REPRIMANDED: Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand flew to Delhi early morning after cancelling his engagements for a pre-noon meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Sources said he was summoned by party high command for deliberately skipping the All Party Meeting and resorting to anti-party activities against PCC chief Saif ud Din Soz at the behest of Ghulam Nabi Azad.
SEEKING: A day after the Additional District Magistrate heading the enquiry team into the killing of three youth by the police in Islamabad town stated that the locals and family members of the deceased youth were not co-operating the family members said that they were ready to depose if the safety of the eight witnesses was guaranteed.
CLASHED: Five people including two policemen were injured in clashes after two teenage girls, apprehended by police along with a boy, went missing in Paddar area of Kishtwar district. Police resorted to cane charge and teargas shelling to control over 2,000 protesters, who were marching towards the police station chanting anti-police and anti-government slogans demanding suspension and arrest of SHO Farooq Ahmed Wani.According to police, on July 12 they arrested a 22-year- old boy in a “compromising position” with two girls aged 19 and 17 years. While the boy was booked, police claimed to have released the girls on the same day. However, the parents of the girls claimed that they did not reach home until next morning.
FOUGHT: BJP leader Ashok Khajuria and MLA Engineer Rasheed almost came to blows in the All Party meet when BJP said those killed in the police action to quell protests were anti-nationals, sponsored by Pakistan who cannot be treated as innocents, while Rashid termed them martyrs and innocents with whom one can have differences but can not be termed outcastes. Intervention by Dr Farooq Abdullah saved the situation.
Barring a few independents, entire house was appreciative of Delhi’s “support” in crisis management. Dr Farooq Abdiullah , however, termed Delhi as “devious”. “If I tell you what they did to me in 1996 you will cry,” he told the meeting.
SIGNED: J&K Power Development Department and GVK Development Projects Limited signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) recently for procurement of power on long term basis from 690 MW Ratle Hydro Electric Project (HEP).The HEP project would be constructed in Village Drabhashala, 25 kms downstream of Kishtwar on Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis. It would come into existence through private participation for a period of 35 years excluding 7 years of construction. The project will be reverted to the State on payment of a terminal value of Rs. 380 crore.
SCANNED: After ABVP’s allegations that a large number of Kashmiri students had got admissions in educational institutions in Bhopal, the state BJP government has formed a committee to recommend among other things the ratio of students from Madhya Pradesh to those from other states. ABVP alleged that Kashmiri students were getting into institutions by bending rules and by offering money to corrupt staffers. they demanded their thorough police verification.
BANNED: Four days after the newspapers in Kashmir resumed publication, the government banned beaming of Pakistani news and religious Tv channels. The government decided to ban the Pakistan news and religious channels after consultations with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. In its efforts to check the unrest and large-scale protests in Kashmir, the government first suspended mobile telephone services in north Kashmir and then banned SMS services throughout the Valley.
REVEALED: After Jammu based Oil Tankers Association suspended oil supply to the valley for second time in a week, the Guru Manyo Granth Society an amalgam of various Sikh organisations of the state conducted a research into it and claimed that the allegations of attacks on the drivers were false and baseless. The society said that the president of the association Anand Sharma, who was in the forefront of the Amarnath Land row agitation in Jammu and one of the main persons responsible for enforcing the economic blockade on Kashmir in 2008, have made motivated statements.
CANCELLED: The Ladakh Confluence, an eco-friendly music festival, has been called off after opposition from the local parties, the All Ladakh Tour Operators Association (ALTOA) and the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) who allege that the Confluence promotes “Drugs, western culture and rocking music”.
BEATEN: Even as the authorities claimed to have issued a few curfew passes to media persons in Kashmir, police on Friday severely beat up senior journalist Riyaz Masroor, working with the Urdu service of BBC, outside his Alochi Bagh residence here. Journalist bodies have condemned the attack on Masroor.
ARRESTED: A namesake of prime minister Manmohan Singh who posed as his advisor, kept the administration on toes and enjoyed official protocol for a full two days before his luck ran out. Manmohan Singh of Hari Nagar, New Delhi, visited Vaishnodevi shrine but before his arrival, the J&K Police received a call from the police control room of Punjab about Manmohan Singh’s visit. The entire administration was alerted and when Singh reached Katra, he was given an ambassador car and a double escort vehicle with guards. However, he turned out to be an imposter. An embarrassed J&K police arrested Singh and booked him for fraud.
