Srinagar, June 15:

Refusing the plea for having in cam-era trial, a city court has directed prosecution to produce witnesses in a murder case of a contractor against Papa Kishtwari at the earliest.The trial is going on in Ist Additional District Judge Sriangar against Gh-ulam Muhammad Lone alias Papa Kishtwari who is allegedly involved in a murder case of Ali Mohammad Mir who was a contractor by profes-sion.The court after hearing the argu-ments of Advocate Babar Jan Qadri, the counsel for Zahoor Ahmad Mir, son of the murdered contractor, re-fused the plea for having in camera trial of the case. The counsel Ab-dul Majeed Watali for the accused pleaded for in camera trial that was contested and objected by the counsel for the complainant’s advocate Babar Qadri.Qadri submitted that prosecution be directed to produce witnesses, otherwise, according to him the non production of witnesses will force the court to close the evidence which in turn will have a negative effect and

See Court on Pg. 11

Budgam, June 15:

Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah Satur-day underlined the role of women in checking the menace of female foeticide and drug addiction among the youth de-scribing these dangerous threats to the future of the State.Speaking at a function after he launched UMEED Programme for women empow-erment and welfare with All India Con-gress Committee Vice President, Rahul Gandhi here, the Chief Minister said that the reports of female foeticide from Jammu and Kashmir are of greater con-cern and alarming while drug addiction among the youth is equally disturbing.Omar Abdullah said that these two dan-gerous social diseases, if not restricted well in time, the future of the State would be endangered. He said the women groups to be organized under UMEED have a special role to play in eradicat-ing these evils. He called upon them to focus on these important concerns and safeguard the future of the State. “While attending other socio-economic prob-lems, the society are confronted with, women have to divert special attention for checking female foeticide and drug addiction”, he emphasized.Omar Abdullah assured full support of his government for the success of UMEED and referred the efforts of Union Minister for Rural Development, Jairam Ramesh and All India Congress

Committee Vice President Rahul Gan-dhi for getting this Rs. 750 crore Pro-gramme through at the Union Govern-ment level. He sought similar support of Rahul Gandhi in getting cleared vari-ous other issues of Jammu and Kashmir pending with the Union Government.Omar Abdullah said that empower-ment of women in the State has been flagged as a focused area by his govern-ment and 33 percent reservation in Pan-chayat Elections for Women vindicates

this intension. He lauded the women of Jammu and Kashmir for actively par-ticipating in women empowerment pro-grammes and said that the contesting of women candidates for all 33 percent reserved Panchayat Halqas determines the courage and enthusiasm of women of the State to be equal part in the devel-opment process.Omar Abdullah said that the UMEED programme which was last year launched for only four blocks of the

State would now cover entire Jammu and Kashmir. He said the programme would help in a big way to organize women and empower them to address the socio-economic issues and create wide-ranging livelihood earning oppor-tunities for women.Omar Abdullah said that the poverty in Jammu and Kashmir is not as severe as

that of Jarkhand, Chatisgarh and other such parts of the Country. He said that all credit for this goes to Sher-i-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah who

See Rahul on Pg. 11

Srinagar, June 15:

A Delhi-based civil soci-ety group on Saturday ap-pealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reach out to the rape victims of Kunanposhpora during his scheduled visit to Jam-mu and Kashmir later this month. "The gang-rape of women in Kunanposhpora village of north Kashmir's Kup-wara district is a blot on the face of the democracy." "Prime Minister should reach out to the victims by announcing reopen-ing of the case and taking up the matter with state government and Defence and Home ministries," CPI(M) leader Moham-mad Saleem, who is part of the delegation of Centre for Policy Analysis (CPA), told reporters here. The delegation visited Kunanposhpora yester-day and met the victims of alleged gang-rape by an Army unit during an anti-militant operation in 1991. "We will take up the mat-ter with Prime Minister

and hope he announces something during his visit so that a sense of justice is felt by the victims," Sal-eem said. It is unfortunate that the Jammu and Kashmir gov-ernment has failed to do anything in the matter despite a recommendation by the State Human Rights Commission, he said. Meanwhile, member of National Integration Council John Dayal said government should not act like nothing has happened and should reopen the case by constituting a special investigations team moni-

tored by judiciary and not police. He also demanded ade-quate compensation on the basis of a national model "like in the case of Delhi gang rape of a medical stu-dent". Former IAS officer Harsh Mander said it is shameful that police have filed a clo-sure report without taking any action against anyone.Pitching for the complete de-militarization and with-drawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AF-SPA), Public Safety Act (PSA) and other draconian

See Civil Society on Pg. 11

CMYK

CMYK

CMYK

CMYK

SunDAY June 16 | 2013 | 06 Shaban 1434 AH | PAGES 12 | VOL nO: 3 | ISSuE nO: 145 | RS: 2/- (AIR SuRCHARGE FOR JAMMu /DELHI/LEH 50 PAISA)Pen For JusticeLargely Circulated, No. 1 Bilingual Daily of J&K

Rahul launches pRoject hope

Srinagar, June 15: Members of the Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association today decided against participating in the inauguration of the State Judi-cial Academic Complex here tomorrow saying that the function is "politically motivated"."The establishment of the State Judicial Academic Complex is a welcome step. But in view of the po-litical overtones of the function, which is to be pre-sided by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the Bar Association feels handicapped (about joining) in," the association said in a statement here following a meeting of its executive members.The said complex is to be inaugurated by the Chief Justice of India.The association said that the independence of the judiciary was "at stake in the hands of the present coalition government" in the state.There is a "denial of effective justice to the people" and discrimination against Kashmiris at all levels, the association alleged.Referring to the recent selection of judicial officers in the subordinate judiciary, the association said that, "out of 38 selectees only seven are from Kash-mir valley" and alleged that attempts were made to even defeat those appointments."The overall representation of Kashmiris in the judiciary has come down to 25 per cent at present, which reveals the sinister design to weed out the Kashmiri Muslim representation in the judiciary,"

See Bar on Pg. 11

Srinagar, June 15:

To protest governments’ apathy towards contractors Valley based contractors under the banner of Jammu and Kashmir Central Con-tractors Coordination Com-mittee (JKCCCC), began 36 hours hunger strike. The Valley based contractors assembled at TRC ground Saturday morning to stage Hunger strike that was led by Kashmir Central Con-tractors Coordination Com-mittee (JKCCCC).Pertinently the contractors have been demanding to re-lease of pending bills worth seven hundred corers. JKCCCC has held several demonstrations to protests their demand earlier.Meanwhile General Sec-retary JKCCCC Farooq Ahmed Dar lamented that ‘injustice’, is being meted out to the more than 70,000 Valley based contractors. He said that the ‘Hunger

Strike’ call had been given to protest the pending bills of Rs 700 crores the state government owes to con-tractors, double taxation tendering and WDC bill System. “The withholding of massive funds is heavily telling upon us.He accused the State gov-ernment of compelling them to launch the hunger strike.“We try our level best to solve the matter in a peace-ful manner but the insen-sitive attitude of the state government towards our grievances left us no option than to start this hunger strike”. Dar said.“In March, we missed out on tenders worth Rs 30 crores due to the bad situ-ation here as internet ser-vices were snapped by the establishment in Valley,” Dar said.Dar alleged that it is the bi-ased attitude of planning

See Strike on Pg. 11

Bar to boycott SJA event

Contractors begin 36-hour hunger strike

Mendhar, June 15:

Envisioning a new begin-ning in Indo-Pak relations, National Conference Presi-dent and Union Minister for Renewable Energy Dr Farooq Abdullah on Sat-urday said that bonds of friendship between the two neighbours will help in solving the problems of millions on either side of the border and Line of Con-trol.“Jammu and Kashmir in particular will reap the benefits of Indo-Pak friendship”, Dr Abdullah said amid applause while addressing a huge public meeting at Mendhar in Poonch district this after-noon.The National Conference President was accompa-nied by the Provincial President Jammu Mr De-vender Singh Rana on the day long visit of Mendhar.

The Union Minister re-ferred to the softening of borders in the Europe and said: “This has trans-formed the socio-economic landscape of entire Europe and I don’t see any reason

why Indo-Pak region will not progress and prosper once there is mutual trust and strong bonding be-tween the two nations”.He said the idea of opening roads is not new; it dates back to the era of Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Moham-mad Abdullah, who strived

for softening of borders for mitigating the problems of people and giving boost to trade and commerce. He recalled his meeting with former premier of Paki-stan Zulfkar Ali Bhutto in Pakistan and said that he wanted to know why Sher-e-Kashmir was so keen for opening of the Muzaffar-abad Road. “My reply to Mr Bhuttoo was that Sher-e-Kashmir wanted the peo-ple of two countries to have wider interactions and to see for themselves change taking place in various sec-tors”.The National Conference President said that opening of roads will herald a new era of understanding, give boost to trade, commerce and tourism and above all open new vistas of people to people contact, which he described held key to peace and stability in the region.

See Farooq onPg. 11

Farooq calls for softening borders between India-Pakistan

Srinagar, June 15:

To strengthen panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre will provide Rs 420 crore as untied funds, in ad-dition to other schemes for carrying out development, Union minister Jairam Ra-mesh said here today."Each of the 4,200 panchay-ats in the state will get an amount of Rs 10 lakh as un-tied funds every year," the Union Rural Development Minister told reporters here, 15 kms from Srinagar.Untied funds are meant for carrying out works of emergent nature which are normally not covered under the schemes decentralised at the district level. These funds are mainly allocated for filling up the missing gaps.Ramesh said these funds will be in addition to the funds available to the pan-chayats through various schemes like MNREGA and IAY.The Union minister said the funds, which will be provided within one month, have been sanctioned to "strengthen the gram pan-chayats in the state".

Rs 400 crore for Kashmir

panchayats

Civil Society group demands reopening of Kunanposhpora caseCourt directs

prosecution to produce witness

CM cautions society against female foeticide, drug addictionNo development possible without women participation: Rahul

Budgam, June 15: At a time when Omar Abdullah has been pitching for repeal-ing the AFSPA from parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today said the issue of revocation of the controversial act is between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Chief Minister."It is a discussion between the Chief Minister and the Prime Minister. It is not appropriate for me to make a state-ment," Gandhi told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Budgam, 15 km from Srinagar.

See AFSPA on Pg. 11

AFSPA issue between PM and Omar: Rahul

Srinagar, June 15:

Jammu and Kashmir unit of CPI(M) today said there is a need for introspection to find the rea-sons behind "the emerging ten-dency" of educated youth joining militancy in the Valley. "Denial to a free political space, failure to administer justice to the families of victims of vio-lence are a few important aspects which seriously demand an in-trospection at all levels before finding out reasons behind the emerging tendency of educated youth joining militant ranks in Jammu and Kashmir," state sec-retary of CPI(M) M Y Tarigami said here. Tarigami said the people in Kash-mir are living in a "suffocating atmosphere" where even "peace-ful dissent is not tolerated." Almost all channels of commu-nication have been blocked and means of protest is being sup-pressed ruthlessly. What is more worrying is that the youth is being targeted mercilessly," he said. "And yet if someone, does not un-derstand or wilfully chooses to

ignore the real cause and shuts one's eyes to its inevitable conse-quences, the overall situation is bound to deteriorate rather than coming to normal," he said while addressing a Round Table meet-ing organised by the Delhi-based Centre for Policy Analysis here. People of Kashmir hope that the political and democratic opinion across the country is mobilised for providing justice to the peo-ple, he said. "Whichever, political party comes in power in Delhi hardly matters for the people of Kash-mir. What the people of Kash-mir hope is that the political and democratic opinion across the country is mobilised for provid-ing justice to the people. The democratic forces of the country need to come out of slumber before it is too late," he said. Tarigami asked why the crimi-nal investigations in "mostly un-provoked incidents of violence in 2010 in which over 110 youth were killed" have not been con-cluded. "Three years have passed and

See CPI(M) on Pg. 11

Need to introspect reasons behind youths

joining militancy: CPI (M)

Papa Kishtwari case

Minor girl found dead in orchardBaramulla, June 15: Body of an 8-year-old girl with her throat slit was today recovered from an orchard in north Baramulla district. The girl had gone missing yes-terday from her house in Lisar Dangiwachi area of Sopore, SP Imtiyaz Hussain said. A knife, suspected to be used in the crime, was also recovered from the spot, he added. "We have sent the body for post-mortem to establish the cause of death. Although apparently there are no signs of sexual vio-lence, the postmortem report, however, will bring out the truth," Hussain said.

no verdict in Slap gateKishtwar, June 15: Sessions Judge Kishtwar did not pass any judgment in slap gate case on Saturday. Pertinently, Min-ister of State for Home Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo had allegedly slapped the Chief Executive Officer Kishtwar Development Authority, Reyaz Ahmed Chow-dhary after which the said of-ficer had approached the court against the Minister. The Court had expressed anguish over the incident of manhandling of one of the senior officers of the service by a Minister of State and had directed the Police to register an FIR against the accused.The Home Department had filed a revision petition before the Sessions Judge Kishtwar against the order passed by CJM Court, which had directed for registration of formal case against the Minister.Talking to CNS the Counsel for complainant, Advocate Zulqer-nain Shiekh said that he and Chief Prosecuting Officer put their arguments forward on the criminal revision petition filed by the Home Department seek-ing nullification and stay on the verdict given by CJM Kishtwar Ajay Kumar Gupta.“The Court after hearing the preliminary arguments did not pass any judgment and listed the case on June 27 for next hearing,” he said.Jammu and Kashmir govern-ment has contested the order passed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate Kishtwar directing registration of case against Minister of State for Home Sajad Ahmed Kichloo.

Banned drugs seized Ganderbal, June 15: The Jammu and Kashmir police, in a campaign launched against anti-social elements of the so-ciety, recovered huge quantity of banned drugs from drug peddlers in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.Deputy Superintendent of Po-lice, Rasik Mir, said on action on a complaint they formed a team led by Station House Officer Kheerbawani Imtiyaz Mir, PSI Faroz Yousuf. "And with the help of civil society we conducted raids in many parts of district and recovered a huge quantity of banned drugs,” he said.A total of 325 bottles of Corex and 8328 capsules of Spasmo-Proxyvon.” two vehicles and a motorcycle was recovered from Javaid Ahmad, Ayob Dar,Mohammad Ashraf Wani and Assadullah. Police have registered case under FIR No 23-3013 U/s 18/27 DC act and further investigation is on.

Rahul visits JKPCC headquartersSrinagar, June 15: The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee has expressed its gratitude to Rahul Gandhi who paid visit to Congress Party Headquarters today despite inclement weather.“It was a pleasant surprise for the J&K Pradesh Congress and its functionaries that Shri. Rahul Gandhi visited Party Headquarters in spite of the fact that he was hard pressed for time”, the JKPCC said in a statement issued here.

http://www.zabarwantimes.com

SRINAGAR, JUNE 15:

Minister for Finance and Ladakh Af-fairs, Abdul Rahim Rather today said that Yusmarg will be developed as a major tourist destination as per its Master Plan which has been approved by the State Cabinet recently. He said that a road will be

constructed to link the historic Nilnag and Goggipathri with Yusmarg to give boost to the economic activities in the area. Both these places have already brought under the ambit of Yusmarg Development Au-thority (YDA).

Addressing a public meeting at Goggi-pathri in tehsil Chadoora, Rather said that in view of tourism emerging as global eco-nomic force, the present government has

attached much importance to this sector for employment generation and poverty alleviation. He said tourism potential in each and every area of the state includ-ing Yusmarg and its surroundings would be optimally exploited to give impetus to socio-economic activities.

Rather reiterated government’s com-

mitment to provide all the basic facilities to the people adding that promises made to the people will be fulfilled as act of faith. He said no stone will be left unturned to come up to the expectations of the people, who have pinned high hopes with the present dispensation. He said that the gov-ernment is all abreast with the problems of the people and their all genuine grievances are being redressed earnestly. He said uni-

form justice and equitable development to every area and region are the main con-cerns of the present government.

Rather said that due to massive and unprecedented developmental initiatives of the present government, the state has reached to an era of socio-economic revo-lution. He cautioned the people about the nefarious designs of opposition to divide the people on the basis of caste, colour and creed adding that they are un-nerved with the growing popularity of present government. He sought people’s coopera-tion to defeat all the machinations of the opposition. “They did nothing for the bet-terment of people during their regime and are now desperately trying to undermine the performance of the present govern-ment under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah by leashing disinformation campaign and lies”, Rather said adding that they will never succeed in their designs.

Responding to the demands of the people, Rather announced construction of Goggipathri to Kristwar road adding that Rs 17 crore has been incurred on macad-amization of Nagam to Goggipathri road. He said Rs 1.75 crore is being spent on the construction of primary health centre building near Goggipathri. He assured to fulfill all the demands presented in the charter of demands.

Be open and communicative about your feelings to-day, Aries. Most people find it easy to share facts or con-crete information. The challenge is to share something from your heart. Don’t think that feelings always need to be kept secret. Just the opposite is true. Make sure you leave the channels open for emotional expression.

When it comes to issues of love and romance, you’re likely to be in a tough situation, Gemini. The problem is that it may seem like there’s an element of detachment developing. Your partner may be moving away from you instead of toward you. Either that, or you feel that he or she simply isn’t relating to you as intimately as you’d like.

Your self-confidence will get you out of any sort of pickle you might be in today, Cancer. Try not to get too emotional about any issue. Make sure that you keep things light and energetic. If you seem to be stuck in the mud, don’t just sit there calling for help. Take the initia-tive to dig yourself out and move to higher ground.

Try not to get too worked up over other people’s ac-tions that don’t concern you, Leo. Recent events may have triggered responses from others that now have a serious effect on you. Take some time to really think about what part you wish to play in this drama. Is it in your best interests to get involved? It’s undoubtedly time to distance yourself from the situation.

Emotionally, you should feel good today, Virgo, so don’t let this confidence go to waste. Do things with your sweetheart and turn the dial up on romance. Your inner light is shining brightly, so know that you can use this to illuminate the path for others. Offer a sympa-thetic ear and comforting shoulder for someone to cry on tonight. People will be drawn to you like steel to a magnet.

As much as you try to explain things, Libra, others simply aren’t going to see them with your same intensi-ty and do-or-die urgency. Be careful that you don’t con-trive a series of far-out stories that only partially reflect the truth. Make sure the picture you paint is accurate or else others may lose faith in your judgment.

Feel free to ignite your passion with the help of the people around you, Scorpio. Join with those who share similar dreams and make a plan for accomplishing whatever you choose. The more creative you can be with your planning, data collecting, and execution, the better off you will be. The white-hot fire within you is ready to blaze.

You may get caught up in gossip if you aren’t care-ful, Sagittarius, and people may find this off-putting. The maturity level of the conversation is apt to drop significantly if you insist on talking about others like they’re soap opera characters. Build your self-confi-dence so you’re comfortable and you don’t need to use other people’s lives as topics of discussion.

Your enthusiasm is contagious, Capricorn, and you should do what you can to share this feeling with others. In matters of the heart, you know exactly where you stand. You also have the map of the surrounding area and beyond. You have the ability to get to any place you want to go. Accept the power that comes from strong connections in you and with people around you.

You may be at a high point right now and feeling very excited about things to come, Aquarius. You prob-ably anticipate but have only a vague notion of what’s just over the horizon. You may have a strong desire to rise high so you can see farther. In fact, you probably think that any place is better than your current spot. Have confidence in your future.

Let your heart be the reassuring force in your life today if difficult emotional issues come to the surface, Pisces. Your feelings are apt to be at a climactic point in your month. Your general sensitivity toward the world is heightened. Try not to get too weighed down by these inner stirrings.

When you enter a room, Taurus, the dynamic sud-denly changes. Your presence has a powerful impact on other people. Don’t take it lightly. People may hang on your words like they’re listening to the queen address to her kingdom. Make sure the content of your speech reflects the gravity of the situation. Make every word count.

Master Plan Yusmarg gets cabinet nod: Rather

Secy GAD reviews implemen-tation of PSGA in Sopore, Bla

Lone pays surprise visit to GDC Bemina

Rashid Shahid passes away

2-day Employment Fair inaugurated at Pulwama

SRINAGAR, JUNE 15:

Secretary, General Admin-istration Department (GAD), Sheikh Mushtaq Ahmad today visited Baramulla district to take stock of the implementa-tion of Public Services Guaran-tee Act (PSGA) on the ground level. He also inspected vari-ous departments in Sopore and Baramulla towns to see implementation of PSGA. The officers inspected by the Sec-retary GAD included offices of Tehsildars, ARTO office, Mu-nicipal Councils of Baramulla and Sopore etc.

Sheikh Mushtaq directed the Information Officers to provide requisite information to the people on time and help people to get their Ra-tion Cards, Driving Licenses, and State Subjects and other notified services within the prescribed time as envisaged under the PSGA. He was ac-companied by District De-velopment Commissioner,

Baramulla Ghulam Ahmad Khwaja, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Manzoor Ah-mad Qadri and Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Sopore, Moham-mad Hanief Balaki.

Later, Sheikh Mushtaq pre-sided over an officers meeting at Dak Bungalow, Baramulla.

Speaking on the occasion, Sheikh Mushtaq impressed upon the officers to imple-ment the PSGA in its true spir-it so that people get notified services within time frame. He said Chief Minister is himself monitoring implementation of the Act for its better results. He said officers should work with honesty, zest and zeal to serve the people adding that people should be made aware about benefits of the PSGA. He said vigorous awareness camps need to be organized in colleges and schools about PSGA.AT SHOPIAN Additional Secretary General Adminis-tration Department, Subash Chilbber visited district Sho-

pian today to oversee imple-mentation of PSGA .

The Additional Deputy Commissioner Shopian, Na-sir Ahmad Nakash who is also District Nodal Officer and various officers of the district administration participated in the review meeting at Dis-trict Administrative Complex Shopian to review the imple-mentation of the services of PSGA. He said 70 services provided by the government departments and agencies have been brought under the ambit of PSGA. He said the Act provides for time bound delivery of services on re-ceiving a complaint adding that any functionary failing to comply with the rule of the Act is liable to be penal-ized. He said that the Act has not only improved delivery of services covered under the Act but also helps in enforcing accountability of the officers of these depart-ments.

SRINAGAR, JUNE 15:

Minister for Higher Edu-cation, Mohammad Akbar Lone today paid surprise visit to Government De-gree College, Bemina and took stock of functioning of college. He inspected vari-ous classrooms, labo-ratories and Library besides Accounts and Administration Sec-tions of the college. He also checked the at-tendance registers of various classes.

The Minister takes strong note of less attendance of the students and not maintaining proper attendance registers in the college. Lone said that no carelessness, indiscipline or negligence will be tolerated on the part of any College and

in this regard college authori-ties will be taken to task.

While interacting with the college students, Lone said that government is very much

enthusiastic for the improve-ment of higher education sys-tem in the State. He stressed for maintaining discipline and

regular attendance of the stu-dents in the colleges besides to take the maximum benefit from facilities being provided.

Lone enjoined upon all

the colleges to maintain disci-pline and regular attendance besides ensuring quality edu-cation to the students.

JAMMU, JUNE 15

Department of Agriculture today orga-nized one day awareness-cum-practical training & demonstration programme for Mushroom growers here at Talab Tillo.

More than 50 mushroom growers/famers from Bishnah, R S Pura, Akhnoor, Dansal, Bhalwal, Satwari etc participated. About 50 percent among the participants were women.

Joint Director of Agriculture (In-puts) Jammu, S K Sawhney inaugurated the training programme.

Interacting with the mush-room growers, Sawhney said that depart-ment of agriculture Jammu is making all efforts to help the farmers to increase their income by providing requisite technology and material inputs for diversification of agriculture activities. He said that milky mushroom as a summer season crop fits into the sequence of growing mushrooms round the year. He said the species are suitable for hot humid climate and can be cultivated indoors in areas of high temper-ature and high humidity. It grows well at a temperature between 25-35 C and relative humidity of more than 80 percent.

Mushroom growers raised dif-ferent queries with regard to marketing problem of milky mushroom for which Joint Director of Agriculture advised the growers to go for value addition. Further, Sawhney deliberated that in year2011-12 90234 spawn bottles were distributed and 179456 trays were established which gave 5823.24 qtls of yield. Further during 2012-13 102032 spawn bottles distributed and 203374 trays established which gave 6108.45 qtls of yield.

While elaborating on the em-ployment prospects the Chief Agriculture Officer Jammu said that mushroom culti-vation can be taken up successfully even by the landless farmers. He described this as good source of employment especially for youth and women. Moreover it can give a profit of more than 100 percent in a short period of time.

Earlier, in his welcome address, Mushroom Development Officer Jammu gave a brief account of the Mushroom Development Scheme Jammu. He stated that earlier the mushroom growers fall-ing under sub tropical areas particularly in Jammu district used to close down the activity from May to September because

of the obstructive high temperature and humidity.

SRINAGAR, JUNE 15: A renowned media practitioner of the State and former Joint Director Information, Abdur Rashid Wani (Shahid) is no more. The end came during the intervening night at SKIMS, Srinagar where he had been admitted few days back.

The death of Rashid Shahid has been widely condoled. Col-leagues in media fraternity have described his demise as a pro-fessional loss which would be difficult to fill.

A condolence meeting was held at the Directorate of Infor-mation which was presided over by Director Information, Zaffar Ahmad. Addressing the meeting Zaffar said Shahid would for long be remembered for his professional acumen and dedica-tion besides the strong imprints he laid in the departmental hi-erarchy. The meeting prayed for eternal solace to the departed soul.

Shahid was known for his professional competence and acumen for which he was widely respected. He had a good com-mand over English language, sentence structure and grammer. Friends and colleagues would often refer their write ups to him for subbing and corrections.

His professional inputs and advice was taken by his superi-ors was all seriousness and proper context.

Born at Khanpora, Baramulla, Shahid had a humble begin-ning. He did his Diploma in Journalism from The Hindustan Times, New Delhi where he was awarded a gold medal. This made Shahid first journalism pass out from the State. Soon he started writing for many famed newspapers of that time like-Statesman, The Times of India etc. But he had to come back to Valley due to family compulsions. Here he joined back his previ-ous job. Later he joined the Department of Information and by dint of hard work, honesty and dedication rose to the position of Joint Director Information, Kashmir where from he retired few years back. During this period, he was posted as District Infor-mation Officer, Assistant Director, Deputy Director etc where he made significant contributions.

After retirement, Shahid was also working with reputed media houses of J&K and outside. He was also associated with a voluntary group, Help Foundation for a long time. He also acted as a practical guide to a whole lot of young and practicing jour-nalists.

PULWAMA, JUNE 15:

The District Development Commissioner, Pulwama, Manzoor Ahmad Lone today inaugurated two day em-ployment fair at Industrial Estate Chatapora Pulwama.

The Employment Fair was organized by District Employment and Counsel-ling Centre, Pulwama.

About 26 stalls of differ-ent departments have been set up in the Fair to provide awareness to the students and masses about various welfare schemes launched by the government.

The District Develop-ment Commissioner went across different departmen-tal stalls established by the department and institutions during the Fair.

The District Develop-ment Commissioner called upon the youth of area to avail maximum benefits of

the Fair and welfare pro-grammes which has been especially designed for un-employed youth for setting up of their own income gen-erating units.

Lauding the de-partment of Employment and Counselling for orga-nizing Employment Fair, the District Development Commissioner said that the Fair would go a long way in educating the people in general and unemployed educated youth of the dis-trict in particular about the various steps and centrally sponsored self-employment generation schemes.

He enjoined upon the district officers to hold awareness camps to edu-cate youth about the various schemes pertaining to their departments.

District Officers of district Pulwama were also present on the occasion.

Samoon interacts with Poonch farmers

POONCH, JUNE 15- Commissioner /Secretary Agriculture Production Depart-ment, Dr. Asgar Hassan Samoon today inspected various development activities undertaken by department of Agriculture, horticulture and Sericulture in this border district.The Commissioner, who arrived here today, was received by Director Agri-culture Jammu, Ajay Kumar Khajuria and R. K. Wangnoo, Chief Agriculture Officer Poonch at Chandimarh.

During the tour the Commissioner Secretary inspected the works on way from Chandimarh to Surankote.

The District Development Commis-sioner Poonch, Sajjad Ahmed Khan briefed Mr Samoon regarding the achievements made in agriculture sector, while he also had a detailed interaction with the progressive farmers of the area.

Daily ZABARWAN TIMES NEWS SRinagaR |SundaY 16 .6 .2013

SRINAGAR, JUNE 15:

MLA Habba Kadal and Chairperson, J&K State Women’s Commission, Mtr Shameema Firdous on Friday conducted an extensive tour of various areas of her Con-stituency including Basant Bagh, Gowkadal, Ganpatyar, Doombpora, and Babapora and took stock the present status of various under execu-tion on-going projects.

The MLA was accompa-nied by a number of officers of Estate Department, PHE, PDD, R&B and Srinagar Mu-nicipal Corporation.

On the occasion, the Chair-person while inspecting vari-ous works under execution, announced Rs.15 lakh from her Constituency Develop-ment Fund (CDF) for further repair and renovation work of the lanes, drains and sew-

erage and drainage system in the concerned area so that the people do not face any incon-venience in the coming rainy season.

Mtr Shameema Firdous during her visit also paid obeisance at the mausoleum of Naima Sahib and inspected the development works un-der execution.

The Chairperson directed

the executing agency to com-plete the construction work immediately before the start-ing of Urs Mubarak of the Shrine. She also asked the of-ficers particularly PHE, CA&PD and PDD officers to ensure all the facilities available to the devotees during the Urs Mubarak, especially supply of 24 hours portable drinking water and electricity.

Shameema conducts extensive tour of Habba Kadal

Awareness cum training camp held for Mushroom growers

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SUNDAY |16 JUNE 20138 ZABARWANTIMES

Top 6 fats that lower cholesterolOften given a bad name, fats can be a good addition to anyone's daily diet. In fact, one should never, complete-ly, cut good fats out from everyday meal plans as they are very essential for your body. While some bad fats may pose grave risk of cardiovas-cular diseases, others may shield your heart. An im-portant source of essential fatty acids and concentrated energy, fats are full of fat-soluble vitamins, they assist in cooking too and also keep hunger pangs at bay. Today, Delhi-based Diet Consultant Munisha Bhanot tells us about the top 6 fats that help in lowering cholesterol. Sip red wine, instead of cocktails. Red, blue, green cocktails look tempting, but these drinks are full of calories. So, if you are health conscious, then avoid cocktails. Instead, you can sip red wine because it is full of antioxi-dants, which are helpful in prevent-ing different types of cancers. And an even red wine has saponins, which help in lowering bad cholesterol LDL. But intake of red wine should be limited. The American Heart As-sociation recommends that you limit your daily intake to two glasses (for men) or one glass (for women). Best oils for low-cholesterol cook-ing. All the oils and fats have some good qualities for our health. So we should not stick to one type of oil or fat for cooking. We should follow rule of rotation of oils. For example, in one month you can use sunflower oil and in the next month you can use mustard oil. Or you can even use different types of oils in your meals like one vegetable in sesame oil and another in mustard oil. The low cholesterol cooking oils are olive, canola, sesame oils and mustard oil. Good quality oil is also found in avocados and avocado oil, nuts and their oils, corn, cottonseed,

and safflower oils; sunflower seeds and sunflower oil; flaxseed and flax-seed oil; soybeans and soybean oil; tub margarine and soft spreads; and seafood. Monounsaturated fats are the health-iest fats. There are two types of cho-lesterol - one type of cholesterol clogs our arteries, it is known as bad cho-lesterol or LDL and other type helps in removing these clogs, it is known as good cholesterol or HDL. Monounsaturated fats decrease your total blood cholesterol but maintain your HDL (good) cholesterol. Mono-unsaturated fats, therefore, help lower the risk of heart diseases. Olive oil has 75% of monounsaturated fat. Examples of monounsaturated fats are macadamia nuts (80% of fat is monounsaturated), avocados (71%), almonds (70%), canola oil (59%), and peanuts and peanut oil (46%). Other sources are almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, natural peanut butter, pecans, pistachios, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Polyunsaturated fats may also be somewhat healthy. A polyunsatu-rated fat has good cholesterol but it decreases your total blood choles-terol by lowering both the LDL (bad)

cholesterol and the HDL (good) cho-lesterol. Because of this reason we should use them in moderation. The good sources of polyunsaturated fats can be found in corn oil, may-onnaise, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flaxseed oil, hempseed, hemp-seed oil, soybean oil, and pistachios. Liquid plant oils should be your best bet for daily use. It is general ten-dency to use butter or ghee for cook-ing and baking. But butter and ghee are high sources of bad cholesterol or LDL. They increase risk of heart diseases by clogging your arteries. So, to pre-vent this we should use vegetable oils like soya oil, sesame oil, canola, ol-ive, mustard oil etc. for cooking and baking. These oils have high level of good cholesterol HDL and lower our LDL levels. Meat fats also help in lowering cho-lesterol. However, it is important that one reduces the fat content of meat. There are many quick ways to reduce the fat content of meat.First, always buy lean cuts of meat.Before cooking, remove and cut the all visible fats for example remove the skin from chicken because there

20 Best workout snacksIf workout snacks confuse you, look no further. This is the list you've been wait-ing for - here are 20 best workout snacks, complete with calorie counts.Apples: Apples are to ba-nanas what slow carbs are to quick carbs. To elabo-rate, they give you slow release energy and are therefore, great for long workouts or if your work-out is an hour or more away. One standard issue red apple gives you ap-proximately 60 calories.Energy gels: Carbohy-drate-based snacks de-signed mostly for endur-ance events, energy gels are often used by runners, cyclists and mountaineers. These come in single snack servings and since they are meant for athletes who cover long distances, are usually high on calories for the average person.Yogurt parfait: Perfect for light to moderate workouts recovery, yogurt parfaits are just a French way of saying yogurt mixed with chopped fresh fruits. One 60 gms bowl of skimmed yogurt with one whole fruit will cost you about 100 cal-ories. Honey or cinnamon can be great natural sweet-eners at just 10-30 more calories.Energy bars: If you have no time to keep the kitchen stocked with natural work-out foods, rely on energy bars. However, be weary of the fat, carb and sugar con-tent in these snacks. The lower and non-existent these three are, the better it is. Calories differ from brand to brand. For in-stance a standard granola milk bar will be approxi-

mately 120 calories.Eggs and toast: Great as pre or post workout snacks, one or two eggs on toast will give you the per-fect carb+protein fuel or recovery benefits. Two full eggs on one toast will give you about 220 calories.Vegetable omelet: Calorie-efficient, energy-packed, and full of protein - a veg-etable omelet might be just what your fitness routine is missing. Skip the egg yolks to make it even more performance-friendly. A simple omelet with a car-rot and onion in with 1-2 whites will give you ap-proximately 90 calories.Oats: A small bowl (50-80gms) of quick cooking oats with fresh fruits like bananas, apples or pears, makes for a good snack worth about 250 calories. This needs to be prepared with water.Dark chocolate: A great antioxidant, dark choco-late is considered good for recovery after an es-pecially grueling workout. Buy dark chocolate that has low to no saturated fats (esp. Tran's fats) and fewer artificial ingredients. A 100gms cube is a good enough quantity. Calorie count defers from brand to brand, so check the label before buying.Chocolate milk: Recent studies have hailed choc-olate milk for its post-workout recovery inducing properties. Drink a glass (about 250ml) of chocolate flavored milk for a 150 cal-orie-worth post-workout snack.Smoothies: Yogurt smoothies help replenish your body after a workout

and are great for comfort. Rely on healthy skimmed yogurt and skimmed milk, fresh fruit smoothies and you'll be richer by approxi-mately 150 calories.Protein shakes: If you get all your protein require-ment (from .8 to 2gms per kilo, depending on work-out intensity) from natural foods, without eating in excess of your body's daily needs, then you're golden. If not, you need a little supplementation.Remember that the trick to the right protein shake is research and expert con-sultation. Ask your doc-tor and fitness trainer for advice. One scoop will be anything between 30 to 90 calories, depending on contents. You could also look at raw eggs and dairy natural protein shakes, if so inclined.Egg whites: Eggs are quint-essential fitness foods. Eat them before or after a workout and you'll be a happy fitness enthusiast. A couple of egg whites before and a couple or more after (depending on workout intensity), will serve you 40-100 calories of extreme goodness.Avocado: Infamous as be-ing high fat fruits, avoca-dos deserve to be let off the hook. While it's true that one whole avocado will give you 250-300 calories (except California avo-cados, which are smaller varieties), if your work-out is heavy, these will be calories well spent. On the other hand, split it into two servings, and you've still got a great snack of about 120 calories.Almonds and walnuts: Full

of good fat richness and energy powerhouses, al-monds and walnuts (about 7-12 almonds and 2-4 walnuts) can be good en-ergy suppliers. Look to get about 200 calories from here.Dried dates stuffed with al-monds/walnuts: A nice lit-tle variation for those who eat dried dates often. Sim-ply pit the dried date, and stuff with whole almonds or walnuts, or slivers. Each almond or walnut stuffed date will give you about 30-50 calories.Dried dates: Similar to figs with respect to calo-rie counts (approximately 100-150 for about 4), dried dates are performance packed. Eat these if your workout calls for every bit of energy in your body and eat them just before the workout.Dried figs: A great source of iron and roughage, dried figs are old age's best kept secret. Don't wait to hit your 50s to discover this miracle food. 2-4 dried figs are worth about 100-150 calories.Apple slices topped with peanut butter: For those who're avoiding processed cereals, spread the peanut butter over a few apple slices. Extra crunch and flavour guaranteed. This will cost you no more than 120 calories (lesser if it's just 1-2 apple slices).A slice of bread with pea-nut butter: Peanut butter packs an extra punch with its creamy nut butter and omega goodness. Spread a spoonful on a slice of bread and you've got a great pre-workout snack of about 150 calories.

Have a salmon fish dinner. Snack on a handful of nuts. Pour a dash of olive oil in your salad. And bite into that sinister choco-late. Now you can do all this guilt-free! All these foods help in fight-ing bad cholesterol. According to the American Heart Association, 'You can reduce cholesterol in your blood by eating healthy foods'. So, here we are today with our list of top 10 cholesterol fighting foods. Oats: If you change your morn-ing meal to oats then you can do your cholesterol level a whole lot of good. Do note that two servings of oats can lower LDL cholesterol by 5.3% in only 6 weeks. Essential-ly, oats contain a substance called beta-glucan which absorbs bad cholesterol. Red Wine: Here's yet another rea-son to toast to your health. The red grapes used in the manufacturing of red wine have an important effect on cholesterol levels. Two glasses of red wine in a week can do you a whole lot of good. Salmon and fatty Fish: Full of Omega-3 fatty acids, salmon is a natural health wonder, which helps in keeping heart conditions

such as heart attacks, stroke and high cholesterol levels at bay. Fishes such as salmon, sardines and herring help in raising good cholesterol levels by 4%. Nuts: Mono-unsaturated fats (found in nuts, seeds etc.) have the lowest fatty acid molecules and are the best of the three fats, namely poly-saturated fats, satu-rated fats and mono-unsaturated fats. Nuts are the best way to get those required healthy fats into your body without feeling guilty. Since the fats that come from nuts are natural and are not chemically processed, this makes them heart healthy, filling, and nutritious options. Beans: Excellent for the heart, ½ a cup of beans added in our diet (in the form of any dish or soup), helps in lowering cholesterol lev-els by 8%. You should try black, kidney, or pinto beans; each one of them supplies about one-third of your day's fiber needs. Tea: Tea has antioxidants and less amounts of caffeine than cof-fee. An eight-ounce cup of coffee contains around 135 mg caffeine; tea contains only 30 to 40 mg per

cup. Tea helps in protecting your bones because of the presence of phytochemicals in them. It is also a great defense against LDL cho-lesterol levels. Chocolate: Chocoholics can cel-ebrate with a healthy dose of dark chocolate as it is full of antioxi-dants and cholesterol-reducing properties. According to a Span-ish study published in 2010 in the "Journal of Hepatology,", "the

antioxidants in dark chocolate re-duce the damage that can occur to blood vessels, which can further threaten the health of people with cirrhosis. The dark chocolate can help prevent the blood vessels in the liver from rupturing". Medical experts suggest that munching on 100 grams of chocolate every day helps in reducing the occurrence of cardiovascular mishaps by 21 percent.

A natural solution to backacheMany of us are afflicted with back pain, which we tend to ignore or pay very little attention to, during the course of a busy day.But you cannot overlook the fact that back pain can make it difficult for you to stand up, sit down or even walk around comfortably. So it's best you try some of the following natural remedies and get yourself some relief.Increase your intake of Vi-tamin D - A study looked at the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in 150 people with chronic musculoskel-etal pain and found that 93 per cent of patients had vitamin D deficiency! So all people with persistent, non-specific musculoskel-etal pain should get them-selves screened for vitamin D deficiency.Indulge in some music therapy - Low cost and enjoyable, music has been found to reduce the dis-ability, anxiety, and de-pression associated with

chronic back pain. It has an immediate effect on re-ducing pain, although the results are not statistically significant.Try some breathing tech-niques - To reduce pain, try some breathing tech-niques that make use of the mind-body connec-tion. These techniques inte-grate body awareness, breathing, movement, and meditation. The best thing about them is that they are safe,

free of cost and you can do them at home!Get a soothing massage - The first thing that comes to your mind when you think of a backache is to get a nice massage. Massages may be effective for sub acute and chronic pain. What's more, they reduce anxiety and de-pression associated with chronic pain. In fact, massage therapy is the most popular thera-py for low back pain dur-ing pregnancy.

Yoga during pregnancy helps relieve pain

Many doctors and health professionals are encour-aging pregnant women to do yoga, as it helps in-crease their strength and relieve pregnancy discom-forts. This form of exercise is favoured by some of Hol-lywood's newest moms like January Jones, Hilary Duff and Pink. "Yoga during pregnancy helps a woman increase her strength and flex-ibility, even as her body goes through the dramatic changes of pregnancy," Fox News quoted Mary Barnes, director and own-er at Yoga for Two in New York, as saying.The postures yoga offers

may also prepare women for childbirth and help relieve discomforts, such as back pain and swollen ankles. Apart from building strength and relieving pregnancy discomforts, it

also helps increase pain tolerance. As yoga focuses on length-ening the breath, this cre-ates endurance, calms the mind and can increase a woman's pain threshold during labour.

Like human beings, foods can also bring out the best in each other, nutritionally speaking. Read on to find out who should date whom for your good healthYou already know a lot about what foods are good for you. But there's more to healthy eating than just that. Sometimes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And this especially true for some food combinations, even if they sound weird when you first hear about them. Dietician Sheela Tanna tells you how to pair food to unlock the benefits of individual ingredients.Turmeric and salmonTurmeric has anti-inflammatory and heal-ing properties. Salmon is low on carbohydrates and high on pro-tein. When the two are combined, the properties of Omega 3 fatty ac-ids present in salmon get a boost and it guards the nervous system against the effects of ageing. It also

increases the level of HDL (good cholesterol) which improves heart health by keep the arteries clear of bad cholesterol.The combination is also believed to slow tumour growth by keeping the cancer cells from multiplying.Whole grains and onions Whole grains, such as maize, brown rice, barley and wheat contain iron and zinc in differ-ent quantities. The two miner-als are absorbed by the human body more easily in the presence of sulphur compounds present in onions - which is also what makes you cry when you slice them.Beans and greens Beans are rich in proteins and iron. When paired with veggies rich in Vitamin C such as spinach, sprouts and po-tatoes, it aids weight loss. "Your body uses three times more en-ergy to metabolise proteins than carbs and fats," says Tanna. "Vita-

min C rich foods do not aid weight-loss directly. But they have water soluble nutrients which make them very low calorie foods. The combination of beans and veg-gies won't let you gain those ex-tra kilos."Also the iron content of beans gets better absorbed in the presence of Vitamin C from vegetables.Tomato and olive oil Tomatoes contain Vitamin C and the antioxidant lycopene in sub-stantial quantities. This antioxi-dant lowers the risk of cataracts, osteoporosis, cancer and the ef-fects of ageing. Olive oil, also rich in antioxidants, promotes the for-mation of HDL (good cholesterol) in the body. Lycopene gets better absorbed in the presence of olive oil and is highly beneficial for the heart. It purifies the blood and dis-solves gallstones. The combo also boosts liver function of protein synthesis and detoxification of the

body. It's believed to reduce ef-fects of hypertension.Broccoli and mustard Broccoli is a good source of Vitamin C, antioxidants and a compound called sulforaphane. This compound exhibits anti-can-cer and anti-diabetic properties. The absorption of sulforaphane is better in the presence of my-rosinase, an enzyme present in mustard. The two combat bacterial infec-tions in the urinary tract, excre-tory system, digestive system and the colon. Iron is part of blood cells in the body and carries oxy-gen from the lungs to muscles and organs. Zinc helps in healing wounds. Antioxidants and Vita-min C present in onions also fa-cilitate the iron absorption from whole grains.Whole grains are also rich in Vitamin E which when combined with Vitamin C become beneficial for the skin.

NATION DAILY ZABARWAN TIMES

7 SRINAGARSunday, June 16, 2013

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NCP gears up for 2014 general elections

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a key ally of the United Pro-gressive Alliance at the Centre, has started preparing for the Lok Sabha elections due next year. The party, which had dropped six ministers on Tuesday, on Saturday appointed for-mer minister Bhaskar Jadhav chief of its Maharashtra unit. It also ap-pointed firebrand legislator Jitendra Avad as working president, a new post.

NCP has set an ambitious target of increasing its tally of Lok Sabha seats from eight to 15. It also aims to increase its count of assembly seats from 62 to 100. NCP is expected to contest 22 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats and 117 of the 288 assembly seats.

The party has come up with a time-bound plan to bring repre-sentatives of Dalits and backward classes, minorities, women and youth, under its fold, ahead of the Lok Sabha and assembly elections.

The appointments of Jadhav and Avad are part of the party’s plan to promote young leaders, especially as state units of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena and the Maha-

rashtra Navnirman Sena are headed by youth leaders.

Earlier, Jadhav had drawn criti-cism for hosting a lavish wedding in February, a time when many parts of the state were under severe drought. Avad is known to be track-ing the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.NCP has formed a 12-mem-ber core group comprising former ministers, former state party chiefs and senior women leaders. Each

member of the core group would be assigned some Lok Sabha and assembly seats and he/she would be responsible for these constituencies.

At on Saturday’s meeting, party chief and Union Agriculture Minis-ter Sharad Pawar ridiculed the BJP for making tall claims. The BJP, he said, had been exposed after its leader L K Advani projected a sorry state of affairs in the party. Against this backdrop, Pawar said the re-

sponsibility of progressive parties, including the NCP, had increased.

Pawar’s close confidant and Union Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel cautioned the NCP’s standing in state and national poli-tics wouldn’t improve unless it won more seats. He underlined the need for collective efforts and recalled the party had taken a beating due to overconfidence and the misjudge-ment of certain leaders in the past.

NCP’s moves come in the wake of a possible split between the BJP and the JD(U), as well as efforts by various regional parties to form a federal front.Recent pre-poll surveys have predicted a poor performance by the NCP in the Lok Sabha elections. The surveys showed NCP’s tally of Lok Sabha seats might fall from eight to four. The expected fall was attributed to the alleged involvement of NCP ministers in various scams, rising differences between Sharad Pawar and his nephew and state deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and the widening gap between leaders and the party’s rank and file.

Kanimozhi’s assets register a three-fold increase

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Kanimozhi’s assets have registered over a three-fold in-crease in the last six years to Rs 26.67 crore from Rs 8.56 crore.

Kanimozhi, daughter of DMK supremo M Karunanidhi, in her af-fidavit, filed with her nomination for the Rajya Sabha seat on Saturday, declared she owned movable and im-movables of Rs 26.67 crore.

Her total declared assets include Rs 16.67 crore moveable property and Rs 10 crore of immoveable prop-erty.

The sitting Rajya Sabha MP, seek-ing a successive term after DMK re-

nominated her, had declared assets of Rs 8.56 crore six years ago.

Kanimozhi’s jewellery stock has risen to 700 grams against 360 grams, virtually doubling the yellow metal asset.

However, she has not added dia-mond jewellery, which remained at 10 karat, as declared in 2007. Kani-mozhi, who had no liabilities five years ago, has Rs 69.60 lakh now. Her affidavit said she faced a crimi-nal case before the special court in Delhi, apparently referring to the 2G spectrum case, filed against her. Kan-imozhi said she owned shares valued at Rs 2 crore with Kalaignar TV Pri-vate Limited.

Mixed response to TRS bandh against Telangana ‘clampdown’

Hyderabad: The Telangana bandh spearheaded by the Telan-gana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) against the “repressive” action of the Con-gress government to put down the march-to-assembly rally evoked a lukewarm response in the Andhra Pradesh capital and other districts of the region today.

“As many as 551 persons have been arrested under Section 151 CrPC in 32 cases. And there was no untoward incident reported,” said a spokesperson of the Cyber-abad Police.

Additional commissioner of police (law and order), Anjani Ku-mar said there was no impact of the bandh in the city as a whole and in Cyberabad area.

The K. Chandrasekhar Rao-led outfit gave the call for the shut-down accusing the N. Kiran Kumar Reddy government of deploying a huge police force to crush the “Chalo Assembly” march orga-nized on Friday.

Although the road transport corporation (RTC)-operated, bus services were partially affected in the morning as protesters staged sit-ins in front of depots in Telanga-na districts, including Hyderabad, but functioned normally during the later half of the day.

An RTC spokesperson said bus services were operated as per the advice of police officials.

Most educational institu-tions in the city remained closed. Commercial establishments, malls and cinema theatres remained partially shut till afternoon and resumed their business in the later half of the day.

The Communist Party of In-dia (CPI), a strong supporter of a separate Telangana, however, did not support the bandh, calling it a unilateral call by the TRS.

The Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC), comprising TRS, the Bharatiya Janata Party and pro-Telangana organizations,

claimed the shutdown was being observed in the entire region.

It was virtually business-as-usual for the IT industry in the state capital as transportation was nor-mal, an IT employee said.

The MMTS (local) train ser-vices in Hyderabad, operated by the South Central Railway (SCR), resumed on Saturday, a day after they were cancelled in the wake of the “Chalo Assembly” stir.

An SCR spokesperson said there has been no cancellation or rescheduling of train services. There is no impact on production of coal in the state as all mines re-mained functional, said a spokes-person of the Singareni Collieries.

Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit misleading people on land issue, says Vijay Goel

New Delhi: Delhi BJP on Friday accused Chief Min-ister Sheila Dikshit of misleading the rural people on the issue of extension of Lal Dora areas and repealing of Sec-tion 81 of the Delhi Land Reforms Act. Congress had in its election manifestos of 2003 and 2008 had made these announcements, but till date nothing has been done, Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel told reporters.

Various quarters have been demanding amendment to the Delhi Land Reforms Act that was implemented in 1954. Section 81 of the Act pertains to land usage. “For last 14 years, the Congress government has been repeat-ing these announcements and this time also the CM plans to do the same. Since the elections are just a few months ahead, she is once again making such misleading an-nouncements. It seems she has become a Chief Minister, who just makes announcements and does nothing for the people,” Goel said.

The government has not even provided basic facilities to villages and now even if they would begin the work then

it would result in disaster like Commonwealth Games, he said. The Delhi BJP chief also accused Dikshit of not ful-filling her promises like increasing compensation of those people whose land was acquired by government agencies and providing government jobs to the affected families. “The intention of Congress’ government is visible in case of regularisation of unauthorised colonies, revocation of building by-laws from rural areas which had prevented the villagers to construct their houses, as it prohibits such constructions,” he said.

said the government has not even provided basic fa-cilities to villages and now even if they would begin the work then it would result in disaster like CWG.

BJP will hold ‘Pardafash rally’ in Palam village to highlight the government’s failure, he said. Goel said BJP has first raised the issues of villag es and would bring the real picture among the people of these villages. He also said BJP-led municipal corporations have abolished pay-ment of house tax for villages.

Decision on alliance with BJP will be announced on Sunday: JD(U)Patna: Janata Dal (United)

chief Sharad Yadav met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar soon after landing in Patna on Saturday evening. Yadav, who is also the NDA convenor, said that the “final decision” on the JD(U)’s 18-year-long as-sociation with the BJP would be declared on Sunday.The al-liance between the two parties is on the verge of a breakdown over the appointment of Gu-jarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the BJP’s campaign chief for 2014. While Yadav has till now maintained that the alliance is intact, Nitish has held his own on the issue, with sources claiming that he is firm

on separating from the BJP.The Bihar BJP leaders held a meet-ing at the residence of Deputy CM Sushil Modi’s residence on Saturday shortly after refusing to meet Nitish. The state party chief, Mangal Pandey reiter-ated that the BJP wanted the al-liance to continue, but warned that it can’t be dictated to. “We

would never be the first ones to break the alliance. It is up to the JD(U) to clarify if the alli-ance is intact or not,” he said, adding, “Alliances don’t work on dictation or force”. He was referring to the hardline stance adopted by the JD(U) on Na-rendra Modi.JD(U), which shares power with the BJP in Bihar, is the second-largest constituent of the saffron-party led NDA. If the alliance breaks, Nitish will fall four seats short of majority in the Bihar As-sembly. However, efforts have begun in earnest to find allies. An independent MLA claimed that the JD(U) had approached him for support.

Hunt is on in Gujarat for a distant cousin who shares Prince William’s Indian blood

The hunt was on today in India for possible cousins and relatives of Britain’s Prince William after it emerged he has a sliver of In-dian ancestry.

Attention was focused on the city of Surat in the state of Gu-jarat after it was was revealed that Eliza Kewark, Prince Wil-liam’s great, great, great, great, great grandm other, was of Indian origin. In 1812, Ms Kewark gave birth to Prince Williams’s great, great, great, great grandmother, Katharine Scott Forbes.

“It’s a great thing to unite people across the distances,” said Dr Jim Wilson, a geneticist at the University of Edinburgh and chief scientist at BritainsD-NA, speaking from Scotland. “It shows commonality.”

The Scottish-based company carried out tests on DNA supplied by two of Eliza’s living direct descendants, who are both third cousins of Princess Diana’s moth-er, Frances Shand Kydd. The tests revealed that Prince William car-ries Eliza’s mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Mitochondrial DNA

is a small piece of DNA inherited mostly unchanged from a mother to her children.

Tests showed that Ms Kewark had an extremely rare form of mtDNA, that has only been found in 14 other people, 13 in India and one in Nepal. Those involved in the project believe all the evi-dence they have gathered shows that her genetic heritage through her motherline was Indian. And as writer Patrick French, author of an exhaustive book on India, pointed out, it means the second-in-line to the throne is 1/256th Indian.

The company’s research re-vealed that Eliza Kewark was the housekeeper of Prince William’s fifth great-grandfather, Theodore Forbes, a Scottish merchant who was born in 1788 and worked for the East India Company in Surat. The city is today responsible for cutting and polishing 90 cent of the world’s diamonds.

The company said it was be-lieved Ms Kewark was Armenian, because her name was similar to the Armenian name Kevork and

because letters to her from Theo-dore have been found which con-tain Armenian script. She also signed her name in Armenian script.

That suggested more than a degree of Armenian cultural heritage and the raised the strong possibility that her father may have been of Armenian descent. But the company said it was sure her genetic heritage through her motherline is Indian.

Alistair Moffat of Britains-DNA researched some of the his-torical background to the study and found that Theodore Forbes was the third son of a landowning family. When it became clear he not going to inherit land, he made contact with the East India Com-pany and travelled to India.

“That’s where he met Eliza and he employed her as his house-keeper. It wasn’t uncommon for young British men to have rela-tionships with Indian women,” he told the Press Association.

Dr Wilson raised the prospect that Prince William may have relatives in India.

Local MP Lalji Tandon ac-cused the UPA of being the most “corrupt” government.

BJP national president Ra-jnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh’s party in-charge Amit Shah would lead BJP’s three-day jail bharo campaign in Lucknow, scheduled to begin on June 26, against the “deteriorating” law and order situation in the state.

Around 15,000 BJP work-

ers led by Singh and Shah would court arrest on June 26, BJP state president Laxmi Kant Bajpai said here.He alleged UP was facing riots due to the ap-peasement policy of the SP gov-ernment.Local MP Lalji Tandon accused the UPA of being the most “corrupt” government.

He alleged law and order situation has collapsed in UP in the SP regime.

Ajay Maken resigns as Union Minister

New Delhi: Ajay Maken has resigned as a Union minister ahead of a Cabinet reshuffle that is ex-pected next week.

Mr Maken sub-mitted his resignation as Union Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and has expressed his desire to work for the party, sources told PTI.

The 49-year-old leader was ear-lier Minister of State for Home Af-fairs and was later given independent charge of Sports and Youth Affairs.

Mr Maken was elevated to the Cabinet rank in October last year.

Congress sources said that he could either be made Delhi Congress chief or a party General Secretary.

A senior Congress leader said he could even be made the Chief Min-ister of Delhi ahead of the assembly elections later this year.

Mr Maken’s possible elevation as Delhi Congress chief could lead

to his indirect projection as the next Chief Minister of Delhi.

Incumbent Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has been at the helm of affairs for the past 15 years, setting a record of sorts in independent India where a woman has served has headed the state for three consecutive terms.

Current Delhi Congress chief JP Aggarwal is not on the best of terms with Ms Dikshit.

Mr Maken was a protege of Ms Dikshit at one point but the duo later fell apart.

Sometime back, there was talk of Ms Dikshit being made a minister at the Centre.

Rajnath Singh to lead BJP’s jail bharo campaign

in Lucknow

Monsoon rains ahead of schedule: MeT office

New Delhi: India’s monsoon rains are a week ahead of sched-ule, powering across two-thirds of the country by June 14 and heavier than normal, but the weather office is sticking to its forecast for average rains during the entire four-month period.Heavier than normal rains can trigger flooding but at this stage in the June to September season, they spur planting of crops. India’s biggest concern is drought during a monsoon, with rains crucial for the 55 percent of farmland without ir-rigation.The monsoon should cover the whole of India before the usual mid-July timing and their distribution over major crop-growing regions should be fairly even, BP Yadav, a director at the India Meteorological Department (IMD), said on Friday.

Rainfall is expected to be at 101 percent of the long-term average in July and 96 percent in August, two key months for the planting and ma-turing of crops.The strong start t the June to September monsoon boosts prospects of robust farm output. That could help the economy and hold down inflation, a critical concern for the coalition government as it read-ies for a round of state polls this year and a national election by May 2014.India is one of the world’s biggest producers and consumers of rice, sugar and other food agricultural commodities. A strong monsoon will underpin government confidence harvests will be ample to cover the extra grains needed for its plans for a $24 billion welfare scheme to give cheap food to more of its poor.

Appoints new Maharashtra unit chief and working president; aims to win 15 Lok Sabha seats, 100 assembly seats