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| Sunday, January 2, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Horticulture experts warn apple growers A Kangra social reformer ignored |
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Chief Engineer granted bail INTUC plea to Dhumal Govt 'bypassing' vigilance manual
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Hill states' levy sugar quota up SHIMLA, Jan 1—The Centre has increased the levy sugar quota for hill-states by 275 gm per person per month. This was announced by the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Mr Shanta Kumar, at Dharamsala today. Mr Shanta Kumar said the levy sugar quota had been increased to 700 gm per person from the existing 425 gm. Consequently, Himachal Pradesh would get 3600 tonnes of levy sugar per month against the earlier quota of 2200 tonnes. Mr Shanta Kumar said the increase in the sugar quota for hill-states had been ordered because of higher consumption of sugar in these areas. Mr Shanta Kumar said in the coming season, the production of sugar would be around 160 lakh tonne. He said the import of sugar had adversely affected domestic sugar market and an increase in import duty on sugar from 27.5 per cent to 40 per cent was aimed at discouraging the import. Sugar mills owed farmers about Rs 600 crore and the decision would help these mills to clear the arrears. He said higher import duty on refined edible oil from 15 per cent to 27.50 per cent would benefit oilseed growers and provide relief to edible oil industry which had become sick due to excessive import. He said the ad hoc release of free sale sugar had been stopped. Mr Shanta Kumar said his next target was to strengthen the public distribution system and minimise pilferage. |
Horticulture experts warn apple growers SHIMLA, Jan 1 — Horticulture experts from the USA have warned apple growers here not to apply harmful compounds to trees which have killed most aphid parasites and mite predators, resulting in damage to their produce. These experts, who visited some apple growing areas of Shimla district a few months ago following a severe damage to the crop, have now sent their report to the farmer-to-farmer programme (USAID). A copy of the report was provided to TNS here today by Mr Lakshman Thakur who heads the local Horticulture Society. The team consisting of Dr Donn T. Johnson, Professor, Department of Entomology, University of Arkansas, and Mr Guy King Ames, Technical Specialist, studied various aspects related to the poor apple crop last season. The have said in the report that a variety of factors may have caused poor produce last year. Some of the reasons mentioned are the drought in 1998 and huge crop load during the year. Many orchards had early leaf drop due to marssonin blotch. some had high mite population that affected trees and there was low temperature during the bloom period that prevented adequate pollination. They have recommended that the government should make available a superior summer oil which can be applied by growers at the pink stage without damaging leaves to suppress mite population and certain insect pests. Further, research needs to be conducted to determine the population ratio of mite predators to prey mites that will or will not result in biological control of spider mites in apple trees. These experts say growers should be aware that use of any pyrethrin or pyrethroid compounds for insect control will kill most aphid parasites and cause outbreaks of woolly apple aphids in apple. They point out that the drop in production could also have been due to lack of sufficient number of colonies of pollinating bees. They say effective orchard pollinators should be introduced. |
A Kangra social reformer ignored KANGRA: Master Mitersen Thapa who roused the conscience of the Gurkhas against social evils and injustice was honoured by the Nepal Government when it released a postage name with his portrait on November 20. His birth anniversary fell on December 29. He was born at Totarani village near Dharamsala on that day in 1895. Though he studied up to 8th standard, he had good knowledge of English, Urdu, Hindi, Persian, Nepali and Sanskrit languages. It is a pity that the Union Government has ignored this illustrious son of Kangra and not even issued a postage stamp. This social reformer, who doubled as a dramatist and poet, strove hard to raise the Gurkhas’ moral and cultural values with his work and passionate songs. He travelled widely in India and Nepal and propagated Gurkha culture, where this community had settled and infused in them a sense of self-respect and pride. Mitersen Thapa belonged to a period which is considered glorious in Nepali literature. During this period Swami Vivekananda, Ram Tirath and Lokmanya Tilak had emerged on the scene and Mahatma Gandhi's non-violence movement had spread all over India. During this period some Nepali writers emerged in India which included Dhavinder Koirala, Suriya Bikram Gyawali and Parasmani Pradhan. Mitersen Thapa wrote songs to eradicate social evils and raised his voice against social injustice. He joined 1 Gorkha Battalion at Dharamsala cantonment and went to Basra, Mesopotamia and France during World War II. He decided to leave the Army after witnessing bloodshed. He took up music at Lahore, Amritsar and Jalandhar and performed stage shows all over North India, particularly in Punjab. He soon came under the influence of Iqbal, Rabindranath Tagore, Prem Chand and Hasrat Muradabadi. He raised Himalayan Theatrical Company at Dharamsala in 1926 and staged Urdu and Hindi dramas in HP and Punjab. He joined Arya Samaj and worked as a preacher between 1928 and 1931. In 1933, Mitersen started writing Nepali poetry and drama. He preached various social reforms among the Gorkhas. He recorded dramas and songs in Nepali which were played on AIR. Delhi. Nepal Radio and Brunei Radio stations (near Sarawak in South-East Asia) still play his gramophone records. He died at the age of 50 on April 9, 1946. His songs and writings inspired the Gurkha community to join the Indian National Army (INA). Dal Bhadur Thapa and Durga Mal Thapa, who were inspired by his writings, were hanged at Tihar jail at Delhi on May 3, 1945, and August 25, 1944 respectively. Mr Ram Singh Thakur was also inspired by the writings of Mitersen and became the INA music director. He composed the tune of INA's national song "Sab sukh chain ki barka barsee." This tune was later on incorporated into their national anthem. In 1992 the Sikkim Sahitya Parishad instituted award known as Mitersen Smriti Puruskar for music with a prize money of Rs 50,001 and is given every three years. In 1997 the government instituted an award known as Master Mitersen Thapa Memorial Academy Award which carries a purse of Rs 31,000 and is awarded to those personalities who make a special contribution to social service, literature and fine arts. Last year on Mitersen's 103rd birth anniversary, Nepal's Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa presented this award to Dr Harsha Bhadur. |
Chief Engineer granted bail MANDI, Jan 1 — Mr Shamsher Singh, Additional Sessions Judge Mandi granted a bail to the former Chief Engineer central zone Mandi against bail bond and surety bond of Rs 5 lakh each this evening. Mr Sikand had been arrested on December 28, 1999 after a case against him had been registered under Sections 13(1)(d) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Vigilance wing had registered a case against him following an enquiry by the Divisional Commissioner Mandi. On receiving the report the state government had placed him under suspension. Earlier on Thursday Mr P.C. Sharma, Chief Judicial Magistrate Mandi, had rejected his bail application and remanded him in police custody till January 3. |
INTUC plea to Dhumal SHIMLA, Jan 1 — Mr Waryam Singh Bains, general secretary of the INTUC, has urged the Himachal Pradesh government to release the instalment of additional dearness allowance to the employees which has been pending since July last. Mr Bains also urged the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, to grant house rent and medical allowance on the Punjab pattern. He also demanded that the daily wage should be enhanced to Rs 100 from the existing Rs 51 in view of rising prices. Govt 'bypassing' vigilance manual SHIMLA, Jan 1 — The Himachal PWD Engineers Association has expressed concern over the manner in which the government was handling the "bitumen purchase" scandal, completely bypassing the rules and instructions of the vigilance manual. The association appreciated the need for rooting out corruption from the department but asserted that it should not be done at the cost of any individual or organisation. The inquiry conducted by the Divisional Commissioner, Mandi, into the scandal was of a "fact-finding" nature and the report had also recommended an indepth vigilance probe to detect, the financial irregularities in the purchase. However, the government had taken action of the report in utter disregard of the rules laid down in the vigilance manual. It demanded that the report of the Divisional Commissioner should be made public to judge if the extreme action taken was at all justified and warranted at such an initial stage of the case. It also pointed out that the department had no role in awarding the 'rate contract' to a blacklisted dealer. It was the responsibility of the Industries Department. What was the necessity of extending the rate contract of the black-listed firm as recently as October 1999? it asked. |
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