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Miss Tibet expelled from tourism pageant
Budget session likely to be lively
Hydro project to dislocate 20 families,
Panchayat officials to undergo training
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No luck for stranded passengers
HP for modern quake monitoring system
Haemorrhagic septicaemia “under control”
Efforts needed to curb female foeticide
Two killed as car falls into nullah
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Miss Tibet expelled from tourism pageant
Dharamsala, February 20 The decision came as a bolt from the blue for both Tashi and her scores of fans. She had already taken part in some of the events of the pageant, which is being held in Harare, Zimbabwe. She had reached there on February 13. Mr Lobsang Wangyal, director of the Miss Tibet contest, said he had spoken to the organisers of the Miss Tourism World pageant in Zimbabwe and they had admitted that this had been done under pressure from the Chinese Government. “Beijing directed the Chinese Embassy in Harare to ensure expulsion of Miss Tibet from the Miss Tourism World pageant. This is what they told me over the phone. The finale of the pageant is scheduled on February 26 and around 90 countries are participating in the pageant,” he said. “I spoke to Tashi. She was very upset as a lot of hard work had gone into preparing for the contest. The entire Tibetan community had been looking forward to see her perform there. She is presently in London and would soon reach India,” he said. Taiwan is also represented in the pageant as Chinese Taipei. It was earlier shown as a separate country but due to Chinese objection it also had to be represented under the current title, added Mr Wangyal. Miss Tourism World is a British production. Miss Tibet is chosen from Tibetan exiles around the world. We feel that it is very unfortunate that politics dictates the dreams and aspirations of young women. The Miss Tibet pageant has nothing to do with politics. It is about brains and beauty of young Tibetan women and to showcase the unique Tibetan cultural heritage in a contemporary fashion, he said. Mr Tenzin Tsundue, a local businessman, said the entire thing had come as a shock for all her fans. “The entire concept of Miss Tibet is based on freedom of women and the international community should not have given in to political pressure. Such contests should be fair and free from politics,” he said. Tashi Yangchen is a 24-year-old computer engineer from Sikkim, also won the Miss Photogenic-2004 title, as decided by the public through online and ballot voting at the Miss Tibet pageant last year. The five contenders for the coveted title — Dhondup Wangmo, Kalsang Dickey, Sonam Dickey, Tashi Yangchen and Thinlay Dolma — had taken part in seven rounds during a three-day pageant, and were judged on certain criteria including intelligence, articulation, confidence, artistic ability and stage presence. |
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Budget session likely to be lively
Shimla, February 20 Besides such burning issues, important legislative business will also be transacted during the 46-day session. The Panchayati Raj Amendment Bill, the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Bill, the Public Services Tariff Commission Bill and some other bills are likely to be passed during the session. The BJP, which has been staging frequent boycott of proceeding in the past to highlight its viewpoint, is learnt to have changed its strategy for the ensuing session. According to party sources, it will now focus more on debating the issues in the House rather than staging walkouts. With as many as 26 sittings during the session there will be ample time for discussions. The party has been attacking the government on the alleged police atrocities on Dalits in
Santokhgarh, failure to provide jobs, corruption, particularly the timber grading scam, price rise and the proposed public services tariff commission and may use these issues to put the ruling party on the defensive in the House. The financial health of the state will come under the Opposition scanner during discussion on the Budget and the focus will be growing debt of the government and the MoU on fiscal reforms. The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Bill and the Public Services Tariff Commission Bill will also provide an opportunity to highlight the chinks in the fiscal management policy of the government. The BJP, which has been accusing the Congress of trying to control the sports bodies, is likely to adopt an aggressive posture as and when the Bill in this regard comes up before the House. The session will commence with the customary Governor’s address and the general Budget for the 2005-06 will be presented on March 11. There will be a nine-day recess from March 19 during which the standing committees of the House will scrutinise the demands of various departments. The Vidhan Sabha secretariat has so far received over 700 questions, besides notices for discussion on various important issues. The BJP legislative party and the Congress legislative group are holding meetings late this evening to finalise their respective strategies for the prolonged session. |
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Hydro project to dislocate 20 families, says minister
Shimla, February 20 Stating this at a press conference here today, Mr Manoj Gaur, Managing Director of Jaiprakash Associates Limited, allayed the fears of the environmentalists in this regard and asserted that the company would fully comply with all requirements of the environment management plan. He said only 20 families would be dislocated due to the project, whereas in the Tehri project, which was of the same installed capacity, a whole township of over 10,000 population was uprooted. In the 1,450 MW Sardar Sarovar Project over one lakh people had been displaced. Mr Gaur said that the Sutlej between Karcham and Wangtu would not dry up as the government had made it mandatory to release at least 10 per cent of the available discharge at all times. Similarly, the debris would be dumped only at the designated sites. The concerns of the local people would also be taken care of and the company would also undertake development works for their benefit. He said there was no controversy over the Rs 820 crore cement plant to be set up near Mangal in Solan district. As per the original MoU signed with the government the mining of limestone was to be carried out in the Mangal area, which fell in the Solan district and the plant was to be set up in adjoining Bilaspur district. However, the people of Mangal demanded that the plant should also be set up in Solan district to which the company had agreed to and the government had also approved the proposal. The project would have a capacity of three million tonnes. It would produce two million tonnes of clinker and a blending unit would be set up where different grades of cement would be produced using fly ash. The project would be commissioned by 2007. |
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Panchayat officials to undergo training
Shimla, February 20 Addressing a press conference here yesterday, Panchayati Raj Minister Sat Mahajan said the government had decided to adopt a humane approach despite having reservations on the selection of the sahayaks. “Their appointment shall now depend on their performance in the qualifying examination to be held after a three-month training along with newly recruited panchayat sahayaks,” he disclosed. Mr Mahajan said this was being done to ensure that all 3,037 panchayats in the state had a qualified panchayat sahayak, who can take on the responsibilities of panchayat secretaries and be entitled to an enhanced emolument of Rs 1,000 after appointment on contract basis. There had been uncertainty over the fate of the sahayaks as it was being proposed to make them face fresh interviews. Mr Mahajan said the decision to let them continue had been taken after the Chief Minister received several representations. The process of selection of would be completed by May 2005, and the entire training process would take three years. Following this, the panchayats in the state would have employed over 10,500 persons as panchayat sahayaks, technical assistant, tailoring instructors and chowkidars. Mr Mahajan said within the next two years the panchayats not having their own office shall be provided with one. “These are some of the major steps in empowering panchayats and giving them complete control over their staff,” he said. |
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No luck for stranded passengers
Shimla, February 20 There are five patients on board the chopper who include a one-and-half-month-old infant and a seven-year-old girl identified as Anjali. They are reported to be in a stable condition and the two women doctors on board the chopper are attending on the ill. The flying machine belonging to Mesco company was on its way from Kilad in the tribal valley of Pangi to Bhuntar airport in Kullu
district with passengers when it was forced to land at Sissu due to bad weather conditions on February 18.The chopper had been hired by the state government to facilitate the people of the tribal districts which remain cutoff due to heavy snowfall for around six months of the year. Sissu is a few km from Keylong, capital of Lahaul and Spiti. A majority of the passengers had boarded the chopper at Kilad. The pilot of the helicopter S.S. Bains, when contacted on the telephone, said that they had to land the chopper at Sissu due to the bad weather as a safety measure and, moreover, they had been requested to pick-up the ailing Anjali. He said the helicopter was airworthy and they would be ready to fly weather permitting.
— UNI |
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HP for modern quake monitoring system
Shimla, February 20 The hill state which falls in the highly seismic zone at present has about a dozen monitoring centres but out of these only the one located at Kalpa in the tribal Kinnaur district is digital and connected with the VSAT to the headquarters of the Meteorological Department. Any seismic activity is instantly conveyed to the headquarters through the satellite link. The station at Shimla is also digital but lacks the satellite connectivity. The remaining monitoring stations at Dalhousie, Nurpur, Thein, Pong Dam, Sundernagar and Jwalamukhi have the conventional analogue equipment for recording seismic activity. Besides the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra Dun, has also set up network of monitoring stations with a base station at Naddi. For proper monitoring of tectonic activity at least three digital stations are required as observations made at three places within a radius of 200 km help to locate the focus and the epicentre of the tremor accurately. The government has now take up the case for setting up two more stations in the state. Mr Sanjiv Gupta, Secretary, Science and Technology, said a proposal in this regard would be sent to the Centre. Besides, a conference would also be organised to discuss quake-related disaster management. The government also proposed to create awareness about quake -resistant structures to minimise loss of life and property in the event of earthquakes. He said though there was no established methodology for predicting tremors, scientists had at times been able to make accurate forecasts. In China the quake at Hi Cheng was accurately predicted after studying the changes in land elevation and water table. Mr Keilis Borok, a Russian scientist, successfully predicted the September, 2003 Hakkaido quake in Japan and the one which rocked the central California the same year. |
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Haemorrhagic septicaemia “under control”
Hamirpur, February 20 Dr Harbhajan Singh Kochhar, Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry Department, visited Rit, Tillu, Rail villages yesterday and met the affected animal owners. The team also immunised the ailing animals and gave various suggestions to the animal owners. Medical representatives of two leading firms dealing in medicines for animals also paid a visit to the affected villages along with the Deputy Director. Dr R.C. Sood, Joint Director, Animal Husbandry Department, and a team of mobile doctors also visited the Rail area in the evening and treated the ailing animals there. At Tillu village, Suman Parmar, a young lady, was in tears when she met the reporters. She told The Tribune that one of her calves was not in good health. At Rit village, where five animals have fallen prey to the disease, the farmers were panicky. They have isolated their ailing animals from other animals. Anita Kumari, Neelam Sharma and Pyere Lal Sharma of the village demanded cash compensation for the death of their buffaloes. These villagers attributed the use of dirty handpump water and rain for the death of their animals. Dr Kochhar, said 39 animals were treated but 27 had so for died. Dr Kochhar attributed the outbreak of the disease to the inclement weather and insanitary conditions in the cowsheds. He suggested the metalling of the cowsheds and daily cleaning of these sheds. He claimed that there was no shortage of vaccines with the department and all out steps has been taken to help the affected animals. |
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Efforts needed to curb female foeticide
Hamirpur, February 20 Addressing a seminar on health-related problems and female foeticide here today, he said that it was a dangerous trend and it must be curbed. He said that male and female children should be given equal weightage. Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, who chaired the meeting, stressed the need for a complete ban on sex determination tests. He said that strong steps should be taken against those who were conducting tests on sex determination. Mr Kuldip Singh Dhatwalia, Regional Director of the Field Publicity Department, said that the department had launched a massive campaign in Hamirpur, Shimla, Chamba, Nahan and Mandi districts to educate the people about the health related problems and how to solve them. He warned the people against AIDS. |
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Two killed as car falls into nullah
Mandi, February 20 The victims have been identified as Laxmi Singh Verma, a junior engineer posted at
Bakshiad, who was also president of the Mandi District Junior Engineers Association, and Prem Singh (46), a shopkeeper from
Bakshiad. They were on their way to Bakshiad when the car met with an accident, say police sources. The police has sent the bodies for a post-mortem examination to the Zonal Hospital, Mandi. In another mishap, a three-wheeler fell into a nullah at Katindi under Drang police station, injuring two of its occupants. The victims are reported to be safe and under treatment at Zonal Hospital, Mandi, the police said. |
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Panel on Sikh pilgrims recast
Shimla, February 20 The Chief Secretary will be the chairman of the committee, which will have the Principal Secretary (Home), the Director-General of police, Mr Rattan Singh, former MLA, Mr Ravel Singh, Mr Sarbjot Singh Bedi, Mr Manjit Singh Dhamija, as members. The Secretary (Home) will be the member-secretary. The committee will be advisory and its main duties will be to collect and disseminate information useful to intending pilgrims, to advise and assist in appointing Sikh pilgrims and subcommittee in districts and other matters, including inoculation, vaccination. |
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Secondary education to be compulsory
Mandi, February 20 Addressing a gathering at the prize distribution function of Senior Secondary School, Sivadar, about 30 km from here, he said that the government was opening 2,000 middle schools in the state during the next three years so that the parents sent their children to school not more than 5m km from their villages. |
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