Fayaz Bukhari

SRINAGAR, Jan 7: The Special Operations Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police suffered a major loss as one of its officers who had been at the forefront of fighting militancy in Kashmir since 1990s was killed in militant firing and three others were injured in Sopore this morning.
A Lashkar-e-Toiba militant was killed in a gun battle after he fired at an Army patrol in Awantipora area of South Kashmir this evening.
Police sources said that acting on a tip off, an SOG party raided house of Mushtaq Ahmad Dar in Chankhan Sopore this morning. Militants hiding inside hurled a grenade on the SOG and fired at them from AK-47 rifles injuring four SOG personnel including Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police, Kafeel Ahmad.
Kafeel who was critically injured in the militant attack was removed to 92-Base Hospital at 15 Corps Headquarters of Army at Badami Bagh Cantonment, Srinagar. He, however, succumbed to his injuries.
The other injured have been identified as constables Manzoor Ahmad Gania of Panzala Kupwara, Zakir Ahmad Sheikh of Tahratpora, Handwara and Irfan Ahmad of Pulwama. They are undergoing treatment and their condition is stated to be out of danger.
Police and 52-Rashtriya Rifles (RR) of Army re-enforcement rushed to the spot and search operation against the militants was launched. But the militants had managed to escape. The search operation concluded at around 2:30 p.m. Police, however, arrested house owner Mushtaq Ahmad Dar.
Kafeel’s killing is a major loss to the Police as he had been at the forefront of fighting militancy since 1996 when he was appointed as constable in Jammu and Kashmir Police. He was given two out of turn promotions in 2011 for killing two top commanders of Lashkar-e-Toiba in Sopore area.
Kafeel Ahmad from Keran in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district was recruited as constable in Jammu and Kashmir Police in 1996. In February 2011, he was promoted as Head Constable for being at the forefront of killing an LeT commander at Noor Bagh in Sopore. In September 2011, he was promoted as ASI after Kafeel killed Chief Commander of LeT, Abdullah Uni in his hideout.
Kafeel was part of the major operations which security forces launched in Sopore area since 2005 as he was essential member of the SOG Sopore. He is survived by two minor kids, wife and elderly mother.
Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Abdul Gani Mir told reporters on the sidelines of wreath laying function of the police officer at Police Lines Srinagar this evening that a police party launched searches in Chankhan area of Sopore this morning after receiving information about presence of militants hiding in a house. “As the party reached the house, militants lobbed a grenade injuring four police personnel. One of the injured, an Assistant Sub Inspector, later succumbed to his injuries”, he added.
A wreath laying ceremony of the ASI, Kafeel Ahmad, was held at Police Lines Srinagar this evening during which a Guard of Honour and floral tributes were paid to the police officer. IGP Mir, DIG CRPF K M Yadav, DIG CRPF Jai Prakash, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Farooq Ahmad Shah, SSP Srinagar Amit Kumar and other police officers and Jawans took part in the wreath laying ceremony.
Sources said that police had received information about the presence of Muzaffar Molvi of Al-Badr and Mehmood Bhai of LeT in the house of Mushtaq Dar at Chankhan, Sopore this morning.
Mehmood Bhai who is also being called Chota Hurraira escaped 5 times from security forces cordon since October last year. He first slipped from security cordon on October 2 at Ahmad Nagar area of Srinagar injuring eight Police men including a Sub-Inspector of Jammu and Kashmir Police. He again gave slip to the security forces in Ahmad Nagar, a month later and fled to Sopore where he again gave slip to the security forces. And in December last year, he again gave slip the security forces in Hajin area of Bandipora. Mehmood Bhai has infiltrated in summer this year and had come to Srinagar in October to carry out an attack but security forces foiled his attempt.
A Hizbul Mujahideen spokesman while speaking to a local news service claimed responsibility for the attack on the SOG party at Sopore.
In the meantime, a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant was killed in an encounter in South Kashmir’s Awantipora area tonight.
Sources said that one Army personnel was injured when their patrol party was attacked by militants in Beighpora, Awantipore in South Kashmir this evening.
Sources said that militants fired several rounds towards the Army patrol party of 55 RR injuring one army personnel. Army also retaliated by firing few rounds but militants escaped.
Army and police immediately cordoned off the area and conducted searches to nab the militants.
The Deputy Inspector General of Police, South Kashmir, Vijay Kumar told Excelsior that a militant’s body was recovered during the searches along with a weapon and a pouch. The identity of the militant will be known in the morning. However, sources identified the dead militant as Riyaz Naikoo, a LeT militant who was active in Awantipora area.
A Srinagar based defence spokesman said that a joint operation was launched in Tokun Beighpora in Awantipora during which one militant was killed and an AK-56 rifle was recovered.

Neeraj Rohmetra
JAMMU, Jan 7: In a major relief to the State Government, the Planning Commission is likely to release the Special Plan Assistance (SPA) funds, which had been stalled for the several months leading to inordinate delay in nearly 6600 projects across the State.
Reliable sources told EXCELSIOR that the assurance was given by the incumbents of Planning Commission of India (PCI) in a high level meeting, which was attended by the top brass of Finance and Planning  Department of the State.
“The meeting, which was held at Yojna Bhavan lasted for nearly two hours and was attended by Planning Commission Secretary and the State was represented by Principal Secretary Finance, B B Vyas and Principal Secretary Planning and Development B R Sharma,” sources said adding, “the meeting was held in conducive atmosphere and the main issue in the meeting was the blockage of funds to the tune of Rs 2064 crores pertaining to the Special Plan Assistance”.
Sources elaborated, “the PCI officials gave sufficient assurances to release the funds soon after the State provided the detailed information pertaining to SPA projects in the desired format. There were also some issues pertaining to the software being used by the State to provide the financial information and they were also sorted out”.
Confirming holding of high-level meeting Principal Secretary Planning, B R Sharma told EXCELSIOR from New Delhi, “the Planning Commission officials wanted clarification on certain issues and the same were provided to them in details.  The purpose of the meeting to provide them with all the relevant information pertaining to status of various on-going projects in the State”.
Over the blockage of funds under the SPA category, which had resulted in stalling of several developmental projects, he remarked, “we have discussed all issues pertaining to release of SPA fund and are confident that funds will start pouring in by this month end”.
Sources said, “based on inputs received from today’s meeting, the Planning and Finance officials would submit at the earliest the financial data, in the format desired by the PC to pave way for early release of funds”, adding, “the meeting was quite fruitful and has helped remove the discrepancies pertaining to all queries raised by the Planning Commission of India”.
It is pertinent to mention here that as many as 6600 small, medium and big projects in the State had been stalled due to delay in sanction of Rs 2064 crores worth Special Plan Assistance (SPA) to the State by the Planning Commission of India. This was for the first time that even after the lapse of nine months of the financial year, the State hasn’t been provided any amount under the SPA.
Sources stated that concerned over the gravity of situation, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had also personally taken up the matter with Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Planning Commission of India, Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
Earlier, the Planning Commission of India had asked the State Government to prepare a detailed list of the projects it would execute under the SPA during current financial year of 2013-14 before the release of SPA. The State Government completed the exercise a long back and submitted it to the Planning Commission of India.
With last years’ experience in mind when the Planning Commission had imposed a cut of Rs 1500 crores in annual plan of the State, sources said top officials of the State Government had also sent repeated reminders to the Planning Commission officials seeking early release of the SPA especially when just three months have been left for the completion of the financial year.
The State had been granted Rs 7300 crores worth annual plan for 2013-14, which was equal to the amount approved during 2012-13. However, during 2012-13, the State had ended up with getting only Rs 5800 crores as the Planning Commission had imposed a cut of nearly Rs 1500 crores under various components.
It may be mentioned here that during current financial year, the Planning Commission wanted to give only Rs 5800 crores worth plan to Jammu and Kashmir, which was strongly resented by the State Government. After various hiccups and delay in finalisation of plan, the State was given Rs 7300 crores worth plan, still Rs 700 crores less than what it had asked for.

Avtar Bhat

JAMMU, Jan 7: The 348th Prakash Divas of 10th Sikh Guru Guru Gobind Singh Ji was celebrated with religious fervour and gaiety across the State today.
In this connection functions were held in all the Gurudwaras of the State but the main function was held at Gurudwara Yadgar Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj at Chand Nagar here in which thousands of devout Sikhs drawn from different parts of Jammu city participated. All the Gurudwaras were fully decorated and illuminated giving them a festive look.
The function at Gurudwara Yadgar was organized by District Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (DGPC) Jammu. On the occasion Ragi Jathas from Delhi, Jammu and other places recited Gurbani.
The Ragi Jatha from Delhi was led by Bhai Manpreet Singh.
Bhai Manpreet Singh, Pracharak from Poonch and Bhai Harsimran Singh, Pracharak from Jammu threw light on Sikh history and golden realism of Sikhism.
They also highlighted the life, sacrifices and teachings of Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj. They said Guru sacrificed his mother, father, children and also made a supreme sacrifice himself for the sake and cause of humanity, truth and upholding of dharma. They said it is however unfortunate that on his birthday celebration there is no holiday under Negotiable Instrument Act.
A resolution was also passed on the occasion with a voice vote demanding that the holiday be declared under the Negotiable Instrument Act on the Prakash Divas of Guru Gobind Singh Ji.
It demanded that DGPC elections be held immediately, installation of statue of Baba Banda Bahadur Singh the first Khalsa ruler at Kunjwani Chowk, permanent rehabilitation of PoK refugees who are mostly Sikhs, the road from Bikram Chowk to Railway Station be named as Guru Gobind Singh road, a chair be established in University of Jammu on his name, Punjabi should be taught in schools by posting Punjabi teachers, Minority Commission be constituted in the State on pattern of other States,  two percent quota be reserved for Sikh children in professional colleges of the State and removal of workshops from the road adjoining Gurudwara Yadgar Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
The Gurudwara was fully decorated and illuminated on the occasion. The devotees were served with prashad and Guru Ka Langer.
The devotees had also installed the stalls at Dogra Chowk, Jewel Chowk and other places serving Prashad to people.
Another function was held at Digiana Ashram, Jammu where a large number of devotees participated. The Ragi Pracharaks, Thadi Jatha also recited Gurbani in praise of Guru Ji. The preachers threw light on the life and teachings of Guru Ji. They said besides a great warrior, poet and philosopher Guru Gobind Singh laid the strong foundations of a society and stood for brotherhood, peace and prosperity of India.
All the Ragis and Pracharaks threw light on the life and supreme sacrifices of Guru Ji and his family and the crusade launched by him for promotion of peace and brotherhood.
Mahant Manjit Singh Ji of Dera Nangali Sahib Poonch also threw light on the life and teachings of Guru Gobind Singh Ji on the occasion.
The leaders of various Sikh organisations also spoke on the occasion and demanded holding of DGPC elections which have become over due now.
The people of other communities were seen greeting their Sikh brethren on the occasion.
The reports coming from other districts said that the Prakash  Diwas was celebrated with great enthusiasm and fervour at Rajouri, Kathua, Poonch, Sunderbani, Udhampur, Ramban, Batote etc.
At Poonch the functions in connection with celebration of Prakash Diwas were held in all the Gurudwaras of the city including Purani Poonch, Khalsa Chowk, Pipalwala Gurudwara and other Gurudwaras. A function was also organized by Sikh Students Federation on the occasion in the city.
The main function was held in Gurudwaras Singh Sabha, Poonch where thousands of people from all walks of life participated.
The Ragi Jathas from Jammu and Punjab were specially invited on the occasion.
Mahant Manjeet Singh of Dera Nangali Sahib, Poonch had specially come from Jammu to attend the function. A langer was organized by Harinder Singh where thousands of people were served the prashad.
In the evening the city was illuminated with candle lights.
The Prakash Diwas was also celebrated in Gurudwara Singh Sabha Thanda Pani in which thousands of devotees took part.
At Kathua the main function was held in Gurudwara Main Chowk Kathua in which Sikh Sangat from adjoining areas took part. The preachers spoke on the life and teachings of Guru Ji Maharaj.
Earlier Nagar Kirtan was taken out in the town.
Reports coming from Kashmir said that Gurupurab, the birth anniversary of  Guru Gobind Singh, was today celebrated with religious fervour and gaiety in the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region also.
Braving chilly conditions, members of the Sikh community visited Gurudwaras since early this morning.
However, the main congregation was held at Gurudwara Chatti Padshahi on the foothill of Hari Parbhat in the downtown where the shrine of Chakreshwar is also located.
Reports of similar celebrations were also received from other parts of the Valley.
Muslims and Kashmiri Pandits were seen greeting their Sikh brethren on the occasion.
Gurupurab was also celebrated at Leh and Kargil in Ladakh region where the minimum temperature was minus 17.4 degree Celsius  and minus 19 degree respectively.
All Party Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) chairman Jagmohan Singh Raina  said Guruji was an apostle of peace, compassion and  love, and gave the message of universal brotherhood and a just society.

Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Jan 7: The Cabinet Sub Committee (CSC) on Justice Sagheer Ahmed Working Group, whose recommendations had been given at the behest of no less a person than Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, is all set to die its own death as eight members strong Panel hasn’t met even a once during the past more than one year due to sharp differences among the two coalition partners—the National Conference and Congress on some of its recommendations.
“The CSC, which has four members each from National Conference and Congress, didn’t hold even a single meeting during 2013,’’ official sources told the Excelsior attributing the inordinate delay in holding the meeting to lack of consensus between the NC and Congress members on the issue of autonomy.
With election year of both Lok Sabha and Assembly having set in and both parties likely to stick to their stand on autonomy due to ‘political compulsions’, there is every possibility that the CSC might be allowed to die its own death though a NC member claimed that the Committee would submit its report on some of the recommendations of Justice Sagheer Ahmed Working Group.
According to sources, not even a single meeting of the CSC was held last year even after re-constitution of the CSC as the National Conference and Congress, whose four Cabinet Ministers each formed the Panel, were unable to reach understanding on submitting recommendations on the points raised by the Group.
Sources said both the parties have been sticking to their stand on autonomy. While the National Conference was strongly advocating autonomy, the Congress was opposed to it and stuck to its stand for making 1975 Indira-Sheikh accord as the basis of any solution.
“There appeared to be no meeting ground between the two coalition partners on Justice Sagheer Ahmed recommendations especially on autonomy. While a consensus has generally been evolved on other recommendations of the Group, autonomy is the only hurdle on which the two partners differed strongly and no side was ready to give-in on its stand keeping in view the elections year,’’ sources said.
Several times extended term of Sagheer Committee is due to expire in the middle of February this year.
The CSC on Sagheer Ahmed Working Group has not met once during the past over 14 months. It didn’t hold any meeting during seventh extension of six months from November 1, 2012 to April 30, 2013, mainly due to reshuffle in the Council of Ministry in which two CSC members—Qamar Ali Akhoon and Surjit Singh Slathia (both from NC) were dropped.
From April 30, 2013 to August end, the Committee remained without extension though it had been assured that its term would be extended, which was formally done on August 29.
That was eighth extension of the CSC since it was constituted in January 2010 by the order of the State Cabinet after Justice (retired) Sagheer Ahmed (now dead) had submitted his report to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in December 2009.
The Government had reconstituted the CSC on February 18 after the Ministry reshuffle and replaced Qamar Ali Akhoon and Surjit Singh Slathia (both from NC) with Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saifullah Mir and Planning Minister Ajay Sadhotra.
The Committee headed by Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather has its members including Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar, Mr Mir and Mr Sadhotra (all from NC), Housing Minister Raman Bhalla, PHE Minister Sham Lal Sharma, Urban Development Minister Rigzin Jora and Medical Education Minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din (all from Congress).
Sources said the Congress Ministers were determined to oppose the National Conference move of submitting pro-autonomy recommendations by the CSC. Sources said the Congress Ministers have made it clear to their National Conference colleagues in the CSC that they stand for Indira-Sheikh accord for basis to any solution to Kashmir problem and not autonomy.
However, Sagheer Ahmed Working Group had recommended autonomy as a solution to Kashmir problem.
Sources said the CSC in its previous meetings had done a lot of work and reached consensus on some of the issues but the differences persisted on autonomy.
The CSC had held nearly 17 meetings since it was set up in January 2010.
Justice Sagheer Ahmed Working Group had touched various sensitive subjects as it had been mandated by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to submit a report on strengthening Centre-State relations and other subjects of discrimination and problems faced by refugees. It had recommended autonomy for the State and a full and final decision on Article 370 of the Constitution of India, granting special status to the State. It had also made a host of other recommendations as per its mandate.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh during first stint of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government had in March 2006 set up five Working Groups in the Second Round Table Conference on Jammu and Kashmir held in Srinagar. They include ‘Working Group on Confidence Building Measures Across Segments of Society in the State’, ‘Working Group on Strengthening Centre-State Relations’, ‘Working Group on Ensuring Good Governance’, ‘Working Group on Strengthening Relations Across LoC’ and ‘Working Group on Economic Reforms’.
Four out of five Working Groups had submitted their reports in April 2007 to the Prime Minister during third Round Table Conference on Kashmir held in New Delhi.
However, report of fifth Working Group headed by Justice Sagheer Ahmed was delayed due to completely divergent opinions given by its members and was submitted by Justice Ahmed to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in December 2009. The Chief Minister had later submitted the report to the Prime Minister.

Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Jan 7:  As Weatherman has forecast that fresh Western Disturbance is likely to affect the surface and air transport to Kashmir from tomorrow, the Traffic police have cleared the Srinagar bound passenger traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway this evening.
Director Meteorological Department in Srinagar, Sonam Lotus, told Excelsior that there will be heavy snowfall in South Kashmir and Pirpanchal mountains from tomorrow.
Lotus said that a fresh western disturbance is likely to affect the State from January 8 to 10. “The main activity will be on January 9 and moderate to heavy snowfall may occur at many places in Kashmir valley”, he added.
The Met official said that the main activity will start around January 8 and will continue up to January 10 noon. “Qazigund, Banihal, Patnitop and other areas along the Highway and Doda and Bhaderwah will experience heavy snowfall. Jammu and Udhampur  will experience rains during this period”, he added.
Lotus said that the weather system may affect the surface and air transport between January 8 and 10. “The night temperature will increase while the day temperature will fall during these three days”, he added.
As the Met issued weather advisory, the Traffic police cleared all the passenger traffic from the Highway between Udhampur and Qazigund that is witnessing heavy snowfall from tomorrow afternoon.
The Inspector General of Police, Traffic, Muneer Ahmad Khan told Excelsior: “We cleared all the Srinagar bound passenger traffic from the Highway and will allow the traffic from Srinagar to Jammu tomorrow only after taking review of the weather conditions.”
In the meantime, mercury continued to be below freezing in Kashmir and Ladakh region with Kargil recording minus 19 degree Celsius, the lowest in the region.
A Met official said here that last night Leh recorded minus 17.4 degree Celsius, a plunge of almost 10 degree Celsius from the previous night’s minus 7.9 degree Celsius and maximum temperature settled at minus 2.4 degree  Celsius.
Temperature in the Kargil town settled at a low of minus 19.0 degree Celsius, almost six degree down from minus 13.1 degree Celsius the previous night and day temperature settled at minus 1.2 degree Celsius.
Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3.3 degree Celsius, one degree down from the previous night’s minus 2.3 degree Celsius and day temperature of 4 degree Celsius.
The minimum temperature in Pahalgam, in South Kashmir, decreased by over seven degree from the previous night’s minus 7.4 degree Celsius to settle at the season’s lowest of minus  14.7 degree Celsius last night.
Gulmarg registered a low of minus 11.6 degree Celsius, as against the previous night’s minus 9.7 degree Celsius. Qazigund settled at minus 4.4 degree Celsius, while Kokernag recorded a low of minus 5.2 degree Celsius.
The minimum in Kupwara, in North Kashmir, settled at minus 4.6 degree Celsius compared to the previous night’s minus 1.8 degree Celsius.

*Open FIR being lodged to expose real grabbers

Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Jan 7: Foiling the new modus operandi of the land grabbers, the Jammu district administration has got over 51 kanals of prime State land retrieved from the encroachers in the outskirts of Jammu city and an open FIR is being lodged tomorrow in order to expose the mafia behind the attempt.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that two days back Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Ajeet Kumar Sahu received a telephonic complaint from some unknown persons about the attempt being made by land mafia to encroach upon the prime State land in village Ghaink under Gharota Niabat.
The Deputy Commissioner immediately directed Tehsildar Jammu to personally visit the village along with other concerned officers to verify the situation on the ground and taking necessary action against the encroachers.
During the spot visit, the Tehsildar Jammu and other Revenue officials found around 40 Myanmar nationals indulging in construction of Kullas (temporary sheds) on 51 kanals and 13 marlas of State land situated near the under construction Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya. The matter was immediately brought to the notice of Deputy Commissioner, who issued directions for eviction of encroachers and even asked the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Jammu to provide necessary assistance to the revenue team in their operation.
The revenue team headed by Tehsildar Jammu and Naib Tehsildar concerned pressed JCB machine into service and got all the already constructed and under-construction temporary sheds razed during the day long operation, sources said, adding there was no resistance from the Myanmar  nationals in view of police deployment during the anti-encroachment operation.
During the preliminary investigation into the encroachment attempt on Rs 1.50 crore worth prime State land, it came to fore that land-grabbers, whose identity could not be established immediately, had adopted new modus operandi to encroach upon the land, sources said, adding the land mafia had brought the Myanmar nationals illegally staying in the areas surrounding Narwal and Railway Station with the promise to provide them place for construction of kullas free of cost.
Stating that the motive behind taking Myanmar nationals from these places and helping them in construction of large number of kullas was to grab the State land, sources said, “this was the new modus operandi of the land-mafia. Moreover, this strategy conveys that land-mafia doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned to get the State land encroached”. They, however, said that the timely action by the district administration has given a strong message to the mafia.
About the persons behind this attempt, sources said, “though identification of real land-grabbers could not be established immediately yet an open FIR is being lodged with Gharota Police tomorrow for investigation”, adding “the local people would also be approached to ascertain the identity of the persons, who had been keeping eye on this land”.
“Had the district administration not taken timely action, the situation on this land would have been like that of Gole Gujaral”, sources said, adding “keeping in view the prime location of the land, the administration will try to get the same used for construction of building or any other complex by any of the Government department”.
According to the sources, the administration has decided to take stern action against all those involved in the encroachment of State land in any part of the district.
It is pertinent to mention here that huge influx of Myanmar nationals and their continuous stay in different parts of Jammu is also a danger from security point of view besides their use for encroachment of State land.
“Several security agencies have written to the Union Government a number of times mentioning that influx of Myanmar and Bangladeshi nationals is fraught with danger as they can easily become tool at the hands of anti-national elements in their nefarious designs”, sources said while stressing that a strategy should be chalked out to check their influx in future.

BALASORE (ODISHA), Jan 7: India today successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile, which has a strike range of 350 kms and is capable of carrying warheads of upto 1000 kgs, from a test range in Odisha.
The launch was part of a user trial by the Army.
Describing the trial of the sophisticated missile as a “complete success”, Integrated Test Range Director M V K V Prasad said the launch conducted by the specially formed Strategic Forces Command (SFC) met all the parameters.
The surface-to-surface missile was test fired from a mobile launcher in salvo mode from launch complex-3 of the ITR at Chandipur near here at about 0948 hrs.
“The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the entire launch activities were carried out by SFC and monitored by the scientists of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of training exercise,” sources said.
“The missile trajectory was tracked by DRDO radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations located along the coast of Odisha,” they said.
“The downrange teams onboard the ship deployed near the designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal monitored the terminal events and splashdown,” they said.
Inducted into India’s SFC in 2003, Prithvi II, the first missile to be developed by DRDO under India’s prestigious IGMDP (Integrated Guided Missile Development Program) is now a proven technology, a defence source said.
“The launch was part of a regular training exercise of SFC and monitored by DRDO scientists,” the source said.
Such training launches clearly indicate India’s operational readiness to meet any eventuality and also establishes the reliability of this deterrent component of India’s Strategic arsenal, the source said.
Prithvi is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1,000 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twine engines.
The last user trial of Prithvi-II missile was successfully carried out from the same base on December 3, 2013. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Jan 7:  Priyanka Gandhi today created flutters in political circles when she attended a meeting of top Congress leaders in the residence of her brother Rahul, triggering speculation whether she is in for a major role ahead of Lok Sabha elections.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, AICC general secretaries Madhusudan Mistri, Janardan Dwivedi, Ajay Maken and party ideologue Mohan Gopal were present in the meeting, the sources had.
There was no clarity whether Rahul was present in the meeting or not.  Party sources were not ready to come on record on reports that he was not present.
Her meeting led to speculation in political circles whether Priyanka, who will turn 42 next week, will assume an active political role to perk up the Congress performance in the Lok Sabha, particularly in the context of the recent drubbing it received in the Assembly polls.
Congress , however, downplayed Priyanka’s presence at the meeting saying she has been active in Congress politics and questioned the surprise in political circles over her meeting senior leaders.
There has been speculation in recent months on whether Priyanka, who has so far confined her politics to campaign for her mother Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli, would take a plunge into politics full time.
Priyanka, who is younger than Rahul by about more than two years, and has a charisma of her own, has had a role in nurturing Rae Bareli and visits Amethi for campaigning for brother during elections.
A senior leader dismissed as “wild” speculation that Priyanka could be made the party’s PM candidate and Rahul as party chief.
However, speculation persisted whether Priyanka was preparing to take a plunge into politics. Her attendance in the meeting today fuelled further speculation.
Party leaders say in private that Priyanka getting active in party affairs will enthuse the rank and file after the recent electoral debacle and perceived rise of Narendra Modi and AAP. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Jan 7: Officers of Delhi Police’s special cell have been camping in Muzaffarnagar district amid reports that terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) had contacted some young men of a minority community to avenge the recent riots in western Uttar Pradesh.
The disclosure came at a press conference here today addressed by Special CP, Special Cell, Delhi Police, S N Srivastava.
Mr Srivastava said two terror suspects, Mohammad Rashid and Mohammad Shahid, were arrested from Haryana last month.
They had visited villages in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts after the clashes, he said.
Raids were being carried out at various other places to arrest more of the LeT men, Mr Srivastava added.
In October last year, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was criticised for making the same point at a rally in UP that an intelligence officer had informed him about Pakistani intelligence agency ISI trying to rope in young men to avange the riots.
It was also questioned how an MP was being briefed by intelligence sources.
Now, when Mr Gandhi’s statement seems to be proving right, BJP has said when Government knew this in advance why there was no action on it.
The state’s ruling Samajwadi Party said the Central Government was trying to prove Rahul Gandhi right. (UNI)

Excelsior Correspondent
 JAMMU, Jan 7: According to Station Manager, Air India Jammu, due to cancellation of previous flight (AI450) from Jammu to Leh scheduled for yesterday due to bad weather, Air India shall operate additional flight to Leh on January 9.
The departure of Additional Flight AI-4450 will be at 9.40 am. All the stranded passengers of cancelled flight are advised to report at Airport at 7.40 am sharp.