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| Thursday, July 20, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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SHIMLA, July 19 — The reappearance of the parasite and fungus, which caused widespread premature defoliation in apple plantation two years ago, is again giving sleepless nights to growers in the state. Parties readying for panchayat poll Chamera Dam oustees
meet Governor Ministers remain absent despite Dhumal’s orders Sukh Ram case:
Mohinder willing to be witness |
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| Mohinder Singh’s dismissal sought MANDI, July 19 — Mr Ram Lal Markanda, Animal Husbandry Minister, and Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) leader, thanking the Speaker for declaring Mr Mohinder Singh, PWD Minister, as an “unattached member” in the Vidhan Sabha, urged the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, to remove Mr Mohinder Singh from the Cabinet without further delay because he had been inducted into the ministry as a nominee of the HVC. Felling mars mountain lake beauty Five judges
transferred Temple ‘chhattar’ stolen, recovered Rights panel denies report Why coaching
centres don’t work in HP? 
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35,000
daily-wage workers lose jobs KANGRA, July 19 — The Himachal Pradesh unit of the Indian Trade Union Congress (INTUC) yesterday threatened a statewide agitation against the BJP-HVC alliance government. It also threatened to gherao the government offices in the state in protest against the government’s decision to terminate the
services of 35000 daily wage workers in the state who had been working for the government for the last eight to nine years. This was disclosed while addressing a joint press
conference here today by Mr Sita Ram Saini, General Secretary, state INTUC and Mr Daulat Ram Choudary, former Chiarman of the H.P. Backward Classes Financial Corporation and a former MLA. They said that 72 daily wage workers of the Palampur Forest Range, who had been serving the Forest Department for the last eight to nine years, received one month’s termination notice. The leaders distributed the termination notice of a worker Bhiwani Chand of Drokh Beat, among the mediapersons. He was a daily wage worker in Forest Department since September 1, 1992. They said they would move the apex court to save the jobs of these daily wage workers. Mr Daulat Ram Choudary said that this was against the promise made to daily wage workers that after five years of service they would be regularised. But even people with nine years service were bring terminated, he charged. Mr Sitar Ram Saini said the govt was terminating 35000 such daily wage workers, 4000 of whom were allegedly appointed by the PWD Minister, Mr Mohinder Singh, from the Dharampur constituency in IPH and PWD Departments. Both leaders suggested that if these terminations were because of the financial crunch the state was facing then the government should curtail down its own expenditures. Mr Choudary was critical of the government for bringing the developmental works to a standstill in the Kangra constituency and cited examples of the Daulatpur-Kulhi Road, Daulatpur Jaladhi Road, old Kangra, Nandrul and Kajal roads and Khola,Tundi and Talaid Roads. Mr Choudary also criticised the government over the Kangra Sub Divisional, hospital issue saying that the patients were forced to purchase medicines and spectacles from some particular shops. He said non-availablity of a
gynecologist in the hospital for the last two years was putting the women patients to inconvenience. They demanded that the Chief Minister should pay attention towards this public problem. |
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Apple disease worries growers SHIMLA, July 19 — The reappearance of the parasite and fungus, which caused widespread premature defoliation in apple plantation two years ago, is again giving sleepless nights to growers in the state. According to reports reaching here, a large number of apple orchards in the Kulu valley and the Shimla region have been affected by the combined attack of ‘morssonina’, a fungus and red mite, a parasitic arachnid. In some severely affected orchards the process of premature defoliation has also started. They are mostly located in the lower apple belt. Worst hit areas include Lag Valley, Ani and Seo Bagh in Fozal and Kharahal. Usually the leaves wither away towards the end of November well after the harvesting of the fruit. But the disease-hit trees lose their foliage in July and August itself. If not controlled in time the twin disease affects the production as the fruit does not acquire its full size due to shedding of leaves which affect the intake of nutrients. Scientists of Dr Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry have attributed the outbreak of the disease to the early onset of monsoon. The extremely humid conditions created by continuous rains in the region over the past one month are most congenial for the spread of these diseases, they point out. They have advised growers to strictly adhere to the fungicide spraying schedule recommended by the university and not take any chances with in the prevailing climatic conditions. The impact of the diseases is first felt in the lower part of the tree’s crown with discolouration of leaves. It is more severe on the orchards which are not being managed on scientific lines. For instance if proper pruning of trees is not carried out the lower portion of the crown will not get requisite sunlight, so essential for photosynthesis. Besides, excessive humidity creates ideal conditions for growth of various fungi. Dr R.P. Awasthy, Vice-Chancellor, maintains that the problem basically is of management. The well-managed orchards have not been affected at all. The fungicides like Mancozeb, Carbendazim and Ziram, recommended by the university, have been effective against the disease and it had been fully controlled during the last two years. Some of the growers this year did not adhere to the spraying schedule during the early stage of crop. Now the continuous rain is not allowing any time for spraying. Moreover, spraying is not very effective during rains. He say there is no cause for alarm and diseases can be effectively combated by strictly following the spraying schedule. Some scientists also hold irregular and indiscriminate spraying of fungicides and insecticides responsible for the recurrence of the diseases. The sprays also eliminates useful predator infests which prey on mite. Consequently, the natural biological controls which help in containing the population of harmful insects, no more works. |
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Parties readying for panchayat poll SHIMLA, July 19 — The political parties in Himachal Pradesh are gearing up for the elections of 2922 panchayats and other local bodies scheduled to be held sometime in December to gauge their popularity at the grassroot level. These elections are also being taken as a full dress rehearsal for the next Assembly elections which, however, are still away. The panchayats and other local bodies will complete their five-year term in December. Although these elections are not held on any party
symbol, but various political parties are taking keen interest in these and are bound to back their respective nominees. The general secretary of the BJP, Mr Narendera Modi, recently addressing the newly appointed office-bearers of the state executive, has asked them to select people with a clean image for contesting these elections. On the other hand, the Opposition Congress party, which was controlling most of the panchayats, intends to retain its supremacy by cashing on the anti-establishment sentiments. Elections will also be held for the 49 municipal committees and notified area committees,72 panchayat samitis and 12 zila parishads. After coming to
power, the BJP-HVC combine government succeeded in dislodging the Congress from control of the Solan and Dharamsala allegedly by engineering defections. Futile efforts were also made to grab control of the Municipal Committee of Mandi. As these grassroot institutions are considered an effective medium for a direct contact with the common masses, the BJP also succeeded in throwing the Congress out of control of the zila parishads of Hamirpur, Kulu and Chamba. The no-confidence motion for removing the Congress backed chairman of the zila parishad of Shimla was defeated. The chairman of the state election commission, Mr K.C. Sharma, told the TNS that preparation of electoral rolls for elections to the 20,677 wards of
panchayats, panchayat samitis and zila parishads and 406 wards of 49 municipal bodies has been started. He said the process was being coordinated with the Census Department as the catchment area for conducting both the exercises was common. |
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Chamera Dam
oustees meet Governor SHIMLA, July 19 — The oustees of the Chamera Dam area today met the Governor, Mr Vishnu Kant Shastri, and sought his intervention for getting them rehabilitated. They submitted a memorandum to the Governor and also to the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, demanding that the assurances given by the government while acquiring their agriculture land for construction of phase two of the Chamera hydroelectric project in Chamba district should be implemented. The oustees were led by Mr Harsh Mahajan, a sitting Congress MLA of the area. They demanded that one member of each family of the oustees should be suitably employed in the project and a financial package should be formulated for the loss they incurred during the past 12 years following acquisition of their lands. They pointed out that the committee set up for looking into the problems of the oustees did not include a single oustee. The memorandum said that the sub-committee set up in February last has never met to look into the demands of the oustees. As many as 268 families were rendered landless as their small holdings were acquired for constructing the power project for which work was started recently. They have claimed that their lands were acquired at the rate of Rs 40,000 per bigha at that time, whereas the project authorities were now acquiring additional land at the rate of Rs 2.3 lakh per bigha. They demanded that they should be compensated on this account. |
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Ministers remain absent despite Dhumal’s orders SHIMLA, July 19 — Many ministers abstained from their offices here yesterday despite the instructions of the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, to be present in the Secretariat on every Tuesday. Only 11 of the 24 ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries were present in the Secretariat when this correspondent visited there in the morning. The attendance was the same also in the afternoon. Of the 21 ministers, only nine were present, while out of the three Parliamentary Secretaries, two were in the Secretariat. In a bid to boost the image of the ruling BJP, the general secretary of the party, Mr Narendra Modi, had recently asked the ministers to be present in their offices here at least once a week on every Tuesday so that people visiting the state headquarter from other places were sure of finding them to get their grievances settled. However, today being the first Tuesday after these instructions were issued by Mr Modi and accepted by Mr Dhumal, only nine ministers came to the Secretariat. The ministers of the BJP - HVC combine government have already come under severe criticism for their frequent and long absence from the Secretariat. Ever since the alliance government came to power, Mr Dhumal had several times asked his ministerial colleagues to be present in the secretariat for most of the time but his orders were not observed in defiance. However, Mr Dhumal arrived in his office in the morning and was there throughout the day, today. |
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Sukh Ram case:
Mohinder willing to be witness SHIMLA, July 19 — The fight between the PWD Minister, Mr Mohinder Singh, and the HVC chief, Mr Sukh Ram, took a new turn yesterday with the former urging the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, to get the cases against Mr Sukh Ram expedited in the courts. Mr Mohinder Singh, talking to newsmen here today, offered to become a witness against Mr Sukh Ram in the CBI investigations of seizure of hidden money from his residence at Mandi. The minister said he was writing letters to Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani in this regard. He said cases of alleged misuse of official position as a Central minister had been registered by the CBI against Mr Sukh Ram and he was facing trial in some of these cases. Mr Mohinder Singh said the issue of his having been declared an unattached member of the Assembly would be discussed at a meeting of the office-bearers of HVC headed by Mr Inder Singh here on July 21. He alleged that Mr Sukh Ram was hobnobbing with certain Congress leaders to return to the Congress fold, but some of the senior leaders were resisting the move. He said he would bring to the notice of the Chief Minister and the Cabinet the efforts of a junior minister, Mr Ram Lal Markandey, a supporter of Mr Sukh Ram, to “sabotage” his functions in the Lahaul area. He alleged that Mr Sukh Ram had always tried to take the maximum benefit from the BJP after entering into an alliance with the party. First he got his son, Mr Anil Sharma, elected to the Rajya Sabha and then fielded the HVC candidate for the byelection for the Solan Assembly seat in defiance of the decision of the party executive.
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Felling mars mountain lake beauty CHAMBA: It has come to light that trees are being marked and allotted to residents by the Forest Department as part of timber distribution (TD) rights on the fringe of a secluded water spot known as Khajund lake. And if thought is not given to ban this trend, this green mountain lake would be converted into barren landscape, and would ruin the charm of this picturesque spot. Khajund lake, at an altitude of 2015 metres near Sahoo, is about 14 km from the district headquarters town of Chamba. According to legend, Nag Devta crossed over from this area to Khajjiar. This place is, in fact, a replica of Khajjiar lake but smaller. Unfortunately indiscriminate felling of trees has reduced the dense forest cover around it. The Himachal Pradesh Department of Tourism has so far escaped its attention to highlight the significance and natural scenic beauty of this. The neglected lake is not yet on the state tourism map neither is it linked by any road for the benefit of tourists. Khajund lake can be developed as a good adventure tourism site. The lake can be made into a fisheries centre and in the long run can beckon anglers provided no restrictions are imposed on fishing. Such developmental activities can draw attention of the authorities to this secluded site. Besides, the state government should pay more attention to this water spot and take urgent measures to save it from ‘‘plunderers’’, who are earmarked trees under TD rights. The vast tourism potential of this lake should not be allowed to be marred within the precincts of the lake by marking trees for local residents by the Forest Department. But department officials maintain that his practice has now been stopped. |
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Mohinder Singh’s dismissal sought MANDI, July 19 — Mr Ram Lal Markanda, Animal Husbandry Minister, and Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) leader, thanking the Speaker for declaring Mr Mohinder Singh, PWD Minister, as an “unattached member” in the Vidhan Sabha, urged the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, to remove Mr Mohinder Singh from the Cabinet without further delay because he had been inducted into the ministry as a nominee of the HVC. Talking to mediapersons at the local Circuit House today, Mr Markanda said though it was the prerogative of the Chief Minister to form the council of ministers, yet it was also paramount to uphold the culture of coalition. He said the HVC supremo was upset over the “evasive attitude” of the Chief Minister on this issue. Mr Dhumal was underestimating the mass base of Mr Sukh Ram who had played an important role in the development of the state, he added. He took exception to the recent tour of the PWD Minister to the Lahaul valley where the latter allegedly laid foundation stones and inaugurated projects. These works had been inaugurated and completed long ago during the Congress rule, he said. “What is worse is that as the local MLA, I was not invited to the official functions”, he added. |
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Five
judges transferred SHIMLA, July 19 — The Himachal Pradesh High Court has ordered the transfer of officers of higher judicial services. Mr Gobind Ram Sharma, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Sirmour at Nahan has been transferred to Hamirpur as District and Sessions Judge, Mr T.N. Vaidya, Additional District and Sessions Judge Shimla has been posted out to Kulu as District and Sessions Judge. Mr M.R. Chaudhry who was District and Sessions judge Hamirpur has been sent to Dharamsala as President of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Mr L.N. Sharma, District and Sessions Judge, Kulu, has been appointed President District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum Mandi. Mr P.D. Goel, Secretary, Legal Aid Authority, has been appointed President District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Shimla division, consisting of four districts Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur and Kinnaur. |
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Temple ‘chhattar’ stolen, recovered DHARAMSALA, July 19 — The Kangra police has registered a case against Vinay Kumar for allegedly stealing a silver “chhattar”, weighing 1kg from the Jawalamukhi temple. According to the SSP, Mr Prithvi Raj, the silver ‘chhattar’ was allegedly picked up by Vinay Kumar and put in a sack of the coconuts offered by the pilgrims at the temple. One of the attendants on duty noticed this and brought the matter to the notice of the accountant, who along with other temple officials, recovered the silver ‘chhattar’, but the accused escaped. Surprisingly though, the incident happened in the morning the matter was brought to the notice of the police only at night after which a case was registered under Section 380, IPC, at the Jawalamukhi police station. The accused Vinay Kumar, who was a “baridar” in the temple has absconded since.
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Rights
panel denies report SHIMLA, July 19 — The state human rights commission has said it did not remain a silent spectator to the issue of the mysterious death of Brinda Devi in Mandi and the police had registered a case against her husband and other family members only after the intervention of the commission. Taking a serious note of the report published in these columns on July 16 from Kulu, the Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the commission said the position of the case given in the news report was incorrect the case against the husband of Brinda Devi and his other relatives was registered by the police at Mandi sadar following intervention of the commission. The case was presented in the court on February 22 this year. |
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Why coaching
centres don’t work in HP? SHIMLA, July 19 — Unavailability of suitable faculty is the main constraint in setting up coaching centres to prepare students for various competitive examinations in hill states like Himachal Pradesh, according to Dr Vinod Khera, director of a coaching centre at Chandigarh.
But for the lack of faculty, he would have established a coaching centre in Himachal Pradesh, he told newsmen here today. On average 40 to 50 per cent of the candidates who undergo coaching at his centre every year were from Himachal Pradesh. This year, nine out of the 14 top positions in the Himachal pre-medical test were bagged by candidates of his centre. Himachali students lagged behind only because of lack of facilities and exposure. |
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HP to release
ADA slab SHIMLA, July 19 — The Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to release the
installment of additional dearness allowance (ADA) to its employees which was pending since January 1 this year.
This was announced here today by the Chief Secretary, Mr A.K. Goswami, while presiding over the meeting of the joint consultative committee (JCC). The arrears will be given in cash from August 1, while the earlier amount will be credited to the
GPF. |
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Mr Justice Sarup SHIMLA, July 19 — Mr Justice Surinder Sarup was yesterday appointed Chairman of the State Commission for Backward Classes by the Himachal Pradesh Government. Mr Justice Sarup has been asked to hold the charge of the commission in place of Mr Justice R.K. Mahajan (retd) whose term in office has ended.
BJP leader dead BILASPUR, July 19 — Budhi Singh Kondal (48), vice-president of the BJP unit, died suddenly of a heart attack here today. He had gone to pay obeisance at the Dholera temple here. |
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