Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 16: Batote police arrested two drug peddlers along with large quantity of intoxicants.
As per police sources, on specific inputs, police party from Batote police station laid a naka on Doda-Batote road and intercepted a bus bearing registration number JK14B-1786 which was on its way to Doda.
Police subjected two persons to checking on suspicions basis and recovered 5600 intoxicant capsules and 44 bottles of liquid intoxicants from their possession.
The accused were arrested and have been identified as Khalid Hussain, son of Mohammad Shafi and Bilal Ahmed, son of Abdul Latief, both residents of Bhaderwah.
A case under FIR number 70/2014 under Section 8/21/22 Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered at police station Batote and investigation started.
Police team headed by Inspector Mohammad Iqbal made the arrest under the direct supervision of SSP Ramban Javed Iqbal Mattoo.
Two drug peddlers held with large quantity of intoxicants
Coastal security strengthened post 26/11 terror attack: Govt
NEW DELHI, July 16:
Significant steps have been taken by the Indian Coast Guard for round-the-clock monitoring and patrolling of eastern and western coasts post 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.
The entire coastal security scenario has been reviewed in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attack and several initiatives and decisions have been taken to ward off threats from the sea, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said.
Coastal security has been subjected to multi-level inter- ministerial review by the Government, he said in a written reply.
Replying to supplementaries, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said Government will make maximum efforts to ensure coastal security.
Listing out the initiatives and decisions to enhance the coastal security, Rijiju said Phase-I of the Coastal Security Scheme was completed in March 2011 and the Indian Navy has been designated as the Authority responsible for overall Maritime Security.
The Navy has established four joint operation centres at Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi and Port Blair for sharing intelligence among various agencies and acting on actionable intelligence at sea.
Rijiju said the Indian Coast Guard has also established nine additional stations, including at Karwar and Ratnagiri.
He also said that preparation of National Population Register (NPR) for coastal population has been initiated.
Besides, issuance of Multi-purpose National Identity Cards (MNICS) to all those living in the coastal villages, including fishermen, and registration of all types of fishing vessels have been initiated, he added.
Rijiju said sustained deployment of 19-22 ships per day at sea has been made and 100 Coastal Security Exercises and 117 Coastal Security Operations have been conducted from January 2009 to June 2014.
To another question, he said UT Administration of Daman and Diu received guidelines form the Ministry of Environment and Forest to prepare a comprehensive plan for the abatement of pollution in the Daman Ganga river under National River Conservation Plan.
Steps have been initiated by the Daman and Diu administration to prepare and submit the same to the environment ministry, the Minister said.
He also informed the House that the National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur has been requested to prepare a comprehensive plan for the abatement of pollution in the Daman Ganga river under National River Conservation Plan. (PTI)
Defeat to India in 2011 WC semifinals still haunts: Afridi
Karachi, July 16: Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has said that his team’s defeat against arch-rivals India in the semifinals of World Cup 2011 at Mohali still haunted him and made him sad.
“We had played well until then and were just one step away from the final but it was a bad day for us and in the end we returned empty-handed. The defeat to India still haunts me and makes me sad,” said Afridi.
Afridi was captain of the one-day and Twenty20 teams in 2010 and 2011, but in May 2011 he had a fall out with head coach Waqar Younis during the tour of the West Indies, and as a disciplinary measure, the Pakistan Cricket Board had removed him as skipper.
The decision to remove him from the top post was then considered a vastly unpopular one and it also led to Afridi announcing his premature retirement.
Afridi insisted that he had neither run after or was fascinated to become the captain of the national cricket team.
“There is no doubt that being captain of the national team is a big honour but that does not mean I am running after it,” Afridi said.
“Whether Misbah-ul-Haq is captain or anyone else I have and will always give my full support to them,” he added.
His comments on the captaincy issue have come after controversy cropped up in Pakistan cricket circles and within the Pakistan board on whether Misbah or Afridi should lead the team in the next World Cup in 2015.
Afridi has made it clear he is always ready for challenges and if the board ever asked him to lead the side again, he would give it serious consideration.
He also said that World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand offered a great opportunity for him and his teammates to undo what happened in 2011.
“If we work hard and play well as a unit, we can achieve the impossible,” he said.
The allrounder, who has restricted his career to ODIs and T20 matches, said he was pumped up for the World Cup and his focus would be on his form and training in the coming months.
He admitted that he had become used to criticism over his performances.
“When you play the way I do — aggressively all the time — you can expect praise and criticism. I have played in my own way for years now and am still doing it. Nothing has changed. I like to entertain people,” he insisted. (PTI)
Land owners on NH demand release of compensation
Excelsior Correspondent
KISHTWAR, July 16: A meeting of land owners situated on National Highway Kishtwar to Sinthan-Srinagar road was held under the leadership of Ajeet Bhagat.
The meeting discussed that the land compensation in respect of the land acquired for construction of Kishtwar-Sinthan National Highway road has already been sanctioned/awarded in favour of the land owners, but the compensation is yet to be disbursed amongst the land owners which is lying in the office of Assistant Commissioner Kishtwar.
The Deputy Commissioners, Kishtwar has been time and again being represented by the land owners for release of compensation but to no avail. The meeting demanded immediate release of compensation to the land owners failing which they will come to streets.
Those who attended the meeting include Badri Nath Shan, Prahlad Shan, Sheikh Gulam Mohammad, Gh Rasool Sheikh, Vinod Kumar Bhagat, Bansi Lal and others.
Oil Min to move Cabinet to allow RIL to retain gas finds
NEW DELHI, July 16:
With development of three gas finds in Reliance Industries’ KG-D6 block held up due to a technical dispute, the Oil Ministry is seeking Cabinet nod to relax timelines to allow the firm retain and produce from the discoveries worth USD 1.45 billion.
RIL had notified the Dhirubhai-29, 30 and 31 in 2007 and submitted a formal application for declaring them commercial in 2010, well within the timelines set in the Production Sharing Contract. But the ministry’s technical arm DGH refused to recognise them in absence of prescribed confirmatory test.
The issue was intensely debated between RIL, DGH and the ministry since then. Mukesh Ambani-run firm finally agreed to do the Drill Stem Test (DST) but the DGH declared that the contractual time period for development of the finds is over.
The Oil Ministry feels that taking away the discoveries, which hold an estimated 345 billion cubic feet of reserves, and rebidding them may lead to delay in development, sources privy to the case said.
Also, it feels RIL may go to arbitration which may lead to further delay in production and extra legal cost.
The three finds, which can be quickly put on production by RIL using existing infrastructure of currently producing gas fields as well as those being developed, are worth USD 1.45 billion at current gas price of USD 4.2 per million British thermal unit.
Sources said the ministry is moving the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for relaxation in the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) timelines to help RIL monetise the finds.
Comments on a draft CCEA note are being sought from the ministries of finance and law besides the planning commission before taking it to the CCEA for approval.
Sources said RIL will have to conduct DGH prescribed DST on D29, 30 and 31 discoveries and only half of the USD 93 million cost of the test will be allowed to be cost recovered.
Originally, the petroleum ministry under the previous UPA regime’s oil minister M Veerappa Moily had in April prepared a draft CCEA note seeking relaxation for RIL.
The ministry sought Election Commission nod to approach the CCEA on the issue since general elections had been declared, they said adding the permission never came.
Sources said the ministry has once again revived the CCEA note.
It has proposed to the CCEA that RIL be allowed one year to submit a revised declaration of commerciality based on the DST results and allow another year for submission of a field development plan.
If the CCEA approves, the same rule will then be applied to RIL’s four gas discoveries (D-9, 10, 32 and 40) in North-East Coast block NEC-0sn-97/1 (NEC-25) which hold recoverable reserves of 1.032 trillion cubic feet. (PTI)
India, England resume battle amidst Anderson-Jadeja row
London, July 16: The simmering row involving James Anderson and Ravindra Jadeja has added some spice to the series as India and England gear up for the second cricket Test at Lord’s where a lively wicket is expected to welcome the two teams here tomorrow.
As if the ‘lifeless’ wicket at Nottingham was not enough, the alleged altercation between the two players has marred the start of the five-match series.
A date for hearing has not been finalised as yet which means Anderson is sure to play and the incident is bound to have a bearing when the two teams square up.
ICC has charged the home paceman Anderson for pushing and abusing Jadeja during the lunch break on the second day of first Test. If found guilty he could miss at least two and up to four Tests or upto 8 ODIs, something that the hosts will not desire under any circumstances.
The ECB has retaliated with a report against Jadeja as well. As much as the English team management will be lobbying hard for the leader of their attack, they will also be keeping an eye on the pitch for the game.
Two days ahead of the match, the centre-wicket at Lord’s bore a distinctive green tinge. Much of it is expected to disappear by time of the toss on the first morning. Even so, it is possible that the wicket will retain some juice in it, thanks to this delayed shaving.
It will be joyous news for the quicker bowlers on both sides then, a sort of reward for the hard work they put in during the Nottingham game.
At the same time, such a scenario will also be in keeping with how Tests at Lord’s have panned out in recent times. The average first-innings’ score at this ground historically is 315 runs, but from 2010 until 2014, it has gone up to 403. The fact that this is the only ground that hosts two Tests in an English summer helps of course.
And so, skipper Alastair Cook would be confused. At the one hand he will want a placid track to reverse his batting fortunes. From becoming his nation’s top century-getter in Test cricket to not scoring in three-figures for the last 25 innings, it has been a steep decline for him.
While he will want a little less hard work even against a mediocre Indian attack, at the other hand he will also desire more assistance for his bowlers as England continue their search for an end to their nine-match winless streak.
Indian skipper MS Dhoni likes to think of international
cricket as a process and in that respect his inexperienced bowling attack did graduate from the way they bowled in the two practice games at Leicester and Derbyshire.
Meanwhile, the six-batsmen-line-up too performed satisfactorily and merits another go as the Indian team searches for a first overseas Test win since 2011. Perhaps the only selection dilemma facing Dhoni ahead of this Test will be regarding who his fourth and fifth bowlers should be.
The summation of spinners’ disliking for Lord’s and Stuart Binny’s match-saving maiden fifty at Nottingham means that the all-rounder will be in the playing eleven.
Inadvertently it means a toss-up between R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The former had a lengthy bowling spell in the nets, while the latter batted, bowled and took slip-catching practice, going through a proper pre-match work-out.
This Indian team management doesn’t tinker around with its combination too much, certainly not when they have come away from the first Test with the series still poised nil-nil.
There is every reason to expect that Ashwin will continue to sit out with Jadeja continuing in the role of the lone spinner. Whether their roles should be switched is a debate for another day, perhaps the end of this second Test match.
Squads:
India: MS Dhoni (c & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Stuart Binny, R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishwar Pandey, Pankaj Singh, Varun Aaron, Wriddhiman Saha.
England: Alastair Cook (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Matt Prior (wk), Sam Robson, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Simon Kerrigan.
Match starts at: 3.30pm IST. (PTI)
Pingla Mata pilgrimage concludes
Excelsior Correspondent
UDHAMPUR, July 16: One day Annual Pingla Mata pilgrimage along with Charri Mubarak was flagged off from Pandav Mandir here today with traditional fervour and gaiety. The Yatra was organized by Adi Shakti Sewak Sanstha, Udhampur.
A large number of pilgrims from different areas of the State paid obeisance at the sacred cave shrine of Pingla Mata to seek the blessings of Bhagwati, situated on a hill top at village Pinger in tehsil Ramnagar of district Udhampur.
Among other, Sapranch Panchayat Pinger, Mulkh Raj, Vice President, Ajay Kumar Gudda, General Secretary, Rajinder Singh, Baba Puran Nath Ji, Members of the Sanstha and large number of devotee participated in the yatra.
Taj visits Super Specialty Hospital, reviews work
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 16: Minister for Health & Medical Education, Taj Mohi-ud-Din today visited the Super Specialty Hospital, Srinagar and reviewed the pace of work there.
The Minister went round several units of the upcoming hospital. He also inspected the ramps, theatres and wards. He impressed upon the executing agencies to speed up the completion process and finish it up at the earliest so that the hospital is thrown open to public.
Mr. Taj directed immediate macadamization of the path and completion of remaining works of the hospital.
The Minister was assured by the executing agency officials that work on the hospital is in full swing and major portion of the hospital building would be handed over by early August.
Principal, Government Medical College, Srinagar, Prof.(Dr.) Rafiq Pampori; Medical Superintendent, SMHS Hospital, Dr. Nazir Ahmad; Medical Superintendent, Lal Ded Hospital, Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad and representatives of CPWD and other agencies were present on the occasion.
Later, the Minister visited the SMHS Hospital where he reviewed its functioning with the faculty and staff.
SHO Gursai attached
Excelsior Correspondent
POONCH, July 16: Taking cognizance of the recent escape two accused of Mendhar Niabat complex blast case during stone pelting incident in Srinagar, the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Poonch today attached SHO Police Station Gursai (Poonch) to District Police Line (DPL) and ordered posting of new Station House Officer.
Six police personnel including SHO Sadakat Hussain from Gursai were injured when their vehicle was attacked by a group of stone pelters in Srinagar three days back.
A Special Investigating Team (SIT), led by a Police Inspector, investigating June 25 blast in Balakote (Niabat) arrested mastermind Abdul Majeed Ganie of Kupwara from Batmaloo on the disclosures of main accused namely Irfan Ahmad Khan son of Abdul Qayoom Khan of Dhargloon, Mendhar last week.
Police had taken Irfan Ahmad Khan to Kashmir to identify the alleged mastermind who also fled along Abdul Majeed Ganai during stone pelting.
“Police team after securing arrest was on way to Mendhar when they faced stone pelting in valley in which six police personnel got injured while the two accused managed to escape from police custody,” the official sources said.
SSP Poonch Shamsheer Hussain when contacted said that the Inspector Sadakat Hussain Qureshi, has received injuries during stone pelting and accordingly was attached to DPL Poonch. Meanwhile, Inspector Mausaf Ahmed Mirza has been posted as SHO Gursai, he added.
Uproar over fighting in Gaza strip rocks RS
NEW DELHI, July 16: Proceedings in Rajya Sabha were disrupted today as the opposition pressed for a debate on the Gaza situation but the government steadfastly refused saying it could impact upon India’s diplomatic ties with Israel and Palestine.
The government and opposition locked horns over the issue of discussion and cited rules and precedents in the House, while arguing for and against on whether the business once listed can be altered.
The opposition pointed out that the issue had been listed as part of business for the day and should be taken up first.
Members kept citing rules to argue in favour and against the debate for almost two hours during which the House was adjourned a number of times. It was finally adjourned for the day at 3 PM.
Earlier resisting a debate, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said she had come to know late about the listing of the issue in the day’s business and had written to Chairman Hamid Ansari requesting that it should be dropped.
She said, “We have diplomatic ties with both nations. Any discourteous reference to any friendly country can impact our relations with them.”
Swaraj, along with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu, said the House should take up the debate on Railway Budget till the Chairman’s ruling on her letter came.
Deputy Chairman P J Kurien also said that the House should take up other business till the Chairman’s ruling comes.
The entire opposition refused to budge and insisted that they will not let any other item to be taken up till the issue is resolved.
“We cannot take up the Railway Budget unless the first item is disposed of,” said Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was to speak on the Rail Budget.
“In the larger interest of the country, I urge the House to take up the Railway Budget,” Naidu said amid uproar by opposition.
Swaraj said “this discussion cannot be allowed” and cited rules in this regard asking the Chair to take up the Rail Budget instead. This request evoked a resounding ‘no’ from the opposition benches, who joined hands to corner the government.
Coming to her aid, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said government business gets priority and till Chairman’s decision on the External Affairs Minister’s letter is taken, government business has to be taken up first.
“Railway Budget needs to be taken up first and completed. It is important,” he said.
Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) said this is “not permissible” and cited rules in support of his contention, while Swaraj told him that he should not read the rules in piece meal and rather read them together. She also said the Railway Budget was part of the business listed for the day.
Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (TMC) said he was not aware of the letter written by Swaraj and what its contents were, but said, “there should be sufficient grounds for variation in the list of business”.
Various opposition members cited rules and said once the business is listed even the Chairman has no authority to alter it, saying if done so it will set a bad precedent.
Naidu cited yesterday’s proceedings of the House when the Chair had called for starting the discussion on Railway Budget but the Leader of Opposition said he will speak tomorrow.
Giving his ruling on whether the business of the House can be altered, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said, “I want the House to help the Chair. I am not disagreeing with what is being said. It is true that this item is listed in the business and that it cannot be changed unilaterally. But the Chair is in an unusually peculiar situation.
“Government has to respond when there is a debate…But, government has written disagreeing on a debate. She (Swaraj) has clearly expressed that she is unable to respond to clarifications/discussion on the issue. The Chair cannot ignore that. The Chair needs more time to give ruling and, therefore, we move to next business,” he said. (PTI)