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| Saturday, July 1, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Karmapa desires to go to Rumtek
Centre’s nod for 2 food parks
HP fruit growers unhappy Rain triggers landslides
in Himachal Socio-economic
survey from July 1 |
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| HP Govt harassing
Cong men: MLA NAHAN, June 30 — Mr Harsh Chauhan, Congress MLA from the Shillai constituency, in a statement issued here today has charged the Dhumal government of settling their political scores by harassing and implicating Congressmen in false cases. Work on Cart
Road held up
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Karmapa desires to go to Rumtek DHARAMSALA, June 30 — The 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorjee, has expressed his desire to move to the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim for which a request has been made by the Tibetan Government-in-exile to New Delhi. Sources in the Tibetan Government-in-exile headed by the Dalai Lama, revealed a request had been made in this regard to the Government of India, both by the Karmapa as well as the Tibetan officials. Ever since his sudden arrival here on January 5 early this year the Karmapa has been staying at the Gyuto monastery on the outskirts of the town. Confirming the request made by the Tibetan Government to allow the Karmapa to finally move to Rumtek monastery, the Minister for Religion and Culture, Mr Tashi Wangdi, said it was but natural and rightful for him to go there, as it is the seat of the Kagyu sect set up by the 16th Karmapa, whose reincarnation the Karmapa is.” Any other arrangement for the Karmapa, be it at the Gyuto monastery or at Sherabling monastery at Bhattu, near Baijnath, would merely be his temporary abode,” said Mr Wangdi. The Government of India has delayed a decision on the issue of granting political asylum or refugee status to the Karmapa since he fled from Tibet along with his elder sister and five others. Tibetan officials and those close to the Karmapa, were hopeful that after the visit of the President of India to China a decision would be taken but once again the matter is being delayed. With the matter being very sensitive, India is treading a very cautious path, so as not to annoy China and strain relations with its neighbour. As the various Indian agencies, who were baffled with the sudden appearance of the Karmapa in India, are still trying to find answers to the questions being raised in this regard, the controversy surrounding the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim and the internal feud facing the Kagyu sect is even deeper. On the other hand, the condition of the Karmapa is no better than a person under house arrest. His requests to the Ministry of External Affairs, to pay a visit to the Buddhist shrine at Rewalsar in Mandi district and the Sherabling monastery at Bhattu in Kangra district have been turned down time and again. Though the Karmapa has started his studies at the Gyuto monastery it still remains a stop-gap arrangement till a final decision is taken by the Indian Government. The inordinate delay in deciding the status of the Karmapa and granting him permission to move to Rumtek or Bhattu is causing a lot of frustration and concern to the 15-year-old boy, who heads the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism. With so much of tension and pressure, the Karmapa had to be taken to Chandigarh for medical treatment some time back. Mr Wangdi, while admitting that a delay in deciding the status of the Karmapa was causing inconvenience to him and his aides, said they were hopeful of a positive response from India. “With the involvement of a number of officials and ministries there is bound to be bureaucratic delay, but there has been no negative response from the Indian Government”, he added. Mr Wangdi said the Karmapa, like any to other Tibetan entering India, enjoyed refugee status but due to his high religious status was getting more attention and security. When asked if India was giving in to from China as far as granting of political asylum to the Karmapa was concerned, Mr Wangdi said he did not think so as the Indian President had said the Karmapa had come to India on his own and the request made by him was being considered. |
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Centre’s nod for 2 food parks SHIMLA, June 30 — The Centre has in principle agreed to provide financial assistance for setting up two food parks in the
state. The parks, to be set up at cost of Rs 16 crore, will provide the much-needed fillip to the food industry in the state, which has a large surplus of processable apples, mangoes and other fruits, besides vegetables. The cost of the two projects will be equally shared by the Centre and the state. The proposal for the parks was finalised at a high-level meeting of officers headed by Mr Umesh Sehgal, Secretary, Food Processing, Government of India, and Mr A.K. Goswami, Chief Secretary, here today. Mr Sehgal also sought suggestions from the state for the new food processing policy being formulated by the Centre. He endorsed the state’s view that the government should grant interest subsidy on loans raised by food processing units to improve their viability. He also assured that the ministry would favourably consider the demand of the state-owned HPMC for grant of Rs 25 lakh for publicity of its products. Besides, the state could also benefit from the funds available with the ministry for publicity as its generic campaigns to promote food products could take care of fruit products manufactured in the state. The state underlined the need for granting excise duty exemption to new food processing units. Mr Sehgal pointed out that at present, there was a huge difference between the farm prices and consumer prices of various food and vegetable products. Moreover, 40 per cent of the fruit was wasted due to non-availability of processing facility. In view of this, he stressed that more and more processing industries should be set up. The secretary (Horticulture) requested that the wine-based industry should be provided incentives on a par with other food-based industries. Mr Sehgal also met Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, and discussed ways and means to promote food processing activities in the state. |
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HP fruit growers unhappy SHIMLA, June 30 — Resentment prevails among fruit growers over the failure of the Himachal Government to increase the support prices for apple, mango and other fruits under the market intervention
scheme. The growers were expecting a hike in the support prices in view of the sharp increase in the prices of farm inputs. Besides, there was no increase in the support price for apple last year as it was raised by just 25 paise in 1998 when the Dhumal Government assumed
office. The distressed growers point out that the sharp increase in the prices of insecticides, pesticides, fertilizers and other farm inputs had made apple cultivation economically unviable as the cost of production was more than Rs 5 per kg whereas the support price had been static at Rs 3.7 per kg. Mr Virbhadra Singh, leader of the Opposition, alleged that the Dhumal Government had been ignoring the interests of fruit growers and the decision not to raise the support prices had exposed its real, ‘anti-farmer’ face. He said the support price for apple had been increased by only 25 paise ever since the BJP-HVC combine came to power. The coalition spent lakhs on organising rallies in the apple belt to take credit when it increased the price in 1998. It proclaimed itself to be the biggest benefactor of the apple
growers. The Himachal Kisan Sabha has rejected the support prices announced for various fruits it has demanded a support price of Rs 7 per kg for apple and grafted mango and Rs 6.25 per kg for seedling mango. It also demanded that 60 per cent of the handling charges fixed by the government for procurement should be given to growers as they had spent a lot on carriage and
packaging. Mr Sanjay Chauhan, secretary of the sabha, expressed concern over the poor quality of insecticides and fungicides being supplied to the growers by government agencies. Complaints had been received from all over the state and in certain areas new problems like heavy dropping and cracking of fruit had surfaced. He alleged that the government had failed in enforcing the Insecticides Act as a result of which the sale of spurious chemicals had been going on in the
market. The sabha has demanded immediate formulation of agriculture and horticulture policies to save poor farmers from exploitation by middlemen and ensuring remunerative returns for their agricultural and horticultural produce. |
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Rain triggers landslides in Himachal SHIMLA, June 30 (UNI) — Parts of Himachal Pradesh had moderate monsoon rain today, triggering landslides at certain places in the region. The capital town of Shimla and its adjoining areas experienced moderate rainfall since morning. The town was enveloped in a dense fog which reduced visibility considerably. A landslide occured near Baira Khud due to rain disrupting traffic between Rampur and Kumarsain in Shimla district for about two hours. The road was, however, cleared of debries and made through for vehicular traffic.
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Socio-economic
survey from July 1 MANDI, June 30 — A three-day state-level conference organised here by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation at the Conference Hall of the mini secretariat to impart extensive training to the field investigators of the state concluded here yesterday. The field investigators will launch the 56th round of a socio-economic survey from July 1. The survey which is being conducted all over the country will be completed by June, 2000. The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) will survey the unorganised manufacturing enterprises and consumer expenditure besides gathering details about employment and unemployment in the region. In Himachal Pradesh, as many as 312 samples would be taken from the rural and urban areas through random sampling by visiting manufacturing units and households. Seeking cooperation of the general public, Mr A.K. Sadhu, Deputy Director, NSSO, assured that the data collected would be used for planning only and no part of it would be divulged to the Income Tax or any other department. Mr D.P. Mandal, Joint Director, SDRD, Calcutta, attended the conference as an observer. |
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HP Govt harassing
Cong men: MLA NAHAN, June 30 — Mr Harsh Chauhan, Congress MLA from the Shillai constituency, in a statement issued here today has charged the Dhumal government of settling their political scores by harassing and implicating Congressmen in false cases. He said it was shameful that during the past six months more than 50 theft cases had been reported in the Paonta area, while crimes like murder had increased. The government had failed completely in maintaining law and order and in protecting the property of citizens. He alleged that a local Congress leader and president of the Kando Bhatnol Panchayat. Chamel Singh was being falsely implicated in a case regarding explosives. He demanded a high-level inquiry into the incident and action against erring police officials. He said Mr Chamel Singh was a PWD contractor. After completing all legal formalities the PWD had given him explosives to use. The police arrested his workers and made a false case against him. |
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Website on environment HAMIRPUR, June 30 — A local social workers and poet, Mr Rattan Lal Verma, has created a website SOS.com to make the people aware about the environment. He said various types of information relating to the environment had been given on the website. |
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Work on Cart
Road held up SHIMLA, June 30 — Work on restoration of Cart Road which was partially washed away due to landslide near the high court has been held up. The contractor has stopped work in protest against the alleged violation of the agreement by the Shimla Municipal Corporation. Vehicular traffic has been badly hit as a result of the landslide and traffic jams have become the order of the day. The landslide occurred a few days ago due to sinking of a retaining wall of the road towards the side where a multi-storeyed car parking is being constructed. The contractors have also stopped work on the parking place because of alleged violation of the agreement. The parking place was being constructed at a cost of Rs 1.36 crore and was scheduled to be constructed within two years. |
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