Remains of human limbfound in Kedarnath two

yrs after tragedyDEHRADUN, June 8:

Skeletal remains of a humanfoot were found lying under aheap of rubble in a structure closeto Kedarnath temple nearly twoyears after a catastrophic delugehit the shrine and other parts ofUttarakhand in June 2013 leavinga trail of death and devastation.

The remains of a human footwere sighted on Saturday assome locals were clearingdebris from a structure in a nar-row bylane about 50 metresfrom the Himalayan shrine,Rudraprayag Superintendent ofPolice Barinderjit Singh said.

The remains of the humanlimb were cremated after con-ducting necessary formalitieslike DNA sampling and panch-nama the same day, he said.

However, the official saidthat there was nothing curiousabout skeletal remains stillbeing found from the areadespite several combing opera-tions conducted there in searchof bodies since the tragedy.

“The remains of over six hun-dred persons that have been cre-mated in Kedar valley so far werethe ones found on the surface.(PTI)

NEW DELHI, June 8:

With monsoon rainfall pre-dicted to be deficient this year,Prime Minister Narendar Moditoday said the "challenge" shouldbe converted into an "opportuni-ty" for looking at other avenues ofirrigation as he pitched for boost-ing the creation of farm ponds as

a short-term effort.Chairing a meeting here to

review the Pradhan Mantri KrishiSinchai Yojana, he pressed forquick adoption of a multi-pronged strategy to augment thecountry’s irrigation network.

With regard to the forecast bythe meteorogical departmentabout deficient monsoon rainfall

this year, Modi exhorted officialsto treat the "challenge of below-normal rainfall as an opportuni-ty", a PMO statement said.

He sought a relook at theadministrative mechanisms, finan-cial arrangements and technologyapplications in the irrigation sec-tor, to result in a shorter, morecomprehensive decision-makingprocess, which could deliver quickresults for the farmers.

The Prime Minister pitchedfor an intensive short-termeffort to boost the creation offarm ponds across the country.

The irrigation plans need tobe worked out at the districtlevel, and young officers fromthe civil services should beasked to propose district-levelirrigation plans, Modi said.

Expansion of irrigation has tobe linked with a comprehensiveevaluation of cropping patternsacross states, as well as a judi-cious mix of modern and microirrigation systems such as dripand sprinkler irrigation, he said.

While calling for a thoroughstudy of various traditional irri-gation methods across the coun-try, the Prime Minister saidyoung researchers from univer-sities should be involved in irri-gation-policy planning.

The Prime Minister said thefalling ground-water levels insome states made it necessary tobring about an urgent shift incropping patterns. He called forfocus on maize, and initiativesin value-addition in maize, tomake it more attractive forfarmers, the statement said.

The meeting was attended byMinister for Water ResourcesUma Bharati, Minister for RuralDevelopment ChaudharyBirender Singh and Minister ofState for Agriculture SanjeevBalyan, besides top officials fromthe Ministries of Agriculture,Water Resources, RuralDevelopment, Finance, NITIAayog and PMO.

The meeting comes againstthe backdrop of the Met depart-ment projection that the monsoonrainfall this year is expected to be88 per cent, downgrading its ear-lier forecast that the rainfall willbe 93 per cent.

The predication has createda scare of a drought, adding tothe woes of the farming com-munity which is already goingthrough a crisis. (PTI)

Deficient monsoonPM wants challenge to beturned into opportunity

TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2015 (PAGE 14) DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU

OFFICE OF THE ELECTION AUTHORITY ALL STATE KASHMIRIPANDIT CONFERENCE

Sheetal Nath Srinagar Camp, JammuCamp Office Buta Nagar, Sector-2 Lower

Roop Nagar Near Migrant QuatersJammu Telephone No-2592434

The undersigned has been appointed asReturning Officer to hold the elections forthe Post of President, All State KashmiriPandit Conference. Before issue of formalnotification to hold the said election, all vot-ers who have registered themselves asvoters are requested to check their namesalongwith present residential address pre-pared by the sanastha on the basis of noti-fication issued from time to time in DailyExcelsior.In case of any discrepancy withregard to address/cellphone number, thesame may kindly be got rectified, so thatthere may not crop up any difficulty lateron. In order to update the Electoral Roll thevoters are requested to verify the samefrom the camp office of ASKPC located atButanagar between 11AM to 2 PM exceptSunday/holiday within fifteen days from thedate of publication of this notice. The iden-tification proof as per the voter list shall bepre-requisite for eligibility to caste vote.Notification for election shall be issuedafter updating the voter list.

Sd/-A.K. Raina

Returning OfficerM-9419242494

NOTIFICATION