Khan Sahib-Budgam, Apr 15: Na-tional Conference senior leader and minister for finance Abdul Ra-him Rather on Tuesday said that the state government will identify some alternate location for Tosa Maidan firing range and there will be no extension in the lease agree-ment expiring on April 18. Accord-ing to KNS correspondent, Rather while speaking a public meeting in Rawalpora Khan Sahib, said that it was PDP that extended the lease on the Toisa Maidan Artillery Range in 2004 when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was the Chief Minister of the State.“It is for this precise reason that PDP has chosen to talk in hushed, apologetic voices about this issue rather than categorically opposing the extension of the lease.” Rather said the government, through the special committee constituted for this purpose, had offered alterna-tives to the Security Forces and it

would be ensured that the lease for the range is not extended, a state-ment issued by the NC confirmed.Speaking on the occasion Dr. Fa-

rooq Abdullah said that friendly relations and mutual bilateral co-operation between

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WEDNESDAY 16 April | 2014 | 15 Jamadi-Ul-Saani, 1435 AH | PAGES 12 | VOL NO: 4 | ISSUE NO: 105 | RS: 2/- (AIR SURCHARGE FOR JAMMU /DELHI/LEH 50 Paisa)Pen For Justice Largely Circulated, No. 1 Bilingual Daily of J&Khttp://www.zabarwantimes.com

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Inside story

On Edit Page

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Unemployment problem - a challenge for

any governmentThe state of Jammu & Kashmir called paradise on earth has excelled in many fields for dubious reasons oth-er than the positive ones which could have taken this state forward rapidly on the path of peace, progress and prosperity. Declared as one of the most corrupt states of the county, now it has achieved one more dubi-ous distinction of being one of the leading states in the field of unem-ployment. The state has according

Enlarge facilities to promote scientific temper among students: Governor

PG 06 PG 10 PG 06

4 died, 27 injured in road mishaps

Petrol price cut by 70 paise a litre

NEW DELHI: In a landmark judg-ment, the Supreme Court on Tuesday created the “third gender” status for hijras or transgenders. Earlier, they were forced to write male or female against their gender.The SC asked the Centre to treat transgender as socially and econom-ically backward.The apex court said that transgenders will be allowed admission in educa-

Supreme Court recognizestransgenders as ‘third gender’

Tosa Maidan lease will not be extended: Rather

‘There should be thorough probe into

this encounter’Srinagar, Apr 15: Two days after Dr Farooq Abdullah accused PDP of staging an attack in Khrew-Pamore, Na-tional Conference MLA and district president Srinagar Peer Afaq on Tuesday alleged that PDP is behind the Ah-madnagar encounter in which

two militants were killed yes-terday evening.“Let me remind you that in 2008 when PDP withdrew its support to the then coalition government, Ghulam Nabi Azad sahib who was then the chief minister had stated that there were possible contacts between PDP and the militant outfits.”While demanding a thorough probe

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Wants to dance with Yuvraj Upset over not including Pak players in IPL

‘Committee will find some alternate location’

PDP behind Ahmad Nagar attack: Peer Afaq

Srinagar, Apr 15 : Stating that no third country militants op-erating in Jammu and Kashmir, Director General of Police (DGP) Ashok Prasad said that only Pa-kistan based outfits are active in the region.The police chief stated that most of the militants operating in val-ley hail from Punjab area of Pa-kistan and there are no reports with the security establishment that the ultras are from any third

country like Chechnya, Bosnia or Afghanistan. The militants op-erating in valley are either from POK or Pakistan, he added.Prasad stated that there is no Al-Shuhada brigade operation-al in Kashmir and the name is being used by the banned mil-itant outfits like Jaish and oth-ers. “Earlier the attacks at Kutua were claimed by Al Shohada but we had clear

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No third country militants operating in J&K: DGP

Kishtwar-Bhaderwah, Apr 15: Making an emotional pitch to vot-ers to support the Congress in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad today said that his party was fight-ing against divisive and exploitive forces, which are hell bent to de-stroy love and harmony.According to a statement issued to KNS, the Congress heavyweight further pointed out that voting for fundamental forces would be cat-astrophic for the people of coun-try. While addressing series of public meetings in hillock reaches

of Marwah, Dacchan, Warwan, Machail and Gajhot belts of Kisht-war district, on the concluding day of election campaign, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is contesting elec-tion on Doda-Udhampur Parlia-mentary Constituency, lashed out at BJP and said that, “It is this, the very heart and soul of India, that we are fighting to protect in this election, from those who seek to change it, and to divide us. We want unity. They want to impose uniformity. They (BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate) say ‘just believe in me’.

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Defeat fundamental forces, vote Congress and accelerate

development: Azad

Srinagar, Apr 15: Dubbing Omar Abdullah led NC-Congress coali-tion as a non-performing liability, patron of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today regretted that the present regime has reversed the process of peace and develop-ment- which was initiated by the previous PDP led government. He observed that the present regime is a stumbling block in restoring sustainable peace and accelerating equitable and balanced develop-ment in the State.According to a statement issued to KNS, addressing series of public

meetings at Tailwani, Reenpora, Paysaipora, Shangus, Bragpora, Bulbul Nowgam areas in connec-

tion with the campaign for Lok Sabha elections,

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Addresses public meeting in Pulwama

Pulwama, Apr 15 : Addressing a pub-lic meeting in Pulwama, National Conference Working Pres-ident and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that PDP President Mehbooba Mufti couldn't summon the courage to talk on be-half of her people in the Parliament during her tenure as an MP.According to a statement issued to KNS, when asked to get up and speak for her people, about their

issues, aspirations and demands, all Mehbooba Mufti had to say as an MP was her famous retort of "Mein Kya Kahun Yaar". Her contempt for the people of Jammu and Kashmir

is well demonstrated by the fact that she never chose to get up and represent J&K in the Parliament and the Parlia-ment archives and records are proof enough to deduce that Mehbooba Mufti does not de-serve to become a Member of Parliament.Speaking to public at Wasoora Pulwama, Omar

Abdullah said that See Omar On PG 11..

Srinagar, Apr 15 : Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference chairman Sajjad Gani Lone said the National Confer-ence has been at the forefront of a po-litical legacy defined by betrayals and treachery towards the people of Kash-mir.According to a statement issued to KNS, addressing a public rally in Ka-laroos Lolab Lone said the time has come to tear down the structures of corruption, cronyism and mediocracy created by National Conference.“The time has come to identify the cul-prits who have been selling their souls and our blood for the past

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Srinagar, Apr 15: National Conference spokesman Mat-tu has said that Mufti Mo-hammad Sayeed's comments about Syed Salahuddin were ironic given that it was Muf-ti Mohammad Sayeed under whose government twenty two militant commanders were gunned down despite most of them having stepped forward for talks.According to a statement is-sued to KNS, the NC Spokes-

man said that PDP eliminated most of the top militant lead-ership in Kashmir as soon as Mufti Mohammad Sayeed came to power as the Chief Minister of the State. These targeted killings were done while these militant com-manders were talking to the government and were in an ef-fective unilateral cease-fire. It was the National Conference government that

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Srinagar, 15 April: A senior leader of the National Conference Tuesday blamed opposi-tion Peoples Democratic Party for the attack on his party workers in Old City during intervening night.Talking to GNS, the NC leader and Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Sheikh Mustafa Kamal said it PDP from the day one See Kamal On PG 11..

“NC-a stumbling block in restoring peace, tranquility in J&K”

PDP has scripted a new chapter of peace, development in State: Mufti

PDP sees Vajpayee in their "Modi Sahab": Omar

Kamal blames PDP for Old City attack

PDP ‘killed 22 Militant Commanders’: NC

Mufti talks of Salahuddin, not Jagmohan: Mattu

NC betrayed Kashmiris at every juncture: Sajjad

Addresses public rally in Lolab

Srinagar, Apr 15: Continuing his efforts to ensure the victory of alliance candidate in North Kashmir Parliamentary seat, Jam-mu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress vice president and MLC Ghulam Nabi Monga organised several meetings of National Conference and Congress leaders in Bara-mulla and Kupwara districts in the last two days.According to a statement issued to KNS, addressing party workers in Kupwara, Monga, who is also incharge and chair-man of Coordination Committee for Bara-mulla-Kupwara Lok Sabha constituency, briefed them why victory of alliance can-didates was important for Congress. “Di-visive and communal politics practiced by certain parties in the State is detriment to peace and development. In the interest of country you have to defeat these forces,” he told the workers.In Barmaulla, after holding a joing meet-ing with National Conference leaders in-cluding alliance candidate Sharif-ud-Din Shariq, he said, “PCC President Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz sahib following the orders of party high command is determined to en-sure the victory of Shariq sahib and other alliance candidates in the Valley. We will have to support his inititative as it is in the interests of common man.” The meeting besides Shariq, Monga

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Defeat communal forces in the interest of country: Monga

Srinagar, April 15: One among the two militants killed in an encounter with forces at South Kashmir’s Khrew was involved in an attack on an army convoy on the outskirts of Srinagar city, last year, sources said on Tuesday.Official sources told GNS that the two militants who were killed in an encounter at Khrew area of Pampore have been identified as Usman Gore and Abu Hamza.Abu Hamza, they said, was a member of the squad that carried out an attack on army in Hyderpora. On June 24, last year, the attack had taken place a day ahead of Prime Minister Man-mohan Singh’s visit to Kashmir and eight army soldiers were killed.The attack had sent the security grid in to tizzy in Kashmir.

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Anatomy of slain

militants

Srinagar, Apr 15 : Four persons died and twenty seven others were injured in different road accidents across the valley.According to a statement issued to KNS, one person died and 19 others were injured when a Tata-407 bearing registration number 943/JK03 they were travelling in, turned turtle near Seer, in the jurisdiction of Police Station Mat-tan, Anantnag. One person Nissar Ahmed Magary resident of Mulsoo Seer, Mattan died in the mishap. All the injured were shifted to Hospital for treatment.Meanwhile, a 04 years old boy Mumin Ahmed Bhat son of Rouf Ahmed Bhat resident of Hayat Pora, Bidder fell from a tractor bearing chasis number 8437843756-DC13 at Adigam, in the jurisdiction

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New Delhi: The price of petrol was on Tuesday cut by 70 paise a litre, excluding local levies, the second reduction in rates this month as appreciation of the rupee against the US dollar made oil imports cheaper.The reduction, effective midnight tonight, excludes local sales tax or VAT and the actual cut will be higher, varying from city to city.The price of petrol in Delhi will be lowered by 85 paise to Rs 71.41 a litre. This follows a 75 paise a litre reduction on April 1, which translated into a cut of 90 paise in Delhi to Rs 72.26.In Mumbai, petrol will cost Rs 80 a litre from Wednesday as against Rs 80.89 currently.

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11 Srinagar, Wednesday 16 April 2014 Zabarwan Times

FROM THE FRONT PAGE

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DGP

Afaq

Mufti

Monga

Mishaps

PetrolMilitants

Kamal

Omar

Mattu

Sajjad

Azad

Owner , Printer & Publisher: Suhail Malik Editor -in-Chief: Shahana Malik RNI NO. JKBII/2011/39764, Email: zabarwantimes@gmail.com Publised at Govt. Quarters , M-13 Magarmal Bagh Srinagar-190001 J&K, Printed at:- Sangarmal Offset Press Humhama Sheikhpora Tele/Fax: 2478370 Cell No. 09999964750, 9796 787844

India and Pakistan was a must for lasting peace and sustained development in the sub-continent and espe-cially in J&K.According to a statement issued to KNS, speaking at Khan Sahib Dr. Farooq Abdullah said it was Omar Abdullah who, in the presence of the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi Ji unequivocally and unambiguously said that Kash-mir Issue was a political issue in nature and not an economic or governance-related problem and hence needed a political initiative. Dr. Farooq Abdullah said that Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was one of the biggest advocates of Indo-Pak friend-ship and it was Sheikh Sahib who envisioned the open-ing of the Srinagar-Muzaffarbad Road and permanent economic and cultural exchanges between two sides of the Line of Control.Dr. Farooq Abdullah said that various important Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) including the opening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Road were fruits of sustained diplomatic engagement between New Delhi and Islamabad and Mufti Mohammad Say-eed had nothing to do in the conception or implemen-tation of these historic steps to bring people of the two sides closer to each other. However, Mufti Sayeed has always invested most of his time and energy in claim-ing credit for the achievements and work of other peo-ple and this is something that PDP has now adopted as its official policy. While political marketing of actual achievements is a common part of politics now, mar-keting of non-existent work and lies is something that PDP has achieved a specialization in.Dr. Farooq Abdullah also said that National Con-ference had advocated the partial revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) while in the government, unlike PDP leaders who chose to stay mum about these issues while they were in power but enacted theatrical, cosmetic dramas while in the op-position as a fig-leaf for sabotaging day-to-day gover-nance in the State.National Conference Leader and MLC Panchayati Raj, Ali Mohammad Dar, Vice President of the State Con-gress Advocate Abdul Aziz Parray, Congress Leader Shameema Raina, National Conference Leader Tariq Mohiuddin, Advocate Ghulam Nabi Shaheen and Ghulam Nabi Bhat were also present on the occasion. (KNS)

cut information that it was Jaish-e-Mohammad that had carried out the attacks. It is there old technique. Lashkar doesn't want to come into prominence as it was already banned internationally. After every in-cident they come up with the new name till that gets old.”The police chief remarked that there are three main militant groups active in valley which includes Lash-kar-e-Toiba, Hizb and Jaish-e-Mohammad. “After Masood Azhar’s high profile in Pakistan- Jaish is com-ing to valley.” Over the confinement of the pro-free-dom leaders during the forthcoming polls, Prasad said that the issue is not the house arrest of the separatists but the same arises when they break the law. “You can-not hold anyone’s caller and threatens him to boycott the elections. It is one’s own choice whether or not he wants to vote.”Claiming the separatism, militancy and terrorism is one , the police chief stated that during the rallies of the separatist leaders, the stone pelting has become the trend and the same in no way can be allowed. “Stone pelting is unlawful and police can only permit you to take lawful steps. If Huriyat terms stone pelting legal they should contest elections and pass the law in the assembly- we won’t stop them then.”Mr. Prasad added that police keeps separatist lead-ers under house arrest after the intelligence inputs so that they could be prevented from breaking the law. “If Syed Ali Geelani complains about his continuous house arrest, he should know that he is a citizen and must behave like that.” (KNS)

into the Ahmadnagar encounter said the truth behind the attack must be established, Afaq stated that there may be a possible contact between militant groups and the PDP. “PDP has always tried to damage peace and whenever NC emerges victorious in valley-PDP uses cheap tactics to destabilize tranquility in the state.”The NC leader said that in the recent statement of Huriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani, the senior separatist made it clear that ‘PDP is the cre-ation of agencies’. “How many agencies are with the PDP cannot be ascertained but this is for sure that PDP’s only agenda is to eradicate NC and damage the communal harmony in the state,” Afaq said. “Can’t you see that the number of NC workers killed during the past two decades are more in number the activists killed of a particular party in the entire world,” said Afaq adding that PDP with arms and am-munition is threatening the NC cadres across Srinagar. “The homes of our workers are being targeted with the petrol bombs and the motive of such acts is only to terrorize our workers.” He added that NC is the cadre based party and that if one of its workers is killed; four are there to take his place. (KNS)

We say ‘believe in our intentions, in our achieve-ments…a high rate of growth, inclusive development, strong democratic institutions.”Drawing a distinction between the Congress ideology and that of the BJP, Congress stalwart Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad said his party stood for a healthy democ-racy while the latter was clouded with hatred. “To-day, our society stands at a crossroads. The Congress ideology and vision, will continue to take us towards a healthy, free democracy open to the light of change and transformation. Their vision, clouded with hatred and falsehood, their ideology, divisive and autocratic, will drive us to the ruination of our Hindustaniyat,” Mr

Azad said.Charging BJP leadership for indulging into deceitful tactics to hoodwink the innocent people, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad today said that except exploiting senti-ments of the people BJP leadership in state as well as in rest of the country have done nothing concrete for the common masses.Seeking mandate of the people to accelerate develop-mental activities in remotest and far-flung areas, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad said that Congress was committed to counter and defeat divisive forces tooth and nail and would always work for development of the coun-try and countrymen irrespective of any caste, colour or religion.Mr Azad was accompanied by NC Minister for Home, Sajjad Ahmad Kitchloo, Congress Minister for R&B, Abdul Majid Wani, Congress MLA, G M Saroori, Leg-islators, Naresh Gupta, Mohammad Sharief Niaz and B R Kundal at different venues of public meetings.Later, in the afternoon, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad held series of Roadshows in Bhaderwah Assembly segment where people gave him rousing receptions and pledged to make him win with thumping majority. In his ad-dress Mr Azad reminded the people about various developmental projects which were started during his tenure as Chief Minister for the development of this re-gion. “Many projects are still incomplete”, he said and sought support of the people to finish that incomplete projects to improve their socio-economic conditions. He further gave detailed account of ongoing construc-tion work on numerous hydro-power projects which has helped the people of erstwhile Doda district to get jobs at the door steps. “Detailed Projects Reports of number of more power projects have been finalized by Congress led UPA government and NC-Congress co-alition government here in Jammu and Kashmir, the work on which would start soon. It will help to a great extent to lead you towards prosperity,” highlighted Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad.“Five Medical Colleges have been sanctioned for Jam-mu and Kashmir and the amount for its set up has also been sanctioned. Soon it would come up in working condition. He said that this decision has been taken due to problems being faced by the people of erstwhile Doda district in general and particularly the peo-ple living in tough terrains and hilly belts of the dis-trict. These are not mere announcements instead the amount to establish infrastructure of Medical Colleges too stand released and soon you will see the work to construct buildings of Medical Colleges would start with full swing,” highlighted Mr Azad.“Now, your studious children would not have to go far off either at Jammu or in other states of the country for Medical Education. Your children would become doctors in Doda only. Who has done this? Has the de-cision taken to please any particular community? Has any other political party than Congress party, ever concentrated on such issues which would help the peo-ple to prosper? Instead of exploiting the sentiments of people on caste and religious lines, what positive and progressive role have you seen of such political par-ties? It is Congress party’s vision, which has delivered five Medical Colleges to J&K and especially to Doda district. This decision would provide advance medical facilities to one and all irrespective of any caste or reli-gion,” pointed out Mr Azad further cautioning the peo-ple to give befitting reply to those who are exploiting religious sentiments in elections.“Revolutions never take place in a day, but we are trying utmost best to give sigh of relief to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and other states” said the thoughtful leader further adding, “Creation of new administrative units, opening of hospitals, health cen-ters, presence of AASHA workers in every village, 13 crore job cards to rural people under NRHM reveals our commitment and dedication towards the rural populace”. (KNS)

Mufti said that since formation this government sit-uation in the State has been deteriorating with every passing day. “Every section of the society is bearing brunt of the wrong policies being propagated by this government”, he said, adding, “Deceit tactics of this government is fuelling alienation among masses in general and younger generation in particular”Reminding the people about achievements of the pre-vious PDP led government in the State, Mufti said that in its three years tenure the PDP led government had not only created a sense of security among the peo-ple but also restored dignity of the common masses by pioneering and implementing peace and reconcil-iation agenda. “Although we had just 16 members in the Assembly, our party had convinced successive gov-ernments at Delhi, through our convictions, to initiate some bold Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) to restore lasting peace in this region”, he said and point-ed towards CBMs like beginning of cross LoC trade and opening of crossing points on LoC. PDP patron said that National Conference and Con-gress entered into alliance without any programme and policies because their only aim is to enjoy power. He reminded the people that PDP had entered into al-liance with Congress by formulating a Common Min-imum Programme (CMP) in which wishes of all sec-tions of the society were incorporated and pro-peace agenda was given first priority.“The PDP led coalition government had given a new direction to governance in order to address all these diverse issues effectively with the result that succes-sive Prime Ministers could come here and reach out to the people and understand their problems”, he said and recalled the historic announcement made by then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee from Srinagar in which he had extended hands of friendship towards Pakistan. He said that PDP through its conviction had convinced successive governments at Delhi to initiate Confidence Building Measure (CBMs) to improve rela-tions with Pakistan. Mufti further added his party has scripted a new chap-ter of peace and development in Jammu and Kash-mir and has changed political discourage of the state through its conviction and commitment. Mufti said that PDP was formed in the year 1999 with an aim to restore peace and to uphold dignity and honour of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.“Aim of PDP is not to attain power but to address griev-ances of the people,” he said and observed that biggest achievement of his party was that it had connected it-

self with the common masses and restore confidence of the people in democratic institutions. PDP patron, while urging the people to give their mandate to party candidates, he said, “Unlike other parties PDP’s repre-sentatives would not remain as mute spectator in the Parliament”. “We have fielded best candidates for Lok Sabha elections who have potential to effectively high-light peoples’ issue in the Parliament”, he said. Observing that strong wind of change in blowing the whole State, Mufti said that peoples’ urge for change would get impetus after the Parliament elections be-cause ruling coalition is going to get crushing defeat in these elections. MLA Shangus Peerzada Mansoor, MLA Darhal Choudhary Zulfikar, former minister Peer Mohammad Hussain, Hamid Choudhary, former chairman Legislative Council Abdul Rashid Dar, Ghu-lam Ahmed, Sarpanch, Ghulam Hassan Mir, Sarpanch and others spoke on the occasion. (KNS)

PDP leaders have asked the people to refrain from taking Narendra Modi's name without attaching "Ji" and "Sahab" with his name. Mehbooba Mufti has also said that she saw a political reincarnation of Atal Bi-hari Vajpayee in Narendra Modi. Omar Abdullah said that this was the same Narendra Modi who accepted all caps and headgears of different communities with respect but refused to accept a cap presented to him by an Imaam Sahib. He said this was the same Narendra Modi who has the blood stains of Gujarat on his con-science and has formally stated in the BJP manifesto that his party was "committed" to abrogating Article 370.Omar said that PDP had sold its soul to the BJP and agreed to be a part of BJP's plan to dilute the State's special status in return for a promise of political pa-tronage from Narendra Modi. PDP's tactical fielding of candidates from Jammu and Udhampur Parliamenta-ry Seats has proved beyond any doubt that they tried to dilute the anti-BJP vote in both seats to benefit BJP candidates. As unfortunate and shocking as this open exhibition of loyalty is, this is just another chapter in PDP's flip-flopping, opportunistic politics.Omar said the people of Jammu and Kashmir have a history of communal harmony and brotherhood and will not allow the BJP-PDP nexus to make any inroads into the State. The NC Working President and Chief Minister of J&K said that it was National Conference that ensured that Pulwama is ushered into devel-opment by nominating G. N. Ratanpuri to the Rajya Sabha in addition to the Anantnag-Pulwama constitu-ents electing Dr. Mehboob Beg to the Lok Sabha. Both Members of Parliament have spoken up without any inhibitions or fear of reprisal for their people and have used their resources and funds to launch unprecedent-ed developmental works in their areas.The Public Meeting was also addressed by Senior Na-tional Conference Leader and Member of Parliament Dr. Mehboob Beg, Senior Congress leader Taj Mohi-ud-din, MP in the Rajya Sabha G. N. Ratanpuri, Senior National Conference Leader Ali Muhammad Sagar, NC Provincial President Nasir Aslam Wani and Dis-trict President Pulwama Engineer Ghulam Nabi Wani Niloora. Those present on the occasion included NC Spokesman Junaid Mattu and Political Secretary to Chief Minister Tanvir Sadiq. (KNS)

has tried to eliminate NC but they have failed. “In 1990, a well-planned conspiracy was hatched to target NC, its leaders and its workers in an unlawful and un-constitutional manner. The installation of Jagmoghan in state and the killings which followed after his instal-lation were part of this conspiracy and it is PDP and Mufti who are responsible for all this,” he said.Earlier on Sunday, NC president and Union Minister Farooq Abdullah had blamed PDP for the militant at-tack on a NC leader in Khrew area of South Kashmir.Kamal, who is the Additional General Secretary of NC alleged that thousands of party workers were killed according to that ‘conspiracy’. “Not only workers but three of our ministers were also killed. I was myself attacked. But, despite of all these odds, they couldn’t eliminate us and our party,” he said.While terming PDP patron Mufti Muhammad Sayed as “Devil in Carnage” he said: “After getting a sense of defeat, the PDP is attacking NC workers in order to show their presence because they have failed to bury us and fear for their existence.”“They would have deliberately torched scooter of their activist in order to bail out themselves,” he saidHe said PDP can go to any extent too achieve power. “They are using agencies as well to target NC.”The NC leader and uncle of Chief Minister Omar Ab-dullah said the attacks on NC activists would partial-ly affect the on-going election campaign. “It will have partial effect on the campaigning as well as on voting in upcoming elections,” adding: “we have to be careful but it will not affect overall situation.”Kamal alleged that an environment of ‘fear and terror’ is being tried to create in the valley. “Several forces within and outside state are trying the environment of 90s here,” he said, adding: but that won’t benefit Kashmir youth instead it will affect him badly. (GNS)

and senior Congress leaders was attended by NC lead-ers Ghulam Hassan Rahi and Shahid Ali Shah. (KNS)

Abu Hamza was active in Valley from over two years. He was working under the supervision of Qasim Bhai, divisional commander of LeT, south Kashmir. The Qasim group consisted of 15 militants. However, the commander later created 7 sub-groups with two mili-tants in each sub group. Only one group among them had three militants.Hamza was coordinating with Qasim. However, he later joined Irshad Ahmad Ganai. Hamza and Ganai carried out the deadly attack on army convoy in Hyderpora causing death of eight army men. Three more militants conspired the attack have already been arrested.Usman Gori, who was killed in Khrew, and Showkat Lone, who was also shot dead, had carried out attack at CRPF in Puhroo Chowk on the outskirts of Sri-nagar city onDecember 11, last year which left ASI of

CRPF 29 bn dead and another injured.Huzaifa and Chota Hafiz have been active in Valley for three years. They were running core group of LeT. They have not carried out any major strike on the forces. They were primarily looking after the transfer of cadres from one place to another.Over these years they got acquainted with the places in Srinagar city and elsewhere. Now they were plan-ning attacks. They were mostly active in Dachigam, Zakura, Kangan and Ganderbal, Soura and Buchpora. (GNS)

had achieved success in bringing the militant leader-ship to the negotiation table after convincing them to announce a cease-fire. Tragically however, Mufti Mo-hammad Sayeed made it a priority to eliminate every single militant commander who had stepped forward to talk as soon as he became Chief Minister of the State.Mattu said that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's criticism of National Conference is both historically and factu-ally inaccurate. It was Mufti Mohammad Sayeed who turned Kashmir into a mass graveyard within months of taking over as the Home Minister of India and forced thousands of Kashmiri youth to take up arms. Had Mufti Sayeed not become the Home Minister of India and had he not personally deputed Jagmohan as the Governor of J&K militancy and turmoil wouldn't have reached the levels it did and thousands of lives would have been saved.The NC Spokesman said that it was the Dr. Farooq Ab-dullah government that started a phase of reconstruc-tion and reconciliation in 1996 after the State was yet to recover from the Mufti-Jagmohan tactical oppres-sion of Kashmiris and it is the Omar Abdullah govern-ment that has ushered the State into a phase of peace, harmony, amnesty and reconciliation. It was the PDP that opposed the rehablitation policy for youth who had crossed over the LoC and it is the Omar Abdullah government that ensured the return and rehabilita-tion of hundreds of youth from across the LoC.Mattu said that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has to an-swer for his role in wanton bloodshed and massacres in Kashmir and propagating blatant lies will not ab-solve him of his sins. (KNS)

67 years and landed us in this misery. History is lit-tered with examples where the NC for the benefit of its few individuals let down the people of Kashmir.”Lone while campaigning for party candidate Salamud-din Bajad in Lolab said:“Right from 1947 when Sheikh Abdullah sought to appease Nehru for his own power in Kashmir to the Delhi agreement of 1952 which un-dermined the autonomy provided by the "Instrument of accession" signed by the Maharaja to the accord of 1975, 1984 (agreeing to hanging of Maqbool Bhatt), 1987 and the list goes on”.For NC, Lone said, the people of Kashmir are nothing more than a unbearable set of "Maha Chor" who need to be manipulated as a means of reaching the corri-dors of power. “Once there, they will do anything to hold onto power even if that means making deals with the devil- they have left no party with whom they have not aligned. Even Sheikh Abdullah, the grand old man of NC in his final days acquiesced to his wrongdoings when during his speech at Hazratbal in 1977 he im-plored the people of Kashmir " mujhe ghaddar Na likha jai, bulkey un logon mey likha jay jinhoon ney ghalti ki" (I should not be seen as a traitor but as some one who made mistakes). Unfortunately not only have these "mistakes" consciously continued unabated on the behalf of NC but caused grave national and per-sonal loss to the people of Kashmir,” he said.He said the time has arrived not only to judge the “perpetrators (NC, Abdullah family and their cronies) without the concession of labeling their acts of trea-son as mistakes but to stop this continuation of trea-son once and for all.”“It is only by showing them the power of their will, vote and integrity will the people especially youth of Kashmir be able to exorcise the self-centric spirit of the pretenders (NC) which continues to cast its evil shadow on the progress and prosperity of the people of Kashmir and alternatively usher in the light of a new dawn,” he said.Lone reiterated the need for "Change through empow-erment" and lauded the role of the youth. Terming the youth as the backbone of every society and movement he asked them to stand up and be counted, to make the difference and galvanise their strengths and give way to the light ushering in a new dawn and promise of empowerment and dignity. (KNS)

of Police station Kokernag. The boy died on spot. Kokernag police has registered a case in this regard.In another accident, a Beacon Platform vehicle turned turtle at Sadipora, Nambla and fell in a deep gorge. Two Beacon laborers Farooq Ahmed Mir and Mohammad Arif Kumar residents of Nambla died while four others were injured in this accident. All the injured have been shifted to District Hospital Baramulla for treatment. Baramulla police has regis-tered a case in this regard.

Announcing the rate cut, Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer, said, "The continued appreciation of the rupee has resulted in reduction in petrol prices."There will be no change in diesel prices as oil firms revise rates of the nation's most consumed fuel on a monthly basis.The government freed petrol prices from its control in June 2010 and since then state-owned oil firms have been revising rates on the 1st and 16th of every month based on the fortnightly average of interna-tional oil prices and the rupee-US dollar exchange rate.For diesel, the government had in January last year decided to allow oil firms to raise rates by up to 50 paise a litre, excluding local levies, every month until losses on the fuel are wiped out.Since Janu-ary 2013, diesel rates have risen by Rs 8.33 over 14 monthly installments. IOC said it still loses Rs 5.49 on the sale of every litre of diesel.

SRINAGAR |WEDNESDAY, APRIL | 16| 2014Daily ZABARWAN TIMES NEWS

Take a break from your routine, Libra. You might feel like you’re leading an army into battle as you strive for new adven-tures and conquer new realms. Make sure you take a bit of time out today to stop and let your troops rest. You deserve a little rest yourself. Use this moment of stillness to form your plan of attack so you’re sure about how to proceed.

The key for you is to minimize your daily drama as much as possible, Scorpio. You may not realize how much you cripple your-self by the way you exaggerate every aspect of your life. Try not to give so much of your attention to things that really don’t matter much. Petty jealousy and gossip about other people’s lives are es-pecially irrelevant in your world.

Be careful of advertising yourself as someone who is so strong and mentally competent that you’re capable of handling every-thing, Sagittarius. Take note that the strongest mule on the trail usually ends up carrying the most weight. Your emotions are more sensitive than you may think, and certainly more than you demonstrate to others. Be honest about the way you feel and not just the way you think.

Things should flow well for you today with very little ef-fort on your part, Capricorn. Take note that if any quarrel arises, it’s an indication that the person you’re arguing with isn’t nec-essarily the right person to deal with or confide in. Emotional issues are likely to be the hardest ones to overcome, but this shouldn’t be a problem for you. You have the ability to work through these like a pro.

This is meant to be a nice, relaxing day, so treat it as such, Aquarius. There’s no need for you to plan any great strategy at this time. Try to take it easy and not indulge in any unnecessary stress. This is your time to enjoy the moment. Don’t tax your mind by overanalyzing everything that comes your way. Go with the flow and have a great time regardless of what you end up doing.

Your sensual nature is heightened, Pisces, and you’ll find yourself engaged in tender moments and languid peacefulness in the company of others. Soothe your soul by letting yourself slip into situations that give you the emotional freedom to do or say whatever comes to mind. Life should be like a love poem written by a great master. Accept the good energy that comes your way.

Your sixth sense is right on target, Virgo, so trust your instincts today. You’re likely to connect with someone in a wonderful partnership that will help you foster the very plan you want to develop now. Stay close to those things that resonate strongly with your morals. The answer is in front of you; you don’t have to search too far afield in order to find it.

Allow your eager and restless nature to express itself in ways other than through the spoken word, Aries. Show someone that you care through your gentle touch or a big bear hug. Hold on a little bit more tightly than you might normally. There’s an unspo-ken understanding that comes when you communicate through nothing but pure silence. Work on developing this kind of connec-tion with those closest to you.

This is a terrific day for you, Taurus. You should find that your relationships, especially with men, go exceptionally well. Your tender and extremely sensitive nature is finally being recognized as the treasure chest it is. There are many times in which this type of personality is seen as weak, yet today is one of those times in which you’re given the full credit you deserve.

A selfish attitude on your part won’t be tolerated today, re-gardless of the circumstances, Gemini. Don’t make it worse for yourself by pretending that you don’t notice others’ hurt feelings. People are likely to be extra sensitive today, so be careful about trying to impose your will on someone who really wants nothing more than an ear to talk to and a shoulder to cry on.

You could find the hardest person to face is you, Cancer. You tend toward introspection, and you may find yourself shrinking into self-recrimination. You could analyze the important people in your life and yet fail to address the one you really need to look at – you. As you continually strive for perfection, give yourself proper credit. Do something nice for yourself today.

Take advantage of the creative energy in the air today, Leo. Keep your hands moving and your imagination flowing toward something fun and artistic. If you begin to doubt your work, you may fall down a spiral of creative blockage. Don’t get into the habit of constantly judging the quality or outcome of your work. Give yourself free rein to open up and explore whatever comes to mind.

JAMMU, APRIL 15: Chief Sec-retary Mohammad Iqbal Khandey Tuesday discussed the arrange-ments in connection with Annual Darbar move from Jammu to Sri-nagar in a meeting he chaired here.

The Civil Secretariat and other move offices will close in Jammu on April 25 and will re-open in Srinagar on May 5, 2014 whileas advance parties shall be moving to Srinagar on 21st April.

It was informed in the meeting that as many as 150 trucks and 50 buses will be deployed for ferry-ing official record and employees on 26th, 27th April and on 3rd and 4th May. Arrangements have also been made for providing escort to the employees and convoy carry-ing the official record from Jammu to Srinagar. It was informed in the meeting that as many as 150 trucks and 50 buses will be deployed for

ferrying official record and employ-ees on 26th, 27th April and on 3rd and 4th May. Arrangements have also been made for providing escort to the employees and convoy carry-ing the official record from Jammu to Srinagar

Chief Secretary directed for put-ting in place all necessary measures to ensure smooth movement of Dar-bar Move vehicles including cranes, mobile workshop besides providing medical mobile teams and ambu-lances all along the national high-way during the move days.

It was also informed that dur-ing these four move days, army and other paramilitary convoys will reg-ulate their movement to facilitate smooth movement of Darbar Move vehicles.

Chief Secretary directed CA&PD to ensure that hassle free temporary gas connections are issued to move

employees for their Srinagar stay besides he also directed RTO/Traf-fic Police to monitor fare charges by Sumo/Taxi operators during move days.

Chief Secretary directed the IT department to ensure that LAN/In-ternet in Srinagar Secretariat is ful-ly functional on the opening day. He also directed the concerned departments for ensuring com-plete sanitation besides ensuring electricity and drinking water in all residential colonies of employ-ees. He also called for making nec-essary arrangements for security at residential quarters/colonies of move employees.

The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary Home Mr Suresh Kumar, Administrative Secretaries and Heads of various departments and other officers of Civil and Police administration.

NEW DELHI: BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Tuesday took pot-shots at Congress over the televised messages of Sonia Gandhi, saying that the party had been forced to change its principal communicator since Rahul Gandhi’s speeches to the people were “not working”.

Taking a jibe in a post on his website, he said the new slogan of Congress is ‘Mein nahin, Mom’ (Not me, Mom) and claimed that last minute attempts to change electoral agenda through paid television time would not click.

Jaitley said that an opinion poll by a leading channel had shown that NDA may get absolute majority and “as the Con-gress shrinks further, its campaign has resulted in a naught” as it is “too abstract and confused”.

“The Congress party changed track yesterday. Rahul Gan-dhi-led campaign and the accompanying advertisements were given a backseat. The Congress president Sonia Gandhi herself decided to lead from the front. She addressed the country by booking television time on all channels,” he said.

Claiming that the desperation in Congress was clear, Jaitley said that speeches, interviews and press conferences of politi-cal leaders are always covered by the media and Sonia Gandhi does not have to buy television time in order to reach to the people.

Jaitley’s jibe at Sonia: Congress’s new slogan should be ‘Mein nahin,

CS discusses Darbar move arrangements to summer capital

JAMMU, APRIL 15: Stressing the high importance of enlarg-ing all infrastructural facilities for promoting scientific research, Governor, Mr. N.N. Vohra, Chan-cellor of the Jammu University, asked the academicians to take appropriate steps for inculca-tion of scientific spirit among the students from an early stage. He said this while chairing the 76th meeting of University Council of Jammu University, here at Raj Bhavan, today.

The Chancellor urged the Vice Chancellors of both Kashmir and Jammu Universities to evolve an Internal Recognition Scheme for encouraging teachers who excel in their fields, publish re-search papers in known national and internal journals and achieve promising results in implement-ing research projects.

The Council also dis-cussed Institutional Develop-ment Plan of the Jammu Uni-versity, submitted to the State Government for its inclusion in the State Higher Education Plan under Rashtriya Uchchatar Shik-

sha Abhiyan (RUSA). This over Rs. 115 crore Plan includes research, innovation, faculty improvement, and infrastructure grants for the University.

The Council approved

the introduction of the broad scheme of Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) at the Post Gradu-ate Level through regular mode and Semester System at the Un-der-Graduate level from the aca-demic session 2014-15. For facili-

tating adequate understanding of the students of the choices avail-able under CBCS, the University would provide counseling to the aspiring youth.

The Council approved

the implementation of 2nd Amendment to UGC Regula-tions w.e.f 1st July, 2014 and adoption of Minimum Quali-fications for appointment of teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Col-

leges and maintenance of Standards in Higher Educa-tion, with modifications as suggested by the Vice Chan-cellor’s Committee, in the State Universities. Amendment in the

Regulations governing Jammu University Entrance Test for ad-mission to the various academic programmes of the University/ Offsite Campuses/Private Affili-ated Colleges from the academ-ic session 2014-15 were also

approved by the Council.Present in the meeting were

Prof. M.P.S Ishar, Vice Chancel-lor, Jammu University, Prof. Talat Ahmad, Vice Chancellor, Kash-mir University, Mr. B.B. Vyas, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and Principal Secre-tary, Finance, Mr. Rakesh Gup-ta, Principal Secretary to the Governor, Sheikh Mushtaq Ah-mad, Secretary to Government, Higher Education Department, Prof. Vinayshil Gautam, Found-er Director, IIMk and First Head, Management department, IIT, Delhi, Prof. R.P. Tandon, Head of the Department, Department of Physics and Astro Physics, University of Delhi, Dr. Sameru Sharma, Dean Faculty of Engi-neering, Govt. College of Engi-neering and Technology, Jam-mu, Prof. D.S. Jamwal, President JUTA, Dr. Avinash Kumar Gupta, President, College Teachers As-sociation, Jammu Wing, Prof Tejinder Singh, Principal, Gov-ernment Degree College, Poonch, Prof. Manoj K. Dhar, Registrar, Jammu University.

Enlarge facilities to promote scientific temper among students: Governor

Narendra Modi hits back at Rahul Gandhi for ‘toffee’ comment

Mini-sub to dive again after aborting first MH370 search

HAZARIBAGH: Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi for dubbing Gujarat development model as a ‘toffee model’, Narendra Modi on Tuesday compared the Congress vice president with children and said the word ‘toffee’ has caught his fancy after he re-peatedly spoke about ‘balloon’.

Addressing a rally here, Modi said he thought se-rious issues would be discussed in this election and the galaxy of BJP leaders including L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Jaitley and Murli Mano-har Joshi were speaking on various subjects.

“But on the other side, there is a play-er whose mind doesn’t move away from childishness. Such an important election about the country’s future but for ten days,

a word that gripped him was ‘balloon’. For ten days he kept repeating it. However, children don’t stick to a toy for too long and now he has caught the word ‘toffee’.

“Now you tell me what to do. I am not of an age where I can play with balloons,” Modi said in a clear dig at Rahul who yes-

terday dubbed the Gujarat model of development as ‘toffee’ model con-tending that land was given to few industrialists at throwaway prices.

He said it was for the people to decide whether or not they wanted those who play

with balloons and crave for toffees. The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate

said that as a child who sold tea, he had not got toffees but had his sights set on trophies.

PERTH, Australia: A mini-sub hunt-ing missing Flight MH370 was set to sweep the Indian Ocean seabed again on Tuesday after cutting short its first mis-sion, as Malaysia vowed to reveal any ‘black box’ data found.The unmanned submarine equipped with sonar gear was deployed on Monday night from the Australian ship Ocean Shield, which has spearheaded the hunt for the Boe-ing 777 that vanished on March 8 with 239 people aboard.But the dive by the Bluefin-21 detected nothing of inter-est before it automatically aborted the mission after breaching its maximum operating depth, the US Navy said in a statement.The Australian agency coor-dinating the search said the Bluefin-21 “exceeded its operating depth limit of 4,500 metres (15,000 feet) and its built-in safety feature returned it to the sur-face”.The unmanned Autonomous Un-derwater Vehicle was undamaged and set for a second sonar sweep during the

day, weather permitting, officials said.US Navy Captain Mark Matthews said

the vehicle had exceeded programmed operational limits and automatically resurfaced.“In this case the vehicle’s programmed to fly 30 metres over the floor of the ocean to get a good map-ping of what’s beneath,” he told CNN from Perth.“It went to 4,500 metres and once it hit that max depth, it said ‘This is deeper than I’m programmed to be’, so it aborted the mission.”

Officials said the crew would now refine the task to cope with the depth encountered.“To account for inconsis-tencies with the sea floor, the search profile is being adjusted to extend the sonar search for as long as possible,” the US Navy statement said.Australia’s Joint Agency Coordination Centre chief Angus Houston announced Monday officials would end three weeks of listening for signals from the plane’s black boxes and launch the submarine operation.

Supreme Court recognizes transgenders as ‘third gender’

NEW DELHI: In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on Tuesday created the “third gender” status for hijras or transgenders. Earlier, they were forced to write male or female against their gender.

The SC asked the Centre to treat transgender as socially and economically backward.

The apex court said that transgenders will be allowed admission in educational insti-tutions and given employment on the basis that they belonged to the third gender category.

The SC said absence of law recognizing hijras as third gen-der could not be continued as a ground to discriminate them in availing equal opportunities in education and employment.

This is for the first time that the third gender has got a formal recognition. The third gender

people will be considered as OBCs, the SC said.

The SC said they will be given educational and employment

reservation as OBCs.The apex court also said

states and the Centre will devise social welfare schemes for third

gender community and run a public awareness campaign to erase social stigma.

The SC said the states must construct special public toilets and departments to look into their special medical issues.

The SC also added that if a person surgically changes his/her sex, then he or she is entitled to her changed sex and can not be discriminated.

The apex court expressed concern over transgenders be-ing harasssed and discriminated in the society and passed a slew of directions for their social wel-fare.

The apex court said that tran-genders were respected earlier in the society but situation has changed and they now face dis-crimination and harassment.

It said that section 377 of IPC is being misused by police and

other authorities against them and their social and economic condition is far from satisfactory.

The bench clarified that its verdict pertains only to eunuchs and not other sections of society like gay, lesbian and bisexuals who are also considered under the umbrella term ‘transgender’.

The bench said they are part and parcel of the society and the government must take steps to bring them in the main stream of society.

The apex court passed the or-der on a PIL filed by National Le-gal Services Authority (NALSA) urging the court to give separate identity to transgenders by rec-ognising them as third category of gender.

Welcoming the Supreme Court decision, Lakshmi Naray-an Tripathi, transgender rights activist said.

Jammu University Council Meeting held

Daily Zabarwan TimesEDITORIAL/ OPINIONEDITORIAL/ OPINIONDaily Zabarwan TimesSrinagar, Wednesday 16 April 2014

Disclaimer : The contents and comments appearing in any article published in this paper are purely the personal opinion of the writer

Unemployment problem - a

challenge for any government

The state of Jammu & Kashmir called para-dise on earth has ex-celled in many fields for dubious reasons

other than the positive ones which could have taken this state forward rapidly on the path of peace, progress and prosperity. Declared as one of the most corrupt states of the county, now it has achieved one more dubious distinction of be-ing one of the leading states in the field of unemployment. The state has according to estimates over 8 lakh educated unem-ployed youth which means that every one person in every twelve individuals is unemployed. The unemployment is mostly found in educated youths as the state does not have enough avenues to accommodate thousands of young men coming out of uni-versities and colleges every year. One more disadvantage with the state is that, it has no corpo-rate or industrial sector which could provide employment to a large chunk of people. The state being one of the most environ-mentally rich state can hardly afford any industries which will destroy its natural beauty and imbalance its ecology. It is be-cause of this reason that neither the government can allow those industries which pollute atmo-sphere nor will the people of the state allow that to happen. This leaves the whole dependence of the educated youth on the gov-ernment sector and this sector has very less capacity to cope up with the situation. Whatev-er resources are for recruitment those are marred by several hur-dles and impediments. The red-tapism in bureaucracy, the slow pace of recruitment agencies and above all the corruption in recruitment is resulting in the frustration amongst youth who see their future very bleak and dark. This frustration results in dragging these youth to sever-al social evils including drugs, unethical activities, and those indecent which a society will never appreciate. The various governments which come into power have miserably failed in curbing the corruption, in tak-ing steps to improve the pace of recruitment and to remove red-tapism in employment genera-tion activities. It needs a com-mitted government, a clear cut recruitment policy, corruption free recruiting agencies and fast track system of recruitment to tackle the unemployment prob-lem to some extent.

Daily Zabarwan TimesEDITORIAL/ OPINIONEDITORIAL/ OPINIONDaily Zabarwan TimesSrinagar, Sunday 09 March 2014

Disclaimer : The contents and comments appearing in any article published in this paper are purely the personal opinion of the writer

Election preparedness at

full swing

As the elections to the Lok Sabha have been announced, the Return-

ing Officers in different parts of the country have gone all out for the election preparedness so that free and fair elections are made possible, the code of conduct is implemented in real perspective and more and more voters are enrolled in the voter lists. The training programmes for Booth Level Officers have already started so have started the meetings of the concerned officers with the political parties to create awareness about the whole electoral process. Today special camps are being held all over the country so that young voters are given a final chance to enroll themselves and caste their valuable vote for elect-ing their representatives. This election is called the mother of all elections because the elec-tion situation is totally different from the previous elections. As there is no political group or alliance which seems to be in total command throughout the country, hence the Election Commission has more respon-sibilities to hold free and fair elections as India has the rep-utation of being not only the largest democracy of the world but also because of the institu-tion of Election Commission which has always stood the test of the time and remained un-biased in whatever the condi-tions. The elections to the Lok Sabha will be held in 9 phases and elaborate security arrange-ments are being made to make the situation conducive for the voters who are expected to cast their vote without any coercion or threat perception. There are some areas which are over sen-sitive like North East and Jam-mu & Kashmir and as usual the Election Commission is mak-ing proper security arrange-ments in these areas. If we take example of Panchayat elections in J&K, the large scale partici-pation may be surely an indica-tor that this time also the voters will turn in bulk to cast their vote. It is imperative that the people particularly the young generation votes so that only those representatives are elect-ed who have good image and spotless carrier and will serve the people in a better way and mitigate their problems.

Building not just Roads but Nation

Transport system is consid-ered as the life line of any nation. Road Infrastruc-ture, because of its easy accessibility, flexibility in

operation, door to door service and re-liability occupies a dominant position in the transportation system. It is vital for unleashing economic growth and is a critical component of all inclusive growth. In the last few decades, Road transport in India has registered tre-mendous growth and has become the most preferred mode of transport. The share of road transport in carrying the passengers and goods is more than 80% and 60% of the total passenger and freight movement respectively.

Road Network India has huge network of roads to-talling about 46.90 lakh km. The road density in India at present is nearly 1.43 km per sq. km of area which com-pares favourably with many coun-tries. Responsibility of development of this network rests with the Central Government, State Governments and local Government. National High-ways (NH), having total length of 82,803 km, constitutes less than 2% of the total road network. However, these are the main arteries carrying more than 40% of the total road traf-fic. Development of NHs is the respon-sibility of the Central Government.Good and efficient transport infra-structure is an essential pre-requisite for the economic growth of a nation. It has been the endeavor of the Gov-ernment to provide speedy, safe and efficient road transport network. It is recognized that modernisation of infrastructure is the key to attain higher GDP. India’s Transport sec-tor as a whole contributes about 5.5% to the GDP, with road transport con-tributing the lion’s share. India has emerged as one of the fastest growing economy in the world. According to experts, India could unleash its full potential, provided, it improves the infrastructure facilities, which are at present not sufficient to meet the growing demand of the economy. To address emerging demand by catch-ing up with the economic and social growth of the country, a massive Road development programme has been

taken up in the country.

NHDP The National Highways Develop-ment Project (NHDP) is the flagship programme, for development of less developed areas, dedicated regional programmes like the Special Acceler-ated Road Development Programme for the North-East (SARDP-NE) and the Special Programme for the Left Wing Extremism affected areas have also been taken up. Now, there are plans for building up Expressways in the Country. Three projects i.e. East-ern Peripheral Expressway in National Capital Region, Delhi - Meerut Express-way and Mumbai – Vadodra Express-way covering about 650 km are target-ed during the current financial year. Planning for Bengaluru – Chennai and Delhi – Jaipur Expressways are also in advance stages. All these Expressways will be fully access controlled roads on green field alignment. To meet with the massive require-ment of funds, innovative means of fi-nancing and financing strategies which inter alia include cess on fuel, private sector participation including foreign investment, borrowing from the mar-ket as well as budgetary support have been adopted. A major step was to at-tract foreign as well as domestic invest-ments through Public Private Partner-ship (PPP). Involving the private sector would lead to increasing efficiency with the help of using modern technol-ogy. The private sector has more flex-ible procurement and decision-making procedures and therefore, it can speed up implementation efforts. Allowing private sector to raise capital/funds has paved the way for the Government to use its scarce resources efficiently and effectively. Several new materials of road construction are also emerging that would need to be encouraged de-pending upon their cost effectiveness. For development of National High-ways in the Country in the 12 five year plan targets to invest Rs 1,44,769 crores from budgetary support, Rs 64,834 crores from IEBR and Rs 1,87,995 crores from private sector participation.Launched in 1998, the NHDP program represents the largest road construc-tion project ever undertaken to boost

the development of the National High-ways in the country. The program is aimed at the development of about 50,000 km of National Highways. Golden Quadrilateral which provides four-lane connectivity between four metros, is complete, while the North-South-East-West (NSEW) corridor is about to be completed. Four laning and six laning is underway at many places and progressing at brisk pace, despite the hurdles in land acquisi-tion, obtaining environment and for-est clearances, high cost debt etc,. So far work on more than 21,000 km have been completed and in about 12,350 km works are in progress. Other flag-ship regional programmes which in-cludes SARDP-NE and roads in LWE affected areas covers development of about 12,000 km of roads out of which work has already been completed in about 3800 kms.

Mode of Projects The emphasis has been to take up progressively more and more in-frastructure projects through private sector participation on BOT (Toll) basis so that more public funds are available for social sectors such as Health, Education, etc. However, it would not be practically possible to take up development of the majority of the highway stretches on BOT (Toll) mode. This has reflected in the recent trends of bidding when in majority of roads projects we could not get the favourable response. Accordingly, re-cently, Ministry has decided to take up road projects as turnkey Engineer-ing Procurement Construction (EPC) contracts basis which would help to reduce construction time and is ex-pected to improve quality of work as well. Also, in this system the objec-tive to garner private sector efficiency is retained and the private entrepre-neurs are free to use new technology to speed up their works

New InitiativesE-Tolling The experience on present tolling system is associated with con-gestion and delays at toll plazas. To overcome this, Government has de-cided adoption of Electronic Toll Col-lection (ETC) system across National

Highways in India, which would en-able toll to be collected electronically from vehicles at toll plazas while the vehicle is in motion. Pilot projects have already been taken up in this re-gard which will pave way for nation-wide interoperable ETC at all the toll plazas on National Highways by 2014.New Materials Besides financing, such a mammoth development pro-gramme requires huge amount of natural resources. As such conserva-tion of the material is area of concern for all. There is a need to save scarce physical resource like aggregates, sand, earth, cement, bitumen, etc. looking to huge programme of con-struction of highways in the country. On the other hand, the Nation is facing problem of the disposal & storage of in-dustrial waste like fly-ash, copper slag, marble slurry, etc. Efforts are on in utilizing these waste materials in con-struction of roads through complete/partial replacement of conventional materials. Cashless Treatment of accident Victims (A Road Safety initiative) India has the dubious distinction of having maxi-mum number of fatalities on roads. During the year 2011, there were around 5 lakh road accidents result-ing in the deaths of over 1.42 lakh people. Each day, nearly 390 people die on our roads. In India more than half of road accident victims are in the age group 20-65 years. The loss of the main bread earner and head of household due to death or dis-ability can be catastrophic, leading to lower living standards and poverty, in addition to the human cost of bereave-ment. This is an unacceptable price to pay for mobility. The Ministry has already taken up multi-pronged strategy in his regard. The latest mile-stone in this area is a Pilot Project for “implementation of cashless medical treatment to the accident victims” for the first 48 hours. Under this scheme accident victims will be provided free treatment during this period as a result immediate relief can be pro-vided to the accident victim, which will go a long way in reducing fatali-ties on our road.Completion of programmes already taken up is expected to go a long way in contributing towards building the Nation.

Empowering Mentally Ill to Live with Dignity

Mental health represents a critical indicator of hu-man development, serves as a key determinant of well-being, quality of life

and is the basis for social stability. So-cial and economic impact of poor men-tal health is pervasive and far reaching, leading to poverty, high unemployment rates, poor educational and health out-comes, among others. There is a need for a wider recognition of mental and emotional well-being as a core indicator of human development, and it is neces-sary to integrate a mental health and psychosocial perspective into all devel-opment and humanitarian policies, pro-grammes.Persons with mental and psychosocial disabilities represent a significant pro-portion of the world’s population. One in four people globally experience a mental health condition in their lifetime. Al-most one million people die due to sui-cide every year and depression is ranked third in the global burden of disease, and is projected to rank first in 2030. In India prevalence of mental disorders is 6-7% for common mental disorders and 1-2% for severe mental disorders. Treatment gap for severe mental disorders is ap-proximately 50% and in case of Common mental Disorders it is over 90%.With such a magnitude of mental disorders it becomes necessary to promote mental health services for the well being of gen-eral population, in addition to provide treatment for mental illnesses.Persons with mental and psychosocial disabilities often face stigma and dis-crimination due to widely held miscon-ceptions about the causes and nature of mental health conditions. Persons with mental and psychosocial disabilities also experience high levels of physical abuse. They encounter restrictions in their ex-ercise of socio-politico-economic rights

in the majority of countries, largely due to the false assumption that they are not able to carry out their responsibilities, manage their own affairs and make deci-sions about their lives.Though mental health conditions are one of the leading causes of disability, persons with mental and psychosocial disabilities often lack resources to main-tain basic living standards. Further-more, they are one of the most neglected and discriminated groups in develop-ment policies and programmes. Integra-tion of mental health into development efforts is a cost effective pro-poor strat-egy. There are cost effective treatments available for most mental illnesses, and effective treatment is associated with reductions in overall health-care costs. Child development, education, health, social welfare policies and pro-grammes must integrate mental and psychosocial aspects.In India, National Mental Health Pro-gramme (NMHP) was started in 1982 with the objectives to ensure avail-ability and accessibility of minimum mental health care for all, to encourage mental health knowledge and skills and to promote community participation in mental health service development and to stimulate self-help in the communi-ty. Gradually, the approach of mental health care services has shifted from hospital based care (institutional) to community based mental health care, as majority of mental disorders do not require hospitalization and can be managed at community level. During IX five year plan, Dis-trict Mental Health Programme was initiated (1996) and at present DMHP is covering 123 districts in 30 States and UTs. In addition to early identifi-cation and treatment of mentally ill, District Mental Health Programme has now incorporated promotive and pre-

ventive activities for positive mental health which includes; School Mental Health services; College Counselling services; work place stress manage-ment and suicide prevention services. Efforts are being made to improve hu-man resource availability in mental health sector so that mentally ill gets required attention and persons hav-ing a predilection for mentally illness can get good advice, counselling at the initial stages itself. Components of NHMP are being brought under the overall umbrella of National Rural Health Mission so that the States are able to plan requirements concern-ing Mental Health services as part of the respective project plans. Rs.623.45 crore has been approved as XI plan out-lay (upto 2012) for the National Mental Health Programme.However, recognizing the difficulties/stigma faced by mentally ill persons the Government is in the process of providing a humane, patient centric le-gal framework for mentally ill patients. The proposed Mental Health Care bill can be a ‘Game changer’ in the life of millions of mentally ill persons who were often victims of inhuman and degrading treatment, abuse and ridi-cule, both at the community level and at health care delivery establishments.The proposed Mental Health Care bill is significant in terms of Rights’ Approach that is being adopted to give pre-emi-nence to the preferences and opinion of the mentally ill person to a major extent. Provisions like ‘Advance Directive’ em-powers every person to make directive on how he wishes to be cared and treated for mental illness or not. Other salient provisions are;· A mentally ill person admitted to a mental health establish-ment shall have a right to receive or re-fuse visitors, phone calls, mail,etc· A mentally ill person has a right

to have treatment in his locality / resi-dence and can prefer only minimum treatment/care at mental health estab-lishments. This is to ensure that the pa-tient is allowed to live in, be part of and not be segregated from society to the ex-tent possible· Every patient has a right to protec-tion from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and the mental health estab-lishment shall be safe, clean with facili-ties for education, recreation, religious practices.· No patient shall be forced to un-dertake work and subject to compulsory shaving of head and wearing of uni-forms.· Mental illness may be made eligible for medical insurance coverage.· Government is duty-bound to plan, implement mental health programmes and create awareness about mental health and illness to reduce the associ-ated with mental illness· Every person will have access to mental health care and treatment at af-fordable cost, of good quality and of req-uisite quantity, accusable to the report, their families and care givers· Government should interpret men-tal health services into general health care services at all levels in all health programmes.· Government shall arrange good quality care and treatment in hospitals funded by government and in case of non availability in nearby place; refund the costs of treatment to the patient.To conclude, a mentally well person means a healthy society and developed nation. It is not enough if we have best health care services, protective legisla-tion unless the stigma, discrimination and widely held misconceptions at-tached to mental illness are weeded out and community becomes more empa-thetic towards such persons.