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Akshay Urja Divas observed
Hostels vacated due to non-availability
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Poser to Dhumal on Chief Parliamentary Secretaries
Army taking up flight safety issue with HP
Lensmen boycott govt functions
Students stage dharnas
Two killed as van, bus collide
Suspended cop arrested
Child marriage case registered
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Akshay Urja Divas observed
Shimla, August 20 Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, offered floral tributes at the statue of the former Prime Minister at Sadbhavna Chowk here. He was joined by his Cabinet colleagues, president of the Pradesh Congress Committee Viplove Thakur, MLAs, former ministers, former MLAs, the Mayor of the Municipal Corporation, Shimla, councillors, Chairmen and vice-chairmen of various boards and corporations, prominent citizens of the town. The Chief Minister flagged off “Akshay Urja Rally” at Oakover which terminated at The Ridge. Thousands of schoolchildren participated in the rally organised by Himurja, the nodal agency for non-conventional energy. Mr Virbhadra Singh said Rajiv Gandhi was a great visionary who prepared the nation for the 21st century. He said the real tribute to the departed leader would be to make environment protection a mass movement.Later, the Chief Minister planted a sapling at Jakhoo hills to launch the “Samriti Van Yojana” under which people could plant trees in memory of their dear ones by depositing Rs 1,000. The amount would be utilised for the maintenance of the plant. Mrs Vidya Stokes, Power Minister, inaugurated the exhibition of Non-Conventional Energy Devices organised on the occasion. Later, she gave prizes to winners of poster and slogan competition organised to mark the day. The National Students Union of India organised a blood donation camp. DHARAMSALA: Employees of the district administration here today took a pledge to work for the peace and harmony of the country, regardless of caste and religion, at a function organised in the Mini Secretariat to commemorate the 61st birth anniversary of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Deputy Commissioner Bharat Khera said people should take inspiration from Rajiv Gandhi to work for the unity. The day was also observed as Akshay Urja Divas to create awareness about the use of renewable energy and a rally was organised from the Mini Secretariat to the Community Hall. Students of Gurukul Senior Secondary School took part in it. An exhibition was also organised, displaying steps on how to save energy and harness sources of non-conventional energy by making it an integral part of the strategy. Dr Anjan Kumar Kalia, senior energy scientist, gave a presentation on sources of non-conventional energy. Local MLA Chandresh Kumari and ADC Nandita Gupta also addressed the students. KULU: Akshay Urja Divas was organised by Himurja former here today. Mr Chamel Singh, Deputy Commissioner, said: the pressure on ecology due to development activities needed to be minimised by way of plantation and using alternative sources to protect and preserve the natures. During the celebrations, essay writing and painting competition on “importance of energy in human life” was organised in which students from various schools and colleges of this district participated. Apurb Guleria of Postgraduate College, stood first in essay writing in the senior students category, Ms Ridhima Singh of OLS School stood second and Mr Deepak Singh and Tarun Sipahiya jointly attainted the third position. In juniors, Ms Pranita Matani, Bhanu Priya Sharma and Shubham all of OLS School stood first, second and third. In the painting competitions, Mr Anirudh (Govt. College), Mr Anshul Bisht (Archangel School) and Mr Rishi Kaushal (Govt. College) won 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions among the seniors while Mr Tashi Norbu (LMS), Ms Mamta Thakur (LMS) and Ms Kalyani Malhotra (OLS) were declared 1st, 2nd and 3rd. A tree plantation session of the ornamental plants on the national highway at Pirdi was also organised in which Mahila Mandals, NSS volunteers and organisers participated. |
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Hostels vacated due to non-availability of water
Kangra, August 20 According to the reports, the pipeline leading to the Chaib Govt. Polytechnic College hostels and the residential quarters was damaged during the laying of sewerage pipelines near Nathered village more than two months ago leaving the staff and the students of the college without water. The water supply was again disrupted on July 25 for four days and was restored by the college staff itself. Mr D.R. Sharma and Mr Puneet Sood, both wardens of the hostels, and other two lecturers of the college Mr Ashok Pathak and Dinesh Sharma told The Tribune during a visit to the colony, where the students had lodged a protest against the disrupted water supply, that the colony and the hostels were without water supply since August 11. They said that the nation was observing Independence day but residents here were fetching water from a Chacker Kund and other sources, more than a kilometer away from Chaib. They protested against the lukewarm attitude of the IPH Department officials who were supposed to repair the damaged pipe. One of the students said the irregular water supply has forced the students to be away from hostel. The students said the hostel mess remained closed for want of water supply. More than 20 families of the college staff were residing in the colony and they remain busy in fetching water from far away sources as the colony is situated on a hill. The protesting students said the IPH Department had not done anything. The college management had no funds and staff to run it comfortably. The Rs 37 lakh water supply scheme was under cloud from the very inception in 1997, one of the lecturers said. The water source for this scheme was in the Polytechnic College campus in Kangra town where two 12 HP water pumps were pushing the water to Chaib two-and-a-half km away from the source. Mr Ashok Pathak suggested that the source should be created at Chaib in order to overcome the day-to-day water supply disruptions. The Chief Warden and the officiating Principal of the college Ms Vineeta Arya, said the issue was taken up with the government and the IPH Department a number of times but without any result. The college management had arranged a pump operator at the local level to run the show. She said that water tanker was pressed into service to help the needy residents of the colony. The college management seems helpless to run the show. The IPH Department has no interest in taking over the scheme and the government is acting as a mute spectator to the human problem being faced by the students and the staff of the college. Mr Harbhajan Singh Bhajji, in charge for the technical education department portfolio, when contacted, told the Tribune that all efforts would be made to restore the water supply. |
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BJP threatens stir in state
Chandigarh, August 20 “The indicted Chief Minister has no right to stay in power and he should resign and seek a fresh mandate from the electorate,”the Leader of the Opposition in the Himachal Vidhan Sabha and former Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, said at a press conference here today. He threatened to launch a statewide
agitation. Alleging that the state was on the brink of bankruptcy, the BJP leader claimed the CAG report had painted a sorry-state-of-affairs. For 133 days in a year the government took a wages and means advance amounting to Rs 1,789 crore. Mr Dhumal alleged that all sections of society were fed up with the state government’s functioning. The test for the JBT teachers had been cancelled thrice and appointments had not been made even though the Supreme Court had quashed the SLP filed by the state
government. The quashing of the appointments had created a regional imbalance in the state administration with the Kangra region being “inadequately represented”, he added. He alleged that the Virbhadra government had gone slow on various hydel projects initiated during the BJP regime.If the hydel projects were completed in time the state government had earned valuable revenue and the power crisis in North India could have been eased, he added. |
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Poser to Dhumal on Chief Parliamentary Secretaries
Shimla, August 20 In a statement today, Mr Tek Chand, Mr Harshvardhan Chauhan, Mr Thakur Singh Bharmouri and Mr Lajja Ram, said the Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states of Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan had also appointed Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and Parliamentary Secretaries and asked Mr Dhumal if he would seek their removal. |
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Army taking up flight safety issue with HP
Chandigarh, August 20 The Army is seeking identification and marking of potential hazards like high tension cables, pylons and make-shift aerial ropeways strung across valleys along air routes used regularly by choppers. While the state government has initiated some measures as far as high tension pylons and cables are concerned, make-shift ropeways erected by locals to transport apple crop continues to be a major cause of concern. These ropeways are a result of socio-economic factors affecting apple growers in the upper regions of the state and there is little government agencies can do about them due to their temporary nature and non-availability of information about their presence. “The state government has taken up measures to paint pylons in high-visibility colours and in some cases luminous floaters have been fixed on high tension wires stretching across valleys,” a senior officer at Headquarters Western Command, said. “However, we would like them to speed up things,” he added. The issue would feature in the Civil-Military Liaison Conference between Western Command and the Himachal Pradesh Government, scheduled to be held at Shimla next week. Sources say that the most affected area is the air route to Puh, headquarters of the sugar sector which is responsible for the defence of Himachal Pradesh. At one point of time, aviators had identified and reported 30 make-shift ropeways along that route. The growing number of orchards and farms in the upper regions of the hill state as well as a vast network of transmission lines emerging from large-scale hydel power projects has resulted in pylons and cables springing up in almost every nook of the region. On Divali in 1998, two officers, Capt G D Singh and Major Shankaran were on a sortie to assist troops stranded on a long range patrol in the Himalayas when their chopper got entangled in a ropeway and crashed. The pilots, who were ferrying food and other supplies, were killed. In an unprecedented move, the father of one of the pilots, Mr Hardev Singh, a retired CRPF Commandant, has taken the Himachal Pradesh Government to court for alleged laxity on its part to ensure provision of adequate flight safety measures along regularly used air routes. The matter has been pending before the Himachal Pradesh High Court. Officers said that adequate provisioning of flight safety aids in the state would also be beneficial to civil operators as helicopters are the most effective mode of aerial transport in the state. Flying in the hills is a lot different from flying over plains. Adverse weather conditions may require a chopper to descend into a valley to avoid clouds or alter course. “Unpredicted weather changes or alteration of flight parameters can be tackled with skill and presence of mind. But unknown obstructions appearing out of the blue leaves little scope of evasive action,” an Army pilot said.
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Lensmen boycott govt functions
Shimla, August 20 The photographers turned up at the “Akshya urja diwas” carrying placards demanding action against those responsible for the lathi-charge. They did not click any pictures. Later, they also gheraoed Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, near the Congress party office and urged him to take action in the matter. The association lamented that the response of the Chief Minister was not very encouraging though he said that a magisterial inquiry had been ordered. |
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Students stage dharnas
Shimla, August 20 They also demanded the immediate announcement of dates for election to the Central Students Association. |
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Two killed as van, bus collide
Palampur, August 20 According to reports, the Maruti van was on its way to Nagrota Bhavan. When it reached
Nalti, it had a head-on collision with a bus. Ashok Kumar, one of the occupants of the van, died on the spot while another died on the way to the Zonal Hospital, Dharamsala. The injured have been admitted to the Zonal Hospital. The police has registered a case against the driver of the bus under Section 304-A of the IPC. |
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Suspended cop arrested
Solan, August 20 He was living here in a rented house for the past three months. A woman who was staying with him has also been arrested and taken to Punjab. |
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Child marriage case registered
Solan, August 20
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