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Apple growers up in arms against state, Centre
Mandi/Kullu, June 6
Apple farmers are up in arms against state and Central governments for their failure to protect the Rs 3,000-crore apple economy. They have not set up “cool chains, proper link roads, cold stores, packaging and transport, commission-free markets and proper anti-hail measures that destroy more than 30 per cent of fruit every year in the state”.

Apple growers stage a demonstration against the government in Shimla on Monday. Photo: Amit Kanwar

Kaul on ‘unofficial inaugurations’ spree
Mandi, June 6
Drang BJP leader Jawahar Thakur and several panchayat pradhans have accused state Congress president Kaul Singh Thakur, who is the sitting MLA, of running a Congress government in Drang, his home constituency.

BJP giving top priority to education: MLA
Bilaspur, June 6
The BJP government in the state has given top priority to education, and with a view to strengthening the educational infrastructure, its budget has been increased by 142 per cent during the past three years.

BJP leaders observe fast in protest Shimla, June 6 Senior BJP leaders, accompanied by party workers, observed a 24-hour fast in protest against the treatment meted out to Baba Ramdev in New Delhi. The BJP leaders, including local legislator Suresh Bhardwaj, Shimla district BJP chief Sher Singh Chauhan and BJP Mahila Morcha and ABVP activists, observed the fast. People come in support of Baba Ramdev in Mandi on Monday. Photo: Kuldip Chauhan

Tenzin Yangkyi is Miss Tibet Dharamsala, June 6 Eighteen-year-old Tenzin Yangkyi, a Tibetan exile living in Switzerland, is Miss Tibet 2011 after she won the pageant that concluded at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts late in the evening yesterday. Tenzin Yangkyi from Switzerland (centre), who was crowned Miss Tibet at McLeodganj on Sunday. Photo: Kamaljeet

Switzerland ready to return black money: Shanta
Dharamsala, June 6
Extending support to the campaign of Baba Ramdev, national vice-president of the BJP Shanta Kumar said the UPA government was not ratifying a resolution passed in a UN convention against corruption.

One lakh pensioners threaten stir
Bilaspur, June 6
The district unit of the Himachal Pradesh State Pensioners Welfare Association here has strongly resented the government’s apathetic attitude towards their demands and warned that if this attitude continues, more than one lakh pensioners of the state will launch an agitation against the government.

Govt threat to deny ration cards to villagers flayed
Nurpur, June 6
The Congress has criticised the state government for threatening to deny villagers the benefits of ration cards and issuance of job cards by registering them under MNREGA.

Class XI student commits suicide
Kangra, June 6
A 17-year-old student of Class XI who was declared unsuccessful in the Board examination, the results of which were declared yesterday, committed suicide today by consuming poison, the police said here today.

Advance course for judicial officers opens
Shimla, June 6
Judicial officers should be quick in disposal of cases to give timely justice to litigants. This was stated by Justice DD Sud, judge of the state high court, while inaugurating a five-day advance course training programme for the judicial officers on revenue matters, the Copyright Act, the Right to Information Act, the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and the HP Urban Rent Control Act, which is being attended by 24 officers of the state.

5 special athletes given send-off
Shimla, June 6
Governor Urmila Singh on Monday gave a warm send-off to the five special athletes selected from the state for the World Summer Games being held at Athens in Greece from June 25 to July 4.

Class XI student commits suicide
Kangra, June 6
A 17-year-old student of Class XI who was declared unsuccessful in the Board examination, the results of which were declared yesterday, committed suicide today by consuming poison, the police said here today.

Apple growers up in arms against state, Centre
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Mandi/Kullu, June 6
Apple farmers are up in arms against state and Central governments for their failure to protect the Rs 3,000-crore apple economy. They have not set up “cool chains, proper link roads, cold stores, packaging and transport, commission-free markets and proper anti-hail measures that destroy more than 30 per cent of fruit every year in the state”.

Leading the apple growers’ protest in 12 places in the Mandi, Kullu and Shimla apple belt, state convener, HP Apple Growers Association, Rakesh Singha said, “The future of apple economy that generates economic activity in the state for farmers, transporters, porters, mule carriers and labour is shaky today. The government has failed to create basic infrastructure like cool chains for transportation, packaging and grading houses, cold stores and cheap affordable cartons”.

Apple farmer leaders from Karsog Ram Lal and Jagdish Thakur from Janjheli said hail had destroyed more than 80 per cent crop in Karsog-Mahunag-Churag in Karsog and Balichowki-Janjheli belt this time, but there was no crop insurance cover for farmers as hail was not covered under insurance. The farmers were still exploited in Delhi and other markets, they added.

Hari Chand Roch, a farmer from Kotgarh, told The Tribune that the farmers had to handle apples like potatoes as there was no cool chain system that were affordable for the farmers.

The link roads are in a bad shape mainly in the apple belt of Karsog-Janjheli in Mandi, the Khanag-Nirmand- Bishlidhar belt in Kullu and Shantha, Pabaas, Bamta in Chopal and parts of Rohru in Shimla district even as the season was approaching fast, the farmers resented.

He said even the countries like the USA, China provided subsidies to farmers. The government had not provided hail nets with so far. And hail canons have yet to see its effectiveness, Singha added.

Kaul on ‘unofficial inaugurations’ spree
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Mandi, June 6
Drang BJP leader Jawahar Thakur and several panchayat pradhans have accused state Congress president Kaul Singh Thakur, who is the sitting MLA, of running a Congress government in Drang, his home constituency.

Even as government officials are tightlipped over the “unofficial inaugurations” by the MLA, the BJP rank and file at Drang felt sidelined as he was getting a free hand.

Thakur and several pradhans and up-pradhans took Kaul Singh head-on at a press conference here saying that Kaul Singh had been cornered after the Mandi MP and Union minister Virbhadra Singh and leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes joined hands.

Jawahar Thakur said Kaul Singh had inaugurated the Rs 1.2-crore Sprayee foot bridge last week without official approval. “Earlier, he had also inaugurated a patvar khana at Maigal and an animal husbandry hospital and school building at Katola a day before the official inauguration,” he charged.

Ranvir Singh, panchayat pradhan, Bijni, home panchayat of Kaul Singh, said, “Besides, a mixing plant near Maigal is creating pollution for locals as the plant lies on the land of a Congress leader. Women blocked the highway recently in protest, but nobody listened,” he resented.

Kaul Singh Thakur could not be contacted, but Drang Congress president Joginder Guleria claimed that the MLA could inaugurate the schemes as per the Constitution.

BJP giving top priority to education: MLA
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, June 6
The BJP government in the state has given top priority to education, and with a view to strengthening the educational infrastructure, its budget has been increased by 142 per cent during the past three years.

This was stated by state BJP spokesman and Naina Deviji MLA Randhir Sharma while inaugurating two rooms of Government Sr Sec School, Tarwaad, 90 km from here. He said two more rooms would be constructed.

Sharma said the government had uptil now given permission for starting 16 universities in the state, and it was the efforts of the government which had resulted in Himachal outshining even Kerala, as it had now attained the first place in education in the country.

The spokesman said the able and experienced leadership of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal had enabled the state to get as many as 37 national awards in various fields of development in the country making Himachal one of the best administered states.

Sharma said Rs 55.29 crore had been spent on the Mid-Day Meal scheme in schools and Rs 4.16 crore on stipends of students of primary schools in the state last year, while 51 new middle schools and 17 new primary schools were also opened.

BJP leaders observe fast in protest
Tribune Reporters

Shimla, June 6
Senior BJP leaders, accompanied by party workers, observed a 24-hour fast in protest against the treatment meted out to Baba Ramdev in New Delhi. The BJP leaders, including local legislator Suresh Bhardwaj, Shimla district BJP chief Sher Singh Chauhan and BJP Mahila Morcha and ABVP activists, observed the fast.

They lashed out at the UPA regime for trying to crush the silent protest by Baba Ramdev.

They demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the issue. They lashed out at Union Minister Kapil Sibal and senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh.

PM’s effigy burnt

HAMIRPUR: Activists of the BJP, BJYM and local unit of the Patanjali Yog Peeth today organised a dharna at the Gandhi Chowk and burnt the effigy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to protest against the police action against yoga guru Ramdev and his supporters in New Delhi on Saturday night.

BJP leaders who joined this dharna were district BJP president Desh Raj Sharma, Badsar MLA Baldev Sharma, KCCB Bank Chairman Raseel Singh Mankotia, District Marketing Board Chairman Pyare Lal Sharma and others.

Black Day observed

MANDI: Responding to a nationwide call for satyagraha in protest against the UPA government’s forced eviction of Baba Ramdev from the Ramlila Grounds in New Delhi, BJP leaders held its protest here till 5 pm, while volunteers, who continued their fast here for the third day today, remembered it as Black Day.

Wearing black badges, president, Patanjali Yogpeeth, Mandi, Ranpat Singh, criticised the government’s action against the Baba and vowed that they would continue fight corruption in the country.

Dharna staged

KULLU: Activists of the saffron brigade supported by BJP leaders protested the police action to disperse the peaceful gathering on satyagraha against black money.

The BJP leaders, led by MLA Govind Singh Thakur and former MP Maheshwar Singh, sat on a dharna near the DC office at Dhalpur.

Slogans raised

BILASPUR: Hundreds of supporters of Baba Ramdev held a demonstration here today and raised slogans against the police action against Baba Ramdev in Delhi while he was on hunger strike.

Ramdev flayed for wearing woman’s dress

Hamirpur: Mahant Mandleshwar Vivekanand Giri has criticised Baba Ramdev for his effort to hoodwink the police by wearing a woman’s dress during a police raid in New Delhi on Saturday.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said,“This action has not only brought a bad name to the entire Sadhu Samaj, but also hurt the feelings of lakhs of sanyasis”.

He said, “Instead of trying to save himself from the police action by wearing a woman’s clothes, he should have sacrificed his life”. Mahant has also criticised Ramdev for making Yoga a commercial activity and doing politics by using the forum of the yoga. — TNS

Tenzin Yangkyi is Miss Tibet
Lalit Mohan/TNS

Dharamsala, June 6
Eighteen-year-old Tenzin Yangkyi, a Tibetan exile living in Switzerland, is Miss Tibet 2011 after she won the pageant that concluded at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts late in the evening yesterday.

Having a commanding height of 171 cm, Tenzin was a clear favourite in almost all the rounds as the crowd cheered her each move during the finals of the contest.

Tenzin is a student from Zurich, Switzerland. She was born in 1993 and has just completed Class X. She can speak Tibetan, German and English, and likes singing, dancing, travelling, and sports.

Since she is interested in acting, fashion, and modelling, her main aim is to become a successful model. She has already done modelling a few times. Her family supports her interest, and so she participated in Miss Tibet 2011 contest which will further boost her future plans.

As Miss Tibet, Tenzin said she would work for the cause of Tibet as a representative of the Tibetan people. She won a cash price of Rs 1 lakh.

Ngodum Dolma from Australia was adjudicated as runner-up and Dolma Tsering from Bangalore was the second runner-up. Both won prize money of Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000, respectively.

The pageant presents the changing face of the young generation of the Tibetan community in exile. Despite strict schooling in Tibetan Children Villages where much stress is laid on the preservation of Tibetan culture, a large number of Tibetan youth living in exile are westernised due to the influence of western bag-packer tourists who are now their role models. In the pageant yesterday, many of them were drunk and resorting to hooliganism.

The event, that is organised in McLeodganj for the past 10 years now, still does not have the approval of the strong monk community of Tibetans. None of the officials of the Tibetan government in exile has endorsed the event. However, a few monks in red robes could be seen enjoying the event.

Promoter of the event Lobsang Wangyal has been crying hoarse regarding lack of sponsorship for the event. He claims that due to lack of sponsors, he was under debt. He claimed that the only support he got for the event was the 1000-dollar support from his mother based in the US.

The pageant yesterday had some interesting additions. Students of a local school presented a traditional Indian dance show. Two Western tourists adjudicated the six contestants in the pageant.

Switzerland ready to return black money: Shanta
Lalit Mohan/TNS

Dharamsala, June 6
Extending support to the campaign of Baba Ramdev, national vice-president of the BJP Shanta Kumar said the UPA government was not ratifying a resolution passed in a UN convention against corruption.

He said the UN had unanimously adopted a resolution against black money stacked in safe haven across the world in 2005. The government was also a signatory to the resolution.

However, in the past five years, the government had not ratified the resolution that could have helped India in bringing back the black money stashed in foreign banks.

The countries like the US, Germany, Japan and even Switzerland, where the maximum black money was deposited, had already taken back black money. However, the delay by the government in taking any step towards bringing back the country’s black money was baffling the common man, he said.

Shanta said he recently attended a UN convention in which the representative from Switzerland stated that they treated the black money in their banks as the stolen property. They were ready to return it in case the respective country asked for it.

“After returning from convention, I wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, along with the attested copy of the speech of the Switzerland government representative in the UN. However, till date I have not got any response from the PMO,” Shanta said.

He also addressed satyagraha being organised by BJP workers at here today.

One lakh pensioners threaten stir
Jai Kumar

Bilaspur, June 6
The district unit of the Himachal Pradesh State Pensioners Welfare Association here has strongly resented the government’s apathetic attitude towards their demands and warned that if this attitude continues, more than one lakh pensioners of the state will launch an agitation against the government.

The meeting was presided over by district president Rama Nand Sharma and specially addressed by state president Jiva Nand Jivan. Senior vice-president JK Nadda and special invitee Principal Kanchan Mala expressed surprise that on one hand the government was not giving them their financial rights on the plea of financial crunch, and on the other hand it was planning to appoint some 12 chairmen and vice-chairmen of boards and corporations.

A unanimous resolution was adopted that if the government was really serious, all ministers, MLAs and MPs from the state should decide to hold a joint dharna in front of the PM’s house in Delhi. The pensioners would also join them in thousands to stress that this financial crunch was depriving them of their dues in their old age.

The meeting demanded that all financial benefits be given on the Punjab pattern and all pending arrears of Punjab pay scales and medical reimbursement bills be cleared. Deputy Commissioners were told to hold grievances committee meetings with the association every three months, land be allotted for pensioners home in every district and the recommended state government policy of one rank, one pension implemented.

Govt threat to deny ration cards to villagers flayed
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, June 6
The Congress has criticised the state government for threatening to deny villagers the benefits of ration cards and issuance of job cards by registering them under MNREGA.

Ajay Mahajan, state general secretary of the Congress, in a written statement here today alleged that the government had recently issued verbal harsh directions to the gram panchayats through panchayat secretaries that the villagers having no toilets would be deprived of benefits of ration cards under the public distribution system and no new job cards would be issued to them by registering their names under centrally sponsored MNREGA scheme.

Ridiculing the reported statement of Irrigation-cum-Public Health Minister Ravinder Ravi that in the current summer there was no need of water tankers for supplying water in rural areas, Mahajan advised him to visit rural areas across the state to know the ground reality and ensure water supply there through tankers.

Class XI student commits suicide
Our Correspondent

Advance course for judicial officers opens
Vijay Arora

Shimla, June 6
Judicial officers should be quick in disposal of cases to give timely justice to litigants. This was stated by Justice DD Sud, judge of the state high court, while inaugurating a five-day advance course training programme for the judicial officers on revenue matters, the Copyright Act, the Right to Information Act, the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and the HP Urban Rent Control Act, which is being attended by 24 officers of the state.

SL Sharma, Director of the HP State Judicial Academy, said the aim of the orientation training programme for the judicial officers was to enhance their skill and knowledge and also apprise them of various provisions of these Acts.

5 special athletes given send-off

Shimla, June 6
Governor Urmila Singh on Monday gave a warm send-off to the five special athletes selected from the state for the World Summer Games being held at Athens in Greece from June 25 to July 4.

The five athletes Pawan Kumar and Sushil Kumar from Bilaspur, Prabha from Una and Aman and Ranjana from Solan will participate in the Athletics, Roller Skating, Bocce, and Hand Ball Games.

Mallika Nadda, Chairperson of the state chapter of the Special Olympics, said 236 special children would participate in these Games from all over the country. — TNS

Class XI student commits suicide
Our Correspondent

Kangra, June 6
A 17-year-old student of Class XI who was declared unsuccessful in the Board examination, the results of which were declared yesterday, committed suicide today by consuming poison, the police said here today.

The police said Pardeep Kumar, a resident of Kohala village, had failed in the Class XI examination conducted the HP Board of School Education in March this year.

The boy, in a fit of depression, consumed poison. His relatives rushed him to Dr RPGMC Tanda where doctors declared him brought dead. The body was sent for postmortem and the police has started investigation.