 |
Sunday,
May 25, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Potato seed supply: DC submits report Toxic feed killed trout: expert Former Himachal minister dead Animal Husbandry
Dept restructured 5 Deputy AGs appointed
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
BDC chief voted out
Damage to dam denied
|
|
Potato seed supply: DC submits report Una, May 24 In October 2002, some farmers of Una had approached the office of the Una Deputy Director of Agriculture for Kufri Jyoti (KJ) variety of potato seed for sowing in December. The department procured 2,060 bags of potato seed from the Lahaul Potato Society and supplied it to the farmers through another local society in the Una Sabzi Mandi. On maturity, however, it was found that the variety was mixed with Kufri Chander Mukhi (KCM). The crop was affected with the blight disease, though the KJ variety was resistant to it. Preliminary inquiries conducted by the Agriculture Department and scientists from Una Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) had confirmed that about 60 per cent of the seeds supplied by the department were of the KCM variety. The subsequent inquiry conducted by the Additional Director of the Agriculture Department from Dharamsala was reportedly found unsatisfactory by the Agriculture Secretary, who marked to the Una DC, asking for the total seed procured by the department, area sown by the farmers who were supplied the seed, the estimated loss and anomalies, if any, regarding the purchase of seed. It may be reported that while 2060 bags of potato seed were distributed to about 70 farmers, only 12 had come forward to formally lodge a complaint against the department with the DC. The DC said a spot visit of the affected farmers was conducted by the scientist in charge of the KVK, District Revenue Officer and an officer of the Agriculture Department. It is reported that 11.31 hectares of sown potato crop, the seed for which was procured from the Agriculture Department was of the KCK variety, due to which it had shown a reduced yield. The loss was estimated at Rs 3.3 lakh for these 12 farmers at the rate of Rs 250 per quintal. He said the report has been sent to the Secretary Agriculture for action. Considering the fact that the total quantity of potato seed supplied was 2060 bags, which was sown on approximately 80 hectares, the total loss in the district due to the supply of wrong variety of potato seed is being estimated at more than Rs 20 lakh. The DC, however, said he could inquire into only those cases regarding which he had received a written complaint. The Deputy Commissioner of Una told this reporter that it was also found in the inquiry that the Deputy Director, Agriculture, Una had deviated from usual practice of purchasing seeds for farmers from government funds and charging the farmers at the time of delivery of seeds to them and, instead, collected money from farmers in advance, and made the purchase of potato seeds through a local cooperative society of Sabji Mandi Una without prior approval of the state government to involve the society in the purchase of potato seed. |
|
Toxic feed killed trout: expert Dharamsala, May 24 Mr Rehlan said the adviser to the Fisheries Department, who had earlier been the director, should own responsibility for this colossal loss. He said the official claim did not stand the scrutiny because 15 tonnes of rainbow trout had been produced during 2002-03 in the same water. He said it was unfortunate that after having spent crores of rupees for setting up a trout farm, the benefits had been allowed to go waste due to negligence. He also demanded an inquiry into the tour to Norway conducted by the adviser and a senior bureaucrat to get one dead fish examined . He said in a similar instance, 4000 fertilised eggs of brown trout imported from Denmark died after hatching recently as the experts failed to give proper feed to them. Mr Rehlan has appealed to the Chief Minister to order an inquiry into the working of the Fisheries Department during the past five years and also to fix responsibility for total decimation of trout at the farm and other rivers in the state. |
|
Former Himachal minister dead Hamirpur, May 24 Mr Chaudhry leaves behind his wife, a son and two daughters. The Congress leader was cremated this morning. The DC and the SP of Hamirpur represented the state government on this occasion. A large number of Congress leaders also attended the cremation. Anil Chaudhry, his son, lit the pyre. Leaders of various political parties and social organisations have mourned the death of Mr Chaudhry. They described him a true Congressman and a son of the soil. SHIMLA (TNS): Mr Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje, Governor, and Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, have mourned the death of Mr Dharam Singh. They have conveyed their sympathies to the bereaved family. The Chief Minister also expressed grief over the demise of Mr P.N. Trivedi, veteran journalist who died at Kangra today. |
|
|
Animal Husbandry
Dept restructured Shimla, May 23 Mr Harsh Mahajan, Minister for Animal Husbandry, said the functioning of the Department was being affected due to lack of coordination among district-level officers who were looking after various wings of the department like sheep breeding, cattle development and artificial insemination. Each of these wings was headed by an assistant director. Each district had three to five assistant directors who directly reported to the directorate, he added. The department has been restructured to ensure proper coordination and accountability at the district level and a post of deputy director has been created in this regard. The assistant directors will now report to him. It has also been decided to create posts of joint director at the divisional level. While a joint director has already been posted at Palampur for Kangra division, the posts at Mandi and Shimla will be filled soon. He said the integrated projects, which would take care of all aspects right from breeding of high-yielding livestock to marketing of milk, were being launched in the district of Chamba, Mandi,
Kangra, Solan and Hamirpur. The total cost of the project was Rs 36 crore. Mr Mahajan said the functioning of the department had also been affected because of the failure of the previous government to fill the posts of veterinary doctor and pharmacist. As many as 150 posts of veterinary doctor are vacant. The government proposes to appoint at least 50 veterinary doctors on contract. Besides, it has also to decided to impart training to 600 veterinary pharmacists. |
|
5 Deputy AGs appointed Shimla, May 24 A notification issued by the Home Department includes the names of Mr Chirag Bhanu
Mandyal, Mr Vijay Thakur, Mr Davinder Nainta, Mr H.R.S. Thakur and Mr Adarsh
Vasisht. |
|
|
Narkanda — new drug haven Shimla, May 24 Charas is available in
ramshackled teastalls and local carriers spot outsiders easily to
strike a deal. In local parlance, the drug is called ‘kala maal’
or ‘bati’. Another word used in the charas trade is ‘tola’,
which is equal to one coin and costs Rs 120. One ‘tola’ can last
for about three days, depending upon the capacity of smokers, as
charas is consumed in a group by rotating a cigarette. While 100 g of
charas costs over Rs 1,000, for a tourist the rate of a ‘tola’ is
Rs 180. One can see many vehicles, bearing the registration numbers of
Chandigarh, Haryana and Delhi, parked near the road to the Hatu Peak.
However, Narkanda is not a favourite destination of charas addicted
foreigners who prefer the Kulu-Manali circuit. Local suppliers pick
up charas smokers near ski slopes and the Hatu peak area and offer
them ‘kala maal’ for testing by smoking a cigarette. If a
‘bati’ is hard, then the charas is considered to be of poor
quality. For locals, charas for one cigarette costs Rs
10. Interestingly, officials at the Kumarsain police station, under
which the Narkanda area falls, when contacted, said only one case of a
3-kg charas seizure was registered last year. They said the Kulu area,
and not Narkanda was a centre for the charas trade. |
|
|
BDC chief voted out Nurpur, May 24 |
|
9 of family toil for a living Hamirpur, May 24 Father of seven children,
including five sons and two daughters, Chaman Lal is not in position
to send his wards to school due to meager resources at his hand. His
eldest son, Ajay Kumar (15) is a school drop-out, as he had to work
with his father and mother to earn a living for the family. Family of
Chaman Lal can be seen crushing stones on the Kangoo-Badhera road near
the house of Mr Raghubir Singh, former Chairman of the Nadaun
Panchayat Samiti. Ajay Kumar had studied up to class VII was forced to
leave school as it was not possible for his parents to feed the entire
family of nine. Chaman Lal said that he was having only one kanal of
land at his village and moreover he got no relief from the government
under any poverty alleviation programme. No government agency came to
help the family and in between the number of new arrivals in the
family continued. Darshana Devi, the wife of Chaman Lal only smiled
when asked about the huge size of her family. She, however, added that
she got herself sterilised last year at a family planning camp held in
her area. Chaman Lal, Lohar by caste, said that he never wanted the
family size to increase. But once the process started, it continued
till Darshana delivered her seventh child. Talking about the
education to his children, he said that it was not possible since he
had not money to send them to school and pay their fees and manage for
books, uniforms and other items needed for the schooling. Only Ajay
Kumar was sent to school. But he too was dropped to lend a helping
hand to the family. He said that he was satisfied with his present
job but not with the money he was getting from the work done by
him. Mr Raghubir Singh, former Chairman of the Nadaun Panchayat
Samiti was also pained to know the said plight of the family. He said
that there was a defect in the policy, planning and their
implementation. He said that there was a need to educate and help
such families to send their wards to school and to stop producing more
children. Will the government agencies realise the financial position
of family of Chaman Lal and extend them helping hand to send his
children to schools so that they may also lead happy life in coming
years. |
|
Damage to dam denied Mandi, May 24 He said, “coffer dam/dyke is a temporary obstruction constructed every year across the river in the months of September and October to facilitate construction activities of the barrage when the water flow in the river is low.” He said the coffer dam was opened as and when required depending on the level of water which is raised either by the melting of snow or rains in the catchment area of the river.
OC |
|
Postal staff hold rally Bilaspur, May 24 They raised slogans against the authorities concerned, charging them with failure to meet their demands. Addressing the rally, the district general secretary of the sangh, Mr R.R. Sharma, said there was no drinking water in the postal employees’ colony for the past four months. |
|
Cow hit by train, dies Kumarhatti, May 24 According to information the cow was hit in the afternoon four days ago by the vintage rail car inside the tunnel. Rail car dragged the cow for 15 feet. The villagers had offered fodder and water to the injured animal. In the past two months the three-old cows had been crushed to death by the train. Abandoned cows fall victim to the Kalka-Shimla national highway no. 22. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
