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Media not playing its true role, says Dua
Mani Ratnam’s brother falls into gorge, dies
Hamirpur
Ford to park Rs 1,900 cr in ski resort
Drug trials bring hope
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Villagers forced to drink filthy water Nurpur, May 27
Reckless cutting of hills, trees by power company
Lecturers not to take
classes IX, X
Physical efficiency test held
HC sets aside order
Snow in high-altitude areas
Tributes paid to Nehru
Police accused of partiality
Shopkeepers penalised for irregularities
Truck driver killed in mishap
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Media not playing its
true role, says Dua
Shimla, May 27 Inaugurating a national seminar on “Contemporary issues in mass communication” organised by the Journalism Department of Himachal Pradesh University here, he said it was painful to note that after Independence the media had lost the spirit of nationalism and the reformist streak which helped sustain the freedom movement. Overwhelmed by the forces of crass commercialism the media had virtually given a go-by to the concept of social responsibility. It was, thus, not surprising that the media had lost focus and it was no longer serving the public interest. News channels had degenerated into entertainment channels with focus on celebrities as evident from disproportionate coverage given to the marriage of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya
Rai spanning almost over six months. A similar zeal for reporting catastrophic events like the tsunami disaster or the social conditions which bred Naxalites or other such issues affecting the underprivileged sections would have served the country much better. There were vast areas where the media had failed to fulfil its responsibility. The lack of access to education, health, drinking water and other basic amenities, the conditions of farmers in distress and the worsening unemployment situation were not being debated at length. There was no urge to fight the evils like criminalisation of politics and instead leaders with criminal background were being glorified. Instead of serving the public interests it was becoming a tool in the hands of vested interests. It was high time for introspection as the people had high expectations from the media. In his keynote address Resident Editor of The Pioneer Dinesh Kumar expressed concern over the eroding credibility of media. It was becoming too pervasive but at the same time more and more invasive. All major newspapers were coming out with city-centric supplements to provide extensive coverage to the region. Some sections disapproved of what was being dubbed as trivialisation of news. The only silver lining was that hard news was still paramount and got adequate coverage. Vice-chancellor of the university Anil Wilson minced no words in criticising the media for pandering to the basic instincts rather than promoting dignity, decency and a moral way of life. The coverage of Richard Gere-Shilpa Shetty kiss in the electronic media, which showed the clip again and again, was more disgusting than the incident itself. The seductive power of materialism was at play all over the place and commercialisation had all but completely taken over the media.. A stage had reached where gossip and rumours were vying for equal space with news and information. A lot of misinformation and disinformation was served by 24-hour news channels. Chairman of the Journalism Department Veer Bala said that students passing out from the department were getting placement in reputed newspapers and news channels. Some of them were well-known faces in the media. |
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Mani Ratnam’s brother falls into gorge, dies
Manali, May 27 Srinivasan (49) was trekking with his family members, including wife Sandhya Lakshman and dauguter Shreya, when he fell into a 50-foot-deep gorge this morning. The body of the producer, who had been here with his family for the past 10 days on a holiday, was retrieved around 2 p.m. about three hours after the incident. Srinivasan has produced critically acclaimed films like “Iruvar” (1997), “Yuva” (2002), “Guru”, which was released earlier this year, and “Kannathinmuthanittal” (2002)—all directed by Mani Ratnam. The body of Srinivasan is being taken to Chennai for the last rites.
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Hamirpur
Dharamsala, May 27 Addressing election meetings at Gagret, Nakroh, Daulatpur, Nangal-Janyala, Ambota and Kuthera-Jaswalan in Una district today, he said that the Congress victory in the Shimla MC elections would be repeated in Hamirpur. The state government had always initiated efforts for strengthening the economy of the state with the sole motive to uplift the standard of life of the people and provide them all basic necessities. Virbhadra Singh claimed that extensive industrialisation had been on in the state for the past four years and thousands of unemployed people were being provided employment. Una district had also seen tremendous development over the past four years. Lashing out at the BJP, the CM said that the opposition party was exploiting the feelings of the common man by unnecessarily raising the baseless issues of regionalism and casteism to fulfil its vested political interests. He said the Hamirpur bye-elections was the result of corrupt BJP MP Suresh Chandel who was removed from the public post after he being caught in a sting operation taking a bribe for asking a question in Parliament. Hamirpur: Himachal Pradesh revenue minister Sat Mahajan has claimed that the Congress party is capable of turning the tide in favour of its party candidate Ram Lal Thakur. Addressing mediapersons here he said, “when the Congress activists are doing hard work for the victory of Ram Lal Thakur, the BJP workers are trying to block Dhumal’s path to Delhi.” He said Dhumal’s workers wanted him to become the Chief Minister of the state and did not want to send him to Delhi.” Mahajan said this time Dhumal was not talking much about development the way he talked earlier about getting many works done in Dodra, Kawar and Rohroo.
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Ford to park Rs 1,900 cr in ski resort
New Delhi, May 27 “We have submitted our proposal to the state government and expect the mandatory regulatory approval to come in the next six months,” HSV managing director John Sims said. HSV plans to invest Euro 350 million (about Rs 1,900 crore) for developing the resort over the next five to six years. Of this, up to Rs 700 crore is expected to be invested this fiscal alone, in order to make the resort operational between November 2008 and February 2009. HVS, promoted by Alfred Ford - the grandson of Ford Motors founder Henry Ford - has raised the required money for starting the project. While half the money was routed through London, the rest has been mobilised from the domestic market, Sims said. HSV would be developing the resort in an area of 100 acres with a capacity to train about 10,000 learners daily. The company would require about 3,500 employees to run the proposed villa, Sims said, adding there would be at least 300 trainers for giving lessons on skiing and related activities. HSV has tied up with Finpro, a Finnish government arm for promotion of international trade, for the supply of building materials, wooden material required for skiing and ready-made sportswear. HSV also plans to adopt five villages as part of its corporate social responsibility initiative. For this, the company has tied up with the Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, for conducting environment audit to find out the environmental impact of the resort. — PTI
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Drug trials bring hope
Mandi, May 27 The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), New Delhi, has been administering treatment of “pre-fross” ointment to soldiers and labourers working n the snowbound region for the past few years with good results. But it was for the time that the drug was tried on 50 patients successfully in the tribal belt. It was an 11-phase drug trial. Lahaul-Spiti CMO Kuldip Sharma said: “We found that cold injuries of patients healed and DRDO drugs improved blood circulation and body temperature in all cases.” The DRDO had tied up with the CMO and conducted field trial on patients for the first time in the country. The ointment and other DRDO drugs have been cleared by the drug controller of India. The ointment has come as an effective solace not only for tribal patients in the snowbound areas, but also for trekkers, mountaineers and even tourists crossing these areas, doctors said. Director of DRDO’s nuclear medicine and allied sciences wing Asim Bhatnagar, in a letter addressed to the director (health services), Himachal Pradesh, has confirmed the successful field trial conducted on 50 patients in Lahaul-Spiti and sought a meeting to chalk out the plan to extend other DRDO products and drugs that have turned out to be effective in treating high-altitude edema and other pulmonary diseases.
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Villagers forced to drink filthy water
Nurpur, May 27 The Department of Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) has installed a number of taps for villagers, but these usually remain dry throughout the year. The water scarcity during the summer turns so acute that women are forced to fetch water for daily domestic use from a roadside filthy pool. They can be seen assembled with buckets near the pool waiting for their turn in the morning these days. Animals also drink water from this pool. The water of a hand pump sunk by the IPH Department around 1.5 km away from this village has been declared unfit for human consumption. Villagers allege that supply of drinking water was not sufficient in the area and in the absence of traditional water resources, they have to use water from the filthy pool. Sometimes these taps go dry for days together and the villagers are forced to use the pool water for drinking after boiling it. Moreover, the pressure of the piped water, which is supplied on alternate days for 30 minutes, is so low that only a few buckets can be filled. Executive engineer of the IPH L.S. Thakur said as soon as he came to know about the problem, he told the field staff to ensure regular water supply there.
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Reckless cutting of hills, trees by power company
Palampur, May 27 Villagers from three panchayats of the Bundla and Kandi areas adjoining Palampur town have lodged a protest against the company and demanded immediate suspension of the work on the project. They have alleged that the ecology of the region has been affected. Twelve irrigation channels and drinking water supply schemes feeding a population of 2 lakh in the lower areas of Palampur have also been affected, they say. A Tribune team on a visit to the project site found that JCB machines were engaged in reckless and unscientific cutting of hills. They were throwing debris, soil and clay into the Neugal river in gross violation of the directions of the apex court and the HP high court. Hundreds of trees had also been axed by the company. An official of the company on the project site said they had been granted permission by the state government for cutting trees and hill rocks to make a road to the dam site. Palampur divisional forest officer A. Reddy said company had deposited Rs 10.29 lakh as cost of trees with the government so far and the sanction was given for felling 724 trees. Besides, the company was also allowed to utilise 30 hectares of forestland for the execution of 15-MW powerhouse. The company had also deposited an additional amount of Rs 49 lakh under the catchment area treatment plan.
Two instalment of Rs 35 lakh were due in June and July, 2007, he added. He admitted that the company was also conducting heavy blasting for the cutting of hill rocks but its permission was granted by the Kangra DC and the Forest Department had no authority to stop them. However, contrary to the claim of the DFO, the Tribune team found that over 200 hectares of forestland had been affected by cutting of hills while the company was allowed to restrict its activities in 30 hectares only. As regards the felling of green trees, the company had deposited Rs 10.29 lakh as cost of 724 trees, but in fact more than 1,000 green trees had been either affected or felled by the company. Executive engineer of the IPH Department Naresh Sharma admitted that the existence of various water supply schemes and the irrigation channels was under threat because of reckless cutting of hills and dumping of debris in the Neugal, near Bundla village. He said he was aware of the problem and had already served a notice on the management of the company a month back to stop construction work but they were not responding. He said the company had destroyed property of the IPH Department worth Rs 20 lakh so far. He said he had directed the company to pay the damages but it had deposited only Rs 80,000 till date and the balance was yet to be recovered. He said so far six irrigation channels had been damaged by the dumping of debris in the Neugal. These were a major source of water supply for lower areas of Palampur, he added. Meanwhile, the Palampur Welfare and Environment Protection Forum has expressed concern over the reckless cutting of hills by the company. President and secretary of the forum R. Sood and U.C. Verma, respectively, sought the intervention of the Chief Minister into the issue. If early action was not taken it would cause flash floods in the coming raining season affecting the lives of people leaving in lower areas of Palampur, they said. |
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Lecturers not to take
classes IX, X
Nahan, May 27 The Directorate of Secondary Education vide EDN-H(8)B(1) 2/2006 Board-L dated 3 April 2007 had sent circulars for redistribution of teaching assignments amongst lecturers to all deputy directors. Anita Rao, director, secondary education, however, claimed that representatives of different teaching associations had agreed to teach classes IX to XII. She reiterated that the lecturers would be required to take minimum 30 periods in a week, and this would continue the shortage of lecturers persisted. Meanwhile, trained graduate teachers of the local senior secondary school and Government Senior Secondary School, Bankalan, have stopped teaching classes IX and X. Sirmaur Deputy director of education Pritam Singh said such acts of disobedience would not be tolerated as the teachers’ unions have already given their consent for the revised teaching schedule. Umesh Bahuguna, vice-president of the Rajkiya Adhyapak Sangh, has demanded the introduction of the commerce, science and arts stream system from class IX onwards. |
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Physical efficiency test held
Sundernagar, May 27 These tests, which started on May 14, shortlisted 3,080 for a written test on July 16. According to C.S Singh, conservator of forests, Mandi circle, 90 employees from the Forest, Sports and Police Departments conducted the tests. |
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HC sets aside order
Shimla, May 27 The court made this observation, while setting aside the order passed by the then additional secretary, S.S. Guleria, where he pronounced the judgement in a matter after he relinquished the charge and to overcome this situation, the noting portion was accordingly changed. A division bench comprising Mr Justice Deepak Gupta and Mr Justice Surinder Singh observed that this case reflected a shocking state of affairs, where the concerned officer appeared to have interpolated the order sheets after the order was announced. The present petition has been filed challenging the said order of the additional secretary (co-operation) to the state of HP on the ground that Guleria heard the arguments on December 18, 2006, ceased to hold this officer w.e.f. February 22, 2007, and had become functus officio on March 1, 2007, when the order was announced. The bench also directed that the copy of this judgement be sent to the chief secretary of the state for appropriate action so that necessary instructions are issued to all administrative officers that they comply with the observations made in the judgement.
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Shimla, May 27
Shimla recorded 5 mm of rain, Met officials said. The maximum temperature in Shimla was 22.5° C in comparison to 20.2° C yesterday, they said. While Sundarnagar and Kalpa recorded 5 mm of rain, Bhuntar had 4 mm and Dharamsala 2.4 mm. Despite rains, temperature rose by three to four degrees elsewhere in the state also. Sundarnagar recorded a maximum temperature of 30.6 degree celsius in comparison to 26.5 degree C yesterday. Kalpa 16.5° C vis-a-vis 13.6° C and Dharamsala 28.6° C against 23.8° C yesterday, sources added. Weathermen have forecast rain and thundershowers at few places tomorrow. Chamba: The high peaks of Chamba district, including the tribal Pangi valley, and the adjoining Pir Panjal ranges of Jammu and Kashmir had snow this afternoon. According to reports, certain areas of the district were lashed by widespread rain accompanied by a thunderstorm, reviving cold wave conditions. Strong winds blew off tin roofs in certain parts of the Bhattiyat area and caused heavy damage to fruits like plum, apricot and apple in Churah and Bharmour subdivisions. Thakur Singh Bharmouri, a tribal MLA, said he had asked horticulture and agriculture officials to assess the loss and submit a report to the Chamba DC for submission to the government. — PTI, OC
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Tributes paid to Nehru
Shimla, May 27 A function at the Pradesh Congress Committee office here recollected the immense contribution Nehru made to the freedom struggle. His love and affection for Himachal Pradesh and its people came in for special mention. Those who paid floral tributes included secretary of the party S.P. Katyal. |
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Police accused of partiality
Hamirpur, May 27 He said, “when the Congress men allegedly indulged in hooliganism in the public meeting of Prem Kumar Dhumal, the SP behaved as man of the ruling party.” He said the party had complained to the Election Commission about the partisan behaviour of the police chief and has sought his removal. |
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Shopkeepers penalised for irregularities
Dharamsala, May 27 Fifty shops in the Palampur, Maranda, Alampur and Thural areas were raided by officials of the Food and Civil Supplies Department, out of which, seven were challaned for not displaying the rate lists of essential commodities. They had been asked to appear in the court of the local subdivisional magistrate on May 28. A fine would be imposed on them for the violation of government directives. The Weights and Measure Department raided many business establishments in Kangra subdivision during the past 24 hours and imposed a fine of Rs 44,400 on as many as 25 businessmen. |
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Truck driver killed in mishap Nalagarh, May 27 The driver, Natha Singh, was rushed to the Civil Hospital here, but he died on the way. According to the information, the driver in an attempt to overtake another vehicle lost control on the vehicle. The truck was reportedly being driven at a very high speed.
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