Amit Halder

Port Blair, Aug 08: While more than 500 villagers attended the Gram Sabha meeting of Chouldhari Panchayat on Sunday, senior officials from key government department abstained from participation in the crucial meeting held to resolve various issues of the region.

While some departments completely remained absent from the Gram Sabha, some agencies deputed representatives for mere formality as none of them could respond to public queries posed during the meeting.

The Pradhan of Chouldhari Panchayat, Mr Mohan Halder has expressed deep resentment over the absence of the government officers during the Gram Sabha meeting.

Speaking to Andaman Sheekha, Mr Halder said that though advance notices about the Gram Sabha meeting was served to all senior officers of various government departments, absence from the meeting testifies their apathy towards the genuine concerns of general public particularly those from the rural areas.

“The Lt. Governor should intervene and issue standing instructions to Heads of all government departments to ensure presence at all Gram Sabha meetings,” Mr. Halder told Andaman Sheekha.

This is not the first time such thing has happened in any Panchayat. Earlier in many occasions Andaman Sheekha had reported about Gram Sabha meetings in which Government officials failed to participate. This only show how lightly the Administration is taking, all crucial Gram Sabha Meetings.

Port Blair, Aug 5: The maiden Dornier flight service by Indian Air Force carrying 10 passengers, bound to Car Nicobar and Campbell Bay took off from Inter-Island Helicopter Terminal here this morning. The much needed service between Port Blair-Car Nicobar & Campbell Bay has become a reality due to the concerted efforts of Central Govt, the Lt. Governor and the A&N Administration. The service was jointly flagged off by the Lt. Governor, A & N Islands, Lt. Gen. A.K. Singh (Retd.) and the Chief Secretary, A & N Administration, Shri Anindo Majumdar at a brief function held at the Terminal. The Lt Governor interacted with the passengers bound to the southern group of Islands and conveyed his regards to the people of the area. He also handed over the boarding passes to the passengers on the occasion.

The Civil Aviation Department greeted the passengers of the inaugural flight with flowers and also offered refreshments before their embarkation. The Dornier 228 aircraft is a state-of-the-art, twin engine turbo-prop aircraft, which can cruise at a speed of 200 kts. The aircraft is fitted with all modern avionics and is widely used for executive transport by the Indian Air Force. The A&N Administration has launched this service to augment the air-transport capacity to Nicobar District. With the launch of this facility, the people of southern group of Islands have been largely benefited. Some of the passengers at the Terminal, while speaking to ‘The Daily Telegrams’, expressed their satisfaction over the starting of the Dornier flight service. Shri Sanjay Singh, Vice President BJP and a resident of Campbell Bay said, with the efforts of Central Govt., the Lt Governor and the A&N Administration, this service has been possible and the demand of fixed wing aircraft service for Nicobar District has been fulfilled.

The Dy. Director, Civil Aviation, Shri Ravichandran informed that the services of this flight will be available twice a week, on every Monday and Friday. As per the schedule, the IAF Dornier will depart from Port Blair at 8 am and reach Car Nicobar at 9 am. From Car Nicobar it will depart at 9.45 am and will reach Campbell Bay at 10.45 am. On its return flight, the aircraft will depart from Campbell Bay at 11.30 am and reach Car Nicobar at 12.30 pm. Again from Car Nicobar it will depart at 1.15 pm and will reach Port Blair at 2.15 pm.

The aircraft will carry 10 passengers and each passenger will be allowed to carry a maximum of 10 kg registered baggage free of cost. Procedure for reservation of tickets will be as under:-

Port Blair – The passengers will be required to submit their applications to the Assistant Secretary (GA), A&N Administration, Secretariat, Port Blair at least 02 days in advance for reservation of tickets. The passengers’ list from the General Administration section is to reach Directorate of Civil Aviation by 11.00 AM on a day prior to scheduled departure of each flight for issuances of tickets.

Car Nicobar – The passengers will be required to submit their application at the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Nicobar for reservation of tickets.

Campbell Bay – The passengers will be required to submit their application at the Office of the Assistant Commissioner, Campbell Bay for reservation of tickets.

Port Blair, Aug 04: The Lt Governor, Lt Gen A K Singh (Retd), has directed the Shipping department to immediately deploy ships to transport sufficient amount of diesel to ensure that uninterrupted generation of power supply is maintained in North & Middle Andaman. Accordingly, the Shipping department is dispatching two ships namely M. T. Angad and M. V. Badam carrying sufficient amount of diesel to Rangat and Diglipur in the evening today.

It may be recalled that due to landslide in Jirkatang area of the Andaman Trunk Road route recently, operation of normal IOC trucks in this route has got delayed. APWD has taken up the road repair work on an emergency basis.

Port Blair, Aug 1: An Agri Store named ‘Vatika’, (Flavours of Andaman), has come up adjacent to Sagarika Emporium at Middle Point. The Lt. Governor, Lt Gen AK Singh (Retd.) inaugurated the store during a function held here this morning. The Chief Secretary, A&N Administration, Shri Anindo Majumdar, Secretary Agriculture, Smt. R. Maneka, GM NABARD, Shri Songadkar were also present on the occasion besides Ward Councillor, Officers of the Administration and progressive farmers from different parts of the Islands. The Lt. Governor along with other dignitaries lit the traditional oil lamp marking the inauguration of the store.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, the Lt. Governor, while complimenting the Secretary Industries and Secretary Agriculture for their endeavour in setting up the ‘Vatika’, said, this store will be a forum from where value added products of Govt. farms will be available. Mentioning that farmers should also be given participation in this store, the Lt. Governor said ‘Vatika’ should act as an agent through which farmers can sell their products in bulk. The Lt. Governor also stated that the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has launched several schemes for the welfare of the farmers and called for taking this benefits to the farmers in these Isles too. “Administration is striving towards working for the betterment of our farmers”, said the Lt. Governor. Appreciating the progressive farmers who have adopted modern techniques in farming, the Lt. Governor urged for taking up organic farming in the Islands in a big way for the betterment of our future generations. “The Agriculture Department will help farmers in taking up organic farming in the Islands. Organic farming has been implemented in Neil Island and it will be implemented in Diglipur followed by Hut Bay soon”, said the Lt. Governor. He also stated that the Administration should be able to create ‘Brand Andaman’ within a couple of years. As these Islands produce good honey, in order to make further progress in the production of honey here, the Departments of Industries and Agriculture are taking measures to provide adequate training to our farmers on production of honey, said the Lt. Governor also urging NABARD to join in this endeavour of the Administration.
The Lt. Governor also briefly spoke about various achievements of A&N Administration in sectors like Health, Education, Civil Aviation and Shipping in the last few years. “With the guidance of the Prime Minister and the Central Govt., the A&N Administration is fully determined to move forward”, he said. The Lt. Governor also informed about the upcoming Law College, Nursing College in the Islands, considering the future requirement of the Islands and the Islanders. He also informed about the setting up of Cancer Centre and Trauma Care Centre in (2016-17) and a Health Care Centre next year. The Lt. Governor also urged the Chief Secretary to ensure that citizens, including the rural people, are taken to see the Medical College of A&N Islands.
He also mentioned that as compared to the earlier 20, now about 200 youth of these Islands are being recruited in Indian Army annually and assured that our candidates will be provided with proper training to face such recruitment examinations.
Turning to Civil Aviation, the Lt. Governor mentioned that with night landing facilities in place, more Airlines are showing interest in providing services to A&N Islands. He also stated that a bigger aircraft of Air India will start operating in these Islands in place of the withdrawn smaller CRJ flight. In the meantime Indian Air Force Dornier Aircraft are being deployed in the Port Blair- Car Nicobar-Campbell Bay sector to ease the situation. The Lt. Governor also called upon one and all to work with positive attitude and synergy of efforts to ensure that developmental works are carried forward in these Islands and sought the support of the people of the Islands in taking up the welfare project ahead. The Lt. Governor also unveiled the plaque, cut the ribbon of the outlet and inspected it along with the others dignitaries on the occasion.
Ms. Chellamal, a lady farmer from Rangachang, presented a flower bouquet to the Lt Governor which was prepared from the flowers grown at her own farm.
In his address on the occasion, the Chief Secretary A&N Administration, Shri Anindo Majumdar expressed his happiness over the inauguration of an important outlet of the Agriculture Department through which value added produce will be sold. He said people visiting these Islands will be able to purchase value added produce while the Agriculture farm and the farmers can also earn from it. The Chief Secretary thanked the Lt Governor for his initiative and motivation for opening this all important Agri-outlet. The Chief Secretary said that he was happy to note that the double cropping system has been augmented in these Islands in recent years. He urged the Agriculture Department to propagate rain harvesting system in these Islands in a greater way. He further stated that drip irrigation system also needs to be propagated so that water is optimally utilised while quality seeds must also be distributed to farmers for better yield.
In her welcome address, the Secretary Agriculture, Smt. R. Maneka said it’s an important day as Agri Store named ‘Vatika’, (Flavours of Andaman) has become functional, through which value added produce of these Islands will be sold. She also informed about various new schemes of the Central Govt. which have been introduced and implemented in these Islands to double the income of the farmers. She said that seeds and fertilisers are being distributed to farmers while they are also being provided adequate trainings under the schemes of ATMA. She said that food processing is being given due importance as it helps increase the shelf- life of the agri produce. She also thanked the Industries Department for providing space and the APWD for timely completing the outlet for its inauguration.

Sarthak Kanjilal
Port Blair, July 31: A man namely Mr Mukunda Roy S/o Ananto Roy resident of Chouldari is missing after being taken by a crocodile during fishing at the sea shore area of Loha Baraik this morning at around 10:00 am.
As per reports, the man with two of his friends namely Prasanjit Mondal and Radha Kando Malakar went for fishing this morning at around 09:00am.
It is learnt that they have thrown a net in the shoulder deep water in the sea shore of Loha Baraik to trap some fishes and after an hour Mukunda Roy went to check the net when he was dragged by a 6 feet long Crocodile, it is learnt.
After the incident, both the friends of Mukunda Roy immediately reported the matter to the police after which a team of Police and Forest reached the spot and started the search of the missing Mukunda Roy with the help of a PMF Boat and a Dinghy.
The Police and the Forest department took the support of the friends of Mukunda Roy and the villagers for searching him in the sea but till now they have not been successful. As per sources, wife of Mukunda Roy is pregnant and the couple was expecting a baby in 2-3 days.

Sarthak Kanjilal
Port Blair, July 29: In a very interesting development, in the entire story of Indian Air Force’s AN-32 aircraft, which went missing on 22 July 2016, the family members of one of the Air Force Jawan today claimed that the mobile phone of the missing Jawan is still active.
According to family member of Airman Raghubir Verma of Indian Air Force, one of the mobile phones of Raghubir is still active. Raghubir reportedly has two SIM Cards, out of which the AIRTEL SIM Card Number is still active.
The family members claim that Mother of Raghubir Verma was first to try the Airtel mobile number of Raghubir, which rang but no one picked up. Later the mobile number was in switched off mode.
According to the family, they did not take this matter seriously when mother reported about this incident to others.
But when on 28, July the family tried the number again to their utter joy, it ranged twice first at 1.30 pm and at night 9.00 pm.
Again on 29 July, today, the mobile rang twice 11.50 am and 7.50 pm.
“In some occasions, someone picked the call and said hello but after that it went blank and most of the time the phone is in switched off mode,” said the father of Raghubir Verma, Mr. Lucky Chand, who strongly believes that his son will come back safe.
The family also claimed that the matter has been communicated to two officers of Indian Air Force but they did not get back with any further details.
Not only this when cousins of Raghubir Verma checked the IMO social media app, they found that the app is showing that Raghubir Verma was last active and seen at 7.57 am on 26 July, 2016.
When Contacted the Public Relations Officer of Andaman Nicobar Command, Lt. Col Yogesh Sharma said that “there is no lead in this matter yet. We will let you know about it tomorrow.”

Sarthak Kanjilal
Port Blair, July 27: The selection process of Mazdoors in the Forest Department triggered a massive protest in front of the Secretariat this morning.
Hundreds of unemployed candidates gathered in front of the Chatham Saw Mill this morning and marched upto Secretariat, shouting slogans against the Forest Department for alleged manipulation in Mazdoor Selection process.
As per the unemployed candidates many candidates who have been selected by the department performed horribly bad in physical and trade tests just because of large scale manipulation is involved in the selection process of Mazdoors in the Forest Department.
Later a delegation met the Chief Secretary of Andaman & Nicobar Administration who reportedly heard the grievances of youths and reportedly assured them that an inquiry will be conducted in the said selection process and till then the selection process will be held up.