page1final.qxd (page 2) · 2020. 5. 16. · pathak gets addl charge excelsior correspondent jammu,...

Cop martyred, 5 OGWs arrested

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, May 16: A copwas martyred in a militantattack in South Kashmir'sKulgam district while five OverGround Workers of militantswere arrested in Budgam dis-trict and a hideout was busted inPulwama.

Militants attacked a nakaparty at Frisal Chowk in districtKulgam, resulting in seriousinjuries to a policeman,Mohammad Amin Bagad of vil-lage Sangarwani in district

Pathak gets addl charge

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, May 16: TheGovernment today assignedadditional charge of ChiefExecutive Officer (CEO Jammuand Kashmir EnergyDevelopment Agency (JAKE-DA) to Bipul Pathak, PrincipalSecretary to the Lt Governorafter shifting the incumbentOwais Ahmed to GeneralAdministration department forfurther posting.

According to two separate

ExcelsiordailyREGD. NO. JK-71/18-20RNI No. 28547/65Follow us: Daily Excelsior JAMMU, SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2020 8+4 (Magazine)=12 Pages `̀ 5.00

Vol No. 56No. 135

Crackdown on corruption: Govt supersedes JKSCBL Board for Rs 223 cr loan scam

Neeraj RohmetraJAMMU, May 16: In a

major crackdown against cor-ruption on the directions ofLieutenant Governor GirishChandra Murmu, theGovernment today supersed-ed the Board of Jammu andKashmir State CooperativeBank Limited (JKSCBL) andappointed new official Boardincluding the Chairman andthe Managing Director afterdetecting major irregularitiesand violations of all norms insanction of Rs 223 crore worthloan to a non-existent bodynamed River JhelumCooperative House BuildingSociety for construction ofsatellite township at Shivpora,Srinagar..

The Government hasattached `Seed Farm' situated atDhar Bagh, Shivpora spreadover nearly 257 kanals of land inSrinagar which had been pur-chased from the loan amount.

The NABARD, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB)Jammu and Kashmir and the

Registrar Cooperatives in theirseparate enquiries into sanctionof Rs 223 crore worth loans bythe Bank to a non-existentSociety have established thefraud committed by the Board ofDirectors.

The Lieutenant Governorhas already directed allGovernment Departments to gotough against corruption in vari-ous institutions and detection ofRs 223 crore worth fraud by theJKSCBL is a step in that direc-tion as supersession of the Boardof the Bank will send a strongmessage to all those indulging incorrupt practices.

“Some influential personswere involved in the scam andtheir identity may surface duringfurther inquiries into the sanc-tion of loan,'' official sourcestold the Excelsior.

After superseding theBoard, the Government todayappointed the DivisionalCommissioner Kashmir asChairman and TassaduqHussain Mir, KAS as

Managing Director of theBank. The Members nominat-ed to the Board includedGeneral Manager NABARD,Additional RegistrarCooperative Kashmir,Moksha Kazmi, SeniorAdvocate, J&K High Court,Rajni Saraf, President J&KBank and R Saboti, CharteredAccountant.

“The Reserve Bank of Indiais being consulted for confirm-ing the order of supersession ofBoard of Directors and appoint-ment of new Board,'' sourcessaid, adding the new ManagingDirector today took a meeting ofthe officers of the JKSCBL.

Mohammad Shaffi Dar,Chairman of the Bank, has beenbooked by the Anti-CorruptionBureau.

Sources said the Chairmanin connivance with officials andbeneficiaries, had sanctioned Rs223 crore fraudulently in favourof a non-existent co-operativesociety - River Jhelum Co-oper-ative Housing Building Society.

It was further revealed thatthe Chairman of the so-calledsociety had moved an applica-tion in the Department of Co-operative Societies, seekingdirections to the J&KCooperative Bank for grant offinancial assistance of Rs 300crore for taking over possessionof 300 kanals of land on the out-skirts of Srinagar City for con-struction of a satellite township.

"J&K Cooperative Bank,Srinagar, sanctioned a loan tothe tune of Rs 223 crores with-out obtaining any details of thesociety like balance sheet,profit and loss account busi-ness, activities being done bythe society, PAN number,Income Tax Returns detailsand details of construction ofthe Board, and Board resolu-tions among other things," theofficial said.

Inquiries had revealed thatthe River Jhelum Co-operativeHousing Building Society wasnot even registered with Jammu

12 pregnant women, dead manamong 61 test +ve in Kashmir

Fayaz BukhariSRINAGAR, May 16: In

the highest single day spike inCoronavirus positive cases inKashmir, 12 pregnant womenand a 70-year old man whodied in SKIMS today wereamong 61 people who testedpositive in the Valley takingthe number of positive cases inJammu and Kashmir to 1121while Corona death toll is now12.

A 70-year-old man fromBudgam today died at SKIMS

Soura and he later tested posi-tive in the evening taking theCOVID-19 deaths in Jammu andKashmir to 12.

Medical SuperintendentSKIMS, Professor Farooq Jan,told Excelsior that the man hadsuffered heart attack and wasreported to Casualty section latelast night and died this morning.He said that he had chest ailmentalso and his sample was takenand it tested positive thisevening".

The body was kept in mortu-

ary and has been handed over tothe family after completing for-malities as per COVID-19 pro-

tocol. The 70-year old man wasa resident of Buchru Chadoorain Budgam district.

The Srinagar district hasreported 4 of the deaths, high-est in any district, followed by3 in Baramulla and one eachin Bandipora, Anantnag,Budgam, Udhampur andJammu.

With today's cases, the num-ber of COVID-19 positive casesin Jammu and Kashmir is now

1121 with 989 in Kashmir.. Thetotal number of active positivecases is 567 with 497 inKashmir. So far 542 people haverecovered including 482 inKashmir while 12 persons diedso far.

Dr Farooq Jan told Excelsiorthat 37 tested positive at SKIMSPathology Lab today including

12 from Kupwara, 3 fromAnantnag and one each fromBaramulla and Budgam.

The positive cases fromKupwara Include 8-year-oldgirl, 24-year-old, 29-year-old,36-year-old, 38-year-old, 48-year-old and 61-year-old womenfrom Gonipora Handwara, threemen aged 25, 28 and 43 yearsbesides 19-year-old man fromWarpora and 40-year-old manfrom Kralpora in districtKupwara.

The three persons whosesamples were collected at DHAnantnag tested positive atSKIMS include 25-year-old manfrom Damhal, 26-year-old manfrom Anantnag, and 32-year-oldman from Kunzer Baramulla, allwith travel history of Bhopal.The Baramulla case is a 55-year-old man while Budgam cases isa 70-year-old from Chadoorawho died at SKIMS.

The Nodal officerGovernment Medical CollegeSrinagar, Dr Salim Khan, toldExcelsior that 1002 sampleswere tested at CD hospital'sCovid-19 laboratory and 17 per-sons tested positive. He said that

Mohinder VermaJAMMU, May 16: There is

no end to the crisis in theJammu and Kashmir ForensicScience Laboratory (FSL) asthe decision about the reorga-nization taken several monthsback has remained on papersbecause of the absolute non-seriousness on the part of theconcerned authorities.

Due to inaction on the deci-sion of the then StateAdministrative Council almostall the posts of ScientificOfficers and Assistant ScientificOfficers are lying vacant andnon-technical officials are rulingthe roost in the lab, which other-wise is supposed to play a cru-cial role in the criminal justice

system.Vide Government Order

No.594 dated June 11, 2019, thePrincipal Secretary to theGovernment, Home DepartmentShaleen Kabra ordered place-ment of eight Scientific Officersof the Forensic ScienceLaboratory as Incharge DeputyDirectors in their own pay andgrade for a period of six monthsor till the posts are filled up onregular basis on the recommen-dations of the DPC/PSC.

Thereafter, the then StateAdministrative Council videDecision No.274/22/2019 datedOctober 22, 2019 accordedsanction to the reorganization ofthe J&K Forensic ScienceLaboratory in order to overcomethe crisis which the Lab is facing

during the past several decades.However, despite lapse of

several months the much-needed reorganization hasremained on the papers onlybecause of absolute non-seri-ous approach on the part of allthe concerned authorities par-ticularly those who are at thehelm of affairs in the ForensicScience Laboratory, sourcestold EXCELSIOR.

The major aspect of the reor-ganization was creation of 88additional posts particularly oftechnical cadre like ScientificOfficers and non-technical cadrelike Assistant Scientific Officersfor all the divisions of the FSLlike narcotics/chemical, biolo-gy/serology, physical and tech-

Almost all posts of Scientific Officers, Assts lying vacant

No end to crisis in J&K FSL as reorganization remains on papers

*Non-technical officials rule the roost in labSanjeev PargalJAMMU, May 16: Jammu

today again recorded singleday highest number of Coronapositive cases of 23 includingfour females, all of whom werestranded persons returningfrom trains and buses andtheir contacts, taking numberof total cases in the region to145 and active cases to 83,while three Corona patientsincluding an 85-year old manwith comorbidity were treatedand discharged from the ChestDiseases Hospital.

Kathua recorded highestnumber of 11 cases today fol-lowed by six in Ramban, twoeach in Jammu and Samba andone each in Udhampur andPoonch. This was the firstCOVID-19 positive case in

Poonch district.Late tonight, two persons

from Bishnah tehsil of Jammudistrict including a female, whohad returned from New Delhi,tested positive for COVID-19.Two persons from Samba dis-trict, one of them a female stu-dent, also tested positive.Another person hailing from

Udhampur was tested Coronapositive late in the night.

All late night five Coronapositive reports were confirmedin the Government MedicalCollege (GMC) Jammu.

Teams have been sent to shiftall five to hospitals from quaran-tine centres, who were asympto-matic.

District Magistrate KathuaOP Bhagat told the Excelsiorthat 11 persons from the dis-trict, who had returned fromdifferent parts of the countryand were under administra-tive quarantine at differentplaces, have tested positive forCoronavirus today.

“All of the positive caseshave been identified and arebeing sent to the hospitals fromdifferent quarantine centres,''Bhagat said, adding all of themare asymptomatic. Their con-tacts are being traced for isola-tion and sample testing.

Of 11 Kathua positives, fourhailed from Basohli and hadtravel history of Gujarat andNew Delhi while 28-year oldwoman belonged to Rajbagh andhad travel history to New Delhi.

Students, women among 23 more test Corona +ve; Jammu tally 145

NEW DELHI, May 16:

In bold reforms aimed atboosting sagging economy, theGovernment today announcedan easing of limits on ForeignDirect Investment in defencemanufacturing, privatisationof six more airports, openingup of more air space andallowing private sector in com-mercial coal mining.

Also, the list of weapons thatcannot be imported will beexpanded to give Make in Indiaa boost.

The private sector will alsobe involved in the Indian spaceprogramme including in futureprojects for planetary explo-ration and outer space travel as

well as satellite launches.Announcing the fourth

tranche of the economic stimu-lus package that largely dealtwith reforms and almost negligi-ble new investment, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamansaid foreign investors would beallowed to own up to a 74 percent stake in defence manufac-turing ventures under the auto-matic route, up from the current49 per cent limit.

This would be subject tosecurity clearance norms, shesaid.

Also, the Government willexpand the list of weapons/plat-forms banned for imports withyear-wise timelines and indi-genisation of some imported

Govt to raise FDI in defence production; open coal, mineral mining

* Bold reforms to boost sagging economy

Nishikant KhajuriaJAMMU, May 16: To

facilitate the hassle free returnof migrant workers and otherstranded persons of differentStates in Jammu and Kashmir,the Union TerritoryGovernment today issuedStandard OperatingProcedures (SOPs) for theirdeparture movement.

"The trains for various desti-nations in the country will leavefrom Railway Station Katra,where the migrant workers andstranded persons shall bebrought in an organized mannerfrom their respective places ofstay in the UT of J&K for theirfurther departure," reads theSOP order, issued today byShaleen Kabra, PrincipalSecretary to Government, Home

Department, who has been des-ignated as Nodal Officer forMovement of Stranded Personsof J&K.

As per the directions con-tained in the SOPs, the NodalOfficer will seek requisition oftrains from the Railways on thebasis of information provided bythe Labour Commissioner,which should be duly vettedafter verification on groundbefore furnishing the same sincethe consent of the receiving stateis also required.

The Labour Commissionerwill provide full train passengermanifest along with destinationdistricts of a particular State,

preferably all those going to aparticular destination district inthe same train besides destina-tion district wise summery andthis information should be fur-nished at least four days inadvance of the likely departure.

Thereafter, the Nodal officerof J&K UT shall notify thedeparture schedule of the trainswhile Saurabh Bhagat,Commissioner Secretary Labourand Employment Departmentshall assist him for the same.

As the arrival to Katrafrom across the UT will haveto be coordinated with refer-ence to the departure schedule

Gopal SharmaJAMMU, May 16: Two

persons including a dumperdriver were killed, seven oth-ers injured and at least ninevehicles including two trucksand an oil tanker were dam-aged when sudden landslideshit Jammu-Srinagar NationalHighway in Ramban area thisevening.

Official sources told theExcelsior that highway nearCafeteria Morh in Ramban wasblocked since 2 pm today due tolandslides and frequent shootingstones, as the road wideningwork was also in progress simul-taneously in this stretch. A largenumber of vehicles had beenstranded on both sides of thehighway in Ramban area. At around 6 pm, the high-way was partially restored at this

point and there was very slow

2 killed, 7 injured; 9 vehicles damaged in Ramban landslide

Centre withdraws 10CAPF Coys from Jammu

NEW DELHI, May 16: The Union Home Ministry

today ordered withdrawal of 10CAPF companies from Jammuand Kashmir and sent nine suchunits to Maharashtra, officialssaid.

They said the 10 units com-prising over 1,000 personnel arebeing withdrawn from Jammuregion of the Union Territory.

No units of the paramilitaryforces deployed in Kashmir

CAT to ensure speedy disposal of J&K, Ladakh

service matters: ChairmanNEW DELHI, May 16:

Central AdministrativeTribunal (CAG) Chairman LNarasimha Reddy today saidthat establishment of benches atvarious places including in theUnion Territories of Jammu andKashmir and Ladakh and toensure speedy disposal of casesis purely the responsibility ofthe Tribunal, which didn't shirkfrom its duties at any point of

HighlightsFollowing are the high-

lights of the fourth tranche ofthe Rs 20 lakh crore compre-hensive economic packageannounced by Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman to tideover the COVID-19 crisis:

Defence:* FDI in defence manufac-

turing to be hiked to 74 per centfrom 49 per cent under auto-matic route * Govt to notify alist of weapons/platformsbanned for imports, such itemscan only be purchased fromIndia * To promote indigenisa-tion of imported spares, focuson lowering defence import bill

85-yr-old man, 2 others treated at CD HospitalCS writes to FSon evacuation ofJ&K people

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, May 16: After theevacuation of JK students fromthe neighbouring countryBangladesh amid COVID pan-demic, Jammu and KashmirGovernment has approached theCentre with the request to bringback the UT residents strandedin Oman, Dubai and Iran underits 'Vande Bharat Mission'.

In this regard, ChiefSecretary, B V RSubrahmanyam has written to

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Special trains to leave from Katra Railway Station

‘Seed Farm’ spread over 257 kanals land in Srinagar attached

New Board of Directors appointed to run affairs

Avtar BhatJAMMU, May 16: Strong

resentment is brewing amongthe inmates of quarantine cen-tres over alleged lack of facili-ties and delay in results of testfor the Novel Coronavirus(COVID-19).

As per the reports, the people

quarantined in M A Stadium vir-tually protested against theadministration today and saidthey were better at Delhi andother places where from theycame as they were at least put-ting up in their flats and quarterssafely. They alleged thatGovernment was exposing them

to more risk as large number ofpeople have been quarantinedwith no focus on social distanc-ing.

However, administration

contested the claims of the quar-antined people and said thatdespite influx of large number ofstranded people no stone is being

Quarantined people resentlack of adequate facilities

Govt issues SOPs for hassle free return of stranded migrant workers in J&K

*Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com

All steps for people’s welfare: Admn

People show resentment against administration at M AStadium quarantine centre on Saturday. -Excelsior/Rakesh

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COVID tally crosses90,000, deaths 2800NEW DELHI, May 16: The nationwide COVID-19

tally crossed 90,000 today withnew cases getting detected fromGanjam in Odisha to Patna inBihar to Thrissur in Kerala, andmostly among people havingreturned from big Indian citiesor even from abroad.

Several big urban centresalso continued to report largenumbers, with just five of them -- Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad,Chennai and Pune -- now takinga share of over 50 per cent in thenationwide count of the deadlyvirus infection with close to46,000 cases. These five alsoaccount for over half of thenationwide death toll of close tonearly 2,800 so far. (PTI)

Trucks trapped in landslides at Seri on Jammu-Srinagar NHin Ramban sector on Saturday. -Excelsior/Parvez Mir

Safety of road users being compromised on NH

Highest single day spike in COVID cases

People carrying milk pots walking at Khan-e-Kah-Molla roadin downtown Srinagar on Saturday. (UNI)

*Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com

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