Himachal Pradesh CPI(M) to contest in 19 Assembly seats

Dec 5, 2016

Press Trust of India

Himachal Pradesh CPI(M) will contest in 19 out of the 68 Assembly seats in the state and support candidates of CPI and other like-minded parties in remaining constituencies, a party leader said.

State secretary of the party, Omkar Shaad, who presented the agenda at the party plenum said CPI(M) has identified 19 seats from which it will contest the polls. It will support the candidates of CPI and other like-minded parties in other seats.

Inaugurating the plenum, the party’s central secretariat member Vijayraghwan accused the Modi government of a pursuing a policy for the benefit of capitalists and corporates.

“The Modi government is implementing the liberalisation policies started by UPA government more vigorously and trying to divide people on communal lines,” he alleged, adding BJP has “failed” to fulfil its poll promises.

Vijayraghwan also slammed the Centre’s demonetisation move, for which, he claimed, the common people are suffering.

Green Chilli Pickle – Savouring Green Chillies

Dec 4, 2016

There are many methods of making green chilli pickle. I don’t know them all. The method I am talking here about is one of the best because I have tasted the best of green chilli pickle.

While residing at the home of elderly couple Late. Neena Aunty and Uncle Late. Kanwar GS Chauhan in shimla I savoured green chilli pickle with paranthas. I always wondered how this pickle have been made of? Don’t tell me that you have cooked it uncle!

Finally I knew that he had made it when he scripted it to my diary and later I prepared a delicious full jar of green chilly pickle in my kitchen. It had almost same delicious taste.

I asked him for the recipe of making delicious green chilli pickle and he with gladly dictated it onto my diary which I am copying it here from. Here we go.

Ingredients of Green Chilli Pickle

Green Chilli (Mirch) 1 Kg
Garam Masala – 30gm
Methi Powder – 30gm
Haldi (Turmeric) – 20gm
Saunf – 20gm
Rai Powder – 30gm
Amchoor – 50gm(optional)
Namak (Salt) – 150gm
Grecil Acetic acid – Vinegar – 1 Large Spoon
Sodium Benzoate 1/3 teaspoon
Sarson (mustard) Oil – 1Kg

Method

Mix all the masalas and grind. Now put oil essential to fry the masala. Drop one piece to check if oil is simmering and ready for frying. Fry all the masalas until the mixture gets light brown in color. Now put the chopped green chilli pieces in the oil and stir the entire mixture until it starts evaporating and making chitter-chatting sound. Now put off the fire and keep stirring the mixture until all sounds settles down. Let the utensil get cool. Once cooled down , put the ready pickle into a moisture free jar.

Hot the remaining mustard oil in an utensil until it is heated to 350 to 375 degrees and it is about to simmer, with vapours appearing over the oil in utensil. Put off the fire and let the oil cool down completely. Once cooled down put this oil in the jar containing green chilli pickle so that it is sunk completely in the oil.

After one day this green chilli pickle is ready to eat.

Courtesy: Late. Kanwar GS Chauhan

Price hike in domestic gas cylinder in Himachal Pradesh

Dec 4, 2016

In Himachal Pradesh domestic household gas cylinders price has increase by 55 rupees. The consumers have to pay Rs. 639 in the month of December. Especially in Shimla city people have to pay extra Rs 50 for home delivery. It means that the total expenses in gas cylinder will be Rs 689 for a Shimla consumer.

According to initiative planning (Direct Benefit Profit LPG) those consumers who have connected under DBPL the central government will be refunding Rs.187 subsidy into their bank accounts. The consumers who have surrendered gas subsidy will also have to pay VAT. Those consumers who have not connected under subsidy will get gas cylinder at Rs 646.60.

Rs 94 hike in Commercial cylinder price

On the other hand, there is an increase of Rs. 94 in the price of commercial gas cylinder. From this month, commercial gas cylinder will be available at Rs. 1220. Rs. 100 delivery charges will be extra. New prices willl in effect in the state from today.

Subsidy on 12 cylinders until March 2017

12 gas cylinders will be supplied at subsidy from April 2016 to March 2017. Additional cylinders will be charged without subsidy.

Wife, in-laws held in connection with Preity Zinta’s cousin suicide case

Dec 4, 2016

Nitin Chauhan accused his in-laws of not allowing him to meet his children and of threatening to implicate him in false cases which eventually him to his extreme step

IANS

Hindi cinema actor Preity Zinta’s cousin Nitin Chauhan committed suicide in Shimla owing to a matrimonial dispute. His wife and in-laws were arrested on Sunday for forcing him to take the extreme step, police said.

Mr. Chauhan allegedly shot himself in the head with a pistol in a vehicle early on Friday.

Mr. Chauhan’s wife Pravin Dulta (34) and his parents-in-law Prem Singh Dulta (60) and Sulochna Dulta (55) were arrested on the basis of his suicide notes, a senior police official told IANS.

Police said two suicide notes were recovered — one from the car and one from Mr. Chauhan’s house — wherein he blamed his in-laws for his extreme step.

Mr. Chauhan accused his in-laws of not allowing him to meet his children and of threatening to implicate him in false cases, a police official said.

Child rights activist Kumar V. Jahgirdar on Saturday said Mr. Chauhan took the step a day before a court hearing in the matrimonial dispute.

“It’s indeed shocking that nobody came to the rescue of this father (Nitin Chauhan) as he was missing his son. His wife had filed false cases against him to keep him away from his children,” said Mr. Jahgirdar.

Mr. Jahgirdar, President of Child Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting which promotes the cause of shared parenting in case of divorces, said the Centre should declare “parental alienation” a crime and make shared parenting mandatory to protect the rights of children of divorced/separated couples.

Mr. Chauhan was a native of Shilat village in Kotkhai tehsil of Shimla district but was residing with his family in Shimla for the last few years.

Preity Zinta’s cousin commits suicide by shooting himself

Dec 3, 2016

Preity Zinta’s cousin Nitin Chauhan committed suicide on Friday morning, allegedly due to harassment from his wife and in-laws.

Preity Zinta’s cousin Nitin Chauhan committed suicide by shooting himself on Friday morning, according to a report in Hindustan Times. Reportedly, he was going through marital trouble for quite some time.

The police found two suicide notes, one in Nitin’s car, where he shot himself, and the other at his residence. He had reportedly blamed his wife and in-laws for driving him to take this extreme step, ahead of the court hearing of their legal separation on the same day.

The report quotes a police officer as saying, “In both suicide notes, of four pages each, Chauhan blamed his wife and in-laws of harassing him,” adding that he accused them of filing false cases and not allowing him to meet his son.

A case has been registered against Nitin’s in-laws and the weapon has been sent for forensic examination.

Over 4000 vacancies in elementary schools to be filled soon

Dec 1, 2016

150 primary schools will be merged, 78 more schools with less students will be denotified

Over 4000 posts of different categories would be filled in government elementary schools soon to meet the shortage of teachers and other staff, a senior official said today.

By: PTI | Shimla | Published: December 1, 2016 10:39 PM

Over 4000 posts of different categories would be filled in government elementary schools soon to meet the shortage of teachers and other staff, a senior official said today.

The recruitment would be made through batch-wise appointments and direct appointment and the staff crunch faced by the department would be eased, Director Elementary Education Manmohan Sharma said here.

He said that there was vast network of about 16,000 government schools in the state but in spite of this, the students were shifting from government to private schools, even in rural areas.

Stressing the need for quality education, Sharma said all out efforts were being made by the government to improve the quality of education.

“Teachers are being exposed to new techniques and innovation and continuous evaluation system has been introduced to gauge the learning levels,” he said.

In order to bring the weak students on par with meritorious students, initiatives like ‘Prerna and Prayas’ have been taken and instructions have been issued to the teachers to conduct separate classes for weak students and pay more attention to them to improve the learning levels, the Director added.

The teachers have also been instructed to prepare specific strategies for weak students to make teaching interesting to motivate the students towards studies.

Yami Gautam buys a heritage home in Himachal Pradesh

Dec 1, 2016

Roshmila Bhattacharya | Mumbai Mirror

Yami Gautam has bought a house in her home state, Himachal Pradesh. A 100-year-old heritage home set on a 25-acre plot, some distance from Mandi, it is a dream come true for the actress who is gearing up for her 2017 Republic Day release, the revenge-drama, ‘Kaabil’, also featuring Hrithik Roshan.

“For me a home is more of an emotional connect than a property investment. Even though I grew up in Chandigarh, I would go to my nani’s place near Shimla every year during the summer holidays and some of my happiest memories are rooted there and is the reason I want to be a child again. It was always a special place, even the air felt different and since a car is still a luxury in those parts, I remember taking the autorickshaw or mostly walking for hours to a relative’s home, singing songs and sometimes sliding down a hill for a shortcut. During winters, everyone would gather on the terrace–some knitting, some cooking and some playing with us,” she reminisces.

The memories came crowding back when she went for the registry and sitting in the lawn outside, met with the local townsfolk who were delighted with their new neighbour and promised her every possible help. Remembering the weddings she attended growing up, sitting together with everyone, Yami marvels at the charming simplicity of the people, the picturesque greenery and the blissful serenity of the surroundings, so different from the hustle bustle of the Maximum City. “There’s a `we’ feeling there that’s unique to the place,” she exults.

Prod her for more details on her dream home and she reveals that it was her parents who spotted it and alerted her. The owners were about to sell it to someone else but when they saw how much she loved it, they were happy to let her have it, knowing she shared their sentiments would take good care of their ancestral home. “It’s a typical, traditional Himachali house with the rooms built around an open court yard and one or two of them with secret staircases leading to the basement,” she says with a delighted smile. “My father is supervising the renovations, working closely with architects to ensure that we don’t disturb the original structure while fitting it with modern amenities. The puja room will remain the way it is, and so will the sloping tin roof. I’d love to hear the rain patter against it during monsoons,” she says dreamily.

The actress is also excited about the fact that the house comes attached with agricultural land where they have been growing vegetables and fruits for decades. She intends to continue with the organic farming and one day soon, walk out, pluck an apple from a tree and bite into it. “The original owners sent us baskets of walnuts and apricots as a ‘thank you’. People there are more emotional than commercial. We have a stream running across and can hand-pump water, drink it unfiltered,” she marvels.

3.3 Earthquake hits Kullu, no casualties reported

Dec 1, 2016

An earthquake measuring 3.3 on richter scale hit Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu in wee hours of Thursday.

Shimla: A 3.3 magnitude earthquake struck Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu in the wee hours on Thursday. No loss of lives or property have been reported so far. Some low-intensity tremors were also felt in close-by Mandi.

The MeT department is yet to issue an official statement of the incidence.

The hill areas around Himachal Pradesh are highly vulnerable to earthquakes.

A mock exercise was conducted on November 24 in seven districts of the state — Shimla, Kangra, Mandi Chamba, Solan, Kinnaur and Kullu — to generate awareness and evaluate the response mechanism.

No losses have been reported so far. The MeT department is still to issue an official statement over the news. Further inputs awaited.

HP cabinet allots 95 small hydro-power projects to investors

Nov 29, 2016

The Himachal Pradesh Cabinet today decided to allot 95 small hydro-power projects, with capacity of up to 5 MW, to 95 investors, including 74 from the state

PTI

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh Cabinet today decided to allot 95 small hydro-power projects, with capacity of up to 5 MW, to 95 investors, including 74 from the state.

The total capacity of the 95 projects is 197.695 MW, of which 74 projects with 126.695 MW were allotted to investors from the state and 21 projects of 76 MW to investors from outside Himachal Pradesh.

The Cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh decided that in case capacity is enhanced over 5 MW applicable charges, including additional free power royalty, will be paid by the applicant afresh on the whole capacity.

The cabinet terminated the implementation agreement of the 13 MW Lower Uhl Hyro Electricity Project and decided to allot the project through international competitive bidding.

It approved felling, removal and lopping of dangerous trees in limits of municipal corporations in Shimla and Dharamshala as per recommendations of its sub-committee.

The Cabinet gave its nod to increase honorarium of primary assistant teachers (PAT) in the Elementary Education Department from Rs 8,900 to Rs 11,000 per month.

The decision is set to benefit 3,240 PATs who are in service against vacant posts of JBT for more than 10 years.

It approved the proposal to regularise services of Part Time Water Carriers and Carrier-cum-Peon working on daily wage basis in the Education Department for more than 14 years as on March 31 and September 30.

The Cabinet approved filling and creation of 288 posts in various departments including 100 posts of MBBS doctors and 113 functional posts in Urban Local bodies.

It gave its nod to amend the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Rules, 2005, pertaining to registration procedure and process of submission of returns by good carriers and agent of transport companies under VAT Rules, and levying five per cent uniform cess on e-commerce by inserting new forms.

It approved creation of the Endocrinology Department at IGMC and Dr Rajinder Prasad Medical College and Hospital, Tanda.

Creation of requisite posts for open Primary Health Centre in gram panchayat at Baghar in Shimla district, Chamboh in Hamirpur district was also approved.

It gave its approval to open new health sub centres at Kanjayan, Lehri Sarel, Baddu Sahani in Bilaspur district, Gram Panchayat Kas in Mandi district.

Staff and upgrade of Primary Health Centre Hatwar to Community Health Centre in district Bilaspur was approved by the Cabinet.

It approved transfer of government land in favour of Government of India for construction of Central Drug Standard Control Organization Zonal Office at Baddi in Solan district.

The cabinet also approved development plan for Barog Special Area and starting post-graduate courses in Geology at Government College Dharamshala.

Centre may not allow Himachal to send monkeys to Northeast

Nov 28, 2016

The Environment and Forest Ministry may not allow Himachal government to trans-locate monkeys to three Northeastern states–Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram.

The Statesman

Shimla: “Trans-location of monkeys from Himachal to other states is not the solution to curb the monkey menace,” the ministry said in its communique to Mumbai-based animal rights NGO, Humane Society International (HSI), which had protested and brought the HP government’s move to the notice of the ministry.

The state government, with a view to curbing resentment among farmers in the wake of failures to check monkey menace in the state, had contemplated to transport monkeys to other states.

The state Wildlife Department was even holding bilateral talks with the government of these three states on the issue.

Talking to The Statesman, Chief Wildlife Warden, HP, S S Negi said that the government is still in bilateral talks with Northeastern states on trans-location of monkeys. “We have no knowledge of the ministry’s stance.”

It may be mentioned that the Humane Society International (HSI) had objected to the move on translocation of monkeys, contending that it would only aggravate human-monkey conflict.

It had also written to the HP government in this regard.

The NGO had argued that there are lethal effects of capture, caging and a long journey from Himachal Pradesh to Northeastern Indian states on the monkeys and the move needs to be reconsidered.

The HIS had said, “It is now widely recognized by wildlife veterinarians that every wild creature that is the subject of translocation or rehabilitation release must not be regarded as a single animal. But rather as a package containing an assortment of potentially dangerous viruses, bacteria, protozoa, helminths and arthropods, any of which may become pathogenic in new situation involving stressed individuals in a changed environment”.

The NGO had even suggested to the Wildlife Department to opt for sterilization of monkeys using immuno-contraception, a method that was being pursued by the Wildlife Institute of India.

The immuno-contraception method employs the immune system of an animal to create contraception.

The proposal of the state government was already in soup as the Nagaland government had requested the government to provide habitat to elephants in the state in lieu of relocation of monkeys in the Northeastern state.

Mild snowfall in high-altitude areas of Himachal Pradesh

Nov 27, 2016

Kufri - A beautiful hill station near Shimla

Press Trust of India

High-altitude areas in Himachal Pradesh witnessed mild snowfall, even as minimum temperatures rose by one to two degrees Celsius in most parts of the state, the MeT department said.

Kalpa was the coldest recording a low of 2.2 degrees Celsius, while in Keylong, Bhuntar and Manlai the minimum temperature was 3.4 degrees Celsius, 5.5 degrees Celsius and 5.8 degrees Celsius respectively, it said.

Maximum temperatures also dropped marginally and Una was the hottest with a high of 28.5 degrees Celsius, followed by Sundernagar 27.2 degrees Celsius, Bhuntar 26.3 degrees Celsius, Solan 25.5 degrees Celsius, Shimla 20.6 degrees Celsius.

The local MeT office has predicted dry weather in the region for next six days.

Government will open ayurvedic hospitals all over the state: CM Virbhadra Singh

Nov 26, 2016

Himachal Pradesh is bestowed with rare medicinal herbs and plants used in alternate systems of medicine which would immensely benefit, both the farmers as well as the industry in the state, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said.

PTI

Shimla, Nov 26: Himachal Pradesh government is committed to promote ayurveda and would open ayurvedic hospitals across the state, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said. Inaugurating the health fair ‘Arogya’ organised by the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, the Department of Ayurveda, Government of Himachal Pradesh, in partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Chief Minister said, “My government is committed to promote Ayurveda in the state and would open Ayurvedic hospitals here.”

Himachal Pradesh is bestowed with rare medicinal herbs and plants used in alternate systems of medicine which would immensely benefit, both the farmers as well as the industry in the state, he said. Farmers can earn rich profits by diversifying to cultivation of medicinal herbs and the Industry can also tap the potential of the state, he added.

The state Ayurveda minister, Karan Singh said, “It is the right of every citizen to be disease-free and adopting a lifestyle based on the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda can help citizens live a better and healthier life.”

Nisha Singh, Principal Secretary, Ayurveda said that, “Himachal is gifted with rich variety of medicinal herbs which grow here. This provides us vast potential to nurture the industry to produce Ayurvedic medicines and we must harness this potential to boost the growth of farmers and the industry.”

Chairman, CII Himachal Pradesh State Council, Sanjay Khurana, said, “Himachal Pradesh is an ideal destination to learn, practice and master the ways of life. The state is endowed with scenic beauty, peaceful valleys and is also home to number of ashrams, health centres, retreats, etc.

“These institutions have retained the essence of an age-old wisdom of the land in order to cater to the novel needs of an ever-evolving society.” The fair has 26 exhibitors, 20 from AYUSH Industry; one from Government of Himachal Pradesh and five from the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India.

PTI

Mega mock drill carried out in 7 districts to gauge earthquake preparedness

Nov 24, 2016

mega-mock-drill-earthquake — Representational Photo

The exercise was conducted simultaneously in Shimla, Solan, Mandi, Kullu, Kinnaur, Chamba and Kangra districts to find out the strength and gaps in disaster management preparedness in case of a high intensity earthquake, chief secretary V C Pharka said.

Shimla, Nov 24 (PTI): Seven district headquarters in Himachal Pradesh today witnessed a mega mock drill to gauge the preparedness in disaster management in case of an high intensity earthquake. The exercise was conducted simultaneously in Shimla, Solan, Mandi, Kullu, Kinnaur, Chamba and Kangra districts with epicenter between Sundernagar and Mandi to find out the strength and gaps in disaster management preparedness in case of a high intensity earthquake, chief secretary V C Pharka said.

The State Disaster Management Authority, army, ITBP, NDRF, police, civil defence, fire brigade, and other departments participated in the mock drill. Five to six highly vulnerable places were selected in each district headquarter. Different types of post-disaster situations were created to check their preparedness, Pharka said.

The mock drill was organised as a major area of the state is in the seismic zone and 25 per cent area fall under seismic zone V, Tarun Shridhar, Additional Chief Secretary and head of disaster management, said, adding the performance of response teams during the exercise was “good”.

He said the relief and rescue operations were conducted presuming 582 casualties and 1731 injuries.

Annandale ground to remain with Army: Virbhadra

Nov 24, 2016

SHIMLA(TNN): Laying to rest the status of Shimla’s Annandale ground, chief minister Virbhadra Singh has clarified that it will stay with the Army. The chief minister was speaking at the Civil Military Liaison Conference held at the Western Command headquarters in Chandimandir on Wednesday, saying the ground was the only open place which was suitable for conducting disaster relief and management exercises.

During previous BJP regime, Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association led by BCCI president Anurag Thakur had attempted to reclaim the ground from Army to construct a stadium. At the conference, Virbhadra said that many futile attempts were made to take over the ground in the past, but he wanted to make it a point that though governments keep changing, the possession should always be with the Army for proper management and ensuring that no tall concrete structures come up in the vicinity of the ground.

Shimla to get 3 overhead bridges

Nov 20, 2016

shimla-road-overhead-bridge — Representational Image

SHIMLA: In a bid to ensure smooth of flow of traffic in the tourist town of Shimla, the state government plans to construct three overhead bridges and widen city roads, particularly on points where traffic remains choked.

Himachal chief secretary V C Pharka, in a meeting with senior officials of different departments, directed the public works department and Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) to widen the old bus stand road near DDU hospital and construct a rain shelter at the earliest, in line with the directions of chief minister Virbhadra Singh.

He also directed shifting of seven shops to the new commercial complex from the old bus stand, where work of road widening is to be taken up. According to Pharka, work on expansion of 41 roads out of 70 places identified in the SMC area has been taken up while work on widening of other roads would be taken up soon. He said the government has released funds required for the purpose. He asked the public works department and MC to complete work on broadening of link roads in the town at the earliest. The MC commissioner was directed to construct an overhead bridge at Tara Hall school to facilitate students and citizens.

During the budget session of the state assembly this April, the issue of increasing traffic problem on the roads of Shimla and other parts of Himachal Pradesh was raised in the state assembly under rule-130.

TNN

Rs 1.16 crore recovered in Himachal Pradesh so far

Nov 20, 2016

SHIMLA: Two persons were arrested along with Rs 7.5 lakh currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination during the checking of vehicles at toll tax barrier of Kehri Chowk on Banikhet area of Chamba on Friday.

Since November 8 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, around Rs 1.16 crore currency has been seized in the state.

According to senior police officials from Chamba, on Friday around 3.30pm police team stopped a car bearing registration number HP-38C-7283 for checking at the toll tax barrier.

The vehicle was on its way to Pathankot from Banikhet.

Occupant of car identified as Vishlu Ram of Indora, Kangra, and driver Alok Trehan of Dhangu Chowk, Pathankot, were arrested by police and a case was registered against them.

5 killed in car accidents near Rohru in Shimla

Nov 15, 2016

tata-sumo-accident-lahaul-spiti-keylong — Representational Image

SHIMLA: Four people died on the spot when the car they were travelling in met with an accident at Sungru along Rohru-Sungri road in Shimla district on Tuesday. In another accident, a man driver died after his car met with an accident at Badach in Chopal area of Shimla district on Monday.

On Tuesday, a car (HP-10A-8773) fell into a 130 meter deep gorge, killing all its four passengers. The victims were identified as car owner Harwant Singh of Dogri- Devidhar, Sunil Kumar of Chiwadi, Kishori Lal of Baneti, and Pardeep of Golchha. All four were returning home from the Lavi fair at Rampur. Based on a complaint by the victim’s kin, that the vehicle veered off the road due to rash and negligent driving of the driver, police have registered a case of rash and negligent driving.

In another accident, Sat Pal died on the spot after his car (HP-08A-2150) rolled off the road near Badach on Monday. It fell 800m down in Shantha Khud. Police have registered a case of negligent driving.

Electric buses on Rohtang route likely from next year

Nov 15, 2016

With the successful trial run of electric buses on the ecologically fragile Manali-Rohtang route, it is being expected that these battery operated buses will start plying by the next summer season as per the directions of the National Green Tribunal.

The Board of Directors (BoDs) of the HRTC will be meeting shortly to take a final call on inviting Ashok Leyland and Gold Stone, who have evinced interest in providing these electric buses. So far, no other state is running these electric buses on such a long route and tough hilly terrain.

The trial run of the electric bus by Gold Stone Company has been successful on the Manali-Rohtang route and now Ashok Leyland is also expected to send its vehicle for trial run in December. “The BoDs of will soon take a call on whether to go ahead with the purchase of the electric vehicles or stick to the mandatory participation by three companies,” said Transport Minister GS Bali.

Though seven companies, including Mahindra, Tata, Kiti and the JBM, had shown interest in supplying electric buses, the bids have been sent in only by Gold Stone and Ashok Leyland. No automobile company in India is manufacturing battery-operated buses and these will have to imported from abroad.

He hoped that in case the BODs gave the go-ahead, then after completion of all the formalities, the state government should be in a position to have these vehicles running on the Manali-Rohtang route from the next summer season.

Tata was also keen to supply electric buses but since they had sought time to be able to meet the requirement, the Himachal Government is in no mood to delay the process any further in view of the NGT directives.

The Ministry of Surface Transport has already agreed to provide 75 per cent funding to Himachal for purchase of 25 electric buses. Each bus is likely to cost about Rs 2 crore. The Centre has also agreed to provide 90 per cent funding for purchase of the smaller electric buses, which will cost much less.

Since the laying of the CNG pipeline between Una to Manali by GAIL will take six months, the purchase of CNG buses has been put on hold till January 31, 2017. The HRTC has also decided to purchase 20 CNG buses with each vehicle to cost about Rs 60 lakh. The CNG Mother Station will come up in Una and the Daughter Station at Manali.

Courtesy: Tribune News Service

Over 100 tribal villages cut-off after Bailey bridge collapses in Pangi

Nov 14, 2016

SHIMLA: The Pangi tribal valley in Chamba and around a 100 tribal villages were cut-off after the Bailey bridge over Lote Nallah on the Tandi-Sansari road collapsed today.

A truck loaded with heavy machinery was passing over the 30-meter bridge when it crumbled and collapsed, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) officials said, adding it would take few days to reconstruct the bridge.

The bridge was a vital link to habitations along the 150 km-road. It connected the Pangi valley and further areas in Kishtwar area of Jammu and Kashmir, they said.

The bridge was constructed 20 years ago and maintained by the RCC 74 of the BRO.

Rs 24 lakh cash recovered from two vehicles in Chamba

Nov 13, 2016

On Sunday, Dalhousie police in Chamba district recovered over Rs 24 lakh in the denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from two luxury cars at Banikhet toll tax barrier. The currency was seized from a two Renault Duster cars, one having Himachal registration and the other car bearing Punjab registration number.

Policemen intercepted the vehicle in the afternoon at a special nakka on the Chamba- Pathankot national highway, 8 km from Dalhousie town. DSP, Headquarters, Chamba and a spokesman of district police Vir Bahadur Rana confirmed the seizure and said that the currency was concealed in a bag in the car boot.

The DSP told that the occupants of the first car were identified as Jaswinder Singh and Manjit Singh, both residents of Chamba town. They were travelling from Chamba to Pathankot. Total value of the currency recovered from their car was Rs 21.29 lakhs. “They couldn’t produce relevant papers or explain the source,” said the DSP.

The police also recovered Rs 2.85 lakh from another car. The driver of the car has been identified as Rakesh Bahal, a resident of Amritsar in Punjab. He was on the way from Chamba to Pathankot and claimed himself to be a cloth trader. He couldn’t produce papers related to currency. “We have seized the vehicles and also the cash and informed income tax authorities and Enforcement Directorate (ED),” said DSP.

The occupants of the two vehicles have been told to show the documents and explain the source of the money to the Central agencies, he added.

This was the second big seizure in the state after demonetisation of high –value currency notes.

Meanwhile, banks and ATMs on weekend witnessed more chaos and even longer queues as cash-starved people jostled to exchange and withdraw money. Long serpentine queues were witnessed at bank branches for the third straight day in Dharamsala and McLeodganj. To add to the misery most of the ATMs in the two towns remain non-functional. The two ATMs of State Bank of India (SBI) and one ATM of Oriental Bank of Commerce in main market of Dharamsala, which were opened in the morning, ran out of cash in few hours.
“I visited almost every ATM in the town but most of them shut. A few ATMs which are functional have a long queue of customers,” said Rakesh Sharma, a local resident who has been trying his luck at ATMs for the past three days.

The worst sufferers are the foreign tourists, who have no bank accounts here and rely on ATMs to withdraw cash. Besides, the labour class is also facing difficulties as their payments have been delayed.

Earlier this week, 76 Lakhs of banned currency notes were recoved in Sundernagar from a Fortuner vehicle.

News Source: Tribune News Service

Ingredients of Green Chilli Pickle

Method

Rs 94 hike in Commercial cylinder price

Subsidy on 12 cylinders until March 2017

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