Rescheduled Common Entrance Test begins Saturday

Srinagar, July 26:

After the recent fiasco leading to the cancellation of profession entrance ex-amination last month, J&K Board of Professional En-trance Examination is all set to conduct the resched-uled test this weekend for the admission of the candi-dates to different Medical and Non-Medical courses in Government and Private Institutions in the state.“We are on the job and are giving final touches to our preparations,” Prof R D

Sharma, chairman of the J&K BOPEE, told KNS when contacted at around 1700 hours.Asked whether the board has ensured all measures to prevent recurrence of the last month’s mess-up, he said, “We have tried our level best to prevent it.” The BOPEE has asked all the candidates to reach the examination centres by 9:25 am for morning session and 1:25 pm for afternoon ses-sion on each day of exami-nation along with Photo ID Proofs in original besides

the Admit Card.The government has al-ready ordered an inquiry into incident of cancellation of the test and has appoint-ed Secretary Animal and Sheep Husbandry Depart-ment, as the inquiry officer. He has been was directed to look into various aspects re-lated to the conduct of CET 2013 by the BOPEE on June 22 and 23. Last month, the BOPEE had to cancel the examina-tion of Chemistry paper and postpone the Biology paper of the CET due to its

negligence which led to the leakage of the Biology paper a day ahead of its scheduled exam.The BOPEE took the action after it was reported that in-vigilating staff at five of the centres in Srinagar on June 22 had distributed Biology paper instead of Chemistry paper.Due to the mess up, thou-sands of candidates as-piring to get into various professional courses like MBBS, BDS, Engineering, BVSc and BSc (Agriculture)

See Entrance on Pg. 11

Sopore, July 26:

Police Friday arrested a Sarpanch and Panch for swindling money un-der Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) in North Kashmir’s Tarzoo area of Sopore.Sub District Magistrate Sopore Hanief Balkhi told CNS that Auqaf Commit-tee Akhoonpora in its com-plaint to the his office had alleged that the Sarpanch Abdul Rahim Ganaie and Panch Ghulam Moham-mad Ganaie from Halka Rakh Haigam have recom-mended and enlisted some sixteen persons in the IAY list which otherwise are found to be fraud and not

genuine.He said that the complaint was referred to the Tehsil-dar Settlement Sopore vide order number 325/The/S/Spr, dated 17-7-2013 and the spot verification proved that duo had committed fraud and swindled huge chunk ofmoney. “During investigation it came to fore that duo provided ben-efits to their relatives and blue-eyed persons under IAY programme.“Duo has swindled huge chunk of money and both have been arrested and lodged in police station Tarzoo. Process of recov-ering swindled money has been initiated,” Balkhi

said adding that investi-gation is going on and all efforts are being made to provide benefits to the deserved ones under this programme.Pertinently, Indira Awaas Yojana is one of the major flagship programs of the Rural Development Minis-try to construct houses for BPL population in the vil-lages. Under the scheme, financial assistance worth Rs.70000 in plain areas and Rs.75000 in difficult areas is provided for construc-tion of houses. The houses are allotted in the name of the woman or jointly be-tween husband and wife.

See Arrested on Pg. 11

Srinagar, July 26:

A Sarpanch was in-jured Friday when two militants of Hiz-bul Mujahideen mili-tant outfit fire upon him at Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, police said.Superintendent of Po-lice, Imtiyaz Hussain Mir told KNS that the pistol borne militant opened fire at the local panchayat member, Khazir Mohammad Parray soon after he came out after offer-ing Friday prayers at a mosque near his residence at Krank-

shivan Colony Sopore around 2:30 p.m.Parray, he said, was rushed to local hos-pital from where doc-tors referred him to SMHS hospital here for specialized treat-ment. Parray has sus-tained wound in his cheek, the police offi-cer said.“We have identified the attackers and they are local militants of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit,” he said, add-ing, “A man hunt has been launched to ar-rest the attackers.”Soon after the attack,

See Sarpanch on Pg. 11

Sarpanch injured in Hizb attack in Sopore

New Delhi, July 26:

India and China are trying to develop effective mechanisms to prevent the embarrassing face-offs between their troops along the disputed points of the Line of Actual Control, Defence Min-ister A K Antony said. Terming the 21-day stand-off between the two sides in Dep-sang valley in Daulat Beg Oldi area as an "unusual" incident, the Defence Minister said the two countries will meet soon in Beijing to discuss issues and try to find a solution for such "un-pleasant incidents". "Till the final settlement of the border issue, we are trying to find out more effective mecha-nisms to prevent occasional in-cidents. There are many points in the LAC that are disputed and they are patrolled by both sides. So, sometimes it leads to some face-off," he told reporters on the 14th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas in New Delhi on Friday. The Minister was asked to com-ment on the rising incursions by the Chinese troops into the Indian territory along the LAC in Ladakh and Northeastern sectors. Antony said, "There are disput-

ed points where both sides are going there which sometimes causes some embarrassing situ-ations." He said after the Depsang inci-dent in April, India and China had "free and frank" talks and "we are trying to have more bor-der personnel meeting places and have more effective mecha-nisms to prevent such unpleas-ant incidents." "On the one side, both sides are trying to find a long term solu-tion to the long pending border dispute. Till that time, our aim is to maintain peace and tran-quillity at the border," Antony said.On the recent third meeting of the Joint Working Group be-tween the two sides, the Minis-ter said free and frank discus-sions were held between both sides. "We are going to have another round of this meeting in Beijing soon on this issue. So, I think we will be able to find out a solution to such unpleasant incidents on the border," he said. In the recent past, there have been several incidents of incur-sions in Ladakh sector where Chinese troops have entered well within Indian side and

stayed there for long hours be-fore returning to their areas. In one such incident, Chinese troops had entered Chumar area in Ladakh on 16-17th July on horses and ponies and demand-

ed that Indian troops leave the area staking claim over it.In the last two weeks, there have been at least five incursions in the area and around 150

See Antony on Pg. 11

Shopian, July 26:

Notwithstanding the claims of the authorities about the improvement in health care, the mess con-tinues to rule the roost in District hospital Shopian. With doctors busy in pri-vate clinics and patients being referred to private diagnostic centers for tests is all what one can witness in the hospital. Patients could be seen waiting for Para-medicos helplessly with no official available in the hospital to listen to them.

This reporter found sev-eral patients inside IPD wards crying in pain with no Para-medicos around to attend to them. “The dextrose of my patient got exhausted two hours back. Since then I have been making rounds of all the rooms and wards to get someone who could remove her needle. How-ever, nobody seems to be present here. Putting the patients at glucose is what they call health care,” said an attendant to CNS.Another attendant wish-ing anonymity said that

this hospital is the epito-me of messy state of health care. “Most of the doctors posted here remain busy at their private clinics and here they treat patients as animals. Patients have to move to private diagnostic centers for getting even the minor tests done, as there is nobody available in the laboratory. At times it is the doctors who refer the patients to the particu-lar diagnostic center,” the attendant told CNS adding that the doctors and Para-medicos leave the patients at the mercy of God in

wards.This reporter on seeing a patient, Ruqaya Akhter, crying called Chief Medi-cal Officer, who refused to comment saying ‘You can talk to medical Superin-tendent,.When contacted MS, Dr Mohammad Ibrahim, said that he was on some offi-cial work in Srinagar.However, a doctor on the directions of the MS, came to the ward fuming on pa-tients enquiring about the person who called CMO. “Go out from here. Go and

See Healthcare on Pg. 11

CMYK

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SAturDAY July 27 | 2013 | 17 ramzan 1434 AH | PAGES 12 | VOL NO: 3 | ISSuE NO: 182 | rS: 2/- (AIr SurCHArGE FOr JAMMu /DELHI/LEH 50 PAISA)Pen For JusticeLargely Circulated, No. 1 Bilingual Daily of J&K

India,China trying to dev mechanism to prevent face-offs: Antony

Srinagar, July 26:

Showing displeasure and dissatisfaction over the report of Special DG BSF Dlip Trivedi on Gool kill-ings, opposition Peoples Democratic Party Friday alleged that efforts are on by the government to shield the gulity rather than punish them.“We were already aware that the brutal killers off Gool youth won’t be punished and will be shielded by the govern-ment as such case’s have already happen in the past whether it was Ku-nan Poshpora,Shopian

incident or others. If the guilty won’t be punished people of the state will lose all faith in the po-litical system which will be the huge setback,” PDP chief spokesperson Nayeem Akhtar told KNS.Special Director General BSF Dilip Trivedi has submitted a report to the Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and has maintained that the BSF along with Po-lice had fired in self de-fence to save its men and weapons.Lashing out at state gov-ernment Akhtar said,

“if the government ear-lier had taken an action against those involved in killing of 120 youth in 2010 crisis it would have set an example for secu-rity forces. Unfortunate-ly Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is trying to see on both sides one enjoy-ing the government and second giving full powers to his forces to kill the in-nocent people.”Condemning the indis-criminate arrest of youth in the aftermath of Gool killings he said, “Youth have become a soft target for the government.

See PDP on Pg. 11

Efforts on by govt to shield Gool firing guilty: PDP

Srinagar, July 26:

A day after, Hurriyat Con-ference (M) chairman Mir-waiz Umar Farooq stated that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has become rub-ber-stamp of New Delhi and none of his suggestions are accepted, National Confer-ence Additional General Secretary Dr Sheikh Mus-tafa Kamal Friday alleged that Mirwaiz has become an agent of Indian and Paki-stani agencies and “everyone knows about his dual loy-alties.”“No doubt we had political relations with his family but he should not forget the role which they played after 1953, they joined hands with both India and Pakistan and became their agents for their petty interests. They have always instigated vio-lence and have made people suffer badly and now Molvi Farooq’s son also wants to keep the pot boiling, “Ka-mal told KNS.“Mirwaiz and other sepa-ratist leaders only play poli-tics of opposition. When-

ever situation becomes peaceful they get restless and disturb the peace and call strikes. They are the people responsible for the bloodshed that took place, during these strikes,” he alleged. “They play politics over the bloodshed of the in-nocent people.”Kamal claimed that Mir-waiz and other separatist leaders are puppets and

receive huge sums from various agen-cies to create insta-bility in the valley. “Everyone knows about their dual loyalties, it’s still time for them (sep-aratists) to come

forward and help the people to come out of their miser-ies, “he added.Criticizing Mirwaiz for his rejection to the unity pro-posal with NC, Kamal said, “Mirwaz including other separatists are the real en-emies of people as they op-pose each and every good thing that comes from their benefit. Separatists are re-sponsible for one lakh kill-ings that took place during the turmoil now when so

See Kamal on Pg. 11

Mirwaiz agent of India, Pak agencies: Kamal

Healthcare at DH Shopian goes messy

http://www.zabarwantimes.com

Srinagar, July 26:

State Congress President Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz Friday expressed concern over recent sectarian clashes in central Kashmir district of Budgam and termed it as unfortunate inci-dents.Talking to KNS Soz said, “I visited the affected areas and appealed the people from both the sects to main-tain peace and brother-hood. We all are Muslims and sectarian clashes are unfortunate incidents. We should jointly fight against those vested interests who are trying to harm the hun-

dreds of years old amity between the people of two sects.”“Kashmiris have all along been known as people who love peace and never in-dulge in violence. Some vested interests tried to

harm the relations between the two sects in Budgam. However, people of the district gave them a befitting reply by maintaining peace and brother-hood,” he added.

Prof Soz hoped that situa-tion in Budgam will nor-malize soon. On the occa-sion people from both sects appealed Soz that the vic-tims from both the sides

See Soz on Pg. 11

Soz terms recent Budgam clashes as unfortunate

Sarpanch and Panch arrested for swindling money under IAY

‘It is since 1947 people resorted to

stone pelting’Srinagar, July 26:

Hurriyat Conference (G) Friday described state-ment of Director Gen-eral Police as ridiculous wherein he had claimed that people did not sup-port the call against Gool incident and stone pel-

teres are being funded by pro-freedom parties.In a statement a spokes-person of Hurriyat (G) termed DGP’s statement with regards to religious freedom baseless and a blatant lie. “People of Jammu and Kashmir are indeed peace loving people, but since decades they continue to express their resentment against repression and suppres-sion. Stone pelting is not innovative thought propounded by Hurriyat and nor there arises any need to finance stone pelting. Even stone pelt-

ing as a sign of resis-tance was used against tyrant Dogra rulers” he said. The Hurriyat (G) made it clear that it is since 1947, people resort-ed to stone pelting. “It is a symbol of resistance and a means to express resentment in overall civilized world against foreign occupation and against mis-governance. Even in developed coun-tries where the roads are too modernized and this weapon is not easily available, people resort to eggs and tomatoes,

See Hurriyat (G) on Pg. 11

We’ve tried our level best to prevent mess up again: Chairman BOPEE

Hurriyat (G) reacts to DGP’s assertions

Dras, July 26: The 14th ‘OPERATION VIJAY DIWAS’ celebrations culminated in Dras on Friday afternoon. Earlier in the day, the

See Vijay Divas on Pg. 11

Army celebrates Operation Vijay Divas at Dras

Doctors, Para-medicos leave patients at mercy of God

1 die, 5 Injured in road mishapsSrinagar July 26, 2013: One per-son died while five other were injured in road traffic accidents across the valley.Mohammad Ashraf Bhat son of Ghulam Mohammad resident of Kralpora, Budgam was severely injured when he had taken his head out from the window of a swift car bearing registration number JK01N/7077 while vomiting. He was hit by an unknown load carrier at Kralpora, in the jurisdiction of police station Chadoora. He was shifted to hospital for treatment where he succumbed to his injuries. A case has been registered in this regard.A Sumo bearing registration number JK01K/9969 hit and injured a cyclist Shabir Ahmad Zadoo son of Ghulam Mohu-din resident of Bhat Mohalla Nowgam, Sumbal at Bus Stand Nowgam, in the jurisdiction of police station Sumbal, Bandi-pora. The injured was shifted to hospital for treatment. Sumbal Police has registered a case in this regard.In another accident, an un-known vehicle hit and injured a pedestrian, Rehman Teeli son-in-law of Abdul Rehman Teeli resident of Waskura, Gan-derbal at Panzinarah Sumbal, in the jurisdiction of police station Sumbal, Bandipora. The injured was shifted to JVC Srinagar for treatment. Sumbal Police has registered a case in this regard.In another accident, a Tata Sumo bearing registration

See Mishaps on Pg. 11

Girl ends her life in KulgamSrinagar July 26, 2013: A 19 years old girl (name withheld) resident of Lower Munda consumed some poisonous substance at her home. She was rushed to the District hospital, Anantnag where she breathed her last. Qazigund Police after conducting all legal formali-ties handed over the body of deceased girl to her relatives. Inquest proceedings under section 174 CrPC has been initi-ated in this regard.

SKIMS employee invents machineSrinagar, July 26: In a signifi-cant achievement an employee of Bio Engineering Wing of Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura has invented a machine which can be used for measur-ing blood pressure, sugar level in human body at a low cost. It can also detect the heart beat of baby in womb of a mother.Director SKIMS, Dr Showkat Ali Zargar has congratulated the employee Sagir Ahmad Wani and said that such inven-tions can boost the research field of SKIMS. The Director has given a cash reward of Rs 20 thousand to Wani for his achievement.According to KNS Wani in-vented the machine under the supervision of Dr Zargar, Dean Medical Faculty Dr Kursheed Iqbal, Hod CVT, Dr G N Lone and Dr Sunawallah Kuchay Hod Radiation Oncology SMHS hospital.

See Machine on Pg. 11

Market checkings at Srinagar, AnantnagSrinagar, July 26: The market checking squad headed by Assistant Director, Consumer Affair and Public Distribution conducted market checking at Natipora, Nowgam, Haft Chi-nar, Sanat Nagar, Goni Khan, Mahraj Bazar, Court Road, Lasjan etc. of Srinagar city here today. During the market checking, 48 business estab-lishments were inspected and an amount of Rs. 12,800/- was recovered as fine from 19 erring shopkeepers for violation of Es-sential Commodities Act. Meanwhile, the market check-ing team comprising of

See Checkings on Pg. 11

KATHUA, JULY 26-

Minister of State for Fisheries, Coopera-tives, Finance and Planning Dr Manohar Lal Sharma conducted an extensive tour of tehsil Billawar.

Assistant Commissioner (Dev) Kathua, SDM Billawar, SDPO Basohli, Dy CEO Billawar also accompanied the Minis-ter during the tour.

At Ghatt Dr Manohar Lal Sharma laid foundation of additional rooms at up-graded Government Middle School Ghatt and announced Rs 1 lakh for ground level-ling and repair of the old school building.

Dr Sharma also inspected Billa-war – Macchedi Road works to be taken up under PMGSY.

Later Dr Sharma convened a public grievance redressal camp at Seroo Badola village of Lower Baggan Panchayat of block Billawar.

The people from Lower Baggan, Upper Baggan and other adjoining areas apprised the minister with their demands and problems. The main demands pro-jected include a CAPD store in the area , lift irrigation scheme for Baggan, expansion of Baggan road under PMGSY, dispensary,

electric poles, opening of J&K bank branch and up gradation of High School Upper Baggan

Dr Manohar Lal Sharma gave a pa-tient hearing to the demands of the people

and assured them of timely disposal of their problems

The minister said that govern-ment has initiated several steps to explore the tourism potential of Billawar and with

coming up of Mata Sukrala Devi and Mata Bala Sundri Shrine Boards the develop-ment of the area will increase manifold in coming time.

Dr Sharma said the scenic land-

scapes of Ghatt, Sujjara, Machhedi has huge tourism potential and with the com-pletion of Billawar – Machhedi road steps will be taken to establish tourism infra-structure in these areas.

SRINAGAR, JULY 26:

Terming setting up of the J&K State Innovation Council as an important step towards encouraging new ideas and innovations among the talented youth in the State, Chief Secretary Mohammad Iqbal Khanday Friday said that Jammu and Kashmir Govern-ment has already set out on the path to scout for innovation in the State.

The Chief Secretary was speaking during the interaction session to dis-cuss and exchange ideas for the for-mulation of State’s Innovation Road Map for creating an innovation eco-system and its effective implementa-tion.Experts from National Innovation Council and Confederation of Indian industries, NIF, CSIR, and members of J&K State innovation Council partici-pated in the interaction session.

The Chief Secretary said that the State Innovation Council is keeping constant touch with the National In-novation Council to make use of its experience at the National Level to enable the State to crystalize the pro-gramme in an effective manner. He said that the State Innovation Council has already taken steps to put in place

an effective institutional mechanism to identify and support innovation in local Universities, Colleges, Schools,

MSME and R&D institutes adding that directions have already been is-sued to the Science and Technology Department along with School and Higher Education Department to give orientation to the Education System towards innovations.Chief Secretary also expressed gratitude to Ms Veena Upadhyay an expert from the National

Innovation Council and her team of experts for their presentations and sharing valuable experiences to sup-

port the State carry forward the work of encouraging and supporting inno-vations in various fields and to pre-pare an effective road map for future.

Earlier, Ms Veena Upadhyay, while expressing her gratitude to the State Government for holding the interac-tion session said that the innovation road map should be inclusive cover-

ing high level to lower level technolo-gies with maximum social benefit at minimum cost. Ms. Upadhyay gave a

detailed presentation touching vari-ous aspects of innovation and its sig-nificance, highlighting the need for multipronged, cross-sectoral and mu-tually benefitting strategy and setting achievable goals. She said that domain experts working in the area of innova-tion will be collaborating with the State in coming days and sharing their

valuable experiences for successful implementation of the road map.

She said Universities and Technol-ogy Institutes can develop Technology Incubation Centers to help and nur-ture talented students to realise their potential for innovation. She said J&K State innovation council can create a separate fund to finance innovation projects which are identified and as-sessed as having considerable social benefit and impact. She said steps should also be taken towards foster-ing creativity in education, industries and other sectors, moreover, She suggested that the State Innovation Council can also include members of National Level bodies to facilitate greater exchange and benefits.

Representatives of Confederation of Indian industries, NIF, CSIR, Kash-mir Chamber of Commerce and oth-ers gave brief presentations on inno-vation and gave their valuable inputs.

Principal Secretary Planning and Development, Principal Secretary Higher Education, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, , Director Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Vice Chancellors of Kashmir University, Jammu University.

You may feel like you’re being double-crossed by a loved one today, Aries. Maybe your words are being used against you in such a way that makes you look like the bad guy. When it comes to making a rebuttal on your behalf, let the other person know that you’re confront-ing them about their behavior and not their person.

The tension in the air might be what you need in or-der to become more aware of subconscious issues that affect your behavior, Gemini. There’s a great deal that you need to get off your chest. The more honest you can be about the pain people have caused you, the more love will flow in the future. Open the communication chan-nels.

Stop being an enabler to someone you care about, Cancer. You may let someone continue a dangerous addictive behavior simply because you want to avoid a confrontation. Realize that this behavior is doing nei-ther of you any good. The more you continue to perpe-trate the lie, the more it will hurt all parties involved. Be open and honest with your concerns.

You may have some issues with food, Leo. Maybe your sense of self-worth isn’t at its highest, and you’re trying to make up for this by sabotaging your relation-ship with your body. Food is healthy nourishment that you need in order to survive. Your body deserves re-spect, and you need to give it the proper fuel it needs to be healthy.

If there’s an issue with your partner that needs air-ing, this is a good time to do it, Virgo. Don’t hold back just to maintain the equilibrium in the relationship. Don’t sacrifice your peace of mind just to keep from rocking the boat. Refusing to face reality just to keep up an easy facade isn’t doing anyone a bit of good. Be totally honest with yourself, your feelings, and other people.

The intensity of the day may bring unexpected op-position, Libra. Whether it’s verbalized or not, the con-frontations are quite real. Don’t underestimate a loved one’s emotions. Stand up to these issues and be realistic about their solutions. No one expects you to have all the answers, so don’t pretend to. We’re all human and we all make mistakes.

Give your loved ones the attention they need today, Scorpio. Don’t let another day go by without saying you love them. Life is short and getting shorter with each passing day. Be confrontational about a serious issue that needs addressing. You’re responsible for your feel-ings. Don’t play the victim. You’ll only experience more pain and resentment later.

Don’t run away from the tension today. Any emo-tional stress you feel will be compounded if it isn’t dealt with right away. Be in the moment while the moment is here. The more you face the present, the less you will re-gret in the future. Clear up any sticky situation that arises and move forward. People may not understand your needs and concerns until you clearly verbalize them.

Stop hiding behind your intellectual barrier, Capri-corn. Playing games will get you nowhere. True strength is standing up and demonstrating that you can say what you feel in any situation, especially regarding a close loved one. If you feel the need to say something, say it. Don’t wait until the situation escalates to an unhealthy argument before you finally get your feelings out.

Stop trying to feel everyone else’s emotions and fo-cus on yours, Aquarius. Being empathetic is certainly laudable, but at some point you need to face the music and look in the mirror. Make a clear distinction be-tween your needs and those of others. Express your feelings. Ask for help if you need it. Other people aren’t mind readers.

It may seem like neither side of the bed is the right side to wake up on today, Pisces. The only solution may be is to just go back to dreamland if you can. If you can’t, focus on your heart, because it’s trying to tell you it needs some attention. Emotions may be running high, so be careful how you treat yourself and others.

You may say one thing one minute and the opposite the next, Taurus. Most of the time you jump from one issue to the next with no hassle, but today people prob-ably will call you on it. Think about what you mean be-fore you say it. Don’t do all your thinking aloud so oth-ers can hear. Your continuous thought process might be mistaken for your final analysis.

J&K State Innovation Council setup to encourage talented youth: CS

Manohar Lal conducts extensive tour of Billawar

Daily ZABARWAN TIMES NEWS Srinagar |Saturday 27 .7 .2013

Orientation Programme on MGNREGA organised

KISHWAR, JULY 26- A one day orientation cum training pro-gramme for the field functionaries of Rural Development De-partment of district Kishtwar was held today at TRC complex Kishtwar. District Development Commissioner Kishtwar Saleem Mohammed presided over the function. While addressing the gathering the DDC stressed on bringing about more transparency and accountability to improve the work culture to ensure benefits of MGNREGA reach the masses . He said that it is the prime re-sponsibility of VLW’s/Gram Seveks/ MPW’s/JE’s/BDO’s and ACD’s to monitor the quantity and quality of developmental works at ground level. He said that any laxity on the part of any employe will be dealt severely.

Akhtar Hussain ACD Kishtwar while speaking on the oc-casion stressed upon the employees to work with zeal and zest so that the development target set by the government are achieved. ACD asked the field functionaries to have the clear vision of the scheme and strive hard to fulfil the goals and objectives of the flagship programme in letter and spirit.

Enrolment for Aadhaar project in full swing

REASI, JULY 26 - The Aadhaar project, which issues 12-figure unified identity card to those above five years of age, has begun in Reasi district through a network of its 35 registration centers. The project is expected to be completed by November-end.

Deputy Commissioner Reasi, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said that 35 technically qualified persons have been engaged to handle the sensitive biometric machine.

Choudhary said that the applications will be received and the biometric cards would be provided by Comtech Private Limited in the district.

Mir reviews NABARD projects of Agriculture Deptt

Wani conducts city tour, assesses peoples’ problems

Meat Shops asked to maintain mandatory hygiene, sell

quality mutton

Says Deptt has to play pro-active role

for its successful implementation

SRINAGAR, JULY 26:-

Minister for Agriculture, Mr Ghulam Hassan Mir today said that the Agriculture and its associated departments have piv-otal role in the success of NABARD fund-ing projects. He urged upon the officers to put in their efforts by taking proactive role in such projects so that GDP from Agricul-ture sector is increased besides the people associated with Agriculture, Horticulture and its allied sectors are benefited.

The Minister was addressing a high level meeting of officers convened to re-view NABARD funding in various projects in the Agriculture sector in J&K.

Mir said that government has opened the doors of support by launching various schemes and projects for the welfare and development of the people related with agriculture sector.

The Minister emphasized for adopting latest scientific methods and techniques

for increased agriculture production be-sides improving quality. He also stressed for identifying the research fields in the agriculture sector.On the occasion, the Minister was apprised about various Agro based projects to be implemented with

NABARD funding in various States of the country through PowerPoint presenta-

tion.Principal Secretary, Planning and De-velopment, Principal Secretary Finance, Commissioner Secretary Agriculture, Di-rectors of Agriculture, Horticulture, MD Agro Departments, MD JKHPMC, Director Planning Agriculture, Director Research,

SKUAST and other concerned officers were present in the meeting.

JAMMU, JULY 26-

Minister for Roads and Buildings Abdul Majid Wani today conducted an extensive tour of Jammu city and took stock of the problems of the people.

During the tour, the Minister visited Govind Nagar, Gol Gujral, Vikas Lane Talab Tillo and its adjoining areas.

Interacting with the people, the Minister said that government is making con-crete efforts to redress their problems and various micro and mega developmental projects are underway for im-proving the core amenities and facilities for the people.

En-route, several dep-utations and individuals met the Minister and apprised him with their problems. Besides, uninterrupted water and pow-

er supply to the area, the locals also demanded black-topping

of the interior roads and wid-ening of Revenue Complex road connecting the 4th Tawi Bridge to ease the traffic con-gestion in the area.

The Minister issued on-the-spot directions to the

concerned officers for attend-ing the peoples’ problem and

to take steps for their early redressal. He also directed for constituting a joint team of officers of JMC, R&B, Revenue and PDD to assess the prob-lems of the locals and suggest measures for their redressal.

SRINAGAR, JULY 26:

Controller, Drugs and Food Control Organisation J&K has impressed upon all stake holders dealing with re-tail meat shops to ensure that the mandatory sanitary and hygienic requirements for the retail meat shops as laid down under schedule 4 of the food safety and standards (Licensing & Registration of Food Business-es) Regulations 2011 are being observed in letter and spirit for ensuring sale of safe and qual-ity mutton to the consumers. All Food safety Officers responsible for the implementation of vari-ous provisions of the aforesaid Act, rule and regulations shall provide a copy of checklist to all such vendors operating within their respective jurisdiction for

self-assessment. The informa-tion so collected shall be utilized to evaluate extent of compliance by these vendors and further help to assess the extent of their preparedness for switching over to the requirement under new food law.The last date for securing compliance with the mandatory requirements of ob-taining registration/licensing with respect to such establish-ments under the new food law has been fixed as 4th February 2014 by the FSSAI. A copy of checklist is also available on the websitewww.jkhealth.org.

Any Food Safety Officer who fails to comply with the requirements prescribed un-der the above said Act shall be liable for legal action and also such establishment shall cease to exist.

DC Budgam distributed

financial assistance

BUDGAM, JULY 26- On the instructions of Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, Divisional Com-missioner’s office through Regional Red Cross Society provided aid and assistance to the natives of Budgam who were affected by the recent vio-lence, which started from a scuffle between two people near Khomeni Chowk but snowballed into violence engulfing large areas in the district.Deputy Commissioner Budgam distributed 181 blankets, 45 sets of kitchenware, dress material and other things to around 100 affected people.

52 victims of violence from Sofipora, Shahpora and Allahpora were also given Rs 5000 each by the regional Red Cross society as a ges-ture of assistance.

13 new WSSs in Gurez to be taken up at Rs.11.41 cr soon: Gurezi

SRINAGAR, JULY 26: Minister of State for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Nazir

Ahmad Gurezi today visited various areas in Tehsil Gurez includ-ing Budgam of Tuilal area and took stock of different develop-mental works under execution in these areas.

Interacting with the people at different places, the Minister said that the construction work on 13 new water supply schemes at an estimated cost of Rs.11.41 crore to be taken in hand in the Tehsil Gurez soon.

These schemes included Check Journiyal, Check Wali, Boola Mari Buglinder, Darthan Wanpora, Byant Burnia, Gujran New, Khutroon Buglinder, Mukhruf Shahpora Bala, Mehdoodat Shah-pora Payeen, Thapa Achoora, Shokput Kanzalwan, Wazirthat and Kashpart. Gurezi said by commissioning these projects it will further augment the drinking water facility in the Tehsil and ful-fil the long pending demand of the people of these areas.

The Minister said that the Government is committed to pro-vide basic amenities to the people in all the three regions of the State. He said that the Government under the dynamic leader-ship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is committed to ensure to upgrade the living standard of the people especially the weaker and down trodden sections of the society. He said several State and Central welfare schemes have been launched in the State in this regard and appealed the people to come forward and take advantage of these schemes.

Interaction session held to discuss innovation road map

Infants as young as three months of age are able to automatically detect and learn complex dependen-cies between syllables in spoken language, a new study has revealed. In contrast, adults only recognised the same de-pendencies when asked to actively search for them.

The study by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig also highlights the im-portant role of basic pitch discrimination abilities for early language devel-opment. The speed and apparent ease with which young infants learn the

basics of a language regu-larly astound parents and scientists alike. Of course, adults are usually assumed to have the edge in sophis-ticated language learning. However, scientists Jutta Mueller, Angela D. Frie-derici and Claudia Maen-nel have now found that when it comes to extract-ing complex rules from spoken language, a three-month-old outperforms adult learners. For 20 minutes, the sci-entists played a stream of syllables to babies while measuring their brain re-sponses using electroen-cephalography (EEG). Pairs of syllables appeared together, but were separat-ed by a third syllable. Jutta Mueller, first author of the study, stresses that "such dependencies be-tween non-neighbouring elements are typical for

natural languages and can be found in many gram-matical constructions." For instance, in the sen-tence "The boy always smiles", the third-person-suffix "s" of the verb is dependent on the noun "boy". In the study, this was re-flected in the use of com-binations like "le" and "bu" in sequences like "le-wi-bu". From time to time, however, combinations like "le-wi-to" would ap-pear, in which one of the syllables was out of place. "EEG measurements showed us that the babies recognized this rule viola-tion", Mueller said. Additionally, the scientists would occasionally change the tone of one syllable to a higher pitch - with an interesting outcome: Only those infants whose brains reacted to pitch changes in

a more mature way could detect the syllable depen-dencies. When facing the same task as the babies, adults only showed a reac-tion to the rule violations when asked to explicitly look for dependencies be-tween the syllables. Mu-eller and her colleagues conclude that, evidently, the automatic recognition ability is lost later on. "What we found particu-larly interesting is that the small group of adults who did show evidence of rule learning also showed a stronger brain response to the pitch changes," she said. These findings not only help understand how children manage to learn language so quickly dur-ing early development, but also point to a strong link between very basic audito-ry skills and sophisticated rule learning abilities.

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SATURDAY | 27 JULY 20138 ZABARWANTIMES

Babies better at learning complex languages

Sleeping pills don`t work for 40 percent poppers

London: Sleeping pills seldom worked for 40 per-cent of the poppers who suffer from insomnia, says a survey of 20,000 peo-ple, according to a British study.Some 42 percent of the pa-tients currently on medi-cation have been sleeping badly for over 11 years or more. A further 22 percent had insomnia lasting two to five years, while one in six had suffered between six and 10 years, the sur-vey revealed.Experts said the study suggested that sleeping pills were not combating long-term sleep problems and that cogni-tive behavioural therapy has been proven to be more effective.Around 10 million National Heath Service (MHS) prescrip-tions for sleeping pills are issued each year. But NHS guidelines say they should be for short-term use only - usually for two weeks

and up to a maximum of four weeks at a time. Findings from The Great British Sleep Survey of more than 20,000 adults in Britain found we are a nation of poor sleepers. The average score of sleep quality was only five out of 10. Long-term poor sleep-ers were twice as likely to have relationship prob-lems, suffer from daytime fatigue and lack of concen-tration.The survey also showed al-most one in 10 with insom-nia were on sleeping pills

prescribed by their doc-tor, with one in five using over the counter remedies. American research this year found sleeping pills may significantly increase the risk of premature death.The latest survey was sponsored by Sleepio, an online sleep improve-ment programme which uses cognitive behavioural techniques. Andrew Mc-Culloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foun-dation, has campaigned for the NHS to highlight the importance of sleep.

Toiletries that might damage your health

As experts deem fake tans 'dangerous', we look at other toiletries that might well be damaging your health, too. Fake tan products are far from alone in containing chemicals that research sug-gests can have nasty side ef-fects. Many cosmetics are formulated with a mixture of controversial synthetic ingre-dients that have been linked to health problems including breast cancer, hormone dis-ruption, fertility issues, asth-ma, allergies, diabetes and

birth defects. And it's this so-called 'chemical cocktail' that has some experts worried - especially when you consider the huge number of different lotions and potions most of us use each day."No one can say that if you use X, Y and Z you're going to develop cancer or diabe-tes," says Elizabeth Salter-Green, of a UK charity. "But an increasing amount of research suggests that high levels of certain in-gredients can affect our health."

"When you take into ac-count the sheer number of products we now use, and the fact that we're also exposed to some of these chemicals through household cleaners, food pesticides, packaging and general industrial out-put," continues Elizabeth, "there's a concern that this collective onslaught could take us over the safety threshold.""Our skin is not an im-penetrable barrier," says author Dawn Mellowship.

"It absorbs a significant amount of what we apply to it into the bloodstream and it can then be stored in the body, where it accumu-lates and has the potential to do harm." How to reduce your levels of chemical exposure1.Use fewer products to reduce your overall expo-sure.2. Check the label and watch out for synthetic chemicals such as para-bens, formaldehyde and triclosan. 3.Don't assume organic or natural is always best. While many such products contain fewer toxic syn-thetic chemicals, it's still worth checking out the in-gredients on a product to find out what is actually in there.4.If there is a big long list of unpronounceable chem-ical names then it might be worth looking for some-thing with fewer ingredi-ents that you recognise.5.Pay particular attention to the products that stay on your skin the longest, such as creams and lotions.6. Swap dark hair dye for vegetable-based colours or those stating they're PPD-free.

Grapes good for men's heart health

Consuming grapes may help protect heart health in people with metabolic syndrome, a new study has revealed. Researchers observed a reduction in key risk factors for heart disease in men with metabolic syn-drome: reduced blood pres-sure, improved blood flow and reduced inflammation. Natural components found in grapes, known as poly-phenols, are thought to be responsible for these ben-eficial effects. The randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study, led by principal investigator Dr. Maria Luz Fernandez and Jacqueline Barona, a PhD student in Dr. Fernan-dez' lab at the Department of Nutritional Sciences of the University of Connecti-cut, recruited men between 30 and 70 years of age with metabolic syndrome. The study is believed to be the first to look at the impact of grapes on metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syn-drome is a cluster of con-ditions that occur together - increased blood pressure, a high blood sugar level, excess body fat around the waist or low HDL (the good cholesterol) and in-

creased blood triglycerides - significantly increasing the risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Meta-bolic syndrome is a major public health concern, and is on the rise in the U.S. In this study, participants were randomly assigned to con-sume grapes, in the form of a freeze-dried whole grape powder, or a placebo pow-der, for four weeks. Then, following a 3-week "wash-out" period where neither grapes nor placebo were

consumed, individuals were allocated to the alter-nate treatment. This powerful study de-sign allowed investiga-tors to compare the re-sponse of each individual to consumption of both the placebo and grapes. The study results showed that for each of the study's subjects, grape consump-tion resulted in significant decreases in blood pres-sure, improved blood flow (greater vasodilation), and

decreases in a compound associated with inflamma-tion. "These results suggest that consuming grapes can improve important risk fac-tors associated with heart disease, in a population that is already at higher risk," Fernandez said. This further supports the ac-cumulating evidence that grapes can positively in-fluence heart health, and extends it to men with metabolic syndrome," Fernandez added.

Migraines do not hurt your brain

Migraines are not associat-ed with cognitive decline, suggests new research even though previous studies have linked the disorder to increased stroke risk and structur-al brain lesions. Migraines affect about 20 percent of the female population, and while these headaches are common, not much is known about this com-plex disease. "Previous studies on migraines and cognitive decline were small and unable to identify a link between the two," said Pamela Rist, research fellow in preventive medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospi-tal (BWH), who led the study. "Our study was large enough to draw the con-clusion that migraines, while painful, are not strongly linked to cogni-tive decline," said Rist,

the British Medical Jour-nal (BMJ) re-ports. The research team analy-sed data from the Women's Health Study, a cohort of nearly 40,000 wom-en, 45 years and older. In this study, researchers analysed data from 6,349 women who provided information about mi-graine status at baseline and then participated in cognitive testing during follow-up, according to a BWH statement. Participants were clas-sified into four groups: no history of migraine, migraine with aura (un-pleasant smell, seeing flashing lights), migraine without aura, and past history of migraine. Cog-nitive testing was carried out in two-year intervals

up to three times. "Com-pared with women with no history of migraine, those who experienced migraine with or without aura did not have signif-icantly different rates of cognitive decline," said Rist. "This is an important finding for both phy-sicians and patients. Patients with migraine and their treating doc-tors should be reas-sured that migraine may not have long-term consequences on cogni-tive function.

The postpartum diet need not be complicated — just a mix of age-old remedies and home science The stork came and went, and left you multitudes of relatives who are telling you what to eat. They are peddling age-old rem-edies, while you are clutching on to your doctor's advice of no green vegetables or fruits. Iron deficiency, constipation and soreness are some of the things you may suffer, while expending more energy and needing more calcium. The best path is to try out both sets of advice and see what works for you. Ketaki Karpe-Kolgaonkar, new mother and clinical pharmacist found that 'the diet should be all about the mother's needs'. "The baby takes the nutrition it needs and doesn't need any help doing that," she says. "Watch out for bac-teria from unwashed vegetables, unpasteurised milk, unfiltered wa-ter or uncooked meats."

Raise calorie intake Nutritionist Dr Shilpa Joshi em-phasises on the importance of wholesome meals with no restric-tions apart from oil and spice, un-less the doctor says so specifically. "The mother needs extra energy,

at least in the first six months, be-cause she will be nursing the baby more often," she says. "So she needs to eat more calories, which will come from small meals, which are rich in proteins — nuts, daals and legumes." If you are a non-vegetarian, don't switch to a leafy vegetarian meal instantly. This will cause you more harm than good. Eat shredded meat in soups and broths without too much spice or oil.

Pump iron Since a new mother suffers from loss of blood, her iron levels could be precariously balanced. A little spinach can go a long way. Ketaki developed low iron levels in her second trimester, and panicked. "So I started to incorporate spin-ach in everything such as daal, chappati dough and even in chick-en curry." She continued this after the baby came, which steadied her iron levels.

Milk the calcium It goes without saying that you'll need lots of calcium so that the baby can use the cafeteria uninter-rupted. "If you are lactose intol-erant, and can't drink milk or eat milk products, go for curd," says Joshi. "Garden cress seeds (aleev

or haleem), are a rich source for calcium. Tra-ditionally, these are made into sugar-rich ladoos. If you are being careful about sugar, make a hal-eem kheer."

Water yourself There's not much you can do to artificially stimulate breast milk, other than drink lots of fluids. Also, new mothers tend to be a little scared of the pain and resist passing urine or stools, which can result in constipation. Ordinarily, this can be resolved by medication, but because medi-cines will pass on the baby, it's better to take preventive action. "I used to keep a huge bottle of water and use a straw to sip it so as to not put pressure on a the C section incision," says Ketaki. Joshi also suggests ingesting fluids by drinking lots of soup, coconut water, broths, whole fruits, fresh fruit juices and milkshakes that are also easier to eat for the har-ried mother. "I would drink straw-berry milkshake so that it didn't feel like you are adding ten things to the plate. Even eating seems overwhelming to a new mom and

if she has to chew one thing less, it's a huge convenience," says Ket-aki. "Fluids help flush out toxins and medication, and help stay ori-ented even with the lack of sleep that comes with parenting." Yoghurt is not only a stool softener but also has the probiotics essen-tial for keeping Urinary Tract In-fection (UTI) away. Edible gum balls (dink ladoos) are a good laxa-tive because of their combination of ghee, edible gum and nuts. "Af-ter the baby came, I would resist therapeutic Indian food without thinking about whether it was sci-entific," says Ketaki. "I eventually did eat one dinkache laadoo a day and that did me good. Sometimes, it pays to listen to your mother - she may know best."

NATION DAILY ZABARWAN TIMES

7 SRINAGARSaturday, 27 July,2013 Kashmir ThunderSaturday 27 July2013

Uddhav Thackeray's advice to Amartya Sen: Don't poke your nose into politics

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena on Friday deprecated BJP MP Chandan Mitra's demand for stripping Nobel lau-reate Amartya Sen of Bharat Ratna over his comments on Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi but advised the seasoned economist "not to poke his nose" into politics.

"Sen is an economist of international repute and such demands (stripping him of Bharat Ratna) shouldn't be made by his detractors," Sena chief Ud-dhav Thackeray said in an editorial in party mouth-piece 'Saamana'.

"Amartya Sen is an economist, but the poor of the country wonder what exactly he does. The economy

of the country is in a bad state, prices are soaring and poverty is on the rise. It is not Modi who has done this and despite being a Nobel laureate, Amartya Sen has no medicine for this," he said.

"If people ask Sen to first do his work properly and refrain from poking his nose in politics, what reply does he have," Uddhav said, adding, "Amartya Sen's greatness cannot be denied. The demand to strip him of Bharat Ratna is also not right. Everyone should maintain their limits."

Sen had recently said he does not want Modi to be-come India's prime minister as he did not have secular credentials. The prominent economist had also criti-cised Modi's model of governance.

Following this, BJP's Rajya Sabha member and journalist Mitra had demanded stripping Sen of the Bharat Ratna - the country's highest civilian honour.

"Amartya Sen says he doesn't want Modi to be India's PM. Is Sen even a voter in India? Next NDA government must strip him of Bharat Ratna," Mitra had tweeted, triggering a storm of protest from BJP's opponents. The BJP also distanced itself from Mitra's comment.

The Nobel laureate, while responding to Mitra's demand, said he was ready to return the award if for-mer prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had conferred it on him, asked him to.

Backing Modi, BJP's poll campaign committee

chief, on the American visa issue, Uddhav said, "Na-rendra Modi is not the head of a terror organisation like al-Qaida, Taliban or Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) but an elected chief minister of a state.

"The US gives visas to Kashmiri separatist leaders. Pakistan is the den of terrorism. Despite the US forces killing Osama on Pakistani soil, Pakistani politicians still get US visa, but Modi is opposed," he said.

"Some Muslim leaders from Congress are speak-ing in support of Indian Mujahideen, but no one takes such an extreme stand against them. On the other hand, Modi is made to appear as if he is the biggest enemy of the nation," the editorial said.

In the eye of a storm over his remarks that Bharat Ratna should be taken back from Amartya Sen, BJP MP Chandan Mitra has expressed regret over them, saying he "oversaid it".

"I think I may have exaggerated. I do regret the part about taking away of Bharat Ratna from Dr Sen, I oversaid it," Mitra said.

BJP has distanced itself from Mitra's remarks. Mi-tra too maintained that his tweets on the issue reflect his personal views and not the party line.

But Mitra was critical of Sen's economics and de-scribed them as "outdated and one that needs to be dis-carded". He also advised Sen to not engage in politics. "Dr Amartya Sen should behave like a Bharat Ratna does," he said.

Hectic activity in Delhi over Telangana

NEW DELHI/HY-DERABAD: The po-litical scene on July 26 shifted to Delhi from Andhra Pradesh with the chief minister, his deputy and the state Congress chief rushing to the national capital on the summons by the central leadership ahead of a final decision on statehood to Telangana region.

Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanara-simha and state Congress chief Botsa Satyana-rayana reached Delhi for what is believed to be the final round of consultations by the leader-ship before the much-awaited meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to take a final call on the Telangana issue. The Congress Core Group is likely to meet later Friday to de-cide the date for the CWC meeting. The chief minister Friday morning called on Congress general secretary in-charge of party affairs in the state Digvijaya Singh. Before this meeting,

Congress leaders from Seemandhra (Ray-alaseema and Andhra regions) called on the chief minister and urged him to convey to the leadership their strong opposition to the state's division, party sources said. Seemandhra leaders, who made a beeline to the national capital in

a last-ditch attempt to stall a possible decision to carve out Telangana state, held a meeting to chalk out their strategy. The meeting was attend-ed by state and central ministers and Congress MPs from Seemandhra. Hectic activity in Delhi began amid the continuing resignations of See-mandhra leaders to mount pressure on the cen-tre. Two Congress legislators Friday submitted their resignations to the assembly speaker. As many as 16 legislators of YSR Congress party and one of Congress had Thursday announced their resignations. The three state leaders, earlier this month, had submitted their reports to the Congress Core Group.

Modi’s visa application will be considered if he applies: US

Washington: Amidst rag-ing controversy in India over visa for Gujarat chief minis-ter Narendra Modi, the US on Thursday refused to commit itself whether he would be granted permission to travel to America.The state depart-ment also parried questions on what the US would do if Modi becomes prime minis-ter. It maintained that Modi was welcome to apply for a visa which would be consid-ered, but its policy has not

changed.“If chief minister Modi applies for a visa, his application will be consid-ered to determine whether he qualifies for a visa, in ac-cordance with US immigra-tion law and policy,” state department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference on Thursday.“Our policy on this has not changed,” she said when asked about grant-ing visa to Modi.The US has reservation over granting

visa to Modi because of hu-man rights violations in 2002 post-Godhra riots under his watch as the chief minister.

An Indian journalist asked Psaki about the campaign of BJP president Rajnath Singh in the US for a visa to Modi and said that the UPA gov-ernment was unpopular and Modi may become prime minister.“There are lots of speculation down the road. We encourage democratic elections. We don’t take sides. We will be watching it closely,” she said.The jour-nalist persisted with his ques-tion wanting to know how the US would treat Modi as the prime minister.“I think I just said we will consider his application if he applies, and I’m not going to get ahead of where we are at this time,” she said.

Didn't intend to hurt party or oth-ers' sentiments: Raj Babbar clarifies

New Delhi: Congress spokesperson Raj Babbar today tried to stomp the con-troversy he spawned by pro-fessing that Rs. 12 can buy a complete meal in Mumbai, a statement that was pilloried for being insensitive and a desper-ate attempt to defend new data that claims poverty has been reduced to 22% in India.

"If my statement has pained someone then I regret

it," Mr Babbar said. "I don't want my statement to harm my party in any way," he added.

Yesterday, he had refused to recant his remark. The clari-fication today came after the Congress made it clear that it did not endorse his take."We do not agree with Rs. 15&Rs. 5 statement of some leaders," tweeted Ajay Maken, the head of the party's Communications Department.After Mr Babbar's

statement on Wednesday, his colleague, Rasheed Masood, topped him by declaring on Thursday that Rs. 5 is sufficient for a meal near Jama Masjid in Delhi. (Comment)Earlier this week, the Planning Commis-sion said the percentage of In-dians living below the poverty line has fallen to 22 per cent in just seven years (from 2004-05 to 2011-12). It also said that anyone with more than Rs. 33 to spend a day in urban areas and more than Rs. 27 a day in rural areas is counted as above the poverty line.The opposi-tion alleges that the new math proves that the government has no solutions to raging inflation, and is engineering the math to deceive voters ahead of the na-tional election when the Con-gress will ask for a third term in power.

Digvijaya makes 'sexist' remark on Congress MP

Mandsaur: Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Friday made a somewhat 'sexist' remark at a rally in Madhya Pradesh. Speaking at a public rally in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh, he called Con-gress MP and Rahul aide Meenakshi Natarajan a 'tanch maal' or a good product."Meenakshi Natarajan is kind-hearted, simple and honest. I have been noticing since yesterday she is concerned about everybody. I am an old jeweller in the field of politics and I know very well which jewel is genuine and which is a fake," Digvijaya said.However, Natarajan said the remark was not of-fensive. "There's nothing wrong with what Digvijaya Singh has said. He has appreciated my work, nothing offensive in it. He is a big leader and I invited him to my constituency," she said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party hit out at Digvijaya saying he's lost his 'mental balance'. "This is their party's internal matter but as I have said, Digvijaya Singh has lost his mental balance and he should be admitted to a mental hospital," said BJP leader Vinay Katiyar.

India, China developing mechanism to prevent face-offs: AK Antony

New Delhi: India and China are trying to develop effective mechanisms to prevent the "embarrassing" face-offs between their troops along the "disputed" points of the Line of Actual Control, Defence Minister AK Antony said in New Delhi on Friday.

Terming the 21-day stand-off between the two sides in Depsang valley in Daulat Beg Oldi area as an "unusual" incident, the Defence Minister said the two countries will meet soon in Beijing to discuss issues and try to find a solution for such "unpleasant incidents".

"Till the final settlement of the border issue, we are trying to find out more effective mechanisms to prevent occasional incidents. There are many points in the LAC that are disputed and they are patrolled by both sides. So, sometimes it leads to some face-off," he said on the 14th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas.

India, China developing mechanism to prevent face-offs: Antony

The Defence Minister said that there are disputed points where both sides are going and that causes some embarrassing situations.

The Minister was asked to comment on the ris-ing incursions by the Chinese troops into the Indian

territory along the LAC in Ladakh and Northeastern sectors.Antony said, "There are disputed points where both sides are going there which sometimes causes some embarrassing situations."

He said after the Depsang incident in April, India and China had "free and frank" talks and "we are try-ing to have more border personnel meeting places and have more effective mechanisms to prevent such unpleasant incidents.""On the one side, both sides are

trying to find a long term solution to the long pending border dispute. Till that time, our aim is to maintain peace and tranquillity at the border," Antony said.

On the recent third meeting of the Joint Working Group between the two sides, the Minister said free and frank discussions were held between both sides.

"We are going to have another round of this meet-ing in Beijing soon on this issue. So, I think we will be able to find out a solutions to such unpleasant inci-dents on the border," he said.In the recent past, there have been several incidents of incursions in Ladakh sector where Chinese troops have entered well within Indian side and stayed there for long hours before re-turning to their areas.In one such incident, Chinese troops had entered Chumar area in Ladakh on July 16-17 on horses and ponies and demanded that Indian troops leave the area staking claim over it.In the last two weeks, there have been at least five incursions in the area and around 150 incidents in the last seven months. Meanwhile, commenting on the alleged "mis-treatment" of armed forces personnel and the lack of accommodation for them, Antony said though the situation had improved in comparison with past but "a lot was still required to be done".

Amethi: Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi to-day said there was a "lot of anger" in India which must be checked.

"India is a thought...youths make it, you make it. We have to include everyone and move forward," the Congress leader said as he inaugurated a new

training centre for para-mili-tary forces in Uttar Pradesh.

Mr Gandhi invoked the example of a man who once supported the separat-ist demand for Khalistan and later joined the political main-stream in Punjab after peace was restored in the state once wrecked by militancy.

"Like this person who came to my room, he used to be very angry. Today he is an MLA, he's working for us, for the people of Punjab. He had been blinded by anger. It wasn't his fault, people around him had filled him with anger," Mr Gandhi said.

This man, he said, became a state legislator.

The Congress leader said that the para-military Central Reserve Police Force played an important role in bringing normalcy in Punjab.

"That anger the CRPF curbed. And today the Con-gress and the Akali Dal in Pun-jab are promoting youth and that system gave him space in politics and helped (him) de-velop. Things that will help re-duce anger - those are what we all must do," Mr Gandhi said

Anger in India must be cooled: Rahul Gandhi

Ishrat Jahan case: can't arrest PP Pandey for now, Supreme Court tells CBI

The Supreme Court has said that senior Gujarat police of-ficer, PP Pandey, should not be arrested till after his appeal is decided, most likely on Mon-day, against being made an ac-cused in the Ishrat Jahan case.

Mr Pandey, who was Joint Commissioner, Crime Branch, when Ishrat was killed, has been missing for weeks. He disappeared after the CBI filed a case or FIR against him in a Gujarat court. The Supreme Court ordered that on Monday, he must appear in the court in Ahmedabad that's handling the Ishrat case.

Ishrat, a 19-year-old college student, was shot dead along with three men by senior members of the Ahmedabad crime branch in 2004 on the outskirts of the city.

Ishrat Jahan's family alleges threat to

their lives, writes to governmentIn its first chargesheet filed last

month, the CBI listed Mr Pandey as one of the seven policemen who allegedly murdered her in what it described as a "staged encounter" committed "in cold blood." (Read: How Ishrat Jahan, others were killed according to the CBI)

The policemen have said in their defence that they had been warned by the state's Intelligence Bureau that Ishrat and her companions were plan-ning to assassinate chief minister Narendra Modi on behalf of the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The CBI said yester-day that it will expand its inquiry to determine whether that is true. In its first chargesheet, it did not comment on the alleged terror links of the group,

provoking fierce criticism from the BJP. The party said that the government is pressuring the CBI to suppress crucial information to undermine the adminis-tration of Mr Modi, who is widely seen as the front-runner for the BJP's prime ministerial nomination.

Mid-day meal tragedy: 10 lakh students deprived of meals in Bihar

The mid-day meal supply was dis-rupted for the second day in many schools in Saran, Purnia, Sheohar and Araria dis-tricts among others.A student, undergoes treatment at Patna hospital after eating the contaminated meal given in the school in Dharmasti Gandaman village in Chhapra, Bihar.A student, undergoes treatment at Patna hospital after eating the contaminat-ed meal given in the school in Dharmasti Gandaman village in Chhapra, Bihar. -

Manit Balmiki/DNAMid-day meals could not be served in over 4,600 schools affecting nearly 10 lakh students for the second consecutive day today in Bihar due to primary school teachers boycotting the duties.

"As per our reports, mid-day meals could not be served in over 4,600 schools across the state out of a total of 70,000 schools covered by the programme. About 10 lakh students have been deprived of the food due to boycott,"

Director Bihar mid-day meal scheme R Lakshamanan.Sources in the Education department said that mid-day meal supply was disrupted for the second day in many schools in Saran, Purnia, Sheohar and Araria districts among others.Dharma-sati Gandaman primary school, where 23 children had died after eating poisonous mid-day meal on last Tuesday, is in Sa-ran district.While the government figures

claim that around 20 per cent schools are affected by boycott, Bihar Primary School Teachers Association, which is spearhead-ing the boycott agitation, claimed the food is not served in almost 95 per cent of the schools of the state due to primary teach-ers agitation."Mid-day meal scheme has been launched in almost 95 per cent of the schools of Bihar as per our informa-tion," Association president Brajnandan Sharma said.Meanwhile, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar appealed to the teachers to cooperate in successful run of the mid-day meal scheme for which there has been directions from the Supreme Court too."The government agrees that basic job of the primary teachers is to teach and not supervise cooking of meals but till some alternative arrangements are made they should cooperate in successful run of the scheme," he told reporters in Assembly premises. A total of 70,000 schools of Bi-har were covered under the mid-day meal scheme benefiting 1.40 crore children.Sharma said.