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Crackdown on separatists as
Kashmir remains on edge
Valley under curfew for second day
Border security discussed
assembly in session
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Pak resolution exposes nexus of NC,
PDP, separatists: BJP
IAF airlifts 291 stranded passengers to Leh
Leh-bound civilians board an IAF aircraft in Jammu on Friday. A Tribune photograph
State agriculture sector to be tax-free by 2014: Mir
Governor for tapping non-conventional energy resources
Scholarship launched to promote art, train young artistes
Village sanitation gets a fillip, courtesy cross-border firing
Major reshuffle in police dept
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Crackdown on separatists as
Kashmir remains on edge
Srinagar, March 15
Separatist leader and chief of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) Shabir Ahmad Shah, who was arrested last month, was today booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and shifted to Kot Balwal jail in Jammu, sources here said. The moderate All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has expressed concern over the shifting of Shabir from Srinagar to Jammu. Senior separatist leaders, including the chairmen of both factions of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (moderate) and Syed Ali Geelani (hardliner) and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik, are already under house arrest. Geelani, who had announced that he would visit the Sopore and Baramulla areas to address the Friday congregations and express condolences with the families of those killed during the recent days, was taken into preventive custody here this morning. He had been put under house arrest here since his return from New Delhi recently. The JKLF chairman, who was in Pakistan last month, also continues to be under house arrest since his arrival here on March 10. Malik has condemned the crackdown on separatist leaders and restrictions imposed in the Valley. In a statement here today, he alleged that the police and paramilitary forces had declared a war against the JKLF and its several leaders had been arrested. He also condemned the action against Shabir and the continued house arrest of Hurriyat leaders. Preventive arrests |
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Valley under curfew for second day
Srinagar, March 15 Security personnel have laid concertina wires on all crossroads around Srinagar. On the outskirts of the city at Bemina, where two fidayeen (suicide) militants on Wednesday had killed five CRPF personnel, no civilian movement was allowed. At the square near the attack site, police and paramilitary personnel have erected a makeshift checkpoint where a few vehicles, which moved through the area, were being stopped and asked to turn back. All peripheral routes leading into the city were also sealed off while large contingents of police and paramilitary personnel were patrolling the streets inside the city. Several residents of Srinagar's old city said they were barred from offering Friday congregational prayers. The region has remained closed for 21 days since the February 9 hanging of Guru, which led to a series of protests. The situation became tense on Wednesday afternoon following the killing of a civilian in Srinagar’s old city after which the state government announced imposition of an indefinite curfew in all major towns of the region.
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Border security discussed
Srinagar, March 15 The Governor and Lt Gen Om Prakash discussed some important
aspects relating to the border management in the context of increasing attempts being made by militants to enhance
infiltration across the Line of Control.
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Uproar in House over ‘disrespect’ to CRPF men killed in fidayeen attack
Jammu, March 15 Opposition members staged a walkout from the Assembly when the government rejected their demand for passing a unanimous resolution in the Assembly to condemn the resolution, passed by Pakistan parliament on the return of the mortal remains of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru to his family, on Thursday. As soon as the House assembled this morning, BJP members resorted to sloganeering against the “dishonour” shown by the state government to the slain CRPF jawans. “Those who cried in the Assembly for Afzal Guru have no time to pay tributes to the CRPF martyrs,” shouted BJP MLA Jugal Kishore Sharma, who was on his toes. He was supported by his party colleagues. The sloganeering BJP members were joined by Jammu State Morcha (JSM) member Ashwani Kumar Sharma. Panthers Party legislators, who were protesting against the misuse of government funds, also joined the agitating JSM and BJP members on the issue and raised slogans. They demanded an apology from the state government for “humiliating” the slain CRPF personnel by skipping the wreath-laying ceremony in Srinagar yesterday. “The action of the government was a disrespect to the nation and the martyred jawans,” shouted Panthers Party MLA Harsh Dev Singh. BJP MLA Jugal Kishore Sharma alleged that CRPF men had become a soft target for militants following the state government’s direction which disallows security personnel to carry arms while dealing with the law and order situations. The JSM member charged the government with indulging in cheap politics. “It was all due to the politics that no senior minister was present at the wreath-laying ceremony of the five slain CRPF men,” Sharma shouted. Deputy Speaker Sartaj Madni tried to pacify the agitating opposition members but they didn’t relent. Harsh Dev Singh shouted that this government had been hatching conspiracies against security forces to demoralise them in their war against terrorism. |
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Pak resolution exposes nexus of NC,
PDP, separatists: BJP
Jammu, March 15 Singh said it should not be difficult to gauge the motivation and compulsion behind the eagerness of both the NC and the PDP to bring in a resolution on similar lines in the J&K Legislative Assembly. “Both these parties are working under the diktats of Pakistan-sponsored separatists and that is why they speak the language which the Pakistan government and the ISI want them to speak,” he said. Questioning the NC’s demand for the revocation of the Armed Forces
Special Powers Act (AFSPA) at a time when military and para-military personnel are being repeatedly targeted by “Pakistan-sponsored militants”, Singh said if the Chief Minister and other leaders were genuinely convinced about the improvement in the security scenario, they should first set an example by surrendering their
personal Z-category NSG security. He also raised a question mark on the silence of NC’s coalition partner Congress, saying it had been given directions by its central leadership to support the Omar-led government even if it was at the cost of the national interest.
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IAF airlifts 291 stranded passengers to Leh
Jammu, March 15 An IL-76 transport aircraft was pressed into service to ferry stranded passengers, most of whom were residents of Leh and Kargil districts. A total of 291 passengers, which included 50 women and children, were airlifted today by the special IAF aircraft. Air Commodore PE Patange, the Air Officer Commanding of Air Force Station, Jammu, and Group Captain S Pati, Chief Administrative Officer of Air Force station, Jammu, personally supervised the operation.
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State agriculture sector to be tax-free by 2014: Mir
Jammu, March 15 “Our government has not only prioritised the agriculture sector, which is the backbone of the state’s economy, but has also made an attempt to make it tax-free. We have already made significant achievements by exempting tax on most of the agricultural inputs for the benefit of farmers. We are hopeful that we will be able to make it completely tax-free by next year,” Mir told the Legislative Assembly while responding to the discussion on the demand of grants for his department. He said the Agriculture Department had shifted its focus from the cultivation of food grains to total diversification in the agricultural produce. “The production of high income-generating crops such as fruits, flowers, vegetables, medicinal plants and allied activities such as sericulture have been encouraged by giving incentives. This will increase agricultural income and help in generating employment in the farm sector,” he said. “To make agriculture and its allied sectors profitable, thrust has been given to the introduction of latest agricultural techniques and farm machinery to lower the production cost. In this direction, Kisan Melas and farm machinery exhibitions are being held at the district level in the first phase and now directions has been passed to conduct such fairs at the panchayat level to make farmers aware about latest techniques and their utilisation at their doorstep,” the minister said. He said stress was being given to the revival of indigenous varieties of the state, adding that the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology had launched a pilot project for “Muskbudej and Kambad” for their revival. Mir claimed that the Seed Replacement Rate (SRR) of the state had gone up in the past four years from 10 per cent to 24.78 per cent in Paddy and from 10.79 per cent to 29.77 per cent in wheat. “Efforts are on to reach the level of 33 per cent, the national benchmark,” he said. He said saffron was a heritage cash crop of the state and that an ambitious national mission for the rejuvenation of saffron in the state with an investment of Rs 372.18 crore had been launched. He said the Chakroi Seed Multiplication Farm was being developed and upgraded at a cost of Rs 30 crore in Jammu division for the production of high quality Basmati seeds of RS Pura. Underlining the importance of horticulture in boosting the rural economy, Mir said there was a need to focus on infrastructure for post-harvesting as it was the only way to compete with the international market. “The Kashmir valley is proud to export 90 per cent apple requirement of the country’s population and it is our duty to launch latest post-harvest projects under private and public sectors to fulfill the demand of the market which would help the growers as well. The turnover on account of the export of fruits of the state has reached a level of Rs 4,200 crore till date,” he said. Earlier, the minister said a sum of Rs 1,151.97 crore should be granted to the government to defray the charges which will come in the course of payment during the year ending March 31, 2014. A total of 15 members took part in the discussion on grants. The House, later, passed the grants by a voice vote.
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Governor for tapping non-conventional energy resources
Jammu, March 15 They were accompanied by Prof GM Bhat, Head, Department of Geology, University of Jammu. The delegation briefed the Governor, who is the Chancellor of the University of Jammu, regarding the arrangements and other details of an international conference on ‘Sustainable Resource Development in the Himalayas’ which is being organised jointly by the Geological Society of London and the University of Jammu, at Leh in July, 2014. Over 200 delegates from various parts of the world are likely to participate in the three-day conference scheduled to commence from July 2, 2014. Delegates from various government organisations and reputed institutes and universities of the country are slated to participate in the deliberations. While interacting with the visiting professors, who are organisers of the conference, the Governor emphasised the need for sustainable development of varied resources in the Himalayas, particularly energy and water resources, to meet the future requirements of the growing economy. He said the focus should be on producing clean energy to protect the environment and ecology. He expressed hope that the conference would adequately focus on tapping non-conventional resources of energy like wind, solar, bio and geo-thermal, besides hydro power. He also stressed the need to sensitise public about environmental issues. The organisers said pre-conference and post-conference field visits of Ladakh region were also being planned for the participants of the conference.
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Scholarship launched to promote art, train young artistes
Jammu, March 15 The scheme has been launched in association with the Natrang, a theatre group, with an aim to preserve and promote
art forms prevalent in villages around Mata Vaishno Devi shrine and in neighbouring districts. Chief Executive Officer, SMVDSB, Navin K Choudhary said the scholarship would be named the “SMVDSB Natrang Young Artist Scholarship”. The scheme shall be of three years. Fifteen young artists shall be identified and selected preferably from villages in the neighbourhood of the shrine in Reasi district. The artists shall be trained over three years by the Natrang in traditional art forms and music. The Chief Executive Officer said the Shrine Board shall provide the young artists Rs 3,000 per month. The scheme has been launched at a cost of Rs 16.20 lakh for the next three years. A committee has been constituted which comprises Dr Ved Kumari Ghai, chairperson, Prof Lalit Magotra, Krishna Kumari and the Deputy CEO of the Shrine Board to monitor and review the progress of the scheme at regular intervals.
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Village sanitation gets a fillip, courtesy cross-border firing
Jammu, March 15 The government said the border villagers could not go to toilets in the open at the time of cross-border firing and it had constructed free of cost 100 individual household latrines (IHHL) for them under the Total Sanitation Campaign and the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan scheme. “It is a fact that the Suchetgarh constituency is located near the Indo-Pak border and at the time of cross-border firing, villagers cannot go for toilets in open,” said Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Ali Mohammad Sagar in response to a question by BJP MLA Sham Lal Choudhary in the Assembly today. Sagar said his department had constructed 84 IHHL in 2011-12 and 16 IHHL till January-end in 2012 in the Suchetgarh area in the wake of cross-firing incidents. “The IHHL are being constructed for all Below Poverty Line families and identified Above Poverty Line families, including the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, small and marginal farmers, women-headed households and physically-handicapped within a gram panchayat,” he said. The state had witnessed 71 incidents of cross-border firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and the international border in which seven persons, four security personnel and two civilians were killed, and 15 others, 12 security personnel and three civilians, were injured in 2012. The state Home Ministry said there had been an increase in incidents of cross-border firing last year. There were 51 cases of cross-border firing and ceasefire violations along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir in 2011 as compared to 44 cases in 2010 and 28 in 2009. |
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Major reshuffle in police dept Jammu, March 15 K Rajendra Kumar, ADGP, Armed, Law and Order, has been posted as the DG, Prisons Department; PL Gupta, Commissioner, Vigilance, has been posted as the ADGP (Coordination) against a newly created post; Navin Agarwal, ADGP, Prisons Department, has been posted as the DG, Youth Services and Sports, and Duety Rani Doley, presently on leave, has been posted as the ADGP, Home Guards and Civil Defence. Vijay Kumar Singh, IGP Trainings, Police Headquarters (PHQ), has been posted as the ADG, Security, J&K. He shall takeover charge of the post on March 31, 2013. Shiv Murari Sahai, Kashmir Zone IGP, upon his promotion has been posted as the ADGP, Armed; Dilbagh Singh, Jammu Zone IGP, has been posted as the MD, Police Housing Corporation, and Owais Ahmad Sheikh, IGP, Technical Services, upon his promotion as the ADGP, shall await orders of posting in the Home Department. Rajesh Kumar, DIG, North Kashmir Range, has been posted as the IGP, Jammu Zone. Abdul Gani Mir, IGP, Crime, J&K, has been transferred and posted as the IGP, Kashmir Zone. Suleman Salaria, IGP, Personnel, PHQ, has been posted as the Commissioner, Civil Military Liaison. Yoginder Koul, IG, Home Guards, has been posted as the IGP, State Human Rights Commission, against an available vacancy. Arun Chowdhary, IGP, PHQ, has been posted as the IGP, Personnel, PHQ. Deepak Kumar, IGP, Vigilance, has been posted as the IGP, PHQ. Syed Javed Mujtaba Geelani, awaiting orders of posting, has been posted as the IG, Crime. SS Khandare, DIG, PHQ, has been posted as the IGP, Technical Services. Alok Puri, IPS (1994-batch), MD, Police Housing Corporation, has been posted as the IG, Vigilance. JP Singh, IPS (1996-batch), DIG, Jammu, has been posted as the DIG, Baramulla. Ashkoor Wani, Udhampur SSP, has been posted as the DIG, Doda-Kishtwar. Ali Mohammad Bhat, SSP, Vigilance, has been posted as the DIG, Vigilance. Shakeel Ahmed Beigh, DIG, Traffic, Jammu, has been posted as the DIG, Jammu. Gareeb Dass, IPS (1997-batch), DIG, Doda-Kishtwar, has been posted as the DIG, Udhampur. Shafqat Watali, DIG, Traffic, Kashmir, has been posted as the DIG, Traffic, Jammu. Jagjit Kumar, IPS (1996-batch), DIG, Udhampur, has been posted as the DIG, Traffic, Kashmir. |
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The Indian Air Force (IAF) today airlifted 291 stranded civilians from Jammu to Leh in a special sortie launched on the request of the civil administration.
An IL-76 transport aircraft was pressed into service to ferry stranded passengers, most of whom were residents of Leh and Kargil districts. A total of 291 passengers, which included 50 women and children, were airlifted today by the special IAF aircraft.
Dr Jonathan Craig, Senior vice-president, ENI, Italy, and Prof Bindra
Thusu, Senior Research Fellow, University College, London, and chairman, MPRG,
UCL, London, both of whom are visiting professors in the University of Jammu, called on Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhawan here today.
‘Insignificant issues being raised in House’