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Govt employees strike, submit memo
On government assurances, LPG dealers end strike
Sessions court to hear arguments
for bail on Nov 9
Two dead, one injured in road mishaps
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J-K circle launches gift post service
Night temperature nears freezing point at many places in Valley
Missing man’s body fished out in Srinagar
Chill notwithstanding, Pahalgam hotels packed
3 held in multi-crore Hajeej scam
Unscheduled power
cuts irk South Kashmir residents
Genuine demands of students, teachers to be considered: KU V-C
Army distributes sports kits among students in Budgam
4th Jammu marathon on Nov 18
Jammu win overall c’ship in athletics meet
Dilapidated link roads add to woes of Handwara villagers
T20 cricket tourney gets underway
270 Haj pilgrims returned
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Govt employees strike, submit memo
Srinagar, November 6 The employees, protesting on the call of the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), later submitted a memorandum to Samoon. JCC, a joint body of several employees’ unions, had called for a two-day strike at government and semi-government offices and institutions in an attempt to put pressure on the state government. The committee had however exempted essential services from the strike. The striking employees are demanding enhancement of the retirement age from 58 to 60 years, regularisation of employees who work on the daily wage system and removal of pay anomaly. An employees’ union leader told The Tribune that the state government had reneged on its assurances of meeting the demands before September 29, which was the last deadline set by the state government. “Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had assured us that all demands would be met before September 29, but nothing has been done till date, which has forced us to take to confrontation,” JCC senior vice-president Bashir Ahmad Ganaie said. Ganaie said the pen-down strike will continue on Wednesday and the future course of action will be decided at a meeting scheduled for Thursday. “So far, we have exempted essential services for the sake of common people, but on Thursday, we may have to take a harsher course,” he said. The state government employees, which number around 4.5 lakh, have regularly taken a confrontationist path against the Omar Abdullah-led state government and have closed down offices across the region on many occasions over the last two years to press for their demands. |
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On government assurances, LPG dealers end strike
Srinagar, November 6 The Valley-based LPG dealers had, on November 5, decided to go on a two-day strike from Tuesday against “confusion over policy matters”. Dealers took the decision after their meeting with the food and supplies department authorities today, during which the dealers were given the assurance that soon, a meeting of the state administration, including Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution department, LPG dealers and representatives of all oil companies would be convened to look into grievances of LPG dealers. “On these assurances, we today decided to resume our work from Wednesday and distribute LPG cylinders. Revalidation of the LPG papers of consumers will continue,” said Khursheed Iqbal Shah, president of All-Kashmir LPG Dealers Association. This, he said, had been decided at a meeting of LPG dealers with Director of CA&PD Department Mir Khursheed in Srinagar today, wherein all problems confronting the dealers’ community came up for discussion. On Tuesday, the LPG dealers said no cooking gas cylinders were distributed in the Valley. The Valley-based LPG dealers had, on November 5, decided to go on a two-day strike from Tuesday against “confusion over policy matters”. |
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Sessions court to hear arguments
for bail on Nov 9
Handwara, November 6 Following murder of 20-year-old Ameera of Malgund in Lolab of Kupwara district on February 16 this year, police had arrested nine persons including Waqar Ahmad Khan, the girl’s former husband, Tasleem Ahmad Khan, Parvez Ahmad Khan, Jammel Ahmad Khan, Irfan Ahmad Khan, Changez Ahmad Khan, Ashiq Ahmad Ponchi and Majid Khan. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report later confirmed that the victim was poisoned to death. Following this, police investigations in the case led to arrest of five relatives of the victim including her brother Nawaz Ahmad Shah, husband Naseer Ahmad Shah and father Maqsood Ahmad Shah. The victim was found murdered on February 16 at her in-laws’ residence in Malgund village. She had earlier eloped with Waqar Ahmad Khan of her own will and married him but the relatives, who strongly opposed the inter-caste marriage, forcibly brought her back and married her with her cousin Naseer Ahmad Shah of Malgund. Just three days after her second marriage with her cousin, she was found murdered on February 16 this year. |
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Two dead, one injured in road mishaps
Srinagar, November 6
The woman identified as Hajira Begum was shifted to a hospital in Srinagar, nearly 80 km from the spot of the accident, where she succumbed to her injuries, a police spokesman said. In another accident in Kupwara district, a conductor of a truck was hit by another truck at Nagam market near Kralgund. The conductor, identified as Pavitra Singh of Kolal village of Reasi, was shifted to a Srinagar hospital. He succumbed to injuries on his way to the hospital, the spokesman said. A 25-year-old was injured when his car was hit by an unidentified vehicle at Narbal on the outskirts of Srinagar city. Ashiq Hussain Chichi, resident of Gundkamal village of Kupwara, was admitted to a hospital. |
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J-K circle launches gift post service
Srinagar, November 6 The Chief Postmaster General said for the first time in the state, specialised arrangements for delivery of gift items will be available at the Gandhi Nagar head post office, Srinagar GPO, Jammu Market, Jammu Cantt and Jawahar Nagar (Srinagar) post offices. “Post offices are not just meant for mail solutions. In fact, they have taken a lead as compared to other institutions by offering a variety of services and delivery of gifts to one’s near and dear ones too,” he added. He said in connection with Divali, special arrangements had been made for receipt and delivery of greeting cards at major post offices.
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Night temperature nears freezing point at many places in Valley
Srinagar, November 6 The minimum temperature in the city, where the late autumn sun is providing some warmth to residents during the day, has fallen to 1.6 degrees Celsius, an official of the state meteorological department said. Mercury is expected to fall to one degree Celsius at night in Srinagar city, the official said. The weather during the day around the city, however, was warm as the mercury rose to 19 degrees Celsius. In Gulmarg resort of North Kashmir, the night temperature fell to a freezing minus two degrees Celsius while Pahalgam resort in South Kashmir recorded a chilling minus 1.6 degrees Celsius during the night, the official said. The mountain peaks around the two famous resorts have already received the season’s first snowfall, which has considerably impacted the weather conditions in the region. In Awantipora town, located around 30 kilometres from Srinagar city, the minimum temperature plunged to minus 0.5 degrees Celsius. The frontier Kupwara town in North Kashmir also recorded a cold night, with mercury falling to 1.4 degrees Celsius and the minimum temperature in South Kashmir’s Qazigund town being 0.4 degrees Celsius, the official said. Leh town in the remote Ladakh region, which remains cut off from the rest of the state for the entire winter season as heavy snowfall cuts off road connectivity to the vast and thinly populated place, also shivered as the night temperature there fell to minus 2.8 degrees Celsius. Kashmir valley is gearing up for a harsh winter which is set to officially begin next month.
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Missing man’s body fished out in Srinagar
Srinagar, November 6 The body of Sayar Ahmad Sofi, resident of Hamdania Colony at Bemina, was fished out from a stream near Padshahi Bagh in the city here, a police spokesman said. The spokesman said Sofi was reported missing for the last one week. “Sofi’s body was handed over to his legal heir after completion of legal formalities,” the spokesman said. A case under Section 174 of CrPC has been registered at Saddar police station and investigations have been started to know the cause and circumstances of Sofi’s death. In Leh town, police found the body of 30-year-old Stanzin Chosgail, a resident of Himachal Pradesh. The spokesman said Chosgail was found hanging in suspicious circumstances at a rented room in Housing Colony, Leh. —
TNS |
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Chill notwithstanding, Pahalgam hotels packed
Anantnag, November 6 Reports said even the smaller guest houses and other lodging facilities are doing good business. “Tourists have been streaming in from different places across India, particularly West Bengal, and hotels remain almost full these days,” said Mushtaq Ahmad, a hotelier from the area. He said the cold weather is in no way dampening the spirit of tourists visiting the Valley these days. “It’s holiday season in most parts of the country and that’s the reason the tourist influx has been good over the last month or so. We expect it to be the same for over a month henceforth,” said Reyaz Ahmad, another hotelier. “We had been planning a trip to Kashmir for some time now. It’s only this year that the plan matured,” said Gautam, a tourist from Kolkata. Calling it a boost for the tourism sector, Deputy Director Tourism Mehmood Shah said the expectations from the tourism sector were very high this winter. “The hoteliers in Pahalgam and Gulmarg are getting bookings for the month of February done in advance and if it snows in December, January will be packed too,” said the Deputy Director. |
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3 held in multi-crore Hajeej scam
Srinagar, November 6 Fabian Gilkar, Arsalan Gilkar and their father Waheed Gilkar had been arrested on Monday and are accused of swindling Rs 5.01 crore this year. The trio had another case registered against them, where they were accused of defrauding hundreds of Haj pilgrimage aspirants, of nearly Rs 5 crore last year. The fresh case against the Gilkars, who run the Hajeej India travel company, was registered last week at the Khanyar police station, under Section 420, 406, 295-A of the RPC. The police said the case against the Hajeej India was registered after they received complaints that the travel company has defrauded another 384 Hajj aspirants and has swindled an amount of Rs 5.01 crore. Last year, the trio had swindled Rs 4.5 crore from the Haj aspirants and another Rs 1.6 crore from other companies, the police said. Hajeej India, owned by Fabian Gilkar, resident of Harwan area of the city, arranges travel to the cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia for the Kashmiri residents during the annual Haj pilgrimage. Fabian was arrested last year in December from Rajasthan. The police had issued a hue and cry notice against him as he disappeared after his name surfaced in the scam. Hundreds of duped residents in the Valley had frequently held protests against the travel company demanding their money to be returned. |
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Unscheduled power
cuts irk South Kashmir residents
Anantnag, November 6 The people said they expected the power
scenario to get bleaker but in a scheduled manner. “We don’t get to
see any power throughout the day. It’s only two-to-three hours of the
power supply and that too in bits and pieces,” said Farooq Ahmad Mir,
a resident of Kamad village in the Anantnag district. The people
hailing from the towns also rued the frequent power cuts. “We live in
metered area and were promised 24-hour electricity supply when the
meters were installed. Now, that a miserable schedule has been issued
for the power supply at least that should be followed,” said a
resident of Bijbehara town. The other residents who talked to the Tribune said they complete their power-related work as per the schedule issued by the Power Development Department (PDD), however, the frequent cuts even during that schedule was getting on their nerves. The officials of the PDD, however, maintained that the unscheduled power cuts in most parts of the south Kashmir had been tackled to a great extent. “Earlier,
there were unscheduled power cuts in the area but with the new grids
getting functional, we have overcome the problem effectively,” said
the chief engineer, PDD, Muzaffar Ahmad. He said there were some power
cuts due to overloading or some other technical constraints but the
overall power scenario in south Kashmir was far better than what it was
earlier. |
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Genuine demands of students, teachers to be considered: KU V-C
Srinagar, November 6 The seminar was organised by the Kashmir University Teachers Association (KUTA) on its annual day. “University is getting nation-wide importance and we have to take a collective approach. We have to build a new campus and at the same time provide quality education,” VC said while stressing on the need to expand and provide quality education. Registrar Prof Zaffar Ahmad Reshi assured the KUTA that University would try its level best to fulfill the demands of both teachers and students. Educationist Prof AG Madhosh said they need to improve in all the three major sectors of higher education, including education, research and extension. “But provided we upgrade our academic colleges. We have to strengthen our teachers and provide them with all the logistics which they need to make the overall process of teaching and learning more interesting,” he said.
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Army distributes sports kits among students in Budgam
Srinagar, November 6 The kit distribution, undertaken by the Jayova Vadho Regiment, was organised at the Old Air Field Military Station. The principal of Government Primary School and sarpanch of Lalgam were also present on the occasion. The kit distribution ceremony was presided over by Col Hemant Singh, Commanding Officer, Jayova Vadho Regiment. He said such events create a positive environment between the Army and the youth and harness the sporting talent in the Valley. Meanwhile, an educational-cum-motivational tour for a group of 30 girls, was flagged off from the Lolab Valley to Chandigarh, Dehradun, Mussorie, Ambala and Kurukshetra by Abdul Haq Khan, MLA Lolab, at Kupwara today. The event was being organised by the Army. |
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4th Jammu marathon on Nov 18
Jammu, November 6
It will pass through the BC Road, Rehari Chungi, Ambphalla, COP Chowk, Kachi Chawni, Parade, Shalamar, Gummat, Bahu Fort Bridge, University of Jammu road, Vikram Chowk and culminate at the MA Stadium. Sethi said the marathon was divided into professional run and run-for-fun. He said the professional run would be for professional runners and athletes. The participants of professional run are required to get their chest numbers from the board office opposite the Women College in Gandhi Nagar. The winner of the event will get a cash prize of Rs 21,000 while the runner-up will get Rs 11,000. The minimum age for participation is 14 years. Sethi said the purpose of organising such events was to promote sports culture among the youth in the state. |
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Jammu win overall c’ship in athletics meet
Jammu, November 6 Prof Dhian S Bhau, director, Directorate of Sports and Physical Education, JU, was the chief guest on the occasion. The tournament was organised under the supervision of Ashok Kumar, deputy director, Youth Services and Sports. Romesh Chander Sharma, Kanchan Bala, Pushpa Sharma, Manorma Sharma, Sarita Pandha, Kiran Jyoti, Sher Singh, Rakesh Kakkar, Jaswant Singh, Ajit Singh, Tilak Raj, Rattan Lal and others officials of the department were also present. Finals Results: High Jump (U-14): Madhu Bala (1st), Begum Sambal (2nd) and Rajni Devi (3rd) High Jump (U-17): Rajni Sharma (1st), Poonam Sharma (2nd) and Niharika Dubey (3rd) High Jump (U-19): Prinka Sumbria (1st), Rekha (2nd) and Radha Kumari (3rd) 200 m (U-14): Mamta Devi (1st), Jasmeen Akhter (2nd) and Pavneet Kour (3rd) 200 m (U-17): Jaswinder Kour (1st), Sultana Kouser (2nd) and Shallo Bibi (3rd) 200 m (U-19): Reetika Bhardwaj (1st), Mamta Devi (2nd) and Sonam Kinzone (3rd).
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Dilapidated link roads add to woes of Handwara villagers
Handwara, November 6 “We are facing immense problems due to the dilapidated roads in Gushi, Muhulpora and Gund Gushi. The link roads of the village have not been repaired despite repeated pleas to the authorities concerned,” a delegation of the locals said. The villagers said they were forced to carry the household items like ration and LPG as the auto and sumo drivers had suspended their services on the dilapidated roads. “The link roads have become non-motorable. We are forced to carry the household items as the head loads to our homes have suspended their service on the stretch,” Sayeed Ahmad of Gushi, a senior citizen said. They said the work on the link road to Gund Gushi was suspended soon after it had started in 2009. “We are forced to carry patients in serious conditions over stretches and many a times over shoulders in absence of a motorable road. After repeated representations to MLA Handwara and the officials of R&B, the construction work on the link road started in March 2009 but was again suspended in April of the same year. Since then the work has not been resumed,” Abdul Rashid, an employee said. The dismayed villagers threatened to take to streets if the link roads to the villages were not repaired. They said even the light rains made the roads water-logged and movement of the pedestrians difficult. A senior official of the R&B division, Handwara, said the construction on the link roads in villages would be started after the release of funds in April. “ Due to paucity of funds, the repair and constriction work on few link roads in the villages could not be resumed. The roads would be made metallic in April,” he said.
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T20 cricket tourney gets underway
Jammu, November 6 SP Poonch, Shamsheer Hussain, ADDC Poonch, Anwar Hussain Shah, DSP Hqrs Poonch, Mohammad Rashid, DSP DAR, organising secretary of the tournament, Azeem Qureshi, Harcharan Singh Khalsa, President All India Sikh Student Federation and Rajinder Singh Kaka, District President Congress were also present on the occasion. |
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270 Haj pilgrims returned
Srinagar, November 6 |
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to press their demands.
Striking employees staged a demonstration at the compound of the Food and Supplies office near Shaheed Gunj in the city before they marched to the Divisional Commissioner Asgar Hassan Samoon’s office.
Despite the temperature nosediving across the Valley, hotels in the world-famous tourist resort of Pahalgam are witnessing almost 100 per cent occupancy.
Reports from Pahalgam said the tourist influx after the annual Amarnath Yatra has been very good as compared to the previous seasons and the hotels are doing brisk business.
The police today arrested three men, who were accused of swindling more than Rs 5 crore from 384 persons, who applied for Haj pilgrimage this year.
The arrested persons were the owners of the Hajeej India travel company. The accused were produced in a local court today which sent the trio to police remand till November 15.
