Dharamsala, May 18
BJP leader LK Advani today discussed the issue of Tibet with the Dalai Lama. Advani, along with the Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, called on the Dalai Lama this afternoon.

Later, Advani said, “I discussed the situation in Tibet with the Dalai Lama. I asked him if there was any change in the attitude of China towards Tibet. The Dalai Lama said there was hardly any change. He, however, expressed hope that it would come”.

Advani said the Dalai Lama had met him many times at various venues.

“I had promised to pay him a visit at Dharamsala. Now that I had come to see the IPL matches being organised here, I decided to fulfil my promise,” he said.

Advani also justified the ouster of three Cabinet ministers of the BJP, including Manoranjan Kalia, Master Mohan Lal and Swarna Ram, as a necessary step.

Some steps were required to be taken in Punjab and they had been taken, he said.

Earlier in the day, Advani went around Dharamsala and the cricket stadium and appreciated the work done by the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA).

Advani, who is here with his daughter Pratibha, kept his visit personal. However, almost all senior leaders of the BJP called on Advani at the Circuit House where he is staying.

Sources here said some of the party leaders discussed the issue of Rajan Sushant, the Kangra BJP MP with Advani.

They allegedly complained that the repeated utterances of Sushant against the state government were having a detrimental effect on the image of the party that was targeting the Congress over the issue of corruption.

Shimla, May 18
Having identified suitable chunks of land for the setting up of an international airport in Himachal, state Tourism and Civil Aviation Department has urged the government to acquire land so that the Infrastructure Development Board can initiate proceedings in this regard.

The tourism authorities are keen that the land be acquired by the government at the earliest so that the necessary formalities to pave the way for the construction of the airport can be initiated. “Last week I sent details of the two proposed sites to the Secretary (Tourism) so that land can be acquired by the government,” confirmed Arun Sharma, Director, Tourism.

The department has selected about 3,315 bigha of land on the border of Kangra-Hamirpur district in the Chamukha area. Out of this land 1,383 bigha falls in the Chamukha area and remaining 1,932 bigha falls in the Ranital area of Kangra. The other shortlisted by the department is in the Kandaghat area where 1,100 bigha of land has been identified out of which 744.18 bigha is government land.

“We are keen that this land is taken over by the government at the earliest so that the Infrastructure Development Board can be intimated about it and it can start proceedings to invite investment from entrepreneurs who are keen to take up the project,” Sharma said. It is after taking up an exhaustive exercise with the help of district administration that these chunks of land have been identified by the department.

Considering its financial constraints, the government is not in a position to take up the airport project on its own. So the best available option is to take up the project under public private partnership (PPP) mode. The international airport is likely to cost anywhere between Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 crore.

Despite certain destinations like Shimla and Manali figuring on the international tourist map, the absence of an international airport in the hill state is a major impediment in attracting high-end tourists. To make matters worse, the air connectivity in the state is very poor and there are only three airports at Shimla, Kangra and Kullu.

At present only small carriers are able to land at the three airports because of limited length of the runways. As a result the airfare works out to be very high and uneconomical. Efforts of the government to have subsidised airfare on the pattern of Jammu and Kashmir and North East have not yielded result.

As such it is being felt that rather than extending the runways of the existing airports it is better have an international airport, which the state desperately needs.

Shimla, May 18
The Mid-Himalayan Watershed Development Project will become the country’s first public sector afforestation scheme to secure carbon credits through carbon sequestration under the Clean Development Mechanism when the World Bank signs Emission Reductions Purchase Agreement with the state here on May 22.

Country Director of the bank Roberto Zhaga will visit the state, along with his team of officials, to sign the agreement and inspect the plantations being raised under the Rs 365-crore project funded by it. Under the Emission Reductions Purchase Agreement, the bank will buy 3.5 lakh temporary certified emission reductions (tCERs) for plantations raised over 4,003 hectares in the first phase covering the period 2006-2016 depending on the growth of biomass.

After signing the agreement, the process of physical verification of the plantations to ascertain the growth of biomass will be started and the exact rate for the purchase of carbon credits will be fixed on its basis.

Additional Chief Secretary Sudipto Roy said the methodology to be adopted for verification was discussed at a one-day conference held in Bonn last week in which a presentation was made by project Director RK Kapoor regarding the progress.

While the exact rate of purchase will determined on the growth of biomass, the normal range is between $4.5 and $5 per tCER and accordingly the farmers in 177 villages of 10 districts covered under the project will receive at least Rs 2,000 per hectare annually as per conservative estimates.

If the growth is good, the state can avail the benefit of another 1 lakh tCERs. A fresh agreement will be singed for the 2017-26 period for which the rate could be higher depending on the growth of biomass and state of the carbon market.

In all, project will help sequester 8,28,016 tonne of carbon in 20 years ending on 2026. The agreement can be extended up to 60 years and the returns are expected to be higher as the growth rate of biomass increases gradually.

Bali (Mandi), May 18
Breaking the backbone of cash economy, the fresh hailstorm pounded 24 villages in Gara Gushain, Chet and the Chuni-Thata belt in Seraj for 30 minutes and destroyed 70 per cent of apple, peas and potato crops in the area, said farmers.

According to farmers, the hailstorm lasted for 30 minutes and destroyed 70 per cent of the apple fruit, peas and potato crop in the area last evening. The hailstones pruned the plants, left these without leaves and buried them under its three-inch thick layer, they said.

The most affected villages included Ghat, Pokhari, Dugah, Thanvari, Dharat Thanvri, Mithiani, Chawatan, Chamshal, Nalahen, Pali, Shouri in Chet panchayat, Dhauri, Kaildhar, Jhaberandi and parts of Kharul, Chula

Thatchi, Kandi, Gara Gushain, Chuini, Soja, Kauliara, Dheli, Jhagtan, Jhugandi, Kanddhar, Shadhari, Paghah, Bhet Samlas Kulvari in the Thata areas.

“The crop was not more than 30 per cent this season, but the fresh hail dashed their hopes to the ground now”, rued Daya Ram from Gara Gushain.

“The farmers have nothing left to feed their families”, rued Bhag Singh from Chet. The peas crop is maturing, but the hail destroyed the plants, turned the fields in piles of slushy hailstones.

Prof Vir Singh Chauhan, a veteran Congress Seraj leader, who toured the area, has demanded that the Revenue and Horticultural Department should assess the total loss done to the apple, peas and potato crop in Seraj and compensate the farmers for the loss this time.

“The crops are the mainstay of their economy and farmers have nothing left to depend upon”, he observed.

The departments have yet to assess the loss as there is no officials here to asses the damage. “We are assessing the total loss and file a report to the government”, said Deputy Director, Horticulture, Joginderpal.

Hamirpur, May 18
Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Industries Virbhadra Singh has termed the state government’s move to appoint a sitting judge of the high court to probe all benami land deals and essentiality certificates issued to builders under the HP Apartment Act “as delaying tactic to avoid action against violators”.

Talking to mediapersons here yesterday, the minister said, “Though we are not opposed to such a probe, this will dilute the action against violators as it will take years to complete the probe when some of the cases of violations by builders are already in the knowledge of the state government and action can be taken against them under the violation of the Forest Conservation Act and other proviso”.

He said, “Two mafias are active under the present regime in the state i.e. land and sports and huge chunk of land has been sold in violation of Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reforms Act in which some senior ministers and high officials of the state government are also involved”.

The minister said, “A large number of trees have been felled by some of the builders in the Bemloe area of Shimla to raise apartments under the very nose of the state government but no action has been taken in these cases.”

He also criticised the state government’s move to amend the Apartment Act in the state.

Chamba, May 18
The nearly 110-year-old Bhuri Singh Museum, Chamba, one of the oldest in the country, celebrated the International Museum Day on its eve today. A special exhibition of rare photographs was organised at the gallery of the museum. About 70 rare photographs reveal the catastrophe of the earthquake that hit the Kangra valley on April 6, 1905.

The three-day exhibition, organised under the aegis of the Himachal Pradesh Department of Language and Culture, was inaugurated by Assistant Commissioner, Chamba, Kishori Lal.

Curator of the museum Ramesh Chandra said, “We shall celebrate the occasion every year on May 18”.

Besides the rare photographs, some art objects prepared by local artists are also displayed. These art objects comprise Chamba Rumal textiles, metal sculptures, wooden mask and Pahari miniature paintings. Kamla Chadda, an accomplished craftsperson, is also displaying the skill of Chamba rumal stitching to visitors.

Noted art historian Kamal Prasad and senior artist Vijay Sharma were also present at the show.