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Tussle for Cong ticket from Dharamsala
HP to be first carbon-neutral state:
CM
BJP adopting double standards on graft issue, says CPM
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Quitting of party by BJP dissidents
Regulatory panel serves notices on pvt varsities
Redefine green belts, demand plot owners
Damage to Litchi Plantations due to snowfall
Nod to Rs 12.4-cr ayurvedic research institute
Health Dept inks MoU with pvt firm
Dental college staff go on strike
Textile unit workers hold protest
Free uniforms to students political gimmick: Rahi
Get high-security No. plates, vehicle owners told
1st skin grafting surgery performed
3 booked for murder
Man shot at
Man dies of fall from hillside
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Tussle for Cong ticket from Dharamsala
Dharamsala, February 2 Chandresh Kumari, a former Congress MLA from Dharamsala, contested the last parliamentary elections from the Jodhpur constituency in Rajasthan. She was fielded from Rajasthan by the Congress as she belongs to a former royal family of the former Jodhpur state. She was married here in a former royal family of Kangra. Chandresh won the parliamentary elections and is now the MP from Jodhpur. Since she has now politically moved out of the state, this has kindled hope among many other Congress leaders that they may be fielded by the party from Dharamsala. However, since Chandresh Kumari has re-initiated her political activities from Dharamsala, it has created apprehensions among her rivals in the party. Reacting to the reported statement of Chandresh Kumari, Digvijay Puri, HPCC member from Dharamsala, who is also keen on contesting on the Congress ticket from Dharamsala, said leaders should not consider themselves above the party. In a press note, he claimed that by announcing their candidature, leaders were creating confusion among the workers. The leaders should not consider themselves above HPCC president Kaul Singh or Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he said. He said the Congress had not yet invited applications for allotting the ticket for the Himachal Assembly elections and so no leader should declare his or her candidature at this stage. Chandresh Kumari said on the phone that she had not issued any statement declaring her candidature from Dharamsala. She said the high command had directed her to work for the party in Himachal as the elections for the state Assembly were due at the end of the year. “I am organising programmes here on the invitation of the block Congress of Dharmasala. Himachal is my home state and I have every right to canvass for the Congress here,” she said. She alleged that if any leader had problems with her activities, he should report the matter to the party high command rather than going to the media. Chandresh Kumari said the decision regarding the party ticket from Dharamsala would be taken by the party high command. |
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HP to be first carbon-neutral state:
CM
Shimla, February 2 He was speaking at the 12th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit organised by the Energy and Resource Institute on “Protecting the global commons: 20 years post-Rio” in New Delhi today. He said the state government had prepared an inventory of greenhouse gas emission for assessing the carbon footprints. “The carbon footprint per capita in Himachal Pradesh has been assessed at 1.4 tonnes per capita in comparison to the national average of 1.57 tonnes per capita,” he said. He said the state government had signed an MoU with World Bank for harnessing carbon credits to generate carbon revenue amounting to Rs 20 crore for 20 years under “bio-carbon projects” in 177 gram panchayats. The area covered under this would be 4,000 hectares, spread across 10 districts of the state. Dhumal advocated the market-based instrument “Payment for eco-system service” for the maintenance, conservation and expansion of the pristine Himalayan flora and fauna, and pleaded for dedicated funds and support by developed nations to phase out obsolete technologies, both in climate change and environment infrastructure. He said an environment master plan had been prepared for sectoral guidelines in environmental protection and added that the state government would launch the State Centre on Climate Change shortly in Shimla which would serve as a centre of excellence for co-ordinating research on climate change. The Chief Minister announced that the government had set up a “virtual centre” of the State Centre for Science, Learning and Creativity, which would be dedicated to the state on February 10 in the presence of RK Pachauri, Director-General, TERI. He said all government departments had been asked to carry out their energy and environment audits, and introspect on action and policies for mitigation and adaptation measures. He said the government had started a mission called the Community-led Assessment, Awareness, Advocacy and Action Programme for environment protection and carbon neutrality at the panchayat level under which initially 1,000 panchayats would be covered. He said so far around 250 panchayats had been covered, including in the remote Lahaul-Spiti areas of Himachal Pradesh. The Chief Minister said the government had promoted the use of non-conventional energy sources for space heating and discourages the use of charcoal, coal, fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emission. |
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BJP adopting double standards on graft issue, says CPM
Shimla, February 2 Member of the state secretariat of the party Tikender Singh Panwar said the party’s own leaders had put ministers and even the state BJP chief in the dock and gimmicks like extending invitation to team Anna for strengthening the Lokayukta Act would not be able to cover the long trail of graft of a government steeped in corruption. The CPM had all along been highlighting corruption in the government and the division in the BJP on the issue had only vindicated its stand. The CPM had been targeting the government for allowing the real estate mafia to loot most precious and scarce resource in connivance with corrupt politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats. A nexus was exposed in Kullu with the arrest of IPS officer KK Indoria, who was the district police chief. Now, with straight charges levelled by their own party leaders against the state party chief and some of the Cabinet ministers, more skeletons were coming out of the BJP cupboard. There had been a series of scams right from the CFL bulbs purchase scandal, pulses purchase scam, Gumma carton factory sale, violation of the Land Reforms and Tenancy Act at the behest of big builders, the Kanlog housing project scandal and many others. The party had decided to print out a booklet exposing the corruption in the BJP. |
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Quitting of party by BJP dissidents
Bilaspur, February 2 Talking to mediapersons at the circuit house here today, these leaders who were among the prominent leaders of the BJP in the past, have said this new party would bring new hope to the troubled masses and not only meet aspirations of the people of the state who have been belied by the two main parties till now, but it would also help the state get rid of the rampant
corruption. Krishan Kumar Kaushal was state Chairman of State Co-operative Bank during the earlier Dhumal government and later resigned from the BJP and had joined the Himachal Vikas Congress, led by Pandit Sukh Ram, while KD Dharmani was state chairman of the state 20-Point Programme Implementation Committee in the Dhumal government after he remained the BJP MLA from Ghumarwin and was also president of the district
BJP. A few years ago, he fell out with top BJP leaders and was not even allowed to renew his party membership. |
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Regulatory panel serves notices on pvt varsities
Shimla, February 2 The unapproved courses mostly pertain to the engineering, commerce and science streams, and they account for almost 20 per cent of the total courses offered by the private universities. In the case of one university, almost 35 per cent courses had been started without the mandatory approval of the government. Interestingly, almost all private universities had enrolled students for PhD and taken hefty fees even though the government had not yet granted permission to any institution. The commission has asked the vice-chancellors of all univerisites to ensure that the new prospectus for the next academic session only included the courses and fee structure duly approved by the government. The Education Department will complete the process of inspection by February 15 and grant approvals by March 15. The commission also took notice of the fact that most of the private universities had not revamped their websites in accordance with its earlier directions to “make it amply clear to students applying for admission the nature and scope of functioning of the department concerned”. It has asked them to clearly specify the courses offered, curricula, lab facilities, faculty, students’ ongoing projects, eligibility criteria, fees and other such details coherently in one place. They have been asked to update the websites accordingly by February 15. All universities will have to ensure that the admissions are completed by August 7. The fees will be charged at the beginning of each semester and not on an annual basis so that the burden was spread. Chairman of the commission Sarojni Gunju Thakur said the commission had started receiving complaints, most of which pertained to overcharging or advance collection of fee and action was being taken against the erring univerisites. The commission had taken several initiatives to bring transparency in the functioning of the universities, the impact of which would be discernible from the coming academic session. Unapproved Courses
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Redefine green belts, demand plot owners
Shimla, February 2 About 75 such plot owners who were affected by the carving out of 17 green belts where a blanket ban on construction was imposed in 2000 yesterday placed their viewpoint before the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department. Director, TCP, Poornima Chauhan yesterday gave a personal hearing to all those who had filed objections and given suggestions on the Draft Shimla Development Plan, which has been notified. They demanded that all individual plots in the green areas must be taken out of the purview of the green belts. Since all 25 persons who had sent in objections and suggestions in response to the notified Shimla Development Plan have been given a hearing, the TCP Department will now make the necessary changes and place it before the Cabinet for approval. The draft plan makes a mention of giving relaxation to those plot owners who bought land before 2000 in the green belts for undertaking need-based construction. “If a few trees can be axed to make way for posh housing colonies or an aerial ropeway then our demand for allowing construction on the plots we bought before the ban is fully justified,” said RL Jain, president of the Green Area Sufferers Association. He said the cutting of trees, be it by the government or private individuals, would have the same effect on environment; so owners of plots in the green areas should be allowed to cut one or two trees with the condition of making compensatory plantation. Jain said irrespective of the area in which the plot fell, all drive-in locations should be allowed an extra parking floor to avoid roadside parking, which lead to traffic jams and congestion. “With the floor area ratio (FAR) in some of the most congested colonies like New Shimla, Sanjauli and Bharari being 1.50 and 1.75, we want that the same should be applicable even in the construction that is to be allowed in the green area plots,” he said. Reiterating their resolve to preserve the pristine and green environs of the town, the plot owners said there should be no regularisation of illegal constructions as previous retention policies had put more strain on the civic amenities and led to haphazard growth of the town. They said keeping in view the high cost of land, construction should be allowed on four biswas. |
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Damage to Litchi Plantations due to snowfall
Dharamsala, February 2 “I had taken a loan for raising the litchi orchard. If the government does not come to my rescue, I will be caught in a debt trap,” he said. The district Horticulture Department has acknowledged the fact that litchi and mango orchards in the Nagrota Bagwan area of Kangra district had faced extensive damage due to the snowfall. The Additional Director, Horticulture, North Zone, has maintained that litchi and mango orchards in Rait, Kangra and Nagrota Bagwan suffered heavy damage due to the snowfall. He maintained that due to the snowfall in these areas, branches of fruit trees were broken and some of the plants were totally damaged or
uprooted. Of the total 2,800 hectares under litchi plantations in Kangra district, orchards in 700 hectares were damaged. About 5,000 litchi plantations were totally damaged suffering 75 to 100 per cent damage; 7,000 plants suffered up to 75 per cent damage and 10,000 plants received less than 50 per cent damage, according to officials of the Horticulture Department. In the mango plantations in these areas, 5 to 6 per cent damage was reported. The Horticulture Department has advised farmers to cut and prune the damaged branches of the plants and apply fungicidal paste or copper oxycloride paint so that the damaged plants can revive. Though the state government has floated an insurance scheme for horticulture crops in the state, few farmers have opted for the scheme due to lack of awareness or small size of their landholdings. Now, small horticulturists of Kangra district are pinning their hopes on the state government to provide them some kind of relief for the damage caused to their plantations due to inclement weather last month. Since the cash-starved state government hardly has funds for compensating the farmers, it is likely to forward the demand to the Union Government. |
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Nod to Rs 12.4-cr ayurvedic research institute
Mandi, February 2 Talking to The Tribune here yesterday, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to ARRI Dr Omraj Sharma said: “The institute will be first-of-its-kind in the state. It will run the 150-bedded hospital and its OPDs that will cater to patients from Mandi, Kullu and other parts of the state.” He added that the indoor hospital would offer the Panch Karma treatment for rejuvenation of the body. Like Kerala, which had cashed in on herbal tourism offering herbal baths and Panch Karma therapies to herbal health seekers, the institute would give a big boost to herbal tourism as it would have modern state-of-the-art 10 herbal huts manned by experts. The facilities would be available online for anybody, Dr Sharma added. The institute would also house a herbarium to preserve rare Himalayan medicinal plants that were getting extinct. Experts would do research on herbal medicines and offer treatment to patients. Even the institute would act as an expert for private entrepreneurs willing to set up their herbal health resorts in the state. The resorts with herbal spas were picking up among the eco-friendly high-end tourists from across the world, said herbal experts. The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences and the Department of Ayush, GoI, were funding the institute and they had already sanctioned Rs 4 crore to initiate the work in the institute. The land measuring 7.5 bighas at Pandoh had been transferred to the institute, Dr Sharma said. The work had been assigned to the PWD, which had already sanctioned the map of the institute in local architecture, he said. Dr Sharma, who is also an assistant director at ARRI, said they had set up three time-frames to complete the building work. The institute would give a fillip to the research in ayurveda and people would get health benefits of ayush, which had been accepted as an alternative medicine the world over, he added. |
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Health Dept inks MoU with pvt firm
Nurpur, February 2 According to information, at present this facility is available only in the Tanda medical college and Zonal Hospital, Dharamsala, in the district. Patients from the lower Kangra district have to rush to private diagnostic centres at nearby Pathankot in Punjab for CT scan tests where they have to pay hefty sums for the same. Confirming this, DS Chandel, Director, Health Department, said today that the department had undertaken a prolonged exercise in maturing the PPP scheme by signing an MoU with a private company that would provide round-the-clock CT scan facility in all identified state health institutions. He claimed that the company was all set to install CT scan units in institutions and people would get this facility soon. Meanwhile, Raman Sharma, in charge, Nurpur Civil Hospital, asserted that the requisite place had been selected for installation of the CT scan unit on the hospital premises. People of Nurpur, Jawali, Indora, Fatehpur and neighbouring Bhatiyat Assembly segments will be benefited after beginning of this facility here in the civil hospital. |
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Dental college staff go on strike
Solan, February 2 DAV Dental College Employee and Workers’ Union president Pradeep Rana said it was lamentable that though the college management had agreed to pay them wages at par with employees of Government Dental College at Shimla as per an agreement signed after tripartite talks held between labour officials, college management and employees in August 2011, they had failed to honour the agreement. Those employees who had completed five years of service were supposed to be regularised and paid wages accordingly. He added that though the union had served a notice to the management in September to implement the agreement, they did not pay any heed to their demands. The management also failed to make themselves available before the labour officer to thrash out a solution. The management was also supposed to grant revised pay scale since January 2006 and its arrears. |
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5-day Alpine Premier League on Solang ski slopes from Feb 5
Manali, February 2 It is being supported by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (ABVIMAS), Manali, and Himachal Tourism. Chief Minister PK Dhumal will inaugurate the League on February 6, while MP Anurag Thakur will preside over the concluding function on February 9. Promoter of a ropeway-cum-ski centre Amitabh Sharma said as many as 40 teams from all over India were expected to participate in the League. These included ski teams from the Indian Army, HAWS (Gulmarg), Indian Navy, Indian Air force, ITBP, ABVIMAS (Manali), Jammu and Kashmir, IISM (Gulmarg), Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, Delhi Ski Club, JIM (Pahalgam) and various clubs of Himachal Pradesh. He further said more than 280 skiers drawn from different parts of the country would participate in the skiing race. The skiing competitions were Slalom, Giant Slalom, snow-board Giant Slalom, snow-board cross-country 5-km race for men and women and Giant Slalom (Junior Boys and Girls), including Men’s Veteran Giant Slalom (40 years and above). The Alpine Premier League which is the brain child of Amitabh Sharma, a winter sports lover, shall be held annually on the ski slopes of Solang. |
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Textile unit workers hold protest
Solan, February 2 Besides, overcharging in the canteen and lack of cleanliness and overcrowded rooms in housing colonies were issues that had failed to be addressed despite repeated reminders to the management of Birla Textiles. All operations remained suspended till afternoon. Later, workers resumed work after receiving an assurance from the management. State president of the Indian National Trade Union Congress Hardeep Bawa said the management had assured them that all pending issues would be resolved within the next few days. He said they had formed their union at the unit and the interests of workers would be protected. The management fearing an adverse backlash had also apprised the police about the strike following which the police was deployed to avoid any untoward incident. With no labour officer being permanently sitting in Baddi after the last incumbent proceeded on leave about two months ago and the labour inspector of neighbouring Nalagarh also being unavailable for the past many weeks, labourers fail to get redressal of their grievances in time. This spoke volumes about the concern of the department towards the issues of workers. The availability of barely one officer in the state’s industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, which accounted for almost 70 per cent of the state’s industry, was itself indicative of the department’s approach. Labour Commissioner Mohan Chauhan, when quizzed, however, said a permanent labour officer would soon be posted at Baddi, adding that he was not aware of the fact that Nalagarh labour inspector was not being available but he would inquire into the matter. |
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Free uniforms to students political gimmick: Rahi
Hamirpur, February 2 In a press note, Rahi said after launching the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan in 2005, the Central Government had directed the state governments to provide free books, notebooks, stationery, school uniforms, shoes and bicycles to students
in government schools from the funds received under this programme. He added that “the state government was sleeping over these directions for many years and now announced to provide free uniforms to students to draw political mileage of a Central Government scheme, in view of the coming state Assembly election.” |
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Get high-security No. plates, vehicle owners told
Hamirpur, February 2 The DC said as per the orders passed by the Supreme Court on December 8, 2011, vehicles registered under Hamirpur district would have to obtain high-security number plates, the work for which was in progress in the district and would continue till June 15, 2012. He said vehicle owners should get new number plates through the office of the vehicle registration officer concerned. Meanwhile, Hamirpur SDM Pankaj Rai has ordered all the vehicle owners to move their vehicles parked in the DC office complex or on a nearby road to maintain a free flow of traffic. He said since a large number of vehicles were being brought for obtaining high-security number plates daily, a lot of empty space was required in the complex. |
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1st skin grafting surgery performed
Nurpur, February 2 According to Raman Sharma, hospital in charge, it was a maiden plastic surgery performed by Mukesh Bhardwaj who first detached the fingers from her palm. Thereafter, he resorted to skin grafting in providing proper shape to the hand. He said the patient would be kept in the hospital for another five days. |
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3 booked for murder
Hamirpur, February 2 The half-burnt body of Ashwani Kumar (35) was found dumped under a banana tree near his house. Hamirpur SP Kuldeep Sharma said: “The police made a breakthrough in the case by putting the mobile phone number of the deceased under close observation.” The mobile number of the deceased was traced from a migrant labourer, who was working near the place of the murder on the day of the incident, and later helped in reaching the accused. The SP said: “The deceased was facing 13 criminal cases in courts and convicted in three cases. On the day of the incident, he had abused the lad as a result of which the boy hit and strangulated him with a muffler he was wearing.” “Later, the boy’s mother and aunt also helped the accused in dumping the body. The accused also tried to burn the body,” he added. |
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Man shot at
Kangra, February 2 He said Joginder was immediately rushed to the Civil Hospital, Dehra. The SDPO said Bhagi was arrested yesterday by the Haripur police on a complaint of Sushma Kumari under Sections 307, IPC, and 25, 54 and 59, Arms Act. |
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Man dies of fall from hillside
Chamba, February 1 The incident occurred when Amar Chand was on his way home and he slipped and rolled down the hillside where he died on the spot. The incident was reported to the police by villagers. — OC |
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Even though the elections in the state are due at the end of this year, the tussle for the Congress ticket from Dharamsala has already started.
The tussle was triggered by a statement of Jodhpur MP Chandresh Kumari, which was reported in the vernacular media today.
