DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2016 (PAGE 5)

Northeast culture has enriched India's diversity: Dr JitendraExcelsior Correspondent

NEW DELHI, Jan 25: UnionMinister of State (IndependentCharge) for Development ofNorth Eastern Region (DoNER),MoS PMO, Personnel, PublicGrievances, Pensions, AtomicEnergy and Space, Dr JitendraSingh said here today thatNortheast culture has enrichedIndia's diversity and that, if Indiais known for unity in diversity,Northeast is a distinct example ofdiversity in diversity. During theRepublic Day Parade, while dif-ferent States and regions show-case their culture and heritage,ironically the invaluable culturalexclusiveness and variety fromNortheast remains underrated orunnoticed, he regretted.

He was speaking at a culturalprogramme depicting various tra-ditional dance and ballet presen-tations from different States ofNortheast like Nagaland andManipur. The programme waspresented by a group of Northeastartists on the eve of Republic Dayand was also attended by notedthinker and ideologue IndreshKumar.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, whilemuch is talked about bringing

Northeast closer to the rest ofIndia, very little is known in therest of India that there is muchmore to learn from Northeast. Forexample, he said, while Northeastis distinct because of its firm cul-tural roots, at the same time, it isalso far ahead of several otherparts of the country in the fieldsof literacy and economy. Citinginstances, he noted that Mizoramhad a literacy rate as high as 92%which was next only to the Stateof Kerala and Manipur had agrowth rate as high as over 22%which was very remarkable in thecontext of the overall growth rateof the country, he added.

Instead of remaining apolo-getic or withdrawn, Dr JitendraSingh said, this is an opportunityfor the people of Northeast, par-ticularly the youth, to come for-ward and to show the way notonly to their peers in the region,but also to young Indians acrossthe country.

Referring to PrimeMinister's Narendra Modi'srecently launched "StartupIndia" plan, he said, the youth inNortheast can startup in the fieldof organic farming and can thusshow the way not only in theregion, but also to the rest of thecountry.

Election Deptt committed to increase citizens’ participation:CEO

Electoral process has evolvedsubstantially: Jain

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 25: The 6thNational Voters Day with thetheme 'Inclusive and QualitativeElectoral Participation' was cel-ebrated with enthusiasm in over4000 functions organised acrossthe State.

The State level function wasorganised by the Chief ElectoralOffice, J&K at the PoliceAuditorium Jammu in whichlarge number of people includ-ing newly registered voters andstudents participated.

Chairman, J&K SpecialTribunal, Pramod K Jain was thechief guest and PrincipalSecretary, Forest, Ecology &Environment; R K Gupta wasthe guest of honour on the occa-sion.

Chief Electoral Officer,J&K, Shantmanu, DeputyCommissioner Jammu,Simrandeep Singh, DeputyCommissioner, Udhampur, DrShahid Iqbal, VC, JDA,Mubarak Singh, senior officersfrom civil administration, Policeand State Election Departmentbesides senior citizens and largenumber of young boys and girlswere also present.

Speaking on the occasion,Promod K Jain said that over theyears the electoral process in thecountry has evolved substantial-ly and new initiatives have ledto massive increase in the partic-ipation of citizens in electionsand every segment of society isbeing touched. He compliment-ed the State ElectionDepartment for having achievedgreater enrolment of new votersand bringing the enthusiasticyoung generation into the ambitof election process.

R K Gupta said that witheach new election, the votingpercentage is increasing andefforts of the ElectionCommission of India and StateElection Department in thisregard are highly appreciable.He credited greater awarenessamong the citizens and weedingout of duplications and deletionsin electoral rolls as prime factorsin increased voting percentages.

Chief Electoral Officer,J&K, Shantmanu said that fol-lowing the recently concludedsummary revision of electoralrolls, as many as 1.73 lakh newvoters have been added to thevoter list in the State. Out ofthis, he said, 60% being women,has helped the electoral Sex

Ratio to improve from 902 to908 in Jammu and Kashmir. Hesaid, "we have also deleted near-ly 1.15 lakh names from thevoter list and done over 81000modifications. He appreciatedthe efforts of his team at theElection Department includingDEOs, ROs, AROs, BLOs and

others involved in the process.He said the State Election

Department is committed in itsendeavour to see furtherincrease in the participation ofcitizens in the election process.He said lot of work needs to bedone to achieve the bench markof 90% voting percentage asenvisioned by former Presidentof India, Dr A P J Kalam for fur-ther strengthening the democrat-ic system in the country.

Elector Photo Identity Cards(EPIC) were distributed among

boys and girls who had attainedthe age of 18 years, thus becom-ing eligible for their right to voteand participate in the democrat-ic process.

Girl students from WomenCollege Gandhi Nagar/Paradeand Science College, Jammupresented very insightful skits

highlighting the impor-tance of casting votetowards ensuring that bestleaders are put in positionof power and responsibil-ity.

Mementos and certifi-cates were also distrib-uted to appreciate thecontribution of officers,organizations, institutionsand students in the elec-tion process and in bring-ing about greater aware-ness regarding participa-tion and right to vote.

Among the awardeeswas Balvinder Singh, HeadJ&K Election Watch as

member of ADR and NationalElection Watch. He was givenState Award for generating aware-ness among the people throughvarious workshops and by support-ing “Wake Up Jammu” campaign.

Earlier, welcome addresswas presented by Deputy ChiefElectoral Officer, J&K RamanK Kesar and keynote addresswas presented by Deputy ChiefElectoral Officer, J&K, RishpalSingh. Deputy Commissioner,Jammu Simrandeep Singh pre-sented the vote of thanks.

Chairman J&K Special Tribunal Pramod Jain, CEO J&KShantmanu and Principal Secretary Forest R K Gupta presenting amemento to a BLO on Monday.

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh with a group of culturalartists from Northeast who presented a variety programme on theeve of Republic Day, at New Delhi on Monday. Also seen in pic-ture is noted ideologue and thinker Indresh Kumar.

BR Sharma re-elected IIPA chairman

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 25: BRSharma (IAS) was re- elected aschairman while Dr Ashok Bhan(IPS) declared as patron of theJ&K Branch for the period 2016-18 during the 37th AnnualGeneral Meeting (AGM) of theJammu and Kashmir RegionalBranch of IIPA held here onSunday.

BR Sharma, in his addresssaid that the branch can take alead role in undertaking collabo-rative work with the StateGovernment which can help inachieving the objectives of thebranch. Dr Ashok Bhan empha-sized on grooming the young tal-ent which can bring in new ideaswhich are relevant according tothe current times.

The annual report was pre-sented by Dr Anil Gupta, jointsecretary and the report on theannual accounts was presented bySK Gupta, hony treasurer whichwere followed by discussion. Themembers complimented the out-going Executive Committee forrecord number of quality pro-grams conducted during 2015.

The other office bearers elect-

ed for the period 2016 – 18 wereDr CM Seth, Vice Chairman(Jammu), AM Watali, IPS (Retd.)Vice Chairman (Kashmir), DrGN Qasba Vice Chairman(Central), JBS Johar as HonySecretary, Dr Anil Gupta jointsecretary (Jammu) and GMAndrabi joint secretary(Kashmir), Vikrant Kuthiala asHony treasurer, Prof Alka Sharmaas Director seminars and Prof SMAfzal Qadri, Joint Director semi-nars (Kashmir) and Dr KomalNagar as Joint Director Seminars(Jammu).

V N Sharma was the presid-ing officer during the conduct ofthe elections. Dr. Komal Nagarconducted the proceedings andDr C M Seth presented the formalvote of thanks.

The 15 member ExecutiveCommittee will include TPSingh, Chander Gulati, ErVikram Gour, BK Suri, VNSharma, Prof Rekha Choudhary,Prof Mehraj-u-din, Prof NeeluRohmetra, KB Jandial, IAS(Retd.), SK Gupta, FarooqAhmad, IPS (Retd.), SameerRekhi, KPS, Randheer Singh,KPS, Ashok Sharma, KPS andNarinder Khajuria, KAS.

Chairman IIPA J&K branch B R Sharma and patron Dr AshokBhan besides others during AGM of Regional branch in Jammu.

Son of soil to lead Indian Navy contingent during R-Day ParadeExcelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 25: A son of thesoil has been selected to leadIndian Navy contingent at Rajpathduring Republic Day Parade onJanuary 26.

Squadron Commander AnilRaina, son of Chander ParkashRaina of Miran Sahib, will be thefirst officer from Jammu to lead aNaval contingent during aRepublic Day Parade. He will alsobe the first officer from MarineCommandos to lead a NavalContingent.

He is presently posted atIndian Naval Academy Ezhimala,Kerala as Squadron Commander.

Born in a lower middle classfamily, with father as a shopkeep-er and mother a housewife, Aniljoined Navy as Recruit aftermatriculation to support the fam-ily even as he was school topper inclass 10th in 1999.

While working in Navy, hecompleted Plus 2 inCorrespondence and by his hardwork, got selected in CommissionExam in Navy in 2001. He joinedNavy Academy Goa in 2002 withPlus Two NDA/Naval AcademyEntry Cadets.

During the three-year trainingat Naval Academy, Anil achievedvarious special awards and feats.He became second Cadet in histo-ry of Naval Academy to win BestTenderfooter and Best TyphoonerAwards in the rigorous JungleTraining camps (Camp Tenderfoothappens in first year and Camptyphoon happens in second year;

Only one cadet is selected as bestcadet of whole camp).

He was also awarded +2 (PlusTwo) grading in Parade Training,a highest grading that a cadet canachieve in his whole training ofthree years. Only one or twocadets in a course get this. Hewon Award of Best Master of cer-emony for five times during InterSquadron Dramatics Competitionand remained as Chief Editor ofNaval Academy's prestigiousMagazine 'AHOY' for threeterms. He Passed out with theChief of Naval Staff Trophy forBest Cadet in Seamanship in2005.

Anil represented hisSquadron in Inter SquadronWater Polo, Football, Hockey,Volleyball and X-CountryRunning. He passed out with theDegree of B Sc in Naval Sciencesfrom Goa University.

He led Indian Navy contingentduring SAIL Parade at

Bremerhaven Germany in 2005,as a Sea Cadet from INS Tarangini(the SAIL training ship of Navy),along with other countries ofworld and the contingent wasawarded the Smartest CrewTrophy.

He commanded the PasssingOut Parade of Sea Cadets OnBoard Naval Ship INS TIR inDecember 2005 and passed out asa Midshipman.

Anil Raina got commissionedin July 2006, after completion oftotal four years of training. He vol-unteered to join combat divingcourse of ten months at NavyDiving School Kochi, Kerala. Hewas got selected for course andpassed out with the trophy of BestDiver of the course in November2007. He became first CombatDiving Officer in Navy from J&K.

Thereafter, he volunteered tojoin Navy special forces, MarineCommandos (MARCOS) andgot selected for the course in2008. Passed out in January 2009with award of Best Commandoin physicals and became firstofficer in Marine Commandosfrom J&K. He was awarded Onthe Spot Commendation byCommander-in-Chief EasternNaval Command for counter ter-rorist operations in Kashmir in2013. In 2015, he was awardedOn the Spot Commendation byCommander-in-Chief SouthernNaval Command for professionalexcellence.

Squadron Commander Anil Raina being decorated byCommander-in-Chief.