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How to keep the fruit for better price
Campaign to sterilise stray dogs fails to make headway
Experts perform an operation in a mobile operation theatre.
‘Valve Purchase Scam’ in Shah Nahar Project |
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Kisan Manch threatens mass agitation
Scribes give 3-day ultimatum to police
Dhumal’s no to lowering VAT on petrol
Gaddi Youth’s Suicide Case
Remain vigilant, Cong tells people
Functioning of RLA
Attestation parade of Gorkha recruits held
Pensioners hold protest rally
Evening cricket at Kangra begins
A view of the Municipal Stadium in Kangra on Friday evening. Photo: Ashok Raina
7th batch of National Himalayan expedition ends
Revision of poll rolls of Hamirpur dist from June 1
Two killed as car falls into gorge
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How to keep the fruit for better price Kuldeep Chauhan Tribune News Service
Mandi/Kullu, May 26 Though farmers welcomed the government decision to switch over from telescopic cartons to 20-kg universal cartons, they are uncertain about the supplies and response to the proposed cartons in fruit markets dominated by arhtiyas and middlemen. The worries of farmers are multiplying day by day as the harvesting season in the lower apple-belt will start by June-end or the first week of July. Chairman, Ecohorts Society of Growers, Nandpur, Laxman Thakur said the government should avoid a panic situation that resulted in artificial shortage of cartons and trays as it had happened in 2010, the bumper crop year. Farmers had old stocks, but others were not certain about which carton to use, he added. Thakur said they had inputs that apple production in the state may cross 2 crore boxes this year. The government must make its mind, he added. President, Upper Kullu Valley Growers’ Association, Prem Sharma said the government decision to introduce 20-kg cartons was good and would benefit growers. “We expect farmers and the HPMC to place demands to manufacturers to avoid shortage of cartons and trays,” he added. Farmers also demanded that the government-run HPMC should stock 20-kg cartons so that these become popular. Arhtiyas and middlemen would resist the universal cartons first as it would check over-weighing that benefits them the most, they said. Farmers said the government must make the 20 kg standard size mandatory from the next year. “Arhtiyas will get 20-kg fruit in place of 25 kg to 29 kg they get in telescopic cartons which give them more profit from the ‘ladanis’,” said farmers. All countries are using standard 20-kg cartons for apple, but in India different states are using different sizes, leaving farmers at the mercy of middlemen, rued growers. Farmers are in a fix as to which carton will give them the best market price this season, said Balbir Chajta, an apple grower from Jubbal. “It will take time for a complete switch-over to universal cartons,” he added. Horticulture Minister Narender Bragta said they had a meeting with growers, traders and manufacturers. “We have asked growers’ associations, societies and traders to give their demands to manufacturers as the government has given a choice to farmers this year,” he said. Director, Horticulture, Gurdev Singh said apple production would cross 2.5 crore boxes this year, as per the latest estimates. The department had always encouraged growers to use 20-kg cartons, he added.
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Campaign to sterilise stray dogs fails to make headway
Shimla, May 26 The stray dog menace has been a major issue in the state, along with the monkey menace, and the government took an initiative to contain these by launching ABC campaigns. While the monkey sterilisation programme has made much progress, the campaign to sterilise stray dogs has not made much headway. As per the 2007 census conducted by the department, there were over 67,000 stray dogs in the state and so far only about 8,000, including 5,600 in Shimla, have been sterilised. The number must have increased substantially, though the exact figure will be known after the fresh census, which would be conducted later this year. The department had started the sterilisation campaign from Shimla with the help of the National Animal Welfare Board and later extended it to all districts. However, unlike Shimla where the local civic body provided requisite support for capturing stray dogs and post operative care , there was not much support for the programme. The department can only provide surgeons and other experts required for conducting sterilisation and arrangements for capturing the animal. The local civic body, panchayat or some non-government organisations involved in animal welfare activities have to make arrangements for providing shelter, food and care to them. However, the campaign has delivered where residents took initiative. For instance, fatal stray dog attacks on children in Kuther, a small village near Sabathu in Solan district, prompted local residents to take active part in the ABC campaign. As a result, a team of veterinary experts, headed by Deputy Director RS Kishtwaria, sterilised 21 stray dogs and also calmed down one animal using a tranquillising gun. Pradhan Daya Sharma spearheaded the campaign after veterinary officer Mansi Sharma convinced her that the issue could be tackled by the ABC programme. Dr Kishtwaria said the ABC programme was a step forward in controlling rabies in human beings and animals. These dogs had a territorial behaviour and thus had to be released in the same locality. Otherwise more aggressive dogs from nearby locality would take over their territory. He said such camps would be a regular feature and efforts would be made to acquire mobile Operation Theatre (OT) to help cover a large population. 8,000 out of 67,000 sterilised
As per the 2007 census conducted by the state Animal Husbandry Department, there were over 67,000 stray dogs in the state and so far only about 8,000, including 5,600 in Shimla, have been sterilised. The number must have increased substantially, though the exact figure will be known after the fresh census, which will be conducted later this year. |
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‘Valve Purchase Scam’ in Shah Nahar Project Kuldeep Chauhan Tribune News Service
Mandi, May 26 The project authorities defended the IPH Minister in a communication to The Tribune, stating that not even a single valve was purchased at the behest of the minister and HLP’s allegations were false. The valves purchased by the project caused no loss to the state exchequer, they claimed. They purchased valves fulfilling the codal formalities, they said. The executive engineer, Shah Nahar project, claimed that they adhered to all mandatory procedures before the valves purchase work for the project was awarded to different contractors. No valve of Rs 23,000 was purchased for Rs 56,000 for the project as claimed by the HLP, he clarified. Reacting to allegations levelled by HLP president Maheshwar Singh and others at the recent press conference at Mandi, the executive engineer further claimed that there were “different rates for the different valves depending upon their diameter”. He stated that the cost of per valve of 250 mm diameter as per 2010 rate was “This included labour cost, transport, VAT and other fixtures and contractor’s margin of profit,” he explained. He said the work to contractor was awarded after proper justification of rates, citing copy of the rates. The project authorities, however, did not disclose as to how many valves of different diameters were installed in the project and how many more are needed. But the executive engineer put the total purchase at Rs 45 lakh so far. On the other hand, Maheshwar said the HLP was demanding a probe into the valve purchase scam so that public know the truth. The market rates of valves ranges from Rs 23,000 and above, but the project authorities purchased valves above Rs 56,000 per piece. “The cumulative loss will run into several lakhs, if not in crores, and it is a subject of probe,” he alleged.
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Kisan Manch threatens mass agitation
Bilaspur, May 26 It has served an ultimatum to the government that if all these villages were not taken out of rigours of the sanctuary by June 2, it would start a mass agitation in the shape of a dharna and a chakka jam from June 3 at the Ghwandal chowk, near the Naina Devi shrine, in collaboration with other likeminded kisan organisations. Taking to mediapersons at the Circuit House here recently, and accompanied by kisan leaders and other leaders, including Kesh Pathania, state joint spokesman for HLP; state CPI secretariat member Pravesh Chandel and Himachal Kisan Sabha district unit president Lekh Ram Dhiman, former MLA and now Himachal Kisan Manch state chief convener Krishan Kumar Kaushal, said thousands of farmers were suffering due to the wild animal menace. Monkeys were destroying crops and farmers were not able to take action in this matter due to restrictions of the sanctuary. The entire development process in these villages has stopped for the past several years and no roads and paths can be constructed or repaired. Even drinking water schemes can not be implemented and no houses are being allowed to be constructed due to these very rules. Farmers have become helpless as they cannot grow anything on their lands due to the menace of monkeys and other wild animals, the population of which has increased several folds due to WLS restrictions and rules. Kaushal also demanded that the government must give permission to fell khair trees, the only cash crop of this area, to save losses of several crores to thousands of farmers as their khair trees are losing utility and commercial value and will soon turn into firewood if these were not allowed to be cut immediately. These trees have to be cut every 10 years under the 10-year felling plan if its full commercial herbal value is to be exploited, which gives good return to farmers.
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MC poll: Fate of candidates
to be decided today
Shimla, May 26 With 13 out of the ward reserved for women under the new policy to provide 50 per cent seats to the fair sex, there are as many as 43 women and only 40 men in the field from the wards. Out of the seven candidates in fray for the post of Mayor, two are women and for the post of Deputy Mayor one out of the total five candidates is women. However, the three main contenders - the Congress, the BJP and the CPM - have not fielded any women for the two top posts. However, men outnumber women in the electorate. There are 43,762 male voters as against just 36,194 female voters. While parties are nervous, political pundits are keeping their fingers crossed as direct election is being held for the first time. At present, the Congress has the highest number of 15 members, followed by the BJP (8) and CPM (2). The scenario is set to change significantly as direct elections to the top posts will also alter equations in the wards. The Congress has been at the helm ever since the corporation came into being in 1985 and it had dominated the poll to such an extent that the tall of the BJP never touched the two-digit mark. The main contest for the post of Mayor is among Madhu Sood (Congress), SS Minhas
(BJP) and Sanjay Chauhan (CPM) and for Deputy Mayor Devinder Chauhan (Congress), Digvjay Singh Chauhan
(BJP) and Tikender Panwar (CPM). Electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be used in the election and in all 151 polling stations have been set up. Every voter will cast three votes and accordingly each polling station will have three
EVMs. Some additional machines have been kept for use in case of malfunctioning or any other issue. Polling will take place from 7am to 4pm. The counting will be conducted on May 28 and the results will be out the
same day. |
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Scribes give 3-day ultimatum to police
Bilaspur, May 26 Journalists held a meeting at the Circuit House here today and told the police not to bow to pressure of officers to help the accused persons in which a high officer from Shimla was also said to be involved. The meeting attended by some 20 journalists unanimously decided to give an ultimatum of three days to the police to either register a case according to the FIR or face protests at district and state levels soon. The police had not only delayed the registration of the case by several days, but also diluted it by imposing sections making them bailable. And later, after three days, it registered an FIR from the accused against the journalists with non-bailable offences. The meeting decided to boycott all functions and news of the Sports Department and take the state Youth Services and Sports Department to task for giving a free hand to the sports officer of Shimla involved in “tantric rituals”. It said journalist Abhishek Mishra, his photo journalist and another associate were attacked by some 12 sportspersons when they tried to video film the rituals of a tantric at Shikroha village where inmates of Government Sports Hostel here were carried for “treatment of a girl” who was afflicted with psychological fits locally called “khel” instead of carrying her to a psychologist in a hospital. The attackers had not only snatched their cameras and Rs 35,000 kept in a bag, but also had them beaten up.
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Dhumal’s no to lowering VAT on petrol
Shimla, May 26 Stating this while interacting with mediapersons here today, Chief Minister PK Dhumal said the government would consider the same only after Congress-ruled state like Maharashtra, where tax on petrol and diesel were exorbitantly high, would take such a step. His government had already lowered VAT on petrol from 27 to 20 per cent and on diesel from 20 to 14 per cent and than further to 9.70 per cent. If the Centre, which collected all the tax revenue, was unable to provide relief to people, a state like Himachal with limited resources could not be expected to do much on the issue. The government was already doing whatever was within its means to provide relief to people reeling under high prices. It was supplying six essential commodities on subsidised rates to people and it even supplied four compact fluorescent lamps to each family free of cost. Only recently, it launched the Atal School Uniform Scheme under which students studying in government schools were being provided two sets of uniform free of cost. Claiming that the BJP was set to create history by dislodging the Congress from the Shimla Municipal Corporation, he said his party proposed to effect changes in the functioning of the civic body to make it more responsive. |
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Demonstration held against villager’s arrest
Our Correspondent
Nurpur, May 26 Deceased’s father Kanshi Ram, in his complaint to the police, had alleged that his son had committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance on Thursday night at his residence after being publicly humiliated by the accused the same day. The demonstrators alleged that he had taken extreme step following an altercation with his father on Thursday night. They also alleged that the police framed an aged villager and arrested him in haste without verifying facts. They held a Congress-supported zila parishad ward member responsible for hatching a political conspiracy against the villager due to his political enmity with him. The villagers have demanded an impartial inquiry into the case. DSP Rajinder Jaswal said a fair investigation had been initiated in this case.
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Remain vigilant, Cong tells people
Shimla, May 26 Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kaul Singh said people were thoroughly disappointed by the performance of the BJP and the party was indulging in gross misuse of official machinery and using other means to influence the electorate. Despite that the Congress had done well during campaigning and it was in a comfortable position. General secretary of the party Kuldeep Rathore said Congress workers had been asked to maintain a strict vigil to check the movements of BJP activists. Meanwhile, the Returning Officer for the poll has warned that any individual possessing more than one voter identity card and found casting vote in the municipal corporation poll would be liable for prosecution and punishment under the provisions of the Representation of People’s Act and the Municipal Corporation. An official press note in this regard said that it had come to the notice of the Returning Officer that certain voters had obtained over one voter card by registering at more than one place. |
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Functioning of RLA
Shimla, May 26 It further directed him to clarify in his affidavit as to whether there is any mechanism available in the government for overseeing the functioning of the registration and licensing authorities (RLA). The court directed the Secretary to file an affidavit within a month. The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary passed this order during the hearing of a petition filed by Ajay Kumar against the violation of the Motor Vehicle Act by transporters in the state. The petitioner has made a special reference to overcrowded buses in the state, which lead to accidents. He has also accused the HRTC for running about 30 per cent old buses. He also made a reference of the accident which took place near the Lift, Shimla, where a tailoring teacher was crushed by two private bus operators due to their rash and negligent driving. Though two constables were present on duty at the spot, they did not stop the bus operators.
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Attestation parade of Gorkha recruits held
Solan, May 26 The recruits undergo a rigorous training schedule for 42 weeks before they are attested as young soldiers. In addition to the basic and advance military training, the recruits are also trained to cope up with modern-day challenges of warfare such as Nuclear Biological and Chemical Warfare Techniques, Counter Terrorist Operations, Aid to Civil Authorities etc. These young soldiers will soon be joining units of First and Fourth Gorkha Rifles, two amongst the oldest regiments of the Indian Army. The regiments have earned many laurels for the nation during the two World Wars and also in major campaigns post Independence. Brig AG Kundalkar, SM Commandant, 14 GTC, called upon the recruits to continue the saga of professionalism, valour and selfless service in the line of duty for the motherland. Meera Mohanty, District Collector, Solan, Principal, teachers and students of Pine Grove school also witnessed the parade among guests.
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Pensioners hold protest rally
Hamirpur, May 26 Hundreds of pensioners assembled at the Gandhi Chowk carrying placards and raised slogans against the state government. Later, they also marched to the DC office and submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister PK Dhumal through the DC, Hamirpur. Today’s call of protest at the district headquarters was given by pensioners to criticise the indifferent attitude of the state government towards their demands. Addressing the rally, state president of HPPKS BD Sharma and other pensioners criticised the government for not fulfilling their demands. They said: “Though the state unit of the BJP had included their demands as item No 8 in their manifesto before the state elections, the BJP government had failed to fulfil their demands.” Pensioners said: “Though Chief Minister PK Dhumal had agreed in principle to fulfil their demands before the Assembly elections, nothing had been done so far.” The HPPKS has urged the Chief Minister to take steps to give them benefits at par with pensioners of Punjab.
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Evening cricket at Kangra begins
Kangra, May 26 Mukesh Mehra, president of the club, said the cricket festival was inaugurated by municipal chief Suman Verma and the first friendly match was played between elected members and officials of the municipality. Mehra said the evenings in the town were cool and the first day of the festival had attracted large crowds to witness these matches. On Friday there were three matches in which Jai Maa Jagatambay defeated Brigade Students, Friends XI KKR Cricket Club and Bush Rangers Bangali XI Club. The stadium was shining in the flood lights with the Bajeshwari temple visible in the backdrop. Mehra said this cricket festival would conclude on June 10 and till then every day there would be three matches.
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7th batch of National Himalayan expedition ends
Chamba, May 26 As many as 141 participants from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, including 43 girls, participated in the trek. During the trek, they undertook various activities like rock climbing, river crossing, bird watching and drawing competition on the Dainkund, Jot, Lakharmandi Kalatop and Dalhousie itinerary. Presiding over the valedictory function of the expedition, IPH Dalhousie Division Executive Engineer Sunil Dutt Choudhary distributed certificates and prizes to the participants. Himani Dudhat from the Maharastra group was the master of ceremony. Capt Rajender Singh Rana, Field Director, thanked the chief guest. Vishvesh Kumar Joshi, an escort of the Gujarat group, proposed a vote of thanks. |
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Revision of poll rolls of Hamirpur dist from June 1
Hamirpur, May 26 Giving this information, DC-cum-District Election Officer Rajinder Singh Thakur said the revised electoral rolls would be made available from June 1 in the offices of electoral registration officers
(SDMs), assistant registration officers (tehsildars and naib tehsildars), and at all polling stations. All eligible persons, having attained 18 years of age on January 1, 2012, desirous of inclusion, deletion and amendments in the voters’ list can apply on relevant form 6, 7, 8 and 8a, free of cost. Residents could also get registered online through the website of the Election Department -
http:/eservicehp.gov.in/centralapp/home - for this process. |
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Two killed as car falls into gorge
Bilaspur, May 26 Superintendent of Police Santosh Patial said here today that those injured were rushed to the Regional Hospital here by the police with help of villagers and passers-by. Those injured include Dinesh (22), Ramesh (59) of Hari Nagar, Anita Thapa (34) of Mayapuri, Bal Bahadur (26) of Mayapuri, and Payal (7) daughter of Bal Bahadur. Bal Bahadur was driving the vehicle which was returning to Delhi after a visit to Manali.
— OC |
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Shimla, May 26
Shimla, May 26
Kangra, May 26
