Virbhadra Singh

Shimla, July 15
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will lead a high-level multi-disciplinary team during roadshows to be held at various destinations all over the country to attract investment in industry, tourism and hydropower sectors.

The Industries Department is planning to hold the roadshows along with several other departments in Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi in September-October this year. The Chief Minister along with Industry Minister Mukesh Agnihotri will lead the delegation comprising heads of the main departments who will be instrumental in attracting investment.

“The difference this time will be that rather than being a mere roadshow, it will be a mobile single window so that all possible clearances can be given to entrepreneurs there and then and later on the formalities can be completed,” said a senior official.

Besides targeting big industrial houses, the state is keen to rope in big names in the hospitality sector so that the established chain of hotels set up their resorts in the state.

Though thrust will be to attract big investment in the industrial sector, with tourism and hydropower being two other major revenue generating areas, the team will comprise officials from other departments as well. These include the departments of Industry, Power, Tourism, Revenue, Environment and Science and Technology, Labour and Excise.

Efforts are on to create jobs with the number of jobless youth in the state being over 8 lakh. It is only by promoting tourism and power that benefits of development will reach to the people residing in remote rural areas.

Despite the fact that the power sector has had a grim picture this year due to want of hydropower buyers, Himachal is keen to harness its vast potential of over 23,000 mw hydropower. The projects also bring in a lot of investment in areas where there are hardly any opportunities for employment.

Though there are conflicting views on having more cement plants in the state because of its adverse impact on tourism, the government is keen to set up a white cement plant at Nauradhar in Sirmaur.

The Chief Minister along with Industry Minister Mukesh Agnihotri will lead the delegation.

The difference this time will be that rather than being a mere roadshow, it will be a mobile single window so that all possible clearances can be given to entrepreneurs there and then and later on the formalities can be completed.

Shimla, July 15
The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) will tie up with travel portals such as Make my Trip, Expedia, Travel Guru among others, as maximum bookings are being done online these days.

The Board of Directors (BoD) of the HPTDC that met here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh took the decision.

The Board stressed upon internet marketing so that tourists could use social media and carry preliminary research before choosing a destination.

It also cleared decks for providing additional accommodation to Hotel Hamir, a unit of HPTDC at Hamirpur and said the old existing building of Irrigation and Public Health Department would be handed over to the corporation.

A proposal for setting up prefabricated tourist huts at Chanshu and Sangla in Kinnaur district was also approved to give boost to eco tourism.

A decision to undertake complete flooring of Hotel Dhauladhar in Dharamsala and to carry out all repair and renovation works was also taken.

The CM made it a point to create more utility staff and take necessary measures to reduce staff in all units which were over-staffed.

The Board also decided to install ATMs at a few big hotels of the Corporation.

New Delhi, July 15
The Himachal Government is pushing hard with the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation for resumption of flight from Delhi to Shimla pending restoration of Shimla airport’s runway which has partially been eroded. The state government’s case is that the measure will provide an impetus to tourism.

The state has urged the Centre to provide financial assistance to it to restore and widen the runway of the Shimla airport and for the proposed expansion of the Gaggal airport near Dharamsala.

A source in the state government here today confirmed that vice- chairperson of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Board Vijay Mankotia had also raised the issues with Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju during his recent meeting here.

The state has pointed out to the ministry that pilots of Air-India have suggested that an aircraft can land at the airport even on the truncated runway.

According to official statistics, the Shimla airport has a runway length of 4100 ft (1189 mtrs). However, its effective length has been reduced to 3800 ft due to soil erosion over the years.

IIT Roorkee, which was assigned to prepare a feasibility report for restoration of the runway and arresting soil erosion, has submitted that Rs 143 crore will be needed for the project.

As per the official version, the AAI has also engaged Rites, as consultant, to explore measures for restoration and widening of the runway as well as to prevent soil erosion.

The state has further apprised the Centre that there is need for expansion of the Gaggal airport for which it is in the process of identification of land.

Shimla, July 15
In yet another horrendous incident, a Nepalese killed his 38-year-old wife and two minor children, including four-year-old daughter and two-month-old son, with a sharp-edged weapon at Jhaldi village in Jubbal area of Shimla district late last night.

The accused identified as Jai Bahadur (40) did not hurt the other three daughters, who were at home when the incident took place, and fled after committing the crime.

One of the daughters told the police that her father hit her mother, younger sister and brother with an axe and fled. The daughters reportedly ran to their uncle’s place to save themselves. The deceased were identified as Krishna Devi (wife), Anju and Kaka (children).

Parali Panchayat Pradhan Vijay Singh said Jai Bahadur was non-alcoholic and ruled out any possibility of killing his family in an inebriated condition.

“He was sick and hospitalised from the past few days and was expected to resume work from today,” he said.

DW Negi, Superintendent of Police, Shimla, who visited the spot, said: “He was working as a household labourer for the past five years and the owner was living in Mauritius. The reason behind the crime will be clear only after his arrest.”

“A case of murder under Section 302 of the IPC has been registered against the accused and a massive manhunt has been launched to arrest him,” the police said, adding: “The border areas have been sealed and an alert has been sounded. Intensive search is being carried out in the forest areas where the accused is suspected to be hiding.” The bodies were handed over to the relatives after the postmortem.

Kotkhai murder accused nabbed from Nerwa forest

The Nepalese labourer, who killed a mother and son on July 11 at Chhajpur village, 100 km from here, was arrested today.

The accused, who was roaming in the forest area of Nerwa in Chopal subdivision, was caught by people of the Gujjar community and handed over to the police.

With the help of the relatives of the accused, the Shimla police had released his sketch yesterday. The relatives of the accused told the police that he visited Himachal for the first time and was not familiar with the topography of the area.

The accused, a Nepalese labourer, had killed Sudha Devi (45) and her son Krishan Chand (26) with an axe at Chhajpur village on July 11, after which he fled with his family including wife and five children.

Mandi, July 15
A workshop to identify critical climatic events and their impact was organised by the Municipal Council, Mandi, in collaboration with the International Council for Local Environment Initiative (ICLEI), South Asia.

Through the workshop, an effort was made to have the first Shared Learning Dialogue (SLD) to study the climatic events and their impacts by discussing the fragile sectors with stakeholders, citizens and other departments such as the Irrigation and Public Health Department (IPH), Forest Department, State Electricity Board and representatives from the town.

Mandi has become a part of the increasing network of the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN), which connects more than 20 core cities in India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, with an aim to improve the capacity of cities to withstand present and future pressures, recover from climate change challenges and accelerate action on urban resilience.

The town will also get an opportunity to be a part of an international network of cities working towards climate resilience for exchange of knowledge with other participating cities and technical partners through conferences and meetings.

Sushila Sonkhla, president, Mandi Municipal Council, Ajay Prashar, executive officer, and other officials from various departments and many citizens attended the workshop.

Shimla, July 15
The Himachal Pradesh High Court today dismissed a petition filed by Dhaneshwari Thakur, former chairperson of the State Women Commission (SWC), challenging her removal from the post.

She had alleged in the petition that the removal did not follow the due process of law. She was removed without any notice and before the completion of her three-year term in the office. She said this showed the “illegal acts of the state government”.

She had further alleged that she was appointed by the BJP-led government on January 7, 2012, for three years and the decision to remove her from the constitutional post within a year was politically motivated.

The state government had removed her from the post of chairperson on December 11, 2013, and appointed Jenab Chandel.

While dismissing the petition, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan observed that “the petitioner was appointed at the pleasure of the government and came to be removed by the same pleasure, cannot now claim that the order of removal has been passed in breach of the principle of natural justice”.

The bench further observed that “we are of the considered view that the petitioner was sailing in the same boat in which present incumbent is sailing and has no right to question the orders made by the state government while exercising the ‘doctrine of pleasure.”

Dharamsala, July 15
ABVP activists took out a rally against the implementation of Rashtriya Uchchtar Siksha Abhiyan (RUSA) in colleges in the state. The activists carrying placards against the implementation of RUSA marched through Dharamsala.

However, most the protestors when contacted by The Tribune did not have knowledge about the RUSA scheme. They were not clear about the reasons for which they were protesting.

However, some to the student leaders alleged that Himachal Pradesh University was not being able to manage the systems under RUSA. They alleged that the semester system had been implemented in all the colleges under RUSA. The students have entered the third semester, but the results of even the first semester have not been declared, they alleged.

The students were also not clear about the credit system being implemented under RUSA. Some of them maintained that under the new credit system, the students who scored below average would be given diploma instead of degrees. However, the credit system is in favour of the students. It provides for provisions of awarding diploma to students who leave their courses midway. The ABVP activists sat a one-day hunger strike against the implementation of RUSA.

Shimla, July 15
Concerned over the misuse of ultrasound machines, the Health Department has decided to tighten noose around private clinics and mobile ultrasound machines by undertaking sting operation and random checking by flying squads.

With reports of mobile ultrasound machines being run in the border areas of Paonta Sahib, Nalagarh, Una and Parwanoo, the Health and Family Welfare Department has directed all 12 Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) to set up flying squads to check ultrasound machines being run illegally.

“We have directed all CMOs to check whether these ultrasound machines are being run with proper permission and more important by a specialist as this is mandatory,” said Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur.

He said the CMOs had been directed to swing into action if any complaint was received. “We are keen to involve the NGOs and the public in this campaign so that there is check even by way of sting operation,” he said. He added that all CMOs had been asked to collect details of all private ultrasound machines and check if clinics had the permissions.

There are about 150 private ultrasound machines in the state. “We do not operate the ultrasound machines in government health institutions in the absence of a specialist so we want that private clinics too run these only with the help of a specialist,” said a health official.

With reports of mobile ultrasound machines operating in the border areas illegally, there is concern over sex determination tests being conducted by these. It is probably for this reason that the sex ratio in some areas is a cause for concern.

Even though there has been a slight improvement in the child sex ratio in recent time, even now it stands at 909. The 0 to six years sex ratio for rural Himachal is 912 but in the urban areas it is 881. Though Himachal is far better than its neighbours of Haryana and Punjab, the figures of some of the border areas are very low, causing concern over this declining trend.

The sex ratio in Himachal has improved marginally from 970 to 972 since the 2001 Census. However, as far as the child sex ratio is concerned, it has slid significantly from 957 in 2001 to 909 in the latest 2011 Census. 

Kullu, July 15
Makhan Singh of Nawanshahr district in Punjab was killed while his accomplice, Rajender, was injured in an accident as the truck (HR-37B-4751) they were travelling in rolled down a hillside near Gondhla in Lahaul and Spiti district last night.

Pawan, owner of the vehicle, said the entire crop of peas, being ferried by the vehicle, was destroyed.

The police said the postmortem had been conducted and the vehicle owner had agreed to ferry the body to Nawanshahr. 

Shimla, July 15
Welcoming the initiative taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to find an alternative route for the Kailash Mansarovar yatra during his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Brazil, former Chief Minister PK Dhumal said he had raised the issue with the Union government many times in the past.

He said an alternative route to Kailash Mansarovar was through Kinnaur, which was short and more secure and would help devotees who were unable to climb difficult terrains.

Una, July 15
The police arrested Reena, sister-in-law of Nisha Devi, who had died under mysterious circumstances at her native village, Singan, on June 16 here last evening. The semi-burnt body of Nisha had been found in the forest on the outskirts of the village on June 17.

SP Anupam Sharma said Reena had been arrested for interrogation on the basis of suspicion and remanded in police custody till July 19 by the local court.

He said Nisha had gone missing from home about two days before her body was found. However, the family members did not report the matter to the police or to the local panchayat, he added.

The SP said there were reports that the relations between Nisha and Reena were not good and that there was some altercation between the two a day before Nisha went missing.

Hundreds of Singan residents yesterday blocked traffic on the Tahliwal-Una road for about two hours, demanding the arrest of the accused. 

Shimla, July 15
A team of food inspectors today raided shops in the city and challaned 12 fruit and vegetable shopkeepers for not displaying the price list which was made mandatory by the administration. DC Dinesh Malhotra said as many as 14 places were inspected. Action had been initiated against them, he added. 

Una, July 15
The district Non-Gazetted Officers (NGOs) Federation today alleged that the state government had manipulated the Assured Career Progression (ACP) scheme through amendments in the service rules. This would affect their 2 lakh members.

NGO general secretary Ramesh Singh Thakur said the recent notification of July 7 regarding the pay increments after completing four, nine and 14 years of service would result in financial losses to their cadres. Employees were unhappy with the amendments in the ACP scheme, which meant that they would now get only three increments during their service career, he added. 

Shimla, July 15
The parts of Kangra, Mandi, Una and Sirmaur districts were lashed by heavy rain today, as monsoon remained active in lower hills of the state.

The local Met office has predicted heavy rain in lower and mid hills in the next 72 hours.

Kangra was the wettest in the region with 68 mm rain, followed by Bangana 50 mm, Palampur 39 mm, Nahan 38 mm, Gaggal 36 mm, Kheri 35 mm, Baijnath and Saloni 29 mm each.

The maximum temperature remained steady and Una was the hottest in the day with a high of 36.6°C, while Bhuntar and Sundernagar recorded the maximum temperature at 35.6°C and 33.3°C, respectively, followed by Dharamsala 29.4°C, Solan 29°C, Nahan 27.9°C, Manali 26.4°C and Shimla 23.6°C.

However, the minimum temperature increased by a few notches and Una was the hottest during the night with minimum temperature at 25°C, while Sundernagar and Bhuntar recorded a low of 23.5°C and 23.2°C, followed by Solan 20.6°C, Dharamsala and Palampur 19.7°C each, Nahan 18.5°C and Shimla 17.6°C.

Met officials said thunder with rain is expected on July 16, 17, 18 and 21, while scattered rain would be experienced in the state capital on July 19 and 20.

Bharmour, July 15
With the onset of monsoon, the afforestation campaign with schoolchildren has kicked off at several places in Chamba district, particularly in the two tribal divisions of Pangi and Bharmour today.

Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) ARM Reddy put into operation the afforestation drive at two places in Bharmour forest division near Luna where students of Government Middle School, Selli, planted 40 saplings of kail.

Thereafter, students of Government Senior Secondary School, Durgathi, planted 120 seedlings of kail at Gadoth. Similarly, the plantation drive was jointly organised by the Forest, Education and Judiciary Departments at Patti and Holi on the premises of 60 schools, including private schools in Bharmour and Pangi forest divisions.

The remaining 359 schools in the rest of the non-tribal forest divisions of Chamba, Dalhousie and Churah would go for the similar afforestation campaign on August 16, the CCF said.

“It is estimated that a total 65,000 seedlings of fruit, ornamental and broad-leaved species will be planted and an area of 59 hectares will be brought under the afforestation scheme,” the CCF informed.

The afforestation campaign was being organised under the aegis of the HP State Legal Services Authority while the areas were selected and fenced by the Forest and Education Departments in coordination with the students to plant the saplings.

At Patti, near Bharmour, students of five schools were involved in the afforestation campaign. More than 1,200 students planted 1,260 saplings of deodar, kail and chulli.

On the occasion, students of middle, high and senior secondary schools accompanied by representatives of judiciary, administration, education and forest departments were also present.

Dalhousie, July 15
The Alpine Region Development Council has welcomed the recent directives of state Revenue Minister Kaul Singh Thakur with regard to the removal of cantonment toll barrier set up at Banikhet on the Chamba-Pathankot highway near here.

The Revenue Minister had issued these directives to the District Magistrate of Chamba at a meeting of revenue officials at Chamba recently.

Regional Convener of the council Kanwar Ajit Pratap Singh said here today that the removal of this toll barrier from Banikhet on the Chamba-Pathankot highway was justified, stating that it would go a long way in saving the toll tax levied on poor passengers of the region. — OC