Modi’s tributes to Mookerjee

NEW DELHI, June 23:

Prime Minister NarendraModi today paid tributes toBharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS)founder Syama PrasadMookerjee on his deathanniversary and said histhoughts and ideals continue toinspire greatly.

“On his Punya Tithi (deathanniversary), I bow to Dr

Sanjeev PargalJAMMU, June 23: Change

of Government at the Centrenotwithstanding, the newGovernment has decided to goahead with the PrimeMinister’s Re-constructionPlan (PMRP) for Jammu andKashmir, which wasannounced by former PrimeMinister Dr Manmohan Singhas head of UPA-I in 2004 andhad been given several exten-sions.

The PMRP, which wasworth Rs 24,467 crores when itwas announced in 2004, hasalready crossed Rs 34,000crores due to cost escalations ofseveral projects, mainly in theCentral sector. Latest extensionto the Plan had expired in 2013-14 but was likely to be extendedfor current financial year of2014-15.

Official sources told theExcelsior that the Governmentof India has given its nod to thePMRP for current financial yearof 2014-15 despite change ofguard at the Centre. It has alsodecided to review the PMRPexpenditure for previous yearsin both Central and State sectorsand then release the amount forthe current year.

There had been apprehen-sions in the State that withNarendra Modi led BJPGovernment taking over at theCentre, the extended term of thePMRP might be discontinued.The State Government has beenreceiving Rs 600 crores to Rs1200 crores per year under the

PMRP for construction of pro-jects identified under it.

However, the Governmentof India has made it clear thatit had no plan to discontinuethe PMRP and the State wouldreceive due share under it forthe current financial year of2014-15. The StateGovernment has projected Rs600 crores under the PMRPfor current financial year. TheGovernment was now confi-dent that it would get theamount projected in the bud-get under the PMRP i.e. Rs600 crores.

The UPA-I Governmentheaded by the then PrimeMinister Dr Manmohan Singhhad in 2004 announced Rs24,467 crores worth PMRP forJammu and Kashmir in Centraland State sectors. While the pro-jects under Central sector, main-ly related to power, were beingexecuted by the Central agen-cies on their own, the StateGovernment was authorized toidentify and executed projects inthe State sector.

The PMRP had expired afterfive years but the UPAGovernment continued toextend its term. The latestextended term had expired onMarch 31, 2014. The Centre hasnow extended the PMRP forcurrent financial year of 2014-15, giving major relief to theState Government, sources said.

Apart from Rs 600 croresunder PMRP, the StateGovernment has projected Rs7300 crores worth annual planand Rs 4000 crores underCentrally Sponsored Schemesfor 2014-15.

During 2012-13, out of Rs700 crores given to the Stateunder the PMRP, theGovernment had earmarked Rs195.24 crore on strengthening ofTransmission and Distribution(T&D) network and Rs 105.29crore for further construction,upgradation and other works onMughal Road.

Other works undertaken in2012-13 were rehabilitation of

Excelsiordaily

REGD.NO.JK-71/12-14RNI No. 28547/1992Vol No. 50 No. 173 JAMMU, TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014 16 Pages `̀ 3.50

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Fayaz BukhariSRINAGAR, June 23:

Security forces today killed aLashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) mili-tant commander, MehmoodBhai, in an overnightencounter in North Kashmirtownship of Sopore while onemilitant fled from the cordonand another was arrested.Security forces also fired atstone pelting protesters whowere mourning death of themilitant commander, killingone and injuring three others.

Police said that acting on aspecific information about thepresence of militants inKrankshawan, Baba Raza areaof Sopore, a joint operation waslaunched by Police, 52 and 22Rashtriya Riffles (RR) of Armyand Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) last evening.

Militants opened fire on asearch party triggering a gunbattle. Commander of 5 Sectorof RR, Brigadier Alok Joshi toldreporters at Sopore that the LeTcommander tried to flee fromthe cordon in the morning. "He

was fired at and eliminated. Hehas been active for past oneyear. He had fled from the secu-rity cordon 4 times", saidBrigadier Joshi.

"We were progressingslowly as there are lot of sawmills in this area. We had an

option to set the house on fireand the terrorist would havecome out but troops riskedtheir lives by conductingsearches", said the SectorCommander.

Sources said that one of the

militants, Javed Matoo, fledfrom the cordon during the gunbattle early in the morning."However, security forces feltthat he is alive and trappedinside. They brought his familyincluding his mother to the spot.She shouted at Matoo asking

him to surrender but there wasno response", sources added.

Army later used an IED toblow up the house."Apprehending that the militantis dead, they searched the debris

Youth killed in firing on protesters, 3 injured

LeT comdr killed in Sopore;two Army men injured

* One militant escapes, one arrested

Uttam is new SSP JammuExcelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, June 23: The State Government today appointedUttam Chand, an IPS officer of 2002 batch as SSP Jammu in placeof Atul Goel, whose services had already been placed at the dis-posal of National Investigating Agency (NIA).

Uttam Chand was presently posted as AIG CIV (Crime,Intelligence, Vigilance) in Police Headquarters and had earlierserved as SSP Budgam and held other important postings. He willjoin as the SSP Jammu on Wednesday.

Atul Goel has proceeded on Central deputation and would joinprestigious NIA, official sources said. Goel is 2004 batch IPS officer.

JKLF march foiled, Malik detainedExcelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, June 23: Government today foiled Jammu andKashmir Liberation Front (JKLF)'s Quit Kashmir march byimposing restriction in the Civil Lines areas of Srinagar anddetained JKLF chairman and its activists.

The march and shutdown called by JKLF was the part ofparty's 'Quit Kashmir' campaign that they launched today.

Huge contingents of police and paramilitary Central ReservePolice Force (CRPF) were deployed in Civil Lines areas includingLal Chowk, Budhshah Chowk, Maisuma, Gawkadal andBarbarshah to foil the march. Restrictions were also imposed inthese areas.

Jammu Engg back home from IraqExcelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, June 23: Thirty four years old Mechanical Engineerfrom Miran Sahib Rajesh Kumar has turned out to be lucky as he

safely returned from Iraq and reached hishouse this evening reuniting with his family

after about two years.Kumar along with several India was trapped in trouble Basra

City of Iraq.He reached his house at Krishna Nagar Colony at Miran Sahib

this evening.Rajesh Kumar, who had been working with Dubai based

Sopranjali Construction Company as Mechanical Engineer andwas presently posted at Basra, said he managed to return from Iraq

Sugar prices up by Rs 60 per qtlNEW DELHI, June 23:

Sugar prices rose up to Rs 60 per quintal in its prices on thecountry’s leading wholesale markets on stockists buying after theGovernment raised import duty on the sweetener to 40 per centbesides additional interest-free loan of Rs 4,400 crore for mills.

Further, increased offtake by bulk consumers to meet summerseason demand also influenced prices.

In the national capital, Sugar ready M-30 and S-30 traded high-er at Rs 3,320-3,460 and Rs 3,300-3,430 as against previous lev-els of Rs 3,270-3,400 and Rs 3,250-3,380 per quintal. Thus show-ing a rise of Rs 50/60 per quintal.

Fears that sugar prices may rise further in the wake ofGovernment’s decision to discourage import by raising duty to 40

INSIDE WEATHER* Skill development ...Page 8* Surge in rape casesGovt to announce special developmental programme for 4 States going to polls: Lal ...Page 3Adopt common strategy to avert any subversive attempt: DGP ...Page 7India to train Tunisian scientists : Dr Jitendra ...Page 7NC Govt pushes J&K into distressing situation: PDP ...Page 12India to play Test, ODI series in Australia ahead of World Cup ...Page 14

JAMMU : Possibility of light rain.

TEMPERATUREMax: 37.2 Degree C Min: 26.2 Degree C

RELATIVE HUMIDITYHighest: 43.0 per centLowest: 37.0 per centSunset on Tuesday: 07.43 p.m.Sunrise on Wednesday: 05.26 a.m.

SRINAGAR:Possibility of light rain.

TEMPERATUREMax: 25.8 Degree C Min: 14.9 Degree C

RELATIVE HUMIDITYHighest: 75.0 per centLowest: 44.0 per centLEH: TEMPERATUREMax: 19.1 Degree C Min: 11.4 Degree C

Internet Edition: www.dailyexcelsior.comE-Paper: http://epaper.dailyexcelsior.com

A man caught in dust storm in Jammu on Monday evening. —Excelsior/Rakesh

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, June 23: ShriAmarnath Shrine Board(SASB) chairman andGovernor NN Vohra wouldhave an aerial survey ofChandanwari-Sheshnag trackon June 25 before taking afinal call on whether yatra toholy cave shrine of ShriAmarnath ji would start onscheduled date of June 28from Pahalgam track whilethe Board has declared short-er Baltal track fit for start ofShri Amarnath ji yatra on duedate.

An official handout issuedby the Raj Bhawan said Vohrawas briefed on position of twintracks-Baltal and Chandanwariby SASB CEO RK Gupta todayafter he returned from undertak-ing detailed on ground assess-ment of both the tracks on June21 and 22.

Gupta briefed the Governorthat track of Baltal-Bhawan waslargely clear though final stretchof about one kilometer up to theshrine is still fully covered withsnow. Like the previous years,the final one kilometer stretch ofthe track would have to be cov-

ered by the devotees of ShriAmarnath ji by trekking onfrozen snow path.

The CEO SASB told theGovernor that it would be possi-ble to commence the yatra alongBaltal track on scheduled dateon June 28.

However, as far asP a h a l g a m - C h a n d a n w a r i -Amarnath ji Bhawan track wasconcerned, Gupta informed theSASB Chairman that trackbetween Sheshnag-Wavbal-Mahagunus Top-Poshpatri-Panjtarni is still covered withheavy snow.

"The snow level particu-larly between Poshpatri-Mahagunus Top and Wavbalis between six to eight feet.The staff of PahalgamDevelopment Authority isworking on this stretch in dou-ble shift to clear snow andrestore track for the yatra. Inthis stretch, the Yatris wouldhave to walk on a snow trackas it was not expected to befree of snow before June 28,''the handout said.

Gupta informed theGovernor that the CEO ofPahalgam Development

Baltal ready for yatraGuv to decide on

Pahalgam route aftersurvey on June 25

Modi Govt extends UPA’s PMRP for J&K

for one more year Excelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR June 23: TheCongress leaders in generaltoday stressed against a pre-poll alliance with any party inthe State during their meetingwith AICC general secretaryand in-charge Jammu andKashmir Affairs, Ambika Soniat SKICC today while thesenior Congress leader,Ghulam Nabi Azad, said thatresults of Assembly polls willbe different from Parliamentelections.

The crucial Congress meet-ing chaired by Ambika Sonistarted at 3 pm and continuedtill mid-night at SKICC inSrinagar during which majorityof the Congress leaders andworkers stressed against anypre-poll alliance with NC in the

State. Around 67 one to onemeeting were scheduled forSoni with Congress districtpresidents, OrganizingSecretaries, General Secretaries,

Vice Presidents, MLCs, MLAsand Ministers till mid-night.

The general meeting startedat around 3 pm and lasted up to4:30 pm. The meeting was

addressed by Ambika Soni,JKPCC president ProfessorSaif-ud-Din Soz, MemberParliament Ghulam Nabi Azad,Cabinet Ministers PeerzadaMohammad Sayeed and RigzinJora and senior leader MadanLal Sharma.

Soni in her brief addressreferred to the challengesbefore the party in the Stateand at the national level andthe circumstances which led tothe defeat of the party inParliamentary elections. Shecautioned the party workersand leaders about the dangerposed by the communal anddivisive forces and asked themto gear up for the forthcomingAssembly election to defeattheir designs.

The AICC general secretary

Results of Parl polls won't be repeated in Assembly: Azad

Crucial Cong meet; workers, leaders say no to alliance

Mohinder VermaJAMMU, June 23: In a tes-

timony of thrust areas gettingraw deal, the StateGovernment has failed tomake any progress about set-ting up of two bio-medicalwaste management projects inthe capital cities and incinera-tor facilities at four other dis-tricts, which were announcedby none else than the ChiefMinister, Omar Abdullah inthe year 2012.

Official sources toldEXCELSIOR that during meet-ing with the PlanningCommission on the finalizationof State's Annual Plan for the2012-13 financial year on July13, 2012, Chief Minister, Omar

Abdullah had announced thatinstallation of bio-medicalwaste treatment facility in thedistricts of Jammu and Srinagarwas under process.

Thereafter, on September 3,2012, the Chief Minister, whilechairing a meeting of the Healthand Medical EducationDepartment, approved settingup of two bio-medical wastemanagement projects in Jammuand Srinagar apart from inciner-ators facilities in the districts ofLeh, Kargil, Doda and Poonchto treat bio-medical waste gen-erated in the health units situat-ed in the far off areas of Poonch,Rajouri, Doda, Kishtwar, Lehand Kargil.

In the meeting, Mr Omarstated that Rs 7.40 crore worth

projects will cater to the dispos-al of bio-medical waste generat-ed in hospitals within 150 kilo-meter status in the cities ofSrinagar and Jammu, sourcessaid.

While underlining impor-tance of proper and scientificdisposal of waste generated invarious hospitals and healthunits, the Chief Minister hadstated that this should be thethrust area for the Health andMedical EducationDepartment, they said, addingduring the meeting directionwas passed to the concernedauthorities for early identifi-cation of feasible sites forestablishment of such pro-jects. Moreover, HealthDepartment was asked to for-

mulate a team of officers fromthe departments of health,revenue and Pollution ControlBoard for the purpose.

"However, during the pastover one and half year, this vitalannouncement is gathering dustwith no progress on establish-ment of the projects and inciner-ator facilities", sources regret-ted, adding "this thrust area hasvirtually been treated in mostnon-serious manner which isevident from the fact that evensuitable land could not be final-ized for these projects till date".

They further said, "thecasual approach towards thisvital subject is notwithstand-ing the fact that hospital wastecan cause serious health haz-

Gopal SharmaPOONCH, June 23: Patron

of People's Democratic Partyand former J&K ChiefMinister Mufti MohammadSayeed today said that thebiggest challenge before thenew Government at Delhi ledby Narendra Modi is to dealwith the sensitive issues ofJammu and Kashmir and thePDP would act as a facilitatorto restore complete peace inthis sub-continent.

Addressing a large publicrally at Fountain Park heretoday, Mufti said that the peopleof this State also have highhopes from the new NDAregime and it is expected thatnew Government headed byNarendra Modi would followthe holistic path shown by for-

mer Prime Minister Atal BehariVajpayee while dealing withproblems of Jammu andKashmir.

Mufti said that peace is theonly option to move ahead on

development path and resolveall sensitive issues. He arguedthat Jammu and Kashmir need-ed a holistic approach to help itcome out of its immense prob-lems. He regretted that residents

of Jammu and Kashmir are fac-ing hardship due to mis-gover-nance of the present regimeheaded by National Conference.“Governance deficit is not onlyincreased in the last nearly sixyears but what is a cause of agreater worry is the erosion ofcredibility of our democraticinstitutions”, he observed.

“PDP is committed to bridgethe gap between differentregions and also between peopleof Jammu and Kashmir and restof the country”, he said, adding“during our tenure we hadproved how to treat all regionsand sub-regions equally andparty would further facilitatethe process of bridging the gapto ensure justice and equality toall regions and sub-regions”.

Reiterating resolve of his

* Pic on page 6

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CM’s announcement on bio-medical waste mgmt projects gathering dust*Deptts fail to exhibit coordination despite explicit directions

(Contd on page 6 Col 1) (Contd on page 6 Col 4) (Contd on page 6 Col 4)

PDP committed for Med College, Rail link to Poonch

J&K biggest challenge before Modi Govt: Mufti

PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed addressing large pub-lic rally in Poonch on Monday. —Excelsior/Harbhajan

Smoke billows from the house where LeT commander waskilled by Army in Sopore on Monday. —Excelsior/Aabid Nabi

(Contd on page 6 Col 4)

PM to inaugurate train to Katra on July 3Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, June 23: Prime Minister Narendra Modi would final-ly inaugurate train to Katra, the base camp of Mata Vaishno Deviji shrine, on July 3.

The date for inauguration of 25 kilometers Udhampur-Katrarailway line, constructed at a cost of Rs 1050 crores approximate-ly, was decided when Railways Minister Sadanand Gowda calledon Modi at the Prime Minister’s Officer (PMO) today.

Official sources told the Excelsior that Modi, Gowda and MoSin PMO Dr Jitendra Singh would inaugurate train service to Katra,which would take thousands of pilgrims visiting holy cave shrineof Mata Vaishno Devi ji daily to the base camp directly.

Sources said Modi would also visit the cave shrine the sameday and offer prayers to Goddess Vaishno Devi ji. Modi had visit-

AICC general secretary, Incharge Jammu and Kashmiraffairs, Ambika Soni, with senior Congress leaders GhulamNabi Azad and Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz at a meeting in Srinagar onMonday. —Excelsior/Amin War