Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 19: Chief Judicial Magistrate Reasi, Sunit Gupta today awarded three years imprisonment and fine of Rs 3000 to Pardeep Kumar, a tempo driver, who was facing trial for the last six years for causing death of one Abhi Kumar Sharma due to rash and negligent driving.
After hearing CPO DP Singh for the State, CJM Reasi observed, “from the evidence on record it is established that the accused was grossly negligent in driving the vehicle which resulted into death of 11 year old child”, adding “the accused does not deserve leniency”.
Accordingly, court awarded 3 years imprisonment and fine of Rs 3000.
3 yrs imprisonment to tempo driver for causing death
Modi writes to Malaysian PM, says outrage is justifiable
NEW DELHI, July 19: Expressing solidarity with Malaysia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today wrote to his Malaysian counterpart saying the global outrage over the shooting down of aircraft MH17 was “justifiable” and India supports efforts to establish the exact circumstances of the incident.
In a letter to Mohammad Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, Modi expressed his condolences on the loss of lives on board MH17.
Modi said there is “justifiable outrage across the world and India fully supports efforts for an investigation that can help establish the exact circumstances” in which the incident took place, a PMO statement said.
The aircraft was shot down while flying over Ukraine two days back, killing all 298 people on board and triggering a blame-game between Russia and the West.
Modi also referred to the tragedy that befell Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 some months ago, saying there is “still no closure” on that incident.
The aircraft MH370 disappeared during a flight and there is still no concrete information about its whereabouts. (PTI)
G D Goenka celebrates Birth Anniversary of Nelson Mandela
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, July 19: The staff and students of G D Goenka Public School, Jammu governed by Om Prakash Bansal Charitable Trust in collaboration with Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi celebrated the 96th Birth Anniversary of Nelson Mandela, the Nobel Peace Prize Winner and the first Black President of South Africa to pay respect to the great leader of 21st Century, who tirelessly worked for Apartheid against racial discrimination.
A special morning assembly was organized in his honour followed by rich tributes paid by class IInd students to the great leader.
The tiny tots sung the melodious and enchanting songs to remember Gandhi Ji, who was an inspiration for Mr Mandela.
The song presented was “Mere Liye Mangvade Amma, Choti Dhoti Khadi Ki, Jise Pahenke Nakal Karunga, Pyare Bapu Gandhi Ki”.
The students of Class Vth saw a documentary on President Nelson Mandela and learnt about Apartheid – Racial discrimination suffered by the citizens of South Africa and the manner in which President Mandela fought against the injustice – with his strong will power and Non Violence, the path advocated and followed by the Father of the Nation- Mahatma Gandhi.
Various departments like Literary, Music, Art, Sports etc celebrated the great leader’s Birth Anniversary.
The excitement was pretty palpable amongst the students of the Senior School, who too participated in a Sketch Making Competition of the dynamic and self motivated leader of the masses.
The students were also told about the similarities between the two great leaders who freed their respective countries from the cruelty and the insensitivity prevalent in the society, poverty, racial discrimination and cruelty.
The students enthralled every one present with the song “Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, Patit Pavan Sita Ram..”, taught to them by Music Teacher, Shaveta Bakshi.
The Principal of the School, Dr R P Singh while addressing threw light on the contribution of Mr Mandela, his peace policy and racial discrimination.
IDA organizes lecture, hands-on prog
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 19: Indian Dental Association (IDA), Jammu branch in association with Indira Gandhi Government Dental College and Coltene India organized a lecture and hands-on programme.
The programme started with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the Principal of the College Dr Romesh Singh.
On the occasition, Dr Rajiv Verma, World renowned dentist, was the resource person, who delivered lecture on Prosthetic Dentistry and also provided hands on training to participants.
Dr Gautam Sharma, general secretary, IDA Jammu branch highlighted the achievements of Dr Rajiv Verma, whereas Dr Ritesh Gupta, president of IDA presented a Kashmiri shawl to Dr Verma.
Dr Rajiv Mengi and Dr Bhupinder Singh, office bearers of IDA were also present on the occasion.
Ansari asks new MPs to avoid disruptions of Par proceedings
NEW DELHI, July 19: At a time when Parliament is facing repeated disruptions in the Budget session, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari today said that passage of any bill in the din is “failure of Parliament” and trooping into the well of the House is an expression of anger, not dissent.
Addressing an orientation programme for the new members of the Upper House, Ansari exhorted them to discharge their duties with due seriousness and raise the level of their performance to global standards.
He also recalled some of the quality debates held in the Rajya Sabha in the past, especially on the impeachment of a High Court Judge.
“In a democracy, freedom to agitate and to debate is important but the two must not be confused. Privileges and responsibilities of a member go together….If a Bill is passed in the din, then it is a failure of Parliament,” the Rajya Sabha Chairman said.
While lauding the success of India’s electoral democracy as a model for other democracies, he emphasised the need to make the country a functional democracy for which Parliament’s performance is paramount.
He also chose the occassion to emphasise the sanctity of Question Hour. Referring to dissent as a form of protest, he mentioned that walkout is the real form of dissent.
“Walking into the well of the House and slogan-shouting is an expression of anger but not dissent,” he said.
He said that time management in the House is very important and advised the Members to adhere to the time allotted while speaking in the House.
Ansari also advised the members to come fully prepared before speaking in the House and avoid reading from written texts saying this would enable them to become good parliamentarians.
Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha Shumsher K. Sheriff presented a copy of a book to Ansari and Deputy Chairman P J Kurien on statistical information regarding works done by the Rajya Sabha from 1952 to 2013, published for the first time by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.
The Secretary-General also gave an overview of the functioning of the Secretariat. CPI-M member P Rajeeve apprised the new MPs regarding raising matters of public importance through questions and other devices, while BJP MP Balbir Punj spoke about the issue of Parliamentary privileges.
Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar deliberated upon the role and contribution of Rajya Sabha in Indian polity.
The two-day orientation programme being held in Parliament House Annexe will conclude tomorrow.
The programme inaugurated by Ansari today has lectures on various topics like ‘Rajya Sabha: Its Role and Contribution to Indian Polity’.
The other topics are lawmaking process, parliamentary privileges, committee system, raising of matters of public importance through questions and other devices, role of the Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition, ethics in politics and Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS). (PTI)
Ruthvika upsets Reshma to enter final
Mumbai, July 19:
Hyderabad’s tenth seed Ruthvika Shivani G shocked Air India’s top seed Reshma Karthik in the semi-finals of the girls under-19 singles at the 3rd Gautam Thakkar Memorial All India Junior Badminton Tournament here today.
The 16-year-old Gopichand Academy trainee was dominant from the start and in total control against the no. 1 seed and entered the final following a comprehensive 21-6 21-5 victory at the Bombay Gymkhana courts.
With her opponent Reshma not her best and unable to find her touch, the 12th standard student from Hyderabad was on a roll winning points comfortably.
She will meet fourth seed Shika Gautam of Karnataka in the final tomorrow. The latter got the better of Maharashtra’s second seed Revati Devasthale 21-18 10-21 21-17 in the other semi final.
The girls under-17 singles semi-finals witnessed one-sided contests.
Air India’s top seed Shriyanshi Pardeshi sidelined sixth seed Sai Uttejitha Rao of Andhra Pradesh 21-12 21-10, while third seed Vrushali G of AP got the better of second seed Shikha Gautam of Karnataka 21-11 21-6.
In boys under-17 singles action, Andhra Pradesh’s third seed Rahul Yadav was taken the distance before getting the better of fifth seed Siril Varma 21-16 5-21 21-16.
Second seed Kanishq M, also from AP, had things under control while packing off fourth seed Kaustubh Rawat of Uttarakhand 21-13 21-10. (PTI)
Indian women finish 8th in World Cadet Wrestling
Chandigarh, July 19:
India finished eighth with 28 points in the Cadet Wrestling World Championships being held in Humenne (Slovakia). Japan clinched the team championship by logging 77 points while Russia were runners-up with 65 points and Ukraine were ranked third with 62 points.
Indian women remained medalless. The best performance for India was given by Reena who got 7th position in 52 kg category.
Srishti (40 kg) and Manju (46 kg) were placed eighth in their respective categories. Manisha (60 kg), Samiksha Malik (65 kg) and Divya Kakran (70 kg) received 12th positions in their respective sections. Sangeeta was 10th in 56 kg category. (UNI)
NPP for reorganisation of J&K
Excelsior Correspondent
Jammu, July 19: A special meeting of the activists of JKNPP was held at party headquarters here today to discuss the programme of campaign on the agenda of reorganization of the J&K State i.e. creation of three state of Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh as passed by the party in the special convention held on July 6 at Jammu.
The meeting was chaired by the chairman of the party Harshdev Singh MLA. Hari Chand Jalmeria, general secretary conducted the proceedings.
Anita Thakur general secretary, Bansi Lal Sharma political advisor, Rajinder Singh State secretary, Shakti Gupta State president PTU, Paramjeet Singh Marshall Provincial vice-president, Gunwant Singh provincial general secretary, Shanker Singh Chib Provincial Secretary, Pushvinder Manhas Sr. vice-president Young Panthers, Gagan Pratap Singh spokesman Young Panthers, Ravinder Singh Pathania District President (Kathua), Hari Singh District President Jammu rural, Kamal Singh Jamwal, Balbir Singh, Satvir Singh Manhas, Tara Chand, Ajay Singh Jamwal, R.S Dogra, Inder Mohinder Tar Singh, Aditya Hans, Asha Rani, Ravinder Jamwal expressed their views in the meeting. They fully supported the agenda of the party as adopted and clarified in the July convention.
The speakers were of the view that in equality and imbalances prevailing in the state of J&K are the basis of strife at various levels. The refusal of the Government to hold delimitation has perpetuated political discrimination which is cause of grave concern in the minds of the people of Jammu. The 6 monthly darbar move between Srinagar and Jammu keeps the people away from the Government at the time of difficult days of hot summer and cold winter. Besides three hundreds crores rupees are wasted every year on the Darbar move. The Panthers Party has proposed permanent stationing of Secretariats at Jammu, Srinagar and Ladakh for the respective regions.
The party has passed the resolution to create the state of Jammu including Muzaffrabad, Mirpur, Rawlakot etc held by PaK, Kashmir State of the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh State of Leh, Kargil, Askardu, Gilgit and Baltistan. It was decided to hold conventions, seminars and signature campaign in the entire state to carry the agenda passed by the party at the grass root level and interact with the general-public on the agenda.
Recapitalisation of PSU banks is on high priority: Jaitley
NEW DELHI, July 19:
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said recapitalisation to the tune of Rs 2.4 lakh crore in public sector banks to meet Basel III norms is a ‘high priority’ item for the Government.
“We suggested proposal for recapitalising of public sector banks over the next four years…The Government is also treating this as a very high priority item,” he said at an event organised by Canara Bank here.
He said the capital would be raised by the banks without diluting public sector characteristics in them. So, the Government stake in the banks would remain over 51 per cent.
“While the Government will have majority stake, we will allow the public to invest directly in these banks,” he said, adding this will help banks to expand and thereby increase the whole process of financial inclusion.
This programme has to be rapidly expanded so that the remaining 42 per cent of financially excluded population is brought into the banking system.
At present, 58 per cent of the population has bank account.
Jaitley in the Budget speech had said, “Financial stability is the foundation of rapid recovery. Our banking system needs to be further strengthened. To be in line with Basel-III norms, there is a requirement to infuse Rs 2,40,000 crore as equity by 2018 in our banks. To meet this huge capital requirement, we need to raise additional resources to fulfil this obligation.”
While maintaining the public ownership, the capital of these banks will be raised by increasing the public shareholdings in a phased manner through sale of shares largely via retail to common citizens of this country, he had said.
“Thus, while the Government will continue to have majority shareholding, the citizens of India will also get direct shareholding in these banks, which currently they hold indirectly. We will also examine the proposal to give greater autonomy to the banks while making them accountable,” he had said. (PTI)
ISL clubs to pick best talent from Domestic Player Draft
Mumbai, July 19:
The best of Indian footballing talent will be up for grabs when the franchises of the Hero Indian Super League vie among themselves to pick the players from the Domestic Player Draft in a three-day event which begins here on Monday.
The 84-player strong list will feature senior national team players like Subrata Paul, Gourmangi Singh, Nirmal Chhetri, Syed Rahim Nabi, N Mohanraj, Mehtab Hossain, Lenny Rodrigues, JejeLalpekhula, Francis Fernandes among others.
First day will see the League deciding club’s sequence for the draft through a lot pick, while the following two days will witness club representatives making their best choice through 14 rounds of draft system.
Six clubs Atletico de Kolkata, Delhi Dynamos FC, Kerala Blasters FC, Team Mumbai, Team Bangalore and Team Pune will be competing with each other in the player draft.
Team Goa and NorthEast United FC (for Guwahati) having retained their set of required 14 Indian players from their own respective I-League teams Dempo Sports Club and Shillong Lajong FC respectively, will not be active in player selection during the draft proceedings.
However, the names of their players will be announced at the draft as per the round sequence.
The Domestic Player Draft is an important landmark as it will set the tone for clubs’ preparation and playing strategy for the inaugural season of Hero Indian Super League. (PTI)