DIED: Aisha Begum, 75, mother of Afzal Guru passed away at her residence, Doabgaw, Sopore. She was laid to rest at her ancestral graveyard in Sopore. Afzal was convicted in Parliament’s attack and is presently being held at Tihar jail in Delhi.
DIRECTED: Delhi High Court directed Railway Board experts’ suggestions on public safety issues for Katra-Qazigund rail link project connecting Jammu to Srinagar after it was alleged that apprehensions about the current alignment have been ignored. Railway Board is considered to pass an order within eight weeks. The project has missed many deadlines.
JAILED: Mushtaq Ahmad Shah, former Principal Government Medical College, was remanded to Central Jail till October 4 by Special Judge Anti Corruption. The accused Principal had fabricated a letter under the forged signatures of Director Central Vigilance Commission to give a benefit to his wife, Dr Safoora Bilques over Dr Mohammad Ashraf who happened to be the HoD of Social and Preventive Medicine Department, Government Medical College, Srinagar at the relevant point of time.
OPENED: Srinagar Office of Chenab Valley Power Projects Limited (CVPP) was opened at Kralsangri, Nishat. It was inaugurated by M Y Khan, Chairman, CVPP, in presence of Sudhanshu Panday, Principal Secretary PDD, Director CVPP, D P Bhargav, Director Technical NHPC/Director CVPP, S C Gupta, Managing Director CVPP and S K Raina, Executive Director CVPP. CVPP is a joint venture of the Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (49%), NHPC (49%) and PTC (2%) to harness hydro power potential in the State.
HARASSED: The Muslim League (ML) Jammu and Kashmir alleged that Masarat Alam Bhat who is serving detention in Udhampur Jail, Jammu, is being subjected to harassment and humiliation by the jail authorities. “Masrat Alam is forced to move with his bedding on shoulders. He is forced to walk without shoes or sleepers. A temple has been set up in his barrack to disturb him while offering prayers,” the acting ML Ameer alleged.
APPROVED: State government accorded approval to J&K Skill Development Policy for the 12th Five Year Plan. The decision was taken at the meeting of cabinet chaired by the Chief of the state. Authorities say this step would enhance the employability of the youth in the state and will address the growing skill gaps among youth. To achieve the target, an estimated Rs. 1575 crore will be required during the period in various sectors.
VISITED: KC Venugopal, Union Minister of State for Power visited 330 MW Kishan Ganga Power Project. The project is being constructed by the National Hydro Power Corporation in north Kashmir. Locals allege that administration facilitated minister’s visit early in the morning to ensure that locals stay away from him and had allowed only a handful of people to meet the minister.
APPROVED: A K Antony, India’s Defence Minister in a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council approved a proposal worth Rs 60 crores to procure two body truck scanners for the Military Intelligence, which is expected to deploy the equipment to scan cargo coming from across the LoC in J&K. The scanner will enhance the capability of the Army to detect arms and ammunition and chemicals also.
DECLARED: State High Court has declared that the distance mode degrees provided by Ponnaiyah Ramajayam Insitute of Science and Technology (PRIST) Tamil Nadu are invalid. PRIST University has skipped one of the mandatory steps; it is neither affiliated with University of Kashmir nor has got any permission from the state government.
APPOINTED: Parvez Dewan, 58, a 1977 batch IAS officer of J&K cadre was appointed as a new Tourism Secretary. Dewan was secretary of the Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry and has been serving as the Chairman-and-Managing Director of Indian Tourism Development Corporation. He has authored 18 books and has got prominence for translating the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ into English, written ‘The Names of Allah,’ and brought out ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ in Urdu. He was also the co-author of “Tibet: Fifty Years After.”
DETECTED: Khalid Majeed Bhat, 31, the fraudster, has disappeared after swindling lakhs of rupees from a number of people. Bhat has been introducing himself as a ruling National Conference worker and a close associate of Nasir Sogami, Minister of State for Home. The NC spokesperson has denied his association with the party.
STARTING: The work on the Zojilla tunnel aimed to provide all seasonal physical connectivity between Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region will begin from nest month. It is said that the foundation of the tunnel’s first phase (6.5 km long) will be laid at Gagangeer, Sonamarg on October 4. The second 13.5 km phase will be laid at Zojilla pass.
PLANNED: State government has planned to make much delayed Super Specialty Hospital (SSH) at Resham Ghar, Jammu functional by December this year. It would be a run by GMC, Jammu. 50 % of its staff would be recruited from outside because of their non availability in the state, authorities say.
