Excelsiordaily

REGD. NO. JK-71/18-20RNI No. 28547/65Vol No. 55 No. 60 JAMMU, SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2019 18 Pages `̀ 5.00

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 1: The StateAdministrative Council (SAC)which met under the chair-manship of Governor, SatyaPal Malik has approved pro-motion of Ajeet Kumar Sahu,IAS to the Super Time Scale ofIAS w.e.f. 01.01.2019, conse-quent to which he shall be des-ignated asCommissioner/Secretary tothe Government.

It also approved promotionof two IAS officers of 2006batch including Sheetal Nandaand Saugat Biswas to theSelection Grade of IAS w.e.f.01.01.2019 including the desig-nation of former as Secretary toGovernment.

The SAC approved promo-tion of Baseer Ahmad Khan,IAS to the Selection Grade ofIAS w.e.f. 01.01.2013 and to theSuper Time Scale of IAS w.e.f.01.01.2016.

It approved promotion ofJaved Ahmad Khan, IAS (nowretired) to the Selection Grade ofIAS w.e.f 01.01.2018.

It approved promotion ofthree IFS officers of 2000 batchincluding Roop Avtar, Preet Paland K. Ramesh Kumar to thelevel of Super Time Scale II(CCF level) w.e.f. 01.01.2018,first two on proforma basis andthe third one within the cadre.

Consequent to his appoint-ment to the Time scale of theJammu & KashmirAdministrative Service w.e.f

31.08.2000, the SAC approvedpromotion of Asif Hamid Khanto the Selection Grade of theservice w.e.f. 12.03.2007,Special Scale w.e.f 13.10.2010and to the Super Time Scalew.e.f 01.12.2016.

It also approved appointmentof 34 officers of various depart-mental feeding services to theTime Scale of the Jammu andKashmir Administrative Servicewith effect from 01.01.2018.

The officers are: WaseemRaja, Meenakshi Vaid, ChanderParkash, Girdhari Lal, ReyazAhmad Wani, Afaq Ahmad,Syed Shahnawaz (Excise &Taxation gazetted service),Pawan Kumar (Handicrafts

Sanjeev PargalJAMMU, Mar 1: A virtual

war like situation eruptedalong the Line of Control(LoC) in Poonch sector tonightwith Pak army again usingartillery fires and long range

mortar shells in several for-ward villages of LowerKrishna Ghati sector, killingthree members of a familyincluding a woman and hertwo children, one of them justnine month old and injuringfour others including two civil-ians and two Army men, one ofthem a Major. At least sevenpersons including three armytroops have been killed onPakistan side in retaliatoryaction by the Indian troops.

Pakistani troops continued

shelling and firing in Balakote,Mendhar, Mankote andNowshera sectors in Rajouri andPoonch districts during the daybut opened up Lower KrishnaGhati sector tonight targetingforward villages of Jhalas,Salhutri, Bera and surroundings,hitting civilian population withlong range mortar shells andartillery fires.

SSP Poonch RomeshAngral, who reached the spotimmediately, told theExcelsior that a mortar shellexploded inside the house of

Mohammad Younis at Jhalas,about nine kilometers fromPoonch in Lower KrishnaGhati sector, killing threemembers of his family on thespot and injuring another. Onemore woman was injured inSalhutri.

Indian Army immediatelyretaliated Pakistan's shelling andfiring. There were reports ofseven casualties on Pakistan sideincluding three army personnel.

Two Army personnel were

Woman, 2 children killed; Majoramong 4 injured in Pak shelling

ABU DHABI, Mar 1:In a major diplomatic

achievement, India today forthe first time addressed theOIC meeting here, and assert-ed that the war against terror-ism, which was destabilisingregions and putting the world

at great peril, was not againstany religion.

India's participation camedespite strong demand by

Pakistan to rescind the invitationto External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj to address thegrouping of the Organisation ofIslamic Cooperation (OIC)

which was turned down by thehost UAE, resulting inPakistan's Foreign MinisterShah Mehmood Qureshi boy-

Govind SharmaJAMMU, Mar 1: In a good

news for the MD aspirants inJammu region, the seats ofPost Graduate Degree Coursesin Government MedicalCollege (GMC) Jammu hasbeen increased from 140 to 173from the academic session2019-20.

According to sources, the PGseats have been increased in lieuof surrender of concernedDiploma seats. While GMCJammu got 100 percent conver-sion of Diploma seats the con-version of Diploma seats, intoPG seats in GMC Srinagar isonly 44.4 percent.

Sources said Union Ministry

of Health and Family Welfareabout seven months back issueda notification giving a one-timechance to Medical Colleges toconvert their PG Diploma seatsinto PG Degree seats.

Accordingly, GMC Jammusurrendered all its 33 PGDiploma seats including 3 seatsof Diploma in Obstetrics &Gynaecology (DGO) and 6 seatseach of Diploma in Child Health(DCH), Diploma inOrthopaedics (D Ortho),Diploma in Radio Diagnosis(DMRD), Diploma inAnaesthesia (DA) and Diplomain Clinical Pathology (DCP).Similarly, GMC Srinagar alsosurrendered 18 Diploma seatsincluding 12 of DGO and 8 of

DA.Following this Union

Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare on February 13, 2019de- notified these seats ofGMC Jammu and GMCSrinagar. Consequent uponthis, Medical Council of Indiaafter recommendations of PGExpert Group (BOG) and tak-ing into account teacher-stu-dent ratio, approved increaseof 33 Diploma seats into PGseats in GMC Jammu while inGMC Srinagar, against 18 sur-rendered Diploma seats, onlyeight were converted into PGseats (2 of DGO and 6 of DA).The notification in this con-nection was issued by the MCI

GMC Jammu gets 100 pc increase,Srinagar gets only 8 seats

R&R plan forPakal Dul PAFs

approvedExcelsior CorrespondentJAMMU, Mar 1: The State

Administrative Council (SAC)has approved the Rehabilitation& Resettlement (R&R) Plan forthe Project Affected Families(PAFs) of 624 MW KeeruHydro Electric Project (HEP)on River Chenab, tehsilNagseni in district Kishtwar.

The total cost of theRehabilitation Plan which hasbeen formulated on the lines ofKishan Ganga and Pakul DulHEPs and as per the recommen-dations of MoEFCC, is approx-imately Rs. 100 crore.

A total 725 kanal & 9 marlasof private land is required forexecution of the project. 159families will be affected, out ofwhich 93 shall be displaced.

The salient components ofthe R&R Plan include Rs 33

67 docs transferred

Excelsior CorrespondentJAMMU, Mar 1: Health and

Medical Education Departmenthas ordered transfer and post-ings of 67 doctors with immedi-ate effect.

According to the order, DrBilques Akhter, Incharge BMOBandipora has been transferredand posted as InchargePrincipal REPTC Kangan,while Dr Khurshid AhmedWani, Incharge MS GousiaHospital Srinagar has beentransferred and posted asIncharge ADHS Family Welfareand Dr Suhail Sultan, Incharge

Rahul reviewsJ&K situation

Excelsior CorrespondentJAMMU, Mar 1: Congress

president Rahul Gandhireviewed the post -Pulwamasituation in Jammu andKashmir and the ongoing ten-sion between India andPakistan, in a meeting of seniorleaders from J&K held at theUnion capital last evening.

AICC president, who wasaccompanied by Leader ofOpposition in Rajya SabhaGhulam Nabi Azad and AICCgeneral secretary Ambika Soni(MP), Incharge J&K affairs of

Remnants of Pakmissile found inReasi village

Excelsior CorrespondentJAMMU, Mar 1: Police

along with civilians have recov-ered remnants of a missile firedby F-16 jets of Pakistan at vil-lage Mamankote Mallas,Chassana in district Reasi.

As per a police handout, onFebruary 27 a mysteriousexplosion seriously injured oneBagh Hussain son of Ilam Dinof Mamankote after whichVillage Defence Committee(VDC) members alerted police.

A police party led by DySPReasi Nikhil Gogna after reach-ing the spot saw that impact of

Kundal posted as Ambassadorto Tunisia

Excelsior CorrespondentJAMMU, Mar 1: Puneet

Roy Kundal, son of the soil andan IFS officer of 1996 batch,has been appointed as IndianAmbassador to the Republic of

Tunisia.He was

p r e s e n t l yposted asM i n i s t e r ,Embassy ofIndia inWashington( U n i t e d

States of America.Kundal, who happens to be

the son of former ChiefSecretary of J&K, BR Kundal,is expected to take up the newassignment shortly.

NC, PDP may movecourt againstCentre’s decision

Excelsior CorrespondentSRINAGAR, Mar 1: The

National Conference and thePDP said today that they weremulling moving court againstthe Centre's decision to extendthe 77th and 103rdAmendments of the IndianConstitution to Jammu andKashmir in the absence of anelected Government in theState.

12 officers shifted,4 get addl charge

Excelsior CorrespondentJAMMU, Mar 1: The State

Government today orderedtransfer and postings of 12 offi-cers and gave additional chargeto four others.

Zubair Ahmad, Chairman,J&K Services Selection Board,has been transferred and post-ed as Secretary to theGovernment, CultureDepartment.

Rahul Sharma, AdditionalCommissioner in the office ofDivisional Commissioner,Jammu was transferred andposted as Chairman, J&KServices Selection Board.

CRPF officer among 4 cops martyred, civilian killed in clashesExcelsior CorrespondentJAMMU, Mar 1:A Central

Reserve Police Force (CRPF)Inspector was among fourcops martyred and eight oth-ers including a Commandantof the paramilitary forcesinjured in the gun battle atBabagund Langate area ofHandwara in the frontierKupwara district today. Ayouth was killed in the clashesnear the encounter site.

An operation was launchedlast night by Army, police andCRPF in Babgund village afterspecific input about presence ofa group of militants hiding in thevillage including a Lashkar-e-Toiba commander.

The militants fired on thetroops during the searches lead-ing to clashes in which a housesuffered major damage. As thefiring stopped this afternoon, thetroops zeroed in towards thedamaged house during whichthe militants fired at them indis-criminately, leading to martyr-dom of four security force per-sonnel while around seven oth-

ers were injured.The martyred include CRPF

Inspector of 92 bn CRPF and thepoliceman of SOG HandwaraNaseer Ahmad.

The firing stopped thisevening and the security forcesput the operation on hold forthe night and will resume it inthe morning. Sources said thatthere are around 3 militantshiding in the area.

The encounter broke out dur-ing midnight after the joint teamof Army's 22 RR, 92 BattalionCRPF and SOG launched a cor-don-and-search operation atKhanan Babagund in Langate.

Clashes broke out near theencounter site between securityforces and youth. In forcesaction, at least four youth wereinjured, three of them have suf-fered pellet injuries while one

received injuries in his foot. Ayouth Waseem Ahmad Mir, 21,son of Mohammad Akbar Mir of

Zaloora suffered critical bulletwounds in his abdomen andhead. He later succumbed to his

Mohinder VermaJAMMU, Mar 1:

Incredible it may sound but itis a fact that StateGovernment has paved theway for opening of new liquorvends in the close proximity ofreligious places, educationalinstitutions and hospitals bygiving ‘unusual’ relaxation inthe new Excise Policy, whichhas been made applicablefrom February 26, 2019.

In the Excise Policy 2018-19, which was notified videSRO-240 dated May 29, 2018, itwas mentioned that new liquoroutlets of all types shall be at aminimum distance of 300 metersfrom the religious places, educa-

tional institutions, hospitals,public parks, nearest liquorshops/bars and in conformitywith the provisions of J&KExcise Act, 1958 and J&KLiquor License and Sales Rules,1984.

It was also mentioned thatthe words and figures “100meters” appeared in SRO-157dated March 30, 2017 shall besubstituted with the words andfigures “300 meters” for thegrant of licenses for operatingliquor shops at identified un-served locations.

However, under new ExcisePolicy 2019-20 issued vide

SRO-128 dated February 25,2019 and which will continuetill March 31, 2020, ‘unusual’relaxation has been given.

The new policy states:“New liquor vends shall be ata minimum distance of 100meters from the religiousplaces, schools, hospitals,nearest liquor shops and inconformity with the provisionsof the J&K Excise Act, 1958and Liquor License and SaleRules, 1984”. This has clearlyestablished that Jammuprovince will be further flood-ed with liquor shops.

It is pertinent to mention

here that maximum number ofexisting liquor shops in the Stateare in Jammu province andGovernment has paved the wayfor opening of large number ofmore vends by reducing the dis-tance from 300 meters to 100meters.

This ‘unusual’ relaxation hasbeen given on the pretext ofarresting bootlegging and illicitdistillation of liquor, which oth-erwise is very rare phenomenonin urban areas and confined onlyin rural parts of the State.

For determining un-servedand under-served areas, tehsil

Waseem AhmadKARNAH: The Karnah con-

stituency situated along the Lineof Control with Pakistan remainscut off from rest of Kashmir val-ley in winter and lacks basicamenities like irrigation, health-care, education, phone connec-tivity and electricity.

Karnah is an administrativetehsil in Kupwara district. TheAssembly constituency ofKarnah falls under BaramullaLok Sabha constituency. RajaManzoor Ahmad of People'sDemocratic Party (PDP) defeat-ed Kafil ur Rehman of JKNC bya huge margin of 5775 votes in2014 elections. Ahmad polled12371 votes and Rehman polled6596.

One of the biggest issues thatthe constituency is facing is thefrequent accidents and closure of

Sadhna passand resi-dents are

demanding a tunnel to be con-structed to save the future gener-ation from accidents.

The residents said that sever-al tragedies occurred on Sadhnatop for last 60 years and no stepwas taken to avoid suchtragedies. "About 11 personsincluding an official of the bor-der roads organization werekilled in two vehicles when theywere swept away by snow ava-lanches at Sadhna top last year.Similar tragedies occurred onSadhna top earlier also butauthorities are turning a blind eye

towards the issue. We have beendemanding a tunnel at Sadhnatop so that there is round the yearroad connectivity," they said.

The inhabitants of the con-stituency also complained thatthe long pending demand ofgranting Scheduled Tribe (ST)status has not been fulfilled tothem. "We are demanding for STstatus from several areas but noone pays heed to our demand.Granting ST status will help us inavailing various facilities andreservation in various sectors,"Mohammad Younis, a residentsaid.

He said the Gujjar communi-ty has been given this status but

Pahari people who live besidesthem have not been given thisstatus. "Politicians often cam-paign with this agenda at the timeof elections but no concrete stepsare being taken to resolve theissue. Only the three percentreservation was given recentlybut the actual demand of the peo-ple was neglected," MohammadYounis, a resident said.

The residents said that theformer MLA assured them onthese two vital issues and alsoraised these issues several timesin Assembly Government butnothing happened on the ground.

The residents complainedthat the health care sector in theconstituency is in pathetic condi-tion and the hospitals are facingshortage of doctors, besides, lackof basic facilities.

As per the residents, the Sub-

Karnah feels neglected, lacks basic amenitiesEx-MLAs’ Report Card Constituency: Karnah

Raja Manzoor Ahmad (PDP)http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/ex-mlas-report-card/

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj delivering herspeech at the 46th Foreign Ministers Meeting of Organisation ofIslamic Cooperation, in Abu Dhabi on Friday. (UNI)

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WAGAH/ATTARI, Mar 1:

After a suspenseful waitlasting hours, Indian Air Forcepilot Abhinandan Varthamanfinally returned home onFriday night from his nearlythree-day captivity inPakistan, a major steptowards defusing a near-warsituation triggered by India'sretaliation over Pakistan'scontinued support for terror-ism.

Hoping to give a hero's wel-come to Wing CommanderVarthaman, thousands of Indiansgathered on the border carryingthe tricolour and garlands sincemorning. But as the day wore onand night fell there was no signof the pilot, who was capturedon February 27 by Pakistan fol-lowing a dogfight between thetwo air forces in which his MIG-

21 was shot down.He finally emerged at 9.10

p.m(IST) at the Wagah check-post on the Pakistani side,accompanied by Pakistanirangers, the Indian air attacheposted in the High Commissionin Islamabad. He was wearing a

civilian clothes -- a dark jacketand khakhi trousers, walkingproudly toward the gates thatseparated his captors' countryfrom his homeland.

Amritsar's DeputyCommissioner Shiv Dular Singh

Abhinandan returns, says happy to be back in country

India addresses OIC forfirst time, Pak boycotts

*Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com

A house extensively damaged in Mendhar sector on Friday.-Excelsior/Rahi Kapoor

Increase of PG seats in lieu of Diploma

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Terrorism destroying lives,

destabilising regions

Provision kept for regularization of sub-vends to benefit liquor lobby

Now, liquor vends to come up nearreligious places, schools

Survey to be conducted for Benami ownerships

SAC orders promotion of IAS, KAS, other officers

2000 posts approved for Panchayats

Jamat establishmentssealed, over 30

arrestedExcelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Mar 1: Aday after Jamat-e-Islami wasbanned by the Centre, at leasttwo dozen activists of theparty were arrested inovernight raids and over adozen establishments of theparty were sealed.

The ban order of CentralGovernment said that it is ofopinion that the JeI is in"close touch with militantoutfits and is supportingextremism and militancy inJ&K and elsewhere".

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Troops during search operation at Handwara in Kupwaradistrict on Friday. (Inset) Two policemen martyred in the attack.

-Excelsior/Aabid Nabi

Wing Commander Abhinandan at Wagah border on Friday.

3 militants trapped in cordon

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*Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com

Midnight migration from LoC villages

3 Pak army men among

7 reported dead