SRINAGAR:  Seven members of a family were injured in a gas cylinder explosion at their house in Anantnag district of south Kashmir, police said today.

The incident took place last night at village Nagbal near Ashmuqam, 85 kms from here, a police spokesman said.

He said all the members of Afsar Khan’s family received burn and splinter injuries.

Two of the seriously injured persons were brought to Soura Medical Institute here for specialised treatment, while rest of the family was undergoing treatment at Anantnag district hospital, the spokesman said. (AGENCIES)

SRINAGAR:  The Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE) has issued a notice to four MBBS students of Kashmir valley who allegedly got admission through malpractices during the Common Entrance Test (CET) conducted in 2012.

Under Secretary J&K BOPEE Zahoor Ahmad Butt in the notice issued to Beenih Bhat, Mansha, Mehak Hameed and Mehvish Bashir directed them to reply within seven days from today.    He said if the candidates failed to reply within seven days from today it shall be presumed that they have nothing to say in their defence and action under rules shall be initiated against them.

He said CET was conducted on June 23 and 24, 2012 by BOPEE, for selection of candidates for admission to MBBS, BDS, BE-Engineering, BVSc, BSc Agriculture, BAMS, BUMS Courses in Government and Private Professional Colleges and  Institutions.

The result was declared on June 29, 2012 and selection on the basis of inter-se-merit of candidates rank-wise was notified on June 29, 2012 itself.

You were selected for admission to MBBS Course in Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar and pursuant to this selection and admission you are pursuing the course at  present.

However, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court at Srinagar took suomoto action in respect of alleged malpractice in the conduct of examination which led to registration of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) titled Court on its motion versus state and others and directions to the Crime Branch (CB), Kashmir to investigate alleged malpractice in CET 2012 conducted by BOPEE.

The CB registered FIR under sections 420, 120-B, RPC 5 (2) PC Act, against the then Chairman of BOPEE Mushtaq Ahmad Peer for his nefarious activities in conduct of examination.    The Court vide its order dated February 3, 2014 directed the CB to communicate to the concerned authorities, including BOPEE, about the development of the investigation of the case to enable them to take appropriate action as permissible under applicable rules.

The CB reported that “you have managed your selection for undertaking MBBS course and figured in the selection lists of 2012 on basis of illegal and fraudulent means by obtaining access to question papers in advance on payment of illegal gratification.”

The CB recommended to the BOPEE to take appropriate action against you as permissible under applicable rules.    Now before taking any action, which may even include cancellation of your admission for undertaking the course, you are provided an opportunity to explain your position in writing and signed in this regard within seven days from today, failing which it shall be presumed that you have nothing to say in this matter, the notice said. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI: A demand to abolish the two-flag system in Jammu and Kashmir was raised in Rajya Sabha today by a BJP member.

The demand came through a Special Mention from Tarun Vijay who also insisted that the one-flag system was needed to maintain the unity and integrity of the country.

“I demand that the Government should abolish the two-flag system in J&K and there should be only one-flag system,” he said.

Vijay also demanded establishment of a memorial for Syama Prasad Mookherjee in Srinagar who died there fighting for the cause of the country’s unity.

K P Ramalingam (DMK) demanded setting up of safety measures at the vital installations of oil and natural gas industries.

Motilal Vora (Cong) asked the Government to send a central team of experts to study and advise Chhattisgarh on the problem of drinking water in Rajnandgaon.

Mansukh Mandaviya (BJP), R lakshmanan (AIADMK) and Satyanarayan Jatiya (BJP) also raised separate issues. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI : The Budget session of Parliament today got off to a stormy start with the first day in Lok Sabha being virtually washed out on the issue of price rise and rail fare hike as a strident Opposition insisted on a discussion under an adjournment motion.
The House managed to take up just two questions amid uproar created by members of Congress, Trinamool Congress, RJD, SP, Aam Aadmi Party and the Left as they trooped into the Well raising the issues of price rise and rail fare hike.
The Opposition wanted discussion under adjournment motion but Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rejected it, saying a debate could be taken up under Rule 193 that does not entail voting.
While Congress wanted discussion on price rise, Trinamool Congress pressed for debate on rail fare hike under adjournment motion which requires voting and amounts to censure of the government if it is passed.
The House was adjourned twice till 1400 hours before being adjourned for the day as the deadlock persisted over the Rule under which a discussion could be taken up.
Sharing concern over the price rise, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said the government was ready to discuss the matter immediately and left it to the Speaker to decide under which Rule it should be done.
Mahajan said she had rejected notices for adjournment motion but accepted six notices for discussion under Rule 193. She even called P Karunakaran (CPI-M) to initiate the discussion.
However, Congress and some other Opposition parties insisted that the discussion should be held under the adjournment motion.
When the House met at 1400 hours, Deputy Leader of Congress Amarinder Singh said people were starving and “food prices are rising at terrible levels…How can common man survive? We don’t want only a discussion but an answer from the government. We want voting in the House because it is an important issue”.
Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia mentioned that Rajya Sabha has allowed discussion on the issue of price rise, but Mahajan said matters of the other House cannot be discussed in the Lok Sabha.
Amid uproar, the Speaker was heard saying that members were not interested in discussing issues of the poor.
“I am sorry, if you don’t want to discuss (price rise) I am adjourning the House,” Mahajan said and adjourned the House for the day at around 1410 hours.
Earlier, Mahajan’s repeated pleas to allow the questions to be taken up went unheeded as Opposition members continued slogan shouting against hike in prices of food as well as petrol, diesel and LPG besides rail fare hike.
When the protests began soon after the House assembled for the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was seen standing in the aisle as his colleagues were in the Well.
Slogans like “achha din ayega, mahangai badhayega (good days will come, prices will rise)” and ‘roll back rail fare hike’ were heard in the House.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) members were also in the Well opposing the ordinance on the Polavaram project.
Earlier, when the House met for the day trouble arose with opposition members trooping into the Well.
Mahajan’s repeated pleas to allow the questions to be taken up went unheeded, leading to adjournment of the House for nearly 40 minutes till noon. When the House re-assembled, similar scenes were witnessed and it was again adjourned till 1400 hours. (agencies)

NEW DELHI : Having done a pre-budget hike of 14.2 per cent in passenger fares and raised freight rates, Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda’s maiden budget is likely to adopt a realistic approach in announcing new trains, lines and survey in view of the cash crunch of Rs 26,000 crore.

With the growth in passenger earnings declining, railways is likley to spell out its strategy to earn additional revenue to reach the target in the current fiscal.

While many unviable projects may be scrapped, Gowda will also announce some new projects on priority basis in the rail budget 2014-2015 tomorrow.

Since the government is grappling with ever-increasing fuel cost, harnessing alternative energy like solar power and bio-diesel in a big way is likely to feature in the NDA government’s first Rail Budget as it is believed to be the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who wants use of non-renewable energy in rail sector so that the dependence on fuel is less.

Gowda is likely to announce pilot project for introduction of automatic closing of doors in Shatabdi coaches and EMU coaches in Mumbai suburban train as safety measures for passengers to prevent accidental fall from running train.

There will be provision for a few new trains including premium and services connecting various pilgrim centres in the Rail Budget 2014-15.

Managing passenger service through cross-subsidy from freight earnings, railways may spell out its policy on FDI to attract foreign capital in expansion of rail infrastructure including modernisation of station and high speed train.

The Rail Budget will spell out details of future course of action plan for having a ‘Diamond Quadrilateral’ to run high speed trains.

The budget will also reflect the views of NDA government on Rail Tariff Authority and High Speed Rail Authority.

Though involvement of private players in big ticket projects is becoming a necessity now, the state-run transporter has to come out with win-win formula for investors in a hassle-free environment.

Hinting at the possibility of private investment in rail sector, the Prime Minister had recently said that private parties would be ready to invest in rail sector like development of stations.

“This would be a win-win situation project and we want to move ahead in this direction in the coming days,” Modi had said.

Former Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge had set a revenue target of Rs 1.65 lakh crore in the interim budget which includes Rs 1.06 lakh crore from goods and Rs 45,255 crore from passenger and balance from coaching and other sources.

Railways, which have sought about Rs 40,000 cr as Gross Budgetary Support is likely to keep the annual plan at about Rs 64,000 crore.

In its bid to increase carrying capacity of wagons, Gowda will propose development of higher capacity milk van for National Dairy Development Board, parcel van and light weight wagon for carrying salt.

With the focus on alternative fuel, the budget will have proposals for bio-diesel plant and LNG locomotives in view of increased fuel prices.

The budget will emphasise on switching over to solar power for rail workshops, colonies, hospitals and stations. Besides the proposal of setting up of power plants at vacant land and installing solar panels on rooftop of trains, the commissioning of solar power plant at Raebareli coach factory are likely to be announced.

Gowda is likely to encourage use of innovative measures to perk up revenue and for use of latest technology to prevent mishaps while proposing installation of track side equipment to find fault such as over heating bearings, wheels and brake system and other damaged parts of rolling stock.

Introduction of on board integrated coach monitoring and communication system in trains to display GIS-based information on real-time to the passenger about the next upcoming station, arrival and departure timings, platform and coach position among others is also likely to find mention in the Rail Budget on July 8.

Gowda has made it clear after assuming charge that his focus will be on safety, security and speed. So, the budget is likely to focus on providing better amenities to passengers including improved catering service in rail premises.

Expansion of coach house keeping scheme on 90 additional trains, clean station scheme in five more stations and a comprehensive pest and rodent control treatment for all coaches are slated to be part of Gowda’s budget speech.

Strengthening of fire safety mechanism and accident prevention measures will be specifically mentioned by the new Railway Minister to highlight government’s concern for passenger safety.

The budget is likely to consider the demand of Delhi Division for additional funds for building separate parcel terminal to ease out load on busy platforms. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court today refused to stay the appointment of Lieutenant General Dalbir Singh Suhag as the next Army Chief who is to take over the charge from August 1.

“There is no reason why should we stay,” a bench headed by Justice T S Thakur said.

The apex court said there is no urgency to stay the appointment of Lt Gen Suhag as pleaded by Lt Gen Ravi Dastane.

The Centre also justified the appointment, saying there is nothing in the allegations levelled by Lt Gen Dastane and Lt Gen Suhag fulfills all the criteria for the post. He was the seniormost in the seniority list, it said.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said that the ban imposed on Lt Gen Suhag in 2012 was lifted and he was discharged from all charges.

The court was hearing a plea filed by Lt Gen Dastane alleging favouritism in the selection of Lt Gen Suhag as the next Army Chief.

Earlier, the Centre had submitted that the alleged lapses which were made as grounds to impose disciplinary ban on Lt Gen Suhag by then Army Chief Gen V K Singh between April and May 2012 were “premeditated”, “vague” and “illegal”.

Gen Singh, who is a now Minister of State in the NDA government, had placed Lt Gen Suhag under a disciplinary and vigilance (DV) ban.

The ban was imposed for alleged “failure of command and control” in an operation carried out by an intelligence unit working directly under him when he was Dimapur-based 3 Corps commander.

In its last days in office, the UPA-II government had named Lt Gen Suhag as the Army Chief to succeed incumbent Gen Bikram Singh when he retires on July 31.

The Ministry of Defence, in an affidavit filed earlier in the apex court registry, had said, “The alleged lapses observed by the then COAS, as reflected in show cause notice, were premeditated and issued in utter disregard to the legal provisions governing the court of inquiry, principles of natural justice….The lapses were vague, based on presumptions and legally and factually not maintainable.” (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI : Justices Arun Mishra, Adarsh Kumar Goel and Rohington F Nariman today assumed charge as Supreme Court judges, taking the apex court’s strength to 27, including Chief Justice R M Lodha.
Justices Mishra, 59, and Goel, 61, were the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court and the Orissa High Court respectively.
58-year-old Justice Nariman, who was a senior advocate and in the panel recommended by the Supreme Court collegium, has been elevated as an apex court judge from the bar.
The sanctioned strength of judges in the apex court is 31, including the CJI.
The three judges were elevated to apex court and were administered the oath of office by CJI Lodha.
Justice Mishra was part of law faculty in Jiwaji University, Gwalior from 1986 to 1996. He was appointed as Additional Judge in the Madhya Pradesh High Court on October 25, 1999 and was made a Permanent Judge on October 24, 2001.
He was appointed Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court on November 26, 2010 and was transferred to the Calcutta High Court as Chief Justice on December 14, 2012. He will have a tenure of about seven years in the apex court.
Justice Goel was designated senior advocate by the Supreme Court in 1999 and two years later was appointed a judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court. He was appointed Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court on December 20, 2011 and was transferred to the Orissa High Court as CJ on October 12, last year.
Justice Nariman is the fifth lawyer to be elevated as a Supreme Court judge and will have a term of about seven years. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI : Disapproving of a Shariat court issuing fatwa and order against a person who is not before it, the Supreme Court today said it has no sanction of law and has no legal status.
The apex court said there is “no doubt” that such a court has no legal status while noting that in some cases, orders were being passed by them which violate human rights and punish innocent persons.
A bench headed by Justice C K Prasad said that no religion, including Islam, allows punishing innocent persons and ordered that no ‘Darul Qaza’ should give verdict which affects rights of a person who is not before it.
The court passed the verdict on a PIL filed by advocate Vishwa Lochan Madam questioning the constitutional validity of Shariat courts which allegedly run a parallel judicial system in the country.
All India Personal Law Board had earlier submitted that fatwa was not binding on people and it was just an opinion of a ‘mufti’ (cleric) and he has no power and authority to implement it.
The counsel, appearing for the Board, had said if a fatwa was sought to be implemented against the wish of the person concerned, then he could approach the court of law against it.
The petitioner had submitted that the fundamental rights of Muslims could not be controlled and curtailed through fatwas issued by ‘qazis’ and ‘muftis’ appointed by Muslim organizations. (AGENCIES)

SRINAGAR : About 9000 pilgrims, including women and sadhus, today left Baltal and Nunwan Pahalgam base camps for the holy Amarnath cave shrine, where more than 1.12 lakh have paid obeisance since the commencement of two-month-long pilgrimage from June 28.
Officials said that the yatra is progressly smoothly from both sides as weather remained pleasent though sun was going behind the clouds intermittently.
A record number of 18994 pilgrims performed darshan of the self made Ice Lingam at the holy cave yesterday, the sources said.
They said 3,150 pilgrims left Nunwan Pahalgam base camp early this morning for next halting station at Chandanwari. However, those who had night halt at Chandanwari, the last motorable halting station on the traditional route, and other stations also started their journey towards the cave shrine this morning.
Officials said that more than 5,500 pilgrims, including sadhus and women, left Baltal base camp for the holy cave early this morning.
They said till last evening a total of more than 1.12 lakh pilgrims had darshan of the ice-lingam in the cave shrine in south Kashmir Himlayas so far. Majority of pilgrims have since returned to their homes while others extended their stay in Kashmir, visiting tourist spots.
(AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI : The first day of the Budget session of the new Lok Sabha today witnessed vociferous protests by Opposition

parties over the issue of price rise, leading to adjournment of the House till noon.

The Congress and its allies like the NCP and the RJD, the Trinamool Congress, the SP, members of the Left and other parties,

who had given notice for a discussion over the price rise and some other issues, wanted the Question Hour to be suspended for the debate.

As soon as the House had gone through obituary references, the members stood in their seats and several of them belonging to all Opposition parties moved into the Well shouting slogans. (AGENCIES)