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State leads in spending on agriculture
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HIV positive turn health care workers
Bachat Bhawan foundation stone reinstalled
Forecasting rains, the traditional way
Towards first Nirmal state of country
Health Minister accuses Cong of misleading people
Tanda college steps up anti-ragging measures
Policewomen get important duties
Solan Prof presents paper in US
MP seeks transfer of Shanan Power House
Henna artists doing brisk business
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State leads in spending on agriculture
Himachal Pradesh has been spending 12 per cent of its annual budget on agriculture, the highest in the country Ravinder Sood
Palampur, July 26 The state government has given high priority to agriculture sector. An allocation of Rs 342.84 crore has been made for this vital sector during 2010-11. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, who also holds the portfolio of agriculture, stated this here recently. He said the agriculture strategy in the state had been re-oriented with emphasis on production of high-value crops and raising the productivity of traditional crops through dissemination of technology. An investment of Rs 353 crore has been made with an objective of achieving faster growth in agriculture sector and bring prosperity in the rural areas through self-employment. The self-employment scheme envisages setting up 16,500 polyhouses in 15 lakh square meter area and bringing 20,000 hectare area under micro-irrigation by installing 17,312 systems, for which 80 per cent grant is being provided. 90 per cent subsidy is available to the BPL families for the construction of bamboo based polyhouses. The scheme envisages creating employment opportunities for over 45,000 un-employed youth in rural areas. The Chief Minister said the state was using comparatively lesser chemical fertilisers and pesticides per hectare in comparison to the national average. Organic farming, being high-valued and in great demand, was being encouraged in the state to ensure remunerative prices to the farmers, he said. He said for giving further boost to organic and diversified farming, a Rs 321 crore project with components of institutional and infrastructure development and farmers support with the assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency would start soon. A scheme for selecting Krishak Mitra in all the panchayats to maintain liaison between farmers and agriculture department has been started and 1,763 Krishak Mitra have been selected so far. A Market Intervention Scheme is being implemented in the state for apple, mango and citrus fruits, under which support price is being given to ensure remunerative prices to the fruit growers. Work on Rs 100 crore modern market yard at Parala in Shimla district has been started. Besides, 12 more market yards are being set up in different parts of the state. As a result of government initiative, innovations and incentives, agriculture economy in the state is being strengthened.
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HIV positive turn health care workers
Dharamsala, July 26 “Five HIV positive outreach workers have been appointed under the project. Their job is take complete charge of the health care of the positive mother and her child for the next 18 months as soon as they come across the case of positive pregnant woman,” says Dr RK Sood, district AIDS project officer. There is a social and human angle behind the idea of appointing HIV positive outreach workers as the patient feels related to them and share similar stigmas which the workers have been through, says Dr Sood. Patients feel more comfortable with them and get their deliveries done in hospitals under the experts. Ten deliveries of HIV poisitive mothers took place since the project has been launched in Kangra and six are due this quarter. There are other reasons also behind appointing HIV positive workers. “They get employment which makes them independent and removes the stigma of discrimination in society. Secondly, they are more sensitised towards the issue and they perform better in bringing awareness among the affected people and in society as well,” says Sandeep, executive director, Gunjan. Shreshtha, an HIV positive outreach worker, feels proud to help society and HIV positive mothers in bringing a healthy change in their lives. She doesn’t believe in hiding her identity. She says, “I am working for People living with HIV AIDS (PLHA) and especially with pregnant women. Our aim is to prevent the child from the virus for which we look after the mother and the child before and after the delivery.
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Bachat Bhawan foundation stone reinstalled
Ashok Raina
Kangra, July 26 Besides, the district administration has decided to fund the project with the World Bank aid. A dream project of former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar for constructing a Bachat Bhawan, a shopping complex, a coffee house and an auditorium in the heart of the town remained unaccomplished even after two decades since its foundation stone was laid in 1992. The foundation stone too was dismantled by some miscreants and thrown in a garbage dump a few days ago. According to Vinay Kumar, Kangra SDM, an FIR was lodged by the authorities against unknown persons for removing the foundation stone. However, police sources said neither any FIR was lodged nor any person had been arrested in this connection till date. Following The Tribune report, Shanta Kumar communicated to the district authorities that if finance was the problem, he could provide Rs 1 crore from his MP fund in four instalments, otherwise the foundation stone laid by him should be removed from the site. The district administration, however, moved swiftly and got the foundation stone reinstalled, besides deciding to go ahead with the project. Kangra deputy commissioner RS Gupta said even Chief Minister PK Dhumal had expressed concern over the issue and the government had decided to take up the project at a cost of Rs 4.2 crore, funds for which would be provided through World Bank. RS Gupta said the building would have a parking space of at least 100 vehicles and a shopping complex in which the poor vendors would be given a priority. He said besides the Bachat Bhawan, a modern cafeteria and an auditorium would be constructed at this site. The deputy commissioner said on the top floor, a commercial complex would be constructed to accommodate banks and business houses in order to generate revenue for the maintenance of this multi-crore complex. Gupta said to connect this complex with the mini-secretariat, an underground subway was being proposed. He said already World Bank had given a nod for this dream project.
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vignettes “Forewarned is forearmed” was not coined yesterday. It has been human nature to know about the coming events - the rains too. The Pre-Vedic times saw the emergence of rules to forecast rains which were based on the observations of winds, clouds or behavior of men, animals, birds, insects, trees, plants or sky conditions like halo around the sun or moon, their colours, and stars. The three kinds of defined winds are: Bhavaka producing clouds; Sthapaka establishing seasons and Jnapaka foretelling rainfalls. The last predicts that the east and the north winds bring rains quickly and those from the south delay them also the rains following northeast winds are auspicious. Literature on forecasting the weather sprang with Bhadrabahu Samhita by Jain Sanyasis in 1500 AD, Vanamala by Jivanath, a Maithili scholar around 1700 AD, and Vrishti Prabodha in Sanskrit and Gujarati. In the West, Galileo, in 1608, discovered sunspots and believed that they could be a factor in weather changes. He was pooh-poohed then but was later acknowledged. Today, meteorology has really gone ahead and the predictions of coming rains based on scientific observations are mostly true. Himachal Pradesh has its own proverbs and indicators that forecast rains. “Mangal dewa Meene, Sat patal guwe seene” means that when Mars goes into Pisces, the seven lower regions become wet i.e. much rain will follow. An observation based on the conditions of the sky reads, “Badli pako bhalko, Pani ri lagi shalko; Badli paki byalai, pani na nhyalai”, which means that when clouds go red in the morning, expect a heavy shower and if they are red in the evening, then there is no rain. Ranbir Singh Rana of Agricultural University Palampur, Manmohan Singh, director of Meteorological Centre, Shimla, and others had presented a paper in a seminar in Shimla that also mentioned indicators that guide the farmers of Himachal Pradesh in expecting rains (see photo): “Badal chale Chambe, naalu kholu kambe; Badal chale Kullu, paniye de chullu” (if the south-west monsoon clouds move towards Chamba, then there is heavy rains in Kangra, Una and Hamirpur districts and if the clouds move towards Kullu then expect no rains). A tree is an indicator in this proverb: “Kainth phulde ta naal bagde” (if Kainth (pyrus pashia) blossoms then there is good rainfall during the spring season). Here is a bird that indicates the rainfall: “Titar fangi badal” (if a guinea fowl sheds its feathers, then rains are expected soon). Kangra is known for its mangoes but if it rains during Baisakh (March-April) then there are neither mangoes nor their stones: “Barya Basoa, Na amb na koa”. In the Palampur-Jaisnghpur area of Kangra district, a prevalent story is of crane-like birds called kurla and kurli associated with rainfall. Kurla would sit on the branch of a simbal tree (bombex cieba) at Sujanpur Tira. Kurli would fly to nearby flowing river Beas and feed her partner with fish caught from it. Kurla would sit for eight days in that branch in the month of Ashad and Shravan (July-August). It, however, is not always the privilege of the male partner, often kurli would sit there and kurla feed her. The effect on the rainfall is not good when the male sits on the branch. It would rain less that year and there could be infected rice crop whereas kurli’s sitting would mean bumper paddy harvest and sufficient rainfall. Another story popular in Kangra and Mandi districts is of a fight between Indru Nag Devta and the dayans (witches) every year on amawasya (dark night) of Shravan (August). If dayans win, then there is continuous rain for five days prior to Nag Panchami; if Devta wins, then there is paucity of rains. Dayans’ victory gives good kharif crop and the devta’s win results in poor crop because devta keeps a handful of grains for himself for the marriage of his daughter. Believe these or not; but when we observe the other living beings and nature and their ways of forecasting rainfall, we tend to agree that through the process of our education and advancement, we have lost simple basic instincts with which our forefathers had lived through.
Tailpiece
“You should know how the clouds get formed.” “I do not know but the clouds know how to do it and that is more important.”
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Towards first Nirmal state of country
The hill state is poised to become the first ‘Nirmal state’ of the country in August. As many as 3,202 panchayats of the state have already been declared completely ODF (open defecation free) and the remaining 41 panchayats will be covered under the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) ODF by August. The TSC had made a huge impact on the rural community. The village sanitation committees have not only made it prohibitory to defecate in open, but also made a provision to impose fine on those who do not adhere to the rules. The TSC was launched in the year 2000 from district Sirmour and it has now penetrated every nook and corner of the state. The Neen panchayat in Basantpur block of Shimla was the first to be declared ODF and completely sanitised and was awrded the first state-level sanitation prize of Rs 10 lakh in 2007. The school sanitation forms an integral part of the TSC and all the government schools in the state have been provided the toilet facility. During the last three years, 21,871 toilets had been constructed in the government schools, 9,053 in the anganwari kendras and 504 in the community complexes. To encourage gram panchayats to excel in sanitation, an annual state-level competition ‘Maharishi Valmiki Sampooran Swachata Puraskar’ has been introduced. Blood donation camp
Principal Naresh Mahajan, who was chief guest on the occasion, highlighted importance of blood donation. Apart from students, some teachers also donated blood. 61 students and 6 teachers namely, Neera Sharma, RK Kaystha, Himalaya Negi, Ruchi Ramesh, Lalita Rawat and Sunila Mankotia donated blood. Mahajan said the college administration had been organising such functions from time-to-time to inculcate the sense of social service among the students. Earlier this month, the Rotract Club of the college held a blood donation camp with the help of Rotary Club, in which 76 units of blood was donated. Project officer YRC Saroj Bhardwaj informed that an awareness camp to promote a healthy lifestyle was also organized, in which about 200 girls and 50 staff members participated. The students were educated about virtues of balanced diet and were advised to include green vegetables, milk, jaggery in their daily meals.
Buying forms for licence, RC gets easy
To facilitate people coming for registering new vehicles and works related to driving licences in the SDM office, Hamirpur, the administration has started sale of all forms through the Sugam Kendra. From this week, people could purchase forms for registering new vehicles, making new licenses and renewal of old ones from the Kendra from 10.00 am to 1.00 pm daily, where they can also deposit the requisite fee. So far, these forms were being sold through vendors and shopkeepers and many times people had to run from one place to other to purchase these. SDM (Hamirpur) Pankaj Rai said, “For the convenience of people, we have started sale of these forms through the Sugam Kendra. These forms will be available in a file costing Rs 10 to Rs 20 and after 2.00 pm, they can be procured from the SDM office also.” In future, forms supplied by the SDM office would be accepted for registering of vehicles and driving license-related works. The administration has also decided to install a close circuit cameras in the Sugam Kendra, through which the Deputy Commissioner and the SDM would keep an eye on the movement of suspected touts and other undesirable persons. (Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi
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Health Minister accuses Cong of misleading people
Ambika Sharma
Solan, July 26 In a press statement issued here, he said the state was marching towards the path of development under the dynamic leadership of Prem Kumar Dhumal and it had received more than 36 awards in different fields from different agencies of India. Besides, the UPA government, headed by the Congress, has also awarded Himachal Pradesh for many development issues. “Himachal Pradesh is coming up as a hub of higher education and it goes well with the environment of the state and the people would get direct and indirect employment by setting up of these universities while the students can also get higher education in their own state. But the Congress has been opposing this move.” “On one hand, the Congress leaders are criticising the state government for opening new universities while on the other, they are well aware that a large number of private universities are being opened in Congress-ruled states. Even Delhi is having 13 deemed universities and 22 universities in total. “Deemed universities are not passed by any legislative assembly or by Parliament. The other examples are the State of Rajasthan and Maharashtra which are also being ruled by the Congress. Rajsthan has eight deemed universities and 16 private universities 42 universities in total, whereas Maharashtra has 21 deemed universities and in total there are 42 universities.” “The Himachal Pradesh is the only state where the quality control mechanism has been devised through the state Legislative Assembly.” Illustrating his point further, he said, “Haryana which is ruled by the Congress has five deemed universities and four private universities in total 22 universities, Andhra Pradesh 7 deemed universities 42 universities in total, Tamil Nadu has 29 deemed universities and 59 universities in total, Karnataka’s 14 universities are deemed ouit of 40 universities. Hence, it is very much clear that the leaders of the Congress in Himachal Pradesh opposing the good work done by the BJP government only for the sake of politics.” Even Union Minister Kapil Sibbal says that India needs 1,000 universities.
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Tanda college steps up anti-ragging measures
Kangra, July 26 These decisions were taken during an anti-ragging committee meeting held at the college under the chairmanship of principal Anil Chauhan recently. It has been decided that registration, document checking, medical checkup and fee deposit of new students would be done under one roof at the top floor of the OPD block of the college for the convenience of students and their parents. It was also decided that the new batch of boys would be accommodated on the top floor of the Vivekananda Hostel with only one entry gate with proper security. This hostel would be surrounded by residences of the faculty members. Both the hostels have been equipped with landline phones and siren facilities to avoid any ragging incident.
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Policewomen get important duties
Dharamsala, July 26 The department has shown confidence in them and deputed them on important duties like traffic control, escorting prisoners and patrolling. In the district police, where the number of women was somewhere around 60, the additional young recruits have become the new face of the department. In the past two months, the number of woman cops has suddenly increased in Dharamsala. Young girls in their early 20s have become head-turners as they can be seen managing traffic with quiet perfection. Encouraging women in police jobs, SP Diljeet Thakur said: “They are usually put up on soft jobs, but I have now ensured that there should be at least three woman cops posted in each police station”. “Though the number is very less, I make sure that they perform duties similar to their male counterparts,” said the SP. “I want to expose them to practical jobs of the department and have posted them in traffic, escorting prisoners and patrolling jobs. Women have been posted in Dharamsala, Kangra, Shahpur and Jwalamukhi. They have been doing well and are sincere towards their jobs. Since handling traffic has become a tough job, these women have been trained for the same,” Thakur said. Abhimanyu, in charge, Traffic, Dharamsala, said: “The women have been doing a great job. We have 10 of them on traffic duty these days. They have been working in two shifts i.e. from 8 am to 2 pm and 2 pm to 8 pm”. “Keeping the tourist rush in mind, we have started an additional shift for them i.e. from 6 pm to 9.30 pm. They have been helpful as people behave sensibly with women,” Abhimanyu said. In case of misbehaviour, the department had directed the women personnel to note down the number of the vehicle concerned and report the matter to the control room for taking action against the miscreants, he added. Reena Chauhan, a 22-year-old constable on traffic duty, said: “We enjoy our work. It adds to our experience as we interact with a lot of people. We used to do important duties like guarding, patrolling, escorting prisoners etc. We are well trained to handle any situation and we thank the department for showing faith in us”.
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Solan Prof presents paper in US
Solan, July 26 He has explained the anomalous thermo dynamical and transport properties of liquid system in collaboration with Prof PK Ahluwalia of the Department of Physics, Himachal Pradesh University. The conference is being held from July 24- 29. Thakur explains that liquid alloys are of immense use in nuclear reactor for controlling coolants and are also used as conductor in certain circuits of cryogenic engines. It is a favourable fusion reactor material and finds application in many other industrial applications. Moreover, the study of liquid alloys helps to understand the interior of the Earth which is considered to be a mixture of iron and nickel and other planets which may be made up in parts of a liquid mixture of metallic hydrogen and metallic helium. The study of liquid alloys also helps us to understand the behaviour of metallic glasses which are meta stable amorphous systems formed by rapid quenching of liquid alloys at favourable compositions.
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MP seeks transfer of Shanan Power House
Palampur, July 26 Addressing a news conference here recently, Sushant said despite the fact that the project was situated in Himachal Pradesh, using water from the state rivers to generate power, its administrative control was with the Punjab government. He said the state was reorganised in 1966, but Punjab failed to hand over the possession of project to Himachal Pradesh. It was unfortunate that the governments which ruled the state did not initiate action to get possession of this project. On the other hand, Punjab had adopted vindictive approach and was not cooperating on the issue. He said Himachal was losing revenue worth Rs 100 crore every year and this income was being pocketed by the Punjab government. Sushant said under the banner of the Himachal Adhikar Manch, residents would assemble at Joginder Nagar on August 15 to lodge their protest.
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Henna artists doing brisk business
Dhara Katoch/TNS
Dharamsala, July 26 Among all, the period is also considered special for women. And applying henna during this month means a lot to them. Keeping the tradition alive, numerous henna artists can be seen outside famous temples. Women wait in queues for their turn as huge rush gathers around these artists. Sanju, a mehandi artist, has come to Chamdunda Temple from Pathankot to make good money during this month. Sanju explains, “We have a team and we have spread across the famous temples here. This is the second time that we have come here during this month as a lot of tourists come to pay obeisance during this period of the year and applying mehandi is considered auspicious as per the local tradition. Therefore, we get good business”. Mehandi artists can also be seen at Kangra temple. Locals also appreciate them as they are good at their work. Besides, it is convenient around temples instead of going to parlours and spending a hefty amount. Swati, a newly wed, mentioned that she got a beautiful and an intricate design at a nominal price from one of those artists outside the temple. As per the belief, the “Sawan” month is dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva and the Lord fulfills wishes if offered special prayers. Prayers offered to goddess Parvati also never go unanswered during this month. Therefore, unmarried girls keep fasts on every Monday of the month. The tradition of applying mehandi among girls and women has special significance as it brings luck to their life partners.
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Following a news report appeared in these columns last week, the foundation stone of Bachat
Bhawan, which was laid here by the then Chief Minister Shanta Kumar in 1992, and was dismantled recently, has been reinstalled although in a broken condition.
“Forewarned is forearmed” was not coined yesterday. It has been human nature to know about the coming events - the rains too. The Pre-Vedic times saw the emergence of rules to forecast rains which were based on the observations of winds, clouds or behavior of men, animals, birds, insects, trees, plants or sky conditions like halo around the sun or moon, their colours, and stars. The three kinds of defined winds are: Bhavaka producing clouds; Sthapaka establishing seasons and Jnapaka foretelling rainfalls.
A blood donation and awareness camp was organised by the Youth Red Cross Rajkiya Kanya Maha VIdyalaya, Shimla, in collaboration with the local Rotary Club (see photo).