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Monday,
May 5, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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BJP leader
K.V. Verma dies in mishap
Govt to focus on ecological security Trust to set up Roerich art
school Chamba, May 4 The 300 MW Chamera hydroelectric project (stage-II) under construction on the Ravi in Chamba district is one year ahead of its schedule of completion, Mrs Jaywanti Ben Mehta, Union Minister of State for Energy, said while talking to mediapersons here last evening. |
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Late blight consumes 50 pc potato
crop Buses’
re-entry into Palampur draws flak Ultimatum to poppy
growers Martyrs remembered HP orders probe into upgrading of schools Shobha yatra organised
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BJP leader K.V. Verma
dies in mishap Hamirpur, May 4 He leaves a wife, two daughters and aged parents. Mr Verma twice contested the Assembly election from Dharampur on BJP ticket and lost. While the BJP leader died on the spot, the driver of the vehicle’ Khem Chand fractured his legs and was shifted to Hamirpur Zonal hospital for treatment. The driver was stated to be in critical condition. People here were the first to notice the accident. They informed the police and others. Former Himachal Chief Minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal who was on a tour of the area reached the spot after getting the news and supervised the extrication of the body from the vehicle. Hamirpur DC, Devesh Kumar, SDM, Vijay Chandan and DSP, Hamirpur, Madan Lal also visited the spot and consoled the family of the deceased. The body has been taken to the Zonal hospital here for a post mortem examination. BJP activists reached the hospital when the body of Mr Verma was brought here. Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Ms Urmila Thakur and other BJP and Congress leaders were present in the hospital. The body would be cremated tomorrow, according to BJP leaders. Prof Dhumal has described the death of Mr Verma as a tragic one and personal loss to him. He said that with the death of Mr Verma, the party had lost a dedicated worker. He has expressed his sympathy with bereaved family. |
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Govt to focus on ecological security Shimla, May 4 The main objective of the Rs 60 crore reform project is to make basic changes in the existing forest policy, which has led to unsustainable and inequitable exploitation of forest resources, to facilitate sustainable improvement in the livelihood of the poor forest-dependent people. The functions of the Forest Department will be redefined accordingly and it will be restructured to achieve the goals set under the reforms programme. The need to carry out reforms was felt when efforts to involve the local communities in planning and management of forests through the UK- financed project started in 1992 failed to deliver the goods. The impact assessment study of the project revealed that the village forest development committees had not been entirely successful. More importantly, the objective of sustainable management of forest resources has not been achieved because the project-funded microplan activities tended to create wage labour. The department has hired the services of two consultants to identify the areas requiring reforms. Mr Kishore Shah will take care of the policy and planning while Mr Sandeep Jagota will advise the changes to be carried out within the department. A series of studies will be conducted to establish a correlation of forests with ecology and water quality so that these benefits can be evaluated. This is essential to shift the focus from commercial forestry under which forests were merely treated as a source of timber and resin and their importance in maintaining the ecology and water cycle was completely ignored. The reforms will also take care of legislative changes required to remove the constraints to private forestry, unhelpful land use policies and inequitable distribution of rights. On completion, the four- year project will help put in place a multi-stakeholder forest sector policy and a cost effective model for empowering those who were dependent on forest. |
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Trust to set up Roerich art
school Shimla, May 4 The decision was taken at the 13th meeting of the Board of Trustees of the International Roerich Memorial Trust, held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, at Naggar Castle yesterday. The representatives of the two governments at the UNESCO will pursue the matter for conferring world heritage status on the gallery so that international assistance could be sought for its development. It was decided to celebrate the centenary of the gallery, which is completing one hundred years in October, 2004, by organising various events to promote art. The trustees expressed satisfaction that more and more art lovers were visiting the gallery. It had 42,000 visitors last year. The Trust also decided to start Roerich Art School at Naggar at which children from within the country and abroad will be given training in various forms of art .A two -year diploma course in art will also be introduced. Mr Virbhadra Singh said the government would provide all possible assistance to put the gallery on the world art map and being the chairman of the Trust he would personally monitor the progress of work. He thanked the Russian Ambassador, Mr Alexander M. Kadakin, for taking keen interest in the development of the gallery. Mr Kadakin, he said,was the driving force behind the project. Mr Kadakin said the gallery was a shining example of cultural cooperation between the two countries and a symbol of Indo-Russian friendship. He also proposed the names of Mr R.K.Gaur, Agriculture Minister; Mr Ashok Thakur, Principal secretary Tourism, and Mr S.S.Chandel as members of the Trust in personal capacity. The trustees mourned the death of Mr Nanjunda Rao, secretary of the Chiterkala Parishad, Banglore who died recently and was closely associated with the Trust. The Chief Minister accompanied by Mr Kadakin also visited the grave of famous painter Nicholas Roerich and paid tributes. |
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A hydel project ahead of
schedule! Chamba, May 4 The state Power Minister said the Prime Minister would dedicate the project to the nation in August. The minister said the Chamera project with three generating units of 100 ME each was being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 1,700 crore. The testing of the first unit would be carried out in June, that of second unit in July and the third unit’s in August. She said the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) had proposed to undertake the 231 MW Chamera project (stage-III) and 240 MW Parbati project (stage-III) in Kulu district. Replying to a question about the move of the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh to review the memoranda of understanding with regard to hydroelectric projects under construction, the Power Minister stated that the Union Ministry of Energy had not yet received any proposal from the Himachal Pradesh Government. She added that the NHPC had approved a financial package, totalling Rs 8.76 crore, for 312 affected families of the Chamera hydroelectric project (stage-I and II). |
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Late blight consumes 50 pc potato
crop Palampur, May 4 The state Agriculture Department and experts of HP Agricultural University have failed to check the disease. Though various precautionary measures had been suggested but in vain. Mr Pawan Sood, president, Gram Panchayat, Pathiar, told visiting mediapersons today that the Agriculture Department experts were told about this disease but none cared to take the necessary steps in this regard leading to the crop being destroyed. It will be very difficult for the growers to repay the loans, he added. Experts in the office of the Deputy Director, Agriculture, here said the disease had spread all over the region and at this stage it was not possible to control it. Another expert said the farmers had been cautioned in advance about the disease but they failed to take the precautionary steps. He admitted that over 50 per cent crop in the region had been destroyed. |
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Buses’ re-entry into Palampur draws flak Palampur, May 4 About two years ago the administration had banned the entry of heavy vehicles into the town for the smooth flow of traffic. In press statements both said the step would further deteriorate the traffic problem on the narrow Pathankot-Mandi highway passing through the town. Both the organisations have urged the state government to take up the construction of the proposed bypass. The traffic situation in the town has gone from bad to worse in the past six months. Schoolchildren and office-goers are the worst sufferers. Though the government has sanctioned the bypass to be constructed at a cost of Rs 45 lakh but its construction could not be taken up for reasons unknown. |
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Ultimatum to poppy growers Mandi, May 4 The ultimatum, issued through Panchayat Pradhans and revenue officials, said proceedings would be initiated under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, against the farmers who failed to comply with the orders, a release here today said. “Any person growing opium (poppy) is liable under Section 18 of the Act for rigorous imprisonment for a term which will not be less than 10 years but may extend to 20 years and will also be liable to fine which will not be less than Rs 1 lakh but may extend to Rs 2 lakh,” it said. The teams, involved in the destruction drive, had come across poppy fields and in some villages the plantation is in 90 to 100 per cent of the cultivable land. Meanwhile, ‘tehsildars’ of Padhar called a meeting of the Patwaris of the area and directed them to pass on the orders of the Customs officials to the growers. The Narcotic Control Boards of Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh are also engaged in the operation of destroying the poppy crop in the district.
UNI |
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Martyrs remembered Dharamsala, May 4 The Health and Family Welfare Minister, Mrs Chandresh Kumari, and others paid tributes to the martyrs at a function organised at the Dari park where statues of Major Durga Mal and Capt Dal Bahadur Thapa have been erected. The 88-year-old widow of Capt Dal Bahadur Thapa, Mrs Champa Devi, and sister of Major Durga Mal, 76-year-old, Mrs Sjhayama Thakur, were also present on the occasion. The minister announced a grant of Rs 10,000 for the beautification of the park. |
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HP orders probe into upgrading of schools Bilaspur, May 4 Earlier, he laid the foundation stone of the second phase of “Kalyan Go-Sadan”, which is being run by the district Truck Cooperative Society (Barmana). He praised the cooperative society and its members for starting this project as 150 cows had already been housed and were being properly looked after and 150 more cows would be houses and fed in the second phase. |
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Shobha yatra organised Kulu, May 4 Mr Arun Sharma, president of the sabha, said they had decided to present a memorandum to the Chief Minister for the allocation of land to rehabilitate the displaced Kashmiri Brahmins in the state. He called upon the Brahmin community to maintain communal harmony and defeat terrorism.
Swearing-in of Kokje on May 8
Shimla, May 4
Theog MLA ‘irks’ Youth Cong activists Shimla, May 4
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