Session will be full of 'outcomes': Modi P7 | NATION Rahul’s ‘eat, pray, love’ moment Workshop on capacity Drug control staff take samples of food building in food items processing industry P5 | KATHUA P3 | CITY INFO P6 | OPINION the NORTHLINES The Newspaper of Substance Since 1995 Vol No: XX Issue No. 100 Did Dr. Jitender mislead on AIIMS? Dr. Jitender Singh, MoS in PMO on Saturday addressing BJP Executive at Katra asserted that BJP has not given up the issue of separate AIIMS for Jammu region and Party will pursue this demand seriously. He urged the Party men that without opposing the AIIMS for Kashmir region they were free to demand another 'such type' of medical institute for Jammu region to provide better Medicare facilities to the people here also. The statement is a clear admission that the BJP has been the consenting party to the shifting of AIIMS to Kashmir Valley as agreed by the party in its Agenda for Alliance with PDP. Clause 37 (e ) of the Agenda for Alliance clearly mentioned as 'Setting up a Super Speciality, AIIMS in the Valley'. Dr. Jitendra further impressed upon the party activists, "we should not shy away from demanding an AIIMS for Jammu or else we would be allowing the initiative to be hijacked by others for a cause for which we had struggled and fought for so many years''. Pertinent to mention that Dr. Jitendra Singh was the first to congratulate the Union Finance Minister for granting AIIMS at Jammu perhaps for taking credit that later backfired. The statement of Doctor is therefore, wide far off from the facts. Cabinet approves transfer of land for polytechnic, hike in ration allowance JAMMU , APRIL 19 The J&K Government has sanctioned the transfer of over seven acres of State land in Udhampur district to the State technical education department for construction of a polytechnic college. "The Cabinet which met under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister Mufti Contd... on P2.... Wrong info on mobile can lead to disconnection NEW DELHI, APRIL 20 Mobile subscriber seeking portability of the number will now have to give an undertaking to the service provider that he is the genuine owner of the number. In case the undertaking given by the subscriber turns out to be false, the concerned number will be disconnected, as per the directions given by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to the service providers. These directions follow the regulator receiving disputes regarding ownership of the number after its porting from one service provider to the other. The regulator has already done a wide number of consultations on the issue. WEATHER JAMMU SRINAGAR High | Low High | Low 31.6°C | 21.8°C 23.4°C | 11.4°C Jammu Tawi Price ‘2/- www.thenorthlines.com, www.epaper.northlines.in Regd. No. JK/306/2014-16 Mon, Apr. 20, 2015 Pages - 12 Cabinet frames new recruitment policy JAMMU TAWI, APRIL 19 n a significant decision the State Government Sunday announced that a new recruitment policy has been formulated to make appointment against gazetted and non-gazetted vacancies on contractual basis. However, the decision won't be applicable to the posts that already stand referred to the recruiting agencies for making selections. Announcing the decision taken by the State Cabinet here today, Education Minister, Mr Naeem Akhtar said at a press conference that the persons appointed on contractual basis under the new recruitment policy would be regularized after putting in 7 years of satisfactory service. He said the decision would help the government to fill the vacancies of Assistant Surgeons, Lecturers and I All appointments to be made on contractual basis Regularization after 7 years of satisfactory service Doctors, Lecturers, Teachers to be appointed at district level Teachers from amongst the local human resource at the district level and the selected persons shall have to work in the said area during the term of their contractual engagement. This will help the government to cope up with the manpower shortage in these crucial sectors in the remote and far-flung areas of the State. Akhtar said the policy paper for making contractual appointments at the district level envisages a transparent and merit-based fast-track process of selection for filling up key posts at the cutting edge level to tone up the delivery of public services. He said to facilitate the operation of the new Mufti can resolve Kashmir issue if given free hand: Sharad Yadav Mufti unlikely to join Janata Parivaar JAMMU TAWI, APRIL 19 If given a "free hand" to run his government, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed will succeed in resolving the long JAMMU, APRIL 19 (KIP): Chief Minister, Mufti Mohd.Sayeed,who shares power with the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir is unlikely to accept any offer from the recently floated Janata Parivar for joining the six-party conglomerate. Since the six-party conglomerate, comprising among others Janata Dal (U), Samajawadi and Rashtriya Janata Dal,has been formed for countering the BJP's Contd... on P2.... Babus need Govt nod before accepting gifts of over Rs 5,000 NEW DELHI, APRIL 19 IAS and IPS officers will now need to take prior permission from the Union Government before accepting gifts, including free transportation, boarding and lodging, worth more than Rs 5,000. According to the recently amended all-India services rules, they also need to inform the Government if they accept gifts of over Rs 25,000 from their relatives or friends. No member of the service shall accept any gift without the sanction of the Government if the value of the same exceeds Rs 5,000, the new rules say. They may accept gifts from near relatives or personal friends with whom they have no official dealings on occasions such as weddings, anniversaries, funerals and religious functions when the making of gifts is in conformity with the prevailing religious and social practice but they have to make a report to the government if the value of such a gift exceeds Rs 25,000, the rules state. Free transportation, free boarding and lodging and any other service or pecuniary advantage when provided by a person other than a near relative or personal friend having no official dealing with the member of the service will be construed as a gift, as per the definition in the existing Contd... on P2.... pending Kashmir issue, Janata Dal(U) President Sharad Yadav said on Sunday. Yadav, who met his former Janata Dal colleague Sayeed over lunch in Jammu yesterday, said that the PDP leader was a "nationalist who has lived for this country and would die for this country". "I know Mufti Mohammed Sayeed personally for very long, he is a capable person and I am confident that if given a free hand to work, he would find a way out of this (Kashmir) problem," the JD(U) leader told PTI. Yadav flew to Jammu from New Delhi yesterday on the Contd... on P2.... recruitment policy at the earliest, Jammu and Kashmir Special Recruitment Ordinance-2015 was approved by the Cabinet which would now be submitted to the Governor for issuing the Ordinance. Enumerating the broader parameters of the draft J&K Special Recruitment Ordinance, 2015, Mr Akhtar said it authorizes the Government to exempt certain posts or class of posts from the purview of the J&K Public Service Commission and the Services Selection Board. It empowers the Government to lay down a policy for making appointments against the notified posts on regular/contractual basis in the prescribed manner. It empowers the Government to prescribe the mode of selection for such notified posts. It provides regularization of the persons, appointed on contractual basis on the completion of seven years of continuous contractual service. It lays down constitution of an 'Empowered Committee' in the Finance Department for considering the cases of contractual appointees' eligible for regulation and for making recommendations in this regard. The proposed legislation provides for repeal of the J&K Civil Services (Special Provisions) Act, 2010, with a saving provision in order to protect the regularization of adhoc, contractual, consolidated and temporary appointees who are eligible for such regularization under that Act. The proposed Ordinance provides that the posts which Contd... on P2.... Militants planning to attack Kashmir: Reports SRINAGAR, APRIL 19 : Even as protests continue to rock Kashmir, militants are planning to infiltrate from across the border and launch terror strikes in the valley, according to reports on Sunday. The attacks are being planned with the help of Pakistan's ISI, who are training the militants. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) had reportedly issued an alert to the Ministry of Home Affairs last month about a possible infiltration bid and terror attack by the banned militant outfits Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen in Samba and Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir. The LeT terrorists had also set up terror camps barely three kilometers near Contd... on P2.... outside the residences of these separatist leaders to prevent them from leading protests at Residency Road here in the afternoon. Suhail Ahmad Sofi, a teenager, was killed yesterday while two other youth were injured when security forces fired upon demonstrators at Narbal in Budgam as they were protesting against the killing of two youth in an army operation in Tral area of Pulwama district on Monday. Both Mirwaiz and Geelani had called for a shutdown in Budgam district against Sofi's killing. CHANDAULI, APRIL 19 Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said that any kind of anti-India activities will not be tolerated on the country's soil. He said this while addressing Kisan Mahapanchayat in his home district here, his first visit to the place after taking over as the Union Home Minister. "I congratulate Jammmu and JAMMU TAWI, APRIL 19 The Cabinet which met here today under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, accorded sanction to the promotion of IAS officers to the Selection Grade of IAS (37,40067,000) + Grade Pay of Rs. 8700 with effect from 01.01.2015. The officers include Mr. Saurabh Bhagat, Mr. Mohammad Yousuf Dar, Mr. Hemant Kumar Sharma, Mr. Hilal Ahmed Parray, Mr. Kifayat Hussain Rizvi, Mrs. Dilshad Khan, Mr. Basharat Saleem, Mr. Tsering Angchok, Mr. Shafiq Ahmed Raina and Mr. Sajad Ahmad Khan. The Cabinet also accorded sanction to the promotion of Mr. Prasanna Ramaswamy G, Mr. Niraj Kumar and Mr. Kumar Rajeev Ranjan, officers of IAS 2010 batch to the Senior Time Scale of IAS (15,600-39100) + Grade Pay of Rs. 6600 with effect from 1st January 2014. It also accorded sanction to the promotion of Mrs. Deepti Uppal, Mr. Bhupinder Kumar and Mr. Ramesh Kumar, officers of IAS 2011 batch to the Senior Time Scale of IAS (15,60039100) + Grade Pay of Rs. 6600 with effect from 01-01- BJP skirts raking up controversies at party meet JAMMU TAWI, APRIL 19 The ruling BJP in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday passed a resolution pledging to ensure rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley but avoided any reference to recent controversies like on separate settlements for those displaced by militancy. In the first meeting of the BJP's state working committee after it came to power for the first time in the state, the party appeared keen not to rock the boat by raking up any controversial issue, including on separatists, and said it would not allow any activity in the state which will be "detrimental to the national interest". The party also committed to rehabilitation of refugees from West Pakistan and PoK while skirting the issue of their citizenship. While releasing the resolution adopted by the party during the two-day meeting of the state working committee held in Katra, BJP state chief spokesman Sunil Sethi said Kashmiri Pandits make the "identity of Kashmir complete" and the party would ensure their rehabilitation in the Valley as per their aspirations. "It is resolved that the identity of Kashmir is Geelani appealed to separatist leaders to assemble at Pratap Park in Lal Chowk today at 2 PM to register their protest. Narbal continues to remain tense but peaceful as security forces have been deployed in large numbers to control the situation. Two policemen including an officer have been arrested arrested in connection with Sofi's killing while the SHO of the concerned police station has been attached for "lack of supervision". Although the separatist have not called for strike in the summer capital, most of the shops in and around Lal Chowk? remained shut fearing law and order problems. The weekly flea market was also affected due to the situation. Some vendors had put up their stalls in the morning but rainfall an hour before noon forced them away. Meanwhile, Director General of Police K Rajendra Kumar convened a high level meeting of Police, CRPF and intelligence officers late last night to take stock of the law and order situation in the Valley, a police spokesman said today. He said the DGP was Kashmir CM for acting tough on this issue, we will not tolerate any such kind of antiIndia activities on our soil," he said. He said that a separatist leader who was involved in anti-India activities and shouted pro-Pakistan slogans in Kashmir, is now again in jail. Praising Modi and his government for acting strongly against violation of ceasefire by Pakistan, Singh said, "When our five jawans were martyred, I called a senior official of the Border Security Force and inquired about the matter." "The officer told me that they showed white flags to Pakistan. I asked what does it mean and the officer said it means that we want to sort out the matter peacefully by engaging the countries in talks. I again asked how many times did you show the flags, he told me 16 times," Contd... on P2.... 16 IAS, 171 KAS officers, 5 ETO promoted incomplete without Kashmiri Pandits and it will be ensured that they return to the Valley as per the security and safety requirements and that their settlement in Kashmir will be as per their desires, aspirations and practicability," he said. On the issue of West Pakistan refugees, the party said it would ensure that the refugees are given their rights to livelihood and meaningful living. Sethi said the party would also resolve to work for the one time settlement of the refugees from the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). The party resolved to show Uneasy calm prevails in Valley after teenager's killing A SRINAGAR, APRIL 19 n uneasy calm on Sunday prevailed in Kashmir where authorities have kept several separatists including Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq under house arrest to foil their plans of holding protests against the killing of a teenager in Budgam district. While Mirwaiz was placed under house arrest yesterday morning, Geelani remained under house arrest for the third consecutive day, police officials said. They said a posse of police personnel has been posted Anti-India activities will not be tolerated: HM briefed by officers about current law and order and security situation. He was also?given a detailed briefing about the Narbal incident. Kumar emphasized that justice be delivered to the victim family, taking into account the complete facts of the incident, the spokesman said. He expressed sorrow over the loss of precious?human life and conveyed his sympathies to the bereaved family, the spokesman said. The DGP directed the officers present in the meeting to ensure that such Contd... on P2.... gratitude to the voters of Jammu and Kashmir, who have overwhelmingly voted in "favour of democracy by rejecting all threats and intimidations from organisation and separatism". "It is resolved that the coalition of PDP and BJP will work for betterment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir by addressing the issue of unemployment, ensuring corruption-free and responsive government," Sethi said. He said the nationalism in Jammu and Kashmir will be encouraged and no activity will be allowed in the state which Contd... on P2.... 2015. In another decision, the Cabinet ordered the release of Selection Grade of KAS in favour of 171 officers of the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services (KAS). The Cabinet also accorded sanction to the appointment by promotion of Mr. Shyam Sunder Gupta, Mr. Pawan Kumar (RBA), Mr. Bharat Singh (RBA-PHC) and Mr. Mansoor Aslam Choudhary (ST), officers of J&K Excise and Taxation (Gazetted) Service, to the time scale of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service Contd... on P2.... Yechury elected as new CPI(M) Gen Secy NEW DELHI, APRIL 19 CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury on Sunday was elected as the new General Secretary of the party, succeeding Prakash Karat. Karat had suggested Yechury's name for the post after the other frontrunner S Ramachandran Pillai withdrew from the race. Yechury's name was approved unanimously by the party's new central committee, Contd... on P2.... Govt relaxes norms for compensation to farmers JAMMU TAWI, APRIL 19 The State Government today eased the procedure for seeking compensation by the farmers and fruit growers for their crop-damage due to natural calamities, by making certain changes in the norms of State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF). "The cabinet meeting that was chaired by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today decided to ease the procedure of seeking compensation by the farmers and fruit growers whose crop gets damage due to natural calamities. Now a farmer can seek compensation if his crop suffers a damage of 33 per cent, earlier it was 50 per cent," Minister for Education Naeem Akhtar told reporters here. He said that following the recent unprecedented rainfall across the State, farmers and fruits-growers have suffered huge losses and the Government would soon conduct a survey and would initiate the process of giving compensation to them. "The Government has also revised the rate of compensation and now the farmers and fruit growers will get increased compensation for the crop-loss," he said. Akhtar said that the Government has also decided to make certain changes in the State recruitment policy and has empowered the deputy commissioners in every district to employ qualified applicants on various positions. "The Government has empowered the deputy commissioners in every district to recruit qualified and eligible Contd... on P2.... 2 JAMMU | MONRDAY | APRIL 20 | 2015 Heat wave ascends in north India NEW DELHI: Heat wave-like conditions prevailed at several places across the country as the mercury crossed the 40-degree Celsius mark in various cities including the national capital with the temperature likely to rise in coming days. While New Delhi posted 40.6 degrees Celsius while Jaisalmer recorded the hottest temperature at 44.5 degrees Celsius. Humidity level in the national capital oscillated between 25 per cent and 79 per cent. The weatherman has forecast a maximum temperature of around 41 degrees Celsius while the minimum is expected to hover around 23 degrees Celsius. With the mercury showing an upward trend, the western regions of Rajasthan including Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, and Churu were also in grip of heat wave-like condition, according to a MeT report. Dust-raising winds were experienced in Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner, and Churu affecting normal life in the state. Capital Jaipur recorded a maximum temperature of 42.5 degrees Celsius, about three degree above the normal. With rise in temperature in the Jaipur division, there was a sudden power cut in major parts of the State capital in the afternoon. Mercury may rise further in most parts of Rajasthan as dry weather conditions are expected to prevail for the next 24 hours, a forecast by the MeT said. Heat wave-like condition prevailed in many parts of Odisha also today with the mercury crossing the 40-degree Celsius mark in at least ten places. The industrial town of Angul recorded the highest Cabinet discusses situation in the Valley JAMMU, APRIL 19 The state Cabinet, which met today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, discussed the prevailing situation in the state, especially after the arrest of separatist leader Masarat Alam. Highly placed sources said the Chief Minister, who holds the Home portfolio, informed his Cabinet colleagues about the prevailing situation in the Valley. He sought cooperation and suggestions from his colleagues to restore sustainable calm and peace in the state. Sources said some of the BJP ministers sought to enquire why preventive measures were not taken before the Wednesday rally in which Masarat Alam and Syed Ali Shah Geelani unfurled Pakistani flags and raised antiIndia slogans. FROM PAGE 1... Govt applicants in the district, the only consideration would be merit and nothing else," he said. Uneasy incidents are not repeated in the future, he said. He enjoined upon the officers to convey to the rank and file that they should strictly adhere to laid down Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) while dealing with law and order situations. The meeting also discussed the measures to be taken to ensure that law and order is maintained and at the same time situations should not be allowed to develop to a level which has a negative fallout, the spokesman said. He said the DGP asked all the forces to work with?utmost zeal and professionalism to ensure that peaceful situation prevails. He said nobody will be allowed to derail the peaceful atmosphere and law will take its own course in all such matters, the spokesman said. Mufti unlikely winning spree in Assembly elections in a number of states. Under these circumstances Mufti Sayeed who succeeded in being elected as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir with the support from the BJP, is unlikely to join the conglomerate. Mufti Sayeed is not prepared to forge an alliance with the National Conference which has 15 members in the Assembly. He could have cobbled an alliance with the Congress which has 12 members in the Assembly but he may not be able to form a stable Government with the Congress. Hence if the Chief Minister has forged an alliance with the BJP he has done so to ensure proper development of the state and for ending regional imbalance. That way joining the six-party conglomerate would be an affront to the BJP which the Sangh Parivaar may not accept under any circumstances. And if the Mufti rejoins the sixparty conglomerate the BJP would, according to senior BJP leaders, quit the Government. Reliable reports said that when the Janata Dal (U) Chief Sharad Yadav had called on Mufti Sayeed in Jammu the other day he had broached the issue of Mufti's willingness to join the six-party conglomerate. According to these reports, Mufti Sayeed has assured Yadav that the friendship between the two would continue even if e (Mufti) did not join the six-party conglomerate. Mufti invitation of Sayeed, whose party PDP is in alliance with BJP in Jammu and Kashmir, but said that he did not discuss politics during the meeting. The meeting between the two leaders, who were both ministers in the Janata Dal government in 1989, came amid a unification move by Janata Parivar splinter groups. "It was a long overdue meeting, so I decided that before Parliament session resumes, I must pay him a visit. We have been together in the Union cabinet and I know him very well. It was just an apolitical meeting where we discussed everything else except politics," Yadav said. Yadav said that the "democratic setup of India" was a platform that provides solution to every long standing problem and that Kashmir issue too could be resolved within the framework of the democratic process. He said he was confident that the BJP-PDP coalition government will facilitate and help initiate a sustained and meaningful dialogue with all internal stakeholders, which will include all political groups. He said that the successive governments have been dealing with the separatist organisations. "When I was a minister in the NDA government, the then The NORTHLINES CITY INFO temperature in the state at 42.7 degree Celsius as against 40.7 degree Celsius recorded yesterday, the Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar said. The temperature in the coal town of Talcher also increased to 41.5 degree Celsius from 40 degree Celsius recorded yesterday, while the maximum temperature in state capital Bhubaneswar stood at 40 degrees Celsius, the MeT office said. The maximum temperature at Bhawanipatna, the district headquarters town of Kalahandi district, was recorded at 41.2 degrees Celsius, while it was 41.1 degrees at Hirakud in Sambalpur district. Balangir recorded 41 degrees Celsius, while at Jharsuguda it was 40.9 degrees, 40.6 degrees Celsius at Malkangiri, 40.5 degrees at Titlagarh and 40 degrees Celsius at Sundargarh, it said. (AGENCIES) www.thenorthlines.com JKLF resolves to oppose township for KPs in Valley SRINAGAR, APRIL 19 JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik on Sunday ended his 30-hour fast and resolved to oppose establishing any separate township for migrant Kashmiri Panidts in the Valley. "It was resolved that the settlement of Kashmiri Pandits in separate colonies and ghettos in Kashmir is unacceptable to all Kashmiri Muslims, Pandits, Sikhs and Christians as it will create walls of hatred among the communities here and will erode the age old trust between the communities," a JKLF spokesman said after Malik broke the fast. The spokesman said the resolution was passed at the end of a day-long seminar organised by the JKLF on the issue of return to Kashmiri Pandits to separate colonies in Kashmir. Snowed down surroundings of Kedarnath Shrine before it reopens on April 24 for general public. — Photo Agency BJP claims to have registered 8 PDP demands removal of lakh members in J&K bunker in Tral JAMMU: BJP on Sunday claimed that it has registered over eight lakh members in Jammu and Kashmir and hoped to achieve the target of 11 lakh memberships in the state. "I feel happy to inform you that BJP till today has registered over eight lakh members in Jammu and Kashmir and our target is of 11 Lakh members that will be achieved within next few days," BJP state general secretary (organization) Ashok Koul said here today. Koul said that the numbers were not achieved overnight but it involved weeks of hard work of the dedicated workers of the party. Koul claimed that BJP has Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had initiated dialogue process with political groups, including the Hurriyat conference in the spirit of Insaaniyat, Kashmiriyat and Jamhooriyat," he said. Yadav said that following the same principles the coalition government will facilitate and help initiate a sustained and meaningful dialogue with all internal stakeholders, which will include all political groups irrespective of their ideological views and predilections. "The dialogue will seek to build a broad based consensus on resolution of all outstanding issues of Jammu and Kashmir. This is all mentioned in the common Minimum programme of the present government in Jammu and Kashmir," he said. He said the country has successfully dealt with major challenges, including in Punjab, within the democratic framework and he was sure that "if Mufti gets his way he would also find a way out for Kashmir problem as well." "The country has seen worst in the past. The problem in North East, the problem in Punjab and many other problems that we have faced since our independence and all of these were resolved within the democratic framework and I am sure that if Mufti gets his way he would also find a way out for Kashmir problem as well," Yadav said. Earlier while taking to reporters, Yadav termed the political situation in Jammu and Kashmir complex and said that the situation continues to be same since 1947. "However the degree of discontent varied from time to time and there are historical reasons for that. Attempts have been made in the past and by the successive governments and the present government to bring the people of the state into the mainstream," he said. Babus rules. However, the rules state that gifts does not include casual meals, casual lift or other social hospitality. Officers shall avoid accepting lavish hospitality or frequent hospitality from persons having official dealings with them or from commercial firms or other organisations, the rules say. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has notified the All-India Services (Conduct) Amendment Rules, 2015. Earlier, IAS, IPS and IFoS officers were needed to take prior Government sanction before accepting gifts if their value exceeded Rs 1,000, he said. Militants the Jammu border. Border Security Force (BSF) had submitted the report to the Home Ministry in this matter too. BJP will be "detrimental to the national interest". As per the party sources, the resolution comes days after when the senior party leaders asked the local unit of BJP to keep itself away from controversies and focus on the issues of governance and showcase its achievements to the people of the state. There has been unease in BJP's ties with the PDP, especially over the release of separatist leader Masarat Alam and on the issue of return of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley. Yechury which has has 91 members besides five special invitees and five permanent invitees. Yechury becomes the fifth general secretary of the party. Karat served three terms as the party head. Meanwhile, the new politburo of the CPI(M) will have 4 new members Hannan Mollah, Mohd Salim, Subhashini Ali and G Ramakrishnan. achieved the distinction of being a party with largest number of members in the world. "Today ours is the political party which has reached to first position in the world with ten crore members," he said. While throwing light on the history of the party Ashok Koul said that BJP that was formed on April 6, 1980, has today became the world's largest political party with ten crore members within a period of 35 years. "We have left behind Communist Party of China, which has eight crore members" Koul said and added that the credit for this success goes to every activists of the party, "who has been devoting time. The new General Secretary addressing the party congress said it is an honorous and big responsibility on him and that will try his best to discharge them. "We must strengthen ourselves in order to meet challenges before the country and the party," he said. While attacking the government at the Centre, he said that it is headed by communal forces pursuing an aggressive neo-liberal agenda. "Seeing erosion of democratic practices under Modi government," said Yechury. Saying that the party should overthrow the class rule, Yechury told that strength of CPI(M) is in its collective functioning. 16 IAS (KAS) (15,600-39100) + Grade Pay of Rs. 6600 with effect from 06-12-2010. It also approved release of Grade of Time Scale of KAS (15,600-39100) + Grade Pay of Rs. 6600 with effect from 06-12-2010 in favour of Mr. Naresh Kumar Choudhary and Mr. Abdul Qayoom Ahanger, retired officers of the J&K Excise and Taxation (Gazetted) Service. The KAS officers in whose favour Selection Grade is released are Mushtaq Ahmad Shah, Javed Ahmad Shah , Asif Hameed Khan, Soujanya Kumar Sharma, Itrat Hussain Rafiqui, Mir Altaf Ahmad, Mohammad Yasin , Sheikh (retired), Hashmat Ali Khan (ST), Khurshid Ahmad Shah, Amit Sharma , G ,M , Brakboo (retired) , Nazim Zai Khan, Sheikh Mukhtar Hussain (retired) , Bashir Ahmad Dar, Ms , Sunita Anand , Shakeel-ul-Rehman Rather , Pradeep Kumar , M ,M , Rehman Ghasi, Avtar Singh Chib, Bilal Ahmad Bhat,Rakesh Gupta (deceased) ,Nisar Hussain Wani ,Rohit Khajuria , Jagdev Singh Manhas (retired), Mukhtar-ulAziz, Bashir Ahmad Khan,Ram Ditta Charak (retired), Bikram Singh Jamwal (retired), Javed Iqbal Balwan (retired), Ghulam Nabi Balwan, Tsering Marup (retired), Riyaz Ahmad Choudhary (retired), Tasaduq Jeelani ,Gazanfer Ali, Hassan Khan , Veer Ji Hangloo, Abdul Aziz Bhat (retired), Shakeel Ahmad Teng (retired), Abdul Rashid War, Rahul Sharma, Narinder Singh Bali, Aijaz Ahmad Bhat, Hashmat Ali Yatoo, Choudhary Rashid Azam Inqalabi, Majid Khalil Ahmad Drabu, Mohammad Akbar Wani, Mufti-M-Fareed-ud-din, Ms Rifat Arif, Sheikh Arshad Ayub, Nasir Ahmad Naqash,Rajesh Sharma , Farooq Ahmad Shah , Ms Babila Rakwal ,Riyaz Ahmad , Ms Shabnam Shah Kamili , Dr Ghulam Nabi Itoo, Ravinder Kumar Bhat , Ms Rachna Sharma, Ms Leena Padha, Ms , Kusum Badyal, Rajinder Singh Tara, Ravinder Kumar Bhat, Ms Rachna Sharma, Ms Leena Padha, Ms , Kusum Badyal, Rajinder Singh Tara, Ms Vivek Sharma, Mohammad Hussain Mir, Tariq Hussain Ganai Munir-ul-Islam, Showkat Aijaz Bhat, Gulzar Ahmad Dar, Arvind Kotwal, Mohammad Harun Malik, Nisar Ahmad Wani, Ali Afsar Khan, Ghulam Rasool Mir, Jatinder Singh,Dr Ravi Shanker Sharma, Sajjad Hussain Ganai, Ms Anoo Malhotra, Shamim Ahmad, Ms , Nitu Gupta, Prediman Krishan Bhat, Ms , Anuradha Rani, Pankaj Magotra, Tariq Ahmad Zargar, Manohar Lal Raina, Ghulam Mohd Dar, Manmohan Singh, Bhawani Rakwal, Ms Smita Sethi, Ms Anuradha Gupta, Ashok Kumar Pandita, Reyaz Ahmad Wani, Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, Ravinder Nath Sadhu, Farooq Ahmad Rather, Manzoor Ahmad Qadri, Raman Kumar Kesar, Asgar Hussain, Tanveer Iqbal, Bashir Ahmad Khan, Khalid Jahangir, Ms Manisha Sareen, Mohd Ishaq Shah, Ajay Kumar, Ms , Deepika Kumari Sharma, Ghulam Rasool Kumar , Mahmood Ahmed Shah, Muzaffar Ahmad Peer, Ajaz Abdullah Saraf, Pawan Singh Rathore, Mohd , Rafi, Mehraj-ud-Din Rather, Kishore Singh Chib, Shahbaz Ahmad Mirza, Ms , Rubeena Kounser, Mussarat Islam Soharwardy , Mohinder Singh, Dr , Firdous Ahmad Giri, Mohammad Yousuf Mi, Mohd Younis Malik, Ms , Shubra Sharma, Inderjeet, Ms , Mathora Masoom, Shiv Kumar SRINAGAR, APRIL 19 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) youth president Waheed Ur Rehman Parra has demanded the removal of CRPF bunker from the main bus stand at Tral. During his interaction with a group of youth in the area, Waheed was informed about the problems being faced by the locals due to presence of a bunker in the heart of the town, a party spokesman said. Gupta, Qazi Sarwa, Vikas Sharm, Ms , Indu Kanwal Chib, Rajesh Kumar Shavan, Mushtaq Ahmad, Ajesh Kumar (deceased) , Mohammad Saleem , Choudhary Mohammad Rashid, Mohammad Mumtaz Ali, Abdul Hamid, Dr , Bharat Bhushan Ms , Nirupa Rai, Ashok Kumar, Rakesh Kumar Sarangal, Mohammad Shahid, Saleem Dar, Babu Ram, Pritam Lai Atri, Naseem Javid Choudhary, Ms Harvinder Kour, Ms Purnima Mittal, Arun Kumar Manhas, Y.P. Suman, Anjana Ticko, P.K. Koul, Nazir Ahmad Mir, Mohammad Ashraf Bhat. It is further ordered that the release of Selection Grade of KAS in favour of the above officers shall be subject to the consideration of the superior claims of the following retired KAS officers: Sheikh Nazir Ahmad, Mohammad Ashraf Shanthoo, Sham Lal Bijyal, Mohammad Yousuf Dar, Amar Singh, Syed Atta Ullah Simnani, Iftikhar Ahmad Banday, Soba Ram, Abdul Gani Sofi, Mohammad Aslam Qadiri, Verinder Slathia, Romesh Chander Sharma, Mohammad Anwar, Gurdarshan Singh, Lobzang Thinless, Parvez Ahmad Wani, Imtiaz Ahmad, Latif Ahmad Zargar, Jatinder Kumar Gupta, Mohammad Muzaffar Hakim, Mohammad Matloob Khan, , Saleema Bano, Mohammad Anees, Mohammad Ali Khan (ST), Gulzar Hussain, V.K. Sharma, Fayaz Ahmad Bala, Rajinder Singh, S.C. Sharma , Mrs. Tsewang Dolma, Tsering Narboo (ST) , B.A. Masoodi, Syed Shafiq-urRehman, Mehboob-ul-Hassan Beigh, Bashir Ahmad Najar Anti-India Singh said. "And when our jawans started retaliating, Pakistan has to seek UN's intervention to sort out the matter," he said. Cabinet have already been referred to the designated recruiting agencies, viz. the J&K Public Service Commission and the Services Selection Board, shall, however, be filled up by the concerned recruiting agencies by following the existing procedure of making selections. The proposed legislation provides that some categories of posts which are to be filled up through the competitive examination like the J&K Civil Services (Judicial) and J&K Administrative Services, to be conducted by the J&K Public Service Commission, shall be exempted from the application of the proposed Ordinance. Relief distribution norms relaxed Mr Akhtar said the Cabinet, which met here today under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, also approved relaxation of norms to ensure that maximum number of farmers whose agriculture and horticulture produce is damaged due of natural calamities are entitled to relief under SDRF. He said the Cabinet decided to bring down the slab for entitlement to relief under SDRF from the existing 50% to 33% damage to crops and other produce due to rains and other natural calamities. "Similarly, the rate of compensation has also been increased for various categories of damages," he said and added that these measures shall have wide-ranging impact. He said the Cabinet took stock of the losses to standing crops and fruit trees on account of the recent heavy rains and asked the Revenue Department to workout the damage assessment on war-footing and project it to Government urgently so that relief is provided to the affected farmers in terms of amended SDRF norms. Promotions Akhtar said the cabinet also approved promotion of IAS officers and around 170 KAS officers, which were hanging fire due to litigations and other issues since 1999. Digitisation of Revenue Records Mr Akhtar said a presentation was also made before the cabinet regarding the digitization of all the revenue records in the State. Printer, Publisher & Proprietor Neelam Singh Gill. Published from Gurudwara Sunder Singh Road, Jammu-180001 and Printed at Northlines Offset Printers & Publishers, Jeewan Nagar, Digiana, Jammu. Phone Editorial : 2574109 Telefax : 2548103. Advertisements: 9858183354; RNI No. 69574/98 e-mail:-< [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] > Visit www.thenorthlines.com, http://www.northlines.in. Epaper: www.epaper.thenorthlines.com Jammu, Apr 10 : Government has created new Administrative Units on the recommendations of the Cabinet Sub-committee, which include 46 Sub-Divisions, 135 Tehsils and 301 Niabats across the State, which have been made operational. This information was given by Minister for Revenue, Javaid Mustafa Mir while replying to a question by Sham Lal Bhagat in the Legislative Council here today. The Minister said the Government has already crated necessary staff for these units. He added that however, pending regular recruitment of the staff under various categories through the recruiting agencies, the said units have been made operational by way of making internal arrangement and also by utilizing the promotion quota under various categories. The Minister also said that these new units have been made functional either in the existing government buildings or in rented buildings, pending creation of the permanent infrastructure. The new additional administrative units including 09 Sub-Divisions, 50 Tehsils and 99 Naibats which have been created on the recommendations of the Expert Committee headed by Financial Commissioner, Industries and Commerce Department, Khurshid Ahmad Ganai, are yet to be made operational as the matter is under examination in consultation with the Finance and Planning & Development Departments, the minister added. the NORTHLINES Jammu 3 JAMMU JAMMU | MONDAY APRIL 20, 2014 Workshop on Capacity Building in Food Processing Industry AJSUF criticizes BJP's 'double standards' NL CORRESPONDENT JAMMU TAWI: A Three Day Workshop on 'Competence Building in Food Processing Industry in J&K', sponsored by National Mission of Food Processing (NMFP) GOI, was organized in the School of Business, Faculty of Management, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra, J&K concluded today. The Chief Guest for the program was Khurshid A Ganai, Commissioner/ Secretary, Finance, Industries and Commerce J&K. The Vice Chancellor SMVDU Prof. S. K. Jain graced the occasion in presence of Kifayat Hussain Rizvi Managing Director JK SIDCO, Prof. D. Mukhopadhyay, Dean Faculty of Management and entrepreneurs in food processing of Jammu and Kashmir region. The workshop is organized to provide a common platform where all food pro- cessing unit entrepreneurs of J&K to discuss the growth and development of the FPI in the state of J&K. Workshop was to infuse and enhance the entrepreneurial acumen and professionalism of the unit holders by focusing towards the benefits of technology, innovation, quality practices, human resource development etc. A panel discussion for setting agenda for the discussion in workshop was organized which was coordinated by Dr. Saurabh, Gurmat Samagamm organised NL CORRESPONDENT JAMMU TAWI: A Gurmat Samagamm was organized by Shromani Gumat Granthi Reg Sabha zJammu (Regd.) Gurdwara Baba Fateh Singh Ji Gandhi Nagar, Jammu in 19th of april 2015 Main motive behind the Samagam is to help needy children and to give religious teaching to children by the Shromani Gummat Granthi Ragi Sabha Regd. Jammu. In this programme Books, Uniforms and starionery items has been distributed among 70-80 needy children. In this connection a press conference was organized in which S Harbans Sigh President, Bhai Kulbir Singh Chirman, Bhai Nirmal Gen . Secretary Bhai Surjeet Singh Vice President, Randhir Singh, Jeevan singhand others Executive memmers of the sabha were present in the press conference. JKLF resolves to oppose separate township for Kashmiri Pandits in Valley NL CORRESPONDENT SRINAGAR : JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik on Sunday ended his 30-hour fast and resolved to oppose establishing any separate township for migrant Kashmiri Panidts in the Valley. "It was resolved that the settlement of Kashmiri Pandits in separate colonies and ghettos in Kashmir is unacceptable to all Kashmiri Muslims, pandits, Sikhs and Christians as it will create walls of hatred among the communities here and will erode the age old trust between the communities," a JKLF spokesman said after Malik broke the fast. The spokesman said the resolution was passed at the end of a day-long seminar organised by the JKLF on the issue of return to Kashmiri Pandits to separate colonies in Kashmir. He said it was resolved unanimously that Kashmiri Pandits, who got dislocated in 1990, should return to their homes and hearths in Kashmir. "They will be wel- come to restore the proverbial ethos of Kashmir represented by amity, harmony and brotherhood among the various communities," he added. organizing Secretary of the workshop. The panel deliberated on various issues related to the better alignment of Food Processing in J&K along its three regions i.e. Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh. It also deliberated the various issues such as cost reduction, branding, improving infrastructure, technology intervention, research, value addition and availability of quality human resource. Finance Commissioner/ Secretary, Industries JAMMU TAWI: Social Activist Jagdish Sudan demands reservations on the based of poverty instead of caste which divide the society into different sections as a result violence. While issue a press note, Jagdish Sudan said that reservations on the basis of castes creates many obstacles for the persons whose born in the poor family. Reservation on the based of caste is disease which spread in the society rapidly , it is not important that poor born only on the basis of caste and upper castes have no poor. There are number of candidates who left without any NL CORRESPONDENT JAMMU TAWI: 42nd KVS Jawaharlal Nehru National Science, Mathematics & Environment Exhibition was inaugurated by Anil Paliwal IPS, Inspector General BSF, and Punjab Frontier at Kendriya Vidyalaya No-2 Jalandhar Cantt. The Inaugural function was organized in the Auditorium of B.D.Arya Girls College Jalandhar Cantt. Five hundred thirty four participants with their escorts from all the twenty five Regions of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan including the Kendeiya Vidyalayas of KVS, Jammu Region situated in J&K, parts of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, are participating in this National level event of KVS. Padamshri Vijay Chopra, Chief Editor Punjab Kesri, Jalandhar , Dr. Sarita Verma Principal B.D. Arya Girls College Jalandhar Cantt, Dr. benefit as they born in upper caste. Further, Sudan said that Union government as well state government should immediate removed reservations on the based of castes and amendment in the law to make it poverty reservations. There should be a only single category I.e poverty ,it includes all castes whether they are belong to upper/lower caste. Country shouldn't be divided on the based of castes. Sudan appealed the Prime minister of india Narender Modi to take immediate step in this important matter which removes all obstacles in the society and only one category that is poverty. Illegal toll collection resented: BSP NL CORRESPONDENT JAMMU TAWI: Bahujan Samaj Party in a meeting held here today under the chairmanship of its State Gen.Secretary Rakesh Wazir strongly condenmened the ill legal money collection by the Toll Post people at Ban Talab even from the people who come under exempt categeory including local and other categeories prescribed by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways Govt.Of India. Wazir said that either the people deployed at Toll Post Ban Talab do not know the guidelines and rules of the concerned Ministry or they are making mockery of it and fetching money from the people on the basis of muscle power and the state government is just acting as mute spectator and rather facilitating them by providing them security etc.,and said that infact there should be no toll keeping in view the continous turmoil in the state and if in any case it has to be charged it should be collected under law and genuine considerations. He said that rules are very clear that people residing or using 20 KM toll road be treated as locals and monthly pass be issued to them irrespective of district etc. but on contrary to that Reasi district and other areas which starts senting various companies and organizations including their managing directors participated in the workshop.. Amit Sharma special secretary to government animal/ sheep husbandry department was the Chief Guest into the valedictory session. He mentioned that animal husbandry and food industry go hand in hand and the State Govt. is doing all necessary efforts to its maximum level to help out industrialists and entrepreneurs. KVS Exhibition inaugrated Social activist demands resevation based on poverty NL CORRESPONDENT Khurshid A. Ganai called for a change in mindset to make efforts towards creating more entrepreneurship. The Vice chancellor SMVD University, Prof. Sudhir K. Jain, said that the food theme is very important and let us make food industry grow in J&K. Prof. D. Mukhopadhyay Dean Faculty of Management expressed that the food processing sector can take ahead the mission for 'Make in India'. More than fifty participants repre- merely 6 KM from toll post and merely by seeing Reasi district number plates on the cars they are being charged exhorbant rates by giving excuse that vehicle belongs to Reasi district and same is the case with Jandrah,Manwal,Katra,Reasi and other areas. He said that if the vehicle is local non commercial of within 20 KM area or is of area which diverts within 20 KM of toll road, the local pass should be issued immediately. The meeting among others was attended by Gardhari Lal,Madhu Charak,Purshottam Kumar,Puran Chand,Deepak Kumar etc. J.S Thind, Thind Eye Hospital and Ms. Parminder Berry Social Activist Red Cross Society were the Guests of Honour on this occasion. Rao said that Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan is rendering its Services in the field of education in the country and abroad at mass level. He said that KVS has proved to be a Premier organization throughout the world catering quality education and infrastructure facilities. Chief Guest Paliwal expressed his happiness about the participation of children in the inaugural function in a large number and excellent performance of various cultural items. He drew the attention of the audience towards the great contribution of Indian Scientists, Mathematician and Astrologists as to make an impact on the future generations of the whole world. A.S Gill Assistant Commissioner KVS Jammu Region extended the Vote of Thanks. He appreciated the role of Kendriya Vidyalaya No-1,2 & 3, Jalandhar Cantt for conducting the event smoothly and professionally. D.R Meena Assistant Commissioner KVS Jammu Region, Mahesh Gupta Executive Member , International Vaish Federation, Sneh Gupta Vice president Cantonment Board, Retired Principals of local KV's ,Principals of neighboring KV's and other educationists, scientists and social workers attended this inaugural function. The Exhibits, Models and Projects on the theme of the Exhibition -Science and Mathematics for a Sustainable World, were displayed for judgement of the entries under six sub themes namely Community Health & Environment, Landmarks in Science and Mathematics, Innovation and Communication Technology, Energy - Resources and Conservation ,Transport and Waste Management. The models and exhibits out of these works will be selected for participation in National Science Exhibition to be held in the near future. NL CORRESPONDENT JAMMU TAWI: A meeting of All J&k Sikh unity forum was held under chairman ship of S.Rajinder Singh convener along with Adv .Sangat Singh ,S.Gurdeep Singh ,S. Gurmeet Singh ,S. Manohar Singh ,Adv. Avjyot Singh general secretary (NSUI) S.Tajinder Singh S.Balbir Singh ,Ch Dev Raj ,Dr. Tarik Singh strongly demanded to centre Govt. to grant AIIMS to Jammu region to redressed grievous of the people S.Rajinder Singh critised the double standard of BJP party which fought the parliament and assembly election on agendas against discriminations with the. People of Jammu region but took u turn after getting the power and forgot every made promises with the people of particularly Jammu regions and was also blaming before the election even by the prime minister Nariender modi in his public meetings by saying that PDP and NC are communal parties and believing in the division policy of Jammu & Kashmir state. Adv. Sangat Singh said that BJP double standard has been exposed and even center Govt. cheated and play with the interest Jammu region people which forgot sufferings and discriminating with the people of Jammu regions by PDP and NC Govt. in share employments, promotions tourism spots and general developments of Jammu regions. Adv.Avjyot Singh has said that all social mind people jointly fight for rights of Jammu & Kashmir people against their discriminating by communal forces in Jammu & Kashmir states. KTM organises a stunt show NL CORRESPONDENT JAMMU TAWI: KTM, the European Racing Legend, conducted breath-taking KTMStunt show in Jammu. The Jammu-show wasorganized in order to showcasethe mind-blowing stunts and tricks by the professional stunt riders. The Stunt show was held in Maulana Azad Stadium, Jammuthe professional stunt teamdemonstratedbreathtaking stunts on the KTM Duke bikes. According to Amit Nandi, Sr. Vice PresidentProbiking, Bajaj Auto Ltd, "The KTM brand is known for its high performance racing bikes and we always want our customers to experience the thrills and adventure which KTM bike can provide. Professional stunts are being conducted in every major city and will keep on growing in scale in the near future. KTM is a an exclusive premium brand and we are keen to ensure we provide KTM customers an experience that is uniquely KTM" The event was open to all and the spectacular stuntstook the city by a storm. Till now, KTM Stunt show has been organized at Jaipur, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Udaipur, Ghaziabad, Navi Mumbai, Trivandrum, Kota,Surat, Indore, Noida and many other towns. KTM fans can buy the range of KTM bikes from KTM Jammu - Shop 57, Chowadi Morh, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir. BSF troops, militants exchange Ceasefire violation: Pakistan Rangers indulge fire; infiltration bid foiled NL CORRESPONDENT JAMMU TAWI : BSF troops on Sunday foiled an infiltration bid by a group of armed militants, who tried to enter the International Border in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, a BSF official said. A group of suspected militants were spotted close to IB in forward area in Hiranagar sector of the district in a bid to cross over to this side, the senior BSF officer said. The militants opened fire on the troops prompting the forces to retaliate. There was no loss of life or injury to anyone in the fir- ing, he said, adding that the militant groups make movements either to infiltrate or attack BSF. BSF troops have been directed to open fire on any suspected movement from across IB, he said, adding that they are alert to foil their designs. Meanwhile, in Islamabad Pakistan army alleged that the BSF resorted to unprovoked shelling. "Indian BSF resorted to unprovoked shelling this evening? on Working boundary in Shakargarh sector. Pakistan Rangers effectively responded to Indian firing," it said in a statement. in heavy shelling NL CORRESPONDENT JAMMU TAWI: Pakistan Rangers on Sunday indulged in unprovoked heavy shelling at Indian positions along the international border in Kathua district here. "Pakistan Rangers started heavy shelling at Hariyachak, Pansar and Pahadpur villages in Hiranagar sector of Kathua district," a senior police officer told IANS here. "Three mortar shells launched from the Pakistan side landed at Chann Lal Din village on the Indian side." "BSF has begun retaliating to Pakistan shelling. Pakistan shelling started at 6.30 pm today (Sunday)," he added. "Firing exchanges are still going on at these places." JKNPP leaders arrested while protesting outside Pak Embassy NL CORRESPONDENT JAMMU TAWI: JKNPP activists today staged a massive demonstration outside Pakistan High Commission, New Delhi in protest against the gross interference of Pakistan in the internal affairs of India and its overt and covert support to secessionists and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. Led by Mr. Harsh Dev Singh, Chairman and Former Minister hundreds of JKNPP leaders and activists including State President Shri Balwant Singh Mankotia, Delhi Pradesh President, Mr. Rajiv Jolly Khosla, Mr. Balwinder Khosla, Spokesman-Young Panthers Mr. Gagan Pratap Singh, State Secretary, Panthers Trade Union Mr. Purshottam Parihar & Zonal President, Jammu District Mr. Neeraj G u p t a , M a h f o o z Khan,Mohd.Junaid,Bhawani Maharaj, Swaran Singh Yadav,Jagmohan Paswan raised anti-Pak slogans and accusing Pakistan for converting Kashmir into a vortex of violence. They were carrying National Flags and raising pro-India and anti-Pak slogans. The ardent protestors amidst the heated exchanges and scuffles with the cops in front of the Pak embassy were arrested and detained in the Chanakya Puri Police Station. Harsh Dev Singh lambasted Pakistan for its pernicious designs in aiding and abetting militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere in the country with utterly malevolent and ulterior motives. He castigated Pakistan for its highly malicious and mischievous actions and designs in sponsoring militancy particularly in J&K and pushing in indoctrinated traitors to vitiate peace and tranquility on our side of the borders. Singh cautioned Pakistan to break out from the mindset of duplicity, deceit and belliger- ence that it has embarked upon and to stop meddling in the affairs of J&K. He further called for vacation of Pak aggression from the occupied territories of J&K which are very much a part of Jammu and Kashmir. Balwant Singh Mankotia while condemning Pakistan for inciting violence and trouble in J&K called upon the international community to take cognizance of the utter hostility and belligerence of the neighbouring country. Mankotia called upon Pakistan to rein-in its paid agents in J&K and refrain from any further misadventures in the interests of peace in South Asia. He further maintained that increase in the frequency of the cease fire violations besides proxy war launched in the State of J&K by Pakistan called for stern measures against the rogue nation by taking the world community into confidence. Guru Ravi Dass Sabha elections conclude NL CORRESPONDENT JAMMU TAWI: The much talked about elections of All Jammu & Kashmir Shri Guru Ravi Dass Sabha (Regd.) came to conclusion today with the administering of Oath by the newly elected President of the Sabha Piran Ditta & Gen.Secretary of the Sabha M.L. Banahalia by the chairman of the election committee in which Rakesh Wazir State Gen.Sec.Bahujan Samaj Party was prominently present. It is worthwhile to mention here that elctions of Shri Guru Ravi Dass Sabha were held on the directions of the Hon'ble High Court under the supervision of Divisional Commissioner,jammu in which Piran Ditta who secured 2232 votes remained winner by defeating Vijay Lochan in a close contest and likewise M.L.Banahalia became the Gen.Sec. of the Sabha by defeating Raj Kumar Raja by securing 2300 votes that too in a close contest held at Shri Guru Ravi Dass Temple Krishna Nagar which is the head office of the Sabha as well.The victory margin in both the cases was very thin. Rakesh Wazir while speaking on the occasion congratulated the newly elected team,and thanked the High Court and especially the Divisional Commissioner,Jammu for smooth conduct of elections and said that the new team will prove to be an asset for the society Piran Ditta newly elected President of the Sabha while thanking the people, High Court and especially the Divisional Commissioner,Jammu Pawan Kotwal for conducting the free & fair elections which was a difficult job and assured that he would act like a worker rather than the president and assured better relations with all the sections of the society and further said that we all the people connected with the Sabha unitedly as a team would try our level best for the betterment of the socie- ty and if every thing goes well the Sabha will achieve new heights in the comming days. Newly elected Gen.Sec. M.L.Banahalia and the Raj Kumar Raja who lost the election of Gen.Sec. by a thin margin even less than 200 votes also thanked the people for their support. The prominent among others present on the occasion include Ved Parkash President Brahmin Sabha,Bodh Raj Bhagat President Bhagat Sabha,Dineshwar Singh Jamwal Organisor Dogra Manch,Presidents of all the branches of Shri Guru Ravi Dass Sabha of J&K besides thousands of people. The NORTHLINES HILL DISTRICTS www.thenorthlines.com Bhaderwah boy shines in Lal Singh inspects medicare Dance India Dance Event facilities at DH Udhampur Mohd Majid Malik Bhaderwah, Apr 19: It will not be wrong to say that Bablu Sheikh is a 'versatile artist' as he is not only the youngest singer and dancer of the Bhaderwah town to perform on the stage of audition of Dance India Dance sponsored by ZEE TV 2014. Besides, he have attained the glory of being the first male dancer from the Chenab valley to be succeed in the 6 seasons history of Dance India Dance in 1st round. He also has the Distinction for singing in four languages as Hindi, Bhaderwahi, Gojri and Kashmiri. It adds large capability for her talent. Son from an ordinary middle class family Khadam Hussain alias Bablu Sheikh of Sarafan Mohalla, Bhaderwah whose father is a government employee and mother is house wife is pursing BPEd and had participated in various dance and singing competition throughout state. Bablu qualified 1st round of dance India dance but failed in 2nd round in which thousands of youth were participating from knock and corner of the country. "I belong to an area where people have reservations about women sharing a stage with men. But things are changing for good and more and more girls are breaking the barriers," she quips. "I belong to an area where people have reservations about any one sharing a stage of dance and songs. But things are changing for good and more and more girls and boys are breaking the barriers." he quipped. "The competition was quite tough in Dance India Dance at Chandigarh audition as there were so many good performers so I failed to qualify 2nd round," he added. On her future plans, Bablu says he wants to shine in all competition and take dancing and singing as a career. Saroori sought CM's intervention on MGNREGA lialibilities Jammu, April 19: - Though the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was perceived to generate job opportunities for the unemployed rural masses but the pending amount of liabilities created on account of initiated work under MGNREGA in J&K has touched figures to the tune of 400 crores of rupees thereby derailing the very purpose of the scheme. This was said by Congress senior leader J&K and MLA Inderwal, Mr. G. M. Saroori. Saroori said in sheer violation of standing norms and the spirit of the much publicized Centrally sponsored scheme under MGNREGA, lakhs of people belonging to the labour class, have been denied their hard earned wages worth over Rs 400 crores in the J&K State for the last over one year. Congress leader said that the labourers and other workers holding job cards issued by BDOs, often stage protests across the region and has repeated demanded for release of wages but falling on deaf ears and the poor men and women are deprived of their right to wages under MGNREGA for no fault of theirs. He said the political leadership of the Centre has become totally insensitive to the miseries of the poor people. "The delay in releasing the wages was a cruel joke with people who were living handto-mouth and had been provided livelihood security through MGNREGA by the UPA government at the Centre. The Centre government has snatched the means of survival from families of poor workers", Saroori said and had sought the intervention of Chief Minister J&K, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for immediate clearing the liability of J&K including Erstwhile Doda. Assures early redressal of ReT demands Cabinet enhances Ration Money Allowance JAMMU, APRIL 19: The Cabinet which met here today under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, accorded sanction to the enhancement of “Ration Money Allowance” in favour of Non-Gazetted Staff in Prisons Department and Fire and Emergency Services Department, J&K from Rs 600 to Rs 1000 per person per month with effect from 01-04-2015. UDHAMPUR, APRIL 19:- A 1-day convention of employees under the banner of All Employees United Front, district Udhampur was organized under the chairmanship of senior vice president of J&K RET teachers forum, Mr. Bhupinder Singh. Minister for Health, Medical Education, ARI and Trainings, Choudhary Lal Singh was the Chief Guest on the occasion. During the convention, employees union put forth various demands including early release of pending wages and salary, transfer policy for RET teachers, regular conduct of DPCs in various department, implementation of order of Cclass classification of Udhampur town, risk allowance for PDD employees, regularization of all need based daily wagers, benefit of SRO 43 for non regularized RET teachers and daily wagers etc. Responding to the demands, the Minister said government has already initiated steps to address the grievances of all sections of the employees including low paid employees. He assured the employees that their genuine demands have been noted and these will be taken up at the appropriate level. Meanwhile, the Minister also visited District Hospital Udhampur and took stock of the medicare facilities available in the hospital. Appreciating the hospital management for keeping the hospital neat and clean, the Minister urged them to provide better medicare facilities and services to the patients. On the occasion, Ch Lal Singh reiterated his firm commitment to further streamline all the health institution in the state. Among others, Additional District Development Commissioner, Mr. Ajay Singh Jamwal, Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr. Suleman Choudhary, Director Family Planning, Assistant Commissioner Revenue, senior officers of various department, presidents of various trade unions and large number of employees were present on the occasion. Army rescues injured civilians in Kaona Kashmir preferred tourist destination for Middle East: Khalid Makhi Jammu, Apr 19: A Tata Sumo JK 01 J 0854 belonging to Fayaz Ahmed r/o Khari, fell into deep gorge near Kaona village at 1100 hrs today. The vehicle was moving from Khari to Kaona. On receipt of information an Army column of Delta Force reacted swiftly and evacuated the three injured civilians. The injured civilians have been identified as Bashir Ahmed and Mohd Aizaz r/o Buzla. The injured persons were evacuated to civil hospital Banihal. Driver of the vehicle Fayaz Ahmed received minor injuries and was given first aid by Army and civil medical team. The locals and civil police appreciated and applauded the effort of the Army. Public representatives to be involved in planning of developmental schemes: Zulfkar ‘Several reformative measures in offing to provide good governance to people’ variety of tourism products and the government has to give thrust to upgrade the ecofriendly tourism infrastructure of global standards to pave the way for high end tourists to visit J&K. Khalid Makhi said me and my family is very much impressed by natural beauty of Kashmir. He said the splendour tourist resorts of Kashmir possesses have no mach in the world. He said that tourism is the only industry for J&K which has the potential to upgrade the socio-economic status of the people. On the occasion Director Tourism Kashmir/Managing Director Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Kashmir Farooq Ahmad Shah said the main objective of organizing the road shows, ethnic food fests and other events outside the state is to market J&K tourism products in the domestic market. He said travellers of domestic market are very much enthusiastic to visit to J&K and their number is increasing every year. He said J&K has all tourist products and is known across the globe as a distinct tourist destination. He said our thrust is to provide quality eco-friendly tourist infrastructure and better road communication to our guests and Taj Vivanta, Grand Lalit and Khyber Resorts have already setup quality infrastructure in Kashmir for high end tourists and ITC are now tying up with local hoteliers to upgrade the tourist infrastructure in the state. Large number of people also participated in the ethnic food fest organized by Delhi branch of JKTDC and took the taste of different cousins which was appreciated by food lovers. Cabinet approves transfers of land for Govt Polytechnic College Udhampur JAMMU, APRIL 19: The Cabinet which met here today under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, accorded sanction to the transfer of State land measuring 61 kanals and 15 Marlas, situated at village Jaganoo, Tehsil and District Udhampur to the J&K Technical Education Department, for construction of a Government Polytechnic college. J&K Tourism organizes 2nd Road show cum ethnic food fest at Dilli Haat NEW DELHI, APRIL 19:Jammu and Kashmir Tourism organized another Road show cum ethnic Food Fest at Dilli Haat, New Delhi last evening with the theme “Paradise Awaits You” to promote the State’s tourism products in the domestic market. First Secretary of Saudi Arabian Embassy, Khalid Makhi was also present on the occasion. Officers and officials of J&K Tourism besides large number of people of all walks of life including foreign tourists and members of travel bodies of J&K also participated in the show. In an Interaction, Khalid Makhi said that Kashmir is preferred tourist destination for the travellers from the Middle East. He said Middle East and Kashmir have cultural and spiritual bonds and people from Middle East love to visit J&K. He said Almighty has gifted J&K with 4 JAMMU | MONDAY | APRIL 20 | 2015 JAMMU, APRIL 19: Minister for CAPD and Tribal Affairs Choudhary Zulfkar Ali today said the Government would involve the public representatives in planning to ensure holistic development at grassroots level. “The coalition government is determined to open a new chapter for all-round progress in the developmental history of the State,” Zulfkar said while addressing a public gathering at Jammu west. Hailing the coalition government’s decision of holding Urban Local Bodies polls, Zulfkar said the government is keen on devolution of powers at the grassroots to develop the urban areas on modern lines. He said strengthening of grassroots democratic institutions will ensure comprehensive, transparent and tangible development. Underlining the significance of the democratic institutions, he said that establishment of urban local bodies would also help reduce malpractices and enhance monitoring of development works and financial expenditure. He urged people to be ready to participate in the upcoming urban local bodies elections to elect best candidates and lay edifice for comprehensive development of towns and cities. Referring to various new initiatives of the present regime, the Minister said that the Coalition Government has developed a vision document to steer the State on the path of peace, progress and stability and ensure equitable development of all the regions and sub-regions. He said various reformative measures have been taken to provide good governance to the people by infusing transparency and accountability in the system. Terming prompt delivery of public services as an important ingredient of good governance, he said that govt focus is on creation of a dependable and upto the mark public service delivery system in the State where administration would be taken to the task for any delay. “Government’s priority is to provide hassle-free service delivery by the administration to the people on all fronts,” he added. Improve revenue realization: Dy CM tells PDD JAMMU, APRIL 19: Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Kumar Singh today chaired a meeting of senior officers of Power Development Department (PDD) Jammu to review the performance of the department. Speaking on the occasion Deputy Chief Minister impressed upon the officers to take all necessary steps to prevent frequent damages to the distribution system and transformers. He also directed the concerned for immediate reporting of the same to the higher authorities for immediate replacement of the transformers to avoid unnecessary inconvenience to the people. Dr Singh also directed PDD to lay emphasis on the recovery of revenue which is the major issue and in this regard Dr. Singh exhorted upon the concerned officers to frame inspection squads and conduct vigorous inspections to check the AT&C losses which was presently very high. Various other issues which were discussed in detail during the meeting were HT\LT improvement scheme, review of APRDP, regularization status of unregistered consumers, establishment of meter testing labs, performance of DDUGJY and IPDS schemes, status of metering in government departments etc. Dr Singh further directed the officers to work in a coordinated way to achieve the desired results and also said that for the dedicated and high performers suitable rewards will be given to in future so that best possible services will be provided to the consumers. He also stressed on PDD authorities to be sensitive towards the grievances of the people and make efforts to address any issues especially pertaining to uninterrupted supply of electricity. Dr. Singh also said that it is the duty of the Government to provide all basic amenities like uninterrupted supply of electricity as the summer season is approaching and to provide the best service the department must take necessary steps to prevent the damages of transformers and curb the practices like theft/misuse of electricity. Earlier Principal Secretary PDD Sundeep Kumar Nayak apprised the Minister about the Compliance status on instructions given by the him on 9TH March 2015 in which Dy CM Instructed the PDD Authority to reduce the aggregate Technical and Commercial Losses, to prevent the damages of Transformers, make Possible ways to replace damaged transformers on time, to take all possible means to boost revenue in the power sector etc and informed that every effort will be made to provide best possible services to the people. Dr Singh also assured his full support to the officers of the department and also assured that their genuine issues raised by them during the meeting will also be looked into. The Meeting was attended by the Principal Secretary PDD Sundeep Kumar Nayak, Development Commissioner Power Asgar Ali Majaz, Director Planning, PDD A.k Gandotra, Director Finance, PDD KK Gupta, Chief Engineer , EM&RE WING Jammu Ajay Gupta, Chief Engineer S&O wing Jammu Ajay Gupta, Chief Engineer P&MM Wing Jammu Khurshed Budoo, Chief Engineer C&S wing J&K Shahnaj Goni, Chief Engineer P&D wing J&K Jammu Ravi Chaniyal besides Suptd. Engineers EM&RE circle Jammu/Kathua//Rajouri/Batote /Kishtwar. Govt initiating proactive measures to make education jobintensive: Priya Minister urges students to works for social uplift JAMMU, APRIL 19- Terming educational institutions as the pillars of knowledge and enlightenment, the Minister of State for Education, Information and Culture Priya Sethi today urged the students to actively participate towards societal uplift. She said the PDP-BJP coalition government is taking various proactive measures to equip the students with requisite knowledge and job-intensive skills. Speaking during the valedictory function of the Worksop at Government College for Education, Priya Sethi said; “Students are the pillars to mould the society and onus lies on them to carry forward the mission which could bring about the betterment of the society”. Urging students to make optimum use of their precious time in pursuing extracurricular activities and sports alongside academics, Priya said the times have changed and the youngsters have to mould themselves as per changing times. She termed youth as future of the state, and said they have enormous responsibilities towards societal development and national building. Appreciating the dedication and endurance of the faculty in shaping the destiny of young generation, Priya hoped that the pass outs would find themselves in good stead to contribute towards the harmonious society. Regarding new initiatives for revival of education system, she said Government is working on a well knit strategy to introduce more innovative measures to improve and refurbish the education set up in the State, keeping in mind the latest trends to keep pace with the contemporary world. “Government is taking proactive steps to ensure that students receive the required knowledge and skills,” she added. Later the Minister released a magazine of the college besides distributing certificates among the participants. The NORTHLINES www.thenorthlines.com BJP welcomes new entrant into party fold NL CORRESPONDENT Kathua | April | 19 On achieving of a target of ten crore membership across the country, BJP unit District Kathua today greeted the newly joined members in BJP at Kathua on Sunday. While addressing the press conference, BJP senior leader, Advocate Shashi Paul Sharma expressed his great wishes and wanted well being of entire BJP Party said BJP has become world's large political party. Moreover, he said that after having already achieved the target of nine crore five lakh members, the BJP has extended its countrywide membership by another month which would now terminate by April end. At the end of this exercise, the party would also train 15 lakh members in the process to induct them as "active members" at district levels. They would even be eligible to contest elections at various levels in the organization. Each member would turn "active" only after he or she enrolls 100 more members for the party. The new members would be made aware of party's ideology and philosophy. "The response was overwhelming and therefore, the party extended its campaign for membership by another month. The aim is to increase it as much as possible upto April 30," they said and claimed that the membership may cross even the 12-crore mark, Sharma added. KATHUA Preparations on to celebrate May Day NL CORRESPONDENT Kathua | April | 19 In order to celebrate "Worker's Day" on 1st May a group of intellectuals and social workers have organized a meeting at Zanana Park, Kathua on Sunday. The meeting was presided by a social thinker and worker Master Shiv Nandan and attended by a large number of representatives of different organizations. While speaking in the meeting, Master Shiv Nandan told that "May Day", the first day of the month of May is celebrated all over the world with utmost importance and the day is also known as the International Worker's Day which has a historic significance. The first day of the month of May is also a day of political protests. International Workers' Day is the commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in and they lack minimum wages despite a steep hike in prices of essential commodities. He said the policy of privatization and liberalization pursued by the government had pushed the working class to the brink of crisis. The May Day celebration was also desired to be held at Kathua by the local people so that a relevant tribute could be marked to martyrs of this day, Master added. J&K govt committed to provide better amenities to people : Hanjura increase their living standards. the living standards of weaker Udhampur. NL CORRESPONDENT Jammu | April | 19 The Jammu and Kashmir Government on Sunday said that it was committed to provide better amenities to the people of the state in order to "The PDP-BJP Government headed by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is committed to provide better amenities to the people. Special focus is being given to upgrade Divisional selection chess tourney concludes SPORTS & ALLIED NEWS Kathua | April | 19 Jammu division selection chess tournaments, organized by All J&K Chess Association, concluded today with the holding of prize distribution function at Ace Chess Academy, here. In the closing function, Dr AS Bhatia was chief guest, who gave away title trophies to those winners of different age categories. Dr Bhatia was accompanied by president of the Association, Atul Gupta, Taranvir Singh Gujral, Vikas Nanda and Vijay Choudhary. Earlier, during the day, Meenal Gupta emerged winner of the women's open event while Varsha Rani remained second and Arushi Kotwal finished third. Similarly, in another event of under-15 girls, again Meenal was winner while Arushi Kotwal bagged second place. Third place went to Chicago, during a general strike for the eight hour workday, where killing several demonstrators were taken place he added. And since then the day has been celebrating across the world. He further said, the working classes are languishing with several problems and the norm of eight-hour work schedule is not being enforced in many establishments and corporate bodies are exploiting workers sections and downtrodden people" Minister for Agriculture, Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura said while interacting with the farmers during his tour to Bashat village of Chenani constituency today. The Minister also took stock of crop and vegetable damages in the area due to the incessant rains. The Minister also inspected Cocoon Seed Rearing Centre, Sial Sallan and Cocoon Warehouse Chery NL CORRESPONDENT Kathua | April | 19 As per the direction of Health Minister Choudhary Lal Singh, the "Drug Control and Food Safety Department" come force into action to collect the samples of food items and medicines which are being subjected to supply in state at Lakhanpur. Taking action after having a direct order from the office of Health Minister, "Drug Control and Food Safety Department" on Sunday at Lakhanpur held an inspection counter where a large amount of food items and medicines were checked by taking their samples. Narindra Adarsh Public School Barwal Zone Barnoti Kathua 1. Orphan/Third Child Free. 2. Fund like Red Cross, Sports, School Improvement Fund etc are including Admission Fee. SdPrincipal Narindra Adarsh Public School Barwal Zone Barnoti Kathua M/S EXCEL PACKAGING PLOT NO 6 SIDCO INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, KATHUA Winners of divisional selection chess tournament pose with chief guest at Jammu on Sunday. Avni. In boys' under-15 age spot. selected players from these group, Soham Kamotra was Events were conducted by events along with other winner, followed by Vilakshan the Fide arbiters, Anil Kotwal selected players from Kashmir Mehta at second place while and Bindu Pathania under division shall represent the Imtiaz Ahmed got the third Swiss system. Now, these state in upcoming nationals. CONT NO. 09796241086, 09419152086 MANUFACTURING BUCKETS, MUGS, TASLAS, BASIN, PEDDLE BIN, DUSTBIN UNBRAKEABLE & FROSTY. Courses under NSIC New Delhi, Govt. of India. ADMISSION OPEN FOR SESSION 2015-16 COURSES OFFERED NL CORRESPONDENT Chief guest, T S Wazir gives away title trophy to Jammu West at Green Field ground, Jammu on Sunday. J&K Korfball Association, TS SPORTS & ALLIED NEWS Wazir was chief guest, who Kathua | April | 19 Jammu West defeated Jammu gave away winners and runners South 9-7 in a closely contested up trophies as also other final to lift the 12th Bhai individual prizes. Gurubaksh Singh State Korfball Speaking on the occasion, Championship held at Green chief guest told the gathering Field ground, Gandhi Nagar, that state players have the potential of beating top sides of here today. Since both finalist teams the country. He assured the comprised local players, the Association and the players all match created interest among possible help. their respective fans, who Earlier, 14 teams, drawn from enjoyed every move of the game. 12 districts of the state took part Irfan Choudhary scored highest in this state championship held four goals while Abeek and under the aegis of J&K State Divanshu added three and two Sports Council. Prominent respectively from winning side. among those present were JBS From Jammu South, Mohit Bali (joint secretary), Brij made three goals, followed by Bloria, Talok Singh, KS Shubham two, Jatinderpal and Rishi,Usha Chuni, RK Sharma, Deepanti one each. Manjeet VP Sharma, Desh Bandhu, Singh and Tarandeep Singh Navjeet Singh Khalsa, Bhupinder Singh, Joginder were referees. In the final and prize Singh, SK Sharma and Dheeraj distribution function, former Sharma of J&K Korfball MLC and life president of the Association. BJP on Sunday claimed that it has registered over eight lakh members in Jammu and Kashmir and hoped to achieve the target of 11 lakh memberships in the state. "I feel happy to inform you that BJP till today has registered over eight lakh members in Jammu and Kashmir and our target is of 11 Lakh members that will be achieved within next few days," BJP state general secretary (organization) Ashok Koul said here today. Drug Control staff takes samples of food items Note: REGIONAL INDUSTRIAL TRAINING CENTRE (Committed to Career Oriented Education) Jammu | April | 19 JAMMU | MONDAY| APRIL 20 | 2015 He assured the farmers that every possible help will be provided by the Government to mitigate their problems. Hanjura said that the directions have already been given to the Revenue and Agriculture Departments to constitute joint teams to assess the damages to standing crops and vegetables due to heavy Fee Structure for the Session 2015-16 rains so that compensation is given to the affected farmers S. No. Classes Tuition Fees Admission Fees well in time. 1. 1st 200 300 2. 2nd 200 300 3. 3rd 250 350 4. 4th 280 350 5. 5th 300 600 6. 6th 300 600 7. 7th 350 700 8. 8th 350 700 Jammu West wins Residents protest against State Korfball trophy poor road to Hatli Morh BJP claims to have registered eight lakh members in J&K NL CORRESPONDENT 5 Kathua | April | 19 Locals raised a massive protest demonstration against the insensitivity and negligence of District administration over the deteriorated condition a stretch from Gurdwara to Hatli Morh Chowk at Hatli Morh on Sunday. Locals says that at this stretch numerous potholes and depressions are formed due to which the part of this link road has become accident prone, and negligence of District administration over the issue has added more problem. The protest demonstration was led by Local residents Gardhari Lal, Sunny Sharma, Mukesh Kumar and Brij Mohan. During the protest; residents also shouted the slogans against District administration. Protest for scrapping fake BPL cards NL CORRESPONDENT Kathua | April | 19 To point out the formation of illegal BPL cards of some APL families and demanding to provide the BPL cards to genuine and real BPL families, a massive protest demonstration by the people of village Naroli at Naroli on Sunday. The protest was led by S.K Bhandari and alleged the district administration to provide the BPL ration cards to some undeserved families falling under above poverty line by ignoring true and deserving BPL families. The District administration should take stern action against the illegal BPL ration card holders and the officers who formed these cards and come forward to do the justice with true BPL families, he alleged. Electrician/Fitter/Computer Hardware/AC & Refrigirator-Qualification 10th Cutting & Tailoring/Plumber-!ualification 10th Computer Software-Qualification 12th Mobile Repairing-During 2 Months. Qualification 8th limited Seats so hurry up.. For more details contact 9 AM to 5 PM at REGIONAL INSTITUTES W.No. 1opp, Krishna Colony Kathua (J&K) Ph. 9018912606, 9419141992, 238791 The NORTHLINES www.thenorthlines.com ETOUQ "The only thing that scares me more than space aliens is the idea that there aren't any space aliens. We can't be the best that creation has to offer. I pray we're not all there is. If so, we're in big trouble." - Ellen DeGeneres Upholding rule of the law Within weeks of being released from prison, separatist leader Masarat Alam is back behind bars. This is as it should be, for the likes of him are best kept incarcerated. Alam, a rising leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and expected to succeed Syed Ali Shah Geelani, is a known trouble-maker in Kashmir. He shot to infamy after leading the stone pelting incidents of 2010, which spurred violent clashes between the security forces and the public, and disrupted law and order across the valley. Since then, Alam, who is also the chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Muslim League, has spent much of his time in prison. He has some 27 odd cases against him for causing public disorder. Nevertheless, Alam, who claims he was “illegally detained”, was allowed to walk free last month, soon after the Government of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was sworn into power. At that time, the new administration of the PDP-BJP combine, had come in for a lot of criticism from many quarters, but the Government's hands were tied — Within weeks of it had no new legal his release, Alam ground to hold Alam back in was back to his prison. Moreover, old habits. He the Mufti defended and others of his Alam's release on ilk pounced on the ground that the Chief Minister the death of a 24wanted to take year-old civilian along all who died on “stakeholders”, be Monday, after they from “the mainstream or reportedly being outside it”. While caught in an this seems like a Army crossfire in noble plan on Tral town of paper, one that prioritises the Pulwama district. process of On Friday, they consensus building had planned a and allows space huge protest rally for dissent in an i m m e n s e l y in Tral but were c o m p l i c a t e d arrested on their situation, it is also way to the city. naïve. A veteran Kashmiri politician Alam as well as like the Mufti Geelani had been should have seen put under house the pitfalls. a day Either way, Alam's arrest re-arrest only earlier after they the confirms the fact unfurled that, just like a Pakistani flag in leopard can't and change its spots, a Srinagar antiseparatist rarely chanted budges from his India slogans. ideology. Within weeks of his release, Alam was back to his old habits. He and others of his ilk pounced on the death of a 24-year-old civilian who died on Monday, after reportedly being caught in an Army crossfire in Tral town of Pulwama district. On Friday, they had planned a huge protest rally in Tral but were arrested on their way to the city. Alam as well as Geelani had been put under house arrest a day earlier after they unfurled the Pakistani flag in Srinagar and chanted anti-India slogans. Expectedly, these developments have been used by the usual suspects to spread discontent in the valley — violence erupted in Srinagar on Friday, resulting in clashes between security forces and the public. But the Governments, both at the Centre and the State, must not capitulate. Instead, they should send out a strong message that such activities will not be tolerated. The separatists are welcome to come to the negotiating table, discuss their grievances and seek solutions within the framework of the Constitution of India. But they cannot be allowed to bully the state, and the public for that matter, into accepting their ways and agendas. Meanwhile, the security forces in the valley must be restrained in their use of power, to avoid civilian casualties. 6 OPINION JAMMU | MONDAY | APRIL 20 | 2015 Janata Parivar clones Hurriyat structure Swapan Dasgupta That the Hurriyat Conference is merely a platform and not a political party is often insufficiently appreciated. It incorporates parties such as the Muslim League — whose leading stalwarts had a march last week with a generous display of Pakistani flags — and other organisations whose ideas of a proposed Islamic State in Kashmir are even more frightening. That these parties work in tandem to pursue a separatist agenda and combat a common foe — the Indian state — is what distinguishes them from other parties in Jammu & Kashmir for whom autonomy is more a priority than separatism. It may seem terribly unfair and even cruel to draw any analogy between the Hurriyat Conference and the yet-to-be-named political party that has brought disparate elements of the Janata Parivar — minus the Biju Janata Dal in Odisha — together under a common banner and, maybe, a common election symbol. Of course, the new party with Mulayam Singh Yadav as the titular head, isn’t a separatist outfit. Its innate commitment to the Indian Constitution cannot and should not ever be questioned. Nor can it be denied that at least three of the parties that offered themselves for the merger — the Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Janata Dal (United) of Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar, and the Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav — claim to be the inheritors of Ram Manohar Lohia’s political legacy. The INLD of Om Prakash Chautala upholds the family legacy of Devi Lal and the Janata Dal (Secular) of HD Deve Gowda has no identifiable inheritance, apart from its commitment to its leader and his family. What is also clear is that apart from the RJD and JD(U) that was engaged in a bitter turf battle in Bihar, the other constituents of the unified Janata Parivar have distinct geographical spheres of influence and unquestioned leaders. In other words, apart from Bihar where the unity of the RJD and JD(U) leads to an automatic arithmetic surge in political influence, the coming together of the Janata Parivar will not make any difference to ground realities in most of India. In Parliament, particularly the Rajya Sabha, however, the unity will create an impression of a third force after the Congress and BJP. In short, what we are witnessing is not so much the creation of a new political party but the creation of a political confederation. Mulayam Singh may well be the nominal head of the party on account of his seniority, although it is well worth asking why Lalu Yadav can’t claim this honour since they became Chief Ministers of their respective States in 1990. The Chief Minister of UP may even use his good offices to ensure that the merger process in Bihar is not too troublesome. But apart from changes in the letterhead, the party flag and the election symbol, the new party will be, for all practical purposes, crafted on exactly the same organisational lines as the Hurriyat Conference. Its real basis for unity is opposition to the BJP and the immediate provocation for the merger is the Bihar Assembly election scheduled for OctoberNovember this year. Bihar is, in fact, the only State where the details of the confederal arrangement are yet to be satisfactorily worked out. On paper, Nitish Kumar is the Chief Minister and the JD(U) has many more MLAs than the RJD. In addition, Lalu Yadav has been statutorily ruled out from accepting any Constitutional post for the next few year on account of his conviction in the fodder scam scandal. Yet, the awkward reality is that as of today the RJD has a bigger and socially distinct following in the State. Nitish Kumar suffers from two disabilities. First, his personal popularity has taken a big knock on account of his abrupt separation from the BJP in 2013 and his patchup with the man he painted as Bihar’s arch villain. Additionally, the manner in which Jitan Ram Manjhi was appointed and then turfed out of the chief ministership has proved socially damaging to Nitish. The real issue that has to be sorted is: Who gets the upper hand in Bihar? By right Lalu is the senior partner on account of both experience and electoral clout. But will Nitish agree to play second fiddle to Lalu? Recall that it was Nitish and George Fernandes’ unwillingness to countenance Lalu’s flights of whimsy that led to the Samata Party breakaway in the mid-1990s. Nitish didn’t prevail because he upstaged Lalu within the erstwhile Janata Parivar. He became a leader of consequence and Chief Minister because he entered into an alliance with the BJP. It was the BJP that propelled Nitish as the alternative to ‘Jungle Raj’ Lalu. And today, the BJP is on the other side. Politics is never static and events shape the flow and pattern of alignments. The Janata Parivar merger is essentially a psychological arrangement aimed at showing India that a cluster of States can effectively mount a serious challenge to Prime Minister Modi. The belief is that a Bihar victory can propel other local leaders such as Naveen Patnaik and Mamata Banerjee to be associated with a confederal arrangement that ensures a measure of coordinated opposition to the BJP and complete local autonomy for the participants. It’s a model that could work, although in the past it hasn’t worked. But whether it will meaningfully take off in the first place will depend on a satisfactory resolution of the leadership tussle involving Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav in Bihar. Will Lalu be content delivering votes to make Nitish Kumar the Chief Minister? The Janata Parivar model has no scope for rival claimants for the same political space. Chill. When I returned from this roughly 56-day trip and people asked what I’d done during that time, you can imagine the look of disbelief, horror and pity on their faces when I said: “Nothing.” After a while I realised that it was better not to try and explain, so I’d change the subject. One man’s vacation is another man’s enigma, I realised. In any case, it was none of any one’s business. And, therefore, my holiday did not elicit the same attention as Rahul Gandhi’s very own version of ‘Eat, Pray, Love: One Man’s Search for Everything Across Italy, Thailand and God Knows Where’. After all, I was not a national political leader expected to lead my country’s oldest -- and most beleaguered -- party into the future. Rahul's 'eat, pray, love' moment F or reasons too many to go into here, my family was not too big on vacations. Even in those pre-liberalisation days, when middle-class India had not discovered the joys of travel agents and easy access to foreign exchange, when travel was very much a train ride to Kerala or Darjeeling and our friends would return with apple–blossom cheeks and fun tales of climbing trees with their cousins during the school vacations, we stayed home. This was not too bad a thing because home was very near a beach and when that got too hot, there was a circulating library next door from where we could borrow an endless supply of books and comics. The one memorable holiday we undertook as a family happened almost by default. Our mother who was missing our father who’d been away a long time on work in Punjab decided without much warning and fuss to pack her three kids, all under 15, into the family’s wheezy Ambassador car and undertake a cross-country journey from Mumbai to Chandigarh along with our almost deaf driver, an office peon and my brother’s air gun -- in case there was trouble! To say that we had many adventures along the way on this ad hoc and rambunctious ‘Bharat Yatra’ would be an understatement. Nevertheless, as an adult with my own income and freedom, I began to look upon vacations with newfound respect. They were something you took as often as you could. And most people worked them into their year’s plans, taking great delight in where they would go, what they would do there, what they would eat, drink, see et cetera. Holidays were a serious enterprise. But their outcome was meant to be the opposite. They were taken to help you rest, relax, refresh, unwind, let off steam, ease up -- One man s vacation is another man s enigma chill. If planned carefully and undertaken seriously, they would give you reason to return to your everyday life with new vigour and an appreciation. They were the reason one worked so hard. Unfortunately, being a late entrant to the holiday game, there is only one holiday that I have planned for myself that meets this criterion. A couple of years ago, I spent a month-and-a-half in New York, on my own -- doing nothing. It was my finest holiday. All I had wanted to do was go away for a long time somewhere where I knew very few people. I wanted to sit in parks and cafés; wander through unfamiliar districts; window shop at flea markets; catch a movie if I felt like it; read a book when I wanted to; eschew traditional meals to munch on apples or nuts if I so preferred; sleep all day if I felt like it; watch people. { All I had wanted to do was go away for a long time somewhere where I knew very few people. I wanted to sit in parks and cafés; wander through unfamiliar districts; window shop at flea markets; catch a movie if I felt like it; read a book when I wanted to; eschew traditional meals to munch on apples or nuts if I so preferred; sleep all day if I felt like it; watch people. Chill. the NORTHLINES Jammu 7 NATIONAL JAMMU | MONDAY APRIL 20, 2014 Protection from prosecution only for Woman honest public servants, says SC injured in acid attack NEW DELHI: The court noted that procedural provisions relating to sanction must be construed in such a manner as to advance the causes of honesty and justice and good governance as opposed to escalation of corruption. In a judgment with far-reaching effect on numerous cases pending under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Supreme Court held that a public servant cannot by default claim the legal protection of prior sanction against prosecution. Under Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), no court should take cognisance of criminal charges against a public servant unless previous sanction to prosecute him is received from a competent authority. This safeguard is meant to help government servants perform their duties honestly without fear of malicious prosecution. However, the provision has largely become a ruse to delay prosecution in corruption cases. As a result, corruption cases tend to gather dust in courts for years waiting for the government to sanction prosecution. A Bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and A.K. Goel said protection under Section 197 CrPC was only available to a public servant in the honest discharge of his duty. Prosecution for corruption should be exemplary and without delay, the apex court observed. Besides, this protection cannot be claimed immediately after a complaint is lodged. The question of prior sanc- tion would be considered later, during stages in the criminal trial, as and when the need arises, the apex court observed. “Public servants have, in fact, been treated as special category under Section 197 CrPC, to protect them from malicious or vexatious prosecution. Such protection from harassment is given in public interest; the same cannot be treated as shield to protect corrupt officials,” Justice Joseph, who authored the judgment, observed. The court noted that procedural provisions relating to sanction must be construed in such a manner as to advance the causes of honesty and justice and good governance as opposed to escalation of corruption. Citing a 2015 Supreme Court precedent, Justice Joseph wrote: “The question relating to the need of sanction under Section 197 of the Code is not necessarily to be considered as soon as the complaint is lodged and on the allega- Session will be full of ‘outcomes’: Modi NEW DELHI: Modi said, "It is more beneficial if the opposition attacks government, however fierce it may be, inside Parliament." On the eve of resumption of Budget Session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday voiced hope that it would be full of “outcomes”, noting that the productivity of Parliament has “reached 125 per cent” since his government came to power. With Parliament set to witness a stormy session over a host of issues, including the controversial land bill, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu asked BJP MPs to be present in their House throughout. In an apparent swipe at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi over his absence, Mr. Naidu told MPs that they should take any “sabbatical” or leave for “introspection” only after the session. Alluding to disruptions by Congress-led opposition, Mr. Modi said, “It is more beneficial if the opposition attacks government, however fierce it may be, inside Parliament.” Addressing party MPs at a workshop, where they were briefed about the government’s propoor measures, Mr. Modi noted that they would have received feedback about the Centre’s work, especially budget, and can join the session with more focus. “In a way the second phase of the session is stronger because MPs come back with more focus. I am sure this half would be full of quality debates and outcomes,” he said. Citing the poor productivity of Parliament in the last sixseven years before the BJP government came to power, the Prime Minister said they should thank the people again and again because the productivity has gone “up to 125 per cent as they handed over majority to the party“. In his speech which was otherwise punctuated with potshots at media, Mr. Modi thanked the press for maintaining pressure on political parties against disruption in Parliament irrespective of which party is in opposition or power. He, however, added that the fact that the productivity has gone up so much now has not been highlighted adequately. tions contained therein. This question may arise at any stage of the proceeding. The question whether sanction is necessary or not may have to be determined from stage to stage.” The judgment came in a clutch of criminal appeals filed by the Andhra Pradesh Police in 2013 against a High Court order quashing criminal proceedings against two revenue officials who successfully claimed protection under Section 197 CrPC. The duo figured among 41 persons, including revenue officials, stamp vendors and document writers, whom the police registered an FIR against in 1999 for allegedly manipulating registers and under-valuing property causing loss to the government. Setting aside the High Court order to quash the criminal proceedings against them, Justice Joseph, for the bench, held that the trial should be completed expeditiously before December 31, this year. AGENCY CHIKKAMAGALURU Two unknown persons alleged threw acid at a woman at Menase village in Sringeri taluk on Saturday night. The incident happened around 8.30 p.m., when Sumana (35), the victim, was returning home after closing her beauty parlour in the village. She suffered injuries on her face and left hand. The victim has been admitted to a hospital in Manipal for treatment. Sringeri police have registered the complaint filed by the victim. The victim, in her complaint, said two unknown persons in a two-wheeler threw acid at her and fled the place. Supporters painted in tricolours at the farmers rally oraganised by Congress party at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi. Superseding BBMP is unconstitutional: Deve NEW DELHI: Government has superseded the BBMP and appointed IAS officers as Administrators and the Commissioner of the BBMP, respectively, on Saturday. Janata Dal (S) supremo and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda on Sunday said the State government has violated the constitution by superseding the elected local body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) before the expiry of the term and opposed trifurcation of the civic body. Term of the BBMP ends on April 22. Reneging on its earlier decision, the JD(S) legislators have decided to attend a session of the State Legislature convened by the government on Monday to discuss the Bill on dividing the BBMP into three new corporations. He criticised the Government’s decision to hold a day’s session on trifurcating the BBMP. The BJP legislators too decided to attend the session. The Government has superseded the BBMP and appointed IAS officers T.M. Vijay Bhaskar and G. Kumar Naik as Administrators and the Commissioner of the BBMP, respectively, on Saturday. Addressing presspersons at his residence here, JD (S) national president Gowda said the State Election Commission should conduct election based on the existing list of delimitation of wards. A single bench of the Karnataka High Court too had directed the Government to complete election process before May 30. Noting the Supreme Court rulings on the issue, Mr. Gowda said the Government should divide the BBMP after 2020. “I don’t know what the government will do by holding the session on Monday”, he said. The Congress feared its defeat in the ensuing BBMP elections and was making all attempts to postpone the elections in the guise of splitting the civic body. Postponing of elections on the pretext of scams in the BBMP was not the sound argument. “Let the government probe all scams after elections to the civic body,” he said. A similar situation was prevailed in 1995 and his party legislators pressurised him to postpone elections. But the Janata Dal government conducted the elections, the JD (S) leader said. Visually impaired share the AAP govt. kicks off ‘participatory budget’ exercise vision of serving people BALARI: Loss of vision has not dimmed the determination in these men. Raghavendra A.G of Alur in Kudligi taluk in Ballari district and B. Thimmappa of Ballari are among the three visually impaired to appear for the Gazetted Probationary Officers’ exam conducted by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) that was held here on Sunday. With the vision to serve people, these men are keen to pass the examination and assume a post where they can achieve their goal. This is their first attempt. They appeared for the exams with the help of scribes attached to them in a separate hall allotted in M.B.S.L School in the city. The scribes read out the questions and the options for the answer given by the candidate. Raghavendra is a newspaper agent in his native and a PostGraduate (MA Political Science) while Thimmappa is working as First Division Assistant in Ballari District Court. “I am a social worker and I want to serve the society. For that I need a position and I can get it by passing the KPSC exam”, Mr. Raghavendra told The Hindu. Earlier, Raghavendra had attempted online exams conducted by State Bank of India and other banks but could not succeed only by a few marks. Thimmappa too, wants to help people. The two informed that they had done well and expressed their confidence of getting through the exams. NEW DELHI: The AAP government on Sunday kicked off its first “participatory budget” exercise amidst much fanfare and enthusiasm at a function attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in his deputy Manish Sisodia’s Patparganj constituency. the ruling party sought to take the government closer to the people, the event also witnessed an odd officer being threatened with action over grievances aired by the locals. Top Delhi government officials, including Chief Secretary K.K. Sharma, DM (East) Kunal and the AAP MLAs of the 11 constituencies that are being covered at the launch of the exercise were present at the meeting organised for the residents of West Vinod Nagar’s E-block. Other senior AAP leaders, too, attended the meet, which was described by Mr. Kejriwal as the “Parliament of the public”. “Villages have shown us the direction in this regard. They say, ‘Dilli, Mumbai mai humari sarkar, humari mohalle mai hum sarkar’ (In Delhi and Mumbai our government, but in our area we are the government),” Mr. Kejriwal told the gathering. “If the experiment is successful, then the way democracy is practised in the country will change. Delhi will lead the country. “Democracy today has turned into a five-year exercise. After elections, leaders turn into gods and misuse public funds,” he said. Pointing separately to the sitting areas reserved for VIPs and the media, he said, “We, the ministers, and the officials form the officers’ gallery to follow your orders.” The residents, who were given sheets of white paper and pens by Civil Defence volunteers, were asked by Mr. Sisodia to pen down their suggestions and grievances “wisely” before handing them back to the volunteers. “Decisions taken inside closed doors reek of fraud whereas events such as this, where decisions are being taken publicly, are credible... there are countries where even laws are made in this way,” said Mr. Sisodia, who conducted the exercise on Sunday. “Delhi government every year has around Rs. 40,000 crore but, after various expenses, around Rs. 16,000 crore is left for allocation to different departmental plans. “A portion of that money will be spent for the development of around 10-11 constituencies this time through this exercise. If successful, it will be replicated in all the 70 constituencies (of Delhi),” he said. Nasim Zaidi takes over as new CEC NEW DELHI: Nasim Zaidi, on Sunday, assumed charge as the 20th Chief Election Commissioner succeeding H.S. Bramha who retired on Saturday after completing his term. After assuming charge Mr. Zaidi said: “I feel privileged and honoured that I Minister said while outlaying the government’s poverty alleviation programmes during the inaugural session of a day-long workshop for the BJP Parliamentary Party. "Our path is clear: we are working in the direction of fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the poor," he said. Expressing the confidence that the second part of the Budget session of Parliament beginning Monday will be productive, the Prime Minister asked party MPs to come out of being in "opposition mould" and go into the session "holding their head high" for the pro-poor measures taken by the government since it came to power last May. Mr. Modi seized the occasion to lament that that some of the media was so taken up by being critical of his government that its achievements such as the recent evacuation of Indians from strife-torn Yemen and getting uranium supply from Canada and nuclear reactor technology from France during his recent visit to these countries, were underplayed. Hailing Union Minister of State General V.K. Singh for the successful operation in Yemen he said he "salutes" him. He also lauded External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for her quick responses to distress calls and said the two ministers should be felicitated. NEW DELHI: Leaders of communist outfits on Sunday welcomed CPI(M) Rajya Sabha Parliamentarian Sitaram Yechury’s election as his party’s General Secretary, hoping the move will help strengthen the Left movement in the country. Terming 62-year-old Mr. Yechury as a “dynamic” leader, they said his experience, both inside Parliament and outside it, will help the CPI(M) implement party programme effectively and that the Left parties will be more active now. “I congratulate him for getting elected unanimously as the (General) Secretary. I know comrade Yechury for the last few decades and I hope under his leadership, the Left parties can work more unitedly. “Yechury is a dynamic comrade, a good Parliamentarian. Naturally, the parties will become more active having joint activities and all that,” CPI General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy said. General Secretary of the All India Forward Bloc Debabrata Biswas, shared similar views welcoming the CPI (M)’s decision. “I welcome his election. He is a young, energetic and dynamic leader. Yechury is a new generation leader. He has enough experience,” Mr. Biswas said. Mr. Biswas though advised leaders of Left parties to take up social issues concerning people and in languages “they can understand” to ensure growth in the movement. “The whole problem with Left movement is it dealt with economic issues only. In India, in the Hindi belt, social aspect is very important. That ground is there to capture. The Left should take up the social issues and in the language of people,” he said. Welcoming Mr. Yechury’s election to the top post of CPI(M), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader Abani Roy said, “this would strengthen the Left community and movement against communalism and antipeople economic policies of the government.” Mr. Yechury was unanimously elected the new General Secretary of the party on Sunday on the last day of CPI’s (M) 21st Congress in Visakhapatnam. His name for the post was proposed by outgoing General Secretary Prakash Karat and seconded by senior leader S. Ramachandran Pillai. The party also elected 91 members of its central committee and also the 16-member Polit Bureau on the concluding day. BJP hits back at Cong; seeks apology from Rahul NEW DELHI: Hitting back at the Congress for its barbs against the NDA government at a farmers’ rally in New Delhi on Sunday, the BJP asked the party as to how many times will it “launch” and “repackage” Rahul Gandhi in the name of farmers. The party sought an “apology” from Mr. Gandhi for accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of bringing the Land Acquisition Bill allegedly to pay back loans taken from industrialists to win Lok Sabha elections. “We condemn this brazen contempt of popular mandate for Mr. Modi. Mr. Gandhi must understand that India is a democracy, not a monarchy to be governed by one family. By levelling such a charge he has insulted the mandate given by the people to the BJP. He should apologise,” said Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Accusing Mr. Gandhi of spreading “white lies” on the Land Bill, Mr. Prasad said unlike what is being said, the proposed NDA Bill has the provision that corporates and private sector will have to take consent of 80 per cent of the farmers before acquiring their land. Reacting to Mr. Gandhi’s criticism of the Gujarat model of development, Mr. Prasad sarcastically asked the Congress if it favoured “[Robert] Vadra model of development and land acquisition under which state apparatus and laws were bent to ensure windfall gains for the family from acquiring land of small and marginal farmers.” Dismissing Mr. Gandhi’s charges about Mr. Modi’s visits abroad, Mr. Prasad said, “some people travel abroad for introspection but the Prime Minister goes abroad to take the country forward.” To a question on Mr. Gandhi vowing to spearhead the debate on the Land Bill in Parliament, Mr. Prasad shot back, “The Congress has been waiting for the last 11 years for his meaningful interventions in Parliament.” Govt. college directors of physical education to train athletes Narendra Modi projects NDA as "pro-poor" NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attacked the opposition for trying to project the government as anti-poor on the issue of the Land Acquisition Bill and said that some people had decided not to speak, see or hear anything good about the NDA government. On a day that the Congress organised a farmers rally here against the Land Bill, Mr. Modi said lies were been spread on the Bill by "perverted minds", clearly indicating that the government was not going to withdraw the proposed legislation. "Don’t measure us on the scale of rajniti (politics) but on rashtraniti (nationalism)," the Prime Left parties welcome Yechury’s election Mr. Zaidi will have a tenure up to July 2017, when he attains the age of 65. have been given this responsibility to lead one of the finest institutions that the Indian Constitution has provided. I am conscious of the onerous task in hand.” “Election Commission of India will formulate a strategic plan for efficient election management based on principles of independence, transparency, professionalism, inclusiveness and measurable outputs,” he told the media. Mr. Zaidi further stated that he would like the Election Commission to become a more vibrant and transparent organisation, which is open to receiving new ideas and best practices. “Commission would like to formulate its guiding principles based on good governance,” he said. MANGALURU: The Youth Services department is proposing to make use of services of physical education directors of government colleges to take care of taluk and district stadium. They will also be given responsibility of training athletes at these stadiums. Minister of State for Youth Services, Sports and Fisheries, K. Abhayachandra Jain said he wants to make better use of the physical education directors. “There are around 200 physical education directors in the State. They stand at a better position in taking care of the stadium and lend their expertise for the budding sportspersons,” Mr. Jain told The Hindu. The exercise has begun by making Roshan Kumar Shetty, the physical education director of Dr. G. Shankar Government First Grade College in Udupi, in-charge Assistant Director of Udupi District Stadium. “This has shown results and there is marked improvement in facilities at the stadium,” Mr. Jain said and this had made him to entrust Mr. Shetty with responsibility of arrangements for athletes for the upcoming 19th Federation Cup Senior National Athletic Tournament that starts from April 30 in Mangaluru. The NORTHLINES KASHMIR VALLEY www.thenorthlines.com 8 JAMMU | MONDAY| APRIL 20 | 2015 Altaf Bukhari visits Lal Ded hospital Altaf Bukhari conducts surprise Reviews construction work, patient care inspection of oil pumps “Instructs officers to launch a campaign facilities; donates 2 ambulances from CDF against adulterated, less quantity fuel” SRINAGAR, APRIL 17: Minister for Public Works, Floriculture and Gardens & Parks Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari Friday conducted a surprise inspection of some of the oil pumps located in Srinagar and directed officers accompanying him to ensure that petrol is sold to the consumers according to the quantity and standard. He also directed the officials to strictly adopt all safety measures at all the petrol pumps across the Valley. During his visit, the Minister reviewed all safety measures at the petrol pumps. He also examined reading machine of pumps and asked the officials to ensure that there are no irregularities in installing fire fighting equipments. Bukhari issued these instructions during surprise visits of petrol pumps in Batmaloo and its adjoining areas. He said that on the special directions of the Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, a campaign has been launched for checking petrol pumps as the matter had been brought to the notice of Chief Minister that a number of petrol pumps are selling adulterated and less quantity of petrol. He asked the officers to go for a surprise inspection of petrol pumps both established by the oil companies as well as those depots selling fuel on the permission issued by the district administration. “Where ever you find that adulterated fuel is being sold to people or there is sale of less quantity of fuel, seal those pump stations immediately,” Bukhari instructed the officers present on this occasion. Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Dr. Farooq Ahmad Lone, Assistant Commissioner Revenue and other senior officers were accompanying the Minister. Altaf Bukhari inaugurates 24th AICR Project on Floriculture at SKUAST-K ‘Target to make Floriculture a 100 Crore business in J&K before 2020’ SRINAGAR, APRIL 17: Minister for Public Works, Floriculture and Gardens & Parks, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari Friday inaugurated 24th Annual Group Meeting of All India Coordinated Research Project (AICR) on Floriculture at SKUASTKashmir at Shalimar university campus. The meeting was organized by Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), Directorate of Floriculture Research, Pune in collaboration with Sher-eKashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST)Kashmir. Besides eminent floriculture scientists (100), academicians, students and stakeholders of Floriculture sector, the meeting was attended by Vice Chancellor, SKUAST Kashmir, Dr Tej Pratap Singh, Director Floriculture Sciences Pune, Dr K P Singh, Assistant Director General (Horticulture) ICAR, Dr T Jankiram and Director Research SKUASTKashmir, Dr Shafiq A Wani. Addressing the meeting, Mr. Bukhari said Jammu and Kashmir has a historical garden tradition, however, the commercial floriculture is much recent. He said that there is ample scope for the production and export of floricultural products from Jammu and Kashmir. “So far little attention has been paid and the industry has not been explored to its maximum. At present an area of about 350 hectares is under commercial floriculture and about 700 farm families are directly or indirectly involved in the trade,” Bukhari said. He added that the technology for the cultivation of Aromatic crops for oil production in Kashmir has been developed by the state Government. “The venture is being taken up by some farmers of the valley to cover waste and rain fed areas which otherwise hardly return any economical yield. The cultivation is now being extended to most of the areas in Jammu and Leh divisions as well,” the Minister for Floriculture averred. Bukhari said that an initiative for propagation of lillium bulbs in Kashmir in Technical collaboration with VWS Holland has been already taken by the state government. “Here I want to inform the delegates that our state in the country is the only where quality flowering bulbs can be propagated. We are able to propagate one lillium flowering bulb at a cost of Rs.5-6 only while as the minimum import cost of the similar bulb is Rs.12”, he added. The Minister told the meeting that the State Government’s target is to make Floriculture a 100 Crore business in J&K before 2020. “I am hopeful that today’s meeting shall lead us well to achieve this goal and am sure that the matters regarding floriculture in the country in general and that for the State of Jammu and Kashmir in particular would come under intense scrutiny for the next three days. The deliberations, I hope would lead to concrete recommendations and charting out of future course and research strategies regarding ornamental and floriculture industry in the country. I extend my warmest wishes to the SKUASTK and organizers of this meeting,” he said. For the convenience of farmers, the Minister for Public Works ordered for immediate completion of macadamization and black topping of road connecting Hyderpora Railway Bridge to Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Srinagar. Many eminent scientists including Dr Datta, Prof Menakshi Sinha, Dr Foja Singh, Dr T Jankiraman, Prof Abdul Qadoos Jan, Prof Talat Mohammad Paul and Prof M A Sidiqi were felicitated on this occasion by the Minister for Floriculture. Earlier, in his address, Dr Tej Pratap Singh, Vice Chancellor SKUAST-K stressed on the scientists to develop pasture lands for tourism in hilly areas especially in Sonamarg where number of Primula, Rododendron and other wild flora varieties bloom during the whole summer. He underlined the significance of those varieties of flowers in Kashmir which otherwise cannot be grown in rest of the country. Publications including disease and pest management in flower crops under Polyhouse and Present status and prospectus of Floriculture in Jammu and Kashmir State were released on this occasion. SRINAGAR, APRIL 17: Minister for Public Works, Floriculture and Gardens & Parks Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari Friday visited the tertiary care maternity hospital Lal Ded and reviewed the patient care facilities, infrastructure and construction work on additional block of the Hospital. The Minister visited old and the new blocks of the hospital and paid a visit to various wards to see the OPD and IPD working. Later the Minister chaired a review meeting directing the executing agencies to speed up the construction work so that the patients visiting the hospital get benefited by the additional accommodation. The Minister also directed the hospital administration to provide best possible medicare to the patients suffering from various ailments. Bukhari directed the Public Works officers to go for landscaping of the hospital premises and initiate the necessary civil works including boundary wall of the hospital at the earliest. The Minister Public Works also asked the JKPCC to remove bottlenecks within shortest possible period and go for replacement of defunct lifts without any further delay. The Minister for Public Works asked the Irrigation and Flood Control department to start work on retaining wall of the river Jehlum facing the hospital and strengthen the embankment on the Bund. The Public Works department officers were directed to construct wash rooms for the attendant Saraie and complete the project within shortest possible period. He assured the hospital authorities that all roads leading to the hospital will be macadamized and the department will ensure black topping of these roads at the earliest. He underlined significance for coordinated efforts between the GMC and executing agencies like PWD, JKPCC, UEED etc. to achieve timely completion of works at all hospitals in the city. The Minister was told that demolition of old structures at Lal Ded Hospital has been completed and modular theatres are being readied for operationalization. The Minister for Public Works directed construction of multi layer Army facilitates Annual Maitra Dangal Ramban, April 19: To encourage sports amongst local youths, Rashtriya Rifles Battalion under Delta Force in collaboration with Maitra Dangal Committee organised a Mega Dangal event at Ramleela Ground, Maitra, Ramban in which more than 100 wrestlers from various States participated with full vigor and enthusiasm. Commander Rashtriya Rifles Sector of Chanderkot, MLA Neelam Langeh, and SSP, Ramban graced the occasion. The event was witnessed by more than 5,000 people. Commander Rashtriya Rifles Sector and MLA Neelam Langeh while addressing the locals stressed on the important role of youth in society and urged them to refrain from drugs and indulge in healthy activities. They complimented the organisers and participants for making the event a success. Army also assured full assistance and cooperation for organising such events in future. The Dangal Maitra committee expressed their deep gratitude and applauded the effort of Indian Army in providing full support and assistance in organising such mega event. parking at the Super Specialty Hospital to meet the traffic rush of coming times. He also directed the UEED for completion of Sewerage Treatment Plant networking at the earliest at these hospitals to ensure sanitation and cleanliness. On this occasion, the Minister also announced two ambulances for the hospital from his Constituency Development Fund (CDF). Chief Engineer Public Works S K Razdan, Chief Engineer Attention: Flood affected traders with turnover less than 5 lakhs per annum SRINAGAR, APRIL 17: List of shopkeepers/traders whose turnover is less than Rs. 5 lakhs per annum received from Additional Commissioner Commercial Taxes Department Kashmir has been uploaded on the website of this office i.e [email protected] Proprietors of all the business establishments included in the said list are advised to submit an affidavit on the format available on website [email protected] in the office of Additional Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar immediately so that their cases are processed for relief out of Chief Ministers Relief Fund. Anjum Fazili conducts tour of Natipora SRINAGAR, APRIL 17: MLA Ms. Anjum Fazili today visited various areas of Natipora including Abu Baker Colony, Naik Bagh, Shahabad Colony, Faizabad Colony and Budshah Nagar to assess the problems being faced by the locals. Fazili while interacting with locals said that Mufti led government is keen to resolve the people’s problems. She urged the officers to redress local problems regarding water and power supply, drainage system, dilapidated roads, sanitation and installation of street lights. Fazili was accompanied by the officers of Irrigation and Flood Control, PHE, Revenue and Police. Irrigation and Flood Control Javed Jaffar, Chief Engineer UEED Mohammad Haneef, Principal GMC Dr Rafiq Pampori, senior officers of JKPCC, Joint Commissioner Srinagar Municipal Corporation, senior officers of Civil, Mechanical divisions of Public Works, JKPCC and Irrigation and Flood Control Department, Medical Superintendent, Lal Ded Hospital, Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad and other officers were present on this occasion. Power shut down SRINAGAR, APRIL 17: According to Power Controller, Power Development Department, Kashmir, in order to carry out necessary pruning and branch cutting of trees, power supply from the 33 KV BadamporaBandipora lines shall be affected on April 19, 2015 from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. According to another communication from the Power Controller, Power Development Department to carry out preventive maintenance works on Grid Stations, power supply from the Grid Station Awantipora, Lassipora Transmission Lines shall remain affected on April 18, 2015, from the Grid Station Pampore lines on April 19, 2015, from the Grid Station Cheshmashahi, Pampore-Cheshmashahi, Habak on April 20, 2015 and from the Grid Station Badampora lines onApril 21, 2015 from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. The power supply to the areas fed from these lines shall remain affected on the said dates and time. Asiya reviews health sector M/S EXCEL PACKAGING PLOT NO 6 SIDCO INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, KATHUA CONT NO. 09796241086, 09419152086 MANUFACTURING BUCKETS, MUGS, TASLAS, BASIN, PEDDLE BIN, DUSTBIN UNBRAKEABLE & FROSTY. Estd.2003 Phone: 233344 LEARNING TEMPLE ENGLISH MEDIUM HIGH SCHOOL NEAR AGRICULTURE OFFICE, KATHUA-184101 Welcome to a World… Where learning becomes a pasion. ADMISSIONS OPEN (2015-16) For more details:- Parents/Wards are welcome with us at: LEARNING TEMPLE ENGLISH MEDIUM HIGH SCHOOL WARD 17, KATHUA Contact: 01922-233344, 94191-50400 E-mail: [email protected] SRINAGAR, APRIL 17: Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Ms. Asiya Naqash today reiterated governments resolve to provide quality health care facilities to the people adding that revival of Health Sector is top most priority of the present Govt. The Minister was addressing a review meeting of Health department here today. Commissioner-Secretary, Health Mr. Shant Manu, Director Health Services, Kashmir, Director ISM, all Chief Medical Officers and Medical Superintendents of Kashmir Division were present on the occasion. The meeting discussed various issues regarding Health sector. On the occasion, the Minister sought suggestions from concerned officers for making further improvements in Health sector. The Minister was informed that 2 new bio medical plants, one each in Srinagar and Jammu would be constructed at a cost of 2.50 crore for ensuring proper usage of bio medical waste. Ms. Asiya Naqash directed officers to ensure usage of Hub Cutter at every health institutions for destroying used needles. She also called for strict implementations of usage of needle destroyers at every medical shop. The Minister also reviewed the blood bank facilities and availability of critical care ambulances in government hospitals. She directed the concerned officers to ensure availability of properly functional Critical Care Ambulances at hospitals especially in the areas on National Highway so that safety of human lives could be ensured in emergencies and accidents. Regarding blood bank facilities, the Minister directed provision of proper space in hospitals to make blood banks properly functional. Minister expressed concern over the rising number of Hepatitis-C cases in Anantnag district. She strictly directed concerned Chief Medical Officers for launching a vigorous awareness campaign across the Valley so that people could be informed about the contagious diseases like Hepatitis-C. Regarding shortage of staff in Hospitals, the Minister said that recruitments shall be made on fast track basis to provide medical and para medical staff to government hospitals. The Minister also directed Health officers to ensure speedy completion of ongoing projects and asked them not to take in hand any new project till previous liability is cleared. She said government will every take step to improve of health sector in the State. Later, the Minister visited Parimpore Ghat and met the people there. The Minister heard them patiently and assured them that their demands would be looked into sympathetically. On the occasion, Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Dr. Farooq Ahmad Lone and other Revenue officers accompanied the Minister. The N O RTHLINES www.thenorthlines.com 9 JAMMU | MONDAY| APRIL 20| 2015 the NORTHLINES Jammu LIC buys Rs 300 crore Infosys shares in Q4 NEW DELHI: State-owned life insurer LIC has shored up its stake in Infosys to 4.81 per cent, purchasing shares worth over Rs 300 crore in the January-March quarter. This is the fourth consecutive quarter of share purchase by LIC in the software services firm. LIC held 4.69 per cent stake in Infosys during the October-December quarter and increased that to 4.81 per cent as of March 31, 2015, as per latest data available with the stock exchanges. Taking into account the current market value of Infosys shares, the 0.12 percentage point hike in LIC’s holding in the company would be worth about Rs 317 crore. Infosys shares closed at Rs 2,182 on Friday. Alto is best-selling car for tenth year in a row NEW DELHI: Maruti Suzuki India continued its hold on the country’s car market in 2014-15 with its models Alto, Swift, Dzire and WagonR retaining the top four positions. According to a data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Maruti’s Alto sold 2,64,492 units in 2014-15 as against 2,58,281 units in the previous fiscal, retaining its numero uno position for the tenth year in succession. Likewise, Swift retained the second spot with 2,01,338 units in fiscal 2015 as compared to 1,98,571 units in the previous fiscal. Keeping its third position intact was Maruti’s Dzire, which sold 1,92,010 units in 2014-15 as against 1,87,673 units. WagonR also retained the fourth best-selling car brand status with 1,61,250 units in year 2014-15 as against 1,56,369 units in the previous fiscal. Hyundai Motor India’s Grand i10 jumped to the fifth spot in 2014-15 at 99,088 units from 7th in the previous fiscal at 72,789 units. However, the company’s Eon dropped to the 6th position at 78,334 units in 2014-15 from 5th spot in the previous fiscal at 86,474 units. Hyundai’s Elite i20 was the 7th best-selling car brand in India in year 2014-15 with 77,747 units, while Honda City was at eighth position clocking 77,343 units. Maruti’s Celerio was ninth best-selling car at 68,143 units sold, while Honda’s Amaze was 10th with 66,703 units. Gas well blaze still on; ONGC rushes crisis team SURAT: Fire is still raging at the ONGC gas well near Olpad town in the district, even 24 hours after the blow-out mishap, and a crisis management team was rushed to the spot from Delhi on Sunday, a senior official said. "Fire is still on but it is under control in a way that it has been contained in a particular area so that it does not cause damage to any property nearby," ONGC spokesperson Samrat Choudhary told PTI. He said the blaze was being contained and firemen are taking necessary measures to put it out completely. "Fire is being contained and kept to cool by our firemen who are continuously spraying water on it. The fire is being allowed to burn out so that it may not spread to other area and the gas in the well will be exhausted," Choudhary said. Meanwhile, a crisis management team of senior ONGC officials reached here from Delhi and visited the injured persons who are admitted in a private hospital, he said. The incident occurred on Saturday when a blow-out preventer (BOP) was being repaired at the well in OLPAD-31 in Ankleshwar basin. When the ONGC team was working on the well to stop the leakage, some sort of spark resulted in a huge blast and the gas coming out of the well caught fire. A blow-out occurred as the well got activated during repairing operation. At least 12 persons, all employees of ONGC, sustained burn injuries and condition of four of them continued to be serious, said an official. Honda hikes prices of Brio, Amaze marginally NEW DELHI: Honda Cars India has hiked prices of its entry level car Brio and compact sedan Amaze by up to Rs 800 to offset change in cost structure following tax rationalization in the Budget. Brio prices have been hiked by Rs 600 while those of petrol and diesel variants of Amaze have been enhanced by Rs 800 with effect from April first week. After the hike, Brio is priced between Rs 4.21 lakh and Rs 6.79 lakh, while Amaze is priced at Rs 5.18 lakh and Rs 8.21 lakh (all prices ex-showroom Delhi). "After the rationalization of duties in the Budget, our cost structure changed but we didn't want to pass it to consumers in March as it is usually a good month of sales. So we decided to hike prices marginally in April," Honda Cars India Ltd senior vice-president (marketing & sales) Jnaneswar Sen told PTI. The company has not hiked prices of any other models. This is the company's second price hike so far this during the current year. In January, the car maker had hiked prices of its entire range of vehicles by up to Rs 60,000. The Japanese car maker in January had hiked Brio prices by up to Rs 18,000 and that of CR-V by Rs 60,000. The move followed the government not extending excise duty concessions given to the auto industry and consumer durables sectors after the expiry on December 31, 2014. Honda currently sells five models in the country, including the fourth generation mid-sized sedan City and multi purpose vehicle Mobilio. Driven by strong sales momentum for its cars throughout the year, the company posted its highest ever annual domestic sales of 1,89,062 units during FY 15, recording 41 per cent growth over last financial year. 10 BUSINESS JAMMU | MONDAY APRIL 20, 2014 COAI roots for Net neutrality, access for internet to all NEW DELHI: COAI urged all stakeholders in net neutrality to have a comprehensive and informed debate on the subject. Industrial body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Sunday reaffirmed its support for ‘Net neutrality’, but also made a strong pitch for ‘net equality’ that will enable access to Internet for a billion Indians as part of the governments digital India vision. In a statement today, COAI urged all stakeholders in net neutrality to have a comprehensive and informed debate on the subject, keeping in mind the requirements of India and its citizens. “An important and complex subject such as this, which is still being debated in many countries, which has taken years to conclude in many other countries and which is the subject of litigation in some, should not be left to the opinion of a few,” the association said. It made a strong pitch for ‘net equality’ that will enable access to the Internet for a billion Indians as part of the government’s Digital India vision. “We support an open Internet and believe that consumers, should decide what to do online. Our job is to enable consumers to benefit from that freedom. We offer choice and do not block or provide any preferential access to any website or app,” it added. COAI said its members are fully committed to investing in digital India and need an enabling environment that promotes the growth of the entire Internet ecosystem. “Without infrastructure and investment, there will be no Internet access. Operators have invested billions of dollars in license fees, spectrum fees and network roll-outs. Yet the Industry still makes negative return on the capital employed,” it said. The industry estimates India would need an additional capital outlay of Rs. 3-5 lakh crore over the next 10 years in spectrum, new technology, equipment, towers, optical fibre backbone, etc, to meet the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Digital India and connect 1 billion Indians. “The need of the hour, therefore, is to have a sustainable industry that has the ability to invest in growth of data services and connectivity to all,” COAI said. The association stressed on the need to ensure that same rules apply to same services to get Internet access.“We believe that our role is to enable all services to reach customers across the country. One of the key factors to enable this is that same rules must apply to the same type of services, including Mobile and IP Voice services,” it added. There is a need to ensure customers have the freedom to choose how they want to access the Internet. A customer should be free to choose the device, technology and access platform -paid or subsidised as long as the Internet is always open in terms of access in a non-discriminatory manner, it said. “We support this! The interests of a few should not dictate the fundamental right of a customer to choose what he/she wants,” the COAI added. Indo-US MIM investment plans Rolta India: proxy advisory NEW DELHI: Indo-US MIM Tec Pvt. Ltd. is planning to invest Rs.1,000 crore in the next 3-4 years towards establishing medical devices units in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Promoted by Krishna Chivukula, an IndoAmerican industrialist, the company will invest in the state-of-the-art medical devices, technology upgradation, precision machining of medical and aerospace products and device integration. The company is scouting for suitable land in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, even though it was offered huge land bank in Hyderabad. Mr. Krishna said: “The units will produce high quality medical devices. We have not yet zeroed in on the number of devices or the quantity. We are putting up a unit in Doddaballapur in Karnataka firms suggest forensic audit by investing Rs.700 crore, which is scheduled to begin operations by mid-2016.” Indo-US MIM was planning to invest over Rs.100 crore in Tamil Nadu to produce import-substitute medical devices. Another unit would be set up near NelloreGuntur region. Indo-US MIM Tech was founded in 1998 at Hoskote near Bengaluru. The company designs, manufactures and supplies metal injection moulding products to customers in automotive, med- ical, aerospace, oil and gas and industrial sectors. “For the last two decades, we have demonstrated our supremacy as a world class company in the latest emerging — technology metal injection moulded business. This feat was achieved with the help of 500 engineers hired from local colleges. Currently, more than 95 per cent of our products are exported. Last year, we clocked a revenue of Rs.1,000 crore,” Mr. Krishna said. NEW DELHI: With the ongoing fracas between USbased research agency Glaucus Research and Indian tech company Rolta India, proxy advisory firms believe that only a forensic audit of Rolta’s accounts can settle Glaucus’ allegations of widespread fudging of capital expenditure figures. Shriram Subramanian, founder of investor advisory service InGovern, said the report only indicates its own opinion of the company. “Every investor is entitled to their own opinion of a company,” he said. Every day there are analysts making buy or sell recommendations on companies. In this case, with Glaucus questioning Rolta’s accounts, it is up to the company to establish that it is transparent. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis aggressively pitches Maharashtra as investment destination MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has begun aggressively pitching the state as the most preferred investment destination and wants it to regain its position as an economic powerhouse in the country. After returning from his investment scouting visit from Germany, Fadnavis said that he sought maximum investments in infotech, manufacturing and agro-processing industries sectors to create thousands of jobs and wooing foreign companies to set up ventures in Maharashtra. "A huge positive sentiment has built up with regard to foreign investments. Industries now want to keenly invest in India as they see their growth here. There were some apprehensions due to a legacy of the last ten years, but after direct interactions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, their apprehensions are fading away," Fadnavis told PTI. "In Hannover (Germany), we have offered land to SQS (software testing company), which, if accepted, will create around 2,000 jobs. Apart from that Bosch has agreed to take over 25 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in Maharashtra where it will not only train people, but also employ all those trained," he said. Fadnavis said that positive talks have been held with Continental Tyres which has currently no presence here and that the company has promised to look at Maharashtra as an investment destination. "We also had a very good interaction with ABB Robotics (supplier of industrial robots, modular manufacturing systems and service). We have invited them to set up robotics industries in Maharashtra. Volkswagen is a company that has investments here, but we have requested them to increase their presence in the state," Fadnavis said. He said that talks have also been held with automotive companies like Witte and Durr and that these companies have shown keen interest in Maharashtra. "These companies are major automobile parts suppliers. We have requested them to start their production facilities in Maharashtra. For now, parts manufactured by them from elsewhere reach here. This has to change," Fadnavis said. Other investors can then decide whether to stay invested in the stock or exit it, he added. Earlier this week, Glaucus, which holds bonds issued by Rolta’s Delaware, US-subsidiary, made a “strong sell” recommendation of the bonds saying that it believes “Rolta has fabricated its reported capital expenditures in order to mask that it has materially overstated its EBITDA.” The capital expenditure it has called into question involves expenditure on computers, office fixtures, buildings and defence prototypes. JN Gupta, Managing Director, Stakeholders Empowerment Services, says if the research report is true, then it merits serious investigation into the company’s accounts. However, he pointed out that while the bonds were issued by the US subsidiary, the report focuses exclusively on the Indian parent company. The fact that Glaucus has taken a short position on the bonds does not necessarily mean the report is meant to manipulate the price of the bond, since Glaucus has fully disclosed its position, Gupta said. In an exchange filing, Rolta India said the report is “mala fide, malicious, and aimed at misleading investors.” Deutsche’s ‘buy’ call Meanwhile, a Reuters report said Deutsche Bank has raised its investment recommendation on Rolta India bonds to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’. Deutsche said it agreed with the company’s response that Glaucus had made factual errors. “Issues such as persistent negative FCF (free cash flows) have been well known for a while, as the company was in the middle of a heavy capex cycle, which is now over, and in fact, it finally turned slightly free cash flow positive in the last quarter,” Deutsche said. The stock of Rolta India fell 2.57 per cent on the BSE on Friday, closing at ?149.95. IRCTC to offer baggage insurance for train passengers NEW DELHI: Aiming at providing passengers more facilities for booking tickets online, IRCTC is planning to offer a new service of 'baggage insurance' for them. Under this, a customer will be offered additional services like insurance coverage for baggage while booking etickets on the IRCTC website. As per the offer, the passenger can claim the insurance money in case of lost or theft of the baggage. The goods like laptop, mobile phone or any other valuable articles will be covered as part of the travel insurance package. The tie-up is being formal- options like hospitalization during the journey," he said. With over 2 million passengers travelling everyday and about 52 per cent opting for e-ticketing, IRCTC hopes that a significant section of passengers will opt for the insurance service. "It will be a win-win situation for both the customers and IRCTC," he added. Besides, the passengers are now offered e-catering and concierge services while booking tickets on certain trains and routes. "We are expanding the ecatering facility to more trains as many reputed eatery or joints have also joined the ized with New India Assurance with the details being worked out. "We are formalizing a tie-up with a leading insurance company for offering baggage insurance service to eticket customers," said a senior IRCTC official, adding that "a customer will be given an option to avail the insurance coverage, which will not be mandatory". The insurance premium will depend on the length of the journey and also the class of travel. "We are trying to make the offer as the best travel insurance services for train passengers by including other e-catering list," the official said. In order to facilitate last mile connectivity to tourists and passengers, the IRCTC has launched concierge services at certain selected stations in metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata on a pilot basis. The service aims to facilitate train passengers at the station in hiring a porter, getting information regarding running status of the trains, and arranging a taxi for dropping the passenger to his residence or hotel. The concierge service will be provided at all major stations including tourist destinations on railways network. Indian economy clearly on RBI snaps up $49.2-billion in recovery path: Arun Jaitley April-February, highest in 7 years WA S H I N G T O N : Indian economy is now clearly on a recovery path with a 7.4 per cent growth in the first three quarters and the new government is committed to maintain overall macroeconomic conditions on a sustained basis, finance minister Arun Jaitley has said. "We are committed to maintain overall macroeconomic conditions on a sustained basis so that the Indian economy is able to achieve and sustain growth of 8 per cent and above," Jaitley said in his address to the International Monetary and Financial Committee. "The Indian economy is now clearly on a recovery path," he said, adding India's growth recovered to 7.4 per cent in the first three quarters (AprilDecember) of 2014-15 as compared with 7.0 per cent during the same period of 2013-14. Advance estimates have also placed the GDP growth for the full year of 2014-15 at 7.4 per cent. Medium-term growth prospects have also improved following recent policy initiatives towards unlocking coal and other mining activity, liberalization of FDI limits and a renewed thrust on public investment in infrastructure, which would help to improve the investment climate. Inflation, which was a major concern for India during 2010-13, has moderated significantly, he said. CPI inflation, which is now used as the main measure of headline inflation by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), declined to 5.2 per cent in March 2015 from 11.2 per cent in November 2013, he said. In terms of the flexible inflation targeting framework adopted recently, going forward, the RBI will seek to bring the inflation rate to the mid-point of the band of 4 +/- 2 per cent, i.e., to 4 per cent by the end of a two year period starting fiscal year 2016-17, Jaitley told the world body. Noting that India has continued on the path of fiscal consolidation, he said the GFD of the central government, which was 5.7 per cent of GDP in 2011-12, declined to 4.1 per cent in 2014-15 and is budgeted to decline further to 3.9 per cent in 2015-16. India's current account deficit (CAD) declined sharply from 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2012-13 to 1.7 per cent in 2013-14 and is expected to decline further to 1.3 per cent in 2014-15. MUMBAI: To reduce rupee volatility on account of higher inflows and increase fore reserves to cushion any external shock, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bought the highest amount of dollars, after a gap of seven years, at $49.2 billion in AprilFebruary of the past fiscal. The central bank net purchased the currency from the spot market in April 2014- February 2015, according to the central bank data, which comes with a lag of two months. The Reserve Bank had bought $115.9 billion from the market during the period while it sold $66.7 billion, according to the RBI data. The period also saw the forex reserves touching a record $338 billion to the week ended February 27. "With the country's macro fundamentals improving, we have seen robust capital flows," Yes Bank chief economist Shubhada Rao said. "Simultaneously, we have also seen RBI intervening in the market to cushion volatility, but more implicitly allowing the nominal exchange rate to adjust closer to its fair value, which at present is 64-65 to the dollar after adjusting for inflation and productivity differentials. This has resulted in an improvement in forex reserves," Rao said. "When inflows are more, the supply of dollar increases and it results in rupee appreciation, which is not good for exports. The RBI buys these excess dollar supply and add to their reserves. This is a way to maintain orderly movement of the rupee," said a senior dealer with a public sector bank. The rupee had depreciated by around 4 per cent in the financial year gone by, against a whopping around 20 per cent appreciation in the previous fiscal, making it the best performing EM currency. Experts say with higher purchases of dollars, the Reserve Bank is also trying to create buffer against any volatility. "There is an expectation that the interest rates in the US is likely to go up. The RBI is buying dollars to equip itself with enough reserves to avoid volatility," said a senior bank official with a stateowned bank. The Reserve Bank has always maintained that its intervention in the currency market is to curb volatility and not to achieve any particular level."Our intervention in exchange market has historically been to reduce exchange rate volatility and that's not just the volatility today but also anticipated volatility," Governor Raghuram Rajan had said at the last policy review on April 7. the NORTHLINES Jammu 11 SPORTS JAMMU | MONDAY APRIL 20, 2014 JKOA to hold elections in May end Office bearers of affiliated state sports associations attend a meeting of JKOA at Jammu on Sunday. NL CORRESPONDENT JAMMU TAWI: Jammu and Kashmir Olympic Association (JKOA) has decided to hold its over due elections in the end of May. Earlier, the elections were scheduled for this month. The meeting which was chaired by JKOA president, Rangil Singh and attended besides others by represen- tatives of the affiliated state sports associations also discussed the modalities to felicitate those medal winner athletes in the recently held National Games. All the members were of the opinion that funds should raised to present medal winners cash awards worth Rs one lakh, Rs 50,000 and 31,000 to the first, second and third position holders as also Rs 21,000 for those coaches. It was also decided to hold the elections of J&K Olympic Associations in the last week of May. England coach Peter Moores defends captain Alastair Cook GRENADA: England coach Peter Moores has defended his side and under-pressure skipper Alastair Cook after the visiting team were unable to seal victory on the fifth and final day of the first Test against the West Indies here. Cook’s side entered the final day needing eight wickets to win and had the home side reduced to 189/6 with more than 50 overs still left to bowl -- only for Denesh Ramdin (57) and Jason Holder (103 not out) to hang on for the draw on Friday. Despite the result and Cook’s own meagre returns with the bat -- 24 runs across both innings, Moores threw his support behind the embattled skipper. “I have known lots of people in sport and, in terms of character, Cook is one of the strongest,” Moores was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au on Sunday. “Even though he didn’t get a score here you could see he’s found some form with the way he’s hitting the ball and moving. It was frustrating, but he’s a very good player and it’s almost been forgotten how strongly he finished the Test summer against India,” the England coach said. Cook’s opening partner Jonathan Trott is also under pressure after managing just four runs, including a second-innings duck, in the drawn Test. “Trott has earned the right to get a go,” Moores said. "It was his first Test for a long time and that was always going to be tough but this is a player who has played some brilliant innings for England and he’s got a good chance now to show that he’s still got that ability,” he said. Yusuf is still our trump card: Akram Yusuf Pathan stuck with the Shah Rukh Khan-owned unit, playing a crucial role in the team’s title triumph in 2012 and 2014. Yusuf Pathan may not have set this edition of the IPL ablaze with his powerful batting just yet but Kolkata Knight Riders bowling consultant Wasim Akram feels the swashbuckling all-rounder is still the team’s “trump card” and one of the biggest hitters in cricket’s shortest format. After making an impression in the cash-rich league for Rajasthan Royals in the first three seasons under skipper Shane Warne, Yusuf was taken by KKR in 2011 for $2.1 million. The destructive batsman has since stuck with the Shah Rukh Khan-owned unit, playing a crucial role in the team’s title triumph in 2012 and 2014. The Baroda-born player may not have fired in this season so far, but he played the sheet anchor’s role to perfection with his 28 not out in the 95-run partnership with Andre Russell (66) in the team’s four-wicket win against Kings XI Punjab, and Akram backs the big-hitter to come to the party and get big runs soon. “Yusuf is only 32, he is still our trump card. He is still one of the biggest hitters in this format. He is enjoying his confidence. It is really handy to have a player like Yusuf Pathan. He can bowl, he can bat and he can field as well,” Akram told PTI in an interview. The Sultan of Swing is also impressed with off-spinner Sunil Narine’s remodelled action after the mystery bowler’s doosra was questioned in the Champions League Twenty20 event last year. The West Indies player may just have picked up a wicket in the three games so far but Akram said the champion bowler will soon get used to his new action. “I am very impressed with Sunil Narine. Even with his remodelled action his bite is the same. Of course, it takes a little while to adjust to your new action. I think let him play another two or three matches and he will only get better. I don’t think the change has affected his effectiveness,” the former Pakistan captain said. In a team full of spinners, Akram has still managed to make an imprint, with the bowlers speaking highly of the pace legends mentoring ways. Akram is just too happy to help a bunch of talented youngsters. “See, spinner or fast bowler, the bowling psyche is the same. My job is to work on their psyche, give them confidence. We give them different scenarios in nets. We do the nets like a match and there is a free ball if they bowl a no ball. How to set a field to a particular kind of bowling, all these drills are carried out. We have some quality spinners in the side. “There is Shakib (Al Hasan), Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, two young spinners in Kuldeep (Yadav) and (KC) Cariappa and then there is (Brad) Hogg and (Johan) Botha. The young spinners talk a lot to the two senior spinners and they bowl together in the nets and they learn a lot from each other,” said the left—arm pacer. With Pakistan players barred from participating in the popular league, former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mehmood has managed to seal a deal with KKR after holding a British passport. Akram insists that his former teammate has a definite role to play in this edition. “Look, it will be a team decision. Gautam Gambhir, the coaching staff and I believe in horses for courses. Where the wicket will be seaming a bit Azhar can make an impact. He is a very useful and match-winning allrounder,” he opined. IPL 2015 SCHEDULE Match 17 Delhi Daredevils VS Kolkata Knight Riders Ferozeshah Kotla , Delhi Two nice injections of confidence helped us: Gary Kirsten NEW DELHI: Upbeat after getting over the line in their previous two humdingers, Delhi Daredevils coach Gary Kirsten believes the team can surely take the momentum forward in the four straight home IPL games at the Feroz Shah Kotla starting tomorrow against Kolkata Knight Riders. "It's good to get the wins and I think it was important for us to get the winning feeling going and the winning habit. So I was pleased from that perspective," Kirsten said on the eve of their fifth match, here today. "I think creating some momentum, that's the key. Just keep the momentum going and maintain that. We have had two nice little injections of confidence now, so we need to maintain that form and stay confident," he added. Unlucky to lose two close games first up, the JeanPaul Duminy-led side bounced back in the next two to rise up the ranks. After chasing down 166 Young openers Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer have also performed well for the team and Kirsten said the team has always backed its youngsters. "We have backed them all along (younger lot). We are happy with that," he said. Tournaments biggest buy, Yuvraj SIngh, who was bagged by DD for a record Rs 16 crore, also came to the party with a well-made 54 against King XI. Kirsten, who saw the veteran lefthander get the man of the series award in India's 2011 World Cup triumph when the South African was the national coach, is delighted with Yuvraj's effort. Victoria Azarenka propels Belarus past Japan in Fed Cup TOKYO: Former world number one Victoria Azarenka scored wins in singles and doubles as Belarus scraped past Japan 3-2 in their Fed Cup World Group playoff in Tokyo on Sunday. Azarenka overpowered Kurumi Nara 6-3, 6-3 before being pressed into action again as an emergency doubles replacement after Ayumi Morita had stunned Aliaksandra Sasnovich to take the tie to the wire. Japan`s hopes of completing an unlikely comeback after Udhampur, Reasi climbing meets on May 3 NL CORRESPONDENT JAMMU: Organised by the Mountaineering Association of J&K in collaboration with Sprawling Buds School, Lakshmipuram Chinore, here, the Udhampur and Reasi district Sport C l i m b i n g Championships shall be held on May three. "About 200 climbers from various institutions of the two districts are likely to participate in the competition. However, in case, the number of participants exceeds 200 climbers, the competition may extend to the two days", informed organising secretary of the event, Shawetica Khajuria. The competition, to be conducted on the pre fabricated 40ft high Tenzing Norgay Sport Climbing Wall at Sprawling Buds School, shall be held in six categories of men, women (born in 1998 and earlier), boys, girls (born in 1999, 2000 and 2001) and sub junior boys and girls (born in 2002, 2003 and after). Whereas men, with a ball to spare against Kings XI Punjab, DD stopped SunRisers Hyderabad from getting 10 runs of the final six deliveries. Kirsten was happy with the way the team has responded under pressure. "Pretty happy with the way the guys responded in pressure situations. We had four really tough games and came through in two of them. So I think we are comfortable and on the right track. We have come to understand whatever we need to do in our combinations and so I am happy," said the former South African batsman. "I have been close to having a heart attack. But good to have those, to kind of get used to them. So this was something that we needed to do and to be able to pull through in two of them has been fantastic," he added. women, boys and girls shall compete both in 'lead climbing' and 'speed climbing', those sub junior boys and girls shall participate in 'lead climbing' only. Interested climbers have been advised to contact the organising secretary, Shawetica Khajuria on Mobile No. 99062-16637 or visit personally to the venue on any working day up to May one. On the spot registration shall also be done at Sprawling Buds School from 8 am to 9 am on May three. Whereas a qualified national judge in sport climbing, Shawetica Khajuria shall also be the president of the jury of the competition, Shashi Kant and Aman Arora, both senior sport climbers, shall be the route setters. These technical officials shall be supported by another technical team of the Association including Sonam Sidharth, Puneet Sharma and Hardev Singh. The championship has been sponsored by J&K State ports Council. Morita`s gritty 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 win were dashed when Azarenka and Olga Govortsova saw off Morita and Shuko Aoyama 6-3, 6-4 to seal promotion for Belarus. Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion who topped the women`s world rankings three years ago, needed an hour and 30 minutes to wrap up her second singles win following a delay to close the roof due to rain. Azarenka dropped just three games in beating Doi in Saturday`s opener, but Nara levelled by wearing down Govortsova in the reverse singles. As Kei Nishikori continues to blaze a trail for Japan in the men`s game, Japan`s women have struggled to make a significant impact on the sport since Kimiko Date reached number four in the world in 1995. They reached the Fed Cup semi-finals in 1996 after Date memorably beat Steffi Graf 12-10 in the third set of an epic match against the German in Tokyo. Belarusian players competed under the Soviet Union flag until 1991. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel hopes for Bahrain battle with Mercedes MANAMA: Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton expects resurgent Ferrari to be hard to beat in Sunday`s Bahrain Grand Prix and Sebastian Vettel hopes to prove him right. After the pair qualified on the front row on Saturday, with Hamilton on pole for the fourth race in succession for Mercedes, Vettel told reporters his Italian team had taken another important step. "We are trying to push on all areas but for now I think we can be very, very happy with where we are," said the four-times champion, who has been on the podium in all three races for Ferrari since he left Red Bull. "Today is the first time we were able to split them (the Mercedes drivers) in true dry conditions in qualifying, so very happy." Hamilton`s team mate Nico Rosberg qualified third, with Ferrari`s Kimi Raikkonen fourth. "I think in the race we are maybe a bit closer, so we will see what happens," Vettel added. "We are progressing as a team. For this race we didn’t bring any updates in particular, so it’s really that the circuit is maybe a little bit better for us. "And...continuously working with the car, getting on top of what to do with the car and learning how the changes are reacting on track. So, I think that’s the area where we are making most progress at the minute." Hamilton, who has won two out of three races and leads Vettel by 13 points in the standings, will not be able to control the race as he did in China when he had Rosberg behind him. All the talk before Bahrain was of a re-run of last year`s race, a wheel-to-wheel battle between the Mercedes drivers under the floodlights. It could turn out instead to be a repeat of last month`s Malaysian Grand Prix where the front row was the same, and Rosberg also qualified third, but Vettel won with better tyre management and strategy. "We’ve gone over it tons of times already about what we have learned, but it doesn’t get us away from the fact that they are very quick this weekend," said Hamilton. "They are going to be very hard to beat tomorrow, they have great race pace." Vettel, sitting alongside in a news conference, could only agree. "I hope he`s right," the German said. "He is a quality player. We know that we can get performances out of him and he is keen to do well, so we can't ask for more," he said. Leg-spinner Imran Tahir, 9 scalps in 4 matches, and Amit Mishra have also made it count in key situations. Kirsten not only rates them as key players but also lauds the team's bowling department. "They are key bowlers without a doubt. They are important to us. But it's not only them. We have got Coulter Nile, who really bowled well yesterday and closed the game for us. That's what you need in T20 cricket, you need game breakers. There are guys who do a bit of ball and guys that do a bit of bat. So that's got to be exciting," said Kirsten. Even Duminy is happy to get the right balance in the four matches so far, especially after the two wins. "It takes a team to put in a good performance. We made a couple of errors but we somehow found a way to get two points. At the start of the tournament that was the goal, to somehow find a way to get two points no matter how that happens. "I think we have figured our combination as far as batting is concerned and it's going pretty well now," the South African said. "I think we have the balance now in terms of who suits where in what situation. It's always the responsibility of the top six to get runs and we have done it in the past few games," he added. Narain Karthikeyan scorches to maiden podium finish in Japan SUZUKA: Top Indian racing driver Narain Karthikeyan overcame a sluggish start to finish third in the season opener of the Japanbased Super Formula Championship here on Sunday, sealing his first ever podium in the fastest single seater series outside Formula 1. Karthikeyan, starting from second on the grid, lost three places on the opening lap before recovering to finish third in the 43lap race at the famous Suzuka Circuit. Three-time Le Mans winner Andre Lotterer won the race, 9.4 seconds ahead of 2014 champion Kazuki Nakajima. It was a welcome result for the 38-year-old Indian, who endured a tough opening season last year when he finished 13th in the Championship with five points. Karthikeyan was extremely satisfied with the result in his first outing with Team Dandelion Racing. "It (the result) is definitely pleasing considering the quality of the field. You are competing against guys like Lotterer, who won the WEC (World Endurance Championship) opening race just last week. Then you have former F1 drivers like Nakajima and Kobayashi (Kamui), who has been on the F1 podium. So surely a good result and promising start," Karthikeyan told PTI. The ex-F1 racer is driving Hondapowered cars this season and he feels it is a much improved engine. "Unlike last season, Honda is competing with Toyota powered cars and that is good news for us. The car felt fantastic today. We have a strong package and now we need to make the most out of it." Asked if the car is capable of winning, Karthikeyan replied in the affirmative. "We can surely win with this car and that is the aim going into the next round. Plus I know all the tracks now unlike last season. So we will have to capitalise on all these factors and do the best we can," he said. Karthikeyan's 2014 campaign was further dented by a 250 kmph crash during qualifying at Autopolis. It took months for him to recover from the accident but he is now fully fit and in good space. "I am happy to be racing alongside some high profile driver. People tend to talk about the age factor but I have always believed in my ability. I will continue racing as long as I remain quick," he asserted. The Championship moves to the Okayama International Circuit on May 23-24. Champion Marquez takes pole in Argentina ARGENTINA: Termas de Río Hondo: Reigning double world champion Marc Marquez stormed to his 24th pole position in just 39 MotoGP races in Argentina on Saturday. The Spanish Honda rider will line up alongside compatriot Aleix Esparago (Suzuki) and Italy`s Andrea Iannone (Ducati) on the front row of the grid. The 22-year-old flew around the Thermes de Rio Hondo circuit in 1min 37.802sec to snatch pole for the second year in a row here. Britain`s Carl Crutchlow (Honda), Spain`s former world champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) and Italian Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) will start on the second row. Italian legend Valentino Rossi, who won the first race of the season, could manage only eighth fastest on a Yamaha. C M Y K C M Y K 12 JAMMU | MONDAY |APRIL 20|2015 www.thenorthlines.com Egypt court sentences 11 to death over 2012 football riot Agencies CAIRO, Apr 19: An Egyptian court on Sunday sentenced 11 football fans to death after a retrial over a 2012 stadium riot in the canal city of Port Said that left 74 people dead.An appeals court had ordered the retrial of 73 defendants in February last year after rejecting a lower court verdict sentencing 21 people to death for being involved in the incident. The riot erupted in February 2012 when fans of home team Al-Masry and Cairo's Al-Ahly clashed after a premier league match between the two clubs. Sunday's death sentences against 11 football fans have been referred to Egypt's grand mufti. The court will make a final decision on their fates, as well as those of the other defendants, on May 30. The 73 defendants include nine police officers and three officials from AlMasry club, while the rest were fans of Al-Masry club.Two of those sentenced to death are on the run. None of the families of the victims or of the defendants attended Sunday's court session, which was held in Cairo for security reasons. Sunday's verdict can be appealed. The 2012 clashes in the Port Said stadium sparked days of violent protests in Cairo, in which another 16 people were killed in fighting with security forces. A year later, dozens of people also died in the canal city during clashes that erupted after the lower court handed down the 21 death sentences. The Port Said riots were the deadliest sport-related riots in Egypt, where football fans regularly clash against rival supporters or with security forces. The authorities reacted by imposing a ban on fans attending premier league matches and held the games behind closed doors. But on February 8, at least 19 people died in a stampede after police fired tear gas at fans trying to force their way into a Cairo stadium for a premier league match that was open to the public. Television footage showed crowds squeezed inside a narrow metal enclosure, jostling to enter the stadium when the stampede erupted as police fired tear gas. The police reject the accusations and blame the unrest on Islamists. Sixteen suspects accused of clashing with police on that day have been arrested and referred to trial. Since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, his supporters have been the target of a brutal government crackdown overseen by his successor President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Egypt's hard-core football fans, the "ultras", have often clashed with police, including in political unrest that has seen two presidents toppled since 2011. The "ultras" were at the forefront of protests against long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak, who stepped down in early 2011 after an 18-day uprising against his rule. That uprising was essentially against the police, who were regularly accused of torturing detainees and of being involved in extra-judicial executions. 90,000 people have fled IS advance in Iraq’s Anbar Agencies C Y BAGHDAD, Apr 19: The displaced people are mainly heading to Baghdad a n d t h e I S M K held city of Fallujah, said the UN.More than province, which has set off fierce fighting in and around the provincial capital Ramadi, a United Nations humanitarian agency said Sunday. The Office for the Coordination of Hu- nearby villages captured by the IS group a few days ago. It said humanitarian agencies have moved quickly to provide assistance, including food, water and shelter. “Our top prior- C M Y K 90,000 people have fled the Islamic State g r o u p ’s a d v a n c e i n Iraq’s western Anbar manitarian Affairs said in a statement that civilians are fleeing Ramadi as well as three ity is delivering lifesaving assistance to people who are fleeing — food, water and shelter are highest on the list of priorities,” said Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq. Grande expressed concern over the safety of the displaced people, who are mainly heading to Baghdad and the ISheld city of Fallujah. “Seeing people carrying what little they can and rushing for safety is heart-breaking,” she added. Iraqi officials in Anbar have described Ramadi as a ghost town, with empty streets and closed shops. Iraqi troops backed by Shiite militias and USled airstrikes managed to dislodge the IS group from the northern city of Tikrit earlier this month. But the troops have struggled against the militants in Anbar, which saw some of the heaviest fighting of the eight-year US military intervention that ended in 2011. Resume Foreign Secy-level talks: Pak to India Agencies LAHORE, Apr 19: India had cancelled talks in August last year because the Paki High Commissioner in New Delhi held consultations with Kashmiri separatists. Pakistan has called on India to resume foreign secretary-level talks to resolve all outstanding issues, saying with peace the menace of poverty, illiteracy and injustice in the region can be eradicated. C M Y K “Although the Indian Foreign Secretary visited Pakistan on March 3 this year, it was ‘a goodwill gesture’. The formal talks have yet to resume,” Prime Min- ister Nawaz Sharif’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said. Aziz made the remarks at a seminar titled ‘MuslimSikh Dosti Di Tarjman Baisakhi (Baisakhi represents Muslim-Sikh friendship)’ here at the Lahore Fort last evening. “Pakistan believes in peace in the region and desires to initiate dialogue on all issues with India. If there will be peace, we all can eradicate the menace of poverty, illiteracy and injustice in the region,” he said. He urged India to resume the process of dialogue as agreed by the two premiers — Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi — during their meeting last year. Aziz expressed wonder at the “inordinate delay” by India in resuming foreign secretary-level talks. “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after 2013 general elections had announced an economic and social development roadmap for the country through developing good relations with the neighbours, including India. Under this policy, Mr Sharif went to India and took part in the oath-taking ceremony of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Aziz said. During their meeting on May 27, 2014, both premiers agreed to resume foreign secretary-level talks. “And on August 25, subsequently India conveyed to us about sending its foreign secretary to Islamabad in this regard,” he said. When Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar visited Islamabad, he was on a goodwill visit to SAARC countries and that only SAARC-related matters were discussed by him during his visit in March, Aziz said. India had cancelled foreign secretary-level talks in August last year because the Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi held consultations with Kashmiri separatists. Iran,Afghanistan to join forces in battle against Islamic State Agencies TEHRAN, apr 19: Afghanistan and Iran today announced plans for enhanced security cooperation to combat threats from the Islamic State group, including possible joint military operations. Standing alongside visiting Afghan leader Ashraf Ghani, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said the tumult hitting the region meant intelligence must be shared. His comments came after IS, which holds swathes of Syria and Iraq, said it was responsible for a suicide bombing in Afghanistan’s eastern city of Jalalabad which killed 33 people. The attack on Saturday at a state-owned bank wheregovernment workers were drawing their salaries was the first in Afghanistan claimed by IS. More than 100 people were also wounded. Ghani’s two-day visit to Iran is his first since taking over from president Hamid Karzai in September, and he was accompanied on the trip by his foreign minister and minister for oil and mines. The Afghan leader has repeatedly raised the prospect of IS making inroads in his country, though the jihadist group has never formally acknowledged having a presence in Afghanistan. A former finance minister and World Bank technocrat, Ghani said IS presented “a serious danger and different form of terrorism”. “People die daily, we face barbarism,” he said at a joint press conference, prompting Rouhani to nod in agreement. “And without greater cooperation a macabre phenomenon such as Daesh cannot be contained,” Ghani said, using an Arabic acronym for IS. Rouhani said: “We have agreed to cooperate further in the fight against terrorism, violence and extremism in the region, especially in border regions. “We need intelligence sharing and, if necessary, cooperation in operations because the problems that exist are not restricted and gradually spread throughout the region, affecting everyone.” Trai s build d Funny Photo Finns vote, expected to oust government Agencies HELSINKI , Apr 19:- Finns voted on Sunday in an election expected to usher the opposition Centre Party into government amid voter discontent over conservative Prime Minister Alexander Stubb's failure to pull Finland out of a three-year economic slump. Public opinion polls have predicted a resounding victory for the liberalagrarian Centre Party leader Juha Sipila, a 53year-old IT millionaire and newcomer to politics. Polling stations were to close at 8:00 pm (1700 GMT), when the results of advance voting - by which more than one-third of the electorate cast their ballots - were to be released. Campaigning heavily on his business know-how, Sipila has vowed to get the economy back on track after three years of recession and stagnation, austerity and failed reforms. "Our country deserves better," Sipila wrote on his blog Saturday. "Politics must be returned to a climate of trust." Elected to parliament in 2011, Sipila became party leader in 2012 when he was still virtually unknown to most Finns. Stubb's four-party left- right coalition has been mired in internal discord, preventing it from pushing through any real policy changes. Finland was long a top performer in the eurozone, hailed by Germany and credit rating agencies for running a tight economic ship. But it has failed to adapt to a rapidly changing economic climate. The two pillars of its economy, the forestry sector and technology industry led by one-time giant Nokia, have shrunk dramatically, while two of Finland's biggest trading partners, Russia and the eurozone, are slogging through their own economic woes. Unemployment is at its highest level since 2003, at 9.2 per cent. The Centre Party, in opposition since 2011 and which has fostered 12 prime ministers, has recently been credited with around 24 per cent support. "The main point in this election is the bad economic situation in Finland, so I voted for people I believe are experts in the economy," 64-year-old Jorma Mahonen said after casting his ballot in Helsinki. Rafael Donner, 25, was pessimistic. "I don't think this election is going to change much. Society won't accept that GDP can't grow forever," he said. "I believe we in Finland have enough. I look at my friends and they all have iPhones, go on holiday to nice places, and have brunches every weekend." If a Centre victory is confirmed, Sipila's first task will be to pick his coalition partners. Tradition dictates that the largest party takes the post of prime minister and forms a government with the other largest parties to obtain a majority in parliament. Several weeks of thorny negotiations are expected before Sipila is able to present a coalition. Faced with Finland's economic woes, "the government programme will be quite difficult to create," Helsinki University political history professor Juhana Aunesluoma predicted. Three parties are fighting for second place, hovering between 14 and 17 per cent in the polls: Stubb's conservative National Coalition Party, the Social Democrats and the rightwing eurosceptic Finns Party. 'Need bold solutions' Sipila has not revealed which parties he would like to see join his future coalition. C M Y K C M Y K UN report finds Afghan women failed by justice system Agencies KABUL, Apr 19: The report reflects the experiences of 110 women and girls who were victims of violence.Afghanistan’s women are being failed by the country’s justice system as most complaints of domestic violence are dealt with through mediation rather than prosecution, according to the United Nations. A report released Sunday concluded that only 5 percent of surveyed domestic violence cases were resolved through the judicial system, resulting in criminal prosecution and punishment for perpetrators. The UN’s assistant secretary general for human rights, Ivan Simonovic, said women often choose mediation to resolve complaints of violence, partly because they lack faith in the justice system. “The interviews with women and girls subjected to violence revealed that negative perceptions of the justice system as slow, corrupt and distant continued to discourage women from pursuing criminal prosecution of the perpetrators,” Simonovic said. The UN findings also in- largely concerned with logistical and financial matters such as divorce, receiving fair alimony, custody settlements, and safe living arrangements rather than seeking criminal prosecution. As such, mediation appeared to offer a and address such matters. The report reflects the experiences of 110 women and girls who were victims of violence and whose complaints were addressed through adjudication or mediation in 18 dicate that the majority of women interviewed were suitable and culturally acceptable forum to discuss provinces between August 2014 and February 2015. to fr C M Y K
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