|
|
|
|
|
Centre begins scholarship scheme for J&K students
illegal
appointments |
|
|
Govt nod for trial in 193 graft cases
Civic polls may be held after tourist season: Farooq
Arms seized near LoC in Kupwara
BJP leader non-committal about return of rebels into party fold
Garbage
Dumping in Srinagar
|
|
Centre begins scholarship scheme for J&K students
New Delhi, May 30 Out of these, 4,500 scholarships will be for general degree courses and 250 each for medical and engineering courses. An amount of up to Rs 30,000 per annum for general degree courses, up to Rs 1.25 lakh per annum for engineering and up to Rs 3 lakh per annum for medical studies will be given to meritorious students as tuition fees. In addition to this, hostel fees and incidentals are also being given under all categories of courses up to a ceiling of Rs 1 lakh per annum. The Ministry of Human Resources is trying to publicise the scheme among students at the school level. In order to improve the delivery mechanism and effectively monitor the progress of the scheme, it has been assigned to the AICTE for implementation through an e-portal from the academic year 2012-13. The AICTE has invited online applications from eligible students through its web portal by advertising it in leading newspapers. On the basis of the recommendations made by the AICTE, an amount of Rs 9.30 lakh for 1,048 students has already been released to the council.
|
||
|
illegal
appointments
Srinagar, May 30 The Court of Special Judge, Anti-Corruption, Kashmir, presided by ML Manhas today convicted Dar under Sections 5(1)(d) r/w 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act Svt-2006. The court in its orders observed that the accused abused his official position as the director, Horticulture Department, Kashmir, to make backdoor appointments of 121 persons as gardners/ orderlies in the department. It observed the accused had flouted norms, rules and regulations exhibiting favouritism, thereby shattering people’s faith in public officers. It stated that he had conferred pecuniary advantage to appointees. The court stated that corruption was like cancer which, if not detected in time, is sure to lead to disastrous consequences. The case was registered with the Police Station, Vigilance Organisation, Kashmir, on April 17, 2002, in consequence to a media report that the horticulture director had made a number of illegal appointments without adhering to norms. It was alleged that Dar, during his tenure as the horticulture director from November 1997 to June 1998, made 111 appointments against Class IV posts and also regularised services of 14 daily wagers. The allegations were substantiated during the investigation and it was proved that the accused had made 121 appointments to Class-IV posts from various parts of the state. |
||
|
Govt nod for trial in 193 graft cases
Srinagar, May 30 This was revealed during a meeting of the consultative committee on General Administration Department, Estates and Public Service Commission, which was chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here today. “The consultative committee was informed that 193 cases received from the SVO, Crime Branch and the CBI, had been sanctioned for prosecution by the government and that there was no backlog in this regard. It was stated that three cases related to IFS and IAS officers had been referred to the Government of India for sanctioning prosecution,” an official spokesman said. The Chief Minister said he had directed formulation of water-tight cases against officials proved to be corrupt besides initiating prosecution on a firm footing so that they do not get any benefit of slackness in the case. Presenting an overview of new initiatives his government has taken to improve governance and bring transparency in the functioning of the administration, Omar said the setting up of the State Vigilance Commission, re-constitution of Accountability Commission and empowering people through the Right to Information Act and the Public Service Guarantee Act had created substantial means to reduce the chances of corruption and punish the culprits. He said steps were being taken to ensure that the government functionaries indulging in corruption were readily booked and given severe punishment under the law. “We would not allow them to move scot-free”, he said and underlined the need for full utilisation of powers given to people to scan the government functioning and help in identifying unscrupulous elements in the administration. He said this year, his government had put in place yet another initiative, Results Framework Document, which would help the common man to ascertain the performance and functioning of the government departments. — TNS |
||
|
Civic polls may be held after tourist season: Farooq
Jammu, May 30 “These elections have been delayed due to the ongoing tourist season. I am hopeful that the same would be held soon,” Farooq told reporters here today. When asked about the exact date of the elections, he replied, “You better pose this question to Omar Abdullah who is the Chief Minister of the state”. On the forthcoming annual Amarnath pilgrimage of Shri Amarnath, Farooq said the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), headed by Governor N N Vohra, had made elaborate arrangements to provide all facilities to the pilgrims. “This time the medical test has been made mandatory,” he said. Earlier, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah accompanied by Farooq Abdullah visited Government Medical College Hospital, Jammu, to enquire about the health of Member of Parliament Ghulam Hassan Khan, who was admitted there yesterday for treatment. — TNS |
||
|
Arms seized near LoC in Kupwara
Srinagar, May 30 A police spokesman in Srinagar said Kupwara police and 11 GR seized the arms from the Alotop forest area of Kupwara. “The seized arms included one RPG, five GPS tail units, four AK magazines and 30 rounds of AK ammunition. The seizure was made in the Alotop forest area of Kupwara, in the jurisdiction of police station Kralpora,” said the spokesman. The police has registered a case. The seizure is said to have been made from the forest area where a search operation was launched on May 7 after movement of nearly four to six militants was noticed in the Budnambal forests near the Line of Control. The operation was called off after two weeks. |
||
|
BJP leader non-committal about return of rebels into party fold
Jammu, May 30 Though Khanna claimed that he would to utilise the services of all potential leaders, he was non-committal about the return of seven party MLAs, who were expelled from the BJP after the cross-voting controversy in April 2011. “Let me get a feedback from party workers as well as leaders. I will be able to give a statement on the return of these leaders only after getting the feedback,” Khanna said. Seven BJP MLAs, including former Union minister and veteran leader Chaman Lal Gupta, were expelled from the party after the cross-voting episode. Although seven MLAs were expelled from the party, the credibility of the BJP has reached its lowest ebb after the controversy. There is a feeling among party workers that they were cheated and betrayed by their party leaders. Even those four MLAs, who were given a clean chit in the cross-voting controversy, have so far failed to earn back the credibility due to an aggressive campaign launched by the expelled MLAs against them. Reviving confidence of party workers is the biggest task before Khanna. “Unlike other parts of the country, J&K is strategically a very important state for the BJP as well as the whole country. Therefore, my priority would be to strengthen nationalist forces in this region,” he said and claimed that he would try to keep the morale of the party workers high in the region. When asked about his strategy to revive the party in the state, Khanna claimed the BJP had already emerged as a strong force here. “We have to further expand the party in the Kashmir and Ladakh regions,” he said. “The issue of West Pakistani refugees is very important. It needs to be solved as early as possible,” said Khanna, who had raised the issue in Rajya Sabha recently. |
||
|
Seven hurt in bus mishap in Rajouri
Rajouri, May 30 Reports said the mini bus was carrying 13 passengers from Budhal to Rajouri. A rescue party from the nearby Army post of Counter Insurgency Force (Romeo) along with a medical team evacuated the victims from the accident site. The victims were administered first aid by the Army team before being taken to the District Hospital, Rajouri. The injured have been identified as Raj Mohammed, Mohammed Anwar, Sudar Bhat, Nassib Mohammed, Munshi Ram, Jasbir Kaur and
Gaganpreet. |
||
|
Mahila Cong calls for effective steps to check female foeticide
Jammu, May 30 The state has a dismal record of sex ratio and this gap has been widening at an alarming rate, especially in urban areas. There has also been a drastic decline in the juvenile sex ratio during the last one decade. In 2001, the sex ratio (0-6 years) was 941 against 1000 males, and it came down to 859 in 2011. The juvenile sex ratio at national level is 914 against 1,000 males. Although Mahila Congress leaders touched upon political issues like achievements of the UPA government in the field of women empowerment, they also cautioned people against the growing imbalance in society due to the decrease in the number of females. Mahila Congress state president Indu Pawar, organiser of today’s convention, said without the support of women it would not be possible to keep a check on the menace of female foeticide. “Whenever we discuss the gender issue, we have to devise a strategy to check the menace of female foeticide,” she said. All India Mahila Congress president Anita Verma expressed similar views while emphasising the involvement of women folk in the campaign against female foeticide. “The killing a girl child before her birth is a heinous crime. Those who have been aggressively highlighting crime against women should also take up this issue,” she said, adding that there would be complete imbalance and disharmony in society if effective steps were not taken to check the menace. PHE Minister Sham Lal Sharma, speaking at the convention, dwelt on the steps taken by the government during his tenure as Health Minister to check female foeticide. To involve people in the campaign against female foeticide, the state government has already announced cash rewards of Rs 50,000 to anyone providing information about doctors or families carrying out female
foeticide. |
||
|
Governor for promotion of scouts and guides movement
Srinagar, May 30 The Governor said this while interacting with a group of scouts and guides which called on him to felicitate him on
his appointment for the second term. The group was led by NA Khan, State Chief Commissioner, J&K State Bharat Scouts and Guides. The Governor observed that initiatives need to be taken to strengthen the scouts and guides movement in the state. He said more national-level scouts and guides events should be organised in the state as these would provide a good opportunity for participants to interact with their counterparts from other parts of
the country. The Governor dwelt upon various issues related to the promotion of the scouts and guides movement in the state and said he would speak to the Youth Services and Sports Minister in
this regard. Khan briefed the Governor about the activities undertaken by the J&K State Bharat Scouts and Guides in the recent months and those planned for the rest of the year. He stated that a six-day national integration camp would be held in September at Boniyar in the Uri area in which 500 scouts and guides from various parts of the country would participate. A five-day national-level youth forum will also be organised at Nagrota in Jammu in July, in which 200 scouts and guides from across the country are expected to take part. He said 250 adult leaders of scouts and guides would participate in a trekking-cum-nature study programme to be held at Katra in November. The Governor accepted Khan’s request to inaugurate the national integration camp for scouts and guides at Boniyar. The group members thanked the Governor for taking keen interest in the promotion of the scouts and guides movement in the state. Besides two congratulatory scrolls, they presented him a photo album of various functions of scouts and guides held at Raj Bhawan in the past four years as a memorabilia. |
||
|
Garbage
Dumping in Srinagar
Srinagar, May 30 In the show cause, the officials have been asked to explain why penalty under Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, cannot be imposed upon them for “acting in contravention” of the rules and the subsequent court directions. These directions were issued by a division bench of the court comprising Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Hasnain Massodi in response to a public interest litigation seeking a “permanent and perennial” solution to garbage disposal in summer capital Srinagar. The bench while passing the direction observed that the court-appointed commissioner in his report had submitted that the Achin garbage dumping site was “not covered” and was giving out a “bad odour and smell” and there was “no mechanism” in place to manage the solid waste. In order to ascertain the position of the dumping site, the high court had on March 19 appointed the Registrar Judicial as the Commissioner to visit Achin and file a report about the “ground realities.” Earlier, the high court had directed respondents, including the SMC and ERA, to implement the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000. They were later granted the “last and final opportunity” of three months for “bringing the dumping site at Achin in tune with the rules.” The court had, however, made it clear that if the rules were not complied with, it might be “forced” to invoke Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, which provides for imprisonment of five years or fine of Rs 1 lakh or both for acting in contravention of the directions issued under the Act or rules. “There is prima facie a case for proceeding against the erring officers, who despite having given an undertaking, have not complied with the Act and the rules,” the bench observed. while issuing show cause notices to CEO of ERA Saurov Bhaghat, Project Officer of ERA at Achin Dumping Site Manzoor Ahmad and Commissioner, SMC, GN Qasba. Directing these officials to file their replies to the show cause notices within four weeks, the court has asked them to explain why penalty under Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, cannot be imposed upon them for acting in contravention of the Act. The bench further directed for listing of the case in the first week of July.
|
||
|
Kashmiri mural to be put up at Mumbai airport
Srinagar, May 30 Padma Shri awardee Rajiv Sethi, who supervised the project, said around 60 craftsmen from Baroda and Kashmir had been involved in making the mural and it would be soon put on display at the Mumbai airport. He said it had taken them two years to complete the art work. Another artist Nilima Sheikh said around 50 per cent of the art work on the mural had been done by Valley-based artists. She said the artwork contained traditional Kashmir works such as paper mache, wood carving, 'pinjrakari' and 'khatambandh'. When asked why Ganpatyar had been chosen to display the pieces of the mural, Sethi pointed to the rich past of the city, especially the downtown area. "Srinagar is a world in itself. Apart from its beauty, one can find a deep Persian influence here," he said. Pertinently, most of the Kashmiri crafts have their roots in the Persian belt. Fayaz Ahmad, a paper mache artist, whose work has been included in the mural, said the piece of art will showcase the rich craft forms of Kashmir to travellers, especially foreigners, at the Mumbai airport. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister said the main aim of holding the exhibition was to attract tourists to downtown Srinagar. "We are trying to bring the old city on the tourism and cultural map. Tourism activities are confined to the uptown area and tourists are scared to come here as the reputation of the old city is bad. The people of the downtown area, too, want tourists to come here. It should get the benefits of tourism activities," he said. The exhibition has been organised by the Department of Tourism and J&K Chapter of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
