Posts Tagged ‘Srinagar’
Written by admin on 07 May 2012
Srinagar, May 7 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Monday said he had triggered a debate on the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) last year to ‘force a decision’ for its selective withdrawal.
‘Unfortunately, so far we have not been able to cross the final mile towards the selective revocation of AFSPA,’ Abdullah said.
He was speaking at a media session at the civil secretariat on the occasion of the reopening of the top government offices here after their six-month sojourn in winter capital Jammu.
‘One could either keep quiet about it or one could make a public discourse to force a decision in that direction. We chose the second option,’ Abdullah said.
‘Yes, there was some digging of heels from certain quarters which was accepted. I believe in the months ahead there will be significant forward movement towards the selective revocation of AFSPA from areas where the presence of the army is not needed,’ he said.
The chief minister said: ‘After a gap of six months the civil secretariat has started functioning in Srinagar. We have arrived here from Jammu with the hope that the coming six months would remain peaceful in the state and like last year we will get people’s cooperation so that the commitments made by the coalition government are fulfilled.’
Abdullah said the panchayat elections (rural civic polls) held in the state in 2010 were a huge success.
‘We were able to re-establish the Panchayati Raj after more than 30 years. The process of empowerment of ‘Panches’ (civic representatives) and ‘Sarpanches’ (senior civic representatives) is not going to be painless,’ he said.
There is a generation of politicians who do not know how to function together with the elected Panches and Sarpanches, Abdullah cautioned.
‘It is a resistance we are going to break. I believe in the next six months you will see significant empowerment of the Panchayats in the state,’ he said.
The chief minister also said the final decision on the timing of the forthcoming civic polls in the state is yet to be taken.
He said it was yet to be decided whether the civic polls would be held after the present tourist season ends or it could be held in other places, leaving the big cities of Srinagar and Jammu out for the time being.
‘In any case, these polls have to be held before the end of 2012,’ he said.
He also said that for this year’s annual ‘Amarnath Yatra’ (Hindu religious pilgrimage) health checks of pilgrims has been made compulsory.
‘Last year more than 100 pilgrims died because of poor health. The Amarnath Shrine board has made health checks of pilgrims compulsory this year’, he said.
On his arrival at the civil secretariat here, the chief minister was given a guard of honour by a smartly turned out contingent of the state armed police. Senior civil and police officers were present at the function.
Tags: Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar
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Written by admin on 05 May 2012
Srinagar, May 5 (IANS) With 10 from Jammu and Kashmir clearing this year’s all-India civil services exams, the state is only next to UP and Bihar in sending maximum number of people for top government jobs.
While Syed Abid Shah, already in the Indian Police Service (IPS), is ranked 23. Sehrish Asgar, who topped the Jammu and Kashmir combined services exam in 2010, has secured the 118th rank.
Others who have made it to this year’s final list of 910 candidates include Muhammad Aijaz, Manazir Jeelani, Raj Kumar Arya, Nitish Suri, Bashir Ahmad Bhat, Inam-ul-Haq, Qazi Muhammad Salman Ibrahim and Pooja Hali.
“More and more youths from the state are being selected in civil services. It won’t be too long when the state will have sufficient representation in the services,” said Inspector General of Police A.G. Mir, who belongs to Kupwara district.
Shah Faesal, a Kashmiri doctor, topped the 2009 civil services exams. He is presently the assistant commissioner (revenue) in Kashmir’s Badgam district.
Tags: Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar
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Written by admin on 05 May 2012
Srinagar, May 5 (IANS) Security forces shot dead two guerrillas of the Hizbul Mujaheedin in Jammu and Kashmir early Saturday, police said.
Men from 29 Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operations Group (SOG) surrounded Nillah village in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district after being tipped about the rebels inside a house.
‘The troops asked the militants to surrender, upon which they opened fire, triggering a gunfight which has now ended with both of them dead,’ an officer said.
The slain men were identified as locals. The house in which the guerrillas were holed up was damaged during the gunfight.
Tags: Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar
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Written by admin on 04 May 2012
Srinagar, May 4 (IANS) Unidentified people looted two Self-Loading Rifles (SLRs) from a police picket in Jammu and Kashmir when the policemen were away offering Friday prayers.
Police said the miscreants decamped with the weapons in Padguchi village in Shopian, 64 km from here.
Police guards are deployed in remote villages to protect Kashmiri Pandit families still living in the Kashmir Valley though thousands of them have quit for good to escape separatist violence.
Tags: Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar
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Written by admin on 03 May 2012
Srinagar, May 3 (IANS) Brazilian football coach Juan Marcos, who has been coaching Kashmiri players for several years, Thursday expressed happiness over the national award to Ashvin Kumar’s documentary ‘Inshallah Football’ but added that his programme has been facing serious hardships in the Valley.
“I am extremely happy to hear about the award to the director of the documentary, but it does not make much difference to my work in Kashmir as I have been facing serious hardships here,” Marcos told IANS.
He said his coaching programme has been banned by the Jammu and Kashmir Football Association, creating a major hurdle to his coaching ambitions in the Valley.
“My aim is only to coach the local boys and exploit their natural talent for the game, but unfortunately this has received a serious setback because of the ban,” Marcos said.
Marcos sent six local players for training to Brazilian football coaching academies last year.
“The boys have returned after undergoing training there and obtaining certificates. They are now training others in the academies I have set up in different districts.
“Every thing went well till the local football association wrote to the government to ban my programme. I was told that my programme has been banned because I am a Christian missionary, which is totally wrong,” he said.
Marcos had been training local players at the Polo Ground in summer capital Srinagar, but after the ban he is not allowed to use the ground for his programme.
“I continue to train in other smaller grounds, but am extremely disappointed by the decision of the local football association,” he said.
Marcos and his wife Priscilla are living in Srinagar for the last seven years.
Tags: Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar
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Written by admin on 03 May 2012
Srinagar, May 3 (IANS) Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah Thursday refuted reports that the separatists might participate in the 2014 assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
‘There is no question of joining elections in the state under the prevailing conditions,’ he said at a press conference.
Shah was reacting to comments made by the former chief of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) A.S. Daulat in an interview to the Rising Kashmir newspaper.
‘There is no such possibility. We are engaged in a peaceful freedom struggle and the question of joining state assembly elections under the prevailing circumstances does not arise,’ said Shah, a member of the moderate Hurriyat group, who has been off and on under house arrest for the past four months for attempting to organise separatist rallies and protests.
He also urged leaders of the divided Hurriyat Conference to dissolve individual groups and merge with the parent body.
‘The Hurriyat has to move forward in a structured manner. Grassroots level elections for the Hurriyat must be held and the responsibilities at each level must be clearly defined. The Hurriyat has to be strengthened in the best interests of the people,’ he said.
Shah is part of Hurriyat group headed by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq. He is also chairman of the Democratic Freedom Party.
On the return of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley, Shah said: ‘They are a part and parcel of Kashmir. Their respectful return is essential for the unity and diversity of the state.’
‘When I was released from jail in 1995, I started my journey to Kashmir after paying obeisance at the temples in Jammu. Ours is a peaceful struggle for freedom and coexistence and nobody would be allowed to dilute this fundamental character of our movement,’ he said.
Tags: Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar
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