Kashmir Times

Labels: Border Secuirty Force, Fatima Bano, srinagar

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Labels: AIDS, HIV, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, NACP III, UNODC

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Labels: Gharib Rath, New Delhi-Jammu Tawi Rajdhani Express, Rail Budget

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Sources said that despite being referred to as a non agenda item, the proposal of transfers and postings at the Commissioner/Secretary level is likely to be taken up for discussion and approval. They maintained that the proposal includes transfer of officers presently manning the Chief Minister's secretariat.

Sources added that Pawan Kotwal is being relieved of the additional charge of the home department with the placement of Financial commissioner (Home).

They maintained that keeping the precedence of posting the senior most bureaucrat as Financial Commissioner (Home), state government is likely to transfer and post Financial Commissioner (Agriculture) S.S.Sahni as FC (Home).

Presently, the three senior most IAS officers in the state administration after Chief Secretary B.R.Kundal are Financial Commissioner (Agriculture) S.S.Sahni, Financial Commissioner (Planning) S.S.Kapur and Resident Commissioner at New Delhi Sadanand.V.Bhave.

Sources averred that while there is very little possibility of Bhave's return to the state administration, Financial Commissioner (Agriculture) S.S.Sahni being the next senior most after Bhave should be the appointed as Financial Commissioner (home).

Sources said that the posting of FC (Home) might get further delayed as a strong political lobby is seeking appointment of a local bureaucrat as Financial Commissioner (Home).

They added that even the name of the bureaucrat has been discussed with the Chief Secretary B.R.Kundal on a number of occasions.

However, they stressed that the decisions is dependent on the consensus among the cabinet ministers both from the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and Congress.

Labels: Director General of Information, PDP

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They have been identified as Yasir Arafat son of Mohammad Safi, a resident of Mohalla Thara, Basharat Hussain son of Zahoor Goni, a resident of Chenote and Sadiq son of Gula Ram of Kursari village in Bhaderwah district.

During the investigation, the arrested persons revealed that they had received the cache of ammunition from the constable of 113 Battalion of Central Reserve Police Force Farooq Ahmed. They further disclosed that the constable had hatched the entire conspiracy which led to cancellation of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's visit there on Friday.

According to a report, neither the state police nor any other central security agency confirmed the operation for recovery of the arms and explosive material, including three kilograms of RDX, two Chinese grenades, a grenade launcher, two detonators, seven rounds of AK-47, four rounds of Pika Gun, one wireless set and a mobile phone charger.

However, the sources disclosed that the CRPF team in civil dress had descended on an abandoned house in Teligarh area of Chinnot village and allegedly placed all the ammunition and the explosive powder there.

Sources further maintained that the inquiry team recorded the statement of the grocery shop owner who had supplied food including a chicken preparation to the CRPF team, which had stationed itself a day prior to the visit of

Labels: CPRF, RDX, UPA chairperson

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Official sources affirmed that understanding the necessity of bringing the act at par with the central act; state government is mulling the option of amending the Right to Information (Amendment) Act-2008 through an ordinance, if the legislature does not meet for a session before April 2008 at Jammu.

They added that exercise for amending the recently amended Right to Information act has begun. Sources said that the draft is likely to be placed before the state cabinet for its approval either for introduction in the legislative assembly or for being sent to the Governor for amending the act through an ordinance.

Sources affirmed that state legislature is likely to meet in the month of March to take up the important government business which could not be taken up due to the unexpected end of the budget session on January 29.They stressed that government business included a bill for further amending the Right to Information (Amendment) Act-2008.

If the session would not have ended abruptly, they were expecting to bring the bill in the last week of the session.They added that the new amendment bill was being drafted by the experts of the law department while the house was in session.

Urgency of re-amending the act was felt after the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Wajahat Habibullah called the recent amendments to the act insipid and impressed upon the Chief Minister to bring it at par with the central act. Following this, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad asked the law department to prepare an amendment bill aimed at further strengthening the state RTI act.

Labels: CIC, RTI

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The coaltion was formed after the two leaders met on Thursday night.

Prior to the meeting, key differences existed over approach to judiciary and fate of President Pervez Musharraf.

Hours before the meeting at Zardari House in the heart of Islamabad, Sharif, chief of PML-N stepped up pressure on Zardari, co-chairman of PPP, to accede to his party's demand for the reinstatement of deposed judges, joining hundreds of protesting lawyers and vowing to restore deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to the Supreme Court.

Meeting face to face for the first time after the ruling PML-Q that backs Musharraf was roundly defeated at the recent parliamentary polls, Zardari and Sharif - once bitter rivals- were expected to push for a ‘national consensus government' that will also include smaller parties like ANP and MQM.

PPP, which emerged as the single largest party with 87 seats and Sharif's PMLN together have 153 seats with votes counted in 258 out of 272 constituencies.

Labels: Asif Ali Zardari, PPP-PML-N

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US President George W Bush described the vote, which was less violent and fairer than most people anticipated, as "a victory for the people of Pakistan", while a State Deparment spokesman urged the next government to work with Musharraf.

Musharraf is a key Muslim ally for the United States in its fight against al Qaeda, and also oversaw better ties with rival India.But neighbours and allies now fear nuclear-armed Pakistan is becoming more unstable and economic gains could be squandered.

Pakistani stocks edged to a life-high in early trade, as investors registered relief that the vote was less violent and fairer than feared, saying it was a first step towards stability.

A wave of sympathy helped Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) win the most seats in the National Assembly in Monday's election, in which the allies of former army chief Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, suffered big losses.

But the PPP needs coalition partners and the president's camp is banking on persuading it to invite the

Labels: anti -Pravez coalition, Asif Ali Zardari, PML, PPP

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This negative trend, among other reasons, can also be traced to the tendency of people to go for self medication and flouting of prescribed norms while issuing the licenses to the medical shop owners.

Grappling with problems like lack of drug-testing facilities, shortage of specially-trained cadres like drug inspectors and non uniformity of enforcement of laws, the valley is fast turning into a haven for spurious drugs. The experts have warned that the lack of facility for quality testing of drugs is bound to pose danger to the local population, adding it has already taken a heavy toll here in the valley over the past many years. A study carried out by the state's premier medical institute, Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) has shown that the free availability of fake drugs in the state has helped develop immunity among the disease-causing microbes for a variety of drugs. "Drugs available in the market are devoid of the original content or they have very low content in their preparations," the study reveals.

According to the reliable sources there is no working state regulatory authority to monitor licensing the drug holders. The diagnostic centers like X-ray centers, medical laboratories, clinics run by the people posing as professionals and the medical shops have witnessed a mushrooming growth in the valley during the past few years. All the medical shops opened after 1990s, according to sources, have not been established as per the norms laid by the regulatory authorities.

But interestingly, most of these shops still exist as the government felt "compelled" to give them licenses when they denied closing their shops. The condition for a medical shop owner for putting up a shop is that he should have a minimum qualification of B Pharma or should have done pharmacist training.

"It has become a usual refrain in the valley now that the medicines which could not be sold elsewhere, can get an easily available market in the valley", comments Ashiq Ahmad, a patient waiting for his turn outside the out patients' department in SKIMS Hospital, Srinagar.

The absence of Drug Act in Kashmir is also said to be acting as a hurdle in the way of effective implementation of drug-control measures.

Says Dr Nazir Mushtaq, Assistant Professor Government Medical College Srinagar: "In the absence of Drug Act, Kashmir has become a dustbin for drugs. The drug, which is rejected elsewhere, is simply sent to the valley for sale. Had there been the Drug Act in place, such things wouldn't happen here."

Dilating upon the "helplessness" of doctors in this regard, he said: "We prescribe the best quality drugs but we cannot comment on the quality. A particular drug is available in the market under different brand names. How can we comment on the quality?" According to him, it is a "wrong notion among the common people" that doctors prescribe drugs to their patients of the companies from which they receive gifts and perks.

"People in our state tend to go for self-medication since no awareness programmes are being run about the side-affects of self medication. People take unnecessary antibiotics or supplementary medicines without realizing the potent danger these drugs pose to their health. Quoting a report published in the Weekly news magazine, he said that this report has revealed how Dichlonoflax sodium used in some painkiller injections is fatal for vultures "but here people take injections containing this salt even without consulting some doctor."

Labels: SKIMS, Spurious drugs

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Similarly Awami National Party (ANP) has reported to have secured early gains in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). As the latest counting trends reveal no absolute majority for any single party, the possibility of post-poll PML-N and PPP coalition has gained ground. The prospects of severe drubbing for General Pervez Musharraf's Pakistan Muslim League-Q too have become imminent.

Counting began on Monday after an election in Pakistan which was far less violent than feared, although it could result in a parliament set on driving U.S. ally President Pervez Musharraf from power.

The former army chief called for reconciliation after casting his vote in the city of Rawalpindi, where opposition leader and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on December 27.

The vote for a new National Assembly and provincial assemblies was to have been held early last month, but was delayed because of Bhutto's assassination.

Polling stations closed their doors at 5 p.m. (1200 GMT). Results are expected to start emerging by midnight and trends should be clear on Tuesday morning.

The death of Bhutto, the most progressive, Western-friendly politician in a Muslim nation rife with anti-American sentiment, raised concern about stability in the nuclear-armed state.

Labels: Pakistan elections, PML-N, PPP

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The shadow of violence loomed large over the polls, with two suicide attacks hours before the end of campaigning at midnight last night leaving nearly 50 people dead and over 100 injured.

Analysts pointed out that Pakistan's problems might not end soon as the polls are widely expected to throw up a hung Parliament.

Over 81 million people are eligible to vote in Pakistan's four provinces and seven restive tribal agencies bordering Afghanistan to choose 342 members of the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament and 728 members of provincial assemblies.

The government has deployed 81,000 troops and nearly 400,000 policemen to ensure security for the polls and President Pervez Musharraf has warned that there will be "zero tolerance" for attempts to disrupt the elections or to organise protests after the results are announced.

The counting of votes will begin by evening tomorrow and results are expected the next day.

Meanwhile, it was a bloody end to the last day of campaigning in Pakistan. 37 people are dead in a suicide attack at the PPP officer in Parchinar in the In Pakistan, just two days before the elections.

The much ballyhooed Nawaz Sharif-Zardari meeting produced nothing - no mention of how they intend to take forward their ambitious vision of a grand coalition.

Labels: Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, Pak polls, Pervez Musharraf

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Addressing a gathering in a function organized by the "J&K Forum For Peace and Reconciliation", Farooq alleged that successive union governments have propagated regional-problems by creating hatred among the people of all the three regions viz Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.

"Through the discriminatory policies being adopted by the successive governments, they have always tried to destabilize the communal harmony and provoked the people of all the three regions against each other," alleged Farooq.

However, he asserted that NC has no role, whatsoever, in the prevailing situation of this militancy-inflicted state and blamed central govern ments as well as Pakistan for militancy and the poor plight of the people.

Labels: Farooq Abdullah, National Conference

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For the last several years Hurriyat (M) only existed at a bigger level at Indo-Pak scenario but it was no way near to the common man at the ground level.

Subsequently, its leaders were more in touch with the leaders of Pakistan and India than their own people.

This was evident from the fact that the Hurriyat faction informally presented its road map for the solution of Kashmir issue to Pakistan president Gen Pervez Musharraf with the people in Jammu and Kashmir hardly knowing about it.

Even the government of India was communicated broader outline of the road map through back channels.

The road map while traveling internationally managed to reach very late finally to a section of people here.

Till very recently, the Hurriyat (M) leaders rather than visiting different parts of the state gave preference to their foreign visits. They would occasionally move outside Srinagar to make their symbolic presence. On the other hand JKLF, Hurriyat (G) and DFP of Shabir Ahmad Shah used to remain engaged with their programmes with public.

JKLF's signature campaign and Safar-e-Azadi reached even the border areas and attracted a lot of public attention. From the very beginning Shabir Shah tried to focus equally on Jammu and Ladakh regions also besides Kashmir. Hurriyat (G) chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani despite his ill-health has been visiting different parts of Kashmir.

Labels: Hurriyat, Jammu and Kashmir

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Reports said that about 900 trucks carrying essential commodities and 450 light vehicles including passenger vehicles from Jammu have crossed Jawahar Tunnel till 7:00 P.M this evening. Despite the slippery road conitions at different places on highway particularly at Pantitop, Shatani Nullah and Banihal areas, the one-way traffic was still going on with very low speed, the reports said, adding that one-way traffic from Srinagar to Jammu will be allowed tomorrow morning which remained suspended for seven days due to unprecedented snowfall.

However, hundreds of Srinagar bound passengers who had to spend the night in their vehicles in below freezing temperature due to heavy traffic jam and slow movement of vehicles on highway today staged massive protest demonstrations at different places and raised "anti-administration" slogans.

A Srinagar bound passenger at Patnitop told the Kashmir Times telephonically that passengers were stranded at Patnitop and Batote since Sunday afternoon. "We left Jammu early morning on Sunday and after reaching Patnitop, it was total confusion and choas due to the road block", he said.

He informed that thousands of passengers including women and children had to spend night in their vehicles on the highway in below freezing temperature, after authorities announced reopening of the road on Sunday morning, adding that there was no arrangement from the authorities for the stranded passengers.

Labels: Cold in Jammu-Kashmir, National Highway open

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Rohit finished unbeaten on 39 and Dhoni was on 17 as Ricky Ponting ran out of attacking options with only four specialist bowlers in his line-up. The pair was in no hurry and for 13 overs India scored only in singles as they battled from 3 for 93 to 5 for 118. While the match remained alive, the crowd did not care that picket fences were being constructed on the scoresheet instead of being cleared by towering sixes.

The previous day in Wellington England were thrashed as New Zealand chased down 131 with 20 overs to spare.

But with an extra 30 runs, a world champion attack and helpful conditions for the fast bowlers, Australia proved that low totals can still make for gripping contests at the highest level.

It was fitting that Dhoni was there at the end, as his aggressive captaincy earlier in the day had put his side in a winning position. He must have had moments of doubt though when he watched his top order stumble. After India's Twenty20 thrashing at the hands of Australia less than a fortnight ago Dhoni said the batsmen had forgotten their individual roles.

Similar problems were glimpsed in the 50-over format until Dhoni and Rohit came together.

Things were ticking along comfortably at 2 for 89 with Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir both looking dangerous. Gambhir was caught when Brett Lee surprised him with extra bounce but Tendulkar threw his wicket away by driving Mitchell Johnson to mid-off on 44 as the runs began to dry up.

Labels: India beats Australia, India wins at MCG

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Also red alert has been sounded by the local administration in Udhampur and Doda district in the view of situation arisen due to inclement weather.

The serious road blockades put up by the avalanches and shooting stones triggered by heavy snowing and rains at Painthal and Patnitop could not be cleared off even on the third day today. It was snowing in the areas till the last reports came.

Reports said that the areas around Jawahar Tunnel experienced 5.5 feet snow whereas Patnitop got an average snowfall of 3.5 feet.

Also areas like, Kud, Batote and Banihal received one feet snow besides Nowgam got 2.5 feet snow. However rains kept on lashing Painthal throughout the day, making clearance work impossible for the GREF to execute.

While speaking to KTNS, DSP Traffic, NH1A, M H Badroo said, "It's still snowing in areas like Banihal, Qazigund and Patnitop and Doda due to which other routes like Doda-Kishtwar Bhaderwah and QazigundJammu are closed for vehicular movement."

He said that several passenger vehicles as well as load carriers of essentials are stranded along the highway.

"As many as ten Light Motor Vehicles carrying passengers at Banihal, 32 at Ramban and 40 at Udhampur are lying stranded. So far as number of stranded heavy motor vehicles is concerned they amount to 1100 including 140 at ChanderkotRamban, 360 at Udhampur and 500 at Manwal" he maintained.

Labels: Cold in Jammu-Kashmir, NH blocked

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Official sources said that the package is intended at redressing the grievances of the militancy victims within shortest possible time. They added that the new proposal, abolishing the policy of providing government jobs to kin of militancy victims under SRO-43, has been submitted to the Centre.

Earlier, family of each militancy victim used to get Rs one lakh as compensation and a government job to one of the kin. Under this policy, 2,370 people have been appointed since 1994 till 2003; they said adding 3,800 applications under the old scheme are still pending with the authorities.

Sources informed that the new proposal envisages providing alternatives to the Next Of the Kins (NOKs) of deceased. They added that under the new policy, victims of the militancy which are presently covered under SRO-43 would be given option of either waiting for the government job or accepting a compensation of Rs.3 to 5 lakh.

Sources averred that the policy emphasizes to provide compensation or job to a direct dependent and immediate family member of the deceased having no other source of income.

They maintained that self employed kins of the deceased would not be considered for availing benefits under the new policy.

Official sources said that if employment cannot be provided to next of the kins (NOK's) of the deceased, the policy stresses for giving one time compensation of Rs. 3 lakh to the family of the deceased and thereafter, closing the case. The policy has sought to include victims of the Kargil war including persons rendered invalid due to cross firing and mine blasts.

Labels: Jammu and Kashmir, NOKs

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To meet the worsened situation on its western borders which had escalated after the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan has thinned out its troop strength against India, including across the Loc in Jammu and Kashmir, well-placed sources told UNI.

At least nine brigades of various Strike Corps, including two from the crucial I Corps's (also known as Army Reserve North) Kharian-based 17 Infantry Division, have been moved towards violent Afghan borders, sources said.

The Army Reserve North across the Line of Control (LOC), especially its troops at Kharian on the South of Jehlum and West of Chhamb sector of Jammu region, always had a strategically advantageous position against India.

Sources said three Brigades of Peshawar-based XI Corps and two of Quetta-based XII Corps were also moved to take on violence in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) on bordering Afghanistan.

Labels: jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, kashmir, kashmir news

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