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Banihal-Qazigund train to be flagged off by PM today
Peace imperative for growth in J&K: PM
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Omar seeks transfer of Dulhasti project to state
Four new trains to run in Valley
West Pakistan refugees’ hopes rest on Prime Minister
Security measures in place for Amarnath
yatra, says DIG
Pak violates ceasefire along LoC in Poonch
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Banihal-Qazigund train to be flagged off by PM today
Anantnag, June 25 “He will flag off the train from Banihal tomorrow,” said a senior Railways official on the condition of anonymity. “All necessary arrangements have been taken care of and we are all set to go,” he said. The Prime Minister landed in Srinagar along with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi after they inaugurated the 850 MW Ratle Power Project on the Chenab in Kishtwar. This is the second phase of the prestigious rail project of Kashmir and will provide an all-weather access route to Kashmir from other parts of the country. The Banihal-Qazigund stretch of the train will reduce the distance between two points from 35 to 18 km. The track also includes an 11.2-km-long tunnel, the longest in South Asia. The rail link is expected to reduce the travel time between Qazigund and Banihal to just 25 minutes, covered in more than one and a half hour by road. The Banihal-Qazigund-Baramulla train will make five trips daily, beginning at 7.10 am from Banihal and 7.35 am from Baramulla. An inspection-cum-trial run of the train was conducted by Chief Commissioner, Railways, Safety, RK Kardam on June 18. |
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Peace imperative for growth in J&K: PM
Kishtwar, June 25 “Let me make it clear that the country is united in the fight against terrorists at this point of time and we will foil all their plans,” the Prime Minister said while paying tributes to the Army personnel who were killed in a militant attack on the outskirts of Srinagar yesterday. Singh was addressing a public rally here after laying the foundation of the 850 MW Ratle hydroelectric power project. He said peace was imperative for development and the situation had improved in Jammu and Kashmir since some years. “We have observed that in 2012 the state witnessed lowest violence-related incidents in the past more than two decades. But still we have to put an end to such incidents (killing of Army men),” the Prime Minister said. “We have to bring back hope among people and make sure they participate in administrative activities,” he said. Accompanied by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Governor NN Vohra, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Prime Minister reached Kishtwar town in an Army helicopter around 10.am and straightaway drove to the rally site. More than 10,000 people from Kishtwar town and adjoining areas had gathered at the rally venue to listen to the Prime Minister. He mainly focused on the development aspect and congratulated the state for coming up with the first-ever hydro project based on international tariff-based competitive bidding. He asked the people to join the electoral process at all levels so that the upcoming generation was provided a better atmosphere. “Election is the only way through which people express their feelings and aspirations. All our schemes will not be benefited until a democratic set up is established in every sphere, including political and economic,” he said. The Prime Minister was hopeful that when the Ratle power project is completed, it will change the fortunes of people of the state. “I hope this power project will bring happiness among people of Jammu and Kashmir and strengthen our country in terms of development. Despite the fact that J&K is getting 1664 MW electricity, I have come to know that there is power shortage, and to address this, the Centre will further increase the supply by 150 MW,” Singh said. He said the recently completed Nimobuzz and Chutuk power projects by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) would further increase the supply by 89 MW. He hoped that the Uri-II project will also be completed in the near future. For improving the training centres in the state, the Prime Minister said the NHPC had adopted five ITIs and the corporation will adopt two more in the future. “The NHPC will also establish hydro training institute at Kangan in Ganderbal district. A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the NHPC and the J&K Government,” he said.
Singh visits injured jawans
Srinagar: When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi landed in Srinagar on Tuesday, they first walked to the Base Hospital at Badami Bagh cantonment to enquire about the health of soldiers injured in a militant attack on the outskirts of Srinagar on Monday. “They met all the injured soldiers personally and lauded the supreme sacrifices of the martyrs,” an Army spokesman said. The Prime Minister was accompanied by Governor NN Vohra, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ambika Soni, in charge of the Congress affairs in the state. “The PM and the UPA chairperson were received by Lt Gen Gurmit Singh, Chinar Corps Commander, at the Base Hospital. Lt Gen Gurmit Singh briefed the dignitaries about the condition of the injured soldiers and the yeoman’s service being rendered by the hospital towards the health services of the troops and the Valley at large.”
The dignitaries visited the ICU and the surgical ward. |
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Sonia talks of development in rural areas
Kishtwar, June 25 “Indiraji was in love with this area (Kishtwar) and in 1983 she laid the foundation stone of Dulhasti power project which was commissioned in 2007. Rajiv Gandhi was also concerned about the development of backward areas and felt that unity of a country lies in developing rural areas,” Sonia said while addressing a public rally here. Sonia was accompanied by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Governor NN Vohra, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to lay the foundation stone of the 850-MW Ratle hydroelectric project over the Chenab. The UPA chairperson condemned the killing of Army men on Monday’s Srinagar attack. “Neither can we forget the sacrifice of soldiers who were killed in Srinagar yesterday nor can we forget the devastation occurred in Uttarakhand a few days back. We are grieved over these incidents and express solidarity with the bereaved families,” Sonia said, adding that the security forces had shown tremendous courage and character during this hour of need. Maintaining that another major power project on the Chenab is a big start, the UPA chairperson said, “The generation of electricity is good for the state by not at the cost of ecology and environment. I hope this thing will be kept in mind while working on the power project.” The other power projects on the river are Baglihar and Dulhasti. Sonia said the UPA was committed to the uplift of rural areas and would do much to develop these areas. “Doda district was a very big district and people had to travel a long way to reach the district headquarters. In 2007, then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad gave a go-ahead to the creation of eight new districts to benefit people,” she said. The UPA chairperson expressed satisfaction over the trend of youth joining civil services. “I am happy to know that youth from J&K have qualified IAS and IPS. This has made it clear that they have enough talent and can do wonders. For women folk of the state, the ‘Umeed’ project has been started, which was recently inaugurated by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Rahul Gandhi. Women will be given loans on low interest rates so that they can excel,” Sonia added. |
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Omar seeks transfer of Dulhasti project to state
Kishtwar, June 25 “We are a poor state and to ensure the socio-economic welfare, the transfer of Dulhasti power project is important and the Rangarajan committee has also advocated this,” Omar said while addressing a public gathering in presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, J&K Governor NN
Vohra, Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and others. He said that while other states have many resources to improve their economic condition, the J&K has only two --- water and tourism. “Getting as much power as we can from water is the only way to improve the socio-economic condition,” the Chief Minister said. Omar demanded more money under the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan
(PMRP) for the state so that developmental issues could be addressed. Acknowledging for the first time that during the May 1 quake most of the structures in the Doda region had developed cracks, Omar said, “What these structures are looking from outside is not the reality. But almost every structure has been damaged and I hope the Rs 607.7 crore relief package forwarded by the state Cabinet will be given a go-ahead by the Centre.” The Chief Minister remembered the sacrifices of soldiers who lost their lives in protecting the state and the country. While condemning the Monday’s terrorist attack on Army near Srinagar in which eight soldiers were killed, the Chief Minister conveyed his sympathy to the bereaved families and the Army. Speaking on the occasion, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi
Azad, who hails from the erstwhile Doda district, sought relief for the quake-affected victims. “Almost 80 per cent of the structures have developed cracks and in the monsoon these structures could collapse. It is important to provide relief to people so that they can go for repair work,” Azad said. |
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Four new trains to run in Valley
Srinagar, June 25 The Railways is introducing four new trains in Kashmir which will chug between Banihal and Baramulla on a daily basis from June 27. “We will introduce four new trains between Banihal in Ramban district and Baramulla in north Kashmir from Thursday,” said a senior official of the Northern Railway. “The total number of trains which will operate here will now be 14. We are already running 10 trains,” he said. The official said the more number of trains would help them to cater to a heavy rush. “The four new trains have eight coaches and they will be able to meet the heavy rush,” he said. — TNS
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Geelani wants PM to probe rights violations
Srinagar, June 25 Geelani has also demanded that the Prime Minister should order probe into issues relating to human rights violations, including unmarked graves, forced disappearances and 1991 Kunan Poshpora ‘mass’ rape by an independent agency. Stating that “in principle” he is not against the “dialogue” process, Geelani has said a process to resolve the Kashmir issue by “peaceful means” and according to the “aspirations” of its people should be
initiated. Geelani’s statement is being viewed as a shift from his traditional stance, as this time he neither mentioned the UN resolutions over Kashmir nor set recognising Kashmir as a disputed territory for entering into any the dialogue process with India as a precondition. Stating that he had no “personal enmity” with Manmohan Singh or Sonia Gandhi”, Geelani said the Prime Minister cannot have a “true feel of the Kashmir situation” by having “closed door meetings” with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah or state Congress president Saifuddin
Soz. Instead, the hardliner leader has suggested the PM “to visit Kunan Poshpora (in
Kupwara) besides asking him to see the sites of unmarked graves and visit Afzal Guru’s home “to listen to the hearts of
Kashmiris.” “He should meet those parents whose children were killed during the in the firing during 2008 and 2010 peoples’ agitation,” Geelani said. |
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West Pakistan refugees’ hopes rest on Prime Minister
Jammu, June 25 The West Pakistan refugees, majority of whom are
Dalits, are struggling to get their citizenship rights since 1947 as the successive state governments have denied them the right. They have been living in the state for the past more than 65 years. “We are hopeful that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will solve our problems because he is aware of the miseries of the refugees,” said Labha Ram Gandhi, chairman of the West Pakistani Refugees Action Committee. Gandhi said the refugees had no faith on the regional parties because they lacked guts to oppose the diktats of the separatists and other fundamentalist elements of Kashmir, which have been opposing the citizenship rights to the West Pakistan refugees. “Local Congress leaders have promised to arrange our meeting with the Prime Minister so that we can effectively put our problems before him,” said Gandhi, who is camping in Srinagar to meet the Prime Minister and the UPA chairperson. He said, “We are hopeful that before the Lok Sabha elections some effective decision would be taken on the future of the West Pakistan refugees.” As the West Pakistan refugees can exercise their franchise in the Lok Sabha elections so local Congress leaders are also trying to get them some sort of relief. At the time of the Partition in 1947, refugees from West Pakistan had entered Jammu and Kashmir with a hope that they would be given all democratic rights in India. Even after more than six decades, these refugees cannot vote in the state Assembly elections, have no citizenship rights, no ration card and no permanent resident certificates. They can neither apply for government jobs and nor purchase land in Jammu and Kashmir. These refugees also don’t have the right to cast vote in the urban local bodies and panchayat elections. In August 2012, a high-level delegation comprising MPs, ministers and senior leaders led by Jammu and Pradesh Congress Committee chief Saifuddin Soz had met the Prime Minister, the UPA chairperson and Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and discussed various issues pertaining to the refugees of 1947 from West Pakistan. During the meeting, these leaders had briefed the central high command about the unending miseries of the West Pakistan refugees. |
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Security measures in place for Amarnath
yatra, says DIG
Jammu, June 25 “From Lakhanpur (the gateway of Jammu and Kashmir) to Jawahar Tunnel in the Jammu region, necessary deployment of security personnel has already been made to ensure foolproof security of pilgrims. Security agencies have chalked out a well-planned strategy to defeat the anti-national and anti-social elements,” the DIG said. He said the Police Department was alert and senior officers had constantly been conducting night inspections to review the security scenario in Jammu. “Various security agencies had been working in close coordination to ensure safe pilgrimage,” he said. The 55-day yatra to the cave shrine of Lord Shiva will begin from June 28 and conclude on August 21. On June 17, the Army had said militants might try to disrupt the yatra this year and the statement was endorsed by Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde when he confirmed that there was a terror threat to the pilgrimage. The Chief Minister, however, contradicted the statements, saying, “While we will take all regular precautions with a multi-layer security grid, the
yatra-attack feared headlines are a gross exaggeration.” Beig appealed to the pilgrims to bear in mind the Supreme Court guidelines for the
yatra. “Only those pilgrims who possess a proper yatra registration permit and necessary medical certification will be allowed to proceed towards the Pahalgam and Baltal base camps in Kashmir from Jammu.” |
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Pak violates ceasefire along LoC in Poonch
Poonch, June 25 Indian troops guarding the border retaliated, resulting in an exchange of fire which continued till late evening. Sources said the firing started at 3.16 pm. “There was small arms firing on Indian posts in the Durga Battalion area along the LoC in Poonch brigade belt around 3.15 pm today,” said Defence PRO SN Acharya. The firing continued intermittently when the reports last came in from the area, the Defence PRO said, adding that this was the fourth ceasefire violation this month. There was no loss of life or injury to anyone, Acharya said. Earlier in June, a JCO was killed when Pakistan opened heavy fire with automatic weapons and fired rockets on Indian posts along the LoC in the Poonch sector. — OC |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who arrived on a two-day visit to the state today will flag off the Banihal-Qazigund train from Banihal in the Jammu region tomorrow.
Sending a loud and clear message to terrorists, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the “country would never bow before terrorists and they would never be able to destabilise the peace process.”
