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‘Single train ticket’ to Kashmir soon
Delivery in the open: Govt inquiry indicts Army
Women encircle Ayesha Begum (under the blanket) while she delivers a baby in the open at Kukroosa village in Handwara. Tribune photo: Amin War
Omar praises AAP, says all parties must learn from it
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Passport
Issue
Searches continue near Sopore town
Cabinet sub-committee visits south Kashmir
Guv rebuts media report
IED defused in north Kashmir
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‘Single train ticket’ to Kashmir soon
Jammu, January 11 Under the agreement, tourists buying railway tickets to Kashmir will have a "complimentary" bus ride from Udhamur to Banihal stretch as tourists will disembark from the train at the Udhampur railway station and board State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) buses to Banihal from where they will again take a train to Srinagar or Baramulla. The facility, however, will be available only after the inauguration of prestigious 25-km Udhampur-Katra rail line, which is likely to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in the first week next month. So far, the people have train facility only up to Udhampur from Jammu and other parts of the country, while the train in Kashmir chug up to Banihal from Baramulla. “We have recently signed an agreement with the Northern Railway, under which the tourists intending to visit Kashmir from anywhere will have to buy a single train ticket. They will get off from train at the Udhampur railway station and will be taken to the Banihal railway station in brand new buses to be deployed by the SRTC after checking the train tickets of
passengers,” Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan, Minister for Transport, told The Tribune. He said the Transport Department was planning to purchase new buses, which would be deployed between Udhampur and Banihal. “We are hopeful that the system would be implemented soon after the inauguration of the Udhampur-Katra rail section,” Ramzan said. The minister said the tourists could also board buses from the Katra railway station to reach Banihal for their onward journey by train. On August 19 last year, the Ferozepur division of the Northern Railway had written to all stations falling under its jurisdiction to make suitable arrangements for the start of train service between Udhampur and Katra section after giving its approval to the opening of this rail link. The authorities are still awaiting the final tests, inspection and certification to be conducted by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) before the inauguration of the track and throwing it open for passenger trains. Sources said the CRS was likely to inspect the Udhampur-Katra rail section on January 17 and may accord his clearance. “The Railways is planning to run at least six trains to Katra, the base camp of Vaishno Devi shrine, which was visited by over 9.3 million pilgrims last year,” sources said. The survey on a railway project between the Jammu region and the Kashmir valley was conducted in 1998. The construction process began in 1999. It was announced that Katra town would have direct train connectivity by 2005. The track to Katra was ready by 2007, but the inauguration got delayed because of seepage in major tunnels en route. The 131-km rail track between Katra and Banihal, which has turned out to be a challenging task for the Railways, was delayed by almost a decade after its alignment was changed for safety reasons a few years back. J&K Government, Railways ink agreement
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Delivery in the open: Govt inquiry indicts Army
Srinagar, January 11 “The Army, who had cordoned off the Kukroosa area, did not allow them (patient and her relatives) to enter the Kukroosa village for one and a half hours,” states the inquiry report. The probe was carried out by the government after allegations surfaced that the delay caused by Army personnel and closure of the hospital on Thursday had led to the delivery on the roadside. Sources said the inquiry report was submitted to the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, on Saturday. The report, a copy of which is with The Tribune, states that the matter was taken up with the Police and Army who “assured that the matter will be looked into so that no such incident takes place in future”. However, Defense spokesman Lt Col NN Joshi said here that the Army did not stop the patient and her relatives or the hospital staff from moving to the health centre while the cordon was laid around the village on Thursday. The inquiry report stated that at 11:30 am, after being allowing by the Army, the patient and her relatives reached the health centre but it was found locked due to which the patient delivered the baby without any medical assistance. The report added that the doctor and other paramedical staff expressed that despite repeated requests, the Army had not allowed them to move inside the cordoned area as a result of which they could not reach hospital up to 11:30 am. “As soon as they were allowed to go inside, they went to the hospital and a proper treatment was given to the patient, who had already given birth. The patient was provided tea and light diet. At 4.30 pm, the patient was discharged. She and her baby were in a normal state,” the report stated.
Ayesha of Sarmarg village and her three attendants had reached the border of the village around 9.30 am on Thursday. A cordon and search operation had been launched by Army’s counter insurgency 6 Rashtriya Rifles in the morning.
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Omar praises AAP, says all parties must learn from it
Vijaypur, January 11 The Chief Minister said his government was working for a corruption-free state and has taken several steps in this regard. “We have been and are working for corruption-free state and for that purpose we brought the Public Service Guarantee Act, under which people can get their due within a time frame,” he said. Meanwhile, referring to a spurt in the ceasefire violations by Pakistan last year, Omar said: “Few months back there was a war like situation on the international border in the Jammu region. People were in deep pain. We reached out to the people living in border areas and our neighbours also understood this fact that war is no option.” “Everything could be resolved through dialogue and normalcy was brought back on borders,” he said The Chief Minister, on the occasion also lashed out at the principal opposition party, the PDP, for their “double speak”. “Members of the party with the symbol of inkpot and pen speak in different voices in Srinagar, Jammu and in New Delhi. When there is need to talk about the Indian flag, they talk about the Pakistani flag,” Omar said.
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Passport
Issue
Srinagar, January 11 Rohail, who hails from Trehgam in Kupwara district, got passport clearance after Omar’s intervention on January 9. He had earlier not been given passport clearance by the CID. Omar Abdullah today wrote on Twitter: “So I’ve heard the boy claiming to have lost his internship with The Guardian newspaper because of his passport never had such an offer.” Stating that while the guy “has every right to expect a passport”, Omar tweeted: “I hope he hasn’t lied to gain sympathy. This will only damage legitimate cases going ahead.” The CM also took a dig at the local English daily newspaper which first carried the story on Rohail. “Can @risingkashmir @bukharishujaat please reproduce his (Rohail’s) Guardian offer letter because you guys went to town with the story,” Omar wrote, adding “I hope I’m wrong & there is an actual offer & not that we’ve been lied to. If not what does that tell us about the quality of our journalism.” Rohail said he did not want to get involved into politics over the issue. “I read the tweets by Omar Abdullah, where he has portrayed me as a liar. But I want to ask him even if I don’t have an official letter from The Guardian to support my claim, does that mean I should not be issued passport,” he said. When asked if he had the internship letter from The Guardian, Rohail claimed, “Though I have no official letter, I was in contact with the authorities at The Guardian as I do have contacts there. Besides, I have an official letter to pursue a course in international relations at the University of Westminster.”
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Searches continue near Sopore town
Srinagar, January 11 “There has been no exchange of fire since Friday morning but we are carrying out searches,” said a police officer in north Kashmir. He said they had received an input that one or two militants of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) were hiding in the Cherhar forests, near Sopore, 65 km from here. He said, according to the information, one of the militants hiding in the forest was a new commander of the outfit for north Kashmir. Spokesman for the Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Col NN Joshi said during the searches so far, they had busted a hideout. “During the ongoing searches, we busted a hideout and recovered a large quantity of ration, utensils and blankets,” he said. Sources said militants might have managed to give the slip to security personnel after the initial exchange of fire.
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Cabinet sub-committee visits south Kashmir
Srinagar, January 11 “The Committee will examine and consider the demands and proposals of the people for the establishment of new administrative units,” Tara Chand said. “While creating new administrative units the aspirations of political representatives, sarpanchs and civil society members will be given due consideration,” he added. The Committee comprised Minister for Urban Development and Urban Local Bodies Nawang Rigzin Jora, Minister for PHE and Irrigation Sham Lal Sharma, Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir, Minister for Higher Education Mohammad Akbar Lone, Minister for Planning and Development Ajay Sadhotra and Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Mir Saifullah.
— TNS
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The state government’s preliminary investigations into delivery in the open in frontier Kupwara district has indicted the Army revealing that both the patient, Ayesha Begum (28), and doctors were not allowed by the troops to enter a village, which houses a public health
centre, on time.
