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PCC chief's whip makes rebels fall in line
More cement plants invitation to ecological disaster
Heaps of polythene bags trash govt claims
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Insect affecting crops in polyhouses identified
Registration of migrants gains momentum
Mock AIEEE, PMT tests conducted
vignettes
Namhole tomato farmers cry for govt attention
Tourists throng Rohtang Pass
Global JV to exploit geothermal energy
Himachal diary
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PCC chief's whip makes rebels fall in line
Solan, December 21 This has come as a relief for the Congress, which was trying to make a comeback in the Solan MC, which was considered crucial being the home ground of Health and Ayurveda Minister Rajiv Bindal. Among those who withdrew included sitting councillor Ajay Chauhan, who had filed his candidature for the post of chairman from Solan after the party refused him the ticket and fielded Kul Rakesh Pant. It is, however, worth mentioning here that the candidates who were asked to withdraw by the party were rewarded by their adjustment in the organisational setup. Although Chauhan had bright chances of winning the seat, he pulled out of the contest in favour of the party candidate after being asked to do so by PCC Chief Kaul Singh Thakur, Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh and former minister Harsh Mahajan. Addressing mediapersons here, District Congress Committee president Rahul Singh said that since Chauhan had withdrawn his candidature on directions from the DCC they would adjust him in the organisation. In the Baddi and Nalagarh MCs, the withdrawal of Independents had now opened the arena for a direct fight for the post of chairman between the Congress and the BJP. In Baddi, Congress candidate Madan Chowdhary will now fight against BJP's Jaswant Rai while Congress candidate Alka Verma would face a direct contest from BJP's Neeru Sharma in Nalagarh. Nalagarh MLA HN Saini while asserting that they would romp home the Nalagarh MC polls said they were working hard by enlisting their achievements before the people and despite being in the opposition in Nalagarh they had managed to get developmental works through. In Arki too, there was a direct contest between BJP's Prabha Bhardwaj and Congress nominee Seema Sharma while four candidates were in the fary for the post of in Solan MC chairman with the presence of two Independents-Sanjay Hindwan and Balram Azad -besides BJP's Devinder Thakur and Congress nominee Kul Rakesh Pant.
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More cement plants invitation to ecological disaster
Palampur, December 21 Various environmental organisations, panchayats and local bodies have openly criticised the government and alleged that the BJP government was pleasing the cement companies at the cost of ecology of the state. It had reminded the state government that it should learn a lesson from its past experience with regard to the Ambuja and ACC cement plants, which had played havoc with nature, rendering green hills barren in Bilaspur and Solan districts. These bodies have also approached Union Minister for Environment Jairam Ramesh to visit the state and cancel the environmental clearance granted to these companies. If five more cement plants were allowed to come up in the state it would result in large-scale environmental degradation. Besides, the government would have to allow the felling of 50000 green trees in the state for the installation of these plants. Over 100000 residents would have to leave their homes and fertile land. Sundernagar, Karsog and Chopal would be affected the most where thousands of acres of land covered with dense forests would be needed for mining and extraction of limestone by these companies. The three existing cement plants of Ambuja, Jaypee and ACC have already done irreparable damage to the environment, destroying wildlife centuries, particularly in Solan and Bilaspur districts. The Darlaghat valley is a classic example where environment laws were openly flouted with the state government being a silent spectator. Once known for its lushgreen forests and rich flora and fauna, this valley now has barren hills because of reckless mining, large-scale deforestation and industrialisation. The air in these areas is being polluted by poisonous gases, dust from industrial plants and automobile exhausts. A majority of the population living in these areas has been suffering from various disease like asthma, skin disease and TB Even the State Pollution Board has failed to take cognizance of repeated public complaints in this respect. If these plants are allowed to come up these would release large carbon smoke. . Besides, 30,000 trucks belonging to cement companies cause traffic jams for hours together on the Bilaspur-Chandigarh and Bilaspur-Shimla highways daily. If five more cement are allowed to come up then over 75,000 trucks would ply on these two highways. Till date the government had not planned alternative highways for the trucks of cement companies.
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Heaps of polythene bags trash govt claims
Palampur, December 21 In the absence of any check, shopkeepers are openly using polythene carry bags. Though the government has fixed heavy penalties for violating the ban, a little has been done in this regard and only 68 offenders have been fined in Kangra district so far. It may be recalled that Himachal has been adjudged as the best state in the country for eradicating polythene from the state. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal is likely to get the award from the Prime Minister next week. In Palampur, discarded polythene carry bags can be seen littered in all corners of the town. The Tribune had carried a detailed survey in this regard and established the fact polythene is yet to eradicated from the state completely.
A number of shopkeepers and roadside vendors are using polythene carrybags. Besides Palampur, religious centers like Kangra, Jwalamukhi, Chamunda Baijnath etc are dotted with heaps of discarded polythene bags. The lukewarm attitude of state agencies in the implementation of the ban has put the government on the defensive. The government must order a probe against the officials concerned for misleading it by providing wrong facts and figures in this regard.
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Insect affecting crops in polyhouses identified
Hamirpur, December 21 If unchecked, the insect can prove fatal for crops as it not only affects the growth of plants, but also perishes them. Telling about his findings, Dr Thakur said, “Since this insect is microscopic, its symptoms confusing its identification are quite difficult in normal circumstances”. “Its symptoms are so confusing that even field staffs of the Agriculture Department cannot identify the insect without laboratory tests,” he added. It affects the root system of plants leading to formation of knots in the roots. Once it afflicts the roots, it also interferes
in the intake of water and nutrition in the plants by blocking the pores of the roots. If not identified by farmers, the losses to crop are much more. For saving crops from the attack of this insect, the scientist suggests soil testing through microscope as the first step for its identification. As a precautionary measure, the farmers should use healthy nursery plants for transplantation. Once identified, the farmers should spray the crop with 10 grams corbofuran for one square meters at the time of sowing and transplantation. The spray of insecticide should be avoided during flowering season except in case of ornamental plants, he added.
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Registration of migrants gains momentum
According to information available from the SP office, as many as 301 fresh registrations of Kashmiri migrants have been made till December 18. The number of registered migrants from J&K was 410 till November 30. “The whole process of registration has gained pace after the Wednesday incident. The Police Department has been very vigilant in registering the labourers. We have asked the contractors, landlords and other employers to get their labourers or tenants registered in the respective police station as it is mandatory to do so,” said Daljit Thakur, Superintendent of Police. He said the migrants had also been voluntarily coming forward for their registrations after the incident. “After collecting the details of migrants we send those to their respective states for further investigations,” said the SP. “It becomes easy to locate the criminal if a crime is committed by some migrant,” he added. The procedure of registration of non-Kashmiri migrants has also begun.
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Mock AIEEE, PMT tests conducted
Solan, December 21 University spokesman JM Zulka said since the mock tests would help the aspirants find his weaknesses and learn time management. The toppers in these mock tests would get scholarships for their professional studies after 10+2 at any place in India. The scholarship amount for the first position would be worth Rs 25000 for both PMT and AIEEE and Rs 15000 for the second position. The top 10 students would be given 25 per cent fee waiver in the first semester for study at Shoolini University.
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vignettes
I have already discussed in this column the idol of Hanuman installed at Jakhu. I now come to that of Rani of Jhansi dedicated to the public on November 18 by the Chief Minister. It is installed at Rani Jhansi Park on The Mall (See Photo). I credit the Language and Culture Department for planning proper landscaping before mounting the statue. The 15-foot-high statue of Rani Lakshmi Bai standing on a platform emerges from a specially designed fort-like structure that enhances the bravado of the Rani who fought against the British. It weighs three tonnes and has been sculpted by Faqir Chand Parida of Haridwar. It also jells well with the surroundings. Quite a few visitors hem in around and appreciate its craft. An elderly gentleman had objection to the raised forelegs of the horse for, he felt, that these had tilted the figure of Rani Jhansi. I quoted to him a piece of text from 'Hands on Chicago' by Frazel and Heise in which the authors had referred to the statue of General Philip H. Sheridan whose horse's one leg was raised symbolising that the rider was wounded in the battlefield and the legs of another horse for the statue of General Ulysses Grant were on the ground, meaning that he was not wounded. The book made no mention of what two legs in the air meant but many people believed that it indicated the rider died in the battle. The sculptors in sculpting the equestrian statues generally, not necessarily, follow the above rule.
The statue has a small child tied to the Rani sitting at her back. Who is he? The Rani had given birth to a son, Damodar Rao, in 1851 but he died when he was just four-month old. The Raja and the Rani adopted a child named Anand Rao. But on the death of the Raja on November 21, 1851, the East India Company under the Governor-General Lord Dalhousie invoked the Doctrine of Lapse in Jhansi, rejecting Anand Rao's claim to the throne as he was not biologically related to the dead king. During this time the First War of Independence broke out and the Rani joined it and carried her adopted son with her wherever she went fighting against the British. She died fighting in 1858. The year of birth ascribed to Rani in the statue in Shimla is 1835. This date is also there in her statue at Gwalior. It is debatable because modern scholars unanimously propose 1828, overruling the one given by the earlier scholars, including Vrindavan Lal Verma. Researchers confirm that when she was married in May, 1842, an entry in the Jhansi Treasury Accounts held by the British Library reads: "To Maharaja Gangadhar Rao to cover the expenses of his marriage ... bill dated May 21 - Rs. 40,000". Had Lakshmibai born in November, 1835, she would have been six and a half at that time. Would it be sensible for a man to marry a girl of six and then wait several years before she could bear him a child when the man had lost one wife and was no longer young but was in dire need of an heir? There is another book 'Wanderings in India' by John Lang, which reads:" he had heard from the Vakeel that the Rani was a very handsome woman of 20 years of age". So, a woman of 26 in 1854 has the year 1828 as her year of birth . In "Our Bones Are Scattered", Andrew Ward notes that in Bithur there is a legend that Manikarnika (child name of Lakshmi Bai) and Nana Sahib had fallen in love but that Baji Rao forbade the marriage. If true this indirectly confirms 1828 as the year of birth of Manikarnika as this would not have happened had she been eight years old, but 13 or 14 seems more likely. The arguments of the researchers have weight and the year of the birth of Rani Jhansi could be 1828 and not 1835.
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Namhole tomato farmers cry for govt attention
Bilaspur, December 21 But now, the story is entirely different and most of the tomato growers are sore that the government, first having encouraged them to produce tomato, has now almost neglected them and their produce and has left them to the vagaries of weather and limited market conditions, most of which are now being stage-managed by a handful of intermediaries, leaving little for producers. The government has set up a market sub-committee at Namhole after constructing some shops in the main bazaar, but the shops are now being found inadequate for proper grading of the produce and there is no space for parking of trucks which daily converge there carrying heavy produce to the market, resulting in traffic jams, congestion and confusion all around. On an average, some 400 quintals of tomato arrives at the market daily and total tomato worth Rs 500 crore is said to sell here in any good season. Sher Singh, president of the Namhole Sub-Market Committee, said: “Tomato producers of 16 gram panchayats of the Namhole area and 15 gram panchayats of Loharghat of Solan district converge at Namhole daily, but they are a disappointed lot as they do not get any remunerative prices for their produce due to several factors beyond their control”. “But, the government can certainly play a positive role to ensure that the farmers get at least the price of their hard work, efforts and inputs,” farmers said. Farmers Ram Lok, Brij Lal, Kuldip, Hari Lal, Sant Ram, Chet Ram, etc, told mediapersons that despite the market committee rules, they were still an exploited lot as a handful of traders were hand in glove to exploit the glut in the market and most of the time they only get from Rs 5 to Rs 10 for their per kg of produce which actually sells at Rs 25 to Rs 40 normally in other markets of the state and at higher prices in other states. They demanded that the government should purchase their produce and arrange its selling outside the state so that this virtual revolution in their fields could make some difference in their economy. Several farmers, including Vishnu, Rakesh Kumar, Prem Lal, Vasudev, Kamlesh, etc, said the Mid-Himalayan Project authorities should be more careful in providing quality tomato seeds. They said the Agriculture Department should organise regular seminars for farmers to solve their problems and also to make them aware of the proper use of right quantity and quality of fertilisers, pesticides and other inputs. Some even felt that pollution being spread by the nearby JP and Ambuja Cement factories was also responsible for the ever-depleting produce in their fields.
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Tourists throng Rohtang Pass
Manali, December 21 Although the weather was dry in the entire region, tourists will not be disappointed as the Rohtang Pass, 51 km from here, is accessible by taxis and private vehicles. Every tourist, who visits Kullu-Manali, loves to visit the Rohtang Pass. Besides affording a magnificent view of snow-clad mountains of the Chandra-Bhaga range, the Rohtang Pass is a source of the Beas. A festive atmosphere prevails at places like Gulaba, Rahla waterfall, Beas, Marhi, Rahni nullah and Rohtang Pass on the Manali-Leh road in December as tourists are seen enjoying in snow and having photo sessions with icicles. Due to early snowfall on the Rohtang Pass, Manali has become the most popular tourist destination for the Christmas and New Year celebrations and this would boost tourism in Kullu-Manali. Tourists are in for a surprise here to see the entire area of the Rohtang Pass covered with snow. To attract more tourists for celebrating Christmas and New Year, private hotels in Manali are offering various exiting packages and special discounts to customers during this season and also hoping to get more booking close to these occasions.
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Global JV to exploit geothermal energy
Shimla, December 21 The "Agneya Udgara IndNor Scientific" (energy from lava) project will be implemented as an Indo-Norwegian joint venture by the consortium , according to noted geologist Ritesh Arya, who is the Indian coordinator for the programme. A team of experts from Norway and Iceland, where geothermal technologies are already well-developed and widely used, will come to India in February to visit various geothermal sites to prepare a blueprint for the project. The Norwegain partners have agreed to provide an initial amount of Rs 7 crore for starting work. A workshop will also be organised here during their visit. The core of Himalayan ranges has abundance of geothermal sources as evident from the numerous hot springs in the region. Some places like Manikaran, Vahshstha and Tattapani and Chumathang, Panamic, Puga Sasoma, Marsmicla and Demchuk in the adjoining Ladakh have been attracting people, mostly pilgrims, but so far no effort has been made to harness the true potential of the these largely neglected resources. Located in interior pockets the geothermal sites could be developed as tourist destinations with spa resorts and health centres based on traditional therapies as the main attraction to bring prosperity to areas which lack other economic resources, asserts Arya, who earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for striking ground water and drilling the highest borewell in the world in Ladakh. The focus will be on research to develop sustainable green technologies based on geothermal sources to provide renewable energy across the north-western Himalayas. Deep boring will be required to tap the geothermal energy for generating power as temperature up to 200 degree Celsius is essential. The ultimate plan is to set up a geothermal study centre in Himachal for carrying out research and development to promote geo-tourism The partner organisations include the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute(NGI), Institute for Energy Technology (Norway), Iceland Geosurvey, National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, Centre of Advanced Study in Geology, Chandigarh, the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, Arya Drillers, , Stratoil and GreenEnergy.
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Himachal diary
It is his painting skill along with creativity and imagination that make each of his creations an art piece which has brought several awards and recognition for Chirag Sharma, a student of class six at St Edward's School, Shimla. A very gifted child, Chirag has won laurels at several painting competitions both at the national and state levels. He again won an award for his painting titled "Bachat Ke Sitare Dost Hamare" (See photo) during the national-level painting competition organised by Ministry of Power on the theme of "Energy conservation." The competition in which thousands of students participated from all over the country saw Chirag once again come out with flying colours. He was given the award along with a cash prize of Rs 10,000 by Union minister for Power Sushil Kumar Shinde in Delhi on December 14. Chirag had also won the first prize at a competition organised by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam at the national level. In fact, a total of 23,000 children from 332 schools of Himachal had taken part it in the contest. Orthodontist honoured
The appliance developed by Prof KS Negi of the Department of Orthodontics at the Government Dental College, Shimla, to prevent malocclusion (irregular or crooked teeth) among children has won him Dr. Jeorge Jacob's award for best innovation in clinical orthodontics. The Indian Society of Orthodontics has conferred the award on him for the Nickel-Titanium intercept which functions as a "space re-gainer" to effectively check growth of irregular teeth. "When a child loses the primary teeth early there is loss of space, which hinders the growth of new teeth, invariably resulting in malocclusion. However, by using the intercept the space loss is quickly regained and in most cases the new teeth emerge at original position pre-empting all possibility of irregular and crooked teeth" explained Dr Negi. Malocclusion not only caused functional problems but also affected the appearance of a person as protruding or irregular teeth affected aesthetics. The research paper he published in the subject has been adjudged the best at the national conference held in Mangalore early this week. He is the first orthodontist from Himachal who has opted to serve the state. He has published eight papers in national and international journals till date.
Shiksha Bharti award
The MIT groups of institutions, Bani, has been awarded Shiksha Bharti award for its useful contribution in technical education at the national level. The award was recently given to the organisation at New Delhi by the All-India Achievers Foundation and the Indian Economic Development Research Centre. The awards are an annual feature and given to an organisation making valuable contribution in national development. The Governor of Pondichery, Mr Iqbal Singh, was the chief guest at the award ceremony. The citation appreciated the effort of the chairman and CEO of the MIT Group Vinod Thakur and Sumiti Thakur, respectively, to promote technical education. Former Union Minister BN Singh and former CBI director Joginder Singh were also present on this occasion. The group is running an engineering and polytechnic college and a school at Bani in Hamirpur district. Thakur says the credit for this achievement goes to faculty members and staff of the institute. (Contributed by
Pratibha Chauhan, Rakesh Lohumi and
DP Gupta)
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Palampur, December 21
Tall claims by the government regarding imposition of a complete ban on the use and sale of polythene in the state notwithstanding, the menace is still prevalent in a number of towns.
I have already discussed in this column the idol of Hanuman installed at
Jakhu. I now come to that of Rani of Jhansi dedicated to the public on November 18 by the Chief Minister. It is installed at Rani Jhansi Park on The Mall (See Photo). I credit the Language and Culture Department for planning proper landscaping before mounting the statue.
The 15-foot-high statue of Rani Lakshmi Bai standing on a platform
emerges from a specially designed fort-like structure that enhances the
bravado of the Rani who fought against the British.
It was some 10 years ago that some enterprising farmers of Namhole thought of introducing tomato crop in their fields in a big way at the instance of the Department of Agriculture on the pattern of adjoining Solan district instead of traditional crops which were neither remunerative nor market-oriented. And to their surprise, it was a successful experiment and that was the beginning of a revolution in the entire area as hardly any farmer remained behind in this latest crop.
Manali, December 21
Dharamsala, December 21