15 December 2015

SRINAGAR | 15 December 2015 | 03 Rabi ul Awwal 1437 AH Vol: 3 | Issue No: 297 | Pages: 08 | Rs 3/- 

TUESDAY 

3rd 

PRECIOUS KASHMIR 

Journalism With A Human Heart 

C 

M 

Y 

K 

http//www.preciouskashmir.com | email: preciouskashmir@gmail.com 

India, Pak to rely on ‘Musharraf-Manmohan Diplomacy’ for Kashmir 

New Delhi, Dec 14: The arch-rivals 

India and Pakistan may rely on "secret 

diplomacy" to arrive at a deal on 

the vexed Kashmir dispute in a move 

that emulates the path adopted by the 

Musharraf-Manmohan administrations 

to find an ‘out of box’ solution to the 

conflict that has sparked three wars between 

the two countries, a media report 

said today. 

The Express Tribune reported that 

the two countries recently decided to 

resume peace talks with a new name – 

Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue – to 

Now on spot sticker 

notice for wrong parking 

Precious Kashmir News 

discuss a range of issues from terrorism 

to Kashmir dispute. 

The report quoting its sources said 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi 

and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz 

Sharif have decided to use ‘back channels’ 

for in-depth discussions on Kashmir 

through their respective confidantes. 

Further quoting its sources the report 

said the foreign secretaries will 

discuss Kashmir but their mandate will 

be restricted to necessary confidencebuilding 

measures (CBMs) for improving 

the atmosphere as well as situation along 

Srinagar, Dec 14: Traffic 

Police under the supervision 

of SSP Traffic City, Srinagar 

Maqsood-ul-Zaman Monday 

started a special drive against 

on-street parking violation by 

pasting sticker notice on the 

front screen of the vehicle. 

The wrongly parked vehicles 

were filmed on spot clearly 

indicating the registration 

number of the vehicle with 

the notice pasted on it with 

some indication of the place 

of violation. 

The sticker notice served 

to the violator on windscreen 

of his/her vehicle under 

section 133 MV Act 1988 for 

obstructive/wrong parking 

with addition of section 187 

MV Act 1988 which carries 

punishment of imprisonment 

for a term which may not 

exceed 03 months or with a 

fine which may extent to Rs 

500/= or with both, a police 

statement said this evening. 

The owner/driver pasted 

with sticker notice on his/ 

her vehicle should contact 

the office of SSP Traffic City 

Srinagar with relevant documents 

and remit the prescribed 

fine against proper 

Government Receipt (GR). In 

case the violator fails to respond 

to the notice within 15 

days, his/her challan would 

be submitted to the Court of 

Law for prosecution. The details 

of the vehicle would be 

retrieved from the concerned 

RTO/ARTOs. 

The drive shall continue 

unabated till the menace of 

obstructive/wrong parking is 

eliminated for the convenience 

of commuters and 

general public. 

The roads and footpaths 

in busy Lal Chowk is a glaring 

example of how encroachers 

are having field day—resulting 

in traffic mess. Besides 

city-centre areas, traffic congestion 

is pestering commuters 

at Batamaloo, Nowhatta, 

Soura, Hawak. Interiors of Old 

City are no different due to 

encroachments of lanes and 

by-lanes. 

Officials said the number 

of vehicles plying on the 

roads have increased considerably 

while the authorities 

have failed to expedite work 

See Sticker on Pg 6 

Food Security Act: Mistakes galore in CAPD database 

both sides of the Line of Control (LoC). 

“As far as the hardcore issues related 

to Kashmir are concerned, they will be 

dealt through backchannel talks,” it said 

while quoted one of an official source. 

"The two countries have had in the past 

used back channels to break a stalemate 

on Kashmir." 

Former foreign minister Khurshid 

Kasuri in his book revealed that Islamabad 

and New Delhi were close to striking 

a deal on Kashmir through secret 

talks during former military ruler Pervez 

Musharraf’s tenure. 

Srinagar, Dec 14: Massive discrepancies 

have come to the fore in the 

database compiled by the Consumer 

Affairs and Public Distribution Department 

(CAPD) in Jammu and 

Kashmir as the state government is 

preparing to implement National 

Food Security Act (NFSA). 

The CAPD department's database 

has pasted picture of a Sikh 

man against the name of a Muslim 

man. 

In another case, the erroneous 

CAPD database has managed to get 

a man married to another man, who 

happens to be his son. 

The most common complaint 

across the valley is that wrong 

names have been included in the 

database while the genuine ones 

have been excluded, causing anxiety 

among the people. 

"Only one of my three sons' 

name figures in the list of family 

members against my name. The 

CAPD department has added five 

persons, totally unknown to us, in 

our family," K M Dar, a lawyer, said. 

Director of CAPD Kashmir A R 

War admitted that there were mistakes 

and discrepancies in the survey 

carried out by the department 

in 2012. 

"There are mistakes and we have 

set off the process of getting these 

rectified," War said. 

The official said fresh verification 

forms have been issued to the 

consumers so that they can make 

corrections to their details. 

"We are in the process of creating 

a database which will reduce 

"The two sides through their respective 

national security advisers at that 

time even exchanged non-papers suggesting 

‘out of the box’ solution to the 

longstanding problem," the report said. 

Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan 

Singh’s point-man, SK Lambah 

and Musharraf’s close aide Tariq Aziz 

reportedly held over 200 hours of discussions 

on the draft agreement during 

their over two dozen secret sittings in 

Dubai and Kathmandu, it said. 

It added that the proposed agreement 

suggested joint management of 

Talks with Pakistan 

beginning with trust: Swaraj 

New Delhi, Dec 14: Rejecting any "flip 

flop", India today asserted that the 

decision to re-start talks with Pakistan 

was based on "trust" and said 

the intent would be to have an "uninterrupted" 

dialogue process despite 

provocations by the "saboteurs", an 

apparent reference to terror groups. 

External Affairs Minister Sushma 

Swaraj, while briefing Parliament on 

her recent visit to Pakistan, justified 

the decision to have 'Comprehensive 

Dialogue', saying there is a "need for 

bridging the gulf" with the neighbouring 

country for peace and stability 

in the region. 

Answering critics, she said in the 

latest arrangement, the level of talks 

on terror has been raised as this issue 

will now be dealt with by the National 

Security Advisers (NSAs) instead of 

Foreign Secretaries as earlier. 

The fact that NSAs of India and 

Pakistan met in Bangkok without any 

publicity does not mean any third 

country's involvement but it was only 

to take forward the Ufa process as 

such a meeting could not take place 

in Delhi as "you all know", she told 

the Lok Sabha. 

Swaraj, who sought the support 

of Parliament to the latest initiative 

with Pakistan, made suo motu statements 

in both Lok Sabha and Rajya 

Sabha and answered questions posed 

by members in the Lower House like 

whether Pakistan could be trusted 

particularly since the history shows 

that dialogue has been accompanied 

by attacks from Pakistan. 

She appreciated the fact that the 

JK suffered the most because 

of hostility: Mehbooba 


New Delhi, Dec 14: Expressing 

the hope that renewed thaw in 

Indo-Pak ties would mark a new 

beginning for peace, stability and 

prosperity in the region, Member 

Parliament and PDP President, 

Mehbooba Mufti today called for 

uninterruptible and productive engagement 

between New Delhi and 

Islamabad to take the reconciliation 

and resolution process to its logical 

conclusion. 

“We cannot visualize any alternative 

to reconciliation and dialogue 

to end the dark era of hostility 

and confrontation plaguing the 

sub-continent’s six decades long tumultuous 

history,” Mehbooba said 

in the Lok Sabha while welcoming 

External Affairs Minister, Sushma 

Swaraj’s statement in the House regarding 

her recent visit to Pakistan. 

She hailed the resolve of the 

Central Government to build an environment 

of peaceful and cooperative 

relations with all its neighbors, 

including Pakistan, so that the efforts 

for peace and development 

in South Asia are taken further forward. 

“Under the renewed Comprehensive 

Dialogue with Pakistan, the 

Government of India has, as stated 

by the External Affairs Minister, 

embarked on the twin objectives 

of removing hurdles in the path of 

constructive engagement by addressing 

issues of concern, and at 

House had welcomed the initiative 

after 13 members from various parties 

spoke. 

"Nothing has changed on the 

ground. Because we had said that terror 

and talks cannot go together. So at 

Ufa, we said that NSAs will talk on terrorism," 

she said to a question about 

the same time, exploring and establishing 

cooperative ties,” she 

said and added that new initiatives 

on trade and connectivity, peopleto-people 

exchanges and humanitarian 

issues will contribute to the 

welfare of the entire region, and 

promote better understanding and 

mutual trust. 

Calling for making Jammu and 

Kashmir a hub of this new cooperative 

engagement between New Delhi 

and Islamabad, Mehbooba said 

given its geographical location,J&K 

can become the harbinger of such 

a reconciliatory process with the 

revival and rejuvenation of the inter 

and intra-state confidence building 

measures including cross-LoC trade 

and people-to-people contact. She 

said this can be done by expanding 

the import and scope of such 

activities through existing cross- 

LoC routes besides opening up 

new cross-LoC linkages including 

Jammu-Sialkote and Kargil-Skardu 

routes to boost the cooperation and 

economic activity in the region. 

Mehbooba said people of 

See Mehbooba on Pg 6 

what had changed since September 

when NSA talks could not take place 

after Pakistan insisted that Kashmir 

should be discussed at the meet. 

"Whenever talks happen, that 

is based on trust....There is a need to 

bridge the gulf (with Pakistan)," 

See Talks on Pg 6 

Need to insulate 

process: Omar 

Srinagar, Dec 14: 

Former Jammu and 

Kashmir Chief Minister 

Omar Abdullah 

today warned 

that attempts 

would be made to 

derail the dialogue process between 

India and Pakistan and said there was 

a need to thwart any such challenges 

by "insulating" the talks. 

He also asserted that Jammu and 

Kashmir was a party to the talks and 

urged the Narendra Modi government 

to start a dialogue with the state 

"the way it has started with Pakistan". 

"What we will have to do most 

is to insulate this dialogue because 

many attempts will be made to derail 

this process. 

Many attempts will be made to 

make this dialogue unsuccessful. 

Our endeavour should be to 

make all such attempts unsuccessful," 

Abdullah told reporters here. 

The National Conference (NC) 

working president was talking to 

reporters after inaugurating the 

renovated headquarters of the party 

which was damaged during the 

floods last year and in a fire incident. 

Abdullah said it did not matter as 

to where the talks took place but "at 

least the process has been restarted". 

"It is good that talks have restarted. 

I have no objection that we had to 

talk in a third country. It's okay that 

we held talks in Bangkok and not in 

Delhi or Islamabad. At least the process 

of dialogue has been started," he 

said. 

"Our Foreign Minister visited 

Islamabad and talks were restarted 

there. There was an announcement 

of holding a comprehensive dialogue. 

Now, we will wait for the shaping up 

of this comprehensive dialogue," he 

added. 

The former chief minister said 

See Omar on Pg 6 


Srinagar, Dec 14: After Consumer 

Affairs and Public (CA&PD) department 

announced five kilos of ration 

to every single persons, massive 

protest erupted on Monday in 

Srinagar’s Maisuma area wherein 

the residents blocked the busy 

Budshah Chowk here and were demanding 

revocation of the order. 

The CAPD department has 

reportedly said that five kg (of 

wheat and rice) will be provided to 

each person among all categories 

throughout the State accept the 

rationees under AAY category irrespective 

of the number of family 

members. 

The order has brought anguish 

among the people here and took to 

streets to press the government demanding 

revocation of order. 

The protests while chanting 

anti-government slogans set their 

respective ration cards on fire saying 

that it isn’t supposed to bring 

the hassles faced by the consumers 

in visiting the offices. Once 

completed, most of the consumer 

interface with the department will 

be on line," he said. 

both sides of Kashmir and demilitarisation 

of the disputed territory. "However, 

political upheaval as a result of lawyers’ 

long march in Pakistan against Musharraf 

in 2007 disrupted the process." 

India today expressed hope that reengaging 

with Pakistan under a 'Comprehensive 

Bilateral Dialogue' will mark 

beginning of peace and development as 

continued estrangement was a hurdle to 

peace and prosperity in the region. 

Making a suo motu statement in 

Rajya Sabha on her last week's visit of 

Islamabad and recent developments 


Srinagar, Dec 14: A Hurriyat 

delegation sent by Chairman 

All Parties Hurriyat Conference 

Syed Ali Geelani today 

held a detailed meeting for 

one and a half hours with 

Pakistan High Commissioner 

Abdul Basit in New Delhi in 

which they held a detailed 

discussed over the recent 

meeting of Indian Foreign 

Minister Sushma Swaraj and 

Pakistan rulers on the occasion 

of “Heart of Asia” Conference 

in Islamabad and also 

discussed the Kashmir policy 

there. 

According to the Hurriyat 

spokesperson, Ayaz Akbar, 

the personal secretary 

to chairman Peer Saifullah 

and Chief Organizer APHC 

(g) Altaf Ahmad Shah held 

a detailed meeting with the 

Pakistani High Commissioner, 

Deputy High Commissioner 

and the other officials in New 

any respite to their lives now. 

The protesters alleged that the 

government is trying to push the 

people of Kashmir to walls but they 

are going to tolerate it any more. 

“We are not going to tolerate such 

kind of discrimination to we people. 

Announcing five kgs of ration 

to Kashmiris is clear example of 

discrimination,” they said. 

“Does government think that 

five kilo per head ration is enough 

for people,” they questioned. 

Geelani’s delegation 

meets Pak High Com 

Delhi on Monday. 

The Hurriyat delegation 

handed them a message of 

octogenarian Geelani “that 

Pakistan should continue 

to maintain consistency and 

firmness over its Kashmir policy 

and play an active role in 

highlighting the human rights 

violations committed by Indian 

forces in Jammu & Kashmir 

on the international forums”. 

The delegation also apprised 

the Pakistan High 

Commissioner about the 

present situation in Kashmir, 

a Hurriyat (g) statement said 

this evening. 

Meanwhile, the Hurriyat 

delegation also visited the AI- 

IMS in New Delhi where they 

met senior journalist and editor 

of the English daily Rising 

Kashmir, Shujaat Bukhari, 

who is being treated there 

and extended good wishes 

of Geelani to him and they 

also prayed for his speedy 

and early recovery. 

War also said the department 

has also asked the consumers to 

submit their bank account details 

along with Aadhaar card details so 

See CAPD on Pg 6 

relating to ties between the two neighbours, 

External Affairs Minister Sushma 

Swaraj said Prime Minister Narendra 

Modi had discussed with his Pakistani 

counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines 

of the environment conference in Paris 

"again re-engaging with each other." 

"The underlying sentiment, on 

which I am confident that this House 

concurs fully, was that the continued 

estrangement of two neighbours was a 

hurdle to the realisation of our shared 

vision of a peaceful and prosperous region," 

she said. 

Collision 

leaves three 

dead 


Kangan, Dec 14: In a massive 

collision between a 

passenger bus and Alto car 

near Wusan Kangan area of 

Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal 

district three people including 

a government employee 

died on spot on Monday 

afternoon. 

A police official said 

that the two vehicle crash 

occurred near Wussan. The 

passenger bus (JK01E-2513) 

was bound for Kangan from 

Srinagar while Alto car 

(JK016-3990) was on way to 

Ganderbal from Kulan. 

“It was a head-on collision. 

All the three persons on 

board in Alto vehicle including 

the driver died on spot. 

The crash was so massive 

that it took pretty much time 

for in retrieving the bodies. 

The damage to the vehicles 

See Collision on Pg 6 

Ladakh frozen, MeT 

predicts snowfall in Valley 


Srinagar, Dec 14: Leh and Kargil towns in the 

Ladakh region remained frozen at minus 12 

degrees Celsius today while the cold wave conditions 

remain unabated biting cold continued 

in Kashmir Valley. 

"The minimum temperature was recorded 

at minus 12.2 degrees Celsius in Leh while it 

was minus 12.1 degrees Celsius in Kargil town 

of Ladakh region on Monday," an official from 

the local Met office said . 

"These two towns were the coldest in Jammu 

and Kashmir on Monday," the official said. 

"The minimum temperature in Srinagar 

city was two degrees Celsius on Monday. It was 

minus 4.1 degrees Celsius in Pahalgam and minus 

10 degrees Celsius in Gulmarg." 

"The minimum temperature was recorded 

at 6.8 degrees Celsius in Jammu city and Katra 

town, 0.6 degrees Celsius in Batote, 0.3 degrees 

Celsius in Bannihal and minus one degrees Celsius 

in Bhaderwah town," the official said. 

Protest erupts after CAPD orders 5 kg ration per head 

Meanwhile, the protest led to 

ding dong battles between protesters 

and forces. 

The police resorted to tear gas 

shelling to disperse the protesters. 

Nonetheless, the city centre 

also witnessed massive traffic jam 

after Maisuma residents protesting 

against 'faulty' ration distribution. 

With the blocking of busy Budshah 

Chowk by the protesters, massive 

traffic jam triggered in the 

See Protest on Pg 6 

The official said rain or snow is likely to occur 

during the next 24 hours at isolated places 

in Jammu and Kashmir. 

Biting cold has been causing problems to 

the people of the valley. 

Although the 40-day long period of extreme 

cold known as 'Chillai Kalan' is still a 

See Ladakh on Pg 6 

‘Aadhar cards 

not mandatory 

for ration cards’ 


Srinagar, Dec 14: Minister for Consumer 

Affairs and Public Distribution 

(CAPD), Chowdhary Zulfkar 

Ali Monday said that Aadhar cards 

are not mandatory to apply for new 

ration card. 

Zulfkar said that the people 

don’t need Aadhar cards to apply for 

new ration cards here as the department 

has not made it mandatory to 

come up with the Aadhar cards. 

“We will provide ration cards to 

the people whether they have Aadhar 

cards or not as the same is not 

necessary to apply for new ration 

cards. The government has decided 

to provide ration cards to even those 

people who don’t have ration cards,” 

he said. 

He said that they have informed 

officials in the department to don’t 

ask for the Aadhar cards to the 

people who will apply for a ration 

cards. 

Meanwhile, terming the protest 

incidents in Srinagar against CAPD 

See Aadhar on Pg 6 

C 

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‘Need to beautify Srinagar 

for coming tourist season’ 


Srinagar, Dec 14: Deputy 

Chief Minister, Dr. Nirmal 

Singh, who also holds the 

charge of Power Development 

Department and Housing 

and Urban Development 

Department, today stressed 

on the need to beautify the 

Srinagar city by ensuring cent 

percent cleanliness and end 

to illegal encroachments. 

Dr. Singh was today reviewing 

the functioning of 

Srinagar Municipal Corporation 

(SMC), where he asked 

the officials to prepare a comprehensive 

list of all illegal 

encroachments and commercial 

buildings lacking mandatory 

car parking. The list will 

help government to make a 

comprehensive policy that 

will deter future encroachments 

by way of enhanced 

punishments and imposition 

of fine. The meeting was informed 

that 19 commercial 

establishments have been 

sealed for not having the car 

parking facility. 


Jammu, Dec 14: Minister for 

Consumer Affairs and Public 

Distribution, Choudhary 

Zulfkar Ali today held a video 

conference with all the District 

Development Commissioners 

(DDC) to review the progress 

of consumer database creation 

for effective implementation of 

NFSA. He also called for launching 

mass awareness campaigns 

in this regard. 

The Minister impressed 

upon all DDCs to expedite 

the process and complete the 

same within fixed timeframe. 

He directed the concerned to 

cover all the deserving beneficiaries 

under different 

categories through a comprehensive 

survey. “The DDCs 

should also come up with a 

comprehensive list of all the 

segregated families,” he said. 

The Minister said the 

publication of the draft list, 

calling of objections and summary 

procedure to be followed 

under inclusion criteria 

should be updated on CA&PD 

portal for the information of 

the general public. 

“No deserving families 

should be left out especially 

The Deputy Chief Minister 

asked the officials to prepare 

for the coming season 

which is expected to bring an 

increased number of tourists 

to the capital city. The meeting 

was informed that SMC 

collects around 400 MT’s of 

solid waste everyday, which 

is dumped at Achan. 


assured that all help will 

be provided under Swachh 

Bharat Mission (SBM) to 

make Srinagar and other cities 

clean and beautiful. 

Dr Singh also gave green 

signal to SMC for purchasing 

a segregator machine. The 

Deputy Chief Minister also 

asked the officials to expedite 

the waste to energy project 

at the Achan dumping site, 

which will further reduce the 

garbage burden. 

With regards to scarcity 

of staff at SMC, Dr Singh asked 

the officials to outsource the 

sanitation work, wherever 

it is possible. He also asked 

the corporation to devise an 

awareness campaign for the 

those falling under priority 

category. Besides extra care 

should be taken to provide 

application forms to the consumers 

and proper verification 

of the details should be 

done before finalizing the 

list,” he asserted. 

The Minister was apprised 

that application forms 

for enrollment under NFSA 

have been distributed among 

the consumers with the process 

of submission of the forms 

duly completed in all respects 

has also been started simultaneously 

in all the districts. 


families not covered under 

priority and non-priority categories 

would be provided 

non-rationee cards for identification 

and other purposes. 

Jammu, Dec 14: JP World 

School celebrated its annual 

day function with great 

pomp and show, here today. 

Minister for Health and 

Medical Education, ARI and 

Trainings Choudhary Lal 

Singh was the Chief Guest 

on the occasion. 

Speaking on the occasion, 

the Minister called for 

promoting moral education 

in all government as well as 

and private educational institutions 

to protect age old 

moral ethics and rich cultural 

heritage of the State. 

He said “our moral ethos is 

getting eroded under the 

influence of western culture 

and need of the hour is to 

preserve our age old traditions. 

Choudhary Lal Singh 

said that all government 

importance of segregation of 

waste at the source. 

The meeting was informed 

that the committee 

is currently working on 38 

drainage projects in the city 

and 80 percent work on them 

has been completed. The 

committee has formulated Rs 

410 crore project, for which a 

proposal has been sent under 

AMRUT scheme. The five year 

Zulfkar for launching mass 

awareness campaign about NFSA 

2-day Urdu 

conference begins 

at Tagore Hall 

Srinagar, Dec 14: A 2-day 

conference on Urdu organised 

by Academy of Art, Culture 

and Languages started today 

at Tagore Hall Srinagar on the 

theme ‘’The Role of Institutions 

in the development of Urdu 

Language’. 

Noted writer Farooq Ahmad 

Nazki presided over 

the function, whileas Kacho 

Sikandaryar Khan was chief 

guest on the occasion. Secretary 

Cultural Academy, Aziz 

Hajini, Director School Education 

Kashmir,Dr Shah Faesal, 

Professor Nazir Ahmad Malik, 

Mohammad Yousuf Taing, 

Ghulam Nabi Khayal, Shafaq 

Sopori, Rafiq Raaz, Abdul 

,Gani Sheikh Ladakhi, Abdul 

Hameed Tanveer Kargili and 

various poets, writers and students 

participated in the event. 

Jammu, Dec 14: A meeting 

of Committee on Public 

Accounts (PAC) of Jammu 

and Kashmir Legislative Assembly 

was held here today 

under the Chairmanship of 

MLA, Mian Altaf Ahmed to 

examine Audit Paragraphs 

relating to Consumer Affairs 

and Public Distribution Department. 

Legislators, Aijaz Ahmed 

Khan, Satpaul Sharma, Mohammad 

Khalil Band, Ajay 

Nanda, Rajeev Sharma, Zaffar 

Iqbal Manhas and Dr. 

Shehnaz Ganai were present 

in the meeting and gave suggestions 

to improve the functioning 

of the department. 

Emphasizing the need 

to generate mass awareness 

regarding NFSA, the Minister 

asked DDCs to hold awareness 

campaigns to sensitize 

the consumers about the 

benefits of this ambitious 

initiative. “Success of any 

scheme lies in the efficiency 

with which it is implemented 

and benefits should reach the 

targeted beneficiaries“, the 

Minister stressed. 

The Minister appreciated 

the efforts of DDCs and concerned 

officers for providing 

requisite logistic support to 

CA&PD department to create 

database of 1.25 crore souls 

which would serve as a vital 

data for seeking allocation 

under NFSA and other social 

security schemes. 

and such private institutions 

should redouble their 

efforts ensuring that quality 

education is imparted to 

students. He further added 

that students are building 

blocks of a strong foundation 

of the nation. 

The Minister asked the 

teaching fraternity to help 

students imbibe values 

through education. He added 

that teachers are architects 

who shape personality 

of students and mould them 

to be good human beings. 

The Minister also highlighted 

role of the teachers 

and parents in the life of 

children. He called upon all 

parents to help their wards 

achieve better education 

and become good citizens of 

the country. 

He also asked the 

project will make available 

around Rs 80-85 crores to 

SMC every year. 


also asked the officials of 

Urban Local Bodies to work 

together to make SBM a 

complete success. He was informed 

that the Urban Local 

Bodies have received 25349 

applications for the construction 

of individual household 


Jammu, Dec 14: Chairing 

the 29th University Council 

meeting of Sher-e-Kashmir 

University of Agricultural 

Sciences and Technology of 

Kashmir (SKUAST-K), held 

here at the Raj Bhavan, Governor 

N.N. Vohra, Chancellor 

of SKUAST-K, observed that 

the Farm Universities should 

get involved and play a role 

in developing entrepreneurship 

in the State by imparting 

vocational and skill oriented 

training in the fields of 

scientific storage, dehydration, 

processing, packaging, 

handling and value addition 

of fruits, vegetables meat and 

poultry products in the State. 

In the discussions in the Council 

the Chancellor andChief 

Minister Mufti Mohd. Sayeed, 

Pro Chancellor of the University 

reviewed the ongoing vocational 

training programmes 

and the locations where these 

are being carried out. 

The Vice Chancellor, Dr. 

Nazeer Ahmad was asked 

to undertake an assessment 

of the actual benefits of the 

“High Density Fruit Farming 

Youth are building blocks 

of the nation: Lal Singh 

Mian Altaf chairs PAC meet 

The Committee discussed 

the Action Taken 

Report on Audit Paras contained 

in CAG’s Report for 

Consumer Affairs and Public 

Distributions Department. 

Threadbare discussion 

was held on relevant paras 

including non-functional K. 

Oil depots and their present 

status, procurement of food 

grains and implementation 

of NFSA in the state and its 

various aspects. 

The Committee asked 

the concerned officers 

that the Accounts system 

of the department should 

be maintained as per the 

guidelines. It also asked to 

them to ensure proper supply 

of K. Oil in remote and 

far-flung areas. 

Secretary, CA&PD, Saurabh 

Bhagat briefed the 

Committee about the functioning 

of the department 

besides physical and financial 

activities of the department. 

Deputy Audit General 

(DAG), Deen Dayal Verma, 

Director, CA&PD, Jammu, 

G. S. Chib, Director Finance, 

CA&PD, Suresh Koul, Special 

Secretary, Legislative Assembly, 

M. R. Singh besides 

senior officers of CA&PD and 

Assembly Secretariat also 

attended the meeting. 

News 

Tuesday 

2 

15.12.2015 

toilets out of which 5006 

have been already sanctioned. 

Dr Singh asked the 

officials to expedite the sanctioning 

of other cases too. 

Under the programme every 

household is provided Rs 

4000 by Centre and Rs 8000 

by state government for the 

construction of toilets. 

12 community centres 

are also being constructed 

in various towns besides, 21 

drainage projects have been 

taken up at as many towns. 


asked the Urban Local Bodies 

to generate resources by utilising 

the assets at prime locations. 

He gave green signal 

for taking up a project under 

PPP mode at Handwara Bus 

Adda. 


asked the officials to get 

ready for local bodies elections, 

which will be held in 

March 2016. “We want to 

bring the governance at the 

local level. Our motto is to 

ensure development of everybody,” 

said Dr Singh. 

Farm Universities should play a role 

in entrepreneurship dev: Governor 

students community to 

remain focused in their 

studies, besides also participate 

in extracurricular 

activities for their overall 

development. He said that 

hard-work will not only 

help them achieve better 

results and a bright future 

but they will also be able 

to contribute towards the 

progress of the nation. 


Chairman of the school 

asked the students to work 

hard and show their excellence 

in coming exams. He 

said education is vital for 

better tomorrow and asked 

students to share their 

knowledge to gain knowledge. 

Earlier, students of the 

school presented a colorful 

cultural programme. 

Pulwama, Dec 14: Director 

General of Police (DGP), K. 

Rajendra Kumar today visited 

Pulwama and supervised the 

ongoing recruitment process 

of constables which was 

held in district police lines, 

He enquired about different 

methods being applied for 

outdoor tests of the aspirants. 

Rajendra, on the occasion 

interacted with the candidates 

to get fed back about 

the gadgets being utilized in 

the physical tests. He said that 

the process would be purely 

transparent and deserving 

youth would be selected on 

the basis of merit. The whole 

process is being monitored 

System in Kashmir Valley” 

project by carrying out a 

concurrent evaluation along 

with the State Agriculture 

Department. The Chancellor 

and the Pro-Chancellor also 

discussed the present status 

of the work being done 

by the Research Centre for 

Residue and Quality Analysis 

at SKUAST-K and directed 

Commissioner, State Agriculture 

Department, to ensure 

stringent action against 

anyone involved in the sale 

of spurious fertilizers, insecticides 

and pesticides in the 

State. The Chancellor also 

stressed the adoption of organic 

farm practices. 

The Pro Chancellor advised 

Vice Chancellor to 

suitably review the extant 

academic programmes to 

provide the students an 

Jammu, Dec 14: Maintaining 

that Gram Panchayats are 

the most important element 

of the Panchayati Raj system, 

Minister for Rural Development 

and Panchayati Raj, 

Abdul Haq today said J&K 

would achieve real progress 

at the grassroots level only 

if the Gram Panchayats are 

strengthened and empowered. 

Speaking at day-long 

conference and award distribution 

function organized 

by Department of Rural Development 

and Panchayati 

Raj here, the Minister said it 

is a matter of pride for the 

State that three Gram Panchayats 

including Dara, Sarar 

and Mand brought laurels 

to J&K after being conferred 

“Panchayat Sashaktikaran 

Puraskar” for the year 2014- 

15 by the Government of India. 

He said these Gram Panchayats 

were awarded for 

through latest equipments 

to ensure transparency in the 

recruitment, he added. 

Earlier, the Chairman 

of the Police Recruitment 

Board, L. Mohanti, briefed 

Mehbooba seeks effective 

implementation of supernumerary 

quota for JK students 

increased opportunity of 

spending more time in field 

work. He also asked the VC 

to initiate dairy and poultry 

farming Pilot Projects for encouraging 

and guiding the 

rural youth to set up farming 

related ventures. 

The Council had extensive 

discussions on the 

work done by the University 

for providing high yielding 

seeds to the farmers and 

significantly increasing the 

seed replacement rate. The 

Council stressed on the VCs 

of both the Farm Universities 

to educate the farmers for 

adopting new technologies 

and eco-friendly techniques 

for increasing production 

and productivity and shifting 

towards the commercially 

viable crops. 

Abdul Rehman Bhat, 

the exemplary work done in 

their respective Panchayats. 

The Minister distributed 

cheques amounting to 

Rs 8 lakh each to felicitate 

the members of these Panchayats 

namely Mohammad 

Amin Rather, Sudesh 

Chander and Mansa Ram 

for their tireless efforts in 

ensuring proper utilization 

of funds and effective implementation 

of various welfare 

schemes and programmes 

launched by the state and 

central government. He said 

the DGP about the ongoing 

process. The DGP asked the 

members and staff involved 

in the process to be impartial 

and passionate towards the 

candidates participating in 

New Delhi, Dec 14: Member 

Parliament and PDP 

President, Mehbooba Mufti 

today sought the intervention 

of the Union Minister 

for Human Resource Development 

(MHRD) in the effective 

implementation of 

UGC scheme regarding admission 

of J&K students in 

the recognized colleges and 

universities of the country 

under supernumerary 

quota. 

Raising the issue during 

Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha 

today, Mehbooba said as 

per the University Grants 

Commission (UGC) guidelines, 

in addition to the migrant 

quota, admissions to 

two supernumerary seats 

each have to be made by 

all the recognized universities 

of the country from 

amongst the general category 

students of Jammu 

and Kashmir. 

She said of late, as per 

reports, most of the universities 

have started refusing 

admissions to the 

students from J&K under 

this quota. She sought the 

intervention of the Union 

Minister for Human Resource 

Development, Smriti 

Irani in the matter so 

that the students from J&K 

continue to benefit from 

this scheme. 

Earlier, in its written 

reply to a question raised 

by Mehbooba in the Lok 

Sabha on the issue, MHRD 

said, following the reports 

that some colleges and 

universities were refusing 

admission to the students 

from J&K under supernumerary 

seats, the UGC issued 

fresh directive to all 

the universities to admit 

the eligible students from 

J&K under the supernumerary 

quota. 

MHRD said that during 

last year, 20 representations 

were received from 

students of J&K regarding 

refusal of admissions by 

the Delhi University Colleges 

under supernumerary 

quota. 

The Ministry said till 

date 406 admissions of students 

from J&K have been 

made under supernumerary 

quota through centralized 

counselling process 

under the Special Scholarship 

Scheme. 

Minister for Horticulture; 

Bali Bhagat, Minister for Forests; 

Sajad Gani Lone, Minister 

for Animal Husbandry 

and Ghulam Nabi Lone, 

Minister for Agriculture, 

urged both the VCs to optimally 

utilize all the existing 

resources of the Farm Universities 

and secure speedy 

development of agriculture 

and its allied sectors. 

Dr. Nazeer Ahmad, Vice 

Chancellor, SKUAST-K, made 

a detailed presentation on the 

various initiatives which had 

been undertaken by the University 

since the last Council 

meeting. He highlighted the 

academic achievements and 

informed the Council about 

the accomplishments secured 

in improving capacities and 

infrastructure development 

in the Farm University. 

these Panchayat Representatives 

are the role model for 

the society and urged other 

members to act as brand 

ambassadors to carry forward 

the agenda of development 

of the present dispensation. 


members of these three Panchayats 

have proven their 

mettle in making best use of 

the resources. He announced 

that similar awards would be 

conferred to the outstanding 

Panchayats at the state level 

the recruitment. He said that 

by inducting qualified and 

energetic youth in the Organization, 

our capabilities to 

serve the people and the Nation 

would be enhanced, besides 

providing employment 

to the unemployed youth of 

the State. 

Later, the DGP had a 

meeting with the board 

members and discussed 

pace of recruitment in other 

districts of the Valley. He was 

informed that recruitment is 

being held as per norms and 

schedule already framed by 

Police Headquarters. DGP 

disclosed that the recruitment 

of 4000 constables in 

www.preciouskashmir.com 

‘Educators to be 

role models for 

climate change 

awareness’ 

Jammu, Dec 14: Calling 

upon educators to become 

role models for spreading 

awareness on climate 

change and its affects, Minister 

of State for Information, 

Culture and Education 

Priya Sethi said teachers are 

pillars of knowledge and can 

play a very positive role in 

motivating society towards 

the most important topic of 

climate change and sustainable 

living. 

She said society at large 

and students in particular 

look up to the educators for 

directions and the teaching 

fraternity should actively 

contribute towards environment 

issues. 

The Minister was 

speaking at a conference on 

‘Climate Change (CC) and 

Sustainability-Equipping 

Educators on Climate 

Change’ here at Jammu 

University, today. 

The conference was 

jointly organized by Department 

of Environmental 

Sciences, Centre for Environment 

Education (CEE) 

Ahmedabad and Centre for 

Environment Education & 

Training (CEET), J&K. 

Vice-Chancellor, 

Jammu University Prof. 

R.D. Sharma, Head of the 

Department Environmental 

Sciences, Prof. Anil Sharma, 

Dr. Abdesh Gangwar, Prof. 

Deepika Sharma, Eminent 

Environmentalist Dr. C.M. 

Seth, Teachers from different 

education at institutes, environmentalists, 

educationists 

and students attended the 

workshop. 

Underscoring the commitment 

of the government 

towards checking climate 

change, Priya said J&K State 

Council on Climate Change 

has been set up and the 

Chief Minister is heading 

the council, adding that 

being one of the most ecosensitive 

states the issue 

of climate change and its 

adverse effects pose more 

threat to the, hilly state. 

She said last year’s flash 

floods and rains that created 

havoc in the state are clear 

signs of the Nature’s fury 

and mankind has to seriously 

think on maintaining 

ecological balance. 

“We have great hopes 

on our younger generation 

and I am sure that youngsters 

would show similar 

zeal as they have shown in 

the Swachh Bharat mission 

launched by Prime Minister 

Narendra Modi,” she added. 

Haq for strengthening Gram Panchayats 

for the encouragement of 

members who are making 

extraordinary efforts for the 

overall development of the 

state. 

The Minister called upon 

the concerned officers to implement 

the schemes such 

as “My Village, My World”, 

MGNREGA, IAY etc. at grassroots 

level. Stressing for 

creation of durable assets 

in villages, Haq asked the 

Panchayat representatives 

to formulate plans keeping 

in view the overall developmental 

needs of the villages 

urging them to ensure tangible 

impact of the rural development 

schemes on the 

ground. 

The Minister said that 

to carry out any development 

related works in rural 

areas, the concerned 

executing agency should 

consult representatives of 

respective Panchayats. 

DGP supervises police recruitment process 

the Organization is looked 

by the people with great expectations 

and we are committed 

to provide employment 

to the deserving youth. 

He said that the youth are 

showing great enthusiasm by 

participating in the recruitment 

rallies despite hostile 

weather in the valley to join 

the force and serve the people 

of the State. 

The DGP was accompanied 

by IGP Kashmir Zone), 

SJM Giliani, IGP Railways, 

MS Salaria, IGP IRP (Kashmir), 

Sunil Kumar, DIG 

(CKR), G H. Bhat, SSP Pulwama 

Tajinder Singh and 

other Board members.

Precious Kashmir 

Sopore stabbing >>>> 

Police arrest ‘attackers’ 

within 24 hours 


Srinagar, Dec 14: Police in 

Jammu and Kashmir have 

arrested the alleged attackers 

of a man stabbed to 

death in Sopore on Saturday. 

On Dec 12, some unknown 

persons killed Ghulam 

Mohammad Tantary 

when he was returning 

home from his routine work 

in late evening, said an official. 

“Sopore police registered 

a case in this regard 

and constituted a special 

investigation team (SIT) under 

the supervision of SSP 

Sopore. 

“The investigation 

team picked two suspected 

youths Khurshid Ahmad 

Malla son of Bashir Ahmad 

Malla and Zahid Ahmad Katroo 

son of Mushtaq Ahmad 

Katroo residents of Ambarpora 

Tarzoo, Sopore,” he 

said. 

During questioning, it 

come to fore that the family 

of the Khurshid Ahmad 

Malla was interested in 

marriage with the family 

member of deceased, which 

was not accepted by the deceased 

and this frustrated 

the Khurshid Ahmad, the 

official added. 

On 12th of this month 

in the evening Khurshid 

along with his friend Zahid 

Ahmad hatched a conspiracy 

to eliminate the said 

deceased. 

In the evening hours, 

when Ghulam Mohammad 

was about to enter his 

house, Khurshid attacked 

with a sharp edged weapon 

on his neck, while Zahid 

was assisting him. 

Both the attackers fled 

from the spot after locals 

raise hue and cry. 

Ghulam Mohammad 

breathed his last while he 

was being shifted to hospital. 

The weapon of the offence 

was seized from the 

scene of occurrence and 

its preliminary investigation 

reveals that it was a 

planned murder. 

Bullet-ridden body found in Shopian 

Srinagar, Dec 14: Police on Monday recovered a bullet-ridden body of a youth in Turkiwangum 

area of south Kashmir’s Shopian district.An official said that the body of 23-yesar-old-Rasik 

Ahmad Khan was found tied to a pole in Turkiwangam village by the locals 

who after spotting him immediately informed the police.A police team reached to the spot 

soon after being informed and taken the bullet ridden body for postmortem and other legal 

formalities.The slain youth, a resident of Wasohallan village in the district, owned a Xerox 

shop outside a government school in Imam-Sahib area, he said.After conducting all legal 

formalities, the police handed over the body to his family members for last rites, he said. 

Meanwhile, police has registered a case and started further investigations in this regard. 

NEWS 

Srinagar,Tuesday 


Cluster approach 

key to promotion of 

traditional craft: Mufti 


Srinagar, Dec 14: To boost traditional 

handmade and artisanal craft for 

its inclusive growth, Chief Minister, 

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Monday, 

sought Central support in fostering 

entrepreneurial cooperation by promotion 

of cluster initiative. 

He also called for complete focus 

on traditional craft which are 

women-centric such as shawl embroidery, 

chain stitch, sozni and 

crewel work. 

The Chief Minister made these 

observations during his meeting 

with the Minister for Industries & 

Commerce, Chander Parkash Ganga 

and the visiting Chairman of Khadi 

& Village Industries Commission 

(K&VIC), Vinai Kumar, here this 

morning. 

Principal Secretary to the Chief 

Minister, B. B. Vyas, was also present 

on the occasion. 

Describing Khadi and Village 

Industries as a vibrant sector of rural 

economy, Mufti Sayeed stressed 

upon a comprehensive cluster approach 

to overcome the challenge 

posed by competitive imported 

products available in the market. He 

called for soft interventions through 

cluster methodology to ensure our 

artisans have proximity to raw material 

and that they are able to overcome 

the hurdles in marketing of 

our fabled handicraft products. “An 

institutional mechanism has to be 

worked out so that our artisans benefit 

from K&VIC’s prepare & procure 

3 

policy particularly in papier machie, 

wood work, Basohli paintings and 

Kishtwari blanket-making,” he stated. 

Chairman K&VIC assured the 

Chief Minister on setting up of two 

heritage clusters, one each in Srinagar 

and Jammu, under SFURTI 

(Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of 

Traditional Industries) in the state. 

He also offered skill-based training 

to artisans so that they are acquainted 

with new designs which can be 

blended with traditional designs 

depicting local flavours. 

SFURTI has inbuilt provision for 

soft interventions including skill 

training, capacity building and design 

development. 

To provide marketing support to 

Khadi & Village Industries, K&VIC is 

establishing 20 Khadi Gram Udyog 

Bhawans out of which two are being 

envisaged for J&K. 

Kupwara 

Court 

extends TA 

man’s police 

remand till 

Dec 19 


Kupwara, Dec 14: A local 

court here on Monday 

extended the police remand 

of Territorial Army trooper, 

arrested in connection with 

alleged “abduction” of three 

villagers in this frontier 

district till December 19. 

While extending the remand 

on the third occasion 

this month, the court of 

Judicial Magistrate Kupwara 

asked police to expedite the 

investigation. 

The accused, Manzoor 

Ahmad Khawaja, was 

produced before court 

and police through Chief 

Prosecuting Officer (CPO) 

Kupwara, Ashiq Hussain, 

urged for extension in his 

remand. 

Last week, a police 

official said that on November 

28, a compliant was 

received at Police Station 

Kralpora from the relatives 

of Ghulam Jeelani Khatana 

(52 Yrs) of Sajan Nari 

village of Dardpora and Mir 

Hussain Khatan (55 yrs) of 

Gujran village of Dardpora. 

The villagers are missing 

since November 17 after 

the trooper Khwaja of Satboyan 

village of Dardpora in 

the district called them to 

Kralpora. “Since then their 

whereabouts are not known 

nor any kind of communication 

could be made with 

them,” he said. 

Accordingly, the official 

said, a case under FIR number 

100/2015 under section 

364 RPC was lodged into 

the matter and investigation 

was set into motion. Police 

have arrested the trooper, 

he added. 

As the police was 

investigating the missing 

complaints, another complaint 

was received by cops 

at Trehgam police station 29 

November regarding missing 

of Ali Mohammd Sheikh 

(40 yrs) of Checkpora in 

Trehgam area of the district 

since November 17. 

The official said that 

to clear the doubts of relatives 

of missing persons, 

they were called to police 

station Kralpora and were 

shown photographs of 

militants killed in encounters 

since 15 November. 

“The relatives of these 

missing persons denied 

resemblance of these 

photographs with those of 

their missing relatives in 

presence of the independent 

witnesses,” he said 

and added that further 

investigation of the case is 

vigorously going on. (GNS) 

Notifying Bajpathri >>>>>> 

Geelani to run public 

campaign against the move 


Srinagar, Dec 14: 

Expressing deep concern 

and anguish over 

the reported demand 

of Army for notifying 

Bajpathri forest area close 

to Yusmarg hill resort in 

central Kashmir’s Budgam 

district for its use as an 

artillery firing range, 

Chairperson All Parties 

Hurriyat Conference (g) 

Syed Ali Geelani Monday 

said that by setting up 

their camps and firing 

ranges everywhere in 

Kashmir, “the Indian army 

is destroying the forests, 

water resources, environment 

and the economy 

of the poor people and 

they are converting this 

entire area into a military 

garrison”. 

He expressed deep 

sorrow over the “likely 

node of the government 

to the army’s demand of 

converting a forest area 

and a famous tourist spot 

into a piece of wasteland” 

and said, “the 

pro-Indian politicians are 

mortgaging and auctioning 

every state property 

for the chair and the personal 

benefits and from 

1947 till date, these people 

have always harmed 

the national interest of 

Kashmiri people.” 

Octogenarian Hurriyat 

chairperson said, 

“the setting up of the 

proposed firing rage in 

Bajpathri area will badly 

affect the vast forest area 

of Budgam and Shopian 

districts, more than 10 

water supply schemes 

originated from this area 

and which are feeding the 

major and huge population 

of the area will also 

get impacted by this decision; 

this proposal will 

completely destroy the 

Yusmarg tourist destination 

forever and the very 

serious and vital issue 

is the proposed firing 

range will endanger the 

lives of the huge population 

residing around the 

Bajpathri area and like 

Tosmaidan this area will 

also prove to be a death 

trap for the people.” 

Hurriyat (M) pays 

tribute to Akbar on his 

28th death anniversary 


Srinagar, Dec 14: Paying 

glowing tributes to prominent 

resistance leader, Sofi 

Muhammad Akbar and 

recalling his contributions 

toward the resistance 

movement on his 28th 

death anniversary, Hurriyat 

(M) spokesman Monday 

said despite opposition and 

political pressures, Sofi Akbar 

remained steadfast and 

strived for the just and basic 

right of self-determination 

of the people of Kashmir 

until breathing his last. 

Hurriyat (M) spokesman 

said at that time when 

most of Kashmir’s political 

leadership was busy 

securing seats in the State 

assembly and Indian Parliament 

and rendering their 

services to New Delhi for 

their vested interests, Sofi 

Akbar’s Mahaz-e-Azadi that 

he founded, was among a 

few prominent political and 

resistance groups of Kashmir 

offering sacrifices for the 

greater cause of Kashmir. 

Spokesman said, on the 

directions of Hurriyat (M) 

Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar 

Farooq, a high-level Hurriyat 

delegation comprising of 

Muhammad Musadiq Adil, 

Ghulam Nabi Zaki, Ghulam 

Nabi War, Ghulam Nabi 

Wasim and others visited 

north Kashmir’s Sopore 

town and offered Fateh Khawani 

prayers at marhoom 

Sofi Akbar’s grave. 


the Hurriyat (M) delegation 

members recalled the 

contributions of Sofi Akbar, 

paid glowing tributes to him 

and prayed for his eternal 

peace. 

Meanwhile, the Hurriyat 

(M) spokesman expressed 

“On the one hand 

India is seen playing an 

active role in the Paris 

Climate Change Conference 

and the international 

agreements according 

to which the attempts are 

being made at world level 

to save the world from 

global warming and other 

environmental threats 

but on the other hand 

to maintain its illegal 

and forced occupation 

in Kashmir, this country 

is destroying every 

such thing in Jammu & 

Kashmir which are vital 

for maintaining environmental 

equilibrium and 

which play a key role in 

controlling the fast rising 

global temperature,” 

Geelani said. 

Geelani, who continues 

to remain under 

house detention, said, 

“India is treating Jammu 

& Kashmir as its colony of 

the modern era and this 

country not only wants 

to continue its military 

occupation in this region 

but she wants to convert 

this place into a mass of 

destructive weapons. The 

policy makers of India 

have no interests with the 

miseries, life and death 

of the Kashmiri people, 

they have nothing to do 

whether the economy of 

this region gets destroyed 

or improved and they 

have no concerns with 

the protection of the 

Forests, water resources 

and environment of this 

region, they are only 

concerned to strengthen 

their forced occupation 

in Kashmir and for that 

purpose they can go to 

any extent. 

>>>>> Carpenter’s fake encounter case 


Mother seeks whereabouts of 

her son, says Shabir is innocent 

‘He is a militant: SSP Jammu 


Srinagar, Dec 14: A family 

from Tral town of South 

Kashmir’s Pulwama 

district has been wandering 

from pillar to post in 

search of their loved one 

who according to them is 

untraceable after picked 

up the police from Jammu 

Bathindhi Jammu in the 

first week of November 

last month. 

The elderly mother 

and the two brothers of 19 

years old Shabir Ahmed 

Malik, resident of Nagbal 

Tral appeared in Press Enclave 

Srinagar on Monday. 

They said that Shabir has 

been missing from past 

one month and they don’t 

know why he was arrested 

and where the police have 

kept him. “My son Shabir 

was working as a baker at 

a bakery shop in Nowgam 

Srinagar. 

In November Government 

Forces raided our 

house and enquired about 

his whereabouts. They 

picked up my another son 

Muhammad Amin and 

released him after two 

days. Later on we came 

to know that Shabir has 

been arrested by police 

from Bathandi Jammu. 

First they labelled him as 

LeT militant and later on 

police claimed that he is 

affiliated with Hizb outfit. 

We fail to understand 

how he reached Bathandi 

when he was present in 

Nowgam,” Mukhti Begum, 

the mother of Shabir said. 

She said that, “shortly 

before police raided their 

house, Shabir called us and 

informed that Tral police 

have called him and asked 

him to present himself at 

police station Tral. From 

that day he switched off 

his mobile phone. I am 

deeply concerned about 

his safety and want to 

meet him, but no security 

agency owns him.” 

Mukhti Begum said 

that Shabir is innocent 

and even Tral police have 

accepted that he is not 

involved in any militant 

activity. 

Former SHO partly cross examined 

Winter vacation for 

doctors leaves patients 

in lurch: DAK 

Srinagar, Dec 14: Calling for an end to 

winter vacation of senior doctors in tertiary 

care hospitals, Doctors Association Kashmir 

(DAK) Monday said that this practice leaves 

patients to suffer severely. 

Terming the practice unethical President 

DAK Dr Nisar ul Hassan in a statement 

said that holidays for senior doctors leave 

patients in lurch. 

Denying that Police 

raided any house at Nagbal 

Tral, a police official said 

that Shabir there is no FIR 

lodged against Shabir and 

as per police records he is 

not a militant or involved 

in any militancy related 

activity. He said that they 

came to know about 

Shabir when his family 

lodged a missing report 

about him in police station 

Tral. 

Pertinently, news 

reports had revealed 

that police arrested a 

man suspected to be a 

militant from the house 

of a former Sarpanch in 

Bathindhi area where he 

was staying for past two 

days. 

Confirming the arrest 

of Shabir Ahmed Malik, 

Senior Superintendent 

of Police Jammu, Uttam 

Chand said that he is in 

police lock up and during 

questioning he has confessed 

that he worked for 

a militant organization. 

“I can’t tell you where he 

has been detained but he 

has accepted he worked 

for a militant organization,” 

he said. (CNS) 

Srinagar, Dec 14: Former 

station house officer was 

cross examined in connection 

with fake encounter 

killing of Abdul Rehman 

Padroo before a court on 

Monday. 

The SHO, Muhammad 

Asgar Bhat, who was the 

investigating officer of 

the case, was partly cross 

examined and the cases 

will continue tomorrow 

as well. 

The SIT had probed the 

killing of Padroo, a carpenter 

from Larnoo Kokernag 

who was passed off as 

Lashkar militant and killed 

in a fake encounter after he 

went missing from Batamaloo 

in December 2006. 

Seven accused include 

former SSP Hans Raj Parihar 

are under detention at 

Central Jail Srinagar. 

The SIT was headed 

by SSP Uttam Chand who 

has already recorded his 

statement before the 

court in November 2013 

that the fake encounter 

case was ‘rarest of the 

rare’ cases and prayed for 

death sentence to all the 

seven accused. 

Besides Parihar, the SIT 

had found Dy SP Bahadur 

Ram, ASI Farooq Gudoo, 

driver Farooq Ahmad Padder, 

Manzoor Ahmad Malik 

and Constable Bansi Lal 

guilty of killing Padroo. 

The SIT had exhumed 

Padroo’s body in Sumbal 

area of Bandipora district. 

Padroo had gone missing 

from Batamaloo bus stand 

on December 8, 2006 

and taken to Waskoora 

in central Kashmir’s 

Ganderbal district where 

he was killed in the fake 

encounter by the accused, 

working with Special 

Operation Group (SOG) 

posted in Ganderbal and 

Sumbal camps. 

The DNA taken from 

the body of Padroo 

matched with that of 

his relatives in Larnoo 

Kokernag, confirming that 

the killed ‘foreign militant’ 

was not a Pakistani 

militant but the abducted 

carpenter. (GNS) 

Exams for 1st year 

held in 2013, marks 

cards yet to be given 


Baramulla, Dec 14: 

After passing two years 

since 1st year examination 

was held in MCMP 

Government College 

Baramulla, the students 

are yet to receive their 

respective marks sheets 

thereby leaving students 

to suffer. 

The students who 

are undergoing in MCMP 

course said that the 

college is not providing 

marks cards to them. 

“We have approached 

several time to the 

college authorities but 

nothing has been in this 

regard,” they said. 

Accusing the college 

authorities for ignoring 

their plights, the 

students demand their 

marks sheets at earliest. 

“Our marks cards 

as per notification have 

been sent from tabulation 

section to first year 

section but we are yet 

Patient care is worst hit and patients 

face immense hardships during holiday 

time of doctors.Every year faculty of referral 

hospitals go for two months winter vacation 

leaving patients to fend for themselves. 

Despite huge inconvenience faced by 

public due to dire shortage of doctors in 

hospitals, senior doctors are allowed for 

winter vacation.It is ironical that faculty of 

premier hospitals are allowed to leave at a 

time when their services are needed most. 

Patients are left to die due to non-availability 

of senior doctors during harsh winter 

when Kashmir remains cut-off from rest of 

the world. 

to receive our cards. It 

marks cards got missing 

from the same section 

and we have been asked 

to apply for duplicate 

copies of marks cards for 

which college authorities 

are asking to pay,” they 

said. 

They further said 

that it is the negligence 

of college authorities and 

why should we pay to 

college authorities when 

they haven’t received 

any card so far. “It stands 

college authorities 

responsibility to provide 

our marks at earliest 

without charging any 

amount,” they said. 

They later appealed 

to the college administration 

to look into the 

matter and redress their 

genuine grievance at 

earliest. 

Despite repeated 

attempts, Assistant controller, 

Manzoor Ahmad 

could not be contacted 

for the comments. (KNS)

Precious Kashmir 

Tolerance in 

our blood 

Edit 

Srinagar,Tuesday 

15.12.2015 4 

Who represents the Syrian 

people? 

There are two Kashmiri proverbs which vividly 

describe this character of ours. One is about 

the sowing of nettle and the other is about the 

splitting of a log. The nettle proverb is, “Anim 

soai, wuvem soi, lajim soi pansi”! (I brought 

the nettle, sowed the nettle, and got bitten by 

it myself). This is typical story in all these external 

interventions in Kashmir. Most of the 

time the interventions were sought by Kashmiris 

themselves because of the violent internecine 

tussle within Kashmir. Prior to Mughal 

intervention, Kashmir was experiencing the 

worst kind of sectarian violence. Yaqub Sarfi 

and Baba Daud Khaki requested Akbar to save 

Kashmir menaced by sectarian crises. Mughals 

captured Kashmir through treachery by trapping 

and arresting Yousuf Shah Chak, the last 

ruler of the independent Kashmir. The Mughals 

drained out every bit of chivalry from the blood 

of Kashmiris and turned them into demeaning 

serfs. Kashmir became their pleasure garden, 

a “Paradise on Earth” for them only! Similarly, 

the Afghans too had local invitation and facilitation 

in making Kashmir a part of their kingdom. 

The Afghan rule in Kashmir was a nightmarish 

experience. Kashmiris had hoped that the Afghans 

would bring order and treat them generously. 

However, they got what Dr. Ahad calls 

a “Culture Shock”! The Afghan experience has 

been summed up in a Persian couplet. “When 

the poet asked the gardener, who laid waste this 

garden? With a deep sigh he replied, ‘it was the 

Afghan’!” 

Kashmiris are traditionally and historically 

reputed to be very tolerant and non-communal 

people. However, recently there have been concerted 

attempts to introduce a communal element 

in the Kashmiri discourse facilitated by a 

local “peg”! These fascist elements could have 

never imagined an entry into the valley had not 

a Kashmiri facilitated it. The burning of a truck 

driver on the excuse of eating beef which resulted 

in massive protests was a stark example of 

this communal frenzy being slowly fueled by external 

elements with local collaboration. These 

elements are playing with fire which may engulf 

not only the state but the whole sub-continent. 

Bihar elections and the celebrations on Modi’s 

defeat in Kashmir and across the border should 

make these “pegs” think about their future! For 

a change, the log which has been hardened 

over the years, instead of getting split, may 

blunt the “peg” itself and render it useless. It 

is time for these local “pegs” to ponder about 

their ultimate fate! 

Other Opinion 

Lamis Andoni 

World powers, regional players, 

the Syrian regime, the 

splintered opposition and 

even the gangsters of the 

so-called Islamic State of Iraq 

and the Levant (ISIL) are positioning themselves, 

directly or indirectly, for negotiations 

over the future of the country, in the absence 

of a unified and credible voice for the forces 

that started the Syrian revolution. 

What is clear is that almost all parties are 

ready to compromise either Syria’s unity or 

sovereignty, or both, to further their interests 

and influence the shape of a new regime - 

with or without President Bashar al-Assad. 

What all powers, including Russia, are looking 

for is a malleable regime and, in the case of 

the US, one that does not present “a threat to 

Israel”. 

For all external powers, Syria is a “failed 

state” that can be reconstructed to their own 

liking, ignoring the demands and aspirations 

expressed by the Syrian people who rose up 

against the regime’s oppression and creeping 

marginalisation of the lower socioeconomic 

strata.Therefore, it is especially disturbing 

that the Syrian people, who are paying with 

their lives, are not adequately represented 

in either diplomatic efforts or the military 

campaign; not only is the self-declared Syrian 

opposition splintered, but most of the factions 

have become tools for different governments 

or vehicles for egoistic leaders seeking power 

positions in Syria’s future. 

However, the biggest blow for Syrian aspirations 

for freedom and justice was the emergence 

of fanatical groups such as ISIL, and 

extremist factions such as Jabhat al-Nusra and 

Ahrar al-Sham, which are bent on transforming 

the struggle into a sectarian conflict between 

the Sunnis and the ruling Alawite elite. 

The ascension of such groups has not only distorted 

the popular struggle but also boosted 

the regime’s attempts to delegitimise the uprising, 

describing its opponents as “terrorists” 

and posing “as the protector” of Christians 

and minorities inside Syria and beyond. 

Fear of ISIL and its ilk inside Syria, and their 

targeting of Christians and ethnic minorities, 

have further complicated the crucial question 

of representation and legitimacy of the 

revolution.Fear of ISIL and its ilk inside Syria, 

and their targeting of Christians and ethnic 

minorities, have further complicated the crucial 

question of representation and legitimacy 

of the revolution. Unlike in the first months 

or even the first year of the uprising, there are 

now Syrians who are ready to live with the 

tyranny of Assad as the lesser of two evils. 

While weighing an oppressive regime against 

chaos and instability could be understood in 

psychological and humanistic terms, it does 

not make the murderous regime a true representative 

of the Syrians. 

Militarisation of the revolution 

The fleeing of hundreds of thousands of 

Syrians who are risking their lives across the 

tumultuous seas lays the blame first and foremost 

at the regime’s door, for its initial cruel 

crackdown on protesters, mostly children, 

which proved to be the spark that ignited a 

wider uprising. 

It could be reasonably argued that the militarisation 

of the revolution was a mistake that 

undermined the political representation of 

the revolution, as it allowed agenda-driven 

foreign interventions, giving the regime 

the upper hand, and blurred the distinction 

between the revolutionaries and groups such 

as ISIL and others.Yet at the same time it is 

also arguably a predictable result, considering 

the ferocity of the regime’s reactions. What is 

important here is that a strong political voice 

for the revolution was eclipsed by the ensuing 

explosion of armed violence - confusing a 

legitimate resistance with pure criminal acts 

committed by the extremist fanatical factions. 

But it was the opposition factions’ apparent 

loss of independence to one party or another, 

including agreeing to place their fighters 

under US sponsorship, which has caused internal 

frictions, and undercut their popularity 

inside and outside Syria. 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad [Reuters] 

The attitude of most opposition groups served 

the regime’s propaganda that there was no 

revolution but “a foreign conspiracy”, denying 

its own repressive record and, of late, the dire 

consequences of Iran’s involvement in the turmoil.For 

a while, it was understandable that 

the opposition could not operate in a vacuum 

and would need to build ties with regional 

states, especially neighbouring Arab countries. 

Many of its personalities have become 

puppets for these regimes to advance their 

own personal ambitions.That has not only 

affected the credibility of the opposition, but 

it has also impeded the formation of a united 

front and the formulation of a nationalist 

agenda away from the influences of Arab regimes, 

reducing them to pawns in a regional 

and international struggle over Syria.The fact 

is that somewhere along the way, the revolution 

was hijacked by opportunists, including 

some Syrian personalities in exile, the corrupt 

beneficiaries of an avalanche of Western and 

Arab funding. The revolution was also needlessly 

complicated by both regional and Western 

interference.The Syrian opposition failed 

to articulate one voice, and succumbed to the 

influence of one external power or another 

to the point of near subservience, exploiting 

the despair of the Syrians, many of whom are 

yearning to be saved at any price from the regime’s 

yoke.The gap between activiss “inside 

Syria” and opposition in exile has also further 

undermined unity and consensus, making it 

more difficult to convey a message that could 

put forward a political programme to the Syrian 

people and the rest of the world. 

While it is wrong to idealise grassroots 

activists inside Syria, there has not been a 

concerted effort to restore the voice of the 

revolutionaries, or to truly pay attention to 

the legitimate grievances that compelled Syrians 

to defy a dreadful police state. 

As the world has become obsessed with ISIL 

and a renewed version of the “war on terror”, 

the narrative is no longer about a revolution 

but about defeating “terrorism”, thus 

weakening grassroots activism and enabling 

the regime to justify its mass killings as it is 

engaged in a battle to defeat “terrorism”. 

Even if some countries, especially Western 

countries, talk about a transition to a democratic 

system, we have the foreboding experience 

of Iraq post US-led invasion that shows 

how Washington was more interested in 

pitting Shia and Sunni against each other than 

state-building. 

To save Syria from an already accelerating 

fragmentation, it is the responsibility of the 

Syrian opposition to draw up a national salvation 

strategy that unites the Syrian people and 

speaks for them, and challenges all relevant 

parties within the country. 

There is little cause to have faith in the outcome 

of the opposition’s ongoing meeting in 

Riyadh, as the beginning of the solution lies in 

the emergence of a unified, credible leadership 

that brings together both activists within 

Syria or in exile to raise a unified voice before 

it is too late - for both the country and its 

agonised people. 

T 

The Bollywood actor Salman Khan, accused of driving 

under the influence and killing innocent people 

in high jinks behind the wheel of a fast car, has been 

acquitted of all criminal charges. The well-known 

star of Hindi cinema gets the benefit of the doubt, 

which is a fair legal provision. Whether justice has 

been served may be open to question considering 

he had been convicted to five years in prison by 

the sessions court after a lengthy trial, but there 

is no doubt that justice was delayed in that it was 

a 13-year trial of sensational twists and turns. The 

outcome is a happy one for the stars, and more so 

for producers of his movies who would be heavily 

invested in the star. 

The important point was whether Salman was 

driving under the influence of alcohol. If he was, 

it would have been a criminal offence even though 

what took place was an accident which may have 

been caused by a tyre-burst. Doubts were raised as 

to who really was driving, which any smart defence 

lawyer would have raised since the recording of the 

incident by the police late at night was bound to be 

full of holes to be picked in court in favour of the 

defendant. 

While the rich and famous can hire the smartest 

lawyers, the prosecution is run by those whom the 

government can afford. The court declared that the 

prosecution had not established its case beyond 

reasonable doubt, a classic ground on which many 

cases have fallen. Our trust in the judiciary suggests 

justice has been served and the matter should 

rest there. 

Printer, Publisher, Owner : Afaq Ahmad Bhat 

Editor: Afaq Ahmad Bhat 

Legal Advisor: Hakim Sami Yaqoob (Advocate) 

Published From: Rajbagh Opposite Radio Colony Srinagar J&K 

Printed At: Alsafa Printing Press Hazuri Bagh Srinagar 

RNI No: JKENG/2013/55310 

Cell No: 9419081703 

Star acquittal 

Email: preciouskashmir@gmail.com 

Website: www.preciouskashmir.com 

Note to world leaders: This is 

how to welcome refugees 

Antonia Zerbisias 

They were hardly the poor, huddled masses 

Canadians might have expected.In fact, the 

163 privately sponsored Syrian refugees 

from Lebanon who landed in Toronto late 

last Thursday looked less bedraggled and besieged 

than other Canadians do after a long overseas 

flight. 

But then, most Canadians don't travel in government 

jets, don't get the red carpet treatment, don't 

bypass line-ups for baggage and border clearance - 

and don't get greeted by their recently elected Prime 

Minister Justin Trudeau. 

These refugees did not arrive like the tens of thousands 

of Vietnamese "boat people" did in the 1970s, 

or any other group of terror-fleeing refugees at other 

times in Canadian history. 

"This is a wonderful night where we get to show 

not just a planeload of new Canadians what Canada's 

all about, but we get to show the world how to open 

our hearts and welcome in people who are fleeing 

extraordinarily difficult situations," Trudeau said. 

"Tonight, they step off the plane as refugees. But 

they walk out of this terminal as permanent residents 

of Canada, with social insurance numbers, with 

health cards, and with an opportunity to become full 

Canadians." 

Personal welcome 

Two days later, another planeload of 161 privately 

sponsored Syrian refugees landing in Montreal barely 

made national news, let alone international headlines. 

That was despite a personal welcome by Philippe 

Couillard, the Quebec premier, John McCallum, the 

federal immigration minister, and Denis Coderre, 

Montreal's mayor. 

Would the newcomers' landing at Toronto's Pearson 

International - which was named after another 

Liberal prime minister - have made world news had 

Trudeau not been there with his trademark babykisses, 

warm hugs and selfies? 

Would the newcomers' landing at Toronto's 

Pearson International - which was named for another 

Liberal prime minister - have made world news had 

Trudeau not been there... 

Trudeau, the telegenic son of Pierre Trudeau, 

arguably Canada's most popular prime minister of the 

20th century, was made for the internet age. Young, 

handsome and to the official manor-born, he is backed 

by a top-flight team of political strategists who know 

how to maximise media - new, old, and social - to 

sway public opinion and perceptions. 

This would explain why the trending hashtag 

#WelcomeRefugees, coined by the government itself, 

now appears on its immigration and citizenship 

ministry website. (Not surprisingly, that site has been 

radically overhauled since the refugee-hostile Stephen 

Harper Conservatives' nine-year reign ended.) 

And so heart-warming images of Trudeau zipping 

the new arrivals into bulky winter coats hit TV, 

tablet and telephone screens everywhere. They were 

splashed on the pages of the world's newspapers, 

from the Times of India to Britain's Independent. 

They were tweeted and they were facebooked. They 

became the perfect Christmas story. 

In the US, The New York Times, Washington 

Post and Los Angeles Times published reports and 

editorials accusing the US of not measuring up to its 

northern neighbour's compassion. 

They pointed out how more than half of the states' 

governors want to keep their borders closed and how 

the leading Republican presidential candidate Donald 

Trump has promised, should he win the White House, 

to "shut down" Muslim immigration and register all 

US-based Muslims. 

Anti-refugee rhetoric in the US 

Indeed, the anti-refugee rhetoric in the US has 

reached such a hysterical level that more than onethird 

of all Americans approve of Trump's proposed 

ban. One armed vigilante-type group known as the 

"Three Percenters" even vows to "interfere" with 

Muslims "threatening to take over" the US. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greets refugees 

fleeing from Syria, as they arrive in Toronto [AP] 

"…Canada's generosity - and Mr Trudeau's personal 

warmth and leadership - can serve as a beacon 

for others," a New York Times editorial headlined 

Canada's Warm Embrace of Refugees maintained. "[I]t 

puts to shame the callous and irresponsible behaviour 

of the American governors and presidential candidates 

who have argued that the United States, for the 

sake of its security, must shut its doors to all Syrian 

refugees." 

Others were not so genteel. 

"US politics right now feels like a clown show of 

ventriloquised garbage bags yelling dangerous nonsense 

about Muslims and the Second Amendment," 

the men's magazine GQ taunted. "But just north of the 

border ... Trudeau is showing just how far leadership 

traits like compassion and open-mindedness can go 

toward endearing yourself to your countrymen. Who 

would have thought?" 

Right now, Trudeau's approval ratings stand 

at 57 percent, higher than when his Liberal party 

swept to power on October 19. Nearly three-quarters 

of all Canadians believe he has the makings of a 

good leader. 

He clearly has an effect. Canadian business 

has delivered millions in sponsorships, housing, 

furnishings and even mobile phones. Church and 

community groups, as well as individuals, have 

pledged to sponsor and support one newcomer. One 

chief executive is personally committed to bringing 

in 50 families at a cost of more than $1m. 

Coming around 

Judging by the reception for the first wave of 

refugees, largely Armenian-Syrian families with relatives 

in the country, Canadians who had concerns 

about security, especially following last month's 

terrorist attacks in Paris, will be reassured. 

They're already coming around. 

In mid-November, polls showed that opposition 

to Trudeau's refugee resettlement plan - 25,000 are 

expect to arrive by the end of February 2016 - was 

as high as 60 percent. Last week, two days before 

the first planeload, Canadians were split, with those 

saying they welcome refugees slightly outnumbering 

those who would not. 

True, other polls show that Canadians are worried 

that the influx will strain the already hard-pressed 

healthcare system as well as other social services. 

This nation of immigrants and refugees also feels that 

Syrian refugees are getting preferential treatment over 

other groups.But their faith and pride in their country 

has been restored. As Trudeau himself has repeatedly 

proclaimed, "Canada is back."Canadians, new and 

old, have left the dark Harper decade behind and are 

once again charting a familiar course, one where the 

world's weary and war-sick are welcomed. 

Antonia Zerbisias is an award-winning Canadian 

journalist. She has been a reporter and TV host for 

the Toronto Star, the CBC, as well as the Montreal correspondent 

for Variety trade paper. 

>>>>>>>>> Please send your articles and letters on preciouskashmir@gmail.com >>>>>>>>>


Sensex Nifty Gold 

Business/ International 

Tuesday 

5 



Silver Dollar J&K Bank Yes Bank SBI ICICI Bank HDFC Bank 

105.92 

39.60 

211.00 

248.00 

0.22 

0.85 

2.65 

1.35 

0.30 

8.70 

25150.35 

7650.05 

25,468.00 

33,735.00 

67.10 

76.05 

683.25 

225.95 

249.00 

1,055.05 

Sensex ends 106 points up at 25150 

Mumbai, Dec 14: After a weak 

opening, markets gathered pace 

and finished firm on the back of 

favourable macroeconomic numbers 

with October industrial 

production up 9.8 per cent and 

wholesale prices falling for a 13th 

straight month in November quoting 

at -1.99 percent. 

However, anxiety continues to 

prevail at the D-Street ahead of the 

US Federal Reserve meet due later 

this week. 

The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 

106 points to close at 25,150 and 

the Nifty50 surged 40 points to 

end at 7,650. 

MACRO ECONOMIC DATA 

The WPI data for the month 

of November stood at negative 

1.99 against negative 3.81 for the 

month of October. This is the 13th 

consecutive month where the WPI 

has declined. 

Moreover, Industrial output 

grew by 9.8 per cent in October on 

robust demand for manufactured 

products in the festival month 

compared to just 3.6 per cent in 

September. 

Meanwhile, rupee is trading 

over 2-year low of 67.06 against 

the US as greenback strengthened 

on prospects of a US Federal 

Reserve hike. 

JK Bank conducts financial literacy 

camps in Budgam, Baramulla 

Srinagar, Nov 14: J&K Bank 

organized a series of financial 

literacy camps in Budgam 

and Baramulla during the last 

many weeks. 

Budgam Camps 

The bank’s Financial Literacy 

and Credit Couseling 

center Budgam organized 

awareness camps regarding 

financial literacy and schemes 

like Pradhan Mantri Suraksha 

Yojana (PMSBY) at Government 

Higher Secondary School 

Chadura and Sheikh ul Alam 

Hall Budgam in collaboration 

with J&K State Resource Centre, 

University of Kashmir. 


Facilitator FLCC Budgam A H 

Rafiqi apprised the participants 

at both the camps about 

the benefits of financial literacy 

and advantages of various 

government schemes. 

Speaking about PMSBY, 

he said, “PMSBY is an insurance 

scheme which has been 

launched for rural poor, working 

class and weaker sections 

of the society to insure the security 

of their lives against unfortunate 

event of death due 

to accident or disability at an 

affordable premium of Rs 12 

year to be deducted through 

their account under Auto Debit 

Facility.” 

All the participants were 

encouraged to avail the benefits 

of the scheme. 

The representatives from 

the bank’s business units at 

Chadura and Budgam educated 

the participants about the 

procedures of enrolling under 

the scheme by filling the forms 

available with Business Correspondents 

(BC) and branches 

of the Bank. 

The participants hailing 

from different blocks of the 

district were urged to participate 

actively in this scheme 

while the banks and BCs were 

advised to arrange the forms at 

the centre so that maximum 

beneficiaries are enrolled by 

Also, oil prices sank to fresh 

seven-year lows with Brent below 

$39 a barrel for the first time since 

December 2008 after the IEA, 

warned that demand growth was 

starting to slow. 

STOCKS IN FOCUS 

involving their filed staff in the 

said process. 

Baramulla Camps 

The bank’s FLCC center at 

Baramulla participated in a 

mega camp organized by Press 

Information Bureau under 

Bharat Nirman Public Information 

Campaign at Mini Stadium 

Uri for three days, wherein 

all the concerned departments 

and banks operating in the district 

participated. 

J&K Minister for Rural 

Development, Panchayati Raj 

Abdul Haq inaugurated the 

camp and apprised the audience 

regarding various developmental 

schemes being 

initiated for District Baramulla 

in general and Block Uri 

in particular. 


Facilitator FLCC Baramulla 

spoke in detail about the Prime 

Ministers Jhan Dhan Yojna 

for comprehensive coverage 

of all the financially excluded 

households in the country. 

Shares of steel companies 

closed higher after the government 

imposed import duties for 

five years on some stainless steel 

imports from China, the European 

Union and the United States on 

Friday. 

Among individual names, Jindal 

Stainless, Maharashtra Seamless 

and ISMT gained upto 11%. 

Meanwhile, JSW Steel and Tata 

Steel gained between 2%-5% on 

prospects that the import duty 

could be imposed on other categories 

of steel as well. 

Other notable gainers from the 

metal pack include Hindalco and 

Vedanta up 3% and 0.5% each. 

Drug maker Sun Pharma 

climbed 1.6% as its subsidiary Sun 

Laboratories is planning to hit the 

domestic bond market in order to 

raise up to Rs.1,000 crore to fund 

an internal restructuring. 

IT major Infosys jumped 1.7% 

after the company invested $3 

million in sport solutions start up 

“Whoop”. Whoop is an early-stage 

New Delhi, Dec 14: To optimise 

its freight loading capacity 

and cut costs, Indian 

Railways has started modifying 

the existing BOXN open 

wagons to newly designed 

25-tonne axle load wagons 

with 9% extra carrying capacity. 

With 5,000 such modified 

wagons to be running by February 

next year, the transporter 

will get an additional freight 

revenue of over Rs 300 crore 

for the next fiscal without having 

to spend anything extra on 

fuel and other costs. 

The railways will float 

tenders for additional 15,000 

wagons in another two weeks 

and of these, 3,000 will be 

for the new BOXN’s wagons, 

which will be at par with the 

25-tonne axle load wagons. 

Once these wagon fleets are 

also operational (possibly, by 

the end of the next fiscal), the 

transporter will be able to enhance 

its revenue significantly, 

official sources said. 

Railways has a variety 

of wagons in use, including 

14,700 BOBR wagons and 

10,500 BOXN wagons, together 

forming a large chunk 

of its rake capacity. The prototype 

for these higher-loadcarrying 

BOXN’s wagons has 

already been developed by 

Braithwaite & Co, an Indian 

Railway undertaking, and the 

bidders will have to meet its 

specifications. 

With the introduction of 

Saudi, Emirati officers killed in Yemen 

Yemen, Dec 14: Two senior officers 

from the Saudi-led coalition supporting 

Yemen’s government have 

been killed near the city of Taiz, Saudi 

and Emirati authorities say. 

Saudi Colonel Abdullah al-Sahyan 

and Emirati officer Sultan al-Ketbi 

were killed at dawn on Monday 

“while they were carrying out their 

duties in supervising operations to 

liberate Taiz” province in Yemen’s 

southwest, the official Saudi Press 

Agency news agency said. 

The Emirati state news agency 

WAM separately confirmed Ketbi’s 

death. 

The deaths come ahead of a 

ceasefire agreed to coincide with 

UN-backed peace talks to resolve 

Yemen’s war. 

Media controlled by the Houthi 

rebels said the two had been killed 

in a rocket attack on the Red Sea 

coast. 

Taiz province, where the warring 

sides have been locked in conflict 

for months, overlooks the Bab 

al-Mandab Strait between the 

Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. 

Medal of courage 

Sahyan on Saturday met Yemeni 

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi 

who awarded him with a medal of 

courage, according to Yemen’s official 

sabanews.net website. 

He was identified as commander 

of the Saudi forces in the provisional 

capital Aden, where Hadi’s 

government is based. 

Saudi-led forces, backing 

Hadi, launched an offensive in 

Merkel faces party congress 

amid migrant tensions 

Karlsruhe, Dec 14: German Chancellor Angela 

Merkel faces a congress of her conservative 

party on Monday amid tensions over 

her management of the migrant influx. 

Germany has seen about a million 

migrants arrive this year. Merkel has insisted 

that “we will manage it,” but some 

in her conservative bloc want a tougher 

approach. 

Merkel has made clear that she wants to 

reduce the influx but has resisted calls to set 

a limit on the number of refugees Germany 

can take, arguing that she would risk making 

a promise she can’t keep. She stresses 

instead the importance of a diplomatic solution 

with Europe and Turkey. 

Still, in a motion for the Christian Democratic 

Union’s two-day conference starting 

on Monday, leaders made some rhetorical 

concessions to members worried about Germany’s 

ability to absorb yet more newcomers 

without pledging specific further action. 

The motion says that the party is determined 

to “reduce the influx ... appreciably 

through effective measures.” 

It adds that “a continuation of the current 

influx would in the long term overburden 

the state and society, even in a country 

like Germany.” 

That was enough to persuade the party’s 

youth wing to withdraw its own motion 

calling for a limit on refugee numbers. 

Merkel doesn’t face re-election as party 

leader at this congress, and despite this 

year’s tensions still faces no serious rivals. 

Asked in an interview with ARD television 

on Sunday whether this is the most 

difficult time of her 10-year chancellorship, 

Ms. Merkel replied that she has faced 

a series of challenges. 

company offering a performance 

optimization system for professional 

sports teams. 

Another prominent gainer in 

today’s trade was Maruti Suzuki 

up 1.9% on talks that Japan will import 

cars manufactured in India by 

Maruti Suzuki. 

On the flip side, TCS closed 

0.5% lower after the company said 

that Chennai floods are expected 

to have a “material impact” on TCS’ 

current quarter revenues. 

Meanwhile, carmakers closed 

with losses following the NGT order 

barring registration of new 

diesel-powered vehicles in the 

capital. Tata Motors and M&M 

ended lower between 0.1%-2%. 

Shares of two-wheeler companies 

including Bajaj Auto and Hero 

Motocorp also closed flat with a 

negative bias. 

Shares of oil exploration companies 

continued to trade weak 

on the back of slipping crude oil 

prices. ONGC lost nearly 1% while 

RIL ended flat. 

Railways modifies wagons to earn 

Rs 300 cr extra revenues 

Yemen in March to push back the 

Houthis. 

The fighters, backed by forces 

loyal to former president Ali Abdullah 

Saleh, have seized large parts of 

the country, including the capital, 

Sanaa. 

The Houthis and Saleh’s former 

political party, the General 

People’s Congress, are sending 

representatives to Switzerland on 

Tuesday for talks with Yemen’s 

internationally recognised government 

under Hadi. 

A seven-day renewable ceasefire 

is scheduled to come into effect 

on Monday to coincide with 

the talks. Two previous attempts at 

ceasefires, in May and July, were followed 

by accusations of breaches by 

both sides. 

The United Nations says more 

than 5,800 people have been killed 

in Yemen, about half of them civilians, 

since March. 

It has also pushed Yemen to the 

brink of famine. 

In early September, a rebel missile 

strike on a coalition base in 

Yemen’s eastern Marib province 

killed 67 coalition soldiers, most of 

them Emiratis. 

So far at least 80 people, mostly 

soldiers and border guards, have 

been killed in Saudi Arabia because 

of the Yemen conflict. 

The UAE says it has lost almost 

70 soldiers so far. 

Several Bahraini troops and one 

Qatari soldier have been killed as 

part of the coalition operations. 

the new BOXN’s wagons with 

25 tonne axle load, one wagon 

will be able to accommodate 

100 tonnes of iron ore or thermal 

coal, as against 91.6 tonnes 

now. With a full rake consisting 

of 58 wagons, one rake will will 

be able to carry 5,800 tonnes of 

goods additionally. “The newly 

designed wagons will really 

boost the carrying capacity of 

freight trains and will have a 

pay-to-tare ratio of 4:1,” a railway 

official said. 

The ratio is the total 

payload divided by the dead 

Jerusalem, Dec 14: Israeli 

authorities have said they 

have opened an investigation 

into the actions of a police 

officer who fatally shot a 

16-year-old Palestinian girl 

during a stabbing attack in 

Jerusalem last month. 

In a statement, the Justice 

Ministry said it was 

looking into whether the 

officer used excessive force 

while stopping a stabbing 

attack by two teenage Palestinian 

girls. 

In the Nov 23 incident, 

the 16-year-old girl, along 

with a 14-year-old accomplice, 

stabbed and wounded 

a 70-year-old man with scissors 

before they were shot 

by the officer. 

The ministry said the attorney 

general had requested 

the investigation into 

claims that the officer shot 

the 16-year-old girl after she 

had already been restrained. 

During questioning, the officer 

said he believed the 

Yemen, Dec 14: A seven-day ceasefire 

in Yemen is to start on Monday, a day 

before UN-sponsored peace talks in Switzerland, 

officials on both sides of a war 

that has killed nearly 6,000 people said. 

Yemen’s foreign minister, Abdel- 

Malek al-Mekhlafi, who will lead 

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s 

delegation to the UN talks, said that 

fighting would stop on “the evening of 

December 14”. 

“We are going to the talks with serious 

intentions and we hope that the 

other side abides by that,” he told the 

Reuters news agency. 

A spokesperson for the Iranianbacked 

Houthi rebels confirmed the 

agreement to cease hostilities. 

“Based on what had been agreed 

upon, there will be a halt of the aggression 

on the 14th of this month,” 

Mohammed Abdul-Salam told a news 

conference in the capital Sanaa. 

The Houthis have been locked for 

nine months in a civil war with forces 

loyal to Hadi’s exiled government, who 

are backed by air strikes and ground 

forces from a Saudi Arabia-led coalition. 

The UN agency for children, UNICEF, 

has said that nearly half of those killed 

in the war so far have been civilians, and 

that 637 of them have been children. 

Houthi forces control most of the 

northern part of the country and see the 

Arab alliance’s military operations as an 

act of aggression. But the alliance says 

it intervened in response to a request by 

Hadi. 

‘A real chance’ 

The UN invited Hadi’s government 

weight of a rolling stock a 

direct indication of the carrying 

capacity efficiency of a 

wagon. 

When Lalu Prasad was 

the railway minister, the 

railways used to get extra 

freight revenue by overloading 

rakes and adding more 

coaches to passenger trains. 

The new plan, in contrast, is 

to enhance the carrying capacity 

of rakes by upgrading 

the wagons, sources said. 

The transporter earlier 

this year conducted a pilot 

study for the 25 tonne axle 

load wagon with coal and was 

able to achieve the speed of 70 

kmph. Railway officials state 

that they are in the process to 

send the detailed report for 

the 25 tonne axle load wagons 

to the Commissioner of Railway 

Safety for permission to 

undertake track trials on the 

transporters network. 

Israel opens probe into use 

of excessive force 

girl still posed a threat, the 

statement said. 

The incident was filmed 

by a security camera and the 

footage was released to the 

media. The younger girl was 

wounded. 

Palestinians have accused 

Israel of using excessive 

force during a threemonth 

wave of violence, 

and Sunday’s announcement 

appeared to be the 

first official investigation 

Yemen’s warring sides agree to 

ceasefire ahead of talks 

FinMin may ease 

borrowing limit 

beyond 3% of GSDP 

New Delhi, Dec 14: States 

will have more room to borrow 

this financial year with 

the Ministry of Finance expected 

to soon approve relaxation 

of their borrowing 

limits beyond 3 per cent of 

Gross State Domestic Product 

(GSDP), subject to conditions 

that are in line with recommendations 

of 14th Finance 

Commission. 

Officials said the ministry 

will provide case-by-case approval 

to states for additional 

borrowing to help them enhance 

their capital expenditure. 

“Finance minister will 

soon approve the relaxation 

in borrowing limits 

for states. The decision is 

in final stages. The blanket 

approval will be followed 

and the Houthis to peace negotiations 

after the two sides agreed on a draft 

agenda and ground rules. 

A previous round of peace talks in 

June failed to reach an agreement, with 

both sides accusing each other of failing 

to compromise. In July, the two sides observed 

a five-day ceasefire, though they 

traded accusations of violating the truce. 

This time “there is a real chance for 

a breakthrough”, according to Emirati 

analyst Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, who believes 

“there will be concessions from 

both sides”. The United Arab Emirates 

is part of the Arab coalition and has lost 

dozens of troops to the conflict. “Gulf 

Arab states have reached a point where 

they are convinced it is about time a 

peaceful solution should be given a better 

chance,” he told the AFP news agency. 

by case-by-case approval 

to states,” a senior finance 

ministry official said. 

The move is an attempt 

to de-link the fiscal relaxations 

granted to states under 

the ongoing scheme of UDAY 

(Ujwal Discom Assurance 

Scheme), with the finance 

ministry even looking at relaxing 

borrowing limits of 

states which have not yet 

participated in the scheme, 

the official added. 

The finance ministry will 

grant case-by-case approval 

to relax fiscal deficit limits 

under the Fiscal Responsibility 

and Budget Management 

Act (FRBM) subject 

to fulfillment of three conditions 

as specified in the 

Fourteenth Finance Commission 

recommendations. 

Oil prices slip 

further after 

oversupply 

forecast 

Tokyo, Dec 14: Crude oil 

futures slipped in early Asian 

trade, adding to a slump on 

Friday following a forecast 

from the International Energy 

Agency (IEA) that the global 

glut of oil is likely to deepen 

next year. 

Brent crude, the global 

benchmark, fell below $38 a 

barrel for the first time since 

December 2008 on Friday 

after the IEA said demand 

growth is slowing, while 

OPEC output remains high, 

pointing to a bigger glut in 

coming months. 

The U.S. benchmark, West 

Texas Intermediate, settled in 

$35 territory for the first time 

since February 2009, paring 

earlier losses after data showed 

that U.S. drillers cut the 

number of oil rigs to the lowest 

since April 2010. 

into the actions of Israeli 

security forces during the 

unrest. Israel says its tactics 

are a legitimate response to 

stabbings and other attacks. 

A total of 19 Israelis and 

an American seminary student 

have been killed by 

Palestinian attacks, mostly 

alleged stabbings, while at 

least 112 have been killed on 

the Palestinian side, including 

75 people said by Israel 

to be attackers. 

No terror link 

in Russian jet 

crash: Egypt 

Egypt, Dec 14: Egyptian 

investigators has completed a 

preliminary report on the Russian 

plane crash in Sinai, saying 

it has not found anything to 

indicate a bomb was involved. 

Egypt said on Monday it 

had “found no evidence so far of 

terrorism or other illegal action 

linked to the crash that killed all 

224 people onboard on October 

31”, contradicting Russia and 

Western governments’ claim 

that the Metrojet was brought 

down by a bomb. 

The plane took off from 

Sharm el-Sheikh, a Red Sea 

resort popular with Russian and 

British holiday-makers.


Intense exercise can lead 

to sleep disturbance 

Intensive bouts of exercise can lead to 

significant and progressive decline in 

sleep quality, says a new study. 

The researchers also found that 

a high carbohydrate regime reduces 

some, but not all, of the effects of hard 

training. 

For the study, the scientists from 

Loughborough University in England 

studied the effects of two nine-day 

periods of heavy training on 13 highly 

trained cyclists. 

The researchers monitored the 

athletes’ moods, sleep patterns and 

performance before, during and after 

exercise. To determine whether diets 

could counter the effects of any sleep 

deprivation, the athletes were also 

Healthy or sick? These tiny 

cell bubbles can tell you 

Scientists have uncovered 

biological pathways in the 

roundworm that provide 

an insight into how tiny 

bubbles released by cells 

can have beneficial or detrimental 

health effects. 

Researchers isolated 

and profiled cells releasing 

these sub-micron sized 

bubbles, known as extracellular 

vesicles (EVs) in adult 

C. elegans and identified 

335 genes that provide 

significant information 

about the biology of EVs 

and their relationship to 

human diseases, according 

to a Rutgers University 

statement. 

The team comprising 

scientists from Rutgers University, 

Princeton University, 

the University of Oxford 

and Albert Einstein College 

of Medicine, determined 

that 10 percent of the 335 

identified genes in the 

roundworm regulate the 

formation, release, and possible 

function of the EVs. 

“These EVs are exciting 

but scary because we don’t 

know what the mechanisms 

are that decide what 

is packaged inside them.” 

said Maureen Barr, lead 

author and a professor in 

the department of genetics 

in Rutgers’ School of Arts 

and Sciences. “It’s like getting 

a letter in the mail and 

you don’t know whether 

it’s a letter saying that you 

won the lottery or a letter 

containing anthrax.” 

For decades scientists 

believed that the EV 

material released by some 

human cells -- which can 

only be seen through hightech 

electron microscopes 

-- was nothing more than 

biological debris. 

Barr said using C. 

elegans, which have many 

genes similar to humans, 

scientists have identified 

new pathways that could 

control the production of 

EVs and the cargo they carry, 

including the proteins 

responsible for polycystic 

kidney disease, the most 

commonly inherited disease 

in humans. 

The polycystic kidney 

disease gene products are 

secreted in tiny EVs from 

both humans and worms 

and no one knows why 

these proteins are in the 

EVs, she said. “The knowledge 

gained from this 

tiny worm is essential for 

determining the biological 

significance of EVs, for understanding 

their relationship 

to human diseases like 

polycystic kidney disease, 

and for harnessing their 

potential therapeutic uses,” 

Barr said. 

“When we know exactly 

how they work, scientists 

will be able to use EVs for 

our advantage.” 

“This means that 

pathological EVs that cause 

disease could be blocked 

and therapeutic EVs that 

can help heal can be 

designed to carry beneficial 

cargo,” she said. 

given high or moderate amounts of 

carbohydrate throughout the study, 

though none of them knew which. 

The researchers discovered that 

even as little as nine days of intense 

training can cause ‘significant and 

progressive decline in sleep quality’. 

“Sleep efficiency was significantly 

reduced during the intensified training 

period,” the researchers observed, 

with the number of times the athletes 

woke throughout the night significantly 

increased. 

They also noticed that the athletes’ 

moods and capacity for exercise both 

worsened over the period of observation. 

As for the additional carbohydrates, 

the team concluded that a 

high carbohydrate regime reduced 

some, but not all, of the effects of hard 

training. 

The study appeared in the Journal 

of Sports Sciences. 

HEALTH 

Therapy linked to brain activity 

in personality disorder 

A specialised psychotherapy 

has been linked to changes 

in activation patterns in 

certain areas of the brain 

in patients with borderline 

personality disorder (BPD), 

says a study, implying the 

treatment’s impact may 

go deeper than symptom 

change. 

A team of researchers 

from Binghamton University 

studied 10 women with 

BPD using functional magnetic 

resonance imaging 

(fMRI) methods, a university 

statement said. 

These patients were 

treated for one year with 

transference-focused psychotherapy 

(TFP), an evidence-based 

treatment 

proven to reduce symptoms 

across multiple cognitive-emotional 

domains 

in BPD. Treatment with TFP 

was associated with relative 

activation increases in 

cognitive control areas and 

relative decreases in areas 

associated with emotional 

reactivity. 

According to researchers, 

these findings suggest 

that TFP may potentially facilitate 

symptom improvement 

in BPD. 

“These findings represent 

the genuine frontier 

of clinical science in understanding 

the effects of psychotherapy,” 

said Mark F. 

Lenzenweger, distinguished 

professor of psychology at 

Binghamton. 

“Think of it -- talk therapy 

that impacts neural 

or brain functioning,” he 

added. The study findings 

were published online in 

Psychiatry and Clinical 

Neurosciences. 

New cure for hepatitis C 

virus infection found! 

About 2.7 million people in the United 

States have a chronic hepatitis C virus 

infection, which can lead to liver failure 

or death. 

But thanks to new research led by 

researchers at Intermountain Medical 

Center in Murray, there’s new hope for 

patients with advanced liver disease 

due to the chronic viral infection. 

Dr. Michael Charlton, director of 

the Liver Transplantation Program at 

Intermountain Medical Center Researchers 

at Intermountain Medical 

Center have found a new cure for 

these patients: an all-oral treatment 

regimen of specific medications that 

results in high cure rates of hepatitis 

C virus infection in patients following 

treatment. 

Top 

breakfast 

mistakes 

to avoid 

The research team, led by Michael 

Charlton, MD, medical director 

of the Liver Transplantation Program 

at Intermountain Medical Center, just 

published results of the nationwide 

study in the New England Journal of 

Medicine.Dr. Charlton will announce 

results of the study and the implications 

for patients with advanced liver 

disease due to the hepatitis C virus at a 

press briefing at Intermountain Medical 

Center on Friday at 11 a.m. 

The results are highly promising, he 

says. 

“During the study, liver function 

was seen to stabilize or improve in 

the great majority of patients following 

treatment,” said Dr. Charlton, who 

served as principal investigator of the 

ASTRAL-4 trial, a study between Intermountain 

Medical Center and some of 

the leading academic medical centers 

across the nation. The study included 

investigators at 50 sites throughout the 

United States and Puerto Rico. 

“Although longer follow-up is 

needed, the ability to achieve a high 

cure rate of hepatitis C in patients 

with advanced liver disease — and the 

observation of early stabilization and 

improvement of liver function — raises 

the possibility of decreasing the number 

of patients with hepatitis C who 

need liver transplantation.”Currently, 

liver failure due to hepatitis C is 

the most common reason for liver 

transplantation in the United States 

and Europe. 

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but what people do not know 

about this meal is that if they skip this meal, it could have an adverse effect on 

their weight. 

Akansha Jhalani, Registered Dietitian and health blogger at Beyond The 

Weighing Scale, helps you decode the myths associated with breakfast, so that 

you enjoy the most important meal of the day in a healthy way. 

1: Juicing your fruit 

When you start your blender to juice oranges, remember that this process 

causes the fruit to lose most of its vitamins, minerals and fibre. Instead, replace 

your juice with a glass of water and a whole fruit. It will save you some extra 

calories. 

2: Eating a baby size breakfast 

Eating whatever you want cannot help you escape from those extra calories. 

It is a common myth that eating whatever you wish after a long gap of fasting will 

not make you gain weight. Oily parathas, waffles, leftover dinner can lead to extra 

calorie consumption. 

3: Beware of breakfast treats 

The tempting doughnuts and muffins can cause as much as an entire meal's 

caloric consumption. When placed in front of you, take a deep breath and realise 

that you have set healthy lifestyle changes and politely decline. 


Srinagar | Tuesday 


36 

Coffee makes 

subtle changes 

in your brain 

Do you know having 

a cup of coffee makes 

small changes in your 

brain just like skipping 

breakfast does? Now, 

MRI scans taken by a 

researcher of his own 

brain over the last 18 

months reveal brain 

changes not observed 

before. 

Studying the behaviour 

of his brain over a year 

and a half -- with a frequency 

of twice a week 

-- professor Poldrack 

from Stanford University 

was able to notice the 

changes in ‘connectome’ 

-- the way different 

parts of the brain communicate. 

On the days he fasted, 

Poldrack’s brain showed 

different levels of connectivity 

from the lack 

of caffeine, the Daily 

Mail reported. 

“Easily the biggest factor 

we found in terms of 

affecting my brain connectivity 

was whether 

I had had breakfast 

and caffeine or not,” 

Poldrack was quoted as 

saying. 

“That was totally unexpected, 

but it shows 

that being caffeinated 

radically changes the 

connectivity of your 

brain,” he added. 

With low levels of 

caffeine, the connection 

between the somatosensory 

motor network 

and higher vision grew 

tighter. 

“We don’t really know if 

it’s better or worse, but 

it’s interesting that these 

are relatively low-level 

areas. It may well be 

that I’m more fatigued 

on those days, and that 

drives the brain into 

this state that’s focused 

on integrating those 

basic processes more,” 

Poldrack said. 

Researchers now want 

to study the phenomenon 

in patients with 

neurological disorders, 

who may suffer from 

disrupted connectivity. 

FROM FRONT PAGE..................... 

Talks........ 

Swaraj said, adding progress in dialogue is necessary for peace. 

Underlining that "The only way forward is through dialogue", 

she said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had initiated the 

efforts to reach out to Pakistan not in Ufa but even before he 

took oath on May 26 last year when he invited Prime Minister 

Nawaz Sharif for his swearing-in ceremony. 

To demands by some members for assurance that the 

dialogue process will be "uninterruptable", she said, "It never 

works like that. We would like not to get provoked by the saboteurs, 

who want to stall the dialogue somehow, and will try find 

a way forward through the dialogue. This will be our intent." 

When some members alleged 'flip flop', she said it was not 

the "correct definition" as stopping and re-starting a dialogue 

process is a "part of diplomacy". 

Mehbooba........ 

Jammu and Kashmir have the highest stakes in peace and 

reconciliation as they have to pay heavy costs during any escalation 

of tension in the region. “For the people of Jammu & 

Kashmir peace along the borders and within the mainland is of 

immense significance and I hope the political leadership of the 

two countries treats it with the same spirit,” she said and added 

that the ceasefire initiative of 2003 and the confidence building 

measures initiated by the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari 

Vajpayee had proved to be of unrivalled importance for not only 

the two countries but also for the people in Jammu & Kashmir 

as the state had, for the first time, started radiating a new hope 

of peace and prosperity. 

Mehbooba said the political leadership of the two countries 

shall have to rebuff those elements, who have been raising war 

hysteria, as every war between India and Pakistan was followed 

by dialogue. "If dialogue with Pakistan was started even after 

Parliament attack and Kargil conflict there is no reason to do 

it today for establishing lasting peace in this region", she said 

and added that in the emerging global scenario where some 

dubious fringe elements are resorting to atrocious violence in 

the name of religion, reconciliation in the sub-continent has become 

inevitable to keep such elements away from destabilizing 

the region. 

Omar........ 

Jammu and Kashmir is a party to talks even if India and Pakistan 

would not make it a party on their own. 

"We are already a party. We are a party to this issue since 

this issue is there...We want dialogue," he said. 

He said the Kashmir issue could be resolved only when 

there are talks on its internal and external dimensions. 

"I will not get into whether this has to be a tripartite or bipartite 

dialogue. There are two parts of Jammu and Kashmir issue 

– one is internal between New Delhi and the state and the 

other external between New Delhi and Islamabad. 

This issue can be resolved only when there are talks on both 

the tracks. 

"Right now the dialogue is on a single track and the talks 

have been started between New Delhi and Islamabad, but the 

talks between New Delhi and the state are also important. We 

are not seeing any development on that," he said. 

Abdullah said "we will request and will be hopeful of 

(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi's government to have talks 

with Jammu and Kashmir the way the government has started 

talks with Pakistan". 

Collision....... 

was incredible,” he said adding that two of the deceased persons 

were contractors and one was working in Health Department. 

“The passenger bus was seized and its driver Bashir Ahmed 

Dar a resident of Pandach Ganderbal has been arrested and an 

FIR vide number 233/2015 under section 304A, 279 was registered 

in police station Kangan,” he said. 

The police official identified the deceased as Mushtaq 

Ahmed Sheikh of Sonamarg, Mushtaq Ahmed Shah of Kulun 

and Reyaz Ahmed Kaloo a resident of Gund Kangan. (CNS) 

Ladakh....... 

week away. Beginning on December 21, Chillai Kalan ends on 

January 31 each year. 

During this period all water bodies of Kashmir Valley including 

lakes, rivers and streams freeze while the roads become 

extremely slippery in the morning and the evenings. 

Sticker....... 

on major road widening projects in Srinagar. 

SSP Traffic, Srinagar, Maqsood-ul-Zaman admitted that encroachment 

of roadways and footpaths create hurdle in smooth 

vehicular movements. 

He said that the traffic department has asked the traders 

and shopkeepers not to park vehicles on roadsides. “We have 

increased frequency of towing vehicles parked on road sides,” 

the SP said. 

Officials said parking on roadsides in city centre has been 

banned on the direction of the High Court. 

Pertinently, in absence of proper regulation and wrong 

parking, Srinagar is witnessing massive traffic jams from past 

several months. The traffic mess has evoked strong resentment 

from the commuters particularly students. 

CAPD....... 

that these can be linked to CAPD database. 

"At the moment, Aadhaar card is not compulsory. However, 

those consumers who have the card should submit their details 

along with the verification form," he added. 

However, the consumers are up in arms against the re verification. 

"This certificate is to be issued by concerned Tehsildar and 

it only seems another corruption avenue for the officials," Rafiq 

Ahmad, a resident of Srinagar, said. 

Meanwhile, the state government is preparing to implement 

the NFSA in the state from February 1 next year. 

According to the schedule of the CAPD department, the 

enrolment for new ration cards under NFSA will be held from 

December 7 to December 18 this month. 

The scrutiny of forms will be done from December 19 to 

December 21, and final lists will be displayed at fair price shops 

across the state. In case of any glitches, it can be filed till December 

26 and the list would be finalised on December 27. 

Protest....... 

commercial hub Lal Chowk. 

The protesters also alleged that the CAPD had miserably 

failed to distribute the monthly ration due to them. 

"Providing five kilos of ration won't make a difference in our 

lives," they said. 

When contacted, Minister for CAPD, Chowdhary Zulfkar 

Ali, said that there is nothing wrong in the order as it is beneficial 

for the people of Kashmir. “Politics is being played on 

such issues as previous regime has failed to implement this 

act due to which they are forcing people to protest against 

it otherwise it will prove beneficial to the people here,” he 

said. (KNS) 

Aadhar....... 

department for announcing five kg ration per head as ‘unfortunate’, 

Zulfkar said that the people are being forced to protest 

against the government. 

“The previous regime has miserably failed to implement 

such order, which will prove beneficial to the people due to 

which they are trying to create hindrance in our way,” he 

said. 

While asking about the meeting with Union Food Minister, 

Ram vilas Paswan, Zaulfkar said that during the meeting the 

union food minister has assured him that the central government 

will provide a sufficient ration to the people of Jammu 

and Kashmir. 

He said that the issue of impure ration, which is being sent 

to Kashmir from Food Corporation of India (FCI) was also discussed 

in the meeting wherein Paswan has assured him that 

they will look into the matter at earliest. (KNS) 

Asiea Naqash reviews 

Eid-i-Milad-un-Nabi 

(SAW) arrangements 

Srinaagr, Dec 14: Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare 

Asiea Naqash today visited Hazarthbal Shrine to review the arrangements 

made by various Departments for Eid-i-Milad-un- 

Nabi (SAW) celebrations. 

The Minister directed the officers to put all the arrangements 

in place for better services to devotees paying obeisance 

at Hazaratbal shrine. 

The PDD officers were asked to provide uninterrupted power 

supply in and around the shrine during these days. 

Naqash directed the SRTC officers to ensure that adequate 

transport services are made available round the clock for the 

devotees. 

“SRTC should run more buses round the clock so that the 

devotees would not have any issue in returning to their homes 

in the night,” the Minister said. 

On this occasion, the Director CAPD informed the Minister 

that adequate ration is stocked at all the fair price shops in the 

area. 

Briefing the Minister, Srinagar Municipal Corporation officials 

said that the corporation has deputed 130 safaiwalas who 

work round the clock in four shifts. The corporation has also installed 

two mobile latrines in the vicinity. 

Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Vice-Chairman Waqaf 

Board, and other concerned officers were present on the 

occasion.

7 

SRINAGAR,TUESDAY 


S 

P 

O 

R 

T 

S 

Hider, Zaidi 

grab four each 

as Comilla 

storm into 

final 

An inspired Comilla Victorians 

crushed Rangpur 

Riders in a 72-run win to 

qualify to the BPL final. They 

not only withstood Thisara 

Perera’s five-wicket burst 

and a threatening start from 

the Rangpur openers, but 

also shrugged off their own 

injury-ravaged roster. Rangpur 

will now have a second 

shot in the second Qualifier 

on Sunday, facing the winner 

of the Eliminator. 

Comilla missed the services 

of Shoaib Malik due to a finger 

injury and used Nuwan 

Kulasekara, who bowled 

with a shoulder injury. 

The most heart-warming 

sight was to of the captain 

Mashrafe Mortaza, carrying 

a Grade-1 right hamstring 

tear, sending down four 

overs for only 13 runs, taking 

one wicket. 

Comilla batted well in 

two patches either side 

of Perera’s wickets. Imrul 

Kayes cracked 67 at the start 

and Ashar Zaidi slugged 

two sixes in a 15-ball 40 to 

power them to a total of 

163. 

Rangpur began the chase 

in perfect manner. In the 

third over, Soumya Sarkar 

struck Shuvagata Hom for a 

reverse-swept four before 

Lendl Simmons added three 

more boundaries through 

the leg-side. Andre Russell 

then dropped Soumya, pedalling 

back from mid-off in 

the fifth over. But Rangpur’s 

fall began the very next ball. 

Running from deep midwicket, 

Shuvagata made up 

for his 17-run over with a 

superb catch at the squareleg 

boundary to get rid of 

Soumya, who made just 

nine. Abu Hider then made 

it two wickets off two balls 

when he removed Simmons 

with a stunning yorker, the 

batsman falling over and 

the ball ricocheting off his 

pads and into the stumps. 

Zaidi bowled a maiden in 

the sixth over, and Mortaza 

gave away just a single off 

the next over, his first in 

the tournament since 

December 8. The pressure 

told, as Zaidi had Mohammad 

Mithun stumped and 

Shakib Al Hasan caught 

at deep midwicket off the 

next ball. Mohammad Nabi 

struck a six and a four but 

fell to Mashrafe in the 11th 

over before Hider came 

into the picture again, 

this time with a running 

catch to get rid of Jahurul 

Islam. At 62 for 6, Rangpur 

were well past gone in the 

chase. 

Hider came back to bowl 

his second over and saw 

Ahmed Shehzad drop a 

simple chance at long-on 

off Perera’s bat before clean 

bowling him a ball later. 

Win matters, not what is said on 

social media: Ravi Shastri 

Mumbai: It was 14 months ago that 

Ravi Shastri left the commentary 

box to become the Team India director. 

Going through a low phase 

after being thrashed in the Tests 

by England back then, the Men in 

Blue bounced back by beating the 

hosts in the ODIs. Apart from a 0-2 

series defeat to the Aussies Down 

Under in the Test series, India have 

enjoyed a fair bit of success under 

him so far-a spot in the World 

Cup semis and historic series wins 

against Sri Lanka and South Africa 

serving as a testimony. 

However, Shastri still had to 

cop criticism over infusing ‘aggression’ 

into the team and going for 

designer turning tracks. The jury is 

still out on whether India have indeed 

become a better side since the 

former all-rounder began his stint. 

With 2015 drawing to a close and 

India enjoying a rare ‘rest period’ 

in December, Shastri reflects on his 

tenure up till now in a freewheeling, 

exclusive chat with TOI. 

I always believe let the performance 

do the talking. There’s 

nothing much to say, but the facts 

are out in the open. Let people 

decide whether we’ve had a great 

year or not. The world can decide 

Australia thrashed West Indies in the 

first Test by an innings and 212 runs. 

Skipper Jason Holder insisted his West Indies 

team’s massive innings defeat to Australia in 

the first Test Saturday was not a step backwards. 

It was groundhog day again for the 

Caribbean tourists, who capitulated to an innings 

and 212-run loss well inside three days 

in Hobart after being sent back in and bowled 

out for 148 off just 36.3 overs in the second 

innings. The West Indies have won just four of 

their last 21 Tests and are ranked above only 

Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. They last won 

a Test in Australia in 1997. But Holder, who 

has the unenviable task of facing the media 

to explain the latest West Indies loss, was 

putting on a brave face against the continuing 

what sort of a year we’ve had. I feel 

proud of the guys about the way 

they’ve performed. 

Were you surprised with the SA 

capitulation in the Tests? 

I’m not surprised by that. I 

don’t go down that route. I was 

proud of the way our guys played. I 

give full credit to them to make SA 

play the way they did. 

Is Virat now the right man to 

lead India in the T20 & ODIs? 

The year has ended. The selectors 

do their job. My job is to look 

after the way the team plays. Like 

I said, I’m absolutely proud of the 

guys, the way they played. Virat 

was a young kid who took over 

the rein one year ago. Today, he’s 

shown that he’s a leader, after two 

back-to-back series wins. 

Do you advise Virat on how to 

handle the media? He feels the 

media becomes too critical. 

We don’t look into all that. 

Our job is get runs, take wickets 

and pick your catches, and put the 

score line of the series. After that, 

what people want to say, they are 

entitled to say. They get paid to 

talk and write. 

Do you think MS Dhoni’s powers 

are declining? 

Fate of India-Pakistan series 

to be decided on Monday 

Windies underachievement. 

“I wouldn’t say it’s a step backwards, obviously 

in the past we’ve shown that we can 

compete. We had a really good series against 

England where we competed really well and 

then the Australians came in after that and we 

fell back a little bit. But in a sense the spirit in 

the dressing room is still there, we had a few 

one-day series and then we had first-class 

cricket back home where players from here 

did well,” Holder told reporters. 

“So it’s just a case where we need to put 

together a collective effort for longer periods 

in the game. I just felt we have too many good 

spurts of cricket we’re not continuing on 

through the duration of the game. We need to 

do the good things longer,” he added. 

Holder, who leads the side at the young 

age of 24, refused to buy into the problems 

IPTL helps ‘lonely’ tennis players make 

friends on tour: Sania Mirza 

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Sania is excited to have Rafael 

Nadal in her team India Aces 

• “We are all enjoying the team 

bonding. We look out for each 

other during matches,” Sania said 

• Sania credited the IPTL for helping 

players combat loneliness 

Sania: Rohan is my best friend off 

the court too. ( 

NEW DELHI: Ace Indian tennis 

player Sania Mirza gave full 

credit to the International Premier 

Tennis League (IPTL) for helping 

tennis players make friends while 

combating the loneliness that normally 

becomes an intrinsic part of 

players due to their hectic schedule 

throughout the year. 

“The IPTL has definitely helped in 

making friends on the tour. When I 

‘Yes, we haven’t received a reply from 

the BCCI till Saturday evening, therefore, 

we are closing this chapter now. We will, 

however, make an announcement in this 

regard by Monday.’ 

‘Yes, we haven’t received a reply from 




regard by Monday.’ © Agencies 

With Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) not 

receiving any concrete reply from Board 

of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) 

about the proposed series between the 

two countries, there is a chance that it 

will be called off on Monday (December 

14). The series was scheduled to be held 

in December, but despite Sushma Swaraj, 

India’s external affairs minister, holding 

talks with her Pakistani counterpart, Sartaj 

Aziz, last week, the fate of the series 

remains in limbo. Reports suggested that 

resumption of cricketing ties between 

India and Pakistan was not discussed in 

the meeting. 

Accodring to an IANS report, with no 

headway being made, Shaharayar Khan, 

the chairman of PCB, had communicated 

to the BCCI that if the series did not go 

ahead as planned, Pakistan might not 

play any games against India in the 

future. He requested the Indian board to 

resolve this matter by Monday (December 

14). He further added that the matter 

will be taken up with the International 

Cricket Council (ICC). 

“Yes, we haven’t received a reply from 




regard by Monday.” 

Shaharayar said that PCB has put in a 

lot of effort to break the deadlock and 

convince the Indian board to go ahead 

with the series. “We made every possible 

effort to play India and even changed the 

venue from the UAE to Sri Lanka on BC- 

CI’s request, but our efforts went in vain. 

We signed an MoU with the BCCI last 

year and were sincere in playing cricket 

with them. Our failure to materialise the 

series disappointed millions of cricket 

fans all over the world, especially in India 

and Pakistan,” Shaharyar was quoted as 

saying by Dawn newspaper on Sunday. 

A few weeks back, the BCCI had indicated 

that a limited overs series might be held. 

However, they hadn’t yet received the 

green signal from the Indian government 

to go ahead with the series. The BCCI and 

the PCB have already signed the MoU, in 

which the two nations agreed to play six 

bilateral series between 2015 to 2023. 

The last time these two countries played 

in a full bilateral series was back in 2007, 

when Pakistan toured India. 

meet Indian Aces coach-cum-player 

Fabrice Santoro on tours now, I 

can talk to him more and I can say 

that I have a great new friend in 

Fabrice. I’ve also met some players 

for the first time here at the IPTL, 

He’s a champion player. You 

never mess around with class, 

proven talent, players who’ve done 

more in that format of the game 

than anybody else, when it comes 

to winning titles...there’s no one 

who’s won more than him. 

There was a lot of talk about 

the pitches. How much planning 

went into plotting the downfall of 

SA’s big batting guns? 

Plenty. That’s where the support 

staff and the players deserve 

due credit. The fact that you were 

able to take 60 wickets...in fact 70... 

if we had full five days in Bangalore, 

who knows, this could’ve 

been 4-0.The catches that were 

taken...when it mattered the batting 

stepped up in the third Test. 

We just outplayed SA. 

Do you think turning tracks are 

unfairly viewed as dangerous? 

I don’t think any of the surfaces 

which is great,” said Sania. 

Talking about her relationship with 

the Indian Aces players which has 

a great mix talent, Sania said: “We 

are a great team, we get along really 

well and it’s great to keep the 

winning form going. Tennis players 

tend to feel lonely, in the sense we 

travel alone on tours. But the IPTL 

has been different. We are all enjoying 

the team bonding. We look 

out for each other during matches.” 

When asked about not having 

Roger Federer in the Aces team this 

year, Sania said that even though 

the Swiss may no longer be a part 

of her team, she is excited to have 

Rafael Nadal on board. “It’s great to 

have had Roger Federer in our team 

last year but this year we have an 

equally good replacement for him,” 

Sania said. 

with cricket administration in the Caribbean 

after decades of underperforming Windies 

sides from the halcyon days of the 1980s and 

early 1990s. 

“I’m sure many cricket pundits and people 

around the world have many opinions, but my 

job is just to focus on cricket,” he said diplomatically. 

”I can’t really focus on anything else 

at this point in time, we’ve brought a squad 

down here to play cricket and that’s exactly 

what I’m going to do.” 

Australia captain Steve Smith said there 

was talent in the young Windies team which 

needed time. ”I think they’ve got some very 

capable players. We saw that with the way 

Darren Bravo played (108) and Kraigg Brathwaite 

(94) today,” Smith said. 

“They’ve certainly got some talented players 

that we have to be wary about. The game 

which we played on now were so 

dangerous. People can s ay wh at 

eve r t h e y want, I just see the 

scoreline. India beat South Af rica 

3-0, a team which hadn’t lost for 

nine years. As simple as that. Fifteen 

years down the line, if I want 

to know what happened in early 

December 2015, I’ll pick up some 

statistical book, it will tell me 

3-0. Nothing else matters. Who 

cares what people or twitter says? 

Newspaper will be in the dustbin, 

twitter might become something 

else. But that scoreline won’t 

change. 

Ashwin is in form of his life.... 

He has to be given all the 

credit for the fact that he went 

back to the basics. He was prepared 

to put in the hard yards and 

be patient. There’s no doubting 

the fact that he’s a smart cricketer 

who understands his game. Today, 

you’re seeing that he’s undoubtedly 

the best off-spinner in the world. 

That we’ll talk out in our next 

team meeting. What I would only 

remember is his 145. When he got 

the opportunity... there again was 

a player who was out of the side, 

when he got a chance, he played a 

match-winning innings. 

Djokovic, Serena reign despite 

sudden impact shocks 

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Djokovic ended 2015 with 11 titles, 

82 wins and six defeats in a haul which 

included three of the four majors. 

• Djokovic won six of the nine Masters 

and topped it off with a fourth successive 

end-of-season World Tour Finals 

triumph. 

• Serena recorded 53 wins against just 

three losses. 

PARIS: Novak Djokovic and Serena 

Williams celebrated seasons of epic 

proportions, claiming six of eight Grand 

Slam titles in a march to greatness 

dented only by two players producing 

once-in-a-lifetime performances. 

Djokovic ended 2015 with 11 

titles, 82 wins and just six defeats in a 

haul which included three of the four 

majors -- the Australian and US Opens 

and Wimbledon. 

His on-court earnings of $21 

million swelled his career total to a 

mind-boggling $94 million while the 

28-year-old Serb now has 10 Grand 

Slam titles amongst his 59 career 

trophies. 

Djokovic won six of the nine Masters 

and topped it off with a fourth 

successive end-of-season World Tour 

Finals triumph in London. 

“I’m very proud to have these 

achievements with my team,” said 

Djokovic. “It’s been a long season, but 

the best of my life.” 

Djokovic reached the final of 

every tournament he played with 

the exception of his 2015 bow in 

Doha where Ivo Karlovic stunned 

him in the quarter-finals.From then 

on it was one-way traffic -- indoors, 

outdoors, hardcourt, clay and grass 

-- the Australian Open, Masters in 

Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo 

and Rome and then Wimbledon, 

US Open, Beijing, the Shanghai and 

Paris Masters and London 

But Djokovic was still left with 

a case of ‘what might have been’ 

thanks to a single-handed backhand 

blitz delivered by Stan Wawrinka 

at Roland Garros where a 4-6, 6-4, 

6-3, 6-4 defeat left him still seeking a 

first French Open and a career Grand 

Slam. 

Wawrinka fired 59 winners past 

Djokovic who finished runner-up for 

the third time in four years. The defeat 

left him in tears.Roger Federer, 

who hasn’t added to his 17 majors 

since 2012 Wimbledon, continued 

to defy the critics.Despite passing 

34 in August, the Swiss reached the 

Wimbledon and US Open finals and 

handed Djokovic a rare defeat in the 

round-robin section of the World 

Tour Finals before the Serb swept to 

a comfortable revenge in the title 

match.The Swiss ended the year at 

three in the world and then ended 

his two-year partnership with coach 

Stefan Edberg.Andy Murray finished 

at two after a season which saw him 

win his first titles on clay, announce 

that he will become a father in February 

and lead Britain to a first Davis 

Cup in 79 years.Meanwhile, 14-time 

Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal may 

have lost his iron-grip on the French 

Open and suffer his worst rankings 

slump in a decade, but there were 

encouraging signs of life as the year 

ticked away. 

Nick Kyrgios has 

sound, fury and 

talent 

NEW DELHI: Everybody 

loves a bad boy 

whether it’s in life or in 

sports. Nick Kyrgios is 

no different. He’s loud, in 

your face, aggressive and 

borderline manic when 

he is on the tennis court. 

The Aussie has almost 

paid as much fine for his 

antics on the court as he 

has earned over the 2015 

season but he is not ready 

to change his spots.He is 

walking a tight rope after a 

fine of $25,000 and a suspended 

sentence from the 

ATP for his ‘aggressive behaviour’ 

and inappropriate 

comments made against 

Stan Wawrinka during 

a Rogers Cup match in 

August this year.“I am not 

a bad boy. I just go out 

to win and sometimes 

emotions get the best of 

me. I try to help out kids 

back home and I don’t 

know where this image 

of me came from. But I’ll 

admit it doesn’t matter if 

we are playing chess and 

cards, I just want to win,” 

Kyrgios said on Friday. 

The 20-year-old will team 

up with Wawrinka in the 

last leg of this year’s IPTL 

in Singapore. Although 

the pair has not spoken 

since the incident, where 

Kyrgios had made an 

inappropriate comment 

about Wawrinka’s girlfriend 

Donna Vekic. 

‘West Indies have to put a collective effort in remaining Tests’ 

was in the balance at one point and if they 

had got another couple of quick wickets they 

could have gone through us, but we were able 

absorb a bit of pressure and build that big 

partnership and change the course of the 

game.” 

The Caribbean tourists have a two-day 

game against a Victorian XI in Geelong 

from December 19-20 as their only match 

preparation for the second Test at the 

Melbourne Cricket Ground, starting on 

December 26.“We just need to make the 

most of it, I thought preparation was very 

good leading up to this first Test match, 

I couldn’t ask for much more. It’s just a 

situation where we need to perform our 

roles. We haven’t been doing it, and starting 

to do it is the only way we can win cricket 

games,” Holder said.

15 December 2015

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