SRINAGAR: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said he would take up the issue of ceasefire violations from across the Line of Control (LoC) with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter’s visit to the State later this month.

“We have taken up the matter (ceasefire violations) with the Centre. Prime Minister is paying a visit to Kargil and Leh this month and if I get a chance, I will discuss the issue with him,” Omar told reporters here.

The Chief Minister said it was the endeavour of the State Government to make sure such violations do not have much impact on the people living near the LoC.

“Ceasefire violations happen every now and then. Our endeavour is to try to make sure that it does not have much impact on the general public,” he said.

Earlier, Omar inaugurated two rehabilitation complexes at Rambagh and Jahangir Chowk here, constructed for shopkeepers who were displaced due to the construction of Jahangir Chowk-Rambagh Express Corridor Flyover.

The rehabilitation complex at Rambagh has been completed at a cost of Rs 48.93 crore and has floor area of 1,05,000 square feet. It houses 152 shops and a parking space for 70 vehicles at a time.

The complex at Jahangir Chowk has been completed at a cost of Rs 50 crore and has floor area of 1,42,000 square feet. It also houses 152 shops and has parking space for 100 cars. (AGENCIES)

ISLAMABAD: At least 16 people were killed and 10 injured today when an overloaded passenger vehicle fell into a deep gorge in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), police said.

The fatal incident occurred in Chattha Pal area, some 150 kilometres southeast of Muzaffarabad, the capital of PoK.

Muhammad Nawaz, a local police official confirmed that 16 people were killed and several others wounded.

He said overloading and over-speeding resulted in the accident as the van driver lost control while taking a sharp turn on a 300-feet high mountainous terrain.

The injured people have been shifted to a nearby hospital where at least four of them are said to be in critical condition, Nawaz said.

Fatal road mishaps are common in Pakistan. Most of them are caused due to reckless driving, poor roads and ill-trained drivers. (AGENCIES)

SRINAGAR: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said no one from the State has gone to West Asia to join the jihadist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“No one from Kashmir has gone to join ISIS… According to the information I have. We have heard that a Kashmiri youth has gone from Australia to get recruited, but there is no such news of any youth having gone from here to Syria, Iraq or ISIS,” Omar told reporters here. (AGENCIES)

BEIJING :  Rescuers in quake-hit Chinese village today faced difficulty in evacuating villages near rising lakes formed by landslides, complicating relief efforts following a powerful 6.5 magnitude earthquake that killed at least 410 people and injured 2,300 others.
Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang who is personally supervising the relief operations from a tent in the affected areas paid silent tribute to those who died in the earthquake in Yunnan Province.
At least 410 people were killed and more than 2,300 were injured in the earthquake, according to the latest data, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Landslides have created barrier lakes where water levels were rising to pose a new threat to about 800 villagers.
A huge quake lake containing more than 3,000 cubic metres of water has inundated dozens of homes and continues to threaten nearby villages, said local hydrological officials.
The lake was formed in Jiangbian Village, Zhixiang Township of Huize County following a landslide that occurred in the upper reaches of the Hongshiyan hydropower station, which is under construction.
Its water level is increasing at a speed of 30 cm per hour, putting seven power stations in the lower reaches in danger, the officials said.
A Chinese army surgeon with Yunnan’s border defence troops went missing after attempting to swim through another quake lake to reach Guangming village to conduct relief operations.
At the meeting with local officials and rescuers from the armed forces, Li ordered the placement of professional rescue teams in the most needed areas and called for more medical workers to be transferred to quake-hit areas.
To minimise casualties, the government will transport the seriously injured out of the quake zone as quickly as possible, the premier said.
The massive quake left a trail of destruction with more than 12,000 houses toppled and 30,000 damaged.
The government will also make sure quarantine measures are taken in the quake zone to prevent epidemics, he said.
Relief funds and materials, tents in particular, are in place, Li said, stressing that the government encourages locals to invest their own resources in finding temporary shelter.
Li stressed that civilian and military rescue and relief forces should work together under the command of the local government.
The disaster has also harmed 19 small reservoirs near the epicentre, affecting drinking water for 304,000 people, according to the provincial water resources department.
Workers have begun discharging water from two reservoirs with cracks caused by the quake. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and Gujarat Governor Om Prakash Kohli will take additional responsibilities of Rajasthan and Goa as Margaret Alva completed her tenure today.
A Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said that Naik, Governor of Uttar Pradesh, will discharge the functions of the Governor of Rajasthan, in addition to his own duties, until regular arrangements.
Similarly, Kohli, Governor of Gujarat, will be discharging the functions of the Governor of Goa, in addition to his own duties, until regular arrangements are made, it said.
72-year-old Alva completed her tenure as Governor of Rajasthan today. She had been given additional charge of Goa after B V Wanchoo submitted his resignation on July four last month. (AGENCIES)

JAMMU : BSF Inspector General Rakesh Kumar Sharma today took over as the new chief of the Border Security Force’s Jammu frontier.
Sharma took over the charge of BSF Frontier Jammu from S S Tomar who has been posted to BSF Academy, Tekanpur in Gwalior (MP) as Dy Director, BSF spokesman said here today.
Sharma had joined BSF as Assistant Commandant in 1984 as a BSF Cadre officer.
Sharma has served on many prestigious assignment in Force HQ Delhi, STC BSF, Tekanpur, CSWT BSF Indore and National Security Guard beside various field formations at Indo-Pak and Indo- Bangladesh border. (AGENCIES)

BHADERWAH :  A low intensity earthquake jolted Bhaderwah belt of Doda district today.
However, no loss of life or property was reported.
A tremor of 2.7 magnitude on Richter Scale hit Bhaderwah belt of Doda district at 1316 hours today, Met officials said.
The epicentre of the quake was located 18 kilometers of south east of Bhaderwah, they said. (AGENCIES)

JAMMU : In first ceasefire violation this month, Pakistani troops today targeted Indian forward posts with small arms and automatic weapons along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting Indian forces to retaliate.
“Pakistani troops opened unprovoked small arms firing at forward posts in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir around 1130 hours today,” PRO Defence Lt Col Manish Mehta said here.
The Indian army troops took positions and responded with equal caliber weapons to Pakistan’s firing which resulted in intermittent exchanges of fire, he said.
“There was no loss of life or damage to property in the firing on this side of LoC,” Lt Col Mehta said.
The firing, the first in the month of August, was done by Pakistan’s 641 Mujahid Regiment on Indian Posts in Sher Shakti forward belt in Poonch sector.
General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Nagrota-based 16 Corps, Lieutenant General K H Singh had recently said that the Indian army has been directed to give a befitting reply to Pakistani troops over ceasefire violations, firing and infiltration attempts from across the border.
Eight ceasefire violations by Pakistan were witnessed in July. In June, it violated the ceasefire five times along the LoC and IB in Jammu region. There were 19 incidents of ceasefire violation along the LoC in April-May. (AGENCIES)

Higher Secondary Part Two (Pvt) *Examination Results* Bi-Annual-2014 (14BLTP)

NEW DELHI :  Forty-nine Indian Army personnel were killed in counter-insurgency and counter-infiltration operations in Jammu and Kashmir in the last three years, Rajya Sabha was informed today.
In a written reply to a query in the Upper House, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said 49 Army personnel were martyred in Jammu and Kashmir during operations in the last three years.
The Minister said the force has evolved a counter-infiltration strategy which is executed in synergy with the state government.
Meanwhile, answering another query, Jaitley said the government has spent Rs 4.95 lakh crore to procure equipment for the Army in the last ten years.
The figures provided by the Minister suggest that the highest amount to be spent on procurements would be in 2014-15 as the Government has allocated Rs 75,148.03 crore for this purpose.
To a query on exercises with friendly foreign countries, Jaitley said in last three years, India has conducted 76 war games with nations including Russia, America, China, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Oman, Singapore and Seychelles. (AGENCIES)