Greater Kashmir

SRINAGAR | August 02, 2014, Saturday

NEWS

epaper.GreaterKashmir.com

Israeli shelling kills 50 Palestinians
as Gaza truce collapses
HARINDER MISHRA

Gaza/Jerusalem, Aug 1:
Massive Israeli shelling killed
at least 50 people in the Hamasruled Gaza following the collapse of a 72-hour ceasefire
shortly after it began today,
while two of its troops were
killed and another was believed
to have been abducted by Palestinian militant groups.
The humanitarian ceasefire - brokered by the US and
the UN to end more than three
weeks of fighting between
Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip
- collapsed just two hours after
it began this morning.
At least 50 people were
killed and more than 200
injured in massive Israeli
artillery shelling in the southern Rafah since this morning,
taking the Palestinian death
toll to 1,509, mostly civilians,
Palestinian health ministry
said. The attacks have injured
more than 7,000 Palestinians.
The 1,509 Palestinian toll in
the ongoing Israeli assault on
Gaza surpassed that of Operation Cast Lead in 2008-2009 as

the conflict entered its 25th
day today. According to the
Palestinian Center for Human
Rights, 1,417 Palestinians
were killed during Operation
Cast Lead, which was the longest conflict between the two
sides lasting 22 days, before
the current fighting began.
Meanwhile, Israeli army
said two of its men were killed
and a third one may have been
abducted by militants in the

southern Gaza Strip today,
raising the death count to 63
soldiers, including two Indian-origin, as compared to 10
in 2008-09. Nearly 400 soldiers
have been injured.
Three Israeli civilians and
a Thai national also died in
rocket and mortar attacks.
“Initial indications suggest that a soldier has been
abducted in an incident where
the ceasefire was breached,”

PM’s push for selfcertification of documents
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, Aug 1: In a bid to save
the common man from hassles,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
today pushed for shifting to self-certification of documents and pitched
for minimum use of affidavits.
In the landmark initiative, all
ministries and departments at the
Centre and in states have been
asked to make provision for selfcertification of documents in place
of affidavits. The requirement of
attestation by gazetted officers
is sought to be replaced by selfcertification by the citizen, a PMO
statement said.
Under the self-certification
method, the original documents
are required to be produced at the
final stage. The Prime Minister,
during his meeting with all Union
Secretaries on June 4, had spoken
of reforming the public service
delivery system and bridging the
governance deficit.
“This measure is a start in that
direction. It is expected to benefit
the people immensely, as all affi-

davits not required by law shall
eventually be done away with,”
the statement said. In a communication addressed to all secretaries
of the central government as well
as Chief Secretaries of states and
Administrators of Union Territories, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances
has noted that “obtaining either an
attested copy or affidavit not only
costs money to the poor citizen but
also involves wastage of time of the
citizens as well as of the government officials.”
The Department has called for a
review of the existing requirement
of affidavits and attestation by
gazetted officers, and replacement
by self-certification.
In case of false self-certification,
the person can be booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal
Code. Getting an affidavit is a tough
task for the common man. People
have to either shell out money to get
affidavits from notary or approach
a gazetted officer. Gazetted officers
are often reluctant to attest documents due to lack of documents.

Israeli Defence Forces (IDF)
spokesman Lt Col Peter
Lerner told reporters.
Hamas, which rules the
narrow coastal strip, neither confirmed nor denied
the abduction of the Israeli
soldier. But it said Israel’s
announcement of the abduction was simply an excuse
to “justify Israel’s retreat
from the truce.” “Once again,
Hamas and the organizations

in Gaza have blatantly broken
the cease-fire to which they
committed, this time before
the American Secretary of
State and the UN Secretary
General,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
office said in a statement.
This morning, two Code
Red sirens were heard in
Eshkol Regional Council.
Two rockets landed in an
open area, Israel’s Channel
10 reported. The announcement of the truce was made in
a statement released in New
Delhi during US Secretary of
State John Kerry’s visit. In a
statement, UN special coordinator for Middle East peace
Robert Serry said the United
Nations was informed by
Israel of “a serious incident
this morning after the start of
the humanitarian ceasefire at
8:00 am (0500 GMT) involving
a tunnel behind IDF (army)
lines in the Rafah area.”
The temporary ceasefire
came into effect early today
after Israel accepted a joint
proposal from the US and the
UN which took into consideration a key demand by it. PTI

Army takes over
security of Pak capital
SAJJAD HUSSAIN

Islamabad, Aug 1: Pakistan government today handed over the security
of capital Islamabad to the army for
three months under a controversial
decision taken recently, days ahead
of a major anti-government rally by
Imran Khan’s party.
Interior minister Nisar Ali Khan
had announced last week that military will remain here from August 1
till October end, under article 245 of
the Pakistani constitution.
Article 245 which deals with the
functions of the armed forces states
says that “armed forces shall, under
the directions of the federal government, defend Pakistan against external
aggression or threat of war, and, subject
to law, act in aid of civil power when
called upon to do so”.
According to security sources, five
companies of army will be deployed
primarily to guard key government
installations and other sensitive
spots, including the woody Margalla
Hills National Park.
The government’s decision pitted it

against the Opposition parties, which
termed it as the failure of Nawaz Sharif
led civilian government, which took
charge last year after the first-ever
peaceful democratic transition.
It is feared that the government will
expand the deployment and handover the security of other cities to the
armed forces. Key opposition Pakistan
People’s Party has announced to raise
the issue in the parliament on Monday.
The move will give the army control over Islamabad’s law and order
situation ahead of a key protest march
announced by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
(PTI) chief Imran Khan on August 14.
It is widely believed that the article was invoked to thwart the rally
of Khan who had threatened that
the march would seal the fate of the
PML-N government.
Khan is protesting over the alleged
rigging in last year’s general election.
After several small rallies during
the previous months to force the government for a recount of at least four
selected national assembly seats which
his party lost in 2013, he gave the call for
a major protest in the capital.

VALLEY`S LEADING DOCTORS

Dr. Mir Samiullaha
MBBS, MS, Mch(DNB)
Critical Care

Gastrointestinal & Liver
Transplant Surgeon.

Dr. Mujeeb Shoukat
MD medicine, IDCCM
Critical Care.

●Life Member Indian society
of Critical Care Medicine.
●Formerly worked in critical
● Fellowship in Liver &
care department
Pancreatic Transplant ( Kings Indraprastha Apollo
College Hospital. London
Hospital. New Delhi
U.K)
●Presently Consultant in
●Membership European
Medicine and Critical care
Society of organ Transplant.
Department Batra Hospital
●Vast Experience of Liver
and Medical Research
Transplant ( Living Donor/
Centre New Delhi.
Cadaveic Donor )
●Major Hepatic Surgeries like
Whipple`s,Liver Resections
Pancreatic Resection`s
( 300 per year)

Dr. Zeeshan Wani

Dr. Mohd. Yusuf

Gastroenterology Consultant

Gastroenterology and
Hepatology Consultant

MBBS,MD, DM

● Fellowship in EUS/ERCP,
Enteroscopy.
● Fellowship In Hepatology.
● Visiting Consultant
JR Hospital, Srinagar
● Ex Assistant Professor,
ILBS. New Delhi.

MBBS, MD, DM

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