SATURDAY, MAY 27, 2017 (PAGE 12) DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and National Conference leader OmarAbdullah coming out after the lunch hosted for Opposition partyleaders by Congress supremo, in New Delhi on Friday. (UNI)

Oppn favours consensuscandidate for Prez poll

NEW DELHI, May 26:

Major opposition partiesincluding Congress, Left parties,Trinamool Congress and variousregional parties are in favour ofa consensus and a "secular" can-didate for Presidential polls,TMC chief Mamata Banerjeesaid here today.

Emerging out of a meeting ofthe opposition parties convenedby Congress president SoniaGandhi, Ms Banerjee said"everybody is in favour of a con-sensus and a secular candidate".

However, she said in case theconsensus does not emergebetween the ruling dispensationand the opposition parties, themajor opposition parties wouldform a smaller group to select acandidate on behalf of the oppo-sition parties.

The meeting today also tookstock of the three years of per-formance of the ModiGovernment, she said adding theparties felt that there has beengross failure on the part of thecentre to control the situation inJammu and Kashmir and also inSaharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

The meeting is being attend-ed among others by Congresspresident Sonia Gandhi, formerPrime Minister ManmohanSingh, and senior leaders fromvarious parties including SharadYadav, Sharad Pawar, SitaramYechury, D Raja, Lalu Prasad,Mamata Banerjee, Mayawatiand Akhilesh Yadav.

The meeting of the opposi-tion parties has been convenedby Sonia Gandhi. However,regional parties like BJD inOdisha, TRS in Telangana andAIADMK in Tamil Nadu gave ita miss. DMK was, however, rep-resented by Kanimozhi.

Senior opposition leaders at

the meet also criticised theNational Democratic Alliance(NDA) government, whichmarks its third year in power atthe Centre today.

Rashtriya Janata Dal leaderand former Bihar chief ministerLalu Prasad, who was among theinvitees, said the NDA had"failed" on all fronts.

"Its only achievement is thatit has set the Pakistan flag flut-tering in Kashmir for the firsttime after independence," hesaid. (Agencies)

Ganga inaugurates MoungriHandloom Cluster at Panjar

Excelsior Correspondent

UDHAMPUR, May 26:Minister for Industries andCommerce, Chander PrakashGanga in presence of Minister ofState for Finance and Planning,Information Technology, Law,Justice and ParliamentaryAffairs, Ajay Nanda today inau-gurated Moungri HandloomCluster at Panjar.

MLA Chenani DinanathBhagat, Director HandloomDevelopment Department, J&KRajesh Sharma, DirectorHandicraft Dr. Mushtaq Ahmed,Director Industries R.S. Tara,ADDC Udhampur ArvindSharma, Joint DirectorHandloom Jammu NamritaDogra, Deputy DirectorHandloom (Trainings) Dr.Subhash Chander , A.DHandloom Udhampur, GulshanKumar besides other officerswere also present on the occa-sion.

The project to the tune of Rs1.72 crore sanctioned byDevelopment CommissionerHandloom, Ministry of Textiles,GoI under ComprehensiveHandloom Development Schemewould benefit about 195weavers of Panjar, Moungri,Panchari, Basnote, Kund,Kalsote and adjoining areas.

Speaking on the occasion, theMinister emphasized that thisvital project would give a boostto the handloom sector in the areabesides raising the socio-eco-nomic status of the local weavers.

While highlighting the maincomponents of the project, theMinister said that it includesdevelopment of HandloomCommon Facility Center, distri-bution of looms to weavers, con-struction of work-sheds forweavers and Skill DevelopmentTraining through Weaver ServiceCentre, Srinagar. Besides, aCluster Development Executiveand Textile Designer would alsobe appointed under this schemeto ensure that the products made

are as per the market needs.Ganga further assured that

similar clusters would soon bedeveloped at Dudu and otherrural areas so that people canget sufficient employment oppor-tunities and local handicraft ispromoted.

He also said that feasibility ofsetting up a trade centre in theState would be ascertained forensuring proper marketing of thevarious handloom and handicraftproducts. Besides, he askedDepartment of Handicraft to dis-tribute new looms among theweavers and also encourage car-pet weaving among the rural peo-ple especially women.

Ajay Nanda, while speakingon the occasion emphasized thatdevelopment of the cluster is animportant step in empoweringthe people of rural areas. He fur-ther stressed that the various wel-fare schemes have beenlaunched by the Government forsocio economic empowerment ofthe people .

MLA Chenani, DinanathBhagat while speaking on theoccasion urged the people toavail benefits of the variousschemes of HandloomDepartment. He said that effortsare on to tap the potential of thearea to bring it on the tourismmap.

Take measures to safeguardenvironment: Tassaduq to PCBExcelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, May 26:Pollution is one of the biggest haz-ards affecting the environment,human lives and is a serious con-cern for everyone. There is a needto take all possible measures to pre-vent J&K’s environment and ecol-ogy getting polluted on a largescale.

Coordinator, Chief Minister’sGrievance Cell, Tassaduq Muftitoday said this during his meetingwith senior officers of J&K StatePollution Control Board (SPCB) todiscuss issues pertaining to pollu-tion.

The meeting was attended bySecretary SPCB Sameer Bharti,Chairman SPCB Ravi Kesar,Director SPCB Sayeed Nadeem,other senior officers from SPCBand civil society members.

During the meeting, many con-cerns related to increasing pollu-tion level in the environment werediscussed in length including pol-lution caused by cement factories,brick kilns and stone crushers, pol-lution of water bodies by untreatedsewage, untreated solid waste, sta-tus of Bio-Medical WasteDisposal, Solid WasteManagement, impact of ban onplastic carry bags, ElectronicWaste disposal, containment of

drinking water sources by pesti-cides and waste of Sewage treat-ment plants, implementation ofnoise pollution code in sensitiveareas, infrastructure put in place forwater, air quality monitoring andothers.

Members from civil societyalso raised various concerns todraw the attention of theGovernment towards putting acheck on activities leads to increasepollution level in the environment.

Tassaduq Mufti asked the PCBofficials to conducts surpriseinspection of cement industries,stone crushing units and otherindustrial units and take necessarymeasures to control the pollution insuch areas.

He asked to ensure that allcement plants install Reverse PulseJet Bag Filter and other necessarygadgets. He also asked for lookingmore advanced technology beingused in other countries to controlthe air pollution.

Discussing the issue of con-tainment of water sources bysewage treatment plant waste andother means, Tassaduq Mufti askedthe concerned officers to take allnecessary measures to save thesewater bodies from getting polluted.

PCB was asked to devise a planto deal with the waste coming outfrom the house boats so that DalLake water can be stopped fromgetting polluted.

Regarding the bio-medicalwaste disposal, Tassaduq Muftisaid that it is very important thatthis waste is disposed properlyusing latest techniques and askedPCB to ensure that medical institu-tions install disposal systems if notthan should use Common Bio-Medical Waste Disposal facility.

The meeting also discussed theimpact of Government ban of plas-tic carry bags. PCB was asked toget tough on this and to ensureimplementation of law in letter andspirit without any compromise.

Malik to continueas SDM Tral

Excelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, May 26: TheGovernment today modified itsOrder No. 663-GAD of 2017dated 25-5-2017 partially andheld that Reyaz Ahmd Malik,KAS, Sub Divisional MagistrateTral, who was under order oftransfer as Deputy Secretary tothe Government, SchoolEducation Department, shallcontinue to work as SDM Tral tilla proper substitute was posted.

Kidnapped Poonch girl recoveredfrom Shimla

Excelsior CorrespondentPOONCH, May 26: The

police recovered a young girlhailing from Loran area ofMandi in Poonch from Shimlacity in Himachal Pardesh andarrested the kidnapper.

Police sources said that oneGhulam Mohd from Loran arealodged a report with Loran Policethat his young daughter wasallegedly kidnapped by one FarooqAhmed, son of Bashir Ahmed, res-ident of Loran about two monthsback. On this complaint the policeregistered a case FIR No. 4/ 2017and started investigation.

The police party led bySHO Loran under the supervi-sion of DySP HeadquartersShaid Nahiem managed to traceand recover the girl fromShimla on Thursday. Theaccused was also arrested. Thegirl was handed over to the fam-ily after medical examination.

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, May 26:Demanding creation of posts ofInspector Panchayats in the newlycreated blocks, the protestdemonstration of Village LevelWorkers (VLWs), Multi-purposeWorkers (MPWs)and MGNRE-GA workers enterd 3rd daytoday.

Call for the strike was givenby the Joint Coordination com-mittee of All J&K MPW/VLW/MGNREGA Workers Union,which is also demanding removalof pay anomalies, reinstatement ofthe employees, recently suspend-ed by the Minister, regularizationof MGNREGA staff and conductof DPC of VLWs/MPWs.

The agitating VLWs/MPWssuspended work on 3rd day alsoand held protest dharna at respec-tive district level offices acrossthe State.

At Jammu, the protest dharnawas held at the DistrictHeadquarter of Rural develop-ment Department, Talab Tillo,under the leadership of OmParkash Sargotra, chairman ofthe Coordination Committee.

While addressing the dharna,he said that there were only 106posts of Panchayat Inspectors in

the State against requirement of320 and most of the incumbentwere holding the charge of BlockDevelopment Officers.

Similarly, he added, only 1890posts of VLWs/MPWs have beenfilled against 4295 sanctionedones, with the result that employ-ees are overburdened.

He also demanded enhance-ment of Grade-Pay and FTA, DPCin Jammu Province,filling up ofposts of Departmental BDOs andfilling up 50 percent quota ofDepartmental Feeding Cadre.

Similar protest demonstrationswere held at Udhampur, Reasi,Rajouri, Ramban, Doda, Kishtwar,Samba, Kathua and Poonch.

Meanwhile, All J&K LowPaid Employees Federation(LPEF) extended its full support toagitating RDD employees andurged the Government to redresstheir problems and demands at anearliest so that general public ofrural areas would not suffer.

At Rajouri, MLA RavinderRaina, Nowshera-SunderbaniConstituency visited dharna site.He was apprised about demands.The MLA assured for early redres-sal of their demands and alsotalked to RDD Minister AbdulHaq Khan and CommissionerSecretary Nirmal Sharma toresolve the issues of agitatingemployees.

Mahant Manjit Singh lighting the ceremonial lamp to inau-gurate annual day function of Sant Mela Singh College ofEducation, Digiana. Kavinder Gupta, Speaker LegislativeAssembly is also seen in the picture.

Sant Mela Singh College ofEducation celebrates annual day

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, May 26: SantMela Singh College ofEducation, Digiana celebratedits annual day function, heretoday.

On the occasion, MahantManjit Singh presided over thefunction, while KavinderGupta, Speaker, Assembly wasthe chief guest. Rangil Singh,Chairman, MBS College ofEngineering and Technologywas the guest of honour.

The function began withlighting of the ceremoniallamp by Mahant Manjit Singhand other dignitaries.

Dr Kiran Kuthra, Principalof the college presented annualreport highlighting variouscurricular and co-curricularactivities conducted during thesession.

A colourful cultural pro-gramme including gidda,Dogri dance, Kashmiri dance,Rajasthani folk dance, Punjabisong and solo songs were pre-sented by the students, whichwere highly applauded by theaudience with thunderingapplauses.

The college magazine"Pupil-Teacher" was alsoreleased by Mahant ManjitSingh and all the dignitaries.

Prize distribution functionwas also organized, whereinprizes and mementoes weregiven away to the winners ofthe college.

Mahant Manjit Singh whilespeaking stressed upon thepupil teachers to work hardand prepare themselves to takeup the teaching assignmentsquite effectively in future. Healso stressed upon them touphold the moral values insocial life.

Among others present wereProf Anmol Singh, Chairmanof the college, Dr Nater Singh,Chairman, Sant Rocha SinghDegree College, Dr SPS Dutta,Prof Emeritus, University ofJammu, Prem Singh, RetdChief Conservator of Forests,Satinder Singh Bijral, Retd IGand Lakhbir Singh Bawa.

The programme was anchoredby Prof Charanjeet Kour.

JMC officials during an anti-encroachment drive in Jammuon Friday.

Anti encroachment drive by JMCExcelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, May 26: On theinstructions of Commissioner,Jammu Municipal Corporation(JMC). M. Raju, the officers andofficials of JMC continued itsdrive against illegal rehries/phar-ies/hoardings and encroacherscausing traffic congestion andobstructing free movement ofpedestrians on footpaths. Thedrive was conducted under thesupervision of JointCommissioner (A), JMC R.S.Jamwal and AssistantCommissioner (Rev.) JMC Mrs.Vinakshi Koul Sharma. Duringthe drive Chief EnforcementOfficer, Rajesh Gupta,Enforcement Officer, KaminiKesar, Revenue officers, ParmodKumar, Ashwani Sudan,Parveen Gupta and Sunil Guptaof JMC, Police force of the con-cerned Police Stations & otherEnforcement staff of JMC also

accompanied the drive.The drive was conducted in

the areas of Indira Chowk,Shalamar road, B.C. road, Gumat,Gurdwara Sunder Singh road,Gandhi Nagar, Shastri Nagar,Jewel and Narwal area etc.

During the drive the team ofJMC removed encroachmentsand cleared the footpaths andpavements. The team seizedabout 30 illegal rehries plyingwithout license from these areasand seized five trucks of materi-al displayed by the shopkeepersin front of their shops and foot-paths causing traffic congestionand free flow of pedestrians. Theteam also removed illegal hoard-ings from these areas.

The JMC authorities haveappealed to the shopkeepers tokeep their goods within theirestablishments to avoid penalaction against them and vendors toply their rehries only in the reharizone and specified areas by JMC.

SSP Reasi Tahir Bhat and other police officers along with 40mobiles recovered from 20 thieves in Katra on Friday.

-Excelsior/ Mengi

Excelsior CorrespondentKATRA (Reasi), May 26:

With the arrest of 20 thieves,Katra police today busted aninter-State gang allegedlyinvolved in committing thefts atKatra, Mata VaishnodeviBhawan and other places en-route Bhawan. The pilgrimswere their soft targets.

SSP Reasi, Tahir Sajjad Bhatand Additional SP Katra, SameerKotwal told media-persons herethat acting on a complaint of pil-grim, Parmod Verma fromMahanpur in Kathua, who men-tioned that his Abdroid mobilephone and Rs 23,800 cash wasstolen from bathing Ghat at MataVaishnodevi Bhawan, a specialpolice team under the supervisionof SDPO Bhawan, Sachin Guptastarted investigation. The teamled by SHO Bhawan RajeshSharma in civil dress at BathingGhat enhanced vigil and nabbed athief red handed.

He was placed under sus-tained interrogation. He brokedown and revealed the names ofother members of the gang.Twenty members of this gangmostly hailing from UP, Biharand Delhi were arrested. Someof them had hired rooms atKatra in different hotels. Theyused to give slip to the pilgrimsenroute Bhawan or at BathingGhats and used to steal theirmobile phones and cash.

The police recovered 40Smart phones ( Apple, Samsung,Vivo, Motorola etc) having costof more than Rs 9 lakh fromtheir possession besides somecash. Nine owners of theMobile phones have been tracedso far. The arrested thievesrevealed that they arrived Katraon last Friday and booked roomsin different hotels.

After committing thefts dur-ing night hours at bathing ghats

at Bhawan, they used to comeback to Katra base camp. Aftertaking rest during the day, theyagain used to leave for their jobduring evening. They also dis-closed the identity of some localshelping them. A case FIR hasbeen registered against them.

Those arrested were identifiedas -Mohd Shakeel, son of MohdShamim from Delhi; Javed, sonof Mohd Aslam from NandNagri, Delhi; Azhar Saddiqi, sonof Mutaiz Siddiqi fromSahibabad Delhi; FarhanHussain, son of Shrieful Hassanfrom Begum Ganj, Kanpur, UP;Mohd Ashu, son of Mohd Imtiazfrom Ompuri, Kanpur UP; MohdSameer, son of Raju Mohd fromKanpur, UP; Allah Rakha, sonof Abdul Ansari from BajariaKanpur, UP; Buri, son ofKamlohdin from KamalganjKanpur, UP; Anees Ahmed, sonof Riaz Ahmed from GautampuriDelhi; Shams-ul-Hassan, son ofJaved- ul-Hassan from NandNagri, Delhi; Shahid Alam, sonof Mohd Sadiq from Unavopur,Karnal Ganj Kanpur , UP;Dilshad, son of Late Saddiq fromPurniya Kanpur UP; AshuPardav, son of Mohd Lalu, resi-dent of Karnal Ganj Kanpur UP;Mohd Shafi, son of Manju DinUnavo Sukhla, Ganj Puni Road,Jhanda Chora UP; Sonu, son ofUmar from Nand Nagri Delhi;Mohd Riaz, son of Mohd Razabfrom Karnal Ganj, Kanpur UP;Mohd Zeeshan, son of MohdShakeel, resident of Malam dis-trict Hardoi Bihar; Mohd Basu,son of Ashfaq from Tugnia ParkKanpur UP; Mohd Shoaib, son ofIrshad Ali from Karnal GanjKanpur and Anil Kumar, son ofLok Nath, resident of Bindor,teshil Khagdia in district Patna,Bihar. The police was looking fortheir local contacts here.

Shehnaz conducts extensivetour of Sawjian, Gagrian

Excelsior Correspondent

POONCH, May 26: MemberLegislative Council, Dr ShehnazGanai today visited HigherSecondary School Sawjian.

Dr Ganai thanked theGovernment for starting sciencestream in the school and con-structing additional block at acost of Rs 1.27 crore for theschool.

She inaugurated theComputer Lab established in theschool and announced Rs 5 lakhand a water cooler out of herConstituency Development

Fund for the school. During her extensive tour of

the Sawjian and Gagrian, DrGanai met various deputationsin the area. She announced handpump out of her ConstituencyDevelopment Fund. She alsoannounced Rs 2 lakh for the footbridge at Gagrian, and Rs 2 lakhfor foot bridge at Pari Bazar atMandi, out of her ConstituencyDevelopment Fund and urgedthe authorities to complete thebridges at the earliest so that thepeople who face hardships getrelief.

MLC Shehnaz Ganai inaugurating computer lab.

Protest of VLWs/MPWs enters 3rd day

Inter-State gang of thievesbusted at Katra, 20 nabbed

Col Uttam Singh nominated as

member NRUCCExcelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, May 26: Ministryof Railways(Railway Board),Government ofIndia has nomi-nated Colonel(retd) UttamSingh as

Member on the NationalRailway Users', ConsultativeCouncil (NRUCC).

Col. Uttam Singh, BJP StateWorking Committee Member andformer BJP State Vice-President,has served gloriously in the IndianArmy and J&K State Police onvarious important positions, thuspossessing vast administrative andmanagerial experience. In view ofhis extraordinary performance andexperiences, he has been nominat-ed on the National Railway Users'Consultative Council (NRUCC)by the Ministry of Railways,Government of India for a term oftwo years from 17-04-2017 to 16-04-2019.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIAMINISTRY OF TEXTILES

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