Dharamsala, May 14
Sitting in any corner of the world, you can now get pujas organised in your family’s name and donate online to the key temples of Kangra, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur and Chamba districts. As soon as the donation and puja is completed, symbolic ‘prasad’ in the form of a coconut and ‘chunni’ of the goddess appears on the devotee’s computer screen, followed by a brief online ‘darshan’ so that he can also pay obeisance.

At a meeting of the Deputy Commissioners of these five districts held here last evening, it was decided to include these features in the online facility for temples to be put in place by August-end, especially designed for devotees, who could come to the temples to pay obeisance.

During Navratras and other occasions, devotees could organise pujas and sevas in their names after donating a certain amount of money in favour of the temple trust. The temple officer would issue an online confirmation, said an official.

The temples of Chamunda Devi, Chintpurni Devi, Brijeshwari Devi, Jwalamukhi Devi, Naina Devi and Deotsidh would be included in the list.

It was decided to design a comprehensive website : himachaltemples.com with individual links to other temples. All relevant information about the temples of the state would be provided on the site to attract more devotee-tourists in the state.

The Deputy Commissioners expressed the need for a master plan for better development of the temples under their administrative control. It was also decided to send a proposal to the state government to check the unregulated construction activities being carried out in the private land near the main temples.

A request would be made to the state government to post a senior HAS officer in all the temples having an annual income of Rs 4 crore or above. It was decided to evolve an effective monitoring system to review the progress of all developmental activities being carried out in the temples. The chairman of every temple trust would submit a monthly progress report to the Divisional Commissioner.

The temple trusts had also been asked to make brief video clippings of the major events in the temples so that these could be put on-line, besides a system of getting information from the temple through e-mails.

The website would also provide information about the accommodation provided by the temple management or the hotels of the tourism department. A link to HPTDC online booking would also be provided, informed an official.

CHAMBA: Tucked in the vale of Himachal Pradesh, Chamba and Bharmour towns are more than a 1,000 year old, and the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, has taken a landmark decision to observe their millennium celebrations tentatively in October this year. A notification to this effect was issued by the Himachal Pradesh Government recently, though the exact dates are yet to be announced.

To commemorate the mega-event, a state-level committee for the millennium celebrations has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister and the district-level committee for millennium celebrations under the chairmanship of the Housing and Animal Husbandry Minister, Mr Harsh Mahajan.

The decision has been widely acclaimed in all quarters in the length and breadth of this ideal hill state nestled in a seductive setting surrounded by snowy mountains. Chamba is already getting ready for the mega event.

Beguiled by the picturesque valley and a magnificent prospect of the landscape of a small hamlet on the right bank of the Ravi, King Sahil Verman (920-945 AD) of the Bharmour kingdom shifted his capital from Bharmour, known for ancient Chaurasi temples, to the present Chamba town founded in the middle of the 10th century.

The erstwhile Chamba state has a long-chequered history and prior to its merger in Himachal Pradesh it was one of the oldest states in the northern India. The mountainous Chamba region is immensely rich in its distinct arts, culture and natural heritage of great antiquity and paramount importance.

Both Chamba and Bharmour towns had been the capitals of the erstwhile state of Chamba since the 5th century and as such were endowed with ancient buildings and temples, which are a part of the national heritage.

The Himachal Pradesh Government has constituted various sub-committees to carry out respective assignments as entrusted to them.

These sub-committees are actively on their jobs to make this festivity thriving thereby bringing Chamba on the international map of heritage tourism. The local specialties such as Chamba rumal, chappal, jirish, chuck etc will also be the limelight on the occasion.

The Chamba Chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has also proposed to offer all possible help to the Millennium Celebration Committee in celebrating the mega event in a befitting manner.

For this, INTACH has planned holding seminars, symposia, cultural events, performances of Pahari music, folk dances and dramas, exhibition of Pahari paintings, illustrated manuscripts, photographs (old and new) and arts and crafts. It has also planned bringing out a few publications in Hindi, Sanskrit and English highlighting the hoary past of these legendary towns in coordination with other socio-cultural organisations of the region.

It is hoped that the forthcoming millennium celebrations under the benign patronage of the Himachal Chief Minister will go a long way in highlighting the history, arts, folklore, cultural heritage as well as glory and grandeur of the ancient hill towns of Chamba and Bharmour.

Solan, May 14
With a view to giving a boost to infrastructure development in the industrial belts of the state, the government is contemplating a local area development tax. Being area-specific, the tax is slated to be imposed on the category A industrial areas which comprise developed industrial belts like Baddi-Barotiwala in Solan district and Kala Amb Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur.

With the state government having failed to put in place proper infrastructure in the form of well-maintained roads, a proper sewage disposal system and adequate housing, investors in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial areas have been a disappointed lot.

This tax, explain officials, will provide funds to the government for the required infrastructure. They argue that it is the responsibility of investors to contribute towards the development of the area where they have invested their money.

A section of investors from the HP chapter of PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry, however, opine that the move of the government to impose multiple taxes in the form of VAT and the proposed local area development tax is not industry-friendly. It is contrary to the promise of the government that no fresh tax will be imposed after introduction of VAT, they say.

The Commissioner, Excise and Taxation, Mr Narinder Chauhan, when contacted, said the local area development tax would be notified soon.

Shimla, May 14
In order to tide over the problem of inbreeding in lion and brown bear the wildlife wing of the Forest Department is considering getting animals of a new blood line apart from undertaking sterilisation of the lions lodged at its safari at Renuka in Sirmaur district.

With a very high infant mortality and various medical complications arising amongst the lions at the Renuka safari, the authorities have already started sterilising the lions. At present there are 14 lions at the safari, with almost equal number of males and females.

“Since we have sufficient number of lions at the moment we will sterilise all of them till we can get lions of a new stock or from a different blood line,” informed a wildlife official. So far only two lions have been sterilised but the authorities will sterilise all of them. Infact, a proposal to bring a pair of lions from the Junagarh zoo is also under the consideration of the officials.

With breeding taking place amongst animals from the same blood line, a lot of problem are being faced even among the brown bear, four of whom are lodged at the Kufri nature park, near here. “Though the proposal is at a very preliminary stage, we are considering getting a pair of brown bear from Tazakisthan so as to tackle the problem of inbreeding,” confirmed an official.

However, getting animals from another country under the international cooperation programme is a very lengthy and cumbersome process. A request is first sent from the state concerned to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA). It is considered at the level of the two countries.

Earlier this year in March, a team of wildlife officials from the state had visited Tazakisthan. It was on the request of the wildlife officials there that a pair each of leopards, and barking deer and five monkeys were gifted to a zoo. As such the wildlife Department is considering making a request to the CZA to get a pair of brown bear for the Kufri nature park.

Due to constant breeding amongst animals, a stage comes when a lot of complications arise and the mortality amongst the newborns becomes very high. This has already become a major problem at the Lion safari in Renuka and there are signs of inbreeding problem even amongst the brown bear at Kufri.

Shimla, May 14
The government will open one senior secondary school with hostel and allied services in every district headquarters in the state to facilitate quality education for girls.

This was stated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, while laying the foundation stone of the Rs 3 crore school building of Portmore School here today. “We are paying special attention to girls’ education as free education facilities are being provided,” he said.

He said even though the literacy rate was very high yet efforts were being made through various programmes to bring the female literacy rate on a par with that of males.

He said to improve connectivity, every panchayat in the state would be connected by road.

The election manifesto of the Congress was being implemented as a policy document and directions had been issued to fulfil all promises by March 31, 2007.

Later, Mr Virbhadra Singh also laid the foundation stone of the hostel building of Sri Sathya Sai Senior Secondary School at Pujarli on the Shimla-Junga highway.