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Natural disasters
Government grants one-year extension to employees
Experts press for organic farming
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Govt to provide safe buses: Bali
JP cement’s Bagha plant operating without consent
No impact on glaciers due to growth: Experts
Industrial promotion cell formed: Minister
MBBS course at ESIC college in limbo
New initiative
Shimla summer fest from June1
Hundreds take part in Manali bandh
4 held in schoolteacher murder case
Car driver killed in Chamba road mishap
Basic facilities sought in HPU library
Hamirpur temple to lodge FIR over ration pilferage
4 injured as car falls into gorge
House gutted
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Upgrade warning system: IMC
Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service
Shimla, May 28 “Considering our vulnerability to such natural disasters, it is imperative that we ensure accuracy, timely dissemination and location specific information so that loss of human life can be minimised through prompt action,” he stressed. Sharma was here to attend a workshop on snow avalanche and flood hazards organised by the State Centre on Climate Change, here today. He said following last year’s catastrophe, the government had decided to install three radars at Mussoorie, Uttarkashi and Nainital. “These will be of great help and with their range being pretty huge, it will help us to monitor even parts of Kinnaur, Shimla and Sirmaur districts,” he said. Each radar is expected to cost over Rs 5 crore. He said with the latest equipment available, it was possible to predict weather on an hourly basis. “For three continuous days before heavy rain and floods in Kedarnath on June 16, we had been sending alerts to the district administration and other authorities concerned asking them to stop the yatra,” he said. He said it was pony owners who dissuaded people from discontinuing the pilgrimage and said such alerts were sent every year. As a precautionary measure, he suggested that the government must now allow construction along the riverside, sea and high mountains as in case of a habitation existing, the damage to human life would be colossal. He said scientists must be very vocal in giving suggestions and ensure there is an integrated approach to this issue. He stressed even as various agencies were engaged in monitoring and predicting extreme weather events, lack of its timely dissemination and adoption of an integrated approach causes problems. “The data being generated by any agency and anywhere in the world must be made compatible as atmosphere and weather have no boundaries,” he stated. He said all such loopholes need to be plugged so that there can be prompt action on the early alerts generated through warning systems. Sharma also stressed the need for devising traditional means of communication as total dependence on modern communication could create problems due to problem of accessibility and technical snags. Speaking on the occasion, Tarun Sridhar, Principal Secretary, Environment, Forest and Revenue, said he would keenly await the recommendations of the workshop so that these can be acted upon and included in the policy decision by the government. He said such seminars and workshops could be useful only if the findings were conveyed and acted upon by the agencies concerned. Steps taken
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Government grants one-year extension to employees
Shimla, May 28 On an average, about 6,500 government employees retire annually and by granting one-year extension in service to its employees, the government will be able to save Rs 300 crore. As per the notification issued here today, anyone keen to continue in service will have to fill up a form and submit it to the government. Interestingly, the issue of the notification today has made it clear that those employees who are due to retire on May 31, will be entitled to this one-year extension in service. The government, which is facing a severe financial crisis, is finding it difficult to pay salaries to the tune of over Rs 550 crore per month to its 2.50 lakh employees. The liability on account
of salary and pensionary burden has exceeded Rs 10,000 crore annually. The recent grant of dearness allowance (DA) has further compounded the problem of the government. The various employees association are, however, demanding that instead of making it an extension of one year till the age of 59 years, the government should have enhanced the retirement age to 59 if not 60. They say making it an extension and not enhancement could lead to pick and choose. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has time and again blamed the previous BJP regime for the financial mess in which the state government has landed. He said Himachal was given a very unfair grant by the 13th Finance Commission which has resulted in the loss of Rs 15,000 crore. |
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Experts press for organic farming
Dharamsala, May 28 KK Katoch, Vice-Chancellor, CSK HP Agriculture University, said this while inaugurating a two-day national seminar on organic agriculture at Palampur today. Addressing over 100 delegates from all over the country, the VC underlined the need to develop techniques for hi-tech organic agriculture without compromising on quality. The Vice-Chancellor said organic agriculture had gained ground all over the world and was very popular in European countries. In India too, commendable work had been done in the past one decade. “Keeping in view the adverse effects of climate change on crop production, this type of farming can be of immense help to small and marginal farmers, especially in the hills and mountains," he said. He appreciated the efforts of the university’s Organic Agriculture Department and asked experts to help farmers produce more organic food for consumers’ health. AK Yadav, president, International Competence Centre on Organic Agriculture, said: “Around half a million Indian farmers are engaged in organic agriculture. Tea, basmati rice, medicinal and spice crops, cotton, honey etc are major items produced organically in the country. A total of 12 states have drafted policies and four states have declared the intention to go 100 per cent organic.” He talked about the possibilities of opening some centres of excellence in organic agriculture and introduction of some diploma courses in organic agriculture for capacity building. Some dedicated organic retail outlets, including restaurants, had become functional in some metros, he added. JC Rana, Director of Agriculture, HP, said the efforts of the government to involve more and more farmers in organic agriculture were on. SP Sharma, Director, Research, said it had been proved that there was no significant decrease in the crop yields in organic agriculture. JP Saini, Head, Organic Agriculture Department-cum-Organising Secretary, said 25,000 registered farmers were producing organic crops. Sanjay Chadha and representatives of the Tea Board of India, National Horticulture Board, among others also spoke on the occasion. A souvenir and some books were also released by the chief guest on the occasion. |
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New policy to look into passengers’ safety soon
Shimla, May 28 The lack of passengers' safety in public and
private transport buses was exposed in a spate of mishaps that occurred recently, including the one that occurred on Monday near Balghar on the Theog-Neri road, killing 14 persons. As many as 350 condemned HRTC buses run on narrow roads in rural areas and new buses are not available, passengers rued. They said the HRTC has a fleet of 2,200 buses, but their maintenance and repair was pathetic. Better buses ran on long routes and preferably in key ministers’ areas even if the passenger load was not much, while others get "khatara" buses. “Most buses stink as these are hardly washed. It is a nightmare to travel in private or public transport,” Yogesh Kumar, an accident victim said. There are no proper timings as the buses run behind schedule which results in overcrowding and over speeding as drivers are in a hurry to reach the next station, one of the victims said. RN Batta, HRTC Managing Director, admitted that passengers’ safety and proper monitoring were some of the challenges, but said the corporation never ran condemned buses and all 350 of these were being auctioned. “We make sure that drivers and conductors ensure the safety of passengers and avoid overloading and taking risk on narrow roads,” he said. Batta said, the HRTC was putting in place a mechanism to improve safety and time schedule that would avoid overcrowding. “We will add a fleet of 1,300 new buses soon. A total of 815 buses are being added under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission and we will allot new buses as per the norms and requirement. Besides, we are running 50 Volvo buses in the state,” he said. On the other, most private operators refuse to run their buses in rural areas as the condition of roads remains pitiable. “The buses are designed as per the standards, but manufacturers need to address this issue as well as the road condition and sharp curves remain major risk factors,” they said. Passengers’ safety prime concern: Minister
Transport Minister GS Bali said: “Passengers’ safety is of prime concern. There are other factors such as bad roads and black spots, which need greater coordination between the Transport Department and the PWD. The new transport policy will address issues of maintenance and repair, proper cleaning, comfort and overloading in transport. We will challan buses, which are not cleaned or maintained properly.” |
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Govt to provide safe buses: Bali
Shimla, May 28 Inaugurating a two-day conference on workshop management and ICT application in transport organised by the HRTC here, Bali said the purpose was to bridge a gap between manufacturers and consumers and improve transport services. A close coordination between technology providers and the corporation was important to remove bottlenecks in public transport and manufacturers should interact with the HRTC field staff who should understand their basic requirements and accordingly incorporate changes in the system, he added. He said the Centre had sanctioned Rs 289 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for the purchase of 800 buses. About Rs 70 crore would be spent on the upgrade of workshops and the HRTC was introducing 500 new buses out of which 330 buses had already been added to the fleet of the HRTC, he added. He said HRTC had improved kilometre per litre (KMPL) yield from 3.51 km/litre in August, 2013, to 3.67 km/litre in May 2014. He directed the corporation to ensure that directions for maintenance of cleanliness inside the buses be displayed within a month's time. HRTC Managing Director RN Batta said the HRTC was working overtime to provide better services to its commuters and trying hard to increase its revenues. The presentations would be given by Tata Motors Ltd, Trimax, Swaraj Majda Isuzu Ltd and VECV Ltd during the workshop. K Sanjay Murthy, Principal Secretary, Transport, Ritesh Chauhan, Director, Transport, board of directors of the HRTC and other officials attended the workshop. |
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JP cement’s Bagha plant operating without consent
Solan, May 28 Under the provisions of the Air Act, 1981, and Water Act, 1974, an entrepreneur running or establishing any industry or process, and discharging effluent/emitting pollutants into any water resources or on land/air and polluting, thereby, the environmental water/air is required to obtain this consent. It is given for a period of two years as the industrial unit falls under the hazardous red category. This means the unit is discharging hazardous waste far above its capacity, thus causing environmental pollution. The state of affairs of its pollution mitigation is evident from the fact that two air samples drawn from the unit by officials of the HPSPCB in April and another sample in December last year had failed to comply with the ambient air quality norms and even the noise sample drawn in April this year has failed to comply with the prescribed norms, reveal sources in the board. Despite these violations, the board management has failed to initiate any action against the plant till now. The Industries Department has, however, woken up to check the irregularities and it has sought a report from the departments concerned like such as HPSPCB, electricity, mining, excise and taxation, etc, after it was known that the unit had been producing clinker much above the approved capacity ever since it was set up in March 2010. Confirming the news, Director, Industries, Rajinder Singh said they had written to all departments concerned about the irregularity and would initiate an action after receipt of their report. According to the findings of a report available with the Industries Department, the unit was authorised to manufacture 2.54 metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) of cement and 2.05 MTPA clinker. Its clinker production had, however, exceeded the approved limit and it produced 2.27 MTPA in 2010-2011, 2.29 MTPA in 2011-2012 and 2.97 MTPA in 2012-2013. |
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No impact on glaciers due to growth: Experts
Shimla, May 28 In a pilot project study sponsored by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), glaciologists, space scientists and environmental scientists have come up with a finding that 2,208 glaciers studied and monitored by them were steady for the past 10 years. Dr Milap Chand Sharma, professor, Glaciology Geomorphology, Centre for Regional Development (CRD), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi, who hails from Lahaul-Spiti, said: “As many as 86 per cent glaciers, including those in Kashmir and Ladakh in Zanskar, Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur, Garhwal and Sikkim, are steady and have shown no signs of receding for the past 10 years.” The study was conducted jointly by the CRD, JNU, Indian Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad, GB Pant Institute for Himalayan Environment and Development, Garhwal, J&K universities, HP Council for Science, Technology from 2001 to 2012. It was published in Current Science in March 2014. It concluded that the developed world was pushing its agenda though the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was forcing India to either import expensive “green technology” or "reverse development”. Sharing the findings of the study with The Tribune, Dr Milap Chand, who was on his way to Lahaul-Spiti, said: “The study has ascertained that it is wrong to put the blame of climate change or global warming on India’s industrial and economic growth.” "Even big glaciers such as Bara Shigri and Chhota Shigri and Gangotri glaciers have retreated marginally over the past 10 years. The Gangotri glacier has retreated by 740 m in the past 100 years. But it is a natural process and there is no alarm,” he said.
Dr Milap was involved in the study of Kangla, Mayad, Bara Shighri, Chhota Shigri, Gangstang, Sonapani, Perad, Mulkila, Daka and Lady of Keylong glaciers in Lahual-Spiti. “There is no significant sign of carbon footprints in the glaciers as these are out of human activity and even small glaciers have increased their size in many cases,” he said. |
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Industrial promotion cell formed: Minister
Una, May 28 Agnihotri said the department had documented booklets and presentations, explaining why Himachal Pradesh should be one of the most favoured destinations for industrialists in the country. The minister said departmental officials had been directed to organise investor’s meets in different parts of the country and market unique features of Himachal Pradesh with respect to industrialisation. Replying to a question, Agnihotri said as the Industry Minister, he was eager to maintain cordial relations with the Union Commerce Ministry. The minister said he would put forward the problems being faced by industrialists in the hill state and request that the minimum standards of land requirements fixed for setting up industrial corridors be relaxed
for hill states. Hike in daily wages
The Industry Minister said the department Wednesday issued notification to increase the daily wages to Rs 170. He said this was stated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh during his Budget speech and was also a promise made by the Congress. He said the increase would be effective from April 1,
2014, for government daily wagers. |
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MBBS course at ESIC college in limbo
Mandi, May 28 The MCI team, which inspected the college building and the Zonal Hospital, Mandi, has found several deficiencies pertaining to infrastructure, faculty and facilities at the Zonal Hospital. Not satisfied with the infrastructure and facilities, the MCI team has asked the ESIC Medical College authorities to rectify the deficiencies pointed out by the team before granting its approval to start the first session. The college building lacks electricity connection, furniture and library. The laboratory equipment are still being installed and will take some time before completion. The MCI team was also not satisfied with the facilities at the Zonal Hospital, Mandi, which is being linked with the ESIC Medical College. Medical facilities like operation theatre, casualty and anaesthesia departments have not been found as per the norms. Dr DS Dhiman, Dean, ESIC Medical College, said, “We are trying to improve the infrastructure, facilities and rectify other lapses pointed out by the MCI team and soon invite the MCI team to seek its approval to begin the session this year.” |
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Boards to display jurisdiction of police stations
Tribune News Service
Shimla, May 28 The district police will put up boards at various places for displaying the information about the jurisdiction at boundary separating the areas under two police stations and people will be able to know the police station and the person to contact in case of emergency. As many as 13 boards would be displayed at the boundaries, highlighting the police station under which the area falls, phone numbers and helplines. The initiative would be of great help to the people , especially tourists, who are not familiar with the area and have to run from pillar to post to report the incidents of crime in absence of any directions or indicators to locate the police station. The district police have also decided to put 16 new boards in all police stations which could be read from a distance. The entire projected is sponsored by Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN).
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3-day state Olympics for special children ends
Mandi, May 28 “Special children are an integral part of our society and every effort should be made to provide them education and sports facilities to live a better and honourable life,” the DC said. He said the state government was providing many facilities for their overall development. A cultural programme was also presented by the children on the occasion. |
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Shimla summer fest from June1
Shimla, May 28 Addressing a press conference here today, Deputy Commissioner Dinesh Malhotra said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh would inaugurate the festival on June 1. He said Governor Urmila Singh would be the chief guest at the closing ceremony. The star attraction on the opening day this year would be a performance by Coke Studio artistes, including Clinton Cerejo and Sonu Kakkar. The second day would be completely dedicated to Himachali artistes, including Kuldeep Sharma and other local performers. The DC said: "No doubt the main reason for not having big names from the film and glamour world performing here is fund constraint, but we are also keen on encouraging local performers, who will get an opportunity to showcase their talent on such a big platform.” He said the budget for the festival was around Rs 40 lakh, including contributions from government and private sector. Major attractions
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Hundreds take part in Manali bandh
Kullu, May 28 They resented the move of the district administration to enforce the National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders. The matter will now be heard on June 24. Manali SDM Viney Dhiman said the matter was resolved by having a discussion with public representatives after which the situation was normalised. The agitators were accompanied by the local MLA and members of many associations and unions associated with the tourism industry, besides people of nine villages affected by the NGT orders. The administration had relaxed the number of vehicles to go beyond Gulaba and now 400 vehicles in two separate lots were being allowed to visit the snow point, as the parking facility in Marhi was functional. The ban on commercial activities beyond Kothi was, however, still existent.
— OC |
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4 held in schoolteacher murder case
Shimla, May 28 Shimla SP Abhishek Dhullar said a property dispute with neighbours led to Sushma’s murder. She was shot dead at her residence at Banoti near Jutogh, 10 km from here. During the course of investigations, the police gathered vital information about the dispute and the police zeroed in on four suspects, Pratap Singh (37) of Banoti village and his aide Vinod Kumar (24), Sanklap Goel ((19) and Mita Ram (22). During the investigations, they reportedly confessed to the crime. The police also recovered the .32 unlicensed pistol and one live cartridge used in the crime from the native place of Pratap Singh at Panti village, 8 km from the spot of the crime. The accused had wrapped the cartridge in a cloth (chunni) and buried it in the ground at the root of a tree and covered it with stones. The live cartridge recovered from the pistol was similar to those
recovered from the residence of the deceased. The pistol was procured from Uttar Pradesh, police sources said. Accused Pratap Singh, neighbour of the deceased, had a land dispute with Sushma’s family as he had allegedly encroached upon some government land and the family was one of the complainants. He was issued a summons to demolish the construction on the encroached land on
May 19. The sources claimed that Pratap had confessed that he, along with his three friends, came from Solan on May 21 after attending a function and had an altercation with the deceased which led to her being shot dead. The police had registered a case under Sections 302 and 452 of the Indian Penal Code, and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act, against unknown persons on the complaint of the husband of the accused on May 21. |
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Car driver killed in Chamba road mishap
Chamba, May 28 Giving this information here today, Superintendent of Police (SP) DK Chaudhary said the deceased had been identified as Ravi Kumar, car driver. The injured, Anil Kumar, had been rushed to a Chamba hospital for treatment, the SP said. A case had been registered at the Chamba police station in which it was stated that the accident occurred due to the negligence of the driver.
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Basic facilities sought in HPU library
Shimla, May 28 In a memorandum submitted to the registrar, they demanded the installation of CCTV cameras, increased seating arrangements in the general reading room, facility of internet LAN connection, charging points, computerisation of the library management system and addition of new books in the library. Though the university received a grant of ~35 lakh for the library from the UGC, it still lacked basic facilities and the money was being diverted to other areas, they rued. |
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Hamirpur temple to lodge FIR over ration pilferage
Hamirpur, May 28 The employee said he had been ordered to deliver the rations at a particular place. Badsar SDM-cum-chairperson of the trust Sonia Thakur said, “We are collecting information and will lodge an FIR in the case.” |
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4 injured as car falls into gorge
Palampur, May 28 When they reached near the temple, the car driver failed to negotiate a sharp curve and it rolled down into the gorge. They were shifted to the Civil Hospital. Later, one of the injured was referred to the DrPGMC at Tanda. Palampur Tehsildar Manoj Kumar visited the injured and provided them financial assistance. — OC |
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House gutted
Palampur, May 28 The police said the owner of the house had lost all his belongings along with Rs 30,000. The loss estimate was put at Rs 7 lakh. The Jaisinghpur tehsildar visited the spot and provided financial assistance to the owner. He said a detailed estimate of the loss was being prepared so that more compensation could be given. |
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