Daily Paper January 30, 2013

7/29/2019 Daily Paper January 30, 2013

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R E A D T H E N E E D

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 20138 Pages

Rs: 1.00

Jammu Edition

www.thestudentage.com

JKENG/2012/41612

Vol. 2 No: 27

IN BRIEFIN BRIEFAircel launches free

roaming serviceNEW DELHI: Aircel

launched a product that offers

users one rate for voice, SMS

and data in home circles and

on roaming.

'One Nation, One Rate',

offers one rate for voice, SMS

and data in home circles and

on roaming on Aircel net-

work, the company said in a

statement."Incoming calls

while contd on page 2

Sheila Dikshit releas-es helpline numbersbooklet for women

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief

Minister Sheila Dikshit

released a booklet featuring

various helpline numbers and

safety precautions needed to

be taken by women in dis-

tress. The booklet has been

brought out by National

Commission for Women

(NCW) to make the fairer sex

aware of the various

helplines contd on page 2

Cold wave intensifiesin Punjab, Haryana

CHANDIGARH: Cold

wave on Tuesday intensified

in Punjab and Haryana with

mercury dipping to four

degrees Celsius below nor-mal at some places in the

region. The minimum tem-

perature hovered between

one to four degrees Celsius

below normal in most parts

of Punjabcontd on page 2

Tripura poll: Scrutinyof nomination taking

place todayAGARTALA: In Tripura the

scrutiny of the nomination is

taking place. On the last day

of the Nomination process

yesterday, a total of 296 can-

didates submitted their nomi-

nation for the forthcoming

assembly poll of Tripura. The

last day for withdrawal

contd on page 2

Govt forms expertpanel to review insti-tutional framework of

Prasar BharatiNEW DELHI: The govern-

ment has constituted an

expert committee to review

institutional framework of

Prasar Bharti. The seven-

member committee will be

headed by Advisor to the

Prime Minister on Public

Information Infrastructure,

Sam Pitroda. The committee

will review relationship of

Prasar Bharti with govern-

ment, its continuing role as a

public broadcaster and meas-

ures contd on page 2

Obama ToSign Aid Bill

Modi 100% secular,my choice for PM:

Ram Jethmalani

Impact of SocialNetworking Sites

On Youth

BANGALORE: The BJP

government in Karnataka,

which has been in perma-cri-

sis mode for months, is now

visiting a new problem. In a

jolt to Karnataka's ruling BJP,

13 legislators loyal to the

party's former leader B.S.

Yeddyurappa Tuesday sub-

mitted letters resigning from

the assembly to Speaker K.G.

Bopaiah. The 13 would also

quit the Bharatiya JanataParty soon to join the

Karnataka Janata Party

(KJP), which Yeddyurappa

formed and is leading after he

left the BJP and the assembly

Nov 30.

The resignations are part

of a plan by Yeddyurappa to

try to prevent Chief Minister

Jagadish Shettar from pre-

senting the budget for 2013-

14 in the assembly on Feb 8.

The assembly's 10-day budg-

et session is scheduled to

begin Feb 4. Bopaiah is

expected to take some time to

decide on the quit letters,

though these legislators are

demanding their immediate

acceptance.

Among the 13 are three

who were ministers in the

Shettar cabinet. While C.M.

Udasi and Shobha

Karandlaje quit as ministers

last Wednesday, Sunil

Vallyapure had resigned last

month. Udasi handled public

works department,Karandlaje energy, and

Vallyapure infrastructure

development.

The BJP, in an apparent

strategy to delay the accept-

ance, has made two of its

assembly members petition

Bopaiah to disqualify 12 of

these legislators for "anti-

party" activities as they had

participated in a public rally

to formally launch the KJP

and took part in other meet-

ings of that party. The peti-

tion was filed Monday.

The resignation of the 13

legislators from the assembly

would not threaten the sur-

vival of the Shettar ministryas the ruling party would still

have 105 members, including

the speaker, in the 225-mem-

ber assembly with two vacan-

cies. The BJP also has the

support contd on page 2

Karnataka BJP in crisis

13 BJP legislators quit Karnataka assembly

NEW DELHI, JAN 29:The

voices within BJP pitching

for Narendra Modi as the

party's Prime Minister grew

louder today with two MPsRam Jethmalani and C P

Thakur backing him but dis-

comfort among NDA allies

was visible with Shiv Sena

batting for Sushma Swaraj

for the top post.

A day after Yashwant

Sinha said the Gujarat Chief

Minister should be declared

the BJP's Prime Ministerial

candidate, eminent lawyer

and party Rajya Sabha MP

Ram Jethmalani said Modi is

the best candidate and that he

is "impeccably secular".

"According to me

Narendra Bhai is the most

and the best Prime Minister

for this country. Nothing has

happened to change my

mind... Modi in my definitionof secularism is 100 per cent

secular," Jethamalani told

reporters here today.

The noted lawyer said he

had supported Modi as BJP's

Prime contd on page 2

Modi for PM pitch rises in BJP,Shiv Sena supports Sushma

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet

will meet on Thursday and is

likely to discuss the amended

Lokpal Bill. If approved by

the Cabinet, the amended

Lokpal Bill will be sent to the

joint Parliamentary panel for

its approval.

UPA chairperson Sonia

Gandhi on Monday wrote a

letter to anti-corruption cru-sader Anna Hazare with

assurance that the Lokpal Bill

will be passed in the upcom-

ing Budget Session. The

Lokpal Bill was passed in the

Lok Sabha in December

2011, but could not be put to

vote in the Rajya Sabha due

to shortage of time. Since

then the government has not

brought the Lokpal Bill to

Parliament.

Sonia's assurance came

two days before Hazare is set

to begin his nationwide tour

for strengthening the organi-

sation of farmers. Hazare

announced on January 16 that

he would begin his nation-

wide tour from Bihar on

January 30. He said that fol-

lowing failure of farmers'

organisations to unite, it has

led contd on page 2

Cabinet to discuss amendedLokpal Bill on Thursday

PATNA: Unhappy over

delay in the Parliament

passing the Lokpal Bill,

Anna Hazare on

Tuesday accused the

Congress-led UPA gov-

ernment of cheating

him and people."The central govern-

ment has been cheating

us over the issue (pass-

ing the Lokpal Bill)," Hazare

said.

In reference to United

Progressive Alliance (UPA)

chairperson Sonia Gandhi's

letter to him in which she

promised that the Lokpal Bill

will be passed in coming ses-

sion of the Parliament,

Hazare said that there was

nothing new in the letter. "I

have been assured through

letters for last two years that

Lokpal Bill will be passed

soon but it is yet to pass," he

said. contd on page 2

Anna accuses UPA govt ofcheating people on Lokpal Bill

JAMMU: Trade across the

Line of Control (LoC) that

divides Jammu and Kashmir

between India and Pakistan

resumed Tuesday after being

suspended due to tension

over the Jan 8 killing of two

Indian soldiers. Six Pakistani

trucks entered the Indian

side.

An official handling the

cross-LoC trade at Chakan-

da-Bagh in Poonch district

said that Indian trucks could

not go to the Pakistani side

due to late security clearance.

"The trucks can cross LoC

between 10 a.m. and noon,

but trucks from India got

delayed during security clear-

ance. They are lined up at

trade and facilitation centre at

Chakan-da-Bagh and will go

to the Pakistani side tomor-

row," he said.

Pawan Anand, president

of cross-LoC traders associa-

tion in Poonch, said: "Onions

and dry dates have come

from Pakistan today while six

Indian trucks, carrying toma-

toes and bananas, could not

cross the LoC due to delay in

security check."

These Indian trucks, along

with some more carrying

embroidery items, will go to

Pakistan Wednesday, he said.

"It is a great feeling to see the

cross-LoC trade resume on

Chakan-da-Bagh-Rawalakot

route as this is not simply

trade but it carries sentiments

of people of this area," he

said.

Trade takes place from

Tuesday to Friday every

week. contd on page 2

Indo-Pak Cross-LoC trade resumes today

SRINAGAR, JAN 29:

Reviewing status of devolu-

tion of powers to panchayats

in Kashmir Division at a

marathon interaction session

with officers of 14 depart-

ments of whose various func-

tions have been transferred to

Panchayat Raj Institutions

(PRI), Chief Minister, Omar

Abdullah Tuesday expressedsatisfaction over the process

of transaction of powers and

laid emphasis on capacity

building of panches and

sarpanches to utilize these

powers in full.

"Elections to panchayats

in the State were held after

over 30 years and the period

of transition from one system

to another takes some time",

he said adding that the feed-

back he received at Jammu

and Srinagar interaction ses-

sions regarding the transfer

of powers and their utiliza-

tion reflects positivity.

However, there is need to fur-

ther gear up in this directionand build necessary capaci-

ties in panchayat members so

that they utilize these powers

fully", he said.

The Chief Minister said

that the commitment of gov-

ernment for an empowered 3-

tier Panchayat Raj system in

the State is firm and final.

"We are creating an atmos-

phere in which panchayats

will be responsible for plan

formation and implementa-

tion of development schemes

at panchayat Halqa, Block

and District levels", he said

adding that BDC elections

are in offing which wil fur-

ther catapult the process ofinvolvement of panchayats in

the plan formation and devel-

opment.

"Sometimes we come

across with stories in media

about empowerment of pan-

chayats. Had we not trans-

ferred powers from 14

departments to panches and

sarpanches, the criticism

could have been well taken

but when the fact is that gov-

ernment has already trans-

ferred powers to panchayats

and these are being utilized

by them, and the high level

nodal officers of the rank of

Additional District

D e v e l o p m e n tCommissioners are monitor-

ing the utilization of these

powers by panches and

sarpanches in each district,

then one gets surprised on

such stories which are devoid

of facts", he said maintaining

that contd on page 2

Omar for enhancing capacitybuilding of panchayat members

NEW DELHI, JAN 29:

Addressing a Broadcast

E n g i n e e r i n g

Society function,

the technocrat said

b r o a d c a s t i n g

should be seen in

the light of

"democratisation

of information ...

opening up of gov-

ernment data".

He suggested that the 12th

plan document could be put

up in the social media.

"We should take the docu-

ment to see if we can put it in

the social

media, to con-

vert it to

human sto-

ries... After

all, it is the

people's plan,

not the gov-

ernments," he

said.

He said there were many

in the government who were

not contd on page 2

Need to open up government

data to public: Pitroda

JAMMU: An Army jawan

was on Tuesday killed in

accidental firing in Rajouri

district of Jammu and

Kashmir, a senior police offi-

cial said. Nagaland resident

Nayak PP Silu of 60

Rashtriya Rifles, died after

his service rifle accidentally

went off at Palma in Rajouri,

about 140 kms from here,

SSP Rajouri Mubasir Latifee

said. Prima facie it appears

that the rifle accidentally

went off as the vehicle carry-

ing Silu was passing through

a bumpy road, he said.

contd on page 2

Jawan dies in accidental firing in J&K

JAMMU: Jammu &

Kashmir government has

reconstituted a panel tasked

with probing violations of

Master Plan in residential

colonies in Jammu and

Srinagar, and named former

advisor to CM, Devinder

Singh Rana, as its Chairman.

Amrit Malhotra,

Chairman of the Legislative

Council, yesterday re-consti-

tuted the House Committee

to look into the issue of con-

version of residential areas

into commercial ones in vio-

lation of Master Plan in the

two capital cities.

This was done in partial

modification of the order

dated October 8, 2012 when

the first panel was constituted

by the Council. The panel

had not submitted any report.

Devinder Singh Rana has

been nominated the

Chairman of the six-member

panel that has Murtaza

Ahmad Khan, Jugal Kishore,

B R Kundal, Sheikh Ghulam

Rasooland Mohammad

Ashraf Mir as its members.

J&K Govt sets up panel toprobe Master Plan violations

NEW DELHI: The

Telangana crisis continues as

seven Congress MPs from

Andhra Pradesh have said

that they will send their resig-

nation letters to party

President Sonia Gandhi on

Wednesday. The MPs plan to

send their resignation letters,

addressed to the Lok Sabha

Speaker, to party president

Sonia Gandhi. In the letter

the MPs said would ask the

party leadership to take a

decision on carving out a sep-

arate state in a week or for-

ward their resignations to the

Speaker. Given its reluctance

to announce a decision on

Telangana, the Congress

finds itself in a spot as

accepting the resignation of

the MPS would make UPA's

position in the Parliament

even more precarious. There

are 17 Lok Sabha members

from Telangana region,

which contd on page 2

Telangana on the boi l

7 Congress MPs to sendresignations to Sonia tomorrow

NEW DELHI: Any cus-

tomer applying for a second

mobile connection in Jammu

and Kashmir will be under

police scrutiny from

February one.

In case police fails to sub-

mit its reply within next 10

days, the Telecom operator

can issue the second connec-

tion, a Department of

Telecommunication (DoT)

communication to telecom

operators in the state said.

Besides, public sector

undertaking BSNL other

operators in the state are

Airtel, contd on page 2

Inform cops about J&K customers'multiple SIM from Feb 1: DoT

Page 1_Bali_Bali_Jan_14_New.qxd 1/30/2013 9:43 AM Page 1


2/8

13 BJP legislators...of one of the seven Independent

members who is a cabinet minister.

The Congress has 71 members and

the Janata Dal-Secular 26. One is a

nominated member. The resignations

were to be submitted to Bopaiah last

Wednesday but could not be done as

he went out of Bangalore the previous

day.

Upset that he was not present in

spite of being informed Tuesday about

the plan to meet him the next day to

submit the resignations, the legislators

had met and complained about the

development to Governor H.R.

Bhardwaj.

They had also given Bhardwaj

copies of their resignation letters and

urged him to intervene for their imme-

diate acceptance by the speaker. After

keeping quiet for three days on his

whereabouts, Bopaiah said late Friday

that he had been to Nepal on a "private

visit".

Modi for PM...

Ministerial candidate about a

month back and expressed happiness

over Yashwant Sinha supporting him

on the issue.

"I don't believe that Yashwant

Sinha has said anything to the con-trary. He has supported my view and I

am very happy that he has supported

me. It lends greater credibility to what

I have said," he said.

Sinha had said yesterday that

announcing Modi's candidature would

hugely benefit the BJPand increase its

seat tally significantly in the next Lok

Sabha elections due in 2014.

Media reports said former Bihar

unit chief of BJP C P Thakur also reit-

erated his support for "Modi for PM".

While BJP spokesperson Prakash

Javadekar said party will take a deci-

sion at the appropriate time, NDA ally

Shiv Sena appeared to have reserva-

tions about Modi. "We feel Sushma

Swaraj is the suitable candidate for the

PM's post," Sena spokesman Sanjay

Raut said in Mumbai.

Another ally JD(U) has already

strongly indicated that it does not wantModi as the NDA's PM candidate.

Cabinet to discuss...

to neglect of agriculture sector by

the rulers. "Keeping in mind the need

to strengthen farmers' organisations, I

decided to start nationwide tour for

one and half years and sit for s atyagra-

ha before Lok Sabha polls at Ramleela

Maidan, New Delhi," he said.

Addressing the gathering after

receiving the prestigious "Basava

Krushi" (agricultural award named

after 12th century social reformer

Basaveshwara), instituted by

'Kudalasangama Lingayat

Panchamasali Mahapeeth' in Bagalkot,

Hazare said, "I will tour in Haryana,

Uttar Pradesh, Panjab and Karnataka

and start agitation by organising farm-

ers community".

Anna accuses...

Hazare claimed that the govern-

ment had no intention of ending cor-

ruption. "The government's intention

is not clear on this issue," he said.

Jantantra rally: Hazare was wel-

comed by hundreds of his supporters

at the airport on Tuesday when he

arrived ahead of his 'Jantantra' rally on

Wednesday. Hazare, who is staying at

legendary socialist leader Jayaprakash

Narayan's house, said that Patna has

been chosen to follow the legacy of

JP's (as Narayan was popularly

known) anti-corruption movement and

to fulfill his dream of total revolution.

He announced that after the Patna

rally, he will visit four other states in

February and other states from March

to create awareness among people and

to unite them for change in the system

in the country.

Hazare asserted that he will contin-

ue his fight for changing the system

till he is alive. IAC gives one lakh

Gandhi caps for Jantantra rally

India Against Corruption (IAC)

gave one lakh trademark Gandhi caps

with 'I am Anna' written on them to

supporters from different parts of

Bihar to attend the rally. "We will also

give the Gandhi caps to people who

come for the rally by charging Rs.10.

The caps will be given for free to those

who can't pay for it," IAC member

Sudama Singh said.

"We are charging the token amount

to cover the cost of the caps," he said.

Singh said that one lakh such caps

were being sewn by hundreds of

women self-help groups in Patna,

Bhojpur, Muzaffarpur and other dis-

tricts in Bihar.

According to IAC members, hun-

dreds of students, women and old peo-

ple have purchased the caps in bulk to

distribute them. This would be the first

mass anti-corruption rally of the

Gandhian after splitting from Arvind

Kejriwal.

Omar for enhancing....

there may be gap in the utilization

of powers by panches and sarpanches

in some cases but the commitment of

transfer of powers by the government

has already been fulfilled and the

process will continue. He said stress-

ing on upgrading awareness in this

regard at all levels.

"We expect elections of Block

Development Councils (BDC) of pan-

chayats soon which would enable

these institutions to be more involved

in plan formation and implementation

of development schemes", he said

impressing upon the officers to devel-

op a mindset of working in tandem

with panchayat members respecting

their representative character and

making them fully aware of their

involvement and powers in the devel-opment process.

Omar Abdullah said that in his

Republic Day address he told pan-

chayat members that besides focusing

on the works of financial implications

they should also concentrate on ensur-

ing attendance of teachers in schools,

availability of ration at ration depots,

functioning of aganwari centres and so

many other services entrusted to them

by the government for better service

delivery and good-governance. "I reit-

erate this once again so that these

powers are fully utilized by panchayat

members for public good", he added.

Omar Abdullah said that govern-

ment is actively working on a propos-

al of providing honorarium, insurance

and security cover to panchayats and

necessary provision for the same will

be incorporated in the next year's

Budget.The Chief Minister directed the

Rural Development Department to

prepare a comprehensive feedback

report of interaction sessions held at

Jammu and Srinagar.

"I would discuss the details with

the concerned Ministers to make the

process of devolution more smooth

and fast", he said asking the concerned

department to also arrange joint meet-

ings of panchayat members and offi-

cers in which the matters pertaining to

the devolution could be discussed

threadbare and solution sought to the

issues if any.

Speaking on the occasion Minister

for Rural Development, Ali

Mohammad Sagar said that Panchayat

Raj is taking shape in the State and the

keen interest of Chief Minister, Omar

Abdullah for establishment of 3-tier

panchayat system is adding energy atall levels to achieve this goal in a time

bound manner.

The Minister said that 400 master

trainers are training panchayat mem-

bers in capacity building and utilizing

of powers already entrusted to them.

He said by the strengthening of pan-

chayats good-governance and service

delivery will get further fillip. He said

that addressing local issues by the

local self-government is the right ini-

tiative to mitigate area specific prob-

lems of the people on development

front and carry forward holistic

progress equitably.

In his speech, the Minister of State

for Rural Development, Viqar Rasool

said that the holding of elections after

33 years has strengthened democracy

in the State and laid strong edifice for

equitable development in the State

with involvement of grass root level

elected representatives.

He said that the involvement of

Panchayats and Gram Sabha in plan

formation and implementation of

schemes will ensure development of

all areas as per the aspirations of the

people. He said devolution of powers

to grass root democratic institutions

will help to upgrade services and

attend to all difficulties of the people

in rural areas.

MLCs representing panchayats in

the Legislative Council from Kashmir

Division Ali Mohammad Dar and

Ghulam Mohammad Monga also

spoke on the occasion while Financial

Commissioner, Finance, Mohammad

Iqbal Khandey, Principal Secretary

Planning and Development, B. R.

Sharma and Commissioner Secretary

Rural Development, Farooq Ahmad

Peer were present on the occasion.

Mr. Peer in a PowerPoint presenta-

tion gave status of the devolution of

powers to PRI in detail giving full

account of its status relating to the 14

departments and all the districts.

Today's interaction session was

sequel to the one which was held at

Jammu on 14th of this month for the

same purpose.

The Additional District

Development Commissioners from all

the districts of Kashmir Division and

officers from 14 departments partici-

pated in the interaction session and

gave resume of the status of devolu-

tion of power that has taken place in

their districts.

7 Congress MPs...

comprises 10 districts including

Hyderabad. Twelve of the MPs are

from Congress and they include three

central ministers.

As per reports, there are differences

among the MPs over the resignations.

Some of them felt resignations would

not help achieve Telangana and this

would only benefit Telangana RashtraSamithi (TRS).

Several members of the Osmania

University Joint Action Committee

were taken into custody after them,

along with some belonging to other

organisations, pulled down barricades

in their bid to hold a protest march

from Indira Park to Gun Park against

alleged delay in creation of a separate

Telangana state. Police contingents,

deployed in large numbers, pushed the

agitators back and rounded up several

protesters, official sources said.

A group of pro-Telangana students

were also reported to have forcefully

entered the chamber of Vice-

Chancellor of Kakatiya University in

Warangal and threatened to set them-

selves on fire. The Vice-Chancellor

was, however, not in his chambers

when the protest happened, police

said. Protests are likely to continue inHyderabad on Tuesday and students

from the Osmania University are

expected to hold protests in the region.

The government has also got into the

trouble for allegedly not fulfilling its

promise on the Telangana issue.

Andhra Pradesh ministers from

Telangana region said they were ready

to make any sacrifice for a separate

state but stopped short of announcing

their resignations. After a meeting

here on Monday, the ministers said

they would exercise patience at a time

when the Congress leadership was in

the final stage of taking a decision to

carve out a Telangana state. K Jana

Reddy, a senior minister, told reporters

that they were still hopeful of a posi-

tive decision by the central govern-

ment. He said while they were disap-

pointed that the government did not

announce the decision before theJanuary 28 deadline, they had not lost

hopes.

Meanwhile, several incidents of

violence were reported in Hyderabad

as the stir intensified even as the

Ranga Reddy district court has admit-

ted a petition accusing Finance

Minister P Chidambaram and Home

Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde of

cheating the of cheating the people of

Telangana. The Telangana Rashtra

Samithi (TRS) is leading a 36-hour

relay strike; students of the Osmania

Unversity may also join protests

today.

Inform cops about...

Aircel, Vodafone and Idea.

DoT issued the letter to telecom

operators asking them to refer to

police the application form of Jammu

and Kashmir customers already hav-

ing one active mobile connection.

"TSP (Telecom Service Providers)

shall make a reference to local police

for their clearance," DoT said in its

letter instructing them to follow a par-

ticular process before activating the

other connection.

This new rule will be applicable

along with existing norms issued in

August 2012 that directs Telecom

Service Providers (TSP) not to issue

any fresh connection to customers

already having six mobile connections

in a circle either from one or multiple

service providers.

"In case the TSP does not receive

any reply from police within 10 days,

it can activate the second connection

as per the procedure applicable for

providing mobile connection after

calling on first number for cross veri-

fication," the letter said.

From third connection onwards,

TSP will have to conduct physical ver-

ification of the subscriber for cross

verification of the information provid-

ed by the customer, if the TSP does not

receive any reply from police within

10 days, it said.

At the end of every month, TSP

will have to separately report to Law

Enforcement Agency, state police and

state TERM cell, the DoT body which

monitors compliance by TSPs, about

second or multiple connections given

by it to customers in the state.

The customers will also have to

provide reason for buying new con-

nection and their business, office and

e-mail will have to be indicated in the

application form, it added.

Need to open..

willing to put the data in public

domain.

"They think it is government data...

There is huge resistance to opening up

the system," the National Innovation

Council (NIC) chair said.

Pitroda, who pioneered the telecomrevolution in the country, said the

United Progressive Alliance (UPA)

government had allocated Rs.100,000

crore for creating public information

infrastructure.

India is living in "exciting times"

and the next few years will see every

home in the country connected to

broadband and possess ing smart-

phones and tablets, said Pitroda.

He said Indian broadcasting had

grown over the years and the vision

would be to see "can I create a BBC of

India out of DD (Doordarshan) and

AIR (All India Radio)" and suggested

that the huge archival material that

both the public broadcasters possess

on Indian traditions, art and culture be

made public.

"...We have a huge task of looking

at the archival material and throwing it

open to social media," he said.According to Pitroda, the television

media lacked discipline and stressed

on Bollywood, cricket and gossip with

very little developmental agenda.

Pitroda also said that with 550 mil-

lion people in India below the age of

25, it was imperative for broadcasters

to recognise them "as the customer of

the future and plan accordingly".

"Keep the young in mind while

developing for the future," he said.

He said the National Knowledge

Network, a step towards creating a

knowledge society without bound-

aries, had connected 1,500 network

nodes around the country, of laborato-

ries and R&D institutes, which was

only 10 percent of the capacity.

"Knowledge is the mother of net-

works," Pitroda said, and added that

the UPA government was to spend $2

billion to connect villages."By the end of this year, around

250,000 panchayats would be connect-

ed by optical fibre," he said, adding

that the Unique Identification

Authority of India platform and the

Geographical Information System

platforms being created by the govern-

ment, among others, were to be all part

of a huge central data platform.

"Ten thousand software engineers

are working in the government of

India to build this platform."

The data network would help in

governance, health and education,

among others, he said.

Indo-Pak Cross-LoC...

Goods worth Rs.2 crore are traded

every day with about 25 trucks cross-

ing over. The trade was halted Jan 10

when Indian officials said Pakistan did

not open gates for the trucks at

Chakan-da-Bagh.

India-Pakistan relations took a hit

after New Delhi accused Pakistani

troops of brutally killing two Indian

soldiers along the LoC Jan 8 and

beheading one of them. Pakistan

accused Indian troops of killing two

Pakistani soldiers on two separate

days. In retaliation to the beheading

and the mutilation of the other soldier,

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh declared that there could be no

business as usual with Pakistan.

Jawan dies in...

The Army has ordered a Court of

Inquiry (CoI) into the accidental fire,

PRO Defence SN Acharaya said while

confirming the incident.

Aircel launches...

on roaming on Aircel network will

be free," it added.

Aircel users in Delhi can avail the

service for Rs 39, while Mumbai sub-

scribers have to pay Rs 32, the state-

ment said. The price points for the

service for other circles range from Rs

21 to Rs 59, it added.

"...This product will enable Aircel

customers to enjoy one rate for voice,

SMS and data services in their respec-

tive home circles and even while they

are on roaming," Aircel Chief

Marketing Officer Anupam Vasudev

said.

The product will offer voice -

(Local/National) calling at 1paisa/sec-

ond in home circle as well as on roam-

ing on Aircel network, while incoming

calls on roaming will be free. SMS

will be charged at Re 1 for home circle

as well as on roaming while data users

will be able to carry the home circle

rate on roaming, the statement added.

Sheila Dikshit releases ...

as well as safety measures available to

them.

Dikshit released the booklet inpresence of NCW chairperson Mamta

Sharma. "The booklet is being brought

out as part of the efforts to help the

women in distress," Dikshit said.

Sharma said it will be distributed

among women in the city. Officials

said Dikshit and Sharma also dis-

cussed the ways to improve safety

measures for women in the wake of

the December 16 gangrape incident.

Cold wave...

and Haryana, the Met office said here.

In the plains of Punjab and

Haryana, Karnal recorded the lowest

temperature by registering 3.6 degrees

Celsius, which was four notches below

normal. While Amritsar braved a low

of four degrees Celsius, one notch

below normal, the minimum tempera-

ture at Hisar was 4.6 degrees Celsius,

two notches below normal. Amongother places in the region, Ambala set-

tled at a low of five degrees Celsius,

three notches below normal followed

by 5.2 degrees Celsius at Patiala, two

notches below normal, 5.5 degrees

Celsius at Narnaul, one notch below

normal and 6.4 degrees Celsius at

Ludhiana, two notches below normal.

Chandigarh saw a low of 7.1 degrees

Celsius.

Foggy conditions prevailed at

Patiala, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Karnal,

Ambala and Chandigarh disrupting

normal life in the early hours of the

day. The Met forecast partly cloudy

sky with no respite from cold condi-

tions in Punjab and Haryana during

the next 24 hours.

Govt forms....

needed to ensure its technical upgra-

dation. It will also suggest ways of

using the new media to deliver digital

content both in broadcast mode (DTH)

and in a demand based mode like

YouTube. The committee has also

been mandated to suggest a strategy

for creating a network of domestic and

overseas business partners for ensur-

ing wider reach to a worldwide audi-

ence.

The other members of the commit-

tee will be former secretary of min-

istry of Information and Broadcasting,

Mrs. Asha Swaroop, mission director

of e-governance, B K Gairola, and

Additional Secretary and nominated

member on Prasar Bharti Board,

Jitendra Shankar Mathur among oth-

ers. Chief Executive Officer of Prasar

Bharti Jawahar Sircar will be the con-

venor of the committee.

Tripura poll...

of candidature is on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the observers for the

forthcoming assembly elections have

already reached their areas. The

Election commission of India has

deployed 30 General observers, 8

police observer and 10 Expenditure

Observers. CEO Tripura Asutosh

Jindal today said that all the 48

observers are in state and are deployed

today at their respected place of

deployment. He further added that

with the arrival of all observers in state

the deployment of Observers com-

pletes today in State.

STUDENT AGE

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 20132

Contd. from page 1... DRDO Scientists NamedFor India's Highest

Civilian AwardsNEWDELHI:India has named its three key

defence scientists for receiving their highest

civilian awards this year.

President Pranab Mukherjee approved

their names to receive the Padma awards as

part of the 108 persons chosen for the honour.

Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Defence

Research and Development Organisation

(DRDO) Director General, was chosen for the

Padma Bhushan award, which is the second

highest civilian award of the country.

Saraswat is also the Scientific Adviser to

the Defence Minister and Secretary to the

Department of Defence Research and

Development in the Ministry of Defence.

"It is DRDO that has got the award and it

is recognition of DRDO's contribution

towards nation-building," said Dr. Saraswat as

the first reaction to the news of three DRDO

scientists getting honored with Padma awards

this year.

Dr. Sivathanu Pillai, Indo-Russian Joint

Venture BrahMos supersonic cruise missile

Chief Executive Officer, too was named for

Padma Bhushan by the President on the occa-

sion. Pillai is also a Distinguished Scientists

and Chief Controller of Research and

Development in the DRDO.

The third defence scientists to be named

for Padma Shri, the third highest civilianaward, this year is Avinash Chander,

Distinguished Scientist and Chief Control

Research and Development (Missiles and

Strategic Systems).

Chander headed the Indian project for

Agni-V, the over 5,000-km range long range

ballistic missile that is capable of hitting tar-

gets deep inside India's traditional adversaries

on the western and the northern fronts.

President had approved the conferment of

108 Padma Awards this year, including four

Padma Vibhushan, 24 Padma Bhushan and 80

Padma Shri Awards. Of all the awardees, 24

are women and the list also includes 11 per-

sons in the category of foreigners, non-resi-

dent Indians, persons of Indian origin and

posthumous awardees.

Padma Awards, the country's highest civil-

ian awards, are conferred in three categories,

namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan

and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in var-

ious disciplines and fields of activities, suchas art, social work, public affairs, science and

engineering, trade and industry, medicine, lit-

erature and education, sports, and civil serv-

ice.

'Padma Vibhushan' is awarded for excep-

tional and distinguished service; 'Padma

Bhushan' for distinguished service of high

order and 'Padma Shri' for distinguished serv-

ice in any field.

The awards are announced on the occasion

of Republic Day every year. The awards are

conferred by the President of India at a func-

tion held at Rashtrapati Bhavan sometime

around March-April.

Navy Plans USD 8Billion Chopper

TenderNEWDELHI: The Indian Navy is planning

to issue a bid for procuring more than 120

multirole choppers which could be world's

largest tender expected to be worth around

USD eight billion.

The navy had recently issued a global

request for information in this regard and has

plans of acquiring more than 120 Naval

Multirole Helicopters (NMRH), navy sources

said here.

The navy had recently asked global heli-

copter vendors to provide details about their

choppers in this category and is planning to

issue a global request for proposal in this

regard in near future, they said.

The navy is planning to procure these new

NMRH for carrying out anti-submarine war-

fare, Special Forces' operations and anti-sub-

marine and anti-surface warfare.

The companies expected to take part in the

tender include all major chopper manufactur-

ers like European Eurocopter and Agusta

Westland and American Sikorsky and

Lockheed Martin. "We are planning to offer

our EC725 helicopter once the Indian Navy

issues a tender for these NMRH,"

Eurocopter's Vice President for South Asia

region Rainner Farid said here.

The Indian Navy is already holding a com-

petition for procuring 16 multirole helicopters

in which European NH-90 and American

Sikorsky S-70 Bravo are in the race.

The navy at present relies on its fleet of

Sea King helicopters which were inducted in

two different phases in the 80s.

The navy would require these multirole

choppers in view of its expanding fleet size

and expansion in its area of responsibility

with the government stating that country's

strategic interest ranges from the Gulf of Aden

to the Malacca Straits.

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3/8

STATESTUDENT AGE


NEWS IN BOX

J&K: Militancy-hit Banihalyouths join BJP

JAMMU: Ten youths belonging to remote Banihal belt of

Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday joined the state chapter of the

BJP. The youths from Sumbad area in Ramban district joined

BJP at party headquarters here in presence of BJP State

General Secretary (Org) Ashok Koul, former Jammu Mayor

and State General Secretary Kavinder Gupta and State

Secretary Ghulam Ali Khatana.

Welcoming the new entrants into the party, Koul said

Congress, NC and PDP were "dynastic parties", but the BJP

was a party of activists.

"We work for bringing together people from all walks of

life and any activist can reach to the highest position by his

work," he said.

Koul expressed hope that the new entrants would work

whole-heatedly in their respective areas to strengthen the

party. Haji Abdul Latif, Farooq Ahmed, Tanvir Ahmed,

Rafiq Ahmed, Mohd Ashraf, Mohd Sharief, Shabir Ahmed,

Mushtaq Ahmed, Zakir Hussain and Farakat Hussain joined

BJP.

LA Panels asked not to holdmeetings after Feb 1

JAMMU, JANUARY 29: The Deputy Speaker Jammu and

Kashmir Legislative Assembly Mohammad Sartaj Madni has

impressed upon the Chairmen of all the Financial, Select and

other Committees not to fix any meeting/on spot inspection

after February 1, 2013 in view of the ensuing Budget Session

of the Legislative Assembly scheduled to Commence from

February 28, 2013 at Jammu.

Sadhotra condoles demise ofDansalia

JAMMU, JANUARY29: The Minister for Planning,

Labour and Employment, Mr. Ajay Sadhotra today expressed

grief on the demise of Ghulam Mohammad Dhansalia,

describing him as a legendary folk singer, who represented

the pluralistic ethos of Duggar land and impressed lakhs of

people by his devotional rendering.

In a message, conveyed to the family of the deceased

singer, Mr. Sadhotra said that the legendary singer will con-

tinue to impress lakhs of his fans across the State.

The Minister said that by rendering bhentas of Shri Mata

Vaishno Devi, the legendary folk singer made a mark as a

secular symbol of Jammu and Kashmir. Late G. M. Dhansali

left an indelible mark on devotees, he added.

Jora inspects pace of progresson sewerage line laying work

JAMMU, JANUARY29: The Minister for UrbanDevelopment and Urban Local Bodies, Mr. Nawang Rigzin

Jora today inspected the pace of progress on sewer laying

work at Ranbir Canal head to be connected with the

Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) Bhagwati Nagar.

The work of sewer line laying is going under three

Phases and being executed by UEED and ERA.

The Minister was accompanied by Jammu Municipal

Corporation (JMC) Commissioner and officers of

UEED/ERA. The Minister was told that the sewer laying

work is going in three phases with phase I being executed at

an estimated cost of Rs. 22.17 crore; phase II at a cost of Rs.

43.40 crore and phase III at a cost of Rs. 108.31 crore With

October 2014 as deadline, the project would cover an area

of 146 Kms and benefit about 1,71,600 population of

Bakshi Nagar, Gurah, Sarwal, Subash Nagar, Shiv Nagar,

Janipura, Lakar Mandi Panduka colony and other areas of

old Jammu city by providing modern civic amenities.

It was informed that 1 01 kms sewerage line has been

laid till date by incurring an expenditure of Rs. 62.24 crore.

While inspecting the pace of work, the Minister

impressed upon officers to stick to the time line to avoid cost

escalation. He instructed that the work undergoing on the

Ranbir Canal with regard to sewer pipers be completed in a

time bound manner so that canal does not get affected when

it is made operational as at present pipes are being laid down

through the main channel of the canal. He also called for fol-

lowing the quality, standard specifications while executing

the work.

PUC takes stock of repairworks of LA

JAMMU, JANUARY 29: A meeting of Committee on

Public Undertakings was held today under the chairmanship

of MLA, Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta, to review the ongoing

projects being executed by JKPCC besides the specific audit

paras concerning the department.

The members Er Abdul Rashid, Ch Zalfkar, Bharat

Bhushan, Dr Bashir Ahmad Shah (Veeri) and Aga Syeed

Ahmad Rizvi were present in the meeting. The committee

members took on spot review of the pace of ongoing restora-

tion and renovation works being done in the Legislative

Complex.

The panel, expressing satisfaction over the ongoing

works, lauded the role of the engineers for ensuring that the

works are completed before the ensuing budget session. The

Committee also took stock of the pace of works on the new

Legislative complex and stressed on timely completion of

the project. Threadbare discussion was also held on various

CAG's audit reports including Ganpat bridge.

The committee called for introducing third party monitor-

ing for making the system more accountable and transparent.

The panel also stressed upon JKPCC to stick to the timelines

of all the ongoing micro and macro projects of the state so

that the benefit of the projects percolate to the masses well in

time.

Earlier, Commissioner Secretary, PWD, Tanveer Jehan

briefed the committee about the audit paras and overall

working of the corporation.

GANDERBAL, JANUARY 29 -

Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah

Tuesday said that the highest court to

judge the performance of govern-

ment is that of people's court adding

that public satisfaction over the work

done by the government is the only

genuine and valid certificate.

"My report card is before the

people of Jammu and Kashmir and

they have to give me certificate for

my government's performance, as

such, I am not afraid of the propa-

ganda and false bogies carried by my

detectors whether they are from PDP

or separatists", he asserted and said

that people of Jammu and Kashmir

would judge his performance as the

Chief Minister and those of

Ganderbal Assembly Constituency

as MLA in 2014 State Assembly

Elections.

Rolling out prestigious National

Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM)

under the local name 'Umeed' to tar-

get rural poverty and bring about

economic welfare in the rural house-

holds at Lar about 15 kilometres

from here, the Chief Minister said

that poverty alleviation through a

befitting mechanism has been

focused area during the last four

years of his government and NRLM

is yet another initiative in this regard.

The Chief Minister said that the

centrally sponsored NRLM was

sanctioned for four blocks but by his

persuasion at the Central

Government level one block in each

district is being sanctioned to be cov-

ered under the first phase of the pro-

gramme.

Omar Abdullah said that during

his visit to certain villages in Utter

Pradesh, he has witnessed the posi-

tive impact of NRLM for upliftment

of rural poor. He said the success of

the scheme is largely dependent on

the unified efforts of the department

and the people. He said that the peo-

ple have important role in making

the scheme viable and purposeful for

alleviating poverty and improving

economy of poor households. The

Chief Minister also highlighted the

role of Mission Director of the

scheme and said that his approach

and sincere work is key to see the

scheme delivering and successful.

The Chief Minister said that the

rural poverty in the State is not so

severe as is witness in most other

states in the country because of the

facts that Baba-i-Qoum Sher-i-

Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad

Abdullah made farmers owners of

agriculture land free of cost through

the historic Land Reform Acts. He

said Sheikh Sahib's visionary

approach to alleviate poverty paid

satisfactory dividends. He said that

his government through various flag-

ship programmes and State

Government run schemes is paying

focused attention to upgrade econo-

my and uplift poor populating across

the State adding that NRLM is yet

another important breakthrough in

this regard.Omar Abdullah said that

State has witnessed difficult period

and economy of common man

received heavy jolt. "We all have to

work together to cultivate peace and

seek bright and prosperous future for

the State", he said adding that people

have to render their stupendous and

active role in this regard.

People's court is highest court to judge performance: Omar'NRLM yet another initiative to target poverty alleviation'

SRINAGAR, JANUARY

29: Minister of State for

Animal and Sheep

Husbandry, PHE, Irrigation

and Flood Control Mr. Nazir

Ahmad Gurezi today visited

various hilly, remote and

inaccessible areas including

Bagtoor, Kanzalwan, Taribal

and Chorwan villages of

Tehsil Gurez and took stock

of people's problems and

stock position of essential

commodities, availability of

fuel and firewood besides

snow clearance works in

these areas.

The Minister was accord-

ed rousing reception on his

maiden visit to home con-

stituency after induction in

the Council of Ministers.

They also hailed the Chief

Minister Omar Abdullah for

inducting the MLAof the far

flung area into the Council

of Ministers.

The Minister addressed

series of public gatherings at

different places and said that

the government was com-

mitted to equitable develop-

ment of all the three regions

of the State. He said the

present government believes

on sustained action rather

than false promises and in

this pursuit several welfare

flagship programmes have

been launched in the State

with emphasis on creating a

visible impact on the

ground. Mr. Gurezi said

that the development and

peace process initiated by

the present regime was an

eye opener for every one

adding that it would contin-

ue to work with same spirit

during the remaining 2 years

of tenure.

During his tour, several

deputations met the Minister

and apprised him about their

individual and collective

problems . The Minis ter

gave them a patient hearing

and assured that their gen-

uine demands will be looked

into. Regarding the issues of

urgency, Mr. Gurezi gave

on-the-spot directions to

SDM for early redressal.

Govt committed to equitable

development of State: Gurezi

JAMMU, JANUARY 29-

Minister for Housing,

Horticulture and Culture Mr.

Raman Bhalla today laid

foundation stone of a

Children Park at Trikuta

Nagar.

Interacting with the inhab-

itants of Ward No. 54, Mr.

Bhalla said the park involv-

ing a cost of Rs. 11 lakh

would be developed on mod-

ern lines with fun games and

swings for the children ,

walkways, provision for illu-

mination, landscaping,

benches and facility of irriga-

tion. He asked the JMC to

complete the works within

two months to ensure early

benefit to the Children of the

locality.

The Minister said that

Government was committed

to ensure clean and healthy

environment in urban parts of

the State, adding that a com-

prehensive plan has been pre-

pared to develop all the parks

with modern line facilities.

He said that Jammu city is

being developed in all

respects to showcase it as a

major attraction for the

tourists visiting the State.

Mr. Bhalla called upon the

people to avoid littering

inside the park and help in

maintaining the place clean.

He asked the JMC to gear

men and machinery to main-

tain and renovate all the

recreational parks situated in

city of temples.

The Minister urged upon

the people to avail the bene-

fits of such places by going

for morning and evening

walks. He said exercise and

walk was a natural mood ele-

vator and helps in promoting

feelings of happiness, besides

easing depression. He asked

the concerned functionari es

to conduct regular inspec-

tions of the under execution

works to keep a check on

quality of material being

used.

Later, Mr. Bhalla also vis-

ited Rajiv Nagar in Narwal

and attended R-Day-2013

celebration function organ-

ised by Vasudhaiva

Kutumbakam Welfare

Society (VKWS) in the

premises of Sarvodaya

Middle School.

Managing Director

Housing Board, Mr. Kiran

Wattal, President VKWS

Smt. Ved Ghai, Executive

Engineer, R&B Mr. D. K.

Rampaul, besides members

of the society, students and

parents were present on the

occasion. On the occasion,

students of Sarvodaya

Middle School presented a

colourful cultural programme

depicting rich culture and

heritage of the country.

Addressing the gathering,

Mr. Bhalla appreciated the

management of the

Sarvodaya Middle School for

arranging a wonderful pro-

gramme on the eve of

National Festival. He said

such occasions not only pro-

vide platform to students for

presenting their hidden talent

but also educate them about

the great leaders who sacri-

ficed their lives to free the

country.

Bhalla lays foundation of Children Park at Trikuta NagarJAMMU, JANUARY 29:

Vice Chairman, Jammu and

Kashmir, Advisory Board

for Development of Kisans,

Radhey Sham Sharma,

today had an introductory

meeting with the members

of the State Advisory Board,

(Jammu Province).

The members apprised

him of various historical

decisions which the Board

has taken during the last

three years and assured him

their full support in effective

monitoring of developmen-

tal and welfare schemes

meant for overall develop-

ment of farmers community

of the State.

The Directors of Animal

Husbandry and Sheep

Husbandry Jammu high-

lighted the activities and

achievements of their

respective departments.

They also apprised him of

present status of several

State and Centrally schemes

being implemented by their

departments in Jammu

region.

The VC asked the

Directors to organise more

and more awareness camps

in every nook and corner of

the region so that the com-

mon farmers get acquainted

with the schemes meant for

their development. He also

directed them to ensure

presence of the Advisory

Board members of the

respective districts. He also

impressed upon them to

focus on implementation of

schemes like establishment

of small and large dairy

units, introduction of high

yielding semen, increased

involvement of existing

milk plants, poultry sector,

revival of woolen sector,

construction of modern

abattoir, mutton develop-

ment programme, goat

development, introduction

of Beetal breed, sheep

breeding farms, disease

investigation laboratories

and employment generation

schemes in the region so

that unemployed youth get

attracted to these schemes.

JAMMU, JANUARY 29: The

Minister for Social Welfare ,Ms

Sakina Itoo today said that Social

Welfare Department was playing a

pivotal role towards the empower-

ment of the women folk, besides

providing a helping hand to needy,

downtrodden, destitute, women in

distress, economically backward

and week, and those belonging to

below poverty line and far flung

areas .

The Minister was addressing a

huge gathering of Anganwari

Workers, Helpers at a Cheque distri-

bution function cum awareness

camp at Roop Nagar, Jammu.

She said that presently more than

5 lakh people were being benefitted

by various schemes of SW depart-

ment like old age pension, widow

pension, SABLANFBS and schol-

arship schemes.

Ms Sakina said, " I

am satisfied with the

work of the department

as it has greatly suc-

ceeded in spreading

awareness about its

schemes among the

people of the State ,

including those living in

the far flung areas. She

said that under old age

pension scheme, the

senior citizens are get-

ting financial assistance

through bank accounts.

However, she asked the

concerned officers to

make aware the beneficiaries who

do not know about depositing of old

age pension in their banks accounts.

She said that efforts are on to

clear the pendency of old age pen-

sion cases and assured that the issue

would be solved soon. She said that

the main objective of paying the old

age pension through banks was to

bring more transparency in the dis-

bursement.

Highlighting the responsibilities

of Anganwari Workers, she said that

they have a great role in the trans-

formation of the life of economical-

ly backward classes.

The Minister said that more than

50, 000 senior citizens are benefit-

ted under old age pension schemes,

while in many areas adolescent girls

are benefitted under SABLA

scheme. She said that during the

year 2012-13, amounts of

Rs.15459250 have been distributed

as scholarship among 2313 students

in Jammu district. She said that the

department has also disbursed

Rs.15.20 lakhs among 125 benefi-

ciaries under National Family

Benefit Scheme(NFBS) in the

District.

On the occasion, the Minister

distributed cheques worth near

about Rs. 2 crores including Rs.1.29

crores among 4581 beneficiaries

under minority scholarship scheme,

Rs.50850 among 61 under scholar-

ships to SC , Rs.30000 among three

beneficiaries under NFBS and

Rs.6400 among four women benefi-

ciaries under widow pensions

scheme.

Sakina distributes cheques worth Rs 2 cores among 4649 beneficiaries

JAMMU JANUARY 29, 2013:- Provincial

President J&K National Conference, Jammu

province Devender Singh Rana said that J&K

National Conference and its workers will act as

a bridge between the people and the govern-

ment and will isolate and expose the divisive

forces which are power hungry and are hood-

winking the people for their petty political

gains.

Rana said J&K National Conference cadre

is the strength of the party and that the cadre

will rise to the occasion and ensure that the

message of the party and its leadership reaches

each household in the state thereby strengthen-

ing the party's base and prepare for the 2014

elections. Rana who was addressing a deputa-

tion of Bakarwals from across the province

here today at party headquarters Sher-e-

Kashmir Bhawan said that J&K National

Conference leadership will visit each and

every nook and corner of the province in the

next one year. "It will be the endeavour of the

party to reach out to every nook and corner of

the state in the next one year", he said.

Rana said inclusive development and wel-

fare of all sections of the society is the bench-

mark of the J&K National Conference and the

state government led by Omar Abdullah is tak-

ing keen interest in the development of weaker

sections of the society.

Rana said certain parties are aberrations on

the political scape of the state and shall disap-

pear from the same because they lack an ideo-

logical bond or political moorings.

He said such parties are an out crop of

hunger for power and they always play with

the emotions and the feelings of the people,

hoodwink them for their short term gains

which destroy the basic character of the polity

in the long run. Rana said the people of the

state should identity and isolate these fringe

elements and defeat their machinations which

have always proved counterproductive to the

welfare of the people of the state.

NC to act as bridge between people and Govt: Rana

VC chairs meeting of AdvisoryBoard for Development of Kisans

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STATESTUDENT AGE


JAMMU, JANUARY 29:-

Underlining role of youth in

society building, Deputy

Chief Minister Tara Chand

said the younger generation is

future of the nation on whose

shoulders rests the burden of a

golden tomorrow and a new

society. He said these future

leaders, bureaucrats and citi-

zens have to be involved in

various social activities so

that they can be the agents of

positive change in the system.

"We have to effectively

utilize the youth energy and

channelize it for the better-

ment of society, as all over

nation there are number of

examples in which youth

have taken initiatives against

social evils as well as local

problems and positive results

have come out of these ," he

added.

He was speaking at the

five day long capacity build-

ing programme for office

bearers of mentor youth clubs

of Jammu province.

Mr. Tara Chand was chief

guest at the programme being

organised by Nehru Yuva

Kendra, Jammu at youth hos-

tel Nagrota today. Mentors

from various parts of the state

are attending the programme.

Earlier, to mark the occa-

sion a book was released by

the chief guest.

Director, Youth Services

and Sports Mr. J.P. Singh,

Zonal Director Mr. Naveen

Kumar Naik, District

Coordinator, Jammu Mr.

Nisar Ahmad Bhat and other

senior officers of Nehru Yuva

Kendra Sangathan

(NYKS)and Youth and Sports

department participated in the

function.

Lauding the role of NYKS

in involving youth for various

nation building activities, the

Deputy Chief Minister said

the model of creating youth

clubs and mahila mandals at

different levels have shown

positive results and youth

have found a platform

through which they can

organise themselves for con-

tributing towards solving

local problems. He said youth

volunteers with support from

NYKS have not only helped

themselves but have extended

help to those around them

who are in need.

"Youth have to play much

greater role in our state as

they have to spread the mes-

sage of peace and help in

strengthening the roots of sec-

ularism so that the society

does not get swayed by the ill

desires of those who want to

play divisive politics," he

exhorted.

He said youth need to

inculcate in them the ideals

shown by great leaders of the

country like Mahatma Gandhi

and have to spread the mes-

sage of mutual co-existence

and brotherhood adding that,

the call of awakening the

society can be well addressed

by the younger generation.

Mr. Tara Chand said the

state has suffered during the

twenty year turmoil period

and now the younger genera-

tion have to work with the

government in rebuilding the

state step by step. Back bone

of the state economy tourism

industry is getting back into

shape and with it more and

more job options would open

up, he added.

He said the government

has taken initiatives to fast

track recruitment process, as

in education department posts

of lecturers are being referred

to PSC and other posts would

also be filled on priority but

time has come to look beyond

the government jobs.

"Benefits of flagship pro-

grammes like SKEWPYneed

to be promoted as the policy

has scope of training the

youth in skills by which own

units can be started and the

government is giving liberal

financial aid for promoting

entrepreneurship through it,"

he added.

Various mentors shared

their experiences and brought

forth the problems being

faced during the day to day

working of the clubs.

A young poet from Doda,

Mr. Vishal read a dogri poem

on the topic Chote Umra da

Vya.

In his address Mr. J.P.

Singh said the department of

youth services and sports is

actively involved with the

NKYS as both the organisa-

tions are serving the same tar-

get group. He said youth have

to play active role in working

against social evils, societal

reforms as well as involve

themselves in development of

the state. Mr. Naik gave a

resume of the activities of

NYKS and brought forth the

new issues which would be

addressed by different pro-

grammes of the Sangathan.

He said rural youth is full of

energy and with proper train-

ing they can contribute a lot in

community development.

Youth agents of positive change in society: Dy CMNYKS organises capacity building programme

ODISHA: Describing the

meeting of Empowered

Committee (EC) of State

Finance Ministers on pro-

posed GST held at Odihsa,

Bhuwnaswar as an important

event to finalize the road map

with regard to GST regime,

aimed at to usher in economic

growth and development of

the Country, the J&K Minister

for Finance, Mr. Abdul Rahim

Rather has sought adequate

safeguard to the constitution-

ally guaranteed special status

of Jammu and Kashmir before

firming up its recommenda-tions for constitutional (115th

amendment) Bill 2011, which

is prerequisite to pave way for

the switch over to this latest

Tax reforms all over the India.

Speaking at the crucial

meeting of EC of State

Finance Ministers, Mr. Rather

conveyed State's main con-

cern on the proposed amend-

ment Bill which needs to be

addressed adequately, before

implementation of the GST in

the State, adding that the pro-

posed dual integrated model

of GST 'Dual Control' both by

States and Center is perceived

as an impediment in the

implementation of GST and it

is felt this is not a dealer

friendly and may not be

administratively an efficient

tool of recovering the taxes.

Mr. Rather said though the

State of Jammu and Kashmir

has not much of claim over

the CST compensation but it

is and has remained irritant

between the States and Union

of India. Now that the com-

mittee on CST compensation

has made certain recommen-

dations, as such, I would

request that necessary steps be

taken to implement these rec-

ommendations. This will be a

step forward to remove trust

deficit between States and

Union of India, and will also

facilitate introduction of

Goods and Services Tax.

Mr. Rather said that, with

the implementation of the

Goods and Services Tax

regime, the position of Jammu

and Kashmir State would be

entirely different as compared

to the other States of the

Union. All other States would

be surrendering the exclusive

authority to tax goods and, in

turn, get the additional author-

ity to tax the hither to out of

bound "service sector". On the

contrary, the State of Jammu

and Kashmir, being already

competent to tax goods aswell as services, unlike other

States, would not get any

additional authority except a

share from the Central divisi-

ble pool.

Mr. Rather said, as a mat-

ter of fact the division of pow-

ers between the Union of

India and the State of Jammu

and Kashmir is not at the

same footing as it is in respect

of other States of the Union.

Rather for removing trust deficit betweenState-Center before implementing GST

JAMMU, JANUARY 29:

Minister for Forests, Ecology

and Environment Mian Altaf

Ahmad, accompanied by offi-

cers of forest department,

today visited proposed site for

establishment of a Zoo here at

Khanpur Nagrota and took

stock of the ground work

being done to take up the exe-

cution of the project.

Chief Wildlife Warden,

Mr. A.K.Singh, Conservator

Forests, Wild Life, Mr. AsifSagar, besides other senior

officers of the department

accompanied the Minister.

Calling for judicious uti-

lization of funds received by

the department under various

schemes, Mian Altaf said that

forest and wildlife conserva-

tion need focused attention.

He said the forest protection

will ensure safety of environ-

ment while the wildlife con-

servation will boost the

tourism sector and help the

Government in generating

jobs for the locals, he added

The Minister said that last

year over one crore tourists

visited Mata Vishno Devi

shrine at Katra alone and

underlined the need to offer

them other attractions includ-

ing wildlife tourism. He said

state has vast potential of

wildlife tourism, adding that

there was a need to make the

visiting tourists about it.

Mian Altaf said that the

upcoming Zoo in Jammu will

be unique in many ways hav-ing facilities like Children

Park, Wild Safari, Aquarium

and invertebrate conservation

centres. He asked officers to

put in extra efforts to make the

project a reality as soon as

possible. Describing wildlife

tourism a job potential sphere

in tourism sector, the Minister

asked concerned authorities to

launch a awareness campaign

about the wildlife destinations

available in the State. He said

the income so generated

would be spent on promotion

and growth of wildlife related

infrastructure in the State.

"To protect endangered

species we must protect

forests the home of plants and

animals, said the Minister",

adding that need of the hour

was to launch a massive

forestation drive across the

State in order to maintain a

balanced ecosystem.

The Minister asked the

officers to take up develop-

ment of basic infrastructure

for the project under CAMPA

till the formal approval was

received from the Centre.

Earlier, while giving

details of the project,

Conservator Wildlife, Mr Asif

said that the Zoo would be

developed over an area of 200

hectors of land. He said the

biggest advantage of site

selected for the project was

that it will not disturb the

human habitation. He said the

control survey of the project's

master plan was at final stage

and would be completed andforwarded to the Centre Zoo

Authority of India for

approval shortly. He reptiles

including snakes, garyal and

muggers, besides aviarian

like pea fowl, white pea fowl,

kalij pheasant, red jungle

fowl, cranes, chir pheasant

and vultures would also be

housed in the Zoo. He said in

exotic section, hippopotamus,

zebra, giraffe, chimpanzee

and orangutan will be part of

the Zoo attraction apart from

primates, herbivores, carni-

vores and omnivores species.

Altaf for tapping state's vastWildlife tourism potential

Stresses on better conservation of flora-fauna

Harsh chairsPrivilege

Committeemeeting

JAMMU, JANUARY 29:

A meeting of the Committee

on Privilege of Jammu &

Kashmir Legislative

Assembly was held under

the chairmanship of MLA,

Harsh Dev Singh, here

today.

The committee discussed

and examined the breach of

privilege notices given by

Rafi Ahmed Mir, Balwant

Singh Mankotia, Er Abdul

Rashid and Sajjad Ahmed

Kichloo against various offi-

cers and the panel dropped

certain privilege cases.

Among others the meet-

ing was attended by MLA

Ashok Kumar, Balwant

Singh Mankotia, Er Abdul

Rashid and other officers .

LA Panelstresses fortimely forestclearances

JAMMU, JANUARY 29:

The Committee on

Assurances of Jammu

&Kashmir Legislative

Assembly directed the gov-

ernment to gear up the admin-

istrative machinery and fulfil

all assurances given by them

from time to time on the floor

of the House pertaining to the

concerned departments in a

time bound manner

The Committee, which

met here today under the

chairmanship of MLA,Balwant Singh Mankotia, dis-

cussed and reviewed the vari-

ous government assurances

including assurances pertain-

ing to the forest department.

Legislators, Tsetan Namgyal,

Nizam-u-Din Bhat, Haji

Mohammad Ashraf Ganai and

Ashok Kumar gave valuable

suggestions for improvement

of the department and early

fulfilling of the assurances

pertaining to them.

Detailed discussion was

also held on the projects held

up due to the forest and wild

life clearances and committee

called for early settlement of

such cases .The panel also

stressed for chalking out a

comprehensive plan to check

man animal conflict to min-

imise loss of human lives and

livestock. Commissioner

Secretary Forest Sheikh Ejaz

Iqbal apprised the committee

of the status of the assurances

and overall working of the

department Among others,

Principal Chief Conservator

of Forest, Vinod Ranjan, Head

of the departments of forest

and its allied wings besides

senior officers of assembly

secretariat attended the meet-

ing.

AKHNOOR, JANUARY29:Minister for PHE, Irrigation

& Flood Control, Sham Lal

Sharma, on Tuesday high-

lighted the role of womenfolk

in overall progress of the

country saying that women

are equally contributing in all

fields.

Speaking at the annual day

functions held in the

Government Higher

Secondary School, Nardi-

Bala and Government High

School, Sunail, the Minister

asked the parents to provide

adequate opportunities of edu-

cation to their girl child so that

they become self-reliant

besides contributing towards

progress of the society. He

said Government has created

massive educational infra-

structure across the State dur-

ing the past over four years to

provide education to the stu-

dents at their doorsteps.

Advocating introduction

of moral science and agricul-

ture subjects from the primary

level in schools, the Minster

said that these two subjects

have great significance as

more than 70 per cent popula-

tion in the State is engaged in

the agricultural activities and

this can help to enhance the

agricultural production andovercome unemployment.

'Moral education has added

relevance in the present sce-

nario when the society is

lurching in a perplexed era of

confusion and chaos leaving

behind its age old culture and

traditions". He asked the

teachers to spare some time

from the academic session

and make mandatory lecture

on moral education in the

schools so that the students

can contribute for social trans-

formation. Expressing con-

cern over ever rising crimes

against women, the Minister

said that entire society has to

fight against such offenses.

He said only punishment is

not the solution to deal withsuch inhuman acts but an atti-

tudinal change in the mindset

of people is need of the hour.

He said Jammu and Kashmir

has already dedicated year

2013 to the girls by declaring

it as year for "Save the Girl

Child". He appealed the peo-

ple to help in containing the

evils like female foeticide.

The children presented

colourful cultural bonanza

highlighting social issues and

nationalism which enthralled

the gathering.

The Minister distributed

prizes among the students

who excelled in academic as

well as extra-curricular activi-

ties.

Sham highlights role of womenin socio-economic dev

JAMMU, JANUARY 29:

The government is planning

to establish weather stations

in the state to provide round

the clock weather informa-

tion to the farming communi-

ty with the help of The

Weather Solution Company

(BARON Service) and

Achtech Company

In this regard, a power

point presentation was dis-

played here today by the rep-

resentatives of the companies

at a high level meeting here

this afternoon. The compa-

nies deals with the advance

Meteorological and

Hydrological activities, being

used in providing minute to

minute weather data on area

specific basis to the respec-

tive farmers.

Minister for Agriculture,

Ghulam Hassan Mir chaired

the meeting. Commissioner

Secretary, Agriculture

Production, Shaleen Kabra,

Director CAD, Kashmir,

Tariq Ahmad, Director CAD

Jammu, Asgar Ali, Joint

Director Agriculture Jammu,

Managing Director M/S

Achtech company and other

concerned officers were pres-

ent in the meeting.

During the presentation, a

documentary on the working

of weather stations installed

by the BARCON service in

different parts of the world

and its utilisation in agricul-

ture to benefit the farmers

was presented. The docu-

mentary displayed how these

weather stations facilitate the

farmers in advance to protect

their crops.

Govt plans to establish weather stations for JK's farmers: Mir

SRINAGAR, JANUARY

29: Minister for Medical

Education, Youth Services &

Sports, Mr. Taj Mohi-ud-Din

today visited Government

Medical College, Srinagar,

SMHS and Associated

Hospitals to take an on the

spot assessment of the func-

tioning of these hospitals.

This was the first visit of

the Minister to these hospi-

tals ever since he took over

as the Minister for Medical

Education.

The Minister directed

computerization of all the

Departments and linkage of

all HoDs with the Drug store

so that patients don't feel any

inconvenience. He said he

has already passed similar

directions on his first visit to

GMC, Jammu and

Associated Hospitals where

work has now been started

on these lines. He also direct-

ed giving a facelift to wards,

theatres, toilets and main

corridors to ensure cleanli-

ness at the hospital.

Mr. Taj also directed land-

scaping and face-lifting of

the hospital complexes so

that a patient not only gets

physical relief there but also

feels so psychologically. He

asked the Medical

Superintendents to assert

themselves and ensure that

patients are facilitated at

every level.

Later, the Minister took a

detailed meeting of HoDs,

faculty and Medical

Superintendents. He asked

them to work with zeal and

dedication adding that the

State has produce world

class doctors who have

proved their mettle in the

world. He asked them to co

operate with the government

in giving the healthcare a

turn around so that the

patients are attended in a bet-

ter and professional way. He

said more and more facilities

would be added to the hos-

pitals and also financial

assistance, as per norms,

would also be provided ade-

quately.

Commissioner Secretary

Health and Medical

Education, Mr. M. K.

Dwivedi, Principal, GMC,

Srinagar, Medical

Superintendents of these

hospitals accompanied the

Minister during the visit.

Yesterday, the Minister,

who is on visit to Kashmir

valley, visited the far off

areas like Kamalkote,

Shahdara and other areas of

Uri to take stock of the

development scenario and

peoples' problems. At

Chandanwari, he met a large

number of people who

apprised him of their prob-

lems and sought their redres-

sal.

At Srinagar, Taj visits GMC, SMHS Hospitals

JAMMU, JANUARY29:

The Minister for Urban

Development and Urban

Local Bodies, Mr. Nawang

Rigzin Jora today inspected

the pace of progress on

sewer laying work at Ranbir

Canal head to be connected

with the Sewerage

Treatment Plant (STP)

Bhagwati Nagar.

The work of sewer line

laying is going under three

Phases and being executed

by UEED and ERA.

The Minister was accom-

panied by Jammu Municipal

Corporation (JMC)

Commissioner and officers

of UEED/ERA.

The Minister was told

that the sewer laying work is

going in three phases with

phase I being executed at an

estimated cost of Rs. 22.17

crore; phase II at a cost of

Rs. 43.40 crore and phase III

at a cost of Rs. 108.31 crore

With October 2014 as dead-

line, the project would cover

an area of 146 Kms and

benefit about 1,71,600 popu-

lation of Bakshi Nagar,

Gurah, Sarwal, Subash

Nagar, Shiv Nagar, Janipura,

Lakar Mandi Panduka

colony and other areas of old

Jammu city by providing

modern civic amenities.

It was informed that 1

01 kms sewerage line has

been laid till date by incur-

ring an expenditure of Rs.

62.24 crore.

While inspecting the pace

of work, the Minister

impressed upon officers to

stick to the time line to

avoid cost escalation. He

instructed that the work

undergoing on the Ranbir

Canal with regard to sewer

pipers be completed in a

time bound manner so that

canal does not get affected

when it is made operational.

Jora inspects pace of progress on sewerage line laying work

Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment Mian Altaf Ahmadaccompanied by officers of forest department viewing thepurposed site for establishment of a Zoo at Khanpur Nagrota

Minister for PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control, Sham Lal Sharmaand others at the annual day functions held in the Government Hr.Sec., Nardi-Bala and High School, Sunail

Minister for Agriculture, Ghulam Hassan Mir during a documentary on the working of weather sta-tions installed by the BARCON

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5/8

EDITORIALSTUDENT AGE


West Bengal is a champion

small saver. Its small

savings were the highest

amongst all states in 2011-12; even

such rich states as Maharashtra and

Gujarat trailed behind. But even the

champion is slowing down; people

have been taking more out of their

small savings accounts than they

have been putting in. That does not

show small savings development

officers in a good light; it would

seem that they have been sleeping on

their jobs. They would naturally

deny such indulgence. They believe

they are overworked. They all

Daily Paper January 30, 2013

Documents

Transcript of Daily Paper January 30, 2013