Shimla, April 16
In an effort to widen its marketing network, the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) has taken an initiative to enter into MoUs with its counterpart in other states and reputed hotel chains in the country.

Subhasish Panda, Managing Director of the corporation, said here recently that the matter had been taken up with tourism corporations of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh for promoting tourism-related activities and marketing one another’s properties.

The corporation was also in touch with the Taj Group of Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, The Oberoi Group of Hotels and Resorts and ITC Limited (Maurya Sherton) Hotel Division to offer facilities of the HPTDC in the state for their clients of these hotels.

Panda said by having an MoU, marketing offices of the corporations of other states would be in a position to provide information, reserve accommodation and transport facilities of the HPTDC through the online booking system at their respective places on 15 per cent commission basis.

This arrangement would facilitate tourists who wished to stay in HPTDC hotels and avail its transport facilities. He said the MoUs had recently been signed with the tourism corporations of Delhi and Goa for booking of accommodation on reciprocal basis.

He said he had written letters to the managing directors of the aforesaid reputed hotel chains that they could enter into an MoU by having a mutually beneficial arrangement for the stay of their clients in selected properties. The corporations offered its reputed properties, including The Chail Palace, The Castle Naggar, Kullu (Heritage Properties), Hotel Holiday Home, Shimla, and The Peterhoff, Shimla (City Hotels), The Pinewood, Barog (High Way Hotel), The Log Huts and Orchard Huts at Manali (Luxury Cottages), The Dhauladhar and The Bhagsu, Dharamsala (City Hotels), The Chintpurni Heights (Temple City Hotel), The Manimahesh, Dalhousie, and The Iravati, Chamba, for the purpose.

Panda expressed hope that the effort would help increase the volume of business of the corporation as it was in a position to cater to the need of high-end tourists in some selective hotels across the state.

Nurpur, April 16
The state government has earmarked a budgetary provision to the tune of Rs 55 crore for the ambitious Rs 205-crore Phina Singh irrigation project for the current fiscal year.

This was stated by a first-time Congress MLA from the Nurpur Assembly constituency, Ajay Mahajan, while listing his 100 days’ achievements in a meet-the-press programme with the Nurpur Press Club yesterday.

He claimed that it was a dream project of his late father and former minister Sat Mahajan which was being fulfilled by the Virbhadra Singh government.

He said the government had sanctioned Rs 7 crore, more than double of the previous financial year, for the augmentation of irrigation and potable water schemes in his native Assembly segment.

He said he was committed to complete and throw open all those development projects which had been initiated during the previous Congress government’s tenure but stalled by the BJP government.

“The government has earmarked Rs 75 lakh and Rs 44 lakh respectively for a sewerage system and a mini-secretariat building at Nurpur. Their construction had slowed down during BJP regime. Besides, Rs 30 lakh were sanctioned for the construction of second phase of the ITI building and Rs 70 lakh for the additional building of a government girls senior secondary school at Nurpur,” he asserted.

He said the sanction of the proposed bus stand at Chogan (Nurpur) was in a final stage and it would be constructed on the old and dilapidated veterinary hospital premises. The hospital would be shifted at a suitable place in the town.

When asked about the proposed Brij Raj Stadium, whose construction had been hanging fire for a long time, he said the previous BJP government had leased its land to the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association and now the lease file-cum-MoU was under consideration of the state Law Department.

“I have urged the Chief Minister to annul this lease to pave the way of for the construction of the stadium by the state’s Sports and Youth Affairs Department,” he added.

He claimed that he had the blessings of the Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh, to carry out development in the area.

Chamba, April 16
The recent approval of the Himachal Pradesh Government to three hydroelectric projects on the tributaries of the Ravi in Chamba has brought cheers to the residents. The projects has been given to the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Ltd (HPSEBL).

The decision will also strengthen the civil wing of the HPSEBL, thereby paving the way for the restoration of its hydel investigation circle at the district headquarter Chamba, which was closed down by the previous BJP government last year. Conveying his gratitude to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Municipal Commissioner Neeraj Nayar said these hydel projects included 16.5 MW Sai Kothi, 16 MW Devi Kothi and 14 MW Hail projects. He added that the work on the 48 MW Surangani-Sundla hydroelectric project was already underway.

Nayar said that the allotment of these projects would generate more sources of earning and employment for the people of the area. “This decision will also fulfill the long-awaited demand of the Pangi tribal people for the proposed traffic tunnel beneath the Chenni Pass as the inlet portal of the tunnel is located close to the Hail hydropower project,” Nayar said.

Meanwhile, HPSEBL staff at Chamba has submitted a representation to the Chief Minster and former Cabinet Minister Harsh Mahajan to restore the offices of the hydel investigation circle at Chamba so that the work on these projects could be undertaken without any delay.

Kangra, April 16
It seems ironic that despite repeated complaints, the national highway authorities of Himachal Pradesh, for the past nearly five years, were not only ignoring the complaints of the people but were also not concerned with the inconvenience, the tourists and the pilgrims were facing due to official apathy and utter negligence.

A misleading signboard installed on the National Highway 88 connecting Dharamsala with Hoshiyarpur, near Kangra bus stand, by the national highway authorities was putting pilgrims and tourists to a lot of inconvenience. The signboard indicates a right turn for going to Una and Chintpurni and tells the drivers to go straight to Shimla, Nadun and Jawalamukhi.

These indications were suited to be put up at Ranital, 17 km from Kangra, to divert people to Una and Chintpurni on right side via Bankhandi and for Shimla Nadun and Jawalamukhi straight.

The signs on this signboard here should have been straight for all three destinations including Una and Chintpurni.

The pilgrims and tourists visiting the Kangra valley for the first time after coming across this sign board find the first right turn near Polytechnic College which leads them to Zamanabad and ultimately connects them to Pathankot Mandi national highway at Icchi and after completing a nearly 10 km turn, reach the same signboard again.

There was none to take notice of the wrong indications which make pilgrims and tourists suffer.

This issue on the complaints of tourists and pilgrims was raised by The Tribune in 2009 and last year, too, but the national highway authorities had no impact.

A senior official of the national highway authorities confessed that it was a wrong signboard but failed to make a correction even after five years.

During the current Navratra, thousands of pilgrims had to suffer because of official negligence with none to stand up and correct it. 

Hamirpur, April 16
Several events were organised at the 8th technical festival - NIMBUS-2013 - organised by students of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Hamirpur recently.

This fest was based on the theme ‘Synapse bridging the impulses’ with a message of unification of ideas of young engineers for a better future and bridging the gap of knowledge by sharing it.

It was inaugurated by Prof Sunil Pandey, Director, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology (SLIET), in the presence of Prof Rajnish Shrivastava, Director, NIT, and Dr AS Singha, registrar, and secretary of students’ organising committee of NIMBUS-2013, Ashutosh Kumar.

The opening ceremony was marked by an enigmatic view of hundreds of lanterns being set of by the team NIMBUS as an omen to the bright and successful operation of the festival in the coming days.

Prof Raman Parti, chairman, Organising Committee, NIMBUS 2013, and Dr Siddhartha, faculty coordinator (technical), coordinated the activities during the festival. Students of NIT, Hamirpur, organised science exhibitions and displayed their talent through projects and also organised various competitions to depict their knowledge.

Some of the competitions organised were aqua rush and monster spider by students of mechanical engineering department in which they prepared robots and circuits. Magnates competitions were also organised by electrical and communication engineering students. Students of the architecture department also presented a model of portable house based on the principle of portability. A cultural programme by the NIT students was also presented. Students from other colleges of the state also participated in this festival.

Kangra, April 16
A training workshop on Continuous and Comprehensive evaluation (CCE) programme for teachers was organised by the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) at GAV Public School here recently.

During the workshop, stress was laid on empowerment of teachers so that they help in shaping the future of children in right perspective based on social, spiritual and cultural values.

Deepa Dogra of KV Jalandhar and Rajeev Sharma of Spring D School, Amritsar, who were the two resource persons for the programme, said continuous and comprehensive evaluation was adopted in 2009 by the CBSE and this training programme was focussed at the implementation of CCE in right perspective.

They said the CCE was the outcome of the deficiencies found in the examination system.

Deepa Dogra said the training programme was aimed at imparting training to teachers so that they could infuse moral and cultural values, sense of service towards society and humanity as a whole, which was the need of the hour.

She said India was ranking at 120th place figuring second last in the global list in the reading and writing skills. She said that Kazakhstan figured at the last.

Sukhvinder Singh, Principal of GAV Public School, said 101 teachers from 36 schools of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh participated in the workshop organised by the Panchkula chapter of the CBSE.

Solan, April 16
With the Reserve Bank of India stressing the need to ease liquidity in the economy, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) feels the enhanced inflation and high international crude oil price coupled with low value of rupee are major issues of concern for the industry today.

As many as 62.2 per cent of the respondents, whom the CII questioned in its 82nd Business Outlook Survey, opined that at a time when reviving investment and economic growth has assumed critical importance, their investment is either expected to decline or remain constant during the fourth quarter of this fiscal.

Interestingly, majority of the respondents rated high level of corruption, persisting inflation, threat to continuation of the reform process, high interest rates and political uncertainty as major concerns.

The respondents did not perceive global economic or political uncertainty as a major worry at this moment.

Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, opined that the government should focus on introducing reforms to achieve growth estimates for the next fiscal.

On the fiscal consolidation, as many as 62.4 per cent of the respondents expect the fiscal deficit to exceed the budgeted estimate of 4.8 per cent during the next fiscal and on the issue of current account deficit, the survey does not paint a rosy picture with most of the respondents expecting it to remain in a range of 4 to 5 per cent of GDP.

The survey indicates that most of the respondents expect GDP growth to come in a range of 5.0-5.5 per cent for 2012-13 .

Mirroring the impact of the recent reforms initiated by the government to boost growth, CII Business Confidence Index, which had slipped below the psychological 50-level mark in the third-quarter of the current fiscal, rose to 51.3 in the final quarter.

Welcoming the development, Banerjee said though the index had strengthened in the final quarter of the current fiscal, it was too early to assume that the slowdown has bottomed out.

The 82nd Business Outlook Survey is based on the responses from 
175 members.

Majority of the respondents (53.0 per cent) belonged to large-scale firms, while 14.8 per cent were from medium-scale firms. 25.2 per cent of the respondents were from small scale firms.

As many as 7.0 per cent respondents were from micro firms.

Further, 67.2 per cent of the respondents were drawn from the manufacturing sector while 31.0 per cent and 1.7 per cent were from services and primary sectors respectively. 

Palampur, April 16
Over 35,000 residents of Palampur, living in adjoining 12 panchyats, have demanded sewerage facility. The residents appealed to local MLA Brij Behari Lal Butail, who is also the Speaker of state Assembly, to get the project cleared from the state government.

Sewage collects in the Bhiral khud at Palampur. The water of the khud is used for drinking in lower areas of Palampur. Photo by writer

The project is hanging fire for the past six years. At present, 90 per cent area of the town lacks the facility.

The proposal for the sewerage in the satellite areas of Palampur has been hanging fire for the past seven years. Necessary detailed project report (DPR) and other documents were sent to the state government for approval in 2006, but till now no funds have been sanctioned for the project.

Meanwhile, Brij Butail, Speaker of the HP Assembly, said in 2006 Chief Minister Virbhadhra Singh had agreed to extend the facility to all the areas in the town and a project worth over 9 crore was also prepared on the directions of Chief Minister.

“The project was approved by the state government in 2007. But, the BJP took over the reins of state. Thereafter, the local BJP MLA took no interest in the project. In the absence of political will, no headway was made during the BJP regime, resulting in inconvenience to the residents,” Butail said.

He said he had already directed the IPH Department to prepare a new project as the cost of the project had incresed in the past seven years.

“As soon as DPR is prepared, I would get it cleared from the government,” he said.

It may be recalled that in the absence of sewerage in the panchyat areas, most of the residents have thrown their sewer open in the Kirpal Chand Kuhal and other irrigation channels, polluting water of these khuals, which are the lifeline Palampur.

The areas are crying for an immediate attention as most of the roads and streets are in a bad shape. Potholed roads, overflowing drains and contaminated drinking water are some of the problems plaguing the town.

Though the state government claims for the over all development of the state, Palampur is getting a step-motherly treatment. 

Chamba, April 16
A meeting of district-level officials of the rank of executive engineers of various departments was convened in the conference hall of the Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF), Chamba, recently in which all the cases were reviewed.

Talking to mediapersons after the meeting, ARM Reddy, CCF, said now the coordination between the DFOs and the user agencies had improved a lot.

The CCF said 99 cases had been reviewed during the meeting out of which 84 cases were pending with the user agencies for various reasons such as non-submission of non-violation certificate or certificate from the Deputy Commissioner under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, non-deposition of compensatory afforestation and net present value of the land being diverted. There were only seven cases pending in the department at various levels, including the 
Government of India, the CCF said.

He said there were no cases pending for inspection by the Forest Department. —OC 

Kangra, April 16
Breaking the notion that the people in uniform are for maintaining the law and order situation, the police is now providing healthcare facilities to the people living in the vicinity of Police Training College (PTC), Daroh. The Deputy Inspector General of Police, GD Bhargawa, is heading the PTC.

He said before 2008 the PTC was lacking the basic health care facilities. Earlier, every trainee and officer, even suffering from common ailment, had to go to Bhawarana or Palampur for their medical treatment as the PTC was lacking basic health facilities, he added.

Bhargawa said when he joined PTC as a the Superintendent of Police, he found that it was of prime requirement to have medical facilities in PTC and sent a proposal to the state government to depute a medical officer, who joined in 2008.

He said the basic health facilities were started but the treatment remained inadequate as basic infrastructure was lacking. In the mean time, Bhargawa took an initiative and a double-storey building under the Vikas Mein Jan Shyog programme was constructed for a health centre.

The building of the health centre was inaugurated on May 17, 2010 and equipment worth Rs 5 lakh were provided by the government.

Bhargawa said the health centre provided indoor and outdoor facilities to the trainees, staff members and their families. Later, with an aim to serve the common man, it was decided to extend the medical help to the residents of Daroh and adjacent panchayats, Bhargawa said.

He said in a phased manner, the hospital was equipped with modern male and female indoor wards besides a separate isolation ward for patients carrying contagious and infectious diseases.

The health centre is equipped with automatic analyzer, ECG machine and sterilisation unit.

Since October last, a rogi kalayn samiti had been formed to run the health centre and a grant of Rs 2.5 lakh was given to the centre, the DIG disclosed. Now, most of the medicines are being provided for free to the poor and needy.

The hospital is also having an ambulance facility, which has been extended to the residents and police personnel for free of cost. Moreover, health talks and check-up camps are a regular feature at the PTC and during the past two years, 16,495 patients have been treated, which included 2,481 local residents.

Dalhousie, April 16
A Bangalore-based firm, Eco Green Fuel (EGF), has proposed to provide environmental solutions to the industries of Himachal Pradesh.

Himachal Pradesh is one of the largest cement-producing states in the country. The cement industry emits oxides of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, including suspended particulate matter. Therefore, it has become necessary to strike a balance between industrial growth and environment conservation.

Julesh Bantia, Director-Founder, EGF, has a vision of re-nurturing the eco-balance with the best workable solutions for industries and wastelands in the state.

EGF has taken an initiative to develop 400 acres of energy plantations using Pongamia Pinnata (commonly known as Karanja). This afforestation programme was developed on dry and barren lands in the state, with little or no soil conditions, claimed Bantia.

He said EGF had set up a bio-fuel manufacturing unit in Bangalore. It was used as alternative fuel resource for the ACC cement plant at Thondebhavi near Banglore. — OC

Chandigarh, April 16
It was a day Himachal called on California. It was a day a group of Himachalis, living thousands of miles away from their home state, got together to celebrate their roots.

A stall selling shawls and other handicrafts of Himachal in India Community Centre at Milpitas in California

The India Community Centre at Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area came alive with the flavours and colours of the hill state as 300 Indians and non-Indians gathered there to celebrate Himachal Day on April 14.

An initiative of Asha Sharma, writer and granddaughter of Satyanand Stokes, Cupertino businessman Mahesh Nihalani and a dozen Himachali families settled in the US, the celebration was aimed at bringing the community together and reaching out to more of their ilk in a faraway land. For many participants, it became a perfect setting to acquaint their children with the Pahari art and culture.

Meena Patyal, a dentist and mother of a six-year-old boy, felt the get-together was like making her son touch base with their state. For others like fashion designer Pranav Sood, who belongs to Palampur and has been residing in the US for the past seven years, the celebration brought in “the comfort factor that we have more of our people here”.

The four-hour festivity starting from 11 in the morning included a range of activities highlighting sights and sounds of the culturally rich state.

The function kicked off with a documentary on the achievements of the state and then came the address by Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Skype. The Chief Minister applauded the Himachalis living abroad for expanding their roots even as they maintained their connection with the state.

The other highlights of the celebration were a talk by Asha Sharma on her biographical book ‘An American in Khadi’, a quiz on the state to test the younger lot, and songs and folk dance performances by children as well as adults. An exhibit-cum-sale counter displaying hand-woven Kullu shawls, caps and mufflers as well as Kangra paintings and other handicrafts from the state was a hit with visitors. And, so was the food fare, which was lapped up by one and all.

Sticking to authentic Pahari cuisine, the families organising the fare roped in a restaurant to dish out an array of delicacies like “madra, bhaturu, meethe chawal, khatta and gulgule”. They shared their recipes with the restaurant chef after shortlisting those with mass appeal.

Among the dignitaries to grace the occasion were Mayor of Milpitas Jose Estevas and Consul from Consulate General of India, San Francisco, Anand Jha.

This is the second time after 2009 that Himachal Day was marked in California. Upon seeing the promising response shown by both Himachalis and non-Himachalis, the organisers now hope to make the celebration an annual affair.

You might be living thousands of miles away from your country and state but let me assure you, you are not far from our hearts. You have grown in reputation and brought pride to the country. You have expanded and extended your roots to distant lands but I am happy you have maintained your roots in the state. I assure you that your roots will be well nurtured, nourished and taken care of even in your absence.— Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, in a recorded teleconference on Skype

This is a beautiful platform to showcase the potential of Himachal Pradesh. — Anand K Jha, Consul, Consulate General of India, San Francisco

You all should be proud of your roots and it is good to see all Himachal people coming together here at the India Community Centre, Milpitas. — Jose Esteves, Mayor of Milpitas

For me celebrating Himachal Day at the India Community Centre has been a dream come true. It would be nice to celebrate the day every year. Besides the fun, it will help people from the state get better connected and be more aware. — Asha Sharma, granddaughter of Satyananda Stokes

After living here for so many years, it feels great to showcase our rich culture and connect with the local Himachal community. — Kanta Sud, a Palampur native living in the US for the past 40 years.

Kangra, April 16
The Bharat Jyoti Award, constituted by the India International Friendship Society, was conferred on Maalvika Pathania, state convenor, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), for her meritorious service, outstanding performance and remarkable role in the preservation of heritage in the state.

Gurpreet Singh, secretary general of India, International Friendship Society, said the award was conferred on Maalvika Pathania for her efforts in the preservation of heritage for the past three decades.

Pathania received the award from Dr Bhishma Narain Singh, former Governor of Tamil Nadu and Assam, and GV Krishnamurty, former Chief Election Commissioner of India, during a function at the India International Centre, New Delhi, on April 15.

Gurpreet Singh said Pathania was the first woman in the state who got this award.

He said besides her contribution in heritage preservation, her role in women empowerment, economic uplift of the people in the state had been recognized through the award.

He said the award was given to her during a seminar on economic growth and national integration at New Delhi. 

Khajjiar (Dalhousie), April 16
The claims of the government making Khajjiar as “Switzerland” of Himachal Pradesh fall short of expectations of visitors in view of the pathetic and sickly condition of the place.

Khajjiar is losing its natural beauty in the face of man-made crisis.

The nature has blessed the place with all its beauty, majestic deodars, blooming rhododendron trees and spreading green meadows but man has wrecked havoc and transformed this heaven into a virtual hell of garbage, mess and filth, said Surjit Singh, a tourist from Palampur.

There is no proper upkeep of the pond which receives all waste water without proper care and maintenance. It has reduced to a mere deposit of slush and wastes of eatables from shops. The rotten smell of mud mixed with animal dung makes the air polluted.

The empty bottles of beer, liquor, soft drinks and packets of eatables can also be seen.

“No banner and placard have been put up to sensitise and encourage visitors to keep the place clean,” says Surjit.

He appeals to nature lovers and the administration to take action to save the sanctity of the place for posterity.

On the other hand, Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife) Suresh Kumar, who is also the member secretary of the ‘eco-tourism society for Kalatop-Khajjiar’, said the society would fetch an annual revenue of over Rs 15 lakh from the auction of entry-points during the current fiscal where entry fee was charged from vehicles entering the Kalatop-Khajjiar area.

The auction also includes parking fee of vehicles in car-parks earmarked at different locations around the lake’s glade.

The funds accrued from the auction are utilised on the development and beautification of the Khajjiar lake and its glad under the aegis of the society, the DFO added.

Continuing its efforts to promote an environment-friendly life style in the hills, a local non-government organisation, Ashadeep, organised the second cycling event of the season early this week.

Entitled as “No pain, No gain”, the two-day event was conducted by “Initiative for Cycling Enthusiasts” (ICE), a club formed by Ashadeep to popularise cycling among the local residents, particularly youth, in which about 40 passionate bikers covered 110 km from Shimla to Juni, near Sunni, and back. A veteran sportsperson and former Ranji Captain Vijay Sen flagged off the rally.

The club came into existence in April 2012 and it was the fourth ride organised by it. A remarkable feature was that all members of the club are bikers and the structure of the club is decentralised.

President of the Ashadeep says that ICE wants to provide a non-commercial platform for the cycle enthusiasts by organising biking events regularly. In keeping with the spirit of a non-motorised event, vehicular support is kept to the bare minimum and riders are afforded the opportunity to experience the outdoors in a genuine fashion. The steep uphill and downhill rides on dirt tracks also pose a stiff challenge to the bikers. The aim is also to attract people who enjoy the challenge of mountain biking and do not mind stepping away from the comforts of life for a day or two.

The youth are willing to switch over to biking as a mode of commuting in the city which is facing extreme vehicular congestion with no parking space. With cars getting bigger and longer, the effective parking space in terms of number of vehicles has got reduced and cycling is one practical solution. However, the government and district administration must play the role of a facilitator by setting up cycle stands at the end points of cycling routes like Sanjauli, Regal building, CTO, Summer Hill, Shimla Club, Chhota Shimla and US Club, he adds.

Such rides are particularly intended to expose club riders to different kinds of tracks so that they get prepared for the physical and mental challenges of real mountain-terrain biking. They get an opportunity to develop the required manoeuvring skills, mental toughness and attitude to undertake longer rides.

Medical treatment for children

In a major policy initiative, the government has decided to provide free treatment to schoolchildren detected with serious diseases during the students’ health check-up programme.

The parents of children will not be required to fulfil any formalities and the only condition will be that the symptoms of the disease should be detected and recorded by the doctor during the check-up.

Besides major surgeries and treatment of diseases, the students will be given free of cost medical treatment for any accidents like a snake bite or a dog bite. The programme will go a long way in ensuring health security to children and poor families will be the biggest beneficiaries.

Management trainees

As many as 16 students of the Gautam Institute of Hotel Management, Hamirpur, have been recruited as management trainees by Radisson group of hotels, a chain of Carlson Group, through campus placement held here recently.

This group is having several reputed hotels like Park In, Park Palace and Radisson Blue. These students had completed their diploma course in hotel management from the institute in the current batch.

The manager of the institute, Sanjay Gautam, said selection of students through campus placement was a significant achievement both for the students and the institute. It was the third year in a row that a majority of students had got placement in the hotel industry after completing the diploma from the institute.

Giving credit to the hard work of the students and a professional approach of the institute’s management, he said two batches of 50 students each were already well placed in the industry. The hard work and professionalism of students and faculty members was yielding results.

(Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi and DP Gupta)