The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

State BSNL staff to hold protests in Delhi tomorrow
Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, November 6
BSNL employees will hold a joint protest demonstration on November 8 at Delhi and Mumbai and will march to Parliament on November 12 and hold a big rally at Mumbai on the same day.

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of unions of all non-executive and executive classes of absorbed and recruited BSNL employees sat on a relay hunger strike from October 29 to November 3 at Dharmasala, Mandi, Hamirpur, Kullu, Solan and Shimla in which thousands of agitating employees took part.

Tilak Thakur, joint secretary, north central headquarter Sanchar Nigam executive association and Sudharshan Kumar, Himachal Pradesh Sanchar circle secretary in a joint statement have said the JAC had been agitating for the elimination of the deputation of unabsorbed non-optee officers of Indian Telecom Service (ITS). They demanded that the employees and officers absorbed in the BSNL or MTNL should also be reverted to the rolls of Department of Telecom (DoT) and allowed to work on the same line as the unabsorbed ITS officers.

They rued that around 1, 00 ITS officers had been deputed on all key posts of the BSNL management 12 years ago and were responsible for the poor state of affairs of the BSNL which had landed into a huge loss to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore.

Over 2.75 lakh DoT employees who have opted absorption in October 2000 into the BSNL are facing the heat. It has also seriously endangered the prospects of BSNL/MTNL as a viable organisation. The telecom service of erstwhile DoT had been restructured. MTNL and BSNL were constituted as per policy of the Government of India.

The absorption process should have been completed long before in the wake of policy implementation, the employees said. But the issue of the absorption of officers belonging to ITS Group-A was separated deliberately to secure their future at the cost of Group B officers facing uncertainty after absorption into the BSNL /MTNL, they lamented.

They alleged that this section of officers had strong nexus in DoT and the highest level of corporate management of BSNL/MTNL. They had been working in MTNL/BSNL so far even though they declined to join on the roll of MTNL/BSNL.

Candlelight vigil
Exiled Tibetans pay homage to self-immolated martyr

Dharamsala, November 6
Exiled Tibetans residing in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, held a candlelight vigil to express solidarity with a farmer, who self-immolated himself in Tibet, owing to the repressive policies of the Chinese government on their homeland. A 25- year old Tibetan farmer Lhundup Dorjee died after self-immolating himself on Sunday outside a hotel in Tibet.

Earlier, a 24-year-old Tibetan farmer, Lhamo Tseten, had died on October 26 from self-immolation near a military base and a government office. Later, Tsepag Kyab, 21, also set fire to himself and died.

Vice President of Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, Nyima, said they have all gathered to demonstrate peacefully against repressive policies of Chinese government. "Today, a Tibetan self-immolated himself in Tibet. He was 25 years old. We have organised a candlelight vigil to extend solidarity and we heard this news today, it was disheartening. We have gathered here for a candlelight vigil," she said.

The status of Taiwan and the human rights situation in Tibet is a contentious political issue for China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province to be eventually unified with the mainland.

Tensions over Tibet are at their highest in years after a spate of protests over Chinese rule and self-immolations by Tibetan activists, which have prompted a Chinese security crackdown.

The surge in self-immolations in China in protest over its rule in Tibet has heightened tension in recent months. Indian-based rights groups said there had been a massive security clampdown in Tibet and Tibetan areas of China, and in some instances protesters were beaten even as they were ablaze.

China has branded the self-immolators "terrorists" and criminals, and has blamed the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dalai Lama, for inciting them.

China rejects criticism that it is eroding Tibetan culture and faith, saying its rule has ended serfdom and brought development to a backward region. China has ruled Tibet since 1950, when Communist troops marched in and announced its "peaceful liberation".

The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 following a failed uprising, has accused China of "cultural genocide". Beijing considers him a separatist and does not trust his insistence that he only wants greater autonomy for his Himalayan homeland. — ANI

vignettes
Walk-n-Talk on flora of Shimla, a floral workshop in wilderness
by Shriniwas Joshi

SAGES (Shimla Amateur Garden and Environment Society) with its motto of ‘Shimla Green: Shimla Clean’ has stepped into a new ground by arranging a Walk-n-Talk on flora of Shimla and then concluding it with an open-air workshop (see photo). JS Wazir of Nauni University was the expert. The workshops, earlier, were conducted within the four walls that remained limited, like a school class, to the queries of the plant-lovers.

This year 35 participants enjoyed walking three to four kilometres trail of kachha path amid prime western Himalayan temperate forest trees spread over an area of 100 hectares in Van Vihar, popularly known as Potter’s Hill, about 7 kilometre west of main Shimla. There are more than 50 species of trees with almost the same numbers of climbers and lianas here and also hundreds of species of herbaceous and shrub flora besides a wide range of ferns and lichens. The experts introduced the participants to various herbal plants that nature gives to the humanity. There was a flea-killer (pissumaar) plant which the folk keeps beneath their mattresses and spreads it in the shed where the sheep are rested. Nilkanth was another plant; its leaves were bitter in taste and used for blood-purifying tonics. It was also told that a combination of geranium and basil (tulsi) checks upon the entry of whiteflies.

Though the Hill has been baptised as Van Vihar by the State Forest Department, yet the common man in the town knows it by the name of Potter’s Hill. It existed in 1904 because there is a fleeting reference of it in ‘Simla-Past and Present’ by Edward Buck. Sumit Vashisht, a Shimla chronicler, met me, by chance, at Potter’s Hill when I was there. He told me that when Viceregal Lodge in the nearby Observatory Hill was being constructed in 1884-88, potters from various parts of the country were asked to come to Shimla and use clay that was available in abundance in the hill for making tiles for covering the roof of the Lodge. They settled here but there was water shortage, so a pond was made for collecting the rain water. That pond still exists but was totally dry on the day of our visit. The potters stayed back even after the completion of the Lodge and when pottery’s use declined in Shimla, they left the hill in search of new vocations elsewhere. The name Potter’s Hill, however, stayed and is popular.

By the way, Potters Hill is also the name of a village in Ecclesfield Township and parish about five miles of Sheffield in England, so to the British rulers of the time, the name of the hill sounded native.

Potter’s hill at 2,030 metres would have been a High Altitude Sports Centre of Sports Authority of India in 1990s, had the government ultimately not decided to give enough land at Shilaru at 2,400 metres for the purpose. Van Vihar was created after that.

In 2011, Himachal Bird organised a bird walk in the Potter’s Hill and could watch 12 different species of birds -- three types of thrushes, warblers, bulbul, blue rock pigeon, barbet, crow etc. It still is a paradise for bird-watchers. Among the four-footed animals, leopard, barking deer, fox, rhesus monkey and langoor are common.

A local entrepreneur Ajit Butail and his daughter, Vibha, took initiative of opening Camp Potter’s Hill here in 2003. The Forest Department leased 7 acres of land to them and they established a Camp here. Every bit of the camp -- 11 cottages, seven tents, a tree house, a conference hall, an open-air theatre, a restaurant — seems to take the visitor far from the madding crowd.

If you want to live comfortably and do not want the world to be too much with you, Camp Potter’s Hill is the place. I saw tree house there (see photo) and thought of the first-ever tree house in the world. History has not recorded it but has recorded that celebrities like Queen Elizabeth, Winston Churchill, George Lucas and John Lennon had commissioned the tree houses.

Tailpiece

From the diary of a camper:

Acupuncture was invented by me when I found a porcupine in my sleeping bag.

Any stone in a hiking boot migrates to the point of maximum pressure.

Adviser, Education, burden on govt exchequer: RTI Actvist
Ashok Raina

Kangra, November 6
An RTI activist and former Deputy Director, Education, today described the appointment of an Adviser, Education, in the Himachal Pradesh government “a hole in the government exchequer.”

RD Sharma, the RTI activist, said the state government had spent Rs 45,16,884 on Dr Anita Rao, Adviser, Education, HP Government, from January 4, 2008, to January 31, 2012. However, the Education Department had failed to reply as to how much advice she had given to the state government for the improvement of the educational system in the state during this period.

Sharma said on January 31 this year, he sought information under the RTI from the Secretary, Education, regarding the expenditure on the Adviser Education , how much advice she had given to the government during January 4, 2008, to January 31, 2012, and how much of her advice was implemented by the government.

He said instead of replying to the RTI query, the Secretary, Education, forwarded his letter to the Director, Higher Education, on February 13, 2012. He alleged that the Director, Higher Education, supplied incomplete and partial information on March 1, 2012, only on the expenditure.

In this reply, the Director mentioned that Rs 45,16,884 was spent on the salary and other expenditures like newspapers, telephone bills and expenditure on motor vehicles of the Adviser. He said Rs. 6,39,119 was spent on her clerk and Rs 4,53,603 on her peon.

Sharma moved the Appellate Authority-cum-Additional Director of Higher Education (College) on March 14, 2012, regarding incomplete information supplied. Sharma said he was called by the Appellate Authority to appear in his chamber ironically without mentioning the date and the time of hearing.

He said the Appellate Authority disposed of the application without seeking his views on April 25, 2012, and said that information of any advice given by the Adviser to the state government and how much was implemented was to be supplied by the Special Secretary, Education.

The RTI activist said if the Special Secretary had to supply the information, then why did he forward his RTI application to the Director, Higher Education, on February 13, 2012, when it did not fall within the purview of the Director.

Sharma said five months had passed with no information on the advice given by the Adviser. There was no clear indication that the department was allegedly suppressing the information about the advice given by the Adviser and implemented by the government.

He said it seemed that no advice was given during the four-year period, whereas the state government spent Rs 56,09,606 on the office of the Adviser without any benefit to the department.

Cong, BJP score ‘zero’ in ecology maintenance
Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribals in Lahaul-Spiti protesting against HPCL's Jispa power project.

Mandi, November 6
After the poll fever is over, people are now questioning the BJP and the Congress as both successive governments have failed to rehabilitate hydel project oustees and to manage the degraded environment. They rate performance of successive governments on this front as a “big zero”.

The NGOs and activists term government’s “carbon credits plan” a big fraud on people as their TD rights, land rights, tribal rights as ensured in the Forest Dwellers Rights Act have been abused by the companies and the Act not implemented. There has been no proper rehabilitation of Pong dam and Bhakhra dam oustees, no environment audit, no proper use of CAT and CAMPA funds, though the first BBMB’s 990 MW project was commissioned in 1970s.

From tribals of Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur to locals in Manali, Chamba and Renuka in Sirmaur, protests against power projects abound. People fear the power projects will change the ecology forever, ruining their drinking water and irrigation sources, and flora and fauna, which their ancestors have nurtured like green islands to sustain their harsh life in cold desert and highland villages in the Himalayas.

The Satluj, Beas, Ravi and Yamuna basins and their tributaries have become hotspots of environmental degradation and climate change as most projects are located on these rivers. Over 188 micro projects located on smaller streams will deplete local drinking waters sources downstream forever, fear locals.

The state Forest Department and the Environment And Pollution Control Board are fence sitters. The silt menace at Pandoh, Bhakhra and Pong dam has triggered a rise in temperature in Mandi, Bilaspur and nearby villagers near Pong Dam. No doubt Pong and Bhakhra have given fish business to locals and irrigation downstream.

The mahseer fish in the Beas and bathing ghats in Mandi has vanished. “There is so much of silt deposition at Pandoh that it has ruined crops in the fertile Balh valley. Compensation is peanuts amd we had to seek the High Court’s intervention,” says PC Bisht, former president of citizens’ council, Mandi.

“From Karcham-Wangto in Kinnaur to Bilaspur, the entire Satluj river has been diverted underground and an environmental disaster stares us in the face”, says Ranjit Negi, Himlok Jagriti Manch, Kinnaur.

A view of the environmental degradation caused by the Karcham-Wangtu project.

Chango-Yangthan, Smuke Kotang, Kedong, Kashang projects in Hangrang valley will alter tribal life. “The JP company has not paid damages to villagers in 14 panchayats even after the commissioning of the project,” Negi says. The recommendations of the Shukla Committee report on study environment impact and riparian distance has been dumped, he adds.

The JP company has plundered Karcham, the confluence of Satluj and Baspa rivers, which looks like concrete jungle now. “The dust, aerosols and river system change has mad life hell for people here and has hit apple crops in nearby villages and its long term effect will be disaster in Kinnaur”, he says.

The government’s efforts can be counted on finger tips. The residents of Vashishat panchayat in Manali protested against the Jogni Fall project, a religious and natural attraction for tourists, and forced the government to scrap it. The government banned projects in 2005-06 in the trout-rich Tirthan river, a Beas tributary, to protect fish life.

Unutilised funds

Worse, the funds worth Rs 816 crore for afforestation deposited by power companies have been lying unutilised for the past 15 years. The state government has deposited about Rs 896 crore with the newly-formed Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA). “It is meant for raising forests on degraded project sites, but there is almost zero performance so far on this front”, resent Guman Singh, Himalayan Niti Abhiyan, an NGO.

Pulling up both the state Forest Department and MoEF, the green Bench of the HP High Court observed, “It is a sorry state of affairs as far as afforestaion is concerned”. The Bench was hearing a petition filed by Narinder Sharma, a Kullu resident, stating that serious environmental degradation had taken place in the Parbati valley at the NHPC 1320 mw Parbati project.

NJPC has not done afforestation along its dam at Jhakhri, soil erosion is changing the shoreline cutting deeply into its banks, changing the riparian zone and Satluj disappears in lean months, resent locals.

Oustees still refugees

The dam oustess- Bhakhra Dam’s 11,770 families and Pong Dam’s 18,000 families- are still living life like refugees. They are yet to be rehabilitated properly,” say Guman and Kulbhushan Upmanyu of the Himalayan Niti Abhiyan. “We have moved the High Court to get some part of 7.19 per cent share to the Bhakhra oustees”, they say.

Himachal diary
Sutlej jal nigam holds training programmes for youth

Apart from providing various benefits under the resettlement and rehabilitation plan, public sector Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) has been organising training programmes for enhancing the skills of youth from project- affected areas to improve their employability.

One such programme commenced early this week as part of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) in which 40 youth from Himachal and Uttarakhand were imparted training (see photo). Besides, meritorious candidates on successful completion of training were awarded (see photo). The programme being conducted by the Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC) in the NCR will continue for three months.

Director (Electrical) RK Bansal, SJVN, while inaugurating the programme emphasised the importance of skill development and raising awareness to help the youth to get jobs and good remuneration. He said if the programme turned out to be successful, the SJVN would organise more such programmes.

The Director-General, CIDC, Dr PR Swarup, urged the candidates to acquire basic skills and knowledge and to give less importance to placement in the native region and remuneration as up-gradation of skill and experience would automatically open wider avenues and ensure higher remuneration in future.

Director (Personnel), SJVN and Chairman of the SJVN Foundation, a trust looking after the CSR initiatives of the SJVN, Nand Lal Sharma, said that during the current year, the SJVN was spending around Rs 16 crore on such activities. The major areas of thrust were education, health and skill development of youth of project-affected areas so that they could be gainfully employed in various infrastructure projects besides starting their own enterprises.

The SJVN was spending approximately Rs 18.6 lakh for this particular programme which also included a stipend of Rs 1,500 per month to each candidate. It intends to conduct similar programmes in other trades in its endeavour to enhance technical education in society and support the national campaign for skill up-gradation during the 12th Five Year Plan.

Children in anganwaris

The state has an enviable record in enrolment of children in the age group of six to 14 years in schools. The level of enrolment has reached almost cent per cent and only a few hundred children of nomadic communities like Gaddis and Gujjars, who are constantly on the move, have been left out.

The latest report of the “Pratham” has revealed that the parents are keen to send their children to Anganwaris. The children are not only provided nutritious meals but also pre-school education. At present as many as 92.20 per cent children aged below four years were going to Anganwaris and in case of Shimla district, it is as high as 97.9 per cent. The general impression among the parents is that pre-schooling helps.

Kinnaur tribal festival

The annual Kinnaur tribal festival, which precedes the famous “Lavi” of Kinnaur, was lost in the din of high-pitched electioneering for the Assembly elections. The festival was held from October 28 to 31 when the election campaign was in the final phase.

However, with the polling over, the Lavi, which has been bestowed the status of an international fair, will be held with the usual gaiety, though the code of conduct will continue till December 24 after the election process is over. As a result politicians will have to stay away from the festival.

The main fair is held from November 11 o 14 but the cattle fair and some other events take place in the first phase from November 4 itself. This year, too, the main attraction of the cattle fair was the world famous “Chamurthi” horses which are known for their sure-footedness in the treacherous mountainous terrain. The average quality horse is sold for Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000, whereas the top quality fetches over Rs 50,000. A horse race is also held during the fair.

(Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi)

Rail, air link to Chamba demanded
Balkrishan Prashar

Chamba, November 6
For the past over two decades, the people of Chamba region have been demanding the construction of a railway line from Pathankot to Chamba, alongside the river Ravi, an airport and taking over of the Pathankot-Chamba-Killar-Leh highway as a national highway.

The highway also connects the Dalhousie-Chamba tourist circuit in Chamba district, besides medical and engineering institutions.

The issue of the absence of a national highway, railway and air link to the district, from the outer world since Independence, may matter in the next Lok Sabha elections slated for 2014.

Chamba is contributing Rs 2,000 crore to the exchequer annually by commissioning four prestigious hydropower projects 540 MW Chamera-I, 300 MW Chamera-II, 231 MW Chamera-III and 198 MW Baira Siul and is producing 1,269 MW power, which no other district contributes.

But in lieu of this, Chamba is getting little and the genuine share of this benefit is not being given to the district, the people feel.

Besides the highway, the people have also been demanding a railway line from Pathankot, the nearest railhead to Chamba, linking Dalhousie hill station too. The air link is also required to boost tourism in the exquisite green hills of this mountainous region.

The proposal to construct an airport at Banikhet, near Dalhousie, was drawn way back in 1994 and the government was ready to undertake the construction work on the proposal. But the union government did not accord clearance to the proposal due to some ‘environment reasons’ and so the scheme did not succeed.

The Chamba Welfare Association, a registered non-governmental organisation (NGO), has already put forth a proposal to link Dalhousie and Chamba hill resorts with a railway line, from Pathankot, from the tourism point of view, to the Union Government some time ago.

Kangra administration’s apathy towards old couple
Ashok Raina

Kangra, November 6
An old-aged couple in their late eighties living in the Vivekananda Vihar locality on the outskirts of this town has been moving from pillar to post for the past six months to seek a solution for their problem created due to the official apathy but an allegedly callous administration has yet to hear them out.

A senior citizen, PR Agnihotri, 87, who retired as an Executive Engineer from the State PWD Department was living with his 85-year-old wife in a double storied building at Vivekananda Vihar in Birta Panchayat with all his four sons living out of the state.

It was in May this year that he found that a big mango tree on the PWD road, popularly known as Bhata Road, was tilting towards their house and he approached the Range Officer of the Forest Department at Kangra to cut the tree so that their lives were not endangered, but the Range officer told them to approach the PWD Department.

Agnihotri said that he met the Executive Engineer, PWD, Kangra, followed by his meeting with the Divisional Forest Officer, Dharamsala, but to no avail. One officer had been sending him to another and this continued from May to July 2012 with no relief to him. He said it was on July 7, 2012, at 3.15 am, that the tree was uprooted and before falling on their house, it fell on the live power transmission wires and ultimately fell in his courtyard, damaging the boundary wall and a part of the house.

He alleged that callousness in the administration had reached its peak. It has no fear of the government, the public and God. They were not even loyal to their profession.

He said after the mango tree fell down, a new process for him started. He requested the authorities to pick the tree up from the spot as it was government property. Nearly three and a half months had passed but there was no response from the government.

Agnihotri said he again visited the Forest Ranger at Kangra, Executive Engineer, PWD, Kangra and the DFO at Dharamsala several times, but no one was moved to remove the uprooted tree from the spot.

Cannabis cultivation impairs development of Malana
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Malana (Kullu), November 6
Malana’s age-old “queer” customs and its dependence on contraband hashish remain unchanged even after 65 years of independence.

Even after commissioning the Malana project, the company handling the project and the PWD have not made a link road to the village. Even the Jairi-Malana project road is full of potholes, craters and boulders, residents of Malana rue. Malana has more than 800 voters.

Various NGOs have been talking about promoting alternative crops to cannabis as well as art and crafts here, but they have been away from the area for the past few months,” villagers complain.

Though the government upgraded Malana School to a high school three years ago, its building has not been completed so far, they add.

“There are no medicines in the dispensary run by the company, which has almost completed the project,” they say.

Only two candidates have come for votes in Malana. “Maheshwar Singh’s son and Prem Lata Thakur, wife of Satya Parkash, came here and asked for our votes,” the villagers said.

The infamous Malana crème still remains a main attraction for back packers and smugglers. The police continues to launch anti-cannabis drives in the valley, but its cultivation continues in the remote pockets.

The residents of Malana though wear shabby-patchy clothes but to see them carry hi-tech smart phones is not a rare sight in the village. The tin-roofed big houses, guest houses for foreigners speak volumes about how the contraband has brought easy money to the village.

The villagers claim they cannot give up the cultivation of cannabis in remote areas as it is needed to make an offering while praying before the lord of the land Jamlu Devta.

The cultivation of cannabis has had an adverse effect on the socio-economic as well as cultural dynamics of the area. The worst sufferers are women who toil in the field while the men folk do not work and gamble at village pools and the elderly sit and sleep.

Dilaram, former pradhan, Malana, said they will cast their votes but local issues like economic alternative, ropeway and roads remain unfulfilled.

Baddi varsity holds contests for schoolchildren
Ambika Sharma

Baddi, November 6
Megha Jain of Government Senior Secondary School, Nalagarh, and Siddharth Bhatia of Dayanand Public School, Shimla, bagged the first prize in the ‘hypertext story board competition’ and ‘my idea, my world’ respectively organised by the Baddi University of Emerging Science and Technology at the regional-level, for schoolchildren. The events were organised as a part of their ongoing ‘what can I give mission’, a movement designed on the vision of former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, for his Youth Brigade.

A jury comprising intellectuals, academicians, doctors, law professionals and journalists judged the competition.

Giving details, Prof Lovi Raj Gupta, Vice-Chancellor, Baddi University, said the initiative would help inculcate a spirit of analytical thinking and scientific temperament among students. Under this initiative, hypertext storyboard competition was organised for the students of the state, Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali and Jammu and Kashmir, wherein more than 1,000 students competed under various categories.

Further informing about the competition, Gupta stated that ‘Bioscope 2012’ was a contest for classes VII to IX wherein the students were given various topics related to science, arts and general knowledge, on which they had to develop a story along with the images available for that specific topic. The idea was to trace the evolution of a specific product. ‘My idea, my world 2050’ was for students of X-XII in which the students were given themes on which they had to present their creativity, to put down their views about the present and the future, he added.

These competitions not only pose a stimulating challenge to the students, but also satiate their tech-vision savvy hunger, which is the need of the hour, said Gupta.

The jury assessed the storyboard on the basis of its concept, originality of text, continuum of the stages of development and image text correlation, he informed.

Palampur awaits parking sites
Our Correspondent

Palampur, November 6
The administration authorities have ‘failed’ to initiate appropriate steps to regulate the increasing traffic of the town. In the absence of proper parking, the situation has gone from bad to worse. Despite the fact that the state government had sanctioned funds for three parking sites in the town, the construction is yet to be undertaken. Foundation stones for these parking were laid a year ago.

There has been a manifold increase in the number of heavy and light vehicles in the town as 500 heavy and light vehicles are added to the town every month, but the width of most of roads are the same as it was 25 years ago. Traffic jams in the town has become a regular feature. Increasing ‘political interference’ in the functioning of the police has made the matter worse. The population of the town has increased from 5,000 to 45,000 in the past 10 years. Though a number of housing colonies have come up in and outside the town, no new roads or bypass have been added to the town. The proposal for widening of roads were made many times, but it remained confined to official files only.

Though the Holta bypass has become fully operational, the administration has allowed the inflow of heavy vehicles via Palampur town resulting in frequent traffic jams in the town, where the narrow Pathankot-Mandi National Highway is a major traffic hazard.

Earlier, the administration had diverted all heavy vehicles via Holta bypass, but again all heavy vehicles were allowed to enter the town, causing inconvenience to the residents.

The decision of the municipal council to grant permission to vendors and fruit sellers to sit on the National Highway on the Cinema and Gurdwara roads have further aggravated the traffic situation, where daily accidents are taking place and pedestrians are the victims. Likewise, encroachments are increasing day by day at the Ram Chowk area and the Palampur Dharmsala Highway.

The Public Works Department has become a ‘mute spectator’ and has ‘allowed’ private parties to use the highway for parking.

Sainik School celebrates 35th Raising Day
Tribune News Service

Hamirpur, November 6
The students and staff of Sainik School, Sujanpur Tihra, organised several programmes to celebrate its 35th Raising Day and Annual Day, recently. It was on this day in 1978 that the then President of India, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, had dedicated the school to the state.

To mark the occasion, the school students organised a display of NCC activities, athletic competitions, mass PT drill, high horse, display of band and folk dances.

Brig Yogendra Dimri, Off COS and Chairman, LBA, HQ 9 Corps, Yol Cantt, was the chief guest of the function. He reviewed the guard of honour and paid homage to war heroes by laying a wreath at Veer Samarak. He also gave away the prizes and trophies to the winners of various activities.

Yamuna House lifted the most coveted ‘Major Sudhir Walia Cock House Trophy’ for its excellent performance in academics, sports and tertiary activities for the session 2012.

Cadet Vipul Chander Memorial Trophy was awarded to the best cadet Ram Kumar Sudhakar. Cadet Aman Negi, Cadet Ashish Badhan and Cadet Rajat Thakur were awarded the Rolling Trophies for being adjudged the ‘Best Cadets’ in the Army, the Navy and the Air Force Wing, respectively.

In his address, Brig Dimri congratulated the staff and cadets for their achievements and the excellent show put on by them.

Earlier, Wg Cdr CPK Kennedy, Officiating Principal, presented the annual report of the school.

NCC adventure expedition concludes
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, November 6
Cadets and students should be particular in ensuring that they take their trainings seriously and try to learn as much as possible as such trainings are always of great help in life.

This was stated by SP Santosh Patial at a two-week Gobind Sagar Water Adventure Expedition of the HP Naval NCC Unit at Luhnu Ghat, which concluded here recently.

Patial said discipline, cooperation, hard work and persistence in achieving goals were essential values in life.

Commander RS Varma, Commanding Officer, said 40 senior cadets from Government College, Sarkaghat, Mandi; NIT, Hamirpur, and Government Postgraduate College, Bilaspur, participated in this expedition, which took them through a distance of 440 km through Gobind Sagar en route Jeori Pattan , Nakrana, Kanfara, Bhakra Dam , Lathiyani and Bangana and back again to Bilaspur town.

He said cadets were told about sea life and its ordeals, hardships, joys and pleasures apart from giving them training in routine naval chores like boat handling, sailing, swimming, security and safety, semaphore and navigation.

Villagers live in fear of leopard attacks

Bilaspur, November 6
Residents of villages under Lehadi Sarel gram panchayat live under the constant fear of attacks by leopards. Villagers confine themselves to their homes to protect themselves from wild beasts.

The worst-affected villages are Lehdai, Damehar, Gugal, Lohat, Behada and Damehada etc near Ghumarwin.

The villagers find it difficult to venture out even to send their children to school or women to fields to cut grass.

Vice-president of the gram panchayat Shyam Kumar Sharma says leopards have eaten a number of cattle till now. They say leopards have started attacking humans even during the day. It is not uncommon to see leopards roaming near the fields or houses. Villagers create a lot of noise to scare the animals away. Villager Vasu Dev hid in a house screaming for help after a leopard attacked him recently. The family of Ajay Kumar of Lehadi village saw a pair of leopards sitting on the roof of their house recently. Hearing their growls, they called out to their neighbours for help. The villagers chased them away. Anshul of Badon village was injured seriously in an attack by a leopard. The villagers raised noise to save the boy. They urged Forest officers to trap and shift leopards from the area. — OC

ITI trainers’ seminar concludes
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, November 6
The world is fast changing and ITI trainees need to be ready to face the challenges of a global village in the future. This was stated by Vivek Raheja, CEO of a Chandigarh-based social enterprise working for the cause of nation building, at a three-day seminar here recently. It was organised in collaboration with Government Industrial Training Institute for trainers of three ITIs of Bilaspur, including Ghumarwin and Barthin.

Vijay Chandan, director, HP State Technical Education, Sunder Nagar, said such seminars had become a necessity so that technical teachers should keep themselves updated with the latest methods and modern techniques of the industry.