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Heritage Status
Kokje inaugurates painting school
Police to get modern arms
Fungal disease grips apple orchards
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Snow in higher reaches
High Court stops construction of power project
Congress leaders support Kaushal
CM’s nominee at right time: BJP
Bali denies having danced with girls
New law to check contract system: CM
3 pc quota for the disabled
Pilgrim killed in mishap
Kidnapper’s sketch soon, says ASP
Hold interviews afresh: Docs
Appeal to curb female foeticide
Irate parents threaten to lock school
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UNESCO team inspects Kalka-Shimla rail track
Ambika Sharma
Solan, September 11 The team reached the Kalka railway station in the morning. It was received by Ambala DRM H.K. Jaggi and other officials of the Northern Railway. The duo later told mediapersons that they would furnish a report to the UNESCO that would finally decide about the grant of heritage status to the track. They evinced keen interest in the railway track and opined that it was a befitting case for an entry into the world heritage list. The team stopped at various small stations, including Koti, Barog, Sanwara and Dharampur, amidst picturesque surroundings and appreciated the salubrious climes. Team members took interest in examining old relics, including ancient wall clocks. Some semi-porcelain hand-painted crockery, made in England, and furniture have also been well preserved at the Barog railway station. The team was impressed by the old system still at work at the Barog railway station. Ancient communication and track-control system, called Neals Token Instrument System, is still in use on this rail section. Block phones are also used to establish link between two stations. Lanterns, like the ones used in the last century, are still being used to signal the trains to stop or move. The team would inspect the remaining track from Dharampur to Kandhaghat tomorrow. The DRM said once the railway track entered the UNESCO list, their responsibility would increase manifold. The consultants were all praise for the unique engineering wherein all 18 stations on the route were located next to bridges. The railway staff told them that some of these stations had been abandoned now as these had become financially unviable. Though many of the small stations have ticket sale of less than Rs 500 a month, only a few, like Jabli, have been abandoned. “Others like Koti, which have a sale of less than Rs 100 a month, cannot be closed because of their operational importance,” said railway officials. One of the most interesting features of the Kalka-Shimla route is the presence of girder bridges. There is only one 60-foot plate girder span near Dharampur and a steel trestle viaduct, which replaced a stone gallery in 1935. The remaining 866 bridges, representing three per cent of the line, carry the rail track over the ravines and between the hill spurs. Enthused by these unique features the railway officials opined that the track could soon be on the world heritage list.
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Kokje inaugurates painting school
Dharamsala, September 11 He said that there was a need to preserve the originality of Kangra painting besides keeping up the modern traditions. He said the artists needed to work hard to achieve the objective and to earn well from painting. He said the responsibility of popularising the art lay with the artists. He lauded the efforts of the society in reviving Kangra painting and said there was a need to make efforts for the promotion of this art. He honoured Akshay Ranchal, Ajay Mittal, Vijay Lal, Faiz Murtaza Ali, Smriti Chadda, Yogi Mahajan and Ajay Singh Mankotia for sponsoring trainees admitted to the training school. He also visited the painting exhibition put up on the occasion. Local MLA Chandresh Kumari urged to rename the school as Maharaja Sansar Chand School and said he played a significant role in the promotion of Kangra art. Divisional commissioner, who is also chairman of the society, B.K. Aggarwal spoke on the objectives of the training school. He said the school would provide Rs 1,500 scholarship per month to six students and Rs 35,000 would be spent on each student every year.
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Police to get modern arms
Shimla, September 11 The committee constituted by the DGP has recommended that modern arms and ammunition be provided to the force. The committee headed by the IG (armed police and training) has recommended that all constables posted in district police and civil police units be provided with a 9 mm pistols instead of old .303 rifles. The outdated .303 rifles are still in use at many places. It has been recommenced that the surplus .303 rifles could be used by Home Guard and members of the village defence committees (VDC). The VDCs have been constituted in villages that lie on the border of Chamba and Jammu and Kashmir to check any infiltration or militancy-related activity. It is proposed that in case there are some .303 rifles left after meeting the requirement of the VDCs then they could be given to other state police forces like that of Chhattisgarh as per their demand. The All India Reserve Battalion and 1st battalion of the HP Armed Police will be provided with arms and ammunition as per the IRB pattern approved by the Centre. As such they will be provided with SLR 7.62 with a special tube attachment, AK-47s in place of carbines, LMG and mortar. In fact, a new central armoury will be constructed at Junga to replace the old one which is unable to upkeep and maintain properly arms and ammunition.
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Fungal disease grips apple orchards
Shimla, September 11 While most of the orchards have been affected by mite, the impact of fungal disease is more pronounced in the Rohru area. According to reports reaching here, a number of orchards in Jubbal, Kotkhai, Nandpur, Chirgaon, Maryog, Nither, Dalash, Nankheri and Karsog are witnessing premature leaf-shedding due to mite infestation. The impact was visible in a large number of orchards where the colour of leaves has started fading. Morssinona fungus was largely confined to Rohru, Chirgaon and Spail valley. The orchards affected by the fungal disease were mostly in shady areas. These diseases first hit the state in early 1990s and it had taken a long time for the scientist to identify these and come out with a package of control measures. Prolonged spells of cloudy conditions this season led to excessive humidity, creating ideal environment for the growth of fungi. A team of scientist from horticulture and forestry university that visited the affected areas to investigate the cause of outbreak of the fungal disease after a gap of eight years observed that apart from favourable weather conditions, laxity on the part of growers was also responsible for its resurgence. Some of the growers became complacent and did not adhere to the spraying schedule. The recommended gap between two sprays is 15 to 20 days, but they extended it to a month or even more. The orchards in shady areas were more infected by morssinona as humidity in such conditions increased to over 85 per cent helping the fungus to flourish. They also found that the size of the fruit had been affected in severely infected orchards.
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Snow in higher reaches
Shimla, September 11 The MET office said the Dhauladhar Ranges in Kangra district received a mild snowfall last night, while light showers lashed lower areas of the state during the night. The Rohtang Pass situated at 14,050 feet also recorded a mild snowfall during the night, it said. The maximum temperature at Shimla, Sundernagar and Bhuntar remained more or less stationary at 23.4, 31.5 and 30 degree celsius as against 23.4, 31 and 32.5 degree celsius respectively. |
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High Court stops construction of power project
Shimla, September 11 While passing this order the bench issued notices to the Centre and the state governments and the management of the project. The petitioner organisation averred in its petition that the project was damaging the forests as there was diversion of forest land without the necessary approval of the Union Ministry of Environment and illegal dumping on forest land. The petitioner further alleged that the project was violating the forest laws but only fines were imposed time and again by the state instead of lodging a F.I.R . The petioner urged the court to revoke the clearance given by the government to execute the project.
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Congress leaders support Kaushal
Bilaspur, September 11 BDC member Prem Lal Thakur and farmer leader Geeta Ram Thakur said the meeting expressed resentment over the fact that action was taken against Kaushal without getting an impartial inquiry conducted into the allegations. It was alleged that state unit president of the party Viplov Thakur was playing in the hands of forest minister Ramlal Thakur. The meeting said Kaushal had done nothing wrong as he had only raised his voice against the injustice being meted out to thousands of families of the district in the matter of anganwari selections. In fact, action should have been taken against Ramlal Thakur, who illegally interfered in the selections and was responsible for tarnishing the image of party. The meeting was presided by veteran farmer leader and former Dobha panchayat president Lekh Ram Thakur.
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CM’s nominee at right time: BJP
Hamirpur, September 11 In reply to a specific question about the role of former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal during the next Assembly elections in the state, Dhankhad said here today that “both Shanta Kumar and Dhumal are tall leaders of the party in the state and will work for its victory”. Criticising the Congress government the BJP leader said: “Though the government is making reckless announcements now it has backtracked on its election promises”. While the government had failed to control the prices in general, the law and order situation was also bad.
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Bali denies having danced with girls
Dharamsala, September 11 In his statement before the committee, he denied that it was in his knowledge that any girls were hired from Delhi for his birthday party. He said he did not dance with girls in the party. “It was a family get-together in which no liquor was served,” he said. He said that he attended the party and stayed there for not more than 20 minutes. During the time of his stay in the party, his family members, including wife, son, daughter and son-in-law, were also present there, he said. He said neither did he drink nor dance with girls in the party. “I just raised my hand holding a glass of soft drink to say cheers and then asked my son-in-law to go back home,” he said. He said he did not remember whether any of the alleged dance girls came up to him and asked him to dance with her. He claimed that he could not even judge that those girls were professional dancers or family members of some guests. Had he known that some professional dancers had been called to the party, he would have definitely not gone there. When Justice Garg asked him whether the dresses of the girls were indecent, Bali said no such thing was observed by him in that party. Most of the guests had brought their families to the party, he reiterated. He said he was not the person repeatedly shown in the news clipping bending down on knees in front of one of the dance girls as if kissing her. He said, “I was not present in the party at that time.” He admitted that owner of a private news channel and a couple of IAS officers, including Subash Ahluwalia, were present in the party. He, however, denied having used his influence to disrupt power supply and force cable operators to stop telecasting cable network while the news was being telecast on July 29. He said it was a deep-rooted conspiracy to malign him. He alleged the news channel had shown him wearing three different dresses in the news clippings, which clearly indicated that cut-and-paste editing had been done. Bali and his lawyers present in the courtroom objected to the presence of mediapersons during the recording of his statement, but Justice Garg rejected their request saying it was an open court and he could not force anybody to go out. Two eyewitnesses, Navneet Sharma and Ajay Verma, said Bali was present in the party with his family and he stayed there for only 15-20 minutes. Neither the power supply, nor the cable network was disrupted in the area on the day of the telecast of the sting operation, they said in separate statements. Petitioner Vijay Kumar was also summoned by Justice Garg.
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New law to check contract system: CM
Nahan, September 11 The CM made it clear that he was well aware of all the happenings of the industrial sector. He further said the government policy for the welfare of workers and to ensure up to 70 per cent employment to natives would be implemented in letter and sprit. He said although the figures supplied by the Labour Department showed that 7 to 8 per cent Himachali workers had been employed by the factories but to cross check this fact he would order a fresh survey. Taking a tough stand on the matter he made it clear that engagement of workers through contractors, just to douse the provisions of law, would not be tolerated. He warned that any industrialist not complying with the provisions laid in the states industrial policy would be punished. He said a new law with a provision to impose a complete ban on hiring labour through contractors was being prepared and hoped that it would be enacted shortly. The CM said he was well aware that poor and eligible persons at many places had failed to get their names included in the list of IRDP and Antodaya while some well-to-do persons had managed to get the status. He said this mess happened during the BJP regime and several agencies were involved in conducting the IRDP survey. But his government had made a number of efforts for the revision of this list. He announced that Himachal was first state in the country which had provided unlimited time to the poor families to file their claims for the inclusion in the list. He reiterated his commitment to save the environment at any cost. He announced that strict action would be taken against companies executing mini hydel projects in the state if any complaint was received regarding damage to the environment or the traditional rights of the locals.
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3 pc quota for the disabled
Shimla, September 11 An official spokesperson said the decision would come into effect immediately . The government has also decided to open a new polytechnic at Banikhet in district Chamba. It has also given the nod for the creation and filling of 73 posts in disciplines of civil, mechanical, electronics and communication, electrical and automobile engineering to make the institution functional from the 2007-08 academic session. |
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Pilgrim killed in mishap
Chamba, September 11 According to sources, the seriously injured youth was rushed to nearby Bathri hospital by local people but he could not survive. The body was handed over to his kin after an autopsy. A case has been registered.
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Kidnapper’s sketch soon, says ASP
Kullu, September 11 Shivam (15), son of businessman Kamal Chhabra of Bhuntar, was kidnapped by a man near Mohal, about 5 km from here, on Saturday. Shivam, who managed to escape, told the police that while going to Kullu in a bus he got down at Mohal. A man wearing a Kashmiri kurta pyjama pounced upon him and took him away to an isolated hut and locked him there. The kidnapper took out all the money from his pockets and beat him up severely before locking. The child escaped from a window which was luckily open and shouted for help. The kidnapper fled before people came. ASP Bisht suspected the involvement of drug addicts in the case. |
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Hold interviews afresh: Docs
Shimla, September 11 They gave a representation to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh here today. The government must advertise more posts so that the pass-outs from HP Government Dental College and Hospital, Shimla, and four private dental colleges could be absorbed. The pass-outs from Shimla Dental College requested the Chief Minister to give them preference over the pass-outs from private colleges as they were selected against a much higher merit than their counterparts. They suggested that the government must try and create dental facilities at the primary health centre level so that all pass-outs could be accommodated and the dental services could be provided to the people even in rural areas. |
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Appeal to curb female foeticide
Kangra, September 11 Sharma was addressing a gathering in the local polytechnic college auditorium here today, as the chief guest, on the occasion of the ‘Universal Brotherhood Day’ organised by Vivekananda Kendra to commemorate the historical speech delivered by Swami Vivekananda on September 11, 1893, in Chicago. Prof P.N.Sharma, former principal of Govt. degree college, Dharamshala, the guest of honour, narrated the conversation in Bengali language between Swami Vivekananda and Swami Ramakrishna during their first meeting. Swami Ramananda of Chinmayanad Mission presided over the function. A declamation contest was organised on the occasion and Shobhna Mittal of R.P.Govt. Medical College, Kangra, Suman Dhiman of Govt. degree college, Dhaliara, and Bindia of MCM DAV College Kangra bagged the first, second and third prizes, respectively. |
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Irate parents threaten to lock school
Nurpur, September 11 Demanding regular studies for these classes 32 parents as well as villagers through a memorandum have served a 15-day ultimatum on the Education Department to set things right after which they threatened to lock the school building. The parents led by ex member of the Zila Parishad Pratap Shukla met the SDM and apprised him of the present state of affairs in the school. Despite directions from the director, secondary education, to all principals of senior secondary schools to ensure implementation of the timetable of classes IX and X by school lecturers on June 25 vide office letter number EDN-H 19 (B) 15/2007, this order has not so far been adhered to in this school. The deputy director, secondary education, Dharamsala, could not be contacted for his comments as he was away on tour to Nagrota Surian. |
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