LEH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his second trip in two months to Kashmir, on Tuesday came out strongly against Pakistan for continuing its proxy war of terrorism against India, saying it has lost the strength to fight a conventional war.

Addressing troops of Army and the Indian Air Force on his maiden trip to Leh and Ladakh, Modi condemned the continuing proxy war by Pakistan.

"The neighbouring country has lost the strength to fight a conventional war, but continues to engage in the proxy war of terrorism," he said.

The Prime Minister said the Indian armed forces were suffering more casualties from terrorism than from war. 

Noting that this is a global problem, the Prime Minister said all humanitarian forces of the world should unite to fight it.

"India is committed to strengthening and uniting these humanitarian forces," he said.

Modi said India was committed to strong armed forces, well-equipped with modern arms and technology.

The jawans should be assured that the entire country supports them, he stressed.

The Prime Minister said soldiers remain undeterred inspite of the many negatives and struggles that their families face in day-to-day life and this energy and sense of duty inspires him and, therefore, he keeps visiting jawans on the border to seek inspiration. 

The Prime Minister said provisions have been made in the Union Budget for modernisation and welfare of the armed forces including 'One Rank One Pension'.

Modi promised the troops that a National War Memorial would be built that would inspire future generations of India.

He also told the defence personnel that the government is committed to making India self-reliant in defence manufacturing.

Noting that the country's armed forces deployed in border areas are well-connected with the people who live there, Modi cited the example of the Kargil infiltration, about which the first information was given by a shepherd named Tashi Namgyal.

Before leaving, Modi interacted with the troops and wrote in the visitor's book that peace and security is a pre-requisite for development.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Minister of State for Power Piyush Goyal, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chief of Army Staff General Dalbir Singh were also present on the occasion. –PTI

SRINAGAR: Eight BSF personnel, including an officer, were injured when militants attacked their convoy at Pampore in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said on Tuesday.

Militants opened fire on the BSF convoy at Kadlabal in Pampore town around midnight last night as the security personnel were returning to their camps after performing security duties for the 44-day Amarnath yatra which concluded on Sunday.

The attack came ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the state on Tuesday.

Eight BSF men including an Assistant Commandant were injured in the attack, the police said, adding the BSF personnel were travelling in two vehicles.

The injured have been admitted to Army's 92 Base Hospital at Badamibagh. -Agencies

LEH: Opening of Kailash Mansarovar yatra route from Ladakh, royalty in hydro power projects and a multi-purpose tunnel through Khardongla were some of the demands put forth by Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council before Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Council Chairman Rigzin Spalbar met Modi and presented a memorandum listing out demands of the Ladakh region besides seeking a one-time grant of Rs 200 crore for development works in the region by the Council.

The Prime Minister, who is here to inaugurate the 45 MW Nimoo Bazgo Hydroelectric Project here and 44 MW Chutak Power station in Kargil, assured Spalbar that he would look into all the demands put forth by the Council.

Demanding mega solar projects of 5000 mega watts and 2500 mega watts in the region, the Council also demanded a 12.5 per cent royalty in favour of the Council on the hydro projects.

The Council said these projects will acquire huge chunks of land from eastern Ladakh region where population is dependent on animal husbandry thus having a negative impact on the livelihood of the people.

"...the project is also expected to affect the fragile ecosystem. In light of the above, LAHDC, Leh demands a royalty of 12.5 per cent to compensate the loss of grazing land and livelihood of the local population," the memorandum said.

On the opening of new Yatra route to Mansarovar from here, the Council said, "Demchok in Ladakh provides the easiest and the safest access to Kailash Mansarovar. From here pilgrims can approach the holy mountain and the sacred lake in two days. This would also give the much needed fillip to the local economy," the memorandum said.

Demanding opening of cross-border trade links with China, the Council said opening of Demchok for cross-border trade on the pattern of Nathu-la pass in Sikkim will not only boost the regional economy but would go a long way in fostering Sino-Indian relations. -PTI

CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has sought the intervention of the central government in taking up the issue of recent hate crimes against Sikhs in various countries.

The SGPC has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his government's intervention in the matter.

SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar urged Modi to take up the issue of safety of Sikhs with the US and New Zealand governments.

He demanded that the culprits behind these hate crimes be brought before law.

In New York, a Sikh man was hit and dragged by a truck following an argument recently. The victim was also hurled with a racist slur.

In another area of New York, a Sikh scientist and his mother were assaulted by youths who called him 'Osama bin Laden'.

In the latest incident, Sikh youth Davinder Singh was stabbed to death in Auckland city of New Zealand.

Hate crimes have taken place in the US and other countries against Sikhs, especially after the 9/11 World Trade Center attack. -IANS

NEW YORK: In the wake of two alleged hate crimes against Sikhs here, a civil rights group has appealed to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio to urgently address the issue of discrimination against the minority community.

The Sikh Coalition has written to de Blasio seeking to meet him "to address hate crimes and discrimination against Sikhs" in the city.

The group approached the city administration following two attacks in as many weeks against Sikhs in the city.

Earlier this month, 29-year-old Sandeep Singh was brutally injured when he was hit and dragged nearly 30 feet on a public street in Queens by a pick-up truck following an argument with the truck's driver who called him a "terrorist" who should "go back to your country".

Last week, another Sikh man, identified in a report by Huffington Post as Jaspreet Singh Batra and his mother were attacked by a group of teenagers who called him "Osama Bin Laden".

Batra, a physician scientist, was confronted by about 10 teenagers who used derogatory language against his mother and made fun of her facial hair.

The Sikh community of Queens sought to draw public attention to the hate crime issue and motivate the New York Police Department (NYPD) to focus more resources in making arrests and preventing similar crimes from happening.

"Based on community feedback, we believe that the NYPD must be more proactive about its community engagement work," the Sikh Coalition said in the letter to de Blasio.

It said there is a "perception" among local Sikhs that the NYPD could have deployed the Hate Crime Task Force immediately after the attack on Singh.

Problems of hate crime and discrimination against the Sikhs are "compounded by the fact that the NYPD actively discriminates against turbaned Sikhs who wish to serve as law enforcement officers," the group said.

It said while turbaned Sikhs serve as police officers in Canada, India, and the United Kingdom, they are not permitted to serve in the police department in New York City.

"This makes no sense from a community policing perspective and is contrary to the New York City Human Rights Law as well as federal civil rights law," the group said.

The group urged the Mayor to act upon his promise of ensuring that everyone's rights are respected in the city and police and community stand together to confront violence.

In an interview to the Huffington Post, Batra said he hopes justice will be delivered.

He said there should be a mandatory diversity education programme in schools and colleges that teaches young people about the value of all faiths and ethnicities.

"I think there should be a school programme where a diversity education course is mandated to make sure all youngsters attend because that's the age you start making opinions," Batra said. - PTI

New Delhi: No sportsperson has been named for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna while 15, including cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, were today recommended for the Arjuna Award this year.

The 12-member selection committee, headed by legendary cricketer Kapil Dev, decided not to name any sportsperson out of the seven candidates for the Khel Ratna at a meeting here.

This is the third time no sportsperson has been named for the Khel Ratna since the inception of the country's highest sporting award in 1991.

Besides Ashwin, the other 14 recommended for the Arjuna Award were Akhilesh Varma (archery), Tintu Luka (athletics), H N Girisha (paralympics), V Diju (badminton), Geetu Ann Jose (basketball), Jai Bhagwan (boxing), Anirban Lahiri (golf), Mamta Pujari (kabaddi), Saji Thomas (rowing), Heena Sidhu (shooting), Anaka Alankamony (squash), Tom Joseph (volleyball), Renubala Chanu (weightlifting) and Sunil Rana (wrestling).

"The selection panel examined the seven names placed before them for the consideration of Khel Ratna but none of them were deserving enough to get the nod," a selection panel member told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

"We discussed each and every seven names for the Khel Ratna Award. The longest discussion was in case of on golfer Jeev Milkha Singh after Kapil mentioned his name but ultimately the panel decided against his name," the member said.

It is also learnt that Somdev Devvarman's 2011 Arjuna Award went against him while considering his name for the Khel Ratna as some panel members felt that he has not achieved much success after that year.

The selection panel members for the Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award included the likes of Anju Bobby George and Kunjarani Devi, both of the highest sporting honour themselves, two mediapersons and three from the government side, including Sports Authority of India Director General Jiji Thomson. PTI

NEW YORK: US actor Robin Williams was found dead on Monday in his home in California.

The mayor's office of California State's Marin county has been investigating what it said is a possible suicide of the 63-year-old Oscar winning actor-comedian, Efe reported. 

According to his publicist, Williams had been "battling severe depression" in the period before his death.

The Marin County Sheriff's office, however, said that it had tentatively concluded that Williams died by suicide, specifically "asphyxia", although it provided no further details.

The star of many Hollywood comedies was found unconscious and not breathing at his home near San Francisco, by paramedics called to the house and he was pronounced dead at the scene at 12.02 p.m.

Williams starred in numerous Hollywood films, including "Good Morning, Vietnam", "Dead Poets Society", "Jumanji", "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Good Will Hunting", winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the latter in 1997.

He also received two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globes, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and five Grammy Awards in addition to pursuing a successful decades-long and highly acclaimed standup comedy career. 

Over the years, he had battled cocaine and alcohol addiction, as well as depression.

Authorities have opened an investigation into the actor's sudden death and an autopsy will be conducted Tuesday.-Agencies

MUMBAI: Calling him 'mad genius' and 'bundle of joy', Bollywood celebrities on Tuesday mourned the death of their 'favourite' Oscar-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams.

Bollywood A-listers including Arjun Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Abhay Deol, Farah Khan, Shekhar Kapur among others took to Twitter to pay their rich tributes to the 63-year-old actor, who died on Monday.

"RIP Robin Williams. You will always remain in my memory as Mrs Doubtfire... Hope you find happiness up there you mad genius...," Arjun posted.

Abhishek remembers him for his funny antics in films and wrote, "Oh captain, my... Terrible news about the passing of one of my favourite actors. Mr Robin Williams. This is the 1st time he made anyone cry." Azmi and Abhay call his death a major loss to the films.

"Robin Williams. What a loss! You leave behind a vaccum difficult to fill but your remarkable body of work will continue to inspire. RIP," Shabana tweeted.

Abhay said, "Philip Seymour Hoffman, Zohra Sehgal, Robin Williams. The world's a better place because they lived. RIP." "Robin Williams... This seems like a personal loss... What a sad start to the day... So much to learn, much to mourn...

#RIPRobinWilliams," Richa Chadha tweeted.

Shekhar Kapur questions the alleged suicide committed by the actor.

"The man that brought us so much laughter and joy committed suicide? Who knows the internal conflicts of the creative mind #RIPRobinWilliams," he tweeted.

Farah tweeted, "Oh God!! How do you tell your kids Mrs Doubtfire has died!? RIP Robin Williams.. Thank you for the laughter in the movies!" Farhan Akhtar and Sidharth Malhotra thanked the legendary actor for entertaining them from decades.

"Robin Williams. Thank you for the decades of entertainment. RIP," Farhan wrote.

Sidharth said, "Sad to hear abt Robin Williams-RIP n thank you for all the laughs." "Woke up to the awful and tragic news of Mr Robbin Williams. He touched our hearts through so many wonderful characters. RIP captain o captain," Arjun Rampal tweeted. -PTI

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday constituted a six-member State Coordination Committee of Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP to streamline day-to-day functioning and cooperation between the alliance partners.

SAD senior vice-president Ranjit Singh Brahampura, secretary general Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and general secretary Balwinder Singh Bhunder will represent the Akali Dal in the committee, while Pathankot MLA Ashwani Sharma, senior BJP leaders Narottam Dev Ratti and Rajinder Bhandari will be the BJP nominees, said SAD general secretary Harcharan Singh Bains.

Similar committees will be set up at all district headquarters shortly for enhanced coordination at the grassroot level, he said.

In the recent past, there have been a few incidents which have reportedly led to friction between the two allies.

In June, BJP leaders from Punjab had questioned Badal's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi without any state BJP leaders.

However, later Badal had said that as the head of a state, every Chief Minister can meet the Prime Minister and Union Ministers any time because the sole motive of these meetings is to ensure the welfare and development of the state. He had said he had no objection if any leader accompanied him to such meetings.

The Chief Minister had then maintained that the SAD-BJP alliance was very firm and there was a cordial relationship between the two parties.

However, in another incident last month, SAD had asked BJP MLA Anil Joshi not to politicise the matter of Punjab government deciding to rollback 'advance tax on stock'.

Earlier, Akalis had attacked former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu's wife, Amritsar East MLA Navjot Kaur, for demanding SAD minister Bikram Singh Majithia's resignation over senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley's defeat in Lok Sabha polls. –PTI

NEW DELHI: A multi-specialty hospital on the lines of AIIMS will be set up at Jhajjar in Haryana.

During Question Hour in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said all facilities, now available with AIIMS, could be availed in the new seven-storey hospital which would come up "in the coming days".

The proposed hospital will also have facilities for cancer treatment, he said.

The move was aimed at "shedding the load of AIIMS," he said, adding that patients from outside Delhi came here for treatment leading to piling up of cases.

Stating that long-term solutions are required to reduce load on premier medical institutes, Vardhan said efforts are being made to upgrade district hospitals, set up more AIIMS- like institutions and cancer hospitals.

To a question on whether it was a fact that a patient had to wait for eight years to get his heart operated, Vardhan answered in the negative but admitted that in cases, the waiting list for treatment ranges from three months to three years. –PTI

New Delhi: The home ministry Tuesday recommended the name of legendary hockey player late Dhyan Chand for the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in the country.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju informed the Lok Sabha Tuesday that his ministry had forwarded Dhyan Chand's name to the PMO after receiving recommendations from various quarters.

But union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu denied having any discussion on the matter.

Born in 1905, Dhyan Chand was nick-named the 'Hockey Wizard' for his superb ball control and is considered the greatest field hockey player of all time. He won three Olympic gold medals for India between 1928 and 1936. 

Dhyan Chand retired from the game in 1948. Eight years later, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan. He retired from the Indian Army with the rank of Major. He passed away in New Delhi in 1979 at the age of 79. 

The sports ministry has also constituted a Dhyan Chand lifetime award for sportspersons in his honour. The National Stadium here has also been named after him. Every year on his birthday Aug 29, the sports awards namely Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna, Dronacharya and the Dhyan Chand Awards are given away. 

The sports ministry last year had recommended Dhyan Chand's name for the Bharat Ratna but the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) gave the award to Sachin Tendulkar, who became the youngest recipient.

Chandigarh: Despite water level in Pong dam remaining "worrisome" due to scanty rains in catchment areas, Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) today did not enforce any cut on water outflow to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, though it asked them to draw water "cautiously".

"We have asked partnering states to draw water cautiously to save water for the next crop season. And partnering states have agreed to it," BBMB Member Irrigation SL Aggawal said here today.

A meeting of partnering states was today held here to review the water situation in the wake of "lesser" water level in Pong dam.

Asked about enforcing cut on water release, Aggawal said no such decision was taken during the meeting.

"There is no cut on water outflow to partnering states.

(However), they (states) have been asked to use water economically," he said.

Punjab Irrigation Department, Chief Engineer, Amarjit Singh Dullet said that partnering states would continue to get water as per their requirements. "There will be no reduction in water supply to partnering states," he said.

Dullet, however, said if water level in Bhakra reservoir improves after August 15, then 7,000 cusecs more water would be released from Bhakra while that much water would be reduced from outflow of Pong dam.

Aggarwal also said that BBMB would consider increasing water outflow from Bhakra reservoir because of its "comfortable" water level position after it attained the level of 1,670 feet and simultaneously reducing corresponding water release from Pong dam.

"We will look at it (raising water outflow from Bhakra) after it reaches 1,670 feet on August 15. We will also consider water inflow situation at that time before taking decision in this regard," he said.

"If water inflows are better, then we will do balancing (with regard to water outflow) from both dams to save water," he said.

Aggarwal noted that day to day monitoring would be carried out to review the situation.

Pong dam, set up on Beas river, today recorded water level of 1,345 feet which is 33.82 feet less than the level on the same day last year. Inflow of water in Pong dam stood at 22,000 cusecs while outflow was about 14,000 cusecs, said a BBMB official.

Bhakra dam today recorded water level of 1,663.50 feet, 5.20 feet higher than the what was recorded last year on the same day. The inflow of water in Bhakra was about 44,000 cusecs while the outflow was 25,000 cusecs.

Bhakra and Pong dams are to be filled up to a level of 1,680 feet and 1,390 feet respectively by September. PTI