Media
protests, walks-out from Upper
House
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan
30: Entire
media sitting in the Press
Gallery of the Upper House of the
J&K Legislature today staged
walk-out as a mark of protest on
the remarks of a very senior
legislator, P. Namgyal during
‘Question Hour’.
An
outburst from the ‘senior
parliamentarian’
representing Congress Party from
Ladakh region, abruptly came when
the Chairman, Ghulam Nabi Lone
was ‘ably’ conducting
the smooth business in the House
of elders. As soon as the NC
members were forcibly dragged out
of the House on the directions of
the Chairman for restoring order
in the Council, Mr Namgyal stood
up and said that National
Conference members have created a
mess here. It has now become
their routine to create unruly
scenes and uproar in the House
causing disruption in the normal
proceedings. They should be
thrown out.
Mr
Namgyal further alleged that
media was also projecting their
‘drama’ and providing
wider publicity to them,
prominently on front page of the
newspapers. Even some
unparlimentary words and acts
were also going into the media. A
direction should go to the media
from the ‘chair’ not to
highlight such scenes and
unwanted happenings in the House,
because, it gives encouragement
to the Opposition members and
they resort to such acts more
vigorously."
Earlier,
another Congress member from
Mendhar, Lal Mohd Sabir said that
media was bias and projecting
only the protests and
‘acts’ of NC members.
He said the NC was wasting
precious time of the House. They
have been indulging in
‘Goondagardi’ and they
should be thrown out of the
House. "We will not keep mum
and tolerate their goondagardi
any more. If no direction came
from Chairman Saheb, we will
throw them out."
As
no response or intervention came
from the ‘Chair’
regarding outburst of the two
senior Members against media, the
entire members of the Fourth
Estate walked out of the Press
Gallery silently to lodge their
protest. Later, Dy Chairman of
the Legislative Council Arvinder
Singh came out to intervene and
expressed regret on behalf of
members.
It
was conveyed to the Dy Chairman
that Media was free to write in
the general interest of the
public as per Constitution.
Members of this House have no
domain or the constitutional
authority to restrict it from
performing its duty or right to
gag its voice. If a direction
comes from the "Chair"
to expunge some unparliamentary
words, the Media persons will
honour it. Mr Singh assured the
media that Members will apologise
for the remarks. It was also
brought to his notice that Press
was not getting cooperation from
the Council Secretariat as gate
leading to canteen was not opened
despite requests to the Chairman.
Moreover, drinking water and
toilet facilities were not
available for the members of
Press gallery.
Misappropriation of
timber worth Rs 1 cr
SVO
books SFC officials, contractor
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 30: State
Vigilance Organisation (SVO) has
booked officials of the State
Forest Corporation (SFC) and a
contractor for alleged
misappropriation of timber worth
Rs one crore.
An
official spokesman said that on
the basis of an enquiry which
revealed misappropriation of
timber in the Compartment
No.40/Neeru, Bhaderwah by the
officials of SFC in league with a
contractor during the period
2003-05, the SVO registered the
instant case.
The
enquiry revealed that in
April-May, 2003 Arshad Mughal,
then DM SFC, Parvez Tassaduq
Malik, then Deputy Manager and
Sukhraj Padha, Supervisor entered
into criminal conspiracy with SFC
contractor Shafqat Hussain Sheikh
to fraudulently and dishonestly
misappropriate 22,434 cft timber
by abusing their official
position and manipulating the
records.
During
verification, it came to fore
that during the period 1999-2002,
Shafqat Hussain, Contractor was
allotted the work of extraction
and transportation of timber
measuring 1,51,000 cft in
Compartment No.40/Neeru.
Out
of this timber, the contractor
extracted 1,08,477.97 cft timber
and dispatched 85,491 cft timber
to the Sale Depot at Jammu. A
total of 552 cft timber was found
existing at the loading point
Thanthera, Bhaderwah. The
remaining extracted timber
measuring 22,434 cft was
dishonestly misappropriated by
the accused public servants in
league with the accused
contractor.
To
cover the misappropriation of
timber, the accused public
servants resorted to manipulation
of the records showing therein
that the timber had reached the
loading point at Thanthera,
Bhaderwah. They also managed the
filing of an application by the
contractor alleging therein that
the misappropriated timber had
come under the debris during road
widening and could not be
transported to the sale depot at
Jammu.
Arshad
Mughal, DM on the basis of
manipulated records prepared by
then Deputy Manager Parvez
Tassaduq Malik and Sukhraj Padha,
then Supervisor even released the
payment on account of extraction
and transportation despite being
aware of the fact that part of
the consignment had not reached
the destination.
The
enquiry also revealed that Latif
Sheikh, then DM SFC also joined
the conspiracy and by abusing his
official position released full
payment by squaring up the
accounts of the beneficiary
contractor. He was also found to
have fraudulently and dishonestly
allowed excess payments on the
"Sharah Mandi
Variation" of 2,579 cft
timber to the contractor Shafqat
Hussain conferring upon him
further benefit to which he was
not entitled to.
In
this manner, the accused public
servants while resorting to the
illegal acts conferred undue
benefit of above Rs one crore
upon the accused contractor and
themselves resulting into
corresponding loss to the State
exchequer.
XEn PHE (Mech)
re-employed; engineers oppose
decision
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 30: Government
today accorded sanction to the
re-employment of A J Fotedar,
Executive Engineer PHE (Mech)
Division North Jammu for a period
of six months or till the
completion of Sitlee Project
Phase-I and Phase-II.
The
re-employment will take effect
from February 1, 2008—after
superannuation of the officer.
Meanwhile,
All J&K Mechanical
Engineering Graduates
Association, in a meeting held
here today, condemned the
Government order according
sanction to the re-employment of
Mr Fotedar.
Demanding
immediate cancellation of the
order, the Association said that
the decision was against the
statements of the Chief Minister
that extension/re-employment in
service will not be allowed
keeping in view the huge
stagnation and unemployment in
engineering cadre.
All
J&K Graduate Engineers
Associations Joint Action
Committee also condemned the
order and demanded its immediate
cancellation. The Committee said
that order will demoralize
thousands of inservice engineers
awaiting promotions.
The
Committee warned to start
state-wide protests and bandh if
the order was not cancelled by
the Government immediately.
Use of force on
employees leads to demonstrations
Excelsior
Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Jan 30: Scores
of protest demonstrations were
held by State Government
emplo-yees from Kashmir division
today against the police for
using power on their counterparts
protesting in Jammu. The
emplo-yees threatened complete
lock out of all the Government
offices if their demands were not
met within a specified time
frame.
Protest
demonstrations were held at
various places including
Directorate of Food and Supplies,
Municipal Corporation office and
Irrigation subdivision at
Safakadal. The employees termed
the today’s police action
against the employees at Jammu as
an act of "state
terrorism". They demanded
action against the police
personnel responsible for use of
excessive force against their co
fellows.
Addressing
the employees at Municipal
Corporation headquarter near
Karannagar, the vice president of
Employees Joint Action Committee
(EJAC), Fayyaz Ahmed Shabnum
asked the Government to desist
from using ruthless tactics
against its workers.
He
demanded immediate release of the
employees leaders detained in
Jammu during the protest.
"The employees want to
cooperate with the Government in
smooth functioning of its work.
But the bureaucracy is hell bent
to foment trouble and destabilize
the work culture as advocated by
the Chief Minister", he
said.
EJAC
chief organizer Far-ooq Ahmed
Khan while slamming the
bureaucracy said the officialdom
was taking an undue advantage of
the emp-loyees patience. The
employees won’t be terrified
by the ruthlessness of the
Government and would continue to
seek settling of their long
pending demands by peaceful
means.
He
revealed that EJAC would hold a
meeting of its executive
committee tomorrow and will
deliberate upon the state wide
lock out of the government
offices.
Meanwhile,
the State Road Transport
Corporation employees today
started a one hour token strike
to press the Government for
release of the pending salaries
of employees. The symbolic strike
shall continue unless the
Government decides the fate of
thousands of SRTC employees who
are in the utmost miserable
condition, the president of the
SRTC Coordination Union Noor
Mohammed said.
3 employees of
Govt Woolen Mills chargesheeted
Excelsior
Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Jan 30: Three
employees of Government Woo-len
Mills Bemina have been
charge-sheeted by the Crime
Branch for the misappropriation
of the cloth worth lakhs of
rupees from the mill.
According
to Senior Superintendent of
Police Crime Branch, three
employees of Government Woolen
Mills Bemina, Ghulam Nabi Paul,
son of Mohammad Sultan of Narkara
Budgam, Fayaz Ahmad Bhat, son of
Ghulam Nabi Bhat of Payeen
Chattabal and Fayaz Ahmad Shah
son of Ali Mohammad of Umer Heer
Bachpora have been found
misappropriating the material of
the Mills by different means.
On
the investigation of a case,
Crime Branch Kashmir found these
employees responsible for
discrepancies, like movement of
material through fake invoice
numbers and from finishing stores
to excise paid godowns through
illegal channels.
According
to the SSP, some of the cost of
the misappropriated cloth has
been recovered from the three
employees during the
investigations.
Crime
Branch has presented three
separate charge sheets before the
Court of Judge Small Causes
Srinagar against these three
accused persons.
CBI unearths one
more loan scam, presents
charge-sheet
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 30: Central
Bureau of Investigation unearthed
one more loan scam of Central
Bank of India whereby the then
Branch Manager sanctioned Rs 9
lakh to a non-existing company
and presented charge-sheet
against the accused in the Court
of Special Judge Anti-Corruption
Jammu.
According
to the CBI investigation, Tarsem
Singh, Proprietor of Surya Mirror
Industry applied for OD limit of
Rs 9 lakh under Sent Trade Scheme
which was sanctioned by then
Manager, Central Bank of India.
The
borrower has submitted the
provisional registration
certificate issued by District
Industry Centre (DIC) dated
September 16, 2002. Though no
where it is shown that the
certificate is issued for SSI
unit yet it is established that
Surya Industry is an SSI unit as
DIC issues registration
certificate only for the SSI
units.
As
per the circular of the bank, the
industry being an SSI unit was
not entitled for loan under Sent
Trade Scheme. By sanctioning
disbursing loan to an SSI unit,
the then Manager has violated the
provisions of Circular 142 dated
November 2, 2001 and Circular No
130 dated October 3, 2002 issued
by Head Officer of Central Bank
of India.
Vijay
Gupta, the then Senior Manager
and S S Sharma, Assistant Manager
of Central Bank of India, Talab
Tillo Branch Jammu had carried
out post inspection of this unit
on January 24, 2006 and as per
their post-sanction inspection
report, they have mentioned
"no shop- no business".
This clearly shows that the
borrower Tarsem Singh was not
carrying out any business but
despite this the Branch Manager
sanctioned the OD limit.
After
completion of the investigation,
the chargesheet was presented in
the Court of Special Judge
Anticorruption Jammu.
The
Special Judge Anticorruption
Kartar Singh directed Tarsem
Singh to furnish a bail bond to
the tune of Rs 20,000 and
personal bond to the like amount,
which were furnished by the
accused.
Governor, CM pay
glowing tributes to Father of the
Nation
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 30: People of
the State today joined the
millions of countrymen in paying
homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his
60th death anniversary, observed
as the Martyrs’ Day and
resolved to carry forward his
message of peace, truth and
non-violence.
A
solemn function, the biggest held
in the State, was organized at
Mubarak Mandi where Governor, Lt.
Gen. (Retd) S. K. Sinha and Chief
Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad led
thousands of men, women and
children in paying floral
tributes to the Father of the
Nation. School children attired
in Gandhian dress sang bhajans
and spoke about the
Mahatma’s philosophy.
Among
others, Padam Bhushan Balraj
Puri, Minister for Higher
Education, Gulchain Singh Charak,
Minister of State for Social
Welfare, G. M. Saroori,
legislators, R. S. Chib and
Jahangir Mir, Mayor, Jammu
Municipal Corporation, Narinder
Singh, Divisional Commissioner,
Jammu, Sudhanshu Pandey,
President, All India Gandhian
Workers’ Society, J&K,
S. P. Verma and prominent
Gandhians were present.
In
his address, Governor paid
glowing tributes to Mahatma
Gandhi and said that in India
with its ancient history dating
back to several thousand years,
he was only the second
personality after Mahatma Buddha
whose message and popularity had
transcended the boundaries of the
country and earned him
appreciation around the globe.
Gen
Sinha said that in death, the
Mahatma gave political stability
and communal harmony to the
country.
The
Governor said that Mahatma Gandhi
was today respected and revered
by the international community
with the United Nations observing
his birthday as the International
Non-Violence Day. He said nothing
could be a greater tribute to him
than this. He said in following
the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi
several world leaders like Martin
Luther King of USA, Nelson
Mandela of South Africa and Khan
Abdul Gaffar Khan, also known as
Frontier Gandhi, of Pakistan had
immortalized themselves.
In
his address, the Chief Minister,
Ghulam Nabi Azad said that
Gandhiji not only led the freedom
struggle of the country but his
teachings also enthused freedom
movements of several countries
lurking under the foreign yoke.
He said Gandhiji became an
inspiration for people fighting
for peace and truth around the
world. His philosophy and message
draws appreciation across the
globe even today, he added.
Mr.
Azad said that Gandhiji’s
message that violence was to be
fought with non-violence had
shown the way to the people of
J&K. He said it was now
established that violence takes
us nowhere. He said the decrease
in violence in the State was a
direct tribute to the teachings
of this great man. He said the
unprecedented participation of
people in Republic Day
celebrations throughout the State
few days back was an indication
that violence had been defeated.
The
Chief Minister underscored the
need for the new generation to
know Gandhiji and his philosophy.
He said the Government had
started State wide debate
competitions for students of
schools and colleges on truth and
non-violence that evoked imme-nse
response last year.
The
Chief Minister also received the
prestigious Mah-atma Gandhi
Service Award for his outstanding
contribution towards popularizing
Gandhiji’s message of truth
and non-violence and service to
the people.
The
award was presented to him by
Governor, Lt. Gen. (Retd) S. K.
Sinha on the occasion.
The
award given on behalf of Dr.
Nirmala Deshpande, President,
Akhil Bharat Rachnatmak Samaj and
millions of Gandhian followers of
the country, recognizes Mr.
Azad’s contribution in the
service to the people of the
country, particularly the State
and propagating the message of
Mahatma Gandhi.
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