Solan, October 10
The Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government on October 17 to set up a container freight station (CFS) at Baddi.

Though CONCOR was keen to set up an inland container depot (ICD), the non-availability of railway facility to Baddi made it curtail the proposal to a CFS. The upgrading can, however, take place once the Railways extends the link to the area.

Director (industries) Manoj Sharma said, “The nitty-gritty of the MoU has been worked out and CONCOR will be setting up the CFS facility in 15 months. The government has already transferred 87 bighas of land at Shitalpur in favour of the Industries Department. The land will be granted to CONCOR on a nominal lease amount after signing the MoU. The government will also lay a road to facilitate CONCOR.”

As a similar facility of a dry port exists only at Ludhiana in the region, the move will boost exports from the region. The government has initially invited expressions of interest for setting up an ICD at Baddi, which houses around 70 per cent of the state’s industry. Three parties had offered to set up a CFS as an ICD could not operate without rail connectivity.

While two parties, Krishna Cargo and Delhi-Assam Roadways, had shown interest in setting up a CFS, the third party, the Container Corporation of India, offered to set up a CFS at the first instance with a promise to upgrade it to an ICD as soon as the Railways expanded its network to the region.

A CFS will cost around Rs 7 to Rs 10 crore whereas an ICD will require an investment of about Rs 40 crore. According to officials, all three parties were asked to visit the spot and make presentations after which CONCOR was asked to set up a CFS.

Equipped with facilities like warehousing, booking, handling and delivery of goods and transportation, the CFS will give a big boost to export-oriented units. An independent consultant has already assessed the traffic potential of the area.

The opening of the depot will put on hold the domination of local truck unions that have not only monopolised the market but often disrupt work for days.

Welcoming the move, president of the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh-Industries Association (BBNIA) Rajinder Guleria said, “It is a positive step that will boost exports, but connectivity in the form of better roads and railway expansion can help draw more investors to the region.”

Bilaspur, October 10
The state government is committed to provide all essential facilities of roads, clean drinking water, education and health in every village within the shortest period of time and all government planning is directed towards that end. This was declared by MP Anurag Thakur while addressing a series of largely attended public meetings at a number of places, including Bholi and Syhola in the Kot Kehloor constituency in this district yesterday.

The MP said the former Congress government upgraded a large number of schools in several areas at the time of last Vidhan Sabha election but did not provide any facility which proved a big joke with the people and students of the area.

But the present BJP government is now determined to provide all essential facilities in these upgraded schools and has recently sectioned 1,800 posts of teachers and these posts are being filled up now while as many as 45 thousand employees, including teachers, have been given their promotions.

BJP state spokesman Randhir Sharma said Chief Minister had sanction a veterinary hospital for Jukhala area and 45 hand pumps had been installed in the Kot Kehloor area.He declared that the Syohla area would be connected with metalled road with in next six months.

Shimla, October 10
The Himachal Pradesh State Industries Development Corporation (HPSIDC) Employees Union has opposed the government decision to merge Genera Industries Corporation with the Nahan foundry.

The union pointed out that the merger was neither in the interest of the corporation nor the foundry. It also asserted that any move to merge any other public sector undertaking into the state industries development corporation would be opposed tooth and nail. The corporation was itself in poor financial health and merger of another loss-making unit would lead to its closure.

The wage Bill of the corporation was already Rs 4 crore and if two other units were merged into it would go up to Rs 12 crore. The government had not given any grant in aid to the corporation for the past 14 years.

The union president, Amar Pal Bharadwaj, said a deputation of the union would soon meet Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal and take up the matter with him. He said the union was of the view that instead of merger of loss-making public sector undertakings the government should provide financial assistance to revive them. Alternately, if these were to be closed then the employees should be adjusted in various other corporations against vacant posts.

The union also opposed the Voluntary Retirement Scheme and termed it as anti-employees. In the schemes circulated in 2005 and 2007, there was a provision of payments of 45-day salary for every year of competed services whereas in the latest scheme the benefit had been reduced to 30 days. This was the main reason for the employees not opting for voluntary retirement under the scheme. It urged the government to restore 45 days benefit under scheme.

Shimla, October 10
Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kaul Singh has decried the undemocratic and dictatorial approach of the Dhumal government, which used the police to forcibly take away the PTA teachers who were on an indefinite fast in support of their demands.

Kaul Singh said on one hand the government was throwing them out of job and on the other they were not being allowed to exercise their democratic right to stage a protest.

The BJP government had been prejudiced against the PTA teachers from the day one for the sole reason that they were appointed during the Congress regime.

It had messed up the whole issue and it was now using force to crush their stir. Worse, most of the schools, particularly in the interior, were without teachers because of which the students were suffering, he said.

The Congress president urged Dhumal not to make it a prestige issue and adopt a practical approach to resolve it through talks. It could not be settled by use of force, resorting to lathicharge, registering cases against protesters and other coercive measures, he added.

He warned that if the situation got further aggravated only the government would be responsible for the consequences.

Meanwhile, a former minister Rangila Rma Rao has also condemned the BJP regime for letting loose a rein of terror on the teachers and cautioned that oppressive measure would only make things worse.

He also criticised the government decision to wind up the state administrative tribunal.

Shimla, October 10
The PTA teachers have decided to intensify their agitation all over the state after they were today forcibly removed by the police from Chotta Shimla, where they had been observing a fast unto death since October 8.

All five teachers observing fast were taken to the IGMC where Ajay Kalia and Narender were put on drip. Immediately after they were bundled off to the IGMC around 11.30 am, another batch of PTA teachers started fast at that place but within no time they were also made to leave that place. “Our banners were torn and the beddings thrown away by the police,” said Vivek Mehta.

He said almost 800 PTA teachers had been thrown out by the government. “If at all an inquiry into our appointment has to be conducted, it should be on the basis of the criterion on which we were appointed and not on the basis of the new rules framed in 2008,” he said. He said the PTA teachers were being victimised as their appointment had been made during the Congress rule.

He said 3,087 complaints had been received from all over the state and almost half of that number of PTA appointees were bound to lose their job. “The government cannot crush our agitation as we have decided to intensify it further,” he said.

“In case the situation gets violent, the government will be responsible for it,” he added.

District police chief R.M. Sharma said the PTA teachers had been arrested because they formed an unlawful assembly in violation of the restrictions imposed by the DC under Section 144. While five of the fasting teachers have been booked under Section 309 and 188 of the IPC, eight others were arrested as a preventive measure and booked under 107 and 51 of the IPC.

Their banners had bane taken into possession and these would be produced as evidence in the court.

Meanwhile, PTA teachers have decided to start fast unto death again from tomorrow.

Dharamsala, October 10
Palampur Agriculture University is planning to start professional and business-oriented courses for its students. In an exclusive interview with The Tribune, vice-chancellor Tej Pratap Singh said the scenario in the agriculture sector was changing.

Initially, the basic objective of agriculture universities was to produce graduates, basically for the government agriculture departments keeping in view the thrust on increasing food grain production in the country.

However, now agriculture graduates and postgraduates were looking for job opportunities in banks, corporate world and seed and other companies dealing in agriculture business.

“Keeping in view the current scenario, the varsity has requested the state government to allow it to start MBA in agriculture business. The MBA course proposed by the university will be on a par with courses being offered by other universities, but the thrust will be on agriculture business. The government is considering the proposal favourably and the university hopes to start the course from the coming academic session,” he said.

The university was also planning structured courses for farmers. “Generally, it is expected that agriculture graduates will guide the farmers in the field. However, there is no course to provide direct training to farmers,” the vice-chancellor said.

The varsity had sent a proposal to the government to allow it to start structured courses for farmers. As per the proposal, the courses would be of up to six-month duration. The farmers would have to pay nominal fee for undertaking these courses on the university campus. During these courses, they would be taught to adopt modern farming practices, raising loans from banks and financial institutions and developing entrepreneur skills.

When asked how the farmers would find time out of their busy farming schedule to take up the proposed structured courses of university, the VC said the courses would be offered the periods when the farmers were free after sowing their crops.

“As per recommendations of the deans committee set up by the Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR), the university has already effected changes in the BSc (agriculture) course. Under the new structure, topics like computer skills, knowledge regarding patents and international law and entrepreneurial skills have been added. In additional to that, agriculture graduates will now be allowed to take six-month training in industrial units as a part of their course. Earlier, they had to spend six months with farmers. Now they will have the option of going to a farmer or an industrial unit,” he said.

Shimla, October 10
The Council for Science and Technology has decided to set up a butterfly park at Shoghi near here. The step aims at combining heritage and eco-tourism with conservation of the colourful, but highly endangered, winged insect species.

The Rs 6-crore project will be located on the left flank of the Shimla-Kalka rail track. Spread over an area of 4.2 hectare in Bhog village, the park will have a butterfly conservatory, a museum, an audio-visual centre and a nature park. Studies will be conducted to ascertain diversity and distribution of butterflies from different ecological zones of the western Himalayas and understand how their breeding can be carried out for conservation purpose.

The taxonomically significant morphological features and wing venation will be examined for characterising different butterfly resources of western Himalayas along with habit and habitats of different species and their inter-relationship with flora of the Himalayas in the captivity.

Secretary of the council Nagin Nanda said the project had been planned on the pattern of the country’s first butterfly park set up in Bannerghatta National Park in Karnataka.

Varied geographical and climatic conditions ranging from tropical species to high-altitude cold desert supported a wide spectrum of floral and faunal diversity. Of the total about 1,400 butterflies recorded in the Indian subcontinent, maximum were recorded in Himachal Pradesh, making it ideal for conservation of the gorgeous winged insects, he added.

Hundreds of species of butterflies are threatened worldwide as a result of destruction or alteration of their habitats. Their survival depends on plants, both for nectar and as host of their caterpillars, and most of the species complete their life cycle on only one species of plant.

When these plants are destroyed, butterflies also perish. Hence the need for their conservation, explains S.S. Chandel, principal scientific officer and coordinator for the project.

Many of our exotic species, including Kaiser-e-Hind and Bhutan Gory, are on the Red Data list of the World Conservation Union.

Shimla, October 10
The Delhi Government has released Rs 200 crore for the construction of Renuka dam project in Sirmour district which has been declared as a project of national importance.

A spokesperson of the state government said here today that the Government of India would bear 90 per cent of the total expenditure on the project which would supply 23 cumecs (cubic metre per second) of water to Delhi during non-monsoon months. Till the Government of India made funds available the Delhi Government would provide the required funds.

The entire 40 MW power generated by the project would go to the state which would spend Rs 200 crore for construction of Power House.

He further said that Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited had been assigned the task of constructing the project which was likely to cost about Rs 2500 crore. The corporation had been directed to expedite the work on the project and award the main civil work contract by June, 2009.

The spokesperson said that utmost care would be taken to ensure proper rehabilitation of the affected families and to improve their quality of life further. He said that the amount received from the Delhi Government would be utilised for acquisition of around 2000 hectares of land besides relief and rehabilitation payments for forest land.

Shimla, October 10
The Shankaracharaya of Kanchi Kamkoti Peeth, Jayendra Saraswati, will attend the two-day 300th anniversary of ' Guruta Gaddi Diwas' celebrations to be held at the Ridge Maidan from tomorrow.

According to Guru Singh Sabha, Shimla, chief Revail Singh, the Shankaracharaya and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal would receive the 'palki' of Sri Guru Granth Sahib at the Ridge at 5 pm tomorrow.

Jayendra Sarswati, who will arrive here by a special aircraft, would also visit the famous Sankat Mochan Temple.

Giani Iqbal Singh, chief of the All-India Singh Sabha would preside over the function on October 12.

According to Revail Singh about 6,000 devotees from the region would take part in the nagar kirtan at 11.30 am which would start from Gurdwara Singh Sabha and conclude at the Ridge.

Haryan Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhuvan Chander Khanduri, Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and Tibetan spiritual leaders the Dalai Lama and Karmapa have also been invited to attemd celebrations.

The event is being celebrated in the form of the 'Sarv dharam sammelan' in joint collaboration of the Shimla district administration, the Department of Language and Culture and the Guru Singh Sabha.

Sardar Iqbal Singh Kingra, chairman of the Akal Academy and University Badu Sahib (Sirmour), Mohd Safi Qureshi, chairman, National Minorities Commission (New Delhi), Sardar Harcharan Singh Josh, Member, National Minorities Commission, Bishop P C Sainthna Roy CNIR (Amritsar) and other spiritual leaders and dignitaries have also been invited to deliver their religious and divine discourses in the mega celebrations. — UNI

Dharamshala, October 10
Doctors today successfully removed gallstones from gallbladder of the Dalai Lama in a surgery carried out earlier today at Sir Ganga Ram hospital, Delhi. A statement posted on the official website of the Tibetan leader said, “His holiness the Dalai Lama underwent a successful removal of gallstones this morning, which is a simple routine procedure.” He will rest a few days in New Delhi before returning to Dharamsala. His schedules, including travel programmes, remain unchanged, the statement said.

The Dalai Lama had not been maintaining good health since he returned from France in August. He was forced to skip the worldwide protest planned by the Tibetan Solidarity Committee on August 29 for the Tibetan cause. He was shifted to Lelawati hospital, Mumbai. He also participated in the worldwide protest from Mumbai.

Since then all his international programmes scheduled from October were cancelled. He also did not take any visitor since he returned to Dharamsala. His office had been maintaining that there is nothing serious and the Dalai Lama has just been advised rest.