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REGD.NO.JK-71/15-17RNI No. 28547/65Vol No. 53 No. 288 JAMMU, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2017 20 Pages `̀ 5.00

Sanjeev PargalJAMMU, Oct 17: Railways

Minister Piyush Goyal todayset 2020 deadline for comple-tion of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail line, which hasjumped several deadlines,leading to massive cost escala-tion notwithstanding "strate-gic significance'' of the proj-ect. He announced launch of"glass top coaches'' betweenKatra-Jammu and "speciallydesigned coaches'' betweenBanihal-Baramulla to pro-mote tourism in Jammu andKashmir.

In a series of tweets aftermeeting Railways MinisterPiyush Goyal in the Union capi-tal this afternoon, Chief MinisterMehbooba Mufti announced thatGoyal has assured completion ofKatra-Banihal railway track by2020, which was the only miss-ing link between Jammu-Srinagar-Baramulla railway lineand would link Kashmir valleywith rest of the country by train.

"Met Railways MinisterPiyush Goyal to discuss various

issues regarding railway projectsin Jammu and Kashmir. Heassured completion of Katra-Banihal railway track by 2020,''Mehbooba tweeted after meet-ing Goyal, who had taken chargeof the Railways Ministry lastmonth from Suresh Prabhu.

Goyal's assurance for com-pletion of Katra-Banihal raillink, which is one of the tough-est rail line in the world, wassignificant as there had been

reports that tough terrain in PirPanchal mountains, where anumber of bridges and tunnelshad to be constructed for therailway line, might lead to delayin the project.

On Mehbooba's demandfor extension of rail line up toKupwara in Kashmir andRajouri-Poonch in Jammu,the Railways Minister agreedin principle to the demand andinformed the Chief Ministerthat preliminary survey on thetwo projects has already beencompleted. The project is nowbeing examined for funding in

the Central Government.The Railways Minister

issued on spot instructions to theMinistry officials for a review ofwork on Katra-Banihal sectionto ensure that 2020 deadline setby him for completion of theproject is met with and there wasno further delay as the projecthas already jumped severaldeadlines, leading to massivecost escalation.

The rail link, apart fromhelping the people of Kashmir totake rail route across the countryand help tourists from variousStates to reach directly toSrinagar and Baramulla, wasalso of great strategic impor-tance as the Valley remained cutoff due to landslides on theNational Highway duringMonsoon and snowfall season.

The then Atal BihariVajpayee Government had in2002 declared Jammu-Srinagarrail link as national project andfixed August 15, 2007 as dead-line for its completion.However, since then severaldeadlines were set for comple-tion of the project but all of them

were missed.Fifty-three kilometers

Jammu-Udhampur, 25 kilome-ters Udhampur-Katra and 119kilometers Banihal-Baramullalinks of Jammu-Srinagar-Baramulla line have alreadybeen completed and were func-tional. Katra-Banihal is the onlymissing link between Jammu-Baramulla.

Goyal announced thatRailways would run cold storecontainers from Jammu to otherparts of the country to ferry hor-ticulture produce from the State.For the purpose, the Secretary,Horticulture would pursue thematter with the Railway authori-ties.

Mehbooba sought running ofmore trains from Jammu toMumbai, Kolkata andAhmedabad to get more touriststo the State. Goyal informed theChief Minister that the Railwayshave started a weekly train-Humsafar-from Kolkata toJammu in view of the touristrush from the area.

Rlys set 2020 deadline forlinking Kashmir with train

Fayaz BukhariSRINAGAR, Oct 17: The

house of People's DemocraticParty (PDP) workerMohammad Ramzan, whowas killed last night by mili-tants, was set ablaze by a mobtoday in Shopian district ofSouth Kashmir.

Around 200 youth fromTrenz village of Shopian districtafter completing last rites ofShowkat Falahi, a Hizb militant,killed last night in a scuffle aftermilitants killed Ramzan,marched to Homun village ofNagbal in Shopian and set the

house of the PDP worker on fire.The youth first sprinkled

petrol on the house of the slain

PDP worker and then set it onfire. The house and two cowsheds were gutted in the blaze

and police immediately reachedthe spot.

The family of Ramzan hadfled away in the morning aftercompleting his last rites.However, two members of thefamily who had stayed backtook shelter in the village beforePolice took them along after themob fled. Police have registereda case and are investigating it.

Three militants, includingFalahi, fired upon Ramzan at hishome in Homun village ofNagbal last night around 8 pm.Falahi was killed in a scuffle andfamily fears for their lives andfled the village in the morning.

And the General OfficerCommanding (GOC) Victor

House of slain PDP worker set ablaze

Taking decisive action against militants: GOC

Adil LateefSRINAGAR, Oct 17: The

Kashmir University's presti-gious Media EducationResearch Centre (MERC)department has been plagueddue to poor infrastructure,lack of latest facilities, modernequipments and placementssince for last several years.

Speaking to Excelsior, thestudents who are currentlyenrolled at MERC listed seriesof problems that they are facingin the department and most ofwhich have been left unad-dressed. From the technologicalpoint of view, the MERC is still

relying on old models of shoot-ing equipments that includevideo cameras. The studentsalleged that the departmentdenies them some of the avail-able new up-to-date equipmentsat the time of requirement.

The MERC students saidthat the departmental studioalso lacks lighting system."The lighting system is notinstalled in the studio and thelights are gathering dust in thestoreroom," they said, addingthat at the time of NAACinspections, the MERCauthorities install them to earngood rankings and then againuninstall. "This clearly shows

that the equipment is for earn-ing rankings and not forteaching students," they said.

The students and insiderssaid that the computer lab is alsoin poor state and most of thecomputers are defunct and someof them were also stolen. TheAir Conditioners (ACs) whichhave been installed in theMERC classrooms are also lyingdefunct for the want of repairwhile the projectors are also notwell equipped. According to stu-dents of the MERC, the depart-ment until few years back usedto hold writing workshops for itsstudents and professionals fromnational and international media

houses used to train the journal-ism students but that has alsobeen stopped now.

The MERC has also stoppedsending students to the mediatours even as the students saythat they having been depositingmoney for the same from pasttwo years. "We have beendepositing the amount for mediatours but no such tour wasorganized last year neither thisyear," said the students currentlypursuing masters in journalismfrom the MERC.

The major problem that MERCpass outs face is lack of placementthrough the department. Students

Govind SharmaJAMMU, Oct 17: Over

70,000 corneal blind peopleand a large number of donorsin Jammu region are feelinghelpless and desperate due toinordinate delay in establish-ment of much needed EyeBank in Government MedicalCollege and Hospital, Jammu.

Sources said that the onlyEye bank operating in the Statewas closed by the Governmentin the year 1994 and thereafterno serious attention was paidtowards making this facilityavailable in the State.

They asserted that huge pop-ulation of blind people and thosesuffering from serious eyeinjuries have no medical facilityin the State and they are beingcompelled to go outside theState at huge expenses.

“Though Right to PublicHealth and Medical Care hasbeen held to be one of the facetsof the Constitution of India yetthis right is being denied to blindpopulation of the State”, sourcessaid, adding, in 2012 a PIL wasfiled in J&K High Court seekingopening of Eye Bank in the Statefollowing which process wasstarted to establish two EyeBanks in the State, one at GMCJammu and another at SMHSHospital, Srinagar.

They said while Eye Bankwas made operational inSMHS Hospital Srinagar inJuly this year and doctorsthere have started doingcornea transplants but the EyeBank at GMC Jammu is stillto be made operational due tonon-serious approach adoptedby the concerned authoritieseven after directions from

State High Court in thisregard.

“The non-availability of theEye Bank facility in Jammu hasbeen denying even the prospec-tive donors of the opportunity todonate their eyes and blind peo-ple to see the world and live ahappy life”, sources said, addingthe nearest Eye Bank facilityavailable for Jammuites is eitherPGI Chandigarh or SMHSSrinagar. However, these facili-ties cannot be availed as accord-ing to the standards of eye bank-ing, cornea/eye should beremoved as soon as possibleafter death and within six hoursof the demise of the donor.

Principal, GMC Jammu,Dr Sunanda Raina, did notrespond to the repeated phonecalls. However, Head,Department ofOphthalmology, GMC

Jammu, Dr Dinesh Gupta,when contacted, said that pre-fab structure of Eye Bank likeoperation theatre, pre/postoperative ward, changingrooms and doctors’ rooms hasbeen constructed at 2nd floorin GMC Jammu and all othercivil works like flooring, falseceiling, electrification andinstallation of ACs have beencompleted.

“Moreover, an ambulance(Force Traveller 3350mm ABSBS IV) meant for Eye Bankamounting to Rs 11 lakh hasalready been provided byDirector, Health ServicesJammu through State HealthTransport Organization (SHTO)Nagrota under NationalHighways Accidental ReliefServices Scheme (NHARSS)”,he said, adding, besides this, all

Resentment brewing among donors, blindpeople as Govt delays opening of Eye Bank

Excelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Oct 17: TheHigh Court today castigatedBoard of ProfessionalEntrance Examination(BOPEE) for not following theReservation Rules for admis-sion of candidates in MDScourse for this year.

"…the BOPEE was and isunder a legal duty to abide bythe law in the shape ofReservation Rules and to makeadmissions to the course inquestion strictly in accordancewith the distribution of seatsprescribed in Rule 15 thereof;and it could not and cannot, actcontrary thereto in any circum-stance or under any garb what-soever", Division Bench ofChief Justice Badar DurrezAhmad and Justice Ali

Mohammad Magrey whileallowing the appeal of one DrNeeru Pangotra seeking admis-sion for MDS course underreservation category.

Court termed the exercise ofBoard as unfortunate whereby ithas thrown the ReservationRules to winds and deprived theappellant-Pangotra of heraccrued right to be admitted tothe course in question.

"Ordinarily, when an author-ity acts contrary to a law, we saythat it has acted in violation ofsuch law. But in the peculiarfacts and circumstances of thiscase, ex-facie and as discernablefrom a reading of the order sopassed by the BOPEE, one is ledto the conclusion that theBOPEE, in effect and inessence, has either assumed toitself the power to amend Rule

15 of the Reservation Rules",DB said.

Court said the decision ofthe BOPEE not to fill in theseat allocated and reserved fora candidate who has fiveyears' rural service at hiscredit, amounts to tantamountto make amendment in theRule in question and such anaction, court said, cannot besustained in law, being withoutany legal authority, jurisdic-tion and justification.

"Not only that, the uncon-scionable action taken by theBOPEE has the effect and trap-pings of it having shown thetemerity of knowingly, deliber-ately and expressly disobeyingthe unambiguous and cleardirection contained in the Courtorder passed on May 24", read

HC castigates BOPEE forviolating Reservation Rules

Mohinder VermaJAMMU, Oct 17: The

work on Jammu and SrinagarSmart Cities’ Projects isunlikely to begin during thecurrent year as neither theUnion Government has so farreleased first installment of Rs200 crore each nor the Boardof Directors (BoDs) of JammuSmart City Limited andSrinagar Smart City Limitedhave prioritized the activitiesto be considered under Phase-I.

The development of capitalcities of Jammu and Kashmirunder Smart City Mission wassanctioned by the UnionMinistry of Urban Developmentvide Communication No.K-15016/157/2015-SC-1 datedJune 28, 2017.

The State Government vide

Order No.1081-GAD datedAugust 21, 2017 constitutedSpecial Purpose Vehicles(SPVs) as Companies Limitedby shares named as JammuSmart City Limited and SrinagarSmart City Limited under theCompanies Act, 2013 withauthorized share capital of Rs 10lakh, equity share of Rs 10 eachand paid up capital of Rs 10 lakhfor both the companies forimplementation of smart citydevelopment projects.

Thereafter, the Board ofDirectors of both the companiesmet under the chairmanship ofCommissioner/Secretary toGovernment, Housing andUrban DevelopmentDepartment and both the BoDsdecided to make a request to theGovernment of India for releaseof first installment of Rs 200crore each for Jammu SmartCity Limited and Srinagar SmartCity Limited, official sourcestold EXCELSIOR.

In the meeting, it was alsodecided that Chief ExecutiveOfficers (CEOs) of JammuSmart City Limited andSrinagar Smart City Limitedwill immediately prioritize theworks to be taken up under

the first installment of Rs 200crore for which formal requestletter was also submitted tothe Union Ministry of UrbanDevelopment.

However, funds from theGovernment of India have yetnot been received. “We areawaiting first installment fromthe Government of India”, offi-cial sources said, adding boththe companies have openedaccounts for directly getting thefunds from the Union Ministryof Urban Development.

Even the Chief ExecutiveOfficers (CEOs) of JammuSmart City Limited andSrinagar Smart City Limitedhave yet not prioritized theworks which would be takenup under the Phase-I, sourcesdisclosed, adding “the delay inthis regard is notwithstandingthe fact that in the Board ofDirectors meeting the CEOswere explicitly told to identifythose works for Phase-I whichcan be completed withinshortest possible time. Thereason behind these directiveswas to ensure early release ofsecond installment following

Work on Jammu, Srinagar Smart Cities’Projects unlikely to begin this year

Unite to foil evil designs: Farooq

Excelsior CorrespondentSRINAGAR, Oct 17:

Opposition NationalConference's president and LokSabha member FarooqAbdullah today asked the peo-ple of Jammu and Kashmir torise above their differences andunite to foil the "evil designs"against the State.

The former Chief Ministermade the remarks at the Charar-e-Sharief shrine where he hadgone to pay obeisance at thetomb of Sheikh Nooruddin

A boy selling docoratives ahead of Diwali festival in Jammu. -Excelsior/Rakesh

House of PDP worker set ablaze by the mob in Shopian onTuesday. -Excelsior/Younis Khaliq

INSIDE WEATHERRevenue deptt sits on wetlands ...Page 10Open Jan Aushadi stores across the State, ensure availabilityof medicines: Governor ...Page 3Zulfkar expresses anguish overslow pace of work on watersupply schemes ....Page 5First ever film on Maharaja GulabSingh being released ...Page 7Bali takes stock of preparednessto control dengue ...Page 9Aakashdeep brings laurels toJ&K, bags first prize in NationalChess C’ship ...Page 18

JAMMU : Mainly clear.

TEMPERATUREMax: 32.8 Degree C Min: 15.1 Degree C

RELATIVE HUMIDITYRH-I (Morning): 59.0 per centRH-II (Evening): 44.0 per centSunset on Wednesday: 05.57 p.m.Sunrise on Thursday: 06.39 a.m.

SRINAGAR:Mainly clear.

TEMPERATUREMax: 25.3 Degree C Min: 5.0 Degree C

RELATIVE HUMIDITYRH-I (Morning): 80.0 per centRH-II (Evening): 46.0 per cent

LEH: TEMPERATURE

Max: 16.3 Degree C Min: -1.7 Degree C

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(Contd on page 6 Col 5)

MHA’s advisoryto States

NEW DELHI, Oct 17: The Union Home Ministry

has asked the StateGovernments to be extra vigi-lant during the ongoing festivalseason against attempts by ter-rorists and subversive elementsto disrupt peace and ignite com-munal tension, an official saidtoday.

In a country-wide adviso-ry, the Ministry asked allStates to deploy additionalforces in crowded places suchas markets, railway stations,

(Contd on page 6 Col 5)

Ramesh is newJMC Comm

Excelsior CorrespondentJAMMU, Oct 17: The

Government today orderedtransfer and posting of DeputyCommissioner, Kathua RameshKumar as Commissioner,Jammu Municipal Corporationagainst a vacancy.

Kumar will hold additionalcharge of the post of ChiefExecutive Officer, SpecialPurpose Vehicle (SPV) for JammuCity for implementation of SmartCity Project under the Smart CityMission till further orders.

Meanwhile, Rashpal Singh,Additional Deputy Commissioner,Kathua will hold charge of thepost of Deputy Commissioner,Kathua in addition to his ownduties, till further orders.

BSF repatriatesPak intruderwithin hours

Excelsior CorrespondentJAMMU, Oct 17: The

Border Security Force (BSF)today arrested a Pakistani

national on the InternationalBorder in Suchetgarh sector ofRS Pura tehsil but repatriatedhim to the Rangers within fewhours after confirming that hehad crossed over to this sideinadvertently and was not a sus-pect.

(Contd on page 6 Col 3)

Two AAOs among 4 suspended

Excelsior CorrespondentPOONCH, Oct 17: Assistant

Commissioner Development(ACD), Poonch, ZubairHussain Shah today placed fourRural Development Department(RDD) employees, includingtwo Assistant Accounts Officers(AAOs) under suspension.

Official sources said thattaking cognizance of the publiccomplaints regarding habitualabsenteeism of the BDO officestaff in the district, ACDPoonch today paid surprise visit

(Contd on page 6 Col 1)

Centre agrees to connect Poonch, Kupwara

Specially designed coaches to promote tourism

(Contd on page 6 Col 1)

First installmentof Rs 200 cr each awaited

from GoI

BoDs yet to prioritize activities to be considered under Phase-I

(Contd on page 6 Col 1)

(Contd on page 6 Col 3)(Contd on page 6 Col 5)

No departmental placement, no media tours for students

Poor infra, lack of facilities, modern equipments plague KU’s MERC

(Contd on page 6 Col 3)

(Contd on page 6 Col 3)

Pic on page 6

Pic on page 6

*Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com