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Holiday horror in Mandi
Army, HPPCL resolve row over ammunition depot, barracks
Only govt power projects targeted on June 8: Report
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Evasion of tax
25 govt degree colleges to get
Rs 1-cr grant each
Admission norms for engg colleges may not be eased
Disaster-hit state needs action plan
Parents of abducted youths seek govt help
BJP, CPM flay govt for playing with future of medical students
Board to take stock of rescue, relief operations
VIGNETTES
Palampur faces power woes; lack of equipment, staff blamed
Dalai Lama’s Kalachakra teachings in Leh from July 3
Stone of awareness centre laid
Bihar resident nabbed with 5 kg charas
1 killed, 18 injured in Kangra road mishaps
Traffic jams put off tourists
Una DC goes strict on under-age drivers Rape accused confesses crime SBI opens customer service centre Transferred
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Bodies of 4 students found
Tribune News Service
Mandi, June 22 The bodies have been sent to Andhra Bhawan in New Delhi for sending these to Hyderabad. Out of 24 students and one tour co-coordinator, bodies of 17 students have been recovered so far and 7 students and the tour co-coordinator are still missing. “The fourth body looks like that of a young student, but there was no cloth on it and it has decomposed during the last 14 days. That is why, it could not be identified with the help of photographs available here,” said a search team member. The DNA tests of parents have already been done in Hyderabad and it will be identified through the DNA matching if not identified by his relative in the normal course. The authorities here had launched a massive search operation to trace the students after the mishap, but only eight bodies were recovered initially; four bodies were recovered on the first day of the search and during the past few days nine bodies have been recovered. The relatives of the victims and Home Minister of Telangana N Narsimha Reddy had camped here in search of the victims and returned to their native places as only a few bodies could be recovered during this period. Rest of the bodies have been recovered in a natural course after getting bloated and were found floating in the Pandoh dam. The search teams are still looking for the remaining victims in the water.
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Army, HPPCL resolve row over ammunition depot, barracks
Shimla, June 22 Though the Army had demanded about 1,000 acres, it has settled down for this piece of land at Jhangi as 1000 acres was a tall order, considering the availability of flat land in the Kinnaur district, sources said. The Army is settling the court case on the issue. “The Jhangi site is okay, provided the state gives this land to us”, said a senior Army officer. The ammunition depot and barracks are of prime strategic importance for the Indo-China border and are located downstream from the project site. A team, led by the Chief Secretary Parthsarthi Mitra, took up the matter with the Defense Secretary in the Ministry of Defense, New Delhi, recently, after Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh met Defense Minister Arun Jaitley and brought up the issue. The Ministry had agreed to allow the HPPCL to carry out the “non-hazardous activities at the site”. DD Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, Kinnaur, said they had inspected the land and the Army was yet to receive a report from the ADM, Pooh. The matter would go to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) for diversion of the forest land to the Army. The Army had stalled the work on the project, citing the strategic importance of the ammunition depot and barracks functioning near Powari since decades. The Army authorities said the Jhangi site was near the Kaurik and Shipkila Pass border areas and would be used to store, reinforce and strategise the defense line in the upstream forward posts that border China. The Rs 2807.83 crore project is running behind schedule as there was limited working season in the snow-bound belt. HPPCL, which is executing the project, started the work in 2012 after the MOEF’s nod. The project is located upstream of the 1,000 MW Karcham-Wangtoo Power Project and is a run-of-the-river scheme. The water of the Satluj will be diverted through a 8.10-km-long head race tunnel to generate 450 MW electricity in an underground powerhouse, located on the left bank of the Satluj, near Ralli village. The project will generate 1,579 million units of electricity per annum, said the HPPCL managers. |
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Only govt power projects targeted on June 8: Report
Shimla, June 22 The report, submitted by the SLDC power controller to the HPSEB, which is in the possession of The Tribune, revealed the shocking details that the SLDC targeted the HPSEB-run power projects for load-shedding between 5.45 pm and 7 pm on June 8. The HPSEB’s four major projects — Larji, Bassi, Bhaba and Giri — shed their load by 172 mw, while the 300 mw Baspa project of the Jai Prakash Hydro Power and 86 mw Malana power project allowed overloading between 6 pm and 6.60 pm on June 8, revealed SLDC’s power controller report on power generation of June 8, which was submitted to the HPSEB on June 9. As per the SLDC report, the 126 mw Larji project scaled down its production from 138 mw to 96 mw at 5.45 pm to 64 mw at 6 pm and then to 32 mw at 7 pm. As a result of the load-shedding, Larji power released 50 cumecs of water at 6.30 pm, 50 cumecs at 6.40 pm, 150 cumecs at 6.45 pm, 450 cumecs at 7 pm and 100 cumecs at 8 pm on June 8. The barrage also received additional 80 cumecs of water from the 520 mw Parbati-III, pleading that the barrage level had hit 969.5 ft, the highest permissible level. The SLDC-private company nexus also becomes deep-rooted as it targeted 120 mw Bhaba, 60 mw Bassi and 60 mw Giri for load shedding. Bhawa scaled down its production by 120 mw to 40 mw between 6 pm and 7.15 pm while 60 mw Giri was shut down four times on June 8. Giri in Sirmaur was shut down between 5 pm and 7.15 pm on June 8. The Bassi Power on the Uhl river in Jogindernagar scaled down its production from 66 mw to 32 mw between 6 pm and 7.15 pm on June 8, revealed the report. Though the government ordered the probe into the SLDC’s role in the load-shedding yesterday, the SLDC’s selective load-shedding has opened a can of worms that has brought both Northern Regional Load Dispatch Centre (NRLDC) and SLDC role under the lens. Jai Prakesh Baspa-II produced 75.33 lakh units of electricity while Malana produced 24.70 lakh units on June 8. Both has combined capacity of 386 mw. What is more shocking is the HPSEB’s power projects, which have the installed capacity of 451 mw that included smaller projects of 22 mw Ganvi, 16.95 mw Andhra, 12 mw Banner, 12 mw Khauli, 10.50 mw Gaj, 6 mw Binwa and 4.50 mw Thirot, all together produced 90.02 lakh units of electricity on June 8. It is less that 100.3 lakh units produced by Baspa and Malana. The JP company’s 1000 mw Karcham-Wangtoo was allowed to produce 1187 mw from 5 pm to 11.45 pm, almost 187 mw more than the installed capacity and this did not buy RLDC and SLDC argument to scale down the capacity. Pvt firms make hay
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Paonta Sahib industry slapped Rs 2,100 crore penalty
Tribune News Service
Shimla, June 22 The EIU found discrepancies in production and sale proceeds and payments as entry fee. On physical verification it was found that the company had shown very high production, stock transfer and sales as compared to the entry tax paid for import of raw material. “Either the industry evaded the entry tax or sales shown were inflated to derive the benefit of income tax exemption as the online declarations and physical verification did not match”, he added. Negi added that another Baddi-based industrial unit was under the scanner for tax evasion. The department is making in-depth investigations into the “high production and sales” shown and the meager amount paid as entry tax to ascertain whether there is deliberate evasion of entry tax or the production and sales of the company are fictitious, he said. The departmental staff has been directed to follow the cardinal principle of “educate, motivate, persuade and facilitate” and all the Excise and Taxation officers (ETOs) have been asked to make physical verifications to ensure that the online declarations are correct, he added. He said there had been revenue increase of Rs 148 crore during the months of April and May, as compared to last year. If the trend continued, tax collection could touch Rs 6,000 crore against Rs 4,500 crore last year. He said surprise inspections and computerisation had also helped in better tax recovery and tax collection would increase significantly after the General Sales Tax (GST) regime was introduced in the country.
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25 govt degree colleges to get
Rs 1-cr grant each
Shimla, June 22 The state government had given a proposal for infrastructure grants for 85 colleges, but PAB approved only 25 colleges and that too with a rider that all these colleges would apply for accreditation from National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) by August 31, 2014. At present none of these colleges have been given accreditation by NAAC. These colleges have an enrolment of 12,381 students out of which 7,890 are girls. In 23 out of 25 colleges, the number of girls ranged from 55 per cent to 77 per cent. The PAB also approved Rs 55 crore for the creation of new university by conversion of cluster of colleges at Mandi with Government College, Mandi, as the lead college and Government College, Darang, at Narla, Government College, Bassa, and MLSM Sundernagar as cluster colleges. The amount has been sanctioned for the next three years and allocation for 2014-15 is Rs 18.3 crore and a similar amount would be spent over the next two years. The PAB also approved 30 government colleges entitled for a grant of Rs 3 lakh each for equity initiatives against the proposal of the government for covering 79 colleges. The state’s proposal to set up a new engineering college in Kangra district was also approved by PAB with fund allocation of Rs.13 crore for 2014-15 (total outlay: 26 crore for two years) and the principal secretary has been asked to submit the proof of land transfer from the state to its Higher Education Department as evidence to the ministry before releasing the funds. The state also needs to submit Detailed Project Report in respect of the new professional college before the funds are released. The state had given the proposal for infrastructure grants for two universities, but PAB approved Shimla-based Himachal Pradesh University and released grant of Rs 20 crore for two years (Rs 10 crore each for 2014-15 and 2015-16). The PAB approved two new model degree colleges at Chatrari and Sarahan areas of Chamba and Sirmaur districts, respectively. The total amount approved for this component was ~24 crore for two years i.e. ~12 crore for each college. Rupees 6 crore each would be released during the current financial year for both colleges. To upgrade the existing colleges to model degree colleges, the state had submitted proposals for three colleges at different districts, out of which one college at Reckong Peo in tribal Kinnaur District was approved and Rs 2 crore sanctioned for the current year. |
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Admission norms for engg colleges may not be eased
Mandi, June 22 As many students are not opting for engineering courses in private colleges, many seats had remained vacant in these colleges during the last few sessions. The managements of private colleges have been seeking relaxation in admission norms by allowing admission to those students, who have not appeared in JEE. They have been pleading that since Punjab and Haryana have allowed admission to B Tech courses to students without appearing in JEE, many students from the state are opting to join B Tech courses there. Private colleges have attracted a few students in polytechnic diploma courses, bachelor and master of pharmacy courses in the current session. During the counselling for these courses, a few students have opted to join private colleges while a majority will pursue these in government institutes. During the last session, the state government had given one-time relaxation to private colleges to admit students having 65 per cent marks in plus two examinations without appearing in JEE test. For which they had also put a penalty on private engineering colleges. During the current session also, private engineering colleges have moved the state government for the similar relaxation. Prof RL Sharma, Vice-Chancellor of Himachal Pradesh Technical University said, “Our effort is improve quality of education and infrastructure
in private engineering colleges so that they attract more students for B Tech courses.” |
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Disaster-hit state needs action plan
Palampur, June 22 Himachal falls among the first five disaster-prone states in the country in respect of natural hazards like earthquakes, flash floods triggered by cloudbursts, landslides, avalanches and forest fires. It also has a high rate of road accidents because of its difficult topography. With the exploitation of 22,000-MW hydro power potential in the state and 2,000 million tonnes of limestone for cement plants, things have come to a pretty pass here, posing threats to the fragile eco-system of the state. Most parts of Kangra,
Kinnaur, Kullu, Shimla and Chamba districts have become prone to landslides and flash floods because of reckless cutting of hills, blasting of rocks and deforestation by the power companies executing power projects. During monsoons, residents in the state spend sleepless nights, particularly in
Kullu, Kinnaur, Shimla and Chamba districts as cloudbursts and flash floods project a horrifying picture. In the past 10 years, over 40 major cloudbursts and flash floods were reported from different parts of the state, in which over 4,000 people were killed and property worth Rs 5,000 crore damaged or washed away. Like
Uttarakhand, the state has ignored environment protection laws and allowed power and cement companies to play havoc with nature. Unless and until the environmental laws are followed strictly, tragedies like that in Uttarakhand are bound to happen in Himachal too. The lukewarm attitude and irresponsible behaviour of the official machinery and failure to enforce the environment laws is the biggest problem in the state. Despite the fact that the state falls in seismic zone (V), the ban on high-rise buildings is being flouted not only by the public but government agencies also. |
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Parents of abducted youths seek govt help
Ramesh Chand and Veena Devi, father and mother of Aman Kumar, said, “Last Sunday Aman told us that they were being taken away in a jeep to some unknown destination by some masked people.” They demanded that the Centre should act to save their son. Inderjeet (26) of Kadreti Lunj village of Kangra subdivision too was reportedly among the 40 abducted Indians. His father Pardesi Ram today said he was told to deposit his passport so that he could be provided flights for Delhi. He said on June 15 he had last communication with the family. He said his last two-minute talk to his family upset them. He said he was against his decision to go Iraq, but he was adamant. He demanded that the government should get their people released. Pardesi Ram (55), along with the relatives of the other two abducted youths, had approached BJP MP Shanta Kumar. They also requested Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma for help. Sandeep Singh (38) from Dhameta village, father of a 6-year daughter and 8-year son, was also in the captivity of militants in Iraq. Dilawar Singh (65), his father and his mother Pushpa Devi (60) were in shock They sought the help of Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister, for getting the three, along with other abducted Indians, released from the clutches of the militants. |
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BJP, CPM flay govt for playing with future of medical students
Shimla, June 22 He said the private Maharishi Markendeshwar Medical College had been given a no-objection certificate (NOC) by the state to admit 150 students. Claiming that a Congress leader had stake in the private university, Satti said the government was going out of the way to benefit the college at the cost of the future of the students. The party would take up the issue with Union Health Minister Harshwardhan and apprise him of the situation prevailing in the state, he added. The Himachal Pradesh State Secretariat of the CPM has already demanded a CBI inquiry into the “illegal affiliation” given to Maharishi Markendeshwar Medical College, Kumarhatti, by the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the role of the state government in allowing the college to admit the students. The CPM pointed out that the private college was affiliated to Maharishi Markendeshwar University (MMU), which had no powers to affiliate any college under the MMU (Establishment and Regulation) Act, 2010, and grant of affiliation to the college was violation of Section 7 of the Act. |
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Board to take stock of rescue, relief operations
Shimla, June 22 HPDMB vice-chairman Rajinder Rana said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh would take stock of disaster management preparedness and the board would put in place relief and rescue work plan in each district. The Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority would meet here on July 11 to chalk out a comprehensive strategy, he added. He said all deputy commissioners had been directed to organise a meeting of the district disaster management committees and submit a report on relief and rescue operations in each district. Rana said the disaster management was being strengthened in the face of the recurring flash floods and cloudbursts and the changing weather patterns in the state. All officials and stakeholders would attend the meeting, he added. |
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Siddharth Pande clicks to motivate people
Shriniwas Joshi
These are conceptualisation, capture, process and enhancement, output and final evaluation. First, a subject is decided for an exhibition. Siddharth chose “In the image of other: Visualising Shimla”. The subject matter is then decided. There is a distinction between the subject and the subject matter. The subject is what the photograph is about. The subject matter is the substance used in the photograph to illustrate the subject and transmit the message. For the subject ‘competition’, two athletes running neck and neck to the winning tape can be the subject matter. The first tenet in photography is conceptualisation, i.e. to conceive and develop the idea on the subject matter so that the subject is understood by the viewer. If the viewer has felt the nuance of the photograph, then the photographer has reason to be satisfied. A visitor has appreciated Siddharth’s work by writing on the Visitor’s Book, “Spellbound to see the simple things converted into amazing art works.” That, actually, is the sum and substance of Siddharth’s exhibition. “Capture” means to turn the idea or concept into a resolved image. The image first grows in mind and then it is captured in the camera. If the image is unclear in the mind, then the camera will click a vague image. Siddharth mounted six photographs of the Gorton Castle as it was before its burning and titled it “In Memoriam”. Here is the Gorton Castle in all its glory from Tara Devi (See photo). From Shimla, it is beyond comprehension that rocky, snowy mountain forms its background. It is how Siddharth has a hold on “capture”. “Process” is the correction of factors such as exposure, light and shade, contrast and brightness. More skilled one is, the more control one has in processing. Visit all-time great Ansel Adam, Yousuf Karsh, etc. “Enhancement” is a part of process whereby a corrected image is converted into a creative photograph. What is the prime purpose of a creative photograph? It is to establish a visual communication between the photographer and the viewer – transferring an idea, a story, an emotion or a feeling. The photographer should be satisfied that his photographs have not been taken by him just for display but he has made photographs to inspire and motivate the beholders. This is the difference between taking photographs and making photographs. “Output” comes after one is sure that one’s photographs will convey the message. What could be the size of the print? From what angle the light should fall in it in the exhibition hall? Will the exhibit be at the mouth of the exhibition or at the tail? What type of frames is suited to the photographs? Lastly, the final evaluation comes when all exhibits are mounted. An evaluator has to see that each individual exhibit is defining the specific concept – the subject — that the exhibit was to present. If an exhibit is off-subject, it requires to be rejected. Siddharth used some archival material in his exhibition which was not required because it was not answering in positive the question, “Is the total exhibit plan goes with the ‘interpretive exhibit’ plan?” My tool for gauging Siddharth’s exhibition of photographs is these five tenets and in “conceptualisation and capture”, he deserves distinction. I feel pleased in amending the Hindi adage, “Jahan na pahunche Ravi, vahan pahunche kavi” as “there reaches the camera of Siddharth, where reaches not our thought”. I congratulate Anita, Siddharth’s mother, for scoring high points on “output” and “final evaluation”. She does the job, I am told. There were 115 plates in the exhibition; 20 depicted resemblance of Shimla and England, e.g. the door at Scotland and that at St. Michael’s Church in Shimla. (See photo). These 20 did not excite me, but Siddharth really radiated in photographing heritage Shimla. TAILPIECE: As I moved from exhibit to exhibit, I heard the voice of Sherlock Holmes, “Watson! You see what I see, but you do not observe.”
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Palampur faces power woes; lack of equipment, staff blamed
Palampur, June 22 Despite repeated complaints to officials of HPSEBL, no steps have been initiated to streamline the system, resulting in inconvenience to thousands of consumers. The power situation has gone from bad to worse in the past week. On Monday, there was a complete shutdown on the pretext of maintenance work of power supply lines. Most parts of Palampur remained without power for seven hours. On Tuesday, power supply to most parts of the region remained erratic as a testing team of the board suspended the power supply from the Maranda sub-station for technical reasons, without any prior notice to the consumers. The power supply, restored at 5.30 pm, was again disrupted from 7 pm till Wednesday morning and the region was plunged into complete darkness
for 12 hours. A senior officer of the HPSEBL, contacted by this correspondent, said there was an acute shortage of field staff as the government had imposed a complete ban on new appointments of linemen and other technical staff. He disclosed that the field staff in the Board was reduced to half in the past five years because of retirements. Besides, most of the equipment and conductors installed at different sub-stations had already lived their life or gone obsolete and needed immediate replacement. He categorically stated that there was no shortage of power in the region but the transmission lines were not functioning up to the mark and were not bearing the load. He said several power houses had reduced the generation capacity since there was no demand for power from the grid. |
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Dalai Lama’s Kalachakra teachings in Leh from July 3
Dharamsala, June 22 The religious sermon is aimed at providing peace and harmony through ancient teachings. Buddhist people from all over the world attend sermons of the Dalai Lama during the teachings. Hundreds of Buddhists from around the world throng the area. However, since the teachings have been shifted to
Leh, the Dharamsala tourism industry will be hit as it heavily depends on Tibetan tourism. Last year, it was held in Andhra Pradesh. Tibetans alleged that air fares of Leh had been increased from Rs 6,000 to 20,000 by aviation
operators. Tsering, a Tibetan resident from Dharamsala, said the majority of people from the Buddhist community belong to middle-class families. The Kalachakra teachings, this time, will be blissful for the people of Ladakh who are very religious and practical in their day-to-day life. Devotees are in shock as the air fare of the one-hour flight, normally priced between Rs 3,500 and Rs 6,000, has gone above Rs 20,000 from Delhi to
Leh. Tsering said it was sad that Ladakh, being an under developing and a remote part of India, had no facilities of transportation by train or road. Sources said
recently, Thupstan Chhewang, MP from Ladakh, had written to Ashok Gajapathi
Raju, Minister of Civil Aviation of India, regarding the high air fares to
Ladakh. |
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Stone of awareness centre laid
Bharmour, June 22 Amit Bharmouri, Zila Parishad chairman, and other government officials were also present on the occasion. ARM Reddy, Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF), Chamba, said the awareness centre was first of its kind in the district. He said the centre would facilitate people to learn about the importance of environment. “Students will be provided a facility to stay at the centre during their training and field exposure,” he said. On forest fires in the area, Reddy said forest fires had been kept under control and so far, only 34 cases were reported in the district. Forest fires had affected 283 hectares of forest land, causing an estimated loss of Rs1.75 lakh during the current year, which was much less than last year, when 801 hectares of forest land was affected, resulting in a loss of Rs 22.2 lakh, he said. |
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Bihar resident nabbed with 5 kg charas
Kangra, June 22 The SHO said Kanti reached Ludhiana from Bihar with the consignment and boarded a bus for Hoshiarpur. He changed the bus at Hoshiarpur for Dehra and further boarded a bus for Kangra. “Kanti was under vigil and we had already laid a trap at Jayanti Vihar. As soon as he reached the place, we nabbed him,” added Manhas. He said Dinesh managed to flee. Kanti was working as a migrant in the town. He had left the town two months back and was involved in charas
smuggling. He had earlier handed a consignment of 2 kg charas to Dinesh, he added. The police have arrested him under the NDPS Act. |
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1 killed, 18 injured in Kangra road mishaps
Kangra, June 22 In the second case, 10 persons were injured when a
double-décker bus, going from Chandigarh to Katra, overturned at Damtal here. In the third accident, three persons were injured at Arla when the Alto car they were travelling in was hit by a Canter. In the fourth case, five passengers were injured when an HRTC bus, going from Chandigarh to
Baijnath, overturned on the Pathankot-Mandi national highway at a village, near
Baijnath, on Friday. — OC |
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The bodies of four students of VNR Vignana Jyothi College of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, washed away in the Beas on June 8 near Thalot, were recovered today from the Pandoh dam.
Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri laid the foundation stone of a forest awareness centre (van chetna
kendra) yesterday.
The centre will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 50 lakh at Lahal tribal village of Bharmour subdivision in Chamba district. The
three-storey building will be completed by the end of this year.
Kangra, June 22
Kangra, June 22
The quality of Siddharth Pande’s recent photographic exhibition at the Gaiety Theatre is not to be gauged by the fact that he had had an exhibition of his photographic skill at Cambridge, UK. It is our habit that we grandiose a thing or person or skill that has a western air about it. A photograph needs to be evaluated through the five tenets of art photography.