Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Jan 1:On the instruction of Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, Director School Education Kashmir Mir Tariq Ali has ordered the promotion of 62 Masters as In-Charge Headmasters belonging to all districts of Kashmir. The promotion order No: 2454 DSEK of 2013, dated :31/12/2013 covers masters in general category upto 21-12-2003, in RBA category upto 29-05-2004, ST upto 07-07-2005 and ALC upto 26-08-2010. The Director said that the promotions shall greatly help in improving the educational system as 62 schools shall get Headmasters. The move shall directly help in strengthening the academic environment in the schools for the betterment of the students.
62 Masters promoted as In-charge Headmasters
7 yrs RI to rapist
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 1: Principal Sessions Judge Poonch, Jaffer Hussain Beigh has awarded seven years rigorous imprisonment and fine of Rs 10,000 to Pervez Ahmed alias Raju, son of Nazir Hussain of Haveli, who was facing trial in rape case.
After hearing Choudhary Nazir Hussain, Public Prosecutor for the State whereas Advocate Sunil Sharma for the accused person, Principal Sessions Judge Poonch observed, “the nature of the offence, the circumstances of its commission, the age and the character of the offender, injury to individual or the society and effect of the punishment on the offender are some amongst many other factors which would be ordinarily taken into consideration by the Court”.
“The offence under Section 376(1) RPC committed by the accused is punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than seven years but which may be for life or for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine”, the court said, adding “the trial in this case has taken about a decade and the accused has his own family”.
Accordingly, the court awarded seven years imprisonment to the accused.
Casual, CP workers of PHE protest
Excelsior Correspondent
MENDHAR, Jan 1: The casual, ITI and other consolidated workers of PHE, I&FC held strong protest demonstration at PHE Sub Divisional office here today.
They were demanding release of their pay pending for the last over 22 months. They shouted slogans against concerned higher authorities and sought their pending wages. They were also demanding regularization of all the temporary/ casual/ CP workers.
BSF jawan shoots self
Excelsior Correspondent
RAJOURI, Jan 1: A BSF jawan committed suicide by using his service rifle in Sunderbani area of district Rajouri early today.
A police spokesman sad that Constable Kanshi Kumar, son of Kapil Paswan of Patna Sahib Bihar was deployed at Badal Post near the Pakistan border in Sunderbani area. He committed suicide by using his SLR rifle. His dead body was shifted to Sunderbani Hospital for postmortem and later shifted to home town in Bihar.
LJP State Unit merges with BJP
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 1: The State unit of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) led by State President Sanjiv Manmotra today completely merged with BJP. BJP State president, Jugal Kishore Sharma, leader of Legislative Party Ashok Khajuria, National Executive Member, Dr. Jitendra Singh, State general secretaries, Ashok Koul and Bali Bhagat, State president’s political advisor Prof. Hari Om, Jammu district president Rajesh Gupta and other senior leaders welcomed them into the party. Admitting Sanjiv Manmotra and his team members and supporters to the party-fold, Jugal Kishore Sharma said that 2014 is the year of the BJP and its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is all set to take over the reigns of the country in May. He said that a very strong pro-BJP wave is sweeping Jammu and Kashmir like the rest of the country, as the people across the nation are feeling suffocated under the misrule of the Congress -led UPA Government. Ashok Khajuria, on this occasion, said that the Modi wave is witnessed in length and breadth of the country and J&K is not untouched of it. He said that the people of this border State are also fed up with the NC-Congress’ mis-governance and looking for the forthcoming elections to teach these parties a lesson. Sanjiv Manmotra said that he, alongwith his team and supporters, have taken the decision to get merged with BJP with a motive to further strengthen it and work for its victory in the 2014 elections of Parliament and later that of State Assembly. He assured that he will work whole heartedly to ensure that the Party gets success in registering victory in maximum seats and we see Narendra Modi as next Prime Minister. In a similar function organized by BJP Anusuchit Jaati Morcha State President Surinder Bhagat later in the day, over 83 people under the leadership of Dr. Dineshwar Sharma joined BJP. They were taken into party fold by Jugal Kishore Sharma, Ashok Khajuria, Subhash Jandial and other leaders.
Japan’s population logs record drop in 2013
TOKYO, Jan 1: Japan’s population fell by a record 244,000 in 2013, according to health ministry estimates released today, highlighting concerns over an ever-dwindling workforce supporting a growing number of pensioners.
An estimated 1,031,000 babies were born in 2013, down about 6,000 from a year earlier, the ministry said.
On the other hand, around 1,275,000 people died – up about 19,000 from the previous year, the highest annual rise since World War II.
As a result, the natural population decline came to a record 244,000, the ministry said, beating the previous highest fall of 212,000 in 2012.
Japan’s population totalled 126,393,679 as of March 31, down 0.21 per cent from a year earlier, according to a Government figure.
It has continually declined since 2007 by natural attrition – deaths minus births.
Japan is rapidly greying, with more than 20 per cent of the population aged 65 or over – one of the highest proportions of elderly people in the world. The country has very little immigration and any suggestion of opening its borders to young workers who could help plug the population gap provokes strong reactions among the public.
The proportion of people aged 65 or over will reach nearly 40 per cent of the population in 2060, according to a 2012 government report. (AGENCIES)
Transporters suspend strike prog
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 1: The transporters and operators have suspended their indefinite strike programme from Jan 2, after positive assurance from Transport and CAPD Minister Ch Ramzan.
A spokesman of All Jammu Province Passenger Transport Welfare Association told the Excelsior that in a meeting of the Association held here today under the chairmanship of B B Gupta, it was unanimously decided suspend their strike till next Cabinet meeting. He said Ch Ramzan has assured he Association members that Government would decided their issue of fare hike in the next Cabinet meeting.
The spokesman said that a detailed meeting was held with Ch Ramzan yesterday in which he gave assurance to settle their issue. The core group of the Association today reviewed the entire issue during the meeting and decided to suspend the strike programme.
Anil Chopra, Vijay Kumar, Sukhvir Singh Bajwa, Mohinder Singh, Vijay Chib, Shanti Saroop, D K Mehra, Gurdeep Singh and others attended the meeting.
4 officers get KAS Time Scale
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 1: The State Government today assigned the charge of KAS Time Scale to four officers of J&K Social Welfare (Gazetted) Service on temporary basis and also ordered their adjustment.
Anil Sharma, presently on deputation to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, shall continue in the Board till further orders while Reyaz Ahmad Shah, CDPO, Narbal, Budgam, is transferred and posted as Deputy Director, ICDS Project, Social Welfare, Kashmir, against an available vacancy.
Sachin Jamwal, Under Secretary in the Governor’s Secretariat, shall continue as Deputy Secretary in the Governor’s Secretariat, till further orders while Prem Singh, DSWO, Kishtwar, is transferred and posted as Area Development Officer, Marwah Wardwan and Dachan, against an available vacancy.
The Government also ordered that Narinder Kour, Collector, Land Acquisition, Defence, Udhampur, shall report back to the Social Welfare Department for further adjustment against any post in the pay scale of Rs 9300-34800 with GP Rs 4800.a
Lee tells foreign workers to obey Singapore’s laws
SINGAPORE, Jan 1: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has asked foreign workers to obey Singapore’s laws and social norms, as he described as “inexcusable” the recent outbreak of violence following the death of an Indian worker here.
“We will continue to treat foreign workers fairly, but we expect them to obey our laws and social norms,” Lee said in his New Year message.
“The riot in Little India was inexcusable. We have taken firm action against the culprits. Several have been charged, others warned and repatriated, and still others advised to abide strictly by our laws,” he said last night.
“The Committee of Inquiry (COI) will establish how the riot happened, and how we can prevent such incidents in future. The riot reminds us that we can never take good order, peace and stability for granted,” Lee said.
The committee was set up after the December 8 riots, the worst outbreak of violence in over 40 years in Singapore.
During his speech, Lee also underlined the importance of foreign workers to Singapore.
“We are taking a balanced approach, reducing but not cutting off the inflow of foreign workers. This is why (Singapore) companies are finding it harder to hire the workers they need, especially SMEs (the small and medium enterprises)”, Lee said.
“We are helping companies adapt by exploiting technology and becoming more productive. At the same time, we are encouraging firms to develop their Singaporean workforce and adopt fair employment practises. But we still need foreign workers to keep our economy running and to build critical infrastructure for Singaporeans,” Lee added.
Around 400 South Asian migrant workers were involved in the rampage after the death of an Indian worker in a road accident on December 8 in Little India, a precinct of Indian- origin businesses, eateries and pubs where most South Asian workers take their Sunday break.
25 Indians are facing court charges for rioting and 56 Indians and one Bangladeshi were deported. The Singapore Government has also issued police warning to 200 other South Asian workers.
Lee also said Singapore economy grew by 3.7 per cent last year and he expects an economic growth of between 2 per cent and 4 per cent this year. (AGENCIES)
Assembly Panel seeks inter-departmental report on water pollution within a month
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 1: MLA, M. Y. Tarigami, who is chairman of the Committee on Environment (EC) of Legislative Assembly, has urged for pooling all the resources to maintain water quality in various water sources including water supply schemes, water bodies and Irrigation Khuls and wetlands.
He said quality standard as laid down in the Environment Act needs to be followed in letter and spirit by the Public Health Engineering (PHE), Irrigation and Flood Control departments, adding that Lakes and Water Ways Development Authority and State Pollution Control (PCB) and the Directorate of Environment have an onerous duty in this regard.
Speaking at the meeting of the EC held in the Central Hall of Legislature today, Mr. Tarigami asked the concerned departments to come up with concrete measures and plans to address factors responsible for contaminating water sources in the State especially water for human consumption. He said measures taken up so far in this regard were not upto the mark which was a cause of serious concern.
Legislators, Mohammad Sharief Niaz, Yash Paul Kundal, Rashpaul Singh and Prof. Garu Ram Bhagat attended the meeting and gave their valuable suggestions for conservation of water bodies and checking water polluting factors in the State.
They also called for an appropriate flood strategy which is one of the causes of water pollution besides damaging valuable life and property of the people, adding that an interdepartmental report about causes of water impurity and remedial measures for study of the EC. The report should be submitted to the Assembly Secretariat within a month for examination of the Committee members. The panel also directed the concerned departments for launching vigorous awareness campaign about importance of checking water pollution.
Mr. Tarigami said that drinking water being supplied to the people should be wholesome, free from impurities, adding that water testing laboratories should be set up at district levels besides establishing sewerage treatment plants in each district.
Earlier, Principal Secretary, PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Dr. Pawan Kotwal briefed the Committee about the measures underway to improve water quality in various sources in the State.
Secretary, Forest Mohammad Afzal and Director Environment and Remote Sensing Suresh Chug also briefed the Committee about the measures taken by the Forest Department for conservation of the water bodies of the State.
Among others, PCCF Wild Life A.K. Singh, Special Secretary M.R. Singh and other officers of Forest and its sister wings besides Assembly Secretariat attended the meeting.