JAMMU :  Jammu and Kashmir Government today banned chewable tobacco products in the state.
Minister for Finance, Abdul Rahim Rather while presenting his 13th budget in the state Assembly said,”the use of products containing chewable tobacco is much more dangerous. Many deaths in very miserable circumstances are caused every year due to consumption of these products.”
The Minister said, “to save the society from the dangerous consequences of use of chewable tobacco, I propose to impose a total ban on import, manufacturing, transportation, stocking and sale of chewable tobacco and products like pan masala, gutka, khanini and other similar products which contain chewable tobacco as one of its ingredients.”
He further said with a view to discourage the hazardous habit of smoking, taxation has been used as a tool from time to time.
“I have proposed to increase the existing rate of VAT from 30 per cent to 40 per cent on raw tobacco and in the rates of VAT on cigarettes and other related products,” Mr Rather added. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI : A demand to get back the body of a person who was reportedly killed in a Pakistan prison after he strayed into its territory was today made in the Rajya Sabha, with government promising immediate action.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla told the House, “We will take immediate action to get the body back. We will talk to the External Affairs Ministry to do the needful.”
Shukla gave the assurance after Deputy Chairman P J Kurien, on the demand of Avinash Rai Khanna (BJP), asked him what was the difficulty in bringing the body back.
Raising the demand during Zero Hour, Khanna drew attention of the government to human rights violations by Pakistan, saying Chamel Singh, a Sikh from Jammu & Kashmir had strayed into its territory and was taken into custody and a false case registered against him for spying. He said the Pakistan Army took him away and he was murdered in jail after torture.
“No voice was raised by the Indian government. The government did not exert any pressure on Pakistan on why an Indian was killed in a Pakistan Jail. Nobody is bothering to get the body back and money is being demanded for transfer of the body back to India.
“The Indian government should talk to Pakistani authorities on this death and his body be brought back at government cost and action be initiated against those who are responsible for his death,” Khanna said.
“Indians are being made soft targets and there are human rights violations against them and our government is not taking this issue strongly,” he said. (agencies)

NEW DELHI :  CBI today started questioning cousins of former Air Chief S P Tyagi in connection with its ongoing probe into alleged kickbacks in the Rs 3600 crore VVIP helicopter deal.
CBI sources said Julie and Docsa Tyagi have been quizzed on their alleged association with European middlemen Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschkhe who have been accused by the Italian investigators for payment of illegal gratification to swing the deal in favour of AgustaWestland.
The sources said agency has already questioned executives of Indian arms of Aeromatrix and IDS Infotech–companies through which alleged bribe was routed from Mauritius and Tunisia in the garb of payments for engineering contracts.
In his probe report, the Italian prosecutor had said that Gerosa and Haschkhe had close contacts with former Air Chief’s family, particularly his three cousins–Julie, Docsa and Sandeep.
It had claimed that Haschkhe and Gerosa, through the Tyagi brothers, managed to change the tender details, modifying the ‘operational ceiling’ from 18,000 feet to 15,000 feet altitude, thus making AgustaWestland eligible to take part in the tender process.
The report also said that the duo managed to introduce a comparative flight trial with non-functional engine, thus facilitating AgustaWestland helicopters, the only ones which had three engines, swinging the deal in its favour.
The CEOs of the two Italian companies, arrested by local authorities, also paid the middlemen through a consultancy contract between AgustaWestland and Gordian Services Sarl an amount of 400,000 Euros (about Rs 2.8 crore) of which 100,000 Euros (Rs 72 lakh) were paid cash to the Tyagi brothers (Julie, Docsa and Sandeep), the report said.
The former Air Chief and his three cousins have denied the allegations. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI :  Terrorists have issued a threat to Kashmiri pandits asking them to leave Kashmir, Government today said.
Minister of State for Home R P N Singh replied with a “yes” to a question in Rajya Sabha on whether terrorists have issued a threat to Kashmiri Pandits to leave Kashmir.
“As per report received from the state government of Jammu and Kashmir, a threatening letter/poster to leave Kashmir within a week was received through post by Secretary, Pandit Colony Sheikhpora, Budgam. The post, however, did not have any evidence or proof of its origin from any of the militant organisations.
“In this connection an FIR no 225/2012 under section 13 ULA Act 120-B RPC has been registered. Adequate security arrangements are in place in and around the migrant colonies to ensure safety of the Kashmiri Pandits,” Singh said in the written reply in the Upper House.
There are approximately 4,000 Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI :  National security and modernisation of the armed forces will not be affected from reduction in defence allocation under revenue segment and capital in the Revised Estimates 2012-13, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.
”The allocation in the current financial year has been reduced by Rs 4,903.77 crore under the revenue segment and Rs 10,000 crore under capital in the Revised Estimates 2012-13. This has been done in view of prevailing fiscal situation,” Defence Minister A K Antony said during Question Hour.
Mr Antony said the defence allocation was adequate to sustain the pace of modernisation in the current financial year.
”The Government is continously monitoring progress of schemes to ensure that defence preparedness is maintained at an optimum level by ensuring prioritisation of expenditure within the vailable funds,” he said.
Responding to another querry, Mr Antony said the country has been  surrounded by various challenges and the Government was committed to providing adequate arms and ammunition to the armed forces.
”We have to be 24×7 watchful. We have to strengthen our armed forces,” he said.
The Minister said the important procurement will be given priority and there will be no delay in such procurement.
Mr Antony, responding to other question, said the Government has been giving priority to indigenisation to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign countries for defence products. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI :  With the opposition targeting the government on alleged irregularities in the farm loan waiver scheme, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today promised “stringent possible action” against defaulters, if any.
The Prime Minister’s assurance came in the Rajya Sabha as BJP created uproar over the alleged “siphoning off” of farmers’ money and a “scam” in the scheme in the wake of the CAG report.
“The reference is to the CAG report on loan waiver scheme. This is a matter which should be entrusted to the Public Accounts Committee as per normal practice. If there are any irregularities, which have been shown, I assure the House that we will take stringent possible action against the defaulters,” Singh said in impromptu comments.
His statement came after BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad raised the issue during Zero Hour, alleging scam in the scheme and his colleagues attacked the government over it.
Unimpressed by the Prime Minister’s reply, BJP members trooped into the well forcing Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to adjourn the House for a brief period.
Earlier, Prasad said the CAG report points out that 34 lakh people who should not have got the loan waiver benefit actually got it while 24 lakh farmers who deserved it, could not get it.
“It is a case of clear scam. Bank officials in connivance with the middlemen siphoned off the money of farmers,” Prasad said recalling that the Prime Minister himself had visited Vidharbha in Maharashtra to launch the scheme.
“It is unfortunate that a scam is happening even in this scheme,” Prasad said, adding micro-financing companies are the actual beneficiaries at the cost of farmers even as incidents of farmers’ suicides are taking place in many states including Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. (AGENCIES)

JAMMU :  Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) MLA Harsh Dev Singh today said it is only due to the  Army that people sleep fearlessly especially, in the  bordering belts of the state.
“It is unfortunate that if a particular person commits  wrong, entire Army is being blamed,” Mr Singh said while participating in a discussion on Baramulla incident in the  state Assembly here.
Mr Singh’s statement came in the backdrop of an FIR registered against the Army in Baramulla firing incident in which a youth  was killed and four people were injured.
“It is the Army that normalised situation in the state and maintained law and order,” he said, adding that they are fighting proxy war against Pakistan.
“It is Army that provided assistance to the people and raised temporary infrastructure during 2005 earthquake in the state after civil administration failed to handle the situation,” he said, adding that, “if a particular person commits mistake, entire Army cannot be blamed.”
Army has it own Act and Law and the culprit can be punished accordingly by the Army.
The JKNPP leader also asked legislators to withdraw their security and see how safe they were in the state.
The discussion will bring out no results, he said and also opposed revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act(AFSPA) from the state.
Mr Singh also termed killing of the two IRP jawans as human right violations and demanded job and relief to their families. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI, Mar 6:

 Lok Sabha was adjourned till noon today after uproar by opposition members on the alleged farm loan waiver scam.

    As soon as the House met, members of BJP and Left were on their feet raising the issue of the findings of a CAG report with regard to the scheme to waive loans of farmers totalling up to Rs 52,000 crore.

    BJP members led by deputy leader Gopinath Munde raised slogans against the government. They were joined by CPI(M) members.

    AIADMK members were in the aisle raising the issue of plight of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka.

    As Speaker Meira Kumar called for the Question Hour, BJP and SP members trooped into the Well demanding immediate discussion on the farm loan waiver issue.

    With members unrelenting, the Speaker adjourned the House till noon.

    The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the scheme has said several ineligible farmers were favoured and a large number of deserving small and marginal farmers left out in implementation of the loan waiver scheme. (AGENCIES)

SRINAGAR :  Normal life was affected in Kashmir for the third consecutive day today due to curfew in several parts of the Valley to prevent deterioration of law and order in the wake of killing of a youth allegedly in Army firing in Baramulla.
Curfew was clamped last night in eight police station jurisdictions of the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir and north Kashmir’s Baramulla and Sopore towns, a police spokesman said.
Police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in large numbers in vulnerable areas of the city and other parts of the Valley to maintain law and order, the spokesman said.
The decision to impose curfew was taken at a high level meeting last night as protests engulfed many parts of the Valley against the killing of Tahir Rasool allegedly in Army firing in Baramulla town.
Rasool was killed during protests against alleged highhandedness of the Army.
Army has claimed that its personnel were surrounded by a mob of around 200 persons and the situation had turned life threatening for the soldiers.
It also claimed that the soldiers had fired warning shots in air and could not have caused death. The Army, while ordering an internal inquiry, also sought a detailed probe by police into the incident to find out the truth.
Although there was no call for shutdown by the separatist groups, a spontaneous shutdown was observed in areas where curfew has not been imposed.
Shops and business establishments remained closed while public transport remained off the roads.
At least six persons were injured in the late evening clashes between protestors and law enforcing agencies in the city and other parts of the Valley, official sources said. (AGENCIES)