The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Congress tight-lipped over alliance with NC in 2014 elections Will take decision at appropriate time, says PCC chief Saifuddin Soz Ehsan Fazili Tribune News Service Srinagar, December 8 Even as Chief Minister and working president of National Conference Omar Abdullah had recently hinted at a possible coalition with the Congress in the 2014 Assembly elections, the Congress has maintained silence over the issue. State Congress president Saifuddin Soz today evaded queries on a possible alliance in future Assembly elections in the wake of recent “coalition victory”. When asked to divulge his views on the issue, Soz declined to comment, saying it would be too early to say anything. He said the Congress would take a decision at an appropriate time. He was talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a thanksgiving function held at the PCC headquarters. Addressing the party leaders and panchayat members earlier, he said the decision taken by the party high command to jointly contest the elections to four seats of the Legislative Council with the National Conference was a wise decision. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah during the campaign for the Legislative Council elections had maintained that the joint candidates were indicative of a grand alliance with the Congress in the next Assembly elections. Leaders from both the coalition parties had jointly campaigned across the state. In Kashmir, it was launched jointly from Ganderbal constituency. Ganderbal is the home constituency of the Sheikh family and is represented by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. After the 1977 elections, Ganderbal constituency was bagged only once by a non-NC member Qazi Mohammad Afzala of the PDP in 2002. The Congress entered into a coalition with the National Conference following 2008 Assembly elections in the state, when no single party got a majority in the 87-member House. Earlier, the Congress had a coalition with the PDP after the 2002 elections while the NC with the highest number of 28 votes was relegated to the Opposition. Though there are simmering differences within the circles of both the parties over the coalition, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been able to maintain the balance. The four-year-long term of the coalition is the longest such coalition so far in the state. The previous coalition between the Congress and the PDP had a three-year term for a Chief Minister from each of the alliance partners. The second phase of the coalition led by Congress Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad from 2005 had come to an and prematurely during 2008 in the wake of Amarnath land row.
	Spurt in ‘accidental’ mine blasts in KG sector One more soldier injured today; fifth incident since Nov 17 Ravi Krishnan Khajuria & Darshan Bharti Tribune News Service Jammu/Poonch, December 8 One more soldier lost his limbs in a ‘mine’ blast today along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Krishna Ghati (KG) sector of Poonch district. Today’s ‘mine blast’ was the fifth in the KG sector since November 17, which injured as many five persons — two each from the Army and the BSF, and a porter engaged by the Army. The Army, which has the operational responsibility of the 776-km-long LoC, again maintained that the today’s incident was again an anti-personnel mine blast that injured a soldier. The injured soldier has been identified as naik Rajeev Kumar of 3 Grenadiers. “During a routine patrol, the soldier accidentally stepped on an anti-personnel mine that exploded causing injuries in his legs,” said officiating Defence PRO SN Acharya. The incident happened at Nangi Tekri area of the KG sector, he added. The soldier was immediately shifted in an Army ambulance to Poonch Garrison Hospital before being air-lifted to Military Hospital in Udhampur. An Intelligence source said the incident occurred near Upper Ridge Salotri post in the KG sector. “This was the fifth incident of ‘mine blast’ since November 17 that prompted visit of two senior Army officers to the KG sector in the past three days,” he added. A senior Army officer described today’s incident as accidental mine blast but he could not explain why such mines were exploding in the KG sector alone. “The mines that weigh around 100 gm each usually get displaced due to rains and that is why such incidents happen,” he said. But the Intelligence source said since November 17 the KG sector in Poonch district has not witnessed rains. “There was a drizzle hardly for five minutes on November 22,” he said. A Defence source said the fifth such incident in the same sector since November 17 has something more that what meets the eye. A senior retired Army officer, who declined to be named, said, “The Army clearly demarcates, maps and maintains complete records of mine fields.” “There is a well-defined system in the Army for laying mines. It seems there must be some mischief in the KG sector,” he said. Meanwhile, the Pakistan army started small arms firing in the evening on forward posts of Kranti and Kripan in the KG Sector. The Indian Army was also giving calibrated response to the firing till reports last poured in.
	Restoration of autonomy tops NC agenda Farooq urges party activists to gear up for 2014 LS, Assembly poll Tribune News Service Jammu, December 8 The ruling National Conference today said the restoration of autonomy continues to be the bedrock of its policy and agenda. The party said the state must continue its efforts with the Government of India for the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in a phased manner. In its Central Working Committee meeting held today, the NC leaders unanimously passed a resolution that India and Pakistan must enter into a sustained dialogue and find a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue, which was acceptable to all stakeholders and could lead to a lasting peace in the region. The party appreciates the state government, which, with the support of the Union Government, has been able to bring peace and normalcy in the state, accelerating development and improving economy, thereby increasing the per-capita income. In the resolution, the party said the state government should impress upon the Centre to take up the issue of streamlining trade across the Line of Control with the government of Pakistan, wherein barter system should be replaced by cash transfer. The meeting also appreciated measures taken by the government to bring accountability, transparency and efficiency in governance by implementing the Right to Information Act, reconstituting the State Accountability Commission and promulgating the Public Service Guarantee Act and urged the government to constitute State Vigilance Commission at the earliest. “The state government should take up with the Centre the issue of opening of the Jammu-Sialkot road, Nowshera-Changer-Mirpur road, Kargil-Skardu road and the Mendhar-Tattapani road,” the resolution demanded, adding, “The state government should implement the report on the creation of new administrative units in the state.” The party appreciated the state government for holding the panchayat elections after three decades and urged it to take steps to strengthen the Panchayati Raj in the state. NC president Farooq Abdullah congratulated his party colleagues on the coalition’s victory in the Legislative Council elections. He urged them to continue the momentum and gear up for the 2014 parliamentary and Assembly elections. Addressing the Working Committee members here, Farooq said the NC had always stood for secularism, communal harmony and brotherhood and fought against divisive forces and defeated them in the state and would continue to do so in the future. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said 2013 should be the year of consolidation and all efforts should be made to take proactive measures that will benefit the party and strengthen the coalition as well and address the aspirations of the people in a focused and an organised manner in the run-up to the elections. He urged ministers and legislators to extensively tour far-flung areas of the state, listen to grievances of the people and ensure their redressal.
	Soz to step up efforts for party unity Tribune News Service Jammu, December 8 Buoyed by the “exemplary” unity exhibited by leaders of the warring factions of the party in the Legislative Council elections, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief Saifuddin Soz today hinted at taking some concerted steps to further iron differences among party leaders to play a leading role in the state politics after 2014 Assembly elections. The JKPCC chief asserted that the “united” Congress had the potential to dominate the scenario of the state politics. Soz, while addressing a function to felicitate the newly elected Legislative Council member of the party, Sham Lal Bhagat, said it was the outcome of the unity showed by party leaders that Congress candidates had won the elections. As three legislators, Jugal Kishore Sharma, GM Saroori and Abdul Majid Wani, who owe their allegiance to Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, were present in the today’s meeting, Soz availed the opportunity to give the unity “mantra” and said unity was the only way to push the Congress into a leading role in the state politics. He said the Congress leadership was united on the issue of extending the 73rd Amendment of the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir so the party would take up the issue in the coming days. As some party leaders have been repeatedly saying that the Congress has been forced to play a second fiddle in the coalition, Soz today tried to dispel the notion and said unity was a must to aggressively pursue the party’s agenda. While terming the Legislative Council results as a marvellous victory of the Congress, Soz congratulated party workers and leaders for launching a joint campaign, ensuring the victory of all four candidates. He said the Congress was a vibrant force in all the three regions and the elections bore testimony to it. He reiterated the party’s and coalition’s commitment to empower the panchayats by incorporating the 73rd Amendment, wherever required, through discussion, dialogue and consensus.
	Andrabi killing case: Hearing adjourned till December 31 Tribune News Service Srinagar, December 8 A local court here today adjourned the hearing into Jaleel Andrabi murder case till December 31. While hearing the case on November 10, the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, had directed the prosecution in the Andrabi killing case to furnish the original copy of communication from the Interpol authenticating the death of Major Avtar Singh by December 8, who was the prime accused in the case. 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 case. “The case was listed today before the CJM. However, it has now been adjourned till December 31 as we were told by the court officials that the CJM Srinagar is on leave” said advocate Hafizullah Mir representing Andrabi’s family. Asked if the prosecution has produced the letter from the Interpol as was directed by the court on previous hearing, he said, “While the case was being adjourned, I did not see anybody from the prosecution side in the court. I also don’t know if the prosecution has produced the original letter authenticating Major Avtar’s death.” Case file Lawyer Jaleel Andrabi’s body was fished out of the Jhelum in Srinagar on March 27, 1996 He was allegedly kidnapped on March 8, 1996, by Maj Avtar Singh, who served in the Army in Kashmir during 1990s After Major Singh’s role in Andrabi’s killing became clear, he fled to Canada, from where he shifted to the US On June 9, Major Singh reportedly shot himself after gunning down his two children and wife at his Selma home in the US
	Performance monitoring system for govt depts soon, says Omar Tribune News Service Jammu, December 8 Chief Minister Omar Abdullah yesterday said the Results Framework Document (RFD) initiative would be launched this year for the entire government in one shot, adding that all the government departments would be asked to formulate it. The RFD is an effective performance assessment and management system, aimed at judging the performance and functioning of government departments on the basis of timeline completion of targets, outcomes of the schemes, priorities fixed, quality of work done and status of benefits of projects actually accruing to people. Under the project, the performance of each government department would be assessed and evaluated to identify bottlenecks, shortcomings, if any, and to improve the performance by taking corrective measures. Addressing the two-day workshop on the RFD - an instrument of improving government performance, on Friday morning, the Chief Minister highlighted the importance of the workshop organised in collaboration with the Performance Management Division, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, for administrative secretaries and heads of departments to get acquainted with the basics of the RFD which has been implemented in 10 states so far. Jammu and Kashmir will be the eleventh state to implement the RFD this year. He said while the elections presented an evaluation perception of public representatives, there should be a performance evaluation of bureaucracy and government departments, and the RFD would be the right instrument for the same. Omar said administrative secretaries should act as drivers of the RFD. “You have to be drivers of the programme. You cannot be driven by the cabinet secretariat. You can receive basic training, knowledge and timely guidance from the Union Cabinet Secretariat but you have to yourself implement the initiative successfully,” he said. Chief Secretary Madhav Lal, who has been associated with the RFD formulation at the Centre and has piloted the programme implementation in the state under the directions of the Chief Minister, gave a detailed account of the RDF’s significance to improve the performance of government departments and ensure qualitative public service delivery.
	1,129 posts of assistant professor vacant in state degree colleges Bismah Malik Tribune News Service Srinagar, December 8 Almost a year since the creation of approximately 1,129 posts of assistant professors across 33 newly established colleges in the state, not a single post has been filled. These posts were sanctioned by the Ministry of Higher Education Department early this year on the basis of requirements and student enrolments in the colleges located in Jammu and Kashmir divisions. As per sources, 700 posts have been reserved for the degree colleges in Kashmir division whereas 429 posts have been allotted to degree colleges of Jammu. The Higher Education Department officials say the posts are state cadre posts and therefore the vacancies will be filled through state-level entrance examinations. “The posts will be advertised by the State Public Service Commission as has been directed by Higher Education Minister Abdul Gani Malik,” Prof Nalini Kohli, Director, Colleges, told The Tribune. On the other hand, fate of thousands of contractual teachers serving in various degree colleges of the state is undecided, as the state government has no proposal yet for regularisation of these teachers or their salary hike. Some of these teachers have been serving on extended contract periods since 1992 on meagre salaries of Rs 8,000 per month. The teachers allege that the successive state governments have ignored their demands of regularisation and salary hike, even after assuring them number of times. “It is an established fact that there is large number of vacancies in the existing and newly floated degree colleges of the state. The state government hired thousands of postgraduate and PhD-qualified candidates as contractual teachers in order to lessen the burden on exchequer. However, they are paid peanuts as compared to regular teachers. Even after going on indefinite hunger strikes and protests, the state government has not met any of our demands and is instead advertising more posts. We are ready to work more provided we are paid according to norms,” said Arif Dar, a member of the J&K Contractual Teachers Association. Various civil society groups and political leaders had come to the rescue of these contractual teachers by terming their demands as genuine and demanded speedy action from the government. But so far, the state government has failed to bring in a policy aimed at addressing their grievances.
	Cong to hold panchayat conference by month-end Rahul Gandhi, Ghulam Nabi Azad, among others, likely to participate Ehsan Fazili Tribune News Service Srinagar, December 8 The Congress has decided to hold a panchayat conference by the month-end. AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders of the party are expected to attend the conference. This was announced by J&K Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Saifuddin Soz at a function organised at the party headquarters here today. The elected Congress MLC from Kashmir, (panchayat quota) Ghulam Nabi Monga and other PCC leaders addressed the workers and panchayat members. Soz said Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, in charge of the party (J&K affairs) Mohan Prakash and other leaders of the party would attend the conference. “The date and venue for the meet in Srinagar are yet to be finalised, while a similar conference would be held in the winter capital Jammu in the first week of January,” he added. Rahul Gandhi, during his last visit to the state in October, had assured panchayat members that they would be empowered as panchayats. Soz said the decision of the Congress high command to contest MLC elections jointly with the coalition partner, National Conference, had proved beneficial as all the coalition candidates emerged victorious. On the party’s commitment for empowerment and 73rd Amendment in the Panchayat Raj Act, the state Congress president said he would meet Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the next few days ‘to decide future course of action in this regard’. Soz, who is also chairman of the Coordination Committee of the coalition parties, said the party stood by its commitments on the 73rd Amendment and empowerment of Panchayats, while efforts were on for the payment of honorarium and an insurance cover to the panchayat members. “Our recommendations are ready and we will listen to their (National Conference) views also,” Soz said. There will be deliberations and consensus by both coalition parties for empowerment of panchayat members and related issues, he maintained. He said the elections to Block Development Councils (BDC) and District Councils and the Urban Local Bodies would also be one of the agendas of the meeting. At the same time, Soz urged the women members to continue their fight for the overall development of different sections of the society.
	Kashmiri Pandits pay tributes to Thackeray Tribune News Service Jammu, December 8 The displaced Kashmiri Pandit diaspora today paid tributes to Balasaheb Thackeray in a global teleconference call organised by Youth 4 Panun Kashmir. Prominent Kashmiri Pandits drawn from various parts of the world spoke about the Balasaheb’s contribution on the survival of Kashmiri Pandits in exile. Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Manohar Joshi addressed the conference and highlighted some lesser known facets of Balasaheb’s qualities. Earlier, paying their homage to the departed leader, the speakers expressed Kashmiri Pandit community’s gratitude to Balasaheb for ensuring their survival by creating educational opportunities for their children in Maharashtra. Many speakers from the US equated Balasheb with the greatest warriors and patriots of the country. Youth 4 Panun Kashmir national coordinator Rahul Kaul also spoke on the occasion. Panun Kashmir convener Dr Agnishekhar said the people’s love for Balasaheb was amply demonstrated by the millions of people who attended his last journey. He reminded people how the Panun Kashmir had expressed the community’s appreciation for Balasaheb’s generous act by conferring upon him Sharda Samman in 1998.
	On a mission to revive adventure sports in Valley This duo set up Jammu and Kashmir Ski Mountaineering Association in 1984 to achieve goal Bismah Malik Tribune News Service Srinagar, December 8 When people of their age sit back and enjoy their retirement, they escape to the unknown, befriend the mountains and touch the skies. Rauf Tramboo (55) and Muhammad Yusuf (60), veteran adventure sportsmen from Kashmir, are all set to revive ski mountaineering in the Valley, a sport which involves covering long distances on snow-capped mountains under sub-zero temperatures during the winter. Unlike other forms of skiing, ski mountaineering involves walking deep inside the mountain passes and glaciers, without any mechanical lifts. Kashmir was the preferred destination for adventure enthusiasts from Europe, who would explore its vast mountains, glaciers and water bodies during their travel expeditions in 1980s. Tramboo and Yusuf, who were college passouts then, decided to float the J&K Ski Mountaineering Association (JKSMA) in 1984, which would arrange various adventure sport expeditions such as alpine skiing, parasailing, river rafting and rock climbing. The two were the members of the first ski mountaineering team from Pahalgam to Sonamarg mountain pass in 1984. “At that time, we were not familiar with this form of skiing. Only alpine and heli skiing were popular in Gulmarg. Later, when a few British and Australian adventure sportsmen visited the Valley, they made us familiar to this skiing. Walking through the mountains, where people fear to tread, is an amazing experience in itself,” says Tramboo, who has trekked a total of 26,000 km from Kashmir to Tibet. He is one of the few Kashmiris who made it to the base camp of the Mount Everest in Nepal and has led ski mountaineering expeditions in Darjeeling, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, besides Kashmir. Yusuf has trained around 5,000 boys and girls at the University of Kashmir while serving as an adventure and water sports coach. He feels the adventure sports sector in the Valley has suffered a setback due lack of resources and turmoil, particularly dampening the spirits of youth for pursuing adventurous explorations. “We felt blessed to be part of a land which had so much to offer to any adventure sports lover due to its landscapes. Ski mountaineering is a cost-effective and employment generating sport, which can provide employment opportunities to the locals, especially during the winter, when other activities get slowed down,” said Yusuf, who is the president of the JKSMA. Despite freezing climate, the two adventure lovers are not holding back and will celebrate International Mountain Day on December 11.
	Education board to keep vigil at exam centres in remote areas Tribune News Service Jammu, December 8 After instructing examiners to follow a pattern while setting question papers for Class X and XII, the Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education (JKBOSE) has now decided to keep a strict vigil on various examination centres, especially in the far-flung areas, during the upcoming annual examinations of Jammu division. Sources say the decision was taken by the board after it received a few reports about mismanagement in some of the examination centres where the candidates did not follow the sitting plan. The sources further stated the next important step for the education board is to deploy its staff at examination centres to assist the other school staff for ensuring a smooth process of examination. They claimed that most of the staff preferred to do their duty in the urban areas as compared to remote areas. “There are problems in setting up of examination centres in the remote areas. Despite adequate school staff, there is no proper check on the candidates in these areas. The candidates get success with the help of local staff,” a source in BOSE said. The candidates use different tactics, he claimed. “These incidents are usually taking place in the remote areas because it takes time to report such incidents to the main centre in the absence of proper connectivity,” the source added. Meanwhile, Javed Khatib, joint secretary of secrecy wing of the board, said “The department will leave no stone unturned for smooth conduct of the Class X and XII upcoming annual examinations at all centres across the Jammu division.” “There will be adequate deployment of staff at all examination centres, particularly in remote areas, to ensure that candidates would strictly adhere to the guidelines regarding sitting plan,” Khatib said.