|
|
|
|
Govt to promote cultivation of medicinal plants
Govt gets tough with PSUs
No headway in Vaknaghat robbery case
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
CM lays foundation stone of yog peeth
Chief Minister PK Dhumal lays the foundation stone of Swami Ramdev’s second yog peeth at Sadhupul on Saturday. Photo: Ambika Sharma
Virbhadra raises doubts over fairness of party
poll
BJP has let people down: Stokes
‘Steel production to be doubled by 2012’
Scholarship scheme
300 donate blood
|
|
Govt to promote cultivation of medicinal plants
Shimla, June 20 According to a survey of the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 80 per cent of the population of developing countries still relies on traditional herbs for primary healthcare needs. Keeping in view the vast potential for cultivation of some rare Himalayan herbs, the government has taken several initiatives. A separate Herbal Medicine Plant Board has been set up to carry forward such activities in a big way. A road map has been prepared for large-scale cultivation of medicinal plants to give thrust to herbiculture under which 37 herbal and aromatic species of medicinal plants have been selected. Farmers will be able earn good profit by cultivating these varieties of herbs from their small land holdings. The state horticulture, forest and ayurveda departments would be involved in the programme to help farmers grow herbs on private land, forests and herbal gardens. The government is also providing technical assistance to people and cooperative societies for the purpose. The produce will be supplied to pharmaceutical companies manufacturing ayurvedic and allopathic medicines. Flora of the state consists of around 3,500 species of plants, of which about 800 species are rich in medicinal value and 165 species are collected for commercial purposes. As the state has varied climatic conditions, herbal gardens are being developed in different zones to motivate farmers. Such gardens have been established at Jogindernagar, Neri (Hamirpur), Dhumrera (Rohru), Shimla and Jungal Thalera (Bilaspur). The total cultivable wasteland in the state is about 1,23,000 hectare and growing of herbs will go a long way in further strengthening economy of the state. It is the largest supplier of chilgoza, kuth, dioscoria, dhoop, picrorrhiza, valeriana and ephedera in the country. The state has also entered into an agreement with Swami Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogapeeth for bulk supply of herbs to provide ready market to farmers. |
|
Govt gets tough with PSUs
Shimla, June 20 The government has to ensure a minimum 5 per cent return on investment and charge an interest of 7 per cent on all loans advanced to sustain the loss-incurring units. The government has already set up a committee under the chairmanship of principal secretary (finance) to revamp the functioning of the PSUs. At its very first meeting held yesterday, the committee decided to speed up the process for merger of Nahan Foundry and Small Industries and Export Corporation into the State Industrial Development Corporation. The HPMC was asked to dispose of its vacant land and close down some of the offices outside the state. The Agro-Industries Corporation had also been asked to dispose of part of its assets to liquidate losses. The situation was worse in the state as 25 PSUs were a big drain on the fund-starved government. A majority of the government undertakings, statutory boards and corporations, the accounts of which had been finalised, were perpetually in the red. Failure to carry out fiscal reforms had taken a heavy toll on their financial health with accumulated losses increasing from Rs 773 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 1,029 crore as on March 31, 2009. Huge losses were being suffered by 20 working PSUs with a total investment of Rs 4,167.47 crore. The government equity in these companies with over 42,225 employees on rolls was Rs 951 crore and it was not getting any returns from the huge investment in the companies. It had framed a dividend policy in 1982 under which all PSUs were required to pay minimum 3 per cent return on its paid-up share capital. However, only one company had declared dividend of Rs 35 lakh. The State Road Transport Corporation had accumulated highest loss of Rs 540 crore followed by the State Electricity Board (Rs 260.35 crore).
|
|
No headway in Vaknaghat robbery case
Solan, June 20 Meanwhile, initial investigations revealed that it was a well-planned robbery where four youths had scaled the steep gradient of a hill located behind the jeweller Sufal Kumar Sood’s house at Vaknaghat. They then broke the 15-m-high barbed wire to gain access to his house and broke a window, including its grill and glass, to gain entry. The robbers, who appear to be well aware of the house, had also brought three poison-laced eggs to feed the dog. The dog was, however, tied in a balcony and therefore was left undisturbed. The three eggs, which had turned blue, were recovered from his house along with a syringe. Sufal Kumar was beaten up black and blue and was forced to hand over Rs 12 lakh cash, 4 kg gold and 2 kg diamonds which had been stacked for his daughter’s marriage. Though a cell phone was recovered from the spot, it appeared to be placed there to mislead the police.
|
|
CM lays foundation stone of yog peeth
Sadhupul (Solan), June 20 Dhumal said yog acharyas would help in scientific exploitation of medicinal plants and since the state housed 7.32 per cent of the nation’s biotechnology species, it was the most suitable for such endeavours. The state government had initiated several schemes to boost animal husbandry activities to enhance income of farmers. He urged them to reap benefits of this yog peeth where cow urine would be utilised in making medicines. Earlier, yog guru Ramdev, while speaking on the occasion, thanked the state government for extending liberal help and land for this project. Health and Ayurveda Minister Dr Rajiv Bindal said it was a historic moment for the area.
|
|
Sandholi bridge closed to heavy traffic
Solan, June 20 Officials of the National Highways wing of the PWD closed the bridge for heavy traffic in the evening as a precautionary measure to avert any mishap. Officials said it was unfortunate that bridges were giving way one after the other as they were old structures. Since the traffic influx had far exceeded the load for which they were designed, they failed to cater to the increasing load. What aggravated the situation was frequent traffic jams on the NH-21A where several multi-axle vehicles stationed themselves on the bridge for long durations. The old structure, which was already developing cracks, was therefore closed today. Its slab would be recast within the next few days and an alternate route through the riverbed had been carved out to facilitate traffic, the officials added. With the Balad bridge already closed for repairs, motorists found it difficult to negotiate the mud-ridden riverbed to reach Baddi. Now this added trouble has made travelling to Nalagarh even tedious, confided Prem Sharma from the Nalagarh Industries Association. Association’s general secretary Vinod Khurana said it was the lack of proper upkeep and repairs that bridges gave way one after the other. Since no thought had been reserved for timely strengthening and repair of these bridges, the public was forced to bear inconvenience, he added.
|
|
|
Virbhadra raises doubts over fairness of party
poll
Dharamsala, June 20 While talking to newsmen here today, Virbhadra said it had been a tradition in the Congress that the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee
(HPCC), after completing elections at lower levels, authorised the party command for nominating state party president. “It is a tradition and I have no problem with the practice. However, I am expecting fair elections at lower levels and elections of party delegates. I am apprehensive that these elections will be conducted in an objective manner,” he
said. Virbhadra was here to preside over a function of the Rajput Kalyan Sabha on the eve of Maharana Pratap’s birth anniversary. Earlier too, Virbhadra had expressed apprehensions regarding objectivity in the state party elections. Virbhadra and his opponents in the state Congress have lobbied hard for getting observers of their choice in various districts. He has been openly confronting Leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes and HPCC president Kaul Singh Thakur for their allegedly soft attitude towards the current BJP government. Meanwhile, members of the Rajput Sabha demanded that a statue of Maharana Pratap be installed at their office in Dharamsala. To this Virbhadra said Maharana Pratap did not belong to a particular community and his statue should be installed at a public place.
|
|
|
BJP has let people down: Stokes
Palampur, June 20 She said instead of extending benefits to public, it had burdened people with heavy taxes like enhancement in power tariff and bus fares. Besides, it had also put huge financial burden by increasing VAT in the state. Addressing a news conference here this morning, Stokes said the government’s anti-people and anti-state polices had brought the state on the verge of bankruptcy. She said Chief Minister PK Dhumal had inaugurated only those projects which were launched by the previous Virbhadra Singh government in the state. Though the Chief Minister had got five more national highways sanctioned for the state, the condition of existing NHs in the state was deplorable. Stokes said the Congress had highlighted important issues in the Assembly in the past and forced the government not to make amendments in Section 118 of the Land Revenue Act which was against the interest of people of the state.
|
|
|
‘Steel production to be doubled by 2012’
Nurpur, June 20 Ridiculing the recent assertion of Chief Minister PK Dhumal that the Union Steel Ministry had been ranked lowest in the country, he said it was concocted and political motivated canard. He claimed that during his one-year tenure, the ministry had earmarked Rs 70,000 and Rs 10,000 crore, respectively, on enhancing capacity of steel processing units of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and core mines in the country whereas Rs 13,000 crore had been spent on capacity improvement of Bishakha Patanam-based National Steel Udhoyg. He said his ministry targeted to double steel production from existing 60 million tonnes by the end of 2012 financial year.
— OC |
|
|
Scholarship scheme
Shimla, June 20 Under the scheme being jointly implemented by the NGO in collaboration with Aryans Group of Colleges, 11 deserving candidates for MBA and 11 for BBA will be selected for free education. The entire expenses of the selected candidates will be borne by the Aryans Group of Colleges. Anshu Kataria, chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges, said as per the criteria finalised by Bedi, the selection of candidate would be done on the basis of different parameters like merit, means, parents’ status and background of candidate.
— TNS
|
|
300 donate blood
Shimla, June 20 The camp was inaugurated by Municipal Commissioner of the Shimla Municipal Corporation AN Sharma who appreciated the effort of devotees. He said donating blood was the biggest service to the suffering humanity as it could save the life of a person. Zonal in charge of the mission Rajwant Kaur said her organisation was carrying out a spiritual movement to enlighten people about the supreme power. The message of the mission was that no one should die due to scarcity of blood and it should circulate in the veins of people rather than flowing on the roads. |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Sadhupul (Solan), June 20
Nurpur, June 20
