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New district units in Kangra, Mandi take Cong MLAs unawares
State in pink of health: CM
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Santoshgarh road being ignored: Satti
‘Bears’ break into houses in Kullu, flee after eating apples
2011 Himachal currency haul
Sale of substandard drugs on the rise
Chemists cashing in on generic drugs: RTI
HP leads in Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan
Stress laid on generating renewable energy
Panchayati Raj Institutions bypoll
State board faces tough time monitoring pollution parameters online
VIGNETTES
HC judge for raising voice against injustice
Cops to conduct drivers’ eye tests
Mandi MP visits adopted villages
Negi decries politics over landslide in Urni
Colourful art work exhibited at Sobha Singh’s art fest at Andretta
Cong targets oppn village leaders: BJP
Sanitary norms violators to be fined
pension anomalies
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New district units in Kangra, Mandi take Cong MLAs unawares
Shimla, November 23 It was being expected that state Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu would hold a meeting of the State Executive to discuss the issue of creation of more than one DCC in Kangra, Mandi and Shimla. But everyone was surprised when the announcement was made here by HPCC general secretary Naresh Chauhan. Seeing the opposition to the move, Sukhu thought it wiser to get the proposal moved through the AICC. Chauhan said the letter for creation of four new DCCs — three in Kangra and one in Mandi — had been received from Janardan Diwedi, AICC general secretray, who is looking after organisational matters. “The new district units have been created with the approval of AICC chief Sonia Gandhi as it will bring about more efficiency, smooth functioning and help in better management,” said Sukhu. He added that the four newly created DCCs would be constituted shortly. Kangra will now have four DCCs, which are Dehra (Dehra, Jwalamukhi, Jaswan, Pragpur), Palampur (Baijnath, Palampur, Jaisinghpur, Sulah), Kangra (Kangra, Dharamsala, Shahpur, Nagrota) and Nurpur (Indora, Jawalai, Nurpur and Fatehpur). Kangra has 15 Assembly segments while Mandi has 10 seats. In Mandi district, there will now be two DCCs of Mandi and Sundernagar. The Assembly segments falling under Mandi
are Seraj, Darang, Balh, Mandi and Jogindernagar. The Sundernagar DCC will comprise Sundernagar, Dharampur, Nachan, Karsog and Sarkaghat constituencies. However, what is surprising is that the HPCC has not created another DCC in Shimla as had been planned earlier. Shimla has eight Assembly segments. It is being felt that the idea to have another DCC in Shimla was dropped as Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was against the move. “Since Shimla district already has a DCC (Rural) and a DCC (Urban), we thought that instead of creating a third DCC, we will include some more segments under Shimla (Urban) as many seats such as Kasumpti and Shimla (Rural) have parts of the Municipal Corporation (MC) under it,” Chauhan said. “Earlier, party workers had to travel long distances to attend the meeting of District Congress Committees in these two bigger districts. Besides this, party workers have also raised the demand for bifurcation of Kangra and Mandi districts so that they can interact with the district leadership with ease and more frequently,” said Chauhan. Swelling number
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State in pink of health: CM
Hamirpur, November 23 Stating that a section of BJP leaders was trying to mislead the public with false statements about the fiscal health of the state and said demanding financial assistance from the Union government to carry out development works was rightful act. It only adds to the pace of the development in the state. Even the Centre suffered from financial crunch at times and took financial help from international financial institutions, he added. He announced the upgrade of the Community Health Centre (CHC), Sujanpur, to the Civil Hospital and construction of new bus stand at Sujanpur-Tihra and directed the administration to explore the possibility for marketing yard (Subzi Mandi) at Sujanpur Tihra. He also announced ayurvedic health centers at Bir in Gram Panchayat Bagera, Siswan in Sakandar and Noungi in Tapri and upgrade of Government Middle School, Kheri, and middle school, Bhadera, to high schools. He presented Shan-e-Himachal awards to Dr KK Katoch, Vice-Chancellor, HP Agriculture University, Palampur, and Dr RK Jaswal cardiologist. Gautam Sharma Vayathit was honoured in the field of literature, Jyoti Singh in field of education, Dr N K Sharma in social service, Pooja Thakur in sports (kabaddi), Sanjay Marwah for promoting art and culture, Krishan Chand for bravery and Perma Ram Chaudhary for agriculture. The Hamir Gaurav awards were given to Dr Rajinder Patial in health and social service sector, Madanlal in education, Prem Chand in agriculture, Nalini Vibha Nazli in music, Risha Thakur in national sports event, Shilpa in science, Sapna Jaswal, who stood first in MSc physics in HPU, and Akshita Rana, first woman commissioned from Sainik School, Sujanpur-Tihra, in aviation corps. |
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Land where 477 trees were felled near Tara Devi temple was to be sold
Shimla, November 23 Inquiries made by The Tribune reveal that the owner of the land measuring 38 bighas is Perminder Kaur, who has an agreement-to-sell it with Chandigarh-based Pristine Hotels Resorts. She says that she has no knowledge as to who felled the trees. Company director Amreek Singh Nagpal did not respond to this correspondent’s calls on his mobile, nor did he respond to messages. It was on September 12, 2014, that Perminder, residing in Gurgaon and owner of the 38.5 bighas of land near the Tara Devi temple complex, entered into an agreement with Pristine Hotels and Resorts, through its director Nagpal to sell the land for Rs 16 crore. The agreement to sell the land is only notarised and a payment of Rs 3 crore, through cheques and cash, are mentioned to have been made to the 73-year Perminder as per the agreement. The case of illegal felling of trees came to light when it was reported by The Tribune on November 20. It was following this that the National Green Tribunal issued a notice to the government, the police registered an FIR, two forest officials were suspended and the DFO transferred and an inquiry was ordered. It was being speculated that so many trees could have been felled only with the motive of having a real estate project or a resort on the site though nobody knew about the agreement. Perminder owns another piece of land measuring 32 bighas just 300m below the site she intends selling. As per the agreement, Nagpal was to obtain the necessary permission from the government under Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, which permits non-Himachalis to buy land in the state. The deadline that had been set to obtain all clearances is February 28, 2015, with a maximum grace period till May 21, 2015. “It is true that my mother entered into an agreement to sell the land with Pristine Hotels and Resorts but the possession was to be given only after May 21 when the deed was to be executed and registered with the Sub-Registrar, Shimla,” said Fateh Singh Atwal, son of the owner, who arrived here today. He said he and his ailing mother learnt about the tree felling through media reports and from their caretakers on November 21. He said he would file a complaint with the Conservator, Forest, and the police tomorrow so that a case can be registered for criminal trespass, theft and illegal felling of trees from his mother’s property against those who was behind the illegal act. “Our efforts to contact Nagpal since November 21 have failed as he is not taking calls and the last I and my client met him was on November 7, in my office in Delhi,” said RK Singh, Perminder’s lawyer. |
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Seven killed in road mishap in Sirmaur
Nahan, November 23 The bus, Kashish Travels, was en route Ratwa to Baddi when driver Kapil Dev failed to negotiate a curve on the narrow road as a result it plunged into the gorge. Six persons, Dharampal, Laxmi, Yashpal, Santram and couple Anjana and Jagdish, were killed on the spot, while driver Kapil Dev succumbed to his injuries while being taken to the local hospital. Those injured are Balbir, Jaipal, couple Asha and Pradeep Chauhan, Om Prakash, Bhim Singh, Vipin, Sher Singh and Anuj Kumar, the conductor of the ill-fated bus. All occupants hailed from nearby villages. SDM Ashok Chauhan, who visited the spot along with a team of doctors, extended an immediate relief of Rs 20,000 to the next of the kin and Rs 5,000 to those injured in the accident. Five seriously injured persons were referred to the Regional Hospital, Solan, while three other injured were admitted to the Sub-Divisional Hospital at Rajgarh. The
conductor was given medical aid at the local hospital in Haripurdhar. Deputy Commissioner Ritesh Chauhan ordered a magisterial inquiry into the accident and SDM Sangrah has been entrusted the task to complete it within 15 days. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Transport Minister GS Bali, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Vinay Kumar expressed their condolences with the bereaved families. Bali said he had directed the local administration to ensure due medical aid to the victims. He said they would step up their drive to ensure that drivers engaged by private bus operators were well-trained. He said since there was a shortage of RTOs in the department, local administration, including the SDM and police officials, should also ensure that private bus operators complied with norms so that safe driving could be ensured and they had already been delegated powers to help check abidance of road safety norms. |
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40,000 migratory birds throng Pong Dam
Kangra, November 23 Subhash Parashar, Divisional Forest Officer, Wildlife, today said the migratory birds from trans-Himalayan regions had started reaching the Pong Dam Wildlife Sanctuary last month and their number had touched 40,000 till date. He said during the last decade, 415 species of migratory birds had landed at different places of the Pong Dam reservoir, but a new guest, ‘salcaded duck’, had landed here in 2011 for the first time. The bird was received by the wetland this year too. Maximum number of bar-headed geese (15,000), besides 3,500 common pochard, 7,500 pintail, ruddy shell ducks (surkhab) and eurasion wigeon had landed at the Pong Dam. The Wildlife Department had put 15 collar bands and seven transmitters on 22 migratory birds in 2011, to get their location details, flying path and their breeding grounds to help understand their migration pattern, their distribution and to have international coordination for future conservation of the Wildlife. Some of these transmitter installed and collar fixed birds were spotted back in the wetland, Parashar added. Ruddy shell ducks (surkhab), bar-headed geese, mallards, coots, pochards and pintails, besides rare red-necked grebe and gulls had arrived this year. These species came from Afghanistan, Mongolia, China, Siberia, Central Asia, Russia, Pakistan and Ladkh, he added. |
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CPS inaugurates fair price shop at Sundernagar village
Sundernagar, November 23 He said by opening the fair price shop at Sohar, around 250 families would be benefitted. He listened to the grievances of the public and a majority were was solved on the spot. He declared that two hand pumps would be set up in the area soon and announced Rs 70,000 each for two bathrooms in the village,
Rs 1 lakh for a stage at Namol village and Rs 1 lakh for a road of upper Sohar. He said the remolding of drinking water scheme for Sohar would be completed by March 2015, for which
Rs 25 lakh would be spent. |
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Santoshgarh road being ignored: Satti
Una, November 23 Satti questioned why the road passing through Santoshgarh was ignored, while the major portion of the road in the Haroli segment was already relaid and paved. He said vehicles passing through Santoshgarh raised dust, causing health hazards to residents. He called upon the Public Works Department and the implementing agency to fill up roadside diggings done for sewerage and telephone lines and began the road pavement work. Taking on the state government for its decision to hike the rates of essential items under the Public Distribution System, Satti said the rates of pulses had been raised by
Rs 2 to Rs 7 per kg, while the cost of edible oil had also been hiked and an average family was force to pay an extra Rs 25 to Rs 30 per month. He said the quality of refined oil was also reportedly substandard and the government should contemplate replacing it with mustard oil. |
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‘Bears’ break into houses in Kullu, flee after eating apples
Kullu, November 23 Villagers said the beasts fled after the villagers woke up and switched on the lights. The incident has caused panic among people in the region and they have asked the Forest Department to catch the wild beasts and relocate them to the forest. The house owners, including Gyan Chand Sharma, Hem Raj, Bhovan Dev Sharma and JD Sharma, said the bears broke the doors and entered their rooms after which they were panic stricken. Luckily, they said, nobody was sleeping in those rooms, which prevented any untoward incident, however, the animals managed to destroy a large stock of apples. |
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Enforcement Directorate gives clean chit to Karmapa
New Delhi, November 23 The Enforcement Directorate has, however, ordered confiscation of the foreign currency haul which totals at Rs 5.97 crore and includes a horde of foreign currency. The agency had taken over the case a few months after Himachal Pradesh Police intercepted a vehicle in January 2011 and seized suspected cash from Karmapa’s associates and later from his monastery. ED, which has been probing the currency haul under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), based its findings on the investigation that the Karmapa and two of the trusts that were under scanner for suspected Hawala transactions have “no role in the collection or management of donations” from global devotees, including the seized currency. The state police had dropped the names of the spiritual leader from its chargesheet in this case in 2012. A latest order by ED’s Adjudicating Authority (a special director-rank officer of the agency) in the case relied upon the Karmapa’s statement made to it that “he has never been involved in any day-to-day transactions and working of the office... that he is an incarnated monk and has inherited the title (Gyalwang Karmapa) and the property of the 16th Karmapa”. He also told the ED that he “does not open or handle any of the gifts/offerings and the same is managed by the Tsurphu Labrang (administrative office)”. His associates in the Gyuto monastery in Himachal Pradesh, who were co-accused in the case, recorded similar statements with the agency saying that the Karmapa was the spiritual head of the Karma Kagyu Lineage and “offerings are never touched by his Holiness and they are immediately taken charge of by the Labrang”. The Karmapas’s Director (Finance), who kept records for the said cash, Thupten Sherab, has, however, been held guilty under Section 4 of FEMA (holding of foreign exchange) and all cash has been seized. — PTI
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Sanitation award: Team assesses performance of 2 panchayats in Lahaul
Mandi, November 23 Mandi Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kadam had constituted the team to inspect the three panchayats in Lahaul and Spiti district as per the directions of the state government. During their visit, the team members assessed the performance of Kolang and Yoornath panchayats, but could not visit the Lossar panchayat due to bad weather. For fair assessment, the team members interacted with panchayat representatives and villagers, inspected anganwari centres and schools and also met Lahaul and Spiti Deputy Commissioner Hans Raj Chauhan and district development officer Dr Hari Nand. The team will inspect the third panchayat after the opening of roads in the area and submit its report to the Mandi DC, who will forward it to the Lahaul DC. |
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Mongolian varsity delegates interact with farmers
Kangra, November 23 KS Pathania, Vice-Chairman, HP Forest Corporation, hosted a dinner in the honour of the two delegates of Mongolian University. He said the delegates interacted with farmers for nearly two hours and exchanged ideas about the techniques used in agriculture in the two countries. KK Katoch, Vice-Chancellor, Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya (CSK HPKV), Palampur, was also present during the session. Pathania briefed the delegates about the achievements of the agriculture sector in the state. Pathaina said Kheruga showed a keen interest in the agriculture of the state and was expected to visit again in March next year. He said a delegation of forest officers and progressive farmers would visit Mongolia in May or June next year to have practical experience and knowledge about water conservation projects
in Mongolia. |
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Sale of substandard drugs on the rise
Palampur, November 23 The illegal trade of substandard drugs is flourishing at the behest of medical officers posted in various government hospitals as most of the substandard drugs are sold on their prescription. The doctors specifically direct patients to buy particular medicines only. In lieu of this, doctors are given a handsome commission. Inquiries made by The Tribune from various government hospitals reveal that doctors have been repeatedly prescribing particular brands of substandard medicines which are not only costly as compared to standard company drugs, but are of poor quality as well. All these facts are already in the knowledge of the Health Minister, the Principal Secretary, Health, and the Director, Health Services, but nothing has been done to improve the state of affairs. The Health Department has not initiated any steps to streamline the system of prescription of medicines by doctors so far because the drug mafia, including doctors, have high political connections. The Medical Council of India (MCI) recently circulated a code of conduct for medical officers and directed them to prescribe only standard drugs and also avoid over medication. So far no doctor in Palampur has followed these guidelines. A number of chemists in Palampur and adjoining areas, while talking to The Tribune, said doctors posted in government hospitals prescribe substandard medicines. “The government must initiate action against doctors, only then the situation can be improved,” they said. The trade of substandard drugs has crossed Rs 100 crore annually and over 100 brands of substandard drugs are being sold in Palampur alone. The drug inspector is well conversant with the situation, but helpless in initiating any action under pressure from companies and chemists. Dr BM Gupta, Chief Medical Officer, Kangra said all medicines were available at the hospital store and doctors should not ask patients to buy medicines from outside. He said the state government had already switched over to the social audit of medical prescriptions of doctors to nab such black sheep who had defamed the entire class of doctors. Gupta said doctors should follow medical ethics and not cheat poor patients. Hard facts to digest
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Chemists cashing in on generic drugs: RTI
Shimla, November 23 The data about the purchase bills of chemists and the maximum retail price (MRP) of some common generic drugs procured by RTI activist Deepak Sood revealed that profit earned on these drugs ranged between 175 and 620 per cent. The Director Food and Civil Supplies, Himachal Pradesh informed the applicant: “No inspection has been conducted regarding this so far as there is no provision of fixing margin of profit in drugs under the Himachal Pradesh Hoarding and Profiteering Prevention Order, 1977, issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.” The government has the power to fix the margin of profit only in case of articles falling in Schedule (I) of HP Hoarding and Profiteering order, while the drugs and medicines fall under Schedule (III). As per the existing provisions, action can be
taken only if chemists charge more than the printed MRP of drugs and margin of profit cannot be curtailed. Deepak Sood said: “Charging such a huge profit is a clear
violation of Essential Commodities Act.” He urged the state Food and Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister GS Bali to intervene. In a letter to the minister, Sood said: “I have compiled the data of some popular generic medicines and obtained cash memos. The rates charged as printed MRP of drugs are phenomenally high.” Quoting examples of some drugs, he said: “The price in the purchase bill of some medicines ranged between Rs 15 and Rs 25, but the printed MRP ranged between Rs 60 and Rs 106 and the margin of profit in some cases is as high as 620 per cent.” Asserting that the government can take action against the erring chemists under the Essential Commodities Act, he urged the minister to
take immediate action to save patients from being fleeced. |
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HP leads in Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan
Shimla, November 23 “The initiative of the government to improve the quality education has been appreciated by the Union Government and assessment of students of Class I to Class VIII by introducing a large-scale achievement survey in 2013-14 has also received appreciation from an independent agency, SKOCH, which awarded, SKOCH Order of Merit — India’s best Governance Project-2014 to the state for the assessment survey carried by the SSA in Himachal Pradesh”, an official spokesman said here today. The SSA, launched in the state to supplement the efforts of the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP), is a programme, targeting primary and upper primary education with focus on providing basic quality education within a clear time frame, the spokesman said. After achieving the targets of universalisation of primary education, now efforts were on to achieve the target of universalisation of elementary education as provided under
the Right to Education (RTE), he said. In the current year’s budget, the highest allocation of Rs 4,282 crore had been made for education and the total outlay of Rs 250 crore had been approved under the SSA which is 16 per cent higher than the plan approval of 2013-14. Through the SSA, Rs 426.18 crore had been spent on infrastructural development in government schools under the SSA so far. To empower girls through appropriate inputs in science, technology and innovation, girls studying in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalya (KGBV) and the Learning Leadership Foundation (LLF), pilot schools were supported and
oriented towards research and innovation.
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Stress laid on generating renewable energy
Sundernagar, November 23 The workshop was aimed at bringing greater awareness of renewable energy and conversion of the waste into energy and provide inputs to young faculty and students of the college. RL Sharma, Vice-Chancellor, HP Technical University, who was the chief guest on the occasion, emphasised on the aspects of renewable energy. Rajeshwar Goel, Director, Technical Education, Vocational and Industrial Training, stressed the need for generating and using renewable energy in technical institutions. Prof Lalit Kumar Awasthi, Director of the institute, gave a brief overview of the status of renewable energy in India. Dr SS Katoch, Associate Professor, NIT (Hamirpur), Dr Sudhir Kumar Syal, JUIT (Waknaghat), Prof SS Chandel, NIT (Hamirpur), and Dr Pamita Awasthi, Associate Professor, NIT (Hamirpur), also spoke on the occasion. Principals, heads of departments, faculty members from various engineering institutions and polytechnics across the state were present. Mohit Dhiman, organising secretary of the workshop, said it was for the second time that a national-level workshop was organised in the college.
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Panchayati Raj Institutions bypoll
Shimla, November 23 According to sources, in the Koksar gram panchayat in Lahaul and Spiti district, no nomination was filed while election was cancelled in ward No 3 of Gumma-II in Mandi district following non-compliance of the prescribed procedure. As a consequence, 90,288 voters out of total 1.75 lakh will exercise their franchise in the PRI bypolls while four candidates are in the fray for the election in lone municipal ward in Sarkaghat in Mandi district. State Election Commissioner TG Negi said a one-day training would be given to officers tomorrow. Out of two Zila Parishad (ZP) wards in Kinnaur and Kangra districts, the ZP member from Kangra has been elected unopposed while two candidates are in fray for Kinnaur ZP ward with 3,716 voters. Five out of 13 Panchayat Samiti (PS) members have been elected unanimously while 17,579 voters would decided the fate of 21 candidates left in the fray for eight wards. With eight out of 34 Pradhans elected unanimously, fate of 83 candidates for 26 positions would be decided by 34,295 voters. Similarly, 28,556 voters would exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 64 candidates in the fray for 20 seats of Up-pradhan as seven candidates have been elected unanimously. As many as 153 Gram Panchayat members out of 175 members have been elected unopposed and now 6,142 voters would vote to elect 22 members out of 48 candidates. The 251 panchayat wards include Bilaspur (10), Chamba (28), Kangra (48), Kinnaur (16), Kullu (120), Mandi (42), Shimla (20), Sirmaur (10), Solan (7), Una (21), Hamirpur (30) and Lahaul & Spiti (7). The elections to 3,243 Panchayats were held in December 2010 to elect 19,413 panchayat members, 3,243 presidents and vice-presidents of Panchayats, 1,681 Panchayat Samiti members and 251 Zila Parishad members and five-year term of these members would expire in December 2015.
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AIIMS holds emergency care training at Tanda medical college
Kangra, November 23 Dr VM Katoch, Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-cum-Secretary, Department of Health Research, Government of India, inaugurated the programme. He said the training would help improve emergency care in state hospitals. “The state government and AIIMS, Delhi, will sign an MoU in this regard. The Jeevan Jyoti Rashtriya Abhiyan is already running in 11 states and in Sri Lanka,” he said. Padmashree Dr Kshama Metre, National Director, Chinmaya Organisation of Rural Development (CORD), was the guest of honour. Dr Sanjeev Bhoi, programme director, AIIMS, stressed on the need for an academic emergency medicine department at medical colleges. “It will help in dealing with medical emergencies in a scientific manner. The collaboration with AIIMS, Delhi, will boost our efforts in this direction,” said Dr Anil Chauhan, Principal, Tanda medical college. Bhoi said the mandate of the programme was to train doctors, nurses, paramedics, policemen, firemen and students from Class VII onwards in basic emergency and trauma care. Around 50 staff nurses and 50 doctors from Tanda medical college and Tibetan Delek Hospital were trained on the first day of the training programme.
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State board faces tough time monitoring pollution parameters online
Solan, November 23 The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has set March 31, 2015, as its deadline and several rounds of talks have been held with officials of the CPCB and the SPCB to initiate the process, but several issues are yet to be resolved. A centralised server that will link all units for ensuring their online monitoring is yet to be installed. As per the directions, air pollution parameters, including sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, etc, are supposed to be monitored, while for water parameters such as BOD, COD, PH and TSS will be taken into account. Equipments are supposed to be supplied by a USA and Thailand-based firm for which technical guidance will be provided by the CPCB. This machinery
has to be calibrated with the CPCB’s online monitoring system to ensure its smooth functioning. Member Secretary of the SPCB Vineet Kumar said a series of discussions had been held with the CPCB officials, yet clear protocols for the use of specific instruments, their calibration server, among other things were being worked out. These directions are applicable to 17 categories of highly polluting industries, where continuous emission and effluent monitoring systems are installed. To ensure timely compliance, the Industries Department has also invited suggestions from various industry associations as well as their field officials so that the state could ensure compliance of these directions by March 31 next year. Vinod Khurana, president, Nalagarh Industries Association (NIA), said: “The system will help in efficient monitoring of pollution norms, but issues such as high cost ranging up to Rs 5 lakh involved in setting up such systems will put monetary burden on small investors, who will also have to pay hefty fee annually for their maintenance.”
Herculean task
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VIGNETTES
Second, if you reach to the top of the mountains, you find a space in the pages of history and that lifts your self-worth. So, climbing up the mountain is the mantra. Stand at the base of the mountain, you are a pigmy, but on top of the mountain, you are a star. Vera Nazarian proposes a calendar of alternatives that a mountain gives: “If you are faced with a mountain, you have several options. You can climb it and cross to the other side. You can go around it. You can dig under it. You can fly over it. You can blow it up. You can ignore it and pretend it’s not there. You can turn around and go back the way you came. Or you can stay on the mountain and make it home.” Mine is the last choice: I simply detest the plains. I believe that those who have made the Dhauladhars their home have seen untold sunrises and sunsets here and each of those giving a different hue and different vista every time. That is why a folk-singer sings: “Oh mother Dhauladhar, you have made Kangra rapturous/ Deep ravines have gurgling water; hills are verdurous/ Oh, my dear Dhauladhar you are the only one — stupendous.” The general physiographic divisions of Himachal Pradesh are: The outer Himalayas, the lesser Himalayas and the greater Himalayas, and the Himalayas are among the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consist mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock. They were formed about 50 million years ago. The Dhauladhars and the Pir Panjal belong to the lesser Himalayas. I was surprised that in “Himalayas” by Blanche C Olschak and others there is no mention of the white granites that has given the mountain range its name - Dhauladhar. Instead it mentions the “black gravel” granite intrusions of Karakorum. The Kangra district gazetteer, however, praises the Dhauladhars: “This range is in general conformity to that of the lower hills, yet the altitude is so vastly superior and the structure so distinct as to require a separate notice. In other parts of the Himalayas the effect of the snowy mountain is softened, if not injured, by intermediate ranges, and the mind is gradually prepared by a rising succession of hills for the stupendous heights which terminate the scene. But in Kangra there is nothing to intercept the view. The lower hills appear by comparison like ripples on the surface of the sea, and the eye rests uninterrupted on a chain of mountains which attain an absolute elevation of 13,000 feet above the valley spread out at their base. Few spots in the Himalayas, for beauty or grandeur, can compete with the Kangra valley and these overshadowing hills.”
TAILPIECE
In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul “Flee as a bird to your mountain.” —
Bible, Psalms 11:1 |
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Sepoy sets bureau building on fire
Dalhousie, November 23 Superintendent of Police, Chamba, DK Chaudhary said the ITBP sepoy Aman Kumar had been arrested by the Dalhousie police and an FIR registered under Sections 436, 336, 506, 504, 323 and 427, IPC, and Section 3, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, on a complaint of Constable Hitesh Kumar Joshi of the ITBP at the Dalhousie police station. In his complaint Hitesh said sepoy Aman Kumar along with a local person, who was not supposed to be present in the prohibited area of the office of the special bureau, were having liquor in the guard room of the special bureau building. The SP said Sepoy Anil Kumar objected to the presence of a civilian in the guard room, after which sepoy Aman Kumar turned violent and started abusing Anil. He entered into a brawl with Anil and bit his arm. Then, Aman snatched the service rifle from Anil and threatened both Anil and Hitesh to open fire on them, and they ran away for shelter, the SP said. He fired a few rounds in the air and later took out a kerosene can from the guard room and sprinkled it over the fuel wood kept along the building and set it on fire, the SP said. He said ITBP guards of the 15th Battalion of the ITBP, Udhampur, were deployed to protect and secure the special bureau office in Dalhousie.
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HC judge for raising voice against injustice
Shimla, November 23 Addressing a gathering on the occasion of the 24th foundation day of Himachal Gyan Vigyan Samiti (HGVS) here,
Justice Sharma said citizens should work to end social evils of dowry and caste system. Appreciating the role of the elderly citizens working with HGVS, he said they have been working for the welfare of the community and betterment of future generations. Founder president Dr Kuldip Tanvar urged HGVS to take on the challenge by making science not just as a subject but a game changer. National representative of Bharat Gyan-Vigyan Samiti Somnathan said the state samiti should run its libraries in rural areas to spread knowledge and science as it had delivered good results in Kerala, which had highest literacy in the country. HGVS speakers KS Dhir, RL Chauhan, OP Prabhakar and an 11-year-old Ayushi Pundir recited a poem how a girl child suffers and faces discrimination. Rajiv Sharma later
honoured all HGVS elderly members.
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Call to lift ban on monkey culling
Shimla, November 23 They said MLAs and MPs were answerable to the public as they had failed to solve the problems that had now assumed “dangerous turn as four people had become victim to monkey attacks in the state”. “My whole family has been bitten by monkeys over the years and I myself have been bitten five times till now. I have paid thousands of rupees for anti-rabies injections”, said Vijay Singh Kunwar, a local hotelier. “Kangaroo in Australia and reindeer in New Zealand, both national animals, are culled when their number goes up. Then why have a handful monkey lovers crippled political will,” he added. The cities, towns and villages are meant for humans, not monkeys and langurs. Legislators should answer as to
why monkeys were not being kept in wildlife areas, said Dr Tulsi Raman, a writer. “The politicians should shun myths on monkeys and pass a resolution in the Vidhan Sabha,” he asserted. Dr Kuldip Tanvar, state president, Himachal Kisan Sabha, cited a data and said about 500 residents were attacked by monkeys each month. More than 5,000 cases of monkey and wildlife attacks were reported in 2013 in the state. “About 66 per cent area in the state is under forests, another 15 per cent under wildlife sanctuaries and just 10 per cent is under cultivation for farmers. The big question is why monkeys are not being kept in the reserved areas,” he asked. The sterilisation and conservation plans have failed as the number of monkeys seemed to have crossed the 5 lakh mark, that in turn has pushed the carrying capacity to the brink, Dr Tanvar said. “The government needs political will to invoke legal provisions to lift the ban on culling and export of monkeys and declare it a vermin under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972,” he added. The farmers are an agitated lot as monkey, wild boars, parrots and langurs have affected farming, including apple growers, in 3,234 gram panchayats, causing Rs 2,200 crore loss to crops every year, stated Satyawan Pundir, secretary, Nagrik Sabha. “We will again stage a protest on Farmers’ Day on December 23,” he added. “We have left growing certain crops now as monkeys leave behind nothing. Why is the Chief Minister not doing anything,” said BD Sharma, a farmer from Shakra, Churag, in Mandi district. “In the day time we guard orchards from monkeys and langurs, but what do we do at night? The rich can afford it, but poor are being looted by the wildlife menace,” said Dr Ravinder Rathaur, a resident of Rohru. “It is time to shun myths about monkeys and change the mindset of feeding them,” said Dr Subhash Gupta and Dr SK Gupta, retired principals. “We can identify places where monkeys gather and a task force can be deployed to scare them away for an immediate solution,” said Tikender Panwar, deputy mayor.
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Villagers protest against water supply failure
Nurpur, November 23 As per information, the water lifting motor of the Hadwal mini-water supply scheme of the Irrigation-cum-Public Health (IPH) subdivision Fatehpur has been damaged for the past few days throwing the scheme out of gear. Resentment prevails among the residents over the lackadaisical action of the Irrigation-cum-Public Health Department in removing the defective motor after nine days for repair. Nirmla Devi and Ram Singh, local former pradhans, and Vinod Guleria, former up-pradhan of Hadwal panchayat, have lamented that this water supply scheme usually remains defective. Meanwhile, Kanchan Bala, pradhan of the gram panchayat, said the Irrigation-cum-Public Health authorities had been intimated about the defective water supply motor, but so far the supply had not been restored. “The piped water supply has been disrupted for the past fortnight. The inhabitants of the gram panchayat are using natural sources to meet their daily requirements,” she rued. She also demanded the replacement of the defective motor installed in mini water supply scheme in Hadwal gram panchayat. In this connection R Mahajan, executive engineer, Irrigation-cum-Public Health Division, Jawali, said it was brought to his notice by the media and he was taking prompt action in this connection. He assured the residents of Hadwal that they would get normal water supply within next two days.
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Cops to conduct drivers’ eye tests
Kullu, November 23 He said the police would send a letter to the licensing authority concerned in case an individual was found medically unfit. While medical check-ups are done prior to the issuance of driving licence, the police said after a long time, medical fitness standards need to be re-examined to ensure road safety. The probability of accidents increases with reduced medical fitness, specially eye-sight, and hence the police had decided to conduct eye-tests of drivers to prevent road accidents. The police have formed teams for this purpose and check-up camps would be set up at various places of the district to make this campaign successful, the SP said. He said periodical check ups of drivers plying commercial and transport vehicles should be done for the safety and security of passengers. The SP said due to unprecedented rise in vehicular traffic, there was a rise in number of accidents and strict enforcement of traffic laws was the need of the hour to prevent these.
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Mandi MP visits adopted villages
Kullu, November 23 Steps would be taken to make old Manali village a model village and there would be no dearth of funds to make this project a success. All basic amenities would be provided and existing facilities at the village would be developed, he added. He said the youth played a major role in social, cultural and economic development of the country and appealed to the youth to assist in converting the village into a role model village.
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Negi decries politics over landslide in Urni
Rekong Peo, November 23 He said efforts had been made to ensure smooth flow of heavy vehicles during the apple season. Negi said no apple grower had to load and unload apple boxes twice, as claimed by a few NGOs, and the movement of heavy vehicles was facilitated on the landslide affected portion of the road from Chulling and Tapri. The government had started the construction of 1km diversion road to skip the worst-affected area at Urni and 200-m road had already been constructed to ensure that the people did not suffer during winters, he said. He said frequent landslides in this stretch was a chronic problem and the only solution was construction a tunnel beneath Urni. “A proposal has been sent to the Centre as the road is maintained by the BRO and its approval is awaited,” he said. However, the NGOs and residents maintained that landslide at Urni had increased the cost of transportation as apple producers had to pay extra charges for loading and unloading of apple.
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Colourful art work exhibited at Sobha Singh’s art fest at Andretta
Palampur, November 23 Umang Foundation Chairman Ajai Shrivastava was the chief guest on the last day. While addressing trainees, he said: “Himachal Pradesh is very rich in its folk art and there is a need to save the enriched culture from the onslaught of television and modernism.” Efforts will be made to assist women in selling their craft work. Kamaljit Kaur, master trainer, gave tips on many forms of craft works and folk art “Likhnu”. The students got tips on making greeting cards for various festive occasions. Winners of the art quiz competition and on-the-spot competition were given merit certificates and cash prizes worth Rs 30,000. Aashish Butail, a senior social activist, while presiding over the function, said the tiny village of Andretta had emerged on the international art and tourism map due to the classic art works of saint-artist Sobha Singh. He said his family had continued the tradition of art-oriented work by meticulously maintaining the art gallery and museum and organising art activities. He released a book on Sobha Singh Art Gallery and Museum authored by Dr Hirday Paul Singh. Bibi Gurcharan Kaur, daughter of the artist, released a poster on Bharmour and KG Butail, president, SSMAS, released a poster on Palampur. Ravinder Sharma, programme officer, NZCC, said he was impressed to see the talent of rural school students and NZCC will extend support to SSMAS to invigorate folk arts of Kangra. All participants were given a reprint of a painting by Sobha Singh. Results Painting competition
Shivani and Ritankshi Chauhan from Vishudha Senior Secondary School, Baijnath, won the first and second prize, respectively, while the third prize went to Sahiba Verma of Government Girls Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Palampur. Junior category
Shaina Rana from DAV Public School, Palampur, came first, Saizel Acharya from Parmarth International School, Baijnath, second and Diksha of DAV School, Palampur, third. Greeting cards workshop
Palak Sood of Neugal Public School, Andretta, Sukriti of Shivalik School, Panchrukhi, and Mohit of Sardar Sobha Singh, GSSS, Andretta, were given prizes. Likhnu workshop
The first prize went to Shreshtha Sood and group, second to Indira Kumari and group, and third to Nisha Rana and group. Art and craft workshop Shabnam and team, Ramna Devi and team and Manju Bala and team won the first, second and third prizes, respectively.
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Cong targets oppn village leaders: BJP
Shimla, November 23 BJP state spokesperson Ganesh Dutt, in a statement issued here, said: “The Congress government is trying to demoralise BJP members ahead of PRI elections and has left no stone unturned in wreaking vengeance against BJP leaders”. He said PRI members, including Zila Parishad, Panchayat Samiti, Pradhans and Up-pradhans, owing allegiance to the BJP were being targeted. — TNS
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Sanitary norms violators to be fined
Chamba, November 23 At a meeting held under the chairmanship of Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Subh Karan Singh here on Saturday, the administration also directed the officials to impose a fine of Rs 1,000 on residents who throw garbage alongside their premises and at public places. The ADM also directed the local civic body officials to adhere to their duty of cleaning the town.
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pension anomalies
Una, November 23 He said the ex-servicemen had not been conveyed the factual position on the matter. Jai Singh stated that pension arrears of honorary commissioned officers had also not been settled.
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Whenever I visit Kangra, I am awestruck by the majesty of the Dhauladhars (See
photo). This time, when I was roaming in Palampur under their shadow, two thoughts came to my mind. First, the huge mountains make you feel small and let down your self-esteem.
Crossing the bazaar of Palampur, I was walking towards the university campus when I saw an ordinary looking cottage in which was fixed a board
“Beracah Prayer House” (See photo). I asked a few passers-by about “what-is-what” of Beracah. Nobody really knew of it, but they were laced with the standard reply that it had something to do with the Christian missionaries. I gathered information after my return to Shimla. Beracah is a valley mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). The valley is on the main road from Hebron to Jerusalem. After the victory of Jehoshaphat and his people over Moab and Ammon, the believers assembled in the valley of Beracah; there they blessed Yahweh, so it became The Valley of Beracah or Blessing. Beracah Prayer House is a place where people come as they are - rich or poor, able or disabled - and find love, encouragement and meaning for their lives. It was established at Palampur in 1978 by TC Chako. He left the services of the Indian Army and came here with his wife and seven-year-old daughter Mercy. They are a registered indigenous missionary organisation and involved with social activities, besides the missionary training.