Shimla, June 7
With antique idols and precious artifacts worth Rs 3.33 crore going missing from various temples in the state during the last three years, valuables, including idols dating back to a few centuries, are vulnerable to theft in the absence of adequate security arrangements.

Since 2008, several antique idols made of ashtdhatu, gold, silver, copper and bronze have been stolen from temples in various parts of the state. The value of these antiques has been put at Rs 3.33 crore by the police who has been able to recover valuables worth only Rs 5.49 lakh till date.

Many of these idols adorning the old temples of local deities in the remotest corners of the state are priceless and could fetch crores in the international market. It is also an established fact that gangs working for international smugglers have been eyeing these priceless artifacts and have on several occasions managed to take away some of them.

Despite the fact that the state police has been directing the temple committees to have proper security system and guards has not helped much as some of these temples do not have the resources to have such an alert system. The bigger temples that have been taken over by the government and even other temples having better income can afford such arrangements, but not the smaller ones.

It was only last year that the Bilaspur police had recovered priceless idols from the outskirts of Mandi, valued at several crores in the international market. The police and CID have been advising the temple committees to install close circuit cameras, grill at the entrance and keep the valuables in lockers and take them out only on special occasions.

Ancient temples and Buddhist monasteries in the tribal districts of Kinnaur and Lhaul Spiti are a repository of antiques comprising idols, scriptures, books and manuscripts. There was a huge controversy over the idols stolen from some of the temples in Kinnaur and it was alleged that replicas had been placed while the originals went missing.

In fact, the CID wing of the police had a few years back prepared an inventory of the precious idols and valuables in the main temples in the state. Keeping in view the safety of these artifacts, the police also deputes home guards and security personnel during main festivals and fairs when there are big crowds in temples.

However, it is only better to have modern security arrangements, which can prevent thefts of these antiques.

Dharamsala, June 7
IPL proved to be a hit on all grounds. Be it organisers, the local tourism industry or the government, everyone is happy, but this cricket extravaganza has left some dirty scars behind.

It is awful to see that garbage collected from inside the stadium was thrown carelessly on the hill slopes right outside the gate no. 13 of the stadium. Empty disposable glasses, pet bottles, empty packets of chips, posters, placards, flag sticks, and other items are lying on the hill slope.

Some rag pickers are usually seen searching for plastic and other useful items in the middle of garbage dump.

Locals complain, “We used to go for a walk on the stadium road as the area was clean and having less traffic, but after the IPL matches, the authorities have turned the hill slopes into dumping ground. There is now stink everywhere. Garbage can also be seen spread outside the bins erected outside the stadium.”

The indifferent attitude of the authorities is not only spoiling the beauty of the hills and the stadium but also damaging the environment, believe locals. Garbage has to be cleared at the earliest because in case of rain it can mix with the soil and spread downhill.

An MC official said, “We have been clearing garbage from the stadium. The pile has been kept for the MC to collect and take it to the dumping site.”

It has been several days now, but the MC is not been able to clear the mess, keeping its eyes closed to the damage being caused to the environment.

Nurpur, June 7
The rift between Kangra BJP MP Rajan Sushant and the BJP-led state government is casting shadow on development activities in the Jawali Assembly segment.

At present, this segment is represented by Congress MLA Sujan Singh Pathania, who had won Assembly by-election in November, 2009.

There is a lot of resentment among the people of Jawali over the unprecedented delay in the start of construction of two major development projects in the Fatehpur area - Rs 60 lakh-Ram Singh Pathania Stadium and Rs 25 crore’s 45 tube wells, which had to irrigate 1,125 hectare of agriculture land of 43 villages.

The people are feeling embarrassed over the dissidence of the BJP MP against the Prem Kumar Dhumal government as after his exasperating outburst and silent protest against the government, the differences between both have widened, for which the area is facing repercussions.

The CM had announced these projects on August 15, 2009, three months before the assembly be-election. He had laid foundation stone of 45 tube wells on September 15, 2010 in the presence of IPH minister Ravinder Ravi and Sushant. This ambitious irrigation project sanctioned by the NABARD has kept the farmers of 43 villages waiting for irrigation facility as it had to ameliorate their economy.

Inquiries reveal that the Irrigation-cum-Public Health (IPH) department has invited tenders for installing tubewells, but they were annulled due to abnormal rates.

Meanwhile, Sujan Singh Pathania, MLA Jawali, has alleged that people of his constituency were bearing the brunt of the rift between Sushant and the government.

He rued that development activities in the area had come to a halt for the past one-and-a-half year. “Both the development projects seem to be shelved, which shows that they were just political gimmick being announced by the CM just a few months before assembly be-election,” he lamented.

IPH chief engineer, MS Kanwar, pointed out that tender process for installing 45 tube wells is in progress.

Shimla, June 7
Perennially in the red, the state-owned HPMC has taken a technological initiative to make processing of apple an economically viable proposition by producing apple seed oil and converting pomace (material left after extraction of juice) into dietary fibre which is in great demand in processed food industry.

The public sector undertaking has tied up with the Palampur-based Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT) for carrying out research to develop new food products using dietary fibre produced from pomace. The centre has provided Rs 1.07 crore for the installation of equipment required for carrying out research on the Palampur campus.

The IHBT has already devised a machine for removing seeds from apple for which it plans to get a patent soon. The machine will enable seeds to be used for extracting oil. The scientists have achieved success in utilising dietary fibre produced from pomace in jellies, jams and bakery products.

In the ensuing apple season the technology developed will utilised on a larger scale and ultimately passed on to the industry for manufacturing various products on a commercial scale.

Gainful utilisation of pomace, which currently goes waste, will ensure higher returns to make the processing economical. The HPMC has been suffering losses in processing the fruit to produce apple juice concentrate (AJC) due to low recovery and high cost of the fruit. The government has been providing it apple procured under the market intervention scheme at Rs 5.25 per kg free of cost for processing. The HPMC had not been utilising its full processing capacity. Against a total capacity of 21,500 tonne, the average utilisation has been 27 per cent. Even during the last season when the govt procured a record 1.11 lakh tonne of apple, only 10,000 tonne was utilised to produce 700 tonne of AJC. The PSU has also secured over Rs 21 crore from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority for modernisation of its packaging and grading houses and setting up two controlled atmosphere stores in the apple belt.

A group of 20 students selected from 10 law schools of the US are currently visiting Himachal to have a close look at the Indian legal system and the judiciary in addressing the issues confronting the nation.

The students (see photo) visiting under the “Study Abroad India Programme” will spend three weeks in Shimla and about 10 days in Dharamsala. They will attend lectures by law faculties from India and abroad as well as prominent people from various fields related to the legal system in one way or the other. The programme started here on Sunday with the lecture of PS Jaswal, Vice-Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi National Law School, Patiala, who has authored six books on subjects like the Constitution, Human Rights and Environment Protection. He gave an insight about the Indian legal system and the developments that have taken place over a period of time, citing various historical judgments on cases like the Bhopal gas tragedy.

The students from law schools were keen to know about the customs, traditions, music and religions in India. Some of them have deep interest in Tibetan Buddhism, about which they would learn during their stay in Dharamshala.

Human Trafficking is modern day slavery. In few words, it is exploitation of a person in any manner. The Global Report on Human Trafficking shows that 79 per cent of human trafficking is for sexual trade and 19 per cent for forced labour.

In India, more than 53 per cent of children face one or the other form of sexual abuse and out of those 73 per cent falls in the age-group 11 to 18 years. The boys too are at equal risk of being sexually wronged. The 2009 Report on Trafficking in Persons reads, “India is a source, destination and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labour and commercial sex exploitation”.

It is so despite the provision of Articles 23 and 24 in our Constitution stands for the abolition of trafficking in human beings and forced labour. Our country figures in Tier II Watch List in Trafficking Victims Protection Regularisation Act 2008 on which the UN keeps an eye. The countries in Tier I are those that have made significant contribution towards combating human trafficking; Tier II countries are slightly less than those; those in the watch list are almost “sleeping” nations and Tier III are those in total slumber. It is good that the snooze of our country is, at last, broken and has now decided to start Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTU) throughout the country.

Himachal Pradesh also got six such units for Kangra, Shimla, Sirmaur, Solan, Kullu and Chamba districts and two of these at Kangra and Shimla have started functioning about a fortnight ago. May we be as good as Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are in combating the menace. Generally, the government puts responsibility on the shoulders without improving their load-bearing capacity. Not so in this case for which the police department needs to be credited. It started a three-day capacity-building programme on combating human trafficking in which police officers from the two functional, Kangra and Shimla, and four likely to be functional AHTU were invited.

The convener of the programme was Shubhra Tiwari, a young additional SP (CID), who did well by inviting representatives of NGOs and other departments concerned to present their points of view on human trafficking to the police officers. The keynote address was by ID Bhandari, ADGP (CID), who raised issues about the incidence of child labour, persons missing from the state and women trafficking in the Shillai area of Sirmur district and desired that the issues needed to be pondered over in the programme.

It may be informed that according to the records of the CID here, 565 women and 156 men were missing from the state till June 2010. There were 90 children, 39 girls and 51 boys, who had disappeared from the state. Although the number is not high, it is a matter of concern for the government and the evil requires to be nipped in the bud.

We also cannot sleep over the sex trade that is developing in the state despite the fact that it is a universal phenomenon and does grow in tourist-destinations; the missing women from Shillai area and the activities of commercial sex workers in Shimla-Kalka highway require attention. The ORG Centre for Social Research has mentioned 12 sites in the state where truckers visit and commercial sex activity is in practice. A couple of years ago, the State Aids Society had got conducted a survey that had disclosed that there were about 6,000 sex workers in the state of which 1,500 were in Shimla. The elopement of Shillai women could be due to low sex ratio in Haryana resulting in forced migration or selling of women. It needs to be probed and the NGOs working there together with the police can bring facts to light.

AHTU would be successful if the police synergises with NGOs and other departments concerned and investigate all cases of human trafficking with organised crime perspective and adopt a victim-centric approach. It has to be gender and child right sensitive and do utmost for preventing secondary or re-victimisation and work on PPP of human trafficking, i.e. prevent, prosecute and protect.

Palampur, June 7
The statue of Mahatma Gandhi installed in the local Gandhi Ground is crying for the attention of the authorities concerned. The statue, which was damaged by some anti-social elements two months ago, is yet to be replaced or repaired by the state government. At present, the statue is in a bad shape and has been covered with a bed sheet by the local Municipal Council which looks after the maintenance of the ground.

It may be recalled that in March this year, the middle potion of the statute was damaged which resulted in major cracks. The matter was reported to the local police and the SDM by the citizens of the town for further action. But till date, neither the police filed any complaint against the culprits nor any arrest has been made in this regard.

Enquiries made by The Tribune revealed that the government had no funds to replace or repair the statue. The local authorities have already sent an estimate to the government demanding immediate funds, but no funds have been released so far and the authorities are finding themselves helpless to go ahead due to the lack of funds.

The office of the deputy commissioner, Kangra, is also well conversant with the situation, but it had failed to take cognisance of the problem.

It is most unfortunate that the government is unconcerned about the matter and not bothered to release funds for the repair or purchase of a new statute of the Father of Nation.

Dharamsala, June 7
The Creative Centre for Rural Development, a national-level NGO, organised Science and Technology Expo-2011 which concluded here recently. Around 20 national-level organisations and government departments participated at the expo which was organised with an aim to introducing the public to the works done by these departments, their innovations and employment opportunities available.

Government departments like Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences, Defence Food Research Laboratory, IIT-Roorkee etc participated in the expo.

“Public participation was another motive of the expo as we wanted youngsters to come forward see what these departments are doing and to generate their interest in the field of science and technology,” said Brig Prem Bhatnagar, the organiser of the expo.

The DRDO showcased an interesting, life-saving innovation of which can save soldiers deputed on high altitudes from extreme cold. Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory (DEBEL), a premier life sciences laboratory of the DRDO, has been providing various life-saving equipment to the armed forces working in different military conditions.

Major problems faced by soldiers at high altitude are extreme cold weather, low barometric pressure and hypoxia. Low barometric pressure leads to high altitude pulmonary oedema (HAPO) 1, a condition that leads to fluid accumulation in lungs, which could be rapidly fatal if unattended.

DEBEL has provided one-man portable HAPO Chamber as first aid for people suffering from HAPO. HAPO bag is now available with automation units Mk-I and Mk-II. The latter version of automation unit weighs only 8-10 kg and can work upto -400 degree Celsius.

Similarly, the Defence Food and Research Laboratory has developed process technologies for preservation and packaging of food items having a shelf life from six moths to one year in extreme weather conditions.

There were other departments and NGOs which provided information on self-employment opportunities. IIT-Roorkee students also showcased their innovations which were appreciated by all.

Manali, June 7
The Western Command Children Adventure Camp for Summer - 2011 aims at inculcating and developing flair for adventure, exploration, inquisitiveness and outdoor life among children. The camp is being conducted in the upper Manali region under the aegis of the Rising Star Corps.

Col. Arun Kainthla, Adm. Commandant at Palchan, about 9 km from here, said the activities of the camp were aimed at providing a wholesome outdoor exposure to youths, facilitating overall personality development through multifaceted educational, recreational and adventurous activities.

This would facilitate the development of self-confidence, team spirit, esprit de corps and evoke ecological and environmental awareness among the children. It will also promote national integration through educational and recreational activities and imbibe good moral values of togetherness and sharing. He further said the camp was being organised from May 31 to June 14 in two parts for age groups 9-13 years and 14-17 years.

During their stay at Manali, children would be participating in various adventure activities like trekking, rock climbing, rappelling, paragliding, bivouac pitching, cooking, etc. The children would also be taken to various natural and historical sites.