Indo-Pak committee to visit jails
Exchange prisoners' list by March 31: Panel

NEW DELHI, Feb 27: Indians and Pakistanis imprisoned in each other’s country could see an early release, with a high level joint committee making a recommendation in this regard today as part of measures to ensure humanitarian treatment to such people.

The India-Pakistan joint judicial committee recommended exchange of the list of the people lodged in jails in each other’s country by March 31.

The committee, formed last year to recommend steps for humane treatment and expeditious release of prisoners of the respective countries in each other’s jails, asked both countries to notify the other of the arrest of its nationals and provide Consular Access expeditiously.

After its first meeting here, the committee decided to visit prisons in Pakistan in April followed by visit to jails in India to study the condition of inmates.

"Prisoners, who have completed their sentences and whose national status has been verified, be released forthwith," said the joint statement issued after the meeting.

It said that special consideration, on compassionate and humanitarian basis, be accorded to women, juvenile and disabled prisoners for their repatriation.

Referring to the agreement between the two countries, it said the fishermen in custody, whose nationality status is confirmed, be released forthwith and in remaining cases, Consular Access be provided by March 31.

"All efforts be made to arrange early release of all those prisoners, accused or convicted of minor offences, once their nationality status is confirmed," it said.

The Committees recommendations are :

· Prisoners who have completed their sentences and whose national status has been verified, be released forthwith.

· Special consideration, on compassionate and humanitarian basis, be accorded to women, juvenile and disabled prisoners for their repatriation.

· As agreed between the two Governments, those fishermen in custody whose nationality status is confirmed, be released forthwith and in remaining cases Consular Access be provided by March 31.

· All efforts be made to arrange for early release of all those prisoners, accused or convicted of minor offences, once their nationality status is confirmed.

· Each country may immediately notify the other of the arrest of its nationals and provide Consular Access expeditiously.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today informed Parliament that at least 949 fishermen had been nabbed by Pakistani authorities during the past three years and the Government had taken up the issue of their release at the highest level.

At least 22 fishermen and four boats were held by Pakistani authorities during the past two months, he said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

He said 372 Indian fishermen and 342 boats continued to be in the custody of Pakistani authorities.

The number of fishermen nabbed by Pakistan’s Maritime Security Agency was 124 last year, 365 in 2006 and 460 in 2005. In addition, 251 boats were seized by them between 2003 and 2008.

A total of 1579 fishermen have been released by Pakistan including those taken into custody before 2005, the Minister said.(Agencies)

Violence down in J&K: Jaiswal
*No terror threat to courts

NEW DELHI, Feb 27: The Government today said there had been no specific information about terror threats to courts in the country or of terrorists posing as advocates to trigger blasts in court premises.

"There are no present inputs regarding any specific threat of terrorists to target courts in the country and about terrorists posing as advocates to trigger blasts in court premises," Minister of State for Home Shriprakash Jaiswal said.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Jaiswal, however, informed that guidelines had been framed and communicated to all State Governments and the Union Territories for the security of High Courts and district and subordinate courts, asking the authorities to "urgently review" the security arrangements there.

The minister said a continuous and close watch was being maintained by various security agencies about possible threats of terrorist activities. Any input received in this regard was also shared with the State Governments on a regular basis, he added.

Replying to another query, he said terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir had registered a decline during the last two years.

In 2006, Jammu and Kashmir witnessed 1667 terror incidents, which came down to 1092 a year later.

About the measures being taken to make the security environment progressively safer for tourists visiting the State, he said a separate tourist police and enforcement wing had been put in place at Srinagar, Jammu and other tourist places. The tourist police are empowered to take cognizance of cheating and harassment cases.

Communal violence: About 40 Christian families of Barakhamma and Baliguda area and about 400 people from Kattingia and Tiarigram, who had earlier fled from their homes during the recent communal violence, have returned, Jaiswal said.

Public order and police being state subjects as per the Constitution, the State Governments are primarily responsible for maintenance of law and order in the region, he said.

Religious places: Security has been beefed up in and around Guwahati following inputs of threat to religious places in the area, Minister of State for Home Affairs Radhika Selvi said.

General alert has also been issued as regard to other religious places located in different parts of Assam, she said.

Available inputs indicate that some Indian insurgent groups active in the North Eastern Region have been using Bangladesh for shelter, training camps and procurement of arms and ammunition, Selvi said.

Citizenship: Cases have been registered against the persons from Kerala who had migrated to Pakistan after partition and returned back to India at different point of time on Pakistani passports to join their family members, Jaiswal said.

ID cards: The Government proposes to issue Multi-Purpose National Identity Card (MNIC) to the citizens in the country, Minister of State for Home Affairs Manikrao Gavit said.

The project envisages providing unique National Identity Number to each person in the National Population Register.

However, keeping in view the complexities involved both in the process and technology, a pilot project has been under implementation on an experimental basis covering a population of 30.95 lakhs in the selected areas in 12 States and a Union Territory, he said. (Agencies)

Four-point plan to meet future calamities in offing
J&K needs 150 helipads, 3 tunnels on NH

By Mohinder Verma

JAMMU, Feb 27: To meet the future natural calamities in more effective manner and maintain connectivity with remote and inaccessible areas across the State during snowfall, the State Government has prepared a four point plan to be discussed with the Union Government while projecting the financial assistance required for permanent restoration of the damages caused by the massive snowfall in the State.

Authoritative sources told EXCELSIOR that while working out the damages on account of snowfall in the affected districts, the State Government has formulated a four point plan to meet any exigency in future in more effective manner.

As per the plan, there was a dire need to construct concrete helipads at nearly 150 identified places across the State particularly in the remote areas so that connectivity with otherwise inaccessible inhabited areas could be maintained in every situation and there would not be any difficulty in reaching out to the people within shortest possible time.

Similarly, the need to strengthen Mechanical Engineering Department of the State Government was also projected in the plan with one time financial assistance of Rs 150 crore to provide snow clearance equipments particularly snow cutters to the Department for prompt action in the event of massive snowfall.

As the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway becomes first target in the event of heavy rains or snowfall because of its major portion falling in the highly vulnerable stretch of rocks, the State Government has been feeling immediate requirement of tunnels at Patnitop, Panthyal and Banihal to reduce the days of traffic blockade in case of exigencies.

"The fourth point in the plan pertains to creation of LPG storage capacity in all the districts of the Kashmir Valley to meet the requirement of the consumers during the period Valley remaining cut off from the rest of the country", the sources disclosed and said that at present the LPG storage facility exists only in the districts of Srinagar and Pulwama. This apart, the plan also suggests reserve of LPG for a period of 20 days as against the present reserve for only 10 days.

Sources said that the four point plan will be discussed with the Union Government while projecting financial assistance required for permanent restoration of damages caused by the snowfall. "To translate the plan into a reality the State Government will seek more financial assistance from the Centre", they added.

Meanwhile, the damages due to snowfall in the Kashmir region have been worked out at Rs 95 crore while the same in Jammu region have already been put at Rs 97 crore. "Now the State will seek Central assistance of Rs 192 crore for the permanent restoration of the damages", the sources said.

According to the official figures, a total of 38 persons were killed across the State in snowfall and this figure was increasing with more people falling victims to the snow avalanches. A total of 1296 houses (230 in Jammu division and 1066 in Kashmir division) were fully damaged due to the snowfall while 2659 houses (1066 in Jammu and 1593 in Kashmir) were partially damaged. Similarly, 222 cowsheds got fully damaged while 1600 sheds suffered partial damages across the State.

The massive damages have been suffered in Roads and Building, Power Development, Public Health Engineering and Agriculture sectors followed by Irrigation and Flood Control and Rural Development Department, the sources said.

Elections for JMC Mayor
Cong fields Manmohan, BJP Kavinder

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Feb 27: Congress today decided to field Manmohan Singh Pinka as its candidate for the upcoming election to the post of Mayor for Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded former Mayor and senior party Corporator Kavinder Gupta.

The elections for the post of Mayor will be held on March 5, 2008.

The candidature of Manmohan Singh was decided through secret ballot proposed by the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was earlier authorised by Corporators to nominate a candidate for the post.

Mr Azad, however, declined to nominate the candidate and insisted that democratic process of ballot be adopted. He said for him all corporators were equal and he would like them to throw up a candidate by casting votes in a democratic way. Manmohan Singh emerged as the winner by securing a majority vote.

The meeting for choosing the party candidate for the post of Mayor was attended by Corporators of the Congress and its associate and independent members. Minister for Health and Medical Education, Mangat Ram Sharma, Minister for Rural Development, Mula Ram, Minister for Higher Education, Gulchain Singh Charak, Deputy Chairman, Legislative Council, Arvinder Singh, Advisor to Chief Minister, Janak Raj Gupta, Legislators, Raman Bhalla and Yogesh Sawhney and Mayor, JMC, Narinder Singh were present.

Earlier, the Chief Minister asked the Corporators to demonstrate unity at the time of election like they had done during the past two years, resulting in the two consecutive victories of the Congress candidates for the Mayoral post. He said associate and independent members had played pivotal role in the victories and urged them to work in unison to ensure smooth sailing of the Congress party candidate this time also.

The Chief Minister said that he was for extending the term of office of Mayor from the current one year to two or three years. However, he said since it could not materialize due to the lack of consensus among coalition parties, he would work towards changing the existing law in the coming years to ensure that a Mayor’s term of office was increased to two or three years.

Likewise, he said, the term of the Corporator could also be extended to six years, as in the case of State Assembly.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in a meeting of the Corporators and senior party leaders held under the chairmanship of its State president Ashok Khajuria, fielded former Mayor and senior Corporator of the party Kavinder Gupta for the post of JMC Mayor.

"We are also finalising our strategy for the elections to the post of Mayor", Mr Khajuria said when contacted. He, however, refused to divulge the details.

Concern over ultras' access to nuke weapons

NEW DELHI, Feb 27: India today expressed serious concern about the heightened dangers of terrorists getting access to nuclear weapons and related materials.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, said the Government expects the States possessing nuclear weapons to take effective steps to ensure strict control over their nuclear weapons and related materials.

The Government was committed to taking all necessary steps to protect national security, he added. (UNI)

Advance ration announced
758 KPs to get flats by Shivratri

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Feb 27: As many as 758 Kashmiri Pandit migrant families would be allotted newly constructed flats in first phase at Purkhu, Muthi-II and Nagrota before Shivratri.

This was stated at a high level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary B R Kundal here today.

The meeting reviewed the pace of progress on construction work on other flats being built at various places. It was stated that more than 1024 flats would be available for allotment to the migrant families by the next March end.

It was decided that 296 migrant families of Muthi camp would be given allotments at Muthi while allotment to the rest of migrants would be made on drawing lots.

Mr Kundal stressed on completion of all flats in all respects, adding that provision of basic amenities like drinking water, electricity and sanitation should be ensured to the allotees simultaneously. He said that draw of lots should be made in a very transparent way and preference of ground floor be given to the aged and ill persons if any.

He said that migrant families who wish to shift to new allotment before Shivratri should be allowed to move.

Among others Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Anil Goswami, Divisional Commissioner Jammu Sudhanshu Panday and Secretary Revenue Masood Samoon participated in the meeting

Meanwhile, registered Kashmiri Migrants can draw advance ration for March 2008 from February 26 onwards in view of ensuing Maha-Shivratri festival falling on March 5.

The concerned Assistant Director of CA&PD Department will ensure availability and issuance of ration of sound quality in time at the respective sale outlets for the purpose.

9 new PS, 22 PPs for 2 new rail tracks

By Sanjeev Pargal

JAMMU, Feb 27: In view of the militants’ threat to under construction Baramulla-Qazigund rail section in Kashmir valley and Udhampur-Katra section in Jammu region, both of which were likely to be completed by this year if all goes well, the Crime and Railways Police have decided to set up nine new police stations and 22 police posts along the two tracks for round-the-clock vigil.

Trains were expected to run on the two tracks this year. While Baramulla-Qazigund track was expected to be ready by August this year, the completion of Udhampur-Katra track depended upon a solution to the problems faced on a tunnel near Udhampur. Tentatively, it was expected that train would run on this part of the track too by the end of this year.

IGP Crime and Railways, Dilbagh Singh, who was relinquishing office in next couple of days, told Excelsior that Railways Police has proposed four new railway stations at Udhampur, Katra and Vijaypur and fourth between Udhampur and Jammu for which an appropriate site is being searched.

Five new police stations being set up for security of Baramulla-Qazigund rail track include Ompora, Nowgam, Kakapora and Pampore.

A total of 22 new police posts—11 each between Jammu-Katra and Baramulla-Qazigund sections are being set up, Mr Singh said.

He added that the security proposal for two sensitive railway lines has been approved by the State Government and work on them will start after the reaction of Railways authorities. The process to depute regular forces and SPOs at designated police stations, police posts and other vulnerable points along the track has been set in motion.

The Railways Protection Force (RPF) will deploy two battalions for protection of railways property, the IGP Crime and Railways said, adding that two to three companies of the RPF have already reported and took control of two important locations while two more companies were expected to take more locations in the Valley very soon for protection of railway property.

Ompora-Budgam-Pampore section of rail track is ready where successful trials of rail have been conducted several times. Now, the focus has shifted towards Sopore-Baramulla and Sopore-Pattan sections, Mr Singh said, adding at any cost DMUs were expected to run on Baramulla-Qazigund track before August.

All efforts were being made to provide fool proof security to trains and the track, which could be targeted by the militants.

Udhampur-Katra track, according to sources, also remained a vulnerable spot as a large number of Mata Vaishno Devi ji pilgrims will travel from different parts of the country to Katra, which serves as base camp for the shrine.

Once the squeezing problem at the tunnel near Udhampur is overcome, Udhampur-Katra track is expected to be ready, sources said, adding problem at the tunnel remained the major reason for delay in completion of Udhampur-Katra track.

Crime Branch books PDD official
Father-son's age gap only six years

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Feb 27: Incredible it may sound but it is a fact that the difference of age between a father-son was only six years if one goes by the official records.

The Crime Branch has established that Rashpaul Singh, a Lineman working in Maintenance and RE Division-III at Mubarak Mandi, Jammu, had tempered with his date of birth certificate to secure the job. According to his service record his date of birth was 17-4-1950 while his son Sudershan Singh, who was also serving in the same Department i.e. PDD had his date of birth as 6-4-1956, which made the difference of age between father-son as just six years.

Investigations conducted by the Crime Branch under the supervision of IGP Crime and Railways Dilbagh Singh have revealed that Rashpaul Singh, a resident of village Shama Chak had served in Army as Rifleman in JAK Rifles and was enrolled in the said Unit on 31-10-1957. He retired from the Army on 12-2-1966 with pensionary benefits.

However, after retirement, he was engaged as daily wager in Electric Maintenance and RE Department, Jammu as Lineman in the year 1971. Later, he was regularised as Junior Lineman among other daily wagers.

However, he had produced a fake date of birth certificate and concealed his original date of birth at the time of regularisation of his services. During verification from Army records in Jabalpur, the Crime Branch gathered the information that Rashpaul’s original date of birth was 11-2-1929.

This way, the accused had prima-facie committed an offence punishable under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B RPC. A case has been registered against him for further investigations.

In another case, Crime Branch, Kashmir has chargesheeted a petition writer for cheating. He had prepared a fraud and fake sale deed in respect of a portion of house situated at Budgair Alikadal in Srinagar.

Crime Branch investigations revealed that a petition writer Reyaz Ahmed Wani son of Ghulam Nabi R/o Tarabnal, Nawakadal, Srinagar was approached by Jalal-ud-Din Sheikh son of Mohammad Ramzan R/o Budgair Alikadal for executing sale deed in respect of half portion of house situated at Budgair.

The petition writer obtained requisite fee from the plaintiff and provided relevant documents to him. These documents, on verification, proved to be fake and were established to have been prepared by the petition writer in order to grab the court fee.

Chargesheet of the case has been presented before the Court of Judge Small Cause.

NDA stalls Parliament on farmers' issue

NEW DELHI, Feb 27: The issue of farmers’ plight rocked Parliament today as Third Front and NDA stalled proceedings demanding a package for the farm sector and waiver of loans, leading to adjournment of both Houses for the day.

The Lok Sabha also witnessed protests over attacks on north Indians in Maharashtra with members of the RJD, a key constituent of the ruling UPA, storming the well on the issue.

RJD members Vijay Krishna, Sadhu Yadav and Ramkripal Yadav wanted safety and security to north Indians in Maharashtra in the wake of the agitation by the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

With the presentation of the general budget just two days away, Opposition vociferously raised the farmers’ issue for the second consecutive day amid reports that Government planned to come out with some major sops for the farm sector.

The issue of attacks on north Indians did not come up in the upper House, where a short duration discussion on it was listed but could not be taken up.

It was trouble from the word go as both Houses assembled with members of UNPA, popularly called Third Front, and NDA demanding suspension of question hour to take up a discussion on farmers’ issue.

In the Lok Sabha, NDA wanted an immediate discussion on the farmers’ issue saying they had moved adjournment motion and that the discussion be taken up forthwith. They were joined by UNPA members who stormed the well.

As noisy scenes continued, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee ordered laying of papers listed for the day and special mentions. As the members remained unrelenting, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day.

Similar uproarious scenes were witnessed in the Rajya Sabha both during question hour and zero hour with BJP-led NDA joining hands with Third Front.

The upper House was adjourned first during the question hour and then for the day as the Opposition vociferously raised the farmers’ plight.

Shouting slogans like "Kisan Virodhi Sarkar Nahin Chalegi (anti-farmer Government will not be allowed)" in the well, they demanded a package for the peasants.

In the din, Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan took up the listed business which included laying of papers and reports.

A statutory resolution appproving imposition of President’s rule in Nagaland was adopted and an important bill relating to enhancement of maternity benefits was also passed virtually without discussion.

As the slogan shouting continued, a visibly upset Khan admonished the Opposition members for "taking the House to ransom" and said this could not go on. "The House is not meant for agitation. If you want to agitate, you can go outside," he said.

But, with the Opposition members unrelenting, Khan adjourned the House for the day barely 10 minutes after beginning of zero hour. (PTI)

US warns India on nuke deal

NEW DELHI, Feb 27: The United States has conveyed to India that the "clock is ticking" on the civilian nuclear deal and asked New Delhi to complete all formalities before the elections to the US Congress.

The warning was conveyed by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who concludes his two-day visit to India today, in his meetings with Indian leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Defence Minister A K Antony and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee during the past two days, sources said here.

Mr Gates who arrived here yesterday on the visit, his first to India since taking over as the Defence Secretary in December last year, was here primarily to pitch for a 10.2 billion Dollar Defence deal for fighter jets.

On his arrival, Mr Gates told reporters that Defence ties between the two countries and the civilian nuclear issue were independent of each other.

Mr Gates, however, did not give any deadline like the three influential Senators had given last week when they asked India to send the deal back to the Congress by May so that it could be completed before July.

The three Senators-Joseph R Biden (Democrat) who is Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry (Democrat) and Chuch Hagel (Republican)—had said at a press conference here on February 20 that it was critical that the Indian Government move on it (the deal) within weeks and if it was not ratified by July, the next Government would re-negotiate the terms and conditions.

The US Defence Secretary said he was aware of India’s domestic political compulsions. However, the US Senate had limited time and deal had to win the Senate’s approval.

"We have to respect India’s domestic political issues...Let the Government of India be the best judge of how to move this agreement forward," he said.

However, with the election year on in the US, it is an open question how long the Senate would be in session.

"The real key here is providing time for our Senate to ratify the final arrangements...The clock is ticking..." he said.

On the Defence relationship between the two countries, the Defence Secretary said he had urged Indian leaders to consider US bids for the 10.2 billion Dollar contract for supply of 126 fighter jets.

He, however, said the US did not want any special favour in the Defence deal.

He said the US was looking at a long-term relationship with India and would continue to expand military ties regardless of the fate of the nuclear agreement.

"We’re building for the long term. We are not looking for quick results or big leaps forward, but rather a steady expansion of this relationship," he added.

US officials accompanying Mr Gates said they were hoping to expand on "the best military-to-military relationship the United States has with any country in the world."

"We already have a very ambitious schedule of exchanges and exercises that is growing in size and sophistication. Clearly the Defense trade relationship is growing. So I think that there are a number of areas where there is potential for cooperation," the Defence Secretary said at a press conference after his arrival here yesterday morning.

India has invited proposals worth about one billion Dollars for 312 helicopters for its air force and Army.

After having agreed to buy six Lockheed Martin military transport planes worth about one billion Dollars, India now wants to buy 126 multi-role fighter jets for which the US companies are competing with those from other major countries including France, Sweden, Russia and a consortium of German, British, Spanish and Italian companies.

The bids close on March 3.

The two countries annually conduct naval exercises, considered one of the largest in the world, involving the navies of five countries and 30 vessels.

The visit takes place in the last of the George W Bush eight-year Presidency that witnessed unprecedented acceleration in India-US engagement and qualitative transformation in the relationship, particularly in Defence.

Mr Gates is on a week-long tour of Australia, Indonesia, India and Turkey.

The two countries which witnessed intensive engagement during the past two years over the Civilian Nuclear Agreement, are now headed for closer Defence ties, which are increasingly being looked at from the perspective of growing Chinese might and political instability in Pakistan.

An official spokesman said here India and the US have a strong framework of Defence cooperation established by the 2005 Defence Framework Agreement and a comprehensive institutional framework of exchanges.

"Secretary Gates’ visit will give further impetus to the ongoing Defence cooperation between our two countries. His visit reaffirms the importance of the Indo-US relations and the strong political support in the US for our strategic partnership. India also reiterates its interest in looking forward to broad-based defence ties with the US," the spokesman added. (UNI)

PPP, PML claim 2/3rd majority

ISLAMABAD, Feb 27: In a show of strength, the three parties that emerged victorious in Pakistan’s general election-PPP, PML-N and ANP-today claimed they had a two-thirds majority in new Parliament and demanded that the National Assembly be convened immediately.

At a luncheon hosted by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari for newly elected Parliamentarians, leaders of the three parties said they would support each other to form the federal Government and to change the establishment to ensure that the military no longer had a role in Pakistan’s politics.

Without naming President Pervez Musharraf, Zardari emphasised the need to change the system. PML-N chief and former premier Nawaz Sharif was more forthright in his comments against Musharraf, saying the former military ruler should realise that the three parties and their supporters had a two-thirds majority.

"The nation has given a verdict against dictatorship, the nation has given a verdict from every nook and corner for democracy. And the people who really believe in democracy are sitting here together," Sharif said.

"Please see the numbers Mr Musharraf. We already have a two-thirds majority (in the National Assembly or lower House of Parliament) and I would like to inform Mr Musharraf we are not prepared to wait for a single more day for the Assembly to be convened," he said to loud applause.

The PPP won the maximum 88 seats in the February 18 polls followed by PML-N which bagged 66. The ANP has 10 National Assembly seats.

Sharif urged the Election Commission to officially declare the results of the polls and the session of the National Assembly be convened the "very next day" so that the new Government could be formed.

Zardari, whose party has not pressed as strongly as the PML-N for the ouster of Musharraf, said he did not want revenge for his assassinated wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto, but wanted to change the establishment.

"Pakistan stands on the verge of disaster, but it also stands on the verge of opportunity," Zardari said, adding the results of the February 18 general election had provided a "window of opportunity" to usher in complete democracy.

Zardari, Sharif and Awami National Party (ANP) leader Asfandyar Wali Khan also paid rich tributes to Bhutto, saying she had sacrificed her life for the cause of democracy.

Sharif said the occasion reminded him of Bhutto and what it "would have been like if she was still among us". He added, "We all miss her very badly".

Senior PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who has emerged as the front-runner for the post of Prime Minister, also attended the meeting.

Altogether 171 newly elected members of the National Assembly were present. The number is short of a two-thirds majority but party officials are confident of roping in more independent lawmakers to reach the magic figure.

Meanwhile, with President Pervez Musharraf’s fate hanging in balance, Pakistan Government today terminated graft cases against PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari shortly after the apex court dismissed three petitions challenging a controversial order granting amnesty to PPP leaders in corruption cases.

The National Accountability Bureau, the anti-corruption body, terminated cases against Zardari and Rehman Malik, the security advisor of slain PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto, immediately after the Supreme Court gave its ruling this morning.

NAB’s deputy prosecutor general Zulfiqar Bhutta said the agency had initially given directions for the termination of cases after Musharraf issued the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in October last year.

But several anti-corruption courts had refused to stop hearing cases against Bhutto, Zardari and others after the NRO was challenged in the apex court, which also issued a stay on all benefits granted under the law, Bhutta said.

Following today’s order from the Supreme Court, the cases were finally terminated, he said.

Bhutto’s name was removed as an accused from cases being heard by anti-corruption courts following her assassination in December.

A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Abdul Hameed dismissed petitions filed by Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif and an advocate challenging the constitutional validity of the NRO.

The counsel of the three petitioners either failed to appear in court or said they had no instructions on proceeding further. Attorney General Malik Qayyum, who represented the Government, said the case should be settled quickly and not allowed to drag on.

Two other petitions-filed by retired bureaucrat Roedad Khan and former federal minister Mubashar Hassan-were adjourned indefinitely by the court. The bench also withdrew the stay issued last year by the pre-emergency Supreme Court that barred other courts from giving judgements in graft cases involving persons who benefited from the NRO.(PTI)

Economic survey to be tabled today

NEW DELHI, Feb 27: Finance Minister P Chidambaram will tomorrow table in Parliament, the Economic Survey - a report card on the economy during this fiscal that will also show the direction of Government policy in the year ahead.

It will be followed by the presentation of the budget for 2008-09 on Friday.

The industry, which is upbeat after the presentation of a populist Railway budget yesterday, expects the Finance Minister too to announce cut in income tax and excise duty on various commodities to sustain GDP growth - now under pressure due to a slowdown in the US economy.

The Survey, mainly authored by the Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Virmani, is expected to indicate the Government’s priorities and thrust areas for the budget 2008-09.

After posting a scorching 9.6 per cent growth in 2006-07, the Indian growth story was seen slowing down in 2007-08.

The Survey is expected to indicate policy measures to dampen inflation, which is ruling above the four per cent mark, reverse slowdown in export growth, tackle the impact of rising rupee and address the issue of spurt in global crude oil and food prices.

It is also expected to present a rosy picture of the economy and outline the achievements of the United Progressive Alliance Government, besides high growth in tax collections.

But a booming internal market for goods and services, thanks to a spurt in domestic savings and investment coupled with capital inflow, is likely to see growth at close to the 9 per cent mark this fiscal.

However, on the agriculture front, the Survey may express concern about stagnation in foodgrain and oilseeds production and the need to raise public investment in farm sector to attain 4 per cent targeted growth in the sector. (PTI)

2 CRPF men killed in ambush

Excelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Feb 27: Two CRPF constables were today gunned down by militants who ambushed a patrol in Pulwama district.

The unidentified ultras opened fire on the patrol when it was at Boonamaha village in the district at around 6:45 pm and two jawans were critically injured, CRPF Inspector-General M S Gupta said.

He said the two CRPF men later succumbed to injuries.

Several villages in the area have been put under a tight cordon and security forces were carrying out house-to-house searches in an operation to nab the militants, officials said.

They said the militants may have left the area as the security force reinforcements reached the village 20 minutes after the incident.

In other incidents, a self-styled commander of a militant outfit was arrested by the CRPF in south Kashmir and was being interrogated while ultras shot at and injured a youth in Sopore in Baramulla district, a police spokesman said.

Meanwhile, people still feel insecure in Khundroo and other nearby villages in south Kashmir, where devastating fire in the 21 Field Ammunition Depot destroyed thousands of Bofors and other explosive device in August last year.

People of these affected villages found a number of unexploded shells after the incident.

A Police spokesman said a live Bofors tank shell was found by the villagers at Khundroo.

However, Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) of the police was immediately informed and the shell was defused.