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Plan on satellite townships remains on paper Cluttered construction at Baghsunag adjoining Dharamsala. Photo by the writer
RTI exposes scam in Jogindernagar power project
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Rampant felling of trees threatens Palampur’s ecology
The dying deodar trees outside the office of the Forest and Environment Department in
Palampur. Photo by the writer
MC rues delay in restoring urban forest
Roads victim of official apathy
More funds allocated for Tanda medical college wing
Hamirpur man claims teaching Arabic in 6 hrs
Forest Corpn not to supply charcoal this year
Call to protect environment
Himachal diary
Vignettes
The Parshuram temple at Renuka.
One year on, NIFT seeks local acceptance
Kangra BSNL network in shambles
Nod to transfer of forest land
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Plan on satellite townships remains on paper
Dharamsala, November 16 The idea behind developing satellite townships was to bring up planned habitations to ease population growth in the said towns. All major towns of the state are presently marred by unplanned growth that is stressing public utilities. However, the urban development authority of the state has failed to bring up planned housing colonies at a pace at which the population of towns is growing. In Dharamsala almost all villages around the town have been urbanised. Villages, including Khaniara, Dharamkot, Bhagsu and Dhari are a part of main Dharamsala town. However, just one planned colony has been developed at Khaniara by the Urban Development Authority. Private developers are picking up small pieces of land in the villages around Dharamsala for carving out plots . However, such illegal colonies are only adding to the problem of the already-cluttered town. The maximum passage that is allowed is such private colonies is just 8 to 10 feet or even smaller which is not enough for even plying a car. The result is that residents of such colonies have to park cars on main roads adjoining such colonies. Even the office or commercial complexes coming up in and around the town are not adhering to the norms fixed by the Town and Country Planning Department. Most of the complex owners are not keeping any parking places. The people coming to these complexes park their vehicles along roadsides, thus leading to traffic congestion. In Palampur, the government has decided to include a few villages adjoining the town into the local municipal committee. However, the villagers are opposing the move vehemently. They are maintaining that villages get much more privileges as compared to towns. They get benefits of the Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) and the rates of water and electricity in villages are lower than those in the urban areas. Villagers are right in opposing the move of joining Palampur town as they are not likely to get any benefit of urban areas but would lose
privileges given to the rural areas. The state government has also failed to promote private developers who can develop townships in the interior areas of the state for planned development. Private developers cannot take up ventures on their own in the state due to small land holdings and provisions of section 118 of the Land Tenancy Act. Some developers are selling flats and building up apartments in areas around Chandigarh but they have not entered the far-flung areas of the state. The present unplanned development is not only straining the resources of the state but also damaging the environment as the government has develop a roads and other infrastructure for just a few houses at many places. The government would either have to use its own agencies for developing planned colonies or frame a policy for encouraging private investment in the area for planned growth of urban areas in the state.
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RTI exposes scam in Jogindernagar power project
Mandi, November 16 As a result of the scam, RTI Bureau Mandi president Lawan Thakur has registered a complaint with the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau demanding a probe in the scam. Though the RTI Bureau charged that the cost was shown less just to award works to favourites sidelining the tender process, BVPCL claimed that the cost went up as they follow the 1986 PWD tender schedule and cost escalation was obvious. RTI activist Ranjit Chauhan stated that the project authorities issued six tenders worth Rs 24.76 lakh for sanitary fittings in the corporation colony at Chulah, but these were awarded for Rs 1.07 crore to D-class contractors sidelining all terms and conditions. The RTI Bureau charged that the two contractors, Devashish and Amar Singh, who got the works, do not have the mandatory GST and CST numbers, though they applied for the same after they got the works. The Bureau charged that the cost for sanitary fittings was estimated at Rs 3.78 lakh, but it was awarded for Rs 33.33 lakh to the contractor. Similarly another work in Type III and Type IV quarters in Chulah Colony was estimated at Rs 4.26 lakh, but it was escalated to Rs 34.60 lakh when the work was awarded to D-class contractor, the RTI revealed. Stone-pitching work in the switchyard of the project was estimated at Rs 7.73 lakh but it was also awarded for Rs 18 lakh to the contractor, the RTI information revealed. As per the PWD norms, D-class contractor can get works not more than for Rs 10 lakh, but BVPC awarded works throwing the norms to wind, charged the RTI Bureau. Ajay Gupta, MD, BVPCL, said the cost escalation was obvious as the corporation followed the PWD schedule, which has not been revised since 1986. “I am not aware whether the work was awarded to the D-class contractor, but it was a packaged tender and we will look into matter,” he added.
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Rampant felling of trees threatens Palampur’s ecology
Palampur, November 16 A few years ago, every part of Palampur was covered with dense deodar trees, but now only a few deodars are seen. In fact, the prevailing situation, deodar might become extinct in the town. Despite tall claims by the state government to protect the environment, the town has seen much degradation. The irony is most of the government agencies, including forest and environment departments, have remained mute spectators and there is none in the administration who could initiate steps to stop further deterioration of the environment. Every year, “van mahotsava” is celebrated in the town where saplings are planted at big functions, but after some time, no trees are seen due to lack of post-plantation care. It is on record that a few years ago, the HP Forest Minister had planted trees near PWD rest house, but today no tree exists and the area is covered with bushes. There are many other such instances where trees have been axed overnight by various government departments without seeking permission of the Forest Department. Similarly, the area under tea is also reducing in the town. Palampur had hundreds of acres under tea gardens, but thanks to the apathy of the present government that has been granting permission for their sale. Under the HP Land Revenue Act, there is a ban on the sale of tea gardens, but influential persons are getting permission through back door. Today, half of the tea gardens have been converted into housing colonies, business complexes or shopping centres. Meanwhile, various voluntary organisations and environmentalists have lodged protest with the authorities against reckless felling of trees and sale of tea gardens. A deodar tree takes 70 years for full growth. Palampur and Mussoorie are the only hill stations in the country where deodar trees are grown at the altitude of 3,000 ft to 4,000 ft. If no efforts are made to save these trees, the hill town will soon lose its charm.
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MC rues delay in restoring urban forest
Shimla, November 16 It was almost six months back that a decision was taken to restore the 1880.13 hectares of precious urban forests falling within the urban limits of the town back to the MC. It was in 2006 that the control of the urban forests had been handed over to the Forest Department from the MC. Even though the committee headed by the Chief Secretary had agreed in principle to return the urban forest to the MC the transfer has not so far taken place. The MC has repeatedly taken up the matter with the government as its funding under various JNNURM projects could be affected as the control of urban forestry has to be with local bodies. "We are still awaiting the transfer of forest land," said A.N. Sharma, MC Commissioner. He admitted that the MC could face problems in receiving grants under the JNNURM if the forests were not handed over to the MC soon. As per the decision taken in mid-July, the Forest Department has agreed to restore only 843.91 of the 1880.13 hectares, which was handed over to it from the MC in 2006. This mainly includes the forest area falling within the MC limits while the remaining area of 1020.32 hectares falls in the catchment area. The only respite for the MC is that it will be given charge of the entire forest area falling within the three merged areas of New Shimla, Totu and Dhalli, which were earlier under the Special Area Development Authority (SADA). The MC Commissioner said since the task of urban forestry, protection of environment and promotion of the ecology was entrusted to the Urban Local Bodies under Chapter 20 of the HP Municipal Corporation Act, 1994, the control and management of forests will have to stay with the MC unless and until an amendment is made to the Act, which has not been done so far. Besides its revenue taking a hit due to the delay in transfer of forests, the MC has also cited problems being faced in undertaking development activities like creating parking slots, dumping sites, creation of children parks as one of the reasons for restoring the urban forests back to it.
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Roads victim of official apathy
Solan, November 16 This fact was illustrated by the poor upkeep of Chamiya-Baand Road, which is an alternative road connecting the Kasauli constituency with the industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh. The road is yet to be carpeted as a result of which it was full of potholes. At certain places the main carriageway had been reduced to a few feet owing to mud and boulders. Though as per the PWD norms the formation width was supposed to be 5 to 7 mts and that of the carpeted carriageway between 3.05 to 3.35 mt it appeared that the standard had not been maintained. Since the road was used by commuters who wanted to avoid traffic snarls of Parwanoo and Kalka, its condition appeared to be worsening with each day. Its maintenance had failed to be on the priority list of the PWD which had perhaps forgotten to maintain it after having constructed it. Though the road led to a famous Sikh pilgrimage, Haripur Gurdwara, neither Nalagarh division nor Kasauli PWD division has bothered to even undertake cursory repair work. A portion of the road falls in Nalagarh division. Even the Kasauli-Jagjitnagar road which connects this state highway faces official apathy, especially at Chabal village where scores of builders had damaged the road alignment with impunity. The condition of the road has been worsened beyond repair as even parapets had sunk in owing to the weak foundation at many places . OP Verma, Executive Engineer, Kasauli PWD Division, said that since many roads had faced colossal damage due to the rains, repair work was under way. This, however, was not the case after a Tribune team tracked through the entire road to assess its state of affairs today. The bumpy road with the muck of landslides made commuting on the road a sheer torture. One wondered what was the purpose of widening the Kalka-Shimla highway merely to decongest traffic influx when the state failed to maintain its own roads which too can reduce traffic if maintained properly. There was little rationale in carving more roads when the existing ones failed to find funds even for cursory repair, including filling up of potholes.
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More funds allocated for Tanda medical college wing
Kangra, November 16 Bindal said the applications for increasing the PG seats to 32 in different subjects and the MBBS seats to 100 was pending before the Centre. Health Minister said the increase in seats would strengthen the functioning of the Tanda medical college and the Deen Dayal Hosiptal at Tanda. Dr Bindal described a report in section press allegedly baseless, biased and a manipulation of some vested interests and said the Tanda medical college had 18 professors, 19 associate, 41 assistant professor, four lecturers, 90 registrar and resident doctors besides seven other doctors and there was no question that patients were suffering. He said only 15 doctors were visiting the camps where services were provided to the poor and only five doctors were attending the weekly medical services. The Health Minister said the number of patients in the Tanda medical college had increased from 1,78,500 in 2008 to 2,74,585, in 2010. Numbers of major surgeries had gone up from 3,323 to 5,120. Number of X-ray investigations had increased from 26,317 to 43,386, 547. He further added that the indoor beds were functional and bed occupancy had gone up to 98%. Patients reporting for CT scan, MRI and other facilities had also increased.
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Hamirpur man claims teaching Arabic in 6 hrs
Hamirpur, November 16 Sharma had to learn Arabic while staying in UAE after an officer humiliated him for not knowing the language. He not only learned the language himself but also worked hard to develop a technique to teach Arabic to people visiting Middle East countries in shortest possible time to save them from possible humiliation. An electrical engineer by profession, Sharma has taught many people coming to these countries to work there and taught them reading, writing and speaking Arabic in just six hours. Talking about this technique, Sharma says, "For learning any language for a beginner, it is important to learn the script of that language and I first concentrate on teaching the formation of 29 alphabets of Arabic, their original shapes through calligraphy, to write these and how to remember the alphabets". "After this, the learner is taught to speak the alphabets and through this, the beginner understands the language which takes only six hours. However, speaking depends on vocabulary which definitely takes time," he adds. He says, "For teaching anything, understanding the psychology of a person is very important and a person learns better from a friend than a traditional teacher and I teach more as a friend".
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Forest Corpn not to supply charcoal this year
Hamirpur, November 16 Since majority area of the state experiences severe cold conditions varying two to four months, it is a general practice to burn charcoal in government offices to keep them warm during the period. Government departments also make advance procurement of charcoal supply as per their requirement by inviting bids and the corporation used to supply the major chunk of this procurement. The corporation on its part used to get allotment of lots from the Forest Department for converting firewood into charcoal to meet this demand. But due to stringent guidelines of the state High Court allowing only salvaged trees from forests, few lots of firewood were allotted this year leaving with minuscule supply of charcoal with the corporation. In the absence of availability of charcoal with the corporation, the government departments would now have to depend on private suppliers to procure their requirements. Private suppliers are already quoting high prices for charcoal this season, since the main supplier, Forest Corporation, is already out at most of the places. Pradeep Thakur, Divisional Manager of Forest Corporation, Hamirpur, said: “The corporation had supplied about 1,000 quintals of charcoal last year, but we have no charcoal to supply to government departments this year”. He said: “We used to get the supply from Chamba district, but very few lots have been allotted this year except in higher reaches and no supply is coming from Chamba district from where the corporation used to get chunk of charcoal”.
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Call to protect environment
Bilaspur, November 16 He said it would be in interest of society if the youth are apprised of the dangers of destruction of environment and ways and means to protect it. Conservator of Forests Rajiv Kumar said it was the duty of every citizen to ensure that the Act is implemented in letter and in spirit . He said the law provided for setting up of a national green tribunal for providing relief and compensation for damages to any aggrieved party or individual who suffers because of the destruction of green belts and environment. The National Green Tribunal is being set up at Delhi first but it can have more of its Benches at five places in the country. It could also go in for Circuit Benches according to requirements. The orders of this tribunal are not challengeable in any court except for in the Supreme Court of India . The tribunal would ensure fast-track disposal of cases of civil nature while it shall be a specialised body consisting of both judicial and expert members. It has been empowered with all powers of civil courts under the Code of Civil Procedure , 1908. The Tribunal has powers even for restitution of property to environmental victims and there is no ceiling on its award of compensation for destruction of environment. It also has the power to penalize those who do not obey its orders immediately. Deputy Commissioner Nandita Gupta called upon the people to do everything possible to protect environment She said greenery was very essential for survival on the earth and “we owe a duty to our next generations to take care of environment today so that it takes care of us tomorrow.” She exhorted people to install rooftop rainwater harvesting systems to conserve maximum water Vice-Principal Nalini Sharma and Profs VK Sharma , Saachi Sood and Deepali Ashok also addressed the seminar, among others.
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BJP workers give vent to anger
Not happy with the functioning of the government, workers of the BJP are very vocal in their criticism and mince no words at meetings organised by the party to get a feedback. Recently, the constituency-level party unit meetings were held in all five segments in Hamirpur district in which Irrigation and Public Health Minister Ravinder Ravi interacted with office-bearers and workers. At a few places the workers not only gave vent to their feelings for being ignored but also lambasted the party bosses for not involving them in working of the government at the lower level. In one such meeting held at Bhoranj, the party workers were enraged over the manner in which a few contractors were being patronised by party leaders. They even complained that they were interfering in the transfers of government officials. Keeping in view the coming panchayat elections in the state the minister assured the party workers that they would be given due respect and consulted while transferring government officials of their area. However, the manner in which the party has been functioning over the past three years the assurance did not inspire much confidence and the workers continued to be apprehensive. SJVN initiative on water
conservation
The Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), which has been organising the state-level painting competition (See photo) as part of the "national awareness campaign on energy conservation-2010" for the past three years, has also been designated the nodal agency for holding a similar event under the "national awareness campaign on water conservation-2010". The competition under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Water Resources has been modelled on exactly similar lines in which children of Class IV to Class VI are eligible to take part. The SJVN organised the final event at the state-level for the two competitions in Shimla early this week. A committee of five members, comprising including head of the Visual Arts Department of the Himachal Pradesh University, Deputy Director, Elementary Education, and three officers from SJVN, selected best 50 entries for each competition. The participants, whose paintings were selected, were invited to participate in the state-level finals. There were three themes--- "Buy Energy Star Labelled Appliances", "Energy Efficiency is Journey" and Not a Destination" and Save Energy, Save Our Future". The theme under the water conservation campaign was "Save Water, Every Drop Counts" In all, 22394 students of 332 schools from all over the state participated and 619 best entries were forwarded by various schools to the nodal agency. The best 50 participants in each category were invited to participate in the state-evel finals. In the water conservation category, the first prize carrying a cash reward of Rs 10,000 was bagged by Versah Bhardwaj of DAV School (Lakkar Bazar), Shimla, while second and third prizes of `Rs 8,000 and Rs 5,000, respectively, were won by Purna Prajapati and Mehar Raina of DPS, Jhakri. In the energy conservation category, the first prize went to Chirag Sharma of St. Edward's School, Shimla, while the second and third prizes of Rs 8,000 and Rs 5,000 ,respectively, were bagged by Gaurav Damseth of DAV (Lakkar Bazar), Shimla, and Chavi Sharma of DAV, New Shimla. Besides, 10 consolation prizes of Rs 1,000 each were given. The top three winners will participate in the national-level finals to be held in New Delhi in January, 2011. Education minister ID.Dhiman gave away the prizes
Awareness about breast cancer
The SEWA Trust organised a free-clinical examination and awareness camp for detection of breast cancer among women. As many as 400 women were examined at the camp in which women health workers, health educators and supervisors also participated. Prof Vepa Rao, patron of the trust, said that similar camps would be organised all over the state, particularly in the rural areas, where the level of awareness was very low. The objective was to make the women realise the importance of early detection of breast cancer which was the most common form of the disease. The camp was supported by the IGMC Hospital, Kamla Nehru Hospital, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department and National Rural Health Mission and Youth Enlightening Society. The women recommended mammography by doctors were given the facility free of cost at the local Indus Hospital. All women underwent clinical examination and took a pledge to get themselves medically examined for breast cancer every year. A team of doctors, including Dr SS Minhas, Dr Rajeev Seem, Dr Manoj Gupta and Dr Santosh Minhas sensitised women about the disease, its treatment and cleared the doubts and myths regarding it. (Contributed by
DP Gupta and
Rakesh Lohumi)
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Buddhi Divali of Kullu
by Shriniwas Joshi There are certain pockets in Himachal Pradesh where Divali is celebrated a month after its celebration in the rest of India. It is called Buddhi Divali or old Diwali. Ani and Nirmand in Kullu and Shillai in Sirmaur district are the places mainly associated with it. The celebrations start on amavasya, the dark fortnight of a lunar month, of Margshirsha or Aghan and continue for three days. This year it will start on December 5. The festival resembles any other fair of Himachal Pradesh - there are bangle sellers, sweetmeat kiosks, especially jalebi confectioners, merry-go-rounds, ready-made clothiers and shoe-sellers with their products carrying the brand names with a slight difference in spellings. I am giving you an eyewitness account of the celebrations at Nirmand in Kullu district. It was told to me by BK Aggarwal, a commissioner in the government. The Brahmins of Nirmand make a bonfire at the local Dasnami Akhara on the amavasya night. A group of people, called Kabiris or Kabs in the local dialect, sing songs at the time of lighting the fire. These songs are broken into several cantos called Kandis. In the first Kandi, sung at the time of lighting the fire, the Gods are invited to descend on the earth for the safety of the residents of Nirmand. While the other Kandis describing the selected topics from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are sung, the male villagers dance around the bonfire. During the fifth Kandi, the men from Pujarli, Remu and Nishani villages make entry into the akhara and force the already dancing men out to take their place and start dancing. On the eighth Kandi, a special group of men called Daanooey carry around the villages the flame of the bonfire in a baton made of devdar and kail wood. The rounds are called 'shikhpher'. It is the peak of the ritual - the flames of the bonfire are leaping upwards and drum-beats and their echoes from the hills create a haunting atmosphere. The Garhias, men dancing round the bonfire, then form a circular formation with the help of smart and active among them. A similar formation is also readied at the entrance gate to the akhara. It gives the impression that all is set for a battle. And lo! At the eleventh Kandi, the Daanooey enter the akhara to make attempts of throwing the Garhias out and take their positions and dance around the bonfire. Daanooey make use of the battle strategy of wave formation - a group followed by another- in order to penetrate the formations of Garhias. The last wave of Daanooey before the sunrise is so weighty in number and comes with such a force that Garhias lose the ground. That closes the first-day ceremony. On the second day, people of a special village or locality decorate a serpent made of moonj grass. The pseudo-serpent is revered in Parshuram's temple. The Brahmins of Sarkoti and Bara dance at a fixed place with that serpent in their hands. Then appear from nowhere the armed Garhias and cut the serpent into pieces with the swords. Is it the revenge upon the loss of last night's battle? The third day of the ceremony is repetition of the rituals performed on the second day but the participants are from different localities or villages. The entire proceedings during the three-day festival are so well-organised that one feels it to be a depiction of a past historical event. A legend is that two cruel Nag-Daanoo kings had captured Nirmand and the surroundings when Khas-Garhia, the original residents of the area, invited them to dance with them. They then killed the Nags during the dance. This historical fact is being repeated year after year while celebrating Buddhi Divali. I had, however, heard a different story that the news of Ram's return to Ayodhya reached very late in these pockets of interior Himachal Pradesh and thus the late celebration of Divali. Whatever it5 is, Buddhi Divali is a cultural tradition of the hills worth preserving.
Tailpiece
A fellow to another in Amitabh style: "Mere paas rocket hai, chakri hai, anaar hai, bomb hai, hawai hai. Tumhare paas kya hai?" The other in Shashi Kapoor style: "Mere paas Ma (chis) hai."
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Miss Renuka fair, miss the chair?
Nahan, November 16 Residents of Renuka and custodians of the ancient temple of Lord Parshuram have maintained the datewise details of those Chief Ministers and Governors of Himachal Pradesh who did not participate in the inaugural and closing functions of the fair and lost their posts within months. In the closing ceremony of last year's Renuka fair the then governor, Prabha Rau, who did not participate in the fair, was transferred from Himachal to Rajasthan after a few months of the fair. Former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh could not participate in the inaugural ceremony of the fair due to his engagements in Delhi in connection with th distribution of party tickets for the December, 2007, Vidhan Sabha elections. His party lost power within two months, in the state. Although haunted by the jinx of this famous belief, Virbhadra Singh next day marked his presence in the Renuka fair but could not spend a night at Renukaji as per tradition. Dadahu Panchyat vice-president Amit Bhardwaj and Devlus are of the opinion that "taking part in the fair is not sufficient, spending a night on Renuka tirtha as per the ancient tradition is essential, especially for those who rule this hill state, to ensure that they remain in power till the next fair". As per old practice, Chief Minister PK Dhumal inaugurated the five-day-long Renuka state-level fair today. Governor of Himachal Urmila Singh would preside over the closing ceremony and participate in the departure ceremony of the palanquin of Lord Parshuram and other deities on November 21.
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One year on, NIFT seeks local acceptance
Kangra, November 16 The institute will introduce a PhD course here on the Kangra campus in 2012, said Dinesh Kumar Rangra, director, NIFT, Kangra. "The institute had launched some courses for the locals like Certificate in Production and Certificate in Photography. The fee for one year course was Rs 60,000 and Rs 20,000 for courses which were of less then a year duration. We used to conduct evening classes but we didn't get any response from locals," said the director. The institute provides 15 per cent reservation to the students who belong to Himachal Pradesh. They already have three students from Kangra, Dharamsala and Palampur who came through the category reserved for the state students. It also has a Fee Subsidy Policy which is based on income criteria. A student whose family's annual income falls between Rs 3-4 lakh would get 25 per cent of subsidy in the fees, a student with annual income between Rs 2-3 lakh per annum would get 50 per cent of subsidy and the student whose family income is less then Rs 2 lakh per annum, would get 100 per cent subsidy in the fee. "The policy caters to all the categories and is completely based on income criteria. We are basically subsiding education at higher level," said Rangra.
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Kangra BSNL network in shambles
Kangra, November 16 BSNL subscribers complained that the telephone and Internet services had become a continuous problem. The local subdivisional BSNL authorities are a mute spectator to the trauma of the BSNL consumers, they added. A subscriber today lodged a complaint with general manager of the BSNL Deepak Chautervedi alleging that his Internet was non-functional for the past more than a week and despite repeated requests the complaint was not attended to by the SDO (BSNL). The SDO told the subscriber that he was busy selling SIM cards at Shahpur and it was junior telecom officer's duty to attend to consumer complaints. Most Internet subscribers are suffering due to faulty modems and the subdivisional authorities of the BSNL here are not even getting them checked despite complaints. Tara Chand, a resident of Ansoli, said his telephone was not working and he had registered a complaint few days back but it had not been repaired. Most of the telephone subscribers were traumatised because of faulty phones but were more traumatised because of deteriorating work culture of the subdivisional authorities here leaving the BSNL consumers in a lurch. Lack of coordination between the BSNL here and the Accounts Department was adding to the woes of the consumers. Sources from the BSNL Department alleged that technical staff was being pushed to administrative works and even on the sale of SIM cards, which was affecting both technical and administrative woks. The consumers from the Zamanabad and Sameerpur areas had been requesting the SDO to redress the problem caused because of low signals but to no avail. Surprisingly, with the intervention of Chautervedi faulty Internet connections were restored within minutes in the town with minor technical intervention.
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Lifetime Achievement Award for Prof Khullar
Palampur, November 16 Prof Khullar is a elected Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad; the Indian Fern Society and the Indian Botanical Society. He has also received several awards and honours like the first gold medal in peridology in 1987, the Birbal Sahani centenary award by the Birbal Savitri Foundation, Lucknow, in 2001 and the Vijay Shree Award by India International. In recognition of his contribution, four fern species have been named after Prof Khullar.
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Nod to transfer of forest land
Nurpur, November 16 The battalion of the Indo-Tibet Border Police (ITBP) had been proposed by the state government over two years back but forest land clearance was its major bottleneck. Local MLA Rakesh Pathania, while thanking Chief Minister PK Dhumal and Lok Sabha MP Anurag Thakur for their efforts in getting forest clearance. He informed that the clearance of acquisition of remaining 18 hectares of private land for this purpose was in the final stage. According to information, initially Rs 350 crore will be spent in setting up first phase of the battalion and it will cater to the need of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand.
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Th Dhumal government’s ambitious project to develop satellite townships around major cities and towns has failed to take off.
Palampur, November 16
Not happy with the functioning of the government, workers of the BJP are very vocal in their criticism and mince no words at meetings organised by the party to get a feedback.
Recently, the constituency-level party unit meetings were held in all five segments in Hamirpur district in which Irrigation and Public Health Minister Ravinder Ravi interacted with office-bearers and workers. At a few places the workers not only gave vent to their feelings for being ignored but also lambasted the party bosses for not involving them in working of the government at the lower level.
