17 December 2015

SRINAGAR | 17 December 2015 | 05 Rabi ul Awwal 1437 AH Vol: 3 | Issue No: 299 | Pages: 08 | Rs 3/- 

THURSDAY 

3rd 

PRECIOUS KASHMIR 

Journalism With A Human Heart 

C 

M 

Y 

K 

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

War with Pakistan not an 

option: Swaraj in Lok Sabha 

New Delhi, Dec 16: Declaring that 

"war is not an option", India today 

said it had decided to hold dialogue 

with Pakistan as it is the only way to 

remove "the shadow of terrorism". 

External Affairs Minister Sushma 

Swaraj said in Lok Sabha that India 

and Pakistan decided to hold talks on 

terror when the Prime Ministers Narendra 

Modi and Nawaz Sharif met in 

Ufa (Russia) in July and then in Paris 

recently. 

"We said we can talk so that terrorism 

comes to an end. 

So talks (between NSAs) took 

place in Bangkok where we discussed 

about terrorism. But one meeting will 

not bring a solution to all the problem. 

So we will continue the dialogue," she 

said during Question Hour. 

When BJP member Ganesh Singh 

asked whether India was exploring 

options like the US did to hunt down 

Osama Bin Laden, Swaraj said India is 

talking to Pakistan on the camps existing 

in Pakistan-administered Kashmir 

(PaK) as "war is not an option". 

"We have decided that through 

talks we will resolve the issue of terrorism 

as talks is the way forward so 

that the shadow of terror is removed. 

But we want to make it clear, our 

Prime Minister has made it clear that 

talks and terror can't go together. Dialogue 

is drowned by the sound of explosion," 

she said. 

Swaraj was speaking against the 

backdrop of recent decision to re-start 

the 'Comprehensive' dialogue with 

Pakistan under which various subjects, 

including Jammu and Kashmir, 

will be discussed. 

The External Affairs Minister said 

Modi had said there was a need for 

talks to resolve the issue of terrorism. 

"The Prime Minister said let's 

talk on terror. For talks we will have 

to put in faith. There is no third party. 

Through talks, both the countries 

are trying to resolve the issue of terrorism," 

she said. 

Srinagar shivers at 

minus 3.7 degree Celsius 

Records season's coldest night 

Srinagar, Dec 16: Srinagar 

city faced the coldest night 

of the season as the mercury 

dipped several notches to 

settle at minus 3.7 degrees 

Celsius, while other parts 

of Jammu and Kashmir also 

braved freezing cold wave. 

"The minimum temperature 

recorded in Srinagar was 

minus 3.7 degrees Celsius, a 

drop of 3.4 degrees compared 

to the previous night," an official 

of the MET department 

said here. 

He said the minimum 

temperature stayed below 

the freezing point across the 

Kashmir division including 

the twin towns of Leh and 

Kargil in Ladakh region. 

Kargil was the coldest 

recorded place in the state 

as the minimum temperature 

settled at minus 14.2 

degrees last night, registering 

a dip of nearly three degrees 

compared to 24 hours earlier, 

he said. 

The MET official said Leh 

recorded a low of minus 13.8 

degrees Celsius last night. 

The famous ski-resort of 

Gulmarg, in north Kashmir, 

registered a night temperature 

of minus 10.0 degrees 

as compared to the previous 

nights minus 8.8 degrees 

Celsius. 

The mercury in Pahalgam 

which serves as a base camp 

for the annual Amarnath 

Yatra in south Kashmir appreciated 

slightly to settle 

at minus 7.3 degrees against 

minus 7.5 degrees the previous 

night, the official said. 

Qazigund and Kokernag 

both in south Kashmir 

recorded minus 3.3 degrees 

and minus 2.8 degrees 

respectively. 

The night temperature 

in Kupwara town in north 

Kashmir dropped further to 

See Srinagar on Pg 6 

Hope dialogue will lead to Kashmirspecific 

CBMs: Hurriyat (M) 

Precious Kashmir News 

Srinagar, Dec 16: Hurriyat Conference 

(M) today welcomed the decision 

of India and Pakistan to hold 

comprehensive bilateral dialogue 

and appealed to their political leadership 

to rise above their "traditional 

stances" and show statesmanship 

and "seriousness" in resolving all 

complex issues including Kashmir. 

In a Executive and General 

council meetings chaired by the 

amalgam's Chairman Mirwaiz Umer 

Farooq, the recent visit of External 

Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj 

to Pakistan earlier this month 

and holding meetings with the 

leadership including Prime Minister 

Nawaz Sharif was welcomed. 

In a resolution, the moderate 

faction called upon "the Indo-Pak 

leadership to rise above their traditional 

political stances and show 

statesmanship and seriousness in 

resolving the complex issues for 

ensuring long-lasting peace and 

stability in the region." 

The Hurriyat (M) said the amalgam 

was ready to act as a bridge in 

bringing both the countries together 

for lasting peace in South Asia. 

The Mirwaiz said the decision of 

resuming the stalled dialogue was a 

welcome step and Hurriyat Conference 

will like to contribute in every 

way so that the cordial relations 

between the two countries lasts. 

"The Hurriyat Conference has 

See Hope on Pg 6 

Pakistan pays tributes to Peshawar school attack victims 

Islamabad, Dec 16: Pakistan on Wednesday 

paid tributes to the victims of Peshawar's Army 

Public School attack on the first anniversary of 

the massacre. 

The country's top civil and military leadership, 

in a solemn ceremony at the school, 

honoured those who lost their lives during 

the terrorist attack last year. The attack left at 

least 160 people killed, most of them school 

children. 

Addressing the gathering, Prime Minister 

Nawaz Sharif termed the attack "an incident 

that shook the nation" and announced that 

December 16 would be observed as the day of 

"national educational resolve", Dawn online 

reported. 

Sharif thanked the political leadership 

with whose cooperation the constitution was 

amended to set up military courts, and the National 

Action Plan was formulated to counter 

terrorism in the country. 

"Our brave forces, security and civil institutions 

have come together as one in this 

mission," the prime minister said, adding that 

operation Zarb-e-Azb has broken the back of 

terrorists. 

"The blood of our children speaks in our 

war against terrorism," Sharif said. 

Sharif said he desires that whenever people 

recall the sacrifices of those children and 

their teachers, they also remember that they 

have to eliminate the darkness of illiteracy 

from Pakistan. 

Families of those who lost their lives participated 

in a parade holding up photos of the 

victims. 

In another display of solidarity with the 

victims of the Peshawar school attack, vehicular 

traffic remained halted for two minutes be- 

Islamabad, Dec 16: As Pakistan 

remembers the victims of the 

Peshawar school terror attack on 

the first anniversary of the massacre, 

Islamabad's high commissioner 

to New Delhi Abdul Basit 

on Wednesday said their country 

was the worst hit by terrorism. 

"Pakistan as a country suffered 

the most due to terrorism. 

There is no other country where 

so much violence has occurred 

due to terrorism," Basit said 

here while commemorating last 

year's Peshawar school attack. 

In 2015 

‘89 militants, 37 troopers 

"Our hearts are deeply 

pained as we gather here in 

memory of the students killed 

in the Army Public School Peshawar," 

he added. 

He also said he was "pained" 

as there were other countries 

which do not share the pain that 

Pakistan had undergone. 

"I am very disappointed that 

there are some countries which 

do not share the pain that we go 

through." 

"There is no religion that permits 

killing of innocent people," 

killed in J&K’ 

New Delhi, Dec 16: As many 

as 169 incidents of militant 

related violence cases were 

reported in Jammu and 

Kashmir till October this 

year in which 89 militants 

were killed, the Rajya Sabha 

was informed on Wednesday. 

Minister of State for 

Home, Haribhai Parathibhai 

Chaudhary, said 37 security 

personnel were also killed 

in these incidents, media reports 

said this evening. 

There were 173 incidents 

of militant related violence 

cases in the same period last 

year in which 86 militants 

and 31 security personnel 

were killed. 

“The number of militant 

incidents has decreased and 

number of militants killed 

has increased during 2015 till 

October as compared to corresponding 

period of 2014,” 

he said in a written reply. 

‘677 incidents of 

cross-border firing’ 

New Delhi, Dec 16: As many as 677 cases of cross- border firing 

by Pakistan have been reported from May 2014 to October 2015, 

Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday. 

"During the period May 2014 to October 2015, 677 cases 

of cross-border firing incidents by Pakistan Rangers have been 

reported along the Indo-Pakistan border," Minister of State for 

Home Kiren Rijiju said in reply to a written question. 

He said due to cross-border firing, the number of casualties 

of civilians during the period May 2014 to October 2015 in 

Jammu and Kashmir was 27. 

"During this period three BSF troopers died and 19 were injured 

due to cross-border firing," he said. 

Rijiju said a number of steps have been taken to stop the 

See Incidents on Pg 6 

the high commissioner said. 

Basit described the attack as 

a defining moment in the history 

of Pakistan as its war against terrorism 

got mileage. 

"Operation Zarb-e-Azb got a 

boost after this attack. Our angels 

(students) sacrificed their lives 

and that gave our Army a boost 

to combat terrorism," he said. 

"There is no difference between 

good or bad terrorism. Every 

innocent's killing is an act of 

terror and it needs to be ended," 

See Basit on Pg 6 

Sgr-Leh 

road to close 

from Dec 20 


Srinagar, Dec 16: The 

Srinagar-Leh road connecting 

the Ladakh region with the 

rest of Jammu and Kashmir 

will be closed for vehicular 

traffic from Sunday, an 

official spokesman said on 

Wednesday. 

"According to the office 

of Divisional Commissioner 

Kashmir, Sonamarg Gumri 

(Zojila Pass) shall remain 

closed for vehicular traffic of 

all types of vehicle from December 

20 till further notice," 

the spokesman said. 

The 434-kilometre road 

remains closed for over four 

months during winter due to 

heavy snowfall around Zojila 

Pass. 

The Srinagar-Leh road, 

which is of strategic importance, 

is likely to be opened 

in April next year. 

The historic Mughal 

road, linking south Kashmir 

with Rajouri and Poonch in 

Jammu region, was again 

put through after remaining 

closed for traffic due to heavy 

snowfall since December 10. 

Meanwhile, the 300-kmlong 

Srinagar-Jammu high 

See Sgr-Leh on Pg 6 

ginning 10 a.m. in Lahore, and one-minute silence 

was observed to mark the tragic incident. 

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman 

Imran Khan commemorated the attack in a 

series of tweets, expressing resolve against terrorism 

and extremism. 

Meanwhile, families of the children killed 

or wounded in the attack have accused the 

government of breaking its promise of providing 

medical treatment and justice. 

The relatives of the victims said they will 

attend the official anniversary commemoration 

on Wednesday, but vowed to pressure the 

authorities into delivering on their commitments. 

Pakistan on December 2 executed four 

terrorists, at a prison in the city of Kohat, who 

were involved in the Army Public School 

See Pakistan on Pg 6 

We suffered the most due to terrorism: Basit 

Day 3: Protests continue in city against CAPD's Food Act 


Srinagar, Dec 16: On the third consecutive 

day, the protests against the Consumer 

Affairs and Public Distribution 

(CA&PD) department continue in the 

Srinagar city demanding revocation of 

an order. 

The people took to streets and raised 

anti-government slogans to press the 

government for their demands. The protesters 

also blocked the main roads and 

asked the state administration to revoke 

the order at earliest or face agitation. 

The residents of various areas in last 

two days have set their ration cards on 

fire saying that the same is not going to 

bring in any relief in their lives. 

Eyewitnesses said that the protesters, 

mostly women blocked the movement 

of traffic near Bemina crossing to 

press for their demands thereby massive 

traffic jam was witnessed on the 

stretch of highway from Parimpora to 

Tengpora. 

The protesters shouting slogans 

against the government alleged they are 

denied their ration "in the name of National 

Food Security Act". 

"We don't need this act. Under this 

act, they are providing us few kilos of 

rice which are not sufficient for us," said 

a protester. 

"Earlier, we were provided 35 kilos 

of rice per month. Now they will provide 

us two kilos. Does that sound justice to 

us," asked another protester. 

While the residents of Kohnakhun 

area of Dalgate also held a protest 

against the department and accused the 

state administration for failing to provide 

benefits to the people here. 

The residents said, “The CAPD department 

by announcing five kg ration 

per head has forced us to raise voices 

against the department as the same is 

not sufficient for us.” 

Terming the order of CAPD department 

as ‘discrimination’, the protesting 

inhabitants said that the government 

should revoke the order at earliest and 

should announce any alternate order, 

which will accommodate the aspiration 

of people here. 

“Despite pushing people to walls by 

unscheduled power cuts, the authorities 

are trying to make people’s survival difficult 

here,” they said. 

Pertinently, protests had erupted in 

various localities of Srinagar, including 

Habba Kadal, Tankipora, Shaheed Gunj, 

among others, yesterday with protesters 

alleging that the government is forcing 

them to die of hunger. 

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner, 

Srinagar while reviewing the progress 

under National Food Security Act, today 

on 16.12.2016 was informed that 

86,085 consumers have obtained the 

digitalized forms and 17,769 fresh forms 

from the concerned Fair Price Shops/ 

Sale outlets. All other consumers are 

requested to obtain the forms for correction/authentication 

immediately and 

return the same by 18th Dec.2015 positively 

so that their correct particulars 

are reflected in the database. 

The consumers are once again informed 

that Adhar Card Number is not 

mandatory and the forms will be received 

back at the concerned FP Shops/ 

Sale Outlets without Adhar Card Number. 

In case of any difficulty the consumers 

may contact concerned Assistant Director, 

CAPD North/South Srinagar. 

As per the schedule notified the 

preliminary list shall be displayed at 

the respective Fair Price Shops/ Sale 

Outlets on 22,12,2015 and objections 

to the preliminary lists by general 

public shall be received upto 26th December, 

2015. (KNS) 

Zulfkar accuses 

Opposition of launching 

‘misinformation campaign’ 

Srinagar, Dec 16: Amid protests against 

the implementation of National Food 

Security Act (NFSA) in Srinagar, the 

Minister for Consumer Affairs and 

Public Distribution, Choudhary Zulfkar 

Ali on Wednesday accused political 

parties of launching a misinformation 

campaign. 

In an official handout issued to 

press, Ali said some political parties 

have launched a misinformation campaign 

on NFSA to mislead the people 

and bar them from taking benefit of 

this historic scheme. 

“The people should not fall prey to 

any propaganda and should try to take 

benefit of this revolutionary scheme,” 

he said, adding "as the implementation 

of NFSA would go a long way in plugging 

the pilferages in the existing public 

distribution system, the elements who 

were thriving on the loopholes in the 

system are also responsible for spreading 

canards regarding the scheme." 

He said the scheme will usher an 

era of assured supply of highly subsidized 

rations to the citizens of J&K at 

their doorstep in a transparent manner. 

"Unfortunately, it is not to the liking 

of some vested interests who were pillaging 

the existing system for their own 

vested interests,” he claimed. 

He said that such elements have got 

unnerved by the new mechanisms of 

monitoring and transparency being put 

in place and have launched a sustained 

See Zulfkar on Pg 6 

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Baramulla, Dec 16: Minister 

for R&B, Floriculture, Gardens 

& Parks, Syed Mohammad Altaf 

Bukhari today inaugurated 

Ladoora-Juhama bridge in district 

Baramulla. 

The Minister was accompanied 

by former minister, 

Mohammad Dillawar Mir, MLA 

Baramulla, Javed Hassan Beigh 

and MLA Rafiabad, Yawar Dilawar 

Mir. 

District Development 

Commissioner Baramulla, Yasha 

Mudgal, Director Floriculture, 

Talat Parvez and Engineers 

of R&B and JKPCC were also 

present on this occasion. 

The Ladoora-Juhama 

Bridge which will serve as a 

bye-pass for the traffic through 

Baramulla town has been completed 

at a cost of 13.11 crore. 

The bridge which will 

ensure shortened journey between 

Srinagar and Rafiabad. 

Addressing a public gathering 

on this occasion, the 

Minister announced construction 

of Nagabal bridge to be 

completed at a cost of Rs 4.50 

crore. He also announced Rs 

4.50 crore for Jatti bridge. 

The Minister said widening 

of road from Kanispora to 

Ladoora will be taken up for 

execution very soon. 

Earlier the Minister, during 

his day long visit to various 

areas of Rafiabad constituency, 

addressed public gatherings at 

Nadihal, Hardchanam and Zethan. 

The Minister, on the demand 

of people, announced 

many projects of public importance. 

At Chanam, Altaf 

Bukhari announced construction 

of Branwari bridge and 5 

kms long Ringpath road. He 

also announced to construct a 

motorable bridge at Chapdaji 

Zethan and a foot bridge near 

graveyard Zethan, besides a 

recreation park at Zethan. He 

also announced a public park 

over 15 kanals of land at Soin. 

He also announced a motorable 

bridge for Hub-Dangerpora, 

which will connect Souloo with 

Dangerpora. The Minister announced 

to develop Ziarat Syed 

Malik Bukhari (RA) at Nadihal 

under pilgrim tourism plan. 

He also assured the residents 

of Shah Mohalla Nadihal who 

are facing problems due to 

landslides that all possibilities 

would be explored to relocate 

them to some safer place. 


Jammu, Dec 16: Chief Secretary 

B R Sharma Wednesday 

underlined the importance 

of Wullar Lake in protecting 

Kashmir Valley from floods 

by acting as a huge water 

storage reservoir. He said the 

de-silting effort launched 

under the comprehensive 

Wullar conservation and 

management plan needs 

greater impetus to increase 

the water holding capacity 

of the Lake. 

Chairing a review meeting 

of the Wullar Conservation 

& Management 

Authority (WUCMA) here, 

Chief Secretary said that the 

ongoing conservation and 

protection measures for ecorestoration 

of Wullar Lake 

and its feeder channels, associated 

wetlands and marshes 

should gain momentum in 

view of the massive floods 

that struck the valley in September- 

2014. He said Wullar 

Lake provides a natural 

way out for the excess or 

flood waters in Jhelum and 

it needs to be protected and 

conserved at all cost. 

Under the 13th FC, Rs 

120 cr were sanctioned for 

taking up conservation and 

protection measures in Wullar 

Lake, out of which Rs 60 

cr were allotted. Till date, Rs 

37.5 cr have been utilised 

for survey & demarcation, 

catchment conservation and 

water management of Wullar 

Lake. 

While reviewing the 

progress of the project, Chief 

Secretary was informed that 

News 

Thursday 

2 

17.12.2015 

Bali, Asiea for implementation of 

welfare schemes in a transparent manner 


Bukhari inaugurates 

Juhama-Ladoora bridge 

VC JU calls on 

Governor 

Jammu, Dec 16: Prof. R.D. 

Sharma, Vice Chancellor, 

University of Jammu, called 

on Governor N. N. Vohra, 

Chancellor of the University, 

here at the Raj Bhavan today. 

The Governor held 

discussions with Prof. 

Sharma about the timebound 

implementation of a 

systematic plan for enlarging 

the University’s capacities 

in the teaching and research 

arenas and to develop the 

institution as a centre of excellence. 

They also discussed 

important issues relating to 

the functioning of off-site 

Campuses. 

The Governor re-iterated 

his concern about the need 

for maintenance of high 

standards of discipline, decorum 

and productivity by the 

students and the Faculties. 

Budgam, Dec 16: District Development 

Commissioner 

Budgam Mir Altaf Ahmad convened 

a meeting of all district 

officers - to chalk out a plan 

for the implementation of National 

Food Security Act in the 

District. 

During the meeting Tehsil 

level committees constituted 

for the implementation of 

the said Act were directed to 

collect the basic data for the 

identification of Priority (AAY/ 

BPL), Non Priority and Exclusion 

categories as per the criteria 

set in the Act within the 

notified timeline. Detailed discussions 

were held on the criteria 

set for the identification 

of beneficiaries under the Act. 

Jammu, Dec 16: Minister for Social Welfare, 

Bali Bhagat has called upon functionaries 

of the department to adopt a 

pro-active and transparent approach in 

implementing all welfare schemes. 

While taking a joint review of functioning 

of the department at a meeting of 

officers held at Van Bhawan here today, 

Bali and Minister of State for Social Welfare, 

Asiea Naqash maintained that Social 

Welfare Department has been mandated 

to address issues relating to poorest of 

poor in the society and it is desirable 

that every functionary must give his/her 

hundred percent to provide succour to 

the needy. They said people, especially 

the poor and destitute have high expectations 

from the department and best 

efforts must be put in to address their 

problems. 

Laying stress on highlighting 

schemes through different mediums like 

newspapers, electronic media, hoardings, 

social media and special awareness 

camps in far-flung areas, the Ministers 

said that publicity is a vital part to create 

awareness among masses about such 

social schemes and their benefits, so that 

maximum beneficiaries are covered under 

the said programmes. They directed 

for designating two officers, one each at 

Jammu and Kashmir divisions to exclusively 

look after publicity work of the 

department in a dedicated and modern 

way to create an impact in the society 

about activities being undertaken by the 

Government for the poor. 

During the meeting extensive discussion 

was held on issues including status 


Srinagar, Dec 16: Minister 

for Agriculture, Ghulam 

Nabi Lone Hanjura, today 

inaugurated SABAAT- A 

multipurpose Hall to be 

used by the piligrims, at 

Pakharpora Shrine. 

Vice Chairman, Jammu 

and Kashmir Waqf Board, 

Peer Muhammad Hussain, 


Commissioner, Budgam 

Mir Altaf Ahmad, Director 

Tourism, Kashmir, Mehmood 

Ahmed, Executive 

Officer Yousmarg Development 

Authority (YDA) and 

other officers of district administration 

were present 

on the occasion. 

The well furnished SA- 

BAAT Hall with all facilities 

has been completed within 

of weeded out cases of pensions under 

different categories, digitization of pension 

records and other social schemes, 

status of under construction OBC/SC hostels 

at different places, identification of 

colleges, universities where OBC hostels 

are to be constructed, liberalizing formalities 

for completion of application forms 

by beneficiaries, number of beneficiaries 

registered under Aasra scheme, status of 

newly launched schemes viz Hunar, Ladli 

Beti, State Marriage Assistance Scheme 

(SMAS), online status of services under 

NFBS & IGNOAPS, status of procurement 

of nutritive items by ICDS centres, monitoring 

of ICDS centres, identification of 

new Anganwadi Centres in left out areas, 

construction/upgradation of Anganwadi 

Centres, position of availability of quality 

nutritional items and and display menu 

Chief Secretary reviews Wullar 

Lake Conservation Project 

Pakherpora to be developed on 

modern lines: Hanjura 


Commissioner stressed for 

concerted efforts by the concerned 

departments so that 

the exercise of identification of 

the beneficiaries is completed 

in fair and transparent manner 

with no scope of exclusion of 

deserving from the list. 

a short period of 4 months 

at a cost of Rs 39 Lakhs 

which would facilitate the 

pilgrims visiting the shrine 

of Hazrat Syed Ali Aali 

Balkhi (RA). 

Speaking on the occasion 

the Minister said that 

Pakharpora would be developed 

on modern lines 

for which several initiatives 

have been taken. He 

said directions for preparing 

comprehensive plans 

for development and beautification 

of the shrine and 

its adjacent areas have 

already been given to the 

concerned departments . 

The Minister announced 

that the Park 

with the Shrine premises 

would also be developed 

for which sufficient funds 

have been earmarked for 

DC Budgam reviews NFSA implementation 

Additional Deputy Commissioner 

Budgam, Assistant 

Commissioner Revenue, Assistant 

Commissioner Development, 

SDM Khansahib, 

SDM Beerwah, SDM Chadoora, 

CPO, Assistant Director 

CA&PD among other officers 

attended the meeting. 

the current financial year. 

Responding to the demands 

of construction of 

playing field, lanes and 

drains and installation of 

street lights in Pakharpora 

town, the Minister assured 

that these demands 

would be redressed on 

priority. 

The Minister said that 

implementation of National 

Food Security Act 

(NFSA) in the State is a major 

decision of the government 

adding that schemes 

like Ladli Beeti and Aasra 

would benefit a large 

chunk of poor people of 

the State. 

Vice Chairman, Waqf 

Board also spoke on the 

occasion and highlighted 

the achievements of the 

Board in the area. 

Jammu, Dec 16: Minister for Health 

and Medical Education, ARI and 

Trainings Choudhary Lal Singh has 

said that massive developmental 

works are underway under the master 

plan to provide better amenities to 

the people . 

This was stated by the Minister 

while interacting with the several 

deputations here today. 

Principal Government Medical 

College Dr. Zahid Geelani, Director 

Health Services Dr. Baljeet Singh 

Pathania, Director General Indian System 

of Medicines Dr. Abdul Kabir Dar, 

Director Family Welfare Dr. Baldev Raj 

Sharma, Controller Drugs and Food 

entire periphery of the lake 

has been demarcated as per 

authentic revenue record 

which indicates a lake area of 

130 sq kms. As many as 1159 

geo-tagged boundary pillars 

have been erected delineating 

the lake boundary from 

adjoining areas. Besides this, 

till date 9.11 lakh cum of silt 

has been dredged out from 

the lake along with removing 

over 26000 willow trees. 

Measures to arrest soil 

erosion in the catchment 

Control Organisation Nazir Wani, 

Project Director AIDS Control Society 

Dr. Saleem-ur-Rehman, Deputy Director 

Health Services Dr. Ajay Gupta 

area have been taken by 

erecting check dams and 

protection banks and planting 

over 3 lakh conifers in 

the adjoining forest area. 

Chief Secretary also discussed 

future funding requirements 

of the project 

with directions to the Forest 

department to submit a 

proposal that would ensure 

uninterrupted funding to accomplish 

the remaining operations 

for conservation of 

Wullar Lake as per the DPR. 

Jammu, Dec 16: Minister 

for Horticulture, Haj and Auquaf, 

Abdul Rehman Veeri 

convened a meeting to review 

the functioning of the 

Horticulture Department 

here today. 

He took a comprehensive 

review of the physical 

and financial achievements 

registered by the department. 

The meeting was also attended 

by the Commissioner 

Secretary, Agriculture, M. A. 

Bukhari. 

The Minister took a detailed 

review of the steps 

taken for improving productivity 

and development 

of climate resilient production 

system through suitable 

adaption and mitigation 

means. 

Veeri stressed on generating 

awareness about the 

latest technology among 

the farmers. He maintained 

that the post harvest losses 

should be minimized by 

timely interventions and disseminating 

requisite information 

among farmers. 

Veeri said that it is vital 

that the human resource is 

kept abreast with the latest 

know how in the field so that 

the field functionaries help 

the farmers in increasing 

in each Anganwadi Centre across the 

State, to ensure transparency. 

Directing officers to simplify the procedural 

formalities for poor beneficiaries 

to avail benefit under various schemes, 

the Ministers called for reaching out to 

individual beneficiary at the doorstep 

through organization of special camps to 

facilitate filling of forms and issuance of 

handicapped certificates, income forms 

etc. They directed officers to increase 

field visits to get regular feedback about 

implementation of schemes and removal 

of bottlenecks, if any, faced by field functionaries. 

The field staff also apprised the Ministers 

about difficulties faced by them 

on ground, mainly related to shortage 

of staff, funds for administrative operations 

and mobility. The Ministers assured 

to examine their genuine issues 

on priority. 

Secretary Social Welfare, Sanjeev 

Verma gave an overview of the performance 

and schemes being implemented 

by the Department. 

Mission Director, ICDS/Director Social 

Welfare, Kashmir, Hashmat Ali Yattoo, 

all District Social Welfare Officers, 

District Programme Officers, ICDS from 

both divisions attended the meeting. 


Srinagar, Dec 16: Divisional 

Commissioner, Kashmir Dr. 

Asgar Samoon held a meeting 

in connection with the 

construction of Marriage Hall 

at Jamia Masjid and Radapora 

Khanyar, Srinagar. 

The meeting was attended 

by DC Srinagar, Superintendent 

Engineer R&B and Auqaf 

Committee Jama Masjid. 

During the meeting, the 

Divisional Commissioner was 

told that Detailed Project Report 

(DPR) for construction of 

Community halls has already 

been formulated. Officers said 

both the works have been tendered 

out by R&B Department 

and work will start soon. Samoon 

directed the officers to 

accelerate the work on these 

halls. The Auqaf Committee 

raised various issues and Divisional 

Commissioner assured 

the committee members 

about their redressal. Div Com 

asked the officers to ensure 

proper water supply and uninterrupted 

electricity in the 

Jama Masjid area. 

www.preciouskashmir.com 

Div Com convenes 

meetings on Marriage 

halls, census of Chinars 

productivity. 

The Minister directed the 

concerned officers to ensure 

that all Mandis are made fully 

functional and cancel the 

allotments of those who fail 

to utilize the allotted spaces 

in these mandis and go for 

fresh allotments. 

Among others who attended 

the meeting were 

Director Planning, Agriculture 

Department, M.A. 

Mattoo, Director P&M, R. A. 

besides other senior officers of Medical 

and Health departments were present 

on the occasion. 

The Minister informed that the 

Ganga 

inaugurates 

Special Handloom 

Expo-2015 

Jammu, Dec 16: Minister for 

Industries and Commerce, 

Chander Prakash Ganga inaugurated 

the special Handloom 

Expo – 2015 at Kala 

Kendra here today. 

The Expo has been organized 

by J&K State Handloom 

Development Corporation 

Ltd (Poshish) and sponsored 

by Development Commissioner 

(Handlooms), Ministry 

of Textiles, Government of 

India. 

The Minister visited the 

stalls at the Expo and viewed 

various products displayed 

by the societies. 

Speaking on the occasion, 

Ganga stressed on the need 

to give impetus to the Handloom 

activities being carried 

out in the state. The Minister 

laid emphasis on improving 

the living standard of the 

skilled weavers scattered in 

far flung areas of the state. 

He said government is committed 

towards the economic 

upliftment of weavers and 

artisans and asked officials 

to reach out to weavers and 

artisans especially residing in 

remote and far flung areas. 

The Divisional Commissioner 

later convened a meeting 

regarding census of Chinars 

in the state. 

The meeting was attended 

by DC Srinagar, Deputy 

Director Floriculture, Joint Director 

Industries & Commerce 

and Conservator of Forests 

Kashmir. 

Samoon directed all the 

DCs and line officers to update 

the census of Chinar trees and 

submit the report to the office. 

It was informed by Floriculture 

Department that there 

are 38401 chinar trees as per 

census 2007 in Kashmir valley 

which includes 5306 Chinars 

which are above the age of 

400 years. It was informed in 

the meeting that Department 

has proposal to plant 12000 

chinar trees in the valley. 

Conservator of Forest, 

Kashmir said that the Department 

has a plan to have plantation 

of 19 lacs of Deodar 

and Fir. Officers of various 

districts of floriculture department 

were directed to 

submit the survey report of 

Chinar tees at the earlist. 

Veeri discuses modalities for setting 

up nursing institutes at Jammu 

Hakeem, Director Horticulture 

Jammu, A. K. Sharma, 

Managing Director, HPMC, 

and all CHOs, DHOs, District 

SMS and HDOs of Jammu 

division. Earlier, the Minister 

who also hold the portfolio 

of Haj and Auqaf Department 

also convened a meeting 

to review the modalities 

of setting up of nursing institutes 

in Jammu, Kishtwar 

and Rajouri. 

The Minister directed 

the concerned to ensure 

all requisite formalities are 

completed well in time and 

infrastructure and logistic 

facilities are put in place to 

ensure that these colleges 

become operational from 

coming academic session. 

He stressed on providing 

hostel facilities to the female 

students. 

Massive developmental prog underway to 

upgrade basic amenities: Lal Singh 

department has started a new initiative 

”Hello Health Minister ” under 

which a call centre has been set up at 

Super Specialty hospital, where the 

people can register their grievances 

for redressal in a time bound manner 

. He said that he himself is available 

to take calls on 16th of every month 

from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Later, Choudhary Lal Singh also 

conducted a public grievances redressal 

camp at Kachi Chawni and 

took stock of the problems of the 

people. He directed the concerned 

officers to ensure better delivery 

of services to the people in a most 

transparent manner.

Precious Kashmir 

Scanned, photocopied 

documents of vehicles 

not valid: Traffic police 


Srinagar, Dec 16: Traffic 

police Wednesday ruled 

out accepting scanned and 

photocopied documents 

of vehicles, which people 

usually carry for their 

convenience. 

Drivers and private 

transport owners carry 

with these documents of 

their licenses while driving 

for convenient carrying. 

However, the 

owners said 

the traffic 

police 

manning 

the roads 

and busy traffic spots 

during checking don’t 

accept these documents 

from them and impose fine 

on them. 

“It seems arbitrary that 

despite having photocopied 

and scanned copies of 

original documents, traffic 

police do not accept them. 

They impose fine on us, 

sometimes confiscate 

our vehicles,” said Javaid 

Ahmad, a bike owner from 

Srinagar. 

Ahmad said that he 

had scanned his original 

driving license and other 


Srinagar, Dec 16: Hurriyat 

(G) on Wednesday 

accused the police of failing 

to arrest a “notorious 

Ikhwani” in Bandipora 

despite the court orders. 

“On the contrary, they 

are harassing and detaining 

the respectable Tehreek-e-Hurriyat 

district 

officials and the common 

youths for no crime of 

theirs and are fabricating 

false and baseless cases 

against them, a Hurriyat 

(G) spokesperson said in a 

statement. 

He said that “a case 

against the notorious 

Ikhwani Rasheed Billa 

and his other associates 

who are involved in the 

brutal killings of dozens 

of innocent civilians is 

under trial in the Jammu 

& Kashmir High Court”. 

The court, it said, 

has issued an order to 

the concerned Superintendent 

of Police (SP) to 

immediately arrest the 

accused persons, but the 

police “has failed to implement 

the court orders 

related documents for 

the fear of missing and 

also for convenience. “It 

becomes convenient to 

carry scanned license in 

a pocket than to carry a 

big bag of documents. But 

police does not accept them 

as original,” he said. 

of 

Super- intendent 

Police 

Traffic 

for 

Srinagar, 

Maqsoodul-Zaman 

said 

that scanned and 

NOT VALID 

photocopied documents 

produced by vehicle owners 

during checking are not 

valid. 

The SP said that only 

original copies of the 

documents are acceptable 

and valid. 

“Traffic police does not 

accept such photocopied 

documents from vehicle 

owners as these documents 

can be manipulated. Sometimes 

such documents are 

also fraud. We confiscate all 

such documents,” Zaman 

said.He appealed to the 

vehicle owners not to carry 

such documents as only 

original copies are treated 

as valid. (KNS) 

Hurriyat (G) criticises 

police for ‘failing’ to 

arrest ‘notorious Ikhwani’ 

so far and the murderers 

are roaming free.” 

Spokesman said that 

the Bandipora police 

“instead of arresting the 

notorious criminals are 

following and harassing 

the respectable and 

peace loving activists of 

Tehreek-e-Hurriyat and 

the common youths and 

they every time remain 

busy in finding the ways 

and reasons that how to 

implicate the pro-freedom 

people in the false 

and baseless cases.” 

“Rayees Ahmad 

Mir is the Bandipora 

district president of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat 

and after 

the month long illegal 

detention, he was recent 

released at the time when 

he was in an ailing condition 

in the police lockup. 

His family admitted him 

in the Srinagar hospital 

and he has not fully recovered 

yet but the police 

has once again started 

raiding his residence and 

is harassing his family,” 

the statement added. 

The Hurriyat statement 

further reads that 

the Ishfaq Ahmad Dar has 

also been arrested about 

45 days ago and since 

then he is also under the 

illegal detention of the 

Bandipora police without 

any case or charges. 

Mohammad Ashraf Mir 

has also been detained for 

no crime and they are not 

being released. Hurriyat 

Conference strongly 

condemns this attitude 

of the Bandipora police 

towards the pro-freedom 

people and is demanding 

the immediate arrest of 

the Ikhwani killers. 

NEWS 

Scores appointed 

‘illegally’ in state 

Hospitals under HDF 


Srinagar, Dec 16: In a 

brazen violation of the 

recruitment rules and also 

without the approval of 

the state government, several 

hospitals have made 

unauthorized appointments 

under the Hospital 

Development Fund (HDF) 

in Kashmir Valley. 

Well places sources 

said that 132 “illegal, 

extra-constitutional and 

unauthorized” appointments 

had been made by 

a former medical superintendent 

of Sub-District 

Hospital Sopore in North 

Kashmir while such illegal 

appointments have also 

been made in District Hospital 

Pulwama. 

The appointments 

were made in complete 

violation and disregard of 

the Government Order No. 

954 HME of 2000 Dated: 

21-12-2000 and Government 

Order No. 150-HME 

of 2005 Dated: 15-3-2005, 

which make it clear that 

the HDF has no scope for 

employing or engaging 

people. The fund, according 

to the orders, is meant 

for minor repairs and 

sanitation of the hospitals 

in case of “any exigency or 

emergency.” The Medical 

Superintendents of District 

and Sub-District hospitals 

need the approval of at 

least 1 MLA/MLC to operate 

the HDF. 

Sources added that 

out of 132 employees 

appointed illegally under 

HDF at SDH Sopore only 

35 employees work on 

daily basis while rest of 

other employees draw 

salaries illegally. “The 

then Medical Superintendent 

responsible for 

these illegal appointments 

have been transferred 

to some other hospital 

while his successor sought 

voluntary transfer after 

observing the mess,” said 

a doctor on condition of 

anonymity. 

Students write 

exams in biting cold 


Srinagar, Dec 16: Students appearing in First Year exams 

across Kashmir Wednesday alleged that they are forced 

to write examination papers in biting cold. They said that 

Kashmir University has made no heating arrangements as 

a result students face difficulty while writing their examination 

papers. 

A group of students from Government Degree College 

Sopore said that University of Kashmir had charged Rs 150 

per student for heating arrangements in examination halls, 

but unfortunately no such facility is there for the students. 

The students who appeared in these exams at Amar Singh 

College and other centres expressed same concern and appealed 

authorities to make heating arrangements for them. 

The students complained that they face immense 

inconvenience while writing their exams. 

“Our hands freeze while writing our exam papers. The 

biting cold gives us tough time in the examination centre. 

We are mulling to protest next time if heating arrangements 

are not made for us,” the students warned. 

File Photo 

KU charges Rs 150 per student 

for heating arrangements 

“The government must 

order an inquiry into the 

HDF recruitments so that 

the huge loss to the exchequer 

is saved. Also the posts 

must be properly advertised 

and funds genuinely 

utilized,” he said. The doctor 

also informed that the 


also allotted a parking 

slot to an employee of the 

hospital without issuing 

any tender and the income 

generated from the source 

did not go to the Hospital 

Development Fund. 

Terming it baseless, the 


Sopore said that some 

people want to malign his 

image and they have been 

cooking stories against him. 

‘Illegal’ appointments 

under HDF have also been 

reported from District Hospital 

Pulwama. Reports said 

that on the recommendations 

of a political leader, 

several people have been 

engaged under HDF. 

“Leave illegal appointments 

aside, the District 

Hospital Pulwama is in 

shambles where from past 

one month not a single 

surgery has been done. The 

hospital Genset is out of 

order and the authorities 

don’t bother to repair it,” a 

member of traders federation 

Pulwama said adding 

that the hospital lacks basic 

facilities. 

Admitting that 

hospital genset was out 

of order, Medical Superintendent 

Pulwama Dr 

Saleem said that they 

have installed a new 

genset now and operation 

theatre is functioning 

normally. He said that 16 

major and minor surgeries 

were done on Wednesday 

alone. He added that no 

illegal appointment under 

HDF has been made in the 

hospital. 

“Government should 

probe the matter and take 

action against those who 

have resorted to illegal 

means,” he said. (CNS) 


Srinagar, Dec 16: Srinagar, 

Dec 16: Minister for Public 

Works, Floriculture 

and Parks, Syed Mohammad 

Altaf Bukhari 

has directed the PDD 

to ensure judicious and 

legal use of electricity, 

besides supply of power 

as per schedule. 

In an attempt to 

reduce load shedding in 

the state during winter 

season, the Minister 

asked the officers of 

Power Development 

Department (PDD) to 

go tough against the 

illegal use of electricity. 

He passed these directions 

during a meeting 

with officers including 

Divisional Commissioner 

Kashmir, Dr. 

Asgar Samoon, Deputy 

Commissioner Srinagar 

Dr. Farooq Ahmad Lone, 

Chief Engineers of PDD, 

PHE and R&B, Director 

CAPD, VC LAWDA and 

Commissioner SMC. The 

meeting was convened 

on the directions of the 

Chief Minister Mufti 

Mohammad Sayeed 

to review the power 


Srinagar, Dec 16: Hurriyat 

(M) Chairman, Mirwaiz Dr 

Molvi Muhammad Umar 

Farooq Wednesday presided 

over the joint meeting of 

APHC’s Executive Council, 

General Council and Working 

Committee held at Hurriyat 

Hqts Rajbagh where 

in a threadbare discussion 

was held on various issues 

related to latest political 

developments, ongoing 

struggle and organizational 

matters. 

“Expressing satisfaction 

over the resumption of 

dialogue process between 

India and Pakistan, APHC 

called upon the Indo-Pak 

leadership to rise above 

their traditional political 

stances and show statesmanship 

and seriousness 

in resolving the vexed 

Kashmir issue for ensuring 

long-lasting peace and 

stability in the region”, 

In a statement issued to 

GNS, the spokesman of the 

amalgam said. 

In the meeting it 

was said that Kashmir is 

basically a political and 

scenario of the state and 

to get the suggestions for 

coping up with the issue 

of load shedding. 

During the meeting 

officers told the Minister 

that during winters due 

to increase in load PDD is 

constrained to curtail the 

supply to ensure power 

to all areas. 

Expressing concern 

over frequent power 

cuts in the State, Bukhari 

said the over loading 

and illegal practices are 

the main cause of the 

erratic power supply 

and that they are going 

to act tough against the 

defaulters. 

He asked the PDD 

officials to devise a 

strategy to reduce power 

losses and to check pilferage 

of electricity. 

He said the government 

is working hard 

to increase the power 

generation sources and 

work on various new 

power projects is being 

carried out in this regard 

to improve supply. 

During the meeting 

the Minister asked the 

officers to look into the 

option of curtailment 

Srinagar,Thursday 


Bukhari reviews 

power scenario 

3 

Turning of Bajpathri 

into firing range will 

damage ecological 

balance: Mirwaiz 

a human issue related to 

political future of Kashmiris 

for which the people of 

Kashmir have been giving 

scarifies for the last seven 

decades particularly from 

past 27 years, he said. 

It was stated that 

Kashmiris are the fundamental 

party and part of 

the Kashmiri issue and the 

absence of Kashmiris in 

the Indo-Pak dialogue has 

been the reason that in 

past these dialogues have 

proved to be futile, he said. 

Therefore it is imperative 

upon both India and 

Pakistan to devise a mechanism 

to take Kashmiris 

onboard for any dialogue 

process to be result 

oriented and meaningful 

because without their 

participation and without 

taking their aspirations 

into account there cannot 

be a just and agreeable 

solution to this issue, he 

said. 

On the occasion, it was 

maintained that Hurriyat 

will play its positive role 

vis-a-vis dialogue and the 

resolution of all issues 

including Kashmir, he said. 

in power supply during 

peak hours. 

Bukhari suggested 

about 200 MW 

of electricity can be 

saved by curtailment in 

industrial areas during 

peak hours which can 

reduce the load on 

public distribution. 

‘Waste material 

decomposed on 

scientific lines at Achan’ 


Srinagar, Dec 16: Minister 

of State for Industries and 

Commerce, Power Development 

and Housing 

and Urban Development 

Mohammad Ashraf Mir on 

conducted an extensive tour 

of various areas of Eidgah 

Constituency in Srinagar and 

took stock of Power scenario 

in the constituency. 

The Minister toured 

Eidgah, Achen, Wanganpora, 

Syedpora, Tanghbagh, Palpora, 

Guzarbal and Noorbagh 

areas of the constituency. 

The Minister was accompanied 

by Chief Engineer Power 

Development Department 

(PDD) and Commissioner 

Srinagar Municipal Committee 

(SMC). 

Enroute several deputations 

met the Minister and 

apprised him about their 

problems. He gave them 

patient hearing and assured 

that their genuine demands 

would be looked into. 

At Wanganpora, Mir the 

Receiving Station wherein 

people demanded replacement 

of a feeder. He minister 

directed the officials to 

replace the same. 

Responding to public 

demands at other places, 

the Minister instructed 

the authorities provide uninterrupted 

electricity to the 

people. 

At Syedpora Tangbagh, 

residents asked the Minister 

that transformer has not 

been installed. The Minister 

asked the CE PDD to install 

250 KV transformer in 

the area. He gave on spot 

directions for improving 

power supply in the area. He 

also directed SMC officials to 

improve drainage system in 

the area. 

At Palpora, the Minister 

met various deputations 

who put forth various 

demands. Responding to 

their demands, Mir gave on 

spot directions to concerned 

officers for providing better 

drainage to the area. On people’s 

demand, the Minister 

asked SMC officials to land 

fill the local graveyard as the 

residents complained that it 

gets submerged after rains. 

He also asked PDD authorities 

to take immediate 

measures to improve power 

supply in the area. 

Army orders probe into 

Kupwara missing persons 


Srinagar, Dec 16: After the 

two families of three persons 

who have gone missing 

since November 17 accused 

Territory Army (TA) 

trooper of being involved 

in their disappearance, the 

army on Wednesday said 

it has ordered probe into 

the disappearance of these 

persons of north Kashmir’s 

Kupwara district. 

Addressing a news 

conference here, General 

Officer in Command (GOC) 

15 corps, LT Gen Satish 

Kumar Dua, said that the 

army has ordered an inquiry 

into the missing case of 

three men. 

Stating that the army 

is committed to zero 

tolerance on human rights 

violation, GoC said, “We 

have ordered an inquiry 

into the case and if the role 

of army is established, the 

involved persons will be 

dealt with strictly.” 

Three persons, Ghulam 

Jeelani Khatana (42), son of 

Karim Din and Mir Hussain 

Khatana (45) son of Muhammad 

Ismail, residents 

of Gojar Patti (Satbonya) 

in Dardepora, and Ali Muhammad 

Sheikh (40) son 

of Abdul Aziz of Dolipora 

Trehgam are missing since 

they were allegedly taken 

away by Manzoor Ahmad 

Khowaja (TA man) of Dardepora 

on November 17 of 

this year. 

Khowaja has since 

been arrested and is being 

interrogated in police 

custody. 

About Manigam 

encounter, GoC said that 

they have killed only two 

militants there and failed 

to kill all the militants 

present there. 

“We don’ want to 

create inconvenience to 

the residents there and in 

this regard we have called 

off the encounter but on 

initial level it is going on,” 

GoC said, adding that they 

also lost the officer in the 

encounter. 

“Before it is more snow 

fall, there may be a chance 

that the militants would 

try to attack in some 

areas,” he said. 

While referring to the 

girls who recently came 

from ten days of national 

tour, GoC said that despite 

severe criticism they carried 

on with the tour. “In 

ten days of tour, the girls 

visited Agra, parliament, 

and met with HRD Minister, 

Smriti Irani, and visited 

several universities and 

colleges, which will boost 

them in future,” GoC said. 

He said that there was 

not any kind of controversy 

during planning of tour 

but after the girls went to 

tour the controversy took 

place on social networking 

sites, which is not bound 

in any aspect. 

“As an organization, 

we went ahead with the 

aim to do something beneficial 

for the girls. This was 

a very voluntary tour, and 

before going on tour we 

consulted their parents,” 

he said. 

He said that almost 80 

girls were ready to go on 

tour with them. “However, 

we conducted an interview 

in which only 30 girls got 

passed and later we went 

on tour,” he said. 

GoC said such kind of 

criticism is nothing new 

in Kashmir and they didn’t 

have any such intention 

to highlight the tour but 

when anyone meets with 

higher officials of the 

country that generally 

becomes news otherwise 

they didn’t had any other 

intention. (KNS) 

Dr Rashid Badoo takes over 

charge of MS B&J hospital 


Srinagar, Dec 16: Dr Abdul Rashid Badoo has taken over 

the charge of Medical Superintendent Bones and Joints 

hospital on Tuesday. 

Dr Badoo is an Associate Professor in Orthopedics 

in Government Medical College, Srinagar, and was 

assigned the charge on Tuesday by the order of Minister 

of Health and Medical education, Lal Singh. 

Dr Badoo succeeds Incharge MS Dr Shabir Ahmad, 

who had got stay order on his relieving which was 

dismissed by the High court. 

Earlier, Dr Badoo was Incharge MS of the hospital for 

two years, but he had voluntary given up the post after 

differences with the then health Minister R S Chib for 

refusing to order three shops inside the hospital to some 

blue eyed persons of the minister. 

Bemina residents protests against PDD 

Srinagar, Dec 16: The inhabitants 

of Firdous colony 

and boatmen colony Bemina 

held a protest against 

the Power Development department 

(PDD) for increasing 

a huge amount in their 

monthly electricity charge. 

Accusing the PDD department 

for ignoring their 

plights, the residents of Firdous 

colony and Boatmen 

colony here have demanded 

redressal of their grievances. 

The protesting residents 

said that the PDD officials 

are trying to make their 

survival difficult by increasing 

their monthly electric 

tariff.“We belong to a poor 

family and how is it possible 

for us to provide more than 

rupees 400 per month to the 

department in the shape of 

electric tariff,” they said. 

They said that government 

should at least look 

into their sufferings and if 

they feel that they can manage 

to provide huge amount 

every month then they will 

happily agree with the same.

Precious Kashmir 

Edit 

Srinagar,Thursday 

17.12.2015 4 

Tourism scenario 

in Valley 

Kashmir has been known as the most attractive 

leisure spot from the ancient times. 

Mughals enjoyed its beauty and it was in 

their time that the famous couplet, “If there 

is a Heaven on Earth, it is this, it is this, 

and it is this” got associated with Kashmir. Even in 

present times, as a tourist destination Kashmir has 

no parallel in the entire world. Kashmir has been bestowed 

by Nature with the most extensive potential 

for development of every kind of Tourism. Its unique 

environment makes it a “Heaven” for the leisure and 

pleasure loving tourist. The mountains, the forests, 

the meadows and the fast flowing mountain streams 

make it the ultimate destination for adventure tourism. 

A paradise in the bosom of the mighty Himalaya! 

Apart from dozens of summer resorts, Kashmir has 

the potential of setting up of a dozen world class ski 

resorts. 

Historically, Kashmir has an agricultural based 

economy. More than 70% people are involved in agriculture 

and horticulture. Handicrafts come next and 

the main income even from this sector is from the exports 

and not from retail sales to the tourists visiting 

the valley. According to Export Promotion Council of 

India, the handicraft export, especially of the carpets 

grew manifold during the upheaval of nineties. 

Carpet looms spread into the rural areas and some of 

the local export houses started operating from Delhi. 

Same was the situation with horticulture especially 

the export of apples from the state. Hundreds of 

crores worth apples and some other fruit are exported 

from Kashmir to rest of India. Even some factories 

are exporting apple juice concentrate to Germany and 

some other countries. 

There are no two opinions that with the possession 

of extensive potential, Tourism has tremendous 

possibilities of development in Kashmir. However, 

apart from the basic requirements of potential, 

physical accessibility, and infrastructure prescribed 

under the concepts of area development and physical 

planning for tourism, there is the most fundamental 

requirement of the political stability of the area. No 

one wants to go to an area which is proclaimed all 

over the world as the most dangerous place, Asia’s 

nuclear hot spot and so on. Every second day there is 

news all over the world about blasts, encounters, and 

other incidents regarding Kashmir. The most important 

primary consideration for a popular tourist spot 

is “Peace”! In view of this uncertain situation, the 

tourist arrivals show a swing effect. These keep on 

rising and falling from time to time. Sometimes there 

is a boon and supposedly a million tourists arrive 

while as other times there is a complete drought with 

hardly any arrivals. In view of this it is not advisable 

to make Tourism as the so called “backbone” of the 

economy. Such an economy can collapse with every 

upheaval. Tourism for the present can at best be an 

additional economic activity and not the main base. 

Once Kashmir enjoys the real and settled peace, 

Tourism can become one of the key activities for its 

economy. 

Other Opinion 

Middle East: A breeding 

David Lepeska 

place for war 

A 

century ago today, a 36-year-old author 

and purported Arabist named 

Mark Sykes made his way to 10 

Downing Street in London to meet 

the leaders of Britain and discuss 

the tricky issue of dividing the spoils of the 

collapsing Ottoman Empire. 

The only son of the quirky Sir Tatton Sykes, 

a landed Yorkshire gentleman, Mark Sykes 

first travelled to the Middle East as a wealthy, 

11-year-old tourist. His early adult travels 

through the Arab world coincided with the 

final years of Ottoman decline. Thus, in books 

such as The Caliphs’ Last Heritage, he portrayed 

the empire as moribund and Arabs as 

shiftless (one index entry reads “Arab Character: 

see also ‘Treachery’”). 

In his works, Sykes made it appear as if he 

were fluent in Turkish and Arabic, but he 

could speak neither, according to James Barr’s 

sharp 2011 history, A Line in the Sand. He 

found Mosul “a foul nest of corruption, vice, 

disorder, and disease”, and failed to note the 

effect of arriving modernity, which by this 

time had begun to stir a political consciousness 

known as the Arab Awakening, as detailed 

in George Antonius’ illustrative book. 

Yet, Britain’s brains trust - comprising, at 

this meeting, Prime Minister Herbert Henry 

Asquith, War Minister Herbert Kitchener, 

Munitions Minister David Lloyd George, who 

would soon become prime minister, and First 

Lord of the Admiralty Arthur Balfour, who 

would soon become foreign secretary - turned 

to him as a leading expert. 

Prophetic vision 

“I should like to draw a line from the ‘e’ in 

Acre to the last ‘k’ in Kirkuk,” Sykes told the 

assembled, detailing his plan to hand Syria, 

Mount Lebanon and the northern tip of Iraq 

to the French, and Palestine, Transjordan, and 

the rest of Iraq to the British. 

Sykes met to discuss details of the plan with 

the French negotiator Francois Georges-Picot 

five days later, but his initial vision was roughly 

how Sykes-Picot was ultimately drawn up 

the next month. The deal was secretly finalised 

in May 1916, which is when the United 

States got wind of it. 

The current situation, with ISIL at the fore, 

highlights a reality Western leaders may be 

starting to appreciate: These lines are becoming 

increasingly imaginary. 

“It is all bad and I told Balfour so,” Edward 

House, a foreign policy adviser to US President 

Woodrow Wilson, explained to colleagues at 

the time. “They are making it a breeding place 

for future war.” 

Few political predictions have proved more 

prophetic. Over the intervening century, 

barely a handful of peaceful years have passed 

in these lands. And so it is today, as locals and 

world powers alike play desperate, shifting 

roles in a complex, seemingly endless conflict. 

House also complained that the British and 

French remained unclear on whether they 

intended permanent occupation of these 

territories, or merely exclusive rights to their 

resources. There was, of course, a very good 

reason for this. “As a hypothetical division 

of country that neither of its signatories yet 

controlled, it was extremely vulnerable to 

events,” Barr wrote. 

Perhaps never have European imperial powers 

been more shameful than they were 

in implementing Sykes-Picot, in 1919. As a 

sentient human being, I generally have great 

difficulty agreeing with the Islamic State of 

Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on anything. But 

the group’s dismissal of these lines drawn by 

far-off, profit-seeking foreign officials, cutting 

across ethnic, linguistic, and religious divisions 

and all but ensuring long-term mayhem, 

is hard to dispute. 

In implementing Sykes-Picot, Entente powers 

reneged on promises of freedom and 

independence for Arabs and instead snatched 

control of local populations and their resources. 

They also left enough border ambiguity as 

to allow for the future denial of Arab control 

of Palestine - a nexus of Muslim resentment 

to this day. 

Sykes-Picot is ideal shorthand for ISIL’s grievances 

against the West - its interventionism, 

its condescension, its grab for power 

and resources, its creation of make-believe 

states with hollow democratic institutions, its 

dismissal of Arab and Muslim will, leading to 

the fragmentation of the region. It provides 

enemies of the West with the perfect example 

of “kuffar” (a derogatory word meaning nonbeliever) 

efforts to conquer and control. 

In a 2014 video called “The End of the Sykes- 

Picot Agreement”, an ISIL jihadi from Chile 

crosses the former Iraq-Syria border, now 

rendered meaningless in this barren stretch 

of desert controlled by the so-called Islamic 

State. 

This is not the first time Arab groups have 

rejected Sykes-Picot. Several times in the 

post-war period Arab nationalist groups 

such as the Federation of Arab Republics, 

have attempted to offer a pan-Arabist alternative. 

But the current situation, with ISIL at the 

fore, highlights a reality Western leaders 

may be starting to appreciate: These lines are 

becoming increasingly imaginary. The Arab 

Spring was not merely a throwing off of dictatorships. 

It was also a bucking of these barely 

there states and institutions foisted on Arabs 

by the West a century ago. 

Inflation red flag 

C 

onsumer price inflation, specially in food, was 

expected to rise due to the deficit monsoon. It 

rose 6.1 per cent for November from 2.8 per cent 

in July. The fact that arhar (tur) is up 78.5 per 

cent, urad 76.5 per cent and gram 62.5 per cent 

points more to traders profiteering than monsoon 

woes. The farmers say they sold tur at Rs 

5,000-6,500 per quintal, then traders resold it at 

Rs 13,000-14,000. People are now paying nearly 

Rs 200 per kg. If this is true, the government must 

explain what it is doing to check such profiteering. 

Even today, traders are buying tur, a kharif 

crop expected to enter the market in February, 

at a beaten-down price of Rs 8,000 a quintal, but 

consumers still have to pay close to Rs 200 per 

kg. Why is this so? 

The government must re-examine its entire farm 

policy. When President Pranab Mukherjee was finance 

minister, the Budget had allocated Rs 300 

crores to grow pulses in 60,000 villages. This created 

a surplus and farmers had to sell pulses at 

below minimum support price. 

Significantly, inflation in transport and communications 

is up as the government hiked excise 

duty for petrol and diesel despite global crude 

prices falling. The government understandably 

wants to shore up its finances, but why at the 

cost of the aam aadmi? ONGC too is urging the 

government to reduce its cess of Rs 4,500 per 

tonne, that was fixed when crude prices were Rs 

100 per barrel. Today, however, it’s just Rs 45 per 

barrel. 

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 

Email: preciouskashmir@gmail.com 

Website: www.preciouskashmir.com 

Diagnosing Iraq’s problems 

Ibrahim Al-Marashi 

Last week the Iraqi government in Baghdad 

claimed that Turkey had violated its sovereignty 

by deploying troops and tanks to the town of 

Bashiqa, north of Mosul. Turkey has stated that 

this deployment is part of a previously agreed 

plan to train Iraqi Kurdish forces to combat ISIL. Some 

Iraqi officials in the central government deemed it a 

Turkish “invasion”. 

The deployment, which had the blessing of the 

Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq, but resulted 

in condemnation from the central Iraqi government 

in Baghdad, is symptomatic of the schizophrenic 

foreign policy of post-2003 Iraq, compounded by a 

complete reversal of a Turkish policy of allying with 

Iraq’s Kurds against Turkey’s own Kurds. 

Kurdish gains against ISIL worry rival militias 

I am not using “schizophrenia” to be dismissive 

of this medical condition. Adham Saouli, professor 

at St Andrews University, applied this “condition” to 

Iraq, writing: “As fragmented states, Lebanon and Iraq 

suffer from what one may call political schizophrenia. 

Like schizophrenia, this is a personality split resulting 

from the coexistence of opposed sets of identities and 

pursuits.” 

Confusing matters 

To highlight this dynamic, the KRG in Iraq is 

governed by two Iraqi Kurdish factions, the Kurdistan 

Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of 

Kurdistan (PUK). Turkey is in an alliance with the KDP, 

the party of Masoud Barzani, president of the KRG. 

To make matters more confusing, Fouad Massoum 

of the PUK is the president of Iraq itself, thus 

representing the central Iraqi government. The 

secular, ethno-national PUK has cultivated ties with 

the Islamic Republic of Iran, yet is pro-US at the same 

time. 

Turkey’s current alliance with the KDP is part of 

Ankara’s effort to ally with one Kurdish faction, the 

Iraqi KDP, in order to curtail the resurgence of the 

PKK, or the Kurdistan Workers’ Party of Turkey, which 

began waging a war against the Turkish government 

in 1984. 

Turkey’s current alliance with the KDP is part of 

Ankara’s effort to ally with one Kurdish faction, the 

Iraqi KDP, in order to curtail the resurgence of the 

PKK... 

A militia of Syria’s Kurds, the YPG, is an affiliate of 

the Turkish PKK, and has enjoyed a string of successes 

last summer against ISIL in Syria, partly owing to their 

ground campaign in tandem with support from US air 

strikes. 

A ceasefire broke down between the PKK and the 

Turkish government around this time, and Ankara is 

concerned that the strength of Syria’s PKK-affiliate, the 

YPG, will only embolden Turkey’s Kurds. 

The aspirations of Turkey’s Kurds is represented 

by the Turkish political party the HDP, which domestic 

critics accuse of being a “political arm” of the PKK, but 

nonetheless it fared well in parliamentary elections 

of June 2015, threatening the power of Turkey’s president, 

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is from the AKP. 

By now I must have certainly confused the reader 

with an alphabet soup of three-letter abbreviations. 

To simplify matters, Iraqi Kurdish factions are the KDP 

and PUK, and Turkey’s Kurdish faction is the PKK, with 

a Syrian affiliate, the YPG. Yet, the confusion will only 

be compounded by both Iraq’s and Turkey’s policy to 

all of these Kurdish parties and ISIL. 

Turkish troops in the north of Iraq 

ISIL was expelled from the Iraqi town of Sinjar 

during a fierce battle in November, but a second 

conflict emerged over which Kurds would take control 

over the town. YPG forces and KDP forces are jockeying 

for position. Turkey would prefer the KDP to be 

in full control, and this most likely explains the show 

of force of the Turkish military that was deployed in 

Bashiqa on December 3. 

Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters 

take up positions inside a damaged building in 

Hasakah city [Reuters] 

Ostensibly, this started out as an intra-Kurdish 

rivalry, with Turkey taking sides with the KDP. The 

Turkish forces were relatively small, comprising 150 

troops and 25 tanks. 

Yet, the central government became involved 

when it delivered a 48-hour ultimatum to Ankara 

to withdraw its forces. In response to the standoff 

between Baghdad and Ankara, Masoud Barzani, both 

leader of the KDP and President of the KRG, said: “If 

the Turkish unit came to fight [ISIL], that’s a very good 

thing.” 

The central government of Baghdad is also combating 

ISIL, so in theory it should be on the same page 

as the Iraqi KDP and Turkey. 

However, Iraqi President Massoum, from the 

Kurdish PUK party, labelled the deployment as “a 

violation of international norms and law” and called 

on Turkey to withdraw. This statement echoes the 

calls of Iraq’s prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, who 

holds the highest executive office, and hails from an 

Iraqi Shia party. 

This array of reactions highlight the schizophrenic 

policy-making process in Iraq. What has happened 

over the past week would be analogous to the governor 

of California calling in Canadian military forces to 

deploy to Los Angeles to train the California National 

Guard combat drug gangs in Los Angeles, without 

consulting US President Barack Obama. 

The KRG is technically a federal constituent state 

of Iraq, with its own president, who comes from the 

KDP. While the KDP gave its support to the deployment 

of Turkish forces on its soil, the central government, 

whose executive posts are divided among Shia 

and Kurdish factions, oppose it. 

To confuse matters even further, while the Kurdish 

factions in Iraq’s government tend to be pro-US in 

their outlook, various Shia political factions are allied 

with Iran, and have resisted recent US overtures to 

combat ISIL in Iraq. Iraqi Shia militias even declared 

they would target US special forces if they were 

deployed, even though both these militias and the 

US share a common interest in dismantling Abu Bakr 

al-Baghdadi’s ISIL. 

While the term “schizophrenic” can been applied 

to Iraq’s foreign policy process, Turkish policy vis-a-vis 

the Kurds in Iraq is by no means “stable”. Back in October 

2003, the Turkish parliament had passed a motion 

authorising the deployment of Turkish troops to Iraq. 

Back then Ankara feared that an emboldened semiautonomous 

Kurdish region in Iraq would inspire 

Kurdish separatism among Turkey’s Kurds. 

Both the KDP and PUK had opposed the 2003 

Turkish troop deployment and threatened that they 

would meet these Turkish troops with force. By 2007, 

Turkey was on the brink of declaring war against the 

KDP and PUK, as it felt the Iraqi Kurdish parties were 

allowing the PKK immunity to launch attacks against 

Turkey from its base in the Kandil Mountains of Iraq. 

During the Iraq War of 2003 Turkey declared a 

“red line” if the Kurds moved into the oil-rich city 

of Kirkuk, and incorporated it under the federal 

jurisdiction of the KRG. Ankara feared that such 

a move would create a financially viable Kurdish 

state in Iraq, which then could be in a position 

to break away from Iraq itself. Today, Turkey has 

not only acquiesced to Kurdish de facto control of 

Kirkuk, but is a political and economic alliance with 

the KRG. 

The recent debates over the deployment of Turkish 

forces or US special forces serve as an example of 

how foreign militaries need to be invited into Iraq to 

fight ISIL, due to the divisions within Iraq’s government 

and security forces, which are divided among 

Kurdish Peshmerga and Shia militias who are vying 

with each other power, even though they both share a 

common enmity of ISIL. 

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


Sensex Nifty Gold 

Business/ International 

Thursday 

5 



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

173.93 

50.00 

186.00 

598.00 

0.19 

0.70 

7.20 

0.90 

5.65 

7.85 

25494.37 

7750.90 

25,452.00 

34,191.00 

66.73 

75.20 

698.55 

227.30 

252.05 

1,067.30 

Nifty reclaims 7750 ahead of US Fed meet 

Mumbai, Dec 16: Markets extended 

gains for the third straight 

session led by financials and information 

technology majors even as 

investors keenly await outcome of 

the US Federal Reserve two-day 

meet which ends later today. 

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 

25,495, up by 174 points and the 

Nifty50 settled at 7,750, up by 50 

points. 

The two day FOMC meet of the 

US Federal Reserve will conclude 

today in which the Fed Chair Janet 

Yellen is widely expected to announce 

hike in interest rates for the 

first time in almost a decade. 

According to Jimeet Modi, CEO, 

SAMCO securities, “US FED is most 

likely to increase the benchmark 

interest rates in its meeting after 

keeping such near zero rates for 

years post the financial crises of 

2008-2009. Historically there is 

no evidence across the world that 

after every rise in interest rate 

markets fall and vice versa. There 

are times when interest rates have 

fallen and still markets have fallen 

too. As such there is only brouhaha 

created around such events. Indian 

markets have fallen hard since 

March of this year and it is time for 

a bounce. Interest rate hikes as and 

when come will be calibrated and 

measured such that the financial 

markets integrity is maintained.” 

He further said, “There is nothing 

to fear, our markets are ripe 

for a rise and will do so subject to 

short term knee jerk reaction.” 

In another major development 

for the day, the Supreme Court of 

India has banned the registration 

of all new diesel cars with over 

2000 cc capacity in Delhi-NCR till 

March 31st, 2016. As a step to curb 

pollution in the capital city, the 

apex court has also ordered that 

the taxis in Delhi be converted to 

CNG by March 31, 2016. 

Following the order, the shares 

of CNG manufacturers are trading 

higher. Everest Kanto Cylinder 

has surged 16% on the BSE while 

Nitin Fire Protection Industries 

has climbed 1% Gas distribution 

companies are also seen as the 

key beneficiaries of the Supreme 

Court order. Gujarat Gas (6% ), Indraprashta 

Gas ( 7%), Gail (1.3%) 

have all surged on the BSE. 

Meanwhile, while speaking at 

the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister 

Arun Jaitley said the government 

will achieve its fiscal deficit target 

‘Economic growth rate could add 

another 1.5 percentage point’ 

New Delhi, Dec 16: Finance 

Minister Arun Jaitley on 

Wednesday said the economy, 

which he believes is 

growing below its real potential, 

could add another 1-1.5 

percentage point to its current 

growth rate — 7.4% recorded in 

the second quarter — if a few 

variables remain positive. 

At an interaction with industry 

leaders on Goods and 

Service Tax (GST) here, Jaitley 

said such an outcome would 

depend on whether global 

oil price continues to be favourable, 

the country gets a 

normal monsoon next year 

and whether there would be 

some revival in global economic 

growth. 

“Our real potential, is 

more than what we are 

achieving today. Our emphasis 

on infrastructure spending 

continues to increase because 

oil price remains favourable. 

If the next monsoon season 

is at least is normal and some 

revival of global growth starts 

taking place, in addition to 

where we are now (of 7.4% 

GDP growth), I do not see any 

difficulty why India cannot 

improve upon its growth rate 

by 1- 1.5 percentage point. 

That brings us close to our 

real potential,” Jaitley told 

business leaders while reassuring 

that the government 

would continue to carry out 

structural reforms. 

The second quarter 

growth was better than the 

7% recorded in the first quarter 

but was lower than the 

8.4% recorded a year ago. 

The minister said he 

would go ahead with reducing 

direct tax exemptions 

and gradually bring down the 

highest marginal rate of corporate 

tax down to 25%. 

Jaitley also said that one 

of the key demands of the 

opposition Congress party 

for support of the GST Bill in 

Rajya Sabha—scrapping the 

1% origin based tax on interstate 

movement of goods— 

was “eminently resolvable.” 

However, the other demand 

of constitutionalising a tax 

rate cannot be accommodated 

as tariffs are never specified 

in the Constitution. Also, 

the Congress party’s demand 

to have a dispute resolution 

mechanism within the proposed 

GST Council comprising 

Central and state finance 

ministers can be accepted to 

the extent that the Council 

could decide the modalities 

of dispute resolution but not 

actually adjudicate. 

Srinagar, Dec 16: As an initiative 

under its holistic Health, 

Safety & Well-Being (HSW) 

policy aimed at ensuring the 

well-being of its employees, 

Vodafone India, one of India’s 

leading telecom service providers, 

organised a lecture on 

road safety for its J&K circle 

employees and customers at 

Vodafone Circle Office, J&K. 

The lecture was delivered 

by Bhumesh Sharma, a renowned 

expert in road safety. 

During the one hour long 

session, the audience listened 

with rapt attention as 

Sharma, who has done commendable 

work in promoting 

road safety, stressed on the 

need for safe driving with apt 

examples. It acted as a reorientation 

session for Vodafone 

employees, who have always 

been particular about following 

safety rules and practices 

as part of Vodafone’s HSW 

policy. 

Speaking on the occasion, 

Pushpinder Singh Gujral, 

Business Head, Punjab, 

without any cuts in the government 

spending. 

On the macro-economic front, 

India’s merchandise exports fell for 

the twelfth consecutive month in 

November this year. 

KEY STOCKS 

The oil & gas stocks surged 

on the back of recovery in the 

crude oil prices as it bounced back 

HP and J&K, Vodafone India, 

said, “As a people-centric organisation, 

we at Vodafone 

undertake initiatives which 

ensure holistic growth and 

development of our employees. 

Road safety is an issue 

closely related to the well-being 

of the people of our country. 

At Vodafone, we have 

rules, regulations and policies 

which help ensure that 

our employees and associates 

are as road-safe as possible 

at all times. Measures and 

checks have also been put in 

place to ensure compliance to 

these rules which are covered 

under our robust HSW policy. 

from the multi-year lows. Cairn 

India,ONGC, Reliance Industries 

gained between 0.2-4.2% each. 

Shares of TCS climbed 1.3% after 

the company announced that it 

has been selected by leading global 

aviation group Deutsche Lufthansa 

AG to provide testing services and 

help improve the quality of services 

of their technology operations. 

HDFC Bank advanced 1% after 

the bank issued and allotted on 

a private placement basis senior, 

unsecured, redeemable, long term, 

non-convertible bonds in the nature 

of debentures. 

BHEL jumped 1.1% after the 

company announced that it has 

commissioned 500MW thermal 

power unit in the state of West 

Bengal. Following the Supreme 

Court order of banning new diesel 

luxury cars and sport utility vehicles 

(SUVs) with engines beyond 

2,000 cc from hitting Delhi roads, 

asserting it would not permit the 

rich to buy such vehicles that polluted 

the air and affected public 

We also encourage them to 

follow these rules when travelling 

with family members 

and impress upon them the 

importance of these rules. 

Other than this, we keep on 

organising various activities 

from time to time to reinforce 

the importance of road safety 

not only in our employees 

but also among their family 

members as well.” 

Sharma shared his insight 

on road safety with the 

audience. Vodafone employees 

actively responded with 

pointed questions and sharp 

observations. They also told 

Sharma how religiously they 

health, M&M skid over 5%. 

Wipro was another loser in a 

firm market. It slipped 0.5% after 

the company issued a warning 

saying that disruption of works at 

its Chennai facilities due to recent 

floods would impact third quarter 

(October-December 2015) performance. 

Among other shares, Nestle India 

dropped 0.1% after the Supreme 

Court has ordered fresh testing of 

Nestle India’s Maggi noodle samples 

at Mysore lab. 

GLOBAL MARKETS 

Shares and bond markets rose 

and the dollar dipped on Wednesday, 

as investors readied for what is 

expected to be the first rise in U.S. 

interest rates in almost a decade. 

Asian shares finished higher 

ahead of US Fed meet outcome. 

Japan’s Nikkei. N225 surged 2.5 

percent, rebounding from a twomonth 

low struck the day before as 

risk sentiment has blown hot and 

cold ahead of one of the most-anticipated 

market events this year. 

Vodafone organizes event on road safety 

follow the HSW guidelines. 

“It is important to understand 

the importance of road safety 

and traffic rules for your own 

sake and the sake of your fellow 

commuters. If everyone 

starts following traffic rules 

and makes a conscious effort 

to make the roads safer, 

it can help prevent several 

accidents and loss of life 

and property. A conscious 

effort in this direction can 

help make our roads much 

safer in the near future,” said 

Sharma. 

Sharma is an expert in 

Road Safety and has been 

selected for a National Film 

Award on Road Safety by the 

Ministry of Road Transport 

and Highways, Government 

of India, and has been invited 

to receive the award at a 

felicitation ceremony scheduled 

in the second week of 

January 2016. He has also 

authored two books, “Be 

part of Solution- On Roads” 

and “Be part of solution- On 

Road Accidents”. 

Govt hikes excise 

duty on petrol, 

diesel to mop up 

Rs 2.5K-cr 

New Delhi, Dec 16: The 

government on Wednesday 

raised excise duty on petrol by 

Rs. 0.30 a litre and on diesel by 

a steep by Rs. 1.17 a litre taking 

advantage of the low global 

crude oil price in a move that 

would add an extra Rs. 2,500 

crore to the exchequer for the 

rest of the fiscal. 

Since November 2014, the 

government has raised excise 

duty on petrol by Rs 9.65 a litre 

and on diesel by Rs 7.97 a litre 

in six instalments, reducing the 

leeway oil marketing companies 

IOC, HPCL and BPCL have 

in passing on the fall in global 

prices to consumers. 

Expecting the hike in 

duty, fuel retailers on Tuesday 

lowered petrol price by just 50 

paise a litre and diesel price 

by 46 paise despite oil rates 

slumping to multi-year lows 

warranting a steeper price cut. 

Domestic price of petrol and 

diesel are governed by their 

prices in the global market 

as India follows trade parity 

pricing. Basic excise duty on 

unbranded petrol has been 

increased on Wednesday from 

Rs. 7.06 to Rs. 7.36 a litre and 

the same on unbranded diesel 

from Rs. 4.66 to Rs. 5.83 a litre. 

After including additional 

and special excise duty, the 

total levy on unbranded petrol 

will be Rs. 19.36 per litre as 

against the earlier Rs. 19.06. 

On unbranded or normal 

diesel, total excise duty after 

including special excise duty 

will be Rs. 11.83 per litre compared 

to Rs. 10.66 earlier. 

Basic excise duty on 

branded petrol has been 

raised from Rs. 8.24 per litre 

to Rs. 8.54 a litre and the same 

on branded diesel from Rs. 

7.02 to Rs. 8.19 per litre. The 

government’s receipts from 

excise duty collection during 

April-November period rose 

67.1% to Rs 1.7 lakh crore partly 

on account of duty increase in 

fuels and withdrawal of duty 

benefits given to automobiles 

and consumer goods. 

Yemen’s warring parties agree 

to mass prisoner swap 

Yemen, Dec 16: Yemen’s warring 

parties have agreed to exchange 

hundreds of prisoners in a move 

aimed at supporting the United Nations-sponsored 

peace talks in Switzerland, 

despite both sides accusing 

each other of breaching a ceasefire. 

A seven-day truce, timed to coincide 

with the peace talks, began at 

midday on Tuesday to halt fighting 

in nine months of civil war between 

Houthi rebels based in Yemen’s 

north and Saudi-backed southern 

and eastern fighters loyal to President 

Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. 

The prisoner swap agreement 

on Wednesday was “undoubtedly a 

positive development” in the civil 

war, which has killed almost 6,000 

people and led to a humanitarian 

disaster in the Middle Eastern 

country. 

“The prisoner swap is taking 

place, mediated by tribes on the 

ground,” Khodr said, adding that 

the swap did not appear to be in 

response to Yemeni government 

Iran’s missile test violated 

UN ban: Expert panel 

United Nations, Dec 16: The medium-range 

Emad rocket that Iran tested in October was 

a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear 

warhead, which makes it a violation 

of a UN Security Council resolution, a team 

of sanctions monitors said in a confidential 

new report. 

The conclusion of the council’s Panel of 

Experts on Iran will likely lead to calls for expanding 

sanctions against Tehran in Washington 

and some other Western capitals. 

The White House said that it would not rule 

out additional steps against Tehran over the 

missile test. 

“On the basis of its analysis and findings 

the Panel concludes that Emad launch is a 

violation by Iran of paragraph 9 of Security 

Council resolution 1929,” the panel said in 

its report. 

Reuters reviewed the 10-page report, 

which was dated Dec. 11 and went to members 

of the United Nations Security Council’s 

Iran sanctions committee in recent days. The 

report is expected to come up later when 

the 15-nation council discusses the Iran 

sanctions regime. 

The report said the panel considers ballistic 

missiles capable of delivering nuclear 

weapons to be those that can deliver at least 

a 500 kg payload within a range of at least 

300 km. 

“The Panel assesses that the launch of 

the Emad has a range of not less than 1,000 

km with a payload of at least 1,000 kg and 

that Emad was also a launch ‘using ballistic 

missile technology’,” the report said. 

The launch took place on Oct. 10, according 

to the report. The panel noted that Iranian 

rocket launches from 2012 and 2013 also 

violated the UN ban on ballistic missile tests. 

demands for Houthis to release a 

number of senior officials in their 

custody. 

Abdel-Hakim al-Hasani, a senior 

southern leader, said 360 members 

of the Houthi movement held in 

Aden would be exchanged for 265 

southern civilians and fighters on 

Wednesday, following tribal mediation. 

An official from the Houthi-run 

prisons authority in the capital Sanaa 

said southern prisoners boarded 

buses on their way to the exchange 

venue in central Yemen. 

Witnesses in Aden said they saw 

buses guarded by local fighters travelling 

through the city, apparently 

heading to the exchange venue, the 

Reuters news agency reported. 

Despite the swap, both sides 

traded accusations of violating the 

truce, which included a pause in air 

strikes by a Saudi-led Arab alliance. 

Manila, Dec 16: Rescuers on speedboats 

hauled rain-soaked residents off 

rooftops in the Philippine countryside 

on Wednesday after Typhoon Melor 

killed at least 11 people and cut power 

for millions. 

The typhoon, which tore in off the 

Pacific Ocean on Monday afternoon, 

caused widespread flooding across central 

islands and also dumped heavy rain 

on the sprawling capital of Manila. 

The worst appeared to be over on 

Wednesday with the typhoon drifting 

into the South China Sea. But farming 

and fishing communities on Mindoro 

island south of Manila were still enduring 

heavy flooding. 

Floodwaters rose sharply across 

parts of Mindoro on Tuesday night, 

forcing residents to climb onto the roofs 

Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman, 

a spokesman for Yemeni forces 

loyal to former president Ali Abdullah 

Saleh, who is allied with the 

Houthis, said a “serious escalation 

by land, sea and air is taking place 

by the alliance in various areas”, 

according to the Houthi-controlled 

Saba news agency. 

Luqman said strikes from the 

sea were taking place on the Red Sea 

port city of Hodaida, while ground 

forces carried out attacks on Taiz 

city in southwestern Yemen, and air 

strikes by the Arab coalition had not 

stopped. 

“We will not stay hand-tied but 

we will respond strongly towards 

the breaches that are taking place by 

the alliance and their mercenaries,” 

Luqman said. 

The Hadi-run sabanew.net news 

agency, meanwhile, said five loyalist 

fighters and three civilians 

were killed in Houthi shelling in 

the central city of Taiz shortly after 

the ceasefire began. 

Israel army kills two Palestinians 

in refugee camp raid 

of their homes, according to Alfonso 

Umali, governor of Oriental Mindoro 

province on the eastern half of the island 

which has a total population of 1.2 

million. 

“The floods have begun to subside 

but there are still people on their roofs. 

Many homes were damaged. We are 

going to the areas on board the coast 

guard`s rubber boats today,” Umali said 

on DZMM radio. 

Coast guard personnel on speed 

boats hauled 21 people, including 14 

children and a three-month-old baby, 

from rooftops in Calapan, the capital of 

Oriental Mindoro, on Tuesday night. 

“They were drenched from the rain 

and crying for help. The rescue was difficult 

because of the strong currents,” 

according to a coast guard report, which 

Jerusalem, Dec 16: Two Palestinians 

have been killed 

and four wounded during an 

overnight Israeli army raid on 

the Qalandiya refugee camp 

in the central occupied West 

Bank. Ahmed Jahajha, 21, and 

Hikmet Hamdan, 29, were 

both shot dead by Israeli forces 

before dawn on Wednesday 

morning. While inside 

the camp, Israeli troops raided 

a local medical centre and 

clashed with youth, according 

to locals. 

Mona Sabella, legal research 

and advocacy coordinator 

for the Al-Haq human 

rights organisation, said 

that Israel’s raids on refugee 

camps in the West Bank “put 

at risk the Palestinian civilian 

population”. 

“The Israeli occupying 

power has a responsibility to 

protect under international 

law; this is especially true in 

refugee camps that are overcrowded 

[and where] homes 

are very close to one another,” 

Sabella told Al Jazeera. 

An Israeli army spokesman 

confirmed the deaths, 

adding that Hamdan was 

shot dead as he tried to ram 

his vehicle into Israeli soldiers 

during a raid to “make an arrest 

and confiscate weapons” 

in the refugee camp. 

Speaking to Al Jazeera, 

the Israeli spokesman added 

that three Israeli soldiers, 

lightly wounded during the 

incident, have been transferred 

to a nearby hospital. 

“Initial reports suggest 

that they were wounded 

by fire [shot by other Israeli 

soldiers] directed at the attacker.” 

It was not immediately 

reported why Jahajha 

was killed. 

Tensions have boiled over 

on a near-daily basis in recent 

months, as Palestinians continue 

to protest Israel’s ongoing 

occupation and an uptick 

in Israeli incursions into occupied 

East Jerusalem’s al- 

Aqsa Mosque compound, the 

Heavy flooding as Philippine 

typhoon death toll climbs to 11 

said rescue work was continuing on 

Wednesday. 

Intense rain in Manila on Tuesday 

night submerged some roads and 

caused traffic chaos, although flooding 

in the megacity of 12 million had subsided 

by Wednesday morning. 

The death toll climbed to 11 on 

Wednesday after local authorities in 

Mindoro and neighbouring Romblon, a 

chain of three small islands known for 

its marble reserves, reported six deaths. 

The national disaster council 

also reported one more death due to 

drowning on Samar, an impoverished 

island of 1.5 million people in the 

eastern Philippines where Melor first 

made landfall. 

Five people have now been confirmed 

killed on Samar. 

third holiest site for Muslims. 

Since October 1, Israeli 

forces have killed at least 121 

Palestinians, including unarmed 

protesters, bystanders 

and suspected attackers. 

Meanwhile, 22 Israelis have 

been killed by Palestinian attackers. 

Last month, Amnesty 

International condemned 

Israel’s use of “extrajudicial” 

killings. 

“Israeli forces have a 

long history of carrying out 

unlawful killings in the occupied 

Palestinian territories, 

including extrajudicial executions,” 

Philip Luther, director 

of Amnesty’s Middle East 

and North Africa programme, 

said in a statement. 

“While the number of 

attacks by Palestinians on 

Israeli civilians, soldiers and 

police has increased significantly 

since the beginning of 

October, there is never any excuse 

for the Israeli military and 

police forces using lethal force 

where it is not warranted.” 

US defense chief 

makes surprise visit 

to Baghdad 

Baghdad, Dec 16: US Defence 

Secretary Ashton Carter arrived 

in Baghdad on Wednesday 

for talks with US military 

commanders, seeking ways 

to intensify the fight against 

Islamic State militants. 

Carter said earlier, at the 

start of his trip to the Middle 

East, that he would be speaking 

to commanders to “get their 

latest reading on the battlefield 

situation and also very importantly 

their thinking about ways 

that we can continue to accelerate 

the campaign to defeat ISIL”. 

Islamic State, also called 

ISIS or ISIL, is a hardline group 

that has seized swathes of territory 

in Syria and Iraq.


Benefits of drinking warm 

lemon water every morning 

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

Hope........ 

always stood for cordial relationship between India and Pakistan 

and dialogue is the most effective way to resolve all contentious 

issues between the two countries including Kashmir," 

he said after the meeting. 

"Our only hope is that the dialogue, unlike in the past when 

it was stalled on one or the other pretext, will be carried forward 

with all seriousness and in a meaningful way," he said. 

He said with Kashmir being the "most important pending 

issue between the two countries", it should get the attention 

it deserves because the continuation of this issue has been 

a stumbling block in the overall stability and progress of the 

South Asian region. 

The Mirwaiz hoped that the dialogue will lead to fresh confidence 

building measures over Kashmir. 

He reiterated that Kashmir is "basically a political and a 

human issue and needs a political solution. Both the countries 

shall have to devise a mechanism in order to include the people 

of Kashmir in the dialogue because without their participation 

and without taking their aspirations into account there cannot 

be a just and agreeable solution to this issue. 

Incidents........ 

cross-border firing, including India repeatedly telling Pakistan 

at the highest level to uphold the sanctity of the Line of Control, DGlevel 

talks between BSF and Pakistan Rangers, besides others. 

Sgr-Leh........ 

way, was also through for both ways despite slippery road conditions 

though with some restrictions to avoid any traffic jam 

and accident. However, dozens of roads linking far-flung and remote 

areas, including those near the Line of Control (LoC) with 

their respective district headquarters in north Kashmir also remained 

closed due to accumulation of snow. 

Srinagar....... 

settle at minus 4.1 degrees. 

The MET Office said the weather will remain mainly dry 

over the next 24 hours. 

Pakistan....... 

attack. The responsibility of the attack was claimed by Pakistani 

Drinking a cup of warm lemon water every 

morning is one of the simplest, most 

affordable and natural ways to improve 

your health which has incredible benefits 

on your health. 

Energizes your Body 

It gives your body a lasting boost of 

energy, making it a healthier alternative 

to your morning tea or coffee. 

Healthy Digestion 

The minerals and vitamins found 

in lemon juice encourages healthy digestion, 

reduces heartburn and bloating 

by loosening any toxins trapped in your 

digestive tract. 

Rich Source of Potassium 

Lemons are also a great source of 

potassium which help keep your heart 

healthy, build muscle, and aid the body 

in breaking down and using carbohydrates. 

Relives stress and uplifts the mood 

The scent of a lemon helps clear 

Why you need 

personal training 

With the topic of fitness 

trending with greater alacrity 

every passing year, the 

drive to stay above board in 

health parameters remains 

unsurpassable. 

Yet, right from the 

beginner to the pro, every 

fitness enthusiast battles 

a slacker of a period when 

either the beginner is 

unable to push her/himself 

to take the necessary steps 

into fitness goals, or the 

pro has hit a saturation 

where self-mentoring is 

failing to yield results. Step 

in the Personal Trainer, a 

definition that is sweeping 

the fitness world across the 

globe. With the city ranking 

high on the list of fit cities, 

the demand for Personal 

Trainers (PT) is on the rise. 

“Personal Trainers are customized 

to suit individual 

personalities,” says Priya 

Kumar, director of a fitness 

centre and gym in Chandigarh, 

“What really lacks in 

people is the motivation to 

take the requisite driving 

force toward your fitness 

goals. A Personal Trainer is 

what can help here.” 

MAKING PEOPLE RESPON- 

SIBLE 

“One of the most important 

reasons why people 

need a Personal Trainer is 

in the fact that they help 

bring in accountability” 

says Mohinder Pal Gupta, a 

Personal Trainer at a local 

gym, “It’s tough to procrastinate 

or become absentee 

when you have a trainer 

awaiting you at the gym.” 

Of course, a lot of us would 

also like to keep our dates 

with the PT for the fact that 

we have paid extra money 

for the personal session. 

And that, we all know can a 

big enough motivation! 

CHANGE TO KEEP THINGS 

INTERESTING 

It’s common knowledge 

that the human body 

hits a plateau after six 

weeks of doing the same 

training. Hence, the need to 

shake things up every six 

weeks arises. But that can 

happen either if the person 

is very deeply knowledgeable 

about fitness or one 

has a PT. “Change is an 

important constant as a 

Personal Trainer. Besides 

adding that new energy 

to workouts. 

Taliban. 

Basit....... 

the mind, reduces feelings of stress and 

uplifts our moods while also aiding feelings 

of depression and anxiety. 

Curbs Hunger 

Lemons can help curb feelings of 

hunger throughout the day making it 

easier to resist temptations and reduce 

snacking on fatty foods throughout the 

day thus aiding in weight loss. 

Boosts your Immune System 

Vitamin C found in lemons is great 

at boosting our immune system. It is 

also a great option as compared to an 

orange since it has less sugar thus making 

it a great alternative. 

Improves the Skin 

The antioxidants found in lemons 

help rejuvenate the skin and 

prevent wrinkles, blemishes and 

frees it from radical damage by purifying 

the skin, removing toxins 

and killing bacteria to reveal clear, 

glowing skin. 

he added. 

On December 16 last year, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants 

entered the Army Public School in Peshawar, the provincial 

capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and opened indiscriminate 

firing, killing more than 150 people, including 144 children. 

Zulfkar....... 

misinformation campaign on NFSA. 

The Minister said the irony is that the same political parties 

which first consented to extension of NFSA to J&K way back in 

2011, when they were on power, are today trying to mislead the 

people for their own vested political interests. 

“It was in 2011 that the then State Government vide Cabinet 

decision No: 202/25/2011 dated: 24-11-2011 gave concurrence 

to the Government of India’s proposal for implementation of 

National Food Security Act (NFSA) in J&K,” he said and added 

at that time NFSA had not been implemented anywhere in the 

country as the Act was promulgated throughout the country on 

10 September 2013. 

He urged people not to get carried away by the misleading 

propaganda of the people with vested interests. 

He also said that out of 22.05 lakh Enrollment Forms issued 

in the State for roll-out of National Food Security Act (NFSA), 

around 10 lakh forms have been received by the Government 

till date and the people are coming forward in large numbers 

to get enrolled before 18 December 2015, the last date fixed for 

submission of the completed forms. 

The Minister said that 22.73 lakh families comprising 119.13 

lakh souls are to be covered under NFSA in the State and the 

CA&PD Department, with the help of concerned District Development 

Commissioners, is in the process of creating a comprehensive 

data-base in this regard. 

The Minister said the Government will take a holistic review 

of the whole enrollment exercise on 18th December 2015, 

and if the need arises the last date for submission of Enrollment 

Forms could be extended to enable all the deserving families to 

get enrolled for NFSA before its rollout on 1 February 2016. He 

said once the enrollment process is complete, the provisional 

enrollment lists would be publicized for public scrutiny so that 

the discrepancies if any could be taken care of. “Given the magnitude 

of the enrollment exercise being carried out simultaneously 

throughout the State, there are chances of errors and 

omissions,” he said and added that the same would be rectified 

HEALTH 

What is the truth about 

clean eating diet? 

The 30-day clean 

eating diet is rising 

fast with Katy Perry 

and Gwyneth Paltrow 

among its celebrity 

followers. 

Photo-sharing 

sites are littered with 

#cleaneating shots 

of brightly coloured 

ingredients. However, 

celebrity chef Nigella 

Lawson’s comment 

on television that the 

diet is a way for people 

to “hide an eating 

disorder or a great 

sense of unhappiness 

and unease with their 

own body” has thrown 

by the concerned before publishing the final lists. 

The Minister said while under the existing dispensation 

only 18.02 lakh families comprising a population of 99 lakh 

souls are covered under Public Distribution System (PDS) in 

J&K, the implementation of NFSA will cover 22.73 lakh families 

comprising a population of 119.13 lakh souls. He said while 

13.73 lakh families comprising 74.13 lakh souls would get highly 

subsidized rations at the rate of Rs 2 per kg (atta) and Rs 3 per 

kg (rice), another 7.85 lakh families comprising 45 lakh souls 

would get rations at the rate of Rs 8 (atta) and Rs 10 per kg (rice). 

He said every family member in these categories would be entitled 

to get 5 kgs ration per head except 2.56 lakh families comprising 

13.77 lakh souls in AAY category who would continue to 

get 35 kgs ration per family, irrespective the number of family 

members. 

The Minister said a small chunk of population of around 6 

lakh souls comprising persons with income of more than Rs 25 

lakh per annum, persons holding constitutional positions including 

Ministers and Legislators, employees of the State and 

the Central Government in the Gazetted cadre and a person 

owning more than 80 kanals of land individually or 250 kanals 

of land in joint family shall be kept out of NFSA. He said for such 

families food-grains would be made available on OMSS (Open 

Market Sale Scheme) rates. 

Asiea pays surprise visit 

to GB Pant, LD hospitals 

Srinagar, Dec 16: Minister of State for Health, Social Welfare 

Asiea Naqash paid a surprise visit to GB Pant and Lal Ded hospital 

today took stock of facilities being provided to the patients 

in both the hospitals. 

The Minister inspected NICU, PICU wards and maternity 

ward at GB Panth. While interacting with patients and administration, 

she said that patients should be provided every facility, 

especially old and new born children. She also took stock 

of availability and directed to ensure proper attendance of the 

employees besides maintaining cleanliness in the hospital. 

While interacting with the attendants, she urged them to 

cooperate with the hospital administration and avoid unnecessary 

rush, so that patients don’t suffer. 

During her visit to Lala Ded hospital, she inspected the 

emergency and labour room and directed hospital administration 

to work with zeal. 

The Minister while interacting with the patients got appraised 

of various problems confronting them. She assured redressal 

of this genuine demands. 

up a debate. At its 

simplest, clean eating 

is about eating whole 

foods which are not 

processed or refined, 

making them as close 

to their natural form 

as possible. Lawson 

and a bunch of health 

experts and food 

bloggers believe clean 

eating promotes 

orthorexia — an 

unhealthy obsession 

with food believed 

to be healthy. These 

‘disordered eating 

habits’ are as 

inconspicuous as a 

fascination with juicing, 

incessant posts 

of a detox, and being 

finicky while eating 

out with friends. 

A hard pill to swallow 

In June 2011, 28-year old Rashmi 

Ghosh* had her first manic attack. She 

remembers the episode clearly. 

“I was at an arts camp in the hills 

at the time. All of a sudden, I started 

surviving on very little sleep -two 

to three hours a day. And the strange 

thing was that I was full of energy. 

I thought I had some purpose. I felt 

I was great,” she recalls. But things 

took a turn for the worse when she 

returned home in Delhi. “My parents 

could see I wasn’t in my right senses. I 

had started saying things like I am the 

next Picasso. The doctors noticed what 

they called `delusions of grandeur’ and 

I was diagnosed as Type I Bipolar. I had 

to be admitted to a hospital and that’s 

when my regime of medication started.”That, 

though, was only the beginning 

of her long-drawn out battle. Her 

doctors forewarned her that finding 

the perfect balance of medicines will 

take time. So while they tried a “host 

of drugs” on her, Ghosh had to battle 

myriad side-effects. “I remember I 

was on this medicine called Depakote. 

I was entirely numb for the longest 

time. After a manic attack, you fall into 

depression, and I was convinced that 

Depakote was hindering more than 

helping. I was withdrawn all the time.” 

Her doctor then prescribed a combination 

of Lithium and Valprol (sodium 

valproate).”But there were still side-effects,” 

continues Ghosh. “My hands 

would tremble all the time. I gained a 

lot of weight. I felt awful when I looked 

in the mirror, but over time, I got better 

sleep and felt more stable. Something 

was definitely working.” 

Coping with the side-effects, says 

Ghosh, was never easy. “For the longest 

time, you are living a normal life 

and then you can’t even hold a cup of 

tea because your hands shake so much. 

People see you have gained weight, 

that you keep your hands in your pockets 

more often than you should. It is 

definitely difficult. And once you’re 

taking eight pills a day, you are obviously 

not who you felt you were before. 

You feel groggy and you feel slow. 

But my therapist assures me that it’s all 

a question of time and practice.” 

Ghosh is one among the many 

mental health patients who struggle 

with what psychiatrists and psychologists 

call `medication management’. 

While getting any patient -mental 

health or otherwise -on medication 

is never easy, experts say challenges 

double when they are treating a mental 

health disorder. 

TASTE OF ONE’S MEDICINE 

Dr Rajesh Parikh, director of Medical 

Research and honorary neuropsychiatrist, 

Jaslok Hospital and Research 

Centre, explains that prescribing medication 

for the disorder is not a challenge 

-”That’s pretty straightforward 

and comes from the book,” he says -but 

prescribing medication for the patient 

is a challenge.”While prescribing medicines, 

we have to look at a range of factors 

like age (some medicines are not 

suitable for children and the elderly). 

We also have to look at the occupation. 

For example, if one of the side-effects 

of a drug is drowsiness and if the patient’s 

occupation requires him to drive a 

lot or work with machinery, we will not 

prescribe that particular drug. Also, if the 

patient is already overweight or trying to 

lose weight, then we will not prescribe 

medicines that could increase appetite,” 

he says.Challenges, continues Parikh, 

include battling the stigma attached 

to mental health disorders, convincing 

people they are not ill (interestingly, 

a few patients tend to associate stress 

and anxiety that comes from day-today 

activities and deadlines as the sign 

of a major health disorder), educating 

them that having medicines is not a 

habit-forming activity and, most importantly, 

convincing them to never 

abandon medication -also called `patient 

compliance’. Ghosh, for instance, 

admits to discontinuing her medication 

a year after first taking them. 

“After a year, I was feeling terrible. 

I had not come to terms with 

the fact that I was bipolar. I was convinced 

that what I had suffered was a 

one time psychotic breakdown.There 

is also another school of thought that 

says even if you are bipolar you should 

not be put on medication. I went off 

my meds in May 2012. The side-effects 

sub sided. I started feeling much 

better. But then the manic symptoms 

started surfacing again. I again had to 

be admitted to a clinic in August and 

I was then put on a dose of medicines 

that was much higher and stronger.”Dr 

Parul Tank, psychiatrist and therapist 

at Fortis hospital explains that just as 

the medicines do not begin to work 

overnight and take time to kick in the 

first time you take them, a relapse, like 

Ghosh’s, does not occur immediately -it 

takes weeks or months. “Just this morning, 

I got this patient -a young girl -who 

is schizophrenic. She stopped her medication 

only after six months of taking 

them and now she has had a relapse. But 

her parents want to get her married as 

they feel she is `physically’ okay. Once a 

patient has had a relapse, the medicines 

take a longer time to work than the first 

time.”When patients begin to feel better 

while on medication, they get convinced 

that they no longer need them. “I think 

it’s because of the side-effects primarily, 

but I also feel that it has something to do 

with the idea that you never want to feel 

as if you’re sick or ill. 


Srinagar | Thursday 


Gene 

mutation 

linked to 

muscle 

damage, 

heart 

problems 

discovered! 

36 

Scientists have discovered 

a gene mutation 

that may trigger muscle 

and heart disorders, said 

a study. 

Researchers from Imperial 

College London investigated 

the mutation 

of a gene called Popeye 

domain-containing one 

in Zebrafish and found it 

affected both heart and 

muscle function, said 

the study released on 

Monday. 

The gene makes a 

protein that is crucial 

for adhering muscle 

cells to each other, and 

keeping them ‘glued’ 

together. When the 

gene is mutated, the 

muscle tissue becomes 

significantly weakened 

and damaged, Xinhua 

reported. 

The gene mutation 

was first discovered by 

researchers from the 

University of Ferrara, 

Italy, and the Beijing 

Genomics Institute, who 

studied the genetics of 

an Italian family, all of 

whom suffered from 

muscular dystrophy. 

This condition leads to 

progressive weakening 

and damage of skeletal 

muscle, making movement 

and coordination 

difficult. 

The family also suffered 

from a condition called 

cardiac arrhythmia, 

which leads to an 

abnormal heartbeat, 

according to the study. 

“This is the first example 

that this specific gene 

can cause both heart 

and muscle disease. 

From here, we need 

to find out whether 

this gene caused the 

disorders in just this 

family, or whether it has 

wider implications for 

other patients,” said led 

author Thomas Brand. 

Naeem inspects 

educational institutions 

in Akhnoor 

Jammu, Dec 16: Minister for Education, Naeem Akhtar today 

asked Education Department to take steps to develop Model 

Higher Secondary School, Akhnoor into an integrated institute 

of quality learning. 

The historical Hari Singh Higher Secondary School, Akhnoor 

with a massive campus area has been established eighty years 

back. 

The Minister called for converting the school into an integrated 

institute of learning by immediately starting nursery 

classes and holding classes for capacity building of teachers. 

The Minister visited the school during inspection of educational 

institutions of the Tehsil, including Government Degree 

College, Akhnoor and Government Degree College Khour . 

Expressing dismay over poor result recorded by the school 

in past session, the Minister asked the teachers to realize their 

responsibility and contribute their best in reviving the historical 

school. 

“It is unfortunate that a school with all infrastructural facilities 

has a dismal result. You need to revisit your teaching methods 

and get involved with students” he advised them. 

He asked teachers to go for constant classroom assessment 

and adopt interactive teaching methods to bridge the achievement 

gap. 

The Minister also asked the Principle to hold demonstration 

classes on modern teaching methods to enable teachers to 

develop a knack for effective teaching. 

He also asked teachers to focus on personality development 

of students, side by side, academics. “You should also focus on 

development of expression in the students and help them improve 

articulation and speaking and devise your own methods 

for the same” he said. The Minister also inspected adjacent Girls 

Higher secondary school Akhnoor. 

At Degree College Akhnoor, the Minister asked the College 

Management to devise a plan to put huge campus area of 350 

Kanal to best use. 

Reiterating government’s resolve to make state institutions 

self-sustaining hubs of productive education, he asked for exploring 

possibility to develop herbal and ornamental plant gardens 

to use the said area by involving students. 

He also asked for exploring possibility to start paid courses in 

the campus, as a step towards making the institute self sustaining.

7 

SRINAGAR,THURSDAY 


S 

P 

O 

R 

T 

S 

Serena 

Williams 

accepts 

Sportsperson 

of Year, eyes 

more Slams 

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Serena Williams became 

only the third individual 

woman to claim the honour 

since its 1956 inception. 

• Williams, 34, won the first 

three Grand Slam singles 

titles of 2015. 

• She logged a 53-3 record, 

reigned as world number 

one every week for the 

second successive year. 

NEW YORK: Serena Williams 

added to one of the 

longest resumes in sports 

by collecting the Sportsperson 

of the Year award from 

Sports Illustrated, becoming 

only the third individual 

woman to claim the honour 

since its 1956 inception. 

Williams, 34, won the first 

three Grand Slam singles 

titles of 2015 after taking 

last year’s U.S. Open to hold 

all four crowns at once for 

her second career ‘Serena 

Slam’. 

She logged a 53-3 record, 

reigned as world number 

one every week for the 

second successive year 

and took her total of Grand 

Slams to 21, one less than 

Steffi Graf for most in the 

Open Era, at an age when 

most players have been long 

retired. 

“I’ve been doing what I do 

for over 20 years professionally 

and that’s a long time to 

be playing,” Williams told 

Reuters before Tuesday’s 

awards dinner. “And this 

is the first time I was ever 

recognised as Sportsperson 

of the Year. 

“So it really, really meant 

a lot to me. And being 

a woman and being 

only the third to be 

recognised is pretty 

awesome.”Williams said 

that joining gymnast 

Mary Lou Retton and 

speed skater Bonnie 

Blair on the list of 

women to claim the 

award motivated her to 

succeed on court next 

year and target even 

more milestones. 

“There’s numbers,” she 

said at the awards dinner, 

referencing Graf’s 22 

slams and the 24 singles 

titles won by all-time 

leader Margaret Court of 

Australia.“I never looked 

at numbers until recently. I 

want to at least try to reach 

a couple of numbers that I 

won’t mention. Just go one at 

a time and hopefully will be 

there one day.”Williams won 

out over such strong contenders 

as NBA star Stephen 

Curry, golfer Jordan Spieth 

and racehorse American 

Pharoah, the first to win the 

U.S. Triple Crown in 37 years, 

who won the magazine’s 

readers poll for the award. 

ISL semi-final: FC Goa thrash Delhi 

Dynamos 3-0 in second leg, advance to final 

Margao: A scintillating offensive display 

enabled a buoyant FC Goa to a 3-1 aggregate 

victory over Delhi Dynamos in a two-legged 

semi-final and enter the title round of the 

Indian Super League (ISL) in Margaon on 

Tuesday. 

Spanish midfielder Joffre Mateu scored 

in the 11th minute, followed by Brazilian 

forward Rafael Coelho on 27 minutes that 

helped Goa lead 2-0 at half-time in the second 

leg match. Man-of-the-Match Nigerian 

striker Dudu Omagbemi put the finishing 

touches to the lop-sided 3-0 scoreline in the 

84th minute as the hosts overturned a 0-1 

deficit they conceded in the first leg at New 

Delhi on December 11 to enter the final. 

They await the winner of defending 

champions Atletico de Kolkata and Chennaiyin 

FC whose second legged match will be 

played in Kolkata on Wednesday. Chennaiyin 

lead the tie 3-0. 

Goa were the semi-finalists in the inaugural 

edition of the tournament last year. The 

final of the competition will be played here 

on December 20. 

Goa were determined to hit the ground 

running at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in 

their aim of plucking up an early goal that 

would have nullified Dynamos’ deficit. 

Dudu scores the third goal in the second 

leg of the semi-final between FC Goa and 

Delhi Dynamos. ISLDudu scores the third goal 

in the second leg of the semi-final between 

FC Goa and Delhi Dynamos. ISL 

They were egged on by their animated 

coach Zico who entered into an argument 

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Leicester City’s two-point lead at the top of 

the English Premiership is definitely the story 

of the season. 

• A common joke about Leicester is they are 

always trying to avoid the drop. 

• Halfway through the league, Jamie Vardy is 

the top scorer in Premiership with 15 goals. 

A fairytale, an uprising, a triumph of the 

proverbial dark horse. Call it what you may, 

Leicester City’s two-point lead at the top of 

the English Premiership is definitely the story 

of the season, which is about to enter the 

most frenetic phase. 

In this still unfolding, fascinating story, 

Nigel Pierson is the fall guy who must be 

lamenting his sacking at the end of the last 

season after saving the Foxes from the indignation 

of Championship football. And the 

with the referee at the very beginning of the 

game that displayed his eagerness as well as 

nervousness. 

They got what they yearned in the 11th 

minute. Spanish midfielder Joffre Mateu 

capped off his superb solo run from the 

Lalit Modi to remain RCA 

president, BCCI suspension 

continue 

The Rajasthan Cricket Association was 

suspended in May 2014, after Lalit Modi 

was elected president 

Lalit Modi will continue to remain president 

of the Rajasthan Cricket Association 

after RCA vice-president Amin Pathan 

withdrew his no-confidence motion 

against Modi and his key aides on Tuesday. 

The development, however, doesn’t 

change RCA’s status quo, and it remains 

suspended by the BCCI. The BCCI’s adhoc 

committee will continue managing 

cricket in the state. 

Modi tweeted soon after the announcement 

that he “looked forward to making 

#RCA the best and most forward thinking 

#cricket #association.” 

Pathan, who had moved the motion in 

March, said he withdrew the petition in 

the “interest of cricket in Rajasthan.” 

“Cricket had stopped in the districts and 

players were suffering because of that,” 

Pathan told the Indian Express. “Plus, 

we couldn’t get the required numbers. 

These guys [the Modi faction] are used to 

litigation, so they would have stretched it 

forever. So we decided to withdraw our 

motion in the interest of cricket.” 

According to the report, Pathan also 

withdrew the petition against RCA deputy 

president and Modi’s close confidant 

new incumbent, ‘Tinkerman’ Claudio Ranieri, 

would surely send Gary Lineker a Christmas 

card, thanking the former England striker for 

having shown immense ‘faith’ when the Italian 

was introduced to the King Power Stadium 

in July earlier this year. 

“Claudio Ranieri is clearly experienced, 

but this is an uninspired choice by Leicester,” 

Linekar had said. “It’s amazing how the same 

old names keep getting a go on the managerial 

merry-go-round.” 

Born and nourished in Leicester, Lineker 

would now be immensely happy to have 

been proved stupendously wrong. A common 

joke about Leicester is they are always trying 

to avoid the drop. Even after snubbing Jose 

Mourinho’s Chelsea 2-1 on Monday night, Riyad 

Mahrez didn’t forget to remind the world 

that Leicester is happy that they are staying 

afloat. 

right with a fierce low left-footed shot that 

crashed into the near post of goalkeeper Toni 

Doblas. 

Dynamos were subjected to intense pressure, 

which reflected on their coach Roberto 

carlos’ face. He was seen in an enthusiastic 

Too much politics killing West Indies 

cricket: Bravo 

Dwayne Bravo lamented the sorry 

state of West Indies cricket, saying 

“too much politics” was killing the 

game in the Caribbean, and that 

the administrators needed to take a 

hard look at themselves. 

Bravo, who was asked about the 

team’s innings-and-212-run loss to 

Australia in the first Test in Hobart, 

said it was painful to see West 

Indies slip to one big loss after another 

despite having the personnel 

to compete. He pointed the gradual 

decline to a host of factors, including 

external interference and lack 

of infrastructure. 

“We’ve got the players to be up 

there with the best in the world, 

but there are a lot of things going 

on,” said Bravo, who is in Australia 

to play for the Melbourne Renegades 

in the Big Bash League. “We 

The BCCI suspended the 

RCA in May 2014 after Modi 

was declared its president. 

Modi had been expelled from 

the board in September 2013. 

Mehmood Abdi, secretary Somendra 

Tiwary and treasurer Pawan Goyal. 

The BCCI suspended the RCA in May 2014 

after Modi was declared its president. 

Modi had been expelled from the board 

in September 2013. 

In October 2014, Pathan, along with his 

supporters, claimed to have ousted Modi 

as president. Pathan also announced 

himself as acting president before initiating 

a no-confidence motion in February. 

After that petition was set aside by the 

Rajasthan High Court, Pathan’s faction 

moved a fresh motion. If the motion had 

been upheld, it would have forced the 

RCA to hold fresh elections. 

Pathan had previously been a Modi 

loyalist. The secretary of the Kota District 

Cricket Association, he had even accompanied 

Abdi when Modi’s nomination 

papers were filed for the RCA election in 

November. 

don’t have proper grounds, proper 

nets or a proper academy. All these 

things are a part of our downfall. 

“The relationship between players, 

board members and management 

staff needs to get stronger 

and tighter. They need to have a 

lot more honesty. There are a lot 

of dishonest people in charge at 

the moment.”Bravo did not mince 

words when he said it was time 

administrators stopped talking up 

a glorious past and started looking 

ahead. His remarks follow those of 

Michael Holding who said the WICB 

was “dysfunctional, untrustworthy 

and not liked by the employees,” 

while Brian Lara squarely laid the 

blame on the administrators for “bad 

governance.”“It’s painful to see this 

is the stage our cricket has reached, 

[given] at one point in time we were 

the best team in the world,” Bravo 

said. “If those in charge keep harping 

on about the past and not trying to 

do anything for the present then 

we’ll always have these type of interviews, 

we’ll have back and forth with 

ex-players saying this and current 

players saying that. The rest of the 

world will go on and we’ll always be 

backwards.”Bravo, who was West Indies 

captain until the tour of India in 

October 2014, was sacked after the 

team abandoned the tour midway 

over a payment dispute with the 

WICB and the West Indies players’ 

association. 

Even Ranieri is afflicted by the relegation 

phobia. “For our fans we are top of the league, 

for my players we need another five points. 

Let me achieve 40 points, then I’ll think about 

what is the next goal. But until 40... I think 

only 40 points.” The audience laughed but the 

‘Tinkerman’ did not. 

The Italian’s 29-year managerial career 

has spanned 14 clubs across five countries, 

including Chelsea, Juventus and Atletico Madrid. 

The epithet ‘Tinkerman’ that sat uneasy 

on Ranieri’s head does not ring pejorative 

anymore. 

Not that the Italian hasn’t changed 

anything after taking over from Pearson. He 

switched Jamie Vardy’s position from the 

left wing to a more central position. Halfway 

through the league, the 28-year old is the top 

scorer in Premiership with 15 goals. 

Ranieri followed it with another crucial 

discussion with his defensive spearhead John 

Arne Riise after the goal with both visibly 

disagreeing with each other. 

They were in serious trouble and were 

disintegrating spectacularly under the 

consistently impressive combined attacking 

display of Goa’s frontmen. 

Dynamos survived going behind on 23 

minutes when the sparkling home-grown talent 

Romeo Fernandes’ attempt went inches 

wide after latching onto a feeble clearance 

from Doblas. 

Goa deservedly took an aggregate lead 

four minutes later with a similar strike as the 

first goal amidst sporadic, hopeful attempts 

by Dynamos.Coelho dangerously danced his 

way towards the box from the vulnerable 

right side and let loose a low grounder, this 

time towards the far post of Doblas. The ball 

landed into the net after thundering off the 

inside of the post as a diving Doblas clutched 

thin air.By this time, the hosts were all over 

Carlos’ side and the disapproving Brazilian 

reacted by replacing the non-functioning 

Riise with Dutch midfielder Hans Mulder at 

the half hour mark hoping to provide support 

to lonely Frenchman Florent Malouda. 

Dynamos hoped the change of ends 

would facilitate a change of fortunes but Goa 

creditably didn’t let their foot off the pedal 

and continued to expose the bungling rightback 

Robert Lalthlamuana by creating two 

golden opportunities. 

A conversion of any one of them would 

have killed off the contest considering the 

sustained domination of the hosts. 

In Shane Warne’s India Test XI, 

Sourav Ganguly is Captain and 

Sachin Tendulkar No.4 Batsman 

Shane Warne picked Sourav Ganguly 

and Sachin Tendulkar in his India Test 

XI based on the players whom he 

played against. India ODI and T20I 

captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is also 

part of the Australian great’s list 

New Delhi: For Shane Warne, Sourav 

Ganguly is the most trusted and 

capable Indian captain while Sachin 

Tendulkar is a natural choice for the No. 

4 position in Tests. The retired Australian 

cricketer revealed his preferences 

while naming his choice of India Test XI 

on Tuesday. 

Warne, who has been naming his 

preferred XIs from different countries on 

his Facebook page, turned his attention 

to India in the latest post. The criteria 

for selection was that Warne must have 

competed against the selected players. 

Not surprisingly, cricket’s highest 

run-scorer Tendulkar was Warne’s choice 

for the No.4 spot in his side. The opening 

slots went to Virender Sehwag and 

Navjot Singh Sidhu followed by the everdependable 

Rahul Dravid at No.3. 

Tendulkar, who scored a whopping 

15,921 runs with 51 hundreds in 200 

Tests, was hardly a surprise. But Warne 

said he was left in a dilemma on whether 

to go for VVS Laxman or Mohammad 

Azharuddin for the No.6 position.“This 

was the hardest team to select as I played 

against a few legends at the end of their 

careers like Vengsarkar, Sanjay Manjrekar, 

Ravi Shastri, Manoj Prabhakar as well 

as current players like Zaheer Khan too,” 

Warne wrote on his Facebook page. 

“The Indian side I’ve selected is a 

very strong one and would be tough 

to play against. The hardest position 

to select for me was the number 6 

spot between my great friend VVS or 

Azharuddin.” 

Malan heroics seal the 

series after tie 

Dawid Malan sealed in 

a Super Over a match 

that he deserved to have 

won in normal time, as 

England Lions overcame 

a late-innings wobble 

to beat Pakistan A in a 

thrilling finale in Dubai. 

The result completed a 

come-from-behind 3-2 

series win that confirms 

the depth of England’s 

squad options ahead 

of next year’s World 

Twenty20 in India.Set a 

daunting 166 for victory 

after winning the toss and 

choosing to bowl first, 

Malan dictated England’s 

tempo for the fourth match 

out of five, making 81 

from 55 balls with eight 

fours and two sixes. At 

the other end, Sam Billings 

once again displayed 

his power and range of 

strokes to make 50 from 

31 and, between them, 

their third-wicket stand of 

93 in 9.2 overs appeared 

to have broken Pakistan’s 

resistance.However, a late 

fightback during Pakistan’s 

death overs, sparked by 

Billings’ dismissal in the 

17th over, changed the face 

of the contest. Twenty runs 

were still needed from 21 

balls when Ross Whiteley 

arrived at the crease, but 

his momentum-sapping 

contribution of 5 from 12 

balls - including a crucial 

penultimate over of two 

runs from Rumman Raees 

in which Whiteley’s 

share was one run from 

five balls - left Malan 

high and dry as he was 

run out from the final. 

Leicester Rising: Ranieri’s skulk of Foxes is out on adventurous hunt 

tweak. He employed Riyad Mahrez and Marc 

Albrighton as inverted wingers. 

Mahrez spent more time on the bench 

under Pearson than on the pitch. Stats 

show that the Algerian has completed more 

dribbles than anyone in the EPL this season. 

Add to it the 11 goals he has scored. If Vardy 

is grabbing headlines with non-stop finishing, 

then Mahrez is the cause, the reason and the 

orchestrator from the right flank. Albrighton’s 

conversion to a left-winger is one more 

tactical twist that Ranieri brought about. With 

both flanks flying, the Foxes were never in 

dearth of energy in attack. 

New-signing N’Golo Kante and Danny 

Drinkwater, a United Academy product, took 

care of the midfield bereft of Esteban Cambiasso’s 

combative experience. Kante has had 

more interceptions than anyone in the league 

and ranks third for tackles.

17 December 2015

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