26 December 2015

SRINAGAR | 26 December 2015 | 14 Rabi ul Awwal 1437 AH Vol: 3 | Issue No: 307 | Pages: 08 | Rs 3/- 

SATURDAY 

3rd 

PRECIOUS KASHMIR 

Journalism With A Human Heart 

C 

M 

Y 

K 

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

Modi flies to Pakistan 

‘B-Day moment’ set to make new developments in South Asia 

Cold wave 

sweeps north; Leh 

shivers at -16°C 

Precious Kashmir News 

Lahore, Dec 25: Birthdays are rarely 

celebrated in Muslim community, 

however, this birthday is a different 

one. 

Pakistan premier, Mian Nawaz 

Sharief, is 66 years old now. Born on 

this day two years later when Pakistan 

was born, Nawaz Sharief has a 

surprise visit of his Indian counterpart, 

Narendra Modi. 

An active social media user, 

Modi, on his way back from Russia, 

tweeted early Friday that he shall 

land in Lahore to wish Sharief. 

Modi, in between, had a brief 

visit of war torn Afghanistan where 

India is investing ‘generously’. Taliban 

infected land has been “bone of 

contention” between nuclear armed 

India and Pakistan. 

The news came as a surprise 

for many as PM Modi announced 

his sudden landing in Pakistan. The 

rivalry between India and Pakistan 

has been major hurdle in the filling 

the gaps amongst South Asian 

nations which for South Asian Association 

for Regional Cooperation 

(SAARC). 

Modi was scheduled to fly to 

Pakistan in mid-2016 to attend one 

of its summits. 

The relationship between India 

and Pakistan has been witnessing 

ups and downs quite often. With 

many “contentious issues” remaining 

unresolved between the neighbours, 

Kashmir tops the list. 

Of late, the relations saw new 

beginning when NSAs of two rival 

nations in South Asia met in Bangkok 

followed by Sushma Swaraj’s 

visit to Islamabad where she met 

Sharief. 

The visit of Swaraj followed a 

joint statement issued from Pakistan 

capital announcing fresh start of 

“comprehensive bilateral dialogue”. 

The statement included J&K as one 

of the long-time pending disputes 

between India and Pakistan. 

Back in Kashmir, the ruling 

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was 

all excited over the announcement 

along with opposition led by National 

Conference. 

PDP has been maintaining that 

India and Pakistan need to come together 

so that “peace is maintained 

in Jammu and Kashmir”. 

However, the separatist camp 

has been divided. Peacenik Mirwaiz 

Umar Farooq has showed optimism 

in the Indo-Pak thaw and has welcomed 

the development along with 

Prof Abdul Gani Bhat. 

On the other hand, Syed Ali Geelani 

has asked Pakistan “to clear its 

stand on the Kashmir Issue”. 

When Modi is set to land in Pakistan, 

former CM and NC working 

president, Omar Abdulla, tweeted 

“Now waiting for the statement 

10 injured in 

road mishaps 


Srinagar, Dec 25: At least 

ten persons were injured in 

different road accidents in 

Srinagar and Kulgam districts, 

police said today. 

Taseer Ahmad, a resident 

of Gangbal fell from a rickshaw 

during the Eid-e-Miladun-Nabi 

(SAW) procession 

and was injured, said an 

official. 

He was shifted to SMHS 

Hospital for treatment, he 

said. 

A rickshaw collided with 

an I-20 car near Dr. Maqbool’s 

clinic in Karan Nagar 

area of Srinagar, resulting 

in injuries to the rickshaw 

driver Muneer Ahmad Wani, 

son of Noor Mohammad, 

resident of Khati Darwaza 

Rainawari. 

In Kulgam, the official 

said, a motorcycle turned 

turtle on Kulgam Shopian 

road near village Pariwan, 

resulting in injuries to the 

motorcyclist identified as 

Reyaz Ahmad Ganaie son of 

Ghulam Ahmad resident of 

Sehpora Kulgam. 

The injured was shifted 

See Mishaps on Pg 6 

Separatists welcome surprise visit 

from J&K govt claiming that Mufti 

Sayeed was the one who forced PM 

Modi to visit Lahore today.” 

After Sharif and Modi hugged at 

the Allama Iqbal International Airport 

as he landed in an Indian Air 

Force plane, the two took a helicopter 

to Sharif's residence at Raiwind, 

about 40 km from here, officials here 

said. 

The dramatic visit took place 

after Modi greeted Sharif on his 

Jammu, Dec 25: Jammu and 

Kashmir government today 

ruled out disbanding of Village 

Defence Committees 

claiming they have played 

a major role in stamping 

out militancy and defending 

population in the remote 

and rural areas of the state. 

"These (disbanding of Village 

Defence Committees (VDCs)) 

are irrelevant demands. If a 

Army man or a police man 

does something bad, will 

Army and Police be disbanded," 

Deputy Chief Minister Dr 

Nirmal Singh told reporters at 

a function here today. 

He was replying to a 

question about a demand 

by National Conference and 

separatist leaders to disband 

the VDCs in Jammu and Kashmir 

following killing of a NC 

leader by a VDC member in 

Rajouri district. 

"VDCs have played a big 

role (in stamping out militancy 

and defending population 

in the remote and rural areas 

of the state)," he said. 

There have been some 

Srinagar, Dec 25: Separatists here welcomed Prime 

Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Lahore today, with 

Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq 

terming it "a positive move" and parallel faction 

leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani saying they have no objection 

to improved relations between India and Pakistan. 

"We do not have any issues with relations improving 

between India and Pakistan... No right thinking 

persons shall have any reservation on it. However, the 

two countries have to address the Kashmir issue as per 

wishes and aspirations of the people if these endeavours 

are to succeed," Geelani said. 

Reacting to Modi's surprise stopover in Lahore to 

meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, who is 

celebrating his 66th birthday today, the hardline Hurriyat 

leader said, "We hope that Pakistan will also remain 

steadfast on its stand on Kashmir issue." 

Moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq 

said, "Modi's surprise visit to Pakistan is a positive 

move. People of Kashmir welcome any opportunity 

that bring India and Pakistan close." 

The Mirwaiz further said, "Political will and vision 

is needed on all sides to address issues, specially 

Kashmir." 

Meanwhile, Abdul Gani Bhat, head of Muslim Conference, 

a constituent of the moderate Hurriyat faction, 

said his party supports the resumption of dialogue 

process between India and Pakistan. 

"Muslim Conference pledges support to the resumption 

of what is now termed as comprehensive 

dialogue to resolve all disputes, including of course the 

dispute on Kashmir, and consider this development as 

an effectively civilised means to move out from the frozen 

yesterdays to a peacefully productive tomorrow," 

Bhat said. 

Admitting that no dialogue process has so far produced 

any results, Bhat said the situation now was different 

in the backdrop of the dynamics of global economic 

liberalisation as an order, which pre-supposes 

that peace and disputes can never co-exist. 

"As such, the dispute on Kashmir will have to be 

resolved. Let no gloom of yesterday's blur any prospect 

of a better and brighter tomorrow," the Muslim Conference 

leader added. 

incidents by some VDC members 

and police is looking into 

it, he said, adding that law 

will take its course. 

A VDC member Mushtaq 

Ahmed had yesterday shot 

birthday over telephone from Kabul 

earlier on Friday and expressed a 

desire to meet the Pakistani leader, 

Pakistani media said. 

Geo TV reported that the visit 

"was not that surprising" as the Lahore 

Air Traffic Control had been 

told about it on Thursday. 

But few in India and Pakistan 

knew about the programme, which 

came at a time when bilateral relations 

have shown definite improvement 

after months of tensions and 

border clashes. 

Sharif and his brother and Punjab 

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif 

were among those who received 

Modi at the airport with bouquets. 

Also present were Pakistan Finance 

Minister Ishaq Dar and the Indian 

envoy, T.C.A. Raghavan. 

After pleasantries and a guard of 

honour by the Pakistani Air Force 

See Modi on Pg 6 

Dy CM rules out disbanding of VDCs 

Geelani threatens agitation, 

calls for shutdown today 


Srinagar, Dec 25: Hurriyat (G) chairman Syed 

Ali Geelani on Friday threatened of an agitation 

if the government failed to disband the Village 

Defence Committees (VDCs). 

"...if the government failed 

to disband this terrorist force, we 

will launch a movement in entire 

Jammu & Kashmir to seek disbanding 

of this criminal force and 

a course of action will be formulated 

with the Muslims of Pir Panjal 

and Chenab Valley," Geelani 

said in a statement. 

He also called for a shutdown 

on Saturday to demand disbanding 

of Village Defence Committees. 

A spokesperson of the outfit said that the 

VDCs have been created to suppress Muslims 

in Jammu province. 

"The chairman has appealed people, especially 

those living in Chenab and Kashmir 

valleys, to make the Saturday's strike call a 

success to send a strong message that these 

militias created to terrorise Muslims should be 

disbanded immediately," the spokesman said. 

Three people, including a mother-son duo 

and a youth National Conference leader, were 

killed by VDC members in Rajouri area of Jammu 

and Kashmir in past week. 

Expressing his sympathy and 

condolence with the family of 

the deceased mother-son duo, 

Geelani said: "If I were not under 

the house detention, I would have 

myself come to visit the affected 

families of the Rajouri and I also 

would have met the people of this 

region (sic)." 

He also appealed for "complete 

and state wide shutdown on 26 December, 

Saturday to protest the barbaric killings. 

"For disbanding the terrorist force of 

VDCs," Geelani said, "shutdown is the only option 

with us to protest against the state terrorism 

of India." 

See Geelani on Pg 6 

dead Shamima Akhter and 

her three-year-old son Tohid 

from his rifle in village Samote 

of Budhal tehsil in Rajouri 

district. 

See Dy CM on Pg 6 

Mufti welcomes 

meeting 

Srinagar, Dec 25: Jammu and Kashmir 

Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad 

Sayeed on Friday welcomed 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 

stopover at Lahore to meet his Pakistani 

counterpart Nawaz Sharif. 

In a statement, Sayeed said he 

was delighted by Modi’s visit which 

will further strengthen the bonds 

of friendship and usher in an era of 

peace and stability in the region. 

“This is an evolutionary process 

and step in the right direction. It 

indicates Prime Minister’s resolve 

to enter into a long-term strategic 

partnership with Pakistan,” he 

stated. 

The Chief Minister hoped that 

the meeting between the two leaders 

will provide the much-needed 

momentum to the Comprehensive 

See Mufti on Pg 6 

End knee-jerk 

reactions, Omar 

tells Modi, Sharif 

Srinagar, Dec 25: Former Jammu 

and Kashmir chief minister Omar 

Abdullah on Friday hailed Prime 

Minister Narendra Modi’s visit 

to Pakistan as a “good step” but 

said India-Pakistan ties must have 

stability. 

“The re-engagement with 

Pakistan is a good step and a very 

welcome development,” Abdullah 

tweeted as Modi was set to land in 

Lahore to meet his Pakistani counterpart 

Nawaz Sharif on his way 

back from Kabul to New Delhi. 

“However, more than grand gestures 

we need consistency (in India- 

Pakistan relations),” the National 

Conference leader said in tweets. 

See Omar on Pg 6 

Goodwill gesture 

on part of Modi: 

Pak Govt 

Lahore, Dec 25: The Pakistan 

government on Friday described as 

a “goodwill gesture” Prime Minister 

Narendra Modi's surprise visit to 

Lahore where he met his Pakistani 

counterpart Nawaz Sharif. 

“It was a goodwill gesture on 

the part of the Indian prime minister,” 

Pakistan Foreign Secretary 

Aizaz Chaudhry told the media. 

“Prime Minister Sharif has 

welcomed this,” he added. 

On his way back to New Delhi 

from Kabul, Modi made a 

See Pak Govt on Pg 6 

Amid shutdown, clashes erupt in 

Pulwama against militant’s killing 


Srinagar, Dec 26: At least a 

dozen civilians and 20 police 

men were injured in clashes 

in Pulwama town today amid 

a complete shutdown against 

the killing of a local militant 

in Bandipora forest on Thursday 

evening. 

The district administration 

had imposed curfew in 

the town after apprehending 

protests against the killing of 

LeT militant, Omais Ahmad 

Sheikh alias Hamza. 

Omais, a student BA II 

year in Degree College Pulwama, 

had joined LeT in 

June this year after snatching 

weapon from policemen 

deployed in the Pulwama 

District hospital. Omais was a 

resident of Chatapora locality 

of the town. 

Talking to a local correspondent, 

Superintendent of 

Police, Tajinder Singh, Pulwama, 

said that at least 20 policemen 

and 12 civilians were 

injured during clashes. 

“Police showed maximum 

restraint and maximum 

patience during the clashes 

and did not use any lethal 

New Delhi, Dec 25: Mercury 

dipped further in most parts 

of north India on Friday, with 

Leh region in Jammu and 

Kashmir recording the season’s 

lowest at minus 16.2 

degrees Celsius. 

Delhiites woke up to a 

chilly Christmas morning 

with the minimum temperature 

settling at 5.5 degrees 

Celsius, two notches below 

normal for this time of the 

season. 

A few areas in the city 

witnessed shallow fog with 

the visibility being recorded 

at 1,000 metres. 

“The minimum temperature 

recorded at 8:30 am 

was 5.5 degrees Celsius. The 

humidity was 83 per cent,” a 

MeT department official said. 

In Jammu and Kahsmir, 

cold wave tightened its grip 

in the state as the minimum 

temperature at most places 

continued its downward spiral. 

The summer capital of 

Jammu and Kashmir recorded 

a low of minus 5.2 degrees 

Celsius, a drop of over a degree 

from the previous night’s 

minus 4.0 degrees Celsius, according 

to a spokesman of the 

MeT Department. 

The bone-chilling cold led 

to freezing of water taps and 

fringes of many water bodies 

including the famous Dal Lake 

here. 

The night temperature 

in Leh, in the frontier Ladakh 

region, went down by over 

three notches from the previous 

night minus 12.9 degrees 

Celsius to settle at minus 16.2 

degrees Celsius. Leh was the 

coldest recorded place in the 

state. 

The nearby Kargil town 

also shivered at a record low 

of minus 15.0 degrees Celsius, 

the spokesman said, adding 

the town had recorded a low 

of minus 14.5 degrees Celsius 

the previous night. 

weapon on the protesters,” 

Singh claimed. 

However, eyewitnesses 

said that a youth from Pampore, 

identified as Imtiyaz Ahmad 

Gojri, 27, was injured in 

his right eye due to pellets. 

“He was rushed to SKIMS 

by his friends in a vehicle,” 

eyewitnesses said. 

Reports said that shops, 

business units and government 

offices were shut during 

the day, while transport 

was off the roads for the day. 

Earlier, the police had 

handed over the body of the 

slain militant to the family in 

the wee hours of the Friday 

morning. His funeral prayers 

In Rajasthan, mercury 

plummeted in parts of Rajasthan 

where Churu remained 

the coldest place with a minimum 

temperature of 0.4 degree 

Celsius, near freezing 

point. 

The night temperatures 

dipped by 2-4 notches in the 

state, a Met department official 

said. 

Intense cold wave swept 

Punjab and Haryana with 

Amritsar recording the lowest 

temperature of minus 0.3 degrees 

Celsius in the region as 

mercury dropped by several 

notches below normal level 

in both states. 

Reeling under severe cold 

conditions, Amritsar recorded 

mercury at minus 0.3 degrees 

Celsius, four notches below 

normal, an MeT report said. 

As cold wave tightened 

its grip, Narnaul in Haryana 

recorded the second lowest 

minimum at one degree, 

down by five notches below 

normal. 

The Union Territory of 

Chandigarh shivered at 3.4 

degrees Celsius, down by 

three degrees below normal 

while Ambala and Hisar recorded 

a low of 5.2 degrees 

Celsius and 3.2 degrees Celsius, 

dropping by up to four 

notches below normal. 

In Himachal, intense cold 

wave conditions continued 

to reel in the hills and valleys 

of Himachal Pradesh but 

tourists were disappointed 

as ‘White Christmas’ eluded 

Shimla. 

People braved freezing 

cold conditions to reach 

churches to attend the midnight 

mass. 

Thick fog engulfed the 

towns along the river banks 

in mid and lower hills while 

thick ground frost made driving 

risky in mid and higher 

hills in the morning, while 

people shivered under cold 

wave conditions. 

were offered in Industrial 

Complex premises in the 

town after Friday worship, 

which was attended by thousands 

of mourners, eyewitnesses 

said. 

To defy the curfew, hundreds 

of people assembled at 

Rajpora and Murran Chowks 

today morning and raised slogans 

against the government 

and security forces. 

Reports said that police 

and security forces were deployed 

in strength to thwart 

the protests and any untoward 

incident. 

“The agitated people defied 

the curfew and pelted 

See Pulwama on Pg 6 

C 

M 

Y 

K


News 

Saturday 

2 

26.12.2015 

www.preciouskashmir.com 

Guv review progress of Shrine Board Projects 


Jammu, Dec 25: Governor N. N. Vohra, 

who is Chairman of the Shri Mata 

Vaishno Devi Shrine Board chaired a 

meeting to review the progress of the 

various major infrastructure development 

projects. The meeting, held at 

the Raj Bhavan Jammu, was attended 

by all the Jammu based Board Members: 

Dr. S. S. Bloeria, Dr. Ashok Bhan, 

H. L. Maini, Justice (Retd) Permod 

Kohli and Maj. Gen. (Retd) Shiv Kumar 

Sharma. Ajeet Kumar Sahu, Chief 

Executive Officer, Shri Mata Vaishno 

Devi Shrine Board; Sushma Chauhan, 

Deputy Commissioner, Reasi and Sujit 

Kumar, SSP Reasi also participated in 

the discussions. 

As regards the New Track which is 

nearing completion the meeting reiterated 

the Shrine Board’s earlier decision 

to maintain the upcoming Track for use 

by pilgrims who walk to the Shrine. 

CEO clarified that there is no plan for 

running battery cars for transporting 

pilgrims on the New Track which 

shall however be used for carrying of 

materials to the construction sites and 

for emergency evacuation and related 

purposes. While maintaining the sanctity 

of the existing track from Darshani 

Deori to AdhKuwari, the new track will 

ease the rush and provide a good walking 

experience to the pilgrims who like 

to move on foot. 

The meeting also decided that 

Contribution of Atal 

Bihari historic: Dy CM 


Jammu, Dec 25: While paying 

tributes to the former Prime 

Minister of India Atal Bihari 

Vajpayee on his 91st birth Anniversary, 

Deputy Chief Minister, 

Dr. Nirmal Singh has said 

that the contribution of the 

great leader would be always 

remembered. 

The Deputy Chief Minister 

was speaking at function 

organized to celebrate the birth 

of Atal Bihari Vajpayee former 

Prime Minister and one of the 

stalwarts of Indian polity. 

The Dy. Chief Minister 

said that Atal Bihari Vajpayee 

Ji holds an important and pivotal 

role in Indian polity especially 

at a time when whole 

of the opposition was being 

muzzled by the then powers. 

He said that by dint of his hard 

work, he was instrumental in 

giving the necessary impetus 

to the voice of dissent which 

is very important in democracy 

“Everybody is aware of the 

historical role of the leader 

which would go into the annals 

history as remarkable 

and visionary and we should 

all ensure that the illuminated 

path shown by the tallest 

Female body 

recovered in 

Kupwara 


Srinagar, Dec 25: Police 

recovered a female body on 

Zurhama Humgund road in 

Kupwara District. 

Kupwara Police recovered 

a female body identified 

as Shafiqa daughter of 

Haji Shamas-u-Din Mir resident 

of Harkarpora Awoora, 

Trehgam on Zurhama Jumgund 

road near Gogar Patti. 

After completion of medico 

legal formalities, the body 

of deceased lady has been 

handed over to her relatives 

for last rites. Kupwara 

police has initiated inquest 

proceedings under section 

174 CrPC to ascertain the 

cause of her death. 

Jammu, Dec 25: In order to 

have a first - hand appraisal of 

the problems being faced by 

the people of rural areas, Minister 

for Transport, Abdul Ghani 

Kohli today convened a public 

meeting at Kanyala village of 

Jindrah area. 

Addressing a large gathering, 

the Minister said Government 

is determined to ensure 

an effective mechanism to 

make the system more accountable 

and answerable to 

the people and all possible efforts 

will be made for overall 

development of every nook and 

corner of the state. 

During the meeting, people 

projected various demands 

pertaining to renovation and 

the new track shall be linked from 

the Banganga side and requested Shri 

H. L. Maini, Technical Consultant and 

Hon’ble Member of the Board, to have 

the connecting link completed on an 

early basis. The CEO informed that 

the wayside amenities the New Track 

would be completed in the next two 

months. 

The Governor directed the CEO to 

co-ordinate with all concerned agencies 

to see that the Banganga area is 

developed in a systematic manner for 

restoring the river and protecting the 

environment. He also directed the DC 

to ensure full support for this project. 

In the context of the case pending 

before the National Green Tribunal, at 

New Delhi, regarding the regulation of 

movement of ponies on the track, the 

Governor directed the DC, Reasi to immediately 

start registration of equines 

and their owners/ operators through 

the ‘Society for Prevention of Cruelty 

leader should be propagated 

so that the youth and younger 

generation get inspired by it” 

he elaborated. 

Dr. Singh, said that the 

former Prime Minister was 

also instrumental in strengthening 

the party at grass root 

level thereby making it a formidable 

political force and 

it is due to his tireless efforts 

that it has won more than two 

third majority in the lower 

house of the country. He said 

that the concept of credibility, 

transparency is synonymous 

with the leader as he has had 

an unblemished career which 

has even been recognized by 

his political opponents. 

“Atal Ji had great respect 

and love for this part of the 

nation and in his earlier days 

of politics, he used to come, 

interact and even encourage 

the young and budding 

political activist which was 

instrumental in shaping their 

individuality and they have 

contributed their bit in the 

polity of the state” the Deputy 

Chief Minister said and maintained 

that we should imbibe 

the teachings of the leader 

and thereby we will be carrying 

on his legacy. 

Jammu, Dec 25: Terming 

AASRA a revolutionary step 

towards social security of 

women, the Minister for 

CA&PD and Tribal Affairs, Ch 

Zulfkar Ali today said launching 

of such pioneering welfare 

schemes will provide 

the much needed succor to 

women belonging to low income 

families. 

This was stated by the 

Minister during an awareness 

camp organized by the Social 

Welfare Department on 

‘’AASRA’’ Scheme at Rajouri . 

Enumerating the details 

of the AASRA scheme, Minister 

said that AASRA is a first 

step towards upliftment of 

economically weaker sections 

of society and exhorted 

upon the people to come 

forward and avail the benefits 

of the scheme. 


to Animals (SPCA)’, as envisaged under 

the J&K Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 

Act, after ensuring that the health 

of every pony/mule being registered 

had been certified by the Animal Husbandry 

Department. 

The DC Reasi was directed to ensure 

that all the animals and their 

owners follow the prescribed norms 

and do not violate the provisions of law 

especially with regard to the health 

and welfare of the equines. 


move the Secretary Animal Husbandry 

Department to establish and operate 

well equipped veterinary clinics, with 

the required complement of veterinary 

doctors and staff at Katra and Adhkuwari. 

The Board Members stressed that, 

as per the directions of Hon’ble High 

Court, CEO shall be responsible for all 

the arrangements with regard to regulation 

of movement of equines on the 

Jammu, Dec 25: Minister for 

Health and Medical Education, ARI 

and Trainings, Ch Lal Singh Friday 

launched e-Aushadhi-a web based 

supply chain management application 

at Jammu and Kashmir Medical 

Supplies Corporation Ltd (JKMSCL) 

office at Narwal here. 

Director General Indian System 

of Medicines Dr. Abdul Kabir Dar, 

Managing Director JKMSCL Dr. Yash 

Pal Sharma, Principal Government 

Medical College Dr. Zahid Geelani, 

Director Health Services Dr. Baljeet 

Singh Pathania, Director Family Welfare 

Dr. Baldev Raj Sharma, Mission 

Director National Health Mission 

Dr. Mohan Singh, General Manager 

JKMSCL Dr. Rajinder Khajuria besides 

other senior officers of JKMSCL, 

Health and Medical Education departments 

and representatives of e- 

Aushadhi were present at the lunch 

ceremony of e-Aushadhi. 

Speaking after launching the application, 

the Minister said that it has 

been prepared by Centre for Development 

of Advanced Computing (C- 

DAC) Noida, Ministry of Commerce 

and Information Technology, GoI. He 

said e-Aushadhi shall help JKMSCL to 

improve drug warehousing and supply 

chain management in all Government 

hospitals in the State. 

Ch Lal Singh complimented 

JKMSCL and C-DAC on ensuring the 

launching of the application on the 

scheduled date. He said that this application 

will keep check on purchases, 

inventory management and distribution 

of various drugs & surgical 

items to various regional and district 

drug warehouses, district hospitals, 

primary health centres and community 

health centres. 

Reiterating the commitment 

of the Government to provide free 

drugs in Government Hospitals, Ch 

Lal Singh asked Health and Medical 

Education Department to ensure 80% 

free drugs to patients in Government 

tracks. CEO was directed to put in place 

prepaid system of hiring equines to 

ensure that there is no overcharging or 

cheating of pilgrims and the due payment 

is made to the pony owner/operator 

immediately on the completion of 

the journey. DC Reasi was directed to 

ensure that all mule-sheds and ponystables 

situated along the Banganga are 

urgently shifted away from the river as 

per NGTs directions, to ensure against 

the pollution of the Banganga River. 

The Governor also reviewed the 

status progress of the project to develop 

an improved Palki of superior 

design and less weight, which is being 

done with the technical assistance of 

the Industrial Design Centre, IIT Mumbai, 

under the overall supervision of 

the Principal Scientific Advisor to the 

Prime Minister. The CEO informed that 

the prototype has already been developed 

by the IDC Mumbai and trial and 

testing is in progress. Chairman desired 

Hospitals. He underlined the importance 

of keeping all Government 

Hospitals fully equipped with necessary 

medicine and latest equipment. 

He said with JKMSCL fully operational, 

it is expected to improve the overall 

stock and supply position of drugs 

& surgical equipment to Hospitals. 

Meanwhile, Ch Lal Singh issued 

instructions to expedite the procurement 

of surgical disposables, 

instruments and dressing material 

etc. He also issued instructions to 

the Health and Medical Education 

Department for timely submitting 

the requisitions as well as funds 

to JKMSCL for procurement of the 

hospital supplies. 

CEO to have the new design Palki early 

cleared for use by the Palki wallahs. 

The Governor directed CEO and DC 

Reasi to identify and inform him about 

suitable projects for Katra which can 

be taken up and implemented by the 

Board. The Governor lauded the efforts 

made by B. Mohandaas, Administrator, 

Municipal Committee Katra, for 

implementing and completing several 

projects for the development of civic 

facilities in Katra town. 

The meeting noted that the Shrine 

Board cannot assist the construction 

of the new Bus Stand as the required 

land has not so far become available. In 

this background the CEO was directed 

to urgently prepare a proposal for improving 

the facilities and condition of 

the existing Bus stand so that the area 

had a clean and presentable look. 

The Governor expressed dissatisfaction 

on the lack of progress in the 

acquisition of land for the new Helipad 

Lal Singh launches e-Aushadhi at JKMSCL 

AASRA a revolutionary step towards 

social security of women: Zulfkar 

upgradation of existing roads, 

improvement in the drinking 

water supply facility, construction 

of new bridges and other 

basic problems of their respective 

areas. Responding to their 

demands regarding starting 

of bus service from Jammu to 

Manwal via Kanyala , the Minister 

said that possibilities would 

be explored in this regard at the 

earliest. 

The Minister assured to 

them that their genuine demands 

would be sort out within 

a shortest possible time. He 

directed the concerned officers 

to look into the issues raised by 

the people of the area and initiate 

necessary steps for an early 

redressal of the same. 

The Minister said that 

families having annual income 

less than 75000 can 

register themselves under 

AASRA and if the earning 

hand of any registered family 

dies , the next kin of the deceased 

will get the compensation 

of Rs 2 lakh besides 

monthly assistance and an 

amount of Rs 1 lakh in case 

Kohli convenes public meet 

Asks H&ME dept to ensure 80% free drugs to patients in Govt Hospitals 

Several Sarpanchs, Panchs 

spoke on the occasion and highlights 

developmental needs of 

their concerned areas. MD, SRTC, 

Senior Leaders, Nand Kishore 

Sharma, Chander Mohan Gupta, 

and other sectoral officers accompanied 

the Minister. 

On the way, Kohli suddenly 

inspected a 25 seater SRTC 

passenger bus near Ban Plaza 

which was on way from Katra to 

Jammu. While checking the bus, 

the Minister found that the bus 

bearing No, JK01Y-0447 had 

left from Katra to Jammu with 

only 5 passengers on board. 

The Minister directed the MD, 

JKSRTC to look into the matter 

and take immediate initiative 

in this regard. 

of disability due to injury. 

Emphasizing on synergy 

in the service delivery 

system, Zulfkar asked the 

concerned departments to 

undertake field visit , organize 

awareness camps and 

put up hoardings, displaying 

schemes of the government 

to ensure proper implementation 

of the scheme. 

Jammu, Dec 25: Jammu and Kashmir 

Paraja Pati Sabha on Friday organised 

a one day women conference with the 

theme ‘Empowerment of Women’ here 

at PrajaPati Bhavan BC road here, in 

which Minister of State for Education, 

Priya Sethi was the Chief Guest. 

In her address to large number of 

women participants, Sethi highlighted 

the role of women in society and their 

immense contribution in nation building. 

She dwelt in detail about the programmes 

for women launched by the 

Union Government under the leadership 

of Prime Minister Narendra Modi 

to address gender imbalances and to 

create positive disposition towards girl 

Anantnag, Dec 25: Minister 

for Horticulture, Haj 

and Auqaf, Abdul Rehman 

Veeri, today said that active 

participation of local 

people is vital for effective 

implementation of various 

developmental initiatives 

taken for strengthening infrastructure 

facilities and 

creation of sustainable assets 

in rural pockets of the 

state. 

This was stated by the 

Minister for Horticulture, 

Haj and Auqaf, Abdul Rehman 

Veeri, during his 

day-long tour of Anantnag 

district to take stock of developmental 

works at various 

places across the district. 

The Minister enumerated 

various developmental 

initiatives of the present 

coalition dispensation 

and said that reformative 

and pioneering welfare 

programmes have been 

launched for the benefit of 

people to ensure comprehensive 

development of the 

state. 

During the tour, the 

Minister inspected the Trauma 

Centre building under 

construction adjacent to National 

Highway Bijbehara. 

The Minister was informed 

that Trauma Centre is being 

constructed at an estimated 

cost of Rs 13 cr having a 3 

bed emergency ward besides 

two 15 bed wards for 

female and male patients. 

The Minister enjoined 

upon the executing agency 

to expedite the construction 

work and complete it within 

the stipulated time. 

Earlier, in his welcome address, 

Managing Director JKMSCL Dr. Yash 

Pal Sharma informed that the rate 

contracts for the medicines, IV fluids 

etc have been finalized and the 

system generated purchase orders 

(through e-Aushadhi) for 40 manufacturers/importers/authorised 

dealers 

have been prepared and online 

orders have been issued with the 

launching of e-Aushadhi application 

at JKMSCL. He said e-Aushadhi software 

shall further be upgraded by 

inclusion of e-Upkaran for inventory 

management including procurement 

and maintenance of equipment and 

human resources financial management. 

He said this will ensure the 

effectiveness in procurement and 

distribution of the drug supplies besides 

bringing transparency and accountability 

at all levels. 

In the meeting, comparison of 

rates of various drugs which have 

been finalized and approved by JKM- 

SCL viz a viz market rates was also 

shared, indicating huge price differences. 

Earlier, the representative of e- 

Aushadhi gave a power point presentation 

about the advantages of this 

web application. He said Rajasthan, 

Maharashtra, Punjab, Odisha and 

Andhra Pradesh States have already 

adopted this system. 

At Sub-District Hospital 

Bijebhara, The Minster directed 

the Director Health 

Services Kashmir to make 

the neonatology ward 

fully functional besides instructed 

augmenting fully 

equipped testing lab of the 

hospital with a digital X-Ray 

machine, digital analyser, 

and endoscopy and other 

machines. 

Responding to local 

demands, the Minister assured 

taking up the issue 

of upgradation of PHC Mattan. 

He further directed the 

concerned authorities to 

upgrade the existing facilities 

in the dental ward of the 

hospital for the convenience 

of patients 

While inspecting the 

under construction PHC 

Akura, the Minister directed 

child. She said women centric scheme 

of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, launched 

by PM in January 2015 aims to generate 

awareness and improving the efficiency 

of welfare services meant for women. 

She said similarly under the Sukanya 

Samriddhi Account initiative, a 

guardian can open an account in the 

name of girl child with an initial deposit 

of Rs 1000. The scheme offers high rate 

of interest at 9.2% and shall benefit the 

girls later in their life. 

Sethi also spoke about the recently 

launched state sponsored social security 

schemes meant for women i.e Ladli 

Beti and Aasra. She said many districts 

in Jammu and Kashmir exhibited declining 

sex ratio adding that to reverse 

the dangerous trend, Government 

started the Ladli Beti Scheme in select 

districts of Kathua, Jammu, Samba, 

Budgam, Pulwama and Anantnag to 

create positive disposition about the 

girl child and to address the concerns 

of girl’s right from birth to adulthood by 

providing financial security to the girls. 

“Under the scheme, state government 

will contribute Rs 1,000 per 

month towards the birth of every girl 

child with effect from April 1, 2015 for 

the next 14 years. Upon reaching the 

age of 21, the girl child would receive 

a sum of Rs 6.5 lakh”’ Priya said. Similarly, 

She said state Government also 

at Katra. He directed DC, Reasi to expeditiously 

complete the land acquisition 

process for construction of the new 

Helipad at the identified alternate site 

and stressed the urgency of the land 

issue being settled without any further 

delay so that the Helipad could be 

shifted out of the town. 


immediately review on site all problems 

relating to the persons rehabilitated 

in Sira Colony near SMVDU and 

forward an urgent report along with 

cost estimates. 

The Governor also reviewed the 

progress of the Super Specialty Hospital 

and the Nursing College. CEO 

reported that for commencing admissions 

to the Nursing College all the 

required formalities were being completed 

timely. 

Besides the Governor also reviewed 

the security of the Shrine and 

directed SSP Reasi to ensure foolproof 

security without any exception or 

compromise. SSP Reasi advised that 

his task would be supported if the CEO 

were to put in place a mechanism so 

that each and every person moving on 

the track can be promptly identified. 

The Governor directed the CEO to take 

urgent necessary action to ensure cent 

per cent verification of all persons living 

or working in any establishment of 

the track and for photo identity cards 

to be provided to each persons with 

prompt support from SSP Reasi. 

DC Ganderbal 

visits hospitals, 

examination 

centers 


Ganderbal, Dec 25: Deputy 

Commissioner Ganderbal, 

Showkat Aijaz Bhat today 

conducted surprise visits at 

district hospital Ganderbal 

and Trauma Hospital, Kangan 

and took stock of medicare 

facilities being provided to 

the patients. 

Chief Medical Officer, 

Ganderbal, was also present 

on the occasion. 

While taking stock of 

the adequate heating arrangements 

in hospitals, the 

Deputy Commissioner asked 

the concerned authorities to 

take utmost care regarding 

health and hygiene of the 

patients. 

Later, the Deputy Commissioner 

visited examination 

centers of Dreamland 

School Ganderbal and Boys 

Higher Secondary School 

Nuner for ensuring smooth 

and fair conduct of examination 

besides reviewing the 

heating arrangements in the 

examination centers. 

Veeri takes stock of health infrastructure, 

development works in Anantnag 

the officers of R&B department 

to complete the building 

expeditiously so that 

best medical healthcare is 

provided to the people of 

the area. He further instructed 

the concerned officers of 

Police Housing Corporation 

to complete the construction 

of ANM School at the 

earliest. The Minster also 

visited the under construction 

building of Hr. Sec Marhama, 

being constructed at 

an estimated cost of 92 lakh. 

The Minister was accompanied 

by Director 

Health Services, Kashmir. 

Dr. Sameer Matoo, Director 

Horticulture, ADC Anantnag, 

DGM JKPCC, ACD 

Anantnag, CMO Anantnag, 

SEs of R&B, hydraulics, and 

other district level civil and 

police officers. 

Centre, State Schemes to empower Women, 

address gender imbalances in JK: Priya 

launched ‘Aasra’ to provide social security 

cover to widows, destitute, BPL 

families and bread winners of such 

families whose annual income is less 

than RS.75000. The Minister said that 

both the Union and State Government 

are making concerted efforts to empower 

women belonging to various 

socio-economic strata and such efforts 

will be continued and given greater impetus 

in times to come. Sethi also spoke 

about the various reform measures initiated 

by the Government to improve 

quality and standard of education offered 

in Government schools at both 

the elementary school level and also in 

Colleges and Universities of the State.

Precious Kashmir 

Pointing 59,000 

applicants appear 

in SSB job tests 


Srinagar, Dec 25: 

Nearly 59,000 applicants 

today appeared in the job 

tests conducted by Service 

Selection Board of the state 

for over thousand non 

gazette posts as part of fast 

track recruitment. 

SSB Secretary Shabir 

Ahmad Raina said among 

90000 aspirants who 

were to appear in the tests 

for different jobs, 58, 548 

candidates wrote their 

exams across the state in 236 

centers for 1001 jobs. Raina 

said that the attendance of 

the aspirants stood at 65. 40 

percent.“Barring an untoward 

incident in Jammu region 

at two examination centers 

where at Lothra College of 

Education and Sacred College 

of Education were affected 

after few some aspirants 

tore off their question and 

answer sheets, the exams 

went of smoothly,” Raina told 

reporters here.“The Board 

will see as to what decision 

it will take about these two 

centers,” he said.Around 

80,000 candidates are likely to 

appear in tomorrow’s exams 

in the state, he said. He said 

that 1238 applicants asked for 

changing the exam centers 

Christians 

celebrated 

Christmas in 

Kashmir 


Srinagar, Dec 25: 

Christmas was Friday 

celebrated in Kashmir with 

religious fervor in Kashmir 

Valley. The biggest gathering 

was held at the Holy 

Family Catholic Church 

at Moulana Azad Road 

in the heart of Srinagar 

city, where amid chill 

hundreds of Christians 

including women and 

children assembled to 

celebrate the birthday 

of Jesus Christ and held 

special prayers. 

The church was 

decorated with colourful 

buntings and balloons and 

wore a festive look. Tourists 

from different parts 

of the country and world 

joined the locals on the 

auspicious day. 

Similar gatherings 

were held at Saint Luke's 

church and All Saints' 

church in the city, Saint 

Joseph's Church in north 

Kashmir's Baramulla, the 

oldest Catholic Church in 

Jammu and Kashmir and 

at the Church in the tourist 

resort of Gulmarg. (CNS) 

which were changed since 

yesterday for the convenience 

of the candidates. 

The secretary said that 

despite some errors in the 

database of the candidates in 

their online applications, the 

board issued admit cards to 

the students as late as 11 pm 

on Thursday. 

Over the lack of heating 

arrangements in exams centers 

in bone chilling cold, the 

secretary said that the board 

had requested the educational 

institutions where 

exam centers were located 

to provide such arrangements 

to the aspirants. 

“But due to the lack of 

infrastructure in the colleges 

and schools after last year’s 

floods, the administration of 

the education institutions 

said that they could not provide 

it to the students. However, 

for those exam centers 

where it was possible for the 

concerned administration, 

heating arrangements were 

made available,” he said. 

He said that in the 

last six months the board 

is in the path of making 

improvements for the convenience 

of the candidates. 

He said that the board was 

contemplating to make 

the facility of credit and 

debit cards to applicants to 

submit their fee as the Bank 

clerks do make some errors 

in deposing the fee of the 

candidates. He said that 

message alerts will be send 

to applicants about the 

status of their exams and 

notifications. (KNS) 

NEWS 


Srinagar, Dec 25: Putting lives at 

grave risk, a delivery was performed 

in mobile light outside labour room 

in District Hospital Handwara where 

there was no power from past five 

days. Luckily, both mother and infant 

are doing well. 

The incident sparked protest 

against hospital authorities while 

attendants alleged that hospital 

authorities donot use GenSet for the 

reasons known to them. 

Disband VDCs 

immediately: CPI(M) 

Jammu, Dec 25: Expressing deep 

shock and grief over the gruesome 

murder of a mother and her minor 

son in Rajouri, CPI (M) senior leader 

and MLA Kulgam Mohammad Yousuf 

Tarigami has termed the incident 

an eye-opener for the present 

dispensation in the State and 

vehemently demanded disbanding 

of Village Defense Committees 

(VDCs). 

In a statement, he has said the 

latest barbaric incident has come 

less than a week after a political 

activist was killed by another VDC 

member in the district. “All justifications 

which were put forth have proven 

contrary to the idea of creation of such 

Hospital sources informed that 

there is no electricity in the hospital 

from past five days. “When we impressed 

upon a doctor to use Genset, 

he replied that there is no fuel available,” 

said an attendant. 

Reports said that a woman 

Mehfooza Jan wife of Zahoor Ahmed 

from Taharatpora Vilgam was admitted 

in the hospital on Thursday. She 

developed labour pain during night 

in darkness. There was no power in 

labour room. 

“When my wife was shifted to 

Srinagar,Saturday 


JKLF holds protest rally against 

VDCs in Rajouri Malik arrested 


Srinagar, Dec 25: JKLF chairman 

Muhammad Yasin Mailk along with 

Vice Chairman Showkat Ahmad 

Bakshi, Zonal President Noor 

Muhammad Kalwal, zonal general 

secretary Sheikh Abdul Rashid, 

zonal organizer Bashir Ahmad 

Kashmiri, Ghulam Muhammad Dar, 

Fayaz Ahmad Lone, Ishtiyaq Hussain 

Dar, Irfan Ahmad Khan, Imtiyaz 

Ahmad Bhat, Basharat Ahmad Bhat, 

Ali Muhammad Bhat, Nazir Ahmad 

Rather etc , was Friday arrested by 

police at Budshah Chowk when he 

was leading a peaceful protest rally 

against Budal Rajouri killing and 

others terrorist activities of VDC in 

Jammu region. 

Led by JKLF chairman Muhammad 

Yasin Malik, people in large 

numbers marched from Maqbool 

Manzil towards Lal chowk and 

chanted slogans against VDC terrorism. 

When this rally reached Budshah 

Chowk police and forces who 

had laid a siege around all roads 

leading to Lal chowk, stopped the 

rally using cane charge, shelling 

and other oppressive means and 

arrested Yasin Malik and others. 

Prior to his arrest, Yasin Malik 

while speaking to media and 

people present in the rally said that 

brutal killings at Bhudal and Kalakot 

Rajouri and burning of Kashmiri 

vehicles in Rajouri recently are yet 

another example of Indian sponsored 

terrorism in Jammu Kashmir. 

He said that this is not first time 

VDCs a gang of sheltered 

criminals: Shah 


Srinagar, Dec 25: Expressing deep 

anguish over the killing of a mother-son 

duo by the Village Defence Committee, the 

Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) Chairman, 

Shabir Ahmad Shah on Friday said the 

VDCs “are actually the criminals that have 

found shelter in the so-called committee 

and now openly perpetrate crimes hasslefree”. 

“We had opposed the VDCs since their 

inception as we knew they were a bunch 

of criminals and hooligans 

involved in all types of crimes 

against people,” Shah said in a 

statement to KNS. 

He said the VDCs were initially 

created as a front against 

the pro-freedom people and, 

with the passage of time; they 

started making lives of common 

people particularly the 

Muslims hell. 

“On one hand, the presence 

of more than 7 lakh 

forces have already terrorized 

the people, and now, these 

VDC goons have been given an 

open deal to kill people,” he said. 

Terming the “hue and cry” made by 

the National Conference as “drama”, Shabir 

Ahmad Shah said that NC, during its tenure, 

played a pivotal role in the creation of VDCs 

and PDP, for its political interests, is trying 

to cover up the crimes of these “terrorist” 

forces.“And now, the statement of Nirmal 

Singh regarding VDCs vindicated our apprehensions 

that these are a committee of 

gangsters with grave criminal backgrounds 

and are used against the Muslims,” he said. 

The DFP Chairman said: “Last year, 

when we made out program to visit the 

Jammu, Doda, Thathri, Rajouri and Poonch, 

we were not allowed from Thathri by the 

VDC goons. We will not get scared by these 

terrorists and will continue our freedom 

struggle. Such measures have been adopted 

against us since last 69 years but our 

resolve has only increased.” 

Shabir Ahmad Shah paid glowing tributes 

to Umais Ahmad Sheikh who achieved 

martyrdom while fighting the Indian occupational 

forces in Bandipora. 

While addressing a funeral 

procession of Shaheed Umais 

on telephone, Shah said, “We 

are committed to our martyrs’ 

mission which will be accomplished 

at any cost”. 

Meanwhile, a DFP spokesperson, 

while condemning the 

continuous detention of the 

All Parties Hurriyat Conference 

(APHC) Chairman, Syed Ali Geelani, 

said, even in this old age, 

there is every kind of restriction 

and curb on the activities of 

the octogenarian leader who is 

even barred from performing 

his religious obligations. 

“This is a sheer state terrorism the example 

of which is hard to find anywhere in 

the world. Here, authorities are perpetrating 

such acts just to please their masters in 

New Delhi,” he said. 

The spokesperson severely condemned 

the continuous arrest of the incarcerated 

Chairman of Muslim League, Masarat Alam 

Bhat saying, despite repeated court directions 

of his release, the pro-freedom leader 

is continuously kept behind bars. 

that terrorist VDC are involved in 

criminal activities. 

In-fact more than 200 cases 

throughout Jammu region stand 

registered against them but no 

one has been yet penalized among 

them for their crimes. 

Yasin Malik said that this immunity 

is understandable as they 

have been created and backed up 

by India and its stooges for these 

kinds of acts only. He said that 

Kashmiris will allow anybody to 

create a 1947 like situation in Jammu 

Region and if harassing Jammu 

Muslims is not stooped Kashmiris 

will do whatever possible to save 

their Jammu brethren. 

Terming this region of new 

terror unleashed by VDC as a 

consequence of impunity provided 

to these killers by Indian government 

and their stooges (Pro India 

Politicians and parties of Jammu 

Kashmir), Yasin Malik said that 

killing a women and her four year 

old kid brutally may have exposed 

the ugly face of VDC terrorism but 

these kind of crimes are not new. 

VDC from the day of its creation 

has been indulging in such heinous 

crimes and more than 200 cases 

have stand registered against 

them but no one has been till date 

punished for his crimes. 

He said that impunity provided 

to this terrorist force by 

India and its Kashmiri stooges, has 

given it confidence to kill without 

fair. 

Yasin Malik said that spurt in 

criminal activities of VDC is due 

to the ugly conspiracies of RSS 

and forces backed by it, who are 

hell bent upon creating a volatile 

situation in Jammu Region and 

who want to terrorize Muslims 

living in these areas to fulfill their 

political goals. 

Mohammad Yasin Malik said 

that NC, PDP, Congress and all 

other pro India parties have and 

are backing VDC and are directly 

responsible for the miseries of 

Jammu Muslims. 

JKLF chairman Mohammad 

Yasin Malik said that Kashmiris 

cannot remain silent in this situation 

and will not allow anyone 

to play with the lives of Jammu 

Muslims. He said in 1947 Kashmiris 

refrained from any communal 

activity as this was and is 

our moral and religions duty but 

3 

the delivery room, there was no electricity. 

Nurses collected some mobiles 

outside labour room and made 

her deliver the baby. The delivery 

was normal, but after sometime she 

developed pain and we shifted her to 

LD hospital Srinagar,” Zahoor Ahmed 

told CNS.The protesters alleged that 

the hospital is in shambles and no 

efforts are being made to improve 

the patient care system. 

Despite repeated attempts SDH 

authorities declined to comment on 

the issue. (CNS) 

Clashes in Maisuma 

Police officer injured 

shifted to AIIMS Delhi 


Srinagar, Dec 25: Clashes 

erupted in Maisuma locality of 

Srinagar city after police detained 

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation 

Front (JKLF) chairman Yasin Malik 

during a protest march against the 

“terror created by Village Defence 

Committees”.Three people, including 

a mother-son duo and a political 

leader, were killed in past week 

by members of the VDC.Eyewitnesses 

said that shortly after Friday 

prayers scores of people led by 

Malik took out a rally demanding 

immediate disbanding of Village 

the silence of sheikh Muhammad 

Abdullah on Jammu massacres 

in 1947 is an unforgettable crime 

and today when Jammu Muslims 

are facing state sponsored wrath 

no one in Kashmir can and will act 

like sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. 

While condemning the recent 

killing of a man by VDC at Kalakot 

and before that burning down 

of Kashmiri vehicles by Hindu 

chauvinists’ in Rajouri, Yasin Malik 

said that police authorities seem 

to back all these criminal and terrorist 

activates. That is why they 

arrested drivers whose vehicles 

were burnt down instead of those 

who set them on fire. 

JKLF chairman Mohammad 

Yasin Malik warned RSS, forces 

beached by them, present rulers 

of Jammu Kashmir and their 

masters in Delhi that if VDC 

terrorism and RSS hate campaign 

is not stopped immediately, 

Kashmiris will have no 

choice but to lunch a fullfledged 

struggle against this 

terrorism and the burden of all 

what happens will lie on the 

shoulders of present rulers and 

their masters. 

Meanwhile JKLF has 

strongly condemned the attack 

on Vice president of Jamiat 

Ahlihadis Moulana Mushtaq 

Ahmad Veeri by some miscreants 

at Qazigund.Terming this as 

an attempt of spreading sectarian 

rift between Muslims, JKLF said that 

these kinds of gruesome attacks are 

not acceptable. (KNS) 

DH Handwara in mess: 

Mother delivers under mobile light 

Defense Committees. The protesters 

carrying placards and banners 

tried to march towards Clock 

Tower, however, a police party 

intercepted them and detained 

Malik along with his other party 

activists.The detention of Malik 

sparked protests and shutdown 

in the locality while number 

of agitated youth resorted to 

stone-pelting prompting police 

to burst tear-smoke shells to 

disperse them. Reports said a 

stone directly hit SDPO Kothibagh 

Fahad Tak into his eye.As 

the blood started oozing out from 

the eye of the police officer. 

School Principal 

‘forgets’ to pick up little 

child from Church 


Srinagar, Dec 25: Police 

Friday handed over a ‘lost’ 

child to school authorities 

after he was found 

by a journalist inside the 

premises of Holy Family 

Catholic Church at Moulana 

Azad Road here. 

Reports said that 

on the eve of Christmas 

authorities of a private 

school from Hyderpora 

Srinagar (name withheld) 

had brought little children 

to Holy Family Catholic 

Church at Moulana Azad 

Road. Reports added that 

the school authorities 

forget to pick up a four 

year old child after the 

Christmas celebrations 

were over. The child after 

wandering from here and 

there inside the Church 

was located by a journalist. 

Some of the journalists 

informed that as they 

were on way to Police Station 

Kothibagh to handover 

the child to authorities 

there, the School principal 

arrived and tried to take 

control of the child. 

“We refused to hand 

over the child to the 

Principal of the School and 

tried to know her motive 

of bringing little children 

to Church. During the 

argument, she hit a female 

scribe,” they alleged and 

added that the child was 

finally handed over to 

Kothi Bagh Police Station 

who after verification 

handed him over to the 

Principal of the school. 

Confirming the 

incident, a police official 

said that the lost child 

was located by a journalist 

who refused to hand him 

over to the Principal of the 

school. “After verification 

and talking to the parents 

of the child, we handed 

him over to the Principal of 

the private school,” he said. 

(CNS) 

Zulfkar pitches for disbanding VDC in peace areas 


Rajouri, Dec 2: Terming gun in 

the hands of civilain as fatal for the 

society, Minister for Consumer Affairs 

and Public Distribution Department, 

Tribal Affairs and Legal Metrology 

Department Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali 

has toughen stand on the existence of 

VDCs demanding review on the issue 

of their continuation or disbanding. 

Addressing media person at 

Rajouri, Minister said that time has 

come to take review on the VDCs. He 

said that there is no need of handing 

over gun in the hands of civilian when 

Let pays tribute to slain 

militant 

Srinagar, Dec 25: Paying rich tribute 

to Abu Hamzah Omais who was killed 

in a brief gun fight with Indian forces in 

North Kashmir’s Bandipora on Thursday 

night, militant out Lashkar-e-Toiba 

Friday said that sacrifices elevate the 

dignity and character of a nation and 

if such sacrifices continue the light of 

freedom will lit in Kashmir.In a statement, 

LeT chief Mehmood Shah said 

that youth in Kahsmir have understood 

the real of essence of freedom. 

its need is now over. 

Terming recent 2 incidents of 

Potha and Samote as brutal murders 

by VDC men, Zulfkar said that the 

concept behind VDC during militancy 

era was self protection and there was 

need of gun for self protection during 

that period but when the militancy 

is almostly over there is no fun of 

continuing VDC in the peace zones 

where militancy graph has atleast 

come to zero level. He said that when 

the gun meant for self protection will 

start be using for human murders and 

destruction, the need of disbanding 

the same arise. He added that recent 

incidents have forced everyone having 

human heart to think on disbanding 

these VDCs atleast from the areas 

where there is no need of it. 

Appealing people to maintain 

peace, Zulfkar said that this VDC 

gun is becoming hurdle in maintaining 

peace and this gun is now 

used frequently to murder other 

human being. The Minister has said 

that when gun is no solution of any 

problem then there is no need to 

continue VDCs in peace zones of the 

state because people have started 

its wrong use which is fatal for the 

society. (CNS) 

Doru Anantnag road in shambles 

Anantnag December 25: Belying 

tall claims of the Government of providing 

better road connectivity, majority 

of roads across south Kashmir 

area are in dilapidated condition. The 

inhabitants said one of the important 

road, Doru-Anantnag via Nathipora 

Kreeri- Nowpora,Chakpath, Larkipora, 

road is dotted with potholes. 

This road connects dozens of 

villages of Doru area with the District 

headquarter Anantnag. Due to pathetic 

condition of the road, students and 

employees face immense hardships to 

reach their respective destinations. 

“The problem gets compounded 

when we have to ferry patients and 

expecting mothers to Anantnag 

hospitals,” said Mudasir Ahmad Sofi, a 

resident of Mirmadain Doru. 

The passenger vehicles have also 

suffered damages due to bad condition 

of the roads.“Our vehicles have 

incurred heavy damages due to dilapidated 

condition of the road,” said 

Reyaz Ahmad Rather, a Sumo driver. 

Rasheed leads 

protest march against 

VDCs in Kupwara 


Srinagar, Dec 25: Awami 

Itihad Party (AIP) Friday 

carried out a strong protest 

in Kupwara against the 

VDCs and sought their 

immediate disbanding. 

Hundreds of party 

workers led by Er Rasheed 

started marching 

from Main Chowk Kupwara 

and after carrying 

processing through the 

main market submitted 

a Memorandum to the 

Deputy Commissioner 

Kupwara. 

Talking to media 

persons on the occasion 

Er Rasheed said, “He has 

submitted a memorandum 

to PM through DC 

Kupwara requesting him 

to intervene so that these 

extra constitutional committees 

are winded up 

and their atrocities are 

looked into. 

Let all political parties 

rise to the occasion 

by disbanding these 

VDCs, otherwise people 

have a genuine impression 

that the mainstream 

politicians are puppets of 

New Delhi and their role 

is nothing but to implement 

orders of their masters 

in New Delhi, which 

are always anti-people, 

unrealistic, illogical and 

colonial in nature.” 

He reiterated that 

NC should apologize 

to the people of state 

before crying over VDCs 

and other issues as like 

PDP, NC is the mother of 

all evils and sufferings 

which Kashmiris are 

facing. 

Er Rasheed accused 

PDP and PC of acting as 

collaborators and compromising 

everything to 

remain in power without 

caring for the rights of 

majority community of the 

state.

Precious Kashmir 

Man-animal 

conflict 

The killings by leopards in different parts of 

Kashmir Valley particularly in border areas is 

an indication of the unprecedented rise in the 

continuing conflict between man and animals 

in the Valley. Man-animal conflict is a matter 

of great concern for both the environmentalists and as 

well as for the people living in border areas. It is not a 

local phenomenon; but an issue that spans a diverse 

array of geographic and human demographic contexts. 

Although humans and carnivores have co-existed for a 

long time but the frequency of conflicts have increased 

in recent decades as a result of increased human activities 

in wildlife areas and forests. According to the World 

Conservation Union (World Park Congress 2003), conflict 

occurs when wildlife’s requirements overlap with 

those of human populations, creating costs to residents 

and wild animals. If man destroys or disturbs animal’s 

habitat it is quite natural that there will be struggle for 

the survival from the part of animal. The destruction 

of their habitat due to human activities compels the 

wild animals to enter human settlements in search 

of food and water leading to conflict. People generally 

get rid of conflict problem by killing the wild 

animals, but it is not the ultimate solution. Here are 

some of the suggestions which can help in decreasing 

conflict rate and saving precious lives. Human 

population is increasing month after month and year 

after year and census for Jammu and Kashmir during 

2001 reported a human population of 100,699,17. As 

a result of growing human population, changing land 

use practices and resultant anthropogenic pressures, 

forest cover has either decreased or declined in 

quality due to habitat degradation. Avoiding deforestation 

and planting new trees in forest areas can help 

a lot in reducing conflict rate in long run. Though 

locals were living with wildlife for ages, their knowledge 

about the behavior and ecology of the species is 

remarkably poor. So both governmental and as wells 

as non government organizations (NGOs’) must come 

forward and organize awareness programs. Giving 

awareness targeting to the villagers will help in the 

coexistence between human and wildlife. It will help 

in creating tolerance towards the wildlife. Education 

and training activities at different levels, like in 

schools and colleges will help to reduce conflict rate. 

Giving practical skills to people would help them in 

better dealing with dangerous wildlife effectively and 

defend themselves. Training and education programs 

for the wildlife personnel, giving proper skills for dealing 

with dangerous wild animals would promote commitment 

towards conservation and raise the welfare 

level of animals 

Edit 

Srinagar,Saturday 

26.12.2015 4 

Christmas is 

for everyone 

Swapan Dasgupta 

Why should we assume 

that my festival 

is a closed shop for 

believers alone? In the 

case of Christmas and 

Diwali or Durga Puja, 

the celebration is both 

of a faith and a culture. 

Having spent the first 16 years of my life in 

Calcutta — as it was then called — Christmas has 

always been burra din to me. It was (and probably 

still is) the best time for visiting the city that 

has been marginalised by history. It’s the time 

when, traditionally, the old “white town” around 

Park Street assumes a joyous character, when the 

clubs resurrect their long-forgotten specialities 

such as suckling pig and when gentlemen dress 

their part. 

For the small Christian community in the 

city, there is a special religious character to 

Christmas. Some of us have even witnessed 

this in the midnight mass at the grand St. Paul’s 

Cathedral — an imposing monument to the time 

when our rulers nominally paid allegiance to the 

Church of England. In my childhood, the Christian 

service was conducted in English, and I have 

extremely happy memories singing robust Anglican 

hymns at the morning assembly in school. 

I still chuckle recalling the Friday sermon of the 

erudite Reverend Subir Biswas, then Bishop of St. 

Paul’s, not least because of his measured, halting 

delivery and his unending use of the line “when I 

was in Durgapore” — he always pronounced it as 

Durgapore, never Durgapur. 

In my personal experience, Christianity 

wasn’t much of an evangelical religion. Yes, there 

were odd occasions when some visiting padre — 

they mostly happened to be American for some 

strange reason — would try to impress us with 

sermons explaining why Jesus Christ offered the 

only salvation. But these were stray distractions. 

In the main, La Martiniere, despite being nominally 

Christian, was really not very religious. The 

morning assembly had a Christian dimension 

and the Lord’s Prayer was dutifully recited but 

the ethos was unmistakably non-religious and 

aimed at inculcating a collegiate spirit. It didn’t 

really matter — unless there was a pronunciation 

mishap — what the lesson of the day was about. 

The more important announcements were 

yesterday’s cricket match or the forthcoming 

“social” with the girl’s school across the road. 

For many years after leaving school, I could 

never fathom the place of Christianity in my 

school education. Yes, I knew the Book of Common 

Prayer, had my selection of favourite English 

hymns and was broadly familiar with the King 

James’ version of the Bible, but these seemed to 

me to be facets of English culture which, while 

peppered with religion, were also both secular 

and national. Decades later, I read a book on 

Englishness by the journalist Jeremy Paxman. He 

too appreciated the casual and laid back attitude 

of the Church of England — and described it as 

the “God is a good chap” approach. It encapsulated 

my encounters with Christianity in Calcutta 

and subsequently at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi 

(another institution established by the Church of 

England) and colleges in London and Oxford. 

I am told and that this unobtrusive approach 

has been long discarded, in India at least, and 

replaced by a more in-your-face Christianity — 

the hallmark of the evangelical churches in the 

American Bible belt. By this logic, Christmas 

is automatically transformed into a festival for 

believing Christians only, with no role for those 

who observe December 25 as a cultural festival, 

celebrating a facet of Western life. 

Not that this truncation of Christmas into an 

occasion for true believers alone is something 

that I have observed in the United Kingdom — 

the place from which burra din travelled to India. 

This year, I spent much of October and November 

in London that gave me an opportunity 

to spend a lot of time with old friends. Invariably 

our conversations veered to Christmas and 

the traditional family lunch that accompanied 

it. One college friend, a barrister, explained at 

length a recipe for Christmas pudding she had 

been bequeathed by an eccentric great uncle that 

involved using suet — which she collected from 

her local butcher — but no flour. Another friend, 

now a professor at my alma mater, narrated the 

elaborate steps she had taken to ensure that 

the turkey would be delivered to a neighbour, 

awaiting her return to London on December 23 

from a lecture tour of Australia and New Zealand. 

She had already prepared many Christmas puddings 

for her own use and for distribution to her 

friends. I look forward to having it on Christmas 

Eve, along with the mince pies I picked up at the 

duty-free shop in Heathrow. 

Neither of my friends is a church-going 

Christian. One is married to a cartoonist who is a 

leading light of a movement for a secular Britain. 

The other, also nominally a Church of England 

Anglican, is married to a non-practicing Roman 

Catholic. For them, as I observed, Christmas 

is both a public occasion — witness the endless 

rounds of office parties and pre-Christmas 

gatherings where vast quantities of alcohol is 

consumed — and a family gathering where presents 

are exchanged and where it is customary 

for the inebriated to listen to the Queen’s speech 

in the late afternoon. It so reminded me of the 

Bijoya celebrations on the last day of Durga Puja 

that is so important to Bengalis. And it reminded 

me of the family reunions that mark the week 

around Diwali. 

Over the years, particularly with the explosion 

of consumerism around Durga Puja, Diwali 

and Christmas, the religious underpinnings of 

festivals have been sharply eroded. In Bengal, I 

have also noticed how the “Durgotsav” has been 

secularised by calling it “Sharadutsov” (autumn 

festival). 

I am sure that there are similar attempts 

in the UK too. The number of nativity tableaux 

has shrunk and the odd Christmas card now 

says “Season’s Greetings” rather than “Merry 

Christmas”. It has been suggested that this shift 

is propelled by multicultural impulses — why 

assume everyone is a Christian in the UK? The 

point is well taken but the underlying assumption 

is flawed. Why should we assume that my 

festival is a closed shop for believers alone? In 

the case of Christmas and, for that matter, Diwali 

or the four days of Durga Puja, the celebration is 

both of a faith and a culture. 

In most societies, religion and culture are 

intertwined. By confining it to narrow, exclusive 

compartments, we lose out on the richness of 

human experience. 

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 

Other Opinion 

A warning from RBI 

T 

he Reserve Bank of India has red-flagged a number 

of issues regarding banking, credit offtake, and 

global and domestic risks to the economy. But two 

issues that are a cause of heightened concern in 

its “Trends and Progress of Banking in India” and 

its “Fiscal Stability Report” pertain to public sector 

banks giving hefty dividends to the government 

and India Inc’s high debt. It is ironic that banks that 

are cash-starved and looking to the government to 

infuse capital are paying out huge dividends to the 

government. It’s like the government taking money 

from one pocket and putting it into the other. The 

RBI has come down heavily on this and 2016, it 

warns, will see the banks at risk from their deteriorating 

asset quality, low soundness and sluggish 

profitability. 

The case of corporate India being highly leveraged 

and therefore in no position to make capital expenditure 

investments has been troubling for over a 

year and it is extremely worrying that the problem 

seems unsolvable. The corporates cannot return 

their loans to banks and make fresh borrowings 

and banks are in near-crippled condition because 

they cannot lend or don’t want further risks and 

non-productive assets. The RBI has called for closer 

monitoring of the threat to banks from corporates 

with weak balance sheets. Whilst this is for the future, 

the issue of what’s to be done with their current 

debt needs tackling. 

The report, whilst acknowledging the strong fundamentals 

at the macro level, prods the government 

to focus on structural reforms and improve 

ease of doing business to attract capital, imperative 

to maintaining a balanced current account deficit. 

Email: preciouskashmir@gmail.com 

Website: www.preciouskashmir.com 

2015: Wapsi of protests 

Shiv Visvanathan 

Nayantara Sahgal’s letter was 

both a footnote and a flag of 

protest... She could not remain 

quiet over the death of another 

writer... Shah Rukh Khan and 

Aamir Khan joined in and the responses 

of the RSS or the Shiv Sena were predictable... 

In his classic novel, The Tale of Two Cities, 

Charles Dickens had a wonderful, quotable 

beginning: “It was the best of times, it was 

the worst of times”. It was one sentence 

that moved across the spectrum from 

despair to hope. It also provides almost 

novelistic quality to time. Unfortunately, 

2015 had little of that epic tenor that summons 

a Dickens or a Tolstoy. It was a middling 

year, year of doubts and footnotes, 

but the beauty was that the footnote often 

derailed the grand narratives of policy. 

The year began with the Bharatiya Janata 

Party-led government on the ascendant. It 

was history’s new juggernaut. Whenever 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in 

doubt, he went abroad, to renew himself 

in the NRI mirror. He returned home reassured. 

It was a strange time that led one 

wag to comment, “Someone would think 

civilisation began in the Silicon Valley 

rather than at Nalanda”. 

2015 began as the year of the majoritarian 

regime when the idea of the majority — 

usually treated as an abstract or backstage 

category, sanctified as the general will — 

got flushed out as Hindutva, chauvinistic 

and middle class. 

It was a time in history where India’s complex, 

confused, diverse pluralism could be 

brushed aside. The year began as a period 

of silence where a little was said and a lot 

left unsaid — that even the gossip mills 

of our media remained jaded and tired. 

Words like national security, prosperity, 

patriotism had silenced civil society and 

bully boy groups, representing the great 

consensus, were mushrooming across 

India. 

Civil society experts realised that these 

vigilante groups focused on security, sustainability 

and sexuality. Individuals like 

Dinanath Batra and his NRI cohorts were 

deciding what is good history and pretending 

that the syllabus and the Constitution 

were “tinkerable” items. Vigilante 

groups in Manipal were harassing young 

students walking on the beach holding 

hands, contending it was “unIndian”. 

When a Hindu-Muslim pair was found on 

the beach, the Muslim boy was inevitably 

harassed or beaten up. The hoarding on 

the beach said it all: “Be educated. Do not 

hold hands.” This philistinism culminated 

in the silence over Dadri murder, where 

an innocent man was murdered merely on 

the suspicion of consuming beef. 

While India watched like a silent spectator, 

it was connecting events. The murders 

of rationalists M.M. Kalburgi and Narendra 

Dhabolkar were treated dismissively 

by the regime. There was genuine fear 

that pluralistic India with its hospitality 

was closing itself to minorities, radicals, 

dissenters. Worse, culture was seen as 

contemptible term. It was almost as if the 

murders of two major intellectuals did not 

matter. Dadri and then rationalists. It was 

as if the regime was indifferent to murder. If 

agricultural suicides could be brushed aside, 

the murder of two rationalists seemed a 

miniscule affair. 

It was a moment in India that reminded 

me of the Nazi period with its contempt for 

certain kinds of culture. The standard story 

is that of Goebbels, the minister of propaganda 

who said that when he heard the 

word culture, he reached for his gun. Goebbel’s 

response, though well-known, is not 

the creative one. Economic historian Alexander 

Gershenkron said that “when he heard 

the guns, he reached for his culture”. That 

is precisely what Nayantara Sahgal, Ashok 

Vajpayee and other intellectuals did. They 

reached for their culture, without bothering 

whether it was Hindi or English. 

Sahgal’s letter was both a footnote and a flag 

of protest. She pointed out quietly that as a 

writer she could not remain quiet over the 

death of another writer. Her responsibility 

as a writer and as a citizen demanded she 

mourn him, tell a story, move the community 

to challenge the conspiracy of silence. 

Sahgal combined a writer’s ethics to a writer 

politics and suddenly other writers joined in 

driblets culminating in the event of the year 

— the protest of writers. As the gossip of 

protest grew, scientists, filmmakers joined 

in. The symbolism was so powerful that the 

message echoed around the world as writers 

from other nations watched with concern. 

It was wonderful to watch as the protests 

multiplied, each producing its own anarchy 

of protest, of concern for the syncretic legacy 

of India. Filmstars like Shah Rukh Khan 

and Aamir Khan joined in and the responses 

of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the 

Shiv Sena were predictable. They were told 

to leave the country, as if RSS or Shiv Sena 

were planning to decide who is and will 

remain a citizen. 

It was an implosion of culture that the 

government had not witnessed. It was a 

wonderful moment for democracy as a 

few internal bubbles of protest had broken 

through a thick-skinned regime. In fact, 2015 

is the year of the writers and the writers’ 

protest. Their letter captured the imagination 

of India, but within the sense of hope 

there is a slice of doubt. 

Democracy needs dialogues and what the 

writers did was protest. We are still far from 

debates reaching through to the other. As 

the debates around the Bengaluru festival 

showed, what we got is a parallelism of 

intolerance, two mutual words of intolerance 

content with each other. The movement 

from protest to debate is the next 

part of the democratic process. One thanks 

the writer as the storyteller, historian and 

novelist for sustaining the unconscious 

that keeps India what it is. It is the beginning. 

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


Sensex Nifty Gold 

Business/ International 

Saturday 

5 



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

11.59 

4.90 

145.00 

130.00 

0.01 

0.05 

0.40 

1.35 

3.90 

0.10 

25838.71 

7861.05 

25,212.00 

34,345.00 

66.21 

74.55 

724.35 

228.30 

257.95 

1,074.00 

India Inc M&A deals down 33% in 2015 

New Delhi, Dec 25: Corporate India’s 

boardrooms seem to have turned little 

quieter this year on dealmaking with the 

value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) 

dipping to $20 billion, but experts foresee 

a bounce back in 2016. 

The value of deals has dipped more 

than 40 per cent from $33 billion clocked 

in the previous year 2014. Consultants 

and analysts are anticipating deals worth 

more than $30 billion in 2016. 

Experts believe that the much-needed 

impetus to M&A deal activity can 

come from the changes in the country’s 

regulatory framework such as a new 

bankruptcy law, faster pace of approvals 

and the relaxed FDI norms for many 

sectors, including multi-brand retail, telecom, 

insurance and defence. 

According to global consultancy major 

PwC, M&A activity by value in 2015 

stood at around $20 billion, as opposed 

to almost $33 billion in 2014. 

The fall in deal value, can be attributed 

to lesser number of domestic deals, 

stretched corporate balance sheets and 

costlier foreign assets, largely due to a 

depreciating rupee. 

New Delhi, Dec 25: The government’s 

ambitious project 

to generate jobs in the country 

seems to be floundering. 

The Prime Minister’s Employment 

Generation Programme 

(PMEGP), a credit-linked subsidy 

programme launched by 

the Ministry of Micro, Small and 

Medium Enterprises (MSME) 

for creation of employment in 

both rural and urban areas of 

the country seven years ago, 

has failed to achieve the desired 

results due to delays in funding 

and disbursement. 

“The scheme is plagued by 

slow pace of bank sanctions and 

delay in disbursement of margin 

money,” Ministry of MSME 

said in a note to the finance 

ministry. Margin money claims 

are submitted by the financing 

bank to the nodal branches 

immediately after the release 

of first installment to enable 

disbursement to the beneficiaries’ 

TDR (term deposit) account 

within one month. However, 

In 2014, domestic deal volumes had 

gone up significantly at around $19 billion 

with a number of big ticket transactions 

such as Sun Pharma-Ranbaxy and 

Kotak Bank-ING Vysya deals among others, 

but the case was different this year as 

it saw only $7.3 billion of domestic M&A 

transactions. 

Though both inbound and outbound 

M&As witnessed an uptrend in 2015, 

they could not make up for the sharp fall 

in domestic deal activities. 

According to global deal tracking firm 

Mergermarket, technology firms attracted 

an unprecedented level of activity in 

2015 with 80 deals compared to just 45 

in 2014, and with the value increasing to 

$5.1 billion as against $5 billion. 

Other sectors that were highly active 

include transport and energy, mining 

and utilities. Going ahead, the pipeline is 

looking strong for 2016. 

“In 2015, inbound deals dominated 

the Indian M&A landscape with interest 

coming from US, German and Canadian 

bidders. As the country’s economy 

shows slow but steady growth, this trend 

is likely to continue as companies seek 

Govt’s job creation programme 

hit by slow bank funding 

it generally takes two-three 

months for disbursement of 

margin money. In regional and 

Gramin banks, the average time 

is even more, it said. 

“The bank had taken collateral 

as well as credit guarantee 

from the beneficiary. None of 

the beneficiaries were, however, 

willing to state these 

facts in writing for the fear of 

bank cancelling their loan,” 

according to the note which 

was shared with banks. The 

maximum cost of the project 

admissible under manufacturing 

sector is Rs 25 lakh and 

business/services sector is Rs 

10 lakh. The security is the assets 

created out of the bank’s 

finance and personal guarantee 

of the proprietor or promoter. 

And no collateral security 

is required up to Rs 5 lakh. 

Eligible units will be covered 

under Credit Guarantee Fund 

scheme for Micro and small 

Enterprises (CGMSE). 

growth in one of the largest and fastest 

growing Asian-Pacific markets,” according 

to Kirsty Wilson, Global Research 

Editor and Anjali Piramal, Global Head of 

Content Development at Mergermarket. 

Sectorwise, energy deals are likely to 

continue with large companies like Finland-based 

Fortum looking to reinvest in 

higher-risk energy markets after a series 

of divestments. 

Financial services is a sector which 

has been seeing some momentum, especially 

in insurance and micro-finance. 

This is likely to continue next year, as per 

Mergermarket. 

According to Vikram Hosangady - 

Partner and Head, Deal Advisory at KPMG 

Mumbai, Dec 25: A major 

concern of Reserve Bank 

Governor Raghuram Rajan 

has been the slow transmission 

of policy rates by banks 

to their customers. Since 

the rate reduction cycle that 

commenced in January, less 

than half of the cumulative 

policy repo rate reduction of 

125 bps has been transmitted 

by banks, he says. For 

borrowers, the median base 

lending rate has declined 

only by 60 bps though many 

banks slashed deposit rates 

by up to 125-150 points. 

The RBI has been urging 

banks to pass on the benefit 

arising from repo rate cut 

to borrowers but with little 

success. The central bank 

then decided to change the 

structure of calculation of 

lending rate. In short, it followed 

the motto: change 

the system if the system 

in India, “The 20-month old government 

has undertaken several initiatives to 

make India an attractive investment destination 

with the Prime Minister having 

travelled to several countries garnering 

interest among foreign investors. 

The ‘Make in India’ initiative that 

seeks to convert India into a global manufacturing 

hub has gained significant visibility 

among overseas investors.” 

Moreover, the measures announced 

by the Reserve Bank for building up currency 

reserves and curtailing inflation 

did play a key role in helping the country 

tide through the external uncertainties, 

Hosangady added. 

Echoing similar sentiments, PwC India 

Partner & Leader - Private Equity and 

Transaction Services, Sanjeev Krishan 

said M&A numbers are expected to be 

much better in 2016. 

“I believe that regulation changes like 

new bankruptcy law will drive another 

wave of domestic consolidation in the 

Indian market. Likewise as the Government 

continues to focus on creating a facilitating 

business environment, inbound 

investors are expected to start looking at 

doesn’t work. The Marginal 

Cost of Funds based Lending 

Rate (MCLR) announced 

by the RBI last week is not 

only expected to improve 

the transmission of policy 

rates into the lending rates 

of banks, but also set to improve 

transparency in the 

methodology followed by 

banks for determining interest 

rates. 

Bankers say the RBI is 

expected to ensure availability 

of bank credit at interest 

rates which are fair 

to the borrowers as well 

as banks. Further, RBI says 

marginal cost pricing of 

loans will help banks become 

more competitive 

and enhance their long run 

value and contribution to 

economic growth. 

For monetary transmission 

to happen, lending 

rates have to be sensitive 

to the policy rate. Currently, 

banks follow different 

methodologies for computing 

their base rate, the minimum 

lending rate. While 

some use the average cost 

of funds method, some have 

adopted the marginal cost 

of funds while others use 

the blended cost of funds 

(liabilities) method. The RBI 

deduced that Base Rates 

based on marginal cost of 

funds are more sensitive to 

changes in the policy rates. 

“While these (MCLR) guidelines 

will benefit the new 

customers, existing customers 

will also have an option 

to shift to the new regime 

with some conditions. Sufficient 

time has been given 

to banks to switch over to 

the new regime. We have 

moved closer to international 

manner of benchmark 

rates,” SBI chief Arundhati 

India positively and this should help.” 

Krishan believes outbound M&A 

pickup may take a little longer, but on an 

overall basis he was “very positive that 

overall M&A activity in 2016 would be 

near the 2014 levels.” 

Sectorwise, infrastructure, e-commerce, 

pharmaceutical, healthcare and 

technology are key sectors that will gain 

the attention of investors. 

With regard to inbound deal activities, 

the investors will most likely hail 

from the US, UK and Japan as they have 

both the deal appetite and capacity to 

take advantage of India’s huge growth 

potential, experts said. 

“With inflation in control and GDP 

growth being revised to now end higher 

than anticipated, all the necessary ingredients 

seem to be in place for growth in 

deal activity as well,” Grant Thornton India 

LLP partner Prashant Mehra said. 

Mehra further added that the recent 

FDI norms and the much awaited GST 

will perhaps be a game changer and 

will further accelerate the deal activity 

from an inbound investment, domestic 

M&A and PE perspective. 

Rajan sets new rules for a faster, 

transparent rate transmission 

Bhattacharya said. 

How it works 

All rupee denominated 

loans from April 1, 2016 will 

be linked to MCLR which 

will be calculated by banks 

on a monthly basis. Unlike 

the current base rate system, 

MCLR will be a tenor 

linked internal benchmark, 

which addresses major inefficiencies 

of the current 

system. 

Banks will review and 

publish their MCLR of different 

maturities every month 

on a pre-announced date. 

The RBI has prescribed 

that banks should publish 

the internal benchmark 

for maturities: Overnight, 

one-month, 3 -month, 

6-month and one-year 

MCLR. Banks will publish 

their MCLR of different 

maturities every month on 

a pre-announced date. 

Centre planning 

to replace RGESS 

with more ‘flexible’ 

equity scheme 

New Delhi, Dec 25: The 

government is planning to 

replace the Rajiv Gandhi Equity 

Savings Scheme that has failed 

to attract investors, with a new 

scheme, a finance ministry 

official said. The new scheme 

is aimed at boosting retail 

investors participation in the 

equity market, and it will be 

much more flexible than the 

Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings 

Scheme, the official claimed. 

“The existing Rajiv Gandhi 

equity scheme has been a failure. 

We are working on a new 

scheme. There are a number of 

suggestions to make it flexible 

and attractive from taxation 

viewpoint,” the official said. 

The government is examining 

a proposal to provide 

tax exemption to new equity 

investors for investment up to 

Rs 25,000 per year in systematic 

investment plans of equity 

mutual funds for three years. 

This will be over and above 

the Rs 1,50,000 tax exemption 

that is currently available. The 

finance ministry is expected 

to announce the new scheme, 

which is being finalised, in the 

Budget 2016-17. 

Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings 

Scheme was announced 

by the then finance minister 

Pranab Mukherjee in the FY13 

Budget to encourage flow of 

savings in financial instruments 

and improve the depth 

of domestic capital market. 

The scheme allows for income 

tax deduction of 50 per cent 

to new retail investors, who 

invest up to Rs 50,000 directly 

in equities and whose annual 

income is below Rs 12 lakh per 

annum. The scheme has a lockin 

period of 3 years. Tax benefits 

under the scheme can be 

availed of for three consecutive 

years. Corpus of the scheme is 

invested in companies in the 

list of CNX-100 of NSE and BSE- 

100. Investment can also be in 

done in units of mutual funds, 

exchange traded funds, new 

fund offers that are compliant 

with the equity scheme. 

Afghan, Taliban forces trade 

blows in Sangin battle 

Kabul, Dec 25: Afghan special forces 

troops are locked in an intense battle 

with Taliban fighters in Afghanistan’s 

strategic Sangin district, after 

re-taking some government buildings 

from the armed group, officials 

said. 

At least 20 civilians have been 

killed during the past 24 hours of 

fighting, local council officials told 

Al Jazeera on Friday morning. 

The fight for control of the town 

in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand 

province has raged for days, with 

both sides claiming to have the upper 

hand. 

The most recent battle on Friday 

morning was taking place around 

the town’s central bazaar, said Al 

Jazeera’s Qais Azimy, reporting from 

the provincial capital of Lashkar 

Gah. 

“The government [fighters] have 

been able to get control of the police 

headquarters and the district chief’s 

office,” he said. 

Our correspondent said that 

about 100 Afghan special forces soldiers 

are believed to have dropped 

into the Sangin some time on Thursday 

and that they were now waiting 

for reinforcements and supplies to 

be trucked in. 

“They are desperately looking to 

open the road between Lashkar Gah 

and Sangin so they can supply the 

soldiers there,” he said. 

“But they are facing difficulties 

on the 70km stretch of road. There 

are a lot of improvised explosive 

devices and mines that have been 

placed by the Taliban, which makes 

it hard to travel. And they are facing 

ambushes as well.” 

He added that several hundred 

civilian families are believed to still 

be in Sangin, mainly those who 

could not afford to leave. 

While not confirming that they 

had lost control of the police headquarters, 

a Taliban spokesman told 

Al Jazeera acknowledged that the 

special forces troops had won some 

ground in Sangin. 

Afghan forces in Sangin have 

been supported by US aircraft, 

which carried out two attacks in the 

district on Wednesday, and British 

forces, which have been deployed to 

Helmand. 

The UK Ministry of Defence said 

on Tuesday that British troops had 

been deployed to the province to 

support local forces after the Afghan 

defence minister called for a desperate 

international support and air 

cover. 

This month marks a year since 

the US-led NATO mission in Afghanistan 

transitioned into an Afghanled 

operation, with allied nations 

assisting in training local forces. 

Two arrested over suicide 

terror plot in Indonesia 

Jakarta, Dec 25: Indonesian 

police said Friday they have 

arrested two men, including 

a member of China`s Uighur 

minority, allegedly involved 

in a planned New Year suicide 

attack in Jakarta. 

Police arrested an Indonesian, 

named as Arif 

Hodayatullah, near the capital 

for driving a car without 

a licence plate and found 

several books about bombmaking 

inside the vehicle, 

according to a document 

seen by AFP. 

An anti-terror squad 

raided his house in West 

Java, where they arrested 

a Uighur, identified only as 

Alli, and confiscated a suicide 

vest and material to assemble 

a bomb. 

“We also found a design 

(of where the attack would 

be carried out), but we have 

only found one, we need to 

investigate more,” national 

police spokesman Anton 

Charliyan said late Thursday. 

The arrests come at a 

time of heightened alert after 

police arrested several 

other suspected extremists. 

On Monday police in 

Java arrested five suspects 

from a cell linked to the 

Islamic State group, and 

four from one linked to the 

Jemaah Islamiyah terror 

network, responsible for 

several major attacks in Indonesia. 

The country is deploying 

more than 150,000 military 

and police personnel during 

the Christmas and New Year 

period and has increased 

security at its airports after 

a threat was directed at one 

serving Jakarta. 

A police source, who declined 

to be named, said Alli 

was believed to be a bombmaker 

and was chosen to 

carry out the suicide attack. 

Hodayatullah told police 

he was instructed by a man 

named Bahrunnaim, a militant 

residing in Syria, to 

help Indonesians wishing 

to join the IS group. 

Clash with Kurdish fighters 

kills seven: Turkish army 

Turkey, Dec 25: Turkish troops killed six 

Kurdish militants in a clash in the restive 

southeast and one of three soldiers wounded 

in the firefight died in hospital, the armed 

forces said in a statement on Friday. 

Since a two-year ceasefire between 

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants 

and Ankara fell apart in July, the mainly 

Kurdish southeast has been plunged back 

into a three-decades-old conflict which has 

killed more than 40,000 people. 

The latest clash erupted on Thursday 

evening in the town of Cizre, near the Syrian 

border, which has witnessed intense fighting 

since a round-the-clock curfew was declared 

there and in the nearby town of Silopi 

near the Iraqi border 12 days ago. 

Further north in the region’s largest city 

of Diyarbakir, part of which is also under 

curfew, three Kurdish rebels were killed in 

clashes with police on Thursday, according 

to security sources. 

According to data from the pro-Kurdish 

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), at least 38 

civilians have been killed during the latest 

security force operations, backed by tanks 

and thousands of troops. State media says 

168 PKK militants have been killed. 

Since the PKK launched its insurgency 

in 1984, fighting has been largely focused in 

the countryside, but the latest conflict has 

been focused in urban areas, where the PKK 

youth wing has set up barricades and dug 

trenches to keep security forces out. 

The PKK is designated a terrorist group 

by Turkey, the United States and the European 

Union. Ankara launched a peace 

process with the group’s jailed leader Abdullah 

Ocalan in late 2012 but the talks 

ground to a halt early this year. 

China to okay controversial anti-terror 

law, Obama raises concern 

Beijing, Dec 25: China is set to pass its 

controversial new anti-terrorism law 

on Sunday, the largely rubber-stamp 

parliament said on Friday, despite US 

criticism about its cyber provisions and 

concerns over human rights. 

The draft law, which could require 

technology firms to install “back doors” 

in products or hand over sensitive information 

such as encryption keys to the 

government, has also been criticised by 

some Western business groups. 

US President Barack Obama has 

said that he had raised concern about 

the law directly with Chinese President 

Xi Jinping. 

In a brief statement, China’s National 

People’s Congress said it would 

hold a news briefing on Sunday to talk 

about the law, following the end of parliament’s 

latest law-making session. 

Parliament does not challenge or 

block legislation proposed by the ruling 

Communist Party, meaning it is certain 

to pass. 

This week, the US State Department 

said it had expressed “serious concerns” 

about the law which it said would do 

more harm than good against the threat 

of terrorism. 

China’s Foreign Ministry hit back, 

saying technology companies had nothing 

to fear and the US had no right to 

intervene. 

On Thursday, the US Embassy took 

the unusual step of issuing Christmas 

security warnings for Westerners in 

Sanlitun, a popular Beijing diplomatic 

and entertainment district. Chinese police 

stepped up patrols, though no specific 

threat has been reported. 

China’s official Xinhua news agency, 

in an English-language commentary, 

said the US should stop harping on 

about the law and help Beijing fight terrorism 

instead. 

“It is always the innocent people 

that fall victim to terrorism and extremism, 

and that is why the Chinese 

government is taking concrete actions 

to protect its people, including ordinary 

Americans enjoying Christmas in Beijing’s 

Sanlitun,” it said. 

Officials in Washington have argued 

the law, combined with new draft 

banking and insurance rules and a slew 

of anti-trust investigations, amounts to 

unfair regulatory pressure targeting foreign 

companies. 

China’s national security law adopted 

in July requires all key network infrastructure 

and information systems to 

be “secure and controllable”. 

Indonesian ferry 

accident death 

toll climbs to 63 

Jakarta, Dec 25: The death toll 

from a ferry disaster in central 

Indonesia has risen to 63 with a 

handful of people still missing 

as the search and rescue operation 

winds down, an official 

said on Friday. 

Search and rescue agency 

chief Bambang Soelistyo said as 

of Friday morning 103 passengers 

aboard the ill-fated boat 

had been recovered, with just 

40 found alive. 

“If the information is correct, 

we are still searching for 15 

other missing people,” Soelistyo 

told AFP, adding that all the 

bodies found so far were within 

the search area.


HEALTH 


Srinagar | Saturday | Friday 

26.12.2015 06.11.2015 

36 

New robotic arm paints while you eat 

Scientists from Imperial College London 

have developed computer software that 

enables a person to control a robotic 

arm to paint a picture using just the 

movement of their eyes. 

The researchers say the technology 

demonstrates a potential use for robots to 

help people extend their range of abilities 

and do more than one task at a time. 

At the college’s Brain and Behavior Lab, 

engineers have taken a robotic arm and 

devised a system for it to be used as an extension 

of the human body. 

Instead of following a set of computer 

commands, the robot arm is guided by a 

tracker that follows the direction of the eyes, 

with an algorithm translating the path of the 

user’s gaze into commands that control the 

robotic arm. 

On Wednesday (October 14), in what the 

team says was quite possibly a world first, 

a researcher used the technology to paint 

a picture while simultaneously eating a 

croissant and drinking coffee. Post graduate 

student Sabine Dziemian said the intuitive 

computer program meant that even when 

her hands were otherwise occupied she 

could still accurately control the robotic arm. 

“In general it’s very intuitive because 

I don’t have to think about commands or 

something like this. I simply think about 

where I want to draw or which color I want 

to take. And by thinking, a person usually 

looks at that color. So I also then look at that 

color and the robot goes there because it 

detects my eye movements and where I’m 

looking, and it has the co-ordinates exactly 

so it goes there directly. So I don’t have to 

think a lot about this when I’m controlling 

it,” said Dziemian. 

The resulting painting is, admittedly, 

rudimentary. But the exercise demonstrates 

how the technology could be implemented 

into everyday life to literally give users an 

extra pair of hands. 

Led by Dr Aldo Faisal from the Departments 

of Computing and Bioengineering, the 

researchers developed sophisticated computer 

software to decode the eye movements 

of the user into actions. “Six years ago we 

started to look at eye movements. It’s a very 

natural, intuitive means by which we can 

operate devices. And so over the course of 

the years we developed systems that decode 

our intention of action from our eye movements. 

So you can imagine, for example, 

when you want to grab a cup; you will look 

at that cup before you grab it. And you will 

look in a specific way so you can judge where 

it is and how wide you have to shape your 

grip. And so we’re developing algorithms that 

decode this intention from eye movement 

and we’re then translating them into action,” 

Dr Faisal told the media.The technology 

could have a massive impact on the lives of 

people suffering from debilitating conditions 

like multiple sclerosis, Amyotrophic Lateral 

Sclerosis, or Parkinson’s Disease. Faisal said 

the next step is to “augment” the body so 

that everyone can multi-task with the aid 

of eye-controlled robotics.“Now we’re not 

just talking about restorations of the body, 

but really about augmentation of the body. 

So, we are developing technology that is not 

only helpful in restoring the ability of people 

to move, but really technology that can give 

even able-bodied people an extra pair of 

hands; and extra pair of arms,” he said. 

Cheese is as addictive 

as drugs: Study 

For years, you’ve been telling 

your friends, family, co-workers 

and anyone who will listen that 

you’re addicted to cheese. It’s a 

part of every meal or snack and 

you think about it constantly. According 

to a new study from the 

University of Michigan, cheese 

crack is a real thing. And so is 

your addiction. 

The study, published in the 

US National Library of Medicine, 

examines why certain foods 

are more addictive than others. 

Researchers identified addictive 

foods from about 500 students 

who completed the Yale Food 

Addiction Scale, designed to 

measure if someone has a food 

addiction. 

Pizza, unsurprisingly, came 

out on top of the most addictive 

food list. Besides being a basic 

food group for kids, college students 

and adults, there’s a scientific 

reason we all love pizza, and 

it has to do with the cheese. 

The study found certain foods 

are addictive because of the way 

they are processed. The more 

processed and fatty the food, 

the more it was associated with 

addictive eating behaviours. 

Cheese happens to be especially 

addictive because of an 

ingredient called casein, a protein 

found in all milk products. 

During digestion, casein releases 

opiates called casomorphins. 

Protein breakfast helps 

teenagers cut calories 

E 

ating a high-protein breakfast containing 

35 grams of protein may 

help overweight teens who skip 

breakfast stabilise their blood sugar 

and eat fewer calories without feeling 

hungry. The key to eating 35 grams of 

protein is to consume a combination of 

high-quality proteins including milk, 

eggs, lean meats, and Greek yogurt, researchers 

say. 

“This study examined if the type 

of breakfast consumed can improve 

weight management in young people 

who habitually skip breakfast,” says 

Heather Leidy, assistant professor of 

nutrition and exercise physiology at 

the University of Missouri. 

“Generally, people establish eating 

behaviors during their teen years. If 

teens are able to develop good eating 

habits now, such as eating breakfast, 

it’s likely to continue the rest of their 

lives.” 

For the study, published in the 

Journal of Obesity, researchers fed 

two groups of overweight teens, who 

reported skipping breakfast between 

five and seven times a week, either 

normal-protein breakfast meals or 

high-protein breakfast meals. A third 

group of teens continued to skip breakfast 

for 12 weeks. 

400 fewer calories 

“The group of teens who ate 

high-protein breakfasts reduced their 

daily food intake by 400 calories and 

lost body fat mass, while the groups 

who ate normal-protein breakfast or 

continued to skip breakfast gained additional 

body fat,” Leidy says. 

“These results show that when individuals 

eat a high-protein breakfast, 

they voluntarily consume less food the 

rest of the day. In addition, teens who 

ate high-protein breakfast had more 

stable glucose levels than the other 

groups.” Large fluctuations in glucose 

levels are associated with an increased 

risk of Type 2 diabetes among young 

people, which can make health complications 

associated with weight gain 

more intense. 

Participants in the groups were 

instructed to report feelings of hunger 

and their daily intakes of food and 

beverages. Their body weight and body 

composition were measured at the beginning 

and end of the 12-week period. 

In addition, the participants wore a 

device that assessed minute-to-minute 

glucose levels throughout the day. 

How soon will man get to Mars? 

Fiction and reality are intertwining, 

as humanity edges closer to 

launching a manned mission to 

Mars.Before the International 

Space Station crew enjoyed their 

advanced screening of The Martian, a film 

about an astronaut stranded on Mars, 

the story’s novelist Andy Weir attended a 

Nasa event in which administrator Charles 

Bolden said we are now closer than ever to 

setting foot on the Red Planet. 

“We are farther down the path to 

sending humans to Mars than at any point 

in Nasa’s history,” Bolden said at Nasa HQ 

in Washington D.C. on Thursday. “We have 

a lot of work to do to get humans to Mars, 

but we’ll get there.” 

At the event, the space agency’s 

personnel discussed details of the Mars 

mission, including the development of the 

Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch 

System megarocket, the most powerful 

Exercise 

reduces suicide 

attempts 

among bullied 

teenagers 

launch vehicle to date. The two will fly 

together as part of an unmanned test 

flight in 2018. 

Some preliminary work will be 

conducted by Nasa’s next Mars Rover, to 

be launched in 2020. The rover will carry 

the Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment, or 

MOXIE, which turns carbon dioxide from 

the Martian atmosphere into breathable 

As schools continue to reduce physical 

education classes, recess timings and 

athletic programmes, a new study shows 

that regular exercising significantly 

reduces both suicidal thoughts and attempts 

among students who are bullied. 

Using data from the CDC’s National Youth 

Risk Behavior Survey of 13,583 high school students, 

researchers at the University of Vermont 

found that being physically active for four or 

more days per week resulted in a 23 per cent 

reduction in suicidal ideation and attempts in 

bullied students. Nearly 20 per cent of students 

reported being bullied on school property. 

Previous studies have shown that exercise 

has positive effects on various mental health 

measures. This is the first, however, to show a 

link between physical activity and a reduction 

in suicidal thoughts and attempts by bullied 

students, who are also at increased risk for poor 

oxygen and carbon monoxide. In addition 

to allowing humans on Mars to breathe, 

the oxygen could also be used as fuel for 

the flight home. 

“We’re going to make oxygen on another 

planet – the first time ever to make 

oxygen on another planet,” said NASA deputy 

administrator Dava Newman. “These 

experiments — they’re real, they’re here.” 

Nasa projects that humans will 

arrive on Mars sometime in the 2030s. 

The journey would involve more than a 

dozen major components, beginning in 

low-Earth orbit in the International Space 

Station, where astronauts recently grew 

and ate lettuce as part of an experiment to 

better understand the production of food 

crops away from Earth. 

The space station allows for a better 

understanding of how the human body 

changes in space and what health risks for 

which to prepare. 

academic performance, low self-esteem, anxiety, 

depression, sadness and substance abuse. 

Overall, 30 per cent of students in the study 

reported feeling sad for two or more weeks in 

the previous year while more than 22 per cent 

reported suicidal ideation and 8.2 per cent reported 

actual suicidal attempts during the same 

time period. Bullied students were twice as 

likely to report sadness and three times as likely 

to report suicidal ideation or attempt when 

compared to peers who were not bullied. 

Exercise on four or more days per week was 

also associated with significant reductions in 

sadness. 

“I was surprised that it was that significant 

and that positive effects of exercise extended to 

kids actually trying to harm themselves,” said 

lead author Jeremy Sibold, associate professor 

and chair of the Department of Rehabilitation 

and Movement Science. 

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

Modi........ Srinagar........ 

for by the Modi, police the throughout two prime the ministers Srinagar boarded city. A huge a helicopter line of vehicles 

were Sharif's seen at ancestral several points residence where at the Raiwind police for were what conduct- 

could 

and 

reached 

be ing a searches round of which talks -- later or more. leads to the heavy traffic jam in those 

areas. Indian From and Karanagar Pakistani officials to Dalgate, did not our reveal vehicle the was likely stopped agenda. at 

three Modi points and by Sharif the police had met for searching,” at the Paris said Climate Mohmad Summit ismaial, on 

November a resident of 30, Karanagar. laying the foundation for a resumption of the 

stalled Security bilateral forces dialogue. have also started keenly monitoring CCTVs 

that Indian are already National installed Security with Adviser the city Ajit to Doval, keep who a close accompanied 

on people. Modi to A large Lahore, number met his of Pakistani security personnel counterpart in civvies in Bangkok have 

watch 

earlier been mobilized this month, within to be the followed city to maintain by External close Affairs eye on Minister people 

Sushma and their Swaraj's activities. visit to Islamabad. 

The Top two police foreign chief secretaries are also holding are set meetings to in with January, their also officials 

the to Pakistani maintain capital. foolproof It is Modi's security first till visit prime to minister Pakistan and is in the 

in 

first state. trip by an Indian prime minister to the country in 11 years. 

Modi's SPG Inspector surprise General visit came of Police nearly T Namgyal 19 months held after a meeting Sharif 

and with other top officials South Asian of police leaders in Jammu were for in stringent New Delhi security for Modi's measures 

taking when in Modi May 2014. is inaugurating phase- II of Baglihar power 

oath 

project Hours in Ramban before he district left for of Lahore, Jammu. Modi addressed the Afghan 

parliament Sources and told blasted KNS that Islamabad IGP Namgyal - but is without visiting naming Kashmir the on 

country November - for 6 sponsoring to take an overview terrorism of in the Afghanistan. security measures. 

"Terror Yesterday, and Director violence cannot General be of the Police, instrument K Rajendra to shape held Af-ghanistan's 

meeting with future top or police dictate officials the choices to review Afghans the security make," Modi mea- 

told sures Afghan for the MPs. visit of Modi prime reached minister. Kabul early on Friday after 

a two-day Modi is visit scheduled to Russia. to address In an obvious a public reference rally here to on Pakistan, November 

7, said besides there inaugurating were "some the who 450-megawatt did not want us Baglihar to be here". Phase II 

Modi 

power "There project were in those Ramban who district saw sinister of the designs state. in our presence 

here. All There top Hurriyat are others leaders who were have been uneasy arrested, at the while strength hundreds of our 

partnership. of activists and Some know even stone tried to pelters discourage detained us." by police from 

early At this the week same time, to thwart Modi the said parallel Pakistan ‘Million must act March’ like program a bridge 

between announced South by Hurriyat Asia and groups. Afghanistan. 

"All Police’s of us cyber in the wing region is also - India, monitoring Pakistan, social Iran and networking others - 

must sites for unite, keeping trust an and eye cooperation, on users who behind promote this the common slogans purpose 

pages and about in recognition ‘Million March’ of our program. common destiny." 

and 

Meanwhile, sources said that bullet-proof luxury cars including 

a customized BMW have reached Jammu Thursday by 

Mufti........ 

train ahead of Modi's visit. (KNS) 

Bilateral Dialogue for peaceful resolution of all issues between 

the India........ 

two countries. 

“This initiative, besides being a great step towards improvement 

He was of bilateral responding relations, to Pakistan's will also envoy give impetus to UN Maleeha to the concept Lodhi 

of raising SAARC,” the he Kashmir added. issue and right of self-determination of the 

Kashmiris in the UN General Assembly's Third Committee debate 

on rights of people to self-determination. 

Omar........ 

In her statement to the committee, Lodhi had repeated Pakistan's 

call for UNSC relations resolutions have been to be plagued implemented by knee-jerk in the state “Indo-Pakistan reactions 

and said and fulfilling a lack promise of consistency. of self-determination Looking towards the (the) Kashmiri two 

prime people ministers is "indispensable" to correct to this establishing time.” lasting peace and stability 

in South Asia. 

Pak Govt....... 

Cars........ 

sudden stopover in Lahore where he greeted Sharif on his birthday 

urban and hub took of the part separatist in the wedding movement, celebrations also Saturday. of the latter's 

granddaughter. Srinagar authorities have told hardline separatist leader 

Syed After Ali Shah blessing Geelani the bride that their during rally the cannot 90-minute be held. visit to Sharif's 

ancestral Over 200 home separatists, at Raiwind, sympathizers 40 km from and here, known Modi stone-pelters 

New have Delhi. been taken into preventive custody. 

later flew 

to 

Chaudhury Police on Wednesday said that both arrested the leaders Engineer agreed Rashid, to carry an independent 

the peace legislator process from and north broaden Kashmir's bilateral Langate contacts. constituency 

forward 

who “Both was earlier the leaders beaten decided up by BJP to continue legislators the in dialogue the Jammu in the and 

greater Kashmir interest assembly. of people of the two nations,” he said. 

He was arrested in Watergam village of Baramulla district 

Mishaps....... 

where he made a speech asking people to attend the separatist 

rally and stay away from Modi's public meeting on Saturday. 

to Sub Separatist District Hospital leaders including Kulgam wherefrom Geelani, Mirwaiz he was Umer referred Farooq, to 

SKIMS Muhammad Soura for Yasin further Malik, treatment. Shabir Shah, Muhammad Nayeem 

Khan In and another others accident, have been a truck placed collided under with house an arrest. Innova at Levdoora 

Asiya on Srinagar-Jammu Andrabi, chief of highway women's near separatist Qazigund, group, resulting 'Dukhtaran-e-Milat' 

to five (Daughters persons boarding of Faith), the was Innova arrested vehicle. on Tuesday and 

in 

injuries 

lodged All the in a injured women were police shifted station to in Bone Srinagar. and Joint Hospital Srinagar 

for treatment. 

Dailywagers....... 

A motorcycle collided with a car near Sundoo village of 

Kulgam district, resulting in injuries to motorcyclist Bashir Ahmad 

working Najar in and Police a pillion Department Bashir have Ahmad also Chopan, been asked both by residents authorities 

Bangam in Pulwama Shopian. to assemble Both the at injured Police Lines have been on Friday. shifted “We to have the 

of 

Bone been & asked Joint to Hospital ensure Srinagar our presence for treatment. 

Police Lines Pulwama for 

physical fitness test but we are sure that we will also be taken to 

Dy Sher-i-Kashmir CM........ Cricket Stadium to attend Modi’s rally,” said an 

SPO wishing not to be named. (CNS) 

On December 19, another VDC member Kewal Sharma had allegedly 

Geelani....... 

shot dead a National Conference (NC) leader Ishtiyaq 

Ahmed over some altercation in Potha village of Kalakote tehsil 

in & Rajouri Kashmir district. are repeatedly praising the Kashmir policy of BJP 

leader The and opposition former prime parties, minister including of NC India and Atal separatist Bihari Vajpayee parties, 

have and are called creating for disbanding a notion that of VDCs as if in he the had past. done any favor to the 

Kashmiris. 

Geelani........ 

“Vajpayee was not having any extraordinary vision or policy 

about the Kashmir and he used to follow the same RSS policy 

He which alleged Modi that or the Congress PDP-BJP government is following,” is the shielding statement this added. "terrorist 

Geelani group and also are said not that paying the huge any heed military to the presence public is pressure “blocking 

disbanding all our revenue them." avenues by occupying our agriculture and 

for 

orchard "This lands force and is an taking armed away group our natural of selected resources.” criminals and 

fanatic Hurriyat communal (G) chairman minded people Syed Ali and Geelani there said are although that the “Million 

March” cases is officially our democratic registered right against and placing its members restrictions 

196 

criminal but 

there over this no peaceful FIR registered program against reflects the the 450 unjust such thinking incidents of the in 

which authorities. these criminals have committed serious crimes," said 

Geelani. 

Arundhati....... 

The force, he said, was not created out of any real need or 

requirement "but the purpose of its creation was the suppression 

examination” of the Jammu from Muslims the scene and of the since crime, the they communal mean the parties food 

like in the BJP fridge, and RSS not got the direct body of access the lynched of the state man. affairs, they have 

formally We say adopted we have this “progressed”, criminal force but and when have Dalits started are patronizinered 

them." and their children burned alive, which writer today can 

butch- 

freely say, like Babasaheb Ambedkar once did, that “to the untouchables, 

Hinduism is a veritable chamber of horrors”, with- 

Pulwama........ 

out getting attacked, lynched, shot or jailed? Which writer can 

stones write what on security Saadat forces Hasan who Manto retailed wrote with in his shelling “Letters of to teargas Uncle 

and Sam”? pepper gas. Due to shelling one youth, Imtiyaz Ahmad Gojri 

of Pampore It doesn’t was matter injured whether in his right we agree eye,” eyewitnesses or disagree with said. what 

is being The SP said. said If that we do the not police have is the assessing right to the speak situation freely, and we will 

decide turn into tomorrow a society whether that suffers to impose from curfew intellectual or not malnutrition, 

in the town. 

a nation Meanwhile, of fools. Army Across spokesman the subcontinent a statement it has become said that a race it 

killed to the an bottom HM militant, — one that Omais the Ahmad New India Sheikh, has in enthusiastically 

the forested 

area joined. of Ajas Here near too village now, censorship Dudhwan of has Bandipora been outsourced district during to the 

an mob," encounter she wrote. which erupted last evening. 

“One 9mm Chinese Pistol, Magazine and 8 rounds along 

with other war like stores were recovered from the sight of encounter,” 

the spokesman said, adding the search is underway in 

Director....... 

the area. (KNS) 

who has to take the charge,” he said. 

Responding to a question, former Health Minister and senior 

Congress Ganga leader Taj Mohiuddin kick said starts that a Health Minister 

easily manages times to redress the complaints of patients and 

attendants. construction “The complainants whether work they are patients of or attendants 

find it difficult to contact Chief Minister. It will not only 

be easy for them but for scribes too to access Health Minister in 

RCC Bridge 

case of any complaint. In fact, there is lack of accountability in 

SKIMS and on daily basis, attendants talk about the mismanagement 

in the SKIMS,” he said. (CNS) 

Jammu, Dec 25: Minister for Industries and Commerce Chander 

Parkash today kick started the construction work on the 

RCC Bridge at Parmandal Morh. The 10m span bridge will be 

constructed DC at Kupwara an estimated cost of Rs 60 reviews 

lakh. 

The Minister also inspected the progress of ongoing blacktopping 

of Rural 2-km stretch Dev of road from schemes 

Daata Ranpat Dev temple 

to Kaluchak Parmandal being upgraded at the estimated cost 

of Kupwara, Rs 70 Lakh. Nov 5: District Development Commissioner, Kupwara 

The 

K. 

Minister 

R. Ranjan 

said 

today 

that 

convened 

strengthening 

a meeting 

and 

of 

up-gradation 

officers and executing 

of 

road network 

agencies 

throughout 

of Rural Development 

the state is 

Department 

one of the top-most 

to review 

priorities of the Coalition Government and within the last 10 

the progress achieved in all CD blocks. Additional District Development 

Commissioner Kupwara M. M. Gasi, Assistant Com- 

months hundreds of km of road have been black topped with 

improved specifications to ensure better riding surface and durabilitymissioner 

Development ,District Panchayat officer, all BDOs and 

REW 

Highlighting 

agencies were 

the 

present 

importance 

in the 

of 

meeting. 

Daata Ranpat Dev temple to 

Kaluchak The ADDC, Parmandal highlighted Road, the the Minister progress said achieved that upgradation under Rural 

of Development this road provides schemes. easy It access was informed to thousands that of the pilgrims department that 

come has issued to pay 94235 obeisance job cards at this to rural temple labour annually. in all 24 He CD instructed blocks of 

the executing district Kupwara agency while to complete as 68845 the mandays work within were the generated stipulated 

till October, time and 2015. ensure quality of work strictly as per the new 

specifications. The District Development Commissioner, impressed upon 

the Later, concerned the Minister agencies also for maintaining inaugurated the culvert norms construction and works 

project to be completed at Dbuj, Ramgarh within the being stipulated constructed time frame at an so estimated that rural 

population Rs 3.75 lakh is under able to convergence get the benefits plan. of the schemes of the 

cost 

department. Earlier, the He Minister sought detailed attended estimates, a Christmas proposals function and organized 

done sheets by the from Christian the BDOs Welfare so that Association the on-going Bari and Brahmana, completed 

work 

Samba works are where inspected the Minister by the third congratulated party for certification. the community on 

the occasion. Taking stock of the progress under’ Indira Awas Yojna (IAY) 

the meeting was informed that an amount of Rs.1.60 crore were 

utilized Give and 125 proof low cost houses of were anti-party 

constructed up to October, 

2015 through RDD and under Swach Bharat Mission Rs.3.46 

crore 

activities: 

stand utilized on execution 

Azad 

of 2757 

to 

works 

Shah 

under Panchay 

schemes. 

Ganga attends Annual 

New Delhi, Dec 25: BJP MP Kirti Azad, suspended for attacking 

finance minister Arun Jaitley, on Friday wrote to party chief 

Amit Shah demanding proof of his ‘anti-party activities’ while 

maintaining Conference that he remains a “loyal party of soldier”. State 

The three-time Darbhanga MP also noted that the suspension 

letter served on him made no mention of the “DDCA corruption”, 

over Textile which he had Ministers 

targeted Jaitley, saying it made 

him believe that BJP has nothing to do with this matter and it is 

purely New Delhi, out of Nov its purview. 5: Annual Conference of State Textile Ministers 

“In was all held fairness here and on Wednesday. in keeping The with Conference the tenets was of equity, chaired I 

look by Union forward Minister to being of State provided for Textiles an opportunity (Independent to clear charge), my 

name Santosh on Kumar the serious Gangwar charges and of Minister having acted for Industries against the and party’s Commerce 

Chander Prakash Ganga participated in the conference. 

interests. 

“I While request addressing you to kindly the conference, provide me the at Minister the earliest said instances the state 

and of Jammu proof that and I Kashmir have indulged has rich in tradition anti-party of activities handicrafts, so handlooms, 

clear silk the and air wool and provide production you and with the answers government to your is trying satis- 

that I 

can 

faction, to attract confirming investment that in I textile have neither parks. acted against the party’s 

constitution He said nor the against handicrafts the interests industry of in our J&K party,” is an he important wrote to 

Shah. sector contributing to economy of the state and allied sectors 

like Citing handloom the party’s have considerable charge that he role brought in terms BJP of and income its officebearereration 

into and disrepute employment with creation. actions and He that said he state’s colluded handicraft with 

gen- 

Congress products and have AAP, earned Azad global insisted acclaim that he for has their been exquisite a loyal designs, solider 

of craftsmanship BJP since 1993 and when functional he was utility, elected adding as an that MLA the from woollen New 

Delhi and silken assembly carpets seat. of the state remain unparalleled on the national 

“There and international has not been scene a single for quality instance and of design. blemish in my 

association While speaking with BJP on which the occasion, has given Ganga me every said the opportunity institutes 

to like work Craft within Development the party Institute, constitution. Indian I reiterate Institute that of Carpet I remain 

Technology, a loyal National BJP worker Institute and have of Fashion no intention Technology of causing and 

embarrassment Weaver Service to Centre my party are functional or to indulge state in anti-party but still a activities 

needs to as be my done 23 years for the of benefit unblemished of workforce record engaged in the party in the 

lot 

will handicrafts testify,” and he said. handloom sector.

7 

SRINAGAR,SATURDAY 


S 

P 

O 

R 

T 

S 

Woakes 

confirmed 

to replace 

injured 

Anderson 

Alastair Cook has confirmed 

that Chris Woakes 

will replace the injured 

James Anderson and that 

Alex Hales will make his 

debut in the Boxing Day 

Test in Durban. 

Cook backed Woakes 

to prove how much 

he has developed as a 

cricketer. While accepting 

the loss of Anderson was 

“huge,” Cook said that 

Woakes’s selection would 

strengthen the batting 

and that he had shown 

he was well equipped to 

deal with the pressure of 

international cricket. 

“He’s ready to go 

now,” Cook said. “He’s 

learned his trade and 

it’s about him delivering 

now on the big stage for 

England. 

“He can do it. I know 

it a Twenty20 game, but 

that 40-odd he got in 

Sharjah under pressure 

to see his side home... he 

does it for Warwickshire 

a lot. He’s desperate to 

be given opportunities. 

“It’s been quite hard 

for him to get in the 

side because of the way 

that Jimmy Anderson 

and Stuart Broad have 

remained so fit and 

how long they’ve been 

around. This is a great 

opportunity and he’s a 

really good cricketer.” 

Hales, meanwhile, 

is set to become Cook’s 

eighth opening partner 

in Tests since the 

retirement of Andrew 

Strauss after the 2012 

series against South 

Africa. Instead of letting 

the occasion get to him, 

Cook has urged Hales to 

play his natural game as 

England seek to achieve 

“something very special” 

in the coming weeks. 

Hales had impressed 

as a limited-overs opening 

batsman but, after 

starting the 2015 County 

Championship with 

some high scores, he 

convinced the selectors 

that he had the skills 

required for the longer 

format. Hales made 236 

against Yorkshire, the 

champions, in April, and 

hit 141 against Hampshire 

a week later. Another big 

century in August - 189 

against Warwickshire - 

reiterated that he was 

ready for Tests. 

“It’s absolutely vital 

he plays the way he plays 

for Nottinghamshire,” 

Cook said. “One of the 

biggest mistakes you can 

do as an international 

player is to think you 

have to play a different 

way. 

Not easy to forgive after all: PCB Chief says 

he will address players’ concerns over Amir 

But we are willing to discuss the matter 

with only the PCB Chairman, he said. 

Hafeez also made his feelings clear he 

didn’t want to return to the camp till the 

tainted bowler was there. 

Karachi: Pakistan Cricket Board chairman 

Shaharyar Khan has tried to diffuse the 

crisis by talking to senior players Muhammad 

Hafeez and Azhar Ali over their refusal 

to attend the national camp in Lahore with 

tainted left arm pacer Muhammad Amir. 

“I have already had discussions with some 

players on Amir’s issues and we have tried to 

address concerns. I will again talk to Hafeez 

and Azhar and sort out this matter,” Khan 

said. 

Pakistan’s national one-day captain Azhar Ali 

told Geo News channel that they don’t want 

to take part in a camp which includes Amir. 

PCB Chief Shaharyar Khan. 

“But we are willing to discuss the matter 

with only the PCB Chairman,” he said. 

Hafeez also made his feelings clear he didn’t 

want to return to the camp till the tainted 

bowler was there. 

According to details Hafeez and Azhar reported 

for the camp in the morning session 

did their individual training and then left the 

camp. 

“They informed head coach Waqar Younis 

about their concerns about training with 

Amir and went home,” one source confirmed 

to PTI. 

PANAJI: The disciplinary committee of the All 

India Football Federation (AIFF) is expected to 

come down hard on ISL franchise FC Goa after 

the match commissioner urged action “to 

save Indian football from being taken hostage 

by a few people.” 

AK Mamukoya, who was the match commissioner 

for Sunday’s calamitous Indian 

Super League (ISL) final clash between FC Goa 

and Chennaiyin FC at the Nehru Stadium in 

Fatorda, has submitted an explosive twopage 

report to the AIFF that possibly seals all 

escape routes for the Goan franchise. 

“The image of Indian football has been 

jeopardized as a whole due to irresponsible 

and illogical behaviour of some officials of 

FC Goa that brought disrepute to the game of 

football in India,” the match commissioner 

wrote in his report to the AIFF. 

Hafeez and Azhar with some other players 

reported for the camp on Thursday morning 

since they were busy playing the Quaid-e- 

Azam trophy in Karachi this week. The camp 

has been set up for the tour to New Zealand 

in January. 

Shaharyar to a question said that if the players 

didn’t understand the PCB’s viewpoint 

than the authorities would look at other 

options. 

“They are centrally contracted players and 

Serena Williams celebrated 

season of epic proportions 

Serena Williams, that peerless tennis 

player of our generation, is sport’s 

outsider. She will continue to remain 

one as long as a male-dominated society’s 

perceptions on race and gender, 

body-shape and femininity continue to 

be what they are - medieval, suspicious 

and outright chauvinistic. But does that 

bother Serena somewhere? One has 

little clue; getting into the head of the 

33-year-old would be one of the most 

satisfying jobs of making a living out 

of writing on sports and the people 

who make it worthwhile - at times 

even more meaningful than learning 

the secret behind Federer’s artistry or 

Guardiola’s geometry. 

Being your own person, that 

too if you are a woman and black at 

that, has always been difficult for the 

masters of society to take. Accepting 

Serena for what she is, is an exercise 

outside of the rigid norms established 

by them, a reluctant giving away that 

comes with a sneering at her ‘audacity’. 

For them to accept her true, 

genuine greatness is a battle she has 

always found herself fighting, a battle 

usually greater than quelling the challenge 

from across the net. Despite the 

Double the fun as Paes, Mirza won 

multiple Slams in 2015 

Sania Mirza and Leander Paes 

won 5 Grand Slam doubles titles 

between them, with Martina Hingis 

as the common link. In the singles, 

Yuki Bhambri entering top-100 was 

the only talking point. 

Indo-Swiss collaboration was the 

flavour of the season; it worked like 

a dream for two of our biggest tennis 

icons - the path-breaking Sania 

Mirza and the evergreen Leander 

Paes. With Martina Hingis as the 

common link, they lifted five Grand 

Slam doubles trophies in 2015. 

Sania’s run to the summit of 

women’s doubles gathered steam 

when she teamed up with Martina 

in March following a failed partnership 

with Taipei girl Hsieh Su-wei. 

The duo swept through the first 

three tournaments they entered, 

catapulting Sania to No. 1. Five quiet 

weeks followed, before Sania and 

Martina got back their mojo. 

sheer, undisputed domination of her 

sport, the acceptance has been grudging 

and always comes with a rider. 

That is why she becomes sport’s 

most impactful performer this year, for 

she forces you to take sides and not just 

merely stay a passionate but unquestioning, 

and ultimately ineffectual lover 

of sport. In their sport, Novak Djokovic 

may have greater numbers this year, a 

sunnier, more acceptable personality 

and with a war-time backstory to recall 

each time. But somewhere Serena’s 

continuing glass-ceiling act, her longevity 

in a sport that keeps getting younger 

and her brave stands against issues of 

race is more enduring. 

In an age, where the male sports 

stars are unapologetically misogynistic 

- the Floyd Mayweathers and Tyson 

Furys rake in millions as if it were loose 

change but continue to utter nonsense 

about women, gays and their roles in 

current-day society - there is Serena, 

effortlessly rejecting every stereotype 

that she is expected to fall in line with, 

and yet, standing up to all that has been 

thrown at her.The story of Serena is the 

story of race and equality in current-day 

modern society. It tells us that perhaps 

July onwards, the No. 1 team 

couldn’t stop winning as they 

triumphed in six of the eight tournaments 

they played in. Among 

little has changed since the race-fuelled 

prejudices of 1960s America. To say she 

is the Muhammad Ali of the present 

generation, is somewhere doing the Civil 

Rights hero a huge reverse honour.Globally, 

while she has been fighting for equal 

pay for women, back home she has been 

vocal about rising police violence against 

blacks, an advocate for prisoners’ rights 

in a US criminal justice system infamous 

for its racial bias. She is usually 

alone in her stands and still that does 

not deter her from using her position as 

the leading athlete out of America over 

the past decade to address issues affecting 

her community and race more 

than any current male athlete has ever 

done, making her a role model across 

genders. 

Ali’s identity as a mass-movement 

prophet during the Civil Rights struggle 

split the idea of Ali right down the 

middle, ultimately making him a 

symbol of struggle and black pride. Yet, 

in the ring, Ali was unique, different 

and brash; he redefined boxing credo 

but very swiftly, a young Ali was 

facing little resistance in being hailed 

as a genuine great from within the 

fraternity. 

their prized collection were two 

Grand Slams (Wimbledon and US 

Open) and the prestigious yearending 

WTA Finals title. It was by 

we can then see if we should take disciplinary 

action against them. But we would like 

this situation to be resolved amicably long 

term,” Khan said. 

A well-informed source in the board told PTI 

the two players had apparently met with the 

PCB chief late night but a deadlock persisted 

before the meeting ended inconclusively. 

The strong stance from Hafeez and Azhar 

comes just one day after the PCB issued a 

long press release pleading with former 

far Sania’s best year - she signed off 

as No. 1 with 10 titles, of which 9 

were won in Hingis’ company. Two 

months before the Sania-Martina 

team took shape, Leander struck 

gold with the Swiss Miss at the 

Australian Open. They missed 

out on the French Open, but Leander 

and Martina maintained 

their mixed doubles mastery at 

Wimbledon and, the US Open 

to collect an unprecedented 

three Grand Slam trophies in a 

year, dropping just one set. Not 

to forget Delhi boy Sumit Nagal’s 

junior boys doubles conquest 

at Wimbledon, though 

that too was achieved with the 

help of a pardesi, Vietnam’s 

Nam Hoang Ly. 

That makes it six Grand Slam wins 

to toast in 2015! What can’t be 

missed though, is that all the half 

dozen titles came in doubles. 

FC Goa’s boycott of the prize distribution 

ceremony, the fracas that ensued after the 

match between FC Goa president Dattaraj 

Salgaocar and Chennaiyin FC captain Elano 

Blumer, besides the ill-treatment of match 

officials has all been covered in detail. 

The match commissioner, though, appeared 

most perturbed that Japanese referee 

Yudai Yamamoto and his two assistants 

were abused in filthy language and threatened 

with physical assault. 

“It may not be out of place to mention 

that referees from other countries may not 

like to travel to India for any of the matches 

held under AIFF in future, as message of ill 

treatment would be known to the world,” 

said Mamukoya. 

The match commissioner said FC Goa coowners 

Shrinivas Dempo and Dattaraj Salgaocar 

- who he knows for long due to their 

association with football - “should have 

calmed down the situation (but) instead became 

part of the undesirable atmosphere.” 

The confrontation between Elano and 

Dattaraj Salgaocar has also found mention. 

“I have seen one player of Chennaiyin 

FC, Elano Blumer (Brazil), was surrounded 

by many players and officials of FC Goa 

who were pushing him. He somehow came 

out of the melee and ran to join his team. 

It was a chaotic scene all around,” said 

Mamukoya, who makes no mention of 

the alleged assault and abuse that led to 

the Brazilian midfielder being arrested by 

Margao police. 

The match commissioner noted how 

referees were tensed after the final, and at 

around 10.30pm when they were ready to 

players, critics and commentators who are 

against allowing Amir back into the national 

team that Islam also calls for forgiveness. 

The PCB in the press release showed its complete 

backing for Amir whose bid to make a 

comeback to the national side was given a 

major boost last week after he was invited 

for the national conditioning camp and also 

picked up in the Pakistan Super League players 

draft. 

Pakistan’s Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq also 

told BBC Urdu service that the Amir issue 

was not an easy one for himself, the players 

or the cricket board. 

“It is not a simple issue. It is a difficult issue 

for everyone. We don’t know what will be 

the reaction of the people when our team 

plays how people will take it. No one knows 

or realizes what will happen if Amir plays,” 

he said. 

Recalled for national camp, Mohammad Amir 

vows to respect Pakistan colours 

Recalled for national camp, Mohammad Amir 

vows to respect Pakistan colours 

“I think there will be people in PCB who 

have concerns as well. Players have forgiven 

the three players but the reaction is still a 

big question and it will be very difficult for 

any captain as there will be questions from 

media, how crowds will react abroad particularly 

in England,” he said. 

Misbah also claimed the PCB had not sat 

down with the players and discussed the 

issue. 

“But from what I am hearing this will happen 

in the camp and I am sure the PCB will take 

players into confidence.” 

Phil Simmons: WICB needs 

to solve problem of 

players’ absence 

Melbourne: Head coach Phil Simmons has 

said the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) 

needs to find a solution to the problem of 

regional players opting to play Twenty20s 

instead of international cricket. Several 

players with Test experience are currently 

campaigning in the Big Bash League T20 

Down Under while the West Indies are 

clashing with Australia in a three-Test 

series, and Simmons said it was “frustrating” 

not having these players available to 

strengthen the squad, reports CMC. “I’m 

totally frustrated,” Simmons told media at 

the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on 

Thursday. 

“It’s enjoyable to see [Andre] Russell 

bowling at 140 clicks and [Dwayne] Bravo 

hitting three or four sixes and Chris [Gayle] 

in [playing the Big Bash].” “It is frustrating 

that we don’t have them yet playing in a 

Test series but it’s something that’s been 

going on for a while. It’s up to our administration 

and our bosses to find out how is 

the best way that we can get these guys on 

the pitch,” he added. Gayle, with 103 Tests 

to his name and an average of 42 runs per 

innings, has not played the longest format 

Kashyap hopes PBL 

would help him regain 

form before Rio Games 

for the Caribbean side in over a year due 

mainly to injury. 

Bravo, meanwhile, an energetic allrounder, 

played the last of his 40 Tests 

five years ago and retired from the format 

earlier this year to focus on limited overs 

cricket. Russell, an explosive 27-year-old 

all-rounder, has already said his dodgy 

knees are unable to hold up to the rigours 

of the game’s longest format. Former Test 

captain Darren Sammy and Lendl Simmons, 

also currently playing in the Big Bash. 

Coming back from an 

injury, ace shuttler Parupalli 

Kashyap is hopeful 

that the coming Premier 

Badminton League 

(PBL) would help him 

rediscover his form and 

ranking, particularly 

in the run-up to Rio 

Olympics. 

“My ranking has 

dropped seven places as 

I have not played for last 

two months. That’s why, 

I hope that this tournament 

helps me regain 

form. If I am fit and back 

to form, I will be back 

into top-10,” Kashyap, 

who will play for Hyderabad 

Hunters in the PBL, 

said. 

“Over the years, I 

have learnt things. Experience 

at the top level 

has made me confident. 

I feel I should be in the 

top-10. I should be back 

in the race for qualification 

for Rio Olympics,” 

Kashyap added.Kashyap, 

who was recovering 

from an injury during 

the last two months, 

said he should be in 

a good shape by next 

week.“Frankly, it is a very 

crucial period for me. Because, 

I got injured two 

months back and I am 

just coming back. I started 

playing, trying to do 

intense sessions now. This 

tournament (PBL) is like 

a test for me, on where I 

am and I am guessing that 

it will make me to come 

back quicker. 

ISL final fracas: Match commissioner comes down hard on FC Goa 

leave the stadium, he was told by a police 

official that “they cannot give police protection 

to the referees group.” 

Later, armed escort was arranged to 

ferry the match officials to a separate hotel. 

“The referees reached the other hotel traumatized,” 

notes Mamukoya. 

“In my opinion, the behaviour of FC Goa 

after the final whistle was unreasonable, 

indisciplined, bullish and frightening to 

say the least. It was surely unsporting 

behaviour of the highest order. FC Goa 

should have accepted the defeat with 

dignity and shown respect for laws of 

the game.“In the contrary, the behaviour 

of Chennaiyin FC was much dignified and 

respectful to their opponent as seen from 

their limited and controlled celebration after 

the win,” said the match commissioner.

26 December 2015

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