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Axing trees: State defies HC ban
Tibetan protest: Life comes to halt
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Third in a row: Thind fails to join investigations
Rare python killed
Bamboo charcoal may hit market soon
‘Restore value-based politics’
Employees’ reward scheme to encourage work culture
Kidney patient looks for good Samaritans
Damage due to scab ‘negligible’
Treatment of rare cardiac anomaly
Silt observatory posts set up
Village pradhan detained
Land oustees be paid annuity for 33 yrs: HC
Panel to check targets under climate change
Fire at Baddi shoes factory
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Axing trees: State defies HC ban
Solan, August 30 Though there are a total of 344 trees, including 224 pine and 120 oak trees, as per the report of local patwari, the revenue authorities had failed to consider the fact that felling of trees was banned in the state. Conservator of forests H.S. Dogra, while confirming that no permission to fell trees could be granted since there was a high court ban, said the ban had come to effect in May. This observation has put a question mark over the revenue authorities that had conveniently ignored this fact. Revenue experts also pointed out that though the Act did not bar members of a family from buying land after procuring permission under Section 118, in practice even the spouse of a buyer was refused permission to do so. Further, though some objections had been raised by the office of the financial commissioner, they had failed to note whether the land exceeded the limit of 500 sq mt for each buyer and that the total land was in excess of 282 sq mt than the provisions laid down in the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972. Interestingly, the inquiry officer, joint secretary (revenue), had taken note of the total number of trees during his two-day visit here while the revenue authorities failed to see this observation. Meanwhile, SSP Chandigarh, in a letter written to SP Solan, has sought information about verification of the address of one of the buyers, Ravinder Singh. As per the address stated on the sale deed, Ravinder has mentioned H. No. 578, Sector 11, Panchkula, as his address. The Chandigarh police that is on a look out for him has, however, learnt that he was a resident of Kumarhatti and it has now asked the local police to verify the facts. |
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Tibetan protest: Life comes to halt
Dharamsala, August 30 Thousands of people, consisting of Tibetans and their supporters gathered at the Tsuglagkhang, the main temple, today. The Tibetan Solidarity Committee termed the today’s synchronised 12-hour prayer session and the symbolic fasting, which is held across the world, is one of the most important non-violent actions. The chief justice commissioner, justice commissioners, speaker and deputy speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche, members of the Kashag, members of Tibetan parliament, heads of the three independent bodies and other officials of the Central Tibetan Administration, participated in the non-violent action. While addressing the gathering, Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche said that the universal prayer session and the symbolic fasting was aimed at achieving world peace and happiness for all sentient beings in the world in general, and particularly for people in China and Tibet. We are immensely fortunate and grateful that the Dalai Lama has consented to take part in person here, but due to a slight indisposition this could not happen. However, he is observing the fast and prayer from Mumbai today and we convey our immense gratitude and respect to him, he said. Underlining that the activity is not a protest borne out of hatred and anger, Kalon Tripa said that it was an effort to strengthen our commitment to non-violence and to reduce our own defilements and to create compassion in the minds of the oppressor. |
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Third in a row: Thind fails to join investigations
Solan, August 30 Confirming this SP, Solan,
S.P.S. Verma said, “The ADGP did not turn up today and he has sought exemption till September 8 when he is slated to join his duty back. He is presently on leave.” The controversial ADGP, who is posted in the state Human Rights Commission and is undergoing trial at Patiala in some other case had, however, appeared there on August 18. Though police sleuths had tried to intercept him there but Thind had reportedly left by the time the local police could reach the courts. The Parwanoo police had earlier sent envoys to serve him summons at his official residence, C-12 Bemloe, Shimla. A similar exercise was undertaken at his Chandigarh residence- House no. 58, Sector-11-A and his in-laws’ place at house no-47, Sector-11-A , by the Parwanoo police. This case which was registered after a Parwanoo-based businessman Ashok Mittal made a written complaint with the local police had swung into limelight as it involved a senior official of the police department. Mittal had furnished an audio CD allegedly having taped evidence of Thind demanding lakhs from him in lieu of getting his shop vacated. |
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Rare python killed
Dharamsala, August 30 Some of the villagers tried to save the python. However, they failed to stop the terrified villagers from killing it. The villagers, when contacted, said they did not have any knowledge regarding the phone number or address of wildlife authorities in the area. They also did not have any knowledge that the snake they had killed was protected under Schedule 1 of the Wild Life Act and killing it could land them in trouble. The villagers kept the dead snake in a drum for curious onlookers. Indian python is an endangered species classified as near threatened on the
IUCN red list. The pythons are generally killed by poachers for their valuable skins. However, in inhabited areas near forests, people kill them out of fear. Pythons are non-poisonous and there has been no authentic case in which they have been reported as harming humans. They only come near human habitations in search of prey or in case of loss of habitat. The forest and wildlife authorities need to educate the villagers regarding the rare species of animals to protect them. |
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Bamboo charcoal may hit market soon
Dharamsala, August 30 Scientists of the IHBT have developed a kiln to manufacture charcoal from bamboo. Recent tests from CSIR centre, Jharkhand, have proved that the bamboo charcoal produced from IHBT kilns has the same burning energy as charcoal produced from any other wood. P.S. Ahuja, the director of IHBT, said, “The kiln could be set up at a cost of about Rs 1.25 lakh. We are planning to encourage farmers to set up bamboo charcoal kilns on cooperative basis. It would help improve their income and motivate them to grow bamboo.” Anil Sud, an IHBT scientist, said charcoal was being produced in the northern region from timber wood. It was leading to depletion of green cover. He said the IHBT had developed technologies to develop more profitable by-products from bamboo charcoal. The charcoal can also be used for producing activated carbon. The IHBT, on experimental basis, is going to set up an activated charcoal manufacturing unit from bamboo charcoal with the help of a local non- government organisation (NGO) CORD. The activated carbon was used in pharmaceutical and other industries. It could prove profitable for the farmers who opted for professional bamboo farming, he said. However, the sources here said the efforts of IHBT or authorities of national bamboo mission were not achieving much success in motivating the farmers of the states to opt for bamboo farming. One of the biggest bottlenecks was a complete ban on green tree felling in Himachal. The farmers have the impression that even if they go for bamboo plantation, they will not be allowed to harvest the crop due ban on green tree felling. The Department of Forest officials are also not clear whether bamboo harvest is commercial or falls under green cover category, the felling for which is banned. The bamboo farming can be a success in the state only if it is considered as a commercial crop and the farmers are allowed to harvest it at their will.
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‘Restore value-based politics’
Shimla, August 30 Speaking at the concluding session of the three-day BJP seminar for office-bearers Shanta spoke at length about the ‘Contribution of BJP’. “The fact that corruption, terrorism and poverty are proving to be major hindrances in the progress of the country, the BJP has to fight all such evils and set an example for others,” he remarked. He said the BJP had given a political alternative to the people which was based on the culture and social fabric of our country. “There are several instances like its struggle on Ram Janambhoomi issue and its fight against separatists forces in Jammu and Kashmir which has helped the BJP establish itself as a party which is there to protect national interest,” he said. Making reference of the report released by ‘Transparency International’ he said India was ranked at 91st position in terms of corruption and about Rs 21,000 crore bribes are exchanged for getting petty jobs done. “Today almost 150 districts are affected by militancy and what is even more unfortunate is the fact that more than 40 per cent youth involved in terrorism are from poor families,” he said. The BJP leader said that the country was till date paying a heavy price for two major blunders of ‘two nation theory’ and minority appeasement pursued by the Congress. Later, Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal spoke on a session titled ‘Prosperous Himachal -2020’. He said thrust of his government was road construction, education, health and creating more employment avenues. He added that harnessing the vast hydro-power potential was another priority area which would make Himachal the most preferred destination by 2020.
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Employees’ reward scheme to encourage work culture
Bilaspur, August 30 Addressing media persons here yesterday, state NGOs president Ram Singh said it was for the first time that the government had come out with the scheme to honor those who work with dedication and sincerity. He said the new scheme would certainly inculcate work culture in the employees. Ram Singh also welcomed recent declarations of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal under which 6 per cent dearness allowance was being released, about 6,000 employees having spent eight years in service were being regularised and daily wage of home guards was being increased by Rs 20. Singh said the government should not rush to recognise any one NGO body out of the total five presently clamouring for recognisation. He said the government should also desist from giving recognition to any one organisation that claims to be the sole representative of ideology of a particular party, either in the government or the opposition. Ram Singh said former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh committed the blunder of recognising a particular group of employees that claimed to be the followers of the Congress ideology and as a result he and his party got totally alienated from other employees. Ram Singh said till the government did not devise some method to ensure support of maximum number of state employees, it should continue its present system of accepting employees’ genuine demands as all NGO bodies have already submitted their memoranda to the government. |
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Kidney patient looks for good Samaritans
Kumarhatti, August 30 Dheeraj was diagnosed with kidney problem in 2003. His both kidneys were damaged. His father could not bear the shock and died. Dheeraj was operated upon at the PGI in 2003 when his mother gave one of her kidneys. Ironically, after five years the transplanted kidney was also damaged. For Dheeraj it is life and death situation now. Dheeraj has two kids aged five and two and he is now unable to run his rented shop in Dagshai market due to his bad health. The economic condition of the family has worsened due to heavy expenses incurred on Dheeraj’s medicines. Dheeraj is sole breadwinner of his family. Donors can contact at 09816674763 for financial help or send cheque and draft at H. No. 126, Sadar Bazaar, Dagshai Cantt, Solan district.
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Gynaecology dept sans specialist
Kullu, August 30 The patients here are a hapless lot due to the non-availability of pediatrician, gynaecologist, orthopaedic surgeon, eye-surgeon and medical specialist doctors. The OPDs of all specialists except that of medicine gave deserted look and the patients had no choice other than to visit private hospitals. Chief medical officer S.K Malhotra said the doctors were over-burdened as the specialist doctors were either on tour or attending national health programmes. Malhotra said though the needed strength of doctors was available, the hospital did not had a specialist in paediatric, gynaecology and eye department. However, there were doctors in the departments of medicines, surgical, orthopaedic and ENT. The CMO lamented that the government has now decided to send a gynaecologist every Thursday and Friday only to attend delivery cases. Malhotra further emphasised that the hospital required at least two specialist doctors in every department. Unfortunately, the government transferred specialist doctors to small hospitals where they had to work as general doctor. The only pediatrician posted at the regional hospital resigned and though one year had passed, no pediatrician was posted, he informed. The medical superintendents at the regional hospital here said though the sanctioned strength was 26, posts of specialists were reduced. That is the reason why the OPDs of the specialists were closed. Total available capacity of beds for the patients is 200 but usually the number is around 300. The final phase of the hospital building is also near completion and the capacity for indoor patients would be doubled. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, during his recent visit here, announced a grant of Rs 2 crore for the new phase. But he evaded the question of posting of specialist doctors.
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Damage due to scab ‘negligible’
Shimla, August 30 Due to excessive rain, scab attack and premature fall of leaves were expected, a spokesperson of the department said here recently. The department had sufficient quantity of anti-scab fungicides that were made available to the growers, he added. “During this year alone, 277 tonnes of pesticides worth Rs 9.5 crore had been arranged and made available to apple growers at subsidised rates,” he said. These were beneficial both for controlling scab as well as for preventing premature fall of leaves. Survey teams of the department comprising scientists from Nauni Horticulture University, Solan, had been constituted for districts of Shimla, Kullu, Mandi, Kinnaur, Chamba, Sirmaur and Solan keeping in view the possibility of the outbreak of scab. The survey has already been completed in Shimla,
Kullu and Mandi. “It has been found that scab has appeared in only a few orchards where the growers could not spray fungicide due to continuous rain. It has been ascertained that the loss due to scab is very
little,” he added. The fact that the Horticulture Department kept the growers informed about the possibility of scab attack due to heavy rain on radio and Doordarshan also helped contain the problem, he said. |
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Treatment of rare cardiac anomaly
Shimla, August 30 Twentyfive-year-old Jyoti came to the cardiology department with history of fatigability for over a year and swelling of the face and limbs for two months.
Dr Rajeev Bhardwaj, Associate Professor in the department, examined the patient and found that she was
suffering from the rare cardiac disorder of having isolated tricuspid valve narrowing also called stenosis. “Due to the narrowing of the valve, very small
quantity of blood was flowing into the right ventricle which had become too small,” explained Dr Bhardwaj. He added that since she was getting less blood, she
was showing signs of marked fatigue on walking or exerting. Isolated stenosis of tricuspid is an extremely rare condition reported in only about 10 to 15 patients in the world. “In the case of this patient it is probably rheumatic heart disease of which there have been barely two to three patients worldover,” he said. He added that it could also be a case of congenital in origin which is also very rare and presents infancy and childhood. “The treatment of this rare condition without surgery was a challenge as right ventricle was very small and not giving support to the balloon and moreover, the valve was very narrow,” explained Dr Bhardwaj. On August 23, the patient was admitted and it was after three hours that he was able to dilate the valve with two balloons of 23 mm and 17mm simultaneously. Dr Bhardwaj was assisted by Dr Rajeev Marwah, Registrar in cardiology. |
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Silt observatory posts set up
Solan, August 30 These posts have been set up in three different ecological zones of the project area to gather varied data. Project CEO R.K. Kapoor said, “A high-tech SOP has been established at Loharkha village in district Chamba. It is an ideal small village situated on the Nurpur - Chamba Highway.” This SOP was commissioned this year before the onset of monsoons. Having a total catchment area of 37 hectares, the share of arable land is about 2.30 hectares while the non-arable land comprises 26.70 hectares. The slope of the area is about 21 per cent with moderate erosion intensity. This observatory post has the capability to record automatic and four digit accurate measurements. It will enable the project to find timely solution in its interventions. The World Bank Mission that visited this site recently also appreciated the efforts.
Kapoor said being a natural resource management project, soil conservation is of prime concern. |
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Village pradhan detained
Kangra, August 30 Kangra DSP Omapati Jamwal said following a tip off, a police party yesterday raided a house in Ansoli village and seized some bags of government-quota cement bearing marks of the month of August. Jamwal said the Soil Conservation Department had issued the cement with marking of last year to the village pradan. He said investigation was going on. The DSP further stated that Ravi Kumar was under interrogation and it was to be checked whether the cement issued by the Soil Conservation Department was of last year. If after verification Ravi Kumar was found guilty, then he would be formally arrested. Jamwal said it would also be investigated from where Ravi Kumar procured government-quota cement.
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Land oustees be paid annuity for 33 yrs: HC
Shimla, August 30 The court further observed that in case the land has been acquired by private developers then the annuity may be Rs 25,000 and the same may be increased by Rs 750 every year for the next 33 years. This annuity will be applicable in all the cases except when the land is acquired by the government for defense purpose. This order was passed by Justice Rajiv Sharma on a petition filed by two oustees whose land were acquired for the construction of Kol Dam Hydro Electric Project but reasonable compensation was not given to them as per the state and N.T.P.C. |
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Panel to check targets under climate change
Shimla, August 30 The state-level governing council on climate change, headed by the Chief Minister, will monitor the targets under individual missions that are to be implemented by different departments. They would strive to attain the listed objectives within the stipulated time frame and ensure vertical integration with the national missions. The focus would be on promoting understanding of climate change, adaptation and mitigation, energy efficiency and natural resource conservation. Principal secretary, environment, Harinder Hira, said the council would meet twice a year and the committee, headed by the chief secretary, at least on quarterly basis for attending and steering micro-level environmental agenda. |
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Fire at Baddi shoes factory
Solan, August 30 The security guards immediately informed other unit employees and fire fighters were rushed to the spot. It took about 4-5 hours to control the fire and fire tenders were pressed in from as far as Parwanoo and Nalagarh, besides the local fire tenders from Baddi. The machinery, computers and finished as well as raw materials were destroyed in the fire. |
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Notwithstanding a high court ban on axing trees, the state government has granted permission to 18 high-profile buyers from Haryana to purchase 11.1 bighas at Rihun village near Kumarhatti bearing 344 fully grown trees.
Life came to a standstill at Macloedganj, also known as little Lhasa, due to worldwide symbolic action organised here today to free Tibet.
Dharamsala, August 30
