Excelsior
daily
Vol No. 53
PM interacts
with school
girls from JK
NEW DELHI, Dec 23:
Talented youngsters from
Jammu and Kashmir can con-
tribute greatly to the nation,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
told a delegation of school girls
from the State today.
The girls are touring various
parts of the country as a part of
the Indian Army's
"Sadbhavana" programme.
The Prime Minister interact-
ed with the girls on a host of
subjects, ranging from educa-
tion to the Swachh Bharat cam-
paign and benefits of yoga.
"Delighted to welcome a
delegation of school girls from
Jammu and Kashmir, who are
touring various parts of the
(Contd on page 9 Col 1)
Lalu convicted,
sent to jail
RANCHI, Dec 23:
In a major setback to the
RJD, a special CBI court today
convicted former Bihar Chief
Minister Lalu Prasad and 15
others in a fodder scam case 21
*Watch video on
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years after it had surfaced,
while acquitting six others
including another former Chief
Minister Jagannath Mishra.
Special judge Shivpal Singh
pronounced the verdict in a
packed courtroom in the case
pertaining to fraudulent with-
drawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from
the Deoghar Treasury between
1991 and 1994.
The court will pronounce
the quantum of sentence on
(Contd on page 9 Col 3)
33 killed as bus
falls into river
JAIPUR, Dec 23:
At least 33 people, including
four children, were killed and
seven others injured today when
a bus plunged into Banas river
after veering off a 100-foot
bridge in Rajasthan's Sawai
Madhopur district, police said.
*Watch video on
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The incident took place
early morning in Soorwal police
station area when the bus carry-
ing about 45 passengers was on
its way to Lalsot from Sawai
Madhopur, they said.
The driver of the bus lost
control over the vehicle and it
plunged into the river after
breaking the railing of the
bridge, the police said.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi expressed grief over the
(Contd on page 9 Col 3)
NIA summons
Geelani’s son
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 23:
National Investigation Agency
(NIA) has summoned Syed
Naseem Geelani to its head-
quarters in New Delhi for ques-
tioning.
The NIA has asked Naseem
Geelani to appear in its New
Delhi headquarter on 26-12-
2017 at 11.00 am.
He has been summoned for
the purpose of answering cer-
tain questions related to the
alleged terror funding case.
Earlier, Naseem, was first
summoned and questioned by
NIA from 8th to 11th August.
His second round of question-
ing was done from 24th to 30th
August.
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INSIDE
) Mahora heritage power house
* Liberalised family pension
for soldiers ...Page 6
) CM convenes grievances
redressal camp at Rajouri,
announces Rs 1.80 cr
for various works ....Page 3
) Need to evolve innovative
ideas for effective
time mgmt in courts: CJ ....Page 3
) Pursue DPRs proactively
for allocation of
resources: Dr Jitendra ...Page 5
) Farmers protest, block
road over inadequate
compensation ....Page 7
) Manipur, Punjab emerge
Wushu champions;
J&K bags 3rd place ...Page 12
No. 354
Army vows revenge, says martyrdom won’t go in vain
Major, 3 jawans martyred in
heavy Pak firing in Rajouri
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 23: An Army
Major and three jawans were
martyred and another serious-
ly injured in heavy firing by
Pakistan troops on forward
Indian Army posts at Brat
Galla in Keri sector of
Chingus along the Line of
Control (LoC) in Rajouri dis-
trict this afternoon.
In a strongly worded mes-
sage after four fatal casualties,
the Indian Army issued stern
warning to Pakistan and vowed
revenge saying “martyrdom of
the Army soldiers will not go in
vain’’.
Though ceasefire violations
by Pakistan army have become
routine on the LoC in twin bor-
der districts of Rajouri and
Poonch, it was after a long time
that Army has suffered four fatal
casualties in single incident of
firing by the enemy troops.
Sources told the Excelsior
that Pakistan army suddenly
started heavy firing with auto-
matic and semi-automatic
„ Non-seriousness of NR irritating thousands of Mata Vaishnodevi pilgrims
Katra Station a blot on Green Station
concept of Railways Ministry
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Dec 23: Katra
Railway Station, which is visit-
ed by thousands of Shri Mata
Vaishnodevi pilgrims every
day, is a blot on the Green
Station concept of the
Railways Ministry. Moreover,
78 kilometers track from
Jammu Railway Station to
Katra has failed to become
Green Corridor due to
absolute non-seriousness of
the concerned authorities of
the Northern Railways.
In November 2009, Railway
Board set up a core group to
decide suitable environment
friendly toilets for use in the
trains by carrying out feasibility
Balloon of BJP’s falsehood
has burst: Azad
‘BJP morally
lost Gujarat
election’
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 23: Leader
of Opposition in Rajya Sabha
and former Union Minister
Ghulam Nabi Azad said today
that “balloon of BJP’s false-
hood’’ has burst and if the gen-
eral elections were held today,
the BJP will “fail miserably’’.
Speaking to reporters here on
the sidelines of a function, Azad,
the former Chief Minister of
Jammu and Kashmir, said the
BJP has faced “two major set-
backs at the hands of judiciary’’
during past three-four days with
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WEATHER
JAMMU :
Partly cloudy
TEMPERATURE
Max: 17.0 Degree C
Min: 9.0 Degree C
RELATIVE HUMIDITY
RH-I (Morning): 86.0 per cent
RH-II (Evening): 71.0 per cent
Sunset on Sunday: 05.32 p.m.
Sunrise on Monday: 07.31 a.m.
SRINAGAR:
Generally cloudy
TEMPERATURE
Max: 7.7 Degree C
Min: -2.1 Degree C
RELATIVE HUMIDITY
RH-I (Morning): 93.0 per cent
RH-II (Evening): 62.0 per cent
LEH:
TEMPERATURE
Max: 4.0 Degree C
Min: -13.1 Degree C
JAMMU, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2017
weapons targeting forward
Indian posts on the LoC at Brat
Galla in Keri sector of Chingus
area in Rajouri district at 12.15
pm. The Indian side retaliated
effectively.
Maj Moharkar Sepoy Pargat
Prafulla Ambadas Singh Gurmail Singh Kuldeep Singh
Significantly, Pakistan vio-
lated ceasefire at a time when
Chief Minister Mehbooba
Mufti was meeting delegations
at Dak Bungalow, Rajouri,
just few kilometers away from
the site of ceasefire violations,
as part of her ‘Public
Outreach Programme’.
In heavy exchange of firing,
four Indian Army personnel
attained martyrdom including a
Major and three soldiers while
Majority of trains lack bio-toilets,
polluting track continuously
studies, techno-economic analy-
sis and drawing up an action
plan for implementation of envi-
ronment friendly toilets.
The core group in January
2010 recommended adoption of
the bio-digester technology for
development of suitable bio-toi-
lets to be fitted in passenger
coaches in order to ensure dis-
posal of human waste in an eco-
friendly manner.
Finally, the concept of
Green Train Station and
Green Corridors was intro-
duced by the Railways
Courts acquitting all accused in
2G case and giving reprieve to
former Maharashtra Chief
Minister and Congress leader
Ashok Chavan.
“They (the BJP) has no face
to show (after
the 2G ver-
dict). They
balloon of
their false-
hood has
been punc-
tured by the
judiciary. The
BJP had concocted a story and a
so-called 2Z scam was created,
wh-ose script writer was Vinod
Rai and Director, Producer and
Propaganda Machinery were the
BJP leader.
“The BJP leaders defamed
entire Congress leadership
with 2G case by unleashing
Massive operation in Keran
Amnesty for stone pelters a
large hearted approach: Sahi
Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Dec 23:
Inspector General of paramili-
tary Central Reserve Police
Force (CRPF) today said that
amnesty given to first-time
stone pelters in Kashmir was a
"large-hearted" approach of
the Government.
IG CRPF Ravideep Sahi told
reporters at TRC Ground in
Srinagar that youth who have
been granted amnesty should
take benefit of this "large-heart-
ed" approach.
"It is a good step. It will
encourage people to shun the
path of violence. I wish and
hope that people who have been
granted amnesty should chan-
another jawan was seriously
injured. Pakistan was also
reported to have suffered heavy
losses in retaliatory firing by the
Indian side but exact number of
casualties or damage on the
L/Nk L/Nk
enemy side couldn’t be ascer-
tained immediately.
A Defence spokesman iden-
tified the Indian Army mar-
tyrs as Major Moharkar
Prafulla Ambadas, Lance
Naik Gurmail Singh and
Sepoy Pargat Singh. Fourth
martyr, who succumbed to his
injuries in the hospital, was
identified as Lance Naik
Kuldeep Singh. Another
jawan, who was injured, was
Ministry to minimize the
impact on environmental
hygiene through elimination of
direct discharge of human
waste from toilets in coaches
on the tracks and aprons
thereby avoiding corrosion
and increasing the life of
track.
As per norms of Green Train
Station all the originating, termi-
nating, bypassing and platform
return trains should have 100%
bio-toilet fitted coaches.
Similarly, the tracks on the
Green Corridor are to be made
malicious propaganda against
the Government. This was the
sole reason for rise of BJP and
fall of UPA. If elections were
held today, the BJP will fail
miserably as they have failed
to fulfill even a single promise
made to the people during
2014 elections,’’ Azad said.
*Watch video on
www.excelsiornews.com
The former Union Minister
said the Congress will fight the
BJP politically.
“They wanted to fix Congress
leader and former Maharashtra
Chief Minister Ashok Chavan
too. While previous Governor
hadn’t given sanction for prose-
cution of Ashok Chavan, the BJP
Government in Maharashtra
again recommended his case to
(Contd on page 9 Col 7)
nelise their energy in a positive
way," said Sahi.
Sahi praised the efforts of
the security forces to wean off
youth from militancy. "Off
late, we have had success in
this direction. Several people,
including a footballer,
shunned the path of violence
and returned home," he said.
When asked about killing of
a woman during protests in
Shopian, the IG CRPF said:
"Rule of law is very important.
Once the restrictions have been
imposed in the area, it becomes
imperative on the citizens to fol-
low the instructions. Now, if the
rule of law is not being followed
and if somebody comes out and
as you know that encounter is
REGD.NO.JK-71/15-17
RNI No. 28547/65 14+4 (Magazine) = 18 Pages ` 5.00
undergoing treatment in the
hospital.
Sources said all five injured
were evacuated from the site of
firing timely but four of them
succumbed to their injuries and
the fifth one was undergoing
treatment.
The Defence spokesman said
Major Moharkar Prafulla
Ambadas, aged 32 years,
belonged to district Bhandara in
Maharashtra and is survived by
his wife Aboli Moharkar.
Lance Naik Gurmail Singh,
aged 34, hailed from Amritsar
A lady carrying traditional flask (Samawar) on her head filled with salted tea (Noon Chai)
at Arigam in Pulwama district. —Excelsior/Younis Khaliq
district of Punjab and is sur-
vived by his wife Kuljit Kaur
and a daughter while Sepoy Protests by PDP workers at CM’s meeting venue
Pargat Singh, 30, was a resident
of district Karnal in Haryana
and is survived by his wife
Ramanpreet Kour and a son.
Mehbooba goes tough on Health
Deptt, orders attachment of DHS
“All the martyrs were brave
and since soldiers. The nation
will always remain indebted to
them for their supreme sacrifice
and devotion to duty,’’ the Excelsior Correspondent his own duties till further orders. ation erupted at Dak
Defence spokesman added. An order to this effect was Bungalow, Rajouri, the venue
The Army also issued stern JAMMU, Dec 23: Going issued today by Principal of the Chief Minister's 'Public
tough on Health and Medical Secretary, Health and Medical Outreach Programme' when
(Contd on page 9 Col 5)
Education Department, Chief Education Dr Pawan Kotwal. some PDP workers raised slo-
Minister Mehbooba Mufti
today ordered attachment of
gans against the admin-
istration for not allow-
Director Health Services, Dr ing them to meet with
Gurjeet Singh after receiving
*Watch video on
www.excelsiornews.com
Mehbooba.
The protesters raised
slogans against the
administration for few
complaints about poor condi- minutes till they were
tions of health sector during pacified by the PDP lead-
her ‘Public Outreach ers and administration.
free from human waste dis- Programme’ in District The protesters lament-
charge. Rajouri while protests from ed that the people from
As per the decision taken in own PDP workers greeted another constituency were
the conference of the Railway Mehbooba at the venue of her being given preference
Board held on April 24 and 25, meetings with the delegations. over Rajouri segment in
2015, all the Zonal Railways Sources said Mehbooba Sources said Dr Gurjeet meeting with Mehbooba
were directed to nominate at Mufti ordered attachment of the Singh wasn't present at Rajouri Mufti. They described it as
least one station as Green Train Director Health Services after during the Chief Minister's "deliberate neglect'' of Rajouri
Station or a section as Green receiving complaints from the `Public Outreach Programme', people by the administration at
Corridor. Further, the Zonal people about "poor state of which was another reason for his the "cost of another constituen-
Railways were directed to con- affairs" in the Health attachment. Dr Singh had gone cy''.
solidate bio-toilet fitted coaches Department. to Bani along with Health and However, the protesters were
in rakes for better monitoring of Dr Gurjeet Singh has been Medical Education Minister Bali pacified by the PDP leaders and
performance of bio-toilets. attached with the Administrative Bhagat. district administration within
Accordingly, during the peri- Department with immediate Few days back, Mehbooba few minutes and all the people
od between November 2014 and effect till further orders while Dr Mufti had ordered suspension of were assured meeting with the
August 2015, six stations were Samir Mattoo, Incharge Government Medical College Chief Minister, whose meetings
identified for development as Director, Family Welfare, MCH (GMC) Medical Superintendent with locals continued till late
Green Train Stations and five and Immunization, will look Dr Dara Singh after undertaking tonight.
sections were nominated for after charge of the Director surprise visit of the hospital. In all, she met around 102
(Contd on page 9 Col 3) Health Services, in addition to Meanwhile, a piquant situ- (Contd on page 9 Col 1)
Youth vote, booth management to be
BJP election strategy: Dr Jitendra
Nishikant Khajuria stewardship of Prime Minister
Victory rally taken out in Jammu Narendra Modi as well as
JAMMU, Dec 23: Taking a national president Amit Shah
cue from victory in Gujarat will sweep all the elections with
Assembly polls, youth vote this strategy,” he said while
and booth management will be addressing the rally.
in the core of BJP election *Watch video on
strategy across the country as
www.excelsiornews.com
six States are going to polls
next year. Pertinent to mention that six
This was indicated by Union States, including Madhya
Minister of State in PMO, Dr Pradesh, Rajasthan.
Jitendra Singh while addressing Chhattisgarh, Karnataka,
an impressive victory rally of Tripura and Meghalaya will go
BJP workers and his supporters, to Assembly polls next year.
here today, on his maiden visit to Dr Jitendra Singh, who
Jammu after the Gujarat poll was co-incharge of the
verdict. Gujarat elections, explained
“Gujarat poll results have that booth level workers and
once again proved that youth youth played crucial role while
vote and booth management are Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh being taken out to BJP charismatic leadership of PM
going to be decisive factor in headquarters in form of a victory procession at Jammu on Modi and strategy planning by
every election and BJP under the Saturday. —Excelsior/Rakesh
(Contd on page 9 Col 5)
BJP-RSS CC reviews Govt
working, Ministers’ performance
Excelsior Correspondent
Calls for addressing people’s issues
JAMMU, Dec 23: The
going on, the bullets are flying BJP-RSS Coordination the members, today met for State Government especially
all over, there is a chance that it Committee today reviewed about two hours and took up performance of the BJP
may hit somebody," he said, working of the first-ever PDP- number of issues. Ministers and “by and large’’
expressed satisfaction on per-
adding that forces always main- BJP coalition Government in Insiders told the Excelsior
tain lot of restraint. that the meeting was attended by formance of both. However, the
the State including perform-
Meanwhile, Security forces Union Minister of the State in Coordination Committee was of
ance of the BJP Ministers and the view that the BJP Ministers
today launched a massive the Prime Minister’s Office
stressed for maintaining close should attend to the people’s
search operation against a (PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh,
liaison with the party cadre to Deputy Chief Minister Dr problems more effectively and
group of Lashkar-e-Toiba
ensure that BJP-backed candi- Nirmal Singh, top RSS leaders ensure that Jammu and Ladakh
(LeT) militants who have infil-
dates win maximum seats in Romesh Puppa and Purshotam regions don’t lag behind in the
trated in Keran sector of fron-
the upcoming elections of Dadeechi, BJP State president development works.
tier district Kupwara this Panchayats in Jammu and Sources said it has been the
week. Sat Sharma CA, Ashok Koul,
Kashmir. firm stand of BJP and RSS
BJP general secretary (organiza-
Sources said that a group of The Coordination Committee leaders that the Government
tion), Shamsher Singh Manhas
5-6 militants of LeT infiltrated of BJP-RSS, which meets every should go for early Panchayat
and Jugal Kishore Sharma, both
into Keran sector of Kupwara month to discuss Government MPs and Narinder Singh, gener- and Urban Local Bodies elec-
during the night intervening
functioning, performance of the al secretary. tions in Jammu and Kashmir as
December 21 and 22. The group, Ministers, efforts to strengthen Sources said the they have already been delayed
according to sources, started the organization at grass-root Coordination Committee due to which the people at
(Contd on page 9 Col 1) level and other issues raised by reviewed functioning of the (Contd on page 9 Col 3)