Day: November 5, 2012

Jammu, Nov.5 (ANI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday condemned the fresh threats issued to the village headmen in the Kashmir Valley as the civil secretariat and other offices reopened in the state’s winter capital, Jammu, amid tight security. In a recent interview, the banned militant outfit United Jihad Council (UJC) supremo Syed Salahuddin issued fresh threats to village headmen and asked the provincial government to clear their stand on the security issues.
Commenting over the threat to the village heads, Abdullah said: “The previous attacks, nothing has changed what I have said. In term of what Syed Salahuddin has said regarding the Panchayati Raj institutions, unfortunately his own tune is changing. If I remember correctly after the first few phases of elections, he was the one who said that there would be no threats made to panches (Village Council Heads) and sarpanches (Village Head) and this election can go ahead without any sort of threat. I don’t know why he has suddenly jumped on this bandwagon of issuing threats. As far as we are concerned we are geared up to deal with any eventuality. From time to time we are doing necessary threat assessments and wherever any steps need to be taken they will be taken.”
The militants shot dead a deputy village headman in Baramulla district on Sunday late in the evening. According to media reports, militants fired two gunshots at Muhammad Shafi, deputy headman of Kreeri village, after evening prayers.
Armed security personnel immediately rushed to the spot and registered a case of murder. Over 700 village council members have tendered their resignation, under threat from militants. The state government has already decided not to incorporate the 73rd amendment of Indian Constitution Panchayati Raj (village council) Act. Abdullah also said that state has a unique distinction of having their own constitution in the state.
“As far as the 73rd amendment is concerned there is no flip flop. The coalition government has been very clear that the 73rd amendment will not be brought into J&K. What we have been very clear on also is that we have the unique distinction of having our own constitution in the state. Why should we incorporate central constitutional changes when we can make our own constitutional changes here and amend our own Panchayati Raj Act,” said Abdullah stated.
Opposition parties called for an amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act to incorporate the provisions of the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution, including elected chairman for District Development Boards as part of the three-tier panchayat system.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/omar-abdullah-condemns-fresh-threats-issued-to-village-headmen/

New Delhi, Nov 5 (ANI): Aiming to be the first state in the country to provide ‘pucca’ houses to all its citizens, the Sikkim Government has launched a Rs 211.20 crore ‘social housing’ project namely “Chief Minister’s Rural Housing Mission”(CMRHM).
Under the project, housing will be provided to around 30, 000 people residing in ‘kutcha’ houses as on January 1, 2011 from economically weaker sections   to  fulfill      the realisation of their dream of  living in a  decent house.
“The state government has launched Rs 211.20 crore rupees cost ambitious social housing project under which   around 6000  poor household dwellers living  in  kutcha houses in the state  will get a  single storey earthquake resistant new pucca house free of cost  by the year 2013  to   permanently address the issue of homelessness among the poor in the state,”  said C.C.Wangdi, project director of the mission .
So far, the State Government has invested Rs 125 crore in the project under the State Plan and Rs 70 crore has been earmarked in this financial year.
“The administration has completed construction work on 1,137 houses, while work on 3,029 houses will be completed by December next,” Wangdi said.
All these 6000 katcha house  dwellers were identified  through a rigorous  baseline survey conducted by Gram Sabhas using transparent  criteria followed  by multiple level of superivision and cross checks  by   the Rural Management and Development Department. This scheme is one of the initiatives undertaken by the State Chief Minister Pawan Chamling under the “Mission Poverty Free Sikkim” which was launched to raise the social and economic status of weaker section of society living below poverty line in the state.
The housing project is  being  implemented in convergence with centrally sponsored schemes like Indira Awaas Yojana, Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) for electrification, National Rural Drinking Water Program (NRDWP) for water supply and MG-NREGA for land development and protection work around the house sites.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/sikkim-to-be-first-state-to-provide-pucca-houses-to-all-citizens/

Mail News Service
New Delhi, Nov 5 :  The Loan and Project Agreements for World Bank (IBRD) assistance of US$ 320 million for Assam State Roads Project were signed between Government of India and the Government of Assam respectively and the World Bank in New Delhi today.
The Loan Agreement was signed by Shri Prabodh Saxena (Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs) on behalf of Government of India and Mr. Onno Ruhl, Country Director, World Bank (India) on behalf of the World Bank. The Project Agreement was signed by Shri Mohan Chandra Boro, Commissioner & Special Secretary, Public Works Road Department on behalf of the Government of Assam.
The Objective of the project is to enhance the road connectivity in Assam by assisting the Public Works Road Department to improve and effectively manage its road network.
Project Component: The project will have three components:
Road Improvement: This component will support improvement of priority sections of secondary roads in Assam to improve state connectivity and facilitate regional integration. Road Sector Modernization and Performance: This component will support the implementation of Assam’s Road Sector Modernization Program
Road Safety Management: This component will strengthen safety management capacity of related agencies in Assam through developing and implementing a multi-sector road safety strategy. The IBRD loan has a variable spread over LIBOR and is a US $ denominated loan. The project will be implemented over a period of six years.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/india-signs-agreements-with-world-bank-for-us-320-million-aid-for-assam-state-roads-project/

MNS:- The Defence Minister Shri AK Antony today asked the top brass of Indian Air Force to complete all pending Court of Inquiry (CoI) proceedings into air accidents as early as possible and take appropriate remedial measures so that the possibility of future accidents are minimized. Addressing a meeting of the Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry here he said even one accident is a matter of serious concern.
Shri Antony said a Joint Committee comprising representatives of Ministry of Defence, Indian Air Force, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., DRDO and DG AQA has been constituted to monitor the implementation of the recommendations of the Court of Inquiry specially for Category-I aircraft accidents. Category-I accidents are those in which the aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economical repair, or is missing or the cost of repair, excluding damage to aero-engines exceeds 50% of the total cost.
Shri Antony said a one-time inspection of all helicopter detachments was carried out in view of the fact that an unusually high number of accidents and incidents on helicopters occur, when they are operating away from their parent base. These inspections resulted in highlighting several shortcomings. Action is being taken on these shortcomings on a priority basis.
Another area of focus, he said, is the training standards of young fighter aircrew. The deficiencies in training are rectified by a review of training patterns, enhancement of availability of training aircraft and strengthening of training procedures. The basic flying training task was shifted from HPT-32 to Kiran aircraft. To make up for the deficiencies of training resources, the availability of Kiran aircraft is being enhanced to strengthen the foundation training of ab-initio pilots. Maximum availability of simulators is ensured during training. Procurement of 75 Basic Trainer Aircraft has been fast-tracked and the first training course on the new trainer aircraft ‘Pilatus’ will commence in July 2013. Shri Antony said Plans to phase out equipment approaching redundancy are also in place and certain critical procurements have been fast-tracked. Non-upgraded MiG-27 and MiG-21 are being phased out progressively by March 2016 and March 2018 respectively.
Cutting across party lines, the Members of Parliament complimented Indian Air Force for progressively bringing down Cat-I accident rates over the past thirty years. However, they cautioned IAF not to sit on laurels and take further measures in air safety to match the global standards.
Responding to a query on the shortage of spare parts for the aging aircraft fleet of Indian Air Force, Shri Antony said earlier the acquisition of aircraft and replenishment of spare parts used to be dealt with by separate contracts. He said in the new contracts we are taking corrective measures and product support is built into the process of acquisition of new aircraft.
The Members of Parliament also urged the Government to accelerate the process of modernization of airports and air fields in various parts of the country because such a measure will not only improve air safety but will also spur economic growth of the regions.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/antony-asks-air-force-for-early-completion-of-courts-of-inquiry-on-air-crashes/