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Expelled BJP members can return to party fold: Party secretary
NC, Cong joined hands to delay passage of temples Bill in House
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Probe panel finds irregularities in J-K drinking water project
Dutch national says he feared Sarah was a spy: Police
Bemina attack: Court changes custody of two accused
HC dismisses ‘premature’ PIL for conservation of hangul
Liyaqat’s wife meets PM’s Adviser,
seeks his release
Changthang nomads get Rs 15 lakh from Tibetan fund
State officially has 370 local dailies
4 held in connection with minor’s rape
Cong supporter blames NC for ‘exploiting’ Gujjars
JCO returns lost purse with cash, chain to owner
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Expelled BJP members can return to party fold: Party secretary
Srinagar, April 17 “When others can join the BJP, they too can come back if they want to… there is no problem… but a decision will be taken after consultations with the party high command,” Jain told reporters on the sidelines of a function held here. Seven BJP members were expelled from the party on charges of cross-voting in the 2011 Legislative Council elections. The function was held at city centre Lal Chowk to welcome Jugal Kishore, who was on his first visit to the Valley after being elected BJP state president in December last year. A large number of local BJP leaders and workers were also present at the function, which was also held to strengthen the party base in the Valley. As the BJP has so far failed to win a single Assembly or parliamentary berth in Kashmir, Jain said they were confident of “changing history” in the upcoming 2014 Assembly elections. “More Kashmiri youth are attracted to our party now as they have understood the true picture. History will change… we will grow a new lotus here,” he said while referring to the party symbol. Addressing the gathering later, Jain urged local party leaders and workers to strengthen the party base in the Valley. Stating that the BJP would field candidates from all three parliamentary constituencies in Kashmir during the next elections, he said the BJP was eyeing 20 per cent share out of the 47 Assembly seats in Kashmir and the Ladakh region in the elections scheduled next year. Flaying the National
Conference-Congress coalition government for a “large number of scams” that had unearthed in the state, Jain appealed to
people to “throw out the state government”. Censuring the Congress for allegedly using Muslims as a vote bank, Jain said: “We do not believe in appeasement but we believe that the country cannot prosper without Muslims.” He also condemned the killings of youth in the Valley, saying that the entire country should be worried about the killings.
Chaman Lal rejects offer
Jammu: Former Union Minister and leader of the group of the seven expelled BJP
MLAs, Chaman Lal Gupta today ruled out rejoining the BJP.
Reacting to the statement of BJP national secretary Anil Jain that the seven expelled MLAs were free to rejoin the party fold, Gupta said there was no question of rejoining the party which had humiliated them badly. “The BJP leadership had taken the decision to expel the seven MLAs in a vindictive manner without properly investigating the whole episode,” he told The Tribune. “Those who had cross-voted in favour of National Conference and Congress candidates in the 2011 Legislative Council elections are still in the party,” he said. |
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NC, Cong joined hands to delay passage of temples Bill in House
Jammu, April 17 Sources claimed that alliance partners deliberately did this for twin purposes - one, they were least interested in setting up a Shrine Board keeping in view the interest of many party workers having strong connections with a land mafia and second, they didn’t want to annoy certain influential persons who are benefiting from the earnings of religious places for the past 150 years. Since the exodus of minority community in 1990, when the armed insurgency erupted in Kashmir, in the absence of any management mechanism, properties belonging to ancient temples have become a major target of land sharks who have managed to change the revenue records in connivance with revenue officers at several villages. At times, many Pandit community members have actively helped them by manipulating the toothless Distress Sale Act-1996 brought by the government, making all the sales by minority community during insurgency years as null and void. “Everything was stage managed in the Assembly when the Bill was introduced. MLAs from ruling parties openly opposed it despite their lip service offering support to the Hindus. I’m surprised why no lacuna, drawback or any flaw in the legislation was detected during the past four years when the Bill remained pending after introduction in 2009”, said Dr RL
Bhat, a senior member of Prem Nath Bhat Memorial Trust (PNBMT). The trust is a nodal body to chalk out and carry on the line of action to get the law enacted. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saifullah Mir said some valid points in the composition of Board were taken up by members and the Select Committee would look into them. “There were some points such as financial aspect of the new body and how to deal with the removal of encroachments, if any. Let the committee look into the issue. The government is committed to safeguard the religious property. We want a fool-proof arrangement,” Saifullah said. However, when asked to comment over pressure from various quarters to delay its passage, the Law Minister said, “There is no pressure on the government”. Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather as the Leader of the Opposition during the
PDP-Congress coalition government (2002-08) first brought a private member’s Bill in 2006. Later it was put before the Assembly in 2009 when the NC-Congress government was in power, but was deferred. This time, Rather remained a mute spectator, not raising a point in support of the Bill.
Dharmath Trust president RS Jamwal said it is a complex issue and he can’t give a detailed reply. At the moment, the Dharmath Trust, established by erstwhile Dogra rulers and Vandalised Heritage
What is Shrine Bill
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Probe panel finds irregularities in J-K drinking water project Jammu, April 17 The committee formally submitted its 25-page report (a copy of which is with The Tribune) to Legislative Council chairman Amrit Malhotra today afternoon. Following large-scale uproar over irregularities of funds in CCDU, the present PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Sham Lal Sharma had in an official order (no. 54-PW (Hyd) of 2013 dated 11.02.2013 issued under endorsement no. PW (Hyd)/P&S/Inquiry Committee/CCDU/2012-13 dated 11-02-2013) constituted a high-level four-member committee to look into spending in CCDU. A sum of Rs 12.27 crore was spent under this programme in three months during Taj’s tenure as Minister of PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control. Taj is currently Minister for Health and Medical Education. Soon after the probe was ordered, CCDU executive director Najeebullah resigned but his resignation was rejected by present minister, Sham Lal Sharma. “It appears that irregularities in execution of the programme and incurring of expenditure have been committed. It is opined that no further payment be released in favour of the said agency till all shortcomings in execution of the programme and expenditure thereto are removed or set right, rather fulfilled, in accordance with the guidelines and instructions issued from time to time by the competent authority while releasing the funds,” the report stated. Detecting large-scale bungling, the report suggested in-depth checking. “In order to have in-depth checking of the expenditure incurred and to ensure that all stakeholders have been involved in execution of the programme, it is opined that a detailed, independent and full-time inquiry and audit of accounts is required to arrive at this factual position as to whether the expenditure shown to have been incurred by the CCDU is reasonable, justified and covered under rules and execution of the programme has been carried out strictly in accordance with the norms, rules and guidelines,” the report suggested. The name of a Jharkhand-based NGO has also figured in the case. “A single NGO has been assigned the responsibility of conducting almost all activities of the programme in the state, creating a sort of dominance/monopoly and, therefore, slackness and casual approach has developed in execution of the programme, as evidenced during the on-spot interaction of the committee with the participants,” the report pinpointed. KK Gupta, chief engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control, Jammu, is chairman of the committee while Fida Mohammad Farooqi, Superintending Engineer, Hydraulic circle, Srinagar; Krishan Singh, Chief Accounts Officer, PHE department, Jammu; and Abdul Hamid Kumar, Chief Accounts Officers, PHE Department, Kashmir, its members. Sham Lal Sharma, who took over the ministry after the Cabinet reshuffle on January 15, had announced that investigation would be done in a time-bound manner and if irregularities were proved, the case would be handed over to the State Vigilance Organisation. Trouble for Taj
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Dutch national says he feared Sarah was a spy: Police
Srinagar, April 17 “The Dutch national had a belief that he was being followed by Dutch spies wherever he went. After checking in a houseboat in Srinagar, he suspected that the houseboat owner was working with the Dutch intelligence. The night Sarah was stabbed to death, he (De Wit) saw her in the kitchen and thought that she also was a Dutch spy and were planning to poison him,” a police officer privy to the investigations said. “De Wit carried out the attack under the influence of drugs. He had smoked cannabis the night he killed Sarah,” he added. The police officer said De Wit had told the police that he had some issues with the Dutch government and was on the run to evade arrest. The police is likely to ask a psychiatrist to examine De Wit as he has said his mental condition is unstable. Sarah was found dead on the intervening night of April 5 and 6 in a houseboat on the Dal Lake. The police said Sarah had received 45 stab wounds. A case has already been registered under Section 302 (murder) of the RPC at the Ram Munshi Bagh police station. The police said it was waiting for the postmortem and forensic reports to reach a conclusion on whether the British tourist was sexually assaulted. “We are waiting for the postmortem and forensic lab reports,” said Kashmir DIG Ahfad-ul-Mujtaba."
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Bemina attack: Court changes custody of two accused
Srinagar, April 17 The two accused whose custody has been changed includes Pakistani militant Muhammad Zubair, alias Talha Zaraar, and his local handler and former Hizb militant Bashir Ahmed Mir, whose change of custody was wanted by the police in connection with an FIR registered against the duo at a police station in Uri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla District. Earlier on April 12, a court in Srinagar had extended the police remand of the four accused in the Bemina case by five days which ended today. The four accused include Zubair, a native of Multan in Pakistan; Bashir, alias Haroon, a resident of Uri, identified by the police as the local “co-commander”; Mukhtar Ahmad Shah, a released militant; and Pradeep Singh, a contractual employee in the Health Department hailing from Baramulla. In the suicide attack by the militants, five CRPF personnel were killed and six other CRPF personnel and four civilians were injured. Two fidayeen militants were also killed in retaliatory firing. They were later identified as Saif and Haider, both natives of Pakistan. “The four accused were today produced by the police before the court of 1st Additional Munsiff, Srinagar, which remanded the two accused (Pradeep and Mukhtar) in judicial custody for 15 days, while the custody of the two other accused persons was changed from the Bemina attack case FIR to another FIR registered against them in a police station at Uri in Barmaulla,” a court official said. “The police had sought the change of custody of Bashir and Zubair in connection with an FIR 20/2013 registered against the duo at Uri police station under Section 2/3 of Ingress and Internal Movement (Control) Ordinance (IIMCO),” said counsel Mir Shafaqat Hussain, who represented the accused in the court today. He, however, opposed the booking of Zubair, a Pakistani national under the provisions of IIMCO, saying only a J&K state subject could be booked under this Act for illegally crossing the LoC. During a press conference on March 19, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Range, AG Mir had said the investigations had revealed that the attack was carried out by two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) men, identified as Saif, a resident of Dera Ghazi Khan, and Haider, a resident of Multan in Pakistan, at the behest of their commander Ahmad and logistics chief Anas Bilal, who are based across the
LoC. |
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Balakote in Poonch to get tehsil status: Omar
Poonch, April 17 He said more than 70,000 vacant posts in various government departments would be filled up through a mechanism of holding interviews at the district level by the recruitment agencies so that job seekers from rural and far-off areas do not have to travel longer distances. The Chief Minister said creation of jobs for youth in government and private sectors was the main focus of the government in the state employment policy. He said he would take up the issue of organising recruitment rallies by various Central government agencies, including the Indian Railways, for the youth of far-flung areas. The Chief Minister said executing agencies of various power and road projects had been directed to give top priority to the employment of local youth in their projects. “The state government envisages launch of various micro and small hydro projects on small rivers and streams in the remote areas in which locals would be provided jobs,” he said. He advised Gujjars and Bakerwals to live in harmony and reject those who try to wedge them apart for vote bank politics. He said some elements wanted to divide them for their vested interests. He asked them to be careful of this conspiracy and exhibit their unity in fighting poverty and injustice. The Chief Minister said the Power Development Department had assured that the storm damaged electricity supply system in the district would be restored by the end of this month. The meeting was also addressed by Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Mir
Saifullah, NC Provincial president Devender Singh Rana, MLC Javaid Rana and other local leaders. |
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HC dismisses ‘premature’ PIL for conservation of hangul
Srinagar, April 17 The orders for dismissal of the said PIL were issued by a division bench of the High Court comprising Justice Mansoor A Mir and Justice AM Magery, before which the matter was listed today in the regular cause list. One of the main pleas taken up in the PIL was about the proposed closure of the “sheep breeding farm” at Dachigam. It had sought to know the reasons from the government for the “closing” of the breeding farm, which researchers consider to be an “irritant” in the Dachigam National Park “The said farm has not been closed as yet. The government will decide about it (closing or not closing the farm) itself,” the HC bench observed while passing the orders today. “The PIL is premature and dismissed as such,” the bench said in its orders, even as the litigant lawyer Bahat Fayaz pressed for admitting the PIL. Hangul (Cervus elaphus hanglu) is one of the critically endangered wildlife species and is the only Asiatic survivor of the red deer. As per the 2011 Census, the number of hanguls recorded in Dachigam National Park was 218. In the petition filed by two persons, namely Abdul Majeed Chopan and Abdul Khaliq, it had been prayed that the HC issue directions for “constituting a team of experts” to look into the decline of the population of the rare animal, besides issuing directions to formulate a road map for the protection of the hangul. The petitioners had termed the said sheep farm as a “heritage”, saying it was a source of “Kashmir Marino” wool. In this regard, the PIL had sought an explanation as to how the presence of sheep in Dachigam Park was said to have contributed to the decline in the population of hangul. Researchers have been of the view that the removal of the sheep farm from the park and restrictions on sheep grazing by nomads in the upper Dachigam reaches would help in conservation of the
hangul. Endangered species
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Liyaqat’s wife meets PM’s Adviser,
seeks his release
Srinagar, April 17 Nair was in Kupwara to attend a function organised by an NGO. “Shah’s wife Akther Nissa met the Prime Minister’s Adviser during the function and sought her husband’s release at the earliest,” said a member of Liyaqat’s family. Nissa was accompanying Liyaqat at the time of his arrest. Liyaqat was heading to Kashmir via Nepal from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to surrender under the government’s rehabilitation policy. The rehabilitation policy is meant for militants who had crossed the Line of Control between 1989 and 2009 for arms training in Pakistan, but did not indulge in militant activity. Liyaqat was arrested by the Delhi Police on the Indo-Nepal border on March 22. It claimed Liyaqat wanted to carry out attacks in New Delhi on the eve of Holi. “We are hopeful that the PM’s Adviser will take up the issue of Liyaqat’s release,” the member of Liyaqat’s family said. The National Investigation Agency which is probing Liyaqat’s case has already recorded the statements of Liyaqat’s family members, including his two wives, brother and the village sarpanch on April 12 and 13. Liyaqat is in judicial custody in Delhi. It is learnt that Nair expressed sympathies with Liyaqat’s wife and told her that the investigation was on and she would get justice. Meanwhile, Nair reviewed the implementation of various Centrally sponsored schemes being launched for improving the socio-economic conditions of the people and enhancing the employability of the educated unemployed youth of the state. Nair inspected the Shehjar Community Resource Centre being set up at Kupwara for providing skill development training to militancy-affected people so that they could earn their livelihood. The Adviser interacted with trainees and expressed satisfaction over the measures undertaken for imparting training under the Seva Help Foundation in the district. The Kupwara Deputy Commissioner, Kupwara SSP and officials of the district administration accompanied Nair. The Adviser reiterated that the government was committed to providing succour to people affected by turmoil in the Valley. He said the affected people were being provided incentives for education and improving their socio-economic conditions, besides facilitating the old people. He enjoined upon the people to avail the benefits of various welfare schemes being launched in the state. |
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Changthang nomads get Rs 15 lakh from Tibetan fund
Leh, April 17 The cheque was handed over today to Chief Executive Councillor of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh, Rigzin Spalbar for distribution by a representative of the office of the Tibetan Refugee Settlement, Ladakh. According to the report of the District Sheep Husbandry Office, Leh, 24,800 sheep and pashmina goats and hundreds of their newborns perished in heavy snowfall in the first week of February. Due to harsh climatic conditions in the Changthang region, livestock rearing is the only source of livelihood for the people. Earlier, the state Revenue and Relief Department had given Rs 43 lakh as relief to the nomads. — TNS
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State officially has 370 local dailies
Jammu, April 16 It may come as a surprise to many but over 370 local newspapers in English and vernacular languages officially hit the stalls every day in Jammu and Kashmir, which as per the 2011 Census had a population of 1.25 crore, (precisely 12,548,926) and a literacy rate of 68.74 per cent. As per an official document of the state government, 211 local dailies in English and vernacular languages are published from the Jammu region, which has 10 districts. Similarly, 162 such dailies officially are published from the Kashmir region, including Ladakh, comprising 12 districts. The official document reveals that from 2010 to February 2013 the state government gave advertisements worth Rs 40.31 crore to the dailies. — TNS |
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4 held in connection with minor’s rape
Rajouri, April 17 Dharal SHO Suhail said a 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by Shebaz, a resident of Dodaj, and was supported by his relative, Yasmin. The incident came to the fore after the victim disclosed about the incident to her family. The SHO further said the victim’s family had lodged a complaint and an FIR was registered under Section 376/109 of the RPC at the police station concerned. The victim’s medical examination report is awaited, but the police has started the investigations. |
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Cong supporter blames NC for ‘exploiting’ Gujjars
Jammu, April 17 Gurezi, who belongs to the National Conference (NC), preferred not to react but lost his cool when a Congress supporter, Farooq Ahmed, attacked NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah for “exploiting innocent Gujjars” for decades. When Gurezi was addressing the function, Farooq Ahmed, a local Gujjar leader, repeatedly interrupted the minister and shouted that the NC leadership had exploited Gujjars and Bakerwals for their petty political gains. He alleged that the NC leadership was responsible for the miseries of the Gujjars and Bakerwals. “Who has invited such a stupid and ill-mannered person to the official function?” Gurezi asked, while snubbing officials of the Animal and Sheep Husbandry Department. The minister left the function in a huff. Lal Singh was silently watching the minister’s reaction. Local MLA Charanjeet Singh and officials of the Animal and Sheep Husbandry Department rushed to placate Gurezi, who refused to further address the function. After being persuaded by the local MLA, Gurezi came back and participated in the function. In the meantime, policemen present on the spot caught hold of Farooq for “misbehaving” with the minister. As some policemen tried to take Farooq in their gypsy, Singh lashed out at them (policemen) for “misbehaving” with a social activist. Creating further embarrassment for Gurezi, Singh took Farooq to the stage and told him to sit beside him on the stage. The function was held to inaugurate a building of Block Veterinary Hospital at
Kathua. |
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JCO returns lost purse with cash, chain to owner
Batote, April 17 “I had lost my leather purse containing Rs 12,310 and a gold chain weighing over 20gm on April 1. I was in a state of shock. Except praying to God for its retrieval, I could do nothing,” said Girdharilal, a resident of Padarna, Kishtwar, who is working as a cashier for a contractor here. “My joy new no bounds when on April 9, I read a notice regarding this pasted outside the office of the CMP post.”
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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national secretary Anil Jain today said the seven expelled party members of the state unit were free to rejoin the party fold.
Referring the Kashmiri Hindus Shrines and Religious Places Management Bill to a Select Committee by the Congress-National Conference alliance in the Legislative Assembly on April 5 has once again brought to focus the influence of certain lobbies in preventing its passage.
Jammu, April 17
The J&K High Court has dismissed as “premature” a public interest litigation which had called for conservation of rare Kashmir stag hangul and investigation into the reasons for its declining numbers.