Shimla, March 6
Shivratri was celebrated with religious fervour in the state. Devotees thronged temples of Lord Shiva, which were specially decked up for the occasion. Long queues were seen at all temples and the devotees had to wait for long to pay obeisance.

A special “bhandara” was organised at the Shiva temple in Tara Devi. The temples on the Mall, Kali Bari and Sankat Mochan also saw rush of devotees.

It is one of the major festival of the state and the government had granted the status of international festival to Shivratri of Mandi where official celebration last for almost a week. Festivals held at Baijnath and Kathgarh in Kangra have been been accorded the status of state festival and district festival, respectively.

Mandi: Led by Dev Kamrunag, pressing devta of the Shivratri mela, over 151 devtas, carried in chariots amid runny tunes played by bajantris, reached here today from different parts of the district for the weeklong Shivratri fair that begins tomorrow.

Other prominent devtas reaching here for the festival included Tungasi, Adi Purkh Brahma, Buda Bingal and Hurang Narayan and Sukh Dev Rishi. They would lead the jaleb procession from Rajmadhav temple to Paddal Maidan.

Meanwhile, devotees thronged the Bhootnath temple on Shivratri today. The Shivlingam at the temple was bared after it was wrapped in butter.

Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal would be the chief guest of the Jaleb procession tomorrow. Governor V.S. Kokje would be chief guest on the concluding day.

Mandi, March 6
The Indian Peoples Theatre Association (IPTA), the association has demanded the formation of an “independent state mela authority” to manage and organise fairs so that local artistes can get enough chances and folk arts are promoted. The demand comes after the coming to light of “lapses and irregularities” in the collection and utilisation of crores of rupees meant for fairs and festivals.

Armed with information procured under the RTI Act, IPTA’s state convener and RTI activist Lawan Thakur released the list of expenditures and incomes generated by the mela committees of Shivratri, Summer Festival, Hamir Utsav, Minjar, Shivratri of Baijanth and the like in 2006-2007.

He said, “The IPTA has taken up nationwide campaign on the cultural issues so that state governments came out with cultural policies as there is no transparent policy for the preservation and promotion of local artistes, folk arts and folk theatres.”

Thakur said, “It has been found that Rs 5 crore was collected by committees for Shivratri, Minjar, Summer Festival, Hamir Utsav, tribal festival of Kinnaur, Nalwar, Holi (Sujanpur), Lavi and Baijnath Shivratri out of which Rs 2.18 crore, about 42.5 per cent, was spent on entertainment.”

He said it was found that the government had no fixed norms for giving grants for melas and regulating expenditure on local artistes or on so-called “stars from outside”. For example, the Shivratri mela committee spent only 2.66 per cent of the budget on local artistes. Most of the mela committees did not provide the break-up on this head to the IPTA, raising doubts about the use of funds, he added.

He said most of the income (37.16 per cent) was raised by mela committees by renting stalls, while the remaining income came from donations and advertisements. “Most of the funds are collected by officials and heads of the departments in cash and deposited in cash with the committees. Even a multinational company pays the same amount as is paid by a halwai towards stall rent. Officials are paid commission for raising funds, ” he said.

DC-cum-president of the Shivratri mela committee Onkar Sharma said, “The effort is to accommodate each and every aspect of the mela and cater to the taste of the people. The funds are raised by members through donations and receipts are issued. The funds are sometime collected in cash and deposited with the committee. Sometime, some lapses also take place, but we try to rectify these from time to time.”

Sharma said he was not aware about the officials being paid commission for raising funds. He said he would look into it. “We welcome if the state mela authority is formed by the government,” he added.

Shimla, March 6
With the arrest of the kingpin behind the theft of priceless antique idols from the ancient Palden Lamo temple at the Kunzum Pass in Kaza could lead to a breakthrough in several other cases of theft from temples all over the state.

Satinder Jain, the mastermind behind the theft was nabbed in Delhi after at least 15 raids in the recent past. The police is hopeful of getting a lot of information from Jain, who has been sent to eight-day police remand after being produced in a Rampur court.

A senior police official said Jain would now be taken to Nalagarh, where the entire planning of the theft was done. Moreover, three of the thieves belong to the same place.

It was in October, 2006, that some antique idols enjoying great value in the international market were stolen from the Palden Lamo temple. The temple committee informed the police, who succeeded in nabbing the culprits at Kullu.

It was on the basis of information divulged by the four thieves that the police was able to identify kingpin Satinder Jain. “Though we managed to arrest him in November, 2006, feigning illness he evaded transit remand on the plea that he would later present himself in the Rampur court, which ultimately did not happen,” informed a senior officer. He said Satinder managed to evade the police but the team led by the DSP, Kaza, which was maintaining surveillance on him, managed to nab him from his Preet Vihar residence in Delhi, two days ago.

The police is also on the lookout for two other accomplices of Satinder who used to hire thieves after planning thefts in temples. The other two who were allegedly involved in the theft include Delhi-based Mohan Lal Verma and Lokesh Dutt Sharma from Faridabad. Had the police not swung into action, the priceless antiques from the Palden Lamo temple would have also reached the international market where smuggled antiques are in great demand. Many cases of theft of idols and other artefacts from temples in Himachal remain unsolved.

Shimla, March 6
Food and civil supplies minister Ramesh Dhwala said here that adequate quantities of essential commodities were stocked in the godowns of the State Civil Supplies Corporation and the availability of foodgrain was satisfactory.

He said 23,008 quintals of wheat, 1.53 lakh quintals of rice, 1.91 lakh quintals of wheat flour and 28,053 quintals of levy sugar were available on March 1 under various schemes. Moreover, 69,200 quintals of wheat, 2.09 lakh quintals of rice, 1.01 lakh quintals of wheat flour and 47,041 quintals of levy sugar had been allocated for March.

Under the special subsidy scheme, 4,427 quintals of dal malka, 4,458 quintals of dal chana, 5,239 quintals of dal urd, 1.26 lakh litre of mustard oil, 1.93 lakh litres of refined oil and 3,193 quintals of salt were available with the corporation.

He said order had been placed for supply of pulses, oil and salt for the month of March after inviting tenders. However, due to sudden price rise at the national level, some suppliers were not making adequate supply. Action was being initiated against such persons as per conditions of the tenders, he added.

He said fresh tenders were invited on March 17 to deal with the situation and quota for the month of March would be made available to the public during this month itself. He said the government was committed to check price rise and ensuring quality and availability of essential items.

Shimla, March 6
Presenting the first budget after returning to power will be a tricky exercise for Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal as he will have to strike a balance between the expectations of the people and the economic compulsions of the debt-ridden state.

The previous Congress government had opened several new institutions in the election year besides launching several populist schemes putting additional recurring burden on the exchequer. Besides, some committed liabilities like grant of 5 per cent interim relief to employees on the Punjab pattern and release of instalment of dearness allowance, which became due in January, will have to be taken care of in the budget.

The new government will be hard pressed to review the subsidised ration scheme that entails an expenditure of Rs 80 crore and the amount could go up depending on the rate of inflation. The Congress has already started making a noise and urged the government to continue the scheme. The government may adopt a middle path and restrict the benefit of subsidised ration to Antodaya and below poverty line (BPL) families, instead of scrapping the scheme altogether.

The total debt burden of the state has crossed the Rs 22,000-crore mark and the annual interest liability alone is Rs 1,800 crore. The committed liability on account of salaries and pension has touched Rs 4,000 crore whereas the state’s total income from own resources is Rs 2,800 crore. In fact, the committed liabilities account for 82 per cent of the total budget and the situation will only worsen after the implementation of the pay commission report, which is expected during the year.

Soon after assuming the office, Dhumal increased the minimum daily wages by Rs 25 and social security pension by Rs 100 per month. These decisions have raised high hopes among other sections from the new government.

Dharamsala, March 6
The Dalai Lama today said the “truth of Tibet” would eventually prevail. “On my part, I will offer prayers to live together with you for a long time and the truth of Tibet will eventually prevail,” the Dalai Lama said addressing devotees here.

On the margins of the 10-day teaching, a joint association of the Lithang Tenshug Committee, the Gaden Choekhor Ling Monastery and Gu Chu Sum (ex-prisoners association) offered prayers for the long life of the Dalai Lama.

Top officials of the central Tibetan administration (CTA) were present on the occasion. The Dalai Lama conferred the annual spring teachings on lord Buddha’s 34 Jataka tales and Dhammapada from March 21 to March 23, sources said. — PTI

Shimla, March 6
Former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh demanded today that the BJP regime should continue with the subsidised ration scheme started by the Congress government as it had brought great relief to the people at a time when the prices of essential commodities were sky-rocketing.

Talking to The Tribune the Congress leader said the Chief Minister was trying to mislead the people on the issue of the ration scheme by presenting wrong facts. “The expenditure has already been made on the scheme under which three pulses, cooking oil, mustard oil, rice, atta and salt are being made available to everyone at highly subsidised rates so the question of not making budgetary provisions does not arise,” he clarified.

He said since his government was to continue in office till March 9 and the supplementary budget with all necessary provision would have been made therein.

Virbhadra Singh also clarified that the statement of the Chief Minister that the Congress had not made any budgetary provision for the maintenance of temples was totally wrong. “We had made an annuity of Rs 12 crore for the maintenance and upkeep of the temples which were finding it difficult to manage their day-to-day affairs due to a financial crisis,” he said. All Deputy Commissioners had been directed to furnish complete details about temples, income, expenditure and other details but due to the announcement of the early elections, the process could not be completed. Moreover, this fund was to be in perpetuity and the amount of Rs 12 crore was to be maintained.

Virbhadra Singh regretted that the BJP government was trying to distort facts so as to take away credit from the Congress on the welfare schemes started by it. He added there were many other welfare schemes that had been proposed by the Congress government but they could not be fulfilled due to the announcement of early elections.

The former Chief Minister who has been conspicuous by his absence from the Assembly session so far is expected to be back in a day or two. Despite Virbhadra not holding the post of Congress Legislature Party leader his presence in the Assembly is likely to make the proceedings more lively.

Hamirpur, March 6
Giving a practical shape to the drive of popularising different plants for their planetary effects the Hamirpur forest division is now ready to cater to the demand of such plants from the public and departmental nurseries.

The Forest Department has decided to open a counter at Sujanpur Tihra during the Holi festival from March 19 to 21 to elicit demand of plants having planetary effects from the public, which it would supply from their nurseries raised at 37 places in the district.

Divisional forest officer Sanjay Sood has collected information about planetary effects of a few plants from the scriptures. Telling about planetary effects of these plants he said, “Old scriptures like our Purans, especially Matsaya and Vishnu Puran, the Vedas and Shrimad Bhagwad Gita etc. have many references about these effects.”

To popularise these plants according to their efficacies the Forest Department had been telling the people to plant these trees for its planetary effects and is now ready to supply the plants.

The plants which have been recommended for efficacious use and for planetary effects are: aak (calotrasfisprosera) for sun sign, plash (buteamanospeema) for moon, khair (acacia cactechu) for Venus, putkai (acaranthuspra) for Mercury, peepal (ficus religiousa) for Jupiter, gular (ficus glomerta) for Venus, shammi (prosopis cinnercia) for Saturn, drub (cynodon dectylon) for dragon head (rahu) and kusha (desmostaicia bipaerata) for curing effects of dragon tail ketu.

Sood said, “The department would supply these plants free of cost or at a very nominal government rate to popularise tree plantation and would attract more and more people towards planting these tress.”

Besides, brining good luck and countering planetary effects these plants would provide fuel wood, fodder, fruits and greenery in the area for environmental protection.

Kullu, March 6
A temple, devta’s bhandar (godown) and six houses were gutted at Banaugi village in Banjar subdivision yesterday. Three cows, two sheep and three lambs also perished in the fire. However, there was no loss of human life.

There have been a number of fire incidents over the past four months. Temples of Palinag in Mohini village, Jamlu Devta in Malana, Gargaacharya in Kanda village and now Kashu Narayan Devta in Banaugi village have to face destruction. It not only caused financial losses but also destroyed age-old cultural heritage. The Kardar Sangh has decided to ask devtas about the cause of such fire incidents and obey the verdict.

Kashu Narayan Devta usually settles general criminal disputes, cases of thefts, cheating and land disputes and people had faith in its decisions.

The district administration gave blankets and Rs 10,000 each to the victims. DC Abhishek Jain said tehsildar M.R. Bhardwaj reached the spot immediately on hearing the news and supervised the firefighting and rescue operation. He said the affected families would be given more relief as per the government manual.

Deputy Speaker Khimi Ram expressed grief over the incident and urged the Chief Minister to grant funds for the reconstruction of the temple and its “bhandar”.

Shimla, March 6
The Agriculture Department plans to promote organic farming in a big way so that farmers could take maximum advantage of various schemes of the Centre under which incentives are made available.

Director of agriculture J.C. Rana said here today that efforts made over the past four years had yielded encouraging results and 9,040 farmers had been registered for organic farming. Certificates of organic farming had been issued to 56 farmers and 1,200 had become eligible for granting certificates of organic produce.

The Government of India had started the capital investment subsidy scheme for establishment of vermin-culture hatcheries-cum-composting units under which back-ended subsidy was being provided on capital investment at the rate of 25 per cent of the project cost up to a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh.

The objective was to encourage farmers to set up hatcheries so that the demand of earthworms required for vermin-compost could be met. He said 14 such units would be established by the department.

The farmers would have to contribute only 25 per cent of the project cost and 50 per cent could be raised as a term loan from banks. The subsidy would be released by the national centre of organic farming to units funded by promoters from their own resources, whereas national bank for rural and agriculture development would give subsidy to the units financed by commercial banks and regains rural banks.

To demonstrate the technique of organic farming, one departmental farm was being converted into model organic farm. Training camps were being organised for farmers. Extension officers of the department were also being provided specialised training in various aspects of organic farming, particularly regarding control of quality of organic inputs. The department was setting up a bio-fertiliser laboratory at a cost of Rs 20 lakh.

Shimla, March 6
The fourth census of micro, small and medium enterprises in the state will be conducted by the Government of India from March to June.

A spokesperson of the Industries Department said information related to production, raw material, fuel, employment, exports, fixed assets, plant, machinery and equipment, products and services, net worth, loans raised by the enterprises, along with the outstanding amount and a few classificatory characteristics, would be collected during the census. An assessment of sick and incipiently sick micro and small enterprises would also be made through the census data.

The registered enterprises that had filed their entrepreneur memorandum (EM) would be surveyed during the census.

He requested all entrepreneurs concerned to furnish accurate information to the enumerators. He said the entrepreneurs of micro, small and medium enterprises registered permanently or those that had filed EM till March 31, 2007, could report to the nodal officer (census), deputy director, industries (DIC), in case no enumerator approached the unit for data collection.

Nurpur, March 6
Up in arms against the alleged failure of the management of a Hyderabad-based private power project company to disburse wages to workers engaged in 5-MW Baner hydropower project in Kangra district, the workers went on strike today.

They have been allegedly not paid wages for over six months by the contractor providing labour for the project work. The contractor itself has not reportedly received payment from the company that was awarded project by the previous Virbhadra Singh government. The project was awarded in November, 2005.

Sources said 150 workers (migrants) had so far left the job for want of disbursement of wages on time and about 100 today went on strike that badly hit the ongoing construction of the project. The Labour Commissioner has been urged to intervene into the issue. Meanwhile, striking workers visited the company office at Dharamsala.

The project manager refuted the allegation of non-disbursement of wages to the workers. He even claimed that there was no strike of workers.