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Govt to introduce e-payment system soon
Threats to rock band: All accused identified, says police
Development activities go for a toss
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Lashkar ready to launch attack again
No registration without health certificate: SASB
All set for more sporting action at Gulmarg
Applicants wait for their turn to submit forms outside the office of the Services Selection Board in Jammu on Friday. Tribune photo: Inderjeet Singh
Poor students to get aid for life-threatening disorders
Govt to focus on long-term tourism policy: Minister
Separatist leader Nayeem Ahmad Khan arrested
Trade unions work out plan for strike
Former babus jumping on political bandwagon
‘Ocean of Tears’ selected for film fest in Nepal
Two brothers killed in road mishap
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Govt to introduce e-payment system soon
Jammu, February 8 Instead of making payments directly through cheques or cash, the government departments, after launching the e-payment system, will transfer money directly to the bank account of the beneficiaries. The state government has already launched a comprehensive e-tendering and e-procurement process in various departments to upgrade quality of services and bring transparency. Minister for Planning, Development, Labour and Employment Ajay Kumar Sadhotra said the government would soon launch e-payment system in the state to ensure speedy delivery of services to the people. “The coalition regime under the leadership of Omar Abdullah is committed to bring accountability and transparency in governance”, he said and added a number of revolutionary steps had already been taken by the government in this regard. He said IT initiatives would also help in effective execution of the Public Service Guarantee Act, which aims at providing services in a time-bound manner. Minister of State for Science and Information Technology Feroz Ahmed Khan said their department was all prepared to take any decision regarding implementation of the e-payment system. “Decision in this regard has to be taken by the Planning and Development department. Whenever the department takes decision, our department (Science and Information Technology) will implement the same”, he said. The Jammu and Kashmir e-Governance Agency (JaKeGA) was formed under the Information Technology Department to function as an intrinsic arm of the government with a mandate to drive e-Governance in the State. The primary objective of the JaKeGA is to design, deliver and administer e-governance projects by providing necessary administrative, financial, legal and technical framework in the state. JaKeGA will also facilitate establishment of e-service centres throughout the state through suitable public-private partnerships to ensure that the public gets the desired information and e-services at their doorsteps.
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Threats to rock band: All accused identified, says police
Srinagar, February 8 “We have tracked the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of those youth who had posted these abusive messages on the Facebook page of the rock band. A total of 957 comments were posted on their Facebook page,” said a senior police officer. “Some of those who had posted these messages have fled the Valley and we
are trying to arrest them,” he added. The police officer said some of the comments posted on the Facebook page of ‘Pragaash’ had even threatened to kill them. Sources said during investigations it had surfaced that those who had posted these comments were doing it individually and no particular group was behind these online threats. “Those arrested so far are from three different districts and even they did not know each other. The other ones who posted abusive comments are too from different areas of the Valley,” said the police officer. Those arrested so far included a 23-year-old Tariq Majid Khan, a postgraduate who hails from south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, Rameez Ahmad Shah, a Class XII student and resident of Babawayil, GutliBagh, Ganderbal in central Kashmir and Irshad Ahmad Chara, a graduate and a cable operator hailing from SD Colony, Batamaloo, Srinagar. The three have been sent in police remand till February 15. After the uproar over these abusive comments, followed by a fatwa by the Grand Mufti of Kashmir, the girl band decided to quit. The police took suo motu notice of the incident and registered a case at the Rajbagh police station against unidentified persons who posted online threats to the band. The case was registered under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act and Section 506 of the RPC (criminal intimidation). A Special Investigation Team of the J&K police is probing the case. Meanwhile, relatives of one of the arrested youth said their son was innocent and he had only posted a comment on the social networking site. “Our son is innocent. Irshad had only commented after the Grand Mufti of Kashmir issued a fatwa. The government did not initiate any action against the religious leader but booked our son,” said Ghulam Mohammad, uncle of Irshad Ahmad.
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Development activities go for a toss
Jammu, February 8 While just one-and-a-half month is left for the current fiscal year to end, the ruling dispensation has also failed to review plan meeting involving MLAs and MLCs who questioned the “government’s efficiency” to carry out development works in the state. If official sources are to be believed, against total capital outlay of around Rs 1,300 crore, various districts in the state had spent just 35 per cent funds. “Though the utilisation of resources under various components of annual plan outlay for 2012-13 was same in all the three regions viz Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, the administration in various districts has not been able to record an expenditure of 30 per cent against funds allocated to the tune of Rs 240 crore under state schemes,” sources said. The sources further said the 10 districts of Kashmir division had utilised 24-26 per cent of the capital component and nearly 46 per cent of the revenue component while the districts of Jammu division had spent only 22-24 per cent and about 44 per cent in the capital and revenue components, respectively. Sources said Udhampur district of Jammu division has figured in the bottom of the list of less capital expenditure incurred by any district. “The situation in other districts of Jammu province is also grim under capital component, while Srinagar district has recorded lowest revenue expenditure so far,” they added. Harsh Dev Singh, chairman, Panthers Party, and Ramnagar MLA in Udhampur district, said: “The performance of government on development front is very poor. Despite the availability of funds, various plans and schemes have not been implemented on ground. The most unfortunate part is that the government has failed to hold any review meeting to date. These meetings should have been held either in December or January. Leave aside additionalities, which are generally made to selective areas, it has failed to register satisfactory expenditure under the District Plan outlay for current fiscal.” Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, MLA, Kulgam, and CPM leader said he was not satisfied about the expenditure made by the government under the district plan so far. “It raises a question mark on the government’s efficiency in carrying out development activities in the state. It has become a practice in Jammu and Kashmir that the government releases funds at the fag end to show large expenditure, which is unjustified,” he said. Chaman Lal Gupta, MLA, Jammu West, said, “Unfortunately, the government didn’t hold any review plan meeting last year and the situation is no better in the current financial year. The MLAs don’t have any idea about the expenditure and development works undertaken in their Assembly segment. Every year, they show expenditure made for various schemes and plans, but no development is visible on the ground.” Ajay Kumar Sadhotra, Minister for Planning Department, said he held a meeting of all the District Development Commissioners (DDCs) of Jammu province to review the progress of development activities today. “I will look into the issue,” he said.
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Lashkar ready to launch attack again
Jammu, February 8 The Indian security forces had been saying all along that history may repeat itself and there can be a 1990-like situation - when the guns and grenades used to rule the Kashmir valley. It is the scenario of post pullout of American troops in 2014, which the Army had presented to the political leadership in Jammu and Kashmir in November, 2011. The Army had argued in its presentation that once the NATO forces move out of Afghanistan, Pakistan would divert terrorists from Afghanistan to Kashmir. New York Times, in its story “Pakistani Militant, Price on Head, Lives in Open”, has noted with a tinge of high concern: “As American troops prepare to leave Afghanistan next door, Lashkar is at a crossroads, and its fighters’ next move - whether to focus on fighting the West, disarm and enter the political process, or return to battle in Kashmir - will depend largely on Sayeed.” And Sayeed has threatened several times that he would “liberate Kashmir” through an “armed struggle”. Despite that, Pakistan is in a denial mode. Islamabad is not only allowing this terrorist mastermind to roam free, but also is “protecting him”. The newspaper has observed, quite clearly that he is not only protected by his supporters in his “fortified” complex, but also by Pakistan . “At his Lahore compound - a fortified house, office and mosque - Sayeed is shielded not only by his supporters, burly men wielding Kalashnikovs outside his door, but also by the Pakistani state,” the newspaper said. The reporter has substantiated his point, “On a recent evening, the police officers screened visitors at a checkpoint near his house, while other officers patrolled an adjoining park, watching by floodlight for intruders.” The Army that is opposed to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, in its strategic sessions, has factored in 2014 on many counts, first the moving out of the American troops from Afghanistan, secondly the way threats were being held out to sarpanches and panches in Kashmir, coming of terrorists from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir via Nepal, discovery of trans-border tunnel on the international border. This is their argument that there is a real threat of spillover, as the “terror infrastructure (42 terrorist training camps; 2,500 terrorists camping there) is intact. “The basic problem is that Pakistan’s intent on Kashmir remains unchanged, and as long the intent is there, we cannot lower our guard, neither on borders nor in the hinterland,” a highly placed source said. The reflection of this intent is the terrorism coming from across the border. The Indian Army is prepared for any eventuality as it is aware of the changing dynamics of security scenario in South Asia. This is the time for the Army to consolidate gains of the past two years, not to squander away because there are inimical elements present here and across the border. “We can’t be on the mercy of terrorists like Hafiz
Sayeed.”
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Amarnath Yatra
Jammu, February 8 He sad a committee of medical experts comprising Prof Parveen Aggarwal, Head of the Department of Emergency Medicines, AIIMS, New Delhi, Dr JC Suri, Consultant, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, Dr Bhaskar Rao, CMO (SG), Composite Hospital (ITBP) Seemanagar, Chandigarh, Dr Sanjeev Kapoor, MD Medicines, Government Hospital Sarwal, Jammu and Dr Rafi Arshad, Medical Officer, Epidemiology, Kashmir Nursing Home, Srinagar, has designed the format of the compulsory health certificate. The Union Health Ministry and the J&K State Health Department has circulated the format to all the states and UTs and it is also available on the website of the Shrine Board (www.shriamarnathjishrine.com). The pilgrims (yatris) shall have to submit information in the form of a self-declaration about his/her existing health condition, past medical history and various ailments from which he/she may be suffering or may have suffered in the past. The authorised doctor would be required to prescribe such tests as may be necessary to ascertain the fitness of the yatri to undertake the arduous pilgrimage before issuing the health certificate. He said all states/ UTs have been asked to furnish a list of doctors or medical institutes, who would be authorised to issue the compulsory health certificate to the eligible pilgrims of their respective states/ UTs. Governor NN Vohra, who is also chairman of the SASB, has asked the CEO to follow up the matter with states/UTs which are yet to furnish the list of authorised doctors/institutions. |
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All set for more sporting action at Gulmarg
Gulmarg, February 8 Gulmarg, in the past, was unable to accommodate all skiers or learners, who wish to glide through the snow-covered hills of this north Kashmir resort. However, the launch of a ski lift called ‘Harmukh slope’ on Thursday has brought cheers to many. “Not only will this help us train youngsters, we can now also host many ski championships,” said
Gul Mustafa, a skier-turned- instructor, who has represented the country
in several international skiing events. Showkat Ahmad, Project Head for the ski lift operations, said the Harmukh slope was the fourth ski lift at Gulmarg but was better than others. “We were not able to cater to all people who wish to ski here but now this lift has the capacity of hosting 720 skiers per hour and it functions both ways,” he said. The slope fitted with 66 bars is 450 metre long and is located at an altitude of 8,823 feet above sea level. While the ski lifts are used for training purposes and for championships, more daring skiers can be seen gliding from higher altitude slopes of nearby Apharwat and Kangdori. “Skiing here is a great experience. I have skied in other countries but skiing at Apharwat and Kangdori has been a different experience due to high altitude slopes,” said Andrie, a tourist from Russia. He said he was looking forward to the resumption of heli-skiing activities. Earlier, after inaugurating the Harmukh slope, Tourism Minister G A Mir said the heli-skiing would resume soon. It would go a long way in boosting adventure sports activities. “We have already got a Defence clearance and now we need a clearance from the Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA). The matter is being discussed and we will get the clearance in the coming days after which heli-skiing will resume. This will boost adventure sports in a big way at Gulmarg,” he said. The authorities have already prepared the ground for hosting heli-skiing activities besides the usual skiing events. A helipad here and a control room for ski patrolling were also inaugurated at Kongdori on Thursday. The patrolling party apart from facilitating skiers will also deal with accidents, if any, during high mountain skiing and scheduled
heli-skiing activities. Boost to adventure sports
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Fast-track employment programme
Srinagar, February 8 The Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (SSB), which has been entrusted with the responsibility of filling 10,000 non-gazetted cadre posts in the state, issued a notification for the first phase of recruitment drive on December 28, 2012, for filling 3,193 posts in 20 districts of the state. The J&KSSB has sold over 1,40,000 application forms to various aspirants in the state, which has generated a revenue of Rs 3 crore so far. The Board has issued 3.5 lakh application forms to various J&K Bank branches across the state. The sale of forms will continue till February 9 and the last date of receiving forms has been extended till February 20. However, the posts created for youth (with educational qualifications varying from Class 10/ITI diploma holders to postgraduation) for various cadres offers only 50% of the basic pay scale, which amounts to Rs 2,870-6,790 per month (basic pay scale is 4,440-34,800) for first two years of service. For the next three years, the selected candidates will be paid only 75% of the basic pay scale amounting to 4,610-10,490 per month as per the notification issued by the J&KSSB. J&KSSB chairman Muhammad Afzal Bhat said so far 25,000 application forms had been collected from various district and divisional offices of the SSB from all over the state. “This includes 15,000 forms from Jammu division and 10,000 forms from Kashmir division,” Bhat told The Tribune adding the deadline for submission of forms was extended due to appeal by candidates from the remote/ snow-bound areas of not having access to respective J&K Bank branch offices where the forms are available. Though the state government has not promised enough salaries to job aspirants, the enthusiasm among youth for getting these jobs is quite high. Over the past few days, rush at various application collection centres of the J&KSSB has increased manifold in Kashmir, specially after the weather started improving. Candidates lined up outside various form collection centres of the JKSSB said the state government had taken a clever step of paying only half of the basic pay scale by announcing recruitment for a large number of posts. “After this recruitment drive, there are 7,000 more posts to be filled by the SSB under the same cadres. But the monthly salary they are offering is only half of what the present employees (of same cadre) get. We are compelled to work even for peanuts as there are no jobs available in the state,” Amir Ahmad, a postgraduate and a job aspirant said. "The norms for salaries are already set. We are offering salaries as per the notification issued," said Imam Din, secretary, JKSSB, who is overseeing the recruitment drive.
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Poor students to get aid for life-threatening disorders
Jammu, February 8 “Though we started implementing the programme in government and aided schools in all 22 districts of the state from December last year, the state government will soon submit a proposal to the Centre to have 139 standalone school health teams for the mass and effective screening of schoolchildren in the state,” said Dr Yashpal Sharma, project director of the National Rural Health Mission. The programme also covers children living in slums via anganwadi centres, he added.
“Under the programme we will improve health status of children of primary, high and higher secondary classes besides those in slums,” he said. Dr Manoj Bhagat, programme manager of the Adolescent Health and School Health Programme, said to improve nutritional status of children, the Health Department would be weekly distributing iron folic acid tablets and give bi-annual treatment for de-worming. Once we get the Centre’s approval to have 139 standalone school health teams, we will hire the services of doctors and paramedics on contract basis to strengthen the programme, he said. Consequently, we would be covering each and every government and government-aided school, including anganwadi centres, right from the block level where every single child would be screened for complicated diseases, he added. Dr Bhagat further said with the active involvement of the Health Department, School Education Department, Social Welfare Department, Department of Youth Services and Sports, the programme would be implemented in a new shape. There are 22 lakh children in government and government-aided schools in the state and to implement the programme, nearly one lakh teachers would be roped in, he said. The children suffering from complicated diseases that are not treatable within the state shall be sent to government health institutions of high repute outside the state for free treatment. Last fiscal year, the financial assistance given by Centre remained confined to the five districts of Jammu, Kathua, Anantnag, Kupwara and Leh. This year onwards, it has been extended to all 22 districts for the next five years, said Dr Meenakshi Verma, associate programme manager. School healthcare
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Govt to focus on long-term tourism policy: Minister
Srinagar, February 8 “Even though we have to be ready for the short term, our priority is to put in place proper infrastructure for the long run. The infrastructure needs to be developed in a time-bound manner so that we are in a position to welcome 50-60 lakh tourists annually in the next 10-15 years,” the Tourism Minister said in an interview with The Tribune. Mir, who was inducted into the state Cabinet recently, said besides the development of proper infrastructure, maintenance of peace was imperative to the development of the tourism sector. “The tourist inflow has picked up after the period of turmoil and arrivals will gradually increase with the improvement in infrastructure,” he added. Stating that the Centre had been providing enough funds for the development of tourism in the state, Mir said he would ensure that proper policies were put in place to effectively utilise the same and make plans result-oriented. He said the tourism sector was the backbone of Kashmir’s economy and once given a boost, it would help generate more employment avenues. On his recent visit to Spain that was aimed at wooing tourists, Mir said: “Spain is a new market. We got good response from the parties concerned there. However, there is no direct flight from Spain (to New Delhi) and that deters tourists from there to visit India. We have raised the matter and once that is addressed, more tourists from Spain will come here.” The Tourism Minister said he was hopeful that at least 12 lakh tourists would visit Kashmir this year. Even as the Valley witnessed encouraging tourist footfall during the last two years, the industry had been hit hard for three consecutive years earlier due to the Amarnath land row agitation in 2008, the infamous Shopian incident in 2009 and then the summer unrest of 2010. |
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Separatist leader Nayeem Ahmad Khan arrested
Srinagar, February 8 "The police executed a non-bailable warrant issued by Sub-Judge Pattan against Nayeem Khan today. A case was registered at the Pattan police station against. The challan of the case was produced in the court of Sub-Judge Pattan in 2008. The court had issued a non-bailable warrant against him which was executed today by the police. The court remanded him in judicial custody and on the directions of the court he was shifted to the Central Jail, Srinagar," a police spokesman said. Khan, who heads the National Front, a constituent of All Parties Hurriyat Confrence lead by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was booked by the police for raising ‘provocative slogans’ in 2011 under the RPC and the UA (P) Act. The police had also booked his associate Abdul Hamid Bhat. Meanwhile, independent MLA Langate Abdul Rashid Sheikh has condemned the arrest of Khan. He alleged that his arrest had exposed the tall claims made by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his colleagues that separatists must talk to the Centre government for the resolution of the Kashmir issue. “The Chief Minister must explain that as if this is the way to start a meaningful dialogue, which he has been talking often to resolve the Kashmir issue. The government must answer that why is it always in a hurry to suppress Kashmiris by involving them in fake cases?,” Sheikh said. Hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Geelani has also criticised the administration opening of the cases against Khan and other ‘pro freedom’ leaders as unwanted.
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Trade unions work out plan for strike
Jammu, February 8 Addressing the gathering speakers emphasised the need for a united struggle to resist the onslaughts bestowed upon the working class by the union government. They spoke in detail on the issues involved in the strike and the apathetic attitude of governments towards the problems faced by the workers and the common people. They urged the participants to preserve the unity achieved at the national-level and take it to the grass-roots level to make the strike a resounding success. They emphasised the need to intensify the struggles to reverse the anti-worker policies of the government, in which the general strike would be an important milestone. At the end, Sham Parsad Kesar and Raghubir Singh Chib placed a resolution on the demands of the strike. It was decided that a massive rally will be organised on February 21 and also decided to conduct joint preparatory campaigns in all the districts, towns, industrial centers and workplaces.
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Former babus jumping on political bandwagon
Srinagar, February 8 Incidentally, Ganderbal district has both the Assembly constituencies represented by the NC. While CM Omar Abdullah represents Ganderbal, his senior party and ministerial colleague Mian Altaf Ahmad represents the adjacent Kangan constituency. Last month, Zaffar Iqbal Manhas, a former Secretary of the J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, joined the opposition PDP after retirement from government service. There are many other retired bureaucrats, including three former Chief Secretaries Sheikh Ghulam Rasool and Vijay Bakaya (NC) and BR Kundal (Congress), who have joined active politics over the last decade. Those who have joined the PDP include Nayeem Akhtar, Mehboob Iqbal and Asghar Ali. Though “membership drives” of political parties takes place at the grass-roots level from time to time, there has been little systematic “recruitment” at a higher level. The NC is now banking on the leaders recruited then. They include Abdul Rahim Rather, Ali Mohammad Sagar and Chowdhary Mohammad Ramzan, all ministers at present. Political observers say during the last two decades of turmoil in Kashmir, youth joined separatist politics, making mainstream politics “unacceptable”. The mainstream parties were made “slightly acceptable” by PDP leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed during the past one decade.
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‘Ocean of Tears’ selected for film fest in Nepal
Srinagar, February 8 “The film got selected for the third Nepal Human Rights International Film Festival in the competition category,” festival secretary Pandav KC has said in a communique to the director of the film, Bilal A Jan. The festival is scheduled between February 21 and 24. “I am happy that the film got selected in the international event. I feel the international audience should know about the gross human rights violations in Kashmir,” he said. The film showcases eye-opening facts about crimes against women. “The film reveals victims’ experiences in the struggle against violence inflicted on them. It depicts how they learn to deal with their past and the coming years of battle against the power structures,” Jan said.
— TNS
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The inauguration of a high-capacity ski lift here has brought cheers to the skiers. Adventure sports lovers thronging this famous ski resort can look forward to more action with the scheduled resumption of
heli-skiing. Gulmarg, in the past, was unable to accommodate all skiers or
learners, who wish to glide through the snow-covered hills of this north Kashmir
resort. However, the launch of a ski lift called ‘Harmukh slope’ on Thursday
has brought cheers to many.
