Srinagar, Apr 10 : The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) pa-tron, Mufti Mohammad Say-eed has said the Lok Sabha elections will lay foundation for a profound change not just in the government but in the entire system and for address-ing Kashmir issue and the problems faced by the people of Kashmir.According to a statement is-sued to KNS, while address-ing various roadside meetings

in Arihal, Tahab villages in Pulwama district and various areas of Shopian segment of Anantnag parliamentary con-stituency today; Mufti said a new dawn is breaking in the political landscape

See Mufti On Page 11..

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FRIDAY 11 April | 2014 | 10 Jamadi-Ul-Thani 1435 AH | PAGES 12 | VOL NO: 4 | ISSUE NO: 100 | 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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06:59PM 4.6 0C 20.90C

FORECAST FOR NEXT 24 HRS:

FORECAST OF SRINAGAR:

Light Rain/Snow would occur at a few places over the state.

Partly cloudy sky. Maximum &Minimum temperatures will be around 15°C & 04°C respectively.

Inside story

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Large participation in polls a healthy trend

The big turnout during first three phases of Lok Sabha Elections is in-dicative of the fact that people in this country have full faith in democratic setup and they really mean business as far as their participation in the country’s governance is concerned. Though a good omen for the parlia-mentary system but it should be tak-en as an indicator of what the peo-ple exactly want by participating in such large numbers. The politicians should understand that the people are now quit aware about their rights

Bollywood backs Yuvraj Singh New signal detected in hunt for lost Malaysian jet

PG 06 PG 10 PG 06

Mirwaiz pays rich tributes to Moulana

Showkat

Train services suspended after

passengers protest

AHMEDABAD: Seeking to contain a controversy over Narendra Mo-di’s marital status, his elder brother Somabhai on Thursday said that the BJP prime ministerial candidate’s marriage should be seen as a “social formality” which happened nearly 50 years ago.Modi acknowledged his marriage to Jashodaben for the first time in his affidavit filed along with his nomina-

Desires to work with Tom Cruise

People want vote for change not for mere slogans: Mehbooba

After Modi admits he was married, his brother says it was a ‘social

PDP created to make dents in Article

370: Sagar

JAMMU, APRIL 10: Around 68% electorate cast their vote in today’s polling for Jammu-Poonch Parlia-mentary Constituency which con-cluded this evening. This is 18.29% more than the polling percentage of last Parliamentary election.Disclosing this at a press conference here today the Chief Electoral Offi-cer, Umang Narula said 70% votes were cast in Jammu district, 75% in Samba district and figures of poll-ing are being received from Rajouri and Poonch districts which would add up the final poll percentage tal-ly subsequently. He said the polling was held in a peaceful atmosphere and so far no untoward incident was reported from any part of the constituency.The Chief Electoral Officer said 10, 000 personnel were detailed for election duty and 800 vehicles were used to ferry them and poll mate-rial. He said the Election Commis-sion had deployed five Observers including three General Observers, one Expenditure Observer and one Police and Security Observer. Be-sides, he said the Commission had

deployed 201 Micro Observers and webcasting of 60 booths was also done. Narula said the Commission had set up 2274 polling booths at 1582 loca-tions out of which 68 were declared as critical. He said 2274 electronic machines were used for the purpose. He said video recordings were also done to ensure free and fair polls.The CEO said 19 candidates were in the fray for the constituency which com-prised 1848553 number of electors including 871212 female and 977328 male voters.

LS- Election-2014

68% polling in Jammu-Poonch Parliamentary Constituency: Narula

Nomination papers of an independent candidate rejectedSrinagar, Apr 10: The nomina-tion papers of 15 out of 16 candi-dates in Srinagar Anantnag Par-liamentary constituency were found correct after

See Seat On Page 11..

15 candidates in fray for Srinagar Lok Sabah seat

Doda-Kishtwar, Apr 10 (KNS): Exhorting the people to elect credible and tested representa-tives for the Lok Sabha, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad today reminded that BJP lead-ership in Jammu and Kashmir has always bartered peoples’ in-terests to accomplish their own personal agenda.According to a statement issued to KNS, while addressing series of public gatherings at various hilly belts in Doda and Kishtwar districts, Congress heavyweight,

Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad who is contesting Doda-Udhampur Parliamentary

See Azad On Page 11..

BJP always bartered peoples’ interest: Azad‘Defeat communal forces, vote Congress to power’

Srinagar, Apr 10 : All India Congress working President Ra-hul Gandhi is arriving on a day-long visit to Jammu on Friday to address a joint public rally organized by Pradesh Congress Committee and the National Conference at Doda, sources said.A senior Congress leader told KNS that Rahul will be received by Ghulam Nabi Azad, union health minister and Congress candidate from Udhampur Parliamentary constituency, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Pradesh Congress Committee president Prof Saif-u-Din Soz at Jammu airport.

See Rahul On Page 11..

Rahul Gandhi to arrive in Jammu today

Scheduled to address a joint public rally at Doda stadium

LS polls will lay foundation for change in entire system: Mufti

Srinagar, Apr 10 : The High court today di-rected the authorities to issue passport in favour of Syed Mohammad Saeed Naqashbandi, the prayer leader of Jamia Masjid Srinagar within three weeks.Naqashbandi had ap-plied for his passport in 2009 but the same was not issued due to some unknown reasons.He later filed a petition before the High Court seeking directions to the passport issuing author-ities to clear his pending application.As the matter came up for hearing today, Justice Bansi Lal Bhat

See HC On Page 11..

Issue passport to Imam Jamia Masjid within 3 weeks: HC

ReT’s with AMU degrees yet to be regularized

Candidates smell rat, Director assures action after MCC

Srinagar, Apr 10: The cavalcade of Mufti Mo-hammad Sayeed, patron Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today came under attack from stone throw-ers at Neemander village in Shopian district.Official sources revealed that the former chief min-ister Mufti was leading a road show and

See Attacked On Page 11..

Srinagar, Apr 10: Directorate of School Education Kashmir has turned ‘bind eye’ towards the ReT teachers who have passed their 10+2 at Aligarh Muslim University, despite the candidates possessing de-grees of same university were regularized by Directorate of Education Jammu, accused aggrieved teachers.The delegation of ReT teach-ers who have competed their probationary period of five years in education department in June 2013 and are yet to be regularized by the department alleged that the blue eyed can-didates are being given prefer-ence in the directorate. The files of more than79 can-didate hailing from different districts of valley are pending with the Director Education Kashmir from the last one year but no heed has reportedly been given to the repeated re-quests of the helpless candi-dates.Reports maintained that the candidates have completed their period of probation of five years as ReT on June 26,

2013 but till date they were not regularized.Aggrieved ReTs told KNS that the reason for denial of their regularization is being given that they have passed their 10+2 in Aligarh Muslim University. “We have cleared English paper through JK-BOSE- that is necessary for the regularization of our posts but till date, we are being ignored,” said one of the Ret.They said that in Jammu, the ReTs having the 10+2 degrees from Aligarh Muslim Uni-versity have been regularized long ago but in Kashmir, the director education ‘rebukes’ the candidates saying that they will be absorbed as class IV employees elsewhere. “The director during a radio programme assured that the candidates will be regularized within the period of 10 days but even after one month noth-ing was done,” accused the ReT candidates.They said that even the court issued notice to the Director School Education

See MCC On Page 11..

Jammu, Apr 10 : The Peoples Dem-ocratic Party (PDP) president, Meh-booba Mufti Thursday said the people want to vote for change, not for mere slogans, anymore, and ruling parties both at the Centre and state have to show their report card of performance to people before seeking votes.According to a statement issued to KNS, addressing a series of workers meetings in Baderwah segment of Ud-hampor parliamentary constituency Mehbooba accused NC of resorting to hollow slogans at the time of elections to hide the failures of its government

over the last more than five years in the state.She said NC can’t befool the people by raking up emotive issues and by leveling false allegations against the PDP but it has to come out with its performance report before the people so that it becomes easy for everyone to judge what they have done over these years.“Helplessness of the ruling dispensa-tion to give an account of its perfor-mance is genuine given the fact it has nothing to show and its only achieve-ments have been scams, frauds,

mis-goverance and killings,” she said adding Omar Abdullah has virtually given up before the people’s power when he had said ‘parliamentary polls are not about his performance’.Mehbooba said truth is that both NC and Congress have failed the people of Jammu & Kashmir as they remained disconnected from the ground with the result people have to cry for even basic amenities in every nook and cor-ner of the state.Castigating the Congress-led UPA in the Centre, she said it

See Mehbooba On Page 11..

Omar heralded amnesty, reconciliation,

rehabilitation: MattuSrinagar, Apr 10 (KNS): Speaking to a group of youth workers and ac-tivists from Anantnag at NC Head Office in Srinagar, NC Spokesman Junaid Azim Mattu said that Muf-ti Mohammad Sayeed's "healing touch" policy was nothing beyond a marketing smokescreen to hide Mufti Sayeed's questionable hu-man-rights record in Kashmir.Accusing Mufti Mohammad Say-eed and PDP of misrepresenting history and misleading people, Ju-naid Mattu said that Mufti Sayeed's

gamesmanship created innumera-ble new wounds rather than heal-ing one single wound in this State. After making tall promises, Mufti Sayeed left no stone unturned to hound and harass Kashmiris and had even advocated the creation of a "Voluntary Force", taking after the "Peace Brigade" of 1950s which was used to harass and target people in the Valley. It was Mufti Sayeed who advocated the com-missioning of the “J&K Voluntary Force” and empowered Village De-fence Committees by issuing thou-sands of semi-automatic weapons to them in bulk.

See NC On Page 11..

Mufti's "healing touch" a big myth: NC

Srinagar, April 10: Asserting that the creation of PDP was done to scuttle the Autonomy resolution passed by the state assembly for making the state more au-tonomous and self-reliant, and making dents in Article 370, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats and senior National Conference leader Ali Moham-mad Sagar today said the party is trying to mislead the people by spreading false pro-paganda for their ulterior motives without bothering to remember the history about its creation and its motive.Sagar was ad-dressing a huge gathering

See Sagar On Page 11..

Srinagar, Apr 10: While paying rich tributes on the martyrdom anniversary of distinguished religious scholar and late president of Jamait-ul-Ahli Hadith Jammu and Kashmir Shaheed Moula-na Showkat Ahmad Shah, the chairman of Hurriyat Conference (M) Mirwaiz Dr Molvi Muham-mad Umar Farooq has termed his contribution for political move-ment and religious awareness in Kashmir priceless.According to a statement issued to KNS, Mirwaiz said that Moulana Shaheed Showkat Ahmad Shah spent all his life

See Mirwaiz On Page 11..

Srinagar, Apr 10: Train services here remained suspended for several hours after locals staged protest demonstrations over the dearth of space in the train.According to the reports received by KNS, locals of South Kashmir blocked the train route and started raising slogans against the au-thorities over the dearth of space available in the train for travellers.The protest demonstration gave tough time to the people at large as the train services remained suspended for hours. Locals while registering their protest demon-strations stated that they have at several times submitted before the authorities that the space inside the train must be extended so that the passengers could not face hardships while travelling to their respective locations.

See Train On Page 11..

Mustard fields in full bloom in the outskirts of Srinagar city PIC: Bhat Shabir

11 Srinagar, Friday 11 April 2014 Zabarwan Times

FROM THE FRONT PAGE

Seat

Azad

Attacked

Sagar

MCC

Mirwaiz

Train

MuftiMehbooba

HC

NCRahul

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

these papers were put to scrutiny by the concerned re-turning officer here on Thursday.According to Farooq Ahmad Shah, deputy commis-sioner Srinagar and the returning Officer for the Sri-nagar-Budgam Lok Sabah constituency after scrutiny, the nomination papers of one independent candidate Nisar Ahmad Ahangar were rejected for technical rea-sons.“Now there are only 15 candidates in fray from Sri-nagar parliamentary constituency sofar. We will come to know about the final list of candidates on the last date of withdrawal of nomination papers that is April 12,” Shah told KNS. The Srinagar Lok Sabha constitu-ency is going for polls on April 30. (KNS)

Government of Jammu and Kashmir

PHE, I&FC Department Civil Secretriat J&K Jammu

Subject: Fixation seniority of Shri Rajeshwar Kumar in the Seniority list of Junior Engineers (Degree Holders) having acquired higher qualification.

Whereas, Shri rajeshwar Kumar was appointed as Junior Engineer vide Gov-ernment order No. 148 PW(R&B) of 2007 on the recommendation of J&K Service Selection Board on the basis of Technical qualification of three years diploma in Civil Engineering.

Whereas, Shri Jajeshwa Kumar, Jinior Engineer (Diploma Holder) has ac-quired/passed AMIE Section A&B in Civil Engineering from institution of En-gineer (India). He was enrolled to this course before his appointment as Junior Engineer 2007.

Where as the above named candidate represented to this Department for the inclusion of his name in the seniority list of Degree Holder Junior Engineers (Civ-il) at the appropriate place on the basis of having acquired higher qualification in Civil Engineers in the year 2012.

Whereas, the J&K Engineering (Sub-ordinate) Service Recruitment Rules 1997 issued vide SRO-180 dated 26-05-1997 provide as under:-

“ Junior Engineers Grade II (Diploma Holder) after acquiring AMIE Section (A&B) shall be treated as Degree Holders for the purpose of seniority from the date of completion/passing of AMIE Section (A&B) Coruse”

Whereas, in pursuance of the provision of the above rule the case was exam-ined in the Department and a copy of the Degree Certificate was forwarded to the concerned institution for authentication/verification.

Whereas, the concerned institution vide No. EEA/SE/VRFC/2014/413977 da-teed 10-12-2013 has informed that the junior Engineer has passed Section-A in Summer 2007 and Section-B in Civil Engineering branch in winter 2012 as per details mentioned below:-

S.No Membership No. Name Year of Passing AMIE Section (A&B)/B.E

Branch

01 ST443553-8 Rajeshwar Kumar 2012 Civil

Whereas, the case has been examined with reference to the rules and on the ba-sis of verification of the qualification from the concerned institution, it has been decided to fix his inter-seniority in the cadre of Junior Engineers (Degree Hold-ers) from date of passing of B>E Degree.

Now therefore, before issuing the order for fixation of the seniority of Shri Rajeshwar Kumar Junior Engineer (Diploma Holder) among the Degree Holder Junior Engineers at appropriate place, all the concerned, likely to be affected are called upon to file their objections. If any, within a period of 21 dyas form the date of publication of this notice, falling which it shall be presumed that no body has any objection and necessary orders to this affect will be issued accordingly.

Sd/ Commr./Secretary to Government DIPK No. 59 PHE/I&FC Department

Constituency, today stated that except exploiting sen-timents of the people to reap political benefits BJP leaders have never fulfilled aspirations of the common masses.Accompanied by Minister for Roads and Buildings, Abdul Majid Wani, former Minister and Congress MLA, G M Saroori, MLC, Sham Lal Bhagat, Congress stalwart, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad made a dig at BJP leadership and sought to know their contribution for the country. Challenging BJP to present a single ex-ample where it had contributed for nation building, Mr Azad highlighted that “after sacrificing thousands of its leaders and workers in freedom struggle, only Congress party has been able to tap natural resources, raising hundreds of hydro power dams in the country, laying down numerous irrigations canals, highways and national highways, encouraging industrial growth, bringing revolution in agriculture sector and generat-ing employment for the educated un-employed youths of the country”.“It is Congress party under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi that had ensured equi-table development of the people irrespective of their caste, religion or region. The space programmes, headway in Science and Technology, largest network of railways, better health care systems, massive in-dustrialization and schemes for upliftment of poor and downtrodden have been the contribution of none other than Congress party,” highlighted Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad further questioning, “What is the role of BJP since Independence and till date? Can BJP lead-ership explain instead of criticizing Congress that too for wrong reasons, What role BJP has played for the development of nation and upliftment of poor mass-es? Who has made massive and record development in each and every field? Is it BJP? No, it is only and only Congress and it secular allies which has made India a strong nation”.Lashing out at BJP for its untrue propaganda against Congress, Mr Azad said that “these divisive forces have just communal agenda in their manifesto and are out there to divide people in the name of religion. Ever since its existence, it had only been working towards dividing people just to come in power. And the people of the country will never allow such divisive forces to come in power.” Seeking mandate of the people to accelerate devel-opmental activities in remotest and far-flung areas, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad today said that Congress was com-mitted for the betterment and upliftment of the back-ward and under-developed areas.Mr Azad reminded the people about various develop-mental projects which were started during his tenure as Chief Minister for the development of this region. "Many projects are still incomplete", he said and sought support of the people to finish that incomplete projects to improve their socio-economic conditions.Highlighting the contribution of Congress party at Centre in the development of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad listed down numerous projects executed through various centrally sponsored schemes in these districts. The sanctioning of five Medical Colleges in Jammu and Kashmir, that included three from Jammu region and two for Kash-mir valley, Congress stalwart highlighted that "Sanc-tioning of a Medical College for erstwhile Doda district is a pointer to the fact that Congress led UPA is aware of the problems of this hilly and remote belt. Had Con-gress not concerned about your problems, the Medical College would not have been sanction for you"."It is Congress party which, keeping in view the prob-lems and plight of the people have initiated people oriented projects. There has been record development in the past 10 years' rule of Congress led UPA-I and UPA-II. Shockingly, there are some political parties that are misleading the people by launching false pro-paganda against Congress party. They must visit in the field area and see the pace of development and then comment on the working of Congress”, pointed out Mr Azad further adding “In the past ten years of 70 per-cent of the villages of the country have been connected with roads, 70 lakhs schools have been established to provide education at door step”. He said that the open-ing of schools have increased the literacy rate of the country vis-à-vis appointment of teachers and further the salaries of these teachers are being paid by Govern-ment of India.Mr Azad also said that under Congress led UPA regime there has been a three-fold increase in food subsidy during UPA tenure. The Food Security Act will entitle 35 kg of food-grains per month and other families for 5 kg per person at subsidized rates have been passed during UPA regime”. (KNS)

Rahul’s address is part of the Congress campaigning programme for Azad who is facing a tough competition from Dr Jitendera Singh of BJP and Arshid Malik of PDP. The Constituency is scheduled to go for polls on April 17.Almost all the main leaders and Congress activists in Jammu regions have geared up to mobilize people for

the joint public rally in Doda. Rahul will straightway come to Udhampur wherefrom he will go to Doda. He is scheduled to address a huge gathering at Doda sta-dium at 11 am. Congress insiders told KNS that he will mainly focus on development during Congress rule in last 10 years, and will reply to some of the major slogans of BJP mentioned in its recently publicized manifesto. (KNS)

after reaching Meemander, some angry youth came out and raised anti-India and pro-freedom slogans besides pelting stones on some security vehicles in Mufti’s cavalcade. Locals informed KNS that half a dozen vehicles including the jammer comprising Muf-tis cavalcade were damaged during the stone pelting incident at Neemander.Sources revealed that the district administration had permitted the PDP patron to lead his rallies at six identified places in the district but on the insistence of the party activists, Mufti led the rally at 11 locations. “It was the 11th location (Neemander) where some youth came out and started pelting stones on security vehicles. The cavalcade had also adopted a different route other than the permitted one,” official sources added.Meanwhile, according to KNS Shopian correspon-dent, police had to fire tear smoke shells to disperse the mob at Neemander and Bon Bazar till the security vehicles adopted another route via main town to take the PDP patron out from place of occurrence.Locals informed KNS that yesterday evening some unknown men had used mosque loud speakers ap-pealing people to observe a complete strike in the town on Thursday. The strike affected the normal life in the morning. "The entire market was open after few hours of strike," a local informed KNS on phone. When contacted SP Shopian, Shoket Ahmad told KNS, “It was a minor incident. Few stones were pelted on some security vehicles at Neemander. Jammer was not damaged. There was no aerial firing. But the situ-ation is under control.” When asked about the strike, the SP Shopian said that the town observed strike but only for few hours in the morning. (KNS)

of Jammu & Kashmir which will have all positive ef-fects to change the destiny of the people, state.Reiterating his call for a decisive mandate to give PDP representatives the political and moral authority to raise important issues in and outside the parliament, "Which cannot be ignored by anyone”? He said PDP leadership has no personal axe to grind like the NC which seeks votes only for ministerial berths for its leaders at the cost of state interests. He said PDP has turned out to be a reliable voice, a credible alternative before the people to challenge the hegemony of Na-tional Conference in the state politics and the people look at it (PDP) with a hope to rewrite a new history for J&K.He said a new system will be established with the sup-port of people which will ensure justice for all and the post-independence siege is bound to be lifted to create an environment where everyone can feel secure, com-fortable. Referring to the hanging of Mohammad Afzal Guroo and the killing of 120 people in 2010, Mufti said it is the direct result of the wrong policies of the NC which has over the decades only exploited emotions of people and in return settled for power within the fam-ily.He said time of rhetoric’s has gone and the people are now awakened enough to understand the dynamics of politics which is very encouraging in a sense to see J&K getting out of present uncertainty and the dream of a peaceful and developed state getting into shape.Castigating NC of turning Kashmir into war zone by resorting to fraudulent tricks and doing historical blunders only to grab power, Mufti said the people know how NC sold their interests and compromised their self-respect over the last 60 years. He said NC has always played a politics treachery and they have never been serious to take care of the people from whom they have been taking votes and in return have been betray-ing them of their rights.The PDP patron said NC has never been serious to help the people to get empowered neither it had wished the state to grow on the modern lines and it was only with the emergence of PDP a new hope was generat-ed among the people that things can be shaped in a positive way. He said there is yearning of change on the ground and the people are fed-up, feel frustrated with the working of NC-Congress coalition in the state which has only brought disaster because of its sheer ineptness and lack of will to deliver.Mufti said corruption has touched new heights in the present regime and the both NC and Congress are responsible in institutionalizing the menace and de-stroying the institutions which were meant to bring about probity and transparency in the public life. He said people have a responsibility to come out and get rid of this cruel regime which has been busy only in accomplishing its personal benefits out of the people’s miseries and sufferings. (KNS)

issued the directions for issuance of his passport with-in three weeks. The Court also observed that Naqa-shbandi is a prominent citizen of the city and his cre-dentials are clean in the police records so he cannot be denied the vital travel documents. The petitioner was represented by Advocate Babur Jan Qadri. Advocate Riyaz Ahmad Khan represented the state government while as advocate Shahnawaz Ratanpuri appeared in the matter on behalf of Union of India. (KNS)

Stating that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's PDP govern-ment picked up from where he had left as the Home Minister of India, Junaid Mattu said that the PDP coa-lition government slapped 2276 cases of Public Safety Acts and allowed gross human rights violations despite their marketing hype to the contrary. Stating that only 205 cases of PSA were invoked in 2012 including cas-es of Timber Smugglers, Junaid Mattu said that com-paratively Mufti Sayeed slapped 378, 516, 372 cases of

PSA in 2003, 2004 and 2005 respectively. The Omar Abdullah led government, despite the turmoil of 2010 worked on a systemic and passionate level to extend amnesty in such cases. Speaking to the youth activists from Anantnag, Ju-naid Mattu said that besides dismantling the concrete bunkers created during PDP rule, the Omar Abdullah led coalition government got 1,555 schools, hospitals, hotels and private buildings vacated by security forc-es. 54 bunkers have been dismantled in Srinagar City alone since 2009 followed by hundreds of concrete bunkers being removed from various towns across the Valley. There has also been a considerable and visible reduction in the deployment of para-military forces in urban areas since 2009 besides a whopping 71% de-cline in overall militancy related incidents.

at Khanyar in the old city. Senior leaders of National Conference, and other prominent persons from differ-ent fields of life were present on the occasion. Sagar said that growing popularity of the present coalition has induced sense desperation and frustration in the cadres of a particular political par-ty which has triggered a panic reaction in them and they have started spreading lies and false propaganda. He said that the people are wise enough to understand their mechanisations and would give befitting reply to them, which will serve as a lesson to these forces of chaos and confusion.“The people are aware of the fact the patron of the PDP during his tenure as the Union Home Minister was instrumental for the enactment of provisions of cer-tain draconian Acts to the state , which have been re-sponsible for inflicting miseries and hardships on the people”, Sagar said and added that the onus lies on the PDP leadership to explain their double standards and come with clean hands as they are masters in spread-ing lies as they are real enemies of the state and its people as they enjoy a cosy relationship with the right-ist organisations of India, who have a history of being anti Kashmiri.

has turned a blind eye to every blunder which the Omar Abdullah-led government committed in the state be-sides it has miserably failed to reach out to the people of J&K politically to address their genuine grievances.The PDP president said the Central government didn’t work seriously to address the people’s woes and it even didn’t carry forward its own agenda which it had started in its earlier inning to address different aspects of J&K.She said the prime minister’s working group recommen-dations are gathering dust and their non-implementation shows how the Centre government has been particular about the people of the state.Accusing National Conference of playing the power pol-itics and of being non-serious with the issue of people Mehbooba said fighting elections for PDP mean to up-hold the interests of the state and provide voice to the people’s sufferings.She said the biggest harm which the NC has done to the people of the state is that it has not been able to motivate the political leadership of the country with the problems of the state and sentiments of people and instead it has helped to add on the ex-isting level of mistrust between them and New Delhi by remaining busy with the power.She said J&K needs a new direction and the story of the state needs to be told forcefully in New Delhi to make the country aware about the sentiments and aspirations of people which has till now not been done as NC has been using its mandate to secure jobs for the members of the Abdul-lah family. She said people of the entire Chinab Valley are facing huge problems and the ruing government has not been able to mitigate their genuine grievances.She said various hydroelectric projects in the area are posing serious threat to the ecology and environment of the region and the last year’s quake which un-leashed huge devastation in the area and the repeat-ed tremors latter, are said to be due to these power projects. But after sacrific-ing hugely, the locals are not even preferred in the jobs in these projects.Meh-booba said Toursim Devel-opment Authority started by the previous PDP-led government in Baderwah has failed to create jobs and do anything positive to uplift the economic condition of people only.

directing him to reply over the issue, but reportedly the department didn’t even paid any heed to the court directions.However, Director School Education Kashmir told KNS that those candidates who have fulfilled the for-malities and have cleared their documents will be reg-ularized only after the Model Code of Conduct is lifted. “I have recommended their cases to the government and those candidates who have genuine documents will be regularized.”Director Education said that from the last 13 years the cases of this nature where pending in the department and that only after his intervention the remedial mea-sures are being initiated. (KNS)

for unity among the Muslim Ummah and worked by the shoulder to shoulder with APHC for securing the Right to Self Determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.Meanwhile Mirwaiz has expressed condolence on the sad demise of the sister in law (wife of Nazir Ahmad Rawda of Jamalatha Srinagar) of senior Hurriyat lead-er Javaid Ahmad Mir, and mother of Hurriyat Leader Ghulam Qadir Rah as well as the former Halqa Pres-ident of Awami Action Committee Khankah-e-Mou-la Srinagar Muhammad Yousuf Bazaz. Mirwaiz has prayed for the departed souls and expressed his heart-felt sympathies with the bereaved families.Meanwhile Hurriyat leaders including Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, Ghulam Nabi Zaki and G.N Var visited the house of Ghulam Qadir Rah at Sopore and a delegation head-ed by Kh Ghulam Qadir Beigh visited the house of Mu-hammad Yousuf Bazaz at Khankah-e-Moula Srinagar and paid tributes to the departed souls and expressed solidarity with the families. (KNS)

Protesters accused that the train services were started in valley with much hype but at the end of the day, the tall claims of the authorities turned out to be a mere ‘hoax’. People also start-ed that since the train was started from south Kashmir’s Banihal area, the capacity has not been increased, though several routes have been added.Protesters stated that the passengers have to face much hardships due to the huge rush in trains and that the space in the train must be extended at an earliest. Later, the police and district administration reached the spot and tried to pacify the mob. It was assured to the protesters that the mat-ter will be taken up with the railway authorities. (KNS)

Srinagar, April 10: As part of the M. Ed Programme, Community Participation Project (CPP) was held in which problems relat-ed to health, education and other socio-econom-ic problems in certain localities were identi-fied. Eventually remedi-al measures like door to door surveys, guidance & counselling programmes were held in these areas. Eleven children (out of school) were enrolled in different schools under CPP. Some drug addic-tion cases were detected and who, after thorough counselling over a pe-riod of ten days by the students of this institu-tion, were rehabilitat-ed. Plantation drive was also launched under this Programme. Chinar sap-lings, procured from the Dept of Floriculture J & K, were planted at MAN-UU Satellite Campus Pat-waw, Budgam. Various fruit bearing plants and ornamental plants were also planted at differ-

ent schools of Srinagar, Budgam, Pulwama and Ganderbal Districts.While addressing the students on the occa-sion, Principal College of Teacher Education Srinagar Dr. Bilal Rafiq Shah stressed upon the preservation and conser-vation of environment. He said that MANUU not only imparts Educa-tion through Urdu Me-dium but also lays stress in producing citizens of high moral rectitude. Dr Shah also extended his heartfelt gratitude to the Dept of Floriculture, J & K for providing Chi-nar saplings and heads of different schools for extending their cooper-ation in the plantation drive. Project Incharge Mrs Raihana Malik and Mr Rafi Mohd also spoke on the occasion and im-pressed upon the stu-dents the need of pro-tecting environment and development of MAN-UU Satellite Campus at Budgam.`

MANUU, CTE Sgr Celebrates World Arbor Week

SRINAGAR | FRIDAY, APRIL | 11| 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.

SRINAGAR, APRIL 10: Financial Commissioner Industries & Com-merce (I&C) Department, Mr. Khur-shid Ahmed Ganai today visited vari-ous institutes of Handicrafts besides the upcoming Sanat Ghar at Bemina Srinagar.

At Arts Emporium Srinagar, Mr. Ganai reviewed the progress of Hand-icrafts (S&E) Corporation and directed the concerns to develop the Govern-ment Arts Emporium as an exclu-sive showroom highlighting genuine handicrafts of Kashmiri Artisans.

The Financial Commissioner em-phasized for being pro-active and putting in dedicated efforts for in-creasing profitability with focus on development of competitive pricing strategies, marketing and publicity along with other commercial policies. He also enjoined upon the manage-

ment to build a close rapport with the local Artisans and manufacturers for supply of quality goods to the Corpo-ration for providing them better mar-ket facilities.

He also visited the Kashmir Haat (Exhibition Ground) and the Di-rectorate of School of Design and Di-rectorate of Handicrafts and urged for beautification of the Kashmir Haat.

Mr. Ganai was briefed about the initiatives taken by the Handi-crafts department for the betterment of the artisan community.

At School of Designs, the Financial Commissioner was apprised about the different fabrics of the insti-tute with live Demonstration and dig-itization of the centuries old artifacts.

The Financial Commissioner also interacted with the Members of the Governing Body of Kashmir

Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) and apprised them about the initiative of putting price tags on all handicraft items in order to maintain quality and provide better marketing facilities for the handicraft products. He emphasized that by adopting of such mechanism, the visiting tour-ists can be enabled to get best quality products.

The Financial Commissioner also visited the upcoming Sanat Ghar (Industrial House) at Bemina and re-viewed the progress of work being carried out.

Among others, Director Handicrafts, Ms. Salma Hamid, Direc-tor Industries & Commerce Kashmir, Mr. Nazim Zai Khan, Managing Direc-tor Handicrafts (S&E) Corporation, Mr. I.A. Drabu and Project Engineer J&K SICOP accompanied.

NEW DELHI: Samjawadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday opposed the new anti-rape law and said that his party would change the law that entails death for rape.

Addressing a rally in Moradabad, Mulayam said, “rape ac-cused should not be hanged. Men make mistakes.”

The SP chief further said he will support provision for legal action against those who misuse the rape act.

Citing the recent example of a court sentencing three men found guilty of gang-raping two women in the abandoned Shakti Mills in Mumbai last year, he said there was a need to change the new rape law which provides for death sentence to repeat rape offenders.

“Efforts will be made to change such a law, so that those misusing it are punished. Those filing false reports will also be taken to task,” he said.

Mulayam said boys and girls fall in love but due to differ-ences they fall apart later on. “When their friendship ends, the girl complains she has been raped,” he said, stressing the need for changes in the anti-rape law.

Mulayam’s comments evoked strong reactions with other parties slamming him for his insensitive comments.

“We condemn Mulayam Singh’s statement. There should be zero tolerance for rape and crime against women,” the Con-gress said.

Mulayam’s shocker on rape: ‘Boys make mistakes,

why hang them?’

FC I&C visits IUs of handicraftsAsks for adapting price tag mechanism, maintaining quality of local handicrafts

PERTH: An Australian aircraft picked up a new underwater sig-nal on Thursday while search-ing the same part of the Indian Ocean where earlier sounds were detected that were consistent with an aircraft’s black boxes.

The Australian navy P-3 Orion, which has been dropping sound-locating buoys into the water near where the original sounds were heard, picked up a “pos-sible signal” that may be from a man-made source, said Angus Houston, who is coordinating the search off Australia’s west coast.

“The acoustic data will re-quire further analysis overnight,” Houston said in a statement.

If confirmed, this would be the fifth underwater signal detected in the hunt for Flight 370, which vanished on March 8 while flying from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing, with 239 people aboard.

On Tuesday, the Australian vessel Ocean Shield picked up two underwater sounds, and an analysis of two other sounds de-tected in the same general area on Saturday showed they were consistent with a plane’s flight

recorders, or “black boxes.”The Australian navy has been

dropping buoys from a P-3 Orion to better pinpoint the location of the sounds detected by the Ocean

Shield.Royal Australian navy com-

modore Peter Leavy said each buoy is dangling a hydrophone listening device about 300 me-ters (1,000 feet) below the sur-face. Each buoy transmits its data

via radio back to the plane.The underwater search zone

is currently a 1,300 square kilo-metre (500 square mile) patch of the ocean floor, and narrow-

ing the area as small as possible is crucial before an unmanned submarine can be sent to create a sonar map of a potential debris field on the seabed.

The Bluefin 21 sub takes six times longer to cover the same

area as the pinger locator being towed by the Ocean Shield, and it would take the vehicle about six weeks to two months to can-vass the underwater search zone, which is about the size of Los Angeles. That’s why the acoustic equipment is still being used to hone in on a more precise loca-tion, US navy Capt. Mark Mat-thews said.

The search for floating debris on the ocean surface was nar-rowed on Thursday to its small-est size yet — 57,900 square kilo-meters (22,300 square miles), or about one-quarter the size it was a few days ago. Fourteen planes and 13 ships were looking for floating debris, about 2,300 kilo-meters (1,400 miles) northwest of Perth.

A “large number of objects” were spotted on Wednesday, but the few that had been retrieved by search vessels were not be-lieved to be related to the miss-ing plane, the search coordina-tion centre said.

Crews hunting for debris on the surface have already looked in the area they were crisscross-

ing on Thursday, but were mov-ing in tighter patterns, now that the search zone has been nar-rowed to about a quarter the size it was a few days ago, Houston said.

Houston has expressed opti-mism about the sounds detected earlier in the week, saying on Wednesday that he was hopeful crews would find the aircraft — or what’s left of it — in the “not-too-distant future.”

The locator beacons on the black boxes holding the flight data and cockpit voice record-ers have a battery life of about a month, and Tuesday marked one month since Flight 370 disappeared. The plane veered off-course for an unknown rea-son, so the data on the black boxes are essential to find-ing the plane and solving the mystery. Investigators suspect it went down in the southern Indian Ocean based on a flight path calculated from its con-tacts with a communications satellite and analysis of its speed and when it would have run out of fuel.

New signal detected in hunt for lost Malaysian jet

1000 employees imparted election training at Shopian Election Observers to be available at District Election Office, Circuit House, Sgr for public

SHOPIAN, APRIL 10: As many as 1000 employees were imparted election related train-ing under second phase in the district today. The employees were impressed for rendering their duties in a fair and transparent manner so that Lok Sabha elections are held smoothly.

The employees were further asked to undertake mock poll in presence of representatives of candidates before one hour of the start of elections so that proper functioning of EVMs is assured.

It was informed that the next phase of election training will be held at Fruit Mandi Com-plex and for this purpose separate programme will be notified shortly.

Telephone No. 1800 180 7056 has been kept available at district headquarters for regis-tering complaints or for obtaining any kind of election related information by the interested persons.

15 Nominations found correct for Srinagar Parliamentary Constituency

SRINAGAR, APRIL 10: Scrutiny of nomination papers filed by 16 candidates for 02-Sri-nagar Parliamentary Constituency was conducted here today under the supervision of Re-turning Officer, Srinagar constituency, Mr. F.A. Shah.

As many as 15 nominations filed by the contesting candidates were found correct while the nomination papers submitted by an Independent candidate namely Mr. Nisar Ahmad Ahanger, S/o Gh. Ahmad Ahanger, R/o Vicharnag Nowshera Srinagar were found incomplete and were rejected. As such 15 candidates are now in fray for 02-Srinagar Parliamentary Con-stituency.

Withdrawal of nomination papers has been fixed on April 12, 2014 upto 3 p.m for which polling is scheduled to be held on April 30, 2014.

SRINAGAR, APRIL 10: Mr. Ashok Kumar Singh Cell No. 9419033827 has been ap-pointed as Election Observer for 02-Srinagar Parliamentary Constituency for district Srinagar and Ganderbal, Mr. Harbupinder Singh Nanda Cell No.9419033825 for Bud-gam and Mr. Sanjay Srivastava Cell No.9419033826 has been appointed Police Se-curity Observer by Election Commission of India.The Observers would be available for public grievances and complaints at District Election Office, Srinagar and Circuit House, Srinagar during office hours. Interested persons can contact the Observers on Telephone Nos. 0194-2500284 and 0194-2500247.

Workshop on Genetic diseases held at G B Pant Hospital

SRINAGAR, APRIL 10: The Postgraduate Department of Pediatrics of GB Pant Hos-pital, Srinagar held a workshop on lysosomal disorders in children here today.

Prof. Madhulika Kabra, Professor Department of Pediatrics, who also Heads the Genetic Division, was the expert on the occasion who spoke on the Genetic dis-orders among the new born which she said account for a number of diseases and deaths among children.During the workshop, it was stressed that many such disor-ders can be diagnosed before birth or immediately after birth and many of these can be treated also if diagnosed early while earlier no treatment was available for the same.The formation of parent support groups and to support their treatment also came under review during the workshop.A number of leading Pediatricians across the valley attended the workshop.

After Modi admits he was married, his brother says it was a ‘social formality’

AHMEDABAD: Seeking to contain a controversy over Na-rendra Modi’s marital status, his elder brother Somabhai on Thursday said that the BJP prime ministerial candidate’s marriage should be seen as a “social for-mality” which happened nearly 50 years ago.

Modi acknowledged his mar-riage to Jashodaben for the first time in his affidavit filed along with his nomination papers in Vadodara Lok Sabha constitu-ency on Wednesday, which has invited derisive remarks from the Congress. In the state assem-bly polls, he had left blank the column about spouse.

In a statement sent to the media by the BJP, Somabhai said, “Our parents had not studied much and we were a poor fam-ily. To them Narendra was like any other child. In such con-

text our parents conducted his marriage in a tender age with

Jashodaben, but it turned out to be just a social formality for the sake of it.”

“Modi, after leaving the house has not kept any contact with the family,” Somabhai said,

adding, “Service to the nation was his only religion. So he left

home and this material world. His marriage was just a formal-ity as he left the house soon after his marriage.

“Even Jashodaben has been living at her father’s home and

spending her life working in the education sector,” Somabhai said. “The incident (Modi’s mar-riage) which had occurred 45-50 years ago is to be seen in the background of a poor and tra-ditionally orthodox family,” he said. Somabhai said that Naren-dra Modi’s current status should not be evaluated on the basis of “an incident” that had occurred 45 to 50 years ago.

Praising his younger brother, he said, “Narendrabhai was dif-ferent amongst the six siblings. His interest in the service to the nation was quite apparent to us.

“But nobody could have esti-mated the intensity of his idea of service to the nation. He was also very influenced with the sac-rifice and dedication of Swami Vivekananda and Lord Gautam Buddha.” Somabhai said that his younger brother had left the

house and the family because he believed in the concept of ‘world is a family’.

Modi’s family members did not know much about him as he has never maintained active contact with them after he left the house, he said.

In Wednesday’s affidavit Modi has stated that he has no information about the assets and liabilities of his wife.

His other brother Prahlad said that Modi has never denied that he is a married man and in the earlier election forms he had kept the column of wife blank.

“He has never denied it (mar-riage). In the earlier election (affidavits) the column (about spouse) would have been left blank due to some reasons. Whether he did it intentionally or not that is his personal issue,” Modi’s Prahlad said.

Daily Zabarwan TimesEDITORIAL/ OPINIONEDITORIAL/ OPINIONDaily Zabarwan TimesSrinagar, Friday 11 April 2014

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

Large participation in polls a healthy

trend

The big turnout during first three phases of Lok Sabha Elections is indica-tive of the fact that

people in this country have full faith in democratic setup and they really mean business as far as their participation in the country’s governance is con-cerned. Though a good omen for the parliamentary system but it should be taken as an in-dicator of what the people ex-actly want by participating in such large numbers. The poli-ticians should understand that the people are now quit aware about their rights and they want that their participation in the decision making should be maximum. The good turn-out also indicate that despite the fact the last Lok Sabha was one of the worst performers as compared to previous ones still the people believe that their problems and the issues con-cerning the country besides the overall governance has to be formulated and imple-mented through legislature. It is an eye opener for all those people who are representing the general masses in parlia-ment or in assemblies and are supposed to dedicate their ser-vices to their people in a sincere and honest way. It is said that in a parliamentary system of gov-ernment even minority rules the country but keeping in view the participation of large people in the present elections this the-ory seems to be quit irrelevant. If 80% or more voters turn on the polling booths and cast their precious vote in favour of a candidate, it is clear that he is not representing a minority chunk of people but majority of that particular segment, state or region. The people in this con-nection have several important issues before them and one of the vital issue is the communal forces which are trying to po-larize the society and divide the countrymen on the basis of reli-gion. As India is a secular coun-try and its constitution provides equal rights to every citizen ir-respective of his religion, col-or or creed hence the people in this election are supposed to reject divisive forces and communal ideologies so that the spirit of traditional broth-erhood, communal amity and peaceful co-existence is pro-tected and preserved for our future generations.

Daily Zabarwan TimesEDITORIAL/ OPINIONEDITORIAL/ OPINIONDaily Zabarwan TimesSrinagar, Tuesday 11 March 2014

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

No cake walk for any party in coming polls

Daily Zabarwan TimesEDITORIAL/ OPINIONEDITORIAL/ OPINIONDaily Zabarwan TimesSrinagar, Saturday 15 February 2014

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

High number of heart and cancer

patients Nursing Sick Units Back to Health

Once blue chip Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) like BSNL, Air In-dia, Hindustan Cables Ltd and Fertilis-er Corporation of India today stand testimony as to how not changing with

the changing times and technology could change their fate and turn them into sick units.However, there has been always a silver lining in this regard as the government has been relentlessly mak-ing efforts to revive maximum number of sick public sector units (PSUs) to take the country’s growth en-gine forward. This was possible with the help of re-vival packages provided by the government to these units. With this aim, the Government set up the Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enter-prises (BRPSE) in December 2004 to advise the gov-ernment, inter-alia, on the measures to restructure/revive, both industrial and non-industrial CPSEs. Since then cases of around 67 sick CPSEs have been referred to BRPSE up to October 2012, out of which the Board has made recommendations in respect of 62 cases, while returning five cases to the concerned ministries for further examination.No wonder, there has been significant improvement in the overall condition of these enterprises since 2004. In comparison to 90 sick CPSEs in March 2005, there were 66 sick PSUs in March 2012. As per the BRPSE recommendations, of these cases, 45 were accepted for revival by the Government.Most of the remaining cases are awaiting nod for

revival while in case of 45 cases accepted for reviv-al, 14 have already turned around including Bharat Pumps and Compressors, Cement Corporation of India, HEC, Andrew Yule and MECON and making profits while others have been infused with revival packages.The companies for which revival packages have been approved include Hindustan Shipyard, HMT and Scooters India. As the CPSEs operate under dynamic market conditions, it is quite natural to see ups and downs in their performance. As far as the reasons for losses and sickness in CPSEs are concerned it varies from enterprise-to-en-terprise. While in some cases, the cause is historical. In case of textile companies which were taken over from private sector on socio-economic consider-ations could not be modernised quickly.Likewise other enterprises in the engineering and refractories sector too failed to modernise. Still others like some consumer goods companies and the new ones, turned sick over the years on ac-count of inadequate job orders, high man-power cost, lack of finance, technological obsolescence, high input costs and competition from cheap im-ports.In addition, other problems common to most sick and loss-making PSUs have been poor debt-equity structure, weak marketing strategies and slow de-cision-making process. As one such policy initiative, the Sick In-

dustrial Companies (Special Provision) Act, 1985 (SICA) brought the CPSEs under its purview in 1991 (made effective from 1992). Under the pro-visions of the SICA, CPSEs with at least five years of registration whose accumulated losses are equal to or have exceeded their net worth may be referred to the BIFR. During the last twenty years -- between 1992 and 2011, 63 CPSEs have been referred to BIFR. The government has made several attempts to over-come “sickness” in these CPSEs through various pol-icy initiatives.The strategies for revival/restructuring of sick CPSEs include financial restructuring involving investment by the government in the form of equity participa-tion, loans, waiver of debt etc and business restruc-turing which includes change of management, hiv-ing off viable units from CPSEs for formation of separate company and closure of unviable units, besides formation of joint ventures.The other strategies include manpower rationalisa-tion by shedding excess manpower and introduction of voluntary retirement schemes. The contribution of each and every company is significant as CPSEs are considered as the backbone of the economy and are equal partners in the nation building.As on March 31, 2012, there were 260 CPSEs in the country. These companies contributed Rs 1.6 lakh crore to the central exchequer by way of taxes, duties, interest on loans and dividend, amounting to 21.4 per cent of government’s revenue receipts.

ndia is a vast country with a popula-tion of about 1.21 billion and a labour force of around 475 million. There is an open unemployment of 9.5 mil-lion as per estimates available for the year 2009-10. Employment is the main source of livelihood and self-ful-fillment for most women and men. About 6% of the total work force in India is employed in organised sector while remaining 94% are in the un-organised sector. Scope of additional employment generation in the orga-nized sector for additional wage em-ployment is less. India has a younger population not only in comparison to advanced economies but also in relation to large developing countries. As a result, the labour force in India is expected to in-crease by 32 per cent over the next 20 years, while it will decline by 4.0 per cent in industrialised countries and by nearly 5.0 per cent in China. We are, therefore, endeavoring to reap this ‘de-mographic dividend’ by providing for higher levels of health, education and skill development. This will create an environment where in the economy not only grows rapidly, but also en-hances good quality employment and livelihood opportunities to meet the needs and aspirations of the youth. The Government has been making constant efforts for reduc-ing unemployment through normal growth process and implementing various employment generation programmes, such as, Swarna Jayan-ti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY); Prime Minister’s Employment Gen-eration Programme (PMEGP) and National Rural Livelihood Mission besides entrepreneurial development programmes run by the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises. The Mahatma Gandhi Nation-al Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) also assures every rural household at least 100 days of manual work at minimum wages. Jawaharlal Nehru National Ur-

ban Renewal Mission (JNNURM): The Mission’s aim is to encourage re-forms and fast track planned develop-ment of identified cities. Focus is on efficiency in urban infrastructure and service delivery mechanisms, commu-nity participation etc. Bharat Nirman In Bharat Nirman, critical areas of rural infrastructure – Irrigation, Roads, Water Supply, Housing, Elec-tricity and Telecom connectivity have been covered. This has improved liv-ing standards of the rural population and also created infrastructure which will ultimately enhance the economic activities in the rural areas and gener-ate significant employment opportu-nities for the rural people.Infrastructural Development The investment on infrastructure is proposed to be increased to Rs.45 lakh crore during XII Plan period. About half of this is expected to come from private sector. Skill Development · Skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development of any coun-try. Countries with higher and better levels of skills adjust more effectively to the challenges and opportunities of the world. · Government is serious in cre-ating training infrastructure and pro-viding quality employment to youth. According to a study carried out by Quality Council of India, placement rate has increased to about 80% to 99% because of improved infrastructure in the modernized ITIs. Skill Develop-ment Initiative (SDI) Scheme based on Modular Employable Skills (MES) was started during the Eleventh Five Year Plan for early school leavers and existing workers, especially in the unorganised sector to improve their employability. About 16 lakh persons have been trained under the scheme so far. · Sincere efforts are being made

for skill development of a large num-ber of people under various skill de-velopment programmes. The Prime Minister has set a target of skilling 500 million persons by 2022 and the Ministry of Labour & Employment is required to train 100 million. Gov-ernment is systematically working to achieve the target and the training capacity has been increased from 9 lakh in 2006 - 07 to 26 lakh in 2011-12. All the Government ITIs are being modernized. New courses have been introduced and most of the ITIs are running in two to three shifts. During last five years, the number of Govern-ment and private ITIs has increased from 5114 in 2006-07 to 10,344 which is more than double. Government has also planned to set up 1500 more ITIs in PPP and 5000 Skill Development Centres in PPP to enhance the ca-pacity further. 27 Advanced Training Institutes are also planned in PPP to produce adequate number of trainers in the country. Focus Area in the 12th Five Year Plan In the 12th Five Year Plan the thrust of the Government is in bring-ing about an inclusive growth strategy that will provide job opportunities as well as make the young of the country employable. The main focus areas are:a) Thrust on Manufacturing Sec-tor-to make it the engine of employ-ment growth-that would create 100 million additional jobs by 2025.b) To bring in supportive pol-icies to incentivise labour intensive manufacturing sectors such as textile & garments, leather & footwear, food processing, gems & Jewellery to gener-ate more employment opportunities.c) Expanding employment in services like IT, finance & banking, tourism, trade & transport.d) Prioritizing skill training for the informal sector; creation of appro-priate skill sets among rural migrants and urban poor to make growth inclu-sive.

e) Ensuring the employability of skilled persons by involving Sector Skill Councils in preparation of Skill Modules matching market demand.f) Building on the potential of Modular Employable Skill pro-gramme by ensuring combination of modules to ensure employability.g) Extending Social Security ben-efits to Unorganized sector Workers.h) Enable skill loans for poor stu-dents (Credit Guarantee Fund)i) Streamlining the skill devel-opment programs for disadvantaged sections to ensure much larger fund-ing for skill development.j) Setting up of National Skill Registry to link data bases across Min-istries / States to provide a platform linking people who seek/provide em-ployment. Expenditure on social services which include education, sports, art and cul-ture, medical and public health, family welfare, water supply and sanitation, housing, urban development; welfare of Scheduled Castes (SCs), Sched-uled Tribes (STs) and other Backward Classes (OBCs), labour and labour welfare, social security and welfare, nutrition, relief for natural calamities, etc. by the Government (Centre and State combined) has also shown in-crease in recent years reflecting higher priority to social services. National-e-Governance National-e-Governance Plan has identified Upgradation and modern-ization Employment Exchanges as one of the Mission Mode Projects (MMP). The MMP aims to progressively sup-port all Employment Exchanges in the country to make effective use of IT in various activities of employment services. A national web portal will be developed to make all employment related services available on a single window and will work like a virtual job market. This will help Employ-ment Exchanges to provide efficient and quality services at wider scale and speed.

Creating Employment Opportunities for Youth I

An alarming signal for society

The number of heart and cancer patients in the Kashmir valley is in-creasing at an alarming rate day by day. So far, these fatal diseases used to be treated as fallout of urbanization, food habits and sedentary lifestyle. But unfortunately, this is spreading in rural areas too. During the last few years, the number of patients suffer-ing from these life taking diseases visiting Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Science has increased many fold. A major population of the valley has to spend a large chunk of their in-come on medication for grave diseas-es for years together. The more miser-able condition is those of middle class families who have to meet the ex-penditures by their agriculture land, property selling jewelry or by taking loan. As per reports the main cause attributed for the spread of these fa-tal diseases is stress along with other factors .the cases of breast cancer too are on higher side as compared to the other parts of the country in the re-cent past. The stress protein rich food salty tea etc. could be prominent caus-es for this increase but lack of aware-ness amongst the women especially in the villages is taking its toll. Early detection means early cure. But due to many social hesitant the women do not speak out very easily and take it lightly which aggravates the situa-tion. As per expert reports, the breast cancer in India is going to double in next four years. Now this type of can-cer has overtaken cervical cancer. The cost of curing this deadly disease may vary from 10-15 thousand to 3-4 lacs per month depending on the stage and gravity of the disease. Almost all the regions of the world are affected by these diseases.The time has come when the society as well as the health caring agencies has to rise to the occasion for fighting against these grave diseases by awak-ening the masses to change their life style and avoid self medication .The awareness camps should be organ-ised in the remotest area where med-ical facilities are almost nil. The more stunning part of the serious situation is there are thousands of medical shops which sell medicines without the prescription of the doctors, rath-er suggest medicines and the gullible patients consume medicines till it turns otherwise and patients have to be rushed to the hospitals where it is too late. As it is the consumption of medicines in the valley is much high-er as compared to other parts of the country in a way making it safe haven for the sub standard medicines. The health care agencies should put ban on the pharmaceutical companies manufacturing such kind of med-icines. A strict drug policy should be initiated and licenses for medical shops should be given after proper scrutiny and under the guidelines prescribed by rules and regulations set by ministry of health. Defaulters should be served with severe penalty so that people are able to live a healthy life as is the case in other developed and under developing countries.

The situation as re-gards pre-poll alli-ance between con-gress and national conference is now

very clear and the two parties have decided to go together if they want to register their win in some parliamentary con-stituencies in the state. The chief minister Omer Abdul-lah had very categorically said that there is no alternative but to go for alliance with the con-gress party. He said that his party will never go for any poll pact with BJP lead NDA. He said that it is necessary to join hands with congress because both the parties are already in coalition both at Centre and in the state. Now it is evident that in Jammu they will have to face formidable BJP which is strengthened because of the candidature of Narinder Modi as PM and in Kashmir the PDP has strong packets of support and may cause big upsetsif congress and national con-ference do not go together. Still PDP has the chance of going neck to neck with the congress NC alliance. Meanwhile the an-nouncement of Congress par-ty that it will start its election campaign with the union health minister G N. Azad alongwith the PCCI president Saif ud Din Soz from 13th of March. It indi-cates that on one side congress is trying to bridge the differ-ences between its leaders and on the other side it is not taking the electoral battle in J&K very lightly. The state has this time about 70 lakh voters which will use their franchise to elect six members from the state. The valley itself has 36 lakh voters and these voters in the entire state will decide the fate of the candidates in five phases. Elab-orate security arrangements are needed as the separatists have already issued poll boy-cott calls and there may be some kind of unpleasant things here or there which can create fear in the minds of the voters. How-ever, keeping in view the pan-chayat elections the voters may again turn in good numbers to elect their representatives.This time the elections are quite different than the previ-ous elections as the voters are more aware about their rights and politically the situation is somehow confused through-out the country. It remains to be seen who will win the battle royal but it is clear that this time most of the candidates will have tough time to convince the voters in their favour.