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State inks pact with UAE’s largest travel company
Shift houseboats to new location in Dal Lake: High Court to govt
State info panel caught on wrong foot over ‘misuse’ of RTI Act
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Six mini hydel projects likely to complete by 2014
Search for militants in Kupwara continues
Machil
‘Fake’ Encounter
Omar finally visits quake-hit areas
Mufti questions fairness of 2008 Assembly elections
Guv highlights RBI’s role in economic development
Speaker calls on Governor
6 hydel projects likely by 2014
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State inks pact with UAE’s largest travel company
Srinagar, May 9 “We held a meeting with senior managers of the SNTTA yesterday and we will be signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU). As the SNTTA is the largest travel and tourist management company and owned by the royal family of Sharjah, we would be able to promote J&K as a golfing destination,” JKTDC Managing Director Shamim Ahmad Wani told The Tribune over the phone from Dubai. He said the meeting was also attended by Tourism Minister GA Mir and Director, Tourism, Talat Parvez. “The Gulf is an untapped territory and we have been holding a series of interactions with the tourism players here so that more tourists from the Arab world visit Kashmir. We see a lot of potential regarding golfing and adventure sports-related activities that are very popular among Arabs. We also see a huge potential for adventure tourism,” Wani added. A tourism department official here said they had lined up a series of programmes to attract tourists from the Arab world. While the Tourism Minister had last week held a news conference in Dubai, the official said adventure sports like safaris, aero sports and water-based activities were very popular among the Arabs and Kashmir had a natural set-up for the same. After Dubai, he said, the delegation would visit Saudi Arabia in this regard. Meanwhile, the tourism department is also holding a spring festival across the Valley later this month with an aim of wooing more tourists. The department along with the J&K Academy of Art Culture and Languages (JKAACL) is also currently hosting a two-month folk festival across the Valley. Cultural programmes are being held at prime tourist spots of Kashmir as part of the festival, which began on Saturday. Over 12 lakh tourists had visited the Valley last year and tourist arrivals have started picking up yet again this year after a brief lull following the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in February. |
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Shift houseboats to new location in Dal Lake: High Court to govt
Srinagar, May 9 The court, however, observed that it hopes and trusts that the authorities concerned would devise an objective method while shifting the houseboats to the new location. The court did not set any time frame for completing the shifting. The LAWDA has proposed to shift the houseboats in a phased manner from their current position to the Doldrum area, which is another location inside the Dal Lake. These directions were issued today by a division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Hasnain Masoodi. The High Court has been hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) calling for the conservation of the Dal Lake and has been monitoring the efforts of the government in this regard for many years. To prevent pollution in the lake and to supervise the state government’s efforts to conserve it, the court had on October 29, 2011, directed the houseboat owners to shift their anchored houseboats from their existing position at the lake by 300 feet from the Boulevard road, which forms the periphery of the lake. The High Court had ordered that the retrieval process of around 230 houseboats should be carried out within 10 days. These orders were passed by the court following an undertaking by the Houseboat Owners Association (HBOA), wherein it had submitted a counter-proposal and volunteered to relocate the anchored houseboats backward, around 300 feet. However, the houseboat owners have shown “The HBOA has been playing hide and seek with the court for a long time. The undertaking by them to this court has been observed in breach, which may amount to contempt. But this time, we would not like to prolong the process of relocation of houseboats further,” the Chief Justice said, when HBOA president M Azim Tuman submitted that the association had changed its lawyer and needed time to study the LAWDA’s proposal. The Advocate-General, representing the state and the LADWA in the PIL, submitted that the government proposes to shift the houseboats to the Doldrum area in a phased manner. He, however, submitted that the new site chosen for the houseboats needed to be developed. After hearing both sides, the bench, in its orders, observed that the proposal made by the LAWDA to shift the houseboats to the Doldrum area has to be given effect. “In principle, it is decided that the houseboats will be shifted to the Doldrum area. The plan developed by the LAWDA be given effect. We hope and trust that an objective manner would be followed by the LAWDA while shifting the houseboats,” the bench further observed in its orders. The houseboat owners have so for resisted realignment or shifting of the houseboats, maintaining that realignment or shifting of the houseboats at the lake is a “herculean task” and may require a lot of time and effort. Currently, the Centrally sponsored Dal Lake Cleaning and Conservation Project, which was started in 2005, is being implemented by the LAWDA, Srinagar, under the court’s supervision. Over the years, the lake water has become polluted as sewage from hundreds of houseboats, hotels and houses on its periphery goes directly into the lake. |
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State info panel caught on wrong foot over ‘misuse’ of RTI Act
Jammu, May 9 The Commission said it had received several “verbal complaints” wherein Public Information Officers (PIOs) and other government officers said RTI activists were “harassing and blackmailing” them in the name of the RTI Act and there was a need to check such “malpractices”. The Commission’s observation, however, has sparked a controversy after information seekers wanted to know how the RTI Act was being “misused” in the state. During his visit to Aurangabad on March 10, the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), J&K, G R Sufi, had said that “the way out (to check the misuse of RTI Act) could be if the information is allowed to be accessed only for three years to the public and later only if there is a judiciary requirement or any such important reason”. Interestingly, on April 5 the Commission in response to an RTI application admitted that it had received no complaint “in writing” regarding the “misuse” of the RTI Act so far. It also admitted that nothing exists in official records vis-à-vis any investigation done by it to access and establish the allegations that the RTI Act was being misused to harass officers or to blackmail anyone. “None in writing” was the response of the Commission when it was asked as to how many PIOs and other officers had made written complaints that the RTI Act was being misused or some activists were harassing or blackmailing them. It also stated that no meeting so far had been convened to discuss and debate the misuse of the Act. Raman Sharma, a Jammu-based activist who on March 11 filed an RTI plea seeking complete details about the number of written complaints made by PIOs regarding the misuse of the Act, alleged that it (SIC suggestion on March 10) was an attempt to weaken the Act, which had already been rendered a “toothless tiger” by the state government. He said the Commission being a statutory body and custodian of the RTI Act needed to strengthen it. “On the contrary, it is bent on weakening the Act which is not good for society as a whole,” Sharma said. A senior official of the Commission, who insisted on not being named, claimed it was not necessary that the complaint should always be made in writing. “There could be no written complaint but there may be verbal complaints which may be looked into. The PIOs are reluctant to file complaints in writing and, at times, they convey their issues verbally. The Commission can take cognisance of verbal complaints,” he said. He said the PIOs had no powers to ask an information seeker why he wanted information covering a long period (10 to 40 years), but the Commission could pose queries in
this regard. “There are implied powers, instead of expressed powers, with the Commission to question the RTI activists (on seeking information covering a long period),” the official said. If the Commission could tighten the noose around PIOs, the applicants must also be held accountable, the official added. The CIC in his single line response maintained, “It was my personal opinion and it is up to government to make any such amendment.” No plaint on ‘misuse’ On March 10, the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), J&K, G R Sufi, during his visit to Aurangabad had said that “the way out (to check the misuse of RTI Act) could be if the information is allowed to be accessed only for three years and later only if there is a judiciary requirement or any such important reason”. On April 5, however, the State Information Commission in response to an RTI application filed on March 11 admitted that it had received no complaint “in writing” regarding the “misuse” of the RTI Act so far. |
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Six mini hydel projects likely to complete by 2014
Leh, May 9 This was apprised in a review meeting by Ladakh Renewable Energy Development Agency (LREDA) project director Jigmat Takpa. The meeting was convened on Tuesday by Rigzin Spalbar, Chief Executive Councillor, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh. The mini hydel projects, with a power generation capacity of upto 10 MW, are coming up in the remote areas of Durbuk, Nubra subdivisions and two villages of Markha valley of Leh under the Ladakh Renewal Energy Development Initiative, a project sponsored by the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The 475-crore renewable energy project was started for its implementation in Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh region for both the civilian and defense personnel to promote renewable energy in the region. Jigmat Takpa said Rs 133 crore, under the Ladakh Renewable Energy Initiative, had been sanctioned to execute 22 mini hydel projects in rural areas of the district to convert diesel generated power to renewable energy feed power supply. He added that 90 out of 125 sanctioned solar power plants, with a power generation from 5 to 200 KV, had been completed. Spalbar stressed to start works on transmission line concurrently so that the power could be supplied with the completion of the project. He also urged the LREDA to train operator of the solar power plant to enhance the durability and efficiency of the project. |
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Search for militants in Kupwara continues
Srinagar, May 9 The sources said more than four militants were believed to have sneaked into the Valley through the Kupwara sector. “The searches in the forests continued for the third day. There has been no contact with the militants so far,” said a police officer. The police officer said they suspected that the militants were trying to reach their hideouts in the Rajwar area. “The militants who are hiding in the Rajwar area have been sent to receive new groups which infiltrate into the Valley. So the militants, who infiltrate through Kupwara, try to reach Rajwar first before being dispatched to other parts of the Valley,” he said. The Army, however, continues to maintain a tight cordon around the vast forest area to ensure that all escape routes are plugged and the militants are not able to move towards their hideout in Rajwar. The Army said it was not clear whether the militants had infiltrated recently or were active in the area. The search operation was launched by the Army on Tuesday morning after the movement of a group of militants was noticed in the area. —
TNS |
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Machil ‘Fake’ Encounter
Srinagar, May 9 But as a prelude to the GCM proceedings, the Army authorities are first expected to issue a summary of evidence orders. The custody of Abbas, who was in judicial remand, was handed over to the Commanding Officer (CO) of the 161- TA by the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Sopore. The CJM, Sopore, passed the formal orders in this regard on Wednesday, standing counsel for the Union of India, Karnail Singh Wazir, who was representing the Army in the court, told The Tribune. “Apart from handing over the custody of Abbas to the commander concerned, the CJM at Sopore has also bifurcated the chargesheet between the civilian accused and the Army personnel accused in the case,” Karnail said, adding that this would “pave the way” for “setting in motion” the court-martial proceedings in the Machil ‘fake’ encounter case. The Army, it is learnt through the sources, is planning a joint trial of the TA man Abbas and 8 accused Army personnel, including a Colonel, under the GCM proceedings. The two civilian accused in the case, who are already in judicial custody, are facing a trial under the civil criminal proceedings at the Baramulla Sessions Court. The GCM proceedings are preceded by passing the “summary of evidence orders”. And before that a court of inquiry is conducted, which has already been completed by the Army in the Machil fake encounter case, the sources added. Earlier on April 14, the Baramulla Sessions Court had remitted the 2010 Machil ‘fake’ encounter case to the CJM at Sopore for complying with the March 19, 2012, orders of the High Court, which had permitted the Army authorities to try TA rifleman Abbas under the court-martial proceedings along with the other accused Army personnel. THE CASE FILE On April 29, 2010, two counterinsurgents along with Territorial Army rifleman Abbas Hussain Shah allegedly lured three youths from Nadihal village in north Kashmir --- Shezad Ahmad, Riyaz Ahmad and Mohammad Shafi --- to Kalaroos on the LoC in Kupwara district with the promise of job and money The three were allegedly killed by troops of 4 Rajputana Rifles near the Sona Pindi post in the same sector and dubbed as foreign militants attempting to infiltrate |
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Omar finally visits quake-hit areas
Jammu, May 9 The Chief Minister said besides demanding the Ladakh-type relief package from the Centre for the earthquake-affected people of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts and the Bhaderwah area, the state government would mobilise its own resources to provide the best possible relief to the affected for reconstruction of their damaged structures. Omar said during Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s visit to the affected areas recently, he (Azad) had assured all possible help from the Centre. He said the state government would utilise his good offices for receiving the Leh-type package from the Central government for the quake-hit people of three districts. Reviewing the rescue and relief operation during meetings held at Doda, Bhaderwah and Kishtwar, the Chief Minister directed the authorities concerned to move ahead and purchase tents and finalise the damage-assessment report as quickly as possible. He said the Red Cross society was sending 1,000 tents to the quake-affected areas. The Chief Minister stationed his three ministers in the region for overseeing the relief operation. He also kept a state helicopter at their disposal to visit the affected, inaccessible and remote areas. Planning and Development Minister Ajay Sadhotra has been kept at Bhaderwah, Roads and Buildings Minister Abdul Majeed Wani at Doda and Minister of State for Home Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo at Kishtwar. Omar also announced three months free of cost ration for the quake-affected people. However, the Chief Minister had no major announcement for people of the region who have been living in the open since the May 1 quake and have left their homes which are unsafe for living. The state government had sanctioned Rs 25 crore for Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar districts which has been put at the disposal of the Deputy Commissioner for prompt restoration of public services. Omar is now looking towards the Centre for a relief package for the area on the pattern of the Leh flashfloods of 2010. Around 80 to 90 per cent structures have developed cracks in the region. The state government has so far distributed 164 tents and 200 blankets in Doda. Lauding the district administrations for its quick response, Omar said the completion of the final-damage assessment report within two weeks by officials in these districts would be a commendable task. The Chief Minister emphasised on ensuring that no affected person or family remained missing from the assessment report and asked the administration to be alert in this regard. Omar said as per the assessment reports, school buildings had been largely and disproportionately damaged as compared to other structures which needed to be looked into. “We have to ascertain why this has happened,” he said. He directed the Planning Minister to engage an independent third party for ascertaining the reason behind this. Omar interacted with locals, affected families and senior citizens. He met deputations and also inspected the damaged structures during his visit to these areas.
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Mufti questions fairness of 2008 Assembly elections
Jammu, May 9 The last Assembly elections were held in 2008 but Mufti has never questioned the fairness of the polls in which the NC emerged as the single largest party. It was only after his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 18 that Mufti has started vociferously raking up the issue of “tactical rigging” in the last Assembly elections. By contesting the “fairness” of the 2008 Assembly elections, Mufti is trying to undermine the credibility of the NC by giving a message to the people that the NC had attained power through manipulation. While addressing a public meeting at the Gool area of Ramban district a couple of days back, Mufti told
the gathering that he had told the Prime Minister that the 2008 Assembly elections, especially in Srinagar district, were manipulated and rigged in favour of the NC. While addressing public meetings at Mahore in Reasi district and Kalakote in Rajouri district, Mufti told the people that free and fair elections in the state were held only in 2002 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. “The credit for restoring peoples’ faith in democracy and democratic institution goes to Vajpayee, who had ensured fairness of the polls in Jammu and Kashmir,” Mufti said. He added that after the 2002 elections, there was a feeling among people of the state that they had power to elect the government on their own. He, however, regretted that this faith in democracy was shattered after the 2008 elections. As reported earlier, Mufti, during his meeting with the Prime Minister, had told him that Vajpayee had ensured that his commitment to hold free and fair elections in 2002 was fulfilled but the same could unfortunately not be said about the 2008 elections when manipulations in many constituencies affected the results and clouded the credibility of the electoral process once again. He had argued during his meeting with the Prime Minister that the “managed” results in the 2008 elections had impacted the situation adversely and ever since the government which followed took office, all the immense investment in peace and development in the state made by Manmohan Singh himself had almost evaporated. |
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Guv highlights RBI’s role in economic development
Srinagar, May 9 Governor NN Vohra, who was the chief guest on this occasion, said the Reserve Bank of India was a vital national institution which had been playing a crucial role in the economic The Governor thanked Dr Subbarao for acceding to his suggestion of delivering the lecture, which was made during the latter’s visit to Jammu last year. He expressed hope that during his future visits to the state, Dr Subbarao would talk to a much larger number of university and college students in the Kashmir valley and other regions of the state. The Governor thanked the authorities of J&K Bank and the University of Kashmir (KU) for arranging the session. He congratulated the chairman, management, staff and all the stakeholders of the J&K Bank on its platinum jubilee celebrations. The RBI Governor dwelt on varied issues, including the mandate of the Reserve Bank of India and its role in the economic development of the country. This was followed by a question-answer session in which Dr Subbarao replied to the queries of students on financial management. Mushtaq Ahmad, chairman, J&K Bank; KU VC Prof Talat Ahmad; Usha Vohra; and Navin K Choudhary, Principal Secretary to the Governor; were also present on the occasion. |
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Srinagar, May 9 The Governor and Gul discussed several legislative matters and issues relating to the rapid socio-economic advancement of the state.
— TNS
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6 hydel projects likely by 2014
Leh, May 9 This was stated in a review meeting by Ladakh Renewable Energy Development Agency project director Jigmat Takpa. The meeting was convened on Tuesday by Rigzin Spalbar, Chief Executive Councillor, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh. — OC
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The J&K Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC) has inked a pact with Sharjah National Travel and Tourist Agency (SNTTA) — the UAE’s largest travel and tourist management company.
wrong foot after it “perceived” that the Right to Information (RTI) Act was being “misused” and suggested that the “misuse can be checked if the information (sought by an applicant) is allowed to be accessed only for three years.”
Jammu, May 9
Srinagar, May 9
