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Raid-de-Himalaya to skip Leh
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Rain may hit fish production at Gobind Sagar, Pong Dam
This soldier promotes body parts donation
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal honours Col Jaswant Singh Chandel (retd) at Bilaspur for distinguished services to society.
Hockey a neglected sport in state, says Deepak Thakur
Devotees queue up to pay obeisance at the Naina Devi temple in Bilaspur. Photo by the writer
Malana villagers face economic crisis
Commonwealth Games
NIT Hamirpur ranking dips: Survey
Dr LS Pal gets Revered Teacher Award
Dr LS Pal being conferred with ‘Revered Teacher Award’ by Dr DJ Dasgupta, former Director of Medical Education Himachal Pradesh, during the Association of Physcians of India Conference at Tanda Medical College.
Photo: Ashok Raina
Chamba does well under RTI Act, claims DC
vignettes
Poor infrastructure
Govt urged to list cricket matches of elderly in sports calendar
Nurpur hospital lacks beds, special medicare
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Raid-de-Himalaya to skip Leh
Shimla, September 28 The rally being organised by the Himalayan Motorsport Association will take off on October 10 from here and pass through Nalagarh, Solan, Manali, Kaza, Keylong and Sarchu and terminate at Manali on October 15. It will not enter the flood-affected Leh area and as such the overall distance to be covered by the participants will be 1668 km as compared to about 2,500 km last year. The Raid-de-Himalaya is the only Asian motorsport event listed on the off-road rallies calendar of the Switzerland-based FIM (Federation Internationale Motorcyclisme) and it has put the hill state firmly on the international motor-sport map. In all 175 participants will take part in the event featuring both four-wheelers and two-wheelers in the X-treme and Adventure Trial categories. There are 43 entries of four-wheelers and 54 of two-wheelers in the X-treme category. The remaining 78 will be participating only in the easier Adventure Trial category meant for the less experienced. There are six foreign participants, all from Austria. Ace driver Suresh Rana will be a part of the Thunderbolt team, competing with Sunny Sidhu, champion of the Moghul Rally, and a team of the Indian Army. The rally will concentrate in and around the cold desert of Spiti for most part, using the rough roads around Kaza to provide scenic backdrops for the international event. The rally will not enter the Leh area due to the ongoing relief operations. Some of the high mountain passes like 17,3000-foot Tanglang La and Lachung La will be avoided as the rally will return from Nakee La (16,134 ft). However, it will not take away the thrill as the rally will spend a day more in the harsh , inhospitable but picturesque hills and valleys of Spiti, , says association vice-president Manjiv Bhalla. On the first day, the rally will pass through a stretch in the lower hill areas, including Arki, Nalagarh and Pinjore to return to Shimla by the evening. It will reach Manali via Narkanda, Baghi and Jalori on the following day and cross over to Lahaul-Spiti from the Rohtang pass to halt at Kaza , the headquarters of Spiti, on the third day. The motorists will explore the rugged high-mountain ranges in the cold desert for the next two days. On the final day, the rally will again cross to Lahaul over the Kunzum pass to touch the Nakee La pass before it culminates at Manali. Much will depend on weather and the organisers are hoping that with ample rain during the monsoon the region will have a week of clear weather. The event has been affected by inclement weather in the past and the rally had to be abandoned midway due to unseasonable snow in 2004 and 2007.
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Rain may hit fish production at Gobind Sagar, Pong Dam
Shimla, September 28 It was for the first time that the state Fisheries Department was able to procure such a huge quantity of fish seed and that too of a much bigger size enhancing chances of survival. As compared to previous years, the rains this year had been excessive, thus, leading to apprehensions that the fish production could be adversely affected. However, the Fisheries Department on its part is taking all necessary precautions to minimise the damage on account of rains. The department is undertaking stocking at least 30 km away from the water bodies so that the impact of rains is less and the fish seed is not washed off. In Pong, the stocking has been done somewhere close to Jawali and Dada Sibba while in Gobind Sagar it has been done close to Bilaspur. Despite excessive rains, BD Sharma, director, Fisheries at Bilaspur, is hoping to enhance the fish production at Gobind Sagar from the already country's best of 100 kg per hectare per annum. The species being bred here include silver carp, katla, rohu, mrigal and common carp. Incidentally, while the national fish production is at 20 kg per hectare per annum, Gobind Sagar leads way ahead at 100 kg per hectare per annum. "If all goes well I am confident we will be able to touch an all time high of 150 kg per hectare per annum," asserts Sharma. His optimism stems from the
fact that this time quality fish seed was procured from a dealer of Madhya Pradesh who in turn got it from West Bengal. In the Pong Dam in Kangra the production is relatively low at about 450 tonnes per annum with the main varieties being singla, mahaseer, katla and rohu. Way back in 1988 the production had touched 797 tonnes but due to major floods that year the production was hit in a big way. The other biggest obstacle being faced at Pong Dam was the seed being consumed by the migratory birds who flock the area during winter.
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This soldier promotes body parts donation
Bilaspur, September 28 After his retirement Col Jaswant Singh Chandel devoted most of his time and effort in the service of society to return something of which he had got in plenty as a soldier. He gave much of his attention towards providing free medical services to poor villagers in his home village, Kalol, in this district, an area where such services were unavailable till a few years ago. He is known for his free removal of kidney stones of any variety with his medicinal doses and precautions of eating habits. The man who cleared stones from kidneys of scores of his patients, got a shock of his life when both kidneys of his elder daughter, with two little children, suddenly got damaged and required immediate healthy kidney. Col Jaswant Singh Chandel decided to donate one of his kidneys to his daughter, though doctors said it was risky at that advanced age of 64. The operation in 2008 at the AIIMS,New Delhi, was successful and both father and daughter are now hale and hearty. Donating his kidney to save his daughter a turning point in his life and he decided to inspire and goad others to donate their body and body parts, including kidneys and eyes, to the "body banks " after death. Col Jaswant Singh Chandel's crusade has been a great success as more than 100 persons, mostly ex-servicemen , have volunteered for body donations and he has sent "pledge forms" of all these persons to the "body donation bank" of the AIIMS , New Delhi . Most of these donors are from Bilaspur and Kangra districts. They include Principal Sushil Pundir of Bilaspur town, writer Prem Lata Chandel of Kalol, Major Lekh Ram Sharma and Mrs Satya Kumari Sharma of Amarpur, Mrs. Manjusha Thilwaal of Palampur, Mrs. Rakhi Chandel and Mrs. Sanju Rana of Kalol, Subedar Mahant Ram of Gochar- Gandhir, Gyan Singh of Bhadoliyan , journalist Yadvinder Singh Rana of Nalagarh and advocate Daulat Singh Thakur of Rani Kotla in Bilaspur district. Colonel Jaswant Singh has appealed to other donors to contact him on phone No. 01978- 262025 to become a part of this "campaign for humanity".
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Hockey a neglected sport in state, says Deepak Thakur
Mandi, September 28 He said, “Himachal gives a damn to its sportsmen and all talks of promoting sports, including hockey, are just empty promises. This is evident from the fact that the state has no hockey team to play even in the national-level tournaments”. Thakur was here on a “hopeful mission” of doing his bit for the promotion of hockey. He was invited as a special guest on the 7th All-India Independence Cup hockey tournament. “Himachal has no dearth of talent, but where is proper platform for hockey players,” he observed. He added that there was not even a single Astroturf and dedicated hockey field in Mandi, Sundernagar, Bilaspur, Kangra, Dharamsala and Una, the main hockey playing areas in the state. He said the government had been talking of spending crores on sports,
but “where is the infrastructure?” “I cherished the dream of playing hockey when I was a schoolgoing boy, but I had to desert my home state and move to Patiala to hone my skills as Himachal had and still has no facilities,” he recalled. Thakur said he visited Paddal, one of the best grounds
in the country, but he was pained to see that it had no permanent hockey field and the ground was being used for organising melas, exhibitions, cricket matches and even for landing choppers. “We have high-altitude Astroturf in Shilaroo, but not every potential hockey player can go there. We need Astroturf fields in the Mandi-Bilaspur-Una belt”. Taking about the falling standards of hockey, Thakur said, “In India, we expect hockey players should first win tournaments only then they are entitled to more facilities. We do not have proper hockey calendar for tournaments in the country and hockey players have no time for recovery,” the player resented. He said the national hockey coaches were demanding heart-rate monitors required to record the heart beat of hockey players to judge their stamina in tough conditions. “But our authorities gave a damn to this demand. Also, we need professionals on sports bodies”. Thakur added, “So far as Himachal is concerned, it does not have a team to participate in even class B tournaments, what to talk of playing in the national or international events. I am here to give my services to the state. Hope we can do something to prepare team A for the state”.
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Faith drives people to Naina Devi temple
Bilaspur, September 28 Raja rushed to the spot and found the story of Naina true and got the place dug up and found an image of mother goddess Durga under the same rock. He built a temple on the spot and started worshipping the goddess daily. Raja wanted to give a handsome prize to
Naina, but he urged Raja to make him immortal and name the temple of the mother on his own name -
Naina. Raja, who won battle after battle after he built the temple, was very happy with Naina and he granted his wish and named the temple after him. Another story from scriptures is that of Daksh Praja Pati insulting Lord Shiva by not inviting Shiva to his
yajna, to which all other even lesser gods were invited, and Parwati, daughter of
Daksha, failing to pocket the humiliation, had jumped into the raging fire of the virtually completing yajna to destroy the entire fruits of this propitiation. This infuriated Lord Shiva beyond any control and he carried the mostly burnt and lifeless body of his beloved from place to place in utter anger and in the process, Parwati's eyes fell on this hilltop where a temple appeared itself with the image of the goddess.
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Malana villagers face economic crisis
Malana, September 28 The Malana Vikalp Cooperative Society and the Brothers of Malana (BOM), a charitable trust, aim at rehabilitating and helping this “endangered Rakshasas community” to stand on its own feet and coexist with the outside world. NGOs and drug mafias active in Malana are pitted against each other while villagers are in a crisis after the Narcotics Control Bureau and the police launched anti-cannabis drives here and destroyed illegal crop on their land. The NGOs are working at cross-purpose in what appears to be a race to win the hearts of locals and perhaps, awards as well. The villagers persist on cannabis cultivation as they need its “sacred seeds” for worshipping their lord Jamadgni devta. The villagers welcome every “reformer”, but their favourites are hashish-seeking foreigners who come here for trekking. The tin-roofed big houses, guesthouses and expensive mobile phones owned by villagers and boys playing in village pools are now a reminder that certain villagers had made easy money from selling hashish. The “relapse into hashish economy” is too evident in Malana as people are losing their income from contraband after the anti-cannabis drives were launched. OP Sharma, who led the anti-cannabis drives as superintendent of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) along with the police from 2004 onwards, has founded the Malana Vikalp. He is now planning to set up a polyhouse that can grow organic crops suited to Malana’s topography and environment. “The farmers sowed peas and rajmah in May, but the crop was destroyed by long spells of rains, leading to a crisis,” Sharma says, adding, “We have 120 members. Peas do fetch good price, but certain groups are sabotaging our efforts by promoting cannabis under one plea or the other in the valley”. Amlan Dutta, a filmmaker from Kolkata, heads the BOM charitable trust and has made a film “One Day Ahead of Democracy” on Malana. He differs from Malana Vikalp saying the “Rakshasha” community of Malana needs immediate returns and rehabilitation rather than police working under the guns. Dutta says, “We have adopted two children, Sahni (7) and Amitabh (5) and educating them in a Kullu school as their mother, Ketki, is in jail after she was arrested under the NDPS Act”. “We are promoting local resources and culture, getting a licence for cultivating industrial hemp (cannabis) to produce the strongest fiber to make high-end products”. He says they are making strawberry jams and setting up a craft school to train women in weaving and knitting. “We will market their wool, hemp fiber and organic products in the high-niche fashion markets round the world that will give good income to villagers”, Dutta adds. Panchayat pradhan Beli Ram says villagers are in a deep economic crisis and need immediate employment. “Dutta has promised that fiber will get them good money. We had grown rajmah, peas and potatoes, but rains have destroyed the crops and there was no compensation from the government,” he adds. KK Indoria, Mandi SP, says they would launch an anti-cannabis drive in the forest area involving villagers under the MNREGA scheme. “The villagers will get employment of 100 days under the scheme while the police would achieve its objective. I am not aware that certain NGOs are encouraging cannabis cultivation in the village”. BM Nanta, Kullu DC, says they have sanctioned Rs 1 crore under LADA for the development of a panchayat ghar, dispensary, streetlights and drains in Malana. “We have been advising farmers to grow medicinal plants and crops like peas and potatoes”.
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Chadwick Fall falls on bad days
The beautiful Chadwick Fall, a major attraction for tourists visiting Shimla every year, has become virtually out of bounds. The road from Summer Hill, which takes the visitors quite close to the waterfall, is in bad shape and long stretches of the pedestrian path further onwards have been virtually wiped out by landslides. It has indeed become a risky affair to visit the spot these days. The discharge in the fall reaches the maximum level as the monsoon gets over in September. It is the best time to visit the Chadwick Fall as water dazzles as if crystals have been scattered all around. This year has been exceptionally good as the region has enough rain after a series of poor monsoons. The government has been harping on development of new spots to attract tourism with schemes like "har ghar kuch kehta hai" but it is least concerned about the upkeep of spots that have been attracting tourists since the British era. The ban on use of polythene bags notwithstanding, the hills along the road leading to the picturesque spot have been littered with plastic waste. The road has not been metalled and the small portion with bitumen surface has been virtually transformed into a "kutcha" road by rain. The neglect is quite surprising as the Chadwick Fall finds prominent mention in every brochure brought out by the government agencies. Local residents say that even signages indicating the way to the tourist spot have been put up by them (See photo). The waterfall, which flows from a height of 1586 meters and has the maximum discharge during and immediately after the monsoon, has been affected by large-scale construction activity in the Summer Hill and surrounding areas, particularly in its catchment. At times, it virtually dries up during the summer when most tourists visit the place. It is high time the government takes up steps like construction of "Van Sarovars" and other water-retaining structures to ensure proper recharging of the waterfall discharge. While the road and the pedestrian path need urgent repairs, the government must put in place arrangements for their regular upkeep from the tourism point of view. Diabetic retinopathy awareness campaign The region's leading eyecare chain, Grewal Eye Institute (GEI), has launched a three-week "diabetic retinopathy awareness campaign" in Shimla to educate people about the perils of neglecting the disease. Speaking about the social responsibility initiative, Dr SPS Grewal, Chief Executive Officer of the institute said: "Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes mellitus, wherein the retina of the eye is affected with swelling, yellow sugar deposits and blood spots. In severe form the condition leads to blindness. It is known to affect up to 80 per cent of all patients who have had diabetes for 20 years or more. It was important to make the people aware that harmful implications of diabetes for the health of eyes could be avoided by taking care of the lifestyle disease early" A life-long commitment is required to live a healthy life with diabetes. Understanding the disease and mastering the art of stabilising the blood sugar levels is imperative as diabetes has a cascading effect on eyes and is one of the major reasons causing blindness in India. Uncontrolled diabetes could lead to multiple problems in healthy persons. Apart from a free eye and IOP check-up, diet counselling will also be provided to diabetic patients and general public, the institute will also offer a 25 per cent discount for FFA (fundus flourescein angiography), OCT (optical coherent tomography) and laser treatment during the campaign. Beware of touts, says Army With instances of middlemen making a kill in recruitments to the Army coming to fore, the authorities have taken steps to bring transparency in the system. Col. R.S.Malik, Army Recruiting Officer, Hamirpur, categorically stated that the whole process had been made absolutely transparent and foolproof with performance and calibre of the candidates being the sole criteria for selection. He appealed to the candidates and their parents not to fall prey to touts since no tout or any other person can help in getting entry into the Army through manipulation. The advice has come from Malik on the eve of the recruitment rally to held in Hamirpur at the Polytechnic College, Badu, from October 5 to 12 after a gap of 10 years for which candidates from Hamirpur, Una and Bilaspur districts will be eligible. The posts will include recruit soldier (GD), soldier clerks and soldier technical and nursing assistants. The recruitment will be carried out on the basis of physical, medical and written tests. Registration for the recruitment rally will begin at 5 a.m and close at 7 pm on all days. The written test for soldier (GD) and soldier technical will be held on November 28 and for nursing assistants on January 30 at Hamirpur. He said the selection of candidates from Una district for soldier GD would take place on October 5, those from Bilaspur on October 6 while candidates from Hamirpur will be selected on October 7. Candidates from all three districts for soldier clerks will be selected on October 8, soldier technical on October 9, nursing assistants on October 10. Documentation and medical checkup will be take place on October 11 and 12. (Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi and DP Gupta)
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State fails to formulate tourism campaign
Kuldeep Chauhan Tribune News Service
Manali, September 28 Manisha Nanda, principal secretary, tourism, however, asserted that they were promoting the hill state as an “unforgettable Himachal”. Travel agents and promoters said the state lagged miles behind in launching a campaign creating its “brand Himachal” like other states have been doing. The plight of tourism is understandable. The Department of Tourism of Civil Aviation (DTCA) has no full-time director, tourism, and Manali, the major tourist destination, has no full-time district tourism officer, leave alone a Tourism Minister to give attention to tourism in the state, said tourist operators and hoteliers. Gajender Thakur, president of the Manali Hoteliers Association (MHA), said the state lagged far behind in tapping high-end tourists as the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MCA) had failed to rope in more private airliners to Kullu and Manali. “Other states are far ahead in promoting campaigns to tap tourism potential of the games”. The DTCA is caught up in catch 22 situation whether or not to promote cemetery tourism or heritage tourism. Cemetery tourism is in bad taste for a majority of tourists as no tourist, except for kin of certain British families buried there, or researchers would like to visit them. States like MP, Rajasthan, Kerala, Goa, Gujarat and Bihar are out hitting the Commonwealth campaign trail in the world’s tourist market over the months. But Himachal is yet to reach out to the market, though it is a land of ancient monasteries, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and heritage. The DTCA has been making noises of starting heli-taxis for tourists for years together, but the MCA and the DTCA have failed to start the service to attract high-end tourists. “Even we raised the matter with the MCA, Tourism Ministry and Union Ministers Virbhadra Singh and Anand Sharma, but to no avail,” said Anil Sharma, president, HP travel agents. Manisha said: “We organised a cultural event promoting the state as an “unforgettable Himachal” at the Himachal Haat on September 15 in New Delhi. We have tied up with creative persons to showcase Himachal during the games and offering packages for the winners to stay in HPTDC hotels for free”. She said tourism promotion was not suffering as present director-cum-principal secretary to the Chief Minister and the SDM-cum-tourism officer, Manali, were doing a good job. “We have got a good response from tourists and Himachal is no far behind from other states as it offers everything from adventure sports to heritage,” she claimed.
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NIT Hamirpur ranking dips: Survey
Hamirpur, September 28 According to the survey conducted by Inspireignite.com, the ranking of the NIT, Hamirpur, which was placed 8th in 2009, has slipped to 14th position during the current year. On the basis of the survey conducted by Outlook India.com, the institution has been placed on the 23rd position out of the total top 50 engineering colleges of the country. It is notable that the NIT, Hamirpur, had secured 9 out of 10 points and got 9th rank sometime ago on the basis of the survey conducted by the World Bank. Inspireignite.com in its survey has used AIEEE opening and closing ranks; student quality; infrastructure; placement; quality of faculty; and alumni network as parameters for providing the rank to various NITs in the country. The NIT, Warangal, has been given top rank by the agency, while the NIT, Agartala, has been given the last rank. In the survey conducted by Outlook India.com, 646.6 out of total 1,000 points have been given to the
NIT, Hamirpur. For selection process 138.7, academic excellence 141.8, personality development 104.8, and infrastructure 130.4 and for placement 130.9 points have been given to the NIT, Hamirpur. Outlook survey has ranked the IIT, Kharagpur, on the top, while the Muffakham Jah College of Engineering has been placed at the 50th place. Registrar of the NIT was not available for comment on the issue as he is on leave and other officers avoided to comment. However, few top officers of the institute told that, “Several agencies conduct their own survey to give ranking to NITs and the rank keeps on changing as per the parameters set by them, otherwise the NIT, Hamirpur, has good ranking on the basis of infrastructure, research and placements”.
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Dr LS Pal gets Revered Teacher Award
Kangra, September 28 The programme was organised by the Association of Physicians of India, Himachal chapter. Dr Pal got the award for his contribution to the medical science and for his being a teacher of par excellence. The award was presented to him by Dr DJ Dasgupta, former director, medical education. Dr Rajesh Sharma, president of the Association of Physicians of India (API), Himachal chapter, informed that Dr Pal received Commonwealth fellowship in gastroenterology from Birmingham (UK) in 1986-1987. He was also awarded fellowship in the prevention of cancer by international union against cancer at Nottingham (UK). Dr Sharma described him as a doyen among physicians not only in Himachal but also in the northwest part of the country. Meanwhile, the API held a two-day conference and CME programme at Tanda Medical College recently. Prof Yogesh Chawla, head, hepatology; Ajay Duseja, associate professor, hepatology; Prof Subhash Verma, head, medicine; Ashish Bhalla, associate professor, medicine; all from PGI, Chandigarh; Prof Brijesh from GB Pant Hospital, Delhi; Prof Atul Sachdev, head, medicine, GMCH Chandigarh; Dr Sanjay D'cruz also of GMCH; Dr Vivek Chauhan, Dr JB Singh, Dr Rajesh Sharma and Dr Dheeraj Kapoor of TMC; Prof Anil Chauhan, principal, RPGMC; Dr Parmod Jaret, Dr Dalip Gupta, Dr Rajesh Kashyap, Dr Rajiv Bhardwaj and Dr Rajesh Bhavani all from IGMC; spoke on the occasion.
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Chamba does well under RTI Act, claims DC
Chamba, September 28 In his keynote address while presiding over a one-day workshop organised by the Himachal Pradesh Institute of Public Administration here last week, Chamba Deputy Commissioner Devesh Kumar, who is also an appellate authority under the RTI Act, impressed upon the officials to provide information to the citizens within the time frame prescribed under the Act. The DC said that democracy required an informed citizenry and transparency of information which were vital to effective functioning of the government. At an interactive session of about the RTI Act during the workshop, top lawyer of Chamba K.K.Gupta, who was a special invitee, answered the queries raised by the Pubic Information Officers and Assistant Public Information Officers. He said giving information about official working was also in the "public interest". Gupta also apprised the officials of the relation between the RTI Act and the Official Secrets Act. Ashwani Choudhary, ADM, interpreted the provisions of the RTI Act and advised the officials to compile information in such a way that it could be supplied in time whenever required.
— OC
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Shimla's fascinating walking rounds
by Shriniwas Joshi Walking is the most ancient and the most modern exercise. Shimla is known for its 'walks'. It has three popular rounds-the Jakhu round, the Summer Hill round and the Bharari round. Each round is about 5.5 kilometres and has trees specifying it. The Jakhu round may be called the devdar (cedar) round and the Summer Hill one blossoms red during March-April and is the rhododendron round while the abundance of Himalayan oaks makes Lakkar Bazaar-Bharari as the oak round. The British were fond of walking and each believed that he had two doctors-his left leg and his right leg. Sir George Stuart White, the C-in-C from 1893 to 1898, writes about his walks in Shimla: "I ought perhaps to consider myself lucky that I have the great pleasure to thoroughly enjoy long rambles and steep climbs about these grand and beautiful hills. These walks are really my greatest pleasure and relief from work. I generally take these rambles alone, with my thoughts as my companions and the hills as my friends." Today, walking is not joy but riding is pleasure. There is an anonymous quote: "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must walk faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle: when the sun is about to come up, you'd better be walking." Shimla came to Himachal with the reorganization of Punjab in 1966. The opening up of the hills then started. Many new roads were built joining small villages with main towns. One such is Bharari-Kamyana road, a levelled 3-km stretch where the culture of forest suddenly changes midway from cedars to pines. It is where I go for a morning walk and recall Henry David Thoreau's: 'An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.' The blessing on this track enhances with the chimes of bells emanating from a temple of goddess Kali on the top of the hill round which the road runs. The regular walkers on this road are Shashi Sharma and Boon, his Deutscher Schaferhund (German shepherd dog) (See photo). The breed was originated in 1899 in Germany for herding sheep. It is considered to be the third most intelligent breed of dogs, behind border collies and poodles. Boon is four-and-a-half-year old, weighs about 50 kg and I was impressed when it showed intelligence to recognise me from my distant smell when I had renewed my walk after a long out-of-station absence. There are quite a few other dog lovers, a couple with its non-descript breed, a gentleman with alsatian, another with a pair of spaniels- who traverse the stretch every morning. Do the dogs motivate them to walk? Yes, if they are like Wendie Malick: "What really helps motivate me to walk are my dogs, who are my best pals. They keep you honest about walking." And Battista felt that a dog was one of the remaining reasons why some people could be persuaded to go for a walk. Then there is a group of six or seven and I call them BMW-Bharari morning walkers-who 'talk the walk' and please Mark Twain: "The true charm of pedestrianism does not lie in the walking, or in the scenery, but in the talking. The walking is good to time the movement of the tongue, and to keep the blood and the brain stirred up and active; the scenery and the woodsy smells are good to bear in upon a man an unconscious and unobtrusive charm and solace to eye and soul and sense; but the supreme pleasure comes from the talk." Whatever, there is no other form of locomotion that takes longer than walking, so walk, friends, for life is too short to be wasted on speed.
Tailpiece
"In the morning a man walks with his whole body; in the evening, only with his legs."-Ralph Waldo Emerson. A dog is one of the remaining reasons why some people can be persuaded to go for a walk. -O.A. Battista
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Parwanoo industrialists meet officials
Ambika Sharma
Solan, September 28 The association took up the issue of bad condition of roads. The respective agencies were requested to take up necessary steps to repair them. An earlier proposal for providing a new link road to the eastern part of the town connecting NH 22 through HPMC and sector-5 Parwanoo to main Kasauli road near RVCC through a manned railroad crossing was discussed. Anil Sehgal stated that the handing over of part of the proposed road by HIMUDA to MC for solid waste dumping had come in way of this project and needed to be sorted out at the government level. The municipal council clarified that 5.5-m passage was still available for the proposed road and so the proposal for manned crossing could move on. Another proposal for the road connecting sector 5 with sector 4 was also taken up in the agenda and XEN HIMUDA informed that this road had been dropped for the time being as some residents in the area had objected to the proposed road, but he promised to examine the proposal once again. The members of the association also requested the PWD authorities to approve and issue tenders for drain along the Taksal road before undertaking the tarring of the road. Other surrounding village roads such as Naryal and Kamli were also discussed. Vijay Kumar, superintending engineer, assured that proper tarring and drainage work would be carried out soon after the rainy season. Another issue was the growing scrap vendor activity in the town alongside the nullah, which is against the environment norms. The association suggested that the scrap vendors must be regulated in some way so that they did not pose any hazard to the environment. It was suggested that there should be compulsory registration of scrap dealers with the Excise and Taxation Department. The association also demanded that the scrap vendors should be shifted to a separate area in the town to be earmarked as scrap market as it would help check thefts from industries. The industrialists also apprised the MLA of the need for SDM office in the town or alternatively, vesting these powers with the assistant commissioner, Parwanoo. The association emphasised the need to remove encroachments on PWD, MC, HIMUDA and panchayat lands. It was also pointed out that only two out of the 21 fire hydrants were operative in the town. On traffic congestion, the DSP assured the association of taking adequate steps to check chaos created by haphazard parking.
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India among top five fashion countries: Kaushik Ghosh
Hamirpur, September 28 Ghosh, who was here to attend a workshop on grooming fashion designers and models organised by the Pinnacle Institute of Fashion Technology, said India was among the top five countries of the world in fashion industry today and had a vast scope for developing fashion technology and dress designing. " Globally America, China and Canada are our main competitors in fashion industry but India has done very well in the fashion world. I have organized fashion shows in almost every part of the world and can say with ample confidence that Indian fashion industry has come of age" Ghosh said. Talking about latest fashion trends, he said, "70's looks and dresses with long hair and bottom pants are much in vogue today all over the world and this trend is also quite popular in India." Ghosh says: "In India Bollywood is the trendsetter for fashion and youths wear dresses worn by popular actors like Salman Khan, Akashay Kumar, Katrina Kaif or Priynaka Chopra etc and thus Indian film actors are the real icon of Indian fashion." About India's dresses which are popular at the world level, Ghosh said: "In the fashion world dresses are dominated by western dresses and the basic trend is same the world over but Indian saree, especially bridal wear, is very popular globally." "Though Indian designers create designs keeping in view their own target of domestic or international market, bhandhej fabric from Rajasthan and variety of colourful dresses from different parts of India have always been in great demand the world over", Ghosh said. and people would always endeavor for good food and good dresses." About the scope of fashion industry in Himachal Pradesh, Ghosh, who has groomed film actors Shushmita Sen, Arjun Ram Pal, Gracy Singh and Gul Panag etc, said " Fashion industry at present is limited to metropolitan cities but the state has immense beauty and talent and the state government should organise Himachal or Shimla fashion weeks to give impetus to this industry here for which I am ready to offer my services."
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Govt urged to list cricket matches of elderly in sports calendar
Chamba, September 28 Major SC
Nayyar, who captained the first Himachal Ranji team and is the spokesperson for the association, said here that the vision of the HP Senior Citizen's Sports Association had been prudently speculated so wide and far-reaching that it would cover almost all states of the country in a phased manner so that championship of such goodwill matches could be played at the national level too. Regarding future plans, Nayyar disclosed that one-day goodwill cricket match for the third time was likely to be played in the next couple of months between senior citizens of Chamba and Suket
(Mandi district) most probably in Chamba district under the aegis of the association, adding that the programme about the match would be announced shortly. This year, Nayyar hoped to involve other districts of the state too. Earlier, two similar goodwill cricket matches had already been played between the senior citizens of Chamba and Mandi in previous years. The proposal was conceived and executed by the Senior Citizen's Sports Association of
Chamba, which was acclaimed all over. Nayyar said objective of such goodwill matches was just to strengthen mutual bonds of affection and fraternity that would certainly rejuvenate the vanishing physical, mental and spiritual health of senior citizens. "Goodwill cricket matches will also help in reviving age-old traditions and unite us with the fibre of pristine cultural reminiscences between different regions," Major Nayyar expressed his feeling.
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Nurpur hospital lacks beds, special medicare
Nurpur, September 28 The hospital has the capacity of 50 beds and the then Virbhadra Singh government had issued notification for upgrading it to 100 beds in August 2007. However, despite providing infrastructure as per enhanced capacity, the present government cancelled the notification soon after coming to power, which had also evoked sharp reaction in the area. Inquiries reveal that on an average, there are 75 to 85 patients in indoor wards and 400-450 are enrolled daily in the OPD. The hospital caters to the people of Nurpur, Jawali and the neighbouring Bhatiyat subdivision. The government has recently posted a number of specialist doctors, but it failed to commission the blood storage centre, which has been lying locked in the hospital premises for the past few years. As a result, patients are forced to rush to private hospitals in Pathankot for advanced healthcare due to shortage of requisite infrastructure and medical staff in this hospital. There are persistent demands from various voluntary and social organisations and people of the areas for upgrading the hospital to 100 beds.
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Bilaspur, September 28
Himachal diary
Kangra, September 28
