Lone – The Kashmir Horizon

Rajaya passess J&K reorganisation(amendment) bill for replacement of J&K by AGMUT cadre

Lone — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 09:47:32 +0000

New Delhi/ Feb,8: The Rajya Sabha on Monday cleared The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 for replacing the ordinance issued by the President of India to merge the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) cadre of civil services officer with the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre. The bill was introduced in the Upper House of the Parliament last week.
Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said the Constitution of India is now fully applicable to Jammu and Kashmir, and that the bill will enable availability of officers in Jammu and Kashmir . He said around 170 central laws are being implemented in Jammu and Kashmir. He said the bill will increase the strength of officers in Jammu and Kashmir and Leh.

Azad may seek re-election to RS from Kerala

Lone — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 09:07:58 +0000

Thiruvananthapuram/Feb,8 : Speculation is rife that Ghulam Nabi Azad — the current Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha — whose tenure in the Upper House ends soon, might contest from Kerala when three members from the state retire in April this year.
Azad was elected to the Upper House from his home state Jammu and Kashmir in 2015. As the political situation in his home state continues to be fluid and hence, if he seeks to return to the Rajya Sabha, Kerala is the state where the Congress-led UDF can send him as one of their candidates to the Upper House.
Of the three outgoing members, one is veteran Congress leader Vayalar Ravi and the other is Abdul Wahab, who represents the Indian Union Muslim League — the second biggest ally in the opposition UDF. The third member to retire is young CPI(M) leader K.K. Ragesh. The ruling Left Front government in Kerala will be able to send two nominees to the Upper House and the Congress will get the other seat. But the last word in the Congress party is its High Command and last year, Congress leader from Kerala K.C. Venugopal was brought into the Upper House from Rajasthan and hence it wouldn’t be a surprise, if Azad gets in from Kerala.
However, the Congress leaders in Kerala are tight-lipped and appear not too pleased with the news. None of them wants to displease the High Command at this juncture, which can possibly play spoilsport to their chances of securing an Assembly seat. Kerala is all set to go for Assembly elections in April/May. The Congress expects that with Azad being a Muslim, it could well prove to be a plus point with the community, which in Kerala has a share of 22 per cent in the population and is presently the second biggest community after the Hindus. Christians account for around 19 per cent.

JKPCC welcomes Azad’s recent speech in Rajya Sabha, hopes restoration of statehood and assembly elections will be announced soon : Monga

Lone — Sat, 06 Feb 2021 11:06:59 +0000

Jammu/Feb,6: While welcoming Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad’s recent statement in Rajya Sabha Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) Saturday hoped that after the restoration of 4G internet services, the Center will fulfill other demands raised by Azad sahib in the Parliament.
In a statement issued here on Saturday JKPCC Vice President and former MLC G N Monga said Azad had rightly raised the issue of restoration of high speed 4G internet, restoring statehood to J&K and holding early assembly elections in the Parliament during his recent speech.
“While restoration of 4G internet services is welcome, we are hopeful that statehood to J&K is restored and assembly elections held at the earliest. Similarly, the order of issuing domiciles to non-locals must be rescinded without any further delay,” Monga demanded.
“As Azad rightly put it in the Rajya Sabha that local people across the three regions – Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh – are not happy and that anyone can buy their land or get jobs, it is high time that the Center takes appropriate steps to correct the wrongs done on 5 August 2019,” the Congress leader said.
He said the August 5 decision has triggered vehement criticism from residents of Jammu as well as Kashmir and Ladakh, who say they will be deprived of government jobs and land holdings.
“The domicile law passed last year allows outsiders a claim on local jobs which are few and far. Unemployment rate was already high in Jammu and Kashmir and the government sector was the only hope for unemployed educated youth. But now that right too has been snatched from them”” Monga said.

Mohammad Aijaz to hold charge as DC Baramulla till Bhupinder Kumar joins

Lone — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 10:00:44 +0000

Jammu/Feb,3 : Mohammad Aijaz an IAS officer of 2012 batch presently holding the post of Managing Director Kashmir Power Development Corporation has been asked to hold the charge of Deputy Commissioner Baramulla till Bhupinder Kumar an IAS Officer of 2011 batch previously posted Deputy Commissioner Baramulla joins as Deputy Commissioner Baramulla. An order issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) issued on Wednesday reads as under :
“It is hereby ordered that Mohammad Aijaz, IAS (JK:2012), Managing Director, Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited, shall hold the charge of Deputy Commissioner, Baramulla, with immediate effect, in addition to his own duties, till Bhupinder Kumar, IAS (JK:2011) joins”

Restore statehood to J&K ,repeal farm laws : Azad tells Govt in Rajaya Sabha

Lone — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 07:10:07 +0000

New Delhi/Feb,3 : Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday said the government should bring a bill to restore statehood in Jammu and Kashmir and repeal the farm laws that a section of farmers are agitating against.
Speaking during the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address, Azad said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the only person who can find a solution to both the problems—Jammu and Kashmir and the farmers’ agitation. “The Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan slogan is as relevant today as it was then. Without these two sections of our society we are incomplete,” he said. He went on to pay tributes to the soldiers who live in treacherous weather conditions to serve the nation and said, “I also pay tribute to those farmers who lost their lives in the last few months demanding their rights.”
“The logjam between the farmers and the government is not for the first time; it has been going on for hundreds of year… Farmers have had to struggle for their rights sometimes against feudalism and zamindari system and sometimes against the government,” Azad said.He referred to the agitations that took place in pre-Independent India when the farmers’ took on the British government, forcing it to recall laws.
“I have been reading about farmers’ protests during British rule. The result was the government had to bend and I have reached the conclusion that the might of the farmers is the biggest force in the country. And we cannot reach any conclusion by fighting with them,” Azad said.

Apart from the Champaran movement and various other movement for land rights, Azad also referred to the 1988 rally when Mahender Singh Tikait laid seize to the Boat Club forcing the Congress that was then in power at the Centre to move its rally from Boat Club to Red Fort. “I was sitting with the then Prime Minister (Rajiv Gandhi) and the government people came and said let’s remove them (farmers). We said we cannot fight with farmers we will change the venue. We went to the Red Fort instead and did not announce it. Two days later the agitation was withdrawn,” he said.
Pointing out that the government cannot open a front against its own people, Azad said the country should be united in fighting against its enemies.

While condemning the January 26 incident when a section of farmers raised a religious flag at the Red Fort, Azad said, “The whole Opposition and the Congress party condemned the incident that happened at Red Fort… it should have never happened; it is against democracy; it is against law and order. We cannot support such incidents and those who were involved in this should be given strict punishment; but at the same time those who are innocent should not be implicated.” He urged the Prime Minister to set up a committee to find people who went missing on January 26.

“The efforts made to implicate them should not be made because then it will lead to another agitation. A man who has been a minister of state for foreign affairs has been charged with sedition along with a few journalists; if he is anti-national then we are all anti-national,” he said in reference to the sedition cases filed against Shashi Tharoor and some journalists.
Urging the Prime Minister to bring a bill to restore statehood in J&K, Azad said he fails to understand the rationale for bifurcating the state into union territories.“I have heard Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s speeches, the then home minister’s and several BJP MPs, but I have never heard them demand that the state should be bifurcated. I can understand and I support a UT status for Leh. The government could have done that, but the state should be left untouched,” he said.While the government has been claiming that the law and order has improved and terror activities in the Valley have come down, the Congress leader said it was a wrong claim. “Law and order in the in the state was much better before, militancy was at its lowest and developmental works were very good when there was a state government, no matter which government was in power,” he said. He, however, congratulated the government for conducting the DDC elections.

Light snow, rain likely in JK : MeT Office

Lone — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 07:15:18 +0000

Srinagar/Feb,2 : Cold wave condition does not head to any dead end in Jammu and Kashmir as weather office in it’s latest weather forecast predicted light spell of snow and rain from Wednesday this week.
“Light snowfall and rain is likely to occur in Jammu and Kashmir between February 2 and 3. Weather will remain mainly dry after February 4 with further improvement in minimum temperatures,” an official of the meteorological (MET) department said. Drinking water pipe lines in the valley have frozen because of very low night temperatures causing complete disruption in water supply.
Srinagar recorded minus 4.6 degrees Celsius as the minimum temperature on the day while it was minus 9.3 and minus 7 in Pahalgam and Gulmarg, respectively. Leh town of Ladakh recorded minus 13.9, Kargil minus 17 and Drass minus 23.9 as the night’s lowest temperature. Jammu city had 7.7, Katra 8.6, Batote 3.5, Bannihal 0.6 and Bhaderwah 0.5 degrees Celsius as the minimum temperature.

Hakeem aghast over delay in completion of road widening on Kashmir highway, suspension of train service on Bla-Banihal route

Lone — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 11:10:48 +0000

Srinagar/Feb,1:Chairman Peoples Democratic Front ( PDF )Hakeem Mohmmad Yaseen has strongly demanded restoration of train service from Banihal to Baramulla and vice versa, which remains suspended from March last year, in the wake of Coronovirus pandemic .
“Now that government has declared all the 20 districts of the JK Union Territory as Green zones and opened all educational institutions , cinemas and restaurants, there was mo reason to keep rail service between Baramulla to Banihal and vice versa continuously suspended, ” Hakeem said adding that common people especially commuters face tremendous hardships due to continued suspension of the rail service. He has urged the government to resume the rail service without any further delay for convenience of the people. He said rail service between Baramulla to Banihal has proved very convenient as it was cheap and time saving as compared to other means of surface transport like mini- buses , tata sumos and taxis. He has urged the Center to complete construction of Katra- Banihal portion of the Jammu- Baramulla railway track on war footing basis.
Hakeem also urged both the central and as well as J&K Government to utilize all the available resources and modern technologies for completing four- lanning of Srinagar- Jammu highway on emergency basis . He said present dilapidated condition of this highway has made it unpredictable as it remains frequently closed thereby putting the passengers,transporters, traders and businessmen to tremendous hardships besides causing shortage of essential commodities in Kashmir and Ladalh divisions. He said Kashmir highway serves as the life line and the only surface link between Kashmir and rest of the country so the governments at Centre and Jammu & Kashmir should ensure completion of it’s four lanning at the earliest.

JK gets Rs 30757 Cr grant in Union Budget, No increase in last year’s financial outlays

Lone — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 09:17:29 +0000

Srinagar/Feb,1: The central government Monday proposed Rs 30,757 crore grant for Jammu and Kashmir for the next fiscal.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced allocation for Jammu & Kashmir while presenting the union budget for the coming fiscal. The grant for Jammu and Kashmir is equal to last year’s transfers. This means that there is unlikely an increase in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budget, likely to be presented later this month in the Parliament

Custodian General Suriya, Dir Toursim Jammu R K Katoch among 6 KAS Officers transferred

Lone — Sat, 30 Jan 2021 09:24:54 +0000

Jammu/Jan,30 : The Jammu & Kashmir Government on Saturday ordered the transfer of six KAS Officers including Sauriya Jabeen the incumbent Custodian General and Raj Kumat Katoch Director Tourism Jammu.
Below mentioned officers have been transferred and shifted to other positions. An order issued on Saturdayfrom the General Administration Department (GAD) reads as under :
1 Rajesh Sharma, KAS, Secretary, J&K Public Service Commission, is transferred and posted as Custodian General, J&K.
2 Suriya Jabeen, KAS, Custodian General, J&K, is transferred and posted as Additional Secretary to the Government, Tribal Affairs Department.
3 Raj Kumar Katoch, KAS, Director, Tourism, Jammu, is transferred and posted as Secretary, J&K Public Service Commission.
4 Naseem Javid Choudhary, KAS, Secretary, J&K Sports Council, is transferred and posted as Director, Tourism, Jammu.
5 Nuzhat Gul, Secretary, Royal Springs Golf Course, Srinagar, holding additional charge of Managing Director-cum-Chief Executive Officer, Golf Development and Management Authority and Kashmir Golf Club, is transferred and posted Secretary, J&K Sports Council.
6. Bakshi Javaid Humayaun, Director, SKICC, shall hold the charge of the posts of Managing Director-cum-Chief Executive Officer, Golf Development and Management Authority, Secretary, Royal Spring Golf Course, Srinagar and Kashmir Golf Course, in addition to his own duties, till further orders.

For resumption of train service implement SOPs for railway services in JK: Altaf Bukhari tells LG

Lone — Sat, 30 Jan 2021 08:12:25 +0000

Srinagar/Jan,30: Apni Party President Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Saturday took a strong exception to the lackadaisical approach adopted by the J&K administration which has resulted into unnecessary halt in railway services, causing immense sufferings to the local commuters.
In a statement issued here, Bukhari said that a time when the railways reserve services have been resumed in other parts of the country, J&K government seems to be a mute spectator to the miseries of thousands of people who would primarily avail the cheap and hassle free railway services on a daily basis. “Maharashtra government has already resumed the sub urban train services for essential workers, women and other categories months ago. This is apart from the resumption of reserve train services across the country,” Bukhari said, while regretting the irresponsible approach of the J&K administration that is yet to formulate the requisite Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for resumption of train services in J&K.
Apni Party President said that on an average around 15,000 to 20,000 people avail railway services in just Banihal to Baramulla section of Northern Railways in J&K and it is because of the administrative inertia that this hapless section of commuters have been left high and dry. “These figures reflect just a section of the passengers who are provided with the tickets by the railway department in Banihal to Baramulla section on a daily basis. Over all the business community, essential workers, patients and student community in particular are suffering direly for want of railway facility,” Bukhari remarked.
He said that abrupt suspension of railway services in J&K since March 2020 has triggered colossal inconvenience to the local population. “Not to talk of the local business community but even severe losses have been incurred to the Railway department due to perpetual deferral of its services after the COVID-19 pandemic,” he remarked. Bukhari said it is unfortunate that the J&K government has failed to facilitate the resumption of these essential services when the same are almost fully operational elsewhere in the country. “These services are on halt for the last one year and the J&K government should have by now set SOPs essential for its smooth operations,” he said. Bukhari urged the Lt. Governor of J&K to intervene at the earliest and ensure that the commuters are not inflicted anymore sufferings.