Shimla, March 26
A steep hike in the rates of diesel for bulk supply has forced the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) to purchase fuel in retail to curtail its increasing cost of operations.

After the latest increase in the rates, the difference in the prices of bulk and retail supply of diesel has increased to Rs 12.71 per litre. Further, retailers were on an average supplying diesel to the corporation at 40-50 paise per litre less than the market rates. Thus, purchasing fuel through retail outlets across the state and even outside instead of bulk procurement was costing about Rs 13 per litre less. With an average daily consumption of 1.65 lakh litre, the corporation was saving about Rs 21 lakh daily on this account. Diesel is now being purchased at the depot level and the units located in the border areas or outside the state are procuring their requirement from states where it is the cheapest due to low taxes.

It is a huge amount for the corporation, which has accumulated losses to the tune of Rs 653 crore, including Rs 80 crore in the last fiscal, and facing problems in paying salaries of the employees. Further, the corporation had to pay in advance for the procurement of fuel from the Indian Oil Corporation.

Sources said an amount of Rs 60 lakh paid by it to the central public undertaking was yet to be adjusted.

With bus fare for the hill areas already the highest in the country at Rs 1.11 per km, there is no further scope for an immediate revision to offset the additional burden on account of increasing fuel prices. The corporation is trying to cut down the expenditure to bring down the loss.

Managing Director of the corporation Onkar Sharma said the stress was on improving fuel efficiency and checking pilferage of revenue for which he had evolved a system for monitoring the performance of drivers and conductors.

The fuel average and revenue per km of buses plying on similar routes were being compared and discussed during meetings for monitoring the performance, he added.

He said he was chairing the monthly meetings, while the divisional mangers were carrying out the exercise fortnightly and regional managers every week. The results had been encouraging and there is already some increase in mileage. The average revenue per km per bus had also gone up from Rs 24 to Rs 25.50, which is an encouraging sign.

However, a major turnaround would be possible only after the implementation of the wet lease scheme for outsourcing operations for which the tendering process was under way. 

shifting gear After the latest increase, the difference in the prices of bulk and retail supply of diesel has become Rs 12.71 per litre Purchasing fuel through retail outlets across the state and even outside instead of bulk procurement is costing about Rs 13 per litre less With an average daily consumption of 1.65 lakh litre, the corporation is saving Rs 21 lakh daily on this account

Shimla, March 26
The Army conducted a two-day major disaster management exercise, “Mountain Rescue”, to assist the civil authorities at the Annandale ground here today.

The aim of the exercise was to ensure the smooth evacuation of civilian population from disaster-affected areas in the mountains of the state.

The Army Aviation Corps and Air Force helicopters practised casualty evacuation drills in conjunction with the Army Special Forces and regular troops of the Jutogh Battalion. The exercise was conducted in conjunction with the civil administration and the Fire Services Department.

The organisational strength of the Army formation and units was in full display during the exercise.

A spokesperson of the Army said major calamities that struck the Indian subcontinent during the last decade had underscored the need to adopt a multi-dimensional, multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral approach to disaster management. Within the ambit of this approach, the armed forces constituted a significant and potent entity available within the Central and state governments for disaster response and relief.

Shimla, March 26
The Himachal Pradesh Agriculture Marketing Board will set up a full-fledged apple market at Parwanoo to save growers from exploitation at the hands of arthiyas, who make extra charges in the name of commission.

The e-tendering for the Rs 5.50-crore project will be done this week itself so that work can be started at the earliest. The infrastructure, which will facilitate the sale of apple crop, will come up on the 92 bighas land owned by the marketing board on the Parwanoo bypass. The market will have an auction yard, parking facility for almost 300 trucks, offices and all other facilities that are required to run a full-fledged market like the one at Azadpur 
in Delhi.

“It was on the request of about 40 apple growers to set up an apple market at Parwanoo that we initiated the process for which the process of e-tendering will be done within a day or two,” said Subhash Manglet, chairman of the board.

He said the market was being developed to facilitate the sale of apple at a proper market within the state so that there were no undue charges by the arthiyas.

Manglet said commission agents in Chandigarh market charged at least two per cent commission and invariably this, too, was on the higher side. “If we have our own market at Parwanoo, we can keep a check on undue and illegitimate charges that the growers have to shell out per force,” he said. He said though the 92-bighas land at Parwanoo had virtually been bisected by the construction of the road, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) had agreed to provide access and the construction of a bailey bridge would provide proper connectivity.

With apple growers having to pay eight per cent commission in the Azadpur Mandi, the government is keen that better markets are developed inside the state or in the border areas. Though the Himachal government had got relief from court with regard to this commission, the Delhi government had made amendments in its Acts to make the commission legitimate. 

Sujanpur (Hamirpur), March 26
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has announced that a mini-secretariat would be constructed soon at Sujanpur to provide facilities to the people of the area and for speedy disposal of work under one roof.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the first cultural evening of Holi festival at Chowgan here yesterday, he announced to start primary health centres at Utpur and Chowri.

He said a police post would also be set up at Tauni Devi after exploring its feasibility and a sub-divisional office would also be opened at Sujanpur after seeking report from the district administration.

The Chief Minister said Sujanpur Holi festival was not only famous in the state but also in the entire north India and it was a matter of pride for every one that its rich traditions were still being followed.

He said the festival was being organised since the time of Maharaja Sansar Chand, who used to participate in the procession along with the commoners.

Virbhadra said the credit goes to Maharaja Sansar Chand, who used to celebrate the festival in a grand way and later it took the shape of a folk festival on the pattern of the Holi of Brij.

The Chief Minister also released a souvenir on the occasion.

Earlier, local MLA Rajender Rana welcomed the Chief Minister and expressed gratitude for giving nagar parishad status to Sujanpur.

Deputy Commissioner Ashish Singhmar also addressed the gathering.

HPCC president Sukhvinder Singh, MLAs Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Sanjay Rattan and Yadvinder Goma were also present on the occasion.

Punjabi folk singer Miss Pooja was the star attraction of the first cultural evening and regaled the audience with her popular Punjabi numbers. 

Kangra, March 26
Members of the Jain community celebrated Holi during a three-day Holi festival which started here yesterday in the famous September Jain Mandir at old Kangra. Acharya Shrimad Vijay Jainanand Sureshwar declared the festival open last evening.

Mohan Lal Jain, president of the community, said more than 1,100 members of the community arrived here since yesterday from the entire north India in connection with the three-day festival.

The festival started yesterday with ‘bhajan’ and ‘kirtan’ and Holi was celebrated today without colours.

The tradition of giving a bid for hoisting flag at the Bagwan Adinath temple and to carry golden ornaments to the temple to decorate the idol of Bagwan Adinath was performed in the morning and the family of the highest bidder was blessed with hoisting the flag and decorating the idol.

A procession of the Jain community was flagged off by Kangra SDM Ajit Bhardwaj today from the Jain temple.

The procession raising slogans moved towards the historical Old Kangra Fort and the flag was hoisted at the Bagwan Adinath temple amid vedic recitation.

The members of the Jain community celebrate Holi in this Jain temple here every year but without colours.

The temple was humming with activities following the arrival of a large number of devotees of Bagwan Adinath today.

Shimla, March 26
Governor Urmila Singh and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh have greeted people on occasion of Holi.

Urmila Singh said the festival of colours not only brought happiness in the lives of people, but also gave a message of universal brotherhood. She said this festival went a long way in promoting unity amongst people, irrespective of caste, creed or religion.

Virbhadra in his felicitation message said Holi was celebrated by people of all faiths and religions and thus helped in strengthening the social fabric. — TNS

Mandi, March 26
Residents of remote regions, mainly in the tribal belt of the state, continued to be in dark ages as the Direct-to-Home (DTH) uplink has no connection with Doordarshan (DD) Shimla channel.

DD Shimla is the only source of news during the six-winter months when snow cuts off these areas from the rest of the world.

Residents said it was easier to know about news and happenings of the world on the idiot box, but it was impossible to know what was happening in their own state.

“From DD Orriya to DD national, we have all DD regional, national and other news channels, but DD Shimla channel remains elusive,” rued Prem Lal and Himal Thakur from the Chandra valley in Lahaul. “We have access to news in and around the country, but no access to news from Himachal,” they added.

The story is no different in non-tribal remote areas and other tribal areas like Pangi in Chamba and many parts of Kinnaur. Villagers are deprived of DD Shimla news from 4 pm to 8 pm on various government schemes, talks on agriculture and other awareness drives launched by the government from time to time.

“We use the Tata Sky and have all channels except DD Shimla,” said Deepak Kumar from Chaupal in Shimla district. “DD Shimla is telecasted on cable only. Most of the remote areas have no cable uplink,” added Rajiv and Rajpal from Rohru.

Sources said DD Shimla was not directly linked to the satellite. In Lahaul, the cable facility was available only in Keylong. People had set up the DTH uplink, but it had no connection with DD Shimla, they lamented.

Nurpur, March 26
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s supporters stayed away from a one-day official visit of Health and Revenue Minister Kaul Singh Thakur yesterday in the Nurpur and Indora Assembly constituencies. Kaul Singh was here to inaugurate a week-long multi-speciality surgical camp at the Community Health Centre (CHC), Gangath, and inspect the CHC, Indora, and the Civil Hospital, Nurpur.

However, none of the Congress leaders from both the Assembly segments having allegiance with the Virbhadra faction turned up at his official programmes.

Manohar Dhiman, associate Congress MLA from Indora, said he was not taken into confidence regarding the visit of the minister.

Similarly, Manmohan Katoch, a prominent supporter of the CM, said, “I have been working for the Congress for the last 17 years and now the Virbhadra government has appointed me as a member secretary of the HP Khadi Board. However, the organisers didn’t even bother to invite or take me into confidence regarding the official visit of the Health Minister”. 

Solan, March 26
In a bid to cut down delays in seeking various approvals for setting up new industries, the Department of Industries will soon introduce common application forms apart from ensuring grant of permission under Section 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act to outsiders as an inbuilt procedure of the project approval.

A marathon discussion was held today at Baddi with various industry associations, including the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Industries Association (BBNIA), Himachal Drug Manufacturers Association (HDMA) and Laghu Udyog Bharti, where officials of the Department of Industries, including adviser, Industries, Dr Rajender Chauhan, and deputy director Tilak Raj Sharma, threw light on various new initiatives, which were under way to improve efficiency and ensure time-bound clearances.

With focus on minimising delays and ensuing speedy clearances from various departments, the officials said they would soon evolve a system whereby an investor would be given a time-bound clearance after filing a common application form.

The move follows the initiative of the state government on industry through invitation where the focus has shifted to facilitate an investor by providing him permissions within a time-bound manner. Industry Ministry Mukesh Agnihotri had directed the officials to work out a strategy to rejuvenate industrialisation in the state and this was a step in this direction.

While the investors wanted government intervention to solve problems like exorbitant freight charges imposed arbitrarily by local transporters, officials have directed them to enhance employment availability to the youth in the industries. Investors have also been told to give suggestions for increasing employment and constrains in doing so.

Solan, March 26
The State Pollution Control Board has been trying to underplay the issue of hazardous waste (HW) produced by various industrial units by furnishing figures which do not match those of the plant treating the waste.

This information was revealed in an RTI reply procured by Himparivesh, an environmental NGO.

According to the information provided by the board under the RTI Act, there are 17 textile, 518 pharmaceutical and 66 cosmetics and detergent manufacturing units, which produce 7,616.62 MT, 15,889.25 MT and 1,942.156 MT of hazardous waste, respectively. The total waste generated in 2010-11 was 25,448.025 MT. This waste was collected through Shiwalik Solid Waste Management Limited (SSWML) which has been authorised by the board.

The information furnished under the RTI Act to the NGO is not only different from the one furnished by the board but also reveals that less than 50 per cent of the waste is being treated as only a few units avail this facility.

The SSWML said there were 17 textile, 404 pharmaceutical and 32 cosmetic and detergent manufacturing units which produced 4,914.3 MT, 1,896.5 MT and 904.21 MT solid hazardous waste, respectively, in 2010-11.

The SSWML handled only 11,354 MT waste, while 14,093.316 MT never reached the only solid hazardous waste treatment plant in the area. This also revealed that more than 50 per cent of this waste was left untreated.

Member secretary of the board Sanjay Sood said the figures of hazardous waste were available on the website of the board, according to which 36,510 MT hazardous waste was emitted annually by various industries, which included 9,574 MT waste being sent to the SSWML and 6,333 MT of slag disposed in low lying areas, brick kilns and partly used in the construction of roads.

The website, however, does not have an updated figures of HW and it was last updated on March 31, 2012.

Balkrishen Sharma, general secretary of the NGO, said he had written a letter to the board asking how the remaining 14,093.316 MT solid hazardous waste was treated if it was not received by the plant.

He said the discrepancy in the number of pharmaceutical, cosmetics and detergent manufacturing units, as furnished by the board and the SSWML, was an issue of concern.

Since HW cannot be stored for more than three months, all the units are supposed to ensure its safe disposal as per the Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989, as this waste is highly toxic in nature and requires scientific handling. The issue, therefore, assumes significance as any laxity in its proper disposal can cause environmental hazard. 

Kangra, March 26
Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur today expressed hope that the long-pending demand of the people of the area to post women doctors in the health centres of rural areas would be fulfilled soon as now there were girl students outnumbering boys in medical colleges.

He was addressing students and faculty of the DRPGMC, Tanda, on the occasion of Connexus 2013, a three-day inter-college cultural and sports function of the college, which concluded here last night.

He expressed happiness about the fact that the number of girls in the medical college was higher than that of the boys and in future the demand of the rural people to post women doctors in hospitals would be fulfilled.

Kaul Singh appreciated the fact that in addition to their hectic studies, the students were taking part in sports and cultural activities too.

He said the pay of doctors being appointed on contract or RKS would be increased from Rs 26,000 to Rs 40,000 and that of specialist doctors would be increased to Rs 50,000 per month.

Principal of the college Anil Chauhan presented the annual report of the college. The Health Minister gave away prizes to the winners of various events. The function concluded with the vote of thanks by the president, SCA, Akshay Kumar Sharma. 

Hamirpur, March 26
Congress spokesman from the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency Prem Kaushal has urged the state government to designate the posts of medical specialist in zonal and district hospitals and not to appoint them in lower-level hospitals where their expertise could not be utilised.

In a press statement, he said many zonal and district hospitals were having only a few specialists, while many specialists were working in lower-level hospitals without much work there due to lack of equipment and other facilities.

Kaushal said the Health Department should make optimum use of medical specialists by appointing them in zonal and district hospitals.

Mandi, March 26
Health and Revenue Minister Kaul Singh Thakur on Saturday said private schools in the state would not be “allowed to exploit teachers”.

Addressing a gathering during a function at a private school in Drang, he said the government would try to give a clean and prompt administration.

Besides, the Revenue Department would be filling over 400 posts of patwari to deliver better facilities to people in the state, he added.

The minister said private and public schools were doing a good work, but they would not be allowed to exploit teachers.

He said all villages which did not have roads would get roads on a priority basis. The government was also trying to fill vacant posts of doctor to provide the best health facilities to patients in the state. But the minister remained non-committal on the exact date for the filling of the vacant posts of patwari and doctor.

Dharamsala, March 26
The Congress moved a step closer towards appointing its own chairperson in the Kangra Central Cooperative Bank (KCC) after two failed attempts.

Owing to efforts of ministers, led by Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Transport and Technical Education, GS Bali, the Congress mustered the necessary strength of 11 members in the 21-member board of the bank. The party managed to muster the number owing to defection by an elected BJP member, sources here said.

The 11 members of the KCC board, including the acting Managing Director of the bank, Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, C Paulrasu, and the registrar, cooperative societies, brought a no-confidence motion against sitting chairman of the board RS Mankotia. The no-confidence motion was accepted by the board in the absence of 10 elected members of the KCC board belonging to the BJP.

The Congress, however, stopped short of appointing its own chairperson due to a court order staying the elections.

Mankotia said since the matter was under the preview of the court, he would not like to comment on the matter. He, however, said most of the elected members of the KCC board were against the appointment of a nominated member as the chairperson of the bank.

In case the present government goes ahead with the appointment of the nominated member as chairperson of the bank, they would challenge the decision in the high court.

The Congress wants to appoint Jagdish Sapiya, a nominated member, as the chairperson of the KCC. However, most of the elected members of the bank are not in favour of appointing a nominated member as the bank chairperson. They have been maintaining that as per the Model Cooperative Act that has been adopted by the state, a nominated member cannot be appointed as the chairperson of a cooperative body.

However, the present Congress government brought an ordinance recently in which it has made a provision for appointing nominated members as chairpersons of cooperative bodies where government equity was more than Rs 51 lakh.

Earlier, two meetings of the KCC board were called for replacing the chairperson of the bank, Mankotia. In the last meeting of the bank, the BJP members brought an order from the Himachal High Court ordering stay on the election of the new chairperson of the bank.

Nurpur, March 26
Health and Family Welfare Minister Kaul Singh Thakur today said the Health Department was procuring 100 mini ambulances to provide free ambulance service to shift patients to referral health institutions like the Civil Hospitals and Community Health Centres (CHCs) in the state.

Talking to mediapersons after inspecting the CHC at Indora and Civil Hospital at Nurpur, he said the department was committed to provide better and quality health services and well conversant of the shortage of doctors and specialists in the state.

“The government will appoint new doctors and para-medical staff in a phased manner to cope with the shortage and provide special health services in the first referral units of the Health Department,” he informed.

The minister said the government had demanded sanctioning of six trauma centres in the state, and Nurpur, being on the national highway, would be one of the centres after getting the nod from the Government of India. He asserted that the department was contemplating to set up blood store centres in those hospitals where OPDs and indoor occupancy was immense.

During the inspection of the Civil Hospital, MLA Ajay Mahajan raised the demands and requirements of the hospital.

The minister assured the gathering to fill all the vacant posts in the hospital after getting the approval from the Cabinet. He announced Rs 15 lakh for the repair and maintenance of the hospital.

Earlier, the minister inaugurated the week-long multi-speciality surgical camp at the CHC, Gangath, being organised by the state Health Department under the NHRM programme in collaboration with a private hospital in Kangra.