GMK-epaper-March3 - Good Morning Kashmir

THURSDAY | March 03, 2016 | 23 Jamadi-al-Awal 1437 A.H
www.goodmorningkashmir.in
GOOD
Morning Kashmir
RNI No. JKENG/2010/36998 | Vol: 06 | Issue 56 | Page: 08
6th Year
of Publication
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not clicked:
Mathews
Page | 8
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Protests in
Kunzar against
arrest of youths
Standing Committee to
scrutinize cost escalation of
projects, punish erring officers
JAMMU, MAR 2: The Government has constituted a Standing Committee to assess the reasons
for cost-escalation of the projects for which the
Departments seek revised administrative approval. The Committee will fix responsibility of the
concerned officers in such cases where the over-runs
are not justified.
The Committee will be headed by the Administrative Secretary Planning & Development Department with Administrative Secretary Power Development Department, Administrative Secretary
Public Works (R&B) Department, Administrative
Secretary PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control Department and Development Commissioner Works as its
Members. The Administrative Secretary of the
concerned Department will be the Member Secretary
of the Committee.
The terms of reference of the Committee include
assessing the reasons for time and cost over-runs
against the pre-defined parameters so as to reduce
the scope for discretion and open-ended cost and
time escalation. It will also undertake detailed
examination of the basis/reasons for cost and time
over-runs before recommending the accord of administrative approval to the revised cost of projects
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Porter falls in crevasse in
Siachen, body found
JAMMU,MAR 2: The army on Wednesday recovered the body of a porter who died after slipping
into a 200-feet-deep crevasse in Jammu and Kashmir's
Siachen Glacier.
Colonel S.D. Goswami, spokesman of the army's
Udhampur-headquartered Northern Command
told IANS in Jammu: "After a massive rescue effort,
the army today (Wednesday) recovered the body of
a porter who had fallen into a 200-feet-deep crevasse
in Siachen's Northern Glacier."
"The porter accidentally fell into the crevasse
on February 27. Rescue operations by specialised
army teams were launched immediately and had
continued unabated.
"Rescue teams progressively descended to depths
of 60 feet, 90 feet and cut through the frozen snow
and ice to finally reach 130 feet deep where they
located the porter's body."
It comes days after 10 soldiers were buried under
nearly 30 feet of ice and snow when an avalanche
hit the Indian Army's Sonam post -- at an altitude
of around 20,000 feet -- on the Siachen glacier on
February 3,
One of them, Lance Naik Hanamanthapa Koppad, was found alive after he remained trapped
Suhail Khan
BARAMULLA, MAR
2: The residents of Kunzar,
Tangmarg Wednesday held
protest demonstration against
arrest of four youths from
the Area.
Eyewitnesses said, locals
staged demonstration and
shouted anti Indian slogans
against frequent police raids
in Main Chowk Kunzar and
blocked the Srinagar Gulmarg road for hours which
resulted in massive traffic
jam.
The youths who have been
arrested were identified as
Suhail Ahmad Wani son of
Gulzar Ahmad wani ,Ubaid
Indian consulate
in Jalalabad attacked
ARRAYKABUL, MAR 2: A
policeman and two civilians were
killed when militants targeted the
Indian consulate in Afghanistan's
Jalalabad city on Wednesday, triggering a fierce gun battle that left
all five attackers also dead, officials
said. All Indian diplomats were safe.
Nineteen other civilians were
injured in the mayhem and admitted
to a hospital, Afghan news reports
said. Officials said all diplomats and
staff at the Indian consulate were
safe.
Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar
province, is often targeted by Taliban
militants.
The consulate was attacked earlier in 2013 too by the Taliban. But
no one claimed responsibility for
Wednesday's attack which involved
a team of militants armed with weap-
ons and explosives.
The dramatic attack began around
People expect Governor to act against
'tainted' Principal, Dental College Sgr
SRINAGAR, MAR 2: With the
General Administration Department
(GAD) submitting the list of ‘tainted’
officers to Governor Narendra Nath
Vohra, all eyes are on the Governor,
as and when he will issue ‘punitive’
orders against Principal, Government Dental College (GDC), Srinagar,
Dr. Riyaz Farooq for his role in the
noon when a suicide bomber came
up to the front gate of the consulate
and suddenly detonated his explosivesladen vest, stunning the guards and
civilians there.
The aim was to pave the way for
the other militants to storm the building, police officer Fazel Ahmad
Shirzad told TOLO News.
The explosion, which was heard
in a wide area, left two civilians and
a policeman dead -- and triggered a
massive fight as security forces rushed
to the area in their armoured vehicles.
Panic gripped the area, also home
to the Pakistani and Iranian missions. Civilians fled from the spot.
Journalists reported explosions
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The dramatic attack began around noon when a suicide bomber came up to the
front gate of the consulate and suddenly detonated his explosives-laden vest,
stunning the guards and civilians there
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Wasim Feroz
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Tulips bloom a month earlier year due to unexpected heat.......... Pic By: Mehraj Bhat
embezzlement at the college.
Sources said that Dr. Riyaz’s name
figures in the list that was submitted
by the GAD to Governor Vohra. The
submission of the list came close on
the heels of directions issued by
Governor to the GAD in this regard.
Vohra had in fact issued warning
to the GAD higher ups that they should
be ready to face the music in case
they fail to submit the list within
the stipulated time.
“A senior bureaucrat in the GAD
tried his best to save Principal, GDC
Srinagar so that his name does not
figure in the list of tainted officials.
However, the bureaucrat did not take
any chance and as such the name of
Dr. Riyaz could not be omitted from
the list of tainted officials in the
state,” said sources.
Sources said that the GAD ‘babu’
tried his best to save the skin of Principal, GDC Srinagar and the file
related to the wrong doings of Dr.
Riyaz were not routed to the higher
level by the bureaucrat. But this time
around he could not ensure that
Principal, GDC Srinagar’s name is
omitted from the list of ‘tainted’ officials.
“Despite the recommendation of
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41.53 crore
disbursed to
Kashmir traders
JAMMU, MAR 2:As per
the report received by the
Governor Rs.2.82 crore was
disbursed by the Dy. Commissioners as relief to traders in Kashmir Valley on the
first two days of March 2016.
On 1st March 2016 funds
disbursed were: Rs 1.10 crore
in Srinagar; Rs.0.13 crore in
Pulwama; Rs.0.74 crore in
Anantnag; and Rs. 0.03 crore
in Bandipora.
On 2nd March 2016 funds
disbursed were: 0.46 crore
in Anantnag; and Rs. 0.37
crore in Srinagar.
Till today a total of Rs.
41.53 crore has been disbursed
to 16188 beneficiaries by the
Deputy Commissioners. This
includes Rs.0.57 crore to 317
beneficiaries in Baramulla;
Rs. 2.34 crore to 390 beneficiaries in Bandipora; Rs.7.31
crore to 2767 beneficiaries
in Budgam; Rs.1 crore to 376
beneficiaries in Pulwama;
Rs.0.26 crore to 233 beneficiaries in Shopian; Rs.5.07
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Governor asks Centre for urgent release
of funds for Jhelum River dredging
JAMMU, MAR 2: Governor N.N. Vohra,
has addressed Uma Bharti, Minister for
Water Resources, River Development &
Ganga Rejuvenation, and requested urgent
release of funds for the dredging of the
river Jhelum and its outflow channels being
completed timely.
The Governor has elicited the Minister’s
personal interest in this matter so that this
time bound Project can be completed before
the coming monsoon season. He has informed
the Minister about the progress of the dredging and other priority works.
Pertinent to mention that the Priority
Works reflected in the aforesaid Plan include
emergent works and the dredging of river
Jhelum to increase its carrying capacity
from 34,000 to 45,000 cusecs. The funding
for this entire Project is provided for in the
Special Package for J&K State which was
recently announced by the Prime Minister.
Under the Prime Minister’s Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Programme 2015,
the DPR for “Priority Works- Comprehensive
Plan for Flood Management Works on Jhelum-Phase-1” costing Rs. 399.29 crore has
been carved out of the main project for “
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32 cross LoC through
Govt orders disbursement of financial
assistance to flood affected under PMDP Srinagar-Muzaffarbad
JAMMU, MAR 2: Following
the approval of the State Administrative Council, the Revenue
Department has issued orders to
the payment of financial assistance, under Prime Minister’s
Development Plan 2015, to the
owners of houses damaged due
to floods of September 2014.
The financial assistance sanctioned under Prime Minister’s
Development Plan 2015willbeover
andabovetherelief/financialassistance
already provided in favour of affected
Category
Relief already sanctioned and paid
Under SDRF
Under PMNRF
Financial Assistance being provided now under PMDP-2015
Total
Fully Damaged Pucca House
75000
100000
250000
425000
Fully Damaged Kacha House
17600
50000
100000
167600
Severely Damaged Pucca House
12600
50000
125000
187600
Severely Damaged Kacha House
3800
10000
50000
63800
Partially Damaged Pucca House
3800
25000
20000
48800
Partially Damaged Kacha House
2300
5000
10000
17300
householdsinthepastunderStateDisas-
ter Response Fund (SDRF) and Prime
Minister’sNationalReliefFund(PMNRF).
As per the orders, the financial
assistance shall be transferred
directly by the concerned Deputy Commissioners into the bank
accounts of the flood victims as
have already been provided assistance under PMNRF through
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
With the assistance being
sanctioned now, the composite
relief/financial assistance in
respect of different categories of
the damaged houses will be as
under:-
bus service
SRINAGAR MAR 2: Eight people from Kashmir
crossed over to Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK)
while 14 people from there arrived here in Karwan-iAman Bus that was introduced in 2005 when late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed was the Chief Minister of the
State.
Officials said that 14 residents from Pakistan administered Kashmir including 8 females arrived in
Kashmir through bus while 8 people from Indian administered Kashmir reached Muzaffarabad the capital
of PaK to meet their relatives.
CNS
2
Thursday
03 March 2016
Fidgeting
beneficial
for ADHD
kids: Study
Children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may benefit cognitively from behaviours like
squirming or fidgeting, said the researchers.The results
showed that kids affected with ADHD moved up to 25
percent more when trying to solve a problem.Fidgeting
beneficial for ADHD kids: Study Fidgeting beneficial for
ADHD kids: Study The hyperactive behaviour exhibited
by children with attention deficit disorder may actually
prove beneficial for their memory.Children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may benefit
cognitively from behaviours like squirming or fidgeting,
said the researchers.The results showed that kids affected
with ADHD moved up to 25 percent more when trying to
solve a problem.The findings suggest that making ADHD
kids sit still may be counterproductive.
"It's another piece of evidence that the hyperactive
behaviour more and more seems to be purposeful for
them," said Michael Kofler, assistant professor at Florida
State University in the US.Children with ADHD are able
to retain information, which they use daily. But they often
have difficulty with what's called working memory, meaning the updating or mentally rearranging of information
in the mind.In the study, published online in the Journal
of Attention Disorders, the researchers worked with 25
boys and girls with ADHD, ages eight to 12, and devised
two types of tests to show a cause-and-effect relationship
between working memory demands and hyperactivity
in ADHD.The first test required students to remember
where a series of dots appeared on a screen and mentally reordering them based on colour.The other involved
remembering a series of numbers and letters, and mentally reordering.
New method to kill brain
cancer with skin cells
The survival rate beyond
two years for a patient with
glioblastoma is 30 percent
because it is so difficult to
treat.
New method to kill brain
cancer with skin cells (Getty
Images)New method to kill
brain cancer with skin cells
(Getty Images)
In a first, researchers have
developed a method to turn
skin cells into cancer-hunting
stem cells that can destroy
brain tumours known as glioblastoma.
The discovery can offer,
for the first time in more than
30 years, a new and more
effective treatment for the
disease, the study said.
"Patients desperately
need a better standard of
care," said Shawn Hingtgen,
assistant professor at the
University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill in the US.
The survival rate beyond
two years for a patient with
glioblastoma is 30 percent
because it is so difficult
to treat.Even if a surgeon
removes most of the tumour,
it is nearly impossible to get
the invasive, cancerous tendrils that spread deeper into
the brain and inevitably the
remnants grow back.
The new technique,
reported in the journal Nature
Communications, builds
upon the newest version of
the Nobel Prize-winning
technology from 2007, which
allowed researchers to turn
skin cells into embryonic-like
stem cells.
In their work, the research
team reprogrammed skin
cells known as fibroblasts which produce collagen and
connective tissue -- to become
induced neural stem cells.
Working w ith mice,
Hingtgen's team showed
that these neural stem cells
have an innate ability to
move throughout the brain
and home in on and kill any
remaining cancer cells.
The team also showed
that these stem cells could
be engineered to produce
a tumour-killing protein,
adding another blow to the
cancer.
Depending on the type
of tumour, Hingtgen's team
increased survival time of the
mice from 160 to 220 percent.
The next steps will focus
on human stem cells and testing more effective anti-cancer
drugs that can be loaded into
the tumour-seeking neural
stem cells.
4 home exercises for
the perfect bubble butt
Glute Bridges play a critical role in
toning up your booty. They also help in
strengthening your core muscles. While
doing donkey kicks you are engaging
and working three crucial body muscles
– calves, core and glutes.
Who doesn't fantasise about the perfect round bubble butt? Every woman
does. Here are four simple exercises
you can do at home to get that perky
booty!The most common booty and thigh
exercise is the squat. It not only shapes
your booty but also helps in toning your
thigh and leg muscles.How to do it - The
squat is like a sit- up. Begin with opening
your legs shoulder width apart and then
bring your hands in front of your body,
now bend down and go as low as you can
keeping your back straight. Similarly do
15 reps in sets of three!
Caution - You should maintain your
posture throughout . Make sure that you
are able to see your toes when you bend
down in the squat position. Knees aren't
extended beyond toes. Also your toes and
knees should be turned outwards.Lunges
are a great way of toning your hamstrings
as well as your butt muscles (Glutes). They
also target your calves, therefore is an
important exercise for toning your lower
body!
How to do it - Stand with your feet
shoulder width apart. Now keeping your
back straight, put your right leg forward
and bend your lower body down till the
other knee touches the ground. Now
repeat with the other leg. Do 10 reps with
each leg in sets of three.Caution - Bend
your back knee enough to align it straight
from shoulder to hip to knee.
Xiaomi Mi 5 First Impressions: 4-axis
image stabilisation, Snapdragon 820
chipset and an elegant design0
Xiaomi announced the
Mi 5 at a media briefing at
the Mobile World Congress
in Barcelona as well as in
Beijing. This will be the
Xiaomi flagship phone for
2016 and will start selling on
1 March onwards in China.
India launch date along with
that other countries wasn’t
announced at the launch. The
Mi5 will be selling for RMB
1999 (Rs 20000 approx) for
32GB variant, RMB 2299 (Rs
23000 approx) and the Mi5
Pro will be selling for RMB
2699 (Rs 27000) approximately.
The Mi5 Pro comes with
a 3D ceramic cover and
128GB storage with 4GB RAM
whereas the Mi5 comes with a
3D glass cover and 3GB RAM
with 64GB storage. Everything else is the same in both
devices.
Post the event we had a
chance to play around with
the device and here are our
first impressions.
The Xiaomi Mi5 borrows
a lot of elements from its Mi
Note series phones and this
was confirmed by Barra as
well. Xiaomi has refined the
3D glass curve design, making
it way more rounded than
that seen on the Mi Note. The
metal frame merges seamlessly onto the glass back on
the edges. The chamfering has
a lot more slope. In a word, the
Mi5 looks elegant and with
just around 7.25mm thickness
and weighing around 129g, it
is impressive how it has managed to have the camera flush
with the plane of the body and
included a 3000mAh battery.
There is a 3D ceramic variant
as well.
While the in hand feel of
the device is good and the Mi5
looks the part of a flagship
phone, one must be careful
when holding it as we found
it to be too slippery for our
liking. Also while the bezels
on the sides are much thinner than those at the top and
bottom, the 5.1 inch display
on the Mi5 means that the
phone has a taller frame. On
the front here is the slim home
button which also functions
as a fingerprint scanner. The
soft buttons have a backlight
which is good.
The left hand edge has the
nano SIM card slot and the
right had side has the volume
rocker and power/standby
button. There’s a USB Type C
port at the base surrounded by
two speaker grilles.
The Xiaomi Mi5 sports
a 5.15-inch full HD display
which we thought was really
ref lective. It uses an IPS
LCD panel which gives good
viewing angles and the text
appears sharp. Just as we had
seen on the Mi4i, the Mi5 also
supports Sunlight Display
which dynamically readjust
the brightness on pixels, so
that you do not have to strain
your eyes when out in bright
sunlight.
Chipset, RAM, Storage
and Connectivity
The Mi5 comes in two
variants as we mentioned
above. The Mi5 Pro comes
with a 3D ceramic cover and
128GB storage with 4GB RAM
whereas the Mi5 comes with a
3D glass cover and 3GB RAM
with 32GB and 64GB storage. Xiaomi has employed
LPDDR4 RAM and UFS 2.0
standard flash memory stor-
age. Both phones house Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 chipset which has a customised
quad core Kryo processors
clocked at 2.2GHz along with
Adreno 530 GPU. This makes
the Xiaomi Mi5 really fast to
operate. And naturally there
were no issues while navigating or trying on different apps
on the phone. There is no provision for expandable storage.
In terms of connectivity, all the Mi5 variants will
be supporting 4G+ or LTE
Advanced with support for
VoLTE as well. It takes in two
nano SIM cards. There’s Wi-fi
802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS
with AGPS, NFC which supports read/write as well as
card emulation for quicker
pass through using just your
handset and more. Xiaomi
has for the first time used a
home button on its devices
and this home button also
works as a finger print scanner.
The Xiaomi Mi5 series
comes with Android 6.0
Marshmallow along with the
MIUI 7 OS atop it. Xiaomi
has developed an Android app
called Mi Video Call (downloadable via the Play Store)
which lets you do lot of cool
stuff while on a Video Call.
The phones on display did not
have it. Apart from this there
are the regular Mi themes,
segregation of messages
according to personal and
service messages, and so on.
To read an in-depth feature
listing on MIUI 7 read this.
Xiaomi pays attention
to its cameras as we had
already seen with the Mi4/
Mi4i. For the Mi5, Xiaomi
has employed the 16MP Sony
IMX298 sensor which will
be seen for the first time in
a smartphone. It supports
phase detect AF and comes
with a new technology called
deep trench isolation (DTI)
which provides pixel to pixel
isolation, to prevent light leak
between them. How that will
translate into real world use
scenarios? We can only tell
after using the camera. As for
the front camera, Xiaomi Mi5
sports a 4MP camera with a
2 micrometer pixel size. On
the video front, it can shoot
4K videos as well. Xiaomi is
using Qualcomm’s Spectra
image processor for behind
the scenes work after you click
your photograph.
The most important feature in the Mi5 camera though
has to be the 4axis optical
image stabilisation which
compensates for camera
shakes along the longitudinal, latitudinal planes, rolling shake and stutter caused
due to shooting while walking. Xiaomi has managed to
include 4axis OIS and ensures
that the camera module does
not protrude out and is flush
with the back.
Xiaomi has used a
3000mAh battery for the
Mi5 series and it is a non
removable one. Considering it houses a Snapdragon
820, the phone sports QuickCharge 3.0 technology which
Xiaomi claims takes only an
hour to charge the Mi5. We
will of course have to see that
for ourselves. So that whole
10min charge gives 2.6 hours
video playback on full brightness , we would take that with
a pinch of salt.
Xiaomi has certainly
ensured that the Mi5 series
hasn’t left any stone unturned
in terms of specs on paper.
Well, some may balk at a
full HD display instead of
QuadHD, but looking at the
Mi5 display we really have no
complaints. The Snapdragon
820 is certainly something to
look out for as it uses Qualcomm’s custom designed CPU
cores. We are eager to see how
effectively the Mi5 is able to
manage the heat because Mi4
metal frame was notorious for
heating up. In terms of design,
the Mi5 looks stunning.
Going by the price points
– Mi5 Pro at RMB 2699
(approx Rs 27000); Mi5
64GB at RMB 2299 (approx
Rs 23000) and Mi5 32GB at
RMB 1999 (approx Rs 20000)
– Xiaomi has kept it really
aggressive. A Twitter poll we
conducted have mixed views
with regards to price but majority said, they would but it.
Xiaomi Mi 5 Gold Black
Silver
In India the Rs 20k segment has lot of competition so
a lot depends on Mi5’s Indian
pricing as the LeEco Le Max
Pro with Snapdragon 820 has
already got a Rs 21000 price
point. Not to mention, there’s
also OnePlus 3 launch on the
horizon.
With so many Snapdragon 820 service launches,
it is safe to assume that the
likes of Samsungs and LGs
will not price their phones so
low. So there is opportunity.
How Xiaomi plays its cards
in India, will determine if the
Mi5 will be a monster hit as
Xiaomi never released, Mi5’s
spiritual predecessors , the Mi
Note / Mi Note Pro in India.
Do check back for a detailed
review when the phone
launches in India.
HEALTH & BUSINESS
Non-chemo
cancer drug trial
in state
p28 is currently undergoing clinical trials in the US.
The anti-cancer drug, once gets through, can replace chemotherapy.Non-chemo cancer drug trial in state Indian
American researchers and Calcutta University alumni
Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty and Tapas Das Gupta have
urged the state government to start clinical trial of their
protein-based cancer drug p28. Once patented, it can then
be administered to terminally ill patients in India. p28 is
currently undergoing clinical trials in the US.
"We do understand how significant this research is
and what it will mean to Bengal. The proposal will be
cleared after the Budget," said state science and technology and biotechnology minister Rabiranjan Chattapadhyay .The anti-cancer drug, once gets through, can replace
chemotherapy. It has proven to be non-toxic but with
significant cancer regressing effect in initial trials in the
US. Talking to TOI from Chicago, Chakrabarty described
the drug as a peptide of 28 amino acids. Termed p28, it is
part of bacterial protein azurin.
In December, Chakraborty had visited Delhi and
Kathmandu, seeking approval from governmental regulatory agencies and cancer hospitals to start a phase II
clinical trial with p28. Nearly 12 years ago, Das Gupta and
Chakrabarty had set up their company CDG Therapeutics
with approval from the US Food & Drug Administration
(FDA) to conduct a clinical trial in 15 stage-IV cancer
patients living in Chicago.
Before the trial, the patients with tumours such as
melanoma, sarcoma, prostate and colon were not responding to any drug. When administered through intra-venous
injections, p28 not only exhibited its non-toxic (very unlike
the chemotherapeutic drugs) quality but also stabilized
the tumour growth. It allowed partial or even complete
regression of the tumours in four patients, allowing three
of them to survive beyond two years after the trial ended.
Encouraged by the results, the US government's National
Cancer Institute (NCI) initiated a second trial in the US
on 18 pediatric brain tumour patients (aged 3 to 21 years).
CIA chief Brennan
supports FBI in Apple
encryption case
US technology giant Apple
is in talks to license music for
broadcast on a custom online
radio service modeled after
Pandora, The Wall Street
Journal reported.
America's top spy said
in an interview today that
he supports the FBI's highprofile battle to force Apple
to unlock an iPhone used by
one of the San Bernardino
attackers.
In a conversation with
National Public Radio, Central Intelligence Agency
Director John Brennan said
the public would never accept
criminals or terrorists having
exclusive access to a physical
storage box, and asked why
an encrypted phone should
be treated any differently.
"What would people say
if a bank had a safe-deposit
box, or a storage company had
a storage bin, that individuals
could use and access and store
things, but the government
was not going to be able to
have any access to those environments?" Brennan asked.
"The FBI clearly has
a legitimate basis to try to
understand what is on a phone
that is part of a very active
investigation."
Apple is at the heart of a
closely watched legal battle
after a US judge ordered the
tech giant to find a way to
unlock the encrypted iPhone
in question, which belonged
to Syed Farook, a US citizen.
Along with his Pakistani
wife Tashfeen Malik, Farook
gunned down 14 people in the
Californian city of San Bernardino in December.Investigators want help hacking the
device, and have demanded
Apple's technical assistance in
at least 10 other cases.
Facebook CEO Mark
Zuckerberg has said he is
"sympathetic" with Apple's
quandary and other tech firms
have offered guarded support
Microsoft founder Bill
Gates has straddled the
issue, saying in a BBC interview that there should be a
debate over whether governments "should be able to
access information at all or
should they be blind."
However, he disputed
a report by the Financial
Times that he "backed" the
FBI in the Apple case.The
newspaper later changed its
headline to reflect Gates's
subsequent comments.Brennan was also asked more
broadly about the general
threat of terrorism.
He said that even though
Al-Qaida has been "neutered"
in many regions, the global
terror risk has grown considerably with the rise of the
Islamic State group, whose
targets seem to know few
boundaries.
3
Thursday
NEWS
03 March 2016
Div Com distributes relief cheques
among Kulgam flood hit traders
BJP LEADERS
MEET GOVERNOR
RS 41.53 CRORE DISBURSED AMONG 16188 FLOOD HIT TRADERS
SRINAGAR: Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Dr. Asgar Hassan
Samoon today said that
an amount of Rs 41.53
crore has been disbursed
among 16188 traders till
date who were affected
during the floods of September 2014.
While reviewing the
process of disbursement
of relief among the trad-
ers, Dr. Samoon said that
government is committed
to help each and every
trader who suffered losses during September 2014
floods. He said the process of relief disbursement was expedited after
25 February, 2016 and
from that time onwards
6360 traders have been
granted cheques worth Rs
15.15 crores.
Chief Secretary,
DGP, Home Secretary
brief Governor
JAMMU: Government N.N. Vohra held a
meeting to review various important matters
with B.R. Sharma, Chief Secretary, K. Rajendra
Kumar, Director General of Police and R.K. Goyal, Principal Secretary, Home.
Besides reviewing the obtaining internal security situation in the State the Governor also
discussed several important matters including
increase in the honorarium of SPOs; cases pending under SRO-43 in respect of Police personnel
killed in operations; recruitment schedules for
the recently sanctioned IR Battalions; vacation
of lands by the Army, notification of field firing
ranges etc.
The Governor, who has recently addressed the
Union Defence Minister regarding enhancement
in the rental compensation for lands under Army’s occupation, would be shortly reviewing the
return of certain pockets of lands presently held
by the Army, as agreed to in the Army-Civil Coordination Committee.
On Wednesday an
amount of Rs 0.83 crores
was disbursed among
428 traders. The Divisional Kashmir also distributed f lood relief
cheques worth Rs. 79
lakhs among traders of
Qaimoh Kulgam at his
office in Srinagar.
The cheques were distributed among ninety
traders of Kulgam who
were affected during
floods in September 2014.
Div com was accompanied
by Tehsildar Kaiser Ahmad.
The Divisional Commissioner said that a proposal for release of additional Rs 120 crores has already been sent to government and the same will be
distributed among flood
affected people.
Div Com reviews arrangements
Reviews arrangements for upcoming Music Festival ‘Aalap’
SRINAGAR: Divisional
Commissioner Kashmir Dr
Asgar Hassan Samoon on
Wednesday called for the need
to make new generation aware
about the rich Kashmiri culture and tradition especially music.
Dr Samoon said this while
reviewing the preparations
of Aalap music festival to be
organized by SaMaPa (Sopori Academy of Music And
Performing Arts) in Kashmir
valley.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner
Srinagar, Dr Farooq Ahmad
Lone, Director School Education, Dr Shah Faesal, Joint
Director Information, Shafqat
Iqbal, Principals of various
schools and chairman SaMaPa Pandit Bhajan Sopori,
Abhay Rustum Sopoiri, besides Deputy Commissioners
of all the districts through
video conferencing.
While reviewing the arrangements for the festival,
Divisional Commissioner
asked all the Deputy Commissioners to make the arrangements for success of
the events. He asked Department of Information, Tourism, Cultural Academy and
Department of School Education to provide all possible
support for success of the
festival.
Dr. Samoon said the music bridges the gap among
the people as it is the universal language that comes from
the heart and unites persons,
over and above any division.
Giving details about the
festival, Abhay Rustum Sopori said the weeklong festival will begin from15 March
featuring around 10 to 12
concerts in Srinagar, Sopore,
Baramulla, Anantnag. Ganderbal, Budgam, Bandipora
and Kupwara districts at
different venues including
educational institutions and
cultural centers. He said
musicians from across the
country are expected to
visit the valley to showcase
their performance.
The Chairman SaMaPa
said that the festival is a
learning based programme
and acts like a musical balm
creating cultural awareness
and new avenues for the
younger generation to come
forward with career in fields
like arts and music. He said
the aim of festival is to provide
a platform to the younger
generation and transfer the
rich heritage to next generation besides educate them
about their culture.
MAHA SHIVRATRI ARRANGEMENTS
REVIEWED AT SRINAGAR, ANANTNAG
SRINAGAR: The Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Dr. Farooq
Ahmad Lone today chaired a meeting convened to review the arrangements for upcoming festival of Maha
Shivratri which was attended by
concerned officials of Fisheries,
CA&PD, PDD, PHE, SMC, JKSRTC,
Traffic, Police, RTO, Health, Revenue, Fire Service and Horticulture
departments.
The festival celebrated annually in reverence of Hindu deity
Shiva will be held across the state
this year on March 7.
DuringthemeetingtheDeputyCommissionerdirectedPDDandPHEtoensure
uninterrupted power and water supply
during the festival days at Indra Nagar,
Shivpora, Jawahar Nagar, Karan Nagar
and other localities of the district where
Panditcommunityisresiding.Hedirected
theFisheriesdepartmenttokeeptroutfish
availableinabundantquantityandasked
themtodeploymobilevanscontainingfish
fromMarch5inlocalitieswheretheminoritycommunityresides.
Dr Lone asked CA&PD and
Horticulture departments to ensure
that fresh vegetables particularly
Nadru (Nelumbo) and Walnuts are
available in the markets in good
quantity during the festival days.
The Deputy Commissioner was
BJP-PDP to form Govt after
Budget session: Sources
SRINAGAR: The deadlock over the government formation in Jammu and Kashmir is all set to end after the
Budget session of the Parliament, with back to back parleys
between the PDP and the BJP nearing the final stage.
Top sources revealed to KNS that there have been no
constraining moments witnessed between the BJP and
the PDP after the budget session as being speculated.
One of the top leaders of the coalition told KNS that
there has been a special package of more than rupees
9000 crore kept for the Jammu and Kashmir state in the
recent union budget and that the reports which have
claimed that PDP-BJP bonhomie has started witnessing
straining moments are incorrect.
“I can tell you with certainty that has been no affect
over the PDP- BJP alliance due to the Budget session. The
fact is that the union government has kept more than Rs
9000 crores for JK as a special package. Tell me, in which
budget have you seen in the past that such an amount has
been sanctioned for the state,” said the leader.
Meanwhile, top sources told KNS that after the Budget session in the parliament which is ending on March
16, serious breakthrough in the government formation
could be take place and that it is among the possibilities
that the state would see the BJP-PDP government once
again that too in this month. Moreover, the union Urban
and Housing Minister, Vainkiah Naidu has given ahead
for the smart cities project for Jammu and Srinagar and
same shall be announced in near future.
Meanwhile, when a PDP leader was contacted, he
said that the parleys are entering into the final stage
and that the alliance has not yet broken. He maintained
that both the parties are holding negotiations and that
the serious breakthrough could be expected soon.
told that Traffic police will deploy
additional men for smooth regulation of traffic around the main
function venue and SMC will keep
10 additional sweepers available
from March 4 to March 10 at the
Shankrachariya site for effective
sanitation.
Officials from Health department informed the meeting that
two ambulances with first aid kits
will be deployed at the Shankracharya foothills and another near
Nehru Park on the banks of Dal
Lake. The JKSRTC officials told
that department has kept two
pickup points at TRC and Sheikh-
pora Budgam and buses as per
demand available to facilitate
travel of pilgrims on the occasion
of the festival.
During the meeting DC told the
officials to work in coordination
so that the festival is celebrated in
the district smoothly.
Meanwhile the Shivratri arrangements put in place in the
Anantnag district were reviewed
at an officers meeting today.
The ACR took a detailed review
of the all the arrangements including provision of ration, traffic
management, power and water
supply and healthcare facilities
besides sanitation.
He exhorted upon the officers
of CAPD to ensure adequate supply
of ration and essentials are provided to the consumers especially
in the migrant camps of the district
before the commencement of the
festival.
The ACR also directed authorities of PDD and PHE to ensure
uninterrupted power and water
supply during festival days.
The meeting was attended by
Exens of PHE and PDD, Executive
Officer of MC Anantnag, besides
district officers of Fisheries and
cooperative departments.
NC will never go with BJP: Omar
Shopian, Mar 2: Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference Working President,
Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said
National Conference would never enter
into any sort of an alliance with the
BJP and said he would rather quit
politics than compromise with the
honour and dignity of the State and its
people.
Omar Abdullah said PDP’s sellout
to the BJP brought with it disillusionment, disempowerment and contempt
for the people of the State.
WelcomingShabirAhmedKullayback
into the party fold, Omar Abdullah said
the party would continue to consolidate
its presence at the grassroots level.
“PDP made an alliance with those
who want to abolish our flag, destroy
the foundations of our special status
and patronize those who persecute
people on the basis of what they eat and
do not eat. In the last year, BJP has
used its alliance with PDP in J&K as a
certificate to disguise its politics of
polarization as that of inclusivity. Fact
of the matter is that PDP has risked the
political rights and interests of our
people in order to clench on to power
in an embrace with the BJP while BJP
and RSS leaders continue to spew
venom against minorities and continue to threaten them of dire consequences. I can never have anything to
do with these people and would refuse
every position of power that comes at
the cost of the dignity of my people”,
Omar Abdullah said while speaking
in Shopian.
The NC Working President said PDP
is still extremely keen and interests in
forming a Government with BJP yet
again and the continued delay is just
an attempt by the party to fake a sense
of ideological conviction that they
clearly lack. “Mehbooba Mufti says the
10-month long PDP-BJP Government
led by Mufti Sahab did not benefit the
people of Jammu and Kashmir. If this
Government did not benefit the people,
who are the actual beneficiaries of this
alliance and why is PDP still in an alliance with the BJP? Mehbooba Mufti
played a vital and instrumental role
in forging PDP’s alliance with the BJP
and any posturing to the contrary today
is just a desperate attempt to salvage
the last vestiges of PDP’s existence in
the polity of the State”, Omar Abdullah
further said.
Lashing out at Mehbooba Mufti,
Omar Abdullah said Mehbooba and
her party are squarely responsible for
the NFSA induced chaos and protests
in the State and said PDP’s veiled attempts to deflect responsibility to the
Governor is ridiculous. “You brought
NFSA to J&K, not the Governor. The
Governor’s administration is only
implementing what you approved in
the tenure of the previous Government.
Today people are marching towards
the Line of Control (LoC) in search of
ration and food grains. Is this the change
PDP had promised? While you abandoned the flood victims with amazing
ruthlessness and arrogance, you are
now leaving no stone unturned to deprive our people of basic ration. This
is a classic example of what the PDP-BJP
Government has done with the State”,
Omar Abdullah added while addressing public in Shopian.
The Former Chief Minister and NC
Working President asked Mehbooba
Mufti to come clean on her alleged demands from the Central Government
and the BJP as a prerequisite to Government formation.
“Even the BJP doesn’t know what
Mehbooba Mufti has demanded. Apparently the Central Government has
received no such demands. Senior PDP
Leader and Member Parliament Muzaffar Baig has publicly admitted that PDP
has sought no CBMs from the Central
Government and continues to be committed to their ‘Agenda of the Alliance’
with the BJP. They even went to the
extent of terming their ‘Agenda of the
Alliance’ ‘sacred’ – perhaps ignorant
of what this word means to the people
of the State. I wish they had spoken up
for our flag with similar passion when
their alliance partner openly questioned
the sanctity of our flag”, the National
Conference Working President said.
JAMMU: Sat Sharma, MLA & State President BJP
accompanied by Dr. Nirmal Singh, MLA Billawar,
called on Governor N.N. Vohra at the Raj Bhavan here
today.
Besides discussions on the political situation, the
BJP leaders brought to Governor’s notice several important issues of public interest, including disbursement
of relief to PoK refugees and to those who had lost their
houses in the floods, construction of shelters for people
affected by firing from across the border, removal of
encroachments in Gandhinagar, macadamisation of
roads in Jammu city, implementation of the Supreme
Court order in regard to Khair trees, conduct of Panchayat and Municipal Elections and several other matters.
Gujjar legislators
meet Governor
JAMMU: Ch. Zulfkar, MLA Darhal, Javed Rana,
MLA Mendhar and Ch. Qamar Hussain, MLA Rajouri,
along with a delegation, had a meeting with Governor
N. N. Vohra at the Civil Secretariat, here today.
The delegation presented a memorandum highlighting demands for the welfare of the Gujjar community,
issues relating to the Sarore incident in Samba, settlement of nomadic Gujjars & Bakerwals and implementation of the Forest Rights’ Act in the State.
Director General of Police, K. Rajendra Kumar and
Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Dr. Pawan Kotwal,
were also present on the occasion.
The Governor called upon the Legislators to initiate
the required measures for improving the lives of the
Gujjar community, particularly through the provision
of access to better education and healthcare facilities.
For this purpose, he urged the community leaders to
get involved with planned efforts to settle various groups
which are residing in scattered locations all over the
region. He said the Government will explore the possibility of establishing colonies with basic amenities
for rehabilitating the community.
The Governor urged the Legislators to continue
their efforts for sustained development and welfare of
the Gujjar community in their respective constituencies.
The members of the delegation who attended the
meeting also included Mr. Sardar Khan, Ch. Hassan
Ali Waffa, Haji Nizam-ud-Din, Haji Mohammad Yousaf,
and Ch. Yaseen Poswal.
US, Pakistan call for
resolving Kashmir issue
through dialogue
WASHINGTON: The US and Pakistan have emphasised on the need for peaceful resolution of the
Kashmir issue and called on "all parties" in the region
to act with "maximum restraint" for reducing tensions.
"The US and Pakistan emphasised the importance
of meaningful dialogue in support of peaceful resolution of outstanding issues, including Kashmir," said a
US-Pakistan joint statement, issued a day after the two
countries concluded their sixth Strategic Dialogue.
The dialogue was co-chaired by US Secretary of
State John Kerry and his Pakistani counterpart Sartaj
Aziz. "The delegations underscored that all parties in
the region should continuously act with maximum
restraint and work collaboratively toward reducing
tensions," the joint statement said.
"Noting the steps taken by Pakistan to date, including the detention of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) leader
Maulana Masood Azhar, the US appreciated PM Sharif's stated commitment to take prompt and decisive
action on this investigation and to bring the perpetrators of the January 2, 2016 attack on the Pathankot air
base to justice," it said.
However, there was no mention of India in the entire
joint statement, in which the US acknowledged Pakistan's ongoing efforts to harmonise its strategic trade
controls with those of the multilateral export control
regimes.
The US also lauded Pakistan's "proactive engagement" with the international community, including
through its hosting of IAEA training activities at its
Nuclear Security Centre of Excellence and its active
participation in the Nuclear Security Summits, it said.
The US looked forward to Sharif's participation in
the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit and appreciated
Pakistan's commitment, in principle, to ratify the 2005
Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. According to the joint statement, Pakistan affirmed that it remains committed to
pursuing measures aimed at building confidence and
lessening the risk of armed conflict.
Both sides recognised the shared interest in strategic stability in South Asia and in pursuing increased
transparency. The two sides look forward to the upcoming Security, Strategic Stability, and Nonproliferation
(SSS&NP) working group meeting in May 2016, it said.
4
Thursday
03 March 2016
A prudent decision
Can computer programmes be granted patents?
On February 19, India’s patent office wisely answered
this question in the negative, putting an end to months
of ambiguity over the patentability of computer
programmes. In this process, the patent office, called
the Office of the Controller General of Patents,
Designs & Trade Marks, effectively reversed an
August 2015 guideline that had triggered the ambiguity in the first place. Till that guideline came,
India’s stance on this issue had been clear through
a 2002 amendment to the Patents Act: that software
per se was not to qualify for patent protection. However, lawmakers also recognised that the intention
must not be to reject inventions involving software
that “may include certain other things, ancillary
thereto or developed thereon”. Experts have interpreted this exception to refer to innovations in both
software and hardware. The 2015 guideline threatened to unsettle that nuance. According to that,
technical advancements could be sufficient grounds
on which to confer patents. Its nullification is welcome as such rules, though seemingly on the side
of innovation, do not enable a level playing ground.
For starters, the share of patents held by Indians
has traditionally been low, and it continues to be
so. Also, the field of software is dominated by corporate giants with deep pockets and significant
expertise, and they can easily ‘out-patent’ the others out of business. The smaller companies and
start-ups — and there are far too many aspirants
with that profile — then not only have to spend huge
sums of money to protect their work, but they also
have to be financially and operationally ready to
defend themselves.
The patent office hasn’t left it at just that. It has
also issued a three-stage test to examine applications of computer-related inventions. Step one is
to interpret the claim. Once that is done, step two
is to deny the claim in case the “contribution lies
only in mathematical model, business method or
algorithm”. Step three is to assess if the invention
is claimed in the field of software in conjunction
with a novel hardware. The important point to note
is the recognition that software in itself is never
patentable. This is a prudent stance, because there
are inherent problems in figuring out if software is
patentable or not. And this is true the world over.
Germany and New Zealand exclude software from
patentability. In many other parts of the world, the
positions are nuanced, like the one taken by the
European Patent Convention, which does not entertain applications when they pertain to computer programmes as such, but it does have an open
mind when they lead to “non-obvious” contributions.
In the U.S., a more open policy has led to a flood of
patents, and consequently the negative connotation
that the term ‘patent thicket’ carries now. There is
a more important reason for holding back software
from a patents regime. And this goes back to what
MIT researchers James Bessen and Eric Maskin
showed many years ago: imitation promotes innovation. Patents are a hindrance here.
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EDIT
Is India at an
inflection point?
The first two
decades of the 21st
century have
witnessed a great
deal of unrest and
turbulence in
several countries
across the globe,
notably in West
Asia. India was
spared the kind of
protests that
marked the “Arab
Awakening”, though
it did confront a
number of disparate
protests, which
cumulatively
reflected a high level
of discontent.
Individual incidents
had even then
begun to spark off
violent reactions.
M. K. NARAYANAN
It is important to take the time out to address social
cohesion and sustain the social compact that India has
striven to maintain since Independence. Instead, the
government’s use of the sedition law in JNU has been
a blunder, which is widening the gulf between different
segments of society.
The first two decades of the 21st century have witnessed a great deal of unrest and turbulence in several
countries across the globe, notably in West Asia. India
was spared the kind of protests that marked the “Arab
Awakening”, though it did confront a number of disparate protests, which cumulatively reflected a high level
of discontent. Individual incidents had even then begun
to spark off violent reactions.
However, it is the metastasising nature of recent
agitations and protests, involving almost every segment
of the population, students, peasants and the disaffected — alongside the persistent provocation from
Pakistan — which is resulting in new paradigms of
thought and behaviour. Whether they relate to terrorist attacks by Pakistan-based outfits such as the Jaishe-Mohammad and the Lashkar-e-Taiba, agitations based
on identity, ideology, idea-logy politics, human values
and dignity, or unstructured movements dictated by
rage or other considerations, they all involve a level of
public mobilisation and spectacle different from what
had been seen in the past.
Need for new strategies
It is evident that we have entered a new era but are
probably not yet aware of its implications. They cannot,
hence, be dealt with in the same manner as in the past,
or by employing antiquated methods and resorting to
shopworn rhetoric. Understanding the true meaning
of real-time information gleaned from “data-in-motion”
(such as phone calls or chat services) or from access to
“data-at-rest” (text messages and videos stored in computers and cell phones) is critically important today.
For instance, almost fortnightly, or at shorter intervals,
Pakistan-based terrorist outfits are carrying out assaults
with still greater military precision than previously, inflicting greater casualties among both civilians and armed
force personnel, all the while holding up the country to
ridicule as the Indian Establishment seeks opportunities
to revive anti-terror talks. Gurdaspur, Pathankot and now
Pampore are hardly isolated incidents and reflect elements
of a grand strategy. Only the most myopic of leaders can
fail to see the writing on the wall and heed the message
coming out of Pakistan. A nation fully conversant with
what is taking place can hardly be misled into ignoring
the truth and reality.
At another level, India is internally undergoing a
baptism through fire. This has been brought on by a
conflict between extremes — the politics of the Right
Wing and the Left Wing; a confrontation between
anti-national and irredentist elements on the one hand,
and so called nationalist and identity-based groups on
the other; and increasing militancy on the part of the
so-called excluded and marginalised segments in pursuit of their rights. The “quota agitation” by the Jat
community in Haryana exemplifies the dangers inherent in the increasing stratification of Indian society.
Following the Patidars in Gujarat and the Jats in
Haryana, the Marathas in Maharashtra and the Rajputs
in Rajasthan are threatening to agitate. In almost every
State across the country, several among the more “backward” are about to throw their hat into the ring seeking
among the Other Backward Class quotas. Finally the
worst fears about the end result of the Mandal Commission recommendations appear to be coming true.
The Centre’s succumbing to the violence perpetuated by Haryana Jats could not have come at a more
inopportune moment. The ineptitude displayed in handling the agitation, and the spectacle of the Centre
dispatching several Army columns to quell a law and
order situation in an hinterland State, tends to evoke
comparisons with the “Arab Spring”.
Memories of 1968
The question as to whether India is today at an
inflection point is, however, more relevant in the context
of the present unrest among students of the nation’s
prestigious universities. Equating the students’ unrest
in Jawaharlal Nehru University and Hyderabad and
Jadavpur Universities and in several of the Indian Institutes of Technology with the Paris and Nanterre
students’ uprising in 1968 may sound farfetched, but
there are some eerie similarities. In both cases, agitating students have used metaphors to demonstrate their
opposition to the existing order. Che Guevara and Ho
Chi Minh were names chosen by the Paris and Nanterre
students to ventilate their anger against the Fifth Republic, knowing full well that it would anger the authorities.
In current agitations across Indian universities, the
names Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon mean little to
most students, but they are intended to be symbols of
opposition to the Establishment. Anti-national rhetoric is often the fuel that feeds demonstrations against
the existing order of things. Today, the Left in India has
no icon around whom they can rally students. They
have, hence, chosen to join forces with other anti-Establishment groups, for whom the more outrageous the
claim, the more likely it is to rile those in authority. This
has little to do with “insiders” and “outsiders”.
Building a just society
It is vitally important for the authorities, hence, to
discern the real meaning behind many of the actions
taking place in our universities and avoid any overreaction. “Building a just society by just means” — a quote
from former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru — has
become crucially important in many campuses at this
juncture. Nothing could be more poignant in this respect
than the tragic suicide of Rohith Vemula, the Hyderabad
Central University PhD student, who in his suicide note
blamed his birth as “a fatal accident”. It gave an impression of the prevalence of a “dark state” mindset among
those who exercise power and authority.
What cannot be ignored is that with ubiquitous
access to interconnected mobile devices and other advanced communication systems, events are getting
transformed in a way that could hardly be envisaged
even a couple of years ago. In this milieu, failure to
anticipate the intensity of anger that prevails on a particular occasion, judge the unintended consequences
of a growing groundswell of protest against an incident
that has captured public imagination and recognise
that the diffusion of power between the state on the one
hand, and people on the streets or students in campuses on the other, has become far more consequential
than at any time previously — and it can have grave
consequences.
What is tragic is that in an increasingly acrimonious
and polarised atmosphere, political elements of all hues
are by their actions further aggravating the situation.
The public discourse has thus become that much more
acrimonious and polarised. The Prime Minister’s statement about “conspiracies” directed against him and
his government hardly helps. It only brings back memories of other Indian Prime Ministers placed in difficult
situations coming up with similar conspiracy theories.
Employing the provision for sedition in JNU, instead
of taking time out to address social cohesion and sustain
the social compact that India has striven to maintain
since Independence, has been a blunder, widening the
gulf between different segments of society. What is
most needed today is an activist state that is focussed
on preserving social cohesion and a sense of optimism
to protect and enlarge the dignity of every human.
At this critical juncture, it is unfortunate that the
vice chancellors of central universities have hardly
covered themselves with glory. Most universities today
are guilty of the charge that they are out of touch with
Young India, even as student activism has reached a
tipping point. Vice chancellors find themselves inadequately equipped to grapple with problems facing their
universities such as social exclusion, identity conflicts,
the subaltern and minority syndrome, unchecked dissent, etc. Most also lack the authority (and personality)
to not only deal with students’ protests, but even determine when to call for outside support, including the
police, before the situation goes out of control.
Finally, what is least required at this moment is for
students across universities to be lectured on the virtues
of nationalism from all and sundry. What is specifically needed are methods to deal with the current situation so as to prevent it from getting out of hand. Leaving matters to be dealt with by the police after the horse
has bolted, and then blame the police for inadequacy
is, however, neither a method nor the means.
(M.K. Narayanan is a former National
Security Adviser and former Governor of
West Bengal.)
5
Thursday
OPED
03 March 2016
Improving the
craft of poll
prediction
There is
a mountain
to climb
?? P Chidambaram
?? Sam Solomon
Now that the heated rhetoric, frantic campaigning, and tamasha of televised exit poll panels is
behind us, it is time for introspection regarding the
Bihar election results. I do not mean introspection
on the part of the winning and losing parties (though
that is also warranted), but rather by the pollsters
and political analysts who spent so much time puzzling over survey data to forecast and understand
the election results. What can India’s pollsters and
poll consumers learn from Bihar?
I am an American scholar working closely with
different Indian public opinion researchers to understand the methods. The following suggestions
have been derived from what I have learned over
the course of my research.
More humility and scepticism
First, the volatility of Indians’ political preferences should make any consumer of pre-polls sceptical of projections based on these polls. This is not
to say that pre-polls are not important. Pre-polls
capture a snapshot of electoral conditions in a State
or across the country, and can, in fact, be quite
useful in tracking changes in public opinion. Differences in the CSDS (Centre for the Study of Developing Societies) pre-poll results for Bihar, fielded at the end of September, and post-poll results,
fielded after election days in October and November,
revealed that the campaign in October hurt the
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and helped
the Mahagathbandhan consolidate its vote bases.
That is an insight that could not have been found
without the pre-polls that serve as a benchmark for
public opinion.
However, snapshots only capture a particular
moment in time. They are not forecasts. Many Indians do not make up their mind until very close to
election day. Thus, pre-polls are unable to measure
their final voting intentions. CSDS’s post-poll for
Bihar found that 14 per cent of Bihar’s voters did
not make up their mind until the day of the election;
another 12 per cent did not make up their mind until
a day or two before voting. About a quarter (26 per
cent) of voters made up their mind before the campaign
started in September. As Sanjay Kumar and Pranav
Gupta have written in these pages, this is not atypical
of Indian elections. Building hawa (wind) is part of
political parties’ election strategies. Pre-polls fielded
far in advance in election, while useful as snapshots,
will be less reliable as forecasts since they will miss
this hawa, which clearly broke for the Mahagathbandhan in this election cycle.
Second, shifting alliance arrangements — as we
saw in Bihar with the new Janata Dal (United)Rashtriya Janata Dal-Indian National Congress
Mahagathbandhan combine — make the business
of predicting election results even more challenging.
Seat projection models, in fact, rely on many assumptions that exist outside the framework of the
survey. Professor Rajeeva Karandikar of the Chennai Mathematical Institute, who used to conduct
seat projection models for CSDS, has written extensively about how he models seat projections in
a piece for The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy last year. When new alliances like the
Mahagathbandhan surface, the modeller must make
a subjective judgment about how the vote for previous alliances — the JD(U)-BJP alliance, in this case
— will split in the new electoral landscape. These
judgments can be well-informed by experience, but
in elections like Bihar’s, where unprecedented alliances like the Mahagathbandhan emerge, they
are speculative. Consumers of polls should be es-
pecially sceptical of seat projections for elections
in which new alliances are contesting.
Changes to polling culture
Third, the accuracy of polls would likely be improved with more data about India’s caste demographics. This is especially in the case of Bihar,
where caste was such a determinative factor in
voting patterns. Pre-eminent pseophologist and
politician Yogendra Yadav said as much in a Facebook post the night before the Bihar election results
were counted: “Over the last two decades, almost
all exit polls have over-estimated the BJP or the
alliance favoured by the upper caste. This error
could be anything between 2 and 4 per cent points.
This is not due to any upper caste conspiracy (no
media house wants to get its exit poll wrong) but
due to a sampling bias built in the methodology of
exit polls. When you stand outside the polling booth,
the voters who agree to be interviewed tend to be
more from powerful social groups.”
The issue here is that the last comprehensive
caste census was conducted by the British in 1931;
India’s 2011 census only provides data on the share
of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Muslims,
and Others. Within the ‘Others’ group are the upper
castes, Other Backward Classes (OBC), and Extremely Backward Classes (EBC). Indian pollsters,
therefore, do not have a proper estimate of the true
percentage of upper castes, OBCs, and EBCs within each State, and are not able to definitively know
when their surveys are over-representing the share
of upper castes in their sample. If upper castes are,
in fact, over-represented in survey samples, polls
are more likely to miss the mark when upper castes
are highly consolidated behind a party or alliance,
as they were behind the Bharatiya Janata Party in
the Bihar elections. This underlines how surveys
of the Indian public are likely to improve in accuracy once the results from the Socio-Economic and
Caste Census of 2011 are released.
Finally, the obsession of the media with seat
projections obscures the real value of polls and puts
unnecessary strain on the credibility of India’s
polling industry. Whether greater transparency in
seat projections, as Yogendra Yadav has called for
many times, or an outright ban on seat projections,
as Praveen Rai has called for in the pages of the
Economic and Political Weekly, is a better remedy
is open for debate. What should not be questioned
is that credible polling agencies would benefit from
increased disclosure of their methods, as well as
greater public awareness that seat projections are
founded on assumptions which are independent of
their surveys. Perhaps the forthcoming Indian Polling Council, announced by Yashwant Deshmukh,
can take up this matter. It must be underlined that
seat projections that miss the mark, as many did
with Bihar, do not necessarily condemn the survey
data on which they are premised.
Pollsters will sometimes miss the mark. Many
did in the recent Bihar elections. However, these
instances should not undermine the credibility of
all pollsters in the public mind. Surveys that are
conducted by rigorous random sampling techniques
are still the most methodical means of measuring
public opinion in India. With another election behind
us, pollsters now must take the opportunity to learn
from their results and improve their craft. The
public should also take the opportunity to learn
about how to interpret polls more intelligently.
(Sam Solomon is a Fulbright-Nehru
fellow associated with the Centre for the
Study of Developing Socities-Lokniti)
Parliament has been summoned to meet on November 26, 2015. The state of the economy requires
more than a summons to the Members of Parliament.
Contrary to what the Government’s ministers may
say in public — and more in line with what some
ministers, many officials and practically all businesspersons and bankers say in private — the economy is in poor shape. The tell-tale sign is the flat
growth rate: 7.3 per cent in 2014-15, 7.0 per cent in
Q1 of 2015-16, and the forecast of 7.3 per cent for the
whole of 2015-16.
Disappointing Indicators
Let’s look at the usual indicators:
Q2 (June to September) 2015 was the third successive quarter in which net sales of all firms shrunk
by 5.3 per cent over Q2 of 2014-15. The manufacturing sector did worse, with net sales shrinking by 12
per cent. For one-fourth of all non-financial firms,
operating profits in Q2 were less than interest expenses. Businesses are in the doldrums.
With poor earnings, businesses are not investing.
Total proposed investments in private sector projects
in the first 8 months of 2015-16 were about 30 per
cent less than in the corresponding period of last
year. Firms do not seem eager to borrow to invest.
Non-food credit in the current financial year is growing at 8.6 per cent, the slowest rate in nearly 20 years.
Credit to industry is growing at an even slower rate
at 4.9 per cent (which, net of inflation, is the equivalent of zero growth). Credit to medium enterprises
actually declined by 6.7 per cent during this period.
In the first half (April to September) of the current
financial year, the index of industrial production
grew at 3.94 per cent. If we look at manufacturing
alone, it was worse, growing at 2.64 per cent. Core
sector industries grew at 2.33 per cent in the first
half compared to 5.07 per cent in the first half of last
year.
The worst performer is exports. At end-September 2015, merchandise exports had declined by 17.7
per cent over last year. October 2015 marked 11 consecutive months of negative growth. Except readymade
garments (2.26 per cent), every other group of manufactured goods witnessed a decline in exports. Receipts from export of services declined by 1.4 per
cent in the first half compared to the first half of last
year. The global slowdown is indeed a major cause,
but the rate of decline is worrying because it has
happened even as the value of the rupee has depreciated by 6.6 per cent against the dollar.
How True Are the Claims?
At the Delhi Economic Conclave, the Prime Minister made four claims:
1. GDP growth is up and inflation is down.
There is no evidence yet of the former. About the
latter, while WPI inflation is down, CPI inflation has
inched up since July (3.69 per cent) until October
(5.0 per cent). Moreover, food inflation has increased
from 2.15 per cent at the end of July 2015 to 5.25 per
cent at the end of October 2015, and is expected to
rise further. Ask a homemaker about the price of
pulses or the cost of healthcare, education or travel
and you will get a taste of her anger!
2. Foreign investment is up and the current account deficit is down.
The Government is celebrating the increase in
FDI from $36 billion in 2013-14 to $44 billion in
2015-16 as well as the 18 per cent increase in the
current year. Between 2005 and 2007, FDI had quadrupled from $9 billion to $37 billion. In 2011-12 it
was $46.5 billion. FDI inflows have remained range
bound at $36 to $46 billion and there is no perceptible bounce. The current account deficit is low because
prices of crude oil and gold are at a historic low.
3. Revenues are up and interest rates are down.
The Government’s tax revenues, overall, are expected to fall short of the budget estimates. The 36
per cent increase in indirect tax collections is due to
the hike in excise and customs duties. Net of the ad-
ditional taxes, the increase in collections is only 11.6
per cent, which is normal. Regarding interest rates,
RBI itself has expressed disappointment that the
cuts are not being passed on to borrowers. If interest
rates are really down to attractive levels, why is
credit growth low?
4. The fiscal deficit is down and the rupee is stable.
If the Government is confident of containing the
fiscal deficit, it should restore the target date of 201617 to achieve a deficit of 3 per cent. The rupee is not
exactly “stable” — it has depreciated against the dollar but has appreciated against the euro and the yen.
Besides, there is no particular virtue in a “stable”
rupee, what is needed is an appropriate exchange
rate.
Need Vision and Humility
Unless there is an international crisis, India’s new
“normal” for GDP growth seems to be 7 per cent, and
the Government is struggling to achieve that. A sedate
growth rate will not put more money in people’s
pockets, it will not create additional jobs (over and
above replacements), and it will not throw up additional resources to tackle the age-old problems that
plague infrastructure, delivery of education and
healthcare, and providing drinking water, sanitation
and housing.
In order to break away from the new “normal”,
the Government must summon the vision and courage to do bold structural reforms (a la 1991-92) as
well as the grace and humility to engage the Opposition and accommodate their views. (the writer is
former finance and home minister.
(courtesy: IE)
In the first half
(April to
September) of the
current financial
year, the index of
industrial
production grew at
3.94 per cent. If we
look at
manufacturing
alone, it was worse,
growing at 2.64
per cent. Core
sector industries
grew at 2.33 per
cent in the first half
compared to 5.07
per cent in the first
half of last year.
6
Thursday
WORLD
03 March 2016
SC to hear plea for quashing action
against Gujarat cops
NEW DELHI: The Supreme
Court on Tuesday agreed to hear
a plea seeking quashing of criminal prosecution, suspension and
other actions taken against Gujarat cops in the 2004 alleged
fake encounter killing of Ishrat
Jahan in view of recent testimony of jailed LET operative
David Headley.
Headley, the Pakistani-American terrorist, had told to a Mumbai court that Jahan was a
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative.
“Let it be listed. We will see
it then,” a bench of Chief Justice
T S Thakur and Justice U U Lalit
said when advocate M L Sharma
mentioned the matter for its
urgent hearing.
Mr. Sharma said that the
statement of Headley is significant as it conclusively establishes the fact that Jahan was
an LeT operative.
Gujarat Police personnel,
including the then DIG D G Vanzara, are facing trial in a Mumbai court for their alleged role
in the encounter.
The plea, which cited the recent
statements before a special court
recorded by Headley, who allegedly conspired with LeT in plotting
the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, said
the facts are now undisputed that
all four persons killed by Gujarat
Police, including Ishrat Jahan,
were terrorists.
“The judicial proceeding and
statement of David Headley, who
conspired with LeT in plotting
the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, stated via video conference and
recorded in the special court at
Mumbai that four persons, including Ishrat Jahan who were
killed in June 2004 by Gujarat
Police, were a part of LeT terrorist organisation belonging to
Pakistan and they were assigned
to kill then Chief Minister of
Gujarat, Narendra Modi,” it said.
The plea sought a direction
to close criminal proceedings
and action taken in FIRs lodged
by CBI against the Gujarat Police
personnel and others, saying it
was unconstitutional within the
judicial facts and evidences of
Headley.
It also sought a direction from
No focus on generating
jobs: industry experts
CHENNAI: The Hindu conducted a live chat with
experts to understand the budget better. With the Union
Budget increasing the government’s thrust in the agricultural and infrastructure sectors, The Hindu conducted a
live chat with industry experts in an effort to understand
the budget better. Joining over 16,000 readers and answering their questions were Dr. Suresh Surana, founder, RSM
Astute Consulting Group, a tax, audit and consulting firm,
Pankaj Mathpal, MD, Optima Money Managers.
“The working class may not feel very excited since
there is no increase in basis exemption limit of Rs. 2.50
lakh,” said Dr. Surana. Although, as Mr. Mathpal noted,
“Super rich surcharge has been increased to 15 per cent
from the existing 12 per cent.” Readers were concerned
about the announcement on the National Pension Scheme
and the move to tax only 40 per cent of withdrawals at
the time of retirement. A lot of the focus was also on the
announcements to boost start-ups. “The ease of doing
business is the focus of government. The increase in
limit of businesses eligible for presumptive tax from Rs.
1 crore to Rs. 2 crore of annual turnover and bringing professionals with receipts up to Rs. 50 lakh are steps in this direction,” remarked Dr. Surana. Mr. Mathpal felt it was overall a
good budget, and “There is focus on creating jobs and supporting entrepreneurs.” Dr. Surana saw this budget as “a
solidsteptowardsfiscalconsolidation,reducinglitigationand
generating employment. It is not a populist budget.”
the court declaring that killing
of a terrorist is not an offence
under Indian law and proper
compensation be paid to the state
police personnel in the interest
of justice.
It also wanted initiation of
suo motu perjury/contempt proceedings against the then Home
Minister and CBI Director for
concealing true facts before the
Supreme Court and the Gujarat
High Court and for filing a false
affidavit pertaining to facts about
Ishrat Jahan case.
Ishrat Jahan case: timeline
June 15, 2004:
Ishrat Jahan and three others
killed in an encounter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Police claim
they were Lashkar members planning to kill Narendra Modi.
September 2009:
Ahmedabad judge S.P. Tamang terms encounter ‘fake’. Mr.
Tamang's report said the Crime
Branch police "kidnapped" Ishrat and the others from Mumbai
on June 12, 2004 and brought
them to Ahmedabad. The four
were killed on the night of June
14 in police custody, but the police claimed that an "encounter"
took place the next morning on
the outskirts of Ahmedabad. That
rigor mortis set in between 11
p.m. and midnight the previous
night clearly pointed to the fact
that the police pumped bullets
into Ishrat's lifeless body to substantiate the encounter theory.
September 2010:
The Gujarat High Court con-
stituted a new three-member
Special Investigation Team for
a fresh probe into the alleged
fake encounter killing of Ishrat
Jahan in 2004.
January 28, 2011:
SIT member Satish Varma
files affidavit stating it was a ‘fake’
encounter.
November 2011:
SIT tells court the encounter
was staged
December 2011:
High Court orders CBI probe.
July 2013:
The CBI’s first charge sheet
in the encounter case stated that
the unlawful killing was a joint
operation of the Gujarat police
and the Intelligence Bureau and
named seven Gujarat police officials as the accused.
July 2013:
CBI court grants P.P.Pandey
(an accused in the case) anticipatory bail for 48 hours after a
hearing that lasted for over four
hours.
August 2013:
SC denies senior bail to Pandey.
October 2013:
CBI quizzes BJP leader Amit
Shah in connection with ‘fake’
encounters. Jailed IPS officer
D.G. Vanzara who was later held
in the Ishrat Jahan case, had
alleged in his resignation letter
that the government closely
monitored every police action
involving ‘terrorists’ during his
tenure.
March 2014:
Indirect taxes: More agony for the middle class
MUMBAI: According to experts, the indirect taxes will put
an additional burden of Rs. 20,600
crore on consumers in the coming
financial year.
Even while playing Santa to
the low income groups and farmers in Union Budget 2016-17, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has
increased indirect taxes, thus
putting an additional financial
burden on the middle class and
consumers in general. The extent
of the burden depends on what
the individual consumer buys, both
in terms of goods and services.
According to experts, the indirect taxes will put an additional burden of Rs. 20,600 crore on
consumers in the coming financial
year.
Prices of tobacco products,
including cigarettes, will go up
due to the increase in excise duties on tobacco products other
than beedi from 10 to 15 per cent.
Power tariff may also go up as
the government has increased
the ‘Clean Environmental Cess’
on coal, lignite and peat from
Rs. 200 per tonne to Rs. 400 per
tonne.
Though the Finance Minister
has not increased the service tax
rate, which is 14.5 per cent in 201516 compared to 12.36 per cent last
year, he has introduced a few new
cesses such as Krishi Kalyan Cess
of 0.5 per cent on all taxable services. This will make eating out
expensive as the service tax will
now be levied at 15 per cent from
June onwards.
Costlier phone bills
Consumers will also have to
spend more on telephone bills, air
tickets, insurance premium and
buying property, to name a few.
“The introduction of new cesses,
in addition to those introduced in
the previous year, runs contrary
to expectations and appears regressive,” said Rajeev Dimri,
Leader, Indirect Tax, BMR & Associates LLP.
Mobile phones manufactured
in India are set to become costlier as customs and excise duty
exemptions are withdrawn on accessories such as charger/ adapters, battery and wired headsets/
speakers. They should, however,
continue to be cheaper than imported phones.
Consumer premises equipment,
including routers, modems, set-top
boxes and CCTV cameras, manufactured in India are set to become
cheaper. The decrease in input cost
should reduce the prices of footwear, paper, sanitary towels, tampons, napkins, diapers and microwave oven, Mr. Dimri said.
“No major tinkering has been
done as can be observed from the
unchanged tax structure for consumer related sectors such as
consumer durables. Customs duty
Online vehicle registration launched in A.P.
VISAKHAPATNAM: The
Chief Minister formally
launched the programme
through video conference, remotely from Vijayawada. He interacted with the first customer
Eswara Sarma, under the new
system.
Online registration of motor vehicles has been introduced to minimise delays and
eliminate corruption in the issue of registration numbers,
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has said.
The online registration of
vehicles has been introduced
for the first time in Andhra
Pradesh in Visakhapatnam on
Tuesday.
The Chief Minister formally
launched the programme
through video conference, remotely from Vijayawada. He interacted with the first customer
Eswara Sarma, under the new
system, who purchased a car
from the Varun Maruti showroom at Siripuram.
A beaming Mr. Sarma, a retired Headmaster and his wife
Shanta, expressed their gratitude to the Chief Minister.
Mrs. Shanta said that this was
their third car and the first
time when they bought a car,
they had to run around the
Transport Department before
their registration number was
delivered after 20 days. Now
they were assured of getting
A special Central Bureau of
Investigation court here issued
notices to Amit Shah in the 2004
Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.
May 2014:
A Gujarat CBI court dismissed
a plea seeking arraignment of
Amit Shah and ex-police commissioner of Ahmedabad K.R.
Kaushik as accused in the case.
The plea was filed by Gopinath
Pillai, father of Pranesh Pillai
alias Javed Sheikh who was among
the four victims.
May 2014:
CBI gives a clean chit to Amit
Shah. “There is no sufficient
evidence against him. Hence CBI
has not chargesheeted him,” CBI
PI Vishwas Kumar Meena said
in an affidavit filed before the
special CBI court in Ahmedabad.
February 2015:
Gujarat revokes suspension
of P.P.Pandey.
February 2015:
DG Vanzara walks out of the
Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad
eight years after he was jailed in
connection with a series of encounter cases in Gujarat.
the number on the same day
without the need to go to the
Transport Office.
Transport Commissioner N.
Balasubrahmanyam briefed the
Chief Minister about the process
of uploading of the Aadhar Card
Number and other details of the
customer at the showroom of
the car dealer.
State Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, who participated in
the launch of the facility in the
city, spoke of the vision of the
Chief Minister to transform
the State into ‘Digital AP’ as
part of which the ‘Civil Supplies’ and ‘Registration’ Departments were computerised.
Mr. Chandrababu Naidu wants
to minimise delays and eliminate corruption through the
use of technology.
Describing the online regis-
tration of vehicles as a ‘revolutionary step’, Mr. Srinivasa Rao
said that customers would be
saved the hassles of running
around the Transport Department Office as the data would be
uploaded from the dealer showroom itself.
Transport Commissioner N.
Balasubrahmanyam said that
the new system would be monitored for the next couple of
weeks and measures taken to
improve the system. Online registration was expected to be extended to other parts of the
State, after training of automobile dealers, by the end of this
month.
On the point raised by the
Chief Minister earlier, Mr. Balasubrahmanyam said that the
target for bringing all 83 services, offered by the Transport
Department, online was June
30. After that applicants would
only have to visit the offices of
the Transport Department
only for getting LLR (Learner’s
License), Driving License and
Fitness Certificate (FC) for vehicles.
Additional Transport Commissioner P. Srinivasa Rao,
Deputy Transport Commissioner S. Venkateswara Rao, Anakapalle RTO AH Khan and Gajuwaka in charge RTO M. Butchiraju, Motor Vehicle Inspectors
and a host of officials and nonofficials were present.
on input materials like mineral
fuels and certain chemicals has
been reduced,” said Rajesh Mokashi, deputy managing director,
CARE Ratings.
Excise duty on jewellery
In line with the Make in India
initiative, the Finance Minister
has made changes in customs and
excise duty rates on certain inputs
to reduce costs and improve competitiveness of some domestic
industries. “Jewellery and branded garments will be subjected to
Central Excise Duty of 1 per cent
and 2 per cent respectively (without availing of the CENVAT Credit) ,” said Dinesh Agrawal, Executive Director, Khaitan & Co.
“We are apprehensive about
the introduction of excise duty
on jewellery products,” said
Praveenshankar Pandya, chairman, Gem & Jewellery Export
Promotion Council. “In India,
jewellery is largely produced by
the SMEs and they are not
equipped to follow the rigid excise
norms,” he said.
Online petition
against retirement
tax goes viral
NEW DELHI: Thousands appeal to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to immediately withdraw the decision to tax EPF.
An online petition against retirement tax has gone
viral on social media with nearly 3,000 signups seeking urgent and immediate withdrawal of EPF Tax just
a day after it was announced in the Budget.
The petition was started by a finance professional
from Gurgaon, Vaibhav Aggarwal, and nearly 3,000
people have already supported his appeal to Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley to immediately withdraw the
decision to tax EPF. Budget for 2016-17 seeks to impose
a retirement tax at the time of final withdrawal on 60
per cent of contributions made after April 1, 2016, to
EPF and other schemes.
“This is a draconian act and will be a killer blow to
the already tax burdened salaried class which pays 30
per cent income tax and 30 per cent taxes in indirect
form customs, excise, service tax etc,” the petition said.
Meanwhile, the government on Tuesday said PPF
will not be taxed on withdrawal and only the interest
accrued on contributions to employee provident fund
made after April 1 will be taxed while the principal
will continue to remain tax exempt.
Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said the proposal, is to tax the interest accrued on PF contributions
made after April 1, 2016. “The principal amount will not
be taxed and will continue to remain tax exempt on
withdrawal. What we have said is 40 per cent of the interest accrued on contributions made after April 1 will be
tax exempt and its remaining 60 per cent will be taxed.”
Aggarwal in the petition, said that “the money
which is left after paying more direct/indirect taxes
is saved into PPF/EPF and used for retirement planning. But, now even this corpus will be snatched away
to a major extent”.
7
Thursday
NEWS
03 March 2016
THIS CRICKETER FROM KASHMIR WITH NO
ARMS HAS HIT HIS DISABILITY FOR SIX
SRINAGAR: If you look
in the right places, few things
are more inspiring than the
strength of the human spirit.
Twenty-six year old Amir
Hussain Lone, who's from
Kashmir, is the perfect embodiment.
When he was eight years
old, Lone lost his arms in a
tragic accident at his father's
saw-mill. The family had to
pay off their land for Lone's
treatment. There was an initial struggle for Lone to fit in
society. In the video above,
Lone's father narrates how
people chided him for putting
the family at risk to save his
son.
Later, when Lone joined
school, a teacher told him,
"Stay at home. Education is
not for you."
This discrimination, coupled with the traumatic injury, could have broken the
strongest of men. Not Lone
though. Through sheer mental will, Lone made use of his
two remaining limbs and
bounced back emphatically.
Despite the absence of his
arms, he plays cricket expertly, holding the bat between
his shoulder and chin while
batting and delivering the
ball (with enough nip and
turn) from his right foot.
In fact, it would be a disservice to call Lone handicapped. Using his feet, he
shaves as well as writes.
Lone is currently a part
Army hosts “Model Youth Mela” at Chrar-e-Sharief
CHINAR CORPS COMMANDER LT GEN SATISH DUA INAUGURATES
SRINAGAR: The electrifying atmosphere at the Tsrar-eSharief sports ground aptly encapsulated the vigour and zeal
of the youth for whom the
Army today inaugurated ‘Modern Youth Mela’ dedicated to
the aspirations of today’s
youth.
PRO (Def) Srinagar, Col NN
Joshi in a statement to KNS said
the sports ground was witness to
an over 3000 enthusiastic crowd of
all ages and gender from urban as
well as remote regions of Kandi
belt.
The Mela was aimed at providing a focused guidance on
various career opportunities
available for different age
groups and qualifications. The
highlights of the event were inauguration of upgraded Sports
Complex at Tsrar-e-Sharief,
Mobile Chinar 9 Jawan Club,
commencement of Cricket
Tournament and Drawing
Competition for school chil-
dren. A stall was also established by ARO, Srinagar which
explained the youth about various entry schemes to Armed
Forces. A Medical and Dental
camp was also organised during the event. Over 600 patients
benefitted from the Medical
camp.
The event was inaugurated
by Chinar Corps Commander
Lt Gen Satish Dua, who complimented the youth for their grit,
determination, high spirit and
overwhelming participation.
He expressed his hope that the
facilities being made available
to youth through these initiatives will hone their skills for
better future prospects.
He also highlighted the
ground work done by Army
during various Sadhbhavana
activities carried out in Badgam district. Representatives
from various state government
departments were also present
during the event.
Continue from Front Page..........
Standing
valuing above a given threshold to ensure structured
accountability in project implementation.
The Committee has been mandated to fix responsibility
of the concerned officers in every case in which the overruns are not justified.
Porter
under the snow for about six days. He succumbed to
multi-organ failure on February 11 at the Army Hospital
(Research and Referral) in New Delhi.
Protests
Ahmad Najar son of Nazir ahmad Najar,Mudasir Ahmad
Sheikh son of Abdul Rashid Sheikh ,Wasim Ahmad Dar son
of Abdul Karim Dar.
The angry demonstrators demanded the immediate
release of arrested youth.
Meanwhile, SDPO Tangmerg Rameez Ahmed assured
them will personally look into this matter and will try to
release them as soon as possible.
Indian
and gunfire. A shopkeeper near the consulate told journalists that he saw several injured people lying on the ground
after a massive blast shattered his windows.
"Four other attackers were killed after half an hour of
clashes with the security forces," the police officer said.
In January, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a deadly gun and bomb siege targeting the nearby
Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad, the first major attack by
the group in an Afghan city.
The attack comes ahead of direct peace talks this week
between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
In January, a gun battle took place near the Pakistani
consulate in Jalalabad in which at least seven Afghan security personnel were killed.
The Afghan government has been battling the Taliban
for over a decade. The Taliban have launched several highprofile attacks in recent months.
In September, the Taliban briefly overran the northern
Afghan city of Kunduz, in one of their biggest victories since
they were ousted from power in 2001.
41.53
crore to 2651 beneficiaries in Anantnag; Rs. 3.10 crore
to 969 beneficiaries in Kulgam; and Rs.21.90 crore to 8485
beneficiaries in Srinagar.
People
Vigilance Organization (VO) to take ‘punitive’ action
against Principal, GDC Srinagar, the GAD did not act on
the same. The VO wrote a letter to GAD and asked the department to take ‘punitive’ action against Dr. Riyaz since
a First Information Report (FIR) stands registered against
him in the multi-crore purchase scandal that surfaced at
GDC Srinagar some years back,” said sources.
Sources while quoting the letter dashed by VO said that
Dr. Riyaz is harassing the witnesses in the case that stands
registered against him. Through the letter the VO recommended to GAD to remove Principal, GDC Srinagar without
any further delay. Although, the letter was sent in October
last year no action was taken against Dr. Riyaz and he
continues to be Principal, GDC Srinagar.
“Commissioner Secretary, GAD Gazanfar Hussain had
to forward the letter to Chief Secretary B R Sharma for
necessary action along with a note. However, to the reasons
best known to him the Commissioner Secretary blocked
the removal of Dr. Riyaz as Principal GDC Srinagar,” said
sources.
Sources said that Gazanfar had returned the file to his
lower ups in the department and asked them to speak over
the matter. This was despite the fact that vigilance wing of
GAD had given its nod for the prosecution of Principal, GDC
Srinagar. The officials of the vigilance wing of GAD are
waiting for the ‘seal’ of approval for the prosecution of Dr.
Riyaz from their higher ups, but the same did not happen.
It would be in place to mention here that Dr. Riyaz was
booked by State Vigilance Organization (SVO) for embezzlement at the GDC Srinagar. SVO registered a case against
Dr. Riyaz after it was established that he had purchased
medical equipment for GDC Srinagar and GDC Jammu at
exorbitant rates thus causing loss in crores of rupees to the
state ex-chequer.
The multi-crore purchase scandal came to the fore after
revelations that came through a Right to Information (RTI)
application moved by Tanveer Hussain Khan. Dr. Riyaz
virtually decimated the career of Dr. Aijaz Naik, the main
person who exposed the scam. Dr. Aijaz was denied the
certificate of registrarship by Principal, GDC Srinagar and
as such he could not join the college as lecturer in dentistry.
After preliminary investigations that led to the revelation of purchase scandal the anti-corruption court in Srinagar
started the formal investigations in the case. The inquiry
established the fraud and finally a FIR under FIR number
33/2012 under section 161 of Ranbir Penal Code was registered against Principal GDC, Srinagar.
The inquiry officer probing the purchase established
that equipment was purchased on exorbitant rates in order
to cause monetary benefits to Principal GDC, Srinagar and
officials of the company that supplied the equipment.
Governor
Comprehensive Plan for Flood Management Works on
Jhelum” costing Rs. 2083 crores. The main components of
this project include re-sectioning and land acquisition to
restore the width of the Flood Spill Channel, especially at
Shariefabad and Naidkhai, strengthening of embankments
at particularly vulnerable spots of river Jhelum and urgent
dredging works in the river Jhelum and Flood spill Channel.
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER R&B RIGHT
RIVER CIRCULAR ROAD DIVISION SRINAGAR
Abbreviated Tender Notice
NIT No: 76/RRCR/ 10535-75 Dated: 27-02-2016
For and on behalf of the Governor, J&K State e-tenders (IN Single Cover System) are invited on item rate basis from approved and eligible Contractors registered with J&K State Govt. CPWD Railways and other State/ Central Governments for each of the following works:S.No Name of work
Est. cost T.D Cost E/M Time
Class
MHA
1
Construction of lavatory block and repairs to damaged CGI sheet roofing of store 6.15
0.003
0.123 20 Days A C & D 2059-M&R
building at Divisional Store Saidpora on Ali Jan Road Srinagar
2
Improvement of link road at Bangladesh and Takenwari by way of earth filling, provid- 5.60
0.003
0.112 20 days A C & D 3054-M&R
ing? laying GSB and WBM Grade 2nd
Time & Date of opening of Bid: 15-03-2016 Position of AAA/TS: Submitted
Position of funds: Demanded
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Date of issue of Tender documents
Period of downloading of bidding documents
Bid submission Start Date
Bid submission End Date
Deadline for receiving the Hard Copy (Original DD & EMD)
6.
Date & Time of opening of Bids (Online)
DIPK: 16114
27-02-2016
From 28-02-2016 10:00 AM to 10-03-2016 4:00 PM
29-02-2016 from 10.00 AM
11-03-2016 upto 4:00 PM
03-03-2016 upto 4:00 PM in the office of the Executive Engineer Right Riv. Cir. Rd. Div. Sgr.
as well as Superintending Engineer R&B Circular Road Project Sgr.
15-03-2016 at 11:00 AM in the office of the Executive Engineer Right River Circular Road
Division Srinagar
Sd/Executive Engineer
Another attraction for the
people especially the young
children, was the presence of
the youth icons in their own
right Jai Bhanshali and Kunwar Amarjeet Singh both renowned TV personalities
and Indian Hockey Team
member Yuvraj Valmiki who
not only addressed the gathering but even shaked their
legs with equally excited
children on some foot tapping numbers.
of the Jammu & Kashmir
para-cricket team. But his
achievements go beyond just
sporting ones. In a world
where negativity often
reigns supreme, Amir Hussain Lone's story is a reminder that the human spirit may be tested but it can
never be broken.
Scroll.in
Office of the Regional
Transport Office Kashmir
NOTICE
Here as an application has been received from
one Shri: Shahid Murtaza Handoo S/o: Mohammad
Ismail Handoo R/o: Pandan Nowhatta Srinagar
Owner of vehicle number JK01X-9976 for cancellation of hire purchase of with with M/s: HDFC
Bank Ltd Gole Market Karan Nagar Srinagar.
Now, it is therefore, it is notified for general
information the objection, if any to the proposed cancellation if hire
purchase Agreement shall be filed in writing in the office of Regional Transport Officer, Kashmir within a period of 12 days from the
publication of the notice in the daily newspaper.
No: JKRTOK/12365
Dated: 02-03-2016
Sd/- Regional Transport Kashmir
Office of the Executive Engineer R&B Division Pulwama
Notice Inviting Tenders
NIT No: 223/ EEP/ RNB/ 2015-16/ 11342-57 Dated: 25-02-2016
For and on behalf of the Governor, J&K State e-tenders are invited on item rate basis from approved and eligible Contractors registered with J&K State Govt.
CPWD Railways and other State/ Central Governments for each of the following works:Name of work
Est. cost T.D Cost E/M
Restoration of Below Drubgam Shadimarg road by way of providing and laying WBM Grade 3.38
II in patches stretches
200/-
Time
Class MHA
6800/- 20Days DEE
SS-4059
Time & Date of opening of Bid: 08-03-2016 Position of AAA/TS: AA Submitted Position of funds: Demanded
1. The Bidding documents consisting of qualifying information, eligibility criteria, specification, Drawings, bill of quantities, (BOQ) Set of terms and conditions of contract and other details can be seen/ downloaded from the departmental website www.jktenders.gov.in as per the schedule of date given below:1.
Date of issue of Tender documents
25-02-2016
2.
Period of downloading of bidding documents
26-02-2016 10:00 AM to 05-03-2016 4:00 PM
3.
Bid submission Start Date
26-02-2016 10.00 AM
4.
Bid submission End Date
05-03-2016 4:00 PM
5.
Deadline for receiving the Hard Copy (Original DD & EMD)
08-03-2016 4:00 PM
6.
Date & Time of opening of Bids (Online)
09-03-2016 12:00 PM
2. Bids must be accompanied with cost of tender document in shape of demand draft in favour of Executive Engineer R&B Division Pulwama (tender inviting
authority) and Earnest money/ Bid security in shape of CDR/ FDR/BG pledged to Executive Engineer R&B Division Pulwama (tender receiving authority).
3. The date and time of opening of bids shall be notified on website www.jktenders.gov.in and conveyed to the bidders automatically through an e-mail
message on their e-mail address. The bids of Responsive bidders shall be opened online on same website in the office of Executive Engineer R&B Division Pulwama (Tender receiving authority).
4. The bids for the work shall remain valid for a period of 120 days from the date of opening of bids
5. The earnest money shall be forfeited, If:a. Any bidder/ tenderer withdraws his bid/ tender during the period of bid validity or makes any modifications in the terms and conditions of the bid.
b. Failure of Successful bidder to furnish the required performance security within the specified time limit.
c. Failure of Successful bidder to execute the agreement within 28 days after fixation of contract.
6. Instruction to bidders regarding e-tendering process.
6.1. Bidders are advised to download bid submission manual from the "Downloads" option as well as from "Bidders Manual Kit" on website www.jktenders.
gov.into acquaint bid submission process.
6.2. To participate in bidding process, bidders have to get 'Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)' as per Information Technology Act-2000. Bidders can get
digital certificate from any approved Vendor.
6.3. The bidders have to submit their bids online in electronic format with digital Signature. No bid will be accepted in physical form.
Sd/Executive Engineer
DIPK: _______
Office of the District Development Commissioner Ganderbal
Subject: Expression of Interest for Repairs/ Renovation and AMC for EPABX in Mini secretariat complex Ganderbal.
Sealed quotations are invited from the Authorized/ Registered Agencies/ Firms for undertaking the repairs/ renovation and AMC (Annual Maintenance
Contract) for EPABX (Electronic Private Automatic Branch Exchange) in the Office of the District Development Commissioner Ganderbal.
The interested agencies who are authorized/ registered and have experience in the relevant field may furnish their EOI (Expression of Interest) with all
necessary documents in a sealed cover along with the covering letter duty signed by an authorized signatory on or before 03-03-2016 upto 3:30 PM in the office
of the undersigned. The interested parties may feel free to visit this office for any kind of clarification/ inspection of the already installed equipment.
Terms & Conditions for Expression of Interest:1. That agency/ firm will be considered who have provided detailed information about the repairs/ renovation and AMC. The incomplete Expression
of Interest will not be considered.
2. This office reserves the right for selection/ rejection of EOI without assigning any reason thereof besides other terms and conditions as decided
by the competent authority.
Sd/- Chief Planning Officer Ganderbal
DIPK: 16124
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER
PHE DIVISION BARAMULLA
ANNEXURE “A” TO THIS OFFICE SHORT TERM NIT NO. 54/PHE/BLA OF
02/2016 ISSUED UNDER NO. 8724-52 DATED: 29-02-2016
For and on behalf of the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir State, sealed tenders affixed with Rs. 4/- Revenue
stamps are invited from the Registered (Self Help Groups) SHGs whose registration cards are valid in terms
of the standing rules for the works mentioned hereunder to reach the office of the Executive Engineer, PHE
Division Baramulla, on or before 09-03-2016 up to 2pm by registered post or personally subject to the condition
that the envelops containing tenders are properly sealed with transparent tape which will be opened on the
same date or any other date convenient to the tender opening authority in presence of the intending tenders
who may wish to the present at that time. The tender documents can be had from the office of the undersigned
on production of an application supported with earnest money in shape of CDR from any scheduled bank as
shown against each working including valid registration proof certificate against cash payment as mentioned
against each work as under (Non-Refundable) up to 07-03-2016 up to 3:00 pm.
Position of funds demanded
Name of work
Estt. Cost
E/M
Class Time
Laying fitting of sub main to Dar Mohalla Nadihal near the house of Mohd Rajab Lone WSS 0.10 lacs
Gujjarpati Rafiabad (NRDWP)
100/-
SHG
07 days 20/-
Laying fitting of sub main to Wani Mohalla Shitloo upto House of Ab. Rashid Wani at 0.089 lacs
Shitloo
89/-
SHG
07 days 20/-
Extension of 20mm dia GI pipe line at Babtang Pattan for 176 BN CRPF (under M&R)
50/-
SHG
05 days 10/-
0.05 lacs
T.D Cost
Sd/Executive Engineer
DIPK: 16165
Thursday
03 March 2016
8
A championship
in need of a
second
wind
The championship, played once in two years, may
lack the brand-equity of the conventional World Cup
or even the IPL, but it does have a role to play.
Twenty20 Internationals are mostly an after-thought,
confined to two-match jousts riding piggyback on Tests
and ODIs in bilateral series.
Cricket’s shortest format often derives it hype
from various domestic leagues, especially the Indian Premier League. And notoriety too, as revealed
through IPL’s spot-fixing stain in 2013.
Seen in that light, the lone lifeline for Twenty20
Internationals is the ICC World Twenty20. It is also
a nostalgia-magnet for the game’s innumerable followers. None in India will forget M.S. Dhoni’s men
lifting the inaugural trophy at Johannesburg in 2007.
Same is the tale for Twenty20 devotees in Pakistan,
England, West Indies and Sri Lanka, winners of the
previous editions.
Yet, there is no denying the omnipresence of the domestic league. The imminent ICC World Twenty20 at
various venues across India from March 8 to April 3, is a
case in point. Just a few days after the champion has been
decided, the champagne has gone flat and the dust has settled,
the marketing spin-masters will rouse the cricketing globe
into believing that the finest Twenty20 action is just around
the corner. The IPL will roll into view from April 9 and it may
well be a case of the dessert overwhelming the full meal!
The IPL, with a brand-valuation of $ 4.13 billion, is expected to suffer a drop of 15 per cent due to the temporary
exits of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, following corruption allegations, and yet it remains a monolith
that draws in advertisers.
The ICC World Twenty20 not only has to contend with
this economic fact but also with the physical truth of some
cricketers perhaps struggling with injuries, as they have
coped with a packed international calendar and other
leagues like Australia’s Big Bash or Pakistan Super League.
Ironically, the global Twenty20 event was initially
conceived to tide over the mixed-emotions swirling around
the conventional World Cup that literally concluded in
darkness during the 2007 edition in the West Indies.
Back then, after a farcical final played under bad light
and in which Ricky Ponting’s men still found their champion’s halo, the then ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed
apologised for the anti-climax and ominously a
sponsor’s board fell. Reportedly, Speed later
said: “It was a fitting end to the event from hell.”
The dregs of discomfort emanating from
that World Cup was sought to be washed away
with the inaugural ICC World Twenty20,
later in the same year. Host South Africa and
even a Twenty20 sceptic like India (yes, back
then the BCCI wasn’t enthused about cricket’s
most abridgedversion) embraced the tournament.
Cut to the latest edition, the roles have been
reversed and the ICC World Twenty20 has to constantly peer over its shoulder or look ahead, surrounded as it is by various leagues and tweeting players, showing their love and affection for different franchises.
The championship, played once in two years, may lack
the brand-equity of the conventional World Cup or even the
IPL, but it does have a role to play. Be it in helping us wallow in
nostalgia when the West Indies won the title in Colombo during
2012 or dishing out some romance and pathos when Afghanistan’s
merry bunch play despite the hardships back home, the event has its
merits.
For the Indian fan, there is one more aspect to look forward — cheering
Dhoni, who is closer to the finish-line than when he was the free-spirited,
long-mane sporting skipper in 2007. The ICC World Twenty20 still needs
a second wind and that will depend on gripping contests and a fresh
set of players grabbing our attention.
Tuesday and Wednesday and he is able to join
us on Thursday when we leave. We've got to try
and rectify whatever we can over the next couple of days and hopefully he is deemed legal."
Phangiso will remain with the squad, but
not be considered for selection for the first two
matches. Instead, he will be working with spin
consultant Claude Henderson and high performance manager Vincent Barnes to rectify his
action. If his action is declared legal by next
Wednesday , it is likely Phangiso will play in the
third T20 at Newlands because Domingo wants
to give "everyone game time," ahead of the World
T20.
Should Phangiso's action still need work
after Monday's tests, he will be replaced in the
national squad most likely, but not conclusively, by another spinner. Currently, Phangiso is
the only back-up to legspinner Imran Tahir and
South Africa may want another slower bowling
option in their squad. Their options, though,
are limited.
NEW DELHI: After years of
grooming up-and-coming talent at
Rajasthan Royals, Rahul Dravid has
shifted base to Delhi with Delhi Daredevils naming him mentor of the side
for the upcoming season of the Indian
Premier League on Tuesday.
Announcing the franchise’s technical and support staff, Daredevils
chairman Kiran Kumar Grandhi hoped
that those in charge would help in the
development of the younger players
in the side.
The India legend will be accompanied by South Africa’s Paddy Upton
as the new head coach and former
Mumbai opener Zubin Bharucha as
the technical director of the side — both
also part of the Rajasthan side before
it was suspended from the IPL. The
team began its training, to be on till
Friday, for the 2016 season at the TERI
ground in Gurgaon on Monday.
“We are privileged to have Dravid
joining Delhi Daredevils as a mentor.
He brings calm and experience to the
dressing room and with a young looking Daredevils squad he will make an
immediate impact,” Grandhi said.
The rest of the staff in the Daredevils set-up has been retained, including former India cricketers T.A. Sekar,
Pravin Amre, Sridharan Sriram and
physios Paul Close and Vaibhav Daga.
“I am excited by the challenge of
taking Delhi Daredevils to the next
level. I have been impressed by the
ambition and energy demonstrated
by the team.
“I intend to do everything possible
to help build a team that the fans can
be proud of,” Dravid said.
Seniors have
not clicked:
Mathews
DHAKA: Angelo Mathews
looked like a man who didn't want
to be at the press conference, following Sri Lanka's five-wicket defeat against India. Inside the Shere
Bangla National Stadium's belly,
Mathews gave one answer after another about his team's lackluster
showing at the Asia Cup.
Only thanks to same late blows,
Sri Lanka reached 138 for 9 in 20
overs against India on Tuesday.
Their first productive over came in
the 11th, when they scored 10.
Overall, there were only four
overs that fetched more
than 10 runs. Dinesh
Chandimal and Tillakaratne Dilshan
struggled to get
going while
Chamara Kapugedara gave
it away after a
good start.
Thisara Perera
hit out at the
death, but was
wrongly adjudged
stumped in the
penultimate over of
the innings.
Sri Lanka were eventually put out of their misery by a
cameo from Yuvraj Singh. Sri Lanka's stand-in T20 captain Mathews
has said that the senior batsmen
have not delivered. Mathews also
wanted the youngsters to step up
SA wait nervously for
Phangiso retest
South Africa have put a player on standby
to take Aaron Phangiso's place in the World
Twenty20 squad, but remain hopeful they will
not need to replace the left-arm spinner. Phangiso's action was found to be illegal when he was
tested on Friday after being reported during a
domestic game. Phangiso will undergo five days
of intensive remedial work before a second round
of tests next Monday, three days before South
Africa leave for the World T20.
"We had a conference call with the selectors
last night and Linda Zondi will probably announce a replacement in the next couple of days
should Phangiso not be able to go to the World
Cup. We have put somebody on standby," Russell
Domingo, South Africa's coach said in Durban,
where the squad have assembled in preparation
for their T20 series against Australia.
"He is going to put in a lot of work over these
next couple of days. He has got about five or six
sessions before he gets retested on Monday in
Pretoria. Hopefully we will get a good report on
Dravid is Daredevils mentor,
Upton named head coach
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we have to connect the dots together
and maybe try a few combinations.
"We just have to be positive. But
I kind of sensed a positive approach
in our batting today and that's how
we have to play." Dilshan's form has
been a big worry for Sri Lanka. After
a hand injury forced him out of the
first T20 against India in Pune,
Dilshan managed only a run in the
next two matches. The struggle
seeped into the Asia Cup as well. He
made only 57 runs in three games in
Mirpur. Mathews, however, backed
Dilshan to come good.
"I think everybody hits a rough
patch, and he has had a few rough
patches here and there and his last
few innings were not very bad,"
Mathews said. "We all need to take
responsibility. Not just the seniors.
"The selectors and the captain
have picked a squad, which they
think is good. And so we have to try
and go out there with who we have
in the squad. We need to have faith
in them and move forward."
The losses against Bangladesh
and India have put Sri Lanka's final
chances in jeopardy. Sri Lanka need
Pakistan to beat Bangladesh and
then defeat Pakistan themselves
and wait on the net run rate.
If Bangladesh put it across Pakistan on Wednesday, Sri Lanka are
out of the tournament. Already on
Tuesday, Mathews looked and spoke
like the stand-in captain of a team
that was on its way out.
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and help spark a turnaround.
"I am repeating myself every day,"
Mathews said. "We have the team we
have here; we are depending on a
handful of seniors most of the time. If
the seniors fail, we are in a spot of
bother most of the time. Specially in a
tournament like the Asia Cup and the
World Cup you need a lot of seniors in
the team. Unfortunately we haven't
clicked. It will take a little time for the
younger guys to start performing. We
have to be patient, but this is not the
right time to be patient.
"I think firstly that it's not just
the seniors who have to perform.
The selectors have picked a squad
and everyone has to perform. This is
a big stage and no one is here to
learn. This is a stage where you have
to perform. You can't rely on a handful of seniors. We all know Dilshan
has been a great servant of Sri
Lankan cricket for a long time, and I
don't think this is the time to make
that massive change. I am just the
stand-in captain. I don't really know
what the selectors and the captain
are thinking. But I think we have to
be patient and hope the batting lineup fires in the next game."
Mathews conceded that Sri Lanka's confidence was shot, but said
that he saw glimpses of positive intent during their batting. "It is quite
damaging, especially the confidence
level and the morale," Mathews said.
"You can't keep losing, it's difficult
to digest. So close to the World Cup,
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