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2 yrs on, Omar’s proposal on ‘truth
commission’ yet to reach Centre
Doda not yet covered under National School Safety Plan
China sets up station along LAC to keep eye on Indian planes
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Rahul arrives in Srinagar amid tight security
Rallying point: Modi to woo Jammu from Rahul’s venue
BJP, PDP won’t succeed in dividing people: NC
PDP to hold more ‘peace’ rallies
Separatists take poll boycott campaign to south Kashmir
Hiccups apart, ‘Udaan’ giving wings to Valley youth
Efforts afoot to improve socio-economic condition of people: Javed Rana
Two hideouts busted in Kishtwar
Tourism Minister gets peace award in London
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2 yrs on, Omar’s proposal on ‘truth
commission’ yet to reach Centre
Jammu, November 6 It has given ample ammunition to opposition parties, particularly the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), to take on the ruling National Conference for not being able to “translate its words into actions” over the years. In 2011, the Chief Minister had advocated the constitution of the TRC to look into the questions being raised about the disappearances of youth from custody in Kashmir, migration of Kashmiri Pandits, mass graves in J&K, killings of political workers and various related issues. He had floated the idea of having a Truth and Reconciliation Commission -- jointly by India and Pakistan -- to find out the answers to various vexed issues in J&K. “A time has come to find an out-of-the-box solution to bring an element of closure to this pernicious cycle of untold suffering. To my mind, of the many other options that can be considered in this regard, the setting up of a TRC can be a possible first step towards assuaging the alienation and restoring the confidence of the people in the democratic institutions of the state,” Omar had said on the floor of Legislative Assembly on March 5, 2011. If sources in the civil secretariat are to be believed, no serious efforts were made to pursue the matter with the Central government so that such a commission could become a reality. The Chief Minister, however, time and again batted for its formulation at various forums, including the National Integration Council (NIC) meet in New Delhi. “The state government is yet to make a formal request to the Centre for the constitution of such a commission in J&K,” a source said. Mohammad Iqbal Khandey, Chief Secretary, J&K, was unavailable for comments as he didn’t respond to repeated
phone calls. PDP chief spokesperson Naeem Akhtar alleged that Omar had been making big announcements but was not able to keep his promises. “There is a not even a single example where he had advocated something and that had been done successfully. The constitutional position of the Chief Minister is getting
compromised and degraded,” he said. Harsh Dev Singh, chairman of the National Panthers Part (NPP), remarked: “There is a complete mismatch between promises and performance of this government. It has failed to translate its slogans into actions as it is more focused on building castles in the air rather than executing its plan on the ground. We don’t expect much from this dispensation which has lost its credibility among the masses as exaggerated pronouncements have been made by this government without significant achievement.” Plan not pursued
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Doda not yet covered under National School Safety Plan
Srinagar, November 6 In Jammu and Kashmir, which falls in the seismic zones IV and V, only Leh and Kupwara districts are covered under the National School Safety Plan said Muzaffar Ahmad, member, NDMA, and chemical disaster management expert, at a week-long workshop, ‘SAARC Regional Training Programme for Children’, at the University of Kashmir today. He said children constituted 50 per cent of the disaster victims and in the face of any disaster, school buildings acted as temporary shelters. “However, it is a fact that the school buildings all over the country and in this highly earthquake-prone region lack the basic safety modules and infrastructure to prevent any damage to children. It is a challenge right now to address the needs of the schoolchildren who live in disaster prone areas of the country,” Muzaffar said. The NDMA, in association with the SAARC Disaster Management Authority, will therefore devise the world’s first-ever framework for safety of schoolchildren, especially those in South Asian countries, in the face of any disaster such as earthquakes and cyclones. NDMA, Vice-Chairman, M Shashidhar Reddy said the formulation of a comprehensive policy for schoolchildren who lived in rural areas and belonged to the lower economic strata had become the need of the hour. “Children usually suffer more than anybody else in disasters. We also have to take care of physically challenged schoolchildren during disasters and prepare them. Steps are hence afoot to introduce disaster preparedness programmes and mock drills in schools under the National School Safety Plan,” Reddy said. The assessment report of the state government, ascertaining the aftermath of the May 1 earthquake, which measured 5.8 on the Richter scale, had concluded that the school buildings in the earthquake-hit areas were damaged the most, putting a question mark on the kind of material used in their construction. |
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China sets up station along LAC to keep eye on Indian planes
Jammu, November 6 Though, the Chinese have claimed that it is a weather monitoring station, Army officers are suspecting something “fishy”. “During my visit to the Daulat Beg Oldie last year, it (station) was not there on the Chinese side. It has come up now and how could it be a weather station when there is no population on their (Chinese) side opposite Daulat Beg Oldie,” a top Army source said. The Super Hercules, which for the first time landed at Daulat Beg Oldie on August 20, has so far reportedly made at least seven landings in the area. The military air strip at Daulat Beg Oldie was re-activated after 43 years in 2008, when an AN-32 transport plane landed there. “We feel that the station has been set up to monitor movement of Indian planes,” he said. “Definitely, there is something fishy,” the source added. India and China signed nine agreements, including one on the border defence cooperation, on October 22 this year during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Beijing. “Yes, both the countries signed nine pacts, including one on border defence cooperation that also includes avoiding face-offs. But espionage remains an indispensable itinerary of armies for their preparedness,” the officer said in reply to a query. Earlier on April 15-16 this year, around 50 men of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had intruded 19 km inside the Indian Territory in DBO sector along with Molosser dogs and had pitched up tents in the area, resulting in a three-week long stand-off. Later on June 17, the Chinese troops intruded into the Chumar sector and vandalised some observation bunkers, besides damaging a surveillance camera. The broken camera was, however, returned to the Army at a flag meeting on July 3, a day before Defence Minister AK Antony’s visit to China to enhance “strategic cooperative partnership” and jointly maintain “peace and tranquility” along the LAC.
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Rahul arrives in Srinagar amid tight security
Srinagar, November 6 “On Thursday, Rahul is scheduled to first visit Pulwama where he will inaugurate a cold storage at Lassipora. After Pulwama, Rahul is scheduled to visit Sports Stadium, Budgam, where he will interact with women self-help group members promoted under Umeed and youth trained under the skill development programme Himayat. He is later likely to visit the Congress headquarters in Srinagar,” a source said. The elite Special Protection Group (SPG) which provides security cover to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has taken control of all venues in Kashmir which he will be visiting on Thursday. Sources said the SPG team which arrived in the Valley a few days ago had stationed its men in Pulwama, Budgam and the summer capital and sanitised areas where different functions are to be held. “The SPG and the security wing of the J&K police have secured all roads leading to the different venues, in case the chopper is not able to take off due to bad weather conditions,” he added. The sources said the security wing of the police has also drawn policemen from other districts to ensure tight security for the Congress vice-president and other dignitaries. Rahul is being accompanied by Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabiz Azad and Congress general secretary and in charge of party affairs in J&K Ambika Soni. A three-tier security ring will be in place at the venues to be visited by Rahul. After the recent serial blasts in Patna, the security for Rahul’s rallies has been revamped by the SPG. State Congress vice-president and MLC Ghulam Nabi Monga said Rahul would meet workers at the party headquarters here. “He (Rahul) will be meeting nearly 100 party workers at the Srinagar headquarters,” Monga said, adding that the workers were enthusiastic about the Thursday meeting. |
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Rallying point: Modi to woo Jammu from Rahul’s venue
Jammu, November 6 “Narendra Modi will hold a rally at the same venue,” said state BJP president Jugal Kishore Sharma. He said the party had decided to mobilise as many people to give a befitting reply to the Congress. “People will compare Modi’s rally with today’s panchayat conference of Rahul Gandhi,” he said. The state BJP president pointed out that the uproar in today’s function was a clear indication that people and panchayat members were aware that the Congress was equally responsible for depriving the panches and sarpanches of their legitimate rights. General secretary of the state BJP Kavinder Gupta said they had written to the authorities to grant them permission to hold Modi’s rally at Maulana Azad Stadium on December 1. “We have started preparations for Modi’s rally and the response of people is encouraging,” he said. Gupta exuded confidence that Modi’s rally at Jammu would be a historic event in the political history of Jammu and Kashmir. Without naming Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who had stated that there was nothing like “Modi Wave” in the country, Gupta said the rally would also give a message to those who had been ignoring the ground reality. Insiders in the party said Rajya Sabha member and in charge of the BJP affairs in J&K Avinash Rai Khanna was visiting Jammu within a couple of days to finalise Modi’s programme. The Congress has downplayed the BJP’s challenge and claimed that today’s function was confined only to the panchayat members. |
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BJP, PDP won’t succeed in dividing people: NC
Jammu November 6 “Their (BJP) jugglery cannot work in dividing the people on religious lines,” National Conference provincial president Devender Singh Rana said while addressing a day-long convention of the All Jammu and Kashmir Central Paramilitary Forces Welfare Association here. Rana castigated both the BJP and the PDP for their hidden agenda of “dividing people on communal and regional lines” with a bigger plan of “weakening secular forces”. “They have been hand in glove in exploiting the situations, like the one in Kishtwar recently, in a bid to flare up passions and polarise the people on religious and regional lines,” He, however, exuded confidence that people will maintain unity and foil the attempts of the communal and misleading elements with their full might. Rana also took on the PDP for its “duplicity”, saying its leaders were exploiting the sentiments of people in Kashmir by describing the state as a colony of India and speaking quite contrary to it when in Jammu. — TNS
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PDP to hold more ‘peace’ rallies
Srinagar, November 6 “We will not stop holding peace rallies. We will continue our campaign to ensure that peace is restored along the Kashmir borders,” said Nayeem Akther, chief spokesman for the party. “In the peace rally, held on Monday, we articulated the voices of the people who want peace on the borders and friendship between India and Pakistan,” he said. The PDP leader said New Delhi should resume talks with the separatists as soon as possible to establish sustainable peace in the subcontinent. “The dialogue with the separatists should be resumed at the earliest,” he said. Hundreds of PDP workers took out a peace march in the heart of Srinagar from the Sher-e-Kashmir park towards Lal Chowk on Monday and demanded that Kashmir be made a “bridge” between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. They also urged the leaders of India and Pakistan to not turn the region into a battlefield. The rally was led by PDP president Mehbooba Mufti. Another senior PDP leader said apart from campaigning for peace on the Kashmir borders, they would raise the issue with the national leadership and apprise it about the wishes of the people. “We will also convey to the national leadership that the people of J&K are not in favour of tension and hostility between India and Pakistan,” he said. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah yesterday criticised the PDP for taking out the “peace rally” when the borders had turned silent. “Where was the PDP during all those days when people were getting bullets along the international border and the Line of Control,” Omar said during a function in Jammu. |
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Separatists take poll boycott campaign to south Kashmir
Srinagar, November 6 Syed Ali Geelani, who leads the hardline faction of the deeply fractured separatists, is on a whirlwind tour of the Kashmir region, campaigning against the forthcoming polls in the state. The 84-year-old separatist leader threw a rather ambitious challenge yesterday, saying if they are allowed to campaign, not more than four per cent votes will be cast. The chief of the hardline faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, who was released last week after eight months of detention, immediately announced that he will travel across the region taking along his call of boycott. The first stop of his campaign against the elections was at north Kashmir’s Sopore town, an ideological fountainhead of separatism in the region, where pot-holed roads are a stark contrast to the town’s rich apple orchards. Geelani’s message to several thousand people, who attended the rally at Sopore on Friday last week, was straight: “do not vote”. In the past, the town has followed the boycott call and only 19.9 per cent votes were cast in Sopore constituency during the 2008 Assembly elections, as compared to 61.16 per cent of votes cast across the state. However, as per statistics, the separatists may not be able to garner the same support to their “election boycott” call in other places of the region, where residents have come out in large numbers during the recent polls. In south Kashmir’s Shopian town, the second stop in Geelani’s election boycott campaign, where the hardliner held a rally today and took a “not to vote” pledge from several thousand people who attended the event, more than 50 per cent votes were cast in the last Assembly election. The third stop of Geelani’s campaign will at north Kashmir town of Kupwara. Over 62.5 per cent eligible voters, a little higher than the total polling percentage, had cast their votes in the last Assembly election. The octogenarian is scheduled to visit the frontier town on Friday. Meanwhile, the principal opposition party of the state --- the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) --- believes it is up to the people to decide whether boycott serves their purpose or not. “We cannot forecast (the impact of Geelani’s boycott campaign), but we hope people will choose what serves them best,” PDP spokesperson Naeem Akhtar said. He, though, said National Conference’s “track record of playing tricks” creates doubt about the timing of Geelani’s release, as many suspect that anti-poll campaign will benefit the ruling party. While the hardline separatist block is signalling a vigorous anti-poll campaign in the months ahead, the moderates led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq have so far remained reluctant to come clear on their policy on election boycott. “Dozens of elections since 1947 have failed to change the nature of Kashmir issue. So we do not give much importance to these elections and there is still time for elections, the decision (on the poll boycott) will be taken when the time comes,” Javed Mir, a leader of moderate faction of separatist Hurriyat Conference, said. ‘Not to vote’ pledge
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Hiccups apart, ‘Udaan’ giving wings to Valley youth
Srinagar, November 6 Even as less than 2,000 youth have so far joined ‘Udaan’ training programmes, out of the targeted 40,000 over a period of five years, many of those, especially from the rural areas of the Valley, who have managed to procure jobs outside the state are glad at having gained exposure to the corporate world. “As the corporate culture is yet to pick up in Kashmir, I along with others from my batch are glad that we have been exposed to the corporate world in Bangalore,” said Ilhaq Reshi, a resident of Kulgam in south Kashmir, over the phone. He was selected through the Gems Edu Tech Services Private Limited (GETSPL). In charge, sourcing, GETSPL, Imran Nabi said they had so far sent 200 youth for placement in various sectors in three batches who were mostly from the rural areas of the Valley. “The feedback we
got from the youth we trained has been overwhelming,” he said. Even though there have been reports of complaints by youth that they were getting low salary, Imran said the youth, during the first six months, were provided free of cost boarding and lodging, besides a stipend, and later were given salary at an average of Rs 12,000 to 15,000. He said the salaries were decent to start with and that Udaan was providing a ‘huge platform’ for the youth to start their career. However, he said the government should create more awareness about the project, especially in the far-flung areas, so that more youth come forward and benefit from it. While there were also complaints of slow implementation of the project, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had last month held a meeting in New Delhi in which 60 representatives from various industrial houses participated. The meeting had been held to expedite the implementation of the project in the state. Under the Special Industry Initiative of the Prime Minister, the National Skills Development Corporation and the Ministry of Home Affairs, Udaan was launched last year to target the youth of J&K, specifically graduates and postgraduates, seeking employment opportunities in the global and local market. The aim of the scheme is to provide exposure to graduates and postgraduates from the state to the corporate sector in the country and to provide corporate India an opportunity to choose from the rich talent pool available in Jammu and Kashmir. Several groups, including Tata Motors, have conducted or are in the process of conducting selection drives to provide employment-oriented training to
the youth. Employment scheme
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Efforts afoot to improve socio-economic condition of people: Javed Rana
Jammu, November 6 Rana was interacting with the various deputations, who called on him here today, an official spokesperson said. The Deputy Chairman said the government has launched various welfare schemes and appealed to people to take advantage of these programmes. “Efforts are afoot
to improve the socio-economic condition of the people living in rural areas. Sufficient funds have
been earmarked under various sectors for different developmental programmes for these areas,” Rana said. A deputation from panchayat halqa, Chowadi tehsil led by sarpanch Mohammad Asgar also met the Deputy Chairman on the occasion and apprised him about their grievances. They appealed him
to include Chowadi area in the Gandhi Nagar Constituency area instead of Samba, besides asking him to make the transformers erected by the National Hydroelectric Power
Corporation in the area under the BPL category functional. They also asked for implementation of Roshini Act in tribal areas and black topping of Chowadi road. Rana gave them a patient hearing and assured them that their genuine demands will be looked into. In some cases, however, he gave on the spot directions to the concerned department for immediate redressal. He also issued directions to the concerned for immediate restoration of power supply and black topping of the Chowadi road. |
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Two hideouts busted in Kishtwar
Jammu, November 6 “Today, in a major success against militancy, the Kishtwar police along with 8 Rashtriya Rifles and 11 Rashtriya Rifles launched search operations on specific inputs in the general area of Dhanandhar Thakrai and the Channishri forest. The joint parties busted two old hideouts and seized a rich haul of arms and ammunition,” said a police spokesperson. The recoveries included one PIKA gun, 50 rounds of PIKA ammunition, one AK-47 assault rifle, two AK-47 magazines, 212 AK ammunition, 27 hand grenades, 15 under-barrel grenade launcher rounds, three rocket-propelled grenade shells (live), one belt box PIKA, two belt PIKA, one IED circuit, one letter pad of the Hizbul Mujahideen and one radio set of Motorola. “The arms and ammunition recovered from the hideouts had the potential of causing large-scale casualties and damage to life and property. By busting the hideouts, we have succeeded in defeating the nefarious designs of terrorists and their supporters,” said the spokesperson. A case under Section 120-B, 7/27 of the Indian Arms Act and 3/5 of the Explosives Act and under Section 120-B of the Ranbir Penal Code, 7/27 of the Arms Act and 3/4 of the Explosives Act has been registered at the Kishtwar and Chatroo police stations, respectively, he said. The investigation is on. |
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Tourism Minister gets peace award in London
Jammu, November 6 The award was given to the minister by the World Travel Market Association for his appointment as the peace ambassador to South Asia. The Tourism Minister is representing a delegation of the state accompanied by tourism directors of Kashmir and Jammu in the biggest four-day travel event in the world which commenced from today at Excel Centre, London. An official spokesperson said the exhibition saw the participation of almost 5,000 exhibitors from around the world. The emphasis on heritage and culture, scenic splendour, golf and adventure decorations made the J&K stall attractive. The stall was visited by members of the world travel and trade fraternity. J&K trade members who participated in the event appreciated the overall decor and design of the stall. The stall helped in generating many footfalls, which in turn provided excellent networking and marketing opportunities for the state trade members to conduct business. The minister expressed satisfaction at the outcome of J&K’s participation and hoped that the state would succeed in attracting
many tourists from the United Kingdom in the coming season.
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Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to J&K, arrived here from Jammu this evening. Immediately on his arrival, he met the party delegation from Kargil and
Leh.
An hour after All India Congress Committee vice-president Rahul Gandhi addressed a panchayat conference at Maulana Azad Stadium here, the BJP today announced that it would hold a rally of its prime ministerial candidate, Narendra
Modi, at the same venue on December 1 to compare the popularity of both leaders.
With the parliamentary and Assembly elections scheduled to be held in Jammu and Kashmir next year, the Valley-based separatist leaders are urging people to boycott the polls.
