7/30/2019 Daily Paper December 13

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STUdenT aGe

R E A D T H E N E E D

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 20128 PagesRs: 1.00Jammu Editionwww.thestudentage.com

JKENG/2012/41612Vol. 1 No: 165

IN BRIEFIN BRIEFMexico launches

educational reform planMEXICO CITY: PresidentEnrique Pena Nieto has pro-

posed a bill to reformMexico's educational system,following through on one of the pledges he made in hisDec 1 inaugural address.

"The foundation for trans-forming Mexico is educa-tion," Pena Nieto said duringthe ceremony to unveil his

plan Contd on page 2

12 killed in two separateaccidents in UP

LUCKNOW: As many as 12 people were killed in two sep-arate road accidents in Uttar Pradesh late Tuesday, policesaid on Wednesday. At leastseven people were killed andsix injured when a tractor-trol-ley carrying labourers over-turned and fell into a 25-feet-deep gorge in the Robertsganjarea of Sonbhadra

Contd on page 2

First flight of KargilCourier operated

3131 PP ASSENGERSASSENGERS

AIRLIFTEDAIRLIFTED FROMFROM KK ARGILARGIL

SRINAGAR, DEC 12: Thefirst flight of AN-32 KargilCourier Service operated

today and 31 passengers wereairlifted from Kargil toSrinagar. The aircraft couldnot return to Kargil fromSrinagar, due to inclementweather en-route and theIndian

Roaming will be freefrom 2013: Kapil SibalN EW D ELH I: TelecomMinister Kapil Sibal has saidthat mobile phone users willnot have to pay any chargeson roaming from next year."Roaming will be free in2013. We have to get Cabinetapproval and then it comes

back to us. And then it will befloated," he said today at a

press conference. The govt.had Contd on page 2

Pakistan, UNESCOsign MoU to set up

Malala fundPARIS: Pakistan andUNESCO have signed anagreement to establishMalala fund to support theeducation of girls in Pakistanand other countries.TheMemorandum of Understanding (MoU) wassigned by Pakistan'sEducation Minister SheikhWaqas Akram andUNESCO's director generalIrina Bokova at the UN head-quarters Contd on page 2

ZARDARI GRAFT CASE: SWISSAUTHORITIES YET TO RESPOND TO

PAK GOVERNMENT

'S LETTER

ANSARI MEETS TOP LEADERS TORESOLVE QUOTA BILL STALEMATE

NORTH KOREA LAUNCHES ROCKETIN DEFIANCE OF INTERNATIONAL

WARNINGS

JAMMU, DEC 12 : Chief Minister, Omar AbdullahWednesday said that he hasalways batted for good Indo-Pak relations and resolution of issues

between the two neighboursthrough peaceful dialogue processand would continue to work in thisdirection.

"My efforts in this directionwould continue", he said addingthat he would urge the centralleadership to take up the issue of

violation of cease-fire withPakistan to ensure peace and tran-quillity on LoC and at borders. Hesaid people living in border areashave to bear the brunt of violationof cease-fire and their life, proper-ty, agriculture and economic activ-ities get severely hampered bysuch incidents.

Omar Abdullah was addressing

public meetings at Hanjana, Nowshera in Rajouri district andMera Mandarian, Akhnoor inJammu district after inauguratingtwo major bridges in these areas.The bridge at Hajana has beencompleted at a cost of over Rs.14.13 crores while MeraMandarian bridge has involved

construction cost of Rs. 24.25crore. These bridges have beenconstructed by JKPCC.

The Chief Minister said thatthe central leadership and theunion governments in India andPakistan are only authorities whocan sit down and sort-out issues

between them amicably. "Those

(PDP) who blow their own trum- pet in this regard making falseclaims only exhibit their style of

befooling commoners", he saidadding that people in Jammu andKashmir are politically matureenough to understand that interna-tional issues are dealt by the cen-tral governments and central lead-

erships and not by the local party presidents or State Chief Ministers.

The Chief Minister said thatthe people are best judges to judge

politicians on their performance."We do not require creating anyhype as the work done by thecoalition government on peaceand development fronts is before

the public speaking louder andclear for our performance", he saidadding that this will itself blunt the

propaganda of propagandist ele-ments against the coalition gov-ernment.

"Our performance and inten-tion to achieve peaceful and pros-

perous Jammu and Kashmir andour remarkable achievements on

these fronts have amply imprintedimpact all across the State", hesaid and maintained that thesweeping of MLC seats in therecently held election to theLegislative Council seats reservedfor Panchayats lucidly depict pub-lic faith in the coalition. He saiddespite malicious propaganda of all sorts unleashed by the detectorsof the coalition, the panchayatmembers refused to get carriedaway by hollow slogans. "You

voted on the basis of our perform-ance and expressed your trust andfaith in the coalition government",he told panches and sarpanches

present in the public meetingsexpressing gratitude to them for this gesture. He said that his gov-ernment is committed for 3-tier fully empowered Panchayat RajSystem Contd on page 2

Omar bats for good Indo-Pak relations

NEW DELHI: BSP chief Mayawati Wednesday

shocked the Rajya Sabha bytelling Chairman HamidAnsari that he is "not seen" inthe House in the afternoonafter which the House is notallowed to function.Mayawati has warned thather outburst against RajyaSabha Chairman HamidAnsari was the "first toughstep" for the government totake up the bill on promo-tions in government jobs for discussion on the floor of the

House. She said the next stepwill be decided at an appro-

priate time.The Rajya Sabha was

adjourned for the dayWednesday amid slogan-shouting by members of theBahujan Samaj Partydemanding early passage of the bill for reservation in pro-motions for ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes.The house had earlier seentwo adjournments on theissue -- first till 12 noon andthen Contd on page 2

Both houses of parliamentadjourned over quota

row, coal blocksNEW DELHI: Legendarysitar maestro Pandit RaviShankar has died.He

breathed his last at a hospitalin San Diego in the United

States.He was 92.RaviShankar spearheaded theworldwide spread of Indianmusic and had a major influ-ence on Western musicians .

Shankar, whose healthhad been fragile for the pastseveral years, underwent asurgery on Thursday at theScripps Memorial Hospital inLa Jolla, California where he

breathed his last. The musicicon was admitted to the hos-

pital last week when he com-

plained of breathlessness .Unfortunately, despite the

best efforts of the surgeonsand doctors taking care of him, his body was not able to

withstand the strain of thesurgery. We know that you allfeel our loss with us, and wethank you for all of your

prayers Contd on page 2

Legendary sitar maestro Pandit RaviShankar dies, nation mourns his death

Rajya Sabha remembersformer member Ravi

Shankar

R ajya Sabha chairmanHamid Ansari made

reference to the pass-ing away of Ravi Shankar assoon as the house met for theday. "Members, I refer with

profound sorrow to passingaway of Pandit Ravi Shankar,a former member of thehouse," Ansari said.Describing him as "one of themost versatile instrumentalmusicians of our time",Ansari said his death was "an

Contd on page 2

Ravi Shankar was anational treasure:

Prime Minister NEW DELHI: Pandit RaviShankar was a global ambas-

sador of India's cultural her-itage and a national treasure,Prime Minister ManmohanSingh said in New Delhi onWednesday while condolingthe death of the sitar maestroin a San Diego hospital.

"An era has passed awaywith Pt. Ravishankar. Thenation joins me to pay trib-utes to his unsurpassablegenius, his art and his humil-ity," Contd on page 2

'ANTI-RESERVATION GOVT WILL NOTWORK': MAYAWATI

NEW DELHI: Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)Vinod Rai has been re-elect-ed chairman of the panel of external auditors of theUnited Nations (UN).

Amyas Morse, the CAGof Britain, has been re-elect-ed as vice-chair of the panel.According to an officialstatement issued hereWednesday, the panel of external auditors plays animportant role in promotingaccountability and strength-ening governance mecha-

nisms in the UN organisa-tions.

The panel meets annuallyto discuss emerging issues in

the audit of UN specialisedagencies such as the WorldHealth Organisation, theWorld Food Programme, theWorld Intellectual PropertyOrganisation, and theInternational Atomic EnergyAgency. The panel currentlycomprises of Canada, China,France, India, Italy, Pakistan,the Philippines, Switzerland,Tanzania and Britain withIndia's official auditor as thecurrent chair of the panel.Formed through a resolutionof the Contd on page 2

Vinod Rai re-elected head of UN external auditors panelJAMMU, DEC 12: TheCommittee on Petitions (PC)of J&K Legislative Councilheaded by its ChairmanshipMr. B.R. Kundal today con-vened a meeting to discussthe action taken report of

previous petitions received by the Council Secretariat besides the situation arisendue to the collapses of Assembly complex.

Legislators, Ch. Nizam-

ud-Din Khatan, Mr. NareshKumar Kumar Gupta,Ghulam Qadir Pardesi andMaster Noor Hussain attend-ed the meeting.

Threadbare discussionwas held on Petitions sub-mitted by Ali MohammadRenzu and GhulamMohammad Kalan

Nandpora, Tehsil Srinagar regarding the fraud compen-sation by the authorities of

LAWDA in favour of theLand vide Khasra No. 6681(9 marlas) and Khasra No.6696 (2 marlas) situated atRanu Mohalla, Kalan,

Nandpora have illegallyshown the property of Mtr.Fazi D/O Mtr. Daulati by theRevenue field agencies inconnivance with broker namely Ghulam HassanAshraf S/O MohammadBaqar Ashraf R/O Bata,

Kadal Srinagar.The Committee sought

necessary relevant recordsfrom the Vice Chairman,LAWDA in this regard

before the Committee for itsscrutiny.

Earlier, the Committeevisited the damaged portionof the Legislative Complexand took stock of the situa-tion arisen due to the col-lapse Contd on page 2

LC PANEL VISITSASSEMBLY COMPLEX

Demanded alternate arrangement for office accom

'NC-Cong coalition to strengthen further'

Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah addressing public meetings at Hanjana, Nowshera in Rajouri.

SRINAGAR, DEC 12: TheDivisional Administration inKashmir today put the disas-ter management grid on stand

by to meet any eventualitydue to snowfall expected inthe next 24 hours across theValley.

Divisional Commissioner,Kashmir, Asgar Samoondirected all DistrictD e v e l o p m e n tCommissioners, heads of departments and districtSuperintendents of Police toactivate their men andmachinery to be in a state of

preparedness, so as to ensureminimum disruption of essential services in theValley due to snowfall.

The MET office has pre-

dicted moderate to heavysnowfall over hilly areas andlight to moderate snowfall atmany places in the Kashmir division for one week begin-ning today, which is likely tointensify on December 13and 14.

"As many as 101 Snowclearance machines of Mechanical EngineeringDepartment which include 71snow ploughs, 19 snow cats,10 snow cutters and onedozer are available for snowclearance operations onmajor black topped roads of Valley," Aamir Ali, an officialof the Natural Disaster Management Cell, said.

The snow clearancemachines have already been

placed at various headquar-ters in North, South andCentral Kashmir, Ali saidadding 35 machines have

been kept at Central SnowControl Room for Srinagar,Budgam and Ganderbal dis-tricts and 30 machines have

been deployed for Anantnag,Shopian, Kulgam andPulwama. Similarly, 36machines have been kept for Baramulla, Kupwara andBandipora, which alsoinclude one snow cutter, one

plough and one dozer deployed in Gurez Sub-Division, 4 cutters and 4

ploughs at Gulmarg, besidesone snow cutter for GulmargDevelopment Authority, hesaid. Contd on page 2

Moderate to heavy snowfall predicted in Kashmir

BALASORE: IndiaWednesday carried out a suc-cessful test of its indigenious-ly develop nuclear-capablesurface-to-surface Agni-Imissile indigenously devel-oped nuclear capable Agni-I

ballistic missile with a strikerange of 700 km from a testrange off Odisha coast. fromfrom a mobile launcher,launch pad-4 of theIntegrated Test Range (ITR)at Wheeler Island, about 100km from here, defencesources said.

Describing the test as suc-cessful, ITR Director MVKVPrasad Contd on page 2

India successfully test-fires nuclear capable

Agni-I ballistic missile

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Omar bats....in the State. "We are eagerly waiting for Mr.

Soz led coordination committee report to go for block panchayat council elections which wouldfollow elections to the district councils", he said.

Driving the memory of people down the line,Omar Abdullah said that the relations between NCand Congress are since the time of Sheikh Sahib

and Jawaharlal. "These grew further during SheikhSahib and Indira Ji's period and Rajiv Gandhi andDr. Farooq Abdullah's time, and are further beingcemented this time", he said elaborating that thedifferences between the two parties never came inthe personal relations of the two families. He saidthat the ideology and policy for good governanceand equitable development of all the sections of thesociety and the regions and sub-regions of the Stateenshrined by National Conference and Congress intheir political agenda are so common and close toeach other that Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru maintainedthat formulation of Congress Party in Jammu andKashmir was not needed when Sheikh Sahib was atthe helm of affairs in the State after independence.

Omar Abdullah said that Congress-led UPA-1and UPA-2 governments at the Centre have initiat-ed various programmes aimed at strengthening

people and "we in Jammu and Kashmir have alsothe agenda of public empowerment", he said andreferred to holding of panchayat elections in theState after a period of over 30 years. He also men-

tioned the enactment and implementation of PublicService Guarantee Act and other measures put in

place by the coalition government to bring trans- parency, reduce corruption at lower levels andupgrade governance. He also mentioned the initia-tive of Direct Cash Benefit (DCB) scheme intro-duced by UPA-2 to ensure the benefits of subsidy

percolate to the poor without any leakage. He said,he would also like this initiative in the State for the

benefit of poorer sections of the society. "I am infavour of DCB for the supply of kerosene, gas andother essentials for poorer people", he added.

On the working of NC-Congress coalition gov-ernment, the Chief Minister said that the Councilof Ministers rendered their service to the people inits best capacity and worked in tandem to imple-ment public welfare schemes with commitmentand carried forward the State towards the goal of

peaceful and progressive Jammu and Kashmir. "We joined our hands to achieve this target and we aremoving towards it amicably and jointly", he saidand added that the fighting of elections for MLCseats jointly by NC and Congress has providedvery good opportunity to the workers of both the

parties to percolate coalition to the grass roots.The Chief Minister said that besides registering

huge achievements on development front, his gov-ernment has been able to create conducive and

palatable atmosphere in the State. "After a periodof more than 20 years we are witnessing tranquiland calm atmosphere in the State for which thecoalition government worked hard", he said.

Omar Abdullah called for wholehearted supportof people in his mission to realize a peaceful andeconomically sound Jammu and Kashmir whichwould be self-reliant in all fields. "I want Jammuand Kashmir financially rich and not depended onCentral support for development and growth but

plenty enough to offer support t o other states", heexpressed the hope and said that the rich potentialfor generation of hydro electricity is the way out totranslate this dream into reality.

Minister for Health, Sham Lal Sharma, Minis ter of State for R&B, Javid Ahmad Dar and Member Parliament, Madan Lal Sharma also spoke on theoccasion while Vice Chairman, OBC Board,Kuldeep Raj Verma, legislators, Radhey ShahSharma and Ravinder Sharma were also present onthe occasion.

Both houses....

till 12.30 p.m. As the house met following thesecond adjournment, BSP members gathered near the chairman's podium raising slogans against thegovernment.

"An anti-reservation government will not work,an anti-Dalit government will not last," the BSPmembers shouted. She earlier said ensuring that theHouse was in order was the job of the governmentand the Rajya Sabha Chairman and they need to

see this so that the SC/ST bill could be taken up for passage. She accused the government of not beingserious on the passage of the SC/ST quota bill. "I f the government is actually serious about the pas-sage of the bill and other public interest legisla-tions, then the government as well as the Chairmanshould see that the House should function inorder," she said. The BSP Chief said that she has

been observing for a few days that the proceedingsin Rajya Sabha have been disrupted after 12 noon.

Deputy chairman P.J. Kurien, who was in thechair, adjourned the house after a few minutes of the commotion. Earlier, BSPchief Mayawati creat-ed a stir in the house during Question Hour whenshe virtually accused Chairman Hamid Ansari of not ensuring the smooth conduct of proceedingsduring zero hour.

She said there was need to ensure smooth con-duct of proceeding even after 12 p.m, when thechairman usually leaves, allowing the deputychairman to conduct proceedings. "You go at 12...house should run. To ensure this is your responsi-

bility. When it will be 12, you will not be seen,"she said.

Ansari, visibly surprised at Mayawati's words,told her to allow Question Hour to proceed. "Whatare you doing? This is Question Hour," he said.

However, Mayawati persisted with her demandthat it should be decided first how the house willrun after 12. She said "tamasha (disruption) takes

place at 12"."The house is functioning now. First it should

be decided (how it will be run)," Mayawati said.She and BSP members then advanced to the chair-man's podium to press their demand.

The chairman then adjourned the house tillnoon.

Mayawati, who is pitching strongly for the pas-sage of the constitution amendment bill to providereservation in promotions, stunned members withthe accusatory tone in her remarks.

Members of the Congress and the BJP appearedtaken aback by Mayawati's choice of words, butdid not react. The house has seen disruption over the constitution amendment bill to provide reserva-tions in promotions, a major demand of the BSP.

The Samajwadi Party is firmly opposed to the bill and has vowed to block it. I ts members have been raising slogans against the bill in the RajyaSabha. As per convention, members do not castaspersions against the chair.

The chairman presides over the Question Hour,while Zero Hour and subsequent proceedings aregenerally conducted by the deputy chairman andthe panel of vice chairmen.

The chairman, however, returns for importantoccasions - a speech by the prime minister, for instance, or when the house is adjourned si ne die atthe conclusion of the session.

The Lok Sabha was Wednesday adjourned tillThursday after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) mem-

bers disrupted proceedings and did not allow thehouse to function, demanding action on allegedirregularities in the allocation of coal blocks.

BSP members had approached Speaker MeiraKumar's podium to raise the issue during questionhour earlier in what seems to be a pressure tactic onthe UPAgovernment to get the bill on reservationsin job promotions for the Scheduled Castes and theScheduled Tribes passed in the Rajya Sabha

Legendary sitar ...

and good wishes through this difficult time."A recipient of Bharat Ratna in 1999, Shankar

maintained residences in both India and the UnitedStates. He is survived by his wife Sukanya; daugh-ter Norah Jones; daughter Anoushka Shankar Wright and husband Joe Wright and grandchildren.A three-time Grammy award winner, Shankar last

performed in California on November 4 along withhis daughter Anoushka Shankar.

A three-time Grammy award winner, PanditRavi Shankar was nominated for a Grammy awardfor 2013 too. Prime Minister Manmohan Singhcondoled the death of the sitar maestro saying, "Anera has passed away with Pandit Ravi Shankar. Thenation joins me to pay tributes to his unsurpassablegenius, his art and his humility." Reacting to thenews, Kathak dancer Sovana Narayan said, "Hewas an amazing artist, a very humble person. He

brought sitar to a new level."India's ambassador to US Nirupama Rao tweet-

ed, "Pandit Ravi Shankar. Mourn passing of amusical genius and gentle soul. Attended his lastconcert Nov in Calif. He played with such pas-sion."

Ravi Shankar was born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury on April 7, 1920 in Varanasi. He wasnominated to the Rajya Sabha from 1986 to 1992.He was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1999.

He created music for Apu Trilogy by SatyajitRay and was the music director of All India Radio

from 1949 to 1956. Pandit Ravi Shankar has twodaughters who are talented musicians themselves.Anoushka Shankar is a famous Sitar player li ke her father and has won many awards. His other daugh-ter is Norah Jones who is an acclaimed singer inthe international arena. He toured Europe with his

brother's dance troupe and at the age of 18 he began to learn how to play the sitar from his guruBaba Allauddin Khan. In the year 1939, RaviShankar gave his first public performance in India.His formal training concluded in the year 1944 andhe moved out of Bombay.

It was during the 50s that he became famous inthe world of music outside India. He performed inSoviet Union (1953) and the West (1956). He has

performed at prestigious events like the EdinburghFestival and also at important places like RoyalFestival Hall, London.

Rajya Sabha remembers ....

irreparable loss to the world of music".Ansari, also India's vice president, said Ravi

Shankar was educated in Varanasi and Paris and joined All India Radio in 1949.

He said the sitar maestro was a r ecipient of sev-eral awards, including the Bharat Ratna, PadmaVibhushan and Padma Bhushan.

Ravi Shankar was a nominated member of theRajya Sabha from 1986 to 1992, Ansari said.

Ravi Shankar....

the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in amessage on micro-blogging site Twitter.

"A national treasure and global ambassador of India's cultural heritage," it added. Pandit RaviShankar, one of India's best known musicians, diedin San Diego on Tuesday. He was 92.

Moderate to heavy....

Similarly, 36 machines have been kept for Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora, which alsoinclude one snow cutter, one plough and one dozer deployed in Gurez Sub-Division, 4 cutters and 4

ploughs at Gulmarg, besides one snow cutter f or Gulmarg Development Authority, he said.

Chief Engineer, Mechanical Engineering hasestablished a Central Snow Control Room atSrinagar, which is functioning round the clock, theofficial said.

Chief Engineer Road and Buildings has also been asked to keep his men and machinery i n astate of readiness to clear snow from major districtroads using machines as well as manually, Ali said,adding instructions have been given to allExecutive Engineers of the department to ensureremoval of any fallen trees that may block theroads.

The Divisional Commissioner has also directedCommissioner SMC Srinagar to ensure that alldewatering stations are kept in running conditionand that manual snow clearance from lanes anddrains in the city is done.

Civil Defence Volunteers have been asked toassist the administration in snow clearance wherev-er required, Ali said, adding Director CAPDKashmir has been asked to ensure adequate essen-tial supplies of LPG and Kerosene Oil.

India successfully ....

said, "It was a practice trial conducted by theStrategic Force Command of the Indian Army."

Agni-I, a single-stage missile powered by solid propellants, has a specialised navigation systemwhich ensures that it reaches the target with a highdegree of accuracy and precision, a defence scien-tist said.

Weighing 12 tonnes, the 15-metre-long Agni-I,which is capable of carrying payloads up to 1000kg, has already been inducted into the Indian Army.

Agni-I has been developed by advanced sys-tems laboratory, the premier missile development

laboratory of the Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation (DRDO) in collabora-tion with Defence Research DevelopmentLaboratory and Research Centre Imarat and inte-grated by Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad.

The last trial of Agni-I missile was successfullycarried out on July 13, 2012 from the same testrange.

Demanded alternate....

of the building. The Committee observed thatthe building is unsafe and asked the governmentfor shifting of records and necessary arrangementsfor alternative office accommodation to safe guardof the employees of the Council Secretariat.

Among others, Secretary Legislative Council,Mr. Mohammad Ashraf Mir, Additional Secretary,Mr. Ashful Ahmed Wani, besides officers and offi-cials of the Council Secretariat were attended themeeting.

Vinod Rai....

UN General Assembly in 1959, the panel com- prises of individual external auditors who are headsof supreme audit institutions of various countries.

Mexico launches ....

Monday. The ceremony was attended byCabinet members, legislators and the leaders of Mexico's three largest political parties.

The reform plan, which requires changes to theconstitution, calls for measures to objectively eval-

uate teachers' performance and the creation of a professional teaching force without interferencefrom unions or other groups.

The measures, according to education experts,are designed to take control of the hiring of teach-ers away from the powerful SNTE teachers union.Teaching positions, in many cases, become lifetimeor hereditary jobs. The SNTE is led by Elba Esther Gordillo, considered Mexico's most powerfulwoman, who has the backing of the New AllianceParty, or PANAL, which holds 10 seats inCongress.

12 killed in....

district, 415 km from here.All the labourers were rushed to hospital early

Wednesday. While seven were declared dead, thecondition of two of the injured labourers is statedto be serious, Sonbhadra Superintendent of PoliceSubhash Chandra Dubey said. In another accident,five people were mowed down by a speeding truck late Tuesday when the driver lost control andrammed the vehicle into a row of houses in Deughavillage in Chitrakoot district, some 240 km fromhere. The incident also left 13 people injured.Chitrakoot Superintendent of Police Mohit Guptasaid some cattle were also killed in the accident.The truck driver fled after the incident.

First flight of ....

Air Force Aircraft returned to Chandigarh fromSrinagar.

Chef Executive Councillor LAHDC Kargil,Kacho Ahmed Ali Khan and the stranded passen-gers airlifted from Kargil expressed their gratitudeto Indian Air Force for arranging the air-sorty

between Kargil and Srinagar, despite inclementweather. In view of the bad weather, the next flightof the Courier Service will be planned, as soon asthe weather improves.

Roaming will be....

earlier this year announced "one nation, free roam-ing" as part of its National Telecom Policy 2012.The policy, approved in May, aims to abolishroaming charges and allow mobile phone sub-scribers to use same number across country with-out having to pay extra charges for services oncethey are outside their telecom circle.

Pakistan, UNESCO....

in Paris. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, whowas also present on this occasion, visited MalalaYousafzai a few days ago in a hospital in Britain'sBirmingham city where she is recuperating fromthe gunshot wound. On October 09, the 15-year-old education activist from Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was shot in the head andneck by Taliban militants while returning home bya school bus.

STUDENT AGE

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 20122

Contd. from page 1... No proof of UFOs on

Sino-Indianborder:Antony

NEW DELHI: There is no con-clusive proof of sighting unidenti-fied objects over the Sino-Indian

border, Defence Minister A.K.Antony said Wednesday.

The minister was responding toa query in the Lok Sabha frommember T.N. Seema if it was truethat Indian troops had seen UFOsin the Ladakh region of Jammuand Kashmir.

Antony said in a written state-ment that China disputed the inter-national boundary with India.

"There is no commonly delin-eated Line of Actual Control

between the two countries," hesaid.

"Both sides patrol up to their respective perceptions of LAC.However, Chinese patrolling up to

their perception of LAC is treatedas transgressions.

"Such incidents are taken upwith the Chinese side throughestablished mechanisms...Effective border management iscarried out through surveillanceand regular patrolling," he said.

Howitzer tender cancelled thrice

in 10 years:Antony

NEW DELHI: For the third timein last 10 years, the DefenceMinistry has cancelled a tender for

procuring 180 self-propelledwheeled artillery guns for theArmy, Defence Minister AK Antony informed Rajya Sabha onWednesday.

"The Request for Proposal(RFP) for procurement of 180howitzers has been cancelled in2012, for the third time in past tenyears," he said in written reply to aquery.

The minister said the RFP wascancelled this year as both thefirms participating in the tender were not able to meet the parame-ters.

He said the first RFP wasissued in 2002 in which five firmshad responded but only one couldqualify at the technical evaluationstage and it had to be retracted dueto procedural infirmities.

"RFP was issued for the sec-ond-time in February 2007 to 29firms of which only two respond-ed but one offer was rejected

because of procedural deficiency,resulting in a single vendor situa-tion," the minister said.

The Army has failed to inductnew howitzers after the Boforsgun deal scam in 1986 despiterepeated efforts to do so.

Meanwhile, answering a ques-tion, Minister of State for DefenceJitendra Singh said, "The totalvalue of defence exports fromDefence PSUs and OFB includingdefence exports from defencecompanies in the private sector was Rs. 997 crore during the lastthree financial years."

SEOUL: North Korea successfully launched along-range rocket on Wednesday, sharply escalat-ing the security threat posed by the nuclear-armedstate and provoking concern from China and glob-al condemnation.

Apr evious launch of the same Unha-3 rocket inApril had ended in failure, with the carrier explod-ing shortly after take-off.

Success this time carries profound securityimplications, marking a major advance in NorthKorea's ability to mate an intercontinental ballisticmissile (ICBM) capability with its nuclear weapons programme.

Washington and its allies insist the launch is adisguised ballistic missile test that violates UNresolutions triggered by Pyongyang's two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

In 2006 the Security Council imposed anembargo on arms and material for ballistic mis-

siles and weapons of mass destruction.In 2009, it imposed a ban on North Korea's

weapons exports and ordered all countries tosearch suspect shipments.

The United Nations and European Union had joined calls for Pyongyang to cancel the missionand warned of more sanctions if it pushed ahead.

According to Japanese reports, Japan, theUnited States and South Korea have agreed todemand the Security Council strengthen sanctionson North Korea to levels that match those on Iran.

That would include increasing the list of finan-cial institutions, entities and individuals subject toasset freezes.

The North's decision to launch the rocket inwinter has led analysts to suggest a political imper-ative behind the timing, which may have overruledtechnical considerations.

New leader Kim Jong-Un was believed to be

extremely keen that the launch fell around the firstanniversary of the death of his father and former leader Kim Jong-Il on December 17. Russia had

joined the calls for Pyongyang to cancel the mis-sion, while China, North Korea's sole major allyand its biggest trade partner and aid provider, hadexpressed concern.

North Korea insisted the mission was not a banned intercontinental missile test but wasdesigned to place a scientific satellite in orbit, andsaid it had achieved all its objectives.

In October, North Korea had said it already possessed rockets capable of striking the US main-land, a claim which many analysts at the time dis-missed as bluster.

Japan's government said it "cannot tolerate"the "extremely regrettable"launch, and Britain"deplored" North Korea's decision to go ahead.

In Seoul, President Lee Myung-Bak called an

emergency meeting of his National SecurityCouncil, while Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwancondemned the North's "clear violation" of UNresolutions. India also reacted strongly to therocket launch by North Korea, saying the "unwar-ranted action" by that country has adverselyimpact peace and stability in the Korean peninsu-la. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairssaid India was concerned over the rocket launchwhich was in violation of UN Security CouncilResolution 1874. In 2006 the Security Councilimposed an embargo against North Korea on armsand material for ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. It also banned imports of luxurygoods and named individuals and companies to besubject to a global assets freeze and travel ban.

In 2009, it imposed a ban on North Korea'sweapons exports and ordered all countries tosearch suspect shipments.

North Korea launches rocket in defiance of international warnings

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2012 3

NEWS IN BOXJK Police T-20 Cricket final to

be played on Dec 18ANANTNAG, DEC12: The date for the JK Police T-20Cricket final match in district Anantnag was fixed today in ameeting of civil and police officers held under theChairmanship of District Development Commissioner,Anantnag. The match will be played on December 18, 2012

between the Tiger Sports and Hayat Sports in the DistrictSports Stadium, Anantnag.

'Cosmic rays' createpanic in KashmirSRINAGAR,DEC 12: Panic gripped residents of Kashmir Valley Tuesday night following rumours that cosmic raysfrom Mars had entered Earth which can lead to harmfuleffects on mobile users. As soon as the rumours starteddoing rounds of the Valley late last evening, people madefrantic calls to media houses to check the authenticity of thereports which they claimed were attributed to internationalagencies. Instead of switching off the mobile phones asadvised by the rumour mongers, the call traffic increasedmanifold till late hours, an official of the BSNLsaid.

Divisional Administration of Kashmir clarified that therewas no truth in the reports and people need not panic.

There are reports that people all around the world arereceiving false messages attributed to international agenciesthat cosmic rays are entering Earth from Mars and haveasked people to switch off their mobile phones at night, anofficial of the Divisional Administration said in a statement.

"Please don't pay heed to these rumours and help educate

others. Spreading rumours and unsubstantiated warnings isunethical and against the law," he said.

Enquiry ordered into death of child in GMC

JAMMU, DEC 12 : Principal, Government MedicalCollege, Jammu, Dr. Aniece Chowdhary has directed theHeads of Department of Paediatrics and ENT to enquire intothe death of a child undergoing treatment in Paediatrics Unitand submit a detailed report within three days for further action. According to the order issued today, Dr. ParmodKalsotra, Head of Unit 3rd, Department of ENT and Dr.Sanjeev Dingra, Head of Unit-I (b) Department of Paediatrics have been asked to enquire into the death of childadmitted in Paediatrics Unit I (b) as a suspected case of for-eign body inhalation on December 8, 2012 who after under-going treatment expired today.

Basic amenities for all govt'spriority: Bhalla

JAMMU, DEC 12: Minister for Revenue, Relief andRehabilitation, Mr. Raman Bhalla today said that the stategovernment was striving hard to make available all basicamenities in urban as well as rural pockets in the state.

Listing infrastructure development schemes being imple-mented under various sectors, the Minister said that the gov-ernment was determined to ensure that the benefits of vari-ous developmental and other state and centrally sponsoredflagship programmes percolate down to the grass root level.

The Minister said this after laying foundation stone of Sulabh Suochalaya here at Nai Basti, to be completed at anestimated cost of Rs. 6 lakh.

Mr. Bhalla said the people's cooperation was vital for exe-cution of development projects and effective implementationof various schemes. The Minister said that the constructionof Sulabh Suchalaya in th area was to provide better sanita-tion facilities to the people. He urged the people to ensurecleanliness at such public conveniences as it was their own

property. Among others senior functionaries of variousdepartments, retd SSP, Charag Din Chowdhary and promi-nent citizens were present on the occasion.

Tarigami hits out atShinde on AFSPAJAMMU,DEC 12: The CPI-M in Jammu and Kashmir took exception to the government's contention that the ArmedForces (Special Powers) Act will not be withdrawn from thestate until the situation is completely peaceful and demand-ed that it should be immediately scrapped. State party secre-tary M Y Tarigami also wondered over Sushilkumar Shinde'sstatement on the withdrawal of AFSPAfrom Kashmir, sayin gthat the Union Home Minister should "explain what he per-ceives from the criteria 'complete peace, quite and calm' inKashmir?" Shinde had said that AFSPA cannot be "with-drawn unless it (the state) is quite and calm".

In a statement, Tarigami said, "Times have changed sohas the graph of insurgency in Kashmir. Need of the hour isthat government should seriously think over revocation of draconian laws, no doubt initially from few districts of thestate." "It would be a positive step toward maintaining peaceand calm in the valley. There is no need of such laws in thestate, where it has furthered alienation," he claimed.

Physical verification of old agedpensioners at doorsteps soughtJAMMU, DEC 12 : A team of senior officers of Accountsand Treasuries Department visited various districts of Jammu

province to take stock of process of physical verification of pensioners especially senior citizens who could not approachto the concerned authorities for verification well in time dueto advanced age and illness. During his visit to Poonch,Chairman Kehkashan Cultural Organization and renownedTrade Union Leader, Mr. Sajjad Poonchi found many peopleof this far-off district who could not approach for their phys-ical verification to the office of the Joint Director Accountsand Treasuries, Jammu as it is very difficult for them to incur heavy expenses on travel and stay, illness and other unavoid-able circumstances.

SRINAGAR, DEC 12:Highlighting the initiativestaken by the Government for ensuring the sustaineddevelopment of the old CitySrinagar, Minister for RuralDevelopment, PanchayatRaj, Law, Justice andParliamentary Affairs, Mr.Ali Mohammad Sagar hassaid that the people areaware about the measuresundertaken in this regard andthe parities who are trying tomislead them have always

propagated divisive politicsfor their political interests.

The Minister wasaddressing a mammoth gath-ering after inaugurating aCommunity Hall constructed

by the Srinagar MunicipalCorporation with an estimat-ed cost of Rs. 1.30 crore at

Arm Masjid, RozabalKhanyar Srinagar today.

Vice Chairman, Wakaf,Mr. M.Y. Qadiri, senior offi-

cers of Srinagar MunicipalCorporation, officers of var-ious departments besides,

prominent citizens were

present on the occasion.Mr. Sagar said that it was

due to the sustained effortsof the Government that vari-

ous developmental pro-grammes, which were delib-erately kept in hibernation,have been successfullyimplemented for ensuringthe all-round development of the historic old CitySrinagar. He said that sever-al new initiatives have also

been undertaken so that the people living in these areasget better amenities as wellas facilities.

Referring to the holistic programme envisaged by theGovernment for ensuringdevelopment of old CitySrinagar, the Minister saidthat the comprehensive ini-tiative has already beenundertaken by theGovernment for developingold City on heritage patternwhich would go a long way

in putting it on the touristmap of the world. He saidthat the same would ensurethat tourists visit the areaand it would consequentlylead to the socio-economicdevelopment besides provid-ing the much needed self employment opportunities tothe unemployed educatedyouth.

The Minister said that itis recorded in history thatvarious vexed problemshave been solved throughthe medium of dialogue andwe have always been advo-cating the same for solvingdifferent issues. He said thatthe separatists should alsounderstand the fact and work for lasting solution whichwould ensure peace and

prosperity in the State.

NEW DELHI, DEC 12:Legislators and Senior Pradesh Congress Leadersfrom Jammu and Kashmir state headed by Former Minister and MLA InderwalG M Saroori called onHon'ble Union Minister for Home Sushil Kumar Shindeand apprised him about vari-ous problems confrontinggeneral public of ErstwhileDistrict Doda. Among otherswho called upon the Minister from J&K state includedMLC Naresh Gupta, MLCMohammad Amin Bhat,Senior Congress Leader fromBatote Mohammad Iqbal Mir,Youth Congress leader fromSrinagar Imtiyaz malik andothers.

Delegation demanded thata special recruitment drive for the unemployed youth of the

State in Central Governmentservices may please be under-

taken, as the State has limitedresource.

They also seek Ministers personal intervention for cre-

ating extra 4000 SpecialPolice Officer (SPO) posts for Erstwhile District DistrictDoda as these districts arehaving only 25% road con-nectivity and are the far flungareas of the J&K state. Further they demanded the wages of SPO's may please beincreased from Rs 3000 to10,000 in view of presentmarket fluctuation.

Mr Saroori and other member of delegations alsodemanded to expedite sanc-tion of all the pending road

projects submitted to Uniongovernment under militancyaffected area scheme. Theyalso demanded special finan-cial package for Jammu AndKashmir State on the patternof North-East.

"Incentives should beunique to the Jammu and

Kashmir and proactive policyshould be put in place for recruitment of unemployedyouths of the state in centralgovernment services,autonomous bodies, publicsector undertakings and cen-tral paramilitary forces", theysaid. Hon'ble Union Minister gave them patient hearing andassured that the central gov-ernment will consider their demands on top priority. TheHon'ble minister further saidthat Central as well as stategovernment is committed to

provide solace to the deprived people and will work for the peaceful atmosphere of thestate, which is essence for thedevelopment of the State andthe Country.

Therefore, it is the duty of all of us to work unitedlytowards this direction.

Legislators and Senior PCC leaders from J&K call up

Govt committed for development of Old City: Sagar

Minister for Rural Development, Panchayat Raj, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. AliMohammad Sagar addressing a mammoth gathering at Srinagar.

Former Minister and MLA Inderwal G M Saroori along with others interacting with Hon'ble UnionMinister for Home Sushil Kumar Shinde at New Delhi.

Over 12traders

booked for profiteeringJAMMU, DEC 12: Actingon the complaint of con-sumers for less weighing of vegetables and chargingexorbitant rates, Director CAPD, Parvez Malik consti-tuted a team of officers of Legal Metrology deptt andCAPD under the supervisionof Deputy Controller LM,Enf. The team with the assis-tance of police conductedextensive checking of morethan 50 vendors dealing withsale of vegetables and fruitsat Sabji Mandi, Pradeground, here today.

The team checked theweighing instruments and

weights of all the traders andfound nine traders in posses-sion of defective instrumentswhich were not stamped andverified from the department.All such instruments wereseized and the owners were

booked under the provisionsof Weights & Measures Law

by Inspector LM Ms PoojaKumari. The team also foundthat some traders had not dis-

played the rate lists at theselling premises and accord-ingly three traders were

booked by AD CAPD depart-ment for non display of rates.

The team also found thaton some items traders werecharging more profit whichwas against the directive of the government who hasfixed maximum of 35% prof-it on the perishable vegeta-

bles. The team ensured thedisplay of reasonable priceon the spot on all the trading

premises in presence of theoffice bearers of associationof Sabji mandi and warnedthe traders not to fleece thegullible and hapless con-sumers.

PDP, BJPdivisive forces

of different

colours: RanaJAMMU: Both PDP and

BJP are divisive forces inJammu and Kashmir of dif-ferent colours but withsame agenda of "commu-nal politics", PoliticalAdvisor to the Chief Minister, Devender SinghRana alleged onWednesday.

"The designs of thePDP and BJPare very sim-ilar though they like tocamouflage them in thegarb of different politicalcolours," Rana said whileaddressing a party-workersmeeting at Bani in Kathuadistrict today.

The CM's PoliticalAdvisor said people hadrealised that both PDP andBJP were power hungryand played to the galleryfor their own political gainand predicted "historic vic-tory of secular forces" in2014.

In contrast to the two parties' divisive politics,Rana claimed the Omar Abdullah-government had

brought development in thestate and made J&K a

power surplus state by ini-tiating various power proj-ects.

"The PDP leadershipare today crying hoarse butduring their three year tenure they did not initiateeven a single power projectwhich could have helpedtoday to improve the power scenario in the state," Ranasaid. Rana claimed in lastfour years the state govern-ment had undertaken land-mark initiatives to bring intransparency and accounta-

bility in governance.

JAMMU,12 DEC: In a press conferenceheld here National secular forum under the chairmanship of Narinder Singh

District President National Secular Forum have a taken strong note againstthe misuse of university vehicles by theofficials for personal interest leading tothe misuse of funds which are ment for the students welfare and have demandedto withdraw all vehicles from the offi-cials.

He said that nothing positive has beendone by the administration so far againstthe misuse of university vehicles by theofficials. He said that where Universityof Kashmir few days back have directedall the officials, except a few top officersincluding vice chancellor,controller,reg-istrar to handover the official vehicles tothe administration.

NSF has appealed the worthy

Governor to implement the same rulewhich has been adopted in Kashmir Universitywhere it has been made

mandatory for the officials to surrender the vehicles allotted to them. He saidmisuse of official vehicles for personaluse is on rise in the Jammu Universityand also demanded to hold an audit intothe funds utilized for vehicle use.

He added that even though a post of media officer was created a long back in2008 but this post does not seem to be inoperation anywhere.

He further said that it was a brazenviolation by some private as well as gov-ernment educational institutions thatthey didn't announce holiday onDecember 5 when the entire state wascelebrating the birth anniversary of Sher-e-Kashmir and former Chief Minister of the state Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.

"The University of Jammu had alsoconducted examinations and PersonalConduct Programme (PCP) classes on

December 5 despite the fact that therewas a holiday. Apart from several privateeducational institutions were functionaland the education department remained aspectator to it," Singh said.

"We demand that the state higher andschool education departments shouldhold inquiry into it and take legal actionagainst all education institutions, includ-ing Jammu University for defying theofficial orders. The officials concernedshould be penalized so that nobody daresto violate government directive in near future,"Singh said.

Among those who were present in the press-conference included NitishSalgotra, Vikram Kumar, RishikeshRana and Vimal Singh.

Initiate action against institutes for violating govt order: NSF

JAMMU,DEC 12: The res-idents of the 4200-flats JagtiMigrant township onWednesday expressed con-cern over the non-payment of monthly cash relief to them

by the Jammu and Kashmir government for the month of

November. "We expressdeep concern over the non-

payment of monthly cashrelief for the month of

November for which theKashmiri Pandits are stillwaiting and they are suffer-ing badly in this regard,"Jagti Tenement Committee

president Shadi Lal Panditasaid.

Pandita criticised the stategovernment for not enhanc-ing the cash relief in tunewith the rising market prices.

"The government hasfailed to enhance the cashrelief of the migrants ignor-ing the market hike," he said.

He claimed that some antinational elements had struck at the Migrant camps and

broken vehicles besides dam-aging government properties.

The inmates appeal to theChief Minister to interveneinto the matter, and see to itthat such type incident areavoided in future, he said.

Pandita said the govern-ment had failed to pay com-

pensation to the migrants for the damaged and looted prop-erties. The ex-gratia grantedto the migrants for their gut-ted properties has not been

paid in full but only up tomaximum of Rs 1 lakh,claimed. The inmates at Jagtitenements have been put indarkness due to continuing18 hours power shutdown, heclaimed. The governmentfailed to provide employmentto KP migrants till the PM'semployment package wasannounced, but till then mostof the KP youth turned over-age, he claimed. Thus thegovernment should grantseven years relaxation in theage to the KPmigrants youthin employment, he said. Thestate government should alsorecruit Kashmiri Pandityouths in JK police, he said.

Govt fails to enhance cash

relief for migrants: JTCMAHORE, DEC 12: TheMinister for Higher Education, Labour andEmployment, Abdul GaniMalik, who is on 3-day longtour of areas of tehsil Mahore,today on 2nd day of tour inau-gurated two newly upgradedHigh schools at Kotli andShikari villages.

An amount of nearly Rs.50lakh has been kept for theconstruction of each Highschool buildings under RMSA scheme, Malik saidafter inaugurating the upgrad-ed schools. Listing the meas-ures being taken to expand theeducational infrastructure inhilly Mahore Tehsil, Malik said that government is com-mitted to create better educa-tional infrastructure. For the

purpose construction of num- ber of other school buildingshave been taken in hand under different centrally sponsoredschemes to provide adequateaccommodation to the stu-dents, he added.

During the visit he inspect-ed the ongoing construction

work of bridges over Hans Nallaha at Sugri and Ganjotcoming up with an estimatedcost of Rs. 4crores each. Mr.Malik took stock of the con-struction work of 6 Kms of Kotli-Shikari road which is

being constructed with anestimated cast of Rs. 6crore.He expressed satisfaction over the pace of construction andasked the concerned to com-

plete the construction worksin stipulated time frame.

The Minister convened a public grievances camp atKotli, various demandsincluding provision for drink-ing water, power supply, roadconnectivity, provision of staff in schools and healthinstitutions, initiation of moredevelopment works under

NREGA in their respectivelocalities and timely supply of ration especially before snowfall.

Malik gave a patient hear-ing to the public and assuredthat their all genuine demandswould be addressed in a

phased manner on priority.

Govt committed for better

educational infrastructure: Malik

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STATE WATCH

U nion Minister for P a r l i a m e n t a r yAffairs Kamal Nathhas done well to assure theOpposition early Tuesday thatthe Government will inquireinto the details of Walmart'slobbying activities in India.The retail giant's recent dis-closure to the US Senate thatit has spent $25 million (aboutRs125 crore) since 2008 tolobby for access to the Indianmarket, has raised uncomfort-able questions on whether

policy-makers in India were bribed by the American retailgiant. Muddying the waters isthe announcement by BhartiWalmart Pvt Ltd - the jointventure company of Walmartand Bharti Enterprises Ltd -last Friday that it has suspend-ed five of its employees on

charges of bribery for alleged-ly violating the US ForeignCorrupt Practices Act. Whileit remains unclear if this

bribery case is related to thelobbying charges, whenviewed together the allega-tions do cast a long shadowon the matter. Also, Walmarthas reportedly been in touchwith several politicians in thiscountry to push its case - apartfrom its efforts in the USwhere too it has been lobby-ing with American lawmakersfor opportunities to do busi-ness in India. As of now, theremay be no evidence of anywrongdoing. But then, there isalso no evidence of over-the-table practice as well.Lobbying is legal in the USand the AmericanAdministration has already

put out an official statementthat Walmart's activities have

been in keeping with US laws.The situation, however, is dif-ferent in India where lobbyingdoes not have explicit legalsanction.

And in the absence of anyclear guidelines, it is only athin line that separates legiti-mate lobbying - wherein pro-fessional lobbyists work withlawmakers to shape national

policy - from efforts at briberyand corruption.

After all, Walmart's disclo-sure report does not providedetails of how exactly theretail firm has spent themoney on 'lobbying' in thiscountry.It is against this back-drop that the US has passedthe buck on India for Walmart's activities in this

country.All of these issues have to

be kept in mind to appreciatethe BJP-led Opposition'sdemand for a probe intoWalmart's lobbying activitiesin India. The Opposition isunlikely to settle for a routineinvestigation; it has alreadydemanded an investigation bya Joint ParliamentaryCommittee.

There is no doubt that,since the issue involves at itsharmless best the influencingof the country's policy-mak-ers, and at its worst their pur-chase, a high-level inquiryalone can settle matters.

Walmart has understand-ably been keen to gain accessto the fast-growing Indianconsumer market for a longtime now. But it has been able

to get its foot in the door onlyrecently after the Governmentdecided to allow 51 per centforeign direct investment inmulti-brand retail thisSeptember. By all means, thiswas a contentious decisionwhich has polarised India's

political class in a deep sense.In fact, the Congress-led UPAregime had to contrive amajority in both Houses of Parliament to endorse FDI inmulti-brand retail. The deci-sion was approved by theLower House of Parliamenton December 5 and by theUpper House on December 7amid much political wran-gling and bickering. Now, theWalmart lobbying report hasadded to the commotion thatwas only just showing signsof settling down.

BY:GWYNNE DYER

Perhaps all those scientists really aremaking it up just to get more money for their research grants. Maybe there is nosuch phenomenon

They made some progress at the annualDecember round of the international nego-tiations on controlling climate change, heldthis year in Qatar. They agreed that thecountries that cause the warming shouldcompensate the ones that suffer the mostfrom it. The principle, known as the Lossand Damage mechanism, has no numbersattached to it, but it's a step forward. Theonly step forward, unfortunately.

In the first phase of these talks, whichconcluded with the Kyoto Protocol of 1997, the emphasis was on 'mitigation';that is, on stopping the warming by cuttinghuman emissions of carbon dioxide andother greenhouse gases. That made goodsense, but they didn't get anywhere. Fifteenyears later, emissions are still rising, notfalling.

So gradually the emphasis shifted to'adaptation'. If we can't agree on measuresto stop the average global temperaturefrom going up, can we learn to live with it?What's the plan for developing new crops

to withstand the droughts and high temper-atures that are coming? What's the plan for coping with massive floods that drownriver valleys and inundate coastlines?

Well, there are no such plans in most places, so the emphasis has shifted again,to compensation. Terrible things will hap-

pen to poor countries, so who pays for them? In principle, says the new Loss andDamage mechanism, the rich countries thatare responsible for the warming pay. Butthe mechanism has no method for assess-ing the damage or allocating the blame, soit will become a lawyers' playground of lit-tle use to anybody else.

There will be a fourth stage to the nego-tiations, but first we will have to wait untilrising temperatures, falling food produc-tion and catastrophic storms shakeGovernments out of their present lethargy.That probably won't happen until quite latein the decade - and by then, at the current

rate of emissions, we will be well past the

point at which we could hold the ris e inaverage global temperature down to twodegrees Centigrade (3.6 degreesFahrenheit).

So then, when it's too late, everybodywill really want a deal, but just cuttinggreenhouse gas emissions won't be enoughany more. We will need some way to holdthe temperature down while we deal withour emissions problem, or else the temper-ature goes so high that mass starvation setsin. The rule of thumb is that we lose 10 per cent of global food production for everyrise in average global temperature of onedegree Centigrade.

There probably is a way to stop thewarming from passing plus two degreesCentigrade and triggering the feedbacks,during the decades it will take to get our emissions back down. It's called 'geo-engi-neering': Direct human intervention in theclimate system. Our greenhouse gas emis-sions are an inadvertent example of geo-engineering that is pushing the climate inthe wrong direction. Another, deliberatekind of geo-engineering may be needed tostop it.

Geo-engineering to hold the heat downis quite possible, though the undesirable

side-effects could be very large. The biggest problem is that it's relatively cheap:Dozens of Governments could afford to doit - and just one Government, acting alone,could do it to the whole atmosphere.

So the fourth phase of the climate talks, probably starting late this decade, will beabout when it is time to start geo-engineer-ing, and what techniques should be used,and who controls the process.

They won't agree on that either, sothings will drag on further until someGovernment, desperate to save its peoplefrom starvation, decides to do it alone,without global agreement. That couldcause a major war, of course.

We had better hope that neutralobservers like the fossil fuel industries areright in insisting that global warming is afraud. Maybe all those scientists really aremaking it up just to get more money inresearch grants. That would be a happy

ending, so fingers are crossed.

BY SOROOR AHMED

Y et another former chief minis-ter from the Bharatiya JanataParty has come up with aregional outfit. When B.S.Yeddyurappa, the former chief minis-ter of Karnataka, formally launchedthe Karnataka Janata Party onDecember 9, he joined the long list of former chief ministers from the BJP,such as Babulal Marandi, Uma Bharti,Kalyan Singh, Madan Lal Khurana,Keshubhai Patel and ShankersinhVaghela, who had quit the party in the

past. While Marandi's JharkhandVikas Morcha is still a strong politicalforce, Bharti's Bharatiya JanshaktiParty merged with the BJP as itsfounder returned to the BJP's fold.Khurana also rejoined the BJP after leaving it for a while. Patel's GujaratParivartan Party is posing a challengeto the chief minister of Gujarat,

Narendra Modi, for the state assemblyelections. Another former Gujaratchief minister to quit the BJP,

Shankersinh Vaghela, later joined the

Congress.All these former chief ministers

were mass leaders in their respectivestates. Under Yeddyurappa's leader-

ship, the BJP came to power for thefirst time in a south Indian state. Hequit the party after a long associationof four decades, at a time when

Narendra Modi is fighting a toughelectoral battle in his own state.

The revolt by regional satraps fromthe saffron brigade at different pointsin time in the recent past has gone along way in weakening the BJP.Curiously, the party is facing thesechallenges from the state-level leaderswhen its rival party, the Congress, isn'tfacing the same. Barring Y.S.Jaganmohan Reddy's YSR Congress,no other outfit has broken ranks withthe Congress in the last couple of years. The Trinamul Congress and

Nationalist Congress Party brokeaway from the Congress in 1997 and1999 respectively and thus dealt asevere blow to the party in West

Bengal and Maharashtra respectively.

But unlike the NCP's Sharad Pawar -and P.A. Sangma, who was a co-founder of the NCP - neither MamataBanerjee nor Jaganmohan Reddy were

former chief ministers when they splitfrom the Congress. The latter, in fact,is the son of the former chief minister,Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.MUCH AT STAKE

The Janata Dal, the other national party which was formed in the late1980s, virtually lost its existenceowing to the breaking away of itsregional leaders at regular intervals.The departures of politicians like LaluPrasad, Nitish Kumar, Ram VilasPaswan, Ajit Singh and NaveenPatnaik almost destroyed the JanataDal.

Apart from Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik, almost all the state-level leaders of the BJP, Congress or Janata Dal who broke away from their

parties used to have strong holds ontheir communities. For example,Khurana was popular with the Punjabi

community in Delhi. Yeddyurappa and

Patel are quite confident of the supportthey command from the Lingayat andthe Patel communities in their respec-tive states. Though Bharti and

Khurana re-joined the BJP, their returndid not help the party regain its oldglory. Moreover, Khurana and Bhartilost their bargaining power in the

party.Another former chief minister from

the BJP, Vasundhara Raje, threatenedto quit the party recently, forcing thehigh command to accept her demands.After the Lok Sabha election in 2009,she was asked by the party leadershipto step down as leader of theOpposition. She refused at first, butstepped down eventually.Yeddyurappa has broken away fromthe BJP at a crucial time; assemblyelections in Karnataka - as well as inRajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Tripura - aregoing to be held in 2013, while thegeneral elections are slated for 2014.Barring Tripura, the BJP has a lot at

stake in all these states.

Did Walmart pay to enter India? Probe the issue

SLOWLY WASTING AWAY

Is global warmingindeed a reality?

KOLKATA: Congress lawmak-ers wore helmets to the WestBengal Assembly Wednesday to

protest the free for all in theHouse yesterday that sent four MLAs to hospital. The Speaker had on Tuesday suspended threeCPM MLAs - Amjad Hussain,

Najimul Haq and Sus hanta Besra- after the brawl. One CPM MLAGaurango Chattopadhyay wasrushed to hospital.

The Congress and Left MLAwalked out of the House thismorning after the Speaker dis-missed Opposition demand for an all-party meeting or the with-drawal of suspension of the threeCPM MLAs.

Left MLAs are holding a sit-in protest on the stairs leading to

the House. The CPM Politburohas condemned the violence inthe Assembly yesterday.

Trouble started in the firsthalf of the Assembly session OnTuesday when the Opposition'sadjournment motion on chitfunds was admitted but a discus-sion was disallowed. WhenOpposition leader Surjo KantoMishra rose to read the motion,he said the Opposition's motionhad been severely edited and thatthe Opposition was not beingallowed to speak.

At this, Left MLAs rushed tothe well of the House and began

protesting. Treasury ML As claimthere were attempts to attack theSpeaker. The clash continuedeven after the Speaker left the

House. The Opposition MLAsthen walked out.

When the House reconvened,Trinamool's ParliamentaryAffairs Minister ParthaChatterjee protested the behav-iour of the Left MLAs. TheSpeaker then announced thatthree Left MLAs were being sus-

pended. The Left MLAs onceagain rushed to the well of theHouse. The Trinamool MLAsalso rushed to the spot; one of them pulled the hair of a womanMLA, Debolina Hembrom. Thewoman fell down under theimpact. After that, a physicalfight ensued in the House. TheCongress and Left MLAs thenwalked out of the House and metthe Governor.

WEST BENGAL

Congress MLAs wear helmets to Bengal AssemblyTRIPURA

Tripura's poor to getfree education till

Class 12AGARTALA: The Left Front government inTripura Wednesday announced free educationto poor students, covering the entire period of school education, up to class 12. The Right toFree and Compulsory Education Act, 2009,of the central government offers free educa-tion only up to Class 8.

Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said thatstarting from the next academic session,

beginning January, students belonging toBPL (below poverty line) families would getfree text books and other facilities up to class12. "The decision was taken aiming at univer-salisation of education, and to achieve 100

percent literacy from the existing 90 percent,"Sarkar told reporters, adding that poor stu-dents would be charged no fees.

He said, "Up to Class eight, all studentsare now getting free school textbooks andvarious other facilities. Currently, poor stu-dents up to Class 10 have been getting freeschool textbooks and other facilities."

According to the chief minister, there are44,000 students belonging to BPL familiesnow studying in Tripura. If one were toinclude students up to Class 12, the number would increase by several thousand in thenext academic year.

"Though the central government had promised to universalise education in thecountry within 10 years of India'sIndependence, the declaration has stillremained unfulfilled," Sarkar said.

He said the Left Front government inTripura is probably the only state governmentin the country which has been providing freeeducation to all, covering the whole of school-level education. The Tripura councilof ministers, at a meeting here Tuesday, alsodecided to increase the emoluments of theteachers working in the Islamic madrasas.

According to School Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty, the Left Front govern-ment has been spending more than 20 percentof its total annual budget on the educationsector, while the central government's fund-ing in this sector was less than 10 percent. InTripura, there are about 800,000 studentsstudying in 4,600 schools.

HYDERABAD: The unionhome ministry has invited nine

political parties from AndhraPradesh for an all-party meet-ing on Telangana scheduled to

be held Dec 28 in New Delhi.Ignoring the demand from

some Telangana parties andleaders of Congress andTelugu Desam Party (TDP)that one representative fromeach party be invited, the par-ties have been asked to nomi-nate two representatives each.

A ministry letter said anumber of representationswere made by MPs to restartthe dialogue on Telangana.

The letter from K. Skandan,additional secretary in the min-istry of home affairs, wasreceived by the partiesWednesday.

Home Minister Sushil

Kumar Shinde has clearlyrejected the demand of AndhraPradesh Chief Minister N.Kiran Kumar Reddy to post-

pone the meeting in view of World Telugu Conference atTirupati Dec 27-29.

The ministry has invitedCongress, TDP, YSR CongressParty, Telangana RashtraSamithi (TRS), BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP),Communist Party of India(CPI), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M),Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen(MIM) and Lok Satta for themeet. TRS leader Harish Raosaid it proved that theCongress was not sincere insolving the issue. TDP leader from Telangana E. Dayakar Rao termed the meet as anoth-er ploy by the Congress.

Telangana Joint ActionCommittee (JAC) chairmanM. Kodandaram said irrespec-tive of the number of represen-tatives invited from each party,all parties should take a clear stand on the issue. At the twoall-party meetings convened

by the centre in 2010 and 2011,the representatives from major

parties were divided alongregional lines. While represen-tatives from Telangana wantedseparate statehood to theregion, those from Andhra andRayalaseema opposed bifurca-tion of Andhra Pradesh. TheCongress, TDP, YSR Congress

party and Lok Satta have notyet taken a clear stand onTelangana. The TRS, BJP andCPI are demanding separateTelangana state while CPI-Mand MIM are opposed to it.

ANDHRA PRADESH

Nine parties invited for Telangana meet

HOSHIARPUR: NRI RanjitSingh alias Raja Kandola,who has been charged withsmuggling of Ice (matham-

phetamine), worth Rs 200crore, has challenged the

police to show the recovery.He alleged that some highPunjab police officials whohad their eyes on his valuable

property in Samrala, got himframed in the case.

Kandola, who was pro-duced in the court of addition-al session judge J S Bhinder where the charges framedagainst him and his accom-

plices by the Garhshankar police were to be debated,told the media persons thatthe police had falsely impli-cated his son, wife, girl friendand others. "I challenge them

(police) to show the Rs 200crore worth Ice which theyclaim to have recovered and Iam ready to accept thecharges. Where has it gone?Has it evaporated", he asked,claiming that no such recov-ery was ever made.

He alleged that the policearrested his son as soon as hearrived from UK and showeda recovery of 500 gram of smack from him. "They haveruined my son's career. Theyalso implicated my wife eventhough I did not live with her.They implicated my girlfriend Vanya who can't eventell the colour of the drug", healleged. He reiterated that hehad never run from policecustody but was concealed bythem to be shown as re-arrest-

ed with Sukhwinder Sukhi.He declined to name the

police officials who "impli-cated" him, saying that itwould jeopardise the lives of other family members whomthe police had spared so far.He claimed that fearing retri-

bution, no family member or friend even once came tomeet him in the Tihar jailwhere he was languishing for the last three months.Kandola was arrested by theDelhi police in August.

He is produced in theHoshiarpur court in connec-tion with the drug recoverymade by the Garhshankar

police from his accomplices.His counsel failed to reach intime at which the court postedthe hearing for December 19.

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradeshgovernment announced that thestate's Power TransmissionCorporation Ltd. will developand augment 27 transmissionsubstations of voltages rangingfrom 132 KV to 400 KV acrossthe state.

The decision was approved ata meeting of the board of direc-tors of the UPPTCL here.Officials said a loan of Rs 55.35

crore has been secured from theRural ElectrificationCorporation Ltd. For developingand augmenting capacity of ninesubstations at Shrimau inHardoi, Mainpuri, Rasda andSikandarpur in Ballia, Soraon inAllahabad, Atmadpur in Agra,Sector-62 and Sector-45 in

Noida, and Badaun.Besides, a loan of Rs 144.29

crore for developing and capaci-

ty augmentation of 18 transmis-sion substations at Lucknow andvarious other places has also

been approv ed.Anil K Gupta, principal secre-

tary, energy, said: "In view of additional generation capacity inoffing, it is essential to ensurematching capacity addition intransmission sector also, so thatthe power thus generated is evac-uated for distribution."

DEHRADUN: The first Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Nityanand Swami died here this morningfollowing prolonged illness. He was 85. He is sur-vived by four daughters.

He breathed his last at about 9:30 AM at the city'sCombined Medical Institute (CMI). Official sourcessaid Swami, who became the first CM of the northIndian state when it was created out of Uttar Pradeshin 2000, will be cremated with state honours at 4 PMat Lakhibagh in the city.

His mortal remains have been kept at his ancestral

home here for people to pay their last respects. Thefuneral procession will start at 2 PM, family sourcessaid. Proceedings in the state Assembly wereadjourned for the day after paying condolences toSwami. Describing his death as a personal loss, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said Swami was an inspiringleader to whom he often went to seek guidance.

Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly AjayBhatt said as chief minister of Uttarakhand, Swamigave total freedom to his ministers to work in theinterest of people.

PUNJAB

Raja Kandola produced in court, alleges policeframe up

UTTARAKHAND

First CM of Uttarakhand passes away

UTTAR PRADESH

UP to develop 27 power transmission sub-stations

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7/30/2019 Daily Paper December 13

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Born: April 14, 1891Died: December 6, 1956Achievements: Dr. B.R. Ambedkarwas elected as the chairman of thedrafting committee that was constitutedby the Constituent Assembly to draft aconstitution for the independent India;he was the first Law Minister of India;conferred Bharat Ratna in 1990.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is viewed asmessiah of dalits and downtrodden inIndia. He was the chairman of the draft-ing committee that was constituted bythe Constituent Assembly in 1947 todraft a constitution for the independentIndia. He played a seminal role in theframing of the constitution. BhimraoAmbedkar was also the first LawMinister of India. For his yeoman serv-ice to the nation, B.R. Ambedkar wasbestowed with Bharat Ratna in 1990.

Dr.Bhimrao Ambedkar was born onApril 14, 1891 in Mhow (presently inMadhya Pradesh). He was the four-teenth child of Ramji and BhimabaiSakpal Ambavedkar. B.R. Ambedkarbelonged to the "untouchable" MaharCaste. His father and grandfatherserved in the British Army. In thosedays, the government ensured that all

the army personnel and their childrenwere educated and ran special schoolsfor this purpose. This ensured goodeducation for Bhimrao Ambedkar,which would have otherwise beendenied to him by the virtue of his caste.

Bhimrao Ambedkar experiencedcaste discrimination right from thechildhood. After his retirement,Bhimrao's father settled in SataraMaharashtra. Bhimrao was enrolled inthe local school. Here, he had to sit onthe floor in one corner in the classroomand teachers would not touch his note-books. In spite of these hardships,Bhimrao continued his studies andpassed his Matriculation examinationfrom Bombay University with flyingcolours in 1908. Bhim Rao Ambedkar

joined the Elphinstone College for fur-ther education. In 1912, he graduated inPolitical Science and Economics fromBombay University and got a job inBaroda.

In 1913, Bhimrao Ambedkar lost hisfather. In the same year Maharaja of Baroda awarded scholarship to BhimRao Ambedkar and sent him toAmerica for further studies. Bhimraoreached New York in July 1913. For thefirst time in his life, Bhim Rao was notdemeaned for being a Mahar. Heimmersed himself in the studies andattained a degree in Master o f Arts anda Doctorate in Philosophy fromColumbia University in 1916 for histhesis "National Dividend for India: AHistorical and Analytical Study." FromAmerica, Dr.Ambedkar proceeded toLondon to study economics and politi-cal science. But the Baroda governmentterminated his scholarship and recalled

him back.The Maharaja of Baroda appointed

Dr. Ambedkar as his political secretary.But no one would take orders from himbecause he was a Mahar. BhimraoAmbedkar returned to Bombay inNovember 1917. With the help of Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur, a sympa-thizer of the cause for the upliftment of the depressed classes, he started a fort-nightly newspaper, the "Mooknayak"(Dumb Hero) on January 31, 1920. TheMaharaja also convened many meet-ings and conferences of the "untouch-ables" which Bhimrao addressed. InSeptember 1920, after accumulatingsufficient funds, Ambedkar went back to London to complete his studies. Hebecame a barrister and got a Doctoratein science.

After completing his studies inLondon, Ambedkar returned to India.In July 1924, he founded the BahishkritHitkaraini Sabha (Outcastes WelfareAssociation). The aim of the Sabha wasto uplift the downtrodden socially andpolitically and bring them to the levelof the others in the Indian society. In1927, he led the Mahad March at theChowdar Tank at Colaba, nearBombay, to give the untouchables theright to draw water from the public tank where he burnt copies of the'Manusmriti' publicly.

In 1929, Ambedkar made the con-troversial decision to co-operate withthe all-British Simon Commissionwhich was to look into setting up aresponsible Indian Government inIndia. The Congress decided to boycottthe Commission and drafted its ownversion of a constitution for free India.

The Congress version had no provi-sions for the depressed classes.Ambedkar became more skeptical of the Congress's commitment to safe-guard the rights of the depressed class-es.

When a separate electorate wasannounced for the depressed classesunder Ramsay McDonald 'CommunalAward', Gandhiji went on a fast untodeath against this decision. Leadersrushed to Dr. Ambedkar to drop hisdemand. On September 24, 1932, Dr.Ambedkar and Gandhiji reached anunderstanding, which became thefamous Poona Pact. According to thepact the separate electorate demandwas replaced with special concessionslike reserved seats in the regional leg-islative assemblies and Central Councilof States.

Dr. Ambedkar attended all the threeRound Table Conferences in Londonand forcefully argued for the welfare of the "untouchables". Meanwhile, BritishGovernment decided to hold provincialelections in 1937. Dr. B.R. Ambedkarset up the "Independent Labor Party" inAugust 1936 to contest the elections inthe Bombay province. He and manycandidates of his party were elected tothe Bombay Legislative Assembly.

In 1937, Dr. Ambedkar introduced aBill to abolish the "khoti" system of land tenure in the Konkan region, theserfdom of agricultural tenants and theMahar "watan" system of working forthe Government as slaves. A clause of an agrarian bill referred to thedepressed classes as "Harijans," or peo-ple of God. Bhimrao was stronglyopposed to this title for the untouch-

ables. He argued that if the "untouch-ables" were people of God then all oth-ers would be people of monsters. Hewas against any such reference. But theIndian National Congress succeeded inintroducing the term Harijan.Ambedkar felt bitter that they could nothave any say in what they were called.

In 1947, when India became inde-pendent, the first Prime Minister Pt.Jawaharlal Nehru, invited Dr. BhimraoAmbedkar, who had been elected as aMember of the Constituent Assemblyfrom Bengal, to join his Cabinet as aLaw Minister. The ConstituentAssembly entrusted the job of draftingthe Constitution to a committee and Dr.Ambedkar was elected as Chairman of this Drafting Committee. In February1948, Dr. Ambedkar presented theDraft Constitution before the people of India; it was adopted on November 26,1949.

In October 1948, Dr. Ambedkar sub-mitted the Hindu Code Bill to theConstituent Assembly in an attempt tocodify the Hindu law. The Bill causedgreat divisions even in the Congressparty. Consideration for the bill waspostponed to September 1951. Whenthe Bill was taken up it was truncated.A dejected Ambedkar relinquished hisposition as Law Minister.

On May 24, 1956, on the occasionof Buddha Jayanti, he declared inBombay, that he would adoptBuddhism in October. On 0ctober 14,1956 he embraced Buddhism alongwith many of his followers. OnDecember 6, 1956, Baba Saheb Dr.B.R. Ambedkar died peacefully in hissleep.

Apart from minerals and ores, theproducts of the lithosphere are alsoimportant in meeting our energy

needs.Coal is one of the most important fuels

that is used in the production of electricity.Coal is formed from organic material whenplants and animals decompose, leavingbehind organic remains that accumulate andbecome compacted over millions of yearsunder sedimentary rock. The layers of com-pact organic material that can be foundbetween sedimentary layers, are coal. Whencoal is burned, a large amount of heat energyis released, which is used to produce electric-ity. South Africa is the world's sixth largestcoal producer, with Mpumalanga contribut-ing about 83% of our total production. Otherareas, in which coal is produced, include theFree State, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal.One of the problems with coal however, isthat it is a non-renewable resource, meaningthat once all resources have been used up, itcannot simply be produced again. Burningcoal also produces large quantities of green-house gases, which may play a role in glob-al warming. At present, ESKOM, the SouthAfrican government's electric power produc-er, is the coal industry's main customer.

Another element that is found in thecrust, and which helps to meet our energyneeds, is uranium. Uranium produces energythrough the process of nuclear fission.Neutrons are aimed at the nucleii of the ura-nium atoms in order to split them. When thenucleus of a uranium atom is split, a largeamount of energy is released as heat. Thisheat is used to produce steam, which turns

turbines to generate electricity. Uranium isproduced as a by-product of gold in somemines in the Witwatersrand, and as a by-product in some copper mines, for examplein Phalaborwa. This type of nuclear power isrelatively environmentally friendly since itproduces low gas emissions. However, theprocess does produce small amounts of radioactive wastes, which must be carefullydisposed of in order to prevent contamina-tion.

Oil is another product of the lithospherewhich is critical in meeting our fuel needs.While most of South