Srinagar, November 1
A day after the special enforcement wing of Power Development Department (PDD) found high-profile residents of a posh colony indulging in power theft, the PDD has decided to relocate all the electricity meters in the locality to new spots to check tampering of electricity meters and power theft.

The raiding party of the department had yesterday found that the electricity meters were tempered with from the supply side and the consumers had established parallel power connections by hiding service lines in pillars of main gate.

“The technique and style of power theft was unique. After detecting these frauds at the colony during an early morning raid yesterday, we have decided to shift the electricity meters of all the consumers in the locality so that these are more visible and not accessed by the consumers,” said a senior official of the PDD.

The Friends Enclave near Srinagar International Airport, which is inhabited by Kashmir’s elite, including top former and serving bureaucrats, police officials and politicians, was raided by the squad of the PDD yesterday. The raiding team had found that as many as 20 high-profile residents of the colony were involved in power theft. The power connections of five residents were disconnected on the spot by the squad. A retired IGP, a serving bureaucrat, a senior police officer, a former legislator, relatives of politicians and few doctors were found indulging in power theft.

The raid was conducted by a team comprising senior officials of the Power Development Department who directly report to Commissioner Secretary Power.

The department has also penalised the defaulters of the high-profile colony.

“They have been asked to apply for a regular connection for the security guarding them as many families were using electricity of the guard rooms to cook dishes,” he said.

The Power Department will also take up this issue with the government as those found tempering with the electricity meters and using illegal connection are well-connected with the government.

PDD Chief Engineer Muzaffar Mattoo said he was yet to receive a report from his field staff about the raid on the Friends Enclave.

“We have been conducting raids to detect the power thefts and this is only a deterrent. These kinds of raids have been conducted in the past also and it will continue in the days ahead,” Mattoo said.

Pampore, November 1
Despite a blanket ban on soil excavation from eco-fragile saffron land in the Pampore area, the quarrying of sand is goes on unabated. Reports said the new ‘soil mafia’ continues to quarry soil from the saffron land at many places, which, in turn, is being used for the widening of national highway.

“Earlier this year, our delegation met the Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir and he had assured us that the ban would be enforced in letter and in spirit,” said a member of the Traders Federation here in Pampore.

He said even though the authorities have been making efforts to curb this illegal practice, the excavators manage to quarry soil from the fields in connivance with some lower-rung officials of the district administration.

Locals said the areas where the soil quarrying is still going on include Hatiwara, Barsoo, Kroonch and Lethpora.

“Most of the soil is being excavated from the Chandhara and Vuyen areas. The Revenue Department has been able to check it to some extent but not completely,” said Abdul Rehman, a local resident.

He said these two areas were being plundered on Sundays by the soil excavators, as they know that the authorities are not going to have a surprise check.

Pulwama Assistant Commissioner Revenue Shah Faesal said the administration is aware about the issue and they have managed to check the practice to a great extent.

“We have imposed Section 144 on the saffron fields of Pampore. This is an innovative use of the section and at the same time it has helped us a lot to check the soil quarrying,” Faesal said.

He, however, admitted that it was impossible to keep a vigil all the time. “We have to find ways and check if somebody is quarrying the soil at night or on Sundays, but the fact is the practice is almost negligible now.” 

Kupwara, November 1
In a crackdown on timber smugglers in north Kashmir, the forest ranges of Kandi, Rafiabad and Rajwar in north Kashmir have seized over 14,000 sq ft of illicit timber from the smugglers since January this year.

The recovered timber is valued at over Rs 7 crore. During this period, at least 37 smugglers have been booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA). The forest ranges had seized at least 32 vehicles, including four tractors, 82 ponies, four horsecarts, three boats and five motorcycles. The areas from which most of the smugglers have been booked include Botango, Dangarpora, Shu, Bomia and Tujar.

Recently, the forest officials held Firdous Ahmad Mir and Ayaz Ahmad Bhat with a bike bearing registration number JKO2A 2976 at Bomia near Sopore when they were ferrying logs of wood. The forest ranges have registered around 170 court challans, 61 police cases and at least 54 departmental cases against the smugglers in the affected forest areas.

A senior forest official said as a last resort the smugglers were using bikes for transporting the timber. “They also use ponies during night hours to transport the timber. We have intensified our crackdown on them and put a check on the timber smuggling to a great extent,” Abdul Ahad Ganie, Range Officer, Kandi forest range, told The Tribune.

A group of smugglers led by a notorious smuggler Mohammad Maqbool attacked forester Shakeel Ahmad Wani of Sopore in March this year. The victim died at a Srinagar hospital a week later. “We booked Maqbool under the PSA. He was responsible for the killing of forest official,” said the forest official.

Conservator of Forests, North Circle, Farooq Ahmad Geelani told The Tribune that smuggling in forest ranges had been curbed to a great extent during the past nine months. “We have been able to put a check on smuggling in various smuggling-prone forest ranges of north Kashmir. To make people aware of stern punishment against offenders, we hold awareness camps in villages from time to time to deter the potential smugglers from indulging in the illegal act,” he said.

Srinagar, November 1
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has reserved its final orders on a petition challenging the selection of 563 general line teachers by the Services Selection Board (SSB) from Kupwara district.

The single Bench of Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir reserved its final orders after concluding the arguments into the matter today.

Following allegations that the SSB had “flouted recruitment norms in order to accommodate influential and blue-eyed” candidates in the teachers’ selection list for Kupwara district, the high court had on July 23 stayed the entire list of 563 general line teachers. It had also issued notices to SSB chairman and other respondents. The list was issued by the SSB in the first week of July.

“After concluding the arguments into the petition, the court today reserved its final judgment” , a lawyer connected with the case told The Tribune. He said the court, however, did not set any time frame for announcing the verdict.

The writ petition was being argued for three consecutive days since Monday, wherein all the sides put forth their arguments. The petitioners in the matter were represented by advocate Zaffar Shah.

In the writ petition, 34 aggrieved aspirants while terming their non-selection as “unconstitutional and illegal”, had sought quashing of the selection list of 563 general line teachers.

They had submitted before the court that the SSB violated its own rules by selecting graduate+BEd candidates by giving them high marks in viva-voce, while postgraduate+ BEd candidates were ignored by giving them low marks in the viva-voce.

“The fact is that candidates with MEd degree have been dropped despite having professional masters degree in the relevant field by awarding them low marks in the interview. It was mentioned in the advertisement that candidates with higher education like PG/MEd will be given preference, but the final selection was totally different”, the petitioners had alleged in the petition. The petitioners had also alleged before the court that the SSB absorbed around 68 “blue-eyed” candidates, mostly belonging to “bureaucratic and politically influential families”, in the selection list after setting up a supplementary panel to conduct their interviews. Stating that merit was converted into de-merit by the SSB, the petitioners had submitted that the SSB selected the candidates with fake physically challenged certificates.

Srinagar, November 1
Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir today urged farmers to introduce mechanisation in farm sector to make it more profitable.

“The introduction of mechanisation in the farm sector will create employment opportunities for youth and would strengthen the economy of farming community,” said Mir after inaugurating a ‘Farm Machinery Mela’.

The minister said, “Under protected cultivation, the department would provide polygreen houses so that fresh vegetables are made available the people during the winter season.”

“This year department will provide Rs 10 crore subsidy for the purchase of machinery and Rs 3 crore for polygreen houses to the farming community of the Valley,” he said.

The minister advised the farmers to keep in close coordination with the field functionaries of the department for successful implementation of the schemes launched by the department.

The department of Agriculture has drawn a 36-day schedule of holding 31 ‘Farm Machinery Melas’ across the valley.

During the mela several authorised dealers displayed different kinds of agricultural machinery.

Srinagar, November 1
After the successful organisation of ‘Tour-de-Kashmir’, a mega cycling event on Wednesday, which saw cyclists traversing distance from Srinagar to Gulmarg of 60 km with tough uphill climb of 20 km , the J&K Sports Development Association (JKSDA) has decided to expand the tour to three-stage event.

It was the 10th edition of the event that was being earlier held from Srinagar to Pahalgam covering a total distance of 100 km. This year the route of event was changed from Srinagar to Gulmarg with a total distance of 60 km but tougher than the previous editions as more than 20 km uphill climb.

“Experimenting with the change of route from traditional Pahalgam to Gulmarg worked as it opened new venues for us. Initially we were hesitant to change route but with the help of almighty everything worked smoothly and event was a great success,” said the founder of the event and JKSDA Organising Secretary Reyaz Wani.

“We are delighted with the outcome and now we have decided to make it a three-stage event next year. First day will see riders going from Srinagar to Pahalgam and come back. Second day they will head to Gulmarg and come back. For third stage, we are yet to choose any route but Sonamarg looks the most probable option,” he said.

He said that ‘Tour-de-Kashmir’ has the potential to become state’s premier sporting event and major tourist attraction.

“Tour-de-Kashmir is based on the concept of Tour-de-France which is known all over world and involves millions of dollars. Though we can’t compare our event with the 25-stage ‘Tour-de-France’ mega event but Kashmir tour has got potential to lure cyclist from all over World. We have got similar terrains, natural beauty as that of France hence we can also achieve fair bit of success,” he said.

Srinagar, November 1
National Conference President and Union Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah today cautioned the people against all those elements who are hell bent to destabilise the social fabric of the state.

“Kashmir is a Peer veer (land of saint and sufi’s), and everyone has lived here in communal harmony, no one has the right to disturb the social fabric,” said a party spokesperson while quoting Abdullah.

“Kashmir is a place of Sufi’s and saints. It is a necklace with pearls of different religious beliefs. We will not allow anyone to dilute Kashmiriyat” said the Union Minister during a function at Nagbal, Gulabagh in Ganderbal district. Abdullah also lashed at the leaders who were hoodwinking the people with emotive slogans and false information about Amarnath route.

“They are lying to the people. The entire media has had an aerial tour and have taken a firsthand look at the route and not found a single road being constructed anywhere. Where do they get this false information from?” asked Abdullah.

“It proves that they want to destabilize the social fabric of the state by inciting people,” he said.

Srinagar, November 1
Chairman of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference is scheduled to take part in a protest demonstration, which being organised by a Delhi based civil society group at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on December 10.

The protest is being organised by the Centre for Policy Analysis (CPA) and other civil society groups against the alleged human rights violations in J&K.

“The CPA has invited Mirwaiz to attend a protest which is going to take place at Jantar Mantar New Delhi on December 10 on human rights violations, which he (mirwaiz) readily accepted,” said Hurriyat spokesperson.

He said that 11-member civil society delegation led by prominent Journalist Seema Mustafa today met the APHC Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq at Hurriyat headquarters.“The group of the Centre for Policy Analysis (CPA) included noted social and women activists, politicians, analysts and educational experts. Laila Pasha, Dr Jotyshina Chattergee, TK Raja Lakshmi, Chenoy, Zakiya, Sahiba Farooqui and, Promila Lamba were the part of the civil society delegation which met Mirwaiz,” he said.

Hurriyat spokesaman said the delegation informed that they would inform the civil society in India about the problems faced by the Kashmiris’ and would try to pressurise the GOI to stop the rights violations in Kashmir.”

“During the meeting, the Hurriyat chairman made it clear to the delegation that it was due to the pending resolution of Kashmir issue which has actually led to present sufferings,” he said.

“Mirwaiz informed the delegation that an army of orphans’ widows and disabled people has been created and that custodial killings, enforced disappearances, and issue of mass graves have cropped in Jammu and Kashmir’,” said the spokesperson.

The delegetaion was received by both the general and executive council members of the Hurriyat, including Mukhtar Ahmad Waza, Musadiq Adil, Abdul Rashid Untoo, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Zaffar Akbar Bhat, Advocate Shahid-ul-Islam, GM Nagoo, Yasmeen Raja, Hakeem Abdul Rashid, Abdul Manan Bukhari.

Srinagar, November 1
Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti yesterday blamed the National Conference and the Congress party for ‘Zanskar trouble’.

In a statement issued by the PDP at the end of her visit to Zanaskar in Ladakh region following reports of communal tension, Mehbooba said: “It seems the coalition partners NC and Congress are stoking the fires of communalism in the region to promote their partisan interests who unfortunately are linked to their pursuit of narrow and unprincipled politics.”

She along with other party leaders held discussions with the representatives of the Muslim and Buddhist communities. Mehbooba visited the victims of riots and inspected the houses damaged as a result of violence.

“The (PDP) team felt that the government had almost withdrawn from the area and had left the people to their own fate. They were told that the official delegation which landed there nearly one month after the initial trouble spent less than an hour at Padum area and did not even visit the victims of violence. They did not inspect the houses that have been damaged in the unfortunate incidents,” said the statement.

Demanding adequate compensation to the victims and their complete rehabilitation by the government, Mehbooba said they were informed that the government had announced a Rs 3 lakh as relief to more than two dozen families who had suffered extensive damage.

Srinagar, November 1
As Kashmir University resumed its routine work after Eid Holidays, the change in the highest chair of registrarship of the varsity on October 30 after a period of more than six years was a surprise for most of the faculty members and the students. Professor Zafar Ahmad Reshi, ex-Head of Department, Botany and a pioneer botanoloigist of the Valley took over as the Registrar, KU, on October 30 after the Governor , NN Vohra, who is also the University chancellor cleared Dr Reshi’s name from a selection list of three candidates for the registrarship.

Although , the university has maintained that the change is a part of routine reshuffle exercises , sources said that many voices of resentment against the former registrar Professor S Fayaz among students and faculty, especially for favoritism in providing employment for various cadres in University might have led to this change. Last year, KU was in focus for alleged nepotism in selection of the Class IV employees across various campuses and the offices which included the name of the ex-registrar.

Meanwhile, Dr Reshi’s assuming new charge has created optimism among the students and teachers for the introduction of fresh changes in the administrative and academic circles of the university.

“It would be a great challenge for Dr Reshi, especially when the financial burden on university is at an all time high and a lot of resources available have been underutilised. Looking at his credentials and experience, he seems to be the right man for the job,” said Akhter Hussain, a research scholar.

KU also saw the superannuation of one of the most reputed senior library official, Professor Riyza Rufai, who served as the Chief Librarian in the varsity and was an expert in the Library documentation. Under his chairmanship, Kashmir University’s library entered into the virtual mode with the creation of online libraries which was two years ago.

“Following some top slot administrative changes, KU might be heading towards low rung administrative reshuffle too in days to come,” said the officials.

Students meanwhile are busy with the ongoing intra-university students’ festival ‘Sonzal-2012’ being organised by the Department of Students Welfare from October 30- November 3.The festival has been a major pull for the students from affiliated colleges as well as the campus gauging from their participations in numerous debating, writing, poster making, music and clay modelling competitions. “It is a fun fare for students in every way. Students get time to relax through these fest before they burn mid night oil for the upcoming annual examinations. In a way, it also exposes the students to some of their hidden talents which normally they never showcased,” said Shahid Khan, coordinator, Department of Students Welfare, University of Kashmir.