Nalagarh, March 12
The Nalagarh Industries’ Association (NIA) today called off their fast unto death after a team of high-level officials led by commissioner, Industries, JC Rana reached here and assured them of an early solution after having a detailed discussion with them. The team was directed to visit Nalagarh by Chief Minister PK Dhumal.

Though NIA’s press secretary Anil Sharma had begun fast undo death at 9 am outside the SDM office here, the officials offered him juice and finished his fast after successful discussion to resolve various issues concerning the industry.

The team also included additional director, industries, Dinesh Malhotra and adviser, industries, Dr Rajinder Chauhan.

The team held a detailed discussion with members of the executive body of the NIA who apprised the officials of their demands, including roll back of entry tax, reduction in power duty, timely repair and maintenance of national highway and main roads .

The NIA also apprised the officials of how even time-bound permissions were struck up and officials failed to clear the files for months which delayed their work. Issue of undue high charges being charged by the hazardous waste management plant from industries emitting non-hazardous waste also cropped up in the discussion, besides the stringent TCP procedures.

The investors also resented the preferential treatment given to a section of investors by the officials who promoted their individual cause rather than promoting the cause of the industry as a whole.

Officials from various departments like Excise and Taxation, State Pollution Control Board, Labour Department, State Electricity Board, etc, were also present in the meeting.

Rana assured the NIA that a meeting with all departments concerned would be held separately next week for a solution. He assured them that as per the directions of the Chief Minister they would resolve all issues as the government was committed to facilitate the industry. Another crucial meeting would be held at Nalagarh in the second week of April where the Chief Minister along with senior officials from all concerning departments would listen to their grievances for an on the spot solution.

Thanking the CM for this early response, NIA president Prem Sharma said they appreciated the concern shown by the Chief Minister by sending officials to listen to their grievances and for fixing two meetings where officials would be available to redress their grievances.

Solan, March 12
The female sex ratio had improved from 904 in 2008 to 922 in the state due to the concerted efforts of the government and efforts were afoot to bring stability to the gender ratio.

This was stated by Chief Minister PK Dhumal while addressing a gathering during the inaugural ceremony of the state-level “Beti Hai Anmol” function organised here today.

Earlier, the CM flagged off blood donation vans, and had also inaugurated exhibitions put up by the Health Department, and a cultural festival of Nehru Yuva Kendra.

Earlier, he dedicated developmental projects and laid the foundation stones of projects worth Rs 17.80 crore.

Among the projects dedicated to the people included a sub-Jail building completed at a cost of Rs 390.85 lakh and a milk pasteurisation and packaging plant made operational at a cost of Rs 128.64 lakh.

Later, he laid the foundation stone of a housing colony to be constructed at a cost of Rs 958.73 lakh for 336 families of the urban poor and a fire brigade building to be constructed at a cost of Rs. 138.63 lakh. He also dedicated a newly constructed multipurpose hall constructed at a cost of Rs 44.49 lakh to the students of the local college.

Later, addressing the people at Thodo ground, the Chief Minister appealed to them to lend support in checking female foeticide. He said that those giving information about incidents of female foeticide, prenatal sex determination and other illegal acts would be rewarded without disclosing their names.

He said Mata Shabri Mahila Sashaktikaran Yojna would be launched in the state from the next financial year which would provide 50 per cent subsidy to SC women of the BPL families to purchase LPG gas connections and stoves.

He said “Beti Hai Anmol” was one of such ambitious programmes for the BPL families, which had the provision of depositing Rs 5,100 in the name of a girlchild, subject to a maximum of two girls in the family. It also provides for scholarships for the girlchild.

Dr Rajiv Bindal, Health Minister, while addressing the gathering said the free institutional delivery scheme had led to more women visiting the health institutions for free safe delivery and special schemes to monitor the health of expecting mothers were being implemented.

Virender Kashyap, MP, underlined the need to change the mindset of people about women. MLAs from the district and various officials were also present on the occasion.

Shimla, March 12
With an increasing deficit and a few sources of revenue generation, the local Municipal Corporation (MC) has once again urged the government to allow imposition of green tax for all outside vehicles entering the “Queen of Hills” so as to improve its financial condition.

The MC has already moved its case, seeking permission of the state government to give its go ahead for imposing green tax in Shimla. The MC has contended that the money generated through this tax will help it arrange funds for improving basic civic amenities and at the same time provide better facilities to the tourists.

An earlier proposal by the MC to impose green tax had been turned down by the government, but this time the MC is hopeful of a favourable response. They have pointed out that the imposition will in no way affect the locals and at the same time help the MC rake in good money which it desperately requires. The MC is likely to once again adopt a resolution in the House to urge the government to allow it to impose green tax.

They have all along been citing the example of Manali, where the green tax has helped generate good money. Considering the fact that Manali is a very popular tourist destination, several crores have been collected. “They have not only improved facilities for the tourists in and around the town but also are now considering taking up the execution of the Manali-Palchang-Rohtang ropeway,” an official said.

On the other hand the Shimla MC, one of the oldest and richest municipalities in the earlier days, is today cash strapped. With little financial help pouring in from the government too, efforts are on to look for ways and means to generate resources. “Since the locals do not get affected by imposition of such a tax, the government should have no problem allowing the MC to go ahead with the move,” an official opined.

The MC owes an amount of over Rs 112 crore to the Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) for the water supplied to it. The rate at which the MC supplies water to the residents is far less than the amount it pays to the IPH.

Similarly, the MC owes over Rs 1.2 crore to the electricity board for street lighting. The MC has yet to foot the bills for these services as well.

As such it is imposition of green tax which can help improve the financial position of the MC if the government grants its accord.

Washington, March 12
Three prominent contenders seeking to lead the next Tibetan government-in-exile will appear in a debate hosted by a US-based broadcaster tomorrow which will be beamed live to Tibetans, including those in Dharamsala.

The Radio Free Asia’s (RFA) Tibetan service will host the debate on radio, satellite television and the Internet.

While one of the three candidates vying to be the prime minister (Kalon Tripa) — Lobsang Sangay, Kasur Tenzin Namgyal Tethong and Tashi Wangdi — will take part from Washington the other two from Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

“Through this debate, the Radio Free Asia provides a means for the Tibetan exile community worldwide to participate in a unique, democratic process that will affect the future of Tibetan affairs,” said RFA president Libby Liu.

The debate is a part of the Radio Free Asia’s series of seven town hall-style events being held in Tibetan exile settlements in India ahead of the March 20 elections to replace outgoing prime minister-in-exile Samdhong Rinpoche. — PTI

Shimla, March 12
Demanding creation of posts of dental doctor at every primary health centre (PHC) along with changes in the postgraduation policy, students of the Shimla Dental Medical College today staged a protest in support of their demands.

The striking students silently sat on the road outside the medical college, holding placards in support of their demands. The students rued that after completing their five-year course they have to run from pillar to post to seek jobs.

“The government should create at least one post of dental doctor at every PHC considering the lack of dental services in the state,” they demanded. They also demanded that the government should increase the number of postgraduation seats and make changes in the present postgraduation policy.

They said they had been forced to adopt a path of confrontation as their repeated pleas had failed to evoke any response from the government.

“We even met the Health Minister but when he expressed his helplessness in addressing our problems, we were forced to resort to a protest to get our genuine demands fulfilled,” he said.

Shimla, March 12
The Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi, will work for the development of green energy technologies in the areas of solar, hydro, geothermal and bio-mass over the next five years. It will also focus on integrated mountain development, construction of roads and railways, disaster management, agricultural and food processing technologies and material for electronics and electrical engineering under the proposed research and development activities.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said this during a meeting with Prof Timothy A Gonsalves, director, IIT, Mandi, and S. Samuel, officer on special duty, administration, here yesterday.

The Chief Minister said a self-contained IIT campus was coming up at Kamand fast and IIT classes had already been started at government degree college, Mandi.

He said the institute would produce professionals of international standards and the aim was to make it a leader in technological education, creation of knowledge and new innovations globally. He expressed confidence that the institute would emerge as a world class centre of study over the next two decades.

Dhumal assured the director that the state would provide all possible assistance to the IIT and efforts would be made to provide multiple facilities within the campus. The approach road to Kamand would also be improved and other problems would also be resolved on priority.

Gonsalves informed the Chief Minister that the IIT, Mandi, would be one of the 25 Research Parks being set up in the country where exhaustive research and development would be carried. It would be fully functional by 2013. While workshops would be made operational by May this year.

He urged the Chief Minister to extend help in achieving the objective of completing the campus by the targeted period.

Shimla, March 12
The BJP Kisan Morcha said the proposed amendments in the Pesticide Management Act were aimed at giving more benefit to the companies rather than addressing issues concerning farmers and environment.

Addressing a press conference here today, national president of the BJP Kisan Morcha Om Prakash Dhankar said they would register its protest against the proposed amendments by submitting a memorandum to the Prime Minister through the Governor of Himachal Pradesh.

“We will register our protest against these unfair amendments all over the country in a phased manner,” he announced. Dhankar accused the Centre of being more concerned about protecting the interests of the pesticide manufacturing companies rather than the farmers. “The Centre wants to have complete control over pesticide management by way of these amendments whereas it should be left to the respective state government’s to deal with the issue,” he opined.

The BJP leader felt that it was wrong on part of the Centre to place the issue of pesticide management under the Agriculture Ministry as it could be more effectively dealt by the Ministry of Environment, as there were stricter environmental laws in the country.

Dhankar said there was no mechanism to keep control over the prices of the pesticides also and this would lead to their monopoly in the market. “There must be a provision for subsidy to the farmers as the Centre doles out more concessions to the manufacturing companies rather than the farmers,” he rued. The Pesticide Management Act was made in 1968 and certain amendments were proposed in it in 2008 which had been referred to the Select Committee of Parliament. The committee had suggested some amendments which would come up for discussion when the Bill would be tabled in the House.

Mandi, March 12
Partly marred by a lack of customer care services and partly by the frequent incidents of cable wire theft, the BSNL landline telephone services in Dharampur, and Internet and broadband services in Mandi town have been giving a tough time to the subscribers.

For the last few days the telephone services remained disrupted in the Kheri and Sarskan areas of Dharampur block in the district. “We can not make even emergency calls as the BSNL landlines are dead,” rued subscribers.

The SDO, Dharampur, Kripal Verma, said services were hit as thieves had stolen 3,600m long cable worth Rs 1.84 lakh from the area on March 8. He added that an FIR was lodged at the Sarkaghat police station, but the police was yet to nab the culprits.

Even Internet services remain disrupted quite frequently in the town, complained Kishori Lal Sood, a local resident. “We contact customer care, but there is nobody to listen to our complaints,” he rued.

BSNL officials say the disruption of communication is due to breach in the cables. The BSNL has power backup to provide broadband and Internet services in the town. The fault sometimes lies at the user’s end due to virus or slowness of computers, they added. The BSNL, however, has no system for guarding the cables in the area and most of the cables of local area network go overhead making it easier for copper-wire thieves to cut and steal them.

VK Sharma, general manager, BSNL, said cable worth Rs 2 crore had been stolen from Mandi district.

Shimla, March 12
The HP High Court has directed the management of the Himalayan International School at Chrrabra in Shimla, that the condition and nature of the land and building of the school shall not be changed without the permission of the court.

A Division Bench comprising Justice RB Misra and Justice Rajiv further directed the management not to stop the payment of the due salaries of teachers as well as the employees of the school.

The Bench passed this order on a petition filed by the parents of the students studying in the school alleging that the school management suddenly decided to close the school from this academic session.

During the course of the hearing, the management informed the court that classes in the school had already been resumed right from nursery to Class XII.

According to the petitioners, the school was conducting classes up to Class XII and had been running since 1977. As many as 180 students were studying in the school. The school management had already closed the boarding section in 2008. The petitioners alleged that the management suddenly decided to close the school from this academic session. Their objections fell on deaf ears as the management of the school, under Sardar Kumir Singh Education Society, had taken a unilateral decision to close it.

The petitioners said the Society, which is engaged in imparting education, had failed to discharge its duties, and the state government authorities had also failed to discharge their statutory duties of preventing the Society from such a flagrant violation of law. 

Sanoigi (Kullu), March 12
The State Vigilance today detected two incidents of illegal felling of trees in the Nathan Forest beat. In one of the incidents, as many as 12 deodars were felled illegally, while in another, 92 small Kail trees in the demarcated protected forest area, were cut down.

Acting on a tip-off, the Vigilance team, headed by the SP, Vigilance, Mandi range, Virender Sharma, today reached the spot and found 12 deodars freshly cut down in the Nathan forest beat, under the Naggar range, right under the nose of the Forest Department.

Virender Sharma said the timber had been lifted from the spot and the Vigilance had lodged three FIRs in the case under Sections 32, 33, 41, 42 of the Forest Act and Section 379 of the IPC.

The Vigilance had also registered a case under Section 30 of the HP Specific Corrupt Practices Act against forest officials conniving with the culprits.

A nexus between the forest officials and the mafia has come to light in the Jana-Dhama-Saniogi belt. The trees are cut down under the cover of darkness and smuggled on demand to resort builders in the Kullu-Manali valley, revealed the locals.

The DFO, Kullu, Anil Sharma, along with the forest officials were summoned to the spot by the Vigilance to assess the damage to the forest. “We will fix accountability and initiate action in the case,” he added. 

Bilaspur, March 12
The famous wrestling bouts of the Nalwadi fair will begin at the Luhnu Ground here in the town from March 20. The final bouts to decide the “Malli Pehalwan” and “Him Kumar” will be held in front of the chief guest on March 23.

State-level Nalwadi fair Wrestling Sub-Committee convener and Superintendent of Police Kapil Sharma said this here.

He said renowned wrestlers from well-known “akharas” from all parts of the country had been invited to participate and show their worth as handsome cash prizes would be awarded to them. He said more than 500 wrestlers were expected to compete in these bouts.

Sharma said only Himachali youths till the age of 21 years could compete for the title of “Him Kumar”. Wrestlers for this category must come along with attested and original copies of their age proofs and Himachali certificates. They should also bring attested photographs and register themselves with the Wrestling Sub Committee on March 20 or 21 before 1 pm. — OC