NEW DELHI : Buoyed by its spectacular success in Delhi Assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party today kicked off a nation-wide membership drive with an aim of including at least one crore members by January 26 to strengthen the party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said under the ‘Main bhi aam aadmi’ campaign, any citizen can enroll as member of the party without paying any fee.
“Our target is to include one crore members in the party by January 26. But the membership drive will continue after that as well,” he said addressing a press conference.
He said the party had decided to waive off the Rs 10 membership fee as it was found out that many people could not afford it. “The decision to waive off the membership fee was taken at the national executive meeting last week,” he said.
Party leader Gopal Rai, who has been tasked to oversee the special membership drive, said over 3 lakh people have registered online as party members after the Delhi elections.
“This is perhaps the first time in the history of India that membership to a party is being opened to public like this. This is our biggest country-wide drive to connect with people before the Lok Sabha polls,” Rai told reporters.
“Success of this campaign is one of our major strategies before the Lok Sabha polls,” he said.
Rai said the whole campaign will check the “ground reality” of the party’s prospects in the Lok Sabha polls to a certain level.
“A lot will depend on this campaign. We will get to know how much response is coming and from which areas,” he said.
Kejriwal said any citizen can give a missed call on mobile number 07798220033 to enroll as a party member. They can also send SMS of their name, STD code and Vidhan Sabha name after which they will get their membership number.
The citizens will also have an option of filling an online form on the Aam Aadmi Party website aamaadmiparty.Org to become a member.
“Anyone can become a member of the party, but any person who will hold any post in the organisation or is chosen as a party candidate for elections will be screened,” Kejriwal said.
He said AAP volunteers will also conduct door-to-door visits as part of the ‘Main bhi aam aadmi’ campaign.
“Those who do not have mobile phones have to use their voter identification number and register at our website after January 17,” Rai said.
He said one mobile number holder can only have one membership.
Rai said all AAP members are being urged to bring in as many people as possible into the party fold. (AGENCIES)
AAP kicks off nation-wide membership drive
Dawood in Pakistan, joint efforts with US to nab him: Shinde
NEW DELHI : India’s most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim is in Pakistan and joint efforts with the US were being made to nab him, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said today.
“As per our information, Dawood is in Pakistan. When I went to America last year to discuss inland security, I met the Attorney General who looks after the FBI.
“I talked to him and we decided that we will pass whatever information we have on Dawood amongst each other. We decided we will make joint efforts,” Shinde said when asked about the whereabouts of Dawood who is wanted in a number of cases by Indian agencies including the 1993 Mumbai blasts.
The minister was addressing his monthly press conference here.
The Home Minister, on the same question about Dawood last year, had said all such wanted elements will be brought back “one by one”.
“All will come. Just wait,” he had said.
Dawood, who heads a vast and multifaceted illegal business, has emerged as India’s most wanted terrorist after the 1993 Mumbai bombings, which he allegedly organised and financed.
An INTERPOL red corner notice is still pending against him.
According to the US, Dawood maintains close links with terror outfit al-Qaeda. As a result, the US declared him a “global terrorist” and pursued the matter before the United Nations in an attempt to freeze his assets across the world and crack down on his operations.
During the tenure of Shinde as Home Minister, security agencies successfully brought back several wanted terrorists including Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, key plotter of Mumbai attack terrorists Fasih Mahmood aka Fasih Mohammed, Abdul Karim Tunda and Yasin Bhatkal.
Shinde became the Home Minister on July 31, 2012. (AGENCIES)
Srinagar-Jammu highway opened; intermittent snowfall continues
SRINAGAR : The 294-km Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the only all weather road connecting Kashmir with rest of the country, was opened for traffic after remaining closed for two days even as intermittent snowfall continued for the third day today.
“The Srinagar-Jammu highway has been opened for traffic today. Vehicles are plying from Jammu to Srinagar,” an official of the traffic department told reporters.
The department is closely monitoring the situation as the areas around Jawahar Tunnel are experiencing intermittent snowfall, he added.
“The drivers have been asked to drive cautiously,” the official said.
The arterial road was closed on Wednesday due to snowfall across the Valley which continued intermittently till this afternoon, leading to an increase in minimum temperatures in most parts. (AGENCIES)
Cong top brass meets, discuss strategy to pass anti-graft bills
NEW DELHI : Congress top brass today discussed the strategy to pass a slew of anti-corruption bills pushed by Rahul Gandhi to create a ‘framework’ to fight graft as also the issue of Jat reservation and the party’s floor strategy in Parliament.
The issues came up for discussion in a meeting of Congress Core Group chaired by party President Sonia Gandhi along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh minutes after Rahul Gandhi had an over 30-minute long meeting with the Prime Minister.
Highly-placed sources in Congress said the hour-long Core Group meeting deliberated at length on the Congress strategy in Parliament during the fortnight-long session in early February to pass the vote on account as well as the pending anti-corruption legislations prioritised by Rahul Gandhi.
The top leadership decided to give a clear push to passage of the anti-graft bills including the Whistleblowers’ Protection Bill, Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, a bill on citizens’ charter, amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act and the just-passed Lokpal Bill, which has received assent of the President.
The Prime Minister had last week said that it will be the “sincere effort” of the Government to pass these anti-corruption measures pending in Parliament ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections so that the fight against graft can move ahead.
Besides the issue of Jat reservation was also discussed in detail. A delegation of Jat leaders had recently met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to thank them after the Cabinet asked the backward classes commission to expeditiously take a call on providing reservation to the community in Central Government jobs.
Reservation for Jats had been a long-standing demand of people from eight states including Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
This is an issue, which has the potential of impacting poll outcomes in some of the states especially Haryana and Rajasthan.
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal and Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions V Narayanaswamy, who are not members of the Core Group, were also called for the morning meeting.
Defence Minister A K Antony, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and the Congress President’s political secretary Ahmed Patel are members of this top decision making body, which is viewed as an interface between the party and the Government.
The Congress Core Group, which usually meets in the evening, today met in the morning as the Prime Minister has to leave for Mumbai to inaugurate a new international airport terminal. (AGENCIES)
Devyani indicted for visa fraud, leaves for India
NEW YORK: Senior Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade was today indicted for visa fraud and making false
statements by a grand jury which held that the charges against her will remain even as she headed back to India after being accorded full diplomatic immunity.
The charges against 39-year-old Khobragade will remain and she will have to face trial, if she returns to the US without diplomatic immunity, US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a letter to District Judge Shira Scheindlin.
Bharara said the grand jury has indicted the diplomat on two counts of visa fraud and making false statements in connection with the visa application of her domestic help Sangeeta Richard.
“There will not need to be an arraignment on the Indictment scheduled at this time. We understand that the defendant was very recently accorded diplomatic immunity status,” Bharara said in his letter.
“Therefore, the charges will remain pending until such time as she can be brought to Court to face the charges, either through a waiver of immunity or the defendant’s return to the United States in a non-immune status. The time between now and the time that she is able to be brought before the
Court is excluded automatically under the Speedy Trial Act, pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 3161(h)(3) (A), which provides for the exclusion of any period of delay resulting from the unavailability of the defendant,” he said.
“The charges against me are false and baseless. I look forward to proving them wrong,” Khobragade told reporters as she boarded the plane back to India.
She also affirmed her determination to ensure that this episode does not leave a lasting imprint on her family, in particular her children who are still in the US.
Khobragade was granted full diplomatic immunity on January 8 under the India-US Headquarters agreement.
On January 9, the US request for waiver of diplomatic immunity to Khobragade was refused by India.
A 1999-batch IFS officer, Khobragade, was arrested on December 12 on charges of making false declarations in a visa application for her maid. She was released on a USD 250,000 bond.
The diplomat was strip searched and held with criminals, triggering a row between the two sides with India retaliating by downgrading privileges of certain category of US diplomats.
Khobragade’s lawyer Daniel Arshack said since she has been accorded diplomatic immunity, she can travel outside the country and was returning to India.
“As a result of her diplomatic status having been recognised, the Federal court today recognised Khobragade’s right to travel and she is pleased to be returning to her country. Her head is held high. She knows she has done no wrong and she looks forward to assuring that the truth is
known,” Arshack told reporters.
He said Khobragade denies the “baseless” charges brought by the federal prosecutor Bharara’s office and “looks forward to providing the proof that over and over the investigators and prosecutors in this case have been sloppy and wrong.”
He said Khobragade did not make any false statements and she paid her domestic worker what she was entitled to be paid.
“Although the domestic (worker) came to work here on a short term contract which required her to return to India at the end of her employment as a result of the false claims and shoddy investigation, she and her family now enjoy permanent residency in the United States,” he said.
“The investigators in this case made serious errors as result of not fully investigating the facts. We look forward to providing the evidence of their blunders,” Arshack added.
The 21-page indictment said that Khobragade did not want to pay the “victim”, her domestic worker Richard, the required wages under US law or provide her with other protections against exploitative work conditions mandated by US law, which are “widely publicised to foreign diplomats and Government officials.
The indictment said Khobragade filed a USD 4500 amount as monthly income in the visa application of Richard. It said the USD 4500 figure did not match “any actual income figure”.
“It was neither the agreed-upon monthly wages that Khobragade had agreed to pay the victim (about USD 573 per month) nor the victim’s monthly wage that Khobragade falsely represented to the US embassy through the fraudulent employment contract… Nor did the USD 4500 figure reflect
Khobragade’s monthly income, which was considerably higher given her salary, cost of living stipend, and income from her real estate holdings in India.”
It said Khobragade entered into a “fake employment contract” with Richard and told her that it was a “mere formality” in order to get the visa and she “coached” Richard to lie to the US official in her visa interview at the US Embassy in New Delhi.
“Khobragade instructed the victim to lie and not say anything about actually being paid only Rs 30000 per month,” the indictment alleged.
The indictment further states that around February 2013, Richard told Khobragade “on several occasions” that she wanted to end the employment contract and return to India because she felt she was being “mistreated.”
It adds that after Richard fled Khobragade’s residence, the diplomat and “others took steps to prevent the victim and her family from communicating with lawyers” about the experience she had working for Khobragade.
“Between June and August 2013, Khobragade and relative 1 called the victim’s husband in Delhi multiple times to pressure him to locate and disclose the victim’s location. From July through November 2013, Khobragade took steps to intimidate the victim and the victim’s family and to prevent them from initiating any proceedings against Khobragade.
“These steps included taking legal action and causing the victim’s family to be contacted by law enforcement relative 1 and others in India,” the indictment said.
“The Government respectfully writes to advise the Court that earlier today, the grand jury voted on and returned the enclosed indictment charging Devyani Khobragade, the defendant, in two counts with visa fraud and making false statements in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1546, 1001, and 2,” Bharara said.
“In this case, the defendant is unavailable because her whereabouts are known but (her) presence for trial cannot be obtained by due diligence or (she) resists appearing at or being returned for trial’,” he said.
Bharara made it clear that Khobragade will be prosecuted if she returns to the US without diplomatic immunity.
“We will alert the Court promptly if we learn that the defendant returns to the US in a non-immune capacity, at which time the Government will proceed to prosecute this case and prove the charges in the Indictment,” he added.
After the row broke out, Khobragade was transferred to India’s Permanent Mission to the UN. Following her arrest, her passport was kept in court’s custody.
Once the UN accreditation was granted that gave her the full diplomatic immunity, the US immediately requested India to waive this immunity so that she can be tried in a US court.
“The US requested waiver of immunity (of Khobragade). India denied that request,” a US Government official told reporters.
“We then requested her departure, as per the standard procedure and the charges remain in place,” the official added. (AGENCIES)
High drama: LC refuses to accept ex-Army chief’s letter
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Jan 9: Amidst a high drama, one of the officials in the Legislative Council today allegedly refused to accept a letter written by former Army chief Gen VK Singh giving his version on alleged pay-offs scandal for which he had been summoned at 11.30 am today by Privilege Committee of the Council. The General had also sent the letter by speed post but the Council Secretariat claimed that it has not received any such letter.
Legislative Council Chairman Amrit Malhotra, meanwhile, received a call from Gen Singh’s Advocate this afternoon on his mobile phone in which the Advocate stated that the former Army chief had gone to Tamil Nadu and would appear in person before the Privilege Committee on next date of summon i.e. January 22.
The Legislative Council Privilege Committee headed by Congress leader Jugal Kishore, former Minister and MLC, which had asked the former Army chief to appear before it at 11.30 am on January 9, issued a fresh deadline for the General on January 22. However, the Committee asked Principal Secretary Home and Director General of Police (DGP) Haryana to convey the date to Gen Singh for appearing before the Privilege Committee to reply to the queries pertaining to alleged pay-offs scandal.
Mr Malhotra told the Excelsior that he got a call from the Advocate of the former Army chief this afternoon in which he explained that his client had gone to Tamil Nadu and couldn’t appear before the Privilege Committee. He quoted the unnamed Advocate as saying that Gen Singh has all regards for the Legislative Council Privilege Committee and would positively appear before it on next date fixed by the Privilege Committee.
The Advocate apprised Mr Malhotra that they had sent their representative to the Council with a written clarification of the former Army chief on pay-offs scandal but it was not received by one of the Secretaries of the Upper House. The Secretary in question, however, told Mr Malhotra that he didn’t receive any such letter.
In the day of high-pitched drama, Col (Retired) UB Singh, a family friend of Gen Singh, told the Excelsior that their messenger-Yashpal Singh had gone to the Council Secretariat along with copy of the letter written by Gen Singh in response to the summons and addressed to the Legislative Council Chairman and the Privilege Committee chairman.
Gen Singh had deputed Yashpal to Jammu along with copy of the letter. Col Singh said Yashpal appeared before one of the Secretaries of the Council and wanted to hand over the letter to him. He said the Secretary in question spoke to someone on telephone and then refused to receive the letter.
Mr Malhotra said the Council official has refuted the charge. However, he added: “if the letter had come to me I would have received it’’. Privilege Committee chairman Jugal Kishore also said the letter should have been received and he would find out whether the Council official has deliberately refused to take the letter “at someone’s behest’’.
Col Singh said Gen Singh had also sent the same letter vide speed post No. AD249592406IN from OP Court I, Gurgaon (Haryana), where he was residing. This letter too had been addressed to the Council Secretary but the Council claim was that it too hasn’t been received so far.
Worthwhile to mention here that the former Army chief had duly replied to Speaker Mubarak Gul’s notice well in time. Mr Gul had made the letter public. The Army chief has already refuted the allegations made by him that Army had made payments to Jammu and Kashmir Ministers.
Meanwhile, the Privilege Committee of Legislative Council met positively at 11.30 am today but Gen Singh didn’t appear before it. The Committee headed by Jugal Kishore comprised Devender Singh Rana, MLC NC, Ghulam Nabi Monga and Ali Mohammad Dar. Two other members of the Committee including Ravinder Sharma, Congress and Showkat Ahmad Ganai, National Conference didn’t attend.
Mr Kishore told the Excelsior that the Privilege Committee has decided to issue fresh summon to Gen Singh on January 22 to appear before it to explain the position.
He said the Principal Secretary Home and the DGP Haryana have been asked get in touch with Gen Singh to convey fresh date of summon to him.
Sources said differences have appeared in the National Conference and Congress on the issue of former Army chief. While the Congress members in the Privilege Committee were of the view that the members should have soft and genuine approach towards Gen Singh, who happened to be the former Army chief and had served the country very well but the NC MLCs wanted to go hard on Gen Singh.
The six members Privilege Committee has three members each from NC and Congress including Jugal Kishore, Ravinder Sharma and Ghulam Nabi Monga from Congress, Devender Singh Rana, Ali Mohammad Dar and Showkat Ganai from NC.
Mr Rana, Ajay Sadhotra, Minister for Planning and Development and Khalid Najib Suhrawardhy, former Minister of State for Home, all NC, were movers of the privilege motion against Gen Singh in the Council during autumn session of the House in Srinagar last October.
Mr Rana told reporters after the Privilege Committee meeting this afternoon that the Panel has decided to issue summons to him (Gen Singh) through the Haryana Director General of Police to appear before this Committee on 22nd of this month at 2:30 pm.
Mr Rana, who is a ruling National Conference MLC and former Political Advisor to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, said “failing this, necessary action under law which is available to us will be taken against him.”
When Rana was asked about the claim of Col UB Singh, he said: “there is no reply we have received as yet.”
On December 8, last year, Privileges Committee had asked Singh to appear in person before it on January 9 to explain his position on his controversial remarks.
Giving details of today’s meeting, Mr Rana said: “the Committee met today under the chairmanship of Jugal Kishore Sharma. Gen V K Singh preferred not to appear before the Committee.”
He directed that the copies of the summons be sent to the Chairman and officials of Haryana.
“As per the summons issued now, the law is very clear on what all measures can be taken to secure his presence before the Committee,” Mr Rana said.
Gen (Retd) Singh was summoned by the Committee to appear before it at around 11.45 am today, when the Marshal of Legislative Council took name of the former Army Chief at the Gate of Council complex in front of the media.
Jawan killed, one missing in Macchil avalanches
Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Jan 9: Heavy snowfall along the Line of Control (LoC) in North Kashmir’s Macchil sector has triggered avalanches and one of them this morning hit a forward Army post killing one Army jawan while another is missing.
Sources said that an avalanche hit Muthal, a forward post in Sonapendi Gali of Macchil sector near the Line of Control (LoC) in district Kupwara, and damaged a portion of the post and buried two Army jawans under the snow.
The rescue operation was launched immediately by the Army and one of the jawans, Sepoy T Sanatam Singh of Manipur, was rescued but he later died. The operation to rescue the other jawan is going on but the heavy snowfall in the area is hampering the rescue operation.
The Macchil sector of North Kashmir has been experiencing heavy snowfall since yesterday morning and so far around 4 feet snow has accumulated during past 30 hours. Reports said that the total snow depth in the area is over 12 feet and fresh snowfall has triggered avalanches in the area and one which hit the arm post.
The fresh overnight snowfall has disrupted the traffic on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway as it was closed for fresh traffic today.
Reports reaching here said that Kupwara received 8 inches, Srinagar 2 inches, Gulmarg 1.5 feet, Pahalgam six inches and Jawahar Tunnel around 2.6 feet of snowfall since yesterday.
The Inspector General of Police, Traffic, Muneer Ahmad Khan told Excelsior that today no fresh traffic was allowed to ply on the highway due to fresh snowfall. He, however, said that around 500 load carriers and Light Mortar Vehicles that were stranded between Udhampur and Banihal were cleared today.
The IGP said that if there is no fresh snowfall and weather permits, traffic from Jammu will be allowed to ply towards Srinagar on the Highway tomorrow. He, however, said that there is forecast of snowfall and final decision on the movement of traffic on the highway will be taken tomorrow.
The BRO’s Project Beacon that is responsible for snow clearance from the National Highway today pressed its men and machinery into service early in the morning and cleared around 2.5 feet of snow from Jawahar Tunnel area.
Chief Engineer Project Beacon, Brigadier R K Sharma said: “Our strategy was to increase the number of attack points in the Banihal sector so that the road clearance could be achieved within shortest possible time. We achieved great success this year as our men cleared the road of snow and other blockades making it operational for the plying of traffic. We had six feet of snowfall this year in Jawahar Tunnel area and our men managed to re-open the highway at faster pace than previous years.”
“Today when we had around 2.5 feet of fresh snowfall in the Banihal sector, we cleared the highway in the morning and Srinagar bound stranded vehicles were cleared”, he added.
Sharma said that this year “we have minimized the loss of life on the highway as very minor accidents were reported on the highway during the heavy snowfall.”
In the meantime, there has been no respite from the intense cold in Kashmir division as the temperatures continue to be sub-zero.
Leh was the coldest place in the State recording a low of minus 11.0 degree Celsius compared to yesterday’s minus 12.4 degree Celsius while maximum day temperature of the place settled at minus 1.3 degree Celsius.
Kargil was the second coldest place that recorded a minimum of minus 9.2 degree Celsius against minus 12.1 degree Celsius the previous night while maximum day temperature of the place settled at minus 6.8 degree Celsius.
Srinagar recorded a low of minus 1.9 degree Celsius as against yesterday’s low of minus 1.7 degree Celsius while maximum day temperature of the place settled at 4.2 degree Celsius.
Gulmarg was one of the coldest recorded places in the Valley with a low of minus 7.0 degree Celsius. The hill resort has recorded a minimum of minus 9.4 degree Celsius yesterday while maximum day temperature of place settled at minus 0.5 degree Celsius.
Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 5.8 degree Celsius against yesterday’s low of minus 6.2 degree Celsius while maximum day temperature settled at 4 degree Celsius.
Kupwara in North Kashmir was freezing at minus 2.0 degree Celsius compared to yesterday’s minus 1.3 degree Celsius while maximum day temperature of the place settled at 8.2 degree Celsius.
Kokernag in South Kashmir settled at minus 4.5 degree Celsius while maximum day temperature settled at 0.1 degree Celsius.
Qazigund settled at minus 4.5 degree Celsius while maximum day temperature was recorded at minus 4 degree Celsius.
Winter capital of the State, Jammu recorded maximum temperature of 16.4 degree Celsius and minimum settled at 7.7 degree Celsius.
Smuggler held with heroin
AMRITSAR, Jan 9: Punjab Police today arrested an alleged drug smuggler and seized four kilogramme heroin worth Rs 20 crore and a Pakistani SIM card from him.
Mohinder Pal Singh, a resident of Indo-Pak border village Dookey was arrested when he was intercepted by the police on the outskirts of Amritsar city, Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aullak said.
During frisking a Pakistani SIM card, motorcycle and four kilogramme heroin worth Rs 20 crore was recovered from his possession, Aullak said.
The Police Commissioner said that seized drug and SIM was smuggled from Pakistan by the accused who has contacts with other Pakistani counterparts. (PTI)
Omar for timely completion of NH widening
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 9: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today called for timely completion of the widening of Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and asked the executing agencies to ensure that maximum employment in the works was given to the local youth.
Speaking to the executing agencies after inspecting the status of 4-laning of Jammu-Srinagar National Highway from Jammu to Udhampur, the work on which was apace, Omar called upon the agencies engaged in construction work to ensure that maximum weightage was given to local youth in the employment.
“The local youth, traders, transporters and other stake holders should benefit from the projects of national importance,” he said, adding the State Government has been training the local youths in skill development, which can be used by the work executing agencies.
Omar said instead of outsourcing the jobs, the public and private companies should employ local youth in flagship programmes and mega projects so that the local people benefited out of the development works in the State.
“The national companies executing various flagship programmes and mega projects in the State should ensure employment of locals both in skilled and non-skilled disciplines of work,” he added.
“Local youth should have priority preference in getting jobs in the projects being executed by the private and Central companies in the State,” the Chief Minister said.
Omar said the economic welfare of locals to the maximum should be ensured while executing the works.
“You should absorb all the available human resource in the projects you are executing besides giving preference to the local traders, contractors, transporters and others to undertake works of different nature,” he said.
Omar said the State Government had taken several initiatives including an ambitious programme to upgrade skills of local youth for technical work particularly for projects in the power and road communication sector.
He also directed the Revenue Department and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to work in close coordination for disbursement of compensation to the families whose land is being acquired for the construction of the road.
The Chief Minister, who was accompanied by J&K Minister for Roads and Buildings (R&B) Abdul Majid Wani, stopped at Sidhra, Nagrota Bye Pass, Ban-Toll Plaza, Tunnel-3 south portal at Nandani, Jhajjar Kotli Bridge and Udhampur Bye Pass to receive first-hand account of the work status on the construction of 4-lane NH from Jammu to Udhampur.
The inspection carried out today was part of Chief Mnister’s regular monitoring on the status of work being carried out on the 4-laning of NH Project by NHAI.
Highlighting the importance of this project, Omar said it would not only enhance and upgrade the accessibility to the Valley from other parts of the country but help in generating economic activities and jobs for people of the State.
The NHAI officials informed the Chief Minister that 5.12 kilometers Jammu Bye Pass, 11.70 kilometers Nagrota Bye Pass and 18-19 kilometers Udhampur Bye Pass have been completed.
The Chief Minister appreciated the work of NHAI and also laid stress on time bound completion of the works.
He also interacted with people at various places and received their brief about the progress on the project.
Omar said that 4-laning of National Highway would not only enhance and upgrade the accessibility to the Valley from other parts of the country but help in a big way to generate economic activities and jobs for people in different fields of development.
While presenting the silent features of the project, the officials of National Highway Authority of India said that construction of 4-laning of Jammu-Udhampur Highway involves construction of 64 major and 61 minor 2-lane bridges, 220 culverts and 4 twin tube tunnels. They spelt out working schedule and the time frame for completion of this stretch of the project.
It has stated a state of art Toll Plaza at Kilometer 22 in Village Ban at the end of Nagrota Bye Pass with automatic vehicle classifier and count, weigh in motion bridge, medical aids, ambulances, cranes and highway traffic patrol is part of the project. The Chief Minister appreciated the work of National Highway Authority of India and also laid stress on time bound completion of the works.
The Chief Minister also interacted with people at various places and received their brief about the status of progress on the project. They also apprised the Chief Minister about various works executed in different development sectors in their areas.
Legislator and provincial president, National Conference, Jammu Devender Singh Rana, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Shantmanu and IGP Jammu Rajesh Kumar also accompanied the Chief Minister.
Top JMC officials, businessmen booked
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 9: The State Vigilance Organisation (SVO) today registered a case against top officials of Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) and a businessman for construction of a huge commercial complex under the garb of residential permission along Apsara Road at Gandhi Nagar.
The JMC officials and the businessman against whom the SVO today registered a FIR included the then Joint Commissioner (Administration) Babu Ram, Satish Khajuria, Chief Enforcement Officer, JMC, Naresh Khajuria, Enforcement Officer, Munish Bhatia and Sidarth Bhatia sons of Madan Mohan Bhatia, residents of opposite Peerbaba, Apsara Road, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu and other unnamed officers/officials of the JMC.
SSP Vigilance Jammu, Rupinder Chalotra said the FIR No. 2/2014 has been registered by the SVO Jammu against the accused officials of the JMC and businessmen of Bhatia Sons for facilitating and raising of construction of a huge commercial structure under the garb of residential permission.
The verifications conducted by the Vigilance Organisation into the allegations revealed that Madan Bhatia, Munish Bhatia and Sidarth Bhatia in nexus with Babu Ram, Satish Khajuria, Naresh Khajuria and other officers/officials of the JMC, Jammu had constructed a big commercial three storeyed structure with basement at Apsara Road opposite Peerbaba, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu in total violation of the sanctioned building plan.
Official sources said the permission bearing No.536/BS/2009 dated 31.07.2009 was actually granted for the residential purpose but under its garb a big building both in terms of area and height with huge basement meant for commercial purpose was constructed by the businessmen in total violations of sanctioned plan, master plan, zoning regulations and building Bye-Laws etc.
The Vigilance investigations further revealed that the JMC officials took no timely action under the rules when the commercial complex was being raised by the businessmen. These officers of the JMC facilitated the beneficiaries in raising three storeyed commercial complex by giving the businessmen sufficient time in not taking the timely action of dismantling commercial construction knowing that the sanctioned plan was issued for residential purpose only.
These officers of the JMC in the notices under Section 7(1) and 7(3) of COBO Act dated 14.08.2012 and 17.12.2012 respectively issued to the beneficiaries deliberately and dishonestly concealed the actual violation to be mentioned in the notices and instead mentioned the violation in vague terms by stating only removal of earth work and construction of the basement and thereby deliberately omitted to show the violation committed by beneficiaries in terms of floor area ratio and height besides that of set back and changing land use from residential to commercial one which facilitated the beneficiaries in getting the non-compoundable violations compounded from J&K Special Tribunal, sources said.
“By acting in this manner the officers/officials of the JMC abused their official position and in league with businessmen conferred undue benefits upon the latter,” they added.
The case FIR No. 2/2014 has been registered in police station Vigilance Organization, Jammu against all the accused under Section 5(1) (d) read with 5(2) J&K Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120-B RPC for further investigations.