Kochi, July 05: Forty-six nurs-es, who were held captive by ISIS militants in Iraq, on Sat-urday returned home by a spe-cial Air India flight to a happy reunion with their families in Kochi, bringing to an end their about month-long ordeal.The special aircraft, which also

had on board about 137 others, touched down the tarmac at the Kochi International Airport at 11.57 AM, a senior airport offi-cial said. Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy whose coordinated effort with the Union Govern-ment that ensured liberty to

nurses from his state, besides another who hails from Tuti-corin in Tamil Nadu received them at the airport. Family members of nurses, on whose face a sigh of relief was writ large had assembled in large numbers to see their beloved ones return and were joined by political leaders from BJP and Congress at the airport. The ordeal of the nurses, who were working at a hospital in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, began when ISIS (Is-lamic State for Iraq and Syria) militants launched an offen-sive in that region on 9th June. Even as Indian authorities con-tinued to maintain constant touch with their counterparts at Iraq for safe release of nurs-es, they were moved out on Thursday against their will and detained in the

See Nurses on pg 11

Srinagar, July 05: A major infiltra-tion attempt was foiled by army along Line of Control (LoC) in Bal-akote area of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday late evening, a senior army official said.The official told GNS that around 10-12 intruders tried to sneak into this side at forward area of Lanjoite in Balakote area of the district at around 11:00 pm last evening. The Pakistani army’s 651 Mujahid regi-ment who were guarding the fence other side at Chile Post opened the fire upon several Indian posts in-cluding 485 A and 637 in Balakote.The army’s 5 Grenadier who were deployed in these posts and are guarding the fence retaliated the Pak army’s fire which continued intermittently till 2.00 a.m, he said,

adding that the main aim of Pak army’s fire was to push the infiltra-tors into this side.However, the attempt was foiled by the alert troops deployed along the Line of Control (LoC), the official said; adding that searches in the area has been launched. Despite flag meeting between the two countries and repeated assur-ances the border skirmishes contin-ue unabated making the life of the people living along side line of Con-trol miserable and agonising. The repeated occurrences of ceasefire violations also adversely affect the relations of the two countries and hamper any attempts to forge ahead coidial relations. It may be recalled here that the two countries had re-cently stressed the need to carve out

a mechanisim to coup up with any differences on borders and control line.After the meeting of the two prime ministers on the sidelines of oath taking ceremony of prime minster Narendra Modi, the political pan-dits had expected a lot of change in the rigid attitude of the policy mak-ers. (GNS)

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SUNDAY 06 July | 2014 | 07 Ramadhan, 1435 AH | PAGES 12| VOL NO: 4 | ISSUE NO: 186| 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

WEATHER

TEMPERATUREMAXIMUM MINIMUMSUNSET ON(MONDAY)SUNRISE ON (TUESDAY) 05:24AM

07:47PM

17.3 C 31.6 C

FORECAST FOR NEXT 24 HRS:

FORECAST OF SRINAGAR:

Light rain/thunderstorm could occur at isolated places over the state. Mainly dry in Ladakh region.

Partly cloudy sky. Maximum & Minimum tempera-tures will be round 30°C & 15°C respectively.

On Edit Page

See More On Pg 07

Unemployment problem - a challenge for any government

The state of Jammu & Kashmir called paradise on earth has excelled in many fields for dubious reasons other than the positive ones which could have taken this state forward rapidly on the path of peace, prog-ress and prosperity. Declared as one of the most corrupt states of the county, now it has achieved one more dubious distinction of being one of the leading states in the field of unemployment. The state has according to estimates over 8 lakh educated unemployed youth which means that every

Congress never cooperated with us: NC

Indo-Pak armies exchange fire, infiltration attempt foiled

AEE injured in a fall in Anantnag

Army flags off educational tour

Srinagar, July 5 : An Asst. Ex. Engineer got critically injured after he fell from an under con-struction Degree College building at Uttersoo in Anantnag District last evening. An Assistant Ex. Engineer Zahoor Ahmad Khan resident of Naroo Kokernag, Manager JKPCC project was crit-ically injured when he fell from the 2nd floor of the central block of Degree College Uttersoo, Shan-gus while inspecting the con-struction work. He was shifted to Sub District hospital, Shangus where from he has been referred to SKIMS Srinagar for further treatment. (KNS)

CMYK

Srinagar, July 05: The Former United Jihad Council Chief and Mahaz-e-Azadi patron, Azam Inquillabi on Saturday said Pa-kistan’s Kashmir police vis-à-vis is ‘apologetic’ and warned it will have ‘serious consequences’.In a statement issued to GNS, he said: “Their (Pakistan’s) stand is only strengthening status-quo here. Politics of onions and potatoes on Kashmir front after eight wars shows lack of determi-nation.”Inqilabi said Pakistan needs a rethink on its Kashmir policy. “We feel the leadership there isn’t serious about ideology of Pakistan.”“They (Pakistani leadership) have forgotten Dhaka declaration, neutralized the revo-lutionary role of Azad Kashmir as base camp of our freedom struggle and remain passive spectator of Indian stratocracy in Kashmir,” he said.The former UJC chief said:

See Policy on pg 11

Ex-UJC chief terms Pakistan’s Kashmir policy ‘apologetic’

Iraq conflict turns grave

Srinagar, July 5 : One foreign militant of JeM outfit was killed while one soldier sustained in-juries in an encounter at Aar-ipal-Pastuna Tral with police and Army this morning. On spe-cific information a joint opera-tion was launched by Awantipo-ra police, Budgam police, 42 RR, 35 RR of Army and 185 Bn CRPF at village Aaripal of Tral.The militants trapped in a house fired upon the joint team injur-ing one army man. The fire was retaliated. In the retaliatory fire one militant was injured who fled to the nearby Pastuna for-est area. Later on his body was found in the jungle. The foreign militant was later identified as Adil Pathan alias Madni of JeM outfit. An AK rifle, 3 Magazines were also recovered. Madni op-erated in coordination with HM cadres in the Tral area, said a police handout issued to KNS.

Meanwhile, according to a po-lice statement issued to KNS, after the death of a foreign mili-tant in the encounter some mis-creants pelted stones on police. “The ‘miscreants’ set on fire two police vehicles. These ve-hicles suffered damage. Police exercised maximum restraint. There are no reports of injury to anyone,” added the police statement.After the encounter was over, the locals observed complete shutdown and resort-ed to stone pelting till the body of slain militant was handover to them. He was laid to rest in Pastuna village. The IGP Kash-mir A G Mir told KNS: “One militant was killed while one army soldier sustained injuries. However, police exercised max-imum restraint even if there was heavy stone pelting on po-lice and some five to six police personnel were hurt.” (KNS)

>>>>> PG 06 >>>>> PG 11 >>>>> PG 11

Shakib asked to attend camps Taliban sets dozens of fuel trucks on fire in Kabul

Pro-Russian Fighters Routed From Strong-hold, Ukraine Says

Prices soaring with every passing day

Nurses return home, joy erupts among family members

Srinagar, July 5 : The National Con-ference on Saturday accused state Congress for not cooperating with it during the last five and half years of governance in Jammu and Kashmir.Talking to KNS, Dr Mustafa Kamal, additional general secretary Nation-al Conference blamed state Congress leadership for playing a ‘double role’ as far as the supporting its coalition partner was concerned. “The State Congress always mislead the Congress High Command in Delhi about Nation-al Conference. They never supported NC during the last over five and half years of government as was expected from it.”When asked how was Congress state leadership able to create a ‘wedge’ be-tween NC and Congress high command when Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has a personal rapport with the Gandhi family particularly with Rahul Gand-hi, Kamal said: “They (state Congress leadership) had tried its best to create

differences between NC and Congress by misleading them (Congress high command) but it was the personal rela-tionship that state congress leadership failed and I hope that Omar maintains that relationship with the Congress high command in future as well.”The NC additional general secretary said that there was a clandestine un-derstanding between some local con-gress leaders with its arch rival Peo-ples Democratic Party (PDP) and both had tried to dislodge Omar Abdullah government a few months after Nar-endra Modi won the elections. Kamal said that state Congress wanted to top-ple the government through proxies so that it does not take any blame for it. “I hope and expect that Congress high command is now cautious and conscious as well and it will never rely much on its local leadership in terms of giving a heed to its word,” Kamal hoped.Asked about pre poll

See NC on pg 11

Authorities in slumber

Srinagar, July 5: Days after Health and Medical Educa-tion Department revealed that incumbent incharge Executive Officer Munici-pality Committee Bandip-ora and Hajin has secured the appointment in the government department after producing fake diplo-ma certificates, Central

Vigilance Department has formally registered a case against the said officer and the department has started a thorough probe into the matter. Reliable sources told CNS that a group of unem-ployed youth registered a complaint claiming that then Sanitary Inspector

and presently incharge Ex-ecutive Officer Municipal-ity Committee Bandipora and Hajin Shakeel Ahmed Shah resident of Gundpora Bandipora has secured the job by producing fake tes-timonials. Sources added that accordingly the mat-ter was investigated

See Dock on pg 11

Srinagar, July 5: The 409th birth anniversary Guru Hargobind Ji was celebrated Saturday with re-ligious fervour and enthusiasm while a big congregational event was held at Chatti Padshahi Gurudwara at Rainawari in Sri-nagar to celebrate the occasion. Guru Hargobind Singh was born in1595. He succeeded Guru Arjun as the sixth Guru in 1606, at the age of eleven years.

See Sikhs on pg 11

Srinagar, July 5 : With no con-trol over the growing prices of the essentials in the Srinagar markets, state authorities seem to be in deep slumber over the crises with the commoners suffering due to this apathy at large. According to the reports received by KNS, there are reportedly no official checks going on in the Srinagar mark-ers- making commoners to suf-fer at large in the holy month of Ramadan.Even the local vegetables are being sold on very higher pric-es when compared to the last month, the dates, which are being used to break the fast, also costs Rs 30 to Rs 100 more against last y ear. Reports also informed that the prices of bread and bakery items are un-controlled while meat, chicken and eggs are being sold on high-er prices against the approved

government rates.According to the reports, Rad-ish which was being sold at Rs 20 per kg, now costs Rs 40, cauliflower costs Rs 30 to Rs 40 against Rs 20 last week, peas Rs 50 against Rs 20 per kg, cucum-ber Rs 40 against Rs 20, onion Rs 30, tomatoes Rs 20, Garlic Rs 80 per kg, Palak Rs 30 against Rs 20, beans Rs 50 per kg, carrot Rs 40, Hak (a Kashmir green leaves vegetable) Rs 40 to Rs 50 and bottle gourd Rs 40. People alleged that during this time of the season, local vegetables re-mained available on very low prices. But, they said, this time the prices remained out of the reach of lower and middle class families.Surprisingly, a egg still costs Rs 5 while chicken was being sold at Rs 1 20 per kg against the gov-ernment price of

See Prices on pg 11

Former Chief Justice of J&K passed awaySrinagar, July 5: Eminent Kashmiri Jurist, Legal Au-thority and Ex-Chief Justice of J&K, Justice Mufti Baha-uddin Farooqi passed away in the early hours of morning on Saturday at his residence at Jawahar Nagar in Srinagar. Justice Farooqi served as the 12th Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir from March 7, 1983 to August 23, 1983. He was 87.Justice Mufti Bahauddin Farooqi is survived by his daughter, three sons Ad-vocate Mufti Showkat, Dr. Mufti Mahmood, Dr. Saadat Mufti and son-in-law Syed Tariq Ahmed Naqshbandi. Hundreds of people including prominent social and reli-gious personalities partic-ipated in Justice Farooqi’s Nimaz-e-Jinaza which was held at Khanqah-e-Moula Shrine. Justice Farooqi has to his credit extensive work in documenting and

See passe away on pg 11

JeM militant killed in Tral encounter

Municipality official in dock:

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‘Taj raked up a trivial issue on Uri project’

Srinagar, July 05: An education-al and motivational tour was flagged off by army on Friday in north Kashmir’s Baramulla dis-trict.An army spokesman said the con-tingent comprised of 24 students and 2 teachers from Guru Nanak Dev Model High School, Baramul-la was flagged off for a 14 day tour by army’s 46 Rashtriya Rifles (RR).“The students will be taken to Delhi and Agra where they will visit places of interest like his-torical monuments, industries and educational institutions. The parents and teachers ex-pressed their gratitude to the Army for its initiative and re-quested for many such visits to be conducted in the future,” the spokesman said, adding: “the trip is aimed to provide expo-sure to the youth to the rest of the country, so that they are motivated, prosper and become honourable citizen of the coun-try”. (GNS)

2 police vehicles torched by mob6 cops injured in stone pelting

‘Accused of securing job through fake certificates’

Sikhs celebrate birth anniversary of Guru Hargobind Singh

Pic. Faizan Altaf

11 Srinagar, Sunday 06 July 2014Zabarwan Times

FROM THE FRONT PAGE

Owner , Printer & Publisher: Suhail Malik Editor -in-Chief: Shahana Malik Legal Advisor: Syed Reyaz Hussain 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

Policy

Dock

Passed away

Policy

NC

Sikhs

PDP to promote eco friendly tourism in J&K: Mehbooba

“Concretization of Kashmir needs to be reversed, constructions regulated”

Srinagar July 5: Identifying tourism as a major thrust area for her party Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Pres-ident, Mehbooba Mufti, Saturday said with proper planning it could be a real engine for economic growth of the state and provide enormous employment op-portunities.According to a statement issued to KNS, while addressing a number of meetings in Bijbehara Assembly seg-ment of South Kashmir Lok Sabha constituency, which she won in last elections, she said optimum and sus-tainable utilization of our resources alone can offer economic self reliance and prosperity to the state. “Unfortu-nately implementation of the vision rolled out in 2002 by the PDP on tour-ism, like many other sectors, was not carried forward leading to swelling of the numbers of unemployed and frus-trated youth” Mehbooba added.Mehbooba said Jammu and Kashmir is a unique tourism product which could be leveraged to the benefit of ev-ery single individual living here but for achieving that it was necessary to drastically modernize the infrastruc-ture. She said unless we upgrade the infrastructure tourism will remain confined mainly to low spending groups which would be a gross underutilization of our strength and potential.Regretting that the present government had been unable even to put speed in projects launched a decade back Me-hbooba said it was a sad commentary on our being a tourist state that the highway from Srinagar and Jammu re-mains jammed most of the time. The Sri-nagar-Qazigund sector that feeds most of the premier tourist destinations re-mains a challenge for commuters throw-ing tourists as well as the local popula-tion into great discomfort Mehbooba said adding that is no way of promoting

tourism.Mehbooba said new areas identified by the previous government and brought under Tourism Development Authori-ties have almost been abandoned with a free for all unregulated construction, turning some of them into virtual urban centres or even worse, slums. She said the concretization of Kashmir needs to be reversed, constructions regulated and green areas saved from urbaniza-tion.Mehbooba said a proper land utilization plan will have to be devised and strictly implemented to prevent degeneration of our natural assets and balance the needs for development with requirements of ecology and environment. She said it was almost criminal to let a beautiful place like Kashmir convert into a concrete jungle only because no government has ever gone beyond a superficial approach to major concerns about sustainability of private and government development process. “Corruption at every level is be-ing patronized at the cost of the future of this state and its people, especially the younger generation, which is destroy-ing the scenic splendour of almost every place. That will have to be arrested,” said Mehbooba.Mehbooba said the PDP has plans to pro-mote eco friendly tourism projects and encourage high end tourism that would bring in much higher returns for same product that at present is virtually sold for peanuts. “Side by side with this hu-man resource development in catering and hospitality sector will be launched in a mission mode so that our young-sters are fully equipped not only to help upgrade the sector within the state but open up opportunities for them outside the state”, she said and added the in-herent personality advantages of our youth like their appealing appearance, language proficiency.

Slathia launchesvarious development works in Vijaypur SAMBA, JULY 05-MLA Vijaypur Surjeet Singh Slathia today inaugurated construction of 03 Addi-tional Class Rooms in Government Middle School, Ramgarh in Vijaypur Constituency which have been completed at an estimated cost of Rs.10 lakh under the scheme Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. He also inaugurated construction of lanes and drains at village Kesso Manhasan which has been completed at an cost of Rs.10 lakh executed by Rural Development Department. Addressing a large gathering Slathia said that the coalition government headed by Omar Abdullah is fully aware of people’s problems and is making all out efforts to fulfill their demands on priority. He re-iterated the commitment of the coalition government to ensure holistic development of all the regions of the state with special focus on remote, far flung and rural areas. He also said that the state is on the march of peace, progress and development and this tempo will be carried forward with a mission. Responding to the demands of the people like construction of pending lanes and drains, black topping of the road, replacement of old electric poles and wires, etc. Slathia assured them that their all the demands shall be redressed at the earliest. He asked the people to strengthen the hands of Omar Abdullah for future development in the state especially in the rural areas.

MLA Ramban inaugurates school buildings at Sharore, Phalti and Batyari RAMBAN, JULY 05-Member Legislature As-sembly, Ramban, AshoK Kumar inaugurated three Upper Primary School Buildings constructed at an estimated cost of over Rs.27.5 lakh under Additional Class Room (ACR) schemes in zone and district Ram-ban. MLA inaugurated Additional Accommodation for UPS Sharore (Kanga), UPS Phalti which has been completed with expenditure of Rs. 7.79 lakh each and UPS Batyari having an estimated cost amounting to Rs. 11.96 Lakh including Toilets and Kitchen shed. MLA announced 50 desks for these three schools and stressed upon the teaching community to improve the standard of education in government schools besides asked them to play their role with zeal and dedication.

“Now Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is visiting one locali-ty after another to reform society, this is a result of your (Pakistan’s) ineffective K-policy that now even our Milli-identity is under threat. So are our water resources.”He said if Pakistan doesn’t ‘act to end disillusionment in Kashmir then it will have serious repercussions’.“Don’t treat Kashmiris as an expendable pawn, your politics of onions and potatoes (the LoC barter) cannot lessen the hardships of Kashmiris,” he added. (GNS)

militant-held city of Mosul. Efforts by External Affairs Ministry led to setting free the nurses held in captivity and they were transported in buses to Erbil International airport on Friday. The Special Flight that left Erbil in the early hours on Saturday arrived at Mumbai for a brief stopover for refuelling and catering supplies. Besides the nurses, the flight also carried 137 other Indian nationals, including 70 from Kirkuk in the northern part of Iraq, 23 crew members and three gov-ernment officials, including a joint-secretary level IFS officer and an IAS woman officer from Kerala. Chandy thanked the Centre, External Affairs Minis-ter Sushma Swaraj, Indian Embassy in Iraq and MEA for ensuring the return of nurses from strife-hit Iraq. “The Centre has acted in complete understanding of the deep anxieties of Kerala. The Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Iraq have made sin-cere efforts in securing release of the nurses,” Chandy told reporters in Kochi. Kerala Government has made arrangements to enable nurses to reach their respective destinations across the state.

alliance with Congress for the upcoming assembly elections, Kamal hoped that there will be no pre poll alliance with the Congress this time. “I hope that the president of NC who has to take a final call on this issue (pre poll alliance ) will uphold the democratic right of his party cadres who are not in favour of any pre poll alliance with Congress for the upcoming as-sembly elections,” he added. “We had no coalition but it was an adjustment between NC and Congress in the interest of civil rule and democratic process. It was a sacrifice from NC for the people of the state to make adjustment with Congress and save the people form governor’s rule,” Kamal said.Asked when will NC issue its list of candidates for the upcoming assembly elections, Kamal said that Dr Farooq Abdullah is in Delhi and after his arrival in Srinagar the list will be out without any delay. “I think by the early next week the list of our candidates should be out. Our party president is in Delhi and he is expected to arrive in Srinagar tomorrow or day af-ter and as soon as he arrives here, I think the list will be given a final shape and it will be out by or before the next week.”Kamal said that there was delay in announcement of candidates because of Prime Minister’s visit to Kash-mir and the Jammu party unit had not submitted its panel of candidates to the party leadership in Sri-nagar. “Now the party’s Jammu provincial unit has furnished its panel of candidates and there will be no delay in announcement of the final list of candidates,” he added.Reacting sharply to Taj Mohiuddin’s statement on Uri power project which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narindera Modi, Kamal said that by issuing such a statement Taj has undermined himself. “Mr Taj says that Uri power project which was inaugu-rated by the Prime Minister has no license to operate is correct. But it was a trivial issue and there was no need to issue such a statement. I think when the state government at its highest level (Chief Minister) was present on the occasion of inauguration of that proj-ect, Taj should have reserved such comments,” Kamal said. He added: “It was a technical issue and there was no need to rake up such a controversy. May be the gov-ernment will use license part as a handle in getting 30 per cent royalty from this Uri power project imple-mented.” (KNS)

Thousands of devotees from Sikh community thronged the Gurduwara to attend Shabadh Kirtan and Langer. Apart from others, Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah and National Conference senior leader Nasir Aslam Wani personally attended the Chatti Padshahi gathering while Governor NN Vohra greeted the people on the occasion. The Srinagar Municipal Corporation had kept special arrangements in place outside Gurudawaras for the cel-ebrations while the SMC Commissioner, Dr GN Qasba early in the morning took stock of the arrangements. SMC official told CNS that the sanitation work was com-pleted by the wee hours before devotees thronged the shrines. The Traffic police had also kept arrangements in place while the DIG and SP Traffic personally mon-itored the traffic regulation to the Gurudwaras. (CNS)

by Deputy Secretary to Government, Health and Med-ical Education Department which vide order number SMF/ SGR/ Verf/277-78 in its report revealed that the Sanitary Inspector Diploma certificate of Shakeel Shah seems to be fake and a thorough investigation from top investigating agency is required to clear all the doubts.The revelations made by the top official of Health and Education Department about the fake testimonials forced Central Vigilance Department and Jammu and Kashmir Police to verify the authenticity of the certifi-cates.A top police official who is investigating the mat-ter told CNS that they are waiting for Vigilance report. “If proven guilty, accused will face the music and we will book him under law,” he said. (CNS)

reporting Human Rights violations in J&K and de-manding legal prosecution against the culprits.Various social, religious and political organizations have condoled Justice Farooqi’s demise and paid tributes to the Late Jurist for exemplary services ren-dered to the State’s Judicial Services. Several mainstream and separatist leaders express condolence on his sad demise. They include Dr. Fa-rooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Sayed Ali Geelani and Molvi Umar Farooq (CNS)

Office of the Executive Engineer Electric

Division-IIND SrinagarAbbreviated Tender Notice No.18-ED-II of 2014 Dated :03.07.2014

For and on behalf of Governor of J&K State, sealed tenders affixed with Rs. 5/- rev-enue stamps are invited from registered electrical contractors for following works which should reach the office of the undersigned on or before 25.07.2014lUup to 2 p.m. The tender documents can be had from the office of the undersigned from )10.07.2014 to 22.07.2014 against a cash payment (non-refundable) of Rs. 500/-. The tenders shall be opened on the same day or subsequent day convenient to the com-mittee in presence of tenderers who wish to be present at the time of opening.

S.No. Name of work A p p r o x . cost

E a r n e s t money

Period of completion

1. Fabrication / providing and fix-ing of steel cable racks for L.T Cables at Civil secretariat, Sri-nagar.

14.475 lacs Rs. 29,000/- 15 days

NO. ED-II/1698-1703DATED:03.07/2014.DIPK:3209 Sd/-Executive Engineer ED-II-Sgr

SRINAGAR, JULY 5: Mrs. Usha Vohra, First Lady, attended an inter-action programme with spouses of members of the India CEO Forum of the International Mar-ket Assessment (IMA) at Gulmarg in Kashmir. During the session, there was free-flowing conver-sation on various issues relating to women in In-dian society, girl child protection and conflict in Kashmir. Mrs. Vohra ad-dressed the ladies Forum about the obtaining so-cial and cultural milieu and how it impacts the

changing role of women in the Indian society. She highlighted the chal-lenges which the present day women are facing to carve a niche for them-selves in every sphere of life. Mrs. Vohra par-ticularly highlighted the difficulties and challeng-es faced by women in the Valley consequent to the advent of terror-ism and violence and its effect on their psyche. She also spoke about the educational prospects of girls and the role re-quired to be played by the government and the

civil society in ensuring growingly better edu-cational opportunities, reducing school drop-out ratio of girls, ban on sex-determination, curb-ing female foeticide and safeguarding the rights of the girl child. Mrs. Vohra urged the members of the fo-rum to contribute to-wards enhancement of gender equality and women empowerment for securing a bright and better future of our girls and women, as they are the pillars on which the foundations of any civi-lized nation are based.

Ensure Gender Equality and Women Empowerment For Better Future: First Lady

Taliban sets dozens of fuel trucks on fire in Kabul

Pro-Russian Fighters Routed From Stronghold, Ukraine Says

KABUL - Taliban militants set fire to dozens of fuel trucks, which they claimed were supplying foreign troops in Afghanistan, in an attack on the out-skirts of Kabul, officials said.The fire triggered by a bomb set ablaze tankers waiting to enter the city in a parking lot west of the Afghan cap-ital overnight. "At around 10:30 pm last night, dozens of fuel tankers be-longing to private companies caught fire," Hashmat Stanikzai, Kabul police spokesman told AFP. "No one can come close to them since the fire is still rag-ing at the scene," Stanikzai said. No ca-sualties were reported as fire fighters tried to control the fire in the morning, he added."I was sleeping in my truck, when I heard three big bangs. After that I saw the fuel trucks exploding one after the other. I fled the area im-mediately," Janat Gul, a truck driv-

er told AFP. Gul Aghan Hashimi the Crime Investigation Director of Kabul police said, "it was a magnetic bomb that caused the fuel tankers to catch on fire," adding that the trucks belonged to private companies. However, it was unclear whether the trucks were sup-plying fuel to NATO.A NATO-led In-ternational Security Assistance Forces spokesman told AFP they were "look-ing into the incident to determine if any of the fuel destroyed in Chawk-e Arghandi last night was intended for use by ISAF forces." Taliban militants, who have been regularly attacking western supply convoys in Afghani-stan, claimed the responsibility."Our brave Mujahideen fighters in a special tactic have set ablaze hundreds of fuel tankers in the west of Kabul, which were supplying fuel and food for foreign forces,"

KIEV, Ukraine — With a fierce onslaught of gunfire and mortar shelling, Ukrainian government forces on Saturday chased pro-Russian insurgents from Slovyansk, a long-blockaded rebel stronghold, govern-ment officials and separatist leaders said.As rebels fled the city, the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in a separatist in-surrection that has lasted more than three months, the Ukrainian military destroyed a tank, two combat vehicles and two ar-mored personnel carriers, a spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Andriy Lysenko, said.“Run!” the Ukrainian interior minister, Arsen Ava-kov, wrote in a jubilant Facebook post on the retaking of Solvyansk. “The terrorists are bearing losses, surrendering.”Though it was not yet clear whether the retaking of Slovyansk signaled a decisive blow against the rebels in eastern Ukraine, it showed that Ukrainian forces were finally gain-ing traction and reasserting state author-ity, three months after separatists seized control of cities and towns throughout the region, dividing this country of 45 million people.The Ukrainian advance on Satur-

day came four days after President Petro O. Poroshenko ended a cease-fire and ordered the military to resume efforts to crush the rebellion by force. On Tuesday, the Ukrainian military retook an important checkpoint at a border crossing with Rus-sia, one of several that had been seized by rebels and that the Ukrainian government and its Western allies said were used to al-low Russian tanks, weapons and fighters to cross into the region.Insurgent leaders confirmed that their fighters had fled under heavy attack by the Ukrainian military, but insisted that they were not giving up. “Our resistance has not been crushed,” Andrei Purgin, an insurgent leader, told the Interfax news service.He said the rebels had abandoned the city because they were overwhelmed militarily.“What would you do if you were shelled with mortars and artillery guns and pounded from the air and you had only three tanks and assault rifles?” asked Mr. Purgin, deputy prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, one of two separatist shadow governments in the east.

SRINAGAR | SUNDAY, JULY | 06 | 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.

Prays for sustained peace,

progress, prosperity, development in State

SRINAGAR, JULY 05: In connec-tion with the celebration of birth-day of Guru Hargobind Ji Maharaj, the Minister for Housing Horticul-ture, Culture and Youth Services & Sports, Mr. Raman Bhalla today visited Gurduwara Chattipadshahi Rainawari, Srinagar and paid obei-sance there.

On the occasion, the Minister felicitated the people and wished them well-being and prosperity, besides praying for the sustained peace, harmony, progress and pros-

perity in State. Speaking on the occasion,

Mr. Bhalla said that teachings of Guru Ji are torch bearer for the peo-ple and said it is the need of hour to follow the path of truth, humanity, charity, honesty and mutual broth-

erhood as preached by Guru Ji. He said that Guru Hargobind-ji’s noble example of selfless service, based on the high values of righteousness, truth and love, is more rel-evant today.

During his visit, the Minister interacted with the members of man-aging Committee of Gurduwaraa and took stock of arrange-

ments made for the devotees.Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar,

Mr. Farooq Ahmad Shah, Commis-sioner SMC, Dr G. N. Qasba and other officers were also present on the occasion.

MP town clash: 7 injured, 33 held, curfew imposed

Curfew was on Friday night imposed in this town in Madhya Pradesh after a clash between members of two communities which left seven persons injured, three of them with gunshot wounds, and saw a number of shops and vehicles being torched, police said on Saturday.Police lathi-charged the rioters and lobbed teargas shells before being forced to fire in the air as the situation got out of control, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Muke-sh Vaishya, told reporters.So far, 33 persons have been ar-rested for the violence which left seven persons injured. Three of those suffered bullet injuries but it was not clear whether they were wounded in firing by the clashing mob or in police firing, he added.The clash took place after two youths from separate communities got into a heated ar-gument over a seat on a Raisen -bound bus. After the bus reached the town, which is situated about 50km away from state capital Bhopal, the two youths called their re-spective supporters and the matter then soon got out of control.The mob engaged in stone-pelting and arson. Four shops and as many vehicles were set on fire while several other shops and parked vehicles were also damaged.

Bhalla pays obeisance at Gurduwara Chattipadshahi

Sagar for time bound

completion of development

projectsSRINAGAR, JULY 05: Minister

for Rural Development and Pan-chayati Raj, Mr. Ali Mohammad Sagar has directed the officers to ensure timely completion of various projects under taken in different sectors for ensuring ho-listic and sustained development of the Srinagar city, so that the people get benefitted from these.

The Minister was interacting with officers during his exten-sive tour of the Srinagar today to get the first hand information about the status of various devel-opmental works undertaken by the Government and also get the feedback from the people living in these areas about their imple-mentation.

Mr. Sagar asked the officers

to speed up the pace of work on various community halls un-dertaken by the government for providing the much requisite fa-cilities to the people living in the old city for celebrating their so-

cial functions. He said that these should be completed within the stipulated time frame as the req-uisite funds have already been provided to the executing agen-cies for their completion.

The Minister inspected the pace of work on the commu-nity halls being constructed at Sukhlipora (Rajouri Kadal) and Mukhdoom Sahib and directed for their early completion.

Mr. Sagar also directed for speeding up the mecademiza-tion of Syed Mirakhshah and KZP road projects. He said that these are pivotal in ensuring better traffic mobility and management of the traffic in the city, especially in view of the ensuing tourist season.

The Minister also asked the SMC to fast pace work on the Mukhdoom Mandaw Shrine at Kailashpora and also pay ad-equate compensation to the people, whose properties are being acquired at an earliest, so that they do not face any incon-venience with regard to their re-habilitation.

Mr. Sagar directed R&B offi-cers to speed up the pace of work on the road widening of Maharaj Gunj-Sukhlipora being under-taken with an estimated cost of Rs. 31 lakh as it would ensure better connectivity and mobility in the area.

The Minister was accompa-nied by senior officers of differ-ent departments like SMC, R&B, PHE, PDD and other senior offi-cers of district administration.

Rather for safeguarding spl. Constitutional position of J&K while implementing GST

No decision yet on LoP status to Congress

Ensure Gender Equality and Women Em-powerment For Better Future: First Lady

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan with senior BJP leader Prakash Javdekar meeting Congress leaders, Malikarjun Kharge, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Lok Jan Shakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan during an all-party meeting in New Del-hi on Saturday. Photo: S. Subramanium

The Hindu Lok Sabha Speaker Sumi-tra Mahajan with senior BJP leader Prakash Javdekar meeting Congress leaders, Malikarjun Kharge, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Lok Jan Shakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan during an all-party meeting in New Delhi on Saturday.On Friday, Congress appeared to have de-cided to raise the pitch in its demand for being accorded the status for its nomi-nee in the Lok SabhaLok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Saturday steered clear of the issue of grant of Leader of Opposition status in the House to the Congress despite the party appearing

to raise the pitch for it.“The meeting of leaders of political parties was convened to discuss the business of the House,” was the refrain of the Speaker after the luncheon meeting to repeated questions on what was her decision on the issue.The Speaker had earlier said she will take a decision on the issue before the budget session after consulting consti-tutional experts and “experienced” per-sons.Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge merely said that Sat-urday’s meeting was to discuss the issue to be raised during budget session.Sig-nificantly, a Union Minister on Saturday remarked that how could the Speaker decide on the matter when the Congress is yet to formally seek the status.He said people have not granted the numbers to the Congress to get that status and said the rules have been framed in 1977 and would be followed.

SRINAGAR, JULY 5: Mrs. Usha Vohra, First Lady, attended an interaction pro-gramme with spouses of members of

the India CEO Forum of the International Market Assessment (IMA) at Gulmarg in Kashmir. During the session, there was free-flowing conversation on various issues relating to women in Indian so-ciety, girl child protection and conflict in Kashmir.Mrs. Vohra addressed the ladies Forum about the obtaining social and cultural milieu and how it impacts the changing role of women in the Indian

society. She highlighted the challenges which the present day women are fac-ing to carve a niche for themselves in

every sphere of life.Mrs. Vohra particularly highlighted the difficulties and challenges faced by women in the Valley consequent to the advent of terrorism and violence and its effect on their psyche. She also spoke about the educational prospects of girls and the role required to be played by the government and the civil so-

ciety in ensuring growingly better edu-cational opportunities, reducing school drop-out ratio of girls, ban on sex-deter-mination, curbing female foeticide and safeguarding the rights of the girl child.Mrs. Vohra urged the members of the forum to contribute towards enhance-ment of gender equality and women empowerment for securing a bright and better future of our girls and women.

People friendly policies of Govt appreciated by all: Gul

SRINAGAR, JULY 5: The Speaker, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly Mr. Mubarak Gul has said that the priority of the Gov-ernment is holistic development of all the three regions of in or-der to usher the State in an era of development and prosperity. He said that remarkable progress on all fronts has been witnessed by the people, who are appreciat-ing people friendly policies of the current government headed by young and dynamic Chief Minis-ter, Omar Abdullah.

Mr. Gul was address-ing gatherings during his tour to various areas of his constituency including S D A Rakh Colony in Eidgagh today.

The Speaker said several measures have been taken by the Government for the up-liftment of the weaker sections of the so-ciety.

Recalling the contribu-

tion of Late Sheri-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the Speaker said that the contri-bution of Late legendary leader for the betterment of the people of the State will be remembered for ever.

Responding to the de-

mands put forth by the locals at Rakh Colony, the Speaker said that construction of Community Hall, Dispensary, Ration Ghat buildings and Mechanization of Mail Road will be started soon. He said Rs.1.97 crore would be spent on these projects and

maintained that up gradation of the school is under active consid-eration of the Government.

The Speaker said that he had already given directions to the health department for opening of dispensary in the area as the building for the same is yet to be

completed. Mr. Gul said that the matter with regard to Home De-livery of Gas Cylinder would be taken up with the concerned at an earliest.

In response to repairs and renovation of main holes in the area, the Speaker gave on the spot direction to the Srinagar Development Authority for im-mediate redressal.

During the tour, the Speaker inspected various ongoing de-velopmental works in the area and directed the officers to work with zeal, dedication and utmost honesty. He also directed them to speed up the pace of work on all under execution works and complete them in a stipulated timeframe.Mr. Gul stressed upon the officers to maintain close co-ordination with the public as the rapport between the people and the administration is to key the success of the development.

Daily Zabarwan TimesEDITORIAL/ OPINIONEDITORIAL/ OPINION

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

Unemployment problem - a challenge for any govt

The state of Jammu & Kash-mir called paradise on earth has excelled in many fields

for dubious reasons other than the positive ones which could have taken this state forward rap-idly on the path of peace, progress and prosperity. Declared as one of the most corrupt states of the county, now it has achieved one more dubious distinction of be-ing one of the leading states in the field of unemployment. The state has according to estimates over 8 lakh educated unemployed youth which means that every one per-son in every twelve individuals is unemployed. The unemploy-ment is mostly found in educated youths as the state does not have enough avenues to accommodate thousands of young men coming out of universities and colleges every year. One more disadvan-tage with the state is that, it has no corporate or industrial sector which could provide employment to a large chunk of people. The state being one of the most envi-ronmentally rich state can hardly afford any industries which will destroy its natural beauty and im-balance its ecology. It is because of this reason that neither the gov-ernment can allow those indus-tries which pollute atmosphere nor will the people of the state allow that to happen. This leaves the whole dependence of the ed-ucated youth on the government sector and this sector has very less capacity to cope up with the situ-ation. Whatever resources are for recruitment those are marred by several hurdles and impediments. The red-tapism in bureaucra-cy, the slow pace of recruitment agencies and above all the corrup-tion in recruitment is resulting in the frustration amongst youth who see their future very bleak and dark. This frustration results in dragging these youth to sev-eral social evils including drugs, unethical activities, and those in-decent which a society will never appreciate. The various govern-ments which come into power have miserably failed in curbing the corruption, in taking steps to improve the pace of recruitment and to remove red-tapism in em-ployment generation activities. It needs a committed government, a clear cut recruitment policy, cor-ruption free recruiting agencies and fast track system of recruit-ment to tackle the unemployment problem to some extent.

Amarnath Yatra and Environment Protection

Kashmir holds not only a distinction of being a pic-turesque tourist place, but also a melting pot

of various religious centers and pilgrimage spots – which makes it a busy religious tourism des-tination all across the year. In fact, religions have inspired the construction of some of the most spectacular monuments in Valley and all forms of art and architec-ture find expression in them. It is because of the religious character that the three regions of Jammu and Kashmir have got a unique identification: While Kashmir Valley is known as a land of Sufis, Jammu city is called a land of tem-ples and Ladakh is famous for the gumpas and monasteries. So in all three parts of the state, pilgrim tourism remains the most happen-ing activity besides the normal tourist flows. Attempts are afoot on part of the government to give prop-er boost to the religious tourism and make Jammu and Kashmir a hub for spiritual and religious travelers. Special infrastructure is being created to materialize the plan. The tourism ministry is also contemplating to create spiritual circuits in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions. J&K Tourism has plans for promotion of religious tourism and three mega projects have been conceived for implementation and Detailed Project Report’s (DPR’s) stand submitted to the Govern-ment of India. The project worth Rs 150 crores is aimed to develop tourism circuits in three regions. While Rs 50 crore of the stipulat-ed cost is to be utilized to promote Buddhist-related tourism in La-dakh, Rs 100 crore is to be used to boost Sufi tourism in Kashmir and to restore various pilgrimage centers in Jammu. The famous religious tour-ism spots of Kashmir include Haz-ratbal, Kherbawani, and Amar-nath Cave. But it is the Amarnath Cave that receives largest number of pilgrims. So we can say that in terms of numerical numbers, Am-arnath is largest religious tourism destination. Amarnath Yatra is not only special for Hindus but for

Muslims too. Hundreds of Mus-lims could be seen offering their services for the smooth conduct of the yatra. So the pilgrimage provides a secular tinge in an ex-clusively religious environment. It provides a chance of interaction and intermingling of intra and inter-religious communities and promotes feelings of communal harmony. Amarnath cave is a Hin-du shrine dedicated to Hindu God, Shiva and is located in South Kashmir Himalayas, at an altitude of 3,888 m (12,756 ft), about 141 km from Srinagar, and reached via Pahalgam and Baltal routes. The shrine is considered to be one of the holiest shrines in Hinduism. The cave is surrounded by snowy mountains. The cave itself is cov-ered with snow most of the year except in three summer months (from mid June to mid August) when it is open for pilgrims. Thou-sands of Hindu devotees make an annual pilgrimage to the Amar-nath cave on challenging moun-tainous terrain to see an ice sta-lagmite formed inside the cave. It is believed that after the middle Ages, this cave was forgot-ten by people before it was discov-ered by a shepherd, Butta Malik, in the 15th century once again. Story goes that a saint gave Buta Malik a bag full of coal. On reach-ing home, to his utter surprise he finds the bag was full of gold coins. Overwhelmed with joy, he wanted to thank the saint. But, he found that the saint had disappeared. Instead he found the Holy Cave and Shiv Lingam there in. He an-nounced the discovery of this to the Villagers. Then onwards this has become the sacred place of Pil-grimage. Another story relates to Bhrigu Muni. Long time ago, it is believed that the Vale of Kash-mir was submerged under water and Kashyapa Muni drained it through a series of rivers and riv-ulets. Therefore when the waters drained, Bhrigu Muni was the first to have Darshan of Lord Am-arnath. Thereafter, when people heard of the Lingam, it became an abode of Lord Bholenath for all believers and a pilgrimage which

is performed by lakhs of people ev-ery year. The government is very par-ticular about the arrangements and facilities for the proper per-formance of worship by the Ama-rnath pilgrims. Security remains the major concern so special care is being taken to ensure an inci-dent free pilgrimage. Large part of the state machinery is pressed in to service during the Yatra period to ensure that enough ar-rangements of civic and medical facilities are put in place, for the religious journey. The annual pilgrimage is managed by Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) through Jammu and Kashmir Shri Amar-nathji Shrine Act 2000. The board is headed by Jammu and Kashmir Governor, who is ex-officio chair-man of the board. On the direc-tives of SASB and state govern-ment, each pilgrim is supposed to carry a valid health certificate issued by a recognized doctor and have to go for prior registra-tion before embarking on Yatra. However, the government finds itself strained in managing and facilitating the huge number of the pilgrims. Good faith ensures spiritual power of the believers and instills a sense of respon-sibility for the community and environment in them. Here pil-grims hold responsibility of pro-tecting environment and follow directives from administration in this regard. Rules and regulations should be strictly adhered to, be-cause nature’s rule is such that it takes two to make a tango. If we preserve the environment, the environment too will save us and our faith. Environment issue is not restricted to Kashmir only. It has assumed an international chal-lenge and the alarming situation demands a need for a global awak-ening. But given the fragile nature of Kashmir’s environment, partic-ularly the areas surrounding the Amarnath Cave and the routes that lead to it, authorities are duty bound to ensure that mass flow of pilgrims to an ecologically frag-ile area doesn’t cause harm to it. But the ground situation presents

a different picture. Such remains the scale of the yatra, that at its peak, the two base camps at Baltal and Pahalgam, huge camps with thousands of tents pitched across miles of once green meadows. The enormous numbers directly reflect on the facilities provided to the yatries. There’s a lack of toilets and a lot of pilgrims end up relieving themselves into the open by the rivers passing by the base camps. Furthermore a lack of a proper waste disposal sys-tem in both the camps and along the routes to the cave means that the whole area is littered with plastic bottles, wrappers and oth-er non-biodegradable pollutants, even much longer after the yatra is over. The main victims of colos-sal waste produced by increasing number of pilgrims are the fragile ecologies of Baltal and Pahalgam. These two ecologically sensitive places take much of the pollution onslaught year after year, with-out repair or rescue. The famous Lidder River too is a victim of the yatra pollution. This onslaught was documented in a 37-page re-port released by the Jammu and Kashmir State Pollution Control Board (JKSPCB) in 2006. The re-port expressed concern over not regulating the yatra in a manner that protects the environment. It specifically pointed out that the situation in Pahalgam, the main base camp of the yatra, was alarm-ing and called for immediate mea-sures to protect the sensitive ecol-ogy of the Pahalgam valley. However, the fact remain that the pollution onslaught is bound to cause an irreparable loss to the Holy cave and its surround-ing ecology. There is a strong need to conduct a proper scientific sur-vey to assess the annual carrying capacity by the Pahalgam and Baltal routes that would serve as reliable and scientific indicators towards arriving at a safe annu-al pilgrim number. So in order to prevent irreparable harm to the fragile ecology around the Holy cave, there is need to take urgent measures in terms of policy mak-ing and willingness to prevent the damage in time.

Indian Ocean Forecasting SystemForecasting oceanographic pa-

rameters (both in surface and subsurface) at different time scales is extremely important

for a wide spectrum of users ranging from the weathermen to fishermen, and from the navy to the off-shore industries. Currently, Indian Na-tional Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) is forecasting the waves in the Indian waters as well as over the Indian Ocean. Recently, INCOIS has brought up a new system for the forecasting of the dynamic and thermodynamic features of the Indian Ocean. The new Indian Ocean Fore-casting System (IOFS) is the first of its kind in the country and the set-up of the system is being developed indige-nously at INCOIS. Initially the 6 hour-ly forecasts of SST, surface currents, MLD and depth of 20oC isotherm (as an indicator of thermocline depth) will be made available for 5 days in advance.

The IOFS Setup The core of the IOFS is a state-of-art ocean general circulation model (OGCM), Regional Ocean Model-ing System (ROMS), developed and distributed as open source code by Rugters University, New Jersey, USA. The model is configured to simulate the observed Indian Ocean features realistically by making appropriate changes in the model parameters and source code. An optimal interpolation based data assimilation scheme for assimilating satellite measured SST data is also introduced in the model. The simulations from the model for the period of 2000-2008 are validated extensively by comparing with the ob-servations from the in-situ platforms and satellites. Since the validation was satisfactory, the model is put on experimental forecast mode from 1st November 2009. The forecasts are also being validated on a continual basis.

At present, the model is forced with the 5-day forecast data of surface wind fields and atmospheric fluxes from the atmospheric model of National Centre for Medium Range Forecast (NCM-RWF), New Delhi. Accordingly, the IOFS also forecasts the oceanographic features for 5 days. The entire procedure for the gen-eration of the forecast is automated. A suite of software was prepared to cater the pre-processing and post-process-ing needs of the model simulations. This enables little manual interven-tion throughout the process and there-by reduces the chances of human er-rors. Any malfunction of the system will be intimated to the concerned persons by emails as well as through mobile phone SMSs. The present ver-sion of IOFS is capable of issuing fore-cast within 15 minutes of receiving

data from NCMRWF. The forecast is being made available through INCOIS website. In addition, it is also dissemi-nated through email messages and the dedicated electronic display boards installed along the coast. The raw data is available to the registered us-ers via FTP.

Potential users of IOFSIn addition to the scientific commu-nity who are engaged in active re-search on physical oceanography of the tropical Indian Ocean, the other beneficiaries of the forecasts from IOFS are Navy and Coast Guard (to plan the operations); Shipping in-dustry (to chart the route); offshore oil industry (for various operations); Fishing industry (for species spe-cific advisories that make use of information on SST gradient, depth of the mixed layer etc); and the In-

dia Meteorological Department (to force the atmospheric models, that will improve the short and medium range forecasts, particularly during the monsoon season).IOFS is being designed to cater to the specific needs of the users as in-terests may vary from user to user and a generalized forecast may not be sufficient for all the users. A fo-cused research and development ap-proach is also envisaged to support the IOFS to meet the requirements of its users. Based on the feedback from them and through focused research, the IOFS will improve further in quality and quantity of services. With the availability of High Performance Computing Facility at INCOIS, the computational infrastructure is no longer a limitation in achieving the high goals.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

“Mae West”...........................

Srinagar, Sunday 06 July 2014