ANDAMAN SHEEKHA

The True Mirror of A & N Islands

NGOs may selectively release more Jarawa Videos to sensationalize ATR issue: Police

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Port Blair, Feb 06: The Andaman and Nicobar Police today said that there are possibilities that some foreign NGOs may be in possession of some more old video footages of Jarawa and may selectively release them for sensationalising of Andaman Trunk Road issue.

“They may selectively release these videos with the ulterior aim of putting pressure for closure of Andaman Trunk road, the lifeline of more than one lakh people inhabiting in North and Middle Andaman,” SBS Tyagi the Superintendent of Police of South Andaman District informed media.

The Andaman Trunk Road, connects Port Blair city with North and Middle Andaman and the road cut through the Jarawa Reserve Forests in two areas, which many Jarawa Right Groups find ‘dangerous’ for Jarawa Tribes.

“There is a concerted effort by certain interests to pressurise the Govt. of India for the closure of the Andaman Trunk Road without fully appreciating the inherent issues,” the SP said.

The statement came from the side of Andaman and Nicobar police after Observer, a London based newspaper, published details of two new videos of alleged ‘Human Safari’ in Andamans.

“Administration has already stated that irrespective of the vintage of the video footage of Jarawa tribes taken by some unscrupulous and mischievous elements is highly deplorable and a condemnable act. The Administration has also warned the tour operators to desist from promoting the Jarawa Tourism on their websites and any violations of Jarawa Policy will be strictly dealt with. A committee had already been put in place by the Govt. of India to formulate a comprehensive policy to address the Jarawa tribal issues with the ATR angle,” the SP Said.

He said that the administration had already informed that it has left no stone unturned to protect the interests of the Jarawas and other vulnerable tribes.

“Since then, two persons have already been arrested in the earlier case and the investigation is in progress. Irrespective of the rank and service of the government officials involved or found colluding, the administration is committed to identify and take stringent action against them,” the SP said.

The 330 Kms -long Andaman Trunk Road serves a vital communication link of North and Middle Andamans and of its settlements; 56 kms of this road passes through the Jarawa Reserve.

“This Administration has progressively restricted the number of convoys passing through this reserve and have ensured that these convoys are properly escorted by the police to minimise contact with the Jarawas, who otherwise freely move within their Reserve areas and even beyond,” Tyagi added.

In 2011, for the first time, actual number of Jarawa population has gone up by 40% in the last ten years from 240 in 2000 to 383 in 2011. There are 141 children below 10 years, and 99 in the age group of 11 to 20 years.

“The Administration has carefully addressed over 1500 medical requirements of Jarawas, as and when sought by themselves, with exclusive wards dedicated to them in the Hospital and Primary Health Centres. The present policy of their protection and preservation is being implemented strictly,” the SP added.

Besides Jarawas, there are five more vulnerable tribes living in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, out of which the largest tribe of Nicobarese, numbering around 30,000, have already joined the mainstream and are doing extremely well in all walks of life.

Food Processing Training by UNNATI

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Port Blair, Jan 06: UNNATI is organizing food processing training programme in association with Industries, Agriculture, ITI, A&N State Co-operative Union, PRIs, Self Help Group Union promoted by UNNATI and NABARD with the support of ENI-INDIA LTD / ONGC at Hutbay and R.K.Pur of Little Andaman from 08-02-2012 onwards on Fish, Prawn, Crab, Mango Pickles and Coconut based products for which raw materials are easily available locally.

About 80 trainees will be participated in the training programme including Nicobar tribal candidates who would be trained in batches by Mr. Neeraj Sharma, Food Technologist, Mr. Sarfraz Qadir, Graduate in Hotel Management and Mr. Venkata Kiran, Trained in food processing.

After training the trainees would be extended after support / escort service in trial production, availing loan, preparation of project to lease with various departments for resolving their various problems relating to food processing and assistance in setting up production units.

World Wetland Day 2012 observed

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Port Blair, Feb 02 : The GREENO ECO CLUB OF GOVERNMENT SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL, SABARI, MIDDLE ANDAMAN observed “WORLD WETLANDS DAY 2012” ON 2ND February 2012.The theme for this year is “ Wetlands and Tourism ”.Various programmes were conducted to observe the day in a meaningful manner.
Smt Pushpa Kumari Amma, Principal, GSSS Sabari released a special poster designed by the school Eco Club at a small function held at the school premises. She motivated green cadets by her enlighting words and appealed to the students for taking every effort to protect Mother Nature .The poster highlights the importance of wetlands in our eco system. Some eco friendly tips were also included in the poster for creating awareness amoung the students and the general public of the locality. The posters were displayed at prominent places of Rangat bazaar and Sabari by the green cadets accompanied by Shri Bency Joy, Shri Suman Halder and Shri Mahender Pal. The Greenos interacted with the public sensitizing them about the importance of the day and also appealed them to stop using polybags which is still in use at Rangat.
Shri Bency Joy, Eco club, Incharge highlighted the importance of celebrating the day and appealed to students for sensitizing their friends and community people towards conserving the wet lands. A quiz competition was organized in between four teams of the school. Abinav Kr Singh,Animesh Dutta and Abhishek from Eagle House were declared as the winners while Vishal Mistry, Altaf Hussan and Rohit Kr Sil from Heron House were declared as the runner ups. Similarly in slogan writing competition R S Divya VI B, G Vinod Kumar XI B and S Solaymmal X A bagged the first three positions.
A wall magazine was also made by the students of the school depicting the role of wetlands in our eco system. Congratulating the students, Principal of the school Smt Pushpa Kumari Amma highlighted on the importance of the observance of the day and also the efforts done by the club to create environmental awareness amoung the school children and local community.

 

U.S. CONSULATE GENERAL CHENNAI TO AWARD $50,000 GRANT TO ORIENTAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

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U.S. Consul General Jennifer McIntyre will award a U.S. Government grant of $50,000 to the Oriental Research Institute (ORI), Mysore on January 31, 2012.

The grant will be used for the renovation and acquisition of suitable storage furniture for the ORI’s priceless collection of palm leaf manuscripts. The ORI will consult with The Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Bangalore Chapter on the renovation work. INTACH is a national level NGO dedicated to the conservation and preservation of ‘India’s natural, cultural, living, tangible and intangible’ heritage.

This is the first visit of Ms. McIntyre to Mysore after arriving in Chennai in August 2011. Ms. McIntyre’s prior foreign assignments include tours as Vice Consul and General Services Officer in Baku, Azerbaijan; as Vice Consul and Management Officer in Adana, Turkey; as Management Officer in Phnom Penh, Cambodia; as Deputy Chief of Mission in Asmara, Eritrea; and most recently as Deputy Management Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan.

CFO NALLAH BAILEY BRIDGE: DISASTER IN WAITING

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N & M Correspondent
CFO Nallah, Middle Andaman, Jan 30: The condition of Bailey Bridge of CFO Nallah, Middle Andaman has deteriorated to such an extend that at any point of time the rusted steel plates of the bridge will tear apart killing dozens of people, crossing the bridge in heavy vehicles.

When Andaman Sheekha team visited the spot, it was found that giant Steel Plates, which forms the top surface of the bridge has developed cracks and multiple cavities. Photographs taken by Andaman Sheekha Correspondent show that the Steel Plate surface of the bridge has become so weak that movement of heavy vehicles on the bridge may result in a disaster anytime.

The CFO Nallah Bailey Bridge is believed to be very crucial for North and Middle Andaman’s Economy as the Swadesh Nagar Bridge is already unfit for heavy vehicles, most of the heavy trucks and often passengers buses use CFO Nallah, Bailey Bridge to reach North and Middle Andaman.

The creek below the bridge, which is known as CFO nallah is believed to be infested with man-eater crocodiles.

“In past many people have been killed by crocodiles in CFO nallah. In case of a bus or truck accident because of the weak Bailey Bridge, people on the vehicles will become a food for the crocodiles, even if they survive the accident,” said a villager of the area.

Villagers alleged that for several months there were efforts from the side of APWD to hide this fact. “The APWD kept gunny bags full of sand and dust on these clearly visible cavities of the steel plates to cover up the issue,” alleged the villager.

When Andaman Sheekha contacted the Executive Engineer of Mayabunder APWD regarding the maintenance of the bridge the answer was short and ‘truly bureaucratic’.

“We have published tender notice for the maintenance of the CFO nallah bridge. Now you know it will take some time but I assure that the repair works will begin soon,” Mr. Murthy the Executive Engineer of APWD Mayabunder told Andaman Sheekha today over phone.

Dr. Purbi Roy urges government to probe into Netaji’s death

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Port Blair, Jan 30: Dr. Purabi Roy, a Russian scholar and a retired Professor of Jadavpur University, doing research to unravel the mystery behind the disappearance of Netaji Subhash Chadra Bose after the 1945 Taihoku air crash said, the Government of India must investigate the matter in tune with the findings of Mukherjee Commission report. Speaking to media persons today in the conference hall of MP Bhawan, she elaborated on her findings about Netaji’s death.

Dr. Roy disclosed that the book titled ‘The Search for Netaji – New Findings’ written by her aims at understanding one of the pervading puzzles of Independent India – what happened to Netaji. She said the book contains the original papers unearthed from several archives the world over – from the British archives, the national archives ofIndiaand from various Russian achieves.

Dr. Roy also stated that the Andaman Branch of Netaji Bhabana Manch has been formed with Dr. Debnath, a physician by profession, as President. The manch organised a month long programme since its formation in the islands onDec. 30, 2011. The manch is a non-political organisation working on the basis of research work, she said.

Former Lt. Governor, Lt Gen (Retd) Ranjit Singh Dyal Passes away

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Port Blair, Jan 30: Former Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lt. Gen (Retd.) breathed his last at the Command Hospital at Panchkula yesterday evening. A highly decorated officer, General Dayal had been suffering from prostrate cancer, detected a few years ago. He was admitted to the hospital a few days back for terminal care after his condition deteriorated.

Meanwhile, Lt Gen (Retd) Bhopinder Singh, PVSM, AVSM, the Lt. Governor, Andaman and Nicobar Islands in a message to Smt. R.S. Dyal has conveyed on behalf of the people their heart-felt condolences to the bereaved family on the passing away of Lt Gen (Retd) Ranjit Singh Dyal, PVSM, MVC, former Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. We pray to God to rest his soul in everlasting peace and may Almighty God bless the family with courage and fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.

Lt Gen Dyal had served as Administrator of these islands from 25 Feb 1990 to 18 March 1993. Born in village Tukar Bodhni in Kurukshetra district of Haryana, he graduated in 1942 and joined the Indian Army in Punjab Regiment (Para) and was subsequently appointed as Colonel of the Rajput Regiment. He was actively involved in 1965 Indo-Pak War and was awarded Maha Vir Chakra, the second highest bravery award for displaying outstanding leadership and courage in the best tradition of the Indian Army. The Gen was a legend and captured Hajipir Pass in 1965 War. His loss will continue to be felt by all including the Indian Army.

Sarva Shiksha Contract Teachers demand continuation of contract

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Port Blair, Jan 30: A delegation of Sarva Shiksha Contract Teachers’ Association today met the Secretary of Education and discussed various issues of Sarva Shiksha Contract Teachers and placed various demands like social security measures for SSCT, Continuity in the service, regularisation of services and age relaxation and preference in recruitment.

The delegation told the Secretary of Education that Sarva Shikha Contract Teachers are leading their life in total uncertainty as there is no guarantee of their continued service even after completing services ranging from 9 years to two years.

“The Department is resorting to interview, etc. every year for recruitment of these teachers and in the process some of them go out of the race.

We have urged the Secretary of Education to allow all the Sarva Shiksha Contract Teachers to continue in service till the completion of the project and to do away with the practice of conducting recruitment process for SSC teachers every year,” Prem Kumar the General Secretary of SSCTA told Andaman Sheekha today.

The delegation also informed the secretary that the salary fixed for these Sarva Shiksha Contract Teachers three years back is insufficient even to meet the basic needs of one person. Many of these teachers have the responsibility to look after their family and the meagre amount which they get at present is insufficient. The prices of food items and other living standard is increasing in these islands. While the permanent employees and even the daily rated employees are getting periodical increase in their wages, the Sarva Shiksha Contract Teachers are not getting any increase in their salary.

The delegation urged the Secretary to take immediate steps to enhance the existing wages of the above category of teachers considering the high cost of living and increasing prices in the islands.

The secretary of Education reportedly gave a patient hearing and assured the delegation to take necessary steps.