21 January 2016

SRINAGAR | 21 January 2016 | 10 Rabi Al Thani 1437 AH Vol: 4 | Issue No: 18 | Pages: 08 | Rs 3/- 

THURSDAY 

4th 

PRECIOUS KASHMIR 

Journalism With A Human Heart 

C 

M 

Y 

K 

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

Gunmen storm Pak 

University, kill 25 

Peshawar, Jan 20: At least 25 people 

were killed and about 50 others injured 

today after heavily-armed Taliban 

militants stormed a prestigious 

university and opened indiscriminate 

fire on students and teachers in Pakistan's 

restive northwest Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 

province. 

The gunmen entered the Bacha 

Khan University in Charsadda district 

of the province, some 50 kms southwest 

of Peshawar, and opened fire on 

students and teachers in classrooms 

and hostels, media reports said. 

Blasts and heavy gunfire were heard 

from inside the University campus. 

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf Party 

leader and provincial lawmaker Shaukat 

Yousafzai said that 25 people, including 

a professor, were killed and 

around 50 others injured in the terrorist 

attack on the University this morning. 

The injured were shifted to hospital. 

An emergency has been declared 

in all hospitals in the town. All schools 

have been closed in the area. 

Yousafzai said between four to 

10 attackers were involved in attack. 

"Such cowardice attack could not 

shake the resolve of the Government 

in the fight against terrorism," he said. 

Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) 

Delhi releases 

Rs 1194 Cr 

flood package 

Srinagar, Jan 20: Under 

Prime Minister’s special 

package, Union government 

has released Rs 1194 crore 

to Jammu and Kashmir for 

rebuilding houses damaged 

during September floods of 

2014. 

As per the media reports 

the amount has been credited 

in the account of J&K’s 

Financial Department. 

“The relief will be 

thereafter disbursed among 

the affected people through 

Deputy Commissioners of the 

respective districts,” a report 

in daily excelsior said. 

The report added that 

modalities for disbursement 

would also be finalized in 

near future “so that this exercise 

is completed in shortest 

possible time”. 

The special package was 

announced by PM Modi 

during his visit to Jammu 

and Kashmir on November 

8, 2015. 

“As per this scale, Rs 2.5 

lakh would be provided for 

fully damaged Pucca house 

and Rs 1 lakh for fully damaged 

Kacha house. Similarly, 

Rs 1.25 lakh would be provided 

for severely damaged 

Pucca house and Rs 50,000 

See Delhi on Pg 6 

has claimed responsibility for the attack. 

TTP commander, Omar Mansoor, 

said that the attack was carried out by 

four attackers. 

Soon after the attack, a large contingent 

of security forces rushed to the 

site and started evacuating students. 

Pakistan Army troops also rushed 

to the University from Peshawar and 

started operation. 

Army spokesman Lt Gen Asim Salim 

Bajwa tweeted that four terrorists 

were killed during operation launched 

by security forces to clear the University. 

"Snipers killed 2 more terrorists 

on roof top, total terrorists killed so far 

4. All buildings & roof top taken over 

by Army...," he tweeted. "Clearance of 

university block by block continues by 

Army troops." 

Earlier, two terrorists who were 

firing from inside the university block 

were shot and killed by the army. 

The terrorists were contained in two 

blocks within the university and 

troops, commandos are participating 

in the operation. 

Surveillance operation has been 

completed. 

Citing intelligence sources, media 

See Gunmen on Pg 6 

Mehbooba 

condemns 

attack 

Srinagar, Jan 20: Peoples Democratic 

Party (PDP) President and Member 

Parliament, Ms Mehbooba Mufti has 

strongly condemned today’s dastardly 

terror attack on a university in 

Charsadda area of Peshawar, Pakistan 

in which several persons including 

students and teachers were killed 

and scores others injured. 

"It is a cowardly act of brutality 

that has claimed lives of the 

innocents,” Ms Mehbooba said in a 

statement issued here today. 

“My heart goes out to everyone 

who lost their loved ones in today’s 

cowardly terror attack in the Bacha 

Khan University, Charsadda. I share 

their pain and offer my deepest condolences," 

she said and added those 

who attacked innocent students and 

citizens have no religion the perpetrators 

are enemies of mankind. 

“We stand united with the 

See Mehbooba on Pg 6 

For youth in Kashmir, mental health 

declines as conflict simmers 

Fahad Shah 

Srinagar, Jan 20: On a cold 

evening last December, Sajad 

limped home and sat in 

his living room under a dim 

tungsten bulb. He pulled a 

cigarette packet out from his 

black woolen cloak. 

Within fifteen minutes 

Sajad, 20, had impatiently 

smoked two, letting ash fall to 

the floor. He had just finished 

a day of work at the Grand 

Mosque market of Srinagar in 

the Indian-controlled region 

of Kashmir, where he sells 

used clothes off a cart. 

That neighborhood carries 

strong associations. Last 

August, about a mile away 

from where he now works, 

Sajad was shot in the leg by a 

solider during a protest. The 

Grand Mosque area is known 

for anti-India activity, and 

thousands, including Sajad, 

have been part of rallies that 

have at times become violent. 

That wasn’t Sajad’s first 

clash with law enforcement 

agencies. Since 2009, police 

have filed four cases against 

him for “war against the 

state and rioting.” In February 

2013, he was held for 45 days 

at Kotbalwal prison, 350 kilometers 

from Srinagar, before a 

court order released him. 

After he spent a month 

in police custody, his family 

realized something was different 

about him. “He was 

beaten up and may have been 

hit in the head,” says Ghulam, 

his elder brother. “Later we 

noticed, he would laugh unnecessarily, 

look puzzled, be 

in tense moods and complain 

of headaches. He stopped 

working.” 

The changes prompted 

Sajad's family to take him 

first to the Government Psychiatric 

Diseases Hospital in 

Srinagar and then to the Institute 

of Mental Health and 

Neurosciences. There, doctors 

diagnosed severe mental 

illness and prescribed him 

drugs that caused insomnia, 

anxiety, nausea and vomiting. 

Sajad belongs to the generation 

of Kashmiris born 

between the late 1980s and 

early 1990s, when armed rebellion 

against the Indian administration 

of Kashmir first 

began. That generation’s political 

conscience was shaped 

during the 2008 and 2010 

civil uprisings, as Kashmiris 

carried out mass rallies and 

protest marches demanding 

independence. During the last 

uprisings, government forces 

killed around 200 civilians, 

most of whom were teenagers. 

In addition, thousands of 

young boys were imprisoned, 

mutilated or maimed — acts 

that often affected their mental 

health, and the well-being 

of their families. 

Shabir, 22, is another 

young man who has been 

permanently affected by the 

conflict. He suffered brain 

damage after being hit in 

head by a tear gas shell during 

the 2010 uprising. He was 

in a coma for 27 days, and 

underwent six operations for 

injuries to his skull. He lost 

the ability to speak as a result, 

and his right hand was disabled. 

According to his family, 

Shabir’s personality also 

changed after the incident. 

“He is a chain-smoker now 

and wonders what happened 

to his life,” his father said. 

“We can’t understand most 

of what he says due to his 

disability. Anger in him has 

increased.” 

Dr. Arshad Hussain sees 

up to a 100 patients a day at 

the Srinagar psychiatry hospital, 

where he has worked for 

over 16 years. He says mental 

health in Kashmir is declining 

at an alarming pace, and has 

See Youth on Pg 6 

Violent clashes in Pulwama 

after militant, civilian killed 

‘DySP IRP among 17 security men injured, Army vehicle set ablaze’ 

Precious Kashmir News 

Pulwama, Jan 20: A local 

militant was killed in an overnight 

gun battle with Indian 

troopers, triggering violent 

protest which left one civilian 

dead after government forces 

opened fire to disperse the 

protesters in South Kashmir’s 

Pulwama district. The post 

encounter clashes according 

to sources not only left a 

protesters dead but at least 

22 person including a police 

officer suffered injuries. Four 

injured protesters have been 

admitted in SMHS hospital 

for advanced treatment. 

Police sources that Government 

Agencies had inputs 

that Hizb Divisional Commander 

Reyaz Ahmed Naik 

along with his associates was 

present in Batapora Naina 

village. Shortly after receiving 

the information government 

forces including Army 

personnel from 55 Rashtriya 

Rifles cordoned off the village. 

During search operation 

militant present in the house 

of a local shopkeeper Abdul 

Salam fired upon the search 

party resulting in an 18 hour 

long gun battle. 

Sources said that the 

gunbattle ended after the 

death of a Hizb militant Shakir 

Ahmed Bhat a resident of 

Brow Bandana, Awantipora 

while another militant reportedly 

managed to break 

the cordon. Eyewitnesses 

said that the killing of militant 

infuriated locals while 

protesters from Batapora 

and its adjoining areas including 

Dogripora, Begpora, 

Malangpora and Gulzarpora 

clashed with police and set 

an armoured vehicle on fire. 

Chanting pro-independence 

slogans, scores of youths 

hurled rocks at government 

forces. Violent clashes also 

led to suspension of Baramulla-Banihal 

train service. The 

violent clashes created panic 

in the area while government 

forces lobbed tear-smoke 

shells and resorted to firing 

to disperse the agitated protesters. 

Witnesses said that 

forces opened fire following 

New Delhi, Jan 20: Jammu and Kashmir 

Governor N N Vohra stirred a hornet's nest 

with his statement that Ranbir Penal 

Code (RPC), the state's criminal law, 

should be brought under purview of 

the NIA act that could give extraordinary 

powers to the central probe 

agency to take over any terror case. 

The state, which is under Governor's 

rule at present, enjoys a 

special status whereby no Act can 

come into force automatically until it is 

ratified by the state Assembly. 

Geelani calls for shutdown 

in South Kashmir 

Srinagar, Jan 20: Paying tributes to the 

militant who were killed in Pulwama 

encounter, Chairperson All Parties Hurriyat 

Conference (g) Wednesday appealed 

South Kashmir people to observe 

complete shutdown on Thursday against 

the killing of a civilian in the aftermath 

protests. 

A civilian was killed when protests erupted against the 

killing of militant in Nayeena area in Pulwama of South 

Kashmir. 

“Killing of the civilian in police firing is state terrorism,” 

Geelani said in a statement, “it won’t be tolerated in any case.” 

which one youth died and 

four others were injured. The 

deceased has been identified 

as Parvaiz Ahmad Guroo son 

of Ghulam Qadir a resident of 

Naina Pulwam. 

“Those injured have been 

shifted to SMHS hospital in 

Srinagar and they have been 

identified as Parvez Ilahi, Junaid 

Bashir Bhat, Farooq Yakub 

Dar and Asif Rashid Mir. The 

condition of Farooq Ahmed 

Dar is stated to be critical. 

Reports said that thousands 

of mourners participated 

in the funeral procession 

of the slain militant and the 

civilian. Amid pro-freedom 

slogans the bodies of the militant 

and the civilian were laid 

to rest in their native villages. 

Meanwhile, the Chairman 

of All Parties Hurriyet 

Conference (G), Syed Ali Gilani, 

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, 

Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi 

Al-Safvi, Muhamamd Yousuf 

Naqash Mukhtar Ahmad 

Waza, Zamruda Habib, Muhammad 

Rafiq Ganaie and 

others in their statements 

paid rich tributes to the slain 

youth. Syed Ali Gilani gave a 

call for strike in South Kashmir 

to show solidarity with 

the slain youth. 

A police handout reads 

that on Tuesday based on a 

specific information about 

the presence of terrorists in 

Naina, Pulwama police along 

with army and CRPF launched 

a cordon-search operation. 

During the operation, militants 

opened indiscriminate 

fire on the security forces 

See Pulwama on Pg 6 

Guv for including RPC under NIA Act 

In their reactions today, the state's opposition 

parties--National Conference(NC) 

and CPM --did not favour Vohra's 

suggestion and said any such move 

should not be allowed while ruling 

PDP, an alliance partner of BJP, said it 

would react after studying the statement 

of the Governor. 

In his address at the 7th foundation 

day of the NIA yesterday, 

Vohra said the Union Home Ministry 

should take urgent steps to ensure that NIA's 

See Guv on Pg 6 

NC flays PDP, BJP for 

uncertainty over 

govt formation 


Srinagar, Jan 20: Opposition 

National Conference 

today criticised PDP and BJP 

for maintaining uncertainty 

over government formation 

in Jammu and Kashmir and 

asked the coalition partners 

to come clear on the issue 

without keeping the people 

waiting. 

"If they cannot make 

the government, then they 

should make it clear so that 

we can take the next stand, 

whatever it is. 

Why keep people waiting 

in a situation where terrorism 

is all over," NC patron and 

former Chief Minister Farooq 

Abdullah told reporters here 

today. 

"As far as I am concerned 

the point here is that the two 

(PDP and BJP) have the mandate. 

BJP here (in Jammu) 

and PDP there (in Kashmir). 

I would request them, for 

God's sake get on with their 

job," he added. 

While targeting the two 

parties over the uncertainty, 

Abdullah said, "People want 

a government, so that their 

difficulties could be removed. 

That is very important." His 

comments came as the suspense 

continued for the 13th 

day over government formation 

with PDP chief Mehbooba 

Mufti keeping her plans 

secret. 

The state is currently under 

Governor's rule following 

the death of the Mehbooba's 

father and then Chief Minister 

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on 

January 7. 

Yesterday, president of 

state unit of BJP Sat Sharma 

said the government will be 

in place very soon. 

See NC on Pg 6 

C 

M 

Y 

K


Teachers 

training prog 

culminates at 

Budgam 

Budgam, Jan 20: A Twelve 

Day Induction Training 

Programme for newly 

recruited teachers of district 

Budgam culminated 

today at conference hall, 

Budgam. The programme 

was organized by J&K 

IMPA and sponsored 

by DoPT, Govt. of India. 

33 teachers attended the 

training programme. 

The programme was 

conducted by Dr Samia 

Jabeen from IMPA. 

She appreciated the 

district administration 

for its support for the 

smooth conduct of the 

programme. 

Div Com for effective 

functioning of winter helpline 

Srinagar, Jan 20: Divisional 

Commissioner Kashmir Dr 

Asghar Hassan Samoon today 

directed the concerned departments 

to follow up all the 

complaints received through 

winter helpline and ensure 

their prompt redressal. 

He was speaking during 

a meeting convened to 

review the functioning of 

Winter Helpline Cell established 

at PCR. 

The Divisional Commissioner 

was informed that 

the cell has received 391 

complaints out of which 211 

were related to PDD, 56 to 

PHE, 55 against CA&PD, 27 

against SMC, 25 against R&B 

and rest of complaints were 

registered against other departments 

and these were 

immediately sent to concerned 

departments for immediate 

action. 


Samoon directed the concerned 

departments to coordinate 

with PCR so that cent 

percent grievances redressal 

is ensured. He also asked the 

State Disaster Relief Force to 

initiate community outreach 

and training programmes for 

better response in case of any 

eventuality. 

The meeting was attended 

by officers of police, PDD, 

PHE and other departments. 

News 

Thursday 

2 

21.01.2016 

Rasheed accuses KPs of playing 

into hands of New Delhi 



Kupwara, Jan 20: The District 

Development Commissioner 

Kupwara convened 

a meeting today to review 

various literacy awareness 

schemes in the district. 

The meeting was attended 

by Chief Education 

Officer Kupwara, Director 

State Education Research 

Centre (Kashmir University), 

District Youth Services 

& Sports, Chief Planning Officer 

and concerned Zonal 

Education Officers. 

The CEO informed the 

meeting that 89850 students 

up to middle standard 

and other 28930 students 

have been covered under 

free distribution of text 

books and mid-day meals 

till December 2015 in the 

district. Out of 1725 ongoing 

works 1425 works have 

been completed during the 

period, while 90.61 percent 

funds have been utilized 

under the various schemes 

of Education department. 

Director CRC (KU), who 

Srinagar, Jan 20: Independent 

legislator and MLA Langate Er 

Rasheed on Wednesday accused 

Kashmiri Pandits of defaming 

majority community and playing 

in the hands of New Delhi to 

work against interests of their 

own state. 

Addressing a press conference 

at the party headquarters in 

Rajbagh today, he said that time 

has come to tell Kashmiri Pandits 

louder and clear that their 

anti-Kashmir activities are unacceptable 

and they will be seen as 

enemies of Kashmir if they don’t 

give up their shameful campaign 

against Muslims. 

“By observing 19th January 

as ‘holocaust day’ and calling 

their self-styled migration as 

genocide and ethnic cleansing 

these deserters have proved that 

their one point agenda is to defame 

the resistance movement 

and prove Kashmiri Muslims 

communal,” said Rasheed. 

The protests they held yesterday, 

were arranged and patronaged 

by strong lobbies within 

state and central govts and 

unfortunately a section of biased 

national media left no stone 

unturned to prove them right, 

claimed Rasheed. 

“Kashmiri Pandits enjoying 

in Bollywood, universities and 

other prestigious places besides 

political renegades were 

all united yesterday to abuse 

Kashmiri Muslims. Let world 

community know that Kashmiri 

Pandits were not the only 

ones who left the Valley,” said 

the legislator. 

A section of Kashmiris belonging 

to religious and political 

organisations also migrated 

from their ancestral places and 

security agencies bulldozed their 

houses, orchards and other properties 

in broad day light, charged 

Rasheed. 

Similarly, he said, thousands 

of families in border districts of 

Pounch, Baramulla and Kupwara 

were also forced by security 

agencies to migrate to PaK. 

“But nobody speaks for them. 

If Kashmiri Pandits are entitled 

DDC Kupwara 

reviews literacy 

awareness schemes 

Jammu, Jan 20: The Speaker, Jammu and 

Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Kavinder Gupta 

distributed cheques worth Rs 6 lakh among 50 

BPL families of block Satwari for construction 

of Individual House Hold Latrines (IHHL) under 

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. 

Speaking on the occasion, the Speaker said 

several welfare schemes have been launched 

by the Central Government for uplift of the 

people especially for weaker sections of the 

society. He said Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has 

been launched by the Prime Minister, Narendra 

Modi with the aim to make the country 

clean. He said need of the hour is to aware the 

general public about the programme so that 

maximum lot be benefited. Gupta asked the 

concerned officers to involve prominent citizens 

and Gram Sevaks in this regard. He also 

was on the tour to Laderwan 

village in connection with 

implementation of Saakshar 

Bharat Mission said the village 

is being covered under 

literacy campaign carried 

out by the CRC Srinagar in 

collaboration with Education 

department, ICDS, JSS 

and Rural Development Department. 

She said the village is 

being adopted to generate 

100 percent literacy rate 

till March 2016, for which a 

monitoring committee has 

been formed which includes 

religious preachers of the 

area as well. It was also given 

out that funds and logistical is 

being provided for successful 

conduct of the mission. 

The District Development 

Commissioner impressed 

upon the participants 

to identify five villages 

in each Panchayats, where 

the SBM implementation 

is being adopted. The CEO 

Kupwara was directed to pay 

visit to review functioning of 

the centres being setup by 

CRC in the district. 

for huge packages, jobs and all 

other facilities why should not 

internally displaced Muslims 

and those forced to migrate PaK 

be treated at par with Pandits. 

GoI wants to bury the Kashmir 

issue and the rights of Muslims 

in J&K by diverting the focus 

from real issues to Kashmiri Pandits, 

Pakistani refugees and other 

non-issues,” he said. 

“Why do Kashmiri Pandits 

Rajendra 

enquires 

welfare of 

SDPO Irshad 

Srinagar, Jan 20: Director 

General of Police (DGP), K. Rajendra 

Kumar, today visited 

Army Hospital Badamibagh 

and enquired about the welfare 

of Deputy Superintendent 

of Police, Irshad Ahmed 

Rather. Irshad was injured 

while performing his professional 

duties at Bijbehara 

Anantnag on 24thDecember 

2015. He enquired about his 

health status and discussed 

with the doctors about his 

improvement. 

The Sub-Divisional Police 

Officer received bullet injuries 

when he was supervising 

the police bandbust for Eid-e- 

Milad procession at Bijbehara 

and was fired upon by some 

militants. 

Rajendra, while visiting 

the injured officer, talked 

to the team of doctors and 

asked to provide every specialized 

medical treatment 

for his early recovery. Doctors 

informed the DGP that Irshad 

was recovering and responding 

to the treatment well. 

Speaker distributes cheques 

under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan 

appealed the people to come forward and take 

benefit of the scheme. 

Block Development Officer, Satwari also 

spoke on the occasion and highlighted the 

achievements of the department. 

feel shy in confessing that they 

were told to leave Kashmir in 

90s so that Kashmiris are butchered 

once for all and then Kashmiri 

Pandits will return as the 

lone owners of Kashmir?” asked 

Rasheed. 

Without counting deaths let 

Kashmiri Pandits understand, 

if death of 209 Pandits is genocide, 

what name should be given 

to the brutal murder of one lakh 

Muslims in 25 years, as if they 

have gone to a picnic and will return 

soon, he said. 

“Let Kashmiri Pandits not 

forget that it were Muslims who 

suffered worst from being subjected 

to third degree torture, to 

custodial killings. Let somebody 

return me the pain and loss that 

I along with people of my whole 

constituency suffered at the 

hands of army by subjecting us 

to unpaid forced labour for thirteen 

years. 

“Those who forced police to 

lodge FIR against Union Minister 

for writing a letter to VC in 

Hyderabad University should 

answer, why are they calm 

Srinagar, Jan 20: Doctors 

Association Kashmir (DAK) 

today urged pregnant 

women to get vaccinated 

as this is the best means to 

protect them and their babies 

from flu. 

Despite the benefits of 

influenza vaccination during 

pregnancy, majority of 

pregnant women in Kashmir 

are unvaccinated. 

Voicing concern over 

low vaccination rates among 

pregnant women, President 

DAK and flu expert Dr Nisar 

ul Hassan in a statement issued 

said that though there 

are clear guidelines, pregnant 

women are not advised 

by their health providers to 

get vaccinated. 

Unvaccinated women 

say that they would have 

been vaccinated had their 

obstetricians recommended 

them. 

Flu is more likely to 

cause severe illness in pregnant 

than in healthy women 

who are not pregnant. 

Pregnancy changes immune 

system, heart and 

lung functions that make 

pregnant women more 

prone to severe illness as 

well as hospitalization and 

death. 

Getting flu during pregnancy 

also raises the risk of 

pregnancy complications 

including premature labor 

and delivery. 

Preventing influenza 

during pregnancy is an essential 

element of prenatal 

care and the most effective 

strategy for preventing influenza 

is vaccination. 

Vaccination can pass 

antibodies on to the baby 

and help protect baby for 

Kathua, Jan 20: Additional 

District Development Commissioner, 

Kathua Manmohan 

Singh chaired a meeting 

of District Officers here today 

to review the arrangements 

for the three day Public 

Information Campaign 

being organized by the Press 

Information Bureau. 

Media and Communication 

Officer (PIB), Sunil Koul 

informed that Press Information 

Bureau (PIB) Jammu 

would organise three day 

Public Information Campaign 

(PIC) from 3rd to 5th 

February 2016 at Sports 

Stadium Kathua. The main 

purpose of this campaign 

is to create mass awareness 

on the flagship programmes 

of the government viz. National 

Rural Health Mission 

(NRHM), Beti Bachao Beti 

when a lady was forced to give 

birth to child in compound of 

Kuthua hospital, as she was 

denied admission into labour 

room for the only fault that 

she was a Muslim.” Er Rasheed 

Added. 

“One fails to understand that 

why people talk about return of 

Kashmiri Pandits, as majority of 

them have been enjoying summers 

and springs at their native 

places every year, but want still 

to be called as migrants, just to 

make luxuries out of it.” 

He appealed young generation 

of Kashmiri Pandits to read 

every page of Kashmir History 

and not get misled and influenced 

by their self-styled community 

leaders and asked political 

and other organisations to get 

united and defeat these communal 

proxies. 

Rasheed condemned the 

“brutal killing of Pulwama youth 

namely Parvaiz Guru and added 

that police is leaving no opportunity 

to harm Kashmiris added 

that he will have a peaceful sit in 

at Pulwama tomorrow.” 

DAK urges pregnant 

women to get flu vaccine 

up to 6 months which is 

important because infants 

younger than 6 months 

are too young to get flu 

vaccine. 

It is critically important 

that all obstetricians should 

advocate for influenza immunization 

and provide flu 

vaccine to their pregnant 

patients. 

There is a large body of 

scientific studies that supports 

the safety of flu vaccine 

in pregnant women 

and their babies. 

It is injectable flu vaccine 

that should be given 

to pregnant women and 

not nasal flu vaccine as it is 

made from live virus that 

makes it less appropriate 

during pregnancy. 

Antiviral drug, Tamiflu 

(oseltamivir) is not teratogenic 

and is safe in pregnancy. 

Pregnant women with 

suspected or confirmed influenza 

should receive antivirals 

as early as possible 

because treatment initiated 

early is more likely to provide 

benefit. 

Padao , Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan 

, Atal Pension Yojana, 

PM Jan Dhan Yojna etc. 

The ADDC while reviewing 

the arrangements said 

that PICs provide good opportunity 

for implementing 

agencies to reach out to 

the grassroots level through 

information, education and 

communication mode. He directed 

all the officers present 

in the meeting that adequate 

arrangements efforts should 

be put in place to make this 

campaign a grand success. 

He further said that Media 

centre will be established 

for proper dissemination of 

the news on daily basis. PDD 

will ensure un-interrupted 

power supply for three day 

event at the venue. PHE department 

may ensure clean 

drinking water supply for 

www.preciouskashmir.com 

DC reviews RD arrangements 

Srinagar, Jan 20: Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Dr. Farooq 

Ahmad Lone accompanied by senior officers of district 

administration today visited Bakshi Stadium to take 

stock of arrangements being put in place for the smooth 

conduct of Republic Day celebrations. 

While reviewing the arrangements, Dr. Lone directed 

the concerned officers to ensure uninterrupted water 

and power supply, medicare facilities, sanitation, parking 

and security arrangements in an around the venue 

where main function is to be held. 

The Deputy Commissioner was informed that necessary 

arrangements have been put in place for the successful 

conduct of Republic Day. He was told that contingents 

of J&K Police, CRPF, Fire and Emergency Services, 

NCC and students of various institutions are participating 

in march past. The National Flag will be unfurled by 

the chief guest who will take salute at the march past. 

Besides, a cultural programme will be presented by 

the students of various educational institutions and the 

artists of the cultural wing of Department of Information 

and Public Relations. 

Dr. Lone urged for close coordination between the 

concerned departments for the smooth conduct of the 

Republic Day celebrations. 

DC Pulwama meets 

Tabish Manzoor 

Pulwama, Jan 20: Deputy Commissioner Pulwama today 

met Tabish Manzoor Khan of Dogripora Pulwama 

who has secured first position in the matriculation examination 

this year by scoring 498 marks out of 500. 

Congratulating Tabish and his parents on his success 

the Deputy Commissioner said that he has brought laurels 

not only to his family and village but to the whole 

district. 

DC also announced a special prize of Rs 51000 for 

Tabish as mark of encouragement and promised all possible 

help and guidance to him near future. 

Arrangements for national 

Voters Day finalized 

Baramulla, Jan 20: Arrangements regarding celebrations 

of National voters Day on 25 January 2016 were today finalized 

at Baramulla in a meeting under the chairmanship 

of Additional Deputy Commissioner, Baramulla 

Bashir Ahmad Khan. Assistant Commissioner Revenue, 

ERO’s Coordinator NYK, AERO’s, BLO’s and other officers 

also attended the meeting. 

The meeting was informed that 12236 new voters 

were registered including 4964 Male and 7272 female 

during special summary revision in 2016 in the district. 

It was informed that the total number of voters has gone 

upto 598193 including 312611 male and 285582 female 

voters. 

It was decided in the meeting that national voters 

Day will be celebrated throughout the district. The main 

function will be organized at the Dak-Bunglow Baramulla. 

At Sub-divisions and Tehsils the concerned Magistrates 

and Tehsildars will chair the function. During the 

function Photo Election cards will be provided to the 

newly registered voters. 

DC convenes collectors meet 

Doda, Jan 20: District Development Commissioner Doda, 

Bhupinder today convened the meeting of all collectors 

of the District and fixed the rates for various land acquired 

for the projects in the District. He also reviewed 

the functioning of the Revenue department during 

which various issues including eviction cases, land acquisition 

cases, encroachments, relief cases, mutations and 

other related matters were discussed. 

Meanwhile ACR Doda Vaibhav Kohli reviewed progress 

made under National Population Register (NPR), 

ADHAAR in a separate meeting in conference Hall. 

Arrangements for 3-day Public 

Information Campaign finalized 

Srinagar, Jan 20: District 

Police Leh in collaboration 

with Municipal Committee 

(NAC) Leh and Traffic Police 

kick started the “Traffic 

Awareness week” today. 

The main aim and objectives 

of the programme is 

to aware all the stake holders, 

drivers, commercial taxi 

operators, drivers of various 

types of vehicles and 

general public/commuters 

about the various types of 

traffic related issues, problems, 

abeyance of traffic 

rules and regulations and 

also statutory provisions. 

The programme has been 

designed to be more inclusive 

and holistic to accommodate 

different sections 

of society and get them acquainted 

with the endemic 

traffic problems in Leh and 

their redressal. 

As a prelude to the 

programme, SSP Leh Dr. 

Sunil Gupta, flagged off 

the “Traffic Awareness 

three days by permanently 

deploying water tanker at 

the PIC venue. 

Municipal authorities 

would provide mobile toilet 

facility at the venue for the 

convenience of visitors. CEO 

Kathua will arrange a rally of 

students on the valedictory 

day of the PIC. Different departments 

will install their 

respective stalls during the 

PIC highlighting their flag 

ship programmes and depicting 

their developmental 

and success stories. Departments 

should also identify 

resource persons especially 

from Rural Development, 

Health, Education/SSA, BSNL, 

Employment, ICDS, PMGSY 

and PM Jan Dhan Yojna for 

creating mass awareness 

regarding various schemes 

during the PIC. To avert any 

Vehicle” from SSP office 

complex Leh in presence of 

police officers and various 

heads of Motor Transport 

Unions, media persons 

and students. The traffic 

awareness vehicle adorned 

with traffic awareness 

related slogans, punitive 

section under MV Act was 

the main attraction of the 

event. During the inaugural 

session traffic related educational 

materials such as 

leaflets, pamphlets, placards 

containing the various sections 

of motor vehicle act, 

other traffic related provisions 

and rules, guidelines 

were distributed. 

mishap a fire Tender be ensured 

at the PIC venue by 

Fire & Emergency Services 

Department. 

Later, in the meeting 

arrangements for National 

Voters Day were reviewed 

in which ADDC Kathua said 

that National Voters Day 

will be celebrated at District 

as well as Tehsil level. 

At district level symposium, 

rallies, cultural and nukkad 

nataks will be organized to 

mark National Voters Day. 

On 25thJanuary, 2016 (National 

Voters Day) a rally 

will be taken out from Girls 

Higher Secondary school 

Kathua which will culminate 

at Shaheed Bhagat Singh 

Park , Kathua where Nukkad 

Nataks will be performed to 

sensitize the masses about 

their right to vote. 

Traffic awareness programme held in Leh 

Later on, a traffic awareness 

road show was carried 

out throughout the Leh city 

and adjoining areas including 

Choglamser, Skalzangling. 

The programme was 

highly appreciated by the 

general public and hailed 

the initiatives of District Police 

Leh. 

Different types of traffic 

related awareness activities/ 

programme such as painting 

competition, sticker 

distribution, education by 

students etc. General public 

are requested to co-operate 

to operate to make the week 

long traffic awareness programme 

successful.

Precious Kashmir 

NEWS 

Srinagar,Thursday 


3 

DSEK order against 

unionism pits teachers 

against director 

‘Shah Faesal playing with 

fire, he can’t stop us’ 


Srinagar, Jan 20: The state 

government teachers are 

furious with the directorate 

of school education, Kashmir, 

for “trying to curb” them 

their unionism through 

which they “seek and fight 

for rights and demands”. 

Coming out in open 

against the director school 

education Shah Faesal, the 

teachers, led by Jammu and 

Kashmir Teachers Forum 

president, Abdul Qayoom 

Wani, said that the director 

was “playing with fire”. 

“Shah Faesal cannot act 

as a dictator. He cannot stop 

our unionism as we are fighting 

for our rights and trying 

to correct the education 

system in the schools. He is 

playing with fire,” Wani said 

in a press conference here. 

The angry Wani was 

reacting to the order of the 

DSEK order which had asked 

for strict action against 

Kupwara- 

Tanghdar 

route info 


Srinagar, Jan 20: Additional 

District 

Magistrate Kupwara 

Wednesday issued an 

order regarding traffic 

movement on the Kupwara-Tanghdar 

route 

where vehicular movement 

will be allowed to 

ply only between 8 am 

to 6 pm. 

The order informs 

the general public particularly 

residents of 

Tehsil Karnah that in 

case of emergency the 

vehicles will be permitted 

to ply after getting 

prior permission from 

Station House Officer 

Kralpora and Karnah. 

In case of bad 

weather people have 

been advised to confirm 

the situation from 

the mentioned SHO’s 

before embarking on 

their journey. 

teachers and their associations 

for using offices and 

schools for their union activities 

during duty hours. 

The director has in its 

order asked that the sacred 

profession of teaching can’t 

be hijacked by elements 

which take salary for 

teaching and instead avoid 

duties on the pretext of trade 

unionism. 

“It is hereby reiterated 

that all members and 

office-bearers including the 

Chairmen of Teacher associations 

/forums are subjected 

to same disciplinary control, 

CSR and Conduct Rules 

as any other Government 

Employee,” the DSEK order 

says, adding that special 

exemptions from teaching 

duties have been given to 

them except if they chose to 

remain absent under leave 

duly sanctioned. 

Wani said that the about 

1, 50000 teachers have been 

rendering their service for 


the thousands of students in 

the state. “We are educating 

and students and treat all 

students as our own sons. 

But from the past many 

months, Director Shah Faesal 

and former minister Naeem 

Akhtar are maligning our 

fraternity and defaming us 

publicly,” he said. 

The teachers said that 

the director should name a 

single member of the forum 

who has been absent from 

his duties, and has not been 

attending to the school. 

“We ask the director 

to name a single teacher 

who has not attended to his 

duties,” Wani said. 

Wani also talked 

about other issues that the 

teachers are confronting in 

the department “because of 

the more loyal than king” 

attitude of the DSEK. 


they will protest on January 

30 infront of the DSEK office 

in Srinagar against all the 

“anti-teacher policies” of the 

government. 

“All the orders should be 

rescinded by the directorate 

that were issued in the last 

Srinagar, Jan 20: J&K 

Academy of Art, Culture and 

Languages and Radio Kashmir, 

Srinagar Tuesday jointly 

organized a talk-cum-interactive 

session with noted 

academic and psychologist, 

Prof. A.G. Madhosh. Among 

others Prof. Mehmood 

Ahmad Khan, Dean and 

Head, Faculty of Education, 

University of Kashmir, former 

Director Programmes, 

Doordarshan Kendra, Srinagar, 

Salamudin Bajad and 

former Head MERC, Kashmir 

University, Prof. Nasir Mirza 

were present at the Seminar 

Hall of JKAACL during the 

interactive session. 

Held under the title 

“Naamwar’ the interactive 

session was first of its 

kind where people mostly 

students and members of 

civil society were afforded 

opportunities of interaction 

with the invited guest. 

Speaking on the occasion, 

programme head, Radio 

Kashmir, Srinagar, Syed 

Humayun Qaisar said that 

the main objective of the 

event was to bring eminent 

personalities of Kashmir 

on one platform and afford 

opportunities to people to 

interact with them. 

“Our main motive is to 

lessen the gap between the 

intellectuals and the people 

of Kashmir. That is why 

Naamwar has been launched 

by JKAACL and Radio 

Kashmir as a joint venture,” 

Qaisar said. 

many months as these orders 

are against the working 

of the teachers.” 


they are ready to cooperate 

with the court directions of 

verifying academic qualification 

of those ReTs who 

have obtained degrees from 

“dubious” institutions. 

From the last many 

months, the education 

department has issued several 

orders for the teachers 

and for the department’s 

functioning, which has pitted 

teachers against their own 

department heads. (KNS) 

The event started with a 

welcome speech by Deputy 

Secretary, JKAACL, Syed Shakeel-ur-Rehman 

who gave a 

brief overview of Academy’s 

activities and stated that the 

Academy would continue to 

host such events. 

The welcome address 

was followed by renderings 

of Kashmiri ghazals of Prof. 

Madhosh by singer Kifayat 

Faheem. As part of the event 

a comprehensive paper 

on life and works of Prof. 

Madhosh was also read by G. 

N. Shakir. 

Mirwaiz condemns 

terror attack on Bacha 

Khan University 

Expresses 

solidarity 

with Pak 

Govt 


Srinagar, Jan 20: Strongly 

condemning the terror 

attack on the Bacha Khan 

University in Charsadda, in 

the Northwestern Khyber 

Pakhtunkhwa province of 

Pakistan, Hurriyat (M) Chairman, 

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq 

Wednesday expressed grief 

and shock over the incident 

in which 21 innocent persons 

got killed and more than 51 

injured. 

In a statement, expressing 

solidarity with the Government 

of Pakistan and 

the people of Pakistan on 

the mindless terror attack of 

Charsadda, the Mirwaiz said 

terrorism in any form and at 

any place was condemnable. 

Stressing that there was 

no place for such inhuman 

practice of terror in Islam, 

the Hurriyat (M) Chairman 

said at a time when common 

masses in most parts of the 

world were getting killed in 

Focus on capacity building 

of teachers: Madhosh 

NC condemns killing 

of Pulwama youth 

Srinagar, Jan 20: National 

Conference on Wednesday 

condemned the killing 

of a youth, Parvaiz Ahmed 

Guroo, in Pulwama and also 

expressed grief at two more 

youth sustaining gunshot injuries. 

“The PDP-BJP Government, 

over the course of the 

last two months, ignored 

growing unrest and disquiet 

in Pulwama and today’s tragic 

incident appears to be a 

manifestation of the PDP-BJP 

Government turning a blind 

eye towards the prolonged 

situation that has existed in 

Pulwama for a while now. 

Our hearts go out to the bereaved 

family and we pray 

for peace to the departed 

soul,” NC Provincial President 

Nasir Aslam Wani said in a 

statement issued from Party 

Headquarters in Srinagar. 

Meanwhile, NC General 

Secretary Ali Mohammad 

Sagar Wednesday announced 

to conduct “intra-party elections” 

for Kashmir province. 

“Our membership drive 

in Kashmir province has taken 

almost three months to complete 

which is now complete 

with 8,67,450 membership 

tickets issued to party members 

across Kashmir valley and 

I feel proud to share with you 

that all the drive has been absolutely 

fair and transparent,” 

NC Kashmir president said. 

Hizb pays 

tributes to 

slain militants, 

civilian 

Srinagar, Jan 20: Hizbul Mujahideen 

has paid rich tributes 

to the militants and the civilian 

killed in Niana village in Pulwama 

district during an encounter 

on Wednesday. 

In an emailed statement, 

HM spokesman Saleem Hashmi 

said that while chairing 

a meeting of HM Command 

Council, deputy Chief Khalid 

Saifullah paid tributes to the 

slain militants and the civilian. 

“Lateef Ahmad alias Haroon 

of Beighpora and Shakir Ahmad 

alias Abdul Aziz of Banduna got 

martyred in along gunbattle 

with Indian army. A civilian, Parvaiz 

Ahmad was also martyred. 

We pay our rich tributes to these 

martyred youth who laid their 

lives for freedom of Kashmir,” he 

quoted the deputy chief as saying 

in the meeting. 

"Lateef and Shakir were 

assets of Hizb, who sacrificed 

their blood for Islam. Both of 

them had sentiments of Jihad, 

and an urge for martyrdom," 

he said, adding that Saifullah 

prayed for peace of the souls of 

the slain. (KNS) 

Later a question-answer 

session was also held in 

which members of the audience 

actively participated 

and posed myriad questions 

to the noted academic 

mostly on the prevailing 

educational scenario in the 

State. 

Sharing his life experiences 

as an academic, 

Prof. Madhosh said that for 

fruitful results in the field of 

education, it was imperative 

that capacity buildings of 

teachers was given importance. 

“The moment you 

invest in capacity building 

of teachers, you begin the 

process of reformation in 

the field of education,” he 

said, adding, the approach of 

capacity building was need 

of the hour. 

In his presidential 

remarks, noted writer, 

Farooq Nazki complimented 

JKAACL and Radio Kashmir, 

Srinagar for starting a programme 

like “Naamwar”. 

the similar mindless acts of 

terrorism, and the way terrorism 

was fast becoming 

the biggest challenge for the 

humanity, the international 

community needs to take 

united stand against terrorism 

and make combined efforts 

to curb this menace. 

Playing glowing tributes 

to the martyred youth Shariq 

Ahmad Bhat of Pulwama in 

a gunfight with government 

forces in south Kashmir’s 

Pulwama district, the Mirwaiz 

said the sacrifices of the 

martyrs for the just cause of 

Kashmir was the biggest asset 

of the ongoing resistance 

movement. 

Elucidating that keeping 

Kashmir issue unresolved 

was the main reason of political 

uncertainty in entire 

South Asia, the Hurriyat (M) 

Chairman said, respecting 

the sacrifices of the martyrs, 

the Hurriyat (M) was making 

serious efforts at all levels to 

take the resistance movement 

to its goal by resolving 

the Kashmir issue as per the 

wishes and aspirations of the 

people of Jammu Kashmir. 

Condemning the killing 

of an innocent civilian Parvaiz 

Ahmad Guroo of Batapora, 

Puwlama at the hands of 

government forces, the Mirwaiz 

said the forces under 

the garb of gunfight with 

militants killed an innocent 

civilian and unleashed a 

reign of terror by using excessive 

force on the peaceful 

protestors. 

The international 

community needs 

to take united 

stand against 

terrorism and 

make combined 

efforts to curb 

this menace. 

Special prayers held 

for late Mufti Sayeed 

Jammu, Jan 20: A large number 

of people participated 

in a special prayer meeting 

at Jagti Township today in 

which glowing tributes were 

paid to the former Chief Minister 

of J&K, Mufti Mohammad 

Sayeed, who breathed 

his last at AIIMS, New Delhi, 

earlier this month. 

Various speakers deeply 

mourned the passing on 

of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed 

and described him as 

a leader and statesman of 

remarkable political stature, 

who provided a healing 

touch to the people during 

his six-decade-long political 

career. They also highlighted 

his vast contribution towards 

progress and welfare 

of the people of the state, 

including the Kashmiri Pandit 

community. 

“Late Mufti Saab favoured 

honourable and dignified 

return of Kashmiri Pandit 

community to the valley. He 

was of the firm belief that 

Kashmiri Muslims were incomplete 

without their Pandit 

brethren,” they observed, 

while vividly remembering 

his visits to various transit 

accommodations during his 

tenure as Chief Minister to 

enquire about the availability 

of basic amenities and other 

facilities. 

The meeting highlighted 

the efforts of late Mufti Sayeed 

put in for socio-political 

transformation and betterment 

of Jammu & Kashmir. 

“He wanted to bring permanent 

peace to the state. In his 

passing away, we have lost a 

leader of outstanding value 

who was always connected 

to the grassroots level,” they 

added. 

The speakers vowed to 

carry forward the mission 

of late Mufti Mohammad 

Sayeed which was aimed at 

strengthening the democratic 

and secular values in the 

state. 

“He worked in different 

capacities during his 

chequered political career 

and always worked for equitable 

development of all the 

three regions of the state,” 

the speakers remarked. 

Remembering Gaw Kadal Massacre 

52 innocent Kashmiri civilians 

killed, over 250 injured 


Srinagar, Jan 20: It was 

this day (January 21, 1990), 

twenty-six years ago, 

when at least 52 Kashmiri 

innocent civilians were 

butchered by India’s Central 

Reserve Police Force in the 

heart of the Srinagar city 

when thousands of people 

took out a massive anti-India 

procession. 

Number of people who 

have witnessed the bloodshed 

said that anti-India 

sentiments were running 

deep and the city was reverberating 

with pro-freedom 

slogans. 

“On January 21, 1990, 

the whole city was under 

siege, massive search and 

crackdown operations were 

carried out to trace down 

the militants. The news of 

women being molested and 

hundreds of people being 

arrested by the Indian forces 

on the directions of the 

then Governor Jagmohan 

sent shockwaves throughout 

Srinagar city.” 

Some of the witnesses 

said that a procession actually 

started from Ikhrajpora 

that swelled up as it 

passed through lanes and 

bye lanes of the civil lines 

areas. Young and old, filled 

with anger came on the 

streets. Bubbling with the 

sentiment of freedom, the 

slogans sent sound waves 

which broke the cold air. 

As the procession reached 

Maisuma, the Indian 

Troops were assembled at 

the Gowkadal Bridge, to 

thwart the protests. The 

resonance of the slogans 

kept the procession going; 

they were unaware of 

what was going to happen. 

As soon as they stepped on 

the bridge, the sounds of 

Light Machine Gun (LMG) 

and AK 47 surrounded 

them. Bullets were fired. 

People were falling like the 

pack of cards. Some people 

jumped over the bridge to 

save their lives. 

Twently-four years 

old youth Abdul Rouf 

according to eyewitnesses 

saved scores of people. He 

confronted a CRPF trooper 

who emptied the whole 

magazine (32 bullets) into 

his chest. According to eyewitnesses 

18 bullets were 

shot in the stomach of a 

budding youth Irfan Ahmed 

after marauds troopers 

found him breathing among 

the dead. Entire carbine 

was emptied in the chest of 

the neighbor of this youth 

who was later identified as 

Farooq Ahmed. They kept 

shooting, until everyone at 

the bridge was dead. “Some 

pretended to be dead and 

thus survived.” 

As the sounds of bullets 

got down, the bridge and 

the road was full of bodies. 

It was a scene from a war. 

The blood was rushing 

down the road into the river 

below making the water 

red. 

Fifty two people died 

and 250 sustained bullet 

injuries. However the 

official death toll was put 

to 21. Police registered the 

FIR vide number 3/1990 at 

Kralkhud Police Station but 

it was registered against the 

‘atrocious mob’. 

‘Soften harsh 

stand against 

students’ 


Srinagar, Jan 20: Hurriyat 

(G) has appealed the 

management of the Kashmir 

Government Polytechnic 

(KGP) to soften its harsh 

stand with regarding to 

the students who have 

been asked not to sit in 

the upcoming semester 

examination for shortage in 

attendance. 

Hurriyat (G) said that 

the decision of the College 

authorities will not only put 

the careers of the students 

at stake but it can also have 

negative impacts on their 

state of mind. 

According to a statement 

issued, Hurriyat (G) 

said that the delegation of 

the said students also came 

to the Hurriyat office here 

at Hyderpora and appraised 

the office about the issue. 

The students expressed their 

deep concern that if they 

are not allowed to sit in the 

exams, their entire academic 

year. 

The officials present at 

the Hurriyat office advised 

the students to concentrate 

on their studies and said 

that the education is the 

base of every civilized society 

and it also guarantees 

better future of the nations. 

Hurriyat (G) also appealed 

the management of 

the Polytechnic College to 

rethink over their decision 

with regarding to the said 

students and give them 

a chance to appear in the 

exams. (KNS) 

No civilian 

killed/injured 

in Marhama 

Anantnag: Police 


Srinagar, Jan 20: No civilian 

has been killed or injured 

in Marhama, Anantnag 

as some rumor mongers 

updating on their Facebook 

pages. 

Some rumor mongers 

are updating on their Facebook 

pages that a civilian 

was killed and many other 

were injured in a firing incident 

at Marhama village 

of District Anantnag which 

is baseless and fabricated. 

People are requested not 

pay heeds on these rumors. 

Police has registered a 

case against these rumor 

mongers and investigation 

has been taken up. (KNS) 

Police books 

TeH leader: 

Hurriyat (G) 


Srinagar, Jan 20: Police 

today booked another 

Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader 

Mehraj-ud-din Rubanni 

under the black law PSA and 

shifted him to the Baramullah 

sub Jail. 

While strongly condemning 

the government 

action, Chairman Hurriyat 

(G) Syed Ali Geelani demanded 

immediate release 

of all the political prisoners 

and the pro-freedom 

activists. 

According to a 

statement issued, a Tehreek-e-Hurriyat 

leader and 

the Srinagar district official 

Mehraj-ud-din Rubanni 

was today arrested by the 

Parimpora police station 

in Srinagar district court 

complex at the time when 

he was there to attend his 

case hearing. 

Immediately after his 

arrest, he was booked 

under the notorious and 

lawless law PSA and was 

immediately on the same 

day shifted to Baramullah 

District Jail. It is 8th 

such incident in the last 

3 months that a pro-freedom 

leader has been 

slapped with PSA. At 

present there are dozens 

of Hurriyat leaders detained 

under the PSA.

Precious Kashmir 

Controlling by owning 

Media is a strong force today. A phenomenon that has 

identified ways to get things done the way they are 

expected (by a few players) to be done. The ownership 

of media becomes all the more important since owning 

it means that you have control over how things are 

perceived, how people, policies, happenings, events, 

and changes etc. are described and finally whether 

they ought to be accepted or rejected by those who 

matter. Statistically speaking, until 2011, over 82,000 

publications were registered with the Registrar of 

Newspapers. Even though in India, news on radio is 

still a monopoly of the government, there are more 

than 250 FM (frequency modulation) radio stations 

in the country. Nearly 800 television channels have 

been allowed uplink or downlink by the Ministry of 

Information and Broadcasting. Among these, over 300 

claim to broadcast ‘news and current affairs’. Not to 

mention the endless list of websites and social media 

that adds a lot to the above numbers. How many channels 

out of those 300 ‘news and current affairs’ are we 

acquainted with? The channels that hit the chord may 

include IBN7, NDTV, TIMESNOW, ZEE NEWS, and ABP 

NEWS etc. The rest of the smaller players are either 

pushed into oblivion or are taken over by some major 

game changers. This phenomenon is called Oligopoly. 

Media oligopoly is a reality in today’s world. An oligopoly 

is when a few firms dominate a market. The 

process of oligopoly starts with buying out all the 

small scale companies. This ensures strengthening 

of the large players in the market. The competition 

is eliminated with buyouts and forced outs (lacking 

resources or finances). Hence the remaining parties 

tend to dominate the entire media market and create 

an oligopoly of media. The global media oligopoly 

includes large conglomerates like Viacom, CBS Corporation, 

Time Warner, 21st Century Fox and News 

Corp, Bertelsmann AG, Sony, Comcast, Vivendi, Televisa, 

The Walt Disney Company, Hearst Corporation, 

Organizações Globo and Lagardère Group. As of 2012, 

The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate 

in the US, with News Corporation, Time 

Warner and Viacom ranking second, third and fourth 

respectively. Internationally, Google is a major player 

in this Oligopoly. It has spent more than $28 billion 

on a whopping 173 companies since 2001. That's more 

than one company per month. Some of the companies 

it bought are YouTube, Android, AdMob, Motorola 

Mobility, Makani Power, Channel Intelligence, and 166 

more. Google’s dominance does not end in the online 

search and advertising world only; its research projects 

include creating a neural network, developing an 

energy kite that generates more energy at lower cost 

than conventional wind systems (Makani Power), and 

a lot others that will surprise us. The point of saying 

all this is that any media exposure today is not void 

of its own agendas. So as a thinking audience, blindly 

accepting any happening around the world would not 

be a smart choice. 

T 

Edit 

Srinagar,Thursday 

21.01.2016 4 

Philippines delicately wedged 

between US and China 

Richard Javad Heydarian 

he past few days have been abuzz with coverage 

of China’s wild economic swings, as volatility 

in its financial markets, coupled with structural 

slowdown, chip away at the country’s 

long-held image of prosperity. No less than 

George Soros, a global icon known for his prescient 

economic forecasts, has warned about 

the prospects of another global economic crisis 

on the heels of a whimpering China. 

For some countries, however, it is China’s growing 

territorial assertiveness in adjacent waters 

that is of grave concern. Undeterred by its 

anaemic economy and successive stock market 

meltdowns, China kicked off the year with a 

bang by conducting multiple test flights to bitterly 

contested islands in the South China Sea. 

Having constructed a gigantic airstrip on an 

artificially created island (Fiery Cross), China 

showed little reticence with displaying its 

growing ability to dominate the skies above 

arguably the world’s most important international 

waterway. 

Alarmed by China’s territorial assertiveness, 

the Philippines has once again opened up its 

most prized military base to US troops. Smaller 

neighbouring countries have desperately welcomed 

growing US military footprint in the 

region in order to stave off a revanchist China, 

which is gradually reconfiguring the Asian 

maritime seascape in its own image. 

A history of dependence 

For much of its modern history, the Philippines 

has lived in the shadow of its former colonial 

master, the United States. Though the Southeast 

Asian nation gained formal independence in 

the mid-20th century, it effectively outsourced 

its national security to Washington throughout 

the Cold War decades. 

A series of landmark agreements, particularly 

the Military Assistance Pact (1947), the Military 

Bases Agreement (1947), and the Mutual 

Defense Treaty (MDT) of 1951, undergirded the 

Philippines’ acute dependence on the superpower. 

The former US colony served as a critical forward 

deployment base against the Communist 

threat in East Asia. The eventual collapse of the 

Soviet Union ... unleashed a patriotic euphoria 

in the Philippines, which precipitated the ejection 

of US bases from the country shortly after. 

The Philippines, which hosted America’s largest 

overseas military bases in Subic and Clark, 

effectively acted as Washington’s unsinkable 

aircraft carrier in the Western Pacific. 

In particular, the former US colony served as a 

critical forward deployment base against the 

Communist threat in East Asia. The eventual 

collapse of the Soviet Union (1991), however, 

unleashed a patriotic euphoria in the Philippines, 

which precipitated the ejection of US 

bases from the country shortly after. 

Constitutionally, the Philippines was barred 

from hosting permanent US troops on its oil. 

The Philippines was by now intent on becoming 

more self-reliant, abandoning its explicitly 

pro-US foreign policy throughout the Cold War 

days. It didn’t take long, however, before the 

Philippines realised that it was dangerously 

unprepared for full independence. 

The China threat 

Shortly after the exit of US bases, China occupied 

the Philippine-claimed Mischief Reef, 

triggering a diplomatic crisis between the two 

neighbours. 

In response, the Philippines re-invited US soldiers 

under a Visiting Forces Agreement, which 

oversaw expanding joint military exercises between 

the two allies. But US troops were barred 

from (i) engaging in direct combat operations 

and (ii) establishing permanent bases in the 

Philippines. 

The South China Sea disputes are nothing new, 

dating back to the Cold War years when China 

squared up to Vietnam and other Southeast 

Asian countries for mastery of disputed islands, 

resources, and waters in the area. 

But in the past few years there has been a 

dramatic increase in the number of maritime 

spats, with China flexing its muscles at the expense 

of weaker claimant states such as the 

Philippines, which lost the Scarborough Shoal 

to its giant neighbour in 2012. 

In the past two years alone, China has engaged 

in a construction frenzy on disputed land features 

across the Spratly chain of islands, artificially 

transforming rocks, atolls and shoals 

into gigantic islands, which now host advanced 

dual-purpose facilities. 

Hopelessly outgunned by China, which has 

rapidly developed both its conventional and 

asymmetrical military capabilities, the Philippines 

has tried to solicit greater US military 

assistance in the form of the Enhanced Defense 

Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which 

was signed hours before US President Barack 

Obama’s visit to Manila in 2014. 

A group of patriotic and progressive groups, 

however, immediately challenged the new security 

agreement at the Philippine Supreme 

Court. They contend that the EDCA is a violation 

of Philippine sovereignty, will lead to more 

abuses by US soldiers against Filipino citizens, 

and necessitates the concurrence of the Philippine 

Senate, which bitterly resented being bypassed 

by the Benigno Aquino administration. 

Not Game-Changer 

After almost a year of deliberations, the country’s 

highest court ruled that the bilateral security 

agreement was consistent with Philippine 

constitution and, as an Executive Agreement, 

doesn’t necessitate Senate ratification. It was 

arguably a decision that was both populist and 

born out of an acute sense of urgency. 

The vast majority of Filipinos (92 percent) have 

a favourable view of the US, the highest among 

any nation, so they are expected to warmly 

welcome the prospect of growing US military 

presence in the country. Both the ruling establishment 

and majority of Filipinos are also 

deeply worried about China’s growing assertiveness 

in Philippine-claimed waters. 

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 

Game, set and 

money 

World tennis finds itself in the throes of a 

major scandal with investigators’ revelations 

of a long-running match-fixing malaise 

exposed by the media, which timed the 

report for the start of the year’s first grand 

slam event. Much the same can be said about virtually any 

other modern sport because as yet no one has found a way 

to satisfy human greed. But very few sports make genuine 

attempts to get to the bottom of the matter, weed out the 

bad elements and contain the image damage, with the exception 

of soccer which is extremely serious about corruption, 

among players and referees at least. 

When the world’s top player of the contemporary game 

says he had been offered money to throw a match, the game 

must sit up and take notice. Safeguards like the integrity 

unit must be cranked to investigate thoroughly every rumour 

because the toxic canker of corruption is never far 

from ruining sport. When it is being said by private investigators 

that 16 players, including winners of grand slam 

titles and ranked in the world’s top 50, are involved in suspicious 

activity, and that many of them are actually playing 

the current Australian Open, there must be some fire 

behind all the smoke. 

It is too often the case that sports administrators prefer 

denial mode, hoping the whispers will go away; only sustained 

damage to the game’s credibility wakes them up. 

What greater hypocrisy can there be than allowing betting 

firms to sponsor international tournaments in soccer, tennis 

and cricket? This nexus between sport and the betting 

market must go if sport is serious about cleaning up the 

stables. 

Email: preciouskashmir@gmail.com 

Website: www.preciouskashmir.com 

How to keep start-ups 

standing 

Sanjeev Ahluwalia 

Startups are nimble problem solvers 

and disrupters. But babus have a 

deep aversion to be fingered by audit. 

Only an explicit budgetary direction 

to engage tangibly with startups can 

nudge departmental secretaries to risk public 

money. 

Being workaholics and 24x7 people, Team 

Modi must be avid coffee drinkers, with a 

yen for espresso. For the uninitiated, espresso 

is the end product of forcing boiling water 

through ground coffee, thereby concentrating 

the caffeine content and enhancing the “kick”. 

India’s “espresso” moment happened 

last Saturday in New Delhi with the grand 

inauguration of “Start Up Stand Up”, the new 

campaign with the unfortunate acronym 

SUSU. This new mission focuses government 

resources and effort around the creation of 

new entrepreneurs. Established businessmen 

were not welcome to join the party at Vigyan 

Bhawan. And some confusion prevailed 

whether startups in the old economy space 

were on the guest list, or it was restricted 

to the “new economy” subset of IT-enabled 

startups. 

But the crowd of young “been there and 

wannabe” entrepreneurs were not quibbling 

about such nit-picky issues. They were there 

to bond, stamp their feet and whistle their 

approval at being noticed and included in the 

national mainstream. 

The presence of the founders of Uber, 

WeWork and Softbank was icing on the cake, 

which undoubtedly was an extended opportunity 

for “selfies” with Prime Minister Modi. 

Expectedly, older inhabitants of this charmed 

business space were not impressed by the 

ground swell of support from the young. They 

spent their time warning against the danger 

of expecting too much from this space, 

which is already clogged. Apparently of the 

500 e-commerce startups launched in India, 

only 10 survive — a survival rate of 2 per cent. 

Internationally, the survival rate for startups 

is better at 40 per cent. 

But India’s burgeoning, literate, young 

“wannabe” entrepreneurs would have no 

truck with such pessimism. They pushed and 

shoved and cheered their way into the frisson 

of excitement which Team Modi had carefully 

generated for the event. Hope sprung eternal 

in every ones’ heart as Prime Minister Modi 

stoked the embers of youth entrepreneurship. 

So how long will the “espresso moment” last? 

Adrenalin has a self-regulating mechanism 

for ramping down. The Prime Minister’s 

gesture is a welcome beginning to look beyond 

the “big men in suits” for business solutions. 

Mr Modi is right when he looks to the 

young and the intrepid to take risks, follow 

their dreams and escape the golden handcuffs 

of contracted servitude. If we want to scale up 

jobs and disperse commercial opportunities 

across the country,facilitating small startups 

is likely to give the biggest bang for the public 

buck. 

India is not short of business enterprises. 

We have 1.4 million registered companies 

though 30 per cent are closed, being liquidated 

or not functional. In comparison, our workforce 

is around 700 million. Just one working 

company per 700 workers is way too low. 

Even worse,75 per cent of the operational 

companies have an authorised capital of less 

than Rs 25 lakh ($38,000) and one-third have 

less than Rs 1 lakh ($1,500). This illustrates 

their limited potential for adding to gross 

employment. It also explains why only 1.5 

per cent of the workforce is in formal, private 

employment, with the government providing 

jobs for another 2 per cent. Incentivising new 

entrepreneurs makes sense. 

The Prime Minister announced a package 

of goodies to induce those present to just go 

and do it — tax breaks; venture capital; easier 

entry and exit processes and innovation hubs. 

These are the basics for any industry to grow. 

But startups need more. By definition, a successful 

startup is small but poised for explosive 

growth company. This is what attracts 

investors to accept the higher risk in anticipation 

of the huge rewards from added volumes 

and scale. 

The government is best placed to help in 

adding scale. However, care must be taken 

that government finance does not dilute 

the financial discipline which private finance 

imposes. One option is for the finance 

minister to encourage ministries to spend a 

small proportion of their purchase budgets 

for this purpose. The Union government has 

a residual budget of around of Rs 7 lakh crore 

($100 billion), after accounting for salaries 

and pensions, overheads, interest payments 

and transfers to state governments. Even a 1 

per cent allocation for buy-back arrangements 

with startups translates into performance-dependent 

support of Rs 7,000 crore ($1 billion) 

annually. This amount could usefully provide 

a revenue cushion to around 500 startups. 

The Prime Minister proposed to provide 

Rs 2,000 crore ($300 million) annually as 

a public grant for institutional finance and 

a guarantee of around Rs 400 crore ($60 

million) to de-risk venture capital. Letting 

actual user departments contract directly 

with startups using their individual 

budgets is preferable. First, encouraging 

government departments to work with 

startups has the hope that some of the 

private sector mojo will rub-off on them. 

Indeed, government officials who participated 

in the inaugural function seemed 

a far cry from the stodgy, grumps that 

“babus” are presumed to be. 

Second, organically linking actual 

government users with startup founders 

bridges the chasm between small business 

and government. Startups are nimble 

problem solvers and disrupters. They can 

be used beneficially to enhance the effectiveness 

of public spending. But babus 

have a deep aversion to be fingered by 

audit. Only an explicit budgetary direction 

to engage tangibly with startups can 

nudge departmental secretaries to risk 

public money.Third, it makes sense to 

de-concentrate the mandate for growing 

startups across the entire government 

architecture. Embedding this objective 

into central schemes further extends this 

mission to the state governments which 

manage these schemes. 

Lastly, government should focus on encouraging 

startups in enhancing the rule of 

law, social protection, human development 

and agriculture. Commerce and industry are 

already well serviced by established mentors 

and private venture capital funds. 

Last Saturday’s fever in Vigyan Bhawan 

was just the froth at the top of a cup of 

espresso. Keeping the adrenalin going will 

take far more grounded effort to keep those 

who stood up from sitting down again. 

The writer is adviser, Observer Research 

Foundation 

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


Sensex Nifty Gold 

Business/ International 

Thursday 

5 



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

417.80 

125.80 

227.00 

114.00 

0.31 

1.90 

35.00 

9.30 

4.35 

17.50 

24062.04 

7309.30 

26,284.00 

34,542.00 

67.95 

66.70 

646.25 

173.65 

224.40 

1,018.30 

Sensex ends 418 points lower at 24062 

Mumbai, Jan 20: Markets ended at fresh 

52-week closing lows on Wednesday after 

slump in crude oil prices and weak 

growth from China renewed fears of a 

global growth slowdown. 

The S&P BSE Sensex ended down 418 

points at 24,062 and the Nifty50 closed 

126 points lower at 7,309. 

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap 

and Smallcap indices ended down 

2% each. Market breadth ended negative 

with 2,085 losers and 589 gainers on the 

BSE. 

“Markets continue to remain under 

the overhang of a severe sell-off 

in global equities and where any sense 

of a bottom would only be realised 

when there is stability in the Chinese 

markets. Our current earnings season 

does not leave much scope for taking 

contrarian bets as positive surprises 

are likely to be few and far between. 

What’s made it worse for the broader 

market (mid-caps, small-caps) is the 

probable exit of the retail investor after 

nearly 14 months of support. Further, 

with the IMF downgrading its global 

GDP growth forecast for 2016 to 3.4% 

and keeping China well below 7% and 

with oil still fighting shy of a bottom 

global cues remain uncertain,” said 

Tirthankar Patnaik, India Strategist at 

Mizuho Bank. 

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee touched 

a 28-month low and was trading at 68.04 

to the dollar in intra-day trade after falling 

global crude oil prices sparked off 

global growth concerns. 

Crude oil prices fell further on concerns 

of oversupplies while resumption 

of exports from Iran also weighed on 

sentiment. Nymex crude futures were 

trading below $28 a barrel while Brent 

crude futures were trading tad above $28 

a barrel. 

SECTORS & STOCKS 

All sectoral indices ended in the red. 

The BSE Metal index was the top loser 

down 3% tracking weakness in China followed 

by Bankex, Capital Goods, Power 

and Realty indices among others. 

Of the 30 Sensex stocks only Bajaj 

Auto, Wipro and Hero MotoCorp ended 

with marginal gains. 

Index heavweight Reliance Industries 

which had gained in the run-up 

Oil prices fall further; US 

crude slumps below $28 

Singapore, Jan 20: Crude futures 

slumped again in early 

Asian trade on Wednesday, 

with U.S. oil falling to its lowest 

since September 2003 

below $28 a barrel on worries 

over a global supply glut. 

That came as the International 

Energy Agency, 

which advises industrialised 

countries on energy policy, 

warned on Tuesday that oil 

markets could “drown in 

oversupply”. 

U.S. crude futures were 

trading down 46 cents at 

$28.00 a barrel at 0136 GMT, 

after dropping to $27.92 earlier 

in the session – a new 

low since September 2003. 

The contract settled 

down 96 cents, or 3.26 percent, 

the session before. 

Brent futures dropped 

19 cents to $28.57 a barrel 

after settling up 21 cents, or 

0.7 per cent, in the previous 

session. They were hovering 

close to a 12-year low. 

“Oil prices are at a level 

where OPEC countries are 

all struggling. They are selling 

oil for cashflow not for 

profit,” said Jonathan Barratt, 

chief investment financial 

officer at Sydney’s Ayers Alliance. 

“U.S. producers are holding 

out, but I think they’re 

bleeding as well,” he said. 

“Looking at current 

prices, oil producers will 

engineer something to push 

prices higher.” 

U.S. commercial crude 

oil and gasoline stocks were 

forecast to have risen by 3 

million to 485.6 million barrels 

last week, a preliminary 

Reuters survey taken ahead 

of weekly inventory data, 

showed on Tuesday. 

Stocks data from industry 

group the American 

Petroleum Institute (API) is 

due out later on Wednesday, 

while official figures 

from the U.S. Department 

of Energy’s Energy Information 

Administration (EIA) 

will be released on Thursday, 

a day later due to a 

public holiday. 

Ample storage space for 

crude around the world, including 

230 million barrels 

of new storage to be completed 

this year, will help 

prevent further sharp price 

falls but will weigh against 

significant price rises, according 

to analysts and industry 

watchers. 

Global financial markets 

seem to be overreacting to 

falling oil prices and the risk 

of a sharp downturn in China’s 

economy, Maurice Obstfeld, 

the International Monetary 

Fund’s chief economist 

said on Tuesday. 

“The oil price puts 

stresses on oil exporters … 

but there is a silver lining 

for consumers worldwide, 

so it’s not an unmitigated 

negative.” 

to its third quarter earnings witnessed 

profit taking despite robust third quarter 

earnings. The stock ended down 

3.8% contributing the most to the market 

decline. 

Banks which are a proxy to the 

economy continued to witness selling 

pressure. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI 

ended down 1.8%-5.1% each. Axis Bank 

ended down 1% ahead of its results later 

today. PNB, Bank of Baroda ended down 

3.2-5.8% each. 

L&T recovered from its day’s low to 

JK Bank vigorous on CSR initiatives in Jammu 

Chairman lays 

foundation at 

“Balgran” 

Jammu, Jan 20: Continuing 

with its Corporate Social Responsibility 

programme to 

reach out to organisations 

working for the welfare of 

poor and neglected in the 

state, J&K Bank today inaugurated 

the construction of 

a dormitory for girls at BAL- 

GRAN, Charitable Home for 

destitute/children at Chhani 

Rama. 

The Bank’s Chairman 

and CEO Mushtaq Ahmad 

laid the foundation stone 

for the dormitory, to be 

built exclusively for girls, 

amid appreciation and applause 

from a gathering of 

socially conscious citizens 

of state in a simple yet impressive 

function. Executive 

President Abdul Rauf Bhat, 

Zonal Head Jammu (Central) 

Arvind Gupta, Vice- 

end down 0.9%. The company today announced 

that the heavy civil infrastructure 

business along with its joint venture 

partner, Daewoo E&C of South Korea, has 

won a major order worth Rs 3,115 crore 

from the Bihar State Road Development 

Corporation. 

Other Sensex losers include, Tata Motors, 

Infosys, ITC, HDFC and Adani Ports 

among others. 

Among other shares, Aditya Birla 

Nuvo ended down at Rs 883 after the 

stock turned today ex-scheme of arrangement 

today. In May last year, Aditya 

Birla Nuvo announced merger of all 

its branded apparel businesses into one 

entity, Pantaloons Fashion & Retail now 

known as Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail. 

Under the scheme of arrangement, 

the apparel businesses of group holding 

company Aditya Birla Nuvo (ABNL) and 

of another group firm Madura Garments 

Lifestyle Retail would be demerged into 

listed firm Pantaloons Fashion & Retail 

(PFRL). 

BASF ended down 4.3%, after hitting 

its 52-week low, as the specialty chemicals 

reported a higher net loss of Rs 106 

China offers support for Yemen govt 

as Xi Jinping visits Saudi Arabia 

Beijing, Jan 20: China has signalled 

its support for Yemen`s government, 

which is fighting an Iran-allied militia, 

on the first day of a visit to Saudi 

Arabia by Chinese President Xi Jinping, 

who will also be heading to 

Tehran later in the week. 

A Saudi-led coalition began a 

military campaign last year against 

the Iranian-allied Shi`ite Houthi 

movement in Yemen, which has 

seized the capital, Sanaa. The government 

of President Abd-Rabbu 

Mansour Hadi is now based in the 

southern city of Aden. 

Riyadh sees the Houthis as a 

proxy for bitter regional rival Iran to 

expand its influence in the impoverished 

Arabian Peninsula nation. 

The Houthis deny this and say they 

are waging a revolution against a 

corrupt government and Gulf Arab 

powers beholden to the West. 

A growing diplomatic dispute 

between Riyadh and Tehran, 

triggered by mainly Sunni Saudi 

Arabia`s execution of a prominent 

Shi`ite cleric, has damaged the outlook 

for any resolution to the conflict 

in Yemen. 

Saudi Arabia and China said in 

a statement on Wednesday that 

the two countries affirmed their 

support for the unity, independence 

and sovereignty of Yemen. The 

statement was released by China`s 

Foreign Ministry after Xi met Saudi 

King Salman bin Abdulaziz in Riyadh 

on Tuesday. 

All social, religious and political 

groups in Yemen should maintain 

their national solidarity and avoid 

Kurds destroyed ‘thousands’ 

of Arab homes in Iraq 

Baghdad, Jan 20: Kurdish forces have destroyed 

thousands of homes in northern 

Iraq in an apparent attempt to uproot Arab 

communities, Amnesty International said 

Wednesday. 

The rights group said the destruction 

took place after Kurdish forces captured 

areas from ISIS, which overran swathes of 

territory north and west of Baghdad in 2014. 

Destruction and theft of property has 

been a frequent occurence in the war against 

ISIS, angering residents whose support security 

forces may need to hold recaptured 

areas. “Peshmerga forces from the Kurdistan 

Regional Government (KRG) and Kurdish 

militias in northern Iraq have bulldozed, 

blown up and burned down thousands of 

homes communities in revenge for their 

perceived support” of ISIS, Amnesty said 

in a statement. The autonomous Kurdish 

region’s “forces appear to be spearheading 

a concerted campaign to forcibly displace 

Arab communities,” Donatella Rovera, Amnesty’s 

senior crisis response adviser, said in 

the statement. 

“The forced displacement of civilians 

and the deliberate destruction of homes and 

property without military justification may 

amount to war crimes,” Rovera said. 

Arab civilians who fled fighting have 

also been barred from returning home. 

Amnesty documented evidence of 

“forced displacement and large-scale destruction 

of homes” by Kurdish forces in 

three provinces: Nineveh, Kirkuk and Diyala. 

The London-based rights watchdog 

published a similar report about Kurdish 

forces in neighboring Syria in October, accusing 

the “autonomous administration” 

led by Syrian Kurds of war crimes. 

any decisions that may cause social 

disruption and chaos, it said. 

“Both sides stressed support for 

the legitimate regime of Yemen,” 

the statement said. 

Xi is expected in Iran later in the 

week, with a further stop in Egypt 

after he leaves Saudi Arabia. 

Asked whether China was siding 

with Saudi Arabia over Yemen 

and whether that could risk upsetting 

Iran, Chinese Foreign Ministry 

spokesman Hong Lei said China had 

always acted in the interests of the 

Beijing, Jan 20: The European Union`s 

ambassador to China said Wednesday 

it had “grave concerns” over Beijing`s 

detentions of EU citizens, hours after 

state media broadcast the purported 

confession of a Swedish activist held by 

authorities. 

Peter Dahlin, who worked for the 

Chinese Urgent Action Working Group, 

disappeared earlier this month as he 

prepared to board a flight to Thailand, 

and appears to have been caught up in 

a crackdown on human rights lawyers. 

State broadcaster China Central Television, 

showed a video of him confessing 

that he had “violated Chinese law 

through my activities here”. 

In stilted tones, he declared: “I have 

hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. 

I apologise sincerely for this.” 

Yemeni people and maintaining 

peace in the Middle East, and had 

promoted peace talks. 

“(We) hope clashes in Yemen 

can come to an end as soon as possible 

and there can be reconciliation 

so the country can return to 

stability,” Hong told a daily news 

briefing. 

China relies on the region for 

oil but has tended to leave Middle 

Eastern diplomacy to the other four 

permanent members of the U.N. Security 

Council - the United States, 

Britain, France and Russia. 

However, China has been trying 

to get more involved, especially in 

Syria, and recently hosted its foreign 

minister and opposition officials. 

China and Saudi Arabia expressed 

deep concern about Syria 

and renewed a call for a peaceful political 

settlement as soon as possible. 

A Chinese president has not 

visited Saudi Arabia since 2009, 

when Hu Jintao went. Jiang Zemin 

was the last Chinese president to 

visit Iran, in 2002. 

Ankara, Jan 20: US President 

Barack Obama and 

Turkish President Tayyip 

Erdogan pledged continued 

cooperation in the fight 

against militants, including 

ISIS and Kurdistan Workers 

Party (PKK) militants, the 

White House and Turkish 

presidential sources said. 

During his phone call to 

Erdogan, Obama offered his 

condolences for last week’s 

bombing in Istanbul, when 

10 German tourists were 

killed in a suicide attack 

blamed on ISIS, the White 

House and Turkish presidential 

sources said. 

Obama also condemned 

a recent string of attacks 

by the PKK against Turkish 

security forces, and he 

stressed the need for deescalation, 

the White House 

said in a statement. 

The two leaders said 

the fight against terrorism 

would be among a number 

of topics on the agenda 

Dahlin`s group has said it offered 

training to human rights lawyers who 

have tried to use China`s tightly-controlled 

judiciary to redress apparent 

government abuses. 

“I have no complaints to make,” the 

Swede was shown saying. “I think my 

treatment has been fair.” 

Two purported Chinese colleagues 

of Dahlin were also shown declaring 

their guilt. 

In China high-profile criminal suspects 

are regularly paraded on television 

apparently confessing to their actions, 

in what rights lawyers say is a 

violation of criminal procedure. 

It is rare for China to accuse foreigners 

of national security offences, which 

can carry heavy penalties, although 

some have been accused of spying. 

crore for the third quarter ended December 

2015 (Q3FY16) as against loss of Rs 40 

crore in the same quarter last year. 

GLOBAL MARKETS 

Asian stocks retreated after gaining 

in the previous session as further slide 

in global crude oil prices weighed on investor 

sentiment. US crude futures fell 

below $28 per barrel while Brent crude 

was trading below $29 a barrel.Chinese 

stocks which had surged over 3% in the 

previous session was trading with marginal 

losses. Among other markets in the 

region, Nikkei was down 2.2%, Hang Seng 

eased 3% while Straits Times was down 

nearly 2%. 

European shares also witnessed a 

sell-off tracking the sharp slide in global 

crude oil prices and concerns over global 

economy. Major stock indices like the 

DAX, CAC-40 and FTSE were down over 

2.8%-3.5% each. 

NIIT ended up 4% in an otherwise 

weak market after the company today 

reported 12% Year-on-Year (YoY) jump 

in consolidated net profit at Rs 13.7 

crore for the third quarter ended December 

31, 2015 (Q3FY16). 

President Shujaat Hussain 

Andrabi and other officers 

of the bank along with entire 

BALGRAN management 

team were present on the 

occasion. 

Speaking on the occasion 

Chairman said, “Making 

the economic development 

of J&K more and more 

inclusive in its scope and 

substance has been the purpose 

of our Bank throughout 

its remarkable journey 

for more than seven decades 

now.” 

“As conscious corporate 

citizen, we follow this 

philosophy of inclusion in 

our CSR programme also 

whereby we extend our 

helping hand to all the organisations 

that focus on 

bringing the individuals and 

groups at the margins of society 

to its secure and dignified 

core. And in this scheme 

of things our daughters deserve 

the best we can offer.” 

While visiting the entire 

‘home’ which houses 

the school for children also, 

Chairman announced the 

establishment of 3 smart 

classes for 8th, 9th and 10th 

classes besides face-lifting. 

He also committed to develop 

the school ground for 

children’s sports. 

He promised to supervise 

the entire thing personally 

and see it completed by 

the end of this financial year. 

The Chairman said, “I 

feel privileged to be at this 

function today and I wish 

all these wonderful children 

here at BALGRAN a bright 

and better future ahead. 

I hope the smart classes 

would keep them updated 

on the information and 

knowledge front while as 

the sports ground would 

help them build other capacities 

important for their 

personality development.” 

“It is a small step towards 

creating a better and secure 

social milieu for all of our 

own children”, he added. 

Obama, Erdogan vow 

cooperation against terror 

when U.S. Vice President Joe 

Biden visits Turkey on Saturday. 

NATO member Turkey, a 

member of the U.S.-led coalition 

battling Islamic State 

in Syria and Iraq (ISIS), has 

increasingly become a target 

for the militants. 

Prime Minister Ahmet 

Davutoglu blamed ISIS for 

the bombing on Jan. 12 in 

Istanbul’s historic heart. The 

suicide bomber is thought 

to have crossed recently 

from Syria. 

ISIS is also believed to 

be behind other attacks last 

year in Turkey, including 

EU has ‘grave concerns’ on 

China’s detention of Europeans 

The EU was “deeply concerned” 

about cases such as Dahlin`s, the 

grouping`s ambassador to China 

Hans-Dietmar Schweisgut told reporters. 

“We do hope it`s not representing 

the new normal yet, but we do see an 

extremely worrying trend,” he said. 

Dahlin`s case came after two Hong Kong 

booksellers with European citizenship 

vanished -- one from the former British 

colony and the other from Thailand 

-- to re-emerge in China, raising fears of 

Chinese authorities operating internationally. 

Lee Bo, who has a British passport, 

and Swede Gui Minhai were both born 

in China and were rumoured to be preparing 

a tell-all book about the love life 

of Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

NIIT Q3 net proft 

at Rs 13.7 crore 

Mumbai, Jan 20: Education 

company NIIT Limited posted 

net profit of Rs 13.7 crore for 

quarter ended December 31, 

2015 compared to Rs 1.8 crore 

posted in same quarter previous 

fiscal. The net revenue at 

Rs 262.3 crore, up 6 per cent 

year-on-year. 

In a press statement, the 

company said that they have 

expanded Europe operations 

and that they have commissioned 

new facilities in 

Norway & Ireland. 

Rahul Patwardhan, chief 

executive officer, NIIT Limited 

said: “Global corporate training 

outsourcing is growing 

steadily. While we further 

strengthened our Corporate 

Learning Business operations 

in US and Europe during the 

quarter, NIIT is now positioned 

to leverage emerging 

corporate learning group 

(CLG) opportunities back 

home in India, as we perceive 

a huge potential for industryaligned, 

globally benchmarked 

corporate learning 

solutions from leading 

corporates in the country.” 

CLG which offers Managed 

Training Services (MTS) 

to market-leading companies 

in North America, Europe, 

Asia, and Oceania, recorded 

net revenues of Rs 158.6 crore 

during the quarter, up 17 per 

cent over same period of the 

previous year. It added one 

new MTS customer in Q3, 

taking the total number of 

customers to 27, with a Revenue 

Visibility of $195 million 

for CLG. 

Further, strengthening 

operations in key international 

markets including Europe 

and North America, NIIT 

announced the establishment 

of a new facility in Bergen, 

Norway to expand nearshore 

multi-lingual delivery 

capability and further invest 

in the rapid growth of its 

business in Europe. NIIT now 

has three established centers 

in Europe - Dublin, Bergen, 

and London with a diverse 

mix of pan-European staff 

from the UK, Ireland, Norway, 

the Netherlands, Romania, 

and Germany. 

one in the capital Ankara in 

which more than 100 people 

were killed. 

Turkey’s predominantly 

Kurdish southeast is currently 

engulfed in the worst 

violence since the 1990s after 

the collapse last July of 

a two-year-long ceasefire 

with PKK militants. 

Last week the PKK, 

deemed a terrorist organization 

by the United States 

and the European Union as 

well as by Turkey, attacked a 

police station in a Diyarbakir 

district with a truck bomb, 

killing six people including 

a baby and two toddlers. 

Japan approves 

$350 mn for Syrian, 

Iraqi refugees 

Tokyo, Jan 20: Japan`s 

Parliament on Wednesday 

approved $350 million in 

humanitarian aid and other 

support for refugees fleeing 

violence in Syria and Iraq. 

The fresh round of aid 

comes in addition to $810 

million to assist refugees 

inside and outside Syria and 

Iraq, which was announced 

last year. 

The $350 million was 

included in a supplementary 

budget bill for the 

current fiscal year ending 

March that lawmakers 

approved, a parliamentary 

spokeswoman and a foreign 

ministry official said.


HEALTH 

5 common causes of a bloated belly 

Here are five common causes 

of a bloated belly. The reasons 

could be trivial but it’s better 

to get a check-up. 

You’re not pregnant and 

you haven’t gained weight, 

but your jeans are straining at 

the waist. What’s going on? 

Irritable bowel syndrome 

Could be the cause if: 

You’ve been bloated on and 

off for a long time and have 

also experienced symptoms 

including pain, constipation 

and/or bouts of diarrhoea. 

A common bowel condition, 

IBS is a functional 

disorder which means there’s 

nothing wrong with the 

structure of the bowel itself, 

but the way the gut works is 

abnormal. Peter Whorwell, 

professor of medicine and 

gastroenterology at the University 

of Manchester, says, 

“We think the gut is over-sensitive 

in IBS sufferers so it’s 

normal processes which 

cause the symptoms.” 

Bloating is one of the 

most disruptive side-effects 

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

Gunmen........ 

of IBS. Some women go up 

a couple of dress sizes and 

even need different clothes 

depending on whether or not 

they are bloated. For many, it 

tends to worsen towards the 

evening, so it can disrupt your 

social life. There’s no cure for 

IBS, but you can manage the 

symptoms. “Cutting out cereal 

fibre eases symptoms by 

between 30% and 40% in the 

majority of sufferers,” says 

Professor Whorwell. 

This means avoiding 

wholemeal bread, oats, muesli, 

digestive biscuits, cereal 

bars and all breakfast cereals 

other than rice krispies. But 

white bread, cakes, cream 

crackers and most biscuits 

are fine. Try doing this for 

three months to see if it 

helps. Probiotics may also 

ease symptoms. Try yoghurts, 

as the probiotic strain they 

contain has been shown to 

help IBS. 

Doctors can prescribe 

medication such as anti-spasmodics, 

laxatives and 

reports said the terrorists are between 18 and 25 years old. 

University Chancellor Dr Fazal Rahim said there are over 

3,000 students present inside the university along with an additional 

600 guests who are present for a poetic symposium to 

mark the death anniversary of Khudai Khidmatgar Khan Abdul 

Ghaffar Khan alias Baacha Khan who died on January 20, 1988. 

The terrorists barged into the university where the event 

was being attended by a large number of students. 

Rahim said four guards of university and one policeman 

were killed in attack. 

Geo TV reported that Professor Hamid Hussain of chemistry 

department was also among dead. 

"A teacher of the varsity after evacuation said Chairman 

Chemistry Department Hamid has been martyred by the firing 

of the militants," it said, adding the terrorists barged into Hamid's 

room and fired at his head, killing him instantly. 

The Taliban militants massacred over 150 people, mostly 

students, in an attack on an army-run school in Peshawar in 

December, 2014. 

Pakistan Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif among other 

leaders have strongly condemned attack on Bacha Khan University 

that claimed twenty lives, Dunya News reported Wednesday. 

In a statement issued, the Sharif condemned the terror attack. 

PM Nawaz has vowed to cripple terror network and eliminate 

extremism from the country. 

In a message posted on Twitter, Prime Minister Narendra 

Modi has denounced the attack in Pakistan’s university. 

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has 

also condemned the attack. The opposition party chief is about 

to leave for Charsadda to visit the attack site and review the ongoing 

operation. 

Mehbooba....... 

anti-diarrhoeals. “There’s no 

problem taking laxatives and 

anti-diarrhoeals in the long 

term if you have IBS,” adds 

Professor Whorwell. 

Flatulence 


You are passing a lot of wind, 

but don’t notice any other 

symptoms. We all experience 

flatulence from time to time 

— it’s perfectly normal to do 

so up to 15 times a day — and 

sometimes you may not even 

notice that you are doing 

it. While there’s no medical 

definition of excessive 

flatulence, if it’s bothering 

you and makes life awkward 

or feels uncomfortable, there 

are steps you can take to 

reduce it. 

Try cutting down on foods 

that are high in non-absorbable 

carbs. Common culprits 

include beans and pulses, 

broccoli, cabbage, prunes and 

apples, and foods containing 

the sugar substitute sorbitol. 

These tend to be digested 

very slowly and can release 

How to prevent and 

treat cold & cough 

As the temperatures drop, more and 

more people have been falling prey to 

common ailments such as chest congestion, 

cough and cold. 

We have all been hearing of 

colleagues, friends and family calling 

in sick to work, mostly due to 

these ailments, which might seem 

small but have a huge and detrimental 

effect on one’s work and 

personal life due to loss of productive 

work hours. 

“While there are numerous remedies 

and solutions available to treat 

chest congestion, this alarming statistic 

forces us to think about why it affects 

such a large number of our population. 

We are exposed to a number of viruses 

all day long, but some people seem 

more susceptible to catching colds or 

the flu than others,” says Dr. Sanjeev 

Mehta, Chest Physician, Lilavati Hospital, 

Mumbai. 

One can easily prevent this condition 

from recurring and having a detrimental 

effect on our day to day lives 

and overall productivity by keeping the 

following easy tips in mind. 

Step #1 to fight cold & cough 

Deciding on a ‘Suppressant’ or an 

‘Expectorant’ 

The first and foremost step towards 

finding a solution is to identify the kind 

of cough you have and treat it with the 

right kind of cough syrup. There are two 

kinds of cough: ‘dry’ or non-productive 

cough and ‘wet’ or productive cough. 

While a ‘wet’ or productive cough is a 

condition where one produces phlegm 

while coughing, a ‘dry’ cough sees no 

such production. 

Different types of cough syrups are 

required to treat the different symptoms 

of these ailments. One suffering 

from a dry cough requires a suppressant 

that will curb the urge to cough, 

while an expectorant that helps in 

thinning, loosening and expelling the 

mucus accumulated in the lungs helps 

relieve a wet cough. 


Eat spicy and warm foods 

Foods such as chili, ginger, jalapeno, 

garlic and black pepper that are spicy 

may help if you are suffering from a bad 

case of chest congestion. These food 

items help in thinning the mucus and 

making it easier to breathe. Consuming 

food at a high temperature also helps as 

the heat kills the harmful bacteria that 

can aggravate the condition. 


Steam inhalation 

This is one of the easiest and best 

home remedies to supplement your 

medication and beat chest congestion. 

It is advised to heat water in a bowl and 

add any vaporizer or eucalyptus oil. 

Vaporized steam also helps in thinning 

and loosening of the solidifying mucus 

and makes it easier to breath, giving 

immediate relief. 


Fruits, vegetables and juices 

Consuming food products rich in 

vitamins and minerals such as vegetables 

and fruits help boost immunity 

levels. Juices as well as warm liquids are 

also advised during sickness as they are 

high in essential vitamins and help in 

flushing out toxins from the body.Step 

#5 to fight cold & cough 

Milk and turmeric 

While turmeric is well known for 

its medicinal properties, milk is equivalent 

to a complete meal owing to the 

high nutrients it contains. Taking a 

warm glass of milk with a spoon full 

of turmeric powder two to three times 

a day helps in fighting the bacterial 

growth caused by cough and chest congestion 

as well as in loosening phlegm. 


Regular exercise 

Maintaining a moderate and consistent 

exercise regime goes a long way 

in helping one stay physically fit and 

increasing immunity levels, and gives 

a temporary boost in the production 

of the cells that attack bacteria, helping 

one avoid illnesses and maintaining 

overall good health. 

people and the Government of Pakistan in their resolve to fight 

the menace of terrorism and condemn use of violence under 

any circumstance,” she said and added that the atrocity of this 

proportion should outrage the feelings of every human being. 

Mehbooba said the attack on a school in Peshawar, Pakistan 

in December 2014 and the recent attack on an airbase in 

Pathankote area of Punjab are a grim reminder of how the terrorists 

are trying to destabilize the region by shedding the blood 

of innocents. 

She said such gruesome and heinous attacks only reiterate 

the inevitability of greater cooperation between India and Pakistan 

to eliminate the scourge of terrorism from the region. 

Pulwama........ 

which was retaliated. “During the ensuing encounter, more 

than 50 civilians who had got entrapped due to cross firing in a 

nearby mosque were rescued safely by the Pulwama police. In 

the gun battle, one dreaded militant of HM outfit got killed who 

was later identified as Shariq Ahmed Bhat of Brow Bandana, 

Awantipora. 

“During the operation, a large number of protesters came 

towards operation site and pelted stones on the security forces. 

Security forces exercised maximum restraint and 17 security 

force personnel got injured - including Nazir Ahmed Ganai, 

DySP of 18 Bn. IRP who sustained multiple fractures in his leg. A 

police vehicle was also set ablaze by the protesters. During the 

uncontrolled protests, three protesters got firearm injuries, out 

of which, one Parvaiz Ahmed Guroo resident of Naina later succumbed 

to his injuries. The condition of other two rioters is said 

to be stable. Case FIR No. 10/16 and 11/16 stand registered in PS 

Pulwama and investigation is on.” (CNS) 

Guv........ 

legal framework is suitably modified to enable effective investigations 

in terror cases. 

"The existing Schedule to the NIA Act also requires to be 

reviewed for enlarging the list of offences to particularly cover 

those under the Ranbir Penal Code, Arms Act, NDPS Act, Explosive 

Substances Act and Cyber Terrorism offences, among others," 

he said. 

Inclusion of Ranbir Penal Code, which is a substitute to Indian 

Penal Code(IPC) in Jammu and Kashmir, means that National 

Investigation Agency (NIA) can take over any case registered 

under anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 

as well as RPC. 

Under the NIA Act, which came into force after the 2008 

Mumbai attack, the agency can take over any case related to terror 

suo-motu except for Jammu and Kashmir where it requires 

permission of the state government before taking up the investigation. 

Both PDP and NC have been opposing giving sweeping 

powers to NIA to take suo motu cognisance of terror-related 

cases in the state. 

PDP leader Nayeem Akther said that his party requires time 

to study the statement of the Governor and that it will come out 

with its response later while NC spokesman said that the party 

will not support any such move. 

"The Governor should leave such decision to be taken by a 

small amounts of sulphur gas 

while they pass through the 

gut. 

Nutrition consultant Ian 

Marber says, “Eat food slowly 

and remember to chew. Without 

chewing, food is more 

likely to pass into the gut 

partially broken down and 

there’s a higher chance it will 

ferment and produce gas.” Be 

aware that occasionally, an 

underlying health condition 

— including those that are 

listed here — could also be 

causing flatulence. 

Coeliac disease 


You often feel tired; you’ve 

lost weight for no apparent 

reason; you are suffering 

from abdominal pain. Coeliac 

disease is an adverse reaction 

to gluten, which is found 

in wheat, barley, rye and 

all foods containing them 

— everything from pasta 

and bread to pies and some 

gravies and sauces. It is an auto-immune 

condition where 

the body mistakes substances 

in the gluten for a threat 

and attacks them, leading 

to damage to the surface of 

the small bowel, which then 

affects your ability to absorb 

nutrients from food. 

It used to be mainly diagnosed 

in children, but it’s now 

known that people can go 

undiagnosed into middle age. 

If you have these symptoms, 

see your doctor and ask to 

have a blood test for coeliac 

disease. National Institute for 

Health and Clinical Excellence 

guidelines state that anyone 

with bloating and other 

IBS-type symptoms should 

be tested for it. If you’re diagnosed, 

you’ll feel better once 

you start avoiding all foods 

containing gluten. 

Ovarian cancer 


Bloating is persistent and you 

have other symptoms such as 

a perpetual feeling of fullness 

and abdominal pain. The 

symptoms of ovarian cancer 

tend to be quite vague, which 

is often why it’s diagnosed 

popularly elected government," the spokesman said. 

CPM leader and MLA Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami saw the 

statement as a move to encroach upon the autonomy of the 

state. "This is an attempt to encroach on whatever autonomy is 

left," Tarigami said. 

Youth........ 

late when it’s harder to treat. 

So it’s important to be aware 

of potential signs. Cancer expert 

Annwen Jones says, “Key 

symptoms are bloating that is 

persistent rather than coming 

and going and increased 

abdominal size. Look out for 

persistent and frequent abdominal 

pain, difficulty eating 

and urinary symptoms.” 

Hormonal fluctuations 

Could be the cause if: You 

are premenstrual or in the early 

stages of pregnancy. During 

pregnancy, and just before your 

period, levels of the hormone 

progesterone are raised. This 

can slow down gut mobility or 

movement, which means food 

passes more slowly through 

the body, leading to bloating 

and possibly constipation. But 

you can beat the bloat. Exercise 

can help improve gut mobility 

and walking for 30 minutes a 

day could be enough to make 

the difference. Also, drink plenty 

of fluids and eat lots of fruit, 

vegetables and whole grains to 

avoid constipation. 

Type more to cut-down 

blood pressure! 

If you are often nabbed by your parents 

for text messaging, then you must 

make them read this article as a new 

study has revealed that typing could 

help reduce blood pressure. 

Researchers from have found that 

the high blood pressure is a common 

condition that can be managed successfully 

with tablets. To prove the 

research, health workers used mobile 

phones linked to blood pressure 

measuring devices to collect health 

information about patients and text 

messaging was managed automatically 

using an affordable calculating 

system. 

Professor Lionel Tarassenko from 

the reseacrh team said that there was 

a great potential for mobile phone 

technology to help with the management 

of chronic diseases world-wide 

through automated messaging to the 

right person at the right time. He 

added, through this study, that they 

have demonstrated that how this 

could be done in an area where large 

numbers of people are at risk because 

of uncontrolled blood pressure. 


Srinagar | Thursday 


36 

Antidepressants 

easily 

available 

Indian American psychiatrist 

Dr Nagareddy Narendra 

Kumar Reddy may have 

been dubbed ‘Dr Death’ 

for allegedly prescribing 

overdose of benzodiazepines 

to his patients in USA, but 

back home several anti-depressant 

drugs are easily 

available off the shelf. 

Senior psychiatrists 

point out that benzodiazepines, 

which are prescribed 

for depression, sleeplessness, 

schizophrenia and 

other mental health conditions, 

are largely abused by 

unscrupulous elements in 

AP and Telangana. As these 

drugs are freely available despite 

stringent prescription 

norms, many patients end 

up consuming higher doses 

leading to addiction. There 

have been several instances 

of people popping up an 

overdose of benzodiazepines 

to commit suicide. 

Dr Narendra, who graduated 

from Kurnool Medical 

College in 1981, has been 

charged with prescribing 

an overdose of opiates and 

benzodiazepines. Though 

the drug control authorities 

in AP and Telangana 

succeeded in restricting 

the availability of opiates 

to the general public, they 

could not restrict the sale of 

benzodiazepines. 

“Opiates should be 

prescribed only by cancer 

specialists. Psychiatrists are 

barred from giving opiates to 

their patients. A prescription 

for benzodiazepines is valid 

only for the number of days 

a psychiatrist recommends 

the drug use. For instance, 

if a psychiatrist prescribes 

an anti-depressant drug for 

14 days, the prescription 

expires once the medicine 

is issued to the patient or on 

the 15th day, whichever is 

earlier. The same prescription 

cannot be used to buy 

medicines again.The patient 

needs to bring a new prescription 

next time. But this 

rule is not followed properly 

,” says psychiatrist Dr Minhaz 

Nasirabadi.Psychiatrists 

caution that benzodiazepines 

and other anti-depressants 

should not be used for 

a long time as they cause 

physical and psychological 

dependence. If the drug is 

stopped abruptly, it leads 

to what is called withdrawal 

symptoms, which are 

difficult to manage. 

The Maharashtra 

government recently introduced 

a system to curb 

repeat sale of anti-depressants 

to people. 

treated many young patients who developed depression after 

the uprisings. 

“Young men have a continuous fear of getting arrested 

again,” he said, adding that long-term incarceration has been 

linked to post-traumatic stress disorder. “We have younger people 

coming to seek help. We have an epidemic of mental health 

problems, particularly depression.” Hussain then compared the 

way cholera used to hit Kashmir every year to the way depression 

now affects the region. 

In 2009, a study on the relationship between conflict and 

depression in Kashmir found that the prevalence of depression 

in the region is over 55 percent. 

The decline in psychological health has led to an increase 

in substance use and suicide in Kashmir. Over the years, the 

number of patients seeking help at the Srinagar facility, the 

only psychiatric hospital in the region, has increased rapidly. According 

to doctors, around 1,700 patients visited the hospital in 

1989, compared to more than 100,000 last year. Private clinics 

and district hospital centers have also opened to accommodate 

patients. 

In 2009, a study on the relationship between conflict and 

depression in Kashmir commissioned by the Sher-e-Kashmir 

Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar found that the prevalence 

of depression in the region is over 55 percent. Moreover, 

it found that people in rural areas, women and young people 

were particularly affected. 

There are many causes of mental illness, Hussain says, but 

ongoing political conflict is a major one. “It was thought to be an 

illness of middle-aged people but now large numbers of people 

are between 18 and 35 years old.” 

Mental illness carries a social stigma in Kashmir, and researchers 

say it has not been easy for young people to see 

psychiatrists. According to Hussain, there are many people in 

Kashmir in need of mental health services who have never been 

treated. “In our society, people don’t talk about depression. They 

don’t detect depression. People never go to psychiatrists.” 

The lack of awareness has likely resulted in fewer medical 

consultations, though government and community organizations, 

such as Action Aid India in Kashmir, have held campaigns 

to promote mental health treatment. Since 2003, Action Aid India 

has worked in roughly 100 villages a year, distributing pamphlets, 

conducting workshops and organizing medical camps. 

To reduce stigma around mental health problems, Action 

Aid India also started a campaign in which they write descriptions 

of the symptoms of the depression on public walls. In the 

village of Lelhar 19 miles south of Srinagar, a painter was at 

work on a large banner that would read, “Symptoms of depression 

include sadness, anger, excessive sweating, sleeplessness, 

nightmares, loss of interest and low appetite.” 

Beyond awareness, there are other problems. Project manager 

Tanveer Ahmad Dar says mental health issues are often 

chronic and require continuous follow-ups. This, he says, can be 

expensive: “Costs incurred in treatment are very high.” 

Zeba lives in Lelhar in a mall mud-brick house. Last August, 

her 22-year-old son, Lateef was shot several times in the lower 

back during a protest. One bullet was removed and another 

is still lodged in his spine. He is now unable to work, and his 

mother has also suffered as a result of his injury. 

“I have depression and can’t sleep,” says Zeba, who describes 

her typical mood as agitated, restless, hyperconscious and worried. 

Each day she smokes around four and a half pounds of dry 

tobacco for relief. A few weeks ago, she burned all her medical 

prescriptions. 

Since the uprisings, Hussain, the psychiatrist in Srinagar, 

has treated many families like Zeba’s. “Families are drifting because 

of mental illness,” he said, adding that rising anger has 

been an “indirect effect” of these dynamics. 

As the political conflict continues, the need for mental 

health services will as well. In Kashmir, Dar says, recurring traumatic 

events keep people trapped in a cycle. Until the environment 

changes, he says, the “mental health situation in Kashmir will not improve. 

With one person, the whole family is affected.” (Al-Jazeera) 

Delhi........ 

for severely damaged Kacha house and Rs 20,000 for partially 

damaged Pucca house and Rs 10,000 for partially damaged Kacha 

house. In this way, the assistance under all the three categories 

of damaged houses would be much more than the same 

provided earlier,” the report said. 

NC........ 

PDP has said Mehbooba is in the process of reviewing the implementation 

of the 'Agenda of Alliance' during the 10-monthrule 

of PDP-BJP government headed by her father and a decision 

would be taken in due course. PDP has said it was "highly 

unlikely" that it would form the next government with BJP till 

"we receive concrete assurances on key issues flagged by our 

party leader Naeem Akhtar last week".

7 

SRINAGAR, THURSDAY 


S 

P 

O 

R 

T 

S 

HIL: Warriors 

get off to 

winning start 

CHANDIGARH: Australian 

striker Jake Whetton 

powered Punjab Warriors 

past defending champions 

Ranchi Rays 2-0 in 

their opening game of the 

Hockey India League, here 

at the Sector 42 Hockey 

Stadium on Tuesday. The 

win was sweet revenge 

for the Warriors, who had 

lost to the same opponents 

in the final of the 

2015 edition. 

The Warriors were aggressive 

from the outset 

and made most of a quick 

counter-attack. Sardar 

Singh was the lynchpin of 

the offensive move and 

Whetton the finisher. In 

the second minute of the 

match that Sardar took 

The trio of centre-half 

Sardar, 

striker Whetton 

and halfback SV 

Sunil combined 

well and were a 

constant threat 

for Rays as it 

seemed that the 

Punjab team 

would increase 

their advantage 

any time soon. 

control of a loose ball on 

the right, and weaved 

past a couple of defenders, 

before sending a 

through ball to an alert 

Whetton for an opportunistic 

strike. The Aussie 

dodged an on-rushing 

Rays goalkeeper Tyler 

Lovell and slotted home 

with a grasping drive. 

To encourage more 

field goals and attacking 

hockey, one field goal is 

counted as two in this 

edition of the HIL. So the 

Whetton strike meant 

the Warriors were up 

2-0 pretty early in the 

contest. 

The trio of centre-half 

Sardar, striker Whetton 

and halfback SV Sunil 

combined well and were 

a constant threat for Rays 

as it seemed that the Punjab 

team would increase 

their advantage any time 

soon. 

Rays too had their 

share of chances but 

made a meal of most of 

them. Last year’s highest 

goal-scorer Ashley 

Jackson shot one wide 

past the goalpost when 

he had the goalkeeper at 

his mercy, just before the 

half-time. 

After the match, 

Jake Whetton - the lone 

goalscorer of the contest 

- applauded the defensive 

performance of his team. 

“It was good that Sardar 

provided the ball in time 

(to me) and I was there 

at the right place for the 

goal,” Whetton reflected. 

4th ODI: India implode after Dhawan, Kohli tons 

HIGHLIGHTS 

• India have relinquished their No. 2 spot in 

ODI rankings 

• In one of their most dramatic collapses, 

India lost nine wickets for 46 runs 

• Kane Richardson was named Man of the 

Match for his career-best 5 for 68 

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Rafael Nadal comes close to Federer’s tally 

with 14 Grand Slam trophies. 

• It was one of the worst ever Grand Slam performances 

for Nadal and has not won a major 

title since the 2014 French Open. 

• Djokovic, 28, stands tall in Federer’s quest to 

win his 18th major title. 

Roger Federer is a record 17-time Grand Slam 

winner, a fact that tennis fans across the globe 

won’t need to be reminded of. Equally, it will 

be well known that Federer hasn’t added to 

his tally since 2012. Whether or not the Swiss 

genius is able to win an 18th title at the age of 

34 remains to be seen, but at the moment his 

chances look good. 

The World No. 5 Rafael Nadal comes close 

to Federer’s tally with 14 Grand Slam trophies 

CANBERRA: For the third time in the series, 

the team batting first scored a total in excess 

of 300. But for the first time, it was India 

chasing the runs, and as it turned out, they 

couldn’t do it. Powered by centuries from Virat 

Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan, India seemed 

to be on course to register their first win over 

Australia in seven matches, but all that was 

to change courtesy one of their most dramatic 

collapses in recent memory. 

Chasing a daunting 349, India did the initial 

bit well. Kohli raced to his second century of 

the series, and he and Dhawan were involved 

in a massive 212-run stand that threw the 

inexperienced Australian bowling off-guard. 

But from there unfolded a collapse, which saw 

India lost nine wickets for 46 runs. 

In the end, Australia’s lion-hearted effort 

prevailed and India had to relinquish not just 

the match, but also their No. 2 ODI ranking. 

From 277/1, Australia bowled them out for 323 

and script one of their most memorable wins. 

Leading the collapse was Kane Richardson, 

who finished with his career-best figures of 

5/68. For those familiar with India’s long list 

of abroad collapses, this one probably stands 

in the top five. For a moment, it all seemed too 

easy. But Australia ensured they made India 

work for every single run. The effort paid off, 

and the hosts made it 4-0 rather comprehensively 

in the end. 

Aaron Finch’s century and a late blitz from 

Glenn Maxwell helped Australia post the highest 

total of the series. India were aware that 

they could be without Ajinkya Rahane, who 

required four stitches on his right hand after 

injuring himself while fielding. Out walked 

Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, and they laid waste 

to Steven Smith’s move of having Nathan Lyon 

open the bowling for Australia as he went for 

23 in his first two overs. 

Chasing 349 meant that India were needed to 

put up their best start in a long time. The last 

time they chased a big total was against South 

Africa in Mumbai. There, Rohit perished early 

and it opened the floodgates. Here though, 

Rohit and Shikhar got rid of their inhibitions as 

India motored along. They posted India’s first 

50-plus stand for the opening wicket after 10 

innings. 

Rohit’s timing was clinical and his pulls, 

exquisite. He looked on course for a third 

century of this series, before he gloved one 

to the wicketkeeper down the leg side off 

Richardson. The over had already fetched India 

16 runs - Rohit caressing two sixes and a four 

- and at the other end was Shikhar, batting 

like a breeze. The last time India had successfully 

chased over 350 against Australia, he had 

scored 95. This time India needed more of him. 

Having survived a couple of half-chances early 

in the innings, the strokes started to unleash. 

His cuts and drives well-timed, and aerial shots 

executed with precision. His flying uppercut 

over point off John Hastings reminded of the 

World Cup match between South Africa and 

West Indies where a similar stroke from Rilee 

Rossouw etched itself in the minds of many. 

Kohli and James Faulkner were at it again, and 

he once again had the better of the allrounder 

with four boundaries in two overs, and a 

gigantic six later on. With Kohli, master of 

India’s chase - his average touching 63 with 14 

centuries batting second - looking determined 

as ever, India seemed assured of achieving the 

Kohli has same aura as 

Tendulkar: Brett Lee 

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Kohli notched up his second successive 

hundred, a 92-ball 106-run innings 

studded with 11 fours and a six. 

• “Hats off to Virat Kohli. He is a 

legend. He has been in terrific form,” 

Brett Lee said. 

• Kohli equalled Tendulkar’s record 

of most centuries while chasing - 15 

in all. 

CANBERRA: Australian pace legend 

Brett Lee on Wednesday heaped accolades 

on Virat Kohli, describing the 

swashbuckling Indian batsman as a 

legend whose aura is comparable to 

the iconic Sachin Tendulkar. 

Kohli notched up his second successive 

hundred, a 92-ball 106-run 

innings studded with 11 fours and a 

six, in the fourth and penultimate ODI 

against Australia and Lee doffed his hat 

to the Indian Test captain. 

“Hats off to Virat Kohli. He is a 

legend. He has been in terrific form. 

Where do you bowl to the great man, 

it is almost like Sachin Tendulkar when 

he used to come out to bat. He had that 

presence and Kohli too has that aura 

but his failure to surpass the quarter-finals at 

any of the four majors last year, coupled with 

his first-round loss at the Australian Open 

against compatriot Fernando Verdasco, casts 

serious doubts about the Spaniard’s ability 

to get near Federer’s record. It was one of 

the worst ever Grand Slam performances for 

Nadal, who also lost in the 2013 Wimbledon 

first round and has not won a major title since 

the 2014 French Open. 

When Federer won his last title at 

Wimbledon 2012 by defeating Britain’s Andy 

Murray, Nadal was going strong with 11 

titles. But since then, injuries have limited his 

achievements to just three titles. In the same 

time, the World No. 1 Novak Djokovic - owner 

of ten Grand Slam titles - has added five 

major crowns and is the obvious contender 

in the current circuit to either match or break 

target. They were touching 200 at the 25-over 

mark. 

Dhawan and Kohli matched each other shot 

for shot reaching their respective centuries 

at better than a run-a-ball. Dhawan reached 

3000 ODI runs before slashing to point, and 

2016 Toyota Racing Series: Daruvala 

takes first Formula car win 

Jehan Daruvala, from Sahara 

Force India Academy, took his first 

Formula car victory in the Toyota 

Racing Series last weekend. He won 

the Lady Wigram Trophy after he 

won Race 3 at the Ruapuna Park 

circuit in New Zealand. However, 

the race weekend didn’t start with 

as many smiles for Daruvala. With 

a slow practice run and some 

electrical issues with his car, Jehan 

went into Qualifying 1 and managed 

to finish eighth. The second session 

was even worse as Jehan decided to 

stay on wet tyres on a quickly drying 

track. While he did manage to set 

the fastest time when the track was 

still damp, he was pushed all the way 

back when it dried, to finally qualify 

fifteenth. 

The first race of the weekend saw 

Jehan have a fairly good race as he 

made his way up to finish eighth. 

Race 2, which started on a reverse 

grid, saw Jehan on pole. But with 

around him,” Lee told ‘bcci.tv’. 

“...once he gets going it is very difficult 

to get him out. He has got aggression 

and control of course, the guy is in 

terrific form,” said the former pacer on 

a day when Kohli equalled Tendulkar’s 

record of most centuries while chasing - 

15 in all.India have already lost the fivematch 

series and Lee said Mahendra 

Singh Dhoni’s men need to fight back. 

“I think India played particularly 

well to score 300, two times then getting 

close and then getting run down 

by Australia. 

quite a horrendous start, he was 

pushed back eight places. Things 

didn’t get any better as he was 

rear-ended under a yellow flag that 

sent him further back to sixteenth. 

However, he did manage to get to 

thirteenth before the chequered flag. 

Race 3 started under damp conditions, 

with all the drivers on slicks. 

By the time Jehan gained a few positions, 

the drizzle had gotten worse, 

and his team mate Pedro Piquet 

pitted to swap his slicks for wet tyres. 

Seeing Piquet’s lap times improve, 

the team called Jehan in for a tyre 

swap as well. By the time he was 

Dhoni takes responsibility 

for failed chase 

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Chasing 349, India were sailing along at 277/1 

before they lost nine wickets for 46 runs. 

• "I'm disappointed. This was one game we should 

have batted much better. I'll take responsibility," 

Dhoni said. 

• Steven Smith gave full credit to Kane Richardson 

and his team's never-say-die attitude. 

CANBERRA: Taking full responsibility for the inexplicable 

collapse against Australia in the fourth 

cricket ODI, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni 

said he should have steered the team home after 

fluent centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Virat 

Kohli.Chasing 349 for a win at the Manuka Oval, 

the visitors were sailing along at 277 for one before 

they lost nine wickets for 46 runs to nosedive to 323 

all out in 49.2 overs. 

Losing the match by 25 runs, India trail the 

five-match series 0-4 and Dhoni was expectedly 

disappointed."I am not angry, I'm disappointed. This 

was one game we should have batted much better. 

I'll take responsibility, I should have carried on but 

I got out...There was a bit of pressure on the youngsters. 

International cricket is all about pressure, you 

think about the right shot. You realise you have to 

take a bit more time and take the game slightly to 

the end," Dhoni said in the post-match presentation. 

out of the pit lane, race leader Lando 

Norris had lapped him. With wet 

tyres on, Jehan was back in the game, 

as he first got past Norris and then 

continued to overtake the others. 

Jehan Daruvala Toyota Formula Racing 

Series (1) 

Jehan’s chance to shine came when 

the Safety Car was deployed and all 

the drivers were bunched up. As the 

Safety Car went back into the pit 

lane, Jehan immediately got back to 

business as he made his way up from 

seventh to first within a lap. The race 

was stopped when the Safety Car 

was sent out again, with Jehan in first 

place. 

“My first two races were not ideal. 

Race 3 was really enjoyable. I really 

have to thank the team for making 

the right decision of putting me 

onto wet tyres at the right time. The 

Safety Car helped me close in the 

gap and from then on I just had to 

make sure I made no mistake. 

it was from there that India disintegrated. MS 

Dhoni perished after balls to a faint nick to 

the keeper, followed by the wicket of Kohli 

two overs later. The pressure mounting was 

too much for the inexperienced Rishi Dhawan 

and Gurkeerat Mann. 

Djokovic given third set fright 

by French wildcard 

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic stretches to hit a 

shot during his second round match against 

France’s Quentin Halys at the Australian 

Open tennis tournament at Melbourne 

Park, Australia on Wednesday. 

Reuters Serbia’s Novak Djokovic 

stretches to hit a shot during his 

second round match against France’s 

Quentin Halys at the Australian Open 

tennis tournament at Melbourne Park, 

Australia on Wednesday. 

Twice Wimbledon champion Petra 

Kvitova was sent tumbling out of the 

Australian Open in the second round 

by Daria Gavrilova. 

World number one Novak Djokovic 

gave French teenager Quentin Halys 

a free tennis lesson for about an hour 

before the wildcard showed how much 

he had learnt in the Serb’s 6-1 6-2 

7-6(3) Australian Open second round 

win on Wednesday. 

Djokovic was at his clinically efficient 

best in the first two sets as 

he looked to be tactically three shots 

ahead of Halys and he opened up space 

on court at will while he romped to a 

2-0 lead inside an hour. 

The 19-year-old wildcard, ranked 

167th in the world, then fought back in 

the third set, breaking the Serb for the 

Dhawan (126) and Kohli (106) stitched together 

a 212-run second-wicket stand to put the hosts on 

the backfoot before Kane Richardson's five-wicket 

haul flattened the Indian chase. Dhoni not only 

praised the batting duo, but also defended the 

inexperienced Indian bowling attack. 

"Rohit batted very well with Shikhar. And Dhawan 

and Kohli batted majestically. In the last five 

years, we have not had a fixed bowling line-up other 

than the spinners. That pushes us to the extreme to 

get some extra runs," said Dhoni. 

On a roll, Australia skipper Steven Smith not 

only praised the effort of Dhawan and Kohli, but 

also gave full credit to Richardson and his team's 

never-say-die attitude. 

India news January 20, 

2016 India and Sri Lanka 

to play T20 series in 

February 

India and Sri Lanka are set 

to play a three-match T20 

series, prior to the Asia 

Cup, as both teams look 

ahead to the World T20. 

The tour begins in Pune 

on Feburary 9, then the 

teams head to Delhi to 

play the second match on 

February 12 and the final 

first time and putting him under pressure 

before Djokovic ran away with the 

tie-break. 

Djokovic, who is aiming for a 

record-equalling sixth Australian Open 

title, will next face either Italy’s Andreas 

Seppi or American Denis Kudla 

in the third round. 

Twice Wimbledon champion Petra 

Kvitova was sent tumbling out of the 

Australian Open in the second round 

by Daria Gavrilova, stunned 6-4 6-4 by 

the 21-year-old local. 

The Czech sixth seed, a semifinalist 

at Melbourne Park four years 

ago, made 35 unforced errors and was 

broken five times in the 89-minute 

contest, to the delight of the partisan 

crowd on Margaret Court Arena. 

Kvitova rallied to save a match 

point and break back for 5-4 in the 

final set but Gavrilova claimed the 

victory when the world number seven 

went long with a forehand in the next 

game. 

Moscow-born Gavrilova, who 

paired up with Nick Kyrgios to win the 

Hopman Cup for Australia at the start of 

the year, will play France’s Kristina Mladenovic 

in her first trip to the third round 

at a grand slam. 

T20 will take place in 

Visakhapatnam on February 

14. These matches 

will be the first time the 

two sides face each other 

in the shortest format 

since the final of the 2014 

World Twenty20, which 

Sri Lanka won in April 

2014. 

With another early Nadal exit, Federer’s record looks safe 

Federer’s record. 

Nadal reacts as he leaves after losing his 

first round match. (Reuters Photo) 

The Serb is in sublime form and capped 

off one of the best seasons in the sport in the 

past few years with 11 titles, including three 

of the four Grand Slams and a fifth ATP World 

Tour Finals Trophy. However, completing a career 

Slam is still a distant dream for Djokovic, 

who failed to emerge victorious at Roland 

Garros in his three final appearances. 

“Roland Garros is always one of the biggest 

challenges I have every year, but it’s not 

the only one. There are the Olympic Games 

that are happening every four years,” Djokovic 

said after winning the ATP Tour title. “I will 

try to do as well as I’ve done in the last couple 

of years, always peak at the right moments 

and always try to perform my best at the biggest 

events.” 

Federer is himself coming off a fine 2015. 

He might not have won a Grand Slam last 

year but he wowed his fans with some quality 

tennis. The way he made it to the Wimbledon 

final after dispatching Murray in the semifinals 

gave people a chance to envision an 

upset win over Djokovic, but it was not to be. 

After that, Federer defeated Djokovic in the 

Cincinnati Masters final for a record seventh 

title.Djokovic, 28, stands tall in Federer’s 

quest to win his 18th major title and they are 

well on course to lock horns in the Australian 

Open semi-finals unless an upset happens. 

Federer, who advanced into the third round 

today after seeing off Alexandr Dolgopolov, 

is wary of the upset he suffered last year at 

the hands of Italy’s Andreas Seppi in the third 

round at Melbourne Park.

21 January 2016

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