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| Saturday, November 4, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Minister pulls up agriculture officials Chamera work ahead of
schedule Dhumal for clean
administration ‘Ban’ substandard
medicines Duchess interacts with
Tibetan refugees |
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Scientists receive
IPI-FAI award Police drive yields
results Power surcharge
decried
Turning solid waste into manure 80-yr-old woman murdered BJP Mahila Morcha
office-bearers Slaughter house
in the open Bus operators for
hike in fares Promotee lecturers
seek reservation Plea to follow
SC verdict on promotions 10 years’ RI for
rape
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Minister pulls up agriculture officials CHAMBA, Nov 3 — The Minister of State for Ayurveda, Mr Mohan Lal, pulled up the Agriculture Department for inefficiency and poor performance in achieving the desired results in the implementation of the 20-Point Programme launched by the government for the upliftment of the district. The minister was presiding over a meeting to review the programme here yesterday. The minister expressed unhappiness at the bleak progress made by officials of Him Urja. He also took serious note of the inefficient working of the Health Department. Certain unofficial members of the 20-Point Programme Committee complained to the minister about supply of muddy drinking water in many parts of the district. Responding to the complaint, the Superintending Engineer of the Irrigation-cum-Public Health (IPH) Department stressed the need for providing more funds for constructing more treatment units for supplying clean water. The minister asked the health authorities to spruce up the department for launching the revised tuberculosis (TB) eradication programme for which eight diagnostic centres and four treatment units had been set up. At the meeting the Conservator of Forests apprised the minister of 44 village forest development committees which had been formed in the district under the Sanjhi Van Yojna. The minister told the district officers to curb expenditure and asked the Deputy Commissioner to see if the work on literacy campaign was over so that the employees involved in the campaign could be repatriated to their parent departments. The minister said the Deputy Commissioner should ensure that a meeting of the 20-Point Programme Review Committee be convened quarterly and officers of all departments submitted their follow-up reports relating to achievements made under the programme by the seventh of every month. |
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Chamera work ahead of
schedule CHAMBA: The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and the contractor concerned are determined to ensure the completion of the 300 MW Chamera project ahead of schedule. Located near Chamba town, the hydroelectric project (Stage II) is to be constructed at a cost of about Rs 1,700 crore. It was cleared for execution last year. According to Mr Yogendra Prasad, Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of the NHPC, the aim is to complete the project within a period of five years. The pace of work so far has been good. This has become possible due to the joint efforts of the Central and state governments as well as the NHPC and the contractor. According to Mr S.K. Dodeja, Executive Director (Region II) of the NHPC, work is in progress on various fronts, including the diversion tunnel, the head race tunnel, the tail race tunnel, the power-house cavern, the transformer gallery, the desilting chambers, the silt flushing tunnel, the surge shaft and the pressure shaft. A length of 1,143 metres of the tail race tunnel and 2,531 metres of the head race tunnel has already been excavated. Plans are afoot to complete the excavation work by March, 2002. The diversion of the river, which was originally scheduled for January, 2002, has been advanced by one year. It is likely to take place within the next three months. Achieving such progress definitely needed, among other things, the availability of a proper road network to transport tonnes of materials and equipment to the site. At present more than 300 vehicles and various equipment are in use at the site round the clock. Nearly 5,000 workers have been deployed. Various activities are ahead of the given time frame, ranging from a few days to 250 days with the maximum advance being in the case of the desilting chambers and the power-house cavern. The other aspects, including rehabilitation, area development and afforestation, are also being attended to. The NHPC is taking steps to ensure that the overall environment is not disturbed. Besides, the CMD, the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Prof P.K. Dhumal, is also monitoring the project. The Chief Minister’s visit to the site in July last gave a boost to the morale of the workforce. |
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Dhumal for clean
administration PALAMPUR, Nov 3 — Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, Himachal Pradesh, said today that his government was committed to providing a clean administration to the people of the state. He said in the two-and-a-half-year tenure of his government, efforts had been made to maintain the pace of development in the state with special stress on backward areas. Mr Dhumal, who was addressing a public meeting here, said in the past one year his government had succeeded in getting two new national highways for the state. He said with the completion of the highways the people of Kangra, Una and Hamirpur districts would enter a new era. The Chief Minister said the Union Government had enhanced the Plan outlay of the state by over 30 per cent which was a major achievement of his government. The Chief Minister said during his tenure additional funds had been provided for developmental works in Kangra. His government had made special efforts to complete Dr Rajindera Prashad Medical Complex and in this regard an MoU had been signed with private company of New Delhi to complete construction works. Besides, the government had acquired more land for the project. Mr Dhumal said the Union Government had agreed to provide the ST status to the Gaddis of Kangra district and a notification in this regard was expected any time. Earlier, one Chief Minister unveiled the bust of Maj Som Nath, the first, recipient of Param Vir Chakra here. He said his government was well-conversant with the problems of martyrs’ families and had initiated number of measures for their welfare. |
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‘Ban’ substandard
medicines SOLAN, Nov 3 — The H.P. Hospital Pharmacists Association has urged the state government to take immediate steps for imposing a ban on the procurement of substandard medicines in government-run health institutions. Association president K.S. Verma told mediapersons here yesterday that the purchase and use of substandard medicines could be checked by associating qualified pharmacists with the procurement process. In fact, his association had been demanding this for a long time. He said that other demands that had remained unaccepted by the government included the finalisation of the recruitment and promotion rules, adoption of a pharmacists’ duty manual, preparation of a seniority list and removal of anomaly regarding the allotment of rent-free accommodation. Mr Verma said the association’s demand for the codification of time-bound promotion norms had been consistently ignored by the government The association had submitted a proposal for the promotion of a pharmacist to the post of senior pharmacist after eight years service, the promotion of a senior pharmacist to the chief pharmacist’s (grade II) after 24 years’ service and the promotion of chief pharmacist (grade II) to grade I after 32 years’ service. This demand was based on the pattern adopted by some of the neighbouring states. He said the Health Department had so far failed to adopt even an elementary thing like the duty manual for the pharmacists. The absence of the manual had led to adhocism in fixing the duty hours. |
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Duchess interacts with
Tibetan refugees DHARAMSALA, Nov 3 — The Ducess of York, Sarah Ferguson, today spent her second day in McLeodganj visiting various institutions being run by the Tibetan Government-in-Exile for the Tibetan refugees. She started her day by visiting Delek Hospital and spent about two hours meeting patients and doctors and other staff. Later, she drove to McLeodganj to meet the fresh arrivals at the Reception Centre for New Refugees. She went around the centre talking to the refugees. She went around the centre talking to the refugees who have fled from Tibet to escape the Chinese repression. The Dutchess said that she could well imagine the plight of the Tibetans, who were compelled to flee their homeland. She evinced a keen interest in the problems being faced by Tibetan women and children. She later attended a lunch hosted in her honour by various Tibetan non-governmental organisations, including the Tibetan Youth Congress, Tibetan Women Association and Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy. She spent the evening interacting with children studying at Tibetan Children Village (TCV) School. A colourful cultural programme was presented by the school children. The Duchess is scheduled to meet the Tibetan spiritual and temporal leader, Dalai Lama, tomorrow afternoon. She will leave Dharamsala on Sunday for Calcutta. |
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Scientists receive
IPI-FAI award SHIMLA, Nov 3 — A team of scientists led by Dr R.C. Sharma, Head of Crop Production Division of the Central Potato Research Institute, here has been awarded the IPI-FAI Award for the year 2000. The award instituted by the International Potash Institute, Switzerland, and administered by the Fertiliser Association of India, had been given in appreciation of the work done by the team in potash research. It showed that potash application increases tuber yield by 30 to 40 per cent and also improves its quality by increasing the size and decreasing the sugar content. Potato tubers with low sugar content are preferred by processing industry. They have also shown that the potash needs of the potato crop vary with the variety and the cropping system, with some varieties more responsive to potash. The deficiency of potassium if any in the later stage in the standing crop can be corrected by spraying 2 per cent potassium chloride solution in the morning hours. The role of potash in increasing the resistance in the plant to fight against late blight disease, frost and drought was also investigated. The application of potash was found more effective in years when the potato crop was affected by late blight disease, frost and drought. Integrated use of potash fertiliser with organics could save on potassic fertiliser to the extent of 50 per cent. They have identified plant residues of cannabis (bhang plant), parthenium (Congress weed plant) peas for partially meeting the potash needs of the potato crop., Application of potassium was also found to improve organic nature of the hill soils and thus its application was essential for sustaining potato productivity. |
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Police drive yields
results SHIMLA, Nov 3 — The special drive launched by the Police Department to clear the backlog of vigilance cases against government servants has yielded results. In all 786 vigilance inquiries and 81 cases have been disposed of. Out of these, 58 complaints and 23 cases were more than seven years old. As many as 76 government servants were booked in various cases and departmental action was recommended against 36. The department has decided to clear all pending complaints by March next. According to senior officers of the department, the drive was launched with the twin objective of ensuring prompt action against the corrupt and saving honest officials, who usually became the target of “false and motivated” complaints by vested interests, from unnecessary harassment. The officers said with cases remaining pending for years together, the officials involved not only denied promotion and other benefits, but also became vulnerable to exploitation by staff of investigating agencies. It was for this reason that the government had directed the department to launch a special drive for expeditious disposal of cases. The police has launched an awareness campaign in the state as part of the “vigilance week”. |
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Power surcharge
decried SHIMLA, Nov 3 — Mr Virbhadra Singh, leader of the Congress Legislative Party, has criticised the decision of the state electricity board to impose a “winter surcharge” on domestic power consumers with effect from this month. He said there was no justification in levying the surcharge as the board had increased the electricity tariff steeply twice in the past two years. He said earlier the surcharge was imposed only on industrial and commercial consumers. However, the present government had imposed a surcharge of 25 paise per unit on domestic consumers. This would make electricity “unaffordable” for the middle and lower income groups. He said industrial and commercial units remained unaffected by the surcharge as they passed on the additional burden to consumers. He said the people in hills especially needed electricity during the winters due to harsh climatic conditions. The “unwise” decision of the board to make it costly would eventually increase the pressure on forests. The people would prefer to use firewood. |
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Is Barne’s Court jinxed? SHIMLA, Nov 3 (PTI) — Is Barne’s Court, housing the present Raj Bhavan jinxed? The shifting of present Governor Vishnu Kant Shashtri to Uttar Pradesh barely 11 months after assuming office has again raised this controversial question. Ever since Raj Bhavan was shifted from Peterhoff, which was gutted by a fire in February 1981, to the present location. No Governor has completed the full five-year term. Of the 12 Governors who adorned Raj Bhavan during past 20 years, six, including Mr Shashtri, were shifted to other states during mid-term while six others resigned either due to some controversy or to rejoin active politics. The first Governor, Mr S. Chakravarty, was the only one to complete the full term at Peterhoff from January 25, 1971 to February 17, 1977, while Aminuddin Khan, during whose tenure Peterhoff was gutted, stayed at Barne’s Court for around six months before he was shifted to Punjab. Ms Sheila Dixit had an unceremonious exit from Raj Bhavan in April, 1996, after certain remarks by the court in house allotment case while Mr Gulsher Ahmed had to quit in the wake of controversy over his involvement in the election of his son in Madhya Pradesh in November 1993. The acting Governor, Mr Surendra Nath, was the most unfortunate occupant of Raj Bhavan. He was killed in a plane crash along with his 11 family members on July 9, 1994. Vice-Admiral R.K.S. Gandhi resigned on February 15, 1990, after a change in government in Delhi and Mr Varinder Verma who quit on January 29, 1993, in the aftermath of dismissal of the Shanta Kumar government in the state following Babri mosque demolition. Mr Hokshie Sema resigned on March 7, 1986, to contest the Rajya Sabha poll while Mr Sudhakar Rao Naik bid farewell to Raj Bhavan on September 17, 1995, to join active politics. Mr A.K. Banerjee was shifted to Karnataka on April 16,1983, Mr B. Rachhaiah was transferred to Kerala on December 19,1990, Mr B.R. Bhagat was made Governor of Rajasthan on June 30,1993, Ms V.S. Ramadevi was shifted to Karnataka on December 1, 1999, while Mr Vishnu Kant Shashtri is swapping places with Uttar Pradesh Governor Suraj Bhan, who would be the 14th regular Governor of Himachal Pradesh. Besides Mr Surendra Nath, Haryana Governor Mahabir Prasad also functioned as acting Governor of Himachal from January 29, 1993 to February 10,1993 and again from April 23, 1996 to July 25, 1997. Barne’s Court also remained the official residence of the Punjab Governor and the historic Simla Agreement was signed here in July 1972. |
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Turning solid waste into manure SHIMLA, Nov 3 — The Rs 7 crore integrated solid waste management project on the town is expected to be completed by June next to prevent major environmental pollutants from causing a further damage to ecology and human health. About 60 tonnes of solid waste is generated in the town daily. This will be converted into manure under the project, which is being implemented by Larsen and Toubro. The Commissioner of the Shimla Municipal Corporation, Mr H.N. Kashyap, said the government had accorded top priority to management of solid waste. The corporation was spending 30 per cent of its total expenditure of Rs 22 crore on management solid waste. With growing population, the huge quantity of unsegregated garbage had become a health hazard here. Only 60 per cent of the garbage was being collected and shifted to dumping sites in the most unscientific manner, causing environmental pollution of water bodies. The total area of the Shimla Municipal Corporation had increased to about 36 square km against 19.50 sq km in 1997. According to a survey, residents of the town throw about 20 metric tonnes of waste in streets, hill slopes and nullahs. Mostly the garbage thrown is packed in polythene bags causing frequent choking of the drains, environmental pollution and forest degradation. There is no proper disposal of bio-chemical waste which can be a source of epidemics. The biggest problem is of disposal of about 360 kg of hospital waste which is generated everyday from the five main hospitals and about 65 dispensaries and private nursing homes in the town. The waste is being dumped in the open near the hospitals, inviting scavengers, flies monkeys and stray dogs. To deal with his problem, an incinerator is proposed to be installed near the Indira Gandhi Medical College here. |
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80-yr-old woman murdered SOLAN, Nov 3 — Six unidentified robbers murdered an 80-year-old woman and seriously injured two others before decamping with cash had gold jewellery from a house near Sauria village about 9 km from Arki, late last evening. The deceased had been identified as Saraswati Devi. The critically injured, Draupdi Devi, and Kanta Devi, were rushed to the primary health centre at Arki from where the former was removed to Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, Shimla. According to the police, the robbers struck at the house at about 11 p.m. The house is located about 200 metres away from the main village in an isolated spot. The village itself was somewhat remotely situated. The robbers after silencing the family dog, used a ladder to climb on to the first floor of the house through a window. The robbers set themselves on the helpless women with lathis in an attempt to silence them. Saraswati Devi after being struck in the head fell down and breathed her last. Both the surviving women who had been screaming went silent and the robbers started a thorough search of the house. Seeing an opportunity, Kanta Devi tried to call someone over the telephone which brought the robbers rushing back to the room in which the women were lodged. After cutting off the telephone line they again set upon Kanta Devi who soon fainted. The robbers finally spotted a trunk which contained some cash and gold jewellery. They made good their escape soon after this. The emptied trunk was later recovered from near a nullah that flowed at some distance from the village. The SP, Mr Rakesh Aggarwal, and the DSP, Mr Madhusudan, rushed to Saurya after receiving the information. A case has been registered. The gruesome murder has created a sense of insecurity among the villagers. |
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BJP Mahila Morcha
office-bearers SHIMLA, Nov 3 — Mrs Veena Thakur, president of the state Bharatiya Janata Party Mahila Morcha, today announced the office-bearers of the morcha and district presidents. Mrs Pratibha Kaushik, Mrs Santosh Saini, Mrs Chanchala Devi and Mrs Ray Kaushal have been appointed vice-presidents, Mrs Indu Goswami general secretary, Ms Satyapitan, Ms Mamata Mehta and Mrs Ambika as secretaries and Ms Amrita Mohini as treasurer. The district presidents of the morcha are Mrs Sneh Kanwar (Shimla), Mrs Asha Parihar (Solan), Mrs Sheela Joshi (Sirmaur), Mrs Sudha Awasthi (Mandi), Mrs Ritu Sharma (Hamirpur), Mrs Anita Shandil (Kangra), Mrs Laxmi Jariyal (Una) Mrs Lata Kapoor (Kulu), Mrs Ganga Bakti Negi (Kinnaur) and Ms Rani Damyanti (Lahaul and Spiti). Mr Devesh Sharma, convener of the party’s transport cell, has appointed Mr Rajesh Sood and Mr Prakash Sharma as vice-presidents of the cell, Mr Surya Prakash as general secretary, Mr Narayan Dut Sharma, Mr Ajay Bhandari and Mr Jwala Singh Subedar as secretaries and Mr Shiv Kumar as treasurer. Mr Ram Das, Mr Pyara Singh, Mr Ramesh Sharma, Mr Sushil Mittal and Dr Ram Pal Saini will be members of the state executive of the cell. |
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Slaughter house
in the open JWALAMUKHI, Nov 3 — The sanitary conditions in the town have gone from bad to worse due to the slaughter of chicken in open on the busiest Mandir Road under the very nose of authorities of the nagar panchayat who are least concerned about the health of the residents. The town of more than 10,000 people does not have regular abattoir where goats and other animals are slaughtered after approval of health authorities. Numerous meat shops sell the fish and the chicken on the roadside near the bus stand along the Nadaun Road. The surroundings is very dirty and the main drainage of bus stand which carries the town’s sullage also stinks. The nagar panchayat is supposed to provide license for the sale of chicken, goats and sheep and carry out regular checks on the quality of meat being sold by the hawkers. But the authorities have failed to discharge their duties properly. A senior official of the nagar panchayat admitted that there had been no check on the quality of the mutton being sold in the market. He said the new slaughterhouse would become functional very soon. |
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Bus operators for
hike in fares SHIMLA, Nov 3 — The Himachal Pradesh Private Bus Operators Association has urged the state government to increase bus fares in view of the recent hike in the prices of diesel and petrol. A deputation led by Mr Dev Raj Sharma, president of the association, met the Transport Minister, Mr Krishan Kapoor, and informed him that if the fares were not
increased immediately, they would not be in a position to ply buses. They also demanded an increase in the number of days from 33 to 75 on which the operators would be exempted from paying special route tax as the vehicles had to be sent out of the state for repairs and maintenance. Besides, the rates of the tax should also be reduced in view of the rising cost of operations. |
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Promotee lecturers
seek reservation SHIMLA, Nov 3 — Promotee school lecturers have demanded reservation of 50 per cent posts of principal for them. Leaders of the Himachal Pradesh Promotee School Lecturers Association met the Director of Education on Wednesday and submitted a 28 point charter of demands to him. Earlier, the association held its elections in which Mr Vidya Sagar Patial was elected President, Mr Jiwan Sharma and Mr Mansha Ram Sharma were elected Vice-Presidents, Mr Pitamber Pirta General Secretary and Mr Lal Singh Patial Finance Secretary. |
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Plea to follow
SC verdict on promotions SHIMLA, Nov 3 — The Himachal Pradesh Public Works Department Engineers Association has urged the state government not to promote any junior engineer (JE) who does not hold a degree in engineering as assistant engineer (AE) in view of the latest judgement of the Supreme Court. The association demanded that 50 per cent of the promotion quota for all those who did not posses a degree should be withdrawn immediately. It urged that those assistant engineers who did not have a degree should be re-designated as assistant engineer (Grade-II). |
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10 years’ RI for
rape HAMIRPUR, Nov 3 — Mr Gobind Ram Sharma, District and Sessions Judge, has sentenced Ramesh Chand, alias Ravan of Hatli village of the district to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and ordered him to pay a fine of Rs 2,000 for raping a minor Dalit girl. The rape had taken place on May 9. According to Mr A.K. Patterwal, Public Prosecutor, the judge also ordered that in case of default of the payment of the fine, the convict would have to undergo an additional three months’ rigorous imprisonment. |
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