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Sight scan radar also fails to find bodies
Victims' kin lose hope, to return
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Victims kin oppose prayer meeting
Minister talks tough on illegal mining
CM praises Red Cross Society
Brace yourself for harrowing holiday in Shimla
HPU in deep financial crisis
Agriculture varsity pensioners on the warpath
Students oppose HPU fee hike
State eyes firm for generic medicines
Hopper attack hits mango crop
13,000 trees likely to face axe in Una
4 state-produced drugs termed sub-standard
CM for scaling up health sector
One killed, 10 hurt in road mishaps in Nurpur
Foetus dies after mother gets beaten up
VIGNETTES
Producers oppose proposed levy on power generation
3-day reform programme concludes at sub jail
Formulate service policy, say computer teachers
Accused in rape case nabbed
Tourist killed in mishap
One dies in road mishap
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Sight scan radar also fails to find bodies
Pandoh (Mandi), June 15 The authorities today used sight scan radar to carry deep-water search in the 5-km area of the Pandoh dam by using multi-beam sonar technology to locate the bodies without success. Search teams have recovered eight bodies of the victims from the Pandoh dam and the Beas during the past week by using services of various agencies such as the NDRF, the SSB, the ITBP, deep sea divers from the Navy, besides police personnel and local divers, but have not recovered a body for the past two days. The massive search operation on Saturday by minimising the water level in the 3.5-km stretch in the Beas by controlling the water in Parvati II and the Larji dam has failed to yield results. Relatives of the victims, Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana M Chinna Rajappa, a few MPs from Telangana and the presence of ministers from the state government have created a lot of pressure on the authorities. Going by the past accidents record, the recovery of bodies in the Pandoh dam and the Beas has been a problem and is not that easy. In 2000, five family members of LIC officer Sur Chand travelling in his Maruti car going to his native place in Lahaul-Spiti had fallen into the Pandoh dam near Hanogi, but only one body was recovered. In 2003, 13 passengers travelling in a bus fell in the dam, but only two bodies could be recovered and 11 could never be traced. “The major reason for not finding the victims in the river of the dam is massive deposits of silt and chilling water,” tell experts. “Many times, the bodies, settled in the bottom of the dam, come up in a natural course and found floating in the dam or downstream,” they say. |
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Victims' kin lose hope, to return
Pandoh (Mandi), June 15 But no body was recovered during this operation. Similarly, the use of a site scan radar through which an area of 5 km was searched also failed to find trace of any body. A parent said, “We have been camping here since Monday and staying back for all of us is not possible. So some of us have decided to return while others will stay back.” Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana M Chinna Rajappa has also returned after holding a meeting with the authorities. Home Minister of Telangana N Narsimha Reddy camping here since Monday will return tomorrow and be replaced by another minister from the state. DC, Mandi, Devesh Kumar said, “We held a meeting with the relatives of the victims today and told them about the efforts put in by the authorities in searching the bodies and some of them have decided to go back, while others will stay here.” He said, “We searched 5-km area of the dam by using site scan radar and continue the scanning and search operation tomorrow.” |
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Victims kin oppose prayer meeting
Pandoh (Mandi), June 15 "He was trying to incite the parents against the management of the VNR Vignana College of Engineering and Technology,
Hyderabad, which was opposed by us,” a relative of a student said. “The preacher is running an institute and is,
perhaps, doing this due to professional rivalry," said a parent. |
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Govt fails to check link roads to river
Shimla/Larji, June 15 The PWD, national highway wing, blames illegal link roads to the riverbed of the Beas, saying these links lead to the cremation grounds and are used by nearby villages. The link road, which led the 24 Hyderabad students to the Beas riverbed on Sunday, is used by locals as a path to the cremation and dumping grounds. But these roads and rafting paths are a boon for the mining mafia to extract sand and boulders used in nearby stone crushers, revealed inquiries from locals. This is not the only illegal link from the national highway leading to the Beas and the Tirthan riverbeds, being protected as an exclusive trout habitat. The mining is banned as all waste land is considered as the forest land, said the officials. Raft operators, whose number has soared to over 500 in the Beas from Jhiri to Katrain, have made their treks both sides of the river to rope in tourists for the rafting joyrides. But the highway authorities are facing problem putting up signboards as these are removed by locals, said Vikram Mehta, Executive Engineer, NH-21. Locals were aware of the dry zone stretches of the Beas, but outsiders were not aware about the water discharge from the dam site, he added. |
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Minister talks tough on illegal mining
Shimla, June 15 The minister, who visited the dam site near Thalot in Mandi district today to take stock of the ongoing search operation, said it should be ensured that daily wagers were getting the minimum daily wages of Rs 170 which had been implemented from April 1, 2014. Agnihotri said the state government was making every possible effort to trace the bodies of the missing students. He directed the Public Works and Forest Departments and the Larji project management to close all link roads constructed to carry out illegal mining in the Beas within seven days. He also gave directions to the Larji project management to ban dumping within the limits of the project areas. |
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CM praises Red Cross Society
Shimla, June 15 This was stated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh here yesterday, while speaking on the closing ceremony of the annual Red Cross Fair, organised here by the Himachal Pradesh Red Cross Hospital Welfare Society. The Chief Minister gave a clarion call to people to become members of the Red Cross.
— TNS |
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Brace yourself for harrowing holiday in Shimla
Shimla, June 15 Barring the climate and cool breeze, the town has nothing novel to offer. Hotels in the main town are packed as people from the plains are making a beeline to the Queen of Hills to beat the heat. Tourist vehicles are virtually mobbed by touts as soon as you enter the town. “All hotels are full, but we will get you accommodation,” they try to convince tourists and take them to hotels where no accommodation is available and finally land them up in a hotel, with which they have a tie-up. Most of these touts are not registered and work on commission basis. Telecom companies have dug up roads for laying cables during the peak season and parking has become a headache. Ashish Avasthi, a tourist from Delhi, said: “I came to Shimla with my family, including my aged mother. Since she has problem walking, I decided to stay near the Mall Road. To our surprise, an ordinary room cost me Rs 6,000 per day. Not only this, the hotel charged Rs 500 per night extra for providing a heater.” "My holidays in Shimla were terrible," said Anindita Sen, who spent thousands for just a day’s stay for which she had to literally beg for water. “I have small kids. What will I do without water?” she said, adding that they were supplied half-filled bucket to answer the call of nature. Another angry tourist was seen fighting with the parking people at the lift, who gave him a slip of Rs 50, but charged Rs 300 for a day. “There is no dearth of tourists looking for parking and if you want to park your vehicle shell out some money,” those at the parking site told him. Thousands of outside vehicles are parked along the road as no parking space is available and tourists are being issued challans. “Where do we park our cars? Are we supposed to bring our parking along with us?" said Nazir in an angry tone. Mohinder Kumar Seth, president, Tourism Industry Stakeholders Welfare Society, said: “The Shimla MC is neither maintaining a regular water supply nor informing us about the availability of water. Hoteliers are forced to purchase water at the rate of Rs 1,500 for 5,000 litres, but that too is not available as the number of tankers is far too less than the number of hotels craving for water. The tourist and hotel industry is being harassed.” |
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HPU in deep financial crisis
Shimla, June 15 The university liabilities have mounted due to the revision of pay scales of teachers and employees. The total income of the university, including government funding and its own resource generations is short on the committed liabilities on salaries and pensions. Also the university has not fully paid the retirement benefits to teachers who retired last year, while 14 more teachers are due to retire on June 30 next. The situation has become so grim that the entire HPU Executive Council, led by Vice-Chancellor (VC) ADN Bajpai, called on Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh recently to apprise him of the situation. The CM, however, gave some assurance and also told the VC to mobilise some resources, adding that the government would also do its bit. Principal Secretaries of Finance and Education Departments are members of the Executive Council, but strangely they too were not aware of the financial crisis gripping HPU and have done nothing to bail out the premium institution completing 44 years in July. The salaries of the employees are increasing by 20 to 23 per cent every year, but there is no mechanism to enhance the statutory grants proportionately and the government has been increasing the grants in an ad hoc manner. The government grant was Rs 63 crore in 2011-12, but during 2012-13 the government released an additional grant of Rs 18 crore and Rs 8 crore to meet the liabilities and the total funding was about Rs 90 crore during the election year. However, the grant was not regularised during 2013-14 and just increased to Rs 69 crore and remained at the same level during the current year, creating a serious financial crisis. The HPU authorities mooted a fee hike to mobilise resources, but the decision was put on hold due to stiff opposition from students. The opening of private universities and Himachal Technical University has seriously dented the income of HPU as a large number of colleges and technical colleges have been disaffiliated from the university. The university has demanded that the budgetary support to the university be raised to Rs 120 crore to meet the present liabilities and fill 565 vacant posts, including 232 posts of teachers and 333 of non-teaching staff, for the implementation of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA). It further demanded a corpus fund of Rs 200 crore for the regular payment of pension to retired employees, failing which the pensioners would not get the pension and other retirement dues. “The university has also prepared its Vision-2020 document but it will remain on papers as its implementation will require Rs 150 crore,” says Waryam Singh, a representative of non-teaching staff in the Executive Council. “The situation is so grim that the payment to teachers and non-teaching employees, who retired between 2009 and 2014, on account of gratuity, leave encashment, pension commutation and medical reimbursement bills are pending and the total liability is Rs 63 crore which is equivalent to the grant released by the government,” he said. The bottlenecks
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Agriculture varsity pensioners on the warpath
Palampur, June 15 The decision was taken at the meeting held here today. The association members said: “As per the Supreme Court decision, pension has been defined as deferred wage payable to a retired employee till his death as a matter of right under the Constitution of India.” They said as per the decision of the Bombay High Court, it was the prime obligation of the government to release the pension being his social security during old age as his right to survive. Due to the lack of proper planning and inept handling of financial grants, the pensioners of HP Agriculture University are on the brink of starvation. The employees who retired after 2010 have not received full payment of leave encashment and other benefits so far. Even death-cum-gratuity has not been paid to those who retired after March 2014. Over 1,000 non-teaching and teaching retirees have not been paid their pensions for the past four months. A senior officer of the HPAU said the pensions and other benefits of retired employees were not paid since the university had not received the financial grants from the state government. However, he failed to give a satisfactory reply as to how the university was managing to pay the salaries of its regular staff. Association president Dr Sushil Kumar Phull said: “Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has time-and-again claimed that there is no financial crunch in the state. Then why have our pensions been retained by the state government?” He also appealed to the HP High Court to initiate suo motu contempt petition against the university authorities who had already filed an affidavit before the High Court saying that they would make payments of pensions regularly. |
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Students oppose HPU fee hike
Shimla, June 15 In an open letter to the university authorities, the SCA suggested alternative ways to deal with the financial crisis, which had gripped HPU. It urged the university to apprise the state government of the current financial situation and press for an additional budget to meet the liabilities instead of passing on the burden to students. The SCA also asked the university to approach the Union Ministries of Agriculture, Information Technology, HRD, Science and Technology and other related ministries and funding agencies to seek grants. SCA secretary Piyush Sewal asked the Resource Mobilisation Committee of HPU, slated to meet tomorrow, to consider their suggestions. “The university authorities should also approach the University Grant Commission for an additional grant for providing different facilities. They should ensure that the grant is spent judiciously,” added the SCA leaders. They said research equipment available with the university like scanning electron microgram, electron dispersion X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction and atomic absorption spectrophotometer should be used. The association claimed that Rs 5 lakh could be earned monthly from the usage of this equipment. The SCA said rather than closing the ICDEOL centre in Noida, it should be used as a coaching academy offering discount to Himachalis. |
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State eyes firm for generic medicines
The Health and Family Welfare Department has got in touch with HLL for the medicines. To begin with, these subsidised medicines will be made available at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla, and Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (DRPGMC),Tanda. “The modalities are being worked out, but unless and until the entire range of generic medicines are made available in one go, there will be a problem in getting people used to taking generic medicines,” said Vineet Chawdhry, Additional Chief Secretary, Health. He said a software, which would provide the list of medicines with the same salt that could be prescribed, would also be made available. Health officials said the cost of providing subsidised generic medicines to patients at Tanda and IGMC would work out to be about Rs 3.50 crore annually. The department intended to gradually cover all the 12 district hospitals under the generic medicine coverage plan. In the absence of generic medicines at Jan Aushdi shops in hospitals, the experiment to provide inexpensive drugs to patients has not succeeded. Health officials said the Government of India too was contemplating a scheme to provide generic medicines free of cost to patients all over the country and in case that happened, the facility would be extended to patients in the state as well. Highlighting the reasons for the failure of Jan Aushdi shops in hospitals, doctors said when the entire regimen of drugs was not available, patients preferred to go to a chemist who had all the drugs available. “In case the entire regimen of drugs is made available, people will buy generic medicines and we too will not be forced to prescribe expensive medicines,” a doctor said. Vital targets The Health and Family Welfare Department has got in touch with HLL for the medicines. To begin with, these subsidised medicines will be made available at Indira Gandhi Medical College
(IGMC), Shimla, and Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (DRPGMC),Tanda. |
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Hopper attack hits mango crop
Nurpur, June 15 According to a rough estimate, the growers who did not follow a spray schedule from March to this month and failed to monitor their orchards have lost 80 to 100 per cent of their crop after the hopper attack. There are four horticulture development blocks, Nurpur, Indora, Fatehpur and Nagrota Surian, in lower Kangra district in which mango is being cultivated on around 17,000 hectares of land. Mango is the main cash crop in this bordering area. Heaps of dropped unripe mangoes can be seen in the orchards as a result of the attack. Some progressive growers, who had resorted to the recommended spray to check the attack, also complained of the recurrance of hopper attack. The growers who were unaware of the usage of insecticide are the worst sufferers in the area. JC Kanwar, Ved Pathania and TR Mahajan, progressive fruit growers of the area, underlined the need of the horticulture experts visiting the affected orchards and giving
guidance to the growers about warding off the mango hopper. They said the department should also organised field seminars to educate fruit growers about healthy fruit crops. Meanwhile, Dr SS Rana, Associate Director, Regional Horticulture Research Station, Jachh (Nurpur), said the growers were supposed to follow the spray schedule just after the appearance
of the mango hopper in their crop. "In order to check further generation of the hopper, which damages fresh shoots and leaves, the growers should spray insecticides like Monosil, Imidacloprid and Rogar immediately. The regular spray schedule starts from March to June to save mango crop from hopper attack. Apart from this, the crop requires a regular monitoring harvesting," he asserted.
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Pine tree waste causes forest fires
Dharamsala, June 15 However, it was controlled. But the situation is likely to be different if the fire breaks out in remote forest areas. In the past few years, forest wealth worth crores was damaged due forest fires in Dharamsala. The Forest Department had maintained that forest plantation worth Rs 27 crore was destroyed in the fires. Besides, the loss to the wildlife could not be calculated as forests in Dharamsala are home to rare and endangered spices such as white-backed vultures that are registered under the red data book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The basic cause of the forest fires in Dharamsala are the pine forests. These have come up in the middle Himalayan region in the last three decades. The Forest Department opted for pine trees in the forest region of the mid-Himalayas due to the high survival rate of the tree. Though the pine trees increased the forest cover, these also brought problems associated with introducing a foreign tree species in the area. Pine trees have a strong allelopathic effect. They suppressed the growth of local species of plants, including the grass undergrowth in the forests. The deposition of pine trees on the ground in forest area does not allow the growth of any other species. Besides, the dried-up pine-tree needles have a high combustion value. These easily catch fire that spreads across the entire area in which pine needles are lying. According to experts, the only solution to the problem is to slowly replace pine trees with trees of other indigenous varieties of trees. However, this is a long-term solution as it may take decades before the pine trees are replaced. As a short-term procedure, the department can outsource the work of removing the bio-waste of pine forests. Since the pine needles have high combustion value, a byproduct of these can be used as bio fuel. The state government should encourage the local industry that uses pine waste bio fuel or force the cement companies to use the pine based bio fuel in their kilns. This can also generate employment for locals as they will be encouraged to collect the pine-based bio fuel from the forest areas.
Solution
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13,000 trees likely to face axe in Una
Una, June 15 The state government has planned to bring up the IIIT at Saloh in Haroli. It is a prestigious Government of India institute that will focus on research in information technology (IT). The government has proposed to set up the institute on Horticulture Department land. The 300-kanal land earmarked for the purpose has been developed over a period of time by the Horticulture Department and now has about 6,000 fruit trees on it. It also has a nursery of the department that supplies fruit saplings to farmers of Una district. The Horticulture Department officials have written to the state government that the land should not be transferred for the construction of the IIIT. While talking to The Tribune, on the condition of anonymity, horticulture officials said the department had spent a large amount of funds to develop the land and grow fruit trees over it. Also, the area would lose about 6,000 green fruit trees, the officials alleged. The state has also planned to develop a new industrial area in Pandoga. As per a survey conducted by the Forest Department, there are about 7,000 trees on the land identified for developing the new industrial area. RK Dogra, Division Forest Officer, Una, while admitting that there were about 7,000 trees on the land, said it was a shrub forest and did not have any valuable variety of trees. The case for the diversion of the forest land identified for the industrial area would be sent to the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests for clearance, he said. Sources here said Una district had large tracks of barren land that could be used for the development of the IIIT or the industrial area. However, Industry Department officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the forest land identified for the industrial area was the only area where maximum government land was available in one chunk.
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Chail wettest in state, met predicts more rain
Shimla, June 15 While monsoon is likely to touch the state by June-end, the local MeT office has predicted rain and thundershowers at many places in the mid-hills over the next five days and lower and higher hills from June 17 onwards. Chail in Solan district was the wettest in the region with 54 mm rain, while Baldwara and Dharampur recorded 25 and 20 mm rain, followed by Shimla 17 mm, Solan 12 mm, Bilaspur and Nauni 11 mm, Sundernagar 7mm and Nahan 6 mm. The maximum temperatures rose by one degree at some places and Una was the hottest in the state with a high of 40.2°C, while Bhuntar and Sundernagar recorded maximum of 35.8°C and 34°C, followed by Nahan 32.6°C, Dharamsala 32.4°C, Solan 31.5°C, Kalpa 27.8°C and Shimla and Manali 27°C. There was no significant change in minimum temperatures and Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district was the coldest with a low of 7.1°C, while Kalpa, Shimla and Manali recorded a low of 21.4°C, 17°C and 12.8°C.
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4 state-produced drugs termed sub-standard
Solan, June 15 Of the 16 drugs which have failed to adhere to the laid norms, four have been manufactured in the state. Three of these drug units are based in Baddi while one is located at Paonta Sahib. These drugs include Diclofenac Sodium tablets, which failed the disintegration test after its samples were lifted by the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), South Zone, Chennai. They were declared sub-standard by the Central Drugs Testing Laboratory, Chennai. This drug was manufactured by a Baddi-based unit. Serratiopeptidase 10-mg tablet, manufactured by another Baddi-based unit, was also found to be sub-standard by the Regional Drug Testing Laboratory (RDTL), Chandigarh, after it samples were lifted by the CDSCO, North Zone. Another drug, CefpodoximeProxetil tablets, manufactured at Baddi, was also listed in the
drug alert as it failed dissolution test by the RDTL, Chandigarh. The most serious flaw, which has come to fore, pertains to Artfin 60-mg injection, manufactured by a Paonta Sahib-based manufacturer. It failed the sterility test. Its samples were tested at the Central Drug Testing Laboratory, Kolkata, by the CDSCO, North Zone. Though officials in the state can heave a sigh of relief that four drug samples have been listed in the drug alert, the state’s contribution to check sub-standard and spurious drugs manufactured by other states and being sold here appears to be nil. Not a single drug has ever been listed in the drug alert by the authorities ever since this system was introduced several months ago. Navneet Marwaha, Drug Controller, when quizzed said all such drug firms were issued notices and batches listed in the alert are directed to be immediately lifted from the markets by the manufacturers. He said they ensured that no sub-standard drug was sold in the market after being listed in the monthly drug alerts.
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CM for scaling up health sector
Shimla, June 15 The event was organised by the state chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA). He said the government would also introduce Mobile Diagnostics Units (MDUs) which would have facilities such as X-ray, ECG, ultrasound and pother lab services. The government was also providing free services for critical care under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram to all schoolchildren up to the age of 18. He complimented the Neurology Department of both medical colleges for starting Project Telestroke and hoped that the outreach services would commence shortly at Solan, Nahan, Hamirpur and Dharamsala. The CM said three medical colleges at Chamba, Hamirpur and Mandi had also been approved by the Government of India with the financial assistance of Rs 190 crore each. He said with the opening of these colleges along with the ESI Medical College, Ner Chowk, Mandi, students of the state would benefit. The CM also released a souvenir of the IMA and a book titled “Some Pages of Doctor's Diary” written by Dr Sushma Kaushal on the occasion.
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One killed, 10 hurt in road mishaps in Nurpur
Nurpur, June 15 Car driver Dinesh and two other occupants, Sanjay and Atul, were injured seriously. They were rushed to the local Civil Hospital and later referred to the Tanda Medical College (TMC), Kangra. The accident victims hailed from Banikhet in Chamba district. DSP Manoj Joshi said the bus driver fled from the spot after the accident. A case was registered under Sections 279, 337 and 304-A of the Indian Penal Code against the driver, said the DSP. In another road accident, seven members of two families travelling in a jeep (Winger) were injured when its driver lost control while negotiating a blind curve at Khazian, near here, yesterday. Hailing from Bheer in Baijnath subdivision, these families were returning to their village after visiting the Vaishno Mata shrine. The injured were rushed to the Nurpur Civil Hospital. One of the injured was referred to the Tanda Medical College, Kangra. A case has been registered in this connection.
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Foetus dies after mother gets beaten up
Nurpur, June 15 The victim, in her statement to the police, said she had married Purn Singh in 2000 and gave birth to two girls. She alleged that her husband and mother-in-law had been pressurising her to abort the foetus to avoid the risk of delivering a female child. On Friday, they thrashed her severely and she went to her parents' who rushed her to the CHC, Jawali, which referred her to the Nurpur Civil Hospital. But her condition worsened and her unborn baby died in the womb.
— OC
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VIGNETTES
Shielu Sreenivasan, Editor of Dignity Dialogue (See photo), had come to Shimla from Mumbai to establish the Shimla Chapter of Dignity Foundation (DF). The DF is a 19-year-old not-for-profit organisation that offers to those who have crossed 50 years an enriching set of opportunities to lead a more dignified, secure, joyful and fulfilling life. It started in Mumbai, but now has chapters in Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Pune. A chapter in Shimla will be the first in North India.
If enthusiasm is the mother of all efforts, the mother is on the side of GS Sauhta and Brig LS Thakur who are initiating the entry of the DF into Shimla. About 60 senior citizens of Shimla gathered at Himland Hotel (See photo) to know about the DF activities and Shielu Sreenivasan gave the figures that there were 100 million senior citizens in India and by the year 2050, one in five will be 60 plus. Of all the senior citizens, only 11 per cent are pension holders, the rest either dig the well each day or are dependent on their wards. The DF expects senior citizens to "grow old", but not "get old" and for that correct signals are required to be sent to the mind. The mantras for them are: Collect information and be updated; Stay physically fit (walk for 20 minutes daily); Be mentally fit (play crosswords or Sudoku); Have social interaction; Volunteer; Motivate yourself and have spiritual involvement. Since the DF wants to start its chapter in Shimla for senior citizens of the town, I would like to portray Shimla, its geriatric population and the problems. Shimla has a Census 2011 population of 1,69,758 -- 93,364 males and 76,394 females. The vast difference between the sexes is due to the fact that most males here are for jobs and their families live in villages. It is not so for the older people, who if not widowed (women live long), live as couples. As much as 94.67 per cent of the population is literate in Shimla town. There are about 17,000 senior citizens (60+) in Shimla and only 2.99 per cent of them suffer from elderly abuse (Figures: HelpAge NGO). It means 510 older people in Shimla are in need of one or the other kind of assistance. The elderly abuse has many forms: Physical (beating); emotional (mental anguish); financial (abuse of the older person's resources); sexual (nonconsensual sexual contacts) and neglect (non-fulfilling of care-giving obligation). The main problem of elders in Shimla is disrespect -- 40 per cent of the older men and women call it the number one constituent of elder abuse. It is followed by neglect and verbal insults. And this perception exists across different age-groups of old people irrespective of their educational background. About morbidities, a study had disclosed that in Shimla 55 per cent of the elders suffered from musculoskeletal problems followed by 40.5 per cent from hypertension. They needed help for going to the hospital for regular checking. The functioning HelpAge, Age Care and Senior Citizens Forum affirm helping veterans. My friend Sanjeev Katoch of IndusInd Bank informed me that he, on his own, used to visit the houses of old persons whose wards were either abroad or did not care for them. He would clean their kitchens, bring vegetables and fruits, set right the electric connections, bring cash for them from the banks, clean up their fridge and on their birthdays "wish them happiness". They felt highly obliged to him. But then somebody told him that it could put him in a hot soup if some day something went wrong. He has retraced his steps and is thinking of forming an NGO which can be of help to such citizens. Though it is not in the agenda of the DF, which is a sort of club "of the aged by the aged and for the aged", yet each one in the group of 510 in Shimla is crying for the psychological comfort of "someone to look after me". He, who can take me to the hospital, the doctor concerned, help me in getting diagnostic tests done, assist me in my outside-home chores. Can the DF make an entry here because volunteerism is one of their tenets? TAILPIECE ABCDE of elders: A's for arthritis; B's for bad back; C's for cardiac; D's for dental decline; E's for eyesight --- can't read that top line.
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Producers oppose proposed levy on power generation
Shimla, June 15 The tax will raise the state government’s income by ~360 crore per year even if the state charges 10 paise per unit on electricity, reveal project engineers. The IPPs plead that they have been allotted power projects through competitive bidding routes and they should not be charged the levy on electricity. “We give 12 per cent free power to the state and 1 per cent free electricity under the Local Area Development Authority (LADA),” said a senior manager of a private company. Despite the fact that the power companies, including the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), the National Thermal Power Corporation, the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) and independent power producers, are generating electricity in the state. But Himachal is not getting levy on power generation considering that a hydropower project that exceeds 20-MW capacity is not considered renewable energy. Though the NHPC, NTPC and SJVNL are paying 12 per cent free power, including equity share (in case of SJVNL) to the state, the BBMB is not paying anything substantial to Himachal even when the power projects are located on the rivers of the state. Its two major power projects - 990-MW Dehar power on the Beas-Satluj-link, 1325-MW Bhakra Dam - are located here, but Himachal gets peanuts. The BBMB generates about 11,000 million units of electricity from Bhakhra alone in a year. The BBMB’s 2351 mw, the NHPC’s 1320-MW Parbati project (yet to be commissioned), the SJVNL’s 1500-MW Nathpa-Jhakari, 412-MW Rampur on the Satluj (both commissioned), the NHPC’s 800-MW Kol Dam (yet to be commissioned) and others harnessed by IPPs. But the state is not getting any levy from these projects. The state arrears worth
Rs 4,250 crore overdue from the BBMB as per its share of 7.19 per cent have still not been paid to Himachal despite the Supreme Court giving its judgment in favour of Himachal on September 27, 2011. But Punjab and Haryana have not cleared the dues and the state has re-approached the apex court seeking release of the pending dues, say officials.
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3-day reform programme concludes at sub jail
Nurpur, June 15 The aim of the programme was to inculcate self-retrospection, self-confidence and help in changing inmates mindset for character building and instilling human-cum-moral values. Jail Superintendent-cum-SDM Ashwani Sood presided over the event. Swami Vighyananand, exhorted them to change internally by leaving demerits of their past life. He said they had an opportunity to reform their mindset in the jail notwithstanding their alleged crimes and blunders committed in the past. “You have the potential first to change yourself then serve society and ultimately the nation. You need to change and not opt for revenge. The inculcation of high moral and human values can ensure your character building,” he said. He administered an oath to the inmates for their commitment to character building, shunning any type of addiction and infusing moral values.
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NCC camp ends
Una, June 15 About 550 boys and girls participated in the camp, said Lt Col Mangat Saini, Commanding Officer (CO), 6 HP Independent NCC company. He said the camp activities were held in a rigorous regime, where the cadets learnt military subjects, besides awareness on social and environmental issues, personality development and discipline. Sports and cultural activities also formed a part of the training, he said, adding that on the penultimate evening, a camp fire was organised where cadets presented cultural items. Winners were given prizes and medals.
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Formulate service policy, say computer teachers
Chamba, June 15 A meeting of the union was held here on Saturday to discuss various problems faced by computer teachers in government schools. Ravi Kumar, district president of the union, presided over the meeting. The union also demanded the regularisation of services of those computer teachers who had been working for the past several years. — OC
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Accused in rape case nabbed
Shimla, June 15 A 17-year-old girl was allegedly raped by two persons in the vicinity of tunnel No. 103 on May 16 when she was roaming on the railway track with a friend. The couple was intercepted by a person who told them that roaming on the track was not allowed and threatened them with dire consequences. He compelled the duo to part ways and go in different directions. Meanwhile, another person joined him and the duo caught hold of the girl, took her to a jungle and allegedly raped her. The police investigations were obstructed as the victim, who was in trauma, was unable to identify the culprits. The second accused is still at large.
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Tourist killed in mishap
Chamba, June 15 Superintendent of Police (SP) DK Chaudhary said the deceased had been identified as Sarabjit Kaur of Delhi.
The injured Satpal Singh, driver of the vehicle Baljeet Singh and his daughter Ekjot were admitted to the Chamba hospital. All tourists hailed from New Delhi, the SP said, adding that a case to ascertain the cause of accident had been registered.
— OC
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One dies in road mishap
Una, June 15 Deceased Manpreet Singh and his brother Ranjit Singh were students of BA second year at Samrala college. They had loaded their truck with steel pipes from Mandi Gobindgarh and were on their way to Kangra. DSP, Amb, Sagar Chand said locals assisted the police in retrieving the body and the injured from the debris. — OC
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Shimla, June 15