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Winged visitors
at Pong again Vacant posts of
non-teaching staff abolished Vintage car rally to be annual feature
Four buried alive
as hill caves in |
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BJP seeks White
Paper on hydel projects Snag in pump hits
supply of water Notification on
tax exemption to industrial units Govt blamed for
recommendation on Tanda college Chamba dist sans
industries
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Winged visitors at Pong again Pong Dam, November 10 A visit to the wetlands on Sunday revealed that the reservoir is home to thousands of migratory birds, including cormorants, pochards, grebes (little and crested), coots, moorhens and barheaded geese. The influx of birds can be seen at Nagrota Suriyan, Budladha, Sansarpur Terrace and dam site areas. One of the largest man-made wetlands in northern India, it is spread over an area of 307 sq km. The wetlands, which play an important role in attracting both local and migratory birds, even from the trans-Himalayan zone, came into existence after the construction of a dam on the Beas in 1960. These were first noted by a Britisher in 1920 when he counted 27 bird species. Last year, the wetlands were included in the Ramsar list of the Ramsar Convention Bureau, Switzerland, along with nine others Indian wetlands. At present, India has 19 wetlands of international importance. Mr R.C. Bergal, Conservator, Forests and Wildlife, Dharamsala, said this year around 250 spotbill ducks were spotted in the dam area as against only 15 to 20 ducks last year. This time thousands of cormorants had already arrived. Earlier, they used to arrive in January. A pair of sarus crane was also sighted at the Nagrota Suriyan belt last week. Mr Anil Joshi, Divisional Forest Officer, Wildlife, Hamirpur, said last year nearly 4,000 cormorants, egrets, heron and pochards made their colony in Rancer island and preferred to stay there even after the winter. Mr Bergal said it was too early to predict how many birds would arrive this year. But the early arrival of a few species, including spotbill ducks and cormorants, indicated that the number would cross the last year’s mark of 1.15 lakh. Last year’s census had recorded 54 species. The census is conducted every year in January. He said the migration, which began at the fag-end of September, would continue till March. The Fishery Minister, Mr Harsh Mahajan, who was here yesterday to honour winners of a state-level angling contest, said: “The reservoir is very important from the fish biodiversity point of view. It supports 20 freshwater fish species, including carnivorous fish like catfish and mahseer.” The new management inputs like regulation of optimum water level (1354.72 feet on Sunday), controlled exploitation of fish and stocking of rohu, mirgal and common carp in the reservoir (16 lakh fingerlings were released in July and August) have attracted a sizeable number of birds even from places as far as Central Asia, Russia, Poland and China. Nearly 2,500 fishermen earn their livelihood from it. The fishing hours have been fixed so that no disturbance is caused to the birds. Their nets are regularly monitored so that the harvesting of small fish is checked. |
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Vacant posts of non-teaching staff abolished Hamirpur, November 10 However, no final decision was taken about abolishing the posts of the teaching staff. Earlier, there were reports that the Board had decided to abolish all vacant posts of teaching staff also. The meeting was chaired by Prof R.S. Nirjar, chairman of the Board. Dr Chander Shekhar, Director of the Hamirpur NIT, Dr R.S. Sirohi, Director, IIT, New Delhi, and Mr Sudripto Roy, former Secretary (Education) to the HP Government also attended the meeting. Information reaching here said that the Board had also decided not to start PhD and M.Tech courses at the Hamirpur NIT as per the commitments made by the Central Government at the time of getting a clearance letter from the HP Government to convert the REC, Hamirpur as NIT (a deemed university). However, it decided to strengthen the B.Tech courses only and to prepare budding engineers with B.Tech degrees only. The meeting also decided to have a regular Registrar for NIT. Meanwhile, Prof Nirjhar said here today that main preference would be given to strengthen the existing B.Tech courses so that students of NIT, Hamirpur, were able to get jobs at any place in India and abroad. He said there was no need to start M.Tech classes till the B.Tech system was strengthened. More students would be enrolled in the computer courses next year. He said that the system of granting 50 per cent seats to students of Himachal Pradesh in NIT, Hamirpur, would continue as per policy of the Central Government. |
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Vintage car rally to
be annual feature Shimla, November 10 A 1928 Austin was the oldest of the 40 odd cars which completed the drive. A 1930 built Study Baker, once owned by Nathu Ram Godse, the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, also attracted attention of the car lovers. Addressing the gathering after prize distribution the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, said government would promote rural tourism in a big way as it would help provide employment to people in interior areas of the state and also ensure the preservation of the pristine beauty of the hills. He said the government would create the required infrastructure to promote village-based tourism. The state had an ideal topography for adventure sports like paragliding, heliskiing, hang-gliding and river rafting which were gaining popularity fast. The Jauguar (mark 10) of Shom Nath Rai Chaudhary was adjudged the most elegant car. It was followed by 1966 Mercedes Benz of Pradeep Pandit in the continental category and Cheverlot Impala (1962) in the American class. |
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Four buried alive as hill caves in Kulu, November 10 Excavation machine operator also received burn injuries when hot oil of the machine fell on him. He succumbed to his injuries on way to the hospital. Another excavation machine operator also died when he also got buried. The sub-contractor was working with Satyam Shankar Joint Venture. An eye-witness reported that the excavation machine was pulling a big rock when the hill above the rock caved in. The machine fell into the nullah. The dead included two excavation machine operators, one engineer and a driller. They have been identified as Love Vimesh, an electrical engineer of Gandhinagar, Jammu, Manjit Singh, helper of Ropar, Rehmat Ali of Mandi and Man Bahadur of Nepal, presently living in Shimla. Superintendent of Police AP Singh told this correspondent on telephone that an inquiry into the accident had been
initiated. |
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BJP seeks White Paper on hydel projects Shimla, November 10 Addressing a press conference here today he said the Congress had failed to exploit the hydro power potential during its prolonged rule and it was levelling frivolous charges against the BJP to divert the attention of the people from its dismal performance. He said a White Paper in this regard was essential in order to enable the people to know which party worked in the interest of the state and which had raised obstacles in the way of expeditious harnessing of the hydro-electric potential. He said the much publicised crusade against corruption was a sham and the real motive behind it was to target the BJP leaders. He said the government was working overtime to implicate Mr P.K. Dhumal, a former Chief Minister, and his son in false cases. He said the BJP would not take things lying down and it would resort to a statewide stir if the government continued to target its leaders. |
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Snag in
pump hits supply of water Kumarhatti, November 10 The water supply to area under both panchayats remained completely suspended during the past five days and could be restored only today. After a gap of five days the villagers managed to get water supply for a few minutes today, said Mr Upender, pradhan of Banasar panchayat. He accused IPH for not taking up the repair work of the motor pump in time. He accused IPH for not managing the water supply to panchayat properly. There were no fixed times for water supply, he said and added most of time water was supplied for short duration and the pressure was very less. Mr
Sanjeev Kaul, Executive Engineer of Solan IPH division, when contacted
said an electrical fault in the pump had hit the water supply in the
area. |
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Notification on tax exemption to industrial units Shimla, November 10 Mr Ram Lal Thakur,
Industry Minister, said that this was the last notification required for the full implementation of the package which included 15 per cent subsidy on investment on plant and machinery subject to a maximum limit of Rs 30 lakh, 100 per cent exemption on excise duty for a period of 10 years and 100 per cent income tax exemption for the initial five years and thereafter 30 per cent for the next five years. He said there were no hurdles in the way of speedy industrialisation and the 162 project proposals involving an investment of over Rs 2225 crore would be implemented expeditiously. |
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Govt blamed for recommendation on Tanda college Shimla, November 10 He said the future of the students, who had put in five years of hard work, was at stake and the Chief Minister and the Health Minister were to be blamed for the situation. The institution was opened only to derail the hospital project of Mr Shanta Kumar, a former Chief Minister. Students were admitted without creating any infrastructure. He said the deficiencies pointed out by the MCI were too glaring to be glossed over. He said no additional teaching and nursing staff had been provided to fulfil the norms of the council. The available equipment had deliberately not been made functional. Even work on the 500-bedded hospital building had been delayed as the government wanted the main contractor to give the work on sub-contract to favoured persons. |
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Chamba dist sans industries Chamba, November 10 A proposed site at Hatli in Bhattiyat area of Chamba district has not been developed into an industrial complex although it was declared as one in 1990. Hatli is located near the national highway No 20 (Pathankot-Manali highway). A visit to this underdeveloped site showed that there was no sign of any industrial activity. Moreover, two small buildings alongside the Chamba-Shimla highway are in a state of sheer neglect. Trees, creepers and wild vegetation have taken over the complex. To eradiate unemployment and poverty industries, including cottage industries, based on local raw material should be set up. |
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Hill'ffair-2003 results Hamirpur, November 10 Arjit Sen Thakur and Miss Neha Sharma were selected best male and female models of the festival. Vipan Rana was declared the best performer of the festival. The Arcturus group, led by Dheeraj Sharma of NIT, Hamirpur, won the fashion parade show. the second position went to the Oasis group of NIT, Hamirpur. Prof
R.S. Nirjhar, Chairman of the Board of Governors of NIT, Hamirpur, gave away prizes to the
winners. |
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Docs asked not to neglect rural areas Palampur, November 10 Mr Butail said the medical officers who were in government service could play a vital role in serving the poor. He regretted the fact that medical officers were not keen to serve in the rural and tribal areas of the state where 80 per cent population of the state lived.
— OC |
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Explosive injures
two sisters Dharamsala, November 10 According to the SP, Kangra, Mr Zahoor Zaidi, the incident took place in Banoori village under Dehra subdivision yesterday. According to the girls, Rani (16) and Rekha (12), found a ball made of cloth and string. When the girls tried to remove the string, the ball exploded, injuring both. They were admitted to Civil Hospital, Dehra, and were reported to be out of danger. According to the SP, some villagers had probably planted explosive wrapped in string to kill wild boars that are destroying crops in the area. |
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Notice to HP on
Dhiren’s bail
Shimla, November 10 After rejection of his bail plea by the Sessions Judge, Shimla, he had approached the high court. This murder took place at the Punjab Government’s Circuit House (Cedar) in Shimla on March 29, 2003. While issuing the notice, Mr Justice K.C. Sood directed the prosecution to produce the record of this case on November 26. |
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Panel formed on new townships Shimla, November 10 The committee will have Principal Secretaries, Finance, Housing and Irrigation and Public Health, as its members. The Secretary, Housing Board, will be member secretary. |
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