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First treatise on history DEHRA DUN, May 15: An extremely comprehensive document on the history of forest management in Jammu and Kashmir has been published.....more Cong
used insurgents GUWAHATI, May 15: Outgoing Assam Chief Minister P K Mahanta today charged the Congress with "using insurgent activists in their favour" to win.....more
Rajasthan
seeks more JAIPUR, May 15: Rajasthan has said central assistance for the massive drought relief works undertaken by the state was "not enough" and sought......more Harshad
Mehta moves NEW DELHI, May 15: Leading stockbroker Harshad Mehta today moved the Delhi High Court challenging framing.....more |
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Ousted CBEC Chairman, NEW DELHI, May 15: A Delhi court today released on bail ousted Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) Chairman B P Verma after furnishing........more UP
Govt rejects LUCKNOW, May 15: The Uttar Pradesh Government today rejected the opposition demand for fresh delimitation of Assembly seats in the state to.....more 9
women GUWAHATI, May 15: Only nine women representives have been elected to the State Legislative Assembly in Assam, a mere 7.5 per cent ....more
Venkaiah
for national HYDERABAD, May 15: Union Minister for Rural Development M Venkaiah Naidu today called for a national debate on "a new and odd situation" that ......more |
First treatise on history of Kashmir’s forests brought out DEHRA DUN, May 15: An extremely comprehensive document on the history of forest management in Jammu and Kashmir has been published recently in the Doon Valley. Titled "Forests of Kashmir-a vision for the future," the book was written by Dr. M.A. Kawosa when the Jammu and Kashmir State Committee on Forest Policy asked him to prepare a draft forest policy. Dr. Kawosa is the Chief Conservator of Forests in Jammu and Kashmir. The work, published here by the Green Book Shop, describes the history and genesis of the national and state forest policies and reconstructs a policy framework for the future. In his foreword to the book, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah writes "we are committed to preserve important ecosystems for posterity. It is up to us that we either leave a living planet for our children or a world bereft of natural resources." The major challenge, says Dr Kawosa, facing Jammu and Kashmir in the 21st century is to cater for the need of its people for clean water. "As the conditions in our forests stand today, we may all live to experience the agonies of a deforested state," writes Dr Kawosa sounding a warning bell for several other states including Uttaranchal which is undergoing rapid deforestation. In the preface to the book, State Minister for Forests Peerzada G A Shah says that the state’s new forest policy would be prepared by a team of senior forest officers and deliberated upon by a committee of members of both houses of the state legislature before approval by the State Cabinet. In the early nineties, he says, the state did formulate a policy but it could not take proper shape and was issued in the piecemeal form of a few Government orders. The forests in Jammu and Kashmir, says Kawosa, which cover an area of 2.02 million hectares, are "forests in name only" with most of them being barren and degraded. Almost the entire pine forests in Jammu have been tapped to death in the last 50 years. ‘Today we have forest cover of about 17 per cent as against the recommended forest cover of 66 per cent in the hill areas,’ the author says. In a span of 50 years, he says, Kashmir has seen five lakh hectares of dense forests reduced to barren degraded hills, thousands of hectares of forest land cleared and transferred to non-forestry uses. About 2.32 lakh trees, each 150 years old, are "massacred annually" without let up "to meet daily needs of firewood and timber, he says. Black snow in Kashmir Valley, acid rains in Jammu and the reddening of Dal’s waters in the early nineties are all results of this, says Dr Kawosa. The main solution to the problem of deforestation basically lies in separating the rural population from its dependency on natural forests, the author stresses. This can be done through massive investment for the creation of alternative sources of energy and employment. "Such ventures will now have to be launched and executed through people’s participation on the basis of common shared benefits, with the support of the government and direct investments from individuals and institutions," the book recommends. An exquisite picture of the Dal lake against the backdrop of forests at sunset on the book’s cover evokes nostalgia for the Kashmir of the past. For the days when environmental concern prevented the Sufi saint, Sheikh Noor-ud-Din from setting foot on the tranquility of the serene catchment of the Dal Lake, as he did not want to enter paradise before the life-hereafter. (UNI) |
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Cong used insurgents to win polls: Mahanta GUWAHATI, May 15: Outgoing Assam Chief Minister P K Mahanta today charged the Congress with "using insurgent activists in their favour" to win the Assembly elections in the state. Addressing a press conference here, Mahanta alleged that "in several constituencies the AGP workers and supporters were threatened and warned not to report about such threats". The AGP president also accused the Congress of "violating the Election Commission’s code of conduct and using money power to win the election." Referring to the apprehensions made by Congress before the hustings that the AGP would indulge in rigging, Mahanta said "the recent trends of results have shown that the truth lies elsewhere." Mahanta criticised a section of the media for "spreading canard" against the AGP which harmed its prospects. Acknowleding that the performance of his party and its ally BJP was not up to the expectations, the Chief Minister said, "normally an anti-incumbency factor plays a major role in the subsequent election." He said "the people have high expectations and it is impossible to meet the demand of all except in cases of committed loyalty to a party. Many in the hope of fulfillment of their aspirations shift their loyalty." The AGP president said that in democracy it was not important which party is voted to power. "The AGP does not like to involve itself in politics only for power. This party has an avowed objective of serving the people of Assam and wants to work for safety, security and protection of the state and its people", he said. It was the political decision which can translate the programme of action for development of a state and help achieve its people’s aspirations to a considerable extent, he said. "The party in power is to make a congenial atmosphere of peace free from terror and fear psychosis for attainment of unity, cohesion and prosperity," the AGP president stressed. The AGP and its allies would extend constructive cooperation to the Government in the interest of all round development of the state, Mahanta said. (PTI) |
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Rajasthan seeks more central assistance for drought relief JAIPUR, May 15: Rajasthan has said central assistance for the massive drought relief works undertaken by the state was "not enough" and sought additional funds. "We are seeking more funds for Rajasthan. The central assistance for the relief work is not enough. We had sought Rs 2367 crore, but got only Rs 85 crore", Gehlot told reporters here yesterday. Although the state was sanctioned Rs 50 crore from the PM relief fund and it also got Rs 40 crore from the central relief fund, it was not sufficient, he said. On the relief works in the state, Gehlot said the traditional sources of water, like wells, were being revived besides building more wells and providing water storage facilities in the affected districts. He said in Bhilwara district alone 1,000 wells have been revived. Lauding initiatives by the local community in assisting relief works, Gehlot said "under Rajiv Gandhi Payjal Yojna, people from the affected villages were helping in digging wells, for which they get paid". On the water dispute between Rajasthan and Haryana, the Chief Minister said the issue would be solved soon as his Haryana counterpart had assured him of full cooperation. State Relief Secretary Ram Lubhaya said all the districts, except Dhaulpur, were badly affected due to the drought for the third year in succession. The Government, he said, was bringing fodder from the nearby states as the crops had damaged due to drought, adding rabi crop worth Rs 1,848 crore was damaged this year. Lubhaya said the Government was also providing employment to 14 lakh drought-affected people in the current year. Special measures for prevention of epidemics, malnutrition, and health care at the relief sites have been taken up and free medicines were being distributed to below poverty line families, he said. (PTI) |
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9 women representatives in Dispur GUWAHATI, May 15: Only nine women representives have been elected to the State Legislative Assembly in Assam, a mere 7.5 per cent of the total 126 legislators. However records show women’s participation in this electoral battle was the highest in the state since independence. Altogether 55 female candidates were in the fray this time against 35 in the 1996 Assembly polls. About 68 lakh female voters were eligible to cast ballot out of an estimated 14 million electorate in Assam. Besides, major political parties were heard making a lot of Hullabaloo regarding giving party tickets to female aspirants. In the last elections, Congress fielded 16, the AGP five, the NCP three and the ABSU two women contestants, while the CPI, the CPI(M) and the Asom Gana Sangram Parishad fielded one each. The rest fought as independents. However, except five candidates from the Congress and two from ABSU, other female aspirants who contested under specific political banners were not elected. In addition to this, two independent candidates had also won. ABSU candidate Promilla Rani Brahma won by the highest margin of over 76,000 votes in the Kokrajhar (E) constituency. Mrs Brahma broke the record of Pabindra Naryan Deka, made in 1985 Assembly elections. One of the prominent women who was won former Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia’s wife Dr Hemaprova Saikia. She defeated her nearest CPI rival Seniram Borgohain by over 36,000 votes in the Nazira constituency. According to results declared, other winners are Ms Junjunali Barua from Marigaon, Ms Roopam Kurmi from Mariani, Ms Ajanta Neog from Golaghat, Sarifa Begum from Rupahihat, Ms Pranati Phukan from Naharkatia and Ms Uttara Kalita from Kamalpur (all from Congress). Besides Ms Pramila Rani Brahma, another woman backed by ABSU is Kamali Basumatari, who won from Panery constituency. Prominent losers are Deputy Speaker Renupama Rajkhowa, who was defeated by Congress candidate membar Gogoi in Teok, former Chief Minister Anuara Taimur (Congress) in Dolgaon, Ms Alaka Desai Sarma (AGP) in Nalabari and Social Welfare Minister Rekharani Das Boro (AGP) in Boroma. There was a lot of controversy about the political parties fielding less number of women candidates. However, voters elected two more women candidates to the assembly this time against last time’s seven. (UNI) |
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Venkaiah for national debate on Jayalalitha becoming CM HYDERABAD, May 15: Union Minister for Rural Development M Venkaiah Naidu today called for a national debate on "a new and odd situation" that has arisen out of Tamil Nadu Governor M Fathima Beevi inviting Ms J Jayalalitha to form the Government despite a bar on the AIADMK leader to contest the elections. Addressing a press conference here, he said that the constitutional review committee also should look into this aspect since "our forefathers did not foresee such a situation." "I do not intend to cast any aspersions on the tamil nadu governor in inviting Ms Jayalalitha to form a Government. I am only ventilating my views on the peculiar situation," the BJP leader observed. He asserted that the election results of the five states would not have any impact on the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre. The NDA was directly involved in the elections, but its constituents fought the polls on purely local issues, he added. Mr Naidu ridiculed the Congress demand for the resignation of the NDA Government on the plea that the just-concluded elections were a referendum against the Union Government. Mr Naidu claimed that the BJP "in fact fared well" in the recent elections which had fetched the party 13 seats as against what was eight altogether in the five states hitherto. Accepting the people’s mandate, the BJP leader, however, said his party was expecting to put up a better show. He sought to downplay the UDF victory in Kerala, saying that its main constituent, the Congress, domped home in alliance with as many as seven parties. The BJP leader said that the party office-bearers would meet at Mussorie on May 20 and 21 to review the results of the recent elections and take stock of the situation. Mr Naidu informed that the Prime Minister A B Vajpayee called an all-party meeting on May 19 to discuss the 87th constitution amendment bill regarding the panchayat raj set-up. "I, as a minister, had written to all Chief Ministers to give their opinions on the issue. All have responded, barring the Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand." These opinions would be discusssed at the meet, the minister added. (UNI) |
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