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Cross-LoC trade resumes, six trucks from PoK reach Poonch
Work on Assembly building in top gear
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Crackdown on illegal fee counters along Vaishno Devi temple track
Recent snowfall leaves 10% population without power
Minister pulls up officials for slow pace of Central schemes
NC to act as bridge between people and government: Rana
Second round of training for Economic Census held
BJP woos Muslims to clinch Jammu Lok Sabha seats in 2014 elections
In two days, 3 newborns abandoned in Srinagar
GREF labourer dies in Leh
Free seeds distributed
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Cross-LoC trade resumes, six trucks from PoK reach Poonch
Poonch, January 29 The cross-border trade and travel from Poonch to Rawlakote was suspended after Pakistan soldiers of 29 Baloch Regiment killed two Indian soldiers Lance Naiks Hemraj Singh and Sudhakar Singh of the 13 Rajputana Rifles in the Balnoi sector on January 8. “Today, no truck from this side went to PoK, whereas six trucks from PoK reached here carrying onions, dry dates and embroidery items,” said Krishan Lal, custodian of the Cross-LOC Trade and Travel. “Five trucks laden with tomatoes, bananas and embroidery items worth Rs 15,81816 have been cleared for sending to PoK tomorrow,” Krishan Lal said. The trans-LoC trade is part of the confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan and was started via Chakan da Bagh in Poonch and Salamabad in Uri in 2008. Though the cross-border trade resumed with much hope, traders from this side are hesitant about taking part fearlessly in trade as before. “We welcome the resumption of cross-border trade,” said Pawan Anand, president of the Cross Border Traders Association. “However, traders have lost faith in both governments as they believe that both governments are not sincere about running this trade,” Pawan said. “Due to the sudden suspension of trade, our traders suffered loss of over Rs 3.37 crore during the last two weeks” Pawan said. “We are sincere about running the trade and take risks every week to send perishables to PoK despite the fact that the Poonch border is a sensitive one and tension may erupt any time,” Pawan said. “We appeal to both governments to take trade sincerely and resolve the mutual issues without affecting the confidence-building measures between the countries,” Pawan said. |
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Work on Assembly building in top gear
Jammu, January 29 Deputy Speaker Mohammed Sartaj Madni said he was confident of conducting the budget session in the existing structure after the requisite repairs. He will take stock of the repair works on January 31 — a deadline given by the Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) that has been executing the work. “I had visited the complex on January 23 and was satisfied with the pace of work. All safety measures are also in place,” he added. The Deputy Speaker has called for conducting a thorough safety check of the complex by a team of experts. He had earlier directed for replacement of old electricity wires and sought a temporary structure for housing a canteen during the budget session. During the intervening night of December 10 and 11, a major portion of the Assembly, including the media gallery and chambers of Deputy Chief Minister and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, had collapsed. Experts had attributed the incident to the unplanned and indiscriminate digging work being carried out near the Assembly building. The JKPCC has been assigned the task to construct the six-storied new complex at a cost of Rs 104.44 crore. The complex will have a parking facility for 265 vehicles. |
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Crackdown on illegal fee counters along Vaishno Devi temple track
Jammu, January 29 It was observed that some persons were taking money from ponywallas, palkiwallas, pithoowallas and pilgrims without any permission from the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. Repeated complaints were being received from pilgrims about being fleeced and heavily overcharged for availing these services. The ponywallas have also been expressing resentment over the issue. A counter at Banganga was demolished by
ponywallas in December last year. Dr Ashok Bhan, Director General of Police (retd) and a member of the shrine board, visited these counters during the security review conducted by him. He observed that the counters were not of any use, besides being unauthorised on the track. Considering all these aspects, Bhandari issued a prohibitory order under section 144 of the CrPC today putting a ban on such operations on the track between Darshan Deodi and Bhawan. The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board is a statutory body constituted by an Act of the J&K Legislature and has been entrusted with the responsibility of management, administration and governance of the shrine. All its endowments, including the lands and buildings attached to the shrine, from Katra to the holy cave are under the administrative control of the board.
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Recent snowfall leaves 10% population without power
Srinagar, January 29 Minister of State (MoS) for Power Viqar Rasool said 10 per cent of the population living in the upper reaches was yet to receive power supply after the recent snowfall. He said the power supply to these areas would be restored within a week. He said this while talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a function held today by the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee to welcome Viqar. He took over as the MoS of Power during the recent Cabinet reshuffle. Regarding reports of erratic power supply during the winter, the minister said he had directed senior officials of the Power Development Department (PDD) to submit reports on a daily basis to him in this regard. He said orders had also been passed to ensure that the power curtailment schedule was strictly adhered to and action was taken against erring PDD officials. While regular protests against power shortage have become a norm this winter in the Valley, the recent snowfall has only added to the woes of the people. Kashmir received heavy to moderate snowfall on January 17 and 18. The power supply to most parts of the Valley was restored within 24 hours after extensive damage to power supply lines by the snowfall. Viqar said a high-level meeting of Power Development Corporation would be convened soon to finalise modalities of the Cabinet Sub-committee report on the return of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC)-run power projects to the state.
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Minister pulls up officials for slow pace of Central schemes
Srinagar, January 29 While reviewing the progress of expenditure under the RKVY here yesterday, Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir expressed concern about the slow pace with which Central schemes were being implemented and stressed the need to achieve the targets within the prescribed time. The minister said action would be taken against officers who failed in achieving targets. The review meeting was attended by senior officers of Agriculture, Fisheries, Horticulture, Floriculture, Forest, Animal and Sheep Husbandry Departments. “Due to non-performance of some departments under the RKVY, installments under the scheme are being delayed by the Centre. This can mar the developmental progress in the state and ambitious projects started under the programme will not get completed in years,” the minister told officers in the meeting. He directed them to submit their utilisation certificates by January 30 so that the next installment of funds for the state could be released on time. An amount of Rs 112.08 crore was approved for 2012-13 under the RKVY for four components, including RKVY (general), National Mission for Saffron Development, Vegetable Initiative for Urban Clusters and National Mission for Protein Supplements. An amount of Rs 59.99 crore was released upto December 2012, out of which only Rs 18.26 crore was spent. The government launched the National Mission on Saffron in 2010 with an outlay of Rs 372.182 crore for four years for the revival of the dwindling saffron sector. Sources said only an amount of Rs 63.838 crore had been spent on the rejuvenation and replanting of the saffron corms over an area of 1,200 hectares of land in Pulwama, Budgam and Srinagar districts during the past two financial years. |
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NC to act as bridge between people and government: Rana
Jammu January 29 Rana said the NC cadre was the strength of the party and that it would rise to the occasion and ensure that the party’s message and its leadership reached out to each household in the state, thereby strengthening the party’s base and prepare for the 2014 Assembly elections. Rana, who was addressing a deputation of Bakerwals from Jammu province at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan today, said the NC leadership would visit every nook and corner of the province in the next one year. “It will be the party’s endeavour to reach out to every nook and corner of the state in the next one year,” he said. Rana said inclusive development and welfare of all sections of society was the NC’s benchmark. He said the state government led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was taking a keen interest in the development of the weaker sections of society. He said some parties were aberrations on the political arena of the state and shall disappear because they lacked an ideological bond or political moorings. He said these parties were hungry for power and played with the emotions and feelings of people, hoodwinked them for their short-term gains, which destroyed the basic character of polity in the long run. Rana said the people of the state should identify and isolate these fringe elements and defeat their machinations which have always proved counterproductive to the welfare of people of the state. He said for the holistic development of various sections of society, the Chief Minister had constituted advisory boards and as the chairman of these boards, monitored and ascertained the progress of various schemes launched in the state. Rana called upon the community to come forward and take active part in development activities and make people aware of historic initiatives taken by the Omar-led coalition government for their uplift. The deputation included vice-president Rattan Lal Gupta, provincial president of women’s wing Vijay Lakshmi Dutta, Choudhary Haroon and Sheikh Bashir Ahmad. |
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Second round of training for Economic Census held
Rajouri, January 29 Abdul Khaliq, district statistics and evaluation officer, presented the welcome address and briefed the supervisors about the objective of conducting the Economic Census. The Assistant Director, Planning, Health Department, Rajouri, Bilal Rashid, who is also the master trainer and resource person, elaborated upon various schedules (6A, 6B and 6C) and made a powerpoint presentation for better understanding of supervisors, focusing on the importance of the Economic Census. A documentary on the Economic Census by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation was also shown to the supervisors.
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BJP woos Muslims to clinch Jammu Lok Sabha seats in 2014 elections
Jammu, January 29 In the recently announced list of office-bearers, the party gave some important positions to Muslims leaders. Former president of Pradesh Mahila Morcha Sakina Bano was appointed party state vice-president while another young Muslim leader Engineer Ghulam Ali Khatana was given the post of party state secretary. Sakina Bano is retired Chief Education Officer (CEO) from Jammu while Khatana is a youth leader who has been active in various social activities. The party has been projecting these faces to impress Muslims. Sources in the party said the BJP leadership had prepared a blueprint to mobilise Muslims, especially those belonging to the Scheduled Tribes (STs)and Other Backward Classes, in favour of the party. “The party has decided to rake up the issue of the denial of political reservation to the STs to strengthen its base among Gujjars and Bakerwals,” said a source. Unlike other parts of the country, the STs in Jammu and Kashmir are not getting political reservations due to the special status of the state. The party has decided to mobilise Muslims belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) also to support its demand of abolishing Article 370. “It is all due to Article 370 that OBCs are not getting reservations at par with their counterparts in other parts of the country,” BJP state general secretary Kavinder Gupta said, adding that the weaker sections were the worst victims of the special status given to the state.
He said the party had decided to educate all sections of society that Article 370 was a hindrance
in their political empowerment. When a group of Muslim youth from the Banihal area of Ramban district joined the BJP today, party leaders seized the opportunity to send out a message that the BJP could protect the interests of the people of Jammu region irrespective of caste or religion. Party leader Ashok Koul claimed that the BJP had been receiving an overwhelming support from Muslims throughout the state and a number of programmes had been
organised in the past to bring them into the party-fold. Engineer Khatana said it was during the BJP-led NDA rule at the Centre that a number of welfare schemes were launched for the uplift of the Muslim community. He demanded the extension of tribal laws in the state. |
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In two days, 3 newborns abandoned in Srinagar
Srinagar, January 29 The boy, wrapped in a blanket and shivering, was found today afternoon by police personnel on the stairs of Makhdoom Sahab shrine in Srinagar, a senior police officer said. The police shifted the newborn to GB Pant Hospital, Kashmir’s only children hospital, where he is being treated for mild hypothermia, caused by exposure to cold weather. At a little distance from GB Pant Hospital, a baby girl, who had a premature birth and weighed 600 grams, was abandoned at Lal Ded Hospital today, a senior doctor at the hospital said. She is the second newborn to be abandoned in a day and third in the last two days. The abandonment of newborns shows a grim situation that is emerging in the Kashmir valley, a society which is close-knit and where families share a strong bond. In January, the number of abandoned babies has reached to four, one less than the total of five abandoned babies who were admitted to GB Pant Hospital last year, doctors say. Two men had yesterday brought in an infant girl for treatment at GB Pant Hospital and registered their names at the hospital’s helpdesk. The authorities speculate that the two men registered themselves under fake names. They abandoned the baby girl in the casualty ward of the hospital and slipped away. A senior doctor at GB Pant Hospital said the first baby, a girl, abandoned this year, has been adopted by a family and the second abandoned baby girl has also been put up for adoption. Most doctors said they did not know the exact reason for the abandonment of these babies. A sociologist said multiple factors were responsible for the trend. Prof Bashir Ahmad Dabla blamed costly marriages, increasing immorality, movies and the IT revolution for the problem. “This trend can be directly related to multiple factors. One is the materialistic outlook which ignores morality and religious principles. Second is the increase in premarital and extramarital affairs,” said professor Dabla, who heads the Department of Sociology at the University of Kashmir. Professor Dabla said “building a value-based society” and providing “costless” marriages could be a remedy for keeping a check on the trend. In recent years, marriages in Kashmir have become an extravagant affair where lakhs of rupees are spent on food and gifts, making it a costly affair for many families. “Everyone has contributed to the problem in his or her way. We all are responsible equally so the remedy also lies with us,” he said. In December, a newborn baby, who was born out of the wedlock, was thrown into a stream in Kupwara district of north Kashmir. The baby’s body was recovered and a doctor was arrested on charges of murder. GRIM SCENARIO * A day-old boy was left on the stairs of Sufi shrine Makhdoom Sahab in the city on Tuesday, taking the number of abandoned babies to four in January and three in the last two days *
The baby boy has been shifted to GB Pant Hospital where he is being treated for mild hypothermia *
A baby girl, who had a premature birth and weighed 600 grams, was abandoned at Lal Ded Hospital on Tuesday *
A newborn, who was born out of the wedlock, was thrown into a stream in Kupwara district last month. The baby’s body was recovered and a doctor was arrested on charges of murder |
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GREF labourer dies in Leh
Srinagar, January 29 The deceased has been identified as Manzoor Gudda Hazda (47), a resident of the Dumkha area of Jarkhand. Hazda was working at a site in the Changlung area of Leh district. The cause of the death is yet to be ascertained, said a police spokesman. A case has been registered.
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Free seeds distributed
Katra, January 29 District Agriculture Officer, Reasi, SN Dhar inaugurated the camp. Free seeds of dhingri were distributed among the farmers. — OC
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The BJP is desperately trying to rope in Muslims to win both Lok Sabha seats of Jammu province in the 2014 elections. The BJP leadership has realised that without the support of Muslims, it was difficult for the party to repeat its electoral performance of 1998 when it had won both
Jammu-Poonch and Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seats.
