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EC non-committal over special polling stations for Ladakhi students
Cong rebel Raza joins electoral race in
Ladakh
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Guru’s hanging was impossible without Omar’s consent: Mufti
Governor discusses needs of Vaishno Devi pilgrimage
Seven Himachal residents killed in Kishtwar road accident
18 candidates file nomination for Baramulla constituency
Even Parliament cannot scrap Article 370:
Beg
Clashes in Bandipora village: NC leader cancels workers’ meeting
Civil defence camp held at Katra
Army rescues 140 stranded passengers in Kupwara Darbar Move arrangements reviewed Abdul Rehman (24), resident of Basti, Uttar Pradesh, and his three-year-old daughter Jafrina were buried alive in a landslide in the Pul-Doda area of the Doda district on Saturday at around 5 am. The police and local residents launched a rescue operation and recovered the bodies. The bodies were sent for postmortem. Highway closed
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EC non-committal over special polling stations for Ladakhi students
Jammu, April 19 “As per law, the polling stations are normally set up in the constituency where elections are to be held. We have received a representation regarding setting up of polling stations in Jammu for Ladakhi students. Can we allow them to vote outside the constituency remains to be seen,” the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), J&K, Umang Narula told The Tribune. The CEO further said the exact number of students eligible for voting was yet to be assessed. “Currently, we are focusing on elections on other parliamentary constituencies of the state. We will see whether the scheme (of setting special polling stations) is practicable under law,” Narula said. Given the fact that sitting Member of Parliament from Ladakh Ghulam Hassan Khan won the 2009 parliamentary polls by just 3,708 votes, over 10,000-odd students and scholars from the region, living in various parts of the country, might play a vital role in the elections on May 7. Khan, who had fought the 2009 election as an Independent, defeated Congress’ Phuntsog Namgyal. Namgyal had managed 28,986 votes as compared to 32,694 bagged by Khan. Ladakh parliamentary constituency comprises four Assembly segments, Nobra, Leh, Kargil and Zanskar and has 1, 59,949 electorate, including 78,781 female voters. Ladakhi students, under the banner of All Ladakh Students Joint Action Committee (ALSJAC), have been demanding setting up of special polling stations in Jammu in view of the closure of Srinagar-Leh highway and limited number of flights, besides high airfares. In a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer, J&K, and the District Election Officer (DEO), Leh, they had requested the authorities to either airlift all the students from the Ladakh region who are above 18 years of age or set up special polling stations in Jammu for their convenience. “So far, we have received no response from the Election Commission. We are holding discussions with all the students and scholars studying in Jammu and are in constant touch with those who are staying outside J&K. We will launch a massive agitation if our demand for setting up of special polling stations for more than 10,000 students in Jammu was not met,” said Tsering Norphel, ALSJAC leader and a native of Leh town said. He said the Election Commission has set up polling stations for the Kashmiri migrants living in Jammu, but the students and the scholars who have expressed their desire to exercise their democratic right were being deprived of the facility. “We will wait for some more days and if our demand was not fulfilled, we will launch an agitation,” he said. |
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Cong rebel Raza joins electoral race in
Ladakh
Jammu, April 19 In all, four candidates filed nomination papers from the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat on the last day of filing of nomination papers today, taking the total number of nominations from the seat to nine. The scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on April 21, while the candidates can withdraw their nomination papers till April 23. Raza, who is supported by a powerful religious group, Imam Khomeini Memorial Trust (IKMT), Kargil, filed his nomination papers as an Independent candidate in the presence of councillors of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Kargil, and prominent people of Kargil district. Yesterday, another powerful religious body, Islamiya School Kargil (ISK), backed candidate Aga Syed Kazim Sabri, who had filed his nomination papers as an Independent candidate. The ISK is a traditional supporter of the National Conference. The Congress and the National Conference were contesting Lok Sabha elections in alliance. As per seat-sharing agreement, the Congress would contest two seats of Jammu and one of Ladakh, while the National Conference would contesting all the three seats of the Kashmir valley. Talking to The Tribune over phone from Leh after filing his nomination papers, Ghulam Raza, who has resigned from the post of the district president, Congress, Kargil, said, he had conveyed it to the party high command that a resident of Kargil should be given ticket for the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat, but the party didn't accept their demand and fielded a candidate from Leh district. "Since 1967, the Congress has never given ticket to a resident of Kargil for the Ladakh parliamentary seat. In 2009, my candidature was cancelled at the eleventh hour and the party had fielded a candidate from Leh. After the Congress high command again ignored us this time, I resigned as the district president and the people of Kargil urged me to contest as an Independent candidate," he said, adding that they would hold a meeting of the local committee in the next couple of days and would draft a "comprehensive manifesto" for the elections. Raza had won the Assembly byelection from the Zanskar Assembly segment of Kargil in 2005. Other three candidates who filed their nomination papers today were Mohammad Hasan, Tsering Dorjey and Mohammad Abbas. Tsering Dorjey filed papers as a covering candidate of the BJP. The Congress has fielded its district president Leh Tsering Samphel for the seat, while the BJP has nominated one-time winner of the seat Thupstan Chhewang. A total of 1,59,631 voters - 80,994 male and 78,637 female - are registered in the Ladakh segment at both Leh and Kargil districts and there will be 531 polling stations for the segment. |
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Guru’s hanging was impossible without Omar’s consent: Mufti
Kulgam, April 19 "Had I been the Chief Minister, I would have made sure that Afzal Guru was not hanged," Mufti said, adding that it's impossible that the death sentence was carried out without the consent of the incumbent Chief Minister. Mufti said if the Union Government could pardon the killers of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, then Guru could have been pardoned as well. Urging the Union Government to win hearts and minds of the Kashmiri people, Mufti said the need of the hour was to find an out-of-box solution to the Kashmir issue. "The solution of course will be within the ambit of the Constitution of India. However it is imperative to make the Kashmiri people feel like a part of the Union," said Mufti. "But force can never win hearts, it only creates alienation," he added. Terming his tenure as the Chief Minister of the state as a peaceful one, Mufti said he made sure that the people lived with dignity and honour. "I made sure that the Army does not harass the residents. It was on my insistence that mobile phones were brought into the Valley and it was on my order that the Jawahar Tunnel was thrown open round the clock," said Mufti. He accused the present government of pushing the people of the state to alienation and chaos. Meanwhile, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti's road show cavalcade was stoned at two different places in the Homshalibug Assembly constituency. Reports said the PDP cavalcade was attacked with stones in Yaripora and Qaimoh villages of Kulgam. No reports of injuries to anybody were received. However, some of the vehicles in the cavalcade were damaged. A spontaneous shutdown was also observed in the Yaripora area.
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Governor discusses needs of Vaishno Devi pilgrimage
Jammu, April 19 After discussions, the chairman directed the CEO to get a project report prepared from a reputed consultancy firm to quantify requirements of power and water for the yatra over the next 15 to 20 years. On the basis of such assessments, timely action shall need to be taken to execute projects to meet the future water and power demands of the yatra. The CEO was told to take early action for securing inputs from the Central Ground Water Board and other agencies to identify places where underground water may be available so that exploration efforts could be carried out in a time-bound basis. The Governor said early action should be taken for setting up a water filtration plant near the existing sources from which water is supplied to the pilgrims. The meeting discussed the functioning of the existing water supply schemes and plans for enlarging their capacities. Earlier, Maini gave a detailed presentation of the master plan for the shrine area, prepared some years ago. The discussions included plans for widening the existing pathways for rapid and free movement of the
pilgrims. Remodelling of the existing buildings, widening of the Atka area, installing elevators at the shrine area for the pilgrims were also discussed. Vohra directed the CEO to ensure installation of solar power units to cover every establishment in the shrine area and to make
all locations more eco-friendly. He told the CEO to ensure time-bound completion of Durga Bhawan. The CEO was told to get a model prepared for the existing structures around the entire Bhawan area and another model which would show the proposed new buildings.
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Seven Himachal residents killed in Kishtwar road accident
Doda, April 19 An eyewitness, Ishtiq Wani, said the incident took place around 5.15 pm and the vehicle rolled down 300 foot into the Chenab. He said five passengers were killed instantly while two died in different hospitals. After the incident, locals rushed to the spot and started a rescue operation. They fished out bodies from the Chenab despite heavy rainfall, Wani said. Later, police and medical teams also rushed to spot and shifted the injured passengers to a local hospital at Thathri. Later, the injured were referred to District Hospital, Doda, were they were given primary medical treatment. They were then referred to Government Medical College and Hospital in Jammu. The injured have been identified as Suman, a resident of Chamba in Himachal Pradesh, Santosh Kumar, a resident of Pangai, Tara Chand, a resident of Pangai, Ram Singh, a resident of Kangra, and Sher Singh, a resident of Himachal Pradesh, Block Medical Officer, Kishtwar, told The Tribune. The bodies were shifted to District Hospital, Kishtwar, for postmortem. The deceased have been identified as Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Solan in Himachal Pradesh, Pyar Din, a resident of Kuthal village (Chamba), Prithvi Raj (driver), a resident of Tatri (Chamba), Om Prakash, a resident of Pangai, and Shalu Devi, a resident of Pangai. Two bodies are yet to be identified, said the Block Medical Officer. Meanwhile, local MLA GM Saroori visited the spot along with the Kishtwar Superintendent of Police and took stock of the situation.
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18 candidates file nomination for Baramulla constituency
Baramulla, April 19 On the last day of the filing of nominations for the seat, Prototype Revolutionary Innovative Sanskrit Movement candidate Bashir Ahmad Jugal and Independents Aashiq Hussain Ganaie, Aga Syed Abdul Hussain Mosuvi, Nissar Ahmad Ahanger, Mohammad Abdullah Chatwal and Ulfat Sabaa submitted their nomination to the electoral officer. Awami Ittihad Party chief and MLA, Langate, Abdul Rasheed Sheikh alias Engineer Rashid filed his nomination from Baramulla as an Independent. The other candidate, who filed his nomination today, was Garib Admi Party’s Ayaz Ahmad Sofi. Sitting National Conference MP Sharifuddin Shariq, Peoples Democratic Party leader Muzaffar Hussain Beigh and People’s Conference’s Salam-ud-Din Bajad were among the 10 candidates who filed their nominations from Baramulla till yesterday. Scrutiny of papers is scheduled to take place on April 21 and the last date for withdrawal of nomination is April 23. Out of the total of 1,616 polling stations to be set up at 1,303 locations in the constituency, the authorities have declared 1,091 polling stations as hyper sensitive and 445 as sensitive. Seventy polling stations have been identified as normal, while 43 are critical. The Baramulla constituency comprises 15 Assembly segments spread across Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora districts of north Kashmir. There are 11,51,744 electorate, including 5,45,219 female and 19 other voters, in the constituency.
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Even Parliament cannot scrap Article 370:
Beg
Anantnag, April 19 “He
(Modi) keeps on talking about scrapping Article 370, but he is unaware of the fact that the special status was granted to the state by a Constituent Assembly, which has long been dissolved,” said Beg while addressing a roadshow at Shangus in Anantnag district yesterday. He said leave alone the
BJP, even the Parliament could not abrogate the Article. “Modi is a threat to the secular fabric of India, including that of our state,” Beg said, adding that the minorities would feel “suffocated”, if Modi was elevated to the Prime Minister's office. Beg later addressed a public rally in the Pathribal area of
Anantnag. While addressing the gathering, he said justice had been eluding the Pathribal victims’ families. “I have time and again raised the issue in Parliament and will keep doing so if elected to the Lok Sabha again," said Beg. He took a dig at his opponent Mehbooba Mufti for neglecting the Pathribal encounter issue in Parliament during her tenure. “The fake encounter took place in 2000 and Mehbooba was elected to Parliament in 2004," Beg said, adding that not even a single time did she raise the issue in the Lok Sabha. Five civilians were killed in March 2000 in a fake encounter in Pathribal and passed off as foreign militants. After a CBI inquiry and hearings in the Supreme Court, the case was handed over to the Army court, which closed the case for lack of evidence in January this year.
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Clashes in Bandipora village: NC leader cancels workers’ meeting
Baramulla, April 19 The police fired tear-smoke shells and resorted to baton charge, triggering clashes between protesters and security personnel. A local mediaperson was among the five civilians who were injured in the clashes. After clashes, more police and CRPF personnel were deployment in the area to maintain law and order. The police said 20 police and CRPF men, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police and a Station House Officer, were injured in the clashes. Two houses also suffered some damage due to stone-throwing, the police said. A police spokesman in Srinagar said the situation in the village was normal now.
— OC
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Civil defence camp held at Katra
Katra, April 19 DIG, Civil Defence, Basant Rath was also present on the occasion. During the camp, the functionaries of the Civil Defence Department delivered lectures and presented demonstrations on their role in saving the life and property during any disaster. Students were told about safety measures to be adopted during any man-made or natural disaster. Students appreciated the efforts of the Civil Defence Department and thanked it for holding the camp.
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The Election Commission is non-committal over the setting up of special polling stations in Jammu for more than 10,000 Ladakhi students and scholars studying outside in various parts of the country.
Governor NN Vohra, who is also the chairman of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, held a meeting to discuss and identify areas for which plans need to be finalised to meet the long-term needs of the pilgrimage to the shrine.
The discussions were held with HL Maini, member and technical consultant of the Board, and MK
Bhandari, Chief Executive Officer of the Board, at Raj Bhawan here.
