Omar to Investors

Omar woos investors; asks CII to shun mindset

Calling for a substantial change in the mindset of investors regarding Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah on Saturday said that there are places more uncertain than Jammu and Kashmir where investors do invest but are reluctant to come here.

Addressing a joint meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and top ranking officers of the State Government here, he asked CII to take concrete steps in this regard and break the ice on ground.

“I am keen to see CII members starting ventures in the State and playing their important role in generating wide-ranging economic activities for the youth. For last two and half years we have had so much meetings and deliberations with regard to absorption of J and K youth in private job market by enhancing their skills and employability. Now is the time that ground breaking takes place in this regard”, he said and stressed on CII to be instrumental to help PPP mode projects in the State.

“We are ready to provide you package of incentives and satisfy your queries and apprehensions regarding investments in the State, especially in the Kashmir division”, he told CII adding that there are more uncertain places in the country than Kashmir where investors are investing. He asked CII to help change the mindset of investors regarding venturing upon in the State.

Omar welcomed the survey, analysis and reports prepared by CII and its associate companies for enhancing employability of youth and giving fillip to the skills development. “Your efforts are a welcome step and the suggestions you have made would be given due weightage by the government. We are keenly eager to make necessary dent in this sector to address large scale unemployment problem in the State”, he said adding that something concrete needs to be done by CII by participating with the State Government and local players to do the practical job on ground.

“I would like you to regularly organise talent hunt camps in the Universities and select the boys and girls for trainings and courses suit to your companies”, he said underlining the urgency for providing opportunity to educated youth to prove their talent. “At the end of the day my aim is to ensure maximum jobs to youth in the private sector as government is not in a position to absorb everyone”, he said adding that in this stupendous task the private investors have to be positively involved.

The Chief Minister asked CII to send their special teams to the State for placements in the universities, the government would provide you every facility to reach out them in every areas of the State.

“Our youth are more talented, capable and delivering which you have yourselves observed during the interaction sessions with boys and girls of Jammu and Kashmir in various higher educational institutions”, he told them calling for a comprehensive and result-oriented strategy by the CII and other such organisations to give exposure to these young persons.

Chairman CII Northern Region, Vijay Thadani, Chief Executive Officer, NIIT, Raju Choudhary, CII Head Jammu and Kashmir State, explained the salient features of the two reports prepared by CII regarding the skills development in Jammu and Kashmir State and enhancement of employability of educated youth.

A report regarding the potential for investment in the cold chain sector was also presented to the Chief Minister. The local investors who are the members of CII also presented their view point on the subject and shared their experiences in the field.

The meeting was attended by Minister for Industries, S.S Salathia, Minister of State for Cooperatives, Manohar Lal, Chief Secretary, Madhav Lal, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, B.B Vyas, Commissioner Secretary Industries, Umang Narula, Commissioner Secretary Tourism, Atul Dullo, Commissioner Secretary, Youth Services and Sports, B.A Runiyal and other senior officers.

Civil Defence to assist in Amarnath Yatra

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Udhampur Surinder Gupta called upon the functionaries of Civil Defence (CD) Organisation of Udhampur to be ready to meet the challenge in wake of any natural or manmade calamities, if any.

The SSP was addressing a largely attended meeting of Civil Defence wardens of different wards of Udhampur town and CD volunteers of various tehsils of the district here on Sunday.

Deputy Controller, Civil Defence, Bodh Raj, Chief Warden, Surinder Khajuria, Deputy Chief Warden, Advocate S.D Kotwal, Post Wardens, Wardens and volunteers attended the meeting.

Highlighting the role of Civil Defence in protecting the precious lives and property in the event of war, break out of fire and other exigencies, Gupta said that trained Civil Defence volunteers could prove instrumental in managing the situation effectively besides help in building self confidence and concern for humanity among the students.

He appreciated the role of Civil Defence Unit Udhampur for their Voluntary Services during many occasions in helping the people during accidents besides organising number of awareness programmes with district police for strengthening the concept of community policing.

He emphasised the need for extending Civil Defence activities in rural areas for the benefit of common masses. For the purpose he asked the Deputy Controller Civil Defence to organise awareness camps regarding the different activities of the Civil Defence activities in such areas.

Gupta also sought the cooperation of Civil Defence wardens and volunteers for the smooth conduct of ensuing Shree Amaranthi ji Yatra. He said that adequate number of volunteer should be deployed at different locations enroute Tikri to Patnitop especially at the halt sites for the guidance and convenience of pilgrims.

The Deputy Controller Bodhraj said that the Civil Defence volunteers will extend all cooperation for the smooth passage of the Yatra and assist in providing whatsoever help would be required.

The SSP also felicitated the volunteers of Civil Defence for extra ordinary services in relief and resue operations for saving the life of people during an accident which happened at Moungri.

Pilgrim Tourism Circuit in Kashmir

Chrar-e Sharief-Yusmarg-Pakherpora to be developed as major pilgrim tourism circuit 

Reiterating that promises and commitment made to the people would be fulfilled in the right earnest, Minister for Finance and Ladakh Affairs, Abdul Rahim Rather today said that next three years of the present government shall be a golden era of developmental and prosperity in the state.

Speaking at an open Awami Darbar at historic pilgrim destination, Chrar-i-Sharief, about 29 km from here today, Rather said that all available resources are being mobilized to provide requisite amenities to the people as per their urges and aspirations.

While highlighting the historical and religious importance of Chrar-i-Sharief town, Rather announced that Chrar-i-Sharief-Yusmarg-Pakherpora would be developed as a major Pilgrim Tourism Circuit adding that the Union Tourism Ministry has been approached to provide liberal funding for the purpose. He said both the shrines of Pakherpora and Chrar-i-Sharief have been brought under the purview of Yusmarg Development Authority, adding that upgradation and macadamization of Chrar-i-Sharief- Yusmarg-Pakherpora road is being completed at a cost of Rs 23 crore during the current year which will facilitate trouble free journey to the pilgrims and tourists visiting the shrines of Syed Ali Aali (RA) Pakherpora, Hazrat Noor-ud-Din Wali Chrar-i-Sharief and the world famous Yusmarg tourist spot. He said upgradation and macadamization of Srinagar-Chrar-i-Sharief-Srinagar road including construction of Wathora Bridge shall be completed by November this year.

Urging the need for further research to explore hitherto unknown facets of the life and poetry (Shilooks) of revered saint, Hazrat Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Wali, Rather said liberal funding will be provided for the purpose adding that the Kashmir University will establish Sheikh-ul-Alam International Research Centre for exhaustive research on the life and teachings of Hazrat Sheikh Noor-ud-Din. He said literary and religious works of Hazrat Sheikh (RA) would be translated in to different languages to disseminate his message across the world in a right perspective.

Rather also announced that the reconstruction of historic Khankah, Chrar-i-Sharief would be completed in a time bound manner at a cost of Rs 26 crore and directed the concerned agency to expedite the ongoing work on this prestigious project. He said the upcoming structure would be a marvellous blend of traditional Islamic and modern architecture with a capacity for about 15,000 people to offer prayers at a time. It shall have a separate prayers Hall for women, Rather added. The original wooden structure, along with hundreds of residential and commercial establishments, was gutted in a devastating fire incident in 1995.

Responding to the demands projected by a cross section of people, Mr. Rather said that power supply position in the Chrar-i-Sharief town will be further improved so that pilgrims do not face any difficulty. He also announced to construct a Mini Secretariat at a cost of Rs 15 crore in the town to provide facilities to the people under one roof. About 8 kanals of land has been identified for the purpose, Rather said. He said that the Chrar-i-Sharief is being developed as a modern town where a modern sports stadium has already been constructed at a cost of Rs 1.20 crore. He also assured dto construct a modern shopping complex in the town.

While giving an account of the development works in and around Chrar-i-Sharief, Rather said Alamdar road, Chrar-i-Sharief-Tilsara road, Badipora-Rehkai-Alamkoot road and more specifically provision of drinking water facility to the people of Chrar-i-Sharief Karewas was a distant dream which has been transferred into reality due to his persistant efforts. Seeking whole hearted cooperation of the people in execution of development works, Rather said every genuine demand of the people would be fulfilled for which patience and peace was pre-requisite. He also enjoined upon the concerned officers and engineers of the district administration to be pro-active and responsive to the demands of the people at the Awami Darbar who have pinned high hopes with the government adding that “it must be our endeavour to come up to their expectations”.

Later, as a follow up action, the Minister chaired a meeting of the officers of district administration discussed all the demands and issues raised by the people. He directed the officers to solve all these problems and demands within minimum possible time.

The Minister also visited the mausoleum of Hazrat Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Wali (RA) to pay obedience. He prayed for wellbeing, peace and prosperity of the state.

Earlier, Immam-Jamia Khankah Moulvi Amir-ud-Din, on behalf of the people, presented a charter of demands to the Minister and among other things sought Biat-ul-Zairine and Degree College for the town.

Sai Baba at Raghunath Temple Jammu

Jammu and Kashmir Dharmarth Trust, today wrote the Golden Chapter by installing and unveiling graceful idol of Shree Sai Baba of Shirdi in one of the outer Parikrama temple groves near famous Natraj Mandir in Shri Raghunath Ji Temple Complex here.

Kanwarani Ritu Singh, Wife of Ajatshatru Singh Ji Trustee and Member Legislative Council, unveiled the idol amidst chanting of Vedic Mantras and performing of special Pooja by a team of the highly learned Pandits.

Fomer Minister and Trustee Ajatshatru Singh was the chief guest.

President, J&K Dharmarth Trust, Thakur Divakar Singh and Members of the Jammu and Kashmir Dharmarth Trust Council, besides, Secretary Shashi Khajuria, galaxy of prominent citizens and a large number of devotees were present on the occasion .

Speaking on the occasion, Trustee Ajatshatru Singh said that by unveiling the Idol of Shree Sai Baba in Raghunath Mandir complex, the Trust has fulfilled the long aspirations of people of Jammu, particularly Sai Baba's devotees coming from outside the State for darshans of Shri Raghunath Ji Mandir in Jammu.

He said that with the installation of Shree Sai Baba's Idol in Jammu's pride of Shri Raghunath Ji temple, now the City of Temples could rightly be called as the abode of secular God. Underscoring the need for unveiling the sacred Idol of Sai Baba in Shree Raghunath Ji Temple Complex, Kanwarani Sahiba said, "Now devotees of Sai Baba will not to have undertake long journeys to other places for darshans of Sai Baba."

PK asks facilities for Jagati camp

Panun Kashmir (PK) has expressed grave concern over the disconnection of power supply to internally displaced Kashmiri Hindus at Jagati camp.

The PK which held an interactive session with the community members at Durga Nagar here today said that a fact finding team which visited the camp was astonished to see that camp inmates were without electricity for last one day. Even many inmates were without gas connections which needed to be expedited by the Relief agency.

The interaction with the local residents and inmates has revealed that an impression has been created that the new accommodations are some sort of elite colony which has to be treated at par with such colonies elsewhere while the fact is that it is the an upgraded camp facility and the Government is duty bound to provide all facilities to the camp inmates which have been promised by Prime Minister while laying the foundation stone of the camp.

The meeting, which was chaired by P K chairman, Dr Ajay Chrungoo said the deliberate disconnection of power supply to the camp has created appalling conditions in this excruciating heat which has affected general water facilities as well as drinking water availability.

The PK urged the authorities to immediately look into the matter of electricity, water and cooking gas supplies of the residents of the camp at Jagati and redress them immediately. Dr Chrungoo has urged the Government to desist from creating false and elitist impressions about the new camp. He urged the authorities to concentrate in making the camp fully operational with all the facilities, which were promised by the Government.

Annual Sindhu Darshan Yatra to be flagged off today

Over 350 yatris from different parts of the country have reached here to take part in three day long annual Sindhu darshan festival at the bank of river Sindhu in Leh township of Ladakh region beginning from June 23.

The Yatra is being organized by Sindhu Darshan Yatra Samiti and over 1000 yatris from different parts of the country are participating in it. This was stated by Murli Dhar Makheja, national president of the Samiti here this evening.

He said 100 yatris will reach here tomorrow and the first batch of the pilgrims will leave from Jammu to Leh on June 19 while the second batch will leave on June 20. They will be joined by over 400 yatris form State as well. Besides hundreds of yatris including some VIPs will directly reach Leh by air from different parts of country, he added.

The yatris will be given a civic reception here by J&K Branch of Sindhu Darshan Yatra Samiti. This is the 15th Yatra to be taken by the Samiti for Sindhu darshan this year after it was started by the former Deputy Prime Minister and BJPs Parliamentary Board chairman, L K Advani in 1997. The main objective of the yatra was to revive the ancient culture of Sindh and the historical and religious significance of the Sindhu river.

The Sindhu darshan festival will start on June 23 evening with a rally in which the gathering will stress on opening of Kailash Mansarovar route via Leh. The main function will be held on the bank of river Sindh on June 24 where besides the Sindhu Sanan (holy dip in river Sindhu), aarti and pooja will be held. This will be followed by a cultural programme at Playground Leh next day, said Ajay Kumar Bharti, of Sanaskar Bharti.

The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Ramesh Pokhriyal will be the chief guest during the main function on June 24 while senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar who was the brain behind promotion of this Yatra over the years will also attend the programme. Among others Sadhani Sant, Vandhna Pathak, member of Sindhu Darshan National Coordination Committee, Delhi will also take part in the function.

Historic Sudhmahadev Mela concludes

Over 25,000 devotees including men, women and children of all faith witnessed 3-day historic Sudhmahadev Mela started on Jyeshtha Purnima and concluded with traditional fervor and gaiety here last evening.

During the three days of the Mela devotees took bath in the Beenisangam called Budhisudhi rivulet, which flows out from top of the Dhar Shivgarh and is considered an abode of innumerable saints. The devotees also took bath in sin destroying spring (Pap Nashni bowli) situated just at the entrance of the temple, about which it is said that a holy dip in this spring shuns all evils.

During the festival, the folk artists belonging to surrounding areas turned up in large numbers to sing folk songs of the area highlighting various aspects of civilization with special reference to Lord Shiva. Number of cultural troops from all parts of the State also thronged Mela.

During the Mela days the Checking Squad headed by Mela Officer, Tehsildar, R.K. Anand, inspected various shops including dhabas, fruit and vegetable shops, tea stalls, karayana stores etc and realized a fine to the tune of Rs 13,900 under Essential Commodity Act. The team also destroyed unsound fruit and vegetables on the spot. The checking squad also warned defaulters to remain careful in future.

For the successful culmination of the three-day festival, the district administration of Udhampur had made elaborated arrangements of security, drinking water and power supply, medicare, traffic regulation, additional bus services and stock of commodities etc.

International team arrives to inspect Kishanganga

A 10 member team of International court of Arbitration, accompanied by Indo Pakistan delegation, arrived here today on a four-day tour to inspect the under-construction Kishanganga Hydropower and storage project near the Line of Control (LoC) in Gurez sector.

The international team alongwith 10 member delegation of India and nine-member team of Pakistan headed by their respective Indus Water Commissioners is scheduled to inspect the 330-MW project in Bandipora district tomorrow, official sources told here.

They said the high-level delegation arrived through the ‘Aman Sethu’ (peace bridge) in Uri sector along the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road which was thrown open for weekly bus service to enable divided families to meet each other in April, 2005 as part of confidence building measure in the wake of composite dialogue between India and Pakistan.

Kishanganga hydropower project is being build on Kishanganga river, a tributary of river Jhelum which flows into Pakistan, and was objected by Islamabad claiming that the project violates Indus water Treaty reached between the two countries.

India has maintained that the project was being built in accordance with the 1960 Treaty which allows New Delhi to undertake construction of power projects on the three major rivers flowing into Pakistan from Kashmir.

The work on the power project started in 1994 but could not be completed till date due to the objections raised by Pakistan. All attempts to reach out a bilaterial settlement failed.

New Delhi is determined to complete the project in February, 2014. 

20 new tourist destinations for j&k

The Union Tourism Ministry has decided to identify 20 new tourist destinations in the State and set a huge amount for development of three mega circuits. The Ministry intended to hold a laser show in the Dal lake in order to woo tourists from both within the country and outside.

"Jammu and Kashmir topped our priority for the promotion of tourism across the country. At the same time, we would like this State to come up as a favourite destination for tourists coming from different parts of the world. A complete mapping of the State has been carried out and we have identified 20 new tourist destinations across the State," said Union Minister for Tourism, Subodh Kant Sahay while addressing a press conference here.

He said that his Ministry would hire services of a world class consultant for proper development of these new tourist destinations adding that the consultant would be entrusted with the responsibility of attracting the attention of world class investors in tourism sector.

"Only 0.6 percent of tourists come to visit India and this I believe is nothing. We have to pull up our socks and do the needful in this respect. In the next five years we intended to take this figure to one percent and for the same we have drawn a comprehensive plan. The tourists coming from across the globe to India need to be given some packages. There are 28 world class heritage sites in the country and they are required to be promoted to the best possible level," said Sahay.

The Union Tourism Minister said that Rs 25 crores each have been sanctioned for three mega circuits in the State adding that amount would be spent on Naagar Nagar (Kashmir), Mubarak Mandi (Jammu) and Ladakh. He said that the Tourism Ministry has sanctioned Rs 128 crores during 10th Five Year Plan for the various Centrally sponsored tourism projects and the figure stood at Rs 219 crores during the 11th Five Year Plan.

Mr Sahay said that the State Tourism Ministry would create tourism trade investor policy and according to the same infrastructure in form of hotels and exhibition parks would be created. He said that the biggest challenge for the Tourism Ministry is to sustain the interest of tourists in the State and make them to stay here for a week or more than that.

"The State Tourism Department has already drawn up its calendar of activities for this year but still then we want them to add on some more events. We intend to hold a laser show at Dal lake and revive the light and sound festival at Shalimar. It would be our endeavour to revive Shikara festival as well. Lot of spiritual tourists visit Jammu and it would be in tune if some more packages are offered to people visiting Jammu," he said.

Mr Sahay said that the tourism was required to be given the status of an infrastructure industry and hoped that the State Tourism Department would do something in this regard. He asked the local hoteliers to encourage youth living in the vicinity of Manasbal lake to set up cottage type accommodation so that tourists could visit them and a boost is given to the rural tourism.

"An amount of Rs 5 crores would be given for developing arts and crafts Haat in the State on the pattern of Delhi Haat. We will also facilitate participation of private entrepreneurs and stake holders for development of various destinations under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode," Mr Sahay said.

Sharing his views the Union Minister of State for Tourism Sultan Ahmad said that space would be given to Kashmir in Geneva festival adding that State would be asked to display Shikara during the festival. He said a print media cum production campaign for the promotion of tourism in Kashmir would be carried out from Dubai to Toronto. He said that Kashmir can easily be compared with Switzerland or Scotland when it comes to tourism and tourist destinations.

Asserting that hygiene and sanitary conditions at key tourism destinations is one of the major areas of concern, Sahay said joint efforts are needed to provide adequate facilities to the visitors, both domestic and foreign, to make their holiday memorable.

"There has to be synergy of efforts between Centre, State Governments and Union Territory Administration and the private sector to develop the tourism destinations in an integrated way by providing the necessary facilities and making the experience pleasurable to the visitors, both domestic and foreign," Sahay said.

He also announced setting up of Joint Consultative Committee of Members of Parliament from Jammu and Kashmir, representatives of State Government and representatives of Union Tourism Ministry for speedy implementation of Centrally financed tourism projects in the State.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today asked Centre to allow direct international flights to the Valley for boosting the tourism sector in the State.

Addressing a tourism conference organised by FICCI here, Omar emphasized the need of facilitating tourists from South-East Asia and Middle-East to visit the Valley by operating direct flights.

Terming connectivity as an important ingredient for facilitating inflow of tourists, he strongly advocated operationalizing international flights by the Air India from and to Srinagar Airport.

"This would give fillip to the arrival of international tourist traffic to the Valley. Air India should not make the profitability its yardstick for operating international flights at Srinagar International Airport," Omar said.

The Chief Minister also called for rescheduling the flight timings between Delhi and Srinagar.

"We have already taken up the matter with the Civil Aviation Ministry for operationalizing the time chart for Delhi-Srinagar flights where under the first flight from Delhi should reach Srinagar Airport at 7.00 am and the last flight leaves from here at 6.00 pm," he said.

Omar said these steps would greatly facilitate the inflow of tourists to Jammu and Kashmir.

He said new tourist markets—Russia, Malaysia, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Japan need to be explored for diverting tourist traffic to Kashmir as the tourist rush to India from these countries is increasing phenomenally.

Underlining tourism as one of the major components in State’s economy, he expressed hope that tourism will pick up this season gradually to compensate for the losses incurred during the last three summer unrests.

He asked the Union Tourism Ministry to help in diverting various national and international conferences to SKICC where there is up to the mark infrastructure facilities for such conferences and the weather is most pleasant in this part of the country.

Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay asked the State Tourism Department to formulate a comprehensive project for showcasing ‘Sufi Circuit’ as tourist destination.

"My Ministry will provide you all help in this regard. You have greater potential for attracting domestic and foreign tourists to visit spiritual places in the State," he said.

He said new tourist markets—Russia, Malaysia, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Japan need to be explored for diverting tourist traffic to Kashmir as the tourist rush to India from these countries is increasing phenomenally.

Underlining tourism as one of the major components in the State’s economy, he expressed hope that tourism will gradually pick up this season.

Silver futures surge by Rs 166 on global cues

Supported by a firming trend overseas, silver prices surged by Rs 166 to Rs 53,224 per kg in futures trading today as speculators enlarged their positions.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange, silver for delivery in July surged by Rs 166, or 0.31 per cent, to Rs 53,224 per kg, with a business turnover of 2,937 lots.

Similarly, the metal for delivery in September also edged higher by Rs 127, or 0.24 per cent, to Rs 54,065 per kg, with a trading volume of 129 lots.

Market analysts said fresh positions created by speculators on the back of a firming trend overseas and a pick-up in spot demand mainly supported the increase in silver futures prices.

Meanwhile, silver futures rose by 1.19 per cent to USD 35.81 an ounce in New York.

Natrang Children Theatre Camp concludes

Children in Natrang Children's Theatre Camp-2011 are showing amazing results in all spheres of creativity. This was informed here today by Natrang Director, Balwant Thakur on the completion of the first phase of the Natrang Children Theatre Camp-2011. The camp is being conducted by Sumeet Sharma- a trained professional who has proven track record of having done wonderful and excellent work with children.

The workshop is being assisted by Aarushi Thakur and Mohd. Yaseen is the coordinator. Thirty children are being given the opportunity to explore their immense inner abilities through the latest developed techniques of self exploration and mind development. The children are being exposed to the unique training processes which have been developed in Germany and UK and are exclusively meant for mind development and infusing of creativity innovation. Natrang recently got trained all its faculty members through National School of Drama under their 'Theatre-In-Education' programme and all the training methodologies taught in that are being put to use in this theatre camp. In the second phase, work on play production will begin. The play being produced will be staged either at Abhinav Theatre or General Zorawar Singh Auditorium, Jammu before invited audience.

The children who are participating in Natrang's Children Theatre Camp-2011 include Manasvani Oswal, Bhagyashree Kotwal, Gauri Thakur, Aavishi Arora, Akshaj Rohmetra, Gopi Sharma, Ojusvini Kotwal, Laith August Sharma, Sanchita Dubey, Shubhankar Bloria, Shivagha Sidhamani Pathak, Chirag Anand, Chander Pratap Singh Bhau, Kritika Bhau, Tanya Dogra, Sanyam Gupta, Shreya Gupta, Dhanshree Charak, Vatsyayana Singh, Chiranjeev Kotwal, Hridyaanshu Salathia, Rhythm Misher, Divyan Sharma, Vaanya Malhotra, Sugam Mahajan, Arjun Gandotra, Rishab Sharma, Vasumit Gupta, Sachin Saini and Deepshikha Sharma.