Srinagar, August 14
Governor NN Vohra today said sustained peace and normalcy were vital to the future of the state and urged all segments and leaders to work shoulder to shoulder in resolving issues through dialogue and discussions. He said they should work unitedly to see that Jammu and Kashmir achieved speedy progress and secured its rightful place as the vanguard of the nation.

Greeting the people on the eve of the 68th Independence Day, the Governor observed that people had faced serious difficulties and gone through a long period of pain and suffering. He said despite problems created by activities of terrorist groups and intrusions, there had been a significant improvement in the overall security situation, for which the people owed gratitude to the security forces.

The Governor observed that the enhancing environment of peace and normalcy had contributed to the revival of economic activities and added that there had been a significant increase in tourism. Over six and a half million visitors had visited the state since the beginning of this year, he said.

Referring to the recent elections to Parliament and smooth transition of authority, the Governor observed that it had been demonstrated that democracy was deeply entrenched. He said, “In Jammu and Kashmir, elections are due later this year. I trust that the electorate, particularly first-timers, will turn out in the largest ever numbers to freely exercise their franchise. To achieve this, it will be important to ensure that normalcy is maintained.”

He said all parties and voters should play a responsible role for ensuring that the elections engendered an outcome which enhanced stability and enabled the state to achieve rapid progress.

He said the youth had dreams and aspirations, adding that it was the responsibility of the elected to manage the affairs of the state and take steps to ensure that the education system was not subjected to disruptions.

The Governor said since Independence, the country had secured commendable achievements on varied fronts. He said the failure to achieve equitable outcomes in certain areas had led to a situation in which a significant percentage of the population had been unable to cross the poverty line. He emphasised that all development programmes should be executed with efficiency, accountability and honesty.

He said the state government had been implementing welfare programmes with support from the Centre. He observed that past experience had demonstrated that ongoing endeavours would yield results only when the administrative apparatus carried out its tasks strictly.

Referring to Independence Day celebrations, the Governor observed that people should pay homage to leaders who had carried out a prolonged struggle for freedom and made untold sacrifices. He said the people should pay tributes to those who had drafted the Constitution.

Srinagar, August 14
In his message on the eve of Independence Day, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today presented the overview of the major achievements of his government registered during the last about six years and said the people would ‘judge our performance’.

Omar said there had been 80 per cent reduction in incidents involving militancy while referring to the ‘improvement’ in the security situation in the state during the last more than five and a half years. He said all schools and hospitals had been vacated from occupation of security forces while 1,000 private buildings, 300 government buildings, 40 hotels and 30 industrial units had also been cleared.

He said 350 youths had returned from across the Line of Control under the rehabilitation policy so far while 54 bunkers had been removed from Srinagar. He said no objection certificates for three lakh passports had been accorded during the last five years. Stating that 1,850 youths had benefited under the amnesty policy, he said warrants under the PSA had been brought down 50 per cent in last about six years from 2,500 in 2008 to 1,420 at present.

The Chief Minister said creating new administrative units across the state had taken the government to the doorstep of the people. He said 16,000 youths had benefited by way of receiving seed money under the SKEWPY while Rs 50 crore a year had been provided to the unemployed youth as unemployment allowance.

“On the employment front, my government provided one lakh jobs to the youth in government departments during the last five years whereas over 50,000 jobs were provided in the private sector,” he added. He said production of milk in the state had increased by four lakh tonnes during the last six years while 30,000 poor farmers had been provided backyard poultry to give a fillip to the economy.

The Chief Minister said power had remained under focus during the tenure of his government. Compared to generation of 750 MW hydro energy from 1947 to 2008, including 450 MW Baglihar project, his government had started projects of 1,500 MW capacity and laid foundation stones for generating 9,000 MW of hydro power in just about six years.

He said his government had sent proposals to the Government of India for generation of 5,000 MW of solar energy and 2,000 MW of wind energy in the state. He said during the last five years, 270 new bridges had been constructed, besides construction of 10,000 kilometres of new roads and macadamising on 15,000 kilometres.

Referring to the education sector, Omar said 5,000 new primary schools had been opened and an equal number upgraded during the last five years. He said 625 middle schools had been upgraded to high schools. He said 16,000 new school buildings had been constructed. He said two central universities, two new university campuses, about two dozen degree colleges, 50 polytechnics and ITIs and hundreds of schools were established.

The Chief Minister said with the improvement in the situation, the number of tourists visiting the state had increased year after year. He said 24 lakh visitors came to Kashmir during the period from 2003 to 2008 compared to 50 lakh during the period from 2008 to 2014 so far, which was likely to go up to 55 lakh by the end of the year.

Omar said the return of migrant Kashmiri Pandits was his cherished desire and the state had given a new proposal to the Centre for enhancing the economic package for them. He said the government had achieved 300 per cent increase in tax collection and 250 per cent increase in revenue collection without imposing any new tax.

Jammu, August 14
The BJP today appointed national general secretary of the party Jagat Prakash Nadda as election in charge of J&K and senior party leader Nirmal Singh as chairman of the campaign committee in the state, which will go to the polls by the end of the year.

The appointments were made by BJP national president Amit Shah in consultation with senior leaders of the party.

The appointment of Nadda as election in charge is a clear indication that the BJP is going to fight the coming elections very seriously as Nadda is one of the party’s finest election strategists, say sources.

The party high command has also given the green signal to induct the leaders of other political parties who have expressed their desire to join the BJP.

Highly placed sources in the party said the two-time MLA from Bishnah, Ashwani Kumar Sharma, who belongs to the “virtually defunct” Jammu State Morcha (JSM), will join the BJP on August 16. Sharma has convened a meeting of his supporters at Bishnah, where he will announce his decision to join the BJP. Sharma has won two successive elections from Bishnah in 2002 and 2008 as candidate of the JSM, which was created by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 2002.

“Chowdhary Lal Singh, two-time Lok Sabha member from Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha segment and former minister is also joining BJP in the last week of August,” a source said, adding that the party has opened communication with some more leaders of the Congress to field winnable candidates on all 37 seats of Jammu province.

Sources said that after appointment of Nirmal Singh as the campaign committee chairman, the party would start the process of finalising names of candidates for the coming Assembly elections.

Meanwhile, according to an official handout issued by the party, Amit Shah has also appointed Sat Sharma as secretary of the election campaign committee.

“The appointment of Nirmal Singh has been made keeping in view his vast experience in organisational and political matters. It has been welcomed by the party cadre as they are of the firm belief that Singh’s close rapport with the ground level activists in each constituency will bring in good results,” a party source said.

“Singh has extensively travelled across the state during the past 20 years while discharging his party responsibilities in different capacities and has knowledge of all the Assembly constituencies,” the source added. 

Srinagar, August 14
Ahead of the scheduled meeting of the Indo-Pak foreign secretaries in Islamabad on August 25, Pakistan has invited top Kashmiri separatist leaders for deliberations in New Delhi on August 19.

Hardline Hurriyat chief Syed Ali Shah Geelani, moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Shabbir Shah, leader of the breakaway faction of the Hurriyat Conference, were invited for the meeting by Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit.

Spokespersons of the two Hurriyat groups have confirmed that Geelani and Mirwaiz have accepted the invite extended by the Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi.

Jammu, August 14
Two senior police officers of the state have been awarded the President’s Police Medal, while 28 others have been conferred with the Police Medal on the occasion of the 68th Independence Day.

Munir Ahmad Khan, Inspector General of Police (Traffic), Srinagar, J&K, and Vijay Singh Samyal, Deputy Inspector General of Police, IRP Jammu, J&K, have been awarded the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service.

Nine police personnel have been selected for the Police Medal for Gallantry, while 19 have been awarded the Police Medal for Meritorious Service.

However, no police personnel from the state have been shortlisted for the coveted President’s Police Medal for Gallantry this year.

The medals were announced by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for the year 2014 today.

The recipients of the Police Medal for Gallantry include Deputy Superintendents of Police Choudhary Iftikhar Ahmed and Rayaz Iqbal Choudhary; inspectors Mohammad Manzoor Gojree and Sajad Mir; sub inspector Tabraz Ahmed Khan; late assistant sub inspector Kafil Ahmed Mir, head constable Sugreev Kumar, constables Fayaz Ahmed and Mohammad Sadiq Quershi.

Inspector General of Police T Punchok; Superintendent of Police Savita Parihar; DSPs Parshotum Lal Sharma, Abdul Wahid Giri, Hamid Hussain Choudhary, Mushtaq Ahmed Wani, Rajinder Singh Rahi, Mohammad Ajaz Bhat and Liyakat Ahmed Qadri; Pawan Kumar Gupta, private secretary to DGP; Farooq Ahmed, private secretary to ADGP Headquarters; sub inspectors Ghulam Nabi Rather and Lal Bhat; assistant sub inspectors Farooq Ahmed Bhat, Buaditta, Karnail Singh and Zaffar-ullah Mir; and head constables Abdul Salam Bhat and Mohammad Rafiq Wagay were awarded the Police Medal for Meritorious Service. Director General of Police K Rajendra Kumar congratulated the awardees and their families and hoped that such occasions come in their life again. 

Jammu, August 14
After not yet having taken a decision on the extension of lease to the Tosa Maidan firing range in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, the National Conference-Congress dispensation has not extended the lease of the Kalith Field Firing Range in the Akhnoor subdivision of Jammu district, affecting the training of the Army in the border state.

The lease that expired in June this year has not been extended despite the lapse of nearly two months and as a result the training of troops in artillery and mortars weapons’ systems has come to a halt.

It is a deliberate move by the Omar Abdullah-led government as the new dispensation at the Centre had recently denied revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the state, sources said.

The Army today regretted delay in extension of the lease to the Kalith Field Firing Range.

The lease granted to the Kalith Field Firing Range earlier expired in June and it has not been extended by the state government despite a lapse of nearly two months, Brigadier RS Bhaduria, Brigade Commander of the 52 Brigade, told reporters.

“The delay in extension of lease is causing a loss to our troops as they could not be trained and, therefore, a clean-up operation of the range is on to detect unexploded explosives,” he said.

The Kalith Field Firing Range, about 60 km from here, is spread over 8,000 acres and had been duly notified for the purpose by the state government in 1970.

The state government had been giving extension to the firing range after every 10 years, but this year the extension lapsed in June and despite the lapse of nearly two months it has not been renewed, the Brigadier said.

Pertinently, a notified firing range needs extension by the state government after every 10 years.

All the units under the 16 Corps undergo training at the Kalith Field Firing Range before being deployed on the Line of Control and in the hinterland.

The Army, meanwhile, said it has cleared 80 per cent of the artillery range and 75 per cent of the area of the mortar and demolition range of unexploded explosives.

A clean-up drive to sanitise the Kalith Field Firing Range from unexploded explosives and shells was launched by the 16 Corps on August 5 and the exercise will continue till the entire range area is sanitised, said a Defence spokesperson said. 

Anantnag, August 14
A little over 24 hours after a carjacking incident in Ramban district of Jammu division forced the security machinery to sound a red alert, a team of the Anantnag police recovered the vehicle from Shopian district in south Kashmir on Wednesday evening.

The carjacking of a Srinagar-bound car with a Punjab registration number on Tuesday created a suicide bomb attack scare ahead of Independence Day. The preliminary police investigation revealed that the carjacking was the handiwork of a gang of car thieves from south Kashmir.

A source said the Ramban police coordinated with their counterparts in every district of the state after registering a case on the basis of the complaint of the driver. The Anantnag police got some leads which helped them in recovering the car from Shopian district.

Anantnag SSP Sheikh Junaid confirmed the recovery of the car. “A team from the Ramban police are here and we are investigating the case together,” he said. He added that the initial investigation pointed to the involvement of car thieves.

He did not give details whether or not any arrest was made. “Investigations are being carried out on many levels. It will be too early to give more details,” he said.

The driver of the taxi, Karamveer Singh of Pathankot, was hired by some persons to take them to Srinagar. “He was paid some advance,” the source said.

He said the passengers, believed to be four in number, beat him up on reaching Ramban. He said they tied the driver to a tree and drove away.

“They threatened him of dire consequences in case he approached the police,” the source said. Some local residents later spotted Karamveer. After he was freed, he lodged a complaint with the Ramban police.

Srinagar/ Pulwama, August 14
A day after the militant attack that left three persons, including two policemen, dead in Pampore on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the J&K Police claim that the deadly attack was carried out by the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and not the Hizbul Mujahideen.

The preliminary police investigation has revealed that the two-member group of LeT’s Qasim module — which has been behind various deadly attacks on the Srinagar- Jammu highway since last year — carried out the attack on the police party.

“A local militant from Pulwama and a Pakistani national active in the area carried out the attack in Pampore,” said a senior police official in Srinagar.

On Wednesday evening, militants attacked the police party at Galander, Pampore, nearly 20 km from here, which left two police personnel and a civilian dead. It was the second major attack by militants at Pampore since Monday evening. Militants had attacked a BSF convoy on August 11, injuring 8 soldiers, in the same area.

Hizbul Mujahideen spokesman Baleeguddin had called a local news agency and claimed that his outfit had attacked the police party at Galander.

“Owning responsibility for attack has been a ploy of militants to divert investigation. The Galander attack was carried out by the LeT module headed by Pakistani militant Qasim, who is the most wanted militant of Kashmir. This module has carried out targeted attacks over the past one year mostly on the stretch from Anantnag to the Srinagar bypass,” the police official said. “The Qasim module was also behind the deadly attack on an Army convoy in Hyderpora in June last year which left eight soldiers dead and over a dozen injured. The responsibility for Hyderpora attack was also owned by Hizbul.”

Inspector General (IG) of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) K S Bhandari, who visited Pampore on Thursday, said they had put up security forces on high alert and had intensified patrolling in the wake of the recent attacks.

Jammu, August 14
Differently abled children of Asha School in the Jammu Cantonment celebrated the Independence Day in their unique way here today. Chairperson of the Tiger Division Family Welfare Organisation Usha Singh, on the occasion, hoisted the Tricolour.

The students were enlightened about the importance of the Independence Day and the sacrifices made by the freedom fighters to achieve independence. A traditional march past was also conducted on the occasion.

The children showed great enthusiasm in participating in the celebrations. A cultural programme was organised, in which students danced on the patriotic songs.

Rajouri, August 14
For the first time since its inception in 2002, authorities at Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University in Rajouri have decided to hoist the Tricolour on the occasion of Independence Day.

University's Communication Registrar Mohd Rashid Choudhry will hoist the Tricolour as VC IA Hamal is out of station. The university has not celebrated Republic Day and Independence Day. — OC

Jammu, August 14
Lt Gen KJ Singh, General Officer Commanding of the Western Command, will undertake his maiden visit to Jammu’s Tiger Division on August 20 and 21 to familiarise himself with the ‘sensitive’ 198-kilometre international border.

General Singh took over the reins of the Western Command, with its headquarters at Chandimandir, on August 1 after Lt Gen Philip Campose took over as new Vice Chief of Army Staff the same day.

“During his two-day familiarisation visit, General Singh will review operational preparedness of troops on the international border,” said a Defence source. He was likely to meet the top brass of the BSF Jammu Frontier, which had the operational responsibility of the border, the source added.

The BSF has the operational responsibility of the 198-kilometre international border from Paharpur post in Kathua to Chicken Neck in Akhnoor, north of Jammu.

On March 28, three heavily armed militants staged twin attacks in Janglote in Kathua district, killing two civilians and a soldier in a daylong encounter.

The international border close to the Jammu-Pathankot highway had always been the traditional and shortest route for Pakistani militants to try to intrude and they had been reportedly successful in the past.

The police believed that the three militants who carried out the attacks on March 28 infiltrated into the Hiranagar sector via Chhap nullah before emerging at Dayalachak bridge on the highway.

Jammu, August 14
The School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (SHTM), University of Jammu, in association with the J&K State AIDS Prevention and Control Society (JKSAPCS) today celebrated International Youth Day.

The theme for the event was “Youth and mental health, Jawan Hai Zindagi – shaping a better future”. During the event, poster-making, slogan-writing, and fireless healthy cooking competitions were organised.

In his welcome address, Prof Parikshat Singh Manhas, Director, SHTM, motivated the students to propagate the message contained in the theme among their peers and to act responsibly and become better global citizens.

He said the SHTM, being one of the most prestigious and prominent tourism schools, is always ready to encourage student-driven activities.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Danish Khan, Deputy Director, JKSAPCS, and chief guest of the function, highlighted the importance of International Youth Day. He stressed on the need to maintaining strong mental and physical health among the young generation and made the students take an oath to act as responsible citizens of the country and spread the message regarding the issues related to youth wellbeing among their peers.

Around 30 students of MBA (HT) and BBA (HM) participated in the various competitions.

Jammu, August 14
The Income Tax Department, Jammu, has got the ISO: 15700 certification for giving excellent services to taxpayers.

This certification is awarded as a licence for the Service Quality Management System and is given after rounds of inspection and checking all parameters laid down in this regard for providing taxpayers services and other comforts to the citizens as per the Citizen Charter released by the Income Tax Department.

Srinagar, August 14
Young women in the Valley are now making a mark in the aviation sector, both domestically and internationally.

A few years ago, Darakshan Bhat, 23, could only have dreamt about her job. But today she is a flight attendant in the Saudi Airlines. Six other Kashmiri women are her colleagues at the Saudi Airlines, says Darakshan.

“I had never thought that my parents would allow me to pursue my dream,” she says. “But now they feel proud of me. Most of my friends wanted to get into medical stream or teaching, but I wanted to do something different. I opted for aviation,” she says.

Until recently, career options for girls in Kashmir were limited as most of them preferred a career in medical sciences or academics. But that is changing and the new generation is looking beyond Kashmir. Aviation is now picking up as one of the major career options there.

Shafiya Majid (27) (name changed) hails from a remote village in north Kashmir. One of the first Valley women to join the aviation sector, she is working as a senior executive in the Jet Airways. “Unlike their predecessors, the new generation of women is following their dreams and aspirations,” Shafiya says.

Eight years ago when Shafiya joined Go Air in Srinagar, it was not an easy decision.

“Criticism from society was expected,” she says. “In fact, when I decided to join aviation, my parents too were reluctant. But I went ahead and chose this field. Today they are happy with my choice.”

As more and more Valley girls are attracted by this profession, many aviation institutes are setting-up their schools in Kashmir.

“The response received from the youth, especially girls, is very good,” says Captain Muneeb Bhat, who runs Air Borne, an aviation training institute in Srinagar.

Captain Muneeb is a former commercial pilot who opened the institute in Srinagar in 2006. “In every batch of 20, around 5-6 are girls. Almost all of them have been placed in international airlines. They are getting a handsome salary.”

Muneeb says the response is overwhelming, adding that there is need for more aviation schools in the Valley. “Whenever we call for admissions, hundreds of students approach us. But all of them can’t afford training at a private training school,” he says. “The government should open a few aviation institutes in Valley,” he added.

Jammu, August 14
The Indian Dental Association (IDA), Jammu branch, has claimed that the J&K State Dental Council (JKSDC) has failed to provide registration certificates to dental clinics.

It added that health authorities are conducting inspection of dental clinics and asking for the registration certificates of the clinics, but due to negligence of the JKSDC, which has failed to provide the certificates, the dentists are at the receiving end.

The step has been taken by the government to seal all illegally operating private nursing homes, hospitals, diagnostic centres and clinical laboratories in J&K.

The Indian Dental Association in a statement alleged that many dentists have submitted forms and payment to the JKSDC for registration of their dental clinics since 2006, but they have not yet received the registration certificates.

“Eight years have passed and dentists are still waiting for their certificates from the J&K State Dental Council. Now the health authorities of all the districts of the state have started the inspection of the dental clinics to seal unregistered and illegal clinics.

But due to the callous attitude of the J&K State Dental Council, dental surgeons of the Jammu province have to suffer as they cannot produce clinic registration certificate when asked by Health Department officials, who are conducting raids on clinical establishments,” it added.

The Indian Dental Association also appealed to the dentists that they should immediately bring to the notice of Indian Dental Association office-bearers if raids are conducted on their dental clinics, which have not been provided with the registration certificate.

Handwara, August 14
Residents of several villages of Handwara tehsil today protested against the Public Health Engineering and Irrigation departments for shortage of potable water and irrigation facilities.

The protestors alleged that the government was doing nothing to provide water to the drought-hit fields in the area. They blocked the Bakikar-Handwara road and raised slogans against the PHE and Irrigation departments. “Our fields have developed cracks due to lack of irrigation. Almost all sources of water have gone dry. We are also facing severe shortage of potable water,” said Ghulam Mohammad Sheikh. — OC

Srinagar, August 14
The leading hospitals of Kashmir, including Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital and Bones and Joints Hospital, lack super-specialty services like neurosurgery, cardio vascular surgery and plastic and reconstructive surgeries. These hospitals also lack diagnostic equipment like USG, doppler, CT Scan and MRI.

This has been observed by a recent study conducted by the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, while studying 322 cases of accident patients for a period of one year in 2013. The study was based on interviews, observations and review of records conducted by Dr Amir Saeed and Dr Aijaz Mustafa of the Hospital Administration Department, SKIMS.

The study says that SKIMS Soura’s emergency reception, which also deals with accident cases, was found short spaced. It said a majority of the victims in the study group were young adults from rural areas and literate. “A majority of the victims were breadwinners with low economic status and were not having a valid driving licence and were not wearing safety gadgets.” “None of the victims in the study group were provided first aid at the incident site and all of them were transported to a nearby health facility in public transport. It took an hour or more than an hour for the victims to reach the hospital from the accident site,” the study observed. The study concludes that trauma care should encompass aspects like enforcement of traffic regulations, better road conditions and transfer to nearest appropriate health facility.

Baramulla, August 14
Residents of Delina in Baramulla district on Wednesday staged a protest against shortage of potable water and erratic power supply. The protesters raised slogans against the government and blocked the Baramulla-Srinagar road for about an hour.

“For the past one week, we are facing severe shortage of potable water. Taps have run dry and women are forced to walk miles to fetch water from a nullah,” said Nazir Ahmad, a protester.

The local residents said they had apprised senior officials of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department of their problem, but to no avail.

“Today we were forced to stage a protest against the Public Health Engineering Department. The consumption of contaminated water from the nullah can lead to water-borne diseases,” said Liyaqat Ahmad, a local resident.

The locals said the village was reeling under frequent power cuts for the past many days. “What is the point in paying power tariff when electricity is not provided to us according to the curtailment schedule in place,” said Habibullah Pir, a local. The protesters were pacified only after the police assured them that the higher authorities would be apprised of their problems.