PAID: The first assignment that J&K Bank’s new chairman Mushtaq Ahmad found for himself was to present Rs 56.70 crores cheque to the chief minister. This was the dividend amount that state government’s 53 percent shares earned in 2009-10. Ahmad, who superannuated from the bank as executive director after putting in 35 years, took over as the new leader of the bank last week after he was cleared by the RBI. After Dr Haseeb Drabu’s unceremonious exit, the bank was led interim by IAS officer Sudhanshu Panday for around a month.
LISTED: Cases of corruption are pending against 18 politicians before the headless State Accountability Commission (SAC) but most of them have got the proceedings against them stayed by the High Court. The complaints are against Congress lawmakers Abdul Majid Wani, Mangat Ram Sharma, Peerzada M Sayeed, Taj Mohi-ud-Din, Choudhary M Aslam, Rachpal Singh, Dr Romesh Kumar, and Suman Baghat besides PDPs former ministers Tariq Hamid Karra, Abdul Gafar Sofi, and Abdul Aziz Zargar. The commission has also received complaints of corruption against former legislagtors Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Sofi, Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Mir and current legislator Hakim Yasin. Even in cases pending before other anti-corruption watch dogs, the government has not permitted prosecution in cases of NC leaders Jagjivan Lal and Abdul Ahad Vakil besides Ghulam Hassan Mir. PDP’s Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari is the only exception against whom prosecution has been initiated.
CONSTITUTED: Instead of placing the report of Working Group led by Justice (retd) Saghir Ahmad on the floor of the house, the cabinet set up a sub-committee led by Abdul Rahim Rather to study it. The committee would prepare a report on his recommendations that would be sent to MHA within three months. Interestingly, the five WGs were set up by Prime Minister and four of them submitted their reports to the Round Table Conference. The fifth report, paradoxically, was handed over to the chief minister and is the only report that is not available in the public domain. Though it was the outcome of the Congress exercise at central level, the same party is opposed to its tabling in the house!
RAISED: As the CRPF grabbed the media attention for removing 16 bunkers in the city, the army’s 15-Rashtriya Rifles started setting up a new garrison in Hardshiva (Sopore). They have set up a camp on a portion of a vast grazing land that has two schools and a prayers ground on it. The belt had earlier been promised that no camp will be set up in the area, reports quoting locals alleged.
ALLOWED: Bombay High Court allowed a newly wed Muslim girl and a Hindu boy from J&K to stay in Mumbai as the couple feared reprisals from her family. Her father had petitioned the police that she was a minor and was kidnapped. While it has been proved that she was a major, investigations are on to find if she was kidnapped. A resident of Jammu, she went to Mumbai to convert and marry her boyfriend.
RESUMED: Global medical humanitarian organization, M?decins sans Fronti?res (MSF) has resumed its activities in J&K on October 5 after temporarily suspending them on September 12. Post-resumption it has provided counselling to 50 patients, most of whom have been traumatized by direct violence – mostly gunshot wounds. It has expressed concern that the recent violence will only further increase mental health needs in the Kashmir. MSF is providing a wide range of mental health services and basic healthcare in Kashmir since 2001. In 2009 alone it has treated over 5800 people besides providing basic healthcare in Kupwara by conducting 20,500 consultations.
ARRESTED: A project manager of the NGO Help Foundation was detained by police and booked formally for stone pelting. The NGO alleged that Aijaz Ahmad Mir has been detained in place of his namesake who the police were looking for. He was on his way to a school inspection when police summoned him and arrested him. He faces a number of charges including attempt to murder.
INSTALLING: State Police is installing 48 new Closed Circuit Television cameras in the Srinagar city to keep a watch on the happenings. There are already 16 CCTVs operational in the city that has helped the police in managing Srinagar.
TOOKOVER: An old Kashmir hand K Vijay Kumar has taken over as the CRPF chief replacing Vikram Srivastava. Kumar is 58. A Tamil Nadu IPS officer, he headed BSF in Kashmir at the peak of the militancy and is credited for killing Veerapan in October 2004.
