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Bharti Walmart’s procurement centre boon for farmers
NHPC halts water supply to Parbati project
Banned diabetes drug being sold in market
Vulture census from today
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State, ESIC college yet to sign MoU over start of course
No consensus reached between CM, Sukhu
Encroachments squeeze Palampur roads
Drinking in public places on the rise in Palampur
IGMC may get 50 more seats in MBBS this year
Pensioners seek DA instalment
Pension revision sought from 2006
Electricity board restores supply to 1,200 street lights
Heavy rain likely in 48 hours
HC sets aside JBT teacher’s transfer order
Mild tremor hits Kangra valley
Man dies in road mishap Leopard found dead Girl stung by wild wasps Man, wife hurt in car accident Man held with stolen material
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Bharti Walmart’s procurement centre boon for farmers
Janedghat (Chail), July 14 Various villages like Sadhupul, Ashwani Khud, Nova, Lakhoti, Dhabeet, Jeetnagar, Sanewati, Chanana, Bud, Kumahali etc have been chosen by Bharti Walmart to procure capsicums, tomatoes, beans, cabbages and cauliflowers. While farmers have immensely benefited from this arrangement, they no longer have to travel long distances to sell their produce, says Roop Ram Verma, a farmer who has been selling his produce to Bharti Walmart from Chabeet village in Shimla district. He said earlier, the rough mountainous tract made farmers travel distances to carry their produce to the markets and this was an arduous exercise. With little marketing facilities available in the area, one could expect to get only a nominal gain from the nearby market. The entry of Bharti Walmart has proved to be a boon for these villages as, apart from making available a ready market, even payments are received within 24 hours. Bharti Walmart has taken a step ahead to help the farmers enhance their produce by providing technical support in the form of soil testing, seed variety selection, nursery management, fertiliser and pesticide application. It is also conducting training programmes for tackling pest management and introducing sustainable methods like drip and sprinkler irrigation, thereby reducing the cost of cultivation. Various post-harvest procedures like grading, sorting and packaging are also taken care of according to the WB specifications at the centre, thus minimising the hassles for the farmers. Facilities like the use of greenhouse has also been introduced for these farmers where vegetables are grown under controlled and protected conditions, thus ensuring maximum gains for the farmers. The farmers are now investing time in modernising their farms and learning innovative farming techniques in the various training programmes organised by Bharti Walmart. Even women engaged in farm activities are a part of the direct farm programme of Bharti Walmart, said Manoj Kumar of Sanewati village.
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NHPC halts water supply to Parbati project
Kullu, July 14 The water ingress had out-flowed at five different points in the span of 500 m, between Spangni and Bihali, at a discharge rate of about 500 litre per minute. The villagers feared that the leakages posed danger to the nearby habitations and crops along the Larji-Sainj road that runs parallel to the Sainj river. While the three major leakages are flowing into the culverts of the Larji-Sainj road, the smaller outflow of water was on the road, eroding it in the process. The villagers blamed the NHPC for the drying up of the Banuo Nullah at Spangani that once used to be the source of water for them, as the stream had dried after the 8-km Siund-Bihali head race tunnel was constructed. Now, the water ingress had developed at the three points at the same location and posed danger if the volume of water increased, they feared. Though the NHPC termed the ingress in the tunnel as a normal phenomenon in the hills, Banjar MLA Karan Singh took up the matter with the NHPC management and expressed apprehensions over the problem, highlighting the safety concerns of the villagers. The NHPC was bound to compensate for the losses to crops and habitation and water supply in the area, if any. It should stop the water supply to plug the leakages, he added. AK Trikha, General Manager, Parbati-III project, said water ingress was normal in hydroproject in hilly areas. “Still, we have started de-watering the tunnel to fix the problem. But if the water stream, which the water ingress has recharged recently, dries up again, we will not be responsible”, he added. Trikha said they had kept water values for safe release of water in the tunnel and its closure could result in the drying up of the Banuo Nullah stream again. They had released water in the tunnel for a trial run of the project but the old nullah could have been recharged due to the rains or the water leakages from the tunnel, he claimed.
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Banned diabetes drug being sold in market
Dharamsala, July 14 Sources said the sale of the medicine was also continuing despite the ban as some practitioners were still prescribing it. The drug was also being sold in combination with other diabetes drugs as
metformin, glimepiride and alogliptin.
The Central Government banned the sale of pioglitazone and all its combinations in June this year due to studies revealing serious side effects of the drug in foreign countries. The sources said reports in foreign countries had revealed that pioglitazone should be taken as second or third line of treatment when other drugs stop giving results. The most serious and common side effect of the drug is that it caused increase in weight by adding adipose tissue and water retention in body of patient. The drug is already banned in France and Germany. The Food and Drug Authority (FDA) of the US is reviewing the drug after reports of its side effects. Dr Swatantra Mahajan, a diabetic counsellor in Dharamsala, said the side effects of the drug included mild sore throat to congestive heart failure. The generally mild side effects of the drug included upper respiratory infection, headache, sinus infection, general ill feeling and tooth pain. The severe side effects included urinary bladder cancer, bone fractures and lactic acidosis, he said. He further said since the news of the ban on the drug appeared in some newspapers, many patients had been posing inquiries regarding the drug that had been in use for the past few years. The sources said the mass production of pioglitazone as generic drug started in India in 2012 after it was declared as generic. It is being taken by about 30 lakh patients in the country. The medical fraternity is divided on the ban on drug. Some doctors are criticising the ban on the plea that it was the most cheap and effective drug for diabetes. The drug should not have been banned on the basis of clinical trial reports conducted in other countries, they say. The other doctors are maintaining that once it has been proved that the drug has serious side effects, it should be banned. The sources also said another diabetic drug rosiglitazone was banned by the Drug Controller General of India in 2010-11. However, the sale of the drug was still continuing in the market.
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Vulture census from today
Shimla, July 14 The survey, which will begin tomorrow, will trace the vulture presence along national highways and the main dumping sites where the natural scavengers are normally sighted. The survey will be undertaken in Solan,
Sirmaur, Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti, Kullu and Mandi districts. Though the exact number of vultures will be known only after the census is complete, the wildlife wing staff have received information from the locals about the birds being sighted in parts of Kinnaur and Lahaul
Spiti. “We have received reports but it is only after the survey that we will be able to say whether these are Himalayan Griffon vultures or some other species of vultures,” said AK
Gulati, Principal Chief Conservator, wildlife wing. The Griffron vulture is found along the Himalayas or the adjoining Tibetan plateau area. This is one of the biggest species of vulture and is perhaps the largest and heaviest bird found in the Himalayas. He said there were reports of long and slender billed vultures, who make the excavated mines their habitat, being sighted in the Simaur area. There are limestone and dolomite mines in the Shillai area of
Sirmaur, so the possibility of these birds being there is high. Gulati said 871 vultures had been sighted in Kangra district alone. Encouraged by the success of the
in-situ breeding and conservation of vultures in the Lunj area of Kangra, the wildlife wing is keen to create more protected areas for them in Sirmaur and Solan districts It is due to the efforts of the department that the number of vultures has gone up from a mere 30 in 2004 to more than 800 in 2013. The nestling survey of vultures undertaken in Kangra last month has indicated that there are 300 nests having two eggs each and over 200 fledglings have been sighted.
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State, ESIC college yet to sign MoU over start of course
Mandi, July 14 Interestingly, both the ruling Congress and the Opposition BJP have been taking credit for the ESIC medical college near Mandi in the election rallies and public meetings, but none talked about starting the college, said the students, who had been deprived of an opportunity of being enrolled as medicos in 2013. The superspeciality 500-bed ESIC Medical College and Hospital at Bhangrotu here is already three years behind its schedule. The ESIC had not applied for the permission to the MCI in 2013 as the government and the ESIC failed to sign an MoU in 2012. The ESIC Medical Commissioner had done a survey of the faculty at the Zonal Hospital recently. It found it suitable to start a medical college, the sources revealed. The ESIC hospital buildings at Bhangrotu are not ready. The corporation can start the medical college by attaching the Zonal Hospital to it as it is mandatory for the medical college to have its own hospital as per MCI guidelines. The ESIC medical college will enroll 100 students for MBBS - 40 from the state, 40 from the open pool and 20 students reserved for the ESIC employees, who come under the Ministry of Labour and Employment. The ESIC and the government are not serious about starting the first batch in 2014, the students rued. If ESIC has done the same in Karnataka, then why it can't do it in Himachal”, they asked. The Dean, ESIC medical college, Dr DS Dhiman, said the last date for the applying to the MCI was in August. Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur had said they had already taken up the matter with the ministries concerned early this year. “They were seized of the matter and we hope the college will soon,” he said. |
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Virbhadra orders probe into sale of carton machinery for a song
Shimla, July 14 He was speaking at the 64th state-level Van Mahotsav function at Shamlaghat near Ghanati in Shimla district today. The Chief Minister said a modern carton factory had been set up at Gumma in Pragatinagar which produced quality cartons for fruit growers. “It was unfortunate that the carton factory was closed and its machines costing about Rs 80 crore were sold at throwaway price of Rs 2 crore only,” he lamented. He expressed concern over the encroachment of forest land by a person in Manali and sleeper seizure at Dalhousie in Chamba district. He sought a detailed report in these respects and said strict action would be initiated against the accused. Virbhadra said the government was considering restoring the TD rights of farmers to fulfil their timber needs for house construction and performing funerals, which would help in curbing illegal felling of trees. He said the use of wooden boxes for packing of apples had been banned and introduced carton boxes introduced which will help in saving the forest wealth in a big way. He expressed concern that medicinal herbs, especially naag chhatri, were being exploited illegally in a big way in the state which needed to be checked. He said it was a matter of pride that the area under forests in the Himachal Pradesh had increased to 32 crore cubic metres from 25 crore cubic metres.He directed forest officers to assess the survival rate of the previous plantations and check illicit felling of trees in the state. He said an area of 17,500 hectares would be brought under plantation, thereby generating about 34 lakh man days during the current financial year. He said 60 per cent of broad-leafed plants would be planted during this year, out of which 20 per cent would be of wild fruit species. He said this would go a long way in checking monkey menace as monkeys would get sufficient food in forests itself. Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri also spoke on the occasion.
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Posts of chairman of boards Tribune News Service
Shimla, July 14 The leaders met AICC general secretary and in charge for Himachal Ambika Soni at her residence in New Delhi. Even after the second round of meeting, no final decision could be taken. Both Virbhadra and Sukhu are backing the posts for their loyalists. “It is unlikely that the appointments will be made soon as the consensus is yet to emerge not only on the names, but also on the boards and corporations to be given,” said a leader. He added that four names approved earlier, Gangu Ram Musafir, Harbhajan Singh Bhajji, Prakash Karat and change in the corporation of Kewal Singh Pathania, is likely to be put on hold. Sources said the possibility of a major revamp in the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee constituted by Sukhu some time ago is also ruled out. The list had been approved by previous general secretary Birender Singh and no major changes were made. However, Soni is learnt to have assured Virbhadra that certain additions could be made to accommodate prominent omissions. Though six persons were rewarded with the appointment as chairmen and vice-chairmen immediately after the formation of the Congress government in December last year, following directives of the high command, no new appointments were made. Those who got the appointments were Ram Lal Thakur, Harsh Mahajan, Kewal Singh Pathania and Kuldeep Singh Pathania. In cold store
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Encroachments squeeze Palampur roads
Palampur, July 14 Though the HP Roadside Land Control Act prohibits any construction within 5 m of the state and national highways on both the sides, officials of the state Public Works Department (PWD) seem ignorant about the law. Despite instructions from the state government and orders of the Himachal Pradesh High Court to remove the encroachments from the highways, the local administration and the national highway authorities are the least bothered to initiate action. On the Mandi-Pathankot national highway, which is one of the busiest roads of the town, over 50 fruit vendors and vegetable sellers have encroached on the road near the gurdwara. There is always a traffic jam there as fruit vendors have occupied one-fourth portion of the NH. The pedestrians are the worst hit. The Municipal Council and the local administration are well aware of the situation, but have failed to initiate steps to remove the encroachments in the past two years. Information gathered by this correspondent revealed that the council is allegedly illegally charging Rs 50 from these vendors daily despite the fact that the land being used by the vendors belongs to the NH. Since the vendors are making payments to the council, they claim their right to sit on the highway. At the Ghuggar area the width of the road has been reduced to just 2.5 m as a number of shops on both sides of the road have come up in the past few years. The PWD has failed to serve even a simple notice on the encroachers.
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Drinking in public places on the rise in Palampur
Palampur, July 14 Official sources said the situation had gone from bad to worse after November 2012, when the state government made amendments in the HP Excise Act and withdrew powers from the police for the inspection and checking of public places like hotels, dhabas and restaurants. Before that the police had the powers to conduct raids to check the illegal sale and consumption of liquor in public places. In Palampur, Baijnath, Jaisinghpur, Maranda, Alampur and Thakurdwara towns of this region, liquor is openly served in almost every dhaba and restaurant. Even at other public places like parks, roadsides and riverbeds, groups of youths can daily be seen consuming liquor causing inconvenience to tourists visiting these areas. The forests near the Sorabh Van Vihar, Neugal Cafe and roads leading to Kandi, Jhakhni Mata and Bundla are the worst affected. Groups of youths can be seen there consuming liquor in the open making it difficult for pedestrians and evening walkers to move on these roads. It is learnt that after the amendments in the Excise Act, now only the state excise authorities have the powers to inspect and conduct raids in public places to check the illegal sale of liquor. Manmohan Sharma, DSP, Palampur, while talking to this correspondent, said before November 2012, the police used to conduct raids and nab such persons during regular patrolling. But after now neither the police could arrest such offenders nor register cases against them as in such matters the jurisdiction lay only with the Excise Department. |
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IGMC may get 50 more seats in MBBS this year
Mandi, July 14 Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur stated this at the Circuit House here yesterday and assured a delegation of parents of wards, who could not make it to the MBBS
programme, that the state government had sought permission to increase the number of seats in the course. The Centre has relaxed admission norms for the states, ahead of 2014 General Lok Sabha Election, on the grounds that states are facing a shortage of doctors and more MBBS seats would take care of the scarcity in each state. Talking to The Tribune, Kaul Singh said, “A request has been made to the Central Government to add 50 MBBS seats at the IGMC for this session, as per the new criteria laid down. The Medical Council of India (MCI) will inspect the IGMC and we hope it will admit 50 more students in MBBS this year”. The Central Government has asked the states to apply for increasing MBBS seats by July 15. The state medical colleges can add more seats, provided the college is more than 10 years
old. Kaul Singh said he would personally meet the Union Health Minister and hope that the IGMC would add 50 seats for the current session. But the
DRPGMC, Tanda, does not qualify the central government criteria to increase its seats, he added. |
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Pensioners seek DA instalment
Nurpur, July 14 The pensioners also discussed the issue of the submission of life certificates by August 20 next and distributed specified forms among hundreds of pensioners present at the meeting. The association advised all government pensioners and pensioners' families to fill and submit these forms to the requisite authorities, so that their pensions would not be discontinued. The association also passed a resolution to put forward its long-standing demand of increments in the pensions after attaining the age of 65, 70 and 75 years to 5, 10 and 15 per cent, respectively, before the state government. |
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Pension revision sought from 2006
Bilaspur, July 14 Unit general secretary Dr Upender Gauttam said a largely attended meeting was presided over by president Daulat Ram Chauhan and specially addressed by state senior vice-president JK Nadda and district general secretary Jagdish Dinesh here today. They urged the government to revise this notification and enforce this order of pension revision from January 1, 2006, on Punjab pattern. The meeting also adopted a resolution demanding the release of DA instalment at 8 per cent from January 1, 2013. The meeting decided to collect Rs 1 lakh from pensioners for helping Uttarakhand victims. GR Sharma, Ravinder Bhatta, OP Garga, Mahender Bakshi, Sada Ram Kaundal, Kesh Pathania, Prem Lal Mishra, Ram Lal Chandel, Kuldip Thakur, Shyam Lal, Mansha Ram, Ram Lal Pundir and Nand Lal Rahi were present. |
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Electricity board restores supply to 1,200 street lights
Bilaspur, July 14 Bilaspur Sadar MLA Bambar Thakur thanked Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for his goodwill gesture of paying all pending street light bills of Nagar Parishads with poor finances, including that of Bilaspur Nagar Parishad, out of government funds. He said he had earlier requested the Chief Minister personally for the same. Bambar said the Bilaspur Nagar Parishad never had enough funds to pay the pending bill of Rs 1.31 crore and it would mean that thousands of residents of the town would have to suffer indefinitely. Earlier, several political parties, leaders, cultural and social organisations, including the Nagar Parishad, had represented to the government to solve the issue and restore the street lights here as it entailed great risks to the residents, especially during the rainy season. Moreover, thefts would also increase as thieves had been having a field day even with the street lights on, the deputation added. |
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Heavy rain likely in 48 hours
Shimla, July 14 As per the forecast by the local Meteorological Centre, the entire state will be lashed by heavy rain till July 20. Barring Nahan, where 35 mm of rain was recorded, most other parts of the state did not experience
much rain. There has not been any change in the maximum and minimum temperatures. The minimum temperature was 17.8°C in Shimla. The work on restoring several damaged roads, including the highways and link roads, is on. The vehicular traffic in many remote parts of the state remains affected due to landslides and damage
to roads. |
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HC sets aside JBT teacher’s transfer order
Shimla, July 14 She had alleged in her petition that she was transferred at the instance of Tek Chand Dogra, former MLA of Nachan, and not in public interest. The court passed this order two days ago on a petition filed by the teacher alleging that she was transferred from her present place of posting to some other place with an ulterior motive and due to political recommendation. While considering the petitioner's plea, a Division Bench comprising Justice DD Sud and Justice Sanjay Karol quashed the transfer order of the petitioner, who was ordered to be transferred from Government Primary School, Mahadev, to Government Primary School, Seri
(Mandi). |
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Mild tremor hits Kangra valley
Dharamsala, July 14 The Kangra region has a history of quakes and falls in zone 5 in terms of probability of witnessing earthquake. Due to seismic activity in the area, the government has restricted the constructions to four storeys in the area. However, there has been a blatant violation of rules and high-rising buildings are common. According to data collected from the Wadia Institute of Seismology at Naddi near Dharamsala, in the last one year, 12 quakes of mild intensity have hit the area in the past one year. |
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The banned diabetes drug pioglitazone is still being sold openly at chemist shops in Dharamsala. Inquiries from various chemists revealed that the medicine was still being sold. They said, "We will sell the medicine till stocks last, but are not placing orders for fresh stocks".
