Excelsiordaily

REGD.NO.JK-71/15-17RNI No. 28547/1992

Vol No. 52 No. 76 JAMMU, THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2016 20 Pages `̀ 4.00

INSIDE WEATHER* NFSA and more* New Industrial Policy ...Page 10Governor sets April 15 deadline for report on casual workers ...Page 3PDP-BJP Govt withheld relief,development funds topersecute people: Omar ...Page 3Governor reviews road upgradationin & around Katra, ShrineBoard projects ...Page 7Enact special act to protect honour, dignity of armedforces: Tarun Vijay ...Page 7Gayle’s fastest WT20 ton helps Windies to thrash England ...Page 18

JAMMU : Light rain/Thundershowers.

TEMPERATUREMax: 24.2 Degree C Min: 10.9 Degree C

RELATIVE HUMIDITYRH-I (Morning): 58.0 per centRH-II (Evening): 63.0 per centSunset on Thursday: 06.41 p.m.Sunrise on Friday: 06.38 a.m.

KASHMIR:Light rain/Thundershowers.

TEMPERATUREMax: 15.5 Degree C Min: 2.9 Degree C

RELATIVE HUMIDITYRH-I (Morning): 76.0 per centRH-II (Evening): 48.0 per cent

LEH: TEMPERATUREMax: 7.9 Degree C Min: -8.0 Degree C

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NEW DELHI, Mar 16:

Sending out a message toPakistan, India today said itwants good relations but not atthe cost of its "pride, dignityand self-respect" and that itwill ensure that "our enemies"cannot go scot-free as evensmall incidents of terrorismhave to be "treated as war".

Defence Minister ManoharParrikar also asserted in LokSabha that security has beenstepped up on the borders sincein the wake of PathankotAirbase attack of January.

He said till now it has notfound through which route theattackers of Pathankot Airbasecame but insisted that six terror-ists were involved in the attack,amid contention by the NIA thatthe investigators had found onlyfour bodies.

Parrikar as also HomeMinister Rajnath Singh wereresponding to a debate duringwhich the Government came infor a scathing attack over han-dling of the Pathankot attack,with the opposition dubbing as a"critical mistake" the decision tohandover the operation to NSG.

The opposition also ques-tioned as to what Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's Lahorestopover had achieved, notingthat the terror strike had hap-pened just a few days after that.

In his reply, Singh said Indiawants good relations with allneighbours but not at the cost ofself-respect.

"We want good relationswith all our neighbours. Wewant good relations withPakistan too, but not at the costof this country's pride, dignityand self-respect," the HomeMinister said.

Parrikar noted that thereare certain organisationsacross the border in Pakistanwhich are making statementsand they "should be taughtlessons".

"We are in the process defi-nitely to ensure that our enemiescannot go scot-free," Parrikarsaid, adding "the compromisemade earlier was probably oneof the reasons as to why we aresuffering today."

In a veiled attack on the pre-vious UPA Government, theDefence Minister said, "I haveseen many instances. I do not

want to quote more instances. Ican quote many instances whenmilitary intelligence has beensacrificed at the altar of politicalgoals."

Talking about Pathankotattack, Parrikar said it was "anaccumulation of asymmetricwar. These are small attacks ofweak forces on a stronger force.When the weak forces knowthemselves that they are notgoing to succeed in defeating thestronger force... They try to cre-ate disturbances and demoralisestrong force."

He then added, "I can assurethat the gaps have been filledand we have already securityaudit of all defence establish-ments."

With regard to the criti-cism over handling of thePathankot attack, Parrikarsaid "Army acted properly"and standard operating proce-dures were followed. "Youcannot have a running com-mentary about such opera-tions on television channels.This puts security forces indanger," he added.

Want good ties with Pak butnot at cost of dignity: HM

NEW DELHI, Mar 16:

State-run BSNL willlaunch wi-fi facility at MataVaishno Devi Shrine tomor-row, its 1,000th hotspot in thecountry.

Telecom Minister RaviShankar Prasad will launch thefacility from Delhi.

BSNL had planned to set up2,500 wi-fi hotspots in 250 loca-tions at a cost of Rs 500 crore inthe current fiscal.

A couple of days back, thecustoms department had clearedanother 750 hotspots which willbe set up in the next few days,according to a BSNL official.

The official said the telecomcompany will set up as manyhotspots as possible in the next15 days to meet the target.

As part of the Digital Indiaprogramme, the Government isworking towards enabling allcities, with a population of overone million, tourist centres andreligious places with wi-fihotspots.

BSNL usually provides freewi-fi services for 30 minutes andafter the free usage limit isexhausted, the user has to buysubscription plans which areavailable in various denomina-tions. (PTI)

BSNL to launch wi-fiat Vaishno Devi today

NEW DELHI, Mar 16:

The Delhi High Courttoday reserved its judgementon a plea challenging theConstitutional validity ofArticle 370 of the Constitutionthat gives special status toJammu and Kashmir.

“File your written submis-sions. We will consider it andwill pass an order,” a bench ofChief Justice G Rohini andJustice Jayant Nath said.

During the brief hearing, thecounsel appearing for State ofJammu and Kashmir told thebench that a similar issue wasraised before the Supreme Courtbut it had refused to intervene in it.

The counsel claimed that thePIL was “nothing but a political-ly motivated petition”.

Countering the submissions,the lawyer appearing for peti-tioner Kumari VijayalakshmiJha argued that the issue raisedby him before the High Courtwas different from the matterwhich was put before the apexcourt.

“In none of these cases(referred to by the counsel forJammu and Kashmir) suchissues were raised,” the lawyersaid.

The bench, after hearing thearguments, asked both the par-ties to file their written submis-sions within a week.

In the plea, the petitionerhas contended that Article 370was a temporary provisionthat had lapsed with dissolu-tion of the State’s ConstituentAssembly in 1957.

It said the question beforethe court for its considerationwas whether the temporary pro-vision lapsed automatically withthe dissolution of theConstituent Assembly of Jammuand Kashmir on January 26,1957.

The petition has said that“continuance of temporary pro-vision of Article 370, even afterdissolution of ConstituentAssembly of J&K, continuanceof J&K Constitution which hasnever got the assent/ approval ofPresident of India/ Parliament/Government of India, regardingthe matter like citizenship, whichis in exclusive jurisdiction ofParliament, amounts fraud on thebasic structure of ourConstitution, ... (as it is) againstthe sovereignty, integrity, unityof the nation, sovereignty ofParliament etc.”.

HC reserves orderon Art 370

Sanjeev PargalJAMMU, Mar 16: Fresh

incursions by People’sLiberation Army (PLA) ofChina in Leh especially recentincident near Pangong lake,presence of Chinese troops inPoK and hotline connectionsat DGMO and NorthernCommand level were amongthe major issues that DefenceMinister Manohar Parrikarwas likely to take up with hisChinese counterpart ChangWanquan when he travels toBeijing on his maiden threedays visit from April 18.

Official sources told theExcelsior that the boundaryagreement between India andChina, which eluded the twoneighbours even after severalyears, would be one of the coreissues during discussionsbetween the two DefenceMinisters apart from giving boostto friendly ties the two countriesnow enjoy especially after open-ing up of one more BorderMeeting Point (BMP) in EasternLadakh last year and first ever

joint military exercises conduct-ed by them in Leh on February 6.

Sources said though therehad been no major incursions bythe Chinese troops in Ladakhduring past couple of years, fewincidents have been reportedincluding the latest on March 8when the PLA troops hadintruded about couple of kilo-meters inside the Indian territo-ry along Pangong lake butreturned within a day after thematter was resolved by theCommanders of two sides at thelocal level.

Sources said India wantsan end to such kind of incur-sions though both sides admitthat it was not possible to com-pletely end these kind of inci-dents as the two neighboursshare 4087 kilometers Line ofActual Control (LAC)between them, spread overfive States, which hasn’t beendemarcated.

“The demarcation of theboundary is a long pending issuebetween India and China,’’ theyadded.

Another Border Meeting Point likelyFresh incursions, hotline,boundary agreement topDM’s China visit agenda

Office timingschanged in Valley

Excelsior CorrespondentSRINAGAR, Mar 16:

According to divisional adminis-tration, Kashmir, working hours inall Government offices inKashmir valley, except education-al institutions, shall be from 10 amto 4 pm with effect from April 1.

These timings shall remainoperative upto 31. Accordingly,all the Heads of Departments/Officers/ Institutes are directedto ensure strict adherence tonew official timings.

Sushma-Aziz meet todayPOKHARA (NEPAL), Mar 16:

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who arrived here toparticipate in the SAARC Ministerial meeting, is scheduled tomeet Sartaj Aziz, Adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister NawazSharief, tomorrow.

Ms Swaraj on her arrival at this town, 200 km northwest ofKathmandu, was welcomed by Nepal's Deputy Prime MinisterKamal Thapa. India and Pakistani diplomats are in consultation forpreparing the ground for meeting between Ms Swaraj and Mr Aziz.

Mr Aziz while talking to reporters here expressed the hope thatthe meeting would be productive. He will also hand over an invi-tation from the Pakistan Prime Minister for the 19th SAARC

17 killed in Peshawar bus blastPESHAWAR, Mar 16:

At least 17 Pakistani Government employees were today killedand over 30 others injured when a powerful bomb ripped througha bus ferrying them to work in this restive city, an attack Talibansaid was to avenge death sentences confirmed against 13 militantsa day ago.

The blast occurred this morning as a bomb placed inside thebus exploded when the vehicle packed with Government employ-ees reached Peshawar from Mardan. The bomb exploded when theprivate bus was on Sunehri Masjid Road as it was taking Civil sec-retariat employees for duty.

At least 17 people, including three women, were killed in theblast targeting the bus carrying Government officials, according tosenior police officials.

About 50 people were on board the bus at the time of the explo-sion, SSP operations Peshawar Abbas Majeed Marwat said. Over30 people were injured in the blast.

Petrol, diesel prices go upNEW DELHI, Mar 16:

Petrol price was hiked today by Rs 3.07 a litre, reversing its 3-month declining trend, while diesel rates went up by Rs 1.90 perlitre.

Petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 59.68 per litre from mid-nighttonight as against Rs 56.61 currently, said Indian Oil Corporation,the nation’s biggest fuel retailer.

Similarly, a litre of diesel will cost Rs 48.33 compared with Rs46.43 a litre at present.

While the hike in petrol price turns the clock back on thedeclining trend since January, this is the third straight fortnightlyincrease in diesel rates.

Petrol price was last cut by Rs 3.02 from March 1 and today’shike has wiped off all of that. Diesel price on that day was hikedby Rs 1.47.

The three hikes in diesel rates since February 16 is total Rs 3.65per litre.

DGP contacts R’sthan, WB policeExcelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 16: Taking cognizance of the reports of allegedharassment of some Kashmiri students studying outside the State,Director General of Police (DGP), K Rajendra Kumar has contactedhis counterparts of Rajasthan and West Bengal and enquired about theincidents of alleged harassment of students from Jammu and Kashmir.

Rajendra urged them to ensure safety of the students from J&Kstudying in these States. He was assured that the police would takeall possible measures to ensure that students from J&K are not sub-jected to harassment.

They told the DGP that the incidents reported have been prop-erly investigated and the students were found to have no majorproblem in these institutions.

Kangris back in market after snowfall and rains in South Kashmir on Wednesday.-Excelsior/Younis Khaliq

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Security stepped up on borders: DM

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Fayaz BukhariSRINAGAR, Mar 16: Over

1600 Engineers includingsome Chief Engineers areworking on adhoc arrange-ments in various departmentsespecially Roads and Building(R&B), Irrigation and FloodControl and Public HealthEngineering Departments asGovernment is violating itsService rules and SupremeCourt guidelines.

There are over 1600Assistant Engineers, AssistantExecutive Engineers, ExecutiveEngineers, SuperintendingEngineers and even ChiefEngineers in different depart-ments who are working on

adhoc basis for several years andsome even for a decade.

In order to deal with theservice issues of the State cadreemployees, the Government in2011 formed (Govt order no.515-GAD of 2011 dated 27-04-2011) Human ResourceManagement (HRM) in thedepartments of Public Works,PHE, Irrigation and FloodControl, Power DevelopmentDepartment, Health and MedicalEducation Department andRural Development Department.

The purpose of the formationof the HRM in these depart-ments was to finalise the senior-ity lists of Engineers at all levelsand conduct the DPCs to regu-larize the adhoc promotions. TheHRM was also supposed to deal

with APRs, Departmentalinquires and Vigilance cases.But the HRM has not helped sofar in tackling adhocism in mostof these departments.

An AEE told Excelsior thatthe HRM is only interested intransfers as it has issued 6000transfer orders in past threeyears in R&B Departmentonly. He said that few yearsago an officer was shifted fromHRM in R&B Department fornon-performance but evenafter that nothing has changedfor good.

According to theGovernment of Jammu andKashmir Service rules and direc-tions of Supreme Court, in oneof the landmark judgments in acase, “Suraj Prakash versus

State of Jammu and Kashmir”,the adhocs are to be regularizedafter six months.

An AEE told Excelsior thatthey were employed throughRecruitment Board in 1988 asJunior Engineers but are techni-cally still JEs. “After serving asJEs for 12 years, we were put asIncharge AEs for six years. In2006, we were elevated asincharge AEEs but technicallywe are still JEs after serving thedepartment for 28 years”, hesaid.

The worst hit by adhocism arethe departments of R&B andPHE, Irrigation and FloodControl, Urban EnvironmentalEngineering Department (UEED)and Power Development

Mohinder VermaJAMMU, Mar 16: The

much-needed new StateIndustrial Policy will attractinvestment of Rs 20,000 crorein the industrial sector over aperiod of 10 years-Rs 2000crore per annum and createover 15,000 direct and indirectemployment opportunitiesannually for theunemployed/educated youth.Moreover, all the existingindustrial estates will be trans-ferred to the SICOP andSIDCO so as to ensure thatDistrict Industries Centers(DICs) lay exclusive focus onhand-holding the new entre-

preneurs.In the policy, thrust has also

been laid on creation of landbank of 20,000 kanals acrossJammu and Kashmir, retrieval ofunutilized land in the existingindustrial estates, creation of Rs15 crore Corpus Fund for thesick industrial units besides cre-ation of industrial parks toachieve sustainable, equitable,environment friendly and bal-ance industrial growth.

According to the policy,which was recently approved bythe State Administrative Councilheaded by Governor N N Vohraand the copy of which is avail-able with EXCELSIOR, themajor thrust has been laid on

attracting investment of Rs20,000 in the industrial sectorover a period of 10 years up to2026 by focusing on all the threeregions of the State, encouragingutilization of locally availableraw materials and mineralresources, promoting growth ofthrust industries and encourag-ing hi-tech and knowledge basedindustries including Electronicsand Information Technology etc.

With this, 15,000 directand indirect employmentopportunities will get generat-ed annually for the unem-ployed/educated youth, whichmeans by 2026, a total of 1.5lakh employment opportuni-ties would be made available

to the J&K youth and wouldgo a long way in addressingthe problem of unemploy-ment.

Since availability of ade-quate land is a pre-requisite forsetting up of industry, the policyenvisages creating land bank ofabout 20,000 kanals across theState with emphasis on locationsoutside the urban areas. For thispurpose, available State landsuitable for industry will betransferred to the Industries andCommerce Department, whichwill draw up an action plan forcreation of the land bank of20,000 kanals including State

Unutilized land to be retrieved; Rs 15 cr Corpus Fund for sick unitsNew Industrial Policy to attract Rs

20,000 cr worth investment in 10 yrs*Existing industrial estates to be transferred to SICOP, SIDCO

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Adhocism mars career of Engineers

JEs in R&B, PHE yet to be promoted after 28 yrs

(Contd on page 6 Col 1)405 incidents offiring along J&K borderNEW DELHI, Mar 16:

As many as 405 incidents ofcross border firing have takenplace along the Indo-Pak borderin Jammu and Kashmir in 2015killing 16 civilians.

Minister of State for HomeHaribhai Chaudhary said inRajya Sabha that 253 incidentsof cross border firing have takenplace along the InternationalBorder and 152 incidents alongthe Line of Control.

Altogether 16 civilians werekilled, 71 others were injuredand 72 houses were damageddue to border shelling along theborder last year.

As many as 7,110 people (up toNovember 2015) were temporarilyaffected due to ceasefire violationin Jammu and Kashmir, he saidreplying to a written question.

“Diplomatically, India hasrepeatedly emphasised, includ-ing at the highest level, the needfor Pakistan to uphold the sanc-tity of the Line of Control andabide by the ceasefire commit-ment of 2003 along theInternational Border and LoC,”he said. (PTI)

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