Shimla, August 19
The majestic Viceregal Lodge complex, housing the prestigious Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), is set to regain its old glory with the Centre sanctioning Rs 50 crore for the implementation of a master plan for its adaptive reuse.

The plan, prepared by Abha Narain Lambah Associates, Mumbai-based conservation architects and historic building consultants in 2009, has been hanging fire as the requisite funds were not available for its implementation. Some portions of the magnificent, but dilapidated main building were restored over the past four years from the funds for routine maintenance.

However, such piece-meal efforts were not enough for taking up major restoration works necessary to ensure the structural safety of the grand edifice. The master plan required Rs 90 crore and it was a huge amount for the institute to spare from routine funds.

Ashok Thakur, Secretary, Higher Education, Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, said here today that it was a heritage structure which could not be allowed to crumble due to neglect. It housed the IIAS, which was fast emerging as a global knowledge centre and had grown in stature with the setting up of the International Centre for Human Development (ICHD). It had been chosen by the United Nations Development Programme for the purpose.

Referring to the implementation of the restoration plan, he said it would be a coordinated effort involving the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the Ministry of Art and Culture. The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) would be also involved. As it was a heritage structure, the entire project would be implemented under the supervision of the Archaeological Survey of India by the CPWD. A coordination committee will be set up at the Centre to ensure implementation of the plan and a sub-committee headed by the Director of the IIAS would be set up to oversee the restoration work. An apex committee, headed either by the minister or secretary, Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, would be constituted.

The plan would provide the broad blueprint for its restoration. Experts from the departments concerned would examine the plan and fix priorities for undertaking the restoration work. For instance, plugging leakage from the roof and seepage into the foundation and some other parts of the structure were the immediate concerns and this had to be dealt with on priority. The normal period for execution of such a project was about two years and he expected major works to be completed within the stipulated time-frame.

The credit for the restoration project goes to Peter dSouza, a former director, who came out with the innovative idea of “adaptive reuse” of the heritage complex and pursued the matter and convinced the ministry that substantial funds must be sanctioned to save the crumbling structure. 

Shimla, August 19
The Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) today took a big stride on road to becoming a “global knowledge centre” with the inauguration of the International Centre for Human Development (IC4HD) by Ashok Thakur, Secretary, Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, here today.

“The fact that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) selected the IIAS to incubate an important centre mooted to promote south-south collaboration on ways to integrate human development analysis and development strategies is an indication of the confidence it had in its capabilities. It will also be immensely helpful for the scholars of the institute as they will get valuable exposure through frequent interaction with international scholars at the centre”, Thakur said.

Referring to the human development reports being prepared for the country and various states, he said there was an urgent need to evolve some common and comparable parameters so that the one could pin-point states performing well and also those lagging. At present, each state was using its own set of parameters and methodology and all reports put together added up to nothing.

Peter d Souza , who was instrumental in bringing the centre to the institute, said India was selected for the centre as the country had tremendous expertise in research, evaluation and preparation of human development reports. It would help the IIAS to acquire a global footprint as a knowledge centre. It would help find answers to important questions pertaining to human conditions.

He said six international scholars, selected from 93 applicants from 24 countries, would join the centre soon. The centre would begin with focus on social security, safety and empowerment of women and poverty and come out with valuable inputs for policy makers.

Director of the institute Chetan Singh said the IC4HD and the IIAS had some overlapping areas which would ensure a good synergy and prove mutually beneficial to both.

Bilaspur, August 19
The All-Party Bhakra Oustees’ Rights Protection Committee presented a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner through Additional District Magistrate Pradeep Thakur for forwarding it to the Chief Minister here today.

The memorandum read that if any orders for the removal of the encroachments of oustees had been passed, which are against the pro-oustee policy of the Congress government, then these should be reconsidered. The oustees should not be displaced again, as all of them had been forced to occupy government land due to the expansion of their families in the 55 years of their evacuation from old Bilaspur town.

The memorandum urged the Chief Minister to revise and finalise the rehabilitation policy.

The committee has requested the Chief Minister that the encroached land be adjusted against the land allotted to them in lieu of their acquired land from old Bilaspur town, which has not been allotted to them till today.

The memorandum said the encroached land could also be given to the oustees on lease on the pattern of the already allotted plots. It also said all encroachments recorded in the mini-settlement of the town from 1983-1985, which was ordered by the Chief Minster to save the oustees from litigation, be completed and the encroached land be given to the oustees.

A large number of representatives of political parties and other organisations, including Nagar Parishad president Rajni Sharma and vice-president Kamlender Sharma, general secretary of the Elder Citizens' Association RL Sharma, Congress senior general secretary Gopal Sharma, city president Raj Kumar Tadu, State Pensioners’ Association vice-president Jagdish Nadda, HLP district president Daulat Ram Sharma, Hamirpur Parliamentary spokesperson Kesh Pathania, prominent BJP leaders Ram Lal Pundir, Mohinder Bakshi and OP Garga, Beopar Mandal president Suneel Tadu, general secretaries Narender Gupta, Hussein Ali, former BDC vice-chairperson Baldev Thakur, senior advocates Amrit Nadda, Rajender Handa and Chander Shekhar Sharma, Commandant Surender Sharma and Prof SK Bhatta, were present on the occasion.

Hamirpur, August 19
While citizens here have been resenting the failure of improvement in the civic amenities in Hamirpur town, a lack of coordination between the elected Municipal Council (MC) and the MC administration has come to the fore.

Several decisions taken by the MC, despite passing resolutions in the general house meeting, have not been implemented for quite some time by the administration.

In this regard, a decision to put a tag on rehris after numbering has been hanging fire.

The number of rehris, through which a large number of vendors sell fruits and vegetables, has been constantly increasing, leading to congestion in Hamirpur town. More than 200 such rehris have been put by vendors in the main bazaar.

Since the haphazard growth of rehris here is becoming a nuisance, the MC had passed a resolution to put tags on the rehris to regulate their growth.

Even residents have been demanding a check on the unregulated growth of rehris in the town. An action in this regard is still pending.

Similarly, the decision to make various mast lights installed in Hamirpur town functional is also pending.

The authorities have spent good amount on the installation of mast lights in the town.

Municipal Council chief Deep Kumar said, “We have passed resolutions in the general house meetings to put tags on the rehris in the town and make the mast lights functional. Members have been raising these issues from time to time but no action has been taken in this regard so far.”

He said, “The mast lights installed at Anu, Pucca Bharoh and Hathli Khud need to be made functional immediately.”

RK Sharma, Executive Officer, Hamirpur MC, said, “I have no knowledge about the decision to put tags on the rehris. Moreover only 25 odd rehris are mobile in the town at present. The rest have been turned into static shops.”

He said, “The lighting of mast lights also need to be made rational as they consume high voltage, leading to huge electricity bills. It becomes difficult for us to pay the bills. We are trying to make rational use of mast lights.” 

Mandi, August 19
Despite the fact that the Mandi Sadar SDM's inquiry into the house collapse incident at Sauli Khad has found the house-cum-godown an unauthorised structure, a new illegal construction has come up there under the nose of the Mandi Municipal Council (MMC) and the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department.

The house-cum-godown had collapsed on March 6 under the weight of a huge quantity of liquor dumped there by a liquor baron.

The godown had damaged an adjoining building also. Four families still live there in fear, as a new structure has come up there again. The house owner enjoyed political clout, they alleged.

The new structure has come up along the highway without the approval of the MMC and the TCP Department.

“We have lodged a complaint with the Mandi Deputy Commissioner and the TCP Department through e-Samadhan, but the council has not taken any action," said Vijaypal Singh, complainant.

The Mandi Sadar SDM has submitted a report to the Mandi Deputy Commissioner, who in turn has directed the TCP and the MMC to take action against the violator.

Residents resent that the ramshackle four-storeyed structure, which housed a shop and a liquor store, collapsed under the weight of illicit liquor that was being dumped there for many days under the nose the Excise Department.

The foul smell and big heaps of crushed liquor bottles have turned the Sauli Khad locality into a living hell, they rued.

They had asked the administration to shift the liquor vend from there after a person was found murdered on the premises of the liquor shop-cum-bar about three years ago. Executive Officer of the council KR Thakur said they had issued a notice to the owner.

Shimla, August 19
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh launched an integrated project as part of the holistic village development programme in the select villages of Himachal Pradesh today.

The project, to be undertaken by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in association with the Container Corporation of India (Concor), will be implemented in three phases.

The Chief Minister said the project for sustainable development of apple would be implemented in Shimla, Kullu and Kinnaur districts to improve productivity and quality of apple through harvesting, mechanisation and dissemination of farm know-how with major emphasis on training and capacity building of farmers.

It would benefit about 1,500 apple growing households directly while around 1,000 households would gain indirectly.

He said although the area under apple had increased manifold, the production fluctuated every year and productivity remained low as compared to the advanced countries. The yield ranged from 6 to 11.5 tonne per hectare whereas in advanced countries, it varied from 5 to 40 tonne. Rough weather, undulating topography, small and scattered land holdings and extrinsic factors such as rainfed farming, weather-sensitive varieties, inadequate polliniser ratio, low mechanisation and conventional orchard management technologies were the main constraints.

Dr RK Pachauri, Director General, TERI, said Himachal was a major producer of apples in this country, but with the challenges ahead, there was a need to improve the productivity and quality of produce. The project could prove to be a game-changer for horticulture in the hill states and it was hoped that the knowledge and experience from this project could be disseminated on a large scale to other parts of the Himalayan region.

Anil Kumar Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, Concor, said the two organisation had tied up for a project to implement sustainability measures in Mukteshwar of Uttarakhand, resulting in creation of the storage capacity of more than 15 lakh litre of water, besides other agricultural interventions such as polyhouses.

Mandi/Kullu, August 19
Apple farmers today demanded strict action against commission agents for weighing an apple crate 3 kg less.

They also demanded the abolition of market fee of Rs 5 per carton being charged by the market committee from farmers at the Bajaura barrier in the state while taking their fruit for sale in markets in Delhi or Chandigarh.

The marketing board hasdleft farmers at the mercy of commission agents as they have not set up electronic weighing machines in the markets. Farmers resent that the marketing board has never taken action against agents for fleecing them.

Commission agents weighed each crate 3 kg less on the ground of the weight of an empty crate that actually weighs 800 gm, said Mahender Upadhayay, president, Kullu Fruit Growers Association.

"We took up with the marketing board the matter of reducing the weight of a crate on the basis of the actual weight of an empty crate," he added.

The markets at Bandrol in Kullu, Takoli in Mandi and Narkanda and Rohru in Shimla district had emerged as a good alternative for small and marginal farmers in the state. But commission agents and traders have been exploiting farmers and the latter end up losing Rs 100-Rs 120 per box, resented the farmers.

"We have brought this issue to the notice of the State Agricultural Marketing Board, but it has done nothing to check the exploitation of growers in the local mandis," said Dalip Singh and Kesar Singh, office-bearers of the Seraj Apple Growers Association, Mandi.

Moreover, the market committee is charging Rs 5 as market fee on each carton and Rs 4 per box at the Bajaura barrier. Besides, they have to pay taxes at the Swarghat and Parwanoo barriers. Further, they are charged at the Kundli barrier, they said.

The farmers should not be charged the market fee of Rs 5 at the Bajaura barrier in the state when they were not selling the fruit in the local markets, said Upadhayay. "We have to pay tax at the Swarghat barrier as well," he added.

Managing Director of the board HS Baveja said the market fee was charged at the rate of 1 per cent not 5 per cent on the basis of the prevailing price of the fruit in the market. But the committee should take action against those commission agents who were reducing the weight of a box, he asserted.

Shimla, August 19
Various fruit juices along with other products of the HPMC will now be served by the Railways and Air-India as an aggressive marketing strategy is being adopted by the corporation to be able to again capture the market of fruit items for which it was once known.

The HPMC has got its registration renewed with the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) so that its juices, jams, jellies, squashes and other products are served onboard the trains all over the country. Talks have also been held to get quality products of the HPMC served on the Air-India flights.

As many as 300 kiosks of the HPMC, located at railway stations, hospitals, bus stands, airports and other public places all over the country will also be outsourced to the private sector to increase efficiency and revenue, which have dipped drastically over the years. This is likely to bring in about Rs 5 crore of additional income for the HPMC.

"Our endeavour is not just to ensure that our quality products are served on flights and trains, but also to add a new range of products as per the market needs," asserts Jagdish Sharma, Managing Director, HPMC. He said trials for producing guava, mixed, real and pineapple juices were also on to add to the list of juices.

With there being a vast potential for wine in the market lately, the HPMC is also exploring new markets for apple, peach, strawberry and kiwi wine, especially in Punjab and Haryana. While a mere 2,000 bottles of wines were produced last year, this year a target of producing 50,000 bottles has been set. To accomplish this task, an exclusive wine-making unit has been added at the Jarol processing unit of the HPMC.

With Himachal being a popular tourist destination, efforts are on to promote Himachal wine as a souvenir item which visitors carry back home as a gift.

The HPMC is contemplating getting its mango drinks bottled in South India only from where the fruit pulp is procured and brought to Himachal and then sent back for being sold. The HPMC has been in deep trouble during the last one decade with there being cumulative losses of over Rs 70 crore with a turnover of Rs 32 crore.

Mandi, August 19
The campus of Postgraduate Government Vallabh College today turned into a fortress as the ABVP staged a protest in front of the Principal's office, demanding recounting of votes for the Students Central Council elections, the results for which were declared on Saturday.

Tension mounted when ABVP activists and college Principal came face to face with each other as the ABVP activists stormed their ways into office. But situation was saved by the college staff and the police.

The college authorities dismissed the ABVP plea on the ground that the elections were fair and the counting of votes was done in the presence of polling agents of each students bodies before the results were declared.

There was no question of any manipulation or unfairness in counting and if they think it so, they should move the court, college Principal MS Jamval told ABVP representatives.

ABVP activists Yogesh, Rajat and Himachali Thakur, who led the protest, alleged that since the margins of victory were narrow, there was scope for manipulating the outcome. The college should recount the votes.

On the other hand, NSUI leaders Narender (president), Dimple (joint secretary) and Komal (general secretary) dismissed the ABVP charges as baseless.

The police force was deployed on the campus to check the law and order situation during the protest.

Shimla, August 19
To avoid any colossal loss to the environment and society due to the construction of hydropower projects, the Himachal Pradesh High Court (HC) has suggested that the state government should appoint professionals in this area. The HC said stress should be laid on environmental issues.

While passing this order, the Bench, comprising Chief Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice VK Sharma, further observed that it would lessen the burden of the regulatory authorities and the day-to-day supervision of work would be outsourced to the expert body recognised by the authorities concerned. The expert body, in turn, could be made accountable for reporting to the regulatory authority periodically. The construction work should be undertaken done under strict supervision of professionals specialised in the field.

It further observed that an independent expert should be appointed to supervise the construction activity in the environmentally fragile areas, who would act as an auditor. “It is better to take precautionary measures instead of perpetrating the damage, which may be irreversible in certain situations. No doubt this will burden the project with an additional cost, but it will also prevent major calamities.”

The court passed this order on a petition challenging the setting up of the Allian-Duhangan hydropower project in Kullu. The petition challenges the no-objection certificate and environmental clearances issued to the project by the state as well as by the Centre on the ground that the project is causing damage to the ecology of the area.

The court observed, “We decline to grant any relief to the petitioner, but dispose of this petition with suo motu directions given regarding inquiry to be undertaken by an appropriate authorities."

Shimla, August 19
Women folk will be provided free travelling facility in ordinary buses of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) tomorrow on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan 
festival.

Transport and Food and Civil Supplies Minister GS Bali said it was a goodwill gesture from the corporation to enable women to travel for tying rakhis to their brothers.

Nurpur, August 19
A house with a slated roof collapsed at Kotla-Mangwal village last evening. A woman was buried under the debris of the collapsed house. Villagers rushed to the spot and started rescue work. The seriously injured woman succumbed to her injuries while on the
way to hospital.

The deceased was identified as Champa Devi (60), wife of Tek Chand. Tehsildar Arun Sharma rushed to the spot and gave Rs 5,000 to the bereaved family as immediate relief. He said he would ask the government to release a relief to the family.

Kangra, August 19
A 32-year-old man was found hanging from a tree in the open fields in the Rehalpura locality here town today.

He is suspected to have committed suicide, police sources said.

Kangra SHO Mahinder Singh Manhas said the deceased has been identified as Ashapuran, a resident of Rehalpura village. The body has been sent for postmortem.

The SHO said the cause of the suicide is yet to be ascertained. He said the investigations revealed that Ashapuran, who was working with some local business establishment in the town, was married nearly two years ago. He said the couple later has a divorce.

The father of the deceased told the police that Ashapuran and his wife had been visiting each other.

Manhas said the investigations were on in this regard. He said some more persons, including the divorced wife of the deceased, were likely to be questioned in this connection. No suicide note was recovered from site, the SHO added.

Bilaspur, August 19
An employee of the Temple Trust of Naina Deviji was caught for stealing Rs 1,000 and a silver chain weighing 16.8 gm, 95 km from here, yesterday.

Reports said after the daily routine of employees counting the offerings of devotees of the previous day, the security staff searched them before they left the chamber.

In the process, the security noticed part of a Rs 500 note peeping out of the mobile cover of employee Kamal. On a thorough search, two Rs 500 notes and a silver chain were recovered from him.

He was handed over to the police by the Temple Officer. He was arrested and a case registered against him.