EARLY TIMES IMPACT

CBI-tainted DD official sent packing to headquarters

Mandi House acts after CBI recommended ‘Rigorous Departmental Action’ against Rafeeq Masoodi

Early Times Report

SRINAGAR, May 30: Days after Chief Vigilance Commissioner of Government of India took cognizance of a story published in Early Times and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) revealed in reply that it had recommended capital punishment for the accused, Directorate General of Doordarshan has removed Director of Doordarshan Kendra (DDK) Srinagar, Dr Rafeeq Masoodi, from his posting in Srinagar. Masoodi has been shifted to the DD headquarters with the apprehension that he could influence or tamper with evidences while continuing as Director DDK Srinagar. As already reported in detail in this newspaper’s May 14^th edition, Governor N N Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah conferred the prestigious State Award on Dr Masoodi inspite of CBI investigating two corruption related FIRs against him in Srinagar.

In follow up action to File No: A-22012/2/2011-S-III, approved by Director General (DG) of DD, Deputy Director Administration, Sunita Bharal, has issued Order No: 2011/S-III dated 27-05-2011, shifting as many as 35 officers of Junior Administrative Grade (JAG), Senior Time Grade (STG), Junior Time Scale (JTS) and Programme Executives (PEX). Figuring at serial number three of the order, copy of which is available with Early Times, Masoodi has been shifted from DDK Srinagar to Directorate General of Doordarshan with immediate effect. The order is silent with regard to the new incumbent in Srinagar, even as some officials of bad reputation and decades long posting in home state have mobilized all of their contacts to grab the prize position.

Five officers of the rank of Director, who have been shifted to new places of posting among 35 DD officials, include R P Bhandarkar, S P Panigrahi, Rafeeq Masoodi, L K Chopra and OGD Sharma. According to the same order, Ravinder Naaz, PEX at DDK Jammu has been transferred and appointed as PEX at DDK Srinagar. Mumtaz Beg, PEX at DDK Bhopal has been transferred and posted as PEX in DD’s Urdu Channel.

Interestingly Masoodi emailed to media from his official ID in Srinagar that he had been promoted to the higher rank of Deputy Director General (DDG) of Programmes and thus posted at DD’s headquarters. However, there is nothing like that in the order.

Highly Placed sources in Mandi House as well as Prasar Bharti Broadcasting Corporation of India denied rumours of Masoodi’s promotion and posting as “DDG at the headquarters” in New Delhi. Officials revealed that action against Masoodi had become inevitable after Chief Vigilance Commissioner took cognizance of a report, published in Early Times on May 14^th, and asked CBI as well as DG Doordarshan as to what action had been taken in two particular matters of corruption at DDK Srinagar.

On May 16^th, Vigilance authorities in New Delhi dashed off a letter to SP of CBI in Srinagar, asking about progress achieved, if any, in two particular FIRs registered by CBI against certain DDK Srinagar officials, including Director of the station, Dr Rafeeq Masoodi.

According to these sources, CBI informed Directorate General of Doordarshan, DD’s departmental vigilance as well as CVC that it had established Masoodi’s involvement in the matters of corruption. Rather than prosecuting the official in a court of law, it had used the option of the “Departmental Action”. CBI, according to sources, informed DD as well as CVC that on account of the official’s involvement, it had recommended “Rigorous Departmental Action” (RDA), making it incumbent upon DD to take the desired action.

Sources elaborated that in the matters of “capital punishment”, as recommended in Masoodi’s case, DD was bound to initiate rigorous action that includes dismissal from service, prolonged suspension and freezing of promotions and annual increments in salary. The action begins with the accused official’s removal from his place of posting.

 In the matters of ‘minor’ punishment, accused officials are placed under suspension for some time, three of their annual increments are withdrawn and some annual increments frozen. Sources said that in both cases, the employer’s action was subject to endorsement of CBI. These sources further revealed that an official posted in DD’s departmental vigilance wing, who had been allegedly helping Masoodi and a senior lady official posted in DDK Srinagar, had also been removed earlier this year.

Even after Early Times reported in detail how the State Award was being conferred on a DD official who was involved in two serious matters of corruption under investigation with CBI, Governor N N Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah honoured the accused official at an investiture ceremony at SKICC in Srinagar on May 14^th. They even chose him for receiving the award granted to eminent Kashmiri singer and Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s wife, Shameem Dev Azad, who was not present in Srinagar. Masoodi’s shifting from Srinagar on charges of corruption has all the potential of huge embarrassment for the head of the government as well as the head of the state who were kept in the dark by General Administration Department.

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IFS officers depleting fast in J&K, 17 retiring in 2 years

600 Forestry grads unemployed even after J&K got 40 ACFs after 27 years

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, May 29: Even as no recruitment of Forestry trained officers through proper channel has taken place in the last 27 years, 600 Forestry graduates continue to be unemployed through successive regimes, Jammu & Kashmir state’s Forest and Forest-related developments will be almost completely dominated by unqualified and untrained officials in near future. With everybody being “incharge” of senior positions, in violation of all service rules and Supreme Court directions, as many as 17 of the senior most IFS officers are reaching superannuation in the next 24 months.

In absence of Forestry trained officers for many years, unqualified and junior officials are enjoying prize postings with the blessings of their patrons in politics, bureaucracy and other institutions. While a number of Foresters are functioning under the so-called stop gap arrangement (completely banned by Supreme Court) as Range Officers and ROs are posted as “incharge ACFs”, ACFs are manning the positions of full-fledged DFOs. Even a number of very junior ROs, enjoying political clout, stand posted as “incharge ACFs” and, in absence of DCFs and selection grade IFS officers, they have been functioning as DFOs.

Without any explanation from successive governments in the last over a decade, 400 to 600 Forestry graduates and post-graduates continue to be unemployed. One Dr Tariq, who has completed his Ph D in Forestry has been working against monthly remuneration of Rs 3000 to Rs 42oo in J&K State Forestry Research Institute. Another person, with Ph D in Forestry, has been trying hard to get appointed as Forest Guard but has failed continuously in two or three attempts. Over a hundred boys and girls, with B Sc or M Sc in Forestry and related subjects, have taken far inferior jobs in private sector. Few have been lucky enough to get a class 4^th government job or the post of a Rehbar-e-Taleem.

There is no official data available but informed sources insist that over 70 boys and girls with graduation or post-graduation in Forestry have already crossed their age-bar of 37 years and thus lost every possibility of getting a job in the subject they have been trained after spending huge amounts of money.

Official sources revealed that hundreds of posts have fallen vacant in Forest Department, Social Forestry Department, Wildlife Protection Department, State Forest Corporation, Forest Protection Force, SFRI and about a dozen Forest and environment related projects. Since continuous working as ACF for 8 years is a must and no recruitment of ACFs has taken place since 1984, Government of J&K has no State Forest Service officers (SFS) for induction into IFS.

With nearly 50 posts of Divisional Managers being vacant for the last 8 to 12 years, there has been a nearly 20-year-long recruitment holiday in J&K SFC. Senior officers are reaching superannuation and the Corporation will be fully manned by unqualified and untrained officials in the next years. Dr Farooq Abdullah’s government had created Forest Protection Force (FPF) in December 1996 but none of the 60 posts of Assistant Directors (ADs), equivalent to Range Officers in Forest Department, has been filled up in the last 15 years.

After a long recruitment holiday, J&K Public Service Commission (PSC) has selected 23 Range Officers, just 9 in Open Merit whose  appointment as RO Grade-1 has been stayed by High Court. PSC has also selected 40 candidates---28 from Jammu and 12 from Kashmir---who have been appointed as ACFs after a gap of 27 years.  

According to official sources, total strength of IFS officers in J&K stands at 105 but not more than 91 have been in place for the last several years. Among the regular recruit IFS officers, more than 25 have been enjoying their Central deputations.

With the senior IFS cadre depleting fast, as many as 17 officers, from the rank of Conservator of Forest (CF) to Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF), are due to retire from service in the next 24 months. Three of the senior IFS officers, namely Maulvi Shafat Ahmed, S K Khajuria and Shameem Mohammad Khan, have already retired in the last five months of current year.

Those reaching superannuation in 2011 include Project Chief of IWDP Irshad Ahmed Khan (31-08-2011), PCCF Mr R D Tiwari (31-12-2011), CCF Planning & Projects in PCCF’s office Mr Shivendra P Arya (30-09-2011) and General Manager in SFC Mr B L Zadoo (30-11-2011).

1975-batch IFS officer and former PCCF, Jaddish Kishwan, who is currently on central deputation and posted as Additional Director General Wildlife, is due to retire from service on 30-09-2012. Others retiring in 2012 include Director SFRI Mr Pritam Chand Kapur (29-02-2012), CCF Jammu Mr S C Sharma (30-04-2012), former MD of SFC, Abdul Qayoom Khan (29-02-2012), who is currently attached to administrative department, GM SFC Mr Asgar Anayatullah (30-04-2012), GM SFC Mr Nisar Hussain Hakeem (31-10-2012) and Joint Director IWDP Mr V K Raina (31-12-2012).

Six more senior IFS officers of J&K cadre are reaching superannuation in the first five months of 2013. They include Chairman of State Pollution Control Board Mr Lal Chand (31-01-2013), newly appointed Director Social Forestry J&K Mr Mohammad Shafeeq Khan (31-05-2013), CCF Kashmir Mr Manzoor Ahmed (30-04-2013), Regional Wildlife Warden Kashmir Mr Hafizullah Sidiquee (31-05-2013), Nodal Officer with State PCB Mr Narendra Singh Kala (31-01-2013) and Project Coordinator North Jhelum Mohammad Manzoor Hussain (31-05-2013).

With all these retirements, key posts in high, middle and lower rungs in Forest and Forest-related departments will be falling vacant and consequently given away to unqualified, untrained or junior officials on the basis of their political and bureaucratic clout.

Everybody from Chowdhary Mohammad Ramzan to Pirzada Ghulam Ahmed Shah to Sofi Mohiuddin to Tariq Hameed Qarra to Qazi Mohammad Afzal to the incumbent Mian Altaf Ahmed has been saying that Government was doing its best to protect forests and appoint trained graduates and post-graduates. None of them has lived upto expectation of hundreds of trained and qualified candidates who have been forced to remain unemployed.

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After siblings in Sopore, father-son duo gunned down in Handwara

Mirwaiz, Mehbooba condemn what they ignored for 20 years

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, May 28: Four months after killing two young daughters of a poor labourer in Sopore, suspected militants have gunned down the only bread earner of a poor family, alongwith his father, in Handwara area of North Kashmir. Even as the ruling coalition and almost all other mainstream and separatist leaders were tightlipped over the carnage till late this evening, Chairman of the separatist Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and President of the mainstream Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mehbooba Mufti, did not lose any time in condemning what Kashmir’s politicians have ignored with their support of silence in the last over 20 years.

Informed sources in north Kashmir told Early Times that late last evening three persons armed with AK-47 rifles barged into the house of a school-teacher, Manzoor Ahmed Mir, at Bon Watsar in Zachaldara area of Handwara. According to Manzoor’s mother, the strangers identified themselves as ‘mujahideen’ and insisted that they would take dinner and stay there for a night. After taking the dinner, the intruders asked about Manzoor and his father, Ghulam Rasool Mir. The middle-aged woman told them that the teacher was making some preparations as he was scheduled to take students and fellow teachers on a picnic on Saturday.

Thereafter, the gunmen directed the woman to get her son and husband for an interaction with the “guests”. Orders were obeyed accordingly. The gunmen directed all the inmates to lie on the floor. As soon as they did, the gunmen showered bullets from their AK-47 rifles on the 27-year-old teacher and his father. Both died on spot. After the gunmen vanished into darkness, inmates and neighbours raised commotion. Later, Police and security forces also reached the spot but there was immediately no clue available with regard to whereabouts or identity of the assassins.

Still unmarried, Manzoor had been recently regularized in government service as a teacher after working as Rehbar-e-Taleem for over four years. With three younger brothers, he was the only bread earner in the family.

Since the carnage was widely being viewed as handiwork of militants, nobody staged a protest as happens in strife-torn Valley in the wake of selective killings. Whenever Police, soldiers or counter-insurgents are perceived to be behind a slaying, politicians of all hues indulge in competitive protest. On the other hand, condemnation of killings, perceived to be done by separatist militants, continues to be a taboo, though, of late, breaking in certain sections of politics and media.

Even as most of the mainstream and separatists politicians were as usual tightlipped over the twin killings in Handwara, one each from the two camps, namely PDP President Mehbooba Mufti and Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, issued statements in condemnation of today’s brutality.  

Over a dozen civilians have been similarly shot dead by suspected militants in Kashmir valley in the last five months of current year. Suspected militants had kidnapped two young daughters of a poor ration depot labourer, Ghulam Nabi Dar, namely Kulsooma and Aarifa, on January 30^th night and shot them dead in Muslim Pir locality of apple-town Sopore, in North Kashmir. Signifying a change, most of the Valley’s politicians had severely condemned the twin murder. It was first time that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took the separatists and pseudo-separatists head-on and questioned their ignoring the brutal assassination on Twitter. In a rare development, even the hardliner separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani later paid a visit to the bereaved family.

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Pattan tense as people seize Army vehicle

Early Times Report

BARAMULLA, May 28: Dozens of youth this evening clashed with Police and seized an Army vehicle after two persons sustained injuries in a road accident at Pattan, on Srinagar-Baramulla-Muzaffarabad highway.

Reports said that an Army vehicle coming from Baramulla to Srinagar collided with a Tata-407 between Pattan and Babateng. Two persons, including driver of the minibus sustained injuries and the vehicle suffered extensive damage.

Within minutes, over a hundred people converged on the highway and blocked the traffic. They alleged that even after hitting the civilian bus, troops came down and thrashed the commuters. The youngsters began shouting Islamic slogans. They even attempted to set the Army vehicle on fire.

Minutes later, when another Army Geep was driving in the direction of Police Station Pattan, people swooped on it and forced the soldiers to abandon it. Eyewitnesses said that over a dozen youth boarded the seized vehicle and drove it away on the highway. They said that troops demonstrated unprecedented restraint and they did not open fire. They approached Police for recovery of the Army vehicle which subsequently pacified the youth with the intervention of senior citizens.

Police sources said that the vehicle was recovered and handed over to Army. The vehicle involved in the accident was seized by Police. Reports described the highway township as tense but officials insisted that the trouble was over. A senior Police official said that two of the Police vehicles were damaged in the stone pelting by the mob.

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Killer of twin sisters among 2 militants killed in Sopore

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, May 27: Dreaded Pakistani militant of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Qari Anas Lashkari, who was allegedly involved in killing of two young women in Muslim Pir area of Sopore earlier this year, got killed today alongwith another militant of the organisation in an encounter at Nowpora in Sopore outskirts. Two more militants have died in a separate encounter with security forces in Kellar area of Shopian in South Kashmir.

SP Sopore Altaf Khan told Early Times that on a specific information available with Sopore Police in the forenoon today, troops of RR 22 Bn and Sopore Police launched a cordon-and-search operation at Tantray Mohalla of Nowpora. As troops and Police crashed a bunker into the identified hideout, two of the holed up militants opened fierce gunfire and attempted to escape. Even as the duo succeeded in coming out the hideout, troops directed heavy fire and killed both the militants in a brief encounter in the open fields.

SP Sopore said that with the help of the arms and documents recovered from the duo, followed by identification by a detained militants, militants killed in the operation were identified as Lala Umais and Qari Ans Lashkari. He said that both of them were Pakistani cadres of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba who had been operating in Sopore area for quite some time.

Qari Ans, according to SP Sopore, was involved in a number of attacks on Police, security forces and civilian targets, including the assassination of two young sisters at Muslim Pir interior of the apple township earlier this year. Late in the night on January 30^th this year, unidentified gunmen had kidnapped, Rehana and Kulsuma, 17 to 19 years old, daughters of Ghulam Nabi Dar and shot them dead at a distance. The twin killings had evoked widespread condemnation from all quarters. SP Sopore claimed that Qari Ans had played key role in the execution.

Meanwhile, reports from South Kashmir said that late last night troops and militants clashed in Kellar forest area of Shopian. Two unidentified militants got killed in the encounter.

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Why should ‘cleanest ever Govt’ go for Cabinet reshuffle?

In absence of performance indicators, it is only to accommodate Soz, Azad

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, May 26: Last time it was not Chief Minister Omar Abdullah but JKPCC chief Saifuddin Soz who announced allocation of portfolios of the Council of Ministers. This time, it is the AICC General Secretary incharge of Jammu & Kashmir who has publicly announced that there would be a Cabinet reshuffle in the state immediately after the Panchayat election process was over. Chief Minister, and almost everybody in top echelons of the ruling National Conference (NC), in fact, had been avoiding direct reply to this question whenever inquisitive scribes attempted a digging.

With the three vacancies (two of Congress and one of NC) existing in the Council of Ministers, speculations of a minor expansion or reshuffle in the Cabinet have been blinking for the last over one year. During the process, one of the potential contenders from Congress has been physically incapacitated. People enjoying access to corridors of power, from Srinagar to Delhi, insist that Chief Minister would have to accommodate both factions of the coalition partner. According to them, one of the Congress nominees would come from Soz and another from Azad.

Speculations are by now galore that dignity would be restored to the Azad faction by way of getting Ghulam Mohammad Saroori off the hook in the CBI investigation into a matter of impersonation and subsequently reinstating him as the Minister incharge Works. Few in politics expect former MLC and one time Minister of Social Welfare, Abdul Gani Vakil, to stage a comeback. Sources in Congress emphasize that Soz would relent in favour of Azad’s nominee only if the crown of Deputy Chief Minister was shifted to R S Chib and Tara Chand would be reduced to a simple cabinet berth. That is entirely Congress party’s in-house trouble and Chief Minister seems to be aware that he would have to simply take the two names from AICC.

In the last over 28 months, Chief Minister has not been able to make a choice between Chowdhary Mohammad Ramzan and Mir Saifullah in the matter of giving representation to Kupwara district.

That makes the much speculated exercise simply an expansion. What has surprised many in political and bureaucratic circles is the phrase ‘reshuffle’---dropping Ministers, inducting new faces and changing portfolios. AICC General Secretary has indicated in no ambiguous terms that Ministers of poor performance and tainted integrity would be replaced by ‘clean hands’.

But the big question today is, as it was yesterday, as to who is clean and a good performer and who is not. It becomes all the more difficult for the leaders who have limited connection with the masses. Information Department’s press releases about the numbers and size of the delegations who meet Chief Minister at his office or a ‘public darbar’ serves as a public statement someone like Jagmohan would highlight to establish his popularity in the Valley. Leaders of the state’s single largest political party can not be eulogized by the numbers and volume of their daily visitors.

Opinions of Police, intelligence agencies and political activists---all pulling down one another---are invariably subjective in matters of the assessment of one’s integrity. The youthful, innocent head of the government is left with no option but to make believe that everything is smooth until proven rough and everybody is clean until proven tainted. “I want concrete evidence”, he has repeatedly asserted whenever he chose to speak on corruption of public servants and public men. Since there is no mechanism of audio-visual recording of one’s involvement in corruption, nobody is an A Raja, Suresh Kalmadi or Kanimozhi in our state.

Farooq Abdullah’s, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s and Ghulam Nabi Azad’s observation was different. Mufti did not unleash bloodhounds on one and all. He spread fear among businesspersons by dismantling structures of very influential people. He sent a word of caution to media by freezing advertisements of the state’s most influential newspaper and got the office of an influential daily dismantled in a matter of seconds. He sent shivers down the spine of bureaucracy when a prospective Chief Secretary, Ajit Kumar, was implicated in the infamous jute scandal and forced to go into hiding to escape arrest.

Call it cleansing or witch-hunting, these acts paid dividends to Mufti ever after he lost power. On the contrary, there appears to be no fear among Omar Abdullah’s bureaucrats, officials and Ministers. They know it well that in absence of “concrete proof”, nobody would hold them accountable. Their level of confidence has risen in view of the fact that not a single official or politician has been proceeded against in the last two-and-a-half years. In the Chief Minister’s “Year against Corruption”, everybody involved in serious matters of corruption has been not only reinstated but also rehabilitated on enviable positions. Why talk of Cabinet reshuffle and replacing tainted ones by the clean ones?

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Govt’s OD remittance of Rs 2600 Cr being advanced in local priority sector

JK Bank’s March 2013 target: Rs 100,000 Cr business, Rs 1000 Cr profit

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, May 25: Chairman of Jammu & Kashmir Bank Ltd, Mushtaq Ahmed, today declared that entire amount of Rs 2600 Cr, that had been lately remitted by Government of Jammu & Kashmir to liquidate its cumulative overdraft, was being advanced in the local priority sector in the state. Describing all fundamentals and portfolios of the bank as strong and stable, he asserted that target of the annual business of Rs 100,000 Cr and profit of Rs 1000 Cr would be achieved by March 2013.

Addressing his maiden news conference after taking over as Chairman and CEO of J&K Bank in October last year, Mushtaq Ahmed asserted that all negative impressions created over termination of the bank’s OD facility with the state government, coupled with Government’s MOU with Reserve Bank of India, were “unfounded”.

“There will a positive impact on the functioning of Bank. The arrangement has, in fact, enabled the bank to ensure the regulatory compliance, which will further help us realize our expansion plan. Moreover, the capital parked with government as OD will be deployed into the priority sector within the state”, he said. “It’s a completely win-win situation for J&K Bank, RBI as well as J&K Government”, he added. He said that it was mainly due to the fast swelling volume of OD that the bank had been receiving snubs from the regulator and the Government, in turn, from the bank.

After clearing the bottlenecks through proper regulatory compliance, the Bank has embarked on an ambitious expansion plan whereby scores of new Business Units and ATMs would be established particularly within the state. Employment generation, direct by recruitment and indirect through the disbursement of finances to entrepreneurs, will be the thrust area of J&K Bank’s multi-pronged strategy this year, he said. He said that the bank would achieve the target of having 600 branches and 600 ATMs by March 31, 2012.

Promotion of the idea of Self-employment would be at the center of this strategy.  To encourage the idea of self-reliance and entrepreneurship we shall follow through all the cases and will counsel, guide the entrepreneurs all along, he added.

In this regard, the bank sees the Seed Capital Fund Scheme as potential means to promote the new enterprise ethos among the youth of this state, he added. Dwelling in detail upon the Bank’s achievements and ambitions, the Chairman said, “I feel proud to say that J&K Bank is numero uno in provision coverage ratio in the country and our performance is outstanding among old private sector banks”.

He said that empowerment of the people through economic well-being had been the mission of J&K Bank. The policies and plans of the Bank, he said, were aimed at socio-economic development of the J&K State through active participation in employment generation and poverty alleviation programmes. Consequently, a silent economic transformation was steadily taking place across the state.

Credit and Deposit Growth FY 11.

According to Chairman, net advances  of the Bank have grown to Rs 26,193.64 Cr as on March 11^th  from Rs 23,057.23 Cr a year ago, thereby growing at the rate of 14 %. In real terms the loan book has registered growth of around 24% as the Government of Jammu and Kashmir adjusted overdraft facility of `2300 crore in March 2011.  The Deposits grew by 20% to reach at Rs 44676 Cr, registering growth of 20% in comparison to Rs 37,237 Cr as on March 31, 2010.

Mushtaq Ahmad said: “The branch network both within and outside J&K is being suitably expanded with a view to strengthening and consolidating our position and reach. During the FY 2010-11 the Bank opened 16 new branches, thereby increasing the network of the branches to 548 in addition to 35 extension counters and 3 mobile branches. The new branches are opened in under banked rural areas of J&K State for providing basic banking facilities to unbanked population and for ensuring presence of the Bank in unrepresented areas outside J&K State. I would like to add here that 94% of the Bank’s branches covering more than 99% of its business are networked under Core Banking Solution (CBS) platform. All CBS branches have been enabled for RTGS & NEFT facilities. Further during the year 73 new ATMs have been commissioned taking the total number of ATMs to 361.”

He said, “To promote and project the idea of self-employment through entrepreneurship in J & K State is the thrust area of the Bank. In this regard we have taken a lead role in operationalising and implementing the Sheri-I-Kashmir Employment & Welfare Programme for Youth (SKEWPY) promoted by the State Government as a mission. As a hand holding measure and to achieve the objective of alternate employment generation the Bank has constituted a task force for monitoring implementation of this scheme as also to counsel and guide the un-employed youth.”

Major Highlights of FY 2010-11 ended March 31, 2011:

·        Net Profit at Rs 615 Cr up by 20% compared to Rs 512 Cr for the FY ended March 31, 2010.

·        Operating profit rose to Rs 1149.49 Cr up by 19.96% compared to Rs 958.20 Cr a year ago.

·        NIMs (Net Interest Margins) expanded to 3.62%, up by 58 bps against 3.04% for the previous FY.

·        Yield on Investments improved to 6.34 % up by 63 bps from 5.71%.

·        Cost of Deposits declined to 5.05% compared to 5.24% a year ago.

·        Low cost Demand & Saving Deposits as on Mar, 2011 at `18087 crore up 19 % from Rs 15,153 Cr a year ago. CASA Ratio was 40.48% as on Mar, 2011 compared to 40.69% last year.

·        Post tax Return on Assets improved to 1.22% from 1.20% for the previous financial year.

·        Post Tax Return on Average Net-Worth improved to 18.96% from 18.19 % recorded for the previous financial year.

·        Capital Adequacy Ratio Basel I and Basel II as on Mar, 2011 at 13.30% and 13.72% respectively.

·        Gross and Net NPA’s as percentages to Gross and Net Advances as on Mar, 2011 at 1.95% and 0.20% respectively compared to 1.97% and 0.28% as on Mar, 2010.

·        The Provision Coverage Ratio as on Mar, 2011 at 92.71% (which is much above the RBI stipulated 70%) compared to 90.13 % a year ago.

·        A Dividend of 260% recommended by the Board of Directors of the Bank compared to 220% for FY10.

Goals  for Financial Year 2012

·        The Bank aims to reach an aggregate business figure of Rs 85,000 Cr by 31-03-2012, comprising of deposits of Rs 53,000 Cr and advances of Rs 32,000 Cr.

·        Added thrust on Retail Business, especially retail / CASA deposits and retail advances during FY12.

·        Expanding the delivery channels, the Bank plans:

·        To increase the number of business units from 548 to 600

·        To take the ATM strength from 361 to 600 by March 2012.

·        All business units are planned to be rolled over on Core Banking Solution (CBS) platform.

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3 militants believed dead in Handwara gunbattle         

Early Times Report

SRINAGAR, May 25: In a 24-hour-long gunbattle between militants and security forces, three militants are believed dead even as only one dead body had been recovered from the debris of a destroyed hideout at Shatigam, Handwara, till late tonight.

Informed sources in North Kashmir told Early Times that troops of rashtriya Rifles 21 Bn and 52 Bn launched an operation, alongwith Handwara police, after receiving specific information regarding presence of three militants at a hide in Ganai Mohalla, Shatigam, near Laribal in Zachaldara area of handwara, late last evening. During the operation, a fierce gunbattle took place between the troops and holed up militants that continued for about 24 hours and subsided this evening.

Sources said that all three militants of the group were believed dead as troops destroyed the hideout. Four adjoining residential houses and structures reportedly caught fire and suffered extensive damage. Officials, however, maintained that only one house of Abdul Rasheed Ganai had gutted and dead body of one militant, with one AK-56 rifle, was recovered.

Troops were confident that all three holed up militants had got killed. According to them, there was no collateral damage during the gunbattle. Identities of the militants killed and their organizational affiliation was not available immediately, though reports described one of the three as a Pakistani commander of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.

Significantly, arms and ammunition recovered from the debris included at least one sophisticated GPS unit that was being used by militants for the purpose of navigation through satellite.

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