Posts Tagged ‘Shimla’
Written by admin on 25 January 2010
Shimla, Jan 25 – Urmila Singh sworn-in Himachal Pradesh’s governor at a ceremony held at Raj Bhavan here Monday, an official said.
‘Urmila Singh was administered oath of office and secrecy by High Court Acting Chief Justice R.B. Misra at a ceremony held here this (Monday) evening. She is the 23rd governor of the state,’ Raj Bhavan’s additional director-cum-press secretary Chhering Dugge told IANS.
Earlier, she was presented a guard of honour by a police contingent.
Urmila Singh succeeds Prabha Rau, who has been made governor of Rajasthan.
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, his cabinet colleagues, Leader of Opposition Congress Vidya Stokes, besides legislators and senior government functionaries were present at the swearing-in ceremony.
Urmila Singh is the fourth woman governor of the state since its inception Jan 25, 1971. The two others besides Rau were Sheila Kaul and V.S. Rama Devi.
Tags: Shimla
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Written by admin on 24 January 2010
Shimla, Jan 24 – The 23rd governor of Himachal Pradesh, Urmila Singh, will assume charge Monday, an official statement said here Sunday.
Governor-designate Singh was accorded a rousing reception on her arrival at Raj Bhavan here Sunday.
‘Cabinet ministers headed by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, Leader of Opposition Congress Vidya Stokes, state Congress chief Kaul Singh Thakur, besides legislators and senior government functionaries welcomed Urmila Singh on reaching Raj Bhavan,’ the statement said.
Raj Bhavan’s additional director-cum-press secretary Chhering Dugge told IANS that Urmila Singh would assume charge Monday evening. She will be the 23rd governor of the state.
Outgoing Governor Prabha Rau was given a warm send off Saturday. She has been made governor of Rajasthan.
Urmila Singh will be the fourth woman governor of the state since its inception in January 1971. The two others besides Rau were Sheila Kaul and V.S. Rama Devi.
Tags: Shimla
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Written by admin on 24 January 2010
Shimla, Jan 24 – Cold wave conditions intensified in the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh after a mild snowfall even as the mid hills in the state enjoyed pleasant sunshine Sunday.
Mild snowfall was reported in the high hills of Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur, Kullu and Chamba districts.
Keylong, the headquarters of Lahaul and Spiti, was the coldest place in the state at a low of minus 8.1 degrees Celsius, a Met office spokesperson said.
Kalpa in Kinnaur district had a low of minus 3.1 degrees Celsius.
The state capital, however, witnessed a long sunny day. The night temperature in the town was 5.3 degrees Celsius.
Sundernagar in Mandi district recorded a low of 2.6 degrees while it was one degree at Bhuntar in Kullu district and 5.7 degrees at Dharamsala.
The Met department has forecast dry weather Monday.
Tags: Shimla
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Written by admin on 24 January 2010
Shimla, Jan 24 – Himachal Pradesh, known for its picturesque tourist spots, registered an increase of 17 percent in the inflow of tourists last year compared to the previous year, an official said Sunday.
‘The state attracted 11,437,155 tourists, including 400,583 foreigners, last year (2009),’ Tourism Director Arun Sharma told IANS.
As many as 9,749,433 tourists, including 376,736 from overseas, visited the state in 2008, he said.
‘There was an increase of more than six percent in arrival of foreign tourists. This is quite significant in view of the fact that the country had witnessed a negative growth in tourist arrivals in 2009 due to global recession and outbreak of swine flu,’ he said.
Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation General Manager Yogesh Behl said the corporation did good business, especially during Christmas and New Year’s Eve, last year compared to previous years.
‘Overall, last year was good for the hospitality industry,’ he said.
The corporation has 57 economy and high-end hotels with 1,070 rooms which have 2,320- bed capacity across the state. It is also running 60 restaurants and cafes.
Sharma said the ‘home stay scheme’ launched by the state government in 2008 has received overwhelming response from the household owners.
Under the scheme, any resident can rent out a portion of his house to the tourists after getting the premises registered with the tourism department.
‘Presently, 180 private house owners have adopted the home stay scheme. Most of the houses are located in the tourist hubs of Kullu and Shimla,’ he said.
The picturesque Kullu valley has the maximum 56 registered house-owners under the scheme.
He said the ‘home-stay scheme’, launched on the pattern of the union tourism ministry’s ‘Incredible India Bed and Breakfast Scheme’, not only helps in generating self-employment opportunities for the local people but also in decongesting urban areas.
‘The scheme helps decongest urban towns and also checks fleecing by hoteliers during the peak season,’ Sharma said.
To encourage more and more people to adopt the scheme, the tourism department has started imparting training to registered house owners.
‘Officials are conducting regular inspections of registered houses keeping in view the rush of the visitors. Very shortly, a directory of all such approved establishments will be compiled. Right now, a tourist can book the home-stay unit at any of the state-run tourism booking centres,’ he said.
Tourism is an important contributor to Himachal Pradesh’s economic development, besides horticulture and hydropower generation.
Kullu-Manali has emerged as a favourite tourist destination, followed by Shimla and Dharamsala.
Tags: Shimla
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Written by admin on 24 January 2010
Shimla, Jan 24 (IAS) A 55-year-old man has been arrested in Himachal Pradesh for allegedly possessing two leopard skins — both of fully grown animals, police said Sunday.
‘Two skins of fully grown leopards were seized yesterday (Saturday) from a poacher near Nahan in Sirmaur district,’ Superintendent of Police P.D. Parsad said.
He said one of the skins was eight-feet-three-inch long and the other was seven-feet-one-inch. The leopard is a protected animal and possession of its skin is illegal.
The arrested man has been identified as Gyan Singh.
A case under relevant sections of the Wildlife Preservation Act has been registered against him.
Nahan is close to the Renuka wildlife sanctuary, some 165 km from state capital Shimla.
Tags: Shimla
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Written by admin on 23 January 2010
Shimla, Jan 23 – Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh Saturday demanded the registration of a case against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on the ‘phone tapping’ issue and termed it a fit case to be investigated by a central agency.
‘It’s a serious issue, a fit case to be investigated by a central agency like the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) or the IB (Intelligence Bureau) as high-ranking people like the chief minister and the vigilance chief (D.S. Manhas) are involved. We (the Congress) have demanded the registration of an FIR against the chief minister and the suspension of Manhas,’ Virbhadra Singh told reporters here.
‘The Congress has nothing to do with the CDs. The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is expert in making CDs. It seems it’s their in-house matter (released of the CDs),’ he said on the release of three CDs – two audio and one video – here Jan 19.
The CDs were sent to select journalists, legislators and high court judges through a courier service. One audio CD allegedly has Dhumal purportedly directing Manhas to tap the phones of Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh. The couple was booked Aug 3, 2009, under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the case is being investigated by Manhas.
‘They (the state government) are carrying out surveillance on us… where we go, who is coming to meet us. But the government is denying any such act. Now (after the release of the audio CD) these things have been proved correct.
‘In democracy it’s our right that nobody can tap our phones and censor our postal letters unless permission is sought under rule of law,’ the minister said.
He accused the state government of being vindictive against the Congress leaders and activists.
He also ridiculed the government’s decision to entrust the inquiry into the authenticity of audio CDs to the Crime Investigation Department (CID).
Tags: Shimla
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