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Thursday,
October
2, 2003,
Chandigarh, India  
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Rohtang tunnel faces environmental row Report on age profile of Army officers being considered Policy to deal with encroachment
on government land Nathpa-Jhakri unit put on trial run Nadda decries move
on district cadre |
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| HP approves one-time loan settlement scheme Shimla, October 1 The Himachal Pradesh Government has approved a scheme for “one-time settlement” of outstanding loans of the state Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Corporation to rid the poor loanees of the debt burden. Need for stringent law to
check drunk driving Contests mark Blood Donation Day Dalhousie, Chamba train proposed Lone contestant
is Miss Tibet
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Rohtang
tunnel faces environmental row Manali, October 1 The state Environment Department has raised objections on the forest land, which would have to be denotified for its use in the tunnel-link road construction, said Mr Mahajan, Commander of 38 Border Road Task Force, who is heading the Rs 948-crore project. Further compounding the work on the project is the Himachal Pradesh High Court ruling banning the use of crushers, which would not only delay the project, but would also escalate the project cost. The necessity of an alternative route to the Ladakh region was felt during the Kargil conflict as the Srinagar-Leh road fell on the close firing range of Pakistan. Mr Mahajan said the BRO would require nearly 35 hectares near the tunnel for setting up ventilation, medical, rescue and monitoring stations. The 8.8-km tunnel, if and when built, would the longest in a
mountainous region in the world. It would require ventilation plant, hospital, helipad, CCTV for monitoring traffic, power station for lighting and a base control station near the entrance and exit of the tunnel. Global tenders for the tunnel will be invited next year and the international designs on tunnels in seismic zones will be studied before approving the contract, he added. The tunnel, which will be built over a period of nine years, will be in seismic zone five, an area of highly prone to earthquakes. According to the blueprint of the BRO, the mighty Rohtang hill will be pierced through from South portal to dig the tunnel, which will open at Shishu in the Lahaul valley. The Manali-Leh road, considered to be the highest road link ever, remains open from May to October as the Rohtang pass, the gateway to Lahaul valley, remains covered with about 20 or 30 feet thick sheet of snow at many places. The construction of the tunnel would be of an immense strategic importance and would also boost tourism in the Lahaul, Spiti and Pangi valleys. The Rohtang pass serves as the gateway to these valleys of Himachal Pradesh. The Manali-Leh road is the only convenient link connecting these valleys with Manali and the greater part of the hill state. The closure of the Rohtang pass during winters cuts off these valleys and the Ladakh area of Jammu and Kashmir also remains inaccessible from this direction. The construction of the tunnel will lead to a rapid economic development in the valleys. It will give the farmers an opportunity to market their agricultural products. The tunnel will give further boost to tourism in the area as the valley will be accessible throughout winter. The tunnel and new alignment of the road north of Rohtang will provide an all-weather road from Manali to Lahaul, Spiti and Pangi valleys. The tunnel will provide shorter and safer road to people living in Drass, Kargil and Ladakh regions. It will provide easy access to the isolated Zanskar valley. The new access route will also assist in logistic support to forward sectors of Ladakh in winter also. |
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Report on age profile of Army officers being considered Shimla, October 1 This was stated at a press conference by Lt-Gen J.J. Singh, GOC-in-C of the Army Training Command (ARTRAC). He said the average age of the officers was higher than those of their counterparts in other countries. The committee, which looked into the issue, had recommended creation of more posts at the level of Colonel and had suggested that they should also be posted in other organisations to pave the way for young blood. He said the Army must have young commanders to lead on the war front. Referring to the advancements in the training methods, he said computer simulation techniques had made training less expensive. State-of-the-art simulators were being used for completing 75 per cent of the training and only 25 per cent of it was conducted on actual equipment. He said besides saving funds, simulators also prevented wear and tear of costly equipment like the T-72 tanks. The software developed in collaboration with the Defence Research and Development Organisation to simulate a “battlefield scenario” was comparable with that of the militarily advanced countries. The warfare simulation had been achieved up to the division level and it would soon be completed up to corps. He said the intelligence wing of the Army had acquired hi-tech equipment like an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), sophisticated radars, sensors and night-vision gadgets for effective surveillance of the borders. Besides, satellite imageries were also being used to keep a close watch on the activities on the ground. He said the intelligence set-up was also being strengthened in the wake of the Kargil episode. Replying to a question, he said the Army was not the most-preferred career in any country and India was no exception in this regard. He said new schemes like “ten-plus two” under which young boys were being recruited to join various technical streams after senior secondary were a tremendous success. He said there were over 1 lakh applications for just 200 posts. General J.J. Singh said nowadays the army was also being trained to handle counter-insurgency operations and fighting proxy wars. He said logically the Army should have been downsized because of modernisation and a changing battle doctrine. However, it was not possible in view of the situation prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East. The ARTRAC, he said, was organising a series of events to mark its 13th Raising Day today. The celebrations included a “fauji mela,” free-fall display by para commandos and a dog show. |
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Policy to deal with encroachment
on government land Solan, October 1 He said that his government had decided deal with all such defaulters in a firm way. Mr Virbhadra Singh regretted that the Dhumal government had allowed itself to become a mute spectator even as lakhs of trees were being felled by the encroachers to clear forest lands for other usages. An important aspect of the new policy would be that the ancient Timber distribution rights commonly called T.D. rights of villagers would be denied to all those found guilty of encroaching on forest lands. All such persons also stood automatically debarred from contesting elections to civic and Panchayati Raj institutions as per the Panchayati Raj Act, Mr Virbhadra Singh lambasted the BJP and certain selfstyled employee leaders for a propaganda against his government describing it as “anti-employee”. He said that he had during his previous tenure, allocated additional financial benefits to the extent of Rs 840 crore per annum to government employees. He reminded the government employees that the previous BJP government had made 1.75 lakh transfers out of a total strength of 2.5 lakhs during it’s tenure. His government had taken a policy decision to limit transfer of employees to a maximum of 3 per cent of the total strength of each department. However all those cases of political victimisation by the previous government by way of transfers would be treated separately and justice would be done in all deserving cases. Earlier, Mr Virbhadra Singh laid the foundation stone here, of a Rs 51.46 crore notable water scheme, based on the glacial waters of the Giri for this town and adjoining 91 villages falling under Solan and Kasauli Tehsil areas. It would benefit over 80,000 persons who had been facing a chronic shortage of drinking water for the past several years. He also laid the foundation stone of a private sector ropeways linking Chambaghat locality of this town with the 6000 feet high Karol peak. The ropeways would form part of an tourism project which included setting up of a de-luxe resort at Karol heights. Locals believed Karol to be part of the legendry “Meru Parbat” visited by Lord Hanuman for extracting the Sanjeevani herb later used to revive Sri Laxman as described in the Ramayana. About 200 persons wore black badges and showed black flags to the Chief Minister at Chambaghat, in protest against the “imminent invasion on the sanctity of their religious places by the propose private sector tourism project”. |
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Nathpa-Jhakri unit put on trial run
Shimla, October 1 Commercial generation would start after 72 hours of trial run and the remaining five units of 250 MW each would be commissioned by July 2004 in a phased manner. During the trial-run after the synchronising, the machine was tested at 100 per cent and 110 per cent capacity. The power from the project would be connected to the northern grid and the states of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Chandigarh and Himachal, which had already signed the power purchase agreements, would be benefited. The Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the SJN, Mr Y.N. Apparao, said the project, when fully commissioned, would generate 6,951 million units of power in a 90 per cent dependable year. He said that the project would be inaugurated by Union Power Minister Anant Geete on October 14 at a function to be presided over by the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh. — PTI
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Nadda decries move
on district cadre Shimla, October 1 In a statement here yesterday, he said the Congress was reversing all decisions of the previous government without application of mind and going into the merits and objective behind these. He said the decision to create to district cadre was aimed at decentralisation of administrative powers and ensuring that the requisite staff was available in the institutions located in the remote
areas. With this objective in mind, the BJP government also created a sub-cadre for hard and difficult areas. He claimed that the management of the cadre became easier with decentralisation as district officers were given powers. Earlier the entire cadre was managed from the directorate of the respective department. The previous government further planned to give these powers to the Panchayati Raj institutions to involve them in administration at the grassroots. The plan had been jeopardised by the decision which only betrayed lack of commitment to the Panchayati Raj on the part of the government. |
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HP approves one-time loan settlement scheme Shimla, October 1 The decision to implement the scheme was announced by Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, at the meeting of the Board of Directors of the corporation held here today. The scheme would benefit about 22,000 persons. Under the scheme, which is non-discretionary and non-discriminatory, if a loanee repaid the total loan before December 31,2003, he would be entitled to exemption on interest due up to 75 per cent. Similarly if the loan was cleared after December 31, 2003, but before March 31, 2004, the relief on interest would be 50 per cent and it would be restricted to 25 per cent in case the loan was repaid after March 31 but before June 30,2004. Mr Virbhadra Singh urged the loanees to get maximum rebate on interest by repaying the loan before December 31,2003. He said district managers of the corporation were holding recovery camps at various places for the benefit of the
loanees. |
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Need for stringent law to check drunk driving Shimla, October 1 Talking to mediapersons here, he said those driving in an inebriated state caused maximum number of accidents. Such mishaps could be prevented if people were debarred from driving after consuming liquor on the pattern of the USA and other countries. In fact, a legal provision should be made for sending to jail, even if for a few hours, those found driving under the influence of liquor. In case of repeated offences the driving licence should be suspended, he added. Mr Bali said to curtail operational expenses the state Road
Transport Department would soon install electronic ticketing machines and ply buses without conductors. The minister, who returned from a month-long tour of the USA, said such systems were being successfully used in the western countries. |
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Contests
mark Blood Donation Day Sundernagar, October 1 He requested the Hospital Welfare Society to promote the concept of blood donation. Students of various schools took part in an awareness rally. Thirty donors from various walks of life donated blood. A declamation competition on blood donation was organised for the students. Aditi Sharma of Government Senior Secondary Girls School came first while Khusbu from the same school came second. Pragya Awasthi from DAV School was declared third. HAMIRPUR: Blood Donation Day was observed here on Wednesday by the Department of Health and Family planning. The department organised a poster painting competition in which 17 students from five schools participated. Mandeep Sen, Ambika and Jagpal Singh got the first, second and third prizes, respectively. They were given cash prizes. BILASPUR:
Sixteen youths donated blood at Regional Hospital here. Principal Susheel Pundir of Bilaspur town and some voluntary organisations associated with blood donation were honoured. Susheel Pundir has donated blood 28 times, a record here. DHARAMSALA: Home Science College of Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University, Palampur, organised a seminar on the importance of blood donation. The seminar was organised by the NSS unit of the college with the help of doctors of the Civil Hospital, Palampur. A poster campaign was also launched in the town to educate people about blood donation. It was decided to maintain a register of blood donors who could be contacted in case of emergency. |
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Dalhousie, Chamba train proposed Chamba, October 1 These scenic places are visited by many tourists and the railway link can give fillip to the thriving tourism industry of this region. In a memorandum, the association has apprised the government of an old proposal for laying a railway line from Pathankot to Dalhousie that was okayed in 1910 but the work could not start due to the death of Raja Bhuri Singh of the erstwhile Chmaba state. The association has also demanded the opening of a computerised booking office of the Railways in Chamba town forthwith. |
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Lone contestant is Miss Tibet
Dharamsala, October 1 This was stated by Mr Lobsang Wangyal, producer and director of the Miss Tibet Pageant, here today. Tesring (20) did not only fulfil the basic criteria to compete, but had also achieved academic heights. He said the organisers believed that she was confident, dedicated and strong. He said Tesering Kyi was born in 1983 in Labrang, Amdo Northen Eastern Tibet, and had come to Mcleodganj in 1999 for Tibetan studies. After high school, she decided to escape to India for better education. She joined Tibetan children village in Suja here and had authored a book of poetry in Tibetan. She also spoke fluent Chinese. Winner of the high school awards Tesring was born in a nomadic family. — UNI
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Tibetans
observe ‘black day’ Dharamsala, October 1 According to Acharya Yeshi Phunstok, president of the National Democratic Party of Tibet, this day is observed to remind the Tibetans and innocent victims of the barbarous rule of the communist Chinese regime. |
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Arvind
Kaul takes over as Chief Secretary Shimla, October 1 |
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26 hurt as bus falls into gorge Hamirpur, October 1 An official spokesman said here today that a case had been registered and further investigation into the case was on. Initial reports disclosed that the mishap occurred when the driver failed to negotiate a curve. |
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Timber
smugglers held Dharamshala: The Palampur police has arrested two persons and recovered timber which was being smuggled in a tempo. According to the police, three persons, namely Pradip Kumar of
uttrala, Sanjiv Kumar of Kandi and Suresh Kumar of Sohar, were trying to smuggle the timber when they were nabbed red-handed. The police has arrested Pradip Kumar and Sanjiv Kumar and the vehicle has been impounded. A case under Section 379 of the Indian Penal Code and 41-42 of the Forest Act has been registered against them.
— OC |
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Tohra oversees construction work Paonta Sahib, October 1 |
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Local holiday in Hamirpur Hamirpur, October 1 |
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