Srinagar, August 22
The bid of the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), an amalgam of various government employees’ bodies, to take out a march towards the Chief Minister’s residence was foiled here today.

A large number of protesters led by JCC leaders Abdul Qayoom Wani and Farooq Trali gathered at the Sher-e-Kashmir Park in the morning and attempted to march towards the Chief Minister’s Gupkar residence.

However, the police intercepted the procession near the TRC ground and resorted to a mild cane charge. Coloured water was sprayed from a water canon to disperse the protesters. Trali claimed that around 100 protesters, including employee leaders, were detained and released later in the afternoon.

Condemning the police action, he said the JCC would not get bogged down by such means and would go ahead with their statewide lockout strike at government offices tomorrow. Trali said the JCC would announce its next protest programme for the meeting of their demands in the next few days.

The employees’ demands included release of arrears recommended by the Sixth Pay Commission, enhancement of retirement age from 58 years to 60 years, removal of pay anomalies and regularisation of daily wage workers and casual workers at various government departments.

The other JCC demands were inclusion of five years of contractual service of Rehbar-e-Taleem teachers in the service book and regularisation of education volunteers after seven years of service.

After a series of protests and strikes by the employees last year, the government had reached an agreement with the JCC, wherein the employees were assured that a decision on their demands would be announced by September 30.

However, the JCC had resumed protests, saying the government failed to fulfil the promises made to them. This year, the government had urged the employee leaders to resolve their issues through talks, but it had been rejected by the JCC.

Anantnag, August 22
Shopian town in south Kashmir and its periphery today limped back to normalcy after five days of complete shutdown and violent clashes, which left many injured.

According to reports, the Traders Federation and the members of civil society of the town held a meeting this evening and decided to resume normal business.

However, the locals accepted to end the shutdown on the condition that the Traders Federation would press for the release of more than 10 youths detained by the police over the last five days.

“The Traders Federation has assured the parents of youths who are in police custody that they will talk to the police about their release,” said a member of the Traders Federation, requesting anonymity.

Shops, schools, colleges, offices and other commercial establishments resumed business today morning. However, there was heavy presence of police and the CRPF personnel across the town.

Clashes had started on Friday evening, while the town, like other parts of the Valley, was observing a shutdown demanding disbanding of village defence committees in the Chenab valley region.

“The police was chasing some protesting youths and failing to get hold of them, they barged into residential houses, thrashing the inmates and vandalising property,” the locals alleged.

Following the incident, announcements were made from the mosque loudspeakers, urging people to come out and protest against the police high-handedness.

Reports said more clashes followed as many people came on the streets to protest. The charges were denied by the police. “Some local boys have FIRs registered against them and they are trying to create chaos to evade arrest,” said a police spokesman.

Srinagar, August 22
A day before the Techvaganza, the National Institute of Technology’s three-day techno-cultural festival, preliminary workshops were conducted by the alumni of IIT-Bombay and IIT-Kanpur at NIT-Srinagar today. The workshops, attended by scores of students, were based on robotics technology, aeronautics and career counselling sessions.

“We had only interactive workshops lined up for the day. Experts from Kashmir University, Islamic University and reputed engineering institutions of the country interacted with students, apprising them of the latest in the fields of gizmos and technology,” Ankit, student event coordinator, said.

Students were seen attending career counselling sessions to get an understanding of career opportunities in various branches of engineering. The attendees of the workshop held today included IIT-Bombay students who recently held the Indo-US robotic games.

Over the next three days, Techvaganza will throw open various competitions, primarily inter-college, where students will fight for gaining the titles in various fields of study. The major attractants of Techvaganza include robot-making, documentary screenings, science photography competitions and junkyard wars.

“We are expecting a brief musical session towards the end of the festival with various local bands playing,” Ankit said. Prominent colleges of Kashmir, including SSM College of Engineering and Technology, Islamic University of Science and Technology and Government Polytechnic Colleges, are participating in the festival.

Srinagar, August 22
The Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA), an amalgam of various traders’ bodies, today urged the J&K Bank to charge fair lending rates and ‘respect the sentiments’ of its clients.

Addressing a press conference here, KEA chief spokesman Siraj Ahmad said it was high time for the bank management to wake up and listen to the public and clients, respect their sentiments and set policy in order.

He claimed that the bank was charging higher interest rates to the business community in the Valley. KEA chairman Mohammad Yasin Khan claimed that they were being charged between 17 per cent and 22 per cent interest on loans taken from the bank compared to between 9 per cent and 10 per cent outside the state.

Regretting that the bank had failed to take into consideration losses suffered by the business community during the turmoil after the eruption of militancy in the state, Khan said transporters and other stakeholders of the tourism sector had suffered due to the disparities.

He said the KEA was not against the development or good business done by the J&K Bank, adding, “The profits of the bank have been increasing while clients have been getting poorer.”

Urging the bank to set its record right, he warned that the amalgam would initiate a more serious option which could be damaging to the interests of the bank.

On its future course of action in case the bank did not lower interest rates and address other concerns, Khan said the KEA would consult financial experts and announce its programme in due course of time.

Asked why they were not taking loans from other banks, he said a wrong notion had been put forward earlier that the J&K Bank was ‘our bank’. He said the process of procuring loans from the J&K Bank was easier compared to nationalised banks.

Srinagar, August 22
The Executive Committee of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), headed by Chief Secretary Iqbal Khanday, today discussed the preliminary flood damage report received from both the Divisional Commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir.

The meeting also discussed matters pertaining to immediate relief to the victims of recent floods in the state.

An official spokesman in Srinagar said the State Executive Committee (SEC) also released an amount of Rs 8.40 crore on account of rehabilitation of affected families.

“The money is also meant to clear liabilities of work done on account of damages caused to private property and public infrastructure due to flash floods, snow storms, wind storms, hail storm and other natural calamities during the last few years,” he said.

Meanwhile, Khanday directed for setting up a committee, headed by Director General of Police (DGP), which will look into the aspects of purchase of specialised rescue equipment for various emergency centres for post-disaster rescue and relief operations and capacity building for disaster management under the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).

“An amount of Rs 18 crore has been set aside for the purchase of the vital equipment and capacity building, the meeting was informed,” the spokesman said.

The Chief Secretary also directed for following Standard Operating Procedure for advance authorisation while taking up immediate relief measures in case of various natural calamities.

The meeting was attended by Director General of Police Ashok Prasad, Financial Commissioner, Revenue, Dr Arun Kumar, Principal Secretary, Home, Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister B B Vyas, ADGP, Home Guard, Civil Defence and SDRF D R Doley, Director General, J&K Fire and Emergency Services, Administrative Secretaries and other senior officers.

Srinagar, August 22
Minister for Tourism Ghulam Ahmad Mir today inaugurated a community centre in the Goripora area of the city.

An official said the double-storey community centre was constructed by the Tourism Department at a cost of Rs 1.20 crore.

MLA, Amira Kadal, Nasir Aslam Wani, legislators Peer Afaq and Dharamvir Singh Oberoi, besides District Development Commissioner, Srinagar, Farooq Ahmad Shah, Director Tourism, Kashmir, Talat Parvez and Managing Director, Cable Car Corporation, Tufail Mattoo were also present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, the Tourism Minister urged the people to elect ‘proper and honest representatives to represent them’ in the state Assembly. “Jammu and Kashmir is mini India, where people of different religions, caste and ethnic groups live together and maintaining their unity is the prime duty of all public representatives,” he said.

Earlier, he visited Jamia Masjid and took stock of several works under execution, taken up by the Tourism Department for upgrading facilities for the people.

“An amount of Rs 4.55 crore is being expended on the construction of wazukhana, a restaurant, face lifting of shops and a Muslim park. The work on wazukhana is apace and works for face lift of 138 shops have been tendered while the development work of Muslim park would be tendered shortly,” an official said.

Srinagar, August 22
The civilian killings in Egypt by the military regime has raised serious concerns in Kashmir with hardliner Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani urging the people to offer funeral in absentia for those killed in what he called “massacre by the military authorities” of Egypt.

On the other hand, terming the killings as shocking, Grand Mufti of Kashmir Bashir-ud-Din has urged Indian leadership to raise the issue of resumption of democratic government in Egypt at all the international forums.

“Expressing sorrow over the brutal massacre of innocent civilians in Egypt, Hurriyat Chairman Geelani asked the people of Jammu and Kashmir to offer prayers in absentia for those killed in Egypt and hold special prayers for the those striving for change”, a Hurriyat spokesman said in a statement here.

“Terming the present military leadership in Egypt as that of Pharaoh, Geelani said history stands testimony that anti-Islam lobbies succeeded in their designs when traitors and stooges like Abdul Fatah Sessi were available within the folds of Muslim Umah”, the spokesman added.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, while expressing concern over what he called brutal killings by the Egypt’s military regime, Grand Mufti urged India to seek resumption of democratic government in the Egypt.

“He has termed the latest development in the Egypt as unfortunate and as a result of which democratic government headed by its elected President Mohammad Mursi has been thrown out of the power and then put to jail by the military force of the country, who have also massacred thousands of protesters who were peacefully protesting for resumption of democratic government of Mohammad Mursi”, the statement from Grand Mufti said.

While condemning the brutal action by the country’s military regime, the Grand Mufti has appealed to all the stake holders of the Egypt to set aside all their political differences and discuss the issue with an open mind so that resumption of the democratic government was ensured.

He has also appealed the leadership of India to raise the issue for resumption of democratic government in Egypt at all forms of the International level, the statement added.

Srinagar, August 22
Expressing concern over escalating tension along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, the Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said both India and Pakistan should respect the ceasefire agreement.

The Hurriyat has said it intends to dispatch a letter to heads of both countries, urging them to find a solution to the issues through peaceful means.

Stressing that the Indo-Pak tension is not in the interest of South Asia, the Hurriyat faction said in a statement here today that both India and Pakistan were nuclear powers.

It said the responsibility to change their thinking and actions to save the current tense situation from reaching a dangerous point was on them.

These remarks were made during an executive meeting of the Hurriyat conference, which was chaired by its chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the statement said.

During the meeting, the participants said it was important that both countries protected the ceasefire agreement and any carelessness on their part would prove detrimental to both nations, including Kashmir.

The participants again stressed on the need to create a conducive atmosphere for the solution of pending issues between the two countries.

In this connection, the Hurriyat said it would dispatching letters to the heads of both countries, suggesting that a solution of issues through peaceful means had become inevitable in the changing world scenario.

The Hurriyat added in the statement, “Kashmir is the basic bone of contention between the two nations and its solution is necessary for peace and prosperity in South Asia.”

Srinagar, August 22
Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir today directed the executing agencies to complete all ongoing projects in Tangmarg Constituency within the prescribed time limit so that benefits of these schemes can reach the common masses at the earliest.

The directions to this effect were given by him during a daylong tour to the far-flung areas of his constituency to take on-the-spot stock of the development works and to address the grievances of the people.

Mir visited Gonipora, Ratnipora, Bungam, Parsiwan, Ganiwani, Dharakhasi and Gogaldara village.

"During the tour, he said adequate funds are available for all the on-going projects and stressed upon the concerned executing agencies to speed up the construction work," an official spokesman said.

He asked the officials to personally monitor the works regularly and resolve bottlenecks, if any, so that construction work did not get hampered or delayed.

Srinagar, August 22
Terming Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s slogan of “peace for prosperity” as another hypocritical stance, the People's Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday said the state government had emerged as the biggest threat to peace in the state.

In a press note issued here yesterday, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said the disturbing reports from Shopian and adjoining areas testified that the state government was deliberately subverting peace and disturbing lives.

She said a virtual reign of terror had been let loose in Shopian and it seemed that deliberate attempts were being made by the state government to alienate the youth under a sinister design to keep them away from the genuine political and development process.

“It looks like that state government is targeting the youth of rural areas under a plan to create conditions of resentment and anger against the system as the National Conference has done the same in Srinagar and other urban centres to reap the rich political harvest from the disturbed conditions,” she said.

“People are trying to come out of shock after incidents like Gool and Bandipora, but the government is deliberately trying to create a situation of disturbance,” she added.

Srinagar, August 22
Minister of State for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Ajaz Ahmad Khan yesterday directed the settling of all issues pertaining to Kashmiri Pandit migrants.

Chairing a review meeting of the Relief Organisation yesterday, the minister urged officers to take up on priority delay in payment of salaries, seniority disputes and inter-district transfers and get those resolved immediately.

The minister directed pacing of allotments in Jagti township in favour of genuine migrants who were living on rented accommodation. He directed undertaking immediate repair works in the township so that inhabitants did not face any difficulty.

Ajaz directed speeding up of construction and handing over of hutments at Pandit colonies at Vessu, Qazigund and Khanpora in Baramulla, an official spokesman said.

The minister directed early completion of flats at Vessu and stressed on close coordination between the SICOP and the Relief Organisation.

The minister issued instructions for making available rations in favour of migrant employees in the Valley. Revenue Secretary Vinod Koul, Relief Commissioner Rajesh Pandita, SICOP representatives and other officers attended the meeting.

Srinagar, August 22
Four persons, including two mentally challenged, today committed suicide in different parts of the Valley.

According to police reports, a 17-year-old girl residing at Harveth village of Handwara district consumed some poisonous substance.

“She was immediately rushed to the District Hospital at Handwara for treatment, where she died,” police reports said.

A 28-year-old married woman, identified as Jabeena of Gujjar Basti in the Kokernag area of Anantnag district, was found hanging at her house.

“We cannot rule out foul play even though it looks like a case of suicide,” said a police officer. “We have started investigating the case and hopefully, the truth will be out soon,” he added.

Mishri Kalas (54) of Sangerwani in Pulwama, committed suicide by hanging himself at his house.

His body was shifted to the Public Health Centre at Rajpora. The body was handed over to relatives after the completion of all legal formalities.

A 70-year-old woman, Hameeda Begum of Baba Wayil in the Gutlibagh area of Ganderbal, jumped into the power canal at Wayil Wuddar in Ganderbal, resulting in her death on the spot.