Year: 2015

Government ‘turns a blind eye’ to illegal colonies on river banks

Editor

The revelation by the government in the Legislative Assembly about recovery of 925 kanals of land from encroachers along the Tawi in Jammu is good news for people, but the government has “actually” turned a blind eye to illegal colonies which have mushroomed in the past 10 years with “land sharks” on prowl to grab any open space. Most of the colonies have been constructed without following any norms, while civic bodies, especially the Jammu Development Authority (JDA), has turned a blind eye to all these constructions. The government has…

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Omar yet to learn decency, says Speaker

Editor

Speaker of the state Assembly Kavinder Gupta, “pained” over the repeated “derogatory” remarks passed by former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on him, today regretted that the working president of state’s oldest political party was yet to learn decency and decorum despite being a public figure of prominence in J&K politics. “Difference of opinion is normal in a democratic system like ours but treating your political opponents as inferiors and passing derogatory remarks against them is against the spirit of democracy,” Gupta told The Tribune while reacting sharply to Omar’s repeated…

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Police shift focus from regulating traffic to issuing challans

Editor

The traffic policemen manning city roads seem to have shifted their focus from regulating smooth flow of vehicular movement to achieving the given target of issuing “challans” to traffic rules violators. Motorists have to struggle to find their way at busy traffic points due to prevailing chaos. A single ride on city roads is enough to witness traffic policemen “pouncing” on the rider of a two-wheeler for violation of road safety norms, but ignore the chaos created by minibus operators, who can easily be spotted “greasing the palm” of law…

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Daily wagers threaten to snap water supply

Editor

The long-pending issue of regularisation of 63,000 daily wage, casual and need-based workers seems to be getting out of control as the workers have threatened to stop water supply to people. They have given a deadline till the end of the ongoing autumn session of the legislature, failing which they will take the extreme step of snapping water supply. This threat has already given a jolt to the Jammu and Kashmir Government, which has again gone in for a time-consuming process and asked leaders of their association to discuss the…

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Cancer cases on the rise in J&K

Editor

The number of cancer patients in the state witnessed a rise in 2014 as compared to the previous years. A written reply in the Legislative Council today said a total of 7,098 patients were detected with cancer at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, and the government medical colleges of Jammu and Srinagar. In 2013, 6,300 patients were detected with cancer at these three institutes. Till September end this year, 4,993 patients were detected with cancer. Meanwhile, as per the figures provided by the SKIMS, 3,940 cancer patients…

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JK Govt. approves 3000 more jobs for Kashmiri Migrants

Editor

Minister for Relief and Rehabilitation, Syed Basharat Bukhari said that Union Ministry of Home Affairs has conveyed in principle approval to provide additional 3000 State Government jobs to Kashmiri Migrants with financial assistance from the Union Government and to construct 6000 transit accommodations in Kashmir Valley for migrants whom State Government jobs have been/will be provided, adding that formal approval from the Union Government is awaited. The Minister said this while replying to a question by Surinder Mohan Ambardar in the Legislative Council today. The Minister said that to facilitate…

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Farooq warns against growing RSS influence

Editor

NC president Farooq Abdullah today expressed concern over the “growing influence” of the RSS across the country, which he termed as a threat to secular India. Talking to media persons, the former Union minister said growing communal incidents across the country and the ban on sale of beef in Jammu and Kashmir were ‘killing’ secular India. “I fear that secular India is being killed. The Constitution of our country gives the right to every person to understand and spread his religion. These traits helped every community to live in peace…

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Anti-beef ban bills sabotaged to save Govt: Omar

Editor

Leader of the Opposition and former chief minister Omar Abdullah Monday said bills seeking abolishment of beef ban laws had been sabotaged to save the government. Talking to reporters outside the Legislative Assembly, Omar said the State government moved to the Supreme Court seeking a decision into a plea against two different orders of the State High Court pertaining to slaughter of the bovines and enforcement of ban on sale of beef. “Why did the State move to the Supreme Court when the State legislature has powers to amend the…

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Jammu’s lifeline Tawi on verge of extinction

Editor

18 sewage channels from city polluting it; sand mafia indulging in unabated mining on riverbed Despite tall claims of the state administration of saving the Tawi — lifeline of the winter capital — various sewage channels of the city continue to pollute it with impunity. Consequently, Jammu’s lifeline is on the verge of extinction and what makes the situation more alarming is the fact that Jammu and Kashmir has suspended a plan of diverting highly polluted sewage channels into Tawi till the 13th Five Year Plan (from 2017 to 2021).…

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Govt to form panel to discuss return of Pandits to Valley

Editor

The government will form a new state-level advisory committee, which will take suggestions from all stakeholders to facilitate the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits. Law Minister Basharat Bukhari said the committee will take “real representatives” of the displaced community into confidence and draft a plan for the return of Kashmiri migrants to the Valley. Formation of new advisory committee is imperative as the previous one had not taken into confidence all stakeholders, Bukhari said while responding to a supplementary question by BJP MLC Surinder Ambardar in the Legislative Council…

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