The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Vaishno Devi Shrine Two new helipads to be set up on route Devinder Thakur Katra, February 7 Two new helipads will soon come up at separate locations en route to the Vaishno Devi cave shrine on Trikuta Hills in Reasi district. The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) has planned to enhance its disaster management capability by establishing at least two more helipads along the 13-km-long track to the holy cave shrine from the Katra base camp. “We are working on developing two more helipads en route the cave shrine,” additional chief executive officer, SMVDSB, Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, told The Tribune. At present there is only one helipad close to the bhawan which caters to the need of private helicopters operators as well as to assist during emergency situations. Bhandari said the new helipads would help the SMVDSB add capability to help pilgrims during natural disasters, like landslides and forest fires, besides at the time of serious sickness. According to reports, several pilgrims had died after they suffered cardiac arrest while scaling the mountain, while many times major landslides blocked the track to the shrine. Only ponies and ‘palkis’ used to carry pilgrims from the mountain before the start of the helicopter service for ferrying pilgrims to the bhawan. The shrine board has drawn up a major expansion plan to create state-of-the-art infrastructure to meet the demands of expected annual pilgrim influx.
	Conviction of senior police officials triggers debate Arteev Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, February 7 The conviction of two senior police officials, including a former Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), has provided fodder for a major debate in the Police Department as well as in civil society vis-à-vis the conduct of the police in the militancy-affected state. While some considered the conviction of senior officials as a blot on khakhi, others felt that the judgements were historic and sent a clear message that the law of the land is supreme. “If the senior police officials were held guilty for misuse of their positions, it was fairness and transparent probe conducted by none other than the ‘men in khakhi’ that upholds the credibility of the department,” a serving police officer said. Former Director General of Police (DGP) MM Khajuria said these incidents should be attached to the credibility of the organisation. “Such incidents should be related with individual behaviour and it shouldn’t be seen as a blot on the Police Department. In fact, the credit for an impartial inquiry should go to the organisation as it led to exemplary punishment to the accused,” he added. “Any person who is employed with the state and has been assigned the task to implement law should be given exemplary punishment if found guilty in taking law in his own hands. The recent judgements have reflected that the law is equal to all and nobody is above it whether he is a civilian or a police official,” the former DGP said. He said there must be a close monitoring on the conduct of the police officials and also zero-tolerance to fake encounters to avoid such incidents in near future. “We should adopt zero tolerance against such incidents to send a clear message that law of land is supreme,” he said. The court has convicted a former SSP, Karnail Singh, his wife Ratno Devi, and other constables for kidnapping and killing his son-in-law, Nitin Sharma, after his daughter married him against their (parents) wishes. Nitin was a special police officer (SPO) and was kidnapped by police constables before his murder in the Channi Himmat area at the instance of the former SSP. His body was found from a canal in Greater Kailash on August 24, 2005. Similarly, a local court also convicted a former Superintendent of Police (SP) Operations, Surankote, Sewak Singh, and constable Satpal Singh, alias TT, for committing the murder of a probationer sub-inspector (PSI), Ajay Gupta, in a fake encounter on October 13, 1998. They were awarded life sentence for the crime. The PSI had received bullet injury on his head after police constables at the instance of Sewak Singh shot at him. The investigation, however, revealed that the SP, Operations, and the PSI had a scuffle in Surankote on August 1998. Mahesh Koul, a Jammu University scholar, said, “The police officials should be counsellors rather than harassers. They should play the role of managers in a civilised society and not as dictators. Definitely, the judgements have generated a lot of confidence among the people that nobody is above law and every public institution can be made accountable”. Raman Sharma, an RTI activist, said, “Such incidents affect the credibility of the police department. Instead of looking for modernisation, the department should first concentrate on the conduct and behaviour of the cops. They should bear in mind that they are provided uniform and weapon to check criminal activities and not to harass or kill any innocent”.
	Job opportunities CM calls for joint efforts by govt depts, industry Jammu, February 7 Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who approved a VAT refund of Rs 8 crore under the industrial policy, has called for coordinated efforts by government departments and industry to create employment opportunities in the state. “There is a need for coordinated efforts by the government departments and industrial fraternity to generate feasible industrial development and employment generating environment in the state,” he said while chairing the Industrial Advisory Committee meeting here. “While the government has a role to facilitate and help industrialisation, the absorption of unemployed youth in industrial units is the obligation of the investors,” he said. The Chief Minister said he would lead a delegation of state’s industrialists to the Central government advocating extension of industrial package to the state, which is ending in June this year, for 10 more years. “This window of Central assistance in the form of various concessions to industrialists should be available to them for another 10 years to push forward growth and development of industry in the state,” he said, adding that the issue would be vigorously advocated at the Central level. The Chief Minister told the presidents and chairpersons of various industrial organisations who participated in the meeting to accomplish their responsibility of providing employment to the local youth in industrial units, while striving for various incentives and packages. He said the packages and incentives provided to the industrialists through the Central and state initiatives are mainly aimed at providing jobs to unemployed local youth and help in economic growth. “We are doing our job and you have to move ahead on this front,” he said. Omar said he had approved refund of VAT as provided under the industrial policy to the industrialists to the tune of Rs 8 crore for the current year. — PTI
	State was home to tigers, claim experts Varun Suthra Tribune News Service Jammu, February 7 Existence of tigers in Jammu and Kashmir has always remained a debatable issue with majority of experts and wildlife officials claiming that the said species of cat family never occurred here, but still some experts maintain that the state had been a habitat for the national animal. Whereas some experts claimed that tigers existed in the lower Shivalik range in pre-historic era, some revealed that they had been spotted in some hilly districts 15 to 20 years ago. MM Munshi, former DIC Operations, J&K Geological Survey of India, told The Tribune that he had got two reports of tiger sighting in the Jammu division and had heard about one such sighting in the Valley, but he was not much sure about the latter one. “There exists a lot of confusion about names concerning the cat family. Most of the times people confuse leopards with tigers and other wild cats. I have worked across the country and observed that there are many names for a wild cat. Names like sher, bagh and nahar are dedicated to tiger; sinha, sher-e-babbar for lion; and cheetah, chitra, tendua for leopard,” he said. Munshi stressed that one needed to be quite conscious about the facts concerning name and classification to avoid any confusion while identifying these species. “It is really tough to report the sightings of this particular group on the basis of sightings. Around 90s, I received a report of tiger sighting in the Dera Galli area of hilly district Rajouri. Earlier, I thought, people might have seen a panther and could not make the difference. But later, when I enquired from an expert, who had also seen the animal, it was learnt that the sighted species was surely a tiger,” said Munshi. He said the second report of the tiger sighting that had poured in was from outskirts of Kathua district in Billawar area. “Again after probing, the fact was established. Later I had also read some news from the Valley, but for that I am not sure as we could not probe the facts. There are many instances when people had confused leopards with tigers, so we have to be very particular while establishing such facts,” he said. However, Munshi flatly refuted those claims, which stress that there were no tigers ever in the state and only leopards among the wild cats existed here. Asked about the tiger conservation, he said huge efforts were required as most of their habitats have been encroached upon. “Tiger is entirely different among the cat family, it will never trespass others’ territory. Tiger had been in the J&K in the near past, we can say that surely but now conditions are required to be created first for their restoration. From Sri Lanka to Siberia, tigers can survive anywhere,” he added. CM Seth, chairperson, WWF-J&K, said, “If there are tigers in Siberia, they could also exist in the state. I am not sure about the recent past, but they had existed in the historical past. And if favourable habitats are restored, the scene will be different.” As per reports from the official website of the WWF, one of its team working in Kaladhungi town in Nainital district of Uttrakhand had for the first time captured a Bengal tiger traversing the Kosi river.
	Welfare Schemes SCs fail to avail themselves of benefits Dinesh Manhotra Tribune News Service Jammu, February 7 Even as both state and central governments have formulated various programmes for upliftment of the weaker sections of society, benefits of poverty alleviation schemes have not been reaching the target group. A large number of members of the Scheduled Caste (SCs) are not aware of the poverty alleviation schemes. “The lack of awareness is the main reason that members of the SC community have not been able to avail themselves of benefits under many schemes which are specially made for their uplift,” said Swaran Lata, Vice-chairperson of Advisory Board for Welfare of Scheduled Castes (ABWSCs). She said that during her recent visit to Raipur Satwari, in the outskirts of Jammu city, she realised that people were not aware of the various welfare schemes. “Our advisory board has decided to create awareness camp in the SC dominated areas”, she said, while informing that a number of such camps would be held in the coming days. She said that during her recent meetings at Raipur Satwari, a large number of people who turned up at the camp said that they were homeless despite the fact that the central government had implemented Indira Awas Yojna (IAY) in the state to provide home to the poor homeless people. “I realised that it is all due to lack to awareness that homeless people failed to take benefit of schemes like IAY”, she said, adding that she had decided to take up cases of these homeless with the authorities concerned. People belonging to the SC community complained to the ABWSCs chairperson about discrepancies in the existing Below Poverty Line (BPL) lists. A number of people alleged that many undeserving people had managed to get themselves included in the BPL lists. A camp was held at Raipur Satwari to address the problems of the people at their doorsteps. The people from adjoining areas put forward various demands and problems which mostly related to safe drinking water, erratic power supply, better road connectivity and regular supply of kerosene oil and ration. Swarn Lata exhorted the people to come forward to avail maximum benefits under the government schemes. Maximum participation of women was witnessed on the occasion. Besides, ex-corporator Hans Raj, member SC Advisory Board Prem Nath and other officers concerned of various departments were also present on the occasion.
	jammu DIARY Army does yeoman service Apart from carrying out ‘surgical’ operations to contain militancy in the plagued Jammu and Kashmir, the Army over the years has also embarked upon the “sadbhavana programme”. From furniture in schools to water taps, hand pumps and passenger sheds, the Army wastes no time in providing these basic requirements to the people. The purpose of the Army is to gel with the “alienated” Kashmiris and project itself as a saviour of the people. A senior Army officer recently inaugurated a hand pump in a border village and hence followed a ‘detailed’ press release.The release discussed benefits the hand pump will deliver to the people of the border village. Besides combating the militancy, it seems the Army has been really obsessed with its sadbhavana programme in the restive state, doesn’t matter if basic requirements become defunct in a short span of time thereby turning the programme into “sad” bhavana. Desi chai loses flavour Tea made with local herbs, which was popularly known as desi chai, has almost disappeared from the tea stalls and lost popularity in the Dogra houses. In the recent past, the serving of desi chai always marked the onset of winters in the entire Dogra belt. Homemakers were keen in serving the special tea as winter tonic and used to put in extra labour required for its preparation. It is not as simple to prepare the same like English tea or the popular tea. One requires patience as it takes plenty of time for preparing the tea, but resultant product is the best immune booster in winters. Alas, the Dogra kitchens no more emanate aroma of the cuppa of desi chai. Mini buses create chaos Commuters in the winter capital city have rightly pointed out that mini buses are a major source of traffic chaos at the Jammu roads (see photo). What’s more upsetting is the casual attitude exhibited by the cops towards rampant traffic violations. While the mini bus operators brazenly violate the safety rules, the traffic cops fail to act against such erring drivers, who damaged the iron dividers erected on all major roads to streamline traffic. The department has now started the exercise to erect plastic dividers to create a separate lane for mini buses, but no one seems to care. Law-abiding citizens believe that oft-repeated warnings will yield nothing and the traffic department will have to initiate some stringent action against the violators if they are concerned to deal with the chaos prevailing on roads. (Contributed by Ravi Krishnan Khajuria, Varun Suthra and Arteev Sharma)
	Land Acquisition for Islamic varsity Minister chairs high-level meeting Tribune News Service Srinagar, February 7 Minister for Higher Education, Labour and Employment Abdul Gani Malik here recently chaired a high-level meeting regarding the acquisition of land for Islamic University, Awantipora. The meeting was attended among others by Vice-Chancellor, Islamic University, Awantipora, MA Trag, District Development Commissioner, Pulwama, Shafat Noor, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, and other concerned officers. The meeting discussed threadbare various issues relating to acquisition of land at various places. The minister directed the agencies concerned to identify the state land for the early construction of the university complex so that the academic session might be started as soon as possible.
	‘Wetlands productive life-support systems’ Srinagar, February 7 The Khushall Valley Educational (KVE) Trust, Upper Ahmad Nagar, in collaboration with the National Society for Protection of Water Resources, Wetlands and Forests, observed World Wetlands Day at KVE Trust, Upper Ahmad Nagar, to focus attention on the conversation of precious wetlands in the state. The chief guest, divisional forest officer, Ganderbal, Mir Hafizullah, highlighted that the wetlands are among the most productive life-support systems in the world and are of immense socioeconomic ecological importance to the mankind. He said: “The state has been gifted with a number of wetland sites which harbour a rich concentration of water fowl, especially winter migratory species from far-flung China, Russia, Northern Europe, Siberia and Central Asia countries”. Unfortunately, these wetlands have been subjected to tremendous pressure on account of human activities and a number of flood channels were diverted to these wetlands in the past resulting in trapping of huge sediment load and heavy weed infestation. Nazir Benazir of the National Society for Protection of Water Resources, Wetlands and Forests appealed to the citizens of the state, to join hands with the agencies concerned to protect the wetlands of the state. The DFO, Urban Forestry, said environmental pollution was the biggest problem which human being was facing and all achievements would be of no use if water resources were not used and preserved judiciously. — TNS
	Furniture, library books donated to school Tribune News Service Jammu, February 7 An Army unit located at the Kalakote area of Rajouri district took up a noble project under “Operation Sadhbhavana” to provide furniture, library books and sports items to the students of Government Girls High School, Dayala. The aim of the project was to uplift the standard of education in the remote areas of Rajouri. The project was taken up on the request of the teaching staff of the school and the local population of Dayala. The project will aid in enhancing the knowledge and indulging students of Dayala schools into sports. A total of 30 desks with benches, one set of football and volleyball each, two sets of badminton, carom board, chess board and books were donated to the school. They thought this initiative of the Army will be of great help to poor students in boosting their morale to continue with their education and prevent them from discontinuing their studies. The teachers promised to make the full use of the library books to cultivate the habit of reading among the students of the school. Dwarka Nath, headmaster of Government Girls High School, Dayala, and the sarpanch of Jigni appreciated the efforts of the Army in donating furniture, library books and sports items to the school stating that this initiative would benefit the schoolchildren to develop the habit of reading and learn various sports which would help in their overall personality development.