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Excelsiordaily

REGD. NO. JK-71/18-20RNI No. 28547/65Vol No. 55 No. 11 JAMMU, FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 2019 18 Pages `̀ 5.00

Shun gun, stop taking support fromPak for talks: Rawat to separatists

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 10: Armychief Gen Bipin Rawat saidtoday that talks with the sepa-ratists were possible only ifthey shun the gun and stoptaking support from the west-

ern neighbour (Pakistan) andasserted that situation inJammu and Kashmir needs tobe brought under better con-trol for which the Army wasadopting hard power and softpower approach.

“Our position is very clearthat shun the gun and stop takingsupport from the western neigh-bour. Talks can happen only if

then shun the violence. Talkscan happen only if they laydown weapons. During Ramzan,we had given opportunity to theseparatists to lay down arms.But if someone picks up the gun,we will take action,’’ Gen Rawatsaid referring to a question ontalks with separatist HurriyatConference in Kashmir on theanalogy of Taliban during hisannual press briefing in the

Union capital.He said that while the securi-

ty forces favoured peaceful dia-logue among stakeholders inJammu and Kashmir, there willbe zero tolerance on violenceeven as he maintained that therewere around 300 terroristsacross the LoC waiting to infil-trate into India but declared thatthe Army was determined to foilall infiltration attempts (by themilitants).

He said that the securityforces are using various strate-gies to bring situation in Jammuand Kashmir under control and

SIC initiates penalty proceedingsagainst ACD, 3 BDOs for notdischarging statutory duties

Mohinder VermaJAMMU, Jan 10: State

Information Commission(SIC) has initiated penaltyproceedings against AssistantCommissioner Development(ACD) and three BlockDevelopment Officers (BDOs)under Jammu and KashmirRight to Information Act fortheir failure to dischargestatutory duties and denyinginformation about develop-mental activities carried outunder various schemes. Thishas established that the fieldfunctionaries of the RuralDevelopment Department arestill creating hurdles in theimplementation of transparen-cy law.

As per the details of the casebefore the State InformationCommission, an applicant hadsought complete list of workscarried out under ConstituencyDevelopment Fund (CDF),Member of Parliament LocalArea Development Scheme(MPLADS), Backward Region

Grant Fund (BRGF) andContingent Register of MGN-REGA and SBM from 2010 tilldate of filing of the applicationin Gundna Block of Doda dis-trict.

However, neither BDOGundna in his capacity asPublic Information Officer(PIO) furnished the informa-tion within the period speci-fied under the RTI Act norAssistant CommissionerDevelopment Doda (FirstAppellate Authority) disposedof the first appeal within thestatutory period.

During the proceedingsbefore the State InformationCommission under secondappeal, no explanation was filedby the BDO Gundna for thedelay in furnishing the informa-tion that too incomplete to theappellant.

While issuing directions forfurnishing complete informationto the appellant, the StateInformation CommissionerMohammad Ashraf Mir has

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 10:Governor Satya Pal Maliksaid today that only youthhave solution to the issuesfaced by Jammu and Kashmirand announced that Jammuand Kashmir Police will getsome good news on Monday.

Addressing concluding func-tion of 8th Police MartyrsMemorial T-20 cricket champi-onship in Kathua, Malik said it

was only youth which can solvethe issues and problems ofJammu and Kashmir.

"The youth of the State hadnothing to do after 6 pm. I real-ized this. Now, I have asked theadministration to construct playgrounds in the districts and otherplaces. Very soon, we hope tohost Indian Premier League(IPL) matches in Jammu andSrinagar,'' he said, pinning lot ofhopes on the youth.

Lauding Jammu andKashmir Police for successfulconduct of Panchayat andMunicipal elections in Jammuand Kashmir, the Governorsaid police will get a good newson the upcoming Monday.

Though Malik didn't dropany hint, speculations were rifethat Jammu and Kashmir Policecould get much awaited hard-ship allowance on Mondaywhen the State AdministrativeCouncil (SAC) is scheduled tomeet under the chairmanship of

the Governor.Jammu and Kashmir Police

had, for the past quite sometime, been demanding hardshipallowance in view of its workingunder extreme tough circum-stances in the militancy-infestedState. Sources said the proposalfor hardship allowance was vir-tually through and the SACcould give its nod to the propos-al on Monday.

"Earlier, there used to be70 to 80 killings during theelections, In just one by-poll ofSrinagar Lok Sabha con-stituency, nine people werekilled,'' Malik recalled andlauded the role of Jammu andKashmir Police in completepeaceful conduct of Municipaland Panchayat polls in theState from October toDecember last year.

Malik also lauded the sacri-fices made by martyrs forintegrity and sovereignty of thenation. He said the role of J&K

Nishikant KhajuriaJAMMU, Jan 10: Big busi-

ness houses and prominentpoliticians, including formerMinisters and Legislators areamong the big defaulters ofelectricity arrears, who havebeen served disconnectionnotice by the PowerDevelopment Department.

These defaulters, both fromJammu and Kashmir provinces,having past electricity arrears onaccount of charges of Rs 10 lakhand above as on November 30,

2018, have been asked to liqui-date balance electricity chargeswithin two week’s time failingwhich their installations shall bedisconnected without furthernotice.

These more than 800 default-ers who owe the Electricityarrears worth hundreds of croresof rupees while a number ofthem, mostly business houses,have individual arrears of aboveRs one crore. Kashmir has morenumber of defaulters thanJammu.

Congress Headquarters at

Shahidi Chowk Jammu, whichhas to pay Rs 39,59,969 elec-tricity charges to PDD, and anumber of GovernmentDepartment offices as well assome Cooperative Societiesare also among the defaulters.

The disconnection notice hasbeen issued under section 50 ofJ&K Electricity Act 2010, readwith regulation 8.3 of J&KSERC Supply Code Regulation2011.

“The Department reserves

Avtar BhatJAMMU, Jan 10:

Maintaining that the ordersfor granting reservation to thedenizens of InternationalBorder (IB) along with Line ofControl (LoC) will be issuedby State Government soonafter the meeting in StateAdministrative Council

(SAC), Union Minister inPMO with independent chargeof North Eastern States, DrJitendra Singh today accusedCongress and NationalConference (NC), who ruledthe State for decades together,of discriminating between peo-ple of LoC and IB.

Talking to reporters here,after inaugurating the branch ofState Bank of India at Gandoh,Doda and distribution ofMudhra loans among the scores

of beneficiaries, Dr JitendraSingh demanded a probe as towhy this discrimination wasmade by the previousGovernments among the peoplewithin a region.

He said if BJP ledGovernment could take a deci-sion in this regard why thosewho ruled the State as well as atCentre for last 65 years failed todo the same during theirGovernment.

"Those parties responsiblefor such a gross discriminationwith the people within oneregion owed an explanation tothe masses and people of theState will not forget them forthis grave sin and a cheatingcommitted with them'', headded.

He said depriving the peopleof IB from four percent reserva-tion benefits as given to peopleof LoC was politically motivat-ed and BJP after coming topower tried to correct the anom-

alies made by the previous dis-pensations in the State.

He said what the ModiGovernment did in over last fouryears they could not do that in65 years of power. "Instead they

Cong, NC discriminated betweenLoC, IB people: Dr Jitendra

Only youth have solutionto J&K’s issues: Guv

Sanjeev PargalJAMMU, Jan 10: In a

major relief to small tradersand businessmen, the StateGovernment today opted forRs 40 lakh limit for registra-tion of traders under Goodsand Services Tax (GST), thus,doubling the limit from Rs 20lakh, raised the limit of com-position from Rs 1 crore to Rs1.5 crore and includedServices in the GSTComposition Scheme, whowould have to pay only 6 per-cent GST as against present 18percent.

The Jammu and KashmirGovernment representatives in

the GST Council meeting heldin New Delhi today opted for Rs40 lakh limit for registration oftraders under the GST, givingmajor relief to small and mar-ginal businessmen as presentsuch limit was Rs 20 lakh, offi-cial sources told the Excelsior.

They said the States weregiven an option to raise theexemption limit to Rs 40 lakh orkeep it to Rs 20 lakh per annumfor keeping the traders exempt-ing from purview of registrationunder the GST.

"Taking into account theinterests of small and marginalbusinessman, the StateGovernment representatives ondirections of Governor Satya PalMalik, opted for Rs 40 lakhlimit,'' sources said, adding thatthe decision will benefit largenumber of small businesses.

"Aggregate turnover of Rs40 lakh would now be exempt-ed from the GST. Currently,businesses with a turnover of

up to Rs 20 lakh were exempt-ed from the GST registra-tion,'' sources said.

They pointed out that theCentral Government will bebearing an annual revenue losson account of doubling exemp-tion limit to Rs 40 lakh, consid-ering that all States implementit, at Rs 5200 crore.

The State Government alsodecided to raise the limit ofcomposition to Rs 1.5 crorefrom present Rs 1 crore, whichwill again benefit the smalltraders and manufacturers, whowill now pay quarterly tax andhave to file Annual Return only,thereby reducing their compli-ance burden.

Commissioner State Taxes,PK Bhat, who was part of J&KGovernment team in the GSTCouncil meeting, told theExcelsior that all these decisionswill be applicable from April 1,2019 i.e. the start of next finan-

Regn, composition limits underGST raised to Rs 40 lakh, 1.5 cr

Cabinet nod to 2AIIMS in J&K, triple

talaq OrdinanceNEW DELHI, Jan 10:

The Union Cabinet todayapproved a proposal for estab-lishing three new AIIMS -- twoin Jammu and Kashmir and onein Gujarat.

The AIIMS at Vijaynagar inSamba, Jammu, will be set up ata cost of Rs 1,661 crore, the oneat Awantipora in Pulwama,

Alok Vermashunted out

NEW DELHI, Jan 10: In an unprecedented move,

CBI Director Alok Verma wasremoved from the positiontoday on the charges of corrup-tion and dereliction of dutiesafter a marathon meeting of thehigh-powered selection com-

Major, jawaninjured in Pak firing

Excelsior CorrespondentJAMMU, Jan 10: An Army

Major and a BSF HeadConstable were injured inceasefire violations by Pakistanarmy along the Line of Control(LoC) in Manjakote sector ofRajouri district while the enemytroops also resorted to shellingand firing in forward villages ofPoonch sector today.

There was no let up inceasefire violations by thePakistani troops along LoC intwin border districts of Rajouri

NIA raids inRajouri, S Kashmir

Excelsior CorrespondentJAMMU, Jan 10: The

National Investigating Agency(NIA) team has conducted raidsin Rajouri and South Kashmirin connection with Islamic Stateof Iraq and Syria (ISIS) modulebusted recently by the agency inUttar Pradesh.

The module was plotting tocarry out blasts in the country.

Sources said involvement oftwo persons of Rajouri and SouthKashmir has surfaced in themodule and the NIA teams haveconducted searches for them.

However, identity of thepersons, who were wanted tothe NIA in the State, couldn't beascertained immediately.

Further details were awaited.

Suhail BhatPAHALGAM: Encompassed

by thickly lush pine forests, stun-ning springs and the snow-capped Himalayan mountains,the Pahalgam constituency isconsidered as the tourist capitalof the Valley which attracts thou-sands of visitors every year.While all the attention goes to thebeauty of the area, the residentsfelt ignored on the developmentfront as they continue to battlewith civic woes- poor healthcare,irregular water supply, shabbyroads and inadequate educationalfacilities.

The constituency is spreadover a hundred villages with avoter base of little over 80,000.The constituency is a part ofSouth Kashmir's Anantnag dis-trict and has a literacy rate ofover 60 percent. It has been rep-resented by people's DemocraticParty twice in the past.However, in 2014 Assemblyelections Jammu and Kashmir'sNational Conference won the

seat after itscandida te

Altaf Ahmad Wani defeatedPDP's Rafi Ahmad Mir by 1000votes. The locals, however,blamed that the change ofGovernment has not changedtheir fortunes.

Although the notified area ofPahalgam witnessed somedevelopment, but majority of thepockets lacked the amenities.The main roads leading to theconstituency hasn't beenmacadamized for last onedecade and many interior locali-ties also lacked proper connec-tivity. The residents are nothappy with the quality of drink-ing water that they receive fromthe local water bodies. Thelocals also complained that thehealth care facilities on thefringes are far from satisfactory.

Residents held theGovernment's failure to com-plete many key projects respon-sible for the under-developmentof the area. Development proj-ects like construction of SubDistrict Hospital at Pahalgam,roads, Tourist Reception Centreand Water Supply Schemes thatwere started for the upliftmentof the constituency remainedincomplete. The resentmentagainst the government is prettyobvious across the whole con-stituency. "None of the MLAshas ever cared to solve our prob-lems. Nothing has ever beendone for the uplift of our local-ities. The whole constituencyhas a dearth of drinking water.Healthcare is dismal and roadconnectivity deplorable," AliMohammad, a resident from

Pahalgam people feel ignoredon development front

Ex-MLAs’ Report Card Constituency: Pahalgam

Altaf Ahmad Wani (NC)http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/ex-mlas-report-card/

Electricity arrears worth hundreds of crores of rupees to be realized

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Major relief to small traders in J&K

Services included withjust 6 pc tax

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*Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com

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* Pic on page 6.Video on

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*Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com

‘JKP will get good news on Monday’

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Prominent politicians, top business housesamong big defaulters of PDD served ultimatum

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