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No case of bird flu in state: minister
Sensitising villagers towards wildlife
CM launches drive against intoxicants
In spite of tax holiday, drug prices soar
Larji project: Stokes promises action on inquiry report
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Unique initiative for students
CPM stir against price rise
CPI wants Jogindernagar
to remain in Mandi
Varsity Bill referred to House committee
Curse of blindness haunts family’s male members
Rs 1.24 cr for amenities
Block chiefs of Mahila Cong
Project on waste trashed
Minor abducted, raped
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No case of bird flu in state: minister
Shimla, March 31 He said so far no case of bird flu had been reported in the state and the government had taken all required steps to deal with any such kind of exigency. Replying to the call attention motion of Mr Jai Ram (BJP) in this regard, he said officials from his department and scientists of the state agriculture university, who visited the two farms to ascertain the reasons of the mortality, found no symptom of bird flu. They came to the conclusion that the chickens died due to malnutrition and ageing. Moreover, these farms still had a large number of birds which were in good health and that made it quite obvious that it was not a case of bird flu. He said 22 blood samples from the two farms and 23 from the adjoining farms had been sent to a Bhopal laboratory for testing. In all 1,885 samples had been sent from various parts of the state so far and all of them tested negative. Referring to the steps taken by the government, he said a state-level committee had been set up under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary and in the district, monitoring committees had been constituted under the Deputy Commissioners. Besides, rapid response teams had also been constituted in each district. The situation was also being monitored by the Union Government and reports were being sent daily to it. |
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Sensitising villagers towards wildlife
Shimla, March 31 The wildlife wing of the Forest Department through the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) will first undertake a survey to assess the attitude of the villagers in the areas with regard to the wildlife in those areas. The INTACH team which will visit all these villages will then submit its recommendations to the government for ensuring public participation in caring of the wildlife and precious forest wealth. The total area falling under the 32 wildlife sanctuaries is 5,562 sq km. The two national parks of the Pin Valley and the Great Himalayan National Park are spread over 1,440 sq km. A sum of over Rs 5 lakh has already been placed at the disposal of INTACH by the wildlife wing under the HP Forest Sector Reforms Project as the initial funding. “We will assess the attitude of the locals in terms of their religious sentiments and beliefs and how their economic welfare is affected by the wildlife sanctuaries,” said Mr B.S. Malhans, convener of the Himachal Chapter of the INTACH. The INTACH team after obtaining the detailed maps of these wildlife sanctuaries and the national parks to ascertain their exact boundaries will involve the villagers. A very interesting aspect of the survey shall be the natural protection of some of the forests owned by the local “devi” and “devatas”, leaving the area practically untouched due to religious sentiments. “These forests, termed as natural forests, are protected as the villagers do not interfere with it or leave their animals for grazing there due to the reverence fot the deity,” explains Mr Malhans. He says the rural cultural and social life, practically being dictated by the wishes of the deity, is a blessing in disguise.
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CM launches drive against intoxicants
Shimla, March 31 He offered floral tributes at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at The Ridge and released the literature brought out by the department to create awareness about the ill- effects of intoxicants. He said intoxicants not only undermined social and moral values, but were also detrimental to health. He said the campaign which included awareness drives, painting and slogan-writing competitions, declamation contests and debates, would benefit the youth.
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In spite of tax holiday, drug prices soar
Chandigarh, March 31 The 250 medium-to-large drug manufacturing units, who have opened shop in Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal, in order to avail the tax holiday, have slowly captured the drug retail market. In fact, most of these units do not produce drugs for direct sale and are available as outsourcing units for large drug companies. Since only 74 bulk drugs and their formulations are listed in the DPCO — which is only 25 per cent of the total pharma market — the drug manufacturers are free to fix the high MRP, which also includes trade margins. By outsourcing manufacturing to the companies in Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal, the drug companies can not only avoid excise duty, but also offer huge margins to chemists for pushing their brands in the market. For example, 10 tablets of Norfloxacin 400 mg (prescribed for meningitis, typhoid) manufactured in Delhi bears an MRP of Rs 17.50, while the same medicine manufactured in Solan (Himachal) is priced at Rs 46. 63. The DPCO for this drug is Rs 8.96 plus excise duty. Similarly, a pack (10 tablets) of Amlodipine (for hypertension) manufactured in Aurangabad is priced at Rs 8. 57 , while the medicine manufactured in Solan ( Himachal) is priced at Rs 36. Interestingly, a number of top pharma companies which were in the red when operating in the non-exempt states, immediately hiked their MRP after their facilities in either Himachal Pradesh or Uttaranchal became operational. A case in example is that of a unit based in Dera Bassi, which shifted to Baddi last year. The MRP on almost all drugs manufactured by the company were hiked by almost 25 per cent. Says Mr Jagdeep Singh, President, Punjab Drug Manufacturers
Association, ‘‘the units that did not shift to the exempt states were first burdened with the regulatory laws to upgrade their units at huge costs, and later forced to pay excise duty on the MRP. Though the government had introduced an MRP-based duty to increase the revenue, this rise in revenue is temporary as 70 per cent of the production is shifting to the three states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Jammu and Kashmir, by March 31, 2007’’. When contacted, Mr G S Sandhu, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Chemicals and Petrochem, agreed that the prices of drugs had been spiralling over the past one year. ‘‘We have asked NIPER, Mohali, to collect data and send us a report on the current market trends. After we have received the report, we will intervene to control these market forces.” |
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Larji project: Stokes promises action on inquiry report
Shimla, March 31 She informed the House that a Chief Engineer, a Superintending Engineer, an Executive Engineer and an accountant had been chargesheeted and Rs 2.86 crore recovered from the contractors. Some cases of recovery were under arbitration. She said the initial cost of the project was Rs 168 crore (at 1984 price level) which increased to Rs 797 crore ( at Mrach 1999 price level) when work actually got under way on the project. However, the project was now likely to be completed at a cost of Rs 1221 crore. Besides geological surprises, which led to changes in design, lack of equity support from the government was the main reasons for the exorbitant cost escalation. Besides the Larji Project, the board was executing the 100-MW Uhl Project and 110-MW Sawara Kuddu project. The Uhl project was slated for completion in 2008-09. It would generate 391.19 million units annually at a cost of Rs 2.45 per unit. Mr G.S. Bali, Tourism Minister, told the House that the Airports Authority of India had selected a site at Dhangu village in the Balh valley for construction of an international airport. |
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Unique initiative for students
Palampur, March 31 Mr Abhishek started these workshops in 2003 and has till now conducted 32 workshops in various schools of Himachal, Punjab and Chandigarh. He feels that though Himachal had been adjudged number one in India in terms of education, in terms of quality it was way behind. The workshops include career counselling, sensitisation about eco-friendliness, preparation for competitive examinations and social responsibilities. Questionnaires are given out which seek to know the present level of the students, their aspirations and weaknesses, among other things. The emphasis is more on government schools in remote areas where the students lack guidance, counselling and awareness compared to their urban counterparts. |
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CPM stir against price rise
Shimla, March 31 The state committee of the party which met here today, expressed concern over the spiralling prices which had put even essential commodities like pulses, flour, rice and sugar beyond the reach of the common man. The public distribution system had collapsed and market forces had taken over, it said. The party demanded that 14 essential items be kept in the price-control list.
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CPI wants Jogindernagar
to remain in Mandi
Mandi, March 31 In a memorandum addressed to the Delimitation Commission, which has fixed public hearings for Mandi, Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti for delimitation process here in the third week of April, Mr Amar Singh Raghava, secretary, Mandi district committee of the CPM, stated that the proposed merger of one part of Nihari sub-tehsil with Sundernagar and another part with the Nachan segment was not based on the facts on the ground. Mr Raghava said that the Nachan Assembly segment be renamed as the Nihari constituency as the entire sub-tehsil of Nihari was in Nachan. The Jogindernagar Assembly segment should be retained in the Mandi Lok Sabha seat not with the Kangra Lok Sabha Constituency as proposed by the commission, he added. Even the BJP and the IPH Minister, Mr Kaul Singh Thakur, who represents the Drang constituency, had also requested to the Delimitation Commission not to include Jogindernagar in the Kangra Lok Sabha Constituency and maintain its status quo. |
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Varsity Bill referred to House committee
Shimla, March 31 The eight-member select committee will be headed by Mr Kaul Singh, Irrigation and Public Health Minister, and have Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Mrs Asha Kumari, Mr Harsh Wardhan, Mr Rakesh Verma, Mr I.D.Dhiman, Mr Vikram Singh and Mr Harbans Rana as members. The committee will give its report by April 5. Initiating the debate on the Bill Mr P.K. Dhumal leader of the BJP group said that the government should exercise caution as any shortcomings in the law would open floodgates for the opening of private universities. In the absence of proper regulatory framework such institutions would come up without requisite facilities and lead to downgrading of academic standards. He drew the attention of the government to the verdict of the Supreme Court vide which private universities were scrapped in Chhattisgarh. The court had laid down that a separate legislation had to be enacted for every university and as such , he wondered if the proposed act could contravene the judgement. He underlined the need for a regulatory authority on the pattern of the telecom regulatory authority to take care of the vital issues like fee structure and constantly monitoring whether the institution adhered to the norms laid down by various statutory authorities. Several other issues like a common academic calendar and uniformity in statutes would have to be ensured. He had serious objection to the clause which allowed the sponsor to dissolve the university after giving one year’s notice as once the university was closed its degrees would not carry any value. Mrs Asha Kumari (Congress) called for modifying the dissolution clause and said universities could not be allowed to be wound up like any business establishment. It was a major flaw the assets would vest in the
sponsor the property could be used for any other business after closure of the institution. She asserted that the act must ensure that only institutions of repute were allowed to come up and the provision of closure should not find a place in it. Mr Virbhadra Singh, said that since the first statutes would be approved by the government most of the concerns would be taken care of. He agreed with the view that closure university should not be a trivial affair and the clause would be amended. He accepted the suggestion to refer the Bill to select committee. |
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Curse of blindness haunts family’s male members
Nurpur, March 31 The eldest blind member of this family is 60-year-old Sarajdeen who was the first family member to lose his eyesight at the age of 25. Since then every male member has become a victim. Sarajdeen has two brothers. While Chiragdeen died a few years back, Laldeen is blind. The next generation of the family, including Shavikdeen, Kutubdeen and Jumadeen, all males, have become blind whereas the youngest son, Birudeen, has crossed the age of 23 and is living under the constant fear of losing his eyesight after attaining the age of 25. Birudeen told The Tribune that he was aware of his imminent dark future. He revealed that he was making both ends meet by sowing fields of villagers and working as a labourer but he fears for his livelihood after loss of eyesight. He said his six-year-old daughter, Kapoora Bibi, was providing support to the blind male members of the family. He claimed the victims of the mysterious disease were examined by doctors several times at eye operation camps but to no avail. |
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Rs 1.24 cr for amenities
Nahan, March 31 This was disclosed by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr
R.S. Negi, at a workshop organised by the rural development agency on the rural santitation project. Mr Negi said that priority would be given for improvement of traditional water resources with community participation and asked the PRIs to actively involve themselves in these areas. |
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Block chiefs of Mahila Cong
Kulu, March 31 Mrs Sharma, in a press release, said the block presidents of the other districts would be nominated soon. The presidents of the block committees would constitute their bodies in consultation with senior leaders of the Assembly constituency for which the final approval would be given by her, she added. |
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Project on waste trashed
Baddi, March 31 Much to the embarrassment of the
BBNIA, the government has refused to transfer land that was earlier agreed in principle by government. It could not be given due to the commercial benefit attached to it in the real estate boom period here, it is learnt. The two sites had been selected at Majra and Dhabota villages near Nalagarh after the BBNIA took an initiative for the project. Over Rs 23 lakh was spent by the BBNIA to carry out feasibility and technical reports from a private technical consultant firm. The BBNIA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Gujarat-based United Phosphorus Limited
(UPL) to set up the plant. All pre-project reports were prepared keeping in mind the availability of the already selected land and any altercation in it could put adverse effect. Meanwhile, the State Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board conducted a public hearing at Majra village today to register the concerns of villager over project.
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Minor abducted, raped
Kangra, March 31 Kangra district police chief S.P. Singh told The Tribune today that the girl had gone to her relatives at Rehalpora on the outskirts of Kangra. She was accompanied by a 14-year-old child on the way to her house in Bharwala. When they reached the bus stand, she was abducted by a man posing as her relative. She was rescued from the man this afternoon during a police raid. The SSP said the parents of the girl informed the police late last night about the incident and a case under Section 363, IPC, was registered. She was sent for medical examination. The DSP, Mr Virender Thakur, said the preliminary report had confirmed rape. The SSP said the police had got some clues about the accused and it seemed he was the same person who had recently tried to sodomise a minor boy at Matour but the local people had thrashed him. A police party headed by the DSP Kangra was trying to nab the culprit. The DSP, Mr Virender Thakur, said the police had conducted raids at Parore, Palampur, Shahpur, Soura, Banoie, Chambi and Rait to nab the accused. So far, he had been evading arrest. |
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Rs 97,500 looted
Kumarhatti, March 31 Dharam Pal, who is a drawing teacher in a local government school, said in a complaint that he was carrying Rs 97,500. |
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Man with charas gets 10-yr RI
Parwanoo, March 31
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