Excelsiordaily

REGD.NO.JK-71/18-20RNI No. 28547/65Vol No. 54 No. 3 JAMMU, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2018 14 Pages `̀ 5.00

NEW DELHI, Jan 2:

Questioning theGovernment's Pakistan policy,Congress today accused it offailing to protect militaryinstallations from cross-bor-der terror strikes and won-dered why Prime MinisterNarendra Modi was silenteven after five soldiers werekilled in Sunday's Pulwamaattack.

Raising the issue, Congressleader Jyotiraditya Scindia alsoslammed the Government overNational Security Adviser AjitDoval's meeting his Pakistanicounterpart in Bangkok lastweek, notwithstanding Pakistaniauthorities ill-treating the familyof Indian death row prisonerKulbhushan Jadhav inIslamabad.

"What is the Government'sPakistan policy? The NSA metthe Pakistani NSA in Bangkokafter the family of KulbhushanJadhav was ill treated byPakistan. On the other hand,cross- border attacks are goingon," Scindia said during ZeroHour.

A Pakistani national securitydivision official was quoted byDawn newspaper as saying thata meeting between PakistanNSA (Retd) Lt Gen Nasser KhanJanjua and India's Ajit Dovaltook place on December 27 inThailand.

On the Pulwama attack,Scindia accused the Governmentof failing to put in place securitymeasures to protect sensitivedefence installations even

Sanjeev PargalJAMMU, Jan 2: Opposition

National Conference andCongress, for the second con-secutive year, today disruptedGovernor N N Vohra's

Address to Joint Session ofLegislature for about 12 min-utes in protest against whatthey called "human rights vio-lations'', civilian killings, seek-ing more powers for the

Panchayats and “al-roundfailure” of PDP-BJP coalitionGovernment.

This time, however, theGovernor kept waiting to starthis Address till all members ofNational Conference and

Congress staged walk-out. But,Vohra had to read his Addressamid continued protests byIndependent legislator EngineerAbdul Rashid, who didn't walk-out along with other Oppositionmembers. Last year, the

Governor had left the CentralHall of Legislature within 15minutes of massive protests bythe Opposition without readinghis Address.

As the Governor was aboutto begin his Address in theCentral Hall of Legislature at 11am, members of oppositionCongress and NC stood up andraised slogans against the StateGovernment carrying placards,listing "failures" of theGovernment on security andPanchayati Raj fronts.

‘Murderers of Democracy,Answer the People', ‘PanchayatKi Taqat Ko Wapis Karo, WapisKaro’ and ‘Stop CivilianKillings’ read some of the plac-ards including a couple of themwritten on black clothes, carriedby NC and Congress members.

Independent legislator fromLangate Engineer Abdul Rashidcontinued shouting separatelycalling for 'raishumari' (self-determination) in the State andan end to "oppressive policies''

on Kashmiris. He said the StateGovernment was speaking "alllies'' through the GovernorAddress.

Senior NationalConference MLA and former

Finance Minister MohammadShafi Uri started reading outfrom a written memorandumlisting charges against the

Oppn disrupts Guv Address, movesAdj Motions in Assembly for today

NEW DELHI, Jan 2:

Army chief Gen BipinRawat today said an "aggres-sive strategy" has to be main-tained in dealing with cease-fire violations by Pakistanalong the Line of Control inJammu and Kashmir andindicated that the force hasbeen responding effectively tosuch incidents.

He said this responding to aquestion on the Army's strategyto deal with repeated ceasefireviolations by Pakistan along theLoC in Jammu and Kashmir.

"They are doing it (violatingceasefire), but we are respond-ing to it, but an aggressive strat-egy has to be maintained ('Wokar rahe hain, hum bhi kar rahehain, lekin aggressive strategy torakhni padegi na)," he told

reporters, on the sidelines on anevent at the South Block.

According to official figure,

a total of 820 incidents of cease-fire violation by Pakistani troops

Rawat for aggressive strategy onceasefire violations in J&K

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 2: GovernorN N Vohra said today that allchallenges can be met through

dialogue, which is the bestmeans of resolving all disagree-ments, and called upon allthose, who had earlier refusedto be part of peace process, toaccept the offer of talks made

by Centre Government'sSpecial Representative onJammu and Kashmir(Dineshwar Sharma). He

expressed confidence that allsegments (of society) wouldcome forward for dialogue and

all issues would find resolution.At the same time, the

Governor said, the Governmentwas determined to ensure thatthe arc of violence doesn't

spread from fringes to the main-stream, which will require"tough and targeted actions'' bysecurity forces.

"The Government firmlybelieved that "elected and elec-torate'' have equal stakes in peaceprocess and, together, they willhave to rise against those whochoose violence to disrupt theestablished order. Such chal-lenges will be met throughdialogue, which is the best meansof resolving all disagreements.

Governor calls upon all to acceptdialogue offer of Spl Rep

Militants attack PSExcelsior CorrespondentSRINAGAR, Jan 2:

Militants tonight attackedPolice Station Pulwama inSouth Kashmir but policerepulsed the attack.

A group of militants fired atthe Police Station Pulwamatonight with automatic riflesand the police guards firedback. The firing continued forabout 10 minutes.

Police, CRPF and Armyimmediately launched an opera-tion in the area and searches arebeing conducted against themilitants, who fired at thePolice Station. However,sources said that the militantsmanaged to escape under thecover of darkness.

No amnesty to militants: Govt

NEW DELHI, Jan 2:The Government has no

plans to give general amnesty tothe militants in Jammu andKashmir and Maoists who giveup violence and arms struggle,the Lok Sabha was informedtoday.

"There is no proposal forgeneral amnesty to the mili-tants," Minister of State forHome Kiren Rijiju said in replyto a written question.

The reply came in response

LS grieved overmartyrdom

NEW DELHI, Jan 2:The Lok Sabha today

expressed profound sorrow onthe "cowardly" terror attack inPulwama district of Jammu andKashmir in which five CRPFpersonnel were martyred onNew Year's Eve.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajanread out a brief statement say-ing the act has "brought painand suffering to the families ofdeceased".

The House of the Peoplestood in silence for a while as amark of respect to the memory

3 ADGPs adjustedExcelsior CorrespondentJAMMU, Jan 2: The

Government today orderedposting of three AdditionalDGPs.

Abdul Ghani Mir, upon hispromotion as AdditionalDirector General of Police hasbeen posted as AdditionalDirector General of Police,CID, against an availablevacancy.

Mohd. Sulaiman Salaria,upon his promotion asAdditional Director General ofPolice, will continue to dis-charge his duties as Director,SKPA, Udhampur, has beendeclared equivalent in statusand responsibility to the post of

109 J&K cadetsto join R-Dayparade

NEW DELHI, Jan 2: Stating that disturbance has-

n't deter students from joiningNational Cadet Corps (NCC) inJammu Kashmir, DirectorGeneral Lt Gen BS Sahrawatsaid a total of 109 cadets willparticipate in the Republic Dayparade on January 26, which isthree more than last year.

On being asked about hasterror related activities affectedthe enrollment, Lt GenSahrawat said, "The number of

INSIDE WEATHERTawi Lake controversy ...Page 6* Aparna Ashram at MantalaiBoth Houses pay tributes to Saraf, Fotedar, otherex-legislators ...Page 3C S reviews implementation offree electricity scheme‘Saubhagya’ with DCs ....Page 3Govt to introduce more specializedservices in SSH, revamp itsfunctioning: Bali ....Page 5NPP protests Fidayeen attacks, deteriorating situation in J&K ...Page 5J&K wins 8 medals in 23rd NationalSport Climbing C’ship ...Page 12

JAMMU : Mainly dry.

TEMPERATUREMax: 19.8 Degree C Min: 6.0 Degree C

RELATIVE HUMIDITYRH-I (Morning): 88.0 per centRH-II (Evening): 57.0 per centSunset on Wednesday: 05.39 p.m.Sunrise on Thursday: 07.34 a.m.

SRINAGAR:Mainly dry.

TEMPERATUREMax: 10.2 Degree C Min: -4.3 Degree C

RELATIVE HUMIDITYRH-I (Morning): 92.0 per centRH-II (Evening): 51.0 per cent

LEH: TEMPERATURE

Max: 0.6 Degree C Min: -14.7 Degree C

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A tourist enjoying an evening at Bagh-e-Bahu in Jammu. -Excelsior/Rakesh

Opposition MLAs protesting during Governor's Address inCentral Hall of Legislature on Tuesday. Another pic on page 11.

-Excelsior/Rakesh

Governor N N Vohra addressing Joint Session of Legislaturein Jammu on Tuesday. -Excelsior/Rakesh

Mohinder VermaJAMMU, Jan 2: Several

committees of the bureaucratsconstituted by the PDP-BJPCoalition Government duringthe past one year on manyvital aspects have failed tocomplete the assigned taskthereby establishing thataccountability is a least priori-ty for the present dispensation.The most shocking aspect isthat some of these panels havefailed to meet even once eversince their constitution.

After regular intervals theGeneral AdministrationDepartment comes up with theGovernment orders regardingframing of committees ofbureaucrats to handle those

issues, which are of muchimportance for the welfare of thepeople and the State.

However, no steps are initiat-ed to ensure that these commit-tees handle the assigned taskwith utmost seriousness. Whatto talk of the committees whosetask is not made time-boundeven those panels which areasked to complete the requiredexercise within the stipulatedtime-frame are not showing seri-ousness. All this clearly estab-lishes that the present dispensa-tion has failed to make thebureaucrats accountable.

The Government vide OrderNo.40-GAD dated January 9,2017 had constituted a State-level Distribution ReformsCommittee for effective imple-mentation of Re-structuredAccelerated Power DevelopmentReforms Programme (R-APDRP), Integrated PowerDevelopment Scheme (IPDS)and Prime Minister’sDevelopment Package-2015.

The mandate of the com-mittee was to monitor progressand resolve issues relating toimplementation of sanctionedprojects under these three

s c h e m e s / p r o g r a m m e s .However, the committee hasfailed to achieve the objectivetill date and the same can begauged from the fact thatdespite repeated extensionsgranted by the Union Ministryof Power works under R-APDRP could not be complet-ed till date. Moreover, imple-mentation of IPDS and PMDPprojects has yet not begun.

Similarly, vide GovernmentOrder No.294-GAD datedMarch 6, 2017 provincial levelcommittees were constituted forimplementation of SpecialPackage for development ofsports infrastructure in the State.The committees were required

Numerous committees of bureaucrats onvital issues fail to complete assigned task

Fayaz BukhariSRINAGAR, Jan 2: The

production of Samba Unit ofJammu and Kashmir CementsLimited that was commis-sioned two years ago has fallento 5 percent and thePerformance Guarantee testwhich was to be conducted insix months of commissioningwas conducted recently.

The 300 tons per day (TDP)capacity Cement Grinding cumPacking Unit at Samba wascommissioned in September2015 when it was supposed tocomplete by January 2013.Sources said that the projectconstructed by M/S AshokaGears was delayed by more thantwo years despite conducive

environment and availability offunds leading to loss of aroundRs 160 crore to the Corporation.

After the commissioning, theplant is almost defunct as it hasrun only on 14 percent of ratedcapacity in 2015-16, 19 percent(19000 MTS) in 2016-2017 and5 percent (3000 MTS)tillNovember this year leading rev-enue loss of Rs 150 crores so farthese years.

As per the terms of the con-tract the plant was to be hand-ed over to the JKCL after 6months of successful commis-sioning and running of theunit at the rated capacity andPerformance Guarantee test(PG test) was to be conductedwithin six months of the com-

missioning.Sources said that after over 2

years, the management of the JKCements has now conducted thePG test to benefit the contractoragainst the provisions of thecontract as his payment ofaround Rs 2 crore was kept withheld for lack of the PG test.

Despite clear terms and con-ditions of the contract and agree-ment with M/S Ashoka Gears,the turn key project contractorsof the Unit, there is unnecessarydispute of Rs 6 crores createdby the management in favour ofthe contractor for extra works asclaimed by him.

Sources said that in thisregard, AdministrativeDepartment framed a committee

headed by Special SecretaryIndustries, Director FinanceI&C along with officers ofJKCL to see the ground realityand appraise the AdministrativeDepartment regarding theprogress of the work required tobe taken at the site.

The report submitted by theCommittee was not conclusivehence the AdministrativeDepartment visited the Sambasite and took the series of meet-ings also at Secretariat levelwith the representative of M/SAshoka Gears and officers ofJKCL.

Finally, AdministrativeDepartment framed anothercommittee (vide Govt. order No.

JK Cements Samba project production 5% of installed capacity

Gopal SharmaJAMMU, Jan 2: An

impressive religious rally wastaken out in the winter capitalcity here by the members ofSikh community and others tomark the Gurpurab celebra-tions today.

The grand ‘Nagar Kirtan'was organized jointly by theState Gurdwara ParbandhakBoard, District GurdwaraParbandhak Committee Jammuand many other Sikh organisa-tions to celebrate the forthcom-ing Parkash Purab of Sri GuruGobind Singh Ji Maharaj, the10th Guru of Sikhism who laiddown his own life and sacrificedhis father, mother and sons forthe sake of humanity and protec-tion of right cause of communi-

ty. The ‘Nagar Kirtan’ started

from Gurdwara Sri Guru NanakDev Ji, Chand Nagar (LowerGumat), Jammu, and aftermarching through SwamiVivekanand Chowk, GumatCrossing, Dogra Chowk,Bikram Chowk, Asia Crossing,Green Belt Park Gandhi Nagar,Govt Hospital Gandhi NagarRoad, Gole Market, ShivaChowk, Khalsa Chowk andfinally culminated at GurdwaraSri Singh Sabha, Nanak Nagar,Jammu. Guru Granth Sahib wasmounted on a highly decoratedchariot where ‘holy man'(priest) was sitting and chantingGurvani Path. Besides women,students of various schools inuniform also participated in this

Impressive ‘Nagar Kirtan’ taken outto mark Gurpurab celebrations

‘Tough actions by security

forces needed’

(Contd on page 11 Col 5)

(Contd on page 11 Col 5)

CM supports Vohra’sdialogue offer

Chief Minister MehboobaMufti today said she fullyagrees with Governor N NVohra that challenges in theState will be met through dia-logue, which is the bestmeans of resolving all dis-agreements.

Soon after the Governor’sAddress to Joint Session ofLegislature in which heappealed to all to accept offer(Contd on page 11 Col 7) *Watch video on

www.excelsiornews.com

High pitched protests, noisy scenes in Central Hall

(Contd on page 11 Col 1)

SidelightsUnless his tenure is furtherextended, this was GovernorNN Vohra's last Address toJoint Session of Legislatureas his extended tenure willcome to an end in June thisyear. He had been appointedas J&K Governor on June 11,2008 and his tenure was fur-ther extended by five years inJune 2013.Former Chief Minister andNational Conference work-ing president Omar Abdullahdidn't attend Joint Session ofLegislature. Last year also,

*Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com

Impressive ‘Nagar Kirtan’ being taken out in Jammu to markGurpurab celebrations in Jammu on Tuesday.

- Excelsior/ Rakesh

Chief of Army Staff, Gen Bipin Rawat interacting with thechildren on a National Integration Tour from Assam andArunachal Pradesh, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

(Contd on page 4 Col 3)

(Contd on page 11 Col 7)

(Contd on page 11 Col 7)

(Contd on page 11 Col 8)

(Contd on page 11 Col 1)

(Contd on page 11 Col 7)

Cong slams Govton Pulwama attack

(Contd on page 11 Col 7)

Accountability remains least priority for PDP-BJP Govt

Some panels fail to meet even once

(Contd on page 11 Col 3)

Performance Guarantee Test conducted after 2 yrs

(Contd on page 11 Col 7)