Focus on higher growth and lower inflation 500 crores for rehabilitation of Kashmiri MigrantsJ&K to get one IIT and 200 crores for stadia of international standard IT slab for indiuals raised to 2.5 lakhs, 3 lakhs for senior citizen

Srinagar, July 10: A former di-visional commander of Hizbul Mujahedeen was on Thursday sentenced to life imprisonment in a case of murder in Pattan area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla dis-trict nine years ago.The district and additional ses-sions judge Baramulla, Tasleem Arief convicted Maqsood Ahmad Bhat on the charges of murdering Dr Reyaz Ahmed Bhat in 2005.The additional Sessions Judge Baramulla further observed that this is a case of murder without any enmi-ty. There is nothing so un-common about this crime to deem

it as exceptional case in which instead of life imprisonment, death sentence could be awarded. Though the innocent has lost life in the instant case but it does not fall in the category of rarest of rare cases where the death sentence is warranted. The

convict is therefore sentenced to imprisonment for life for the com-mission of offence u/s 302 RPC and 7/27 I A Act.According to the prosecution, the accused Maqsood Bhat killed a person Dr Reyaz Ahmed Bhat of Hanzura Pattan, a PDP Block President, on June 16, 2005. “A case under FIR no. 87/2005 under section 302 of the RPC was reg-

istered in police station Pat-tan”.“I am of the considered opin-

ion that the case of the con-victs is not the rarest of the rare case where the convict should forfeit his right to life because no

case for awarding capi-tal punishment is made

out,” Judge Tasleem Arief said in his judgment.According to po-lice, Maqsood Ahmad Bhat alias

Tariq alias Altaf Sheikh Son of Ghulam Moham-mad Bhat of Parraypora in Ma-moosa Pattan was apprehended by the police from

See Baramula On PG 11..

CMYK

CMYK

CMYK

CMYK

FRIDAY 11 July | 2014 | 12 Ramadan, 1435 AH | PAGES 12 | VOL NO: 4 | ISSUE NO: 191 | RS: 2/- (AIR SURCHARGE FOR JAMMU /DELHI/LEH 50 Paisa)Pen For Justice Largely Circulated, No. 1 Bilingual Daily of J&Khttp://www.zabarwantimes.com

WEATHER

TEMPERATUREMAXIMUM MINIMUMSUNSET ON(FRIDAY)SUNRISE ON (SATURDAY) 05:29 AM

07:46 PM 18.3 0C 32.40C

FORECAST FOR NEXT 24 HRS:

FORECAST OF SRINAGAR:

Light Rain would occur at a few places over the state.

Edit Page

See More On Pg 09

>>>>> PG 10 >>>>> PG 10 >>>>> PG 10

As soon as the spring sets in the Kashmir valley, the first tourists to arrive are herds of beggars from different party of the country who have infested the valley particularly the tourist places to the extent that tourists are visible in less number than these unwanted guests. They barge forcibly in any private house, hospital, Govt. office, shops, clinics and the tourist place which of course have become their permanent habi-tats. These beggars do not only beg, they are drug peddlers, robbers, re-sponsible for immoral activities and spread lots of diseases which they are suffering from including the dreaded HIV. There is

Beggar menace

Dev of backward areaspriority of Govt: Sakina CS stresses on Digital Mapping of Forests,

dedicated area for Medicinal PlantsMian Altaf visits Baltal yatra base camp

Possibility of thunderstorm inthe afternoon. Maximum & Minimum temperatures will be around 32°C & 18°C respectively.

Two more unregistered clinics

sealed in Sopore

Soldier injured in Krishna Ghati sector

Rajouri, July 10: Police on Thurs-day claimed to have solved within 24-hours a case involving murder of a newly married woman by ar-resting her husband in Rajouri town of Jammu region.The bride was killed by her hus-band for allegedly not allowing physical relations and threaten-ing him to break the marriage.According to police, the accused Wazarat Iqbal (45), confessed to have killed his wife—Kouser Be-gum (22) by slitting her throat near the maize field at village Na-insukh Aiti in Rajouri district on July 7.The man has four children from his first wife who died few years back. It was his second marriage with the girl hailing from Kallar village.“Just within 13 days, the girl who was about half of the age of Wazarat, was done to death, for the reason not accepting Wazarat as her husband,” police said.

Husband kills wife in Rajouri

Ex-Hizb commander sentenced to life by Addl Session Court Baramulla

After hectic deliberations between Omar-Dr Farooq,

only one candidate short listed

Authorities watching helplessly

Srinagar, July 10 : With the au-thorities in deep slumber, the prices of essentials in the sum-mer capital are touching sky that too in the Holy month of Ramadan.Residents of Srinagar Thursday accused that the inflation has touched a record level with the state authorities doing little to keep a check over the markets- making people to suffer at large. “The vendors and the shopkeep-ers are keeping no rate lists displayed on their shops and the rates are really exorbitant to be accepted. There is no one to whom we could complain against such a crisis,” said a Sri-nagar resident who was buying vegetables at Maharaj Bazar.Various others maintained the prices of fruits and other es-sentials are being fixed at the

will of the seller and that when people object to this anarchic approach, they get rebukes in the end. “How could the price of the essentials be this much high. But we have no option but to buy the same as here it is An-deer Nagri,” said Firdous Ah-mad a Rawalpora resident.The reports maintained that ahead of Ramadan, (CAPD)held detailed meetings the market checking squads were set up to keep an eye over the prices of the commodities during the on-going month. People while contesting the claims of the authorities here stated that there are no market checks going on in Srinagar as the government rates are in the broad day light being thrown to the wind. As government fixed rate for chicken, mutton at Rs 100 per kg and Rs 280 per kg, these are being sold at Rs 120-150 per kg and Rs 380 per kg, respec-tively.

See Sky On PG 11..

Sky rocketing prices break spine of public

Srinagar, July 10 : Ex-pressing resentment over the increasing cases of attacks on peo-ple by the stray dogs, Ganderbal residents have threatened large scale protests if no im-mediate action is tak-en on ground.According to the KNS correspondent, peo-ple in Ganderbal ex-pressed deep concern over the increased number of attacks by the stray dogs upon women and children- threatening to launch widespread protests if the state authorities fail to tackle the crises. Reports also informed that more than 18 peo-ple have been injured by the dog attacks in the area with the con-cerned officials caring little about the safe-ty the children and women. “Canines have unleashed terror in the area. Now we feel scared to even move out of our house to of-fer Fajr and Tarawih prayers,” said Hilal Ahmad a local resi-dent. Others of See Canines On PG 11

Canines unleash terror in Ganderbal

Srinagar, July 10 : With the scorching heat giving tough time to the people here during ongoing Ra-madan, the weathermen Thursday predicted no change in weather for the coming days.According to the reports received by KNS, Sri-nagar recorded the tem-perature of 31.7 °C while as the minimum recorded as 19.2 °C. The state metro-logical department here maintained that the sky will mainly remain clear over the summer capital with maximum and mini-mum temperatures would be round 32°C and 15°C respectively. Much heat was recorded in Jammu region on Thursday with the temperatures record-ed as 39.2 °C while as the minimum was recorded

as 23.8 °C. It was informed further that there will be mainly clear sky with the maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 40°C and 24°C re-spectively in the next 24 hours. In Ladakh region, tem-peratures will be mainly around 28°C-14°C respec-tively on Friday.Srinagar these days is witnessing much rise in temperatures with the masses preferring to stay indoors during hot hours of noon. During the on-going Ramadan month when the people are on fasting from early dawn hours to dusk, the scorch-ing heat is giving much tough time to them. The health experts when contacted

See Future On PG 11..

Sopore, July 10: A team of med-ical officials in north Kashmir’s Sopore sealed two unregistered clinics, an official told GNS.The Block Medical Officer (BMO) Sopore Dr Masood Ahmad told GNS that a medical team com-prised of District Health Officer Baramulla Dr. Abdul Rashid and field staff raided two unregistered clinics in the town and sealed them.He said the sealed clinics include Iqra Diagnostic Centre and Shah-i-Hamdan X-ray plant. “At Iqra Diagnostic we seized a portable USG machine,” he informed. The BMO said they have also regis-tered a case in this regard and campaign against unregistered clinics would continue.

Srinagar, July 10: In a major boost to Peoples Conference (PC) ahead of the polls , Ad-vocate Muhammad Abdul-lah Mir, today resigned as State secretary Congress and joined PC along with thou-sands of his supporters at Handwara.According to a statement is-sued to KNS, Chairman Peo-ple’s Conference Sajad Lone, General Secretary Advocate Rashid Lone, District Pres-ident Advocate basher Dar and Mir Hafizullah constitu-ency head Langate welcomed Advocate Abdullah into the party fold and expressed great satisfaction that with his entry the victory for Peoples Conference in the coming elections is almost a certainty. Lone added that Advocate Abdullah has an unblem-ished record in

See State On PG 11..

State Secretary Congress joins

People’sConference

No respite in heat wave in near future

Experts issue advisory to beat the heat

Sopore, July 10: Forc-es in north Kashmir’s Sopore town launched a search operation fol-lowing reports of pres-ence of militants, offi-cial sources told GNS on Thursday.Official sources told GNS that army’s 22 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and police’s Special Operation Group (SOG) cordoned off Model Town locality Sopore last evening and started a search operation. “The forces continued search op-eration on Thursday during which they conducted house-to-house searches,” they said.

Forces con-duct searches

in Sopore, Handwara

New Delhi, July 10:The Finance Min-ister, Shri Arun Jaitley has provided a sum of Rs. 200 crore in General Bud-get 2014-15 for upgrading the indoor and outdoor sports stadiums to inter-national standards in Jammu and in Kashmir valley. In his maiden Budget Speech in Parliament here today, Shri Jaitley said that Jammu and Kashmir has a lot of sporting talent which is not finding expression due to inade-quate sports facilities.The Finance Minister also proposed to set-up a sports university in Mani-pur with a provision of Rs. 100 crore in the current financial year. He also set aside a sum of Rs. 100 crore for the training of sports women and men for the upcoming Asian and Common-wealth Games.Highlighting the importance of sports in personality development, Shri Jait-ley said that Government will set-up national level Sports Academies for major games in different parts of the country to mainstream sports.The Finance Minister, Shri Jaitley

said that to help the youth find right jobs, employment exchanges will be transformed into career centers which will extend counseling facili-ties to the youth for selecting the jobs

best suited to their ability and apti-tude. He has set aside a sum of Rs. 100 crore in the current financial year for this purpose.

See Budget On PG 11..

Union Budget for 2014-15 presented in Lok Sabha

Likely to announce other mandates on Monday

Srinagar, July 10: National Conference is likely to announce list of candidates for the forthcoming assembly elections on Monday. Informed sources revealed to KNS, that Dr Farooq Abdullah Na-tional Conference president is arriving in Srinagar on Saturday evening or Sun-day morning. “After his arrival a meet-ing will be held which will be presided over by Farooq Saheb and the next day we will announce the list of candidates,” a senior party leader told KNS pleading anonymity.He added that party will repeat its old hands in maximum assembly segments and mandates will also be given to some new faces where the party is not in a position to gain the maximum. Sources said that during his recent visit to Delhi, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah held hec-tic deliberations with Dr Farooq over the choice of candidates for different as-sembly segments.“Both father and the son also discussed some important decisions taken by the NC led government recently and the im-pact therein ahead of the assembly elec-tions,” top sources in the party disclosed

to KNS. Sources said that the list of can-didates is almost finalized but the same needs some final touches by the party president.Meanwhile, addressing a workers con-vention at Lolab, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday announced Kai-ser Jamsheed Lone as the party candi-date for the upcoming assembly elec-tions from Lolab.During his address, Omar said that Na-tional Conference is not in a hurry like its arch rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that has issued a series of lists of its candidates for upcoming assembly elections recently. The Chief Minister said: “They (PDP) have issued the lists of candidates and simultaneously have started infighting as well. So we should not be in hurry. We should not take any decision in haste. We will announce the mandates within few days but we will ex-amine the probable candidates and will give you best of the candidates for every assembly segment,” Omar claimed, fur-ther stressing on workers to work hard for the upcoming assembly elections.According to KNS correspondent, the Chief Minister also ridiculed the oppo-sition claims that new administrative units created by

See Monday On PG 11..

SKIMS to have PET-CT Scan soonSrinagar, July 10: Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah Thursday said that Govern-ment will take all necessary measures for installation of PET-CT Scanner in Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Med-ical Sciences to upgrade modern medical facilities for the people relieving them of travelling AIMS, New Delhi for this facili-ty. The Chief Minister has already approved Liver Transplantation Unit in SKIMS on which work has started.Chairing 41st Governing Body Meeting of SKIMS here this morning, Omar Abdullah who is also Chair-man of the Governing Body, said that Government is keen to further upgrade the facilities in SKIMS and other tertiary hospitals in public sector. He said mod-ernization of health sector is being carried forward by the Government on priori-ty.The Chief Minister said that during last five years various initiatives have been taken to upgrade and modernize facilities in SKIMS and other health institutions besides extend-ing healthcare facilities in

the rural and urban areas of the State. He said he is keen to see SKIMS growing as one of the leading tertia-ry health institution in the Country and providing all kinds of modern treatment to the patients qualitative-ly at the lowest cost com-paratively. He said his gov-ernment has taken many

new initiatives to achieve this goal.In a power point presen-tation, Director SKIMS Showkat Hussain Zargar stated that six modern fa-cilities approved by the Chief Minister have been put in place in SKIMS and are functional presently in the Hospital. These include Liner-Multi Slice CT Scan, New Emergency Operation Theatre, renovation of san-itation project and Modern units for treatment

See Omar On PG 11..

Government keen to upgrade facilities in

tertiary hospitals: Omar

Srinagar, July 10: A Border Se-curity Force (BSF) personnel on Thursday injured critically after his service rifle went off acci-dentally at Krishna Ghati sector of Mendhar in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.Official sources told GNS that Naresh Chand of 135 bn BSF who was per-forming his duty at Kranti Post in Krishna Ghati sector when he was hit by a bullet from his rifle leav-ing him injured.The injured troop-er was immediately rushed to the army hospital in the district for treatment, sources added. (GNS)

11 Srinagar, Friday 11 July 2014 Zabarwan Times

FROM THE FRONT PAGE

Budget

Omar

Sky

Future

Future

State

Baramulla

Monday

Canines

Owner , Printer & Publisher: Suhail Malik Editor -in-Chief: Shahana Malik Legal Advisor: Syed Riyaz Hussain RNI NO. JKBII/2011/39764, Email: zabarwantimes@gmail.com Publised at Govt. Quarters , M-13 Magarmal Bagh Srinagar-190001 J&K, Printed at:- Sangarmal Offset Press Humhama Sheikhpora Tele/Fax: 2478370 Cell No. 09999964750, 9796 787844

Shri Jaitley also launched “A Young Leadership Pro-gramme” with an initial allocation of Rs. 100 crore in the current Budget.The General Budget 2014-15 presented by the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley has raised the personal income-tax exemption limit by Rs. 50,000/- that is, from Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 2.5 lakh in the case of in-dividual taxpayers, below the age of 60 years. Exemp-tion limit raised from Rs. 2.5 lakh to Rs. 3 lakh in the case of senior citizens. However there is no change in the rate of surcharge either for the corporates or the individuals, HUFs, firms etc. The budget proposes to continue education cess at 3 percent.Investment limit under section 80C of the Income-tax Act has also been raised from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 1.5 lakh and Deduction limit on account of interest on loan in respect of self occupied house property raised from Rs.1.5 lakh to Rs.2 lakh. To incentivize small entre-preneurs an Investment allowance at the rate of 15 percent to a manufacturing company that invests more than Rs. 25 crore in any year in new plant and machinery. The benefit to be available for three years i.e. for investments upto31.03.2017. Investment allow-ance to manufacturing company investing more than Rs.100 crore announced last year to continue in par-allel till 31.03.2015.To bring greater certainty and to encourage fund manager to shift to India, income arising to foreign portfolio investors from transaction in securities will be treated as capital gains. Concessional rate of 15 percent on foreign dividends without any sunset date will be continued.To augment low cost long term foreign borrowings for Indian companies, the eligible date of borrowing in foreign currency has been extended from 31.03.2015 to 31.03.2017 for a concessional tax rate of 5 percent on interest payments. Tax incentive extended to all types of bonds instead of only infrastructure bonds.The budget proposes introduction of a “Roll Back” provision in the Advanced Pricing Agreement (APA) scheme so that an APA entered into for future trans-actions is also applicable to international transac-tions undertaken in previous four years in specified circumstances.To remove tax arbitrage, rate of tax on long term capital gains has been increased from 10 percent to 20 percent on transfer of units of Mutual funds, other than equity oriented funds.60 more Ayakar Seva Kendras will be opened during the current financial year to promote excellence in service delivery. Net effect of the direct tax proposals will result in revenue loss of Rs.22,200 crore.The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley pro-poses Rs. 200 crore for power reforms and Rs. 500 crore for water reforms to make Delhi a truly World Class City. Making his maiden Budget Speech in Lok Sabha today, the Finance Minister announced that Rs. 50 crore is being provided to solve the long term water supply issues to the capital region. For that construction of long pending Renuka Dam would be taken up on priority, the Minister added.For Andaman and Nicobar Island, Shri Jaitley an-nounced that Rs. 150 crore are being provided to tide over communication related problems of the Island. Rs. 188 crore has been set aside for Puducherry for meeting commitments for Disaster preparedness, he added.Announcing proposals for Kashmiri people, the Fi-nance Minister highlighted in his budget speech that Rs 500 crore will be provided to support Kashmiri mi-grants for rebuilding their lives.Also in the current financial year, an initial outlay of Rs 100 crore has been provided to set-up a Nation-al Centre for Himalayan Studies in Uttarakhand to increase the capacity in the country for Himalayan Studies, the Finance Minister announced.Shri Jaitley also announced during his maiden Bud-get Speech that it is proposed to set up the National Academy for Customs and Excise at Hindupur in Andhra Pradesh.To broaden the tax base in Service Tax, sale of space or time for advertisements in broadcast media has been extended to cover such sales on other segments like online and mobile advertising. Announcing the tax proposals, the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jait-ley said during his maiden budget speech that sale of space for advertisements in print media however would remain excluded from service tax. However services provided by radio-taxis have been brought under service tax. The Finance Minister said that the tax proposals on the indirect taxes side are estimated to yield Rs.7525 crore during 2014-15.The Finance Minister announced that the services by air-conditioned contract carriages and technical testing of newly developed drugs on human partici-pants have been brought under service tax. Services provided by Indian tour operators to foreign tourists in relation to a tour wholly conducted outside India will be taken out of the tax net and Cenvat credit for services of rent-a-cab and tour operators will be al-lowed to promote tourism.Shri Jaitley said that services provided by the Em-ployees’ State Insurance Corporation for the period prior to 1st July 2012 have been exempted from ser-vice tax. Exemption available for specified micro in-surance schemes has been expanded to cover all life micro-insurance schemes where the sum assured does not exceed Rs.50, 000 per life insured.24X7 customs clearance facility will be extended to 13more airports in respect of all export goods and to 14 more sea ports in respect of specified import and export goods to facilitate cargo clearance.‘Indian Cus-toms Single Window Project to facilitate trade will be implemented.Customs and Central Excise Acts will be amended to expedite the process of disposal of appeals. The Fi-nance Minister Shri Jaitley said that the Government is committed to implement GST at the earliest and the issues raised by the states will be resolved soon.The Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that the Modi Government has mandate to fulfill for the peo-ple provision for the essential items without compro-mising fiscal consolidation. Making his maiden Bud-get Speech in Lok Sabha today, the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley announced the Budget estimates with Non-plan Expenditure for the financial year estimat-ed at Rs. 12,19,892 crore with additional provision for fertilizer subsidy and capital expenditure for Armed forces.Rs.5,75,000 crore have been allocated towards Plan ex-penditure, marking an increase of 26.9 per cent over actuals of 2013-14 (Rs. 4,53,085 crore). Plan increase is targeted towards agriculture, capacity creation in health and education, rural roads and National Highways Infrastructure, railways network expan-sion, clean energy initiatives, development of water resources and river conservation plans, the Finance Minister added.Total expenditure estimates thus stands at

Rs.17,94,892 crore. To finance this expenditure, Gross Tax receipts of Rs. 13,64,524 crore have been estimat-ed. In his maiden Budget Speech Shri Jaitley said that the net share of centre will be Rs. 9,77,258 crore. Non Tax Revenue for the current financial year will be Rs. 2,12,505 crore and capital receipts other than borrowings will be Rs. 73,952 crore.Thus, Fiscal deficit will be 4.1 per cent of Gross Do-mestic Product (GDP) and Revenue deficit will be 2.9 per cent of GDP, Shri Jaitley added.The Finance Minister recalled in his Budget Speech that the previous NDA Government under Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had initiated a compulsory non-lapsable 10 per cent allocation of plan funds for North Eastern Region. Shri Arun Jaitley said that from the current Budget a New Statement will separately show plan allocation made for North Eastern Region. In the current financial year, an allocation of Rs. 53,706 crore has been made for North Eastern Region.He announced an allocation of Rs. 98,030 crore for women and of Rs. 81,075 crore for children welfare in General Budget 2014-15 presented in Lok Sabha today.The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley while presenting his maiden Budget, in the Lok Sabha to-day announced that his Government has a major focus of providing good infrastructure, including public transport, solid waste disposal, sewerage treatment and drinking water in the urban areas. The Budgetary provision for the Pooled Municipal Debt Obligation Facility has been enhanced from Rs 5000 crores to Rs 50,000 crores with extension of the facility by five years to March 31, 2019. Shri Jaitley informed the House that this facility was set up in 2006 with participation of several banks to promote and finance infrastructure projects in Urban Areas on shared risk basis.Shri Jaitley said that for urban renewal of cities and towns, four fundamental activities are necessary like provision of safe drinking water and sewerage man-agement, use of recycled water for growing organic fruits and vegetables, solid waste management and digital connectivity. The Finance Minister said it is the vision of this Government that at least five hun-dred (500) such habitations must be provided sup-port, while harnessing private capital and expertise through PPPs, to renew their infrastructure and ser-vices in the next ten years.Government will encourage development of metro rail systems, including light rail systems, in the PPP mode, supported by the Central Government. Shri Jaitley stressed that for two million plus cities, plan-ning of metro projects must begin now and in the cur-rent fiscal, a sum of Rs. 100 crore has been allocated for Metro Projects in Lucknow and Ahmedabad.The Government will constitute an Expenditure Management Commission (EMC). Announcing this in his maiden Budget speech in Lok Sabha today, the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that EMC will look into various aspects of expenditure re-forms to be undertaken by the Government.Shri Jaitley said the Government is committed to the principle of ‘Minimum Government Maximum Gov-ernance’. To achieve this goal, time has come to re-view the allocated and operational efficiencies of gov-ernment expenditure to achieve maximum output.The Expenditure Management Commission will give its interim report within this financial year. The Fi-nance Minister said he proposed to overhaul the sub-sidy regime, including food and petroleum subsidies, and make it more targeted while providing full pro-tection to the marginalized, poor and SCs/STs. A new urea policy would also be formulated.The Government has announced to set-up five more IITs in the Jammu & Kashmir, Chattisgrah, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Similarly, five new IIMs will be set-up in the States of Himachal Pradesh, Pun-jab, Bihar, Odisha and Maharashtra. For this, a sum of Rs. 500 crore has been allocated in the Budget. Pre-senting his Maiden Budget in Parliament here today, the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that the country needs a large number of Centres of higher learning which are world class and accord-ingly declare to set-up Jai Prakash Narayan Nation-al Centre for Excellence in humanities in Madhya Pradesh.Shri Jaitley announced “Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya New Teachers Training Programme” to in-fuse new training tools and motivate teachers with an initial corpus of Rs.500 crore. He said that for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan a provision of Rs. 28, 635 crore has been made while for Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan Rs. 4,966 crores have been allocated. The Government will also strive to provide toilets and drinking water in all the girls school in first phase, the Minister added.To take advantage of the reach of the IT, the Finance Minister allocated a sum of Rs. 100 crore for setting up virtual classrooms as Communication Linked In-terface for Cultivating Knowledge (CLICK) and on-line courses.The Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley has kept a target of limiting fiscal deficit to 4.1 per cent for the current fiscal and to reduce it further to 3.6 per cent and 3 per cent for 2015-16 and 2016-17 respectively. An-nouncing this in his maiden Budget Speech today in the Lok Sabha, the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley said that considering the two years of low GDP growth, static industrial growth, large subsidy burden and not so encouraging tax buoyancy, these targets are daunting.The Finance Minister said that Iraq crisis is leaving an impact on oil prices. Monsoon appears unpredict-able and the problem of black money must also be ad-dressed fully. Faced with these adversities, the Gov-ernment would undertake some bold steps in order to enhance economic activity and spurt growth in the economy, the Finance Minister added.Government is committed to endeavour to have hous-ing for all by 2022 by extending additional tax incen-tive on home loans to encourage people, especially the young, to own houses. It has proposed to set up a Mis-sion on Low Cost Affordable Housing to be anchored in the National Housing Bank. The Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley informed the Lok Sabha while pre-senting the General Budget 2014-15 that a sum of Rs 4,000 crore has been earmarked for National Housing Bank with a view to increase the flow of cheaper cred-it for affordable housing to the urban poor/EWS/LIG segment. He added that Government has already out-lined some other incentives such as easier flow of FDI in this sector and is willing to examine other positive suggestions. He also informed the inclusion of slum development in the list of Corporate Social Responsi-bility (CSR) activities to encourage the private sector to contribute more towards this activity.Shri Jaitley informed that the Rural Housing Scheme has benefited a large percentage of rural population who have availed credit through Rural Housing Fund (RHF). In the light of the above, enhanced allocations to the tune of Rs. 8,000 crore has been made for Na-tional Housing Bank (NHB) for the year 2014-15 to ex-pand and support Rural Housing in the country.Government has introduced a new scheme called Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, which will help in generating awareness and improving the efficiency of delivery

of welfare services meant for women with an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore. The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley announced in his maiden Budget Speech that government would focus on campaigns to sensitize people of this country towards the concerns of the girl child and women. He said that the process of sensitization must begin early and therefore the school curriculum must have a separate chapter on gender mainstreaming.Sharing the concerns of the members on Women’s safety, the Finance Minister informed the House that Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will spend Rs. 50 crore on pilot testing a scheme for Safe-ty of Women on Public Road Transport. Similarly, Ministry of Home Affairs will spend Rs. 150 crore on a scheme to increase the safety of women in large cities. The Finance Minister also proposed to set up Crisis Management Centres in all the districts of NCT of Delhi this year in all government and private hospi-tals. The funding will be provided from the Nirbhaya Fund, the Minister added.The General Budget 2014-15 proposes to create 5 tour-ist circuits around specific themes for which a sum of Rs. 500 crore has been set aside in the current fi-nancial year. In his maiden Budget Speech in the Par-liament here today, the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that India’s rich cultural, historical, reli-gious and natural heritage provides a huge potential for the development of tourism and job creation as an industry. Sarnath-Gaya-Varanasi Buddhist cir-cuit would also be developed with world class tourist amenities to attract tourists from all over the world, he added. The Finance Minister also announced the launching of National Heritage city Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) for conserving and preserving the heritage characters of these cities. The programme will be launched in the cities such as Mathura, Amritsar, Gaya, Kanchipuram, Vellankani, and Ajmer with a provision of Rs. 200 crore in the cur-rent Budget. The project will work through a partner-ship of Government, Academic Institutions and local community combining affordable technologies.

of Cancer and other critical diseases. He said reno-vation of sanitation project has been initiated after a long period of 35 years and has been completed at a cost of Rs.3.50 crore.Prof. Zargar said that 24-beded Surgical ICU is under execution at a cost of Rs.5.50 crore. He said Diagnostic Lab and 120-beded new ward block is also being taken in hand at a cost of over Rs.40 crore. In addition, the work on the establishment of OTs has been started. He said Advance Cancer Immunology Diagnostic Lab and Viral Diagnostic Lab is being established in the institution at a cost of over Rs. 20 crore.The Director SKIMS said that the doctors of SKIMS have conducted 30 cancer surgeries outside SKIMS at Jawahar Lal Nehru Hospital, Rainawari, District Hospital, Baramulla and Sub-district Hospital, Hand-wara. He said Chemotherapy treatment has also been given to the patients in Handwara and Kargil. The Governing Body reviewed the action taken on the decisions made in the last meeting as also discussed agenda items including reconstitution of Standing Committees, utilization of retained 75% of the reve-nue by the SKIMS for development of infrastructure and procurement of equipment and machinery.The meeting also discussed issues relating to the enhancement of superannuation age for faculty and teaching faculty of SKIMS, Bemina Hospital and Nursing College. It also discussed proposals regard-ing creation of Advanced Pediatric Centre at SKIMS. (KNS)

Pattan on 15 January in 2007. The police said Bhat, a Hizb divisional commander, was active in north Kashmir since 1996 and involved in the killing of eleven people including the PDP Block President Dr Reyaz Ahmed Bhat. (GNS)

the government are a ‘hoax’. “These are baseless claims and are based on lies. They don’t know any-thing except for lies. Insha Allah after Eid, we will start inaugurating every administrative unit every day and will hand over those units to people. After Eid, I will send Director General of Police here to initi-ate direct recruitment of youth. It can’t happen in the month of Ramadhan as the youth will find it difficult to pass the physical fitness tests,” he added.According to KNS correspondent Omar said that all this is possible only if the party is strong. “I hope that you will work very hard to ensure that the par-ty emerges as s ingle largest party in the forthcoming assembly elections.” The chief minister said that he took the recent Lok Sabah results in which NC lost all three seats in Kashmir valley, positively as the same have given a flip to the party activities and in a way rejuvenated the party cadres. “After these results, we brought certain changes in Party structure that has benefited us and we have taken certain important de-cisions at governmental level which will surely ben-efit us. Perhaps there is a major success embedded in this defeat for the party for which we will have to prepare ourselves. NC general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar, law and parliamentary affairs minister and district president Kupwara Mir Saifullah, NC provincial president Na-sir Aslam Wani and Kaiser Jamsheed Lone were pres-ent on the occasion. (KNS)

the locality seconded his views, cautioning that if the government fails to take remedial measures, the seri-ous agitation shall be started by the locals.The incidents have created the scene of terror in the entire area and according to the correspondent par-ents have restrained the activities of the in children outside their homes. “We fail to understand that are we humans or some useless creatures for whom the authorities do not bother,” said a local resident. He stated further that the dogs have created terror on the streets of the area and the reluctance from the author-ities in curbing this menace is questionable. People also stated that the stray dogs are terrorizing the chil-dren and other school going kids as already several among them have been severely attacked.Earlier, Dogs in north Kashmir’s Handwara un-leashed terror when more than five persons including three women were bitten by canines, injuring them critically. According to the KNS north Kashmir cor-respondent, more than five persons were seriously in-jured by the dogs in various areas of Handwara. The injured were later taken to hospital where there con-dition was serious till the last reports came in.

social service and is a highly regarded political fig-ure in district Kupwara. He emphasized that he holds Abdullah in high esteem for giving a spirited fight in the last Assembly elections and securing thousands of votes, on his own.He further stated that the problems facing the people of Langate are unique and that they have been totally ignored and left out of the development process. “They deserve honest and dedicated leaders to address the basic and day to day issues of life,” Lone said. Speak-ing on the occasion Advocate Abdullah expressed hap-piness to be a part of the Peoples Conference whose origins can be traced to district Kupwara. Abdullah appealed to the people to support the agenda of change of the Peoples Conference. He further stated that he was proud to work under the dynamic leadership of Mr. Sajad Lone. “In Sajad sahib we have one of an ar-ticulate leader and author of new ideas of change and revolution of prosperity” said Adv. Abdullah. (KNS)

Pertinently, Minister for Tourism, Ghulam Ahmad Mir earlier exhorted upon the officers to coordinate their efforts to ensure that the people do not face any inconvenience with respect to essential supplies during Ramadan. He also directed the authorities of the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CA&PD) to ensure availability of essential commod-ities including sugar and flour at their sale centers. He also directed them to intensify market checking and ensure that consumers were not cheated by black marketers and profiteers. The minister also directed the departments concerned to ensure uninterrupted power and water supply besides launch of proper san-itation drive around mosques and shrines for facili-tation of people during the holy month of Ramadan. (KNS)

told KNS that when a person is fasting during the long days of hot summers, some vital steps are ought to be taken to maintain consistency during the month. During the early evening (after maghrib), people must have a healthy and balanced dinner. They should not overeat, and be sure to drink a few more glasses of fluids. During the evening hours, one must resist the temptation to drink tea, coffee, and soda, instead wa-ter should be consumed in a good quantity. It was informed further that the person on fast should sip on water throughout the evening at least eight glasses by bedtime. Light exercise, such as walking for 15-20 minutes, is best done in the evening hours. People also should avoid fried and spicy foods as they may cause heartburn or indigestion. Also one should continue to brush and floss teeth several times a day. (KNS)

Srinagar, July 10: The creation of new admin-istrative units in Jammu and Kashmir has opened up opportunities for rul-ing alliance of National Conference and Con-gress.While it allows the alli-ance to take home polit-ical mileage in wake of the ensuing election to assembly polls later this year, there is opportuni-ty to absorb “best talent” available to run these units in the shape of MN-GREGA staff.Sources told GNS that government is already thinking on these lines and a committee, con-stituted recently for the purpose of recommend-ing creation of staff from new administration units viz, CD Blocks in Kashmir, also deliberat-ed over the issue.The meeting of the com-mittee was held under

the chairman of Special secretary to government, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj earlier this month. The committee, also com-prising Chief Executive Officer State Level Nodal Agency (IWMP), Project Officers Wage Employ-ment (ACD) Bandipora and Project Officer Wage Employment (ACD) Budgam, discussed the issue in light of a mem-orandum submitted by MNGREGA employees union.Apart from saving around Rs 1500 crore, which is likely to be in-curred on new recruit-ment, the MNGREGA staff is highly qualified pool available with gov-ernment.If sources are to be be-lieved, the MNGREGA staff comprises mostly post graduate and grad-uates.

||||| New Admin units >>>>Absorbing MNGREGA

staff win-win situation for Govt?

Daily ZABARWAN TIMES NEWS SRINAGAR | FRIDAY 11. 07 .2014

BALTAL, JULY 10: Minister for Forests, Ecological and Environment, Mian Altaf Ah-mad, today, visited Yatra base camp Baltal and took stock of the arrangements and fa-cilities put in place for Ama-rnath ji yatries there. 1.15 lakh yatries had darshan of Shiv lingam at holy cave through Baltal route so far.

The Minister interacted with the yatries and received the feedback from them about the arrangements made by the Government at different location en route to holy cave. While expressing satisfaction over the facilities, the devotees appreciated the arrangements made for con-venience of them at Baltal

base camp and en route to holy cave.

The Minister was in-formed that 90 quintals of rice, 35 quintals of atta, 35 quintals of sugar, 4000 litres of k.oil and 2200 cooking gas cylinder are available in the stock. He was informed that forest department has stocked 1500 quintals of fire-wood while 1000 quintals have been dispatched to vari-ous stops en route to cave.

The Minister went round the temporary hospitals set up at base camp and in-quired about the treatment facilities being extended to the patients there. He asked the doctors to provide bet-ter medicare facilities to the

people visiting there. The Minister also talked to some patients admitted in the tem-porary hospital. He was in-formed that all basic medical facilities are available at the base camp.

Mina Altaf also directed the officers of PHE and PDD to ensure regular water and power supply in the areas.

The Minister said that the people of the State are known for their hospitality and asked them to keep this tra-dition alive. He asked them to extend all possible help to the devotees and the tourists visiting there, adding that the courtesy of the people will create good impression on the minds of the visitors.

SRINGAR, JULY 10: Minister of State for Industries and Commerce, Mr. Saj-jad Ahmad Kichloo has stressed need for adopting latest technologies to make Jammu and Kashmir Cements Limited a profitable and viable busi-ness venture of the State.

Mr. Kichloo, who is also Chairman JKLC, was ad-dressing 98th Board of Di-rectors meeting of Jammu and Kashmir Cements Lim-ited (JKCL) here today.

Financial Commission-er, Industries and Commerce, Khur-sheed Ahmad Ganai was also present in the meeting.

The board discussed status of various ongoing projects, including Clinker Grinding cum Packing Unit coming up at a cost of Rs.26.96 crore at Industrial Growth Centre, Samba, Jammu. The unit has a capacity of producing 300 ton cement per day.

The board gave a time line of Au-gust 20 for its completion. The Board also approved upgradation of Kiln and Coal Mill of old cement plant at Khrew. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Kichloo stressed upon the func-tionaries of the company to redouble

their efforts so that the company could emerge as one of the biggest profitable company of the state. The minister also emphasised the man-agement to improve the performance in production and sale of cement.

Financial Commissioner, Khur-shid Ahmad Ganai enjoined upon the concerned officers to conduct Envi-ronment Impact Assessment through

State Pollution Control Board of entire Khrew area where various cement plants are operating.

Earlier MD, JKCL, Mr. Rakesh Shar-ma gave a detailed presentation of the achievements of the corporation.

The meeting was informed that over 30,000 MTs of cement, valuing Rs.23.76 crore have been sold during first Quar-ter of the current financial year while the organization has generated a revenue of Rs.93.29 Crore during last

financial year by selling 1,31,314 MTs of cement.

Among others, Director Budget Mr. Rafiq Ahmad Andrabi, Special Secretary Planning and Development, Mr. Showkat Beigh, Director PDD, Mr. A. K. Gandotra, Director Geology and Mining, Mr. A.K. Tickoo besides other senior officers were present on the occasion.

SRINAGAR, JULY 10: Addl. Director General of Police (Security), Mr. V.K. Singh decorated Mr. Fayaz Ahmad Lone, SP Commandant JKAP-11th Bn Sec, Mr. Randeep Kumar, SP Security Civil Secretariat J&K, Mr. T.R. Katoch, SP Staff officer to ADGP Security J&K, Mr. Ashok Sharma, SP Commandant JKAP-3rd Bn Sec., Mr. Manzoor Ahmad Dalal, SP Security AHJ Airport Srinagar and Mr. Ajit Lal Dogra, SP Security Raj Bha-wan Srinagar with the ranks of SSP in a piping ceremony held at Security Headquarters Srinagar.The officers have complet-ed 15 years of gazetted service in J&K Police and are entitled to wear the SSP ranks.ADGP Security, Mr. V.K. Singh urged the officers to work with utmost devotion and honesty to make the police department proud. He emphasised upon them to perform their duties sincerely and dedicate themselves to the service of the nation. He expressed hope that the officers will accomplish the assigned task and work efficiently for better police-public relation in future.

Lone grieves over the death of former Speaker A.A Vakil

SRINAGAR, JULY 10:- Minister for Higher Education, Mr. Mohammad Akbar Lone has expressed grief over the demise of veteran political leader and former Speaker, J&K Legislative Assembly, Mr. Abdul Ahad Vakil, who passed away last eve-ning after a prolonged ailment.Calling him a towering leader and eminent social worker, who has contributed a lot for the upliftment and welfare of people, Mr. lone said his role in the development and prosperity of State will be remembered for ever in the history of J&K State.

DAMHAL-HANJIPORA (KULGAM), JULY 10: Min-ister for Social Welfare, ARI and Trainings, Ms. Sakina Itoo today conducted a day long tour to his constituency Damhal-Hanjipura in Kul-gam district and took stock of ongoing developmental works coming up in the constituency.

While addressing a pub-lic gathering at Damhal-Hanjipora, the Minister highlighted the achieve-ments of the coalition gov-ernment. She reiterated the government’s resolution about the upliftment of down trodden sections of the society and added that all-round development of backward and remote areas of the state was priority of the government.

Ms. Sakina said that

Government has initiated a numerous reformative steps for faster and equi-table development of all the three regions of the state. She called upon the people to strengthen the hands of Omar-led government by their whole-hearted co-operation for fulfilling the dream of a model J&K as envisaged by the Chief Min-ister, Omar Abdullah.

Referring to the various welfare schemes launched by the Centre-State govern-ments, she asked the people to take full benefits of these schemes, adding that ac-countability and transpar-ency would be brought in disbursement of financial assistance among needy persons.

She exhorted upon the offices to gear up the ma-

chinery of on-going de-velopmental projects and completed them within the stipulated time. She direct-ed the concerned officers to create massive aware-ness about the Centre and State sponsored schemes and stressed upon the local representatives of the areas to render their services with utmost zeal and dedication.

Earlier, a grand road show was organized by the people of the area and a number of people met the Minister on the way and highlighted their problems. She gave them patient hear-ing and assured that govern-ment will redress all genu-ine problems of the people in a time bound manner.

Several senior officers of district administration ac-companied the Minister.

Over one lakh had darshan so far via Baltal

Mian Altaf visits Baltal yatra base camp

98th BODs meeting of JKCL held

Company generates Rs.93.29 CroreKichloo for adopting latest technology to

make JKCL profitable venture

ADGP Security decorates SSPs

Dev of backward areas priority of Govt: Sakina

SRINAGAR, JULY 10: Setting a target of 5416 Ha (area) to be treated for Compensatory Af-forestation during 2014-15, the Steering Committee of CAMPA headed by Chief Secretary, Mo-hammad Iqbal Khandey Thursday approved an outlay of Rs 49 crore for the purpose. The Committee also gave approval to the annual plan of operation of the wildlife department to the tune of Rs 7.86 crore.

Chairing the 9th Steering Com-mittee meeting of State Compen-satory Afforestation Fund Man-agement and Planning Authority (CAMPA) here, Mr Khandey called for sustained focus on plantation of trees to further improve the Forest cover across all districts to-gether with conservation, protec-tion and management of State’s unique wildlife.

Chief Secretary stressed on

dedicating 5% area in all Forest Nurseries for raising Medicinal Plants besides enhancing the period of watch and ward of the newly planted trees to further im-prove the chances of their survival and growth in the Forests.

Mr Khandey also directed for early completion of Digital Map-ping of entire Forest area, boundar-ies and recording of geographical coordinates of all boundary pillars, CAMPA closures and the Forest

Protection Network Grid of For-est Check Posts, Control Rooms and Field Gamma Units, so that a comprehensive GIS based data is obtained.Under CAMPA Scheme which has entered the 5th Year of execution, over 20,000 Ha have been brought under Compensatory Afforestation and over 150 lakh trees have been planted. During 2013-14, an area covering 7612 Ha was treated for Afforestation and as many as 61 Lakh trees were raised

in Nurseries and 54 Lakh saplings were planted besides fencing of 24 Lakh Rft forest area was completed.

Various species of trees like co-nifers including Deodar, Kial, Fir Chir, Pinus, Cupresses and Broad Leaved including Arjun, Robina, Walnut, Wild Apricot, Khair, Jamun, Amla, Amaltus etc, are raised in Forest Nurseries spread across all districts of the State. From the Nurs-eries, the Saplings are transplanted to various Forest areas.PCCF, J&K,

Mr Abhai Kumar gave a detailed presentation on the work done and achievements registered over the last 4 years under various compo-nents of CAMPA. He said that with the establishment of GIS labs at Jammu and Srinagar, the exercise of digitizing different forest features and documents has already started. He said pace of Compensatory Af-forestation across all Forest circles has seen improvement besides CAMPA works have been put under 3rd Party Monitoring and Evalua-tion system and the report in this regard will be completed and sub-mitted soon.

Chief Wildlife Warden, J&K, A. K. Singh informed the Committee that management plans for pro-tected areas is under progress be-sides Wild Life surveys of various animal and bird species is under-way and draft reports for some of them are ready.

CS stresses on Digital Mapping of Forests, dedicated area for Medicinal Plants

SRINAGAR, JULY 10: Addl. Director General of Police (Security), Mr. V.K. Singh decorated Mr. Fayaz Ahmad Lone, SP Commandant JKAP-11th Bn Sec, Mr. Randeep Kumar, SP Security Civil Sec-retariat J&K, Mr. T.R. Katoch, SP Staff officer to ADGP Secu-rity J&K, Mr. Ashok Sharma, SP Commandant JKAP-3rd Bn Sec., Mr. Manzoor Ahmad Dalal, SP Security AHJ Air-port Srinagar and Mr. Ajit Lal Dogra, SP Security Raj Bha-wan Srinagar with the ranks of SSP in a piping ceremony held at Security Headquar-ters Srinagar.

The officers have complet-ed 15 years of gazetted service in J&K Police and are entitled to wear the SSP ranks.

ADGP Security, Mr. V.K. Singh urged the officers to work with utmost devotion and honesty to make the police depart-ment proud. He emphasised upon

them to perform their duties sincerely and dedicate themselves to the ser-vice of the nation. He expressed hope

that the officers will accomplish the assigned task and work efficiently for better police-public relation in future.

ADGP Security decorates SSPsBERLIN (AP) — Germany announced Thursday it is kicking out

Washington’s top spy in Berlin, a dramatic response from a key U.S. ally to a yearlong spying dispute over eavesdropping on Chan-cellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone calls that flared anew this week.

The immediate trigger for Thursday’s move was the emer-gence of two new cases of alleged American spying. More deeply, it appears to reflect a Germany at the end of its patience with what it sees as a pattern of American disrespect and interference in a nation that has cherished traditions of privacy.

U.S. officials described Germany’s move as extraordinary. A former U.S. official said he couldn’t remember a time in recent history when an intelligence official was asked to leave a country. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss intelligence issues publicly.

The spy saga began last year with reports that the National Security Agency targeted Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone and conducted mass surveillance of Internet traffic in Germany. Those allegations have resulted in a criminal investigation and the creation of a parliamentary panel tasked with probing the NSA’s activities in Germany.“The representative of the U.S. intel-ligence services at the United States embassy has been asked to leave Germany,” government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement.“The request occurred against the backdrop of the ongoing investigation by federal prosecutors as well as the ques-tions that were posed months ago about the activities of U.S. intel-ligence agencies in Germany,” he added. “The government takes the matter very seriously.”

Germany kicks out top US spy over spy spat

9TH Steering Committee meeting of CAMPA

Consider making some plans for a vacation or short getaway, Libra. Looking forward to something fun can make even the tough-est of days far easier to handle. You’ll be amazed how much you can manage when there’s an end in plain sight. Your entire attitude can lighten. So take the bull by the horns and create an incentive for yourself. Do something special to reward the hard work you do day after day.

Don’t judge someone if he or she has a different lifestyle than what you consider to be OK, Scorpio. You probably lean toward the traditional, yet not everyone feels this way about re-lationships, working, or lifestyle. While it may seem impossible to understand and even frighten you, try not to be too harsh on those you deem odd. You’d be better off using that energy to keep your own life on track.

Friends seeking advice or a shoulder to cry on could be plentiful today, Sagittarius. You’re one of best people to give them the support and care they need. Just be sure that you don’t give so much to others that you don’t have anything left for yourself. True friendship is about sharing and the exchange of problems and help. Running yourself down will leave you in a place where you aren’t going to be much help to anyone.

Getting through today shouldn’t pose too big a problem for you, Capricorn. You may feel a huge second wind that can give you the drive and determination to see your chores and projects through. Make some plans for this evening, such as getting to-gether with friends or taking in an event that really intrigues you. Until then, go about your tasks bit by bit. You’ll get things finished before you know it.

Working within boundaries and restrictions could really get to you today, Aquarius. Yours is an independent spirit and your best achievements are often born of doing things your own way. Yet like it or not, we all have to follow guidelines and rules. Do your best to follow suit and finish what needs to be done. Afterward, you may find more freedom to act independently without consequences. Exercise patience and diligence as needed today.

Chances are that you’ll feel upbeat and positive today, Pisces. Consider sharing this energy with those around you who are feel-ing less than content. Your attitude can have a profound effect on friends, partners, spouses, and children. Even neighbors and ex-tended family can pick up on your spirit without you even real-izing it. Share your optimism with everyone you can today. If you see someone hurt or angry.

Feeling the effects of today’s energies, Virgo? Take heart if this is the case, because the end of the tunnel isn’t as far away as it seems. Do your best to take things one step at a time and see about making some plans for a little fun this evening. Get together with friends or take in a movie. Help yourself feel better by staying busy and focused and follow up with some recreation. Before you know it, the aspect will pass and you’ll be back to normal.

Don’t discount your ability to be extremely resourceful if you need to be, Aries. If you don’t have everything you need or all of the required information, take time to think. Who can you ask? What places can you access? Who might know where you can find what you need? Rather than panic because the pieces aren’t all there, instead make a list of contacts and go for it. Trust in yourself.

Try not to let today’s blues get you down, Taurus. While it’s true that some days can seem to drag on, the busier you are the faster time will pass. Get down to finishing any work still before you and then make plans for tonight. If there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, not only will things seem to speed up but you’ll feel better knowing it’s coming.

Dare to be different, Gemini. It can be so easy to fall into a drill. Sleeping at the same time, eating at the same time, wearing the same style, and going about work the same way day after day. Be-fore you know it, you feel like you’re in a rut. The only way to get away from this is to make a decision to break free by doing some-thing unique. Try a new haircut. Wear colors that are unusual for you. If the need is there, consider a new career. Pursue expansion.

If your lifestyle is considerably different than that of others, re-sist feeling self-conscience about it today, Cancer. Try to remember that you chose the life you have for specific reasons. Even if you’ve come to a point where you’re considering a change, there’s no need to feel badly, ashamed, or embarrassed about where you are now. Everyone has to make his or her own way. If this conforms to the norm, that’s fine. If it doesn’t, that’s fine, too.

An enhanced feeling of determination could motivate you today, Leo. Finish the things that aren’t complete and make some plans for this evening. Don’t hesitate to take on something that feels compli-cated or big. Chances are you’ll be able to handle most anything and it will feel great when it’s finished. Enjoy your day by making the most of opportunity.

Daily Zabarwan TimesEDITORIAL/ OPINIONEDITORIAL/ OPINIONDaily Zabarwan TimesSrinagar, Friday 11 July 2014

Disclaimer : The contents and comments appearing in any article published in this paper are purely the personal opinion of the writer

Beggar menace

As soon as the spring sets in the Kashmir valley, the first tourists to arrive are herds of

beggars from different party of the country who have in-fested the valley particularly the tourist places to the extent that tourists are visible in less number than these unwanted guests. They barge forcibly in any private house, hospi-tal, Govt. office, shop, clinic and the tourist place which of course have become their permanent habitats. These beggars do not only beg, they are drug peddlers, robbers, re-sponsible for immoral activi-ties and spread lots of diseases which they are suffering from including the dreaded HIV. There is no check on them, no-body stops them and nobody checks their activities and as they are allegedly paying a reg-ular ‘Hafta’ to the concerned police stations who close their eyes on their criminal and im-moral activities. They in fact are not working individually, but in groups which are con-trolled by mafia who takes care about their stay, pick and drop at certain places and pays them their wages on dai-ly or weekly basis. Some of them in the garb of rag pickers are dreaded thieves who steal anything they find unattend-ed and even indulge in house breaking to vanish with valu-ables. These rag pickers also do rekeying and inform their mafia about isolated houses which could easily be robbed off. The Kashmir police has traditionally been very soft on them fearing that any action against them may boom rang as it can be given political and communal colour by the vest-ed interests. There had been no regular drive against them and they are roaming very freely around all their areas of activities. These beggars have created a menace for gener-al public including creation of unhygienic atmosphere around their temporary set-tlement. It needs Govt’s at-tention to tackle the problem which may become impossi-ble in future.

Amarnath Yatra and Environment Protection

Obaidur Rehman/Shabir A Dar

ashmir holds not only a distinction of being a picturesque tourist place, but also a melting pot of various religious centers and pilgrimage spots – which makes it a busy religious tourism desti-nation all across the year. In fact, religions have inspired the construction of some of the most spectacular monuments in Valley and all forms of art and architecture find expression in them. It is because of the religious character that the three regions of Jammu and Kashmir have got a unique identification: While Kashmir Valley is known as a land of Sufis, Jammu city is called a land of temples and Ladakh is famous for the gumpas and monasteries. So in all three parts of the state, pilgrim tourism remains the most hap-pening activity besides the normal tourist flows. Attempts are afoot on part of the gov-ernment to give proper boost to the religious tourism and make Jammu and Kashmir a hub for spiritual and religious travelers. Special in-frastructure is being created to materialize the plan. The tourism ministry is also contemplating to create spiritual circuits in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions. J&K Tourism has plans for promotion of religious tourism and three mega projects have been conceived for implementation and Detailed Project Report’s (DPR’s) stand submitted to the Government of India. The project worth Rs 150 crores is aimed to develop tourism circuits in three regions. While Rs 50 crore of the stipulated cost is to be utilized to promote Buddhist-related tourism in Ladakh, Rs 100 crore is to be used to boost Sufi tourism in Kashmir and to restore var-ious pilgrimage centers in Jammu. The famous religious tourism spots of Kash-mir include Hazratbal, Kherbawani, and Amar-nath Cave. But it is the Amarnath Cave that re-ceives largest number of pilgrims. So we can say that in terms of numerical numbers, Amarnath is largest religious tourism destination. Amar-nath Yatra is not only special for Hindus but for Muslims too. Hundreds of Muslims could be seen offering their services for the smooth conduct of the yatra. So the pilgrimage provides a secular tinge in an exclusively religious environment. It provides a chance of interaction and intermin-gling of intra and inter-religious communities and promotes feelings of communal harmony. Amarnath cave is a Hindu shrine ded-icated to Hindu God, Shiva and is located in South Kashmir Himalayas, at an altitude of 3,888 m (12,756 ft), about 141 km from Srinagar, and reached via Pahalgam and Baltal routes.

The shrine is considered to be one of the holiest shrines in Hinduism. The cave is surrounded by snowy mountains. The cave itself is covered with snow most of the year except in three summer months (from mid June to mid August) when it is open for pilgrims. Thousands of Hindu devo-tees make an annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave on challenging mountainous terrain to see an ice stalagmite formed inside the cave. It is believed that after the middle Ages, this cave was forgotten by people before it was dis-covered by a shepherd, Butta Malik, in the 15th century once again. Story goes that a saint gave Buta Malik a bag full of coal. On reaching home, to his utter surprise he finds the bag was full of gold coins. Overwhelmed with joy, he wanted to thank the saint. But, he found that the saint had disappeared. Instead he found the Holy Cave and Shiv Lingam there in. He announced the discov-ery of this to the Villagers. Then onwards this has become the sacred place of Pilgrimage. Another story relates to Bhrigu Muni. Long time ago, it is believed that the Vale of Kash-mir was submerged under water and Kashyapa Muni drained it through a series of rivers and rivulets. Therefore when the waters drained, Bh-rigu Muni was the first to have Darshan of Lord Amarnath. Thereafter, when people heard of the Lingam, it became an abode of Lord Bholenath for all believers and a pilgrimage which is per-formed by lakhs of people every year. The government is very particular about the arrangements and facilities for the proper performance of worship by the Amarnath pil-grims. Security remains the major concern so special care is being taken to ensure an incident free pilgrimage. Large part of the state machin-ery is pressed in to service during the Yatra pe-riod to ensure that enough arrangements of civic and medical facilities are put in place, for the re-ligious journey. The annual pilgrimage is managed by Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) through Jam-mu and Kashmir Shri Amarnathji Shrine Act 2000. The board is headed by Jammu and Kash-mir Governor, who is ex-officio chairman of the board. On the directives of SASB and state gov-ernment, each pilgrim is supposed to carry a val-id health certificate issued by a recognized doc-tor and have to go for prior registration before embarking on Yatra. However, the government finds itself strained in managing and facilitating the huge number of the pilgrims. Good faith en-sures spiritual power of the believers and instills a sense of responsibility for the community and environment in them. Here pilgrims hold respon-sibility of protecting environment and follow directives from administration in this regard.

Rules and regulations should be strictly adhered to, because nature’s rule is such that it takes two to make a tango. If we preserve the environment, the environment too will save us and our faith. Environment issue is not restricted to Kashmir only. It has assumed an international challenge and the alarming situation demands a need for a global awakening. But given the frag-ile nature of Kashmir’s environment, particu-larly the areas surrounding the Amarnath Cave and the routes that lead to it, authorities are duty bound to ensure that mass flow of pilgrims to an ecologically fragile area doesn’t cause harm to it. But the ground situation presents a different pic-ture. Such remains the scale of the yatra, that at its peak, the two base camps at Baltal and Pahal-gam, huge camps with thousands of tents pitched across miles of once green meadows. The enor-mous numbers directly reflect on the facilities provided to the yatries. There’s a lack of toilets and a lot of pilgrims end up relieving themselves into the open by the rivers passing by the base camps. Furthermore a lack of a proper waste disposal system in both the camps and along the routes to the cave means that the whole area is littered with plastic bottles, wrappers and other non-biodegradable pollutants, even much longer after the yatra is over. The main victims of colossal waste pro-duced by increasing number of pilgrims are the fragile ecologies of Baltal and Pahalgam. These two ecologically sensitive places take much of the pollution onslaught year after year, without repair or rescue. The famous Lidder River too is a victim of the yatra pol-lution. This onslaught was documented in a 37-page report released by the Jammu and Kash-mir State Pollution Control Board (JKSPCB) in 2006. The report expressed concern over not reg-ulating the yatra in a manner that protects the environment. It specifically pointed out that the situation in Pahalgam, the main base camp of the yatra, was alarming and called for immediate measures to protect the sensitive ecology of the Pahalgam valley. However, the fact remain that the pollu-tion onslaught is bound to cause an irreparable loss to the Holy cave and its surrounding ecol-ogy. There is a strong need to conduct a proper scientific survey to assess the annual carrying capacity by the Pahalgam and Baltal routes that would serve as reliable and scientific indicators towards arriving at a safe annual pilgrim num-ber. So in order to prevent irreparable harm to the fragile ecology around the Holy cave, there is need to take urgent measures in terms of policy making and willingness to prevent the damage in time.

“A winner makes commitments, a losser makes promises.”

Quote of the day

K

Pooja P. Vardhan

he constitution of India is not an inert but a living document which evolves and grows with time. The specific provisions on environment protection in the constitution are also result of this evolving nature and growth potential of the fundamental law of the land. The preamble to our constitution ensures socialist pattern of the society and dignity of the individual. Decent standard of living and pollution free environment is inherent in this. The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 defines environment as “environment includes water, air and land and the interrelation-ship which exists among and between air, water and land and human beings, other living crea-tures, plants, micro-organism and property”. The chapter on fundamental duties of the Indian Constitution clearly imposes duty on ev-ery citizen to protect environment. Article 51-A (g), says that “It shall be duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life and to have compassion for living creatures.” The Directive principles under the Indian constitution directed towards ideals of building welfare state. Healthy environment is also one of the elements of welfare state. Article 47 provides that the State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties. The improvement of public health also includes the protection and improvement of environment without which public health cannot be assured. Article 48 deals with organization of agriculture and animal husbandry. It directs the State to take steps to organize agriculture and an-imal husbandry on modern and scientific lines. In particular, it should take steps for preserving and improving the breeds and prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle. Article 48 -A of the constitution says that “the state shall endeavor to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country”. The Constitution of India under part III guarantees fundamental rights which are essen-

tial for the development of every individual and to which a person is inherently entitled by virtue of being human alone. Right to environment is also a right without which development of individual and realisation of his or her full potential shall not be possible. Articles 21, 14 and 19 of this part have been used for environmental protection. According to Article 21 of the constitution, “no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law”. Article 21 has received liberal interpre-tation from time to time after the decision of the Supreme Court in Maneka Gandhi vs. Union of India, (AIR 1978 SC 597). Article 21 guarantees fun-damental right to life. Right to environment, free of danger of disease and infection is inherent in it. Right to healthy environment is important attri-bute of right to live with human dignity. The right to live in a healthy environment as part of Article 21 of the Constitution was first recognized in the case of Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kend-ra vs. State, AIR 1988 SC 2187 (Popularly known as Dehradun Quarrying Case). It is the first case of this kind in India, involving issues relating to environment and ecological balance in which Su-preme Court directed to stop the excavation (ille-gal mining) under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. In M.C. Mehta vs. Union of India, AIR 1987 SC 1086 the Supreme Court treated the right to live in pollution free environment as a part of fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. Excessive noise creates pollution in the soci-ety. The constitution of India under Article 19 (1) (a) read with Article 21 of the constitution guaran-tees right to decent environment and right to live peacefully. In PA Jacob vs. The Superintendent of Police Kottayam, AIR 1993 Ker 1, the Kerala High Court held that freedom of speech under article 19 (1)(a) does not include freedom to use loud speak-ers or sound amplifiers. Thus, noise pollution caused by the loud speakers can be controlled under article 19 (1) (a) of the constitution. Article 19 (1) (g) of the Indian constitution confers fundamental right on every citizen to practice any profession or to carry on any oc-cupation, trade or business. This is subject to

reasonable restrictions. A citizen cannot carry on business activity, if it is health hazards to the society or general public. Thus safeguards for environment protection are inherent in this. The Supreme Court, while deciding the matter relating to carrying on trade of liquor in Cooverjee B. Bharucha Vs Excise commission-er, Ajmer (1954, SC 220) observed that, if there is clash between environmental protection and right to freedom of trade and occupation, the courts have to balance environmental interests with the fundamental rights to carry on any oc-cupations. Public Interest Litigation under Article 32 and 226 of the constitution of India resulted in a wave of environmental litigation. The leading environmental cases decided by the Supreme Court includes case of closure of limestone quar-ries in the Dehradun region (Dehradun Quar-rying case, AIR 1985 SC 652), the installation of safeguard at a chlorine plant in Delhi (M.C. Mehta V. Union of India, AIR 1988 SC 1037) etc. In Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum vs. Union of India (1996) 5 SCC 647, the Court observed that “the Precautionary Principle” and “the Polluter Pays Principle” are essential features of “Sus-tainable Development.” At local and village level also, Panchayats have been empowered under the constitution to take measures such as soil conservation, water management, forestry and protection of the en-vironment and promotion of ecological aspect. Environment protection is part of our cul-tural values and traditions. In Atharvaveda, it has been said that “Man’s paradise is on earth; this living world is the beloved place of all; It has the blessings of nature’s bounties; live in a lovely spirit”. Earth is our paradise and it is our duty to protect our paradise. The constitution of India embodies the framework of protection and preservation of nature without which life can-not be enjoyed. The knowledge of constitutional provisions regarding environment protection is need of the day to bring greater public participa-tion, environmental awareness, environmental education and sensitize the people to preserve ecology and environment.

Environment Protection under Constitutional Framework of India

T

Dr. Seuss