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Wildlife experts see red over killing
Orchards in apple belts under mite, fungus attack
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Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh at Himachal Pradesh University in Shimla
on Sunday. A Tribune photograph
Notice to two private varsities for failure to give admission info
Mining mafia active in
Sarkaghat, Dharampur
Illegal mining is on at the Sone khad in Dharampur. Photo: Jai Kumar
Consumers suffer in absence of check on drugs prices
Kisan Sabha questions authenticity of monkey census
Crippled 3G service of BSNL irks subscribers
BJP lashes out at govt for ‘all-round failure’
Chamba district jail shifted to new building at
Rajpura
Activities must for personality growth, students told
Another fraud in encashment of DD detected
Bad weather hampers rescue operation
Anganwadi workers seek status of govt servant
Plantation drive to save Dhauladhars
Cong seeks accountability of leaders
Seminar held on Hypertension Update
Illegal mining: Sirmour admn seizes 50 tractors
Pratibha meets Antony on SAIL land row
Traders protest against poor condition of NH Cong to hold rally on Aug 30 3 held for posing as vigilance sleuths Man found drowned in village tank
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Wildlife experts see red over killing of leopards
Dharamsala, August 25 Rajeshwar Negi, Member, National Wildlife Advisory Board and national convenor of the Nature Watch India, said the Wildlife Department had totally erred in the killing of leopards. Without even identifying the man-eaters, it hired a hunter who had doubtful credentials and many cases of violation of the Wildlife Protection Act pending against him. He killed two leopards that were protected under Schedule 1 of the Act. Later, the Forest Minister issued an irresponsible statement that local hunters were being engaged to kill the man-eater leopard and there were many man-eaters in the forest. It seemed that the Department had adopted a free-for-all approach for killing the animal that had been given protection under the Act, added Negi. Sandeep Jain, Chief Coordinator, Cape India and Special Officer, Wildlife Control Bureau, Union Ministry for Environment and Forests, said a specific procedure had been laid under the Wildlife Protection Act to kill a man-eater leopard. A man-eater leopard should first be properly identified and then declared a man-eater by the Chief Wildlife Warden of the state. The killing of a leopard should be resorted only in case all efforts to catch him had been exhausted. However, in case of Mandi leopards, it seemed that the hunters hired from other states had been given a free hand and they were killing healthy leopards in the forests. Cape India would write to the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests for action against those who were responsible for the killing of two leopards just on the suspicion that they were man-eaters, he said. Sukdeep Singh Bajwa, a former Wildlife Warden, said leopards were generally very territorial. They had territories extended up to 40 sq km. By killing healthy leopards the danger to people from a man-eater leopard had increased as it could now roam freely in the territories of the killed leopards. It might increase the range of killings of the man-eater leopard that still survived. He further said the leopards that turned man-eaters were either old or injured and incapable of killing their natural pray in the wild. They could be trapped just near the human habitations. It was very difficult to track them in the forests, he said. Chief Wildlife Warden, Himachal, AK Gulati said the proper scientific method was followed in identifying the man-eater leopard and a permit was issued thereafter. He, however, failed to explain as to how two other leopards were killed when the man-eater leopard had been properly identified.
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Orchards in apple belts under mite, fungus attack
Mandi/Kullu, August 25 Farmers have blamed the substandard medicines being supplied by government agencies that have failed to contain the mite and fungal attacks. As a result, they have decided to procure quality medicines themselves from companies. The leaves have started shrinking, showing brownish and brackish spots. Some of these have turned partly yellowish and are falling subsequently. “The premature leaf fall has spread like a wildfire. Many apple trees have shed around 50 to 80 per cent leaves,” rued Jagdish, an apple grower in the Seraj valley. Orchards in Chiuni, Bakshiad, Lambathatch and Janjheli are infested with the diseases. Even in Seri belt of the Karsog sub-division, farmers have the same story. “You only see red or yellow apples on trees as leaves have dropped prematurely. Mite and fungus attacks have been flared up by the rains since mid-June,” added KR Chaudhary, an orchardist in Seri Bagra, which is the largest apple-producing area in Mandi district. In fact, the mite, an insect, and fungus like marsonina blotch, are plaguing the orchards in Kullu, Mandi and Shimla apple belts. The intermittent spells or rains and sun had produced humid atmosphere conducive for the insects and fungus to multiply in apple orchards where strict spraying schedule was not being followed, said Dr Jayant, scientist-in charge of the Bajaura Fruit Research Centre. “The mites lay eggs, hatched them and multiply in millions once the spray is not used,” said Dinesh Singha, an orchardist in Jaban belt of Kullu. The overuse of insecticides killed the predators that, in turn, flared up the mite attack on leaves, resulting in premature leaf fall, he added. The apple season had been delayed due to the rain that had made spraying difficult, added Deepak Kumar, an orchardist in Chopal. The farmers should avoid insecticides after the tress start bearing fruits, Dr Jayant advised. The mite ate up chlorophyll and the leaves carried brown and blackish spots and dropped premature that could impact the fruit-set next year as well, he cautioned.
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CM bats for semester system in colleges
Shimla, August 25 Congratulating the NSUI for its victory in the recent elections to the Students Central Association (SCA), the Chief Minister said it was an indication that students had faith in the Congress ideology. He said the Congress first won the Vidhan Sabha elections and thereafter the Mandi Lok Sabha bypoll by a huge margin, and now the NSUI had swept student elections. Virbhadra stressed that the NSUI should come up to the expectations of the students and strive hard to ensure an atmosphere conducive to academic pursuits in colleges and the university. He underlined the need to maintain discipline, shun violence and instill moral values among students to help make them responsible citizens. The Chief Minister warned that the government would not tolerate violence and lawbreakers would be dealt with sternly. No student or students’ organisations would be allowed to vitiate the academic atmosphere. He said the main aim of students should be to get the best education to become successful in life. He called upon teachers and administrators to develop an ideal environment for education in their institutions. He said the student elections had its own importance as through these many leaders had come to the mainstream politics. State Pradesh Congress Committee president Sukhvinder Singh said he rose from the ranks of the NSUI and today he was heading the party organisation, which was a great honour. He said the NSUI’s next aim should be to win all SCA seats in HPU. Earlier, the Chief Minister and other leaders paid floral tributes to late NSUI youth leader Nasir Khan. |
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Notice to two private varsities for failure to give admission info
Shimla, August 25 As per the Supreme Court’s order, admissions to all undergraduate engineering courses had to be completed by August 15; accordingly, the Commission had directed all 16 private universities in the state to submit the details of students admitted for 2013-14 by August 18. The universities were also required to upload the information on their respective websites. The deadline was extended to August 22, but the two universities in question failed to submit the details. The details of admissions uploaded by 14 universities indicate that the relaxation in admission norms will not help in filling seats. A majority of the universities which clamoured for allowing admissions without the joint engineering entrance examination (JEE), have failed to fill even 50 per cent of the seats. Like the last year, only Jaypee University of Information and Technology (JUIT), Waknaghat, has been able to fill 91 per cent seats, the highest, followed by Chitkara University, Baddi, (89 per cent). JUIT, which was set up in 2002 through a Central Act, has been filling the seats through the JEE and unlike other private universities, it has not increase the number of seats and focused on quality of education. On the other hand, most other private universities, which came into existence through state legislations over the past six years, have been increasing seats every year, despite poor admissions. Some of them did not start the streams for which they had got the approval due to lack of demand. |
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Mining mafia active in
Sarkaghat, Dharampur
Sarkaghat/ Dharampur, August 25 As soon as the rains are over, it is free-for-all as the mining mafia flocks to the khads to lay their hands on the wealth deposited there. From the Jahu-Sandhol border to Shiv Dhavala, the illegal extraction of sand, gravel and boulders is in full swing from the Jahu, Seer, Sone, Ruso and Sandhol khads. These days one could see tractors and tippers carrying the plundered wealth from khads round the clock without any fear. The mining mafia was selling a tractor-load of sand or gravel for Rs 3,000 and a tipper for Rs 5,000, alleged villagers living in the vicinity. Sources said the illegal miners also doubled as contractors. They got free sand and boulders for laying the broken retaining walls on PWD roads and other construction works, multiplying their margin of profits. The mining mafia had engaged private stone crushers, whose leases had expired, to make gravel from boulders, locals alleged. The mining mafia-officials nexus was also well entrenched in the mining and local administration. Raids are rendered ineffective as the information is leaked out. Besides, the terror of mining mafia was so high that no villager dared to report against it, locals alleged. Recently, during raids, 2,000 metric tonnes of boulders dumped on the roadsides of the Seer khad were seized, which was auctioned for about Rs 3.68 lakh on August 20. “The raids are on in and around the khads. We are planning a new strategy to catch the illegal operators,” said Rohit Rathaur, SDM, Sarkaghat. “This year till now, we have challaned about 50 persons,” said Kulbhushan Veram, District Mining Officer, Mandi. |
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Consumers suffer in absence of check on drugs prices
Palampur, August 25 Despite the fact that the Essential Commodities Price Control Act is applicable in many states, which also covers the sale of drugs, no action has been initiated against the erring companies by any state so far. The Act authorises the states to fix a margin of profit on all essential commodities selling in their jurisdiction.
The Union Ministry for Health has time and again assured the consumers that it would come out with a policy fixing the margin of profit of retailers as well as wholesalers, nothing has been done till date. In a survey done by this reporter by meeting over 50 wholesale and retail dealers of medicines, it has been found that chemists are selling drugs on the MRP to consumers, which is fixed at very high rates. There is a general conception among consumers that the margin of profit in standard companies was restricted only between 10 to 20 per cent. However, if one goes through the wholesale price list of standard companies (see box), it can be seen profit margin ranges from 100 to 700 per cent. A senior officer in the Health Department said the MRP was always fixed by the drug companies themselves and the state had no control on it. It was only the Central government that could direct the drug manufacturers to reduce the MRP, he added. |
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Kisan Sabha questions authenticity of monkey census
Shimla, August 25 Maintaining that both the Congress and the BJP had failed to address the issue of growing animal-human conflicts, sabha president Kuldeep Tanwar said carrying out the census was more of a formality. It was a scientifically established that the population of the simians could not be controlled until 70 per cent of them were sterilised. It was surprising that the PCCF, who was supposed to be a technical expert, was misleading people on such an important issue. He lambasted the parties, which had been ruling the state in turns, for not taking effective steps to address the issue. They misled people by stating that the Centre was not allowing export of monkeys and promises like sending a proposal for deploying villagers under MNREGA for protecting the crops had also not been fulfilled. He lamented that the parties raised the issue only during polls and forgot once the election was over. So far no MLA had raised the issue inside or outside the Vidhan Sabha, he added. He urged the government to put pressure on the Centre for resuming the export of monkeys and the Wildlife Protection Act should be amended for the purpose. The proposal for hiring villagers under MNREGA for protection of crops should be pursued in the right earnest. He maintained that measures like setting up primate protection parks would not solve the problems being faced by the farmers who were suffering huge losses due to damage caused by wild animals to crops. |
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Crippled 3G service of BSNL irks subscribers
Nurpur, August 25 Reports say the cable and connector of the 3G service is out of order for the past one year. It has deprived most of the subscribers of the high-speed internet facility. Internet users like schools, computer
centres, Internet service providers and journalists are the worst sufferers.
Noorpur Public School Managing Director Arvind Dorgra, Nurpur Press Club president Pradeep Sharma, and Deepak Gupta and Manoj Kumar, Internet service providers, have appealed to the BSNL authorities to restore this service as the existing 2G service is inefficient in uploading and downloading
data. Nurpur SDO (Telephone) Tilak Thakur admitted that the 3G service was available to around one-third subscribers of the single sector and two-third subscribers were without this service for the past one year. He said the department had informed the General Manager and the Chief General Manager of BSNL about the defective cable and connector of the 3G
service. BSNL General Manager JC Maneria said he would look into the matter and the service would be restored on priority. |
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BJP lashes out at govt for ‘all-round failure’
Shimla, August 25 Even routine functions, like the supply of ration under the public distribution system, were not being conducted smoothly and people had not been provided sugar for the past three months. The government had curtailed the pension benefits of employees and also deprived them of the time-bound
promotions after 4, 9 and 14 years of service on the Punjab pattern. Similarly, the promise to provide unemployment allowance had not been fulfilled and in its place the government had introduced skill development allowance. The government had been maintaining that it was facing financial stringency, but that did not deter it from indulging in wasteful expenditure. Expensive cars costing Rs 25 lakh each, which were not at all suitable for the hill state, bought for ministers was a glaring example of it, he said. The nabbing of fake vigilance officers also exposed the dismal state of affairs in the state. He said the Congress leaders should also explain its position on all these issues during the rally. |
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Chamba district jail shifted to new building at
Rajpura
Chamba, August 25 The SDM said 83 prisoners, including two women captives, had been shifted in vehicles under tight security cover to the new jail. Besides, all the records, equipment, furniture, luggage etc had also been transported there, the SDM said. “In fact, the new jail complex is an Rs 6-crore project. Its first phase has been completed and the second phase is yet to be undertaken,” he said. The old jail of Chamba was constructed during the regime of Raja Sham Singh in the fag-end of the 19th century at Tatwani on the right bank of the Ravi in Chamba town. The old jail, even though very small, is a landmark listed in the 42 heritage structures identified by the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department too. The shifting of an old jail of Chamba to Rajpura,10 km from
Chamba, yesterday appears to have paved the way for the construction of a new bus terminus of
Chamba.
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Activities must for personality growth, students told
Bilaspur, August 25 Dharmani said teachers should equally care for each student and their
talent should be identified properly. He said the government had reserved 3 per cent posts for sportspersons in the state. Dharmani announced grants of Rs 7 lakh for library building, Rs 5 lakh for the art and culture block, Rs 5.63 lakh for the construction of class rooms and Rs 1.5 lakh for toilets at the Dangaar school. In volley ball, Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Kot, secured the first position and GSSS, Mihada, the second. Government Middle School (GMS), Bhadsi, and GMS, Mundkhar, bagged the top two positions in badminton. Principal Tara Chand said as many as 350 students from 32 schools of the area competed in various sporting events during the three-day Ghumarwin block-level school tournaments of boys. |
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Another fraud in encashment of DD detected
Palampur, August 25 Inquiries made by this correspondent revealed that Ravi Kumar had purchased a DD for Rs 2,000 from the Himachal Cooperative Bank branch at Nahan. Later, he tampered with the name and figures on it and converted it into Rs 6,90,000. He presented the DD for collection in the name of Narinder Kumar at the local branch of the Kangra Central Cooperative Bank (KCCB). Since this DD was also purchased from the Nahan branch of the Himachal Cooperative Bank, where a fraud had been detected two days ago, the Manager of the KCCB, Palampur, contacted the Nahan branch of the HP Coop Bank for verification. The Nahan branch told the Manager, KCCB, that the DD was issued for Rs 2,000 only in the name of Ravi, not Narinder Kumar. It is learnt that in this case too the same gang of Palwal (Haryana) is involved. It had defrauded a bank at Baijnath two days ago. The bank is investigating the matter, but no FIR has been filed so far. |
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Missing French trekkers Lalit Mohan/TNS
Dharamsala, August 25 Sources said the 32-member rescue team today reached the Indarhar pass beyond which Chamba district starts, but there was no report on the missing French trekkers, Xabier (20) and Valintin (21). It had been three days since the French trekkers had gone missing in the higher reaches of the Dhauladhars. The trekkers did not have enough food to sustain themselves in case they got trapped, the sources said. Owing to extreme weather conditions in the higher reaches, their chances of survival are decreasing with each passing day. Beyond Triund, the communication is only possible through satellite phones. Besides, the weather can suddenly turn inclement and the Dhauladhars receive very heavy rainfall. In these conditions, only a helicopter survey can help trace the missing trekkers. The French trekkers had come along with a 32-member group of trekkers to Dharamsala. The group of foreigners was brought here by an NGO, Field Service Intercultural Learning. The group, along with five local guides, had left for trekking from Dharamkot, a famous tourist spot located 12 km from Dharamsala, on August 19.
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Anganwadi workers seek status of govt servant
Mandi, August 25 “They demand that 90 per cent of the anganwadi workers should be promoted as supervisors, and helpers as anganwadi workers when the posts are vacant,” he said. CITU president Bhupender Singh said the economic policies implemented by the Centre were anti-people. CITU is planning a state-level protest in the support of workers’ demands at Shimla on November 12, he said. CITU leaders will also stage a protest at Jogindernagar on September 25. |
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Plantation drive to save Dhauladhars
Palampur, August 25 Samiti president Shanti Sarup Sharma said the Dhauladhar hills were a source of drinking water for the residents of Kangra district as many rivers originated from it. If large-scale degradation continued, these rivers would dry up in the coming days and people had to face a water famine. He expressed concern over the failure of the state government agencies which had allowed the power companies to play havoc with the nature in the Dhauladhar hills. He said despite the fact the entire administration was aware of the situation, till date no action had been initiated against the erring power companies. |
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Cong seeks accountability of leaders
Shimla, August 25 Sources said the move was aimed at ensuring accountability and effective participation of party leaders in various programmes. Those who grab party posts and benefits by taking assignments like chairpersons and directors of various boards must spare time for party activities. Party spokesperson Naresh Chauhan confirmed that a letter had been sent to the district party presidents and they had been asked to send the names of absentees within a week. This is for the first time that the PCC chief had taken an initiative to hold the party leaders accountable for the work. |
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Seminar held on Hypertension Update
Kangra, August 25 Faculty members who addressed the gathering were Dr Ashish
Bhalla, PGI, Chandigarh; Padamshri Dr Upinder Kaul, Fortis-Escort Hospital, New Delhi; Dr Arvind Kandoria
IGMC, Shimla; and Dr Atul Shachdeva, Principal, GMC, Chandigarh. In America, every fifth person is suffering from hypertension or diabetes. This could be possible in India as well. So, awareness about hypertension and diabetes was must, they said. The minister announced a super-fast bus from Tanda to Shimla on the demand of teachers, students and paramedical staff. |
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Illegal mining: Sirmour admn seizes 50 tractors
Shimla, August 25 The raids were carried out by a team of police and administrative officers, led by SDM Shravan Manta and DSP Narvir Singh Rathour. The raiding parties impounded vehicles loaded with material allegedly illegally mined from the river beds of the Yamuna, Giri and Bata rivers in Paonta Sahib. The team realised Rs 2.25 lakh as fine from the owners and drivers of 30 tractors, while 20 tractors were impounded by the team as their drivers had fled the scene, abandoning the vehicles as soon as the raiding party arrived. Narvir Singh said the local administration had launched a coordinated campaign against the mining mafia in the Paonta Sahib area and it was yielding good results. The campaign would continue, and so far an amount of Rs 12 lakh had been realised as fine from the offenders over the past three months.
— TNS |
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Pratibha meets Antony on SAIL land row
Shimla, August 25 She told the Defence Minister that the Himachal government had allotted 16 acres to SAIL for setting up a plant at Kandrori in Kangra district on which work had already been started. She said SAIL had got notice for violation of government notification for illegal construction on the notified land around the depot. She said the proposed steel processing plant was outside the limits of the notified area and did not violate the notification. She added that SAIL had already made substantial investment in the project which was in the advance stage of commissioning. |
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The Sarkaghat-Dharampur belt is fast emerging as the hub of illegal mining in the district. Tractors and tippers loaded with sand and gravel from the Seer,
Sone, Chander, Ruso and Sandhol khads have become common sight here. Every monsoon comes here as a harbinger of mineral wealth, sand and boulders for the mining cartel.
