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takeover of stadium
Vandalism, encroachment go unchecked in temples
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Virbhadra Singh
Villagers suffer as road lies in deplorable condition
Chamba Forest Circle weeds out unproductive records
Forest Dept to renovate rest houses, huts to facilitate trekkers
Bridge over Gobind Sagar sought
vignettes Mind Scan Art group to provide platform to budding artists 'Language of music Purchases for Diwali
High Court Circuit Bench demanded for Kangra
INTUC challenges ‘one man one post’ directive
Marketing training programme for self-help groups held
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Club HPCA members worried about their lot
100 members had taken up membership for `1.20 lakh each Lalit Mohan Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, November 5 Under the scheme, the people who paid Rs 1.20 lakh for membership of the club membership were entitled to all facilities created in the Dharamsala international cricket stadium like the gymnasium, the indoor sports facilities and subsidised food in Aveda restaurant being run inside the stadium. The club membership was given to 100 people including many doctors, businessmen and bureaucrats from Dharamsala. The HPCA allegedly collected about Rs 1.2 crore from the members as membership fee. Some of the club members have now come forward and expressed concern about their investment as membership fee of the Club HPCA. Sumit Khanna, one of the members while talking to The Tribune alleged that though they became members of the club about 18 months ago, the club was never formally functional. He alleged that in the recent past, they had written to the HPCA to formally inaugurate and launch the Club HPCA. We had asked the HPCA to form the club governing body and include some members into it for the smooth functioning of Club HPCA. The members should be provided the provisions and facilities that were promised at the time of agreement and the general body meeting of the club should organised at the earliest to address club issues including fund allocations and management of the Club HPCA, the members had demanded. The members said that they had also demanded that an area should be specially earmarked for the club members and staff and the management should give exclusive preference to club members. Khanna said they had been pursuing their demands with the HPCA, but now another problem had cropped up: The state government had taken over the stadium. We request the state government to protect our rights as members of Club HPCA. The spokesperson of the HPCA, Sanjay Sharma, said that they honoured the membership of the Club HPCA members. However, since now the state government had taken control of the stadium, they should approach the appointed administrators for enjoying the facilities given under the Club HPCA scheme. Technically though the HPCA had given the membership of the Club HPCA, it was Aveda that was the operating agency for the scheme. Since the state government has stopped the operations of Aveda, the Club HPCA scheme has also been shelved for the time being. In case the HPCA is handed over the control of the stadium by court, we shall once again offer the promised facilities to Club HPCA members, he said.
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Vandalism, encroachment go unchecked in temples
Mandi, November 5 The inquiry report was submitted to the Chief Commissioner Temples, Principal Secretary and Director, Art, Language and Culture, in July last year, but no action had been initiated till date. Even the premises of the three temples protected by Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) are turning into junkyards. Around 100 other temples have been turned into money-minting business by the pujaris, who control them. The report said the District Art, Language and Culture, municipality, local administration, and the ASI had failed to check the vandalisation of temple heritage. The state government had appointed officer on special duty (OSD), Temples Administration and Assistant Director, Archives, Prem Prasad Pandit as an inquiry officer. He was deputed by state Governor Urmila Singh after Lakshmender Guleria, convener, Mandi Bachao Manch lodged a complaint about deplorable condition of temples in Mandi last year. Though the enquiry reported has recommended stern punitive action against offenders, nothing had been done by the government so far. The enquiry found ASI temples - Panchvakhtar, Ardhanaraeshwar, Burseilla sites - as good as junkyards. Stray dogs, drug addicts and rag pickers roamed right under the nose of the police in these temples, said the report.As many as 30 other major temples had been grabbed by priests and encroachers. These were run commercial ventures, devoid of any sentiment to make money, added the report. Major temples like - Mahamritunjya, Sidhkali, Bhootnath, Shumbhu Maharaj- had been defaced. The ‘parikrama’ path of Mahamritunjya and other temples was blocked and carried plastic roofs. Gallery of the Bhootnath temple was crossed, which hurt religious sentiments. The temple was restored last year. Sewerage leaks in the phallus and Nandi bull at the Shambhu Maharaj temple, near the Beas river, were revealed by the report. Mandi municipal committee has constructed toilets adjoining the Sidh Kali temple near its office. Three deities at the Bhoothnath temple controlled by priests have been painted with chemical colours to grab attention of devotees to corner offerings. The paint had ruined shikhars and antiquity beyond repairs, the enquiry found. Town’s junk and filth is burnt nearby temple sites, holding back pilgrims and art lovers from visiting sites. Haphazard construction had been going around many temples. Lakshmender Guleria said urgent attention was required to save antiquity of temples and make them a source of tourism and veneration. Mandi District Language Officer RK Saklani said they had not received any directions of the state government so far.
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Govt committed to eradicate land mafia: CM
Palampur, November 5 Talking to mediapersons during his one-day tour to Palampur, Virbhadhra Singh said during the BJP regime Himachal Pradesh was virtually on sale as a number of outsiders managed to buy land in gross violation of rules. Likewise, a number of persons also managed to get permission for the sale of tea gardens. He said since he had taken over the charge of the Chief Minister of the state, the permission for the purchase of land and sale of
He said the benami land deals hatched during the BJP regime were already under scanner. The government had asked the vigilance agencies to collect the evidence and file challans in the court of law at the earliest. He said some revenue officers were also helped BJP leaders in purchasing land in the state and such officers would not be spared. He also appealed to the people of the state to help the vigilance agencies in carrying out the investigation. He said their names would be kept secret. Referring to the action initiated against the HP State Cricket Association (HPCA), the Chief Minister said no responsible government could turn a blind eye to the illegal acts and misdeeds. The state government would soon restore the properties of HPCA to a elected body that would include cricketers and other players from the state only, he added. He said the Congress was committed to conduct a high-level probe into the misdeeds and illegal acts of the HPCA, therefore the question of political vendetta against the BJP leaders did not arise.
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Villagers suffer as road lies in deplorable condition
Nurpur, November 5 Interestingly, these gram panchayats-Chhatar, Unoh, Gangath, Bassa, Charuri, Makdolli and Gheta- fall under the jurisdiction of Nurpur, Indora and Fatehpur assembly constituencies of lower Kangra district. Nowadays, this neglected road is a nobody's baby. The Dadwara Youth Club, Unoh, had president of the Dadwara Youth Club, they had submitted a memorandum regarding this to the Pubic Works Department but nothing was done. He rued that the elected representatives of the gram panchayats were indifferent towards the deplorable condition of the road. AK Abrol, Superintending Engineer, Nurpur Circle, said that he has given direction to the executive engineer to improve the condition of the road.
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Chamba Forest Circle weeds out unproductive records
Chamba, November 5 Confirming the news, Reddy said with this so far 2,008 files had been weeded out from the Chamba Forest Circle in the last one year, mostly the record related to accounts and other routine correspondence, which was of no relevance now. According to the office manual, the record which is more than 10 years old, need not be retained and can be disposed of. However, keeping in view the provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, only the record which was more than 20 years, that is, prior to 1993, had been weeded out, said Reddy. Reddy also confirmed that the weeding of record was also a point of discussion in the meetings of the district and state levels to review the efficiency in administration. However, he stated that a couple of registers and files pertaining to the period of more than 100 years old had been retained as heritage documents. There were receipts of 1877 disbursing the travelling allowance (TA) bills of range officers of the then Ravi Forest Division and the salary disbursement certificates of the Chamba Forest Circle.
An old receipt of 1877 preserved in the Chamba Forest Circle.
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Forest Dept to renovate rest houses, huts to facilitate trekkers
Sahoo (Chamba), November 5 Chief Conservator of Forests, Chamba, ARM Reddy said, “The rest hut is situated in the dense Panjungula demarcated protected forest (DPF) adjoining Talli reserve forest, with reserve forests (RF) at the backdrop. This area is rich in well-grown deodars, fir, spruce, ban, chirindi, and horse chest nut trees.” He said these forests also had abundant medicinal plants such as chukri, mushakbala, banapsha, ban halid and many unknown varieties of mushrooms with a lot of scope for research. The rest hut, which had one set, was in the focal point of Mandholi, Banjal, Halela, and Talli villages. Banjal village was 2 km away from range rest room, he added. “Efforts are also on to maintain a very old bridle path of the forests from Mandolu to Talli, which is 3.5 km long, to facilitate the easy access to this rest hut,” said Reddy. Forest officials, who stayed at the rest hut in the past, had also experienced frequent visit of Himalayan black bear, the most prominent among wild species of the area. The most common complaint of the people here was that their maize crop was regularly damaged by wild bears, which was a staple and favoured food of the wild animal. The rest hut also catered to needs of around 250 residents of adjoining villages.
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Bridge over Gobind Sagar sought
Bilaspur, November 5
The meeting was held under the aegis of the Gobind Sagar Ghats Sudhar Saba. The people expressed resentment over the delay in construction of the bridge. The foundation for stone of the bridge was laid six years ago. The people resented the laying of the foundation stone 6 km away from its real
destination. — OC
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Public-private partnership in Himachal attacks tobacco menace
by Shriniwas Joshi I was at Himachal Pradesh Institute of Public Administration (HIPA) to discuss The Cigarette and Other Product Act, 2003 (COTPA), with fresh and in-service Himachal Pradesh Administrative Service officers (See Photo). It was a group of enthusiastic officers. I told them that Himachal Pradesh had set a worth emulating example of public-private partnership in attacking the tobacco menace in the state where a voluntary organisation, Himachal Pradesh Voluntary Health Association, worked in tandem with the Department of Health and Family Welfare for implementing COTPA. And both the agencies got recognition from the World Health Organisation. Himachal Pradesh was declared smoke-free by the state government under Section 4 of COTPA on July 2, 2013. Smoke-free is a misnomer accepted internationally although the right expression is smoking-free. When I say Himachal Pradesh is smoke-free, it means that there is no smoking in declared public places and does not mean that smoking has stopped in homes or places that are not public. I also make it clear that Himachal Pradesh is declared smoke-free when 85 per cent of the indicators were found positive. It means that we have 15 per cent still to be achieved "and miles to go before we sleep". I made the participants aware of the two black-spots that Himachal Pradesh has. First, 82.5 per cent smoking still goes on in residences. It is, probably, the highest percentage in India. It has all the ill-effects of second-hand smoke (SHS), which is more toxic than the smoke that smokers directly inhale. It is the cause of 31 per cent deaths of infants in India, known as sudden infant death syndrome. Most of my readers may be worrying why their wards are not doing well in studies despite their decent spending on their education, tuition etc. The reason is SHS. It has been found that 41 per cent of the children are unable to cope up with the syllabus because of SHS. I request to smokers that if they are addicted to smoking then they may go out of the homes and smoke at a secluded place and not in the presence of family members. If a smoker still does it, then he should consider himself a human-bomb, which kills others while killing himself. Secondly, in India, 39.3 per cent people in the age-group 20 to 34 take to tobacco-use but this percentage in the same age- group in Himachal Pradesh is 59.8. I infer that either a collegiate or a fresh-earner gets attracted to the charms of tobacco. I emphasised that these were the areas where a Subdivisional Officer (Civil) had to play an active role. And the response that I got from all, especially SDO (Civil) Chopal, Gohar, Bhoranj, Dalhousie, RTO Mandi and Isha, a fresher, was encouraging. The session ended as fruitful exchange of ideas. Fairlawns, where HIPA situates, is picturesque. I believe that it has the thickest foliated Weeping Willow tree in Shimla (See Photo). Weeping Willow with drooping branches is believed to have flourished in ancient Babylon some 3000 years ago, that is why its botanical name is Salix Babylonica. It travelled to London, Hampton Court in 1690. The legend is that the tree is supposed to have let droop its branches since 597 BCE when the Jews were made captives in Babylon after the attacks of Nebuchadnezzar. It is unfortunate that such an attractive tree has since been associated with sorrow and grief in the western world. The phrase ‘to wear the willow’ means going in mourning, especially for a sweetheart or bride, to bewail a lost lover. The desi name for the tree is Majnu, the lover with dishevelled hair lopping over his forehead and mad after Laila. Weeping Willow was introduced in Shimla around 1821. One dentist O’ Meara lived in Ravenswood, the cottage, where stands the present High Court building. His uncle Dr Barry O’Meara was a medical attendant to Napoleon on exile to St. Helena. When the exiled emperor died there, the doctor knowing his liking for the tree, planted one near his grave and sent cuttings of that to O’Meara here. Those cuttings are said to be the mothers of all Weeping Willows in Shimla and around.
Tailpiece
Having disturbed sleep? Researchers have found that for each cigarette smoked total sleep time decreased by 1.2 minutes.
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Mind Scan Art group to provide platform to budding artists In a new initiative to popularise art and provide a platform to the budding artists to showcase their talent, Mind Scan Art, a group formed by local artists, held a fortnight-long event during which a bouquet of painting and sculpture exhibitions were organised at the Gaiety Theatre.
There were four group shows of painting and sculpture exhibitions and works of children, women, amateur artists, students and professional artists from different parts of India were showcased. A corner was devoted to paper-cutting work of Baniprosonno in the Tiny Creators section. General secretary of Mind Scan Art Susheel said the organisation was formed with a broader objective of promoting art, literature and culture and its activities would be gradually extended to other areas. The show, dedicated to women artists, aimed at empowering women in the field of art which had 16 participants. The third show was for the students of the Visual Art Department of Himachal Pradesh University in which there were five participants while the fourth showcased the works of founder members of Mind Scan Painters, Susheelsushi, Dharmender Thakur and Chaman Thakur. A number of paintings were sold during the event and the buyers were mostly foreigners from England, Germany, Scotland, Switzerland and Norway. The senior-most artists whose works were exhibited included Sanat Kumar Chatterjee, Baniprosonno, Baldev Gambhir, Pranam Singh, Ram Viranjan, Him Chatterjee, Chaman Sharma, Amit Dutt, Nand Lal Thakur, Ram Viranjan and Jai. Language of music
The Himachal Institute of Public Administration (HIPA) took an initiative to promote classical music in its purest form by inviting sitar maestro Ustad Nishat Khan to perform. Ever eager to reach out to new audiences to popularise classical music by communicating in the language of music through his sitar, the Ustad obliged the audience with a scintillating performance. A nephew of Ustad Vilayat Khan, who resided in Pari Mahal in Shimla for some time, Ustad Nishat Khan regaled the audience with his haunting strains of Raag Yaman, Nand Kalyan and Bhatiali. He was accompanied on the Tabla by Ashfaq Khan. The probationers were actively involved in organising the event which was anchored skilfully by Squadron Leader Manmohan Singh (retd) from nearby village Baldeyan. The audience was delighted to have the feast of music for the soul in addition to the daily dose of monotonous training. Ustad Nishat Khan was very touched by the warm welcome and response that he got from his audience. Earlier in April, the HIPA had in collaboration with SPICMACAY invited the Oscar nominee classical singer for the film ‘Life of Pi’, Bombay Jayashree to perform at the Gaiety Theatre.
Purchases for Diwali
People have been generally grumbling about rising prices for the past some time but yet they did extensive purchasing during the festival season, especially on Diwali. Markets were flooded with several brands of household items and other articles and of course the shoppers were also in abundance. While shopkeepers did brisk business and people made huge purchases, both were found blaming price rise for low business and poor purchasing. The bankers remained on their toes during these days as they had to load currency in ATMs several times due to heavy withdrawals for shopping. With so much economic activity it never looked if price rise had dampened the spirits of people. A leader of the ruling party commented that price rise was only a bogey created by opposition parties and price rise was no issue. However, the common people here are not convinced with this argument as they experienced the heat of price rise, having no option but to somehow make purchases for Diwali. (Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi and DP Gupta)
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High Court Circuit Bench demanded for Kangra
Kangra, November 5 Himal Chand said it was decided to join the Bar Associations of Sarkaghat, Jogindernagar, Gohar and Sundernagar of Mandi district in appreciating the historic decision taken by the Chief Justice of the HP HC. The KDBA also resolved support to Bharat Bushan, chairperson, Mandi Bar Association, for setting up of a Circuit Bench of the HP HC at Mandi. For district Kangra, it should be set up in Kangra, oldest court of the district, which must be well connected by all modes of transport, it added. Puri said it was not important where the steps were initiated, but more important was who initiated this revolutionary step for the poorest of poor and when. He said nearly 400 cases were shifted to Nurpur from Dharamsala, which would certainly help litigants. Puri said in the initial stages it was decided that the courts would be opened at the subdivision having a pendency of more than 200 cases in the area. As the decision was in public interest, the camp courts were ordered to be conducted at all subdivisions and places having judicial courts of Judicial Magistrate First Class, he said. More than 500 members of the seven Bar Associations of this district lauded the decision of the Chief Justice and claimed that they were qualified and competent to deal with these cases in the circuit courts. Nearly 2,500 cases were shifted to seven circuit courts of this district from Dharamsala, which included 857 cases to Kangra, 700 to Palampur and nearly 400 to Nurpur, Himal Chand disclosed.
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INTUC challenges ‘one man one post’ directive
Bilaspur, November 5 While talking to mediapersons here recently, Roop Singh said the INTUC was not an appendage or parental property of the state Congress. He said he would oppose Congress candidates in the next state Parliamentary elections if the state Congress president insisted on removal of Baba from any occupied posts. He said the INTUC was a trade union and a separate organisation with its own constitution under which Baba was elected the state president. The Congress had its own constitution and Sukhwinder Singh should desist from pressurising Baba for resigning from one of the two posts, he added. | Roop Singh said the state INTUC would never tolerate any such action.The INTUC did support the Congress, but this support should not be taken for granted. It should not be assumed that it can be dictated or directed for anything by its leaders for whatever they wanted, he added. He said Baba was appointed chairman of the state Building Construction and Labour Board by the Chief Minister, which was his prerogative. Sukhwinder Singh could not ask Baba to resign as he was not given this post by the Congress party. He said on one hand INTUC national president G Sanjiva Reddy had asked the state INTUC unit to support the Congress in elections and on the other hand Congress president was seeking confrontation with the state INTUC by snatching one of the posts from its state president. Roop Singh was supported by Dharam Singh Sehgal , Kashmir Singh, Biri Singh Kainth, Anil, Jagtar Singh Bains, Chotta Ram, Prem Lal Bhatiya, Champa Thakur, Pushpa Nadda and several other district leaders.
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Marketing training programme for self-help groups held
Chamba, November 5 The training emphasised on how to get more demand for SHGs' produce. This training programme was targeted at SHG members and community organisers regarding their behaviour, decisiveness, resolution and follow-up that were required from them while selling, as marketing is critical for SHGs' success. The marketing principles are the same for everyone and every product, but the techniques and style vary according to area, market place and business. The future is looking brighter for the SHG business in Chamba district. The marketing skills are vital to enable the SHGs to be more productive. When the SHGs are well-versed with selling skills, they get higher performing businesses. The SHGs were told by the Project Director, DWDA, to increase the quality and specifications of their produce as per the customer and market demand. They were taught to be more innovative to meet the demand of modern customer with respect to the packing and presentation, product quality, thereby increasing their competitiveness. This way if selling and marketing of the SHGs produce is good, their microenterprise will become the engine room of rural economy and the community organisers marketing group, who will coordinate the sales, will be the fuel that makes that engine perform. The two-day training was held here with the help of district community organiser Vikas Sharma and concluded successfully with a brainstorming session and their readiness to capture the Diwali market by introducing SHGs products.
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members who had paid about Rs 1.20 lakh as membership are a worried lot about their status and investment after the takeover of the Dharamsala international cricket stadium by the state government.
Mandi, November 5
old and unproductive record, unnecessarily occupying the office working space, causing potential threat from termites spreading to the other record in use and to ward off potential fire danger, the office staff of Chamba Forest Circle worked restlessly, foregoing Sunday, and weeded out the record of more than 367 files (a tempo full) under the supervision of ARM Reddy, Chief Conservator of Forests
(CCF), Chamba, and the Divisional Forest Officer (Headquarters).
The circle was once the Ravi Forest Division under the Punjab state and the Deputy Conservator of Forests was drawing a salary of Rs 500 per month in the 1870s. Already many of the files were damaged by termites, hence were disposed of after adopting the proper procedure, Reddy said.
Entitled as Art Fever-1 the event saw works of upcoming artists displayed alongside the artistic creations of some famous artists from across the country. In all works of 52 artists were exhibited and the event was inaugurated by well-known octogenarian artist Baniprosonno whose works were specially included for display to motivate young artists.
Director of the HIPA Purnima Chauhan said it was a new but pleasant experience for the faculty, staff and probationers and trainees from the IAS, HAS, Indian Economic Services and other fields.