PATNA: Cooking gas and kerosene prices will not be hiked keeping in view the impact of such a step on the people, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said today.

“Our Government has decided not to increase LPG and kerosene prices in the country. This will benefit the middle class people and those who use kerosene as cooking fuel,” he told reporters here.

Pradhan, who was in Patna to attend the final day of the two-day BJP State executive meeting, however, said the petrol prices would move according to the prevalent market price mechanism.

“Petrol prices are linked directly to the market and they move accordingly. We faced some difficulty due to the Iraq issue and petrol prices went up a bit in the country,” he said.

The minister expressed the hope that there would be no “oil shock” in the future as the “rupee was appreciating under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it was a good indication”.

He said bulk diesel prices for railways, defence, industries and other big consumers were decreased by around a rupee after duties were reduced on it.

Pradhan also said that the Central Government was planning to revive the fertiliser plants at Barauni (Bihar), Sindri (Jharkhand), Durgapur (West Bengal) and Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) as part of the Haldia (West Bengal)– Jagdhishpur (Uttar Pradesh) gas pipeline project.

“The Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) wanted two anchor customers for the gas pipeline project. We are considering providing them four in the form of these fertiliser plants. Our ministry and the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers are working on it,” he said.

The minister said the revival of the fertiliser plants would cost around Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 crore as the entire machinery in plants, which remained defunct for two or three years, needed to be replaced. (AGENCIES)

JAMMU : Expressing concern over rising incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistan, Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah today asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak to his Pakistani counterpart on the issue.

“I want the Prime Minister to talk to Pak authorities and tell them that ceasefire violations are not right,” Omar told reporters here today.

Omar, who was replying to questions on repeated ceasefire violations at Jammu border by Pak troops, said, “Modi has good relations with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and they also communicate on Twitter. They should get this message across that ceasefire violations are not right.”

Referring to China, Omar said, “We are not worried about China now because they don’t harm us anymore. But ceasefire violations from Pakistan side is a matter of great concern to us.”

There has been loss of life, cattle and damage to property due to Pak firing, which has caused problems for us here, he said.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Gulam Nabi Azad, today also expressed concern over the ceasefire violations.

“The firing that has taken places in Arnia and other parts of Jammu for past three to four days is a matter of concern.

“But remember that BJP during the campaign for LS polls had targeted UPA Government for being weak to respond to ceasefire violations,” Azad said.

“Leave the China, which had made several attempts of incursion. During past two months period of Modi Government, Pak has violated ceasefire 25 times”, he said.

“People are getting killed, cattle perishing and properties getting damaged in firing, now it is time for BJP to answer on this,” he added.

Apart from violations in July so far, Pakistan violated the ceasefire five times along LoC and IB in Jammu region in June. There were 19 incidents of ceasefire violation along the LoC in April-May. (AGENCIES)

SRINAGAR :  An army jawan was killed when a grenade exploded accidentally during a counter-infiltration ambush in Gurez Sector along the Line of Control in Bandipora district of Kashmir, Army said today.

Troops had laid an ambush in Kanzalwan area of Gurez last night following information about possible movement of militants in the area, an Army spokesman said.

“Close to midnight, there was an accidental discharge of a hand grenade that resulted in the death of one rifleman,” the spokesman said. (AGENCIES)

JAMMU :  Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said ceasefire violations by Pakistan are more “dangerous” than Chinese incursions.    “Spurt in ceasefire violations from across the international border and Line of Control as well is a matter of concern and such acts are more “dangerous” than the Chinese incursions,” Mr Abdullah told reporters at the sidelines of a function here this afternoon.
The Chief Minister said, “Pak firing is ‘dangerous’ for the border residents,” adding, “We want Prime Minister Narendra Modi should talk to his Pak counterpart in this regard”.    “Our Prime Minister should talk to Pakistani PM as this cross border firing is not good,” Mr Abdullah said adding, “Mr Modi has developed good relations with Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif even through the micro blog ‘twitter’  and he has to raise this issue.”
Expressing concerns over plight of border people, the Chief Minister said,”Pak firing is dangerous for the people living in border areas.”
On a query about, Vaidik’s meeting with Hafiz Sayeed, he said, “only politics is going on Vaidik’s meeting with Sayeed”.    He said,”Hafiz Sayeed’s ideology is different. Anyone can meet anyone and there is no wrong in it. Neither the meeting of Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik’s meeting Hafiz Sayeed was wrong nor is the meeting of Vaidik.”
(AGENCIES)

SRINAGAR/JAMMU :  The NC-Congress coalition in Jammu and Kashmir today hit the rocks as the two parties announced that they will go it alone in the Assembly polls in the state due later this year.
Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ambika Soni and Saifuddin Soz announced in Jammu that the party will fight the the forthcoming Assembly elections alone and will not enter into any pre-poll alliance.
“After extensive talks with Congress leaders and workers at all levels, the party has come to the conclusion that we are going to fight the forthcoming Assembly elections on our own strength”, Soni, General Secretary AICC and in-charge of J&K Congress, told reporters.
“We will put up candidates or support some of the traditional alliance candidates on all the 87 seats in J&K alone”, she said.
Minutes later, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is working president of National Conference, took to social media to announce that he had informed Congress President Sonia Gandhi 10 days ago that there will be no pre-poll alliance in the state.
“I met Mrs Gandhi 10 days ago & thanked her for all her support. I conveyed NC’s decision to fight the elections alone,” Omar said on Twitter.
He said he explained the reasons to the Congress president for not entering into a pre-poll alliance “but also told her I wouldn’t be making a public announcement because I didn’t want it to look opportunistic.
“For it to be spun now as a Cong decision is wrong & a complete distortion of the facts, not surprising but incorrect nonetheless,” he added.
Soni, who was flanked by Azad and JKPCC chief Soz, said, “Most of the wokers and leaders of Congress wanted us to go alone in elections”.
The votes in Lok Sabha elections were not transferred to each other resulting in the debacle, she said, adding, “There was not much of help that came from our alliance partner in previous elections”.
Azad said the party wants to emerge as the single largest party in the state and it will focus on completing pending projects in the state.
National Conference and Congress entered into a post-poll alliance following a hung verdict in the 2008 Assembly elections in the state.
Although the coalition government has almost completed
its term of six years, the sailing for the two parties has not been smooth as second rung leaders from both parties have indulged in public spats over many issues.
The NC and Congress contested the recent Lok Sabha polls together and were routed by opposition PDP and BJP on all six seats. While Congress lost Jammu, Udhampur and Ladakh seats to BJP, PDP made a clean sweep against the NC in the three seats of the valley.
Congress decision to go alone in the Assembly elections has sparked hope of a better showing than the LS polls among the younger leaders of the party.
“I welcome the decision of the Congress Party to contest the J&K election on its own. This respects the sentiments of our workers,” Salman Soz, who is a media panelist for the party, said.
“By not forming a pre-poll alliance with any party, Congress expands choice in J&K. This is good for the people of J&K and good for the party,” he added. (AGENCIES)

NEW  DELHI : An expenditure of at least Rs 17.60 lakh was incurred on the oath-taking ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, an RTI reply has found.
The reply provided by the President’s Secretariat said approximate cost incurred on the arrangements of the oath-taking ceremony, attended by 4017 guests, related to tentage, stage, furniture and other allied items is Rs 17.6 lakhs.
In its response to activist Ramesh Verma, the Secretariat said that it does not maintain the records of expenditure function-wise.
“Hence the information sought for cannot be provided. It is informed that the expenditure on functions in incurred by the spending units from the annual budget allotted to respective head of accounts,” a reply from CPIO Saurabh Vijay said.
The activist had sought to know from the President’s Secretariat “head-wise” details on the expenditure incurred on the oath-taking ceremony of Modi and total number of persons who attended the ceremony.
Modi took oath of office on May 26 at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan which was attended by Presidents, Prime Ministers and senior leaders of the SAARC countries among other dignitaries. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI : Country’s first line of defence along the China border – the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force – has a new ‘enemy’ in sight in the form of heart attack deaths which has claimed lives of dozens of its jawans in the recent past.
The paramilitary force, whose troops are largely deployed in inhospitable high altitude areas, has pressed the alarm bell on the worrying trend with ITBP chief Subhas Goswami writing to his field commanders along the borders and other locations asking them to make drastic changes in the present cooking style and eating habits of the personnel.
In his communication, the ITBP Director General has issued instructions to cut down on the use of high cholesterol ghee and oil for cooking at border posts, battalion locations and in mess rooms of the force as he expressed concern over the high number of deaths due to heart-related problems.
Officials said while close to three dozen jawans had sudden death, including 16 cases of heart attack, in the first six months of this year, over 50 such cases were reported last year from across various locations of the force, including in places where the troops are deployed in plains.
What got the force worried was the fact that some of the heart-related deaths took place among the younger lot who have joined the mountain-trained force in the recent past, the officials said.
The DG, they said, has now got issued a first-ever exhaustive ‘recipe book’ which talks about preparation of healthy food with the minimal use of oils, spices and salt.
Henceforth, ITBP kitchens will only prepare food as described in these latest manuals.
Goswami, the officials said, took the step after he was told that high calorie and oily food taking toll on the health of the personnel and the absence of a standard cooking guidebook in the force.
Subsequent to this, a 69-page guide recipe book was prepared with the help of nutrition experts charting out the preparation of a balanced diet of vegetarian, non-vegetarian food and desserts by the cooks of the force.
The force has also made regular health check-up mandatory for all the ranks that include the jawans and officers deployed at all hard and normal area duties.
ITBP guards the largely snow-capped 3,488-km Indo-China border at an altitude ranging from 9,000ft to 18,700ft and it conducts both long range and short range patrols along this frontier which is prone to frequent incursion attempts by the troops of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. (agencies)

JAMMU : Panic gripped the bordering villages of this winter capital as Pakistan fired indiscriminately on forward posts of BSF in Arnia Sector along international border of Jammu in which around six cattle got injured. “Pakistan Rangers once again fired small arms at forward posts
along IB in Arnia Sector during midnight in Jabobal and Nikowal areas,” official sources here today said. They said six cattle including two cows, an ox and three buffaloes got injured in the firing. “The BSF also acted swiftly and retaliated to the cross border
firing,” they said.
The exchange of fire lasted till wee hours. One BSF jawan was killed and seven persons including four Bihari Labourers on July 16 got injured in cross border firing in Arnia Sector.
Jammu and Kashmir Police have sounded alert along the bordering belts and also on the Jammu-Pathankot highway in view of the continued firing from across the border. (AGENCIES)

SRINAGAR : Life was today affected due to curfew like restrictions and general strike in south Kashmir districts of
Anantnag and Kulgam, where a teenager was killed after security force opened fire to disperse demonstrators at Koimoh yesterday.    However, official sources said restrictions under Section 144 CrPC have been imposed at Koimoh, Kulgam, to maintain law and order.
The breakaway Hurriyat Conference (HC) chairman Syed Ali  Shah Geelani, who is under house arrest since his return from New Delhi in April, has called for a general strike in Kulgam and Anantnag today against the killing of Suhail Ahmad Lone at Khudwani Koimoh after security forces opened fire to disperse demonstrators yesterday.
The demonstrators were protesting against the Israeli air strikes on Gaza that left more than 300 people, mostly women and children, dead during the past more than a week. They were also protesting against security force firing in which a youth was injured on July 18.
Sensing more trouble today after massive protests  yesterday, hundreds of security force and state police personnel were deployed at Khudwani and Koimoh since last night to prevent any more violence.
Residents alleged that they were not being allowed to move out of their houses by security forces. “We were being directed to remain as curfew has been imposed,” a resident Abdul Rashid said over phone.
He said even people were not allowed to purchase  essentials, including milk, bread and vegetables.    Meanwhile, shops and business establishments, which  remained open on Sunday, were closed and traffic was off the roads in Kulgam and Anantnag.
Additional security force and police personnel have been deployed to prevent any demonstration.    However, vehicles carrying Amarnath yatris were plying normally.
(AGENCIES)

SRINAGAR :  The 15th ‘Operation Vijay Diwas’,  victory over Pakistani intruders in Kargil, would be celebrated by organising a two-day function in Drass from July 25.    A defence ministry spokespersons today said the Army is preparing extensively to honour the martyrs of the Kargil War of 1999 in a series of solemn ceremonies this year.    The primary event, which will mark the 15th anniversary of the Victory, is scheduled to be held at War Memorial Drass from July 25th to 26th.
It will be attended by a large number of dignitaries of  the Army and civil administration as well as gallantry award winners of the conflict and families of many martyrs.    The conflict was fought in the summer of 1999 to evict Pakistani regular forces who had intruded and occupied winter vacated posts on the Indian side of the Line of Control, violating an unwritten agreement.
The operation cost the Indian Army hundreds of young lives, in whose memory the commemorative function is held every year.    He said this year on July 25, the much vaunted Army Bands will present a breathtaking band display, followed by a solemn memorial service.
On July 26, top officers of the Army, martyrs families,  war heroes, political representatives and the civil administration will participate in the commemorative wreath laying ceremony at the Kargil War Memorial located at the base of the Tololing feature, the scene of one of the fiercest battles of the operation.
The event is a purposeful attempt by the Army every year  to remember its martyrs and solemnly honour their memories and to remind the Nation of the constant sacrifices the men and women in uniform make for the citizens of the country. (AGENCIES)