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BJP may elect new party chief by Jan-end
Shimla wears a ‘white’ blanket
Infrastructure growth to get boost
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Fresh snow in Manali region
Snow revives hopes of apple growers
Dhumal
to meet MLAs
Revised Pay Scales
2 years on, no salaries for craft teachers
ABVP secy killed in accident
7 Delhi men die in HP mishap
Accidents leave many stranded on highways
Lohri fest inaugurated
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BJP may elect new party chief by Jan-end
Shimla, January 13 Though no date has been finalised for the election, tentatively it could be either around January 23-24 or around January 28-29. Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Bhagat Singh Koshiari will be the Central Observer for the election. Even though Rajya Sabha MP Shanta Kumar is not too overtly involved in the party elections, the anti-Dhumal camp has been trying to get its loyalists elected as delegates who will vote for electing the state party president. The names doing the rounds include the sitting incumbent Khimi Ram and Forest Minister JP Nadda. “As has been the case in the district party chief elections, efforts will be to arrive at consensus in case of state president, which I am confident we will be able to achieve,” said Satya Pal Jain, in charge of BJP affairs in Himachal. He added that the election of the state party chief would be held by end of January in a very smooth and democratic fashion. “The fact that Khimi Ram resigned as the Deputy Speaker to take over the party reins will be stressed especially by Dhumal loyalists to counter any move by the anti- chief minister camp to get hold over the party,” admitted a senior party leader. The fact that there was a complete consensus over the name of Khimi Ram at the meeting of the core committee when he took over almost six months back, might also go in his favour. As far as the outcome of the party elections goes, it is a mixed bag with very few places where one can say that a particular group holds sway. Moreover, the fact that the chances of elections being very remote and the new appointee being decided through consensus has also kept the organisational elections a low-key affair. Vikram Thakur, former MLA and in charge of organisational elections, said only about half a dozen complaints had been received from the mandals. “They have been handed over to the three-member committee headed by Shimla MP Virender Kashyap to be resolved amicably,” he said. |
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Shimla wears a ‘white’ blanket
Shimla, January 13
A “white Lohri” made up for the lack of snow bringing cheers to all. As weather has been pleasant for the past one week, not many expected a snowfall on Lohri. The thin layer of snow melted away rather quickly but the hill-scape was virtually transformed into a fairyland as long as it lasted. The rather dry snowflakes deposited all over the place, on trees and bushes, roofs of buildings, roadside railings, overhead power lines and cables, lending a unique charm. A few tourists, who were fortunate to be in the city, came out of their hotels to experience the thrill of falling snow. Some of them could be seen exchanging snowballs. However, the weather cleared for a while and the white mantle vanished. However, a spell of sleet in the afternoon raised hopes of more snow. According to the local Met office, the city received 8 cm of snow and the day temperature plummeted from 17 degree Celsius yesterday to 6.6 degree Celsius while the minimum temperature plunged to -0.5 degree Celsius. Narkanda had 20 cm, Kharapathar 15 cm of snow and Kufri 12 cm, while the Hatu peak, Churdhar and parts of tribal Kinnaur had heavy snow. Vehicular traffic to upper Shimla region was affected as a result of which bus services to Narkanda, Rohru and several other areas were disrupted. The impact of the western disturbance was confined to Shimla, Sirmour and Solan belt. Parts of Solan districts also had mild snow. Manali had a brief spell of snow but Solang Nullah received about 20 cm. The Rohtang Pass and other higher reaches experienced incessant snow since last night. The lower areas of the state were lashed by rain which is considered good for the rabi crop. Nahan has 10 mm, Dehra Gopipur (5mm), Theog and Kahu (8 mm each). The snow brought cheers to apple growers. It will not only help maintain low ambient temperature to ensure minimum required chilling hours, but also raise the level of moisture in soil. |
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Infrastructure growth to get boost
Shimla, January 13 The ministry will provide two consultants to the board for the purpose. The entire burden on account of their salary will be borne by the Centre. The nodal agency, with the requisite technical expertise, will help in identification of suitable infrastructure projects, preparation of detailed project reports, and financial tie-up for funding, monitoring and implementation. More importantly, it will make it possible to implement some important but otherwise projects not viable through the viability gap funding facility. In a hill state with sparse population most of the projects are financially not viable and the private sector was averse to taking up such ventures. Under the PPP scheme, viability gap funding is available up to 40 per cent with both the Centre and the state sharing the burden equally (20 per cent each). There is a vast scope for projects which need viability gap funding like road tunnels, major bridges, parking lots, express highways and urban infrastructure which were very important for the expeditious economic development of the state but financially unviable. Besides some viable projects could also come up in the tourism sector, adventures sports and other allied sectors in the PPP mode. The government also proposes to undertake upgrade of ITIs (industrial training institutes) in the PPP mode under the skill development programme. |
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Fresh snow in Manali region
Manali, January 13 The traffic on the Manali-Rohtang road was disrupted near Kothi, about 12 km from here, today. Motorists had a tough time driving their vehicles from Palchan to Solang and Kothi. Slopes of the Solang valley, which are used for skiing, also experienced fresh snowfall. The snowfall on the slopes brought smile on the faces of winter sports’ lovers who had come from different parts of the country to undertake different ski courses. The entire higher reaches of the Kullu valley, including the 13,050-ft-high Rohtang Pass, the gateway to Lahaul-Spiti, Pir panjal ranges, Bhrighu slopes, Marhi, Gulaba, Hamta ski slopes, Dhundi and Chanderkhani pass also received snowfall. |
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Snow revives hopes of apple growers
Kullu/Mandi, January 13 Though the fresh spell of snowfall and rains have brought respite for farmers, they have expressed anxiety as they are facing shortage of fertilisers in the Kullu-Mandi apple belt. “We need fertilisers as soil moisture has increased due to snowfall,” the farmers said. Talking to The Tribune, Nakur Khullar, a progressive farmer at Naggar in Kullu said, “It has been raining here since 8 am today with the higher altitude orchards having received snowfall.” In Shilgrahan-Shantha in Chopal, Spail valley and Deorighat-Baral Nawar valley, Baghi-Kadarala-Sungri in Kotkhai-Rohru apple belt, Dalash-Beasar-Khanag in Kullu, farmers have reported 10-15 cm
of snow fall. “We have received 15 cm of snowfall. However, we need more as the month-long dry spell had caused much damage,” said Pradip Banchta, an orchardist at Shilgrhan in Shantha belt. “Now we will plant new trees brought from Nauni university,” said Rajiv Machan, a young orchardist in Spail valley. Jagdish Reddi, president of the Mandi district apple growers’ association, said, “We need at least three days of snow and rains to make up for the loss of moisture in the orchards. However, the fresh snowfall has come as a respite from the long drought.” Meanwhile, Karam Singh, a farmer at Shiva Thana village in upper Seraj valley, said, “The weather is packed and some areas are snowing. The farmers are happy as the snowfall will recharge drinking water sources that had almost dried up.” Prem Sharma, president, Kullu valley fruit growers’ association, said the fresh spell and snow in upper belts had increased the anxiety of the farmers as they desperately need potash, super phosphate and other fertilisers. “There is an acute shortage of fertilisers in the district and this problem has to be solved immediately to get good reap,” he added. |
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Dhumal
to meet MLAs
Shimla, January 13 Similarly, the meeting with MLAs of Kangra and Kullu would be held in the forenoon and with those of Una, Hamirpur, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti in the afternoon on the following day. |
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Financial woes of agri varsities may increase
Lalit Mohan Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, January 13 In horticulture university at Nauni, the financial liability is likely to increase by 8 crore merely due to implementation of new pay scales for teachers. The Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has agreed to bear the financial liability of the increased pay scales till March, 2010. After that, the financial burden would pass on to the state government. The teaching and non-teaching faculties of the universities have already started movements to force the state government to implement the new pay scales. However, the implementation of new pay scales is likely to increase the per cost student in the university enormously. In Palampur Agriculture University, the per student cost will go up to over Rs 5 lakh per annum owing to the lopsided student, teacher and other staff ratio. There are about 800 students and about 2,400 employees in the university. Majority of employees (approximately 1,700) are non-technical. In horticulture university too, there are about 780 students for which there are about 300 teachers and about 1,600 other permanent employees. This is in violation of recommendations of the UGC that recommends staff strength of one employee for every 15 students. Senior officials of the universities, on the condition of anonymity, blamed politicians for the lopsided student-employee ratio in the universities. They alleged that most of the unskilled employees had been recruited in universities to please political bosses. However, the increased liability of salaries is now threatening the viability of the institutions. This is likely to increase further after the new pay scales are implemented. A few finance department officials in the state have recommended that to retain the viability of the said universities, the Himachal government should also follow the pattern of Haryana. The Haryana government has decided to stick to their own pay scales instead of implementing the pay scales recommended by the ICAR. However, the Himachal government would have to display the grit to face the agitation by university employees to take such decisions. The other option before the universities is to generate their own resources. Palampur Agriculture University has already taken steps in this regard by starting a few new courses to attract some more students and generate resources. However, experts are of the view that universities should improve their research for generating more patents that can generate more income for them.
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2 years on, no salaries for craft teachers
Hamirpur, January 13 Eighteen craft teachers, working in Hamirpur district, who were here to meet Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Tuesday during his tour to the district, told The Tribune, “We are facing the worst period of our lives and have gone without salaries for almost two years now.” Though these teachers have been getting their salaries irregularly for many years, this time the delay has been quite long. Their woes started a few years back when the state government first granted them pay scales and later withdrew this decision claiming financial reasons. When some craft teachers obtained stay against withdrawal of the new pay scales to them from the State High Court, the government reportedly stopped the grant for paying their salaries. Craft teachers Manorma Devi, Kamla and others said, “We are all qualified and trained craft teachers and have been working in different training centres for the past many decades. However, the successive state governments had not tried to find solution to our problems despite meeting the Chief Minister several times. So much so, many of us have retired without getting the salaries.” Things have become so bad that many of us have not been able to even pay school fees of our children, they said. Even shopkeepers have stopped supplying ration to us on credits, they added. The previous Congress government had tried to merge craft teachers in other departments but that decision was also not implemented. Meanwhile, the present government is maintaining its silence on this issue. Secretary, HP State Social Welfare Board, while taking to the The Tribune, said, “We release salaries of craft teachers on receiving grant from the state government and had been taking up this matter with the department. Their salaries will be released as soon as we get the grant.” |
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ABVP secy killed in accident
Sundernagar, January 13 According to an eyewitness, the truck was being driven at a high speed and the driver ran away from the spot after hitting the motorcycle. Sharma was rushed to Civil Hospital, Sundernagr, but he succumbed to injuries and died at the hospital. A case under Sections 279, 304 A of the IPC has been registered at the BSL Police Station. Deputy SP, Sundernagar, Raj Kumar Chandel, said a police party had been sent in search of the driver and soon he would be arrested. The district administration has announced Rs 50,000 as an interim relief to the family of the victim. The deceased was coming to Sundernagar to attend a meeting of ABVP activists. As the news spread about his accident, a large number of students assembled at the hospital. |
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7 Delhi men die in HP mishap
Bilaspur, January 13 According to reports, they all were travelling in Scorpio, DL-7C-6848, which was bound for the Vaishno Devi Shrine from Shimla. All the dead belonged to the Jamunapar-Brahmpuri area of Delhi and were on a tour of Shimla and Jammu. Those killed have been identified as Dipak Garga, Nitin Sharma,Yakshit Sharma, Sonu Kashyap, Jitendra, Shailesh, Gajinder Rastogi and driver Sushil Garga. The injured were rushed to the hospital and are said to be recovering there. Nearby villagers rushed to the spot and informed the police and helped in rescue operations. Ghumarwin SDM Sunmit Khimta and DSP Yogesh Guleria rushed to the spot and supervised the rescue operations. The SDM gave Rs 10, 000 to the next of the kin of each killed while Rs 7,000 to the injured as immediate grant in aid from the government. The family of each dead would get a total of Rs l lakh as compensation. |
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Accidents leave many stranded on highways
Kangra, January 13 Gamanda Ram, in charge, traffic, said a truck (HP-24-B 0931), on way from Kangra to Barmana, overturned after it dashed against a hillock on the Kangra-Shimla National Highway near Bathu bridge this afternoon. As a result, hundreds of vehicles were stranded. It took nearly three hours to restore the normal movement of traffic. The truck overturned at 12.30 pm and at 3.30 pm the overturned truck was lifted by a crane. Being Lohri today, a large number of locals were caught in the jam. In view of the Makarsankranti and Girth festivals, thousands of pilgrims were on way to pay obeisance at Bajjreshwari Temple. They also got stranded. Meanwhile, the traffic was diverted from the Ranital via Lunj-Tiara and Ranital Baba-Badoh till the national highway was cleared. Ram said a crane was expected to arrive here from Hamirpur but when it did not reach the site, the police arranged another crane from Matour and traffic was restored at 3.30 pm. In another accident, an Army vehicle overturned near Icchi village in the outskirts of this town on the Panthakot-Mandi National Highway today morning, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded. After two hours, the traffic was restored on the national highway. The traffic was diverted via Chetru Bagli road till the road was cleared, Additional SP, Kangra, Umapati Jamwal said. |
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Lohri fest inaugurated
Kangra, January 13 He stressed on the development of this heritage village which attracted thousands of tourists every year. Thakur said problems of the area would be sorted out by the government on a priority basis. He said Pragpur heritage village had 550-year-old history when it was named after princess Prag of Jaswan state which now figured on the world heritage tourism map. |
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