Indians working on world’s biggest telescope: MinisterNEW DELHI, June 23:

Union Minister HarshVardhan today lauded Indian sci-entists’contribution to the world’sbiggest telescope which wouldenable astronomers to observe theintricacies of the universe fromthe comfort of the earth.

Vardhan said the site for thetelescope — a multi- million dol-lar project being developed by aninternational consortium includ-ing India— was still beingfinalised.

Hanle in Ladakh was one ofthe sites being explored.

“The sites would be evaluatedfor technical and logistical suit-ability,” the minister of Scienceand Technology said, hailingIndian scientists as among thebest in the world.

India’s contribution to theThirty Metre Telescope (TMT)project would be “more in termsof hardware” than money, he

said, adding that India wouldspend Rs 1,300-crore on it.

The ambitious next-genera-tion TMT is to be built at an esti-mated cost of USD 1.47 billionby an international consortiumconsisting of institutions fromIndia, the United States, Canada,Japan and China.

“India is collaborating withthe US, Japan, and other coun-tries for the world’s biggest tele-scope project. It’s a matter ofgreat pride for us that our materi-al would be used in it,” Vardhansaid.

Addressing a gathering at aworkshop for journalists at theCSIR’s Anusandhan Bhawanhere, he said construction wasexpected to start at Mauna Kea,Hawaii, but protests by locals inthat part of the US had stalled theproject.

India is a 10 per cent partnerin this global project. On theIndian side, the project is being

handled by the Ministry ofScience and Technology and theDepartment of Atomic Energy.

The gigantic telescope,scheduled to be ready by 2020,will provide astronomers withunparallelled power to observethe universe.

From the Indian side, the proj-ect would be led by the IndianInstitute of Astrophysics (IIA),Bangalore, with the help of theAryabhatta Research Institute ofObservational Sciences (ARIES),Nainital, and Inter-UniversityCentre for Astronomy andAstrophysics (IUCAA), Pune.

“I have been to several scien-tific laboratories and researchcentres in the country and havemet top scientists in the US too.But, I can tell you, our scientistsare a notch above and not anotch less than those people,”Vardhan said.

Kailash Mansarovar yatris stopped by Chinese authorities

GANGTOK/NEW DELHI, June 23:

China has refused entry toaround 50 Indian pilgrims whowere scheduled to travel toKailash Mansarovar through theNathu-la pass in Sikkim follow-ing which India has taken up theissue with Beijing.

External Affairs MinistrySpokesperson Gopal Baglay saidsome difficulties are being expe-rienced in the movement of pil-grims through Nathu La.

“Yes, there are some difficul-ties being experienced in move-ment of KMY (KailashMansarovar Yatra) Yatris viaNathu La. Matter is being dis-cussed with Chinese side,” hesaid replying to a query on thematter.

The development comes amidtensions in bilateral ties betweenthe two countries over a host ofissues including the CPEC andIndia’s NSG bid.

Sources said 47 yatris and theliaison officer were stopped asroads in the Chinese side havebeen washed away by landslidestriggered by continuous rainfall.

The Indian pilgrims wereinformed that they would beallowed to enter China when theweather and the road conditionsimprove.

The yatris returned toGangtok today. The first batch of47 yatris had arrived in Gangtokon June 15. The Sikkim TourismDevelopment Corporation is thenodal authority for conducting theannual yatra through Nathu La.

Hundreds of Indian pilgrimsundertake Kailash Mansarovaryatra in the Tibetan AutonomousRegion of China every yearnegotiating the mountainous ter-rain.

Earlier this month, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi had metChinese President Xi Jinping onthe sidelines of the ShanghaiCooperation Organisation (SCO)Summit in Kazakh capital Astana.

In the meeting Modi had saidthe two sides should tap theirpotential in cooperation, strength-en communication and coordina-tion in international affairs,respect each other’s core con-cerns and appropriately handletheir disputes. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, June 23:

The Centre today launched aliveability index which will rankthe country’s 116 major cities onthe basis of the quality of lifethey offer.

Launching the first ‘CityLiveability Index’, UrbanDevelopment Minister MVenkaiah Naidu said, it willcover cities with populationabove one million, including thecapital cities.

The first-of-its-kind indexwill enable the cities know wherethey stand in terms of the qualityof life and the interventionsrequired to improve it.

The cities will be assessed ona comprehensive set of 79 parat-meters, including availability ofroads, education, healthcare,mobility, employment opportuni-ties, emergency response, griev-ance redressal, pollution, avail-ability of open and green spaces,cultural and entertainment oppor-tunities.

The ranking will be releasedin 2018.

Meanwhile, Naidu disbursedRs 500 crore as incentive to 16states that performed well inimplementing urban reforms dur-ing 2016-17.

Andhra Pradesh topped thelist with the highest score inimplementing urban schemes,followed by Odisha, Jharkhand,Chattisgarh and MadhyaPradesh.

Naidu said, the reform incen-tive fund will be increased to Rs

10,000 crore for the next threeyears to promote next generationurban reforms.

He also announced 30 newcities to be developed as smartcities, taking the total pick to 90under the Centre’s Smart CityMission since its launch in June2015.

Congress chief SoniaGandhi’s Lok Sabha constituen-cy of Raebareli couldn’t find aplace in the list of citiesannounced today.

Meerut, Ghaziabad,Saharanpur and Rampur in UttarPradesh also failed to make to thelist and will compete in the nextround for smart city mission.

Naidu also said, guidelines donot impose restrictions on theextent of area in mission cities tobe selected for the projects.

It is left to the city Govern-

ments and citizens to propose theworks to be done, he said.

He said, it is a “huge distor-tion” to say that ‘Area BasedDevelopment’ under Smart CityMission benefits the people ofthat area only.

“It will certainly benefit othercitizens as well in several ways,”he said.

Hitting out at the previousUPA Governments, the ministerclaimed, only 39 per cent of3,138 basic urban infrastructureprojects approved during 2005-14 period were completed intime.

However, he said, 47 percent of the 11,705 urban proj-ects approved during the lasttwo years are already underimplementation and would becompleted by the stipulatedtimeline of 2019-20. (PTI)

DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 2017 (PAGE 15)

Workers of Dogra Front and Shiv Sena staging protest nearRani Park in old Jammu City.

Punjab boy tops NEETNEW DELHI, June 23:

Navdeep Singh from Punjabhas topped the prestigious NationalEligibility cum Entrance Test(NEET) for admission to MBBSand BDS courses, results of whichwere declared by CBSE today.

The second and third rankswere bagged by Madhya Pradesh'sArchit Gupta and ManishMulchandani, respectively. Archithad also topped the AIIMSentrance examination.

Girls outnumbered boys inqualifying the test with a total of3,45,313 girls clearing it against2,66,221 boys.

Singh, who hails from Muktsar

in Punjab, scored a percentile of99.99 with 697 marks out of total720. The 18- year-old, whosefather is a Government schoolprincipal, wants to pursue MBBSin Maulana Azad Medical College,Delhi, one of India's premier med-ical institutions.

"I was confident of clearing theexam but not bagging the toprank," the topper, who has studiedin Muktsar's Shivalik PublicSchool, said.

A total of 11,38,890 studentshad appeared for the exam. Ofthese, 6,11,539 passed the testwhich was held on May 7.

The Central Board ofSecondary Education (CBSE) hadon June 12 set in motion theprocess for declaring the result ofNEET-2017 after the SupremeCourt gave its go-ahead.

On May 24, the Apex Courtstayed an interim order of theMadras High Court, which hadrestrained the CBSE from publish-ing the result.

A total of 9.13 lakh studentstook the test in English mediumwhile 1.20 lakh opted for Hindi.

This was the first time thatOverseas Citizens of India (OCI),Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) andforeigners were allowed to take theexam.

According to informationavailable on the Medical Councilof India (MCI) website, 470Medical Colleges have approxi-mately 65,170 seats for MBBS; in308 dental colleges, nearly 25,730seats in BDS are available.

CBSE had deployed 490 offi-cials at centres spread across 103cities. Last year, the first, the examwas conducted in only 52 cities.(PTI)

AMCCC highlights plight of migrant contractors

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, June 23: AllMigrant Camp CoordinationCommittee (AMCCC) todayalleged that the poor and deserv-ing migrant contractors wereignored in allotment of work inthe Relief organization despite thefact that they have lost all avenuesof livelihood after their mass exo-dus from Valley in 1989-90.

Recalling the commitmentmade by Chief Minster,Mehbooba Mufti during her visitto the camps last time where sheannounced that the migrant con-tractors will be allotted the con-struction work to earn their liveli-hood, president AMCCC DeshRattan alleged that engineerstotally ignored the small anddeserving contractors while mak-ing the allotment of work.

He said there is a brewingresentment among the migrantcontractors who have no othersource of income as they deserveto be given preference in allot-ment of work in the organization.He said the community has suf-fered a lot after the mass exodusas they lost their entire property inValley but no efforts were madeon the part of the Government toprovide any succor to it later onand promises made from time totime were never fulfilled.

Labourer dies of electrocution; Onekilled, three injured in road mishaps

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, June 23: A migrantlabourer from Uttar Pradeshtoday died of electrocution atMishriwala while a man waskilled and three others wereinjured in two road mishaps incity outskirts.

According to a policespokesman, a labourer identifiedas Neeraj (23) son of binder Din,resident of UP (at presentMishriwala) was killed thisevening at his present residence,when he came in contact with anaked electric wire while cook-ing food. He said that the bodyof the deceased was shifted toGovernment Medical Collegeand Hospital (GMCH), Jammufor postmortem.

Meanwhile, a man identifiedas Ravinder Koul (52) son ofRadhakrishan Koul, resident ofPurkhoo, sustained seriousinjuries today at about 9 pmwhen a bike bearing registrationnumber JK02AU-4952 on whichhe was travelling, was hit by anunknown vehicle at Paloura onJammu-Akhnoor road near

Sheeshmahal Palace. Theinjured man was immediatelytaken to GMCH Jammu, wherehe was declared as brought deadby the doctors. The body of thedeceased was shifted to mortu-ary room of the hospital forpostmortem.

In another case, three per-sons were injured when aWagon-R car on which theywere travelling rolled down theroad and fell into Ranbir Canalin Simbalwala area ofKanachak. He said that themishap occurred this eveningwhen driver of the car, whichwas on its way from Akhnoor toJammu, lost control over thesteering of the vehicle.

He said that the injured per-sons were identified as VishalGupta (36) son of Sham Lal, res-ident of Janipur, SubhashChander (40) son of Bodh Raj,resident of Janipur and Tilak Raj(52) son of Amarnath, residentof Talab Tillo. They were shiftedto GMCH for treatment.

In all three cases, the con-cerned police had taken cog-nizance.

DFSS stages protest over non-implementation of GST

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, June 23: The work-ers of Dogra Front and Shiv Sena(DFSS) led by their president,Ashok Gupta, today held aprotest in old Jammu Cityagainst non-implementation ofGST in the State.

“GST the biggest tax reformin the history of this country hasbeen passed by all the States andall are eagerly waiting for July 1,the date of its implementation,but on the contrary the J&KGovernment has not been able toconvince the State actors”, Guptasaid while addressing theprotesting workers.

He said that Goods & ServiceTax or GST is one of the biggestfiscal reforms in India sinceIndependence. He stated thatanybody who opposes GST inthe State is effectively sayingconsumers in the State to buyexpensive products. “If the GST

isn’t introduced in the State, con-sumers will have to pay doubletax. First, they have to pay tax oninputs and then on final productsas in the absence of the GST,they won’t get the input credit”,Gupta added.

Gupta stated that the GST hasbeen launched in the country bythe Prime Minister with a tagline of “One Nation One Tax”which just simplifies the taxstructure of the country andreduces the burden upon the con-sumers, but the State unit of BJPhas been not able to move anyrock in favour of GST as neitherthere has been any date declaredneither has any road map beendeclared for its implementation.

He further stated that if theState Assembly is not passing theGST, then the Governmentshould bring in an ordinance toimplement GST in the State sothat the traders and the end con-sumers do not have to suffer.

JTC demands release of 4 months rationExcelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, June 23: A jointmeeting of Jagti TenementCommittee (JTC) and SoanKashmir Front (SKF) J&K washeld here today under the chair-manship of Shadi Lal Pandita,President, of both the organiza-tions.

The meeting expressed graveconcern over the slackness of theGovernment in ensuring releaseof ration items to the relief holdersfor past three months.

Pandita while addressing theparticipants said that with holdingration supplies for past threemonths has put the migrants to lotof sufferings who have been fac-ing difficulties in meeting theirdomestic needs.

Pandita has demanded thatthe Relief Organisation as well asConsumer Affairs and PublicDistribution Department should

ensure release of ration to themigrants for the months of March,April, May and June 2017 at anearliest enabling the migrants toovercome present sufferings towhich they are confronted due tolack of proper ration supplies.

A demand has also been madefor implementing the employ-ment package announced longback in 2008 in letter and spirit byensuing absorbing the educatedyouth from Kashmiri Panditmigrant community againstremaining posts at an earliest.

Pandita has said that since theprices of essential commoditieshave sky rocketed so it hasbecome difficult for the reliefholders to meet their domesticneeds and requirements with thepresent financial relief. He hasdemanded enhancement of thecash assistance relief to the tuneof Rs. 25000/- per family permonth.

Body of absconderwho jumped into

Chenab foundExcelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, June 23: The bodyof a man, who had jumped intoChenab River on June 19 afterescaping from the preventivecustody of Akhnoor police, wasfound today from the river nearNomander in Akhnoor.

“The deceased identified asRaj Kumar alias Kaka (35), sonof Bari Ram, a resident ofBangti Daskal (Akhnoor) wasdetained under preventive cus-tody at Akhnoor police station.In the morning of June 19, heescaped from the custody on thepretext of attending nature’s calland jumped into ChenabRiver”, a police spokesmansaid.

He said that since that day,police was searching for hisbody and today his body wasfound from Chenab River nearNomander in Akhnoor. “Thebody has been shifted to mortu-ary room of Sub DistrictHospital, Akhnoor for postmortem”, he added.

Fire breaks outin treasury

Excelsior Correspondent

DODA, June 23: Fire brokeout in the computer room of aGovernment treasury at Thathri,today.

A police official said thatfire broke out in theGovernment treasury at Thathriprobably due to short circuit.

After getting information,police team rushed to the spotand with the help of fire tendersalong with fire tenders, the firewas brought under control buttill then the items including fur-niture, computer and its acces-sories got damaged.

No injury or casualty hasbeen reported in the incident,while exact loss could not beascertained yet.

Thathri police had takencognizance in this regard.

Girl consumes poison, dies

Excelsior Correspondent

MENDHAR, June 23: Aminor girl was died after sheconsumed some poisonous sub-stance at her residence at villageAri in Mendhar Sub Division ofdistrict Poonch last night.

A police spokesman saidthat 16-year-old Nazia Kouser,daughter of Abdul Khaliq , res-ident of Ari Jabba villagebecame serious after she con-sumed some poisonous stuff ather residence last night. Shewas removed to SDH Mendharby the family members and thenreferred to GMC HospitalJammu but she died on the way.

Her body was brought backto Mendhar hospital and laterhanded over to the family afterpostmortem. The police has reg-istered a case under section 174CrPC.

Trucker arrestedwith poppy strawExcelsior Correspondent

RAMBAN, June 23: Policearrested a trucker along with 22kilograms of poppy straw.

As per police sources, on spe-cific information, a team fromRamban police station laid anaka and intercepted a truckbearing registration numberPB11AM-4152 coming fromSrinagar to Jammu.

During checking, policerecovered 22 kilograms of poppystraw from the vehicle and arrest-ed the driver, who has been iden-tified as Mohammad Akhter, sonof Ghulam Rasool Malik, a resi-dent of district Ramban.

A case under FIR Number79/17 under Section 8/15Narcotic Drugs and PsychotropicSubstances (NDPS) Act has beenregistered against the trucker atRamban police station and inves-tigation started to ascertain thesource of the consignment.

Police team led by SHORamban Inspector RajeshwarSingh made the arrest under thesupervision of DySPHeadquarters Imtiyaz Ahmedand SSP Ramban Mohan Lal.

Govt launches index to rank 116 cities on quality of life

GOVERNMENT OF JAMMU & KASHMIRDIRECTORATE OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY, JAMMU

Sub:- Appointment of Attendant in Animal Husbandry Department District Udhampur.Ref: - Chairman, District Level Recruitment Committee Class-IV (Chief Animal Husbandry Officer Udhampur's No: CAHO/U/E-44/679 Dated: 09.06.2017.

ORDER NO.: 48- DAHJ of 2017DATED:- 17.06.2017

On the recommendations of Chairman, District Level Recruitment Committee, Animal Husbandry Department, (Class-IV) District Udhampur (Chief Animal HusbandryOfficer, Udhampur), sanction is hereby accorded to the appointment of 19 candidates as indicated in Annexure "A" to this order as Attendants in the Pay Band of 4440-7440+ GP 1300/- in Animal Husbandry Department District Udhampur. The appointment of these candidates shall be regulated in terms of SRO 202 dated: 30.06.2015.

The appointee(s) shall be initially on probation for a period of five years and after completion of five years.The appointee(s) shall have to necessarily work for a period of five years on the post against which he/she has been appointed and such appointee shall not be eligible

for transfer for whatsoever reason during the temporary service of five years.The appointee(s) appointed on the basis of being a resident of backward area or an area adjoining to Line of Actual Control shall serve in such areas for a period of not

less than seven years.During the period of first five years, the appointee(s) shall be entitled to the minimum of scale of pay alongwith the grade pay applicable to the post against which appoint-

ed. The appointee shall after completion of five years period on probation is entitled to fixation of pay in the pay band applicable to the post against which he/she is appoint-ed.

The appointee(s) shall be entitled to annual increments, Dearness allowance, House Rent Allowance and City compensatory Allowance after successful completion ofhis/her five years service on consolidated salary.

The appointee(s) shall be entitled to the benefits under the Medical Attendance Rules and Leave Rules from the date of his/her appointment itself.The seniority of the appointee(s) appointed under these rules shall reckon from the date of their appointment. The period spent on probation/consolidated salary shall

also reckon for purposes of calculating the qualifying service of the appointee for pensioner and other benefits provided under rules.The appointee(s) shall report to the Chief Animal Husbandry Officer, Udhampur within a period of 21 days. In case any appointee fails to join within the said period his/her

appointment shall be deemed to have been cancelled without any further notice.The appointee(s) shall be allowed to join only after production of the following certificates/testimonials in original:-

1/ Academic Qualification Certificate.2/ Matriculation/Date of Birth Certificate.3/ Health Certificate issued by the CMO4/ Permanent Resident Certificate.5/ Character Certificate.6/ Relevant Category Certificate (in case of candidates belonging to reserved categories) 7/ Certificate from the General Manager DIC concerned and Deputy Director, Employment concerned to the effect that no loan under Self Employment Scheme has been

taken.8/ Undertaking on an Affidavit duly attested by the First Class Judicial Magistrate to the effect that the documents submitted are genuine and in case the documents proved

fake or forged at any stage, the appointment shall be liable for cancellation ab-initio.The appointment shall be subject to the following conditions:-a/ Each appointee shall have to give an undertaking in the shape of an affidavit to the effect that in case of any adverse report about his/her character and antecedents

is received from the Additional Director General of Police, CID, J&K to whom a reference shall be made by the concerned DDO, the candidate shall have no right toclaim his/her appointment as Attendant and as such shall be deemed to have been cancelled ab-initio.

b/ Verification of qualifications/Date of birth certificate from the concerned issuing authorities. c/ The salary of the appointees shall not be drawn and disbursed to them unless satisfactory report in respect of their character and antecedents is received from the

competent authority.This issues without prejudice to the outcome of writ petition pending if any, before any competent court of law and shall be subject to the outcome of such writ petition.

Encls:- One leaf.DIP/J-2596 Sd/-Dt: 23-6-17 (DR. P.K.Gupta)

Director, Animal Husbandry Department, Jammu.

Annexure "A" to Order No. 48 - DAHJ of 2017 Dated: 17.06.2017.S.No. Name of Candidate S/Sh S/o, W/o, D/o Residence Category1 Roshi Sharma Vishwa Bandhu Sharma Chak Rakwalan, Udhampur OM2 Priya Sharma Madan Lal W.No.:15, Udhampur OM3 Vinod Kumar Hem Raj Kirmoo, Ramnagar OM4 Amit Kumar Sharma Om Parkash Sharma Battal Ballian, Udhampur OM5 Varun Sharma Krishan Lal Sharma W.No:16, Kaller, Udhampur OM6 Sandeep Bharadwaj Gopal Dass Chanunta, Ramnagar OM7 Bhanu Paba Dalip Kumar Paba W.No:16, Udhampur OM8 Mohit Verma Balwant Raj Bilaspur, Thial OM9 Raj Kumar Des Raj Battal, Udhampur OM10 Dhanuveer Singh Balbir Singh Garnai, Udhampur OM11 Arun Dev Singh Padam Dev Singh Battal Ballian, Udhampur OM12 Nekha Khajuria Hans Raj Pancheri RBA13 Anil Kumar Romesh Chander Katwalat, Ramnagar RBA14 Bharti Devi Sardar Singh Narore, Pancheri RBA15 Sarita Thakur Romesh Singh Narore, Pancheri RBA16 Rakesh Kumar Daya Ram Dhanoo, Udhampur SC17 Yog Raj Krishan Chand Mang, Basantgarh ST18 Arshad Mohd Nawab Din Battal Ballian, Udhampur ST19 Shubam Kalsee Rajesh Chander Kalsee W.No:8, Udhampur OBC

Office of the Provincial Rehabilitation Officer Jammu

Sd/-M.H Malik

DIP/J-2605/17 (Provincial Rehabilitation Officer, Jammu)