The tempo traveller was on its way to Manali from Delhi
ANI|| As many as six persons were seriously injured and 10 suffered minor injuries after a Tampo Traveller carrying tourists from Kerala’s Mahapuran district overturned near Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi. The minibus was on its way to Manali from Delhi.
The accident took place this morning around 6:10am on Kullu National Highway near Mandi when the driver lost control of the vehicle. Police and 108 ambulance service rushed to the spot to lead a rescue operation. The operation was completed at 8am. The injured have been admitted to the nearby local hospital for medical aid. The matter is being investigated.
According to DSP Mandi Hitesh Lakhan Pal out of 17 victims, 12 are male and five female. These also include five children. All are natives of Budana village in Malappuram district.
The victims have been rushed to the regional hospital, Mandi. The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained. However, preliminary investigation suggests that due to drowsiness, the driver lost control over the vehicle. Further investigation is on.
Shimla|| Seventy tourists including 34 women and 11 children are struck in Chitkul due to unseasonal snow and rain in Himachal Pradesh. The stranded tourists are likely to be evacuated on Saturday. All tourist are from Barsat, Kolkata.
Chitkul, the last Indian village near China border in Kinnaur district. The road connectivity with Chikul has been disrupted due to heavy snowfall and sliding glaciers.
Chitkul is located some 250km from Shimla, at an altitude of around 11,320 feet. It is the highest village of Baspa valley in Kinnaur. At present, the area is covered under 3-4 feet snow.
“We reached here on April 4th. It’s snowing since then. We were carrying dry food with us. But our stock is depleting fast. There is no way we can replenish our stock,” said Sukanto Sikdar, one of the stranded tourists.
Two out of five trekkers died after getting lost in snowfall in Rasol of Kullu district. Three trekkers have been rescued by the administration. One young man was in critical condition, who was shifted to zonal hospital Kullu after getting primary treatment in Jari. All five boys belong to Nepal and were doing Chartered Accountant course in Delhi.
The rescue team of the administration left as soon as they got the information of trekkers trapped in bad weather but two of them could not be rescued alive.
Boys had come on Kullu-Manali tour two days ago. On Wednesday they left for trekking Rasol top from Malana. The weather was running bad and in the meantime it started snowing. The whole of Manikaran valley was covered with snow and after snowfall the Rasol top also got covered with heavy snow because of which trekkers lost their way. When they found no way they called the police. After this the local administration came into action and they informed Jari police as well.
By the Thursday evening police had found lost trail of boys. First, one boy was rescued who is getting treatment in Kullu hospital. Soon after second boy was rescued but he was declared dead by doctor as soon as he was brought to road from valley. The third boy was also declared dead soon after reaching the doctors.
Trekkers died of heavy cold and snow
SDM Kullu Rohit Rathore told that boys burned their clothings in order to tackle the cold and snow. Two boys could not survive the heavy cold and snowfall and they died. He told that two out of five boys were dead. One boy was shifted to Kullu hospital while police was bringing two boys.
yesterday in Manali, The dead trout fish in a fish farm at Haripur in Manali
Around 450 trout fish worth Rs 5 lakh were found dead in a fish farm at Haripur near Manali yesterday. The farm belonged to Kushal Gupta.
According to Kushal Gupta, there was a loss of Rs 5 lakh to him. He said there was no insurance provision to compensate affected farmers in such situations.
Talking to The Tribune here today, he said he was depressed over the loss. “The fish farmers of the district have been urging the state government to include fish farming under the agriculture sector to cover it under the crop insurance scheme,” he said. “The sudden flow of dirty water into the fish farm led to polluting of water in it. When I visited the farm, I found hundreds of trout fish dead,” he said.
Fish farmers of the district had been struggling for a long time to include fish farming under the agriculture sector but the authorities concerned were not paying heed to their demand, said Shakti Singh, president of the Trout Fish Farmers’ Association.
He said due to natural calamity fish farmers of the district had suffered huge losses in the past. Many of them left the profession as there was no relief for them to continue with it.
As many as 2,000 new buses will be added to the fleet of Himachal Road Transport Corporation soon. This was stated by Transport Minister GS Bali today. He said the corporation would also get 135 Volvo buses.
After inaugurating an HRTC workshop, he said the employees of the HRTC were committed to providing best of facilities to the public.
Bali said every bus stand had a canteen and that the cost of a ‘thali’ was Rs 25. He said 56 new buses were provided to the Sundernagar bus depot during the tenure of Congress government. The minister added that the bus service from Suhan to Jawala near Sundernagar would be started soon.
Recently, the Cabinet took a decision that all cases pertaining to the arrears to be paid to retirees would be settled soon, Bali said.
“The HRTC is already giving 25 per cent discount to women, smart cards to senior citizens on which they can avail 30 per cent discount,” the minister said. Sohan Lal Thakur, CPS, and MLA, Sundernagar, said the present government had started plying buses on all routes.
With 950 liquor vends facing closure following the orders of the Supreme Court, the government is set to change the nomenclature of the state highways under the new maintenance policy for roads.
“As Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh is in Delhi and no meeting of the Cabinet is scheduled, the latter’s approval will be taken through circulation and a notification in this regard is expected to be issued shortly,” sources in the government said.
“The file is already with the Chief Minister and a formal nod is awaited,” the sources said.Under the new policy, the names of several state highways and major district roads will be changed.Due to the relocation of liquor vends within 500 m of the national and state highways, about 50 per cent units remained unsold as bidders did not participate in the auction.
Now, the government is toying with idea to rename the state highways as the major district roads.There are 18 state highways in the state with total length of 1,466 km while the length of 60 major district roads is 2,427 km.
The sources said 17 national highways and 61 roads declared as national highways would not be affected by the new maintenance policy and liquor vends along these would have to shut down.
The government has fixed the final auction of the liquor units tomorrow and has made it clear that the unsold units would be run by the state-owned Beverages Corporation.
Besides liquor vends, a large number of liquor bars in restaurants and hotels along the national and state highways are also in troubled waters and as such stakes are high for contractors, hotels, liquor contractors and the state government.
The Enforcement Directorate has attached the Rs 27.29-crore Delhi farmhouse of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in a money laundering case, an official said on Monday.
The agency attached the farmhouse in Dera Mandi village near Mehrauli under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
“The property’s purchase value is Rs 6.61 crore, though its market value is over Rs 27 crore. Singh used his ‘illicit’ money to purchase it in the name of Maple Destinations and Dreambuild, wherein his son Vikramaditya (major shareholder) and daughter Aparajita (minor shareholder) are directors,” the Enforcement Directorate official said.
He said the farmhouse was purchased for Rs 1.20 crore as per its registry value, and payment made by two cheques for Rs 15 lakh each and two for Rs 45 lakh each, while Rs 5.41 crore was paid in cash.
The official said the farmhouse was purchased by funding done through shell companies and it was the second attachment in the case.
Investigators found that the funds for the farmhouse’s purchase were provided through Vakamulla Chandrashekar, promoter and director of Tarini Group of companies engaged in hydroelectricity projects. “Incidentally, Chandrashekar’s company was awarded the Saikothi plant in Chamba district. The money for the farmhouse was given through cheques from Chandrashekar’s personal bank accounts in Delhi. He had given a total of Rs 5.9 crore to Singh and family,” the official said.
The ED’s move came after the CBI filed a chargesheet against the CM and others for allegedly amassing assets worth Rs 6.03 crore
The official poster and trailer of the first commercial feature film produced in Himachal Pradesh “Saanjh” was launched today.
Its release is Saanjh movie scheduled for 14th April. The film revolves around a young city dweller, Sanju, who is forced to move in with her grandmother in a rural village following her implication in a social media scandal. Shot in Kullu Valley, Saanjh captures Himachal’s culture, language and stunning landscapes.
Two Bollywood actors star along side the local cast, Asif Basra portrays Sanju’s father and Taranjit Kaur, of Aankhon Dekhi fame, play role her mother.
Owners of hotels and bars along national and state highways are on tenterhooks following orders of the Supreme Court to close down all liquor shops, including bars in hotels, within the 500-mt distance from highways and waiting for the intervention of the government for some package.
The government too is seriously concerned over the fallout of the SC orders as most of the star hotels along the highways will suffer a dent, hitting the tourism industry in the state. The government is trying to devise some way to wriggle out of the SC orders and sources said, “It may denotify the state highways as a bailout package as a major chunk of revenue will be hit following closure of bars and liquor vends.”
There are over 150 hotels and liquor vends on the Shimla-Kalka national highway alone, including several star hotels, and all these will be forced to close the bars if the government strictly implements the SC orders. “The yardsticks for measuring the distance from highways are unclear so far and whether the 500 mt norm will be applied to these shops or surface area will be taken into consideration is still not known,” said a senior official of the Excise Department adding that the government would implement the decision “in letter and spirit”.
As many as 795 liquor shops and bars are in the danger zone and the government has closed or relocated the vends but in case of bars run by hotels, the situation is different, though the loss of revenue on account of the closure of the bars would not be significant, departmental sources said.
“We are trying to ensure that all liquor units are sold in open auction but if some units remain unsold, the Beverages Corporation will step in. An increase in revenue is expected as the reserve price fixed for auction is already 15 per cent more,” said sources in the Excise and Taxation Department.
PTI| The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife’s plea seeking quashing of the disproportionate assets case or DA Case filed against them by the CBI.
Justice Vipin Sanghi also vacated the Himachal Pradesh High Court’s interim order of October 1, 2015 restraining the CBI from arresting, interrogating or filing a charge sheet in the case without the court’s permission.
“The writ petition is dismissed. Stay is vacated,” the court said. Singh has sought directions from the court to quash the FIR registered against him and his wife under Sections 13(2) and 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 109 of IPC by the CBI on September 23, 2015 here and urged the court to summon records of the preliminary inquiry and the FIR.
Virbhadra and his wife Pratibha Singh have claimed in their plea that there was no order, direction or judgment by any court that had authorised the CBI to inquire, investigate or register regular cases and exercise jurisdiction in the territory of Himachal Pradesh.
The chief minister has contended in his plea that the raids on his private residence and other premises were conducted with “malafide intentions and political vendetta” by the central investigating agency. He has alleged that CBI had overstepped its jurisdiction in filing the case as the cause of action did not arise in the territory of Delhi.
Singh has also claimed that the permission of the state government and Home Department were not taken before raiding the residence of a sitting chief minister.
The CBI had contended that the allegations against Singh in the case are “very serious” as a huge amount of money was involved and the state government has shown “over anxiety” in protecting him.
The agency had said it had jurisdiction to register and investigate the case in Delhi as the disproportionate assets were allegedly acquired by the Congress leader from the income generated here when he was a Union minister during UPA regime.
Singh had on October 1, 2015 got an interim order from the Himachal Pradesh High Court restraining the CBI from arresting, interrogating or filing a charge sheet in the case without the court’s permission.
The matter was transferred by the Supreme Court to the Delhi High Court, which on April 6, 2016 had asked CBI not to arrest Singh and had directed him to join the probe.
On November 5 last year, the apex court had transferred Singh’s plea from Himachal Pradesh HC to Delhi HC, saying it was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, but “simply” transferring the petition “in interest of justice and to save the institution (judiciary) from any embarrassment”.
The Vidhan Sabha today passed a Budget of Rs 37,939 crore for the financial year 2017-18 as per the Budget estimates presented by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in the Assembly on March 10.
It was shortly after 4 pm today that the Speaker, BBL Butail, imposed the guillotine, marking the end of the debate on various demands in various departments. Following this, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who holds the Finance portfolio, tabled the Himachal Pradesh Appropriation Bill (No 2), 2017, which was passed by the House through voice vote.
The Vidhan Sabha passed the Himachal Pradesh Appropriation Bill (No 2), 2017, which will authorise payments and appropriation of certain sums from and out of the consolidated fund of the state for the financial year 2017-18.
The total revenue deficit in the Budget was Rs 1,041 crore since the revenue receipts stand at Rs 27,714 crore and the total expenditure is estimated to be Rs 28,755 crore. The fiscal deficit for the year 2017-18 has been pegged at Rs 4,946 crore.
The fiscal health of the state remains a cause of major worry as the debt burden has already touched Rs 38,567 crore on March 31, 2016, and is likely to further shoot up.
As per the Budget passed, the salaries would consume Rs 9,628 crore, pensions Rs 4,950 crore, interest payments Rs 3,500 crore, loan repayment Rs 3,105 crore, other loans Rs 448 crore and maintenance Rs 2,311 crore.After having met all these committed liabilities, only a sum of Rs 39.55 out of every Rs 100 would be left at the disposal of the government for development works.
The ABVP today sought revamp of the education system. The party asserted that if the government was a hurdle, it was strong enough to change it also. Activists said they would continue their fight against RUSA.
Addressing the activists at Aakrosh Rally, ABVP national organisational secretary Sunil Ambedkar lauded the students saying they were a source of inspiration for the country. He said hasty implementation of RUSA, especially the semester and choice-based credit system (CBCS), had created an atmosphere of academic anarchy, forcing the students to take to streets.
Taking a dig at the state government for making false promise to grant unemployment allowance in the election manifesto of 2012 Assembly poll, he said after making sustained efforts to wriggle out from the promise for four years, the government announced unemployment allowance in the budget of 2017-18 which was merely an eyewash and a political gimmick. ABVP national general secretary Vinay Vidra underlined the urgency to put in place a comprehensive policy frame-work and regulatory mechanism to rein in private educational institutions. He supported the demand of Himachal ABVP for direct elections to the Students Central Association (SCA) and stressed that election was the right of the students. He lashed at the government for hiking fee.
Asking how the students would excel under the CBCS system when more than 1,500 posts of teacher were lying vacant in government colleges, he demanded abolition of the CBCS and semester system. A list of well research 58 issues regarding education would be submitted to the Chief Minister and the Governor, he added.
ABVP state leaders Kaul Negi, Hema Thakur and Ankita accused the state government of adopting apick-and-choose policy for giving jobs to favorites. They said only tuition fee (Rs 100-150) had been exempted for girls in the name of free education and demanded that education should be completely free for girls.
They maintained that the shift in focus from consolidation for quality education to reckless expansion had a telling effect on education at the elementary level. Thousands of students from across the state assembled at Ambedkar Chowk near the Vidhan Sabha and marched towards the Ice Skating Rink.
With the Assembly elections round the corner, the organised groups have started pushing their agenda for seeking more benefits from the state government.
Contractual employees in all departments of the state have come under a common banner and are demanding regularisation of their services after a period of three years instead of five years at present. A delegation of Himachal All Contract Teachers Federation met state youth Congress president Vikramaditya Singh in Shimla and raised the issue with him.
Suraj Chauhan, president of the federation, said in case the government accepted their demand and period for regularisation was reduced from five to three years time, around 40,000 contractual employees in the state would be benefited.
The Himachal Non-Gazetted Services Federation has also supported our demand, Chauhan said. The federation has decided to expand the executive committee by adding representatives of the left out departments to strengthen the demand of regularisation.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today launched digital ration card, a step that would help check fake ration cards in the state. The new ration cards, in the size of PAN card, would be made available within a week to people, he added.
The Chief Minister said the new system would help in controlling bogus ration cards, besides it would check the pilferage of ration. The digital card will be linked with Aadhaar and operated through swipe machines.
As many as 2000 Point of Sale (POS) machines, compatible with the card had been procured for civil supplies fair price shops.Food and Civil Supply Minister GS Bali, who was present on the occasion, said around 16 lakh ration cards would be distributed to consumers within a week.
People of high altitude hilly areas are known for living under tough conditions. People here usually have to work harder to earn a living. Especially a pahadi women do more labor than men on an average day.
Cutting wood and grass from the forest, herding sheep and goats, bringing fodder for animals, chopping wood, cleaning the house, filling water, etc. are some of the daily tasks that common pahadi women have to do during the day.
In these daily ventures, many times the people here also have to face dangers such as the danger of wild animals and insects in the forest, the danger of crossing the rivers, the danger of wild bees etcetera. No need to mention here that many times in the past these dangers have been proved to be fatal.
This is the gist of our today’s post. In a video share on Twitter, a hill/pahadi woman from Himachal Pradesh is crossing a furious river on a rope roller along with a heavy bundle of wood. And there’s not even a trace of trouble on her face since it is a daily affair for her. And she is smiling seeing that she is being filmed!
Hanging upside down on the rope, she is pulling trolley as if it is a left hand game for her. We often see game shows like Khatron Ke Khiladi on TV, on which its participants are given many games full of dangers in various ways. By completing which they get applause and win prizes.
But this is just a left hand game for the hill people and for this they are neither given any reward nor they are greedy for any reward because it is the responsibility of their daily life.
Taking this kind of risk everyday for living has become a part of their life, but directly or indirectly the administration and the government are responsible for it.
But government and administration also don’t care about these risks anymore because these people don’t complain about it and have become used to it. They give their full cooperation in every work of the administration and in the elections as well.
So doesn’t it become the responsibility of the government that if they cooperate in every possible way, so can’t it provide them even basic facilities to even save their lives?
In order to promote adventure tourism in the Kullu valley, the state government has approved three more sites in the district to conduct tandem paragliding. Tourists were already enjoying the sport in Solang and Marhi.
Kullu Deputy Commissioner Yunus stated this during a meeting of district-level regulatory committees for paragliding and river rafting here today. He said the Tourism and Civil Aviation Commissioner had given a green signal to the three new sites only after the recommendations of the technical committee, constituted under the chairmanship of Captain Randhir Singh Salhuria, director of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Manali.
The DC said the new sites for tandem flights were approved near Buruwa village in Manali subdivision, Falayn village in Mangalgarh panchayat in Kullu subdivision and Taleti village in Kharal valley. The landing spots for these sites would be near Shanag village, Dhobi village and Talogi village, respectively.
He directed the paragliding operators to fly only after completing all safety norms and standards. Strict action would be taken against the operators violating the rules, he said.
New rates for paragliding were also decided in the meeting. Rates were fixed at Rs 3,200 for Solang, Buruwa and Falayn, Rs 2,800 for Taleti and Rs 1,300 for Marhi.
District Tourism Development Officer Rattan Gautam presented details of various paragliding and river rafting sites and routes of the district. ASP Nishchint Negi, SDM Rohit Rathore and office-bearers of paragliding and rafting associations attended the meeting.
Youth Congress president Vikramaditya with other leaders during a rally at Sarkaghat in Mandi…
Factionalism came to the fore during the Youth Congress Sankalp rally at Sarkaghat in Mandi today as senior leader of the area Rangila Ram Rao and his supporters deliberately skipped the rally.
The political show was organised by Youth Congress to show its strength in the area, where general secretary Yadupati Thakur is considered a strong contender of the party ticket against former Cabinet Minister Rangila Ram Rao in the coming days.
The tussle between the duo grew intense last year when Yadupati was expelled by the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) after the Block Congress Committee passed a disciplinary action against him and alleged that he had shown black badges to Rangila Ram Rao during his visit to the area.
Yadupati is considered a close aide of Youth Congress president Vikramaditya Singh, son of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. At present, Yadupati’s return into Congress is under HPCC’s consideration.
The crowd was pulled by Yadupati Thakur to show his strength at Sarkaghat, where former Chief Minister and BJP leader Prem Kumar Dhumal also addressed a rally few days ago.
Yadupati Thakur, while addressing the gathering, said the area lacked basic facilities, such as better road connectivity and potable water. He demanded that a campus of the proposed medical university at Mandi should be opened at Sarkaghat to facilitate the people of area.
Vikramaditya Singh presided over the Sankalp rally and encouraged party workers to work hard for the win of the party in coming days.
He said the BJP was trying to divide people on basis of cast and religion, while the Congress believed in equal development without any bias.
He targeted Prem Kumar Dhumal for opposing Dharamsala as the second state capital.Vikramaditya praised the efforts of the state government and said during Congress regime, several steps had been taken to benefit the masses and create job opportunities for the youth of the state. Skill development allowances were being provided to the youth to make them competent to find a job, he added.
A leopard was found dead near Dari village yesterday. A woman found the carcass in a field and raised an alarm. Villagers gathered at the spot and informed the police and forest officials. Forest officials arrived soon and took the animal’s body for a postmortem examination to ascertain the actual cause of the death.
The death of another leopard within a week in Mandi has raised serious concerns about the existence of the rare species.
On March 22, a leopard’s hide was found at an isolated place in the forest area near Khajoor village in Ladbhadol area of the district by a group of villagers. The head, tail and legs of animal had been chopped off, indicating the prevalence of organised poaching in the district.
Confirming the death of the animal, Conservator of Forest Department, Mandi, RS Patiyal said poaching could not be ruled out as a reason of the death. However, the reasons would be ascertained after the receipt of the postmortem report, which is awaited.
“Preliminary inquiry revealed that the leopard had a deep injury on its throat and we have lodged an FIR under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act,” he stated. After getting the postmortem report, the further course of action will be decided.
Vikramaditya Singh, state president of Youth Congress, addresses mediapersons in Shimla on Sunday
Launching a blistering attack on former Chief Minister P K Dhumal and his family members, Youth Congress president Vikramaditya Singh today accused MP Hamirpur Anurag Thakur of having links with criminals and drug lords of Punjab and termed the Dhumal family as “don of drugs”.
Addressing media persons here today, Singh said the old tactics of the BJP to divide people on region and caste is not working and, therefore, it has unleashed a false propaganda of mafia raj against the state government. Dhumal is making unsubstantiated allegations against Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to save his political leadership.
Quoting crime data, he said that 1,229 cases were registered under the NDPS Act in 2016 as compared to 374 cases registered in 2008 under the BJP regime which shows the commitment of the state government to fight drug menace. Amendments have been made to make the law on drugs more stringent, four medicines commonly used as drugs have been banned and 22 additional posts of drug inspector and three posts of assistant drug controller have been sanctioned.
The Himachal Pradesh Beverages Corporation was formed to bring transparency and stop black marketing of liquor in the border areas.
Accusing the BJP government of rampant corruption in giving permission under Section 118 of HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, especially to educational institutes in Solan district, he said that he had enough evidence which he would produce at the right moment.
“The Youth Congress would organise rallies to counter mafia raj hatao, Himachal Pradesh bachao campaign of the BJP and the first rally would be organized in Sarkaghat tomorrow”, he said.
Supporting the decision of making Dharamsala as a second capital, he said that the move would ensure cultural and emotional integration but the administration would not be shifted. The Congress would be benefitted due to this decision would play a key role in forming the next Congress government, he added.
The development works undertaken by the present Congress government throughout the state and especially in Hamirpur would pave way for the victory of Congress candidate in the Bhoranj by election, he asserted.
In the industrial area of Jharamajri-based tire-making industry, a fire broke out at noon yesterday, causing loss of millions of rupees. The fire was so fierce that as many as 35 fire tenders were employed to control the fire but they still faced a lot of hardship.
On Sunday afternoon around 1:30, the KRM Tire Company situated in the industrial export promotion center in Jhmasmajari Park Face-1 caught fire. The fire turned into sky high flames in no time. Company officials immediately informed police and fire station, under which fire extinguishing work was started. In the beginning two vehicles were used to extinguish the fire. After that fire brigade vehicles were procured from Nalagarh, Parwanoo and local industries.
Fierce fire turns entire industry into ashes
This fierce fire burnt all ready to use and raw materials to ashes. All electrical appliances were also burned. All the machinery was destroyed by burning. Apart from this, all records and documents were also burnt to ashes. After the fire got fierce all the workers gathered outside of the factory and police has to work hard to control them. This is why attention should be on companies like TreadHunter who have an impeccable record when it comes to these dangers.
By the time this news was written, the fire was still on but at low. The reasons for the fire could not be ascertained, whereas it was a power cut in the area on Sunday. SDM Nalagarh Ashutosh Garg, SP Baddi Bashar Singh, DSP Khazana Ram and all the administration reached the spot and also gave necessary instructions to the security forces.
What did SP Baddi say?
SP Baddi Basher Singh said that they arrived at the spot as soon as they got the information. The fire was so fierce that the security arrangements had to be tightened. The buildings, machinery, ready-made and raw materials and power equipment of crores of rupees were destroyed.
