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Peacocks spotted at Khokhan sanctuary after a decade
Projects dedicated to martyrs hang fire
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Cement-producing state getting it at higher price
Animals’ meteorological sixth sense
Scholarships for differently abled students
Villagers rue poor construction of Durana-Dewa road
Govt nod to Rs 36-cr annual tribal plan for Pangi
Will oppose any move to shift project: Cong
Manimahesh pilgrims from J&K reach Chamba
Residents demand reopening of Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya
Dharamsala college sets up placement cell
Official told to keep tabs on profiteers
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Peacocks spotted at Khokhan sanctuary after a decade
Kullu, August 16 BS Rana, District Forest Officer, Wildlife, said this kind of species was almost next to extinction and even the Great Himalayan National Park in the Sainj Valley of the district had only six pairs. He further said the spotting of the peacocks was a positive sign towards the conservation and growth of the national bird and urged the locals to maintain clean and healthy environment for the welfare of the pair.
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Projects dedicated to martyrs hang fire
Palampur, August 16 However, it is unfortunate that these heroes and their families are given importance only on such occasions. In the state, most of the projects proposed in the memory of the soldiers killed in the Kargil War have been hanging in balance. The BJP government assumed power in the state in December 2007, but in past three years, no effort has been made for the early completion of these projects. Despite repeated requests by the families of martyrs, the projects are hanging fire. Parents of Yoginder Singh, who had sacrificed his life while fighting with Pakistani intruders in Kargil on July 25, 1999, are shocked over the attitude of the government in not completing a road named after his son in the past 11 years. Kuldip Kumar, Yoginder’s father, said the Chief Minister had visited their house immediately after the sacrifice of his son and announced that the Amb-Pathiar road leading to their village would be named as Saheed Yoginder Singh Road. The CM had assured that the road would be completed in six months. Kuldip said it’s been 11 years and the road leading to the village could not be completed by the HPPWD. In another case, the construction of Sorabh Van Vihar, dedicated to Captain Sorabh Kalia, who sacrificed his life in the Kargil War, is also crying for the attention. During the Congress regime, not even a single brick was added to this project. The government had virtually abandoned the project merely on political considerations. Parents of Sorabh Kalia are hurt over the indifferent attitude of the government in not completing the project. They said though a statue of their son had been installed at the site, the project has been lying incomplete even after 11 years of its conception. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal had also announced to name Aima village as Sorabh Nagar, but the government failed to fulfil its commitment. Capt Vikram Batra, who also died while fighting with intruders in Kargil, was awarded with the Param Vir Chakra. The government announced that a stadium named after the martyr would be constructed. The site has now turned into a pool of water and garbage can be seen littered all over the place, but the government is not bothered to honour its commitment. Parents of Maj Sudheer Walia, who was killed in an anti-insurgency operation in Kashmir, have been waiting for the completion of a health centre named in his memory in 2000. Again, the government has failed to complete the building of this health institution. Rulia Ram, Sudheer’s father, rues the unhelpful attitude of the government. He says he had approached the Chief Minister and MLAs in this regard, but all in vain.
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Cement-producing state getting it at higher price
Nurpur, August 16 This has led to resentment among the consumers as well as cement dealers mainly of the lower Kangra district, comprising Nurpur and Jawali subdivisions. There prices of cement in Himachal Pradesh are higher as compared to the neigbouring Punjab. Inquiries reveal that a bag of cement of ACC or Ambuja is being sold to local consumers at Rs 305 to Rs 310 while the same, supplied from units set up in the state, is available for Rs 260 to 270 in Punjab. Consequently, the consumers have to pay about Rs 35 to 45 per bag more to buy cement to meet their construction needs in a state which has a number of cement manufacturing units.The consumers living in the border areas are buying cement of the same brands from Punjab by evading VAT which is 13.75 per cent. The smuggling of cement is directly affecting the business of the local cement traders, besides causing a loss to the state exchequer in terms of VAT evasion. A number of cement dealers from Kangra district reveal that this anomaly is in the knowledge of the authorities, but they have not initiated any measure to bring the cement prices on a par with the neighbouring Punjab. In this connection, the then Virbhadra Singh government had constituted a high-power committee in 2002, which had submitted it report to the Chief Minister suggesting measures to bring parity in the prices of cement. However, the dealers rue, the recommendations were ignored. When contacted, Anish Kumar, area manager, ACC, Barmana, refused to comment on the issue. Meanwhile, Kishan Kapoor, Labour and Industries Minister, attributes the anomaly to the previous Congress government which had signed an MoU with cement producing companies in which they had been allowed to transport clinker (cement raw material) extracted from the state and transport it to the bordering states. “The state government has no power to control the prices of cement being produced in our state. Moreover, cement companies as per the MoU relaxation are transporting clinker in the bordering states and producing cement in the units set up there,” he admitted.
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Animals’ meteorological sixth sense
by Shriniwas Joshi The monsoon in Himachal Pradesh has again become active after a lull during the last fortnight of July. People ask me, “When will the rains end?” I say, “Watch a stray dog, if it stands still and neither howls nor barks and does not run towards the direction of the wind, then guess that the rains are not likely in the days to come. The raised and the dropped ears of a dog are ever-ready to catch up the higher and the lower frequencies in the atmosphere and he guesses right (see photo)”. Rains may also occur if dogs start chewing grass. “Why do you emphasise upon observing dogs only? What about the other animals?” they ask me. I tell them, “Dogs, especially stray dogs, are visible everywhere. Many do ‘Malling’ in Shimla, so it is an easily available gauge. They are more sensitive to drops in barometric pressure than humans and they instinctively associate this drop with a storm and show signs of anticipating it. They can feel the small vibrations that precede a storm - too small a rumble for us to notice. Besides, the high sensitivity of a dog’s sense of smell allows it to detect precipitation through its nose”. I went to Dr Manmohan Singh, director, Meteorological Centre, Shimla, who gave me a booklet in which he has given a map of Himachal Pradesh showing animals, birds and insects as indicators of weather. I am quoting a few from that: Honey bees flying towards northern hills of Himachal, i.e. the colder regions, indicate lack of rains, but if they fly in the reverse direction then expect substantial rains. The hill cattle are taken out for grazing and though the pastures are wavy here yet the cattle balance themselves perfectly in those. If they are found leaping and jumping there, then rains may occur in a couple of days. When dragonfly, locally called pataji or chota jahaz, flies close to the paddy field during the South-West monsoon season, then rains are not to be shortly, but if it flies high immediate rains are possible. A rainfall within a week is to be expected when winged termites emerge from the ground as swarms. Here I want to tell you about the life of ants before disclosing their behaviour from which a Himachali farmer determines weather. The life of an ant starts from an egg. If the egg is fertilised, the progeny will be female (diploid); if not, it will be male (haploid). The queen is the one that lays eggs. In some species, the workers also lay infertile eggs to serve as food for the larvae. The workers clean and rotate the eggs for them not to get moldy. Eggs are moved to different places according to the temperature of the place. Rainfall may be expected in a few days if the ants carry their eggs from low to high ground and vice versa. Observe the crabs. If they come out from the waters of khads to dry places, rains in a couple of days may be expected. Watch the frogs, their croaks indicate onset of rainy season. The farmers of the Kangra area expect good rains within a week when they hear the songs of tattiri, a bird. The animals have a meteorological sixth sense is proved by the devastating tsunami that caused large fatality, but surprisingly the death toll of wild animals was pretty low. Sri Lankan wildlife officials reported that they found no dead wild animals, including elephants. A photographer also reported seeing no animal corpses as he flew over the wildlife reserve when the flood waters had travelled up to two miles inland into the reserve. Potential theories suggest that a sixth sense had alerted them to tsunami in plenty of time to reach higher and safer land. Sherlock Homes used to tell Watson, “You see what I see, but you don’t observe”. That is what we are missing today; we have become so dependent upon the scientific instruments that we do not observe the animal behaviour that forecasts the weather for us.
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Scholarships for differently abled students
Akshay Kumar, a poor and paraplegic student from a remote village of Kangra, will now be able to pursue his PhD (see photo), thanks to the initiative taken by the Shimla-based public welfare trust Umang Foundation, which instituted scholarships to help differently abled and poor students to pursue higher education. It was the result of foundation's effort in 2007 that Akshay got admission in M Phil (English) in Himachal Pradesh University under the 3 per cent quota for the differently abled. Due to the initiative of the foundation, six differently abled students were given seats in M Phil. Akshay completed M Phil with 65 per cent marks, but he was denied admission in PhD and had to move the high court to get justice. After his father’s death, Akshay could not pursue Ph D because of financial constraint. The foundation came to his help and decided to give him a scholarship of Rs 6,000 per month for three years. It has also decided to Anil Kumar, a visually impaired merit holder student of BA at Government College, Sanjauli, Shimla, a scholarship of Rs. 1,000 per month and a laptop. He belongs to a very poor family of the remote Shilai and secured over 75 per cent marks in matriculation and higher secondary examinations. He is also an athlete and brought laurels to the state in the national sports meets for the blind. Vice-Chancellor of the university ADN Vajpayee, who had set up centre for disability studies soon, will formally give the scholarship to the students at a function on August 24. Earlier, the foundation with the intervention of the state high court ensured admission of three blind meritorious girl students, Anisha of Kandareri, Billo Kumari of Jhanduta and Bhawana of Kotali, in Portmore School, Shimla. Chairman of the foundation Ajai Srivastava said apart from the scholarships, his organisation would provide all the three girls with CD Players, books in Braille and digital books. He said the funds for the scholarships and assisting devices have been mobilised from the society. From the next academic session, the foundation would provide more scholarships to the meritorious differently abled students from poor economic background. The foundation has been aggressively pursuing issues like protection of the human rights of differently abled, thalassemic children, poor patients and other vulnerable sections of the society. It does not take funding under any scheme of the government. Its strong advocacy has yielded results and the state government was forced to establish an eye bank in Shimla, formulate a state disability policy and revived the defunct state blood transfusion council recently. Sanitation project
Rotary Club Shimla Midtown has come out with a plan to provide clean drinking water and improve sanitation in eight schools of the city in collaboration with the Rotary Club Las Vegas in the US. Under the project, water purifiers along with storage tanks will be provided in the selected schools and a block of separate toilets for boys and girls will be constructed. The government will provide grant for implementing the project from the funds available under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan. President of the club Pankaj Dadwal said the cost of project was about Rs 10 lakh and its objective was to educate and sensitise students to take care of personal hygiene and use clean drinking water to avoid water-borne diseases. An MoU was signed between project director, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, Rajesh Kumar, and president Rotary Club Shimla Midtown early this year. Couple to donate organs
Former Nadaunta MLA Bishan Dutt Lakhanpal and his wife Preeti Bala have set an example by donating their organs for the needy people and bodies for medical research. The couple from Dabriana village in Badsar sub-division of Hamirpur went all the way to the Dr Rajinder Prasad Medical College at Tanda and signed the necessary declarations to donate their bodies voluntarily along with all organs for human transplant and academic purpose under the State Anatomy Act. A few people come forward to donate organs and bodies as performing last rites after the death of a person is considered an important ritual in the traditional Hindu society, especially among the Brahmin families, to which the couple belongs. Thus, the initiative taken by the Lakhanpals will go a long way in motivating others. Lakhanpal said, “It had always been my earnest desire to do something for society and I believe last rites only destroy the human body. Human bodies can also be used for anatomical study of medical research.” He said his wife was also convinced and readily decided to join him donating the body.
Tree plantation at Loreto
A tree plantation camp was held at Loreto Convent, Tara Hall, to mark Eco-Day and make students aware about the need for protecting environment (see photo). The students made colourful posters with a strong message “Make the Earth Clean and Green”. A plantation campaign was held amidst a prayer service as students took a pledge to protect and sustain the plants and earth. The students planted several ornamental plants like Hibiscus, Salix and Hydrangea to make the campus and the surroundings green and clean. The students were joined by the principal, teachers and other school staff in this campaign. They were told about the importance of protecting trees to mitigate the affect of global warming and climate change. A drama carnival was also held in the school with students putting up one-act plays on relevant social issues like dowry, drugs and the need to take care of the elderly. Parents of the students turned up in large number to see these plays with social messages. (Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi, DP Gupta and Pratibha Chauhan)
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Villagers rue poor construction of Durana-Dewa road
Dharamsala, August 16 A large number of villagers reported in writing against the poor construction of the road to Minister of Industries Kishan Kapoor, who organised a Prashasan Janata Ke Dwar programme in the area. They alleged that the construction of road was started in 2009. As per the schedule, it was to be completed till October 2010. However, it has not been completed yet. While the road has not been completed, it has already started giving way in many portions. They added that if the road had started giving way even before its construction, it clearly shows that poor material was being used for the same. They also demanded a vigilance inquiry into the construction of the road. Kapoor said he had forwarded the villagers’ complaints to senior officials of the PWD and asked them to file a reply within a stipulated timeframe. However, if nothing was done by PWD officials to redress the grievances of villagers, the case would be handed over to the state Vigilance Department, he said. KC Sharma, Executive Engineer, PWD, Jawali subdivision, admitted that the road was to be completed till October 2010. The initial contract for the construction of road was awarded for Rs 2.87 crore. He said the contractor had, however, been given extension till September 30, 2011, for completing the road. When asked about the damage to the road, he said about 40 to 50 m portion of the road had sunk. It would be repaired in due course. He said inspecting agencies of the state had expressed satisfaction over the construction of road. The villagers, however, allege that only a month is left of the extension time granted to the contractor for completing the road. Now, it remains to be seen who bears the escalated cost of the construction and repairs to the unconstructed road. The PWD has earlier also been accused of being soft towards contractors, who construct poor roads and leave the cost of repairing the damaged roads to the department, he said. Meanwhile, Yogesh Mahajan, contractor of the work, said certain vested interests, who had encroached upon forest land were hampering the construction of the road. They were not allowing the construction of drains that was delaying the road project.
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Govt nod to Rs 36-cr annual tribal plan for Pangi
Chamba, August 16 The Speaker directed the authorities of the Agriculture Department to encourage farmers of the tribal valley to embark on the cultivation of organic farming. He added, “The climate of the Pangi valley is the best-suited to the floriculture, which also needs to be promoted among the local farmers.” He impressed upon the agriculture experts of the state government to produce high-yielding seeds of the congenial crops of the valley in greenhouses and distribute these among the farmers. In 1985, the government had conceived a plan to develop the tribal areas of the state and the integrated tribal development projects were formed. These five ITDPs comprise Bharmour, Pangi, Lahaul, Spiti and Kinnaur. Each area is administered by a resident commissioner who acts as the government, for and on behalf of all heads of the government departments. Therefore, it is known as the single-line administration.
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Will oppose any move to shift project: Cong
Jai Kumar
Bilaspur, August 16 The Congress alleged that the government was delaying the foundation laying of the project to find an excuse to shift it to Hamirpur. It charged that the BJP government had already betrayed people of Bilaspur as it had shifted the Rs 76-lakh synthetic athletic track project from the Luhnnu Sports Complex of Bilaspur to Hamirpur, even though it was under construction here. A resolution demanded that the construction of this college be started immediately without delay. The Congress even threatened an agitation over the issue. Meanwhile, a meeting of the district Congress Committee under the presidentship of district president Santosh Dhiman at Indira Bhawan here recently paid tributes to freedom fighters on the occasion of Bharat Chhodo anniversary. Vice-president Rajender Thakur, general secretaries Gopal Sharma and Ram Prakash Dhiman, former MLAs Dr Babu Ram Gauttam and Tilak Raj Sharma, District Mahila Congress president Narendra Billoria, zila parishad member and former district party president Hoshiar Singh Thakur and Bilaspur Sadar Mandal president Col (retd) AP Gauttam were among those who were present.
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Manimahesh pilgrims from J&K reach Chamba
Chamba, August 16 These pilgrims are treading determinedly to reach the holy lake on schedule. According to police sources, pilgrims from Bhaderwah and Bhalesh village of Gandoh tehsil of Jammu & Kashmir, including women, children and sheep, crossed the border under the security cover of the CRPF and the Jammu police. After verification, the pilgrims were handed over to the state police at the Khundi Mural borderland of Himachal Pradesh adjacent to J&K. “The pilgrims from these areas of J&K usually come to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva at Manimahesh every year,” the sources said.
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Bhagsunag waterfall at its pristine glory
Dharamsala, August 16 The white waters are gushing out of the waterfall and the mist emanating from the fall of about 20 ft in height is delighting tourists. The panoramic view near the waterfall makes tourists forget the gasping trek they had to undertake to reach the destination. The small huts set up by locals near the waterfall add to the charm of milieu providing all kinds of snacks and chilled cold drinks to the tourists. A few tourists, including foreigners, climb further up to Shiva Cafe. The cafe is a small hut constructed from local stones and covered with lush green creepers. Trekkers in the area say the height of the waterfall is just 20 ft. However, if one climbs up the waterfall, at almost the end of it is another stream. The area is picturesque. However, since no track has been developed in the area, trekking is dangerous, especially in the monsoon. However, the Tourism Department has failed to exploit the gift of nature for attracting tourists. If compared with the Kempty waterfall located in Uttaranchal, near Mussoorie, the Bhagsunag waterfall is much bigger and located in more panaromic surroundings. The Kempty fall attracts more tourists and is more popular due to better marketing and facilities created by the government. Along the track to Bhagsunag, the government can allot spots for cafes to attract tourists instead of allowing haphazard development. The spots upstream the waterfall can be developed. In addition to that, it can be promoted as the USP for the Dharamsala region. At present, the waterfall is facing the problem of litter spread by tourists in the area and the Dharamsala Municipal Council has failed to provide dustbins near the fountain area. There is just one rusty dustbin in the area. * The water in the fall has increased manifold due to persistent rains in the region that converts a thin stream coming out of it into mass of gushing water
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Residents demand reopening of Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya
Kangra, August 16 Dharam Chand Shastri, who was the last head of the institution, says he feels cheated. “We used to perform various religious rituals everyday. Besides imparting teaching to the students, we used to perform ‘Durga Saptishati’ yajna daily, making the entire atmosphere here religious and pure”. He says great saints and intellectuals of Vedanta used to visit the campus and discuss mythology. Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee also once visited the Vidyalaya and was highly impressed by its activities. The institute had been recognised by HP University and its passouts used to get jobs in government schools and the Army as priests, besides working in private capacity. Girls too were imparted Sanskrit education, he added. It was in 1984 that the Bajreshwari temple management which was looking after the institution was taken over by the state government. In 1990, the government-managed trust failed to protect the interests of this Vidyalaya and the Sanskrit language as a whole and it was curtains down for this institute. A master plan of the town was formulated a few years ago and a site on the Zamanabad Road was identified for establishing the Sanaskrit Mahavidyalaya. A project costing Rs 65 lakh was also proposed but it remained unaccomplished till date. Residents here allege that such institutions have been functioning at Shimla, Solan, Sundernagar, Naina Devi, Chamunda Devi and Jawalamukhi, but the government has been ignoring this temple town. On August 13, when people celebrated Sanaskrit Divas throughout the country, the residents here were united in demanding the reopening of the Vidyalaya.
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Dharamsala college sets up placement cell
Dharamsala, August 16 Satish Chandra Sharma, principal, applauded the efforts of the college and said, “It is yet another effort by the college to prepare and provide the students the best career opportunities available in the market”. He advised students to take maximum benefits from the cell. The councelling and placement opportunities would be given to both postgraduate and undergraduate students of all streams. “Experts from different fields would visit the cell and brief our students about various opportunities and options available in the fields of their interest,” said the principal. “A four-member team will handle the cell. We have a pool of experts from different fields from all over the country who will visit the college to guide the students,” informed the principal. Besides, the students will be able to avail coaching for Common Proficiency Test (CPT) at the cell which will help them prepare for CA exams, said Sharma. Also, experts from the Army, police and the banking sector will deliver lectures regarding career opportunities. The authorities informed that the cell would provide the application forms free of cost whenever there would be an advertisement regarding some vacancy in newspapers.
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Official told to keep tabs on profiteers
Jai Kumar
Bilaspur, August 16 These orders were passed by the deputy commissioner after a deputation of the District Kisan Sangh met him recently. The sangh complained to him that vegetables were being sold at high rates even as there was a full-fledged market committee functioning here and it seemed as if customers had been left to the mercy of profiteers. Chauhan also ordered that the department should regularly review and process the rates of auction in the market committee and the actual sale to retail customers. He told Rajender to ensure that only reasonable rates were charged and all wholesalers in the market issued bills to retailers for proper checking by the department. The sangh also complained that the auction system of vegetables and fruits brought by farmers to the committee had been cleverly hoodwinked through machinations of a handful of commission agents who were said to be operating under the nose of the District Market Committee. The sangh said: “These commission agents invariably purchase the bulk of produce from farmers, mostly at the controlled rates, and then further sell them to retailers at much higher prices. This results in unnecessary increase in the prices of vegetables”. In fact, the commission agents, who generally indulge in profiteering, are ruling the roost in the market committee by exploiting the entire auction process to their advantage. A number of vegetable vendors here said the commission agents were actually responsible for the increase in prices as they were fleecing both retailers (vegetable vendors) and customers and it was the main reason that they did not issue bills at the time of actual sale to retailers. Chauhan asked the officers to enforce discipline in this matter at the earliest and take action against defaulters under the HP Essential Commodities Act.
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Kullu, August 16
The monsoon in Himachal Pradesh has again become active after a lull during the last fortnight of July. People ask me, “When will the rains end?” I say, “Watch a stray dog, if it stands still and neither howls nor barks and does not run towards the direction of the wind, then guess that the rains are not likely in the days to come. The raised and the dropped ears of a dog are ever-ready to catch up the higher and the lower frequencies in the atmosphere and he guesses right (see photo)”.
Rains may also occur if dogs start chewing grass. “Why do you
emphasise upon observing dogs only? What about the other animals?”
they ask me.
Akshay Kumar, a poor and paraplegic student from a remote village of
Kangra, will now be able to pursue his PhD (see photo), thanks to the initiative taken by the
Shimla-based public welfare trust Umang Foundation, which instituted scholarships to help differently abled and poor students to pursue higher education.
It was the result of foundation's effort in 2007 that Akshay got admission in M Phil (English) in Himachal Pradesh University under the 3 per cent quota for the differently
abled.
Dharamsala, August 16
