Hamirpur, November 2
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today laid the foundation stone of a parking complex near the Hamirpur DC office, which would be built at an estimated cost of Rs 2 crore.

Addressing a gathering here, he said development was a continuous process and asked the people to rise above all regional biases and work unitedly to take the state ahead.

He said no regional bias should ever be practiced in the matter of development. Tendency to ignore any area to settle political score hampered development of the entire state.

Congratulating the administration and the people of the district for steady progress made here, Dhumal said Hamirpur had recently been adjudged the first in the implementation of the 20-point programme.

He said efforts of the state government to keep the state pollution-free were appreciated recently even by Union Forest and Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh who had asked all states to follow Himachal in forest conservation.

Dhumal said the state government had banned the use of plastic carry bags on October 2 this year and this could be the best tributes ever paid to the Father of the Nation on his birthday. He also urged the people to unitedly fight against escalating pollution and in saving the environment.

He alleged that during the Congress regime, Hamirpur was ignored and no attention was paid to the development of the town and the district; roads were left unattended, resulting in bumpy rides and dust.

Dhumal said in the past two years, the district had touched a new scale of development and Hamirpur had emerged on the top in road connectivity, health and education.

MP Anurag Thakur also spoke on the occasion and thanked the state government for providing land for the construction of stadia in the state. He said around Rs 60 crore were being spent on the construction of 12 stadia.

Earlier, local MLA welcomed the Chief Minister and thanked him for the proposed parking facility here and other development work being carried out in the district.

Shimla, November 2
Significant studies on climate change and generation of data on high-altitude eco-systems can now be possible with the setting up of a high-altitude research centre at Ribling in Lahaul-Spiti by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

The centre will be of international importance considering the growing thrust on understanding adaptation in the face of climate change. Under the ambitious project, a permafrost conservatory will be set up on a nearby glacier.

It was only recently that a communication from the CSIR was sent to the Himachal Chief Secretary for the setting up of the national-level centre.

CSIR director-general Prof Samir K Brahmachari has conveyed to the state government its willingness to pay a sum of Rs 1.92 crore as compensation for transfer of 20 hectares of forest land for the setting up of the centre.

Keen to set up the centre at the earliest, the papers for the transfer of land from the state government to the CSIR and the Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology have already been moved.

“The CSIR has agreed to pay the amount provided the state government provides basic infrastructure like water supply, electricity and road so that the centre can come up,” said a senior officer.

Himachal has been trying for the past some time that a regional centre be set up in the Himalayan region to enable conduct of vital studies on climate change.

The setting up of the research centre will help focus on issues like shrinking of glaciers and reduced snowfall in the region.

“This centre will be very significant internationally as the subject of climate change is of global importance and scientists have to collectively generate information on a common platform with standard-operating practices across the world,” said scientists and environmentalists.

The centre will not only generate data on topical global issues, but will also look into aspects like conservatory on a high altitude, plants of importance and repository for germplasm resources of specific plants like hippophae and picrorhiza.

It will also help in introducing novel crops in area of flora, medicinal plants and undertake processing so that finished product rather than raw material is sent out.

The centre will be of great help and assistance to the locals who will get the right guidance in agriculture and horticulture areas. It will also enable them to get high value for their products.

Hamirpur, November 2
The first cultural evening during the Hamir Utsav last night was devoted to budding playback singer of Himachal Pradesh Purn Shiva and artistes from the ICCR, New Delhi.

Purn Shiva, who had recently given voice to songs of three Hindi films, entered the stage around 10 pm and began singing old hit “Jahan daal daal pe sone ki chidiyaan karti hain basera” and later went on to sing another old hit “Dard-e-dil dard-e-zigar” from old Hindi movie “Karz”.

Later, he sang popular hits from latest Hindi movies and regaled the audience. Bhagwati nritya natika presented by the artists of the ICCR, New Delhi, was a real delight to art lovers. The presentation of this dance and play sequence depicted high quality of artistic skill of the performers in perfect harmony.

Local artists and groups from schools also performed on the first day of the programme. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal formally inaugurated this programme by lighting a lamp.

Addressing the gathering on this occasion, Dhumal said from next year onwards Hamir Utsav would be organised from September 1 and it would be made a three-day festival now. He said since Hamirpur district was established on September 1, 1972, so this festival would be organised on this day too.

Talking about various development projects for Hamirpur town, Dhumal said tender for the construction of Hamirpur bypass have been issued and work on the project would start soon.

He said the present ground of government senior secondary school would be converted into a stadium and all kiosk owners would be given shops to rehabilitate them and assured that heritage buildings would also be restored.

Dhumal also talked about few other development projects for Hamirpur district.

Education Minister ID Dhiman, Industries Minister Kishan Kapoor, local MLA Urmil Thakur and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

Dharamsala, November 2
Palampur Agriculture University (PAU) has tried to adopt a novel method to select candidates for high positions in the university. Highly placed sources here told The Tribune that the university authorities recently adopted a democratic path, rather selection on merit, for the post of Associate Director Research in the university.

The candidates, who are already working as professor in the university, could apply for the post.

The university authorities asked the eligible candidates from within the campus to vote for the candidate who could be selected for the post. Voters were asked to give names of four candidates ranked according to their preferences. The ballot was kept a secret to avoid prejudice among the faculty.

The democratic method adopted by the university, however, failed to yield any result. The first three candidates who were elected for the post, declined to take up the assignment. The elected professors were already working as heads in their own respective departments. They considered the post of head of the department more lucrative than getting involved in active research projects.

Since the first three elected candidates failed to take up the assignment, the university has dithered on filling the post from the elected candidates. The university authorities also maintained that since the election code of conduct had been implement in Kangra district due to Jawali by-election, the posting of Associate Director Research has been delayed.

However, the democratic method adopted by the university for choosing candidate for the top post has drawn criticism from certain quarters.

Some of the faculty members, while taking to The Tribune, said according to accepted norms, a selection committee comprising a representative of Governor, who is also the Chancellor of the university, a representative of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) and the university should have been formed to select the candidate for the post.

Rather than considering all, candidates who apply and have interest in research should have been given the chance.

Popularity in the university cannot be the criteria for selection to a top post.

It compromises merit and emotional quotient that the candidates have for the posting, they added.

Others were of the view that since the eligible candidates for the post were professors who had already reached the peak in their respective fields, the selection procedure might have created unhealthy competition.

Meanwhile, Vice-Chancellor of the university Tej Pratap Singh was not available for comments despite repeated calls.

Bilaspur, November 2
The state government has accepted the long-pending demand of the Himachal Special Olympics Committee (SOC) and has allocated three per cent of the annual sports budget of the state for organising and promoting games and sports for differently abled children.

This was stated by Dr Mallika Nadda, president, Himachal SOC, while addressing mediapersons today at the curtain raiser to the three-day state-level Special Olympic games which would be inaugurated here tomorrow.

She said the state SOC had also urged the government to reserve posts of three per cent reserved quota for prominent and prize-winning sports persons among these special children.

She said up till now, 16 special children had participated in world games organised for such special children in foreign countries after their competitive selections in national games and all of them had brought laurels to the state.

She said the Special Olympics would be attended by more than 200 special children from all over of state. Participants for the national meet to be held in Mumbai, Poona and Bhopal, would be selected in this meet which, in turn, would select sports persons for participation in games to be held at Athens in Greece in the year 2011. 

Bilaspur, November 2
Guman Singh, state convener of the Himachal Niti Abhiyan Samiti, an organisation devoted to the cause of protection of the environment of the Himalayas with particular reference to Himachal Pradesh, has demanded that the BJP government should save natural wealth of the state and take in view all recommendations of the “parallel Himalaya people’s conclave” on the issue of climate, which was recently held in Shimla, and should save its salubrious climate and healthy environment.

Addressing mediapersons here this afternoon, Guman Singh said the government should not have double standards, while on talking about development of tourism and pollution-free industries and the other promoting the same polluting industries.

Guman Singh was particularly critical of the present state policy of the government which was totally in favour of big industrial houses from outside the state who were behind the unscientific exploitation of the precious natural wealth of the state.

Guman Singh demanded that the government should organise a state-level seminar on this subject in which the Chief Minister and all concerned big officers should remain present so that they could fully guage and understand the effects and sentiments of the people being affected by the industrial and power-project policy of the government.

Mandi, November 2
Thanks to low rate of conviction and high rate of pending cases, the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SVACB) has miles to go before it could hope of reaching near its counterpart Kerala, the least corrupt state with the highest conviction rate of Vigilance cases in the country.

If nationwide survey is anything to go by, the SVACB’s 39 cases, worth Rs 36 lakh recovery that the Vigilance booked till this month this year, remains a proverbial tip of iceberg of corruption that amounts to Rs 300 crore every year in this state.

“This public money is being pocketed by corrupt politicians, police, PWD officials, lower judiciary and other officials in most departments,” charged SVACB officials, quoting an official survey in the country.

The conviction rate in Vigilance cases in Kerala, a benchmark state of clean administration, has been reported to be as high as 72 per cent, said top officials. SVACB chief Dr DS Manhas said the conviction rate in Vigilance cases had gone up from 14 to 24 per cent this year.

“We registered 39 trap cases involving Rs 36 lakh this year as compared with 23 cases recovering Rs 50,000 booked in 2008,” he added. He said though there was no official survey on corruption in the state, the amount involved was more than Rs 300 crore.

The most corrupt departments, according to the survey in the country, was the police, lower judiciary and revenue. However, the PWD was no covered in the survey, officials revealed.

When asked as to why the Vigilance nabbed patwaris in most trap cases, Manhas said their ratio to other staff was significantly higher and the common man had a direct dealing with patwaris.

However, we have booked more than 20 gazetted officers in different cases, he asserted.

But the fact remains that the Vigilance has a high rate of pending cases in the state that, in turn, dilute the deterrent impact of the department. The Bureau has 44 cases, with 11 awaiting sanction from prosecution in Mandi range, 78 cases in Dharamsala range and 86 cases in Shimla range and 31 cases with special investigating unit (SIU) pending for investigating in the state.

Manhas attributed the low rate of conviction rate due to IOs fearing wrath of politicians. “The high pending cases is due to shortage of IOs as the current strength of staff is not enough to speed up the investigation in a time-bound manner,” he said.

Manhas said the state Vigilance had adopted “no tolerance to corruption” policy and people, who suspect some “foul play”, should come forward to file complain to trap the culprits there and then.

“We have upped surveillance in tribal districts in Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti where three PWD officials were caught with cash by the CID and the Vigilance,” he added. 

Shimla, November 2
The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) will tread into a new area as it will be setting up three five-star hotels at the three most popular tourist destinations of Shimla, Manali and Kasauli.

So far the state government-owned HPTDC does not own any five-star hotel in the state and considering the demand of high-end tourists for such facility the proposal has been mooted.

The fact that these three destinations not only get the highest number of tourists but also a lot of foreign visitors makes them ideal for setting up of five-star hotels.

The proposal is likely to be placed before the board of directors of the HPTDC very soon even though it has already been discussed at the senior-level in the government. With the state government already facing severe financial constraints, the management of the HPTDC is already in touch with private investors who will be providing funds for the high investment projects.

“We have ample amount of land at Chail and the Palace Hotel is already doing great business so the place becomes an obvious choice for the setting up of a five-star hotel,” said a senior official. Moreover, with Palace Hotel already being a high-end hotel and converting it into a five-star property would not be a difficult task.

Shimla being the state capital and the erstwhile summer capital of the British has five-star hotels owned by big groups like the Oberoi but in the government sector HPTDC is yet to make an entry. So Chail being one of the most profitable properties of the HPTDC could soon add facilities to get a five-star status.

With Kasauli having a high weekend tourist flow, practically throughout the year, it has been selected for setting up of a five-star hotel. Even though the existing HPTDC hotel Ros Com has been renovated and expanded, having a five-star hotel is likely to generate good business.

Though there is restriction on construction activity here, the matter could be pursued as the HPTDC has enough land available here.

The other choice for setting up a five-star hotel is Manali, which again is a very popular destination with both domestic as well as foreign tourists. The HPTDC wants to target this segment of high-end tourist who at present stay in private hotels in Manali.

Kangra, November 2
Gurpurb, the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, was celebrated with religious fervour and gaiety at Gurdwara Singh Saba here today.

The celebrations started with katha by Baba Kuldeep Singh from Jammu and Kashmir, followed by kirtan by Karanjeet Singh, manager of the gurdwara.

He laid stress on the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev who had emphasised on strengthening the bondage of love and affection. He said the universal brotherhood message of the holy prophet was relevant even in the present times.

DC Sharma spoke on the life and teachings of the first Sikh Guru who had stressed on national integration. He exhorted the sangat to adopt teachings of the Sikh prophet for spiritual awakening and self-transformation.

Langar was served to the sangat on the occasion.

KULLU: The birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev was celebrated with traditional fervour today in Kullu, Bhuntar, Manali, Manikaran and Gadauri gurudwaras in this district. A group of foreigners from the Swami Shyam Ashram here also recited Gurbani at the Kullu Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Akhara Bazar here today.

The participation of people in the ceremonies from all religions showed basic sense of unity and communal harmony in this region. All gurdwaras were visited by people from all religions, castes and creed.

Earlier, on Saturday and Sunday, shobha yatras were taken out at Kullu and Bhuntar towns. 

Shimla, November 2
The newly elected state chief of the National Students Union of India (NSUI), Yadupati Thakur, credited Rahul Gandhi for giving opportunity to the youth from ordinary backgrounds to hold senior posts in the organisation.

Addressing a press conference here today, Yadupati, who has been elected for a two-year term, said it was only because of Rahul’s initiatives that the NSUI would be able to reach out to the common man by giving opportunity to youth from ordinary backgrounds.

He gave credit for his victory to Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh and former minister Harsh Mahajan while also expressing gratitude to HPCC chief Kaul Singh Thakur and CLP leader Vidya Stokes.

He said he, along with his team, would strive hard to solve the problems of students in the university as well as colleges.

“Our endeavour will be to strengthen the organisation and get more and more youth to join the NSUI because of its ideology,” he said.

He said students from ordinary families would now be linked with the organisation as the NSUI was the first student outfit to have a democratically elected body.

Yadupati said training camps would be held for the newly elected office-bearers of the NSUI within a month’s time.

He said a central team would be arriving here to give tips to the new body in the hill state.

Solan, November 2
The MD, HIMFED, MP Sood, recently launched a unique informative service package for farmers whereby they would be able to avail all information relating to agricultural practices, seed selection, weather conditions and even markets prices.

The services would be available in the form of recharge vouchers, which would make available short message services relating to agriculture to farmers.

These services have been launched with the help of a private agency and was available in various packages of Rs 260, Rs 500 and Rs 850 and would be likewise available for a prescribed period. The recharge vouchers have been made available at various HIMFED stores across the district and this would make available all information at the doorstep of the farmers.

According to agency spokesman, information available would include weather information at the level of a tehsil, seed varieties, diseases inflicting the crops at particular times, price fluctuation in the various mandis, including in the state and at Delhi, Mumbai and Ludhiana. It would also provide information relating to the various subsidies or policies of the governments, which could benefit farmers.

Area manager, HIMFED, BC Bhardwaj said this service would immensely benefit farmers who could improve their productivity with the timely availability of crucial information. Officials of the Agriculture Department were also available on the occasion.

Shimla, November 2
Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal today said a polytechnic would be opened in Kinnaur district and the Kalpa sports stadium will be named after former MLA Dev Raj Negi. This was revealed by the chief minister while addressing a public gathering at the closing ceremony of four-day long state-level Kinnaur Mahotsav at Reckong Peo today. Earlier he dedicated the Telangi drinking water supply scheme, completed at a cost of Rs 114.54 lakh to residents of the area.

He said every district would be provided with at least one polytechnic where after schooling youth could get vocational training. He said skilled manpower was in great demand and with skill upgradation youth would find ample opportunities of employment and self-employment.

Dhumal said vocational education centres were being opened in the state with a view to upgrading skills of the educated unemployed youth which could get them employment in the industrial sector.

He said Rs 353 crore Pandit Deen Dyal Kisan Bagwan Samridhi Yojna with 80 per cent subsidy component and the Rs 300 crore Doodh Ganga project had also been launched in the state to give boost to agriculture, dairy farming and animal husbandry activities. He appealed to the people to avail benefits under the scheme to strengthen them economy.