Excelsiordaily

REGD. NO. JK-71/18-20RNI No. 28547/65Vol No. 54 No. 131 JAMMU, SUNDAY, MAY 13, 2018 16+4 (Magazine) = 20 Pages `̀ 5.00

Avtar BhatJAMMU, May 12:

Outrightly rejecting the uni-lateral ceasefire proposal ofPeople's Democratic Party(PDP), Union Minister inPMO with independent chargeof North Eastern States, DrJitendra Singh today said thatthose advocating for ceasefireduring the fasting month ofRamzan must first ask terror-ists who have picked up gunsto practice the teachings ofholy Quran in real sense whichtotally forbids violence andharming of fellow humanbeings during the sacredmonth.

Talking to reporters here, onthe sidelines of an official func-tion to review the CRF andPMGSY road projects for theJammu region, the UnionMinister asked "whynot to ask terroristswho have picked upguns to shun violenceduring the holy monthof Ramzan? The cease-fire can't be unilateralbut it is bilateralprocess and those whoare advocating it mustfirst ask the terrorists to declareceasefire in the fasting month ofRamzan to follow the teachings

of Quran in real sense instead ofpoliticking over Ramzan toplease their constituency''.

He said the ceasefire shouldbe seen as a point of strength

and not as weakness."It should be seen thatthe other side isdemanding mercy onthe name of ceasefire'',he added.

Dr Jitendra Singhsaid that Centre hasnot received any pro-posal regarding the

unilateral ceasefire so far andthe Union Home Minister,Rajnath Singh has also made

it clear that no formal propos-al has been received in thisregard till date''.

"Moreover it is the preroga-tive of Central Government andnot the State whether to acceptthe proposal or not'', he added.

The ceasefire is the person-nel opinion of Chief Minister,Mehbooba Mufti and Centre isfully capable to take a decisionon it, he said.

On the demand from certainquarters including ChiefMinister, Mehbooba Mufti andNC patriarch, Dr FarooqAbdullah regarding holding of

Ask terrorists to shun violence during Ramzan: Dr Jitendra

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, May 12: Policeand troops of 48 RashtriyaRifles today busted a moduleof Hizbul Mujahideen (HM)militant outfit involved inhawala money collection byarresting four persons includ-ing one former militant andthree Over Ground Workers(OGWs) and seized Rs onelakh worth hawala moneyfrom their possession.

Based on a specific informa-tion, a major operation waslaunched jointly by Rajouripolice and Army and a trap waslaid for the accused in Rajouridistrict.

At Kallar naka on Rajouri-Jammu road, the naka partiesarrested four persons transactinghard -money (cash) when theywere travelling in car No. 1092JK22. They were subjected tosustained questioning.

The accused were identified

as ex-militant of Harkat UlMujahideen namely AjazAhmed son of Ghulam Ali, resi-

dent of Batapora, Shopian whohad surrendered in 2005 andalso remained detained underPublic Safety Act (PSA) during2005-07.

Other three are OGWs ofHM militant outfit namely

Mohd Arif son of Mohd Younis,resident of Kotli Peer Badesar inRajouri , Sajjad Ahmed MallaS/o Shakeel Ahmed Malla, resi-dent of Maldera Shopian, whoremained detained under PSA in2016 and Khursheed AhmedThokar son of Ghulam RasoolThokar, resident of Hefkuri,Shopian.

All the four including one exmilitant and three OGWs wereput to questioning by police

team headed by SSP RajouriYougal Manhas who divulgedthat Mohd Arif son of MohdYousaf resident of Kotli PeerBadesar in Rajouri used to col-lect hawala money in Rajouri formilitant outfit after which sameused to be sent to Kashmir val-ley for the militants of the sameoutfit.

During initial investiga-tion, it has also come to fore

Ex-militant, 3 OGWs held in Rajouri with hawala money

Fayaz BukhariSRINAGAR, May 12: A

Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF) personnel was killedin an encounter this morningwhile three militants managedto escape under the cover ofdarkness at Bargam village ofSouth Kashmir's Pulwamadistrict.

A joint operation waslaunched by 55 Rashtriya Rifles(RR), Special Operations Group(SOG) of Jammu and KashmirPolice and CRPF at villageChinar Bagh, Mohalla Takya,Bargam in district Pulwama ataround 12:30 am.

Militants fired upon thetroops leading to a brief gun bat-tle in which a paramilitaryCRPF personal Mandeep Kumar

of 182-Battalion was criticallyinjured. He was evacuated toArmy's 92-Base Hospital butsuccumbed on way to the hospi-tal.

Two houses were also dam-aged in the gunfight and ownerof one of the houses BashirAhmad suffered injuries in his

shoulder and as per officials theinjury is of minor nature andwas hospitalized.

Militants managed to escapewhile taking advantage of dark-ness amid stone pelting in thearea. The militants fled ataround 3:00 am taking cover of

CRPF jawan killed inPulwama, militants flee

Sanjeev PargalJAMMU, May 12: Chief

Minister Mehbooba Muftitoday called upon the securityagencies to ensure that thepeople don't suffer duringholy month of Ramadhan,tourist season and annual pil-grimage of Shri Amarnath Jiwhile top brass of securityagencies called for counselingof youth by civil and policeadministration to ensure thatthey don't turn up at theencounter sites, which oftenleads to civilian casualties.

Official sources told theExcelsior that though there wasno direct mention of ceasefire inthe Unified Headquarters meet-ing, Mehbooba called upon allsecurity agencies, operating inJammu and Kashmir, to see to itthat the people are not subjectedto any kind of harassment duringthe month of Ramadhan and thattourists and yatris are given safeand secure environment all

across the State.The Chief Minister called for

calibrated response to varioussituations during the comingmonth of Ramadhan, tourist sea-son and AmarnathYatra,'' sources said,adding she stressedupon security agen-cies to providesecure environmentand hassle freemovement duringthe holy month.

Only few daysback, Mehbooba hadcalled upon theCentre to consideryear 2000 like cease-fire in the Kashmir Valley thismonth. However, the ceasefiredemand was opposed by theBJP. The Centre has not offeredany significant reaction so far tothe ceasefire demand exceptingUnion Home Minister RajnathSingh, who stated that he wouldspeak to the Chief Minister onthe issue.

Deputy Chief MinisterKavinder Gupta, top brass ofArmy, CRPF, BSF, Jammu and

Kashmir Police, civil administra-tion and Intelligence agenciesamong other attended theUnified Headquarters meetingand gave their assessment of the

situation, both on the frontierswith Pakistan and hinterland inthe Kashmir valley.

According to sources, topbrass of security agenciesreportedly voiced concernover increased presence ofcivilians at the site of encoun-ters for facilitating escape ofthe militants by subjectingsecurity personnel to stone

Ensure civilians aren’t harassed,hold counseling of youth: CM

Mohinder VermaJAMMU, May 12: In a sig-

nificant development, a teamof scientists of Union Ministryof New and Renewable Energyis visiting Ladakh from May23 to closely analyze all theaspects relating to establish-ment of much-delayed twomega solar power projects,which will help in tapping7500 Mega Watts potential inLeh and Kargil districts.

Official sources toldEXCELSIOR that keeping inview huge solar energy potentialin Ladakh region UnionMinistry of New and RenewableEnergy several years back haddecided to establish 7500 MegaWatt capacity solar power proj-ects in Leh and Kargil districts.

Accordingly, aMemorandum of Understandingwas signed between the UnionMinistry of New and RenewableEnergy and Science andTechnology Ministry of Jammuand Kashmir on March 3, 2014for establishment of 2500 Mega

Watt solar power project inKargil and 5000 Mega Watt inLeh.

Thereafter, the State Cabinetaccorded formal sanction forsetting up of two ultra megasolar power projects and even ahigh-level coordination commit-tee was constituted to give prac-tical shape to the projects.

Though land was identifiedat different places in both thedistricts for establishment ofthese projects yet evacuationof power from the Ladakhregion to other parts of theState and country remained amajor issue for the UnionMinistry and due to this noprogress could be made on set-ting up of two mega solarpower projects, sources said.

"As 220 KV Srinagar-Lehtransmission line is going to becompleted by the end of currentyear and a new line betweenLeh-Manali under Green EnergyCorridor has been planned, theUnion Ministry of New andRenewable Energy has decidedto closely analyze all the aspects

relating to establishment ofthese projects", they furthersaid.

In this regard, a team ofscientists of the Ministry head-ed by Nigam Dilip, who looksafter Solar Mission, SolarRenewable PurchaseObligation and RenewableEnergy aspects in theMinistry, is visiting Ladakhfrom May 23. During aboutone week-long visit, the scien-tists will have overall assess-ment vis-à-vis grid position,line position and land avail-ability in both the districtsbesides holding detailed delib-erations with Leh and KargilRenewable EnergyDevelopment Agencies,sources informed.

"No doubt 220 KV Srinagar-Leh transmission line will havelimited capacity to evacuatesolar power from Ladakh regionto other parts of the State andcountry but by the time thesemega projects are establishedand start generating electricity

Team of MNRE scientists arriving on May 23 for overall assessment

Pak behindMumbai attacks,

admits SharifLAHORE, May 12:

For the first time,Pakistan's ousted PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif haspublicly acknowledged thatmilitant organisations areactive in the country andquestioned the policy to allowthe "non-state actors" tocross the border and "kill"people in Mumbai, a mediareport said.

Sharif, who has been dis-qualified to hold public officefor life by the Supreme Court inthe Panama Papers case, saidPakistan has isolated itself.

"We have isolated ourselves.Despite giving sacrifices, ournarrative is not being accepted.Afghanistan's narrative is beingaccepted, but ours is not. Wemust look into it,” Sharif said.

Without naming Mumbaiattack mastermind Hafiz Saeedand Maulana Masood Azhar'smilitant organisations --Jamaat-ud-Dawah and Jaish-e-Mohammad, -- operating in thecountry with impunity, Sharifsaid: “Militant organisations areactive in Pakistan."

"Call them non-stateactors, should we allow themto cross the border and killover 150 people in Mumbai?

MeT forecaststhunderstormExcelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, May 12: A 17-year-old youth was killed whenlightening struck near his houseat Shangus area of SouthKashmir's Anantnag districttoday while windstorm coupledwith rains disrupted normal lifein North Kashmir andMeteorological Department hasforecast thunderstorm in theState for next few days.

Muzafar Khan, 17, sonMohammad Wali Khan ofBrariangan, Shangus was out-side his house when he wasstruck by lightening this after-noon. Khan felt unconsciousand was rushed to nearby hospi-tal where doctors declared himbrought dead.

And in North Kashmir,windstorm coupled with rainsthis afternoon toppled trees anddamaged houses in NorthKashmir's Baramulla district,leaving a woman injured.

A house belonging toFarooq Ahmad Hajam wasdamaged by gusty winds inSyed Kareem Baramulla. Hiswife was injured and was shift-ed to district hospital Baramullafor treatment.

Three more houses weredamaged at Syed Karim andTrikanjan Boniyar areas ofBaramulla district.

The windstorm uprooted

Exit polls predicttough fight

NEW DELHI, May 12: Indicating a tight race

between the BJP and theCongress, most exit polls forthe Karnataka Assembly elec-tions today forecast a hungassembly with the JD(S) likelyto play the kingmaker, but weredivided on which of the twonational parties will emerge asthe largest in the House.

The exit polls run byRepublic TV-Jan Ki Baat andABP-C Voter predicted that theBJP will emerge as the largestparty by getting 95-114 and 97-109 seats respectively.

They put the Congress' tallyat 73-82 and 87-99 respectivelywith the former Prime MinisterH D Deve Gowda-led JD (S)

ASP, 16 DySPsshifted

Excelsior CorrespondentJAMMU, May 12: Director

General of Police (DGP) Dr SPVaid has ordered transfer andposting of an Additional SP and16 Deputy Superintendents ofPolice (DySPs) with immediateeffect.

According to the order,Utkarsh, Additional SPHeadquarters Ganderbal hasbeen transferred and posted asAdditional SP PCR Srinagar,while Vivek Shekhar Sharma,DySP JKAP-14th Battalion hasbeen transferred and posted asDySP JKAP-8th Battalion andAshiq Hussain Tak, DySPHeadquarters Shopian has beentransferred and posted as DySPHeadquarters Ganderbal.

4 held for assaultingKashmiri woman

NEW DELHI, May 12:The Delhi Police today

arrested four men for allegedlyassaulting a Kashmiri woman insoutheast Delhi’s SunlightColony, a senior police officersaid.

Earlier in the day, DelhiPolice Commissioner AmulyaPatnaik informed Union HomeSecretary Rajiv Gauba that theincident was a local issue, trig-gered by a dispute over feedingstray dogs and had nothing todo with the woman’s origin.

On Friday night, the victims,including four women, wereallegedly surrounded androughed up by a mob of around30-40 people. A police case wasregistered following a complaint

Jamat, TeH leaders bookedunder PSA

Excelsior CorrespondentSRINAGAR, May 12:

Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (TeH) andJama'at-e-Islami (JeI) leaderswere today booked under PublicSafety Act (PSA) for hatespeeches.

TeH senior leader and dis-trict president SrinagarMohammad Rafiq Shah, 40,alias Owasi son of MohammadYasin Shah of Shuhama Nagbaland Jama'at-e-Islami districtpresident Bashir Ahmad Lone,59, son of Late Abdul Samad ofSyed Pora Harwan, were arrest-ed by police in separate raids.

Shah was picked up fromhis residence on Tuesday, Lonewas arrested on Wednesday..

INSIDE WEATHERGulmarg Master Plan assified...Page 8* More powers to JK SCBC

in the offing Governor reviews preparedness for opening of Tarakote Marg ...Page 3Citizens group supportsMehbooba Mufti’s demandfor ceasefire ....Page 3Committee constituted to revolve SSA teachers’salary issue: Zulfkar ....Page 5Naeem asks engineers to explore innovations whiledelivering solutions ....Page 7Narine keeps KKR inhunt after defeating KXIPby 31 runs ...Page 14

JAMMU: Possibility of light rain/thundershowers

TEMPERATUREMax: 38.5 Degree C Min: 26.3 Degree C

RELATIVE HUMIDITYRH-I (Morning): 40.0 per centRH-II (Evening): 24.0 per centSunset on Sunday: 07.20 p.m.Sunrise on Monday: 05.36 a.m.

SRINAGAR:Possibility of light rain/thundershowers

TEMPERATUREMax: 25.1 Degree C Min: 13.5 Degree C

RELATIVE HUMIDITYRH-I (Morning): 60.0 per centRH-II (Evening): 84.0 per cent

LEH: TEMPERATURE

Max: 27.0 Degree C Min: 10.0 Degree C

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UHQ reviews roadmap for peaceful summer

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Setting up of mega solar power projects in Ladakh

Merely 15 MW potential tapped in nearly one decade

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‘Centre’s prerogative to hold talks with Pak’

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*Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com

*Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com

*Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com

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Troops at the site of gun battle at Bargam, Pulwama onSaturday. —Excelsior/Younis Khaliq

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