Shimla, April 26
The indifferent attitude of the government notwithstanding, the campaign launched by the Earthstation, a charitable trust, for the preservation of the abandoned Hul copper mines in Chamba district has received worldwide support from archaeologists.

The US-based Society for Industrial Archaeology (SIA) has appreciated the efforts of Aneil K Bhalla, the chief executive of the Earthstation, in re-discovering the mines abandoned over 200 years ago and launching a campaign for its preservation.

President of the society Jay McCauley has offered to provide all help for any project for its conservation. He has informed the trust that there are many individuals and organisations in the Silicon Valley willing to support any endeavour of the trust to help preserve the old mines.

Founded in 1971, the SIA encourages the study, interpretation and preservation of historically significant industrial sites, structures, artefacts and technology.

The British Women Association for Archaeology has also supported the initiative of the Earthstation and underlined the need to conserve the re-discovered mines. An exploratory expedition, organised by the Earthstation, discovered the old mines on the basis of information available in the Gazetteer of Chamba State (1904). The mines existed during the reign of Raja Pratap Singh Verma (1559-86 AD) as per references made in the Gazetteer, says Bhalla, who subsequently led two more expeditions in which experts of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) were also associated. Copper coins were used as currency in the erstwhile princely state of Chamba.

Meanwhile, Bhalla today made a audio-visual presentation on the mine and the efforts being made by the Earthstation for its preservation before Governor Urmila Singh in New Delhi. She sought the details of all correspondence made with various government agencies in this regard and promised to take up the matter at appropriate level.

Bhalla maintains that the heritage mines can be conserved by developing an adventure tourism circuit to promote it as an international tourist destination. Similar sites have been successfully developed in the US and many parts of Europe and one such site is The Great Orem Copper Mines in Europe.

He has even prepared a plan which envisages creation of an appropriate mechanism to research, explore and conserve a large cluster of mines in and around Banjah.

Shimla, April 26
The Himachal Pradesh High Court today issued notice to the state and Central governments on the issue of the non-implementation of plans under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in Shimla town.

While issuing notices, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Sanjay Karol further directed the Chief Secretary, commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, Shimla, and other respondents to file reply within four weeks.

The court passed this order on a petition filed by Tarlok Chauhan highlighting that the state government and its agencies are lacking in coordination to implement the projects identified under 
the JNNURM.

The petitioner said the Central Government had sanctioned Rs 3,900 crore for Shimla town in 2006 and projects to be executed by the state government agencies. The petitioner added that the state had miserably failed to utilise the amount sanctioned by the Centre.

The petitioner said the detailed project reports prepared by the various departments of the state were all gathering dust and virtually no project as mooted had been translated into action.

He said only a project of the construction of an Auckland tunnel had been delayed by more than three years and still it might take a few more years for completion. This had caused great inconvenience to the general public as virtually no path was available for pedestrians in that area.

The petitioner has urged the court to direct the respondents to place on record all the project reports submitted under the JNNRUM and status of such projects.

The court has listed the matter for further hearing on May 30.

Shimla, April 26
The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Employees Union has expressed resentment over the decision of the government to withdraw equity participation to reconstitute the board of directors of the State Transmission Utility (STU).

In a representation to Chief Secretary Rajwant Sandhu, the union asserted that the contention that equity participation was not possible due to weak liquidity position of the board was misplaced as it could be easily adjusted against the assets worth over Rs 200 crore transferred to the STU. Moreover, the state transmission plan could not be implemented without having any coordination with the board which was having a huge transmission system. It demanded the restoration of 40 per cent equity of the board and the nomination of two directors from it in the STU.

It has also pointed out that out of the 954 posts transferred from the board to State Power Corporation Limited only 700 posts had been held by employees from the board. The corporation had made direct recruitments and also absorbed surplus employees from other public sector undertakings which was affecting the promotional avenues of the board employees.

It also urged the government to finalise the service conditions of the employees taken from the board on secondment in the corporation and also ensure that all the 954 posts were filled by employees from the board.

Nurpur, April 26
The HPSEB JEs, AEs, Diploma and Non-Diploma Holders Association has accused the bureaucracy of the board of spoiling the image of the Dhumal government by ignoring his orders.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday night, a spokesman of the association said a delegation had met Chief Minister PK Dhumal five times in connection with its long-standing demands and he issued clear directions to the Chairman of the HPSEB in support of these demands. But the board neglected the directions of the Chief Minister, he alleged.

He claimed that equal pay for equal work was the fundamental right of the employees and the board management was disbursing Rs 5,800 and 4,500 pay scales among two categories of junior engineers discharging the same duties.

He rued that less-paid JEs were being exploited with promotion stagnation as they had only 2 per cent promotional quota in the board. He demanded to remove the anomalies and equal pay scales to both categories of the JEs.

He also underlined the need to release due arrears and DA installment on the pattern of the Punjab board.

Earlier, the association held a meeting at Bodh near here on Saturday in which it was decided to launch a stir against the board management for its apathy towards board’s technical employees.

Nurpur, April 26
The sudden suspension of rural bus routes by the HRTC in the Nurpur area has left villagers and daily commuters high and dry as no alternative arrangement has been made for them.

According to information, over 12 bus routes that operated from Jassur by the Pathankot depot of the HRTC had been suspended on March 23. The reason given was not losses, but the refusal of ticket commission agents of the HRTC who were also 
bus conductors for the past few years.

Inquiries reveal they were being paid only 3.5 per cent commission on selling bus tickets, but they got nothing for doing the job of conductors. In Pathankot depot, 24 such commission agents reportedly left their job after the failure of the HRTC management to give any assurance to them for their career. As many as 
32 bus conductors are required to streamline all the bus routes under the Pathankot depot.

Prakash Chandra, Divisional Manager, HRTC, Dharamsala, said due to the shortage of crew members the village bus routes in 
the Nurpur area had been suspended.

He said the process of fresh appointments for bus conductors had been initiated by the HRTC management. “Written test for the posts of bus conductor has been conducted and soon after conducting their interviews they will be appointed. As and when the fresh appointees join duties, the suspended bus routes will be restored,” he said.

Shimla, April 26
Chief Secretary Rajwant Sandhu laid stressed on the need for an effective coordination between various government departments along with active involvement of the gram panchayats and other local bodies to mitigate and minimise loss to life and property due to disasters.

She was addressing senior officers, including principal secretaries, heads of various departments and nodal officers of disaster management at the concluding session of the two-day Training Needs Assessment Workshop on Disaster Management here today.

The workshop was organised under the aegis of the State Council for Science Technology and Environment in association with the Department of Revenue.

Dr Amir Ali Khan, Director, National Institute of Disaster Management, Delhi, gave a comprehensive presentation on various types of disasters and the threats looming large. 

Shimla, April 26
The contribution of Christian institutions in promoting education in the country will be evaluated by research scholars and academicians for the first time at a three-day national seminar being organised at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) here from April 27 to 29.

The seminar on “Christian Educational Institutions: The Making of Modern Democratic India” will be inaugurated by Prof Mrinal Miri, member, National Council for Higher Education and Research, while Dr Thomas Menamparambil, Archbishop, Guwahati, will deliver the keynote address. About 50 scholars, heads of higher educational institutions and journalists will participate in the seminar.

Director of the IIAS Peter d’Souza said it was for the first time that investment in education by churches across the country over two centuries was being brought onto an evaluative platform. The Christian contribution in promoting primary to higher, medical to the media, and disabled to gender, rural to urban, open and distance education across the country to the marginalised as well as the elite of the society was a story yet untold and deserving to be recorded in the national archives of memory.

The participants will include Valerian Rodrigues from the JNU, New Delhi, M Arockiasamy Xavier from Arul Anandar College, Madurai, Pius Thomas from Assam University, Silchar, Stephen Mavely, Vice-Chancellor, Assam Don Bosco University, Guwahati, Charlotte Simpson Viegas from St Xavier College, Kolkata, Saju Chackalackal from Christ University, Bangalore, Praveen Perumalla from the University of Madras, Jose Kalapura from St Xavier College, Patna and Fleur D Souza from St Xavier College, Mumbai.

Bilaspur, April 26
A Rs 4.82-crore sewerage scheme has been prepared for the temple town of Shah Talai, 70 km from here, and work will start on it soon.

MLA from the Jhandutta constituency and Deputy Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha Rikhi Ram Kaundal said this while presiding over a meeting of the Shah Talai Temple Trust at Talai last evening.

He said this would solve the problem of sanitation created by lakhs of devotees who visit this shrine every year.

He said the trust had an income of Rs 1.33 crore till December and it spent Rs 1.19 crore on the construction and provision of various facilities for the devotees.

Kaundal said the temple trust would soon start a Gau Sadan for providing shelter to stray cattle and a committee had already been formed for the same while 10 bigha of land had also been earmarked for its institution.

The meeting decided to start its own website and keep the temple open till midnight for devotees who arrived here from far-off places. The duration of “langar” was also increased to three months instead of the present one month.

Temple trust chairman-cum-Ghumarwin SDM RK Gauttam and officials and non-official members Shiv Ram Bhardwaj, Raj Kumar Chaudhary, Surender Sharma, Jeet Ram Sharma, Yashwant Dhiman and Anita Kaushal were also present in the meeting.

Dharamsala, April 26
About 100 Tibetan monks today started “Save Kirti Monastery” peace march from McLeodganj to protest against the blockade of the Kirti Monastery in Tibet by Chinese troops.

The rally was flagged off by Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Samdhong Rinpoche. The monks would trek up to Delhi on foot as a symbolic protest against the Chinese blockade of the Kirti Monastery in Tibet.

Sources said the monks were expected to reach Delhi on May 4.

The monks participating in the march carried the flags of Tibet and India. However, the carrying of Indian flags by protesters was objected to by security agencies.

Earlier, the Dalai Lama led a mass prayer service for the alleged victims of China’s ongoing crackdown on the monks of the Kirti Monastery and local Tibetans in Ngaba County in Tibet’s north-eastern Amdo province.

This is the first major prayer service after the Chinese security forces launched a major raid in the Kirti Monastery three days ago, allegedly leading to the death of two elderly Tibetans and forceful arrest and detention of over 300 monks from the monastery.

The prayer gathering, which was organised by various Tibetan organisations, lasted for over two hours this morning, and was attended by hundreds of Tibetans-in-exile, including Buddhist monks and nuns, and non-Tibetan sympathisers.

Samdhong Rinpoche, speaker of Tibetan Parliament-in-exile Pempa Tsering and deputy speaker Dolma Gyari were also present during the prayers.

The protesters here alleged that the monks of the Kirti Monastery had been resisting against China’s re-education campaign. The monastery is among the biggest and one of the most prominent centres of learning of Tibetan Buddhism in the region.

The situation around the Kirti Monastery has remained extremely tense following the death its monk Phuntsok, who set himself ablaze on March 16 to protest against the Chinese rule.

Following the incident, China stepped up security in the region and its security forces cordoned off the Kirti Monastery, putting some 2,500 monks of the monastery at the risk of starvation.

Despite repeated appeals to defuse the situation amicably, China has denied any unrest, saying last week everything was normal at the famed monastery, the Tibetans-in-exile here alleged.