Dharamsala, March 23
The three-member committee, headed by Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Samdhong Rinpoche, today presented its report on the proposed amendments to the Tibetan Charter to devolve the political and administrative power of the Dalai Lama to the elected leadership to Tibetan parliament-in-exile.

The proposed amendments aim to devolve the power of the Dalai Lama to Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile. They also proposed that a new clause should be added to the Tibetan Charter to give a new designation to the Dalai Lama in which he continues as a symbolic head of the Tibetan Government-in-exile.

The 10-page report that was prepared in two days by the three-member committee was read in parliament by the Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile.

Sources here said the committee had recommended that maximum administrative powers of the Tibetan Government-in-exile that were presently being held by the Dalai Lama should be handed over to Kalon Tripa, Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile.

The Dalai Lama as the administrative head of the Tibetan Government-in-exile used to administer oath of office and secrecy to the Kalon Tripa and the Speaker. Now that function would be delegated to the Chief Justice Commissioner. It has proposed to devolve some of the powers of the Dalai Lama to the Chief Justice Commissioner and parliament.

The report, submitted by the committee, also proposes that the Ganden Phodrang, name of Tibetan Government-in-exile in their charter, should be changed to the Central Tibetan Administration of Tibet. Ganden Phodrang refers to the institution of the Dalai Lama. Since the Dalai Lama was the political and administrative head of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, it was named as Ganden Phodrang.

The members of Tibetan parliament-in-exile would debate on the proposals of the committee for the two remaining days of the current session. Parliament would have to accept the proposal with two-third majority to implement the necessary amendments.

The committee had to submit the report on proposed amendments to the Tibetan Charter as the Dalai Lama remained firm on devolving his power. The committee was formed two days ago after the Dalai Lama refused the accept the request of Tibetan parliament-in-exile to reconsider his decision of retirement.

However, many common Tibetans were not satisfied with the committee report. While talking to The Tribune, they said the decision of the Dalai Lama to devolve his powers to elected leadership was a historic event. It could not be done in just two days. Parliament should debate the issue at length and take a decision over the matter only after taking common Tibetans, including those living in Tibet, into confidence.

Karma Yeshi, a MP in Tibetan parliament-in-exile, when contacted said the decision on such an important matter could not be taken in one or two days.

Though it might take more time, the proposals of the committee had set off the process for gradual retirement of the Dalai Lama.

Shimla, March 23
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has declared Shimla and Tirupati as environmentally sustainable cities (ESC) under the East Asian Summit (EAS) Forum.

The ESC is a flagship initiative by 16 EAS member countries to foster concrete activities in selected towns in the region.

Municipal Commissioner, Shimla, A.N. Sharma represented the city at the second high-level seminar on the ESC held at Kitakyushu in Japan last week.

In all 136 cities, representatives of 12 national governments, 19 local governments and 18 international organisations participated in the event.

Sharma enlightened the participants about the good practices being followed in the field of solid waste management, successful initiatives in public-private partnership, particularly in door-to-door garbage collection, and efforts to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions in the city, which were widely appreciated.

Shimla, March 23
Encouraged by the successful breeding of a second calf using the embryo transfer technology (ETT) at the cattle breeding farm at Bagthan in Sirmaur, the Animal Husbandry Department has decided to import embryos of high-yielding Jersey cattle for rapid genetic improvement of milch livestock in the state to give impetus to the ongoing Doodh Ganga Yojna.

The second male calf named Saurabh weighed 44 kg at birth, 12 kg more than Gaurav, the first ETT calf born in December last. With this the department has standardised the technique and achieved perfection in the ETT. It is now in a position to breed the higher pedigree Jersey cattle using the technology for which the embryos will be imported after inviting global tenders, says Dr BC Bist, director of the department.

Apart from the 10 frozen cattle embryos brought from other states, some fresh embryos produced from indigenous stock have also been implanted in synchronised recipients at the farms in Bagthan and Kotla Barog with encouraging results.

The credit for the achievement goes to Dr KD Ryot, animal reproduction specialist, who undertook training in ETT in Germany and spearheaded the technical team carrying out trials for standardisation of technique at the two farms. The success achieved in the ETT has cleared the decks for its implementation on a mass scale under the Rs 2.9 crore centrally sponsored projects. The embryos of the high pedigree Jersey cattle to be imported from abroad and other states will have a yield in excess of 8,000 litre per lactation. The plan is to import 150 to 200 embryos of the Jersey cattle as it has been a success in the hill state, Ryot points out.

Further, the ETT enables to produce 80 to 100 calves from a single proven animal as against five to 10 calves delivered in the whole life span under normal breeding. Male calves, thus, produced will be used as sires at sperm stations for semen production and females, on attainment of their maturity, will be used as donor cows for production of embryos and calves at the breeding farms.

The objective is to find a permanent solution to the low milk yield of the hill cattle, ranging between 3 to 4 litre which is far below their potential, to more than double the production over the next 10 years for which the Rs 300-crore Doodh Ganga Yojna has already been launched in the state.

Chandigarh, March 23
Shanta Kumar, a former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, was rushed to the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) of the PGI today after he collapsed during a rally at Khatkar Kalan, in Punjab, earlier during the day.

He was rushed into the emergency around 6.30 pm and was later declared out of danger, sources said.

The former Union Minister was attending the rally of the SAD-BJP rally in Khatkar Kalan in memory of the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh when he fainted while the speech of the Deputy CM, Sukhbir Badal, was in progress.

Manoranjan Kalia, the Industries and Commerce Minister, immediately rushed him to a hospital in Nawanshaher, from where he was referred to the PGI, sources added. 

Bilaspur, March 23
Wrestler of Dera Baba Nanak Pamma won the final bout of the four-day Nalwadi fair at the Luhnu Maidan. He was declared the best wrestler and got “Malli Gurj” called “Bhim Gada” (silver mace) and a prize of Rs 51,000 from Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal at the concluding function of the seven-day Nalwadi fair here today.

The second position was won by Johanny Chaudhary of Mandi while Soni of Punjab and Somvir of Haryana were declared third and fourth, respectively. They got prizes of Rs 31,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 11,000 respectively, from the Chief Minister.

The title of “Him Kumar” (Himachali youth wrestler up to age of 21 years) was won by Gaurav of Una and he received a silver mace called “Abhimanyu Gada” and a prize of Rs 21,000 from the Chief Minister.

Runner-up Balbir of Bilaspur got prize of Rs 15,000 and Vinod of Arki (Solan district) was third and Yugbir of Bilaspur stood fourth. They got prizes of Rs 9,100 and Rs 5,100, respectively.