6
Baramulla, July 22: Police today claimed to have busted a gang of bur- glars in north Kashmir's Baramulla district by ar- resting its nine members and recovering stolen goods worth lakhs of rupees. The gang was unearthed after police in Sopore town of the district arrested two persons for allegedly steal- ing goods worth lakhs of ru- pees from a cloth merchant at Chankhan, police said. During the investigation of the case, police received a tip off regarding one of the accused Irshad Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Izatshah See Gang on Pg. 11 Srinagar, July 22: Police have registered a case against son of hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani for rumour mon- gering on social media. The Jammu and Kashmir police registered a case against rumour-mongers , who spread false informa- tion on social networking websites about casualties in recent protests in the Val- ley. Among those booked is Syed Naseem, Geelani's son who is a lecturer in ag- ricultural university in Sri- nagar. "Police have registered a case against all those in- volved in trying to vitiate the atmosphere by spread- ing rumours about deaths," Kashmir inspector general of police Abdul Gani Mir said. He said that among those who posted rumours about a young boy being killed in Sumbal was one Facebook user 'Syed Naseem'. Police had warned against misuse of social media on late Sunday evening. In a statement police said, ``certain people are trying hard to vitiate the atmo- sphere by spreading ru- mours. Rumours of a young boy being killed in Sumbal, were floated by certain fake identity holders on Face- book. Reportedly one per- son with Facebook identity as Syed Naseem had also updated about death of a youth in Safa Pora which was not true. He later re- moved this post. All these Facebook miscreants are being identified and action would be taken against them.'' The statement also said that a case has been registered against the users in Kot- hibagh police station in city centre Lal chowk. IGP Kashmiri Mir has ap- pealed to all the people not to heed to the rumours. See Booked on Pg. 11 Srinagar, July 22: Opposition Peoples Demo- cratic Party (PDP) in Jam- mu and Kashmir today said incidents like "Gool carnage" present a moral challenge to the Centre. "The Gool carnage and such incidents present a moral challenge to the Centre," PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said in a statement after visiting families of four persons killed in BSF firing in Ramban district last week. She alleged government forces were treating people of Jammu and Kashmir as enemies and training their guns on them. "It is unimaginable that security force deployed primarily for the safety of people could act so atro- ciously and gun down in- nocent and unarmed civil- ians as was done in Gool. It seems people of the state have been deprived of all fundamental rights in- cluding right to life, right to expression and even the right to protest," she said. Terming the present state government as a "costly li- ability", the PDP president said it could not run away from its responsibility to ensure people's safety. "Just issuing statements of condemnation and not be- ing able to act against the perpetrators, has resulted in complete collapse of law and order in the state," Me- hbooba said. Demanding an inquiry into acts that led to Gool firing, she said PDP was concerned at the targeting of youths in other areas of Chenab Valley who are being booked by police for holding protests against killings. Srinagar, July 22: Sub-committee of State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) for export promotion or- ganized by J&K Bank met here Monday at the Bank’s Corporate Headquar- ters. Execu- tive President of the Bank, O. P. Sharma chaired the meeting. A wide range of issues including setting up of Inland Container De- pot (ICD) at Srinagar, Brand certification of Kashmir made prod- ucts, setting up of Pashmina testing labo- ratory at Srinagar and providing of liberal finance to the artisans & weavers at concessional rate of inter- est were dis- cussed in the meeting. The meeting, which was fifth in series, was attended among others by Nayeemul- lah, President A&AP, J&K Bank, Ravinder See Bank on Pg. 11 J&K Bank Organizes SLBC Meeting For Export Promotion Srinagar, July 22: Life in Kashmir returned to nor- malcy Monday after three days of curfew and strikes over the firing incident in Ramban district that left four persons dead. Shops, business establishments and institutions of higher learn- ing opened after a gap of three days. Public transport also started plying on all routes of the valley this morning, official sources said. Authorities imposed curfew in all major towns of Kashmir on Friday a day after four persons were killed in BSF firing at Gool in Ramban district on Jammu-Sri- nagar National Highway. While the curfew was lifted yester- day, normal activities remained suspended due to strike called by hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Nearly 200 persons including doz- ens of security force personnel were injured in clashes between protesters and law enforcing agen- cies over the past three days. The authorities have maintained a strong presence of police and paramilitary forces at vulnerable See Normalcy on Pg. 11 Zabarwan Desk Shopian, July 22: Shabir Ahmed Dar has come home. His children play un- der the walnut trees where he once played. His father, white-bearded and thin now, watches them. The village of Degoom, the cluster of traditional brick-and-wood houses in Kashmir where Dar grew up, is still reached by a dirt road and hay is still hung from the branches of the soaring chinar trees to dry. But Dar has changed, even if Degoom has not. It is 22 years since he left the village to steal over the line of con- trol. Along with a dozen or so other teenagers, he hoped to take part in the insurgency which pitted groups of young Kashmiris against Indian security forces. "I went because everyone else was go- ing. The situation was bad here. I had my beliefs, my dream for my home- land. I was very young," he said, sit- ting in the room where he had slept as a child. The conflict had only just begun when he left. Over the next two de- cades, an estimated 50,000 soldiers, policemen, militants and, above all, ordinary people were to die. Dar's aim had been to "create a true Islamic society" in Kashmir. This could only be achieved by accession to Pakistan or independence, he believed. But once across the LoC, even though he spent only a few months with the militant group he had set out to join and never took part in any fighting, he was unable to return. "I was stuck there. I made a new life. I married and found work. I didn't think I would ever come back here," Dar said. But now the 36-year-old has finally come home, with his Pakistani-born wife and three children. He is one of 400 former militants who have taken advantage of a new "rehabilitation" policy launched by the chief minister Omar Abdullah. Dar's father heard of the scheme and convinced his son to return last year. "I am an old man. I wanted to see my son and grandchildren before I die. I wanted him to have his share of our land," said Dar senior, who is 70. The scheme is an indication of the changes in this beautiful, battered land. In recent years, economic growth in India has begun to benefit Kashmir. At the same time, despite a series of spectacular attacks on se- curity forces by militants in recent months, violence has fallen to its low- est levels since the insurgency broke out in the late 1980s. The two phenom- ena are connected, many observers say. It is this relative calm that has al- lowed Dar and the others to return – and allows even some hardened vet- erans who have renounced violence to live unmolested. "A few years ago the agencies would have shot this down because they would have seen it as another move to infiltrate [mili- tants from Pakistan]," Abdullah, the chief minister, said. The scheme is not, however, an am- nesty. "If there are cases against them they will still be arrested [and] prosecuted … Largely this scheme has been taken up by those who have not carried out any acts of terrorism. Either they never came [across the LoC], or if they came we never knew about it," Abdullah said. So far there have been only two cases – one unproved – of people becoming active again in the insurgency on re- turning to the Indian side. Police offi- cials confirm that the "returnees" live quietly. One reason for this is that most of them, like Dar, left during the first wave of early enthusiasm for "the cause" which swept Kashmir amid repression in the late 1980s, but were swiftly disillusioned. Ehsan ul- See Rehab Policy on Pg. 11 C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K TUESDAY July 23 | 2013 | 13 Ramzan 1434 AH | PAGES 12 | VOL NO: 3 | ISSUE NO: 178 | RS: 2/- (AIR SURCHARGE FOR JAMMU /DELHI/LEH 50 PAISA) Pen For Justice Largely Circulated, No. 1 Bilingual Daily of J&K Normalcy returns to Kashmir New Delhi, July 22: A Division Bench of Apex Court comprising Justice R.M. Lodha and Justice Fakkir Moham- mad Ibrahim Kalifulla Monday granted four weeks time to the State of Jammu and Kashmir to file counter to the pe- tition of 12-years old Fai- zan, a minor who was illegally arrested by Sa- fakadal, Srinagar Police last year in August. The petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Professor Bhim Singh through State Legal Aid Committee claims that Faizan was kept in police lock-up without food and water for 40 hours and was even not produced before any Magistrate. The Supreme Court is- sued show cause notice on 11th March, 2013 to the Union of India, Chief Secretary, Director Gen- eral of Police of Jammu and Kashmir, SHO, Sa- fakadal and others. The court had directed the respondents to file reply by April 15, 2013, accord- ing to the office report. The service to all the re- spondents was complete according to the office report itself. Prof. Bhim Singh, ap- pearing in the case sub- mitted before the court that the state has not cared to file reply and there was a delay of seven weeks. Prof. Bhim Singh also urged the court to award reason- able compensation to the minor whose education has suffered and caused agony and torture to the minor as well as to his parents. On the request of the counsel of J&K state, court granted four weeks to file reply. See Faizan Case on Pg. 11 Minor Faizan Case: J&K granted 4 weeks to file reply Jammu, July 22: Special Judge Anti-Corrup- tion Jammu Puneet Gupta Monday directed State Vigilance Organization to complete the investigation into the much publicized complaint filed against Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, his personal staff and senior IAS and KAS officers regarding ‘Double Drawal of Petrol Oil Lubri- cants (POL)’ within a period of four months beginning today. The Court further direct- ed in case the needful is not done within the four months time and further time is sought, the Vigi- lance will be required to sat- isfy the court for not com- pleting the inquiry within the given time before any further extension is granted for the completion of the in- quiry. The Judge further ob- served: “the court further expects that the concerned agency will complete the investigation within the time granted and the court will not be burdened with further request to extend the period for completion of inquiry.” These significant direc- tions were passed by Spe- cial Judge Anti-Corruption Jammu in a complaint filed by a noted RTI activist Prof. S.K.Bhalla through advo- cate Sheikh Shakil Ahmed. The applicant had filed an application before the court for seeking fresh status of the ongoing investigation into the ‘Double Drawl of POL’ in which the Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand and his personal staff have been arrayed as accused. It is worth to mention here that the complainant af- ter having inputs through RTI applications lodged a complaint against Tara Chand then Minister for Housing and Urban De- velopment Department (H&UD), Suresh Kumar IAS then Commissioner Secretary H&UDD, Dr Raj Kumar Thapa special assis- tant to Deputy Chief Min- ister, Prabu Singh, Kewal Sharma and Vijay Kumar all pubic relation officers to Tara Chand, P.K.Poley former Vice Chairman Jammu Development Au- thority, Mubarak Singh for- mer Commissioner Jammu Municipal Corporation (JCA) presently Deputy Commissioner Doda and S.C.Sawheny Director Sar- va Shiksha Abhiyan before Jammu and Kashmir State Vigilance Organization last year seeking registration of FIR for Double Drawl of POL and misuse of govern- ment vehicles by the Dep- uty Chief Minister and his personal staff. Prof. S.K.Bhalla in his complaint stated that 21 vehicles are at the disposal of Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and the POL is being obtained fraudulently from Jammu Municipal Corporation, Sri- nagar Municipal Corpora- tion, Jammu Development Authority, LAWDA and other organizations. According to the complain- ant, Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand as per See Vehicles on Pg. 11 Misuse of government vehicles by Deputy CM Thanks to rehab policy, ex- militants rebuild their lives http://www.zabarwantimes.com New Delhi, July 22: Jammu & Kashmir Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather has been elected as the new Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST. Rather, also a senior National Conference lead- er, was chosen to head the panel at a meeting of state Finance Minis- ters here. The post of Chair- man of the FM's committee on Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been lying vacant since June 17 when Bihar Finance Minister Sushil Kumar Modi resigned fol- lowing the JD(U)-BJP split in the eastern state. The new chief will have a formidable task of pursuing the proposed new indirect tax regime (GST) which will subsume excise, service tax and local levies. The Standing Com- mittee on Finance had last week fi- nalised its views on the GST Bill, which was intro- duced in Parlia- ment in 2010. The states and the Centre would together finalise the draft now and bring it back to Parliament. In 2011, Modi had replaced Asim Dasgupta, who had See Rather on Pg. 11 Rather is new chief of GST panel Moral challenge to Centre: PDP Geelani's son booked for rumour mongering Gang of robbers busted SVO directed to complete probe within 4 months Gool firing incident Moderate quake jolts Bhaderwah Baderwah, July 22: A moderate intensity tremor today shook Bhaderwah valley and adjoin- ing areas in Doda-Kishtwar belt of Jammu and Kashmir, triggering fresh panic among the people. The quake, measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale, hit the area around 2.38 pm on Monday, Met officials said. There was no immediate report of any casualty or injury report- ed from anywhere, the officials said. However, it triggered fear among the people, leading them to rush out of their houses. In the month of May this year, Bhaderwah and its adjoining areas witnessed 37 tremors. Body fished out in Bandipora Srinagar July 22: While extract- ing sand from river Jhelum at Shilvat , Bandipora sand miners found a body of a person today morning. They informed in Police station Sumbal. Police reached on the spot and the body was identified as Idress Hussain Bhat son of Ghulam Hussain Bhat resident of Indra Nagar as per the identity card, found from the body. Two drown in Jehlum in Srinagar Srinagar July 22: Two boys namely Abdul Qayoom Sheikh son of Asadullah Sheikh and Mohammad Altaf Sheikh son of Mohammad Maqbool residents of Checki-Pohru, were drowned in river Jhelum at Baghi Sha- koor Shah while bathing, in the jurisdiction of police station Nowgam, Srinagar. Police is on job. 2 drown in reservoirs in Kupwara Srinagar July 22: Ashiq Husain Ganie age about 12 years son of Bashir Ahmad resident of Lalpora, Kupwara was drowned while taking bath in a water reservoir at Rethnag, Kupwara, in the jurisdiction of police station Lalpora. The body was fished out and handed over his relatives for last rites. In anoth- er similar incident the 07 years old Imtiyaz Ahmad Mir age son of Ghulam Hassan resident of Tangchek was drowned in a water reservoir at Tangchek, Kupwara, in the jurisdiction of police station Sogam. The body was fished out and handed over his relatives for last rites. Tipper crushes Motorcyclist to death in Budgam Srinagar July 22: A Tipper bearing registration number JK01P/1619 hit a Motorcycle bearing registration number JK01B/8904 at village Hayat- pora, Budgam, in the jurisdic- tion of police station Chadoora, resulting in grievous injuries to the Motorcyclist Farooq Ahmad Ganie son of Abdul Razak resident of Dalwan, Charar-e-Sharief sustained. The injured was shifted to Sub District Hospital, Chadoora for treatment, where he succumbed his injuries. A case has been registered in this regard. Drug De-addiction awareness programme held Tangmarg, July 22: Drug De–Addiction centre DPL Baramulla held a drug de- ad- diction awareness programme in a B Ed college at Tangmarg, in which B.Ed teachers and students were briefed about the menace of drug abuse. Continuing their efforts to cre- ate awareness about ill effects of drug abuse and detoxifica- tion, Drug De-Addiction centre DPL Baramulla organised an awareness programme at Green Valley B.ED College at Dobiwan See Drug on Pg. 11

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Normalcy Returns To Kashmir

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Baramulla, July 22:

Police today claimed to have busted a gang of bur-glars in north Kashmir's Baramulla district by ar-resting its nine members and recovering stolen goods worth lakhs of rupees. The gang was unearthed after police in Sopore town of the district arrested two persons for allegedly steal-ing goods worth lakhs of ru-pees from a cloth merchant at Chankhan, police said. During the investigation of the case, police received a tip off regarding one of the accused Irshad Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Izatshah

See Gang on Pg. 11

Srinagar, July 22:

Police have registered a case against son of hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani for rumour mon-gering on social media.The Jammu and Kashmir police registered a case against rumour-mongers , who spread false informa-tion on social networking websites about casualties in recent protests in the Val-ley. Among those booked is Syed Naseem, Geelani's son who is a lecturer in ag-ricultural university in Sri-nagar."Police have registered a case against all those in-

volved in trying to vitiate the atmosphere by spread-ing rumours about deaths," Kashmir inspector general of police Abdul Gani Mir said. He said that among those who posted rumours about a young boy being killed in Sumbal was one Facebook user 'Syed Naseem'.Police had warned against misuse of social media on late Sunday evening. In a statement police said, ``certain people are trying hard to vitiate the atmo-sphere by spreading ru-mours. Rumours of a young boy being killed in Sumbal, were floated by certain fake

identity holders on Face-book. Reportedly one per-son with Facebook identity as Syed Naseem had also updated about death of a youth in Safa Pora which was not true. He later re-moved this post. All these Facebook miscreants are being identified and action would be taken against them.''The statement also said that a case has been registered against the users in Kot-hibagh police station in city centre Lal chowk.IGP Kashmiri Mir has ap-pealed to all the people not to heed to the rumours.

See Booked on Pg. 11

Srinagar, July 22:

Opposition Peoples Demo-cratic Party (PDP) in Jam-mu and Kashmir today said incidents like "Gool carnage" present a moral challenge to the Centre. "The Gool carnage and such incidents present a moral challenge to the Centre," PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said in a statement after visiting families of four persons killed in BSF firing in Ramban district last week. She alleged government forces were treating people

of Jammu and Kashmir as enemies and training their guns on them. "It is unimaginable that security force deployed primarily for the safety of people could act so atro-ciously and gun down in-nocent and unarmed civil-ians as was done in Gool. It seems people of the state have been deprived of all fundamental rights in-cluding right to life, right to expression and even the right to protest," she said. Terming the present state government as a "costly li-ability", the PDP president

said it could not run away from its responsibility to ensure people's safety. "Just issuing statements of condemnation and not be-ing able to act against the perpetrators, has resulted in complete collapse of law and order in the state," Me-hbooba said. Demanding an inquiry into acts that led to Gool firing, she said PDP was concerned at the targeting of youths in other areas of Chenab Valley who are being booked by police for holding protests against killings.

Srinagar, July 22:

Sub-committee of State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) for export promotion or-ganized by J&K Bank met here Monday at the Bank’s C o r p o r a t e H e a d q u a r -ters. Execu-tive President of the Bank, O. P. Sharma chaired the meeting.A wide range of issues including setting up of Inland Container De-pot (ICD) at Srinagar,

Brand certification of Kashmir made prod-ucts, setting up of Pashmina testing labo-ratory at Srinagar and providing of liberal finance to the artisans

& weavers at concessional rate of inter-est were dis-cussed in the meeting.The meeting, which was fifth in series,

was attended among others by Nayeemul-lah, President A&AP, J&K Bank, Ravinder

See Bank on Pg. 11

J&K Bank Organizes SLBC Meeting For Export Promotion

Srinagar, July 22:

Life in Kashmir returned to nor-malcy Monday after three days of curfew and strikes over the firing incident in Ramban district that left four persons dead.Shops, business establishments and institutions of higher learn-ing opened after a gap of three days. Public transport also started plying on all routes of the valley this morning, official sources said. Authorities imposed curfew in all major towns of Kashmir on Friday a day after four persons were killed in BSF firing at Gool in Ramban district on Jammu-Sri-nagar National Highway. While the curfew was lifted yester-day, normal activities remained suspended due to strike called by hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Nearly 200 persons including doz-ens of security force personnel were injured in clashes between protesters and law enforcing agen-cies over the past three days.The authorities have maintained a strong presence of police and paramilitary forces at vulnerable

See Normalcy on Pg. 11

Zabarwan Desk

Shopian, July 22: Shabir Ahmed Dar has come home. His children play un-der the walnut trees where he once played. His father, white-bearded and thin now, watches them. The village of Degoom, the cluster of traditional brick-and-wood houses in Kashmir where Dar grew up, is still reached by a dirt road and hay is still hung from the branches of the soaring chinar trees to dry.But Dar has changed, even if Degoom has not. It is 22 years since he left the village to steal over the line of con-trol. Along with a dozen or so other teenagers, he hoped to take part in the insurgency which pitted groups of young Kashmiris against Indian

security forces."I went because everyone else was go-ing. The situation was bad here. I had my beliefs, my dream for my home-land. I was very young," he said, sit-ting in the room where he had slept as a child.The conflict had only just begun when he left. Over the next two de-cades, an estimated 50,000 soldiers, policemen, militants and, above all, ordinary people were to die. Dar's aim had been to "create a true Islamic society" in Kashmir. This could only be achieved by accession to Pakistan or independence, he believed.But once across the LoC, even though he spent only a few months with the militant group he had set out to join and never took part in any fighting,

he was unable to return. "I was stuck there. I made a new life. I married and found work. I didn't think I would ever come back here," Dar said.But now the 36-year-old has finally come home, with his Pakistani-born wife and three children. He is one of 400 former militants who have taken advantage of a new "rehabilitation" policy launched by the chief minister Omar Abdullah.Dar's father heard of the scheme and convinced his son to return last year. "I am an old man. I wanted to see my son and grandchildren before I die. I wanted him to have his share of our land," said Dar senior, who is 70.The scheme is an indication of the changes in this beautiful, battered land. In recent years, economic

growth in India has begun to benefit Kashmir. At the same time, despite a series of spectacular attacks on se-curity forces by militants in recent months, violence has fallen to its low-est levels since the insurgency broke out in the late 1980s. The two phenom-ena are connected, many observers say.It is this relative calm that has al-lowed Dar and the others to return – and allows even some hardened vet-erans who have renounced violence to live unmolested. "A few years ago the agencies would have shot this down because they would have seen it as another move to infiltrate [mili-tants from Pakistan]," Abdullah, the chief minister, said.The scheme is not, however, an am-

nesty. "If there are cases against them they will still be arrested [and] prosecuted … Largely this scheme has been taken up by those who have not carried out any acts of terrorism. Either they never came [across the LoC], or if they came we never knew about it," Abdullah said.So far there have been only two cases – one unproved – of people becoming active again in the insurgency on re-turning to the Indian side. Police offi-cials confirm that the "returnees" live quietly. One reason for this is that most of them, like Dar, left during the first wave of early enthusiasm for "the cause" which swept Kashmir amid repression in the late 1980s, but were swiftly disillusioned. Ehsan ul-

See Rehab Policy on Pg. 11

CMYK

CMYK

CMYK

CMYK

TuESDAY July 23 | 2013 | 13 Ramzan 1434 AH | PAGES 12 | VOL NO: 3 | ISSuE NO: 178 | RS: 2/- (AIR SuRCHARGE FOR JAMMu /DELHI/LEH 50 PAISA)Pen For JusticeLargely Circulated, No. 1 Bilingual Daily of J&K

Normalcy returns to Kashmir

New Delhi, July 22:

A Division Bench of Apex Court comprising Justice R.M. Lodha and Justice Fakkir Moham-mad Ibrahim Kalifulla Monday granted four weeks time to the State of Jammu and Kashmir to file counter to the pe-tition of 12-years old Fai-zan, a minor who was illegally arrested by Sa-fakadal, Srinagar Police last year in August.

The petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Professor Bhim Singh through State Legal Aid

Committee claims that Faizan was kept in police lock-up without food and water for 40 hours and was even not produced before any Magistrate.The Supreme Court is-sued show cause notice on 11th March, 2013 to the Union of India, Chief Secretary, Director Gen-eral of Police of Jammu and Kashmir, SHO, Sa-fakadal and others. The court had directed the respondents to file reply by April 15, 2013, accord-ing to the office report. The service to all the re-spondents was complete according to the office

report itself.Prof. Bhim Singh, ap-pearing in the case sub-mitted before the court that the state has not cared to file reply and there was a delay of seven weeks. Prof. Bhim Singh also urged the court to award reason-able compensation to the minor whose education has suffered and caused agony and torture to the minor as well as to his parents.On the request of the counsel of J&K state, court granted four weeks to file reply.

See Faizan Case on Pg. 11

Minor Faizan Case: J&K granted 4 weeks to file reply

Jammu, July 22:

Special Judge Anti-Corrup-tion Jammu Puneet Gupta Monday directed State Vigilance Organization to complete the investigation into the much publicized complaint filed against Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, his personal staff and senior IAS and KAS officers regarding ‘Double Drawal of Petrol Oil Lubri-cants (POL)’ within a period of four months beginning today.The Court further direct-ed in case the needful is not done within the four months time and further time is sought, the Vigi-lance will be required to sat-isfy the court for not com-pleting the inquiry within the given time before any further extension is granted for the completion of the in-quiry.The Judge further ob-served: “the court further expects that the concerned agency will complete the investigation within the time granted and the court

will not be burdened with further request to extend the period for completion of inquiry.”These significant direc-tions were passed by Spe-cial Judge Anti-Corruption Jammu in a complaint filed by a noted RTI activist Prof. S.K.Bhalla through advo-cate Sheikh Shakil Ahmed.The applicant had filed an application before the court for seeking fresh status of the ongoing investigation into the ‘Double Drawl of POL’ in which the Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand and his personal staff have been arrayed as accused.It is worth to mention here that the complainant af-ter having inputs through RTI applications lodged a complaint against Tara Chand then Minister for Housing and Urban De-velopment Department (H&UD), Suresh Kumar IAS then Commissioner Secretary H&UDD, Dr Raj Kumar Thapa special assis-tant to Deputy Chief Min-ister, Prabu Singh, Kewal Sharma and Vijay Kumar

all pubic relation officers to Tara Chand, P.K.Poley former Vice Chairman Jammu Development Au-thority, Mubarak Singh for-mer Commissioner Jammu Municipal Corporation (JCA) presently Deputy Commissioner Doda and S.C.Sawheny Director Sar-va Shiksha Abhiyan before Jammu and Kashmir State Vigilance Organization last year seeking registration of FIR for Double Drawl of POL and misuse of govern-ment vehicles by the Dep-uty Chief Minister and his personal staff.Prof. S.K.Bhalla in his complaint stated that 21 vehicles are at the disposal of Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and the POL is being obtained fraudulently from Jammu Municipal Corporation, Sri-nagar Municipal Corpora-tion, Jammu Development Authority, LAWDA and other organizations.According to the complain-ant, Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand as per

See Vehicles on Pg. 11

Misuse of government vehicles by Deputy CM

Thanks to rehab policy, ex- militants rebuild their lives

http://www.zabarwantimes.com

New Delhi, July 22:

Jammu & Kashmir Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather has been elected as the new Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST. Rather, also a senior National Conference lead-er, was chosen to head the panel at a meeting of state Finance Minis-ters here. The post of Chair-man of the FM's committee on Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been lying vacant since June 17 when Bihar Finance Minister Sushil Kumar Modi resigned fol-

lowing the JD(U)-BJP split in the eastern state. The new chief will have a formidable task of pursuing the proposed new indirect tax regime (GST) which will subsume excise, service tax and local levies.

The Standing Com-mittee on Finance had last week fi-nalised its views on the GST Bill, which was intro-duced in Parlia-ment in 2010. The states and the Centre would

together finalise the draft now and bring it back to Parliament. In 2011, Modi had replaced Asim Dasgupta, who had

See Rather on Pg. 11

Rather is new chief of GST panelMoral challenge to

Centre: PDP

Geelani's son booked for rumour mongering

Gang of robbers busted

SVO directed to complete probe within 4 months

Gool firing incident

Moderate quake jolts Bhaderwah Baderwah, July 22: A moderate intensity tremor today shook Bhaderwah valley and adjoin-ing areas in Doda-Kishtwar belt of Jammu and Kashmir, triggering fresh panic among the people.The quake, measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale, hit the area around 2.38 pm on Monday, Met officials said.There was no immediate report of any casualty or injury report-ed from anywhere, the officials said. However, it triggered fear among the people, leading them to rush out of their houses.In the month of May this year, Bhaderwah and its adjoining areas witnessed 37 tremors.

Body fished out in BandiporaSrinagar July 22: While extract-ing sand from river Jhelum at Shilvat , Bandipora sand miners found a body of a person today morning. They informed in Police station Sumbal. Police reached on the spot and the body was identified as Idress Hussain Bhat son of Ghulam Hussain Bhat resident of Indra Nagar as per the identity card, found from the body.

Two drown in Jehlum in SrinagarSrinagar July 22: Two boys namely Abdul Qayoom Sheikh son of Asadullah Sheikh and Mohammad Altaf Sheikh son of Mohammad Maqbool residents of Checki-Pohru, were drowned in river Jhelum at Baghi Sha-koor Shah while bathing, in the jurisdiction of police station Nowgam, Srinagar. Police is on job.

2 drown in reservoirs in KupwaraSrinagar July 22: Ashiq Husain Ganie age about 12 years son of Bashir Ahmad resident of Lalpora, Kupwara was drowned while taking bath in a water reservoir at Rethnag, Kupwara, in the jurisdiction of police station Lalpora. The body was fished out and handed over his relatives for last rites. In anoth-er similar incident the 07 years old Imtiyaz Ahmad Mir age son of Ghulam Hassan resident of Tangchek was drowned in a water reservoir at Tangchek, Kupwara, in the jurisdiction of police station Sogam. The body was fished out and handed over his relatives for last rites.

Tipper crushes Motorcyclist to death in BudgamSrinagar July 22: A Tipper bearing registration number JK01P/1619 hit a Motorcycle bearing registration number JK01B/8904 at village Hayat-pora, Budgam, in the jurisdic-tion of police station Chadoora, resulting in grievous injuries to the Motorcyclist Farooq Ahmad Ganie son of Abdul Razak resident of Dalwan, Charar-e-Sharief sustained. The injured was shifted to Sub District Hospital, Chadoora for treatment, where he succumbed his injuries. A case has been registered in this regard.

Drug De-addiction awareness programme heldTangmarg, July 22: Drug De–Addiction centre DPL Baramulla held a drug de- ad-diction awareness programme in a B Ed college at Tangmarg, in which B.Ed teachers and students were briefed about the menace of drug abuse.Continuing their efforts to cre-ate awareness about ill effects of drug abuse and detoxifica-tion, Drug De-Addiction centre DPL Baramulla organised an awareness programme at Green Valley B.ED College at Dobiwan

See Drug on Pg. 11

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SRINAGAR, JULY 22:

Minister of State for Industries and Commerce, Home and Tourism, Mr. Sajad Ahmad Kichloo today called for outsourc-ing of unviable coal mines adding modern mine exploration machinery needs to be installed for ensuring optimum exploita-tion of vast mineral reserves in the state.

Speaking at the 164the meeting of the board of Directors of Jammu and Kashmir Minerals Ltd (JKML) held at Civil Secre-tariat, Srinagar today, Mr. Kichloo said that J&K State is bestowed with abundant mineral reserves which need to be ex-plored scientifically. He asked the man-agement of the Jammu and Kashmir Min-erals Ltd to undertake only economically viable and technically feasible mines.

The Principal Secretary, Planning and Development, Mr. B. R. Sharma, Commissioner Secretary Industries and Commerce, Mr. Shantmanu, consultant Finance Department, Mr. R. Magotra, Di-rector Geology and Mining, Mr. Farooq Ahmad, Managing Director JK Miner-als, Mr. A. S. Hussain and concerned of-

ficers attended the meeting.Mr. Kichloo enjoined upon the management of the corporation to explore further marketing channeling for sale and auction of world famous sapphire also known as Neelam

which existing in Paddar area of Jammu division.The meeting also deliberated on revival of the cement project at Wuyan and at was decided that the corporation will utilize its about 140 kanals of land near Wuyan for construction of a 600 ton per day capacity cement plant. A Techno Economic Feasibility Report (TEFR) has already been got prepared from M/S Na-tional Council for Cement and Building Material (NCB) and its estimated cost will

be about Rs. 125 crore. It will be a joint venture arrangement.The meeting also took a sympathetic view to the employ-ees demand regarding regularization of the services of Daily Rated Workers ap-

pointed on compassionate grounds un-der SRO-283.The meeting also agreed the proposal to consider stoppage of recovery of House Rent Allowance from wages of the mine workers on the analogy of Coal India Limited (CIL). The meeting also ap-proved to bring about 345 casual work-ers of coal mines under Group Insurance Scheme as their working conditions are prone to hazardous conditions while at work.

SRINAGAR, JULY 22 – Nizam-ud-Din Bhat, Member of the State Legislative Assembly, called on N. N. Vohra, Governor, at Raj Bhavan, here monday and presented to him various

problems and development needs of his area.The issues raised by Bhat included, interalia, Bandipore district being brought under the Border Area Development Programme, pro-vision of more funds for the district under Tribal Sub-Plan, widening and upgradation of

Srinagar-Bandipore-Gurez road, expeditious upgradation of Bandipore-Sopore road, con-struction of hospital building at Bandipore and other infrastructure development projects in

the district and the speedy implementation of social security schemes and programmes in the area.The Governor and Bhat also discussed issues relating to the importance of ensuring the integrity and functional efficiency of public institutions.

SRINAGAR, JULY 22 – Air Commodore B. Balachandran, Air Officer Commanding, Air Force Station, Srinagar, called on N. N. Vohra, Governor, at Raj Bhavan here monday.The Governor lauded the crucial air defence role which the Indian Air Force is discharging in the Western Sector and, besides, providing valuable support in carrying out rescue, relief and evacuation operations and enabling the civil authorities to deal with emergencies and natural calamities.The Air Commodore briefed the Governor about IAF’s initiatives in further securing the frontiers and issues relating to the Leh and Srinagar Air bases.

Dr. Shehnaz Ganai calls on GovernorSRINAGAR, JULY 22 – Dr. Shehnaz Ganai, Member of the State Legislative Council, called on N.

N. Vohra, Governor, at Raj Bhavan here monday and presented to him a Memorandum of devel-opment-related demands of Poonch and Rajouri districts.During meeting with the Governor, Dr. Ganai urged for launching special drives for the recruitment of youth from Rajouri and Poonch districts in the Central Para-Military Forces, creation of facilities for the pilgrims visiting Shri Bud-dha Amarnathji Shrine and speedy implementation of socio-economic development schemes and programmes in the area.

Former Minister meets GovernorSRINAGAR, JULY 22 – Bashir Ahmad Nengroo, former Minister, met N. N. Vohra, Governor,

at Raj Bhavan, here monday.Nengroo discussed with the Governor various issues relating to the rapid economic advancement of his area and the implementation of major welfare and develop-ment schemes and programmes.

Attention candidates of KupwaraKUPWARA, JULY 22: According to the Assistant Director, Consumer Affairs and Public Dis-

tribution Department, Kupwara, the last date for receipt of application forms for recruitment to Class IV posts in CAPD Department has been extended upto July 25, 2013.

ANANTNAG, JULY 22:

District Development Commis-sioner, Anantnag monday reviewed the working and the different devel-opmental programmes being execut-ed by Horticulture and Sericulture de-partments here monday. Additional District Development Commissioner, Chief Planning Officer, Chief Horti-culture Officer and Assistant Director Sericulture were also present in the meeting besides other concerned of-ficers.Different developmental pro-grammes of the departments being executed in the district were discussed thread bare. While reviewing the Hor-ticulture Sector, District Development Commissioner directed the Chief Horticulture Officer to take necessary steps for ensuring the plantation drive during December every year besides introducing of “grape plantation in the district.

District Development Commis-sioner instructed to prepare demon-stration plots of grape plants at least

of two hectares during 2013-14. He also instructed to organise awareness camps regarding the different pro-grammes being executed by the Hor-ticulture department, so that more and more fruit growers are made aware about these schemes and avail benefits of the initiatives.

District Development Commis-sioner while reviewing the function of the Sericulture department instructed the concerned to provide “huts” to at least 900 silk-worm rearers during 2013-14.It was given out in the meet-ing that cocoon production of 50,000 Kgs was recorded in the district last year and it is expected to reach to 60,000 Kgs by the end of the current year.

It was also instructed in the meet-ing that women silk-worm rearers are being provided with an insurance cover of Rs. 15,000 per year by Sericul-ture department in collaboration with ICICI Lambert to provide best health care facilities to the women rearers, their spouse and children.

District Development Commis-sioner instructed the concerned offi-cer to judiciously utilize the resources so that the benefits of the different

schemes are being availed by the gen-eral public besides making sure the transparency in procuring the latest technology. He also urged to arrange

more exposure visits of growers with-in and outside the state, so that they are made familiar with the latest tools and techniques in the sector.

The pace of things is likely to slow compared to what it was yesterday, Aries. This is probably best. Take this time to plan and stabilize. You’ve plowed, sown, and reaped the fields. Now stop and assess what you’ve pro-duced and decide what to do with it. Take things one step at a time and don’t get ahead of yourself. Be patient and things will naturally come your way.

Little voices whisper in your ear and ask you to take flight and join them in the clouds, Gemini. There’s tension between what your heart and mind tell you. They’re pulling you in very different directions. Don’t be surprised if today’s energy leaves you confused by sunset. Don’t stress about making hard decisions or commitments.

Something or someone may prod you to take action today, Cancer. It may be best if you beat them to it and motivate yourself. Break away from the herd and go wherever you want to go. It’s likely that you will run into conflict regarding an issue you feel strongly about. People may be stubborn, so prepare for a stalemate rather than any sort of resolution.

You might experience a great deal of emotional con-

fusion, Leo. There’s a debate brewing inside you, and you’re having a hard time deciding whether to be prac-tical or more fanciful. Looking to others for help may only add to the problem, so take other people’s advice with a grain of salt.

It will be a challenge to keep your emotions on an even keel today, Virgo. Conflict may be brewing and you might fear it could get out of hand. Everything will work out. Don’t add to the pressure. The best solution is to escape into reverie and come back to Earth when the storm has passed. Don’t try to untangle the knots if they won’t give.

Tension may arise today, Libra. It’s possible that you’re either too dreamy or too practical to deal effec-tively with the issue. It’s important to strike a balance. The toughest part will be finding others who agree with you. The people you’re in conflict with aren’t likely to budge from their position. You may have to be flexible in order to reach a compromise.

Yesterday’s trajectory may run into trouble today, Scorpio. Your intrinsically dreamy nature is dragging down the action you initiated. This conflict could create tension that will be difficult to resolve. Your emotions may deceive you, so try not to get pulled off course by a passing whim. Try to keep your feelings grounded.

Try to align your mind with your emotions today. It’s possible that a powerful yet subtle force is slowly pulling you off track. If so, you should think about tak-ing a break and doing some fast-paced physical activity to get your heart rate up and blood pumping. Jogging will help clear your head and enable you to think more rationally about decisions you need to make.

An emotional issue could be rubbing you the wrong way, Capricorn. Your impulse is to escape. Try to do so in a healthy manner. Go see a movie or read a book. Don’t fall prey to the temptation to indulge in alcohol or food. This will only push the problems away tempo-rarily. When they resurface again, they may be even harder to handle.

Your artistic side wants to take to the airwaves in some way, Aquarius. Perhaps you should consider building a website or becoming a commentator on a local radio show. Your dreams need a vehicle in order to reach their audience. Find the means. You have the ability to inspire a many people. Take this ability seri-ously and make use of your creative talents.

It may be apparent that what was so light and ac-tive yesterday is running into a few roadblocks today, Pisces. You’re suddenly heading into a brick wall with some of the projects you’ve been working on. Suddenly there’s a more reserved tone to things and you may lose precious momentum. Use this time to back off and reas-sess the wisdom of your direction.

There may be dreaminess about your emotions to-day, Taurus, which could keep you from focusing on the task at hand. The aspects dictate that people may be stubborn and confused - and you’re likely to be one of them. Your mind may seem to be going in two different directions and you aren’t sure which way to proceed.

Programmes of Sericulture and Horticultural departments reviewed at Anantnag

Nizam-ud-Din Bhat presents demands to Governor

Air Commodore briefs Governor

Kichloo for optimum exploitation of mineral wealth

Daily ZABARWAN TIMES NEWS Srinagar |tueSday 23 .7 .2013

Chari Mubarak reaches Pahalgam

ANANTNAG, JULY 22: On the occasion of “Boomi Puja” the “Chari Mubarak” monday reached Pahalgam under the leadership of Mehant Bipinder Giri.

District Development Commissioner, Anantnag, Dr. Farooq Ahmad Lone also accompanied the “Chari Mubarak” and it was received by civil and police officers. Sadhus and Kashmiri Pandits in large numbers were also accompanying the Chari Mubarak.

The Chari Mubarak will leave towards Akhada Temple Srina-gar in the evening.

Anti-tobacco squad in-spects Srinagar Hospitals

SRINAGAR, JULY 22:

On the instructions of Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Anti-Tobacco squad of Drugs and Food Control Organization with the volunteers of JKVHA, Red Cross Society and Civil Defence, Srinagar headed by Food Safety Officer, Srinagar inspected various areas around the health institutions of district Srinagar of SMHS, LD, Bone and Joint and CD Hospitals here monday.

As many as 19 shopkeepers were found selling tobacco products within the 100 yards of health institutions which is a punishable offence and a fine of Rs. 1900 has been realized from them under Section 6(b) of the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Prod-ucts Act, 2003. Kashmir, Anti Smoking Squad monday conducted inspection of Old Secretariat, L.D Hospital, Rajbagh, GB Panth Hospital, Forest Complex Lal Chowk and 16 persons were found violating Section 4 and 6 (b) of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003. A fine of Rs. 1750 was realized from the of-fenders.

Take due care of yatris: Wani to Administration

Al-Habib Foundation voices its difficulties to Governor

JAMMU, JULY 22-

Minister for Roads & Buildings and Mechanical Engineering, Abdul Majid Wani toady visited Yatri Niwas here at Bhagwati Nagar-the Jammu base camp for Shri Amarnath Yatra , and took stock of the arrangements put in place by the administration there.

Interacting with the yatris, the Minister enquired about the facilities made available for them at the base camp. He asked the Yatris to feel free and at home in the state as the government as well as people of the state are keen to extend every type of support to make the Yatra a success. He said that the situation in the state is getting normal with every passing day and tourists from across the world are coming in large numbers to en-joy the serene and magnificent beauty of Jammu and Kashmir.

He appealed the yatris to be the ambassadors of the State and spread the message of peace, normalcy and amity in their respective states so that more and more yatris come to pay obeisance at the revered Shrines of the State He hoped that the day is not far when there will be no need of security to escort the yatris in to the holy cave.

Appealing the Civil Society to come forward to make the AmarnathjI Yatra a success, Wani said that it is pos-

sible with the joint efforts civil Society and administration.

The yatris expressed their sat-isfaction over the arrangements made for their comfortable stay at the camp, say-ing that they are feeling home like atmo-sphere in the State.

The Minister chaired a high level meeting of officers and got first hand ap-praisal of the arrangements prepared for

the yatris. He directed the Administra-tion to make every possible effort for the comfortable stay of the yatris so that they do not feel any inconvenience here, saying that their good experience in the state would also encourage influx of tour-ists which is the main stay of the state’s economy.

Meanwhile, the Minister also reviewed the essential services scenario in Jammu region at a meeting here at civil secretariat.

The minister reviewed the power, water, health services scenario, besides the stock and supply position of ration in the region. He also reviewed the pace of progress and status of development proj-ects, including those take up under roads,

tourism, PHE, UEED ERA sectors. Among others, Divisional Com-

missioner, Jammu, Pardeep Kumar Gupta, Deputy Commissioner, Jammu A K Sahu, besides heads of line departments and senior officers of district administration attended the meeting.

SRINAGAR, JULY 22

A deputation of the Al-Habib Foundation, Shalimar, Srinagar, called on N. N. Vohra, Governor, at Raj Bhavan here monday and informed him about their diffi-culties and demands.

The demands presented by the 5-member delegation led by Ms. Tasleema Kounsar, Chairperson of the Founda-tion, include, interalia, need for financial support, accommoda-tion and transport facilities for the school run by the Founda-tion for educating special chil-dren.

The delegation briefed the Governor about the aims and objects of the Foundation, which was set up in 2010. Pres-ently, 10 physically and men-tally challenged children are being provided special day care at the Kounsar Special School-cum-Rehabilitation Centre for Physically and Mentally Chal-lenged Children, to reduce their

dependency, besides extending home-based care to 5 other such children. Ms. Kounsar in-formed that the Foundation has identified 150 special children who would be enrolled in the school in a phased manner.

The Governor heard the deputationists with keen in-terest and informed the del-egation about rupees one lakh being sanctioned to support the Foundation for promoting the welfare of physically and mentally challenged children. He observed that their demand relating to accommodation and other issues and prob-lems raised by them would be taken up with the concerned authorities. The deputation comprised Ghulam Qadir Bhat, Mehdi Parvaiz Khan and Ms. Mahvish Rashid, all Trustees of the Foundation, and Nazir Ah-mad, parent of a special child.

Navin K. Choudhary, Prin-cipal Secretary to the Governor, was present on the occasion.

Market checking in Anantnag, SrinagarSRINAGAR, JULY 22: During ensuing holy month of Ramadhan, the market checking has geared up in district Anantnag.

Assistant Controller Legal Metrology checked the market for ensuring quality and the sale of essential commodities on prescribed rates, during which a fine of Rs. 14,550/- was recovered from the 15 erring traders.A huge amount of rotten veg-etables and fruits were also destroyed during the checking. Locals have hailed the action and have appealed to intensify the market checking further.Meanwhile, the market checking squad headed by Assistant Director, CA&PD, Srinagar con-ducted market checking at Zero Bridge, Raj Bagh, Jawahar Nagar, K.P. Bagh, Baghat, Nowgam, Yayil, Humhama, Pir Bagh, Rawalpora etc. here monday. During the market checking, 83 business establishments were inspected and an amount of Rs. 22,500/- has been recovered as fine from 25 erring shopkeepers for violation of Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

DM Kulgam appeals for peace, harmonyKULGAM, JULY 22: District Magistrate, Kulgam, Jahangir Mir called for nurturing cordial admin-public relations to

maintain peace and stability, adding periodic interactions are a must to remove misgivings and misperceptions.Among others, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of Police, Commandant CRPF, Assistant Commis-

sioner (Rev) and Tehsildars attended the meeting.Chairing a joint meeting of Police, CRPF and respectables of Kulgam town here this morning, he stressed on making

joint efforts to avoid law and order disturbances in the district.The District Magistrate called upon respectables to use their influence in discouraging youngsters from participating in any provocative and violent activities.

164th BoD meeting of JKML

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Researchers have found that children exposed to diethyl phthalate (DEP) and butylbenzyl phthalate (BBzP)—phthalate chemi-cals commonly found in personal care and plastic products—have elevated risk of asthma-related air-way inflammation.Of the 244 children aged 5 to 9 in the study, all had detectable levels of phthalates in their urine although these varied over a wide range.Higher levels of both phthalates were associated with higher levels of nitric oxide in exhaled breath, a biological marker of air-way inflammation.The association between BBzP exposure and air-way inflammation was especially strong among children who had recently reported wheeze, a com-mon symptom of asthma, according to the research-ers at Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health."While many factors contribute to childhood asthma, our study shows that exposure to phtha-lates may play a significant role," said Allan Just, PhD, first author on the new CCCEH study and current

postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health.Dr. Just and co-investi-gators looked at children enrolled in the CCCEH Mothers and Newborns study. All live in Northern Manhattan and the South Bronx where asthma prev-alence is high. Exposure to phthalates was measured through a urine test, and the level of nitric oxide in the child's exhaled breath was quantified as a marker of airway inflammation.The study is the first to use exhaled nitric oxide in a

study of phthalate expo-sure in children. By using the biomarker in exhaled breath, the researchers overcame a significant hurdle."Many asthma patients only have asthma exac-erbations a few times a year, making it difficult to discern short-term asso-ciations between environ-mental exposures and the disease," explained Mat-thew Perzanowski, PhD, senior author and Associ-ate Professor of Environ-mental Health Sciences at the Mailman School.

"To solve this problem, we used nitric oxide, which has been shown to be a reliable marker of airway inflammation in response to known asthma triggers like vehicle emissions," he said.Phthalates are used widely in consumer prod-ucts, including plastics, vi-nyl flooring, and personal care products, making ex-posure ubiquitous in the United States and other developed nations.Phthalates enter the body through ingestion, inha-lation, and absorption through the skin.

E ++HHEAAL L HH5 ZABARWAN TIMES

TUESDAY | 23 JULY 20138 ZABARWANTIMES

Exposure to pesticide behind childhood coughChildren exposed to the widely used pesticide ad-ditive piperonyl butoxide (PBO) in the womb have heightened risk of non-infectious cough at ages 5 and 6, a new study has found.The findings support the premise that the children's respiratory system is sus-ceptible to damage from toxic exposures during the prenatal period. A com-mon symptom, childhood cough can disrupt normal daytime activities and in-terrupt sleep for both child and parent. Researchers at the Colum-bia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health and of Columbia Univer-sity Medical Center con-ducted the study. Piperonyl butoxide (PBO) is an organic compound used to bolster the effects of pyrethroid pesticides. Pyrethroids are the most commonly used pesticides for both professional pest control and non-profes-sional residential use, ac-cording to a 2011 study by Mailman School research-ers. Exposure to one pyre-throid, a variation of per-methrin, was linked with increased risk for cough by

age 5 in a 2009 study by Rachel Miller, MD. In the current study, Dr. Miller and colleagues sought to build on these findings by exploring the effects of subsequent ex-posure during childhood, looking specifically at the effects of PBO exposure. Researchers looked at 224 mother-child pairs enrolled in the CCCEH birth cohort study of en-vironmental exposures, examining measures of PBO and pyrethroid in personal air monitors worn by the mothers dur-ing pregnancy.

Air samples also were col-lected from the home over the course of two weeks when children were be-tween 5 and 6 years old. Questionnaires were used to evaluate respiratory outcomes. Researchers found that children exposed to PBO during pregnancy had in-creased odds of reporting cough unrelated to cold or flu. Exposures to PBO dur-ing childhood were not a factor. There was no observed as-sociation between prenatal or childhood permethrin exposure and cough,

something the researchers say may be explained by the fact that PBO is much easier to measure in air samples than permethrin. There was also no asso-ciation with PBO or per-methrin exposure and oth-er respiratory outcomes like wheeze or asthma. While it is unclear wheth-er the effect is due mainly to PBO itself or residen-tial pyrethroids of which PBO is an indicator, it is important to remember, said Dr. Miller, that "these exposures may be a factor in a very common problem for children—cough.

Personal care items cause asthma in kids

Replace ghee with canola or olive oilWhen a recipe calls for ghee or butter, substitute it with canola or olive oil for better health.Both these oils can help you to shed weight and reduce liver fat, lipids and triglycerides, says a study. The study conducted by the Diabetes Foundation (India) (DFI) and the Na-tional Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Founda-tion (N-DOC) has found that consuming olive or canola oil can help in de-creasing weight, waist circumference and reduce liver fat, lipids and trig-lycerides. A group of 90 people were part of the study for three years from June 2007 to 2010. They were divided into three groups and asked to use one type of cooking oil — olive, canola or any other oil. "After a period of six months itself, we found that those who used olive or canola significantly re-duced there weight, liver fat and triglycerides," said Seema Gulati, head of nu-trition research group at N-DOC.

The group which used olive oil significant-ly reduced the body weight, waist circum-ference and liver fat. As for the 30 people who used canola oil, they reported a decrease in waist circumference and a significantly improved insulin and blood glu-cose. The group which

used other oils, except the soybean or sun-flower oil — which have a high content of mono-unsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) — as cooking medium had not showed any significant changes. "If the different tradi-tional Indian oils used across the country are replaced by olive or

canola oil, it can lead to multiple health ben-efits," said Anoop Misra, director and head of de-partment of diabetes and metabolic diseases at a leading hospital. he said that the study has important implications for Indians who are at heightened risk for dia-betes and heart disease

Books are tonic for the brainReading is not just another leisurely activity or a way of brushing up your litera-cy skills and factual knowl-edge - it acts as a tonic for the brain too.Neuroscientist Susan Greenfield suggests that reading helps to expand attention spans in kids. "Stories have a beginning, a middle and an end - a structure that encourages our brains to think in se-quence, to link cause, ef-fect and significance," she says."It is essential to learn this skill as a small child, while the brain has more plastic-ity, which is why it's so im-portant for parents to read to their children. The more we do it, the better we get at it," Greenfield added.Reading can enrich our relationships by increas-ing our understanding of other cultures and helping us learn to empathise, the Daily Mail reports."In a computer game, you might have to rescue a princess, but you don't care about her, you just want to win," explains Greenfield.

"But a princess in a book has a past, present and fu-ture, she has connections and motivations. We can relate to her. We see the world through her eyes."John Stein, emeritus pro-fessor of neuroscience at Magdalen College, Oxford, says reading is far from a passive activity. "Read-ing exercises the whole brain," he explains. Read-

ing stories to children will help their brains develop the ability to analyse the cause, effect and signifi-cance of eventsIn 2009, a brain-imaging study in the US showed that reading about land-scapes, sounds, smells and tastes, activates brain areas tied to these experi-ences in real life, creat-ing new neural pathways.

Simply stated, our brains simulate real experiences, which doesn't happen when you're watching TV or playing computer games.In 2009, University of Sus-sex researchers showed how six minutes of read-ing can slash stress levels by more than two-thirds, more than listening to mu-sic or going out for a walk.

Best purple foods for good healthThere has been so much talk on hav-ing a rainbow of foods on your plate - a group of 'colours' of certain fruit signifying certain benefits.Of these purple foods are perhaps most significant as it is a fact that darker the food, the higher the anti-oxidant level. Antioxidants can pre-vent cell damage, and keep one look-ing younger. Here are more reasons to stock up on purple-hued foods today.

Benefits galore:As per data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES), in a survey on eating and health, it was seen that adults who eat purple and blue fruits and vegetables are less likely to be overweight. They have a reduced risk for both high blood pres-sure and low HDL cholesterol. It was be-lieved that anthocyanins, or compounds that give purple foods their colour, were responsible for this. Purple foods have a pigment called anthocyanin. This is a strong and antioxidant, which is said to reduce the risk of cancer.

What they are:Eggplant, Purple grapes, figs, plums, dark cherries, raisins, purple cabbage are all candidates.

Get cooking!Here are some quick-fix recipes...Plums: Take fresh plums, and put them in a grill with the skin on. Grill and sprinkle a little cinnamon powder on them. You

can also stick a clove in each of them and rest them awhile, then remove cloves and eat.

Purple cabbage: Take purple cabbage, slice it up. Drizzle some balsamic vinegar or light sweet onion dressing over them.

Enjoy!Figs: To make a healthy salad, just chop fresh figs along with shredded rocket leaves, feta cheese and add toasted pine nuts or chopped walnuts on them. Serve.Plums: This fruit is best had on its own. However, it can also be enjoyed in des-serts and savouries. To make poached plums, place plums in a baking dish, add a little sugar and lemon juice and toss them gently so they get coated. Bake for 15 min-utes. Remove and have with cream or just like that.

The use of "smoky coal" for household cooking and heating was found to be as-sociated with a substantial increase in the lifetime risk of developing lung cancer, according to a study from China. This represents one of the strongest effects of environmental pollution reported for cancer risk in any population, the re-searchers said. It also un-derlines the importance of taking action to minimise exposure to the most haz-ardous types of fuel. About half the world's popula-tion uses coal and other solid fuels for cooking and heating, often in simple stoves that are unvented. Exposure to certain types of solid fuel smoke is as-sociated with several dis-eases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, acute respiratory infections, and lung can-cer. However, the relation-ship between smoky coal use and lung cancer is not

fully understood. So an international team of researchers compared deaths from lung cancer between lifelong users of "smoky coal" and "smoke-less coal" for household cooking and heating in Xuanwei County, Yun-nan Provine, China, where lung cancer rates are par-ticularly elevated. In total, over 37,000 individuals were followed over a 20-year period (1976-96) dur-ing which time more than 2,000 deaths from lung cancer were recorded. Af-ter taking account of other possible risk factors includ-ing tobacco use, lung can-cer cases and deaths were substantially higher among users of smoky (i.e. bitumi-nous) coal for home cooking and heating than users of smokeless (i.e. anthracitic) coal. In absolute terms, the risk of lung cancer death be-fore 70 years of age for men and women using smoky coal was 18 percent and 20

percent respectively, com-pared with less than 0.5 percent among smokeless coal users of both sexes. These risks are almost as high as those reported for heavy smokers in Western countries, ranging between 20 percent and 26 percent. Lung cancer deaths were also associated with the av-erage number of hours that a smoky coal user spent at home and the age at which participants started cook-ing. The researchers say that their findings have important implications for public health in this region of China and suggest that the use of less carcinogenic types of coal or other fuels can translate into a sub-stantial reduction of lung cancer risk. As this chemi-cal and physical composi-tion of coal differs widely in different geographical locations, additional re-search is needed on the carcinogenicity of various types of coal, they added.

Scientists now have an ex-planation for why green tea is good for the brain -- it lies in the chemical properties that affect the production of brain cells, improving memory and spatial learning."Green tea is a popu-lar beverage across the world," said Yun Bai, pro-fessor from the Third Mili-tary Medical University, Chongqing, China."There has been plenty of scientific attention on its use in helping prevent cardiovascular diseases, but now there is emerging evidence that its chemical properties may impact cel-lular mechanisms in the brain."Yun's team focused on the organic chemical EGCG, (epigallocatechin-3 gal-late) a key property of green tea. While EGCG is a known antioxidant, the team believed it can also have a beneficial ef-fect against age-related degenerative diseases, the journal Molecular Nutri-tion and Food Research

reports."We proposed that EGCG can improve cogni-tive function by impacting the generation of neuron cells, a process known as neurogenesis," said Yun."We focused our research on the hippocampus, the part of the brain which processes information from short-term to long-term memory."The team found that ECGC boosts the production of neural progenitor cells, which like stem cells can adapt, or differentiate, into various types of cells. The team then used lab mice to discover if this increased cell production gave an advantage to memory or spatial learning, accord-ing to a Medical University statement."We ran tests on two groups of mice, one which had imbibed ECGC and a control group (with-out ECGC)," said Yun."First the mice were trained for three days to find a visible platform in their maze. Then they were trained for seven days to find a hidden platform."

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NATION5 SRINAGARTuesday, July 23, 2013 Kashmir Thunder

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Rajnath Singh says US should lift the visa ban on Narendra Modi

New York: Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh has demanded that the United States should lift its visa ban on Gujarat Chief Minister Naren-dra Modi. Calling Modi the only leader with ‘national appeal’ at a meeting in New Jersey, Ra-jnath said he would raise the issue of denial of US visa to the Gujarat CM during his meet-ings with lawmakers in the United States.

Speaking in the US he said, “Modi is one single leader with national appeal. I will appeal to the US government to clear US visa to the Gujarat CM.”

The United States first de-nied Modi a visa in 2005 over al-legations that his government did nothing to stop the 2002 Gu-jarat riots. Modi has not applied for a US visa since the denial.

He also claimed that the par-ty will get more allies to fight the polls. The developmental issues rather than the Ram Janam Bhoomi dispute would

dominate BJP’s poll campaign.“It’s not necessary that par-

ty president should also be a crowd puller and a prime min-isterial candidate. I have an assignment to do for my party. I have a job to deliver - that is victory of the party in the 2014 elections.”

“Seven months before the elections, I have nominated Gu-jarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as Chairman of the party’s Election Campaign Committee. What is unusual in that? We have nominated Modi like oth-er parties do and why read be-tween lines. I have named him as campaign head in view of his image, popularity and commit-ment to the party,” he said.

Giving all indications that it could be Modi who is the prime ministerial candidate, Singh said the Chief Minister is certainly the most popular and tallest leader of India now. “He is a crowd puller not only in Gujarat but also in Tamil

Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar from North to South, East to West. He is one single leader with a national appeal. His popularity will help the party in the elections,” he said. On the question of party president not being projected as Prime Ministerial candidate

in the Lok Sabha elections, he said it is necessarily not the one and the same.Rajnath Singh is on a five-day tour of the United States. He is scheduled to speak on India and Afghanistan at an event in Washington and has several private and public meetings lined up too.

Congress Communications 101: Rahul Gandhi’s message is “Speak positive”

New Delhi: Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi has advised his party to “speak positive” as national elections draw closer.

Mr Gandhi, 43, inau-gurated a Congress me-dia conclave being held in Delhi this morning. Around 200 delegates are attending; the event will last two days.

“Let’s get talent from states. Let youth and seniors work together” Mr Gandhi advised the session. All states have been asked to send five spokespersons, for the workshop. Among those who are addressing the event are senior minis-ters like P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh.

The party will work on how to effectively sell the accomplishments of the government as it asks voters for a third term in power. Social media

g u i d e l i n e s will also be d i s c u s s e d .Union min-ister Manish Tewari will train partici-pants on how to prepare for an effec-tive debate or press briefing.

In recent weeks, the Congress and the BJP have traded litanies of accusations, many of them on Twitter, and with BJP leader Nar-endra Modi as the fo-cus. On the weekend, Congress spokesper-son Shakeel Ahmed impelled a new contro-versy by stating that the communal riots of 2002 in Mr Modi’s state were responsible for the birth of the Indian Muja-hideen, the terror group that has targeted many Indian cities in recent

years. “Indian Muja-hideen was formed after Gujarat riots, says NIA in its charge sheet. Even now BJP and RSS will not desist from their commu-nal politics?” tweeted Mr Ahmed on Sunday, refer-ring to a chargesheet filed by the National Investiga-tion Agency (NIA) after 10 serial blasts took place at Bodh Gaya in Bihar earlier this month.

The BJP, simmering, responded that the Con-gress stand was “repre-hensible” and that it is politicising a dangerous terror group.

1984 riots: High Court notice to Sajjan Kumar on CBI’s plea against acquittal

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday issued a notice to Congress leader Sajjan Kumar on an appeal of the CBI chal-lenging his acquittal in a 1984 anti-Sikh ri-ots case relating to the killing of five Sikhs by a mob.

A bench of justices G S Sistani and G P Mittal asked the Congress leader to file his response to the petition of the probe agency and fixed the matter for further hearing on August 27.

Besides CBI, victims’ family members Jagdish and Nirpreet Kaur had also chal-lenged the trial court order in the case and their plea would be taken up on August 27 by the same bench.

A lower court had on May 30 let off Ku-mar in the 29-year-old case saying he de-served the “benefit of doubt” as key witness Jagdish Kaur did not name him as an ac-cused in her statement given to the Justice Ranganath Mishra panel in 1985.

“It wasa matter of fact that when eye wit-ness and complainant Jagdish Kaur had submitted her affidavit before Justice Ran-ganath Mishra Commission in 1985, she had not mentioned the name of Sajjan Kumar in any manner though the other accused had

been named,” it had said. The trial court, however,

had held five others guilty in the case and awarded vary-ing jail terms for being part of the mob that killed the Sikhs.

Ex-councillor Balwan Khokkar, Girdhari Lal and retired naval officer Cap-tain Bhagmal were given life term, while the remaining two, former MLA Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokkar, were given three-year jail term for their lesser roles.

The probe agency, in its appeal to the High Court, has said the trial court erred in acquitting Sajjan Kumar as it was he who had instigated the mob dur-ing the riots that broke out after the assas-sination of then Prime Minister Indira Gan-dhi on October 31, 1984.

Kumar, a former Lok Sabha MP from Outer Delhi, and five others were tried in the case dealing with the killing of five Sikhs - Kehar Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Ra-

ghuvender Singh, Narender Pal Singh and Kuldeep Singh, who were members of the same family, by a mob in Delhi Canton-ment’s Raj Nagar area.

The case against Kumar and others was registered in 2005 on a recommendation by Justice G T Nanavati Commission. CBI had filed two charge sheets against him and the other accused in January 2010.

Bihar BJP suspends legislator who criticised Sushil Modi

Patna: Trouble seems to be brewing within the Bihar unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP. A party MLA was today suspended after he raised his voice against the state unit chief, Sushil Modi.

“You have a Modi in Gu-jarat and you have a Modi in Bihar. The Modi in Gujarat is doing all he can for the welfare of his follow-ers. But the Modi in Bihar is killing us (Yahan toh karyakartaon ka hatya ho raha hai),” Amarnath Gami, MLA from Hayaghat in Darbhanga district, said.

Mr Gami is not alone in his dissi-dence. There are many more within the party who are expected to raise the ban-ner of revolt.

Mr Sushil Modi, the seniormost BJP leader in Bihar, is known for his alleged autocratic style of functioning.

Two days ago, BJP workers in Rohtas protested against Mr Modi and shouted slogans against him during his visit.

BJP’s ex-ally Janata Dal United or JDU said that this was just the begin-ning of the downfall of the party.

“This is just the beginning. There are

many more people like Mr Gami in the BJP,” said Shivanand Tiwari, hinting that they too would quit.

State BJP President Mangal Pandey, how-ever, hit back, accusing the JDU of luring away its MLAs and trying to

shore up its numbers within the Assem-bly.

“Our MLAs are being offered min-istership and their relatives are being promised seats in the legislative coun-cil,” he said.

“The day the Chief Minister (Nitish Kumar) expands his Council of Minis-ters, there will be a split in JDU. So, he is trying to increase his numbers in the assembly,” Mr Pandey said.

The absence of a few dissident MLAs like Mr Gami had prompted the BJP decision last month to abstain from the vote of confidence sought by Mr Nitish after the JDU and the BJP broke their 17-year-long association citing differences over the elevation of Gujarat Chief Min-ister Narendra Modi as the BJP’s 2014 campaign head.

Star tortoise seized, three arrestedThe Forest Department on Sun-

day seized an Indian star tortoise from the baggage of a passenger, who had arrived from Coimbatore on Amritha Express, at Thiru-vananthapuram Central railway station.

Three persons hailing from Pol-lachi in Tamil Nadu were arrested in connection with the seizure.

Acting on a tip-off received by the Forest Intelligence Cell, a team led by Range Officer C.K. Sudhish tracked Saravan, 24, Modilal, 27, and Malraj, 29, and seized the star tortoise weighing over one kg.

The tortoise was brought to the capital for sale by the three-member team. On questioning, the accused told the forest officials that they got the tortoise while bathing in a river

at Aliyar. But, the forest authori-ties have not taken their statement at face value.

The tortoise, initially kept at the Forest headquarters, was handed over to the Partuthipally range. A case had been registered against the three persons under the Wild-life Act.

Geochelone elegans, the Indian star tortoise, is a highly prized specimen in illegal wildlife trade. Trade in star tortoise is banned under Appendix-II of the Conven-tion of International Trade in En-dangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. There have been several instances of seizure of star tortoises at the Thiruvananthapuram and the Kochi airports while these were being taken to aquariums and pet stores in Bangkok and Kuala Lum-pur. Their ornate pattern has made star tortoises popular among collec-tors around the world. Small-sized tortoises and hatchlings fetch a higher price in the black market. Forest officials said it was the first time that a big star tortoise was be-ing seized.

2 villagers found dead; 4th phase of Panchayat polls underway

SURI: Two alleged CPI(M) supporters were killed when the crude bombs they were making exploded at Satpalsa village in Birbhum district, even as the fourth phase of Panchayat polls began in four districts today.

The deceased, identified as Jamir Seikh and Asim Bagdi, are believed to be CPI(M) supporters, but Dilip Ganguly, the district secretary of the party said, “We are not yet sure of their party affiliation”.

The bodies were found in a paddy field, which falls under Mayureswar police station. “Prima facie the two were making bombs which went off. Their hands were blown off,” Rampurhat sub divisional police officer De-basish Nandi said.

Though locals claimed there were three bodies, the police confirmed only two. In a separate incident, father of independent candidate Hriday Ghosh, was allegedly shot at Kasba near Bolpur, in the same district.

Ghosh claimed that the miscreants targeted him but his father was shot at while trying to rescue him. Some Maoist-posters were found at Barra village under Suri sub-division, also in Birbhum.

The fourth phase of Panchayat polls are being held in Birbhum, Malda, Murshidabad and Nadia districts today.

Congress tally to decline, but BJP will fall short in 2014: survey

A new survey has projected a hung Parlia-ment in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections despite the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerging as the single largest party with 145-155 seats. This is because the Congress party, despite its poor governance record, will lose ground, yet come a close second with 130-140 seats.

The survey conducted by Edelweiss Fi-nancial Services Ltd, an investment adviso-ry firm, also said the main opposition party would improve on its 2009 performance by consolidating its core constituencies of upper caste, urban and educated voters and make gains in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.The Congress may do better in Karnataka and Bihar but the snapping of its alliance with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu will weaken its prospects in these states, the poll said.The survey conducted in 10 big states—Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Rajasthan—also concluded that the rel-evance of caste, the importance of pre-poll

alliances, the role of governance and the elec-toral cycles of the states were the key themes that provided the basic framework to analyse the contours of electoral politics in India.

The analysis of the ground-level situation in Uttar Pradesh, the politically crucial state that sends 80 lawmakers to the 545-member Lok Sabha, said that the BJP is expected to make gains by consolidating upper caste votes, mainly due to the Gujarat chief minis-ter Narendra Modi, who heads its campaign team.

The ruling Samajwadi Party (SP), which

has 22 seats in the Lok Sabha, may gain mi-nority votes, but lose Dalit and upper caste votes it won in the 2012 assembly election. The survey said the SP could win 25-27 seats, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 21-23 and the BJP 21-23, leaving just 7-9 for the Congress that had won 23 seats in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.In Maharashtra, which has 40 Lok Sab-ha seats, the opposition Shiv Sena and BJP, which are alliance partners, may cash in on the anti-incumbency factor and win 10-12 and 15-17 seats, respectively. But the Maha-rahstra Navnirman Sena, a splinter group of the Sena, could be a spoiler and split the op-position alliance’s vote.In Andhra Pradesh, where the Congress is struggling to resolve a crisis arising out of the demand for a separate Telangana state, the ruling party may face a major electoral setback because of the newly formed YSR Congress. The Congress is not expected to improve its seat position against the BJP in Madhya Pradesh and may lose its dominance in Rajasthan, where runs the gov-ernment, to the same party. But its recent vic-tory in the Karnataka state elections may be repeated in the parliamentary election.

Mulayam Singh Yadav's corruption case: CBI chief to decide

whether to close enquiryNew Delhi: As the

Central Bureau of In-vestigation (CBI) winds up its probe into Sam-ajwadi Party leader Mu-layam Singh Yadav's alleged illegal wealth, there is speculation about whether the agen-cy is being pressured by the Congress to end its in-vestigation against him.

CBI sources told NDTV that the probe into Mr Ya-dav's case has concluded and the final call will be tak-en by the CBI direct Ranjit Sinha by the month-end, ahead of the monsoon ses-sion of Parliament.Specula-tion about a possible "clean chit" began after a petition-er in the case, Vishwanath Chaurvedi, alleged that the government is interven-ing to help the Samajwadi

chief, whose 21 Lok Sabha MPs are indispensable for the minority government.Mr Chaturvedi had earlier said he would challenge the Supreme Court order in December which let off Mr Yadav's daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav from the probe.The inquiry on whether Mr Yadav and his son, Akhilesh, are guilty of corruption was ordered by the Supreme Court in 2007 based on petition by Mr Chaturvedi.The CBI Director Ranjit Sinha will

decide whether to inform the Supreme Court that the agency wishes to close the case because it has not found evidence of venality. The CBI has, through its six-year investigation, see-sawed between whether its investigation is yielding dividends. Critics say that the Congress has leveraged the case to pressure Mr Yadav into supporting it on crucial legislation - the nuclear deal with the US in 2008, for example. Now, they say, the Congress wants to force Mr Yadav into voting for the Food Security law, which en-titles nearly 70% of India's population to highly subsi-dized food. Mr Yadav had said he was not in favour of the proposal because it was anti-farmer.

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