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Excelsior daily REGD. NO. JK-71/18-20 RNI No. 28547/65 Vol No. 55 No. 83 JAMMU, TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2019 14 Pages ` 5.00 3 robbers loot Rs 2 lakh Excelsior Correspondent KATHUA, Mar 25: Three bike borne robbers looted about Rs two lakh cash from a petrol pump in Chadwal area on Jammu -Pathankot National Highway late last night on gun point and fled away. According to reports, three masked youth riding on a Pulsar bike entered a petrol pump at NH Chadwal late last night. Among the trio, one biker came down from the two- wheeler with a revolver in his hand. He straightway entered the office of petrol pump where the two employees of the pump includ- ing the manager and sales man were sitting. The biker fired upon them and both sustained serious injuries in their legs and fell down in pool of blood. Later his other two associates also entered the office and decamped with Tribunal set up on Jamaat ban NEW DELHI, Mar 25: The Centre has constituted a tribunal headed by a Delhi High Court Judge to decide whether there is sufficient cause for declaring Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir as an unlawful association. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on March 23 had issued a notification which states that Justice Mukta Gupta would head the tribunal set up under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Assets identified for attachment NEW DELHI, Mar 25: At least 10 properties of a Jammu and Kashmir-based businessman, an Islamabad house of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and a host of immovable assets of separatists have been identified by security agencies for attach- ment in multiple terror financ- ing cases, officials said today. The 10 properties of Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, currently in Delhi's Tihar jail in a terror funding case probed by the NIA, and Salahuddin's house in CRPF to get mine protected vehicles NEW DELHI, Mar 25: The CRPF will procure a new fleet of mine protected vehicles (MPVs) and small 30- seater buses to ensure safety of its troop con- voys in the Kashmir valley, the chief of the force has said. The paramilitary has also decided to enhance the number of its bomb detection and dis- posal squads (BDDS) for its about 65 battalions based in the Kashmir valley for anti-terror and law and order duties. These new measures have been chalked out by the force in the aftermath of the February 14 Pulwama terror attack in which 44 personnel travelling in a bus, part of a convoy from Jammu to Srinagar, were martyred by a suicide bomber as he exploded a vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (IED). "We are enhancing our counter-IED capabilities in Kashmir. We are procuring and sending more MPVs and bullet- proofing force buses. As it is Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 25: Majority of candidates from recognized political parties, who have so far entered into political fray from four Lok Sabha constituencies of the State including Jammu, Udhampur, Srinagar and Baramulla, are millionaires with Congress candidate from Udhampur-Doda seat, Vikramaditya Singh, son of erstwhile ruler of the State, Dr Karan Singh topping the list having assets running into sev- eral crores and BJP candidate on Jammu-Poonch constituen- cy, Jugal Kishore Sharma hav- ing maximum of Rs 34.53 crore worth loan from the financial institutions. National Conference presi- dent, Dr Farooq Abdullah, who has served the State as Chief Minister as well as the Union Minister, owned moveable assets worth Rs 10.6 crore and had no liabilities, a compulsory affidavit filed by him before the Returning Officer at the time of filing of nomination papers, revealed. Vikramaditya Singh has shown Rs 11.41 crore worth moveable and Rs 10.5 crore immovable assets on his name and Rs 7.46 crore moveable and Rs 5.38 crore immovable assets on the name of his wife Chitrangda Singh. His son Martand Singh owned moveable assets to the tune of Rs 67.93 lakh and immovable worth Rs 58.99 lakh. Vikramaditya has liabilities of Rs 46 lakh as loans from bank and other financial institutions while his spouse has Rs 2 lakh worth liabilities. He owned jew- ellery to the tune of Rs 32.38 lakh and his wife Rs 47.7 lakh. Apart from fleet of cars, Vikramaditya also owned Royal Enfield motorcycle worth Rs 1.25 lakh. Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Dr Jitendra Singh has moveable assets to the tune of Rs 1.84 crore and immovable worth Rs 4.02 crore while his spouse has moveable assets worth Rs 57.87 lakh and immovable to the tune of Rs 63.2 lakh. They have no liabilities. BJP candidate from Jammu- Poonch seat, Jugal Kishore Sharma has movable assets worth Rs 1.44 crore and his wife Usha Sharma worth Rs 69.73 lakh. Jugal owned land to the tune of Rs 58.4 lakh and his wife Rs 13.29 lakh. However, Jugal has shown Rs 34.53 crore worth liabilities in form of loans obtained from Banks and finan- cial institutions. National Conference candi- date from Baramulla, Mohammad Akbar Lone, who happens to be former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly as well as ex-Minister didn't own any movable assets while his wife has movable assets to the tune of just Rs 6 lakh. He has self acquired assets worth Rs 7.5 crore and Rs 1.89 lakh loan from the bank. Raja Aijaz Ali, the People's Conference candidate from Baramulla seat and retired Inspector General of Police has movable assets of Rs 1.1 crore and his wife has similar assets worth Rs 80 lakh. He has Rs 8.2 crore self acquired assets and inherited assets to the tune of Rs 5 crores. His wife has self acquired assets worth Rs 3.24 crore. He owed Rs 8.48 lakh as Bigwigs among 37 join fray in Jammu, 14 in Baramulla Sanjeev Pargal / Fayaz Bukhari JAMMU/SRINAGAR, Mar 25: Though a record number of 37 candidates have joined fray for prestigious Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat where nominations closed this evening and four candi- dates filing papers for Udhampur-Doda constituency on penultimate day today, the fight is gradually turning out to be between BJP sitting MPs versus ‘Mahagathbandhan’, unofficially floated by the Congress, National Conference and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to thwart BJP’s halt to victory for second time. Returning Officer for Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat, Ramesh Kumar (Deputy Commissioner, Jammu) told the Excelsior that 35 candidates filed nomination papers today, taking total number of nomina- tions to 37. Returning Officer Kathua, Rohit Khajuria said three candidates joined the fray today taking total number to four on Udhampur-Doda seat, where tomorrow is last date of filing papers. National Conference (NC) president Dr Farooq Abdullah today filed his nomination papers from Srinagar Parliamentary constituency at Deputy Commissioner’s office in Srinagar. Returning Officer for Baramulla Parliamentary Constituency, Dr G N Itoo today said that 10 nominations were filed on the last date of filing nominations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, taking total nominations to 14. While BJP’s sitting MPs from Udhampur and Jammu seats, Dr Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore Sharma have already filed their nomination papers, the Congress candidates including Vikramaditya Singh and Raman Bhalla joined the electoral battle today on the two seats. BJP rebel and Dogra Swabhiman Sangthan (DSS) chairman, Choudhary Lal Singh and Panthers Party supremo Bhim Singh too joined the fray for Jammu Parliamentary seat today while Lal Singh and Panthers Party leader Harshdev Singh will file papers for Udhampur seat tomorrow. Though many bigwigs have joined the race for two seats of Jammu region, political observers were of the view that it could be a straight contest between BJP and Congress can- Nishikant Khajuria JAMMU, Mar 25: Jealous over 20 times more tourists visiting Jammu than Valley because of peaceful atmos- phere in this part of the State, the Tourism Department of State Government has decid- ed to virtually block publicity of tourist places of this region even on social media by por- traying entire J&K as Kashmir only thus once again forcing Jammu to suffer at the cost of Kashmir notwithstand- ing Governor's rule in the State. Authoritative sources told the Excelsior that Publicity Committee of J&K Tourism Department has decided for clo- sure of social media account of Tourism Jammu and ordered that there will be only one social media account for both the Directorates of Tourism, which shall be maintained by Director, Tourism Kashmir. As per the controversial decision, taken by the Publicity Committee during its meeting held last week under the chair- manship of Commissioner/ Secretary Tourism Department; "The Social Media account of the Director, Tourism Kashmir will be the only account to be used. The Director Tourism Jammu can continue with the existing Social Media team, if any, but will only post in the Social Media account main- tained by the Director Tourism Kashmir." Even as publicity through social media account costs noth- ing and thus has no bearing on the State exchequer, the ironic decision to close down the Jammu Tourism group is clear- ly aimed to hit tourism poten- tial of this region by blocking promotion of the tourist sites in this region and more particularly by creating a wrong impression that J&K means Kashmir only, sources explained. Pertinent to mention that sce- nic Jammu region is fast emerg- ing as a favourite tourist destina- tion and more than 1.6 crore tourists from across the country and globally, have travelled to this beautiful and peaceful region in 2018 whereas on the other hand, tourism in Kashmir has nosedived because of Govt’s bid to portray J&K as only Kashmir, discourage tourists visiting Jammu Mohinder Verma JAMMU, Mar 25: Going ahead with its drive against the habitual tax evaders, the Income Tax Department today carried out surveys in the premises of several prominent diagnostic centres and pharmaceutical distributor and laid hands on several doc- uments indicating concealment of prof- its. More such surveys are likely in the com- ing days as Income Tax Department sleuths found vital information about sev- eral persons particular- ly renowned doctors who are hand in glove with these diagnostic centres in cheating the taxmen by way of concealing their exact income. Official sources told EXCELSIOR that during the past quite long time senior offi- cers of the Income Tax Department J&K Circle were minutely scrutinizing the Income Tax returns of owners and partners of prominent diag- nostic centres and pharmaceuti- cal distributors of past many years. During the detailed exercise it came to the fore that though business of prominent diagnos- tic centres and pharmaceutical distributors was on continuous rise during the past many years yet there was no commensurate increase in payment of the income tax. Further, the department came to know from different sources that owners and part- ners of several diagnostic cen- tres have even purchased properties worth several crores of rupees in the posh localities of Jammu but invest- ment was never reflected while filing the Income Tax returns, sources informed. IT Deptt surveys prominent diagnostic centres, pharmaceutical distributor Haresh Singh NAGROTA: Held by National Conference bigwig, Devender Singh Rana, Nagrota Assembly constituency on the outskirts of Jammu City is one of the rare segments in the region, where people openly boast of the development works carried out by their first-time former MLA in a short span of just four years and that too when he was in the Opposition. This reporter, who toured several parts of Nagrota Assembly segment, himself saw the difference as compared to other rural or semi-urban con- stituencies of the region. It was not that people of Nagrota have got everything and were fully satisfied as they too faced day-to-day problems on account of water and electricity among others but majority of them were proud to say that Devender Singh Rana is not only easily accessible to them on phone or at his residence or National Conference office but he even visit parts of the con- stituency himself every week to take stock of public grievances and address them on spot. "We have seen the perform- ance of earlier MLAs but the pace of development picked-up only during four years tenure of Devender Singh Rana. Previously only routine works used to be executed,'' said Ram Krishan Sharma, a shopkeeper at Nagrota. "Be it the construction of road in interiors, installation of water pumps, supply of water and electricity, providing other basic facilities and bringing areas on tourist map, Rana has come up to our expectations because of his people-friendly approach and easy accessibility as he managed to listen to our problems regularly and then get them resolved,'' said Ram Lal, an elderly person at village Bajalta, which is part of Nagrota Assembly segment. Satish Kumar, a local, opined that merit of their for- mer representative was that he had developed close contact with the common man and fre- quently paid visits to their areas. People wanted that the Sports Stadium, whose founda- tion stone was laid by Dr Farooq Abdullah at Bain Bajalta in 2011, on an area of nearly 560 kanals, should be completed immediately as it would attract sports lovers and Rana develops Nagrota a lot in 4 years, people want more in next term Ex-MLAs’ Report Card Constituency: Nagrota Devender Singh Rana (NC) http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/ex-mlas-report-card/ Dr Farooq Abdullah, Vikramaditya Singh, Raman Bhalla, Ch Lal Singh, Khalid Jehangir, Prof Bhim Singh and Tilak Raj Bhagat filing their nomination papers on Monday. (Contd on page 9 Col 3) CRPF personnel deployed outside prominent diagnostic centres during Income Tax Department surveys on Monday. -Excelsior/Rakesh R R Bhatnagar ISLAMABAD, Mar 25: The Pakistan Government today approved a proposal to establish a corridor that will allow Hindu pilgrims from India to visit Sharda Peeth, an ancient Hindu temple and cul- tural site in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, according to a media report. The Sharda Peeth corridor, when opened, will be the second religious tract after Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan-controlled territory that will connect the two neighbouring nations. India had already sent a pro- posal to Pakistan to open the temple corridor, the Express Tribune reported quoting sources in Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "After Kartarpur, a piece of big news is in the offing for Hindus. Some of the Government officials will visit the area and will later submit a report to the Prime Minister," the sources said. Established in 237 BC dur- ing the reign of Ashoka, the 5,000-year-old Sharda Peeth is an abandoned temple and Pak approves proposal to open Sharda Peeth corridor *Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com *Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com Majority of contestants’ ‘crorepatis’ NEW DELHI, Mar 25: In a big poll promise that he described as a "ground- breaking" measure to end poverty, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi today said 20 per cent families in poorest of the poor category will be given Rs 72,000 each annually as a min- imum income. Making the announcement at a press conference here, Gandhi said, "The time for change has come". Five crore families and 25 crore people will directly bene- fit from the scheme, he claimed, terming it as a "final assault" to eradicate pover- ty in the country. "The final assault on poverty has begun. We will wipe out poverty from the country," he said. "I promise that there will be justice for the poor. The Congress guarantees that 20 per cent families belonging to poorest of the poor category in India will be given Rs 72,000 each annually," he said. The Congress chief termed it a "historic day", saying the Congress had launched its final Rahul promises minimum income scheme, 20% families to benefit EC Observers meet officials NEW DELHI, Mar 25: The three Special Observers appointed by the Election Commission (EC) to help it decide on holding Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir today met top officials of the CRPF and State police here. Sources aware of the meet- ing said since the CRPF is the principal security agency in the State, the Observers wanted a feedback on how early the Assembly polls can be held in the State. Bid to cheat poor: Jaitley NEW DELHI, Mar 25: BJP leader and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today slammed Rahul Gandhi's promise of giving Rs 72,000 per year to the most deprived families as a "bluff" and yet another Congress' bid to "cheat" the poor, and asserted the Modi Government was already giving one-and-a- (Contd on page 4 Col 1) File photo of Sharda Peeth shrine. Congress president Rahul Gandhi addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Monday. (UNI) (Contd on page 9 Col 1) (Contd on page 9 Col 6) (Contd on page 9 Col 5) (Contd on page 9 Col 5) (Contd on page 9 Col 3) (Contd on page 9 Col 1) Documents reveal huge evasion of tax, undisclosed investments To initiate action against several doctors shortly (Contd on page 9 Col 5) BJP faces ‘Mahagathbandhan’ on 2 Jammu region seats Farooq files papers in Srinagar (Contd on page 9 Col 7) (Contd on page 9 Col 3) (Contd on page 4 Col 1) Decision on closure of Jammu Tourism social media account (Contd on page 4 Col 3)
Transcript of page1.qxd (Page 2) - DAILY...
Excelsiordaily
REGD. NO. JK-71/18-20RNI No. 28547/65Vol No. 55 No. 83 JAMMU, TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2019 14 Pages `̀ 5.00
3 robbers lootRs 2 lakh
Excelsior CorrespondentKATHUA, Mar 25: Three
bike borne robbers looted aboutRs two lakh cash from a petrolpump in Chadwal area onJammu -Pathankot NationalHighway late last night on gunpoint and fled away.
According to reports, threemasked youth riding on a Pulsarbike entered a petrol pump atNH Chadwal late last night.Among the trio, one biker camedown from the two- wheelerwith a revolver in his hand. Hestraightway entered the officeof petrol pump where the twoemployees of the pump includ-ing the manager and sales manwere sitting.
The biker fired upon themand both sustained seriousinjuries in their legs and felldown in pool of blood. Later hisother two associates also enteredthe office and decamped with
Tribunal set upon Jamaat ban
NEW DELHI, Mar 25:The Centre has constituted a
tribunal headed by a Delhi HighCourt Judge to decide whetherthere is sufficient cause fordeclaring Jamaat-e-IslamiJammu and Kashmir as anunlawful association.
The Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) on March 23had issued a notification whichstates that Justice Mukta Guptawould head the tribunal set upunder the Unlawful ActivitiesPrevention Act (UAPA).
Assets identifiedfor attachment
NEW DELHI, Mar 25: At least 10 properties of a
Jammu and Kashmir-basedbusinessman, an Islamabadhouse of Hizbul Mujahideenchief Syed Salahuddin and ahost of immovable assets ofseparatists have been identifiedby security agencies for attach-ment in multiple terror financ-ing cases, officials said today.
The 10 properties of ZahoorAhmad Shah Watali, currentlyin Delhi's Tihar jail in a terrorfunding case probed by theNIA, and Salahuddin's house in
CRPF to getmine protected
vehiclesNEW DELHI, Mar 25:
The CRPF will procure anew fleet of mine protectedvehicles (MPVs) and small 30-
seater busesto ensuresafety of itstroop con-voys in theK a s h m i rvalley, thechief of theforce hassaid.
The paramilitary has alsodecided to enhance the numberof its bomb detection and dis-posal squads (BDDS) for itsabout 65 battalions based in theKashmir valley for anti-terrorand law and order duties.
These new measures havebeen chalked out by the force inthe aftermath of the February 14Pulwama terror attack in which44 personnel travelling in a bus,part of a convoy from Jammu toSrinagar, were martyred by asuicide bomber as he explodeda vehicle-borne ImprovisedExplosive Device (IED).
"We are enhancing ourcounter-IED capabilities inKashmir. We are procuring andsending more MPVs and bullet-proofing force buses. As it is
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 25:Majority of candidates fromrecognized political parties,who have so far entered intopolitical fray from four LokSabha constituencies of theState including Jammu,Udhampur, Srinagar andBaramulla, are millionaireswith Congress candidate fromUdhampur-Doda seat,Vikramaditya Singh, son oferstwhile ruler of the State, DrKaran Singh topping the listhaving assets running into sev-eral crores and BJP candidateon Jammu-Poonch constituen-cy, Jugal Kishore Sharma hav-ing maximum of Rs 34.53crore worth loan from thefinancial institutions.
National Conference presi-dent, Dr Farooq Abdullah, whohas served the State as Chief
Minister as well as the UnionMinister, owned moveableassets worth Rs 10.6 crore andhad no liabilities, a compulsoryaffidavit filed by him before theReturning Officer at the time offiling of nomination papers,revealed.
Vikramaditya Singh hasshown Rs 11.41 crore worthmoveable and Rs 10.5 croreimmovable assets on his nameand Rs 7.46 crore moveable andRs 5.38 crore immovable assetson the name of his wifeChitrangda Singh. His sonMartand Singh owned moveableassets to the tune of Rs 67.93lakh and immovable worth Rs58.99 lakh.
Vikramaditya has liabilitiesof Rs 46 lakh as loans from bankand other financial institutionswhile his spouse has Rs 2 lakhworth liabilities. He owned jew-ellery to the tune of Rs 32.38
lakh and his wife Rs 47.7 lakh.Apart from fleet of cars,
Vikramaditya also owned RoyalEnfield motorcycle worth Rs1.25 lakh.
Union Minister of State inthe Prime Minister's Office(PMO), Dr Jitendra Singh hasmoveable assets to the tune ofRs 1.84 crore and immovableworth Rs 4.02 crore while hisspouse has moveable assetsworth Rs 57.87 lakh andimmovable to the tune of Rs63.2 lakh.
They have no liabilities.BJP candidate from Jammu-
Poonch seat, Jugal KishoreSharma has movable assetsworth Rs 1.44 crore and his wifeUsha Sharma worth Rs 69.73lakh. Jugal owned land to thetune of Rs 58.4 lakh and his wifeRs 13.29 lakh. However, Jugalhas shown Rs 34.53 crore worthliabilities in form of loans
obtained from Banks and finan-cial institutions.
National Conference candi-date from Baramulla,Mohammad Akbar Lone, whohappens to be former Speaker ofthe Legislative Assembly as wellas ex-Minister didn't own anymovable assets while his wife hasmovable assets to the tune of justRs 6 lakh. He has self acquiredassets worth Rs 7.5 crore and Rs1.89 lakh loan from the bank.
Raja Aijaz Ali, the People'sConference candidate fromBaramulla seat and retiredInspector General of Police hasmovable assets of Rs 1.1 croreand his wife has similar assetsworth Rs 80 lakh. He has Rs 8.2crore self acquired assets andinherited assets to the tune ofRs 5 crores. His wife has selfacquired assets worth Rs 3.24crore. He owed Rs 8.48 lakh as
Bigwigs among 37 join fray inJammu, 14 in Baramulla
Sanjeev Pargal / Fayaz Bukhari
J A M M U / S R I N A G A R ,Mar 25: Though a recordnumber of 37 candidates havejoined fray for prestigiousJammu-Poonch Lok Sabhaseat where nominations closedthis evening and four candi-dates filing papers for
Udhampur-Doda constituencyon penultimate day today, thefight is gradually turning outto be between BJP sitting MPsversus ‘Mahagathbandhan’,unofficially floated by theCongress, NationalConference and People’sDemocratic Party (PDP) tothwart BJP’s halt to victoryfor second time.
Returning Officer forJammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat,Ramesh Kumar (DeputyCommissioner, Jammu) told theExcelsior that 35 candidatesfiled nomination papers today,taking total number of nomina-tions to 37. Returning Officer
Kathua, Rohit Khajuria saidthree candidates joined the fraytoday taking total number tofour on Udhampur-Doda seat,where tomorrow is last date offiling papers.
National Conference (NC)president Dr Farooq Abdullahtoday filed his nominationpapers from SrinagarParliamentary constituency at
Deputy Commissioner’s officein Srinagar.
Returning Officer forBaramulla ParliamentaryConstituency, Dr G N Itoo todaysaid that 10 nominations werefiled on the last date of filingnominations for the upcoming
Lok Sabha elections, taking totalnominations to 14.
While BJP’s sitting MPsfrom Udhampur and Jammuseats, Dr Jitendra Singh and
Jugal Kishore Sharma havealready filed their nominationpapers, the Congress candidates
including Vikramaditya Singhand Raman Bhalla joined theelectoral battle today on the twoseats.
BJP rebel and DograSwabhiman Sangthan (DSS)chairman, Choudhary Lal Singhand Panthers Party supremoBhim Singh too joined the frayfor Jammu Parliamentary seattoday while Lal Singh and
Panthers Party leader HarshdevSingh will file papers forUdhampur seat tomorrow.
Though many bigwigs havejoined the race for two seats ofJammu region, politicalobservers were of the view thatit could be a straight contestbetween BJP and Congress can-
Nishikant KhajuriaJAMMU, Mar 25: Jealous
over 20 times more touristsvisiting Jammu than Valleybecause of peaceful atmos-phere in this part of the State,the Tourism Department ofState Government has decid-ed to virtually block publicityof tourist places of this regioneven on social media by por-traying entire J&K asKashmir only thus once againforcing Jammu to suffer at thecost of Kashmir notwithstand-ing Governor's rule in theState.
Authoritative sources toldthe Excelsior that PublicityCommittee of J&K TourismDepartment has decided for clo-sure of social media account of
Tourism Jammu and orderedthat there will be only one socialmedia account for both theDirectorates of Tourism, whichshall be maintained by Director,Tourism Kashmir.
As per the controversialdecision, taken by the PublicityCommittee during its meetingheld last week under the chair-manship of Commissioner/Secretary Tourism Department;"The Social Media account ofthe Director, Tourism Kashmirwill be the only account to beused. The Director TourismJammu can continue with theexisting Social Media team, ifany, but will only post in theSocial Media account main-tained by the Director TourismKashmir."
Even as publicity through
social media account costs noth-ing and thus has no bearing onthe State exchequer, the ironicdecision to close down theJammu Tourism group is clear-ly aimed to hit tourism poten-tial of this region by blockingpromotion of the tourist sites inthis region and more particularlyby creating a wrong impressionthat J&K means Kashmir only,sources explained.
Pertinent to mention that sce-nic Jammu region is fast emerg-ing as a favourite tourist destina-tion and more than 1.6 croretourists from across the countryand globally, have travelled tothis beautiful and peacefulregion in 2018 whereas on theother hand, tourism in Kashmirhas nosedived because of
Govt’s bid to portray J&K as only Kashmir, discourage tourists visiting Jammu
Mohinder VermaJAMMU, Mar 25: Going
ahead with its drive againstthe habitual tax evaders, theIncome Tax Department todaycarried out surveysin the premises ofseveral prominentdiagnostic centresand pharmaceuticaldistributor and laidhands on several doc-uments indicatingconcealment of prof-its.
More such surveysare likely in the com-ing days as IncomeTax Departmentsleuths found vitalinformation about sev-eral persons particular-ly renowned doctorswho are hand in glovewith these diagnostic centres incheating the taxmen by way ofconcealing their exact income.
Official sources toldEXCELSIOR that during thepast quite long time senior offi-cers of the Income Tax
Department J&K Circle wereminutely scrutinizing theIncome Tax returns of ownersand partners of prominent diag-nostic centres and pharmaceuti-cal distributors of past many
years.During the detailed exercise
it came to the fore that thoughbusiness of prominent diagnos-tic centres and pharmaceuticaldistributors was on continuousrise during the past many yearsyet there was no commensurate
increase in payment of theincome tax.
Further, the departmentcame to know from differentsources that owners and part-ners of several diagnostic cen-
tres have even purchasedproperties worth severalcrores of rupees in the poshlocalities of Jammu but invest-ment was never reflected whilefiling the Income Tax returns,sources informed.
IT Deptt surveys prominent diagnosticcentres, pharmaceutical distributor
Haresh SinghNAGROTA: Held by
National Conference bigwig,Devender Singh Rana, NagrotaAssembly constituency on theoutskirts of Jammu City is oneof the rare segments in theregion, where people openlyboast of the development workscarried out by their first-timeformer MLA in a short span ofjust four years and that toowhen he was in the Opposition.
This reporter, who touredseveral parts of NagrotaAssembly segment, himself sawthe difference as compared toother rural or semi-urban con-stituencies of the region. It wasnot that people of Nagrota havegot everything and were fully
satisfied asthey too
faced day-to-day problems onaccount of water and electricityamong others but majority ofthem were proud to say thatDevender Singh Rana is notonly easily accessible to themon phone or at his residence orNational Conference office buthe even visit parts of the con-stituency himself every week totake stock of public grievancesand address them on spot.
"We have seen the perform-ance of earlier MLAs but the
pace of development picked-uponly during four years tenure ofDevender Singh Rana.Previously only routine worksused to be executed,'' said RamKrishan Sharma, a shopkeeperat Nagrota.
"Be it the construction ofroad in interiors, installation ofwater pumps, supply of waterand electricity, providing otherbasic facilities and bringingareas on tourist map, Rana hascome up to our expectationsbecause of his people-friendlyapproach and easy accessibility
as he managed to listen to ourproblems regularly and then getthem resolved,'' said Ram Lal,an elderly person at villageBajalta, which is part ofNagrota Assembly segment.
Satish Kumar, a local,opined that merit of their for-mer representative was that hehad developed close contactwith the common man and fre-quently paid visits to theirareas.
People wanted that theSports Stadium, whose founda-tion stone was laid by DrFarooq Abdullah at BainBajalta in 2011, on an area ofnearly 560 kanals, should becompleted immediately as itwould attract sports lovers and
Rana develops Nagrota a lot in 4 years, people want more in next term
Ex-MLAs’ Report Card Constituency: Nagrota
Devender Singh Rana (NC)http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/ex-mlas-report-card/
Dr Farooq Abdullah, Vikramaditya Singh, Raman Bhalla, Ch Lal Singh, Khalid Jehangir, Prof Bhim Singh and Tilak RajBhagat filing their nomination papers on Monday.
(Contd on page 9 Col 3)
CRPF personnel deployed outside prominent diagnostic centres duringIncome Tax Department surveys on Monday. -Excelsior/Rakesh
R R Bhatnagar
ISLAMABAD, Mar 25:
The Pakistan Governmenttoday approved a proposal toestablish a corridor that willallow Hindu pilgrims fromIndia to visit Sharda Peeth, anancient Hindu temple and cul-tural site in Pakistan-occupiedKashmir, according to a mediareport.
The Sharda Peeth corridor,
when opened, will be the secondreligious tract after Kartarpurcorridor in Pakistan-controlledterritory that will connect thetwo neighbouring nations.
India had already sent a pro-posal to Pakistan to open thetemple corridor, the ExpressTribune reported quoting
sources in Pakistan's Ministry ofForeign Affairs.
"After Kartarpur, a piece ofbig news is in the offing forHindus. Some of theGovernment officials will visitthe area and will later submit a
report to the Prime Minister,"the sources said.
Established in 237 BC dur-ing the reign of Ashoka, the5,000-year-old Sharda Peeth isan abandoned temple and
Pak approves proposal to open Sharda Peeth corridor
*Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com
*Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com
Majority of contestants’ ‘crorepatis’
NEW DELHI, Mar 25:
In a big poll promise thathe described as a "ground-breaking" measure to endpoverty, Congress chief Rahul
Gandhi today said 20 per centfamilies in poorest of the poorcategory will be given Rs72,000 each annually as a min-
imum income.Making the announcement at
a press conference here, Gandhisaid, "The time for change hascome". Five crore families and
25 crore peoplewill directly bene-fit from thescheme, heclaimed, terming itas a "final assault"to eradicate pover-ty in the country.
"The finalassault on povertyhas begun. We willwipe out povertyfrom the country,"he said.
"I promise thatthere will be justice for the poor.The Congress guarantees that 20per cent families belonging topoorest of the poor category in
India will be given Rs 72,000each annually," he said.
The Congress chief termed ita "historic day", saying theCongress had launched its final
Rahul promises minimum incomescheme, 20% families to benefit
EC Observersmeet officials
NEW DELHI, Mar 25: The three Special Observers
appointed by the ElectionCommission (EC) to help itdecide on holding Assemblyelections in Jammu andKashmir today met top officialsof the CRPF and State policehere.
Sources aware of the meet-ing said since the CRPF is theprincipal security agency in theState, the Observers wanted afeedback on how early theAssembly polls can be held inthe State.
Bid to cheat poor: JaitleyNEW DELHI, Mar 25: BJP leader and Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley todayslammed Rahul Gandhi'spromise of giving Rs 72,000per year to the most deprivedfamilies as a "bluff" and yetanother Congress' bid to"cheat" the poor, and assertedthe Modi Government wasalready giving one-and-a-
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File photo of Sharda Peeth shrine.
Congress president Rahul Gandhiaddressing a press conference in New Delhion Monday. (UNI)
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Documents reveal huge evasion of tax, undisclosed investments
To initiate action against several doctors shortly
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BJP faces ‘Mahagathbandhan’ on 2 Jammu region seats
Farooq files papers in Srinagar
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Decision on closure of Jammu Tourism social media account
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