India not to withdraw forces
JAMMU, Aug 19 — India has decided not to withdraw those additional battalions of troops which were deployed on the Indo-Pak border during the armed conflict between the two sides in the Kargil and Dras sectors.

Papers of NC cover candidate rejected
SRINAGAR, Aug 19 — The nomination papers of 11 candidates for the Srinagar Parliamentary seat have been found in order on scrutiny today where as the papers of a cover candidate of the ruling National Conference were rejected on technical grounds, according to the Returning Officer of the constituency.

Govt failed unemployed youth: BJP
JAMMU, Aug 19 — A senior BJP leader, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, has accused the Jammu and Kashmir Government for its failure to avail itself of the recruitment avenues for the unemployed youth in the Thein Dam project.

India not to withdraw forces
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Aug 19 — India has decided not to withdraw those additional battalions of troops which were deployed on the Indo-Pak border during the armed conflict between the two sides in the Kargil and Dras sectors.

According to Defence Ministry sources, New Delhi's stand on the matter is clear because additional troops will be withdrawn once Pakistan ordered the pullout of two fresh divisions sent on the border since May.

Reports with the Defence Ministry have revealed that Pakistan has not withdrawn fresh battalions deployed on the border and had not stopped firing and shelling on the Indian border villages.

According to these reports, Pakistan tried to outwit the Indian defence authorities by withdrawing some battalions of its soldiers from across Kargil, Kupwara, Poonch and Rajouri. But later it was found that Islamabad had simply shifted these new battalions from one sector to another. Not only this, across Poonch, Akhnoor, R.S. Pora, Samba, Gurez and Kupwara, Pakistani soldiers had been busy digging trenches and establishing new bunkers. Across R.S. Pora the Pak soldiers carried out trench digging exercise under the cover of a funeral procession. A coffin supposed to be carrying a body was brought close to the border for the burial ceremony.

A mock grave was dug. But the alert BSF jawans monitored the movement of the Pak Rangers and troops and when they noticed that the burial ceremony was a mock show to camouflage digging of trenches, the Indian security forces opened fire after their warning failed to stall the trench-digging programme.

Sources said knowing fully well that India had no intentions of crossing the Line of Control Pakistan should not have deployed additional battalions of troops on the border. The sources said Pakistan had further fortified her positions and posts to engage Indian soldiers in cross fire to facilitate the infiltration of militants into Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, militants have been asked by their patrons across the border not to make reckless use of ammunition and explosives as some of the groups had been feeling the pinch of shortage of ammunition and weapons. They have been advised to carry out specific operations against the Indian security forces and avoid killing of civilians.

The militant outfits have been assured that fresh supplies of weapons and ammunition would be made only after the new recruits sneak into Jammu and Kashmir. These agencies across the border had tested border between Akhnoor and Kathua in Jammu but failed to break nakas put up by the BSF. They are said to be preparing for a large-scale infiltration and arms smuggling from across Uri, Kupwara, Gurez, Poonch and Rajouri and stepped up firing and shelling during the past one week.

Papers of NC cover candidate rejected

SRINAGAR, Aug 19 (PTI) — The nomination papers of 11 candidates for the Srinagar Parliamentary seat have been found in order on scrutiny today where as the papers of a cover candidate of the ruling National Conference (NC) were rejected on technical grounds, according to the Returning Officer of the constituency.

The nomination papers of the NC’s cover candidate for Srinagar constituency and Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar have been rejected on technical grounds, Returning Officer Ghulam Ahmad Pir told PTI.

Information on the scrutiny of nomination papers from the frontier region of Ladakh is awaited, Ladakh will go to polls along with Srinagar on September 5.

Twelve candidates have filed papers for the Ladakh Parliamentary constituency, an official spokesman said.

Srinagar and Ladakh constituencies are scheduled to go to the polls in the first phase of the three-phase elections in the state.

Jammu-Poonch and Udhampur-Doda constituencies are scheduled to go the polls in the second phase on September 11 and elections for Anantnag and Baramulla seats will be held in the third and final phase of elections on September 18.

Bye-election for Bijbehara and Langate Assembly constituencies will also be held on September 18.

While Bijbehara seat fell vacant following the resignation of Mehbooba Mufti from the Assembly seat, election for Langate was necessitated following the assassination of the ruling party MLA Abdul Ahad Kar, recently.

Expedition to promote tourism in Kargil
From Our Correspondent

JAMMU, Aug 19 — After aggressive campaigning by the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department to promote tourism in Kargil district of Ladakh in the wake of its new-found fame, it is now the turn of tour operators from Maharashtra to help the J and K Government to lure tourists from all over the country to Kargil.

In an endeavour to attract the attention of people towards the picturesque tourist places in Kargil district, including Zanskar, Sankoo and Suru valley, a travel agency, City Cross Tours and Travels, Mumbai, has sponsored an expedition to Ladakh.

The four-member motorbike expedition team, led by Mr R.S. Kapileshwar Kumar was flagged off from here this morning by the DIG, Jammu, Dr S.P. Vaid, in the presence of Tourism Department officials, including its Director Mr S.S. Bhalla.

The motor cycle expedition would pass through one of the toughest routes in the world in Ladakh region and would pass very close to the Line of Control and places like Dras, famous Zozila at 11500 feet, Khardungla (18380 ft), and Rohtang Pass (13253 ft).

While talking about this expedition, Mr Kapileshwar said he and three of his friends had planned the expedition to Ladakh to promote the tourism potential of the area. He said many people from Maharashtra were willing to visit this beautiful land but did not do so because of the reports of militant activities in the area. The expedition leader said they had decided to undertake the expedition with the objective of creating an awareness among people about the situation in the state. "Our major thrust for this expedition is to promote tourist traffic in the state of Jammu and Kashmir," said Mr Kumar.

A well-known trekker, Mr Kumar, has successfully led various expeditions in Sahyadri and Himalayas. Annapurna base camp and Everest base camp were his major expeditions in the year 1994 and 1996.

Among other members are, Nitin Shastri, a history graduate from Mumbai University, and Mr Dinesh Patil (41), working in the Airports Authority of India, have also undertaken various expeditions.

Another member of the team Pramod Kulkarni has also completed various expeditions like Morgan Pass, Synthan Pass, Everest base camp, Annapurna base camp among others.

Govt failed unemployed youth: BJP
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Aug 19 — A senior BJP leader, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, has accused the Jammu and Kashmir Government for its failure to avail itself of the recruitment avenues for the unemployed youth in the Thein Dam project.

In a statement issued here today Prof Gupta, who is the party candidate for the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat, said the authorities of the Ranjit Sagar project had intimated to the state government to forward the list of candidates who had been interviewed so that they could be absorbed as permanent employees. He said this share to the state was as per the agreement between the two sides.

Prof Gupta said it was unfortunate that the state government did not forward the list of the candidates and the names of the candidates had been finalised. He alleged that on the one hand the state government was crying hoarse about its commitment to remove the problem of unemployment and on the other hand it had deliberately missed the opportunity for providing jobs to the unemployed.

The BJP leader berated the state government's policy of not allocating funds for the construction of bridge over the Ravi in Basholi. He said during Governor's rule nearly Rs 1 crore had been spent on preparing a project report.

Soon after taking over as Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, had announced that the work on the construction of Basholi bridge would be started soon but in the past three years nothing had been done when the Punjab Government had made a commitment to pay Rs 9 crore for the project.