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News Digest

Fresh Avalanche Warning Issued

Mirwaiz Put Under House Arrest

2 Judges Seek Voluntary Retirement

4 IAS Officers Transferred

SRINAGAR: Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan, today issued an avalanche warning for nine districts of Kashmir division.The warning has been issued for the avalanche-prone areas in district Anantnag, Kulgam, Baramulla, Kupwara, Budgam, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Kargil and Leh of Kashmir division.As per the hand out issued P10

SRINAGAR: Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was placed under house arrest on the eve of hanging anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on Friday.“As Martyrdom anniversaries of #ShaheedAfzalGuru and #ShaheedMaqboolBhat are being observed on 9th and 11 feb authorities have started crackdown on resistance leaders and activists, I have been P10

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has ordered transfer of three judicial officers after two of them offered to retire voluntary from the services. “Syed Tawqeer Ahmad, Principal District & Sessions Judge, Anantnag has been transferred and attached to the Srinagar wing of the High Court till such time the recommendation for his voluntary retirement from the service is accepted by the P10

SRINAGAR: The government on Friday transferred four IAS officers in the interest of administration with immediate effectAccording to an order, Arun Kumar Mehta (IAS), presently on leave, is posted as Principal Secretary to the Government, Finance Department. Raj Kumar Goyal (IAS), Principal Secretary to the Government, Home Department, has been transferred-and posted P10

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Day 3: Highway Remains Closed, Stranded ProtestObserver News Service

SRINAGAR: Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only surface link to Kashmir with out-side world, remained closed due to heavy snowfall and landslides for the third con-secutive day Friday, triggering protests by the stranded people in Jammu.

Over 1500 vehicles, mostly trucks car-rying essential supplies are stranded at various places on highway fromLakhan-pur in Kathua district to Banihal belt of Rambandistrict.

"The highway is closed for the third consecutive daytoday due to multiple landslides and snowfall.No traffic has been allowed on highway fromJammu," police officials said.

Due to landslides and snowfall, the highway has becomefragile for the ve-hicular traffic and in various other sectors it has become slippery, they said.

Apart from snowfall in Jawahar tunnel and Patnitopareas, there were landslides in Ramban district, they said.

The men and machines of P10

70 Years On, No Light At The End Of The Tunnel

7 Found Dead Under Avalanche, Snow Fury Toll Mounts To 12 In J&K

SRINAGAR: The bodies of five policemen and two civilians who went missing along with four cops after an avalanche at Jawahar Tunnel along Sri-nagar-Jammu highway have been found on Thursday.

So far, twelve people were killed while one is still miss-ing in following the season's heaviest snowfall on Thursday.

The rescuers comprising police, local volunteers and member of SDRF besides government forces digging through police post buried

under tonnes of snow that came barrelling down a mountainside on north portal of Jawahar Tunnel also found three policemen alive who were immediately evacuated to hospital.

Official sources said that the rescue teams faced lot of difficulty in reaching the ava-lanche site on Friday morning due to strong winds and addi-tion snow.

Three survivors were lo-cated by the rescuers and they have been P10

After Airlifting 180 Students, GATE Exams In Kashmir Now

SRINAGAR: The frequent clo-sure of Jammu-Srinagar high-way, the only road link con-necting Kashmir with outside world, continues to pile woes on people of Kashmir Valley as the thoroughfare remained closed for 28 days this year hitherto.There were large scale disrup-tion in essential services due to

frequent closure of the highway and people visiting outside for vocation and other important works continue to ensure end-less miseries.

The government tacitly ad-mits that Mughal road should have been thrown open for traffic for being an all-weather route while as direct train P10

JAMMU: After nearly 180 Kashmiri students, who are scheduled to write Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) examination in Jammu on Sunday, were air-lifted from here in a special Indian Air Force (IAF) plane on Friday, the ministry of Human Resource development (MHRD) has set up six exam centres in Kashmir.

"Due to heavy snowfall, the valley was cut off from the rest of world due to closure of na-tional highway and cancellation of flights. In view of above, state authorities in coordination with In-dian Air Force arranged an aircraft to airlift the students appearing for GATE examination," one of the of-ficials said. P10

Ladakh Separated, Becomes 3rd Division

If Voted To Power, Chenab Valley, Pir Panjal To Be Divisions: Omar SRINAGAR: National Confer-ence leader Omar Abdullah Friday said he will grant status of division to Chenab valley and Pir Panjal region if his party was voted to power P10

Mebooba Welcomes, Question Govt Intentions SRINAGAR: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti welcomed the decision but said she failed to understand the government's intention of ignoring Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal P10

Crisis Could Be Avoided By Opening Up Traditional Routes: Mirwaiz

HC Seek Fresh Survey Of Poor Girls For SMAS Benefit

Observer News Service

JAMMU: In a major decision, the Jammu and Kashmir administra-tion Friday created a separate divi-sion for Ladakh, which was part of the Kashmir division till now.

Ladakh will now have a separate divisional commissioner and an in-spector general of Police (IG) with a full administrative and revenue divi-sion at par with Kashmir and Jammu divisions, an order issued by the ad-ministration said.

"Ladakh created as a separate ad-ministrative and revenue division. Jammu and Kashmir will have three divisions -- Jammu, Ladakh and-Kashmir," it said.

The administration has sanc-tioned creation of a separate P10

Saugat Biswas Appointed Divisional Commissioner

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Govern-ment on Friday appointed Saugat Biswas (IAS) as first divisional commissioner of Ladakh. “Consequent upon the creation of a separate Administrative/Revenue Division for Ladakh comprising Leh and Kargil Districts, vide P10

SRINAGAR: Stating that crisis and shortage of supplies could be avoided by opening up the tra-ditional routes, Hurriyat Confer-ence (M) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq expressed grief and sorrow at the loss of life in the recent heavy snowfall and avalanches across the valley and extended condo-lences and sympathies to the be-reaved families. Mirwaiz also re-gretted the damage to homes and

property in different parts of the valley due to heavy snow.

Addressing the Friday congrega-tion at Jama Masjid Srinagar, Mir-waiz said that with anguish and concern “we have been witnessing the total apathy and callousness of the authorities towards the people of Kashmir living in city, towns, vil-lages and most of all in remote vil-lages, struggling with the fall out of adverse weather conditions P10


SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kash-mir High Court has granted government one more op-portunity to file fresh report after taking latest survey about the poor and destitute girls in the state for providing them benefits under State Mar-riage Assistance Scheme (SMAS).

Member Secretary legal services authority was supposed to file re-port in terms of previous Court

directions. However same was not filed and today a division bench of Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey and Justice Sanjeev Kumar

granted one more opportu-nity to him file the same.

In case failure, the court P10

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Office of the Medical Superintendent District Hospital Kulgam

Retender NoticeDue to the poor response to the previous Tender notice Vide No:-Estt/DHK/18/1928-31 Dated:-25/01/2019, new tenders are invited from registered dealers for installing of AC’s in District Hospital Kulgam. The Tenders should reach to the office of the Medical Superintendent District Hospital Kulgam within Seven days along with CDR of Rs.5,000/- after the publication of this notice. The Tenders will be opened next day or any other day convenient to the members. The lowest quoted rates will be accepted and approved for the said work. The details of the items can be had from the office of the Medical Superintendent District Hospital Kulgam from 10:00 Am To 4:00 Pm within Seven days from the date of publication in the news papers.

No:- Estt/DHK/18Dated:- / /2019

Medical Superintendent DIPK-16733/18 District Hospital Kulgam

Yaum-e-Shahadat Noor-e-Ainee Rasoolalllah (Pbuh)

One of the Best creations of Allah (swt)The best girl ever born to any woman..............The best daughter gifted to the best father on earthThe best mother among the humans The most beautiful womanThe most pious womanThe most knowledgeable woman The most praised woman in the verses of divine book of Allah Most praised woman by holy the Prophet and his progeny like:

1) Biz'at-e Rasool, 2) Nooru Ainee, 3) Roohu Baina, Janbayya, 4) Samaratu Fu'aadee, 5) Hujjatul A'Immah, 6) Muhaddisah, 7) Sadeeqah 8) zakiyyah, 9) Taahirah, 10) Raaziyah, 11) Marziyyah, 12) Azraa, 13) Saalihah14) Sayyadah, 15) Batool 16) zAHRA

Sayyadatu Nisaa'il Aalameen , Bint-un Nabi ,Ummul A'immah , Umm-ul Hasanayn zaujat-u Ali ibni Abi Talib ibn-il Abd-il Mutallib. Mu'az'zazah Wa Mohtaramah Wa Muqaddasah

HAZRAT FATIMA ZAHRA (Salaamullahi Alaihaa)

To commemorate the martyrdom anniversary a day long Majlis-e-Noorani is slated as per programme, Insha Allah

ZAMAAN : 3rd Jamaadi-uth Thaniyah 1440 AH. Saturday-9th February 2019

TIME : 10 :30 am to 6 pmNamaze zohrain Will be Followed By Lunch Served to All Guests .

MAKAAN : Qasre-e-Imam zaman Nawab Bagh, Baghwan Pora ,La’al Bazar Srinagar

Ad-Dai’ee: Ikhwanul Muntazireen Phone: 7889301308

Your Small Help Can SAvE A LIFE

Little Avya has been in a hospital all her life. After braving through a critical stomach operation, the 6 month old is fighting for her life yet again. She needs an immediate liver transplant before she is separated from her parents forever. Your donation can help them reach their fund goals. Please Donate.

Account number: 700701707040531Account name: Avya

Yes Bank : SB MARG ELPHINSTONE MUMBAI 400013IFSC code: YESB0CMSNOC

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Office Of The Assistant Regional Transport Officer Budgam

Kashmir NoticeWhere a application for transfer of ownership has been recieved from one. Shri : Dr. Imtiyaz Ul Haq S/o: Molvi Abdul Hameed R/o: Gulshan Nagar Nowgam Bye Pass Budgam (Transferor) of Tata Safari. Vehicle

bearing registration number JK04A -5590. Chasis number 10251 Engine no. 29682 Model 2006. in favour of Shri. Nazir Ahmad Rather S/o. Ghulam Rasool Rather R/o Kurhama Gan-derbal (Tranferee) as well as HPA cancellation with M/S J&K Bank B/U NowgamNow therefore it is notified for the information of the general public that objections if any to the proposed transfer of own-ership shall be filed in writing in the office of the Assistant Regional Transport office ARTO Budgam within a period of 7 days from the date of publication of this notice in the daily newspaper Srinagar Times. No. ARTO/ BUDGAM.10995 Dated 08/02/2019

Assistant Regional Transport officer Budgam Kashmir

Page 1 of 2

Government of Jammu & Kashmir Office of the Executive Engineer PHE Division Baramulla

-.-.-.-.- E - Tender Notice No.

Dated 31 of 02/2019 06.02.2019

For and on behalf of the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir State, e-tenders [in two cover system] are invited from the Registered PWD Contractors/Self Help Groups for the works mentioned hereunder: Position of funds = Demanded Total No. of works = (19 only)

S. No. Name of work Estt. Cost

(Rs in lacs) Earnest Money (In Rs)

Class of Contractor

Time of Completion

Tender Receiving

Auth.

Cost of T. doc. (in Rs)

1. Laying fitting of 150mm dia DI pipe raw water main from source upto RD 3000mtrs WSS Ganjipora Buran under JKIDFC.

8.13 16260/- CEE & DEE 60 days

Executive Engineer PHE Div

Baramulla

500/-

2. Construction of 0.10 lac gallons capacity Service Reservoir with Sluice Chamber at Khan Mohalla Khahmoh WSS Khamoh under BADP.

7.30 7300/- SHG 45 days -do- 350/-

3. Construction of 0.10 lac gallons capacity Service Reservoir with Sluice Chamber at Ladi Angan WSS Ladi Angan under JKIDFC.

7.22 14440/- CEE & DEE 45 days -do- 350/-

4. Laying fitting of 100mm dia GI pipe feeding main RD 8000 to 1100mtrs WSS Ganjipora Buran under JKIDFC.

6.26 12520/- CEE & DEE 45 days -do- 300/-

5. Laying and fitting of intake main, supply main, distribution system to village Ladi Angan WSS Ladi Angan under JKIDFC.

6.17 6170/- SHG 45 days -do- 300/-

6. Construction of Chain Link fencing around various structures at Hill Top Jalsheeri WSS Khadniyar Jalsheeri under JKIDFC.

5.42 10840/- CEE & DEE 30 days -do- 250/-

7. Laying fitting fixing and successful testing and commissioning of 100mm dia Rising main from Filtration Plant Jalsheeri to SR Jalsheeri WSS Khadniyar Jalsheeri under JKIDFC.

5.04 10080/- CEE & DEE 30 days -do- 250/-

8. Laying fitting of 100mm dia GI pipe feeding main RD 0 to 3000mtrs Ganjipora Buran under JKIDFC.

4.65 9300/- DEE 30 days -do- 200/-

9. Laying fitting of 80mm dia, 65mm dia, 50mm dia, 40mm dia, 25mm dia and 20mm dia pipe line in different villages of Laiser Hadipora under WSS Laiser Hadipora under JKIDFC.

4.61 4610/- SHG 30 days -do- 200/-

10. Laying fitting fixing and successful testing and commissioning of 100mm dia rising main from Army Camp Khadniyar to SR Khadniyar WSS Khadniyar Jalsheeri under JKIDFC.

4.54 4540/- SHG 30 days -do- 200/-

11. Laying fitting of supply main/sub main to 80mm/65mm/40mm dia GI pipe including distribution system from SR Pattan upto Parra Mohalla Railway Coloney WSS Aug. Pattan Town.

4.16 8320/- DEE 30 days -do- 200/-

12. Laying and fitting of supply main/ sub main and distribution system to Hadipora for WSS Hadipora under BADP

4.00 8000/- DEE 30 days -do- 200/-

13. Construction of Chain link fencing in place of damaged brick fencing around SR Pattan WSS Augmentation Pattan Town.

2.77 2770/- SHG 30 days -do- 150/-

14. Construction of Crate Bund at spots to intake main of WSS Najibhat/Darwa Wagila (Hafeezabad)

2.67 5340/- DEE 30 days -do- 150/-

15. Laying fitting of supply main/ sub main/ distribution system to Peer Mohalla, Lone Mohalla, Dar Mohalla and Jalsheeri (Drangbal) WSS Khadniyar

2.48 2480/- SHG 30 days -do- 150/-

of 2

S. No. Name of work Estt. Cost

(Rs in lacs) Earnest Money (In Rs)

Class of Contractor

Time of Completion

Tender Receiving

Auth.

Cost of T. doc. (in Rs)

Jalsheeri under JKIDFC. 16. Construction of intake chamber at head

site for WSS Chatoosa Sheikhpora under NRDWP.

1.54 3080/- DEE 20 days -do- 100/-

17. Providing water supply facilities to the uncovered area of Rather Mohalla, Buranbal Mohalla WSS Ganjipora Buran

1.46 2920/- DEE 20 days -do- 100/-

18. Laying fitting fixing and successful testing and commissioning of 65mm dia, 50mm dia, 25mm dia, and 20mm dia pipe line to Teli Mohalla, Jamia Mohalla and Nani Mohalla for WSS Soin Saidnar under BADP.

1.39 1390/- SHG 20 days -do- 100/-

19. Providing water supply facilities to newly developed coloney village Newran uncovered area of Checki Sari Camp Coloney, Hospital Coloney and Chinar Coloney Warpora WSS Chukar under JKIDFC.

1.35 2700/- DEE 20 days -do- 100/-

Contractors are requested to inspect the site of work before submitting the tender for the work. The estimated rate left blank in the uploaded BOQ shall be treated as RTQ (Rate to be quoted)

1. The bidding documents consisting of qualifying information, eligibility criteria, technical specifications, bill of quantities [B.O.Q.] set of terms and conditions of contract and other details can be seen/downloaded from the website jktenders.gov.in as per schedule of dates given hereunder:

1. Date of Issue of Tender Notice 06.02.2019 Date of Publishing 08.02.2019 2. Period of downloading of bidding documents 08/02/2019 ( 11.00 Am) to

15/02/2019 upto 4.00 Pm) 3. Bid Submission Start date 08/02/2019 from 11.00Am 4. Bid Submission End date 15/02/2019 upto 4.00 Pm 6. Date and time of opening of bids [online] 16/02/2019 11.00 am

2. Bid must be accompanied with cost of tender documents in shape of TREASURY CHALLAN against account No. 0215 favouring of Executive Engineer, PHE Div. Baramulla [tender inviting authority] and earnest money in shape of CDR/FDR/Bank Guarantee pledged to Executive Engineer, PHE Division Baramulla.

3. The date and time of opening of Financial Bid shall be notified on website jktenders.gov.in and conveyed to the bidders automatically through an e-mail message on their e-mail address. The bids of responsive bidders shall be opened on-line in the office of Executive Engineer, PHE Division, Baramulla.

4. The bids for the work shall remain valid for a period of 90 days from the date of opening of bids. 5. The Executive Engineer, PHE Division, Baramulla reserves the right to accept or reject any or all tenders without

assigning any reason thereof. 6. No conditional tenders shall be accepted and such tenders are liable to be rejected even if rates quoted are the lowest. 7. The quantities reflected in the rate list of the work are subject to approval of design/drawings from the competent

authority. 8. Key Construction Material:

For the works under JKIDFC Programme, the key construction material like cement and steel (all sorts) shall have to be arranged by the contractor at his own. The brand of cement to be used on the work shall be of OPC 43 grade manufactured by JK Cements Limited, or any other brand concerned to be specified by Astt. Ex. Engineer concerned if non availability of JK Brand where as Steel of all sorts shall have to be obtained from SAIL or any other tested brand to the stratification of the concerned Astt. Ex. Engineer

No. PHE/Adm/Bla/9293-9317 Dated: 06.02.2019

Executive Engineer P.H.E Division

Baramulla

DIPK-16749/18

OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER.J&K P.C.C Ltd. Unit 6th Srinagar

FRESH TENDER NOTICE NIT No: 13 of 2018-19 e-tendering JKPCC- 6th / Sgr

Dated: 06 -02-2019For and on behalf of Managing Director JKPCC Ltd. e –Tenders are invited on rate bases from Registered SSI steel fabrication Unit Holders approved Contractors of PWD/ Piece Workers registered with JKPCC for the following work. (Single cover only).S.No Name of Work Approx.

Estimated CostEarnest Money Cost of bid

documentsTime of

Completion Class of Contract

1 Fabrication, erection, launching, assembling, hoisting, placing in position structural steel for construction of Naidkhai Bridge Sumbal (Labour only).

Rs.92.00Lacs Rs.1.84Lacs Rs.2500.00 90 Days

Registered PWD Contractors Class AAY, Registered

SSI Unit Holders & Piece Workers registered in JKPCC

Limited.

Position of Funds: -Demanded.The Steel Fabrication Unit Holders / Piece-Workers / PWD Contractors participating in the biding / tendering process shall have to submit an experience certificate issued by concerned Ex. Engineer / Dy. General Manager, depicting type of launching / fabrication of Girders for bridge work, time of completion, value of workdone and as per the format in the tender documents enclosed, to the effect that he has executed a similar nature of Launching / Fabrication of steel Girders for bridges in JKPCC / PWD/ CPWD during the last Five years to the extent of 70% of the advertised cost.The NIT consisting of qualifying information eligibility criteria, technical specifications bill of quantity, set of terms & conditions & other details can be seen / downloaded from the JK Governments official web site www. jktenders.gov.in.1 Date of Issue of Tender Notice 07-02-2019

2. Date & time of publication online 07-02-2019 From 4:00 PM3. Period of downloading of bid document form 07-02-2019 From 4:30 PM

4. Bid submission Start date 07-02-2019 From 5.00PM5. Bid submission End date 20-02-2019 up to 4:00PM

6. Date & time of opening of Bid online 21-02-2019 after 2:00PMIn the office of General Manager (K) JKPCC Limited Srinagar.

No: Dated:

Deputy General Manager,U n i t 6 t h , J K P C C L i m i t e d . ,

D I P K- N B - 5 0 47 / 18 H a f t C h i n a r, S r i n a g a r.

MQ BUD

MQ BUD

Saturday | 09-02-2019 03Srinagar Observer

From KO Archives

DIAL-EMMA• TRAFFIC POLICE : 9419993745, 01998-266686• PCR: 0194-2452092,2455883• PDD: 0194-2450213• FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES : 2479488,2452222,2452155• CAPD: 18001807011• SMC HEALTH OFFICER: 9469409081

AIRPORTS

SHIEK UL ALAM AIRPORT: 01942303311

RAILWAYS• SRINAGAR: 0194-2103259• ANANTNAG: 01932-228243• BARAMULLA: 0194-102029• BIJBHERA: 01932-228243• PAMPORE: 01933-294132• PATTAN: 01954-293507• QAZIGUND: 01951-296153

HIGHWAY STATUS• Srinagar-Jammu highway --- (Closed)• Mughal Road - (Closed)• Srinagar- Leh- (Closed)

HIJRI CALENDAR 03 JAMADI US SANI 1440PRAYERS

• FAJR---5: 58• ZUHR---12: 45• ASR---4:28• Magrib—6:11• ISHA---7:32

This Day in History• 1525 - Albert of Prussia pledges a personal oath to Sigismund

I and is invested with the duchy for himself and his heirs• 1713 - Netherlands & Britain sign accord concerning anti-

French Barrier [OS=Jan 31].• 1720 - Edmund Halley appointed 2nd Astronomer Royal

of England• 1763 - Treaty of Paris ends French-Indian War,

surrendering Canada to Britain• 1814 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Champaubert, the

French beat the Russians• 1846 - British defeat Sikhs in battle of Sobraon, India• 1859 - Gen Horsford defeats Begum of Oude & Nana

Sahib in Indian mutiny• 1899 - Treaty of Paris which ended the Spanish-

American War is signed by President McKinley; US acquires Philippines, Puerto Rico & Guam

• 1904 - Japan and Russia declare war• 1914 - In accordance with the understanding reached by

General J.C. Smuts and Mahatma Gandhi, 60 passive resistance prisoners released from Pietermaritzburg Prison; 40 passive resisters released in Durban, 8 in Newcastle, 11 in Port Elizabeth

• 1918 - Trotsky declares that Russia is leaving the war• 1931 - New Delhi becomes capital of India• 1933 - Hitler proclaims end of Marxism• 1934 - Stalin ends 17th CPSU-congress, says “Life

becomes merrier”• 1947 - Italy cedes most of Venezia Giulia to Yugoslavia• 1947 - Province of Petsamo returned to Soviet Union by

Finland• 1947 - WW II peace treaties signed.• 1961 - Niagara Falls hydroelectric project begins

producing power• 1970 - Dry powder avalanche moving at 120 mph

smashes into youth hostel at Val d’Isere, France, killing 40 Belgian, French, & German youths

• 1974 - Iran/Iraqi border fight breaks out• 1975 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army agrees to a truce

and ceasefire with the British government and the Northern Ireland Office; Seven “incident centres” are established in nationalist areas to monitor the ceasefire

• 1985 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

• 1990 - 6th Largest wrestling crowd (63,900-Tokyo Dome)• 1990 - South African President F. W. de Klerk announces

Nelson Mandela will be freed on Feburary 11th• 1996 - IBM computer Deep Blue becomes the first computer

to win a game of chess against a reigning (human) chess champion, Gary Kasparov.

• 1997 - Comet Shoemaker-Holt 2 Closest Approach to Earth (1.9245 AU)

• 1997 - Soyuz TM-25 launches to the MIR.• 2003 - France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of

silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.

• 2013 - 36 people are killed and 39 are injured in a stampede at a train station in Allahabad, India

Vehicles Attacked At Lakhanpur


SRINAGAR – A number of Punjab-bound vehicles from Kash-mir were damaged on Tuesday evening by a violent mob at Hatli Maud, a short distance from Lakhanpore in Jammu, even as a rampaging crowd stormed through a sports goods factory run by a Kashmiri in the vicinity.

Reports from Jammu said irate Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal activists attacked a convoy of goods carriers from Anantnag Kashmir, near Haiti Maud. The mob pelted stones at nearly 34 trucks and tried to hijack one (JK01D-9938). The driver, Muhammad Altaf was injured in the hijack attempt.

The Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal had called for a bandh in Jammu on Tuesday to protest against the killing of 6 members of the Sikh community in Srinagar. Scores of Gypsy borne activists of the two organisations, armed with sharp-edged weapons besides hockey sticks and canes, had earlier descended in the locality and raided a factory. Goodway Sports owned a resident of Anantnag. The mob ransacked the equipment and caused damage to the factory.

One factory worker, Bashir Ahmad Dar from Dogri Sangam, Ananantnag was injured during the attack There was consid-erable tension in Kathua district after the violent incidents.

(KASHMIR OBSERVER, 09 February, 2001)

Curfew Bandh Continues In Jammu Areas

UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIR HAZRATBAL SRINAGAR 190006 (J&K)

NOTICEThe Candidates bearing the following Roll No.s have resorted to the use of Un-fairmeans/misconduct in the below mentioned University Examinations are here-by informed to appear before the Committee for Scrutiny of Unfairmeans/Mis-conduct cases on 14.02.2019 at 11:30 a.m.in the office chamber of the Dean, Academic Affairs, University of Kashmir, Srinagar. If a candidate fails to appear before the said Committee, it shall be presumed that he/she has nothing to say in his/her defence and the decision of the Unfairmeans Committee shall be binding on him/her under rules-I. IMBA-II 2nd Semester held in August 2018 16037112046II. BG 2nd Semester May-June 2018 18415078,18215123,18434160,18223708,18213232,18213231,18213233, 18213234,18224338,18221017III. BG 2nd Year (4th Semester) Oct-Nov, 2017 1706245,1720231,1711060,0001709757,1708226,1710180,1721520, 1707658, 1718983,1722094,1719054,1718972,1718983IV. M.A./ M.Sc./M.Com./1st and 2nd Semester DDE mode held in June 2018. 15032300006, 15032300020V. BG 2nd Semester held in July-August 2017 1741898,1709087VI. BG 1st Semester June-July 2017/December-2017 17700688,1727443,1711234,172327VII. M.A. 3rd and 4th Semester held in Oct-Nov, 2018 15021260009VIII. B.Ed. 1st Semester Sep-Oct, 2017 1710965IX. B.Ed. 2nd Semester Examination Sep-Oct, 2017 1712372X. B.G. (Ist Semester) Examination held in October 2017 17114781 ,17124259XI. B.Ed. Examination Session July-August 2018 18902759 .XII. B.A. 4th semester held in October 2017 1707308 XIII. B.C.A. 4th semester held in November 2017 1763850XIV. B.Ed. 3rd semester May, 2018 18900525, 18900544,18900543,18900652,18907272,18907273,18907276,18902978XV. B.Ed. 1st semester March, 2018 18700696XVI. B.Ed. Ist Semester Examination Annual Session March-April, 2018. 18801884,18801879,18801919,18801882,18801910,18801907,18804734, 18801900, 18801893,18801899. XVII. BG 5th Semester Examination June-July, 2018 18809524,18810236,18809833,18809836,18812541,18800343,18819380, 18817878,18814944, 18814923,18814894,18810289,18819265,18803929, 18831904,18814843,18812606.

No.F (UFM-Tab) Ku/2019 Sd/- Assistant ControllerDated: 08-02-2019 (Tabulation)

OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL TRANSPORT OFFICER KASHMIR

NOTICEWhereas as an application has been

receivd from one Mr. Umar Gull- Butloo S/o Gh. Mohammad R/o Housing colony Bemina for vehicle no JK01Q.7856 MODEL 2011 type of vehicle Pulsar has lost/ damaged his registration certification

Now therefore ,it is notified for the information of the genral public that representation /objection .if any in connection with proposed dublicate registraion certificate will be received within 7 days from the date of publication of this

notice in the dailly newspaper Kashmir Observerto the adress of undersigned.

NO:JK/RTOK/9454 Dated 08/02/2019OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL TRANSPORT OFFICER KASHMIR


Srinagar: Calling slain Muham-mad Maqbool Bhat as the father of the nation, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Mohammad Yasin Malik on Friday said Bhat’s struggle and sacrifices represent every “sub-jugated” human.

In a press statement, Malik said that slain Muhammad Afzal Guru also sacrificed his life for the righteous cause. According to the spokesman, Malik is lodged at Police station Kothi-bagh from February 6, along with senior JKLF leader Ghulam Muhammad Dar.

Malik while paying tributes said that Bhat was an ideologue, a warrior, a leader and an intel-lectual who led Kashmiris on all fronts, be it diplomatic front, armed, political or intellectual front. He started as a loner and strived hard for the liberation of his nation from the government.

Announcing various programs to be held on “Maqbool Day” this year, JKLF chairman said that various protest programs will be held across the globe. He said that in Jammu Kashmir pro-grams announced by the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) will be followed in the letter.

Maqbool Bhat 'Father Of Nation', Sacrificed Life For Kashmir: Malik


Srinagar: Dozens of NC & PDP workers, led by Abid Bhat, from Habba Kadal joined Peoples Conference in presence of party chairman Sajad Gani Lone at his Rawalpora residence here today.

“Expressing full faith in the leadership and vision of PC to usher in era of development &

overall prosperity of the State, dozens of of political workers from Habba Kadal become part of the movement for change by joining Peoples Conference”, A PC spokesperson said.

Welcoming the workers into party fold, Sajad Lone expressed dismay over successive NC & PDP regimes neglecting the historic Srinagar city and consequent eco-nomic and political disempower-ment of the people in the urban centres, particularly Habba Kadal.

“The people of Habba Kadal have been pushed against the

wall and are facing a reign of eco-nomic persecution. Habba Kadal has been grossly neglected and misgoverned in terms of devel-opmental activities, augmenta-tion of existing infrastructure and bereft of better road connectiv-ity, regulation of water, electrical, medical, health and education networks.”, Sajad Lone said. Sajad Lone said that the previous gov-

ernments have failed to formulate suitable administrative response for economically backward sec-tions in urban centres. Peoples’ Conference will ensure that the epidemic of unemployment and joblessness is addressed systemi-cally and that Habba Kadal gets a deserving representation in the upcoming elections, the spokes-person added.

“As a Social Welfare Minister, I mooted the ‘first of its kind’ 6% reservation bill for economi-cally backward sections of the society, especially in urban cen-

tres. The youth in these areas are not covered by any reservation category which puts them at a distinct disadvantage with their counterparts from the villages,” Sajad Lone added. Request-ing Governor Satya Pal Malik to grant assent to the Reservation Bill for Economically Backward, Sajad Lone said that reservation for economically poor sections

of the society is desperately re-quired to make a difference to the plight of the urban poor who can hope to get their due share in government jobs and admissions in professional colleges.

Urging the workers to work with commitment & zeal, Sajad Lone said that PC is emerging as a strong and valiant pro-Kashmir and pro-people political alterna-tive as the party has always been on the side of the oppressed. He asked them to serve the people selflessly to usher in an era of prosperity.

Habba Kadal Victim of Political Neglect: Sajad Lone


SRINAGAR, FEBRUARY 08: Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Medical College-Hospital has established a helpline in the interest of providing relief to the patients in view of inclem-ent weather conditions.

As per an official commu-niqué issued by the office of

Principal, the Hospital has kept two ambulances for fer-rying critically-ill patients as and when required to any hospital within the municipal limits of Srinagar. The helpline numbers are 9622726147 (Dr Mudasir CMO), 9906853533(Shahid Trans-port Monitor 7006349353), and SKIMS MCH Exchange number 0194-2493297.

SKIMS Bemina establishes helpline


SRINAGAR, FEBRUARY 08: As part of the ongoing 30th Road Safety Week, the office of Re-gional Transport Officer today organized an awareness pro-gramme here at SKIMS Soura.

According to a handout is-sued here, the staff members of the institute including the ambulance drivers and people from varied sections of the so-ciety participated in the camp.

During the awareness pro-gramme, the speakers includ-

ing RTO Kashmir, deliberated upon different road safety is-sues, measures and highlight-ed the importance of the use of seat belt, helmet, etc.

Director SKIMS talked about the procedure for handling of post accidental victims and use of basic life support sys-tem to save critically injured persons. The Secretary Dis-trict Legal Services Authority Srinagar briefed the audience about various legal provisions available to road accident vic-tims and their families.

RTO Kashmir organizes awareness camp at SKIMS Soura

MLC Zafar Manhas bereavedSrinagar: Mohammad Ashraf Manhas, younger brother of Za-far Iqbal Manhas, MLC and Vice President of J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, passed away suddenly today after suf-fering a massive heart attack. Family sources informed that he breathed his last while sitting in his vehicle in the driver’s seat.

He was laid to rest later at his na-tive village Shadab Kerawa in Shop-ian. A large number of people from all walks of life attended the funeral prayers inspite of heavy snowfall. Leaders of several political parties and people from the intellectual community of the State have ex-pressed deep condolences with Zafar Iqbal Manhas over the sudden de-mise of his younger brother.

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NEWS Saturday| 09-02-2019 4I r a n F M I n S y r I a

Making Sense Of The World Around U s

Press TrusT Of IndIa

New Delhi: Taking Congress head on over the Sohrabuddin case, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the appropriate question for party president Rahul Gandhi to ask would be, who killed the investigation in this case.

The Special CBi Judge, Mumbai, who deals with CBi cases had acquitted all accused in Sohrabuddin case, the minister said, adding "more relevant than the Order of the Acquittal is the observation of the Judge that in the investigation, from the very beginning, investigating Agency did not investigate the case pro-fessionally in order to find out the truth but to divert it towards certain political persons."

Responding to the comment of Gandhi on the day of the judgement that 'no-body killed Sohrabuddin', Jaitley said, "it would have been more appropriate if he had asked the right question, namely who killed Sohrabuddin case investigation,

agencIes

hONG KONG,: A pair of his father’s old tandoor ovens helped hong Kong restaurateur Asim hussain achieve a dream — the world’s first Michelin star for a Pakistani restaurant, an accolade he hopes will fire interest in the country’s often overlooked cuisine.

like many of hong Kong’s 85,000 strong South Asian population, hussein’s family trace their lineage in the bustling finan-cial hub back generations, when the city was a British colonial outpost.

his great-grandfather arrived during world war One, overseeing mess halls for British soldiers while his Cantonese speaking father owned restaurants in the eighties and nineties.

hussein, 33, already had some twenty eateries in his group when he decided to embark on his what he described as his most

Government of Jammu & Kashmir

executive engineer PWd (r&B) division Bandipora.FAX: 01957-225533. e-mail: [email protected]

Short Term NOTICE INVITING TENDERSSHORT TERM e-NIT No.: (87) of 2018-19 DATED: - 06-02-2019.

For and on behalf of the Governor of J&K State e-tenders (In single cover system) are invited on item rate basis from approved and eligible Civil Contractors registered with J&K State Govt., CPWD, Railways and other State/ Central Governments for the following works:-

SNo Name of work Estt. Cost(Rs in lacs)

Cost of Tender document(IN Rs.)

Earnest money(IN Rs.)

Tim

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Tim

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open

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1 Construction of Cement Concrete Drain at Ajar Ayatmullah link Road at Bandipora .

1.32 Lacs 200 2640 07-Days 15-02-2019 at 11.00 A.M

DEE SDRF

2 Construction of C.C Path from Link Road to H/O Mehraj-ud-din Mir at Naz Colony Sector A at Ward No. 01 Nowpora Bandipora.

2.00 Lacs 200 4000 15-Days 15-02-2019 at 11.00 A.M

DEE SDRF

3 Restoration of Link road from Govt Middle School to H/O Moham-mad Younus Lone at Sheikhpal Watrina by way of Providing and Laying WBM G-I (Agg Length 1400Rft).

2.50 Lacs 200 5000 10-Days 15-02-2019 at 11.00 A.M

DEE SDRF

4 Restoration of Road Surface to Ganie Mohalla at Ayatmullah Ban-dipora by way of P/L WBM G-I and G-II.

3.60 Lacs 200 7200 15-Days 15-02-2019 at 11.00 A.M

DEE SDRF

5 Repair / Re-Construction of RCC Covered Drain from Graveyard at Nishat Mohalla upto Jamia Masjid Qadeem Bandipora.(Agg Length 240 Rft).

5.00 Lacs 300 10,000 15-Days 15-02-2019 at 11.00 A.M

DEE SDRF

6 Reconstruction of Road from Power Grid Station Panchayat Ghar at Panzigam Bandipora BWO P/L WBM G-I, G-II and Laying of RCC pipes at different spots.

5.00 Lacs(Incld. C/O Pipes)

300 10,000 15-Days 15-02-2019 at 11.00 A.M

DEE SDRF

7 Upgradation of Road from H/O Muhammad Hussain Shah to Pari-nag Quilmuqam Bandipora by way of P/L Nallah / Querry Muck, P/L WBM G-I and Laying of RCC Pipes at Spots.


300 10,000 15-Days 15-02-2019 at 11.00 A.M

DEE SDRF

8 Construction of C.C Drain (Balance Portion) Including Trash Plating over Existing C.C Drain from Main Road upto H/o Ali Mohammad Dar at S.K.Payeen at Bandipora.

6.25 Lacs 400 12500 15-Days 15-02-2019 at 11.00 A.M

CEE, DEE SDRF

9 Restoration / Repair of P-Wall and Link Road by way of Nallah Muck Filling at Shah Mohalla Papachan A from H/O Muhammad Mubarak Parsa to Spring at W.No 09 MC Bandipora.

6.50 Lacs 400 13000 15-Days 15-02-2019 at 11.00 A.M

CEE, DEE SDRF

10 Upgradation / Construction of link Road and Cement Concrete Drain from house of Ab Rashid khan upto House of Haji Gh Nabi Mir Kharpora ward no 17 Ajar Bandipora.


400 17000 15-Days 15-02-2019 at 11.00 A.M

CEE, DEE SDRF

11 Upgradation of Various Link Roads in Main Town Bandipora by way of P/L Querry Muck Filling, P/L WBM G-I, G-II and G-III, Const. of C.C Drain and Laying of RCC pipes at different spots.


600 39400 20-Days 15-02-2019 at 11.00 A.M

BEE, CEE SDRF

• Position of AAA/TS: Submitted.• Position of Funds: Demanded1. The bidding documents consisting of qualifying information , eligibility criteria, specifications, Drawings, bill of quantities (B.O.Q), set of terms and conditions of contract and other details can be seen/ downloaded from the Departmental website www.jktenders.gov.in as per schedule of dates given below:-

1.

Date of issue of Tender Notice 06-02-2019

2. Period of downloading of bidding documents From 07-02-2019 10:00 A.M.3. Bid Submission Start date 07-02-2019 From 10:00 A.M.4. Bid Submission End date 14-02-2019 upto 04.00 P.M5. Last Date for receiving the hard copy

(Original DD & EMD)

Hard Copy shall be obtained only from the Bidder who is de-clared as Lowest Bidder (L1) at the time of opening of Tenders. The cost of Tender Documents will be collected through TREA-SURY RECEIPT (T.R). The name of the work shall be mentioned in the T.R for which the tender is to be casted. However the unsuccessful bidders will submit the same separately after the opening of bids online.

6. Date & time of opening of Bids (online) 15-02-2019 at 11.00 A.M in the Office of the Executive Engineer (R&B) Division Bandipora

Note: The Bidder will mention the Contact No. and Bidder Name in the BoQ

NO.: EE/R&B/Bpr/6038-50Dated: 06-02-2019. Sd/-

Executive Engineer DIPK-16765/18 (R&B) Division Bandipora

Principal District Court anantnagPresent Syed Tawqeer ahmad

Imran ahmad Shah S/O abdul rashid Shah r/O ahopisan achabal anantnag

VErSUS1. Kulsuma Banoo W/O abdul rashid Shah 2. Irfana rashid D/O ab-dul rashid Shah r/O ahopaison achabal anantnag.

PUBLIC nOTICE

Whereas, an application for Succession has been moved by Petitoner (s) in respect of an amount of rs 18.34 Lacs in the name of deceased abdul rashid Shah S/O Khazir Mohd Shah r/O ahopaison achabal.Hence, objections, if any are invited from all and sundry to the aforesaid claim, by or before nest date of hearing i.e 16/08/2019 failing which matter shall be determined on merits.Issued under my hand and seal of the Court on 06/02/019.

Principal District Court Anantnag

High Court Bar associationSrinagar, Kashmir

ref. no JKHCBa/n/2019 Dated 08-02-2019PrESS nOTE

The executive members of J&K High Court Bar association Srinagar paid rich tributes to Shaheed Mohammad Maqbool Bhat and Shaheed Mohammad afzal Guroo on their 35th and 6th death anniversary falling on 11th and 9th of february 2019 respectively.In a meeting held here today on 08-02-2019, the members while remember-ing the sacrifices made by both of them by laying down their lives for the cause of the freedom of the Kashmir, they infused a new life in the freedom struggle and it is because of those sacrifices, that Kashmir issue is discussed in all the international forums and everyone is demanding that Kashmir is in illegal occupation of Indian forces and they should vacate and give the people their right of self determination as promised and guaranteed by 28th Security resolution Councils passed from time to time beginning from Janu-ary 1948. It was also stated that the above martyrs will be remembered for ever and the Kashmir Movement shall succeed at al cosis.It was also decided in the executing meeting to support the boycott call given by the Joint resistance Leadership (JrL) and all the lawyers are requested not to cause their presence in the courts on 09 & 11th of February 2019.

Mr. Mohammad Ashraf BhatGeneral Secretary

J&K High Court Bar Association, Sriangar

M JR

A KO

US Vows To Remain 'Relentless' To Deter Iran Missile ProgagencIes

WASHINGTON: The Unit-ed States vowed to remain ‘relentless’ in pressuring Iran to deter its missile pro-gramme after the Islamic Republic unveiled a new bal-listic weapon days after test-ing a cruise missile.

iran’s Revolutionary Guards unveiled a new ballistic missile with a range of 1,000 kilometres (620 miles), their official news agency Sepah News reported.

The move was the latest show of military might by the country as it celebrates the 40th anniversary of the islamic Revolution at a time of height-ened tensions with the US.

“iran’s blatant disregard for international norms must be ad-dressed,” State Department depu-ty spokesperson Robert Palladino said in a statement.

“we must bring back tougher international restric-tions to deter iran’s missile programme,” he added.

“The United States will continue to be relentless in building support around the world to confront the iranian regime’s reckless ballistic missile activity, and we will continue to impose sufficient pressure on the regime so that it changes its malign behav-

iour – including by fully imple-menting all of our sanctions.”

Tehran reined in most of its nuclear programme under a landmark 2015 deal with ma-jor powers but has kept up de-velopment of its ballistic mis-sile technology.

President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the nuclear accord in May and re-imposed sanctions on iran, citing the programme among its reasons.

“iran’s latest missile launch again proves the iran deal is doing nothing to stop iran’s missile programme,” Secretary of State Mike Pom-peo tweeted late Thursday.

iran and the other signa-tories have stuck by the 2015 agreement, although some eu-ropean governments have de-manded an addition to address Tehran’s ballistic missile pro-gramme and its intervention

in regional conflicts.Meanwhile, UN Security

Council Resolution 2231 – ad-opted just after the nuclear deal – calls on iran “not to un-dertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nucle-ar weapons”.

Tehran insists that its mis-sile development programme is ‘purely defensive’ and com-pliant with the resolution.

Iran Unveils Underground Ballistic Missile Plant

TEHRAN: Iran has unveiled an under-ground plant manu-facturing precision

ballistic missiles for the Aerospace Division of its Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

“Unveiling this missile production city deep under-ground is an answer to the idle talk made by the west-erners, who assume they can restrict us and dissuade us from [pursuing] our long-term goals by means of threats and sanctions,” Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, the iRGC’s chief commander, said during the unveiling ceremo-ny on Thursday.

The ceremony, which was joined by the commander of the iRGC’s Aerospace Divi-sion, Brigadier General Amir Ali hajizadeh, also featured the inauguration of a smart surface-to-surface missile dubbed Dezful.

“Today, the mass produc-tion of advanced precision and

smart missiles became a reali-ty within the iRGC’s aerospace force,” Jafari hailed.

Iran’s defense program not open to negotiation

elsewhere in his remarks, Jafari said that iran’s defense might was in line with the country’s deterrence doctrine and was by no means open to negotiations.

“iran’s defensive capabil-ity is deterrent [in nature] and in line with preserving its na-tional security, and it cannot be subjected to any transac-tion or negotiation,” the com-mander asserted.

he said the country de-clares possession of full defen-sive might on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the vic-tory of its islamic Revolution.

Jafari also especially ad-dressed european countries’ demands from the country to start negotiations over its missile program before the in-strument in Support of Trade exchanges (iNSTeX) comes

into force.iNSTeX is a non-dol-

lar payment mechanism, which european coun-tries have announced to safeguard trade with iran in the face of the United States’ sanctions targeting the islamic Republic.

“Today, the europeans are talking of imposing re-strictions and sanctions on our defensive capability, while egregiously, their offen-sive capability is being used to attack the oppressed and innocent people throughout the world,” he said. “But, we proudly enhance our defen-sive capability and are not afraid of anything,” the com-mander stated.

National security a red linehajizadeh, meanwhile,

described national security as the iranian Armed Forces’ red line, saying the Dezful mis-sile was the latest outcome of the Aerospace Division’s re-search activities.

a handout photo from the Iranian revolutionary Guard Office shows the new Iranian missile Dezful, in an undisclosed location, Iran, 07 February 2019.

Iran Navy to stage large-scale military drills in Indian OceanagencIes

TehRAN: The iranian Navy’s deputy commander says the country's naval forces are to hold large-scale drills in the in-dian Ocean in two weeks’ time.

The Air Force along with the Navy will hold the mili-tary maneuvers, Rear Admiral Touraj hassani-Moqaddam told iRNA on Thursday.

The exercises are to be held in an area extending from the Makran Coast in southeastern iran to “the indian Ocean ... to-wards the end of [the iranian cal-endar month of] Bahman (which ends on February 19),” he added.

“The Navy’s state-of-the-art armaments and equipment will be deployed during the large-scale ex-ercises,” including naval vessels, submersibles, surface-to-sea mis-siles, drones, and electronic war-fare equipment, said the official.

Noting that the drills are also to be joined by marine brigades and naval commando units, the military commander added, “in these exercises, we will display the islamic Republic’s power in

the region with the aim of estab-lishing security.”

hassani-Moqaddam further said, “in order to contribute to international maritime secu-rity and reinforce the country’s diplomacy, iranian naval ves-sels stay invariably alert and in addition to carrying out sur-veillance missions, are ready to engage [in any possible confron-tation] if necessary,” he added.

Prior to the victory of iran’s islamic Revolution in 1979, the iranian Navy only sailed in the Persian Gulf waters, but now it maintains a “powerful presence” in the high seas, said the official.

The Navy carries out recur-rent military maneuvers and maritime security missions in the indian Ocean, the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Aden, and the Suez Ca-nal, the commander noted.

The iranian Navy sailed in the Atlantic Ocean in Novem-ber 2016 for the first time, with then Navy commander Rear Admiral habibollah Sayyari saying that the development followed a port call in South Af-rica by the iranian fleet.

Any agreement for resolving Afghan conflict will ensure Pakistan’s equities: Centcom chiefagencIes

iSlAMABAD: As bilateral relations between islamabad and washington remain cold, a top Pentagon official earlier this week reiterated that Paki-stan will always be a “country of im-portance” for the United States.

Commander of US Central Com-mand General Joseph Votel, while testifying before the Senate Armed

Services Committee, said “as a state possessing nuclear weapons that sits at the nexus of Russian, Chinese, in-dian, iranian, and US geopolitical in-terests, Pakistan will always retain its importance to the US”.

Votel added that any agreement for resolving the now 17-year-old con-flict in landlocked Afghanistan would ensure Pakistan’s ‘equities’.

in light of recent efforts between

Pakistan, the US, and Afghanistan to hold talks with the Taliban, the top US military official commended Paki-stan’s efforts and cooperation with the State Department’s Special Represen-tative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad.

“if Pakistan plays a positive role in achieving a settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan, the US will have op-portunity and motive to help Pakistan

fulfill that role, as peace in the region is the most important mutual priority for the U.S. and Pakistan”.

The CeNTCOM chief also identi-fied Afghanistan’s uncertain political situation as the greatest risk to stabil-ity in the region and said the US looks to Pakistan among others to play a constructive role in achieving peace in Afghanistan and the greater South Asian region.

Saturday | 09-02-2019 05News


Srinagar: Welcoming the deci-sion to create separate Ladakh Division, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday said that keeping the headquarter of Lada-kh division permanently at Leh is discriminatory to the larger dis-trict of the area- Kargil.

“We have received many sug-gestions and calls from Kargil today expressing their disap-pointment with the unilateral decision taken by the governor administration in their attempt to please the BJP which was recently routed in local bodies elections there and also is fac-ing a crises after the resignation of their MP,” PDP senior leader and former minister Naeem Akhtar said in a statement to

Kashmir Observer. He added that the best resolu-

tion to this is to keep the head-quarter both at Leh and Kargil at rotational basis. “It should ideal-ly be in winters at Leh because of air connectivity and in summers it should be in Kargil. Unless that is done, this would create more problems in the sensitive region than it would solve,” Akhtar said.

The PDP leader added the deci-sion to keep the headquarter of the new Division permanently at Leh is unacceptable to the people of Kargil and that if PDP comes to power, it will keep the headquar-ters on rotational mode to ensure no discrimination is melted out to any of the district. He said that the people of Zanskar, Drass and Kumri find Srinagar more acces-sible than Leh and the adminis-

tration must keep the needs of the people of Kargil and adjoin-ing areas in mind while taking

the decision vis-a-vis setting up of the headquarters of the new Division.

Keeping Divisions Hqrs at Leh Discrimination With Kargil: PDP


Srinagar: The report submitted by the police before the State Human Rights Commission stated that Sheeraz Ahmed Bhat of Kulgam district was abducted, tortured and fired upon by militants, resulting in his death. Police in its re-port also claimed that Jaish-e-Muhammad militants with the help of some OGWs had abducted Sheeraz whose body was later found on December 11, 2018 at Ahwatoo, Kulgam.

“His body was visible torture marks and bullet wounds," the police report that has come in response to the petition filed by chairman international forum for Justice and Human Rights Muhammad Ahsan Untoo in case SHRC/339/KLGM/2018 dated 19/11/2018. Earlier, the SHRC had called a report from Deputy Commissioner Kulgam and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kulgam with re-gard to abduction of civilian Sheeraz Ahmed Bhat by un-known persons on 27 October, 2018. Sheeraz was abducted by masked men leaving his fam-ily including his wife and three children in a total despair. The petitioner had pleaded before the commission that an inqui-ry must be conducted to know the whereabouts of Sheeraz. The petitioner had stated that on 27 October, Sheeraz had arranged a vehicle of a cousin to drop his sister-in-law and mother-in-law to their home. Sheeraz’s cousin was in the driving seat and others were getting into the car when a Santro car came and stopped right beside them.

According to his sister-in-law, the petitioner said that some masked gunmen disem-

barked from the Santro car and forced Sheeraz into the car and drove away. The petition stated that the family of Sheeraz had already been rendered home-

less after their house was dam-aged to rubble in an encounter on 21 October, when three Jaish militants were killed and then seven civilians died in a mysterious blast in the rubble

of the house. Reacting to the police report,

the petitioner said that how can police claim that Sheeraz was killed by militants. "Has police or

militant bullets names written on them. The case needs to be probed by the SHRC’s investigation wing and meanwhile ex-gratia be pro-vided to the family members of slain Sheeraz,” he demanded.

Kulgam Man Abducted & Killed by Militants: Police Tells SHRCCase needs to probed at highest level: Petitioner

Youth goes missing in Sopore

Sopore: A family from Warpora area of Sopore Friday ap-pealed general public to help them in tracing their missing son. According to Ghulam Nabi Var his 22 year old son Asif Ahmad is missing since 2nd of February.

Var said his son Asif left home for mosque at Varpora for evening prayers and didn’t return on the fateful day. “Asif is great cricketer and a noble boy,” he said.

We have also lodged a missing report at Varpora Police Station in this regard, he said, adding that they tried to trace him every-where but couldn’t find any clue about his whereabouts despite lodging missing report with the police.


Srinagar: Reacting to the decision taken by Governor Administra-tion to grant divisional status to Ladakh, AIP President Er Rasheed on Friday said that New Delhi is creating a wedge, distrust and disparity between various re-gions. In a statement, Er Rasheed said, “Nobody is against creating separate division for Ladakh re-gion but government must come clean why it ignored people of Pir Panchal and Chenab regions who deserved not only separate divisions but much more and have been deprived from their genuine rights in every field.”

He said one has a right to ask government if it sincerely cares for the equitable development of the state why was not Hill Devel-opment Council created for Pir Panchal and Chenab Valley re-gions and what was the urgency to grant divisional status to La-dakh Region without taking into care the aspirations and rights of people of Chenab Valley and Pir Panchal regions.

Er Rasheed added that Union government seems busy in implementing its ill intended designs and one must not be surprised if New Delhi in near

future declares Ladakh a union territory, so that its designs to trifurcate the state are fulfilled, just to weaken the people’s resis-tance seeking resolution to Kash-mir dispute and change various equations. He reminded Gover-nor Administration that while

Handwara and Sopore deserved the status of district, government is busy in disappointing the Mus-lim dominated areas only to en-sure that the long term agenda of deep state is implemented.

He asked government to an-swer that if Now Ladakh be-comes a division what is the need to continue with the hill development councils in the re-gion and they should be imme-diately abolished to clear confu-sions in the minds of the people of rest of the state.

Delhi’s ultimate aim is trifurcation of state: Er. Rasheed

JAMMU, FEBRUARY 8: Chief Sec-retary, B V R Subrahmanyam Fri-day chaired a video conference with Deputy Commissioners to review district wise- prepara-tions with regard to implementa-tion of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) in the State. Commissioner/Secre-tary, Revenue Department, Di-visional Commissioner, Jammu, Secretary, Agriculture Produc-tion/Horticulture Department, Secretary, Department of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Secretary Information Technol-ogy Department, Special Secre-tary, Finance Department, Direc-tor, National Informatics Centre, J&K and other senior officers were present in the meeting. Divisional Commissioner, Kash-mir participated in the meeting through video conferencing.

Under PM-KISAN, landholding farmer families, having culti-vable land upto 2 hectares, will be provided direct income sup-port at the rate of Rs. 6,000 per year. This income support will be transferred directly into their

bank accounts in three equal in-stallments of Rs. 2,000 each.

The programme will be effec-tive from 1st December, 2018

and the first installment for the period upto 31st March 2019 will be paid in March, 2019. The Union Government has asked the States to finalize, certify and up-load the district-wise beneficiary list to the PM-KISAN Portal by 25th February, 2019.

Chief Secretary asked the Dep-uty Commissioners to finalize the database of eligible benefi-

ciary landholder farmer families in the villages as per defined for-mat capturing Name, Bank Ac-count numbers; Mobile numbers

etc of the beneficiaries and after certification send it to the NIC, J&K by 22nd February, 2019 for uploading to the Portal.

Earlier, Chief Secretary chaired a meeting with the concerned Administrative Secretaries to fi-nalize the modalities for imple-menting PM-KISAN in the State, as per operational guidelines of the programme.

PM-KISAN Implementation

CS asks DCs to finalize beneficiaries’ list by Feb 221st installment to be released in March 2019


Srinagar: Chairman Hurriyat Conference (G), Syed Ali Gee-lani paid rich tributes to the Mohammad Maqbool Bhat and Mohammad Afzal Guru on their death anniversaries.

Reiterating his demand for the return back of the mortal remains of both the slain per-sons, who were buried in the Tihar Jail premises, Hurriyat chairman said that although it is purely a human issue, but Delhi is very reluctant to this demand thereby violating all the principles of morality and constitution and in this way its claim of “largest democracy in the world” is getting badly exposed, the spokesman in a statement said.

Paying tributes to both, the spokesman quoting Geelani

said that Bhat and Guru are heroes of the Kashmiri nation and we are proud of them. He said thousands of our valiant and bold people have sacrificed their precious lives for this cause but the Bhat and Guru are two separate cases among those who were detained, ex-ecuted and buried in the same jail and in the same month.

Geelani pays tributes to Maqbool, Guru


Srinagar: While paying rich tributes to Muhammad Maq-bool Bhat and Muhammad Afzal Guroo, conglomerate of militant outfits United Jihad Council Friday said that their hangings gave a new lease of life to Kash-

mir Freedom Struggle.Syed Salahuddin, the UJC Chief

said that all efforts were made to suppress the sentiments and Kash-mir Movement by executing Bhat and Guroo but the Movement sur-faced with great vigor.

“The armed struggle is go-ing on. People are confronting India to attain their objective. The 9 and 11 February verdicts of Indian courts remind us that justice and impartiality are sub-servient to Indian will,” he said adding the freedom of Sun will rise in Kashmir. Salahuddin re-iterated that nobody will be al-lowed to compromise with the blood of youth.

Feb 9 and 11 verdicts remind us that justice is subservient in India: UJC


Amritsar: Dal Khalsa on Friday paid tributes to Maqbool Bhat and Afzal Guru on their anni-versaries that fall on 9th and 11th of Feb respectively, saying that they sacrificed their lives to ensure the people of Kashmir get freedom from India.

Party leader Harpal Singh Cheema and Kanwarpal Singh in a press statement said the In-dia hanged Bhatt on 11th Feb in 1984 and set his soul free, which through multiple mouths was shouting for Kashmir's Azaadi.

Highly critical of the secret

execution of Afzal Guru, the Sikh organization said the “hanging of Guru was a purely political decision taken by the then Indian government to appease the majority com-munity and consolidate their vote-bank.”

Praising Bhat's mother Bibi Shahmala for sacrificing her four sons for Kashmir cause, they termed her 'courageous lady' with whom they met in Trehgam few years ago. “We ad-mire her dedication, spirit and affection towards the martyrs of faith, because it’s rare to see,” they said.

Dal Khalsa pays tribute to Maqbool Bhat


SRINAGAR, FEBRUARY 08: Director, Information & Pub-lic Relations (DIPR) Tariq Ahmad Zargar Friday re-viewed the functioning of Kashmir Division offices of the department here at a meeting. Joint Direc-tor Kashmir Mohammed Ashraf Hakak briefed the Director about the overall functioning of the director-ate including distribution of advertisements, payment of bills on behalf of advertise-ments, liabilities and other related aspects. The Direc-tor also took stock of the functioning of PR section, including the availability of human resource and ma-chinery in the Newsroom. Highlighting the importance

of the PR section, the Direc-tor said the News unit plays an important role in ensur-ing timely dissemination of information with regard to government schemes and programs. He said the up-keep of the section needs to be maintained at all the costs. The respective heads were directed to maintain the official records by using available technological in-terventions.

A threadbare discussion was also held regarding the alternate accommodation for Kashmir Division of-fices. Zargar directed the concerned to ensure that suitable accommodation is identified which is acces-sible to the Directorate DIPR, Government offices and to the media houses.

Zargar reviews function of Kashmir division


JAMMU, FEBRUARY 8: Observing that mediation can hugely reduce the stress of litigation and delay in judicial delivery system, Chief Justice, Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Justice Gita Mittal, on Fri-day exhorted legal practitioners to work towards making mediation as a movement in the state.

“Mediation is a way of life and has a potential to be most effec-tive instrument towards ensur-ing expeditious disposal of cases through amicable communication and negotiation”, the Chief Justice said while inaugurating 3-day Re-fresher Workshop on Mediation for Lawyers organized by the Me-diation and Conciliation Commit-

tee of the High Court in collabo-ration with Jammu and Kashmir Government here today.

The Chief Justice sought syner-gized efforts by the judicial officers and lawyers towards institutional-ization of the mechanism of me-diation for the larger benefit and satisfaction of the litigant public.

“Mediation has to be taken for-ward as a movement to deal with ever mounting legal disputes in the society”, she maintained and said that it is the best alternate medium of justice dispensation. She calledfor optimum use of me-diation by the judges and lawyers for the larger interest on the peo-ple in distress.

Resolution by Mediation facili-tates the parties to decide the out-

come of the decision themselves and come out with a more satis-fying resolution of disputes, she added. Chief Justice, while recog-nizing and appreciating the value of Mediation in today’s world of chaos and confusion, exhorted upon all the stakeholders to con-tribute their part in this regard. Judges and lawyers should make earnest efforts to engage the par-ties to take the path of mediation in addressing their disputes, add-ing that this can also help in reduc-ing the pendency of chronic cases.

Appreciating the efforts of Me-diation and Conciliation Com-mittee in holding such educative workshops and refresher courses, the Chief Justice said that this workshop will definitely do won-

ders towards adding to the knowl-edge of the Mediation Lawyers besides enhancing their excellence and expertise in the field. She ex-horted upon the participants to learn the innovative methods and techniques of Mediation from the eminent experts and make opti-mum use of the same.

Justice TashiRabstan, Chairman Mediation and Conciliation Com-mittee, J&K HC, in his welcome address, said that an amicable resolution of disputes is the civili-zation and essence of ancient India and this must be carried forward with great vigour and devotion. He gave the status of the functioning of the Mediation Centres in the State adding that the Committee has provided training to number of

Mediation Lawyers. He expressed hope that the most experienced Resource persons would enable the participants further hone up their skills in Mediation.

Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, Justice Sanjay Kumar Gupta, Jus-tice Sindhu Sharma, Sanjay Dhar, Registrar General, Mr V.C Koul PDJ Jammu, Jawad Ahmad, Principal Secretary to Chief Justice, J&K High Court, RK Wattal, Registrar Vigi-lance, Mohammad Akram Choud-hary Member Secretary J&K State Legal Services Authority, MsBala Jyoti Registrar Rules (Coordina-tor, Mediation and Conciliation Committee) Jammu Province, Ra-jeev Gupta, Director J&K Judicial Academy, Sonia Gupta, Registrar Judicial, Judicial officers, President

JK Bar Association Jammu, B S Sal-athia, Senior advocates, were also present on the occasion. Promi-nent Resource Persons from Delhi including Mr A.S Chandhiok, Mr J.P. Singh, Mr Sudhanshu Batra, Ms. Sadhana Ramachandran, Ms. Veena Ralli, Ms. Amita Sehgal and

Anuj Aggarwal were also present during the sessions.

The first session of the work-shop was chaired by Chief Justice and the topics covered were Medi-ation: The Road Ahead Interactive Session and Understanding and Transforming Conflict.

Mediation leads to expeditious disposal of cases, cuts delays: CJExhorts legal practitioners to work towards making mediation a movement in JK


Hajin: The residents of Hajin town of north Kashmir’s Bandi-pora district Friday alleged that snow has not been cleared from main roads as a result people have been facing great incon-

venience. Locals said that both main and link roads have not been attended and the snow ac-cumulation has been irking peo-ple. They alleged that Municipal authorities failed to clear the main roads. “We don’t know why Municipal authorities have not

shown any interest to get these roads cleared. Authorities are in slumber,” the locals said adding that students too are facing diffi-culties in reaching their coaching centres.Due to non-clearance of roads, drivers are also facing difficulties in driving.

Snow blocks Hajin roads

Guv Grieved Over Loss of Lives JAMMU, FEBRUARY 8: Governor Satya Pal Malik has expressed grief over loss of precious lives due to snow avalanche at Jawahar Tunnelwhere an avalanche had struck a police post last evening.

In his message Governor has prayed for eternal peace to the departed souls and strength to the bereaved families in their hour of grief.

Saturday| 09-02-2019

Sunday Observer

Send your write ups and feedback at [email protected]

No Holds Barredk a s h m i r

Editor-in-Chief : Sajjad Haider

Legal Counsel: Tasaduq KhwajaSwitchboard: (0194) 2106304Editorial: (0194) 2502327Email editorial: [email protected] & Published by Sajjad Haider on behalf of the Kashmir Observer LLPPublished from: # 1- Boulevard, Srinagar-190001Printed at: KT Press Pvt. Ltd, Rangreth Ind Area, Srinagar.RNI Registration No: 69503/98Postal Registration No-L/159/KO/SK/2014-16

All in A days work

...

Climate phenomenon can’t be undone, we are restricted indoors due to heavy snowfall, no paths to tread outside, though we have global access electronically but one cannot walk to neigh-bours house!Perhaps for real progress we need to do more in future and explore in every aspect. Our future houses may need to have healthcare- rooms as well.

Ahmad Kashmiri -Muslims are 14.2% of India’s population. The share of Mus‏lims as high level (Group A) officials in Central Government Departments:Civil Services-4.8%, Railways & Telegraph-2.5%, Post & Services-3.8%, Security agencies-3.1%, Banks-1.7%, University-3.7% , PSU-2.3%, (Sachar Report)

Ashok SwainAs snow falls on ground the airfares touch the sky! Another ‘peace’ indicator and symbol of ‘normalcy’.

Gowhar Geelani

Surendra in ‘The Hindu’

Think!Opinion, Analysis, Essays

...

Pakistan’s Kashmir conference

PaKiStaN sponsored international conference on Kashmir held at the UK parliament on tuesday ad-opted a resolution calling for the settlement of the Kashmir issue in accordance with the relevant UN

Security Council Resolutions of Kashmir. the resolution urged the international Community including the United Nations “to take immediate and effective measures to ad-dress the human rights situation in Kashmir”. the confer-ence was addressed by Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, Mem-ber British House of Lords, Sayeeda Warsi, shadow British Foreign Minister Debbie abrahams, Liberal Democrat MP tom Brake and ex-Prime Minister of Norway Kjell Magne Bondevick. Bondevick’s presence was important as he re-cently visited both sides of divided Kashmir to hold dialogue with the political and civil society groups. in Srinagar, he held meeting with Syed ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. He was among the major speakers at the conference and is reported to have highlighted the prevailing humani-tarian situation in the state. the resolution adopted by the participants condemned the human rights violations and loss of innocent lives through the use of pellet guns and dis-proportionate use of force in Kashmir.

Pakistan has been observing Kashmir Solidarity Day with great fanfare since 1990. the day is generally marked by the protest rallies and the solidarity speeches in the coun-try. However, this time round, Pakistan chose to do some-thing markedly different, holding a high profile conference at UK Parliament to try and draw the global attention to-wards Kashmir. By that yardstick, the conference can boast of some success as it was participated by Debbie abrahams, tom Brake and Bondevick. and more importantly, it got the participants to call for the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions which call for holding of UN-supervised plebiscite to let Kashmiris choose between india and Pakistan.

Pakistan also made an effort to leverage the recent Unit-ed Nations human rights report on Kashmir which detailed the atrocities perpetrated in the state over the past many several years.

However, Pakistan’s efforts over the past many years to internationalize Kashmir have hardly borne any fruit. World doesn’t seem to care much about what is happening in the state. New Delhi effectively controls the way the world looks at Kashmir. in fact, the world is now more partial towards india’s point of view on the state. Kash-mir is still largely seen more as an issue between india and Pakistan than a movement led by the people of the state. this depressing state of affairs has led to perpetua-tion of the bloodshed in Kashmir and undermined chanc-es of a settlement in the foreseeable future. Only ray of hope is for india and Pakistan to talk and sort the issue between themselves. Here’s hoping that after the election india does respond positively to Pakistan’s overtures for dialogue and seriously seeks to arrive at a solution to the festering issue.

o t h e r o p i N o N

Beware of scams on the internet

iF it’s too good to be true, it’s too good to be true. that’s an old truism that needs to be restated and taken to heart by anyone who believes that money can easily be made or jobs easy to come by. they’re not. and that’s the re-

ality of life. it’s a reality too that needs to be taken to heart by those who turn to the internet and seek out employment through such scams as proffered by Wisdom Jobs, an indian firm based in Cyber towers in Hyderabad.

as revealed through Gulf News, Wisdom Jobs is nothing more than a shell, managing to extract exorbitant fees from unsuspecting job hunters who are taken in by their claims of more than 80,000 jobs in Dubai alone. Some job hunters have parted with as much as Dh6,400 before they realised that they had been had. and there’s no job at the end of the rainbow, just a gaping hole in personal accounts from monies paid to Wisdom Jobs for supposedly forwarding resumes to non-exis-tent employers. Yes, it is cruel; yes, it preys on the vulnerable; and yes, it plays on the desire for personal betterment, seem-ingly at a price that those duped are willing to pay.

it’s also said that a fool and his money are soon parted. that’s a truism that certainly needs to be borne in mind in any dealings at any time on the internet. Cyberspace is ram-pant with shady offers and all manners of ways to separate money from those clicking through get-rich schemes, hiring professionals through ads or investing for your pension. Yes, and you can find a thai wife, a Russian bride and buy part of the Brooklyn Bridge or swamp land in Florida perfect for any aspiring real estate investor.

Prospective job hunters need to keep their wits around them, and if any employment agency charges any fee to appli-cants at any time, it is a scam. in reality, companies hire job agencies to find suitable candidates. if you’re asked for money at any time by any company for job searches, it is a scam. and if you’re foolish enough to part with your money, there’s even less sense to throw good money after bad in the vain hope that something is going to come of it.

if you are looking for a job through internet searches, use reputable sites that are dedicated to finding work. Keep your wits about you too — and your money in your pocket. after all, if it’s too good to be true, it’s simply too good to be true.

Gulf News

Bureaucracy Verses JudiciaryT

he State Judiciary ad-ministers a common law system of legal jurisdic-tion, in which customs,

precedents and legislation, all codify the law of the land. The judiciary interprets the Consti-tution as its final arbiter. It is its duty as mandated by the Con-stitution, to be its watchdog, by calling for scrutiny of any act of the legislature or the executive, who otherwise, are free to enact or implement these, from over-stepping bounds set for them by the Constitution. It acts like a guardian in protecting the fun-damental rights of the people, as enshrined in the Constitution, from infringement by any organ of the state. It also balances the conflicting exercise of power between the centre and a state or among states, as assigned to them by the Constitution.

Common man being at the re-ceiving end justice is like a god, where he expects solution to his problems when all other doors are shut on him/her. this institution symbolises for the justice seeker the safeguard of equality, freedom, rights and privileges guarenteed under the Constitution. However, unfortunately for bureaucrats and govt officers it is just a mockery. they are using it for their own interests and conveniences and hardly pay heed to court orders. Usually they don’t bother to sub-mit objections years together, not-withstanding implementing court order is for away. For non compli-ance, court used to send contempt

notices as an extreme tool which nowadays also end up in trash bin.

the reason for non coopera-tion is vivid. the Sarkari people know it very well that justice sys-tem has been rendered toothless more so by the laid back attitude of these babus by non-implemen-tation of the court judgements thus murdering justice by and large. the victims are left with only one option to see the court orders implemented that is to bribe the clerks who are at the helm of affairs. ironically some-times it works.

it would not be out of context to mention here that there are thousands of cases where court has passed final orders and are awaiting for its implementation. Unfortunately, their is no such option available where a nodal agency between administration and judiciary to monitor the im-plementation of court directions is put in place.

On 26-11-2018 in the open court, Hon’ble Chief Justice of J&K High Court observed that approximately 4000 contempt

petitions are pending before the Hon’ble High Court Srinagar thereby indicating that the Gov-ernment is not complying with the directions of Hon’ble Court.

the Hon’ble Chief Justice has observed that, in case the direc-tions issued by the court are not complied with, the court will be constrained to summon the ad-ministrative Secretaries/Heads of Departments for non compliance.

taking the cognisance in the matter, B V R Subrahmanyam Chief Secretary of J&K vide No. PS/CS/L/88/2018/1561 Dated 29-11-2018 directed all administrative Secretaries/Head of Departments “immediately review the contempt petitions pending against their de-partments in High Court both at Srinagar and Jammu, and take a well informed decision in each of these cases, if need be in consulta-tion with the department of Law Justice and Parliamentary affairs and ensure compliance with the Hon’ble Courts direction.”

after passing several orders by Chief Justice and Chief Secre-tary, things hardly moved the way the victim and equally the judi-ciary wanted them to move. Being a victim myself, i have personally witnessed how government offi-cers make mockery of these court orders disdainfully.

Author is an I.T. Engineer affliated with Technical Education

Department, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir . He can be reached at:

[email protected]

Hakim moHammad ilyas

Hon’ble Chief Justice of J&K High

Court observed that approximately 4000 contempt petitions are pending before the Hon’ble High Court Srinagar thereby indicating that the Government is not complying with the directions of Hon’ble Court. The Hon’ble Chief Justice has observed that, in case the directions issued by the court are not complied with, the court will be constrained to summon the Administrative Secretaries/Head of Departments for non compliance.

BaB in ' the Srinagar times'

‘Middle East, South AsiaGoing Through Big Change’

Qasim a. moini

VALI Reza Nasr is one of the most important voic-es in international rela-tions today. Currently

dean of the Johns hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in the US, he has advised the US State Depart ment as well as the Obama administration. The Ira-nian-American scholar has also written seminal books on Jamaat-i-Islami and Maulana Abul Al’a Maududi, as well as important works on Shia Islam and the new global Muslim middle class. Prof Nasr was recently in Karachi for the Adab Festival Pakistan and talked to Dawn about a range of regional and global issues.

Q: These are interesting times in the Middle East. What’s the forecast? Do we have more instability and war on the horizon or do you think things will settle down in a bit?

a: Well, in some places they will settle down, in some places there will be additional instability. a lot of is-sues that caused the arab Spring are still there. at some point they will resurface. On the other hand some conflicts like the ones in Yemen and in Syria may very well settle down into a less acute situation than is the case now.

Q: How serious is Team Trump about regime change in Iran?

a: i think there are three issues that are on the table. there’s a desire to renegotiate the nuclear deal and the president says he is ready to talk and he wants a new deal. there are those in the administration who want iran to change its policies and be-haviour vis-à-vis regional issues and there might be those who actually want to change the regime in iran al-together. i don’t think there’s a single policy in the trump administration.

i think the president himself is more interested in talking to iran than in regime change.

Q: You’ve worked with the Obama adminis-tration. During that time we saw an attempt to undermine the nezam [Iranian establish-ment] with the Green Movement as the US was supporting that. What differences do you see in the approach?

a: No, the Green Movement hap-pened within iran, it wasn’t done by the US. Whenever you have a popu-lar uprising of that kind, the United States instinctively supports it, gives it moral support, whether it was in Egypt, in iran … anywhere in the world. Now it’s different because now essentially the american adminis-tration is pushing for a significant change in iran’s government’s behav-iour. i think during the Obama ad-ministration the US government was mostly interested in dealing with the nuclear issue rather than the broader set of things.

Q: Moving beyond the Middle East, do you think Russia and the US are in a new Cold War?

a: Yes and no. Definitely relations between the United States and Rus-sia [have] deteriorated significantly. there [are] accusations of Russian interference in american elections. Russia is following policies that are counter to Nato and European in-terests. But Russia is not the Soviet Union. it doesn’t have the economic wherewithal, it’s not the ideological monolith it was then. Rather, Russia is playing more of a role of spoiler in international affairs. it’s challenging US authority, it’s challenging rules and norms that it believes constrain it. i think we are in a period of much greater friction with Russia, but it’s not a bipolar cold war anymore.

Q: You’ve done great work on Jamaat-i-Isl-ami and Maulana Maududi. What future do you see for Islamist parties in Pakistan and the rest of the Muslim world?

a: they are going to be relevant for some period of time. there are facts on the ground, there is momen-tum associated with their activity. there are constituencies that support them. But i think perhaps the heyday of islamic activism is gone. Particu-larly in Pakistan, islamic parties are not providing the solutions that soci-ety needs. there’s a reason why they are doing increasingly worse in elec-tions in Pakistan. the reason for that is they don’t provide any solutions.

islam itself will be relevant, the parties will perhaps be in the political process but i think the cutting edge of politics is moving elsewhere.

Q: What new work is in the pipeline as far as books go?

a: i’m very interested in the is-sue of what comes to the Middle East and South asia in terms of the next regional order and next geostrate-gic order and how that fits into the broader global shifts that we’re see-ing in great power rivalry between the US, Russia and China. i think the Middle East and South asia are going through a period of very pro-found change both with the domestic make-up of many countries but also in terms of regional power, in terms

of the way in which the distribution and balance of power in these re-gions work. and that feeds into the issues like rise of China, new poli-tics in Russia, changing attitude of the United States. So that’s what i’m working on — sort of a grand strate-gy, if you would, for the Middle East and South asia.

Q: And what sort of order are we looking at?a: i think it’s yet to be decided.

i think what we are seeing is that in the Middle East, the Middle East that we thought of as dominated by the arab world with iran, turkey and israel sitting outside is gone. the arab world in large measure is much weaker after the arab Spring.

it is iran, turkey and israel that yield a lot more power. in fact the most im-portant rivalry in my opinion is not between iran and Saudi arabia, it’s really between iran and israel. and turkey is now making much more of a concerted challenge to Saudi ara-bia for leadership of the Sunni world, and leadership of the Muslim Broth-erhood, which is a big arab entity. So there is a shift of power away from the arabs to the non-arabs.

in South asia we are beginning to look at the endgame in afghanistan, which has in many ways decided the dynamics of politics between iran, Pakistan, Central asia, China and india. that will also change the way in which these actors relate to one another. and then there are other developments like CPEC [that] rep-resents a major intrusion of China into regional politics, that’s decisive in the balance of power between india and Pakistan, between Pakistan and other regional actors. and that may not be the end. China may also make other, similar pushes into iran, into afghanistan, into Central asia that plays into global politics.

Dawn

IndIan history is replete with stories of Tawaif’s. a Tawaif was a highly sophisticated courtesan who catered to the nobility of the Indian subcontinent, particularly during the

Mughal era.. Famous Bollywood movie devdas highlighted beautifully how women Tawaif’s were meant only to entertain people and have no life of their own. But Tawaif’s had a class of their own and enjoyed a peculiar status in society as they were related to nobility.

While for majority of us birth of a baby (wheth-er it’s a boy or a girl) brings joy, in India it’s not the case for many families. Girls are unwanted and discriminated against all their lives … simply be-cause of their gender.

This discrimination can explain why girls are still pushed to unpleasant trade of prostitution which no more enjoys even the class of Tawaif. a prostitute is a person who is legally defined as one “who allows her body to be used for lewd purposes in return for payment”. Prostitution is the sale of sexual services for money. The very word itself speaks about the plight of women and the univer-sality of this issue is no secret as it isn’t just India but throughout the world prostitution has become a profession either of choice or compulsion.

Prostitution is technically illegal but widely practiced in India today. By one count it is an $8 billion a year industry with more than two million prostitutes and 275,000 brothels. In another count in all of India, there are as many as 10 million com-mercial sex workers and their core clientele has traditionally been truck drivers, migrant workers and other men separated from their families for long periods of time.

Many teenage girls turn to prostitution to raise money for their families or out of need for money to deal with a debt or a problem related to their husbands. Some village girls are tricked into entering the trade in the cities with promises of good money or another kind of job. One survey found that a third of all prostitute enter the trade because of poverty and more than a forth become prostitutes after marital problems.

Devadasi CustomThe prostitution has continued from ancient

and medieval India but has now reached an alarm-ing scale in modern India. The devadasi system still continues ,according to a report of national Human Rights Commission of the Government of India. “after initiation as devadasis, women mi-grate either to nearby towns or other far-off cities to practice prostitution”, the report says.

The practice of dedicating devadasis was de-clared illegal by the Government of Karnataka in 1982 and the Government of andhra Pradesh in 1988. However the practice is still prevalent in around 10 districts of north Karnataka and 14 dis-tricts in andhra Pradesh. districts bordering Ma-harashtra and Karnataka, known as the “devadasi belt,” have trafficking structures operating at vari-ous levels. The women here are in prostitution ei-ther because their husbands deserted them, or they are trafficked through coercion and deception.

Compared to last century, today prostitution in India has flourished into a full-fledged multibillion dollar industry alone in India, with around two hun-dred thousand brothels, millions of commercial sex workers and this all just for sake of money. “Most of these women were either forced by gang mem-bers and others to take up this profession or were betrayed with false promises of a job. Both the cen-tral government and the state governments have enacted statutes to repress and abolish prostitution.

By some estimates child prostitution in India is a multi-billion dollar industry.

India may have half a million children in brothels, more than any other country in the world. Many are barely in their teens. a shocking number have HIV or aIdS. no children enter the prostitution trade on their free will. Some are run-aways or victims of abuse. Other have been sold by their parents, abducted or enticed by gifts. Be-tween 5,000 and 7,000 young girls are brought from nepal to India to become prostitutes every year. Children are also brought in from Bangladesh. ac-cording to human rights groups, about 90 percent of the Bombay prostitutes are indentured servants,

with close to half trafficked from nepal. Some families sell their daughters into prostitution. an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 nepalese women have been shipped to India as prostitutes and sex slaves, with between 5,000 and 7,000 new girls, usually be-tween 10 and 20, arriving every year. Many of them are brought by traffickers who sell the girls for as little as $1,000 a piece.

Some Countries around the World That Have Legalized Prostitution

new Zealand; – Prostitution has been legal for Kiwis since 2003

austria: – Prostitution is completely legal in austria. Prostitutes are required to register, un-dergo periodic health examinations, be 19 years old or older, and pay taxes.

Belgium: – They have been trying to remove the stigma, violence and fear associated with pros-titution by not just legalizing it but also running proper state of the art brothels with fingerprint technology and keycards! 4. Bangladesh:- Male prostitution is illegal, but everything else is legal.

Where does India stand?Prostitution itself is not illegal in India, but

soliciting and public prostitution is illegal. Own-ing a brothel is also against the law, but, as places like GB Road and Kamathipura prove, these laws are rarely enforced. Prostitutes suffer from moral collapse and lose their status and position which other respectable men and women enjoy in so-ciety. Respectable people hate them, avoid their company and want to isolate them in society. as a result, the pimp and the prostitute become ‘hated and isolated islands’. They lead a life with their own definition of promiscuous sex conduct and a life with their own definitions of promiscuous sex conduct and immoral principle. This will be quite different from the society’s conception of morality.

Causes of prostitution:Ill treatment by parents, bad company, fam-

ily prostitutes, social customs, inability to arrange marriage, lack of sex education, media, prior incest and rape besides early marriage and desertion.

Lack of recreational facilities, ignorance, and acceptance of prostitution too are cited as reasons. Economic causes include poverty and economic distress. Psychological causes include desire for physical pleasure, greed, and dejection. and al-though many laws have been made to protect them but few are implemented .But why despite the fast growing GdP and modernity does India still have a spiraling rate of honour killings, dowry deaths, acid attacks and trafficking and why do these crimes go unpunished, including the horrific crime of female infanticide? In a society where eco-nomics and hunger drive decisions, the girl child becomes a dispensable commodity.

For Indian society, the protests over rape, prosti-

tution, the angry morchas against dowry, the rising clamor for equality in jobs, in law, in education and in the eyes of society, are only the nascent awakening of a struggle. Yet, as it gathers momentum, it spells a time for reckoning. Formal education should be made available to those victims who are still within the school going age, while non-formal education should be made accessible to adults. Rehabilitation and rein-tegration of rescued victims being a long-term recruit-ment of adequate number of trained counselors and social workers in institutions/homes run by the gov-ernment independently or in collaboration with non-governmental organizations. awareness generation and legal literacy on economic rights, particularly for women and adolescent girls should be taken up.

Girls and women are forced to take up this profession because of extreme poverty. Hence training and education should be provided to them. Imparting education, training and skills will increase the employability of women in job market. Economic empowerment can prevent the poor women from entering this degraded profes-sion. Public should be enlightened on the legisla-tions and if any such nuisances in the surround-ing areas are found then, immediately one should come forward to report this event. Besides, films stimulating sex interest and pornographic litera-ture should be discouraged. The present younger generation has a free access to Internet. In internet there are many sites which are capable of bring-ing down the moral standards among youngsters, hence, parents should be cautious about the inter-net habits of their children.

Widow remarriage should be encouraged. With Widow Remarriage act widow became free to marry. Unfortunately the restriction of society on widow marriage has perpetuated. The system of dowry which debarred many girls from get-ting married should be discouraged. There is an urgent need to change the society’s attitude to-wards the widow marriage, dowry and devadasi custom. Central and state governments through social welfare boards should prepare schemes for rehabilitation all over the country for physically and sexually abused women commonly known as the “prostitutes” as we are of the view that the prostitutes also have a right to live with dignity under article 21of the Constitution of India since they are also human beings and their problems also need to be addressed. as already observed, a woman is compelled to indulge in prostitution not for the pleasure but because of abject poverty. If such woman is granted opportunity to avail some technical or vocational training, she would be able to earn her livelihood by such vocational training and skill instead of by selling her body.

-------------------------------Author Is Law Student And Presently A Legal

Intern At Supreme Court Of India.

Saturday| 09-02-2019Think!Opinion, Analysis, Essays

Sajad Farooq rather

Prostitution, Trade Of Bodies Plight Of Woman

By some estimates child

prostitution in India is a multi-billion dollar industry. India may have half a million children in brothels, more than any other country in the world. Many are barely in their teens. A shocking number have HIV or AIDS. No children enter the prostitution trade on their free will. Some are runaways or victims of abuse. Other have been sold by their parents, abducted or enticed by gifts. Between 5,000 and 7,000 young girls are brought from Nepal to India to become prostitutes every year. Children are also brought in from Bangladesh.

IT'S been three decades since Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. Since the first email was sent and the first word was typed in a search engine, our lives have been completely

transformed. The library became a thing of the past as humans started to enjoy a more widespread access to information. The explosion of online information and social interactions is having an abiding impact on the human brain - on how we think, process infor-mation and solve problems. The brain never tires of adapting to a changing environment.

neuroscience has taken a long hard look at subtle ways in which the Internet is altering the function-ing of our brains. Researchers Evan F. Risko and Sam Gilbert have studied the Internet's precipitous effect, which they termed cognitive offloading. This is how Google Maps has slowly suppressed our sense of di-rection. I need not memorise my friend's birthday because Facebook does the job for me. Studies show that we have lower rates of recall of the most trivial information that we know will be accessible online. In a sense, this amounts to offloading our memory into the cloud. Futurist Ray Kurzweil suggests that our neocortex, the part of brain involved in higher-order brain functions such as sensory perception and cognition, is getting extended to the cloud. In essence, we are backing up our brains in the cloud, making our cognitive process more extensible.

not everyone is impressed. In 2009, nicholas Carr's book The Shallows: What the Internet Is doing to Our Brains, advanced a theory that the Internet and more specifically Google has been tinkering with his brain, remapping the neural circuitry, repro-

gramming the memory.He strongly believes that the Internet is slowly

reducing our ability to form long term memories. But perhaps his most interesting commentary in 2013 was on 'the death of deep reading'. He notes that the new style of writing on blogs and Twitter reflects our pref-erence for absorbing information in small chunks be-cause we are unable to pay attention to an idea or a story for an extended period.

On the Internet, human attention is a scare re-source. as netizens, we are experiencing continuous partial attention that dithers between our brain's heightened distraction and its incessant adjustment to continuous stimuli of 'the new', rather than 'the important'. Yet the most disturbing development is the diminishing human connection at a deeper empa-thetic level that is more plausible when socialising in the physical world. The provocative culture of troll-ing that lacks empathy altogether has unfolded in the absence of real-world contact.

There is science behind our need for self-disclo-

sure. On new Year's Eve when Burj Khalifa burst into a stunning visual delight of fireworks, most of us standing below the world's tallest building were feast-ing our eyes through our phone cameras, to be later shared on social media.

But then again concerns about our changing cog-nitive process is not new. Every new medium of in-formation has had its share of doomsayers. Printed books initially attracted the criticism that they de-stroyed our ability to reflect. The abacus and the cal-culator had already initiated the process of cognitive offloading. The Luddites of today call out the scourge of mindless scrolling brought on by social media, thus inhibiting us from socialising in the physical world.

While parts of our brains are getting subverted by cognitive offloading, other parts are getting more developed because of heightened neural activities. For example, we may not be as good at remembering information, but we are definitely better at finding it. In 2007, UCLa professor Gary W. Small monitored the brain activity of experienced and novice users of

Google search. He found that experienced users ex-hibited much more mental activity than novice users, especially in the areas of the brain reserved for deci-sion making and problem solving.

Risko and Gilbert reckon that people will use technol-ogy when they think it is superior to their own capabilities. My driver initially refused to take directions from Google Maps. He eventually made peace with the app after he recognised his inability to compete with Google's routing algorithm to find the fastest route. Cognitive offloading al-lows humans to extend beyond their cognitive boundaries, which in many situations may not be a bad thing.

With the increase in life expectancy, the aged can use the Internet to remain engaged and self-reliant. Strategy games hold the promise of reducing chances of dementia and alzheimer's disease.

Our fleeting experiences immortalised by Insta-gram and Facebook posts are sources of both social rewards and dissonance. Social media has revealed the overwhelming impact of a great photo or a video for telling a story. This is because visual memory is retained in the brain's medial temporal lobe, where emotions are also processed. Hence visuals have a more lasting impact on us. We should be self-aware and discerning, when we fill our lives with views, tweets, posts and check-ins because our brains are getting visually induced stimuli.

The long-term effect of the Internet on our brains will be understood long after we are gone.

One way or the other the Internet is undoubtedly rewiring our brains. We are what we browse and post.

khaleej times

Net's Making Us Smarter, Let's Make Our Peace With It

We are what we post, share or tweet. Our brains are being rewired.

Shalini Verma

Life TIMES

Saturday | 09-02-2019 08

T O R O N -TO: People who

frequently lose their train of thought or often become

sidetracked may be displaying ear-lier symptoms of cerebral small vessel

disease, also known as a "silent stroke," a study warns. The study, published in the

journal Neurobiology of Aging, found that adults with damage to the brain's white matter,

caused by silent strokes, reported poor attentive-ness and being distracted more frequently

on day-to-day tasks.Despite these complaints,

about half of the people with identified white matter dam-

age scored within the normal range on formal laboratory as-

sessments of attention and execu-tive function. The executive function is

a person's ability to plan, stay organised and maintain focus on overall goals.

"Our results indicate that in many cases of people who were at a higher risk of silent stroke and had one, they saw a notable difference in their ability to stay fo-cused, even before symptoms became detectable through a neuropsycho-logical test," said Ayan Dey from the University of Toronto in Canada.

"If a person feels this may be the case, concerns should be

brought to a doctor, es- pe-cially if the person has a

health condition or l i f e -style that puts t h e m

at a higher risk of s t r o k e or heart

disease," Dey said. Cerebral

small vessel dis-ease is one of the

most common neu-rological disorders of

ageing. This type o f

stroke and changes in the brain's blood flow (vas-cular changes) are connected to the development of vascular de-mentia and a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. The strokes are "silent" since they do not cause lasting major changes seen with an overt stroke, such as affecting a person's ability to speak or paralysis. Despite a lack of obvious symptoms, cerebral small vessel disease causes damage to the brain's white mat-ter (responsible for communication among regions), which can cause memory and cognitive issues over time. Typically, this type of stroke is uncovered incidentally

through MRI scans or once the brain damage has worsened, said Dey.

"There are no effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease, but brain vascular

changes can be prevented or reduced through smoking cessation, exercise, diet and stress management, as well as keeping one's blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol under control," said Brian Levine from the University of To-

ronto. "With the right diagnosis, these interventions and lifestyle changes give

older adults who are at risk for cogni-tive decline some options for maintain-

ing brain health," Levine said.The study looked at results from 54

adults (between the ages of 55 to 80), who also possessed at least one risk factor for a stroke,

such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, sleep apnea, a history of smoking, past mini strokes and advanced age above 75. Research participants had their brains scanned by MRI and scientists analysed brain tissue damage, specifically in re-lation to white matter, to determine injuries caused by cerebral small vessel disease.

They also took part in a number of neurocognitive tests and question-naires that assessed their at-tention and executive function. (PTI)

??

IF A PERSON FEELS THIS MAY BE THE

case, concerns should be brought to a doctor, especially if the person has a health condition or lifestyle that puts them at a higher risk of stroke or heart disease."

MEDICAL MARVELResearchers One Step

Closer To Creating Made-To-Order Human KidneysTOKYO: Researchers say they have successfully grown functional kid-neys inside rats using just a few donor stem cells, an advance with significant implications for human organ transplantation.

For patients with end-stage renal disease, a kidney transplant is the only hope for regaining quality of life, according to the study published in the journal Nature Communications.

Yet many of these patients will never undergo transplant surgery due to a

chronic shortage of donor kidneys, said researchers from the National Institute for

Physiological Sciences in Japan. With 95,000 patients on the waiting list for a donor kidney

in the US alone, demand far outstrips supply, they said. However, researchers have been work-

ing on ways to grow healthy organs outside the human body. One such method, called blastocyst

complementation, has already produced promis-ing results. Researchers take blastocysts, the clusters

of cells formed several days after egg fertilisation, from mutant animals missing specific organs and inject

them with stem cells from a normal donor, not necessarily of the same species. The stem cells then differentiate to form

the entire missing organ in the resulting animal.The new organ retains the characteristics of the original stem

cell donor, and can thus potentially be used in transplantation ther-apy. "We previously used blastocyst complementation to generate rat

pancreas in a pancreatic mutant mice," said Teppei Goto, the lead author of

the study."We, therefore, decided to inves-

tigate whether the method could be used to generate functional kidneys, which would have much greater appli-cation in regenerative medicine owing to the high donor demand," Goto said.

Initial attempts by the researchers to grow rat kidneys in mice proved unsuccessful, as rat stem cells did not readily differentiate into the two main types of cells needed for kidney for-mation. However, when the reverse scenario was attempted, mouse stem cells efficiently differentiated inside rat blastocysts, forming the basic structures of a kidney. After being implanted into pseudo-pregnant rats, the complemented blastocysts ma-tured into normal fetuses, research-ers said. More than two-thirds of the resulting rat neonates contained a pair of kidneys derived from the mouse stem cells. Further screening showed that all of the kidneys were structurally intact, and at least half could potential-ly produce urine.

"Our findings confirm that interspe-cific blastocyst complementation is a viable method for kidney generation," said study corresponding author Ma-sumi Hirabayashi.

Flaxseed May Help Boost Gut Health, Fight Obesity: Study

The Future Is Hot2018 Was The 4Th Consecutive Warmest Year But Next 5 Years Could Break New RecordsWASHINGTON: While 2018 was the fourth-warmest year on re-cord, British meteorologists are predicting the next five years will be much hotter, maybe even record-breaking.

Two US agencies, the United Kingdom Met Office and the World Meteorological Organiza-tion analysed global temperatures in slightly different ways, but each came to the same conclusion on Wednesday that 2018 was the fourth-warmest year on record behind 2016, 2015 and 2017.

The US government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-ministration said 2018's average temperature was 58.42 degrees

(14.69 Celsius), which is 1.42 de-grees (0.79 Celsius) warmer than the 20th century average. Much of Europe had its warmest years on record. Records go back to 1880.

NASA and NOAA climate scien-tists said even though 2018 was a tad cooler than the three previous years that's mostly due to random weather variations. "Never mind the little wiggles from year to year. The trend is going relentlessly up, and it will continue to do so. Those who live in denial of this fact are in denial of physics," Potsdam Insti-tute climate scientist Stefan Rahm-storf said in an email.

The obvious long-term trend of steady warming makes it easier to

more accurately predict near future warming, said NASA chief climate scientist Gavin Schmidt. The US temperature in 2018 was the 14th warmest on average, said NOAA cli-mate monitoring chief Deke Arndt.

Last year was also the third wet-test on record in the US. Nine east-ern states had their wettest years on record, "an exclamation point on a trend of big rain" in the age of climate change, Arndt said. There were 14 weather and climate disasters that cost more than USD 1 billion, for a total of USD 91 billion, Arndt said. The damage included Hurricane Michael's USD 25 billion tally and USD 24 billion each from Hurricane Florence and the western wildfires. (Agencies)

LONDON: Consuming flaxseed may change the microbes in the gut to im-prove metabolic health and protect against diet-induced obesity, accord-ing to a study conducted in mice.

The organisms that live in the diges-tive tract (gut microbiota) play a role in regulating weight and the way the body processes sugar (glucose tolerance), ac-cording to the study published in the American Journal of Physiology—Endo-crinology and Metabolism.

The breakdown of dietary fibre in the gut—a process called fermentation—can produce favourable changes in the di-gestive system, such as an increase in beneficial fatty acids, which may reduce the production of fat tissue in the body

and improve immune function.Flaxseed is a fibre-rich plant that

has been shown to improve choles-terol levels and inflammation in the colon, said researchers from the Uni-versity of Copenhagen in Denmark.

However, there is little research on the fermentability of flaxseed and how flaxseed fibre affects gut microbiota.

Researchers studied mice assigned to four different diets: a standard diet that contained 4.6 per cent soy-based fibre ("control"); a high-fat diet that with no fibre ("high-fat"); a high-fat diet that con-tained 10 per cent indigestible cellulose fibre ("cellulose"); and a high-fat diet with 10 per cent flaxseed fibre ("flaxseed").

The team measured the amount of

oxygen the mice used, carbon dioxide produced, food and water consumed and energy expended.

Glucose tolerance was also measured near the end of the trial. At the end of 12 weeks, the researchers examined the animals' cecal contents—bacteria and other biological materials in the pouch

that forms the beginning of the large intestine (cecum).

The high-fat group had fewer bac-teria associated with improved meta-bolic health, lower levels of beneficial fatty acids and more of a bacterium linked to obesity when compared to the other groups.

Bacteria levels in both the cellu-lose and flaxseed groups returned to healthier levels when compared to the high-fat group.

The flaxseed group was more physi-cally active and had less weight gain than the other high-fat diet groups.

The mice that received flaxseed sup-plements also had better glucose con-trol and levels of beneficial fatty acids

that were comparable to the healthy control group, researchers said.

When examining the cecal contents, the team found evidence that the bacteria present ferment fibres from the thick, glue-like layer of the flaxseed shell. The bacteria that perform fermentation then produce more beneficial fatty acids.

"Our data suggest that flaxseed fibre supplementation affects host metabo-lism by increasing energy expenditure and reducing obesity as well as by im-proving glucose tolerance," researchers said. "Future research should be directed to understand relative contribution of the different microbes and delineate underly-ing mechanisms for how flaxseed fibres affect host metabolism," they said. (PTI)

Teach Your Kids How To Connect With The Real World

Pokemon GO can help boost physical activity

Jayashree Kulkarni

No one can really dis-pute the umpteen ben-efits of a smartphone.

They have allowed us ease of communication, we can con-nect with the world anywhere and at any time. But like every coin has two sides, so does the use of smartphone. Its early use by children is leav-ing a consequential impact on young minds. Why are they increasingly being used as modern pacifiers?

The rising screen time for children is a matter of con-cern. Children are unable to disconnect. Fear of missing out, or FoMo, is common among many. Even a few minutes of separation from

their digital devices is un-bearable. Many children get agitated, lose their cool. It's not their fault, addiction of digital devices is hard to cope with in the first place. But parents can prevent smart-phones from taking control over their child's life. It might be hard to educate young minds about the pitfalls of too much screen time, but with patience and reasoning you as a parent can help.

Moreover, set some ground rules. Children must not be allowed to use their phones before bedtime or in their bed rooms. We as parents have given them these devices, and now we must show them how to use them responsibly too. (Khaleej Times)

TOKYO: The popular augment-ed reality game Pokemon GO may boost physical activity in players over the age of 40, a study claims.

Researchers from University of Tokyo in Japan hope that the findings will inform urban plan-ners and game designers to in-spire people to be more active.

Augmented reality is when apps and games overlay a real-time camera feed with images, characters and data to provide all kinds of interactive experiences.

As a part of a health pro-gramme launched in 2014, about 2,580 participants were given pedometers which counted the steps they took in a day, and were surveyed on matters, including usage of location-based augmented re-ality games.

From this pool of participants, 230 subjects were chosen with as much in common as possible

to avoid other factors contribut-ing to results. Forty-six of them were players of Pokemon GO, and 184 were not.

“Game-makers and urban planners could factor what we’ve learned into their respec-tive activities,” said Kimihiro Hino, from University of Tokyo.

“I think Pokemon GO suc-ceeds where physical activ-ity games do not because it’s a game first with potential added health benefits. It’s pos-sible such games could serve as a gateway to further people’s enthusiasm for physical activ-ity,” said Hino.

Another hope is these results inspire urban planners to build more pedestrian areas into ur-ban centres. Hino would like to explore further the connections between augmented reality games and their impact, not just on physical activity itself but on attitudes towards exercise. (PTI)

09 | Saturday | 09-02-2019

BusinessSENSEX

GOLD

J&K BANKNIFTY

SILVER

HDFC BANKAXIS BANKICICI BANK

36,546.48

32,845.00

DOLLAR POUNDKUWAITI DINAREURO YUAN SAUDI RIYAL71.26 82.58 238.13 91.36 10.48 19.01

39.2010,943.60

36362.00

2,117.00721.15354.45

−424.61 (1.15%) −0.050 (0.13%)

−0.25 (0.012%)

−9.00 (1.23%)

−4.20 (1.17%)

−125.80 (1.14%)

55.00 ((99.9%)

-272.00 (-0.74%)

GoM favours cutting GST to 5pc on residential propertiesThe Group of Ministers was set up last month to analyse tax rates and issues being faced by the real estate.

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi: A panel of state min-isters Friday favoured lowering GST on under-construction resi-dential properties to 5 per cent, from 12 per cent currently.

The Group of Ministers, un-der Gujarat Deputy Chief Min-ister Nitin Patel, was set up last month to analyse tax rates and issues/challenges being faced by the real estate sector under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. In its first meeting, the GoM also favoured slashing GST on affordable housing from 8 per cent to 3 per cent. Officials said the report of the GoM would be finalised within a week and would be placed before the GST Council in its next meeting.

"The GoM favoured lowering GST rates on residential houses to 5 per cent without input tax credit and to 3 per cent for those under affordable housing," an of-

ficial said. Currently, GST is lev-ied at 12 per cent with Input tax credit (ITC) on payments made for under-construction property or ready-to-move-in flats where completion certificate has not been issued at the time of sale.

The effective pre-GST tax inci-dence on such housing property was 15-18 per cent. GST, how-ever, is not levied on buyers of real estate properties for which completion certificate has been issued at the time of sale. There have been complaints that build-ers are not passing on the ITC benefit to consumers by way of reduction in price of the prop-erty after the rollout of GST.

The GST Council, headed by Union Finance Minister and com-prising his state counterparts, had on January 10 decided to set up a GoM to look into ways to boost housing sector under GST.

The other ministers in the 7-member GoM are finance

ministers of Maharashtra Sudhir Mungantiwar , Karnataka Krish-na Byre Gowda, Kerala Thomas Isaac, Punjab Manpreet Singh Badal, Uttar Pradesh Rajesh Agar-wal and Goa Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho. Apart from Pa-

tel and Gondinho, Friday's GoM meeting was attended by Mun-gantiwar and Badal through vid-eo conferencing. Also other state ministers, who are part of the panel, too would be giving their views in a couple of days.

PSB NPAs decline to Rs 8,64,433 cr in Apr-Dec FY'19: Govt


New Delhi: Bad loans of pub-lic sector banks declined by more than Rs 31,000 crore to Rs 8,64,433 crore in the first nine months of the current fiscal as compared to end of March 2018, the government said Friday. Non Performing Assets (NPAs) or bad loans of the banks stood at Rs 8,95,601 crore at the end of pre-vious fiscal, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. Bad loans fell to Rs 8,75,619 crore as on June 2018 and further to Rs 8,64,433 crore in December 2018 (as per provisional data), he said. Shukla said presently the govern-ment is not considering any pro-posal for privatisation of PSBs. He said bad loans fell by Rs 31,168 crore in April-December 2018-19 compared to NPAs worth Rs 8,95,601 crore at March-end 2018.

NPAs declined as a result of the government's 4Rs strategy of rec-ognition, resolution, recapitalisa-tion and reforms, Shukla said.

"As per RBI inputs, the primary reasons for spurt in stressed as-sets have been...aggressive lend-ing practices, wilful default or loan frauds or corruption in some cases, and economic slowdown.

"Asset Quality Review (AQR)

initiated in 2015 for clean and fully provisioned bank balance-sheets revealed high incidence of NPAs," he said. As a result of AQR and subsequent transparent recognition by PSBs, stressed ac-counts were reclassified as NPAs and expected losses on stressed loans, not provided for earlier under flexibility given to restruc-tured loans, were provided for, he said. During the fourth quarter of 2017-18, all such schemes for re-

structuring stressed loans were withdrawn, he said.

"Primarily as a result of trans-parent recognition of stressed assets as NPAs, gross NPAs of PSBs as per RBI data on global operations, increased from Rs

2,27,264 crore as on March 31, 2014, to Rs 2,79,016 crore on March 31, 2015, Rs 5,39,968 crore on March 31, 2016 and Rs 6,84,732 crore as on March 31, 2017," he said.

With various steps taken by the government including the initiation of transparent recog-nition in 2015-16 till Decem-ber 2018, PSBs have success-fully recovered an amount of Rs 3,33,491 crore, he said.


Mumbai - BSE benchmark Sensex plummeted over 424 points Friday led by a sharp selloff in metal and auto stocks amid negative cues from the global markets on renewed con-cerns over the US-China trade tiff.

The 30-share index cracked 424.61 points, or 1.15 per cent, to finish at 36,546.48, while the broader NSE Nifty slumped 125.80 points, or 1.14 per cent to 10,943.60. Sudden selling in metal and auto counters led to a sharp drop at the fag end of the ses-sion, traders said.

Tata Motors was the biggest loser on Sensex, cracking 17.93 per cent, after the auto major reported its biggest ever quarterly net loss of Rs 26,960.8 crore for the December quarter, hit by one-time asset im-pairment in its struggling British arm Jaguar Land Rover. Other losers

included Vedanta, Tata Steel, NTPC, ONGC, L&T, M&M, Coal India, Maruti, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, ITC and HDFC, dropping up to 5.75 per cent. On the other hand, Kotak Bank, Bharti Air-tel, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance and Hero MotoCorp rose up to 0.95 per cent.

The BSE Metal index plunged 3.42 per cent, while the auto gauge shed 3.37 per cent. Sectorally, FMCG, banking and pharma indices also ended in the red. Realty was the only gainer. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 418.01 crore Thursday, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 294.11 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

On the global front, fears of an economic slowdown resurfaced af-ter US President Donald Trump said he does not expect to meet his Chi-nese counterpart Xi Jinping before

the March 1 deadline in trade war negotiations between the two super-powers. A top White House adviser Thursday said Washington and Bei-jing were still a "sizeable distance" apart in the trade talks, and no date has been set for a meeting between the countries' leaders. Dow Jones In-dustrial Average ended 0.87 per cent lower on Thursday. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei cracked 2.19 per cent, while Korea's Kospi dropped 1.20 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.16 per cent. In the Eu-rozone, Frankfurt's DAX was down 0.10 per cent, while Paris CAC 40 rose 0.12 per cent in late morning deals. London's FTSE was up 0.19 per cent. The rupee, meanwhile, appreciated 32 paise against the US dollar to 71.13 intra-day.

The benchmark Brent crude fu-tures rose 0.28 per cent to USD 61.80 per barrel.

Sensex plunges 424 pts; Tata Motors crashes 17 pc


JAMMU, FEBRUARY 08: Prin-cipal Secretary, Animal, Sheep Husbandry department, Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon today said that livestock sector holds key to drive the economy of state which is becoming pos-sible with liberal funding from NABARD. He was speaking at a meeting convened to review the progress on ongoing proj-ects of the department in the State funded by NABARD.

The meeting was attended

by Director Animal Husbandry Jammu Dr Victor Kaul, Direc-tor Fisheries R. N. Pandita, MD Wool Board Harnam Singh Rana and other officials. The meeting was also attended by Chief General Manager NA-BARD P Balachandran, Gen-eral Manager NABARD, Suresh Chand and other officials.

While stressing on NABARD officials to invest liberally in the Agriculture and its allied sectors like Animal and Sheep

husbandry for upgrading infra-structure and improving other facilities, Dr Samoon said these sectors offer huge potential for employment generation in rural areas. The Principal Secretary asked the NABARD and Bank officials to launch mass awareness to enable the people to avail benefit of these schemes. Dr Samoon also high-lighted the need for setting up new and up-grading existing laboratories, investment in fod-der farms, veterinary hospitals, breeding farms, training insti-

tutes and strengthening other initiatives in livestock sector.

The major projects projected for NABARD funding in the meet-ing included construction of cattle breeding and research farm at Chatha Jammu, veterinary hospitals at Athwajan Srinagar, Khaltsileh, ShargolKargil, Qaimoh and Bijbhehra, relocation of sheep breeding farm from Dachigam to Khimber, Multipurpose sheep fa-cilitating centre and boundary wall at DusooPampore etc.

Livestock sector holds key to JK’s economy: SamoonReviews progress on NABARD funded projects


Jammu - The banks in Jammu and Kashmir have extended a total credit of Rs 21,821.98 crore in the first three quarters of 2018-19, Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam here said. He con-stituted 109th State Level Bankers' committee on Thursday to look into the impediments hampering smooth flow of credit to agriculture, housing and Micro, Small and Medium Enter-prises (MSME) sector through banks. Banks operating in Jammu and Kash-mir have extended a total credit of Rs 21,821.98 crore in favour of 6,20,993 beneficiaries both under priority as

well as non-priority sector of the economy during the first three quar-ters of 2018-19, achieving 68.84 per cent of the target in financial terms and 58.11 in physical terms," Sub-rahmanyam said. Under the priority sector, banks have disbursed credit worth Rs 11,511.35 crore in favour of 3,78,257 beneficiaries achieving 48.49 per cent of the target in fi-nancial terms and 45.06 per cent in physical terms, The annual target for priority sector was 23,741,91 crore for 8,39,476 beneficiaries. For non-priority sector, banks have disbursed credit worth Rs 10,310.63 crore in favour of 2,42,736 beneficiaries

achieving 129.60 per cent in physical terms. The target for this sector was of Rs 7,955.70 crore for 2,29,210 ben-eficiaries. The committee would look into the difficulties in sanctioning loans to the beneficiaries across the state. The chief secretary directed all the district banks to analyse the data and submit a comprehensive report regarding the low performance in agriculture housing and MSME sec-tors of the state. Subrahmanyam asked all the banks to be aware of Pradhan Mantri Kissan Samman Ni-dhi (PM-KISAN) scheme for ensuring smooth implementation of the gov-ernment programmes.

Banks lend Rs 21,821-cr credit to beneficiaries in J&K

Only 1.5 lakh persons declared income above Rs 1 crore

Agencies

New Delhi: Above 1.5 lakh per-sons have declared their an-nual income over Rs 1 crore till now during in the assessment year 2018-19, the assessment per cent went up by 69 per cent from AY2014-15, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman Sushil Chandra said on Thursday, he also pointed out that the number was still below par for a vast and fast-growing economy like India.

“The department is detect-ing under-declaration of income through an analysis of consump-tion patterns,” Chandra said at a conference organised by Asso-cham. Mr Chandra further added, many of the people with income above Rs 1 crore were salaried, but many firms or associations did not report income above the limit. This was not matching with the expenditure patterns that were being reported in the economy.

Between April and January this year, only a mere amount of Rs 6.31 crore income tax returns have been filed, and

that is 37 per cent higher in comparison to the correspond-ing period last fiscal. Out of that, 95 lakh taxpayers have filed returns for the first time, Chandra said. In FY18, the ITD had added that there were 1.06 crore new taxpayers, but it tar-geted 1.25 crore additional new filers for the current fiscal.

Auto loans likely to face downside risks on weak CV demand


Mumbai: With the country's eco-nomic growth likely to be slower, fall in the rupee and global-trade tensions, auto loans are likely to face downside risks, says a report. Global rating agency, Fitch Ratings, has forecast the country's GDP growth to slow to 7 percent in FY20, which may limit demand for commercial vehicles. In its sixth bi-monthly monetary policy review announced Thursday, the Reserve Bank of India

has projected GDP growth for 2019-20 at 7.4 percent. The agency expects the rupee to marginally depreciate to Rs 75 per US dollar by end-2019.

The rating agency in a note said a significant currency deprecia-tion would increase the country's fuel prices, assuming stable US dollar-denominated crude-oil prices. This could hurt the oper-

ating margins of truck owners if higher costs are not passed on to customers, which can be difficult during stressful periods, it said.

"If rising global economic risks result in a sharp decline in GDP or steep currency depreciation, delin-quency rates for Indian auto-loans may rise," the agency noted. As of November 2018, for the agency's rated transactions, average delin-quency of the country's auto asset-backed securities (ABS) portfolio remained stable, with weighted-

average 91-120 days past due rates only amounting to 0.8 percent of closing pool balances, despite the rising sector downside risks. It fur-ther said strict eligibility criteria, especially high initial seasoning and a cap on loan interest rates, would continue to protect ABS transactions by keeping delinquen-cy rates stable.

Jet Airways raises Rs 250 cr but 4 aircraft grounded amid rising dues


Cash-starved Jet Airways has mopped up Rs 250 crore from advance sale of tickets to its customer

loyalty programme Jet Privilege, less than five months after raising money through the same route.

The deal is similar to the one done in October 2018, an airline spokesperson said. Last October, the airline received around Rs 258 crore from advance sale of tickets to Jet Privilege. "Similar to what was done in October 2018, JPPL concluded a second Prepaid Ticket Purchase agreement, for $35 mil-lion, with Jet Airways, which is in the normal course of business," the spokesperson said. At cur-rent exchange rate, $35 million is around Rs 250 crore.

Meanwhile, Jet Airways in-formed the BSE on Thursday eve-ning that four of its aircraft have

been grounded due to non-pay-ment of amounts outstanding to lessors under lease agreements.

The airline added that it is "ac-tively engaged with all its aircraft lessors" and "making all efforts to minimise disruption to its network due to above and is proactively in-forming and re-accommodating affected guests (passengers)". The airline said in a statement to the BSE that it regularly provides air-craft lessors "on efforts undertak-en by the company to improve its liquidity". It added:"Aircraft les-sors have been supportive of the

company's efforts in this regard". "The company also continues to provide required and periodic up-dates to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)," it added.

The full service carrier, which is grappling with acute financial problems, is working to restruc-ture its debt as well as raise fresh funds. Jet Privilege, which has got millions of members, is majority owned by Etihad Airways. The Gulf carrier owns 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways.

In a filing to stock exchanges Thursday, Jet Airways said four planes have been grounded due to non-payment of amounts out-standing to lessors under lease agreements. "The company is ac-tively engaged with all its aircraft lessors and regularly provides them with updates on efforts un-dertaken by the company to im-prove its liquidity," it said.

The number of flights affected

due to grounding of aircraft could not be immediately ascertained.

Amid the cash crunch, the air-line is making delayed payment of salaries to many of its staff.

The airline would be seeking shareholders' nod on February 21 for conversion of loans into shares and other proposals. Jet Airways would seek nod to "convert the whole or part of the outstanding under loans, extended/to be ex-tended by the lenders, into shares, or convertible instruments or oth-er securities, of the company..." ac-cording to a filing last month.


Jammu, Feb 8: J&K Bank today en-tered into a MoU with the SC, ST, BC Development Corporation at Jammu. The MoU was signed by Bank’s Vice President Government Business Shujat Andrabi and Man-aging Director, SC,ST,BC Develop-ment Corporation Ravinder Kumar Bhat in presence of staff of the cor-poration and senior officials of the bank. Under the MoU, the Bank has conferred the “Most Favored Client” status to the corporation for its ex-clusive dealings with respect to all banking related services and the corporation has reciprocated by ex-tending “Preferred Banker” status to J&K Bank.

Managing Director of the Cor-poration R.K. Bhat in his welcome address apprised that the Advisor to the Governor who is also the Chairman of the Board of the Cor-poration while approving the sign-ing of MOU, appreciated the step of the Commissioner Secretary Social welfare for an out of the box solu-tion for the computerization of the functioning of the Board with sup-port from J&K Bank under its CSR initiative. The Managing Director appreciating the compassionate vision of the Chairman & CEO of the bank for the socio economic development of the state acknowl-edged the support of the bank for deciding to digitize the function-ing of the Corporation which shall

catalyze transparency & Efficiency in the Corporation besides enabling it to serve its franchise in a better way. He also the briefed the gather-ing about the mission and vision of the corporation. “The Corporation works as a channelizing agency for the flow of the credit from the National Scheduled Castes & Sched-uled Tribes Finance and Develop-ment Corporation (NSFDC) and National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation (NBCFDC) to members of SC, ST and BC communities living below the poverty line. The J&K SC,ST & BC De-velopment Corporation undertakes a wide range of activities for socio-economic upliftment of the weaker section of the society belonging to scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Backward Classes (BCs) Scavengers and Minorities.”

Speaking on the occasion, Bank’s Vice President said, “J&K Bank has always been on the forefront for serving all the sections of society in the state by offering best custom-

ized products across all the regions . The inking of this MoU reiterates the vision of our Chairman & CEO to socio-economically emancipate the under privileged sections of the society. Both the organizations are involved in the development arena using a multi pronged approach that includes Economic growth, Quality of Education & Health and with this MOU bank will be in a po-sition to customize its services for the corporation.”

“As part of the MOU the Bank shall create the requisite infrastruc-ture for digitizing the operations and functioning of the offices of the Corporation and will extend the support and counseling to the per-sonnel of JKSCSTBC Development Corporation by organizing digital/financial Literacy Camps and in-form them about the latest banking products.” he added. The Vice pres-ident and his team also assured to give wide publicity to the schemes/ programmes of the Corporation to the general public.”

MoU Signed between J & K Bank and JKSCSTBC Development Corporation

Saturday | 09-02-2019 10FROM FRONT PAGE

Day 3: HighwayBRO are working to clear thehighway of landslides

and shooting stones, occurredat Marog, Battery Chashma, Anokhi fall and Panthal areas, theyadded.

One body was recovered from landslide hit Marog areain Ramban district on the highway and another was injured inlandslide on Batote-Doda road, they said.

The highway had remained closed for over 15 days sincethe beginning of the new year owing to inter-mittent spells ofsnowfall and rains. On Tuesday, the one-way traffic wasallowed from Srinagar towards Jammu after five days.

High altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir expe-riencedfresh spell of snowfall, while the plains were lashed by rainssince Tuesday night but stopped Fri-day.

The MeT office has already predicted widespread tofairly widespread rain and snow across the state till tomorrowevening.

After day long heavy rains in plains of Jammu, bright sun shrine has increased the temperature.

Over 150 stranded passengers at Jammu bus stand held protests against the government seeking early snow clerance and reopening of the highway so that they travel back to Kashmir.

7 Found Dead Underidentified as Mohammed Khalil (SPO) of Dog

Squad, Ghulam Nabi alias Gulzar (305/K) and Mo-hammad Maqbool, a selection grade constable. Seven bodies were also retrieved and they include that of Fayaz Ahmad Parrey (Selection Grade Fire man, belt No. 1571), Firdous Ahmad (head consta-ble of fire service, Driver No. 181), constable Arshad Gul (1000/ Kgm), Head Constable Muzafer (125/ Kgm.), Shabnam of (Dog squad) Kokernag, Vikram Singh (civilian) son of Kalvender Singh of Salan Ta-lab Udhampore and Baljeet Singh son of Hari Singh of Dera Baba Nanak Gurdaspore Punjab. The duo from Punjab had been arrested after two days back with Fuqqi.

One policeman, Parvez Ahmad (220/ Kgm) is still missing and rescuers will resume operation tomor-row, the officials said. They said that rescue opera-tion was suspended due to darkness and inclement weather conditions in the area.

The avalanche had hit the north portal of Jawa-har Tunnel on the Qazigund side in Kulgam district on Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, two non-locals were killed in a land-slide in Ramban district along the Srinagar-Jammu highway.

The incident occurred when they were crossing by foot at Maroog area, when landslide suddenly hit them, the officials said.

The deceased have been identified as Pramod Mankotia of Himachal Pradesh and Sanjit Lakara of West Bengal.

A couple was killed while their two children were rescued after an avalanche destroyed their home in Kokernag area of Anantnag district late on Thursday.

Multiple avalanches occurred at many other places in the Kashmir valley, but due to lack of com-munication and connectivity, the extent of casual-ties or damage, if any, is not yet clear.

Authorities have shifted 78 families from ava-lanche-prone areas of Waltangoo Nar and Kund in Kulgam district to safer places.

70 Years On,

services from Jammu to Srinagar should have been a reality by now.

Since January this year, the Srinagar-Jammu high-way remained closed for the both way traffic for 28 times due to landslides and shooting stones at various vulnerable points like Panthal, Ramban and Ramsoo.

Ejaz Rasool, an engineering student at Kashmir University said that despite the passage of 70 years, all the previous regimes, National Conference, Con-gress, PDP and BJP failed to ensure an alternate mea-sure to deal with frequent closure of the highway.

An elderly Abdur Razaq, a resident of Khanyar area said that every single day, highway is closed and the frequent closure of the road leaves an ordinary Kashmir in lurch. “Except the dry vegetables, people of Kashmir remain dependent on few selected veg-etable produced from the Dal Lake.

But that can’t suffice the entire Kashmir popu-lation who also need cooking gas, kerosene, pet-rol, poultry and above all mutton.” Kashmiris are known as the voracious meat eaters and the non-availability of mutton and chicken make people crazy.

Ironically, there is no check on the black-marketing as prices of vegetables have gone skyrocketing while LPG and petrol are sold against high prices. “After searching for LPG cylinder in Srinagar for hours, I fi-nally got one at Karanagar against RS 1500, thrice the fixed price of the government,” said Imtiyaz Ahmed a resident of Abi Guzar.

The Mutton dealers complain that they don’t re-ceive any supply given the road closure but in many places, “butchers were selling mutton at exorbitant prices—Rs 500 per kg against government rate of Rs 400.” “I wonder when the road is closed, how the mutton shops have two sheep hanging for sale.

There is no check at all,” said Rafiqa, a government employee. “There is a big question mark as to why all the previous regimes sat on the proposal of address-ing the highway mess issue. Perhaps there are politi-cal dividends and that’s why this issue.”

Divisional commissioner Kashmir Baseer Khan told a local news agency KNO that people are facing hardships due to frequent closure of Srinagar-Jammu highway. “But one can’t stop landslides and shooting stones.

“I believe Mughal road should have been fully functional long back, vulnerable areas where prone to shooting stones and landslides should have been dealt with by the concern departments and that the train services from Jammu to Srinagar should have been through,” he said. “Had these three things been done, there would have been no shortage or essen-tials in this hour of crisis.”

After Airlifting 180They said 179 students left for Jammu Friday after-noon by C-17 aircraft from the Srinagar airport.Meanwhile, , the ministry of Human Resource de-velopment (MHRD) has set up six exam centres in Kashmir.Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Syed Abid Rashid Shah announced the development on Twitter and said the exam centres were set up in Kashmir after the personal intervention of chief secretary of J&K state.He said the GATE aspirants in Kashmir will get the detailed message from IIT Madras which is the co-ordinating authority for exact allocation of centres.“The aspirants will get the information about their centre details on their registered mobile numbers and email,” Shah said.As per the notification, the GATE exam centres have been setup at Haktech IT service Sidco industrial

estate, near IT tower Rangreth, KITE polytechnic at Wawoosa Rangreth, Eshai Online Services Bisham-ber Nagar, Munwarabad, Faster Computer Educa-tion Rawalpora, Infotech Computer Education and SSM college of engineering and Technology Diver Parihaspora.“The GATE aspirants who have to appear in GATE tomorrow and day after (February 09 ad 10) will be allotted exam centres among these centres notified by the IIT Madras,” the notification reads.Meanwhile, the deputy commissioner said these centres were notified on basis of available infra-structure and technical support to be provided to the examinees. “GATE is server based exam for which there was a requirement of huge technical support,” he said.

Crisis Could Befor the last two months without any respite.”“Somehow we are surviving the lack of electricity

and water, the basic necessities of life in today’s life. Leave alone facilities, no emergency provisions are in place,” Mirwaiz said.

The recently reported incident of a pregnant woman losing her child and her life and the family struggling to take her body home because of blocked roads is heart-rending, he said.

“The highways remain blocked, particularly the Jammu Srinagar highway. Thousands of men, wom-en and children are stranded, left to fend for them-selves without basic amenities or provisions of food, medicines, accommodation.”

Mirwaiz added: “As all other traditional and natural connectivity routes to outside world are closed by authorities, when this route gets blocked in winter months due to bad weather each year, people are left to fend for themselves facing a crisis and shortage of supplies which could be avoided by opening up the traditional routes. We demand that all traditional routes should be opened immediately to facilities sup-ply of essentials and travel.”

Mirwaiz said overpricing of air tickets, is another issue that people and there is no one to look into this loot. “It is ironical that Srinagar to Jammu tickets are costing a staggering 40,000 which is less than one-way fare to New York.”

With no plan or concern to ameliorate the difficul-ties and sufferings of people the only activity that the “authoritarian state”, Mirwaiz said, is proactive in are the CASO’s (Cordon and Search Operations) meant to kill, maim, terrorize and destroy people. Mirwaiz strongly denounced the launching of CASO operation in Bandipora this morning.

“I appeal to the humanitarian agencies and people concerned with human suffering to support and as-sist those who are undergoing immense difficulties due to harshest weather conditions and total apathy of the state.”

Mirwaiz said that the People of Kashmir have a tradition and culture to help each other in difficult times, as “we saw during the floods.”

“Once again I ask them for help and support par-ticularly for those in these dense and dire circum-stances.”

HC Seek Freshordered that Director SWD as also the Member

Secretary Legal Services Authority be remain present before the court

Under SMAS, an eligible poor girl beneficiary will be entitled to a one-time financial assistance of Rs 25,000 and five grams of gold from district social welfare officers (DSWOs).

The court was hearing the PIL which was initially a petition, seeking quashing of PSA order at the pre-execution stage against one Mohammad Amin Beigh, a resident of Kulgam in south Kashmir.

Beigh—who was running a private security agen-cy— was ordered to be detained under the PSA by District Magistrate Srinagar on December 26, 2011 for indulging in immoral activities including physi-cally exploiting poor girls as well as ‘supplying’ them to others.

Ladakh Separated, administrative and revenue division comprising

Leh and Kargil districts, with its headquarters at Leh, the order said.

It has also ordered constitution of a committee under chairmanship of principal secretary, planning, development and monitoring department to identify the posts of divisional level heads of departments that may be required for the new division, particu-larly their staffing pattern, responsibilities and pro-posed location of these offices.

The order said this decision goes a long way in ful-filling the governance and development aspirations of the people of Ladakh region.

"The issue has been discussed at various fora and there has been a persistent demand for the creation of division for Ladakh from many organisations, in-cluding the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDC) Leh and Kargil," it added.

Ladakh is one of the most sparsely populated re-gions in Jammu and Kashmir and is the highest pla-teau in the state, with most of it being over 9,800 feet above sea level.

The region is geographically isolated with a sparse population and inhospitable terrain which remains landlocked for nearly six months in a year.

Mebooba Welcomes, regions which are equally remote and have

much larger population than Ladakh."Although Leh and Kargil already have Hill Development Councils, we welcome the decision to grant division status to Ladakh. But I fail to understand what is the inten-tion behind ignoring Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal regions. These are remote areas, the terrain is hilly and population is much larger," she said.

Mehbooba alleged that Governor Satya Pal Malik was peddling BJP agenda by not granting the division status to Chenab valley and Pir Panjal region.

"As far as I remember (during PDP-BJP coalition govenrment), we were talking about granting divi-sion status to Chenab valley, Pir Panjal and Ladakh but BJP had opposed it," she added.

If Voted To Powerin the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir

later this year.The former chief minister was reacting to state

government's decision to grant status of Division to Ladakh region, consisting of Leh and Kargil districts.

"After the elections of 2019, should the people of J&K repose faith in @JKNC_ , our government will grant division status to Chenab valley & Pir Panchal regions as already laid out in our regional autonomy promise," Omar tweeted. In a major decision, the Jammu and Kashmir administration Friday created a separate division for Ladakh, which was part of the Kashmir division till now.

Saugat BiswasSRO-110 of 2019 dated 08.02.2019, Saugat Biswas,

IAS (JK:2006), Special Secretary to the Government, Information Technology Department, holding the charge of Secretary to the Government, Information Technology Department, is transferred and posted as Divisional Commissioner, Ladakh.,” reads a govern-ment order issued hjere.

The officer shall remain headquartered at Leh for three weeks and in the State Capital for one week in a month, it said.

“Further, the officer shall also continue to hold the charge of the post of Secretary to the Government, Information Technology Department, till further or-ders.”

4 IAS Officers as Principal Secretary to the Government, Techni-

cal Education Department, relieving Secretary to the Government, School Education Department of the additional charge of the post.

Raj Kumar Goyal, the government said, will also hold the additional charge of Principal Secretary to the Government, Floriculture, Parks & Gardens and Information Departments, relieving Commissioner/ Secretary to the Government, Tourism and Ladakh Affairs Degartments and Administrative Secretary, Youth Services & Sports Department of the addition-al charge of their posts respectively.

Shaleen Kabra (IAS), Principal Secretary to the Government, Industries and Commerce Department, has been transferred and posted as Principal Secre-tary to the Government, Home.

Navin Kumar Choudhary (IAS), Principal Secre-tary to the Government, Finance Department, has been transferred and posted as Principal Secretary to the Government, Industries and Commerce De-partment.

“He will, however, continue to hold the charge of Principal Secretary to the Government, Finance De-partment, during the period Arun Kumar Mehta, IAS, remains on leave.’

2 Judges SeekState Government,” reads an order issued by the

Registrar High Court.Mohammad Ashraf Malik, President District Con-

sumer Forum, Srinagar has been repatriated and posted as Principal District & Sessions Judge, Anant-nag vice Syed Tawqeer Ahmad.

Muzaffar Iqbal Khan, Secretary, District Legal Service Authority, Rajouri has been transferred and attached to the Jammu wing of the High Court till such time the recommendation for his voluntary retirement from the service is accepted by the State Government.

Mirwaiz Put Underjust put placed under #HouseArrest,” Mirwaiz

said on Twitter.Joint Resistance Leadership comprising Syed Ali

Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik has called for shutdown tomorrow to protest the secre-tive hanging of Guru.

Fresh Avalanche here, the Divisional Commissioner has directed

the Deputy Commissioners of all these districts to advise the people living in avalanche prone areas not to venture out to avoid loss of life.

Besides, they have been directed to take all the precautionary measures and to keep the SDRF, Police and Para-medical staff with ambulances in readiness to avert any untoward incident.

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Saturday | 09-02-2019 11SPORTS

“IT’S GREAT TO WIN THE $9 MILLION but I just don’t want to lose to him and give him the satisfaction because the bragging rights are what is going to be even worse than the money,” Mickelson

22-YEAR-OLD STRIKER DANISH FAROOQ (C) symbolises a fairytale rise by Real Kashmir, the first club from the war-torn Himalayan region to make it into India's top football league

With the help of Scottish coach David Robertson, the Snow Leopards have

emerged as serious title contenders in their debut I-League season

Footballers defy Kashmir conflict to take Indian league by stormAFP / Tauseef MUSTAFA

Bullets are heard every day in the world's most mili-tarised zone, but shots fired on goal by Danish

Farooq have become a revela-tion in Kashmir. The 22-year-old striker symbolises a fairytale rise by Real Kashmir, the first club from the war-torn Himalayan region to make it into India's top football league. With the help of Scottish coach David Robert-son, the Snow Leopards have emerged as serious title con-tenders in their debut I-League season and on Wednesday beat Gokulam Kerala 1-0 to go top of the table. Farooq has defied stone-pelting protesters and pel-lets shot by security forces to

make it to training."I have struggled a lot. But

whatever the situation, I try not to miss practice," said Farooq, whose father was also a pro-fessional footballer, playing for Mohammedan Sporting, one of India's oldest clubs.

"Playing in the I-League is a dream come true and I am living that dream every day."

Other players are also wary of the security situation and would rather join clubs outside of Indi-an-administered Kashmir, which is also claimed by neighbour-ing Pakistan and where tens of thousands have died in conflict since the 1990s. There are some 500,000 Indian soldiers and po-lice in the region to combat reb-els battling for independence or

a merger with Pakistan.The insurgency has soured re-

lations between the two coun-tries for decades, while else-where in India Kashmiris are viewed with suspicion.

"If you are a Kashmiri, even if you are a sportsperson, you are labelled a terrorist," said mid-fielder Khalid Qayoom.

"We want to change that per-ception. Kashmiris are not terror-ists, it is just a label thrust on us."

But there were stark remind-ers of the troubles outside the stadium -- which is covered with snow for much of the football sea-son -- after his team's 1-0 home win over Chennai City last week. Armed police and armoured ve-hicles patrolled the perimeter as 15,000 rapturous fans cheered

the hometown heroes.- 'A joke' -Real Kashmir have come a

long way since newspaper editor Shamim Meraj and businessman Sandeep Chattoo raised funds to buy 500 footballs to keep lo-cal youths occupied after deadly floods in 2014. The club took for-mal shape in March 2016, four months before a civilian upris-ing triggered by the killing of popular 21-year-old rebel leader Burhan Wani. Chattoo said Real Kashmir started as "a joke".

"We just threw out the idea and went step-by-step. I had no idea how far it would go," he said. The pair brought on as coach Scotland's David Rob-ertson, a former Aberdeen and Rangers defender, while Adidas

agreed to a kit sponsorship -- the only Indian team to get the sportswear giant's money.

"We found our calling when we got to know... how the team has set on a mission to bring a positive change in the valley," said Adidas marketing chief Sha-rad Singla. Robertson declined coaching offers from clubs in Chi-na and Uganda to take charge at the Snow Leopards but had never visited India before and consid-ered abandoning the club after just two days in Kashmir, after a power and internet outage cut him off from family back home.

"I was ready to go. But then the club owner persuaded me to stay, and now I am so glad that he did that," he said.

"Overall for me the pleasing

thing is that the success of the team has put Kashmir on the football map." Robertson even convinced his son Mason to quit a full-time contract with Scottish side Peterhead to join the team as a midfielder. Local under-15 coach Owais Farooq said Real Kashmir's sudden triumphs had brought about a surge of interest in the sport among Kashmir's young-sters. "I receive so many calls ev-ery day from parents who want to enrol their children in training programmes but we don't have enough grounds to train," he said.

- Turf war -Football is an afterthought in

cricket-mad India, and the coun-try's 103rd-ranked international side is a notorious underachiever which has never participated

in a World Cup. The sport was popular in Kashmir before an armed rebellion against Indian rule erupted in the 1990s, after which no tournament was held for almost two decades. But Real Kashmir have given locals a fresh taste for football success.

"You can see the love that the people have given us," said club co-owner Meraj. "That's the big-gest takeaway for us."

Thirty-five-year-old hotel worker Parvaiz Ahmad Reshi said he only started watching football on TV because of the club.

"I have been hooked on it ever since," he said. "When I watch the game I forget my troubles. It's so good to have something apart from violence and killings to talk about."

Sala's body found, football world pays tribute

Agencies

Tributes from the football world poured in after the body retrieved from the wreckage of a crashed plane

in the English Channel was formal-ly identified as Cardiff City’s Argen-tina-born football player Emiliano Sala, British police said in a state-ment on Thursday. Sala, 28, had been flying from his previous club Nantes in western France to Wales on January 21 to make his debut for the Premier League team when the single-engined Piper Malibu air-craft disappeared over the sea.

TributesThe club said in a statement:

“We offer our most heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the family of Emiliano. “He and David will forever remain in our thoughts.” Club Statement

Forever in our thoughts— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCi-

tyFC) February 7, 2019Manchester City striker Sergio

Aguero‏, a fellow Argentinian, tweeted: “Rest in peace, Emiliano. My condolences to his friends and family #PrayForSala”.

Enorme tristeza QEDP Emiliano. Mis condolencias a familiares y amigos #PrayForSala //Terribly sad Rest in peace, Emiliano. My condo-lences to his friends and family

— Sergio Kun Aguero (@

aguerosergiokun) February 8, 2019Arsenal player Mesut Ozil tweet-

ed: “No words to describe how sad this is. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and also to the family of the pilot. #RIPsala”. No words to describe how sad this is. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and also to the family of the pilot.

— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) February 7, 2019 PSG player Kylian Mbappe simply tweeted: “RIP Emi”

RIP EMI— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe)

February 7, 2019Argentinian football great Diego

Maradona also posted a tribute on Instagram. Wreckage was found on Sunday following a privately-funded underwater search and a body recovered on Wednesday and taken to southern England.

“The body brought to Portland Port today… has been formally identified by HM Coroner for Dor-set as that of professional foot-baller Emiliano Sala,” the police statement said. “The families of Mr Sala and the pilot David Ibbotson have been updated with this news and will continue to be supported by specially-trained family liaison officers. Our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time.”

Cardiff posted the statement on their website under a picture of the player. “We offer our most heart-felt sympathies and condolences

to the family of Emiliano. He and David will forever remain in our thoughts,” the Welsh club said. Cardiff striker Sala feared missing in plane crash: French police

Sala had agreed to join relega-tion-threatened Cardiff for a club-record fee of 15 million pounds ($19.43 million) from French Ligue 1 club Nantes. Police said an inves-tigation into the circumstances of the death was continuing.

Efforts to recover the aircraft wreckage have so far been unsuc-cessful due to poor weather con-ditions. The plane had been cruis-ing at 5,000 feet (1,525 m) when the pilot requested to descend to a lower altitude on passing Guern-sey. It then lost radar contact at 2,300 feet. Argentine newspaper Clarin last month published a voice message that Sala, who had played in France since 2012 and scored 12 goals for Nantes this season, apparently sent to friends while in the air. “We’re up in the plane and it seems it’s about to crash,” said the message, which Clarin said was verified by Sala’s father, Horacio Sala. “If you have not heard anything from me in an hour and a half, I don’t know if they’re going to send someone to find me, because, you know, they’re not going to be able to,” the message said. “Dad. I’m really scared.”

India down New Zealand in second T20I to level series

Win is always satisfying, says Malik

Visitors won the match in comprehensive fashion by seven wickets

Pakistan stand-in captain says youngsters learned a lot from South Africa tour

AFP in Auckland

Rohit Sharma became the highest run scorer in T20I history Friday as India romped to a seven-

wicket win over New Zealand in the second T20 in Auckland.

Sharma top-scored for the tourists with 50 as India chased down New Zealand's modest 159-run target in 18.5 overs, lev-elling the three-match series at 1-1. Sharma's knock was his 16th T20 half century and took his ca-reer tally in the format to 2,288 runs, overtaking New Zealand's Martin Guptill on 2,272.

His team dominated New Zea-land with bat and ball to avenge an 80-run loss in the opening fixture in Wellington — India's heaviest ever T20 defeat.

Sharma, who is standing in as captain while Virat Kohli is rested, had demanded greater consistency ahead of the match.

His bowlers responded with early wickets as man-of-the-match Krunal Pandya took three for 28 and India restricted New Zealand to 158 for eight.

Colin de Grandhomme gave the Black Caps some hope, hitting a maiden T20 half century off 27 balls as part of a 77-run partner-ship with Ross Taylor, who made 42. But the hosts could not break the shackles and tight bowling at the death prevented them from taking advantage of Eden Park's short boundaries.

India had no such problem in reply, making a flying start with Sharma leading the way.

His 50 included four sixes and three fours off 28 balls.

There was ample support from Shikhar Dhawan, who made 30, and Rishabh Pant on 40 as India made 162 for three with-out looking troubled. The final match of the series is at Hamil-ton on Sunday.

Agencies

Pakistan stand-in captain Shoaib Malik was a happy man when his charges beat South Africa in the

third and final T20I to avoid a whitewash and retain the num-ber one in the ICC rankings.

Pakistan batted first and looked set to score a 200 plus total but quick wickets hindered their progress as they set a 169-run target for the hosts. In their chase, South Africa were found looking for a partnership and lost the game by 27 runs in a se-ries which they had already won courtesy victories in the first two matches. The match helped Paki-stan end the series on a high note, but there will be a lot to look back to since they lost all three, Tests, ODI and T20I, series on the tour.

"A win is something that al-ways gives you satisfaction," said Malik at the post-match presen-tation ceremony. "When you en-ter the dressing room there are some smiling faces.”

He was quick to refer to the experience and lessons the young team will take from the tour. “Youngsters have learned a lot from this tour, but in those crunch positions we broke and that's where we need to im-

prove,” he explained.Pakistan lost the first two

T20Is by close margins even af-ter trying to chase big targets, a skill they lack, but Malik believes those games could have gone in anyone’s favour.

“If we look at all three games, we could have won in the first two but these things happen in cricket. The thing is how you come back from it, and if you get the same thing in future, how you handle crunch situations,” said Malik. The 37-year-old was also all-praise for teenage pace prodigy Shaheen Afridi.

“Afridi is a remarkable find from Pakistan. He's got talent and he's improving day by day. Having him in our team is a great sign.” He also praised the role played by other pacers in the game. “Pace bowlers keep com-ing and winning games for us, and we want batsmen to do the same.” Babar Azam, the highest run-scorer in the T20Is series wasn’t left out by Malik, as the skipper said that other batsmen need to learn from the 23-year-old the art of performing con-sistently. “Babar has performed consistently, and we need more batsmen to perform consistently abroad. It's not just about getting chances, but about developing

your game.”South Africa’s stand-in cap-

tain David Miller, meanwhile, was a happy man even after los-ing the last match of the tour.

"We came out and showed our class in all three formats. To-night was a disappointing re-sult, but really chuffed with a series win,” he said.

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Washington Post publishes missing journalist Khashoggi's 'last piece' on Arab press freedom

Press Trust of India

WASHINGTON: Two weeks after he disappeared, The Washington Post has published what it said ap-pears to be Jamal Khashoggi's final column, in which the missing Saudi journalist writes of the importance of a free press in the Arab world.

Such a forum is currently lacking, says Khashoggi, a Post contributor and US resident who disappeared

entering Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

"The Arab world is facing its own version of an Iron Curtain, imposed not by external actors but through domestic forces vying for power," he writes.

"The Arab world needs a mod-ern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events. More impor-tant, we need to provide a platform

for Arab voices," Khashoggi writes."Through the creation of an in-

dependent international forum, isolated from the influence of na-tionalist governments spreading hate through propaganda, ordinary people in the Arab world would be able to address the structural prob-lems their societies face.

"The ultimate fate of Khashoggi - whose writings have been criti-cal of powerful Saudi Crown Prince

Mohammed bin Salman - is still unknown, but leaks by anonymous Turkish officials have painted a picture of him allegedly meeting a grisly demise in the consulate at the hands of Saudi agents.

Saudi Arabia has denied to the United States having knowledge of what happened at the consulate.

In the introduction to Khashog-gi's column - which was accom-panied by a photo of the smiling

writer -- the Post's Global Opinions editor Karen Attiah said the news-paper held off on publishing it in the hopes that he would return.

"Now I have to accept: That is not going to happen. This is the last piece of his I will edit for The Post," Attiah wrote.

"This column perfectly captures his commitment and passion for freedom in the Arab world. A free-dom he apparently gave his life for".

IHC directs ministries to submit inquiry reports of former ISI chiefThe Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday ordered the Defence Ministry to submit an inquiry report of former In-ter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt (r) Gen Asad Durrani by General Headquar-ters (GHQ) after he sought removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

IHC Judge Justice Mohsin Akhtar Ki-yani was hearing Durrani’s petition and ordered the Interior Ministry to submit a reply explaining “why Durrani’s name had been placed on the ECL”.

Defence Ministry Law Branch Director Falak Naz said, “Durrani had written a book along with the former chief of the Indian spy agency,” adding that “Dur-

rani had remained the DG Military In-telligence and the DG ISI and there was a pending inquiry against him in GHQ”.

The law branch director further said that he could not speculate about when the inquiry would be completed.

He continued to add that the former ISI chief had also been a part of the 2012 Asghar Khan case regarding the distri-bution of money to politicians.

The former DG ISI’s lawyer Omar Fakhar Adam said they did not receive any notice regarding an inquiry into Durrani after the book was released.

Adam pointed out, “In the Asghar Khan case, General Beg’s name had not

been placed on the ECL.”He argued that his client had to “go

overseas for a conference on Novem-ber 26 and 27 and his name should be removed from the ECL”. Justice Kiyani said that until the GHQ inquiry report and Interior Ministry’s reply were sub-mitted, nothing could be done. The case was postponed until December 3.

Earlier, it was reported that upon Pakistan Army’s request, Durrani’s name was placed on the ECL after he visited GHQ to clarify his stance in The Spy Chronicles, a book co-authored by him and former chief of Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) Am-

arjit Singh Dulat.Following this, the former ISI director

general had petitioned the IHC seeking removal of his name from the no-fly list.

Moreover, Air Marshal (r) Asghar Khan had accused former army chief General (r) Mirza Aslam Beg and Durra-ni of corrupting the democratic process with money. Following that, in 2012, the apex court ruled that “the 1990 general elections had been polluted by dishing out Rs140 million to a particular group of politicians only to deprive the people of being represented by their chosen representatives” and send notices to 21 army officials and politicians.

Facebook launches 'war room' to combat manipulationIn Facebook's “War Room,” a nondescript space adorned with American and Brazil-ian flags, a team of 20 people monitors computer screens for signs of suspicious activity.

The freshly launched unit at Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters in California is the nerve centre for the fight against misinformation and manipulation of the largest social network by foreign ac-tors trying to influence elec-tions in the United States and elsewhere.

Inside, the walls have clocks

showing the time in various regions of the US and Brazil, maps and TV screens showing CNN, Fox News and Twitter, and other monitors showing graphs of Facebook activity in real time.

Facebook, which has been blamed for doing too little to prevent misinformation ef-forts by Russia and others in the 2016 US election, now wants the world to know it is taking aggressive steps with initiatives like the war room.

“Our job is to detect ... any-one trying to manipulate the

public debate,” said Nathan-iel Gleicher, a former White House cybersecurity policy director for the National Secu-rity Council who is now head-ing Facebook's cybersecurity policy.

“We work to find and re-move these actors.”

Facebook has been racing to get measures in place and began operating this nerve centre — with a hastily taped “WAR ROOM” sign on the glass door — for the first round of the presidential vote in Brazil on October 7.

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DUBAI RAFFLE

Jordanian wins $1 million after purchasing 300 ticketsA 48-year-old Jordanian

expat finally won the $1 million (Dh3.67 mil-

lion) Dubai Duty Free raffle draw, after 19 years of pur-chasing about 300 tickets.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Nidal Marwan Taha said he's been buying tickets for the draw every time he travels since the promotion's in-ception in 1999. "I bought a minimum of 300 tickets over the past 19 years. This time alone, I bought three tickets for the draw, and thankfully one of them scored!" said Taha, a UAE resident for the past 28 years.

The Jordanian CEO, who travels on a monthly basis for work, said buying the Dh1,000 raffle ticket has be-come part of his trips.

"Just like shopping at the Dubai Duty Free, I never miss

a chance to participate in the Millennium Millionaire whenever I travel. It has be-come part of my trip," said Taha, father of three children.

"I'm a firm believer than once you chase a goal, you will inevitably get it. That's what Dubai has been dem-onstrating to us. I'm thrilled

that my perseverance finally paid off."

Taha noted that although he had a gut feeling that he would win someday, the an-

nouncement this year came as unexpected. He said part of the $1 million will go to char-ity, while the rest will be used in personal investments.

But even after the victory, Taha said he will continue to buy the raffle draw tickets every time he travels.

Taha is the ninth Jorda-nian national to win in the promotion since its incep-tion in 1999.

Following the Millen-nium Millionaire draw, two Indian winners were an-nounced in the Finest Sur-prise promotion, each win-ning a luxury vehicle.

Daphney Monsurate, a 58-year-old Indian national from Dubai, won a BMW 760Li xDrive, while Kaushik Thadesh-war, a 44-year-Indian national based in Mumbai, won an In-dian Scout motorbike.

Facebook gave data on user’s friends to certain companies, documents reveal

Facebook Inc offered some companies, including Netflix and Airbnb, access to data about users’ friends it did not

make available to most other apps in 2015, according to documents released by a Brit-ish lawmaker who said the social media company dodged questions about privacy practices and market dominance.

The 223 pages released on Wednes-day were internal communications from 2012 to 2015 between company leaders, including Chief Executive Mark Zuck-erberg, providing fresh evidence and sparking new political scrutiny about previously aired allegations that Face-book has picked favourites and engaged in anti-competitive behaviour.

Facebook said it stood by its delibera-tions and decisions. “The facts are clear. We’ve never sold peoples data,” it said.

The company said it would relax one ‘out-of-date’ policy that restricted competitors’ use of its data. Previously, “Mark level sign-off” would have been required for an exemption to the policy, according to one document, referring to Mr. Zuckerberg.

The documents show that Facebook tracked growth of competitors and de-nied them access to key data.

Mr. Zuckerberg agreed to senior exec-utive Justin Osofsky’s request in 2013 to stop giving friends’ list access to Vine on the day that social media rival Twitter Inc launched the video-sharing service.

“We’ve prepared reactive PR,” Mr. Os-ofsky wrote, to which Mr. Zuckerberg re-

plied, “Yup, go for it.”‘Mark’s friends’ or ‘Sheryl’s’ friends’Among non-competitors, Facebook

still drew distinctions.Ride service Lyft, which does not com-

pete with Facebook, wanted access to comprehensive lists of users’ friends to show carpool riders their mutual friends as an “ice breaker.” Facebook approved the request, saying in an email it would add to a feeling of safety for riders.

In 2014, the company described about 100 apps as being either “Mark’s friends” or “Sheryl’s friends” and also tracked how many apps were spending money on Facebook ads, according to the docu-ments, referring to Mr. Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg.

Other emails describe Facebook deny-ing online ticket seller Ticketmaster and an automotive technology supplier ex-tended access to complete lists of users’ friends after Facebook questioned how the date would be used.

The documents also raised questions about Facebook’s transparency.

An exchange from 2015 shows Face-book leaders discussing how to begin collecting call logs from Android users’ smartphones without subjecting them to “scary” permissions screens.

The effort began with some disclosures in 2015. But when the data-collecting became more well known this year amid increased scrutiny on Facebook, the company drew criticism from lawmakers about not doing more to inform users.

Look: Emirates' Boeing 777 aircraft is encrusted with 'diamonds'DUBAI: UAE-based Emirates airline had avid flyers ex-cited after an image of one of its aircraft went viral in social media.

The much talked-about post, which the carrier itself shared on its official Twitter page on Wednesday, shows a Boeing 777 plane encrust-ed with what look like crys-tals and diamonds.

The jazzed-up aircraft is shown parked at a terminal in an airport, surrounded by luggage trucks and glittering in the sunset.

“Presenting the Emirates ‘Bling’ 777,” the caption reads.

The image was shared by Emirates on its official Twitter account, but it was originally posted on Instagram last Tues-

day by Sara Shakeel, a crystal artist. The first post had more than 47,000 likes on Instagram alone as of 2:30pm.

The aircraft in the image looks so real that it stirred a lot of curiosity among so-cial media users, especially those who love the idea of flying in luxury and style.

“That’s my kind of plane,” exclaimed one Instagram user.

“It’s raining diamonds,” said a user on Twitter. “Rap-pers are going to have a field day with this one,” said an-other one.

Contacted by Gulf News, an Emirates spokesperson clarified that Emirates didn’t have one of its planes cov-ered in bling.

“We just posted an art

piece made by crystal art-ist Sara Shakeel,” said the spokesperson.

“I can confirm it’s not [real].”

Shakeel is a Pakistani dentist-turned-artist with close to 500,000 followers. Her Instagram page is pep-pered with digitally-altered images jazzed up in crystals and diamonds.

By adding glitter to just about anything, from a Star-bucks cup to a piece of burg-er, or the New York skyline, Shakeel turns the mundane into extraordinary and get her followers mesmerized.

“I add crystals and diamonds to the most ordinary objects of everyday life,” she once told Forbes in an interview.

Global Suicide Rate Falls By 33 Per CentThe rate of deaths from suicide worldwide has de-creased by almost a third since 1990, according to a study published Thursday which also found that over 44.2 per cent of those who took their own lives in 2016 were from India and China.

The study published by The BMJ journal found that total number of deaths from suicide increased by 6.7 per cent glob-ally between 1990 and 2016 to 817,000 deaths in 2016.

However, when adjusted for age, the global mortality rate from suicide decreased by almost 33 per cent world-wide over the same period.

Researchers from Univer-sity of Washington in the US show that men had higher mortality rates from suicide than women, and that high-er rates tended to be linked to higher levels of social and economic deprivation.

However, the research also showed that suicide trends vary substantially across countries and between groups, reflecting a complex interplay of factors that war-rant further investigation.

Deaths from suicides in China and India-as the most populous countries-together constituted 44.2 per cent of global suicide deaths in 2016.

Suicide is a global public health concern, with around 800,000 deaths reported annually. The World Health Organisation aims to reduce suicide mortality by one third between 2015 and 2030.

Identifying those most at risk is therefore crucial for na-tional prevention efforts, re-searcher said. They used data from the 2016 Global Burden of Disease Study to describe patterns of suicide mortality and years of life lost globally and regionally, and by age,

sex and sociodemographic index (a combined measure of fertility, income, and edu-cation) from 1990 to 2016.

Suicide was the leading cause of age standardised years of life lost in the high income Asia Pacific region and was among the top 10 leading causes of death across eastern Europe, cen-tral Europe, high income Asia Pacific, Australsa, and high income North America.

Globally, suicide rates were higher for men (15.6 deaths per 100,000) than for women (7 deaths per 100,000).

However, the rate of decrease was lower for men (24 per cent) than for women (49 per cent). Women also experienced higher rates than men in most countries with a low sociodemographic index.

Suicide continues to be an important cause of mor-tality in most countries worldwide, but it is promis-ing that both the global age standardised mortality rate and years of life lost rate from suicide have decreased by a third between 1990 and 2016, researchers said.

Whether this decline is due to suicide prevention ac-tivities, or whether it reflects general improvements to population health, warrants further research, they said.

In a linked editorial, Ellicott Matthay at the Uni-versity of California, San Francisco in the US, said that these results should be interpreted with some caution, but says these find-ings "will spur research that could inform future policy."

Results could help set pri-orities for interventions, par-ticularly for countries without complete vital registration systems, Matthay said.

New Species Of Dinosaur-Era Bird Found In Mongolia's Gobi DesertScientists say they have discov-ered a new species of feath-ered, bird-like dinosaurs in the the Gobi desert of Mongolia.

A study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, described an incomplete skeleton of an oviraptorosaur from the Late Cretaceous found in the Nemegt Formation of the Gobi desert.

Despite the abundance of nearly complete ovirapto-rosaur skeletons discovered in southern China and Mon-golia, the diet and feeding strategies of these toothless dinosaurs are still unclear, said Yuong-Nam Lee from Seoul National University, South Korea.

Oviraptorosaurs were a

diverse group of feathered, bird-like dinosaurs from the Cretaceous of Asia and North America.

The new species, named Gobiraptor minutus, can be distinguished from other oviraptorosaurs in having unusual thickened jaws.

This unique morphol-ogy suggests that Gobirap-tor used a crushing feeding strategy, supporting previ-ous hypotheses that ovi-raptorosaurs probably fed on hard food items such as eggs, seeds or hard-shell mollusks, researchers said.

Histological analyses of the femur revealed that the specimen likely belonged to a very young individual.

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