The number of suicides by farmers due to agrarian reasons has not risen last year as compared to the previous years, Parliament was informed today.
“The number of suicides by farmers due to agrarian reasons during 2012 has not risen in comparison to previous years,” Agriculture and Food Processing Minister Sharad Pawar said in the Rajya Sabha.
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra governments have reported 29, 33 and 473 cases of farmers suicides respectively during 2012, he said.
The reply did not provide comparative figures.
“No state has so far reported any case of farmers suicide due to agrarian reasons during 2013,” Pawar said.
Meanwhile, in a written reply to a separate question, Minister of State for Agriculture Tariq Anwar said: “Expert Group of Agricultural Indebtedness pointed out that suicide is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon.
“The risk factors can be either neurobiological or socio-economic and root cause is no indebtedness alone, which is just a symptom,” he said.
Whereas state governments have cited many reasons for farmers suicides including indebtedness, crop failure, drought, socio-economic and personal reasons, he added.
Asserting that the Centre’s prime focus is expansion of farm income, Pawar said that the government has taken several measures to boost farm income in the way of enhancement in minimum support price of agricultural commodities, increase in agri-credit flow, debt waiver and interest subvention on crop loans among others.
He said: “Government continues to take several steps to revitalise agriculture sector and improve condition of farming community on sustainable basis by increasing investment, improving farm practices, rural infrastructure and delivery of credit, technology and other inputs.” (PTI)
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 1: PM’s Package Migrant Employees Forum have appealed the State and Central Governments to shift their posts outside Kashmir till total normalcy is restored in Valley.
The Forum which held a meeting here under the leadership of Shakti Kumar demanded that the terms and conditions on the package be removed.
The Forum said that the migrant employees did not went to Valley for the sake of jobs only but on the assurance of both Central and State Governments that they were seriously looking forward to return and rehabilitation of migrants with hour and dignity.
It said that most of the employees opted for the job because they were missing their birth land and were determined to serve in the Valley but the Forum expressed concern over the problems faced by the employees after joining their jobs in Valley as there is no proper infrastructure as well as road map for their permanent rehabilitation with dignity and honour and the claims of the Government are totally hollow in this regard.
The Forum termed their posting in Valley a second migration as after over 20 years return to Valley to live they saw no permanent settlement in sight and alleged that female employees were even facing the problems of schooling for their children.
The Forum said these employees are with out accommodations with four to five families sharing one or two rooms. This way the State Government has made a mockery of entire return policy, it added.
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Mar 1: Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) today had to call off its demolition drive in the Hyderpora area here as a group of persons attacked the demolition team that was carrying out demolition of some ‘illegal’ shops in the area.
Meanwhile, SMC suspended the ward officer of the area along with the building inspector on the complaint that the official was hand in glove with the ‘violator’ who had raised illegal construction in the area.
The SMC authorities also registered a First Information Report (FIR) against a group of persons at police station Sadar alleging that the group of civilians attacked the SMC staff and also interfered in their drive to demolish the ‘illegal’ shops in the Gulberg Colony of the Hyderpora. The operation had to be called off midway even though some of the shops were demolished.
As the team was busy in its operation a group of persons led by Nazir objected to the drive and said the drive is illegal with the shops being legal. The demolition squad asked to come up with the supporting documents in case they want the drive to be stopped.
However, the points raised by the demolition squad did not go well with the group of persons and they started to interfere in the demolition drive. Some of them went on to the shops and said the demolition can be carried out only after their death. Despite strong resistance and opposition the demolition squad demolished some of the shops.
As the group of persons manhandled some of the members of the demolition squad the demolition drive had to be called off. The calling off of the demolition drive led to order in the area and there was no more further trouble.
Meanwhile, Commissioner SMC, Dr. Ghulam Nabi Qasba has appealed the people not to violate master plan norms and do away with the illegal constructions.
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 1: Minister for R&B Abdul Majid Wani today said that recently the Central Government has given nod for connecting 1100 habitations under PMGSY in the State.
He was replying to a question of Javid Ahmad Rana regarding road connectivity in district Poonch. The Minister said that road connectivity in hilly and remote areas has been given top priority by the Government and several schemes under NABARD, PMGSY, State Plan and bad pockets in district Poonch are under execution and many of them have been completed.
He said that 47 road projects have been taken up in Poonch under NABARD, out of these 22 were taken up in Mendhar, 15 in Haveli and 10 in Surankote. He said that as many as 193 schemes under State Sector Projectization of roads are also under execution in Poonch district.
Regarding the remaining uncovered habitations, the Minister said that with the recent approval under PMGSY, these habitations will be taken up soon for execution.
Victory eluded world champion Viswanathan Anand yet again as he played out a fourth draw in five games, against Boris Gelfand of Israel, and remained at the bottom after the fifth and penultimate round of the Zurich Chess Challenge here.
Following a shock defeat in the previous round against Fabiano Caruana of Italy, Anand looked for sharp play against Gelfand but his efforts did not yield the desirable result as the Israeli first pressed for an advantage and had little problems in holding out a draw in the end.
Meanwhile, leader Caruana yet again played exciting chess before settling for a draw with Vladimir Kramnik of Russia.
With just one round to come, the Italian remained at the top on three points in this four-player double round-robin tournament and he continued to be followed by Kramnik and Gelfand a half point behind. Anand on two points stands last in the tournament.
Playing the black side of a Catalan, Anand went for early complications but found one of his pawns en prise.
“It’s a pity when everything has to be defended tactically, its much nicer when the position holds itself, I think black was quite shaky,” Anand said.
Instead of going for the pawn which would have netted him a safer advantage, Gelfand came up with an exchange sacrifice and conceded that he had missed something in his calculations.
White still had something to play for but Anand was in control too and after trading of some pieces it was clear that the game would end in a draw. The peace was signed after 40 moves.
After employing the Benoni defense as black against Caruana in one of the earlier rounds successfully, Kramnik probably figured that he would do much better in the structure if he had an extra move.
Playing white, the Russian went for the reverse Benoni but was in for a surprise as Caruana came up with some excellent counter attack.
The Italian sacrificed a rook for a minor pieces and two pawns to push Kramnik back, and slowly starting outplaying the Russian.
Things started to look bleak for Kramnik but in the end he came up with a master stroke – a rook sacrifice that was a difficult find for the human eye.
For Caruana, taking it meant allowing unusual perpetual checks, and he felt it was too risky to play for a win any longer. The game lasted 49 moves.
Results round 5: Boris Gelfand (Isr, 2.5) drew with V Anand (Ind, 1.5); Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 2.5) drew with Fabiano Caruana (Ita, 3). (PTI)
Australian skipper Michael Clarke today reckoned that spin will “again play a big role” in the second Test against India here but was non-committal on whether he would go with an extra spinner or a fast bowler.
He felt the 22-yard strip at the Uppal Stadium was pretty “similar” to the one at Chepauk, where they were thrashed by eight wickets.
“There are a lot of similarities to the Chennai pitch in regards to the wicket. It looks as if it (pitch) was prepared quite early. It’s going to be quite a dry and obviously spin will again play a big part. There will also be up and down bounce. I would be very surprised if India don’t play with three spinners,” Clarke told reporters on the eve of the second Test.
Clarke’s decision to play to his team’s strength backfired in Chennai and probably that’s the reason why the New South Wales man preferred to keep the cards close to his chest.
“Let me have a look at the wicket and then I will sit with the selectors and decide on the XI. I will have to check whether playing an extra spinner will be a better option than playing an extra fast bowler. We want to assess the conditions well and then make sure that we select the best XI,” he said.
Clarke, however, clarified that opener David Warner was fully fit and available for selection.
“You will see him playing again,” he said with a smile.
The stylish right-hander made no bones of the fact that just like the Indian team is comfortable playing in home conditions, the ‘Baggy Greens’ are an equally formidable opposition in their backyard.
“When you come to India, you know that the Indian team will be very comfortable because they play here on a regular basis. It’s the same with the Australian team. We are very comfortable playing in our own backyard.
“The challenge is to make sure that you perform all over the world. Personally, this tour of India is a huge challenge for me as a captain. We have had a pretty consistent success rate in Australia and we want that to happen on overseas tours as well,” he stated.
Clarke chose to defend Phillip Hughes, who had single digit scores in both innings.
“He got a really awkward delivery in the second innings as it jumped off the rough. He is working very hard just like others in the team. I am confident that our first five or six batsmen can score runs consistently.”
He is undoubtedly the best player of spin bowling in the current Aussie set-up but Clarke believes that each individual has his own way of countering the turning deliveries.
“I don’t expect others to play spin in a manner that I do. I have had success with my approach and there have been times that I failed. The key thing is to have a plan and have courage to stick to it,” he said.
Nathan Lyon went for over 200 runs in the first Test and the skipper was non-committal about whether the offie would get a start or not, provided they again go with single spinner.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that single spinner would be Lyon. It could be someone else.”
Shane Watson not being able to bowl has also been detrimental to Australia’s team composition and Clarke opined, “It was Watto’s (Watson’s nickname) call of not bowling and not Cricket Australia. I don’t know when he will again start bowling but for me, he is one of the best all-rounders in world cricket. Also, he is good enough to play as a specialist batsman in this Australian line-up,” he said.
The skipper, however, didn’t like the obvious parallel with the England team’s come-from-behind series win.
“We are not the England team. We are a different team. We may have lost the first Test but now our aim is to win the next three Test matches. We need to remain focused. If we can play our best cricket, I am confident of doing well,” he signed off. (PTI)
President Pranab Mukherjee will release a commemorative stamp on the Army’s elite Special Forces unit at Rashtrapati Bhavan tomorrow.
The stamp is being released to mark the bicentenary celebrations of the 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment (Special Forces).
The Special Forces unit was raised on March 8, 1813.
“This is one of the first battalions of the Army which served under the United Nations flag from November 1956 to November 1957 as part of Indian contingent of the United Nations Emergency Force in Egypt and Gaza Strip,” a Rashtrapati Bhavan press release said.
The Battalion took part in various operations during both world wars.
During Jammu and Kashmir operations, it was involved in the famous battle of Shelatang on November 7, 1947.
For its continued excellence in operations, the unit was also sent ‘out of turn’ for a United Nations Mission tenure in Lebanon in January of 2008, where it was awarded the United Nations Force Commander Citation.
The Battalion has the privilege of being bestowed with 11 pre-independence and two post-independence battle honours and a theatre honour. (PTI)
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 1: Academic Council of Jammu University, which met today under the chairmanship of Vice-Chancellor Prof M P S Ishar, endorsed the proposals to start M Tech Course in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, M Tech in Micro Electronic & VLSI and Tech in Electronic & Communication Engineering.
During the meeting, 37 items were discussed along with the action taken on the resolution of the last Academic Council held on June 19, 2012. It was also resolved that Environment Science part II compulsory paper examination will be held on the objective type basis from the next academic session. Deficiency of one percent marks in aggregate to the placement of First & Second division as the case may be in all courses was also endorsed. The Academic Council also recommended three percent seats in University Courses to persons with disability above 45 percent as provided in the act.
The Introduction of Choice based Credit system for the PG Programme of the Jammu University from the session 2014-15 was also endorsed during the meeting.
Among others present in the meeting, included, Prof Neelam Saraf, Dean Academic Affairs, Prof Kulwant Kaur, Dean Research Studies, Registrar Prof Naresh Padha, Deans of various faculties, Heads of various Departments, Conveners, College Principals and other officials.
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 1: Government today assigned the additional charge of the post of Director, Handloom Development Department to the Director Industries and ordered transfers and postings of two officers with immediate effect.
According to the GAD order, Gulzar Ahmad Qureshi, Director Industries and Commerce, Jammu will hold the charge of the post of Director, Handloom Development Department in addition to his own duties till further orders.
Farooq Ahmad, Private Secretary to Commissioner/ Secretary Cooperative Department has been transferred and posted as Private Secretary to Commissioner/ Secretary, Department of Tourism and Culture.
Kanwal Krishan Ganjoo, Private Secretary awaiting orders of adjustment in the General Administration Department has been posted as Private Secretary to Principal Secretary, Finance Department.
Meanwhile, Government order relating to the posting of Hashmat Ali Khan, Additional Secretary/Principal Private Secretary to Chief Secretary as Joint Director, Hospitality and Protocol (Hqrs) has been kept in abeyance till further orders.
Rajesh Dhar
JAMMU, Mar 1: The draft of J&K Sports Policy envisages special measures and promises an extraordinary attention to the development of infrastructure in the State, awarding of incentives to outstanding sportspersons, implementation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes and making coaches accountable and answerable, besides categorization of games under Olympic and non-Olympic charter.
Sources said that the J&K State Sports Council has finalized a proposed draft of the J&K Sports Policy, which has already been presented to the Chief Minister and president of the Council, Omar Abdullah for consideration, envisages special steps with regard to promotion of sports and games in the State.
“The draft of the J&K Sports Policy to be constituted with an aim to create sports culture in the State includes the development of infrastructure at the division, district, tehsil, block and Gram Panchayat level, besides launching a State Sports Talent Hunt Scheme to identify the players at grass-root level,” sources added.
Sources further added that the draft proposes establishment of Sports Hostels to run various games in a phased manner, wherein the selection of players would be transparent after fixing proper standards and criteria.
The draft also proposes setting up of Academies for promoting excellence in the games in which the State’s sportspersons have performed exceedingly well at the National and International level.
As per the draft, the Day Boarding Centres would also be setup in collaboration with Sports Authority of India (SAI) to provide coaching to the budding sportspersons of the State.
Sources informed that the draft also proposes the establishment of Sports Science Centre to help the sportspersons receive special medical attention, treatment and health packages.
Moreover, the draft proposes classification of games in three categories of A, B and C under Olympic and Non-Olympic Charter, which would be reviewed from time to time depending upon the relative performance, status and popularity of the various disciplines.
The Sports Policy also proposes to draft new qualification for the recruitment of good quality coaches with adequate promotional avenues, which would involve a system to make sports officers and coaches accountable and answerable.
The Policy also promises to assess the fitness and the skill of the coaches after every five years and make it mandatory for coaches to attend national level training programme after every five years.
The most important proposal drafted in the J&K Sports Policy is the awards and incentives to outstanding sportspersons to compensate for the expenses incurred on diet, training, preparation and for deprivation suffered by them due to their devotion and service to sports. The prestigious awards include Sher-e-Kashmir Award, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award, Parshuram Award, Brig Rajinder Singh Award for Men and Madr-e-Meharban Award for Women, besides Chief Minister’s Gold Rolling Trophy for Sports Associations and scholarships to sportspersons.
The Policy also includes reservation of sportspersons in Professional Courses/Colleges, Recruitment of Outstanding Sportspersons and State Award to outstanding Sportspersons.
It is pertinent to mention here that the draft has been framed after the Minister for Sports Taj Mohi-ud-Din held a series of meetings with the experts in the elitist Sports Agencies of the State and after threadbare discussions with the administrators and officials of his departments. The draft also considered the report of the team which had visited many State’s of the Country with regard to gaining knowledge over the Sports Policies of other States, way back in the year 2007-08.
