Page 45 - Himachal Pradesh

Apple farmers from hill states unite to protest Centre's farming policies

The protesting farmers submitted a 9-point memorandum with demands including the withdrawal of eviction orders issued to farmers in Jammu and Kashmir

Himachal amends 51-year-old law, provides equitable rights to daughters

The bill includes the daughter on a par with the son as a separate independent unit. Earlier, the Act allowed an adult son to have an additional 150 bighas while denying the same right to an daughter

MeT issues 'yellow' alert for thunderstorm, lightning in Himachal for Apr 4

A 'yellow' alert for thunderstorm and lightning at isolated places has been issued for April 4 and a wet spell is predicted in the state till April 6, the Met office here said on Monday. Light rains continued to lash several parts of the state as Manali received 14 mm of rain followed by Dalhousie 12 mm, Shimla and Bhuntar 9 mm each, Narkanda 8.5 mm, Bharari 7 mm, Berthin and Amb 6 mm each and Sundernagar, Kufri and Pandoh 5 mm each. Following inclement weather conditions over the past few days, 13 roads have been closed to traffic in the state. Himachal Pradesh received 41 per cent deficient rains in March as the state recorded 66.8 mm of rain against the normal 113.4 mm, the MeT office here said on Monday. According to the MeT data, Sirmaur, Bilaspur and Solan received excess rainfall, while Kangra, Hamirpur, Mandi, Una and Shimla received normal rainfall Meanwhile, Chamba, Kullu, Lahaul Spiti and Kinnaur received deficient rainfall, the data stated.

Himachal Pradesh Loktantra Prahari Samman Act repealed amid Oppn walkout

The Himachal Pradesh assembly on Monday repealed the Himachal Pradesh Loktantra Prahari Samman Act amid a walkout by the opposition BJP. The opposition strongly opposed the Bill to repeal the Act and heated exchanges marked the proceedings. Introducing the Bill to repeal the Act, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said the previous BJP government misused funds in the name of "Loktantra Prahari Samman" and benefitted its favourites. "During emergency, no person was jailed as punishment and the arrests were preventive and the previous government spent more than Rs 3.43 crore in the name of Loktantra Prahari Samman," he said. BJP governments headed by former chief ministers Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal were in power twice, so why did they not take notice of Loktantra Praharis, he asked. Leader of the opposition and former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said the government should reconsider repealing the Act if it has faith in democracy. Public Works Minister ..

Himachal Pradesh to collaborate with Centre to promote lavender cultivation

The Himachal Pradesh government is all set to collaborate with the Union government on the "Aroma Mission", a lavender cultivation initiative that has proven to be a boon for farmers in Jammu and Kashmir. With the climatic conditions of several regions in Himachal Pradesh, including Chamba, being similar to those of Jammu and Kashmir, the state government aims to replicate the success of this initiative in Himachal Pradesh in a big way. This initiative will boost the economy of farmers as well as the state in a big way, a statement issued here on Sunday said. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had a discussion with Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Jitendra Singh and the latter assured the state of providing technical support to farmers for the project. The Chief Minister said that the initiative has the potential to transform the lives of farmers and with the collaboration of the state and Union government, the "Aroma Mission" could prove to

Himachal gets Rs. 37.76 crore grant-in-aid for maintenance of rural roads

The Union Ministry of Rural Development has sanctioned an incentive grant-in-aid of Rs 37.76 crore for Himachal Pradesh under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY), Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh said on Saturday. As per the report submitted by National Quality Monitors, the state has performed well in the maintenance of PMGSY Roads. Efforts of the state government for maintaining a good quality of the rural roads network and enhancing the expenditure of the same in the last two quarters were also taken into consideration, a statement issued here said. These incentives have been received after the gap of four years, Singh said and added that this incentive will be utilized for metalling and black-topping of rural roads constructed under PMGSY.

Politics and governance in Himachal Pradesh

CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is on a roll, but complacency could lead to trouble because governance alone is not the key to a successful tenure - politics is, as well

HP, BSNL ink pact for laying optical fibre to provide 4G in remote areas

The Himachal Pradesh government has signed an agreement with BSNL for laying the optical fibre cable to provide 4G coverage in unconnected (remote and far-flung) areas of the state. A spokesperson of the state government informed on Friday that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Department of Information Technology Director Mukesh Repaswal and BSNL-HP Principal General Manager Charan Singh in the presence of BSNL-HP Chief General Manager JS Sahota. This will be a step towards providing reliable and high-speed connectivity to every part of the state, especially the far-flung and remote regions of Kinnaur, Lahual & Spiti, and Pangi. The state government had proposed a project to the Centre for the provision of connectivity in the un-connected villages of the state and had received Rs 50 crore for the same. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was chosen as the executing agency for the project. Now, with the signing of the MoU, BSNL will start the process of laying down

President's Shimla holiday resort The Retreat opens for public from Apr 23

The 173-year-old heritage building and lush green lawns of the 'Rashtrapati Niwas', earlier known as the 'Presidential Retreat', at Mashobra in Himachal Pradesh will be thrown open for visitors from April 23. President Droupadi Murmu will officially open the estate to the general public during her visit to Shimla, Additional Secretary to the President, Rakesh Gupta, informed in a meeting at the Niwas on Friday, a statement issued here said. This would be an added attraction for people visiting the state capital in the Himalayan foothills. The entry fee for Indians would be Rs 50 a person and for foreigners, Rs 250 a person, according to the statement. The retreat will be open for people throughout the year, except on Mondays, government holidays and during the president's stay at the Niwas, it said. There will be no entry charge for group visits by government school students till June 30. The key attractions at the estate are the main building, the official dining halls and artifa

HP govt to reconsider opening summer-closing schools: Education Minister

The Himachal Pradesh government would consider opening summer-closing schools that were closed due to low enrolment, Education Minister Rohit Thakur told Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday. He said the educational institutions will be opened on the basis of requirements. Replying to debate on cut motions on demand for education grants, Thakur said there are 455 schools in the state without a teacher and 3,145 schools are functioning with only one teacher as a result of which Himachal has slipped to 11th place in education and the focus would now be on quality education. In an apparent dig at the previous BJP government, Thakur said only two colleges were opened during four years while two dozen colleges were opened in the last six months and thousands of posts of teachers are lying vacant. BJP MLA Randhir Sharma said there are several villages, not connected by road and due to the rising trend of drug misuse, parents are weary of sending their wards to schools and, therefore, there is a nee

Water cess not applicable in Punjab, clarifies Himachal CM Sukhu

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday flagged the issue of proposed water cess on hydropower plants with his Himachal Pradesh counterpart Sukhvinder Sukhu

Anurag Thakur pitches for larger airport at Himachal's Dharamshala

Union minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday made a strong pitch for the expansion of Himachal Pradesh's Dharamshala airport to provide direct and seamless connectivity to the region. He made the demand as he and Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh flagged off the first Delhi-Dharamshala IndiGo flight. Making a case for a larger airport, Thakur said that currently passengers travelling to Himachal have to go via Delhi and then board connecting flights as smaller airports in the state are unable to handle larger aircraft. Scindia said the Civil Aviation Ministry was already working on a two-phase expansion plan to increase the runway length from 1,376 metres to 1,900 metres to enable turboprop aircraft carry out operations without load penalties. Currently, the turboprop aircraft operating from Dharamshala airport are not allowed to take off with full capacity which leads to under utlisation and higher airfares. Scindia said the

Congress workers in Himachal protest disqualification of Rahul from LS

Lodging their protest against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha, Congress leaders on Sunday held a 'Sankalp Satyagraha' here. The Congress leaders and workers gathered at the Ridge and protested against the move. The party would launch a statewide protest against the alleged attempt of the BJP government to "kill democracy" and "muzzle" the voice of the people from Monday, said Congress leaders. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had on Friday maintained that a conspiracy had been hatched to defame Rahul Gandhi, who has been raising the issues of public concern. Gandhi undertook a march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, and is the only leader who is raising the true voice of the people and keeping democracy alive, he had stated. Opposition is very important for a healthy democracy but the BJP has "throttled" democracy by not allowing the Congress leaders to speak inside Parliament as well as outside, Sukhu added.

Haryana opposes imposition of water cess on hydro projects by Himachal

It also urged the Central government to prevail upon the Himachal government to withdraw the Ordinance as it is in violation of the central Act i.e. the Inter State Water Disputes Act of 1956

2.8 magnitude earthquake hits Himachal's Kinnaur, no damage reported

A mild intensity earthquake of magnitude 2.8 -- with its epicentre in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur -- hit the state at 12:51 am on Wednesday, but no damage was reported, officials said. Earlier, tremors were felt in almost all parts of the state around 10:17 on Tuesday night following a 6.6 magnitude earthquake whose epicentre was in Afghanistan's Hindu Kush area at a depth of 156 km. People in Shimla, Mandi and several other places ran out of their houses in panic but no loss of life or property has been reported so far, the officials said. Tremors were felt in all the 12 districts of the state but no loss of life or damage to property has been reported, Special Secretary Disaster Management Sudesh Mokta had told The PTI. In the past 24 hours, more than 10 earthquakes were witnessed in India and the nearby region. Their magnitude was between three and four, he added.

Himachal signs MoU with French Agency to improve drinking water, sanitation

Under the project, Rs 612 crore would be provided by AFD, whereas the State Government would provide Rs. 204.85 crore, said the Chief Minister

Rs 804 cr disbursed as land compensation in NH projects in Himachal: CM

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has said a sum of Rs 804 crore has been disbursed as land compensation in various national highway projects within a month in the state. The chief minister stressed on completion of the disbursement process of the remaining compensation cases worth about Rs 750 crore by March 27, 2023. He was reviewing the progress of various ongoing National Highway (NH) projects in the state focusing on resolving issues related to land compensation, clearances of FRA (Forest Rights Act) and FCA (Forest Conservation Act) and other bottlenecks of the projects on Sunday, a release issued here said. As the roads are the lifeline of Himachal Pradesh, the state government has been working diligently to ensure the timely completion of national highway projects, he said. The state government's efforts to expedite the land compensation and other clearances process would facilitate smoother implementation of the projects and provide better road ...

Amritpal Singh case: Alert sounded in Himachal, security along state border

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday said the state was on high alert and security has been beefed up along the border with Punjab in view of the crackdown against radical preacher Amritpal Singh. Strict vigil is being maintained along the border with Punjab, he told media persons here. Directions have been issued to ensure tourists coming from outside the state do not face any inconvenience and no unwanted element is allowed entry, the chief minister added. "There is nothing to worry and we are ready to deal with any circumstance," he said. Referring to recent clashes between local people and tourists from Punjab that led to a tense atmosphere in the state, the chief minister said there are some anti-social people trying to spoil the environment but "we all are citizens of this country and people of Punjab and Himachal are like brothers". "I will speak to the chief minister of Punjab if the need arises," Sukhu added. The Punjab Police on Saturday laun

Amritpal Singh crackdown: Strict vigil at Himachal Pradesh-Punjab borders

Security has been beefed up on Himachal Pradesh borders with Punjab in view of a crackdown against Khalistan supporter Amritpal Singh, police here said on Sunday. Strict vigil is being kept with checking of all suspicious looking vehicles on every check post along Nangal and Gagret, said Una Superintendent of Police Arjit Sen Thakur. The Una Police has barricaded several places and deployed its personnel in heavy numbers at Bathari, Marwari, Santoshgarh, and Mehatpur on the Himachal-Punjab border. Thakur appealed to the people to remain calm and peaceful and if they spot any unwanted elements in their areas report them to police.

Recruit 500 more professors to implement NEP: Teachers' association in HP

There is a dire need to recruit 500 more professors in colleges to implement the National Education policy (NEP) 2020 in Himachal Pradesh, according to the delegates from the hill state participating in an academic conference in Haryana's Kurukshetra. In a release issued here on Saturday, the office-bearers of the Himachal Pradesh Government College Teachers' Association (HGCTA), who are participating in the ongoing 32nd academic conference organised by the All India federation of University and College Teachers' Organisations (AIFUCTO), said around 100 colleges of the 133 in the state are without regular principals, 50 colleges are functioning from private premises and around 30 have only two or three professors. Informing that Himachal Pradesh is going to be the first state to implement the NEP in colleges from the current academic session, HGCTA general secretary R L Sharma cautioned that the implementation of the policy in haste, without the required infrastructure and a ...