Shimla, October 2
India and Pakistan must not allow one single incident to become a thorn in their diplomatic relations as Pakistan is itself a victim of terrorism with innocent people being killed in lethal attacks every single day.

On a sentimental journey to relive his school days here at the Bishop Cotton School (BCS), the 77-year-old former Ambassador and Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Humanyun Khan today said he was hopeful that India and Pakistan would keep the diplomatic channels open as fostering peace was in the interest of both the nations as well as for the region.

Khan, who arrived here aboard the special Kalka-Shimla train called the “Cottonian Express” with many other school friends who were forced to leave the BCS in 1947, said it would probably be his last trip to share the golden time he spent with schoolmates.

“Being forced to leave BCS school in 1947 while doing senior Cambridge still remains one of the saddest days of my life,” he said.

In an oblique reference to the Mumbai attacks, he said one single incident must not cast its shadow on relations between the neighbours as they needed to look beyond and on a much broader perspective.

“It would be very foolish for the Pakistan government to get involved in terrorist activities as the nation is itself suffering from the problem,” he said when asked about India’s contention that it was state-sponsored terrorism from Pakistan’s side.

Khan said under the terms of the Shimla Agreement, the two nations were committed to settle disputes bilaterally. “We are very much open to the idea of mediation by a genuine third party but India does not take too kindly to such interference,” he opined.

Humanyun visited the BCS in 1984 when he was Pakistan’s Ambassador in India. “I vividly remember my classroom, dormitory, Davicos Hotel and enjoying the aloo-puri on the train for which I did not have to pay today,” he said, enjoying every bit of the experience which he feels could be the last one.

Shimla, October 2
Ban on all types of polythene carry bags came into force from today. However, it will not make much difference as it will apply only to retailers and common people can use the carry bags available with them.

The impact, as far as curbing of environment pollution was concerned, will be minimal as polythene bags up to 12 inches by 18 inches in size and thickness of less than 70 micron was banned long back. The latest notification will only prevent retailers from providing the bigger fancy polythene carry bag, which were still in use.

All items packaged in polythene including milk, ration being supplied through the public distribution system, will be available as before. The process of banning polythene bags started on January 1, 1999, but the authorities failed to enforce it all these years and as a result the hills remained littered with non-biodegradable garbage.

The situation has worsened as the traders have totally switched over to packaged commodities. Even if people stopped using the polythene carry bags, they will take home large quantity of plastic and other non-biodegradable material as the items of daily use they buy are all packaged in such material regarding which the state can do nothing. This is not a practical solution and the only way out is to segregate the non-biodegradable waste and recycle it. Environment conscious western countries like Germany has banned imports packaged in degradable material. In a globalised environment an individual country or even a state cannot impose such bans as manufacturing companies will only use non-biodegradable material.

Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jai Ram Ramesh has also expressed a similar view and asserted that banning polythene bags was no solution. Even otherwise the hill state has a dismal track record in solid waste management. Out of about 400 tonnes of garbage generated daily by 56 urban habitations only about 70 to 75 tonne is being collected for disposal.

The futility of banning polythene carry bags is evident from the repeated choking of the intake of Larji projects by tonnes of non-biodegradable waste. Studies available with the pollution control board reveal that 55 to 60 per cent of the waste is biodegradable and the rest is non-biodegradable. However, the polythene and plastic account for only 3 to 4 per cent of the total waste.

Shimla, October 2
The training standard of the Army is the best in the world because the curriculum is dynamic and in-sync with the latest developments both in the field of technology as also doctrines, concepts and philosophy.

Lt-Gen AS Lamba, the new GOC-in-C of the Army Training Command (ARTRAC) who assumed charge here yesterday, said ARTRAC was the “think tank” of the Indian Army. “It is the nodal agency for evolution of concepts, doctrines and institutionalised training,” he said.

He said ARTRAC was mandated to train the Army to successfully undertake operation across the entire spectrum of conflicts, both in peace and war.

“The Army follows a methodical route of analysis of the prevailing security environment, capabilities of our potential adversaries and technological upgrades to evolution of doctrines, concepts and philosophies all of which in turn are absorbed into the training syllabus,” he highlighted.

“Our priorities here at ARTRAC will be absorption of latest technologies, leadership training, information warfare and joint training with other services,” he opined.

He said war gaming and simulation were the “buzz words” in the latest training methodology, which were being incorporated into the Army as well.

Lt-Gen Lamba said the training modules were being constantly updated and upgraded to suit the changing security environment and field requirements and very much in consonance with ARTRAC motto “excellence in the art and science of war”.

“Issues like shift in focus from Pakistan to China are in the realm of national security analysis where the aim is perhaps to strike a balance in our operations,” he said in reply to a query.

When asked about the proposed Manali-Leh rail line, he said though the issue was beyond the realm of ARTRAC, it definitely indicated the deep concern of the people of Himachal Pradesh. 

Shimla, October 2
“I always feel like a maharaja whenever I visit India because I may be living in London but my heart is in India,” is how an ecstatic Peter Stringer described himself in chaste Hindi as he alighted from the special “Cottonian Express” at the railway station here.

Stringer is here to attend the sesquicentennial celebrations of Bishop Cotton School (BCS) where he studied for four years till he had to return to England in 1947 after Independence.

“Mein budda ho gaya hun but I still consider myself the son of the Raj,” he said, while being welcomed in the traditional Indian style at the railway station.

“Leaving the school was a very painful experience as I loved Shimla and everything about it, right from the Viceregal Lodge, Christ Church and enjoying movies like ‘Pathaan” at the local theatre,” he said, taking a trip down the memory lane.

He is 76-year-old and is visiting India for the seventh time as he does not miss out on any opportunity to come back to the place, memories of which are still very fresh even after 62 years.

“I love the Shimla rains and fortunately there was a slight drizzle while we were travelling in the train,” he said. Accompanied by Ken Richards, who too is here to grace the 150th year celebrations of BCS where he studied till 1945, the two shared jokes like teenaged school boys.

He intends extending his stay here even after the school celebrations are over.

“I want to visit the Christ Church where we sang in the choir and, of course, Gaiety Theatre and the Davicos which we visited once in a while,” he says.

It is a different matter that congestion, population explosion and the garbage littered on the hill sides pained the British who proudly admitted that he was an Indian at heart as he spent his formative years enjoying India at its best.

Kullu, October 2
Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh today took Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal head-on amid Kullu Dussehra festivities accusing him of “turning the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SVACB) as his own fiefdom” targeting Congress men and framing up them in false cases, while BJP leaders who figured in the “call-girl racket in Shimla” have been bailed out.

After air-dashing here today at the Kullu-Manali airport from New Delhi to take part in the celebrations of the fourth day of Kullu Dussehra festivities, Virbahdra Singh said Dhumal had turned the SVACB into his own fiefdom targeting Congress men in frivolous cases. The SVACB chief is acting like Dhumal’s agent in this vilification campaign framing Congress men in false cases, he charged.

Virbhadra Singh went on accusing Dhumal of shielding certain BJP leaders whose names figured in the “call-girl racket”. This is the state of affairs of the present government, which has lost morality to govern the state, he charged, and expressed his confidence that the Congress would win the by-elections of Rohru and Jawali.

He also held meeting with the managers of the NHPC, which is executing the 2,051-MW Parbati project in the valley, asking them to speed up work. He also visited the Dussehra exhibition at Dhalpur Maidan.

Shimla, October 2
The proposal to rationalise wildlife sanctuaries in the state cleared the main hurdle with national board of wildlife granting approval with certain important modifications, including setting up of conservation reserves in place of scrapping sanctuaries altogether.

The approval has been granted on the basis of the report of two-member committee comprising director of the Wild Life Institute of India and well-known expert in the field Dr N.K.Ranjit Singh, the panel deputed by the board for a final appraisal of the proposal which visited the state in April last for inspection of the sanctuaries proposed to be scrapped. The report will now be submitted to the Supreme Court for the final nod. After rationalisation all but 26 out of the total 793 villages currently under protected wildlife area will be excluded.

While the proposal to de-notify the Gobind Sagar water body was approved as it is, only the temple and the main roads leading to it were allowed to be excluded from the Naina Devi sanctuary. The truncated protected area will be converted into a conservation reserve. Similarly, a part of the Daralghat sanctuary will be retained as a conservation reserve.

In case of Noargu sanctuary in Mandi the thickly populated villages will be taken out and forest areas of adjoining Kullu included to make it a viable wild life protected area. Besides, boundaries of 20 other sanctuaries will be redrawn to exclude human habitations. The overall protected wildlife areas will increase as forests rich in wildlife which were left out, will now be made part of the sanctuaries. The largest area of about 850 sq km is to be included in the Kibber sanctuary in the cold desert of Spiti. At present the state has 33 wildlife sanctuaries and two national parks and the total protected area comes to 12.80 per cent of the geographical area. After rationalisation the there will be 31 sanctuaries, four conservation reserves and two national parks. 

Kullu, October 2
The international festival of Dushehra here has turned into a hotbed of politics as Union Steel Minister and Mandi MP Virbhadra Singh and Kullu Dussehra committee chairman-cum-BJP state president Khimi Ram have trained their guns on each other over the issue of invitation for Kullu Dussehra.

Adding “political colour” to long Shringa Rishi and Balu Nag acrimony this time is Virbhadra Singh-Khimi Ram spat.

After airdashing from Delhi in a routine flight here today to participate in the Dussehra festivities, Virbhadra Singh told mediapersons that he was not invited and he came himself in the capacity of an MP, attacking the present BJP leadership who heads the Dussehra mela committee.

Virbhadra Singh went to pay obeisance at Shivir temple of Lord Raghunath and at Dev Sadan where neither chairman of Dussehra committee Khimi Ram nor Kullu MLA Govind Thakur were present.

Though Kullu DC and president of mela committee BM Nanta received the minister, absence of mela chairman defied all courtesy of civic reception of public representatives.

Joining the issue with Virbhadra Singh, Khimi Ram, however, claimed that the committee had invited all MPs from HP, including Virbhadra Singh.

“We had sent invitations at his Rampur and Delhi address. However, we could not make him the chief guest as it was decided by the art, language and culture department,” he claimed.

Besides the political heat over the participation in the week-long festivities, this time Dussehra “jaleb” last procession on October 5, would be held without the participation of Balu Nag, believed to be an avatar of Laxman.