STATE VISIONVol No: 6 Issue No: 308 Postal Registration No. JK/ 506/ 16-18, RNI Registration no. JKENG/ 2013/ 53908

WHERE THESTORY

COMES FIRST.STATE VISION Daily English News Paper | Samba (J&K)

PAGE-8 Epaper:- www.statevision.in Rs: 2/ Sunday, December 30, 2018

SAMBA, DECEMBER 29:Advisor to Governor, KVijay Kumar todayreviewed the on-goingdevelopment works underIndustry and Health sec-tors in this border district

here at a meeting.Deputy Commissioner,

Sushma Chauhan,Chairman State PollutionControl Board,Superintendent of PoliceSamba besides heads of

line departments attendedthe meeting. The Advisorwas apprised about theon-going works includingsewerage treatment plant,solid and waste manage-ment, transport, storage,distribution and supply(TSDS) and others issues.

He called for putting ineffective mechanism forpollution control in thedistrict especially at theindustrial estates. He saidplantation, waste manage-ment and proper planningshould be put in place forsustainable growth.

The Chairman PollutionControl Board briefed theAdvisor about the stepstaken up by Department

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JAMMU, DEC. 29:Former Deputy ChiefMinister & Senior BJPLeader, Kavinder Gupta,toured Bahu area and lis-tened to the grievances ofcommon masses.

Gupta was accompaniedby Vinay Gupta, AnkushGupta, Sharda Kumari,Sunil Sharma, DalbirSingh, Vivek Patyal,Sunny Sangotra, AnkushSharma and other localparty workers. He inspect-ed the ongoing worksunder various schemes ofGandhi Nagar legislativeconstituency. He alsoinspected the ongoingwork of black topping ofroads of Kacha Talab andPakka Talab area beingexecuted by PW (R&B) atthe cost of 38 lakhs.

Kavinder, while inspect-ing ongoing works, asked

officials to maintain highstandards of quality. Hesaid that it is hard earnedmoney of tax payers that isused in these works, soevery penny must beaccounted for. He calledupon the locals and mar-ket associations to keep avigil on quality of materi-als used along with com-

petence and sincerity ofexecuting authority, withwhat present work isbeing executed on ground.He also asked locals toreport any type of inferiorquality or any negligenceinducted in execution ofwork.

He insisted that Prime CONTD ON P-2

SRINAGAR, DECEM-BER 29: Advisor toGovernor, Kewal KumarSharma today reviewedthe preparedness ahead ofthe commissioning ofAlasteng Grid Station andS r i n a g a r - L e hTransmission Line.

The Advisor also dis-cussed the power beingsupplied to the consumersand the improvementsexpected after the com-missioning of the GridStation. He also discussedthe test charging ofAlasteng Grid Station anddirected the concernedofficials to do it by firstweek of January.

The Advisor was briefedthat the 220 KV line con-

necting 220/132/33 KVAlasteng Grid Station willbe commissioned byJanuary ending. TheTransmission Line is beingconstructed by M/SEngineers and

Construction Industries(ECI) Hyderabad onturnkey basis.

The Advisor Sharmareprimanded the contrac-tor agency for its failure to

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DDC Jammu chairs DLRC, DCC meetAsks Banks to simplify lending procedure

JAMMU, DECEMBER 29: A meeting of District LevelReview Committee and District ConsultativeCommittee (DLRC/DCC) for the Quarter endingSeptember 2018 of Jammu district was chaired byDistrict Development Commissioner Jammu, RameshKumar, here today.

The meeting took stock of the performance of bankswith regard to achievement under Annual Credit Planof 2018-19 and also the position of Deposits, Advancesand CD Ratio.

Lead District Manager informed the house thatdeposits of the district are Rs 38281.44 crore andadvances Rs 11760.00 crore as on September 2018 TheC.D. Ratio of the district stands at 30.72%.

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Forest Deptt cautions peopleabout fake regularization order

JAMMU, DECEMBER 29: The Forest Departmenttoday said that a fake regularization Order No: 358/FSTof 2018 dated: 08/12/2018 with a list of 454 candidatesis being circulated on Social Media by some unscrupu-lous elements. The Department made it clear that thesaid order is bogus and action is being initiated againstthe miscreants who are circulating this order.

"It is clarified that the Department of Forests, Ecologyand Environment vide Government order No: 358-FSTof 2018 dated: 12.11.2018 has issued the compassionateappointment order of Samarjit Parihar S/o Late AjitKumar Parihar R/o Kishtwar under SRO-43 of 1994 andnot the regularization order of any adhoc/consolidatedemployees," the Forest Department spokesman said in astatement.

He said the Order No: 358/FST of 2018 dated:08/12/2018 is fake and has been issued with ulteriormotive by some miscreants and public at large are beingadvised not circulate the said order on social media anddo not be a party to such illegal activities. "Any personhaving any information about such miscreants, maykindly be shared with the police/forest department so

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Former principalof REC, Srinagar,Wakhlu passesawaySRINAGAR, DEC 29:Former principal ofRegional EngineeringCollege (REC), now NIIT,Srinagar, Prof (Dr) O NWakhlu died on Fridayevening here after a pro-longed illness. He wasabove 80. Prof Wakhluand his wife Khem LataWakhlu, a Congress lead-ers, did not migratedwhen majority Kashmiripundits left Kashmirdespite her abduction bymilitants. However, shewas released safely in 90s.Wakhlu who died at hisresidence in Srinagar after

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KATHUA, DECEMBER29: Advisor to Governor,K Vijay Kumar, today tookstock of ongoing work onGovernment MedicalCollege complex andmakeshift building for theGMC here at MahatmaGandhi Hospital.

The Advisor was accom-panied by Director HealthServices, Jammu, Dr.Samir Matoo, DirectorMedical Colleges, Dr.Yash Pal Sharma and SER&B, Jammu KathuaCircle, N D Khawaja.

At the construction site,the Advisor was briefedabout the work plan ofongoing various blocks ofthe main building and thepresent status of the work.

It was said that against Rs96.39 crore fund alloca-tion, Rs 32 crore has beenspent and the building islikely to be made function-al by April 2020. The totalcost of the project as perthe DPR is Rs. 139 crore.

The Advisor alsoinquired about the statusof approach road includ-ing its elevation and land-scaping. He directed theSE R&B to submit a barchart depicting the worksto be undertaken in thenext 16 months to ensureits timely execution.Financial progress wasalso reviewed and theexpenditure incurred tilldate on the works was alsodiscussed in detail. Later,

the Advisor, along withsenior officials, visited DHKathua and directed thehospital administration tocomplete all the facilitiesas per MCI guidelineswithin the next 3 months.The District Hospital is setto function as an associat-ed hospital of the newMedical College. He fur-ther directed to resolve theissues related to CT scanand Digital X-Raymachine at the earliest.

He also sought the statusof incomplete buildingsnear the DH and asked toexplore the possibility ofbringing these under thecategory of languishingprojects.

To improve connectivity

between new GMC andDH, Advisor Kumarcalled for submitting aproposal to NHAI so thatoverpass or underpass isconstructed for connectingthe twin facilities, withoutdisturbing the traffic onthe National Highway.

The Advisor also visitedMahatma GandhiHospital to review themakeshift arrangementsbeing made by the execut-ing agency to startMedical classes for thefirst batch of the upcom-ing GMC. A presentationwas made highlighting allthe necessary arrange-ments and required infra-structure and facilities

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Freezing of Dal,Nageen lakes:VC LAWDA issuesadvisorySRINAGAR, DECEM-BER 29: To avoid anymishap, the Vice-Chairman Lakes andWaterways DevelopmentAuthority (LAWDA)Saturday today issued anadvisory asking peoplenot to walk or play on thefrozen surface of Dal andNageen Lakes as it canprove dangerous.

In an official handoutissued here, the VC alsoimpressed upon the peo-ple living in the adjacentareas to keep a watch onsuch activities and dis-courage the practice inorder to save the preciouslives.

SRINAGAR: Four terror-ists were killed onSaturday in an encounterwith security forces inJammu and Kashmir'sPulwama district. Thesearch and sanitisationoperation is underway.Meanwhile, clashes brokeout between the securityforces and civilian protest-ers after the encounter,leaving at least 11 peopleinjured.

Inspector General ofKashmir range, SwayamPrakash Pani, told ANI,"After the area was cor-doned off, there was anexchange of fire in which 4terrorists were killed, affil-iated to proscribed terror-ist outfit JeM."

He further said: "Fromthe info we have, one ofthe terrorists was a foreignterrorist, apparently aPakistani." Earlier today,Defence Ministry

spokesman Colonel RajeshKalia said, "Four terroristshave been killed in HajinPayeen village. Weaponsand warlike stores havebeen recovered."

Later in the day, reportssuggested that civiliansstarted pelting stones atthe security forces near thegunfight site in HajinPayeen village. Securityforces had to use tearsmoke and pellets to dis-perse the protesters.Keeping in mind the pos-sibility of an unexploredexplosive material there,the Jammu and KashmirPolice have advised civil-ians not to visit the site tillit is declared safe.

Security forces launcheda cordon and search oper-ation in Hanjan area ofPulwama earlier today onthe basis of inputs aboutthe presence of terrorists.

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JAMMU, DECEMBER 29:Asserting that holisticdevelopment is funda-mental to students' charac-ter building, Advisor toGovernor KhurshidAhmed Ganaitoday saidthat schools must focus oncharacter building and all-round education not as analternative to academiccurriculum but as anessential part of student'slife.

Advisor said this duringannual day celebration ofSainik School Nagrota(SSN) where he presidedas chief guest.

Addressing the gather-ing, the Advisor compli-mented the Principal, staff

and cadets on thismomentous occasion andlauded the uniqueness oftraining imparted by theschool. The Advisor laud-ed the efforts of the schoolmanagement for prepar-ing the boys academically,

physically and psycholog-ically for entry into theNational DefenseAcademy or other walksof life.

Character, team spirit,dedication to purpose,patriotic outlook and a

desire to serve the peoplewith zeal and efficiencyare the qualities sought tobe promoted by the train-ing at the school, theAdvisor maintained.

He also complimentedthe cadets for highlightingunity in diversity in a sub-tle manner by way of pre-senting cultural pro-gramme.

He appreciated the stu-dents for their immensetalent and willingness toproduce such fine per-formances. He alsopraised the faculty for anexcellent academic per-formance.

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JAMMU, DECEMBER 29:Jammu & Kashmir StateJudicial Academy (SJA)organised a training pro-gramme here today onCyber Law in whichJudicial Officers, PublicProsecutors andInvestigating Officers par-ticipated.

Simultaneously, the pro-gramme was conductedthrough video link atConference Hall, HighCourt Complex inSrinagar.

On the initiative of ChiefJustice Jammu andKashmir High CourtJustice Gita Mittal,renowned experts onCyber Law: Dr. PavanDuggal, and Dr. KarnikaSeth conducted the pro-gramme.

Both the resource per-

sons have conducted vari-ous training programmesin India and abroad.Issues concerning all thespheres of Cyber Lawwhich include cybercrimes and cyber forensicswere dealt with ease andthe participants got toknow about the widesphere and intricacies ofthe Cyber Law during theprogramme.

Justice Rajesh Bindal,Chairman GoverningCommittee of JudicialAcademy and E-CourtsCommittee highlightedthe need to have greaterknowledge about theCyber Law and variousaspects concerning the lawenforcement agencies,prosecuting agencies andthe courts of law.

He said a serious chal-

lenge is posed by theunscrupulous persons,threatening the economicand social order of thecountry.

He said that havingknowledge of laws relat-ing to information tech-nology and the internetand the security regimeconnected with it, shall beof immense help for prop-er safe guard against theill effects of the technolo-gy.

Dr. Pavan Duggal dealtwith silent aspects ofIndian Cyber Law enactedas Information IechnologyAct, 2000 alongwith Rulesframed thereunder, elec-tronic evidence and theissues as to their applica-bility to the Judicial pro-ceedings.

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Train serviceresumes insouth KashmirSRINAGAR, DEC 29:Train service resumed onSaturday after remainingsuspended as a precau-tionary measure onFriday in south Kashmir,where a militant waskilled by security forces inPulwama in an encounteryesterday.

However, train servicewas not affected in northKashmir, where trainschugged as per scheduledyesterday. We resumedtrain service in southKashmir on Saturdayafter a fresh advisory wasreceived from police lastnight, a senior railwayofficial told.

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Advisor Ganaipays obeisanceat DastgeerSahab (RA)shrineSRINAGAR, DECEM-BER 29: Chairman,Muslim Wakf Board andAdvisor to Governor,Khurshid Ahmad Ganaitoday visited the shrine ofPeer Dastgeer Sahab(RA)at Khanyar and paid obei-sance at the Ziarat.

He interacted with thedevotees at the shrine andenquired about theamenities and arrange-ments. The Chairman alsointeracted with the Wakfstaff and impressed uponthem to offer best possibleassistance to the visitorsand ensure upkeep of theshrine.

4 JeM terrorists killed in Pulwama encounter;civilians pelt stones at security forcesIndia

Alasteng grid station: Advisor Sharma reviewspreparedness ahead of commissioning

Directs for penalizing contractor for delay in const of transmission line

Advisor Kumar takes stock of Industry,Health sector works in Samba

Inspects progress on AIIMS project at Vijaypur

Advisor Kumar reviews progresson Kathua Medical College

ASKS FOR EARLY COMPLETION OF MAKESHIFT BUILDING TO START CLASSES FROM NEXT SESSION

SJA organises training prog on Cyber Law Sainik School Nagrota celebrates Annual DayHolistic development key to preparing students

for bigger responsibilities: Advisor Ganai

Kavinder Inspects ongoing works in Bahu Area

Samba (J&K) | Sunday, December 30, 2018 Daily State Vision

02

4 JeM terrorists...As the forces began conducting searches, the terror-

ists, who were hiding in the area, opened fire at them.The forces retaliated, leading to the encounter.

On Friday, one terrorist was killed in an encounterthat took place between the forces and terrorists. Threeterrorists had opened fire in Awantipora, where thesecurity forces had been carrying out search and cordonoperation. The remaining two terrorists reportedlyescaped.

Alasteng grid...complete the line in time and directed the Chief

Engineer Systems and Operations to initiate action inthe matter.

He said the Governor is highly concerned about thepower scenario in Kashmir and has directed to improvethe infrastructure immediately to save the consumersfrom inconvenience.

The meeting was attended by Secretary toGovernment Power Development Department HirdeshKumar, Chief Engineer PDD Hashmat Qazi, ChiefEngineer S&O Wing Javaid Yousuf Dar and ChiefEngineer Generation Fayaz Ahmad Beig andSuperintending Engineers, Executive Engineers besidesother department officials.

The Advisor along with other officers later visitedGrid Station Zainakote - a vital installation for supply-ing power to major portion of district Srinagar.

He discussed the impediments being faced in the con-struction of line connecting Alasteng Grid Station inDharmuna and Soibug areas, with DistrictDevelopment Commissioner Budgam and directed herto hasten the process and ensure prompt removal ofbottlenecks, if any, to facilitate its commissioning at theearliest.

Sharma was informed that the Zainakote Grid Stationis connected with Sterlite Grid Station Tangmarg whichgets power from Samba through 400kv Samba-Amargarh transmission line - commissioned earlier thisyear.

The Advisor also visited Dal dwellers colony in RakhArath and was briefed by the DDC Budgam about therehabilitation of dal dwellers.

Advisor Kumar reviews...being put in place all to start the classes. It was

informed that for makeshift arrangements Rs. 3.66 crorehave been allocated out of which Rs. 1 crore has beenreleased and the remaining work will be completed byFeb 2019.

The Advisor asked the concerned officers to expediteall the works in a planned manner to complete thebuilding and other infrastructure within the given time-line. He also advised for using the vacant building nearthe DH as Girls hostel after proper inspection.

Deputy Commissioner Kathua Rohit Khajuria, ADCGhansham Singh, ASP Nasir Khan, CMO Dr AshokChoudhary, Principal GMC Dr Shashi Sharma,Engineers and other concerned officers were present on

the occasion.

Advisor Kumar takes...for pollution control in Samba.Later, Kumar reviewed the status of Accidental

Hospital Ghagwal and newly-sanctioned DistrictHospital Samba. District Chief Medical Officer RajinderSamyal gave a brief account of the functioning of thehospitals in the district along with requirement of staffand other facilitates.

The Advisor assured full support to the districtadministration in carrying out its developmental worksand exhorted upon the officers to work with added zealand zest.

A delegation of industrialists presented theirdemands to the Advisor and shared the working of theirindustrial units in light of newly sanctioned IndustrialPolicy. He gave them a patient hearing and assuredthem that all their genuine demands will be looked into.

Advisor Kumar later visited AIIMS site in Vijaypurand enquired about pace of development works and thestatus of rehabilitation of relocated families. DeputyCommissioner Samba apprised the Advisor about workon the AIIMS building and other related aspects of theprestigious project.

SJA organises...Dr. Karnika Seth dealt with different aspects of Cyber

crimes and especially crimes against women and chil-dren. She also elaborated upon the brighter and darkerside on the internet. She highlighted the upcoming chal-lenges and opportunities with which the courts of law,investigating agencies and the prosecution shall be fac-ing in near future.

The speakers also discussed whole gamut of case lawconcerning important issues coming up before thecourts of law.

Participants in the programme interacted with theexperts and posed various questions on the topic.

Train service...He said trains were running normally since this

morning on Badgam-Srinagar-Anantnag-Qazigund insouth Kashmir to Banihal in Jammu region.

He said railway authorities are acting on the adviceby local civil and police administration since safety andsecurity of passengers are necessary. He said Saturdayafternoon witness heavy rush of passengers when peo-ple are going to their homes for Sunday. Similarly,Monday morning also witness good rush when peopleare resuming their normal activities.

Train service has become very popular in the valley,where people consider it very cheap, safe and fast ascompared to other mode of transport.

Holistic development...support from the Governor's Administration for the

development and welfare of students and the institu-tion.

Highlighting the role of teachers and parents, the

Advisor said that both parents and teachers have equalresponsibility to nurture the future of children accord-ing to modern day trends and needs so that they keeppace with the fast-growing technologies.

Principal CaptAMuthuraman, presented the SchoolAnnual Report highlighting various activities, achieve-ments and also the infrastructural developments of theschool during the Academic Session.

Earlier, an impressive ceremonial Guard of Honour,led by Cadet Chetanya Bhat, was presented on the occa-sion.

A grand cultural extravaganza was organized on thetheme 'Journey through SSN' wherein the young cadetsof the school presented wide range of cultural itemsshowcasing the evolution of cadets in the school.

The cadets also presented heartwarming recital of theaward-winning number 'A Million Dreams' by theEnglish Choir, a skit, a medley of songs representingdiverse cultural background.

An English play, 'Pakbeth' conceptualized by thePrincipal and scripted by the English Faculty elicitedgreat awe and admiration of one and all.

The programme concluded with a grand finale inwhich over 150 cadets put up a spirited performance.

The Advisor presented medals to winners of variouscompetitions and awarded the Champions Trophy toTrikuta House.

Faculty members, students, parents witnessed thegrand stage show followed by presentation of academicawards to meritorious cadets.

DDC Jammu...The DDC stressed upon the concerned to increase the

C.D. Ratio by forming a working group of Banks andline departments. Banks were asked to simplify the pro-cedure of lending.

He also stressed on the fact that Financial Literacycamps should be held in collaboration with Banks andgovernment departments under intimation to ChairmanOffice on a regular basis and the camps may also be uti-lized by the banks for creating awareness amongst thepeople about the Financial literacy, PMEGP, Housingfor all, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna, J&K RuralEmployment Generation Programme and 100% cover-age under KCCs.

Kumar also suggested that Lead Bank should draw acalendar for organizing product specific camps likeFinancial Inclusion, housing loan melas, Educationfairs, MSME seminars etc so that awareness about suchfacilities is disseminated to specific target groups incoordination with government departments, especiallyBDOs.

The meeting also had a detailed review of all the gov-ernment-sponsored schemes with special focus onPMEGP.

Later, DDC unveiled the Potential Linked Plan ofNABARD for Jammu District for the Year 2019-20, onthe basis of the Plan, banks in Jammu District will beallotted District Credit Plan targets for the financial year2019-20

Among others, Director RSETI, officials from RBI,DDM, NABARD, District Coordinators of JK Bank,

PNB, JKGB, and representatives from all other Banksand government departments were also present in themeeting.

Kavinder Inspects...Minister Narendra Modi has sent a strong message to

all functionaries of Government, that every person isaccountable, and gone are days, when there used to bepercentage of the commission from the developmentalworks. He stressed for the utilization of every pennyreleased by the union Govt. for the projects. He said wehad been successful in getting the approvals for theprojects submitted for the administrative approvalswithin shortest possible time. He said more than 20 KMdeep drains/Nallahs have been constructed in GandhiNagar Legislative Assembly in past four Years. He saidthat number of road macadamization and up-gradationworks have been taken up with special thrust on the useof quality material. Highlighting the achievements ofpresent dispensation in PWD, PHE and other sectors,Kavinder Gupta apprised that more than700 KM roadlength has been up-graded, more than 400 transformersand 14000 new electric poles have been installed inGandhi Nagar constituency in the past three years allthe already approved works shall be executed by theconcerned agencies in phased manner.

Local residents thanked Kavinder Gupta for gettingthe roads of the area up-graded as this was the longpending demand of the residents. The locals apprisedGupta of other problems related to water supply, man-ning of distribution transformers at various places andproblems related to drainage system. They also raiseddemand for a construction of deep drain from the KachaTalab so that the public is relieved from the problem ofwater logging in rainy season. Gupta listened to theproblems and assured the gathering that all the genuinedemands shall be taken up shortly. He said a detailedproject for the construction of deep drain is already sub-mitted and is pending for the administrative approval.

Forest Deptt cautions...that culprits can be booked under law, as the matter

has been taken up by the Forest Department for initia-tion of criminal proceedings in the case against the per-sons involved in fabricating a false Government Order,"he said adding that all the Heads of the ForestDepartment have been asked not to act upon the saidfake order and get the prior clarification fromAdministrative Department in respect of all the cre-ation/regularization orders which shall be issued by theAdministrative Department henceforth.

Former principal...a prolonged illness had devoted over fifty-five years

to Engineering research, Education and SecondaryEducation as well as the management of educationalinstitutions. He was a recipient of a CommonwealthResearch Fellowship, enabling him to study in Britain,and was awarded a Ph D by the University ofBirmingham, UK.

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Samba (J&K) | Sunday, December 30, 2018 Jammu 03

Daily State Vision

MMHS organizes weeklycultural heritage walk

JAMMU, DECEMBER 29: Mubarak Mandi HeritageSociety (MMHS) in collaboration with Education andTourism Departments today initiated the weekly her-itage walk series as a part of the already approvedactivity calendar of the Society.

Executive Director MMHS, Jammu, DeepikaSharma, said that weekly heritage walk series is anattempt to educate the future generations about theirglorious past and rich heritage and train young mindsto inculcate the sense of belonging and ownershiptowards their heritage.

He informed that the Society is striving to promoteculture as well as transmitting pristine legacy to thecoming generations.

"It is envisaged that children will conduct class-room sessions with their teachers by conducting dis-cussions, essays, paintings etc. The outcome of suchexercises will further be compiled and exhibited atMubarak Mandi for public viewing," he said.

As part of the weekly walk series, students ofDewan Badri Nath School accompanied by theirteachers visiting Mubarak Mandi. The ExecutiveDirector thanked the students, teachers and Principalfor their response and active participation.

Forest Deptt staff condolesdemise of former CCF

JAMMU, DECEMBER 29: Department of Foreststoday expressed grief and sorrow over the demise offormer Chief Conservator R P Sharma.

A condolence meeting of forest staff was held herewhich was chaired by Principal Chief ConservatorForests, J&K, Suresh Chugh. A two-minute silencewas observed for peace to the departed soul. On theoccasion services of the late Chief Conservator werehighlighted which he rendered for the Department.Participants remembered Sharma as a noble humanbeing and an able officer who significantly con-tributed a lot for the growth and betterment of thedepartment. The meeting prayed for peace to thedeparted soul and courage to the bereaved family tobear the irreparable loss.

Power shutdownJAMMU, DECEMBER 12: As per Chief Engineer,Elect. Maintt. & R.E. Wing, Jammu, to carry out workfor re-alignment of 33KV Nandpur line, 33KVRamgarh line and 33/11KV R/Stn. Chak Hasla, thepower supply to Nandpur, Jerada, baba Chmalyal,Adhelar, Ram Garh, Mahal, Kamore, Rehal, Rangoor,Barota, Chak Hasla and its adjoining areas willremain affected on December 30 from 10 am to 4 pm.

Meanwhile, for revamping of the old and deteriorat-ed parts like worn out jumpers / droppers / clamps,the shutdown of 33 KV Bays at 132/33 KV GridStation Miran Sahib is being observed.

During the shutdown, the power supply to R.SPura, GadiGarh, Kullian, Miran Sahib, Chattha and itsadjoining areas will remain affected on December 30from 10 am to 3 pm. However, for shifting of HT/LTcoming in the alignment of Ring Road/Bye Pass, theshutdown of 11 KV feeders is also being observed.

During the shutdown, the power supply to Bhalwal,Karwanda, Kot and its adjoining areas will remainaffected on December 30 from 10 am to 2 pm.

Handloom DevelopmentDepartment functioning reviewed

JAMMU, DECEMBER 29: Joint Director HandloomDevelopment Department Jammu Kanta Devi todayconvened a meeting to review the functioning of thedepartment in the Jammu Division

During the meeting, the Joint Director discussed theimplementation of various schemes/CapexBudget/Cluster Projects being run by the department.

She also reviewed district wise progress under var-ious schemes under Capex budget besides functioningof clusters was also discussed threadbare.

Kanta Devi impressed upon the district officers towork with utmost dedication for promotion and mar-keting of genuine Handloom products.

She also directed the concerned officers to monitorthe progress of clusters and societies and hold aware-ness programmes and camps for weavers so that max-imum benefit of the welfare schemes would percolateto the grass root level.

Suspended Jammu-Udhampur DMUrail service to resume from Dec 31

JAMMU, DEC 29: The commuters will finally heave asigh of relief with the suspended Jammu-UdhampurDMU rail service set to be resumed from December 31.

Pertinent to mention here that the UNI onDecember 25 highlighted the concern of people andraised the matter of suspended DMU service.

The rail service was suspended for a period of twomonths to falicitate "Mahakumbh" from January 15 toMarch 5 in Uttar Pradesh.

"The service will be restored from Monday (Dec31)," a railway official here said on Saturday.

He added that the service will operate as per sched-uled chart on Pathankot-Jammu-Udhampur route.

The route has five halts from Udhampur to Jammuand vice versa.

The DMU facility was flagged of by the formerPrime Minister Manmohan Singh in April 2005.

The service was of great relief for the governmentemployees, students and labourers.

Former Union Minister and National Conferencepresident Dr Farooq Abdullah also met the UnionRailway Minister Piyush Goyal demanding resump-tion of the DMU service in the welfare of the passen-gers.

JAMMU, DECEMBER 29:J&K State Board of SchoolEducation (JKBOSE) todaydeclared the result of 10thClass annual examinationfor Kashmir division with-in a record time of 45 dayswith a huge improvementof pass percentageat 75.44against 62.94% last year.

According toV i n e e t a P a n d i t a ,Chairperson, JKBOSE, outof 55472 students, whohad appeared in the saidexamination this year,38939 have qualified thesame with boys outshin-ing girls with a pass per-centage of 76.41 and 74.40respectively.

Among the districts,Pulwama stands out inoverall pass percentage at84.50%, followed byShopian at 83%, Srinagarat 81.90%, Kulgam 80.50%,Anantnag 78%, Baramulla74.84%, Ganderbal

73.16%, Budgam 72.79%,Kupwara 62.92% andBandipora 62.26%.

The GovernmentSchools have recorded animpressive pass percent-age of 63.71 with 16621students out of 26089 hav-ing qualified the examina-tion from these schoolsagainst the pass percent-age of 46.70 last year.

As per the result analy-sis provided by JKBOSE,government schools haveshown an inspiringimprovement of 17.01% inthe results this year ascompared to last yearwhile the private schoolshave shown an improve-ment of 1.90%.

Among the Governmentschools, Pulwama hasagain taken the lead withthe government schools ofthe district recording apass percentage of 76.94followed by Kulgam at

74.96%, Shopian at74.67%, Anantnag at67.93%, Srinagar 65.52%,Baramulla 64.27%,Budgam 63.38%,Ganderbal 62.62%,Bandipora 58.14% andKupwara 54.01%.

Advisor to Governor,Khurshid Ahmad Ganai,Secretary SchoolEducation,Ajeet KumarSahu, ChairpersonJKBOSE Prof VeenaPandita, Director SchoolEducation Kashmir, DrGN Itoo and other seniorofficers of the Departmenthave congratulated thesuccessful candidates andalso appreciated theefforts of the teachersworking in theDepartment for their sin-cere efforts resulting inremarkable increase in thepass percentage ofGovernment schools.

RAJOURI, DECEMBER29: District DevelopmentCommissioner RajouriMohammad Aijaz Asadtoday held a public griev-ance redressal camp atPeeri in which issues per-taining to common masseswere raised. Issues pertain-ing to road connectivity,electricity and water sup-ply, adequate manpower inhealth and educationalinstitutions, paymentsunder MGNREGA, SBM,creation of rural infrastruc-ture, sanctioning of ambu-lance, coverage under socialwelfare and self-employ-ment schemes were putforth by various public dep-utations. Sarpanches,panches and Residents ofParori,Rehan, karhad, Dhar,Gakhrote,Tralla and otherareas attended the publicmeeting and apprised theDDC about problems being

faced by them.While replying to queries

raised by the public,Assistant CommissionerDevelopment RajouriAkhter Qazi said that hehad directed the Blockdevelopment officer to clearthe pending dues underMGNREGA within onemonth.

Related to PMAY survey,he said 38000 new benefici-

aries have been enrolledand the list would be circu-lated for the verificationwithin days among thesarpanches and panches.

While assuring the publicof timely redressal of issuesraised by them, the DDCsaid numerous initiativesare underway to strengthenthe roads, PDD and PHEinfrastructure in the areabesides ensuring the provi-

sion of other amenities oflife.

DDC directed ChiefEducation Officer Rajourifor resolving variousschools related issues.

He said it will be ensuredthat under SAUBHAGYAelectrification of left outhouseholds is completed atan earliest.

Regarding the construc-tion of various internal

roads, DDC informed thatthe concerned departmentwill project them under lan-guishing projects for thefunds.

He directed the officers tostart the blacktopping workon the KotedharaPeeriroad.

In order to redress theissues of water shortage,DDC directed the Xen PHEto plan projects on watersupply schemes so that theshortage of drinking waterin the area could be solved.

DDC informed that inorder to sensitize farmersabout the latest technologyand about high yieldingseeds variety, theAgriculture andHorticulture departmentsin collaboration with otherconcerned will organize afarmer awareness camp inPeeri soon.

He also informed that to

enrol all the left out benefi-ciaries under old age orwidow pension, theDepartment of SocialWelfare Rajouri will organ-ise a mega awareness aswell as enrollment campwithin 10 days.

Later, DDC inspected theunder construction GirlsHostel and directed theconcerned agency to expe-dite work on it for its timelycompletion.

The Public grievanceredressal camp was attend-ed ADC KotranakaVedParkash, ACD RajouriAkhter Qazi, CMO RajouriDr Sunil Sharma, CEORajouri Lal Hussain,District Forest OfficerRajouri, Chief HorticultureOfficer Rajouri, Exen PHE,Sunil Koul, EXN ExenPMGSY, BDO Kotranakaand other district and tehsilofficers.

SRINAGAR, DECEMBER 29: Secretary,Public Health and Engineering, Irrigationand Flood Control, Farooq Ahmad Shahtoday chaired a meeting of PHE,Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC)departments to review the preparednessfor meeting contingency of drinkingwater crisis due to the sub-zero tempera-ture in the Valley for past few days.

The meeting was attended by ChiefEngineer PHE Kashmir, Abdul Wahid,Superintending Engineers Civil of South,North and Kupwara, SuperintendingEngineers mechanical South and North,all Executive Engineers of civil, mechani-cal and groundwater divisions.

The Secretary directed all the SEs, XENsand other officials of the department tobe present at their respective stations soas to tackle the present situation whichhas emerged due to the frozen water sup-ply pipes in Kashmir.

During the meeting, Farooq ordered thecancellation of leaves for all the PHE andI&FC officials till water scarcity is over.Those who have proceeded on leave,other than those who are on pilgrimage

or on medical leave, were directed by theSecretary to return to their duties imme-diately, otherwise, strict action would betaken against them. He impressed uponthe HoDs that they would not sanctionany kind of leave without prior approvalof the administrative department.

SEs and XENs were directed to estab-lish control rooms at their respectiveoffices which shall remain functional24/7. The officers were further directedto furnish the roster of permanentemployees of the department and submitthe same by Monday.

The Secretary stressed upon the offi-cials to chalk out a contingency plan tomake sure that people do not suffer dueto the lack of drinking water. He directedthe concerned to send water tankers tothe areas where people are facing theshortage of drinking water. Besides, thedepartment will also hire additional pri-vate water tankers and tractors to supplywater to every locality that is sufferingfrom a water shortage due to present cli-matic conditions.

SRINAGAR, DECEM-BER 29: DivisionalCommissioner KashmirBaseer Ahmad Khantoday directed officersand Engineers of ERA toexpedite the construc-tion work on JehangirChowk-Rambagh andTRC mini flyovers bygoing for double shiftfor the benefitting thecommuters. TheDivisionalCommissioner madethese directions whilereviewing the progressof construction works onthe prestigious citydevelopmental projects. In view of huge volumeof work, the DivisionalCommissioner directedERA to deploy addition-

al labourers on JehangirChowk-Rambagh fly-over and TRC MiniFlyover (GradeSeparator) immediatelyfor their in time comple-tion. He also directedthe concerned officialsto send the dailyprogress report to theDivisionalCommissioner's officefor further necessaryaction. Div Com stressedon the engineers andcontractors to ensurejudicious use of funds.He also directed them toensure that the construc-tion material is coveredproperly with tarpaulinsor canopies duringtransportation to differ-ent locations along

Jehangir Chowk-Rambagh and TRC MiniFlyover (GradeSeparator) flyovers.On the occasion, DivCom said that these fly-overs will decongesttraffic in the city andease the movement ofcommuters besides largechunk of populationgets relief from regulartraffic jams.VC SrinagarDevelopment Authority(SDA) informed that Rs30 crores had beenapproved for Multi-Level parking at oldState Motor Garages, LalChowk under AMRUTscheme and till date 39%construction work hadbeen completed.

Similarly Rs 25 croreshad been approved forMulti-level car parkingat Sheikh bagh, LalChowk under AMRUTscheme and till date 34%work completed. Underthe AMRUT scheme, Rs5 crores had approvedfor Idle parking at BusTerminal Panthachowkand till date 25% con-struction work were fin-ished.The DivisionalCommissioner directedSDA to speed up thepace of constructionworks on prestigiousparking projects in thecity so that they will becompleted in a stipulat-ed time frame so thatroad side parking and

regular traffic jams shallbe reduced.SDA also informed thatRs 10 crores had beenapproved underAMRUT scheme forMechanized car parkingin the Srinagar city.Div Com asked DeputyCommissioner Srinagarand VC SDA to identifysuitable place forMechanized car parkingoutside the city-centreand submit the report tothe DivisionalCommissioner within aweek so that the con-struction work will bestarted soon. PDD were directed tofloat tenders immediate-ly for the illumination ofcity bridges and other

places so that the nightscene of the city can beenhanced for thetourists. The DivisionalCommissioner reiteratedthat government is work-ing round the clock forthe development of theSrinagar city on the mod-ern lines for the benefit ofcity habitants andtourists. DeputyCommissioner SrinagarDr Syed Abid RashidShah, Director ERAShowkat Ahmad, VCSDA Sajad Hussain, ChiefEngineer PDD HashmatQazi, Commissioner SMCPeer Hafizullah, AssistantCommissioner with DivCom Qazi Irfan and otherconcerned officers werepresent in the meeting.

SRINAGAR, DECEMBER 29: TheDivisional Commissioner KashmirBaseer Ahmad Khan today said that theGovernment is committed to preserveunique heritage essence of historic JamiaMasjid.

The Divisional Commissioner wasspeaking at a meeting convened toreview the developmental and beautifica-tion works in and around the GrandMosque of the valley.

On the occasion, the Div Com wasinformed that Tourism department hasalready spent Rs 3.93 crore against Rs4.29 crore Union Government's project tobeautify the Jamia Masjid premisesincluding developing its market andimproving the light system and the con-struction of Information Center. TheInformation Centre is a component of thebeautification project, costing Rs 1.02crore.

He directed Tourism Department tocomplete facade works, ladies ablutionblocks and other remaining works imme-diately so that the devotees do not faceany inconvenience during their visiting

to this grand place.The Tourism department officers fur-

ther informed that the department hadformulated a Detailed Project Report(DPR) at an estimated cost Rs 6.29 crorefor beautification works which includelaser-lit fountains, Heritage lighting,landscaping, modern fencing and otherbeautification works in and around theJamia Masjid at Nowhatta, Srinagar.

Chief Engineer PDD informed that thedepartment had already spent Rs 2.21crores for the underground cabling,installation of the high voltage generator,installation of ornamental lights andother necessary electrification and theremaining works which will be complet-ed by the end of March 2019.

Fire and Emergency department wasdirected to prepare a proposal for theinstallation of Fire Alarms, besidesSrinagar Development Authority (SDA)made a proposal for the Anti-Termitespraying works on wooden blocks in andaround the historical Jamia Masjid andsend it to the DC Srinagar for theapproval.

K ATH UA , D ECEM -BER 29 : DistrictInformation Centre,Kathua organized asymposium on the illeffects of drug addic-t ion here atGovernment MiddleSchool, ChakSheikhantoday.

Headmis tress of theschool , Anu Sharmawas the chief guest on

the occasion while stu-dents and staff of theschool were also pres-ent on the occasion.

As many as 10 stu-dents of the school par-ticipated in the sympo-sium and threw lighton the subject. Thespeakers said apartfrom the ef fects on thebrain, drug addictioncan cause heart and

lung problems, strokeand damages to theliver and kidneys.

The abuse of pre -scription drugs, espe -cial ly the antidepres -sants and stimulants,slow down the brain,while also cause para-noia, i rregular heart -beat and seizures. Theysuggested that problemcan be solved, though,with professional helpand with the collectiveefforts of the society.

A panel of judgesadjudged the part ici -pants of the sympo-sium. Suresh of class8th secured the 1s tposition while the 2ndposition was bagged byGourav of class 8th andthe 3rd position wasclinched by Sourab ofclass 6th.

Expedite work on Jehangir Chowk-Rambagh, TRCmini flyovers through double shift: Div Com to ERAReviews city developmental projects; approves Rs 10 crore for new Mechanized Car Parking

DIC Kathua organizes symposium on drug de-addiction

Govt committed to preserve heritageessence of historic Jamia Masjid: Div Com

'Rs 6.29 beautification project for Grand Mosque on anvil'

DDC Rajouri holds Public Darbar at Peeri

Farooq Shah reviewsfunctioning of PHE, I&FC

SUSPENDS 4 EMPLOYEES FOR DERELICTION OF DUTY

JKBOSE declares Class 10th result for Kashmir divisionRemarkable improvement in pass percentage at 75.44

against 62.94 last year; Impressive show by govt schools

EDITORIAL & OPINION

Editor, Printer, Pubilsher and Owner Akhileshwar Sharma, Published From VPO Purmandal, District SambaPrinted at:- Devika Offset Printing Press, VPO Purmandal, Tehsil and District, Samba

Mobile No. 9469211589, 9906121102, E-Mail:- statevision10@gmail.com info@statevision.in Editor@statevision.in

Samba (J&K) | Sunday, December 30, 2018 Daily State Vision

04

The Centre’s curiously timed attempt to ‘clar-ify’ foreign direct investment norms for e-commerce players could end up scuttling

investor interest in the sector that has attractedlarge foreign players and generated thousands ofjobs. The fresh restrictions and the clarificationson certain operational aspects could reinforceinvestor complaints about India being unpre-dictable in terms of policies. In March 2016, for-eign investment up to 100% was allowed underthe automatic route for e-com firms engaged inbusiness-to-business transactions using the mar-ketplace model — one where a firm sets up anenabling IT platform to facilitate trade betweensellers and buyers. However, FDI was not allowedwhere the e-com player owned the inventory ofgoods to be sold, or for business-to-consumer pur-poses, barring a few exceptions. Now, the ruleshave been altered for players like Amazon orFlipkart (majority-owned by Walmart) that havemade significant investments in India. The policy,to kick in from February 1, 2019, could require amajor overhaul in the business model and share-holding structures of such players. For instance,earlier a single vendor or its group firms couldn’taccount for over 25% of sales in a marketplace;now the rules bar sales by any entities where thee-com firm has an equity stake. A vendor’s inven-tory will be deemed to be controlled by the e-complayer if more than 25% of its purchases are fromthe latter or related firms. It’s not clear how thischange will help meet the principle enunciated inthe policy note — fairness and the creation of anon-discriminatory, level playing field.Separately, any specialised back-end support forsome sellers must now be extended to all vendors,while discounts, cash-backs and preferential sub-scription services have been made far trickier toimplement. An e-commerce marketplace entitywill not mandate any seller to offer a productexclusively on its platform under the new rules.But this doesn’t explain what to do when a sellervoluntarily opts to sell exclusively on one e-com-merce portal over another. The government isclearly keen to quell the long-brewing disquietamong offline retailers over big discount sales andthe surge in e-commerce. Yet, it could have wait-ed for the recommendations of a national e-com-merce policy task force set up this April. That taskforce could trigger more policy shifts. India’sretail FDI policy remains muddled — with thedebate now focussing on online vs offline trade asopposed to big vs small, or a single brand vsmulti-brand retail FDI regime. Globally, India hasbeen taking on protectionism, and this month theFinance Minister said free trade is essential soconsumers get the best deal everywhere. Thesame consumer focus and non-protectionist tenetsmust be applied for internal trade.

FromEditor’sDesk.....

Strange deal: on newe-commerce police

KRISHNA KUMARAmid the normalisation of vio-lence, his record of hope is the bestway to acquaint young Indians tohim

A sharp symmetry between vio-lence and its opposite has remainedunnoticed. It surfaced this year inthe murder of Saudi Arabian dissi-dent journalist Jamal Khashoggi onMahatma Gandhi’s 149th birthanniversary, i.e. October 2. TheUnited Nations has named this dayas the International Day of Non-Violence. That is the day when overa dozen men were reportedly flownfrom Riyadh to Istanbul to kill onejournalist. They executed their mis-sion in a manner for which few par-allels can be found, even in ArabianNights.

In a familiar tale of this globalclassic of folklore, a man’s dismem-bered body is stitched back togetherby a tailor. Khashoggi’s killersreportedly dissolved his body partsin acid. The mode of killing, thevenue and the manner in which thejournalist’s body was disposed ofmark a new normal in the history ofviolence.

An ignored synchronicityThe motive for this murder contin-

ues to be a subject of intelligentguessing. If suppressing a writer’svoice was the motive, its successand the reluctant response itreceived are worthy of inclusion inthe annals of modernity. The coun-try renowned for the loudest uphold-ing of the human right to freedom ofexpression has preferred to guard itsbusiness interests over guarding thisjaded moral edict. The horror gotabsorbed in the debate over adequa-cy of evidence about fixing ofresponsibility. As for us, we as anation are so occupied with dousingour own internal fires, we ignoredthe synchronicity of October 2 andthe murder in Istanbul.

Apparently, the world we now livein is so used to violence that themanner of killing and disposal ofphysical remains of a person do not

seem all that relevant. In any case,feeling revulsion has little valuenow as an ethical act. We feel it sofrequently that it has lost statusamong emotions with a moral bear-ing. Some years ago, I met a smallboy who had spent most of his child-hood in the kind of colony that ispopularly referred to in Delhi asjhuggi-jhopri. Although this term isofficially used to refer to a slum, itencompasses the attempts to coverthe gruesome living conditions of ametropolitan slum by referring tothem in Hindi as a place of impro-vised huts. The term evokes animage of a village that has reincar-nated in a city, but the huts, or jhug-gis, are made of recycled tin andplastic, not wood and dry grass. Thecolony where this boy had grown upwas located in Chanakyapuri, theheart of diplomatic New Delhi.

His parents had migrated in searchof work from a village inBulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. Hehad very limited exposure to schoollife. He recalled it mainly for thebeatings he got there. His life out-side school was also full of sufferingand witnessing of routine violence.He was in the habit of hitting others,including his little sister, hardenough to draw blood. He felt no

remorse when that happened. I triedintroducing him to art and singing inthe hope that colours and rhythmsmight heal the injuries his little hearthad suffered. But he remained a boywithout room for emotions.Violence had turned him into a hol-low human at an early age. The pos-sibility of even partial restorationwas slim. I tried telling him storiesand arousing his interest in things hesaw on television. It was a strugglebecause he had learnt very littleabout the world during the years hehad spent at school. When the 2nd ofOctober came, he asked me why itwas a holiday. I told him it wasMahatma Gandhi’s birthday. Yearshave passed but I still remember hispuzzled look. Apparently, he had notheard about Mahatma Gandhi. Onbeing told that it was Gandhi’s birth-day, he asked, “Who will cut thecake?” Gandhi’s cake

I recall being amused by that ques-tion, but it gathered irony and mean-ing with the passage of time. It takeslittle imagination to guess what hap-pens to such children. Where weought to apply our ability to imagineand foresee is the social landscapeinhabited by a growing number ofsuch children. This is the context inwhich remembering Gandhi, 70

years after his assassination, mightbe of some precious help. Whatwould Gandhi have said on beingtold about the violent habits of theboy who wanted a cake to be cut forhim? It is not difficult to imagineGandhi’s commentary. He wouldpoint out that roots of violence lay inthe conditions that forced the boy’sfamily to migrate from their villagein Bulandshahr to a Delhi slum. Thisdiagnosis is consistent with the cri-tique of modern political economyGandhi offers in his tract, HindSwaraj. This little book portrays theomnipresent culture of violence thatpropels the pursuit of material pros-perity at the expense of humanbonds and dignity. From Gandhi’spoint of view, we are in a mess ofour own making. Our disdain forrural distress and alienation fromvernacular life are silently catchingup with us as a nation and spewingviolence through different channels.Politics is one such channel wherehatred and bigotry have now gainedsocial sanction.

Many of Gandhi’s ideas lookarcane today. If you discuss Gandhiwith young people, they ask, “Is herelevant?” After a recent discussionabout Gandhi with children, I haverealised that his relevance cannot beestablished by talking about truthand non-violence. Neither of thesefamiliar items of Gandhi’s discourseis easy to communicate. An easierentry into Gandhi’s thought and lifemight be through hope. His urge tocarry on doing something underadverse circumstances arose fromthe hope that the human urge to findlove will ultimately prevail.

‘A prisoner of hope’Judith Brown characterised

Gandhi as a ‘prisoner of hope’ in her1989 study of his political career.Despite his hope that truth and non-violence shall prevail, he had to wit-ness the holocaust of Partition.However, his own accomplishmentsand failures provide us no measureto grasp the nature and logic of hishope.

Gandhi and the audacity of hope

JAYNA KOTHARIThe Transgender Bill omits positive rights andignores the protections of the ‘NALSA’ judgment

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights)Bill, 2018, passed by the Lok Sabha recently, hascaused great alarm. Transgender and intersexactivists have protested on the streets, campaignedwith parliamentarians and spoken out against theBill. Is it not an irony that all of this is being done toensure that the law is not passed? Why is there sucha strong resistance to this Bill? Here are the mainconcerns. In the landmark NALSA v. Union of Indiajudgment, the Supreme Court laid down that trans-gender and intersex persons have the constitutionalright to self-identify their gender as male, female ortransgender even without medical intervention. Thecourt held: “Each person’s self-defined sexual orien-tation and gender identity is integral to their person-ality and is one of the most basic aspects of self-determination, dignity and freedom and no one shallbe forced to undergo medical procedures, includingSRS, sterilization or hormonal therapy, as a require-ment for legal recognition of their gender identity”.Hence, medical procedures should not be requiredas a pre-condition for any identity documents fortransgender and intersex persons, nor should therebe any requirement of a mental health assessment.Requiring a person to submit proof of medical treat-ment or mental health assessment of their genderidentity violates one’s right to dignity, the right to befree from unwanted medical treatment and the rightto be free from discrimination.

The 2018 Bill in Section 6 establishes a DistrictScreening Committee for the purpose of recognitionof transgender persons. This Screening Committeeincludes a chief medical officer and apsychologist/psychiatrist, which goes to show thatmedical and psychological tests would be requiredfor grant of change of gender identity. There is noprovision in the Bill that gender change would bepermitted without medical or psychological treat-ment. The Bill also does not allow for recognition ofgender identity as male or female. It only allows foran identity certificate as ‘transgender’. This goesagainst the decision of the Supreme Court, whichrecognised the right to self-identify oneself as male,female or transgender and would also be forcingintersex persons to get a gender identity as “trans-gender”. The U.K.’s Gender Recognition Act 2004was the first law in the world allowing people tochange gender without surgery. Since then othercountries, including Argentina, Ireland andDenmark, have passed laws that allow people to

‘self-declare’ their gender, rather than seek approvalfrom a panel of medical experts. Hence the DistrictScreening Committee needs to be removed from the2018 Bill. The Bill needs to state explicitly that nomedical or mental health examination will berequired and applicants will simply need to submitan affidavit attesting the request for a change of gen-der identity. Debates on the Bill have always includ-ed the demand for reservations for transgender andintersex persons in educational institutions and inpublic employment as they are seen to be crucial fortheir social inclusion. This was not only mandatedby the Supreme Court in NALSA, the Rights ofTransgender Persons Bill 2014 too provided for 2%reservation. Surprisingly the 2018 Bill does not pro-vide for any reservation. It provides in Sections 10and 14 that there would be no discrimination in edu-cation and employment, but these rights are mean-ingless if transgender persons are not able to getaccess in the first place. Equality would demand thatin order for the trans and intersex community to getaccess to their basic social rights, there should behorizontal reservation in education and employmentprovided to them. When the new Rights of Personswith Disabilities Act 2016 was passed, it includedreservations of 5% and 4% in education and govern-ment jobs, respectively. It is surprising therefore thatthe 2018 Bill has no mention of similar provisions.

The Bill in Section 19 makes it a criminal offence

for anyone to compel a transgender person into beg-ging. This has serious implications. A large numberof people from the trans and intersex community areengaged in begging and sex work due to discrimina-tion and not having any other opportunities. Thisprovision would lead to members of the trans com-munity being criminalised. When the criminalisingof begging itself has been held to be unconstitution-al by the Delhi High Court, there is no place for thisoffence in the 2018 Bill. For too long, genderminorities have been criminalised for being out inthe streets and in public, and having this offence inthe Bill will lead to further criminalising of trans-gender lives. In all these ways the 2018 Bill is seri-ously flawed. It does not have a whole gamut of pos-itive rights such as the rights of trans and intersexpersons to inheritance of property, rights within thefamily such as adoption and to be free from domes-tic violence, rights of political participation such asthe right to vote and hold public office, and the rightto health to include free sex reassignment treat-ments. It also does not make sexual violence againsttransgender and intersex persons a criminal offence.The current law on rape is gender specific and trans-gender persons have no recourse under criminal lawfor sexual assault. The Bill is an opportunity toensure that the constitutional rights of transgenderand intersex persons are realised. Let us not lose thisopportunity by passing such a flawed legislation.

A law that defeats its purpose

NATIONSamba (J&K) | Sunday, December 30, 2018 05Daily State Vision

AgencyVIJAYWADA: AndhraPradesh chief minister NChandrababu Naidu Fridayoffered incentives to cou-ples willing to have morethan two children. He alsophased out the norm barringcandidates with more thantwo children from contest-ing in the upcoming localbodies’ elections.

The move came in anapparent bid for the state tonot be left out from certainpopulation-based dividendsto be extended by XVFinance Commission.Hinting at introducing apolicy to promote popula-tion, Naidu said the statehas witnessed a drop inpopulation by 1.6% in thelast 10 years. “It is hightime to correct the trendsindicating demographicimbalances, lest the statemay turn senile in the next

two decades, marked bymore eating mouths andless working hands”, thechief minister observedwhile releasing a whitepaper on human resourcedevelopment. He said youthbelow 25 years constitutearound 50% of the state’stotal population, andemphasised on the need tokeep the state young by wayof pushing up the represen-tation of young people. Theimplementation of familyplanning measures by the

government was the reasonfor low birth rates leadingto a drop in populationgrowth, he added. Naidusaid state government hasbeen keeping a check oninfant mortality rate, andhas brought it down from37 per 1,000 in 2014 to10.51 per 1000 in 2018through a slew of interven-tions. According to 2011census, Andhra Pradesh wasthe 10th most populatedstate in the country with apopulation of 8.46crore,

before Telangana was bifur-cated into a separate state inJune 2004.

P. Devasena Naidu, aretired professor inEconomics from SriVenkateswara University inTirupati, shared the con-cerns of Naidu, batting for acourse-correction on a war-footing. Southern states likeAndhra Pradesh kept popu-lation growth under controlby vigorously followingpopulation control meas-ures envisaged by theCentral government. Butthese states were penalisedinstead of being incen-tivised by the XV FinanceCommission by offeringgrants to states with theirstatus of population in2011, Devasena Naidu said.The XIV Commission rec-ommended devolution offunds with population in1971 as the base.

‘Have more kids, keep state young’, says Andhra CMChandrababu Naidu in push to avail population-based benefits

AgencyDEHRADUN: TheUttarakhand High Court hasdirected a company run byYoga guru Ramdev to sharea percentage of its profitswith local farmers and com-munities. The high courtgave the order while reject-ing a petition of DivyaPharmacy against theUttarakhand BiodiversityBoard (UBB) and upholdingthe provisions of fair andequitable benefit-sharing(FEBS) as provided underthe Biological Diversity Act,2002. The bench of JusticeSudhanshu Dhulia held thatit was a fact that biologicalresources constitute the mainingredient and raw materialsin the manufacture ofayurvedic and nutraceuticalproducts. It ordered the phar-macy to share its profit withthe farmers of the raw prod-

uct.The landmark judgment

reserved on September 7,2018 was delivered onDecember 21, but its copywas made available onThursday.

Previously the UBB haddirected the pharmacy toshare the amount with thefarmers and local communi-ties out of its profit as per theBiological Diversity Act.The pharmacy had claimedthat the UBB neither had the

powers nor jurisdiction topass such an order and it wasnot liable to pay or make anykind of contribution. Thecourt held that India was aparty to the United NationsConvention on BiologicalDiversity and the countrywas under an obligation togive effect to the provisionsof the treaty.

The court said the UBBwas within rights to pass theorder demanding theamount, as the biological

resources were not only anational property, but alsobelong to the communitieswhich produce these.

Divya Pharmacy’s entireargument, according to HC,rested on a textual and legal-istic interpretation, particu-larly of the term FEBS. “Inthe first blush it seems onlyobvious that the law heredoes not subject an Indianentity to FEBS. But whatseems obvious, may notalways be correct....Section2 of the Act, which definesvarious expressions in theAct opens with some impor-tant words, which are,“unless the context other-wise requires”. Meaningthereby that it is not manda-tory that one should alwaysmechanically attribute anexpression as assigned in thedefinition clause”, the ordersaid.

Baba Ramdev’s firm ordered to shareits profit with locals in Uttarakhand

AgencyBHOPAL: MadhyaPradesh chief ministerKamal Nath distributedportfolios to his cabinetFriday evening, keepingPublic Relations, IndustrialPolicy and InvestmentPromotion Department andEmployment Departmentamong others with himself,an official said.

Tribal MLA BalaBachchan, who was minis-ter in the previous DigvijaySingh-led Congress govern-ment, was given Home andJail, while another seniorMLA, Tulsi Silawat, gotHealth, the Public Relationsdepartment official said.

Govind Rajput was allo-cated Revenue andTransport department,while Tarun Bhanot wasgiven the Finance depart-ment. Nath also kept Public

Service Managementdepartment and theTechnical Education withhim, he said.

MLA PrabhuramChoudhary, who belongs toa Scheduled Caste commu-nity, was given SchoolEducation, he said.

Another Digvijay Singhcabinet member, VijaylaxmiSadho, got Culture andMedical EducationDepartment.

Hukum Singh Karada,also a minister in the previ-ous Congress government,got Water ResourcesDevelopment.

Another former seniorminister Dr Govind Singhwas given Cooperatives andParliamentary Affairs.

Sajjan Singh Verma, whowas Urban AdministrationMinister in Digvijay Singhgovernment, has got the

Public Works Departmentin Kamal Nath’s cabinet,the official said.

Arif Aqueel, the loneMuslim minister, gotMinorities and OtherBackward Class Welfare,besides Bhopal Gas Reliefand Rehabilitation.

Jaivardhan Singh,Digvijay Singh’s son, wasgiven Urban AdministrationDepartment.

Jaivardhan, 32, is theyoungest minister in thecabinet.

Sachin Yadav, 36,younger brother of formerstate Congress chief and ex-Union minister Arun Yadav,was given Agriculture andFood ProcessingDepartment. Woman minis-ter Imarati Devi was givenWomen and ChildDepartment.

Pradeep Jaiswal, lone

independent MLA in thecabinet, was given Mining,he said.

Umang Singhar was givenForest Department, whileJitu Patwari was allocatedSports and Youth Affairsbesides Higher EducationDepartment.

Brijendra Singh Rathoregot Commercial Tax,Lakhan Singh YadavAnimal Husbandry, OmkarMarkam Scheduled TribesWelfare, Sukhdeo PansePublic Health Engineering,Harsh Yadav New andRenewable Energy andCottage and VillageIndustries, KamleshwarPatel Panchayat and RuralDevelopment, LakhanGhanghoriya Social Justiceand SC Welfare. A five-daysession of the newly-electedAssembly is slated to beginfrom January 7.

Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath distributes portfolios;Bala Bachchan gets home, Bhanot Tarun finance

AgencyNEW DELHI: The UnionCabinet has cleared a pro-posal to grant higher exportincentives for onions, amove that is aimed atimproving the domesticprices of the commoditywhose lower-than-profitablerates have hit growers instates such as Maharashtraand Karnataka.

Onion exporters will nowqualify for a 10% exportincentive, up from 5% earli-er, under the so-called‘Merchandise Exports fromIndia Scheme (MEIS)’,which is administered by thedirectorate-general of for-eign trade. The schememainly offers duty benefitsto exporting Indian traders,which vary across productsand export destinations.

“The export incentivesgranted for onions under the

MEIS from existing 5% to10% is in the interest offarmers. This will result inbetter price for onion indomestic markets,” a gov-ernment statement said onFriday. While this isn’t adirect export subsidy but anexport incentive in the formof duty relief, the move willmake exports more viable,which in turn is expected toencourage overseas sale ofsurplus onions from the

domestic market, therebyhelping improve prices.

“It may be noted that onionarrivals have increased in themarket due to which theprices in the mandis are sub-dued. To contain the situa-tion, it has been decided bythe government to encourageexports of onions so that thedomestic prices stabilise,”the statement added.

In July 2018, an incentiveof 5% was announced for

onions. The doubling of theexport incentive now meansthat onions get the highestever incentive offered forexport of any agriculturalcommodity. One of the rea-sons for the current spell oflow prices in states such asMaharashtra is the arrival offresh harvests and simultane-ous release of old stocks,which farmers were holdingin anticipation of higherrates. A larger crop inPakistan and China, whichalso export onion, has under-cut Indian exports, anotherreason for depressed domes-tic prices.

According to theAssociation of OnionExporters’ president AjitShah, Pakistani onion weregoing for about $170 a quin-tal, while Indian exportersneed at least $240 to be prof-itable.

Govt doubles export incentive on onionsto shore up prices, boost shipments

AgencyPANAJI: Goa’s ArchbishopFilipe Neri Ferrão hasfrowned upon those think-ing “less generously” ofpeople “different from us”and called on those in thegovernment to adopt theIndian values of samvedana(sensitivity) and karuna(compassion). Hosting hisannual Christmas civicreception, in which theArchbishop invites leadersof the government includingthe Governor, the chief min-ister, ministers, top bureau-crats for an evening of ‘bon-homie’, Archbishop Ferrãocalled for “a more positiveperception of other peopleand groups.” “We tend tothink less generously ofpeople and groups we arenot familiar with, or who weperceive to be differentfrom us, or even opposed to

us…. We are challenged toopen the horizons of ourmind and embrace peopletowards whom we are notnaturally inclined to love,”he said. The Church in Goawhich holds sway over thestate’s 30% Catholic popu-lation, has dedicated thisyear to the “poor and theunderprivileged” and theArchbishop Ferrão, in a let-ter in June this yearannouncing the theme hadexpressed a fear that“democracy was in danger.”

“People are being uproot-ed from their land andhomes in the name of devel-

opment. It is easier to tram-ple upon the rights of thepoor because those who willraise their voice for themare very few,’ theArchbishop had said.

“In recent times we see anew trend emerging in ourcountry, which demandsuniformity in what and howwe eat, dress, live and evenworship: a kind of monocul-turalism. Human rights areunder attack and democracyappears to be in peril. Thevarious minorities fear fortheir safety. In short, respectfor the law is frankly on thedecline in this country,” theArchbishop had said. Theannual civic reception isoften an opportunity for theArchbishop to interact withthe state’s political leadersand make known thechurch’s stance in the con-temporary political climate.

‘Adopt compassion towards those differ-ent from us’: Goa Archbishop to govt

AgencyDAVID LAITPHLANG,UTPAL PARASHAR &SADIQ NAQVI: Afterdelays and hiccups, twoteams of rescuers—onecomprising divers fromIndian Navy and anotherfrom the Odisha fire servic-es—reached the floodedcoal mine in Meghalaya onSaturday where 15 minersare trapped since December13. But except conductingrecce at the site located atKhloo Ryngksan in EastJaintia Hills district andattempts to set up the high-powered pumps needed toflush out water nothingmuch happened during theday. Actual work on theground will begin early onSunday morning.

National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF)

Assistant CommandantSantosh Kumar Singh, whois overseeing operations atthe rat hole coal mine. said athree member team of theIndian Navy visited thesite.”They did a recce of thespot, spent 30 minutesinside the main pit. Theyalso held a meeting with usand are likely to start opera-tion tomorrow. Now thatthey are here we will assistthem,” he said.

The water levels inside themine remains unchanged, hesaid.

Ace diver Jaswant SinghGill from Amritsar withprior experience of savingminers in West Bengal wasagain at the coal mine today.

A team of Odisha fire andemergency services, whofinally reached the spot,tried to install their high-

powered pumps. “They maybe operational by tomor-row,” Singh said.

“Pumps and other machin-ery are being installed at thesite. Everyone is workingovertime with extreme dedi-cation and zeal as our mis-sion is to save lives. That isour top priority,” EastJaiñtia Hills district policechief Silvester Nongtngertold Hindustan Times.

He aid that after all thegear has been installed andput into place on Saturdaynight, rescue operations willbegin on Sunday morning.“We will start right from thefirst hour itself.”

The initial rescue opera-tion to help the miners start-ed on December 14 once theNDRF and SDRF teamsarrived. On December 17, ateam of Directorate General

of Mine Safety along withCoal India officials arrivedand suggested 100 HP sub-mersible pumps be used.The district administrationwrote to the state govern-ment seeking immediatehelp from Coal India onDecember 20. However, itwas only on December 26that Coal India received arequest from state govern-ment for assistance.

The rescue operationlaunched by the state gov-ernment had to be stoppedas the pumps were not ade-quate to flush out large vol-umes of water. The stategovernment then soughCentre’s help and high-pow-ered pumps and a team wasdispatched from Odisha.

But due to total lack ofcoordination and supportfrom the local administra-

tion in Meghalaya, thearrival of 21-member teamwas delayed. The teamreached Guwahati on Fridaymorning around 11:30 am,but due to lack of transportprovided by Meghalaya theyhad to wait till 5:45 pm tostart their 220 km journey tothe mine.

“Initially we were toldthat we would be travellingby trucks. Then the plan waschanged and it was decidedthat dumpers would be usedto shift the equipment to theaccident site,” said SukantSethi, Chief Fire Officer(Odisha), who is leading theteam. Efforts to reach PeterW Ingty, additional chiefsecretary in-charge revenueand disaster management byHindustan Times provedfutile as he did not respondto calls.

Odisha, navy teams reach Meghalayamine, to begin rescue operations tomorrow

AgencyNEW DELHI: ThePakistan authorities havefinalised a 14-point agree-ment on the processes to befollowed for visa-free pil-grimage to Darbar Sahib inKartarpur, though the docu-ment has not been sharedwith India yet. The docu-ment, leaked to the Pakistanmedia, among other thingsseeks three day advance listof pilgrims intending to visitthe shrine along with theirsecurity clearance papers.

Here’s the full text of thedocument:

WHEREAS theGovernment of the IslamicRepublic of Pakistan and theGovernment of the Republicof India (herein afterreferred to Individually as a‘Party’ and collectively asthe parties”) are desirous toprovide easy access to theSikh pilgrims, who are citi-

zens and permanent resi-dents of India (thereinafterreferred to as the Pilgrims),to the Gurudwara, DarbarSahib, Narowal, Pakistan(hereinafter referred to asKartarpur Sahib), through apermit-based entry to thePilgrims through theKartarpur Corridor

AND NOW THE PAR-TIES AGREE AS FOL-LOWS:

1. The objective of thisagreement is to facilitate avisa-free travel of the pil-grims from India toKartarpur Sahib.

2. In order to implementthis agreement, the partiesshall establish infrastructurein their respective territo-ries, including facilitationcentres and counters for run-ning security checks andissuance of permits for thefacilitation of pilgrims.

3. A database of the pil-

grims shall be created by theparties having names, travelhistory and other relevantinformation of the pilgrims.

4. The Government ofPakistan may issue a permitto pilgrims desirous of pay-ing visit to Kartarpur Sahib,subject to the following con-

ditions:a. The pilgrims must con-

stitute a group of at least 15people;

b. The pilgrims must carryIndian passports and indi-vidual security clearancecertificates issued by theGovernment of India, in

English, for the purpose ofvisiting Kartarpur Sahib.

c. The Government ofIndia shall share with theGovernment of Pakistandetails of the pilgrims andtheir respective securityclearance certificates 3 daysprior to their entry through

the Kartarpur Corridor.d. The permit shall only be

issued for the purpose ofvisit to Kartarpur Sahib,subject to such further limi-tations as may be prescribedby the Government ofPakistan.

5. The number of permitsgranted may not be morethan five-hundred (500) perday.

6. The Kartarpur Corridorshall remain open from 8 amto 5 pm daily.

7. The Government ofPakistan reserves the rightto refuse entry into, reducethe period of stay or termi-nate the stay in its territory,of any pilgrim despite thegrant of permit to such pil-grim, if It considers that thepilgrim is found undesirablefor security or other purpos-es.

8. The agreement shall beimplemented in accordance

with the National laws ofthe parties. 9. This agree-ment shall not exempt thepilgrims from the obligationto respect the laws and regu-lations of Pakistan whenentering into its territory,including but not limited tothe laws and regulationsconcerning their entry, stayand exit. 10. This agreementdoes not affect the existingcommitments under theagreements between the par-ties concerning border secu-rity. 11. All disputes arisingfrom or in connection withthe application or the inter-pretation of this agreementshall be amicably settledbetween the parties throughthe diplomatic channels.

12. This agreement maybe amended, supplementedor modified by writtenmutual agreements of theparties.

13.This Agreement shall

enter into force on the dateof signatures by the partiesand shall remain valid for aperiod of --- years, unlessterminated earlier. The par-ties may extend the durationof this agreement for anyperiod by mutual consent Inwriting.

14. Either party may ter-minate this agreement at anytime by giving a notice ofone month to the other partyof its intention to terminatethis agreement.

In Witness Whereof, theduly authorized representa-tives of the parties havesigned this agreement atIslamabad on this day of_______________ in theEnglish language.

On behalf of theGovernment of IslamicRepublic of Pakistan

On behalf of theGovernment of Republic ofIndia

Full text of Pakistan’s 14-point proposals for Kartarpur pilgrimage

SPORTS / BUSINESSSamba (J&K) | Sunday, December 30, 2018 Daily State Vision 06

AgencyNEW DELHI: BengalChemicals &Pharmaceuticals Ltd.(BCPL) which had forayedinto anti-snake venomserum (ASVS) manufacturein India nearly half a centu-ry ago, is keen to resumeproduction of this life-sav-ing medication, shortage ofwhich kills hundreds of peo-ple.

Its capacity was about onelakh vials. BCPL was thefirst home-grown pharma-ceutical and home productscompany. It has units inWest Bengal, Uttar Pradeshand Maharashtra. Snake bitemorbidity is high in theIndian subcontinent withover one million bites annu-ally, figures culled from sev-eral reports show. ASV is anantidote to the snake venomaction and is provided freein government hospitals.

Yet, there are only a handfulof pharma companies mak-ing this.

Union Health and FamilyWelfare Minister J. P. Naddasaid in a informedParliament statement inMarch 2016 that informa-tion regarding deaths report-ed due to non-availability ofASV is not maintained cen-trally.

Snake bite deathsBetween 2013-15, an esti-

mated 3,252 deaths duesnake bites were reportedwith West Bengal, Odisha ,Madhya Pradesh and UttarPradesh accounting for thehighest numbers.

Till 2006-07, BCPL manu-factured ASVS at itsManiktala unit in eastKolkata. “However, this hadto be stopped due to lack ofGMP compliance at theunit,” P. M. Chandraiah,BCPL’s director finance and

managing director in-chargetold The Hindu.

An erstwhile sick PSU,BCPL has returned to profitand is now awaiting govern-ment nod to resume produc-tion of ASVS at theManiktala unit.

“This would need around?30 crore capital expendi-ture and can generate a ?30crore turnover with fourlakh vials capacity,” he said.It adopts the equine plasmamethod of making the ASVSwhich needs horses.

However with the govern-ment proposing a strategicsale of BCPL , the ASVSproject went to the back-burner although BCPL seesit as a growth opportunity.Alongside BCPL also plansto step up production ofanti-cancer drugs, cardiovascular medicines andhypolipidemic drugs.

Bengal Chemicals keen on resuminganti-snake venom serum production

AgencyNEW DELHI: India’snational income statisticsare under a cloud. TheCentral Statistics Office(CSO) has released officialrevisions of the GDP esti-mates for the years 2004-05to 2013-14 in theManmohan Singh-led gov-ernment’s tenure. The revi-sions make the NarendraModi government’s per-formance on the economicfront appear better than thatof its predecessor.

In 2015, when the CSOhad first computed this setof estimates, the growthrates for the years in Dr.Singh’s tenure were higher.The NITI Aayog rejectedthose numbers and blockedtheir release. Whether theCSO should have yielded tothe NITI Aayog on a purelystatistical matter is not clear.

In the recomputed esti-mates, which were released

last month by the CSOunder the guidance of theNITI Aayog, GDP growthdoes not exceed 9% evenonce during Dr. Singh’stenure. The fastest growthrate reached was in the year2010-11 (8.5%). The growthrate for this year, before thisrevision, was estimated at10.3%. The best year in Mr.Modi’s term so far has been2015-16 (when GDP growthreached 8.2%). In fact, thegrowth rates for the majori-ty of years in Dr. Singh’sterm have been cut drasti-cally. Besides 2010-11, thegrowth rate was slashedquite sharply for 2007-08,from 9.8% to 7.7%.

Naturally, these revisionshave stoked a controversy.Besides the political duelbetween former FinanceMinister P. Chidambaramand his successor ArunJaitley, eminent statisticianshave posed questions over

the technical issues at hand.The CSO has offered no sat-isfactory answers. Even theChairman of the PrimeMinister’s EconomicAdvisory Council, BibekDebroy, is concerned aboutwhat he calls the use of“less than perfect” deflatorsby the CSO.

Mr. Jaitley is at pains tostress the CSO’s credibility,and has emphasised that therevisions are compliant withthe international guidelines,the System of NationalAccounts (SNA), 2008. Thetruth is, many of the proxiesand techniques that the CSOhas used are, in fact, not rec-ommended by the SNA. Atbest, they are toleratedunder the SNA system.

One particular statisticalstunt that the CSO has intro-duced is a structural breakin its back series in 2011-12.Let us understand this indetail.

Three years ago, at thetime of re-basing the GDPseries, the forward computa-tion was done using datasourced from the Ministryof Corporate Affairs’ MCA-21 database of balancesheets. Its use led to growthgetting revised upwardssubstantially for the yearsafter 2011-12, including forthe last two years of Dr.Singh’s term. But the MCAdata are available only2011-12 onwards. So, whatwas to be done for comput-ing the series before 2011-12? This was the principaldifficulty in backcasting therebased series.

The CSO worked out aproxy. Its use would haveled to growth rates gettingrevised upwards in the yearsbefore 2011-12. This wasnot agreeable to the NITIAayog, and the back seriescomputed with it was with-held. For three years, the

CSO and the NITI Aayogcould not resolve the prob-lem. Now, the CSO, underthe rather controversialguidance of the NITIAayog, has for a proxy useddata extracted from theAnnual Survey of Industries(ASI), the database that wasused for the earlier 2004-05base year series. CombiningMCA data with the ASI datais technically problematic.There is no statisticallyrobust way of seamlesslylinking these two datasets.Their coverage differs sig-nificantly. One of India’smost well-regarded statisti-cians, T.C.A. Anant, was notwilling to replace the MCAdatabase with the ASI data-base in the back castingexercise when he was ChiefStatistician of India. Monthsafter his retirement, theCSO went ahead and didexactly that.

The numbers game

AgencyNEW DELHI: Severalurgent issues dominated thebusiness headlines this year– from the Rs 13,000 crorePunjab National Bank scamthat rattled the bankingindustry, to Jet Airways cri-sis, to Vijay Mallya's extra-dition case.

The Supreme Court's rul-ing on long-standing issueof mandatory linking ofAadhaar with essential gov-ernment services also foundprominence in 2018.

Here's a recap of whathappened in the businessworld in 2018.

Vijay Mallya extraditionA Westminster

Magistrates' Court inLondon ordered for theextradition of embattledliquor tycoon Vijay Mallya.He is wanted in India foralleged fraud and money

laundering charges amount-ing to an estimated Rs 9,000crores. Under theExtradition Treaty proce-dures, the ChiefMagistrate's verdict hasbeen sent to UK HomeSecretary Sajid Javidbecause it is the ministerwho is authorised to orderMallya's extradition and hastwo months within which tomake that decision.

Meanwhile, Mallya's legalteam has confirmed that heintends to file an applica-tion to appeal against aBritish court's verdict infavour of his extradition toIndia. Nirav Modi-MehulChoksi PNB Scam

Jeweller Nirav Modi andhis maternal uncle MehulChoksi and others are beingprobed under various crimi-nal laws after the fraudcame to light this year fol-lowing a complaint by the

Punjab National Bank(PNB) that they allegedlycheated the nationalisedbank to the tune of over Rs13,000 crore.

Modi and Choksi havebeen absconding since thealleged bank fraud, by farthe highest in the country interms of value, came tolight early this year and anInterpol arrest warrant wasrecently notified againsthim even as India is work-ing to get him extraditedfrom the United Kingdom,where he was last reportedto have been based. WhileMehul Choksi has moved toAntigua.

ED has also filed a chargesheet against Modi allegingthat he laundered anddiverted over Rs 6,400crore of bank funds abroadto dummy companies thatwere under his and his fam-ilies' control.

Walmart-Flipkart DealWorld's largest retailer

Walmart Inc picked up 77percent stake of Flipkart inMay this year for $16 bil-lion, valuing the companyat about USD 20 billion.

Flipkart co-founderSachin Bansal exited thebusiness by selling hisentire stake of over 5 per-cent for around Rs 7,000crore to Walmart immedi-ately after the deal.However, in Novemberanother co-founder BinnyBansal steped down as thegroup chief executive offi-cer following an independ-ent probe into allegations of"serious personal miscon-duct". The company hassince rejigged its seniorleadership team, includingappointment of SriramVenkataraman as chiefoperating officer (COO).The leadership changes

announced span marketing,operations, engineering andproduct.

Jet Airways CrisisNaresh Goyal-led Jet

Airways, in which Gulf car-rier Etihad holds 24 percentstake, is grappling withfinancial woes and has evendelayed payment of salariesto staff. Jet Airways hasbeen reporting losses sincelast three successive quar-ters.

Reports had earlier sur-faced that Jet Airways isnearing a rescue deal withIndian conglomerate TataSons Ltd, but the latter saidthat talks are currently atpreliminary level only.

Sources have alsorevealed that Goyal wantsto retain the control in theairline and wants to explorealternative route of capitalinfusion, which became aroadblock in Jet Airways

talks with Tata Sons for apossible stake sale.

Whatsapp Fake NewsWhatsapp has drawn flak

from the Indian governmentover fake and provocativemessages being circulatedon its platform. Therumours spread on the pop-ular messaging platformwhich has over 200 millionusers in India have beenlinked to several lynchingincidents in the country,forcing the government tosend a stern message to thecompany.

The government has beendemanding greater account-ability from WhatsApp,saying that the governmentwill not tolerate any misuseof the platform to spreadfake messages.

Over the last severalmonths, WhatsApp hasmade a series of changesincluding labeling forward-

ed messages to inform userswhen they have receivedsomething not from theirimmediate contact and set alimit on how forwardedmessages can be sent.

US President DonaldTrump and ChinesePresident Xi Xingpinresorted to a tit-for-tat tar-iffs row since June this year,which had roiled worldmarkets for months.

However, in a meeting inearly December Xi and hisUS counterpart Trumpdecided to suspend impos-ing of any new tariffs for 90days. Their decision fortalks to address the tradedispute has put brakes onthe escalating trade warbetween the world twolargest economies.

But if there is no deal atthe end of the 90-day graceperiod, the US will increasethe tariffs on the USD 200

billions of goods from 10percent to 25 percent.

India's new found rank inEase of Doing Biz

India improved its rank-ing on the World Bank's'ease of doing business'report for the secondstraight year, jumping 23places to the 77th positionon the back of reformsrelated to insolvency, taxa-tion and other areas.However, Section 57 of theAadhaar (Targeted Deliveryof Financial and otherSubsidies, Benefits andServices) Act, 2016 thatpermitted private entitieslike telecom companies orother corporates to use thebiometric data was struckdown, dealing a body blowto the government's ambi-tions to make the world'slargest biometric projectmandatory for a slew ofservices.

Looking back: Business news maker in 2018

AgencyCHENNAI: Chennai’s veryown Thala Mahendra SinghDhoni and Tamil Nadu chiefminister Edappadi KPalaniswami were the starsof the show as a coffee-tablebook on former Board ofControl for Cricket in India(BCCI) chief N Srinivasan’s50-year journey with IndiaCements was released at theKalaivanar Arangam onFriday.

Titled ‘Defying TheParadigm’, the book cele-brates the life of vice chair-man and managing directorof India Cements —Srinivasan. Released by thechief minister himself, thebook’s first copy was handedto former India and currentChennai Super Kings skip-per Dhoni amid much fan-fare.

Prime Minister Narendra

Modi also sent in a congratu-latory message to Srinivasanand India Cements for itswonderful journey over thelast 70 years.

Speaking on the occasion,Dhoni said: “I have writtenand deleted this speech timeand again and finally decidedto go with the flow. I thinkthe first interaction with sirwas during a Test match andhe had just become the treas-urer. He walked in withKashi sir after the end of theday’s play or during a breakand asked when we get pay-ment. One player said if weare lucky after 4 months. Hejust asked Kashi sir as towhy and that is where itended. He loves to play golfjust as much as he lovescricket. I got to learn a lot outof him as I have been a partof CSK for the longest times.I never knew i would be

selected for CSK. It becamea very perfect mix like rumand coke. Either you lovehim or hate him, but youcannot ignore him. Fortunateto have been able to spend alot of time with him.”

In a glittering ceremony,attended by almost all the bigstars of Indian cricket, talksranged from Srinivasan’sjourney in India cements tohis endeavour to promote thegentleman’s game and newtalent.

Speaking after releasingthe book, the CM said that itwas an honour to be a part ofthe momentous occasion.

Sunil Gavaskar, ChanduBorde, Kapil Dev, GRVishwanath, DilipVengsarkar, K Srikkanth,Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid,Virender Sehwag, GautamGambhir, Yuvraj Singh, VVSLaxman, Ajay Jadeja, Syed

Kirmani, Javagal Srinath andDinesh Karthik among oth-ers were some of the currentand yesteryear stars presentat the venue. Not to forgetmembers of the Yellow

Brigade — Chennai SuperKings — and some of the topboard officials.

Speaking at the occasion,Rupa Gurunath — daughterof Srinivasan and whole time

director of India Cements —said: “This book talks aboutmy father’s journey as wellas our involvement in sports.My father had to cut short hisstudies after the suddendemise of my grandfather.He often talks of the earlyyears and the challenges hefaced and the triumphs thatmade it all worthwhile.”

Former India skipperGavaskar said: “What anhonour this is. I never playedcricket as a professionalbecause cricket wasn’t a pro-fession back then. But it nowis thanks to the thrivingefforts of Srinivasan andother board members. Incricket his contribution isunmatchable. The one-timebenefit for former players,the pension scheme not justfor former players, but alsofor widows of former play-ers. This doesn’t happen in

any other sport. Thank youso much for having them.”

Former World Cup-win-ning skipper Kapil Dev ruedthe fact that there was noadministrator like Srinivasanduring his playing days. “Imet him 20 years back. Wenever had a person like himwho could administer uswhen we were playing crick-et. When we started, wewished if we could havesalary like Australian orEnglish players. But today,everyone wants salary likeIndian players. Nobodylooks after sportspeople likeSrinivasan has selflessly,” hesaid.

Rahul Dravid, who is alsoa part of the India Cementsfamily, said: “For me, Iwould like to speak about afew things that signifies whathe is for me. Been 25 yearssince I have been a member

of the family. When I joinedI didn’t know him. I was justtold he is interested in crick-et. We were playing our firstor second league match andsomeone said Srinivasan hascome to the ground and Ifound it strange that the MDhas come to watch a leaguematch. He would join theconversation at the end of theday and what impressed washis knowledge of the gameand our scores. I found thatincredible.”

Srinivasan said he didn’tknow how to express hisemotion at this moment ofhappiness and gratitude.“Thank you isn’t enough forthe turnaround. It is on thesedays that you know whoyour friends are. I thanks allthose who have worked tire-lessly to make this eveningpossible,” he signed off.

MS Dhoni steals the show with anecdotes at N Srinivasan’s gala book launch

AgencyPUNE: Pune 7 Aces startedtheir home leg with a 4-3win over two-time runners-up Mumbai Rockets in a riv-eting tie that went down tothe wire at the PremierBadminton League Season 4in Pune on Saturday.

Flaunting pink for thecause of Breast CancerAwareness, the Pune chargewas led by Russia’s VladimirIvanov and Denmark’s LineKjaersfeldt -- each of whombrought home a couple ofwins to help the Season 4debutants get their first evervictory. Kjaersfeldt and thepair of Ivanov and ChiragShetty made it a grand startfor the home side by winningthe women’s singles andmen’s doubles rubbersrespectively. However,

Mumbai showed some stun-ning resilience to fight backthrough their two men’s sin-gles exponents -- AndersAntonsen and Sameer Verma-- sending the tie into adeciding fifth match.

With little to separate thetwo teams, it all depended onwho would hold their nervesunder pressure. Ivanov andKjaersfeldt did an admirablejob for Pune in the final rub-ber, beating Mumbai’s high-ly-experienced mixed dou-bles pair of Pia Zebadiah andKim Gi Jung 15-13, 11-15,15-12 in a thrilling finish tothe Maharashtra derby.

Earlier, Pune started off theproceedings on a positivenote with their trump LineKjaersfeldt taking the placeof Carolina Marin inwomen’s singles.

The gulf between the 21stranked Kjaersfeldt andMumbai’s 202nd rankedShreyanshi Pardeshi wasevident right from the start.The rising star from Mumbaifailed to pose any threat andcaved in 11-15, 7-15 follow-ing a series of unforcederrors.

If Mumbai Rockets lookedup to the legendary Lee YongDae to turn around their for-tunes, they were in for a dis-appointment. Dae was off-colour and his frequenterrors at the net didn’t helpthe cause of the Mumbaiside. Shetty’s exquisitetouches and the 6 feet 6 inch-es Ivanov’s fiery smashesmade the Pune pair a deadlycombination. While the firstgame was on level terms tillthe deciding point, Ivanov

and Shetty simply upped theante in the second to take a15-14, 15-7 win.

World No. 18 AndersAntonsen proved to be a walltoo high for the 17-year-oldLakshya Sen of the Punefranchise in the Rockets’Trump clash. The youngDane made a strong startagainst the Asian juniorchampion but a string oferrors in the second gameallowed the Indian to comeback. World No. 12 Sameerwas in fine form againstPune’s inexperiencedHarsheel Dani. Dani showedsigns of a fightback in thesecond game when he wentup 7-5 but his chances weresoon thwarted by Sameerwho wrapped it up 15-7, 15-10 to bring his side back intocontention.

PBL: Ivanov-Shetty, Kjaersfeldt guidePune 7 Aces to their first ever win

AgencyMILAN: Cristiano Ronaldobagged a brace as Italianchampions Juventus finished2018 on a high with a 2-1win over Sampdoria givingthe Italian champions a newrecord of 53 points beforethe winter break.

Ronaldo curled in theopener after just two minutesin Turin adding a secondfrom the penalty spot after66 minutes, putting thePortuguese top of Serie A’sscoring charts with 14 goals.

Fabio Quagliarella pulledSampdoria level with apenalty after 33 minutes,with the visitors having alate Riccardo Saponara goalruled offside after consulta-tion with the video assistantreferee. Juventus open up a

12-point lead at the top ofSerie A ahead of Napoli whocan reduce the gap whenthey host Bologna later onSaturday.

The seven-time reigningchampions also have arecord number of pointsbefore the three-week winterbreak with 53 from 19games.

“The team is doing verywell, we had an excellentfirst half to the season, nowwe have to keep working toensure we keep this form inthe second half of the sea-son,” Ronaldo told Sky SportItalia.

“I like VAR, because theseare difficult decisions for areferee and we should wel-come anything that makeshis job easier.”

The reigning championshave dropped points justtwice this season, being heldby Genoa at home and 2-2against Atalanta midweek,and are firmly on track for aneighth consecutive Scudetto.

Ronaldo had come off thebench to score in Bergamobut returned to the startingline along with MiralemPjanic.

And the Portuguese strikerfound a way through earlypicking up a Paulo Dybalacross to fire in pastSampdoria goalkeeper EmilAudero.

But Sampdoria pulled levelfollowing a penalty awardedwhen Emre Can handballwith Quagliarella making nomistake past Mattia Perin inthe Juventus goal.

The 35-year-old becamethe first player to score innine consecutive Serie Agames since DavidTrezeguet for Juventus in2005.

Audero denied Dybalabefore the break with MarioMandzukic missing a chanceto finish off a Ronaldo cross.

The Sampdoria goalkeeperagain deflected over aRonaldo header on the hourbut the hosts went aheadwhen the referee awarded apenalty for an Alex Ferrarihandball off a corner after aVAR viewing. Inter Milan,in third, travel to Tuscanyside Empoli later onSaturday without their fansafter racism and violenceovershadowed Christmasfootball in the Italian league.

Cristiano Ronaldo brace sealsnew record for Juventus

Samba (J&K) | Sunday, December 30, 2018 Entertainment/Health Daily State Vision

07

In 1916, a young Gujaratiman named ManiHaribhai Desai had a

chance encounter with a 118years-old Guru ParamhamsaMadhavadasji who was inthe city for a discourse. Thebrief meeting was profoundenough to inspire the youngman to spend his lifespreading the ‘secret knowl-edge of yoga’. With a reso-lution and dedication sorobust, Mani becameYogendra, a fastidious pro-ponent of hatha yoga andestablished The YogaInstitute in 1918 atDadabhai Naoroji’s resi-dence in Versova. Afteryears of relocating to differ-ent locations, fromChowpatty to even Gujarat,the yoga guru finally laidthe bricks of his institutionat its present location inSanta Cruz in 1947. At thetwo-day Harmony Fest thatcommenced yesterday, anevent celebrating the cente-

nary run of the world’s old-est yoga institute, PresidentRam Nath Kovind joined inthe festivities by gracing theoccasion.

Yogendra’s daughter-in-law and director of the insti-tute —Hansaji JayadevaYogendra —who has madespreading knowledge aboutyoga her life’s goal, helmedthe event. Looking back, shereiterates the long-runningobjective of the institutewhen she informs that theyhave not only focused onyoga as a means to pursue ahealthy life, but also as asubject that deals with threeaspects —psychology, phi-losophy and technology.“The psychology part alsoneeds to be understood —when a person is gettingangry, what is happening tothe system, and when he iscalm and quiet, how hisbrain is functioning then.And in philosophy ofcourse, how he is trying to

bring certain aspects in hislife so that he can remaincalm and balanced. And thetechnology part is somethingthat has to be very carefullydealt with because everyhuman is very different,”she reveals. She adds thatone cannot treat yoga as amass drill, but since everyhuman being is different,one should follow person-alised, tailor-made programsconsisting of as anas,pranayama, meditation,kriyas, bandhas and mudras.“Everybody can’t do medi-tation, rather it may harmsomebody if he is goingthrough depression. Wedon’t use the word ‘medita-tion’; rather we use ‘condi-tioning’ because it is a verydifferent step. You have tocondition your mind to seethat right types of thoughtsgo by and you are activelysitting quietly, counting yourbreath, listening to the soundaround you and feeling the

air on your body. That wouldhelp you,” she elucidates.

The popularity of theinstitute, the rigorous fol-lowing of its objectives andits philosophy can beaccredited to the yearsYogendra’s spent research-ing the physiological andthe psychological effects ofpracticing the ancientIndian art of living in USA.In 1943, a team of expertsfrom the OglethorpeUniversity, Atlanta, whowere collecting modernartefacts to add to their timecapsule called the Crypt ofCivilisation, also added thebooks published in the insti-tute to their collection,which will only be openedafter 6000 years. “I wasvery glad when the Crypt ofCivilisation accepted ourbooks and they gave us acertificate saying that theyare the most authentic andscientific books,” Hansajigushes.

One hundred years of yoga

Disease outbreaks inIndia occur with sea-sonal regularity,

with each region having itsown particular malaise. Themonsoons, for example,bring dengue to Delhi, lep-tospirosis to Mumbai,chikungunya to Karnataka,encephalitis to eastern UttarPradesh and Bihar, andmalaria to Chattisggarh,Jharkhand and Odisha.

In 2018, two new poten-tially fatal infections struckpopulations several hundredmiles away from regionswhere these diseases hadpreviously occurred, catch-ing epidemiologists andpublic health experts offguard.

One was Nipah virus dis-ease, which was reported forthe first time l in Kerala,where it killed 17 persons inKozhikode and Malappuram

districts in Kerala in Mayand June. The infection,which was first reported inIndia in 2001 in Siliguri,West Bengal, when 66 casesand 45 deaths were con-firmed, has since then beenfound in Pteropus giganteusbats or fruit bats.

Low levels of the virusstays in bats without sicken-ing them. A few very ill batssecrete the virus in theirdroppings, saliva and otherbody fluids, exposure nasalor respiratory droplets,urine or blood, leading toinfection in humans.

The virus jumped frombats to pigs to humans inMalaysia in 1998-99, andthen from bats to humans inBangladesh and India. Thesecond outbreak in Indiawas in Nadia district in WestBengal in 2007 which killedall the five persons infected.

Nipah virus spread tohumans in India through theconsumption of contaminat-ed fruit or date palm sap orthrough direct contact witha sick bat’s body fluids ordroppings. Human-to-human transmission wasalso documented in theKerala outbreak, as it was inSiliguri in 2001.

Zika was contained by ori-entating hospitals and healthworkers on infection pre-vention and control prac-tices, surveillance and con-tact tracing, implementingcontagion treatment proto-cols, using personal protec-tion equipment, and practic-ing safe burial practices.

Following the Nipah out-break, Indian Council ofMedical Research’s (ICMR)regional lab network forhigh-hazard pathogen test-ing were put on alert, which

led to the next big outbreakto be identified through rou-tine surveillance.

On September 22, theJaipur lab of the ICMR’szika surveillance system,involving 34 laboratories todetect Zika virus infectionin patients with fever, iden-tified the first of the 159cases of India’s biggest out-break to date. One case eachwas detected in Bhopal,Sehore and Vidisha districtsin Madhya Pradesh onOctober 30.

By end of November 27,zika had sickened 289 peo-ple in Madhya Pradesh andRajasthan. Zika was firstreported in India reported in2017, with three cases inAhmedabad, Gujarat andone case in KrishnagiriDistrict of Tamil Nadu.

HealthWise: New outbreaksneed better disease surveillance

For people with highblood pressure, start-ing an exercise regi-

men may lower blood pres-sure by as much as takingmedication would, a largeanalysis suggests.

Researchers combineddata from nearly 400 ran-domized trials that assessedthe effects of blood pressuredrugs or of exercise onblood pressure. They foundthat overall, each loweredblood pressure by nearly 9mmHg (millimetres of mer-cury) in patients withhypertension.

“Exercise seems toachieve similar reductionsin systolic blood pressure ascommonly used antihyper-tensive drugs among peoplewith high blood pressure,”said the study’s lead authorHuseyin Naci, a health poli-cy researcher at the LondonSchool of Economics and

Political Science in the UK.Naci and colleagues

looked at 194 randomizedcontrolled trials that testedthe impact of anti-hyperten-sive drugs in people withhigh blood pressure or withelevated blood pressure thatput them at risk of hyper-tension, and 197 trials insimilar groups that testedthe effect of exercise. Theyalso included data from pastanalyses that combined datafrom these kinds of trials.

All told, Naci’s team haddata for 10,461 volunteersin exercise trials and 29,281in medication trials.

None of the trials directlycompared the effects ofmedication to exercise. “Weneed direct head-to-headrandomized controlled trialscomparing exercise andantihypertensive drugs tofully answer this question,”Naci said in an email.

When looking at all par-ticipants, including thosewith normal, elevated andhigh blood pressure, theresearchers found medica-tions to be more effective

than exercise at loweringsystolic blood pressure the“top” number in a bloodpressure reading, whichindicates the pressure onblood vessel walls when the

heart pumps.But when the team

focused just on the higher-risk group with hyperten-sion defined in the study assystolic blood pressure of

140 mmHg or higher theyfound exercise achievedresults comparable to med-ication, a drop of 8.96mmHg, on average.

One of the study’s limita-tions is that some partici-pants in the exercise trialswere also on blood pressuremedication, the authors notein the British Journal ofSports Medicine.

Naci and her colleaguesalso point out that theyexamined the effects of dif-ferent types of exercise,including cardio andstrength training, as well asdifferent intensities, andfound that all types of exer-cise, and even low-intensityactivity, may offer a benefit.The results warrant“renewed attention” toidentifying effective strate-gies for promoting exercise,they conclude.

The idea that exercise

might be as good as medica-tion at lowering blood pres-sure isn’t new, said KerryStewart of Johns HopkinsMedicine in Baltimore,Maryland.

“The advantage of anotherstudy like this one is that itputs the information out tothe public, so maybe morephysicians and patients withhypertension will takenotice of it and perhaps tryexercise,” he said. “Initiallythey would use exercisealong with medications.Hopefully, if the exercisebrought blood pressuredown sufficiently theycould be weaned off someof their medications.” Thereis, however, a caveat to thatmessage. “There is less of ablood pressure loweringeffect in people who areolder,” Stewart explained.“It’s about half the magni-tude of the change this

analysis is showing.”Part of the problem in

people 55 and older is thatthe arteries get stiffer withage. “And that doesn’t seemto get reversed much withexercise,” he said. “Myguess is that a lot of peoplewho are older and havehypertension will probablybe on some combination ofexercise and blood pressurelowering medications.”

While exercise may notprovide the same “bang forthe buck” in terms of lower-ing blood pressure in olderpeople, plenty of other ben-efits accrue to those whoexercise, Stewart said,including weight loss, lipid-lowering and loss of viscer-al belly fat. “And those ben-efits are tied to overall car-diovascular health,” Stewartsaid.

Exercise can be another way of lowering blood pressure than medication

Once Again cast:Shefali Shah, NeerajKabi, Rasika Duggal,

Priyanshu Painyuli, BiditaBag, Bhagwan TiwariOnce Again director: KanwalSethiOnce Again rating: Two stars

With the changing dynamicsof Indian cinema, we are start-ing to see a wide variety offilms that aren’t necessarilyformulaic. And while the audi-ence did not have manyavenues to watch these filmsearlier, the world is a muchbetter place now thanks to allthe streaming services.Available on Netflix, OnceAgain, starring Shefali Shahand Neeraj Kabi, is one suchfilm. As the title suggests,Once Again is the story of twoindividuals trying to find loveand companionship one moretime in life. Tara, playedShefali Shah, is a widow whoruns a restaurant. With a son

and daughter to look after,Tara has been independent fora long time but amid a busylife, she is a lonely woman.Amar, played by Neeraj Kabi,is another lonely soul. Being apopular actor, he is surround-ed by yes men but in Tara, hefinds someone who is honestwith him. She isn’t star struckbut sees him as a lost man whois struggling with his day job,like many others.

While the trailer of OnceAgain was reminiscent ofRitesh Batra’s The Lunchbox,the film isn’t anything like theIrrfan Khan-Nimrat Kaur star-rer. Here, the food that Taraprepares for him is just the toolthat introduced them to eachother. We don’t see how theirrelationship blossomed but thecomfort they share over their10 pm phone calls shows thestability that they have foundin each other. The spark thatonce started his relationship

has stayed over the past yearand now, they both yearn for

something more.Shefali Shah and Neeraj Kabi

are both excellent performers.Her wide eyes give away her

thoughts and his brooding per-sonality gives a sense of hisdilemma.

Once Again spends a lot oftime in exploring their lovestory and much of it starts feel-ing like a drag after a while.Tara doesn’t want to encour-age this relationship but shegives in and as we start seeingthem together more often, itstarts feeling repetitive. Thedialogues too aren’t somethingthat leave an impact. And for afilm that relies on phone con-versations for the most part,these could have really helpedthe film.

Director Kanwal Sethi hastwo of the finest actors fromHindi cinema to tell this storybut the story isn’t engagingenough to keep us interested.At an hour and forty minutes,the film feels way too long.Had the same story been toldin a short film, it would haveprobably left more impact.

The supporting cast compris-ing of Rasika Duggal andPriyanshu Painyuli is impres-sive. Rasika gets to share somemoments with her on-screenfather (played by Neeraj)where the audience gets aninsight into their relationshipbut in the case of Priyanshu,his complaining nature slowlybecomes annoying.

The background music hereis calming. It leaves youmelancholic and fits perfectlywith the story of the two char-acters. Shefali Shah and NeerajKabi do not disappoint. Theirchemistry with each other andwith the camera is enticing andmakes it difficult for us to lookaway. Once Again could havebeen so much more and eventhough it doesn’t leave yousatisfied in the end, there isenough here to give it achance.

Once Again review: Watch this only for Shefali Shah and Neeraj Kabi’s spellbinding performances

Bollywood actorPriyanka Chopra andAmerican pop sensa-

tion Nick Jonas gotengaged on August 18.Reports also suggest thatthe couple plan to tie theknot soon. And for thesame, PeeCee decided toopt out of Salman Khan’sBharat. Katrina Kaif hasnow stepped in as thefilm’s leading lady.Recently, it was reportedthat Salman was reportedlyupset with her decision toleave the film just a fewdays before the shoot. Atthe launch of Bigg Boss 12,journalists asked Salman ifhe was indeed upset withPriyanka. Shaking his headin disagreement, Salmansaid, “No no, I am notangry with Priyanka at all.It’s great move in her life

(engagement with Nick)and I wish them all thebest. Arpita (his sister) hadeven attended the func-tions. So, there’s no hardfeelings.” “However, it’ssad that the film could not

happen with her,” headded. About a fortnightlater, Nick Jonas landed inIndia with his parents.Nick and Priyanka had atraditional roka ceremonyat her house. Post the inti-

mate ceremony, theQuantico star had alsothrown a party for her closefriends. Based on theKorean film Ode to myFather, Bharat is currentlybeing shot in Goa.

Salman Khan on Priyanka Chopraopting out of Bharat: No hard feelings Director Venkat

Prabhu unveiledan intriguing first

look poster of upcomingTamil film Aadai, whichmeans “dress”. Contraryto its title, the film featuresa partially clothed AmalaPaul in a distressful situa-tion. Her image immedi-ately catches our attentionand suggest she may be avictim of kidnapping. Thefilm is directed by RathnaKumar, whose last filmMeyaadha Maan became asurprise hit at the boxoffice. “This is definitelynot from the director of#Meyaadhamaan. This is#AADAI . Thk you@Amala_ams for gettinginto the Skin of theCharacter right away.Thksto my producer @subbhu-naarayan (sic).” tweetedRathna.

The details of the plot or

Amala’s character areunknown. However,Amala is “ecstatic” abouther forthcoming film.“Ecstatic and delighted toannounce, english firstlook poster of my nextTamil film…(sic),” tweet-ed the actor earlier today.Amala is in a very interest-ing phase in her career.

She has a few other big-gies in the pipeline, apartfrom Aadai. She recentlysuffered a ligament tearwhile shooting for herupcoming thriller AdhoAndha Paravai Pola. Thefilm is said to have severalstunt sequences andAmala has been shootingwithout a stunt double.

During one suchsequence, the actor report-edly twisted her right arm,that led to the ligamentinjury. Amala Paul alsohas Raatchasan withVishnu Vishal andAadujeevitham withPrithviraj Sukumaran inthe pipeline.

Aadai first look: Amala Paul promises a thriller

www.statevision.in - that’s all you need to know

Sunday, December 30, 2018

State Vision4 JeM terrorists killedin Pulwamaencounter; civilianspelt stones at securityforcesIndiaVISION OF JK

Page 8Samba (J&K)

UDHAMPUR, DECEM-BER 29: The month-longblock-wise sports andphysical Aptitude test forstudents organized by dis-trict AdministrationUdhampur under 'KheloIndia' sports for peace anddevelopment programmeconcluded here today.District DevelopmentCommissioner UdhampurRavinder Kumar was thechief guest while asManager Sports Council

U d h a m p u r S h a k t i s hChopra presided over thefunction on the conclud-ing day of the event. Whilebriefing about the month-long, the Manager SportsCouncil, informed thatover 2500 participantsboys and girls in the agegroup of 15 to 18 yearsdrawn from different edu-cational institutions,sports clubs, as well aslocals besides schooldropouts participated in

the 'Khelo India' competi-tions.

More than seven sportsdiscipline including 30Mtr flying, 800 mtr, 6X10Mtr Shuttlerun, MedicineBall Throw, standingbroad jump, Bend& reach,Height and weight werethe part of the month-longevent. On the occasion,DDC threw light on theimportance of sports ineveryday life. He appreci-ated the efforts made byofficials of Sports counciland Department of YouthServices & SportsUdhampur for successfulconducts of the event.DDC said that aim ofKhelo India initiative is toprovide a platform toyoung sportsman to showtheir hidden talent andshape their career insports.

JAMMU, DECEMBER29: Secretary InformationTechnology, SaugatBiswas, along with theVice Chairman JammuDevelopment AuthorityPawan Rathore todayreviewed the execution ofthe 'JDA AutomationProject' here at a meeting.

The project being exe-cuted by the InformationTechnology Departmentcommenced in 2018 and

will provide a seamlessonline interface betweenJDA and the citizens.

The software solutionswill reduce human inter-face in recording, process-ing, storing, retrieval andmanagement of informa-tion for the service opera-tions of JDA.

The project will providevarious online e-serviceslike application for build-ing permission, allotment

of notified assets, registra-tion, transfer, mortgagepossession of property,permission to sub-let/renew lease of property,addition and deletion ofname in lease deed, grantof no dues, online RTI,and online payments etc.

Besides various back-end online services for theinternal working ofJammu DevelopmentAuthority, the project will

also digitize all files andrecords of the JDA andmake JDA a paperlesso r g a n i z a t i o n .

In addition to reviewingthe development of vari-ous online modules con-stituting the AutomationProject, the Secretary hada detailed review of thedigitization of files of theJ D A .

Biswas said that underthe project about 25,000

files having a total esti-mated 18 lakh pages willbe digitized and integrat-ed with a DataManagement Software(DMS) tailor-made for theJDA. The DMS will inte-grate with the e-officesoftware being developedfor the JDA.

Later, Secretary had adetailed check of the vari-ous quality control stagesin the digitization process

and issued strict direc-tions to the vendors andJDA supervisors execut-ing the project to adhereto the quality control pro-t o c o l s .

The project will auto-mate the processes of JDAwith electronic servicedelivery thereby reducingcost and at the same timemaking it more accessibleto the public.

Secretary IT issued

directions to the projectmanagement team ofJaKeGA to strictly adhereto the timelines andensure high-quality digi-tization of existingrecords. The project is tar-geted to complete in fourmonths, added Biswas.

VC JDA informed thatthe project will be path-breaking in terms of pro-viding online day to dayJDA related citizen servic-

es from the comfort oftheir homes and also sim-plify the processes ofJ D A .

The meeting wasattended by officers of ITDepartment, Jammu andKashmir e-GovernanceAgency (JaKeGA), JammuDevelopment Authorityand the agencies involvedin implementation of theproject.

GANDERBAL, DECEM-BER 29: Justice SanjeevKumar, Judge High Courtof Jammu & Kashmir andPortfolio Judge for districtGanderbal today visitedthe courts at Ganderbaland Kangan.

He was presented aGuard of Honour on hisarrival at court complexGanderbal.

Justice Sanjeev Kumarinaugurated the WitnessAssistance Centre in thedistrict court complexGanderbal.

Addressing the gather-ing after the inaugurationof the Centre, he highlight-ed the role of the WitnessAssistance Centre and thecourt officers manning thesame in providing assis-tance and comfort to thewitnesses attending differ-

ent courts.The Nodal Officer of the

rank of Section Officerstands designated forreplying to the queries andproviding the assistance tothe witnesses who arebeing called by the differ-ent courts in civil and crim-inal matters, maybe theMedical Officers, FSLExperts and PoliceOfficers.

While interacting withthe judicial officers, JusticeSanjeev Kumar stressed onthe timely disposal of theold cases for the advance-ment of the cause of justice.He urged them for adher-ing to alternate dispute res-olution methods like Lok-Adalats and Mediation forspeedy, timely and inex-pensive justice. The Judgestressed on maintaining

the punctuality and theintegrity of the judicialemployees.

On the occasion, Barassociation Ganderbalinteracted with the JusticeSanjeev Kumar andapprised him certain issuesincluding completion ofunder construction barchambers and courtlibrary. Judge assuredthem that all the genuineissues will be redressed atan earliest.

Later, Justice SanjeevKumar also visited thecourt complex Kangan andLegal Aid Clinic Manigam.Justice Sanjeev Kumarstressed on the smoothfunctioning of the LegalAid Clinics for ensuringFirst Aid Legal Services inpending matters at grossroot level.

Principal District &Sessions Judge, Ganderbal,Mohammad Yousuf Wani,Deputy CommissionerGanderbal, Dr. PiyushSingla, Chief JudicialMagistrate Mehraj-Ud-DinSofi, SeniorSuperintendent of PoliceGanderbal, Khalil Poswal,Joint Registrar JudicialHigh Court, FarooqAhmad Bhat, SDMKangan, ChairmanGanderbal MunicipalCommittee, PublicProsecutor Ganderbal,Senior Prosecuting OfficerGanderbal, Vice PresidentBar Association Ganderbal,Secretary Bar AssociationGanderbal and DistrictInformation OfficerGanderbal were among theofficers present on spot.

JAMMU, DECEMBER 29:Secretary AgricultureP r o d u c t i o nDepartment/HorticultureManzoor Ahmad Lonetoday inspected theSuchetgarh OrganicBasmati Rice Cluster(SOBRC) during his fieldvisit to the border area.

Lone also interactedwith the farmers and bas-mati growers and distrib-uted Mini-Rice Shellersamong them.The farmersof the Basmati Clusterwere provided theShellers on 80% subsidy.

Interacting with thefarmers, Lone said thatSOBRC is in execution forlast three years in the areaand the department is pro-viding all sort of benefits

including improvisedseeds, latest machinery,Bio-fertilizers, Bio-pesti-cides and establishment ofVermi-composting Unitsetc on subsidized costs tothe farmers. He said thatformation of FPOs, BrandPopularization and propermarketing of the organicproduce of the Basmati arethe main aims of the inten-sified efforts of the depart-ment under the pro-gramme. He said that theuse of Mini Rice Shellerswill help the Growers topromote their BrandOrganic Basmati throughdirect marketing and gethigher returns with theelimination of middlemen.Lone said that R.S. PuraBasmati is world famous

for its aroma should begrown without usingchemicals or inorganic fer-tilizers or pesticides.

Director Agriculture,Jammu, H. K. Razdan,who accompanied theSecretary, apprised that668 hactare have beencovered under SuchetgarhOrganic Basmati RiceCluster (SOBRC) involv-ing 700 growers of villagesSuchetgarh, KrotonaKhurd and Vidipur Jattanlocated on the Indo-PakBorder. Razdan said thatthe fixation of MSP, farm-ers training camps, expo-sure visits besides provi-sion of quality inputs arebeing undertaken in thecluster.

Meanwhile, Choudhary

Dev Raj President RS PuraBasmati Growers associa-tion raised various issuesand sought complete banon conversion of agricul-ture land for the commer-cial and construction pur-poses to save the BasmatiGrowing Areas. SecretaryKisan Board AbdulHamid Wani, JointDirector Agriculture(Extension) Bulesh KumarZutshi, Chief AgricultureOfficer Jammu NarenderMishra, ASCO (i&P) A. H.Salaria, SDAO R. S. PuraRoshan Lal Bhagat andother officers of the agri-culture and JK Agro-Industries Corporationalso accompanied duringthe visit of Secretary APD.

REASI, DECEMBER 29:J&K Khadi and VillageIndustries Board (KVIB),Reasiorganised a districtlevel banker reviewawareness programmeunder Jammu & KashmirRural EmploymentGeneration Programme(J&KREGP) at the districtheadquarters here today.

The meeting was con-ducted under the chair-manship of DistrictD e v e l o p m e n tCommissioner Reasi, DrSagar Dattatray Doifode.The meeting was con-ducted to provide aware-ness to bankers aboutJ&KREGP.

A district-level task

force meeting regardingthe Jammu & KashmirRural EmploymentGeneration Programme,J&KREGP was also heldat the occasion.

The meeting was as partof a regular exercise inwhich representativesfrom banks and otherstakeholders meet to dis-cuss various aspects ofthe programme.

DDC also discussedvarious initiatives to betaken by KVIB as well asby the banks to generateawareness about the pro-gramme in the district.

District Officer KVIB,Sadiq Hussain briefed themeeting that applicant

from rural areas, within18 and 40 years of age,can avail loans under theprogramme for setting uptheir business. A maxi-mum of Rs 25 lakh can beavailed under the schemeby any individual. Healso expressed the needto conduct promotionalactivities at ITIs so thatmore educated youthavails the benefits of theprogramme.

The meeting was alsoattended by GeneralManager DIC Reasi, AnilKumar, Cluster HeadJ&K Bank and variousbank managers of the dis-trict.

KUPWARA, DECEMBER29: A day- long workshop-cum-training programmeon digitization of landrecords was today organ-ized here by RevenueTraining Institute in collab-oration with RegionalDirector Survey and LandRecords, Srinagar.

The workshop organizedunder Digital India LandRecords ModernizationProgramme (DILRMP)was conducted under thesupervision of CoordinatorDILRMP Altaf AhmadBhat. The purpose of theworkshop was to impartthe field staff with the nec-essary training about thepreparation of revenuerecords and settlementoperations besides variousother technicalities that are

important in the process ofdigitization.

Speaking after inaugu-rating the workshop, theCoordinator said that theproject envisages trans-parency and clarity in thetitle of the land holderswhich will ultimately min-imize the land disputes.He said that updatedJamabandis are the pre-requisite for the implemen-tation of the project and ifthe service provider doesnot get updatedJamabandis, the projectwill not serve its desiredpurpose.

Revenue expert ZahoorAhmed presented adetailed account withregard to the scope andobjectives of the DigitalIndia Land Records

M o d e r n i z a t i o nProgramme. He acquaint-ed the officers about vari-ous ways in which theproject will be carried outin the State. He alsoacquainted the participantswith various componentsof the project. Moreover,he said that the govern-ment has hired the servicesof private firm RAM TECHSoftware India andassigned the job of scan-ning, computerization ofvarious old revenuerecords besides settlementoperations to the Agency.

Naib Tehsildars,Girdawaras, Patwaris andother revenue functionar-ies and various others con-cerned participated in theprogramme.

DC Kupwarainteracts withKarateChampionsKUPWARA, DECEM-BER 29: DeputyCommissioner Kupwara,Khalid Jahangir todayheld an interactive sessionwith the players ofDistrict KarateAssociation Kupwara,who excelled in the StateChampionship 2018 hereat a felicitation ceremony.The performance of all theplayers was lauded by theDC for bringing laurels tothe district. Amidst inter-action with associationmembers, the DC felicitat-ed all the 11 medal win-ners and wished thembest for their futureendeavours.

ANANTNAG, DECEM-BER 29: AgricultureDepartment today organ-ised one-day district LevelExhibition Cum KissanMela.

The Mela was inaugurat-ed by Nazir AhmadLaway, MP Rajya Sabha inpresence of DDC,Anantnag, MohammadYounis Malik and DirectorAgriculture Kashmir,Syed Altaf Aijaz Andrabi.

A large number of theprogressive farmers fromall four Agricultural Zonesof the District i.e. Achabal,Doru, Pahalgam andQaimoh participated inthe mela. Agriculture andAllied sectors had estab-lished stalls for farmerswhere printing materialregarding various central-ly / state sponsoredschemes was available toaware the farming com-munity.

The DDC, Anantnag onthe occasion hailed theefforts of the departmentin changing the economicscenario of the farmersparticularly, in productionof Mushkibudji, vegeta-bles, fisheries, horticul-ture, apiculture and mush-room cultivation. Specialemphasizes is being paidto the economic develop-ment of the farming com-munity. He also said thatmore than 31000 hectaresof the district land is cov-ered under Agricultureand Allied Sectors and theneed of the hour is to safe-guard the Agricultureland for using other com-mercial and residentialpurposes. He also saidthat there is no shortage offunds in the Agricultureand Allied sectors. Thefarmers are availing loanfacilities under KCC and80000 beneficiaries were

provided advances duringthe current fiscal.

The DDC also soughtcooperation from the MPRajya Sabha Nazir AhmadLaway for Rs 1200 Cr.Project under PMKSY forthe district so that betterIrrigation facilities can beprovided for the sector.

Nazir Ahmad Laway inhis address said thatDepartment should alsoorganize more KissanMelas in other parts of thedistrict so that farmers canbe given informationabout the latest scientifictechniques being imple-mented for the upliftmentof the farmers. He alsoannounced to cover thecost of the beehives fromMP fund for all beneficiar-ies which have been listedby the AgricultureDepartment. Laway alsoappealed the farmers tocome forward for the

establishment of vermi-compost manure units sothat large-scale use ofchemical fertilizers can bestopped.

The Chief AgricultureOfficer, Anantnag on theoccasion highlighted themajor achievements of thedepartment and said that280.5 qntls. Vermicompostmanure has been pro-duced in 122Vermicompost units of thedistrict. The Honey pro-duction has touched to1079.83 Qtls. and aRevenue of Rs.325.015 lachas been earned under theApiculture Sector. Out of1.25 lacs Soil health cardshave been issued amongthe farmers and soil sam-ples of 1900 beneficiarieshave been registered onsoil health portal. Farmmachinery of Rs 1.57 Crhave been provided whichinclude Tractor, power

Tiller, Power Weeder,Poly Green House, I.P Set,Water harvesting struc-ture, Tube well/ bore well,Four wheelers, Poly film,Brush cutter, Mini powersprayer, Pack House,Manual Sprayer, CheckDam and MotorizedVending cart. He said that5500 Qntls of Mushkibudjihave been produced andrevenue of 7396 lacs havebeen generated. An area of124.9375 hectare of landhas been brought underMushkibudji rice, he said.

The various officersfrom Agriculture,Horticulture, Sericulture,Apiculture, Mushroom,Fisheries, AnimalHusbandry, SheepHusbandry and other fieldfunctionaries of thedepartment were presenton the occasion.

Secretary IT reviews JDA automation, digitization projectJDA to go paperless; All services to be online shortly

Agri Dept organises exhibition, Kissan Mela at Anantnag JKREGP District TaskForce meet held at Reasi

Justice Sanjeev Kumar visits Court Complex Ganderbal, KanganInaugurates Witness Assistance Centre

Month-long 'Khelo India' competitions conclude in Udhampur

Secretary Agriculture inspects SuchetgarhOrganic Basmati Rice Cluster

Distributes Mini-Rice Shellers among Basmati Growers

Workshop on land recorddigitization held at Kupwara