CM

YK
ND-ND
11 THE HINDU MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2014
NOIDA/DELHI
NATIONAL
SHOPIAN/KULGAM: Abdul Ghani
Bhat and nearly 2,000 others
in Arigutan village, two km
fromKulgamtown and abut-
ting the Pir Panjal mountain
range, ran for their lives
when they noticed the near-
by Vishu stream swelling
alarmingly on the evening of
September 5. Mr. Bhat and
his family ran up the hills,
where they spent the rst 24
hours in the open, drenched
in heavy rain, before manag-
ing to reach a school; nearly
600 people crammed into it
for four days.
When they returned, the
village had been wrecked.
The people are now hurry-
ing to put together some
shelter before the harsh win-
ter descends on the Hima-
layan Valley.
Mr. Bhat was calm as he
spoke about the relief that
had reached them in a trick-
le, and why the Assembly
election due in December-
January must not take
place until the situation im-
proves. We are struggling to
have a roof over our head.
And half the population of
our village is still away, he
said.
Not far from the district
headquarters, Arigutan is
among the better-serviced
villages, but still people are
angry over the collapse of the
State government machin-
ery. Mohammad Yousuf, in
his early 20s, abruptly inter-
rupted Mr. Bhats soft talk.
We want no election, no se-
lection, he declared. We
want only azaadi, he shout-
ed, and many others, mute
listeners until then, joined
the chorus. [Chief Minister]
Omar Abdullah is roaming
around in helicopters. He
failed us and we dont want
another election, another
said.
The village had voted in
good numbers in the recent
LokSabha election.
Control of relief supply
Addinganinterestingtwist
to his arguments, Mr. Yousuf
wants only the Army to man-
age the relief operations.
The National Conference
and the Peoples Democratic
Party [PDP] are ghting with
each other and cornering the
relief supply. The Army has
been fair and only they must
be in charge of the relief sup-
ply, he says. But that does
not take away his focus from
azaadi. India and Pakistan
have squeezed us Kashmiris.
Leave us alone.
With the credibility of the
civilian administration hav-
ing taken a hit, Mr. Abdullah
may have to bear its immedi-
ate political cost. Senior gov-
ernment officials admit that
the collapse of the State ma-
chinery in the wake of oods
further eroded the standing
of the Abdullah government.
The governments connect
with the people had already
beenweak, as Ashfaq, a driver
at the Shopian fruit market,
declared, WhenthePDPwas
in power, a university and a
hospital were sanctioned for
the town. The buildings were
built, but after the NC came
to power, nothing has
moved, he said.
Mr. Abdullah wants the
election delayed, but the
PDP, the BJP, and the Con-
gress favour it on time. The
main argument against hold-
ing elections is that officials
who are overseeing the relief
and restoration work will be
redeployed and dislocated
people will nd it tough dur-
ingthewinters. That is a val-
id point, but then if you wait
for completenormalcy, it will
take several months. On the
other hand, elections will in-
fuse some economic activity,
and a new elected govern-
ment will be quick on its feet
with rebuilding, says a se-
nior official in the State gov-
ernment.
Flood-hit Kashmir village redoubles call for freedom
Varghese K. George
Locals of Arigutan village in South Kashmir's
Kulgam district sort out their belongings from their
ravaged home on Sunday. PHOTO: NISSAR AHMAD
NEW DELHI: Cutting down on
salt can lower the risk of de-
veloping heart disease and
stroke, the World Health Or-
ganisation said on the eve of
World Heart Day, targeting a
30 per cent reduction in salt
intake in all supporting na-
tions by 2025.
In a communiqu to all
countries, the WHO asked
stakeholders to take action
against the overuse of salt by
implementing its sodium re-
duction recommendations.
Pointing out that non-com-
municable diseases such as
heart disease and stroke were
the leading causes of prema-
ture deaths, the WHOwanted
the governments to imple-
ment the global action plan
to reduce non-communicable
diseases that set nine tar-
gets, one being to reduce salt
intake by a relative 30 per
cent across the globe by 2025.
If the target to reduce salt
by 30 per cent globally by
2025 is achieved, millions of
lives can be saved from heart
disease, stroke and related
conditions, Oleg Chestnov,
WHO Assistant Director-
General for Non-communica-
ble Diseases and Mental
Health, said in a statement.
The WHO cautioned that
consuming too much salt
could lead to, or contribute
to, hypertension, or high
blood pressure, and greatly
increase the risk of heart dis-
ease and stroke.
On average, people con-
sume around 10 grams of salt
per day. This is around double
the WHO-recommended lev-
el from all sources, including
processed foods, readymade
meals and food prepared at
home. The WHO recom-
mends that children aged two
to 15 consume even less salt
than this, adjusted to their
energy requirements for
growth, the statement said.
Population health
Dr. Chestnov said reducing
the salt intake was one of the
most effective ways for coun-
tries to improve population
health, and urged the food in-
dustry to work closely with
the WHO and national gov-
ernments to reduce the level
of salt in food products
incrementally.
Recommending strategies
for individuals and families to
reduce salt intake, the WHO
suggested reading food labels
when buying processed food
to check salt levels; asking for
products with less salt when
buying prepared food; remov-
ing salt dispensers and bot-
tled sauces from dining
tables; limiting the amount of
salt added in cooking to a to-
tal maximum amount a fth
of a teaspoon over the course
of a day; and limiting frequent
consumption of high salt
products.
WHOs Heart Day advice: reduce salt intake
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI: E-tailing rivals Flip-
kart and Amazon are aggres-
sively looking for land in the
Sriperambudur and Red Hills
area on the outskirts of the
city to house their ware-
houses.
Real estate analysts esti-
mate land prices at these two
localities to be anywhere be-
tween Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000
per square feet. This would
translate into an investment
of anywhere between Rs 20
crore to Rs 100 crore.
They would nalise the
place intwo months. Both the
online rms want a land bank
of 1 lakh square feet which
can be scaled up to 5 lakh
square feet. The warehouses
will be developed phase-
wise, said a source who is
aware of the development.
These are not ordinary
warehouses. What they are
looking at is humidity con-
trolled warehouses with a
friendly loading base, added
the source.
When contacted Amazon
India Spokesperson said, As
a policy, we do not comment
on what we may or may not
do in future. Flipkart re-
fused to comment.
Tier-2 target
Two years back e-com-
merce rms saw huge sales
only from metros. But now
there is a surge even from
tier-2 and tier-3 cities like
Madurai, Coimbatore and
Trichy, sources said.
According to Forresters
Asia Pacic online retail fore-
cast for 2013- 2018, the num-
ber of online buyers in India
will reach 39 million by the
end of 2014 and 128 million
by the end of 2018.
The research rm says the
majority of online buyers
were from metropolitan or
tier one cities few years back.
Now, companies are seeing
increasing sales fromtier two
and tier three cities, as well.
Also, only 31 per cent of the
total Indian population lives
in urban India whereas 69
per cent lives in rural India.
In the coming months,
both the rms will also be
looking at warehouses across
NCR, Delhi and Mumbai.
They want to ensure that
they connect every nook and
corner in next two years.
For e-commerce rm to
be successful in India, a cen-
tralised warehouse system
will not work because there is
a huge transportation cost.
So Amazon and Flipkart
would look at warehouses at
various locations, says Ar-
vind Singhal, Chairman of re-
tail advisory rmTechnopak,
said.
According to a bi-annual
CBRE report, e-commerce
rms have taken up 0.6
square feet of warehousing
and logistics space in India
during the rst half of 2014.
Chennai to host giant e-commerce warehouses
Sangeetha Kandavel
& Sanjay Vijayakumar
NEW DELHI: In the wake of the
CBI probe into the 2013
Leave Travel Concession
scam, the Department of
Personnel and Training has
cautioned government offi-
cials against misusing the
LTC claim option, stating
that appropriate action was
initiated against erring
officials.
The DoPT order advises
the Ministries/Departments
to carry out randomverica-
tion of air tickets submitted
by officials to ascertain
whether the LTC claim is
genuine.
Any government official
found indulging in any mal-
practice in this regard can be
penalised and prevented
from availing LTC for the
next two to three years.
DoPT warns
against misuse
of LTC claims
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI: After starting out
as a humble tea-stall owner,
Tamil Nadus Finance and
Public Works Minister O.
Panneerselvam has had a
meteoric rise in politics.
On Monday, the 63-year
old will be sworn in as the
Chief Minister again for the
second time.
He is not the choice of
the people. On both occa-
sions, AIADMK supremo
Jayalalithaa, who has had to
step down as Chief Minister
because of judicial interven-
tion, has chosen him for the
top post as a reward for his
loyalty.
OPS, as he is known in
the party circles, belongs to
the Thevar community, one
of the strong support base of
the AIADMK.
Born in a small town west
of the temple city of Mad-
urai, he tried his hand at
agriculture after graduation
but soon gave it up to take
up dairying and opened a
canteen, locals say.
Elected as Chairman of
thePeriyakulamMunici-
palityin 1996, he became
friends with T.T.V. Dinak-
aran, nephew of V.K. Sasika-
la, who has also been
sentenced with Ms. Jayala-
lithaa by theBangalorespe-
cial court. Mr. Dinakaran
was a Member of Parlia-
ment representing Periyak-
ulam constituency then.
Close to Dinakaran
His proximity to Mr. Di-
nakaran helped Mr. Pan-
neerselvam climb the
political ladder. Elected to
the Assembly in 2001 from
the Periyakulam constitu-
ency in Theni district, he
became the Revenue
Minister.
When Ms. Jayalalithaa
was forced to step down in
September 2001, she chose
him as the stop-gap Chief
Minister. In March 2002,
she became Chief Minister
again and he was assigned
Public Works, Prohibition
and Excise portfolios. It was
during that time the State
took over the retail trade of
liquor through govern-
ment-run shops.
In 2006 when the DMK
came to power, he became
the deputy leader of the
AIADMK. The DMK had
shifted the Assembly from
Fort St. George to a new
German-designed complex.
In the nal session of that
Assembly, Mr. Panneersel-
vam declared: In the com-
ing Assembly elections, the
AIADMK will win. Amma
will rule the State from the
Fort.
The AIADMK won the
2011 Assembly elections.
And he was number two in
Cabinet. With Ms. Jayala-
lithaa in jail now, Mr. Pan-
neerselvam will be Chief
Minister again. Becausehe,
probably, is the foremost
among the few ministers
who continue to enjoy Ms.
Jayalalithaas condence.
He is still humble.
Humble and loyal, OPS
was the obvious choice
B. Aravind Kumar
O. Panneerselvam
BANGALORE: For AIADMK
general secretary
Jayalalithaa, who is known to
be an early riser, Sunday at
the Parappana Agrahara
prison was no different.
Her rst full day in jail
began as early as 5.30 am.
Prison officials told The
Hindu that the three-time
Chief Minister asked the
authorities for ve
newspapers three Tamil
and two English.
This was followed by her
request to take a walk on the
premises, which was allowed.
Sources said she refused
prison breakfast. Idlis and
vadas were brought from
outside for her. This is
allowed at the discretion of
the jail superintendent under
the prison manual, sources
said.
Hectic activity began at
around this time, when O.
Panneerselvam, who was
later elected leader of the
AIADMK legislative party,
visited Ms. Jayalalithaa along
with several other leaders
NathamR. Vishwanathan, R.
Vaithilingam, Edappadi K.
Palaniswami and Senthil
Balaji. Many of themhad
stayed put at the prison
complex till midnight on
Saturday after she was jailed
in the disproportionate
assets case.
Sources said issues
relating to the new
government formation were
discussed during the
meeting. As also was the
future course of legal action
in her case though it was not
clear if all the leaders got to
meet her.
A prison official said the
party leaders brought a
special chair for Ms.
Jayalalithaa but it was seized
by the authorities.
All through the day,
AIADMK workers, even from
as far as Kanyakumari and
Tirunelveli, visited the
prison complex area. Women
in particular wailed and
raised slogans against DMK
president M. Karunanidhi.
The police chased away a
crowd that began to build up.
Meanwhile, a van with a
Tamil Nadu registration
number that was given
access into the restricted
area created a utter.
Drama unfolded when
Adviser to the Tamil Nadu
government, Sheela
Balakrishnan, made her way
into the complex at around 11
a.m. While she was inside for
over ve hours, police
officials conrmed that she
was not allowed to meet Ms.
Jayalalithaa as no prior
permission had been taken.
Ms. Jayalalithaa took
another stroll in the evening.
But before that, she chatted
calmly with curious inmates
who were trying to interact
with her since morning.
Interestingly, the
AIADMK leader was given
three options to choose
between for prison work
incense stick rolling,
tailoring and vegetable
cutting. However, since she
was sentenced for simple
imprisonment, the work is
optional.
Ms. Jayalalithaa ended her
day with a simple dinner of
bread, milk and apples.
T.A Narasimhan reports
fromChennai:
Party sources said Ms.
Jayalalithaa had an almost
sleepless night.
They said Ms. Jayalalithaa
was allowed to use a blanket
brought fromChennai, but
she was awake almost all
through the night. She asked
for some books.
A day of frugal meals and visits by party faithful
Sruthisagar Yamunan &
Imran Gowhar
The road leading to the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bangalore.
PHOTO: BHAGYA PRAKASH K
JAIPUR: Accusing the Va-
sundhara Raje government
of deliberately trying to n-
ish the government school-
ing system in the name of
merger to make schools
more sustainable and eco-
nomically viable, the civil
society in Rajasthan on Sun-
day said such a move had led
to the closure of 17,000
schools and affected 10 lakh
students and several lakh
teachers.
Addressing a press con-
ference here, Komal Sriva-
satava, president of the
Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti
(BGVS), said the merger,
which began mid-session in
August, was done by merely
looking at statistics. It had
actually deprived students
from the minority and op-
pressed classes of education.
She said it was a deliberate
move by the government to
exclude children from poor
and deprived sections.
Quoting a survey conduct-
ed by the Peoples Union for
Civil Liberties (PUCL) in
102 schools which were
merged in ve districts, the
BGVS said 10 per cent of the
students from the schools
merged in Jaipur district
had dropped out. The rea-
sons being Dalit schools
were merged with schools
dominated by upper caste or
dominant castes students
and students feared
discrimination.
Similarly, many girls
schools were merged with
co-educational schools forc-
ing the girls to drop out; mi-
nority schools were merged
with Hindu majority
schools, and at many places
and distance between the
house and new school was
more than 4 km which acted
as a deterrent. At other plac-
es, the medium of education
also changed due to merger,
forcing students to opt out
of schools. Many Urdu and
Sindhi medium schools
were merged with Hindi me-
dium schools, the survey
said.
Strongly opposing the
merger while demanding
the restoration of the earlier
system, the BGVS said the
merger scheme violated the
provisions of the Right to
Education Act.
Civil society opposes merger
of govt. schools in Rajasthan
Aarti Dhar
AHMEDABAD: Since 1984, 65
people had been killed and
over 150 disabled in Budgam
district in Jammu and Kash-
mir by an avoidable cause.
The Tosamaidan ring range
a meadow nestled in the
picturesque Pir Panjal moun-
tain range had become a
death trap for cattle-grazing
communities because of the
unexploded shells and their
residual material spread over
the area.
After nearly ve decades,
the people can heave a sigh of
relief. They are set to get back
the Tosamaidan for public
use, after the State govern-
ment decided not to extend
the lease given to the Army
after it expired on April 18.
During his visit to Gujarat,
Shaikh Ghulam Rasool, who
heads the J&K RTI Move-
ment, highlighted how simple
queries made under the Right
to Information Act changed
the fate of Tosamaidan and
the people living in its
neighbourhood.
RTI data
We asked for data on
deaths, disability and lease
details. A told of 52 villages
were affected by the ring
range. Among these, 16 were
severely affected. The village
panchayats had even passed a
resolution calling for a ban on
ring at Tosamaidan. Based
on the RTI replies, we
launched the TosamaidanBa-
chaoFront and petitioned the
State government, Mr. Ra-
sool said. The Army is cur-
rently carrying out cleaning
operations in the area. The
RTI Movement is now press-
ing for development of rural
tourism in the region man-
aged by the local people, as
against corporate players.
How Tosamaidan was reclaimed
Rahi Gaikwad
Equine hills
An aerial shot of the Kudremukh National Park in
Chikkamagalur district, Karnataka. The name Kudremukha
literally means horse-face in Kannada and refers to a
picturesque view of a certain side of the mountain that resembles
a horses face. Kudremukh is Karnatakas third-highest peak after
Mullayangiri and Bababudangiri. PHOTO: K. MURALI KUMAR
NEW DELHI: The Central Water
Commission (CWC), at pre-
sent, cangenerate only a quick
and ready assessment of an
impending ood in Srinagar
based on rainfall data.
CWC Chairperson Ashwin
Pandya says it will take two
years to establish a proper
ood forecasting system in
Jammu and Kashmir. Flood
forecasting is a serious busi-
ness and we achieve over 90
per cent accuracy, he says.
Ten forecasting stations are
being planned in the State and
a forecasting scheme is under
preparation. Mr. Pandya says
such a systemcannot be based
on satellite data alone and
ground-level installations are
required.
We are indialogue withthe
State government and we
need the States consent. It is
the responsibility of the gov-
ernment too to ensure a sys-
tem of disaster management
which includes ood warn-
ing, he says. The scheme is
linked to the Development of
Water Resources Information
System (DWRIS), an ongoing
scheme which is still waiting
for approval of funds under
the 12th Plan. For ood fore-
casting in the country, Rs. 300
crore has been budgeted un-
der the current Plan.
The commission provides
advice to the State Disaster
Management Authority, en-
abling some advance prepa-
redness, but it seemed absent
during the recent oods.
No one expected this much
rainfall in four days, an un-
precedented event in60years,
Mr. Pandya says. The commis-
sion has been under re for
not installing ood forecast-
ing systems in the State. How-
ever, he says the six stations in
the Jhelumonly gathered wa-
ter measurement data for the
Indus basin under interna-
tional obligations, to be
passed on to Pakistan.
Meena Menon
J&K to get ood forecast
system in 2 years
NEW DELHI: Senior lawyer
Ram Jethmalani is ying
back from London to repre-
sent AIADMK leader Jayala-
lithaa, who has been
convicted in the dispropor-
tionate assets case, in the
Karnataka High Court, his
office said on Sunday. The
senior advocate will reach
India by Monday. The High
Court will thenbe moved for
suspension of her sentence
and bail.
Jethmalani to
appear for
Jayalalithaa
Legal Correspondent
MUMBAI: Kav-
ita Karkare,
wife of for-
mer Maha-
rashtra
Anti-Terror
Squad (ATS)
chief He-
mant Kar-
kare who died ghting
terrorists during the 26/11 at-
tacks here, has been admitted
to hospital and has slipped in-
to coma, police sources said
on Sunday.
Brain haemorrhage
Kavita Karkare suffered a
brain haemorrhage and was
taken to Hinduja Hospital at
Mahimon Saturday, a police
officer said. Her condition is
critical and she is in coma.
Ms. Kavitas husband He-
mant Karkare was killed on
November 26, 2008 near Ca-
ma Hospital, along withAddi-
tional Police Commissioner
Ashok Kamte and senior po-
lice inspector Vijay Salaskar.
PTI
Kavita Karkare
in coma