DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2017 (PAGE 7) Kavinder delivers lecture on democracy at Jaipur Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 15: Speaker State Assembly and MLA, Gandhi Nagar, Kavinder Gupta today attended the conference on "Democracy and Sustainable Development" as chief guest on the occasion of "UN World Democracy Day" at Jaipur organised by Indian Youth Parliament. The Speaker attended this conference for the second con- secutive year as chief guest and interacted with the youth associ- ated with different ideologies, institutions and organizations from across the country. The event is organized every year for fostering dialogue and generating partnership between youth from private sector and civil society and is aimed at pro- viding opportunities for devel- oping leadership qualities among them. Stressing on the importance of democracy, the Speaker said that democracy is the best form of Government across the globe and it gives an equal opportuni- ty to all sections of the society. The Speaker said democratic process is the rule, "by the peo- ple, of the people and for the people" and the same can be gauged by the process of elec- tions; direct or indirect in the country. Elaborating the need for its long term sustainability, the Speaker said that there is always a scope for improvement in everything and for getting better results and enhancing its dura- bility; a mixture of youth energy and experienced persons from allied fields is required. Congratulating the team of "Youth Sansad", he said organiz- ing such events and inviting per- sons having rich experiences behind their back for interacting with as much needed thing in today's scenario as some people try to create a sense of confusion among the society. The Speaker said that for maintaining proper health of the democracy and its sustainability, education can play a vital role and we should adopt the old mantra of "Each one Teach One" which will turn out to be a game changer in implementing the real sense of democracy. Addressing the youth, he said that it is the duty of each one of us to preserve the age old democratic institution by becoming more vigilant and proactive and create awareness among the masses about the true spirit of democracy. Minister for Rural Development, Abdul Haq Khan & NC MLA, Devender Singh Rana during the launch of DBT scheme at Jammu. Haq launches DBT under PMAY Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 15: Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Law and Justice, Abdul Haq Khan today launched Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) under centrally spon- sored 'Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana' (Grameen) to provide benefit to 1303 beneficiaries amount to Rs. 16 crore here today. The scheme aims at provid- ing assistance to the poor and economically downtrodden for constructing residential houses. MLA Nagrota Devender Singh Rana besides Director Rural Development Department Ravinder K. Bhat, Assistant Commissioner Development Jammu M Latifi Tasir, XEn and BDOs of Jammu district were present. Speaking on the occasion, Abdul Haq said that Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) aims to transfer subsidies/financial assistance directly to the people through their bank accounts thus reducing chances of corruption, leakages and delays. The Minister said that to address issues of houseless pop- ulation Government is commit- ted to provide housing for all by 2022, under PMAY-Grameen wherein beneficiary will be pro- vided a pucca house with all basic amenities. He said the assistance is tar- geted at those who are genuine- ly deprived and the selection is objective and verifiable. He said PMAY-G instead of selecting a beneficiary from among the BPL households, selects benefi- ciaries using housing depriva- tion parameters in the Socio- Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 which is to be further veri- fied by Gram Sabhas. Abdul Haq directed the BDOs to organize Gram Sabhas in their respective areas in September through which the actual beneficiaries are identi- fied besides creating awareness among masses. He asked offici- asls to make the list of benefici- aries of various schemes public in respective Gram Sabhas to ensure transparency. He also complimented the role of vari- ous officers and field functionar- ies for their endeavours. The Minister while congrat- ulating the beneficiaries for being provided first instalment, asked them to use this assistance in making the house only other- wise recovery of funds would be done and second instalment will be halted. He also directed the concerned officers to ensure that the assistance being provided to beneficiaries for the construc- tion of houses would be used genuinely. Green cover essential to reduce emissions: Lal Singh Excelsior Correspondent KATHUA, Sept 15: Minister for Forests, Environment and Ecology, Ch Lal Singh today said that Jammu and Kashmir has 7.5% of total forest cover which further needs focused attention for increasing as well as conserving this green gold. The Minister said this while inaugurating Timber Sale Depots at village Janglote, Budhi and Bakhta of Kathua Kandi area. The depots will be operated by State Forest Corporation and this is for the first time that the Forest Department has started providing timber to people living in villages. He said that plantation done along the roads and industrial area will help in reducing carbon emis- sion and told the farmers that reg- ulating wood cutting in arid areas is the need of the hour as trees play an important role in agriculture and allied activities so it is manda- tory for every stakeholder of the society to conserve and plant trees for sustenance of life on earth. Several delegations also met the Minister during his tour and apprised him of their demands including repair of roads, fencing around religious places, conserva- tion of natural water bodies, aug- mentation of PHE infrastructure, interlinking of ponds and way out from monkey menace in Kandi area. Ch Lal Singh gave them a patient hearing and assured them that their genuine problems will get resolved within a short period of time. On the issue of wreck caused by monkeys in Kandi area, the Minister said that when ani- mals are unable to get food from forests they tend to move to other habitations causing man-animal conflict. He informed that the Forest Department has planted variety of fruit trees in the forest area so that animals and birds retrieve to their natural habitats. Minister for Cooperatives & Ladakh Affairs, Chering Dorjay chairing a meeting at Jammu on Friday. Dorjay reviews functioning of Cooperative Deptt Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 15: Minister for Cooperatives and Ladakh Affairs, Chering Dorjay reviewed the functioning of Cooperative Department in a high level meet- ing here today. Threadbare discussions were held on various issues pertaining to strengthening of cooperative movement, revival of defunct societies and early disposal of arbitration cases to make the func- tioning of Cooperative Societies more convenient. The meeting was attended by Secretary Cooperatives, Bashir Ahmad Bhat, Registrar Cooperative, Peerzada Hafizullah, Joint Registrar (Audit), Jammu, Dr. R K Thapa and Joint Registrar (Special), Jammu Trishla Kumari besides senior functionaries of the department from all the districts of Jammu Division. Emphasizing on the need for revival of defunct Cooperative Societies in the region, the Minister asked the concerned offi- cials to take requisite measures for the strengthening of these soci- eties. He further directed them to put together strenuous efforts to make the functional societies further viable. The Minister said that the establishment of Cooperative Societies in the region will gener- ate employment opportunities. He exhorted upon the officers to cre- ate mass awareness about the cooperative movement at the grass-roots level. Directing the concerned offi- cers to furnish the lists of societies to which elections are to be con- ducted, the Minister asked the con- cerned for initiating the process to conduct elections for these cooper- ative societies at the earliest. The Minister asked the con- cerned officials to adopt a proac- tive approach to streamline the functioning of the department. Detailed discussions were also held on future course of action of the Cooperative Department. He directed the officials to ensure that there should be no encroachment on cooperative assets available at various places. Bank authorities also consulted the Minister for the recovery of loan under OTS in order to revive the defunct societies. The Minister directed the con- cerned officials to submit an inclu- sive progress report of the ongoing projects of National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) to his office. Payment of advt bills to be made within 10 days: Govt Excelsior Correspondent SRINAGAR, Sept 15: Government has ordered that the payment of advertisement bills of the newspapers will be made within 10 days after the receipt of bills. According to an order issued by the Commissioner Secretary Information, M H Malik, the payments to the newspapers will be made online by the respective Joint Directors of Information, Kashmir/Jammu who have been already designated independent controlling authority for the release of Government advertise- ments and the payments thereof. The decision to decentralize advertisement distribution was recently taken on the initiative of Minister for Information, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali, and accordingly by virtue of Govt Order No: 32-ID of 2017 dated: 08-09-2017, the provincial Joint Directors of Information in Jammu/Kashmir divisions were vested with the controlling and regulatory powers in this regard. Pertinently, 467 newspapers and periodicals including 271 in Jammu and 196 in Kashmir divi- sion are presently empanelled with DIPR for release of Government advertisements. Meanwhile, to ensure judi- cious and transparent distribu- tion of advertisements to the newspapers and periodicals in the State, the Government is in the process of categorization of the approved publications in light of the guidelines laid down in Advertisement Policy-2016. The Government has already constituted an official panel headed by Joint Director Information (Headquarters) for categorization of the newspapers as per the parameters laid down in Govt Order No: ID/A/22/2017 dated: 13-03- 2017. As a first step the newspapers and periodicals empanelled by the Department of Information & Public Relations (DIPR) for release of Government advertise- ments were asked to submit var- ious details like circulation, reach, periodicity, language, infrastructure including profes- sional human resource and other similar parameters to facilitate the DIPR to categorize each pub- lication on the basis of its merits. The newspapers which fail to submit the requisite information within the prescribed time limit would be treated as de-listed from the list of empanelled newspapers. Thapar University Chairman and president of Trinity College Dublin announcing tie up on Friday. Thapar University ties up with Trinity College Dublin Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 15: Thapar University has tied up with Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, for imple- mentation of a modernization pro- gramme for important teaching and research laboratories at a cost of Rs 70 crore. This was stated by R R Vederah, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the globally ranked Thapar University (The Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2018), on the globally unique partnership of Thapar University and Trinity College Dublin. "We are now part of a global economy, universities and our efforts in contemporization and international rankings are geared to make Thapar University (TU), Patiala among the best in the world," he said. Vederah further said that the university was focussing on a vision to move from being good to being excellent and be ahead of the curve in higher education by bringing in global standards across the board. "The partnership with Trinity focus- es on strategies to deliver a research inspired, outcome based education- al experience to the students at all levels. The introduction of multi- disciplinary engineering design courses includes experiential learn- ing. The partnership with Trinity includes all major academic and research activities and strengthens Thapar University's position as a leader in higher education in India and in the region," he added. Dr Patrick Prendergast, presi- dent & Provost of Trinity College Dublin, said, "For both Thapar and TCD, it has been a good month. Thapar has entered the Times Higher Education world university rankings for the first time and whereas Trinity also continues to rise in these rankings." "We have risen in both the Times Higher Education and the QS rankings, and we have joined the League of European Research Universities (LERU), Europe's leading network of research-inten- sive universities that further strengthens our voice and position internationally. We have also just been ranked first in Europe for grad- uate entrepreneurship for the third year in a row by Pitchbook" he fur- ther said. Meanwhile, TU has offered a basket of undergraduate engineer- ing and a 2+2 credit transfer pro- gram International Engineering Program (IEP) in collaboration with TCD. The faculty at TU is being deputed for post doctoral work at top Universities. This year ten facul- ty members will visit the best in the world including Trinity College Dublin, Virginia Technology, Waterloo and Oxford University. Body of Police Head Cop found in college ground Excelsior Correspondent POONCH, Sept 15: The dead body of a Head Constable of J&K Police was recovered from Degree College ground here this morning. The deceased was identified as Ghulam Rasool, son of Chirag Din, resident of Jhajjar Kotli in district Jammu. The police said that Ghulam Rasool who was posted in Jammu district, had come to Poonch for appearing in a court in connection with a case on Thursday. His body was found lying in the college ground at a corner under mysterious cir- cumstances. A college sweeper noticed the body lying in the ground and informed College authorities at around 8 am. The College staff then intimated Police Station Poonch about the matter. The police party led by SHO, Insp Mohd Amin reached the spot and after examining the dead body and studying circumstantial evi- dence, shifted it to the mortuary of District Hospital, Poonch. The family of the deceased was also informed by police. The police after conducting postmortem and performing legal formalities handed over the body to the family members, who then shifted it to the home town of the deceased in Jammu. SHO, Poonch, Insp Mohd Amin told the Excelsior that it was premature to say that it was murder. The postmortem of the body has been conducted and the SFL report is yet awaited. A case under Section 174 CrPC has been registered in this connec- tion. It has been informed that deceased was posted in Jammu district and had come to Poonch for court attendance. Further details are awaited, he added. A 50 year old man donating blood during a camp in Srinagar. -Excelsior/Shakeel Blood donor breaks own record, donates 156 units Excelsior Correspondent SRINAGAR, Sept 15: A uni- versal donor Shabir Hussain, 50, has saved more than one hun- dred lives by donating blood 156 times for last 37 years, prompt- ing doctors to call him 'the man with the golden arm'. Shabir, who resides down- town here, started this noble cause alone but as time passed more donors joined in and at present, he is leading 2100 vol- unteers across the Valley who are available round the clock in case of emergencies for the donation of blood. By donating blood at LD hospital this week, he broke his own record of blood donations. Dr Javeed Iqbal Khan, in- charge at blood donation camp, said Shabir has broken several fears among people regarding blood donation and have moti- vated hundreds of people to donate blood. "He can continue donating blood for next twenty years. He motivates people to donate blood and more people are donating blood because of him," said Dr Iqbal. Shabir is considered as a hero among his peers and has won numerous awards. He might have started with four people but a pang for the society helped him to motivate a num- ber of people to join in. After working with a handful of peo- ple initially, his work was recog- nised by Red Cross Society, Civil Defence and social groups like 'Athwas' who guided him and provided technical support to him. Inspector transferred Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 15: Inspector Bishnesh Kumar has been trans- ferred from Doda district and posted at District Police Lines (DPL) Jammu. The order in this regard was issued by Inspector General of Police (IGP) Jammu Zone Dr SD Singh Jamwal. GOC-in-C Western Command, Lt Gen Surinder Singh pay- ing respect to martyrs at Chandimandir on Friday. Western Command celebrates 70th Raising Day Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 15: 70th Raising Day of Western Command, the frontline operational command of the Army was celebrated today. The Command was raised in 1947 as Delhi and East Punjab Command at Delhi and was re-des- ignated as 'Western Command' in January 1948. The genesis of Western Command was forged on the anvil of one of the most challenging trans-border migration of human population. In 1954, the Headquarters of the Command moved to Shimla. After the Indo-Pak conflict of 1971, Northern Command was carved out of Western Command to assume operational responsibility of Jammu and Kashmir. Finally, in 1985 Headquarters Western Command moved to its present location at Chandimandir (Chd). Western Command has a glori- ous history of having participated in all the major conflict both on our Western and Northern frontiers and has carved a niche for itself - replete with saga of bravery, grit and deter- mination. With "Ever Westwards" being its clarion call, the Western Army was instrumental in blunting the Pakistani aggression in 1947, 1965 and 1971. Western Army has also time and again, provided succor to the civilian population. Be it during natural calamities, undertaking counter terrorist operations or par- ticipating in nation building activi- ties, troops of the Western Command have always been in the fore front in providing aid to civil authorities. This Command will continue to maintain the highest standards of training, administration and motivation and is ever ready for its assigned role in the varied con- tours of National security. To commemorate the occasion, Lt Gen Surinder Singh, Army Commander, Western Command laid a wreath at the `Veer Smriti', Chandimandir to pay homage to the martyrs of the Command. DDC conducts extensive tour of Rajouri, inspects development works Excelsior Correspondent RAJOURI, Sept 15: On his extensive tour of the district, Dr. Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, District Development Commissioner Rajouri today visited Dusshera Ground, Prachin Shiv Mandir, Anandpuram Ashram and Mughal Masjid near Jullah Bridge, Gurdan, Sawani and Sassalkote and inspect- ed the ongoing and completed development works of Rural Development, Education and Tourism Departments. The religious clerics of Anandpuram Asharam, while inter- acting with the DDC, pressed for road connectivity upto the Asharam which will immensely facilitate the devotes to reach the Shiv Mandir, Mughal Masjid and Ashram for worship. Dr. Shahid asked the Executive Engineer to work out the feasibility for construction of road and prepare detailed project report for approval after due consultation with revenue authorities for provision of land. He also ordered the concerned depart- ment to immediately complete the remaining work of heritage view point and footpath near Prachin Mandir. To finalize the land for driving institute, he visited the proposed site at Gurdan and instructed the concerned to take up the matter with Revenue Department for earli- est transfer of land. The DDC inspected 3 commu- nity facilitation centers each at Gurdan, Sawani and Sassalkote and 2 Remote Informatics Centers at High School Sawani and Higher Secondary School Doongi which are being constructed by the Rural Development Department. He exhorted upon the concerned to expedite the work on these crucial infrastructure projects for earlier completion and equip the Rural Informatics Centers with all the essentials of a computer lab on modern lines so that students of these rural areas get benefitted. Directions were given for starting of work on the playground of MS Sawani within two days. Dr. Shahid also took feedback from students of MS Sawani and HSS Doongi about the teaching staff and education being imparted. He urged the students to take part in the ongoing sanitation drives under the Swach Bharat Abhiyan and also educate their families and friends about the importance of maintain- ing cleanliness and conserving environment. He impressed upon the teach- ing staff to raise teaching standards by applying innovative methods and concept-building oriented teaching to enable these students to compete at State and National level. Later, the DDC took the griev- ances of public related to develop- ment in the area in a public meeting held at Panchayat Ghar Doongi and passed on spot directions to the concerned departments for resolv- ing the public issues within shortest possible time. Among others Executive Engineer REW Abdul Ghani Jagal, CEO RDA Tahir Ahmad, Tehsildar Salam Din, ARTO Jugal Kishore, CEO Lal Hussain, BDO Rajouri and BDO Doongi accompanied the DDC. 3-day 'Rangsutra' concludes Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 15: The three day long cultural and heritage fest 'Rangsutra' concluded today at School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Jammu where Minister for Industries and Commerce Chander Parkash Ganga was the chief guest. Corporate Chef ITC Hotels, Manjit Singh Gill was the guest of honor and Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu, Prof. R.D Sharma presided over the vale- dictory ceremony. The function was attended by culinary experts of Chef Association of Five Rivers, Principals of various degree colleges and schools, NCC cadets and students of SHTM. Chander Parkash Ganga in his address said that it is impor- tant to showcase the culture and heritage of the State and University can play a catalytic role in this regard. He appreciat- ed the efforts of SHTM in bring- ing together students on a com- petitive platform to promote the heritage and culture of the State. With Jammu & Kashmir being a tourism driven economy, he said that hospitality and tourism edu- cation needs a greater fillip and University of Jammu can take a lead in this direction. Chef Manjit Singh Gill emphasized that regional cuisine is the true identity of any desti- nation. He said that our ancient wisdom on food techniques, if leveraged properly can position India as a global food power. He emphasized on the emerging trends of wellness and sustain- ability and believed that discov- ery and documentation of regional cuisines can be a step in this direction. Prof. R D Sharma, Vice- Chancellor, University of Jammu congratulated the SHTM for consecutively organizing the innovative event which brings in people from industry, academia and civil society to deliberate on issues of contemporary rele- vance. Earlier, Director, SHTM, Professor Parikshat Singh Manhas in his welcome address said that the school through stu- dent driven activities encourages them to creatively execute vari- ous aspects and dimensions of tourism. He said that the school is perceived as among the top three tourism schools in the country. * Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com * Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com