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Apple production to cross 3 crore boxes despite less crop
Kasauli CRI to start commercial production of tetanus vaccines
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Satpal Satti mulls flyover to ease traffic congestion in Una
Investment in state
Dhauladhar range gets first snowfall
New cancer hospital under govt consideration: CM
Not pursuing projects initiated by CMs, insult to democracy: Shanta
Four held for manhandling Home Guard jawans
Man booked for organising bull fight
Rural sports a priority: Pathania
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Apple production to cross 3 crore boxes despite less crop
Shimla, October 25 The peak season, which lasts from August 15 to October 15, is over, but marketing will continue up to first week of November and about 20-40 lakh boxes are expected to reach the market. Adani Agrifresh and other private players like Concor’s Fresh and Healthy, Mahindra and Mahindra and Dev Bhoomi have procured about 20 lakh boxes, while the Himachal Horticulture Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation (HPMC) has not been able to meet the procurement targets as the rates in the market are too high and growers are not interested in selling their produce to the Corporation. The growers are getting about ~1,600 to ~1,800 per box for good-quality apple, which is ~200 higher than the returns last year, while marketing of juicy and spotless apple from high altitude tribal areas of Chango, Namgya, Kalpa, and Pooh in Kinnaur district has just begun. The prices of Kinnaur apple are much higher due to its quality and its increased shelf life. About 10 per cent of the apple produce is consumed in the state and taking that into account, the production would touch three-crore this year. This year, the government had made it mandatory for growers to send apples in standard size boxes with 22.5 kg capacity. This also led to increase in number of boxes as earlier the growers were making oversized packs of 30 to 35 kg. Pratap Chauhan, a progressive farmer, said the returns were higher this year, inspite of low crop, and except for a brief period when the prices came down, the returns were handsome. |
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Kasauli CRI to start commercial production of tetanus vaccines
Solan, October 25 This will be the first vaccine to be manufactured in the newly set up goods manufacturing practices (GMP) lab if the testing of the vaccine is successful. The lab caters to the requirements of the World Health Organisation (WHO) from among the public sector institutes of the country. The institute had set up the GMP lab in 2013 after its licence was suspended by the ministry in 2008, following non-compliance to the WHO norms. It was strictly directed to adhere to the GMP norms for manufacturing vaccines and, hence, an expenditure of Rs 54 crore was incurred to set up the new manufacturing facility where trial batches of the vaccines are being held now. The institute was, however, unable to manufacture other products of the DPT group vaccines, which included diphtheria and pertussis vaccines, as it was facing major procurement issues in making products, valued at more than Rs 1 crore, available. Since the institute has to seek the consent of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for procuring such products, the inordinate delay in the receipt of permissions had become a stumbling block in proceeding with the production though the new lab was supposed to cater to the entire DPT group vaccines. It was earlier manufacturing 10 per cent and 12 per cent of the DPT vaccine used for the universal immunisation programme of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare throughout the country. Already reeling under staff crunch due to the non-filling of posts falling vacant after the transfer of various officials, including veterinary officer, medical microbiologists etc, the institute management is focussing attention on successful completion of the commercial batches of tetanus vaccines. Dr Sunil Gupta, Director, CRI, said the vaccines were in the testing stage and if successful, they would manage to market these vaccines by early next year. He agreed that staff crunch and inordinate delay in seeking permissions to procure necessary products for manufacturing
the other vaccines had led to the delay. A delegation of the CRI staff is slated to meet Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan soon to draw his attention towards these issues and press for an early, speedy solution apart from inviting him to inaugurate the GMP lab. Employees were hopeful that the Modi-led NDA government will consider their genuine demands. |
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Satpal Satti mulls flyover to ease traffic congestion in Una
Una, October 25 Satti said as per the initial drawings by the local Public Works Department (PWD) authorities, the proposed flyover would begin on the Una-Chandigarh road near the railway overbridge situated at Bhadolian village. It would bifurcate mid-air with one branch ending up on the Una-Hamirpur road after the railway crossing and the other terminating on the Una-Dharamsala road near Friends Colony. He said the project, worth about Rs 110 crore, would not only ease congestion on the roads within the city, but would enable long-distance traffic to bypass it. Commuters travelling on the Chandigarh-Hamirpur, Chandigarh-Dharamsala and Nangal-Hoshiarpur-Jalandhar routes were forced to pass through the city due to the absence of any bypass. As per data available, as many as 58 persons had died and 123 were injured in 233 road accidents in 2012-13 in Una district, while the death toll during the subsequent year was 47 in 187 accidents, leaving 290 injured. During the current financial year, the data, compiled till the end of September, was 177 accidents, leading to 60 deaths and injuries to 278. In view of the above, DC Abhishek Jain had recently chaired a road safety meeting, in which he directed all departments concerned to launch a major drive to check road accidents. The DC directed the PWD authorities to check and rectify all black spots where accidents were occurring frequently. He issued directives to all educational institutions to check the driving licenses of all students commuting on two wheelers. |
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CM to meet industry bigwigs
Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service
Shimla, October 25 Virbhadra will lead a multi-disciplinary team, comprising Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and senior secretary-level officers of all the main departments, to Mumbai on November 5. The team will head for Bangalore on November 7 and Ahmedabad the next day. To make the investment meetings more effective and successful, the delegation accompanying the Chief Minister will act as a mobile single window where most of the issues concerning entrepreneurs will be addressed there and then. “This is the first phase of the investment meets and in the second phase, which will be held after the Assembly session, the Chief Minister will head to Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Delhi,” said sources in the Industries Department. To be able to address all the queries that the investors could have, it has been decided to include officials from all the departments such as Industry, Power, Tourism, Forest, Revenue, Excise and Taxation and Environment, he added. To project Himachal Pradesh as an ideal investment destination, the delegation will focus on reliable uninterrupted power supply and several relaxations and incentives that are being offered from time to time. “A team of officials from the Industries Department have already held talks with several industry bigwigs in these cities to get their feedback and response before the Chief Minister actually holds meetings with the corporate world,” said an official. Himachal is keen to attract bigwigs like the Tatas, Reliance, Godrej and offer them easy land availability and other clearances which otherwise could take much longer.
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Dhauladhar range gets first snowfall
Palampur, October 25 The Met Department said more snowfall and rain was expected in the next two days in the higher reaches of the Dhauladhar range. KULLU: Rains lashed the lower reaches of the district and snowfall in the higher ranges today brought down the temperature. Rohtang Pass experienced mild snowfall. Vehicular movement on the Manali-Keylong road was unhampered. Manali SDM Viney
Dhiman said rescue posts would be set up on the sides of Rohtang at Marhi and Khoksar on November 15. The authorities of the BRO said they would maintain a passage through the Pass to enable construction work at the north portal of the Rohtang Tunnel till the end of December. |
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New cancer hospital under govt consideration: CM
Shimla, October 25 He said the present cancer hospital was started as a small unit and had expanded a lot, but still there was not enough space around the campus and the government would seriously consider setting up a new hospital. With new innovation and technical expertise in the field of medical sciences, fatal disease like cancer could be cured and overpowered. A new mammography machine would be installed at the hospital, he added. The Chief Minister said around 165 bighas of land had been identified on the outskirts of the town for the second campus of the IGMC. The Kamla Nehru Hospital would have a separate mother-child hospital, he added. The state government was committed to strengthening the health infrastructure and ensure postings of doctors in the hospitals located in far-flung and remote areas. |
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Not pursuing projects initiated by CMs, insult to democracy: Shanta
Shanta Kumar was reacting to the news report carried in these columns today. He had contributed Rs 10 lakh for the project recently and discussed the issue with Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma too so that the project was completed, he added. He said he would take up the matter with Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and express his anguish over ignoring the project by consecutive governments for the last 22 years. “It is illogical and unethical to ignore the projects for which Chief Minister has laid the stone,” he said. He said he would take steps to ensure that the project was completed with a parking lot, shopping complex, coffee house and an auditorium. “As the chairman of the District Vigilance Committee, I have called a meeting of the committee on November 10, in Dharamsala. I will discuss various projects, including the Kangra Bachat Bhawan, and make sure that these projects are completed on time,” he added. He said the committee would meet after every three months to sort out such issues so that the projects were not left in the fray. |
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Four held for manhandling Home Guard jawans
Una, October 25 As per an FIR registered by Home Guard jawan Paramjit Singh, he, along with Home Guard constable Sanjay Kumar, was on patrol between Santoshgarh and Chattarpur Dhada village when Chattarpur resident Sukh Pal, along with his three other accomplices, reached the bus stop. The accused reportedly started breaking bottles and creating unruly scenes. When the jawans asked them to stop this, the youths dragged and manhandled them. A case had been registered, said SP Anupam Sharma. While Sukh Pal was arrested on the same night, three others Deepak Kumar of Jattpur village, Parmod Singh of Khanpur village and Vinay Kumar of Nangran village in Ropar had fled the spot.
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Man booked for organising bull fight
Hamirpur, October 25 Though the police had been intimated about the event by people, they reached the spot after the event had finished. People alleged that the delay on the part of the police seemed to be deliberate. The police did not register a case yesterday, despite strict instructions of the High Court in this regard. SP Ajay Bodh said more people would also be booked in the case. The police would enforce the orders of the High Court. |
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Higher reaches of the Dhauladhar range and upper areas of Chhota Bara Bhangal experienced the first snowfall of the season today.
The lower areas witnessed light showers, bringing down the temperature. Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University experts advised farmers to speed up the sowing of wheat and other crops before the onset of winter.
Opening a new cancer hospital in the suburbs of Shimla, with adequate rooms and a parking lot, is under the consideration of the state government. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said this after inaugurating a free canteen service, started by Almighty Blessings, an NGO, in the cancer hospital at the
IGMC, Shimla, today.
Kangra, October 25