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Worst floods in Jammu & Kashmir in six decades
Chaos reigns at Srinagar airport
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Army plays caregiver to baby girl
Distress no damper for these good Samaritans
State ready to take over relief work from Army
Kashmir deluge a story for generations to come
Economy to grow at 5.6% this fiscal: FICCI survey
state Transportation system
Ajit Singh: Will vacate govt accommodation by Sept 25
Rs 25,000 cr Navy tender only for pvt sector: Govt
Not in the race for CM’s post, says Supriya Sule
M’rashtra CM post to be decided after polls: BJP
Will India allow US to recover WW-II airmen’s remains in Arunachal?
India-bound Malaysian flight faces snag
Ramdev played key role in BJP’s LS poll victory: Shah Did my duty, says Manmohan on 2G, coalgate Notices to 6 parties over RTI compliance Saradha scam
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Worst floods in Jammu & Kashmir in six decades Demand probe into bridge damage, allege use of substandard material Amit Khajuria Tribune News Service
Jammu, September 14 They alleged that substandard material was used in the construction of the bridge. Dozens of houses in the Tawi riverbed had been washed away following damage of the bridge. Hundreds of Gujjars living on the banks of the Tawi near the bridge claimed that they had lost their houses because of damage to the bridge. They were now staying in tents provided by the Army. The Army was providing them food as well. Rehmat Ali, a dairy farmer, has lost his double-storey house in the floods. “The engineers who constructed the bridge should be punished. We have lost our houses because of poor quality of the bridge,” he said. “Water entered our houses at the time of floods, but could not damage the structures. Those were damaged due to the bridge,” he added. A portion of the bridge on the Tawi connecting Bhagwati Nagar and Belicharana was washed away. At a press conference in Jammu the same day, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said, “The bridge was damaged due to soil erosion on the banks of the river. There is no need for an inquiry.” Mohammad Farooq Malik of Belichcrana said, “This bridge is an example of corruption prevailing in the government. It was constructed when the Roads and Buildings Ministry was with the Chief Minister.” He had lost his double-storey house and three heads of cattle. He alleged that corrupt engineers had used substandard material to construct the bridge. “A high-level inquiry should be conducted to find out the reason for the damage. If other bridges are safe, why has the newly constructed bridge been damaged?” he asked. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah inaugurated the bridge on May 26 last year. It had been built at a cost of Rs 89.05 crore.
The mishap and after
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Chaos reigns at Srinagar airport
Srinagar, September 14 Thousands of tourists, labourers and others from outside the Valley have been camping in and around the Srinagar airport to flee the flood-ravaged city. Due to the rush, everybody is not getting tickets to leave the city. Those who have got tickets are sitting on the airport floor and waiting for their turn to board flights. “It seems like that the airport has become a railway station. People are sitting everywhere and standing in long queues to get boarding passes,” said S Salaria, deputy manager of the ICICI bank in Budgam, who managed to reach the airport to leave the Valley after five days. Due to non-availability of Internet, working at the airport is being done manually and handwritten boarding passes are being issued to passengers. Neither seat number nor gate number is mentioned on boarding passes and passengers are being told to sit in aeroplanes wherever they can. “Passengers are running all around to board aeroplanes like we used to board buses,” Salaria added. The Kashmir valley in general and Srinagar in particular witnessed one of the most devastating floods in history with life still out of gear. The situation inside the airport depicts the situation being faced by the people outside. “There is chaos and confusion at the airport. Nobody knows where the aircraft will stop and the gate through which boarding will be done. Employees of various airlines are not sure about their plans and there is chaos,” said Ayaz Ahmad, 38-year-old businessman from the Bhaderwah area, who was at the airport to go to Jammu in a Spice Jet flight. To help labourers and people stranded in Srinagar, the Centre had started additional Air India flights with passengers being taken free of cost. Additional flights and rescue operations of the Air Force had increased air traffic due to which regular flights were being delayed.
Confusion prevails
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Army plays caregiver to baby girl
Srinagar, September 14 “Nearly 140 children, including newborn babies, were brought here after flash floods inundated GB Pant Hospital. She was one of them,” said Major AK Gupta, a paediatrician looking after the infant. “The baby had symptoms of septic and hypothermia. We immediately started her treatment at the neonatal intensive care unit. She has stabilised since then and now her condition is improving,” he said. “The baby was brought by her caretaker, who handed her over to us before leaving the Base Hospital in search of his family. Thereafter, he never returned,” he said. “Our staff had recorded the name of the caretaker who had brought this infant to us as Riaz Ahmed, a native of Tangmarg in Baramulla district,” he said.
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Distress no damper for these good Samaritans
Srinagar, September 14 As south Kashmir continues to remain cut off, volunteers from Kulgam and Shopian are seen distributing relief material among the marooned in Srinagar city. “Though we have lost everything in the floods, we travelled to Srinagar to help our brethren,” said Suhail Ahmad, a volunteer from Kulgam district. Suhail along with other volunteers reached Srinagar in a tipper. “We collected eatables from our area as we came to know about the hardships being faced by our brethren in Srinagar. We have distributed these items in Karan Nagar and Maisuma area of the city,” he added. In fact a group of volunteers from Shopian district was also seen distributing relief material in Srinagar. Arif Hussain, an engineer, along with his four other colleagues from south Kashmir arrived in Srinagar with food and medicines and they are distributing it themselves. It took them hours to reach Srinagar traversing circuitous routes that pass through villages and are not metalled. “There is no connectivity through the main road. We travelled through various villages to reach Srinagar,” Arif said. Not only from south Kashmir, but people from all across Kashmir have also pitched in distributing relief material in Srinagar. People have travelled from as far as frontier Kupwara district, Bandipora, Baramulla and other places to help the flood-hit people in this time of distress.“Though people from all across the Valley are involved in the relief work, the efforts of the people of south Kashmir are truly laudable,” said a city resident.
Helping hand
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State ready to take over relief work from Army
New Delhi, September 14 The Tribune had first reported in its September 13 edition that the Army would hand over the relief and rehabilitation operations — providing food, water, medicines, clothing and rations — to the local administration. The Army’s top functionaries were clear that their boys were trained only for specific purposes and could not handle distribution of material. Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth, who heads the NCMC, today reviewed the flood situation in J&K. A government statement issued today evening said: “The NCMC noted that the state government machinery has geared up to take up the challenge of relief work.” With the telecom services, power supply, road transport and aviation slowly getting back on track in the Valley, the NCMC has set targets to ramp up relief work as the winter will set in some four weeks from now. — TNS
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Kashmir deluge a story for generations to come
This is a story that Kashmiris, who survived death and destruction caused by floods, will record for their great grandchildren — of how they were abandoned by those whom they had elected, and rescued by those whom they were made to hate. Had the Army not responded to the call of duty, the Valley would not have been there to tell any story. Local volunteers also did unparalleled service in rescuing people. No one else was seen anywhere on the scene.
Over the last weekend, the events that followed were horrific. People are still marooned, waiting for evacuation while many others are in a distress situation without food and water, now for days together. The rescuers, mostly personnel of the Army, National Disaster Response Force and the Air Force and local volunteers, could not reach each and every person. At some places, Army personnel, NDRF men and IAF choppers were stoned, injuring the rescuers, but they kept up the rescue and relief work. The armed forces against whom hatred was generated not only by separatists but also by mainstream parties rose to the occasion. Their own losses were huge, but they worked overtime to save Kashmir. Whatever is left of the Kashmir valley today is because of the valiant efforts of the armed forces and that of local volunteers. It is baffling as to why the armed forces are being pelted with stones. It may be because of the hate campaign of the political elements and propaganda from across the border. People in distress do not come up with banners that they “don’t need Indian relief” and “stop the drama of choppers”. Some anti-India forces are undoubtedly at work. There was a social media campaign by some elements sitting outside the Valley who accused the Army of placing conditions for rescuing people. They said the Army was demanding that once people were rescued, they should tell the media that “the Army rescued them”. The Army personnel cannot speak Kashmiri and how could they tutor people who do not understand Hindi. Elderly women, who do not know even a word of Hindi or Urdu, were heard saying that the Army rescued them in chaste Kashmiri. There is criticism that the Army preferred to rescue only migrant labourers, tourists and non-locals. This is a part of the hate campaign against the Army. As of now, hundreds of tourists and non-locals are stranded and more than 15,000 migrant labourers, tourists and others have climbed mountains to reach Ramsoo — 165 km north of Jammu — on foot. The fact is that wherever the Army could reach, braving the stone-throwing by miscreants, it brought out people from a near-death-like situation. These hate campaigners were doing it deliberately despite knowing that the first rule of the disaster management is to shift out the non-local population to ease pressure of food and water on the local population. That reduces the number of the mouths demanding food and water, and the relief material can straightaway make way to the locals. They are doing their duty. They are doing their duty to save the distressed people, and what they are getting in return are stones. Nowhere in the world, people caught in a natural calamity throw stones at their rescuers.
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Report back on duty, Chief Secy tells staff
Power dept suffers Rs
30-crore loss
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Economy to grow at 5.6% this fiscal: FICCI survey
New Delhi, SeptEMBER 14 “The new government guided by the objective of restoring growth and governance has given very positive policy signals in its first 100 days. We see the confidence amongst investors slowly returning and hope that going ahead the momentum on implementation front will build up,” said the survey. The economists who participated in the survey also felt that RBI will consider a cut in policy rates only in the first quarter next year, as household inflationary expectations remain high. The central bank will wait and watch until there are definite signs of inflationary pressure abating, they said. Retail inflation is expected at 7.8 per cent this fiscal, in sync with RBI’s indication earlier this year. The minimum and maximum range for GDP growth in the current fiscal is indicated at 5.3 per cent and 6 per cent respectively, as against 5.3 per cent estimated in the previous round of the FICCI survey. This reflects a clear return in optimism and the economic activity is expected to continue with this momentum in the second half of the current fiscal year as well, FICCI said. While agricultural growth is expected to remain steady despite weak monsoon, outlook for the industrial sector seems to have improved considerably. It is expected to grow by 4.7 per cent in FY15, which is 1.6 percentage points more than the growth estimate in the previous survey round in June. The growth in the services sector is expected to remain pretty much at similar levels as was reported last time. The sector is likely to grow by 6.9 per cent in FY15. The prognosis made by the economists with regard to exports and current account deficit reflected no imminent risks. The CAD to GDP ratio for FY 15 was projected at 1.9 per cent. They also felt that the macro-economic fundamentals are gradually strengthening and the overall health of the economy is set to improve going ahead. The economists also identified priority areas for the government: developing a world class infrastructure; provision of uninterrupted power supply; resolving labour issues; reducing cost and duration of land acquisition; minimising procedural hassles and fast tracking approvals and development of innovation hubs with world class amenities including lab and testing facilities. Besides, the economists said, government should enhance credit to small and medium enterprises; simplify taxation policies to bring down the time and cost involved in filing returns and introduce Goods & Services Tax at the earliest. — PTI
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File status reports on safety: SC to Haryana, Delhi
R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, September 14 A Bench headed by Justice HL Dattu passed the order on September 12 on a PIL filed by NGO Voice of India through its Chairman Dhanesh Ieshdhan on the plight of passengers travelling in buses operated by the government as well as private persons on route permits. According to the PIL, most of the buses, including those plying on inter-state routes, were not equipped with fire extinguishers, first-aid medical kits, speed governors to check rash driving and GPS tracking systems to assess the location of buses. The conductor should be asked to move around the bus to issue tickets to passengers instead of sitting at one place creating stampede around him, the petitioner pleaded. The passengers should not be subjected to loud and objectionable music and songs played on the stereo system installed in buses, he said. Every major bus stop on each route should have adequate shelters, instead of forcing the hapless commuters to wait in the open thereby exposing them to the summer heat, winter cold and rains, he said. Further, such places should have basic amenities such as safe drinking water and properly maintained toilets. The petitioner has also sought the removal of huge hoardings and encroachments on public roads which caused hurdles to the traffic. The Centre and the three states should come out with comprehensive guidelines to ensure these safety measures and provision of basic amenities to passengers, he said. The apex court had issued notice to these governments in March 2012, seeking their response to the PIL. The order
An SC Bench passed the order on September 12 on a PIL filed by an NGO on the plight of passengers travelling in buses operated by the government as well as private persons on route permits.
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Ajit Singh: Will vacate govt accommodation by Sept 25
New Delhi, September 14 “I have lived here for 36 years. My father (Chaudhary Charan Singh) moved here in 1978 and thereafter there are so many things I have to sort out before moving. I got the notice on August 11 and will move out on September 24-25. I do not think it’s unreasonable,” he said. Singh also said he had found a house and signed a lease as well. “I found the house and we have signed the lease also. So, when they came on 9th, I informed them that I have signed the lease...... But now its ‘Pitru Paksh’. So as soon as it’s over in about two weeks or so, I will go,” the former Civil Aviation Minister said. The government had yesterday disconnected power and water supplies to the official accommodations of former union ministers and ex-MPs, including Ajit Singh, Jitendra Singh and Mohd Azharuddin who refused to vacate the premises. Last week, an eviction team, along with police, had faced stiff resistance at Ajit Singh’s Tughlaq Road residence when they had gone to take possession of the house. — PTI
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Rs 25,000 cr Navy tender only for pvt sector: Govt
New Delhi, September 14 The Defence Ministry has decided that only private sector shipyards, including Pipavav, ABG and L and T, along with their foreign partners, would be allowed to take part in the Rs 25,000 crore project for building the four Landing Platform Docks, Navy sources said. The Navy had issued tenders to these three private shipyards last year and decided to keep out Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), saying it was building the 40,000-tonne Indigenous Aircraft Carrier and it should focus on that major project only for the moment. However, the CSL approached former Defence Minister AK Antony through the Ministry of Shipping and the deal was put on hold. — PTI
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Not in the race for CM’s post, says Supriya Sule
Mumbai, September 14 Sources in the NCP said Sharad Pawar has had differences with state’s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. It is learnt that Ajit is side-lining NCP veterans, including Chhagan Bhujbal, who are close associates of his uncle.Sources say Bhujbal was coerced into contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Nashik which he lost. Ajit, in fact, was reprimanded by his uncle for his remarks about urinating in dams when the state was facing a water crisis last summer. A section of the NCP leaders opposed to Ajit Pawar are also persuading Supriya to play a bigger role in Maharashtra politics. However, she has so far decided to stick to her original style of working under which her cousin handles matters in Maharashtra while she stays put in Delhi. Sources say Supriya is also emerging as NCP’s link with national-level politicians and has even reached out to Prime Minister Narendra
Modi.
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M’rashtra CM post to be decided after polls: BJP
Pune, September 14 Expressing party's displeasure over the statement made by Thackeray on a TV channel and prominently published in the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamna', BJP leader in charge of Maharashtra affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, "It is desirable to refrain from making such statements prior to elections and talks." Addressing a news conference, Rudy said the two alliance partners had not discussed the issue of chief ministership so far. "This issue will be decided after the elections," he said. Asked about dissensions within the 25-year-old saffron alliance in Maharashtra over the issue of seat-sharing for the October 15 polls, Rudy said BJP expected "a mature and respectable understanding" from the Sena. “We expect to contest about 135 seats, leaving the same number to Shiv Sena", Rudy said. — PTI
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Will India allow US to recover WW-II airmen’s remains in Arunachal?
New Delhi, September 14 The search was suspended in 2010 after China’s protest saying it was a way to legitimise India’s claim over Arunachal Pradesh. The search was first allowed on humanitarian grounds in the early 2008 - the heydays of the India-US relations in the backdrop of the landmark concessions given to India for the civil nuclear deal. China claims almost the entire of the north-eastern Indian state as its own land and refers to it as “South Tibet”. A US-based group working for the families of the missing US soldiers have written to the US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel seeking his intervention in asking India to allow resumption of the search operations. Hagel was in India in first week of August when he rolled out an offer to have joint development of military equipment with New Delhi. Gary Zaetz, founder and spokesperson of the Families and Supporters of America’s Arunachal Missing in Action, said in an emailed communiqué: “Our letter (to Hagel) expressed major disappointment at the failure of the Government of India to satisfy commitments it had repeatedly made in public pronouncements to permit the Missing in Action (MIA) remains recovery operations in Arunachal Pradesh.” MIA is a term used by the US to describe its soldiers who are missing or presumed dead after the war. Zaetz, whose uncle Lt Irwin is one the MIA, shared the correspondence his organisation had received from Major General W Montague Winfield, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence in the US. It said recoveries of the bodies of US soldiers might be carried out in Nagaland and Assam and added the Indian Government had ‘sensitivities’ about Arunachal. The US would continue a dialogue with India on the resumption of the search operations in Arunachal. The bodies of more than 400 US aircrew members — who died in crashes in Chahbua (Assam) and Kunming (China) during the WW-II — are strewn across the remotest parts of the Indian state.
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India-bound Malaysian flight faces snag
Kuala Lumpur, September 14 Flight MH198 from Kuala Lumpur to Hyderabad departed at 10.20 pm last night but the Boeing 737-800 turned back due to an auto-pilot defect and landed safely at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 2.01am today, it said. “The defect did not have any impact on the safety of the aircraft or passengers, however, as a precautionary measure, the operating Captain decided to turn back,” the airline said. It refuted reports on social media that the aircraft caught fire and sought public’s cooperation to “refrain from making speculations” to avoid discomfort among air travellers. Initial reports had said that the plane had to make an emergency landing due to “burning fuel”. The airline said upon arrival, passengers and crew disembarked safely and were given accommodation at nearby hotels. The flight, rescheduled to operate as MH198D, left Kuala Lumpur for Hyderabad at 12.20 pm today. The airline said it regretted the disruption to its guests' travel plans. — PTI
MH370: 58 ‘hard objects’ found
The Australia-led search team for the missing Malaysian flight MH370 has discovered 58 "hard objects" inconsistent with the Indian Ocean seabed, raising hopes of solving the over six months-long aviation mystery. — PTI
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Ramdev played key role in BJP’s LS poll victory: Shah Haridwar, September 14 Addressing a gathering at Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar, today, BJP national president Amit Shah said: "Ramdev was targeted by the previous UPA government at Ramleela Ground in New Delhi in June 2012. The Congress forgot that when a saint takes a pledge, spiritual powers bless him. Ramdev played a pivotal role in bringing a regime change at the Centre." He said Ramdev was born to protect people from evil forces. About the Central Government, he said formation of the Ganga Rejuvenation Ministry, the decision to make the river pollution free and envisaging a comprehensive plan to restore its sanctity and purity were major achievements of the NDA government. Shah said other major priorities of the NDA government were conservation of the Himalayas, a cleanliness drive in schools, setting up of model cities and rail connectivity to the Char Dhams in Uttarakhand. Shah said the UPA government in its first Cabinet meeting in 2004 had abrogated the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which was passed by the previous NDA government in 2002. “In comparison, Narendra Modi-led government formed an SIT on black money in its first Cabinet meeting. “These two steps indicate the difference in the working of both parties. They facilitated corruption, we will eradicate it, “he stated. Shah praised Ramdev and said he had made the art of yoga and ayurveda popular. “Baba has popularised yoga and ayruveda around the world. His contribution to popularising Hindi and preservation of other Indian languages is commendable,” Shah added.
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Did my duty, says Manmohan on 2G, coalgate New Delhi, September 14 “I, indeed, did my duty. Well, I do not want to comment on other people and what they have written,” Singh told reporters on the sidelines of an event here to celebrate the publication of a book titled ‘Strictly Personal: Manmohan and Gursharan’, authored by his daughter Daman Singh. Singh was asked about the scathing criticism by Rai who held the former PM responsible for the controversial decisions to allocate 2G spectrum on a first-cum-first serve basis and coal blocks without auction. Daman skirted questions about the ex-CAG’s comments. “I do not know anything about that. So I cannot comment. I have not heard what they have said. So, there is no point in saying anything,” she said. — PTI
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Notices to 6 parties over RTI compliance New Delhi, September 14 Last year, on a plea by activist Subhash Agrawal, the CIC had declared six national parties - Congress, BJP, NCP, CPI, CPM and BSP - as public authorities, thereby bringing them under the ambit of the Right to Information Act. However, none of the parties either contested the decision in courts or followed the instructions of the panel. The commission had issued notices on February 7 and March 25 to these political parties seeking their detailed comments on the complaint by Agrawal that they had not complied with the orders of the CIC. “Therefore, a notice is issued to show cause within four weeks as to why an inquiry should not be initiated in the matter of non-compliance of the commission’s order dated June 3, 2013, under Section 18 of the RTI Act, 2005... Take further notice that if you fail to respond within prescribed time, the matter will be processed on the strength of material on record, in accordance with law,” the notice said. The notice has been sent to the chiefs of Congress, BJP, BSP and NCP and to the general secretaries of the CPI and CPM. The move comes close on the heels of a Delhi High Court order which directed the commission to decide in six months on a complaint against Congress chief Sonia Gandhi regarding the issue of non-compliance with the transparency panel’s directions that the party was answerable under the RTI Act. - PTI
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Saradha scam Mumbai, September 14 “People, who have been arrested (in Saradha chit fund case) are saying that West Bengal Chief Minister benefited the most from the scam,” BJP MP from Asansol Babul Supriyo said. “Those arrested are even divulging the amount of money that Mamataji and (TMC general secretary) Mukul Roy received in this scam.” — PTI
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Srinagar, September 14
This is a story that Kashmiris, who survived death and destruction caused by floods, will record for their great grandchildren — of how they were abandoned by those whom they had elected, and rescued by those whom they were made to hate. Had the Army not responded to the call of duty, the Valley would not have been there to tell any story. 
New Delhi, September 14
New Delhi, September 14
Haridwar, September 14
Srinagar highway being realigned
Schools not hit by floods to reopen tomorrow
Firms join hands with govt for relief in J&K
DSGMC brings 25 flood victims to Delhi