Excelsiordaily
REGD.NO.JK-71/15-17RNI No. 28547/1992
Vol No. 52 No. 11 JAMMU, MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016 14 Pages `̀ 4.00
INSIDE WEATHER* BSF enquires breach ...Page 6* Fire in GMCBJP to resume constituencylevel rallies ...Page 3Furnish details of incompleteworks in border areas: DC ...Page 3Gyalwang stresses on living in harmony with environment ..Page 5Tomorrow’s India belongsto youth: Dr Jitendra ...Page 5India must win onematch against Australia toretain 2nd spot ...Page 12
JAMMU : Dry.
TEMPERATUREMax: 21.1 Degree C Min: 5.7 Degree C
RELATIVE HUMIDITYRH-I (Morning): 88.0 per centRH-II (Evening): 63.0 per centSunset on Monday: 05.44 p.m.Sunrise on Tuesday: 07.34 a.m.
KASHMIR:Dry.
TEMPERATUREMax: 10.4 Degree C Min: -3.8 Degree C
RELATIVE HUMIDITYRH-I (Morning): 93.0 per centRH-II (Evening): 61.0 per cent
LEH: TEMPERATUREMax: 4.1 Degree C Min: -14.7 Degree C
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Sanjeev Pargal/Fayaz Bukhari
JAMMU/SRINAGAR, Jan10: Government formation inJammu and Kashmir wasexpected to take some moretime. Clear indications to thiseffect emerged during about20 minutes discussionsbetween Union Surface andTransport Minister NitinGadkari, joined by top leadersof State BJP, and PDP presi-dent Mehbooba Mufti at lat-ter’s Fairview residence atGupkar, Srinagar this after-noon.
Gadkari, who was accompa-nied by BJP leaders Dr NirmalSingh, Sat Sharma, CA, Statepresident and Shamsher SinghManhas, MP, met Mehbooba ather residence after joining ‘con-gregational fateha’ of MuftiMohammad Sayeed atBijbehara.
BJP leaders said there wereno talks on formation of newGovernment in the State duringthe meeting between Gadkariand Mehbooba as none of themtook up the issue first.
“Mehbooba seemed to be inshock and mourning. Though
she referred to the Central sup-port to Mufti Sayeed and theState Government during his 10months long tenure, she madeno mention of an immediateGovernment formation,’’ theyadded.
At the same time, they point-ed out, the BJP too was not in ahurry and preferred silence (onthe Government formation) dur-ing meeting between Gadkariand Mehbooba Mufti.
“The new arrangement willtake time. Neither PDP nor BJPis in a hurry. Let MehboobaMufti settle down first.Moreover, the Governor Rulehas been imposed and it can goon for few days,’’ they said.
The BJP leaders were, how-ever, confident that there will bea PDP-BJP Government in placeand described Congress effortsto “win over’’ Mehbooba Muftiand the PDP as “nothing butfrustration’’ after losing powerin the State.
According to BJP leaders,Mehbooba Mufti said MuftiSayeed had taken up somevery good projects for theState and the Government of
India had also helped a lot inimplementation of variousschemes. She hoped that theCentre would continue to sup-port the State, they added.
Before returning to NewDelhi, Gadkari told reportersthat Mufti had a dream forJammu and Kashmir, whichincluded tourism, developmentand building of infrastructureamong other things.
“We will try to fulfill all theassurances given to MuftiSayeed on Jammu andKashmir,’’ he added.
“It’s not time to talk politics.I have come here to convey con-dolences to Mehbooba Mufti onbehalf of the CentralGovernment,’’ he added.
On the other, AICC (I)president Sonia Gandhi alsohad about 20 minutes meetingwith Mehbooba Mufti andMufti’s other family membersincluding wife and two daugh-ters.
Sonia was accompanied byLeader of Opposition in RajyaSabha Ghulam Nabi Azad andother Congress leaders includingAmbika Soni, Prof Saif-ud-DinSoz and PCC (I) chief GA Mir.
Govt formation may takesome more time Neeraj Rohmetra
JAMMU, Jan 10: In anemotional choked meetingwhere several leaders includ-ing PDP president MehboobaMufti herself broke downrepeatedly, the PDP seniorparty leaders including thelegislators declared that shewas “undisputed anduncontested’’ leader of theparty and was authorized totake any decision for nextcourse of action includingformation of newGovernment in the State.
Emotional scenes werewitnessed as Mehbooba Muftimade her first appearance inthe party meeting at her FairView residence in Srinagarthis evening after the death ofher father and Chief MinisterMufti Mohammad Sayeed,whose ‘congregational fate-ha’ was performed in theafternoon.
Not only Mehbooba butseveral party leaders brokedown during the meeting andwept profusely as Ms Mufti, inher address to gathering ofsenior PDP leaders, personalstaff and security officers ofMufti Mohammad Sayeed,referred repeatedly to the role of
her father in building the partyand taking it to heights. She alsospoke about vision of MuftiSayeed for the people of Jammuand Kashmir.
Party insiders told theExcelsior that all party lead-ers including legislators,
though it was not a formalLegislature Party meeting,unanimously declaredMehbooba Mufti as their“undisputed and uncontest-ed’’ leader and authorized herto take future course of actionincluding formation of new
Government in the State.“All senior party leaders
including legislators declaredMehbooba Mufti, who also hap-pens to be the PDP president, astheir new undisputed leader.Though it was not the formalLegislature Party meeting, the
decision of PDP leaderswas clear indication thatshe has been unofficiallyelected as PDPLegislature Party leaderand would be next ChiefMinister of the State,’’party leaders said, addingthat the Legislature Partymeeting can meet anytimedepending on the situationto formally electMehbooba as new leaderof the party to lead nextGovernment in the State.
PDP with 27 MLAs issingle largest party in theLegislative Assembly.
The senior party lead-ers declared thatMehbooba Mufti would
lead the party and carry forwardthe legacy of Mufti Sayeed.
“She (Mehbooba Mufti)should lead the party and carryforward legacy of Mufti Sayeed.There is lot of responsibilitynow on the shoulders of
Emotional scenes as several leaders break down
PDP declares Mehbooba as undisputedleader, authorizes her to take decisions
‘Rashtra dharma’ above all: PMMUMBAI, Jan 10:
Against the backdrop of 'intolerance' debate, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi today said "rashtra dharma' is above all religionsand that India's contribution to the world is not communalism butspiritualism, regarding which he invoked former President A P JAbdul Kalam.
He regretted that the world has failed to understand the peopleof India properly as he praised the saints and religious leaders fortheir contribution to the country's legacy.
"India is a country, which has not tried to bind the world in aparticular sect... We are the people whom the world has probablynot understood in the manner in which we should have been
A sparrow after early morning wake up. -Excelsior/Rakesh
(Contd on page 10 Col 4)
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Jan 10:Thousands of people includingpolitical leaders from a crosssection of political, social andreligious parties, traders andtrade union leaders today vis-ited residence of People'sDemocratic Party (PDP) pres-ident, Mehbooba Mufti atSrinagar and grave of herfather and former ChiefMinister Mufti MohammadSayeed at Bijbehara in districtAnantnag to offer specialprayers for the departed soul.
Amid sobs and tears,Mehbooba along with otherfamily members of Muftisaccompanied by thousands ofpeople this morning visited thegrave of Mufti MohammadSayeed at Dara Shiko garden in
Bijbehara town in Anantnag dis-trict to offer special prayers.
While praying for herdeceased father at the grave,Mehbooba wept and sobbed.She was very close to her fatheramong all the family membersas Mufti was her political men-tor.
The PDP president wasaccompanied by her mother,Gulshan Mufti, her brotherTasaduq Mufti, sister RubiyaSayeed and other close familymembers.
All the PDP legislators andsenior party workers attendedthe prayer meeting at Mufti'sgrave. Besides this BJP leaderand former Deputy ChiefMinister, Dr Nirmal Singh,BJP State president SatSharma, Member ParliamentShamsher Singh Manhas for-
mer and PHE and FloodControl Minister,Sukhnandhan, werealso among themourners who visit-ed Bijbehara.
Later in the after-noon, people in thou-sands, includingpolice officers andbureaucrats visitedthe Fairview resi-dence of Mufti's atGupkar and theirancestral home inBijbehara.
Union Ministerfor Road Transportand Highways, NitinGadkari, formerDeputy ChiefMinister, Dr NirmalSingh, BJP Statepresident Sat
Sharma, Member Parliament
Thousands attend Mufti’s Chahrum in Srinagar, Bijbehara
Mohinder VermaJAMMU, Jan 10:
Concerned over delay in meet-ing the special developmentalneeds of the people living nearthe borders, the UnionMinistry of Home Affairs hasdirected the Jammu andKashmir Government to sub-mit plans under Border AreaDevelopment Programme(BADP) scheme for the nextfinancial year by or beforeMarch 31, 2016. The strictcompliance to the directiveswould ensure early release offunds and timely execution ofworks, which till today hasremained a dream in almost
all the border districts ofJammu and Kashmir.
The Border AreaDevelopment Programme, a100% Centrally funded pro-gramme, covers all the villageswhich are located within 0-10kilometer of the border andfunds of this scheme are usedfor meeting the critical gaps andto meet the immediate needs ofthe border population.
It has been seen that due todelayed formulation and sub-mission of the annual BADPPlans by the concerned authori-ties of the Jammu and Kashmir,the sanctioning of funds by theMinistry of Home Affairs(MHA) gets delayed and same
results into delayed start ofworks and their non-completionduring the year for which theplan is approved.
This can be gauged fromthe fact that 70% funds underthe BADP Plans for the cur-rent financial year (2015-16)were released in the last weekof December 2015 andwhether the same would beutilized 100% before the endof current financial yearremains a million dollar ques-tion as some mandatory pro-cedure like tendering andallotment works is required tobe followed by the concernedauthorities before actual startof work on ground, official
sources told EXCELSIOR."In order to ensure that there
is no further delay in meetingthe special developmental needsof the border people, theDepartment of BorderManagement of Ministry ofHome Affairs few days backdashed a communication to thePlanning and DevelopmentDepartment of Jammu andKashmir with the direction thatall the BADP plans shall be sub-mitted to the Ministry by orbefore March 31, 2016", sourcessaid.
Now, the Planning andDevelopment Department head-ed by Chief Secretary, B R
Planning Deptt asks DDCs of border distts to start preparationMHA directs J&K to submit BADP
plans by March 31*Step to ensure early release of funds, timely works
Nishikant KhajuriaJAMMU: Even as rational-
ization of resources and initia-tion of other reforms haveevoked a ray of hope for better-ment and streamlining of onceupon virtually derailedEducation Department inJammu and Kashmir, a lot moreis still required to be done forbringing standard of educationin Government run schools atpar with private institutions andachieving hundred percent liter-acy in the State, the targets setby none but the then EducationMinister Naeem Akhtar himself.
Though no one doubts inten-tions and initiatives of the thenMinister, who had announced aseries of measures, a day after
the Demands of Grants of theEducation Department werepassed in the State Assemblywithout discussion, last year, theground realities are not veryencouraging as of now.
A number of proclaimedmeasures for raising standard of
education in Governmentschools; like revisiting curricu-lum for promoting creativityamong students, laptops toMiddle School Headmasters forIT awareness among the stu-dents, more academic trainingprogrammes for Governmentteachers and providing basicinfrastructure facilities in all theschools, are yet to be realized
even after more than ninemonths since the announce-ments of the same. Further,there has been no progress onthe announcement regardingformulation of a charter of dutyfor avoiding confusion as wellas fixing role and responsibility
of each officer and GPS moni-toring of School Education offi-cers.
Even as the Government hasnow come out with a TransferPolicy, which was notified lastmonth, violation of own ordersand norms in the past has creat-ed doubts about sincerity of theconcerned authorities for ensur-ing a transparency in the system.
Notwithstanding the cate-gorical announcement of NaeemAkhtar himself that transferswould be affected only in June-July in Jammu Division and inJanuary-February in KashmirDivision, the Department issuedseveral transfer orders on pickand choose basis during themid-session. Earlier, in themonth of July, the then DirectorSchool Education Jammu, hadeven transferred and adjustedseveral Lecturers against theposts of other subjects, videorder number DSEJ/Gaz/ Lect/12831-12886, dated 11-07-2015. More ironic is the factthat despite much hue and cryover this illogic order, the samewas not modified with the result
Education Deptt: Despite initiatives,ground realities not very encouraging
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 10:Governor NN Vohra todaydirected Chief Secretary BRSharma not to effect anyreshuffle in the administrationand maintain status quo as hefeels that the Governor Rulewas an "interim arrange-ment'' and popularGovernment will be in placeonce again very shortly.
Official sources told theExcelsior that Vohra called theChief Secretary to the RajBhawan this afternoon andpassed him certain directions onworking of the Governmentincluding that the administrationshould continue to work as itwas working before the death ofChief Minister MuftiMohammad Sayeed and thereshould be no changes in theadministration.
Sources said the Governorfeels that his Rule was for very"short duration'' and an ``interimarrangement'' to avert theConstitutional crisis as PDPpresident Mehbooba Muftiwanted to take some time foroath in view of mourning andshock she suffered in the deathof her father.
While imposingGovernor's Rule almost at thesame time last year whenPDP-BJP took time to formthe new Government in theState, the Governor hadassumed all functions of theGovernment of the State(Jammu and Kashmir) and allpowers vested in or exercis-able by anybody or authority(other than the powers vestedin or exercisable by the HighCourt) in the State. He hadordered suspension of severalprovisions of the StateConstitution includingSections 35 to 41 (both inclu-sive) and Section 43 that relat-ed to allocation of businessamong the Ministers.
"In exercise of the powers
conferred by Section 92 of theState Constitution and of allother powers enabling me inthat behalf and with concur-rence of the President of India, Ihereby proclaim that I assumedto myself all the functions andall powers vested in or exercis-able by anybody or authorityother than the powers vested inor exercisable by the High Courtin the State,'' the Governor hadsaid in the proclamation, whichwas issued after imposition ofGovernor Rule in the State bythe Raj Bhavan last year.
However, yesterday whileimposing Governor's Rule in theState, the Governor hasn'tassumed these powers. He hadalso appointed his PrincipalSecretary as Coordinatorbetween Raj Bhawan and CivilSecretariat last time but thistime, there has been no suchorder.
During January 2015 Rule,which had lasted till March 1when Mufti Sayeed had takenoath as the Chief Minister, theGovernor had effected majorreshuffle in civil and policeadministration but this time, hehas asked the Chief Secretarynot to order any transfers andmaintain status quo in theadministration.
Sources said the Governorwas reportedly of the view thatit would be very short spell ofhis Rule and popularGovernment will be formed inthe State very soon.
Meanwhile, Vohra will beholding high level review ofsecurity scenario and otherfunctions of the StateGovernment tomorrow when hewould visit the Civil Secretariatfor the first time after imposi-tion of the Governor's Rule inthe State yesterday.
Official sources told theExcelsior that the Governorhas called two high level meet-ings at the Civil Secretariat
Calls for status-quo anticipating ‘brief spell’Governor directs CS not toeffect any changes in admn
(Contd on page 10 Col 4)
Budget Announcements vs Reality
(Contd on page 10 Col 6)
Kerry tells Sharif to find out truthWASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD, Jan 10:
Nudging Pakistan to act against the perpetrators of thePathankot terror attack, US Secretary of State John Kerry todayasked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to find out the truth andstressed on the need to stay focused on the pressing challenge ofterrorism in the region.
“We can confirm Secretary Kerry spoke (over phone) todaywith Prime Minister Sharif. They discussed a range of bilateralissues of importance to our relationship and the need to stayfocused on the pressing challenge of terrorism in the region,” StateDepartment spokesman John Kirby said.
He was responding to questions on the telephonic conversation(Contd on page 10 Col 4)
Omar mocks at speculationsExcelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 10: Amidst speculations over the back channelmoves of People's Democratic Party on formation of a popularGovernment in Jammu and Kashmir, the former Chief Ministerand National Conference working president Omar Abdullah todaymocked at reports and political chatter in this regard.
"Anyone who tells me the visuals of Mehbooba at her father'sgrave today, were of a woman calculating political chess moves isdelusional," Omar tweets on social micro blogging site, thisevening.
"You have a grief stricken daughter who is not ready to takeover just yet. All the other stuff is well crafted smoke & mirror,
(Contd on page 10 Col 7)
Anantnag boy tops 10th examsExcelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR Jan 10: A boy from Anantnag has topped theClass 10th results in Kashmir valley by scoring 99.6 per cent
marks in the annual examination held last year and theresults of which were declared this evening.
Tabish Manzoor Khan of Radiant Public School,Anantnag, has topped the results by scoring 498 marksout of a total of 500. The second and third positions
were held by two girls, Aneesa Haleen of Mallinson Girls Schoolhere, and Hiba Intikhab of Shah-e-Hamdan Memorial school ofShopian district. They have secured 491 and 490 marks respective-ly out of the 500.
(Contd on page 10 Col 7)
Cong supports engagement with PakNEW DELHI, Jan 10:
Congress today said engagement with Pakistan need not be dis-rupted despite the "grave provocation" of the Pathankot attack.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that it isup to the Government to decide what the level, nature and intensi-ty of the engagement should be.
"We have said that despite this grave provocation, engagementwith Pakistan need not be disrupted," he told reporters here.
He said that the Government has not shared any informationwith the opposition regarding the Pathankot attack, security situa-tion and the talks with Pakistan.
"And therefore, we call upon the Government to ensure that onthe basis of the very special domain expertise which they alone
(Contd on page 10 Col 5)
Jawan among 3 hurt in blastsExcelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 10: Three persons including an Army jawanwere injured in mine blasts on Line of Control (LoC) in Jammuand Kashmir.
As per police sources, a jawan identified as Shiv Ram Lingamof Field Regiment this morning got injured in an accidental mineblast, while on patrolling duty near LoC in Guntrain area ofPoonch.
The mine exploded, when the jawan inadvertently stepped overit. His right leg got critically injured in the explosion and he wasrushed to the hospital.
Meanwhile, two civilians, working with Army, were injured(Contd on page 10 Col 1)
Temps dip to below zeroExcelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Jan 10: The temperatures across Kashmir plum-meted last night to below freezing bringing chill back to Kashmirafter almost a week.
For last six consecutive nights the temperatures in Kashmirremained above freezing.
The minimum temperature dropped by 5.5 degrees in Srinagarto settle at minus 3.8 degree Celsius. The day temperature, howev-er, settled at 10.0 degree Celsius.
The minimum temperature increased by one degree inGulmarg as it recorded a low of minus 9.2 degrees Celsius againstprevious night's 10.3 degrees Celsius. The day temperature settledat 7.2 degrees Celsius.
(Contd on page 10 Col 4)
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti breaksdown into tears at the memorial service forher father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed atBijbehara in Anantnag, on Sunday. Anotherpic on page 10. -Excelsior/Sajjad Dar
(Contd on page 10 Col 1)
* Pics on page 10
Gadkari, Sonia call on Mehbooba
(Contd on page 10 Col 6)
(Contd on page 10 Col 1)
(Contd on page 10 Col 6)
