NGO to plant one crore seeds along Maharashtra highway

Mumbai: One crore seeds of various trees will be planted during a three-day drive along a 350 km stretch of National Highway No.3 (Agra-Mumbai) between Maharashtra's Thane and Dhule districts, an NGO said Sunday, reports Times of India

Thane-based Hariyali's "Maha Beejaropan Abhiyan" is intended at increasing the green cover in the rural parts of the state, the NGO's chief Punam Sangavi said Sunday.

Starting June 25 from Thane, the drive will go through Shahapur, Kasara, Igatpuri, Nashik, Chandwad, and Malegaon to end in Dhule, he said, adding it would witness the participation of around 10,000 people including local students.

Singavi also mentioned how the NGO has involved the Varkaris (devotees who walk to the holy town of Pandharpur to worship Vithoba, a form of Lord Krishna) in the seed planting drive since a few years.

"We spoke to the head of the Varkari community and told them it would really help even if one devotee plants 10 seeds every day. They agreed and we have been providing them with the seeds since then," he said.

Medicinal Ornamental/Fruit Plants can be obtained from:-

Jammu and Kashmir Medicinal Plants Introduction Centre-JKMPIC

home: http://jkmpic.blogspot.com

e-mail: cikashmir@gmail.com

Ph: 09858986794

Contact person: Sheikh GULZAAR

Syed Ali Shah Gilani's nexus between Hurriyat and Lashkar's Abu Furqaan

S. Asif/Mohammad Shafi

Srinagar, Nov 27: The Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, SM Sahai, today said that 60 odd Government employees were arrested among the total 135 identified who took part in the recent protests.

“Some seven employees were detained under PSA,” Sahai said. He said that police had sent recommendations about them to their respective departments. “We hope that disciplinary action will be taken against them," Sahai said while addressing a press conference at Police Control Room here.

He said timber smugglers and criminals had also taken advantage of the recent unrest as police was focused on maintaining the law and order. He said the six months of unrest were not spontaneous but were masterminded by Lashker-e-Toiba militant outfit.

“The investigations reveal that agitation was increasingly a thoughtful plan carried out by Lashkar,” Sahai said. “We have exposed a module in Batamaloo area involved in the incidents of lobbying grenades. Its members were also notorious stone throwers.”

The IG said 18 grenades were recovered from the possession of four youth. During the course of investigation, he said the detained youth revealed that the module was formed by one Sajad Ahmad alias Shamas, a Lashker militant located in Thanamandi area of Rajouri district.

Similarly, he said there is nexus between Hurriyat and Lashkar. “Recently we arrested Tehsil saddar of  Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Rohama, Ghulam Muhammad Tantray of  Syed Ali Shah Gilanai  who is a resident of Behrampora Rafiabad,” IG said. “His telephonic conversation with Lashkar commander Abu Furqaan reveals that he was linked to the outfit. Both of them stayed together for a day and mooted plans to increase and organize the agitation. So it shows how there are links between militants and separatists.” Furqaan was also involved in killing of top Sr. leader  Sheikh Aziz.

Sahai said as the stone pelting has receded, the militant activity has increased. “They want to keep the cycle going,” he said.

Sahai said Pakistani establishment has still kept intact militant training infrastructure on their soil. Sahai said that revelations made by detained Lashkar militant Saleem Rehmani indicate the role of Pakistani agencies in aiding militancy in the Valley.

Rehmani alias Abu Saad, police said, was arrested recently by police from Panzan area in Budgam district.

KPSS condemns attack on Mirwaiz

SRINAGAR, Nov 25:  Kashmiri Pandit Sangarash Samiti (KPSS) has condemned the act committed by some right wing Hindu groups in Chandhigarh under the KP banner to widen the gap between Kashmiri communities, reports GKNN.

In a statement Sanjay K Tickoo, president of KPSS, said the role of UT government and the organizers should also be put under scanner who allowed the people to instigate the situation that can lead to more damage in Kashmir Valley.
 

“In 2008, during Shri Amarnath land row, when so called Indian mechanism failed to protect the rights and lives of minorities in the Valley from the un-scrupulous elements, it was Syed Ali Shah Geelani, , Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Sheikh Abdul Aziz, Shabir ahmad Shah and other Hurriyat leaders who provided sigh of relief to the minorities living in Kashmir by showing concern and sending their cadre to protect the minorities whenever needed,” he said.

Whatever the political or religious ideologies Syed Ali Shah Geelani or Mirwaiz and other pro freedom leaders belong to, they always extended the helping hand to the minorities in the hour of need,” he added.

Iran will start production of fuel for Tehran reactor in summer 2011

TEHRAN, Nov 25:  The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has announced that it will start the production of the nuclear fuel needed for the Tehran research reactor by the end of summer 2011, reports Tehran Times.

“The artificial sample of the fuel was produced earlier, and the production of the real fuel, enriched up to 20 percent, will start in (the Iranian calendar month of) Shahrivar (August 23-September 22, 2011),” IAEO Director Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters on Tuesday.

“Production of the 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel in Iran is a firm response to the West,” Salehi added.

He went on to say that the Islamic Republic currently possesses a large site for the production of nuclear fuel enriched to 20 percent (Writer-South Asia)

Elsewhere in his remarks, he said Iran plans to produce an anti-cancer medicine.

He also said that the IAEO will announce the country’s latest nuclear achievements in two or three weeks, after Iran’s planned meeting with the 5+1 group (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany).

The IAEO director rejected rumors started by certain Western media outlets claiming that technical problems have made Iran halt its uranium enrichment program.

“On its progressive path in the nuclear issue, Iran will never pay attention to the lies of the Western media,” he added.

The Westerners disclosed the Stuxnet computer virus attack in July after they failed to achieve their hostile goals, Salehi said.

In July, media reports claimed that Stuxnet had affected industrial computers around the globe, with Iran being the main target of the attack, particularly the country’s first nuclear power plant, which is located in Bushehr.