Plea to destroy militants’ camps
SHIMLA, Sept 29 — India should not hesitate to strike at militants camps in Pakistan as the ever-hostile country would step up a proxy war in Kashmir after its humiliating defeat in Kargil, according to Lt-Gen Y.M. Bammi (retired), a visiting scholar at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study.

Lift project dropped
SHIMLA, Sept 29 — The Shimla Municipal Corporation has decided to drop the project to construct a lift from Revoli bus stand to the Ridge.

HP to give priority to roads
From Our Correspondent

CHAMBA, Sept 29 — The Himachal Pradesh Government has given top priority to the construction of roads in the state with a view to promoting tourism as well as to mitigate the difficulties of the people of the state residing in tough and far-flung corners of the state.

This was assured by the Chief Secretary, Mr A.K. Goswami while talking about the problems and proposals put up by the local residents at the local Circuit House yesterday. The Chief Secretary was also accompanied by senior officers of the state government.

The Chief Secretary said there was a vast potential of tourism available in the district and the state government was keen to exploit the potential. He said the government had plans for the improvement of spots which had scenic beauty and exploration of new landscapes in the Chamba alpine region to attract more tourists.

The Chief Secretary said the trekking huts needed development for the promotion of trekking and mountaineering activities. He said the work on the link roads in the beautiful Bharmour valley was under progress, which included Kugti and Utrala roads.

He said the government would pay attention to the promotion of water sports aero-sports in the district to beckon tourists and visitors.

The Chief Secretary said the state government was aware of the problems of the people of Chamba and assured them that the government would try to pursue. He said 40 per cent people of the district were living below the poverty line which was the highest in the state.

Later the Chief Secretary presided over a meeting of the district officers here at Bachat Bhavan and asked them to accelerate the pace of development.

KANGRA: Mr A.K. Goswami on Tuesday announced that the Himachal Pradesh Government had decided to revive the Kangra School of Painting by opening training schools under the aegis of the Department of Art Culture and Languages at Dharamsala and Shimla in order to impart training to new artists.

Mr Goswami was speaking on the concluding function of a two-day workshop on Kangra paintings at Dharamsala museum organised by the Department of the Art Culture and Languages. He urged the young artists of Pahari paintings to save the valuable heritage of the region. He assured that the government would take all efforts to provide ample marketing opportunities for Kangra paintings. He added that the state government had also decided to establish a state-level award for the pahari artists in the state.

Earlier welcoming the chief guest, Mr Shamsher Singh, Financial Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Language Art and Tourism) said the government would make earnest efforts to preserve, disseminate the traditional paintings.

Three art critics presented papers at the seminar and 10 pahari artists participated. The Secretary, Education, Mr Bala Krishana, the Divisional Commissioner, Mr Lal Ji, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr B.K. Agrawal and the Director Art Culture and Languages, besides the Secretary, Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education, Dr Sunil Choudary.

Plea to destroy militants’ camps
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Sept 29 — India should not hesitate to strike at militants camps in Pakistan as the ever-hostile country would step up a proxy war in Kashmir after its humiliating defeat in Kargil, according to Lt-Gen Y.M. Bammi (retired), a visiting scholar at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study.

Delivering a lecture today on "Insurgency and Terrorism in India", he said a similar action had been undertaken earlier by Israel and the USA in different contexts and these were accepted by the world community. If such an action led to an all-out war, the country should be prepared for it, he added.

Advocating a flexible approach in dealing with Pakistan, Gen Bammi said while efforts to improve relations should continue, there should be no let-up in dealing with the proxy war unleashed by Pakistan. Signs of escalation of the proxy war were already visible in the form of attacks on the Indian security forces.

With fundamentalists like Osama bin Laden and some Islamic countries coming to the support of Pakistan, the situation was still serious.

Pakistan, Gen Bammi said, had tried its best to internationalise the Kashmir issue, defame India’s human rights record and wrest Kashmir by force. However, it did not succeed in its designs mainly due to a tough Indian military response. The General regretted that although Pakistan had been openly abetting terrorism in Kashmir, yet it had not been branded as a terrorist state and, instead, its clout in the Organisation of Islamic Countries had increased and it continued to get assistance.

Lift project dropped
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Sept 29 — The Shimla Municipal Corporation has decided to drop the project to construct a lift from Revoli bus stand to the Ridge.

The decision was taken at a meeting held here today which considered the report of experts on the geological strata of the site, submitted by the Roorkee Institute of Engineering. According to this the site was located in a sinking zone and thus was not suitable for raising such a heavy structure.

The meeting decided to conduct a survey to find a suitable site for the lift to connect the Circular Road with the Lakkar Bazaar area. It may be recalled that the corporation had allotted the work for the construction of lift at Revoli bus stand two years ago. However, the contractor had to stop work after digging for the foundation caused a huge landslide.

The corporation also decided to construct a road to link Ruldu Bhatta to the new road constructed by the Public Works Department from Ever Sunny to Lower Kufta Dhar.