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HP Assembly
clears four Bills India must have
own model of development: Joshi Steep decline in
sex ratio from 2001 census Awards for
checking female foeticide Koklass pheasant
bred in captivity BJP workers burn
copy of memo on fiscal reforms Hospital cries
for attention |
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2 killed as truck
falls into khud
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HP Assembly clears four Bills Shimla, June 25 Mr Raj Kirshan Gaur, Horticulture Minister, while seeking the permission of the House to withdraw the Bill, said some more Sections of the Act were also to be amended. Mr P.K. Dhumal, leader of the BJP legislative group, suggested that the government should take into consideration the Model Farm Universities Act framed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research to make the law more comprehensive. He said Jammu and Kashmir had recently enacted a legislation for its own farm university in which the Chief Minister had been made the pro-Chancellor and the Agriculture Minister had been inducted in the governing body. He said such provision could be made in the proposed amendment Bill to ensure better coordination between the universities and the government. The House passed the Himachal Pradesh Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill providing for payment of tax for 15 years in the first instance and subsequently after every five years in place of the existing provision for one-time tax on vehicles. It also provides for levying of tax on transport vehicles like cars and maxi cabs which are converted into personal vehicles and the second-hand vehicles, which are registered for the first time in the state. There was no such provision under the existing Act. A provision to allow payment of tax arrears in six-monthly instalments had also been made to ensure that arrears do not mount and relief could be provided to the honest taxpayers. The Himachal Pradesh Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation (Amendment) Bill was passed to raise the authorised capital of the corporation from the existing Rs 30 crore to Rs 40 crore. The House also passed the State Advocates Welfare Fund (Amendment) Bill and the Punjab Excise (Himachal Pradesh) Amendment Bill. Earlier, Mr Sat Mahajan informed the House during Question Hour that the government proposed to increase the number of panchayat takniki sahayaks and also to increase their honorarium from the existing one per cent to 1.5 per cent of the works. He said during the previous BJP government, 1067 sahayaks were recruited and the government wanted to increase their number to about 6000. Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, told the House that the rill method being used for tapping of resin was better than the old cup and lip method. It yielded more resin and caused less damage to the pine trees. However, he said the apprehensions of the members that it was causing more damage would be conveyed to the Forest Department. Replying to another question, he said the fungicides and insecticides being supplied to fruit growers were of good quality and not different from the established brands. He said the government would give subsidy to growers who wanted to purchase different brand then the one being supplied by the government agencies. |
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India must have own model of development: Joshi Shimla, June 25 Dr Joshi today delivered a lecture at the international conference on “Vitality of India in the regional and international perspective” being held here at the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies. “It is true that the march of globalisation is engulfing us and we do not have any original approach to deal with this phenomenon except pointing out the evil of hegemony that it carries in its march and the disastrous consequences it is likely to inflict on our culture,” he remarked. He said what India required was a model of development which provided high opportunity for employment, not necessarily jobs in the government sector. It is true that India has imitated largely the Westminster model as also to some extent the USA model in developing the forms of our democracy, he added. Dr Joshi, while elaborating on the limitations and drawbacks of the globalisation, said it was for this very reason that even the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, was talking of economic reforms with a human face and a pro-poor approach. “We ought to have evolved our own criteria of development and should have combated forces of consumerism by advocating sustainable consumption instead of the misconceived idea of sustainable development,” he emphasised. “It is only if India realises its own self and stops aping other cultures and civilisations that the pace of development in all spheres would be quicker. In case we remain in a state of self denigration, pace of development is bound to slacken,” he said. Even the so called progressive and developed countries are themselves experiencing the strangulating effects of uncontrollable mechanisation, depersonalisation and dehumanisation and are looking for the liberating wisdom that India possesses. He said whenever there has been loss of vitality in India, people with high spiritual experience have revitalised the country and charged the young minds to work for independence and social reforms. Dr Joshi concluded by saying that India has awakened with renewed energy and vitality which was still not its bloom. “We have to find means and ways and means by which India blossoms in its full glory,” he remarked. During the conference today, there was discussion on security aspects with former Chief of Army Staff, Gen V.P. Malik and former Pakistan Lt-Gen. Talat Masood sharing their views. There was a session on economic dynamism with Prof P.N. Dhar, Amiya Kumar
Bagchi, Mr J.C. Kapur and S.K. Goyal participating. Another session on science and technology had the likes of Dr Raja Ramanna, Prof Yash Pal and Prof
N.S. Ramaswamy, expressing their views. |
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Steep decline in sex ratio from 2001 census Shimla, June 25 As compared to a sex ratio of 897 in the 2001 census, the birth registration figures collected by the Health and Family Welfare Department for 2002 indicate a steep decline. “The sex ratio for the under-six age group at the end of 2002 seems to have declined to 869 from the 2001 census figure of 896, as per the department’s birth registration records,” said Mr A.R. Nanda, executive director of the Delhi-based Population Foundation of India. He said though the figure of 869 was as per the Health and Family Welfare Department birth registration records and not census data, it indicated a bad situation, which if not taken control of, could lead to disastrous results. During the past decade, Lahaul and Spiti district showed an increase by 35 points. The situation was bad in five districts, with a decline of more than 50 points — Kangra (-103), Una (-84), Hamirpur (-74), Mandi (-52) and Solan (-51). Twentytwo tehsils had a sex ratio of below 850. “What is baffling is that the two sub-tehsils of Thural and Sandhol in Kangra district, having the highest female literacy rate, have the lowest sex ratio at 738 and 796 in the state,” remarked Mr Subhash Mendhapurkar, director, Sutra, a voluntary organisation. He added that another surprising aspect was that these two places were remote and not located on the border with Punjab or Haryana. With a sex ratio of 897 in the under-six age group, Himachal Pradesh was inching close to Punjab (793), Haryana (820), Chandigarh (845) and Delhi (865). He said what was most unfortunate was that gradually the situation was worsening in the Una, Sirmaur, Solan and Kangra districts, bordering Punjab and Haryana. |
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Awards for checking female foeticide Shimla, June 25 She said the family planning programme, which was implemented with success in the state, was one of the factors responsible for female foeticide. She said health melas would be
organised to educate rural women about the ill-effects of medical termination of pregnancy. Mr Gangu Ram Musafir, Speaker, said concerted efforts were required to effectively check the declining sex ratio. |
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Koklass pheasant bred in captivity Shimla, June 25 He
attributed the success to Mr John Corder, a conservation breeding expert from the World Pheasants Association, who had been guiding the programme. On his advice, the diet of the bird had been modified and steps had been taken to create a stress-free environment for the birds to breed. The enclosures had been enlarged and special bushes and grass had been planted to provide natural nesting and roosting sites. |
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BJP workers burn copy of memo on fiscal reforms Shimla, June 25 Led by a former minister, Mr J.P. Nadda, the workers assembled near the central telegraph office and went in procession to the Naz end of the Lower Bazar. The speakers criticised the government for signing the MoU which, they alleged, would not only harm the interests of the employees but also aggravate the problem of unemployment as vacant posts would be abolished. |
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Hospital cries for attention MANDI: The rush of patients to the 300-bedded Zonal Hospital here forces people to bring their own beds at times. Patients have to wait in the OPDs because doctors are out on rounds in wards or attending to medico-legal cases or other duties. This hospital presents a picture of chaos. Although the hospital has a sanctioned strength of 48 doctors, it has been doing with just 28. Over 800 patients visit this hospital daily. Some patients have to lie in the corridors on their own beds as the hospital authorities neither have space nor extra beds to accommodate the rush. A few patients told The Tribune that they had to wait daily from 9 am till late in the evening for doctors who are out on rounds, court visits or VIP duties. ‘‘Even if they come they go away to attend to emergency cases brought in from time to time,’’ rued Dhuni Chand, whose mother suffering from typhoid was lying on the floor of the medicine OPD waiting for the doctor. What to speak of toilets, even wards and corridors stink. ‘‘Shulabh Shauchalaya’’ sweepers, who have the contract to clean the hospital, say that it is difficult to cope up with the rush. Attendants crowd the wards as there is no waiting hall. More than three floors — over 60 per cent of the hospital’s floor area — is occupied by the offices of the Chief Medical Officer, the Director, Local Authority, the Medical Superintendent, duty rooms and a 10-bedded private ward. The hospital authorities blamed the mess on the lack of staff and the swelling patient load. Dr P.S. Dogra, CMO, Mandi, claimed the “situation will improve as another 80-bedded hospital will be ready for inauguration within two months.” |
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2 killed as truck falls into khud
Shimla, June 25 One person died on the spot and the other succumbed to his injuries on his way to the local hospital at Chopal. The deceased is yet to be identified. The one seriously injured, Jai Lal, was referred to Indira Gandhi Medical Hospital here for treatment. The truck was on its way to Nerwa from Shimla.
— UNI |
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Shimla, June 25
