Porn VCD Case

Medical re-examination of Anara ordered

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 10
Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Jammu, Yash Pal Bournay has issued a direction to Government Medical College (GMC) here to constitute a medical board to re-examine former Miss Jammu Anara Gupta, who was allegedly found featuring in porn VCD in 2004.

Sources told The Tribune that the CJM, Jammu, issued directions to the GMC authorities to constitute a medical board of doctors to re-examine Anara. The sources in the GMC confirmed that order copy of the CJM had been issued to GMC medical superintendent Dr Ramesh Gupta.

Acting upon the court order, the doctors’ panel would be constituted in a day or two to re-examine Anara Gupta, they said, adding that the medical board would examine certain marks on the body of former Miss Jammu so as to draw parallel between Anara and the girl that featured in the porn VCD. Subsequently, the report would be submitted to the court, they said.

A week ago, the Special Investigating Team (SIT) of Jammu and the Kashmir police had moved an application before the CJM with a request that it wanted another medical examination of Anara.

After minute analysis of the porn VCD in question, the SIT noticed some marks on the body of the girl featured in the VCD and, hence, it requested the court to get Anara Gupta re-examined so as to come to a logical conclusion, they said.

The SIT had already completed its investigations recording the statements of those associated with the case, but it had been finding itself in a tight spot due to two conflicting reports of FSL Hyderabad and Chandigarh. If FSL Hyderabad had given a clean chit to the beauty queen, FSL Chandigarh had claimed that the girl featured in the porn CD had resembled with Anara Gupta.

Ultras strike at Samba

Photojournalist among 8 killed

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service

Kaily Mandi (Samba), May 11
In an election year and just ahead of annual Amarnath yatra, heavily-armed Pakistani militants struck in a big way today killing six people including a politician, two soldiers and a senior photojournalist of a local daily besides injuring six others, two of them critically.

In an encounter that lasted for about 12 hours, security forces eventually killed two militants using heavy mortar after rescuing five people, who were held hostage by the militants in a house.

The militant attack has raised questions on the BSF’s claim to have foiled an infiltration bid by Pakistani militants in Bainglad area close to the international border in Samba sector on Thursday night.

The militants killed state general secretary of Indian National Democratic Party (INDP) Hoshiyar Singh, his wife Shashi Bala, 6 Garhwal Rifles soldier Atul Negi, 20 JAK Rifle Lance Havildar Aziz Mohammed, senior photojournalist of a local daily Ashok Sodhi and a woman Madhu Sharma besides injuring six others, including a Major of Territorial Army Mukul Chauhan and SP (Operations) Mubasir Latifi.

The gun battle, which started at 6 am came to an end when 6 Garhwal Rifles of the Army, the BSF and the police launched the final assault at 5.30 PM killing the militants.

Defence PRO Lt-Col S.D. Goswami told The Tribune, “Security forces eliminated the two militants and the operation has been called off.”

Earlier, striking in a big way in the plains of Jammu after a gap of six years, militants in Army fatigues entered the house of Hoshiyar Singh this morning at around 6 am in Kaily Mandi and opened fire killing him and his wife.

Eyewitness Virinder Singh said this morning he woke up to gunshots and being aware of the intrusion bid in Bainglad he along with other villagers immediately alerted the local police and soldiers in nearby Army units.

“Acting upon the information, security forces rushed to the spot and cordoned off the entire area,” he added.

After killing Hoshiyar Singh and his wife besides injuring their married daughter and her mother-in-law Darshana Devi, who had come from Amritsar, militants ran towards the house of Suresh Singh (Hoshiyar’s driver).

Another eyewitness said, from Suresh Singh’s house militants started firing at the troops, which by then laid a cordon around it.

A police officer said militants after critically injuring Suresh’s tenant Madhu Sharma, held his wife, children, mother, brother and sister as hostages, adding that Madhu Sharma later succumbed to her injuries.

They resorted to indiscriminate fire from their automatic weapons and hurled grenades on the troopers, he said.

A vehicle of a television news channel too was hit by a grenade.

However, after rescuing the hostages, the Army used heavy mortar killing the two militants. The security forces launched a “mopping-up operation” searching the area, he added.

According to the Army, Pakistan’s ISI has moved over 400 militants in different launching pads on other side of the IB.

Earlier talking to The Tribune, DGP Kuldeep Khuda said, “Five people including a couple, a photojournalist and a soldier have been killed while two others have been injured.”

“It is quite possible that some of them might have sneaked during their intrusion bid in Bainglad area on Thursday night and carried out the attack this morning,” he added.

It may also be mentioned here that the Tiger Division during the intervening night of May 9 and 10 had seized a huge quantity of arms and ammunition including 10 kg of RDX in Sujani forests of Samba district.

(http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080512/main1.htm)

6 feared dead in Doda cloudburst

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria/TNS

Jammu, June 9
Six persons, including two shopkeepers, a driver of an earth mover, six roadside eateries and four vehicles were washed away in flashfloods triggered by a cloudburst at Baggar in Doda district, around 157 km from here, last evening.

However, Doda Deputy Commissioner Farooq Ahmed Khan has put the number of those feared killed in the incident at three. According to him, debris can be seen spread in an area of over five km, while one-km stretch of the Batote-Doda national highway (NH1B) has been affected at nine places.

The district administration, the BRO, the police and the Army launched a search operation to trace missing persons, but they could not find anyone till 11 pm yesterday, when the operation was halted, Khan said.

The operation was re-launched this morning and now the Batote-Doda road was being cleared. Those missing might have been buried under the debris, the DC said.

“The road is intact, but mounds of debris can be seen at several places. We are at work and the entire stretch will be cleared by tomorrow evening,” Khan said.

For the time being, the district administration has made an arrangement of transshipment by deploying buses at both ends of the affected stretch to ferry passengers.

The DC, however, feigned ignorance about any damage to the Baglihar hydroelectric project, around 26 km away from Baggar. “I don’t think that the cloudburst has caused any damage or posed any threat to the power project over the Chenab in Chanderkote,” he said.

However, a local journalist from Doda contradicted the claims of the Deputy Commissioner. “I travelled up to the affected area and found that the road between Batote and Assar has been washed away at several places,” he said. It would take at least a week for the administration to restore the road connectivity, he added.

As of now, the road link of Doda and Kishtwar districts has been snapped from the rest of the country, he added.

Doda SP Mohammed Arif Reshu also confirmed damage to the road, but added that there was scope of diversions at such places.

The Army has deployed a company of 4 Rashtriya Rifles, comprising 75 soldiers and officers, while the BRO has pressed into service its bulldozers to clear the debris. Though the administration has launched the operations on a war-footing, it cannot be immediately ascertained as to how many vehicles were swept away in the Chenab because of the massive mudslides. Three out of suspected six missing persons have been identified as Mohan Lal (22) of Rangarh (Baggar), Khalid Hussain (27) of Kurmail and Abdul Razaq (37) of Kurmail.

A resident from Chanderkote said though there had been no damage to the Baglihar dam and its second phase, at least 26 workers were trapped inside a tunnel near the existing power house and a security guard was buried under a heap of debris. The security guard was later identified as Vikram Singh, engaged by Dogra Placement Services.

Two dumpers outside the tunnel were also buried in the debris, he said. The workers, trapped inside the tunnel around 12.30 am yesterday, were eventually rescued around 5 am this morning.

TRAIL OF DESTRUCTION
Several vehicles, shops also washed away
Army, BRO, police launch rescue operations
Debris spread over 5 km area
Kishtwar, Doda cut off from rest of the country
26 workers trapped in Baglihar project tunnel rescued

Jammu scientist blazes new trail

Discovers 14 new species of midge fly; possible to free water bodies from pollutants

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service
Jammu, September 19
She learnt French for two years to undertake a research project and then she came out with a startling discovery of 14 more species of chironomus, popularly called “midge fly”, that fetched her “International Educator of the Year” award. The International Biographical Centre of Cambridge in the UK conferred upon her the award.
The larvae of 14 new species, very sensitive to pollutants in water, would now be applied to study pollutants in water bodies and remedial measures would be suggested to free water bodies from contamination of all sorts, be it sewerage waste, domestic refuse or industrial effluents.

And, in turn, clean and safe water for human beings and animals may become a reality, at least in river-rich Jammu and Kashmir, provided the discovery and remedial measures were taken seriously by those at the helm of affairs.

The seven out of 14 species have been named after 35-year-old expert from Jammu, Pragya Khanna, as PK1 to PK7.

In the backdrop of Pragya’s discovery, scientists like Dr Blinov of Germany, Dr Jon Martin of University of Melbourne (Australia), Dr Michailova and Dr Petrova of Russia, have started working on the new species, which hitherto were unknown to the world.

Talking to The Tribune, Pragya said, “Since most of the literature on chironomus was either in French or in Russian, I first learnt French for two years to acquaint myself with the subject and then I started my research work.”

“Being a cytogeneticist, I had to face a gruelling time while getting information. I succeeded in my endeavour when I got in touch with Dr Jon Martin of the University of Melbourne, who had been working on the chironomus since 1953,” she said.

Based upon my research, Dr Jon was able to uncover 14 news species of chironomus, out of which seven were reported for the first time in the world, said Pragya, adding that all the seven new species had been named after her (from PK1 to PK7).

Her studies were based on genotoxic effects of some heavy metals and pesticides on the polythene chromosomes of chironomids of the Jammu region. Elucidating further, she said, the new species form an important basis for the study of new taxa/genra because these organisms were not known to the world earlier.

“Now research has started on these organisms, which in turn will be employed in the study of major pollutants in water bodies,” she added.

“Since water bodies are infested with pollutants and biological oxygen demand (BOD) is increasing, aquatic organisms are dying out. So the new species discovered by me will be applied for studying contamination in water bodies,” she said.

Pragya focused on chromosomal studies of midge fly as bio-indicator of stress vis-à-vis impact on major water bodies of the Jammu region. “Now I want to focus on minor water bodies like tube-wells and “bowlies” and once done with the research work I would be suggesting remedial measures to prevent contamination of water bodies,” she added.

“The midge fly, which resembles a mosquito, is omnipresent, but never before the 14 new species were uncovered, out of which seven were reported for first time in the world,” she said.

A lecturer of zoology at the Government College for Women here, Pragya has presented 30 research papers, five monographs, 90 popular articles and two books on the subject of her expertise. She has also attended 35 conferences in the past eight years in the country.

The woman scientist, who has brought laurels to the state, thanked Dr OP Sharma and Dr Narinder Kumar Tripathi, experts, who guided her in her research.

Picturesque Basohli in neglect

A bumpy and dusty drive to the town from Lakhanpur exposes the tall claims of the government of having carpeted the road right up to Basohli

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 22

Even as the state government claims it has taken up the development of the Lakhanpur-Basohli-Sarthal tourist circuit under the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Programme at a cost of Rs 7.99 crore, a lot needs to be done to bring the picturesque Basohli on the tourist map of the state.
Basohli, a small town and a tehsil headquarter, is situated on the right bank of the Ravi at an altitude of 1,876 ft. Famous for its miniature paintings, the town was founded by Raja Bhupat Pal in 1635.
“On May 23 this year, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation stone of the much awaited 592-m-long cable-stayed bridge on the 10.5 km Dunera-Bani road over the Ravi. However, basic amenities in the form of proper roads, electricity and water are yet to reach the people in villages and hamlets adjoining Basohli,” said Bodh Raj, a schoolteacher.
“The government in the last Assembly session in Jammu had claimed that it had spent Rs 4.7 crore till August 2010 on the development of infrastructure under the circuit, but the fact of the matter is that we still need properly carpeted roads in our area,” he added.
It may be stated that the government has already completed the construction of an Art Development Centre at Basohli and a Tourist Development Centre at Sarthal.
Being a hilly area, the road network should be improved without further delay, said Mukul Sharma, another resident of Basohli.
“We are living in the lap of nature but that doesn’t mean that we should be left at the mercy of the nature. Development has to be done by the government whose representatives come to us every six years to seek vote,” he said in an apparent reference to the politicians.
Driving on serpentine roads in a hilly area is always risky. It is high time the government widens the roads besides installing crash barriers as a safety measure, said Sharma.
A bumpy and dusty drive to the town from Lakhanpur exposes the tall claims of the government of having carpeted the road right up to Basohli.

(http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110723/jkplus.htm#1)

Amarnath Yatra, 2011

Pilgrims pray for lasting peace

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria in Baltal Base Camp


Pilgrims on way to the Amarnath cave shrine are enjoying peace in the Kashmir valley and are praying it lasts forever. It is a pilgrimage for peace for them.After having witnessed four-month violence during the summer last year, a positive change is being felt by the Amarnath pilgrims arriving here and the local residents.

Talking to The Tribune, Suresh Kumar, a pilgrim from New Delhi, who has been visiting the cave shrine since 1996, said, “I witnessed the unrest during the summer last year when I came for the Amarnath yatra, but this time a congenial atmosphere has restored the confidence of the pilgrims and the tourists visiting the Valley”.
An influx of Amarnath pilgrims into the Valley was a good omen for the people of Kashmir, he added.
“In 2010, stone throwing and the imposition of the curfew were routine and I was shaken by the situation then. But this year, it seems, peace has finally returned. Now, we should not allow the elements inimical to peace to vitiate the atmosphere again,” said Suresh.
Triloki Nath, a pilgrim from Gwalior, said it was better to forget the past and move ahead. “ In 2011, I hope peace will prevail throughout the year and, if possible, forever, because Kashmir is one of the most popular tourist places in the country.It should not face any law and order problem,” said Nath. “We all know that peace brings prosperity and tourism being the mainstay of the state’s economy, the people of Kashmir should come forward to give peace a chance,” he added.
A CRPF jawan, Deepak Kumar, guarding Hanuman Mandir in Srinagar city, told this correspondent on Tuesday that there was a realisation among the common man that peace was necessary for more tourist and pilgrim arrivals in the Valley. “After witnessing militancy for the past two decades and the unrest during the summer last year, the people have realised the importance of peace because everything from academics of children to livelihood and tourism were badly affected last year,” he said.
A cab driver, Latif Ahmed of Srinagar, the only breadwinner of a family of seven, like several others, had to face a harrowing time last year. “Last year, the entire tourism sector was adversely affected by a continuous cycle of violence. Thank God, this time the arrival of pilgrims has improved a lot. Overall, I can say that there is a 75 per cent improvement,” said Ahmed.
“Now, I can think of paying bank instalments of my cab on time,” he said, and added that Kashmir faced a continuous shutdown during the unrest last year.

Amarnath Yatra 2011

Trek of Faith

They limp, they cripple, they crawl, but they still are a cut above the able-bodied, reports Ravi Krishnan Khajuria from Amarnath shrine

By now, Raju, Kabira and Rahul would have paid obeisance at the sanctum sanctorum here. So, what’s the big deal, one may ask.
Well, both 26-year-old Raju and 36-year-old Kabira have lost a leg each in road mishaps while 28-year-old Rahul is polio-ridden since birth.
While able-bodied think twice before embarking upon the arduous pilgrimage, this trio from Sai Mandir on Lodhi Road in New Delhi has been visiting the shrine since 2003.
“I lost my left leg in a road accident in Delhi, but undeterred by the physical disability, I have been visiting the shrine since 2003,” said Raju while supporting his feeble body with crutches.
Kabira, who was a driver by profession, also lost his right leg in a road mishap while Raju has been crippled by polio.
“Being staunch devotees of Lord Shiva, we all met at Sai Mandir in Delhi in 2002 and since 2003, we have been coming to the cave shrine to pay obeisance,” said Rahul.
To them worldly affairs do not mean anything. “We have devoted our lives to Lord Shiva and would keep coming here again and again till we our last breath,” said Kabira.
One of the six siblings, born in a penury-ridden family of a farmer in Kerala, Kabira had neither qualification nor a job to support his family. Subsequently, he moved to Delhi where he became a truck driver, but destiny had something else in store for him. In 2001, he met with a road accident in which he lost his right leg.
“The accident shattered me completely, but somehow I gathered courage and devoted my life to Lord Shiva. In 2002, we (Kabira, Rahul and Raju) met at Sai Mandir, from where our rendezvous with Lord Shiva started,” Kabira said smilingly.
“We do face a lot of difficulties in covering the arduous journey, but it’s our unflinching faith in the Lord that keeps us going,” said Rahul, who uses a pair of chappals in his hands to cover the distance.
When asked about his disease, he said, “Born in an illiterate and poor family, someone had to pay the price and it was me”. He was, however, more interested in talking about the pilgrimage.
“I still remember when initially I thought it to be an impossible task but Raju and Kabira encouraged me and once I reached the cave, I was on cloud nine,” he said, adding that, “Soon I realised that it was Lord Shiva, who had given me the strength to have a glimpse of one of His many manifestations”.
Physically challenged pilgrims like Raju, Rahul and Kabira do invite attention of other pilgrims who salute them for their infallible faith in the Lord of the Lords.

(http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110706/jkplus.htm#2)

Power Woes

Unscheduled power cuts

Jammu feels the heat

Ministers, bureaucrats believe more in meetings as good governance takes a backseat

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service
Jammu, June 7
Even as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has deputed ministers at Jammu on rotation basis to conduct summer secretariat so as to ensure smooth functioning of departments, particularly those associated with basic amenities, dismal power and water scenario has badly affected life in the winter capital.
“After a brief relief a week ago due to rain and cloudy weather conditions, which had stabilised electricity supply to some extent, power cuts and scarce water supply are back to haunt us,” said Harvinder Singh, a resident of the densely populated Nanak Nagar.
“Unscheduled power cuts for hours together are a routine. Though we somehow brave the hot and humid weather, it becomes very difficult for small children and elderly people to cope up with the extreme weather conditions, he added.
Chief engineer of the Power Development Department Shehnaz Goni recently apprised Law Minister Ali Mohammed Sagar about the status of power supply in Jammu and other far-flung areas. Goni claimed before the minister that the PDD replaced the damaged transformers within 24 hours in Jammu so that the people did not suffer.
However, in reality, the department acts at its own will to replace the damaged transformers taking days together, said Harnam Singh, a resident of Digiansa.
And despite repeated attempts neither the Law Minister nor the chief engineer responded to the telephone calls, exposing “intentions” of the present regime in delivering good governance.
“Just a couple of days ago, electricity played hide-and-seek with us. My grandfather, who is an asthmatic patient, had to undergo a nightmarish experience because of frequent power cuts. After almost six hours, power supply was restored at 4 am. Now one can imagine the condition of an asthmatic patient in blistering summer when mercury hovers above 40 degree Celsius,” rued Amit Gupta, a resident of New Plot area.
When reminded that the present government is conducting Jammu secretariat to ensure efficient working, Gupta laughed at the initiative describing it nothing but eyewash. “Do you think politicians and bureaucrats really bother about the common man?” he asked.
Had it been so, the Chief Minister would have led by example conducting open darbar in Jammu as well, like the way he did in Srinagar soon after the darbar offices shifted there, he resented.
In the past two days, this correspondent tried to contact the PDD chief engineer and made at least 30 calls on her phone, but the official didn’t respond.
Meanwhile, acting upon Omar Abdullah’s instructions Ali Mohammmed Sagar, who holds the portfolio of Rural Development, Panchayats, Justice and Parliament Affairs also, will attend the Jammu summer secretariat for a week from June 6.
On Monday, he reviewed the functioning of various departments associated with delivery and regulation of basic services, besides pace of progress on developmental works across the region at a high-level meeting.
Pawan Kotwal, divisional commissioner, Jammu; Dilbagh Singh, IGP Jammu; Ajay Khajuria, director agriculture; Shehnaz Goni, Chief Engineer PDD; Vinod Sharma, VC JDA; Basant Rath, SSP Jammu; Vinod Luthra, SE PHE; PK Puri, SE PDD; and divisional-level officers of various departments attended the meeting.
The minister reviewed the functioning of the government departments with special reference to PHE, Irrigation, Jammu Municipal Corporation, PDD, CAPD, Traffic, Transport, UEED, JDA and Rural Development Department.

Baglihar Project

Second phase of Baglihar project a non-starter

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service
Jammu, June 6
People in electricity-starved Jammu and Kashmir may have to wait for at least four years for the completion of the second phase of the 900-MW Baglihar hydroelectric project over the Chenab in Chanderkote.
The first phase having three turbines of 150-MW each started in 1999 and was commissioned in 2008.
Managing Director of the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation Shalin Kabra said: “The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) gave us the techno-economic clearance in December last year and now negotiations are on with contractors.”
“In the second phase, an additional power house of 450-MW capacity will be constructed close to the existing one while the dam will be common,” he added.
Kabra said, “The CEA has carried out a detailed appraisal covering all aspects of the second phase, including possible objections by Pakistan under the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, but we do not anticipate any problem because we will be constructing only an additional power house.”
The managing director said, “Since the dam is going to be the same for the second phase, there are no changes in its design and there will be no attempt to change the course of the river, we do not think that Pakistan will have any objections to it.”
Kabra said the requisite spadework was being done. However, one of the executing agencies, which claimed that it had been given the contract of constructing the power house and allied works, including tunnels in 2004, awaited consent from the state government,he added.
“Since January, we are waiting for a nod from the state government and once we get it, it may take at least four years for us to come up with the underground power house and allied works,” said an official of the Jai Prakash Industries.
“Pakistan’s objections at the time of the first phase of the project pertained to the height of the dam for which it had approached the World Bank, which, in turn, appointed a neutral adjudicator, Prof Raymond Lafitte. Acting upon his report, we reduced the height of the dam,” he added.
In December 2006, Pakistan had recommended to Lafitte that the height of the dam should be decreased to 143 metre from the present 145 metre. India subsequently accepted the recommendation and implemented it in 2007.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had already given his approval for starting the second phase.

Newborn makes security forces nervous
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service
Jammu, June 4
A baby boy’s birth in remote and mountainous Doda district has sent the security forces, including the police and intelligence agencies, into a tizzy. Reason: The father of the newborn is a top militant of the Hizbul Mujahideen, who has been active for the past 11 years.
Official sources said the dreaded militant involved in murders also carried a reward of Rs 2.50 lakh on his head. Besides, three companies of the Army, one company of the CRPF and eight police pickets of the Doda police were on the hunt of this elusive terrorist, who was allegedly involved in 14 murder cases, they added.
While officials of various counter-insurgency forces and intelligence agencies are tight-lipped over the development, hospital records accessed by The Tribune stated that Shazia Bano, wife of Waseem Ahmed, a resident of Marmat, delivered a baby boy at the District Hospital, Doda, last evening.
A hospital official, who wished anonymity, said, “Shazia Bano, who was brought by her relatives, gave birth to a baby boy in the hospital labour room around 6 pm yesterday. She had a normal delivery and around 3 am this morning both mother and baby were discharged from the hospital”.
Her husband had not come to the hospital for obvious reasons because he had been underground, he said. The sources also stated that after Shazia gave birth to her second child last night, Waseem talked to her on a mobile phone, telling her not to talk to mediapersons, who had gathered on the hospital premises.
SP, Doda, Moahmmed Arif Reshu confirmed to The Tribune that Waseem was a wanted terrorist and his wife, Shazia Bano, gave birth to their second son. However, he refused to say anything further citing his busy schedule because of the ongoing panchayat poll.
The sources said, active for the past 11 years, Waseem was allegedly involved in 14 murder cases, including those of surrendered militants, security personnel and civilians. “It sounds interesting that a listed militant, badly wanted by the security forces, fathered his second child and it points towards the efficacy of intelligence agencies,” they added.
However, a senior police officer tried to downplay the development saying, “We all know that militants meet their wives and girlfriends on the upper reaches and jungles. In some cases in the past we had caught hold of such women from their hideouts”. This woman also might have met her husband in the jungle, he added.
Confirming the birth of Waseem’s second son, a local source from Doda told this correspondent over the phone that the militant now wanted to surrender so as to return to the national mainstream and start afresh as a law-abiding citizen.

Missing Merchant Navy Officer

Govt writes to Australian, Singapore embassies





Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service
Ramgarh, June 1
“Pappa Jaldi Ghar Aa Jao (Daddy, come home soon)”. Oblivious of the gravity of situation, three-year-old Simarpreet Kour had this message for her father, a young Sikh merchant navy officer, who has been reported missing from his tanker vessel off Australian coast since May 27.
While Simarpreet is too small to understand the unpleasant development, the state government’s has dashed off two letters to the embassies of Australia and Singapore, besides taking up the matter with the UPA government, renewing the hopes of the Sikh family in this border village. Vikram had joined the company just a year ago.
“Vikram Singh (30), second officer in the Japanese merchant navy company, Mitsui Osk Lines, had left the Fremantle Port in Australia on May 24 for Singapore, but on May 27 at 11 am (IST) we received a call from his company office in Mumbai informing us about the incident,” Chanan Singh Toor, Vikram’s father-in-law told The Tribune.
“Subsequently, on May 28 another official from the company’s Mumbai office, Captain Rajeev, came to meet us. It seemed they all parroted almost same answers to our questions. We were not at all satisfied with their replies,” said Toor.
“Even on the day when Vikram left Australia for Singapore, he had spoken to us, including his wife, on the phone before the signal snapped. In fact, his vessel had been almost 300 km into the sea from the Fremantle Port, but well within the coastal boundaries of Australia,” Toor added.
Vikram’s father-in-law said two days ago, the aggrieved family had faxed a letter to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and had also talked to his political adviser DS Rana.
“The state government has now written two letters to the embassies of Australia and Singapore, while Congress MPs Lal Singh and Madan Lal Sharma have also taken up the matter with the right authorities in New Delhi. It seems that the Chief Minister is serious about the case,” Toor said.
Industries Minister SS Salathia, former MP TS Bajwa and former minister Manjeet Singh have already visited the family and assured it of all possible help.
Toor has also written a letter to Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.
Meanwhile, the wife of the young Sikh officer has urged the Central and state governments for help.
“I strongly feel that something terribly wrong has happened to my husband on the ship. So, I demand that the entire crew be arrested and interrogated. By now they must have destroyed all clues and evidences,” she said before breaking down. “A God fearing man, my husband never had enmity with anyone,” she added.

Prime Minister's Jammu Visit

On CVC, buck stops with me: PM

Says all parties should have a vested interest to ensure that peace prevails in the Valley

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria & Archit Watts
Tribune News Service
Jammu, March 4

Facing criticism from the Opposition over choosing PJ Thomas as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today accepted his “responsibility over the issue”.
“I accept my responsibility,” he said while responding to media queries here this evening before flying back to New Delhi. He was on a one-day visit to the state.
MANMOHAN SPEAK
On CVC PJ ThomasThe highest court of the land (SC) has announced the verdict and I accept my responsibility…
Arbitrary arrestsIt (arbitrary arrests of Kashmiri youths) is not consistent with civilized norms…
Hostile separatistsI have not given up hope (on separatists joining the dialogue process)
Rangarajan panel report…deals with unemployment and the panel has made certain recommendations exploring the possibilities of jobs to nearly 1.5 lakh unemployed youths in the state
Ties with PakistanOur subcontinent will not realise its full development potential unless relations between India and Pakistan are normalised
Notably, the apex court had in its verdict termed Thomas’ appointment — the Prime Minister was part of the three-member panel that made the selection — to the CVC’s post as illegal.
Asked whether or not he was misled on the appointment, the Prime Minister said he respected the Supreme Court’s judgment invalidating his (Thomas’) appointment. “I have already said that I respect the Supreme Court judgment. The highest court of the land has announced the verdict and I accept my responsibility… I think it is our responsibility to ensure that such things don’t happen in future,” he said.
On the possibility of “summer unrest” in Kashmir vis-à-vis confidence-building measures initiated by the government, Manmohan Singh said all parties should try to ensure that peace and tranquility prevails in the Valley.
But, he pointed out, arbitrary arrests (of Kashmiri youths) should not take place. “It is not consistent with civilized norms… We have already asked the government to talk to all shades of opinion and take requisite measures to avoid any unrest this summer.”
In this context, Manmohan Singh also referred to a visit to the state by the all-party delegation last year and the efforts being put in by the interlocutors’ team to facilitate dialogue with all sections of the society.
On Rangarajan panel’s recommendations, he said many of them had already been implemented, which, in turn, had shown constructive results on the ground. The latest report “deals with unemployment and the panel has made certain recommendations exploring the possibilities of jobs to nearly 1.5 lakh unemployed youths in the state”, he said.
Regarding separatists who have so far refused to hold talks with the interlocutors, besides boycotting Round Table Conference in the past, the Prime Minister hoped that Hurriyat Conference would become part of the initiative to resolve the Kashmir crisis. “I have not given up hope.”
About the demands for rollback of laws like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Disturbed Areas Act, he said if law and order situation improved then he saw no reason to keep them in vogue. “The Army also will be happy to perform its primary task.”
Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister addressed the third convocation of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu. There, he said India wanted to resolve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, with Pakistan. “Our subcontinent will not realize its full development potential unless relations between India and Pakistan are normalised.”
But despite all problems, he said, India had decided to resume the dialogue process. “We will enter into talks with an open mind. We wish to resolve all outstanding issues between the two countries through friendly dialogue and constructive negotiations. And this includes the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.”
The Prime Minister said that India was willing to discuss all the issues that have a bearing on the peace, dignity and well being of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He, however, also seized the opportunity to remind Islamabad about the Mumbai terror attack. “We can not forget what happened in Mumbai. I urge the Government of Pakistan to leave no stone unturned to bring to book perpetrators of the heinous crime… It (action against extremist groups) would be in the interest of Pakistan, subcontinent and the world at large.”
Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra, Chancellor of SKUAST-J, urged various stakeholders to give an impetus to agriculture sector in the state. “About 72 per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture and allied activities but the yield is far below the national average. In brief, we have stagnation in the agriculture sector… We need to introduce high-yield varieties, better cooperative societies, credit system and modern farming techniques,” he said.

Siachen Glacier

Keeping troops at Siachen India’s strategic compulsion

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service
Jammu, June 5

It is the Karakoram highway between Gilgit-Baltistan and China that compels India to keep her forces at Siachen Glacier, the highest battlefield of the world in sub-zero temperature, where it has to spend nearly one million dollars a day to maintain its forces.
While New Delhi and Islamabad have failed to agree on the modalities for the demilitarisation of Siachen at the 12th Defence Secretary-level talks, it is Karakoram Pass, which has forced India to station its troops at Siachen, said defence sources.
“Some parts of Karakoram Pass, which connects Gilgit-Baltistan with China, is under our dominance. To put it more precisely, since we are sitting at a considerable height, some portions of it (Karakoram highway) is well within our range, and if we withdraw from the present position in Siachen, the entire advantage will be squandered away to Pakistan and China,” the sources said.
What China and Pakistan can do to us in the long run could be anybody’s guess, they said, adding that Pakistan would waste no time in capturing the strategic heights.
“Though India insists upon the actual ground position line (AGPL) and wants Pakistan to authenticate it on a map along which the troops are at present deployed, the latter wants us to withdraw to the positions that existed in 1984,” said the sources.
The AGPL is not clearly marked beyond NJ-9842, just short of Siachen Glacier, thereby triggering the dispute between the two nuclear countries. “Siachen has always remained strategically important for us and the growing proximity between China and Pakistan, via Karakoram Pass, has altogether made Siachen indispensable for us,” a source in the Defence Ministry told The Tribune.
While both countries at the end of the 12th Defence Secretary-level talks agreed to carry on the ongoing process, the matter of the fact is that we could not afford to lose the advantage, said the source.
In the last talks both countries had exchanged “non-papers” unofficially presenting their respective views to each other and this time around Pakistan, while describing Beijing as a party to the issue, wanted to involve China in the resolution of the Siachen issue, but India rejected it.
“With Pakistan in all sorts of problems because of home-grown terrorism, we have to be very careful before agreeing on something vis-à-vis Siachen. Chinese troops have already been sighted across the Line of Control, while Chinese companies, in tandem with Pakistan, are exploiting the vast natural resources of scarcely populated Gilgit-Baltistan. And going by the past experiences in Siachen, India must approach the matter very cautiously,” said the source.