H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Calibrate economic policies: Kokje
Shimla, February 21
Mr V.S. Kokje, Governor, has underlined the need to calibrate the economic policies to take maximum advantage of the ongoing globalisation without sacrificing the interests of the poor.

Traders show solidarity against VAT
Shimla, February 21
A complete bandh was observed in the city against the anti-trader provisions of the value-added tax as all shops and commercial establishments remained closed in the city and suburbs here today.

Rs 1,800-cr project to promote pisciculture
Nurpur, February 21
“In order to promote diversity of the international wetland Pong Dam reservoir in Kangra district, a comprehensive project “Ecology sustainable integrated development of Pong wetland” worth Rs 1,800 crore has been mooted jointly by forest, tourism, fisheries and science and technology departments of Himachal Pradesh”.

Disease claims 3 more head of cattle
Hamirpur, February 21
Notwithstanding the claim of the Animal Husbandry Department that the haemorrhagic septicaemia has been brought under control, the situation is quite different in the area. Three more buffaloes have died at Bela, Sioti and Bhumpal villages in the district during the past two days, raising the death toll to 40, according to the local people.

20 passengers rescued, 80 still stranded
Mandi, February 21
Though the three-day ordeal for 20 passengers, including three patients onboard the state-owned helicopter, ended today, 80 persons, including four patients and 24 students, still await the helicopter at Keylong, the district headquarters of Lahaul and Spiti.

Schools closed in Chamba
Shimla, February 21
All schools in Chamba, Tissa, Bharmaur and Dalhousie subdivisions of Chamba district have been closed till February 27 due to dislocation of normal life following heavy snowfall and rains in the region.

School board puts off practical exams
Dharamsala, February 21
In view of the heavy snowfall in Chamba district, the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education has decided to postpone the practical examinations for Class XII in Dalhousie, Chamba and Tisa subdivisions.

Bali’s warning to truck unions
Solan, February 21
With a view to curbing the menace of frequent strikes and agitation by the truck unions across the state, the government has now decided to come down heavily on the truck operators.

Mahant Shiv Giri remembered
Deotsidh, February 21
Thousands of men, women and children paid their tributes to the late Mahant Shiv Giri of the Baba Balak Nath Temple here on occasion of his first death anniversary yesterday.

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Calibrate economic policies: Kokje
Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 21
Mr V.S. Kokje, Governor, has underlined the need to calibrate the economic policies to take maximum advantage of the ongoing globalisation without sacrificing the interests of the poor.

Addressing the Vidhan Sabha on the opening day of the Budget session, Mr Kokje detailed the achievements of the government over the past one year and also spelled out the broad strategy to speed up the pace of economic development of the state. He said the country’s economy was passing through an interesting period of transition with globalisation throwing up both opportunities and challenges at the same time. While deriving benefits from the globalised environment, it must be ensured that the interests of the vulnerable sections of the society were safeguarded, he said.

He announced that the government would endeavour to implement in letter and spirit the nine integrated missions delineated by the President of India, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, to propel the hill state to the forefront of Indian economy. Dr Kalam, he observed, had outlined the strategy for accelerated development during his recent address to members of the house after an in-depth study of the state and its economy.

As emphasised by the President, the state must focus on areas of comparative advantage and as such the hydro-power sector deserved special attention. The government has already set up two special purpose vehicles which had been assigned the 100 MW Uhl, 66 MW Kashag,10 MW Ghanvi-II and the 100 MW Sawra Kuddu projects. Further the 434 MW Rampu,465 MW Lhuhri and 450 MW Khab-I projects had been allotted to the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam for investigation and implementation. By the end of the 11th plan 12,350 MW out of the total identified potential of 20,455 MW would be harnessed.

Similarly, development of tourism had also been given priority to help achieve the target set by the President to double the annual inflow of Indian tourists to 10 million and that of foreign tourists to one million. Over the past one year 29 tourism projects involving an investment of Rs 15.97 crore had been cleared.

Improving road connectivity was the next priority and the government was constructing 500 new roads to link 1089 villages this year. The World Bank had approved additional assistance to the tune of Rs 300 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna. Besides , a new transport policy had been framed with a view to providing better services to the people and create appropriate incentives for operators.

Referring to the progress of the industrial sector he said the special package of incentives granted by the Centre for the state had led to a huge increase in flow of investment and 468 new proposals for large and medium scale industries and 4069 proposals for small scale units with an investment of Rs 8689 crore had been approved. The new units would create 1,56,760 jobs.

He expressed confidence that the effort to transform the economy would not only improve the living standards of the people but also make the hill state a leading performer in the country.

Traders show solidarity against VAT
Tribune Reporters

Shimla, February 21
A complete bandh was observed in the city against the anti-trader provisions of the value-added tax (VAT) as all shops and commercial establishments remained closed in the city and suburbs here today.

The bandh was complete as all shops on the Mall Road, Sanjauli, Summer Hill, Chotta Shimla amd Chaura Maidan remained closed throughout the day. However, chemist shops expressed their solidarity on the issue of bandh by keeping their shutters down only for two hours to save people from inconvenience.

It was only towards the afternoon that few shops, selling milk and other daily use items, opened their shutters. The president of the State Beopar Mandal, Mr Om Prakash Sood, said the legislators would be approached to take up the cause of the traders when the Bill is introduced in the Assembly.

The bandh call was supported by various beopar mandals and other trading organisations and a large number of shopkeepers, especially petty shopkeepers, had observed bandh even though they were ignorant about VAT and its implications.

The bandh was nearly total in Bilaspur, Una, Kangra, Dharamsala, Kulu, Chamba and other major towns in the state.

MANDI: Except for an odd chemist shop and a tea stall vendor, all shops and trade establishments remained closed here on Monday.

According to the reports here, the bandh was complete and peaceful in the Mandi district.

Meanwhile, the Mandi District Traders’ Union (MDTU) in its memorandum addressed to the Finance Minister said the traders should be provided with a written notification on the new VAT regime to be started from April this year. “The traders object the imposition of the service tax, supports a uniform tax system in the entire country so that the consumers do not hesitate 
in paying VAT nor it hits the traders”, the leaders added.

Mr Mohan Lal Gupta, general secretary of the MDTU, said the traders have no knowledge about the VAT tax system so far. “We have repeatedly asking the taxation officials to appraise them about VAT system, but they have no instructions from the government on this so far”, he added.

HAMIRPUR: Traders in all parts of the Hamirpur district observed a day-long strike on Monday against the imposition of value added tax. Activists of the beopar mandal took out processions at various places and demanded from the state government not to implement it as it was anti-people.

Reports from Nadaun, Sujanpur Tihra, Jahoo, Bhota, Barsar, Mahre, Awah Devi, Tounidevi, Bhoranj and other important qasbas of the district say that the traders kept their shutters down to show their solidarity with their state body.

NAHAN: All shops and business establishments in Nahan, Paonta Sahib, Majra, Dhaulan Kuan, Sarahan, Dadahu, Shillai, Sangrah, Haripurdhar and Rajgarh areas remained closed on Monday. Representatives of different beopar mandals in their statements opposed the imposition of VAT in the state and termed the new tax as anti-consumer.

Rs 1,800-cr project to promote pisciculture
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, February 21
“In order to promote diversity of the international wetland Pong Dam reservoir in Kangra district, a comprehensive project “Ecology sustainable integrated development of Pong wetland” worth Rs 1,800 crore has been mooted jointly by forest, tourism, fisheries and science and technology departments of Himachal Pradesh”.

This was stated by the Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister, Mr Harsh Mahajan, while presiding over a national-level workshop held at the Pong Dam reservoir on Saturday to enhance fish production.

The workshop was organised jointly by the Department of Fisheries, Himachal Government and the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. Mr Mahajan said under the project Rs 31.3 crore would be spent to promote fish production in the reservoir in which studies for fishing activities would also be undertaken. “Apart from this, a fisheries laboratory and fish storage facility will be provided at the Pong reservoir,” he added.

He said the project was aimed at effective conservation of wetland, creating amenable eco-environment for visiting foreign birds, promoting tourism infrastructure and generation of employment opportunities.

Mr Mahajan pointed out that the state government had made it mandatory for hydel projects to take no-objection certificate from the Fisheries Department before starting work on the project. He said the government was committed to solve the problems and ameliorate the economic condition of the fishermen in the state.

“A subcommittee under the chairmanship of the Director, Fisheries, has been constituted in this connection,” he added.

In the workshop local fishermen took part who were addressed by the experts. Addressing the fishermen, the Lok Sabha MP, Mr Chander Kumar, said that the state government was keen on developing the Ramsar site.

Disease claims 3 more head of cattle
Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, February 21
Notwithstanding the claim of the Animal Husbandry Department that the haemorrhagic septicaemia (HS) has been brought under control, the situation is quite different in the area. Three more buffaloes have died at Bela, Sioti and Bhumpal villages in the district during the past two days, raising the death toll to 40, according to the local people.

However, official sources put the figure at 31, including three that died during the past two days.

The owner of the deceased animal at Sioti, Rajesh Kumar, told The Tribune that the buffalo was giving 10 litres of milk per day. He said that his buffalo died despite treatment given by the Medical Officer, Nadaun.

Meanwhile, teams of veterinary officers from the Animal Husbandry Department remained busy to treat the ailing animals in various parts of Nadaun that were worst-affected by the disease.

The department has posted Dr R.K. Nanda, Assistant Director of Animal Husbandry Department, as in charge of operation at Nadaun.

He is supervising the entire operation from there, according to an official spokesman.

The team also vaccinated the ailing animals and also gave various suggestions to the animal owners.

A report from Nadaun says that more cases of HS have been reported from the interiors of the subdivision and the farmers have become panicky.

20 passengers rescued, 80 still stranded
Tribune News Service

Mandi, February 21
Though the three-day ordeal for 20 passengers, including three patients onboard the state-owned helicopter, ended today, 80 persons, including four patients and 24 students, still await the helicopter at Keylong, the district headquarters of Lahaul and Spiti.

Reports reaching here at the divisional headquarters revealed that the 20 passengers, including three patients, Baldev, Anajli and Vivek, were reported to be safe when the helicopter landed at the Bhuntar airport in Kulu after three days today. But 80 passengers remained stuck at Keylong, as the GAD department in the Secretariat at Shimla has yet to clear the next helicopter schedule to Lahaul valley, sources said.

Narrating their tale, the passengers said: “But for the Sissu villagers, we would have faced a tough time in the bone-chilling heights of the lone Sissu rest house, which has no proper heating arrangements”.

They said they would have landed in trouble as there was no help from the district administration.

The Primary Health Centre at Sissu luckily came to aid of the passengers, especially three patients. “We got medicines from the PHC and the villagers kept us in warm rooms. Otherwise, the patients would have become serious,” said Ms Reena, who accompanied her patient Baldev from Killar in Pangi valley.

The officiating Chief Medical Officer, Keylong, Lahaul and Spiti, said while one patient was admitted, three others had been referred to the Zonal Hospital in Kulu. “One of them has got a fracture, but they are stable”, he added. 

Schools closed in Chamba
Our Correspondent

Shimla, February 21
All schools in Chamba, Tissa, Bharmaur and Dalhousie subdivisions of Chamba district have been closed till February 27 due to dislocation of normal life following heavy snowfall and rains in the region.

The snowfall and rains have hit normal life and the schools had been closed in view of difficulties faced by the people, a spokesman of the Education Department here said.

Chamba, Dalhousie, Bharmaur and Tissa areas were cut off from rest of the state for the past four days due to heavy rains and snow and the Chamba-Pathankot highway was blocked due to landslides.

School board puts off practical exams
Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, February 21
In view of the heavy snowfall in Chamba district, the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education has decided to postpone the practical examinations for Class XII in Dalhousie, Chamba and Tisa subdivisions.

The practicals, which were earlier scheduled to be held from February 21 to 26, will now be held after the theory examinations. The new dates would be decided soon.

The annual examinations for Classes XI and XII will be conducted from March 5 and the examinations of Classes VIII and X will be held from March 7.

Bali’s warning to truck unions
Our Correspondent

Solan, February 21
With a view to curbing the menace of frequent strikes and agitation by the truck unions across the state, the government has now decided to come down heavily on the truck operators. The Transport Minister, Mr G.S. Bali, while adopting a strict posture on the strikes said the government would cancel permits of such nuisance creators who caused undue harassment to the industrialists in the state.

While categorically asserting the need to discipline these unions, he said today that black mailing tactics of the unions would not be tolerated. While agreeing that prolonged strikes of truck unions at Kala Amb had an adverse effect on the industry, he said the transport policy was well equipped to address this problem. 

Mahant Shiv Giri remembered
Our Correspondent

Deotsidh, February 21
Thousands of men, women and children paid their tributes to the late Mahant Shiv Giri of the Baba Balak Nath Temple here on occasion of his first death anniversary yesterday.

A statue of the late Mahant was unveiled by Mahant Rajinder Giri. The four-day-long puja and havan programme ended in the presence of a galaxy of sadhus and mahants of various akharas and temples.

Senior BJP leaders, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Mr Ishawar Dass Dhiman and Mr Sat Pal Satti, and former Congress MLA, Mr Manjeet Singh Dogra, were also present.

Hit by car, conductor hurt
Our Correspondent

Parwanoo, February 21
An HRTC bus conductor sustained injuries when a car hit him here last evening.

Rajinder Singh, conductor of bus No HP-025-0765, bound for Chandigarh from Shimla, was crossing the road after the bus stopped at the local HRTC petrol pump for diesel. While crossing the road a car (PB-06-B 6262) going uphill hit him. The car driver fled after the accident.

The conductor was rushed to the local ESI hospital. A case has been registered.@@Meanwhile, the Kandaghat police recovered 48 bottles of country-made liquor from a van (HP-01A-0163) near Vaknaghat yesterday. The van driver, Lal Singh, has been arrested.