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Apple market starts looking up
Floods, power cuts keep tourists at bay in Buddhist circuit
Student strength at private colleges goes up, courtesy RUSA
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CM urged to fill TGT posts
Illegal mining in Una
Pea crop rots in Lahaul-Spiti villages
Alert sounded as rivulet waters rise in Dharamsala
A rise in the water level in the Charan khad in Dharamsala on Sunday. Photo: Kamaljeet
Cong elated at good show by NSUI
NSUI state president Yadupati addresses mediapersons in Shimla on Sunday. A Tribune photograph
Digging makes Kangra-Ranital road a nightmare
Vegetables grown in a polyhouse in Bilaspur district. A Tribune photograph
Horticulture to generate foreign exchange: VC
Private varsity gets notice for violating admission norms
IIAS to get human development centre
Damage to tower costs Larji project dear
Ancient temples at Bharmour.
Postal Dept starts drive to open saving accounts
Vanmahotsav celebrated
Oustees urge CM to reconsider orders
Dharampur to have trauma centre soon
Minister inaugurates sub tehsil at Ispur
Banking facilities in six rural areas
Chief Secretary Sudripta Roy addresses a gathering at the launch of six rural HDFC branches in Shimla on Wednesday.
ABVP activists take out a rally after their victory in the student elections at Dharamsala on Sunday. Photo: Kamaljeet
Polybags scar Minjar fair venue
Buttico opens 32nd outlet in town
Sangeet samaroh held in Sundernagar
Artistes of the Shaila Sangeet Kala Kendra present a classical musical programme during a shastriya sangeeet samaroh in Sundernagar on Saturday. Photo: Mahesh Chander Sharma Dharamsala lawyer to be forum chief
Man dies in road mishap
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Apple market starts looking up
Shimla, August 18 “Some of the best quality exclusive fruit has also fetched Rs 1,800 per box, but the overall average is around Rs 1,500 per box,” said Rajeev Chauhan, Chairman, Himalayan Apple Growers’ Society. There was still scope for the upward correction of prices, which were now stabilising after a slump in the first week of this month. It seemed that the fear of apple from Iran flooding the market towards the end of the season was haunting the arhtiyas (commission agents), who were reluctant to offer good prices to growers, he added. Some progressive growers of the Kotgarh area like Ranjeet Mehta have tied up with Hyderabad Heritage Food Industries Limited and they are happy with the rate offered, which has increased from Rs 50 to Rs 54 per kg. The harvesting of the fruit season is at its peak and yesterday as many as 811 trucks of apple were sent from the state to various markets. Till date over 89 lakh boxes of apple have been marketed as compared to 36 lakh boxes last year, when the state had a lean crop and the total production is only 2.06 crore boxes. In all 19,850 trucks of apple have been sent out so far. Unlike the lower hill areas, which had a record production this year, the crop is moderate in the mid hills and a comparison with 2010, when the state produced the highest 4.46 crore of apple boxes, indicates that the production may fall short of the initial estimates. The total production is unlikely to touch four crore boxes and may be end up in the range of 3.60 crore to 3.80 crore boxes. Meanwhile, a large number of growers are selling their fruit at Chandigarh instead of Delhi where arhtiyas are charging up to 8 per cent commission from growers. In contrast, no commission is charged in Chandigarh and after taking into account the saving in the transportation cost the growers are benefitted to the extent of Rs 120 to Rs 135 per box. Good Beginning
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Floods, power cuts keep tourists at bay in Buddhist circuit
Keylong/Kaza, August 18 The hoteliers and tour operators in the Spiti-Tabo-Nako-Kalpa-Sangla Sarahan tourist circuit have been hit hard ever since a flurry of flash floods devastated Kinnaur. It damaged the Shimla-Kaurik national highway at many points and kept the Kinnaur-Spiti tourist circuit out of bounds for travellers since June 20. “Over 100 vehicles carrying bikers and foreigners heading for Leh from Manali cross the Darcha police post every day. The Lahaul-Spiti is being used as a camping site by the HPTDC and other stake holders and needs a new vision,” said Tashi and Bir Singh, president and general secretary of the Lahaul-Spiti Hoteliers Association, respectively. The Border Roads Organisation has opened the 15,000-ft-high Kunjam Pass after restoring traffic on the Manali-Gramphu-Kaza road in July. But the road still poses inconvenience to tourists due to falling boulders, surging nullahs and piles of debri around it. “We have cancelled hotel bookings in Kaza as the Spiti road was blocked near Chatru for three days and the Kinnaur road was blocked at Malling for many days,” said Johnson and Mary, tourists from England who wanted to go to Spiti. Moreover, regular power cuts by the HP state electricity board have affected the tourism sector in the state. Residents and hoteliers staged protests in Kaza many times, but to no avail. Most of the bookings have been cancelled in the Spiti-Tabo-Nako circuit this year due to floods in Kinnaur, power cuts and road blockades, said Ramesh, member of the Lahaul-Spiti Hoteliers’ Association. “The influx of tourists to the region remains low. Hotels remain as good as vacant and the problem is how to revive tourism next year,” said Bijay Negi, a hotelier from Nako. The HPTDC-run Chandra-Bhaga Hotel continues to be used as a camping site and has reported poor tourist season this time and survived on the arrival of tourists taking the Leh-Manali packaged tours. “We have to close the hotel here due to snowfall for more than six months,” said GS Bhatia, Chandra-Bhaga Hotel Manager. |
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Student strength at private colleges goes up, courtesy RUSA
Shimla, August 18 Enrolment in these colleges has gone up significantly even though the students failed in the first year of the three-year degree course were not given admission. However, as a special consideration due to the switch over to the RUSA they will are being allowed to appear under the old system during the supplementary examinations to be held in September and March 2014. The limitation imposed in the maximum number of seats in various streams under the new choice-based credit system has led to a more equitable distribution of students among both government and private colleges. The students who could not get the subjects of their choice in city colleges shifted to private colleges or government colleges in the rural areas. The maximum increase in enrolment in private colleges has been at MCM DAV College, Kangra, with the total number of students going up from 1,607 in the last session to 1,913 in 2013-14. Similarly, the strength of students has gone up from 651 to 783 at Jwalaji Degree College, Jawalmukhi, from 392 to 565 at GGDSD College, Rajpur in Palampur, from 425 to 604 at DAV College, Banikhet in Chamba and from 683 to 750 at Baba Balak Nath College, Chakmoh in Hamirpur. The SVSD PG College, Bhatoli in Una has been among the few exceptions where the number of students has declined due to seat limitation in the commerce stream. The student strength has come down from 1,808 to 1,648, mainly on account of the reduction in the number of seats in B Com part I to 120. Last year the college had admitted 195 students to the class. Even new institutions like the BKD Degree College for Women, Devinagar in Poanta Sahib, have gained much with enrolment shooting up from a a meagre 55 to 106. The admission statistic of the government degree colleges for the 2013-14 session reveals that the overall strength of students has increased from 1, 06, 119 in 2012-13 to 1, 15, 340 in the current session. In the first year, for which RUSA has been implemented, the enrolment has gone up in the science stream (B Sc-I) from 8,663 last year to 11,204 and there has also been a marginal increase in the humanities stream (BA-I) from 15,223 to 15,355. However, in case of the commerce stream (B.Com I), it has declined significantly from 6,668 to 4,530 due to capping of seats with maximum 60 students in one section. Earlier, the colleges were free to admit any number of students. |
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CM urged to fill TGT posts
Kangra, August 18 The principals' association expressed concern over the plight of senior secondary schools located in remote areas, where such posts had been lying vacant. President of the association Narender Sharma and general secretary Vinod Choudhary said students of such schools were apprehensive about the timely completion of their syllabus without relevant subject teachers. They said teachers who were either posted or appointed against such vacant posts usually managed to get transferred in urban, semi-urban areas or places of their choice. As a result most of the senior secondary schools in such areas were still understaffed, thereby adversely affecting studies, particularly of board classes. To overcome this shortage, the association suggested to the Chief Minister to repatriate all the TGTs (science and arts) deployed as block resource centre co-ordinators (BRCCs), in each education block of the state, to schools facing shortage of teachers in relevant subjects. The association also asked the CM to assign the task of monitoring SSA activities to principals of nearby senior secondary schools. The spokespersons of the association said with the commencement of Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) in the state, the role of BRCCs had become practically redundant and posts maladjusted, since all activities of the RMSA were being monitored through principals of the cluster schools with deputy directors of education acting as district programme coordinators. The task of monitoring SSA activities (almost wound-up project now) should be handed over to principals of the cluster schools in the particular education block so that ambitious projects of the RMSA and the SSA could achieve the desired targets with school heads as effective field officers, the spokespersons added. The association assured the Chief Minister of the effective implementation of all government policies meant for the welfare of schoolchildren. It also urged the Chief Minister to consider their long-pending demands, which included the regularisation of principals since 2008, enhancement of their administrative allowance and grant of grade pay on the central pattern. |
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Criminal cases to be filed for misuse of M-form
Lalit Mohan/TNS
Una, August 18 M-forms are issued by Mining Department officials to those who have been given mining licence by the state government. However, miscreants involved in illegal mining are allegedly using xeroxed copies of M-forms to facilitate illegal mining. The Mining Department in the recent past had also proposed to put bar codes on M-forms. With the Deputy Commissioner issuing orders to register cases against those faking M-forms, it might act as deterrent against the practice. Deputy Commissioner Abhishek Jain also said a special task force would be formed to check illegal mining. Though officials of most of the departments like the PWD, IPH and police had been authorised by the state government to check illegal mining, generally only the Mining and Police Department officials were exercising their powers. The Deputy Commissioner has ordered the formation of a task force that will involve officials of all government departments to check illegal mining. The task force will also help in solving the shortage of staff problem of the Mining Department. Jain also said this year massive campaign had been started against illegal mining due to which the fine collected had increased exponentially. Last year just 394 cases of illegal mining were registered in Una district and a fine of Rs 10.44 lakh was collected. However, this year till August 793 cases of illegal mining had been registered and a fine of Rs 48.96 lakh imposed on violators. He also said mining could not be carried out from 8 pm to 6 am as per rules. The rule would be strictly implemented as most of the illegal mining took place at night. The mining licence holders had also been directed to put display boards indicating the area in which they had been allowed mining and the period of their mining lease. They owner of stone crushers and mining licence holders had been directed to keep all their papers at the site so that any official could check them at the time of raid. The ban on mining in Punjab has proved to be boon time for illegal and illegal miners in Una district. Almost of the entire demand of sand gravel for Chandigarh and Ludhiana cities of Punjab is being met by Una district. Stone crusher owners are making hay as the prices of sand and gravel have increased by about three times. The increased prices of sand and gravel have also attracted locals into the business of illegal mining.
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Pea crop rots in Lahaul-Spiti villages
Keylong, August 18 The highland valleys have been cut off from the main highway for the past many days after flash floods in the nullahs washed away all bridges. The district has suffered a loss of Rs 34.75 crore to roads, bridges, crops, IPH schemes, cattle and houses. Lahaul-Spiti Deputy Commissioner BS Thakur has sought an immediate relief to make up for the loss and restore the connectivity in these valleys. Farmers in the Miyar valley have suffered huge losses as 60 per cent of their pea crop has got rotten. Three bridges, including the main PWD bailey bridge across the Miyar river, a tributary of the Chenab, has been washed away marooning the Tingret and Chimret villages. The pea crop was sold at Rs 28 kg earlier, and now traders could not come here due to the lack of connectivity. Its price has come down to Rs 20 or so, farmers rued. Similarly, farmers in the Chokhang-Naingar area are facing a problem in
transporting the pea crop and other produce as there is no bridge across the
nullah there. In Spiti, villagers in the Pin valley devastated by flood last year, face the problem of transporting the crop. The connectivity to the Sagnam area in the valley remains disrupted, residents said. The Deputy Commissioner said the PWD was laying the ropeways for the immediate transport of crops in Miyar and Naingar. The work will be completed in two days' time and immediate relief of Rs 20 lakh has been given to victims. “We need a relief worth Rs 34.75 crore for the repair of roads and bridges and rehabilitation works,” he added. As many as 25 families of Karpet village are camping in tents due to the threat from flash floods. As many as 10 villages in the Miyar valley, located 22 km from Udaipur town, have been cut off for the past 10 days. A 500-m-long lake has been formed in the Miyar nullah from the bailey bridge site, though the water is flowing downstream, said officials. Flash floods on August 10 and 11 had washed away the 3-foot bridge over Fobrang, Karpet and Changus that connected 10 villages in Chimret panchayat, said pradhan Prem Das. |
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Alert sounded as rivulet waters rise in Dharamsala
Dharamsala, August 18 There were reports of a sudden rise in the water level in the Majji khad also that passes through Khaniara village near Dharamsala. The district administration has maintained that the water rose in the rivulets due to heavy rain in the Triund region. They said due to timely warning, there was no loss of life. However, the locals said the sudden rise in the water level might have been due to some artificial lake formed in upper regions. They alleged that power projects that had come up in the region had altered the strata in the upper regions of the Dhauladhars to ensure smooth supply of water to their projects. This change in strata might have resulted in the formation in an artificial lake in upper regions that burst suddenly, causing a surge in the water level of both rivulets. The Charan rivulet that passed through Dharamsala has a history of sudden surges in water levels due to cloudbursts. However, many illegal encroachments have come up on the banks of the rivulet in Bhagsu, Dharamsala and the Dari areas. In some areas, the villagers have to cross the rivulet to reach their homes. A sudden surge in water of rivulets poses threat to their life. |
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Cong elated at good show by NSUI
Shimla, August 18 For a party which is facing rough weather at the Centre and across the country, winning any poll is significant, even if it pertains to its student wing. Moreover, it was after a long time that the NSUI emerged a leading students' organisation in the state where the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), associated with the BJP, and the Leftist outfit Students Federation of India (SFI) had been calling the shots in students politics. It has been a normal trend that a students organisation associated with the ruling party performed better, particularly soon after the change of a political regime. This time the NSUI has gained at the cost of the two rival organisations largely due to better poll management. The ABVP fared better whenever the BJP came to power and likewise the performance of the NSUI invariably improved under the Congress regime. The Left wing SFI has been doing consistently well in its strongholds such as the HPU campus, but it has not been able to expand its base across the state. The three organisations were making claims and counter-claims of victory with NSUI president Yadupati maintaining that his organisation had won 180 seats and about 25 Independents supported by it had also emerged victorious. The ABVP also claimed that it had captured 180 seats and claimed that a majority of those elected unopposed were from its ranks. The SFI asserted that it had substantially improved its strength from last years 60 seats. |
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Digging makes Kangra-Ranital road a nightmare
Dharamsala, August 18 These dug up areas have also become a reason for traffic snarls on the said portion of the road in a season when the influx of religious tourists is more. Traffic has to move on one side due to the dug up road that often leads to traffic jams lasting hours. Traffic policemen also blame the PWD officials for allowing the contractors to dig so many culverts on the roads which could not be completed before the onset of rains in the region. They said that the contractor should have dug one culvert at a time and complete it first. Due to bad conditions of the road, many commuters report damage to their vehicles. The Executive Engineer, National Highways, said he had deputed four JCB machines to clear the road. He said heavy rain in the region had obstructed the construction of the road. “We need clear skies for a fortnight for patchwork on the road to make it motorable,” he said. He said as per the schedule given by the national highways authorities, work for the construction of the road has to be completed within 12 months. Money for the construction is released to the state only after the work is completed. |
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Farmers seek loan waiver on polyhouses
Bilaspur, August 18 Hundreds of farmers have raised polyhouses in Bilaspur, Solan, Kangra, Mandi and other districts under two schemes, a scheme started by the Horticulture Department under the National Horticulture Technology Mission
(NHTM) in 2002 and another scheme launched by the state government in 2008, named as the
Pandit Deen Dayal Kissan Bagwan Samridhi Yojna (PDDKBSY). Under the NHTM scheme, loans up to Rs 10 lakh each were provided by banks on subsidy ranging from 30 to 50 per cent as many polyhouses were raised on 1,000 sqm area. A total of 1,628 polyhouses were constructed and a majority were raised in Bilaspur district and Arki in Solan district. After the launching of the PDDKBY in 2008, a large number of polyhouses came up as benefits to farmers were more such as 80 per cent subsidy on loan, and companies were engaged to build
polyhouses, besides providing them technical support. This scheme by the state government put 1,628 polyhouse owners (raised under the
NHTM) at a disadvantage, who are now demanding waiving loans given to them by banks and 80 per cent subsidy on a par given under the state
scheme. Sandeep Sankhyan, a polyhouse owner from Bilaspur district, said, “The polyhouses raised under the NHTM have become unviable after launching of the PDDKBY and we are demanding waiving off our loans. We are taking up this matter with the Central and the state government.” ID Gupta, Project Director,
NHTM, said, “The subsidy under the NHTM scheme has also been increased to 75 per cent now. The issue of waiving off loans is in the purview of the Central or state government.” |
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Horticulture to generate foreign exchange: VC
Solan, August 18 Speaking on the occasion, Dr VS Thakur said farmer was their final target and their problems should be addressed to on a priority basis. A farmer needed a complete package of technology, and, after food security, nutritional security was a must for every citizen of the country. Horticulture was the best answer to nutritional security, besides generating employment opportunities in different areas. He called upon all the organisations related to agricultural and allied disciplines to come together and work with coordination and cooperation. Dr KK Katoch, Vice-Chancellor, CSK HPKV, Palampur, stressed on the use of rain water harvesting for crop production. He said stray animals were the main hurdle in progress and agriculture, which should be dealt with on priority. Dr Gurdev Singh, Director, Horticulture, Himachal Pradesh, said in Himachal Pradesh of the 2 lakh hectare land under horticulture, one lakh hectare land was under apple crop alone. But apple production accounted for around 90 per cent of the crop, while the share of other fruits was a mere 10 per cent. Dr RC Sharma, Director, Research, and organiser of the meeting, highlighted the research achievements of horticulture and forestry undertaken in the university and said the basic aim of this meeting was to work with the close coordination of all organisations and related departments. |
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Private varsity gets notice for violating admission norms
Solan, August 18 Taking note of one such violation, a private university in Solan has been given a notice for issuing advertisements in several newspapers on August 17 where it had declared that admissions to various courses was open in the university. As per the notification issued by the commission, any violation of this norm will attract penal action against the institute. The commission has made it mandatory for all universities and institutions to upload a list of all students admitted by these to check this violation. While this was in stark violation of the notification, the move was also in violation of the schedule chalked out by the apex court where it had fixed August 15 as the last date for admission to various technical and professional courses. Reacting to these advertisements, the Solan-based Shoolini University has been issued a notice and directed to file a reply as to why advertisements inviting admissions to various courses were inserted in several newspapers after August 15. The decision of the apex court follows a civil appeal in a case relating to the Parshvanath Charitable Trust versus the AICTE where in order to fulfil the mandatory 90 teaching days in each semester, it has been decided to fix August 15 as the last date of admissions. While the move to streamline teaching by ensuring the compliance of mandatory 90 teaching days in a semester was a positive move, managements of private educational institutions were opposed to the move as they felt they were denied an opportunity to fill the vacant seats.
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IIAS to get human development centre
Shimla, August 18 The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with the Union Ministry, has selected the IIAS for establishing the IC4HD. An agreement in this regard was signed last year by Lise Grande, United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in India, and Prof Peter Ronald
deSouza, the then Director of the institute. Professor deSouza will grace the occasion. The centre will undertake research and other activities to create a knowledge base for policy innovations in human resource development and will support ways to integrate human development analysis and approaches in development strategies. The aim of this partnership between the ministry, the IIAS and the UNDP is to promote policy dialogue on human development and work towards translating human development analysis into action. The centre has awarded human development fellowships to six officials from Bhutan, Cambodia and Lao PDR for their proposed research on social security and issues related to policy measures. Four fellows from Bhutan are Lham Dorji (Bhutan’s National Statistics Bureau), Tshering Tashi (Ministry of Finance), Jayendra Sharma (Ministry of Health) and Tshering Wangmo who
is currently working with the Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Commission. Kan Ponhrith from Cambodia and Oudone Maniboung from Lao PDR are presently working with the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. All of them will
be joining the centre by month-end. |
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Damage to tower costs Larji project dear
Larji (Mandi), August 18 The erection of a tower at a shaky steep spot has raised the security concerns for villagers living nearby. Besides, boulders continue to fall from the damaged tower spot, endangering the lives of the locals. The Larji project has shut its one unit of 42 MW since August 6 as the Himachal Power Transmission Corporation has yet to relocate two towers at the safer places. It is the peak generation period for the Larji project. PL Masoom, Superintending Engineer, Larji project, said they were running two units and supplying the electricity generated through the Kangu-Bajaura feeder line. "We will run all three units once the transmission towers are laid," he added. BR Bhardwaj, Executive Engineer, Transmission, said, "The work on the laying of towers is on a war footing and will restore the transmission line soon," he added.
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Manimahesh pilgrimage: Ban on animal sacrifice sought
Bharmour, August 18 In a statement here today, samiti president Mahant Swami Virendrananda Giri stated, “Lord Shiva is always merciful to all the beings of the universe and never seeks sacrifices of living beings.” “Every year during the Manimahesh pilgrimage, one can witness slaughter of sheep by pilgrims believing it as the prasad of Lord Shiva, but it is a superstition,” Swami Virendrananda said. Moreover, it is a sheer violation of the cruelty to animals’ laws, Swami said. He demanded the restriction on beggars during the pilgrimage, besides a ban on polythene. To keep the Manimahesh Lake clean, Swami said
langars, shops and accommodation tents for devotees should be prohibited on the lake side. “Shops on the premises of the Chowrasi Sidh temples at Bharmour desecrate the sanctity of the holy place and hurt the feelings of pilgrims. The government should prohibit the opening of such shops and stalls at the worship place,” Swami said. The Manimahesh pilgrimage in the Bharmour tribal region of Chamba district will commence on August 28 and conclude on September 13. |
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Postal Dept starts drive to open saving accounts
Chamba, August 18 Giving details about the postal schemes, RS Rana, Superintendent, Post Offices, Chamba Postal Division, said the department had set a target of opening around 1.10 lakh saving accounts in the district. He further said a saving account could be opened from a minimum amount of Rs 10 to lakhs of rupees. Moreover, the DoP also planned to organise melas from time to time at different places through which people would be apprised of postal schemes so that they could derive optimal benefits from various schemes, he said. In July, the department had opened about 9,300 saving accounts in various branches of the post offices in the district, Rana claimed. He said the department had planned to cover 3,700 persons under the rural postal life insurance scheme during the current fiscal. So far, 810 persons had been brought under the scheme, he added.
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Vanmahotsav celebrated
Palampur, August
18 Pathania exhorted the volunteers of the NCC and the NSS to help in
making the state green and clean. He said forestation was a panacea for environment protection.
Pathania asked the university staff to help the farming community in crop diversification and find ways to control the monkey menace and problem of stray cattle. He said farmers in the state needed information about the latest farm technology.
Pathania said the state government was committed to extending full support to the new Vice-Chancellor for the expansion and extension of farm technology. Dr KK
Katoch, Vice-Chancellor, said after the plantation of saplings, their subsequent care was equally important. Only useful trees at appropriate places should be planted, he added. He said people should encourage children to plant trees of fruits or flowers on their birthdays. |
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Oustees urge CM to reconsider orders
Bilaspur, August 18 A meeting of the standing committee of the oustees held here on Friday urged the Chief Minister to reconsider the orders and ensure the continuation of the longstanding policy of the Congress to help and solve various problems of the oustees. The meeting said the order seemed out of the place in the light of the fact that the Chief Minister had himself stated before the elections that if Congress came to power, he would legalise all encroachments of oustees as they were only allotted a small plot of 1,800 sq ft and they had to encroach upon government land due to increase in families during the past 55 years of their displacement. The organisation also emphasised that even otherwise, the government was legally bound by a commitment to the HP High Court in an affidavit that it was framing a “rehabilitation policy” for legalising the encroachments. |
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Dharampur to have trauma centre soon
Solan, August
18 A trauma centre has been a long-pending demand of residents as the busy National Highway-22 is prone to accidents in which many lives are lost in the absence of specialised treatment. Despite successive governments, such a centre has not been opened at Dharampur despite repeated assurances by politicians.
Santosh Chawdhary, who was in Solan today, said the proposal to open a dialysis centre and a paramedical centre would be given priority at the Community Health Centre
(CHC) in Dharampur, provided such a proposal was sent by the state government. She said the government would give priority to opening a nursing institute and a
para-medical centre at Dharampur. The CHC at Dharampur would soon be ugraded from six
to a 30-bedded hospital. A specialised machine for testing would be made available at the
Dharampur-based Tuberculosis Hospital soon, she added. She said a sum of Rs 3.3 crore was being spent in Solan district in the current financial year under the
NRHM. |
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Minister inaugurates sub tehsil at Ispur
Una, August 18 On the occasion, the minister also distributed cheques worth Rs 1.20 crore to 12 panchayats of the area for developmental works. He announced Rs 5 lakh for Ispur panchayat and an ambulance for the ayurvedic hospital at Ispur. Agnihotri said an ITI would be opened in the Pubewal area of the Haroli Assembly constituency. He said the previous BJP government had shifted the ITI from Haroli to the Santoshgarh area. However, the present government had not shifted any institute from Una and Bangana Assembly constituencies represented by the BJP. Instead it had opted for opening of new institutes, he added. |
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Banking facilities in six rural areas
Shimla, August
18 She said the six branches would be opened at Chopal and Kuddu in Shimla, Rajgarh in
Sirmour, Darla in Solan, Reckong Peo in Kinnaur, Sundli in Jubbal. As of now Sundli and Kuddu villages have no formal banking services. The new three-person branches will bring residents of these villages into the banking fold.
Bhagat said the endeavour of the bank was to reach out to more and more people in the state through micro branches, which would be offering world-class banking services. These new format branches had been specially created to service the unique requirements of rural customers and allow HDFC Bank to go further into the un-banked areas of the country, she added.
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ABVP, NSUI activists clash
Dharamsala, August 18 A clash took place between the activists. Thereafter, the ABVP activists followed the NSUI activists to the college hostel and the two groups again clashed. Three ABVP activists were injured. One of them received injuries in the head, and was rushed to the Dharamsala Zonal Hospital. Some NSUI activists also received minor injuries. The police has registered a case under Sections 341, 323, 427, 147 and 149, IPC, on a complaint of Rahul Rana, a student who stated that Atul, Sanjay, Abhi and Bhandari, alias Mithu, suddenly quarrelled with him in the college complex at 2.30 am. |
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Polybags scar Minjar fair venue
Chamba, August 18 The administration has directed officials concerned to bring back sanitary conditions in the town. “A sanitation sub-committee of the International Minjar Fair Celebration Committee is also making all-out efforts to restore the basic hygiene and cleanliness of the town in the wake of upcoming Independence Day parade,” said Anita Thakur, president, Municipal Council, and convener of the Minjar Fair Sanitation Sub-committee.
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Buttico opens 32nd outlet in town
Nurpur, August 18 Rohit said Buttico had been providing direct employment to 1,000 persons. He said the co-operative had maintained its quality with latest designs and market trends. Its woollen products like shawls, chaddars, pullovers and jackets were completely handloom products and certified with Woolmark trademark. He said Buttico had only two objectives. First was to strengthen the financial condition of weavers and second to maintain traditional costumes as heritage of the hill state. |
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Sangeet samaroh held in Sundernagar
Sundernagar, August 18 Chief Parliamentary Secretary and Sundernagar MLA Sohan Lal Thakur was the chief guest. Artistes of the kendra presented cultural programmes, including vocal and instrumental classical musical performances. Performances by Pt Sarin Dass and Ustad Sekhwat Hussain Khan kept the audience spellbound for hours. The samaroh is celebrated every year in the memory of Pt Vishnu Digamber Paluskar Mahraj who was a musician.
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After remaining consistently low, the apple market has finally started looking up with the arrival of quality fruit from mid-hill areas over the past one week.
The entry of private fresh fruit companies such as Adani Agrifresh, Dev Bhoomi and Container Corporation of India, which are procuring quality apple at rates ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 54 per kg, has also lifted the market.
The water level in the Charan khad and the Bhagsu waterfall area rose suddenly this afternoon, raising the fear of a cloudburst in upper areas of the Dhauladhar hills.
As the water level started rising, the district administration announced a warning on loud speakers to keep away from the banks of the Charan
khad.
Shimla, August 18
HDFC Bank Ltd has announced the opening of its six branches in the state. Stating this at a press conference here recently, HDFC branch head Smita Bhagat said, “The bank is keen to reach out to maximum number of people. The growth of our network will enable us to offer full range of banking services to a significantly large number of families and businesses across Himachal.”
Sundernagar, August 18
