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Golden Yug
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Vol. 2 ISSUE NO. 279
Jammu,
RNI No. JKENG/2013/48845
TITLE CODE: JKENG-00999
Website: www.goldenyug.com
Wednesday 19, November 2014
PAGES 8
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NC has always given fair representation to Ladakh
Omar addresses public meetings in Tyakshi, Turtuk and Bogdang in Nobra
ment in the region. It has
always been our endeavor
to ensure a greater connectivity and an increased level
of governance in the most
remote regions of the
Ladakh region and we have
achieved historic success
in this mission in the last
six years" Omar Abdullah
said.
Omar Abdullah said
that
the
National
Conference
led
Government had brought
more connectivity to the
region and brought the
administration closer to the
people by the creation of
New Administrative Units.
"This mission of ours was
expressed in our efforts to
create new administrative
units in this region for
instance. We created a new
Tehsil
in
Diksit,
Community Development
Blocks in Turtuk, Bogdang
and Sumoor while creating
new Nayabats in Panamik,
Khalsar, Charasa, Diskit
and Bogdang. This will
bring the government closer to your areas and you
will not have to travel huge
distances for getting your
work
done",
Omar
Abdullah
said
while
addressing public meetings
in Tyakshi, Turtuk and
Bogdang.
"There are politicians
who are coming to this
region today to ask for
your votes. You should ask
these political parties and
their leaders what they
have done for the people of
this region apart from issuing press notes and giving
speeches. While the BJP is
trying to have three different stands on a single issue
in three regions of the
State, the Congress party
on the other hand has converged all its focus on not
making their candidates
win but in opposing
National Conference in the
region. The reason for this
is clear and simple - the
association of National
Conference with all of you
and your love and support
to National Conference is
the biggest hurdle in their
plans to locally fragment
and divide you for their
own partisan interests",
Omar Abdullah said.
Omar Abdullah said
that communal harmony
and regional cooperation
formed the basis of NC's
political vision and the
party had given numerous
sacrifices to protect these
values. "We have to stick
together and breach new
frontiers of development
and progress and be assets
for each other. Those who
are trying to fragment us
and divide us for their own
political interests are enemies of this State and its
future generation. We have
seen unprecedented development by sticking together in the last six years and
we will achieve greater
success in the coming six
years by ensuring that the
bond of trust between
Jammu, Kashmir and
Ladakh
remains
unharmed. I ask you to
strengthen the hands of
Tsetan Namgyal so that he
can continue to serve your
interests as opposed to the
other political parties and
their candidates who are
here just to divide and
exploit
you",
Omar
Abdullah said.
Sitting MLA and NC
Candidate from Nobra
Tsetan Namgyal also
addressed the public meetings and highlighted the
work done by the National
Conference
led
Government in the region
in the last six years.
NEW dELHI, NoV. 18: In the first case of Ebola in the
country, an Indian national returning from Liberia has tested positive for the deadly virus and has been quarantined at a special facility at Delhi airport. The health ministry said the 26-year-old man,
who reached here on November 10, was already treated for the
deadly disease in the African country and carried no symptoms but
tests of his semen samples were positive, prompting authorities to
put him under isolation. This is the first confirmed case of Ebola,
though the victim contracted the virus abroad and has already been
treated. "The situation is under control and there is no need for any
alarm. However, all precautions are being taken in this regard," the
ministry said in a statement. It is a known fact, the ministry said,
that during convalescence from Ebola, people continue to shed
virus in body fluids for variable periods. However, presence of
virus in his semen samples may have the possibility of transmitting
the disease through sexual route up to 90 days from time of clinical cure, it said. He will remain under isolation in the special health
facility of Delhi Airport Health Organization till his body fluids test
negative and is found medically fit to be discharged, it said, insisting that the man is a treated and cured case of Ebola. He had carried a certificate of medical clearance from the Liberian government, mentioning that "he has successfully undergone care and
treatment related to Ebola and after post treatment assessment has
been declared free of any clinical signs and symptoms and confirmed negative by laboratory analysis", the official statement said
quoting the Liberian document. His three blood samples tested
here were also found negative for and, therefore, according to
WHO and CDC specifications, he is deemed to be cured, it said.
However, the ministry added that the virus may continue to be positive in secretions like urine and semen for a longer time. Liberia is
one of the countries which have seen a number of Ebola cases.
BJP launches 3D selfie technology for campaigning Parties vying for fragmenting
gy NEWS SERVICE
JaMMU, NoV. 18: After successful use of different modes of technology during the Lok Sabha and later
assembly elections in Maharashtra
and Haryana, the state BJP launched
3D selfie technology for campaigning
in Jammu and Kashmir during the
ensuing assembly elections.
Former Union MoS & MLA Prof.
Chaman Lal Gupta, alongwith State
Spokesperson & Media Incharge Arun
Kumar Gupta, State Spokesperson
Sunil Sethi (Advocate), Balbir Ram
Rattan and Dr. Suresh Ajay Magotra,
got his selfie clicked with PM
Narendra Modi and later flagged off
the selfie van for other assembly constituencies.
Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta, while
appreciating the initiative of the party
to adopt latest means of technology to
reach the masses, said that the BJP has
taken lead in campaigning across the
state and over whelming response to
our candidates is also an indicator that
Mission 44+ will be achieved with
ease and the state will have a BJP
activist as Chief Minister. He
appealed the people not to get misled
votes in the valley: PDP
by the false promises of parties like
NC, Congress and PDP and ensure
victory of BJP candidates.
Arun Kumar Gupta, while briefing the media persons about the 3D
selfie concept said that the party has
been utilizing all the available means
of print and electronic media besides
pressing into service the social media
facilities with a sole motive of reaching maximum population in the state
and mobilize public opinion in favour
of the party candidates. He said the
3D selfie concept is attracting large
population as anyone can take his or
her photo by just standing in front of
the selfie van and it will be shown that
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is himself standing with them and addressing. BJP IT Cell State Convenor
Jaidev Rajwal, State Publicity
Secretary Aseem Gupta, party leader
Anil Gupta and others were also present on the occasion.
gy NEWS SERVICE
SRINagaR, NoV. 18:
The Peoples Democratic
Party on Tuesday accused
Omar Abdullah-led NC government of losing the regional character and being
reduced to a "mere tool of
fragmentation of votes" in
the state of Jammu and
Kashmir.
"The NC has not only
transformed itself into an
available appendage for
sharing power either with
Congress or BJP but it has
reduced itself to a mere tool
of fragmentation and division of votes," PDP president
Mehbooba Mufti said today
while addressing roadside
meetings at Bandipora and
Sonawari. The PDP leader
stated that the ruling
National Conference has
done serious damage to its
popularity over the years and
Chief
Minister
Omar
Abdullah's current tenure
reflects the proverbial 'straw
that broke the camel's back'.
"The popular base of the
National Conference as an
organization has now drastically shrunk. It now comprises of a group of individual
leaders who are trying to survive in politics under a banner that has become a liability for them," she said.
Mehbooba said that the
ruling party, which for a long
time had been a dominant
political force in the state has
lost its clout among the people because of its repeated
sellouts and compromises
which it kept on doing for the
sake of power. "In spite of
the overwhelming mandate
and support of the people it
used to get over the decades,
the NC always failed to identity itself with the people and
instead considered them its
slaves who will anytime help
it to grab power," she said.
NC got a slim lead in
only six assembly segments
in this year's Lok Sabha
polls. The party along with
some other smaller groups
are being kept alive to serve
the purpose of certain forces
in dividing the votes in the
Kashmir Valley, so that a
united voice doesn't emerge
from here, she said.
Hitting out at RSS and
BJP, Mehbooba said that
"both the forces are trying to
implement their sinister
agenda of saffronising
Jammu and Kashmir by consolidating the votes of one
community and fragmenting
the other". "This is a very
dangerous game and, willingly or unwillingly, the NC
and some other elements are
becoming partners in this
intrigue against the distinct
pluralistic identity of the
state," she added.
MCC violation by NC
Congress had agenda to serve people
discovered at Mendhar
but NC didn't support it: Soz
NC flags found flying at PHE pipes, show
cause notice issued to PHE AEE
gy NEWS SERVICE
JaMMU, NoV 18:
A major violation of
model code of conduct
(MCC) was discovered
in Mendhar town of
Poonch today after over
a hundred NC flags
were found flying at the
top
of
government
pipes of PHE department. Taking a strong
note of it, Mendhar
returning
officer
Romesh Kumar flashed
a show cause notice to
AEE of PHE sub-division, Mendhar.
The complaints in
this regard were lodged
by locals with the
returning officer, who
in turn asked the MCC
staff to verify them,
according to official
sources.
The MCC staff then
visited the rooftops of
the over a hundred
houses and got videographed the flagpoles
with NC flags, the
sources added.
Sources said after
seeing the video, the
returning officer issued
a show cause notice to
PHE AEE, sub-division,
Mendhar,
Showkat
Ahmad, asking him to
explain his position.
“The use of official
material in elections is
termed as a major MCC
violation. Action is
likely to be taken
against those who were
found involved in the
distribution of government pipes to NC workers in Mendhar town,”
the sources added.
There is a strong
resentment
in
and
around Mendhar town
among
the
non-NC
workers.
gy NEWS SERVICE
BaNdIpoRa, NoV.
18: Jammu and Kashmir
Pradesh Congress
Committee (JKPCC)
president Saif-ud-din Soz
on Tuesday claimed that
the party had an agenda
to serve the people of the
state but its coalition
National Conference
(NC) did not support it.
"I will tell you one
thing that our coalition
partner did not support
us. It wasted our three
years for empowering
panchayats. We had an
agenda to serve you, but
they were miser in this
and felt the Congress
would take the credit.
"That is why, elections
to local bodies did not
take place. So, we could
not do what we wanted
to do for you," Soz said
addressing an election
rally here.
The JKPCC president said no government
can be formed in the
state after the assembly
elections without the
Congress party. "Keep
this in your heart and
mind that there would
be no government in the
state without Congress
party. Either we will
lead the government or
be a part of that. We
will not sit at home but
will take part in your
struggle for development and prosperity," he
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NC a perennial bond between Jammu, Man tests positive for Ebola
Kashmir & Ladakh - Omar Abdullah in Delhi, kept under isolation
gy NEWS SERVICE
NoBRa, NoV. 18:
Chief Minister and National
Conference
Working
President Omar Abdullah
Tuesdaysaid that National
Conference was a perennial
bond of amity and mutual
trust between the three
regions of Jammu, Kashmir
and Ladakh. Omar Abdullah
addressed public meetings
in Tyakshi, Turtuk and
Bogdang in Ladakh six and
highlighted the work done
by his Government in the
region in the last six years.
"No political party has
demonstrated a greater and
more equitable political will
to usher Ladakh region into
an era of prosperity, connectivity and progress as much
as National Conference has.
And this has been our legacy since the time of Sheikh
Sahib and his land-to-thetiller reforms which had an
enormous liberating effect
for the peasants in the
Ladakh region as well. It
was Sheikh Sahib who
ensured the fair representation of Ladakh in his first
popular government by
inducting Kushak Bakula
Rinpochee as a Minister for
Ladakh Affairs. The concept of 'Ladakh Affairs' has
been envisioned by NC to
ensure equitable develop-
For
Advertisement in
said.
Soz said Congress
party wants to keep the
unity and brotherhood in
the country intact, but
there was a danger to
the country because of
the politics of Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi. "We want the
people of all the three
regions of the state ?
Kashmir, Ladakh and
Jammu, remain united.
But right now, there is a
danger to India from
Modi's politics. Why am
I saying this in
Bandipora is because
that every vote of yours
will be against the communalism and for brotherhood and secularism,"
he said.
The Congress leader
termed the BJP as a
"dark shadow", saying
only Congress can take
on the "fascist and communal forces". "A dark
shadow has come in the
country. This government is of the RSS.
They have let one man
be at the front. The people in the BJP are dying
inside as this is not the
government of the BJP.
Remember this, no party
here can take on Modi
or communalism. Only
Congress can fight him.
We will take to task
those who indulge in
communalism and fascism," he said.
Power shut down
gy NEWS SERVICE
JaMMU, NoV. 18: In
view of shut down availed
Power
Grid
by
Corporation of India,
power supply to some
areas of Jammu Province
shall remain affected from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Inconvenience to esteemed
consumers is regretted.
The Public is advised to
use power judiciously in
other areas.
7 candidates file
nomination papers
in Dist Bla today
gy NEWS SERVICE
BaRaMULLa,
NoV. 18: Seven candidates today filed their
nomination papers for
Assembly Elections 2014.
Two candidates filed
their nomination papers
from Sangrama constituency, two candidates each
from Gulmarg and Pattan
constituencies, besides one
candidate filed the nomination
papers
from
Baramulla constituency.
PDP fields veteran
journalist for J&K
assembly elections
gy NEWS SERVICE
SRINagaR, NoV.
18: Opposition Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP)
on Tuesday fielded veteran
journalist Zafar Meraj
from Habba Kadal seat for
the forthcoming assembly
elections in Jammu and
Kashmir.
The
PDP
announced Meraj, who has
been associated with various national and international media over the past
four decades, as the candidate for the Habba Kadal
constituency in Srinagar
district. Meraj will take on
National Conference's candidate and incumbent
MLA Shamima Firdous in
the constituency, which
has generally witnessed
low voter turnout since the
eruption of militancy in the
state. Habba Kadal, which
has a significant number of
migrant Kashmiri Pandit
voters who can be the
deciding factor, is one of
the five valley constituencies where BJP considers it
has a significant chance of
winning. The BJP has
fielded Moti Koul, a
Kashmir Pandit, from
Habba Kadal, where
polling will be held in the
fourth phase of elections in
the state on December 14.
National Lok Adalat
in Kulgam on Dec 6
gy NEWS SERVICE
KULgaM, NoV. 18:
A National Lok Adalat is
going to be organized by
District Legal Services
Authority at District Court
Complex Kulgam as well as
its subordinate courts with
special reference to family
disputes, traffic challans,
MACT cases, municipality
cases, under Fisheries Act
cases. Under Electric Act,
petty criminal cases, family
disputes, criminal cases
(compoundable
cases)
under payment of Wages
Act. Land acquisition cases,
mutation cases, revenue
cases, MNREGA cases,
civil cases, property disputes between close relatives, relating to bank loans,
relating to recently flood
affected victims. Interesting
persons have been informed
to approach the concerned
courts for references of their
cases to the proposed
National Lok Adalat.
2
JAMMU |
Golden YuG
WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 19 | 2014
Cambodia nightclub
fire kills five: Police
pHNoM pENH, NoV. 18: Five people, including a
foreign holidaymaker, died in a fire at a nightclub in
Cambodia's northwestern tourist hub of Siem Reap today,
police said. The blaze broke out at the Hip Hop nightclub in
Siem Reap city at around 2am (1900 GMT) due to an electrical fault, provincial police chief Sort Nady told AFP.
"Five people, including an unidentified foreign tourist,
died from suffocation by smoke," he said, adding that two
other local people were also injured in the fire.
Police have launched an investigation into the accident
but no one has been arrested yet, Nady said. Siem Reap
province, home to Cambodia's famed Angkor temple complex, is the most popular tourist destination in the country.
Two killed in school van
blast in northwest Pakistan
ISLaMaBad, NoV. 18: An 11-year-old boy was
among two persons killed Tuesdayin a bomb attack on a
school van in Pakistan's restive northwestern tribal region.
The bomb was planted on a road in Nasti Kot area of
Kurram tribal district and hit the van as it drove the children
to the school.
A security official said the driver of the vehicle and the
boy were killed, while five more children were injured.
Nobody took responsibility of the attack but the Taliban
militants are active in the region and often target the security forces and civilians.
Kurram on Afghan border is one of seven tribal areas
controlled through colonial era draconian laws. They are
internally autonomous and the situation is often exploited
by the militants.
Russia urges US, Ukraine to
disclose MH17 crash data
MoSCoW, NoV. 18: Moscow has once again urged
the US to disclose the satellite images taken over eastern
Ukraine when Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 crashed.
Moscow continued to "insist" that Washington should
"share its satellite data because there's no way they could
not have seen what happened there on that day", Russian
envoy to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE), Andrey V. Kelin, told Russia's TV channel
Rossiya 24 Monday.
Russia also "urgently needs" Kiev to disclose the communication records between Ukrainian air traffic controllers, Kelin said.
"I was glad to learn today that collection of the wreckage resumed and all will be taken away," Xinhua quoted
Kelin as telling the channel. "I hope and see that, after overcoming political difficulties, the investigation is getting
along well." Dutch investigators have begun evacuating
debris of the crashed Boeing 777 from the crash site in eastern Ukraine. The Dutch Safety Board, leading the investigation into the crash, announced Monday that the recovery
of the wreckage started Sunday and would be completed in
about five more days.
The tail section of the aircraft and more human remains
have been recovered and the wreckage and the remains
would be transported by train to Kharkiv for further examination and finally to the Netherlands, said the Dutch Safety
Board investigators, who were supervising the retrieval
work that was monitored by the OSCE.
The Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, en route from
Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashed in eastern Ukraine
close to the Russian border July 17, killing all 298 people
on board. Both Kiev and the West have since claimed that
Russian missiles were responsible for bringing the aircraft
to ground, but no evidence has been provided up till now to
prove that allegation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a tense 15minute conversation with Australian Prime Minister Tony
Abbott on the sidelines of Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Beijing earlier this
month, with the main focus on the catastrophe of the
Malaysian airliner.
Abbott's office said in a statement released Wednesday
that Abbott and Putin have agreed that the aforementioned
information should be provided to the independent investigation, and have "robustly spoken out in favour of speeding
up the investigation of the reasons for the tragedy".
US says ''deeply concerned'' about
Israeli settlement decision
WaSHINgToN, NoV. 18: The United States said on
Wednesday it was "deeply concerned" about an Israeli decision to approve construction of 200 new homes in East
Jerusalem. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said
the decision impeded attempts to reach a two-state solution
between the Israelis and Palestinians.
"We are deeply concerned by this decision particularly
given the tense situation in Jerusalem," she told a regular
media briefing. "Most importantly they are contrary to
Israel`s own stated goal of achieving a two-state solution
because they make it more difficult to do that," Psaki said.
The new housing is slated for a sprawling hillside complex of apartment buildings and private homes at the northern edge of Jerusalem, on land Israel captured in a 1967 war
and annexed to the city in a move never recognized internationally. Palestinians want this territory as part of a future
state.
US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Jordan on
Wednesday to meet with King Abdullah. The talks will
include a discussion of the growing tensions in Jerusalem,
the State Department said.
Tension has risen over Israeli-controlled access to
Jerusalem`s Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam`s third holiest site, where biblical Jewish temples once stood. Israeli
police and Palestinians have clashed repeatedly in recent
weeks, culminating in a one-day closure of the mosque last
month.
Jordan recalled its ambassador from Israel on Nov. 5,
the first time it has taken such action since the two countries
established diplomatic relations in 1994, denouncing what
Amman called "violations" at the mosque.
Jerusalem synagogue attacked, American grilled for shipping
four Israeli civilians killed human body parts in Thailand
JERUSaLEM, NoV. 18: At least four people were
reportedly killed in an apparent terror attack at a synagogue
in the Har Nof neighbourhood of Jerusalem Tuesday morning, a media report said.
A Magen David Adom spokesman said that there were
at least 13 victims, some of whom are gravely injured,
Xinhua reported citing Israeli media.
"We are viewing this as a terrorist attack," police
spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Two Palestinians, armed
with axes and knives, entered the synagogue and began
attacking worshippers. Both attackers were shot and killed,
Channel 2 reported.
The ultra-Orthodox Har Nof neighbourhood is on the
western edge of Jerusalem.
NoV.
BaNgKoK,
18: A parcel delivery company in Bangkok put three
packages bound for the
United States through a
routine X-ray and made a
startling discovery: preserved human parts, including an infant's head, a
baby's foot and an adult
heart. The body parts were
stolen from the medical
museums of one of
Bangkok's biggest hospitals, its administrators said
yesterday.
Police Col. Chumpol
Poompuang said the sender
was
a
31-year-old
American tourist, Ryan
McPherson, who told them
he had he found the items
at a Bangkok night market.
Police
tracked
down
McPherson after being
alerted by the shipper,
Kerry arrives in Britain to hold
consultations on Iran's nuclear programme
LoNdoN, NoV. 18:
US Secretary of State John
Kerry has arrived in Britain
on Tuesday for meetings
focused on the Middle East
ahead of crunch talks in
Vienna this week over Iran's
controversial nuclear programme.
Kerry is due to meet
with
British
Foreign
Secretary Philip Hammond
later today to discuss Iran,
as well as the Ebola epidemic and tensions in
Ukraine. He will then meet
with Egyptian Foreign
Minister Sameh Shoukry to
talk about "the next steps to
try to de-escalate the situation on the ground in
Jerusalem", a US official
said.
Kerry will also meet
with former British prime
minister Tony Blair, an
international special envoy
to the Middle East.
Violence has been raging in Jerusalem since July,
with clashes between
Palestinians and Israeli
forces on a nearly daily
basis.
Later on Tuesday Kerry
will hold talks with Oman
Foreign Minister Yussef bin
Alawi bin Abdullah following the latter's visit to
Tehran.
He will also meet
Foreign Minister Abdullah
bin Zayed of the United
Arab Emirates, which is
taking part in US-led air
strikes against the Islamic
State jihadist group in Syria.
Shortly before departing for
London, Kerry acknowledged the vital nature of the
upcoming talks with Tehran
in Vienna ahead of a
November 24 deadline to
reach agreement on its
nuclear drive.
"We are obviously
entering a key period with
the negotiations regarding
Iran's nuclear program, and
I will go to Vienna at the
appropriate moment," Kerry
said at a Washington forum.
The UN Security Council's
five permanent members -Britain, China, France,
Russia and the United
States -- plus Germany will
negotiate with Tehran on a
complex comprehensive
agreement that Washington
hopes will prevent Iran
from developing a nuclear
weapons capability.
Iran's leaders insist its
nuclear push serves purely
civilian purposes such as
energy, but many in the
West fear Tehran is seeking
an
atomic
bomb.
Republicans, who will soon
control both chambers of
the US Congress after elections earlier this month,
have been infuriated by the
tentative rapprochement of
President Barack Obama, a
Democrat, toward Iran.
They warn Obama is
being fooled by the new,
more moderate face of the
Islamic republic, which
aims to win billions of dollars in sanctions relief and
say it will still covertly seek
to develop a nuclear
weapon.
DHL.
"He said he thought the
body parts were bizarre and
wanted to send them to his
friends in the US,"
Chumpol said, adding that
the man was questioned
along with an American
friend for several hours and
released without charges.
It apparently was not
the first brush with notoriety for McPherson and his
friend, identified by police
as Daniel Tanner, 33.
Photos of the two talking
with police on Sunday
closely resemble men by
the same names and ages
who were producers over a
decade ago of a video
series featuring homeless
people brawling and performing dangerous stunts
after being paid by the
filmmakers, who were
based in Las Vegas.
They claimed sales of
about 300,000 copies at
USD 20 each, though their
"Bumfights" videos were
banned in several commuand
generally
nities
shunned by retailers after
criticism that the films'
subjects
were
being
exploited. McPherson and
Tanner exited Thailand into
neighboring Cambodia on
Sunday, and could not be
contacted for comment.
The three packages
seized in Bangkok, which
contained five body pieces,
were labeled as toys, police
said. They were being sent
to Las Vegas, including one
parcel that McPherson had
addressed to himself.
Police said they were contacting the FBI to get information about the would-be
recipients of the items.
In Washington, spokeswoman Minique Crump
said the FBI was aware of
the matter and was looking
into it.
Professor
Clinical
Udom Kachintorn, the dean
of the Faculty of Medicine
at
Bangkok's
Siriraj
Hospital, told reporters that
the five human body parts
were stolen from the hospital's museums. Two of
them belonged to the
department of anatomy and
the other three to the
department of forensic
medicine.
He said the two
Americans visited the
museum last Thursday but
that closed circuit television video did not show
them taking any items
away.
Charity UK puts Muslim
charities on terror watch-list
LoNdoN, NoV. 18:
As many as 55 unnamed
charities in the UK are being
secretly monitored and have
been placed under watch-list
over suspected links to "radicalisation and extremism".
More than a quarter of these
British charity organisations
are Islamic bodies and collect tens of thousands of
pounds every year in charity.
The Charity Commission of
UK has also placed five
British charities operating in
Syria under its most serious
form of enquiry.
At least 55 charities were
labelled with the "radicalisation and extremism" issue
code by the UK's Charity
Commission
between
December 2012 and May
2014 without their knowledge, according to think-tank
Claystone. The monitoring
of the charities was disclosed
in a Freedom of Information
Act request by the Londonbased think-tank specialising
in Muslim issues.
The preponderance of
Islamic charities in the
watch-list have fuelled criticism that Muslim organisations are being unfairly singled out as the Commission
has no written policy on how
it applies or removes the
"radicalisation and extremism" label.
The
think-tank's
report,?'Muslim Charities: A
Suspect Sector', shows that
of the 44 new publicly identified enquiries which began
after January 1, 2013, 17
involved Muslim-related
charities. Adam Belaon, the
report's author, criticised the
absence of publicly identified examples of extremism.
"Muslim charities are
disproportionately investigated and monitored. There
has been no empirical evidence offered to substantiate
concerns that British Muslim
charities are surreptitiously
operating with the purpose of
supporting terrorist activities," he said.
The five British charities
operating in Syria are undergoing
full
statutory
enquiries, including al-Fatiha
Global, which Alan Henning,
the former British aid worker
who was captured and
beheaded by ISIS, was working for when he was kidnapped. Organisations that
promote radical views have
been warned by the
Commission that they will be
deemed to have broken charity law even if their activities
fall short of criminal.
A Charity Commission
spokesperson said, "The
commission does not target
Muslims, any other religion
or type of charity. All our
casework is prioritised and
assessed for action against
the risk framework." Prime
Minister David Cameron has
last month awarded extra
powers and 8 million pounds
to the Charity Commission
to "confront the menace of
extremism" posed by the
bogus charities.
African militants release video of French, Dutch hostages
paRIS, NoV. 18: The
North African jihadist group
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb released a video
purporting to show a French
and a Dutch hostage held
since November 2011 in the
Sahara.
In the video
released yesterday, found on
the Internet by the private
terrorism watchdog SITE,
French national Serge
Lazarevic and a man identifying himself as Sjaak Rijke
appeal to their governments
to negotiate their release.
There is nothing in the
footage of Lazarevic to suggest when it was shot, but
Rijke says he is speaking on
September 26 this year and
refers to a US-Taliban prisoner exchange conducted in
May. Lazarevic, 50, who
was kidnapped in the
Malian town of Hombori in
November 2011, appears in
a dark headdress and with a
thick beard in the front of a
pick-up truck with a black
jihadist banner behind him.
Speaking in French, he
complains that he is gravely
ill and urges President
Francois Hollande to seek
his release. Lazarevic last
appeared in an AQIM propaganda video in June.
French authorities confirmed the authenticity of
the latest video.
The footage is "recent
proof of life that was long
overdue", the presidential
office said in a statement.
"The president is in permanent contact with the
authorities of the countries
Hong Kong authorities remove
barricades from protest site
HoNg KoNg, NoV. 18: The authorities in Hong Kong have begun clearing a
part of a key area of the heart of the city that
has been occupied by pro-democracy
demonstrators for nearly two months on
Tuesday. The move comes after the high
court granted an injunction, according to
reports.
The bailiffs, backed by police officers,
are removing barricades outside Citic Tower
in the Admiralty area, but leaving the rest of
the camp. Earlier, about 30 court bailiffs
arrived at the 33-storey Citic Tower in
Admiralty, next to government buildings, to
enforce an injunction against the street barricades after a request from the building's
owners, witnesses said.
Some protesters packed up pillows,
blankets and other belongings from inside
their tents and prepared to move to another
part of the demonstration zone.
The area near Citic Tower, headquarters
of CITIC Pacific Ltd., has been surrounded
by metal barricades for weeks, blocking
parts of the street and disrupting commuters
heading to the Central business district next
door. The former British colony of Hong
Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under
a "one country, two systems" formula that
gives the city more autonomy and freedom
than the mainland and a goal of universal
suffrage.
The protesters are demanding open
nominations in the city's next election for
chief executive in 2017. Beijing has said it
will allow a vote in 2017, but only between
pre-screened candidates. The protests,
which drew well over 100,000 at their peak,
have dwindled to hundreds camped out in
colourful tents at key intersections on both
sides of the harbour.
in the region to use all forms
of dialogue to achieve the
release of our hostage," it
said.
The Elysee added that
Lazarevic's family was
being "continuously kept
informed" of efforts to
secure his release.
The hostage who identifies himself as Rijke
appears against the backdrop of a simple off-white
sheet. Speaking in Dutchaccented English, he too
urges his home government
to help free him.
Rijke, 54, was kidnapped as a tourist in the
Malian town of Timbuktu,
also in November 2011. He
has appeared in a series of
AQIM videos, most lately
in September 2013.
The Dutch foreign ministry said it was aware of the
latest video, which lasts less
than four minutes. "In the
interest of the family we
will not be commenting," a
spokeswoman told AFP.
Lazarevic, who has dual
French and Serbian citizenship, is the last French
hostage still being held
worldwide, after hiker
Herve Gourdel was abducted in Algeria and beheaded
in September by Islamic
State-linked militants.
Lazarevic was accompanying
Frenchman
Philippe Verdon on a business trip when they were
both seized by armed men
in Mali's north, relatives
said. Verdon was found shot
dead last year.
Recovery of MH17 wreckage
to be completed in five days
THE HagUE, NoV.
18: The recovery of the
wreckage
Malaysia
Airlines flight MH17 will
be completed in around
five days, the Dutch
Safety Board, leading the
investigation into the
crash in eastern Ukraine,
has
announced.
The
recovery of the wreckage
started Sunday and among
other things the tail section of the aircraft was
recovered Monday. The
wreckage will be transported by train to Kharkiv
and finally to The
Netherlands.
When the conditions
allow it and stay similar,
the recovery will continue
Tuesday and last around
five more days, Xinhua
cited the safety board as
saying Monday.
The board has commissioned the recovery of
the wreckage for the
investigation into the
cause of the crash. This
includes a partial reconstruction of the aircraft.
The Boeing 777-200 of
the Malaysia Airlines en
route from Amsterdam to
Kuala Lumpur crashed
July 17 in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Region, some
60 km from the Russian
border, killing all 298
people on board.
On Sep 9, the safety
board issued its first preliminary report, stating
the crash had an external
cause, probably as the
result of structural dam-
age caused by a large
number of high-energy
objects that penetrated the
aircraft from outside.
There are no indications
that the crash was caused
by a technical fault or by
actions of the crew.
During the recovery
activities Sunday and
Monday, new human
remains were found as
well. These remains will
undergo a forensic check
in Kharkiv and will be
transported for identification to the Netherlands in
due course.
According to the last
count of the Dutch
Ministry of Security and
Justice a total of 289 victims have been identified
yet.
3
JAMMU |
Golden YuG
WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 19 | 2014
People of Doda to desist any attempt to polarise their Nagrota still struggling
votes on the basis of religion or cast: Abdul Majid Wani for basic amenities: BSP
gy NEWS SERVICE
doda, NoV. 18: R&B
Minister Abdul Majid Wani,
continuing his spree of
extensive touring of remote
and far flung areas of Doda
constituency visited, today,
village Kacchhua, Gadhi,
Gagual, Chakra, Bijarni,
Gadan, Sazan and Beoli.
Wani addressed a number of
public rallies in these villages and exhorted people
to vote only for the candidate who has clear cut agenda of peace, development
and prosperity of Doda. In
village Gadhi, Ram Singh
and Lehar Singh, two old &
staunch BJP workers along
with their number of supporters joined Congress
party in presence of Abdul
Majid Wani. Welcoming
them in Congress party fold,
Majid Wani asked people to
beware of BJP and National
Conference party candidates who had been responsible for delayed development of Doda, which, otherwise had been bestowed by
God with vast natural
including
resources
untouched beautiful valleys,
a number of natural clean
water springs & rivulets,
natural minerals and a number of religious places.
These political parties had
been responsible for keeping people of Doda in a dark
era of communal chaos,
poverty and underdevelopment for a pretty long period. The large of gatherings
of people, who attended
these public rallies, assured
Majid Wani that they will
not allow any political party
or group to disturb communal harmony and secular
culture of Doda. And, neither they will allow any
group to polarise their votes
on the basis of religion or
cast basis.
Majid Wani, further,
said that people of Doda
constituency could get rid
of these unforgettable dark
days only after they got
elected Abdul Majid Wani
as their MLA in year 2002.
After that, Doda constituen-
BJP leaders review preparations
for PM's rally in Kishtwar
gy NEWS SERVICE
JaMMU, NoV. 18:
Lead by State General
Secretary (Org.) Ashok
Koul, a BJP team comprising of rallies Incharge
Yudhvir
Sethi,
State
Secretary Munish Sharma
and District President
Rajinder Singh held series
of meetings with the
Kishtwar
district
Administration in connection with November 22 public rally to be addressed by
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi besides discussing
the poll strategy with the
local leadership. The team
also visited the venue of
the rally for an on the spot
assessment of the security
arrangements been made.
Ashok Koul, while taking up the issue of arrangements with the local
administration, stressed
that the security arrangements should be in accordance with the guidelines
of the Union Government
but it should also be
ensured that the people
who come to the rally
venue to listen Narendra
Modi should not feel
uncomfortable while passing through security check
up.
Ashok Koul appealed
the people to come in large
numbers to the rally to
convey a clear message
that Narendra Modi wave
is sweeping every nook
and corner of Jammu and
Kashmir like other parts of
the country.
cy was put on a fast track of
growth and development.
With a result, today, Doda
constituency has very high
indices of living with the
best civil infrastructural
facilities in each and every
sphere. Now, there is no
looking back for people and
they will definitely elect me
for the third time also so as to
continue process of growth
and development with more
speed and vigour. Very shortly, people of Doda constituency shall witness
tourism and industrial sector
flourishing in this region at a
large scale, for which,
already stage has been set up.
Abdul Majid Wani was
accompanied by Ghulam
Mohi-ud-Din
Shan,
Sarpanch Shankar Singh,
Sarpanch Ranjeet Singh,
Mohd. Iqbal, Rajkumar,
Mushtaq Ahmad, Najib-urRehman Fani, Irshad Ahmad
Misger, Engineer Vishal
Bhagat, Aadil Karim Wani,
Hakim Manzoor, Guler
Singh, Mohd. Rafiq, Sunil
Kumar, Sant Raj, Hans Raj,
Naib Sarpanch Bharat Singh,
Farooq Ahmad Mir, Farooq
Ahmad Butt, Kuldeep Singh,
Milaap Singh and Atta
Mohd. Hajjam Sarpanch.
Vikram for developing Jammu
East as 'Model Constituency'
Jd NEWS SERVICE
JaMMU, NoV. 18:
Giving impetus to his election
campaign,
Congress
Candidate from Jammu East
Assembly
constituency,
Vikram Malhotra today visited
the areas of Jewel, Kaali Jaani,
Kanji House and Malhotra
Mohalla. He met a large number of people and made a fervor appeal among them to vote
in his favour.
On the occasion, he
addressed a number of corner
meetings and listened grievances of the locals. Vikram
Malhotra said that some parties
are trying to divide and polarize the people of the state only
to stall the progress and development. He added, "But, I am
very happy that people have
understood their cheap game
Dr. Kamal addressed Rally's, workers meetings at Seriwarpora,
Sonim, Yaol, Katibugh, Dangarpora, Treran and Ferozaporza
gy NEWS SERVICE
SRINagaR, NoV. 18:
Continuing his election
campaign in Gulmarg-14
constituency Dr. Kamal
addressed Rallys and workers meetings at Seriwarpora,
Sonim, Yaol, Katibugh,
Dangarpora, Treran and
Ferozaporza on 16-11-2014
and meeting of ponywallas
at Tangmarg as well. He
gave a gyst of achievements
of National Conference
governments in GulmargTangmarg areas since 1987
which include modern markets and public parks at
Tangmarg and Gulmarg,
centrally headed club house
of Gulmarg, Ten roomed
hotels at Tangmarg 50-bedded SDH at Tangmarg, Fire
station, Police Station, J&K
Bank, court building,
Ration store, Ferozepora
Basin Irrigation Division,
Electric Sub Division,
Forest
Division
at
Tangmarg
and
Huts,
Gandola, Golf course at
Gulmarg and stable electric
and water supply to the
entire constituency.
He castigated DPN candidate Gulam Hussan Mir
for claiming the achievements
of
National
Conference in the area as
his own and making false
and tall promises when he
has utterly failed on all
fronts in last 12 years he
been a minister .He is a
shameless political turn coat
who has lust for power and
has blood of many a youth
and
local
National
Conference cadre on his
hands like Gulam Ahmad
Reshi, Abdul Rashid Khan,
Habibulla Dar, Molvi
Gulzar
Ahmed
Sofi,
Ghulam Mohd Dar, Gulam
Ahmad Bhat, Abdul Rahim
Reshi, Mohd Ramzan Mir
and many others.
He cautioned that supporting him is like supporting a killer and an informer
amidst loud cheers of the
people Kamaal said that day
is not far when law of the
land will catch up with
Gulam Hussan Mir for his
terrible misdeeds.
Referring to PDP Patron
Mufti Mohd Sayeds speech
in which he has blamed
National Conference for the
Indus Water treaty and the
handing over power projects to NHPC and that
Indus Water treated was
signed
in
1960
by
Jawaharlal Nehru and FM
Ayub Khan when Bakshi
Gulam Mohd was the prime
Minister in J&K and Mufti
Sayeed was part of his government. It was Omar
Abdullah who has kept
Gupta, Najeeb Suharwardhy exude
confidence about NC registering big win
gy NEWS SERVICE
doda, NoV. 18: State
Vice President National
Conference Rattan Lal Gupta
and the party candidate for
Doda
Assembly
Constituency Khalid Najeeb
Suharwardhy on Tuesday
said that by taking the
administration
at
the
doorsteps of people, the
Omar led government has
opened up vistas of opportunities for progress and development of the remote and far
flung areas.
Addressing various election meetings in the
Constituency, Rattan Lal
Gupta described the carving
out of new administrative
units as landmark and visionary decision of the Chief
Minister, as these stand guarantee for the holistic and
overall development of the
areas like Doda. Gupta said
the performance of the Chief
Minister has been exemplary
especially in ensuring development of remote areas and
making the government
accountable and responsive
to peoples' aspirations.
Speaking on the occasion,
Khalid
Najeeb
Suharwardhy exuded confidence
about
National
Conference registering big
victory at the strength of the
support of the people. He
appreciated the unprecedented enthusiasm the party
workers and said they have
been effectively instrumental
in carrying forward the policies and programmes of the
National Conference by disseminated these in the length
and breadth of the state.
At
Jodhpur
Ghat,
Suharwardhy enumerated
the achievements registered
under the Omar led government during the past six
years and said the tenure of
the Chief Minister has been a
success story of steering the
state, especially the Kashmir
Valley from morass to peace,
prosperity and development.
He hoped the ensuing years
will see these significant
gains getting consolidated
and steering the state to new
pinnacles of development.
Suharwardhy assured the
people that he will strive
relentlessly for transforming
Doda as a model constituency with thrust on its holistic
development.
Prominent
among those present on the
occasion included Zaffarullah and others.
gy NEWS SERVICE
NagRoTa, NoV.
18: Bahujan
Samaj
Party State Gen. Sec. &
Candidate
Nagrota
Assembly Constituency
Rakesh Wazir while
addressing the public at
Dansal said if he gets
the mandate of the people, his first priority
would be to touch the
basic problems of the
people like un-employment, high level corruption prevailing in all the
G o v e r n m e n t
Departments, providing
of pensions to the widows and the old people
at their doorsteps, making & up gradation of
roads and bridges, providing of water to the
people at their places
who are drinking it at
present from the ponds,
wells and dirty water
NHPC out of any future
arrangement regarding new
Hydel Projects. It was
Indira Gandhi and Dr.
Farooq Abdullah that gave
us "Dool Hasti" Power project. Rajiv Gandhi and Dr.
Farooq Abdullah the "Salal
"Power project, Dr. Farooq
Abdullah
gave
us
"Baghlihar" -I power project Devi Gowda and Dr.
Farooq Abdullah gave the
URI-I and URI-II power
projects. Mufti sayed did
not add even one megawatt
of power as union home
Minister and J&K Chief
Minister "Retlay" and
Baglihiar-II have been started by Omar Abdullah Mufti
Sayed is a frustrated man
who has but a dark future
.Referring to Mehbooba
Mufti he said behind all
killings in Kashmir since
1989 Mrs. Mehbooba is
some way or the other
involved. Seeing the ground
slipping from under her feet
she has been making baseless, senseless and wild
accusations
against
National Conference and its
leadership.
Dr. Kamaal appealed
people to see through the
nefarious design of party's
like the PDP, DPN, BJP to
finish article 370 and converting this Muslim majority state into their fiefdom
and relegate Muslims to the
background. People should
convincingly reject them in
the ensuing Assembly election and shun them. He further said that PDP is destined to taste some of its
poison soon.
plan and are ready to vote with
sagacity and wisdom to frustrate their nefarious agenda."
Maintaining that there was
need to further accelerate the
process of progress and development in the Jammu East
constituency, Malhotra said
that no stone will be left
unturned to convert Jammu
East Assembly constituency
into a 'model constituency' of
the State. And, he further said,
in order to achieve this, "I
appeal you to vote in favour of
a right candidate.
Vikram informed the people about developmental
works undertaken by him in
the past in the constituency. On
the occasion, the Congress
candidate also opened election
office at Malhotra Mohalla and
pledged to work for the welfare
of masses of Jammu East constituency.
bodies and that too is
being brought by them
in some cases from more
than even 2 kms away.
He said that it is
ironical that a constituency which starts
merely 6 kms from the
winter capital of the
state is still struggling
for its basic amenities
like water, electricity,
roads, old age & widow
pensions etc and our
government as well as
the leaders and the par-
ties which represented
them did nothing else
except false promises
after promises. Wazir
asked the people to vote
for the change this time
so that a change on
ground may also come
in the constituency as
well.
The meeting among
others was addressed by
Gardhari lal, Shiv Lal
Dhingra,
Romesh
Devi
Dass,
Kumar,
Mohan Lal etc.
NDRF organises
awareness programmes
gy NEWS SERVICE
RaJoURI, NoV. 18: With an aim to spread awareness
among the common masses and students regarding the
preparations to minimize loss of life and property at the
time of any natural disaster, National Disaster Response
Force (NDRF) is holding a two week long series of awareness programmes across the district especially in the educational institutions.
In the initiative, NDRF today organised a disaster
awareness programme in Government Girls Higher
Secondary Rajouri under the supervision of NDRF
Inspector Santosh Kumar Singh and Dy SP Civil Defence
Jabeen Lone. During the programme students were made
aware how to remain prepared from natural disasters especially including earthquake, floods, fire, school safety and
nuclear disasters. NDRF experts also asked the girl students
of the school to aware their family members and other relatives about the measures to be taken before and after any
natural disaster. Similar disaster awareness camps were
held by NDRF in other parts of the district including Higher
Secondary School Manjakote, High School Jawhar Nagar,
Army Goodwill public school, International Public School
Rajouri, MET Thanamandi, Higher Secondary School Lam
while a disaster awareness programme for police personals
will also be held in district police line Rajouri within a day
or two.
First ever attempt of covering 4 corners of India expedition by
Dr Chaudhari reaches Jammu, crossed two corners of India
Dr Sunildatta Chaudhari, an Indian from Jalgaon District,
Maharashtra is driving down all four far-most points of India by road
gy NEWS SERVICE
JaMMU, NoV. 18: If
age is no limitation for
adventure in life, Dr
Sunildatta Chaudhary is a
living example of the
same. At the age of 53
years, Dr Chaudhary has
no less energy than that of
youth as he started his
ambitious expedition of
visiting 4 corners of the
country on October 30
from Kanyakumari. He
has
already
covered
Approx 6, 924 km of this
expedition in few weeks.
An
Indian
from
Jalgaon
District,
Maharashtra has already
achieved feat of registering his name in the prestigious Limca Book of
Records by driving down
from the southernmost tip
to the northern tip of
India 5 years ago. He had
travelled 3,847 km in 6
days - 5 hours - 25 minutes from 22 May, 2009
from Kanyakumari and
reached Leh on 28 May,
2009.
Dr Chaudhary, while
reaching Jammu said, "I
am in 2nd Inning of my
life. Planning is the key
and meticulously. I have
considered all possible
permissions and licenses
needed for this expedition. I just want to give
one message to the world
that one should live the
life fullest and should not
be afraid of taking bold
steps out of fear. Life
should be taken as a challenge and adventure."
According
to
Dr
Chaudhary, he has driven
over 4 lakh kilometres in
various expeditions. As a
gesture of celebrating the
same and fulfilling his
son's
(Ramakrishna)
dream, Dr Chaudhary
took up the challenge of
driving down to all 4 corners of the country and
hence, registering his
name in Limca Book of
Records once again.
Aga Ruhullah addresses massive road-show in Budgam
'National Conference is the only force to safeguard J&K's interests'
Lashes out at PDP for saying something and doing something else
gy NEWS SERVICE
BUdgaM, NoV. 18:
Senior National Conference
Leader, sitting MLA and
Candidate for Budgam
Assembly
Constituency
Aga
Syed
Ruhullah
addressed a massive roadshow and public meeting in
Budgam today and said that
National Conference was
the only political force that
could safeguard J&K's
interests amid an attempted
invasion by vested interest
who plan on abrogating
Article 370 and fragmenting
the State from within. Aga
Syed Ruhullah also highlighted the landmark initiatives in development that
were taken in Budgam during the last six years includ-
ing the creation if five new
Administrative Units in
Budgam Constituency alone
with Tehsil status to Narbal
and Soibugh, Community
Development Block in
Soibugh and Nayabats to
Sholipora, Narbal and
Humhama.
"If there is a political
force in J&K that can protect the interest of the State
and its people at this unique
juncture in the political history of the State, it is
undoubtedly only National
Conference which can rise
to the occasion. There are
intrigues that are being
hatched to abrogate Article
370 which forms the basis
of the special status for our
State and is a part of our
identity, political stature and
protects our aspirations. In
light of these intrigues it
becomes an onerous duty to
put our weight behind Omar
Abdullah and National
Conference in the larger
interests of J&K and its
people. Any complacency
on the part of the voters at
this crucial juncture can
forever end up destroying
what we have protected all
this while by giving our
blood", Aga Ruhullah said.
Aga Ruhullah asked
the people of Budgam to
go through the list of candidates that PDP has put
forth and see how many
among them have been
convicted of corruption,
embezzlement and have
been found involved in
activities that go against all
ethics and morals in public
life. "PDP has collected all
corruption
specialists
together and has given
them mandates so that the
party can use them for furthering its self-seeking,
monetary goals. PDP has
given mandates to those
who have been convicted
by courts of cases of graft
and corruption. This party
wants to set us back to
their time in power when
they turned J&K into the
most corrupt State in the
country - a blot of shame
that was erased by the
efforts of Omar Abdullah
and National Conference
in eradicating corruption in
J&K in the last six years",
Aga Ruhullah added.
"PDP has a habit of
saying exactly what they
don't mean and intend to
do. They are also oblivious
to their own history and
that of their patron. What
happened to PDP's 'selfrule' document? There is
not a single word about it
from PDP today - they have
abandoned their flagship
political vision document
for pleasing their bosses in
New Delhi. Come these
assembly elections, PDP
will get a big surprise in the
form of a rejection by people in all three regions of
the State because of these
contradictions and lies",
Aga Ruhullah said.
4
JAMMU |
Golden YuG
WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 19 | 2014
Golden Yug Clean-India drive: Challenges & gains
RaM NIWaS MaLIK
EDITORIAL
Trade facilitation
on track
The deal with the U.S. now provides for an
indefinite peace clause until a permanent solution
is found to the farm subsidy issue. The deal
between India and the U.S. on the contentious
issue of public stockholdings of foodgrains for
security should put the global trade negotiations
back on track. The bilateral compromise provides
the much-needed window to save the multilateral
Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), a significant
step in the history of the World Trade
Organization (WTO). The TFA, cleared at a WTO
ministerial meeting in Bali last year, is intended to
simplify customs rules, speed up the release of
goods from ports, and pare transaction costs. The
Narendra Modi-led BJP government refused to
sign the TFA, insisting on a permanent solution to
the food subsidy issue before signing it. The bone
of contention is over a WTO rule that caps subsidies to farmers at 10 per cent of the total historical
value of farm production. This stipulation — as is
articulated at the WTO — is seen to undermine the
responsibility of developing countries to feed the
poor. Not surprisingly, India and some others have
questioned the methodology of arriving at such a
subsidy cap. A ‘peace clause’ in the WTO rules
does indeed provide a limited-year protection to
India and the like from legal challenges by member-nations should they exceed the farm subsidy
cap. What if the farm subsidy concerns remained
unaddressed once the peace clause expires and
member-nations are allowed to legally challenge
violations of the subsidy cap? Complaints based
on rules limiting farm subsidy could seriously
hamper the government’s ability to ensure food
stocking and supply for the poor. These fears were
behind the blocking of the TFA by the Modi government. Had the impasse continued, the beneficial provisions on trade facilitation would have
been delayed too.
The deal with the U.S. now provides for an
indefinite peace clause until a permanent solution is
found to the farm subsidy issue. The deal is a reflection of the Modi government’s assertion of national
interest while being flexible on modalities. Once
India’s stand and its concern over the implications
for food security were explained clearly to the U.S.,
it came up with a reasonable response. If at one
stage India risked global isolation, New Delhi did
not insist on an immediate solution to the food subsidy issue but agreed to an indefinite peace clause.
In all, it is a pact that enables the multilateral trade
negotiations to move forward. With this deal in
place, the TFA could become a reality. Of course,
the bilateral pact will have to be ratified by the WTO
but with the U.S. showing the way, other members
would find it acceptable. It underscores once again
the dominance of the U.S. in a multilateral global
forum even while it is a recognition of India’s place
in the global economic environment.
PRIME Minister Narendra
Modi launched the Swachch
Bharat sanitation programme
on October 2 , 2014. It was a
befitting tribute to the Father of
the Nation who was concerned
about sanitation issues. After the
Shimla Conference in May
1945 got over, Gandhiji went to
the nearby quarters and started
discussing the problem of poor
conditions of latrines with the
residents. The ashram at
Wardha was set up to teach poor
people to build a sanitary environment. He used to teach the
people saying, “If you go to
defecate in the open, then dig a
small pit, do the job and cover it
with the excavated soil.” This
was a unique idea of sanitation
in those days.
The proposed sanitation
programme will reframe the
social and economic face of
India and prove to be a great
game changer. Sanitation has a
direct link with the spread of
communicable diseases which
are prevalent in India. As a matter of fact, the initiative “Health
for All by 2000 A.D” flopped
because an effective sanitation
programme was not launched
simultaneously. The basic cause
of frequent epidemics in India is
insanitation. The country can
attain Health for All by October
2, 2019, if the programme is
implemented in totality.
Quality of life
Living in an insanitary
environment, like poverty,
degrades the quality of human
life and it is a curse and a social
stigma as well.Therefore, the
accomplishment of the Total
Sanitation Programme (TSP)
will improve the living standard
of the poorest of the poor on the
one hand and improve the
Human Development Index
(HDI) of India on the other.
Presently, India is positioned
134 in the UN’s HDI. Poverty is
less painful if one gets a chance
to live in a sanitary environment. In fact, a sanitary environment is the basic necessity of
human life like air, water and
food for its aesthetic and psychological development. That is
why we say, “Cleanliness is
next to godliness”. If India
ensures total sanitation by 2019,
our stock will rise in the comity
of nations.
This important programme
was totally neglected in the past
and one should give full marks
to Narendra Modi for caring
about this basic necessity of
human life and giving it top priority in his future programme of
developing India. Up to the
1960s, carrying human excreta
as head load was the worst
social stigma. Now open defecation has taken its place.
Women go for nature’s call at
night in the open and they are
frequently molested and even
raped. The coverage for use of
in-house sanitary latrines varies
from state to state, depending
upon the percentage of BPL
families.
According to the proposed
Swachh Bharat scheme, the
government will build individual toilets in 1.04 crore houseand
5
lakh
holds
community/public toilets in
urban areas. Around 8.8 crore
toilets will be built in rural areas
and a majority of these are to be
provided in individual households. The total sanitation programme includes programmes
that are to be executed under the
umbrella programme.
Steps towards total sanitation
Provision of 100 per cent
sewerage and a drainage system
in all urban towns together with
innocuous disposal or recycling
of the finally treated effluent for
irrigation with a total ban on discharge into the drains or rivers.
An effective sewerage and
drainage system forms the
backbone of urban sanitation.
There is need for 100 per
cent solid waste management,
both in urban and rural areas
and recycling of the final waste
product. Around 100 per cent
coverage of rural households
and slum areas with sanitary
latrines. All the open areas in
urban and rural communities
will be either paved or grassed.
All the streets to be paved with
concrete blocks or paver blocks.
There should be zero tolerance
to dumping or littering of solid
waste matter (mostly paper and
plastic matter) in open spaces,
both in urban and rural areas. It
should be the same for stagnation of sullage or any other
waste water in urban or rural
areas. There should be daily
sweeping of streets, roads or
public places both in rural and
urban areas. The vacant plots
should be provided with boundary walls and kept neat clean
and green.
Each element is more
important than the other. The
accomplishment of this programme by 2019 is an onerous
task and will require huge
amount of funds. Execution of
the TSP will be done by the state
agencies.
The
Central
Government will only facilitate
and monitor the progress of the
programme with partial funding. Therefore, it will be appropriate if the Centre prepares a
blueprint and then calls a meeting of state chief ministers to
hand over the blueprint to them
to prepare rough cost estimates.
Considering the amazonian size
of the project, it will be essential
to set up a separate ministry to
prepare a financial and administrative model and give a goahead to the states to implement
this programme by October,
2019. The first year should be
used for financial planning,
preparing technical sanction of
the project and acquisition of
land. The remaining four years
should be used for execution
under the watchful eye of the
Central ministry, with the mechanism of monitoring and course
corrections.
Financial challenges
Since the Total Sanitation
Programme or TSP, covers the
length and breadth of the country. It is bound to face serious
financial and administrative
challenges. India has 4,041
towns of varying sizes, with
population varying between
20,000 to 15 million. Besides
this, towns are expanding disproportionately because of an
accelerated process of rural
migration to urban areas.
Presently, 98 per cent towns
have been provided with partial
sewerage, drainage and watersupply systems only. We have
to include the cost of the water
supply system because the success of the sewerage system
depends upon providing a water
supply network carrying 135
litres per capita per day.
Providing latrines in 80 million
BPL households at a cost of Rs
1,2500, per unit will require an
investment of Rs 1 lakh crore
for which the families may not
be ready to pay individually.
BPL families, at best, can agree
to meet 25 per cent of the cost.
Waste collection system
Solid waste collection sys-
tem and its innocuous
disposal/recycling leaves much
to be desired. Presently, very
few cities have scientifically
designed disposal plants and
upgradation of the whole system needs considerable investment. The cost of paving of
streets is still higher. In Haryana,
90 per cent village streets have
been paved with concrete
blocks. So the cost of providing
all these services with 100 per
cent coverage is monumental, if
not colossal. Basically, the provision of these basic services is
a state subject. The treasuries of
most of the states are empty and
they are surviving on loans and
central grants and are unable to
upgrade these services or fasttrack them. The private-public
partnership or PPP model is
already failing and has become
dicey because of the capricious
attitude of the consumers not to
pay the toll tax or service
charges, whereas the government is heavily banking on it.
Taking the middle path
A middle path needs to be
explored. The government has
already set up the Jawaharlal
Nehru Urban Renewal Mission,
which provides funds to
upgrade the urban services to
the states on equity basis and
that too for limited number of
bigger towns like Patna.
Therefore, the only way left for
the states is to arrange funds
from the World Bank and the
Asian Development Bank and
other
donor
agencies.
Arrangement of required
amount of funds will be a herculean task and requires great
financial acumen and prudence
in order to meet this challenge.
The Government of India,
in an affidavit to the Supreme
Court on September 9, this year,
(PIL for Clean Ganga project)
has stated that it will take 18
years to implement the total
sanitation project in 118 identified towns and 1,650 panchayats and will require Rs 5,1000
crore for the purpose. It is not
known what view the Supreme
Court will take but the implementation period of 18 years is
not digestible. Going by this figure, the total cost of covering
4041 towns and 4 lakh villages
will be a whopping Rs 35 lakh
crore.
Administrative glitches
Most towns have been provided with partial sewerage systems but very few have welldesigned sewage treatment plant
(STPs). STPs and outfall channels carrying treated waste water
will require use of public land.
Acquisition of public land is a
problem because of stringent
provision of the new Land
Acquisition Act. So timely
acquisition of land is a big challenge for the administration.
In market areas, the land
between the shopping line and
the edge of the road has considerable width and paving this
area involves huge cost.
Theoretically,
shopkeepers
should pave this area because
they use this land for the sake of
their customers. One does not
know if they will agree to pave
the entire width. The situation in
residential areas is almost similar with the difference that the
width can be grassed instead of
being paved. Therefore, the state
government will have to formulate a policy that can be implemented in this regard. Likewise,
the state government will have
to pass an order to direct plot
holders to ensure 25 per cent
completion of their plots within
a specified period so that the
vacant plots do not become
dumping grounds for solid
waste and growth of wild plants.
Location of solid wastemanagement plants is a difficult
task. Seeking environment
clearance from the state environment authority is not as problematic as is dealing with
protests from villagers. A proper
and clean technology and a
method for degradation and
recycling of solid waste has not
been developed so far in India.
Existing plants emit unbearable
foul smells during the rainy season and on the windy days.You
can feel this nuisance by standing at Karnal bypass in Delhi
during the rainy season. The
problem in bigger cities is all the
more intractable as the space for
dumping solid waste at existing
locations is reducing day by day
because the recycling process
has not been taken up simultaneously. The experiment of using
solid waste for power generation
has not met with desired success. Location of new solid
waste plants at the outer periphery requires long-distance transportation. The process of composting solid waste at the source
in bigger houses (350 sq metres
or more) has not been initiated
yet. Recycling technology for
paper and plastic waste too has
not been developed so far.
Execution of projects of
sewerage, drainage, solid waste
management, and providing
sanitary latrines in Haryana is
done by different government
agencies like municipal corporations,
Haryana
Urban
Development
Authority
(HUDA) and Department of
Panchayats. It will be expedient
to set up an authority at the state
headquarters. The Managing
Director of this authority should
be a senior IAS officer, with a
team of senior engineers and
administrative officers at the
state level. This authority will be
entrusted the job of coordinating
the work with departments concerned for timely execution of
the project and also to distribute
funds to different executing
agencies and provide monitoring feedbacks to the ministry.
Nuts & bolts of sanitation
drive
The initiative “Health for
All by 2000 A.D” flopped
because an effective sanitation
programme was not launched
simultaneously
Acquisition of land for solid
waste treatment and disposal
plants with the concurrence of
farmers is a major issue being
faced by municipal corporations.
Solid waste management
will become very simple if separation of paper, plastic and
kitchen wastes is done at the
source itself by the owner and
then collected and disposed
accordingly. One does not know
why this is not practised in India.
Providing latrines in 80 million BPL households at a cost of
Rs 1,2500, per unit will require
an investment of Rs 1 lakh crore.
For this, the families may not be
ready to pay individually. BPL
families, at best, can agree to
meet 25 per cent of the cost
incurred.
Cost of cleanliness
The Rs 1.0 lakh crore programme was launched on
October 2, 2014 (Gandhi
Jayanti). Toilets will be built
with private sector investment.
Focus areas include better solid
waste management facilities for
over 30 crore people across
4,041 cities by 2019. The government is exploring ways to to
merge this mega project with
existing welfare programmes
such as MGNREGA and
Backward Region Grant Fund.
A budget of Rs 1 lakh crore
will provide Rs 62,000 crore
for urban areas and Rs 38,000
crore for rural areas. The government is banking heavily on
private sector investment,
through the PPP model.
According to Census 2011, out
of 6.7 crore urban households,
12 per cent, i.e. 80.4 lakh defecate in the open. About 36 per
cent population is covered
under the sewerage system
and 37 per cent have in-house
septic tanks. The proposed Rs
1.0 lakh crore sanitation programme is devoted to providing sanitary latrines, covering
all the households in the country and improving solid waste
management facilities in
urban areas.
Military justice in a political season
SUCHITRa VIJayaN
The announcement of
the Macchil conviction on
the eve of the Jammu and
Kashmir Assembly elections is a political decision,
not one in support of justice
or transformation
The Indian Army last
week sentenced five of its
personnel, including two
officers, to life imprisonment for staging the killing
of three Kashmiri civilians
in the Macchil fake
encounter case in 2010 and
branding them as foreign
militants for rewards and
remunerations. Soon after,
Jammu and Kashmir Chief
Minister Omar Abdullah
welcomed the decision calling it a “watershed
moment.”
The Indian Army’s court
martial verdict presents us
with an indictment of state
brutality, while simultaneously inviting us to consider
the vacillations of those
who peddle the promise of a
more benign, transformed
rule in Kashmir. The verdict
is not a watershed moment,
but indicative of the manner
in which political considerations and interests of the
Army override larger principles of justice and accountability. Rogue elements in
the Macchil fake encounter
were not driven to these acts
for professional advancement. The encounter is not
an aberration, but a deliberate enactment of the unfettered power and lawlessness
of the state. It is reflective
of the cash-for-kill policy
that has institutionalised the
incentivisation of encounter
killings.
It is imperative that the
Macchil fake encounter is
placed within the larger
context of violence perpetrated against civilians in
Kashmir and the long history of human rights violations sanctioned by the
state.
Thousands
of
unmarked and mass graves
in Jammu and Kashmir are
believed to contain victims
of
unlawful
killings,
enforced disappearances,
numerous fake encounters,
torture, massacres and other
abuses. The report “Facts
under Ground” issued by
the
Srinagar-based
Association of the Parents
of Disappeared Persons
alleges that more than 8,000
persons have gone missing
in Jammu and Kashmir
since 1989. There are innumerable cases of Army
atrocities, cover-ups and
systematic failure to prosecute.
This spectacle of death,
destruction and disappearance witnessed over and
over again in Kashmir is a
culture of impunity that has
flourished in the aftermath
of years of conflict, occupation and militarisation. This
reign of impunity constitutes a form of violence and
a “structural element of
everyday reality.”
Patterns of impunity
In Kashmir, state violence is openly exercised as
the policy for governance; it
is integral to the way in
which sovereignty is practised. Questions of rule of
law and state accountability
remain abdicated. The political context to the exercise
of state violence is the
unchallenged impunity and
authority enjoyed by the
state forces. It is not just the
question of The Armed
Forces (Special Powers)
Act, but also larger structures of oppression that dictate everyday life in
Kashmir.
In Kunan Poshpora, a
village in Kupwara district,
soldiers
of
the
4th
Rajputana Rifles of the
Army’s
68th
Brigade
allegedly raped more than
50 women in 1991. The
Indian Army has consistently denied the charges as
“baseless” and called the
women’s struggle for justice
“mala fide.” In the 1998
Sailan massacre, 19 civilians, including 11 children
and five women (one of
whom was pregnant), were
shot to death at point blank
range in their homes in
Sailan in Poonch district.
Their bodies were thereafter
dismembered to be disposed
of. In official accounts,
these heinous crimes were
reported as collateral damage during an “encounter”
despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
In the 2000 Pathribal
fake encounter, Indian military forces killed five men
claiming that the victims
were “foreign militants”
responsible for the massacre
of Sikhs in Chittisinghpora.
During the course of investigation, DNA samples of
the Pathribal victims had
been tampered with. The
Central
Bureau
of
Investigation told the
Supreme Court of India that
the Pathribal killings by the
Army “were cold-blooded
murders and the accused
officials deserve to be
meted out exemplary punishment.” Despite these
findings, the Indian Army
closed the case in January
this year stating that “the
evidence did not establish a
prima facie case against any
of the accused” and chose
not to conduct a court martial.
The existence of judicial
institutions holds out the
promise of accountability,
and a facade of redress, but
patterns of cover-up and
denials
are
pervasive
throughout the legal system.
The institutional denial of
justice extends the control
of the military while maintaining the facade of law.
Impunity has been the norm
in Kashmir and convictions
such as in the Macchil case
are exceptions in service of
political end.
The military justice system in India remains
opaque, procedurally longwinded, antiquated and
unable to serve the end goal
of justice. It is incompatible
with the fundamental rights
that collectively constitute
the right to due process in
India. Rather than aid the
system of checks and balances that impose accountability, court martials have
become a distinctive tool;
kangaroo courts that aid in
the fiction of state accountability, while legitimising
violence and counterinsurgency operations.
Every now and again,
security forces green light
court martials in carefully
chosen cases in the guise of
accountability. Of particular
note are two cases of rape,
one
against
Captain
Ravinder Singh Tewatia in
2000 and the other against
Major Rehman Hussain in
2004. Captain Tewatia
was convicted by the
court martial and sentenced to imprisonment
for seven years. Major
Hussain was dismissed
from service. Both the
accused challenged their
decisions in the Jammu
and Kashmir High Court
and in both the instances,
the court overturned the
court martial’s verdict.
While the Captain Tewatia
case is still awaiting further legal challenge,
Major Hussain is reported
to have returned to service.
While the court martial decision in Macchil
has been announced, the
conviction remains to be
confirmed
by
the
Northern
Army
Commander. This might
take up to two to three
months. Whether the perpetrators will be held
accountable remains to be
seen. The court martial
verdict by itself is not an
administration of justice.
A few inconsequential
punishments will not lead
to justice when there is an
entire chain of command
and a vicious structure in
place that makes these
encounters,
disappearances and everyday violence a norm. An unjust
law and a flawed court of
justice in itself is a
species
of
violence.
Systemic unaccountability
for its breach is more so.
Moral and political
failure
Kashmir is India’s
greatest moral and political failure. It is here that
even the most civilised
amongst us begin to make
excuses for repression,
brutality and violence. It
is here that we subsume
all that we otherwise celebrate under the demands
of freedom, progress, liberalism, liberty and secular ideals. Since 1947, the
Indian state has responded
to the political aspirations
and the social and the
legal demands in Kashmir
through
militarisation,
repression, and indiscriminate violence, including,
at various times, the
denial of democratic
rights, the manipulation of
elections, and the murder
and imprisonment of its
political leaders.
The Macchil verdict
and the decision to
announce the conviction on
the eve of the Assembly
elections in Jammu and
Kashmir is a political decision, and not one in support
of justice or transformation.
Even as change is being
trumpeted, Kashmir has
witnessed yet another
killing of a civilian by
Indian Army personnel, 18year-old Tariq Ahmad in
Kulgam area. Possibilities
of change will occur when
perpetrators are held uniformly accountable for their
act in a civil court under the
public gaze and when victims, survivors and their
families finally have the
opportunity to confront
those responsible for what
happened to them.
5
JAMMU |
Golden YuG
WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 19 | 2014
BJP plans massive membership drive
in West Bengal to counter Mamata
KoLKaTa, NoV. 18: Riding high on confidence, the
Narendra Modi-powered Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has
set an ambitious target of enrolling at least 1 crore people in
West Bengal by March 31, 2015. The decision was taken
during a meeting attended by BJP president chief Amit
Shah and West Bengal unit chief Rahul Sinha and state-incharge Siddharth Nath Singh.
With eyes set on TMC-ruled West Bengal, the BJP will
launch the membership drive on November 30 when party
president Amit Shah will also address a rally at Esplanade
in Kolkata. The BJP is desperately trying to make inroads
into the eastern state where it has never been a major player. Interestingly, the BJP has also dispatched Mukhtar
Abbas Naqvi to campaign for the party. The message is
clear – the party doesn't want to present an anti-Muslim
image as Bengal has a sizeable number of the minority
community. Reports say that the BJP plans to corner the
Trinamool Congress on Saradha chit fund scam. The party,
which is on a golden run under PM Modi's leadership, also
plans to link Mamata with Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen
Bangladesh, a terror outfit spreading its wings in Bengal.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress
chief Mamata Banerjee has alleged that the BJP is "trying
to incite communal violence" in the state. The BJP will lose
future elections if regional parties come together, Banerjee
said on Tuesday. BJP eyes 10 crore new members Seeking
to capitalise on the people’s support for the party in the Lok
Sabha and Assembly elections, the BJP launched an ambitious membership drive on November 03 to enrol 10 crore
new members.
Friends again? Shiv Sena says won't let
anyone destabilise BJP govt in Maharashtra
MUMBaI, NoV. 18:
Hours after Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar indicated the prospect of snap polls
in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena
on Tuesday rushed to support its estranged ally
Bharatiya Janata Party.
In
an
important
announcement, Shiv Sena
leader Sanjay Raut said his
party will not let anyone
destabilise the BJP government in Maharashtra. Raut
cleared that Shiv Sena will
not pose any threat to the
BJP, indicating the two parties are likely to patch up
soon.
Addressing a two-day
party meeting which began
today at Alibaug in
Maharashtra's Raigad district, NCP president Sharad
Pawar today asked his party
workers to be prepared for
snap polls in Maharashtra
considering the political situation after the recent state
Assembly Elections. For the
first time in nearly three
months, Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis on
Monday met Shiv Sena
chief Uddhav Thackeray
amidst protests by some
Sena activists at Bal
Thackeray's memorial.
Fadnavis with over half
a dozen of his cabinet ministers and several Bharatiya
Janata Party leaders arrived
at the Thackeray memorial
in Shivaji Park and paid
homage to the late Sena
founder-patriarch. He laid a
wreath at the memorial,
paid homage and then
walked over to the small
marquee where Uddhav sat
since morning along with
his family members.
As Uddhav stood up,
Fadnavis greeted him,
warmly shook hands and sat
beside him. The duo belonging to parties which
were allies for 25 years
before they split on
September 25 - spoke for a
few
minutes
before
Fadnavis left.
Whie the chief minister
and his ministerial colleagues paid homage and
later met Uddhav, some
Sena activists raised antiBJP slogans and ranted
"Fadnavis, go back". They
were largely ignored.
Notably, the Shiv Sena had
last week rejected the vote
of confidence won by the
government in a voice vote
without division of votes in
the Maharashtra Assembly.
The BJP has 121 MLAs
and has the support of an
ally and nine independents
as well as some smaller parties besides the 'unconditional external support' of
the Nationalist Congress
Party (NCP) with 41 MLAs.
Shiv Sena has 63 and
Congress 42 MLAs in the
288-member Assembly.
Some trying to remove Jawaharlal Nehru's legacy from India: Rahul Gandhi
NEW dELHI, NoV.
18: On the second and
last day of Nehru
International
Conference, Congress
vice president Rahul
Gandhi on Tuesday said
efforts were on to
remove Jawaharlal
Nehru's legacy from the
country and there was a
need to thwart such
attempts urgently.
Speaking at the Nehru
International
Conference, organised
by the Indian National
Congress to commemorate Jawaharlal Nehru’s
125th Birth Anniversary,
Gandhi said: "Nehru is
an ancient idea but he is
also a part of living
India. His ideas and politics are very much present here today."
Some people were
trying to "remove his
(Nehru) legacy from the
country he so dearly
cherished", Gandhi
added without naming
anyone. The Gandhi
scion said it was important that the people of
the country preserved
"this peaceful India,
Nehru's India, an India
which is secular and tolerant”. "Today this legacy, that has denied no
man or woman their
voice, and that we have
fought to preserve for
close to 70 years is
more important than
ever before," said
Gandhi.
The congress vice
president said Nehru
was a "man of ideas but
not an ideologue" and
he "never forced his
ideas on anyone". "India
is a country where
democratic principles
are cherished deeply.
Nehru developed and
protected these democratic ideals. That is why
today India is a nation
where one-sixth of
humanity lives in
peace," he said.
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has not
been invited to the twoday meet, raising some
eyebrows in the
Bharatiya Janata Party.
The event held by
Congress to resurrect
Nehru's legacy at a trying time for the party
saw the presence of
leaders from many parties on Monday.
West Bengal Chief
Minister and Trinamool
Congress chief Mamata
Banerjee, Communist
Party of India-Marxist
leaders Prakash Karat
and Sitaram Yechury
and Janata Dal-United
chief Sharad Yadav were
Burdwan blast case: NIA arrests
Myanmar national from Hyderabad
HydERaBad, NoV.
18: In a major breakthrough, the National
Investigation Agency (NIA)
has arrested a Myanmar
national from Hyderabad in
connection
with
the
Burdwan blast case.
The arrested suspect has
been identified as 21-yearold Khalid Mohammed. He
was living in the Telangana
capital on the basis of fake
identity documents. He was
arrested yesterday.
NIA said Khalid has
links with Tahreek-eTaliban and is an IED
expert. He is also said to be
involved in running terror
camps in bordering areas of
Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Jihadi literature related
to ISIS was also recovered
from him.
Importantly, Khalid's
arrests comes at a time
when an NIA team is in
Bangladesh to probe the terror trail linked with the blast
in Burdwan district of West
Bengal.
India is seeking cooperation to unravel the plans of
Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen
Bangladesh (JMB) terror
outfit allegedly responsible
for the October 2 blast in
Burdwan which killed two
suspected terrorists.
NIA has already had
some major success in its
probe. JMB's Chief commander for Burdwan module, Sajid, a Bangladeshi
national, Amjad Sheikh and
Zia-ul-Haque who allegedly
procured explosives are
already
under
arrest.
Bangladesh's elite anticrime
Rapid
Action
Battalion (RAB) has captured
Sajid's
brother
Mohammad Monayem.
NIA has been investigating militant networks
after the October 2 blast at a
house, visibly turned into a
clandestine bomb manufacturing factory, in Burdwan
district while the security
officials earlier said JMB
had spread its clandestine
network in bordering areas
in India.
Two suspected militants
had died in the explosion
that rocked the Burdwan
house and their two wives,
believed also to be trained
by the JMB, were caught.
among those present.
Many leaders of parties of undivided Janata
Dal were there, but no
senior Samajwadi Party
leader was present.
Foreign leaders present
included former Afghan
president Hamid Karzai,
former Ghana president
John Kufuor, Queen
Mother of Bhutan Ashi
Dorji Wangmo
Wangchuck, former
Nepal prime minister
Madhav Nepal and former Egyptian foreign
minister Amr Moussa.
Speaking on the first
day of the conference,
Congress president
Sonia Gandhi said the
values promoted by
India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru
continue to remain relevant, and secularism
was a compelling need
without which there
could be no India.
She further made
veiled attacks on the
BJP, saying Nehru's life
and work had been
"drowned out by misinterpretation and distortion in recent years".
The theme of the twoday conference is
"Nehru's world view and
his Legacy - Democracy,
Inclusion and
Empowerment".
Sunanda Pushkar death probe:
Police looking for 'fake' hotel guests
said during the launch of the
revamped KVP.
KVP would serve two
purposes, he said, adding, one
it would help poor gullible
investors to channelise their
savings towards trusted government scheme instead of
some ponzi schemes, where
hard earned savings disappears. "Secondly, there is an
urgent need to raise savings
in the country...These savings
are then used for nation
building. Such saving instrument not only earn interest
but help in development of
the country," he said.
Talking about the features
of the instrument, the Finance
Minister said this simple
product would be a bearer
instrument without name of
the holder in the first phase.
Available in the denomination of Rs 1,000, 5,000,
10,000 and 50,000, the
amount invested in KVP
would be doubled in 100
months.
KVP, that has got no
upper ceiling for investment,
can be encashed after a lockin period of 30 months.
Initially, the certificates will
be sold through post offices,
but the same will soon be
made available to the investing public through designated
branches of nationalised
banks, Jaitley said.
However, savers would
not get any tax benefit for
their investment in KVP.
"Recognising the need to provide easy instruments of savings for people who have not
had access to other savings
instruments... And therefore
you have to rely either on
keeping the money with them
or buying gold, gold silver,"
Finance Secretary Rajiv
Mehrishi said.
CHENNaI, NoV. 18: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O
Panneerselvam on Tuesday said a petition will be filed in
the apex court praying for staying Karnataka's plans to
construct dams on the Cauvery river. In a statement issued
here, Panneerselvam said a petition will be filed in the
Supreme Court on Tuesday asking for a stay order against
Karnataka's plans to construct two dams on river Cauvery
under the guise of drinking water schemes. Panneerselvam
also said a letter has been sent to Prime Minister Narendra
Modi to advise Karnataka to withhold the Expression of
Interest (EOI) for its dam projects. The EOI is to build two
reservoirs at Mekedatu in Karnataka for a technical feasibility study. Panneerselvam also urged Modi to advise
Karnataka not to take any steps to execute irrigation,
hydro power, lift irrigation schemes or any other scheme
in the guise of drinking water supply in the Cauvery Basin
of Karnataka without the consent of the government of
Tamil Nadu. Panneerselvam also urged Modi to instruct
the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and
Ministry of Water Resources not to give clearance to any
project by Karnataka without consulting Tamil Nadu.
India has world's largest
youth population: UN report
NEW yoRK, NoV. 18: With 356 million 10-24 yearolds, India has the world's largest youth population despite
having a smaller population than China, a latest UN report
said on Tuesday. China is second with 269 million young
people, followed by Indonesia (67 million), the US (65 million) and Pakistan (59 million), Nigeria with 57 million,
Brazil with 51 million, and Bangladesh with 48 million, the
United Nations Population Fund's (UNFPA) State of the
World's Population report said. It said that developing
countries with large youth populations could see their
economies soar, provided they invest heavily in young people's education and health and protect their rights. Within
this generation are 600 million adolescent girls with specific needs, challenges and aspirations for the future, the
report said. The report titled 'The power of 1.8 billion', said
28 per cent of India's population is 10 to 24 year-olds,
adding that the youth population is growing fastest in the
poorest nations. Global number of youths is highest ever.
As the world is home to 1.8 billion young people between
the ages of 10 and 24 year, 9 in 10 of the world's young
population live in less developed countries. "Young people
are the innovators, creators, builders and leaders of the
future. But they can transform the future only if they have
skills, health, decision-making, and real choices in life.
"Today's record 1.8 billion young people present an enormous opportunity to transform the future," UNFPA
Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehim said. The
potential economic gains would be realised through a
"demographic dividend", which can occur when a county's
working age population is larger than the population that is
dependent. "Never before have there been so many young
people. Never again is there likely to be such potential for
economic and social progress. How we meet the needs and
aspirations of young people will define our common
future," the report said. In order to maximise the dividend,
countries must ensure their young working-age populations
are equipped to seize opportunities for jobs and other
income-earning possibilities, the UN agency said.
Pakistan's Musharraf warns of proxy
war with India in Afghanistan
NEW dELHI, NoV. 18: In a fresh twist in the
Sunanda Pushkar death case, the Delhi Police have now
added another angle to the investigation.
As per sources, the police are now on the lookout
for three 'fake' hotel guests who the sleuths believe
stayed in the same hotel where Sunanda was murdered.
Police have reportedly got leads that the trio stayed
in the hotel on the night the wife of former union minister Shashi Tharoor was murdered, using false passports.
The development came in the wake of reports that
the police had sought the list of air travellers who flew
from Dubai and Pakistan to Delhi, and vice versa, on
January 17 — the day Sunanda was found dead in the
room of a five-star hotel here.
All this indicates that the police now believe an outsider may have played a role in Sunanda's death.
Also, the police is believed to be mulling sending
Sunanda's viscera abroad for tests in a foreign lab. This
follows the failure of the CFSL and doctors to zero in
on what led to Sunanda's death.
Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi, meanwhile,
today told reporters on the status of the probe:
“Investigation is going on, information will be given
once we reach a conclusion.
Govt aims at raising savings; re-launches Kisan Vikas Patra
NEW dELHI, NoV.
18: With the objective to
raise savings in the country,
the government on Tuesday
re-launched Kisan Vikas
Patra (KVP), an instrument
which will provide trusted
option of investment to poor
and keep them off ponzi
schemes. "In the last 2-3
years, savings rate in country
has declined from a record
high of 36.8 percent to below
30 percent due to slowdown
in the economy. It is, therefore, necessary to encourage
people to save more,"
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
Tamil Nadu to move SC
over dams on Cauvery
Speaking on the occasion, Communications and IT
Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad
said "KVP was a popular
instrument for small savings
and it had an emotional connect with the people of the
country." For around 100
years, he said, the postal
department has been engaged
in small savings schemes and
there are around 30.8 lakh
account holders currently
under it.
Postal department is
undertaking 7 small saving
schemes of Government of
India and it has an outstand-
ing of around Rs 6 lakh crore,
he added. KVP was discontinued in 2011. The scheme
was very popular among the
investors and the percentage
share of gross collections
secured in KVP after its
launch in 1988 was in the
range of 9-29 percent against
the total collections received
under all National Savings
Schemes in the country.
Gross collections under
the scheme in the year 201011 stood at Rs 21,631.16
crore which was 9 percent of
the total gross collections during the year.
ISLaMaBad, NoV. 18: The departure of Nato combat forces from Afghanistan could push India and Pakistan
towards a proxy war in the troubled state, Pakistan's former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf warned in an
interview with AFP. As Pakistan's ruler, Musharraf was a
key US ally in its "war on terror", but he now lives under
tight security in his Karachi home, facing Taliban death
threats and a litany of criminal cases dating back to his
near decade-long rule that ended in 2008.
The 71-year-old — who seized power in a bloodless
coup in 1999 — praised new Afghan President Ashraf
Ghani, who made his first official trip to Pakistan last
week in a bid to reset fractious ties with Islamabad.
Pakistan's support is seen as crucial to Afghan peace as
US-led forces pull out by the end of this year after 13 years
battling the Taliban. But the former strongman said calming tension between India and Pakistan — running high at
the moment after some of the worst cross-border firing in
years — is key to peace in Afghanistan. "The danger for
Pakistan is... the Indian influence in Afghanistan," he told
AFP at his house in Karachi. "That is another danger for
the whole region and for Pakistan because Indian involvement there has an anti-Pakistan connotation. They (India)
want to create an anti-Pakistan Afghanistan." Nucleararmed neighbours India and Pakistan — bitter and sometimes bloody rivals since gaining independence from
Britain in 1947 — have long accused each other of using
proxy forces to try to gain influence in Afghanistan.
While India has tried to gain traction with the Tajik
ethnic group, which dominates in northern Afghanistan,
Pakistan has sought to use its leverage with the Pashtuns
of the country's south and east who make up the majority
of the Taliban. "If Indians are using some elements of the
ethnic entities in Afghanistan, then Pakistan will use its
own support for ethnic elements, and our ethnic elements
are certainly Pashtuns," Musharraf said. "So we are initiating a proxy war in Afghanistan. This must be avoided."
Musharraf blamed India for supporting separatist
rebels in Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan
via training camps in southern Afghanistan — a common
accusation in Pakistani military circles.
Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai routinely
accused Pakistan of secretly backing the Taliban as a
hedge against Indian influence in his country. Pakistan
denies the accusation, though it was one of only three
countries to officially recognise the Afghan Taliban
regime, in power from 1996 until 2001 when the US-led
invasion resulted in its overthrow. Musharraf criticised
former Afghan president Hamid Karzai for sending officials for training in India and not Pakistan, saying "these
small things add up to strategic problems".
6
JAMMU |
Golden YuG
WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 19 | 2014
Scientists 'confident' Philae
comet lander will wake up
BERLIN: There is a strong chance Europe's comet
lander will wake up from hibernation as it nears the sun,
raising hopes for a second series of scientific measurements from the surface next year, scientists involved in the
mission said today. The Philae lander, which became the
first spacecraft to touch down on a comet Wednesday, has
already sent reams of data back to Earth that scientists are
eagerly examining. But there were fears its mission would
be cut short because it came to rest in the shadow of a cliff.
Shortly before its primary battery ran out, the European
Space Agency decided to attempt to tilt the lander's biggest
solar panel toward the sun -- a last-ditch maneuver that scientists believe may have paid off.
"We are very confident at some stage it will wake up
again and we can achieve contact," Stephan Ulamec, the
lander manager, told The Associated Press. That should
happen next spring, when Philae and the comet it is riding
on -- called 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko -- get closer to
the sun, warming up a secondary battery on board. A few
days of sunshine on the solar panels should be enough to
charge the battery sufficiently to conduct science runs, said
Ulamec. Before they can say for certain if they'll be able to
restore contact with Philae, scientists first need to find out
where on the 4-kilometre-wide comet the washing
machine-sized lander is, he added.
New pictures released today offer very good clues
about where it has come to rest. The high-resolution
images taken from Philae's mother ship Rosetta show the
lander descending to the comet and again after its first and
second bounce. These were caused by the lander's failure
to deploy its downward thrusters and harpoons.
Scientists at the German Aerospace Center, DLR, said
today that an initial review of data the lander sent back 500
million kilometres to Earth showed the comet's surface is
much tougher than previously assumed. There's also evidence of large amounts of ice beneath the lander.
Scientists are still waiting to find out whether Philae
managed to drill into the comet and extract a sample for
analysis. Material beneath the surface of the comet has
remained almost unchanged for 4.5 billion years, so the
samples would be a cosmic time capsule that scientists are
eager to study. One of the things they are most excited
about is the possibility that the mission might help confirm
that comets brought the building blocks of life -- including
water -- to Earth.
Celestial treat: Leonid meteor shower
to peak across US East coast tonight
NEW dELHI: Skygazers are in for a surprise as the
best view of Leonid meteor shower is set to be visible
across the US East coast on Tuesday night. With clear
skies, viewers can expect to see about 10 to 15 meteors per
hour, as per NASA prediction.
Leonid meteors are not physically associated with Leo.
They are tiny pieces of comet Tempel-Tuttle. The Leonid
meteors recur each year when Earth passes through comet
Tempel-Tuttle’s debris trail, and small bits of rock burn up
in our planet`s atmosphere. They quickly vaporize, forming the glowing streaks known as meteors.
The trail is clumpy, though, with the biggest clumps
near the comet itself. So every time the comet streaks
through the inner solar system, the number of meteors goes
up. Some years, the Leonids can produce hundreds of
meteors an hour. And some years, the Leonids produce not
showers of meteors, but storms, as was the case in 1833,
when so many meteors had streaked across the sky that
their light woke the sleeping Americans. While the upcoming meteor shower won't be one of those great years, it
would still be worth a look as it reaches its peak in the wee
hours of Monday and Tuesday.
Both NASA and the Slooh Community Observatory
will broadcast live streams of the shower. NASA live
stream will begin on November 17 at 7:30 pm EST (0030
GMT Tuesday) and will continue until sunrise on
November 18. The Slooh live stream will begin on
November 17 at 8:00 pm EST (0100 GMT Tuesday).
Scat samples can now reveal
more about tigers
KoLKaTa: By examining the scat samples of carnivores like tigers and leopards, field biologists can now
identify their species, sex and individuals.
A group of scientists from the Centre for Cellular and
Molecular Platforms, National Centre for Biological
Sciences, Centre for Wildlife Studies and Wildlife
Conservation Society have developed a range of novel
genetic approaches to identify species, sex and individuals
from carnivore scats. Their research was published in the
latest issue of international journal 'Conservation Genetics
Resources'.
The scientists collected over 300 carnivore scat samples across the Malenad-Mysore Tiger Landscape in
Karnataka, and used non-invasive molecular techniques to
identify the species (tiger or leopard), assign individual
identities and also reliably determine the gender of the animal. Dr K Ullas Karanth of Wildlife Conservation Society,
India, said accurate scientific baseline data is the foundation of a good conservation initiative.
While remote cameras can easily distinguish species,
they do not work for species in which individuals and sex
are not uniquely identifiable. Survival of endangered
species depends on timely information on distribution,
demography and ecology at landscape levels.
The researchers said the new tools will greatly enhance
the utility of basic field data to effectively conserve large
felids in India. "We are constantly looking to develop simpler yet more accurate methods to collect data on wildlife,
which will eventually be applied in their conservation. This
pilot study for tigers and leopards is a step ahead in conservation genetics," Dr Karanth said.
The methodology can be successfully applied to any
other endangered wildlife ? and will be particularly useful
for large mammals like bears or dholes for example, that
cannot be identified through physical features, he said.
Forcefeeding democracy
By aLISTaIR
MCMILLaN
Compulsory
voting
seems like an easy fix to a
widespread problem: how
to improve democratic participation. Making voting
mandatory is seen as a
means of improving the
legitimacy and responsiveness of government, reducing opportunities for electoral malpractice, and
enhancing citizen engagement with the democratic
process.
The decision by the
Gujarat governor to sanction the provision of compulsory voting under the
Gujarat Local Authorities
Laws (Amendment) Bill
2009, has brought the question of compulsory voting
back to the electoral reform
agenda. When the original
proposal was introduced in
2009, Pratap Bhanu Mehta,
writing in this newspaper
(‘Acts of choice’, IE,
December
22,
2009,
iexp.in/sYk124693), provided a review of the principles that might be used to
justify some measure of
compulsory voting, but
noted that such measures
seemed poorly suited to the
context of Indian democracy and smacked of “democratic paternalism”. He concluded:
“Voting
must
remain an act of choice, not
propelled by coercion or
inducement.”
Rather than reiterate the
strong theoretical arguments that challenge the use
of state compulsion to force
people to go to the polls, I
want to examine some of
the evidence from countries
around the world that have
used compulsory voting to
see what comparative experience tells us about the
practical implications.
The first thing to note is
that the use of compulsory
voting measures is relatively rare, with only some 14
countries having compulsory voting requirements that
are actually enforced. The
most prominent examples
are Australia, Belgium,
Brazil and Peru. A report
by
the
respected
International Institute for
Democracy and Electoral
Assistance suggested that
compulsory voting was
likely to become a “dying
phenomenon” in western
Europe. Many countries
that have had some form of
compulsory voting have
abandoned the measure, or
stopped trying to enforce it.
In Austria, where it was
abandoned at a national
level in 1982, it was
described by interior ministry officials as unpopular
and “almost impossible to
enforce”. Spain, Italy and
the Netherlands have all
had provisions for compulsory voting at some point,
but decided to make voting
optional. In recent years,
Chile (2012), Fiji (2014),
and Greece (2000) have
either removed compulsory
voting requirements or simply stopped enforcing
them.
Thailand introduced
compulsory voting in 1997
as part of a wholesale constitutional reform package
that sought to address political instability and rampant
corruption. In particular,
compulsory voting was
seen as a way to combat
vote-buying and reduce the
influence of “black money”
in elections. The measure
had little apparent effect —
in the 2001 elections, allegations of vote-buying and
electoral
irregularities
caused its election commission to hold fresh elections
in over 60 constituencies,
the democratic legitimacy
of the government was
undermined, and further
political turmoil led to a
military coup in 2006.
Studies of the wider
effects of compulsory voting suggest that compelling
people to turn out to vote
does not increase levels of
political knowledge, make
voters more likely to feel
that their vote makes a difference, or improve perceptions of the quality of representation. As such, compulsory voting should not
be seen as a measure that
will have a big influence on
the quality of political
engagement and participation.
But surely compulsory
voting increases turnout?
Here the evidence seems
clear. In a comprehensive
comparative study, Harvard
professor Pippa Norris
showed that average voter
turnout in countries with
some form of compulsory
voting requirement was 5.4
per cent higher than in
countries where voting was
optional
However, there are
important qualifications to
reading this as a simple and
clear justification for compulsory voting. The first is
that the severity and strict
enforcement of sanctions is
key
to
substantially
increasing turnout. Second,
even in countries with strict
enforcement of compulsory
voting, turnout is not universal and sanctions have
to be imposed on non-voters. Third, imposing penalties on those who do not
turn out to vote provides
incentives for people to
avoid appearing on the
electoral register. And
fourth, many of those who
feel compelled to turn out
to vote actually spoil their
ballots or cast their votes
randomly.
Compulsory
voting
may compel people to go to
the polling booth, but it
does not ensure that they
cast their vote in a meaningful way. In Australia,
concern about what is
known as the “donkey
vote”, whereby people simply choose the easiest
option (for instance, the
first name on a polling
machine), led to the introduction of random ballot
ordering in 1984. Votes for
“none of the above” or
spoilt ballots are much
more prevalent in systems
with compulsory voting.
When electoral participation is measured in terms
of the voting-age population
rather than using those on
the electoral register as a
base, the improvement in
turnout in countries using
compulsory voting falls to
1.9 per cent. This suggests
that the penalties associated
with failure to turn out to
vote provide a clear incentive for people who are
qualified to vote to disappear from the electoral register. This provides a more
insidious motive for the
introduction of compulsory
voting. As Norris notes:
“Mandatory voting regulations may be genuine
attempts to increase widespread public involvement
in the political process, or
they may be employed by
less democratic regimes to
compel the public to vote, in
the attempt to legitimise
one-party contests.”
In Singapore, generally
accepted to fall below the
standards of a functioning
democratic system, compulsory voting is part of an
electoral framework that
perpetuates one-party rule.
The sanction for non-voting
is withdrawal from the electoral register, removing the
right to vote from those who
do not wish to participate in
what is largely seen as an
unfair electoral process.
In Gujarat, the legislation for compulsory voting
does not specify the sanctions that would be imposed
on those not turning out to
vote. However, speaking in
Ahmedabad in April this
year, L.K. Advani proposed
that “those who do not vote
should be barred from voting in future”. This raises
the unpleasant prospect of
the solution to non-voting
being to remove people
from the electoral process,
surely something that
should concern those who
believe in fundamental
democratic rights.
More audacious than Rosetta
By CHaITaNya gIRI
Humans have a tendency
to create and break boundaries with equal exertion. But
the last 50-odd years have
verified that the struggle over
these boundaries exists only
on and around Earth, and the
vast inhospitable expanses of
outer space provide abundant
prospects and challenges to
prompt united exploration
and expansion of the human
footprint. One such bold initiative is the cornerstone mission of the international
European Space Agency —
Rosetta.
The November 12 touchdown of Rosetta’s Philae
Lander on the surface of the
comet 67P/ ChuryumovGerasimenko has become a
frontier feat at par with the
Apollo 11 mission and the
Voyager Interstellar Mission
in terms of science, technology and civilisational implications.
Rosetta has reached the
comet after facing copious
challenges, making it a marvel among space missions.
The first critical challenge
was its nearly 11-year, arduous flight to a fast-rotating
comet no wider than five
kilometres. Rosetta had to
perform several slingshots
using the gravities of the
Earth, Mars and Earth again
before it could reach 67P.
While performing these
difficult slingshots, it successfully managed to take
scientific measurements and
images of Earth, Mars and
the two main-belt asteroids it
flew past — the 2867 Šteins
and 21 Lutetia.
The second major challenge for Rosetta was the
deep space communications
capability it demanded for
more than a decade, especially when its complete system,
except a few communication
systems that had been shut
down, was reactivated following a 31-month long
hibernation-cum-travelling
period. The third major challenge was to orbit and land
on a surface potentially
prone to quakes and ultracold geysers.
Of the three main phases
of Philae’s scientific mission,
the ESA has successfully
undertaken the first two —
separation, descent and landing (SDL) and first science
sequence (FSS). Philae’s
landing was always a huge
confrontation for the mission
managers and scientists.
On November 12, as
Philae was about to touchdown, it failed to deploy the
harpoon and anchor its grip
on the surface. This led to an
unforeseen consequence,
where the lander bounced
twice after the first touchdown (on its proposed site,
Agilkia) to finally land on a
harsh, non-desired location
hundreds of metres from
Agilkia. Despite these
chance events, Philae has
etched its name in human
history for being the firstever human-made probe to
land on the surface of a
comet and commence the
ultimate objective of the mission, which is to characterise
the comet. As planned,
Philae has utilised its batterypacks that were supposed to
power it during SDL and
FSS. It now anticipates
recharging of its solar panels
to conduct its last long-term
science (LTS) phase, as the
comet continues to move
closer to the sun.
Rosetta’s objectives are
even more ambitious than the
mission itself. The comet
67P belongs to a group of
celestial bodies previously
residing in the outer regions
of our solar system, but at a
certain point of time were
pulled into their current
orbits by the huge gravity of
Jupiter. Hence, having spent
billions of years in the frigid
peripheries, comets are widely known to have preserved
the signatures of astrochemical processes that occurred in
interstellar and protostellar
(period of the sun’s infancy)
environments. The exploration of comets is, therefore,
akin to travelling via a time
machine and arriving in an
era when the Earth did not
even exist.
Comets are believed to
have transported molecules
responsible for the origin of
life on Earth. Exploring them
is thus a significant step
towards the age-old quest for
the origins of humanity.
Also, since comets are abundant with organic material
that has been processed for
billions of years in space,
there is a stark possibility of
finding, if not by Rosetta but
on subsequent missions,
metamaterials that can potentially possess superlative
properties compared to
Earth-based counterparts. So,
comet exploration has huge
potential to satiate both material
and
philosophical
desires.
There are two kinds of
space missions — one driven
by the need to demonstrate
superiority, the other by the
need to explore. Rosetta is of
the second kind. It has been a
collective effort of several
thousand scientists spanning
across three generations. The
investment of several million
man-hours, the training of
three generations banishing
social, cultural and national
boundaries, and the sentience
of the early mission designers to proceed with the mis-
sion, despite knowing that
they might probably not see
and experience its final glory,
make Rosetta one of the most
inspiring projects ever undertaken.
Despite the numerous
conflicts on Earth, the vastness of space gives humans a
common sense of heritage
and purpose. In the 21st century, when the world looks
forward to an advancing
Asia, it looks at it not only as
a potential market for commodities but also as a huge
pool of human resource that
can be trained and nurtured
for global projects more
ambitious than the Rosetta.
The landing of Philae on 67P
is surely a remarkable feat,
but its real success lies in the
fact that it is going to inspire
more audacious space missions that will travel to and
explore other enigmatic
celestial objects. Humanity
has achieved something
extraordinary this month; it
has set a footprint on a timetravelled comet. Rosetta is
now signalling the need for
even greater audacity.
7
JAMMU |
Golden YuG
WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 19 | 2014
Record stand by
Thirushkamini and Punam
MYSuru: a record
275-run stand for the
second wicket between
M.D. Thirushkamini
and Punam raut
allowed
india
to
declare
its
first
innings at 400 for six
— its fourth highest
innings
total
—
against South africa
in the four-day one-off
women’s cricket Test
here on Monday.
india then took further control of the
match by snapping up
three South african
wickets for 85 by close
on the second day at
the SDNr Wadiyar
Platinum
Jubilee
university grounds.
Thirushkamini and
Punam continued from
where they had left on
day one and easily
negotiated the new
ball taken in the first
over of the day by
South african captain
Migon du Preez.
They bettered the
previous record partnership of 235 set by
betty Snowball (189)
and Molly Hide (110)
of england against
New
Zealand
at
Christchurch in 1935.
india finally lost
Punam (130, 355b,
18x4s)
when
she
jumped out to leg-spinner Dane van Niekerk
and was stumped by
wicket-keeper Trisha
Chetty.
This
was
Punam’s highest individual score in Test
cricket. runs continued to flow even after
her dismissal and at
lunch india was 339
for two. The innings
was further consolidated
when
Thirushkamini and
skipper Mithali raj
(37, 51b, 7x4s), added
61 for the third wicket
before Mithali was
bowled by off-spinner
Sunette Loubser. She
also claimed the wickets of Harmanpreet
Kaur (17) and Jhulan
Goswami (3) and was
the best South african
bowler in action.
Thirushkamini’s
192 (430b, 24x4, 1x6s)
was her career best
knock and she missed
out on a double century when her attempted
cut off leg-spinner
Yolani Fourie resulted
in an edge to keeper
Trisha Chetty.
The scores: india —
1st innings: M.D.
Thirushkamini
c
Trisha Chetty b Yolani
Fourie 192, Smriti
Mandhana c Sunette
Loubser b Chloe Tryon
8, Punam raut st
Trisha Chetty b Dane
van Niekerk 130,
Mithali raj b Sunette
Loubser
37,
Harmanpreet Kaur c
Marizanne Kapp b
Sunette Loubser 17,
Jhulan Goswami st
Trisha
Chetty
b
Sunette Loubser 3,
Shika Pandey (not out)
6; extras (b-2, lb-4, nb1): 7; Total (for six
wickets in 148.4 overs
decl.): 400.
Fall of wickets: 1-8,
2-283, 3-344, 4-384, 5394, 6-400.
South africa bowling: Marizanne Kapp
16-8-27-0, Chloe Tryon
19-4-55-1,
Marcia
Letsoalo 25-11-48-0,
Sunette Loubser 32.45-90-3, Dane van
Niekerk
37-8-90-1,
Yolani Fourie 18-0-791, Migon du Preez 1-05-0.
South africa — 1st
innings:
Nadine
Moodley c Mithali raj
b Punam Yadav 40,
Dane van Niekerk c
N.
Niranjana
b
r a j e s h w a r i
Gayakwad
15,
Marizanne Kapp lbw
b
rajeshwari
Gayakwad 0, Migon
du Preez (batting) 28,
Marcia Letsoalo (batting) 0; extras (b-1,
lb-1): 2; Total (for
three wickets in 51
overs): 85. Fall of
wickets: 1-37, 2-37, 383. india bowling:
Jhulan Goswami 7-019-0, N. Niranjana 42-5-0, Harmanpreet
Kaur
6-1-16-0,
r a j e s h w a r i
Gayakwad 17-10-20-2,
Shika Pandey 4-2-100, Punam Yadav 13-713-1.
I’d like to play Capriati
again: Hingis
HYDerabaD:
Today’s tennis is too
fast. There is no time
even to hesitate,”
observed
Martina
Hingis in a freewheeling chat with The
Hindu.
The
three-time
australian Open winner and finalist in as
many
outings,
here as part of the
Hyderabad aces in
the
Champions
Tennis
League
(CTL), was perfectly at peace with
the present and
yet took pride in
the past.
“i’m honoured
to be a part of the
golden
era
of
women’s tennis,”
beamed the Swiss
Miss. explaining
her radiant smile
she said, “Tennis
gave me everything, especially
openings to a better life. it’s sad to hear
players
complain
about the game or the
travel involved.”
and what does she
see as the highpoint of
an illustrious career?
Pat came her reply:
“beating the Williams
sisters in back to back
matches. usually if
you beat one, the other
would kill you. at the
australian Open i
beat Serena in the
quarterfinals
and
Venus in the semis
and not many people
would have done that.
How did she get
involved with CTL?
“The
format
was
appealing, with only
one set of singles and
another of doubles,”
she noted, the latter
requiring coverage of
only half the court.
The biggest influence in her life
remains her mother
Melanie Molitor.
“i’ll be forever
grateful to mum. She
always believed in me,
even when i had
doubts about not having the physical abilities that other players
did. There are opportunities even today for
the smaller girls, such
as Simona Halep,” she
said. “My mother gave
me a work ethic,
inculcated discipline
and encouraged me to
be professional in
everything i did. Give
your best in whatever
you do, especially in
things under your
control,”
Hingis
recalled her mother
saying of an approach
that saw the daughter
scale the pinnacles of
world women’s tennis.
if she were to dissect her game, what
were her weapons?
“My backhand and
instincts on court,”
she replied. and what
accounted for her
mental
strength?
“Playing smart on the
important
points
proved vital,” she
added.
early
exposure
gave her an edge
besides the support
from Swiss tennis
that enabled her travel to her first international under-15 tournament when just 10.
“i reached the
quarterfinals and
5000 spectators
watched,”
she
reminisced.
How did she
recharge in a hectic career?
“i enjoyed other
sports such as skiing and horse-riding. in between
events, i’d ride
into the forest or
head for the mountains.
Nature
gives you power
and Switzerland
has so much to
offer —beautiful
landscape and clean
air for free,” she said
of her adopted country. Does she have
any regrets? “i can’t
change the past but if
an opportunity came,
i’d like to play
Jennifer
Capriati
again,” she said of the
2002 australian Open
final
in
which
Capriati came back
from two match points
down. How does she
view indian tennis
since
her
2006
Sunfeast Open triumph in Kolkata ?
“it needs heroes
such as the amritraj
brothers and Leander
Paes. There may be
more
opportunities
now but i imagine it’s
not easy as the game is
still generally a high
end sport,” she felt.
Game 7: Passive Anand holds
Carlsen in a marathon
NeW DeLHi: in a cerebral
discipline like chess, bravado
sometimes serves as a surprise weapon. if the rival
happens to be the game’s
strongest player in a World
title-match, there is always a
strong likelihood of the ploy
backfiring.
Trailing by a point and needing to at least hold Magnus
Carlsen to a draw in Game 7,
anand boldly chose an opening that had backfired in
Chennai last year. anand
looked fine into the middle
game but Carlsen pushed
him hard for the next five
hours. anand eventually
found the drawing continuation on the 70th move.
Carlsen, however, kept the
challenger busy by searching
for more options. anand,
with less time on the clock,
held firm. Fabiano Caruana,
the World No.2, seemed to
have read it early; he tweeted: “Seems like people are
overestimating
white’s
chances. The ending looks
pretty drawish to me.” but it
needed precise continuation
from anand to survive. after
suffering a loss with black
pieces on Saturday, anand
was expected to prepare a
suitable response to Carlsen
for the crucial game.
anand’s choice, if executed
correctly, usually leads to a
draw. Given anand’s abilities
to defend and Carlsen’s endgame skills, the game was
fought for 122 moves though
the result became clear much
earlier. eventually only the
two kings and Carlsen’s
knight were left on the board.
Carlsen would have been
somewhat pleased with
anand choosing to repeat the
ruy Lopez berlin seen in
Game 2. after ending up losing that game, anand was
not expected to invite
Carlsen to play the position
again. but anand seemed to
back himself to get into
Carlsen’s territory and come
out unhurt; pulling it off
would earn him a psychological point under the given circumstances. When talking
about his approach against
Carlsen last year, anand had
said: “i made a decision not
to avoid long games; well, not
to be scared of them. if a long
game happens, i should be
ready to face a long battle,
and if i make my point and
confront him there, at his
strongest point admittedly; if
i can play a good long game
and defend well, then it takes
the pressure off me for everything else.”
Perhaps, anand entered
Monday’s game in a similar
mindset. The fact that both
players reeled off the first 23
moves rapidly, needing less
than a minute per move,
showed they were still in
their home-preparation.
until anand’s 24th move, the
position was identical to the
one seen between anish Giri
and Teimour radjabov this
year in Tashkent. That game
ended in a 52-move draw.
For the second successive
day, the early queenexchange dislodged anand’s
CTL: Delhi Dreams
off to a winning
NeW DeLHi: There
was no dearth of entertainment
as
the
Champions
Tennis
League kicked off to a
bright start with Delhi
Dreams
beating
Punjab Marshalls 2519 at the r.K. Khanna
Stadium
here
on
Monday. The spectators who packed more
than half the capacity
made for a vibrant
atmosphere, but when
the contest reached the
climax with the towering Kevind anderson
taking on Somdev
Devvarman, as Delhi
led 19-18, a lot of spectators left the arena,
possibly to watch the
next match being
played in Hyderabad,
on television. even
though co-owner ajay
Devgn asked the spectators
to
support
Delhi, when he was
interviewed midway
through the tie, the
high quality of tennis
played by the former
women’s world number 1 Jelena Jankovic
and the Spaniard
Garbine
Muguruza
made the fans forget
their allegiance, and
cheer both. With his
electrifying game and
deft touch, Paes won a
lot of applause. but,
he was the first to
make a ‘bow’ to his
partners when they
came up with delectable strokes. Without
doubt, it was Paes who
brought the crowd
alive, after the fans
had stayed silent initially.
it was ‘service with a
smile’ as the contest
opened up, but slowly
the intensity of competition gripped the
arena. it was the doubles matches that provided the best entertainment, as at least
two singles matches
became monotonously
one-sided.
even though the shortbuilt Sanam played his
heart out in the doubles with the anderson,
the latter did not look
to be in the match, and
even forgot that he was
serving
after
two
points in the fifth
game.
king. it did not matter since
anand looked prepared and
was ready to get into the
laborious berlin endgame,
with fewer pieces.
The first signs of worry for
anand came to the fore when
he took nearly 28 minutes to
respond to Carlsen’s knight
move on the 28th turn. in
comparison, by this time,
Carlsen had consumed only
25 minutes.
in fact, anand’s chosen move
— bringing his knight to the
centre of the board — only
made things fractionally better for Carlsen. With plenty
of time on his hands, Carlsen
spent nearly 25 minutes to
respond.
Thereafter, anand did play
with an extra pawn in the
middle game but never really
held any advantage. Once
Carlsen exerted pressure
from the kingside, anand
sensed trouble and sacrificed
his bishop for a pawn.
Though white looked objectively better placed to win,
anand forced a position of his
choice and, with it, kept the
interest in the contest alive.
Game 7 Moves: 1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6 3.bb5 Nf6 4.O-O
Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.bxc6 dxc6
7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8
9.h3 Ke8 10.Nc3h5 11.bf4
be7 12.rad1 be6 13.Ng5 rh6
14.g3bxg5 15.bxg5 rg6
16.h4f6 17.exf6 gxf6 18.bf4
Nxh4 19.f3 rd8 20.Kf2rxd1
21.Nxd1 Nf522.rh1 bxa2
23.rxh5 be6 24.g4 Nd6
25.rh7
Nf7
26.Ne3Kd8
27.Nf5 c5 28.Ng3 Ne5
29.rh8+ rg8 30.bxe5 fxe5
31.rh5
bxg4
32.fxg4rxg433.rxe5
b6
34.Ne4 rh4 35.Ke2 rh6
36.b3 Kd7 37.Kd2 Kc6
38.Nc3a639.re4
rh2+
40.Kc1 rh1+ 41.Kb2 rh6
42.Nd1 rg6 43.Ne3 rh6
44.re7 rh245.re6+ Kb7
46.Kc3 rh4 47.Kb2 rh2
48.Nd5 rd2 49.Nf6 rf2
50.Kc3
rf451.Ne4
rh4
52.Nf2 rh2 53.rf6 rh7
54.Nd3 rh3 55.Kd2 rh2+
56.rf2 rh457.c4 rh3 58.Kc2
rh7 59.Nb2 rh5 60.re2 rg5
61.Nd1
b5
62.Nc3
c6
63.Ne4rh5
64.Nf6
rg5
65.re7+Kb6 66.Nd7+ Ka5
67.re4 rg2+ 68.Kc1 rg1+
69.Kd2rg2+ 70.Ke1
bxc4 71.rxc4 rg3 72.Nxc5
Kb5 73.rc2 a5 74.Kf2 rh3
75.rc1
Kb4
76.Ke2rc3
77.Nd3+ Kxb3 78.ra1 Kc4
79.Nf2 Kb5 80.rb1+ Kc4
81.Ne4 ra3 82.Nd2+Kd5
83.rh1 a4 84.rh5+ Kd4
85.rh4+ Kc5 86.Kd1 Kb5
87.Kc2 rg3 88.Ne4rg2+
89.Kd3 a3 90.Nc3+ Kb6
91.ra4 a2 92.Nxa2 rg3+
93.Kc2 rg2+ 94.Kb3rg3+
95.Nc3 rh3 96.rb4+ Kc7
97.rg4 rh7 98.Kc4 rf7
99.rg5 Kb6 100.Na4+Kc7
101.Kc5 Kd7 102.Kb6 rf1
103.Nc5+ Ke7 104.Kxc6
rd1105.rg6 Kf7106.rh6 rg1
107.Kd5 rg5+ 108.Kd4 rg6
109.rh1 rg2 110.Ne4 ra2
111.rf1+Ke7 112.Nc3 rh2
113.Nd5+ Kd6 114.rf6+
Kd7115.Nf4 rh1 116.rg6
rd1+117.Nd3 Ke7 118.ra6
Kd7 119.Ke4 Ke7 120.rc6
Kd7 121.rc1 rxc1 122.Nxc1
Draw agreed.
ISL teaching me to keep
things simple: Ravanan
C H e N N a i :
Dharmaraj ravanan
has earned the reputation of being one of the
best defenders in the
indian
Super
League for his
clean tackles. The
27-year-old, from
Sembarai village
in Tiruchi, has
been a stand-out
performer for FC
Pune City, having
started in all its
eight matches so
far. The team has
done well despite
having
begun
badly, and finds
itself in fourth
position now.
ravanan, who has
played for major
clubs
such
as
Dempo SC, Mohun
bagan, Mahindra
united
and
Churchill brothers [he
was part of the winning
team
in
Federation Cup (2014)
and i-league (’13)],
says the iSL has
taught him to simplify
things. “Here, i’ve
learnt how to handle
complicated defence
situations in a simple
manner,” he says.
“in the last two
months, i have tasted
the benefits of the
lessons i’ve learnt.
From
practice
to
matches, i have been
able to implement lot
of things successfully,”
says ravanan, who
began his career playing for indian bank
(Chennai) in the CFa
senior division league.
excerpts from the
interview: On foreign coaches in the
iSL and i-league
Obviously, coaching styles differ. i
have worked with
foreign
coaches
like Colin (Toal),
David booth (former
coach
of
Mahindra united)
and
Franco
Colombo
(head
coach of FC Pune
City).
in fact, Giovanni
Mei, who is the
assistant coach, is
the defence coach
too.
earlier we used to
understand things
after a lot of effort
(from the players’ perspective). Here (in the
iSL), the same things,
they simplify. On not
being able to break
into the indian senior
team.
Subrata Paul helps Mumbai escape with a draw
MuMbai:
Mumbai
City FC goalkeeper
Subrata Paul lived up
to his nickname of
‘Spiderman’, coming
up with some reflex
saves in the second
half to deny FC Goa
strikers and help his
team escape with a
goalless draw, and one
point, in a Hero indian
Super League eighthround tie at the D.Y.
Patil
stadium
on
Monday.
Sedate first half
after a sedate first
half, Goa stepped it
up, approaching from
different angles, only
to be foiled by the inform india goalkeeper.
The one time he was
beaten
—
by
australian
Tolgay
Ozbey — the ball
caught the left post.
FC Goa benefitted
from that kind of luck
too; andre Moritz beat
goalkeeper Jan Seda
with a snap attempt
but the ball crashed
into the post and
bounced back into
play. That was the
closest Mumbai got to
scoring.
The
home
team
impressed in the first
half,
linking
up
smoothly when in possession and looking
confident on the ball in
the rival half. Subash
got a few opportunities, but Seda was
solid under the bar.
Paul was tested once
by Gabriel Fernandes
on the counter, but
that effort came to
naught.
FC
Goa
slogged hard to regain
the
initiative
on
resumption, and the
game opened up.
a hard tackle by Pavel
Cmovs on the edge of
the box resulted in a
direct free-kick. andre
Santos kicked the ball
into the defensive wall,
and the ball lobbed
goal-wards
where
Subrata, for once, fumbled. again, no damage was done. both
sides got cracking
right from the kickoff,
and the play was pulsating. The visitors
broke through from
the left. Mandar Desai
weaved his way past a
defender, released the
ball towards Santos
and ran a volley on the
bounce, but the ball
swerved over the bar.
8
JAMMU |
Golden YuG
WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 19 | 2014
Dy. CEO reviews SVEEP progress with Nodal Dance Revolution Academy organises Cultural
Officers through video conferencing
Dance show in an inauguration function
gy NEWS SERVICE
JaMMU, NoV. 18:
Deputy Chief Electoral
Officer, Rakesh Srangal
and
Consultant
Elections, S. Harcharan
Singh today interacted
with the SVEEP and
MCC Nodal Officers of
all districts of the State
and reviewed the activities under these two
components.
The Nodal Officers
apprised that SVEEP
activities are going in
their respective areas as
per the mandate of the
Election Commission of
India (ECI) in full
swing. They informed
that several departments,
agencies, NGOs, educational institutions have
been involved in the
campaign to motivate
the people and maximise
participation in the elections.
The Officers further
informed that the peoespecially
the
ple,
youngsters and students,
who shall cast their vote
for the first time are taking keen interest in the
campaign and are enthusiastic about it. Various
means like skits by folk
artists, slogans, banners,
radio, TV programmes,
SMS, internet and news
papers are being utilised
to create awareness
amongst the masses
about the importance of
elections and their votes.
Special arrangements are
Deputy Commissioner Anantnag
visits flood hit areas
being made to train the
officials about the use of
EVMs and other related
issues, it was informed.
As regard to the
of
implementation
Model Code of Conduct
(MCC), the concerned
informed that all complaints which are pouring from different quarters are minutely monitored and disposed as
per guidelines of ECI.
Srangal and Harcharn
Singh expressed satisfaction on the activities
and urged the Nodal
Officers
to
further
stepup the campaign so
that more and more people are made aware and
make use of their franchise.
Vikul Gupta inaugurated Dance Revolution Academy at Trikuta Deep High School, Janipur Jammu
gy NEWS SERVICE
JaMMU, NoV. 18:
Dance Revolution Academy
organises Cultural Dance
show in an inauguration
function
organised
at
Trikuta Deep High School,
Talli Morh, Janipur Jammu.
Vikul Gupta Chairman
Arivan group and State
Analyst was the chief guest
on the occasion while Hitesh
Badyal President Nirvana
Academy was the guest of
honour on the occasion.
Vikul Gupta inaugurated
Dance revolution academy
branch at Trikuta Deep high
school. He congratulated
Sanjeev Mangotra and Anu
Bhardwaj
Dance
Choreographers on the
occasion and wish them all
the best for the future
endeavours.
Sanjeev
Mangotra
Dance Choreographer (B.A
Kathak) commenced the
programme with the welcome speech and told that
Dance Revolution Academy
opened its branch at Trikuta
deep high school to trained
children especially in
Kathak, folk and modern
dance. He added that DRA
is the only institute in
Jammu which is providing
Kathak classical dance,
Info artists organises Cultural prog on Ekta Diwas
Stresses for early completion of shelter sheds
gy NEWS SERVICE
aNaNTNag, NoV. 18: Deputy Commissioner
Anantnag Tasaduq Jeelani today visited several flood hit areas
including Shamishipora, Bijbehara, JabliPora, Sarsona, Shol,
Feroz shah Mohalla and reviewed the relief and rehabilitation
process going in these areas.
Deputy Commissioner was accompanied by additional
Deputy Commissioner, Engineers of PWD, PDD, I&FC and
other concerned officers dealing with the relief and rehabilitation process. Deputy Commissioner also inspected the work
on pre-fabricated huts /shelter sheds coming out at these
places and stressed on the concerned agencies to speed up the
pace of work so that the sheds are ready in shortest possible
time. Deputy Commissioner also visited the place at shamsipora where 26 shelter sheds are being constructed by R&B
and are at plinth level.
Deputy Commissioner also held public Darbars at these
places wherein the flood affected people shared their problems with the Deputy Commissioner who in turn gave a
patient hearing and assured them of every possible help from
the district administration. Some of the minor matters related
to availability of essential commodities, LPG, Kerosene and
timber were resolved on spot during the public meeting.
Deputy Commissioner instructed the concerned officers to
keep available all the essential commodities besides timber,
water and power supply in all areas especially in the flood
affected areas. Deputy Commissioner said that the shelter
sheds will be completed within a shorted span of time and will
be handover to the affected families so that they do not face
any kind of problem during the harsh winters.
gy NEWS SERVICE
JaMMU, NoV. 18:
In connection with Ekta
Diwas Celebrations, the
artists of Cultural Wing of
Information Department
in collaboration with JK
Mountessorie
School,
Talab Tillo organised a
cultural programme in its
auditorium, here today.
On the occasion,
Chairman of the JK
Mountessorie School Prof
Mohammad Ayuub Khan
was the Chief Guest while
Director Academics Smt.
Rajni Gupta was guest of
honour.
Managing
Director JK Mountessorie
School Sanjeev Gupta,
Cultural
Officer,
Information Department
Joshi,
Vice
Raman
Principal of the School
Geeta Dixit besides other
dignitaries
of
JK
Mountessorie School and
students in large numbers
enjoyed the 2-hour long
cultural programme.
The
Cultural
Programme started with
lightening of tradition
lamp by dignitaries of the
function. While addressing the gathering, Prof
Ayuub said music is vital
tool to ease stress in life.
He said such events provide healthy entertainment to the audience.
He
thanked
the
Information Department
in
selecting
JKmountessorie School
for organising a wonderful cultural programme on
the eve of Ekta Diwas. He
also
requested
the
Information Department
to organise such programme in future also in
the School. He said such
type of programmes not
only providing entertaining atmosphere to the
audience particularly students but also provided
them some moments of
enjoyment. He said such
type
of
programme
encouraged the students
in presenting platform for
showing their hidden talent through musical items.
Emotive slogans can't override development, says Rana
gy NEWS SERVICE
NagRoTa, NoV. 18:
Saying that development
has got new impetus under
National Conference led
government during the past
six
years,
Provincial
President Devender Singh
Rana on Tuesday asserted
that Jammu and Kashmir is
at the threshold of an era
full of promise and hope for
the people.
"The beginning has
been stupendous, notwithstanding the turbulent conditions, and the journey is to
be carried forward with
renewed vigour", Rana said
while addressing several
election rallies in Nagrota.
He said development
cannot be undermined by
raking up emotive issues as
the people crave for sustainable peace, good governance, network of infrastructural
development
especially in the service
sectors like power and
drinking water. "This is
what National Conference
has been pursuing for the
past six year and will continue to do so if voted to
power", he said adding that
the Chief Minister Omar
Abdullah has been striving
for treading the state on the
path of progress and prosperity.
Rana exhorted the people to become part of journey undertaken by the Chief
Minister to take Jammu,
Kashmir and Ladakh for a
better tomorrow where peo-
ple have access to progress
and development. He particularly called upon the youth
to strengthen the fort of
National Conference which
stands guarantee to fulfillment of their urges and aspirations. The Provincial
President elaborately dwelt
on the key achievements
registered over the years,
which include holding of
panchayat elections, introduction of revolutionary
laws
like
Right
to
Information and Public
Services Guarantee Acts,
measures for generating
employability, launching of
Himayat and Udaan programmes for unemployed
youth, skill development
programme and various
other initiatives for women
and weaker sections of the
people.
Referring to Nagrota
constituency, Rana said a
network of roads has been
laid during recent years and
special thrust has been laid
on upgrading the power and
water supply. In the rural
development sector, several
DEO interacts with pol party reps
gy NEWS SERVICE
pooNCH, NoV. 18: A
meeting of representatives
of political parties, independent
candidates
and
observers, to acquaint the
parties and candidates about
various provisions of law
pertaining to election campaigning, Model Code of
Conduct and Election
Expenditure Monitoring
Mechanism was held under
the chairmanship of District
Election Officer (DEO),
Poonch, M H Malik here
today.
General Observer, 85Surankote,
Shivnarayan
Singh Chauhan, Police
Observer, Nelli Kumar
Subramaniam, SSP Poonch,
J S Johar, Additional
Deputy
Commissioner,
Mumtaz Ali Chowdhary,
RO, Poonch Haveli, Shokat
Mahmood Malik besides
representatives of political
parties also attended the
meeting.
While stressing the need
of ensuring free and fair
election by adhering to the
Model Code of Conduct,
General Observer, 85Surankote said that the use
of unauthorized posters,
banners, defacement of
public property and plying
of vehicle for election purpose without permission
should be avoided and any
violations in this respect
would be taken seriously.
He asked them to cooperate
with the election machinery
for conduct of free and fair
election. He also asked
them to inform the election
observers about MCC and
any other electoral violation. The contact numbers
of all the election observers
in the district have already
been circulated in the print
media.
Police Observer, Nelli
Kumar
Subramaniam
stressed upon the parties to
strictly follow the Model
Code of Conduct in letter
and spirit for free, fair and
smooth conduct of ensuing
Assembly Elections.
Responding to queries
of the political parties, the
DEO underlined the need to
follow Model Code of
Conduct and said that all
political parties should
work within the ambit of
ECI's guidelines and ignorance of election law cannot
be an excuse as all guidelines of the ECI have
already been circulated to
them. He appealed to all
political parties to take permission for any road show
and public meeting in
advance. It was emphasized
that all vehicles to be used
for campaigning by the
contesting
candidates
should have prior permission from the concerned
RO. The contesting candidates and their representatives should not paste
posters, pamphlets etc without name of printer and publisher, the DEO added.
initiatives have been taken
for upgrading facilities. He
said the people at grass
roots level have been
empowered to fix priorities
for their areas, which has
gone well in undertaking
the most needed schemes in
each Panchayat Halqa.
Rana reiterated his commitment to transform
Nagrota as a model constituency which will have
all the modern amenities.
"For this I need your helping hand", he told the people, hoping they will join in
the effort of converting this
important constituency as
Nava Jammu.
Rana appreciated the
enthusiasm of the party
cadre and urged the functionaries to work for big
victory
to
National
Conference, saying this is
the only party that can take
care of the three regions of
the state and their subregions.
The
artists
of
Information Department
who presented a scintillating cultural programme
which enthralled the students included Jeevan
Sharma, Vijay Anand,
Zulikha Farid, Sumit
Bhardwaj, Surjit Singh
Sumbaria, Kamal Kumar
and Bunty Kumar. The
students
of
JKmountessorie school
presented
Sarswati
Vandana and Dogri dance
which
was
highly
applauded by the audience. Later, Vote of
thanks presented by Vice
Principal
of
JK
Mountessorie Mrs. Geeta
Dixit.
Dogri regional dance training as well Modern dance
training under one banner.
He also disclosed that Dance
Revolution Academy is
organising a dance and kids
modelling competition in
the month of December.
A Dance programme
was also presented on the
occasion in which students
of Trikuta deep high school
and winners of Jammu
Dance Icons programme
performed. Kiran and group
presented Dogri dance on
the song "Surma nima nima"
followed by a stunning performance
by
Kashish
Thakyal young and leading
dance performer of Jammu.
Harsh, Rukmaani, Muskaan,
Ishwar, Sidharth, Smile
Verma and Vansh Kalotra.
Others who were presented on the occasion were
Yogeshwar Singh Yogi,
Pooja, Sanjay Kumar,
Nishant vaid, Shaveta
Sharma and Tarun Sharma.
DHS visits Dist Hosp,
other health instts
gy NEWS SERVICE
JaMMU, NoV. 18: Director Health Services Jammu
Dr Baljeet Singh Pathania conducted an extensive tour of
remote areas of District Kathua. During his two days visit,
he along with CMO Kathua visited CHC Basohli, PHC
Karanwara and District Hospital Kathua.
At CHC Basohli, Director Health Services directed the
Chief Medical Officer Kathua to shift the PHC Mahanpur
to the newly constructed building. While reviewing the
functioning of these institutions, Director Health Services
asked the concerned staff to gear up their efforts to provide
every possible healthcare service to the people of the district. While interacting with patients of CHC Basohli, he
informed that a First Aid Centre will continue its functioning in the old CHC complex along with availability of
Ambulance and immunization facility. Dr. Pathania also
dedicated newly constructed Sulabh Shochalya in the
District Hospital Kathua premises to public.
He reviewed the ongoing surgical camp at CHC Basohli
which was organized by Health Department in collaboration with the Onkar Singh Memorial Trust. Free check-up
besides services including investigations were provided to
beneficiaries during the camp. A total of 1864 patients in
OPD were attended and 72 surgeries including major and
minor were performed .Besides 297 X-Rays, 2149
Laboratory Tests, 200 Ultrasounds and 156 ECG were performed during the camp. He assured every help to the
Health institutions to further improve the facilities. He
impressed upon the functionaries of health Department to
work with utmost zeal, sincerity and dedication to delivery
equitable health care services to the public.
Khanna condemned news item that Central
Govt. returned back PoK Refugees package
gy NEWS SERVICE
JaMMU, NoV. 18: BJP
Member of Parliament & J&K
Prabhari Avinash Rai Khanna
has condemned the news item
that the Central Government
has returned back the package
for PoK refugees which was
forwarded by J&K government few weeks ago.
Addressing media persons
along with BJP senior leaders
at Jammu on Tuesday, Avinash
Rai Khanna said that what has
been circulated in certain
newspapers is an irresponsible
move on part of some vested
persons who want to create
confusions
among
the
refugees of different categories. It is also an indicator
that the growing popularity of
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and BJP cannot be
digested by such persons.
Khanna said that the BJP
has always advocated the
cause of all the refugees and
now when we are in govern-
ment we are pursuing the same
more vigorously and it is
hoped that the Modi led NDA
government will soon accede
to the long pending demands
of the West Pakistan Refugees
as well as refugees from PoJK.
He said that the matter is under
consideration
before
Parliamentary Committee and
made it clear that disclosure of
the contents of proceedings of
Standing Committee is breach
of the privilege and action can
be taken against any such persons who indulge in such practice of leaking the contents.
Avinnash Rai Khanna,
while appealing the people of
the refugee community not to
trust all such false statements,
reiterated that BJP is committed for the welfare of all categories of the refugees.
BJP State Vice President
Ramesh
Arora,
State
Spokesperson & Election
Media Incharge Arun Kumar
Gupta, Spokespersons Sunil
Sethi & Balbir Ram Rattan
and Dr. Suresh Ajay Magotra
and Media Team member &
Ex-Servicemen Cell State
Convener Brig. Anil Gupta
were also present in the press
conference.
Sat Sharma goes door to door, addresses series of
meetings in W. No. 17 of Jammu West Assembly Segment
gy NEWS SERVICE
JaMMU, NoV. 18:
Continuing its campaign in
the Jammu West Assembly
segment, BJP candidate Sat
Sharma (CA) reached out at
Ward number 17 and took
series of meetings in the
Ward and also went door to
door covering the public of
the Ward. Besides campaigning for the party, he
also listened to the grievances of the people and
assured the public of solving their basic problems on
a priority basis.
Addressing the meetings, Sat Sharma (CA) said
that the time has come to
bring a revolution in the
State of Jammu and
Kashmir on the agenda of
development and only BJP
is committed to provide
progress in all spheres of
Jammu and Kashmir.
He also said that nation
under the leadership of
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi has excelled to new
heights globally and not
only India but the whole
world is chanting the
development Mantra of
BJP. The Senior BJP
leader stated that the slogan of "One Booth Ten
Youth" must be followed
just like it was done at the
time of Parliamentary
elections. He also stated
that the Mission 44 plus
of BJP cannot be achieved
without the dedicated,
sincere and vigorous
efforts of the public
because masses are the
strength of BJP and that is
why BJP is different from
other political parties.
He also stated that
development projects will
be done on a priority
basis and construction
works like building flyovers and covering basic
necessities of all walks of
life will be on top most
consideration.
ND
Rajwal, Praduman Singh,
Dalip Kumar, Onkar
Singh Bose, Balbir Singh,
Ram Lal, Gourav Majotra
and others were present
on the occasion.
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