THURSSDAY
05 February
2015
Jammu-India
“The power to question is the basis of all
human progress.”
Pages:12 ` 4.00
- Indira Gandhi
Regd No:JK517/13-15
RNI No:- JKENG/2013/53265
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WORLD
P-8
NATIONAL
Abuja: Chad’s army killed more
than 200 militants from Boko
Haram on Tuesday in fighting in
north-eastern Nigeria, with nine
of its own forces killed, the army
and state television said. Chad has
deployed 2500 troops as part of a
regional effort to take on the militant group, which has been fighting
for five years to create an Islamist
emirate in northern Nigeria. An estimated 10,000 people died in the
region last year. Chad’s army destroyed more than a dozen vehicles
equipped with heavy weapons and
some 100 motorcycles used by the
militants in battles in the towns of
Gambaru and Ngala, the army high
command said in a statement on
Wednesday.
Lankan President
to visit India
Colombo: Sri Lanka’s President
Maithripala Sirisena will visit India
on Feb. 16, his first state visit
abroad, a government official said
on Wednesday, part of efforts to repair relations with New Delhi which
soured under the previous government. Sirisena earlier pledged to
pursue a more global foreign policy
in a break with his predecessor
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s pursuit of
close ties with China, a key supporter of Sri Lanka’s economy since
its 26-year civil war ended in 2009.
“In considering the past, we make
a clear commitment towards following a foreign policy of the middle
path, in friendship with all nations,”
Sirisena said during a speech
marking Independence Day.
Sunanda’s son to
be questioned
New Delhi: Sunanda Pushkar’s
son Shiv Menon is likely to be
questioned today in connection
with her murder, Police Commissioner B S Bassi said here.
Bassi said that Menon, who
was out of India, has reached
the national capital. “He (Menon)
was summoned. He has now
reached Delhi. He will be joining
our investigation, as per my information, sometime... Today,” Bassi
told reporters here. Bassi also
said that Menon was out of India
so he could not come earlier. A
police team probing the murder
of Sunanda has questioned at
least 15 people in connection
with the case so far.
Girl jumps into
Basantar
Jammu: A 21-year-old girl died
today after jumping into a river in
Samba district. The girl, identified
as Shallu, jumped from a bridge
into Basantar river in Samba, a
senior police officer said. As people saw her jumping, they raised
an alarm, he said, adding that
police flying squad reached the
spot and later recovered the girl’s
body. Police has registered a
case and started investigation in
the matter, he said, adding that
the reason behind such a step is
not yet known.
Weather Report
P-7
AGENCIES, FEB 04|15
New Delhi: Home secretary
Anil Goswami was sacked on
Wednesday for trying to stall
former Congress minister Matang Sinh’s arrest in the multicrore Saradha deposits scam.
“Goswami has been given
marching orders by the government and his replacement
will be announced soon,” said
a senior home ministry official
requesting anonymity.
Goswami resigned after receiving the marching order, according to reports. The top bureaucrat was sacked on charges
that he called the CBI and tried
to stop Sinh’s arrest. Sinh, who
was minister of state in Narasimha Rao’s government in
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the 1990s, was arrested by the
Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) in Kolkata on Saturday on
charges of criminal conspiracy,
cheating and misappropriation
of funds. He allegedly took Rs
28 crore for selling a television
channel that never went on air
to Saradha Group chairman
Phuktal river blockage
NDMA experts to reach
Ladakh on February 8
EARTH NEWS SERVICE
Jammu, Feb 04|15: Con-
sequent to the intervention by
Governor, N.N. Vohra, urging
the NDMA to constitute a MultiDisciplinary Expert Group to
evolve an Action Plan for dealing with the situation arising
out of the landslides and consequential blockage of the river
Phuktal in Zanaskar Sub Division of district Kargil, an Expert
Committee has been constituted
by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)
which will reach Leh on Feb 8
and from there proceed to the
blockage site. This was decided
in a meeting held in NDMA on
Feb 3.
The Expert Committee comprises V.D. Roy, Director CWC
as team leader; O.P. Gupta, Director CWC, B.D. Patni, Director
NHPC; B.M. Gairola, Director,
GSI; Maheshwar Singh, Officer
Surveyor, SOI; R.K. Varma, Scientist-F, SASE; R.K. Dhiman, SE
HQ, Vijayak; Major Abhishek
Kumar, 70 Engineering Regt;
Rajesh Kumar Basotra, SDM
Zanskar and a Medical officer to
be nominated by the State Government. Deputy Commisioner
Kargil shall be the Nodal Officer for conducting and liasioning with the Committee which
would work out the modalities
of mitigating the situation arising out of the blockage after
physically visiting the site.
The
District
Administration of Leh and Kargil have already taken various preventive
measures including stopping
all movement of people on the
Chadder
STATE
P-5
Lack of coordination,
fund deficit
‘hit’ drainage works
www.earthnews.in
P-3
e-mail: [email protected]
SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY
Nadda,
Jitendra
release API
textbook of
Medicine
P-11
SPORTS
P-12
Barcelona
president suggests Real
Madrid behind
Neymar
court case
Gravitational waves
from early
universe
remain
elusive
Fear grips
Zanskar as
artificial
lake swells
EARTH NEWS SERVICE
Kargil, Feb 04|15:
People living in the Zanskar
region of Jammu and Kashmir
are worried over the sudden
formation of an artificial lake
on Phuktal river. The lake was
born after a massive landslide
in the mountains in Kargil
district. The landslide blocked
the river’s flow creating the
lake. According to reports, the
lake has blocked the path to
Zanskar valley. What the locals
fear is that as winter ends, the
snow on the mountains will
start melting, leading to
Contd on Page 2
trek between Chilling and Padum in the Ladakh region, and
also cautioning people residing
in the adjoining areas. A Raj
Bhavan Spokesperson recalled
that following the directions of
the Governor, N.N. Vohra, the
Divisional Commissioner Kashmir has made arrangements for
airlifting of persons who have
been stranded due to the stoppage of movement of people on
the Chadar route. The District
Adminstrations of both the districts are also working on detailed communication, rehabilitation and rescue plans.
Sudipta Sen.
“Goswami had an-hour long
meeting with the home minister in his office at North Block.
During the meeting, Goswami
accepted talking to a CBI officer
on the phone on the issue of the
arrest of former Union minister Matang Sinh in the Saradha
scam,” said a home ministry official on condition of annoymity.
“After that, Rajnath Singh told
him that he cannot continue as
home secretary.” Goswami was
not immediately available for
comment.
The Goswami controversy
came in the midst of a major
shake-up in the top echelons
of government. Last week, the
government removed foreign
Rangers target
BoPs in Samba
EARTH NEWS SERVICE
Jammu, Feb 04|15: Pakistan
Rangers on Wednesday violated
the ceasefire by resorting to firing by small arms on two Border
Out Posts (BoPs) along the International Border in Samba sector
of Jammu district.
“Pakistani Rangers resorted
to brief firing by small arms on
Border Out Posts (BoPs) of Khora and Nawa Pind in Samba sector this afternoon,” a BSF officer
said. There was no loss of life or
injury to anyone in the firing, he
said. As per reports from intelligence agencies, the firing was
aimed at stopping the BSF personnel working with a JCB in
front of the post.
Contd on Page 2
secretary Sujatha Singh and appointed S Jaishankar as her successor. Also, the government cut
short the tenure of DRDO chief
Avinash Chander last month - 16
months before his contract was
to end - as it wanted someone
younger for the sensitive post.
The Trinamool Congress has
been hit hard by the probe into
the Saradha scam that was
caused in 2013 by the collapse of
the investment operation of the
Saradha Group, a consortium of
over 200 private companies that
ran many unlicensed financial
schemes in eastern India. According to official estimates,
thousands of small investors
lost close to Rs 2,500 crore,
Contd on Page 2
vehicular traffic
EARTH NEWS SERVICE
Jammu, Feb 04|15: The 300km long Jammu Srinagar National Highway was reopened
for vehicular traffic today after
two days of closure due to heavy
snowfall at Jawahar tunnelPatnitop section of the highway.
Over 1,000 stranded vehicles
have been cleared off the highway and allowed to move to
Jammu from Srinagar side.
“The highway was reopened
for vehicular traffic today after
remaining closed for two days
due to heavy snowfall,” an official of the Police Control Room
(PCR) said.
The men and machines of the
Border Roads Organisation
(BRO) worked round the clock
and cleared the highway of
heavy snowfall at Jawahar tunnel, Batote and Patnitop belts of
the highway and made it trafficable.
The traffic authorities have,
however, allowed only one-way
traffic on the highway from
Srinagar to Jammu to clear the
stranded vehicles and other
passenger vehicles. Stranded
vehicles at Qazigund on Kashmir side were allowed to move
towards Jammu today and over
1,000 stranded vehicles
Contd on Page 2
Govt forms committees for
‘Make in India’ programme
EARTH NEWS SERVICE
Jammu, Feb 04|15: The Government has accorded sanction
to the constitution of Apex Committee and Monitoring Committee for the implementation of
the ‘Make in India Programme’
and Ease of doing Business in
the State.
Chief Secretary, J&K will be
the Chairman of the Apex Committee while as, Administrative Secretaries of Industries &
Commerce, Planning & Development, Power Development Department; Chairman, Pollution
Control Board J&K; Administrative Secretaries of Informa-
tion Technology, Revenue, Labour & Employment, Housing
& Urban Development, Law,
Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Department; Excise Commissioner, J&K, Commissioner
Commercial Taxes, J&K, President, Chamber of Commerce &
Industries
Jammu/Kashmir,
President Federation of Indus-
tries, Jammu and President,
Federation Chamber of Industries, Kashmir will be its members.
Secretary, Industries & Commerce Department will be the
Member Secretary of the Committee. Besides Director Industries and Commerce Jammu/
Kashmir will be the Special Invitees.
The Apex Committee will address issues identified by the
Department of Industrial, Policy
and Promotion (DIPP), GoI, for
action by the State Governments for ensuring ‘Ease of
Contd on Page 2
Transfer of Defence land extension of Airport
Guv seeks Defence Minister’s intervention
EARTH NEWS SERVICE
Jammu, Feb 04|15: The
Governor N .N. Vohra, has addressed the Union Defence
Minister to seek his urgent intervention to ensure against
there being any further delay
in handing over of the remaining Defence land at Satwari to
the State Government/Airport
Authority of India (AAI) for the
extension of Jammu Airport.
A Raj Bhavan Spokesperson
recalled that the Army is required to hand over 136 kanals
08 marlas of Defence land at
Satwari to the State Government for its eventual transfer to
the Airports Authority of India
to facilitate the now very long
pending extension of the existing runway at Jammu Airport,
from 6700 feet to 8000 feet towards the river Tawi end.
The State Government has already handed over 138 kanals 12
marlas of forest land at Sunjwan
Contd on Page 2
Facebook pages like “Frontline Kashmir” and “Aalaw” are being managed from POK
Foreign interference in J&K: A challenge for new govt
Jammu, Feb 04|15: Recent
66%
Volume: 2 Issue: 162
Union Home Secretary sacked Jammu-Srinagar
NH reopens for
over Matang arrest row
KSHITIJ SHARMA
4 °C
KASHMIR
Delhi result
not a referendum on
Modi govt’s
performance:
Naidu
Report on
Sydney
cafe siege
gunman due
in February
Gleanings
200 Boko Haram
militants killed
Rabi Al Thani: 15 1436 AH
statements by the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
indicate that both have agreed
upon the shape their coalition
which is likely to be announced
soon, will take. It is for the better, since, it is only this combination that can provide a stable
government to the state while
meeting the aspirations of different regions.
A major challenge for the new
government would be foreign
forces attempting to interfere
in the affairs of the state. The
interference is not restricted to
the incessant cross-border firing that has been witnessed for
many months now; it envelopes,
within itself, security, societal
and economic issues that have
far reaching consequences.
While addressing the issues
involved, one thing is undeniable - The centre of gravity
lies with the people. The term
“people”, however, does not
constitute only inhabitants of
the area; it also refers to pressure groups of foreign origin
that have vested interests in
the region. Yet another malevolent religious agenda of foreign
elements is aimed at breaking
down the culture of Sufism and
replacing it with “Wahhabi Islam.”
Wahhabism is an austere and
puritanical interpretation of Is-
lam promoted by Saudi Arabia.
A well planned effort in this direction is making deep inroads
into Kashmiri Muslim society.
The face for this effort are foreign-sponsored organizations
like the Jamait Ahle Hadith,
which call themselves welfare
organizations, but run their
religious conversion agendas
through hundreds of mosques
spread across the Kashmir Valley.
Foreign interference in Kashmir has been taken a step further with the establishment
of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).
Kashmir
remains a special focus of this
group and attempts are being
made to exploit polarized politi-
cal sentiment.
Al-Qaeda, with ample support
from Pakistan’s Inter Services
Intelligence (ISI) sponsored
and Wahhabi-motivated terror
groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba
(LeT), which is operating in the
Kashmir Valley, is putting its
considerable experience in the
proliferation of terror to good
use over there.
There are reports that al-Qaeda has already released videos
calling upon Kashmir Muslims
to follow their “brothers” in
Syria and Iraq. Experts opine
that this movement will gain
momentum as the U.S. leaves
Afghanistan.
There is also the security
threat from the Afghan Taliban
and more so the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to contend
with. Mercenary fighters of
these organisations will turn
their guns against India and engage its forces in volatile Jammu and Kashmir following the
withdrawal of US and NATO
troops from Afghanistan.
Terrorist organisations like
LeT and JeM will take care of
the induction process, including infiltration and logistic support in Kashmir. No presence of
the Islamic State (IS) has been
registered in Jammu and Kashmir. However, in a recent development, masked men, waving
IS and al-Qaeda flags and banners, appeared on the streets
of Kashmir to protest against
Israel. This put security forces
on alert.
It would be inappropriate to
brush aside this obvious attempt at further radicalising
the Kashmir Valley. Sadly,
there are some in Kashmir who
actually support such monstrous activity. It is not the
physical threat posed by the IS
that one needs to fear, it is the
element of inhumanity creeping into the people of Kashmir
that is of concern.
The Islamic State appears
dead serious about registering
its presence in the South Asian
region. Its efforts are towards
rejuvenating the mythical land
of “Khorasan” which would
Contd on Page 2