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Heavy damage to apple trees in Manali area
Reward on merit alone, says CM
Fiscal stability top priority: Parmar
More projects needed to absorb surplus staff
Advertisers make the most of festive season
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Speaker gheraoed by AITUC members
Dasehra celebrated with fervour
Pak advocates visit Himachal HC
BJP reacts to Singhi Ram’s statement
Finance company booked for fraud
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Heavy damage to apple trees in Manali area
Mandi, October 22 The most affected villages that have reported extensive damage to the apple trees include
Pulchan, Vashisht, Shanag, Goshal, Koshla-Mathiana, Old Manali, Solang, Majath, Aleou and surrounding areas located about five to 10 km in the upper reaches of the Manali valley. Others include several villagers in Banjar and Ani in Kulu district. In the Mandi district, the freak snow has damaged over 30 per cent of the peas, cabbage and other
off-season vegetables in the upper areas in Jhanjali, Karsog, Drang and Gohar. The snow has also damaged the standing peas and cabbage and apple trees in the upper reaches, which had experienced unprecedented snow this month, said Mr Dhayan Singh, a grower from Jhanjali area. Even the late varieties of apple are yet to be harvested and fruit have dropped from the trees due to snow, said Mr A.R. Thakur, an orchardist at Koshla village, about 6 km from Manali. What worsens the plight of the apple growers was that the trees are full of leaves that accumulated the loads of watery snowflakes that, in turn, caved in along with branches of trees and stems. The snow has damaged over 100 trees in the orchards here, added Mr Ved Thakur, a resident of upper Manali. The farmers rued that the Agricultural Department has yet to make the
assessment. The farmers have requested the Agricultural Minister, Mr Raj Kishan Gaur, to pay compensation to the farmers as the trees take over 10-15 years to bear fruit. Though the officials said that transportation would be resumed shortly when the Manali-Leh highway gets cleared but the potato growers have expressed their concern over the harvested crop in the Lahaul valley where over 50 per cent of the crop awaits transportation to the markets. |
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Reward on merit alone, says CM
Shimla, October 22 Speaking after inaugurating a government high school building at
Jeori, he said the overall performance of employees would be kept in view as merit. “Misappropriation of government money will not be tolerated at any cost and anybody found guilty of this shall be punished,” he said. The Chief Minister said Himachal had become a role model in development amongst hill states and had as such been ranked
first in being social progress. “We have accorded top priority to the social services sector and 48 per cent of the total Budget has been allocated to this vital sector,” he informed. Compared to a sum of Rs 122 crore spent on providing social security and welfare, the amount had this year been raised to Rs 148 crore. “Since roads are the lifeline in a hilly region, the government intends spending Rs 485 crore on construction of roads, bridges and their maintenance,” he said. Mr Virbhadra Singh, also announced upgradation of high school, to the senior secondary level from the next academic session. |
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Fiscal stability top priority: Parmar
Shimla, October 22 “A bureaucrat does not have his own priorities. As the chief executive his task is to ensure proper implementation of the programme and policies of the government of the day. However, to make the government an effective instrument to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the people, an effective and responsive administration is essential. “My endeavour will be to provide an efficient, transparent, responsible and accountable administration to make certain that the benefits of various development and welfare schemes being implemented by the government reach the target people”, he told The Tribune. Not cast in the mould of a typical bureaucrat, Mr Parmar does not believe in issuing dictates. He rather prefers to persuade and encourage officers to get the best out of them. “Be a facilitator and not a stumbling block,” is the mantra he wants to pass on to his subordinates to make the administration responsive to the needs of the people. Having remained the Finance Secretary, Mr Parmar is well-conversant with the magnitude of the financial crisis plaguing the state. Ensuring fiscal stability is a challenge and there was no escape from that. Revenue expenditure has been increasing at an alarming rate of over 25 per cent, while the state’s own resources have been growing at less than 10 per cent annually. The “revenue expenditure has to be compressed and additional resources mobilised by carrying out reforms systematically. However, the government will ensure that any such exercise does not bring misery to the common man”, he said. The “private sector had to play an increasing role in development. To ensure its involvement in a big way, bureaucrats must change their mindset and come forward to play the role of a facilitator”, he said. Effort would be made to encourage private projects in the hinterland to create job opportunities and improve the socio-economic conditions of the people living in the interior areas, Mr Parmar added. |
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More projects needed to absorb surplus staff
Shimla, October 22 The board of directors of the nigam has approved a manpower of 224 for the 434-MW Rampur project, out of which 40 per cent staff will be drawn from the board. Besides, some employees will also be accommodated in the corporate office of the nigam under the 40 per cent quota. Further, for the operation and maintenance of the Nathpa Jhakri project, the approved manpower is 1,201, including that of the corporate office, in which the board share is 30 per cent. As such in all about 550 out of the total of 1,070 deputationists could be accommodated. The nigam has withdrawn the repatriation orders but urged the state government to assign more projects to it. It has written a letter requesting the government to allot the 650-MW Khab and 450-MW Luri projects to it so that the entire staff rendered surplus following the completion of the 1500-MW Rampur project could be retained. The Union Ministry of Power has been insisting that the staff from the board should be permanently absorbed in the nigam to put an end to the continuing tussle between the direct recruits and the deputationists over issues like equivalence of posts, allowances and perks. So far 61 officers and employees of the board have been absorbed in the nigam. The state wanted to keep the option of deputation open, and to find a mutually acceptable solution a committee has been set up. The nigam expects that the state will assign adequate number of projects in due course to ensure gainful utilisation of the staff and as such retaining the entire surplus staff may not be a problem. Meanwhile, the nigam is all set to start work on the Rampur project for which the detailed project report has been completed. |
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Advertisers make the most of festive season
Mandi, October 22 With Lord Rama sending up Ravana in flames today, the Dasehra festivities ended in the rest of the country today, but not in Kulu. Amid the beats of dhol and shehnai, the stage is set for the chariots of Lord Raghunath, Kulu’s presiding deity, his guest Devi Hidimba from Manali and over 365 devtas from the Kulu valley to roll out from their temple premises for a divine get-together at Dhalpur Maidan in Kulu tomorrow. In the midst of these festivities, Mandi, Kulu, Bilaspur, Hamirpur and other towns across the state have been flooded with banners put up by banks, consumer goods companies and other service providers, offering freebies and easy loans on TVs, computers, refrigerators and other consumer durables to get the most out of the divine frenzy in the hills. The sacred shrines of Naina Devi in Bilaspur district, Brajeshwari Devi in Kangra, Chintpurni in Una, Chamunda Devi in Kangra, and Hateshwari Devi and Bhima Kali in Shimla district, which figure among the country’s 51 Shakti Piths, are receiving hordes of pilgrims from across the country, including areas as far as West Bengal, boosting religious tourism in the state. According to state tourism officials, while pilgrims throng the shrines round the year, Navratras are the main season. There are 40-50 lakh pilgrims visiting the state in a year. As the festive period is also considered auspicious for marriage, a large number of halls and houses in the temple towns have become venues of weddings, attracting the attention of advertisers and shopkeepers, who have put up banners all over. Cashing in on the bonanza are also politicians, who miss no opportunity to attend the large number of weddings, yajnas and other religious ceremonies during this time. Politicians out of power particularly make it a point to attend such functions as it gives them a good opportunity for public relations. |
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Speaker gheraoed by AITUC members
Kumarhatti, October 22 They were protesting against the termination of services of 142 temporary workers of the Forest Department. The gherao was lifted after two hours at 5.30 p.m. when the Speaker assured the agitating members that he would look into the matter. As many as 110 members of the union affiliated with the All-India Trade Union Congress
(AITUC), mostly those removed started raising slogans against the state government raised slogans like “Rozgar do
nahin, to jail do”. The Speaker was allowed to go after he instructed the three DFOs from Renuka, Rajgarh and Nahan Forest Divisions to sort out the issue. Meanwhile, Mr Jagdish Bhardwaj, state president of
AITUC, has condemned the “attack” on workers by the Speaker’s supporters. |
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Dasehra celebrated with fervour
Shimla, October 22 Governor V. S. Kokje and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh felicitated the people of the state on this occasion. Mr Singh participated in festival activities at Jakhu,
near here. He also lit the fire to the effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkarana and Meghnatha. Mr Singh said that it symbolised victory of the virtues of truth over evil, besides strengthening the bonds of brotherhood. The Chief Minister wished happiness and prosperity to the people on the occasion and said that such festivals went a long way in promoting national integration and communal harmony among the masses.
— UNI |
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Pak advocates visit Himachal HC
Shimla, October 21 Interacting with advocates Mr Chishti hoped that the peoples of the two countries would work towards building peace across both sides of the border. He said peoples on both sides wanted to live in peace and “we request both governments to shun political differences and allow the residents of both sides to live in peace.” He said the peoples had a common culture, common heroes of the Independence struggle, but “We lost 55 years in fighting each other. Now give us 10 years of peace”. Welcoming the Pakistan delegation Mr Shravan Dogra, president of the High Court Bar Association, said such interaction would create an atmosphere of harmony and peace. |
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BJP reacts to Singhi Ram’s statement
Hamirpur, October 22 Mr Rana said that instead of asking for the resignation of Mr Dhumal, it would be appropriate if Mr Singhi Ram demanded the resignation of Mr Virbhadra Singh on moral grounds for the Congress defeat in Guler. He further stated that the Guler debacle had vindicated the BJP’s claim that Kangra was being discriminated against by the Congress government. Mr Rana reminded Mr Singhi Ram said that many Congress leaders had also got allotted petrol stations and gas agencies but neither of them had tendered the resignation. |
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Finance company booked for fraud
Kumarhatti, October 22 Bhuvesh Kumar, a resident of Taksal village, had applied for a loan of Rs 7 lakh from VVA Finance and Marketing Company. The company had asked him to deposit Rs 42,000 as security against loan. In May this year the company had issued Bhuvesh Sharma a cheque for Rs 6.30 lakh drawn on Punjab National Bank, Parwanoo, after he deposited Rs 42,000 with the company. But the cheque bounced when it was presented for clearing. The police arrested Mr Vikas Sood, a co-owner of the company, last evening. |
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