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Tuesday,
June 19, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Dhumal govt under
fire at HVC meeting HP steps to counter WTO
threat Kangra art school
revived SPOKE: make Kasauli eco-fregile
zone |
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Mood upbeat
in Mohinder camp User charges imposed, chaos at IGMC Transmission line
commissioned Two dowry deaths
in a week Stop privatising govt sectors: CPM
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Dhumal govt under
fire at HVC meeting Shimla, June 18 After a fiery meeting at which the Dhumal government came under fire for pursuing anti-people policies and handing out a raw deal to it, the state executive authorised party chief, Mr Sukh Ram, to take appropriate decision at an appropriate time in the best interests of the party. Mr Sukh Ram pacified the agitated partymen and assured them that he would convey their sentiments to the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal and urge him to take corrective steps to redress their grievances. The meeting was convened for finalising the programme for the party’s rally at Kangra on July 6 but discussion centred on the “indifferent” manner in which the party was being treated by the senior coalition partner, the BJP. The main issues cited in this regard included the failure of the government to pursue a CBI probe into charges against Mr Virbhadra Singh, the reluctance to honour the HVC manifesto, ignoring the party while making nominations to various committees, taking decisions on important issues without taking the party into confidence and the refusal to set up a coordination committee. Through a resolution the party sought to know the fate of the CBI probe into the charges against Mr Virbhadra Singh from Mr Dhumal. Expressing dissatisfaction over the lackadaisical attitude of government, it wanted to know the latest position and called for expediting the inquiry. It also criticised the manner in which the government was imposing user charges on health services by converting hospitals into societies. The party disapproved the idea and emphasised that the charges should be levied by the government under the existing structure of the Health Department. It also opposed the imposition of user charges on water and hike in electricity charges. It expressed surprise that while ex-MLA’s of the Congress had been nominated to district grievances committees and other important panels, the HVC had been completely ignored. Mr Sukh Ram justified the public criticism of the policies of the Dhumal government by partymen on the plea that there was no common minimum programme to be followed and the election manifesto of the HVC was not being honoured. As such the party had a right to criticise the wrong policies. The tone and tenor of speeches at the meeting clearly reflected the growing bitterness between the two parties. The leaders have already been engaged in a war of words and the demands raised in today’s meeting will only increase the differences. |
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HP steps to counter WTO
threat Shimla, June 18 The state along with Jammu and Kashmir has been known for producing quality apples all over. However, the arrival of superior imported apple in significant quantities in the domestic market has made both the government and the growers realise that the quality of produce will have to be improved to stay in the market. The only redeeming feature has been that the imported fruit is very expensive and thus out of the reach of the common man. However, challenge from imports is very much at the doorstep. The government has come out with a three pronged strategy-improve quality, increase productivity and strengthen and expand fruit processing facilities, to prepare the growers for the global competition. Besides, improving the genetic stock of existing orchards of apple, cherry and plum, the state Horticulture Department has also decided to introduce international varities to prevent other countries from finding a foothold in the domestic market. The plan is to replace at least 25 per cent of the plants in existing orchards with imported high-yielding varities over the next five years. This will help double the states production of apples to about 8 lakh tonnes over the next 10 years explains Mr Narinder Bragta, Horticulture Minister. At present there are about 100 plants per acre. Whereas the imported dwarf and semi-dwarf varities which would replace them, will have density of 400 plants per acre. The replacement of existing seedling plantations with imported rootstock will increase the yield from present 6 to 8 tonnes per hectare to around 20 tonnes per hectare, he added. Rootstock of apple and other fruits from Holland has already started arriving. In all 10,000 saplings, 6000 of apple and 4000 of cherry and plum have been distributed for further propagation. The international apple varities being introduced with an eye on the global market are ‘Royal Galla’, ‘Scarlet Galla’ and ‘Red Fuji’. The new varieties of the cherry include Van and Stealla. In all 30 lakh saplings will be distributed among to growers over the next three years. Besides Holland, rootstock is also being imported from the USA and Canada. Simultaneously a diversification programme has also been launched under which perishable fruits like apple, plums and other stone fruit will be replaced with low volume, high value fruit like almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts. The grape varieties introduced for manufacturing wine have yielded good results. In all 6650 vines were planted in the lower Kulu valley. Most of them have started bearing fruit in the first year itself. Ample quality of grapes will be available for making wine over the next three years. Work for the setting up of wineries at Pragatinagar in Shimla and Nagwain in Mandi is already underway. In another major decision the government has decided to distribute 30 lakh saplings of mango, litchi and other subtropical fruits during the current rainy season to help the drought-hit farmers of the lower hill areas replace their dried plantations. |
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Kangra art school revived Kangra The artists received patronage from the hill rulers. They incorporated new elements in the Mughal style and the result was the Kangra miniature. Successive generations of artists developed the distinct features of the Kangra school. The Kangra painting reached its zenith during the rule of Raja Sansar Chand (1775- 1823). His generosity attracted a host of masters from Guler state. Mr Sukhdev Sharma, District Language Officer, describes the Kangra paintings as a lyrical blend of a religion and romance. He says Jaideva’s Geet Govinda, the Bhagvata Purana, Bihari’s Satsai, Keshav’s Rasikpriya and Kavipriya have been illustrated by these artists. The Nayika Bheda, the Baramasas paintings show varied moods of women and seasons. Artists have captured the moonlight, the rain-rich clouds, the white swans against the background of the dark sky, the lotus pools and the lovers pavilion, the secret cosy arbour and the love messengers like “chakva-chakvi”. The art school suffered a blow in 1809 after the annexation of the area by Sikhs. The East India Company encouraged the artists to paint hunting scene and portraits. The Kangra school, marked by the delicacy of line and the robustness of natural pigments, had no patrons. Anand Coomaraswamy brought the Kangra painting into limelight in 1910. W.G. Archer published a book ‘‘Indian Paintings in the Punjab Hills’’ in 1952 followed by an exclusive monograph on the Kangra paintings. The Himachal Pradesh Government revived the art. It started training centres for young artists through the Handloom and Handicrafts Corporation. The Himachal Academy of Art Culture and Languages started training through Guru Shishya Parampara, but failed to achieve the desired results. After the death of traditional artists Chandu Lal Rainia, his son Anil Raina and Sataya Prakash made copies of masterpieces. The practising artists of this school can be counted on fingertips now. Puran Chand of Samloti is also doing the copy work. Mukesh Kumar, Dhani Ran, Pritam Chand and Joginder Singh are the budding artists. Mr O.P. Taak has produced a large number of works and shown in national exhibitions. The Kangra painting has a high market value in the west. Dr Eberhard Fischer, an art scholar held a show of Kangra paintings in the Museum Rietberg, Zurich, in Switzerland for three months. Under the guidance of the Dr Fischer, the Department of Art Culture and languages is setting up a gallery for Kangra paintings at the Kangra Museum at Dharamsala. |
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SPOKE: make Kasauli eco-fregile
zone Kasauli, June 18 The honorary secretary, Mr S.C. Prashar, informed the members that the cantonment board had agreed to earmark parking space to check haphazard parking on the town roads. Rash driving, blaring music, loud hooters and trespassing by visitors on private property were reflected as a matter of grave concern by the members. The secretary informed that the police had promised all possible help if such matters were reported. A cleanliness drive initiated by the Army authorities was appreciated and it was decided to make it a monthly feature. Some members also suggested that the liquor vends be shifted to the periphery of the town so as to check open carousals. The society also decided to urge the state government to expedite the matter regarding six major benami transactions in the region. The society also took up the motion regarding reinstatement of Jagjit Nagar area in the town and country parameters so as to put an end to the large-scale ecology destruction taking place there. A motion regarding reinstatement of the state environment
commission as a permanent entity was also taken up. The meeting observed that the mount walk area of the town should be taken up as a no-vehicle zone to maintain the placidity of the town. It was also informed that kitchen waste from the Army mess and hotels in the town would be converted to useful manure. |
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Mood upbeat
in Mohinder camp Shimla, June 18 The unexpectedly large turnout during the first visit of Mr Paswan has upset the Himachal Vikas Congress of Mr Sukh Ram as the main organiser, Mr Mohinder Singh, successfully achieved his aim of showing his strength to the HVC leader. Such a large turnout in public meetings in this hill state is rare and the credit for this is being given to Mr Mohinder Singh, a sitting MLA and a former PWD Minister, who has proven his capacity to organise such shows even in the past. The cause for the upbeat mood of the Lok Jan Shakti activists is also being attributed to the rally of Mr Sukh Ram at Manali, which they claim was a virtual flop. He had to postpone his rallies at Hamirpur, Solan and Shimla on the “pretext” of bad weather and the farmers being busy in their fields. However, Mr Mohinder Singh’s supporters have now started asking if bad weather was the cause for Mr Sukh Ram to postpone his rallies, how come there was an unprecedented gathering in the public meeting of the Lok Jan Shakti. Mr Mohinder Singh has alleged that all this indicated that Mr Sukh Ram has lost ground in the state. He has not been able to take the humiliation which Mr Sukh Ram heaped on him by scuttling his plans to establish a regional party in the state. Yesterday’s public meeting is being seen as a reply to the Sukh Ram camp which had been making efforts to isolate the former. |
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User charges imposed, chaos at IGMC Shimla, June 18 The
IGMC, which has now been converted into a society, imposed the user charges only on x-rays on experimental basis. A long queue of patients, most of whom had come from the interior areas of the district, waited for their turn to come for depositing the fee for X-ray. Students were deployed for collecting the fee as proper arrangements were not made for the purpose by the authorities. The patients complained that they had to make queues at four different places before getting X-rayed. First, they had to get a referral slip of Re 1 at the main counter then stand in line outside the
OPD, then for depositing the X-ray charges before finally reaching the queue for X-ray room. The action of the government has come under severe criticism by varioius organisations and individuals. A former Speaker and Congress MLA, Mr Kaul Singh, said the imposition of user charges was just like burdening the poor people with a health tax. He said the Congress would withdraw the user charges when it returned to power. He accused the BJP government of taking anti-people decisions. Mr Kuldeep Rathore, Secretary of the PCC, said the concept of a welfare state was ignored by the government by imposing user charges. The Democratic Youth Federation of India
(DYFI) has threatened to launch an agitation against the decision of the government. |
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Transmission line
commissioned Hamirpur, June 18 Giving this information here today, Mr H.K. Bhatia, Chief Engineer (Transmission), said the laying of the 23.5 km long transmission line was taken up during June, 2000, and the Rs 12 crore project was completed in less than a year. Mr Bhatia said 86 MW Malana hydro project was being executed by the LNJ Bhilwara group, Rajasthan, on the Malan river, near Malana village. He said the project would be dedicated to people either in the month of June or July this year, much ahead of scheduled time. Mr Bhatia said the power generated at Malana project would be injected into the HP grid system at Bajaura sub-station through company transmission lines and interconnection facilities. He said the state would get 15 per cent of delivered energy for 12 years from the commercial operation date and 20 per cent of the free power for the next 28 years from the project at interconnection point at Bajaura. Besides, the HPSEB would also levy wheeling charges on the company for the transfer of remaining energy from interconnection point and the state would fetch a revenue of Rs 15 crore every year from this project. |
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Two dowry deaths
in a week Kasauali, June 18 In the first incident, 22-year-old Sonia who was married to Bhupinder Singh of Saghana village strangled by a
dupatta. A fight had allegedly taken place between her and her husband on the night of June 11. A case has been registered under Sections 498-A, 304 and 34, IPC. The police visited the spot and recovered a part of the dupatta from outside the room where, according to her husband, Sonia had hung herself. All other things were found intact. On conducting inquiries from neighbours, it was learnt that her in-laws had been harassing her for more dowry right from the time she had got married and even 15 days ago she was asked to get a colour TV set and Rs 5,000 by selling land belonging to her mother at Nalagarh. Her in-laws told the police that they saw her perform daily house chores in the morning, but the post-mortem report indicated that Sonia had died at an earlier time. The police later interrogated her husband who allegedly confessed to have killed her. He and his mother were arrested and were in police custody till yesterday. In another case, 28-year-old Sudha was allegedly done to death by her in-laws. A resident of dhobi ghat area of Solan was married for the past three and a half years. She was found hanging from the ceiling. The police has registered a case under Section 174 of the CrPC for unnatural death. The police has arrested the husband and mother-in-law of the deceased and they have been remanded in police custody till June 20. |
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Stop privatising govt sectors: CPM Kumarhatti, June 18 The committee criticised the governments for privatising the government sectors, investing foreign capital in small-scale industries and changing self-dependent agriculture policies to export-oriented policies. The meeting was attended by Mr Kuldeep Singh, state secretariat member of the Party and general secretary of the state Kisan Sabha, and Mr N.D. Rannot district CITU general secretary. |
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NSUI memorandum to Governor Shimla, June 18 |
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