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Sunday,
September 23, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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CM’s coterie costs Himachal
dear Virbhadra exploiting regionalism:
BJP
Dharamsala, September 22 Virbhadra’s Rajput card alarms BJP HP to set up 4 centres for
HIV detection Mohinder stands by his charge |
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1,525 mt of rice
for drought-hit Solan
Involve Pvt sector in
tourism: Bhan Policy for marketing
of herbs in offing Computerised rail reservation centre at Dharamsala soon Asian arts
experts converge on Banikhet Ganga Singh toeing
govt line, say leaders Pensioners’
sangh organises rally Brig Kalha visits
NCC group HQ Suspension of
police staff sought BADDI DIARY Challaned for using pressure
horns 
CM’s coterie costs Himachal
dear Shimla, September 22 The caucus had reportedly been influencing the decisions of Mr Dhumal for the past over three years. Their interference in almost every decision-making process was not relished by the bureaucracy which had got sidelined from the time the BJP-HVC combine government came into power. Much damage has been caused by the coterie in relations between the Chief Minister and the top bureaucracy and this is evident from the fact that some of them, during a recent meeting with Mr Dhumal, reportedly suggested that proper officers should be placed at right positions and work assigned to them. What was agonising for the bureaucracy was that a coterie consisting of middle and lower-rung officers had surrounded Mr Dhumal and at times did not lose the opportunity to get senior-level bureaucrats humiliated. Signs of the clutches of the caucus weakening over the Chief Minister appeared recently when his Principal Secretary, Mr Ajay Mittal, was relieved of the charge of Secretary Excise and Taxation. Earlier, he was given additional charge of Secretary, Tourism, for a single day. The officialdom here is citing this as a major example of the weakening of the caucus. However, some senior bureaucrats point out that Mr Dhumal has lost much time in realising the machinations of the coterie and has come out of its tentacles when much damage has already been caused to the reputation of government. A wrong decision by certain members of the caucus is reported to have recently caused a loss of about Rs 16 crore to the financially starved state government, but the lapse has been pushed under the carpet. It pertains to the refusal of permission to disinvest one lakh shares of the HFCL by the state Electronics Development Corporation when their price was quoted at Rs 1600 each and was good enough to bring the sick corporation out of the red, but now the price of each share has dipped around Rs 30. Atleast two members of the coterie have already gone on deputation to the centre after having remained in the forefront all this time. Another officer, who was close to Mr Virbhadra Singh during the previous Congress regime, is now the blue eyed boy of Mr Dhumal. This coterie has been nicknamed “computer boys” of Mr Dhumal.
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Virbhadra exploiting regionalism:
BJP Dharamsala, September 22 Addressing a press conference here today, he said that the Congress Legislature CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, was once again trying to use the issue of regionalism to exploit sentiments of people. He said that the BJP government headed by Mr P.K. Dhumal, had brought about over all and uniform development of the entire state. Enlisting development works undertaken in the Kangra region in the past three and a half years, he said that the Rs 100 crore Kholi Power Project, 12 MW Neugal project, Rs 143 crore Shah Nehar project, Siddhata Irrigation Project, Rs 3 crore Mini Secretariat at Dharmsala, Rs 70 lakh Tourism complex at Nurpur, Rs 63 lakh horticulture office, Krishi Vigyan Kendra at Kangra, and a subtehsil at Multhan in Baijnath had been opened by the Dhumal regime. He said that the BJP government had ensured that the Tanda Medical College, opened by the Congress regime with a mere Rs 50 lakh, ran smoothly despite problems with the Medical Council of India. He said that it was the Congress government, which was responsible for the present financial crisis being faced by Himachal, “Mr Dhumal has been able to get a help of over Rs 700 crore from the Centre, but Mr Virbhadra Singh, as Chief Minister, failed to get even a single penny for the state,” he said. Mr Sanjay Sharma, said that allegations of regional discrimination against the Kangra area, levelled by Mr Virbhadra Singh were totally false and misleading. He said that instead of making comments on Mr Dhumal, Mr Shanta Kumar and the BJP, Mr Virbhadra Singh, should set his own house in order. He said that the BJP was a united party, whereas the Congress was faction-ridden. He informed that the BJP would start “Vikas Jyoti Yatra” from Shimla on October 16 to make the people aware about development works undertaken by the BJP government. He said that the yatra would cover all 68 Assembly segments of the state.
Virbhadra’s Rajput card alarms BJP Shimla, September 22 Many influential Rajput leaders of the area had drifted away from Mr Virbhadra Singh in the recent years. But the presence at his public meeting at Palampur on Wednesday appear to have encouraged the Virbhadra camp. The development has come as a shot in the arm of the Virbhadra loyalists. The Congress activists attach much significance to this public meeting of Mr Virbhadra Singh as it was the first after he was given a clean chit by the CBI. Mrs Chandresh Kumari, member of the Rajya Sabha, believed to be close to Mrs Sonia Gandhi, has moved closer to Mr Virbhadra Singh after having backed the PCC chief, Mrs Vidya Stokes, for some time. Belonging to the family of the erstwhile rulers of Kangra, she enjoys good support there. What is being considered significant is that the President of the National Students Union of India (NSUI), Mr Kewal Singh Pathania, has also joined the Virbhadra Singh camp. He shared the dais with Mr Virbhadra Singh for the first time at Palampur. This will not be relished by Mr Vijay Singh Mankotia who had deserted Mr Virbhadra Singh and joined hands with Mrs Stokes. With this development, Mr Pathania has become another claimant for party ticket for the Shahpur constituency where Mr Mankotia had so far virtually remained the only aspirant. What is being considered as a setback for the ruling BJP is that some influential Rajputs of Kangra area, who had vowed to support the BJP in the last Assembly elections, were also present at the Palampur rally. Doubts are being expressed by party activists over the role of the former PCC chief, Mr Sat Mahajan, who had dinner with Mr Virbhadra Singh at a place near Palampur, but stayed away from the rally the next morning. However, his son, Mr Ajay Mahajan, was present at the rally. Kangra district is considered as most important by all political parties as it has the highest number of 16 Assembly seats. The ruling BJP is worried because of the annoyance of the OBC’s, who have a significant presence in the area, because of the failure of the government to provide 27 per cent reservation in jobs to them. This is why the BJP leaders of the area have now started pressurising the Chief Minister to concentrate on Kangra region. |
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HP to set up 4 centres for
HIV detection Shimla, September 22 The Himachal Pradesh State AIDS Control Society will organise shortly nine “Targeted intervention project” following increasing HIV positive cases in the state. The project will be target the unsafe sexual behaviour through the working of NGOs. The fifth project will be for truck drivers and the rest of four will include migrant workers in the state. For these projects special training is being given to NGO staff. Most of the HIV positive cases are drivers and migrants who indulge in unsafe sex. These cases have also been detected in the rural areas among women and children. It is believed that about 79 per cent HIV positive patients are men. Even babies have acquired this virus through affected mothers. From highly literate district including Hamirpur, Shimla, Mandi, Kangra and Bilaspur eight per cent cases have been discovered. While in tribal areas the cases are negligible. In the Lahaul and Spiti, the tribal areas of the state, none case has been discovered. At the state and district level, panchayati raj institutions’ involvement has been sought by arranging workshops. This would help the members of these institutions the information on sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and AIDS to the masses in their panchayats. There are more than 4000 HIV positive affected patients in the state. No case of jail inmates has been discovered where the state AIDS control carries ELISA test every
month
Mohinder stands by his charge Shimla, September 22 Addressing a press conference here today, he said Mr Saini had been directly or indirectly associated with the three companies which bagged 92 per cent of the contracts for installing tubewells, even after becoming a minister. He claimed that the business of the three companies had increased manifold during the past three years. He said this could be ascertained by comparing the business of these companies for 1995-98 and 1998-2001 periods. He urged the Governor, to whom he had already submitted a charge sheet against Mr Saini, to ensure that the record of the Irrigation and Public Health Department pertaining to contracts awarded to the companies be sealed. He said he would submit a copy of the charge sheet to Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, and urge him to drop Mr Saini, who had violated Article 191 of the Constitution and abused office for personal gains. He alleged that Mr Saini had acquired property worth crores after becoming a minister. It included four petrol stations, a mango orchard and land at Baddi and Vaknaghat. The former minister refuted the allegation of Mr Saini that he had acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income and said neither he nor any of his relatives owned land in Faridabad.
1,525 mt of rice for
drought-hit Solan Solan, September 22 The Deputy Commissioner, Mr K. Sanjay Murthy, while addressing a press conference here today, said the scheme envisaged giving 60 kg of rice to each ration card-holder irrespective of the fact whether he or she belonged to below poverty line category or not for the quarter ending September 30. He said this allocation would be over and above the normal monthly quota permissible to the ration card-holders. Mr Murthy said so far 1,200 metric tonnes of the subsidised rice had been lifted and the Civil Supplies Corporation had already distributed 824 metric tonnes out of it. The appealed to the public to lift the remaining stock of rice before September 30, adding that all 261 fair price shops in the district had adequate stocks. The Deputy Commissioner said the district had been given a total of 313.50 metric tonnes of foodgrains under the food-for-work programme. Out of this, 178 mt had already been distributed as wages to 527 workers under the programme. Mr Murthy informed that under the ‘Antodaya Yojana’, 4,993 families had been benefited. They had been provided 10 kg wheat and 15 kg of rice at Rs 2 and Rs 3 per kg, respectively.
Even the dead are not spared
here SHIMLA: The graves in the three cemeteries here are being desecrated by miscreants who have broken marble slabs and play cards and chess on them. The broken gravestones were being used as wickets for playing cricket. The condition of the cemetery at Dhalli is shocking as most of the graves have been dilapidated by miscreants. With a handful of members of the Christian community here, there were not enough funds for maintaining these graves. With a large number of houses having been constructed around the cemetery, it has become a playfield for children who desecrate the graves by knocking down the gravestone and breaking the marble. The latest victim of the miscreants is the nuns’ graveyard behind St. Bede’s College, where hardly any grave has been left intact. As the cemetery is at an isolated place on the forest road, miscreants have broken the ornate iron gate and taken away the ornamental iron railings from each side. This cemetery, owned by the Convent of Jesus and Mary was set up in 1872. Outside the graveyard is the cenotaph to Colonel Chas Parker of the Bengal Artillery, who died here on April 27, 1837. The monument erected by the officers of the regiment is also in bad shape. The other cemetery on the bypass behind St. Edwards School has also been ravaged by encroachers. The police has failed to take action against the defiant miscreants who were hurling insults on the dead by destroying their graves. Some time ago, the Christian community here faced a peculiar problem as the authorities refused to grant them timber for making coffins. However, the problem has now been solved, said Father Ambrose D’Souza. |
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Involve Pvt sector in
tourism: Bhan Shimla, September 22 Speaking at the concluding session of the two-day “International conference on tourism in the 21st century-challenges and opportunities” here yesterday, he said the private sector could arrange parking for facilities, ropeways, amusement parks and trekking expeditions for the benefit of tourists. He emphasised on the need for involving local people in the tourism industry to make it broad-based. The Governor said peace, hospitality and quality services were essential for the growth of tourism and needed to be maintained. He suggested honouring of various tourism-related units rendering excellent services to clients to encourage hotels, restaurants, travel agencies and other connected with the tourist trade to provide better services. He said awards could be instituted at the state and district level for different categories of tourism units excelling in hospitality and services. Dr Bhan laid special emphasis on identification of new tourist sites so as to benefit the tourist influx could be increased to a great extent. He said the state had a large number of religious, historical and cultural sites that could be developed to boost tourism. Tribal areas were repositories of ancient art and culture and a major tourist attraction, he said. Prof N.K. Sharda, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Himachal Pradesh University welcomed the chief guest and others. Prof Tejvir Singh, Director, Recreation Research, Lucknow, stressed on human resource development and said emphasis must be laid on education, training and research in tourism to make it relevant. Tourism should be in consonance and harmony with ecology and environment. Dr S.P. Bansal, Chairman, Institute of Vocational Studies, detailed the various issues discussed during the conference. Delegates from India and abroad shared their experiences at the function
Policy for marketing
of herbs in offing Dharamsala, September 22 Dr Sushant also announced the setting up of coordination committees under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioners. He said Himachal could make great strides in the field of biotechnology as the Himalayan region had vast potential and rich biodiversity. He said focus would be on preservation, propagation, processing and marketing of various medicinal herbs found in the region. “Despite ayurveda being practised in India for hundreds of years, we export herbs worth only Rs 426 crore as compared to China and Thailand which export herbs worth Rs 26,000 and Rs 10,000, respectively, he said. Dr Sushant, who chaired a meeting of officers here today, gave an assurance that marketing of the herbs would be taken care of so that farmers got good returns. He said 32 species of herbs had already become extinct, so the immediate need was identification and codification of these varieties. “The need of the hour is patenting of knowledge and agriculture, horticulture, ayurveda and forest departments must play an active role in this,” he said. Dr Sushant said sectorisation of the state would be undertaken so that crops were planted according to the altitude, climatic conditions and soil. Apart from this, free soil testing and soil treatment would be undertaken, the cost of which would be borne by the Department of Biotechnology, he said. The Director of the IHBT, Dr Ahuja, stressed the need for organic farming in Himachal as the excessive |
Dharamsala, September 22 Stating this, the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Mr Shanta Kumar said the Railways authorities had assured him to provide this facility by November. He said the state government had been asked to provide space, electricity facility, DoT connection and accommodation for the Railways staff. Mr Shanta Kumar said this step would go a long way in promoting tourism in the region and providing reservation facility to the local residents at their doorstep. He added that work on the construction of a waiting room at Chakki Bank and other facilities would be completed by October.
Asian arts
experts converge on Banikhet Banikhet (Dalhousie), September 22 Being attended by 54 internationally acclaimed experts in some form of the Asia-Pacific performing arts or the other, the symposium is unique in that it has brought together on one stage stalwarts like the 84-year-old legendary guru of Kutiyattam from Kerela and a celebrated expert of Noh, the traditional dance theatre form of Japan. Watching the delegation at work all day was a rare experience. For hardly ever does one get the opportunity of being a part of the forum which is discussing something beyond the surface of culture — something which helps civilisation evolve in a more wise fashion, something which lends more meaning to existence. Deliberations and demonstrations of various performing arts at Araman Estate in Banikhet today underlined one fact for that all Asian arts, be it the South Korean Zen, the Japanese Noh, or even the South Indian Kutiyattam — all have something in common, something which makes them similar at one level or anther. This might sound a little heavy, but it did not come across as that. A perfect ambience for the symposium diluted the heaviness of the discussions and brought the facts down to a common level, where people with little know-how about arts like Noh and Zen, could also relate to them. The first day of the 10-day-long symposium was dedicated to two major sessions, which were successfully deliberated upon. The first session, titled “Traversing the lotus path” beautifully analysed the metaphysical role of the arts and highlighted the significance of the spiritual over the temporal. The participants in the discussion, Ms Sharada Ramanathan and Prof Mohsen Tawfik, the Unesco representative at the conference, contributed widely towards addressing objectives of the symposium. Interspersed with the discussion on how cultural processes could help cement society in view of the recent terrorist attacks on the USA were two aesthetic presentations from South Korean and Japanese experts. The land of Gandharvas (Himachal) today saw Dr Sun Ock Lee from South Korea, along with Soo Hee, perform and explain the nuances of Zen, which has Buddhist influences. Then there was Prof Fusao Okamoto, the Noh expert from Japan, who presented two delectable sequences, showing how Noh was related to Kutiyattam, the dance theatre form of Kerela. The symposium attempts to compare and contrast the structure and soul of various Asian performing arts. The other sessions will highlight similarities between Baul singing of Bangladesh and Dhrupad from India. Later, 76-year-old Dhrupad maestro Ustad Fahimuddin Dagar spoke on the elements of the Indian music form which boasts of completeness. The second session was titled “Tasting the teertham” (a water body sanctified as a pilgrim spot). Yet another unique experiment, this one was chaired by the legendary Shanno Khurana of the Rampur Sehaswan gharana, who talked of all water bodies being sacred, and also of how all 64 lalit kalas (fine arts) had the ability of helping one experience the “rasavadan” (the magic of sound) and the “rasabhava” (the magic of gestures). An insight into the constitution of mantras by Shivraj Singh from Pune was very illuminating. The scholar reacted strongly to how Indian music, which was never made up of musical notes, was now open to the entry of any note. But more than the discussions on elements of various art forms, this day was about great artistes sipping together from the sacred waters. |
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Ganga
Singh toeing govt line, say leaders Bilaspur, September 22 It has urged the Chief Minister to ignore the demand. If the demand was implemented, aggrieved employees would lose access to an impartial forum for redressal of their grievances, particularly those prompted by “political considerations”. |
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Pensioners’
sangh organises rally Kulu, September 22 It may be recalled that at the time of reorganisation of the states, Himachal Pradesh employees were promised all benefits on the pattern of Punjab. The sangh members demanded an increase of 5 and 10 per cent in the basic pension after the age of 70 and 80 years, respectively, as was being enjoyed by retired employees of Punjab. The members also resented the move of the state government to transfer disbursement of the monthly pension from scheduled banks to the
Brig Kalha
visits
NCC group HQ Shimla, September 22 Brigadier Kalha met commanding officers of the 12 NCC units in the state and interacted with outstanding associate NCC officers (ANOs), instructional and civilian staff. Una, Hamirpur, Dharamsala, Rampur, Nahan, Mandi, Shimla, Bilaspur, Kulu, Dalhousie and Solan are the 12 National Cadet Corps (NCC) units in Himachal Pradesh. Brigadier Kalha also met the Chief Minister, Prof P.K. Dhumal, and apprised him of the problems in the smooth functioning of the NCC activities in the state.
Suspension of
police staff sought Shimla, September 22 Addressing a press conference, Mr Tikender Singh Panwar, secretary of the committee, alleged that the secretary of the organisation’s Fagu unit, Mr Harish Thakur, along with some farmers, was severely beaten up by personnel of the Dharampur police. He said the incident took place on September 20 when a truck carrying vegetables was stopped at Dharampur and the police personnel allegedly demanded Rs 1,000 to let the truck pass. BADDI DIARY Baddi They saw the affected riverbeds and also recorded the statements of environmentalists, panchayat members and the affected farmers. A marginal farmer of Mandala village impress upon the officials that indiscriminate quarrying in the vicinity of his fields had endangered his land and made it prone to erosion. The officers challaned two tractor drivers engaged in picking up quarry material from Balad Khud. Another person confessed that against a single M-form issued by the Mining Department, he had been picking up quarry material throughout the day, since there was no one from Department to check him. The damage caused to riverbeds was evident from the virtual absence of any stones in the riverbeds. The president of the Society for Action and Protection of Environment, Mr Gyanender Bhardwaj, said that despite the ban on JCB machines one such machine was found in Balad stream. Local residents said that this machine had been challaned by the Mining Department a few months ago. The Krishi Vikas Sangh put forth the plea that the highly fragile cliffs of the region, which were already prone to damage by the seasonal torrents, would crumble if indiscriminate quarrying was to continue. A case of theft of mining material was also brought to the notice of the officials by the president of the Krishi Vikas Sangh. This case had been disposed of by the police under the Motor Vehicles Act. A number of discrepancies were also brought to the notice of the officers regarding the filing of the mandatory M-form by the Mining Department. Most of the mandatory provisions like filling the name of the mine were not specified on the form. This left scope for the illicit traders to misuse the area. The name of the substance to be picked up was also not marked on the form. Many other necessary details were left unfilled or were wrongly marked. The state geologist said that he had recorded the statements of all the officials concerned and a report would be prepared soon.
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Challaned for using pressure
horns Mandi, September 22 He said besides this, two buses had also been impounded for non-payment of taxes and Rs 1.02 lakh had been recovered in addition to the fine. Mr Kaundal said private vehicles being used as taxis were also being impounded and heavily fined. He has advised vehicle owners to get the pressure horns removed voluntarily. |
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