Srinagar, December 12
With the hike in passenger fare, traveling on public transport will cost more from tomorrow. The state government issued a notification for the tariff hike on Wednesday.

The notification was issued six days after the state cabinet approved re-fixing of fares for buses, mini-buses, taxies, maxi-cabs and petrol-run auto rickshaws.

“The notification was issued today and from Thursday, new fares will be implemented,” the Commissioner Transport Mehraj Ahmed Kakroo said.

The government has also issued a detailed notification specifying the revised route-wise fare on all routes. As per the revised fare, a commuter has to pay Rs 4.5 up to three kilometres and the slab up to 5 kilometres, will cost Rs 7.30.

As per the government notification, fares for big buses (stage carriage) have been hiked by 14.40 per cent, for mini buses (stage carriage) by 13.49 per cent, for taxies, maxi cabs (contract carriers) by 12.13 per cent and for petrol-run auto rickshaws (contract carriage) by 8.81 per cent.

The government decision to increase the fare had drawn strong opposition from the state unit of the CPI (M). The party had termed the cabinet decision as anti-people and demanded its immediate roll back.

The state transporters had been demanding revision of the freight and passenger fares. Transporters had observed a day-long “chakka jam” across the state last month to demand a hike in fare.

new beginning As per the government notification, fares for big buses (stage carriage) have been hiked by 14.40 per cent, for mini buses (stage carriage) by 13.49 per cent, for taxies, maxi cabs (contract carriers) by 12.13 per cent and for petrol-run auto rickshaws (contract carriage) by 8.81 per cent. The state government issued a notification for the tariff hike six days after the state Cabinet approved revision of fares for buses, taxies, maxi-cabs, and petrol-run auto-rickshaws

Srinagar, December 12
A doctor of Sub District Hospital, Kupwara, and his two associates were arrested for allegedly killing a newborn baby in Kupwara.

A police spokesman said on December 10, the police had recovered body of a new born baby boy from a nullah in Kupwara.

“After thorough investigation the police found the baby’s mother who revealed the name of the doctor and two other accused who had conducted the illegal delivery before murdering the baby and throwing it into a nullah,” the spokesman said.

The police arrested gynaecologist Dr Shan-i- Alam of Sub District Hospital, Kupwara, and two of his associates Naseema a part- time sweeper in the hospital and Nazir Ahmad Mochi of Muqam Shahwali.

“The three accused have been remanded in police custody,” the spokesman added.

The accused doctor is also an accused in another case under Section 312, 315 of the RPC for which he was charge-sheeted.

Srinagar, December 12
The first flight of AN-32 Kargil Courier Service began its operations from here today. On the first day the airlines airlifted 31 passengers from Kargil to Srinagar.

The aircraft could not return to Kargil due to bad weather conditions. The Indian Air Force Aircraft returned to Chandigarh from Srinagar.

Though the first Kargil courier flight was originally planned on December 5, but the same could not be possible due to inclement weather.

Chief Executive Councilor, (CHC) Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil, Kacho Ahmed Ali Khan, and the stranded passengers were airlifted from Kargil in the first flight. They thanked the Indian Air Force for arranging the air-sorty between Kargil and Srinagar. In view of the weather, in the next few days, the next flight of the courier service will be planned accordingly.

new beginning
The first flight of AN-32 Kargil Courier Service began its operations today

Srinagar, December 12
Minister for Medical Education, Technical Education and Sports, RS Chib today paid a surprise visit to Government Bones and Joints Hospital, Baramulla, and Government Lal Ded Hospital.

Chib ordered attachment of Medical Superintendent, B&J Hospital, with the Government Medical College, Srinagar, for negligence of duty and Deputy Medical Superintendent Dr Aijaz Ahmad Baba to take charge in his place.

Srinagar, December 12
Light to moderate snowfall has been forecast for many areas of the Valley over next two days. In view of the bad weather conditions and warning of moderate to heavy snowfall at a couple of places during the next 48 hours, the Traffic Police has issued an appeal to the drivers and passengers to get confirmation about the condition of the Srinagar-Jammu national highway before starting their journey.

A spokesman said the Traffic Police has appealed to the drivers and passengers planning to travel by the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway 1-A, that they must enquire about the condition of the road before leaving their respective stations. The drivers and passengers have also been asked to contact the respective traffic units at Srinagar, Jammu and Ramban.

After intermittent downpour in various parts of the valley yesterday, the sky was overcast throughout the day today. Light rainfall was recorded today. The residents shivered today amid overcast skies, ahead of the Chillai Kalan, the coldest period of winter that begins from December 22, for a period of 40 days.

“The maximum temperature in Srinagar was recorded at 6.5 degrees today, two degrees below the normal. The minimum temperature was recorded at minus 0.7 degrees,” a MeT official said.

The cold desert region of Ladakh also reeled under freezing cold as the minimum temperatures were recorded at minus 8.4 and 8.2 degrees in Leh and Kargil, respectively. The maximum temperature in Leh was recorded at 2.8 degrees while it was 0.6 degrees in Kargil.

Srinagar, December 12
Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand, has proposed revision of the master plan of Srinagar city by the Srinagar Development Authority. In a meeting held in this regard, he exhorted upon the officers concerned to ensure micro and macro mapping of the 416 sq km of the existing Srinagar local area and expansion of the master plan up to 310 sq km more to make the proposed master plan ideal.

Commissioner, Housing and Urban Development department, Jeet Lal Gupta , Vice Chairman, Srinagar Development Authority, Khawaja Farooq Renzushah, Vice Chairman, Lakes and Waterways Division (LAWDA), Irfan Yaseen, Commissioner, Srinagar Municipal Corporation, GN Qasba, Managing Director, Housing Board, Kiran Wattal and Chief Town Planner, Ifthikhar Hussain also took part in the review meeting.

Tara Chand said the revision of the master plan both for Jammu and Srinagar was being done simultaneously. Consultants have been hired for the job to point out discrepancies so that remedial measures could be taken. He said with the expansion of both the cities, the vision to make greater Srinagar and greater Jammu cities would be realised soon.

Tara Chand said the master plan must take care of the needs of the common man and also ensure adherence to all legislative acts and regulations.

The Vice-Chairman, SDA, informed him that the proposed master plan was being formulated by experts concerned besides genuine views and suggestions were being taken into consideration. He said proper sub zoning of the Srinagar city for making comprehensive master plan zone was also in progress. He said regarding railway tracks, mega roads, express highways, decongestion of Shehr-i-Khas identified as layer first has also been taken into consideration.

Srinagar, December 12
Kashmir may have welcomed shooting of big Bollywood projects but permission was not granted to a Mumbai-based channel Humara Movie. Com to conduct a workshop on film-making.

Karan Johar's 'Student of the Year', Yash Chopra's 'Jab Tak hai Jaan' and Imtiaz Ali's 'Rockstar' were shot in the Valley.

The workshop which was to be conducted by Bollywood's who's who in fields of film making and story writing found no takers even when they wanted to travel to the Valley for the workshop. Rajat Sharma, Ranvir Shourey, Anurag Kashyap and Imtiaz Ali are a part of this channel, claims Khawar Jamsheed, a producer from the Valley.

"We received no response from the local youth. The workshop had to be finally cancelled," he said.

Even though Khawar had approached the Media Education Research Centre of Kashmir University to attract students of Mass Communication of Kashmir University, nobody turned up for the registration in the workshop. "I had to call it off because I knew it was going to be a no show. It would have been quite embarrassing if the Bollywood biggies had come and there was no one to learn from them," Khawar added.

Anantnag, December 12
Residents of Jablipora area of Bijbehara town in Anantnag district rue that even two years after meters were installed in their area; they don’t get power supply as scheduled for the metered areas.

Residents say, the Power Development Department (PDD) authorities had promised them that their area will get power supply like other metered areas once the meters were installed.

“However, even after two years since the meters were installed in Jablipora area, the same old schedule is still followed in our area,” said Muzaffar Ahmad, a resident.

The locals say that they were tricked into the metering process by the PDD authorities with false promises and now nobody listens to their woes. “We are paying almost triple the money to the PDD than we used to pay earlier and still the power supply has not been upgraded,” said Muhammad Ashraf, another resident. The residents say they have been running from pillar to post over the past two years but to no avail, “We even took up the matter with the Power Commissioner, but nobody seems to care about us,” residents say. “We are waiting for them to do something or we will break all the meters in the neighbourhood and the sole responsibility of this will be of the Power Development Department,” they warned.

The PDD authorities meanwhile maintain that the area is not fully metered and unless it is done, they cannot provide them power supply like other metered areas.

“We have one feeder in the area and some of the lines are metered while the others are not. Unless the area gets 100 per cent lines metered nothing can be done in this regard,” said Muneeb Ahmad, Executive Engineer PDD, Bijbehara circle.

Srinagar, December 12
The ruling National Conference, which recently made a clean sweep of four Legislative Council seats, today said the empowerment of panchayats was the “policy and commitment” of the party.

“The NC-led coalition has rejuvenated the Panchayat Raj in the state after over 30 years. We have transferred powers and funds to you (panchayat members). The empowerment of panchayats is our policy and commitment,” NC additional general secretary Mustafa Kamal said.

Kamal, who along with other senior leaders of the party addressed panchayat members at the party headquarters here, said a “powerful and viable” Panchayat Raj could be assured only under the NC-led coalition government. “Both parties (NC and Congress) share the principle of empowerment of democratic institutions at the grassroots level,” he said.

The function at the NC’s Nawa-i-Subh was held to congratulate newly elected MLC Ali Muhammad Dar.

Panchayat Raj Minister Ali Muhammad Sagar, while addressing the gathering, said the PDP had strongly opposed the holding of panchayat elections in the state. “They did the same for the MLC elections and will do the same for the BDC poll, but be ready for these elections as they will be held soon,” Sagar said.

“The Opposition was creating a drama and after they lost all four seats, no one is talking about you from their side, this shows they are double faced. A party which was against your existence could never be your friend,” he said.

Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani also addressed the gathering saying the state government led by Omar Abdullah had taken measures to ensure transparency and had brought the government functioning under the scanner of public.

“Our government constituted the State Information Commission, reconstituted the Accountability Commission, implemented the Public service Guarantee Act,” he said.

The newly elected MLC and provincial president of NC, Ali Muhammad Dar, thanked the panchayat members for their support.

“It is the victory of not only the democracy but of the initiatives taken by the NC-Congress coalition to ensure full empowerment of panchayats,” Dar said.

Srinagar, December 12
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on today stated the four Buddhist families who converted to Islam in September in the Ladakh region’s Zanskar area, which had heightened the tension between the two communities there, did so because they were being treated as “outcasts by their own community”.

“Actually they converted because they were treated as outcasts by their own community,” Omar Abdullah wrote on Twitter.

The Chief Minister’s comment came as a reply to a report that said BJP’s Tarun Vijay had raised the issue of “forcible conversion” of Buddhist families in Rajya Sabha.

The issue of conversion of the four Buddhist families had led to tension and clashes in Zanaskar, where curfew was imposed for several days to quell the law and order situation.

The Chief Minister’s comment came in reply to a comment from a Twitter user, who posted the news link of Tarun Vijay's Rajya Sabha discussion over “forcible conversion” and taunted the Chief Minister saying, “The torch bearer of secularism in the country must be ashamed of himself.”

Omar Abdullah retorted, saying, “I'm not ashamed of myself at all, certainly not on account of Tarun Vijay's distortion of facts.”

Members of a Buddhist Association have alleged the families were forcibly converted while members of the Muslim community in Zanaskar have maintained the conversion happened on their own will.

Srinagar, December 12
Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani today made a cautious defence of his decision to reject an invite from Pakistan to visit the country this month saying his stand of opposing the dialogue process until some conditions are met is being branded as stubbornness and extremism in a conspiracy bid.

Geelani, in a defiant tone, said he would not accept any “shortcut” as a solution to the Kashmir issue which would cost the region its freedom.

“The Kashmir issue is the biggest hurdle in peace, stability and happiness of India and Pakistan and it is not possible to solve this issue through shortcuts,” Geelani said in a statement.

He said he had not taken any decision to oppose all the dialogue processes but till India does not accept Kashmir “as a dispute which needs a solution as per the wishes of the people of Kashmir”, any dialogue would be “non-serious and meaningless”.

“Our clear stand is being branded under a conspiracy as stubbornness and is being compared to extremism,” he said.

He said no agreement between India and Pakistan could bypass the aspirations and sacrifices of Kashmiris and these agreements would not last long. “These agreements like Shimla and Tashkent will be a useless process by which not a single inch of development can be made on the Kashmir issue,” he said.

Geelani, who heads the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference, had rejected the invitation from Pakistan pitching him against the moderate separatist camp which agreed for the visit. Geelani had then stated that the visit to Pakistan at that time when the country was months away from its national election would not serve the interest of the separatist movement.

“To do politics for the power transition and change in the government of some country is a different thing and to fight for the freedom of a nation and struggle for it is completely different,” Geelani stated.

In an apparent reference to the moderate separatist camp, which has been covertly exchanging bitter words with their hardline counterparts, Geelani said some people thought that speaking about the right to self determination was “foolish” and it was “wisdom” to soften the stand on freedom.

“We will not accept this bargain at any cost and we are not in a hurry to accept any shortcut which will force the nation to settle for anything less than freedom,” Geelani said.

Srinagar, December 12
The Department of Tourism in association with the Jammu and Kashmir Ski Mountaineering Association (JKSMA) organised a 3.2-km-long trek from Faqir Gujri to Aastan Marg in the picturesque Zabarwan hill range in view of the International Mountain Day celebrations.

The trek, in which around 70 students of schools and colleges took part, was flagged off jointly by Tourism Director Talat Parvez and Srinagar Development Authority vice-chairman Farooq Renzu Shah.

“During winter, when schools and colleges are closed, youngsters tend to get laidback and confine themselves to homes. This trek was aimed at proving that there are a lot of outdoor recreational opportunities for them,” said Muhammad Yusuf, chairman, JKSMA.

Besides, he said, the trek would inculcate a spirit for adventure among children.

The Tourism Director said the Zaberwan range in Srinagar had tremendous potential for different adventure and recreational activities.

Renzu Shah assured that he would put the area in the Srinagar Master Plan and would try to exploit its tourism potential.

Srinagar, December 12
Amnesty International, the global human rights watchdog, has demanded an “impartial probe” into the allegations levelled in a recent report, which named 500 “alleged perpetrators” of human rights violations in the state.

It has urged the state and Centre to “bring to justice” the culprits responsible for the human rights violations in J&K and also “pay compensation” to the victims of such abuse.

Two Kashmir-based human rights groups, International Peoples’ Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in the Indian-administered Kashmir (IPTK) and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), had released a report on December 6 titled ‘Alleged perpetrators: Stories of Impunity in Jammu and Kashmir’.

While detailing alleged human rights abuses, the 354-page “comprehensive” report had named 500 alleged perpetrators of for such violations in the state, which included police, army and para-military officials.

“Indian authorities must take responsibility and initiate independent, impartial, prompt and efficient investigation into serious allegations of the human rights violations in Jammu & Kashmir,” a spokesperson of the Amnesty International said in a statement released to the media today.

Incidentally, the Army has already dismissed the report as “highly biased and motivated.”

Col Jagdeep Dahiya, the Delhi-based spokesperson for the Army had on December 7 said the report is “merely a collation of un-substantiated allegations aimed at maligning the Army.”

Asking the authorities to “bring to justice, in fair proceedings, anyone, irrespective of rank, pointed by such independent investigations,” the Amnesty has urged the state and the Centre “to address what appears to be overwhelming evidence compiled in the report”.

The report by the two groups, largely based on official documents, lists 214 key pending cases of human rights violations and seeks to identify the role of 500 alleged perpetrators, which includes 235 members of the Army, 123 paramilitary personnel, 111 Jammu and Kashmir police officers and 31 members of counter-insurgents.

The Amnesty has also said pointed out that security legislations like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Disturbed Areas Act have generated a “culture of impunity” in J&K, which should be “combated.”

“Amnesty International is not in a position to comment on specific allegations within reports by other organisations. However, the Amnesty does share the general human rights concerns documented and discussed in the report,” said Raheela Narchoor, Amnesty International India’s Jammu & Kashmir Researcher.