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| Wednesday, November 1, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Minister, HPTDC chief summoned HRTC starts
courier service HP plan to raise
vegetable production Tributes paid to
Indira Gandhi HP documenting herbal cures Bar demands action
against SP |
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AITUC dharna at Raj Bhavan
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Assault case SOLAN, Oct 31 — The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate,
Kandaghat, Mr T.N. Kaisth, yesterday passed orders, directing the PWD Minister, Mr Mohinder Singh, the HPTDC Chairman, Mr Rakesh Pathania and Mr Baldev Anand, a friend of the former, to be summoned to face trial under Sections 355, 448, 504 and 506 read with Section 34,
IPC, on December 1. Mr Kaisth who was conducting the preliminary hearing of a case by Mr Rajneesh Vasudeva, a businessman, against the three in February, held that the counsel of the plaintiff had produced sufficient evidence to justify the framing of charges of tresspass, physical assault, and criminal intimidation against the three. The case related to an incident that took place at the
HPTDC-run “Tourist Inn” at Kiarighat, 25 km from here, on the Kalka-Shimla highway, involving the minister, his associates and Mr
Vasudeva. Mr Vasudeva was staying at the inn with his family and a friend. The rooms occupied by them were, however, got “vacated” when the minister and his entourage dropped in for an overnight stay. This was done while the Vasudevas and their friend had gone to
Shimla. Mr Vasudeva alleged he was pushed hard by the accused and his friends and threatened to be lodged in a police lock-up. He alleged that when he refused to comply with the minister’s suggestion, the minister telephonically summoned the SHO
Kandaghat, to come and arrest him. The SHO arrived and arrested Mr Vasudeva. While he stayed in the lock-up, his wife and children spent the night in a car in front of the police station. Mr Vasudeva was bailed out by the
SDM, Kandaghat, the next afternoon. However, two days later, another incident took place. |
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HRTC starts
courier service SHIMLA, Oct 31 — Mounting losses due to declining occupancy and rising operational costs have forced Himachal Road Transport Corporation to launch a courier service. Large scale privatisation of passenger transport services over the past five years has hit the corporation hard. Occupancy has declined from 67 per cent in 1995 to 58 per cent as a result of which almost half of the total 1648 routes on which it is plying buses have become uneconomical. Largely because unlike private bus operators who ply only profitable routes, the corporation has to ply buses to interior villages along unmetalled routes as part of its social obligation. The recent hike in the prices of diesel has added to the woes of the corporation as there has been no increase in bus fares. It is losing over Rs one crore every month on this account. Last year it incurred a net loss of Rs 20 crore. The accumulated losses of the corporation have already crossed Rs 165 crore. If there is no upward revision of bus fares, the total losses this year will be around Rs 32 crore. Costs of operation have increased to Rs 17.25 per km per bus against an income of Rs 13.45 per km per bus. At present the fare for the hill section is 59 paise per km per seat already the highest in the country. It is 38 paise per km per seat for the plains. The total mileage clocked by its buses is over 14 crore km per year. The continuing decline in occupancy has forced the corporation to look for other means to ensure better utilisation of its 1754 bus fleet. To begin with it has decided to start a courier service to places like Delhi, Chandigarh and all the important towns of the state. It will carry packets of up to five kg for half the rate being charged by private courier service operators. The service will initially be between Shimla and Chandigarh, Delhi, Dharamsala, Manali and Kulu from November 1. Packets will be delivered at the corporations office the next day. The corporation hopes to earn an additional revenue of Rs 1.5 crore annually after the service becomes operational for all the major towns to which its buses ply. |
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HP plan to raise
vegetable production SHIMLA, Oct 31 — The Himachal Government has drawn up a plan to increase the vegetable production in the state to 10 lakh tonnes over the next seven years. Stating this while inaugurating the agriculture officers workshop at Dr Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Dr J.C. Rana, Director of Horticulture, said that agro climatic conditions in the state were quite favourable for growing off-season vegetables. In fact Himachal was a natural glass house, the full potential of which for growing vegetables was yet to be exploited. He said the area under vegetables had increased from 3000 hectare to over 30,000 hectare and the present production stood at 5.20 lakh tonnes. Vegetables were contributing over Rs 300 crore annually to the state domestic product. Besides, the temperate vegetable seed production had also increased manifold and at present seed worth Rs 3 crore were being produced in the state. Dr Rana said the Department of Agriculture had also launched various programmes for development of vegetables in the state under which around 1000 hectare of additional area would be covered during the current year. An amount of Rs 2 crore would be spent on Development of vegetables in the state during the year. |
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Tributes paid to
Indira Gandhi SHIMLA, Oct 31— The Governor, Mr Vishnu Kant Shastri, paid tributes to the former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, on her 16th death anniversary, which was celebrated as Rastriya Sankalp Divas, at a function held at the Ridge here today. The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar
Dhumal, garlanded her statue and offered flowers. He administered the pledge of national unity and integrity to people. |
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HP documenting herbal cures NEW DELHI, Oct 31 — As part of its efforts to harness resources in ayurveda, the Himachal Pradesh Government has begun the task of documenting knowledge about herbal cures that has been an exclusive preserve of the ‘vaids’ for centuries. According to the state’s Minister for Ayurveda, Mr Mohan Lal, the task of tracking down this knowledge has been assigned to ayurvedic medical practitioners in the state who would pass it on to the directorate in Shimla, where work is being done to create a website of the Ayurveda Department. Department officials say that precious and rare knowledge about treatment of diseases through realms of ayurveda, developed and accumulated over centuries, remains with the ‘vaids’, and in many cases, does not percolate down to students. “Since the practice of ayurveda more or less became a family occupation, the finer aspects of treatment and secrets about remedies stayed within the family. The attempt is to get and arrange this knowledge for the benefit of the students and the community,” says a department official. Himachal Pradesh, which has taken the lead in the spread of this ancient system of medicine, hopes to emerge as the leading producer of medicinal plants in the country. Already possessing several rare medicinal plants, the state’s climate and soil is suitable for cultivation and growth of almost all kinds of plants used in preparation of herbal medicines. Mr Mohan Lal, who was here to attend the state ministers’ conference on the Indian system of medicine, said that Himachal Pradesh had also taken a lead in the implementation of Vanaspati Van Yojana of the Central Government. Around 3,500 hectares had been covered under it in the districts of Chamba and Kulu so far. Twentyfive varieties of medicinal plants have been sown in the nurseries developed in the two districts and farmers are being trained in growth and marketing of the produce. The project, which is being overseen by a state-level apex society, is likely to become self-sustaining in the next three years. According to the minister, such societies would come up in all districts of the state and take care of the requirements of farmers cultivating medicinal plants. The plan also envisages setting up of herbal stores, two of which have already come up at Chamba and Jogindernagar. The state government had also decided to meet the raw material requirements of the pharmacies in the state from the resources available within. “Till now purchasing of about Rs 3 crore was done from markets in Delhi. We have decided to meet the requirements from within the state,” Mr Mohan Lal said. |
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Bar demands action
against SP BILASPUR, Oct 31 — Members of the Bar Association today went on strike crippling the court work here. Earlier, the association held an emergency meeting and condemned the beating of a senior advocate allegedly by the Superintendent of Police, Kulu. Mr D.R. Sharma, president of the association, demanded immediate suspension of the SP and warned that advocates in the state would be forced to launch a state-wide agitation if an immediate action was not taken against the SP. |
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AITUC dharna at Raj Bhavan SHIMLA, Oct 31 — Activists of the All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) staged a dharna in front of Raj Bhavan to protest against the anti-people policies of the Centre and state government. Later, a deputation of the Congress led by Mr Kameshwar Pandit, general secretary of the state committee of the AITUC, met the Governor, Mr Vishnu Kant Shastri, and submitted a memorandum to him. The Congress alleged that the economic reforms and policy of liberalisation being implemented by the government had hit the common man. As a result of it prices were spiralling, unemployment was rising and poor were becoming poorer. |
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