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HIMAVANTA (Test News)
(Internet Edition)
India's Only Mountaineering Monthly

BEST ADVENTURE BOOKS, RED & WHITE BRAVERY AWARD, WORLD HIGHEST RAILWAY FROM QINGHAI TO LHASA, MAP OF PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN, OSAMA BIN LADEN, TERRORIST CAMPS IN PoK, REFUGEES FROM PoK, REFUGEES FROM PAKISTAN, TERMINALLY GUIDED MISSILES, WEAPON LOCATING RADAR

BEST ADVENTURE BOOKS: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, Biggles Gets His Man by W E Johns, the Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis and Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. This is the order of preference, as revealed in an online poll conducted recently in UK, as a part of the Bedline Reading Week for Children.

RED & WHITE BRAVERY AWARD is given annually by Godrey Phillips, the makers of Red & White Cigarettes, in two categories- physical and social bravery. Originally restricted to the North India, it now covers 11 states including Orissa and South India. On March 13, 2003, the 11th award for social bravery was handed over to Miss Preity Zinta, a famous actress. She received an extortion demand for Rs. 50 Lacs from Chota Shakil, the Pak inspired don and a threat that she and her near ones would be wiped out, if she opens her mouth. 'She stood principles in the face of adversity' and was the only one who did not turn hostile in the ongoing Bharat shah case, related to our film industry's links with the underworld. Among those who wilted under pressure were - Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Akshay Kumar. But Preity proved to be only man in Bolywood.

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WORLD HIGHEST RAILWAY FROM QINGHAI TO LHASA: After Ed Jany 02 & June. Over four fifth of it will run at 13,123 ft.(4,000M) or more. So the workers were facing the usual problems of cold, frozen earth and shortage of oxygen. Prof. Liu Yingshu of Beijing Uniniversity of Science and Technology found a new way of generating sufficient oxygen by combining the oxygen making technology in the steel industry, with low pressure on the Tibetan Plateau. Workers have now discarded oxygen tanks and started breathing while working.

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MAP OF PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN: The map covering from Jaipur to Mazar-e-Sharif was presented by Serbjeet Singh to A B Vajpayee on December 10, 2002. It now adorns the wall of his residence at Race Course Road.The Prime Minister remarked that it will help him in taking briefs from the Army. Minister of External Affairs had obtained ten of Serbjeet's paintings of various Himalyan Regions. The one on Nepal was presented by Vajpayee to the king of Nepal during one of his visits to New Delhi. Now in his 70s, Serbjeet is a film maker and painter. He had no formal training in cartography.

OSAMA BIN LADEN: was (and probably is ) hiding in Siakoh mountain range. This range is in Nimroz and Helmand provinces of SW Afghanistan, bordering Baluchistan(Pakistan). The people in this region are sympathetic towards him and he has at least half a dozen hiding places here. His present location is not known, but his Al Qaida men are still roaming in this area.

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TERRORIST CAMPS IN PoK: India recently provided to USA, the following details of about 70 camps, some of which are bordering regions of Pakistan - satellite pictures, phone and house numbers, communication intercepts and particulars about top terrorist. USA did not act on it. On the other hand , on March 15, 2003, they removed all economic sanctions imposed in the wake of Musharraf's coup in 1999 and continued to press india to talk to Pakistan.

REFUGEES FROM PoK: are allowed no compensationfor the properties left behind by them, unlike refugees from Pakistan. The argument is that PoK belongs to India and they will be able to get their properties back some day. On August 2, 2002, J & K High Court observed that possibilities of getting their properties is remote. So something cocrete should be done to mitigate their woes. But nothing has been done so far.

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REFUGEES FROM PAKISTAN: should be given full citizenship rights in J & K. This has been demanded by Panthers Party, a member of the ruling coalition in J & K.

TERMINALLY GUIDED MISSILES: from KBP, Tula, Russia were tested in November 1999. According to the Army, they suffered limitations regarding range, angle and precision in the high altitude. So Indians could engage just 25 to 30% of the targets in Kargil and the missiles could be used only selectively. Still orders for 1000 TMGs (Rs. 151 crores) were cleared in February/March 2000.

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WEAPON LOCATING RADAR: was used by Pakistan during Kargil war. But we did not have any of them. It can detect the location of long range mortars, rockets and artillery launchers after tracking a shell for a few seconds, from a distance of 28 to 32 km and from 50km for tactical missiles. It has since been indigenously produced in February 2003. Mass production will begin after two years.

Published By: Kamal Kumar Guha
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