Shimla, September 27
The state government will provide all possible support to the Himalayan Adventure Sports Tourism Promotion Association for securing the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) certification for MB Himachal, billed as the third toughest cycling event 
in world.

This was stated by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal after flagging off the 5th edition of the MB Himachal, a 10-day mountain biking event, here today.

He said the hill state had a vast scope for adventure tourism and its difficult terrain was ideal for pursuing the eco-friendly mountain biking.

The government was making all efforts to promote adventure tourism and it would extend whatever assistance and support the association required for obtaining the UCI certification which would put the state firmly on the world mountain biking map, he added.

Swine flu and economic showdown affected foreign participation but the increase in bikers from within the country was an encouraging sign. Out of the total 67 participants, only 12 were from abroad. It was for the first time that the total number of Indian bikers had crossed the 50 mark.

The bikers will pass through remote parts of Shimla, Mandi and Kullu districts to cover a distance of 710 km before the culmination of the event at Manali. The highest elevation of 3,223 m will be achieved at the Jalori Pass and the total elevation gain will be over 12,000 m.

Dhumal also launched heritage tourism schemes — “Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai”and “Shimla Ki Kahani Itihas ki Jubani” — to mark the World Tourism Day. He said the state was formulating a master plan for 20 years to boost tourism activities. The tourism department would gather important information pertaining to the history of old houses from the owner and make it a part of tourism literature to attract more visitors.

Dhumal said home-stay scheme was gaining popularity and, so far, 152 units had been registered. Rs 26 crore were being spent on tourism infrastructure building under destinations schemes, which included Shimla-Narkanda, Sundernagar-Rewalsar and Jubbal-Kotkhai circuits.

President of the association Mohit Sood said the UCI certification would help in attracting top professional bikers as participation in the event would have bearing on their international ranking. He underlined the need to link the existing mountain trails so that bikers were not required to go through long stretches of metalled roads. The existing 400 km of forest trails could be connected by developing another 200 km of mountain trails to create two MTB circuits, one from Shimla to Manali and the other form Manali to Dharamsala, he added. 

Solan, September 27
With the UK-based Gifford India Limited bagging the feasibility study for converting the Pinjore-Swarghat NH-21-A into a four-laned carriageway, a ray of hope has been lit among the daily commuters who have been battling the potholed ill-maintained road for years now.

The firm had recently signed an agreement with the NH-PWD wing of the state government for completing this work in a time-bound manner of 18 weeks.

With a view to facilitating the work, the Haryana counterparts have been directed to coordinate by sharing information pertaining to revenue records which would come handy in the process, confided Bhuvan Sharma, executive engineer.

The project will be undertaken on a BOT basis and will follow public-private partnership approach. It will initially conduct a study between Pinjore-Swarghat. Based on this survey, tenders for executing the work will be called after verifying all relevant aspects. A further 38-week period has been set aside for completing works like calling tenders, land acquisition, etc.

The Rs-88 lakh survey will take into account the daily influx of vehicles on the road.

Being the industrial hub of the state having close proximity to Chandigarh, the BBN area was daily visited by industrialists as well as thousands of heavy loaded trucks carrying industrial goods and raw materials. President of BBN Industries Association, who had filed a PIL in the Punjab and Haryana HC after the authorities failed to undertake the requisite repair, said it was more important to maintain the road which had been repaired now after investing crores.

Manali, September 27
Goddess Hadimba Devi, in her decorated palanquin, started her journey from Hadimba Devi Temple near Manali today so that Dussehra festival can start at Kullu.

The arrival of Goddess Hadimba’s palanquin at Kullu is a prerequisite for the Dussehra festivities to begin. About a kilometre from Manali stands Dhungri Temple, built around about 500 years ago. It is dedicated to Goddess Hadimba Devi, wife of Bhim, one of the five Pandav brothers.

The palanquin reaches short of the Raghunath Temple to await a special messenger, who carries a “silver chhari” and escorts Hadimba Devi to the temple. The special messenger is also the presiding deity of the Kullu Dussehra.

With other gods and goddesses, and a large number of devotees and priests, the procession heads towards Dhalput ground from the Raghunath Temple. After reaching there thousands of devotees and priests. After being enshrined in ancient wooden chariot, Lord Raghunath is taken to the middle of the ground. The chariot is pulled by hundreds of devotees. After the prayers, the festivities begin with folk music accompanied by hill orchestra.

Hamirpur, September 27
Adhering strictly to the directions of the state government in not allowing installations of ultrasound machines at private hospitals and clinics, district health authorities have declined permission to operate an ultrasound machine at a well-known private hospital here. The machine was sealed by the health authorities six months ago for not adhering to guidelines of the state health department.

A charitable hospital at Bhota Chowk had sought permission from the district authorities a few days back to make its ultrasound machine operational which was sealed about six months ago.

The state government had framed policy guidelines for the operation of ultrasound machines in private hospitals and clinics to check their misuse for pre-natal detection test (PNDT).

While there were reports of decline in female sex ratio in the region, there were also complaints of female infanticide after sex determination.

The state government had also directed the district health authorities to ensure that private hospitals and clinics should have qualified radiologists and other staff to operate ultrasound machines.

Confirming the denial of permission to a hospital for restarting its ultrasound machine, Hamirpur CMO Dr DS Chandel said, “The machine of this hospital was sealed by us about six months ago and since the hospital has not followed government directions and not appointed qualified staff, we have declined to give permission to operate the sealed machine.”

Hamirpur, September 27
While spread of rabies among milch cattle in Patta panchayat under Bhoranj block of the district has created a scare among villagers as many of them have been drinking milk of infected buffaloes, they have now sought attention of the administration and are demanding compensation and free vaccination.

The incident of rabies was reported from Saned village two days back when a buffalo of villager Amin Chand went berserk after being infected by rabies and later was reportedly shot dead by villagers.

Capt Teg Singh (retd), a villager, said, “The spread of rabies in domestic animals has created a scare among villagers and immediate steps are required; more so since many of them have been drinking milk of these buffaloes and fear that they also might be infected.”

District Congress leaders Tej Nath and Col BC Lagwal (retd), after touring the affected area, said, “The buffaloes in three villages of Saned, Baghed and Patta have been infected by rabies and since many villagers have been drinking milk of these cattle, they are now quite scared and have demanded free vaccination of people and cattle.”

Dr KS Thakur, deputy director, animal husbandry, said, “After getting the information of spread of rabies, doctors from Bhaoranj were rushed and we have vaccinated all cattle suspected to be infected by rabies.”

Hamirpur CMO Dr DS Chandel said, “Since this is an epidemic-like situation, we have decided to vaccinate the affected people free of cost. People, who have been drinking the milk of infected buffaloes, can get themselves vaccinated at our clinic.”

Mandi, September 27
The hype over the Himalayan glaciers beating a retreat that has sounded alarm bells countrywide is over, if we trust scientists. The receding glaciers in Ladakh, Lahaul valley, Garhwal and as far as Sikkim have stabilised in the past few years, say glaciologists, who are monitoring and mapping the receding glaciers.

The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IGPCC) has sounded in its report 2007 that if the “climate change is not taken care of, its impact on the Himalayan glaciers will be catastrophic”. But 10 glaciologists from the Centre for the Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, have come out with a surprise: the rate of the receding glaciers has stabilised and neither rivers, nor glaciers which feed them will disappear for quite some time, they claim.

The glaciologists areconfident that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Environment Minister Jai Ram Ramesh would put up a brave face at the Pittsburg Summit of G-20 countries on climate change.

Dr Milap Chand Sharma, a glacial geomorphologist at JNU, who is heading the team of 10 researchers monitoring the Himalayan glaciers, said, “The rate of receding glaciers in Ladakh, Lahaul, Garhwal and Sikkim has stabilised in the past three years. However, we are trying to study this ‘new phenomenon’ in the Himalayan region.”

Dr Sharma said they had completed the glacial history of glaciers in Ladakh, Miyar-Chandrabhagha in Lahaul-Spiti, Parbati valley in Kullu, 30-km-long Gangotri glacier and Milan in Garhwal.

“We have not touched glaciers in Kinnaur, the sources of the Sutlej and Arunachal Pradesh”, he informed.

Dr Milap said they observed that Gangotri glacier had retreated by 20 m. “But the rate of retreat has been reduced to half metre in the past two years. We use ISRO satellite images and ground monitoring of glaciers to arrive at the conclusion,” he added.

He said the Rohtang Pass de-glaciated about 9,000 years ago. But real worry wass 5,000 vehicles that crossed Rohtang Pass in peak summer season. “The government must monitor this, lest it turns disastrous for local ecology,” he warned.

Prof Milap further said Beas and Parbati glaciers have receded but they have witnessed the same trend - the rate of retreat has stabilised. The Beas and Parbati glaciers, that feed the Beas and Parbati rivers, have been mapped, tracing out their glacial history to 13,000 years and 40,000 years, glaciologists said.

Glaciologists said glaciers in Ladakh had 3.6 lakh-year-old history. “Neither glaciers nor the rivers they feed will disappear as they are believed to be the coming time,” they asserted, citing their data in support.

Dharamsala, September 27
The Una-Amb road is in a poor state. Travelling on the road has become an ordeal for commuters as huge potholes take a toll on vehicles, especially after rains.

A Chinese company, Longjian Road and Bridge Limited, that has been awarded the contract for widening and strengthening the road under the World Bank-aided project, has failed to maintain the existing road. Sources available here told The Tribune that according to the terms and conditions of the contract, the Chinese company had to maintain the existing road in vehicle plying condition even during the construction of new road. However, the company failed to fulfil the commitment.

The executive engineer looking after the project admitted that according to the contract, the company was to maintain the existing road. He said directions had been passed to officials of the company to maintain the road and fill the potholes.

The sources, however, added that due to recent dispute over the visa of Chinese working in the country, commuters might have to go through the traumatic experience for a much longer time.

There were about 25 Chinese employees working for the company in Una district. They had come here on a six-month business visa. The Centre had directed all Chinese working in India to get a work visa in case they wanted to work here.

Due to the directions passed, all 25 Chinese workers working in Una would have to return by the end of this month. They can return only if they are given work visa by the Indian government.

The work on the road has come to a standstill and the company officials have even withdrawn certain machines from the road.

The work on the road, that is the main entrance for lower Himachal areas, was already progressing at a very slow pace. The company officials had, earlier, been blaming the government department for the slow progress. They had been alleging the power, public health, BSNL departments were not shifting wires, pipes of electricity poles along the roads to facilitate the widening of road.

The company had started the construction of the road on a 10-km stretch from Mehatpur and Amb side. The real bottleneck was the Una town where the government would have had to remove encroachments. 

Hamirpur, September 27
Hamirpur district, which had the lowest male-female ratio in the state, has registered very encouraging increase in this ratio during the past some time.

The ratio, which was 850 against 1,000 males, has now increased to 880 females per 1,000 males. The situation was quite alarming here and district health authorities had launched various programmes to improve the gap between male and female population.

While the general campaign which laid stress on increase in female population had borne fruits in this regard, steps taken by the district health authorities have also shown results. Since female population ratio was quite alarming here, the health department had identified some of the reasons for the declining ratio.

While lack of awareness was considered as the biggest reasons to combat social pressure for preferring male child instead of a girl child, various other factors like cases of female infanticide, easy access to sex determination tests etc were considered as other major factors. CMO Dr DS Chandel said, “With sustained efforts by the health department, female population has improved in the district.”

Kangra, September 27
An alleged fake certificate racket of Magadh University, Bodh Gaya, Bihar, on the basis of which appointment was sought in the education department in the state, has come to light and an inquiry has been initiated by the state government in this connection.

According to the report, a lady was appointed as a teacher in Government High School, Boungta, in Dehra subdivision of this district and during verification, it was found that her certificate of Prabhakar was fake.

Earlier, during the verification process, headmistress of the school and deputy director, Elementary Education, had received two different letters allegedly signed by the Controller of the Examination, Magadh University, confirming that the certificate of Prabhakar issued was genuine as she had appeared in the capacity of a private candidate in the year 2002 and secured 389 marks out of 650.

The suspicion developed where the certificate of genuineness was issued under seal and signature of controller of examination and signed by two different persons.

SDO, examination, Dr JN Prasad Singh, in a letter to the headmistress, described both the letters of the controller of the examination as fake and forged.

SDO Examination, in a letter dated July 28, 2009, clarified that Magadh University, Bodh Gaya did not impart Prabhakar Degree course to its students.

He suggested that the state government must initiate a CBI or Vigilance inquiry.

When contacted, Dr Prasad Singh confirmed that a racket indeed existed which needed to be exposed.

Deputy Director of Elementary Education, Dharamsala, Ram Lata Sharma, said an inquiry in the matter had been initiated from the higher level and things were being verified.

Dr RD Sharma, former deputy director, Education, said, “Interestingly, the authorities were silent over the issue for more than two months and no steps were taken to unearth the scam which has spread its tentacles in different parts of the state.”

He demanded that Chief Minister PK Dhumal must intervene and order a Vigilance inquiry immediately.

Shimla, September 27
Sheep rearing, mainstay of the nomadic Gaddi community, in the hill state will get a boost with the launching of two projects under the Integrated Wool Development Programme.

Besides improving and upgrading the genetic stock of sheep to increase wool production, the projects will also focus on the welfare of sheep breeders to ameliorate their socio-economic condition. The projects are being implemented by the State Wool Federation at a cost of Rs 9.41 crore. The total sheep population in the state is estimated at 9 lakh.

One of the projects envisages genetic improvement of Gaddi Sheep in Mandi, Chamba, Kullu and Kangra districts on which Rs 7.01 crore will be spent. The second project of Rs 2.4 crore will cover the sheep in Rampur Busher in Shimla and Kinnaur district. The central government has released the first instalment of Rs 2.24 crore for the projects to be implemented over a period of three years.

An amount of Rs 16 lakh has been earmarked for providing marketing assistance to sheep breeders for collection, packaging, storage, transportation and marketing of the produce. Procurement from sheep rearers is being taken care of by the State Wool Federation to ensure remunerative returns. Medicines are being provided free of cost to 4-lakh registered sheep at the rate of Rs 18 per sheep. The veterinary institutions have been asked to make available all required medicines to prevent and treat animals for internal and external diseases. An amount of Rs 1.2 crore has been earmarked for this purpose.

The Shepherd Insurance Scheme has also been launched under which insurance cover to the tune of Rs 1.5 lakh is being provided in the event of accidental death of the sheep breeder and Rs 60,000 for natural death. Further, two children of sheep rearers will be provided monthly scholarship of Rs 100 to pursue education beyond class VIII. So far 4,373 sheep breeders have been brought under the insurance scheme.

A revolving fund of Rs 30 lakh has been created to enable the wool federation procure large quantities of wool and make timely payments to the breeders.