Dharamsala, April 30
The small hill town Dharamsala is gearing up to host another IPL season next month. The town is going to host two IPL matches including Punjab Kings XI versus Delhi Dare Devils on May 16 and Punjab Kings XI versus Mumbai Indians on May 18.

The Punjab Kings XI owned by bollywood star Preity Zinta, who also hails from Himachal, is the host team for the Dharamsala international cricket stadium consecutively for the fourth year.

Organisation of the IPL matches brought Dharamsala cricket stadium international fame. Due to successful organisation of the IPL matches here, the ICC allowed a one-day international cricket match at Dharamsala in January this year.

However, the difference this time is that the Congress government is in power in the state. In the past three seasons, the BJP government was in power in Himachal. It was friendly to the HPCA and extended it full support for organising the IPL matches. The cooperation extended to the HPCA was normal as it is headed by the BJP MP from the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency, Anurag Thakur.

However, the Congress had been criticising the BJP government for doling out sops to the HPCA. The pavilion hotel constructed by the HPCA for housing players after taking government land on lease was part of the Congress charge sheet against the previous BJP government during elections. After coming to power, the Congress has also announced cancellation of allotment of certain playgrounds, for instance the Nurpur ground, to the HPCA as the decision was taken by the previous BJP government.

The Congress had also been criticising the previous BJP government for charging nominal entertainment tax from the organisers of the IPL matches at Dharamsala and for providing free government security. The Congress had been alleging that while the other states as Punjab were charging hefty amounts for providing security during the IPL matches, the Himachal Government was not charging anything for using public resources for a commercial event.

Now with the Congress in power, it remains to be seen whether the present government withdraws the facilities extended by the previous government for the organisation of IPL matches at Dharamsala.

Sources in the local administration revealed that the present government was unlikely to withdraw the facilities for the organisation of IPL matches at Dharamsala. The government fears that it might draw flak in case the IPL matches are shifted out of state.

The organisation of IPL matches at Dharamsala is definitely a boost for tourism in the area. Inquiries revealed that almost all hotels had been booked in advance during the match days. Though just two matches were being organised at Dharamsala, their impact on tourism was seen over a period of about one week as many tourists came in advance or stayed even after the matches.

During this period, hoteliers charge hefty amounts from consumers due to increased demand and a large influx of tourists to the area.

The organisation of the IPL matches also poses a challenge to the local administration. The biggest problem faced by the local administration is creating parking space for vehicles and regulating traffic during the match days.

During the past few IPL seasons, there were charges of overselling of tickets by the organisers. There were charges that even corporate box tickets were oversold and the people who bought these premium tickets had to face problems. This year the local administration tried to check the practice by forcing the organisers to print the seat numbers on the tickets sold to the spectators. However, the sources here said that the Punjab Kings XI team had expressed its helplessness in printing the seat numbers along with the tickets. The team has, however, assured the local administration that it will not oversell the tickets during the coming matches.

Now it remains to be seen what comes out of the bonhomie of politics, sports and commerce that the IPL matches create in Himachal.

Dharamsala, April 30
More than 50 years after India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru took the initiative to open schools for Tibetan refugees, the Tibetan administration in exile is now all set to take over the 71 institutions functioning across the country.

The transfer process, which began this month, will take at least three years.

The schools were set up after the first Tibetan refugees came to India in 1959. They are currently being run by the Central Tibetan Schools Administration (CTSA), an autonomous body under the human resource development ministry, will be handed over to the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), an official said.

The move comes after their Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, expressed a desire to impart modern education while preserving Tibetan culture and heritage.

Currently, about 10,000 students are on rolls of these schools, from pre-primary to Class XII. The schools are affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Tibetan Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay said education was one of the top priorities in the domestic programme and policy of the government-in-exile. "It's true that the Tibetan community has done relatively well over the past five decades (in exile). While we started out from very humble beginnings, we need to learn to gradually stand on our own feet," Sangay said.

"In fact, self-reliance is one of the three main policies of my administration," Sangay said. Sangay himself is an alumnus of a refugee school in Darjeeling. He then studied law at Delhi University before moving to Harvard for doctoral studies.

"His Holiness attaches great importance to educating Tibetan children. Whenever, wherever he gets an opportunity, he loves to interact with them. He wants to make them bold enough to face the world," Thubten Samphel, director of the Tibet Policy Institute, a think-tank under the CTA based here, said.

Tenzin Dorjee, a Class X student of Tibetan Children's Village already run by the Tibetan administration here, said he was really moved by one of the audiences he had with the spiritual leader.

"I have seen lots of Chinese professionals all over the world but very few Tibetan professionals... So, you must put in more focus and effort," he quoted the Dalai Lama as saying when the Nobel laureate visited the school last year.

"You should study everything. I started when I was young and although I'm nearly 78 today, I'm still studying," says a post on the Dalai Lama's website, quoting the Nobel laureate while interacting with students of Tibet Institute. — IANS

Shimla, April 30
The initiative taken by the Himachal Institute of Public Administration (HIPA) to create awareness among people, particularly in the backward areas, about the Right to Information (RTI) Act has brought to fore the efforts being made by youth in remote areas of the state to expose corruption at the grassroots.

The institute has been organising workshops to educate common people and also government officials, especially public information officers, and has decided to invite success stories to honour the efforts of the RTI activists from the region. Of the four persons selected for the honour two were from the remote pockets of the most backward Chamba district of the state. The remaining two were from Chandigarh and Uttarakhand.

While Mohinder Singh of Chechi village in Tisa has used the RTI to expose a scam in MNREGA by proving that payments were being made by the panchayat functionaries in collusion with block officials. The information obtained by him clearly showed that five persons who were paid wages for working under various projects were actually school students and they were regularly attending school during the period and had even appeared in board exams. Similarly four others, including two women, were mid-day meal workers and one person was working as a water carrier in a school.

He filed a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner with all documents and an inquiry was ordered. The report of the block development officer who conducted the inquiry clearly stated that there was bungling and on its basis, the pradhan was suspended. However, Mohinder Singh laments that the government took no action against the officials, including junior engineer, panchayat secretary, technical assistant and assistant secretary, and even the pradhan was reinstated. It was a big scam and some persons were paid wages for 150 to 262 days during 2007-09 period and the funds swindled added up to significant amount for a panchayat. Further, fake payments were also made in execution of works to some persons for carriage and supply of material and this was also pointed out in the inquiry report.

Manjur Mohammed exposed the scam in Kanyadan Yojna under which the government gives grant to widows for the marriage of their daughters. RTI information obtained by him revealed 13 cases in which grants were secured by women who were not widows and the beneficiaries mostly related to the local panchayat functionaries. He had to face the wrath of his community for raising the issue and was virtually ostracised.

Nodal officer for RTI Initiative Gopal Krishna said success stories were invited under the Government of India scheme to recognise the best RTI effort of individuals and best RTI practices by departments. There was no entry in the best practices category from any department. The four persons selected in the individual category were given a token cash reward along with a citation.

Hamirpur, April 30
The first alumni meet of the Electronics and Communication Engineering Department (E&CED) of NIT, Hamirpur, was held recently.

The event was celebrated as a homecoming for the alumni to mark the silver jubilee year of the E&CED of the Hamirpur NIT.

As many as 30 former students of the department occupying important positions in various organisations like NTPC, BSNL, DRDO and Ericsson and working in various academic institutes participated in the meet. Prof Rajnish Shrivastava, Director, NIT, who was the chief guest, inaugurated the meet.

In his address, he highlighted the importance of such interactions and updated the audience about various achievements of NIT like NBA accreditation of engineering degrees and other activities and academic developments taking place in the institute.

Dean (faculty) Prof Rakesh Sehgal was the guest of honour. Prof AS Singha, Registrar, Prof Vinod Kapoor, Dean, (academic) and Dr Rajeevan Chandel, Head, E&CED, were among those who interacted with the alumni and took suggestions from former students to update the curriculum.

Former students Neeraj Sharma and Sourabh Lalhal gave suggestions for curriculum changes to prepare NIT students to compete with their peers and increase their employability as per the demand of the industry.

Vivek Bhatia, another former student of the 2007 batch, who has joined the IAS and at present posted at Bilaspur, in his address highlighted the “combined role” of engineers as an engineer and a civil servant in bringing social change to benefit society.

Dr Rajeevan Chandel, Head, E&CED, expressed gratitude to former students for visiting their alma mater and called upon them to foster mutual support as partners through frequent interaction in helping NIT pass-outs in training and placements.

She also urged them to give their valuable feedback about the institute on different forums acting as brand ambassadors of the Hamirpur NIT and participate in various activities like seminars, conferences and talks organised at the NIT.

Dr Gargi Khanna and Gagnesh Kumar were the coordinators of the meet.

Palampur, April 30
The Ministry of Health will provide a central assistance of Rs 17 crore for creating a modern infrastructure and other facilities in nursing training institutes in the state.

The Union Health Minister has sanctioned a grant of Rs 5-crore each to the Nursing Health Institutes of Mandi, Chamba and Nahan and Rs 2 crore for the Nursing Training Institute of Kullu. He has also directed the Health Ministry officials to release the funds immediately.

The state Health Minister along with Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh met the Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in New Delhi last week and pleaded for enhancement of central assistance from Rs 155 crore per annum to Rs 205 crore per annum under NRHM, keeping in view of the performance of health sector in Himachal as state government had fully utilised the funds under NHRM during last financial year.

The Health Minister said the central funds to the state government were curtailed last year due to the failure of previous BJP-led government in depositing the state’s share under the NRHM programme. However, the present Congress-led government had already deposited the state’s share of RS 25 crore which was outstanding since 2007.

The minister said a website of the NRHM would be launched within a week. It would educate people about various programmes launched under different schemes. The government had increased the budget of the health sector by 22.6 per cent as compared to the previous year when the average budget of the health sector was increased by only10 per cent.

Nurpur, April 30
The small and medium-sized families of Nurpur area have alleged discriminatory distribution of subsidised ration especially 'dals' and mustard oil by the government fair-price shops being run by the state Food and Civil Supplies Corporation.

Residents alleged that the small beneficiary families comprising one to two members were entitled only to one kilogram of 'Urad dal' and one liter of mustard oil and were deprived of other two 'dals'- 'Malka' and 'Moong'.

Similarly, the medium families comprising 3-4 members were entitled to 'Malka' and 'Urad dals', 1 kg each along with two litre mustard oil and were deprived of third 'dal'- 'Moong', which was distributed to only big families comprising five or more members. The government has replaced black gram and gram 'dal' with 'Moong' and 'Malka' and refined oil with mustard oil.

Several local ration card holders are protesting against the discrimination. Bhagwan Singh, one of the resident said, "This discriminatory approach of the state government has discouraged small families who have opted family planning in national interest and encouraged big families against the spirit of national family planning programme. We appeal to the government to remove this anomaly in the distribution of ration in the government fair price shops."

Food and Civil Supplies Minister GS Bali said these norms had been formulated by the previous BJP led government and the present government was only following them. 

Bilaspur, April 30
Bilaspur Forest division and Forest Employees Association (FEA) organised a joint conference at Ghumarwin, recently.

While addressing the conference, Rajesh Dharmani, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Forests and Fisheries), said forests were the most precious wealth of a nation and are very vital for the existence of human beings. He urged the citizens to protect forests and plant as many trees as possible. Forests are the heritage and we should preserve, he added.

Dharmani expressed concern that several forests were losing their worth due to fires during summer. He urged the forest officials to keep a check that no one lights fire near forest and if any fire incident takes place in forests, the officials should control the fire at the earliest and seek help from villagers, if necessary.

Anil Thakur, Conservator of Forests, said that apart from controlling forest fires, employees had performed an appreciable role whenever a leopard appears in any inhabited area. D.R. Kaushal, Divisional Forest Officer, said that “anti-forest fire” seminars had been organised in various areas to mobilise employees and villagers against forest fires.

Dharmani also said he would apprise the state government of the problems faced by the forest officials and seek necessary steps to ensure smooth functioning of the forest department. He also addressed the demands of the forest employees that they should get ‘fire bonus’ and mobile allowance.

206 posts of forest guards would be filled up soon to end the paucity of field staff, he added.

Nurpur, April 30
National Highway (NH) authorities have identified 460 trees to be axed on the Nurpur-Trilokpur stretch of the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway.

To widen the highway, the authorities are preparing a proposal for seeking permission to axe these trees from the Union Environment and Forest Ministry. Apart from this, permission has also been sought for acquiring private land adjoining the NH.

The proposal of acquiring private land has been returned by the authorities who said that the acquisition should be done in such a manner that no one should become landless. The NH has proposed to double-lane the highway with a 10-metre wide metalled road. As a part of its road-widening plan, NH authorities had launched a drive to remove encroachments on the national highway at Nagabari and Jassur. According to Trilok Chowdhary, Assistant Engineer, NH division, Nurpur, the proposal for seeking permission for felling trees on the highway from Niazpur to Trilokpur near Kotla is in the final stage. 

Shimla, April 30
To protect the ecology of Rohtang Pass, the HP High Court has directed the state authorities to ensure that all unauthorised food stalls/dhabas in the area are removed forthwith and in a time-barred period. The HC has asked the state government to observe zero tolerance with regard to pollution in the forest area beyond Marhi on the Manali-Rohtang highway.

The court also said that the state authorities must provide substitute mobile vans to supply food and drinking items to the tourists. The responsibility should be taken up by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department. Besides, the tourism department, in association with the State Pollution Control Board, should also arrange day-to-day awareness camps at appropriate locations to spread awareness among the tourists about the norms to be observed and to strictly follow dos and don’ts during their stay or visit to tourist locations in the forest area.

This order was passed by a division bench comprising Chief Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice RB Misra on a Public Interest Litigation petition wherein the issue of environmental pollution was raised.

While hearing the petition, the bench also granted time to the Advocate-General to interact with the Principal Secretary (Tourism) and MD, HP Tourism Corporation, to evolve a comprehensive scheme to ensure that littering taking place in forest area essentially due to

the presence of unauthorised food stalls/dhabas was stopped at the earliest. The court clarified that pendency of the petition or preparation of a comprehensive scheme would not be an impediment for the state authorities to immediately proceed against the unauthorised food stalls/dhabas in restricted/forest area in accordance with law.

Palampur, April 30
Sudhir Sharma, Urban Development Minister, addressed a two-day open seminar of Indian Exhibition Industries Association (IEIA) held at Hotel Kempinski Ambience in New Delhi last week.

Sharma appreciated the exhibition industry for organising such trade fairs and showcasing development in the industrial sector which contributes a lot towards the economy of Himachal Pradesh.

The minister said the government was considering to set up an exhibition-cum-convention centre at Dharamsala in Kangra district after identifying suitable land for it with the aim of providing facilities to entrepreneurs in organising trade fairs.

Kangra, April 30
Shepherds of the state will be brought under an insurance scheme for their sheep and the premium for the purpose will be borne by the state government. Besides this, two sheep dips, costing Rs 1.09 crore, are being brought to Kinnaur and Barmour areas of this hill state from New Zealand so that nomads can treat their sheep with insecticides at their doorsteps.

This was stated by Vice-Chairman of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) Kewal Singh Pathania during his series of speeches in different villages of the Shahpur constituency. He said during a day-long workshop of shepherds of Kangra and Chamba districts, organised in collaboration with the Wool Federation, 200 shepherds were provided free medical kits for their sheep by the Wool Federation for primary treatment.

He said the state government was aware of the problems being faced by the shepherds and nomads in the state and to provide them relief and better facilities tribal shepherded development centres would be set up. He said 15,000 families in the state were involved in the sheep business.

He said in case of the death of a shepherd Rs 1.5 lakh would be provided to the next of kin of the deceased and in case of disability of a shepherd he would be provided Rs 75,000 under the insurance scheme. He said besides this, two children of each shepherd were getting Rs 100 each as monthly scholarship.

He said in the Dharkandi region of the Shahpur constituency all basic facilities would be provided and the issue had been raised before the government strongly.

He said the area had a lot of potential for tourism and to exploit that all steps would be taken so that domestic and foreign tourists get attracted to the region.

In an initiative to create awareness among people about fashion education, the Hamirpur- based Inter-National Institute of Fashion Design (INIFD) has a launched “Himachal Fashion Show Hunt-2013” under which auditions are being organised in major towns of the state.

The first audition was held in the state capital early this week in which 30 models and designers participated. After holding similar auditions in towns of Mandi, Dharamasla and Hamirpur, Himachal Designer of the Year and Himachal Face of the Year will be selected.

The main objective of the three-stage competition is to provide a platform to talented youth who are keen to pursue a career in fashion as a model or a designer and also to make people aware of the growing job opportunities in the fashion world.

Contestants in the designer category showcased the sketches and dresses designed by them. The contestant who successfully completes the three stages to win the title will get an opportunity for international exposure by participating in Lakme Fashion Week.

A mini fashion show of dresses designed by the students of the institute was also organised on the occasion. Himachali dress collection, khadi dress collection, lehanga collection, tie and dye dresses and a gown collection was displayed during the show.

Solan, April 30
Woodstock School, Mussoorie, lifted the Honoria Basketball Tournament trophy by defeating the hosts Lawrence School, Sanawar, during the concluding day of the three-day tournament yesterday.

Earlier, the day also witnessed two semi-finals. The first semi-final was played between Daly College, Indore, and Woodstock School, Mussoorie, which ended with a comfortable win by Woodstock School (23-73).

In the second semi-final, Lawrence School defeated Sri Ram School, Delhi (56-38).

The hosts locked horns with Woodstock School in the final match of the tournament. The woodstock cagers displayed their flawless teamwork coupled with precision shooting to humble Sanawar school to a 49-34 win.

Lawrence’s Yashodhan Thakur was prolific in contributing with her three pointers while her teammate Asma was equally adept in converting well coordinating passes into effective baskets.

Col Inderjit Singh, Deputy Commander, 95 Infantry Brigade, Kasauli, who was the chief guest on the occasion, gave away the prizes. Headmaster Praveen Vasisht proposed a vote of thanks.

Most Promising Player of the Tournament award was granted to Ojaswi Chugh of Sri Ram School, Delhi.

Best Players of the Tournament were Asma Arora of Lawrence School and Raya Kaplan of Woodstock School.