 |
Friday,
July 27, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
|
Zoo
experts advice unheeded Dhumal
blames Cong for financial mess Mankotia’s
charge baseless: BJP Dhumal accused of
adopting double standards Lokmitra
proves to be a hit |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shimla
encroachments may be regularised Reframing
of transfer policy sought One dies
of enteritis, 24 villagers ill Police
party attacked, one arrested Mandi
subdivisions to have Red Cross offices soon Sapna,
Babu to perform at fair Bus
drivers undergo medical check-up Urban
Development Secy gets HC notice
|
|
Zoo experts advice unheeded Dharamsala, July 26 The death of a male Monal bird at the Gopalpur Zoo, near Palampur, recently, has once again proved that when kept away from their natural habitat and climatic conditions, animals merely
survive, unable to breed and are afflicted with illness. The Monal bird, which had been brought here along with a mate for the purpose of breeding, often remained unwell. Veterinary experts, treating the bird, had expressed anguish over its health as the bird is found at heights of over 6000 feet amid thick deodars, just below the snowline. Being kept in captivity, that too far away from its natural climes, was bound to create problems for it. One of the officials, on condition of anonymity, said as compared to Gopalpur, the Monal birds at the nature park in Sarahan in Shimla district were doing far better as they were in their natural habitat. The experts point out that the guidelines of the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) say the animals should be kept as close to their natural habitat accompanied by a mate as possible. However, in a majority of the parks and zoos in Himachal, these guidelines are being flouted, resulting in the death of rare animals and birds. Wildlife experts feel that the opening of these zoos is more of a political decision without the technical angle being taken into consideration. The Gir lions, natives of the Gir area in Gujarat, too are facing similar problems at the Gopalpur Zoo. It was only recently that a six-year lion, unable to cope with the hot and humid conditions, died. These lions were shifted here from the Renuka Zoo in Sirmaur district, but have since faced inbreeding and other health-related problems. Their habitat being dry areas, they have been kept at a place which is the most humid area of Himachal, says an official. It is on the directions of the CZA that the wildlife authorities were forced to close down the zoo at Kalapul on the road leading to McLeodganj. These animals were shifted to the Gopalpur Zoo which has failed to meet the requirements laid down by the CZA. The case for the renewal of recognition to the zoo has been pending with the CZA after its team inspected the zoo. The experts feel it is high time that these animals are stopped being treated as display objects. |
|
Dhumal blames Cong for financial mess Shimla, July 26 He rejected the demand of Mr Virbhadra Singh for issuing White Paper on the financial position of three years of the state when the BJP government came to power and said only last year he had presented facts about the financial position of the past 20 years in the Vidhan Sabha. There was no justification of issuing a White Paper every year on the same issue. Mr Dhumal, who was talking to newspersons here, accused Mr Virbhadra Singh of having thrown Himachal Pradesh into an irreparable debt trap by indulging in indiscriminate market borrowings when he was heading the Congress government in the state and now trying to shift the entire responsibility on the BJP government which came to power three years ago. He said all money transactions were being done in a transparent manner by his government and he would not hesitate in bringing any facts to the notice of the public whenever required. Mr Virbhadra Singh did not oblige the Opposition by accepting its demand for a White Paper during his 12-year rule and was now expecting such documents every year from the BJP government. Mr Virbhadra Singh was dishing out all “fabricated” figures regarding the loans. Having raised loans of Rs 3,318 crore during his tenure as Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh was now claiming that borrowings of only Rs 800 crore were made. He said the Congress had no issue against the ruling BJP and was indulging in all sorts of rumour mongering to malign the government. “Irresponsible” talk did not behove a leader of the stature of Mr Virbhadra Singh who had remained Chief Minister for a long period and also held the Finance portfolio, he said. He alleged Mr Virbhadra Singh was the only one to be blamed for the financial problems in the state as he did not allow even a single resource mobilisation asset to come up in the state and hurdles were created for those who ventured to come here for executing hydroelectric projects. The Malana (86 MW) project management was packing off from here during the Congress regime and were persuaded by him to continue with the work and today the state would be fetching an annual royalty of Rs 40 crore from them as the project had been commissioned. Mr Dhumal said the financial position was really a challenging one in view of the salary bill having increased to Rs 2,200 crore now from Rs 961 crore in 1997-98. The pension bill had increased to Rs 435 crore per annum from Rs 188 crore during the Congress regime. The annual plan of Rs 1,008 crore during the Congress regime had now grown to Rs 1,720 crore. Mr Dhumal said even while enjoying the backing of 60 of the 68 members of the Vidhan Sabha, Mr Virbhadra Singh opted for early elections in 1998 because he was aware that the financial position of the state was going out of his hands. None of the three successive Prime Ministers, Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao, Mr I.K. Gujral and Mr Deve Gowda came to his rescue. |
|
Mankotia’s charge
baseless: BJP Shimla, July 26 Maj P.C. Thakur, state convener of the party’s ex-servicemen cell, said it was a unfortunate that a senior leader who had himself served in the Army was making such irresponsible and baseless charges on such a sensitive issue. He said the package of assistance given by the Dhumal government to the Kargil martyrs was best in the country and it had won appreciation from all quarters. He said it was for the first time that a Chief Minister Sainik Welfare Fund had been set up by the state government for the welfare of serving soldiers and their wards. A sum of Rs 12.65 crore had been received so far in the fund, out of which Rs 5.41 crore had been spent on helping the martyrs’ families and their dependents, including families of soldiers of paramilitary forces killed during Operation Vijay and Operation Rakshak or after May 1,1999. He said the state government had given ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to 52 martyrs’ families of Kargil aggression and up to Rs 2.50 lakh to those injured during the Kargil operation. He said Rs 3 lakh each had been given to families of 73 soldiers as ex gratia to those killed during Operation
Rakshak. Those injured had been given Rs 1 lakh. He said the state government had gone a step further and given exgratia of Rs 25,000 each to the families of 59 soldiers who had lost their lives due to other causes in active service after May 1, 1999. Major Thakur said the kin of
soldiers of paramilitary forces killed after May 1, 1999, in such operations had also been given ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh each. Besides, the state government had given employment to one member of each martyr’s family besides free education to their wards. He said a separate account of the Chief Minister’s Sainik Welfare Fund was being maintained and utilised for the welfare of
soldiers, ex-servicemen and their wards from time to time. To say that the money was being misused was totally wrong and an attempt to misled the people. He asked Major Mankotia what the Congress had done when 1400 Indian soldiers were killed in Sri Lanka. He said their families were given a meagre assistance of Rs 3,000 each. Major Thakur asked Major Mankotia to desist from making statements which could have an adverse effect on the morale of the soldiers. |
|
Dhumal accused of adopting double standards Shimla, July 26 Mr Gangu Ram Musafir, chairman of the parishad, said the government was using the status quo in a court case to block the promotion of Dalits employees on a plea that matter was
subjudice. But, this had not refrained it from promoting other categories of employees. Again, the government had been saying that it had sought clarification from the state Administrative Tribunal in the matter. If it was so what was the logic of applying this yardstick to Dalits only and promoting others during the pendency of clarification, Mr Musafir asked. He said the government must review unconsidered cases of Dalits for selection posts as it had done in case of other categories. The parishad, he said, would take up the issue during its state-level convention to be held and Ghumarvin on July 29. Meanwhile, Mr Musafir and three other MLAs, Mr Kuldeep Kumar, Mr Prem Singh and Mr Harsh Mahajan, had also expressed concern over the blocking the promotion of Scheduled Caste employees without any reason. If the government was sincere it would have to urgently resolve the matter, he added. |
|
|
Lokmitra proves
to be a hit Shimla, July 26 The response to the scheme aimed at using information technology to provide easy access to government information and speedy redressal of grievances has been beyond expectation with more and more villagers turning up at the 15 information centres set up so far. In all, 25 centres are to be set up which forms part of the district wide Intranet with main servers based at Hamirpur. However, there had been problems of connectivity in remote areas. Although the telecom network had been extended to the far-flung villages, it is not very stable. The link is disconnected frequently while the “soochnalayas” are accessing the main server. The district administration has already brought that to the notice of the Telecom Department. “Since connectivity in the remote areas would continue to be a problem we decided to switch over to the Internet”, says Dr Ambreesh Kumar, state Information Officer. The NIC, he said, would maintain a dedicated web server at its headquarters in Delhi. This would remove the constraints in setting up “soochanalayas” in remote areas. Thereafter any registered user would be able to access information or file complaints from anywhere. This would be particularly useful for Himachalis living outside the state, particularly ex-servicemen. Another objective behind the decision to switch over to the Internet was to give a boost to Internet service providers who were not doing particularly well in the state. The use of Internet would encourage private “soochnalayas” (cyber kiosks) across the state and this would certainly lead to better and stable Internet services up to remotest corner and thus enable the state to take full advantage of the IT revolution. With the switchover to Internet the Lokmitra scheme will not remain confined to Hamirpur and people from all over the state could get their grievances redressed. However, the administration all over the state would have to be tonned up to ensure a prompt response. This may not be easy. The administration has been able to do quite well in the pilot scheme as the Intranet consist only of 15 “soochanalayas” so far. Once the number rises the quantum of queries and complaints would be much higher and the department concerned may not be in a position to cope with them efficiently. Unlike the pilot project the government will not set up “soochanalayas” and instead encourage unemployed youths to set up cyber kiosks. These will, however, be duly registered. They will charge the users at rates fixed by the administration. Since their viability will depend on the number of users the government had decided to provide downloadable forms, information about vacancies, tender notices, details of various promotional schemes, market rates of vegetables, fruit and other local produce, facility advertisements for selling goods and the public could search the database for buying goods and matrimonial services. The government hopes that all these services will help in popularising the use of information technology in rural areas and make cyber cafes a viable avenue for self-employment. |
|
Shimla encroachments may be regularised Shimla, July 26 This was announced by the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, while distributing kisan passbooks to landholders here yesterday. He said he had asked the Revenue Department to examine the issue. The encroachers would have to pay some fixed amount for regularising the encroachments, he said. Mr Dhumal disclosed the state government was considering setting up a committee of experts of public representatives to give recommendation for proper land use to strengthen the agrarian economy of the state. He said besides it was also considering giving soil testing certificates to the farmers so that land could be properly utilised for agriculture purposes. The government was also considering regularising such encroachments of the poor and needy who had done the same “innocently”. He made it clear that those influential persons who had done encroachments knowingly would not be spared. He said the present government had taken various effective steps to simplify the revenue laws to make these realistic in the present context to benefit the people of the state and lauded the Revenue department for doing a good job in this respect. He said his government had tried to bring a sea change in the system to ensure the welfare of the people and was always open for suggestions from the people regarding any decision it had taken in the past. Taking a dig at those who described his government as a rollback government, Mr Dhumal said because the present government was not autocratic and was transparent those who had never cared for public
opinion were levelling such charges, which was unfortunate and detrimental to the interests of the people of the state. The Chief Minister said horticulture development and biotechnology had been given a big boost so that this could help in improving the economic condition of the people. He said the government’s endeavour was to take the benefits of research to the field so that farmers of the state were benefited from it. Dr Rajan Sushant, Minister of State for Revenue, said kisan passbooks issued by the present government had legal validity and would go a long way in solving the routine disputes as these passbooks had full revenue records. He said it had been observed that in Himachal Pradesh more than 80 per cent cases in the court related to land disputes which were likely to come down with the issue of kisan passbooks. The Revenue Minister said the government was distributing 13 lakh kisan passbooks in rural areas and two lakh in urban areas to facilitate the people. He said the government had directed revenue officials for time-bound clearances of demarcation, partition and mutation cases and a system had been evolved in which there were least chances of benami transactions. Dr Sushant said the government had made it mandatory for all kanungos and patwaris to remain in office on every Tuesday and Friday and tehsildars and naib tehsildars on every Thursday in office so that people did not face any inconvenience. He said the government had further decided that no registry would be done in future without kisan passbooks. Referring to biotechnology, Dr Sushant said one lakh job opportunities would be created in this Sector in the state in the next one year for which a plan was being formulated to exploit the rich diversity of the state. Mr Narender Bragta, Minister of State for Horticulture, and Mr Roop Dass Kashyap, Minister of State for Urban Development, also spoke on the occasion. They urged for early settlement of encroachment cases of innocent people. Mr P.C. Katoch, Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, welcoming the Chief Minister said 35,000 kisan passbooks had been prepared which were being distributed. |
|
Reframing
of transfer policy sought Nahan, July 26 Mr Thakur demanded that the transfer policy should be reframed. He said a high-level joint
committee should be constituted in consultation with employees unions and a new transfer policy be framed on the recommendations of the committee. Mr Thakur demanded that the state government should immediately send its recommendations to scrap the state administrative tribunal to the Centre. He said the tribunal had failed to deal with the problems of the employees and it should be scrapped. He said the organisation was opposed to the decision of the government to close some departments or abolish posts in Himachal Pradesh. Mr Thakur said in view of the increasing attacks on employees, the state government should take steps to provide security to them. He suggested that the CID wing of the state police should be given the responsibility of providing security to employees. Mr Thakur said there was no non-gazetted officials organisation named “Confederation” in the state. He said his organisation was the only one of its kind in the state. He said he had exhorted all departmental employee unions to raise their demands through the organisation only. He denied that the RSS was in any way involved in the affairs of the organisation. |
|
One dies of enteritis,
24 villagers ill Chamba, July 26 According to official reports, those affected have been rushed to a nearby primary health centre at Kakira. The main cause of gastroenteritis is stated to be the polluted water of “bowli”, a water source. Meanwhile, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Chamba, said Rupo Devi died because of delay in bringing her to the primary health centre as villagers tried to cure her through the traditional system of medicines. The CMO said officials of the Health Department had rushed to the affected villages and provided them with chlorination and advised them to chlorinate the traditional water sources constantly. Preventive measures had been taken throughout the district to cope with diseases like gastroenteritis and diarrhoea. |
|
Police party attacked, one arrested Kulu, July 26 This was stated by Mr N. Venu Gopal, Superintendent of Police, in a press note issued here today. He said the ASP was accompanied by Inspector Madal Lal, ASI Hans Raj, and others The SP said two persons were stopped by the ASP and asked to identify themselves. One of them attacked Constable Baldev Singh, who received bruises. Then the ASP was attacked with a dagger, as a result of which the Inspector fired a round in the air from his service gun. The SP said while Shanti Swaroop of Kumarda village fled from the spot, his Nepali servant, Vishal Thakuri alias Nand Lal, was nabbed. 900 grams of charas was seized from Vishal’s possession. A case under Section 362 of the IPC and Section 20 of the NDPS Act has been registered. In another case, the police seized 24 bottles of English wine and 10,000 ml of liquor from three persons yesterday. A case under Section 61 of the Excise Act has been registered. |
|
Mandi subdivisions to have Red Cross offices soon Mandi, July 26 Disclosing this at a meeting of the executive committee of the District Red Cross Society here today, the President of the society and Deputy Commissioner, Mr Jagdish Sharma, said those living below the poverty line and other low income group people had to come to the district headquarters for seeking the assistance of the Red Cross. Now they would get the help at their doorstep. He said the work of identifying the disabled persons in the district was nearing completion and added that a plan had been drawn to rehabilitate them by way of self-employment with the help of industrialists who would impart them free training in the vocation suitable for them. Mr Sharma disclosed that under a centrally sponsored scheme, artificial limbs would be provided to the handicapped persons free of cost. A sum of Rs 20 lakh had been sanctioned for this purpose during the current financial year, he added. He said the Red Cross Society would help establish laboratories in selected health institutions in the district for conducting various tests which were presently being done only at the Regional Hospital. Various modern techniques would be adopted for improving sanitation in the hospitals. Mr Sharma said in view of the increasing accidents on the Mandi-Kulu portion of the National Highway-21, it had been decided to upgrade the existing Health Centre on the premises of the Hanogi Mata Temple, where an ambulance would also be made available to attend to emergencies. He said the District Red Cross Society had spent over Rs 40 lakh last year for the help of the ailing and the handicapped. It had also sent money for the relief to the victims of the Sutlej floods. |
|
Sapna, Babu to perform at
fair Chamba, July 26 The Deputy Commissioner of Chamba, Mr S.C. Mehta, who is also the chairman of the committee, said here today that Sapna Awasthy, Vandana Vajpayee and Babu Maan would be among the popular artistes who would perform at the Minjar Fair nights. Mr Mohan Lal, Minister of State for Ayurveda, will inaugurate the week-long Minjar Fair on July 29 and the Himachal Chief Minister, Prof Prem Kumar, would be the chief guest on the concluding function on August 5. Meanwhile, Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code has been promulgated in Chamba district to maintain security all over the district during the carnival period. The security arrangements on the borders of Chamba adjoining the militancy-infested belts of Jammu and Kashmir have been spruced up and strict vigil has been sounded. |
|
Bus drivers undergo medical check-up Kulu, July 26 As many as 107 drivers underwent the check-up. All but one had good a eyesight. He said the only driver with weak eyesight was advised to get it corrected to avoid any accident. |
|
Urban Development
Secy gets HC notice Shimla, July 26 Taking suo motu notice on a letter written by residents of Chaura Maidan and news published in a Hindi daily, the court directed that a reply be filed in three weeks. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
