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Power generation dips as discharge
in rivers
declines
Ministry pulls up public sector banks
Hercules MTB-2011
Founder’s Day at Sanawar School |
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Saga of Bhagat Singh comes alive
Villagers live in fear as wildlife team fails to nab killer bears
Children from Kargil, Batalik visit Dharamsala
Himachal ministers’ assets
Youth’s death: TMC denies allegations
One killed, 4 hurt in road mishaps
Cong Sewa Dal former chief’s death mourned
Schemes worth Rs
13.25 cr inaugurated
Hotels offer special Karva Chauth package
Bid to put murder accused’s house on fire
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Power generation dips as discharge in rivers declines
The discharge in the Sutlej plunged from 1,400 cumecs during the peak monsoon season to 205 cumecs. The 1,500-MW project requires a minimum of 405 cumecs to run at full capacity and it is operating at 60 per cent. Power generation in the upstream 1,200-MW Karcham Wangtu project, which was commissioned a few months ago, has also declined steeply and it is functioning at 50 per cent. Similarly, generation in the 300-MW Baspa project has come down from 78 lakh unit to 42 lakh units. The state power utility’s own generation from various projects has declined from 110 lakh units to 70 lakh units. The 120-MW Sanjay Vidyut project and 126-MW Larji projects are together producing 45 lakh units daily. While decline in the generation during winter is a normal phenomenon, this season the discharge has come down rather quickly due to low temperature in the higher reaches, which received as many as three spells of unseasonal snow in August and September. The low temperature affects the melting of snow. At the same time, the demand in the state is increasing and it has gone up to 235 lakh units. The state power board has already started drawing 6 lakh units from the government and taking back 12 lakh units from Haryana under the banking arrangement. In all, it had provided 500 million units to Punjab and Haryana under the banking arrangement during summer. Since the demand is expected to cross the 250-million unit mark during winter, the board plans to secure another 500 million units through contra-banking, which it will return during summer. |
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Ministry pulls up public sector banks
Dharamsala, October 3 Highly placed sources here told The Tribune that in Himachal most of the public sector banks were lagging behind schedule in issuing Kisan Credit Cards to farmers. Banks officials are blaming farmers for this. They are alleging that most of farmers in the state, especially in Kangra district, have small land holdings. They are not in favour of raising any type of credit from banks and so are not accepting these cards despite persuasion by the officials concerned. However, the ministry has directed banks to issue the cards to each farmer irrespective of the fact that they use it or not to raise credit. The Kisan Credit Cards provide credit at low rates to farmers. As per the conditions of the scheme, farmers can take loan up to Rs 50,000 at an interest rate of just 4 per cent against these cards. The most attractive feature of the scheme is that for loans up to Rs 50,000 farmers also need not give any security to banks. Kangra Deputy Commissioner RS Gupta said: “We are pressing on public sector banks in the district to issue Kisan Credit Cards to each farmer in the district. He also admitted that the banks were behind schedule in issuing cards. The sources added that most of these banks were not meeting the targets given to them for giving agriculture loans to farmers. Some of the banks have included house loans raised by farmers as agriculture loans to improve their figures. District officials also need to educate farmers regarding schemes like Kisan Credit Cards.
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Hercules MTB-2011
Shimla, October 3 With a women rider opting out today, the number of competitors came down to 78. In all, 104 riders had taken off from here on the opening day. Vijay from the Indian Army did well on the third day to reach the second place after Chettri. The riders had to contend with continuous sharp decent as the rally descended from the heights of Narkanda to the banks of the Sutlej and crossed over to Kullu. Participants will have a night halt at the scenic Sarhan village, near Bashleo, and they will have a day off tomorrow to savour nature. During the day off, they will pay homage to mountain biking enthusiast Suzanne Allen from New Zealand, who had died while trekking in the Alps earlier this year. She participated in the 2007 and 2009 events. The participants will also have a memorial service to mourn her untimely demise, said Mohit Sood, president of the Himalayan Adventure Sports and Tourism Promotion Association, that is organising the rally.
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Founder’s Day at Sanawar School
Sanawar, October 3 Athletes displayed the spirit of “never give in” with Vivan Chauhan and Disha Chauhan being declared winners of the Kalinga and Bala Cups for the best athletes among boys and girls, respectively. The Shivalik House won the overall Champions Trophy, and the Fateh Pal Cup for the best athlete (U-14, boys) was jointly shared by Shivraj Alhawat and Ankit Ranghar. Nilagiri House (boys) was awarded the March-past Cup. This was followed by a parent-teacher meet and soccer and basketball matches between present and old Sanawarians. Later, a concert was held in the historic Barne Hall where the dramatic and musical fervour of artistes enlivened the audience. Other items of the day included an Indian classical orchestra based on Raga Gaoti, an Indian classical dance titled “Nikkon”, which showcased a perfect blend of “tandav” and “tarana”. The most applauded performance of the day was the play “Remember the Legends” directed by Siddharth Shasta and based on the life and ideology of Bhagat Singh in a modern expressionistic style of theatre. A soothing group song, “I Have a Dream”, was also presented by preppies that took the audience to the magical melody of Abba. The splendour of the evening was unveiled by the enthralling tattoo show, performed in the military tradition of the school. The show was a display of pure talent with a healthy dash of music, dance, mass PT, gymnastics, high-horse and bugle band. The centrepiece of the evening was the Girls Bugle Band. A yoga show, which sought to offer a lesson in the path of self-realisation, also won the appreciation of the audience. The culminating delight was packed with the colourful extravaganza of dances. The Ganesh Utsava was performed by 350 boys and girls of Classes V to X. A Western dance, performed by senior students, was an amalgamation of humans and robots in a modern style. These dances were choreographed by Umashanker Khilnani, who is associated with the Saroj Khan group. The show concluded with spectacular fireworks. Anshu Vaish, Secretary, School Education (HRD), Government of India and Chairperson (Board of Governors), was the chief guest on the occasion.
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Saga of Bhagat Singh comes alive
Sanawar, October 3 The play featured some rare episodes shedding new light on the martyr’s life and exploring obscure areas of his conscience that advocated a social order with egalitarian and utopian ideals. It also showcased the significance of the Pagri Sambhal Jatta, a movement initiated by Bhagat Singh’s uncle (Ajit Singh) for restraining peasants from offering their turbans to the British in lieu of waiving their revenue. Directed by Siddharth Shasta, a product of the Film and Television Institute, who already has three feature films and several plays to his credit, the play was nothing short of a magnum opus presented in a modern expressionistic style. Picking up the strands of the history of India’s freedom struggle, he tried to portray a true reflection of Bhagat Singh’s ideology. Talking about Bhagat Singh’s jail dairy, he says, “While in jail, he wrote that the British would leave the country in the next 14-15 years and for the next 40-45 years immense corruption would prevail. The influential class would loot money and the gap between the rich and the poor would widen. But he was optimistic and wrote that after 60-65 years some enlightened and honest individuals would come together and work for reforms.” The play began with the backdrop screening of a group of deaf and dumb students singing the national anthem with articulate gestures and ended with Bhagat Singh’s execution. A mammoth cast of 150 students featured in the play replete with “I am not only confident that the play will meet soaring success, but also look forward to stage it in other schools,” proclaimed school Headmaster Praveen
Vasisht.
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Villagers live in fear as wildlife team fails to nab killer bears
Mandi/Dalash, October 3 “After the bears killed Prem and Pushpa two weeks ago in broad daylight, villagers have to drop children in vehicles every day as they fear bear attack on the way,” said Up-Praddhan, Dingidhar gram panchayat. Even village women have expressed the same feeling. It is a peak season to stock grass and fodder for cattle and fuel wood for approaching winter months. “But we can not venture out in the fields, leave alone go to jungles and ghasnis to cut grass and dry fuel wood due to the presence of bears and their cubs,” rued Ganga Devi and Sunita Devi. Though the Forest Department remains clueless as to how many bears are roaming in the area, villagers told The Tribune that their number was more than eight, including their five to six cubs. The panchayats have passed resolutions asking the local administration and state Forest Department to either trap the bears or kill them as it was a matter for life for them, said Prem Singh. “We can barely protect our crops and fruits, and now wild animals are killing our children and even adults,” he added. The government has not declared the beasts man-eaters and the forest team came here for a while but couldn’t find the bears. DFO in charge, Ani Forest Division, MB Aggarwal said they had laid a cage stocked with a bait near Bumi, but with no success. “Permission to kill the bears is still awaited,” he added. compensation awaited l
Saij Ram and his wife have yet to get compensation of Rs 1 lakh each even two weeks after their only son-daughter duo was killed by four bears in the Ganchavi area in Ani subdivision. l
The Forest Department has asked the police to send them an FIR copy and post-mortem reports of the victims of the bears.
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Children from Kargil, Batalik visit Dharamsala
Dharamsala, October 3 Addressing the children, Choudhary encouraged them to utilise this opportunity in acquiring rich cultural and social diversity of Himachal. The children were happy at their maiden visit to Dharamsala. “This is an experience I will cherish and treasure throughout my life,” said a 11-year-old girl, Stenzin Chuskit, from Batalik region. Most of the children had come out of the remote region of Jammu and Kashmir for the first time. The Army spokesperson said the Army was organising such educational trips in a bid to bring remote, insurgency-affected regions into the mainstream. The Army through its Operation Sadbhavana had also been bringing about a significant attitudinal awakening amongst the population of such regions. The tour was sponsored by the Tiger Hill Brigade of the Kargil region, he added.
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Himachal ministers’ assets
New Delhi, October 3 The complaint, made by RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya to the Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau, Himachal, has been accepted and marked for “appropriate action” to Principal Secretary (Home) who needs to give sanction to investigate the matter. Principal Secretary (Vigilance) sent the complaint to Home Department seeking action in the matter. A reply is still awaited. As highlighted in these columns yesterday, Himachal ministers have declared ridiculously low values for their assets, especially land, and not declared assets of their spouses and children. None of the ministers declared the assets held outside the state. Bhattacharya has now written to the President and the state Governor to ask the ministers to file affidavits to support the information they gave to him under the RTI Act. “Let them say on oath that what they said under the RTI reply is all that they have. Asset values in the declarations are clearly understated and the police must probe the ministers’ assets for ruling out any possibility of money laundering,” Bhattacharya told The Tribune today. He has also sought the state Governor’s intervention to direct Income Tax authorities to look into the undeclared assets of ministers and their families. “The state anti-corruption bureau immediately admitted the complaint I made and marked it to the Home Department for sanction which has not yet come,” he said. The Tribune had analysed the declarations made by state ministers to put a value to each minister’s assets and had found the liabilities of all ministers to be more than their assets in cash, deposits and financial instruments. The CM did not declare his assets and took the alibi that the RTI applicant did not specifically mention that he had also sought “Chief Minister’s assets along with those of ministers”. Here the state government clearly forgot the orders of the Central Information Commission that every minister is a public authority and bound to reply under the RTI Act as and when a query is marked to him in any capacity. The CM by all standards is a minister being Head of the Council of Ministers. Who has what l
Social Justice Minister Sarveen Choudhary who has 10 kanal land says her husband, a Brigadier, owns separate assets. l Public Works and Revenue Minister Thakur Gulab Singh (CM Dhumal’s relative) has declared Rs 35,000 cash in hand; owns over 36 bighas agricultural land worth just Rs 18 lakh; 450 sq metre residential-cum-commercial building (value not stated) and a 300 sq metre plot in Kangra valued Rs 76, 562! l Irrigation and Public Health Minister Ravinder Ravi has a share in seven chunks of agricultural land in Kangra; declares their value as Rs 7.30
lakh. l Horticulture Minister Narinder Bragta has 36 bighas agricultural land, a residential house in Kotkhai and a partially commercial building (location, value not mentioned). l Transport/Housing Minister Mahender Singh has no vehicle; owns an apple and a mango orchard; non-agricultural land, residential building; values not listed. He is into stone-crushing business. |
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Youth’s death: TMC denies allegations
Kangra, October 3 On the basis of an FIR lodged by him in the local police station, three doctors were booked, including a doctor from the TMC, under Section 304, IPC. Officiating Principal of the college Dr Ramesh Lal in a statement said here today that “there is no doctor named Sanjay Kumar Abrol working with this institution. As per records available in the hospital, patient named Avtar Singh has neither been admitted nor been operated in this institution and if at all he got any treatment, he got it as an OPD patient as there is no facility of urologist in the institution. He said patients needing special care were referred to either PGI or other empanelled hospitals as per government directions where under the RSBY scheme they get free treatment. Meanwhile, Dr Rajesh Sharma, president, TAMCOT, said such allegations followed by registering of case against the doctor of the TMC by the police was discouraging for other doctors serving the institution. He said if any patient was referred to some place it was understood that there was no facility available in the TMC to treat him and at some times even patients seek referral because they feel they would get better treatment outside the state. Sharma said super-specialty services were not available in the TMC in true sense and once these services start, the working would further improve. He accepted that though the working had improved a lot, it was not meeting the expectations of people. Kangra district police chief DS Thakur said on the complaint of Hoshiyar Singh, being a cognisable offence, an FIR was lodged and investigation started. The SSP said only after investigation and identification of doctors, the final report would be prepared.
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One killed, 4 hurt in road mishaps
Chamba, October 3 The report said the deceased had been identified as Rakesh Kumar of Kopra village in Kangra district. His body had been handed over to relatives after autopsy. Conductor Muneet Kumar of Rangad village in Chamba district had been rushed to a nearby Civil Hospital for treatment. A case of rash and negligent driving had been registered at Tissa police station. In another accident, three persons were reported to have been injured when their car met with an accident near Parel in the district. They had been brought to the Civil Hospital. |
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Cong Sewa Dal former chief’s death mourned
Hamirpur, October 3 Union Minister for Micro Marginal and Small industries Virbhadra Singh, HPCC president Kaul Singh Thakur, Congress legislature party leader Vidya Stokes, state chief organiser of the Sewa Dal ID Lakhanpal, state senior organiser Hari Mohan Sharma, former state organising secretary of the Sewa Dal Nanak Chand Saini and other Congress leaders have expressed grief at his death. Gupta, who had died on Sunday at Baggi, was a prominent Congress leader and social activist of the area and engaged in several philanthropic activities. — TNS
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Schemes worth Rs
13.25 cr inaugurated
Solan, October 3 He also laid foundation stones of an indoor stadium and press club buildings to be constructed at a cost of Rs 6.71 crore and Rs 10 lakh, respectively. Dhumal also unveiled the statues of Rani Lakshmi Bai, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Dr YS Parmar on the occasion. A sum of Rs 13.75 lakh was spent on these statues. Later, Dhumal said the state government was promoting ayurvedic treatment and Rs 132 crore was being spent during the current fiscal on strengthening the activities of the Ayurveda Department. A record increase of 94 per cent had been made in the budget for the purpose. Dhumal was addressing a public meeting here today. Earlier, he inaugurated Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay District Ayurvedic Hospital building constructed at a cost of Rs 3 crore and health and skin disease treatment camp at Solan. Dhumal said the state government had approved to fill up 330 posts of ayurveda doctor during the past four years, out of which 249 posts had already been filled and the process of filling of 300 posts of ayurvedic pharmacist was on. He said the construction work of three ayurvedic hospitals and 70 ayurvedic dispensaries had been completed, adding that Rs 22 crore was being spent on maintenance of 28 ayurvedic hospitals. While the construction work of 220 ayurvedic dispensaries was in progress. He said the Drug Quality Institute was being set up at a cost of Rs 5 crore at Jogindernagar and Rs 3 crore had been released along with the approval for starting the BPharma course in the state. Dhumal added that classes had been started in Jogindernagar College of Ayurvedic Pharmaceutical Science from the current month. Dr Rajeev Bindal, Health Minister, welcomed the Chief Minister. He said developmental schemes worth Rs 13 crore were dedicated to the people of Solan in a single day, which was a record in itself. |
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Hotels offer special Karva Chauth package
Shimla, October 3 Managing Director of the corporation Vineet Kumar said the luxury tax for the third day would also be paid by the corporation. He said on the Karva Chauth festival on October 15, sargi would be arranged for the guests availing the package and provided free in the morning hours between 3 am and 4 am. It would include bananas, milk glass, gulab jamun and mathi for women guests. He further stated that dry fruits, puna, naiz, suhagi (bindi, churi, kajal and ribbon mehndi) would also be arranged by hotels on payment basis in the evening hours between 9 pm and 10.30 pm, while arg and puja thali and karva (with rice, urad dal, druva, flowers, kungu) would be provided free of cost. Besides, fasting dinner would be offered complimentary by the corporation for couples staying in the hotels. The package is in addition to eight attractive combo-packages already offered for “Har Gaon Ki Kahani” destinations across the state. |
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Bid to put murder accused’s house on fire
Hamirpur, October 3 SDM Pankaj Rai and DSP Anjani Kumar Jaswal, along with a contingent of police personnel, immediately rushed to the spot. The police personnel saved the adjacent house from catching fire. Ramesh Chand of Badoh village was brutally murdered and his body parts were found scattered in the fields some time back. The victim’s head has still not been traced, which has created anger among people of the area. Five members of Subhash Chand’s family, booked for this murder, are still in judicial custody.
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Shimla, October 3
The second day of the founder’s day celebrations at The Lawrence School, Sanawar, witnessed an athletic meet, which was presided over by Dr Meenakshi Mahapatra, a distinguished alumnus of the 1961 batch and a fellow of The Royal College of Anaesthesia.
Sanawar, October 3
Dharamsala, October 3
Solan, October 3
Shimla, October 3