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| Wednesday,
January 24, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Plan to boost oilseed
production Special Security Bureau for
Pangi Vegetable project for
Hamirpur Cong accuses BJP of
violating norms Notice issued on
Virbhadra’s plea |
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Frame policy for youth,
says BJYM Tibet road blocked
beyond Dhalli Himachal awards
for scribes VHP activists
block traffic Sons kill parents over
property row 2 killed in mishaps 3 killed as jeep
falls into Chenab
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Plan to boost oilseed
production SHIMLA, Jan 23 — After having attained self-sufficiency in foodgrains, the Centre has decided to focus its attention on pulses and oilseeds and set up a core group of ministers to formulate a comprehensive plan to bridge the widening gap between demand and production. Mr Shanta Kumar, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, at a press conference here today said that over the past two decades the country had not only achieved self-sufficiency but become surplus in wheat, rice and sugar, leading to the problem of plenty with no infrastructure for handling and storage of the large surplus. However, not much headway had been made on the oilseeds and pulses production front. Last year alone 45 lakh tonnes of these commodities were imported for which the government had to shell out Rs 8000 crore in foreign exchange. There was, thus, an urgent need to boost the production of oilseeds and pulses and make the country self-reliant. Since it required a coordinated approach involving various ministries, the government had decided to set up a “group of ministers” to work out a strategy for achieving self-sufficiency in the shortest possible time. He said the government could not afford to procure all foodgrains as it did not have the necessary funds and infrastructure to do so. Last year the total production was 1600 lakh tonnes, out of which only 300 lakh tonnes was procured by government agencies but it had incur an expenditure of Rs 25,000 crore on procurement. The government did not even have the storage facilities to stock such huge quantities of foodgrains. It had not only decided to distribute these among the poor under the Antyodaya Anna Yozna, Food for Work and Annapurna schemes to help feed the “hungry” millions but also drawn up a plan to increase storage capacity by involving the private sector in a big way. In Himachal new storage houses of 50,000 tonne capacity would be set up so that the state could stock atleast three months’ requirement of foodgrains. It had also been decided to export 20 lakh tonnes each of wheat and rice and some success had already been achieved on this front. Besides wheat and rice the problem of plenty was also being faced in the case of sugar with the country achieving a record production of 182 lakh tonnes last year to add significantly to the existing surplus stock of 67 lakh tonnes. The consumption was only 15 lakh tonnes. The government had not only discouraged the import of sugar by increasing duty but also reduced the quota of levy sugar from 30 to 15 per cent to help the sugar industry. However, while providing relief to the industry on the one hand, the government had also taken certain harshly measures to ensure that they made payments to farmers without delay. Referring to the implementation of various schemes for the supply of foodgrains at subsidised rates Mr Shanta Kumar said, in Himachal 78,770 identified poor families would be covered under the Antyodaya Anna Yozna in which 25 kg of wheat and rice at the rate of Rs 2 per kg and Rs 3 per kg, respectively, would be supplied to each family every month. He said from February onward the above poverty line (APL) families would not be entitled to levy sugar but in case of hill states and special category states this benefit would continue. He said the biggest success of the NDA government was in checking inflation with the consumer price index declining from 479 in December 1998 to 450 in December 2000. The prices of most commodities had either come down or remained stable. In case of edible oil the prices had dipped to the 1990 level with sesame oil sliding from Rs 78 to Rs 42 per kg, vanaspati oil from Rs 51 to Rs 32 per kg and groundnut oil from Rs 80 to Rs 75 per kg over the past three years. A committee of ministers had been monitoring prices on a daily basis, he added. |
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Special Security Bureau for
Pangi SHIMLA, Jan 23 — With transfer of the Special Security Bureau(SSB) to the Home Ministry from the Cabinet Secretariat, a full-fledged outfit of the bureau is expected to be sanctioned for being posted in the sensitive Pangi area bordering the Doda district of Jammu which is the hot bed of terrorist activities. The SSB was transferred to the Union Home Ministry last week reportedly to provide it with a larger role particularly in the border areas. Sources said that the proposal for deploying a full-fledged outfit of the SSB at Pangi was under active consideration by the Centre. This had become necessary with construction of the Tandi-Killar-Sansari road by the Border Roads Organisation which provided a direct road link between the earlier isolated Pangi with the Jammu region. The road, which is on final stages of completion, was considered strategic as it would will provide mobility to the security forces for undertaking anti-terrorist operations in the Kishtwar and Doda areas of Jammu. The SSB setup had already been strengthened in the tribal area of Keylong in the Lahaul-Spiti district by moving its men there from Kulu. The Keylong and Pangi areas also bordered the strategic Kargil sector which witnessed intrusions from Pakistan last year. The SSB deployment in Himachal Pradesh was scaled down sometime back when the outfits at Kangra, Mandi, Kulu and Rampur were cut and shifted to the North-East and elsewhere. Additional outfits of SSB were expected to be sent to Kargil and Udhampur in J and K, sources said. With the SSB now coming under the Home Ministry, it would now be given the duty of guarding the Indo-Tibetan and Nepal borders thereby relieving the ITBP, BSF and the CRPF from this duty and deploying them in the terrorist areas. Over the years, the SSB had become a household name, particularly in the interior areas of the state where it had trained the youth in handling arms and ammunition and also undertaken development and welfare schemes. of the SSB had extended a helping hand to the authorities in rescue
operations during natural calamities and accidents. |
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Vegetable project for
Hamirpur HAMIRPUR, Jan 23 — A Rs 1.38 crore project aimed at increasing the vegetable production and thus supplementing the income of the farmers has been sanctioned for Hamirpur district. Mrs Anuradha Thakur, Deputy Commissioner, said here today. She said it was a three-year project and a priority would be given to those living below the poverty line. She said while the Union Government had released a sum of Rs 37.60 lakh, Rs 9.40 lakh had been released by the state government for the first phase of the project. Mrs Thakur said committees for the implementation of the project had already been set up at the district and block levels. She said 5,500 farmers in all six development blocks of the district had been trained in vegetable production. The main emphasis would be laid on the production of off-season vegetables so that farmers could earn more, she added. The Deputy Commissioner said under the project 121 hectares had been covered in 156 gram panchayats. The farmers were being given agriculture implements, tarpaulins, spray pumps, plastic crates, Tullu pumps and irrigation tanks by the project authorities. She said prior to the start of the project, the vegetable cultivation was done only on 20 hectares. She said, under the project, the farmers in the district would undertake the cultivation of cauliflower, peas, tomatoes, ginger and potatoes. The Deputy Commissioner claimed that with the start of the project, the production of the vegetables would touch10,162 quintals. |
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Cong accuses BJP of
violating norms MANDI, Jan 23 — The state general secretary of the Congress and former Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Thakur Kaul Singh, today alleged that the BJP government was violating all norms in the appointment of professors and lecturers in the university. Highly qualified persons were being ignored with a view to saffronising education in the state. He was speaking at “Vision 2000-2001” organised under the auspices of NSUI. He called upon the youth to launch a drive against favouritism and nepotism in the matter of postings and take the matter to the court wherever necessary. He lamented that the educational institutions were in a deplorable condition for want of teachers. As many as 6000 posts of teacher in high and higher secondary schools and 5000 posts of teacher in primary schools were lying vacant in the state. The government had made a mockery of education, he regretted. The Congress leader said the BJP government had hiked fee thrice during its tenure. The former Speaker alleged that due to gross financial mismanagement and extravagance the government had brought the state on a brink of bankruptcy and it was raising loan after the loan to pay salary to the employees. He said resentment was brewing all over the state against Mr Dhumal for the alleged gross discrimination being committed by him in the matter of development. |
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Notice issued on
Virbhadra’s plea SHIMLA, Jan 23 — A Division Bench of the Supreme Court, comprising of Mr Justice Rajender Babu and Mr Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, has issued notice on a special-leave petition (SLP) of the CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, challenging the appointment of the Kainthla Commission to enquire into the allegations of lawlessness and kidnapping of an independent MLA, Mr Ramesh Chand, for forming a Congress government. Mr Virbhadra Singh, along with Ms Asha Kumari and Mr Atul Sharma, had challenged the judgement of the high court on the issue of appointment of the commission. The high court had dismissed the petition challenging appointment of the commission. Through the SLP, Mr Virbhadra Singh contended that the matter of alleged kidnapping and illegal restraint of Mr Ramesh Chand has already been decided by the high court on March 9, 1998. Mr J.S. Attari, who represented the petitioners, pointed out that Mr Ramesh Chand, who is a minister, filed two contradictory affidavits, one before the high court and the other before the commission, on the matter which directly affects administration of justice and was a contempt of court. |
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Frame policy for youth,
says BJYM HAMIRPUR, Jan 23 — The Himachal Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) today blasted the Youth Congress for its “jan jagran” campaign against the BJP government in the state. The BJP government has done a lot for the well-being of the people, said Mr Bikram Singh Thakur, state BJYM chief. Talking to mediapersons here today, he said the Congress and the Youth Congress were to be blamed entirely for the rising trend of prices of various essential commodities and growing lawlessness due to their wrong policies during their regime. Mr Vinod Thakur, general secretary of the state unit of the morcha, and Mr Vijay Behl, district BJYM chief, were also present at the press conference. Mr Thakur said the BJYM would demand from the state government to formulate a concrete youth policy. The morcha would submit a draft policy to the state government within the next six months. He termed the letter-bomb controversy as a game played by anti-BJP forces only to harm the cause of the party leaders. He demanded that all forces behind this controversy should be exposed and brought to book. He denied that the unemployment problem had increased during the 33-month regime of the BJP government. He said the BJP government had raised the age limit for government and semi-government jobs from 35 years to 38 years and then to 40 years and it was a creditable thing for all. He claimed that lakhs of unemployed youths had got jobs in various power projects that had started during the BJP regime. Earlier, he took part in a meeting of the state executive committee of the morcha. The meeting was attended by Mr Praveen Sharma, Himachal Pradesh Minister of State for Youth Services and Sports, Ms Urmila Thakur. |
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Tibet road blocked beyond Dhalli SHIMLA, Jan 23 (UNI) — Shimla and its adjoining areas experienced another spell of snow, while lower hills in Himachal Pradesh had rain during the past 24 hours. The 320-km India-Tibet road was blocked beyond Dhalli due to snow and traffic for Rampur in Shimla district and Tapri in Kinnaur district has been diverted via Basantpur. Certain link roads in the interior of Shimla district were also closed to traffic due to heavy snow. The authorities have pressed men and machines into service to clear the road. Upper areas of Shimla district, including Wildflower Hall, Naldehra, Kufri, Narkanda, Fagu and Khadapatter also experienced heavy snow. According to reports, Narkanda had 40 cm of snow, ski slops at Kufri had about 30 cm and Khadapatter had 45 cm of snow. It started snowing in Shimla last evening. The snow started melting as the day advanced. According to a report, the entire tribal belt and mountain passes had heavy snow. People in the tribal districts of Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur and Pangi and Bharmour areas in Chamba district were under a bitter cold wave as the temperature further dipped. The temperature hovered between -10°C and -15°C in the tribal areas. A report from Manali said the town and its adjoining areas had been cut off from the rest of the Kulu valley since last night due to overnight snow, disrupting traffic between Patlikuhl and Manali. |
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Himachal awards
for scribes SHIMLA, Jan 23 — The Himachal Government today announced state and district-level awards for developmental journalism for the year 1996 to 1999. Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, will give away the prizes to journalists on the statehood day function on January 25 at Sundernagar. For the year 1996 the district-level developmental journalism awards has been given to Mrs Archana Phul while the state-level award for 1997 has been given to Mr Pradeep Saurabh. For 1998, the state-level award has been given to Mr Ajay Srivastava and the district-level award to Mr Arun Dogra. For 1999, the state-level award has been given to Mr Shashi Kant while the district-level award has been given to Mr Ramesh Banta. For contribution towards freelance journalism, Mr K.L. Nootey, will be honoured. The state-level award carries a prize of Rs 20,000 while the district-level award will be of Rs 15,000. VHP activists
block traffic SUNDERNAGAR, Jan 23 — Activists of the Bajrang Dal and the Vishav Hindu Parishad blocked the National Highway-21 at Kanaid village, 6 km from here, today, resulting in a traffic jam for an hour on the Chandigarh-Manali road. They were demanding an action against miscreants who allegedly raised pro-Pakistan slogans at Dinak village on December 17 when the panchayat election results were being declared. Dinak village is situated in Sundernagar subdivision and about half of its population is
Muslim. According to eyewitnesses, the activists along with villagers took out a procession at Kanaid village and later blocked the road. The blockade was lifted after the local SDM and the DSP reached the spot and assured them of an action against the culprits. |
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Sons kill parents over
property row SHIMLA, Jan 23 — The murder of parents, allegedly by sons, over a property dispute in Ribba village of Kinnaur district on Sunday night has sent shock waves in the tribal belt, according to a delayed report. Bhag Norgu, Bhag Narayan and Balwan, son of Bhag Norgu, entered their parent’s house at Ribba and allegedly attacked Ram Rath, their father, Gurgyal Mani, mother, and Tiran Kumari, sister, with hammer and sickle while they were asleep. Thereafter, they allegedly planted explosives on the adjoining room, spread petrol on the floor and set the house on fire. The fire caused a big blast due to which Ram Rath died on the spot and his wife succumbed to her injuries in the hospital and daughter is struggling for life with 60 per cent burns. The police said that the two sons conspired to eliminate their father as he had threatened to change his will and debar them from any share in the land. He was supposed to appear before the tehsildar, Moorang, on January 22 for effecting a change in the will. The accused were nabbed at Bhabhanagar, about 90 km from Ribba, while fleeing. |
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2 killed in mishaps KANGRA, Jan 23 — Two persons were killed in two different accidents in the district during the past 24 hours, the police said here today. Surinder Sharma (40), deputy ranger in the Forest Department posted at Shahpur forest range, was killed today when the scooter he was riding collided with a truck at Sarnoo on the Pathankot-Mandi highway. The driver has been arrested and the truck impounded. Another person, Multan Singh, was crushed to death near his native village Tazwan in the district last evening when the tractor he was driving overturned. |
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3 killed as jeep falls into Chenab SHIMLA, Jan 23 (PTI) — Three persons were killed when a jeep plunged into the Chenab near Kucher village in Lahaul valley, 410 km from here, today. The ill-fated jeep was on its way from Chindi to Udaipur, official sources said. The deceased has been identified as Harbans Lal, driver of the jeep, Lal Chand an employee of the Health Department and Dev Raj of the Animal Husbandry Department. The bodies of the victims are yet to be recovered and search operations are on. The SDM has provided immediate relief to the affected families. |
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