JKSPDC Basharat Ahmad Dhar, Company Secretary Sunil Gupta and other senior officials, the spokesman said. |
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Highrises give quake-proof technology a miss
Jammu, October 17 While people have not yet forgotten the morning of October 8, 2005, when an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale wreaked havoc in the state, the government has apparently not learnt any lessons. A senior official of the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) candidly admitted that some “bad elements” were responsible for the construction of high-rise buildings in the winter capital. “Disgruntled elements are everywhere and we are no exception to it. They hobnob with the moneyed, which in turn hampers strict enforcement of building laws and as a result, high-rise buildings for commercial purposes are coming up rapidly,” said the official. He said, “When we initiate action under law, violators, a majority of whom are filthy rich, rush to the court and obtain a stay. Once they move the court, the matter becomes sub judice and the case takes years to resolve.” When the killer earthquake flattened structures in 2005, the state government had framed a disaster management committee. Over 1,400 people in Jammu and Kashmir and over 70,000 in Pak-occupied Kashmir were killed in the disaster. The JMC official admitted that in brazen violation of building laws, structures continue to come up in the capital city which may pose a grave risk to residents in case of a strong earthquake. But JMC joint secretary Babu Ram maintained that the civic body had been religiously enforcing building laws. “The height of any structure is decided strictly in accordance to the floor area ratio (FAR). We also ensure usage of RCC pillars and strength of iron rods as per FAR. The structural stability is strictly ensured,” he said. However, he said in the old city, a risk reduction programme had to be conducted for which the state administration had to provide experts from the Jammu University and the Institute of Management of Public Administration. A senior government official said with the state situated on the fault lines, sky-rise buildings might not endure another seven-plus temblor. “Unfortunately, even after seven years of the killer quake, the state government has not woken up to the menace of unplanned constructions. In fact, such constructions, of late, have picked up momentum,” he said. “Finally, the government is finalising the framework of a state disaster management plan,” he mocked. |
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Punjab ex-DGP denies charge of DNA sample fudging
Srinagar, October 17 Gill in his response filed to the J-K State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), which is hearing the kidnapping and disappearance case of six foreigners, has termed the allegation levelled against him as “frivolous” and “fabricated.” “I was not the supervising DIG of Anantnag police district when the kidnapping of foreign tourists by Pakistani terrorists took place. I was also not part of the team investigating the case or its supervising officer at any stage,” Gill has submitted in his one-page response to the SHRC, which had on September 18 issued summons to him for failing to file his personal response in the case. There are allegations against Gill, who was then the Kashmir Inspector General of Police, that he played a role in “fudging” the DNA samples which were taken to confirm the death of one of the slain foreign tourists. “During my tenure as IGP, Kashmir zone, as far as I remember, on receipt of some information a dead body was exhumed and its DNA sample along with a central sample was sent to a national laboratory at Calcutta for analysis and opinion,” Gill submitted to the rights body. “The result of the analysis received through the Police Headquarters was made known to all concerned. A subsequent analysis by a British laboratory did not endorse the earlier version and the matter was disposed,” Gill further added in his response. Claiming that all these procedures adopted were “legal and totally transparent”, former Punjab DGP in his response to the SHRC has denied all allegations levelled against him as “frivolous” and “not based on facts”. Gill has also denied the claims made in the recently released book “The Meadow: Kashmir 1995 - Where the Terror Began”, documenting the sequence of events related to the kidnappings. “I do not know the authors of the novel (Meadows) and have not read it,” Gill has claimed in his response to the SHRC. The International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons had filed a joint petition before the SHRC on April 6 seeking a fresh probe into the case and the book has been sighted as an “important piece of evidence” in the petition. |
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Govt finalising disaster management plan
Srinagar, October 17 He said the plan would be prepared after consulting the NDMA, professional agencies, disaster management experts and other stakeholders. “In order to prepare the plan, technical and professional inputs will be required from
various sectors and as such the best available resources need to be utilised,” he said. A member of the NDMA, T Nanda Kumar, said the state experienced several disasters of recurrent nature, which resulted in the loss of life and property and therefore, there was an urgent need to procure equipment and facilitate infrastructure to store them. He said the disaster management plan should consider components such as mitigation, capacity-building, response and utilisation of the available resources. The meeting also took into account preventive measures which need to
be incorporated in the plan to combat natural disasters such as earthquakes, cloudbursts, storms, snow blizzards. |
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38 injured as bus rolls into gorge
Batote, October 17 A mechanical snag in the front axle was reported to be the cause of the accident. Sources said a police team from the Assar police station and some locals extricated the injured and sent 15 of them to the Doda hospital and 23 to Assar hospitals, from where four were sent by two choppers and three by road to the GMC, Jammu, from the Dharmoond, Batote, helipad. Senior police and administration officials supervised the rescue operation. |
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Ex-servicemen rally on October 23
Jammu, October 17 The cells will take note of the problems faced by veterans and provide solutions for the same through high-ranking officials. Numerous stalls for CSD facility, ECHS, medical aid, financial assistance, job opportunities and private ventures have been planned where ex-servicemen and widows would be assisted and briefed on their entitlements. |
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Srinagar, October 17
Srinagar, October 17