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'Quit J&K' assumes form of 2008-type agitation Youths fan out on motorbikes, enforce shutdown, check I-cards, organize protests 7/16/2010 12:05:28 AM AHMED ALI FAYYAZ EARLY TIMES REPORT SRINAGAR, July 15: Running into its second month now, current spell of turbulence in Kashmir valley today assumed trappings of 2008-type mass agitation as hundreds of youngsters on motorcycles fanned out in different directions and enforced Hurriyat-sponsored shutdown while checking photo identity cards, deflating tyres of the vehicles in movement, confining motorists for hours and organizing anti-India and pro-Azadi demonstrations at several places. With the tension intensifying on the eve of Hurriyat's call of march to Batmaloo, Government has formed a Crisis Management Plan (CMP) in a desperate attempt to prevent the situation from further deterioration. After days of lukewarm response to the separatists' protest calendar and "Quit Jammu & Kashmir Movement", initially floated by the detained hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Kashmir valley today witnessed total shutdown. Even as Police are estimated to have arrested around 300 youth under allegation of stone pelting and harassing common people in the last one week of turbulence, bureaucrats a...   READ MORE

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After 72 hr operation, two ultras killed, one still trapped in Mendhar forests 7/16/2010 12:05:01 AM EARLY TIMES REPORT JAMMU, July 15: After a 72-hour-long "seek and destroy" operation, troops today shot dead in a gunbattle two of the terrorists, who had Tuesday night killed Maj Amit Thenge, and wounded a Colonel and five jawans in an ambush in the densely forested Beri Rakh belt of Mendhar in Poonch. Though one militant was killed in Beri Rakh woods, the other was shot dead in the nearby upper Chhajla forests, police sources said. Movement of the terrorists, earlier stated to be at least five in number, was first picked by troops of 37 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) in the thick and treacherous Beri Rakh woods late Tuesday evening. While the troops were combing the forests, the militants had ...   READ MORE   Pak opens heavy fire on Indian positions at Mendhar 7/16/2010 12:04:43 AM Early Times Report JAMMU, July 15: While army cordon was on in the upper Chhajla forests of Mendhar in Poonch to take on the lone surviving terrorist late tonight, Pak troops opened heavy volume of fire on the Line of Control (LoC), targetting the forward posts close to Chhajla. India retaliated. The heavy exchange of fire between the two sides was continuing at the time of going to the print after midnight. The firing was unprovoked and amounted to ceasefire violation, official sources said. When contacted, SSP, Poonch, Manmohan Singh said the Pak troops opened the mouth of their guns, targetting Kirpan, Chhajla and Kranti forward army posts at about 10.30 pm. Asked if there was an...   READ MORE   Indian Rupee Gets a Distinct Symbol 7/15/2010 11:45:27 PM NEW DELHI: The Indian rupee will have its own symbol, a mix of the Devanagri 'Ra' and Roman 'R', to become the fifth currency in the world to have a distinct identity. The new symbol, designed by IIT post-graduate D Uday Kumar was approved by the Union Cabinet on Thursday. The rupee will join the elite club of US dollar, British pound-sterling, Euro and Japanese yen to have its own symbol. The symbol will be printed or embossed on currency notes or coins, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters after the Cabinet meeting. Kumar's entry was chosen from among 3,000 designs competing for the currency symbol. He will get an award of Rs 2.5 lakhs. Soni said the govern...   READ MORE   Two held with banned capsules 7/15/2010 11:45:20 PM JAMMU: Two youth were today arrested by police from Sarwal area of the city along with a consignment of 11,000 banned capsules. They were identified as Joginder Singh Jamwal alias Lovely, son of Chhabeel Singh Jamwal of Subash Nagar and Dinesh Kumar Bakshi alias Bittu, son of Sham Bakshi of Hari Singh Nagar, Rehari. Police sources said they had been supplying the banned capsules to some drug addicts and youngsters of Rehari and its surrounding localities for the past five years. A case had been registered against them at the Bakshi Nagar police station under sections 18, 21 and 22 of NDPS Act. ...   READ MORE   Two foreign tourists die 7/15/2010 11:45:09 PM SRINAGAR: Two foreign tourists died in Leh district of frontier Ladakh region in Jammu and Kashmir, police said in Srinagar today. Meith Kalis Peter, 53, a German national, was found dead under "mysterious circumstances" at Manker Kermo area of Leh, 434 kms from Srinagar, last evening, they said. The body is kept at Leh mortuary and police have started probe to ascertain the cause of his death. In a separate incident, a 62-year-old French tourist named Marcal died near Skangchu-Theng area after a prolonged illness, police said. ...   READ MORE   273 CRPF men injured 7/15/2010 11:44:59 PM JAMMU: The CRPF has denied involvement in the recent killings saying it (CRPF) only helped the local police and `cannot take any action on its own'. A spokesman of CRPF while talking to a local news agency today denied allegations of abusing human rights. "During the past one month 273 CRPF men have sustained injuries. Some of them are critically injured. People must know that we are deployed to assist the local police. CRPF has not been deployed independently anywhere in Kashmir", he said. ...   READ MORE   Rs 8 cr fine imposed on J&K telecom firms for activating unverified SIMs 7/15/2010 11:44:49 PM EARLY TIMES REPORT NEW DELHI, July 15: The Centre has imposed a fine of Rs 8 cr on telecom companies in J&K for activating unverified SIMs. Apart from J&K, action was also been taken against major telecom companies in other states for not fully meeting the Know-Your Customer (KYC) norms. The action is intended to send a message that the Centre is not averse to withdrawing the licence of an operator if it fails to comply with guidelines. Official sources said a penalty of more than Rs 275 cr had been imposed on telecom operators across the country. In Jammu & Kashmir, where the government has asked all telecom firms to ensure full compliance of KYC norms within seven days, authorities ...   READ MORE   Mustafa Kamaal’s tirade against New Delhi misplaced, motivated 7/15/2010 11:44:40 PM RUSTAM EARLY TIMES REPORT JAMMU, July 15: It is an established fact that the Sheikh had, in alliance with the United States, conspired against India. It is also an established fact that he never considered Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India to the same extent as other states of the Union. That was the reason that he and his colleagues "blackmailed" New Delhi and obtain from it a very special status for the state, notwithstanding the fact that the people of Jammu and Ladakh were bitterly opposed to the New Delhi's dumb-founding decision. The people of Jammu and Ladakh had made it loud and clear that they would seek a separate dispensation within India and under the Indian Const...   READ MORE   Maj Amit's mortal remains despatched home in MP 7/15/2010 11:44:32 PM EARLY TIMES REPORT JAMMU, July 15: The mortal remains of 28-year-old Maj Amit Thenge, who was Tuesday killed in an ambush by terrorists in Beri Rakh forests of Mendhar, Poonch, were today despatched his home at Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh. The tricolour wrapped coffin of the officer was brought here from Rajouri by road this morning. The coffin was placed at 16 corps engineering signal regiment at Rehari where senior army and police officers had arrived to pay their last homage to Maj Thenge of 37 Rashtriya Rifles (RR). Wreaths were laid on the coffin by 16 corps GOC, Lt Gen Rameshwar Roy, 16 corps chief of staff, Maj Gen RH Vardhan, IGP, Dr Ashok Gupta and other senior officers of army,...   READ MORE   NC-Cong battle over Loran BSNL tower 10,000 residents in lurch as BSNL had to stop work 7/15/2010 11:44:24 PM EARLY TIMES REPORT RAJOURI, July 15: A BSNL tower has warmed up politics in Loran area of Poonch district where National Conference and Congress leaders have entered in war over installation of the same near their own houses which forced the authorities to stop work leaving 10,000 cellular aspirants of the area in lurch. Sources said after getting nod from the Defence ministry of India, BSNL authorities had started installing towers in Poonch district. Though maximum areas were covered, Loran Valley in Mandi tehsil of the district remained unconnected with the rest of the world. Reason: unnecessary political interference in the BSNL works. Sources said two years ago, BSNL transported...   READ MORE   Govt revives Ikhwaan to fight defiant people 7/15/2010 11:44:04 PM ET REPORT JAMMU, July 15: In 1995 the government created a counter-insurgency force (IKhwaan) to fight militancy. The `covert' operation yielded results and militancy was almost wiped out. Today the situation is totally different. People have been protesting `ruthlessness of the police'. The protests across Kashmir have been giving sleepless nights to the authorities. To quell the same the authorities have revived Ikhwaan. According to a local news agency, the dreaded Ikhwaan cadres have been seen roaming in the interior localities of Anantnag town and its peripheries. Reports said the Ikhwaan men appear in the localities as soon as the police and the para-military forces leave the area...   READ MORE   Bus plunges into gorge, 36 injured 7/15/2010 11:43:58 PM EARLY TIMES REPORT JAMMU, July 15: At least 36 persons, including 11 women, were today wounded, three of them critically, when a bus in which they were travelling skidded off the road at Amro in Ramnagar area of Udhampur and plunged into a deep gorge. The ill-fated bus (JK02AF/5361) was on its way from Samna Banj village to Ramnagar. Police sources said the bus fell into the gorge at about 7 am when its driver Jasbir Singh alias Sonu failed to negotiate a sharp curve. With the help of locals, cops led by ASI Kakka Ram, incharge Ramnagar police station, carried out the rescue operation, the sources added. All the injured were shifted to the sub-district hospital, Ramnagar, in police and ci...   READ MORE   Revolt in Sangh Parivar: VHP flays BJP's role in all-party meet 7/15/2010 11:43:52 PM EARLY TIMES REPORT JAMMU, July 15: The Sangh Parivar, which consists of several organizations, all founded by the RSS, is in deep crisis. Some of the RSS-founded and controlled outfits are taking on each other publicly, although all the constituents of the Sangh Parivar work under the direct control and guidance of Nagpur (RSS headquarter) and Jhandewalan, Delhi (Jhandewalan houses one of the main RSS offices). One of them has even gone to the extent of accusing the BJP of bartering national interests in order "appease anti-national forces…" The case in point is the open attack of the Vishwa Hinu Parishad (VHP) on the BJP. Actually, the J&K VHP president Rama Kant Dubey has denounced the ...   READ MORE   BJP having 'secret pact with NC, behaving like its 'C' team: JKNPP Panthers 'roar' at Saffron brigade 7/15/2010 11:43:43 PM EARLY TIMES REPORT JAMMU, July 15: A day after BJP extended its 'whole hearted' support to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for his peace initiatives, the Party has been caught on wrong foot by a rival Jammu based party .In what can be seen as an accusation that can turn into political wrangling and kick start bickering between the two Jammu based parties in opposition, the J&K National Panthers Party today termed BJP as mouthpiece of ruling National Conference which is engaged in furthering the interests of latter. The 'Panthers' apparently in roaring mode and mood have also alleged that the 'Saffron Brigade' is functioning in manner of proxy NC in Jammu and their role is 'double and dubi...   READ MORE   Omar's plea for dialogue on Kashmir echoes through Krishna's talks with Pak 7/15/2010 11:05:57 PM Abid shah Early Times Report New Delhi, July 15: If today's talks between India and Pakistan are to be described in a single line then one can only say that they turned out to be an uneasy and yet unavoidable business that was taken up Foreign Ministers of the two countries in Islamabad with little or hardly any results to show for the moment at least. After hours of interaction between the two dignitaries there was no concrete outcome except a solemn wish for good neighbourly relations and efforts to find a way out of the deep set quagmire that stares the two countries hard in the face. And since Kashmir too has been cause of tension for long between the two neighbours, the message ...   READ MORE   Common Kashmiri worst hit by present turmoil Himalayan Features 7/15/2010 11:05:30 PM Ashwani Early Times Report Jammu, July15: With the ongoing turmoil putting normal life out of gear in Kashmir valley, the common man who has been caught between devil and the deep sea is worst sufferer of the present unrest in the valley. The economy of the valley which has already suffered a huge loss in 20 year long turmoil, has suffered an additional loss of Rs. 15 crore in the ongoing turmoil according to official figures. This loss will increase further if the strike continues in valley. The common Kashmiri who is worst hit sees no way out to get rid of the present crisis. The people are so scared that nobody dares to come forward and oppose the daily bandhs and strikes. " we are ou...   READ MORE   Soz loyalists upset over allegations leveled by dissidents 7/15/2010 11:04:43 PM Early Times Report Jammu, July 15: The Congress high command is said to have taken a serious notice of the activities of the dissidents in the state unit of the party which had the potential of not only weakening the organisation in Jammu and Kashmir but also casting shadow on the functioning of the coalition Government. Party sources said that the recent allegations levelled by the dissidents that a senior party leader had not been invited by the PCC Chief, Saif-ud-Din Soz, to the All Party meeting convened by Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, in Srinagar on July 12 were baseless. They said that the said leader was supposed to be the deputy host of the meeting. Another senior Congress lea...   READ MORE   We never want to hurt innocent civilians: CRPF 7/15/2010 11:04:32 PM Early Times Report Srinagar, July 15: The paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel deployed in Jammu and Kashmir to combat militancy and contain incidents of violence on Thursday said it never wants to hurt innocent civilians. "We think that the local people here are same as in our plain areas. But some people instigate them. So they get influenced and do something under pressure, and think of the forces as their enemies," said Sanjay Pawar, an injured CRPF official. "I want to tell to tell them that we are not their enemies, we are just like them," he added.The CRPF personnel have been constantly criticized by the people of the valley and the local politicians for being ...   READ MORE

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