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News In Brief

Do not feel lonely, the entire universe

is inside you.- Rumi

C O U R T W A T C H

Political Activist Shot At In TralSRINAGAR: A former Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) activist was injured af-ter shot at by suspected militants at Kuch Mulla of Tral in south Kash-mir’s Pulwama district on Thursday late evening.

Reports said that the masked gunmen, believed to be militants, fired upon Abdul Rashid Bhat (50) son of Ghulam Ahmad Bhat of Kuch Mullaa outside his home. Rashid re-ceived a bullet wound in his left foot and was hospitalized.

Sources said that Rashid was ear-lier associated with BJP, however, later he quit the party. More On P8

Army Commander Concludes Valley Visit SRINAGAR: The Northern Army Com-mander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh conclud-ed his three day visit to the valley with a tour of the hinterland and frontier districts of North Kashmir to review the prevailing security situation.

The Army Commander accom-panied by the Chinar Corps Com-mander Lt Gen KJS Dhillon visited units and formations in the hinter-land in South Kashmir and along the Line of Control in North Kashmir, where he was briefed by the com-manders about (Full Report page 5)

Ex-MLA Arrested For 'Assaulting' Woman JAMMU: National Conference leader and former MLA Gagan Bhagat was arrested Thursday for allegedly abus-ing and thrashing a woman sarpanch in the border belt of R S Pura in Jam-mu district, officials said.

The alleged incident of thrash-ing was reported in the area on Saturday but the video, purportedly showing the NC leader attacking sarpanch Seema Devi and her sup-porters, went viral on the social me-dia Wednesday, prompting police to register a case. (Full report page 5)

‘Shrines To Have Upgraded Facilities’SRINAGAR: The Srinagar adminis-tration has initiated a process to up-grade facilities at major shrines and mosques in the district.

This was informed in a meeting convened here Thursday under the chairmanship of the Deputy Com-missioner Srinagar Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary.

The meeting of senior officers from concerned departments and Wakf Board officials were present in the meeting. (Full report Page 3)

A WOMAN ROWS HER BOAT through the interiors of Dal Lake. Picture Abid Bhat

Restrictions For 1 Month Imposed In Shopian

Pulwama Removal Helped Masood’s Designation: MEA

J&K Situation ‘Rapidly Deteriorated’ In Last 5 Years: Ex-PM

Weather To Improve From May 4 Onwards: MeTSRINAGAR: The mercury dipped in this summer capital of the state and other parts of the Kashmir Val-ley amid rains and snow on Thurs-day. The weatherman has forecast significant improvement in weath-er from May 4 onwards

Much to the surprise, Gurez in Bandipora district, received light to moderate snow since Thursday afternoon, resulting in dip in the maximum temperature, which set-tled several degrees below normal.

A meteorological department official said that Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of 7.4 de-grees Celsius against 9.7 degrees Celsius normal for this More On P8

Allotment 628 New Petrol Outlets Be Made As Per Local Laws Only: HCObserver News Service

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has directed Government of India and Public Sector Oil Companies to allot 628 Outlet Retail Dealerships in Jam-mu and Kashmir in tune with the local laws only.

“Having considered the rival submissions of the learned ap-pearing counsel for the parties on the subject, we are not inclined to stay the process of allotment of 628 Outlet Retail Dealerships in the state of J&K merely because the petitioners are already hav-ing Outlet Dealership at different

sites of the State but in order to ensure adherence to the Con-stitutional Scheme and the lo-cal laws having reference to the ownership rights of the proper-ties of the subjects in the State of J&K, we direct that Clause (IV) of the guidelines in-corporated in the adver-tisement notices shall not be given effect in respect of the applicants who are not fulfilling the requirements in tune with the local laws, ” said a division bench of Justices Ali Mohammad and Tashi Rabstan.

“The respondent Corporations shall only process the cases of

applicants who are adhering to the provisions of the local laws with reference to ownership or transfer of land,” the court said.

The petitioners— Habibullah Mir and others—have called in

question the decision of the Government of India and Public Sector Oil Compa-nies relating to opening of 65000 new retail outlets

including in the State of J&K as also the impugned guide-

lines of 2018 and advertisement notices published in local dailies. Inter alia, they challenged it on the grounds that Government of India and its Public Sector Oil

Companies have decided to es-tablish 65000 new Retail Petrol Outlets throughout India includ-ing the State of J&K ahead of State and Parliamentary Elections, so as to nearly double the existing network without assessment, feasibility and viability which is bound to affect the environment and also the land use.

The Government of India and its Public Sector Oil Companies have issued the advertisement notices for appointment of regu-lar/ rural outlet (Petrol Pumps) dealership at various locations in the State of J&K in violation of the guidelines of 2009 More On P8

Observer News Service

SRINAGAR: The Shopian district magistrate Thurs-day ordered imposition of restrictions under Section

144 of the CrPC for a period of one month from May 3, an official spokesman said.

According to the order, no assembly or congrega-tion shall be More On P8

Over 5.22 Lakh Entitled To Cast Vote On Monday

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

SRINAGAR: The curtains will fall on parliamentary elections in Kashmir Valley as Pulwama and Shopian districts of South Kashmir go to polls in the last of

the three-phase schedule for Anantnag Parliamentary constituency on Monday. Amid tightened security measures, over 5.22 lakh electors

are entitled to vote in the twin districts spread over six assembly segments comprising Tral, Pampore, Pulwama, Rajpora, Wachi and Shopian. The polling in the south Kashmir constituency is being held over three legs due to security reasons. Anantnag More On P8

Press Trust of India

NEW DELHI: The Pulwama at-tack on February 14 last that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel played a role in designating Jaish-e-Mohamad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a “global terrorist” by the United Nations, the Ministry of Exter-nal Affairs (MEA) said on May 2. It said that Pakistan was making claims over the listing to divert attention from the “huge diplomatic” setback it has suffered.

The assertion came after Pakistan claimed that it agreed to Azhar’s listing after all “po-litical references”, including attempts to link him to the Pul-wama attack, were removed from the proposal to designate him a global terrorist.

“The designation is not

based on the basis of a spe-cific incident, but on the basis of evidence which we have shared with members of the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Com-mittee, linking Azhar to sev-eral acts of terrorism,” MEA spokesperon Raveesh Kumar said at a media briefing. He said the notification broadly covers all terrorist acts. “Ele-ments are being introduced by Pakistan More On P8

Manmohan Singh Terms Pulwama Attack As Grave Intelligence Failure, Demonetization Monumental Failure KO Monitoring Desk

SRINAGAR: The internal security situ-ation in Jammu & Kashmir has “rapid-ly deteriorated” in the past five years due to an “opportunist” PDP-BJP government as also lack of a clear-cut Pakistan policy, former Prime Minis-ter Manmohan Singh has said.

The octogenarian Congress leader, in an interview with Hindustan Times, termed Pulwama attack, in which

more than forty CRPF personnel were killed in February, as grave intelli-gence and national security failure.

“Compromise on India’s Na-tional Security is unacceptable. 40 of our brave CRPF soldiers were (killed) in the Pulwama More On P8

Arrest Spree Continues In Pulwama, ShopianSRINAGAR: More than 40 more persons were picked up by the government forces from south Kash-mir’s poll bound districts of Pulwama and Shopian on Wednesday night.Reports said that the government forces during various night raids picked up 38 persons from Tahab and Chewakalan villages of Pulwama. A police of-ficial at Shopian said that the forces raided Vehil and Narwah villages of the district and detained six persons. More On P8

DISCLAIMER: Kashmir Observer maKes every effOrt tO ensure that the infOrmatiOn carried in display/ classified advertisements, appearing in the newspaper is cOrrect. hOwever the newspaper taKes nO respOnsibility nOr dOes it necessarily endOrse the cOntents Of these adverts. the readers are therefOre requested tO verify the cOntents befOre acting thereupOn. MAnAgEMEnt

CALL +91-194 2502327To place an advertisement

Office of The Regional Transport Officer Kashmir

NoticeWhere as an application for transfer of own-ership has been received from Altaf Ahmad Hajam S/o Ghulam Qadir Hajam R/O Nowshara Srinagar (Transferor) of k-10 bearing registra-tion No. JK01Q- 3550 chasis No: 191008 Engine

No: 4296634 Model 2011 in favour of Nazir Ah Ahangar S/o Abdul Satar R/O Tangmarg Baramullah (Transferee). Now, therefore, it is notified for the information of the general, public that representation/ Objection, if any in connection with proposed transfer will be received within 7 days from the date of publication of this notice in the daily newspaper Kashmir Observer to the address of undersigned.No, representation/ objection shall be considered unless it is made writing it is made in the aforesaid period.

NOJK-RTOK 780 Sd/-Dated: 25/04/2019 Regional Transport Office, Kashmir

Office of The Regional Transport

Officer Kashmir Notice

Where as an application for transfer of owner-ship has been received from Aijaz Ahmad Bhat S/O Abdul Hamid Bhat R/O Rawalpora Alam-dar Colony Srinagar (Transferor) of EECO bearing registration No. JK01Q- 9396 Chassis No 214036 Engine No 194287 Model 2011 in favour of Adil Nabi Dogloo S/o Ghulam Nabi Dogloo R/O Cherri Nambal Safa Kadal Srinagar (Transferee). Now, therefore, it is notified for the information of the general, public that representation/ Objection, if any in con-nection with proposed transfer will be received within 7 days from the date of publication of this notice in the daily newspaper Kashmir Observer to the ad-dress of undersigned.No, representation/ objection shall be considered unless it is made writing it is made in the aforesaid period.NOJK-RTOK 1102Dated: 2-05-2019 Sd/- Regional Transport

Office, Kashmir

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER Phone: - 0194- 2496272,

Subject: - Tender for Supply of

for 35 No. Water Testing Labs of Kashmir Valley

Ref: - This office N.I.T. No:-

Kindly read the technical specifications (makes)

Instead of

Make of laboratory

Equipment

Eutech Ltd, WTW,

Horiba, Palintest,

Hanna

Please note, the qualifying bidders shall have to demonstrate

Along with all allied Accessories

of the price bid in order to ensure the st

All other terms and condition will remain same.

No: PHE/M&P/188-195, Dated: 02-05-2019 Copy to the: -

1. Director General of commercial Intelligence and Statistics Kolkatta for getting the Corrigendum published in Indian Trade Journal please.

2. Chief Engineer, Kashmir PHE Department, Srinagar for information3. Superintending Engineer, PHE Mechanical Circle South, Srinagar for information. 4. Joint Director Information Deptt. Srinagar for getting the corrigendum published in two leading

National English dailies of the country anSrinagar

5. Assistant Executive Engineer PHE Chemical Sub Division for information.This is with reference to your letter No’s:- CSD/TCZ/40, Dated: CSD/TCZ/52, Dated:- 02-05-2019.

6. M/S Supreme Syndicate for information. This is with reference to your letter No: ss/2019201/196-99, Dated:-25-04-2019.

7. M/S Orlab Instruments Pvt Ltd for information. This 2019.

8. M/S SHA INFRA, for information. This is with reference to your letter No:01-05-2019.

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER

2496272, E-Mail:- [email protected]

Corrigendum No 1

Supply of Laboratory Equipments along with all Allied

for 35 No. Water Testing Labs of Kashmir Valley.

-PHE/M&P/02 of 2019-20/E-TENDER/

the technical specifications (makes) of the Laboratory Equipments as und

Instead of Please Read

Eutech Ltd, WTW,

Horiba, Palintest,

Eutech Ltd, WTW, Horiba, Palintest,

Hanna, Hach, Esico International

(EI),Oakton, Orlab, India

USA and Jenco Instruments,

the qualifying bidders shall have to demonstrate the Laboratory Equipments

Along with all allied Accessories to the Departmental Purchase Committee before opening

of the price bid in order to ensure the standard purchases.

All other terms and condition will remain same.

Executive Engineer, PHE (M&P) Divn. Sgr.

Director General of commercial Intelligence and Statistics Kolkatta for getting the Corrigendum published in Indian Trade Journal please.

Department, Srinagar for information Superintending Engineer, PHE Mechanical Circle South, Srinagar for information. Joint Director Information Deptt. Srinagar for getting the corrigendum published in two leading National English dailies of the country and in two local leading English dailies of Jammu as well as

Assistant Executive Engineer PHE Chemical Sub Division for information.This is with reference to CSD/TCZ/40, Dated: - 27-04-2019 and CSD/TCZ/48, Dated:

2019. Supreme Syndicate for information. This is with reference to your letter No: ss/2019

M/S Orlab Instruments Pvt Ltd for information. This is with reference to your

rmation. This is with reference to your letter No:- SI/19

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER

[email protected]

long with all Allied accessories

TENDER/Dated:-19-04-2019

Equipments as under:-

Eutech Ltd, WTW, Horiba, Palintest,

International

Orlab, India, HF Scientific,

Jenco Instruments, USA

Laboratory Equipments

to the Departmental Purchase Committee before opening

Sd/-

Executive Engineer, PHE (M&P) Divn. Sgr.

Director General of commercial Intelligence and Statistics Kolkatta for getting the Corrigendum

Superintending Engineer, PHE Mechanical Circle South, Srinagar for information. Joint Director Information Deptt. Srinagar for getting the corrigendum published in two leading

d in two local leading English dailies of Jammu as well as

Assistant Executive Engineer PHE Chemical Sub Division for information.This is with reference to CSD/TCZ/48, Dated:- 01-05-2019,

Supreme Syndicate for information. This is with reference to your letter No: ss/2019-

your letter dated:- 28-04-

SI/19-20/L/19, Dated:-

DIPK-988/19

Friday| 03-05-2019Monday - Saturday (9am - 6pm)No 1- Dal Lake Boulevard Srinagar, 190001, Kashmir

bazar Observer

B.N

MG

RN ANG Rz ANG

OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT REGIONAL TRANSPORT OFFICER BUDGAM KASHMIR

NOTICEWhereas an application has been recieved from one.Shri : Ishtiyaq Ahmad WaniS/o: Ghulam Ahmad WaniR/o: Lalpora Beerwah Budgam owner of vehicle bearing Registration No: JK04E-8301 for cancellation of hire purchase agree-ment with M/S Mahindra & Mahindra Finance Srinagar. Now therefore it is notified for the information of the general public that objections if any to the proposed cancellation of hire purchase Agreement shall be filed in writing in the office of the Assistant Regional Transport office ARTO Bud-gam within a period of 12 days from the date of publication of this notice in the daily newspaper . No. ARTO/ BUDGAM.349 Dated 02/05/2019 Assistant Regional Transport officer

Budgam Kashmir

OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT REGIONAL TRANSPORT OFFICER BUDGAM KASHMIR

NOTICEWhereas an application has been recieved from one.Shri : Jamsheed Ahmad Bhat S/o: Abdul Rashid BhatR/o: Soibugh Budgam owner of vehicle bearing Registration No: JK04C-7758 for cancellation of hire purchase agreement with M/S Ma-hindra & Mahindra Finance Srinagar.Now therefore it is notified for the information of the general public that objections if any to the proposed cancellation of hire purchase Agreement shall be filed in writing in the office of the Assistant Regional Transport office ARTO Budgam within a period of 12 days from the date of publication of this notice in the daily newspaper . No. ARTO/ BUDGAM.342 Dated 02/05/2019 Assistant Regional Transport

officer Budgam Kashmir

The Jammu and Kashmir State Board Of School Education

New Campus Bemina Srinagar Notice for General Public

The applicant/ candidate whose photograph is published in this notice and claiming to have lost his/her qualification certificate/s Qualification certificate havign the fol-lowing descriptionRoll No: 3164243 Class: 10th, Year and Session:- 2015 Annual Regular Registration: No N14441800133Name : Ummer Habib Mother's Name : Zareefa BegumFather's Name: Habibullah WaniDOB: 10-06-2000Residence: Brath Kalan SoporeNow the candidate has approach to this office for issuance of Duplicate Qualification Certificate, so before the same is processed and provided to the candidate, under rules, anybody having any objection in this regard, shall bring into the notice of undersigned within a period of seven days from the date of publication of this notice. (Besides the above referred "Qualification Certificate" Bearing S. No 15ARKAM-2026700 be treated as "CANCELLED")No: F(Corrs- 1-DQC)B/KD/19Dated 3-5-2019 Assistant Secretary Certificate,

Attention Please

The Jammu and Kashmir State Board Of School Education

New Campus Bemina Srinagar Notice for General Public

The applicant/ candidate whose photograph is published in this notice and claiming to have lost his/her qualification certificate/s Qualification certificate havign the fol-lowing descriptionRoll No: 3164257 Class: 10th, Year and Session:- 2015 Annual Regular Registration : No N14441800147 Name : Masroor Showkat Shah Peerzada, Mother's Name : Mahjabeena Begum Father's Name : Showkat Ahmad Shah Peerzada DOB : 20-08-2000 Residence : Dangiwacha Rafiabad BaramullaNow the candidate has approach to this office for issuance of Duplicate Qualification Certificate, so before the same is processed and provided to the candidate, under rules, anybody having any objection in this regard, shall bring into the notice of undersigned within a period of seven days from the date of publication of this notice. (Besides the above referred "Qualification Certificate" Bearing S. No 15ARKAM-2026710 be treated as "CANCELLED")No: F(Corrs- 1-DQC)B/KD/19Dated 3-5-2019 Assistant Secretary Certificate,

Attention Please

Government of Jammu and Kashmir

Office of the Executive Engineer , PDA, PahalgamNotice INviting Tender

E-NIT SL NO EE/PDA/ 05 OF 2019-20 DATED 29-04-2019

For and on behalf of the Governor of J&K State, The Executive Engineer, Phahalgam Development Authority, Pahalgam (PDA) hereby invites E-tenders (in Single Cover system) on item rate basis from the eligible contractors registered with J&K Government PWD, CPWD, SHGs Railways for the following works.S. NoName of the Work Adv. COst

Rs in LacsE/M COst of

T/DTIme Class

01 Supply of fertilizers, chemicals, fungicides, infecti-cides for maintenance of 18 Hole lidder valley Golf Course Pahalgam for the year 2019

6.50 Rs 13000/- Rs 500 15 Days Registered Manufacturers Suppliers/ Deal-ers/

02 Supply of spare parts including fixing and overhaul-ing of imported/ local Golf Machinery at Lidder Valley Golf course Pahalgam for the year 2019

8.00 Rs 16000/- Rs 5000/-

15 Days Registered Manufacturers Suppliers/ Deal-ers/

03 Providing water supply to 18 Hole Lidder Valley Golf Course Pahalgam

14.00 Rs 28000/- Rs 500/- 30 Days DEE/CEE/BEE

Position of Funds: DemandedTerms and Conditions1. The Bidding Documents consisting of qualifying information eligibility criteria specification drawings and bill of quan-tities (BOQ set of terms and conditions of the contract and other related details can be see/downloaded from the depart-mental webiste www.jktenders.gov.in as per scheduled dated give below:-01 Date of issue of tender Notice 29-04-201902 Online Bid Submission Start Date 11-05-2019 from 10 am03 Online bid submission last date 16-05-2019 upto 4.00 PM04 Date and time of opening of online bids 17-05-2019 at 12:00 PM

2. In light of the recent order issued by J&K Finance Department the 1st lowest bidder is required to deposit the CDR in original along Treasury Challan as tender document fee in the office of undersigned within three days after declaration of successful bidder . All interested participants are intimated to upload the following documents online.i. Cost of tender documents in the shape of E-challan or Treasury Challan/ Receipt.ii. Bid security deposit (EMD) in the shape of CDR/ FDR pledged to executive Engineer PDA Drawn from any nationalized/reputed bankIII. Registration card duly renewed for the current year 2018-19

NO.EE/PDA/89-93dated 29-04-2019

Executive Engineer , DIPK-NB-427/19 PDA, Pahalgam

Government of Jammu and Kashmir

Office of the Executive Engineer , PDA, PahalgamNotice INviting Tender

E-NIT SL NO EE/PDA/ 06 OF 2019-20 DATED 30-04-2019

For and on behalf of the Governor of J&K State, The Executive Engineer, Phahalgam Development Authority, Pahalgam (PDA) hereby invites E-tenders (in Single Cover system) on item rate basis from the eligible contractors registered with J&K Government PWD, CPWD, SHGs Railways for the following works.

S. No

Name of the Work Adv. COst Rs in Lacs

E/M COst of T/D

TIme Class

01 Development of theme park at Pahalgam by way of pro-viding and laying of turfing including maintenance

6.25 Rs 12500 Rs 500 30 Days DEE/CEE/BEE

Position of Funds: DemandedTerms and Conditions1. The Bidding Documents consisting of qualifying information eligibility criteria specification drawings and bill of quan-tities (BOQ set of terms and conditions of the contract and other related details can be see/downloaded from the depart-mental webiste www.jktenders.gov.in as per scheduled dated give below:-

01 Date of issue of tneder Notice 29-04-201902 Online Bid Submission Start Date 11-05-2019 from 10 am03 Online bid submission last date 16-05-2019 upto 4.00 PM04 Date and time of opening of online bids 17-05-2019 at 12:00 PM

2. In light of the recent order issued by J&K Finance Department the 1st lowest bidder is required to deposit the CDR in original along Treasury Challan as tender document fee in the office of undersigned within three days after declaration of successful bidder . All interested participants are intimated to upload the following documents online.i. Cost of tender documents in the shape of E-challan or Treasury Challan/ Receipt.ii. Bid security deposit (EMD) in the shape of CDR/ FDR pledged to executive Engineer PDA Drawn from any nationalized/reputed bankIII. Registration card duly renewed for the current year 2018-19

NO.EE/PDA/89-93dated 29-04-2019

Executive Engineer , DIPK-NB-428/19 PDA, Pahalgam

Government of Jammu & Kashmir

Directorate Of Floriculture Srinagar Kashmir

Tel-0194-2474234 Fax -2482032 email:- [email protected]

Office Notice

Sub: Cancellation of e-NIT No. 69 of 2018 dated 17/12/2018.

In view of no response to the above mentioned e-NIT for Outsourcing of Hiring out of Park-ing lot at Nehru Memorial Botanical Garden, Cheshmashahi Srinagar, the said NIT is hereby cancelled ab-initio.

By order No: DFK/GS- 384/612-16 Dated: 29/04/2019

Sd/- Accounts Officer

DIPK-975/19 (Member Secretary)

Phone No. 0191-2561578 E-Mail: [email protected] Fax No. 0191-2547807

Hue and Cry Notice Rule No. 712/191

SHO P/S Gandhi Nagar, has intimated that accused Gaganpreet Singh S/O S.

Amrik Singh R/O H. No. 523 Sector No. 02, Nanak Nagar, Jammu is evading his arrest in case FIR No. 106/2019 u/s 302/34 RPC, 4/25 Arms Act since the commission of crime.

As such photograph of above mentioned accused is being published for the information of Police establishments / Public in general having any clue related to the whereabouts / present location of above named accused, kindly communicate the same on the below mentioned contact / Telephone numbers. Description Roll :- Name Gaganpreet Singh Son of S. Amrik Singh Permanent Address H. No. 523, Sector No. 02, Nanak Nagar, Jammu. Age : 20 years Height : 5 feet 10 inch Colour : Fair Contacts/Telephone Numbers:-

1. DPO, Jammu- : 0191-2547807, 0191-2561578 2. SSP Jammu Mail I.D:- : [email protected] 3. PCR Jammu:- : 0191-2542000 4. SP City South:- : 0191-2433778 5. SDPO City South:- : 0191-2430002 6. Landline of P/S Gandhi Nagar :- 0191-2430528

Sr. Superintendent of Police Jammu

Encl:- No. Date:-

DIPK-979/19

Government of Jammu & Kashmir

Directorate Of Floriculture Srinagar Kashmir

Tel-0194-2474234 Fax -2482032 email:- [email protected]

Office Notice

Sub: Cancellation of e-NIT No. 78 of 2019 dated 06/02/2019.

In view of no response to the above mentioned e-NIT for Supply of Plant Material, the said NIT is hereby cancelled ab-initio.By order No: DFK/GS- 372/723-26 Dated: 02/05/2019

Sd/-Accounts Officer

(Member Secretary)DIPK-983/19

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MQ BuD

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S H O R T S T O R I E S

Friday | 03-05-2019 03Srinagar Observer

From KO Archives

DIAL-EMMA• TRAFFIC POLICE : 9419993745, 01998-266686• PCR: 0194-2452092,2455883• PDD: 0194-2450213• FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES : 2479488,2452222,2452155• CAPD: 18001807011• SMC HEALTH OFFICER: 9469409081

AIRPORTS

SHIEK UL ALAM AIRPORT: 01942303311

RAILWAYS• SRINAGAR: 0194-2103259• ANANTNAG: 01932-228243• BARAMULLA: 0194-102029• BIJBHERA: 01932-228243• PAMPORE: 01933-294132• PATTAN: 01954-293507• QAZIGUND: 01951-296153

HIGHWAY STATUS• Sgrr-Jammu highway - (Open)

• Mughal Road - (Open)• Srinagar- Leh- (Open)

This Day in History• 1374- BC Solar eclipse (2m07s) seen at Ugarit

by Mesopotamian astromoners "On the day of the new moon, in the month of Hiyar, the Sun was put to shame, and went down in the daytime, with Mars in attendance."

• 1660- Sweden, Poland, Brandenburg & Austria sign Peace of Oliva

• 1715- Edmund Halley observes total eclipse phenomenon "Baily's Beads"

• 1919-Afghanistan Emir Amanoellah begins war against Great Britain

• 1928- Japanese atrocities in Jinan, China.• 1938- Vatican recognizes Franco-Spain• 1939- The All India Forward Bloc is formed by

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.• 1941-German air raid on Liverpool• 1942- Japanese troop attack Tulagi, Gavutu &

Tanambogo, Solomon Islands during WWII• 1945- Allies arrests German nuclear physics

Werner Heisenberg• 1945- British troop join in Rangoon• 1945- WWII: German ship "Cap Arcona"

laden with prisoners sunk by Royal Air Force in East Sea, 5,800 killed - one of largest maritime losses of life

• 1947- New post-war Japanese constitution goes into effect.

• 1952-1st landing by an airplane at geographic North Pole

• 1962-Express train crashed into wreckage of a commuter train & a freight, killing 163, injuring 400 (Tokyo, Japan)

• 1965- 1st use of satellite TV, Today Show on Early Bird Satellite

• 1965- Cambodia drops diplomatic relations with the US

• 1970- Trans-Arabian Pipeline delivery from Saudi Arabia to the Mediterranean interrupted in Syria, driving oil tanker rates to all time highs

• 1971-Nixon administration arrests 13,000 anti-war protesters in 3 days

• 1978-First unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail ("spam") is sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the US west coast

• 1983- Soviet leader Andropov decreases nuclear weapons in Europe

• 1986- NASA launches Goes-G, it failed to achieve orbit

• 2001- The United States loses its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission for the first time since the commission was formed in 1947.

• 2013- Aorun zhaoi, a Theropod dinosaur, dating from 161 million years ago, is discovered in China

ROSHAN LAL MAWA, A KASHMIRI PANDIT WHO RETURNED to his homeland after 29 years, is welcomed by fellow traders at his shop in Zaina Kadal area of Srinagar on Thursday . .........Pic Abid Bhat

HIJRI CALENDAR

27 SHABAN-

AL-MUAZAM

1440

PRAYERSFAJR

4: 08ZUHR12: 28

ASR5:18

MAGRIB7:18ISHA8:49

Tsunami theory has "support" in Kashmir


SRINAGAR - The report on April 17 that a retired Atomic Energy Department scientist had attributed the Asian tsunami to plan-etary alignment has come as a boost for those who believe that cosmic changes influence events on earth.

A Kashmiri Naqash Ghulam Jeelani who says he has written about the phenomenon of interplanetary and cosmic forces having a bearing on what happens on earth as far back as IW1, feels vin-dicated by the report. Also, he takes issue with the view by some scientists I hat (he earthquake which caused the Asian tsunami might have changed the earth's spin, Naqash says: "My point is that if at all there is a connect ion between earth's spin, wobble, axial till and the tsunami, then the wobble, or change in spin or axial tilt must have occurred first, causing the Asian tsunami."

"Because, primarily my opinion is based on the observation that cosmic changes or forces, and interplanetary changes affect intra-planetary activities and phenomena."

Naqash says that he has neither the resources nor the equip-ment to collect data about natural disasters but his opinion stems, among other things, from "observations" about the varying frequency of incidence of events such as earthquakes, appearance of comets, cyclones and formation and extinction of geographical features, "which have sometimes occurred at a high rate of movement and sometimes at a comparatively low rate."

Paramahatnsa Tewari, the retired Atomic Energy Department scientist, had said that his conclusion about the causes of the tsunami stems from his theory that all spinning cosmic objects including the sun develop electric fields that repel each other.

According to Tewari on December 26, 2004 whcn the Saturn, Moon. Earth and the Sun were perfectly aligned, there was an imbalance of these electrical forces on Earth, because the repulsive force due to Sal urn was reduced as it as shielded by the Moon which does not spin, while the Sun, which was on the other side exerted its force on Earth.

Tewari had said that the imbalance pushed solid earth away from the sun causing sc water to overflow due to its fluidity, causing the tsunami.

(Kashmir Observer, 03 May, 2005)

'No Horn Zone' enforcement near hospitals, schools, courts


SRINAGAR: The Srinagar adminis-tration has initiated a process to upgrade facilities at major shrines and mosques in the district.

This was informed in a meeting convened here Thursday under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Dr Shahid

Iqbal Choudhary. The meeting of senior officers from concerned departments and Wakf Board offi-cials were present in the meeting.

Some of the major shrines and mosques to be upgraded in terms of facilities include Syed Yaqoob Sahab Shrine at Sonwar, Khan-qah-e-Moula Shrine at Khanqah, Dastgeer Sahib Shrine at Khanyar,

Naqshband Sahib Shrine at Khwa-ja Bazaar, Asaar-e-Sharief Dargah at Hazratbal, Jenab Sahib Masjid at Soura, Asaar-e-Sharief Shehri at Kailashpora and Aali Masjid at Ei-dgah. Secretary Wakf Board who was also present in the meeting was asked to submit details of immediate requirements of these shrines and mosques.

The DC while speaking on the occasion said that work on all these shrines and mosques will be taken soon after reception of requirement details adding that all works will be time-bound and completed in the shortest pos-sible time. Joint Director Planning M.Y Lone was also present in the meeting.

Major shrines and mosques to have upgraded facilities

Police traces missing woman, babySrinagar: Police Post Lassipora received a report from Mushtaq Ahmad Mir resident of Patipora informing them that his wife along with her 2-months-old baby are reportedly missing from their home since April 06, 2019. On receipt of this missing report, a special team was constituted at PP Lassipora to trace out the missing persons. The team carried out searches at different places in the area and after strenuous efforts, the missing persons were traced from Srinagar with the help of community members. After completion of legal formalities, both missing persons were handed over to their family members.Pertinently, it is a third such case in the current week in which police has been able to recover the missing person.

Police drive against wrong parking, encroachmentSrinagar: Srinagar police launched a drive against traffic violators and vendors indulging in encroachment of streets and foot-paths. Drive against wrong parking, encroachment was carried out from Karan Nagar Chowk to Kaka-Sarai Chowk along with SMC and Traffic Police.About hundred traffic violators were challaned and twenty vehicles seized. This drive will continue in coming days also.General public has applauded this police action.


SRINAGAR: Divisional Commission-er Kashmir Baseer Ahmad Khan Thursday stressed all concerned of-ficers to take strict action as per law against the tipper drivers found in-volved in ferrying uncovered build-ing material across capital city.

It was observed that the build-ing material in the shape of sand, bricks, bajri, clay, dust, cement etc. is being transported uncovered which leads to the flying off the material particles causing air pol-lution and other environmental is-sues, besides polluting water bod-ies. He enjoined upon all the stake holders to ensure that the material is covered properly with tarpaulins during transportation of the ma-terial. He said the violators of the order shall be impounded by the Police and dealt as per the relevant law. To avoid inconvenience to the general public, the Divisional Com-missioner Kashmir Baseer Ahmad Khan today stressed all concerned officers to enforce ‘’No Horn Zones’’ near hospitals, educational institu-tions and courts immediately.

“Any person found violating the orders shall be dealt strictly as per the law,” he added.

He asked concerned officers to ensure the installation of maxi-mum number of sign boards in this regard near hospitals, educational institutions and courts for the con-venience of drivers.

Harmukh club organizes mahadev trekSrinagar: The Harmukh Adventurers team organized a trek to Mount Mahadev in which 45 members participated. Out of 45, 43 members were able to submit the peak. It is a record set by the club that so many members were able to submit the peak. Mr. Manzoor Mir, one of the founding members of Harmukh Adventurers club said “It was a really challenging task for us not in terms of summit but in terms of handling the crowd. As it was a huge crowd with 45 guys involved in the trek”. Among these guys, there was one girl Mus-kan, who successfully climbed the summit. She is the only girl to have submitted Mount Mahadev. Mount Mahadev lies in Zabarwan range and is Srinagar’s highest peak with an altitude of 3966 mtrs. The team along with 45 members started from Dara at 6:45 am and reached Lidwas valley at around 11 am (the base of Mount Mahadev)and had their lunch. Thereafter started their trek towards Mount Mahadev. The team reached the peak at around 3 pm. The team was lead by Manzoor Mir, Amir Latief ,Danish Dhaar and Abid Kharadi.

Action ordered against tipper drivers for ferrying uncovered building material

Div Com reviews traffic issues across citySrinagar: The Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Baseer Ahmad Khan Thurs-day convened a meeting to review traffic related issues across the city.

Identification of Taxi, Mini bus and Auto-rickshaw stands, identification and operationalization of parking sites, improvement of cross roads and intersections, removal of encroachment and vendors at Panthachowk and Parimpora bus stand, face lift of Parimpora bus stand, checking of overload-ing on different routes in the city, management of traffic lights, control of noise pollution and other issues were discussed threadbare in the meeting.

The Divisional Commissioner Kashmir stressed the officers to ensure removal of all bottlenecks immediately for the traffic de-congestion across the capital city. Additional Commissioner Kashmir, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, RTO, VC SDA, Commissioner SMC, SSP Traffic, Regional Director State Pollution Control Board and other concerned officers were present in the meeting.

Srinagar: Darbar Move Employees Federation Thursday appealed au-thorities to provide proper facilities to Secretariat employees during the holy month of Ramadhan.

They said that the employees from Jammu who will arrive here in Kashmir should be provided all kind of facilities in coming month of Ramadhan. Ovais Wani, presi-dent Darbar Move Employees Fed-eration appealed CAPD Director to ensure inspection of those hotels

where the employees stay so that they could get hygiene food. He also demanded a single room for single employee so that they could bring their families here. “It will boost the economy of Kashmir if Darbar Move employees from Jammu arrive here along with their families,” he said and added authorities not to deduct HRA on providing hotel accommo-dation. Federation also requests MD SRTC for starting SRTC bus service to every district from secretariat.


Srinagar: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah Thursday questioned Congress party's elec-tion campaign in Jammu and Kash-mir saying it was inexplicable that the opposition party conceded a "walkover" to the BJP as far as op-tics were concerned. "The Congress was in with a fighting chance in 4 of the 6 seats and in 3 of these the

BJP was the main opponent. It's in-explicable how the BJP was simply given a walkover as far as the optics of the campaign were concerned," Abdullah said in a series of tweets. The former chief minister, whose party was part of UPA II, said the lack of presence of top Congress leaders on campaign trail in Jammu and Kashmir spoke a lot about their approach to the state.

"It says a lot about the Congress

party & its approach to J&K. There hasn't been a single election meet-ing by its leadership," he tweeted.

Abdullah said by contrast, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah addressed several rallies in the state. "Contrast this with the number of rallies ad-dressed by Modi ji & Amit Shah. They may not have come to the valley but they didn't ignore the state," he added.

Cong conceded optics walkover to BJP in J&K: Omar

Darbar Move Employees Federation seeks facilities

Mirwaiz condemns 'arrest spree' Srinagar: Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Thursday “strongly condemned” the arrest spree in south Kash-mir’s districts of Shopian and Pulwama ahead of parliamentary elections. “Strongly condemn the daily arrest spree of youth from Pulwama and Shopian. Continued repression in #SouthKashmir is heart rendering,” said the Mirwaiz on Twitter. “Unless all those who claim to speak for fundamental #HumanRights of all don’t speak up, people of Kashmir will continue to be at the receiving end,” he said.

NEWS Friday| 03-05-2019 4I r a n F M I n S y r I a

Making Sense Of The World Around U s

n E W S M a K E r S

Press Trust Of India

Odisha: a massive opera-tion was launched in Odisha on Thursday to evacuate over 8 lakh people from low-lying coastal areas as the extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani moved closer to the eastern coast, officials said.

as per the latest bulletin of the india Meteorological department (iMd), Fani lay centred over West Central Bay of Bengal about 430km south-southwest of Puri in Odisha, 225km south-south-east of Vishakhapatnam in andhra Pradesh and 650km south-southwest of digha in West Bengal.

it is likely to move north-northeastwards and cross the Odisha coast near Puri on May 3 evening with maxi-mum sustained wind speed of 170-180kmph and gusting up to 200kmph, special Re-lief Commissioner (sRC) B.P. sethi said.

The cyclone is be-ing tracked by doppler weather radars at Chennai, Vishakhapatnam and Machil-ipatnam, the sRC said.

People from low-lying and vulnerable areas of coastal districts are being shifted to safe places such as 880 cyclone centres, school and college buildings and other structures, he said.

according to the sRC, the evacuation of 8 lakh people is the largest-ever evacuation

operation in the country.at least 14 Odisha dis-

tricts—Puri, Jagatsingh-pur, Kendrapara, Balasore, Bhadrak, Ganjam, Khurda, Jajpur, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Gajapati, Mayurbhanj, dhen-kanal and Keonjhar—are likely to bear the brunt of Fani, which is also likely to impact andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

Emphasising that every life is precious, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who reviewed the preparedness on Wednes-day evening, said there was a need to give special attention to pregnant women, children, elderly people and differently-abled persons.

arrangements have been made to start free kitchens to provide cooked food to the evacuees, the sRC said.

Over 1 lakh dry food pack-ets have been kept ready for air dropping in the areas to be affected by Fani, the most severe cyclonic storm since the super cyclone of 1999 that claimed close to 10,000 lives and devastated large parts of the state.

Navy, air Force, army and Coast Guard have been put on high alert to meet any eventuality. Personnel of National disaster Response Force (NdRF), Odisha di-saster Rapid action Force (OdRaF) and fire service have been sent to vulnerable areas to assist the administra-tion, an official said.

Ishrat Jahan Case: Former Cops Vanzara, Amin Discharged’ Rs 72,000 Will Be Deposited In

Bank Accounts Within A Year Under NYAY Scheme: RahulPress Trust Of India

New delhi: a special CBi in ahmedabad on Thursday dis-charged former police officers d.G. Vanzara and N.K. amin in the ishrat Jahan alleged fake encounter case.

Vanzara and amin had filed discharge applications in the

court after the Gujarat government refused to grant sanctions to the CBi to prosecute the two former police officers.

special CBi court judge J.K. Pandya said since the govern-ment has not sanctioned their prosecution, their discharge pleas are allowed and proceedings against them will be dropped in the case.

Under section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the government’s sanction is necessary for the prosecution of a public servant for an act done as part of the official duty.

ishrat, a 19-year-old woman from Mumbra near Mumbai, Javed shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, amjadali akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed by Gujarat police in an alleged fake encounter on the outskirts of ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.

The police had claimed they were terrorists and come to Gujarat to kill then chief minister Narendra Modi.


siMdEGa: Congress presi-dent Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said if voted to power, Rs 72,000 would be deposited in bank accounts of 5 crore people of the country within one year under NYaY scheme.

The amount will be given till a family earns Rs 12,000 per month, he said.

addressing an election rally in simdega, which is a part of Khunti Lok sabha constituency where voting will take place on May 6, the Congress chief made a blistering attack at Prime Minister Narendra Modi blaming him for working only for only 15-20 people.

Narendra Modi ji has not fulfilled his promises of providing two crore jobs. he did not deposit Rs 15 lakh in bank accounts of the people, Gandhi said.

he (PM) only worked for 15-20 people, Gandhi said, apparently referring to industrialists.

appealing to the people to vote for Congress and

Mahagathbandhan candi-date Kalicharan Munda from Khunti, Gandhi fur-ther attacked Modi for not waiving farm loans while (the MsP) Rs 2500 is being given for rice in Chhattis-garh ruled by the Congress.

Munda is facing BJPs arjun Munda from Khunti Ls seat. The Congress chief said the poor were hit by the GsT and asserted that the Congress was commit-ted to save tribal land.

This alliance (Maha-gathbandhan) has the voice of people. i have not come to speak our maan ki baat but to listen to your maan ki baat and whatever you will tell us we will do it, Gandhi said.

Saudi Crown Prince Offered Abbas $10 Billion To Accept Trump's Plan: Report

Agencies

BEiJiNG: Chinese police are using a mobile app to store data on 13 million ethnic minority Uighurs and other Tur-kic Muslims in Xinjiang province, a human Rights Watch (hRW) report has revealed.

The app, known as the integrated Joint Operations Platform, is being used to store information from the height and weight of individuals to facial recognition scans.

The report, released on Thursday, added that Xinjiang authorities closely watch 36 categories of behaviour, in-cluding those who do not socialise with neighbours, often avoid using the front door, don’t use a smartphone, donate to mosques “enthusiastically”, and use an “abnormal” amount of electricity.

“The goal is apparently to identify patterns of, and predict, the everyday life and resistance of its population, and, ultimately, to engineer and control reality,” hRW said in the report.

The rights watchdog worked with German security firm Cure53 to reverse engineer the app in late 2018 to pro-

vide “an unprecedented window into how mass surveil-lance actually works in Xinjiang”.

along with collecting personal information, the app prompts officials to file reports about people, vehicles and events they find suspect, and sends out “investigative mis-sions” for police to follow up.

Officers are also asked to check whether suspects use any of the 51 internet tools that are deemed suspicious, in-cluding messaging platforms popular outside China like Whatsapp, LiNE and Telegram.

a number of people said they or their family members have been detained for having Whatsapp or a Virtual Private Network (VPN) installed on their phones during checks by authorities, according to the report.

HRW: China Using Mobile App For Surveillance Of Uighurs

Cyclone Fani: Odisha Begins Evacuating Over 8 Lakh People

From Bodyguard To Queen Thai king announces surprise wedding

Thailand’s King Maha Va-jiralongkorn has married the deputy head of his per-sonal guard force and gave

her the title of queen just days before his official coronation.

The surprise announcement was carried in the Royal Gazette and foot-age from Wednesday’s wedding cere-mony was shown on the nightly Royal News segment aired on all Thai televi-sion channels.

Thai television, which broadcast the royal order on Wednesday evening, showed a video of Queen suthida pros-trating herself before the king, to whom she, according to the announcer, pre-sented a tray of flowers and joss sticks, and in return was bestowed traditional gifts associated with royal power.

Vajiralongkorn, 66, also known by the title King Rama X, became consti-tutional monarch after the death of his revered father, King Bhumibol aduly-adej, in October 2016, after 70 years on the throne.

he is due to be officially crowned in

elaborate Buddhist and Brahmin ceremo-nies on saturday, followed by a procession through Bangkok the next day.

in 2014, Vajiralongkorn appointed suthida Tidjai, a former flight attendant for Thai airways, as a deputy command-er of his bodyguard unit.

some royal observers and foreign media had linked suthida romantically

with the king, but the palace had previ-ously never acknowledged a relation-ship between them.

The king made suthida a full gen-eral in the Royal Thai army in decem-ber 2016, and the deputy commander of the king’s personal guard in 2017.

he also made her a Thanpuying, a royal title meaning Lady.

CBSE Class 12 results announced, 2 UP girls top with 499 marks

new delhi - Girls outshone boys in the CBsE Class 12 examinations announced Thursday, with toppers

hansika shukla from Ghaziabad and Karishma arora from Muzaffarnagar scoring 499 out of 500 marks.

Rishikesh’s Gaurangi Chawala, Raebareli’s aishwarya and Bhavya from Jind bagged the second rank, scoring 498 out of 500 marks.

Neeraj Jindal and Mehak Talwar from delhi are among 18 students to rank third in the exams.

The Central Board of secondary Education (CBsE) results have been announced within 28 days of the last date of the examination.

The Class 12 examination began on February 16, earlier than previ-ous years. The results, which is usu-ally announced by the third week of May, is also being announced earlier than scheduled.

around 13 lakh students appeared for the examination.

akshay Kumar ignores question on skipping voting

MuMbai: after he was heavily criti-cised for not vot-ing in the polls

held for six lok sabha seats in Mumbai, actor akshay Ku-mar dodged questions on his conspicuous absence.

Kumar was in news only a few days ago for his “non-politi-cal” interview with Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi.

But the hero of films like “Kesari”, “Toilet Ek Prem Katha” and “airlift” which had nationalistic overtones, gave voting a miss on Monday.

at a special screening of the film “Blank” on Tuesday, the ac-tor interacted with the media, lauding the movie and the per-formances of debutantes.

however, when the actor was asked why he skipped vot-ing, akshay simply walked off, saying “Chaliye chaliye (lets go, lets go).”

The irony of akshay skip-

ping voting did not go unno-ticed on Twitter, as just last month Modi had tagged the actor in a tweet, asking him to encourage voting.

in response to the PM, the “Kesari” actor had written the power of a vote “is immense and we all need to improve aware-ness on its importance.

Agneices

RiYadh: saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin salman has reportedly offered Palestin-ian authority (Pa) chief Mah-moud abbas 10 billion dollars in return for accepting Us President donald Trump’s controversial proposal for peace between the israelis and Palestinians, dubbed “the deal of the century.”

The Lebanese daily arabic-language newspaper al-akhbar reported on Tuesday that ab-bas turned down the offer, say-ing supporting the deal would be “the end of his political life.”

al-akhbar cited leaked diplomatic reports based on conversations between the two arab politicians, noting that the reports -- written by Jordanian envoy to Ramallah, Khaled al-shawabkeh -- were based on briefings with a num-ber of Palestinian officials.

according to the Lebanese newspaper, bin salman briefed abbas on the contents of the american proposals during the latter’s visit to saudi arabia in december 2017, and asked the Palestinian leader how much his delegation's annual budget was.

“i’m not a prince to have my own entourage,” abbas replied. “how much money does the Palestinian authority, its min-isters and employees need?” bin salman then questioned.

abbas said that the Pal-estinians need $1 billion each year, to which the saudi de

facto ruler was said to have responded, “i will give you $10 billion over 10 years if you ac-cept the deal of the century.”

abbas, however, said no, be-cause if he did, it would “mean the end of my political life.”

Bin salman also told ab-bas that saudi arabia and other arab countries would help them expand their control over areas B and C in the oc-cupied West Bank, and provide financial support for projects to boost their economy.

“saudi arabia will support the Palestinian authority with more than $4 billion,” the saudi crown prince reportedly said.

The Palestinian authority chief highlighted that political realities prevent him from tak-ing the so-called Us peace plan, emphasizing that he could not make concessions regarding is-raeli settlements, the so-called two-state solution and Jerusa-lem al-Quds.

abbas underscored that

the americans would not pro-vide any written proposals, but would adopt a tactic similar to the 1917 Balfour declaration that led to the israeli occupa-tion of Palestinian lands.

Trump’s so-called “peace plan” has been dismissed by Pal-estinian authorities ahead of its unveiling at the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan and the formation of the new israeli cabinet, most likely in June.

speaking in the occupied West Bank city of Ramal-lah on april 16, Palestinian Prime Minister Moham-mad shtayyeh lashed out at Trump’s initiative, asserting that it was “born dead.”

shtayyeh noted that nego-tiations with the Us were use-less in the wake of the coun-try’s relocation of its embassy from Tel aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds, which Palestinians con-sider the capital city of their future state.

WikiLeaks' Assange to fight extradition to USPress Trust Of India

london - wikileaks found-er Julian assange has con-firmed that he will fight extradition to the united states, where he is accused of conspiring to hack a govern-ment computer.

at a court hearing Thurs-day, assange said he would not surrender to extradition for do-

ing what he called "journalism that has won many awards." assange appeared at Westmin-ster Magistrates' Court by video link from London's Belmarsh Prison, where he is serving a 50-week sentence for skipping bail in 2012 and taking refuge in the embassy of Ecuador.

British police arrested him last month after Ecuador re-voked his political asylum.

WikiLeaks founder Julian assange was facing a court hearing Thursday over a U.s. request to extradite him for al-legedly conspiring to hack a Pentagon computer.

assange, who is fighting at-tempts to send him to the United states, is expected to appear by video link from prison for the hearing at London's Westmin-ster Magistrates' Court.

The city skyscrapers exquisitely lit up and further highlighted by the moon in Moscow, russia. (Photo: aP)

S H O R T S T O R I E S

Friday | 03-05-2019 05News

Pulwama Becomes First to Get BSNL's 'Bharat Fibre'New Delhi: State-owned telecom firm BSNL has become the first operator to start optical fibre-based high-speed broadband service in Pulwama with launch of 'Bharat Fibre', the company said on Thursday."This is the first such FTTH (fibre-to-the-home) service deployment in the (Kashmir) Valley under this unique revenue share model. Since the Bharat Fibre services are provided on the optical fibre right up to the customer premises, reliable and high-speed internet services are

delivered to the cus-tomers," BSNL Director (Consumer Fixed Access) Vivek Banzal said in a statement.He added that the services are generally not affected even during adverse weather condi-tions. BSNL provides FTTH service with a monthly charge in the range of Rs

777-16,999 in over 160 telecom districts with a mini-mum speed of 2 megabit per second (mbps)."We have plans to roll out this service in all the districts of Jammu and Kashmir. People looking for business opportuni-ties to partner with BSNL should contact local BSNL authori-ties and our team shall explain the ease of network integra-tion and revenue sharing process," Banzal said. The service was launched by BSNL Chief General Manager (Jammu and Kashmir Circle) Rana Ashok Kumar Singh, in the presence of Srinagar General Manager Telecom District Zafar Iqbal and BSNL's channel partner Mir Nazir. "This service has been launched in a business partnership model with the local channel partner of Pulwama area, on a revenue sharing basis. The FTTH equipment has been installed and com-missioned by the channel partner, strengthened with high-speed backhaul internet bandwidth, and customer billing services are being provided by BSNL," the com-pany said in the statement.


Poonch: On the first day after its re-opening, the historic Mughal Roadside became a nightmare for hundreds of people who spent sleepless night on road in near zero temperature.

Earlier on Wednesday morn-ing, the road was opened for one way traffic and vehicles moved from Poonch to Srinagar side. However, a slide took place at 39 kilometres point from Bufliyaz side, which led to suspension of traffic in evening hours.

Official sources said that slide was cleared at about 11 PM but

due to frozen and severe slip-pery conditions, ‘not even a single vehicle could have been allowed to ply leading to pas-sengers stuck on road'.

Official sources said that on Thursday early morning hours, all the stranded vehicles were cleared by team of traffic police headed by DySP Traffic Moham-mad Rafiq. PDP Rajouri district spokesman, Adv.Tazeem Dar, who spent night on Mughal Road, said it was a terrible expe-rience of life for him.

"Hundreds of people in about forty vehicles spent our night at the road in almost zero de-

gree temperature." Adv. Tazeem said who said that everyone was without drinking water and food. He further said that government authorities should order closure of road for some days unless it becomes stable as ill-planned movement of ve-hicles without any safety mea-sures can put lives of hundreds of people in risk.

He also demanded forces to lay multiple checkup points in-stead of a present single one at Poshana to ensure that minimal time is consumed in frisking of vehicles which is taking too much time presently.

Hundreds spend sleepless night under open sky


Srinagar: The Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh concluded his three day visit to the Kashmir valley with a tour of the hinterland and frontier dis-tricts of North Kashmir to review the prevailing security situation, a defence ministry spokesman said in a statement.

"The Army Commander ac-companied by the Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen KJS Dhillon visited units and formations in the hinterland in South Kashmir and along the Line of Control in North Kashmir, where he was briefed by the commanders about

the counter militant and counter infiltration grid and measures in place to safeguard the borders," the spokesman said. The Army Commander complimented the troops for their relentless efforts in thwarting the adversary’s de-signs and maintaining constant vigil in the harshest terrain and weather, the spokesman said.

The Army Commander also lauded the exemplary synergy amongst all the forces and ap-preciated the actions taken by the units and formations in en-suring safety and wellbeing of the people residing in vicinity of the Line of Control, the spokes-man added.

Army commander concludes Kashmir visit


Poonch: While government de-partments are not exactly known for being up to speed, Power De-velopment Department (PDD) has failed to install a power transformer sanctioned for a hamlet eighteen years ago.

Reports said that the 63 KV electric transformer along with several poles was allotted to the Kasab Village of Mendhar in 2001 by former MLA Lal Mohd Sabir.

“Since then, the transformer is lying on the roadside for the reasons best known to the power department,” the locals said.

They said despite being allot-ted the transformer, they have been deprived from the basic ne-cessities even in this modern age.

“We have been given electric connections few years back from adjacent villages on their trans-former but the connections are frequently breaking due to load shedding which also adds to our miseries,” they said.

“We tried our best to get the transformer installed. We have moved from pillar to post so that the dream to get our ham-let electrified comes true, but to no avail,” the residents of Kassab

village said. Both the politicians as well as administration have left us on the mercy of the situ-ation and we have been suffer-ing for the last 18 years, they said adding that the PDD even didn’t bothered to lift the transformer back so that it could have been prevented from rusting or any other damage. The residents have urged the Governor Satya Pal Ma-lik to order inquiry as to why the transformer awaits installation for nearly two decades now.

“The Governor must direct the PDD to take immediate mea-sures for the installation of the transformer and also take action against the officials involved in dereliction of duties,” they said.

When contacted Executive En-gineer PDD Mohammad Maqbool Naik admitted that the trans-former is lying there for last sev-eral years.

"The department could not in-stall it due to lack of funds. We will sent a team to the spot and check the feasibility and act ac-cordingly," he said.

Deputy Commissioner Poonch Rahul Yadav said that an inquiry would be launched into it. I will seek report from the concerned Executive Engineer, he added.

Poonch village awaits transformer installation since 18 years


Jammu: National Conference leader and former MLA Gagan Bhagat was arrested Thurs-day for allegedly abusing and thrashing a woman sarpanch in the border belt of R S Pura in Jammu district, officials said. The alleged incident of thrashing was reported in the area on Sat-urday but the video, purportedly showing the NC leader attacking sarpanch Seema Devi and her supporters, went viral on the so-cial media Wednesday, prompt-ing police to register a case.

"He was arrested around 2 pm in R S Pura belt in connec-tion with a case of thrashing (of woman sarpanch and her sup-porters)", Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) R S Pura, Sahil Prashur, told PTI.

He said the case is being inves-tigated. The video purportedly showed Bhagat thrashing Devi and her supporters in R S Pura

over the issue of taking credit for installing power transformer in Raipur Sajda village in the con-stituency. In the video, Bhagat is seen questioning the credentials of an elected Sarpanch of the area for installation of the trans-former in the area and entering into verbal brawl and assault.

An FIR was registered against him. Bhagat wanted to rule the areas by using "muscle power", Devi told reporters here. The sarpanches and panches of All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC) led by its president Anil Sharma held pro-tests in R S Pura in support of the action against the NC leader.

"We want the Governor and the DGP to take action against Bhagat. His security should be withdrawn. He is using his se-curity to threaten the people," Sharma told reporters.

After being expelled from the BJP recently for his "anti-party" activities, former MLA from RS

Pura, Bhagat, joined the NC in presence of the party president Farooq Abdullah in December last year. In December last, Bha-gat was served a defamation no-tice by the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the party for levelling "unfounded and abusive" allega-tions against state party presi-dent and state general secretary.

The party had also expelled the former RS Pura MLA alleged-ly for indiscipline and anti-party activities.

Going against the party line, the MLA had on December 3 moved the Supreme Court chal-lenging the dissolution of state Assembly by Governor Satya Pal Malik calling it "unconstitution-al and undemocratic".

In August, Bhagat was sus-pended for three months on the recommendation of the disci-plinary committee of the state BJP for his role in the alleged abduction of an ex-serviceman's daughter.

Former MLA arrested for 'assaulting' woman sarpanch


Jammu: A doctor at a hospital in Jammu's Akhnoor was arrested following the death of a mar-ried woman allegedly after she was administered an injection, police said Thursday.

The doctor's son was also ar-rested after the family members of the deceased, identified as Anju Devi, alleged that he at-tacked them, they said.

"We had received informa-tion that a woman had died after being given an injection at the Choudhary hospital here. We registered an FIR immedi-ately," Akhnoor sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Ajay Shar-ma told reporters. As soon as the news spread, a large num-ber of people, including the woman's relatives, began pro-tests on the hospital premises.

During the protests, the hospi-tal officials, including the son of its owner, allegedly attacked them, police said. Sharma said the protesters "tried to take law into their hands".

"A police team was rushed to the spot and the situation was brought under control," the SDPO said, adding that the accused, Dr Gafoor, and his son was arrested and the case is be-ing investigated.

Parveen Singh, brother of the deceased woman, alleged that she collapsed immediately af-ter administrating the injection. Later, she was declared dead.

"She had no serious ailment except cold and fever. It was due to the negligence of the doctors that she died. The government should seal the hospital and take strict action against its owners and doctors," Singh alleged.

Doctor, son held after woman dies at hospital in Akhnoor


Srinagar: National Confer-ence leader Omar Abdullah said Wednesday the UN designation of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist was just "a symbolic win" and there was no mention of the deadly Pulwama at-tack or terror in Kashmir in the list-ing. "No mention of terror in Kash-mir & no mention of Pulwama. It's amazing how quickly the sacrifices of the CRPF men were sold down the river to get a symbolic win," he tweeted. Abdullah, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, said Chinese diplomats' wordplay had allowed both India and Paki-stan to claim diplomatic victory.

"The Chinese diplomats must be a happy bunch today. Their word-play has allowed both India & Paki-stan to claim a diplomatic victory. That's no small achievement," he said. He, however, admitted that the UN listing of Azhar has come as a shot in the arm for BJP's "flag-ging" election campaign.

"The rest of the opposition must be wondering if it will ever catch a break. Every time the BJP campaign seems to be flagging it gets a shot in the arm. The #MasoodAzhar devel-opment in the UN today couldn't have come at a better time for the Modi ji's re-election campaign," he added on the micro-blogging site.

The United Nations' designation of Azhar came through after China lifted its hold on a proposal to blacklist the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief, a decade after New Delhi approached the world

body for the first time on the issue.The UN committee listed Azhar

on May 1, 2019 as being associated with al-Qaeda for "participating in the financing, planning, facilitat-ing, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction

with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of", "supplying, selling or transferring arms and re-lated material to", "recruiting for", "otherwise supporting acts or ac-tivities of", and "other acts or activ-ities indicating association with" the JeM. There was no mention of the Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which was claimed by the JeM. A UNSC designation will sub-ject Azhar to an assets freeze, trav-el ban and an arms embargo. An assets freeze under the sanctions committee requires that all states freeze without delay the funds and other financial assets or economic resources of designated individu-als and entities.

Masood Azhar's UN designation symbolic win: Omar

A BURQA-CLAD WOMAN HOLDS A CPI(M) flag during a protest organised by the party in Srinagar on Thursday

Pic Abid Bhat

MUGHAL ROAD RE-OPENING


New Delhi: Over 89 per cent of urban municipal wards in India have achieved complete door-to-door collection of solid waste under the Swachh Bharat Mis-sion (Urban), the government said in an RTI reply. According to the RTI reply, 630 wards in Jam-mu & Kashmir and 956 wards in Jharkhand have the facility of 100 per cent door-to-door collection of municipal solid waste.

The Union Housing and Ur-ban Affairs Ministry, in its reply, said that out of 84,420 wards, there are 75,367 wards with the facility of 100 per cent door-to-door collection of municipal solid waste. Andhra Pradesh has 3,409 wards which are pro-viding this facility while there are 10,831 such wards in Uttar Pradesh, the ministry said, add-ing that 254 municipal wards in Delhi have this service.

The Swachh Bharat Mission,

launched by Prime Minister Na-rendra Modi in October 2014, aims at making urban India free from open defecation and achieving 100 per cent scientific

management of municipal solid waste in 4,041 statutory towns in the country.

"Hundred per cent door-to-door collection of municipal waste has been achieved in Bihar's 2,970 wards while in Gujarat, there are 1,415 such municipal wards," the ministry said in its RTI reply. Twenty-six wards in Chandigarh and 3,217 wards in Chhattisgarh have this facility under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

‘Complete door-to-door garbage collection in 630 JK municipal wards’

Indian and Chinese army hold border meetings in LadakhSrinagar: Indian and Chinese army on Wednesday held border personnel meetings (BPMs) on the line of actual control (LAC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Ladakh division.A defence statement said today, "Ceremonial Border Personnel Meetings (BPMs) on the occasion of Interna-tional Labour Day were conducted today at Chinese BPM huts at Moldo and TWT meeting points opposite eastern Ladakh. "The ceremonial border personnel meeting was marked by saluting the National flag by members of the delegations". This was followed by a ceremonial address by delegation leaders and exchange of greetings. Both sides reflected mutual desire of maintaining peace and tranquility and improving relations at functional level along the border areas, the statement said. Thereafter, a cultural programme showcasing vibrant Chinese culture and traditions was organised by the Chinese side, it said.

9 drug peddlers arrested in JammuJammu: Nine suspected drug peddlers and addicts were arrested in Poonch, Jammu and Reasi districts of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday and narcotic substances seized from them, police said.Ram Kishore was arrested from Reasi town after one kilogram poppy was found in his three-wheeler, an official said. On his disclosure, another suspected drug peddler, Sunil Kumar, alias Sonu, was apprehended. One kilogram poppy was found in his car as well, they said. In the border district of Poonch, six people were arrested for being allegedly involved in drug abuse and peddling, officials said.In Jammu, Parshotam Lal, alias Pamma, was arrested af-ter narcotic drugs and Rs 30,500 cash was found in his possession during checking at Janipur area, they said.Cases have been registered against all of them, police added.

Any resulting rise in oil prices would

spread to other commodity prices, leading to inflationary pressure – particularly in countries affected by the end of waiver such as India, where inflation has already started picking up. Such countries would also see direct effects on their import bill and hence their balance of trade. For every dollar increase in oil rates in India, for instance, the import bill will rise by around $1.5 billion at a time when the country’s trade deficit already stands at over $10 billion.

Friday| 03-05-2019

Sunday Observer

Send your write ups and feedback at [email protected]

No Holds Barredk a s h m i r

Editor-in-Chief : Sajjad Haider

Legal Counsel: Tasaduq KhwajaSwitchboard: (0194) 2106304Editorial: (0194) 2502327Email editorial: [email protected] & Published by Sajjad Haider on behalf of the Kashmir Observer LLPPublished from: # 1- Boulevard, Srinagar-190001Printed at: KT Press Pvt. Ltd, Rangreth Ind Area, Srinagar.RNI Registration No: 69503/98Postal Registration No-L/159/KO/SK/2014-16

...

Surendra in ‘The Hindu’

Think!Opinion, Analysis, Essays

Bhagdadi (and ISIS) makes for the most interesting case study for those who study “terrorism”. His strategic choices demand a keen attention. In order to “avenge” the gruesome killings of Muslim worshippers in Christchurch he chose to attack Christians in Sri Lanka which, till Easter Sunday this year, was perhaps one amongst only a few countries in this godforsaken world where Christians and Muslims lived together in harmony.

Basharat AliLearn to trust the Almighty without an iota of doubt. Remem-ber, you don’t have all the answers but He does. He is Lord of the Worlds. He is the answer to all your woes. He is our Provider, Sustainer, Nourisher, Healer, Comforter, Protector and everything that you need!

Mufti Ismail Menk

All in A dAys work

.....

Potholed Capital

The roads in Srinagar are in pretty bad shape. It is impossible to find a stretch of road without potholes which is making driving through the city or for

that matter even through the Valley a bone-breaking experience. But the state govern-ment seems immune to the situation. The con-dition of the roads is only getting worse by the day. While senior administrative functionar-ies hardly need to use the roads and travel in high-end vehicles when they have to, the mil-lions of the common folk who travel to their work daily have hardly this option.

What makes the situation further unsustainable is that the bad roads have a direct bearing on the economy. More so, when the streets in Srinagar - ironically also the tourism capital of the state – are in the worst state of disrepair. The travel to Lal Chowk from the airport or from other entry routes to the city brings this appalling reality home. The daily reports of the trials and tribulations of the people on their way to the city centre are scary. The roads are taking a heavy toll not only on the travelling public but also on the fitness of the ve-hicles. The damage to the vehicles is the most con-spicuous fallout of the bad roads. It is already cost-ing the people millions through increased delays, extra fuel costs and auto repair bills.

But except for the occasional official assur-ances, there is little evidence of even an incipient change on the ground. On some roads, the govern-ment has resorted to the adhoc filling of the pot-holes with dust and gravel to make them motor-able but the frequent rains send the situation back to square one, often making things worse than before. The lack of drainage has also contributed to the mess, often turning stretches of roads into outsized poodles of water during rain and then into muddy, pothole-filled obstacle courses.

If there is anything that deserves urgent gov-ernment attention, it is to make the roads at least reasonably motorable. The awful state of the roads in the winter capital arguably makes Srinagar one of the worst cities for traffic in the country. And this state of affairs is hardly affordable for a state that depends on the tourism to invigorate its bat-tered economy.

In an attempt to pass the buck the state govern-ment is now blaming the contractors for refusing to carry out the repair work pending clearance of their bills. The contractors have a legitimate griev-ance too. The government owes them more than Rs 1000 crore for their completed contracts. The government is in a position to resolve the issue and get the contractors working. Further delay in repairs will only worsen the situation.

o t h e r o p i N o N

Yeti again

AFTeR a long and distinguished career spanning the gamut of the human imagination, from mythology to comic books, the Yeti has now reached social me-dia. The abominable snowman was discovered by

Twitter when an Indian Army handle with 5.9 million follow-ers posted images of footprints in the snow near the Makalu base camp. They are 32 inches long, look exactly like Yeti foot-prints in Tintin in Tibet, and have fuelled a sharing frenzy, but the army is being mercilessly ridiculed. The army, which must not be criticised in the interest of national security. Mumkin hai.

Granted, there are puzzling inconsistencies with the popu-lar image of the Yeti, a shaggy bipedal creature. For example, the prints seen all appear to have been made by one foot, sug-gesting that hopping is the Yeti’s native form of locomotion. Social media is having a ball with that, but classical sources support the army. In Indika, the oldest known Greek work on India from the 5th century BC, the physician Ctesias wrote of a race of South Asian monopods who hopped, and also slept with their solitary foot held aloft, shading them from the sun.

Hopping Yetis are par for the course in Indian social me-dia, a highly imaginative space. In recent days, it has featured Madonna singing the Hanuman Chalisa. A random guy has taken a video of buildings in Turin and passed them off as Ra-hul Gandhi’s property, put out on rent. One of the buildings is the royal palace, incidentally. Twitter features such incred-ible discoveries every day, and one would have expected the occasional Yeti to go unnoticed. As it has gone, visually un-noticed, in its furtive existence since its footprints were first discovered in 1899 by Lt Col Laurence Waddell, archaeologist, Assyriologist, chemist, archaeologist, explorer, problematic historian and the Indiana Jones of his times.

Indian Express

4 Kashmir ObserverFriday, 01 February, 2013 OPINION

KASHMIR OBSERVERKASHMIR OBSERVERSRINAGAR, Friday, February 01, 2013

Striking at Roots

SOCIETAL TRENDS guided by the political elite have shornthe teaching profession of its status and sanctity, turning itinto just another vocation with little to distinguish it from,say, hawking garments on the streets. The adventurous, glam-

orous and challenging enterprise of kindling, illuminating and en-lightening tender young minds has become a lack-lustre anduninspiring activity devoid of its sorely-needed spirit, mainly be-cause successive leaderships (if they deserve that name) have beentoo occupied with other, more lucrative, concerns to bother aboutwhat is the corner-stone of the well-being of a people. This has hada direct bearing on the condition of schools and their performance.

By an ironic twist of circumstance, the teaching profession hasbeen for long, the last resort of the capable and the destination ofchoice for those who are unable to fit in anywhere else. When thescreening process for entry into this field - on which the entire socialedifice rests - should have been highly stringent, it had largely be-come a hit- and-trial exercise with the barest minimum regard fortalent, skill and temperament.

Having been active partners in ruining the state-run school sys-tem, the ruling classes now abdicate all responsibility by dumpingthe educational sector into the private lap. This is seen in the lavishsupport to fashionable and prohibitively expensive private schoolsand the mushrooming of lesser copycats who are making a finan-cial killing in the absence of a dependable and affordable publicstructure. It is nothing short of a scandal that parents should avoidsending their wards to government schools on account of the latter’sdismal record, and prefer seedy and crowded private options nomatter how mercenary they are.

Students cleared by the state-run school system in Kashmiroften barely make the grade in rudimentary literacy, particularly inrural and remote areas. This is sought to be cloaked by the perfor-mance of a handful of private schools, with no thought for thecolossal amounts spent on running a vast network of under-per-forming institutions. Howsoever sound the system may appear onpaper, on the ground it is as rickety and run-down as the schoolhouses spread all over rural Kashmir chronically starved of staff andproper equipment. Reports of under-manned schools, particularlyat the primary level, are a routine feature such areas, while insti-tutes in the city appear to bursting at the seams with needlessstaff, Schools in far-flung areas function at the sweet discretion oftheir often lone teachers, and instances of just one or two tutorshandling multiple classes and hundreds of students are common.The standards of such schools and the education they impart canwell be imagined.

The situation has been allowed to drift for far too long in thehope that with time the growing, engineered preference for pri-vate schools would phase the government system out of existence.It remains to be seen how well measures taken in desperation, likerecruitments scrounged in haste, are able to turn the tide for soci-ety, particularly low-income, rural and agrarian classes for whomstate-run schools were the mainstay of hope.

O T H E R O P I N I O N.....................................................................................

THE PAKISTAN women’s cricket team’s visitto India for the World Cup has turned into

a security and logistical nightmare. First, theteam could not go to Mumbai, where itsmatches were originally scheduled, after theShiv Sena started issuing its usual threatsagainst visiting Pakistani teams.

Now, hotels at the alternative venue ofCuttack and neighbouring cityBhubaneshwar have refused lodging to ourplayers out of fear.

Our cricketers now have to play this all-im-portant tournament under virtual house ar-rest, with their accommodation being pro-vided at the clubhouse of the stadium inwhich all their matches will be played. Everyother team will be staying in five-star hotels.

Discrimination Against CricketersN O H O L D S B A R R E D.................................................................................................

MAIL YOUR LETTERSP.O. Box # 337, GPO, Srinagar-190 001email: [email protected]

OBSERVER MAIL All letters intended for publication must include the writer’s name and address, even if a pseudonym is used. Letters are edited as clarity, spaceand accuracy of expression require. Our publishing a letter does not mean we agree with everything or even anything in it. -EDITOR

VIEWPOINT

This discrimination is undoubtedly unfairand puts our team at a significant disadvan-tage. The team has been conciliatory aboutits treatment but the International CricketCouncil (ICC) should take note of this.

International teams have refused to visitPakistan over justified security fears. It seems,however, that if we simply put internationalteams at clubhouses in stadiums and refuseto let them go anywhere else, the securityproblem would apparently be solved.

No country, of course, would accept suchconditions to play cricket in Pakistan. Yet, ourwomen cricketers are expected to put up withthis in India. Additionally, the final of thetournament is supposed to be held inMumbai. India needs to explain how our crick-

eters will be able to stay in Mumbai in thecurrent climate if we reach the final.

The ICC also needs to consider if India shouldbe allowed to hold multi-nation tourna-ments at a time when it can’t guarantee safetyof all players.

It is now too late to reschedule the WorldCup and our pulling out of the tournamentin protest will only heighten tensions. Weshould make clear that we are only playingunder duress and that such conditions areunacceptable if any of our sportspersons tourIndia again. Instead of appeasing the anti-Pakistan extremists, the Indian governmentmust ensure the safety and comfort of ourplayers.

-EXPRESS TRIBUNE

NILOOFAR QURESHI

Kashmir’s Fate is Just Consequential!DEAR EDITOR,

I would like to comment on theletter, written by one Shoaib Bhat,Kashmir Observer, Jan 22, titled, "Whois Responsible For LoC Killings?" Imust say to Shoaib that, you seem toknow a lot.

If it is true, there should beinvestigation and appropriate actiontaken against those who provokedpeace and created this environment

of mistrust. Could you also tell us whobeheaded and mutilated the bodies ofthe Indian soldiers? This should nothave happened in any case.

UN roles in Kashmir has beenminimised post 1971 for India. It isjust symbolic now.

It seems that the United Nationshas not played any role in this sectorfor a long time. In my view, it is morea political point on part of both these

countries, one wanting to and theother avoiding its role in Kashmir.

It is not in the interest of any oftwo countries India and Pakistan toindulge in any misadventure here oranywhere.

No one should man Kargil or otherhigher reaches, the rough terrain andall this is in the extreme frigid coldand hostile environment. The militaryon both sides should be minimised but

there is something that seems toinvite and incite the elements toKashmir. It is part of the history of thesub-continent.

We need to overcome it for oureternal peace. Unfortunately,Kashmir's fate is just consequential!

Shoaib, keep writing and stay safe.Khuda Hafez!

-VORSHALVia: email

FOR THOSE WHO HADPLACED THEIR BETS ON‘AMAN KI ASHA’, 2013 HASCERTAINLY BROUGHTBAD NEWS. BUT AREN’TTHEY THEMSELVES TO BEBLAMED FOR EXPECTINGTHE IMPOSSIBLE?

A LONG WAY TO GO

EXPECTING THAT thevenom of hatred infusedinto their people over theyears by the leaders onboth sides could easily

and quickly be remedied merely bythe antidote of ‘Confidence Build-ing Measures’ (CBMs) while theythemselves continue to foster an en-vironment of mutual mistrust!

The reaction of New Delhi andIslamabad to the recent incidents onthe LoC serves as a grim reminderthat the basic philosophy of ‘build-ing bridges’ through CBM initiativesby increasing ‘people to people’ con-tact is flawed.

Flawed, not because the conceptin itself is wrong, but because theleaders themselves don’t seem to beinterested in setting an example bydisplaying confidence in each other.Though, both countries are nowshowing some sanity in their deal-ings, the damage done to the pre-carious bilateral relationship betweenthe two by irresponsible statementslike “there can be no business asusual” and “war mongering” has

undone whatever little may havebeen achieved by the CBMs.

However, despite both sides re-iterating that the bilateral ties had notbeen derailed, the recent turn ofevents suggest otherwise. NewDelhi, suddenly like a bolt out of theblue, raked up theissue of the rel-evance of the UNMilitary ObserverG r o u p(UNMOGIP) onthe LoC in Jammuand Kashmir.

Declaring that“UNMOGIP’s rolehas been over-taken by theShimla Agreementof 1972 betweenIndia and Paki-stan, signed bythe Heads of thetwo governmentsand ratified bytheir respectiveparliaments,” theIndian representa-tive suggested itstermination.

As expected,Pakistan stronglydenounced NewDelhi’s contentionby saying that nobilateral agree-ment between thetwo nations had“overtaken or affected” the role orlegality of the UNMOGIP.

New Delhi initiated theUNMOGIP debate under the garb ofbetter spending of resources allo-

cated for the Observer Group else-where in difficult economic times.

However, as expected, this‘noble’ proposition with fiscal importfailed to cut any ice as the issue un-der discussion was an open debateon peacekeeping and not on auster-

ity measures.Why New

Delhi decided todeviate from itsage-old policy of‘letting the sleep-ing dogs lie’ tobring up theUNMOGIP issueand the timing itchose to do so,defies compre-hension. So,while nothingcame out of thisdebate, oldwounds were re-opened andnormalisation ofthe bilateral tiesbetween NewDelhi andIslamabad hastaken yet anotherbody blow.

Islamabad tooseems to be itch-ing for a chanceto ‘take on’ NewDelhi. Just a dayafter the Jamaat-ud-Dawa Chief,

Hafiz Saeed offered ‘asylum’ toBollywood star Sharukh Khan, Paki-stani Interior Minister Rehman Maliktoo joined in by saying that thoughSharukh Khan “is a born Indian and

he would like to remain Indian, but Iwill request the government of India(to) please provide him security.”

Not content with his ‘request’ tothe Government of India, Malik wenton to appeal to the Indian public that,“I would like to request all Indianbrothers and sisters and all thosewho are talking in a negative wayabout Shah Rukh, they should knowhe is a movie star."

While New Delhi may be an-noyed at Malik’s ‘request’, thepeople of India will perhaps remainever grateful to the Pakistani Inte-rior Minister for enlightening themwith the fact that Shahrukh Khan is“a movie star!”

Can bilateral ties between Indiaand Pakistan improve if Pakistanagrees that the UNMOGIP is not re-quired any longer in J&K and Indiareciprocates by providing ShahrukhKhan ‘Z’ category security?

Though the recent exchanges be-tween New Delhi and Islamabad maybring a whiff of humour into our lives,the dismal future of the bilateral rela-tions, which the present ‘line of en-gagement’ portends, is disquietingand sends shivers down the spine.

It is high time that leaders of bothcountries stop behaving like school-children and remedy the serious‘foot-in-the- mouth’ disease, whichseems to have afflicted them. Till thishappens, ‘Aman ki Asha’ will remaina distant dream and bilateral rela-tions will become another ‘comedycircus’!

NILOOFAR QURESHI is based in New Delhi andcan be reached at: [email protected]

DEAR EDITOR,Apropos news, ‘AFSPA Immu-

nity For Forces’ Sex Crimes MustEnd’, Kashmir Observer, January28, I want to say that we thepeople of Kashmir appreciatewhat Dr.Kiran Bedi said but whohas to initiate the action.

It is India who has to take theaction, but this country is neverready to bother for innocent

killings and heinous crimescommitted by its army and suchall other agencies that too withthe help of Indian puppets ofKashmiri origin.

-M. R. BABAVia: email

‘IN CONCLUSION’ was a favouritephrase of a teacher of mine — a man of scien-tific qualification; a man who looked at youand perceived atoms and molecules. Mr P, let’scall him, for he very well may still be alivemonitoring the masses that passed throughhis hands.

It was the Sixties, of course. The HippieMovement was winking naughtily from out-side classroom windows, “Come out and tastethe freedom!”

The band Uriah Heep did indeed sing,plaintively, Free Me, which may well havebeen the anthem of many a classroom boundschoolboy of that time.

It was also still the Years of Collusion —between teacher and parent to ensure at allcost that Johnny put his head down peeredinto the laboratory microscope and avertedhis gaze from the classroom windows. Theworld outside can wait, a good educationcouldn’t.

Tired of Thinking? Come to a ConclusionIf he were a cricketer — which I rather

doubt since he possessed not one jot of cricketvocabulary in his speech — but if he were acricketer Mr P would have been categorisedas an all rounder. This is because he was threescience teachers rolled into one. He taughtPhysics, Chemistry and when the frogs wereplentiful he was found in theBiology rooms giving lessonson dissection which non-bi-ology-inclined ones like my-self found hard to stomach,especially the drawing ofblood or the severing of flesh in order to peerat the undercoating and the insides.

“One has to have a stomach for thesethings,” Mr P would instruct, directing hiswords at the ones who’d gone a whiter shadeof pale and generally stood in the back rowsat the dissecting table so they missed a gooddeal of what was going on.PREPARING TO FACE LIFE: “Life is going totoss things at you that are a lot harder to take,so get used to it. In any case, you have to do ityourself come exam time. It carries a good deal

of marks, remember.”This generally got the ashen-faced ones

moving a few feet forward in a determinedeffort to overcome their resisting wills.

Chemistry periods were about tableswith cryptic symbols and water that changedcolour magically with the introduction of dif-

ferent powders. I once remem-ber naively being drawn intotaking a deep sniff from abottle of chlorine that nearlytook my sinuses for a walkright out of my body.

Physics was about equations, balanceand sticking pins in paper while trying totrace angles of reflection and refractionthrough a thick glass slab.

Most things in Mr P’s class started out aspremises before gradually working their waythrough a series of reasoning stages to a finelydrawn conclusion.

Dispute that, he’d say, pointing to asolved equation on the blackboard. Of course,who could? Especially who could who had hishead wrapped around other notions — those

of total freedom to pursue the pathways ofone’s own mind, frolic in the fields of an idyl-lic nature and dream of writing lines thatrhymed and described life in a more naturalway — a way that had nothing to do withscience?

A young man dreaming is how I come toview my school reports of that day and agewhen I glance at them occasionally thesedays yellowing in a plastic sleeve. Mr P obvi-ously had a kind heart too for his marksawarded to me in their own scientific wayreflect a kindness.

If the dissecting of a frog taught me any-thing it pointed me in the direction of veg-etarianism and a kindness to all animals greatand small. Science provided me with an in-sight into laterality. That is, you could beseated in the lap of science and be totally atease contemplating poetry.

Science didn’t care because ultimately itseems everything is relative. There is no end,no conclusion to be drawn because like somewise person once said, “A conclusion is theplace where you got tired of thinking.”

KEVIN MARTIN

LIFE IN ACLASSROOM OF

THE SIXTIES

Why New Delhidecided to deviate from

its age-old policy of‘letting the sleeping

dogs lie’ to bring up theUNMOGIP issue and

the timing it choseto do so, defies

comprehension. So,while nothing came out

of this debate, oldwounds were reopenedand normalisation of

the bilateral tiesbetween New Delhiand Islamabad has

taken yet another bodyblow. Islamabad too

seems to be itching fora chance to ‘takeon’ New Delhi.

Hail Kiran Bedi

oBsERVER

MaiLAll letters intended for publication must include the writer’s name and address, even if a pseudonym is used. letters are edited as clarity, spaceand accuracy of expression require. our publishing a letter does not mean we agree with everything or even anything in it. -EdIToR

4 Kashmir ObserverFriday, 01 February, 2013 OPINION

KASHMIR OBSERVERKASHMIR OBSERVERSRINAGAR, Friday, February 01, 2013

Striking at Roots

SOCIETAL TRENDS guided by the political elite have shornthe teaching profession of its status and sanctity, turning itinto just another vocation with little to distinguish it from,say, hawking garments on the streets. The adventurous, glam-

orous and challenging enterprise of kindling, illuminating and en-lightening tender young minds has become a lack-lustre anduninspiring activity devoid of its sorely-needed spirit, mainly be-cause successive leaderships (if they deserve that name) have beentoo occupied with other, more lucrative, concerns to bother aboutwhat is the corner-stone of the well-being of a people. This has hada direct bearing on the condition of schools and their performance.

By an ironic twist of circumstance, the teaching profession hasbeen for long, the last resort of the capable and the destination ofchoice for those who are unable to fit in anywhere else. When thescreening process for entry into this field - on which the entire socialedifice rests - should have been highly stringent, it had largely be-come a hit- and-trial exercise with the barest minimum regard fortalent, skill and temperament.

Having been active partners in ruining the state-run school sys-tem, the ruling classes now abdicate all responsibility by dumpingthe educational sector into the private lap. This is seen in the lavishsupport to fashionable and prohibitively expensive private schoolsand the mushrooming of lesser copycats who are making a finan-cial killing in the absence of a dependable and affordable publicstructure. It is nothing short of a scandal that parents should avoidsending their wards to government schools on account of the latter’sdismal record, and prefer seedy and crowded private options nomatter how mercenary they are.

Students cleared by the state-run school system in Kashmiroften barely make the grade in rudimentary literacy, particularly inrural and remote areas. This is sought to be cloaked by the perfor-mance of a handful of private schools, with no thought for thecolossal amounts spent on running a vast network of under-per-forming institutions. Howsoever sound the system may appear onpaper, on the ground it is as rickety and run-down as the schoolhouses spread all over rural Kashmir chronically starved of staff andproper equipment. Reports of under-manned schools, particularlyat the primary level, are a routine feature such areas, while insti-tutes in the city appear to bursting at the seams with needlessstaff, Schools in far-flung areas function at the sweet discretion oftheir often lone teachers, and instances of just one or two tutorshandling multiple classes and hundreds of students are common.The standards of such schools and the education they impart canwell be imagined.

The situation has been allowed to drift for far too long in thehope that with time the growing, engineered preference for pri-vate schools would phase the government system out of existence.It remains to be seen how well measures taken in desperation, likerecruitments scrounged in haste, are able to turn the tide for soci-ety, particularly low-income, rural and agrarian classes for whomstate-run schools were the mainstay of hope.

O T H E R O P I N I O N.....................................................................................

THE PAKISTAN women’s cricket team’s visitto India for the World Cup has turned into

a security and logistical nightmare. First, theteam could not go to Mumbai, where itsmatches were originally scheduled, after theShiv Sena started issuing its usual threatsagainst visiting Pakistani teams.

Now, hotels at the alternative venue ofCuttack and neighbouring cityBhubaneshwar have refused lodging to ourplayers out of fear.

Our cricketers now have to play this all-im-portant tournament under virtual house ar-rest, with their accommodation being pro-vided at the clubhouse of the stadium inwhich all their matches will be played. Everyother team will be staying in five-star hotels.

Discrimination Against CricketersN O H O L D S B A R R E D.................................................................................................

MAIL YOUR LETTERSP.O. Box # 337, GPO, Srinagar-190 001email: [email protected]

OBSERVER MAIL All letters intended for publication must include the writer’s name and address, even if a pseudonym is used. Letters are edited as clarity, spaceand accuracy of expression require. Our publishing a letter does not mean we agree with everything or even anything in it. -EDITOR

VIEWPOINT

This discrimination is undoubtedly unfairand puts our team at a significant disadvan-tage. The team has been conciliatory aboutits treatment but the International CricketCouncil (ICC) should take note of this.

International teams have refused to visitPakistan over justified security fears. It seems,however, that if we simply put internationalteams at clubhouses in stadiums and refuseto let them go anywhere else, the securityproblem would apparently be solved.

No country, of course, would accept suchconditions to play cricket in Pakistan. Yet, ourwomen cricketers are expected to put up withthis in India. Additionally, the final of thetournament is supposed to be held inMumbai. India needs to explain how our crick-

eters will be able to stay in Mumbai in thecurrent climate if we reach the final.

The ICC also needs to consider if India shouldbe allowed to hold multi-nation tourna-ments at a time when it can’t guarantee safetyof all players.

It is now too late to reschedule the WorldCup and our pulling out of the tournamentin protest will only heighten tensions. Weshould make clear that we are only playingunder duress and that such conditions areunacceptable if any of our sportspersons tourIndia again. Instead of appeasing the anti-Pakistan extremists, the Indian governmentmust ensure the safety and comfort of ourplayers.

-EXPRESS TRIBUNE

NILOOFAR QURESHI

Kashmir’s Fate is Just Consequential!DEAR EDITOR,

I would like to comment on theletter, written by one Shoaib Bhat,Kashmir Observer, Jan 22, titled, "Whois Responsible For LoC Killings?" Imust say to Shoaib that, you seem toknow a lot.

If it is true, there should beinvestigation and appropriate actiontaken against those who provokedpeace and created this environment

of mistrust. Could you also tell us whobeheaded and mutilated the bodies ofthe Indian soldiers? This should nothave happened in any case.

UN roles in Kashmir has beenminimised post 1971 for India. It isjust symbolic now.

It seems that the United Nationshas not played any role in this sectorfor a long time. In my view, it is morea political point on part of both these

countries, one wanting to and theother avoiding its role in Kashmir.

It is not in the interest of any oftwo countries India and Pakistan toindulge in any misadventure here oranywhere.

No one should man Kargil or otherhigher reaches, the rough terrain andall this is in the extreme frigid coldand hostile environment. The militaryon both sides should be minimised but

there is something that seems toinvite and incite the elements toKashmir. It is part of the history of thesub-continent.

We need to overcome it for oureternal peace. Unfortunately,Kashmir's fate is just consequential!

Shoaib, keep writing and stay safe.Khuda Hafez!

-VORSHALVia: email

FOR THOSE WHO HADPLACED THEIR BETS ON‘AMAN KI ASHA’, 2013 HASCERTAINLY BROUGHTBAD NEWS. BUT AREN’TTHEY THEMSELVES TO BEBLAMED FOR EXPECTINGTHE IMPOSSIBLE?

A LONG WAY TO GO

EXPECTING THAT thevenom of hatred infusedinto their people over theyears by the leaders onboth sides could easily

and quickly be remedied merely bythe antidote of ‘Confidence Build-ing Measures’ (CBMs) while theythemselves continue to foster an en-vironment of mutual mistrust!

The reaction of New Delhi andIslamabad to the recent incidents onthe LoC serves as a grim reminderthat the basic philosophy of ‘build-ing bridges’ through CBM initiativesby increasing ‘people to people’ con-tact is flawed.

Flawed, not because the conceptin itself is wrong, but because theleaders themselves don’t seem to beinterested in setting an example bydisplaying confidence in each other.Though, both countries are nowshowing some sanity in their deal-ings, the damage done to the pre-carious bilateral relationship betweenthe two by irresponsible statementslike “there can be no business asusual” and “war mongering” has

undone whatever little may havebeen achieved by the CBMs.

However, despite both sides re-iterating that the bilateral ties had notbeen derailed, the recent turn ofevents suggest otherwise. NewDelhi, suddenly like a bolt out of theblue, raked up theissue of the rel-evance of the UNMilitary ObserverG r o u p(UNMOGIP) onthe LoC in Jammuand Kashmir.

Declaring that“UNMOGIP’s rolehas been over-taken by theShimla Agreementof 1972 betweenIndia and Paki-stan, signed bythe Heads of thetwo governmentsand ratified bytheir respectiveparliaments,” theIndian representa-tive suggested itstermination.

As expected,Pakistan stronglydenounced NewDelhi’s contentionby saying that nobilateral agree-ment between thetwo nations had“overtaken or affected” the role orlegality of the UNMOGIP.

New Delhi initiated theUNMOGIP debate under the garb ofbetter spending of resources allo-

cated for the Observer Group else-where in difficult economic times.

However, as expected, this‘noble’ proposition with fiscal importfailed to cut any ice as the issue un-der discussion was an open debateon peacekeeping and not on auster-

ity measures.Why New

Delhi decided todeviate from itsage-old policy of‘letting the sleep-ing dogs lie’ tobring up theUNMOGIP issueand the timing itchose to do so,defies compre-hension. So,while nothingcame out of thisdebate, oldwounds were re-opened andnormalisation ofthe bilateral tiesbetween NewDelhi andIslamabad hastaken yet anotherbody blow.

Islamabad tooseems to be itch-ing for a chanceto ‘take on’ NewDelhi. Just a dayafter the Jamaat-ud-Dawa Chief,

Hafiz Saeed offered ‘asylum’ toBollywood star Sharukh Khan, Paki-stani Interior Minister Rehman Maliktoo joined in by saying that thoughSharukh Khan “is a born Indian and

he would like to remain Indian, but Iwill request the government of India(to) please provide him security.”

Not content with his ‘request’ tothe Government of India, Malik wenton to appeal to the Indian public that,“I would like to request all Indianbrothers and sisters and all thosewho are talking in a negative wayabout Shah Rukh, they should knowhe is a movie star."

While New Delhi may be an-noyed at Malik’s ‘request’, thepeople of India will perhaps remainever grateful to the Pakistani Inte-rior Minister for enlightening themwith the fact that Shahrukh Khan is“a movie star!”

Can bilateral ties between Indiaand Pakistan improve if Pakistanagrees that the UNMOGIP is not re-quired any longer in J&K and Indiareciprocates by providing ShahrukhKhan ‘Z’ category security?

Though the recent exchanges be-tween New Delhi and Islamabad maybring a whiff of humour into our lives,the dismal future of the bilateral rela-tions, which the present ‘line of en-gagement’ portends, is disquietingand sends shivers down the spine.

It is high time that leaders of bothcountries stop behaving like school-children and remedy the serious‘foot-in-the- mouth’ disease, whichseems to have afflicted them. Till thishappens, ‘Aman ki Asha’ will remaina distant dream and bilateral rela-tions will become another ‘comedycircus’!

NILOOFAR QURESHI is based in New Delhi andcan be reached at: [email protected]

DEAR EDITOR,Apropos news, ‘AFSPA Immu-

nity For Forces’ Sex Crimes MustEnd’, Kashmir Observer, January28, I want to say that we thepeople of Kashmir appreciatewhat Dr.Kiran Bedi said but whohas to initiate the action.

It is India who has to take theaction, but this country is neverready to bother for innocent

killings and heinous crimescommitted by its army and suchall other agencies that too withthe help of Indian puppets ofKashmiri origin.

-M. R. BABAVia: email

‘IN CONCLUSION’ was a favouritephrase of a teacher of mine — a man of scien-tific qualification; a man who looked at youand perceived atoms and molecules. Mr P, let’scall him, for he very well may still be alivemonitoring the masses that passed throughhis hands.

It was the Sixties, of course. The HippieMovement was winking naughtily from out-side classroom windows, “Come out and tastethe freedom!”

The band Uriah Heep did indeed sing,plaintively, Free Me, which may well havebeen the anthem of many a classroom boundschoolboy of that time.

It was also still the Years of Collusion —between teacher and parent to ensure at allcost that Johnny put his head down peeredinto the laboratory microscope and avertedhis gaze from the classroom windows. Theworld outside can wait, a good educationcouldn’t.

Tired of Thinking? Come to a ConclusionIf he were a cricketer — which I rather

doubt since he possessed not one jot of cricketvocabulary in his speech — but if he were acricketer Mr P would have been categorisedas an all rounder. This is because he was threescience teachers rolled into one. He taughtPhysics, Chemistry and when the frogs wereplentiful he was found in theBiology rooms giving lessonson dissection which non-bi-ology-inclined ones like my-self found hard to stomach,especially the drawing ofblood or the severing of flesh in order to peerat the undercoating and the insides.

“One has to have a stomach for thesethings,” Mr P would instruct, directing hiswords at the ones who’d gone a whiter shadeof pale and generally stood in the back rowsat the dissecting table so they missed a gooddeal of what was going on.PREPARING TO FACE LIFE: “Life is going totoss things at you that are a lot harder to take,so get used to it. In any case, you have to do ityourself come exam time. It carries a good deal

of marks, remember.”This generally got the ashen-faced ones

moving a few feet forward in a determinedeffort to overcome their resisting wills.

Chemistry periods were about tableswith cryptic symbols and water that changedcolour magically with the introduction of dif-

ferent powders. I once remem-ber naively being drawn intotaking a deep sniff from abottle of chlorine that nearlytook my sinuses for a walkright out of my body.

Physics was about equations, balanceand sticking pins in paper while trying totrace angles of reflection and refractionthrough a thick glass slab.

Most things in Mr P’s class started out aspremises before gradually working their waythrough a series of reasoning stages to a finelydrawn conclusion.

Dispute that, he’d say, pointing to asolved equation on the blackboard. Of course,who could? Especially who could who had hishead wrapped around other notions — those

of total freedom to pursue the pathways ofone’s own mind, frolic in the fields of an idyl-lic nature and dream of writing lines thatrhymed and described life in a more naturalway — a way that had nothing to do withscience?

A young man dreaming is how I come toview my school reports of that day and agewhen I glance at them occasionally thesedays yellowing in a plastic sleeve. Mr P obvi-ously had a kind heart too for his marksawarded to me in their own scientific wayreflect a kindness.

If the dissecting of a frog taught me any-thing it pointed me in the direction of veg-etarianism and a kindness to all animals greatand small. Science provided me with an in-sight into laterality. That is, you could beseated in the lap of science and be totally atease contemplating poetry.

Science didn’t care because ultimately itseems everything is relative. There is no end,no conclusion to be drawn because like somewise person once said, “A conclusion is theplace where you got tired of thinking.”

KEVIN MARTIN

LIFE IN ACLASSROOM OF

THE SIXTIES

Why New Delhidecided to deviate from

its age-old policy of‘letting the sleeping

dogs lie’ to bring up theUNMOGIP issue and

the timing it choseto do so, defies

comprehension. So,while nothing came out

of this debate, oldwounds were reopenedand normalisation of

the bilateral tiesbetween New Delhiand Islamabad has

taken yet another bodyblow. Islamabad too

seems to be itching fora chance to ‘takeon’ New Delhi.

Hail Kiran Bedi

[email protected]

NAAC Visit to University of Kashmir

NaTIoNal assessment and accreditation Coun-cil (NaaC) an autonomous

body funded by University Grants Commission is tasked with assess-ing and accrediting higher educa-tion al instructions in India. The main objective of the NaaC is to address the deteriorating quality of higher education in India.

NAAC grades institutions of high-er education in India on eight grade ladder with letter A++, ranging of In-stitutional CGPA 3.51- 4.00, at the top and D at the bottom ranging institu-tional CGPA < 1.50. The accreditation helps the educational institutions to know their strengths, opportunities and weakness through logical review process. However, the most impor-tant parameter which educational in-stitutions are bothered of are getting funds from the funding agencies. The nature and amount of funding an edu-cational institution receives is deter-mined by the grade which it receives from NAAC.

Most of the higher educational in-stitutions in India adopt every possi-ble means to influence NAAC access-ing and accreditation team. A huge amount is spent rather invested in the development of infrastructure (cos-metic make up) to deceive the visiting team. The University of Kashmir is no exception. However this time around all records were broken. University has been preparing for NAAC visit for many months and everything has been in renovation except teaching and research. Not only have the huge amounts been spent on renovation but manufacturing data and records. It means that KU has been in slum-ber since last NAAC visit which took place in 2011. Buildings are renovated, classrooms are furnished, roads are decorated and libraries are updated to give impression to the visiting team that University of Kashmir is an insti-tution of quality and excellence.

The natural beauty of Kashmir and mesmerizing location of the campus plays very important role

to bamboozle deputed members of NAAC, albeit the smell of paint in the campus, new carpets and mating in classrooms and libraries, tiles and marble on floor and bathrooms speak loud and clear where university has been since last visit of NAAC team. University may have been able to de-ceive NAAC team by focusing on in-frastructure, changing classrooms to scholar rooms, transforming stores to common rooms for females, label-ing faculty washrooms to washrooms for specially abled and what not? But I wonder what they will do to other sectors? Be it teaching, learning and research or declaration of results, cur-riculum development and innovation?

I wonder, how they will justify that two year course takes four years in the university? I wonder what will be their justification for not even holding examination of semester first in Bed course even after two years? I doubt how they will convince them of the faulty evaluation mechanism?

I am hopeful the august members

of NAAC visiting team will notice dic-tatorial and undemocratic rule of dis-allowing employees and students to keep their vehicles inside. I am sure that they will take into consideration the diktats of cancelling holidays in-cluding Sundays and extending work-ing hours from 8:30 AM to 6:00PM and realise that where University had been and quality cannot be ensured under such environment.

I request the honourable NAAC team look beyond the physical infra-structure and pay heed to my con-cerns. There is a lot which cannot be discussed and debated in public. I am convinced NAAC will give KU au-thorities a lesson that mere buildings, cosmetic makeup geographical beauty and mesmerising location can’t ensure quality education as the concept of quality education goes much beyond visible and physical infrastructure.

Imtiyaz Ahmad HajamKulgam Kashmir

How Trump’s Iran Oil Ban Will Hit Us All

THe US has unnerved the world oil market by ramping up the pressure in its long-

running dispute with Iran. It has an-nounced that, after May 1, it won’t renew the exemptions given to eight countries that enable them to buy Iranian oil. Those affected, which include China, India, Japan, Italy and South Korea, will face sanctions from Washington if they don’t com-ply. The move will likely squeeze global oil supply at a time when it is already struggling from disruptions in Venezuela, Libya and Nigeria. Indeed, the Brent crude price has already risen on the back of the an-nouncement to US$74 (£57) per bar-rel, the highest since last November.

President Donald Trump has said he is confident that a supply crunch can be avoided thanks to extra output from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab emirates, but traders and Asian petrochemical firms are sceptical that these coun-tries will fully comply. In recent months, Saudi Arabia and other OPeC members have cut supply dramatically to redress their fears that hefty US shale oil output and declining global energy demand could cause a supply glut that would batter prices.

Arab gulf? Wael Khalil AlfuzaiIn December the oil cartel, along

with Russia and other allies, agreed to reduce output by 1.2m barrels per day (bpd), cutting the global total volume by more than 1%. They have since exceeded those benchmarks, with Saudi Arabia alone reducing sup-ply by 800,000 bpd in total. In March the kingdom slashed production to a

four-year low of 9.82m bpd, making up the majority of OPeC’s reduction of 295,000 daily barrels for the month to 30.3m bpd.

Oil politicsTrump has already been call-

ing on OPeC to raise production, with little success. The Saudis may be close allies of the Americans, but they will only act in concert with their OPeC counterparts and many around the table will be wary of risking reducing prices at an unpredictable time for the glob-al economy.

No one ever forgets when the Sau-dis famously went against Western interests in the Arab Oil embargo of 1973, in response to US policies with similarly global consequences: presi-dent Richard Nixon had scrapped the gold standard, heavily devaluing the US dollar, and then backed the Israe-lis in the Yom Kippur war against egypt. Inflation-adjusted oil prices nearly doubled during the embargo from around US$26 per barrel in 1973 to over US$46 per barrel the follow-ing year, sending economic shock-waves around the world.

America’s latest move against Iran is making things worse for the global economy at a time when it has already been under pres-sure from rising interest rates and trade wars. If Iran’s entire output were removed – a big if since it is far from certain that all countries will comply with the Americans – it would wipe another 1m bpd or so off the world supply.

Brent crude price, daily chartAny resulting rise in oil prices

would spread to other commodity prices, leading to inflationary pres-sure – particularly in countries af-fected by the end of waiver such as India, where inflation has already started picking up. Such countries would also see direct effects on their import bill and hence their balance of trade. For every dollar increase in oil rates in India, for in-stance, the import bill will rise by R110 billion (£1.2 billion) at a time when the country’s trade deficit al-ready stands at over £8 billion.

In many cases, such economic effects are all too capable of being ex-ported. Take South Korea, which is the second biggest oil importer from Iran after China. South Korea main-ly imports condensate, an ultra-light form of crude oil used for petrochem-ical products like naptha which it exports to neighbouring countries. If these petrochemical exports fall because Korean prices are no lon-ger competitive, its neighbours will have to look further afield, creating a trade imbalance in the region.

In the run-up to Trump’s cam-paign to be re-elected for a second presidential term next year – as-suming he makes it that far – there is therefore a great deal riding on this US gambit. If OPeC does not step up to the plate, and the oil price continues surging up-wards, it could yet become the mo-ment when the longstanding fears around the health of the world economy finally crystallise into a full-blown downturn.

---Bby Arrangements With

The Conversation

Nafis alam

BAB in ‘ The Srinagar Times’

Friday| 03-05-2019Think!Opinion, Analysis, Essays

Unfortunately we have used the pulpit, the mosque and the madrassa to propagate promote and practise patriarchy under the

guise of dogma while boasting and often gloating that our faith was the first to invest women with rights including the right to inherit.

Are You Really What You Are On Social Media?A lot of analysis floating on the Internet is over simplified.

In today's digital environment, claims about the allegedly detrimental effects of social media seem to be becoming increasingly common. In particular, many articles have

appeared on the Internet making claims to the ef-fect that social media, particularly Facebook, is somehow making people stupid. Are such claims really true? Although some studies have found links between Facebook use and negative learn-ing outcomes, it is not necessarily so that the one is causing the other, as it may be that people who spend a lot of time on Facebook might not be that interested in learning in the first place. Addition-ally, there is evidence that in some cases social media use can actually increase one's knowledge of current affairs. Hence, whether social media makes you 'smarter' or 'dumber' depends a lot on how you choose to use it.

Try Googling something like "does Facebook make people stupid" and a host of articles are likely to come up answering in the affirmative. For ex-ample, Time published a sensationalised article So-cial Media Is Making You Stupid that cites a study that shows this. The Time article poses the ques-tion, "How can spending more time on Facebook or Twitter end up making us stupider?" However, the article is misleading because the study quoted was not even about Facebook or Twitter and it did not contain any findings in which people became less smart than they were to begin with.

However, there have been some studies on ac-tual social media usage that have linked Facebook usage with negative learning outcomes. For exam-ple, one study of college students found that those who had Facebook accounts tended to have lower grades and spend less time studying than their peers who were not on Facebook. Another study examined changes in political knowledge across two US political elections and found that people

who reported higher Facebook usage acquired less political knowledge over four years than those who reported lower or no usage. Interest-ingly, another study on current affairs knowledge compared usage of Twitter vs Facebook and found that higher usage of Twitter was associated with greater acquisition of current affairs knowledge over several months, whereas higher Facebook usage was associated with less acquisition of such knowledge over the same period. The authors sug-gested that the design of the two platforms may have different effects on how much news a person is exposed to.

In the case of Twitter, its design facilitates acquiring news, whereas certain features of Face-book are less suited to this purpose. Additionally, Facebook algorithms manipulate what content goes to the top of people's timelines so that users tend to see more personal messages such as up-dates from friends rather than news. These differ-ences suggest a somewhat more nuanced picture of the effects of social media than is suggested by statements about "social media making you stu-pid." Additionally, the findings of these studies in themselves do not necessarily suggest that social media is what is causing the effects, as other fac-tors need to be considered.

In addition to differences between the plat-forms that affect news exposure, there may be differences between the users themselves that in-fluence how much knowledge they acquire from their usage. Specifically, a couple of studies have found differences in the personality traits and mo-tives of people who prefer to predominantly use either Facebook or Twitter. One study found that Twitter users scored higher than Facebook users on a personality trait called "need for cognition." This trait refers to a person's motivation to engage in and enjoy effortful thinking and intellectual ac-

tivity. On the other hand, Facebook users were more extraverted and sociable than Twitter users. This suggests that people who use Facebook tend to be more interested in using the site for social interaction rather than learning about the world, whereas Twitter users have a greater need for in-tellectual stimulation and use the site to broaden their knowledge.

A more recent study also found that Twitter us-ers were higher than Facebook users on openness to experience, a personality trait representing the breadth and complexity of a person's mental life, which is strongly associated with need for cogni-tion. Additionally, Twitter users high on openness to experience were more likely to tweet about intel-lectual pursuits. These findings suggest that how people use social media is likely related to their personal predispositions and desires.

Hence, negative learning outcomes associated with Facebook may occur because people who are drawn to the site are less inclined to take an interest in intellectual pursuits and are more in-terested in chatting and sharing personal updates. On the other hand, people who are interested in finding intellectual stimulation can and do use so-cial media sites such as Twitter for this purpose. Hence, understanding the psychological effects of social media use requires more complex and nu-anced thinking that can be found in articles mak-ing simplistic claims like "social media makes people stupid." Considering the amount of distort-ed reporting on the subject, when using any me-dia, social or otherwise, it's worth remembering the old adage, "don't believe everything you read."

Scott McGreal is a psychology researcher based in the US

Scott A. McgreAl

What Ramazan Teaches Me Every Year!

Moin QAzi

“O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may attain Taqwa [God-consciousness]”

– (The Qur’an, Al-Baqarah: 183)

RelIGIOUS fasting traditions- from Rama-zan to ekadasi to Yom Kippur and lent -are meant to relieve believers from many avoidable mundane compulsions, helping

them replenish their spirituality, remember the poor, give up bad habits, make amends for moral deficiencies and get closer to their faith. The most prominent among these spiritual fasting customs is Ramazan. Islam does not have a tradition of mo-nasticism. Instead observant Muslims become as-cetics during Ramazan every year. For them it is a month of sacred abstemiousness.

Fasting (“Sumoo”, derived from the Arabic root of “Saama” and Syriac, “Sawma.”) means “to refrain” – and not only is it abstaining from eat-ing, drinking , smoking and sex , but all forms of immoral actions including talking about others be-hind their backs, or indulging in impure or unkind thoughts. like prayers, fasting is an essentially soli-tary act; it represents a personal relationship each one of us has with God. When fasting, Muslims have one meal before sunrise, called sahur-the pre-dawn meal -together, and share another meal with friends and family after sunset, called iftar-the fast breaking meal. The fast is actually much longer than what ev-eryone perceives .It actually commences at the first ray of dawn, or, as it is said in the Qur’an, “when the white thread of day becomes distinct from the black-ness of night. The simultaneity of all these Muslim rituals is Islam’s way of fostering fellowship and a powerful sense of solidarity.

Fasting during Ramazan is obligatory for all able-bodied Muslims from when they reach the age of religious observance. Those exempt from fasting are those who are sick, the elderly, those suffering from a mental illness, those who are travelling long distance and women who are pregnant, breastfeed-ing or menstruating. However, the exemption has a caveat that those who skip the fast have to make up for the lost equivalent days after Ramazan. But if a person is not able to fast at all – particularly if that is for health reasons – can compensate and partake of the holy month’s blessings by feeding a needy person for each day they do not fast (fidiya, or “expiation”).

Ramazan is a commemoration of the descent of the word of God, the Qur’an, from heaven to the earth. Just as the word of God has come down, in Ramazan the word of supplicants goes up to God, more vigor-ously and efficaciously than at any other time.

The most significant hallmark of the month of Ramazan is the night of Destiny, night of Measure or night of Value: lailat al Qadr, in Arabic. Accord-ing to the Qur’an, angels descend from heaven on this special night, -most important, the archangel Gabriel — bringing peace and divine presence into the world. Prophet Muhammad did not mention ex-actly when the night of Power would be, although most scholars believe it falls on one of the odd-num-bered nights of the final ten days of Ramazan.

The Qur’an says:“The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.Therein come down the angels and the Spirit by Allah’s per-mission, on every errand:Peace… This until the rise of morn! “(Q97)

Better than thousand months. A thousand

months are equivalent to 83 years and 4 months. The importance of this night is also mentioned in hadith, which are the sayings of the Prophet Mu-hammad as remembered by his companions:

“Whoever establishes the prayers on the night of Qadr out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Al-lah’s rewards (not to show off) then all his past sins will be forgiven.” (Sahih Bukhari Vol 1, Book 2:34).

Ramazan is always a very amazing month .We undertake a month long spiritual odyssey that is meant to rejuvenate us both physically and mor-ally. It enables us to detach from worldly plea-sures to invest our time in intense prayer, charity and spiritual discipline and focus on our deeds, thoughts and actions. every Ramazan, we undergo illuminating and enriching experiences that pro-vide valuable lessons in understanding life and ourselves better. The extremity of the test reminds us of the fragility of human life and is meant to fos-ter a relationship with God.

I remember the early years of fasting when my mother would tell stories about Ramazan when she was little and growing up–how the table at sunset would be full of delicacies; how she and her siblings would hold handfuls of food in front of their mouths, waiting for the cue from my grandfather to eat. At the end of the month of fasting, he would sacrifice a lamb, in the name of God, and feed it to the poor.

The first time I fasted was when I was attend-ing school away from home. Marching up to the man in charge of the cafeteria, I fully expected to be rebuffed when I asked for food to take back to my dorm for a predawn breakfast. But he just looked me in the eyes and asked what I would like to eat. Had I not been so stunned by his acceptance, I might have asked for a table full of treats. I forti-fied myself by hearty food and sealed the fast with a full glass of fruit juice .the fast seemed intermi-nable and intolerable because, as every Muslim would confess, no matter how much food or water or juice you pour into yourself at dawn, it is enough to drown the body’s yearnings until sunset.

later that night, nibbling on the meat sand-wich, I realized, ”I’m fasting for Ramazan!” For the first time, I was doing something that wasn’t pri-marily for myself or for parents or for good grades. By fasting, I was doing something for God- that which would bring me closer to the creator and sustainer of all existence. It is said that it’s the only Islamic practice that’s invisible to an observer.

later in college, on Saturday nights, other Muslim students and I would take the college van to a pancake house at 4 a.m. I told my non-Muslim friends, who always accompanied me to dinner in the dining hall at sunset, how the entire holy month

of Ramazan was about feeling spiritually charged and elevated despite the hunger and deprivation.

The fasting ritual is an eagerly awaited inter-lude for utilizing the abstinence from food, drink and other indulgences to concentrate on prayer, meditation and worship. This, in turn, encourages greater reflection on one’s life and appreciation for resources we sometimes take for granted. It teach-es us about patience, self-restraint, spirituality, hu-mility and submissiveness to God. The act of fast-ing for spiritual prowess makes us more conscious, not just of food habits but of how we think, behave and interact throughout the day. Fasting does not mean Muslims retreat from their daily chores; rather they are encouraged to continue their nor-mal routine. This is the real challenge, and fasting helps us hone our patience and endurance because, by refraining from consumption throughout the day, we learn the benefit of refraining from gratify-ing each of our desires in the moment.

each fasting day during Ramazan is trial on the body and our spiritual resolve. Removing the regular comforts from daily routine is intended to focus the mind on spirituality, prayer and charity. By fasting, we cut ourselves off from the tempta-tions and distractions of our busy, hectic, material-istic lives and try attaining “taqwa”, or “piety” or “God-consciousness”. With a decaffeinated, empty stomach, and a thirst that is difficult to tolerate, this act of fasting connects us to someone else.

Tending to the welfare of the less fortunate mem-bers of the community is a central tenet of Islam and a very important tradition during Ramazan., On several occasions, I have read that when we are handing someone charity, it first passes through the Hand of God before it reaches the recipient’s hand. I always imagine that when I give, it helps me do it with greater humility. Holding wealth is truly an immense blessing that comes with great responsi-bility and untold reward when we pass it along. All good deeds done in Ramazan fetch manifold rewards in the afterlife. Thus, apart from being a personal religious voyage, the season of sharing and giving reconfigures one’s social bonds.

Our fasting draws us to the story of a woman in Somalia who has been walking for miles to reach and fetch firewood and water; successive droughts have ravaged her land, her body, and her children. The baby she is carrying no longer gets milk from her breast; she feels him shrinking in her arms as she walks. The little hands of her other small chil-dren clutch at her as they patiently trail her. The mother keeps repeatedly telling them that they must put their trust in God and keep moving. One can understand her thirst as she utters words of prayer with every precious drop of water she goes

without to give to her children for their survival.Our act of fasting brings empathy for her that

is greater than any ordinary day. I remember her when my head would go dizzy with thirst after run-ning out on a simple errand in triple-digit heat. I can step back into my air-conditioned refuge; she can’t. I won’t complain of my exhaustion from too little sleep because I know she won’t find a shelter-ing place to rest in the harsh landscape. I’m hungry, but I can break my fast in a celebratory mood when the day is finished; I’ll take a cooling sip of clean, filtered water and literally feel it splash down in my empty gut at sundown. As I feel my body reviving, I remember the Somali woman’s fast has been going on since well-before Ramazan, and it will continue past the 30 days which Muslims will observe. It is her way of life for years on end .For her “fasting” is not a choice, for her hunger is part of daily life.

As we slice up exotic fruits to refresh our fami-lies after fasting, we keep seeing this poor woman. How can we set a table with melons, dates, rice, other lavish goodies and dollops of dainty creams when she has none? How can we keep stocking up on provisions featuring a variety of exquisite tasty food, such as sweetmeats, spices, savouries and sugary drinks, with which to break our daily fasts, without thinking of the woman’s broken heart when she has to tell her children she has nothing for them; the crops failed, the livestock died, and food prices have risen so high .She has no way to feed them. The suffering of these unlucky ones re-minds us to be grateful for our fortunes.

At times we don’t realize how hard and coarse our hearts have become. The absence of regular and consistent times for self-reflection and con-templation has made us insensitive to the suffering around us. The pursuit of complacency has become our goal rather than the pursuit of contentment and we sacrifice things that would bring us everlasting comfort in pursuit of those things that simply give us the facade of comfort. The empathy for the suf-fering of those less fortunate people around us, cre-ated by the act of fasting, is only worth something to them — and to us — if we do something about it.

The emphasis on enduring the fast stimulates us to move beyond simply the physical aspects of it and reach out in the direction of a spiritual fast. It’s not about mortification of the flesh. It’s about refraining from complaining, a fast from thinking ill of others, a fast from coarse language and harsh speech, a fast that’s focus is not on food or drink, but how the absence of those things leads towards the development of a strong heart and soul. That’s the fast that we should strive for – one that moves beyond not feeding our bodies but feeding our souls. The essence of Ramazan is to become hum-ble, simple and free from ill-will, anger, meanness and hate. It is a one-month refresher course from which we can emerge as the greatest version of our-selves. It is a month of penance, peace, forgiveness atonement and reconciliation.

I pray that Ramazan gets into our hearts and minds and makes us embrace all shades of man-kind with dignity, respect and care acknowledging the diverse swath of traditions and cultures.

The greatest lesson every Ramazan teaches me is indeed the wisdom expressed in Qur’an, Al-Hujurat:

“O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. The noblest of you, in sight of God, is the best in conduct. God Knows and is Aware of everything you do.”(Q49:13)

Ramazan Kareem! Ramazan Mubarak!

Moin Qazi, PhD Economics, PhD English, is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace

Development Environment and author of the bestselling book, Village Diary of a Heretic Banker.

A more recent study also found that Twitter

users were higher than Facebook users on openness to experience, a personality trait representing the breadth and complexity of a person's mental life, which is strongly associated with need for cognition. Additionally, Twitter users high on openness to experience were more likely to tweet about intellectual pursuits. These findings suggest that how people use social media is likely related to their personal predispositions and desires.

Friday | 03.05.2019 08

FROM FRONT PAGE

News

Pulwama Removalto divert attention from this huge diplomatic

setback,” Kumar said.Asked whether India offered something to

China for Azhar’s listing, he asserted that India doesn’t negotiate on matters related to national security. “Our objective was to ensure designation of Masood Azhar as global terrorist,” he said.

Restrictions Forallowed without prior permission of the dis-

trict magistrate or duty magistrates.“In order to maintain peace and tranquility in

public life and to avoid danger to life and property, the district magistrate of Shopian today (Thursday) promulgated Section 144 of the CrPC in the district from May 3, 2019 for a period of one month,” the spokesman said.

“No person other than a member of armed force/police/magistrate or a public servant duly authorised and on duty shall carry in public fire arms or an article capable of being used as weap-on of offence,” the order stated.

The spokesman said the use of loudspeaker for mak-ing a speech or any announcement, whether from a moving vehicle or otherwise, has also been banned, except with prior permission of the district magistrate.

“However, the restriction imposed on move-ment of people/congregations/ assembly of people shall not apply to holding of prayers in mosques and other places of worship or burial rites/ cer-emonies. In case of area notified for application of restrictions under Section 144 CrPC, the duty mag-istrates should be approached in order to prevent misconception about such occasions/ceremonies by law enforcement agencies,” the order stated.

Shopian and neighbouring Pulwama districts — part of the Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency — are going to polls on May 6.

The polling in the south Kashmir constituency is being held over three legs due to security rea-sons. Anantnag district voted on April 23, while the polling was held in Kulgam on April 29.

Arrest SpreeThe arrestees were lodged in a holding cell at Police station Shopian, the official said.Although the police did not give any reason for the detentions, it is believed that the people taken into custody had been involved in disturbing law and order in these two districts in the past.Voting in the third and final phase for the Anant-nag Lok Sabha seat is scheduled on May 6.

Over 5.22 Lakhdistrict voted on April 23, while the polling was

held in Kulgam on April 29.As many as 695 polling stations have been es-

tablished across the districts for smooth conduct of the elections.

These Southern Kashmir Districts have 522,530 electors including 271,127 males, 250,735 fe-males, 657 service electors (646 males and 11 fe-males) and 11 transgender voters.

Pulwama District has 351,314 electors includ-ing 181,259 males, 169,508 females, 541 service electors (533 male and 08 female) and 06 trans-gender voters. For smooth polling, the ECI has set up 450 polling stations across the district.

District Pulwama comprises four assembly segments of Tral, Pampore, Pulwama and Rajpora.

Rajpora Assembly segment has the high-est number of 95,633 electors including 49,808 males, 45,738 females and 87 male service voters while as Pampore has the lowest 82,188 electors, including 41,929 males, 40,230 females, 24 male service voters and five transgender voters.

Tral assembly segment has 88,617 electors 45,637 males, 42, 650 females, 329 service voters (324 male and 5 female) and single transgender voter.

Pulwama assembly segment has 84,876 elec-tors, including 43885 males, 40,890 females and 101 service voters (98 male and three females).

Similarly, Shopian District has 171,216 electors including 89,868 males, 81,227 females, 116 ser-vice electors (113 male and 03 female) and five transgender voters. For smooth polling, the ECI has set up 245 polling stations across the district.

Wachi assembly segment has 83,532 electors including 43,848 males, 39,614 females, 66 ser-vice voters (63 males and 3 females) and four

transgender voters.Shopian assembly segment has 87,684 electors,

including 46,020 males, 41,613 females, 50 male service voters, and a single transgender voter.

The candidates in the fray are Hasnain Masoodi of Jammu Kashmir National Conference, Sofi You-suf of Bhartiya Janta Party, Ghulam Ahmad Mir of Indian National Congress, Mehbooba Mufti of Jammu Kashmir People’s Democratic Party, Nisar Ahmad Wani of Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party, Choudhary Zaffar Ali of Jammu Kashmir People’s Conference, Sanjay Kumar Dhar of Manav Adhikar Party, Surinder Singh of Pra-gatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) and Imtiyaz

Ahmad Rather, Ridwana Sanam, Riyaz Ahmad

Bhat, Zubair Masoodi, Shams Khwaja, Ali Mo-hammad Wani, Ghulam Mohammad Wani, Kyasir Ahmed Sheikh, Manzoor Ahmad Khan and Mirza Sajad Hussain Beigh, all independents.

The Anantnag Parliamentary Constituency is spread over four districts comprising Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama.

The Anantnag and Kulgam districts of Anant-nag PC went to polls on April 23 and April 29 re-spectively.

The voting timing has been fixed from 7 am to 4 pm.

Weather To

time of the season. The capital city saw a maximum

of 18.7 degrees Celsius, nearly four degrees less than the normal for this time of the year. The official said that Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir, recorded a low of 6.2 against 8.5 degrees Celsius normal and had a rainfall of 0.2 mm during the day. The mercury in Kokernag town in south Kashmir last night settled at a low of 5.7 degrees Cel-sius against normal of 8.4 degrees Celsius and it had 0.4mm of rain during the day, the official said. The famous health resort of Pahalgam, also in south Kash-mir, recorded a minimum of 3.9 degrees Celsius and maximum of 14.8 degrees Celsius and had rainfall of 2.2mm. Kupwara town in north Kashmir registered a minimum of 5.9 degrees Celsius and maximum of 19.5 degrees Celsius. Gulmarg, the famous ski-resort in north Kashmir, witnessed a low of 2.5 degrees Cel-sius against 4.3 degrees Celsius normal for this time of the year. It witness maximum of 9.6 degrees Celsius. “There would be fairly widespread light rain/thunder-showers in Kashmir, scattered in Jammu and isolated in Ladakh regions in next 24 hours,” the MeT official said. Director Meteorological department said that there would be significant improvement in weather from May 4 onwards.

J&K Situationattack at the most secure National Highway in

the country. This is a grave intelligence and na-tional security failure. Since then, it has come out that CRPF and BSF were requesting for airlifting the soldiers but the Modi Government refused it (sic),” said Manmohan Singh.

“Government also ignored solid intelligence in-puts from J&K police about an IED attack, besides turning a blind eye to a video warning of a (mili-tant) organization. In the past five years, Pakistan based (militants) have repeatedly targeted India’s military installations at Pampore, Uri, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Sunjwan Army Camp, and even at-tacked the Amarnath Yatra,” he continued.

Asked whether he would agree that the BJP has been successful in making security and terror a major election issue, the 86-yerar-old leader said: “Riding on empty rhetoric, the Modi Government has been an utter failure on the issue of national security. In the last five years, (militant) attacks in Jammu & Kashmir alone have gone up by 176% ; ceasefire violations at the border by Pakistan have increased by 1,000%. There have been 17 major (mil-itant) attacks on our security installations. Defence expenditure as a percentage of GDP is lowest in the last 57 years. Does it not speak volumes about the performance and priorities of this government?

“How can anyone say that jobs or rural distress or livelihood issues are interchangeable with in-ternal security? Truth is that Modiji promised 20 million jobs per year, but his disruptive policies of demonetisation and a flawed GST have snatched over 40 million jobs from the youth. Joblessness and unemployment is at a 45-year high of 6.1%. It was 2.2% during the Congress-UPA in 2011-12 [NSSO Report, 2017-18].”

He said the demonetisation disaster and a flawed GST wreaked India’s growth story that UPA-Congress government built successfully.

“The monumental failure of demonetisation alone has set the GDP back by close to 2% and caused a loss of Rs 3 lakh crore to the economy. It decimated the informal sector as also thousands of small and medium businesses. Hard-earned savings of people of India were extinguished overnight. Should the government not be held ac-countable on these issues of livelihood?”

He said inviting ISI to investigate the Pathankot Air Base attack was the biggest strategic blunder committed by the Modi government. “This de-moralized our Armed Forces,” he said.

He said armed forces were always given a free hand to operationally respond to every threat. “Multiple surgical strikes took place during our tenure too. For us, military operations were meant for strategic deterrence and giving a befitting re-ply to anti-India forces than to be used for vote garnering exercises. In the past 70 years, a gov-ernment in power never had to hide behind the valour of our armed forces. Such attempts to po-liticize our forces are shameful and unacceptable.”

All this, he said, is being done to draw the atten-tion away from “unpardonable failures” of Modi Government on the economic front, on jobs, on rural distress, on MSMEs and the informal sector.

Asked that while as Prime Minister you have

spoken about ‘maintaining taboo’ on nuclear weapons while the present PM has said that they weren’t just meant for Diwali, Singh said: “Our nuclear capabilities are our strength and a security deterrent. Pandit Nehru laid the foundation of our nuclear capabilities. Indira Gandhi conducted our first nuclear test in Pokhran, in 1974. Since then, every Congress government has carried the resolve of strengthening and advancing our civil and mili-tary nuclear programme forward. As a result, our weapons capability was tested by the 13-month long Vajpayee Government. Nuclear deterrence and peaceful use of nuclear power are two time-tested responsible policies of our nation.”

He continued: “You would recollect that for harnessing nuclear energy for the nation, we had put at stake the very existence of UPA-Congress government. The entire nation remembers the no-confidence vote initiated by a hypocritical BJP on the issue of making India strong and independent in nuclear energy. Why did Mr. Narendra Modi and the BJP oppose it then? Yet, we never used the issue as a political prop. This is the gold standard of our resilience, restraint and sensitivity towards our nuclear capabilities. No Prime Minister has used the issue of our nuclear capabilities for po-litical purposes. I suppose this reflects the political desperation in face of an imminent defeat.”

Allotment 628 Newand 2013, which lay down the criteria, qualifi-

cation and eligibility for regular and rural outlets and are time tested.

“The proposed establishment of the retail out-lets are bound to have an adverse impact on the existing land use, its degradation, deforestation and will add to the fuel emission, air, water and noise pollution, causing thereby danger to the very life of human beings.”

The proposed establishment of the retail out-lets, the petitioners said, is bound to affect the dealers commission, operating costs, salary and wages of their employees and staff, production loss, LFR recovery, operating cost, stock loss, working capital, repair and maintenance, dealers’ remunerations, bank charges, customer service etc. and is against the policy of the Government of India with reference to various issued raised by Retail Outlet dealers of Oil Marketing Companies constituted in 2010.

“The National Green Tribunal, New Delhi, has also taken a serious note of the increase in number of Petrol Pumps across India and has directed a committee comprising officials from the Ministry of Petroleum and the Central Pol-lution Control Board to look into the matter and submit its report before the Tribunal by 30th of April, 2019.”

The petitioners said that the guidelines of 2018 are against the provisions of J&K Land Revenue Act which provide that no land which grows or has been growing shali crop, vegetables or saffron lullies, shall be used for any purpose other than agriculture purpose, without permission in writ-ing of the Revenue Minister.

“The Guidelines of 2018, however, only pro-vided for offering the land which has to be classi-fied into three categories, without indicating the mandatory condition of Land Revenue Act while offering such land,” the petitioners said.

“The decision to establish retail outlets in J&K State is also diametrically opposite to the Master Plan which provide that building units use as filling stations shall comply with Petro-leum Rules, 1976 and the guidelines lines and the advertisement notices are also against State Subject Laws.”

Political Activist A police officer also confirmed the incident and

said that the man has been hospitalized and his condition is said to be stable.

Soon after the incident, government forces launched searches in the area to track down the gunmen.

Meanwhile, BJP State Vice President and in-charge Kashmir Sofi Yousuf said that civilian who was shot at Tral was not affiliated with the saffron party.

“In fact he has recently joined PDP and was to-day present in their meeting. Some news pages are labelling him as BJP activist but it is hereby con-firmed that the said person is not affiliated with BJP,” Sofi said.

The New #AirtelThanks – Differentiated Services & Exclusive Experiences For Airtel Customers• New #AirtelThanks – Enhanced program with Silver, Gold, Platinum tiers. Benefits offered customized to each customer, and higher tiers keep opening bigger and more exciting benefits for our customers• #AirtelThanks Benefits expanded – more content, device and security services, financial services, VIP customer care & surprise offers from top brands• In an industry first, Airtel brings Amazon Prime benefits to Prepaid as a part of its Thanks program. (Launches new Rs 299 bundle with Amazon Prime membership, 2.5 GB/day and unlimited calls for 28 days )

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), In-dia’s leading telecommunications services provider, today re-launched its flagship customer program - #AirtelThanks. Con-tinuing on Airtel’s strategy of winning with quality customers, the new en-hanced program is designed to deliver exclusive rewards.

The new program is tiered in its offer-ing – Silver, Gold and Platinum. Each tier opens a whole new set of benefits for Air-tel customers. The benefits are powered by Airtel’s strong partnerships, which go from premium content brands like Ama-zon Prime, Netflix and Zee5 to Wynk mu-sic, device brands and many more.

Silver tier is an entry to the world of ba-sic content - AirtelTV, Wynk. With Gold, customers get access to many add on telecom benefits, and great value access on premium content or financial services. With Platinum, customers will get VIP service from Airtel, premium content, e-books, device protection, and exclusive invites and priority access to events and sales.

The program is powered by a great app experience, which helps users choose, ac-cess and navigate through their benefits in a very simple and user-friendly manner. The app, which has been re-named “Air-

tel Thanks” uses strong data-science and segmentation algorithms to customize the user experiences, based on user interests and profiles.

Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel said: “#AirtelThanks is an ambitious program that is built on deep technology and incredible partnerships. In its latest avatar, we are evolving the program to deliver highly differentiated experiences that are tailored to our cus-tomers’ needs. We are also segmenting our customer base and ensuring that our high value customers get VIP service. We are investing in data science, machine learning and smart APIs to develop these experiences in partnership with digital first brands like Amazon. We are excited about the future of this program and our customers can expect more brilliant expe-riences in the coming months.”

Shashwat Sharma, Chief Marketing Of-ficer, Bharti Airtel said: “#AirtelThanks is our play to further strengthen our share with the discerning and quality custom-ers of the country by offering exclusive rewards to them for their association with Airtel. It covers rewards from premium content, to music, e-books, financial ser-vices, VIP service and host of partner Brands access. For example, with Amazon

Prime, we are now bringing to the market a first of its kind, pre-paid recharge which has Amazon Prime membership built into it.”

Industry first, Amazon Prime member-

ship with Airtel PrepaidAs part of its #Airtelthanks program,

which brings a range of exclusive benefits to its customers, Airtel today launched a new prepaid bundle at INR 299 to offer 28

days of Amazon Prime membership along with 2.5GB data/day, unlimited calls to any network and 100 SMS/day. Amazon Prime membership is also available with Airtel Infinity Postpaid Plans.

Smartphone customers recharging with the pack will get access to the best of en-tertainment and shopping: Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Reading and unlim-ited free fast shipping on millions of items along with early and exclusive access to deals on Amazon.in. All of this to go with generous daily data quota that truly un-locks the smartphone experience on a world-class mobile network.

Airtel customers with the new prepaid plan, can enjoy unlimited video streaming anytime, anywhere of premium movies and TV shows on Prime Video including the latest and exclusive blockbuster Hol-lywood, Bollywood and Indian regional movies, top TV shows, stand-up comedies and kids programs. Members can also en-joy critically acclaimed Amazon Original series like Inside Edge, Breathe, Comicsta-an, Mirzapur, Four More Shots Please! and recently released Made in Heaven, global Original series such as Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Home-coming, Hanna and more. In addition, members can get access to Adfree stream

of tens of millions of songs across multiple Indian languages, with unlimited offline downloads and the delight of hands-free music listening with Alexa on Prime Mu-sic. Prime membership also offers free fast delivery on millions of items with early access to deals and discounts on Amazon. And with Prime Reading, members can also enjoy reading from a rotating selec-tion of hundreds of Kindle books, comics and more – all at no additional cost.

Similarly, one can enjoy Playlists and Stations specially curated by Amazon’s music editors across moods, activities, genres, artists and decades, by download-ing the Amazon Prime Music app and avail shopping benefits by logging in with their Prime account credentials on Amazon.in.

The Amazon Prime membership gets activated through AirtelThanks app. Then access is available Prime Video on all sup-ported devices.

This prepaid bundle is available at all retailers selling recharge, all Airtel Stores and across all online platforms including the AirtelThanks app, www.airtel.in. Cus-tomers can also buy this pack online on Amazon.in and Amazon Pay.

Customers continue to enjoy the Prime membership, as long as they are active on the pack.

Friday | 03.05.2019Life & Times 09

Fibre Enriched Diet Reduce The Risk Of Developing Specific CancersWASHINGTON: While fibre-rich diets are an effective means of cancer pre-vention, their possible roles in cancer progression and treatment remains poorly understood. According to recent findings, the right combination of diet and bacteria limits cancer progression.

The diet of a person can have sig-nificant effects on the gut microbi-ome, i.e. the populations of micro-organisms such as bacteria which live in the human gut. It is well rec-ognised that dietary habits through complex metabolic interactions con-tribute to cancer prevention. More specifically, diets rich in fibre reduce the risk of developing specific can-cers such as colorectal cancer.

The team of researchers found that a combination of prebiotics, such as dietary fibre, and probiotics, i.e. spe-

cific beneficial bacteria, reduces the expression of pro-carcinogenic and drug resistance genes. The combina-tion leads to metabolic changes that affect the growth of cancer cells and may help treat diseases such as CRC.

In order to study diet-microbi-ome-host interactions, the biologists worked with HuMiX ("Human-Mi-crobial X (cross)-talk") a unique in vitro model of the gut ("gut-on-a-chip") which allows the cultivation of human intestinal cells together with bacteria under representative conditions.

As part of the study, published in the Journal of Cell Reports, they in-vestigated the effects of dietary regi-mens and a specific probiotic on CRC cells. In contrast to individual fibre-rich or probiotic treatments, it was

only the combination of fibre and probiotics that led to the observed beneficial effects.

Together with their collaborators, the researchers integrated a comput-er-based metabolic model of the in-teractions between diet, host, and mi-crobiome. They identified the effects of the combined treatment: the down regulation of genes associated with colorectal cancer and drug resistance as well as the attenuation of self-re-newal capacity of the cancer cells.

Importantly, through careful mo-lecular analyses, they also identified the cocktail of molecules produced by the combination, thereby provid-ing a mechanistic basis for the ob-served beneficial effects.

"Currently, cancer patients are not provided with evidence-based per-

sonalised dietary interventions dur-ing chemotherapy treatment. Our results provide support for exploiting the food-microbiome interactions as a supportive therapeutic approach in anti-cancer therapy,” said Kacy Greenhalgh lead author of the study.

"I hope that our results will reach patients and medical practitioners in their respective fields and that in the future more effort is put in including personalised dietary recommenda-tions into cancer treatment plans,” Greenhalgh asserted.

According to the researcher, this is especially the case in CRC, where the microbiome has increasingly gained importance over the last couple of years. A deeper understanding of the microbi-ome-host interaction could lead to new therapeutic strategies for CRC patients.

DECODED

Why People Compulsively Check Their Smartphone

WASHINGTON: Everywhere you look, people are looking at their mo-bile screens. Researchers conducted in-depth interviews with smart-phone users to learn why people compulsively check their phones.

In the decade since smartphones have become ubiquitous, we now have a feeling almost as common as the smartphones themselves: being sucked into that black hole of star-ing at those specific apps, you know which ones they are, and then a half an hour has gone by before you realise it.

According to the study presented at ACM CHI conference, researchers found a series of triggers, common across age groups that start and end habitual smartphone use. The team also explored user-generated solu-tions to end undesirable phone use.

"For a couple of years, I've been looking at people's experiences with smartphones and listening to them talk about their frustration with the way they engage with their phones. But on the flip side, when we ask people what they find meaningful about their phone use, nobody says, 'Oh, nothing.' Every-one can point to experiences with their phone that have personal and persistent meaning," said co-author Alexis Hiniker.

Hiniker and her team inter-viewed three groups of smartphone users: high school students, college students, and adults who have grad-uated from college. The team was

surprised to find that the triggers were the same across age groups.

"This doesn't mean that teens use their phones the same way adults do. But I think this compulsive itch to turn back to your phone plays out the same way across all these groups. People talked about every-thing in the same terms: The high school students would say 'Anytime I have a dead moment if I have one minute between classes I pull out my phone.' And the adults would say 'Anytime I have one dead mo-ment if I have one minute between seeing patients at work I pull out my phone," Hiniker said.

To the team, this finding pointed to a more nuanced idea behind peo-ple's relationships with their phones.

"People describe it as an econom-ic calculation. Like, 'How much time do I spend with this app and how much of that time is actually invest-ed in something lasting that tran-scends this specific moment of use?' Some experiences promote a lot of compulsive use, and that dilutes the time people spend on activities that are meaningful,” she added.

When it comes to designing the next wave of smartphones, Hiniker recommends that designers shift away from system-wide lockout mechanisms. Instead, apps should let users be in control of their own engagement. And people should de-cide whether an app is worth their time. (Agencies)

Reduce High Blood Pressure With WalnutsWASHINGTON: Here's another reason to add walnuts to your diet. According to a recent study, when combined with meals low in saturated fats, eating walnuts may help lower blood pressure in people who are at risk for cardiovascular disease.

In a randomised, controlled trial, research-ers examined the effects of replacing some of the saturated fats in participants' diets with walnuts. They found that when participants ate whole walnuts daily in combination with lower overall amounts of saturated fat, they had lower central blood pressure.

According to the researchers, central pres-sure is the pressure that is exerted on organs like the heart. This measure, like blood pres-sure measured in the arm the traditional way, provides information about a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Penny Kris-Etherton, lead researcher of the study, claims that the study suggests that because walnuts lowered central pressure, their risk of CVD may have also decreased.

“When participants ate whole walnuts, they saw greater benefits than when they consumed a diet with a similar fatty acid profile as walnuts without eating the nut it-self. So it seems like there's a little something extra in walnuts that are beneficial maybe their bioactive compounds, maybe the fibre, maybe something else, that you don't get in the fatty acids alone,” said Kris-Etherton.

According to the researchers, walnuts contain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which is a plant-based omega-3 that may positively affect blood pressure.

"We wanted to see if ALA was the major con-tributor to these heart-healthy benefits, or if it was another bioactive component of walnuts, like polyphenols. We designed the study to test if these components had additive benefits,” said Alyssa Tindall, one of the lead researchers of the study published in the Journal of The American Heart Association. As part of the study, the re-searchers recruited 45 participants with over-weight or obesity who were between the ages of 30 and 65. Before the study began, participants were placed on a "run-in" diet for two weeks.

“Putting everyone on the same diet for two weeks prior to the start of the study helped put everyone on the same starting plane. The run-in diet included 12 per cent of their calories from saturated fat, which mimics an average American diet. This way, when the participants started on the study diets, we knew for sure that the walnuts or other oils replaced saturated fats," said Tindall.

After the run-in diet, the participants were randomly assigned to one of three study diets, all of which included less saturated fat than the run-in diet. The diets included one that incorpo-rated whole walnuts, one that included the same amount of ALA and polyunsaturated fatty acids without walnuts and one that partially substituted oleic acid (another fatty acid) for the same amount of ALA found in walnuts, without any walnuts.

Decrease Stress Through Mindfulness Therapy

WASHINGTON: Mindfulness ther-apy can turn out to be an effective way of mitigating the stress ex-perienced by spouses and other caregivers for military veterans, a recent study suggests.

As part of the project, a team of researchers led a pilot study that taught caregivers of veterans in central Illinois mindfulness-based cognitive therapy skills. The caregivers in the treatment group - mostly women caring for their spouses – reported significant de-creases in their perceived levels of stress, anxiety and worry.

By contrast, the researchers found no significant changes in any of these symptoms among the participants assigned to the waitlist control group.

"This not only shows the fea-sibility but also the promise that mindfulness has for improv-ing mental health outcomes in this vulnerable, hard-to-reach population. Although the study population was small, it shows that there's interest in this type of programming," said Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo, lead researcher of the study. The researchers report-ed their findings in a paper pub-

lished in the journal Mindfulness.About 5.5 million informal

caregivers, usually family mem-bers, provide daily care and sup-port for US military veterans. While recent federal legislation sought to bolster the financial support and assistance provided to these caregivers by offering programs such as mentoring, support groups, respite care and sometimes stipends, these ser-vices may be limited to those caring for veterans with specific diagnoses or types of injuries.

Moreover, some programs are designed primarily to serve the care needs of the veterans and only incidentally address the caregivers' needs, the researchers wrote.

According to Lara-Cinisomo, compared with caregivers in the general population, those caring for veterans experience higher levels of psychological distress, poorer overall health and increased "caregiver bur-den" - which refers to the overall emotional, physical and financial strain associated with providing multiple forms of care.

The majority of caregivers in the study had been providing

care for more than nine years and spent 21-30 hours solely at-tending to the veterans' needs, in addition to other family obliga-tions, Lara-Cinisomo asserted.

A large proportion of the veter-ans they were caring for had com-bat-related injuries along with a wide variety of other health is-sues, including mental illness and post-traumatic stress disorder, diabetes, cancer, traumatic brain injury, and Parkinson's disease.

To be eligible to participate in the eight-week intervention, caregivers had to be providing informal/unpaid care to a vet-eran, be at least 18 years old, able to walk or sit to perform the mindfulness activities and not have any mental health problems other than anxiety or depression.

Of the caregivers who met the screening criteria and enrolled in the study, 11 were randomly assigned to the mindfulness in-tervention and 12 to the waitlist control group. All of the partici-pants completed the study, and those on the waitlist were offered the opportunity to go through the mindfulness training after the waiting period. (Agencies)

Living Alone Might Be A Bigger Mental Health Risk

Mental disorders are more common in people who live alone, regardless of their age and sex, according to a study. Researchers from the Uni-versity of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in France noted that the number of people living alone has increased in recent years due to population ageing, decreasing mar-riage rates and lowering fertility.

Previous studies have inves-tigated the link between living alone and mental disorders but have generally been conducted in elderly populations and are not generalisable to younger adults.

The latest study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, used data on 20,500 individuals aged 16-64 living in England who participated in the 1993, 2000, or 2007 National Psychiatric Morbidity Surveys.

"Living alone is positively asso-ciated with common mental dis-orders in the general population in England," Louis Jacob from Univer-sity of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines said in a statement.

Whether a person had a common mental disorder (CMD) was assessed using the Clinical Interview Sched-ule-Revised (CIS-R), a questionnaire focusing on neurotic symptoms dur-ing the previous week.

In addition to the number of people living in a household, data was available on factors including weight and height, alcohol depen-

dence, drug use, social support, and loneliness.

The prevalence of people living alone in 1993, 2000, and 2007 was 8.8 per cent, 9.8 per cent, and 10.7 per cent.

In those years, the rates of CMD was 14.1 per cent, 16.3 per cent, and 16.4 per cent.

In all years, all ages, and both men and women, there was a positive association between living alone and CMD, researchers said.

In different subgroups of people, living alone increased a person's risk for CMD by 1.39 to 2.43 times. Overall, loneliness explained 84 per cent of the living alone-CMD association, they said.

The researchers suggest that in-terventions which tackle loneliness might also aid the mental wellbe-ing of individuals living alone.

Globally, the lifetime preva-lence of CMDs is around 30 per cent. CMDs have a major impact on quality of life, physical illness and mortality. In the past decades, there has been a growing interest in the association between living alone and CMDs, researchers said.

This is partly driven by the fact that in many settings, the proportion of individuals living alone is increas-ing due to factors such as population ageing, lowering fertility, decreasing marriage rates, and increasing di-vorce rates, they said. (PTI)

Talking To Children Is Good For Their Intelligence

WASHINGTON: Young children who are ex-posed to a good quantity of adult speech tend to have better skills to acquire knowledge, a study has found. The researchers gained un-precedented insight into the secret lives of preschoolers by fitting tiny audio recorders into the clothing of children aged two to four.

The experiences of 107 children and their interactions with parents and other caregiv-ers were recorded in the home environment over three days for up to 16 hours per day. Parents were also asked to complete activi-ties with their children involving drawing, copying and matching tasks - designed to test their child's cognitive skills.

Lead author of the study, Katrina d'Apice, said, "Using the audio recorders allowed us to study real-life interactions between young children and their families in an unobtrusive way within the home environment rather than a lab setting. We found that the quan-tity of adult spoken words that children hear is positively associated with their cognitive ability. However, further research is needed to explore the reasons behind this link - it could be that greater exposure to language provides more learning opportunities for children, but it could also be the case that more intelligent children evoke more words from adults in their environment."

According to the study published in the Jour-nal of Developmental Psychology, researchers also found that high-quality adult speech may have benefits for children's linguistic develop-ment, as children in the study who interacted with adults who used a diverse vocabulary knew a greater variety of words themselves.

The study also analysed the recordings to look at the impact different parenting styles might have on the children's behaviour. Re-searchers found that positive parenting, where parents are responsive and encouraging of ex-ploration and self-expression, was associated with children showing fewer signs of restless, aggressive and disobedient behaviours.

The study's senior author, professor Sophie von Stumm said: "This study is the largest naturalistic observation of early life home environments to date. We found that the quantity of adult spoken words that children were exposed to varied greatly within fami-lies. Some kids heard twice as many words on one day as they did on the next.” (Agencies)

Friday | 03-05-2019 10SPORTS

“IT’S GREAT TO WIN THE $9 MILLION but I just don’t want to lose to him and give him the satisfaction because the bragging rights are what is going to be even worse than the money,” Mickelson

MESSI torments Liverpool with

600TH BARCA GOAL IN 3-0 WIN

WE KNOW THAT THE TIE isn’t over, Anfield is a very difficult place to go but we’re happy with the super game we played tonight. They clearly wanted to score because an away goal means a lot but they didn’t and we have a great advantage.”

“Four goals would have been better than three but this is a very good result,” .............Messi told reporters.

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Lionel Messi put Barce-lona on the verge of the Champions League final with a devastating double in a 3-0 home win over Liverpool in the first leg of their last-four clash on Wednesday, taking his goal tally for the Catalans to 600. The Argentine’s milestone goal was a moment of brilliance as he curled a dazzling free kick into the top corner from distance to add gloss to a score-line that did not reflect the balance of play.

Yet whereas Barcelona took their chances with clinical precision, Liverpool wasted a string of op-portunities that fell their way.

Former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez reminded the visitors of his superb finishing by opening the scoring in the 26th minute of a tense and finely-bal-anced first half at the Nou Camp, darting between two Liverpool defenders to divert Jordi Alba’s cross into the net. Barca captain Messi scored the all-im-portant second goal of the night in the 75th minute, chesting the ball down on the rebound and drib-bling it over the line after Suarez had hammered the crossbar with a shot with his knee.

The Argentine then added to Barca’s already huge advantage to take into next Tuesday’s second leg at Anfield by smashing home his sizzling free kick in the 82nd minute. “Four goals would have been bet-ter than three but this is a very good result,” Messi told reporters. “We know that the tie isn’t over, An-field is a very difficult place to go but we’re happy with the super game we played tonight. They clear-ly wanted to score because an away goal means a lot but they didn’t and we have a great advantage.”

LITTLE MERCYLiverpool, who were beaten 3-1 in last year’s final

by Real Madrid, played far better than the scoreline suggested, carving out a number of clear chances but spurning them all. Barca’s South American duo of Suarez and Messi showed little mercy whenever they sniffed out a chance and condemned Juergen Klopp’s side to their first defeat in any competition since January with some ruthless finishing.

Klopp praised his side’s performance but he was not optimistic about the likelihood of a miraculous turnaround. “I was completely happy with how we

played, we played between the lines, we had chanc-es and caused them a lot of problems,” the German told a news conference. “If you lose away it’s not a massive problem as long as you scored a goal but we didn’t score that goal and that makes things a lot harder. We have a chance because it’s football but we had a much bigger chance before tonight.”

Suarez spared little thought for his former em-ployers following his eventful three-and-a-half-year stay on Merseyside, as he celebrated his open-ing strike with relish, racing behind the goal and wagging his finger at the delighted Barca fans.

GLORIOUS CHANCESadio Mane squandered a glorious chance to

level for the Premier League side later in the first half but scooped the ball over the bar, while James Milner and Mohamed Salah were both denied by Barca’s excellent Marc-Andre ter Stegen later on.

Klopp’s side had done an impressive job of shackling Barca’s all-time top scorer Messi, but there was little they could do when the Argentine pounced on the loose ball after Suarez had hit the crossbar.

Messi sparked further celebrations at a packed Nou Camp with another out-standing free kick, yet the drama in this blockbuster European encounter was far from over. Liverpool again went agonisingly close to snatching an away goal as Barca’s Ivan Rakitic scrambled the ball off the goalline only to find the feet of Salah, who somehow smashed the rebound against the near post.

Barca could have seized an even bigger advantage in the tie with two golden chances as Liverpool tired that fell to substitute Ous-mane Dembele, but the French-man missed the target the first time then shot straight into the hands of goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

I WAS COMPLETELY HAPPY with how we played, we played between the lines, we had chances and caused them a lot of problems.If you lose away it’s not a massive problem as long as you scored a goal

but we didn’t score that goal and that makes things a lot harder. We have a chance because it’s football but

we had a much bigger chance before tonight.”

Champions League Semi Final First Leg - FC Barcelona v Liverpool - Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain - May 1, 2019

Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Albert Gea

Captain Messi showing Barcelona the way

Lionel Messi has shown many different faces during his spell-binding career but in Barcelona's win over Liverpool on Wednes-

day, the dominant one was of a leader.Barca were not at their best at Camp

Nou, instead made to sweat and suffer against a Liverpool side that were just as dangerous in the first half and then dominant for at least a 20-minute pe-riod in the second. But when his team were struggling, Messi delivered, two goals in seven minutes turning turn a disappointing night into a disastrous one for Liverpool and leaving Barcelona with one foot in the Champions League final. "In these moments, he is unstop-pable," Jurgen Klopp said. "I knew be-fore that he was a world-class player and I saw it again. I am not surprised."

"I am always surprised," said Ernesto Valverde. "I don't know how he does it."

In the end, 3-0 seemed harsh, lack-ing the away goal Liverpool de-

served and requiring now a comeback in the second

leg at Anfield that would surely rival

the 2005 miracle in Istanbul.

Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane terrorised Barca's defence, the latter per-haps even the game's

stand-out player during

a breathless opening 45

minutes, in which both teams might

have scored two or three. But while Liverpool's

deadly duo have an impressive 50 goals between them this season, Suarez and Messi have 75, their knack of finding, creating and converting chances unparallelled and, in this first leg, decisive.

Between Mane firing over from eight yards and Salah hammering the post, Messi tapped into an open net and arced a free-kick, past the right hand of Alisson and into the top corner.

It was his second goal on the night and 600th for Barcelona, after 683 games, 14 years to the day since his first. He now has 12 goals in this sea-son's Champions League, only two short of his best in 2012.

"He's a fantastic player, it's obvious," Virgil van Dijk said. "I think the hard part is that when we attack, he is wait-ing somewhere, in the corner or any-where, you can never switch off."

-Important moment -It was also the 100th time he had

worn the captain's armband for his club and in some ways, this season has ushered in another cycle of Messi. From dribbler, to scorer, to creator, Messi, at 31, is now Barelona's leader too.

He walked them out, scored two goals and walked them back in, salut-ing the crowd as he went. He defended Philippe Coutinho, by gesturing to the fans not to whistle as he was substitut-ed and then admonishing them during a frank post-match interview.

"It's ugly to say goodbye to a player like that," Messi said. "We were in a de-fining moment, we are in an important moment where we have to be more united than ever, all of us, as a team.

"We said at the beginning of the year that we are going to achieve this together and it is not a moment to criti-cise anyone but to support, to push for-ward and to do this all together."

Valverde was keen to point out that Barcelona threw away a three-goal cush-ion against Roma in the quarter-finals last season but, avoid a repeat at Anfield, and his team are within touching dis-tance of a treble. With La Liga wrapped up, they face Valencia in the final of the Copa del Rey this month before a poten-tial Champions League decider against either Tottenham or Ajax in Madrid on June 1. "We have only a few games left and hopefully two finals," Messi said. "We will do it all together."

FIFA ready to discuss concussion substitutions - Times(Reuters) - FIFA is open to having dis-cussions about temporary substitu-tions if players suffer serious head injuries in matches, its medical com-mittee head Michel D’Hooghe has told the Times newspaper.

Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen tried to play on follow-ing a head clash in Tuesday’s Champi-ons League semi-final first leg defeat by Ajax Amsterdam before going off, prompting brain injury charity Head-way to call for changes to the rules.

“Introducing substitutes specifi-cally for concussion is a possibil-ity and something worth discussing,” D’Hooghe told The Times newspaper.

“But if you bring a player off for 10 minutes and they are then re-introduced without warming up properly, it’s more likely to lead to muscle injuries... there are problems with that too.”

In addition to temporary substitutions, Headway called for “independent doc-tors with expertise in con-cussion” to take the final call on whether a player is fit to continue.

However, D’Hooghe believes it would be difficult for indepen-dent doctors to as-sess players.

“The advice from FIFA and

UEFA is clear.

At every occasion and before every tour-nament we tell the doctors that they must follow the protocols,” he added.

“The team doctors must be respon-sible for their own players. They know the players and are in a better position to assess whether they have been un-conscious, or are in danger.”

Vertonghen underwent further as-sessment on Wednesday and tests would continue for the next few days, Tottenham said.

“We shall also be seeking indepen-dent advice and Jan is due to see a neurologist who specialises in elite athletes tomorrow. The player has re-ported no ill-effects today,” the club said on their website.

“THE TEAM DOCTORS must be responsible for their own players. They know the players and are in a

better position to assess whether they have been unconscious, or are in danger.”

Finisher or not, Dhoni proves glovework remains rust-freeNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Debate con-tinues whether time has eroded Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s ability as a ‘finisher’ but the two lightning fast stumpings he effected in Wednes-day’s Indian Premier League match against Delhi Capitals prove at least his glovework remains rust-free.

While Dhoni scored 44 not out from 22 balls in the 80-run victory, it was the two stumpings he pulled off in the same Ravindra Jadeja over to send back Chris Morris and Delhi captain Shreyas Iyer that were as crucial. On both occasions, the back feet of both batsmen had barely risen from the ground when Dhoni knocked off the bails.

The former India captain attrib-uted his speed to his unconventional technique, marked by a conspicuous lack of hand movement when col-

lecting the ball.“It’s something that has come

from tennis-ball cricket which I’ve played a lot,” Dhoni said. “But you need to do the basics right first and then graduate to the next level. I feel if you want to keep like that, then this is what you practise.

“You may commit a lot of errors so what’s important is you stick to the basics and then get to the ad-vanced course. If you can reduce the time where you can clip the bails off, it always helps.” Chennai spinners claimed eight of the 10 Delhi wickets in the match with Dhoni involved in three dismissals, including a catch.

Former New Zealand captain Dan-iel Vettori believes spinners are a greater threat with someone as as-sured as Dhoni behind the stumps.

“It’s not a traditional way of keep-

ing but it’s the best way,” Vettori, a left-arm spinner himself, told Cricin-fo website of Dhoni’s glovework.

“He’s phenomenal behind the

stumps.” Dhoni, who walked away with the man-of-the-match award, is India’s preferred wicketkeeper in this year’s World Cup with Dinesh Karthik as the back-up.

Getafe, Sevilla and Valencia eye Champions League riches(Reuters) - With Barcelona already crowned champions, the focus in Spain has shifted to a thrilling three-way battle for La Liga’s final Champions League berth, with Getafe, Sevilla and Valencia eye-ing game-changing prize money worth at least 30 million euros ($34 million). With three games to go, little-known Getafe have 55 points along with Sevilla but cling on to the coveted fourth spot due to their superior head-to-head re-cord, while Valencia are sixth on 52 but have the best head-to-head record of the trio.

Sevilla host Leganes on Friday hoping to make up for their shock 1-0 defeat at Girona when they be-came the first team to lose away to the Catalans in six months, while on Sunday Getafe host Girona after a frustrating 2-1 surrender at Real Sociedad.

Valencia, who endured a chas-tening last-gasp defeat at home to Eibar last weekend, visit bottom club Huesca on Sunday but could be feeling the effects of their Eu-ropa League semi-final first leg away to Arsenal. UEFA’s revenue distribution model means La Liga clubs can receive at least 30 mil-lion euros from a combination of appearance money, bonuses and the television pool in the Cham-pions League even if they go out in the group stage. Clubs can earn an additional 2.7 million for every game they win, while getting into the knockout phase would see them coin another 9.5 million, in addition to increased matchday revenues. Valencia have reached the Champions League final twice, in 2000 and 2001, and returning to Europe’s premier competition would boost their plans to finish

building their new stadium, which will require an extra 150 million euros. Sevilla, who earned 48 mil-lion euros for reaching the quarter-finals last season, routinely sack coaches who fail to take the team into the Champions League, and they ousted Pablo Machin in March when their top-four hopes were looking bleak. The money would have the biggest impact at Getafe, however, who have only existed in their current form since 1983 and play in a stadium holding only 17,000 spectators, which would look grossly out of place in the Champions League.

The Madrid outfit, who returned to the top flight two years ago, have the fourth-lowest budget in La Liga and qualifying for Europe’s top competition for the first time would cover two-thirds of their annual wage bill, estimated at

47.5 million. Elsewhere in Spain, Barca visit Celta Vigo and will be expected to rest players in prepa-ration for their Champions League semi-final second leg at Liverpool, while second-placed Atletico Ma-drid visit Espanyol. Real Madrid, who slumped to an embarrassing 10th league defeat of the campaign last week at lowly Rayo Vallecano, host Villarreal.

11 | Friday | 03-05-2019

BusinessSENSEX

GOLD

J&K BANKNIFTY

SILVER

HDFC BANKAXIS BANKICICI BANK

38,981.43

32,845.00

DOLLAR POUNDKUWAITI DINAREURO YUAN SAUDI RIYAL69.39 82.58 238.13 91.36 10.48 18.54

60.7011,724.75

36362.00

2,356.00751.95394.75

−50.12 (0.13%) −0.050 (0.082%)

+38.55 (1.66%)

−14.90 (1.94%)

−12.75 (3.13%)

−23.40 (0.20%)

55.00 ((99.9%)

-272.00 (-0.74%)

Agencies

WASHINGTON — The United States' insistence on zeroing out Iran's oil exports is starting to cause all kinds of commotion in the global market, keeping confused both experts and buyers as they look straight into what is shaping up to be a chaotic chapter for the petroleum industry.

Iranian officials and experts across the world seriously doubt that the administration of US President Don-ald Trump would be able to deliver on its ambitious pledge, even though Washington has announced that it will no longer extend oil waivers for Iran when they expire on May 1.

This is while China and several other major purchasers of Iranian energy already complained to the US about the new decision, calling for some sort of extension that would allow them to buy more until they can find an alternative.

Qatar warns US against revok-ing waivers

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told reporters in Doha on Wednesday that the decision to end the waivers would harm countries that rely on the supplies.

“The sanctions should not be ex-tended because they have an adverse impact on countries benefiting from Iranian oil,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told a press conference in Doha.

“In Qatar, we do not believe uni-lateral sanctions bring positive ef-fects for crises which must be solved through dialogue and dialogue only,” he added, alluding to his country's ongoing boycott by Saudi Arabia, the the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain since 2017.

Possible extensionThere are already rumors flying

around that a short extension would be announced in the coming days to let Iran's buyers put in orders for long after the waivers expire.

“Given President Trump’s unpre-dictable negotiating style, it remains possible that a modest waiver exten-sion will be provided beyond early May, or that sanctions against cer-tain buyers will not be fully enforced if imports are cut dramatically,” Paul Sheldon, chief geopolitical adviser at S&P Global Platts Analytics was quoted as saying by MarketWatch.

However, he argued, given how Washington has been outspoken about its plans, there might be no

waivers at all.“Therefore, attention will soon

shift to the US’s willingness and ability to enforce its ‘zero’ exports policy," Sheldon said. But to make that policy work, the US needs to find viable replacements for Iranian oil. While Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Russia have been said to be prepar-ing to increase output to make up for Iran's missing oil, all three insist that they do not have the ability to boost production immediately.

“Iranian exports will not go to zero because there are ways to get around the sanctions, either by switching oil at sea to other tankers or on vessels that can circumvent the sanctions,” Marshall Steeves, energy markets analyst at Informa Economics, told MarketWatch.

But Sheldon thought the oppo-site was true.

"Recent history indicates that few buyers will be willing to risk exclu-sion from the US market and finan-cial system, judging by the rapid and dramatic reduction in Iranian exports after the US pulled out of the nuclear deal last year," he argued, pointing to Trump's withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear agree-ment with the six world powers.

Chaos Pending: US Bans On Iran Oil Keep Market On Edge

Role of ex-employees invaluable for the institution: Parvez


Jammu May 01 : The J & K Bank Retired Employees Welfare As-sociation (REWA) Jammu today felicitated Chairman and CEO J&K Bank, Mr Parvez Ahmed on its 5th conference in an impressive func-tion held at Hotel Asia Jammu.

The function was attended by Bank’s Executive President R.K. Chhiber, President Sunil Gupta, Vice Presidents Sudhir Gupta and Shareesh Sharma along with of-fice bearers of the association and a large number of ex-employees of the Bank. Speaking on the occasion Mr Parvez Ahmed said, “It is a priv-ilege to be a part of 5th Conference of J&K Bank Retired Employees

Welfare Association Jammu and acknowledged the huge contribu-tion of retirees who laid the strong foundation of this prestigious insti-tution. It is the result of their dedi-cation and commitment that this premier financial institution of the state is all set to touch new heights now. We need to preserve the core values of loyalty, dedication, com-passionate human touch for cus-tomers, etc. which has created a unique Brand Identity for the Bank in the state and rest of India. Your services and contribution to the J&K Bank’s growth shall always be remembered, respected and held in high esteem”.

Eulogizing the role of ex em-ployees the Chairman said “It is only because of the contributions of our senior colleagues that the bank has grown from a small bank a few decades back to an institu-tion of systemic importance of the J&K state doing a business in excess of 1,60,000 Cr providing direct and

indirect employment to thousands of families besides growth capital to the entrepreneurs in nook and corner of the state . When I look back at the journey of the bank since 1998 when I joined the bank and even since its inception, I jus-tifiably feel proud of the progress we have made so far and I am honored to say that the versatility, adaptability, selfless attitude and resourcefulness of the people sit-ting in front of me today allowed it to be what it is today: with their unflinching loyalty making a huge lifelong contribution in more than 80 years history of the Bank”.

“It is heartening to learn that our ex employees not only continue to act as brand ambassadors of the

Bank and are in fact our eyes and ears in the society providing us valuable feedback for improving our products and services but are also simultaneously helping the bank in propagating and fulfilling the mission and vision of Maharaja Hari Singh, founder of the Bank to bring about the socio economic equality in this state. The issues of socio-cultural and economic equal-ity will remain on top of J&K Bank’s agenda across the state” added the Chairman

Wishing a long and healthy re-tired life of the ex-colleagues the Chairman announced “Long Live Our Pensioners Scheme” which will be rolled out post regulatory clearances coinciding with the Bank’s 80th year of operations wherein all the retired employees of the Bank will be honoured/re-warded on attaining age of 80, 85, 90 and 100 years with Rs 80000, Rs 85000, Rs 90000 and Rs 10 lacs on the respective milestones.

'Tax filing falls 1% in FY19, indicating overall slowdown'


NEW DELHI -The number of people filing income tax returns has declined by a full 1 percent in fiscal 2019, despite the increased government focus to broaden the base, indicating a deepening slowdown in the overall economy, says a brokerage report.

It can be noted that the gov-ernment has been pointing to the enlarged tax base as a benefit of the controversial demonetisa-tion move it undertook in 2016, which had a debilitating impact on the economy. Citing official data, a report by brokerage Kotak Securities said Wednesday that only 66.8 million returns were filed in FY19 as against 67.5 mil-lion in the previous fiscal, which is down 1 percent.

"This is surprising given that post-demonetisation, it was ex-pected that the tax base would continue to increase," the note said and warned that such a happening is a worry from the fiscal math perspective.

The report warned that the falling tax numbers do not offer "much comfort" to the overall marcoeconomy, as this corroborates the fact that a number of economic activity

indicators are signaling a slow-down in parts of the economy. The report questions whether compliance was weaker in the latter part of FY19 and said it expects the new government will aim at increasing the fil-ings and collections in FY20.

"The government needs to look at further expanding the tax base (optimally using the data re-pository from note-ban and GST). Without a significant improve-ment in the tax base, the medi-um-term growth path will be at risk," it warned.

The brokerage said there has been an increase in the filers in the higher income brackets and that data analytics will hold the key from here on. A relatively muted tax filing growth will create further headwinds in an already stressed fiscal space, it said, adding the commitment of cash transfers in the budget can take the fiscal math on a "slip-pery slope" unless there is ex-penditure rationalisation.

It said the tax collections are not giving "much com-fort", and just corroborate the fact that a number of activity indicators have been signal-ing a slowdown in parts of the economy.

5th conference of J&K Bank Retired Employees Welfare Association held in Jammu

OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT REGIONAL TRANSPORT

OFFICER ANANTNAGN O T I C E

Whereas joint application has been received by this office from Mr.Mohd Iqbal Reshi S/O Ab Rashid Rashi R/O Panzalpora Bijbehara{Party No.1st) as Transferor, (Seller) Owner of the Vehicle Bearing Regd. No.JK03D-2857(Commercial/ Non-Commercial) covering under R/P No. Nill.and Mr.Irshad Ahmad Saqa S/O Gh Nabi Saqa R/O Aishmuqam Anantnag(Party No.2nd) as Transferee (Purchaser) requesting for transfer of R/C & R/P of the above noted Vehicle from party No 1st and 2nd. And Cancellation of hire purchase agreement with JK Bank Bijbehara. Before the case is disposed off on its merit, anybody have any objection regarding the proposed transfer Amy file his objection within ( 7) days from the publication of this notice to the office of the undersigned. No any representation / objection shall be entertained after stipulated period.

Assistant Regional Transport Officer Anantnag



Whereas joint application has been received by this office from Mr.Gh Nabi Shah S/O Ab Aziz Shah R/O Nai basti Anantnag{Party No.1st) as Transferor, (Seller) Owner of the Vehicle Scooty Bearing Regd. No.JK03D-8428(Commercial/ Non-Commercial) covering under R/P No. Nill.and Mr.Bilal Ahmad Bhat S/O Mohd Muqbool Bhat R/O Khtsoo Salar Anantnag(Party No.2nd) as Transferee (Purchaser) requesting for transfer of R/C & R/P of the above noted Vehicle from party No 1st and 2nd. And Cancellation of hire purchase agreement with Nill. Before the case is disposed off on its merit, anybody have any objection regarding the proposed transfer Amy file his objection within ( 7) days from the publication of this notice to the office of the undersigned. No any representation / objection shall be entertained after stipulated period.




Whereas joint application has been received by this office from Mr.Maqsood Ahmad Rah S/O Ab Gaffar Rah R/O Khudwani Anantnag{Party No.1st) as Transferor, (Seller) Owner of the Vehicle i10 Bearing Regd. No.JK03D-1083(Commercial/ Non-Commercial) covering under R/P No. Nill.and Mr.Shahzad Ahmad Ganie S/O Gh Qadir Ganie R/O Kaichachkoot Awantipora Pulwama(Party No.2nd) as Transferee (Purchaser) requesting for transfer of R/C & R/P of the above noted Vehicle from party No 1st and 2nd. And Cancellation of hire purchase agreement with Nill. Before the case is disposed off on its merit, anybody have any objection regarding the proposed transfer Amy file his objection within ( 7) days from the publication of this notice to the office of the undersigned. No any representation / objection shall be entertained after stipulated period.




Whereas an application has been received from one Mr.Nazir Ahmad Ganie S/O Mohd Ibrahim Ganie R/O Batengoo Anantnag Owner of Vehicle No.JK03C-2960 for Cancellation of Hire Purchase agreement with J & K State Finance Co.Ltd. Anantnag and Endorsement with Satwari Investment Nehroo Market Jammu. Now it is therefore notified for General information that objection if any to the proposed cancellation / Endorsement of Hire Purchase Agreement shall be filled in writing in the Officer of ARTO Anantnag within a period of seven days from the publication of this notice in Kashmir Observer News Paper.


PUBLIC NOTICEMy Father’s name in School Records

has been wrongly entered as Gh Mohammad Khan while my Correct Father’s name is Ghulam Mohammad Khan. Now I want the same to be corrected if anybody has any objection in this regard He/ She may file his /Her objection in the Office of the Principal Hanfia Educational Institute Rambirpora Kehribal Anantnag within a period of seven (7) days from the date of publication of this notice. After that no objection shall be entertained. Name:-Asif Ahmad Khan S/O Ghulam Mohammad Khan R/O Rampora Mattan Anantnag

CORRIGENDUM The presentation date for the EOI issued Vide No: IUST/EW/CVL/19/ 114, Dated: 25-04-2019 for “INTERIOR FURNISHING FOR AUDITORIUM HALL IN FOOD TECH BLOCK AT IUST Campus, Awantipora, Pulwama” has been changed from 3rd May 2019 to 8th May 2019. Further other dates mentioned in the EOI document stand cancelled and the new dates will be communicated on the day of presentation.

Sd/- Executive Engineer, IUST

No: IUST/EW/CVL/19/ 114A Dated: 02-05-2019

OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL TRANSPORT OFFICER

KASHMIRN O T I C E

Whereas, as an application has been received from Sheikh Mohd Hussain s/o Abdul Gaffar Sheikh .R/o, Boys Medical Hostal Bemina Srinagar for Vehicle No JK01P.3644 model .2010 type of vehicle santro.lost /damaged his registration certification

Now, therefore, it is notified for thel information of the general public that representation /objection , if any in connection with proposed duplicate registration certificate will be received within

7 days from the date of publication notice in the daily news paper Kashmir Observer to the adress of undersigned.

NO: JK/RTOK / Sd/-Dated: 23/04/20179 Asst.Regional

Transport Office, Kashmir

“Long Live Our Pensioners Scheme” announced.

Hero Launches 3 New Motorcycles

From Left to Right: Markus Braunsperger , Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Sanjay Bhan Head Sales and Sales and after Sales and Malo Le Masson, Head Global Product Planning.

Office of The Regional Transport Officer Kashmir

N o t i c eWhere as an application for transfer of ownership has been received from

Tabasum s/o Habib –ullah Kote,R/o Mirza Bagh Saderbal srinagar (Transferor) of wagnor R bearing registration No. JK01AF-5860 chasis No: 56428Engine No: 882919 Model 2017 in favour of Bilal Ahmad Rather S/o Gh Mohammad Rather R/O Vehil chotta wetan shopian pulwama as well as cacellation of HPA with J&K STATE CO-OPERATIVE Bbank ltd

Now, therefore, it is notified for the information of the general, public that representation/ Objection, if any in connection with proposed transfer will be received within 7 days from the date of publication of this notice in the daily newspaper Kashmir

Observer to the address of undersigned.No, representation/ objection shall be considered unless it is made writing it

is made in the aforesaid period.NOJK-RTOK 1111 Sd/- Dated: 02/05/2019 Regional Transport Office, Kashmir

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Press freedom under serious threat from governments worldwide: IPIPress Trust of India

Governments across the world are increasingly clamping down on press

freedom by enacting new laws, according to a global network of journalists.

Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) said in its latest report that as many as 55 journalists were killed since May last year.

In Bangladesh, journalists face up to life imprisonment for violating the country's new Digital Security Act, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

With 139 journalists in prison including IPI Executive Board member Kadri Gursel, Turkey remains the world's top jailer of journalists, the IPI said.

In Pakistan, where critical me-dia is subject to vicious smear campaigns, the government has stopped state advertising in the influential daily Dawn and targeted individual journalists

such as Cyril Almeida, who faces treason charges for his coverage of militancy, it said.

In the US, the Department of Justice is contemplating chang-es in the guidelines to make it

easier for prosecutors to obtain journalists' records, while the US' criminal indictment against Wikileaks founder Julian As-sange has raised concerns around broader implications

for press freedom, the IPI said.In the UK, journalists have

opposed government's move to enact new legislation that will allow police to access their data, it said.

IPI Executive Director Bar-bara Trionfi, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day 2019, said: "Press freedom globally is under intense and growing pressure, as illiberal-minded governments seek to shut down critical voices and, in many cases, deliberately erode the credibility of inde-pendent media".

"We are witnessing a dan-gerous combination of tried-and-true methods of attacking the press - including arbitrary jailings and physical attacks that end in impunity - as well as a new wave of rhetoric and smear campaigns to portray the media and journalism as an enemy of the people so as to undercut the press' watchdog role," she said.

While on the one hand gov-ernments are attempting to curtail press freedom, on the other journalists around the world are being killed with im-punity, the IPI added.

Girls Outshine Boys In CBSE Class XII Board Exam


Girls outshone the boys in class XII board examinations held by the central board of second-

ary education (CBSE) with Hanshika Shukla from Ghaziabad and Karishma Arora from Muzaffarnagar, both in Ut-tar Pradesh, emerging as the country toppers, according to the results an-nounced on Thursday.

Aishwarya from Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh, Bhavya from Haryana and Gaurangi Chawla from Rishikesh, Utta-rakhand grabbed the second position. A total of 18 students, who took the board examination from dierent states, were ranked third in the country.

Uttar Pradesh witnessed the high-est number of students figuring in the list of top three positions with a total of nine students grabbing the third rank in the examination, Aishwarya coming second, both Hansika and Karishma grabbing the top slot.

Over 12 lakh students appeared for the Class XII board examinations con-ducted by the CBSE across the coun-try from February 15 to April 4.

While the overall pass percentage of the students came at 83.40 with over 10 lakh students coming out with flying colours in the examina-tion, the pass percentage of the girls reached 88.70, about 9% higher than that of the boys

The pass percentage of boys was pegged at 79.40%. “Girls have done better than the boys,” the CBSE said, announcing the results.

Both Hanshika and Karishma grabbed the top slot as each of two se-cured 499 marks (99.8%) out of 500 in the examination. Aishwarya, Bhavya and Gaurangi came second as each of them secured 498 marks (99.6%) out of 500 in the examination.

Students, who came third in the all India rank released by the CBSE, se-cured 497 marks (99.4%) out of 500 in the examination.

According to the CBSE, a total of

94,299 students scored 90% and above in the examination while the number of students scoring 95% and above remained at 17,693.

As many as 99,207 students were placed in the compartment. Percentage of such students was pegged at 8.23.

Students appearing in the board examination from Trivandrum region of the CBSE showed the highest pass percentage of 98.20%, followed by Chennai 92.93%, and Delhi 91.87%.

Kendriya Vidyalaya students showed the best performance with 98.94% of the central governmentrun schools passing the board examina-tion, followed by the Jawahar Navo-daya Vidyalaya (JNV) students whose pass percentage reached 96.62.

The performance of the students of the government-aided schools ailiat-ed to the CBSE remained better than those of the government schools and the private schools.

According to the statistics released by the CBSE, 88.49% of students of the government-aided schools passed the class XII board examination while the pass percentage of students ap-pearing from the government schools came at 87.17. The private school stu-dents showed the lowest pass per-centage of 82.59%. The CBSE released a separate list of toppers among dier-ently abled students.

While 90.5% of a total of 3,260 di-erently-abled students who took the class XII board examination were de-clared as pass, Lavanya Balakrishnan from Gurgaon, Haryana grabbed the first position by securing 97.8% marks (489 out of 500).

Nimmi Ved from Kerala, Nishchay Kohli from New Delhi and Shreyansh Amit Shah from Chennai came sec-ond with each of the three securing 97% score (485 out of 500).

Abhishek Narayan Singh, R Hari Shankar, both from Delhi, and Sid-dharth Roy from Chhattisgarh came third. Each of them secured 96.8% score (484 out of 500).

HANSHIKA SHUKLA FROM GHAZIABAD and Karishma Arora from Muzaffarnagar, both in Uttar Pradesh, emerging as the country toppers, according to the results announced on Thursday.

Scientists May Have Resolved Long-Standing Puzzle About Dark MatterPress Trust of India

Scientists say they have removed the recent doubts cast on the presence of the elusive dark matter within galax-

ies, disproving the empirical relations in support of alternative theories.

Dark matter is one of the greatest enig-mas of astrophysics and cosmology, and is thought to account for 90 per cent of the matter in the universe.

However, its existence has been dem-onstrated only indirectly, and has recently been called into question.

The study, published in the Astrophysi-cal Journal, offers new insights into under-standing the nature of dark matter and its relationship with ordinary matter.

From the expansion of the universe to the movement of stars in the galaxies, there are many phenomena that cannot be explained by the presence of baryonic matter alone.

The attractive force generated by matter is insufficient to explain observable gravi-tational effects.

This had led to the theory of the exis-tence of undetectable dark matter, and the idea that galaxies are embedded in its spherical halo.

"Three years ago, a few colleagues at Case Western Reserve University strongly questioned our understanding of the uni-verse and the in-depth work of many re-searchers, casting doubt on the existence of dark matter in the galaxies," said Chiara Di Paolo, a doctoral student at International

School of Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Italy."Analysing the rotation curves of 153

galaxies, principally the 'classical' spiral kind, they obtained an empirical relation-ship between total gravitational accelera-tion of the stars (observed) and the com-ponent which we would observe in the presence of only ordinary matter in the classical Newtonian theory," Di Paolo said.

"This empirical relationship, which

seemed valid in all the galaxies they analysed and at any galactic radius, mo-tivated the explanation of gravitational acceleration without necessarily calling into question dark matter, but involving, for example, theories of modified gravity such as modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND)," she said.

Di Paolo and her collaborators wanted to verify this relationship, analysing the rota-

tion curves of galaxies other than the classical spiral kind -- 72 galaxies with low surface bright-ness (LSB) and 34 dwarf disc galaxies.

They produced more extended results, finding a relationship, which, besides total gravitational acceleration and its ordinary component, also involves the galactic radius and the morphology of the galaxies.

"We have studied the relationship between total acceleration and its ordinary component in 106 galaxies, obtaining different results from those that had been previously observed," said Paolo Salucci, professor of astrophysics at SISSA and one of the research authors.

"This not only demonstrates the inexactness of the empirical relationship previously de-scribed but removes doubts on the existence of dark matter in the galaxies.

"Furthermore, the new relationship found could provide crucial information on the under-standing of the nature of this indefinite compo-nent," Salucci said.