CMYK

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CMYK

TUESDAY 26 August | 2014 | 29 Shawal, 1435 AH | PAGES 12 | VOL NO: 4 | ISSUE NO: 235| 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

CMYK

Srinagar, August 25: One more army soldier was killed and another sustained injuries on Monday in a fresh firing incident as the twin encounters enters second day at Lolab and Keran forests in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.Since Saturday night, four militants and two soldiers have been killed and three army men were injured in the encoun-ters at Kalaroos and Keran in the dis-trict.Official sources told GNS that army’s 18 RR and 28 RR had jointly cordoned the routes connecting the Nunwani Ka-laroos forest area after 2 or 3 militants managed to escape from the Nunwani encounter site.

“Today morning the joint team of forces intercepted the militant group at Zoita Top near Bara Gali in between Nunwani and Gagel forest areas”, they said.Once the joint army party chased the militants, they opened heavy-fire upon the forces resulting in injuries to two army men, they said.The injured army men were identified as Ghulam Ahmad (rifle man -160 TA) and Dhanjay (lance naik -28 RR).Both the injured were immediately shift-ed to 168 Military Hospital in Drugmulla where from Dhanjay was airlifted to ar-my’s 92 base hospital in Srinagar, they said.

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Kupwara operation against militants continues

One more soldier, militant killed toll reaches 8

Srinagar, Aug 25 (KNS): Contradicting its own claim, the state government on Monday said that there are 2352 per-sons lodged in various jails of Jammu and Kashmir against the claim made by the chief minister Omar Abdullah that not more than 100 people are in jails in Jammu and Kashmir. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Au-gust 15 said that hardly hundred people are languishing in jails in Jammu and Kashmir. He said even 100 people in jails of J&K is a big number. He chal-lenged separatists’ claim that thou-sands are languishing in jails here. Omar was addressing August 15 func-tion at Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar. “I challenge all those people who are trying to stoke passions in the state by saying that thousands are languishing in prisons in Jammu and Kashmir.On Monday while replying to the ques-tion submitted by M.Y. Tarigami in Legislative Assembly wherein Tari-gami had asked the state government about the particulars of the persons lodged in different jails, sub-jails with-in and outside the state as in July 31, 2014.The state home ministry that is under

chief minister Omar Abdullah while replying to the question of M Y Tariga-mi said that there are total number of 2364 persons lodged in jails

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Srinagar, Aug 24, CNS: Taking a jibe on those politicians who believe in frequent floor-cross-ing and change guards for their personal ben-efits, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Mon-day said that ‘Aya Ram Gaya Ram’ (Ram comes, Ram goes) tactics are used by politicians who leave the party after not getting mandates. Omar Abdullah was speaking on Obituary reference in Legislative Assembly and while paying glorious tribute to the 4 politicians who breathed their last be-tween the 11th and 12th Assembly session, Ab-dullah according to CNS said that these people never changed their po-litical parties and they ended where from they had started. “These people didn’t believe in Aya Ram, Gaya Ram. Today when

you don’t award man-date to any person, he defects from the party as for them no mandate no party mantra is im-portant,” he said. Omar Abdullah said that the departed lead-ers including Choud-hary Muhammad Aslam and Abdul Ahad Vakil, former Minis-ter Muhammad Akbar Ganaie and former MLA and educationist Mehmooda Ahmed Ali Shah never abused and misused their power and position and, “we should learn a lesson from them.” “You can’t raise finger on these people as they never abused their po-sition. Late Abdul Ahad Vakil, former Speaker always spoke his heart out and put forth his thoughts without ap-peasing party leader. These days

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Govt. figures contradict CM’s claims

Not 100 but 2352 Kashmiris lodged in different jails: Govt

Politicians follow ‘Aya Ram, Gaya Ram’ policy:

Omar Abdullah

Srinagar, Aug 24: Refuting the allegations leveled by Patnthers Party that govern-ment has failed to protect the life and prop-erty of people along LoC, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Monday said that it is not the job of State Government to stop shell-ing and firing along LoC as it is the baby of the Central Government which has to take

a final call in this regard. Shortly after speaking on Obituary ref-erence in Legislative Assembly, Omar Abdullah said that one of the members (Balwant Singh Mankotia) tried to give an impression that government has ne-glected the people affected due to Pakistan shelling along Line of Control. He said it

is not in their hands to stop shelling but it is the responsibility of the government to help victims. “My government has shown no negligence on this part and it has been helping victims without any delay,” he said adding that government is ready to answer the queries of opposition members on Tuesday. (CNS)

Stopping shelling not in our hands’: Government

Srinagar, Aug 25 (KNS): Claim-ing that the former Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was privy to the hanging of parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru, the former Congress veteran and BJP’s new entrant Lal Singh Monday said that Azad must recollect about event that led to Guru’s hanging.Talking to KNS, Singh on a day of making his formal entry from Congress to BJP in pres-ence of BJP national president Amit Shah in Jammu said that Azad was very much aware when and where Guru will be executed. “This is hypocri-sy that Azad is shrugging his shoulders over his knowledge about Guru’s hanging.”Lal Singh who has also served as Congress Member Parlia-ment questioned that how is this possible that a senior minister in the union govern-ment doesn’t know anything

about this vital decision that too when the minister is from Jammu and Kashmir. “This is illogical and bizarre what Azad is claiming at present. I fail to understand this policy,” Singh told KNS in a tele statement.“It was early in the morning and I was having my show-

er just when my wife started knocking at the washroom door saying some very import-ant news was being flashed on television,” Azad said. “I came out and learnt about it (Guru’s hanging),” Azad had told a lo-cal daily, adding that he wasn’t in loop over Guru’s hanging.Lal Singh claims that Azad is trying to befool people of Jam-mu and Kashmir by such state-ments and that he was very much aware about the hanging of the parliament convict. “He (Guru) attacked the parlia-ment, Supreme Court awarded him the death sentence, Presi-dent of India rejected his mercy plea. If he is hanged, why Azad is playing politics over the in-cident.”Singh said that his main reason of parting ways from Congress was due to the politics of ‘de-ceit’ and ‘deception’. “The par-ty has been wiped

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Azad was privy to Guru’s hanging: Lal Singh

‘Congress a party of deceit, deception. Azad overambitious’ Srinagar, Aug 25 : As the food grains allocated to the Jammu and Kashmir state is not ade-quate to meet the requirements of the population, the Consumer affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) ministry has written to the Union government in this regard, Kashmir News service has learnt.Reliable sources from govern-ment told KNS that Chief Min-ister, Omar Abdullah, after directing the CAPD Minister Ramzan Chowdry, to take up the issue with Union CAPD Minister, the Ministry has for-warded the communication let-ter to the Union CAPD ministry“The communication has been forwarded to the Union minis-ter and it has been requested to them that being the border State, the ration provided to J&K on the basis of 2001 Census is not fulfilling the requirement of the J&K as the population of the State has increased mani-fold,” sources said.Sources said that consumers have been facing lot of difficul-

ties as ration is not being sup-plied to the State as per latest census. “Many areas are pres-ently reeling under acute short-age of ration because of this rea-son”, sources said.Sources said that Jammu and Kashmir government is unable to provide ration to around twenty lakh people in Valley as the food grains to Valley under Public Distribution System con-tinue to be supplied as per the 2000 population census.Reliable sources told KNS that Valley including Leh and Kar-gil is getting three lakh quin-tals rice for a month which is much lesser than what is really required. “The main reason for increasing demand of ration was that the supply received by the state government from government of India is “grossly inadequate. State government was failed to impress the previ-ous government to allocate sup-ply as per current population need,” said sources. Sources added that the supply

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Allocation of Inadequate food grains to JK

State Government takes up the issue with GoISrinagar, Aug 25: J&K Bank FLCC Centre Bara-mulla organised an awareness camp at vil-lage Ningli Bala (Sopore) in collaboration with the bank’s business unit Tarzu Sopore. The camp was attended by villagers mostly laborers and fish-ermen including a good number of women folk.Facilitator FLCC Baram-ulla Mohammad Sultan Dar apprised the people about financial planning, budgeting, savings, ad-vantages of savings with banks, concept of Busi-ness Correspondents, Kh-idmat centres and differ-ent type of borrowings.He also spoke about Ki-san Credit Card scheme, Education loan scheme and various income gen-erating loan products of banks.Speaking about Electron-ic Benefit Funds Trans-fer he explained in detail how financial inclusion

would help in transfer of social security benefits like MGNREGA wages, old age pension, widow pension and cash trans-fer in lieu of LPG subsidy without involvement of intermediaries and avoid delays and leakages in-

volved in the existing manual system.Director Rural Self Em-ployment Training Insti-tute (RSETI) Baramulla Riyaz Ahmad Mir, who was also present on the occasion, briefly spoke about the concept,

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J&K Bank holds awareness camps,

training programmes

Srinagar, Aug 25 : People Demo-cratic Party (PDP) general secre-tary Mohammad Dilawar Mir has said that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has conceded his defeat ahead of the Assembly elections by acknowledging that he is inaugu-rating half backed projects to deny the new government any chance to inaugurate them.Addressing a well attended meet-ing of party workers in Chanpora on Sunday evening, Mir said that now it is obvious even to Omar Ab-dullah that next government is go-ing to be formed by PDP and that is why he is rushing through inaugu-ration of incomplete projects as he did in Chanpora yesterday by open-ing an incomplete building without any infrastructure in the name of a dispensary. Decrying Omar Abdullah’s ques-tion mark on impartiality and

objectivity of the Kashmiri press, Mir said Omar’s statement reflects National Conference's policy to ma-lign the image of Kashmiri people and the institutions of probity in the state. “The National Conference has already labeled Kashmiri peo-ple as enemy agents, drug addicts and Maha Chor. Now the NC lead-ership has started casting asper-sions on impartiality of Kashmiri press by labeling it of 'packaging lies.' This is highly defamatory and contemptuous statement against the local press that has maintained objectivity and impartiality even in the most pressing circumstanc-es in last over two decades,” Mir opined.The PDP general secretary said that since the NC leadership, the party and the government run by it are all on sale and have a

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‘Omar Abdullah has conceded defeat ahead of assembly elections?’

NC’s policy to malign image of people, institutions of probity: Dilawar Mir

Srinagar, Aug 24: The last ses-sion of the 12th Legislative As-sembly in Jammu and Kash-mir began on Monday, that was adjourned after passing obituary reference in favour of those who departed between 11th and 12th Assembly ses-sion. During the proceedings, the Assembly while condemn-ing the killings of innocent Palestine people mostly chil-dren and women at the hands of Israeli State passed an obituary reference in favour of those four political leaders who passed away between 1th and 12th Assembly session. The law makers paid glo-rious tribute to the departed souls including two former speakers Choudhary Muham-mad Aslam and Abdul Ahad Vakil, former Minister Mu-hammad Akbar Ganaie and former MLA and educationist Mehmooda Ahmed Ali Shah and observed two minute si-lence.

Those who spoke on Obituary reference included Abdul Reh-man Veeri, Chaman Lal Gup-ta, Muhammad Yousuf Tari-gami, Sheikh Mustafa Kamal, Ghulam Hasan Mir, Hakim Muhammad Yasin, Er Rashid, Sardar Rafiq Hussain Khan, Shabir Ahmed Khan, Muham-mad Akbar Lone, Muhammad Sharief Niaz and Chief Minis-ter Omar Abdullah. Chief Minister Omar Abdul-lah according to CNS said that these leaders never misused and abused their power and they never changed their polit-ical parties. The Legislative Assembly also condemned the Israeli as-sault on Gaza while Speaker Mubarak Gul expressed grief over the innocent killings of Palestine people. Er Rashid demanded that a Resolution be passed in this regard. Panthers party member Bal-want Singh Mankotia

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Banihal, Aug 25 : Hitting out at Congress for in-dulging in opportunistic politics, National Con-ference candidate from Banihal Assembly Con-stituency Sajjad Shaheen on Monday said his party is all set to make a big difference in the ensuing elections to Legislative Assembly.“Congress is a spent force and it may not achieve double digit”, Shaheen said while addressing a function to welcome prominent BJP and Congress workers into National Conference. The eminent political and social activists who joined the party includ-ed Dr Jaswant Singh, Nambardar Puran Singh, Thakur Lochn Singh, Jarnail Singh, Bhim Singh, Sohan Singh Bali, Om Chand Panch

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Accused arrested after Identification Parade

Srinagar, Aug 25 : Sri-nagar police solved a hit and run case and arrest-ed the Sumo driver who knocked a school girl to death in Srinagar last year. After a relentless investigation, Srinagar police tracked a Sumo and its driver who knocked a school girl Khushboo Posh daughter of Moham-mad Aslam Posh resident of Batwara, Srinagar near JK Bose crossing when she along with her friends were returning back from the BOSE office on 16th November, last year.The girl after being hit by the Sumo was shifted to JVC hospital by her friends in the same Sumo which hit her. On seeing the critical condition of the injured girl the erring driver had fled away from the hospital leaving the injured girl at the mercy of fellow girls. The girls

could not note the reg-istration number of the involved Sumo. Later the injured girl succumbed to her injuries in Soura hos-pital. A case FIR number 334/2013 under section 279, 304 RPC was regis-tered in Police Station Parimpora in this regard and investigation was taken up.During the course of in-vestigation a number of Sumo’s including those which were moving as per the tower locations on the same date around the time of occurrence were brought and their drivers put to sustained question-ing.Police continued the ef-forts and succeeded to get a clue and identified the Sumo vehicle bear-ing registration num-ber JK15/3017. Later the Sumo driver who was driving the Sumo at the time of occurrence was also identified as

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12th Assembly session begins

House condemns Gaza killings

Police solves “Hit and Run” case

Sajjad decries opportunistic

politics of Con-gress; terms it

spent force

11 Srinagar, Tuesday 26 August 2014 Zabarwan Times

FROM THE FRONT PAGE

Kupwara...

Govt...

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Omar...

Lal Sngh...

JK...

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Bank...

Owner , Printer & Publisher: Suhail Malik Editor -in-Chief: Bashir Malik Editor: Shahana Malik Legal Advisor: Syed Riyaz 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. 9419001492, 9797082675

Lost

I have lost my Mobile Phone Bearing phone No. 9906421882 and Smart Card somewhere. Now I have applied for its duplicate. Anybody having objection may file the same in the office of the 216 Tranger Camp within a period of 7 days after that no objection will be entertained.Name: Abdul Rashid

I have lost my Contractor Card Class D somewhere. Now I have applied for its duplicate. Anybody hav-ing objection may file the same in the office of the R&B Rajbagh Srinagar within a period of 7 days af-ter that no objection will be entertained.Name: Khurshid Hussain RatherS/o Ab Aziz RatherR/o Kralpora Chadoora

Lost

Dhanjay, later in the day succumbed to injuries due to grave bullet injuries. A senior defence official while confirming the death of the soldier told GNS that the operation in the area is still going on.In another similar incident, an unidentified militant was killed in an ongoing operation at Kundan Nar forest area near Line of Control (LoC) in Keran sector in the district, the official said, adding that army’s 23 Grenadier had intercepted the militant group on Sat-urday night.The official said: “forces have been asked to remain vigilant in Bandipora, Sopore, Zaloora, Handwara, Vilgam, Chokibal, Keran and Tanghdar forests. Keep-ing in view the apprehensions of fresh infiltration army has been advised to launch combing operation in the respective areas.” The official further said that the Northern Army Commander Lt Gen DS Hooda commended the troops for the sustained operations against the militancy and paid rich tributes to soldier Dhananjay Kumar for his courage displayed by him in the line of duty. “Our hearts reach out to the family of the martyr and we pray to the Almighty to give them courage to bear this irreparable loss with fortitude,” the General said. (GNS)

out which 12 are detained outside Jammu and Kash-mir- making the number of persons lodged in state jails 2352.The state government maintained that there are 354 people who are convicts while as 1934 are under trail. 25 persons from Jammu and Kashmir are detained under Public Safety Act (PSA) while as there are 51 foreigners against whom PSA has been slapped. The state home ministry in the written reply to Tarigami stated that out of 1934 under trail persons, challan has been produced against 1834 persons. Meanwhile, Huriyat Conference led by the veteran separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani Monday claimed that there are more than 7000 people lodged in jails and more than 602 percent of them have been detained on ‘false grounds’. The amalgam appealed the inter-national human rights organizations to look into the issue and raise concern over this ‘injustice’. (KNS)

we see how politicians see eye to eye with his party leader even if his party leader may be wrong as they never want to disappoint their leader and pursue ap-peasement strategy,” he said. (CNS)

out from power across India including Jammu and Kashmir only because it is the party of people who lie like butter.”Sharpening his knives against Azad, Singh accused him of being ‘overambitious’. “He wants his pres-ence everywhere. He wants himself in the vital party meets. He wants to remain the leader of Rajya Sabha and at the same time wants to become chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. He has damaged Congress and the rout of the party during the upcoming elec-tions is inevitable.” (KNS)

is being received as per the 2000 census on the nation-al norms. It has created difficulties for the govern-ment to distribute the ration at the notified scale in all areas “At present we get ration for 99 lakh people while the State’s population as per 2011 Census is over 1.25 Crore. So at least 26 lakh people don’t get the ra-tions,” sources said.According to reliable sources in CA&PD, JK is short of 16000 metric tons of food grains. A CAPD official said JK receives a monthly quota of 63067 metric tons (MTs) of ration from the Centre per month for 18.02 lakh Ration Ticket (RT) holders. He said this was not sufficient to meet the requirement of 19.60 lakh RT holders currently registered with the CAPD. (KNS)

role and objectives of RSETI’s.He urged the audience to send the youth to the RSETI for skill development so that they can play an import-ant role in building the economy of the state. Head B.U Tarzu also spoke on the occasion. Meanwhile, the bank conducted a financial literacy camp and Coin/Note exchange mela at Shakti Nagar at Debrah (Ud-hampur), a model village adopted by RBI under its fi-nancial inclusion scheme.Speaking on the occasion Cluster Head S Iqbal Singh highlighted the initiative of the Bank in its outreach efforts to provide world class banking facilities to un-banked areas.Cluster Head apprised the audience about the various services and products of the bank.Disclosing that the bank was planning to open a new business unit at Krimachi shortly, he assured the gathering that bank will always cater to their finan-cial needs. On the occasion numerous soiled/muti-lated currency notes were exchanged and coins of denomination of Rs. 1, 2 & 5 were distributed. Smart Cards were also distributed to the customers.The participants expressed their gratitude towards management of the bank for fulfilling their long pend-ing demand of opening the branch at Krimachi. Head B.U Shakti Nagar presented vote of thanks and appre-ciated all the people for sparing their valuable time and making the event successful.RSETI BandiporeRSETI Bandipora concluded its Entrepreneurship De-velopment Programme, wherein two batches of youth from the area received trainings. The valedictory ses-sion wherein certificates were distributed among the trainees was attended by MLA Bandipora Nizam-ud-Din Bhat besides DDM NABARD Rouf Ahmad, LDM Bandipora Reyaz Ahmad, Officers from Handloom and Handicraft Department, Facilitator FLCC Ban-dipora and Branch Head J&K Bank TP Bandipora. More than 120 trainees participated in the certificate distribution function. Speaking on the occasion MLA

Bandipora appreciated J&K Bank for supporting the RSETI initiative and showed satisfaction with the type of trainings imparted to trainees.He advised Director RSETI to make more and more people aware about the RSETI so that a strong self employment base is created within the district that will provide fruitful results in the near future. Direc-tor RSETI Bandipora Parvez Ahmad informed the participants about the role of RSETI in the eradica-tion of unemployment and the achievements of RSE-TI Bandipora from its inception. (KNS)

fixed a price for everything from a ration card to a state subject, fixing of a contract or transfer or an em-ployee, they weigh every other institution on a simi-lar line. Mir said National Conference has failed to refrain from its unabated tirade against the people of Kash-mir. “Omar’s remarks about money being used to lure voters, has come as an insult to the people of Kashmir. It is most unfortunate that both Dr Farooq and his son Omar Abdullah do not stop making such wild accusations pointing to lack of integrity among the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Does the father and the son mean to say that all Kashmiris are a sale-able political commodity?” Mir asked while seeking an unconditional apology from the chief minister on his remarks against professional ethics of the press in Kashmir. He said that the National Conference leadership’s idea of a free press is praising the NC and they have through the generations tried to browbeat people in opposition and silence the voices of dissent through all means including violence. “In that backdrop there is an obvious threat to media from the ruling party given Omar Abdullah’s insecurities after the Lok Sa-bah rout and his failures to impress the people with these gimmicks.” The PDP general secretary said that the frustration of National Conference is under-standable as its decimation in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections in the state has taken a heavy toll on the logic and sanity of its leadership.Mir also ridiculed Omar’s remarks on PDP-BJP tac-it understanding saying that people are aware about the fact that until 1998 BJP was an untouchable party in the country for its sectarian agenda. But, it is the NC with 2/3rd majority and being the only Muslim Majority state in the country that joined NDA to give BJP a respectability that they lacked till then. “NC continues to be in relation with BJP as Omar Ab-dullah has confessed of giving money to BJP legisla-tors,” Mir said while pointing out to a relationship of reciprocity between NC-BJP in 2009 Rajya Sabha elections and 2011 Legislative Council. “Those who accuse us of having some understanding with BJP should explain to people as to what they were doing in the NDA government,” Mir asked.Addressing the gathering the party candidate for Amirakadal constituency Syed Altaf Bukhari pledged to work for the betterment of people of his constitu-ency. He said the people of Amirakadal constituency have been the worst victim of mis-governance, cor-ruption and administrative inertia under National Conference regime. “This constituency has always been neglected to the hilt by the ruling NC. No infra-structure has been developed in this constituency in last over five and a half years. The developmental scenario of this constituency portrays a grim picture of political ineptitude and administrative lethargy. A visit to Amirakadal gives a feel of an extremely back-ward and a far lung constituency where an elected representative has been behaving as a political mas-ter hardly bothering to uplift his own electorate,” Bukhari observed.On this occasion Amanullah Khan joined the PDP. Khan has contested assembly elections in 2008 from Amirakadal constituency as an independent candi-date. He was welcomed by the PDP general secretary into the party fold. Besides, Mir and Bukhari those who addressed the meeting included Abdul Hameed Kosheen state coordination secretary, Haji Parvez Ahmad district coordination secretary, Malik Asif Noor, Anjum Fazili PDP women wing leader, party leaders Mohammad Altaf Dar, Nisar Ahmad, Aijaz Ahmad Rather, Ghulam Mohammad Rah, Shuja Sar-war, Mohammad Ashfaq and Jehangir Ahmad. (KNS)

was marshaled out after he raised the Ceasefire vio-lation issue shortly after the commencement of the session. PDP members alleged that government failed to pro-vide relief to the people who incurred losses due to hailstorm while Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that government will reply to the quries of opposition members on the second day of session after which the Speaker adjourned the session for the day. As per the calendar issued by the Assembly secre-tariat, government business has been listed from Au-gust 25th, 26th, 29th and August 30, while the Private Members' Resolutions shall be taken on August 27 and Private Members' Bills onAugust 28. This is the last session of the current assembly as elections to the new legislature will have to be com-pleted beforeJanuary 5 next year. (CNS)

Shakeel Ahmad Khan son of Ghulam Mohammad Khan resident of Watrana Bandipora who is the son of the owner of Sumo.A test identification parade of the accused was car-ried out at Police Station Parimpora today under the supervision of Tehsildar Central, Srinagar and the fellow girls of the deceased girl identified the erring driver in presence of Tehsildar central. The accused was arrested on the spot. (KNS)

and Mohammed Ramzan Panch.Welcoming the new entrants, Shaheen said National Conference is the only option for those who believe in oneness of the state with equal opportunities of progress to all. “We have all along decried the divi-sion of the composite society on the basis of region, religion and caste”, he said adding this singularity will always remain the guiding force for party cadre. Shaheen exhorted upon the party cadre and the prominent activists joining its ranks to work in tan-dem for forging unity between various segments of the society and foiling the attempts of disruptive forc-

es. He said National Conference will not allow polar-isation of the situation ahead of elections as its main plank will remain development of the three regions of the state.Referring to Banihal Constituency, Shaheen said the endeavours of the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to upgrade infrastructure and improve facilities will re-ceive further impetus in the years to come. He lauded the enthusiasm of the people to ensure magnificent victory of National Conference candidates. (KNS)

Lady consumes poison in Sopore

Srinagar, Aug 25 (KNS): A lady (name with held) res-ident of Sopore, in the jurisdiction of Police Station Tarzoo consumed some poisonous substance at her home. She was shifted to SMHS Hospital, Srinagar for treatment. Police has registered a case in this re-gard. (KNS)

Man falls from slab: dies

Srinagar, Aug 25 (KNS): A deaf and dumb person slipped and fell to death from a slab in Ompora Hous-ing colony, Budgam. Police has started investigation in this regard.58 year old deaf and dumb person Ali Mohammad son of Ghulam Ahmed resident of Chankhana, Sopore at present Housing Colony Ompora fell from slab of a house belonging to Farooq Ahmed Malik at Ompo-ra Housing Colony Budgam and got injured. He was shifted to District Hospital, Budgam for treatment where he succumbed to his injuries. After complet-ing all medico-legal formalities, the body was handed over to his legal heirs for last rites. Police has started investigation under section 174 CrPC to ascertain the cause of the death. (KNS)

Man injured by bear in Kokernag

Srinagar, Aug 25 (KNS): A bear attacked and injured Mushtaq Ahmed Naikoo son of Ghulam Hassan resi-dent of Fremoh Gadool at Ahlan Gadool, in the juris-diction of Police Station Kokernag. He was shifted to hospital for treatment. (KNS)

02 hit by lighten-ing in Kupwara

Srinagar, Aug 25 (KNS): Two persons Abdul Ahad Ganie son of Mohammad Shaban Ganie and Beauty Jan wife of Javid Ahmed Ganie resident of Lalpora, Kupwara received injuries when they were hit by a lightning at Rangwar Lalpora. Both the injured were shifted to Sub District Hospital, Sogam for treatment. (KNS)

Army reaches out to village Tsaka

Srinagar, Aug 25 (KNS): A Medical, Dental and Vet-erinary Camp was organised today at village Tsaka of Chushul Block, Sub Division Nyoma for the local populace. The Medical Camp provided facilities of free medical checkup and treatment, dental treat-ment and veterinary treatment of the cattle. A team comprising three Army Doctors treated the patients and also distributed free medicines to the villagers. A team of Veterinary Doctors and Assistants examined the cattle and provided the locals with free medicines.The Camp was well received by the villagers and a large number of villagers and many a cattle were ex-amined and treated. The locals were also educated on the aspects of hygiene and sanitation in the village to prevent the outbreak of diseases. The local pop-ulace appreciated the services rendered at the camp and applauded the dedicated and selfless services by the Army in the far flung and remote areas of Eastern Ladakh. (KNS)

Calls for restraint, restoration of ceasefireSrinagar, Aug 25 : Urging restoration of complete peace and ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC) and International Bor-der (IB) with Pakistan, Peoples Democratic Par-ty (PDP) president, Me-hbooba Mufti Monday said the two countries can’t ignore the yearning for peace in Jammu and Kashmir without push-ing the region into more miseries.Addressing a number of roadside meetings in Dooru segment of her Anantnag parliamenta-ry constituency, she said the PDP wants to make it clear to the national leadership and the gov-ernment of Pakistan that the people of the state would resist through all democratic means the heightening of tension between the two coun-tries. District president Peer Mohammad Hus-sain, Senior leader Par-ty’s nominated candidate for Doru Syed Farooq An-drabi, Shameema Andrabi and others were also pres-ent on this occasion. Mehbooba said while tem-peratures are raised as a result of war room tactical games the only sufferers are the people of J&K. She said it is the life and prop-erty and sense of security of the people of J&K which are in the line of fire and her party would channel-ize and strongly register the opposition of the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh to war mongering and use of weapons across the LoC and IB. She said every bullet or a mortar shell fired hits only the res-idents of this state whether they are on this side or the other.Stressing the need for build-ing a strong peace initiative from within the state she said more than a decade back the then Prime Min-ister, Vajpayee in an im-pressive display of states-manship had opened a new chapter in the blood soaked history of India and Paki-stan by responding to the urge for peace and digni-fied resolution during his historic visit to Srinagar. “The people of the state es-pecially those living in bor-der areas had experienced an entirely new found peace and environment of security after the 2003 ceasefire with Pakistan,” she said.Mehbooba said till then the only demand of the people living in these areas was about providing shel-ter and bunkers but post

the ceasefire these people who suffered for decades had picked up threads of life once again and tried to give themselves some sta-bility in an environment of normalcy. The cross-LoC Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) had strengthened this feeling of normalcy and generat-ed hope for future and the PDP remains committed to work for strengthening the peace initiatives and build on them to ensure durable peace which is not held hostage either by strategic hawks or trigger happy forces of any kind, she added. She expressed her grief at the loss of life in recent escalation along the borders.Conveying her sympathy and solidarity to the fami-lies of victims of firing on borders, Mehbooba said there is no reason why the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi should not employ similar peace offensive as the one initiated by Va-jpayee with Pakistan so that the hawks on both side are silenced and the people of J&K get a reprieve from constant war and threat of it. SheReferring to the local prob-lems Mehbooba said the people have brought to her notice the widespread com-plaints about non-avail-ability of ration and water for irrigation and drinking purposes. She said there is an acute scarcity of food grains which needs to be immediately addressed. Similarly, she said the hor-ticulture in the area needs a rescue act by providing irrigation as in other parts of the Valley.Mehbooba said the appar-ent impact of the National Highway tunnel which is under construction seems to be the possible closure of the toll post at Lower Munda. She said its clo-sure would affect a large number of the people who are making some earnings out of small businesses. She said the government should ensure retaining the toll post at its present location.Mehbooba ex-pressed concern at the re-ports of major geological changes taking place in the area as a result of the construction of railway tunnel. She was told that about a dozen springs had dried up after the construction of the tun-nel. She said while devel-opment projects can’t be avoided the environ-ment considerations must be kept in view so that Kashmir valley does not lose any of its valu-able assets. (KNS)

J&K would oppose war mongering:

Mehbooba

Pattan, Aug 24,S: Po-lice Monday lodged a formal case against a government teacher for allegedly trying to assault a 9th class girl student sexually in North Kashmir’s Pat-tan town of District Baramulla. Police sources told CNS that a Biology teacher posted at Government High-er Secondary School Sherabad Khor Pat-tan called a 9th class girl student (name withheld) to class when other students were enjoying break in the school prem-ises. “The staff mem-bers and students were shocked when they heard screams of the girl student. They ran towards the class and found the girl student weep-ing and wailing,” a police official said adding that the girl student alleged that the teacher tried to

assault her sexually. Reports said that parents of the victim approached police station and lodged a formal case against the accused teacher. The accused teach-er was reportedly thrashed by locals and taken to police station. “We have arrested the accused teacher and a case vide FIR number 198/2014 under sec-tion 354A has been registered against him,” a police offi-cial said identifying the culprit as Mu-hammad Irfan Khan son of Muhammad Afzal Khan. Teachers Forum Pattan Zone while condemning the ac-tion of accused teacher demanded stern ac-tion against him. The Forum said that such teachers are the source of disgrace for the sa-cred education institu-tion. (CNS)

Teacher arrested for molesting a

girl student (KNS): Two persons died while eleven others were injured in different road accidents across the valley.A Swift car beaing registration num-ber JK01N/7155 driven by Ghulam Mohammad Mir resident of Pandrathan, Srinagar hit a pedestrian Abdul Ahad Ganaie son of Ghulam Mohammad resident of Miam Moha-llah Pattan near Tehsil office Pattan, resulting in

his on spot death. Police has registered a case in this regard.In another ac-cident, a motor cycle bear-ing registration number JK09/3433 driven by Su-hail Ahmed son of Abdul Ahad War resident of Chottipora, Handwara hit a pedestrian Ghulam Hassan Ganaie son of Ghulam Ahmed Ganaie resident of Malikpora Tarathpora near Gund Khuroo

02 die 11 injured in road accidents

Daily ZABARWAN TIMES NEWS SRINAGAR | TUESDAY 26. 08 .2014

SRINAGAR, AUGUST 25- The Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly today paid glowing tributes to the ex-Members of the House who passed away during the recent months.

Speaker, Mr. Mubarak Gul while resuming the first day’s business of last session of 12th Assembly, moved the Obituary Reference in the House to pay homage to the late leaders in-cluding, Ch. Mohammad Aslam, Abdul Ahad Vakil, Mohammad Akbar Ganai and Miss Mehm-ooda Ahmad Ali Shah.

Highlighting the rich contri-butions made by the late Mem-bers for the development and welfare of the State, the Speaker said that the services rendered by them will be remembered by the people of the State for many years. He said the contribution

of these leaders for strengthen-ing the parliamentary democrat-ic system would always inspire the sitting members. He said real tribute to the late leaders will be to fullfill their unfinished dreams and we all should carry forward their work for the betterment of the society.

Remembering the contribu-tion of the late Members, Mr. Gul described Mr. Aslam as vet-eran political figure of the State, who was born at village Lassana, Surankote of District Poonch in 1939. He said late Mr. Aslam will always be remembered for his whole hearted and selfless services towards the up-liftment of the downtrodden people of backward areas particularly the Gujjar Community. A man of principles and high integrity, he always fought for the devel-

opment of socio-economic condi-tions of the people of the state es-pecially those living in far-flung and remote areas, said Mr. Gul.

The Speaker said late Mr. Abdul Ahad Vakil enriched the state’s political and legal spec-trum with his valuable contribu-tions. He said late Mr. Vakil with his unbiased and impartial role as Speaker of the House has at his credit a remarkable contribu-tion towards strengthening of the highest democratic institution of the state. The late leader known for his sharp wits remained com-mitted throughout his life for the upliftment of downtrodden and weaker sections of the society who served the people of the state vigorously throughout his politi-cal career for which he will be re-membered forever, the Speaker said.

SRINAGAR, AUGUST 25- Chairman, Jammu and Kash-mir Legislative Council Mr. Amrit Malhotra nominated the legislators Mr. Devinder Singh Rana, Mr. G. N. Monga and Syed Mohammad Rafiq Shah to serve as the Members of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of Legislative Council.

Chairman nominates panel of Vice ChairmenSRINAGAR, AUGUST 25- The Chairman, Legislative

Council Mr. Amrit Malhotra announced the panel of Vice Chairmen which included legislators Jugal Kishore Shar-ma, Showkat Hussain Ganai and Naresh Kumar Gupta.

House condemns cross border firings

SRINAGAR, AUGUST 25- The House also condemned the cross border firing incidents across the State in which several civilians were killed recently.

LA adopts Obituary Reference, pays rich tributes to ex-Members

COUNCIL-2014Chairman nominates

members to BAC

Stresses for imparting quality

education in institutions

TANGMARG, AUGUST 25: Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir to-day distributed cheques worth Rs 31.2 lakh among 2,155 students of various education institutions under pre-matric scholarship scheme here in Kunzar zone of Tangmarg.

The awareness cum cheques dis-tribution function was organized by the Social Welfare Department at hotel Al-pine in which a large number of school children, officials of Social Welfare de-partment, Teaching faculty and Principal of various education institutions were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion the Minister said that the aim and objective of providing financial assistance is to re-duce the number of drop out students and to provide all genuine amenities to the de-serving students so that they should con-tinue their studies without any hurdle and hindrances.

The Minister said that the gov-ernment has launched several welfare schemes for upliftment of weaker sections of society which are being implemented together by Social Welfare and Education department. The Minister asked the peo-ple to come forward and take full benefit of these schemes.

Mir exhorted upon the students to work hard, set targets, achieve excel-lence and prove their talent in every field of life. The Minister asked the teachers to provide quality education to the students adding that these budding kids are nation builders of future and need of the hour is to imbibe them with quality and moral education.

SRINAGAR, AUGUST 25:

Minister of State for Animal and Sheep Husbandry, Mr Nazir Ahmed Gurezi today asked the Head of De-partments of Animal and Sheep Hus-bandry (ASH) to come up with a De-tail Project Reports (DPRs) for sheep breeding and animal rearing for border areas immediately, so that the same could be taken up with the concerned Union Ministry for ac-cord of necessary sanction.

Chairing a review meeting with the officers of Animal and Sheep Husbandry departments here today convened to discuss the progress of centrally sponsored schemes under ASH sector. Threadbare discussion was held on various issues includ-ing speeding up of construction work of sheds, veterinary Hospital buildings, establishment of Nitro-gen plants and submission of DPRs under NABARD and RKVY to Gov-

ernment of India.While reviewing the construc-

tion of sheds and buildings at Da-ksum Farm, it was informed in the meeting that a project of Rs 18 cr was prepared and forwarded to the Government of India. The Minister directed the Sheep Hus-bandry department to pursue the case.

Detailed discussion was held on establishment of infrastructure at Pouni Chack for which Rs 76 lakh has already been released. Mr Gurezi asked the Animal Husband-ry department to start construction work on the project immediately.

Commissioner Secretary, Animal and Sheep Husbandry, Mr. Ashok Kumar Parmar, Director, Animal Husbandry, Jammu, Director, Ani-mal Husbandry, Kashmir, Direc-tor, Sheep Husbandry, Kashmir and other officers of ASH were present in the meeting.

Mir distributes cheques Rs 31.2 lakh among students

Gurezi for formulation of DPRs for sheep breeding, animal rearing

Says addressing un-employment prob-

lem high on agendaCHADOORA (BUDGAM)

AUGUST 25: - Saying that the present Government is com-mitted to resolve the problem of unemployment in the state, the Minister for Finance and Ladakh Affairs, Mr Abdul Rahim Rather today said a police recruitment rally, as already assured by the chief Minister Mr Omar Abdullah , will be conducted in the up-per belt of Tehsil Chadoora shortly, besides filling of various vacancies in differ-ent government departments on fast track basis. He said, in addition to this, numerous welfare programmes have been made available under both Central and State Self -Employment Programmes like Sher-i- Kashmir Employ-ment and Welfare Programme for Youth (SKEWPY ) for edu-cated un-employed youth to enable them to establish their own income generating units.

Addressing a series of public meetings at Gund-

Maqsood, Zoohama and Dada-Ompora in Tehsil Chadoora , Mr Rather said that the pres-ent government , has imple-mented a well conceived and broad based employment pol-icy which has shown good re-sults on the ground. He said many big success stories have been created by the J&K En-trepreneurship Development Institute (J&KEDI) wherein many youth have now be-come job providers rather than job seekers.Respond-ing to the demands of people, Mr Rather announced that Government will explore the

possibility of constructing a Mega multi Crore Water Sup-ply Scheme at Dood Ganga to meet drinking water needs of the people residing in various adjoining villages from Suri-syar upto Buchroo in Chrar-i-Sharief constituency. The construction of new service Reservoirs, Filtration Plants, overhauling of existing but outdated underground water pipelines, wherever needed in the area shall be the main features of the proposed mega water supply project.

Mr. Rather informed that Rs 1.35 Cr has been released

out of his CDF during last two months for providing additional power transform-ers, transmission wire and replacing worn out electric poles in various areas of the Constituency to streamline and improve power supply fa-cility. He assured that further funds will be released in com-ing days, for this and other purposes, where ever needed. He asked the concerned en-gineers to undertake mac-adamization balance posi-tion of Chadoora to Brenwar Road. He also announced to construct a new water reser-

voir at Babagund to improve drinking water facilities in the area. He asked the engi-neers of irrigation and flood control department to prepare estimates for construction of protection bunds at nallah passing through Dadaompora to protect residential houses during flash floods. He said construction of Rs. 2 cr. Pri-mary Health Centre building and Rs. 75 Lakhs High School building shall be expedited.

Mr. Rather said while gov-ernment was committed to meet aspirations of the people, they too have an obligation to fulfil their responsibilities and duties towards the soci-ety. He urged upon the people to remain united, irrespective of their individual affiliations and thwart the nefarious de-signs of the forces trying to di-vide the society on one pretext or the other for satiating their political interests. He said if the activities of unconstruc-tive forces are not curbed at this stage, it shall be disas-trous for the peace, unity and integrity of the state adding that posterity will not forgive us for this laxity.

Rather for checking emergence of negative politics

SRINAGAR, AUGUST 25: The Department of Ecology, Environ-ment & Remote Sensing (EE&RS) organized a daylong training pro-gramme for ICAR Summer School on “Temperate Agro Forestry for Sustenance and Climate Modera-tion” at the Conference Hall of the Department of Economics and Statis-tics, Bemina here today.

The training pro-gramme was designed to en-courage the researchers from various agricultural institu-tions of India and sensitize them on the issue of Climate Change and use of Geo-informatics.

Director, EE&RS while speak-ing on the occasion said that climate change and agriculture are inter re-lated processes, both of which take place on a global scale. Global warm-ing is projected to have a significant

impact on conditions affecting agri-culture, including temperature, car-bon dioxide, glacial run-off, precipi-tation and the interaction of these elements.

He exhorted the agriculture scientists to develop resilient crops that can grow in a higher range of temperatures without affecting

the yield and hoped to develop new mechanisms, wherein, geospatial technology could be better used for mitigation and adaptation for con-taining the impacts of changing cli-mate.

The training workshop was attended by the Scientists and Profes-

sors of various Agricultural Institu-tions across India like FCRI-Tamil Nadu, NRC (AF)-Jhansi, ASPEE-Gu-jarat, SHIATS-Allahabad, UHF-So-lan, BAU-Ranchi, besides, Scientists from SKUAST-K and Scientists from SKUAST-J were also present.

Different speakers deliber-ated on the Basics & Applications of

Geo-informatics in For-estry and he also gave brief on the ongoing ac-tivities of the Department and made presentation on the Climate Change

in Kashmir Valley and Assessing its Impact Using Remote Sensing and GIS. It was followed by healthy dis-cussion on the use of Geo-informatics in Agro Forestry and quantifying the possible impacts and subsequent ad-aptations of Climate Change in the region.

Daylong workshop on Geo-in-formatics, Climate Change held

at Bemina Srinagar

COUNCIL-2014House passes obituaries to departed legislators SRINAGAR, AUGUST 25- Speaking on obitu-

ary references, the Chairman, Legislative Council Mr. Amrit Malhotra expressed profound sorrow and grief on the behalf of house on sad demise of Ex-Speakers Choudhary Mohammad Aslam, Mr. Abdul Ahad Vakil, , Ex-Minister Mr. Mohammad Akbar Ganai, and Miss Mehmooda Ahmed Ali Shah,Ex-Member Legislative Assembly.He said that words are inadequate to convey the feelings of this House on the loss caused to the nation as well as State in general due to their sad demise. “This House pays homage to the memories of ex-legislators and prayed to God that their souls may rest in peace”, he added.The Members who spoke on the reference are Ravin-der Kumar Sharma, Mohammad Muzaffer Paray, Vi-jay Bakaya, Sheikh Ghulam Rasool, Dr. B. A. Veeri, G. Q. Perdesi, Najeeb Suharawardhy, Ajatshatru Singh, Devinder Singh Rana, Naresh Kumar Gupta, Jehangir Hussain Mir, Showkat Hussain Ganai, Dr. Shehnaz Ganai, Syed Naeem Akhtar, Sayed Rafiq Ahmad Shah and Dharamveer Singh Oberoi. The Minister for Higher Education Mr. Mohammad Ak-bar Lone also expressed his views on the reference.Replying on the obituary reference, the Minister for Planning, Labour and Employment Mr. Ajay Sad-hotra shed light on the lives and political career of the departed legislators and termed it a great loss to the state. He said that these legislators have con-tributed immensely for betterment of the people and overall development of the state.

Consider making some plans for a vacation or short getaway, Libra. Looking forward to something fun can make even the tough-est of days far easier to handle. You’ll be amazed how much you can manage when there’s an end in plain sight. Your entire attitude can lighten. So take the bull by the horns and create an incentive for yourself. Do something special to reward the hard work you do day after day.

Don’t judge someone if he or she has a different lifestyle than what you consider to be OK, Scorpio. You probably lean toward the traditional, yet not everyone feels this way about re-lationships, working, or lifestyle. While it may seem impossible to understand and even frighten you, try not to be too harsh on those you deem odd. You’d be better off using that energy to keep your own life on track.

Friends seeking advice or a shoulder to cry on could be plentiful today, Sagittarius. You’re one of best people to give them the support and care they need. Just be sure that you don’t give so much to others that you don’t have anything left for yourself. True friendship is about sharing and the exchange of problems and help. Running yourself down will leave you in a place where you aren’t going to be much help to anyone.

Getting through today shouldn’t pose too big a problem for you, Capricorn. You may feel a huge second wind that can give you the drive and determination to see your chores and projects through. Make some plans for this evening, such as getting to-gether with friends or taking in an event that really intrigues you. Until then, go about your tasks bit by bit. You’ll get things finished before you know it.

Working within boundaries and restrictions could really get to you today, Aquarius. Yours is an independent spirit and your best achievements are often born of doing things your own way. Yet like it or not, we all have to follow guidelines and rules. Do your best to follow suit and finish what needs to be done. Afterward, you may find more freedom to act independently without consequences. Exercise patience and diligence as needed today.

Chances are that you’ll feel upbeat and positive today, Pisces. Consider sharing this energy with those around you who are feel-ing less than content. Your attitude can have a profound effect on friends, partners, spouses, and children. Even neighbors and ex-tended family can pick up on your spirit without you even real-izing it. Share your optimism with everyone you can today. If you see someone hurt or angry.

Feeling the effects of today’s energies, Virgo? Take heart if this is the case, because the end of the tunnel isn’t as far away as it seems. Do your best to take things one step at a time and see about making some plans for a little fun this evening. Get together with friends or take in a movie. Help yourself feel better by staying busy and focused and follow up with some recreation. Before you know it, the aspect will pass and you’ll be back to normal.

Don’t discount your ability to be extremely resourceful if you need to be, Aries. If you don’t have everything you need or all of the required information, take time to think. Who can you ask? What places can you access? Who might know where you can find what you need? Rather than panic because the pieces aren’t all there, instead make a list of contacts and go for it. Trust in yourself.

Try not to let today’s blues get you down, Taurus. While it’s true that some days can seem to drag on, the busier you are the faster time will pass. Get down to finishing any work still before you and then make plans for tonight. If there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, not only will things seem to speed up but you’ll feel better knowing it’s coming.

Dare to be different, Gemini. It can be so easy to fall into a drill. Sleeping at the same time, eating at the same time, wearing the same style, and going about work the same way day after day. Be-fore you know it, you feel like you’re in a rut. The only way to get away from this is to make a decision to break free by doing some-thing unique. Try a new haircut. Wear colors that are unusual for you. If the need is there, consider a new career. Pursue expansion.

If your lifestyle is considerably different than that of others, re-sist feeling self-conscience about it today, Cancer. Try to remember that you chose the life you have for specific reasons. Even if you’ve come to a point where you’re considering a change, there’s no need to feel badly, ashamed, or embarrassed about where you are now. Everyone has to make his or her own way. If this conforms to the norm, that’s fine. If it doesn’t, that’s fine, too.

An enhanced feeling of determination could motivate you today, Leo. Finish the things that aren’t complete and make some plans for this evening. Don’t hesitate to take on something that feels compli-cated or big. Chances are you’ll be able to handle most anything and it will feel great when it’s finished. Enjoy your day by making the most of opportunity.

Daily Zabarwan TimesEDITORIAL/ OPINIONEDITORIAL/ OPINIONDaily Zabarwan TimesSrinagar, Tuesday 26 August 2014

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

Weaker Pakistan detrimental to India’s interests

The ultimate lesson all of us have to learn is unconditional love, which includes not

only others but ourselves as well.

Quote of the day

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

The continuous bor-der skirmishes have crashed Indo-Pak relations to ground zero level and there

is no respite in incessant fir-ing which has made the life of people living alongside of in-ternational border and L.O.C a hell. Village after village is mi-grating leaving behind their ev-erything including their dream houses which have now become death trap for them. The firing has left several civilians killed and injured and destroyed properties causing enormous problems for the hapless peo-ple. The Secretary level talks which were called off by India have added fuel to the fire and destroyed the very cause of both the countries. It is unfor-tunate that over seventy inci-dents of violation of cease-fire have occurred since Mr.Modi took as Prime Minister. Though serious concerns have been ex-pressed by international com-munity on the break of talks, the two countries have miserably failed to safeguard the earlier Confidence Building Measures and initiate some more so that the hostile atmosphere prevail-ing at present could have been minimized. One only hopes that good sense will prevail on lead-ers of both the countries to de-crease hostilities so that people of both the countries will not have to suffer very often. Some politic al observers believe that the internal situation of Pa-kistan caused by present upris-ing due to a movement started by Tahreek-e-Insaf Patry and a religious cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri has provided an opportunity to the ruling class to divert the at-tention of the people. The Army in that country has always been in search of an opportunity to grab the power by throwing the elected govt. It is because of this that several forces must be up in arms to create hostilities on the borders and exploit the in-ternal situation of Pakistan. In-dia should realize that a stron-ger Pakistan is beneficial for it and a military rule and weaker Pakistan can be detrimental for its interests. Hence without going for retaliation and offen-sives, it should help that coun-try to stabilize so that democra-cy takes deep roots there and a new era of peace and friendship dawns.

Daily Zabarwan TimesEDITORIAL/ OPINIONEDITORIAL/ OPINIONDaily Zabarwan TimesSrinagar, Saturday 08 March 2014

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

Sincere efforts needed to cement Indo-Pak relations

Despite Pakistan’s inde-cisiveness over decla-ration of India as most

favored nation for trade and commerce, resumption of trade activities from both Chikend-abad- Rawalakot and Salam-bad-Chokoti has eased the tense situation which had developed between the two countries for the last over a year. It is not the question of earning some bucks or sending some trade items across the line of control but it is the question of creating an atmosphere which in turn gen-erates people to people contact and gradually eliminates ill will against each other. It is because of this factor that the people with vision from both the sides stress on increased people to people contact which accord-ing to them will pave a way for addressing all outstanding is-sues between the two countries. When the two countries start-ed some confidence building measures a few years back no-body at that time believed that these will help in the creation of a friendly atmosphere and the people of the two countries will see a new era of cordiality unlike the past animosities which cost heavily on both the countries. There is no problem on earth which cannot be dealt and ad-dressed through negotiations and whose solution cannot be carved out while sitting across the table. India has taken some strides forward and now it is the turn of Pakistan to reciprocate with the same zeal, spirit, hon-esty and sincerity. For this pur-pose it is imperative to create an atmosphere where both the countries will have full faith and confidence on each other. There are still some irritants in the way of large scale trade and com-merce and ultimate atmosphere for the solution of outstanding issues and one of the main irri-tant is the cross boarder terror-ism which has to be dealt and for which Pakistan has to see that its soil is used against any country. Even the Pakistan Prime Min-ister Nawaz Sharief after taking over had clearly mentioned that the relations with India will be his top priority and Pakistani soil will not allowed to be used against any country. If this is the spirit then no power on earth can stop the two countries com-ing closer, cementing their ties and providing a cordial and friendly future for their people.

Income Tax Ombudsman: Take his help to Redress Your Grievances

As a taxpayer, you may have some very legiti-mate grievances relating to your income-tax mat-ters of settlement of your

claims. You may, for example, feel that the Income Tax Department owes you a certain refund of tax but it is not doing enough to hear your grievance of complaint nor taking action to redress it. You may also be aggrieved about the rude behaviour of officials or their failure to follow instructions and circulars of the Board. In all such cases, you can approach your Income tax Ombuds-man. Before you do so, however, you have to ensure that certain condi-tions are fulfilled. The Ombudsman is governed by, and has to act with-in, the framework of the Income Tax Ombudsman Guidelines, 2006. The institution of Ombudsman is of Scandinavian origin. The Om-budsman enquires into grievances or complaints against the function-ing of a public authority. In our own country, the Income tax Ombuds-man is appointed by the Central Government. He is usually a person with vast experience in tax adminis-tration, but functions independent-ly of it. At present, the Government has appointed Ombudsman at New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kanpur, Chandigarh, Pune, Bhopal, Kochi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. What Grievances can you take to the Ombudsman

You can complain to the Om-budsman about your grievances re-lating to delays in disposal or settle-ment of claims connected with: a. Issue of refunds;b. Interest waiver petitions;c. Appeal effects;d. Rectification applications;e. Release of seized books of ac-counts and assets;f. Allotment of PANs/ issue of PAN Cards. You can also complain of such mat-ters as failure to:a. Give credit for taxes paid, including tax deducted at source;b. Maintain transparency in selec-tion of cases for scrutiny;c. Follow the guidelines, circu-lars and instructions of the Central Board of Direct Taxes;d. Observe proper working hours by Income-tax officials;e. Acknowledge letters and doc-uments forwarded by the assessee;f. Maintain or update records and registers leading to harassment. “A person can also complain about any unwarranted rude behavior of In-come Tax officials with assesses.” Etc., For further details, please re-fer to clause 9 of the Guidelines.

Procedure to be Followed

On receiving complaint, the Ombudsman will examine it to see if certain basic conditions laid down in the guidelines have been fulfilled or not. He cannot take notice of the complaint unless these conditions are fulfilled. These conditions are: i. The complaint should have been signed by the complainant as well as his authorized representa-tive, in case the complainant is rep-resented by such an authorized rep-resentative.ii. The complaint should clearly

indicate/provide:a) The name, address and PAN of the complainant;b) The name and designation of the official who is being complained against (this should invariably be the junior most officer who has giv-en rise to the grievance, not below the rank of an Income Tax Officer)’c) The facts giving rise to the com-plaint;d) Supporting documents; ande) The relief sought from the Om-budsman.iii. The Ombudsman will accept complaints filed through the elec-tronic media if they are otherwise in order, but the print out of such a complaint has to be signed by the complainant at the earliest. After he does so, the complaint would relate back to the date on which it was first received electronically. A complaint shall not lie to the Ombudsman unless in the first in-stance, the complainant had also made a written representation to the superior authority of the officer complained against. Also, a com-plainant can complain only if he has received no reply and more than one month has passed since he submit-ted his representation. Alternative-ly, he can also complain if he has re-ceived a reply but he is not satisfied with it, or if his representation has been rejected. No complaint can be made:i. 12 months after the re-ply was received from the superior

authority;ii. 13 months after the representation was submitted to the superior authority but no reply was received. Remember, the Ombudsman will not take cognizance of the complaint if it has been the subject matter of : a. an earlier settlement made by the OmbudsmanORb. an appeal, revision, reference or writ before any Income-tax authori-ty or a court of law. On receiving a complaint, the Om-budsman shall forward it to the of-ficer complained against and shall endeavour to settle it by an agree-ment through either conciliation or mediation. If the officer cannot set-tle the grievance by agreement with the complainant within a period of one month, or such further time as the Ombudsman may allow, the Ombudsman will mediate and try to bring about an agreement. If he still does not succeed, he can make an ‘award’.

Powers The Ombudsman has the following powers:

i) He can receive complaints on matters indicated in clause 9 of the Guidelines.ii) He can consider these com-plaints and settle them either by agreement through conciliation and mediation or by passing an appro-priate award.iii) He can require the Income-tax authority concerned to provide any information or furnish certified cop-ies of relevant documents required by him.iv) In the event of the failure of an Income-tax authority, to furnish such information or documents (in-dicated in para iii above), he may

draw an adverse inference.v) He can suggest remedial mea-sures for redressal of grievances.vi) He can also report his findings to the Secretary, Department of Rev-enue and Chairman, C.B.D.T.

Duties The duties of the

Ombudsman are to:i) Exercise powers of superinten-dence and control over his office.ii) Maintain confidentiality of information coming into his pos-session and not divulge the same to third parties, except with the consent of the person who furnish-es such information. He may, how-ever, divulge such information to an opposing party to the dispute in order to reasonably comply with the principles of natural justice.iii) Protect the taxpayers’ rights and reduce their compliance bur-den.iv) Identify issues that increase the burden of compliance and bring the same to the notice of the CBDT and Ministry of Finance.v) Furnish a monthly report to the Chairman, CBDT and Secretary, Department of Revenue recom-mending appropriate action includ-ing that to be taken against erring officials.vi) Furnish an annual review of the tax administration to the Chairman, CBDT and Secretary,

Department of Revenue.vii) Compile a list of awards made by him during the financial year and report the same to the Chief Commissioners concerned and Chairman, CBDT so that the same can be taken into account while writing the Annual Confidential Reports of the officials concerned.

Nature of the Proceedings

The proceedings before the Om-budsman are quasi-judicial in na-ture. He is not bound by any legal rules of evidence. He is expected at all times to be fair and reasonable while performing his functions.

Nature of Awards As already indicated, he shall try to settle a complaint by agreement in the first instance. If such agreement is not forthcom-ing within a month or such further time as the Ombudsman may al-low, he may make an award. This shall be speaking order and shall clearly specify the directions to the authority concerned- including making of an apology. The award, however, cannot affect the quan-tum of total income or tax assessed or the penalty already imposed. The Ombudsman can award com-pensation upto Rs. 1000/- for the loss suffered by the complainant. Such compensation will be the first charge on the budget allotted to the authority complained against. The award shall be binding on the de-partment but it shall be binding on the assessee, only if he issues a letter of acceptance within 15 days of its receipt. If the complainant does not accept the award or fails to furnish a letter of acceptance within 15 days or further period of

15 days if the Ombudsman permits, it shall lapse and be of no effect. If it is accepted by the assessee, the authority complained against has to implement the award within one month of its having being made. Compliance of having done so has to be reported to the Ombudsman.

Check List A check list has been prepared to help you file a complaint. This is given below: 1. The complaint has not been signed by the complainant.2. It has not been signed by the authorized representative.3. It does not contain:-a. The name and address of the complainantb. Supporting documentsc. Details of the relief sought from the Ombudsman.4. It has been made electroni-cally but the hard copy (print out) does not have the complainant’s signature.5. The complainant does not seem to have reported to the imme-diate superior of the officer com-plained against.6. More than one month has not passed before the representation to the immediate superior was filed.7. The complainant does not ap-pear to be aggrieved with the reply received from the immediate supe-rior.8. (a) The complaint has been made after the expiry of one year

from the receipt of the reply of the immediate superior;OR (b) Where no reply has been received from the immediate supe-rior:The complaint has been filed after the lapse of 13 months from the date of filing of the representation before the immediate superior.9. The complaint is the Subject matter of an earlier proceeding with the Ombudsman.10. The ground(s) of the complaint is/are also the subject matter of a proceeding in appeal, revision, ref-erence or writ before an appellate authority or a revisionary authori-ty or a Court of Law.11. The ground is not covered by Guideline 9 of the Income Tax Om-budsman Guidelines, 2006.12. The complainant is represent-ed by an authorized representa-tive but no power of attorney to represent the complainant has been filed before the Ombuds-man. Remember, the answer to every statement in the check list should be negative. A positive response to statements are Sr. No. 1 to 7 and 12 would indicate that the complaint is defective and the Ombudsman cannot proceed further to redress your grievance till the defect is re-moved. A positive response to statements at Sr. No. 8 to 11, on the other hand, would indicate that not only is the complaint defective but it is also incurable. No purpose would be served by filing such a complaint. We all have a positive responsibil-ity in making this institution effec-tive. We can do so by ensuring that we eschew the defects indicated in the check list given above and avoid filing frivolous or vexatious com-plaints.