Srinagar, July 19: Demanding immedi-ate closure of Amar-nath yatra and stern punishment to the guilty responsible for setting the tents on fire at Base Camp Baltal, renowned Hindu religious scholar and social activist Swami Ag-nivesh Saturday reiterated that he “does not understand why people go for such yatras” as the “Shivl-ingam” that gets formed inside the Amarnath cave is simply a geographical phenomenon.

“Shivlingam formed inside the Amarnath cave is a nat-ural phenomenon. It is sur-prising why people go with

such a craze to see this ice formation in the cave. The formation is Geographical in phe-nomena which is called stalactite. Stalactite is a type of formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or manmade structures such as bridges and mines. The Shivlin-gam like structures are common in European countries and I have

myself observed such structures in Austria and Switzerland,” Ag-nivesh told

See Swami on pg 11

Srinagar, July 19 : The anti Israel protests on Sat-urday turned violent when a youth Suhail Ahmad Lone was killed in an alleged CRPF firing in Kulgam district.Suhail son of Ghulam Qadir Lone resident of Mi-shipora Howoora loss his life in firing at Khudwani Kulgam during massive anti-Israel protests that were on in the area. Police has registered an FIR in the Incident and matter is being probed.IGP Kashmir A G Mir told KNS, “We have taken a serious note of this unfortunate killing and we are looking into it.” “An unfortunate incident of firing has taken place in Khudwani Kulgam in which

See Kulgam on pg 11

CMYK

CMYK

CMYK

SUNDAY 20 July | 2014 | 21 Ramadhan, 1435 AH | PAGES 12| VOL NO: 4 | ISSUE NO: 1200| RS: 2/- (AIR SURCHARGE FOR JAMMU /DELHI/LEH 50 Paisa)Pen For Justice Largely Circulated, No. 1 Bilingual Daily of J&Khttp://www.zabarwantimes.com

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See More On Pg 09

Cease-fire violations no solution to problems

The cease-fire violations have again brought down the tempo of Indo-Pak relations to ground zero. The firing all along line of control and international border has made the life of the people living around a hell as no movement is possible due to heavy shelling. No body ven-tures in his fields in R.S Pura sector where shelling has made farming impossible. Similarly, in other bor-der areas the life which had limped back to normalcy during about past four years has again reached the same position which was preva-lent before cease-fire. Despite the two countries stressing the need to improve the relations and cement their ties, the worsening border situation is becoming a pain in the neck as the situation at the borders reflects that every thing is not well between the two countries. How can both expect a miracle in the re-lations when deafening sounds of shelling are heard every now and then on borders and the life of the

Srinagar July 19 : National Confer-ence has expressed grief and sorrow over the tragic death of a youth in Mavoora, Khodwani in Kulgam district of South Kashmir in an inci-dent of alleged firing by the Security Forces.Expressing grief and shock over the death of the youth, NC Spokesman Junaid Azim Mattu has extended his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and prayed for peace to the departed soul. “This is a tragedy that, as is with all such tragedies is

See NC on pg 11

NC expresses grief, demands probe

Baltal scuffle aftermath

Protest against Israeli aggression turns violent

Motorcyclist injured in road accident

SPO dies in Kupwara

Body recovered in Kulgam

Shop damaged in fire

Srinagar, July 19: A motorcyclist was injured in a road accident in Budgam, last evening. According to a statement issued to KNS, a Chevrolet vehicle bearing regis-tration number DL 4C AD-2412 collided with a motor cycle at Durbugh crossing, in the juris-diction of Police Station Chadoo-ra, resulting in injuries to motor cyclist Adil Ahmad Bhat son of Ghulam Nabi Bhat resident of Cherawani, Chari Sharief. He was shifted to Bone and Joints Hospital Srinagar for treatment. Police has registered a case in this regard. (KNS)

CMYK

Srinagar, July 19 : Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has strongly con-demned the killing of a youth identified as Suhail Ahmad Lone reported-ly in security forces’ firing in Khodwani, Qoimoh in Kulgam district late Saturday.In a statement, the party president, Mehbooba Mufti, expressed her con-dolences with the bereaved family and prayed for the everlasting peace of the deceased. Advising restraint she said the pain and outrage against Gaza atrocities is understandable and there should be a global concern about such brazen acts of aggression against unarmed civilians.According to a statement issued to KNS, Mehbooba said she and her party has tried to channelize the sentiments of the people on Gaza issue in the highest democratic forum of the country and we will continue to urge the Government of India to use its moral and diplomatic influence in stop-ping the assault on Gaza.Mehbooba said the empathy for Palestinians has to be respected

See Mehbooba on pg 11

PDP looses cool on youth’s killingWon’t allow 2010 like situation: Mehbooba

Srinagar, July 19: The an-nouncements made by the Peo-ples Democratic Party (PDP) has created friction among the party cadres more than giving them a reason to work in har-mony ahead of assembly elec-tions scheduled to be held in October-November this year.After a row over announce-ment of Dr Haseeb Drabu as a party candidate from Rajpora Pulwama where former PDP minister and senior leader Syed Bashir is up in his sleeves, now Mohammad Sadiq Beig, the party’s senior leader in district Baramulla and brother of Mu-zaffar Hussian Baig has now decided to contest the upcom-

ing elections from Sangrama constituency as an indepen-dent candidate against his own party candidate Syed Basharat Bukhari.Talking to KNS, Mohammad Sadiq Baig said: “The party (PDP) has sidelined everybody. I have been working as district vice president Baramulla since 2007 but all in vain. The name of PDP candidate Syed Basharat Bukhari has been announced from Gupkar and no panel was sought from the ground. No par-ty workers were consulted be-fore announcing his name.”When asked what impact his de-cision to contest against

See PDP on pg 11

>>>>> PG 08 >>>>> PG 10 >>>>> PG10

Drone attack kills six in Waziristan Israeli troops battle Hamas, uncover-Gaza tunnels as toll crosses 337

Modi govt clears private sector entry into military transport aircraft project

Police crackdown against stone pelters in offing

Startling disclosure by Swami Agnivesh Ganderbal, July 19: A day after vi-

olent clashes at Baltal Base Camp between locals and Bhandara walas, hundreds of pony, tent and Dhandi owners have started fleeing from the camp and are un-willing to manage their business there. Sources told CNS that majori-ty of the tent and ponny owners have decided to close down their business at Baltal after they suf-fered heavy losses during Friday clashes. Sources added that in a bid to persuade tent and pony owners to continue their busi-ness, an important meeting was held at Baltal that was presided by Forest Minister Mian Altaf. Reports said that the representa-tives of the pony, tent and Dhan-di owners and traders refused to carry on their business. “We don’t want to continue our business here. During the meet-ing the government had assured that it will compensate the losses that we incurred but we are not feeling safe here,” a tent owner

told CNS. Reports said that there is some pony and tent owners who want to continue their business at Bal-tal but their colleagues who have decided to close down their busi-ness have reportedly threatened them of dire consequences in case they don’t wind up their business with two days. Reports said that scores of Yatri’s Saturday failed to arrange mules and ponies for themselves. Scores of yatri’s were seen mov-ing towards the Cave on foot. Meanwhile, sources told CNS that government is mulling to en-trust the job of security for Yatra to Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police and soon the CRPF may be called back from the Base Camp. Sources said that Additional Director General Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police S.M.Sahai visited Baltal and participated in an important meeting that was attended by the officials of SASB, CRPF and district administration officials.(CNS)

New Delhi, July 19:President Pra-nab Mukherjee today asked NITs to work towards promoting scien-tific temper in their students and said the academic cur-ricula must have an industry focus.Speaking at the inau-guration of the golden jubilee celebrations of National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Tiruchirappali, he said that to address faculty shortage, va-cant positions must be filled on priority basis and external talent in-jected by hiring eAcademic curricula must have an industry-focus. Industry interface cell must be set up to establish linkages with the local industry and industry associations, he said.Pointing out that e-classrooms must be made available for smart-er dissemination of lectures, he said that knowledge and inno-vation are the underpinning of progress and prosperity in the 21st century.In this age of globalisation, we can

derive competitive advantage only from an eco-system that is condu-cive to new learning, research and innovation. NITs must work to-

wards promoting scientific temper in their students, he said.The President also underscored that thrust of research must be to erase backwardness, besides wip-ing out deprivation.Innovations must improve the state of the underserved, who want a positive difference in their lives. Institutions like yours must sup-port ingenious ideas that promise betterment for those aspiring to rise up the socio-economic

See Prez on pg 11

Srinagar, July 19, CNS: Police Mon-day said that it has identified at least 18 youth responsible for attacking police station Nowhata as well as assaulting a policeman and torching his two wheeler in old Srinagar city. “More than a hundred youth cor-nered police station Nowhata in old Srinagar city two days back. These youth attacked station with stones, assaulted cops and even tried to torch the police station. We have identified at least 15 those youth who were guiding these stone-pelters. We took help of CCTV footage and moni-tored the events of attack minutely,” SP city North Tahir Saleem told CNS adding that in coming days all the identified 15 youth will be detained and booked under law. Saleem said that police has already registered an FIR vide number 69/2014 under section 307,147,148, 149,336,427,435 of RPC in this regard. He further said that three youth

have been identified who set the scooty of a cop on fire and beat him mercilessly. “Muhammd Amin Shiekh posted at Lal Bazar police Station was thrashed by stone-pelters at Nowhatta after checking his identity card. These ‘assailants’ also set his scooty (DL35-0212) on fire,” he said adding that police has identied the trio responsible for the action and have registered an FIR vide number 71/2014 under section 307, 147, 148, 149, 336, 427 of RPC in this regard. SP city North Tahir Saleem told CNS that a few days before some threatening posters allegedly belong-ing to Hizbul Mujhadeen appeared in some parts of old city. He said that police is trying to nab those involved in pasting those posters, however, it has not go so much success till date. He said that in Noth city police is all set to arrest 18 ‘wanted’ stone-pelters. (CNS)

Day 7:Jobless forestry graduates protest under open sky

Corps Commander reviews Amarnath security

Srinagar, July 19: Jobless for-estry graduates staged peace-ful protest for the seventh consecutive on Saturday in favour of their demands. These graduates have been camping in Pratap Park Srinagar from past week but till date, accord-ing to them no official from the government or any political leader visited them. “We have been waiting for the implementation of Reh-bar-e-Janglat (ReJ) policy that was devised by previous Cong-PDP coalition government. De-spite assurances given by the government from time to time, nothing changed on ground level,” one of the unemployed forest graduate told CNS add-ing that they have no option but to take extreme steps in case government disappoints them. The protestors added that they completed their

See Protest on pg 11

Srinagar, Jul 19: Lt Gen Subrata Saha, Chinar Corps Commander visited Baltal, Domel and Pahalgam to review the security situation per-taining to Amarnathji Yatra. He was briefed by the Sector Commanders, Brigadier Kular and Brigadier Sood incharge of both the routes, on the security environment.According to a statement issued to KNS, consequent to the violent al-tercation between Bhandara wallas, Tent and Pony owners on Friday, locals and Yatri’s approached the Army who were deployed in close vicinity for assistance. The Army re-sponded immediately on humanitar-ian grounds and moved the stranded people to the Army Camps. In Domel approximately 1500 & in Sonamarg 250 Yatri’s were accommodated

See Corps on pg 11

Set to arrest 18 most wanted

Pony and tent owners decide to wind up

Srinagar, July 19 : A SPO Moham-mad Ashraf No.993 of Police Sta-tion Kralpora, Kupwara slipped and fell into a 40 feet gorge at Rangwar-Asmaldar Behak, Kup-wara while he was on duty and got critically injured. According to a statement issued to KNS, he was shifted to Sub District Hospi-tal Kralpora for treatment where doctors declared him brought dead. After completing of all med-ico-legal formalities, the body was handed over to his relatives for last rites. Police has regis-tered a case in this regard. (KNS)

Srinagar, July 19 : Police Kulgam recovered a body at village Yari-kah, in the jurisdiction of Police Station D.H Pora, which was later identified as Khursheed Ahmad Ellahi son of Abdul Salam resi-dent of D.H Pora. After complet-ing all medico-legal formalities, the body was handed over to his next of kins for last rites. Police has registered a case under sec-tion 174 CrPC to ascertain the cause of the death. (KNS)

Srinagar, July 19 (KNS): Fire broke out in a shop of Abdul Reh-man Khan son of Abdul Aziz at Redbugh, in the jurisdiction of Police Station Kupwara, result-ing in complete damage to the shop. Fire was brought under control by Police and locals. (KNS

One more revolt in PDP

Prez asks NIITs to promote scientific temper among students

Youth killed in KulgamHave taken serious note of incident: Police

Obama reaches out to global leaders for investigation on MH17

Washington, July 19:Hours after blaming Russia-backed Ukrainian separatists for the shooting down of a Malaysian Airline plane that killed nearly 300 people, US President Barack Obama has called on his coun-terparts seeking an impartial international investigation.In separate phone calls with Obama British Prime Minis-ter David Cameroon; German Chancellor Angela Merkel; and Australian Prime Minis-ter Tony Abbott, agreed on a prompt, full, unimpeded and transparent international in-vestigation, the White House

said in a statement on Friday. “They (Obama and Merkel) re-affirmed that all parties must guarantee international inves-tigators full, secure, and

See Obama on pg 11

Says several such structures found in Europe

Seeks ban on Amarnath yatra

After denial of ticket, Baig’s brother to contest as independent

11 Srinagar, Sunday 20 July 2014Zabarwan Times

FROM THE FRONT PAGE

Owner , Printer & Publisher: Suhail Malik Editor -in-Chief: Shahana Malik Legal Advisor: Syed Reyaz Hussain RNI NO. JKBII/2011/39764, Email: zabarwantimes@gmail.com Publised at Govt. Quarters , M-13 Magarmal Bagh Srinagar-190001 J&K, Printed at:- Sangarmal Offset Press Humhama Sheikhpora Tele/Fax: 2478370 Cell No. 09999964750, 9796 787844

Kulgam

PDP

NC

Portest

Prez

Mehbooba

Obama

Corps

Swami

one boy namely Suhail Ahmad Son of Gulam Qadir lone resident of Mishipora Howoora Kulgam lost his life,” said a police statement issued to KNS, adding that the circumstances leading to the incident of fir-ing are being enquired into. According to KNS correspondent, the locals of Khud-wani and its adjoining areas had taken out a protest rally which turned violent when CRPF personnel used batons to disperse the protesters. According to a police spokesman the youth started pelting stones af-ter which CRPF personnel allegedly opened firing, re-sulting in death of one youth and injuries to another. Hurriyat Conference (G) has extended a one day shut-down call for Kulgam district. “I appeal the people of Kulgam to observe a complete shutdown on Sunday,” Syed Ali Geelani, chairman Hurriyat Conference (G) told KNS, while condemning the firing in strongest terms.Geelani said: “Using excessive force vindicates our stand that India is perpetrating worst kind of state terrorism in Kashmir. But this oppression and sup-pression of people in Kashmir cannot stop the free-dom living people to take their struggle to its logical conclusion.”Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman Hurriyat Confer-ence (M) also condemned the killing of Kulgam youth saying that such type of incidents reflect how a ‘free hand has been given to the security forces who per-petrate the worst kind of human rights violations in Kashmir.’Mirwaiz said that the use of excessive force against ci-vilians speaks volumes about lack of impunity which motivates the military and para military forces to go for rampage.Expressing extreme regret and shock over the killing of 15 year old student Suhail Mirwaiz who has been put under house arrest since the morning and was not allowed to deliver a sermon at Sarai Bala, has sternly condemned the barbaric incident and termed it as a naked aggression against innocent Kashmiris.Mirwaiz stated that even in the holy month of Ramzaan, government forces were not desisting from murdering Kashmir. He stated that the cold blooded murder of Suhail reflects the motives of unbridled forces who are not allowing Kashmiris to even express solidarity and sympathy with oppressed Palestinians.Paying rich tributes to Lone, Mirwaiz has expressed his heartfelt condolence and his solidarity with the bereaved family members.Mohammad Yasin Malik, chairman Jammu and Kash-mir Liberation Front (JKLF) while talking to KNS said that the forces are using lethal measures to quell peaceful protests which means they are forcing youth of Kashmir to violence. “I condemn Kulgam killing in strongest possible terms and appealed international community to take note of these human rights viola-tions in Kashmir.”Malik said accused India of following Israeli approach to deal with the conflict in Kashmir. “India and Israel are on the same path of genocide of people of Pales-tine and Kashmir. We cannot watch this situation as a mute spectator but we chalking out a strategy to fight this oppression,” Malik claimed. (KNS)

wherever it is expressed peacefully and given due space. She said the government must also deal the situation with care, caution and consideration so as to prevent an escalation which could lead to an unfortunate situation like the one that con-sumed 120 precious lives in 2010. “We would never want the society to get entrapped once again in similar circle of avoidable violence,” Mehbooba said. (KNS)

incomprehensible and inonsolable. Words fail to ex-press how heart-rending and sorrowful such incidents are. We demand a thorough probe into the circum-stances leading to the death of the youth and also de-mand that responsibility should be fixed. If someone is found guilty of use of disproportionate and unwar-ranted force, he should be brought to the book and tried under the relevant statutes of law for murder. AFSPA cannot be invoked in a blanket-manner for all such incidents”, the NC Spokesman said. The NC Spokesman asked for the provision of ex-gra-tia relief to the family of the deceased youth and asked the people to exercise restrain. “We understand the pain and anguish that such incidents bring with them and empathize with the locals in this moment of loss. We appeal for peace and calm so that such absolutely tragic incidents are not repeated at any cost”, the NC Spokesman said while also condemning the incident of firing in Kulgam yesterday in which three persons had received injuries. The NC Spokesman said that National Conference demands that all possible med-ical aid be provided to the injured victims and prayed for their speedy recovery. (KNS)

unfettered access to the incident site to conduct a thorough and credible investigation without delay. “They also noted the necessity of all evidence remain-ing intact and in Ukraine,” the White House said. Obama and Merkel discussed the latest information regarding the tragic downing of Malaysian plane, the White House said. Discussing the plane shoot-down, the White House said, Obama and Cameron agreed that an indepen-dent, full, credible, and unimpeded international in-vestigation must begin immediately. “They also agreed that all countries should do their utmost to ensure the Russian-supported separatists

grant secure access to the site of the incident,” the statement said. “The two leaders discussed the recent steps taken by the United States and the European Union to increase the costs to Russia, given its failure to take the con-crete steps needed to de-escalate the situation, and reiterated the need to take further action if Russia continues to fail to take these steps,” it said. According to the White House, Obama expressed con-dolences on behalf of the American people to the Austra-lian families who lost loved ones on board the flight. “The two leaders discussed the importance of a prompt, full, unimpeded and transparent international investigation, and they stressed the need for immediate access by inter-national investigators to the crash site,” it said. Obama underscored continuing US support and cooperation with Australia as this issue unfolds, and the two leaders committed to remaining in close touch moving forward, the White House said. Separately, US Vice President Joe Biden called Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko; and the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to discuss the issue. Biden and Tusk agreed that a prompt interna-tional investigation with safe and unimpeded access was the need of the hour. The leaders also discussed the situation in eastern Ukraine, noting that Russia was supplying weapons and training including an-ti-aircraft weapons to the separatists, with profoundly de-stabilising consequences.

his own party candidate will have on relations with his brother Muzaffar Hussain Baig, he said: “The par-ty politics is different from the family. These are en-tirely two different things. It will have no impact on our relations,” Sadiq told KNS. Pertinently, soon after the announcement of its list of candidates for different constituencies, PDP is grap-pling with infighting and undercurrent rebellion. The ruling National Conference that announced a list of 32 candidates in first phase, is reportedly also delaying its rest of the nominations fearing worst ever infight-ing over candidature. (KNS)

Srinagar based news agency CNS adding that it is only the blind faith and the wide spread propagation about the Cave that attracts number of yatri’s towards it. Swami Agnivesh said that it is sheer luck of Shri Am-arnath Shrine Board (SASB) that it is still able to mint money for conducting Yatra which needs to wound up once for all. “Each year we lose precious lives due to this Yatra which has become a money minting tool for SASB. Let me make it clear that there is nothing in those mountains and cave. People should not put their lives in danger by visiting there,” Agnivesh told CNS. “Amarnath Yatra is a handy tool for SASB and Hin-du extremists to exploit the sentiments of millions of Hindus across the country. How come it is possible that by visiting the Amarnath Cave, one could become pure?” he asked. “Pilgrims are being flocked to Cave to die and we all know last year, so many people lost their lives there. I appeal pilgrims to understand the designs of SASB and Hindu zealots who propagate this Yatra in such a big way that every Indian gets attracted towards it,” Agnivesh said and added that it is better for Hindus to die in their homes instead of in the mountains of Amarnath.

& provided shelter, food & other essential administra-tive needs. Their safety & comfort was ensured.Army is committed to provide environmental securi-ty to people & Yatri’s during the Amarnathji Yatra. The Chinar Corps Commander expressed confidence on the security arrangements in place and hoped that such incidents would not get repeated. The Amarnath-ji Yatra has since resumed from this morning. (KNS)

degrees in 2004 while the government assured them that they will be absorbed under ReJ scheme on ReT pattern, but all the assurances proved lip service. These graduates said that they are pinning all their hopes on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and are sure that he would address their problems. (CNS)

ladder help a farmer till the soil better, an artisan per-fect his craft or a small entrepreneur improve the pro-ductivity of his venture, Mukherjee added.Earlier, the President offered prayers at Punnainallur Sri Mariamman Temple in Thanjavur.

(Government ofJammu & Kashmir)

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER, R&B TRUCK TERMINAL DIVISION, SGR.

NOTICE INVITING TENDERS NIT NO.TTD/04/Civil/2014-15/641-51 DATED:-11.07.2014For and on behalf of the Governor, J&K State e-tenders (In Single cover system) are invited on item rate basis from approved and eligible Contractors registered with J&K State Govt., CPWD, Railways and other State/Central Governments for each of the following works:-

S.No 1 Name of Work Est. Cost (Rs. in Lacs)

Cost of T/Doc. (Rs. in Lacs)

E a r n e s t Money (Rs. in Lacs)

Time of Completion

Time & Date of Opening of Bid

Class of Contractor

1 2 3 4 5 6 1 8

1 Development of ap-proach road by way of earthwork cutting/ fill-ing and Construction of R-wal!/ B-wall to Sub District Hospital Pattan.

14.50 600/- 0.29 30 days 23.07.2014 BEE/ CEE Class Civil

Major Head of Account 5054-Roads & Buildings Position of AAA/TS AA Submitted Position of funds Demanded1. The Bidding documents consisting of qualifying information, eligibility criteria, specifications, Drawings, bill of quantities (B.O.Q), Set of terms and conditions of contract and other details can be seen/downioaded from the departmental website www.iktenders.gov.in as per schedule of dates given below:-

1 Date ofissue of Tender Notice 12.07.2014

2. Period of downloading of bidding documents 14.07.2014 10.00 A.M

3. Bid submission Start Date 17.07.2014 From 10.00 A.M

4. Bid Submission End Date 19.07.2014 upto 4.00 P.M

5. Deadline for receiving the Hard copy (Original DD&EMD)-

21.07.2014 at 4.00 P.M in the Office of the Executive Engineer Truck Terminal Division, Sgr.

6. Date & time of opening of Technical Bids (On-line) -

23.07.2014 at 11.00 A.M in the Office of the Execu-tive Engineer Truck Terminal Division, Sgr.

2. Bids must be accompanied with cost of tender document in shape of demand draft in favour of Executive En-gineer Truck Terminal Division, Sgr. (tender inviting authority) and Earnest money / Bid security in shape of CDR / FDR pledged to Executive Engineer Truck Terminal Division, Sgr. (tender receiving authority).3. The date and time of opening of technical Bids shall be notified on website www.jktenders.gov.in and con-veyed to the bidders automatically through an e-mail message on their e-mail address. The Financial bids of Re-sponsive bidders shall be opened online on same Web site in the office of Executive Engineer Truck Terminal Division, Sgr. (tender receiving authority).DIPK:3792 Sd/-Executive Engineer

Managing of PM Relief Fund to be modelled on Gujarat scheme

New Delhi, 19 July: Ma-jor changes are in the off-ing in the way the PM's National Relief Fund is managed as Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi on Saturday directed that the Gujarat model should be emulated in selection of beneficiaries, giving priority to the poor and children.Modi reviewed the func-tioning of the Relief Fund (PMNRF) and suggest-ed several qualitative changes in the way the fund is managed, a PMO statement said. Referring to the Gujarat model, he directed that the selection of beneficia-ries should be done in a more comprehensive, sci-entific and humanitarian basis, giving priority to children, poor and cases from government hospi-tals, the statement said. Cases involving life-threatening diseas-es should be accorded priority and applica-tions should be decided

on need and merit, the Prime Minister added. He also directed that pen-dency in appeals for help should be minimised and the draw to select the cas-es should be conducted in a manner that does not leave out any genuine case. It was decided that a letter from the Prime Minister should be sent to all beneficiaries.Beneficiaries whose ap-peals have been approved for grant of relief will be informed through an SMS alert, it said.The PM National Relief Fund was established in 1948 with public con-tributions to assist dis-placed persons from Pakistan. The resources of the PMNRF are now utilised primarily to ren-der immediate relief to families of those killed in natural calamities like floods, cyclones and earthquakes and to the victims of major acci-dents and riots.Assistance from PMNRF

is also rendered for med-ical treatment like heart surgeries, kidney trans-plantation, cancer treat-ment etc.The PMNRF fund consists entirely of public contributions and does not get any budget-ary support.The corpus of the fund is invested with banks in fixed deposits. Disburse-ments are made with the approval of the Prime Minister.Modi also re-viewed the functioning

of the other Prime Minis-ter's funds -- the PM's dis-cretionary fund, the PM's National Defence Fund, the PM's fund for stu-dent's aid, and the PM's fund for folk art.The review meeting was attended by Nripendra Misra, Principal Secre-tary to Prime Minister, and P K Mishra, Addi-tional Principal Secre-tary to the Prime Min-ister and other senior officials.

New Delhi, 19 July: Asserting that govt has no qualms about being pro-business, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Fri-day spelt out a roadmap for economic recovery by bringing civility in tax regime, main-taining low rates, rationalising subsidy system and boosting infrastructure and housing.Replying to the general debate on the Budget for 2014-15 in Lok Sabha on Friday, he as-serted that being pro-business was necessary for generating more revenues and increasing spending that would benefit the poor and marginalised sections of the society through social sector programmes. He blamed the “policy paralysis” and retro tax amendment of the previous UPA regime for the cur-rent economic woes and promised to take a series of steps besides the Budgetary provisions for sus-tainable growth amid indications of some recovery. The first stage consideration of the Budget was completed on Friday with the Lok Sabha approving it. Now, the second stage consider-ation will involve discussion on demands for grants followed by the approval of the Finance Bill. Justifying the provisions in the Budget aimed at attracting private investments, including FDI in var-ious sectors like Defence and In-surance, the Finance Minister said these were necessary to boost the

industry and manufacturing with-in the country that would lead to job creation. The government is trying to re-store confidence of domestic and foreign investors by bringing “ci-vility” in taxation system and re-move the perception of “tax terror-ism”, he said. Jaitley said he preferred low taxes to encourage economic activity. “If you put higher taxes on products, people will buy products from out-side. Lower taxes will increase eco-nomic activities,” he said. He noted that investors over the last few years had developed “doubts” over the India story in the backdrop of unpredictable tax regime. “There are a series of steps that we have to take. The budget was only some of those steps. It was directional. It only shows di-

rection. There will be many steps which will be taken outside the budget. It is not necessary that everything is announced in the budget,” he said. Jaitley also expressed the hope that interest will soften with moderation in in-flation. “Interest rates have gone up because inflation is high. I hope interest rate comes down (with decline in infla-tion)”, he added. He said there has been a mar-ginal improvement in var-ious economic parameters like exports, capital inflows and industrial sector as per

the recent data. This, he said, could not be termed as a trend but early signs of recovery. Modest improvement in growth rate is likely in the current fiscal, he said, adding an increase in eco-nomic expansion of 7-8 percent and subsequent buoyancy in tax col-lection would be help him allocate more resources for social sector schemes. During the course of his reply, Jaitley announced Rs 2,000 crore special fund under NABARD for food parks, Rs 50 crore for set-ting up of drug de-addiction cen-tres in Punjab and restoring accel-erated depreciation to encourage wind energy sector. He also promised more funds for resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits over and above Rs 500 crore ear-marked in the budget.

Jaitley spells out roadmap for economic recovery

SRINAGAR | SUNDAY, JULY | 20 | 2014Daily ZABARWAN TIMES NEWS

Take a break from your routine, Libra. You might feel like you’re leading an army into battle as you strive for new adven-tures and conquer new realms. Make sure you take a bit of time out today to stop and let your troops rest. You deserve a little rest yourself. Use this moment of stillness to form your plan of attack so you’re sure about how to proceed.

The key for you is to minimize your daily drama as much as possible, Scorpio. You may not realize how much you cripple your-self by the way you exaggerate every aspect of your life. Try not to give so much of your attention to things that really don’t matter much. Petty jealousy and gossip about other people’s lives are es-pecially irrelevant in your world.

Be careful of advertising yourself as someone who is so strong and mentally competent that you’re capable of handling every-thing, Sagittarius. Take note that the strongest mule on the trail usually ends up carrying the most weight. Your emotions are more sensitive than you may think, and certainly more than you demonstrate to others. Be honest about the way you feel and not just the way you think.

Things should flow well for you today with very little ef-fort on your part, Capricorn. Take note that if any quarrel arises, it’s an indication that the person you’re arguing with isn’t nec-essarily the right person to deal with or confide in. Emotional issues are likely to be the hardest ones to overcome, but this shouldn’t be a problem for you. You have the ability to work through these like a pro.

This is meant to be a nice, relaxing day, so treat it as such, Aquarius. There’s no need for you to plan any great strategy at this time. Try to take it easy and not indulge in any unnecessary stress. This is your time to enjoy the moment. Don’t tax your mind by overanalyzing everything that comes your way. Go with the flow and have a great time regardless of what you end up doing.

Your sensual nature is heightened, Pisces, and you’ll find yourself engaged in tender moments and languid peacefulness in the company of others. Soothe your soul by letting yourself slip into situations that give you the emotional freedom to do or say whatever comes to mind. Life should be like a love poem written by a great master. Accept the good energy that comes your way.

Your sixth sense is right on target, Virgo, so trust your instincts today. You’re likely to connect with someone in a wonderful partnership that will help you foster the very plan you want to develop now. Stay close to those things that resonate strongly with your morals. The answer is in front of you; you don’t have to search too far afield in order to find it.

Allow your eager and restless nature to express itself in ways other than through the spoken word, Aries. Show someone that you care through your gentle touch or a big bear hug. Hold on a little bit more tightly than you might normally. There’s an unspo-ken understanding that comes when you communicate through nothing but pure silence. Work on developing this kind of connec-tion with those closest to you.

This is a terrific day for you, Taurus. You should find that your relationships, especially with men, go exceptionally well. Your tender and extremely sensitive nature is finally being recognized as the treasure chest it is. There are many times in which this type of personality is seen as weak, yet today is one of those times in which you’re given the full credit you deserve.

A selfish attitude on your part won’t be tolerated today, re-gardless of the circumstances, Gemini. Don’t make it worse for yourself by pretending that you don’t notice others’ hurt feelings. People are likely to be extra sensitive today, so be careful about trying to impose your will on someone who really wants nothing more than an ear to talk to and a shoulder to cry on.

You could find the hardest person to face is you, Cancer. You tend toward introspection, and you may find yourself shrinking into self-recrimination. You could analyze the important people in your life and yet fail to address the one you really need to look at – you. As you continually strive for perfection, give yourself proper credit. Do something nice for yourself today.

Take advantage of the creative energy in the air today, Leo. Keep your hands moving and your imagination flowing toward something fun and artistic. If you begin to doubt your work, you may fall down a spiral of creative blockage. Don’t get into the habit of constantly judging the quality or outcome of your work. Give yourself free rein to open up and explore whatever comes to mind.

RAMBAN, JULY 19- District De-velopment Commissioner, Ramban R A Inqilabi today inspected offices of line departments and inquired about the functioning and the ser-vices provided by these to the gen-eral masses.

During the inspection, the DDC interacted with the officers and listened to their demands. He di-rected the officers to maintain co-ordination with each other so that the grievances of public can be re-dressed in a time bound manner.

Laying stress on maintaining close synergy among different de-partments of the administration, he said that it was imperative for achieving desired and optimum re-sults. He further directed the con-cerned officers to be punctual and maintain discipline in the offices so that the people coming from far off

places get their grievances resolved at an earliest.

Earlier, the DDC inspected Yatri Langers established along the NHW from Banihal to Ramban for pro-

viding food and other facilities to the Amarnath yatris during their onward journey to the holy cave.

The DDC also took stock of the traffic arrangements.

Mian Altaf visits Baltal, interacts with stake

holders, assures compensation

SRINAGAR, JULY 19: Minister for Forests, Environment Ecology, Wildlife, Mian Altaf Ahmed visited Baltal, the base camp for Amarnathji Yatra, to took stock of the situ-ation that has arisen due to unpleasant happening there between service providers, the other day.

The Minister for PHE Irrigation & Flood Control Mr. Sham Lal Sharma also accompanied the Minister.

Mian Altaf interacted with the local labourers, shop-keepers, tent owners and pony wallas and assured that adequate compensation would be provided to the suffer-ers, whose paraphernalia damaged during the incident.

Getting feedback about the incident, the Minister di-rected the Police and Civil Administration to keep close vigil on the situation to ensure smooth conduct of yatra and safety and security of yatris and service providers.

Interacting with Yatris and Langerwallas, Mian Altaf assured that necessary steps would be initiated for com-fortable, peaceful and smooth conduct of yatra, adding that stern action would be taken against the wrong doers as per law.

DDC Ramban Inspects offices of line departments, yatra langers

NEW DELHI: Signaling the end of defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics’ monopoly in the domestic aerospace arena, the Modi government on Saturday gave the formal nod for the Indi-an private sector to tie up with a foreign collaborator to supply 56 transport aircraft to the IAF.

TOI on Wednesday had re-ported that the defence acquisi-tions council (DAC), chaired by defence minister Arun Jaitley, would clear the proposed Rs 13,000 crore project in its meet-ing on Saturday.

The project had been put on hold by the previous UPA regime after the then heavy industries & public enterprises minister Praful Patel and the strong PSU lobby in October 2013 had vehemently opposed the move to virtually keep state-run units like HAL and BEML out of the mega pro-gramme.

But brushing all this aside, Jaitley on Saturday said the proj-ect, under which the selected foreign aviation company will partner with an Indian Produc-tion Agency (IPA), would help make the Indian private sector “a

player” in aircraft-manufacturing and lead to “capacity-building” domestically.

The DAC, attended by the three Service chiefs, defence sec-

retary, DRDO chief and others, on Saturday also cleared other pro-posals worth over s 21,000 crore. This included five fleet support ships for Navy (Rs 9,000 crore), five offshore patrol vessels (Rs 2,000 crore) and five fast patrol

vessels (Rs 360 crore) for Coast Guard, all of which will be con-structed in domestic shipyards.

The meeting also cleared ac-quisition of 32 indigenous Dhruv

advanced light helicopters for the Navy and Coast Guard at a cost of Rs 7,000 crore from HAL, which will include maintenance, as well as search-and-rescue equipment worth Rs 900 crore for the armed forces.

But the clear take-away was the transport aircraft project. Under it, the first 16 aircraft will be bought from the foreign OEM (original equipment manufac-

turer), while the rest 40 will be manufactured by the IPA to re-place the ageing Avro fleet of IAF.

Finance minister Arun JaitleyThe tender or RFP (request

for proposal) has been issued to

over 10 global aviation majors like Embraer, Lockheed Martin, Airbus, Ilyushin, Casa, Saab, Ale-nia Aeronautica and STE Ukraine, who have to choose their IPAs based on qualification criteria stipulated in the tender. The bid submission date has now been extended to August 28.

Indian companies like the Tatas, Reliance, Mahindra and L&T, incidentally, have long been eager to join the aviation sec-tor. There has been some con-cern over the project’s financial viability but MoD officials say the selected IPA could go on to manufacture the aircraft for the civil aviation sector as well after fulfilling IAF’s requirement.

HAL, on its part, has an over-flowing order book with several production lines in operation currently. These range from production of Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, Tejas light combat air-craft and upgrades of MiG-29s and Mirage-2000s as well as proposed ones like the almost $20 billion MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project to acquire 126 Rafale jets.

Modi govt clears private sector entry into military transport aircraft project

Farmers imparted training in preparation of vermin compost

Dir SHD inspects Summer Camps at highland pastures, interacts with

migratory breeders BHADERWAH, JULY 19: The Farmers of Neota and Nalthi area of Bhaderwah

Block were today imparted training in techniques and methods used to prepare vermi compost foliar spray.

The training camp organized by The NGO, GDC Ruler Research Foundation in col-laboration with the Department of was attended by a large number of framers.

Deputy General Manager Satveer Singh highlighted the scheme and stressed upon the farmers to use the technique to get high yield of crops. Project Officer Mor-araka Mukesh Choudhary imparted training regarding the techniques and methods used to prepare vermi compost foliar spray to control the insects and pests in the crop in eco-friendly manner.

District Agriculture Officer (Extension) Doda M A Beg also spoke on the occasion and urged the farmer community to take the advantage of the technique to main-tain the soil healthy and control the insects/pests of the field crop in a eco-friendly manner.

MH Malik accorded warm send off RAMBAN, JULY 19- Officers and officials of District Administration Ramban

today accorded a warm farewell to the Deputy Commissioner MH Malik on his trans-fer as DDC Poonch on Friday.Speaking on the occasion, officers of police and district administration lauded the contribution of DDC, MH Malik in restoring normalcy and initiating massive development process in the district. SSP Ramban Javeid Matoo, ADC, ACR, ACD and officers of other department also spoke on the occasion.Later, District and Police administrations besides QRT and representatives of local organi-zations presented mementos to MH Malik as a token of respect.

JAMMU, JULY 19: Director Sheep Hus-bandry Department Dr. Sant Ram today paid surprise visit to various Summer Camps set up at highland pastures to review the facilities being provided to the migratory breeders of Jammu divi-sion through various units of the depart-ments at highland pastures.

The Department of Sheep Husbandry Jammu has set up 29 Summer Camps at various locations of highland pastures in Alpines of Jammu and Kashmir divisions to provide efficient and timely health-care facilities to the migratory sheep and goats.During the inspection of Summer Camps at Heerbagan, Pahalgam and Aru, the Director was apprised that till date 302 breeders have been attended by the staff of these camps which includes 238 breeders at Pahalgam camp , 10 at Heer-bagan and 54 at Aru camp. It was further apprised that 2087 sheep and goats have

been treated against various ailments while as dosing and dipping was provid-ed to 40023 and 7810 sheep and goats respectively during this period. The Di-rector checked attendance of the staff and other records as also verified the availability of medicines at these camps. The Director asked the staff to remain punctual to attend to the breeders as the main objective of setting up of these camps in far flung areas was to provide healthcare to the sheep and goats at the doorsteps of breeders.The Direc-tor also interacted with the breeders in these areas to get feedback and to know about their problems, if any. He advised them to keep close liaison with the staff deployed at these camps which will re-main functional till their stay at highland pastures and follow the guidelines of the department for care and management of their livestock for maximum returns.

Israeli troops battle Hamas, uncover Gaza tunnels as toll crosses 337

Israeli air strikes and shell-ing killed more than 25 people across Gaza on Saturday, among them children, raising the toll in 12 days of violence to 337, med-ics said.

The latest deaths included a 20-year-old man in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis, and a 16-year-old killed in Rafah, also in south-ern Gaza, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.

siblings Maria Abdel Aal and Misk cry as the body of their rela-tive Bashir Abdel Aal, killed in an overnight Israeli missile strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, is car-ried away from the family house, during his funeral. (AP photo)

Their deaths followed those of five members of the Zuweidi family, including two girls aged two and six years old, in Gaza’s northern Beit Hanun.

Four men were also killed in two separate air strikes in north-ern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, Qudra

added, along with one person killed in the Qarara district of southern Khan Yunis.

Another three men were killed in an air strike in central Gaza, he added.

The new deaths raised the toll in Gaza on the 12th day of

violence between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas to 337 people.Earlier, Qudra also report-ed five bodies had been pulled from a home hit by an Israeli air strike in Khan Yunis.

Two Israeli civilians and one Israeli soldier have been killed

since the campaign started on July 8, and several wounded.

The soldier was killed by friendly fire, the army told Israeli media.An Israeli soldier sits on top of his tank across the north-ern Gaza Strip. Israel intensified its land offensive in Gaza with ar-tillery, tanks and gunboats. Some 2,385 Palestinians have been wounded, Qudra said.

Operation Protective Edge is the bloodiest conflict in the besieged coastal enclave since 2009.

Earlier, Qudra reported five bodies had been pulled from a home hit by an Israeli air strike in Khan Yunis.

Two Israeli civilians and one Israeli soldier have been killed since the campaign started on July 8.The soldier was killed by friendly fire inside Gaza on Fri-day, the army told Israeli media.

Some 2,385 Palestinians have been wounded, Qudra said.

Operation Protective Edge is the bloodiest conflict in the besieged coastal enclave since 2009.

Israel launched its ground of-fensive late Thursday, starting a new phase in the operation which it said was aimed at de-stroying tunnels used by the ter-ritory’s dominant power, Islamist movement Hamas.

Israeli troops battle Hamas, uncover Gaza tunnels

Israeli troops uncovered more than a dozen cross-border tun-nels and battled Gaza militants on the second day of an open-ended ground operation Satur-day.

The Israeli military said it had severely diminished the arsenal of Hamas, the Islamic militant group ruling Gaza, but the mili-tants have continued to fire rock-ets and on Saturday staged an-other unsuccessful cross-border tunnel raid.

Daily Zabarwan TimesEDITORIAL/ OPINIONEDITORIAL/ OPINION

Disclaimer : The contents and comments appearing in any article published in this paper are purely the personal opinion of the writer

Cease-fire violations no solution to problems

The cease-fire violations have again brought down the tempo of Indo-Pak re-

lations to ground zero. The fir-ing all along line of control and international border has made the life of the people living around a hell as no movement is possible due to heavy shelling. No body ventures in his fields in R.S Pura sector where shelling has made farming impossible. Similarly, in other border areas the life which had limped back to normalcy during about past four years has again reached the same position which was prevalent before cease-fire. De-spite the two countries stress-ing the need to improve the re-lations and cement their ties, the worsening border situation is becoming a pain in the neck as the situation at the borders reflects that every thing is not well between the two countries. How can both expect a miracle in the relations when deafen-ing sounds of shelling are heard every now and then on borders and the life of the people liv-ing near by has again become agonizing and painful. Sanity should prevail on the leader-ship of both sides and the steps should be initiated immediate-ly to halt border firing. There is no doubt that there are issues which need to be addressed and solved, but it is not pos-sible to carve out solution to any problem in hostile atmo-sphere. Problems are solved in a cordial, friendly and peaceful atmosphere through negotia-tions which should be sincere and purposeful. The relation between the two countries of late improved considerably and hopes of solving all outstanding issues had emerged. It is unfor-tunate that the intermittent fir-ing on borders and control line since last year has dampened the hopes. It is in no way in the interest of both the countries to continue hostilities. The ten-sion on the borders will never allow a peaceful atmosphere for negotiations and will adverse-ly affect the relations. It will be in the fitness of the things that both countries sincerely leap some steps forward to end hos-tilities

South African Gandhian Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela, a true Gandhian adopted demo-cratic methods for achiev-ing Human Rights, freedom

and emancipation of Blacks from the South African apartheid regime. As a leader, Nelson Mandela can be compared to radical reformers like Mahatma Gandhi, Garibaldi of Italy and Lenin of Soviet Union who waged life-long struggles for freedom and human dignity. He led the struggle against apartheid- the inhuman practice of racial discrim-ination followed by rulers in South Africa. Mandela’s relentless crusade fructified in getting equal rights for Black people who were denied the basic rights to equality, freedom, hu-man dignity and right to life. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years of his life in the prisons of oppressive white rul-ers. Eventually, the Pretoria gov-ernment had to release him in the autumn of 1990. The Indian Govern-ment honored Mandela with Nehru Peace Prize in 1980 and the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna con-ferred on him in 1990. Bharat Ratna was conferred on him, the award so far given to only two foreign nation-als and the other one being Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan- Frontier Gand-hi, a freedom fighter during Indian Freedom Struggle. The Entire world hailed him as a great leader, who launched constructive revolt for the liberation of the coloured nationals in association with the African Na-tional Congress. The world recog-nized his struggle for freedom and awarded Noble Peace Prize to him. Mandela was a symbol of courage and crusader for human dignity and liberty. Mandela helped for smooth transition of power in South Africa and avoided bloodshed and hatred. The UNO celebrates 18th July as Mandela Day. CHILDHOODNelson Rolihlahla Mandela popu-larly known as Madiba in his home-land was born on 18th July 1918. His father was chief of Tembu Tribe. As a young law student, he became in-volved in political opposition to the white minority regime. As a boxer, Mandela loved the sport and in his younger years, he was classed as a heavy-weight. The boy would later be given the English name Nelson by his school teacher; Mandela was name of his grandfather. POLITICAL STRUGGLEMandela joined the African Na-tional Congress (ANC) in 1942 and co-founded its more dynamic Youth League in 1944. His father was the chief of the Thembu tribe and coun-

selor of Thembu king. Mandela has had a first-hand experience of the atrocities unleashed by the white rulers on the coloured people. He came to Johannesburg at the age of 22. There, he met an active revo-lutionary named Walter Sisulu. He started studying Law. Mandela in association with Sisulu and Oliver Tambo started an agitation against the white rule which was crushed by the Pretorian authorities. The 1948 election victory of the Afrikan-er-dominated National Party led to apartheid system of racial segrega-tion becoming law. Mandela rose to prominence in the ANC’s 1952 De-fiance Campaign and the 1955 Con-gress of the People, whose adoption of the Freedom Charter provided the fundamental programme of the anti-apartheid cause. Initially com-mitted to non-violent mass struggle and acquitted in the marathon Trea-son Trial of 1956-1961, Mandela and his colleagues accepted the case for armed action after the shooting of unarmed protesters at Sharpeville in March 1960 and the banning of anti-apartheid groups. In 1961, he be-came the commander of the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe. In August of the following year, he was arrested and jailed for five years. In June 1964, he was sentenced again, this time to life imprisonment, for his involvement in planning armed action. He started his prison years in the infamous Robben Island Pris-on, a maximum security facility on a small island off the coast of Cape Town. In April 1984, he was trans-ferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town and in December 1988 he was moved to the Victor Verster Prison near Paarl from where he was even-tually released. IMPRISONMENT FOR 27 YEARSDuring his incarceration Mandela taught himself to speak Afrikaans and learned about Afrikaner his-tory. While in prison, Mandela re-jected offers made by his jailers for remission of sentence in exchange for accepting the Bantustan policy by recognising the independence of the Transkei region and agreeing to settle there. Amongst opponents of apartheid in South Africa and in-ternationally, he became a cultural symbol of freedom and equality. Mandela remained in prison un-til February 1990, when sustained ANC campaigning and internation-al pressure led to his release. On 2 February 1990, South African Pres-ident F.W. de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC and other anti-apart-heid organisations. Mandela was

released from Victor Verster Prison on 11 February 1990. He and Pres-ident de Klerk - who did much to dismantle the institutions of apart-heid - shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. In Mandela’s 1994 autobiog-raphy, ‘Long Walk to Freedom’, he did not reveal anything about the alleged complicity of de Klerk in the violence of the 1980s and 90s, or the role of his ex-wife Winnie Mandela in that bloodshed. However, he later discussed those issues in ‘Mandela: The Authorised Biography’. While he was in prison and was invited to negotiate with White regime in Feb-ruary 1985, he stated that “only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated”. LIFE AFTER PRISONAfter his release, Mandela returned to the leadership of the ANC and, between 1990 and 1994, led the par-ty in the multi-party negotiations that resulted in the country’s first multi-racial elections. As the first black president of South Africa (1994 - 1999) he presided over the transition from minority rule and apartheid. He won praise for his leadership during this time, even from his former white opponents in South Africa. Following his retire-ment as president in 1999, Mandela went on to become an advocate for a variety of social and human-rights organizations. He used his status as a respected elder statesman to give weight to pertinent issues. The fight against Aids was one of Mandela’s primary concerns and he used his gravitas to raise awareness about the issue on the global stage. Having backed the 46664 Aids fundraising campaign, which was named after his prison number, he went on to call for more openness in discussing the condition. In 2007, he brought to-gether elder statesmen, peace activ-ists and human rights advocates in-cluding Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Ela Bhatt, Gro Harlem Brundtland and Li Zhaoxing under a non-gov-ernmental organization dubbed The Elders. The aim of the organization was to combine the elders’ collective wisdom and use it to solve some of the world’s problems. Although he spoke out less about issues affect-ing neighboring country Zimbabwe in his retirement. His last public outing was during the closing cer-emony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Johannesburg. He started Nelson Mandela foundation and served the poorest of the poor and needy. AWARDSIn November 2009, Mandela’s con-

tributions to world freedom were re-warded with a unique gesture by the United Nations General Assembly. In November 2009, the United Na-tions General Assembly announced that Mandela’s birthday, 18 July, is to be known as ‘Mandela Day’ mark-ing his contribution to world free-dom. On 18 July 2012, Mandela’s 94th birthday, 12 million schoolchildren across South Africa honored him with a specially composed song to mark the day. Mandela has won in-ternational acclaim for his sacrific-es for the cause of human rights and freedom. In 1980, he was given the Nehru Peace Prize by India. In 1990, India conferred its highest award the ‘Bharat Ratna’ on him. Nelson Mandela has come to symbolize human struggle against racial dis-crimination. East Germany honored him with the ‘Star of International Friendship’ and Venezuela con-ferred the ‘Simon Boliver Award’ on him. He has also been honored with the ‘Sakharov Award’ and the ‘Hu-man Rights Award’.Nelson Mandela was a protestor, prisoner and peacemaker. His death on 5th December 2013 has become a celebration of life of fellow human beings on the Earth. Nelson Man-dela changed South Africa and the world. He became a father of a na-tion, an international icon, and a legend. He showed that heroes may leave but their wisdom remains. His compassion, humility, genu-ine caring, listening and talk leave an indelible impression on human history. Nelson Mandela admired Gandhi who started his own free-dom struggle in South Africa in 1890s but he regarded non-violence as a tactic. By the time he stepped down as the country’s first black President in 1999 in the age of 80, he was, almost without rival, the most admired person on Earth- seen as a secular saint, an embodiment of hu-man greatness and an icon of peace and wisdom. He became the rarest thing in African history, a one term President who chose not to run for again. Like George Washington, he understood that every step he made would be template for others to fol-low. He could have been President for life, but he knows that democ-racy, he could not. Two democratic elections have followed his presi-dency, and if the men who have suc-ceeded him have not been his equal, well, that too is democracy. He was a large man in every way. His legacy is that he expanded human freedom. He was tolerant of everything but intolerance.

Prioritizing Road Safety in India The UN General Assembly has

adopted 2011-2020 as the De-cade of Action for Road Safety and set a goal for reducing fatal-

ities from road accidents by 50 percent during the period recognizing the se-vere impact of road accidents on global health. Every year about 1.2 million people die and 50 million get affected in road accidents globally losing 1.2 trillion US Dollars in these accidents, says Mr. K K Kapila, Chairman, Inter-national Road Federation. According to the World Health Organization unless concerted action is taken, road traffic injuries are predicted to become the fifth leading cause of death in the world by 2030.With the growing urbanization and vehicular traffic, the issue of safety on roads also keep growing in terms of concerns and solutions. The concern becomes all the more relevant in view of the fact that number of persons killed in road accidents in India is the highest in the world. More than 4.97 lakh road accidents in 2011 are reported to have claimed over 1.42 lakh lives. These numbers translate into roughly one road accident per minute and one road accident death every four minutes for India. Though the data for the year 2012 shows a declining trend with over 4.90 lakh accidents claiming 1.38 lakh lives, still the number is too high to give reason to breathe easy. The analysis of road accidents in terms of causal factor’s reveals that drivers’ fault accounts for 78.7 per cent (3,85,934 accidents) of total road accidents. The reason behind fault may vary from alcohol/drugs to mobile addiction, overloading/overcrowding of vehicles, exceeding lawful speed and tiredness etc. Since drivers’ fault has been found responsible for about 80% road accidents, it is important to make them aware and realize that they are

the killers on roads when they violate the laws/measures. Road Safety is being prioritized at Political Level. The focus is shifting from ad-hoc Road Safety Activities to Sustainable Programmes. A systemat-ic state capacity review of the existing road safety management system has been recommended while formulating long term goals, interim targets, strat-egies and programmes. This includes a high-level multi-sectoral strategic examination of a range of activities and involves senior management from the key governmental agencies - Transport, Police, Health, Justice and Education, who may not all be actively engaged as yet– as well as all other stakeholders who are able and should contribute to the delivery of road safety results. The Ministry of RTH has taken steps to min-imize road accidents in the country. The Government has approved a Na-tional Road Safety Policy. This Policy outlines various policy measures such as promoting awareness, establishing road safety information data base, en-couraging safer road infrastructure in-cluding application of intelligent trans-port, enforcement of safety laws etc. The Government has constituted National Road Safety Council as the apex body to take policy decisions in matters of road safety. The Ministry has requested all States/UTs for setting up of State Road Safety Council and District Road Safety Committees.The Ministry has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on four E’s of Road Safety that is Education, Enforce-ment, Engineering (roads as well as vehicles) and Emergency care. Road safety has been made an integral part of road design at the planning stage. Road Safety Audit of selected stretches of National Highways/Expressways adopted. Driving training institutes

being established, Tightening of safety standards of vehicles like helmets, seat belts, power-steering, rear view mirror and Publicity campaigns on road safety awareness.

Besides observing Road Safety Week, media campaigns through Doordar-shan and Radio networks, Printing and distribution of Road Safety material, advertisements in newspapers and or-ganizing conferences/seminars/ work-shops on Road Safety, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways contin-ues to undertake new initiatives to en-sure road safety. These include efforts for inclusion of a chapter on road safety in the· Text books of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus in Class VI to Class XII. State Govern-ments have also been advised to include Road Safety education in the curricu-lum of the schools administered by the State Education Board.· Providing cashless treatment to road accident victims for 48 hours at ex-penditure up to a limit of Rs. 30,000/-a pi-lot project launched on Gurgaon-Jaipur section of NH 8.· Identification of top 25 black spots in 13 States which account for 90% of road accidents in India. The short term remedial measures have been com-pleted for most of the black spots iden-tified.· Finalisation of National Ambu-lance Code based on the recommen-dations of the Working Group on Emergency care. This ’Code’ puts in place minimum standards and guide-lines regarding the constructional and functional requirements of road am-bulances in India.· Notifying Consignments protrud-ing beyond the body of goods carrier as illegal.The strategy for ensuring road safety

being multi-pronged, many govern-ment departments share responsibil-ity for road safety. Special arrange-ments are required to put in place to ensure close co-ordination and accountability. For ensuring better coordination among key Govern-ment agencies concerned with road safety including local government, all the State Governments have been advised to constitute High Level Committees headed by the Chief Sec-retary to take stock of the road safety scenario in their States and the mea-sures required to be instituted at the State level to reduce road accident fa-talities. The States have been advised to prepare action plan on road safety for their States. The States’ annual action plan on road safety needs to set ambi-tious but realistic targets for at least five years. It should have measurable out-comes and sufficient funding to develop, implement, man age, monitor and eval-uate actions. All the States/UTs have been asked to identify a lead agency in the State and also set up Road Safety Fund at the State level by earmarking 50% of the funds generated from fines on account of violation of traffic rules.Though UN decade of action plan to reduce road fatalities by 50% started in 2011, after three years much needs to be done. In India, budget for Road Safety needs to be enhanced and proper road safety plans/ mechanism to be in place in all the States. It needs to be ensured that orders relating to Road Safety that exist are followed strictly and violation punished. Parliamentarians and corpo-rate world may be engaged by way of diverting a part of funds from MPLAD and CSR and contributing for the cause of Road Safety. The collective efforts of all stakeholders are bound to make significant impact on making roads safer, arresting human suffering due to road related mishaps ۔

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”

..................― William Shakespeare

Srinagar, Sunday 20 July 2014