3 Days’ Forecast

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Vol No: XXIV Issue No. 36 09.02.2019 (Saturday) Daily Jammu Tawi Price 2/- Pages-12 Regd. No. JK|306|2017-19

Date Min Temp Max Temp WeatherFeb 08 9.0 18.0 Generally cloudy sky Feb 09 6.0 21.0 Mainly Clear sky Feb 10 6.0 22.0 Partly cloudy sky

SrinagarFeb 08 -1.0 4.0 Rain or Snow Feb 09 -2.0 2.0 Rain or SnowFeb 10 -1.0 2.0 Rain or Snow northlinestheJammu

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NL CORRESPONDENT

JAMMU TAWI, FEB 08

Jammu and KashmirGovernment has approvedcreation of a separateAdministrative/ RevenueDivision for Ladakh. This

division will comprise Lehand Kargil Districts withits headquarters at Leh.

The Government hasalso approved creation ofthe posts of DivisionalCommissioner (Ladakh),Leh and Inspector General

of Police (Ladakh), Leh.Further, a committee has

been constituted under thechairmanship of PrincipalSecretary to Government,Planning, Developmentand MonitoringDepartment to identify theposts of divisional levelheads of various

departments that may berequired for the newDivision; particularly theirstaffing pattern, role andresponsibilities andproposed location of theseoffices.

The issue was discussedat various fora and therehas been P02

Ladakh becomes separateDivision of Jammu KashmirJ&K State now has 3 Divisions Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh

NL CORRESPONDENT

DEHRADUN, FEB 08

At least 34 persons diedwhile eight others havebeen battling for life athospitals after allegedlyconsuming spurious liquorat a village in Haridwardistrict, prompting theadministration to order amagisterial probe into theincident and suspend 17

excise and policedepartment personnel.

The victims hadconsumed the liquorThursday evening at the`tehravin' - the 13th day ofmourning - to mark adeath, officials said.

Sixteen of the victimsdied in Uttarakhand'sBalupur village itself.

Eighteen more deathstook place in UttarPradesh's Saharanpurdistrict, which adjoinsUttarakhand, as thepeople who had attendedthe mourning ritualreturned home.

Some of them hadcarried the liquor home,an official said. P02

34 die after consuming spuriousliquor in Haridwar village

NL CORRESPONDENT

SRINAGAR, FEB 08

The state governmenttoday orders reshuffle inthe top level ofadministration.

The government as peran order under No. 196-GAD of 2019, Dated: 08-02-2019, said that in theinterest of administrationfollowing transfers havebeen made.

Arun Kumar Mehta, IAS(JK:1988), presently onleave, is posted asPrincipal Secretary to theGovernment, FinanceDepartment.

Raj Kumar Goyal, IAS

(JK:1990), PrincipalSecretary to theGovernment, HomeDepartment, istransferred-and posted asPrincipal Secretary to theGovernment, TechnicalEducation Department,relieving Secretary to theGovernment, SchoolEducation Department ofthe additional charge ofthe post. Raj KumarGoyal, IAS will also holdthe additional charge ofPrincipal Secretary to theGovernment, Floriculture,Parks & Gardens andInformation Departments,relievingCommissioner/Secretary

to the Government,Tourism and LadakhAffairs Departments andAdministrative Secretary,Youth Services & SportsDepartment of theadditional charge of theirposts respectively.

Shaleen Kabra, IAS(JK:1992), PrincipalSecretary to theGovernment, Industriesand CommerceDepartment, istransferred and posted asPrincipal Secretary to theGovernment, Home.

Navin KumarChoudhary, IAS (JK:1994),Principal Secretary to theGovernment, P02

Shaleen Kabra new Principal Secy Home,Mehta to head Finance Department

NL CORRESPONDENT

SRINAGAR, FEB 08

At least seven dead bodieswere recovered from thedebris of an avalanche inthe rescue operation atJawahar Tunnel that wasstarted after an avalanchehit the tunnel on Thursdayevening.

Deputy Commissioner(DC) Anantnag,Muhammad Younis Malliktold that seven dead bodieswere recovered whilethree persons wererescued alive in the rescueoperation since lastevening at JawaharTunnel.

He said that the identityof the deceased persons isbeing ascertained, adding

that the rescue operationis still going on at thetunnel to trace anotherlocal Parvez Ahmad whoalso got trapped in theavalanche.

DC further stated that

bodies of two prisonershailing from Punjab wereamong the seven bodiesrecovered from the debris.

DC Anantnag furthersaid that Army,paramilitary, police, SDRF

and locals have supportedthe administration inmaking this operationsuccessful by coordinatingwith officials at theincident site.

Pertinently, P02

Tunnel Snow storm: 7Bodies recovered, 3 rescued

'Identification of deceased being ascertained'

NL CORRESPONDENT

JAMMU TAWI, FEB 08

The state administrationtoday facilitated 179students who were flownto Jammu through aspecial aircraft providedby Air Force authorities forappearing in GATE.

The Union Civil AviationMinistry was alsorequested seeking theirhelp in taking strandedpilgrims back to Srinagarwho had missed theirflights because of non-

operation of flights tovalley.

Similarly, hundreds ofKashmiri pilgrims afterperforming Umrah atSaudi Arabia reached NewDelhi but could not travelfurther because ofcancellation of flights toSrinagar.

On the request made bythe state government, 180passengers have beenflown back in Air IndiaFlight 2827 landed atSrinagar Airport later inthe day and the remaining

passengers are scheduledto fly back to Srinagar onSaturday. All necessaryarrangements includingtheir stay in New Delhi hasalso been made by AirIndia.

The team of ResidentCommissioner New Delhiis in constant touch withthese people ensuring allpossible help to them.

Since the matter cameinto the notice of thegovernment, Advisor's toGovernor and ChiefSecretary are continuously

monitoring the steps takenin this regard and arebeing regularly informedof the progress in thisregard.

They said thateverything would be doneto provide every kind ofsupport to the people ofthe state stuck at Srinagarand in New Delhi becauseof the inclement weather.

Several people includingstudent from Srinagar whohad to appear for thesecond phase of theGraduate P02

179 Kashmiri students flownto Jammu for GATE Exams;

180 stranded Umrah pilgrim flown to Srinagar

NL CORRESPONDENT

JAMMU TAWI, FEB 08

Observing that mediationcan hugely reduce thestress of litigation anddelay in judicial deliverysystem, Chief Justice,Jammu and Kashmir HighCourt, Justice Gita Mittal,on Friday exhorted legalpractitioners to worktowards making mediationas a movement in thestate.

Inaugurating 3-dayRefresher Workshop onMediation for Lawyers

organized by theMediation and ConciliationCommittee of the HighCourt in collaboration withJammu and KashmirGovernment here today,

the Chief Justice soughtsynergized efforts by thejudicial officers andlawyers towardsinstitutionalization of themechanism P02

Mediation leads to speedydisposal of cases: CJ

NL CORRESPONDENT

SRINAGAR, FEB 08

Former Jammu andKashmir Chief MinisterMehbooba Mufti welcomedthe decision of Governorto give Ladakh the statusof a separate division butfail to understand the realintention behind it.

"The decision of giving aseparate division statusshould have beencollectively taken forChenab valley and PirPanchal regions too alongwith Ladakh if it wasmeant for the greater goodof people,'' said Mehbooba.

She said Ladakh is a far-

flung area and already hada hill development councilat a place in Leh andKargil and now making it aseparate division is a bigdeal and shewholeheartedly welcomesit.

"The Pir Panjal andChenab valley areas arealso backward andunderdeveloped with ahuge population so boththese areas should also begiven the status of aseparate division," saidMehbooba.

She called the decisionas a BJP driven agendaand said, "I feel theGovernor is following the

agenda of BJP as theywere always against theidea of giving the separatedivision to Chenab valleyand Pir Panchal areas."

National ConferenceVice President, OmarAbdullah on Friday saidthat his party will grantdivision status to PirPanjal and Chenab valley ifNational conferencecomes to power.

The National conferenceleader said that shouldpeople of Jammu andKashmir repose faith inNC, his government willgrant division status toChenab valley

"After P02

Mehbooba, Omar welcome status of Division toLadakh, Demand the same for Hill Districts of Jammu

NL CORRESPONDENT

SRINAGAR, FEB 08

The National Conferencepresident Farooq Abdullahon Friday said only timebound, result-orienteddialogue between Indiaand Pakistan offers theway forward to theprotracted Kashmir issue.

The statement issuedby the party reads: Farooqwhile welcoming newentrants into the party

said, "I am sure that thenew government at NewDelhi will open talks withPakistan. There is nosubstitute to dialogue.Dialogue is imperative toend the loominguncertainty in Jammu &Kashmir."

He further said: "Theneed of the hour is tomake party stronger atgrassroots in order to putup a strong front againstthose forces as areinimical to the state'sspecial position. I amconvinced that the newentrants into our partyfold will employ theirpolitical P02

SRINAGAR, FEB 8, CNS

The report submitted bythe police before the StateHuman RightsCommission regarding theabduction and murder of acivilian of Kulgam districtstating that SheerazAhmed Bhat wasabducted, tortured andfired upon by militantsresulting in his death.

The police in its reportalso revealed that Jaish e-Muhammad militants withthe help of some OGWshad abducted Sheerazwhose body was laterfound on December 11,2018, at Ahwatoo, Kulgam.

"His body was visible

torture marks and bulletwounds," the police reportthat has come in responseto the petition filed bychairman internationalforum for Justice andHuman RightsMuhammad Ahsan Untooin caseSHRC/339/KLGM/2018dated 19/11/2018.

Earlier, the (SHRC) hadcalled a report fromDeputy CommissionerKulgam and SeniorSuperintendent of Police(SSP) Kulgam with regardto the abduction of civilianSheeraz Ahmed Bhat byunknown persons onOctober 27 2018.

Sheeraz P02

Abducted Kulgam man was killedby militants: Police to SHRC

NL CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, FEB 08

In a strong oralobservation, the SupremeCourt Friday said BSPchief Mayawati shoulddeposit public money usedfor erecting statues ofherself and elephants, theparty’s symbol, at publicplaces in Uttar Pradesh tothe state exchequer. Theremarks were made by theapex court which washearing a petition filed in2009 by an advocate whohad alleged that about Rs

2,000 crore was used fromthe state budget for 2008-09 and 2009-10, whenMayawati was the ChiefMinister of Uttar Pradesh,for stalling her statues andBSP’s symbol at differentplaces.

It was contended thatpublic money cannot beutilised for creating ownstatues and forpropagating the politicalparty.

On May 29, 2009 thecourt had issued showcause notice to the UttarPradesh government and

Mayawati for using thepublic money for installingher statues and party’ssymbol at parks inLucknow and Noida,adjacent to the nationalcapital.

When the matter cameup for hearing on Friday, abench headed by ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi said:“Ms Mayawati, pay all themoney back. We are of theview that Mayawati shouldreimburse all the moneyshe spent.”

The bench, alsocomprising justices

Deepak Gupta and SanjeevKhanna said: “We are ofthe tentative view thatMayawati has to depositthe public money spent onher statues and partysymbol to the stateexchequer.”

The bench made it clearthat a tentative view wasexpressed by it as thematter would take sometime for hearing. “We willhave it for final disposal onApril 2.” Senior advocate SC Mishra, appearing forMayawati and the BSP,requested the bench to

hear the matter in May.However, the bench toldMishra, who is also theparty’s Rajya Sabha MP,that it was fixing a date ofApril 2 as it will requiredetail consideration.

During the pendency ofthe PIL, the apex court onFebruary 22, 2010, hadasked the ElectionCommission to examinethe plea for removal ofinstallation of thesesymbols from publicplaces during the 2012assembly polls.

EC on January P02

Mayawati should pay money used for erectingher statues, party symbol elephant: SC

Farooq seeks result-oriented Indo-Pak dialogue

JAMMU TAWI, FEB 08

Saugat Biswas, the 2006-batch IASofficer, was posted as the first divisionalcommissioner of the Ladakh division,which was created by the Jammu andKashmir administration on Friday.

Consequent upon the creation of a separateadministrative and revenue division for Ladakhcomprising Leh and Kargil districts, Saugat Biswas,holding charge of secretary P02

Saugat Biswas is First DivisionalCommissioner of Ladakh Division

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Ladakh becomes separateDivision of Jammu Kashmir

a persistent demand for the creation of Division forLadakh from many organizations including the LadakhAutonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDC) Lehand Kargil.Ladakh is one of the most sparsely populated regions inJammu and Kashmir and is the highest plateau in theState of Jammu & Kashmir, with most of it being over9,800 feet above sea level. Ladakh region isgeographically isolated with a sparse population andinhospitable terrain which remains landlocked fornearly six months in a year. Consequently, the Region isriddled with insurmountable problems with respect todelivery of developmental schemes, redressal of publicgrievances, conduct of administrative affairs andgovernance as such.The people of Ladakh have, for a long time, beendemanding effective local institutional arrangementswhich can help promote and accelerate the pace ofdevelopment and equitable all-round growth anddevelopment having regard to its peculiar geo-climaticand topographic conditions, stimulate and seek fullestparticipation of the local community in the decision-making process. At present the powers of localgovernance have already been decentralized byformation of Hill Development Councils for the Leh andKargil Districts. This was given effect to by enacting theJammu and Kashmir Ladakh Autonomous HillDevelopment Council Act, 1997. Under the said Act, theHill Development Councils were established both forLeh and Kargil Districts. In order to strengthen therespective Hill Development Councils Leh and Kargil,the LAHDC Act, 1997 has been amended further in 2018to give them more powers.During winter months the entire Ladakh region,comprising both Leh and Kargil, remain cut-off from restof the country for almost six months and air travel viaLeh is the only mode of transport available to thisregion, which makes it impossible for people to visitother parts of the country for various purposes. Theremoteness and inaccessibility of the area makes thearea eligible for establishing a separate Division for thesaid region.Currently, the Ladakh region forms a part of theKashmir Division of Jammu and Kashmir. There havebeen persistent demands from the region for creation ofa separate Division claiming that the tough/distincttopographic conditions and unique cultural status, theLadakh region deserves a special treatment particularlydue to the distance from the capital.Taking all these into consideration, the Government hasdecided to create a separate Administrative/RevenueDivision for Ladakh. A Divisional Commissioner andInspector General of Police for Ladakh Division will beappointed shortly. The Committee under PrincipalSecretary (Planning) will finalize all other details onposts, staffing, roles, responsibilities and location ofoffices.This decision of the Government goes a long way infulfilling the governance and development aspirations ofthe people of Ladakh region.

Saugat Biswas is First DivisionalCommissioner of Ladakh Division

Information Technology, is transferred and posted asDivisional Commissioner of Ladakh, GeneralAdministrative Department secretary-commissionerHilal Ahmed said in an order Friday night.The officer shall remain headquartered at Leh for three

weeks and in the state capital for one week in a month,the order said.In a major decision, the Jammu and Kashmiradministration Friday created a separate division forLadakh, which was part of the Kashmir division untilnow.

Ladakh will now have a separate divisionalcommissioner and an inspector general of police (IG)with a full administrative and revenue division at parwith Kashmir and Jammu divisions.

Farooq seeks result-oriented Indo-Pak dialogue

acumen to make the party stronger at the grassroots."Maintaining that the cobbling of coalitions has alwaysproven detrimental to the interests of people, Farooqstated, "In order to meet the demands and protect theinterests of the state and its people, only a majoritariangovernment can provide the necessary impetus.Therefore a stable and strong dispensation is ofparamount importance to steer J&K out of the messcreated in the past four years."Expressing concern on a steep increase in the airfare ofairlines operating to and out of Kashmir, he said, "It isreflective of the attitude of the government of India.Given the fact the landing charges and the fuel chargesare stable, I see no reason behind the steep increase inairfare."

Tunnel Snow storm: 7Bodies recovered, 3 rescuedreports said ten persons comprising six policemen, twofire service personnel and two prisoners were buriedalive after a snow avalanche struck a police post nearJawahar Tunnel.A rescue operation was immediately launched to rescuethe trapped persons. (KNS)

179 Kashmiri students flownto Jammu for GATE Exams;

Aptitude Test Exam (GATE) in Jammu missed theirflights and were not able to travel via road as theNational Highway was also blocked due to heavysnowfall.The current spell of snow, rain and inclement weather inthe state has also disrupted road as well as air servicesresulting in people getting stranded at various locations.

Shaleen Kabra new Principal Secy Home,Mehta to head Finance Department

Finance Department, is transferred and posted asPrincipal Secretary to the Government, Industries andCommerce Department. He will, however, continue tohold the charge of Principal Secretary to theGovernment, Finance Department, during the periodArun Kumar Mehta, IAS, remains on leave. (K

Mehbooba, Omar welcome status of Division toLadakh, Demand the same for Hill Districts of Jammu

elections should the people of J&K repose faith in@JKNC_ our government will grant division status toChenab valley & Pir Panchal regions as already laid outin our regional autonomy promise," Omar Tweeted.

Mayawati should pay money used for erectingher statues, party symbol elephant: SC

7, 2012 had ordered that statues of Mayawati andelephants be covered during the state Assemblyelection.The poll panel had said the measure was taken with theidea that no one should get political mileage.When the the apex court in 2009 had decided toentertain the PIL, it had noted in its order the grievanceof the petitioner that "hundreds of crores of publicmoney" is being spent by the Uttar Pradesh governmentfor "personal glorification" by erecting statuesparticularly of leaders who were in power.It had also noted the petitioner's claim that the cost oninstallation of 60 elephant statues was Rs 52.20 crorewhich was not only wastage of public money but alsocontrary to the circulars issued by the ElectionCommission.It was alleged that the Uttar Pradesh Department ofCulture has almost spent 90 per cent of its budget forerecting these statues.The PIL had alleged that the activity was being carriedout as a state policy, which is arbitrary and violativeArticle 14 of the Constitution.The apex court had also noted the submission that "thehuge public funds which are otherwise meant forimproving the conditions of millions of people livingbelow the poverty line cannot be legitimately divertedfor erecting statues and parks".

Mediation leads to speedydisposal of cases: CJ

of mediation for the larger benefit and satisfaction of thelitigant public.Resolution by Mediation facilitates the parties to decidethe outcome of the decision themselves and come outwith a more satisfying resolution of disputes, she added.Chief Justice, while recognizing and appreciating thevalue of Mediation in today's world of chaos andconfusion, exhorted upon all the stakeholders tocontribute their part in this regard. Judges and lawyersshould make earnest efforts to engage the parties totake the path of mediation in addressing their disputes,

adding that this can also help in reducing the pendencyof chronic cases.Appreciating the efforts of Mediation and ConciliationCommittee in holding such educative workshops andrefresher courses, the Chief Justice said that thisworkshop will definitely do wonders towards adding tothe knowledge of the Mediation Lawyers besidesenhancing their excellence and expertise in the field.Justice Tashi Rabstan, Chairman Mediation andConciliation Committee, J&K HC, in his welcomeaddress, said that an amicable resolution of disputes isthe civilization and essence of ancient India and thismust be carried forward with great vigour and devotion.Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, Justice Sanjay KumarGupta, Justice Sindhu Sharma, Sanjay Dhar, RegistrarGeneral, VC Koul PDJ Jammu, Jawad Ahmad, PrincipalSecretary to Chief Justice, J&K High Court, RK Wattal,Registrar Vigilance, Mohammad Akram ChoudharyMember Secretary J&K State Legal Services Authority,Ms Bala Jyoti Registrar Rules (Coordinator, Mediationand Conciliation Committee) Jammu Province, RajeevGupta, Director J&K Judicial Academy, Sonia Gupta,Registrar Judicial, Judicial officers, President JK BarAssociation Jammu, B S Salathia, Senior advocates,were also present on the occasion. Prominent ResourcePersons from Delhi including A.S Chandhiok, J.P. Singh,Sudhanshu Batra, Sadhana Ramachandran, Veena Ralli,Amita Sehgal and Anuj Aggarwal were also presentduring the sessions.

34 die after consuming spuriousliquor in Haridwar village

In an unrelated incident in eastern UP's Kushinagardistrict, eight other people have died over the last threedays, allegedly after drinking spurious liquor.

Abducted Kulgam man was killedby militants: Police to SHRC

was abducted by masked men leaving his familyincluding his wife and three children in total despair.The petitioner had pleaded before the commission thatan inquiry must be conducted to know the whereaboutsof Sheeraz.The petitioner had stated that on October 27, Sheerazhad arranged a vehicle of a cousin to drop his sister-in-law and mother-in-law to their home. Sheeraz's cousinwas in the driving seat and others were getting into thecar when a Santro car came and stopped right besidethem. According to his sister-in-law, the petitioner saidthat some masked gunmen disembarked from theSantro car and forced Sheeraz into the car and droveaway.The petition stated that the family of Sheeraz hadalready been rendered homeless after their house wasdamaged to rubble in an encounter on October 21, whenthree Jaish militants were killed and then sevencivilians died in a mysterious blast in the rubble of thehouse.Reacting to the police report, the petitioner said thathow can police claim that Sheeraz was killed bymilitants."Has police or militant bullets names written on them.The case needs to be probed by the SHRC's investigationwing ànd meanwhile ex-gratia be provided to the familymembers of slain Sheeraz," he demanded. (CNS)

2 CITY the northlinesJammu | Saturday | Feb 09 | 2019

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JAMMU | Saturday, February 9, 2019 3

NL CORRESPONDENT

Jammu, Feb 08: Advi-sor to Governor, K Vijay Kumar today inaugurated 38th Annual Conference of North Zone Orthopae-dics Association (NZOA) at auditorium of GMC Jammu.

The event is being orga-nized by the Post Graduate

department of Orthopedics GMC Jammu in collabora-tion with JKIOA from Feb-ruary 8-10, 2019.

Principal GMC Jammu Dr Sunanda Raina, Sec-retary NZOA Dr Harpal Singh, HoD Orthopedics GMC Jammu Dr Anil Gupta, foreign delegates, faculty members and stu-dents were present on the

occasion.The theme of this annual

conference cum workshop is ‘Solutions to Controver-sies’ is which will provide valuable insight into some pressing issues in Ortho-pedics.

During this conference cum workshop, eminent faculty across the country and abroad would be deliv-

ering deliberations focus-ing on the theme. Foreign delegates from Israel, UK, Thailand and Indian del-egates from various parts of the country are partici-pating in the conference who will be sharing their expertise in the field of Orthopedics.

Addressing the medical fraternity, the Advisor said

that sharing of knowl-edge is very important in today’s world and hopefully this confer-ence would provide a platform to the par-ticipants to discuss the future developments, new practices in this field.

The Advisor thanked the delegates espe-cially who have come from other countries for participating and exchanging their ideas

with other faculty mem-bers. He also held brief interaction with these del-egates and discussed the advancement being made in the field of Orthopedics in the world.

Later, he also interacted with the medical students pursuing their studies in GMC Jammu in different departments.

38th Annual Conference of NZOA inaugurated

NL CORRESPONDENT

Majalta, Feb 08: Urging upon the people to gear up for ensuing elections to Parliament and State Assembly, Harsh Dev Singh JKNPP Chairman and Former Minister said that time had come to teach a lesson to those who betrayed the voters by false narrative and deceptive slogans. He said that while the slogans of “corruption free dispen-sation” and “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” remained a distant mirage, the bold assertions of ‘Achhe Din’ too continued to remain

mired in ambiguity. He was addressing a public meeting in villages Tha-lora and Chani-Mansar of Ramnagar constituency today. With unemployment having assumed alarm-ing proportions, the edu-cated unemployed youth was the major causality of the central as well as BJP-PDP coalition rule. While announcements for creation of two crore Jobs every year were made by central BJP leaders, the delivery on the ground was in inverse proportion to the articulation of the promise itself. Not only the country faced large

scale retrenchments after demonetization particu-larly in private sector but the govts failed to create and to fill up even the existing vacancies in the govt sector, he lamented. And contrarily, he said, the BJP-PDP govt issued the most obnoxious SRO-202 thereby causing immense embitterment amongst the educated youth. Decrying the BJP for ignoring the issue of delimitation of Assemblies during its 3½ years rule, Singh deplored the neglect of every single issue of Jammu region which it had incorporated in its Election manifesto. Harsh Dev Singh said that while development took a back seat in the state during the previous regime, the culture of cor-ruption grew by leaps and bounds and has become all pervasive. He said that NPP had proved its mettle in both govt as well as opposition and it alone could steer the state out of crisis.

Time to overthrow old and decayed political parties: Harsh

NL CORRESPONDENT

Jammu, Feb 08: J&K Bank today entered into a MoU with the SC, ST, BC Development Corpo-ration atJammu confer-ring mutually the “Most Favored Client” status to the corporation for its

exclusive dealings and the corporation reciprocating “Preferred Banker” status to J&K Bank.

“As part of the MOU the Bank shall create the requisite infrastructure for digitizing the opera-tions and functioning of the offices of the Corpo-

ration and will extend the support and counseling to the personnel of JKSCST-BC Development Corpora-tion by organizing digital/financial Literacy Camps and inform them about the latest banking prod-ucts.” he added. The Vice president and his team also assured to give wide publicity to the schemes/ programmes of the Cor-poration to the general public.”

The MoU was signed by Bank’s Vice President Government Business Shujat Andrabi and Man-aging Director, SC,ST,BC Development Corporation Ravinder Kumar Bhat in presence of staff of the corporation and senior officials of the bank.

SCSTBC Dev signs MoU with JK Bank

NL CORRESPONDENT

Jammu, Feb 08: Sunil Dimple President Jammu West Assembly Movement led a strong protest rally at Sarwal, Rehari against ERA, JMC, PWD R&B, PHE for substandard work done by these agencies. Sunil Dimple addressing the protesters alleged that the

Jammu west constituency is the most backward and under developed constitu-ency of the state. He said that no development took place in the west assembly constituency during the failed unholy BJP alliance with the PDP.

He said the over flowing sewerage water from the damaged sewerage holes,

heaps of Garbage dumps, dilapidated drains, dam-aged roads, welcomes the people whosoever visit the west constituency locali-ties.

Dimple demanded Gov-ernor to stop the CDF fund of the west assembly con-stituency MLA and Jammu city MLAs. He demanded the resignation from the JMC Mayor Chander Mohan Gupta and the BJP corpora-tors of the west assembly constituency. He alleged that the Sewerage water, mixed with the drinking water is being supplied for drinking to the people of the constituency. Dimple said the sewerage proj-ect is a total failure proj-ect and also demands CBI inquiry into the sewerage project.

JWAM holds protest against ERA & other deptts

NL CORRESPONDENT

Jammu, Feb 08: Drugs & Food Control Organi-zation (D&FCO) has suspended licenses of three retail/wholesale medicine selling estab-lishments in Jammu dis-trict during its ongoing drive.

The D&FCO has con-stituted various squads to carry out surprise inspections to keep a check on spurious drugs. As part of its ongoing drive, inspection teams of the D&FCO carried out extensive checking of 40 establishments in Jammu and Srinagar dis-tricts under the super-vision of concerned ADCs. Action was initi-

ated against nine firms in twin capital cities for committing violations of Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 while licenses of three were suspended for violation of various provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

Meanwhile, drug samples of 29 formu-lations were lifted for test/analysis to identity, strength and purity of these drugs.

Directions were issued to traders to desist from indulging in breaches of legal provi-sions, unethical trade practices, and to improve storage conditions to preserve the properties of drugs during their shelf life.

D&FCO suspends licenses of 3 units

NL CORRESPONDENT

Jammu, Feb 08: Janta Dal (United) JD(U) State President G M Shaheen along with other senior party leaders on Friday urged upon the Governor Satya Pal Malik to address the problems and miser-ies being faced by strand-ed passengers who are stuck in both the regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh due to heavy snow-fall and rainfall for the last 2 days. Shaheen while addressing the media at party headquarters Airlines Complex Jammu demanded that stranded passengers should be airlifted to their destinations so that they reached to dear ones who

are still waiting for their presence in home with their parents. He added that present dispensation also put in place additional Air-line services in J&K to end uncertainty due to unpre-dictable heavy snowfall and rainfall in the state for the last many days. He further urged upon the Governor to arrange food and staying

arrangements in Jammu for stranded passengers stuck at General Bus Stand Jammu. He further demanded to immediate compensate those people who lost their homes due to avalanche. He further urged upon the Governor to direct all Deputy Commissioners to publicize all contact numbers of control rooms

in the different media net-works for prompt redressal of public grievances and to review the preparedness of all snow bound districts. He demanded that Rescue Teams should deployed at avalanche prone areas including health institu-tions should also be func-tional normally with proper heating arrangements and patients are being attended by the doctors and para-medics besides hassle free ambulance services in their respective districts. He added that district and departmental control rooms should be activated in snow bound areas for 24x7 to meet any exigen-cy during the inclement weather period.

JDU urges Guv to address miseries of people stuck in snow bound areas NL CORRESPONDENT

Jammu, Feb 08: Adbi Kunj held a condolence literary meet on the sad demise of Prof. Zahoor-Ud-Din prominent personality and former HoD Urdu University of Jammu in Jammu on Friday. President of the Adbi Kunj Sham Talib, Chairman of the Adbi Kunj Aarash Dalmotra, Santosh Shah Nadan (Vice President), Malik Singh Wafa (General Secretary) and several other renowned poets of the organization participated in the meet. The meet was presided over by a renowned poet Sibtay Raza along with other eminent poets Taraq Raza Amir Sambri and Sayal Emran. While expressing grief and shock over the great loss, speakers conveyed heart-felt sympathies and condolences to the members of the bereaved family and prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul. While remembering the role of Prof. Zahoor-Ud-Din, Sham Talib said that Prof. Zahoor-Ud-Din

was a part of the organization, he was respected guide and patron of Adbi Kunj from the beginning of the organization. In the 2nd phase of the meet, the poets were recited their condolences poems. Others present in the meet include Aarash Dalmotra, M.S.Wafa, Sibtay Raza, Taraq Raza,

Sayal Imran, Amir Sambvi, Chaman Sagoch, Bishan Dass Khak, Uttam Singh Rahi, Raj Kamal, Jaitender Bassan, Rajeev Kumar, Masoom Kishtwari, Sanjeev Kumar, S.K. Gupta, Ved Uppal, Neelam Verma, Babli Sharma, Santosh Nadan and Sham Talib.

Adbi Kunj holds condolence meet

NL CORRESPONDENT

Jammu, Feb 08: Dis-closing that BJP National President Amit Shah, will address a mammoth rally of BJP workers on February 24th, BJP State President Ravinder Raina reviewed preparations for the same, at party headquarter, Tri-kuta Nagar.

While claiming that this rally will be a golden opportunity for the BJP leaders from the state to learn from the National President Amit Shah, the grand rally will stand wit-ness to the participation of around 50,000 BJP workers comprising of party lead-ers from State, District, Mandal, Ward and Booth

and will be focused on ‘Panna Pramukhs’.

While addressing the meeting, Raina imparted useful tips for the smooth and successful conduct of rally and reviewed all the associated arrangements. He threadbare discussed important points relat-ed to the preparations for the rally of National President of party, Amit Shah.

Raina, asked the senior leaders from the State BJP to carry out thorough ground work for the vari-ous arrangements in their own supervision especially focusing on traffic man-agement, vehicular move-ment, public convenience, drinking water facility,

toilet facilities, parking of vehicles, decoration etc. He said that as the B J P workers will be visiting in large numbers to listen to their National President, adequate arrangements should be ensured in con-nivance with the local administration. BJP State President Pawan Khaju-ria, Pramod Kapahi, State General Secretary Yudhvir Sethi, Mayor JMC Chander Mohan Gupta, State Secre-tary Sanjay Baru, Munish Sharma, Karan Singh, Dr. Pardeep Mahotra, Baldev Singh Billawaria, Omi Kha-juria, Surinder Choudhary, Sanjita Dogra, Jeet Angral were amongst the promi-nent BJP leaders present in the meeting.

Amit Shah to address BJP workers on Feb 24

NL CORRESPONDENT

Jammu, Feb 08: Dr. Vivak M. Arya Asstt. Pro-fessor, of SKUAST-Jammu got best research oral pre-sentation award in Nation-al conference on “Women Empowerment through Agro-Entrepreneurship for Livelihood Security” organized by Society for Integrated Development of Agriculture, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences (SIDAVES). The award was presented by Vice Chancellor of SKUAST -J, Prof. P.K. Sharma. The conference was inaugu-rated by Dr. N.S. Rathore,

DDG Agriculture Educa-tion, ICAR, New Delhi. The paper authored by Dr. Arya, Dr. Vikas Sharma & Ajay Thakur entitled “Impact of different soil & water conservation mod-ules on water quality in the adopted village ponds of north - western Hima-layas” studied that water resource in the lower Shivalik region of Jammu is facing daunting chal-lenges due to urbanization, industrialization and huge demand for agricultural activities. The potential for augmentation of water availability is limited, water tables are reced-

ing day by day and water quality issues have been increased. The study was conducted to assess the impact of water conser-vation modules on water quality of four adopted ponds at district Kathua. The study revealed that there is an improvement in water quality of adopted ponds and which can be further improved by sus-taining these conservation modules. The trainings and awareness given to farmers & local residents of village also played an important role, as they will help in the conservation of these ponds.

NL CORRESPONDENT

Jammu, Feb 08: District Legal Services Authority, Jammu today conducted an awareness programme on Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) and Drug Abuse at K.C. International School.

Naushad Ahmad Khan, Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, Jammu, convener and programme co-ordinator along with his team member, Sarla Bhat, Under Secretary, District Legal Services Author-ity, Jammu and Advocate Sakshi Sharma was present. Principal Subhendu Sarkar also graced the programme.

The session was orga-nized to enlighten the stu-dents about protection of Children from Sexual offence Act, and its feature. The programme started with a brief introduction about POCSO and narcotics by the students of KCIS, fol-lowed by a detailed informa-tion about the act by Naush-ad Ahmad Khan, Secretary, DLSA Jammu, and Advo-cate, Jyoti Sharma, Master trainer of the programme.

There was also an inter-active sessions wherein the queries of students were sorted. The programme ended with a vote of Thanks by vice principal, Anupama Sinha.

Awareness prog on POSCO, Drug Abuse organized

Dr Arya gets best research oral presentation award

NL CORRESPONDENTREASI, FEB 08

Department of Food, CivilSupplies and ConsumerAffairs District Reasitoday conducted intensivemarket checking drive inKatra Tehsil.A joint team comprising ofDr. Nasir Ahmed Butt,Assistant Director, FCS &CA Reasi, Sardari Lal,Tehsil Supply OfficerKatra and Vicky Sharma,Inspector Legal MetrologyReasi under overallsupervision of Director,

Department of FCS & CAJammu, Amit Sharmachecked various businessestablishments in Katratown and booked many ofthem.The joint team collectedRs 13000/ as fine underEssential CommoditiesAct. The team also warnedbusiness establishmentsand shopkeepers not toovercharge items besidesdisplaying of the approvedrate list. The departmentshall continue to conductsuch market inspectionsin future also.

NL CORRESPONDENTUDHAMPUR, FEB 08

With a view to provideincome support to allsmall and marginalfarmers under 'PradhanMantri Kisan SammanNidhi' (PMKSN) scheme,District DevelopmentCommissioner, UdhampurRavinder Kumar todaychaired a meeting ofDistrict Officers ofdifferent departments toreview effectiveimplementation of thescheme in the district.A detailed discussion wereheld on various aspectsregarding uploading ofbeneficiaries data,activation of beneficiariesaccounts, preparation oflist of exclusive categories,

collection of Data andorganization of camps etc.While addressing themeeting, the DDC saidthat the main objective oflaunching this scheme isto supplement thefinancial needs of thefarmers in procuringvarious inputs to ensureproper crop health andappropriate yields. He saidthat the farmers who fallunder this category up to 2hectares shall be providedbenefits of Rs-6000 perannum per family.DDC directed the officersof concerned departmentsto activate men andmachinery and to expeditethe process for effectiveimplementation of thisschemes at grass rootlevel in the district so that

the farmers can availbenefits of these scheme.In this regard he asked theofficers to constitute adistrict as well as Sub -Division level monitoringcommittees to monitor allthe activities. Besides thishe instructed the officersto activate Zone levelteams also.Additional DistrictDevelopmentCommissioner, AshokKumar, AssistantCommissionerDevelopment, NeelamKhajuria, DistrictInformation Officer, Er.Sajad Bashir Somberia,Chief Horticulture Officer,Brij Vallabh Gupta, besidesother district officers andZonal Head JK bank A.PSingh, cluster Head JKbank and representativesof other banks werepresent in the meeting.

NL CORRESPONDENTRAMBAN, FEB 08

District DevelopmentCommissioner (DDC),Ramban, Showkat AijazBhat today convened anemergency meeting toreview progress ofrestoration works anddiscussed issuesconfronting to restorationof essential services indistrict.The meeting was attendedby ADC Ramban, Dr.Basharat Hussain, CPO,Uttam Singh, CMORamban Dr Saif Ud DinKhan, Xens of PHE, CAHO,DSHO and officers of otherdepartments.He reviewed the status of

services being provided bythe departments to publicof district. He directed theofficers to submit thedetails of damagesalongwith photographsbesides ensuringrestoration of the same.He directed the officers toestablish separate controlroom of their departmentfor the convienence ofpublic besides publishingthe mobile numbers ofconcerned officers andofficials in newspapersand other way of media.He directed the PWD andPMGSY department toexpedite restoration workof road connectivitywhereas PDD and PHEdepartment was directed

to restore water andpower supply in affectedareas on war footing.Agriculture, Horticulture,Sheep Husbandry, AnimalHusbandry and other linesdepartments weredirected to depute theirdepartmental teams insnow affecting areas forproviding assistance to thepeople related to theirrespective departments.DDC directed all thedepartments to issueadvisory for public relatedto their departmentsbesides assessing the lossof crop and life stocks dueto heavy snowfall in lastfew weeks.ACR Ramban was directedto compile damage report

and direct the Tehsildarsand field functionaries tosubmit damage caseswithout any delay so thatassistance can be provideto the beneficiaries.

4 HILL DISTRICT the northlinesJammu | Saturday| February 09| 2019

NL CORRESPONDENTRAJOURI, FEB 08

District Developmentcommissioner RajouriMohammad Aijaz Asadtoday convened a meetingto review the status ofessential services andsnow clearance operationsafter the incessantdownpour in the district.The meeting was informedthat of 102 electricityfeeders, 88 are functional,7 are non-functional, and 7are partially functionaland work on restoringfeeders is in progress. Itwas informed that menand machinery have beendeputed for the restorationof HT/LT network.While taking stock of PHEsector, it was informedthat of 211 water supplyschemes in divisionRajouri, only 10 have been

affected due to incessantrains and snowfall. InNowshera subdivision, allthe 164 water supplyschemes are runningsmoothly with minorproblems like low voltage.Regarding roadconnectivity, five roads ofPMGSY and eight PWDroads are closed due tosnow accumulation. It wassaid that adequate menand machinery areworking round-the-clockand roads will be clearedof snow by today evening.While taking stock of foodgrains, it was alsoapprised that sufficientstock of food grains isavailable in the district,and the full quota of themonth has reached at therespective godowns forfurther distributions to theconsumers.DDC asked the officers to

be proactive and ensurethat there are nointerruptions in essentialservices particularly foodgrains water supply,kerosene oil, electricitysupply and clearance ofroads.All the officers weredirected to remain presentat their respectiveHeadquarters and takeprecautionary measures tosave the life and propertyof the people residing inavalanche prone areas.ADDC, Rajouri,Mohammad Rashid, ACRRajouri, MohammadAshraf, SE PHE, ExecutiveEngineer PHE, Sunil Koul,Executive engineer PDD,Munshi Khan, AssistantDirector FCS&CA,Mohammad Mukhtar andother engineers ofconcerned departmentsattended the meeting.

DDC for effective implementationof PMKSN scheme

DDC takes stock of essentialservices, snow clearance NL CORRESPONDENT

REASI, FEB 08

National Deworming Daywas observed atGovernment Girls HigherSecondary School Reasi.Chief Medical Officer

Reasi, Dr Parminder Singhinaugurated the event inpresence of MedicalSuperintendent DH ReasiDr. P.S. Thakur, Dr. AmitBajaj Nodal Officer,Principal Govt. GirlsHigher Secondary SchoolReasi and otherOfficers/Officials of Health& Education Department.As part of this

programme, children andadolescents aged betweenone to 19 years in all theschools and Anganwadisof District Reasi would begiven Tablet Albendazole .A child not dewormed onNational Deworming Daydue to absenteeism orsickness will be dewormedon 'mop-up day' whichwould be observed onFebruary 14.The Chief Medical Officer,

Reasi called upon thehealth department andother stake holderdepartments toaccomplish the dewormingcampaign with full energyand vigor. He reiterated

that this drive is veryimportant intervention inDeworming, thus leadingto improvement inanaemia too.The lectures regardingDeworming and GoodHygienic practices weregiven by CMO Reasi Dr.Parminder Singh, MedicalSuperintendent DH ReasiDr. P.S. Thakur and Dr.Amit Bajaj Nodal Officerwherein they explainedthat the deworming withthe safe and beneficialAlbendazole tablet is anevidence- based, globallyaccepted and effectivesolution to controlintestinal worm infections.Children who are out ofschool would be mobilizedby ASHAs to be dewormedat Anganwadi centres onNational Deworming Day.Moreover, the side effectsfrom consumingAlbendazole are rare andmild. It can includenausea, vomiting anddizziness, especially inthe children with highworm loads.As per the survey

conducted by the Healthdepartment data, morethan 1,40,000 children inages of 1- 19 years are tobe covered by thisprogramme.

National DewormingDay observed

NL CORRESPONDENTRAMBAN, FEB 08

District DevelopmentCommissioner (DDC),Ramban Showkat AijazBhat today toured atBatote area to reviewstatus of availability ofessential commodities andrestoration of essentialservices besidesinspecting snow, roadclearance operations andobtaining public feedbackfrom public in this regard.DDC was accompanied bythe ADC Dr. BasharatHussain, CMO, Dr. Saif-u-Din Khan, Xen of PDDand officers of otherdepartments.

DDC took stock of snowand road clearanceoperations from Batote toPatnitop and link roadsbesides restoration ofelectricity and watersupply in affected areasand availability ofessential commodities. Hedirected the concernedofficers to restore all linkroads as early as possible.DDC informed thatrestoration work of water,power and roadconnectivity was initiatedon war footing in the entiredistrict. He also checked theavailability of Ration, LPG,Kerosene oil and otheritems and directed the

concerned officers toensure proper distributionat concerned depots. DCdirected Tehsildar toaccess the loss of localscaused by the heavysnowfall.He also interacted with thepublic at various placesand heard theirgrievances, besidespassing on spot directionsfor its redressal. Hedirected to all officers tostay in their headquartersand keep men andmachinery are on highalert in view of the snowprediction for the nextdays.Later DDC visited Sher-e-Kashmir memorialemergency hospital Batoteto assess the quality ofmedical services, heatingarrangements, punctualityof staff and patient care atthe health instituteespecially during ongoingsnow season. Heinspected wards of thehospital and interactedwith the patients andchecked the availability ofmedicines the medicalfacilities being provided tothe patients in hospital.

Status of essential services,road restoration reviewed

Restoration of essential services reviewed

NL CORRESPONDENTJAMMU, FEB 08

Principal Secretary,Animal, Sheep Husbandrydepartment, Dr AsgarHassan Samoon todaysaid that livestock sectorholds key to drive theeconomy of state which isbecoming possible withliberal funding fromNABARD.He was speaking at ameeting convened toreview the progress onongoing projects of thedepartment in the Statefunded by NABARD.The meeting was attendedby Director AnimalHusbandry Jammu DrVictor Kaul, DirectorFisheries R. N. Pandita,MD Wool Board HarnamSingh Rana and otherofficials. The meeting wasalso attended by ChiefGeneral Manager NABARDP Balachandran, GeneralManager NABARD, SureshChand and other officials.While stressing onNABARD officials to investliberally in the Agricultureand its allied sectors likeAnimal and Sheephusbandry for upgradinginfrastructure and

improving other facilities,Dr Samoon said thesesectors offer hugepotential for employmentgeneration in rural areas.The Principal Secretaryasked the NABARD andBank officials to launchmass awareness to enablethe people to avail benefitof these schemes.Dr Samoon alsohighlighted the need forsetting up new and up-grading existinglaboratories, investment infodder farms, veterinaryhospitals, breeding farms,training institutes andstrengthening otherinitiatives in livestocksector.The major projectsprojected for NABARDfunding in the meetingincluded construction ofcattle breeding andresearch farm at ChathaJammu, veterinaryhospitals at AthwajanSrinagar, Khaltsileh,ShargolKargil, Qaimoh andBijbhehra, relocation ofsheep breeding farm fromDachigam to Khimber,Multipurpose sheepfacilitating centre andboundary wall atDusooPampore etc.

'Livestock sector holdskey to JK's economy'

NL CORRESPONDENTJAMMU, FEB 08

The SericultureDevelopment Departmenttoday held interactivesessions with thesilkworm rearers at Larh,Chanunta and Barta areasof Udhampur district.Over a hundred rearersmostly belonging toscheduled caste categoryattended the sessions.Director SericultureGulzar Ahmad Shabnum,District Sericulture OfficerUdhampur SubashChander Gupta,Sericulture Assistants andother functionaries of theDepartment interactedwith the participants.The purpose of holding

the sessions was to reachout to the silkwormrearers to have the first-hand appraisal of theirproblems and seek

feedback on incentivesand facilities extended tothem by SericultureDevelopment Departmentfor increasing the cocoonproduction.During the interaction, therearers highlighted theissues confronting themduring the silkwormrearing and put forth theirsuggestions with regard toextension of the mulberryplantation, provision ofquality seed and greenfoliage, improving chawkirearing, drying andmarketing facilities,besides augmenting therearing capabilities of therearers.Director Sericulture saidthat the Department hasinitiated various measuresto upgrade the facilitiesfor rearers and everyeffort was being made toexplore resources forcreation of dependable

infrastructure on modernlines to increase thequality and production ofcocoon.He said that under the

centrally-sponsoredscheme 'Silk Samagra'various incentivesincluding construction ofrearing sheds, chawkirearing centers, provisionof rearing kits, mountagesand Spray Pumps areprovided free of cost tothe silkworm rearers.Under Scheduled Cast SubPlan (SCSP) project, 56rearing sheds at a unitcost of Rs.1.25 lack with10% beneficiary share areunder construction alongwith three Chawki rearingcenters at a unit cost ofRs. 10 lakh for the benefitof silkworm rearersbelonging to SC category,he informed.The Director Sericultureasked the rearers to makebest use of the facilitiesand incentives available tothem under the scheme toincrease their produce.Later, the DirectorSericulture inspected theongoing Mulberryplantation and vegetativepropagation work invarious areas of thedistrict.

Sericulture Deptt holds interactivesessions on silkworm rearing

NL CORRESPONDENTRAJOURI, FEB 08

District DevelopmentCommissioner Rajouri,Mohammad Aijaz Asadtoday ordered constitutionof district level monitoringcommittee forimplementation of recentlyannounced PradhanMantri Kisan SammanNidhi(PM-KISAN).A meeting in this regard

was held at districtheadquarter which waschaired by DDC RajouriMohammad Aijaz Assadand officers from allieddepartments took part init.In this meeting, sanctionwas accorded forconstitution of a districtlevel monitoringcommittee with DistrictDevelopmentCommissioner Rajouri asits chairman, AdditionalDistrict DevelopmentCommissioner as nodalofficer while ACDevelopment AkhtarHussain Qazi, ACRevenue MohammadAshraf, Chief Agriculture

Officer Mohammad Younis,Chief Horticulture OfficerMohammad Iqbal, DistrictInformatics OfficerMuzaffer Mir and LeadDistrict Manager SunilSharma as its members.Furthermore, fieldimplementationcommittees for collectionof data /undertaking frombeneficiaries regarding'PM-KISAN' shall haveagriculture extensionassistants, patwaris,VLWs, GRS. It was alsoimpressed upon all theofficers to ensure that PM-Kisan is implemented inletter and spirit so thatfarmers get the intendedbenefit out of it.

Modalities for implementationof PM-KISAN finalized

NL CORRESPONDENT

KISHTWAR, FEB 08

Deputy Commissioner, Kishtwar,Angrez Singh Rana today visitedKishtwar town and adjoining areasto monitor the status of essentialservices and snow clearanceoperations. During his tour, hevisited district hospital, bus stand,Dak Bunglow, Giri nagar and otheradjoining areas of Kishtwar town.At district hospital, he met patientsand enquired about the well-being.He directed concerned officers toensure proper heating system in

hospitals as well as the availabilityof sufficient medicines. He directedto keep the emergency section fully

equipped and ready to meet anysituation due to heavy snowfall.He also met public deputation andlistened to their issues and on spotdirections were passed toconcerned officers for promptredressal.DC impressed upon the officers toexpedite restoration of powersupply, inter and intra district roadconnectivity including highways,drinking water supply, trafficmanagement, operationalization ofensuring adequate stock ofessential food items, LPG andKerosene oil etc.

Rs 13000 fine realizedfrom violators

DC takes stock of post-snowfall situation

NL CORRESPONDENTJAMMU, FEB 08

Advisor to Governor, KSkandan today said thatdigitization is imperativefor streamlining therevenue records, makingthese easily accessible topublic and preserving forfuture.The Advisor said thisduring his visit to theCentral Revenue RecordRoom Complex, RevenueTraining Institute andDirectorate of LandRecords and Survey hereat GoleGujral. Heinspected the progress onimplementation of LandRecords ModernizationProgramme.Financial Commissioner,Revenue gave a detailedresume of digitizationprogramme to the Advisorincluding the process ofscanning, preservation ofrevenue documents, dataentry, digitization of maps,Jamabandi and updationwith latest mutationrecords.While interacting with the

officers, the Advisor saidthat the comprehensivedigitization would ensurebetter land recordmanagement that willenhance the State's overallland record maintenance.The Advisor inspectedvarious sections of theLand Records Office andinquired aboutcomputerization andscanning of revenuerecords and directed forits proper maintenance.Later, the Advisor chaireda meeting and reviewedthe progress on DigitalIndia Land RecordsModernization Programme(DILRMP). Thefunctionaries of RAMTECH Software India- thefirm assigned the job ofscanning, computerizationof various old revenuerecords gave a powerpoint presentation of thedigitization process.The Advisor asked theconcerned department andexecuting agency toconsider the suggestion ofutilization of CommonService Centers (CST) for

developing mechanism ofland record application forpublic service andstressed on sensitizing thefield staff. He asked forconstituting a team tostudy the process andrecommend measureswithin one week that willhelp to expedite theprocess.Activity wise presentationwas also given onapplication interface,modules, Revenue record,datacentre andintegration, Updation ofrecords, Geodetic networkestablishment, SatelliteData ProcessingPhotogrammetric, Mapoverlay on reference dataand update, Overlayanalysis Survey, re-surveyand other technologyrelated aspects of thedigitization of landrecords.The Advisor was informedthat the translation in 3languages including Urdu,Hindi and English will beavailable for digitizedrecords.A documentaryshowcasing theModernization of LandRecords was alsodisplayed at the meeting.

NL CORRESPONDENTJAMMU, FEB 08

Commissioner Secretary,PWD (R&B) KhurshidAhmad Shah today saidthat Governor'sAdministration iscommitted to provide betterroad connectivity to thepeople living in every nookand corner of the state forwhich all languishing R&Bprojects would becompleted in one-year time.Reviewing the performanceof R&B department ofJammu division here at ameeting, he took detailedstock of languishing andNABARD funded projects.The Commissioner

Secretary reviewed thepractical and ground levelimplication of variouscentral and state sponsoredprojects along with financialprogress.The meeting was informedthat 247 languishingprojects including 72bridges have been approvedby High PoweredCommittee at a cost of Rs403.27 crore. He wasinformed that 25 projectswould be completed byMarch 2019 and remainingwithin one year.He was further informedthat under NABARD 224ongoing projects are underprogress at a cost of Rs652.79 crore out of which 45projects have beencompleted so far.

The meeting was furtherinformed that several roadprojects for the ruralareas have also beenframed under variouscentrally and statesponsored schemes.Shah stressed upon theconcerned officers toconduct regular site visitsto stay well versed with theground situation andimpending issues of theirdepartments. He instructedthem to speed up the paceof work on all ongoingprojects for their earlycompletion.Shah also stressed uponofficials to gear up theirmen and machinery andspeed up work and need forimproving the work cultureat the grass root level sothat people get better roadfacilities throughcompletion of theseprojects.Chief Engineer R&B SudirShah, Director FinanceMazhar Khan, DirectorPlanning Athar Qadri,Superintending Engineers,Executive Engineers and

other officers of R&Bdepartment were present inthe meeting.

NL CORRESPONDENTJAMMU, FEB 08

Chief Secretary, Shri B V RSubrahmanyam Fridaychaired a video conferencewith Divisional andDistrict AdministrationKashmir/Jammu to reviewthe status of snowclearance, power andwater supply andavailability of essentialcommodities and variouspetroleum products in thedivision.Divisional Commissioner,Kashmir briefed about thesnow clearance operationsand said that most ofmajor roads across thedivision have beencleared; however lateralroads will be cleared bytomorrow.Divisional Commissioner,Kashmir informed thatupto 95% of power supplyhas been restored inSrinagar city, while inother districts; it may takeanother day or two for100% restoration. He saidbarring few water supplyschemes, most of the

schemes are functional.In regard to availability ofPetroleum products,Divisional Commissioner,Kashmir said that 300tankers/trucks are linedup on the Jammu-SrinagarNational Highway betweenPatnitop and Ramban andonce the road is clearedfor traffic, thesetankers/trucks willaugment the depletingreserves of petroleum/LPGin the division.Divisional Commissioner,Jammu also briefed aboutthe measures taken tomeet the challenges posedby the inclementweather/snowfall acrossJammu Division.Chief Secretary directed

the Divisional and DistrictAdministrationKashmir/Jammu to remainalive to the situation andensure that people do notface inconvenience onaccount of snow fall. Hesaid snow clearanceoperations should becarried out 24X7, so thatall roads are cleared andmade traffic worthy onreal time basis for theconvenience of the generalpublic particularlystudents and patients.Chief Secretary alsoreceived brief about thetransportation facilitiesbeing arranged for thestranded students takingGATE examination outsideKashmir Valley. Divisional Commissioner,Kashmir informed that C-17 Aircraft has beendeployed to airlift thestranded students fromKashmir Valley to enablethem appear in the examsscheduled for February,9th and 10th, 2019. 179aspirants were air liftedtoday, he said.

5 STATE the northlinesJammu | Saturday| February 09| 2019

In the court of Chief JudicialMagistrate, Samba

Present : Ajay GuptaDeepak Sharma S/o Kaku Ram

R/o Taloor (Chak) Teh Samba District samba V/S

INCHARGE Police Station SambaApplication U/S 15 of Registration of birth/death Act,

seeking directions to INCHARGE Police Station,Samba to correct the name of applicant's wife in the

birth particular of applicant's son. PROCLAMATION

Whereas applicant has filed the above titledapplication in this court for issuing direction toINCHARGE Police Station, Samba regarding correctionof the name of applicant's wife which was wronglywritten as Suman Devi, in police record bearing regdNo.808/2015 dated 17-07-2015 in the birth certificate ofhis son namely Danish Sharma(D.O.B. 02-07-2015) butcorrect name of applicant's wife is Suman Kumari butwrongfully written as Suman Devi in police record andthrough the medium of this proclamation, generalpublic is informed that any person/s has/haveobjection to the same, in that event he/she/they shallfile the same within 07 days from the publication,failing which appropriate order shall passed. Takenotice that in case the date of fixed is declared holiday,the matter shall be taken in the next working day.Given under my hand and seal of this court today 15thday of Feb. 2019.

Chief Judicial Magistrate,Samba

'Digitization imperative forstreamlining revenue records' NL CORRESPONDENT

KUPWARA, FEB 08

Deputy CommissionerKhalid Jahangir today tookstock of snow clearanceoperation and restorationof electricity, drinkingwater and other essentialservices. He also reviewedthe availability of essentialcommodities in theaftermath of heavy snowfall for the past two days.On the occasion, MEDdepartment functionariesinformed that 695 kmroad falling under itsjurisdiction were clearedby yesterday late eveningamid continuous snowfall.The MED authorities weredirected to undertakewidening of main roadsconnected to headquartersfor hassle free movementof traffic.R&B functionariesinformed that roadclearance activities aregoing on proactively in thedistrict and so far, 400 kmroad length of 1000 kmhas been cleared.The R&B was directed tomobilize all resources anddeploy additionalmachinery for completionof road clearance by todayevening, with specialthrust on inner links.Similarly, PMGSYengineers were alsodirected to expedite snow

clearance to savecommuters fromhardships. All theconcerned agencies weredirected to give priority toroad clearance work,particularly theapproaches to hospitals,fire stations, PHESchemes, Police Stationsand other governmentestablishments.The PDD authoritiesinformed that all the 17receiving stations in thedistrict were restored andcharged, while out of 6811kv feeders 50 wererestored and rest of themwill be restored byafternoon. It was given outthat 80% of the power hasbeen restored in thedistrict and incessantefforts are on to ensure100% restoration by theend of the day. The PDDauthorities also informedthat heavy damage totransformers haveoccurred during recentspell of snowfall. TheDistrict DevelopmentCommissioner took up thematter with ChiefEngineer PDDtelephonically for makingthe immediate provision ofat least 40 transformersfor the district to ease thehardships of generalpublic.The AD Food, CivilSupplies and Consumer

Affairs was asked toimplement the ordersissued in pursuance of theinstructions of theDivisional Commissioner,Kashmir for rationing ofpetrol to private vehiclesin letter and spirit. He wasdirected to ensure thatroad clearance, power,health and R&Bmachinery does not sufferfor want of petrol or dieselas that would adverselyaffect restoration ofservices in the district.The CMO informed that allthe health institutions ofthe district werefunctioning smoothly withproper heatingarrangements. It was alsoinformed that adequatestocks of medicines areavailable at the healthfacilities with 71ambulances available fortransportation of patientsin the district. Similarly, PHE authoritieswere also asked to take uprestoration of damagedschemes on war footing sothat no hardships arefaced by the consumers.The Essential ServicesDepartments were askedto keep men andmachinery in high spiritsfor ensuring time boundrestoration of services sothat minimum disruptionis caused to the normalday to day activities.

DC reviews snow clearance work

NL CORRESPONDENTBANDIPORA, FEB 08

Deputy CommissionerBandipora Friday touredrural areas to reviewessential services andsnow clearanceoperations, besidesobtaining public feedbackin this regard.He was accompanied bySuperintendent of PoliceBandipora Sheikh ZulfikarAzad, Tehsildar(headquarters) MubashirSaleem Nazki, officials ofRural Development, PHE,PDD and other seniorofficials of the district.DC visited various villagesincluding Kaloosa,Onagam, Mangnipora,Quil, Malangam and otheradjoining areas. He tookstock of snow clearanceoperations, restoration ofelectricity and availabilityof essential commodities.He interacted with thepublic at various placesand heard their grievancesbesides passing on spotdirections for itsredressal.He said all the men andmachinery have been puton high alert in the districtand the snow clearanceoperations are going on toensure all major linkroads are cleared on warfooting basis to makethem through for thegeneral public across thedistrict. He said all themain roads have beencleared till Thursdayevening.He said the MechanicalEngineer Department has

put 14 Snow Cats inservice across the districtto clear the snow besidesmachinery of variousMunicipalities.The DC said several roadsin towns were clearedmanually by field staff ofMunicipal Committees ofvarious towns of thedistrict. He lauded theefforts of the field staff inclearing the roads quicklyand also appreciated theefforts of the JKPDD fieldstaff who worked roundthe clock during adverseweather conditions torepair the transmissionlines to restore electricity.Earlier the DeputyCommissioner reviewedthe stock position of rationin the district. Officialssaid that there is anavailability of 18564.83Quintals of rice inBandipora district exceptfor Gurez valley while5900 cylinders weredistributed amongcustomers in the firstweek of February.DC said in SnowboundGurez area Sub-DivisionalMagistrate is monitoringthe snow clearanceoperations and all majorroads in Tulail, Dawar andadjoining areas are beingcleared on priority so thatpeople don't suffer.He said the administrationhas set up a control roomin the Mini SecretariatBandipora and urged thepeople to contact onphone numbers 01957-225322, 01957-225276,7006526985, 9797151356.

DC inspects snowclearance ops

Snowfall Aftermath: CS takesstock of restoration measures

'Languishing connectivity projects tobe completed expeditiously'

NL CORRESPONDENTKATHUA, FEB 08

District Legal ServicesAuthority, Kathua todayorganized a legalawareness campregarding 'Protection ofChildren from SexualAbuse' at GovernmentHigher Secondary School,Budhi here under thechairmanship of PrincipalDistrict & Sessions JudgeSanjeev Gupta.Chairman Tehsil LegalServices Committee(CJM) Kathua, KusumPandita was the chiefguest on the occasionwhile as SecretaryDistrict Legal Services

Authority (Sub Judge)Kathua, Aarti Mohanpresided over thefunction.Various speakers threwlight on various kinds ofchild abuse and variousagencies which can beapproached by thechildren for redressal oftheir grievances.An interactive sessionwith students was alsoheld at the later end ofthe programme.Principal ShakuntalaMunde appreciated theorganizers of theprogramme and urged theDLSA and TLSC toorganize more suchprogrammes in future.

DLSA organizesawareness camp

NL CORRESPONDENT

JAMMU, FEB 08

Principal Secretary Healthand Medical Education,Atal Dulloo, todaylaunched the National De-worming campaign hereat Government HigherSecondary School, Boys,Gandhi Nagar- aninitiative to make childrenworm free and growhealthy.The campaign has beenlaunched simultaneously inthe five districts of summerzone viz Udhampur,Kathua, Samba, Reasi, andJammu.In winter zone the De-worming initiative wouldstart on March 20, 2019when schools reopen aftervacations.The Principal Secretaryurged the children toadhere to the practice ofwashing hands with soap,especially before eating,after using toilet andwearing shoes. He also

stressed on following thetips on hygiene, sanitationand cleanliness.He said that the campaignholds great importance asintestinal worm infectionscan cause anaemia,nutritional impairment,loss of appetite, weaknessand anxiety, stomach ache,nausea, vomiting,diarrhoea, weight loss,impaired physical andcognitive development andmay cause a serious threatto children's health,education and productivity.He also said that the mainaim of the campaign is tode-worm all pre-school andschool-age children(enrolled and Non-enrolled)between the age group of01 to 19 through theplatform of schools andAnganwadi centers.Dulloo stressed uponchildren to be aware of thehealth education, properhygiene and precautionswhich would reduce theworm infection. He further

said that the proper handwashing and sanitationplay an important role inpreventing such diseases.Director Health Services,Jammu, Dr Sameer Mattoo,Mission Director, NationalHealth Mission, ChiefMedical Officer, Jammu,Deputy CMO, Jammu,Principal Boys HigherSecondary School, besidesschool staff, students andother concerned werepresent on the occasion.

Dullo launches NationalDe-worming campaign

NL CORRESPONDENT

JAMMU, FEB 08

The JK Governor'sGrievance Cell (includingGovernor's Secretariat)has since June 20, 2018received 47943complaints/grievances ofwhich 47298 have beendealt with / forwarded tothe concerned quarters fortimely redressal while as645 complaints /grievances are under

process.Similarly, on the directionsof the Governor, all fouradvisors to the Governorhave been regularlymeeting and hearing thegrievances of delegations /deputations andindividuals both atSrinagar and in Jammu asper the schedule and areregularly reviewing thedisposal of the grievancespertaining to theirrespective departments.

47298 grievancesdisposed of by GGC

NL CORRESPONDENT

KATHUA, FEB 08

The District InformationCentre, Kathua organizeda multilingual Mushairahere at Government HighSchool, Kharote today.Head Teacher, Ritu Rani

was the chief guest whilestaff and a large numberof students were presenton the occasion.Various poetspoems theircreations in Hindi, Urdu,Punjabi and Dogrilanguages on varioussocial evils like drug

addiction, female feticide,gender disparity, illiteracyand dowry system.Prominent among thepoets who recited theirwritings included VijaySharma, T R Sumbria,Sham Lal Khajuria, BalakRam, R S Katal, Saroj Bala

and others.Speaking on the

occasion, Ritu Raniwelcomed and thankedthe InformationDepartment for organizingsuch type of programmes.She appealed fororganizing more suchprogrammes on regularbasis.She also expressedgratitude to the poets,writers and singers forpresenting theirperformances.

DIC organizes multilingual Mushaira

Prabhakar

JAMMU | Saturday, February 9, 2019

(Disclaimer: The views expressed here are personal opinions of the writers. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the articles do not reflect the views of The Northlines and it does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same).

6EDITORIAL

This happens only in India where politi-cal connection opens flood-gates for the easy fortunes like in case of Vadra.

A small-time brassware dealer from Morad-abad in UP, before his marriage into the Gandhi family, Vadra would not have grown enormously wealthy. He sold favours to all and sundry pro-vided the bribe ran into multiple of tens of crores.

One of the first cases that came to light when the UPA was going strong, pertains to purchase of a huge tract of agricultural land with the money loaned by the biggest real estate com-pany in the country. Overnight, the Bhupider Hooda government changed the land-use to benefit Vadra for the land he had purchased from agriculture to commercial. A little later, Vadra sold the land to the same real estate company at a hefty profit of some Rs 50-odd crores. So simple to understand even by the weakest student of Mathematics in primary school.

Later, the same real estate company very generously transferred the ownership of a new-ly-built five-star hotel in a pricey South Delhi commercial hub to Vadra for virtually a pit-tance. Emboldened by the manner in which he was filling his coffers with illicit millions, Vadra now felicitated a deal connected with the Petro-leum Ministry. His reward was a huge pay-off deposited in a UAE-based postbox entity which soon transferred the loot to Vadra’s company. It was the same method employed to purchase plum properties in the heart of London.

Enforcement Directorate claimed that in all it has traced some half-a-dozen properties in London with a cumulative cost of over Rs one hundred crores. Apparently, the investigative agency got a lucky break when while investigat-ing the fugitive arms dealer, Sanjay Bhandari, it found emails between Vadra and Bhandari’s point person in London, one Chaddha. In one exchange, Chaddha asked Vadra to arrange the funds for the renovation of a palatial flat purchased for GBP 1.9 million as the suppliers of materials had all been tied up.

In turn, Vadra replies that the next morn-ing he would speak to the relevant person to remit the money in Chadhha’s account. This is clinching evidence of his laundering of bribes in various deals conducted by selling government favours. Likewise, the agencies have zeroed in at least six other properties in London.

This was a scam so simple

VINOD CHANDRASHEK-HAR DIXIT

Food wastage is a major problem in India. Weddings, can-

teens, hotels and house-holds spew out so much food. To see the extent of damage, all you have to do is peek into a street-corner garbage bin. People do not think about what goes into the food on their table. Today, most of us don’t even spare a thought for the time, energy, and resources it takes to pro-duce our food.

Moreover, food that is produced, but not eaten, occupies close to 30 per cent of the world’s agricul-tural land. It is estimated that one out of every seven people in the world went to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of five died from hunger.

To be fair, food wastage is indeed a major worry for India. A government study had found that the country wastes Rs 92,651 crore worth or 67 million tonnes of food in a year. Efforts need to be taken to protect and preserve foodgrain for the benefit of the large number of poor in our soci-ety who are struggling to survive on a single meals a day.

Though our people rarely waste much food in restaurants, we as a nation waste a lot of food during marriages, festivals and other occasions without caring about the large per-centage of our people that go hungry each day. The

levels of poverty, hunger and deprivation are so high in our country and little attention is paid to this by the well-to-do citizens and the politicians of our country.

The condition of the godowns in the country is not good and that is result-ing in the rotting of good grain. If only the foodgrain wasted in the country due to lack of storage facilities was saved, the burden of subsidy would have come down to that extent and thus saved the tax-payers’ money.

It is time to take note of the obligation of every citizen of this country to ensure that the food wast-age is totally avoided. The untouched food left in the mess is eaten by the people of mess but the food left in the plates goes wasted and is served to cattle near the campus.

Wastage of food is a cause of serious concern in a country like India where 37 per cent of the population lives below pov-erty line. Food wastage is a major problem in India.

Weddings, canteens, hotels and households spew out so much food.

Each morsel thus wasted, in a way, contributes towards hunger. Today, most of us don’t even spare a thought for the time, energy, and resourc-es it takes to produce our food. We generate mam-moth amounts of food waste.

The causes of food waste or loss are numer-ous, and occur at the stages of production, pro-cessing, retailing and con-sumption.

Huge amounts of food is getting wasted by the people belonging to the upper strata of economy as there is no proper channel to utilise unused food. Apart from this, wasteful food-consump-tion is also leading to unsustainable demand for natural resources.

Assessing food loss and waste and develop-ing effective policies along the value chain can help solve the food waste prob-lem and thus contribute towards food security and sustainability. Don’t we think a thought for our choice of food will save our natural resources and can keep us healthy ?dixitpatrakar@yahoo.in

Wastage of food – a cause of concern

MINHAZ MERCHANT

The much-awaited report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the Rafale

deal will be tabled and debated in Parliament this Budget session, giving the controversy fresh legs.

Meanwhile, The Hindu’s latest article on the Rafale agreement (February 8, 2019) claims that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials, in a hand-written note (apparently cropped by The Hindu, seemingly altering its meaning) asked officials in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) not to interfere with ongoing nego-tiations with Dassault.

It is precisely such dilatory tac-tics, however, by a section of MoD officials and the arms lobby — long used in defence deals with kick-backs — that have eroded India’s defence capability over the years. This clearly compelled the PMO to fast-track the Rafale agreement to overcome stalling tactics since, in a government-to-government deal, arms dealers and their mentors are cut out.

The main agent provocateur in the Rafale deal has been Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

His epithet ‘chowkidar chor hai’, directed at Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi, is based on the belief that if a lie is repeated often enough, it becomes the truth.

Rahul has been fallacious on three key issues concerning the Rafale deal though — price, Hin-dustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and Anil Ambani.

Consider the facts on each.PriceRahul says India overpaid for the

36 Rafale fighter jets to be manu-factured in France and delivered to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in flyaway condition.

The India-France Inter-Gov-ernmental Agreement (IGA) was finalised at Rs 59,000 crore for 36 fully loaded fighters — that works out to Rs 1,640 crore for each wea-

ponised flyaway Rafale jet with 13 India-specific enhancements.

The Congress began negotiat-ing with Dassault for 126 Rafale jets in 2007. Of these, 18 were to be made in France and 108 in India, in partnership with HAL. In 2012, the Congress abruptly aborted the deal. As then-Defence Minister AK Antony famously, and somewhat ambiguously, asked: “Where is the money?”

Negotiations on the final price of each fully loaded Rafale jet were thus aborted by the UPA regime before a price could be agreed upon.

Is there a template to compare the cost of a fully loaded and weap-onised Rafale fighter jet at contem-porary prices?

There, in fact, are two relevant contemporary templates. The first is the price paid for fully loaded and weaponised Rafale fighters by the Qatari Air Force in 2015. Aljazeera reported the deal on May 4, 2015: “President Francois Hollande and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani have signed a £6.3 billion ($7.02 billion) agreement for the sale of 24 Dassault Aviation-built Rafale fighter jets.”

The US dollar traded at around Rs 64 in May 2015. Thus, the price the Qatar government negotiated for 24 Rafale jets ($7.02 billion) was equivalent to Rs 45,000 crore.

That works out to Rs 1,875 crore for each of the 24 Rafale jets — Rs 235 crore more per Rafale than the Indian government is paying during the same time period for similarly weaponised jets.

Was the Qatari order an outlier? Consider the second price template. In February 2015, the Egyptian gov-ernment finalised an agreement to buy 24 fully loaded Rafale jets. France24 reported on the deal on February 16, 2015: “French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived in Cairo on Monday to sign a €5.2 bil-lion contract for the sale of 24 Rafale fighter jets to Egypt, a move that will finalise the first foreign order of the

French-built warplanes.”The price paid by the Egyptian

government for 24 Rafales (£5.2 bil-lion) was equivalent, at the Febru-ary 2015 exchange rate of Rs 71 per euro, to Rs 37,000 crore — or Rs 1,542 crore per Rafale jet.

Like the Qatari Air Force and IAF orders, the Egyptians got fully loaded Rafales but with fewer specific enhancements, hence the slightly lower cost of Rs 98 crore per jet compared to Rs 1,640 crore India is paying and Rs 1,875 crore Qatar is paying.

Why then does Rahul Gandhi allege that India overpaid for the 36 Rafales and bandy about the irrelevant figure of Rs 650 crore for a bare-bones Rafale? It can’t be ignorance.

The Al Jazeera and France24 reports are in the public domain.

But knowledge of the truth has never come in the way of anyone determined to conceal it.

Accident-prone HALTurn now to HAL.When the UPA government

was negotiating a deal from 2007 onwards to buy 126 Rafales (which it suddenly aborted in 2012), Das-sault had made it clear that manu-facturing Rafale fighter jets in part-nership with HAL would not be fea-sible because it couldn’t guarantee the quality of the 108 Rafales HAL would make, following delivery of the 18 initial flyaway Rafales made in France.

The IAF has long been critical of HAL’s ability to deliver fighter jets on time and to strict specifications.

The tragic crash of the Mirage 2000 trainer jet, upgraded by HAL, at the HAL-run airport in Bengaluru on February 1, 2019, is a reminder of the consequences of cynically using HAL to attack the government’s Rafale deal.

Rahul asked in Parliament why the initial order for 126 Rafales had been cut to 36 — it hasn’t. The request for proposal (RFQ) for the remaining 90 Rafale jets has been

prepared. These will be manufac-tured in India in a joint venture with Dassault.

The dithering by the UPA gov-ernment over the Rafale contract, between 2007 and 2012, leading to its abortion, till it was revived in 2015 by the NDA government, caused the depletion of the IAF’s strength from 42 squadrons in 2004 to 31 today.

The twist in the tale, of course, is a clutch of alleged arms dealers, Sanjay Bhandari, Deepak Talwar, Rajeev Saxena and Christian Michel, pitching for the Eurofighter — Rafale’s main rival.

Bhandari, who is reportedly close to Robert Vadra and Vadra’s aide Manoj Arora, has been absconding since 2016. He is charged under the Official Secrets Act (OSA). Vadra has meanwhile been interrogated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on his alleged links with Bhandari.

Michel is in Tihar Jail and under interrogation in the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter case — significant-ly, Agusta Westland’s parent com-pany has an equity stake in the firm that makes the Eurofighter.

Talwar and Saxena were extra-dited from the UAE for their role in facilitating bribes allegedly paid for defence deals.

Ambani factorFinally, Anil Ambani.Again, as Rahul Gandhi knows,

offset contracts worth around Rs 30,000 crore will be given (they have not been given yet and will not be till October 2019) to several dozen Indian contractors, big and small.

Those in the running include Tata, Mahindra, L&T, Bharat Forge and a Dassault-Reliance joint ven-ture. How much will Anil Ambani’s company get of the Rs 30,000 crore contracts? Probably, a fraction. By Dassault’s own admission, the Dassault-Reliance JV will receive Rs 850 crore in offset contract value to make spare parts for Dassault’s line of small Falcon business jets —

not Rafales.Assuming a net profit margin of

10%, that works out to a profit of Rs 85 crore over several years to be shared between Dassault and Reliance.

But, claims Rahul Gandhi repeatedly: “Modi has given Anil Ambani Rs 30,000 crore.”

He adds menacingly: “Why did Anil Ambani’s 2017 Reliance bal-ance sheet refer to Rs 30,000 crore as the figure the company was look-ing at in the Rafale deal?”

Just as political manifestos are designed to please voters, com-pany balance sheets are designed to please shareholders. In 2017, the offset contracts were theoreti-cal and Reliance reportedly made unwise forward-looking statements in its balance sheet. To use that to attack him in light of the facts we know today — that offsets worth Rs 30,000 crore will be shared by nearly 100 Indian firms — is a wilful misrepresentation.

But, says an angry Rahul, Anil’s company was just 10 days old when it got the offset contract from Das-sault.

That, of course, is untrue as Rahul knows — or should know. The company is in fact over 20 years old. In 2015, Reliance Defence acquired Gujarat Pipapav, a reputed defence equipment manufacturer established in 1997, which has been in the defence business for more than two decades.

An election issue?A recent television survey

revealed that, contrary to popular perception, 54% of the respondents polled believe that alleged corrup-tion in the Rafale fighter jet deal would be a key issue in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Parliament will debate the CAG report on Rafale in the week begin-ning February 11.

With the Budget session conclud-ing on February 13, the perception battle over Rafale will then shift to the public domain.

RAFALE CONTROVERSY: A lie travels halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes

With the latest accusations in the press and the upcoming CAG report in Parliament, the Rafale issue has taken off again.

AJOY KUMAR

Owing to the fact that Union Minister Arun Jaitley was unable to

present the interim budget, Piyush Goyal presented it for the Modi Government last week. Unfortunately, while there was a change in the person presenting the inter-im budget, there was little about this budget that could distinguish it from what India has seen over the past five years. This budget repre-sented those values that the BJP Government has been repeatedly demonstrating ever since in power. In this week’s column, I will attempt to highlight how the interim budget was only a micro-cosm of the BJP’s approach to governance. It was irre-sponsible, ill-conceived and insulting.

Irresponsible: It is important to refer to the context in which the interim budget was presented. Frank Snepp, a journalist, had once said, “Disinformation is most effective in a very narrow context.” True words have never been spoken. While the BJP and its army of social media warriors tried hard to convince the people that this budget was a game-changer, it’s crucial to understand the context of the budget, which is that it was an interim budget.

An interim budget is typi-cal in a democracy where the party in power is about to witness an election year, where it may be voted out and another political party or a coalition of various par-ties may be voted to power. Since the two Governments may have different fiscal

and budgetary plans, as per established convention, the interim budget is usually lim-ited to signalling and explain-ing to the country what would be the measures that the Government in power aims to pursue if voted to power again.

At this stage, a vote-on-account is also presented that details an estimate of the expenditure to be sanc-tioned till the final budget is passed by the next Govern-ment in power. This tradi-tion has been followed by responsible Governments in India for over 70 years now. Someone forgot to give the BJP the memo.

As the West Bengal epi-sode shows, the BJP has time and again demonstrated that it has no interest in acting like a responsible Government. This interim budget was no different. As I had said ear-lier, it is almost unheard of for a budget to introduce sweeping changes. But in this one, the BJP recklessly introduced some tax chang-es, which otherwise require debate and discussion.

I have heard that the rationale behind introducing the tax reform was that the

middle class needed clarity about the tax structure at the beginning of the year. This seems insincere and conve-nient. Especially because the BJP is aware that this propos-al may change further when the final budget is passed in Parliament after debate. So, to hear this Government, that regularly treats statistics and numbers as an inconve-nience talk about the need of clarity for the middle class, brings tears to the eye. If only they made the people of this country cry a little less often.

Ill-conceived: Another piece of news that emerged last week was a leaked jobs report by the National Sample Survey Office, which detailed how India was going through its worst job crisis in 45 years. As per the report, its findings were withheld by this Government, which ultimately forced two senior members of the Statistics Commission to quit in pro-test.

While I could write every week about how the BJP has repeatedly shown utter disregard for any report, any institution or authority that sheds light on just how shambolic this Government

has been, today, I want to talk about how this Government ignored the crucial issue of jobs in the interim budget.

This was especially sur-prising since jobs for the youth was one of the BJP’s primary election promises in 2014. While I initially reacted with surprise, I realised that since the BJP has been ignor-ing the jobs problem for the past five years, why should the interim budget be any different?

In any case, this omis-sion speaks louder than the silence of the Prime Minister when asked an inconvenient question. It demonstrates that the BJP does not have a clear stand on any particular issue. Whether it’s the ques-tion of instituting a Lok Pal and tackling corruption or the issue of creating jobs, this Government’s only tactic has been to move from one issue to the other so that people do not stay and examine an issue long enough to question what is actually being done.

While jobs may have been a popular issue for the BJP in 2014, it is now avoiding the issue like a plague or ignoring a scientific report by a reput-ed institution that reflects the ground reality.

Insensitive: Another facet of the BJP that this interim budget displayed was just how insensitive this Government can be. Take the example of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme announced during the interim budget. Under this programme, the BJP has offered direct cash support of Rs 6,000 per year to farm-ers who have a land holding of up to two hectares. This amounts to an insulting Rs

17 per day. The BJP is aware that it has failed our coun-try’s farmers completely and believes that its latest attempt will help pacify them. This is unlikely.

Not only because of the insulting Rs 17 per day grant to the farmers but for the reason that people of this country are aware that this is just another jumla of the BJP Government like the ‘Smart Cities’ initiative or the ‘Clean Ganga’ promise.

The very idea of direct cash transfer is already in place in Telangana. The only difference is that in that State, first a survey was done and records were updated. Only then was the scheme imple-mented. In the case of the BJP, however, it has typically gone straight to announce the scheme without the slightest pretence of even attempting to make the scheme work. on the ground. This programme has all the tell-tale signs of a classic jumla.

The current BJP Gov-ernment has had repeated opportunities at its disposal to mend ways and behave like a responsible Govern-ment, one that respects the country’s institutions and holds differing views from its own or at the very least a Government that is con-nected to the ground situa-tion. But it wasted each and every opportunity. The latest interim budget is just anoth-er instance in a long line of instances of the Government choosing to stay true to its disappointing approach to governance.

(The writer is Jharkhand PCC president, former MP and IPS officer. Views are

personal)

A CHARACTERISTIC APPROACHThe interim budget was just another instance of how the ruling Government

has opted to stay true to its disappointing roadmap of governance

NL CORRESPONDENT

SRINAGAR, FEB 08

Jammu and KashmirNational Conference onFriday expressed sorrowover the loss of lives inseparate incidents inKashmir and alongJammu- Srinagar highwayafter recent heavy snowfalldemanding adequate ex-

gratia for their kith andkin. Party provincialspokesperson Imran NabiDar in a statement issuedfrom party head quartersNawa- e- Subha said, "Oursympathies are with thosewho lost their loved onesduring the recent heavysnowfall. In this hour ofgrief the party is in unisonwith the grief- strickenfamilies."The party spokespersonexpressed sorrow over theloss of lives in separateincidents in Kokernag andat Jawahar tunnel. Askingthe governor

administration toimmediately depute teamsto all snow bound areas ofthe state to access thelosses to people he said, "Iurge the incumbentadministration to expeditethe process ofcompensating the familiesaffected by vagaries ofweather over the past 24hours."Imran said that the accessroutes to various districtheadquarters particularlyin south Kashmir are yet tobe cleared of snow. Imransaid that the main arterialshaven't been cleared of

snow until now. Meanwhileparty functionariesincluding Sakina Ittoo, DrBashir Ahmad Veeri, AltafAhmad Kaloo, AbdulMajeed Larmi, ReyazAhmad Khan, SajadShaheen, and AbdulRahman Tantray have alsoexpressed grief over theloss of lives in separateincidents across the state.The leaders haveimpressed upon thegovernor administration toensure speedydisbursement ofcompensation to theeffected families. (KNS)

7 KASHMIR the northlinesJammu | Saturday| February 09| 2019

NL CORRESPONDENTSRINAGAR, FEB 08

Amid unabated snowfall,the essential serviceswere restored acrossKashmir division on warfooting basis followingprompt response by theconcerned departments.Government had alreadymade zone and locationwise action andmanagement plan acrossthe valley to preventinterruption in servicesdue to the heavy snowfall.Zonal teams fromconcerned departmentswere constituted to meetany exigency during theinclement weather.District and departmentalcontrol rooms are working24x7. Joint control roomsset up in every zone arebeing monitored by maincontrol room at Deputy

Commissioner's office toreview daily operations.Men and Machinery wereput on job in advancewhich yielded good resultsand restored all essentialservices on war footingbasis across the valleyamid heavy snowfall.This was revealed in ameeting chaired by theDivisional CommissionerBaseer Ahmad Khan toreview ground zerorestoration work forrestoration of essentialservices including powerand water supply, snowclearance on roads,availability of essentialcommodities, supply ofmedicines and otherimportant services -temporally affected by theunabated snowfall.The meeting furtherinformed that allconcerned departments

pressed their men andmachinery on job amidstheavy snowfall andrestored the essentialservices within hoursacross the valleyyesterday evening. Forquick snow clearanceoperations, MED deployed155 snow clearancemachines and snowcutters across the valley,while SMC started thesnow clearance operationsduring the night. Now,snow has been cleared onall roads and there issufficient stocking ofessential commodities inevery district of the valley,the meeting was told.The DivisionalCommissioner directedthe essential servicedepartments to work withutmost dedication and

synergy to meet anyexigency in future also.Regarding round the clockhealth care facilities, hecalled upon the hospitaladministrations to put inextra efforts to providebest services to thepatients in the prevailingharsh conditions.Khan said that the peoplehave high expectationsfrom the administrationespecially in wintermonths and officers mustfulfill these withmissionary spirit.Additional DeputyCommissioner Srinagar,Chief Engineers of MED,PDD, PHE, R&B, JointCommissioner SMC,Deputy Director HealthServices and otherconcerned officers werepresent in the meeting.

Snowfall Aftermath: Essentialservices restored on war footing

Div Com reviews ground zero restoration measures

NL CORRESPONDENTSRINAGAR, FEB 08

Director, Information &Public Relations (DIPR)Tariq Ahmad ZargarFriday reviewed thefunctioning of KashmirDivision offices of thedepartment here at ameeting.Joint Director KashmirMohammed Ashraf Hakakbriefed the Director aboutthe overall functioning ofthe directorate includingdistribution ofadvertisements, paymentof bills on behalf ofadvertisements, liabilitiesand other related aspects.The Director also took

stock of the functioning ofPR section, including theavailability of humanresource and machineryin the Newsroom.Highlighting theimportance of the PRsection, the Director saidthe News unit plays animportant role in ensuringtimely dissemination ofinformation with regard togovernment schemes andprograms. He said theupkeep of the sectionneeds to be maintained atall the costs.The respective headswere directed to maintainthe official records byusing availabletechnologicalinterventions.A threadbare discussion

was also held regardingthe alternateaccommodation forKashmir Division offices.Zargar directed theconcerned to ensure thatsuitable accommodation isidentified which isaccessible to theDirectorate DIPR,Government offices and tothe media houses.The meeting alsodiscussed variousemployees' related issues.Assistant Director,Information (FPO)Mohammed Aslam Khan,Assistant Director (AV)Shakeela Shawal, culturalofficer Riyaz Ahmed Fazalirepresentatives of campoffice directorate werepresent at the meeting.

Dir Info reviews functioningof Kmr div offices

NL CORRESPONDENTSRINAGAR, FEB 08

CPI (M) leader and formerMLA Kulgam, MuhammadYousuf Tarigami on Fridaysaid that tall claims madeby the government ontheir alertness have beenexposed with another spellof snow causing break-down of health services,massive powerbreakdown, roadblockades, scarcity ofration, fuel, water-logging,and other difficulties facedby the people in Kashmir.He said this winter severaltimes the entireadministration came to agrinding halt due tofrequent snowfalls whichis reflective of a dire needfor strengthening ofdisaster preparedness inJammu and Kashmir. To meet the challenges, hesaid the higher-ups inadministration need toensure better coordinationbetween variousdepartments especiallythose providing essentialservices. CPI (M) leaderfurther added the

government must declarethe latest heavy snowfallas a natural calamity orstate disaster so thatlosses suffered, and liveslost are compensated.Referring to the problemscaused to the people bythe latest snowfallresulting in massivepower breakdown whichhas plunged the valley,especially remote areas insouth Kashmir, into totaldarkness, he asked theadministration to expeditethe restoration of powersupply as people havebeen braving biting cold.Tarigami said the tallclaims of the Stateadministration, sayingthey are ready to tackleany kind of situation gotexposed on the ground asmost of the roads in rural,as well as urban areas,are still un-cleared, thusleaving the commonpeople to lurch at large."The Governor led theadministration must riseup to the needs of peopleand ensure all basic andeffective amenities tothem," he added. (KNS)

NL CORRESPONDENTBARAMULLA, FEB 08

In connection with 30thRoad Safety Week, DistrictLegal Services AuthorityBaramulla today organizedan awareness rally andcamp for the drivers.

The rally started fromDistrict Court ComplexBaramulla and culminatedat sumo stand Baramullaafter it was flagged off bySub Judge Faizan-ul-HaqIqbal in presence of SubJudge Parveen Pandho.A large number of officials

of judiciary besidesparalegal volunteers andother people participatedin the road show. Theywere carrying placards intheir hands with slogansabout road safety.Later addressing agathering of drivers, SubJudge Faizan-ul-Haq Iqbalwho is also SecretaryDistrict Legal ServicesAuthority Baramullaadvised the driverfraternity to follow trafficrules and regulations inletter and spirit. Theywere asked not to use cellphones while driving andimbibe habit of waringseatbelt so that preciouslives can be saved.

30th Road Safety Week

DLSA holds awareness rally, camp for driversAnother snowfall exposesGovt 'alertness': Tarigami

NL CORRESPONDENTSRINAGAR, FEB 08

Dozens of NC & PDP workers, led byAbid Bhat, from Habba Kadal joinedPeoples Conference in presence ofPeoples Conference Chairman SajadGani Lone today. Welcoming the workersinto party fold, Sajad Gani Loneexpressed dismay over successive NC &PDP regimes neglecting the historicSrinagar city and consequent economicand political disempowerment of thepeople in the urban centres, particularlyHabba Kadal. Sajad Lone said that theprevious governments have failed toformulate suitable administrativeresponse for economically backwardsections in urban centres. Peoples'Conference will ensure that the epidemicof unemployment and joblessness isaddressed systemically and that HabbaKadal gets a deserving representation in

the upcoming elections, thespokesperson added. RequestingGovernor Satya Pal Malik to grant assentto the Reservation Bill for EconomicallyBackward, Sajad Gani Lone said thatreservation for economically poorsections of the society is desperatelyrequired to make a difference to theplight of the urban poor who can hope toget their due share in government jobsand admissions in professional colleges.Urging the workers to work withcommitment & zeal, Sajad Gani Lonesaid that Peoples Conference is emergingas a strong and valiant pro-Kashmir andpro-people political alternative as theparty has always been on the side of theoppressed. He asked them to serve thepeople selflessly to usher in an era ofprosperity. Abid Bhat was nominated as the PCZonal President for Habba Kadal by thePC Chairman on this occasion. (KNS)

Habba Kadal a victim ofpolitical neglect: Sajad Lone

NC expresses grief over loss of lives on NHW

NL CORRESPONDENTSRINAGAR, FEB 08

The Department of Law,Justice and ParliamentaryAffairs today convened acondolence meeting toexpress grief over thedemise of Ghulam HassanTantray, former LawSecretary and formerChairman, BOPEE.The meeting was attended

by Secretary Tribal Affairsand Co-operatives, AbdulMajid Bhat, Secretary LawAchal Sethi, SecretaryLegislative CouncilMuzaffar Ahmed, SpecialSecretaries, AdditionalSecretaries and othersenior officers.Several officers whilespeaking on the occasionhighlighted thecontribution of Mr. Tantary

in the Law Departmentand other departments aswell.Heartfelt condolences andsympathies were alsoextended to the bereavedfamily. Meanwhile, TheDirectorate of SchoolEducation, Kashmir hasexpressed grief over thepassing away of GhulamHassan Tantray, formerLaw Secretary and formerChairman, BOPEE. He wasthe father of Suhail AhmadTantray, Senior LawOfficer, Directorate ofschool Education,Kashmir.A condolence meeting washeld at the Directoratewith Dr. G N Ittoo in chairwhich prayed for peace tothe departed soul.Heartfelt condolences andsympathies were alsoextended to the bereaved.

Law deptt, DSEK condole Tantray's demise

NL CORRESPONDENTSRINAGAR, FEB 08

As part of the ongoing30th Road Safety Week,the office of RegionalTransport Officer todayorganized an awarenessprogramme here atSKIMS Soura.

According to a handoutissued here, the staffmembers of the instituteincluding the ambulancedrivers and people fromvaried sections of thesociety participated inthe camp.During the awarenessprogramme, the speakers

including RTO Kashmir,deliberated upondifferent road safetyissues, measures andhighlighted theimportance of the use ofseat belt, helmet, etc. Director SKIMS talkedabout the procedure forhandling of postaccidental victims anduse of basic life supportsystem to save criticallyinjured persons. The Secretary DistrictLegal Services AuthoritySrinagar briefed theaudience about variouslegal provisions availableto road accident victimsand their families.

RTO organizes awareness camp

NL CORRESPONDENT

SRINAGAR, FEB 08

Divisional CommissionerKashmir, Baseer AhmadKhan, today issued anavalanche warning for ninedistricts of Kashmirdivision.The warning has beenissued for the avalanche-prone areas in districtAnantnag, Kulgam,Baramulla, Kupwara,Budgam, Bandipora,Ganderbal, Kargil and Lehof Kashmir division.

As per the hand out issuedhere, the DivisionalCommissioner hasdirected the DeputyCommissioners of all thesedistricts to advise thepeople living in avalancheprone areas not to ventureout to avoid loss of life.Besides, they have beendirected to take all theprecautionary measuresand to keep the SDRF,Police and Para-medicalstaff with ambulances inreadiness to avert anyuntoward incident.

Avalanche warning issued

NL CORRESPONDENTSRINAGAR, FEB 08

The Enforcement Squad ofFood Civil Supplies andConsumer Affairs(FCS&CA) todayconducted marketchecking at Batamaloo andrecovered Rs 6400 finefrom shopkeepers for

violation of rules.As per a handout issuedhere, the team headed byDeputy Director, FCS&CA,Mohammed Akbar Bhatconducted marketchecking at Batamaloo andits adjoining areas. Variousestablishments includingmeat shops, milk shops,bakers, restaurants,provisional stores,vegetable and fruitvendors were checked.During the inspection,some shopkeepers andstreet vendors were foundselling unhygienic fooditems, underweightpackages and violatingother laws including non-display of rate lists,misuse of domestic gascylinders andovercharging. The erringshopkeepers werepenalized with Rs 6400 onthe spot.

Rs 6400 fine recoveredfrom erring traders

NL CORRESPONDENT

KARGIL, FEB 08

Kargil town of Ladakhdivision Friday observed acomplete shutdownagainst the Government ofIndia’s reluctance to throwKargil-Skardu road openfor the public. The call for shutdown wasforwarded by AnjumanJamiyat Ulma Isna Ashriya(AJUIAK). Reports saidthat all the shops andbusiness establishmentsremained shut whiletransport also remainedoff the roads.

Pertinently, last week thetown witnessed massiveprotest march that wascarried out to press for thedemand of opening of thecross LoC Kargil- SkarduRoad to help families

divided in 1947 due topartition to meet andinteract freely.

President AJUIAKpresident Sheikh Na’zirMehdi Mohammadi toldnews agency CNS that theshutdown call wasforwarded to impressupon Government of Indiato open up Kargil-Skarduroad. He said that theshutdown was also againstthe termination of ZojilaTunnel Project and lack ofair connectivity.

He said there are some12,000 to 15,000 dividedfamilies in Ladakh and themiseries of these familiesshould be considered. Herequested Government ofIndia to open Kargil-Skardu Road and Turtuk-Khapulo Road onhumanitarian basis. (CNS)

NL CORRESPONDENT

SRINAGAR, FEB 08

Jammu and KashmirNational ConferencePresident Dr. FarooqAbdullah on Fridayexpressed hope that thenew government in NewDelhi will open parleyswith Pakistan saying onlytime bound, result orienteddialogue offers the wayforward to the protractedissue of Jammu &Kashmir.Dr. Farooq, whilewelcoming new entrantsinto the party at hisGupkar residence inSrinagar said, "I am surethat the new governmentat the centre will open

talks with Pakistan. Thereis no substitute todialogue. Dialogue isimperative to end thelooming uncertainty inJammu & Kashmir."On the occasion partypresident welcomed PDPdistrict presidentBaramulla, BandiporeIrshad Rasool Kar and aprominent PeoplesConference functionaryAbdul Rahim Lone intoNational Conference.Maintaining that thecobbling of coalitions hasalways proven detrimentalto the interests of people,Dr Farooq said, "In order tomeet the demands andprotect the interests of thestate and its people, only a

majoritarian governmentcan provide the necessaryimpetus. Therefore astable and strongdispensation is ofparamount importance tosteer J&K out of the messcreated in the past fouryears."Expressing concern onsteep increase in theairfare of airlines operatingto and out of Kashmir, hesaid, "It is reflective of theattitude of the centralgovernment. Given the factthe landing charges andthe fuel charges are stable;I see no reason behind thesteep increase in air fare,"adding, "I have time andagain taken up the issuewith the central

government and will do itagain. Dr Farooq alsoimpressed upon the needto have effective and wellcoordinated response tonatural disasters includingincessant rains andsnowfall. "I had mulled toreplace the over groundelectric cables in order toensure that people getadequate power supplyduring untoward weatherconditions, however theidea could not bematerialized. However Iam sure that the newgovernment will undertakethe process to make powerlines less susceptible tooutages during high windthunderstorms or heavysnow or incessant rains."

Anticipate result oriented dialogue on JKafter parliament elections: Farooq

Welcomes PDP leader Irshad Kar, PC leader Abdul Rahim Lone into National Conference

Kargil shuts foropening Skardu Road

HOME & GARDEN

soil wet, it is important that the best quality water-proofing material is selected.- One has to bear in mind that the area selected to build a terrace garden should have a slight slope, so that it can drain water easily and has the capacity to bear the load.- It is always advisable to pick plants which don't grow big in size.- You can install a separate tank to store water or have a mechanical watering arrangement. But most often, people love to water their garden themselves and see the plants grow.Preparing the potting mixture & sowing seeds'These days, one can easily get exotic and hybrid seeds of capsicum, chilly, cabbage, broccoli, coriander, tomatoes, brinjal, basil and parsley. The potting mixture should have 20% of leaf mould, 40% sand and 40% soil. You can add mustard cake and cow dung cake as fertilizers. After the seeds are sown, one should cover the soil with a layer of fine sand. Sand makes the soil porous and helps the roots grow. Keeping insects away'Use neem-based organic pesticides. Or you can take 100 gram of chillies, 4-5 cloves of garlic and a few bulbs of turmeric, paste it and mix it in 1 litre of water. Pour the liquid in a container and simmer it till it is reduced to half. Refrigerate it and use itwhenever necessary. All you need to do is take out about 20 ml or the concentrated paste, mix it in a litre of water and sprinkle it on the plants. However, if insects or diseases do strike your plants, go for the safest botanical or microbial pesticides'- For the proper growth of vegetables/ flowers, the pot size should be between 8-10 inches. Make one or more drain holes in the pot- Place small chips right over them so that they don't clog and excess water can pass through- Do not pile soil on top of the plant- Get various seedlings from the nursery- Carefully remove the plants from its nursery container. Make sure the stem is completely above the surface- Leave about an inch between the soil surface and the rim of the pot

Love plants, but not

sure if you can

maintain them with

ease? Ashok kumar

mundetiya tells you

how to add an extra

edge to your balcony

garden and interiors

this season...

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soulWith space being a rarity these days, it is difficult to dream of a garden space — more so, if you are staying in a small apartment. But fear not! For terrace garden — big or small — is a wonderful way to add colour to your otherwise dull life. You can just sit there, listen to music, read books or simply pull up a couch to lie down and soak in the natural beauty. Low space in metros and big cities has also compelled plant lovers to grow vegetables on their balconies. It is not only a great stress-buster, but the benefits of consuming home-grown vegetables also compensate for the time spent on pruning it. But wait... Before you start painting your house green, a few things should be taken into account, because no matter how much you care, your plants aren't going to thrive if you are ignorant of their specific needs. CT provides the basic guidelines to beginners...

Know your plantsBefore adding a plant to your potted collection, it is advisable to ask an expert at a nursery about the conditions the plant needs. "It's usually much easier to grow plants that do well in your region, temperature and soil. For instance, don't try to grow a flower like a rose — which requires six hours in the sun — on a porch that gets sunlight only for an hour in the morning. While it's important to maintain a steady temperature for indoor plants, a terrace garden needs adequate sunlight. Again, if you notice your plant becoming thin and reaching out toward the light, it needs to be closer to sunshine," informs AB Karmakar, executive/ administrator for The Globe Nursery on Lindsay Street.

Maintenance of indoor plants- Most indoor plants do best in partial shade, which works out well since indoor areas don't usually get direct sunlight. Keep this in mind before you decide to put a potted plant in a place where it will get hours of direct sunlight; you may end up exposingit for too long.- One must select the right size of the pots. For indoor plants, go for pots either 4 inches or 6 inches in size. Allow enough space for the roots to grow. Make sure the pots are light and strong, so as to hold the plant for a long time.- Place plastic saucers under the pots to avoid soil and water spillage.- Ficus Elastica, Areca Palm, a variety of philodendron or dracaena are best suited for indoors. These plants can do without sunlight for 7-10 days with minimum

requirement of water.

Water the plants carefully"Water the plants as and when required. Many first-time gardeners or potted plant owners water plants more than necessary, believing that the more water the plant gets, the better they grow. While it holds true for certain plants, it can kill others," suggests Dr SL Rahman, consultant at Agri-Horticultural Society of India.Kitchen garden in pots- If you thought a kitchen garden only works in bigger houses, you are highly mistaken. Get creative. Don't throw away buckets, containers etc. Use them along with hanging baskets for smaller plants. You can even grow vegetables in the little balcony of your apartment.- Do not use soil from the garden. It can be filled with weed seeds, insects, and fungal diseases. It is better and easier to buy readymade potting soil (a mixture c o m p r i s i n g c l a y, b o n e d u s t , vermicompost, neem cake and mustard cake) from the local nursery. You can also go for coco peat, which are made from coconut husks and is a medium for growing plants.- Get various seedlings from the nursery. Remove the plants from its nursery container. Never pull a plant out by its stem. If it is stuck, tap the sides of the pot to loosen it. Gently tease the ends of the roots free before planting it in the bigger pot.- For the proper growth of vegetables in your balcony, the pot size should be between 8-10 inches.- Make one or more drain holes in the pot. Place small chips right over them so that they don't clog and excess water can pass through.- Do not pile soil on top of the plant; make sure the stem is completely above thesurface. Leave about an inch between the soil surface and the rim of the pot.- All vegetable plants need constant moisture. Some plants need water on a daily basis.Veggies for beginnersCoriander: How many times did you get sad looking at half-dried coriander leaves (dhania) in the market? Coriander is something that is used in everyday cuisine to spice it up. And that makes it a must-grow for every kitchen garden. The seed is technically a fruit containing two seeds in it. When split, it increases the germination rate since it scarifies the seed. Take a tray with potting mix filled up to half inch from the top. Then make rows by drawing a line with your index finger or a stick. Simply sow the split coriander seeds in each row. Once done, water them and wait! It starts germinating between 5-7 days.Potatoes: Plant potatoes during late February and March. When the green shoots begin to appear above the soil, cover them with more compost. You only need remember to water them. After 10 to 20 weeks, dig around in the soil to collect your home-grown potatoes!Peas: It's a trouble-free crop that enjoys cooler weather. Sow them in the pots between March and June. Erect some sticks or posts for support. You'll be amazed at how good fresh peas taste and the more that you pick them, the more

they produce!Tomato: With a little water and a lot of sun, tomato plants are quick to grow. Roots of a tomato plant grow deeper into the soil. So, choose a bush variety like 'Cherry Cascade' that can be planted in hanging baskets and window boxes. Just cut a tomato into four pieces and bury it about 1/2 an inch into the soil. Wait for 3-4 weeks for the seeds to start sprouting.Cucumber: These grow best when the soil is warm. Cucumber plants tend to sprawl all over. Provide your plants with ample space to stretch their roots. Again, since these are climbers, you must get a proper support. Go for smaller varieties if there's less space.Green chilli: These are good companion plants for tomatoes and coriander. Just take two or three dried red chillies. Slit them open and sprinkle the seeds in a pot filled with soil and a little manure, available in the nurseries. Ensure the seeds don't go too deep. Cover it with little soil and water it. It takes about a week or so for the seeds to sprout. If the pot is not large enough, you can replant the sprouts into a bigger pot. You may need to tie up the chili plant to a pole to

let it grow and avoid bending.

Winter blossom- According to Nirupom Sen, secretary-cum-CEO, Agri-Horticultural Society of India, if you have a garden without flowers, you have got to do something about it. So, before deciding where to plant your flowers, you should know when the best time to grow flowers is. "During winter, the best flowers to grow in Indian climate are Petunia, Cockscomb, Antirrhinum, Cineraria, Zinnia, Calendula, Chrysanthemum, Marigold and Dahlia," he says.- Flower plants need up to 5 inches deep soil. So take an earthen pot of 6-8 inches in height. Dig a hole in the potted soil. Bury the seed about 2 inches deep. Flowers do not need to be smothered with the soil. Do not bury them too deep. After 6 weeks, you will see the seeds sprout into saplings.- The after-care is very essential. Sprinkle water as and when required.

Terrace talk- As the main element of a terrace garden comprises watering of plants and keeping the

Paint your house

Green this

WinterWinterGreen this

the northlinesJammu | Saturday | Feb 09 | 2019

8

JAMMU | Saturday, February 9, 2019 9

New Delhi:An “independent” CBI should raid the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), seize files and make arrests in connection with the Rafale fighter jet deal, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday.

His party colleague and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said he will file a case against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in light of the new “expose” on Rafale deal.

“In the light of today’s expose on Rafale, ‘independent’ CBI shud raid PMO, seize all the files relat-ed to Rafale and make arrests just like they raided my office and residence and Kolkatta police commissioner(sic),” Kejriwal tweeted.

The AAP’s attack came after a report was published by The Hindu newspaper on Friday which claimed the Defence Ministry raised strong objections to “parallel discussions” conducted by the PMO during the negotiations over the Rs 59,000 crore Rafale deal between India

and France.Singh maintained that his party

was the first to flag Rafale deal “scam” as he cited a letter writ-ten by him to the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the CAG last year.

“The truth that has come to the fore now has exposed the real face of Modi. We have been saying from day first that there is a scam of Rs 36,000 crore,” Singh alleged at a press conference.

Singh said he will file a com-plaint at the North Avenue police station against Modi in connection

with the emerging “facts” in the matter.

“If police does not register a case, we will approach the court,” he said.

Singh was one of the petitioners before the Supreme Court, seeking a probe in the alleged “scam” in the Rafale deal.

AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP ND Gupta demanded seizure of all documents quoted by The Hindu newspaper by the CBI so that no “tampering” is done to “dilute the seriousness” of the matter.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged that the PMO was directly involved in negotiations with the French on the Rafale deal and the prime minister was guilty in the “scam”.

The Rafale deal issue rocked the Lok Sabha as well, with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman dis-missing the media report as “flog-ging a dead horse” and slamming the Opposition for playing into the hands of vested interests.

‘Independent’ CBI should raid PMO: Kejriwal on Rafale report

Rs 1 crore in cash, gold robbed from Kolhapur bankKolhapur:Cash and gold totalling over Rs 1 crore was stolen from a cooperative bank in the early hours of Friday in Maharash-tra’s Kolhapur district, police said.

The incident hap-pened in the Kale vil-lage branch of Yash-vant Cooperative Bank in the district’s Pan-hala taluka, a police official said.

“The robbers used gas-cutters to remove iron bars of a window. They then disconnect-ed the CCTV camera network and took away cash and gold which preliminary estimates suggest is cumulative-ly Rs 1 crore. It possi-bly happened between midnight and 2am on Friday,” he said.

Sniffer dogs were deployed at the crime scene and several police teams have been formed to appre-hend the bank robbers, he added.

New Delhi:Defence Minister Nir-mala Sitharaman on Friday dis-missed a media report on the Rafale deal.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha follow-ing ruckus in the House after the latest Rafale controversy, she said every question on the issue was over and done with.

Referring to the media report, she said if the newspaper wanted to bring out the truth, it should also have told what the then defence min-ister Manohar Parrikar had said on the issue. “It was the newspaper’s duty to put the reply in the paper,” she said.

Sitharaman said she had already replied on this issue.

The Defence Minister said if the PM enquired about a deal it should not be

misconstrued as interference.This after Congress leader Mallikar-

jun Kharge led the attack in the House on the issue quoting the latest Rafale report and reiterated the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe.

The Defence Minister countered Con-gress president Rahul Gandhi’s charges and attempt to nail Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi.

Giving the government’s side of the story, Sitharaman dismissed the report about the PM’s “interference” on the issue. Claiming no interference by the PM, Sitharaman called the report “moti-vated”. “If the newspaper had bothered to bring out the truth, it should have put Parrikar’s reply,” she said.

“When the PM periodically enquires about the progress of a project it should not be considered interfer-ence. This kind of selective journalism is absolutely uncalled for,” she said, speaking to the media outside the Lok Sabha.

“Was Sonia Gandhi also running a parallel government sitting in the National Advisory Council,” she won-dered, also attacking Rahul for “his charges against the PM” yet again and for “trying to incite Air Force officers against the government”.

“Rahul Gandhi is trying to incite Air Force, Army officers. This is shocking,” she said.

Sitharaman dismisses media report on Rafale jet deal

New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Centre on activist Tehseen Poonawal-la’s petition challenging the Centre’s decision to grant 10% reservation to the eco-nomically weaker section (EWS) of general category in public employment and education, including pri-vate educational institu-tions.

However, a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said there shall be no stay on the decision to grant res-ervation to EWS among the general category.

The top court has already sought the Cen-tre’s response to some other petitions against EWS quota, including the one filed by ‘Youth For Equal-ity’.

The petition challeng-ing the Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019—which paved the way for grant of reservation to EWS candidates of the general category—sought quashing of the law on the ground that backwardness for the purpose of reserva-

tion cannot be defined by “economic status alone”.

A day after Parliament passed the constitutional amendment to provide for 10% reservation to econom-ically backward sections of the general category in government jobs and edu-cational institutions, an NGO—Youth for Equality – had challenged its validity before the Supreme Court, contending it violated basic structure of the Constitu-tion.

The law talks about a maximum of 10% of seats/posts in addition to the existing reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, taking total reservation to 59%, much beyond the 50% ceiling fixed by the Supreme Court in the Indra Shawney case pop-ularly known as Mandal Case. It also extends res-ervation to private aided and unaided educational institutions.

In its petition, Youth for Equality challenged Arti-cle 15(6) and Article 16(6) of the Constitution added by the amendment on the ground that economic cri-

terion cannot be the sole basis for reservation and that economic reservation cannot be limited to the general category alone.

Both the petitions pointed that the new quota law exceeds the 50% ceil-ing fixed by the Supreme Court in Indra Shawney case cannot be breached. The two petitions have demanded a stay on the operation of the Act.

Further, it said imposing reservations on unaided institutions was manifestly arbitrary as it went against Supreme Court’s Consti-tution Bench verdicts, the NGO contended.

“Both the Constitution Bench judgments in T.M.A. Pai Foundation (2002) and P.A. Inamdar (2005) make it clear that the State’s reservation policy cannot be imposed on unaided educational institutions, and as they are not receiv-ing any aid from the State, they can have their own admissions provided they are fair, transparent, non-exploitative and based on merit,” the Youth for Equal-ity petition read.

SC seeks response from Centre on fresh plea against 10% quota to general category

Churabhandar (WB): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched a scathing attack on the Mamata Banerjee gov-ernment, claiming it had defamed the soil of West Bengal and rendered its people helpless.

Addressing a BJP rally here in North Bengal’s Jal-paiguri district, Modi said it was an “extortionist syn-dicate” and not ‘Didi’, as Banerjee is fondly called, that was running the state.

“Those who got power in Bengal in the name of ‘Maa, Maati, Manush’ after unseating the Left have also adopted the culture of vio-lence. They have defamed

the soil of Bengal and ren-dered its people helpless,” Modi said attacking TMC government.

Assailing Banerjee for the sit-in she staged against the attempted questioning of the Kol-kata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar by the CBI in the Saradha chit fund scam case, the Prime Minister said it was for the first time that a Chief Minister had staged a dharna to protect the fraudsters who looted lakhs of poor people.

“This chowkidar will spare neither the perpetra-tors of chit fund scams nor those protecting them,” he asserted.

PM attacks Mamata over dharna, says won’t spare perpetrators of chit fund scams

Maharajganj (UP):BJP president Amit Shah on Friday called illegal migrants a vote bank of the SP and the BSP and also targeted the Oppo-sition over the issues of triple talaq and the Ayod-hya dispute.

He said “from Kashmir to Kanyakumari”, every “intruder” will be sent home if the BJP returns to power.

Shah said the party remained committed to the construction of the Ram temple at the dis-puted site in Ayodhya, and challenged the oppo-sition parties to spell out their own stands on the issue.

He was addressing booth-level party workers, in a series of such interac-tions in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.

“Should the intruders not be thrown out of the country?” Shah asked them, in an apparent ref-erence to migrants from Bangladesh.

He said the recent exer-cise on the National Reg-ister of Citizens (NRC) in Assam had identified 40 lakh such people, “and the process of throwing them out has started”.

“If UP elects the Nar-endra Modi government again in 2019, every single intruder will be ousted from Kashmir to Kanya-kumari,” he said.

“These intruders may be a vote bank for ‘bua’ and ‘bhatija’,” Shah said, referring to alliance part-ners Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati and Sama-jwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav.

“For us, it is national security that is most important.” The Bharatiya Janata Party chief said all BJP workers want to know the party’s stand on the Ram temple.

“I want to make it clear that the BJP is committed to building a grand Ram temple at the same place at the earliest,” he said.

He charged that the Congress wanted the Ayodhya land case taken up only after the elections.

He said the faith of crores of people was attached to the case,

and asked the Congress, “Whom do you want to appease?”

“I have said here that the BJP is committed to the Ram temple’s con-struction, but I want to ask bua-bhatija and Rahul baba to clear their par-ties’ stand on it,” he said, throwing a challenge at UP’s opposition alliance and the Congress.

“If they do not want it, they should clearly tell the people. Whatever their stand is, the BJP will get a grand temple built there,” he said.

Shah recalled that the Centre has moved the Supreme Court seeking permission to return the uncontested land adjacent to the disputed site to its original owners.

He referred to Con-gress women wing chief Sushmita Dev remark Thursday that the party will scrap the triple talaq law if it comes to power.

“Should Muslim women and girls not get their rights?” he said.

“Every woman in the country has the right to her dignity and Modi will give this right to Muslim women as well,” Shah said.

Illegal migrants are SP, BSP vote bank: Shah

Balasore (Odisha):India test-fired its helicopter-launched version of one of the most-advanced anti-tank weapons from the Odisha coast on Friday.

Helina, the helicopter-launched version of the Nag anti-tank guided missile with a hit range of 7-8 km, was launched from an Army chopper. The weapon system was tested for its full range at 12.55 pm near the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur in Balasore district, defence sources said.

During the trial, Helina was released smoothly from the launch platform, following which the missile tracked the target all through its course in order to strike with high precision.

Developed by the Defence

Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), it is one of the most-advanced anti-tank weapons in the world, sources said.

It is guided by an infrared imaging seeker (IIR) oper-ating in the lock-on before-launch mode and helps in further strengthening the defence capabilities of the country.

All parameters of the flight test were monitored by the telemetry stations, track-ing systems and the helicop-ters deployed by the Army.

On July 13, 2015, three round trials of Helina were conducted at a firing range in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. Helina was also success-fully test-fired from Rudra helicopter at Pokhran test range on August 19 last year.

Helicopter-launched anti-tank missile ‘Helina’ test-fired

New Delhi:Indicating that he may not contest the upcoming parlia-mentary election, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda said Friday that he expects to be given sufficient time to deliver probably his last speech in Parliament next week when the House takes up dis-cussion on the interim budget.

The 85-year-old JD (S) chief also expressed anguish that he was not given enough time to speak in Lok Sabha during the debate on motion of thanks to the President’s address on February 7 despite a request made to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

Gowda said he would even request the Congress party to give some of its allotted time in the Lower House to him to com-plete his last speech.

“I am disappointed. I am not satis-fied (with my speech on the President’s address). Barely I had spoken for six min-utes, the Speaker cautioned me to finish my speech. Still, I spoke for some more time but I was not satisfied,” Gowda told reporters.

The JD (S) leader said that he had specially requested the Speaker to give him an opportunity to speak during the debate on the interim budget and motion of thanks on the President’s address as it might be his last speech in Parliament.

“I have never criticised anyone per-

sonally. I sought time to speak, not to criticise anyone. I have governed the country for 320 days and people of this country do not know what I did. The sole intention was to share what I did when I was Prime Minister because I have may not come to Parliament again,” he added.

Gowda, who led a coalition government for 10 months between 1996-97, hoped to get sufficient time on Monday to speak during the debate on the interim budget.

“I will request Congress leaders to give their time to me. Let’s see if they will give,” he said, adding that this could be his last speech in Parliament.

It may be noted that the former prime minister’s grandsons are vying for party ticket to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Hassan, currently represented by him.

Ex-PM Deve Gowda hints at not contesting Lok Sabha polls

34 die after consuming spurious liquor in Haridwar villageDehradun:At least 34 persons died while eight others have been battling for life at hospitals after allegedly consuming spu-rious liquor at a village in Haridwar district, prompt-ing the administration to order a magisterial probe into the incident and sus-pend 17 excise and police department personnel.

The victims had con-sumed the liquor Thursday evening at the `tehravin’ - the 13th day of mourning – to mark a death, officials said.

Sixteen of the victims died in Uttarakhand’s Balu-pur village itself.

Eighteen more deaths took place in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur dis-trict, which adjoins Uttara-khand, as the people who had attended the mourning ritual returned home.

Some of them had car-ried the liquor home, an official said.

In an unrelated incident in eastern UP’s Kushinagar district, eight other people have died over the last three days, allegedly after drinking spurious liquor.

Guwahati:All Assam Students Union (AASU) members shouted slogans against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and waved black flags at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who arrived here on Friday evening on a two-day visit to the Northeast.

The Prime Minister wit-nessed the protests when he travelled to the Raj Bhavan here, where he will spend the night, from Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Interna-tional Airport.

A large number of AASU members were seen show-ing black flags to the Prime Minister and shouting slo-gans as his convoy crossed the gates of the Gauhati University at around 6.30 pm and a few minutes later as he crossed the premises of the AASU headquarters on M G Road. Slogans like ‘Modi go back’, ‘Scrap Citi-zenship Amendment Bill’, ‘Joi Aai Asom (Glory to Mother Assam)’ was heard.

A large group of BJP supporters and ministers Sidhartha Bhattacharya(Education)

and Pijush Hazarika (Health) were seen standing near the AASU protesters, waving placards and shouting slo-gans welcoming the Prime Minister.

The demonstrators were restricted as the gates to the AASU office was locked by the police, the students union’s chief adviser Sam-mujal Bhattacharya claimed.

“The government with its machinery can show its power and strength...No matter how much the government tries to quell the protests, the agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Bill will con-tinue. The government has proven that it is a protector of the Bangladeshi infiltra-tors and is against the indig-enous people of Assam,” he said.

Modi arrived at Guwa-hati airport from Jalpaiguri in West Bengal in a special Indian Air Force plane and was received by Governor Jagdish Mukhi, Chief Min-ister Sarbananda Sonowal, Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and senior government officials.

Citizenship Bill row: PM Modi shown black flags in Guwahati

JAMMU | Saturday, February 9, 201910 SPORTS

SPORTS & ALLIED NEWS

Jammu, Feb 08: Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) emerged overall champion while hosts Jammu and Kashmir Police won the Brass Band trophy in the 19th All India Police Band Competition, held under the aegis of All India Police Sports Control Board (AIPSCB), amidst sooth-ing musical presentations at Gulshan Ground here today.

In the valedictory func-tion, Advisor to the Gov-ernor, KK Sharma was the chief guest, who presented the title trophies to the first three position holders and other individual prizes for best performers.

Speaking to the gather-ing, the Advisor said that J&K Police were doing a challenging task of main-taining peace and order in hostile situations. He said that the force, despite mul-tifarious duties, also excel-ling in the field of sports and related activities. He

elaborated the importance of Band in the history of police forces and said that the Band symbolises the excellence of a force.

Additional Director AIPSCB, Pranab Nanda com-plimented the J&K Police for hosting the competition in a befitting manner. While highlighting the importance of the police band, Nanda underlined the history and evolution and development of the police bands in India. He said that these bands through their tunes reflect the Indian culture.

Condolence for snow avalanche victims

Earlier, at the very outset, the DGP of hosts, J&K Police, Dilbag Singh expressed his condolences on the unfortunate inci-dent of snow avalanche at Jawahar Tunnel which took human lives including those of J&K Police person-nel. A two-minute silence was observed by the gath-ering to pay tributes to the departed souls.

He mentioned that

despite inclement weather all the events were held in the competition and all the teams representing their respective states and forces showed their best. He con-

gratulated the winners and thanked the participating teams for their discipline and performance.

The DGP said that J&K Police were proud to host

the competition second time. He appreciated the efforts of the organising committee for conducting the competition in a befit-ting manner.

Mushtaq, Gajanan best Conductors

As per the results declared by the jury of experts, the contingent of CRPF emerged overall champion. Band Master of J&K Police, SI Mushtaq Ahmad was declared best Brass Band conductor while Constable, Gajanan And-hare of Maharashtra Police was adjudged best Pipe Band conductor. In team events of Bugle calls, CRPF, Tamil Nadu Police and ITPB bagged first, second and third place respectively.

Similarly, in Pipe Band competition, Maharash-tra Police emerged winner while Assam Rifles and CRPF remained runners up and third (hardliner) respectively. In Brass Band, J&K Police bagged the title trophy. Second place went to CRPF while BSF finished third. Special memento was presented to all women Pipe Band team of Jharkhand Women.

Later, ADGP Armed and organising secretary,

AK Choudhary thanked all participating teams and the managing staff for their cooperation in conduct-ing the event in a smooth manner. He also thanked the other committee mem-bers for their cooperation in making the arrangement for the event.

The closing ceremony was attended by Police Wives Welfare Associa-tion (PWWA) members, a galaxy of Army, CAPF, civil, retired and serving police officers.

Meanwhile, DGP hosted a dinner for all the orga-nizing committee, sub-committee members, team managers, technical experts and other officers, who remained associ-ated with the conduct of this competition. The DGP also felicitated the team managers and presented them mementoes. The DGP handed over mementoes to team managers for the DGPs of their respective states/CPOs as a token of love from the J&K Police.

CRPF overall champion, hosts JKP bags Brass Band trophy

The CRPF officials and conductors receive overall championship trophies from Advi-sor to Governor, K K Sharma at Jammu on Friday.

Kabaddi coaching camp beginsSPORTS & ALLIED NEWS

Jammu, Feb 08: A brief coaching camp, prior to the teams’ participation in the 45th Junior National Kabaddi Championship, got underway at MA Sta-dium, here today.

Earlier, the Associa-tion announced the list of probable for coaching camp and participation afterwards in the 45th Junior National Champi-onship to be held at Kol-kata from February 15 to February 18.

The Team: Men: Mohd. Altaf, Lateef Ali, Aasif Moh-u-din, Mohd. Hus-sain, Mohd. Aslam, Aman Magotra, Nitin Kumar, Saddam Hussain, Raman-preet Singh, Amjed Hus-sain, Rishab Sharma, Naveen Kumar, Vasu Randhawa and Manat Singh. Women: Taniya Chaudhary, Monika, Ayushi Ujjwal, Malika, Kritika Sambyal, Manshu Devi, Siya Saini, San-jana Devi, Parveen Bibi, Zule Khan, Samu Dhani, Diksha Katal and Sukh-meet Kaur.

J&K loses promising chess player SPORTS & ALLIED NEWS

Jammu, Feb 08: The State has lost a promis-ing and young 15 years old chess player, Jaiveer Singh Gujral son of Taran-vir Singh Gujral in a tragic road accident.

To condole the demise of Jaiveer, J&K Chess Association held a meet-ing and observed a two-minute silence to pray for the peace to the departed soul.

“We have lost a prom-ising player. The Associa-tion pray to the Almight God to give strength to the family members to bear the irreparable loss,” president of the Associa-tion, Atul Kumar Gupta told SAN.

SPORTS & ALLIED NEWS

Jammu, Feb 08: Hosts Jammu and Kashmir shall be playing against Uttarakhand in a group-B inaugural match of the 73rd National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy North Zone (qualify-ing round) at holy town of Katra in district Reasi on February 11.

Though the first match of the day-one shall be played between Chanidgarh and Delhi at 11 am, the inaugu-ral match is scheduled to be held at 2 pm soon after the formal opening of the tour-nament b the Advisor to the Governor, K Vijay Kumar, who has consented to be the chief guest.

This was informed by the Secretary, J&K State Sports Council (JKSSC), Naseem Javed Choudhary while addressing the media, here today. The event is being organised by the JKFAunder the aegis of All India Foot-ball Federation (AIFF). The competition is actively sup-ported by JKSSC, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) and J&K Bank Ltd.

“It was endeavour of the Governor, Satya Pal Malik and Advisor (Sports), Vijay Kumar to take sports beyond the boundaries of twin capi-tal cities of Jammu and Srinagar by way of holding the mega events at other

districts. So, it was decided to expose the qualify infra-structure raised by the SMVDSB at the national level by taking events of repute to the holy town of Katra. The CEO SMVDSB, Simranjeet Singh was kind enough to agree to the request of JKFA for the venue and other logis-tic support,” said Secretary, who has been made organis-ing secretary of the tourna-ment.

Earlier, JKFA president, Zameer Thakur gave details of the event and disclosed the fixtures amidst naming of the State team. He said that JKFA makes all out efforts to take sports to the district level in the entire state despite constraints.

Also present were Direc-tor Sports, SMVDSB, Ashok Kumar, treasurer JKFA, Surinder Singh Bunty and president, DFA Jammu, Sheikh Mehmood.

Top domestic event Before the start of the

National Club Football

League in 1996, the Santosh Trophy was considered the top domestic championship in India. The tournament organised every year with 31 teams divided into zone/groups so as to qualify for the tournament through the preliminary round. It was for the fourth time that JKFA has been given the responsibility of hosting of the prestigious with earlier events being in 1978 (Srinagar), 2008 (Jammu/Srinagar), 2016 (Jammu) and now in 2018-19 (Katra in district Reasi).

8 team, 2 groupsEight states from North

India shall compete in this championship. The partici-pants included Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Chandigarh and host Jammu and Kashmir. As per the fix-ture, issued All India Football Federation (AIFF), there shall be total 12 league matches to be played on single leg format. Participating eight teams have been divided

into two groups and the top team from each group shall qualify for the final round. Group-A: Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. Group-B: Chandi-garh, Delhi, J&K and Utta-rakhand.

MOU with Vector X In the meantime, the JKFA

has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a leading sports manu-facturers Vector X . A Jaland-har (Punjab) based company, Vector X shall sponsor play-ing apparels and officials footballs to J&K State teams participating at the National level events. The agreement, between JKFA and Vector X, singed today, shall be for a period of three years.

The J&K Squad Rashid Nalkand, Nirdosh

Salgotra, Gagandeep Singh, Vivek Gulati, Gautam Mehra (Captain), Faisal Thakur, Amit Kumar (U-21), Shahid Sheraaz (U-21), Gulshan Kumar, Rohit Kumar, Sanan Tariq, Shaiker Ahamd Sheikh (U-21), Ishan Gupta, Ali Asif Khan, Adanan Ayoub (vice captain), Akif Javeed, Furkan Zargar, Touseef Ahmad (U-21) and Amrit-pal Singh. Officials: Satpal Singh (Head coach), Rajesh Kumar (Assistant coach), Dr Shahid Shamim (Physiother-apist), Vijay Kumar (Trainer), Zahoor Teli (Team Manager), Abdul Majeed Kakroo (Tech-nical Director)

ADVISOR KUMAR TO INAUGURATE THE EVENT ON FEB 11

J&K faces Uttarakhand in Santosh Trophy opener

Secretary, JKSSC, Naseem Javed Choudhary, accom-panied by JKFA president, Zameer Thakur, speaks to media at Jammu on Friday.

Auckland, Feb 8:Mahendra Singh Dhoni watched from the 22 yards as his heir apparent Rishabh Pant showed spunk in a tricky situation, guiding India to a comfortable seven-wicket victory against New Zealand in the second T20 International here on Friday.

The chase was set up by skip-per Rohit Sharma (50 off 29 balls) in company of Shikhar Dhawan (30, 31 balls) with a 79-run stand after Krunal Pandya got three wickets to restrict the hosts to 158/8. With whirlwind fifty, Rohit also became the top run-getter in the format, sur-passing Martin Guptill.

Dhoni, the original master fin-isher couldn’t have been happier as he saw Pant control what could have been a tricky 159-run chase with an unbeaten 40 off 28 balls. The series is now tied 1-1 with the decider in Hamilton on Sunday.

With the former India captain (20 no off 17 balls) playing the role of a mentor at the other end, the 44-run stand was significant as Indian cricket slowly moves towards a change of guard in the coming days.

Pant’s one-handed six off Tim Southee and the back drive off Scott Kuggeleijn to finish off the match were reminiscent of Dhoni’s best days. He hit four boundaries and a six in all.

The innings would certainly help him make a strong case for being included in the World Cup squad.

Earlier, Krunal enhanced his already growing reputation as a steady short-format bowler with three important breakthroughs as India restricted New Zealand to a below-par 158/8.

The parsimonious Krunal (3/28 in 4 overs) dismissed Colin Munro (12) and skipper Kane Williamson (20)

to peg the Black Caps back early in the innings.

In between, Krunal also got the controversial wicket of Daryl Mitch-ell (1), who fell prey to an umpiring howler, when ‘Hotspot’ showed a clear inside edge onto the pads.

However, Colin de Grandhomme, who has played for KKR in the IPL, then counter-attacked, scoring a blistering 50 off 28 balls, adding 77 runs with Ross Taylor (42 off 36 balls) for the fifth wicket.

Once De Grandhomme was sent back to the dug-out by Hardik Pandya (1/36 in 4 overs) and Taylor was run out, New Zealand’s chances of a big total went up in smoke.

It was a much-improved per-formance by the Indian bowlers with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/29 in 4 overs) removing Tim Seifert (12) in the very third over with a fuller delivery, inducing an inside edge to Dhoni behind the stumps.

However, it was Krunal, who really applied the brakes after being brought inside the Powerplay overs.

The elder Pandya quickly found the ideal length, bowling his usual wicket-to-wicket deliveries with a flatter trajectory.

Both Munro and Williamson got skidders. While the left-handed

opener Munro hit one straight to the cover, Williamson was caught plumb in-front.

However, it was the dismissal of Mitchell that once again raised the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ debate even though it was a clear case of an umpir-ing howler by TV umpire Shaun Haig.

Krunal angled one into Mitchell, who got an inside edge onto the pads. The on-field umpire adjudged him leg before and he promptly asked for DRS.

As the giant screen showed that a faint edge could be detected by Hotspot, to everyone’s dismay, TV umpire Shaun Haig pressed the red button to signal out.

After that, it was left to India cap-tain Rohit Sharma to call the player back but he didn’t do so.

At 50 for 4, it was De Grandhom-me, who took charge as he attacked Yuzvendra Chahal (0/37 in 4 overs), hitting him for a couple of sixes.

When he was just about threat-ening to take the game away, De Grandhomme smacked one straight to covers in skipper Rohit’s hands.

Young Khaleel Ahmed (2/27) pol-ished off two wickets in the end. He and Bhuvneshwar also bowled 18 dot balls between them.

India level T20 series; Krunal restricts, Rohit blasts, Rishabh finishes

NL CORRESPONDENT

Jammu, Feb 08: Students of Rich Harvest School, Bari Brahmana outshined and brought laurels to the school by securing 2nd and 3rd prize in the painting competition jointly orga-nized by 91.9FM Jammu and Motor vehicle Depart-ment of J & K to mark road safety week at Wave Mall Jammu. In this competition more than 1500 students from different schools par-ticipated. The competition was based in the theme

‘Road Safety Week’. Suhana from class 3rd got second prize and Satinder from class 2nd got third prize by spreading different safety messages through their beautiful paintings. They were very enthusiastic throughout the activity and enjoyed a lot. Principal Ms. Anita Bhatia congratulated the artists for their partici-pation in the competition and appreciated the hard work of teachers viz. Ms. Kanika and Ms. Mamta who prepare them for the com-petition.

RHS students bring laurels to school

Mumbai, Feb 8:Veteran Indian crick-eter Yuvraj Singh on Friday said Mahen-dra Singh Dhoni’s presence is crucial to the country’s World Cup chances as he is a “guiding” force for current captain Virat Kohli and “important” in decision-making.

Dhoni’s place in the side has been a subject of debate owing to his incon-sistent form but many, including former captain Sunil Gavaskar, have said that his tremendous grasp of match situa-tions makes him invaluable.

Yuvraj, the 2011 World Cup’s player of the tournament, echoed the senti-ment when asked about the Dhoni factor here at an interaction.

“I think Mahi (Dhoni) has a great cricket brain. And as a wicket-keeper, you are in the best position to monitor the game and he has done that fantas-tically over the years. He has been a great captain. (He is) with the young players and guiding Virat (Kohli) all the time,” Yuvraj said.

“So, I feel his presence is very important in decision-making. He had a fantastic tournament in Australia and it is good to see him hit the ball how he used to do, and I wish him all the

best,” added the batsman, who had hit six sixes in an over during the World T20 in 2007.

But Yuvraj steered clear of queries on which batting position Dhoni should come in. “That you have to ask Dhoni, which number he has to bat,” he said.

Yuvraj will be competing for Mumbai Indians in the IPL and said he will look to ease the pressure on skipper Rohit Sharma.

“I think, if I can contribute in the middle-order, it will just take some weight off him (Rohit) and he can just go and play his natural game, while open-ing. (We will) see how the combinations (go),” Yuvraj told reporters here.

The 37-year-old left-hander found a buyer quite late at the IPL players’ auction held in Jaipur last December

for his base price of Rs one crore after going unsold initially.

“I’m very fired up boss, I have been training in the nets every day,” said Yuvraj.

He also lauded fellow Punjab player Shubman Gill, who recently made his India One Day debut in New Zealand, saying his progress over the last one year has been amazing.

“I was excited to see him (Shubman) play for India. It is amazing, how he has improved so much. He came back from the (India) A tour, scored lot of runs in domestic cricket, straightaway got an opportunity,” said Yuvraj.

Yuvraj also was pleased with rise of teams like Vidarbha, Gujarat and Sau-rashtra in the domestic circuit.

“Very impressed with Vidarbha, they have got some great players. They have got an outstanding coach—Chan-drakant Pandit—who’s definitely got the best out of the team.

“Also impressed with how domestic cricket is improving, the other teams are improving...Saurashtra are playing well, Gujarat has also been playing very well, so it is good to see that in domestic cricket,” he signed off.

Dhoni’s presence in World Cupimportant for decision-making: Yuvraj

Sindhu signs Rs 50 crore deal with Chinese sports brand Li-NingNew Delhi, Feb 8:Olympic and World Championship silver medallist PV Sindhu has signed a whopping four-year sports sponsorship deal of Rs 50 crore with Chinese sports brand Li-Ning.

The record deal comes after compatriot Kidambi Srikanth was offered a cool Rs 35 crore over a period of four years by the Chinese company last month.

“Sindhu’s deal is one of the biggest in world badminton. It is close to Rs 50 crore for sponsor-ship and equipment,” Mahender Kapoor, direc-tor, Sunlight Sports Pri-vate Limited, the multi-national exclusive part-ner of Li-Ning in India, said.

11 BUSINESS the northlinesJammu | Saturday| February 09| 2019

JAMMU, FEB 08

Classic Legends Pvt. Ltd. isproud to announce thelaunch of its first JawaMotorcycles dealership inJammu. The newdealership is open atDIVEN AUTOMOBILES:National highway, GreaterKailash Chowk, KunjwaniBypass Road, Jammu-180010The brand is aggressivelymoving ahead with itstarget of opening 100+dealerships and the launchof new outlet in Jammutakes the total count to 33new dealerships acrossIndia.Speaking on thedevelopment, Mr. AshishSingh Joshi said, "It givesme immense pride to

announce the launchClassic Legends' first JawaMotorcycles dealership inJammu. Ever since welaunched, Jawa hasgarnered an overwhelmingresponse, withunprecedented onlinebookings and we are quiteupbeat to offer our modernclassics to the motorcycleenthusiasts in the city. Weare working to build asuperlative experience forthe customers in terms ofbrand as well as salesenablement. Given the loveand affection we havereceived since the launchof Jawa Motorcycles inNovember, it is our duty toput in industry firstpractices to create anexperience that transcendsthe way premium

motorcycles are sold in thecountry as we expand ournetwork to gear up fordeliveries starting March.We are excited that wehave already taken theright step forward inbuilding this experience byannouncing an industry-first Exchange Programand the largest number offinancial tie ups. We urgeeveryone to walk into thenew dealership to feel thecomplete Jawaexperience",The Jawa and Jawa fortytwo break cover as thebrand's new torchbearers,bringing back the classicappeal of Jawa with aretro-cool twist. Thesemodern machines have the

authentic Jawa characterthat balances performance,capability and quality. Anall-new 293cc, liquidcooled, single cylinder,DOHC engine nestledwithin a double cradlechassis is tuned to bringout the superlativehandling and class leadingstability, making the newJawa a true modernclassic.The Jawa and Jawa fortytwo are priced at INR1,66,000 /- and INR1,57,000/- respectively (ex-showroom, Jammu) theDual Channel ABS variantswill be priced at INR1,74,942 /- & INR 1,65,942/- respectively. Bookingsare open at the showroom.

Jawa Motorcycles expands footprint inNorth India with new dealership in Jammu

MUMBAI, FEB 08

Blue Dart today announcedthe launch of its new state-of-the-art aviation facilitystrategically located nearTerminal 1 (Domestic) atChhatrapati ShivajiMaharaj InternationalAirport, Mumbai. Thefacility measures 4300 sq.meters and is equippedwith both air and city sideaccess, enabling fast andefficient transfer ofshipments, improvingtransit times and furtherstrengthening Blue Dart'smarket leading servicequality.Blue Dart Aviation (BDA),India's first and only

domestic cargo airline inoperation for 23 years, hasa dedicated fleet of sixB757-200 freightersproviding a capacity of 500tonnes and 86 routeconnections each night.Mumbai is one of BDA'smajor hubs with 4 flightdepartures connecting 8sectors on BDA's airnetwork. BDA has its ownground handling, securityand engineering capabilityand carries out its ownheavy airframemaintenance with itsprofessional and qualifiedmanpower.Rajeev Jain, ChiefExecutive Officer, MumbaiInternational Airport said,

"We congratulate Blue Dartand express our bestwishes for this facility. Weare confident that this newfacility at Mumbai Airportwill boost the growth ofBlue Dart".Commenting on thelaunch, TulsiMirchandaney, ManagingDirector, Blue DartAviation said, "Blue Dart,the undisputed leader is atrade facilitator and anenabler for key businessesin thecountry. We have createddistinct marketdifferentiation through ourexcellent B2B and B2Csolutions and we willcontinue to invest in

creating superiorinfrastructure capabilitiesto provide the bestsolutions for ourcustomers. The launch ofthe new facility will booston-time performance,improve our market-leading transit times andfurther strengthen ourday-definite and time-definite delivery acrossthe country. Blue Dart isalso committed tosupporting theGovernment of India in its'Make in India' vision byproviding modern airinfrastructure, advancedtechnology and integratedtransportation for qualitydistribution".

Blue Dart launches state-of-the-artfacility at Mumbai Int'l Airport

MUMBAI, FEB 08

The Board of Directors ofLIC Housing Financeannounced its un-auditedresults for the thirdquarter ended onDecember 31, 2018,following its approval bythe Board of Directors in ameeting held in Mumbai onJanuary 30, 2019.Total disbursement duringthe quarter Rs. 12778 crsas against Rs. 12293 crs forthe same period inprevious year. During thequarter, disbursements inthe individual home loancategory was Rs. 9170crores as compared to Rs8935 crores. Thedisbursements indeveloper loan segmentwas Rs 1238 crores asagainst Rs 970 crores forQ3 FY18, a growth of 28%.The company's total

income for Q3 FY19 was Rs4439 crores as against Rs3626 crores during thesame period previous year,a growth of 22%. Revenuefrom operations grew 23%from Rs 3587 crores to Rs4414 crores. Net interestincome was Rs 1042crores, as against Rs 737cr for the same period lastyear.Profit before tax for thequarter was Rs 859.59crores, as against Rs718.01 cr for the sameperiod in the previous year.Net profit after tax for theQ3 FY19 was Rs596.31crores as comparedto Rs 475.10 crores in thecorresponding period of theprevious year.The Individual loanportfolio stood at Rs170334 crores as againstRs 149986 crores, a growthof 14%. Developer loan

portfolio stood at Rs 11365crores as on December 31,2018 as against Rs 6189crores as on December 31,2017, a growth of 84%. Totaloutstanding portfolio grewat 16% from Rs. 156176 crsto Rs. 181698 crs. Speakingon the Q3 FY19performance, MD & CEO,LIC Housing Finance, Mr.Vinay Sah said, "We haveregistered stable numbersacross all areas of businessin Q3 FY19 which has beenin a challenging andturbulent environment. Welook forward to maintainingthis growth journey with afocus on healthy assetquality, cost improvementand better market presenceacross India. We expect themomentum to continue inthe Q4 to give us a goodoverall performance in thefinancial year 2018-19."

LIC HFL announces itsfinancial results for Q3 FY 2019

MUMBAI, FEB 08

Nissan India todayannounced the launch ofNissan SBS - Seat BeltShirt as part of#HaveYouClickedTodaypublic service and CSRinitiative in India. TheNissan SBS has been co-created in partnership withace fashion designer KunalRawal and is based oninsights from India's firstsurvey 'Rear Seat BeltUsage and Child RoadSafety in India'commissioned by NissanIndia and SaveLIFEFoundation released earlierthis year. Over one-fifth of all Indianschoose to not wear rearseat belts in their cars due

to discomfort, risk ofcreasing or ruining theirclothes. Based on thisinsight and with an aim toraise awareness aroundthe usage of rear seat beltsin India, Nissan India haspartnered with Bollywood'sace fashion designer, KunalRawal, to co-create theNissan Seat Belt Shirt. Talking about this creativeinnovation, Thomas Kuehl,President, Nissan IndiaOperations said, "Nissan'sRear Seat Belt surveyrevealed that one out fiveIndians are willing to puttheir lives at risk toprevent clothes fromcreasing or discomfort.This clearly indicated anopportunity and anintervention to drivebehavioural change for alldrivers and passengers.

Nissan SBS is an idea thatwe co-created with KunalRawal to sparkconversations and areminder to always opt forsafety while addressingyour fashion sensibilities!"The Nissan Seat Belt Shirt

is a wrinkle-resistant shirtthat combines style andquality for men and womenwho seek to lookimpeccable withoutsacrificing on comfort andsafety. Available in classicwhite, the Nissan SBS usesa soft, breathable andlightweight cotton-polyester blend, making itthe ideal choice for hotsummers, or under jacketsfor formal occasions. Theshirt sports a mnemonic ofa seat belt to ensure thatpeople remember to buckleup when in the car.

Nissan 'Seat Belt Shirt'awareness initiative launched

PATIALA, FEB 08

As many as 150 employeeswere examined during aPatiala Heart Institute,Patiala free heart check-upat GSK Factory, Nabha onFriday. During camp, free servicesof cardiologistconsultation, bloodpressure monitoring andECG were offered toemployees besides a freediet consultation providedby a nutritionist of PatialaHeart Institute.Later while addressing a

talk on health heart, Dr.Birdevinder Singh, Sr.Interventional Cardiologistat Patiala Heart Instituteraised awareness on howcardio-vascular disease

has risen ten times amongyounger people over thelast few decades. He also highlighted thatmedical attention shouldbe sought at the earliest ifthere is any chest painalong with breathlessness,profuse sweating,nervousness or vomiting. He advised adoptingeffective preventivemethods and timely check-ups as key to reducingheart related problems to asignificant level.Speaking during occasion,

Dilshad Singh Sidhu, COOof Patiala Heart Institutesaid , "Coronary ArteryDisease is a major lifestyledisease and one shouldstrive for an active andhealthy lifestyle."

150 employees examinedin heart check-up camp

MUMBAI FEB 08

Daisy Shah walks as theshow stopper for designerKanchan More Sabharwalat Lakme Fashion Week forSummer/Resort 2019. Thisis not the first time thatthe diva graced the rampat LFW, earlier in 2017Daisy walked for thedesigner Amit GT as the

show stopper. The actresslooked splendid in apurple shade gown whichwas giving her a royal lookand looked drop deadgorgeous as always.Talking about LFW Daisytold IANS, "Walking theramp at Lakme FashionWeek has always been agreat experience. Thistime I will be wearing a

contemporary collectionblended with a tint oftradition called NortheastBreeze by Kanchan MoreSabharwal... I'm excited toexperiment with Indo-Western look on ramp forthe first time." Daisy Shah took over theramp with poised and hitthe runway in the latestNorth East Breezecollection. Further talkingabout fashion andcelebrities being judgedfor their fashion choicesDaisy told IANS, " I feelthat style is somethingvery personal and thatyour fashion choices areno-one else's business. Idon't let a person sittingbehind a computer whoseface i haven't seen affectme anymore. Here's todoing what makes you feelhappy. It's time that weprioritize our own choicesand our happiness overwhat anyone else thinks!"On the professional front,Daisy Shah is preparingfor her next film which willsoon be announced. Tillthen we are eagerlylooking forward to Daisy'sramp pictures at theLakme Fashion Week.

Daisy Shah turns show stopperfor Lakme Fashion Week 2019!

CHANDIGARH, FEB 08

"More than 15-croreIndians suffer from kneeproblems, out of whichabout 4 crore patientsneed total kneereplacement (TKR),imposing a huge healthburden on the country.This in contrast, in China,about 6.5 crore peoplesuffer from knee problems- less than half the numberin India. The incidence of

knee arthritis amongIndians is 15 times higherthan that in Westernnations. This is because ofthe genetic predispositionof Indians towards kneearthritis, and a lifestylethat results in overuse ofthe knee joints."Dr. Vikram I Shah,

Founder Chairman &Managing Director, ShalbyHospitals stated this whileaddressing a workshop onosteoarthritis and knee

and hip replacements, atShalby Hospital, Mohalitoday, which was attendedby around 70 people. One of India's foremostorthopedic surgeons, whowith his team of surgeonsand paramedics has donethe highest number of jointreplacement surgeries inthe world, Dr Shah furthersaid that tremendousadvancements have beenmade in jointreplacements in India inthe last 20 years, yet theunmet demand remainshuge. The country isseeing an arthritisepidemic. The incidence of kneearthritis in the Indianpopulation is believed tobe as much as 15 timeshigher than what is foundin Western nations. USA,

with a population of 30crores, sees 7 lakh totalknee replacementsurgeries every year, butfor India, this figure is only150,000, he remarked. While this is a huge jumpfrom a mere 350 kneesurgeries that wereperformed in India in 1994,the unmet demand in thecountry would be astaggering one crore kneereplacements each year,considering the huge sizeof the population and thepropensity of Indians forknee arthritis, he pointedout. Compared to this, Indiawill be seeing just aboutone million kneereplacements every yearby 2022. KneeReplacements today

involve much lowerinfection rates and shorterhospital stays, assertedDr. ShahKnee arthritis is expected

to emerge as the fourthmost common cause ofphysical disability in Indiain the next one decade, hemaintained.It will be difficult for thecountry to tackle this hugehealthcare burden due toshortage of healthcareinfrastructure andorthopedic specialists,said Dr. Shah adding amajor reason for the rapidrise in knee arthritis isthat life expectancy inIndia has doubled sinceIndependence, leading to ahuge pool of ageingpopulation suffering fromwear-and-tear of knees.

India facing knee arthritis epidemic; ExpertWorkshop on osteoarthritis, knee and hip replacements held

NEW DELHI, FEB 08

Honda Cars India (HCIL), leadingmanufacturer of passenger cars in India,today announced the introduction ofExclusive Editions of three of its modelsHonda Amaze, Honda Jazz and HondaWR-V. These Exclusive Editions areavailable in two colours Radiant RedMetallic and Orchid White Pearl. TheExclusive Editions in all the threemodels will come with impactfulexterior differentiators alongwith addedinterior utility features. The special

editions will bring in unique freshnessand enhance the overall appeal of themodels.Speaking about the introduction of theseeditions, Mr Rajesh Goel, Sr. VicePresident & Director, Sales andMarketing, Honda Cars India Ltd said,"We are extremely delighted to introducethe Exclusive Editions of Honda Amaze,WR-V and Jazz offering unique sense offreshness to the models. We areconfident that these special editions willbe appreciated by our customers for thedifferentiated value they offer."

HCIL introduces exclusive editionsof Amaze, Jazz and WR-V

MUMBAI FEB 08

Within a day of RBIreducing repo rate by 25basis points, thecountry’s largest lenderState Bank of India Fridayannounced a cut ininterest rates by 5 basispoints on its home loansup to Rs 30 lakh.In it sixth bi-monthlymonetary policy reviewannounced Thursday, RBIhad cut the repo rate by25 basis points to 6.25percent.“On the back of themonetary policyannounced by the RBI, wehave taken the lead to cutinterest rates on homeloans up to Rs 30 lakh,”the bank’s chairman,Rajnish Kumar, said in astatement.

The new rates areeffective from Friday.He said the bank has thehighest market share ofthe home loans marketand it is appropriate toempower the large lowerand middle class segmentby transmitting the ratecut announced by the RBI.Talking to reporters at anevent earlier today, Kumarsaid the banks depositrates are much lower thanpeers and pointed out thata reduction in depositrates will be required tocut the overall lendingrates under the MCLRsystem.For effecting a rate cut inhome loans, the bank willeither have to decreaseits one year MCLR or cango for a cut in its spreadsover MCLR for the

product, he said.Within hours of the RBImove, state-run Bank ofMaharashtra hadannounced a 0.05 percentcut in its MCLR for sixth-month loan tenor.In a post policyconference withreporters, RBI GovernorShaktikanta Das had saidhe will speak to bankersto ensure a quicker andbetter transmission of thepolicy rates in a meetingscheduled to take place intwo-three weeks.When asked about theexternal benchmark ratewhich the RBI wants toimplement by April,Kumar said it is unlikelyto be implemented as theoperative guidelines onthe same are yet to bereleased.

SBI cuts interest rate by 5 basis pointson home loans up to Rs 30 lakh MUMBAI FEB 08

Both Sensex and Niftyended over 1% lower onFriday following a steepdecline in auto stocks led byTata Motors and broadlynegative global cues.Heavy selling waswitnessed in the auto stockswhich fell over 3.37%lower,and the banking and financecounter ended lower.Globally, investors reactednegatively after USPresident Donald Trumpsaid he would not meet hisChinese counterpart XiJinping ahead of a tradedeal deadline on March 2,when American tariffs onChinese products are slatedto increase.“Indian markets tradednegative over concerns ofeconomic growth and tradedisputes which riled globalmarkets. Post the rate cutby the RBI on Thursdayprofit booking was seen inrate-sensitives like auto,”

said Essel Mutual Fund CIOViral Berawala.The BSE Sensex closed424.61 points or 1.15 %lower at 36,546.48 from itsprevious close of 36,971.09,while the Nifty closed125.80 points down at10,943.60.According to Vinod Nair,Head of Research, GeojitFinancial Services, themarkets slid on renewedworries over global tradeand profit booking in thedomestic market after ahealthy performance lastone week after the interimbudget and RBI policy.In contrast, Tata Motorsclosed 17.28% lower, whilethe Tata Motors(DVR)declined over 13 % after thecompany reported amassive loss in its thirdquarter results declared onThursday.mong the other laggardswere Vedanta losing over 5%. Tata Steel fell over 3%andONGC closed 2.94 %.

Sensex tanks 425 points,Nifty below 11,000

ISLAMABAD, FEB 08

Foreign Minister ShahMehmood Qureshi onFriday said Pakistan wouldprovide all the evidence of“sabotage activities” byformer Indian naval officerKulbhushan Jadhav to theInternational Court ofJustice (ICJ) on February 19. Jadhav, 48, was sentencedto death by a Pakistanimilitary court on spyingcharges in April 2017. Indiamoved the ICJ in May thesame year against theverdict.The world court has haltedJadhav’s execution onIndia’s appeal pending thefinal verdict by it.Both India and Pakistanhave already submittedtheir detailed pleas andresponses in the worldcourt and it has decided tohold hearings in the Jadhavcase from February 18-21,2019.India denies all the chargesand maintains that Jadhavwas kidnapped from Iranwhere he had businessinterests after retiring from

the Navy and that he has nolinks with the government.In its written pleadings,India had accused Pakistanof violating the ViennaConvention by not givingconsular access to Jadhav.In response, Pakistanthrough its countermemorial told the ICJ thatthe Vienna Convention onConsular Relations 1963applied only to legitimatevisitors and did not coverclandestine operations.India has been maintainingthat the trial of Jadhav by a

military court in Pakistanwas “farcical”.Qureshi, who is on a visit tothe UK, said that Pakistanhas all the evidence againstJadhav.“Pakistan has all theevidence against Jadhav ofsabotage activities insidePakistan. Jadhav hasadmitted to being involvedin such activities.Pakistan’s legal team willpresent its stance in thecase at The Hague on the19th of this month,” the GeoNews quoted Qureshi as

saying at a reception inManchester.“Pakistan’s legal team willpresent its stance in thecase that the Indian spyhas already confessed ofbeing involved in terroristactivities carried out inPakistan,” another paper,the Express Tribune quotedhim as saying.Pakistan says its securityforces arrested Jadhavfrom Balochistan provincein March 2016 after hereportedly entered thecountry from Iran.

NEW DELHI, FEB 08

Congress chief RahulGandhi on Friday said thePrime Minister's Office(PMO) was directlyinvolved in conductingnegotiations with theFrench side on the Rafaledeal and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi was "guilty"in the scam.It is an open and shut case,Gandhi said, mounting afresh attack on thegovernment on the fighterjet deal following a mediareport.

This came after the PM’s'Rafale' attack, and Gandhicalled the forces his pride,in a press conference .The PM had accused theCongress of purposelykeeping the IAF and Armyweak by delaying fighterjets and even basicequipment purchaseduring its times. The PMhad told the Congress, “Youdon’t want the IAF to bestrong. By seeking tosabotage the Rafale dealyou are favouring someforeign arms dealers, whoare they?” Rahul alleged

it’s now in black and whitethat the PM bypassed thenegotiation process andweakened the negotiationsof the Indian team inRafale.The PM was guilty in theRafale deal, Rahul said.“I want to tell the generalsof the Air Force that the PMhas stolen Rs 30,000 crore,he’s a thief, I don’t want touse strong words but I’mforced to use these. Icannot think of a betterword. The truth is that thePM is a thief,” said Rahul.On a question about thePM’s yesterday's remarkthat the thief is scoldingthe watchman, Rahul said,“So is the PM sufferingfrom dual personality...he’sthief one day andwatchman another day...ishe schizophrenic?”Holding up the documentsquoted in a newspaper, hesaid the Defence Ministry

was clearly objecting to theinterference.Gandhi also read out froma 2015 note, purportedlyfrom the Defence Ministry,published in thenewspaper. “Now, it iscrystal clear that theministry itself has said,and I will read it to you, ‘Itis, therefore, clear that theparallel discussions by thePMO has weakened thenegotiation of the MOD andthe Indian negotiatingteam. We may advise PMOthat any officers who arenot part of the negotiationteam may refrain fromhaving parallel parleyswith the officer of theFrench government’,”Gandhi said.The Congress presidentalso reiterated his demandfor a joint parliamentarycommittee to probe theRafale deal. With PTIinputs

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PM thief one day, watchmananother, alleges Rahul Gandhi

Pakistan will present all evidence against Jadhav in ICJ on Feb 19: Qureshi

DIP/J-5157-P/1808/02/2019