Srinagar, September 28
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today laid the foundation of express corridor flyover connecting the city’s vital Jehangir Chowk and Rambagh and a multi-storeyed parking facility in the city here.

The 2.41-km flyover will be constructed at a cost of Rs 351 crore, an official spokesperson said.

Omar, who laid the foundation of the flyover at Rambagh, listed the development projects launched by his government in the city during the last four-and-a-half years to give fillip to the development and economic activities.

The Chief Minister said his government had provided highest-ever district plans to Srinagar, as the district had been starving for funds during the period of the opposition.

He said the then government, which was now in the opposition, even tried to shift the summer city to Parihaspora. He said his government was committed to making Srinagar a model city and an economic hub.

He said he had approved the most ambitious flyover some two years earlier but he did not lay its foundation till today for the fact that he wanted to rehabilitate the shopkeepers and others getting affected by the project.

“We did not want to go in a hurry and snatch bread and butter of the traders and shopkeepers coming under the project as was done in the case of the expansion of Indira Gandhi Road,” he said.

The Chief Minister said he had given “clear instructions” to the JK Economic Reconstruction Agency (JKERA) and J&K Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) to first rehabilitate the shopkeepers and then move forward on the construction of the flyover project.

“It is for this reason that the project has been delayed. The two shopping malls are now almost complete at Rambagh and Exhibition Crossing for allotment to the affected shopkeepers,” Omar said.

The function was addressed by MLAs Nasir Aslam Wani and Irfan Ahmad Shah, in whose constituencies the flyover is coming up.

The Chief Minister also laid the foundation of multi-storey mechanised car parking facility to be constructed on MA Road in the city. The facility, which would be constructed at a cost of Rs 31.40 crore would have a capacity to accommodate 288 vehicles, the spokesperson said.

Srinagar, September 28
Two days after militants carried out a deadly attack on police and Army installations in the region, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today pinned hope on tomorrow's meeting of the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan, saying, “Our eyes are on New York”.

“Today our eyes are not on Srinagar, not on New Delhi, not on Islamabad, but on New York because our Prime Minister and Pakistani Prime Minister are meeting there,” Omar said. He was addressing a gathering at Rambagh in the city, where he laid the foundation stone of the region’s third flyover.

Omar said he had a “wish in heart” that the talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, expected to meet tomorrow on the sidelines of UN General Assembly in New York, would start a steady process of turning “neighbours into friends”.

The Chief Minister said attempts had been made derail the talks between the two leaders. “All attempts have been made to stop these talks, be it on the political front or at other levels,” he said.

Omar said the motive behind the recent attacks in the Jammu region was to sabotage the talks process. “The motive was to widen the tense atmosphere between the two countries,” the Chief Minister said, referring to “enemies of peace and enemies of talks” conspiring to halt the dialogue process.

“I salute Dr Manmohan Singh as he did not allow this conspiracy to succeed and did not shy away from the dialogue table,” Omar said. The Chief Minister said dialogue was the only option to seek a solution to the issues.

“When we have repeatedly said the gun is not the solution, when we repeatedly say these are political issues which have to be solved politically, we have no option other than dialogue,” he said.

Without naming the Bharatiya Janata Party, which had been opposing the talks between the two Prime Ministers, Omar said, “Those opposing the talks had offered a hand of friendship to Pakistani dictator General Pervez Musharraf.”

“We should pray to God to give strength to both leaders, Manmohan Singh and Nawaz Sharif, to solve the issues and make the relationship between the two countries friendly,” Omar said.

The Chief Minister further said Jammu and Kashmir would be the biggest beneficiary of friendship between the two neighbouring countries, which had shared a tumultuous history.

“We have faced the brunt of enmity between the two countries. If we faced the worst out of this enmity, it is our right to demand the friendship and expect the best out of it for us,” he said.

Anantnag, September 28
On the seventh consecutive day of a complete shutdown, people of Shopian town have set a deadline for the authorities to remove the CRPF camp at Gagren, while calling off the strike.

Gagren area residents have threatened mass migration from the village on October 11 if the authorities fail to remove the camp by 10.

Reports said the people would resume work Sunday. However, a shutdown would be observed on October 4 to demand the removal of the camp.

The decision to call off the strike was taken at a meeting today attended by members of the local Traders’ Federation, Bar Association, Shopian Coordination Committee, Shopian Majlis-e-Mashawarat, Truck Owners’ Association, Fruit Growers’ Association, besides members from other social and religious groups.

“We have set a deadline for the government to remove the Gagren camp by October 10 failing which people will migrate from their village,” said a member of the Traders’ Federation.

Sources said the local representative of Hurriyat (G) also attended the meeting.

Demanding a complete removal of the CRPF camp at Gagren, people in Shopian have been observing a complete shutdown since Sunday, after a 15-day curfew was relaxed.

The curfew was imposed in the town after CRPF personnel of the 14th Battalion, housed at the Gagren camp in Shopian, opened fire and killed four people on September 7 in the vicinity of the camp.

While three of the slain were identified as civilians by the police, one of them, the police suspected, was a Lashkar operative.

Following the shootout, one more civilian was allegedly killed September 11 by the CRPF personnel of the same camp in the same area.

A decision to replace the CRPF personnel with the Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police (JKAP) was taken by the state Cabinet on September 12.

Locals, however, have rejected the change of guard and are demanding a complete removal of the camp.

Meanwhile, the date for the deposition of eyewitnesses before the inquiry officer of the probe ordered by the state Cabinet has been extended to October 5.

“We have extended the date in the wake of regular shutdowns,” said Shopian Deputy Commissioner Bashir Ahmad Bhat.

Srinagar, September 28
The Commercial Taxes Department (CTD), Kashmir, has set an all-time high revenue target of Rs 1,506.56 crore during the current financial year against a record Rs 1120.27 crore during the last fiscal.

This includes revenue target of Rs 1,345.62 crore under sales tax/VAT, Rs 157.34 crore under stamps and Rs. 3.60 crore under passenger tax.

This was stated at a quarterly review meeting of the Commercial Taxes Department, Kashmir Division, held today at the Excise and Taxation Complex, Rambagh, Srinagar, an official statement said here. Minister for Finance and Ladakh Affairs Abdul Rahim Rather presided over 
the meeting.

It was stated that against the total revenue target of Rs 1,506.56 crore, the achievements registered during the first quarter of the current financial year is the order of Rs 530.49 crore as against Rs 473.28 crore registered during the corresponding period of the last fiscal that shows the growth rate of 12.09 per cent. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister laid extensive stress on monitoring and regular audit assessments to plug the tax pilferages, adding that the officials should conduct regular inspections in this regard. — TNS

Srinagar, September 28
Nearly 1,500 women panchs and sarpanchs from the state who gathered at the Convocation Complex, University of Kashmir, during the inaugural day of the two-day conference on ‘Empowerment of women in panchayats: The road ahead’ here today, expressed strong resentment with the state government for failing to give them their due rights.

Women panchs and sarpanchs said two years since the holding of the historic panchayat elections in the state, the powers had not been fully transferred to the ground-level panchs and sarpanchs.

They expressed that the women panchs and sarpanchs were often discriminated against and that the patriarchal system in the valley was yet to be removed.

The two-day conference is being held by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the Planning Commission and Institute of Social Sciences, University of Kashmir.

The women panchayat members also flayed the non-implementation of centrally sponsored schemes like Indira Awaas Yojna, Integrated Child Development Scheme, and National Rural Employment Act (NREGA).

The women panchs and sarpanchs alleged that the the Panchayati system in the state had become corrupt and that the block development officers and district administration officials were hands in glove with the local MLAs in destabilising the democratic system in the state.

Raja Farooq, a sarpanch from Challhatmala village in Kupwara district, said two years since their appointment as panchayat panchs and sarpanchs, the ministers had not bothered to check the implementation of centrally sponsored scheme.

“I am fighting two cases in the court over the non- implementation of the Border Area Development Programme and I have strong evidence that proves involvement of local administrative officials in the corruption and embezzlement of funds, but I am not getting justice. Despite being from the so called weaker section of society, I will fight till my last breath for justice,” Raja said.

The Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat candidly admitted that some of the centrally sponsored flagships and state government schemes had not been fully implemented. This had led to grievances among the elected panchayat members, he said.

“We have started a movement that aims at giving the women their due position. We wanted to give women 33 per cent reservation in the panchayat representatives. This speaks volumes about our seriousness towards the issue. The elected panchayat representatives have been given the powers of 14 public departments and we have done 400 capacity-building camps for these members for generating awareness on the implementation of the schemes,” said the minister.

However, the women panchayat members turned more disgruntled when Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah, who was supposed to address a special session, did not turn up.

“He does not want to face us. It is obvious that we are not happy with the system. He has many questions to answer, so he did not show up,” Fatima, a panch from the Sumbal area of Bandipora district, said.

Srinagar, September 28
The JK Cabinet has decided to extend the period of submission of the report by the Cabinet Sub-Committee, examining the creation of new administrative units in the state, by two weeks beyond September 24, an official spokesperson said here today.

The Cabinet also ordered transfer and posting of the Director, RAMSA, Hilal Ahmed Parray, as the Director of the Urban Local Bodies, Kashmir, relieving Shafaat Noor Barlas of the additional charge, the spokesperson said.

The Cabinet also accorded sanction to the regular promotion of HK Koul as Chief Engineer (Civil) of the R&B Department in the revised pay scale of Rs 37,400-67,000 with grade pay of Rs 8,700 from 23-02-2006 to 31-05-2006 and Ram Saran Bangotra as Chief Engineer (Civil) of the R&B Department from 18-05-2007 to 31-03-2008.

The spokesperson said the Cabinet also accorded sanction to the regular promotion of Gul Mohammad with effect from 14-09-2007 to 31-5-2008, Vinod Kumar Puri with effect from 14-09-2007 to 31-07-2008, Arun Sharma with effect from 14-09-2007 to 31-07-2008, Farooq Ahmed Wani with effect from 29-02-2008 to 31-10-2010, Surjeet Singh Anand with effect from 25-09-2008 to 31-10-2009, Ashok Kumar Bhat with effect from 25-09-2008 to 31-05-2010 and Romesh Kumar Handoo with effect from 01-11-2009 to 30-04-2013 as Chief Engineers (Mechanical) of the R&B Department in the revised pay scale of Rs 37,400-67,000 with grade pay of Rs 8,700.

The Cabinet also accorded the ex-post facto sanction to the regularisation of Jadav Nath Sharma against the post of Director, Horticulture, Jammu, with effect from 01-12-2011 till he retired on superannuation on 31-03-2013, the spokesperson said.

The Cabinet also accorded sanction to the creation of one supernumerary post of District Judge (Selection Grade) in the pay scale of Rs 18,750-400-19150-450-21800 with effect from 01-11-2002 to 31-10-2004 for drawing salary and allowances in favour of Khawja Mohammad Qasim, Ex-District and Sessions Judge, subject to the following conditions that the post is created in the prescribed scale of pay in terms of the applicable service recruitment rules of the Law Department and the post agreed to will cease to exist immediately after the withdrawal of salary for this specific period, the spokesperson said.

Srinagar, September 28
Minister of State for Health Shabir Ahmad Khan today took an extensive tour of north Kashmir’s Baramulla where he took stock of the functioning of various hospitals.

Khan directed round the clock functioning with immediate effect of the Primary Health Center (PHC) at Delina.

He said the required staff has already been provided to the 20-bedded PHC which is equipped with necessary diagnostic equipments to provide the hassle-free medicare facilities to the people of the area on 24x7 basis.

The MoS said medical facilities in the hospital would be augmented to bring it at par with other PHCs.

During his visit to sub health centre at Singpora, Khan expressed dismay over the poor sanitation and absence of some staff members. He directed Director Health Services for imposing fine against negligent staff of the hospital besides seeking an explanation from them.

He issued instructions for installation of X-Ray plant in the hospital and directed for repairs of hospital building. He said that an ambulance would be also kept available in hospital for the convenience of the patients.

The Minister also underlined the importance of mother-baby care and said that ASHA and Anganwari workers have aspecial role to play for creating awareness among the people about the health care facilities available under NRHM. He said the government is providing adequate matching share for the successful implementation of centrally sponsored health schemes.

Khan also asked the state Health Department to work hard to maintain the number one position it had obtained in the health sector last year.

“You have to redouble efforts to maintain this grading,” he said assuring full support of the government for the development and upgradation of health facilities in the state.

Director Health Services, Kashmir, Saleem-ur Rehman, Mission Director, NRHM, Yash Pal Sharma, Director, ISM, Abdul Kabir, Drug and Food Controller, Satish Gupta and other senior officers accompanied the minister during the tour. 

Srinagar , September 28
Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Ali Muhammad Sagar said today that the stand of the coalition partner Congress had proved “detrimental” to the three-tier Panchayat elections in the state.

Sagar while addressing a gathering of social activists, women panchayat representatives and the faculty members of the Kashmir University here said some the Congress leaders favoured the women reservation at the block, village and district-level Panchayat elections, which was not possible.

“Chief Minister Omar Abdullah wanted that the three-tier Panchayat elections should be held during the tenure of this government, but it was not possible due to Congress party’s stand. We are totally in support of the complete Panchayat representative system in the state,” the minister said.

The recommendations of the committee constituted to examine the suggestions received from different quarters and also the private member bills tabled in the Assembly regarding the issue have been discussed during a high-level meeting, he said.

“Suggestions and recommendations that have been received from different political parties, social organisations, organisations of the elected representatives of Panchayats and experts in the field of Panchayati Raj, recommended that the J&K Panchayati Raj Act, 1989 should be updated and made more realistic,” Sagar said.

He said the government was committed to put in place the three-tier system of Panchayati Raj to ensure democratic decentralisation of power. 

Srinagar, September 28
Stressing on the need for better coordination between the universities and the colleges to facilitate placement of students in corporate world and industry, the Minister for Higher Education Mohammad Akbar Lone emphasised for introduction of more and more job-oriented courses in these institutions to enhance the employability of the youth.

He was speaking after inaugurating a two-day International Conference on ‘Contemporary Issues in Business, Management & Finance (CIBMF-II) ‘organised by the Department of Business and Financial Studies (DBFS) in collaboration with J&K Bank, SBI and HDFC Bank at the University of Kashmir here today.

He called for a close liaison between colleges and universities so that the students can avail the maximum opportunity of the campus placements and recruitment drives conducted in these universities by various companies who come from other parts of the country and the world.

Speaking on the occasion, Vice Chancellor University of Kashmir Talat Ahmad said such conferences have become more important and relevant given the way the markets are behaving in the contemporary times and because of the challenges and treats posed by economic meltdowns and economic depressions. 

Srinagar, September 28
J&K Bank’s vice president and zonal head, north, Mohammad Sultan Kaboo today inaugurated a new branch at Salamabad in the border town of Uri, about 105 km from here.

The branch has also got the ATM facility.

Speaking on the occasion, Kaboo urged the banks to reach out to the rural and un-banked areas to give impetus to the economic and business activities in the state.

“We want to take the J&K Bank to remote and far-flung areas,” Kaboo said.

He also said the bank has made a significant headway in its multinational servicing strategy in Jammu and Kashmir.

Kaboo later also inspected the upgraded main branch at Uri.

“There was no branch of the bank in Salamabad, which also houses the Trade Facilitation Centre for cross-Line of Control trade. People from here used to visit Uri branch. Now with the new branch the people from this area will get huge benefit,” Manager J&K Bank, Uri, Liyaqat Maqbool said.

Srinagar, September 28
The first review-cum-orientation regional workshop on Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, the PCPNDT Act, concluded here today.

The workshop was organised by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in collaboration with National Rural Health Mission JK .

The workshop was inaugurated by Secretary Health and Medical Education Gazzanfar Hussain on September 26, an official spokesman said.

Government of Jammu and Kashmir has taken several initiatives for improving the skewed sex ratio through reconstitution of regulatory bodies, large scale advocacy programmes including targeting the adolescent groups in the higher secondary schools and colleges, involvement of religious leaders and rewarding informers, the spokesman quoting Hussain said.

Mission Director NRHM JK Yashpal Sharma while giving detailed presentation during the workshop highlighted the best practices adopted by the state for curbing the decline in female sex ratio and informed that this year has been dedicated to save the girl child and district wise action plans have been prepared which are under execution.

The issue being of very sensitive nature, the Chief Minister, Health Minister and the Chief Secretary are taking periodic review of the issue and suggesting various corrective actions to be taken at each and every level, he said.

Director Health Services Punjab while speaking on the occasion highlighted various innovations made by Punjab in this regard and suggested for intensive inter-state coordination on the issue. The state nodal officers of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Chandigarh also highlighted their state-specific initiatives and practices in the workshop.

The workshop was attended by senior officers from Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, nodal officers from states of northern region including Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Delhi, the spokesman said.

Srinagar, September 28
A blood donation camp was organised by the Central University of Kashmir (CUK) on its campus here. A large number of students and faculty members participated in the camp.

In a statement issued here, the CUK spokesman said the camp was organised by the Centre for NSS and Cultural Sports Activities, Central University Kashmir in collaboration with Hussaine Khidmatgaar Committee and Blood Bank (HKC&BB). The camp was inaugurated by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Abdul Wahid Qureshi.

Addressing the function, Vice Chancellor Prof Abdul Wahid Qureshi said, “In the history of Central University Kashmir, this is first-ever occasion when both students of various streams and faculty donated blood for the noble cause to save human lives,” the spokesman said.