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Diwali celebrations leave city littered
Chief secy’s report may upset
coalition applecart
PDP leaders absent from Chief Minister’s Diwali Milan
Flouting of rules by chopper operators
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Pak national repatriated
Village panels to help check illegal felling
Fighting corruption difficult, says J&K Vigilance chief Jammu, November 10 Many ills trail terrorism. Corruption at public places is one of these. And in due course corruption, according to the commissioner, Vigilance, Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Ashok Bhan, got institutionalised in the state. Not surprisingly, the Transparency International ranked Jammu & Kashmir as the second most corrupt state in the country after Bihar in petty corruption. Jawan kills two colleagues
Fidayeen killed, operation suspended
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Diwali celebrations leave city littered
Jammu, November 10 Diwali was celebrated with fervour and gaiety in the city. People burst crackers the whole night. But as the city woke up today morning, it was littered with waste and residue of crackers. “For the whole night people were bursting crackers and in the morning nobody is bothered to clear the rubbish left,” said Manish Kumar, a resident of Gandhi Nagar. “The entire area has been turned into a garbage dump as wherever you walk,you find waste of crackers,” he added. Jammu, city of temples, is also known for the use of huge amount of crackers during Diwali. This year despite the pledge not to use crackers by students’ organisations, including students of Jammu University, there was massive use of crackers to ‘celebrate’ Diwali. “There was no decline in the use of crackers this year. Instead the bursting of crackers continued for the whole night,” said Mula Ram, a resident of Nai Basti Jammu. “To celebrate Diwali people had come out on the roads.They were bursting crackers on roads and in streets, but nobody came here in the morning to clean the litter,” said Anil Malohatra, a Shastri Nagar resident. According to Pollution Control Board officials, the air pollution level in the city had increased many times after last night’s Diwali celebrations. “Since last the night pollution level in Jammu has increased many times and huge amount of toxic gases released by crackers have added to the pollution in the city.” An official of the state Pollution Control Board told The Tribune, “Not only air pollution level increased, but water and land pollution has also increased.” The official feared pollution level could go up as people continued bursting crackers for a few days even after Diwali. “The bursting of the left-over crackers can increase pollution in the city,” the official said.
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Timber Scam
Jammu, November 10 After the timber scam surfaced showing irregularities in the state’s Forest Corporation, Chief Minster Ghualm Nabi Azad had appointed B.R. Kundal then finance secretary (home) as the inquiry officer to probe artificial timber scarcity created by the Forest Corporation, to ‘rob’ forest wealth of the state. B.R. Kundal who now is chief secretary of of the state has submitted 98-page report to Azad naming a few bureaucrats and ministers responsible for the artificial timber scarcity in the state. Another matter which was to be probed was the appointment of Ejaz Ahmed Shah, a relative of former forest minister and present finance minister Tariq Hamid Qarra as the managing director of the Forest Corporation. Ejaz who is holding a US passport was arrested from Delhi airport and later released on bail by the police. Source said the US investigating agencies have also taken interest in the investigation of the case as it involved a US citizen in the scandal. Sources added Ejaz who was promoted managing director, Forest Corporation, worked with a US company for 12 years and was promoted as his annual performance report was signed by some top bureaucrats. The enquiry report submitted by chief secretary B.R. Kundal is believed to widen the rift between the ruling coalition partners. “Though the report has been made in a way to give a clean chit to the former ministers who headed the forest department, but still some questions would be raised t which if answered would lead to crises between the coalition partners’ a source told The Tribune. Kundal is believed to have recommended the termination of the services of top bureaucrats, including Ejaz Ahmed Shah and the officers responsible for maintaining his service records and other bureaucrats involved in the timber scam. Ejaz was appointed MD , Forest Corporation in July 2006. Sources said earlier also a rough report was submitted to the Chief Minister, but her had instructed Kundal to hold a thorough enquiry leaving no escape route for the bureaucrats and ministers involved in the scam. Meanwhile Azad has said appropriate action would be taken against the persons indicted in the report.
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PDP leaders absent from Chief Minister’s Diwali Milan
Jammu, November 10 Besides the ministers and leaders of the Congress, senior Opposition leaders from the National Conference and the Bharatiya Janata Party were also present at the party. Although the two alliance partners have not been enjoying a good relationship with each other for quite some time, but of late Azad and his predecessor and PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had sounded reconciliatory towards each other. The PDP's absence from today's milan party came as a surprise. While no PDP leader was prepared to come on record, some of them maintained that the party leadership was feeling let down for so many reasons. They alleged that when it came to scoring achievements and claiming credit, the PDP leadership was always ignored. It was only at ceremonial functions that their need was felt. As a result they decided not to attend private parties as well.
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Flouting of rules by chopper operators
Udhampur, November 10 Meanwhile, on the second consecutive day, local residents organised a protest demonstration against the SMVDSB for its failure to keep a check on violation of rules by these helicopter operators. "As there are reports that two private helicopter operators running sorties between Katra to Sanji Chhat have been flouting the prescribed terms, I have written a fresh letter to the SMVDSB on Wednesday to approach the DGCA to determine whether these companies are adhering to the rules set for flying over civilian areas ", DC, Reasi, Sanjeev Verma disclosed to The Tribune. "As the SMVDSB is the licence-issuing authority to these operators, we have to write only to them for further action", Verma said and admitted that the district administration had already written similar letters to the Board for taking action. The district administration has also asked the shrine Board to check conditions of the chopper ferrying pilgrims from Katra to Sanji Chhat.
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Pak national repatriated
Jammu, November 10 Mohammad Riaz, was handed over to the Pakistan Rangers at the international border near Majra post yesterday, they said. Riaz, who is believed to be mentally challenged had inadvertently crossed to this side of border on November 8, they said, adding, he was later taken into custody by the Border Security Force.
— PTI
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Village panels to help check illegal felling
Udhampur, November 10 The Forest Department has announced incentives for villagers taking an initiative in protecting trees in their areas. “As many as 70 VFCs have so far been formulated in Kishtwar district to ensure people’s participation in protecting forests”, Mukherjee Sharma, chief conservator forest, Kishtwar, said. The VFCs have been told to check the functioning of the Forest Department in their respective areas. |
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Fighting corruption difficult, says J&K Vigilance chief Jammu, November 10 Despite terrorism, real estate prices witnessed a huge appreciation in the state in general and the Kashmir valley in particular. There was no investment by industrial or business houses. Most people trading in real estate were government employees with salary as the only known source of income. And from where did all this money come, can be anybody's guess. Bhan, who holds the rank of director-general of police, was handpicked up by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for this crucial job and was awarded Rs 1 lakh for his honesty.
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Fighting corruption difficult, says J&K Vigilance chief Jammu, November 10 Despite terrorism, real estate prices witnessed a huge appreciation in the state in general and the Kashmir valley in particular. There was no investment by industrial or business houses. Most people trading in real estate were government employees with salary as the only known source of income. And from where did all this money come, can be anybody's guess. Bhan, who holds the rank of director-general of police, was handpicked up by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for this crucial job and was awarded Rs 1 lakh for his honesty.
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Jawan kills two colleagues Jammu, November 10 The jawan, Sepoy Vivek Kumar Sharma, was arrested and a court of inquiry ordered. Lt Col S.D. Goswami, Defence spokesman, has confirmed the incident. Although no further details were available, an FIR was registered at the Bhalara police station. The battle school is one of the important counterinsurgency training institutes, where the jawans and officers are given specialised pre-induction training. It is learnt that the jawan had some altercation with his colleagues on some trivial issue. In the course of the altercation he took out his service weapon and shot them.
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Fidayeen killed, operation suspended Srinagar, November 10 The Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba said two militants of the group had been engaged in the gunfight with the security forces at Sopore since November 8, while two escaped the same day. The militants had taken refuge in New Light Hotel at Sopore and were firing on the security forces from there. CRPF spokesman Prabhakar Tripathy said the operation had been suspended for the night and would resume tomorrow. He said one of the militants had been killed this evening. But the firing from inside the hotel was still continuing, he added.
— UNI
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