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Involve students in Scouts, Guides movement: Kokje
Shimla gears up for Sonia’s visit
ASI to undertake exploration
along Beas
HP to strengthen healthcare
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Migratory birds eating away fish stock
Emphasis on uplift of women
Kunal, Shruti crowned Mr & Ms Hill ’ffair
6 booked for nuisance
on college campus
Byelections for panchayat seats on December 2
NGO backs drive to remove encroachments
2 killed as van falls into khud
Samiti formed to save limestone mine
Goods worth lakhs destroyed in fire
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Involve students in Scouts, Guides movement: Kokje
Shimla, November 7 Addressing the scouts, guides, cubs and bulbuls at a state-level Flag Day function organised by the state chapter of scouts and guides here today, he said that such a movement encouraged the youth to serve the nation with dedication. Mr Kokje, who is also the patron-in-chief of the Scouts and Guides, said that extra-curricular activities provided students an opportunity to introspect, find solutions to their problems and progress in their lives. He appreciated the endeavour of the state Education Department in reviving the movement in the state. Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, stressed the need to include scouts and guides, NCC, NSS and similar extra-curricular activities in the academic in curriculum. He said introducing such activities in all the educational institutions of the state would go a long way in inculcating a discipline, social responsibility and patriotism in the students. He said that the children should not be forced to opt for any course and study against their wishes which would distract them from their aim. The likings and dislinkings of the children must to be kept in mind in academic pursuits. He said that it was the need of the hour to make the younger generation independent and well-equipped to face the challenges of life successfully. The Chief Minister said the government was giving special attention to the promotion of scouts and guides activities in the state and it had provided 15 bighas of land at Rewalsar in Mandi district to set up the state training centre. He announced Rs 5 lakh for the development of the training centre and promised more funds for the construction of the buildings during the next financial year. He said that Rs 5 lakh grant had also been provided to strengthen the Scouts and Guides movement in the state. |
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Shimla gears up for Sonia’s visit
Shimla, November 7 She will also address a rally on The Ridge during her four-hour stay in the town after the foundation stone laying ceremony near the lift on the circular road. The local Municipal Corporation and the administration is busy giving a facelift to The Ridge, while at
Oakover, the official residence of the Chief Minister where Mrs Gandhi will have lunch, the security agencies are working overtime to make foolproof arrangements for the visit. Contingents of policemen could be seen carrying out rehearsals and mock drills for the rally and the movement of Mrs Gandhi’s motorcade through the congested parts of the town. Her helicopter will land at the Annandale ground from where she will drive straight to the lift for the foundation stone ceremony. She will have some rest at Oakover before proceeding to The Ridge for the rally. Mr Jog Raj Thakur, Superintendent of police, said the movement of the VVIP motorcade and vehicles bringing people to the rally would be planned in such a way that minimum inconvenience was caused to the local people. Buses from Solan, Una and Sirmaur will be stopped on the bypass road and the light vehicles will be allowed to come up to tunnel No. 103. Buses from Bilaspur, Mandi, Hamirpur, Kangra, Kulu and Chamba will be stopped at Tabi More, near
Chakkar, and the light vehicles will be allowed up to Chaura Maidan. Buses from the upper Shimla area will be diverted from Dhalli but light vehicles will allowed up to the IGMC parking. The rival Congress camps headed by Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, and Mrs Vidya Stokes, the Pradesh Congress chief, are working overtime to make the rally a grand success.
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10,000 workers to attend
Shimla rally
Nahan, November 7 He said that the necessary arrangements for the rally were finalised at a meeting held in Congress Bhavan under the chairmanship of Dr Prem Singh, district president of the DCC, yesterday, which was attended by several party leaders, including Mr Harsh Verdhan Chauhan, party MLA from Shillai, former MP and chairperson of the 20-Point Programme Implementation Committee, Mr K.D. Sultanpuri. |
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ASI to undertake exploration
along Beas
Shimla, November 7 A team of the ASI from here will begin exploration along the Beas within days. “So far this area is more or less unexplored and since evidence like stone tools have been found, this area is bound to be rich in pre-historic remains,” says Mr Izhar Alam Hashmi, Assistant Archaeologist. In the recent past, neolithic tools have been found at Ror in Kangra and from Mandi town, which indicate a strong presence of fossil remains of the paleolithic man in this region. A preliminary exploration of the area was undertaken by the ASI in Dehra Gopipur area of Kangra district years ago. Prof
B.B. Lal, former Director-General of the ASI, had discovered lower paleolithic tools, sites and river terraces of the pleistocene period at Guler along
Banganga, Dehra along Beas and at Haripur, Dhaliara and Kangra. Mr Hashmi said they were certain that caves in the rocks along the Beas would be found, in which the pre-historic man lived. It was in the caves that the pre-historic man generally did paintings and they were hopeful of locating such drawings as proof of human existence in the area. Archaeologists believe for a clear cut picture of paleolithic industry in the area as well as of its chronological cultural horizon, geomorphology comprising cemented gravel and boulder conglomerates needs to be explored. “The cultural matrix and evidences received from the area indicate a high possibility of getting fossil remains the paleolithic man in this region,” says Mr Hashmi. So far in Himachal, stone tools of the pre-historic times have been found only at Duttnagar near Rampur during excavation undertaken in the area in 1987. Archaeologists say several sites of historical importance can be found in Himachal Pradesh if excavation is undertaken on a large scale as some of the oldest paintings have been found in
Tabo, which could be as old as 1,000 years. Since the exploration will start from Mandi, the ancient temples of Mandi town will also be studied. A majority of these temples are in stone and built in the sikhara style of the plains. The oldest archaeological record in the state is the inscription on a rock at Salanu near
Manglaur, thought to be of the fourth or fifth century.
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HP to strengthen healthcare
Mandi, November 7 Addressing a gathering of mahila mandals and participants after she inaugurated a week-long Red Cross mela here today, Mrs Singh said that the state government had allocated Rs 27.37 crore this year for the health services in the state. “The diagnostic services are being added in the civil and primary health centres in the district so that the poor patients don’t have to go far for treatment”, she added. Highlighting the activities of the Red Cross in the state, Mrs Singh, said that the self-help groups of mahila mandals, which had put up their stalls showcasing their products and activities, were laudable as they had raised their economic level in the district under the DRDA projects. “The poor have got blood bank help and free medicines. The Red Cross has started a blood bank in Kullu,” she added. Giving the output of the DRCS in the district, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ali Raza Rizvi, who is the chairman of the DRCS said that the two training schools would be started at Karsog and Mandi for the physically challenged children with the help of the self-help groups and the Red Cross Society soon. “Old age homes and training schools for the physically challenged would be started in all the four subdivision in the district”. Mrs Singh handed over wheelchairs, crutches and hearing aids donated by the DRCS to over 38 physically challenged persons, and honoured the blood donors. The students from schools and college who won the marathon competitions were given the cash prize by Mrs Singh. |
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Migratory birds eating away fish stock
Shimla, November 7 The Pong wetland, about 330 km from here, attracts thousands of birds from as far as Europe, Siberia, Central Asia and China every winter. “Last year, some 138,000 migratory birds of 78 species visited the wetland — a record number,” said Mr
B.D. Sharma, chief of the Fisheries Department. But these birds feed on the fish in the wetland, depleting their numbers steadily. The wetland has 25 species of fish, including commercial varieties like carp,
mrigal, rohu, katla, singhada, malli and catfish. According to officials, fish production at Pong declined from 414 tonnes in 1997 to 307 tonnes in 2003. A particular threat is the nearly 10,000 cormorants that visit Pong every October and stay until March. Cormorants are a large diving bird species with long necks and bills and consume around 300 gm of fish every day, officials said. From last year, officials have been adding the common fingerling fish to the wetland to preserve the local varieties. “Last year, we added nearly two million fingerling fish to the lake. This year we have added five million,” said Mr Sharma. The Fisheries Department has invited scientists to suggest other measures to conserve fish here. It has also urged the state Wildlife Department to grow more foodgrains around the wetland to offer an alternative to herbivorous birds. “I have asked wildlife officials to suggest measures for increasing the food cover for cormorant birds,” said state wildlife chief
A.K. Gulati. The 407-sq km water body was built 28 years ago, and has been included on Ramsar International’s list of wetlands of importance along with 15 other sites in India.
— IANS |
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Emphasis on uplift of women
Shimla, November 7 The women are favourably placed in the state. The state has made a tremendous progress in the field of literacy during the past two decades and the percentage of literacy shot up from 31.96 per cent in 1971 to 77.13 per cent in 2001. The female literacy rate has increased from 20.23 per cent to 68.08 per cent over the period. State homes are being run in Mashobra, Nahan, Chamba and Mandi for destitute women. Inmates are provided free boarding and lodging facilities and imparted training in craft, tailoring and embroidery. A assistance of Rs 6,000 is being given to them for their rehabilitation and during 2003-04 Rs 37.23 lakh has been spent for this purpose. For the marriage of destitute and handicapped girls, a grant of Rs 5,100 is given. A monthly pension of Rs 200 is being given to widows, whose family annual income does not exceed Rs 6,000 per annum. A grant of Rs 25,000 is also being given for re-marriage of widows. Under the Balika Samridhi Yojana, girls of poor families are being given scholarships ranging from Rs 300 to 1,000 up to matric, besides free education is being provided to girl students at all levels. The Kishori Shakti Yojana is aimed at improving the nutritional and health status of adolescent girls. It is being implemented in 15 blocks of the state. |
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Kunal, Shruti crowned Mr & Ms Hill ’ffair
Hamirpur, November 7 The festival, whose theme was “cultural samanvya”, was a blend of Indian and Western cultures. Industrialist JS Ryait, chairman- cum-managing director, GS Auto Limited, Ludhiana, was the chief guest, The guest of honour was Prof Pramod S. Mehta, Director, BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, the cultural fest was inaugurated. About 100 students from various engineering institutes in North India, including NIT, Jalandhar, and Green Hills Engineering College, Solan, participated in the festival. It was inaugurated by Mr Ryait Speaking on the occasion, Prof Mehta said an MOU had been signed for better coordination between NIT, Hamirpur, and NIT, Jalandhar. The cultural events started with Himachali folk dance nati, which was performed by a group of 16 students of the host institute Three groups took part in the fashion parade — Vedanta and Nav Aakriti from the host college and Samrudhi from Green Hills Engineering College, Solan. There were five rounds — all girls, all boys, formal, informal and traditional. The Nav Aakriti team got the first prize and the Vedanta team got the second prize and the best costume prize. Mr OC Sharma, a retired Director General of Police, Madhya Pradesh, was the chief guest at the valedictory function. He was felicitated by Prof Chandra Shakher, Director, NIT, Hamirpur. Pranay Sharma and Neha Kapoor were named Mr and Ms Super Model respectively. Pranav Mahajan got the best performer award. Prof Chandra Shakher presented mementos to the chairman, faculty secretaries, student secretary and joint secretaries of the cultural clubs and the winning participants. |
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6 booked for nuisance
on college campus
Chamba, November 7 In the complaint, Mr Kapoor alleged that a BA (III) student, Kamal Kumar, was hit by a firecracker on the college campus during the mischief. The Superintendent of Police, Mr J.P. Singh, in a handout issued here today said that an FIR under Section 285, IPC had been registered in the Sadar police station. The SP said that the persons named in the FIR, Bhupinder, Parveen Rana, Goldy, Amit Thakur, Jayant Puri and Pankaj, were reported to be outsiders and used to come to the college campus daily for creating nuisance and disturbing classes. Meanwhile, resentment prevails among the college students, parents and the local residents over the incident. |
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Byelections for panchayat seats on December 2
Shimla, November 7 The list of polling stations will be published on November 18 and polling if necessary, will be held from 8 am to 4 pm on December 2. The counting will take place in the case of members, up-pradhans and pradhans of gram panchayats immediately after the close of poll at the gram panchayat headquarters. In the case of members of the Panchayat Samiti and the Zila Parishad, it will be held on December 4 at the block headquarters. The process of election will be completed by December 7, 2004.
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NGO backs drive to remove encroachments
Palampur, November 7 In a press statement issued here today, Mr
K.B. Ralahan and Mr Ravinder Sood, president and general secretary of the forum, cautioned political parties not to intervene on the issue. The forum said the directive issued by the apex court and the
H.P. High Court in this regard should be implemented in letter and spirit. The forum said the hill state was turning into a slum because of large-scale encroachment on government land and haphazard construction on national and state highways. |
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2 killed as van falls into khud
Shimla, November 7 The deceased have been identified as Rakesh Sharma of Rampur and Jai Pal of Kotkhai. |
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Samiti formed to save limestone mine
Nahan, November 7 The mine provides employment to hundreds of residents of Shiva Gram. Mr Balbir Singh, president, Mr Sumer Chand, secretary, and four office-bearers of the samiti today alleged that an environment society of the area had been levelling false allegations against the mine owned by Mr S.S. Gill, an advocate, and demanding half of the mine for them by passing resolutions. The samiti has written a letter in this regard to the Chief Minister demanding an inquiry into the functioning of the society and conduct of its office-bearers. |
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Goods worth lakhs destroyed in fire
Kangra, November 7 According to the police, the building owned by Amar Singh and Kuldeep Chand was seen in flames past midnight. The fire brigade reached the spot and extinguished the fire. The police has registered a case under Section 285, IPC, and is investigating the matter. |
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