Fayaz Bukhari

Srinagar, Jan 16: Hundreds of tourists and locals gathered at Kangdoori on the Ski slopes of Gulmarg to see actor Saif Ali Khan shooting from an Insas Rifles in Army fatigues for Sajid Nadiadwala’s upcoming thriller ‘Phantom’.
Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif, are playing the lead roles as secret agents in the film that is about post 26/11 attacks in Mumbai by Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Global terrorism.
Saif joined the crew for the shoot at snow bound Kangdoori. The crew was shooting Saif in about 4 feet snow. Saif was seen shooting from Insas Rifles atop a Gujjar Dhok in Army fatigues and hundreds of people and tourists were watching the shoot from a distance.
The film will be shot in Kashmir for five days. For next four days the crew will be shooting at various places in Gulmarg. However, Katrina is not joining the crew for the shoot.
The crew led by Director Kabir Khan arrived in Gulmarg last week and Saif joined them today.
Phantom began shooting in October last year in Beirut, Lebanon. The cast and crew were provided security due to the political instability in that country.
Saif, who plays the lead role, will be seen speaking lines in Kurdish, which the actor has learnt specially for his role. A part of the film is also being shot in Turkey.
Phantom is the first film that is being shot in Kashmir this year. Last year several films including the much-talked about Vishal Bhardwaj’s adaption of Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. The film, tilted ‘Haider’ held an extensive shooting schedule in Valley last year.

INDORE, Jan 16:

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan today said that he has no plans to retire from acting as he believes if he does so, he would fall sick.
“I have always been confronted with the question about why I am working at the age of 71. I feel that if I stop working, I will fell sick. For each one of us work is important as it keeps our mind and body busy,” Amitabh said after receiving the Lifetime Excellence Award 2014 during the inaugural session of the Indore Management Association’s (IMA) 23rd International Management Conclave.
“If I am satisfied with my work and start thinking that I have done the best acting of my life, then the actor in me will die. I always long to face a new challenge,” he said.
In the 1990s, his family members and few other close friends advised him to take a sabbatical since he had worked a lot. Acting on their advise, he took rest and did not work for almost four years, he said.
“But later on, I realised that it was the worst decision of my life,” he said.
Recalling the days when his company Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd (ABCL) went bankrupt, he said, “During that period I walked into Yash Chopra’s office and told him that I don’t have any work and he offered me a movie. So I began working again”.
“Later, I got an opportunity to host the show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ (KBC) after which I paid back all my debt, with my own resources. Today, I feel good that I had to face all those difficulties during that period which had taught me lots of lessons,” he said.
Responding to a question, Bachchan said, “I feel bad when people describe India as a developing country or a Third World country. I hate it. I believe that India has strength to become a First World nation on the basis of its youth power”. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Jan 16:

Rahul Gandhi will not be Congress party’s nominee for Prime Ministership in the April-May Lok Sabha polls but will lead the election campaign, the party announced today putting at rest all speculation about his role.
The decision was taken at the two-hour meeting of the extended Congress Working Committee brushing aside an overwhelming demand for anointing him the PM nominee ahead of the polls.
Addressing those who voiced the clamour for declaration of Rahul as PM candidate, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said there is no tradition in the party to declare a PM candidate before polls.
The demand for Rahul to be made PM candidate was raised by Kerala PCC chief Ramesh Chennithala and got instant support from a host of leaders including B K Hari Prasad, Gurudas Kamat, Ghulam Nabi Azad and youth Congress chief Rajiv Satav.
Soon after the CWC meeting began, Chennithala made a strong pitch to declare Rahul Gandhi as PM candidate saying “time has now come to do it” and reasoned this will enthuse the youth and will be beneficial for Congress in the changed demographic scenario.
As the leaders made a common chorus to name Rahul as PM pick, Sonia Gandhi intervened saying why should the party name a PM candidate before polls when there is no such precedent.
“This meeting of the AICC delcares that 2014 election campaign will be led by Rahul Gandhi,” the CWC decided adding the line in the omnibus draft resolution which will come before the AICC meeting tomorrow for approval.
Rahul has been entrusted to lead the campaign a year after he was made the party Vice President in the brain storming session at Jaipur in January last.
Taking a dig at BJP, which has declared Narendra Modi as its PM candidate, party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said that in Congress the question of making anyone the PM candidate never arose starting from the era of Jawaharlal Nehru to the 2004 elections, which the party fought under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi.
“It is always clear who is the leader in Congress. It is never an issue for us,” he said adding it is an issue for those parties which have seen intense rivlary and dissension over Prime Ministerial candidate. (PTI)

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 16: Senior military officials of India and Pakistan will meet tomorrow at Chakan-Da-Bagh (CDB) in Poonch sector to discuss ways to strengthen the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) against the backdrop of violations in the recent past especially in the months of August and September last year.
Brigadier Sanjay Thakran will represent India in the meeting, which would be held at 11 am at Chakan-Da-Bagh cross-LoC point, official sources said.
The meeting at the level of Brigade Commanders of the two countries will be part of a decision taken during the meeting of the DGMOs last month at the Wagah border.
Ways to strengthen the ceasefire will be the focus of the meeting, sources said.
In the DGMOs meeting on December 24 at Wagah border in Punjab, it was decided that two flag meetings between Brigade Commanders will be held on the LoC to ensure peace and tranquility and the hotline mechanism between them would be made ‘more effective and result-oriented’.
A few months back, the LoC was witness to major violations from the Pakistani side and the issue had to be taken up by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York.
India had also raised the issue of cross-border raids by Pakistan Army troops and the frequent ceasefire violations by them during the DGMO meeting.

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 16: The Cabinet Sub Committee (CSC) on setting up of new administrative units today completed its task of meeting representatives of the people from all 22 districts of the State. The CSC members also met Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and apprised him of the hectic task performed by the Committee members by covering all 22 districts during past about 10 days.
The deadline set by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for the CSC to submit their recommendations based on SS Bloeria and Mushtaq Ganai Commission recommendations had expired yesterday. Omar, however, reportedly agreed with the CSC that it would try its best to submits its recommendations soon after the Deputy Commissioners compiled the data according to submissions received from the people for creation of new units.
The CSC assured the Chief Minister that it could take another fortnight for the Revenue Department to prepare the data after which the CSC would submit its recommendation. The Chief Minister, however, asked the CSC member to try to submit their report within the next 10 days.
Official sources said the CSC today met representatives of the people from Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh region here before winding up its schedule to meet the people and their representatives including political and apolitical people to see their representations on setting up of new administrative units like sub divisions, tehsils, blocks, niabats etc in all three regions of the State including Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
The Committee had flown to all districts headquarters and covered two to three districts in a day seeking representations from the people before finalizing its recommendations.
Sources said after meeting the delegations from Leh and Kargil districts here, Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, the chairman of the Committee along with other senior Congress leaders flew to New Delhi to join AICC (I) session in the capital tomorrow.
The CSC has directed the Revenue Department officials in all 22 districts to compile the data as early as possible so that the report could be submitted to the Chief Minister.
The Government has already made it clear that it stands for early creation of new administrative units in the State.
The CSC headed by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand comprised PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Sham Sharma, Urban Development Minister Rigzin Jora, all Congress, Higher Education Minister Mohammad Akbar Lone, Planning and Development Minister Ajay Sadhotra and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saifullah Mir, all National Conference and Agriculture Minister GH Mir.

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 16: Six flights were cancelled while several other delayed due to poor visibility at Jammu airport while dense fog has affected train traffic in the northern region.
SP Airport Jammu, Ashok Sharma said that due to poor visibility today the first incoming flight could land here only around 12 noon while total six flights were cancelled. The first Indigo flight which reaches at around 9 am, kept hovering over the airport for about 30 minutes and could not land and later, it was diverted back to Delhi. The visibility was even less than 500 meters at the airport today.
Air India flight could also not land and it was diverted to Srinagar. Later, in the afternoon it attempted again and arrived from Delhi with passengers at around 5.15 pm and returned at 5.30 pm. JetLite, Go Air, Indigo and three other flights including additional flight to Leh could not operate today, he added.
A Railways spokesman said that several trains were late by two to five hours due to poor visibility and dense fog and tomorrow, the impact will be more. He said Swaraj Express was late by five hours while Malwa Express by four and so on. The departure time of several trains, is also being rescheduled, he added.