03
To further strengthen Modi Govt's efforts towards Atmanirbhar
Delhi violence: HC transfers
pleas for SIT, preserving CCTV
footage to Chief Justice Bench
PTI
NEW DELHI, 24 JUNE
T
he Delhi High Court
Wednesday said the
two pleas seeking set-
ting up of an SIT on
northeast Delhi riots and
directions to Delhi Police to
preserve the CCTV footage of
the violence would be heard
by another bench, of the Chief
Justice before whom similar
petitions are pending.
A bench of Justices Sid-
dharth Mridul and Talwant
Singh was informed that var-
ious petitions seeking simi-
lar relief are already pending
before a bench headed by
Chief Justice D N Patel in
view of the Supreme Court
directions.
The bench, which con-
ducted the hearing through
video conferencing, said the
two petitions filed by Jamiat
Ulama-I-Hind be listed along
with other riots related pleas
before the bench headed by
the Chief Justice on July 13.
Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind said
in its pleas that Delhi Police
should be directed to preserve
CCTV footage of the riot
affected areas from February
Corona unlock: HP hoteliers prep for tourists’ arrival Tele-emergency programme in
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SHIMLA, 24 JUNE
After suffering heavy losses
due to coronavirus (COVID-
19) lockdown in the last three
months, the hoteliers in
Himachal Pradesh are now
gearing up for tourists’ arrival
as the unlock phase has start-
ed across the country.
The Oberoi Group, Tourism
Industry Stake Holders Asso-
ciation (TISHA) and Shimla
Hotel Restaurant Associa-
tion (SHRA) in association with
district administration on
Wednesday started a 3-day
training programme to aware
hoteliers on Standard Oper-
ating Procedure (SOP) amid
COVID-19 outbreak.
Shimla Deputy Commis-
sioner Amit Kashyap said the
training focuses on safety
protocols for hoteliers and
build confidence and trust in
them on opening of hotels.
“As part of the training, the
hotel owners are being trained
and later, the managers and
other staff will also be trained
in various aspects of main-
taining safety standards,” he
added.
SHRA president Sanjay
Sood said the program was
Himachal's traditional corn dish now available in frozen form
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SHIMLA, 24 JUNE
The savoury seasonal corn dish,
locally known as ‘kachol’ or
‘kacholtu’ and mainly popu-
lar in Solan district of Himachal
Pradesh, will now be available
throughout the year.
Preeti Kashyap, a Solan-
based entrepreneur, with the
technical guidance of the sci-
entists of Dr YS Parmar Uni-
versity of Horticulture and
Forestry (UHF), Nauni in Solan
has recently launched a mod-
ern take of this traditional
product as a cheese burst
frozen mix, ready to cook
food, a release by the varsity
said.
Preeti had joined the Uni-
versity in 2019 in the Depart-
ment of Food Science and
Technology (FST) for a one-
year Diploma programme in
Fruit and Vegetable Process-
120 million children in South Asia could slip into poverty due to pandemic: UNICEF report
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 24 JUNE
According to a new UNICEF
report, an estimated 120 mil-
lion children living in South
Asian countries, including
India, could slip into poverty
within the next six months due
to the COVID-19 crisis, taking
the total number of such kids
in the region to 360 million.
The report titled, ‘Lives
Upended – How COVID-19
threatens the futures of 600 mil-
lion South Asian Children’,
covers eight South Asian coun-
23 to March 1 and should not
remove the debris without col-
lecting evidence from the
site. It also sought FIRs against
those involved in the vio-
lence and setting up of a Spe-
cial Investigation Team (SIT)
comprising retired judges of
the Supreme Court and the
High Court.
During the hearing, advo-
cates Rajat Nair and Amit
Mahajan, representing Delhi
HP tribal belt gets SKOCH award
Shimla Deputy Commissioner Amit Kashyap briefing hoteliers
of Shimla during 3-day training programme on SOPs amid
COVID-19 outbreak.
conducted with the vision
to educate and build confi-
dence amongst the hoteliers
and restaurateurs in the state.
“The purpose of this pro-
gram is to help the hoteliers
of Himachal learn the finest
practices and deliberate strate-
gies for implementing high
standards of safety measures,
to build travellers' trust.
The training program
focussed on preparing the
hotels to be COVID ready in
order to provide safe and
hygienic accommodation to
international and domestic
tourists visiting the state,”
ing and Bakery products.
During that she took up her
idea with the Chief Minister
Start-up Scheme of the state.
On approval, she was allotted
the Department of FST as her
incubator to refine her idea and
develop it into a marketable
product.
University scientists Dr
Devina Vaidya and her team
members, Dr Manisha Kaushal
tries namely Afghanistan, Pak-
istan, India, Nepal, Bhutan,
Bangladesh, the Maldives and
Sri Lanka.
It says that an estimated 240
million children already live
in “multi-dimensional” pover-
ty, including factors such as
poor health, lack of education,
poor sanitation and poor qual-
ity of work–in these coun-
tries.
An additional 120 million
children could be pushed into
poverty due to the COVID
crisis, taking the total number
to 360 million, it says. The
Bharat, Cabinet has approved Animal Husbandry Infrastructure
Development Fund worth Rs 15,000 crore.
Police, told the court that in
pursuance to the Supreme
Court's direction, seven other
petitions related to north-
east Delhi riots are listed
before the bench headed by
the Chief Justice and also
gave details of those pleas.
There are seven other peti-
tions related to the riots which
are pending in the high court,
including by lawyers, stu-
dents of JMI, residents of
SNS
he said. Sood said this sig-
nificant step will immense-
ly support the state machiner-
ies with requisite measures to
reopen the state borders for
the tourists.
Furthermore, the safety
and hygiene essentials like dis-
infectants, equipment etc
were exhibited by local sup-
pliers in order to help all par-
ticipants with easy local pro-
curement.
“Shimla is the first tourist
destination in the country that
has thoughtfully taken this
proactive step in order to
revive tourism in the state,”
and Anil Gupta, provided the
scientific input in product
development.
The release said Preeti got
the idea after seeing her grand-
mother prepare the tradi-
tional dish. As the availabili-
ty of raw material was limit-
ed only to a few months, the
product could only be made
for fresh consumption. Her idea
was to make the product avail-
FILE PHOTO
Okhla where the university is
located and the Imam of Jama
Masjid mosque opposite Par-
liament House.
They have also sought
action including medical
treatment and compensa-
tion for the students, setting
up of SIT and registration of
FIRs against the erring police
officers. Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind,
in its pleas through advocate
M Taiyab Khan, said: There are
Anil Walia, a Shimla based
hotelier said.
Walia urged the state gov-
ernment to gradually open the
borders for tourists and said
the tourists who had got
COVID-19 test done, should
be allowed to visit the state
and stay at hotels in various
tourist destinations with the
conditions that they will
remain within hotel premis-
es.
Commenting on the deci-
sion of hoteliers to not open
their premises, he said it was
not feasible as the tourists
weren’t allowed to enter the
state and the existing units
were already running in loss-
es.
TISHA president Mohin-
der Seth said they are fully pre-
pared to conduct similar
online sessions for other
hotels in different locations
of Himachal Pradesh through
video conferencing to create
wider awareness and gradu-
ally restore state tourism to
its full glory.
He thanked the stake-
holders of the training for their
efforts to help the community
and the state to revive tourism
and be able to flourish in the
new normal post COVID-19.
Developed by a
Solan-based entre-
preneur under the
HP CM Start-up
Scheme, the season-
al food, kacholtu,
will now be available
through the year
able throughout the year in a
modernized form. The CM
Startup Scheme gave her a plat-
form to explore her idea. At
UHF, Preeti did extensive test-
ing to increase the shelf life of
the product as earlier it was
only available during the avail-
ability of corn. Thanking the
University and the Department
of Industries, She said that the
mentors at the university
helped her to solve the prob-
lem of binding and extend the
shelf life to nine months as
frozen food and that too with-
serious allegations of dam-
aging the CCTV cameras
installed in the riots affected
areas by the police which is
evident from the videos sur-
faced and circulating in the
social media.”
It claimed that FIRs have
not been lodged against per-
sons responsible for the riots
and alleged that the police is
not accepting the complaint
in which the accused are
named and they are insisting
to give complaint against
unknown persons.
It alleged that the father of
one of the riot victims has
made specific allegation
against BJP leader Kapil Mishra
as being responsible for the
death of his son and the riots.
The pleas have further
sought taking legal and dis-
ciplinary action against police
officials for their alleged inac-
tion or active participation in
the riots and destruction of
evidence.
It has also sought direction
to the Delhi government to
provide adequate compen-
sation to the victims that is
commensurate with the
scheme for the victims of the
1984 anti-Sikh riots.
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SHIMLA, 24 JUNE
A first of its kind tele-emergency
programme implemented
under the Public Private Part-
nership (PPP) framework to pro-
vide much-needed emergency
and specialty consultation ser-
vices to people living in
Himachal Pradesh’s remote
mountainous region Chamba
district has been awarded the
prestigious SKOCH award for
aspirational districts 2020.
The tele-emergency initia-
tive enabled by the Health and
Family Welfare Department
of Himachal Pradesh in col-
laboration with Apollo Tele
Health has been awarded the
Silver Medal along with the order
of merit.
Chief Medical Officer, Cham-
ba, Dr Rajesh Guleri received
the award on-line earlier this
week. The programme is first
of its kind health care service
delivery innovation in India that
bridges the gap in addressing
healthcare emergencies in the
difficult mountain terrains.
The programme uses
telemedicine technology to
provide online emergency sup-
out the use of any preserva-
tive or external flavours.
Besides, several tests includ-
ing moisture and sensory tests
have also been undertaken to
increase the quality of the
final product.
The release said Preeti has
now set up her company
‘Healthy Food Treasure’ and
aims to make the product
available in the market by
the year-end. She is also in the
process of testing sweet, lemon,
garlic and fortified variants of
the product.
“It is very encouraging to
see young entrepreneurs com-
ing ahead to popularize tra-
ditional food items so that more
and more people get to taste
them. The university is active-
ly encouraging its students to
take up entrepreneurship in
the agri-horticulture and allied
disciplines where they can
utilize the knowledge gained
The report said that
an even more trou-
bling aspect of the
pandemic has been
the blaming of eth-
nic or religious com-
munities for starting
or fuelling the
spread of COVID-19.
reports also flags the negative
impact of the COVID-related
disruption to vaccination,
nutrition and other vital health
services.
AMIT SHAH
UNION HOME MINISTER
NEW DELHI, THURSDAY 25 JUNE 2020
Fuel price hike for 18 days exposes
BJP's anti-poor face: Bishnoi
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, 24 JUNE
Senior Congress leader and
Haryana legislator, Kuldeep
Bishnoi, on Wednesday said
the daily increase in petrol and
diesel prices for the last 18 days
has exposed the anti-poor face
of the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP)-led central govern-
ment.
The real face of BJP had
been exposed. The increase
in the prices of oil had badly
affected the poor, farmers
and the people especially
belonging to the middle
income group, he said.
Bishnoi said during the last
18 days, the prices of petrol
and diesel had shot up to Rs
8.53 and Rs 10.49 respec-
tively. Thus the increase in the
prices of petrol had been
registered about 11.70 per cent
in petrol and in case of diesel
it had increased about 13.65
percent.
He remained that the
crude oil prices in the inter-
national market in May 2014
were 106.85 per barrel per dol-
lar and the petrol prices were
Rs 75.16 per litre and now
the crude oil prices in the
international market had
been reduced to 40 dollar per
barrel and the consumers had
to pay at the rate of Rs 79.76
per litre. According to the
international market prices,
port along with specialty and
super-specialty teleconsulta-
tion services at high altitude trib-
al areas in the mountains.
Since its inception, the tele
emergency centre has provid-
ed a total of 2439 teleconsul-
tations and emergency support
services to the people of Pangi
and Bharmour. These services
include stabilization of patients
for conditions such as Heart
attack, Stroke and similar such
life-threatening conditions.
Established initially as a
proof of concept, the technol-
ogy-enabled service delivery
at the university to transform
people’s lives through their
innovative and innovative
products,”said Vice Chancel-
lor of UHF, Dr Parvinder
Kaushal.
Dr Kaushal added that the
university regularly helps
farmers and young entrepre-
neurs to establish new enter-
prises through the dissemi-
nation of information and
transfer of technology and
will continue to support such
initiatives in the future as
well.
Dr ManojVaidya, Nodal offi-
cer of the UHF Incubation cen-
tre informed that since the
inception in 2017-18, the uni-
versity has enrolled eight incu-
batees after a shortlisting
process. Two of the incubatees
have managed to launch their
product and set up their start-
up while the prototypes of three
are in the final testing phase.
Quoting research by the
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health, it
said, “In the worst-case sce-
nario, South Asia could see the
additional deaths of as many
as 881,000 children aged 5 or
under and that of 36,000 moth-
ers over the next twelve months.
The bulk of these deaths would
occur in India and Pakistan,
although Bangladesh and
Afghanistan could also see
significant levels of addition-
al mortality.”
The report pointed out
that India and Nepal, among
the rate of petrol should be
about Rs 32 per litre, Bishnoi
said.
Taking a dig at the BJP gov-
ernment,he said the prices of
petrol and diesel had also
crossed the record of highest
rate record of the last 20
months of its own govern-
ment.
Bishnoi also criticised the
statement of the Union min-
ister of state for finance,Anurag
Thakur that the prices of
petrol and diesel would not
be decreased. With this state-
ment it appears that the
prices of petrol and diesel
model is now a time-tested pro-
gram. The programme has
been rendering remote health
care services for the last four
years.
In Pangi, the centre has
offered 1067 GP teleconsulta-
tions, 880 Super Speciality tele-
consultations, 43 emergency
patient stabilizations support
and 1140 lab tests.
In Bharmour, the centre has
offered 229 GP teleconsultations,
205 Super Speciality telecon-
sultations, 15 emergency patient
stabilizations support and 304
lab tests.
E-pass curbs to deter people from
visiting HP without reason: Govt
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SHIMLA, 24 JUNE
An official spokesperson
of the Himachal Pradesh
An official spokesperson of the Himachal
Pradesh government has clarified that the
government has already allowed the move-
ment of labourers, businessmen, traders and
factory workers into Himachal s per the stan-
dard operating procedure (SOP) issued earlier
to facilitate the industries, businessmen and
fruit growers and government utilities.
government has clarified
that the government has
already allowed the move-
ment of labourers, busi-
nessmen, traders and fac-
tory workers into Himachal
as per the standard oper-
ating procedure (SOP)
issued earlier to facilitate
the industries, business-
others, face a particular prob-
lem, hundreds of schools
being designated as quaran-
tine centres. “Communities will
need to be reassured that
these schools have been safe-
ly disinfected before children
are allowed back to class,” it
said. With schools closed,
more than 430 million children
have had to rely on remote
learning which have only par-
tially filled the gap; many
households – especially in
rural areas – have no electricity,
let alone internet access. There
are concerns that some dis-
would shoot up at the rate of
Rs 100 per litre soon in near
future, he said.
Bishnoi said it was the
first time in the history of India
that the prices of diesel had
crossed from petrol, now as
of today the diesel rate is 12
paise litre more than the
petrol. During the Congress
regime the rates of diesel
used to be lower than petrol
with a view to provide relief
to the farmers as diesel being
used in tractors. He urged the
government to reduce the
prices of petrol and diesel to
rein the inflation .
Himachal wins
first prize in
e-Panchayat
Puraskars-2020
SHIMLA, 24 JUNE
The Himachal Pradesh Pan-
chayati Raj department has
won first prize in e-Panchayat
Puraskars-2020, which will be
given by the Union Ministry
of Panchayati Raj to the state
for effective implementation
of e-applications in its gram
panchayats. Chief Minister Jai
RamThakur congratulated the
department for the achieve-
ment and said Union Pan-
chayati Raj ministry has been
makingeffortstobringintrans-
parency, efficiency and
accountability in the func-
tioning of Gram Panchayats
through use of information
and communication tech-
nology. “Union Ministry has
been fervent in recognizing
the efforts made by the var-
ious states and Union Terri-
tories in the use of informa-
tion and communication
technology by the Panchay-
ats. The award is conferred to
those states who have ensured
maximum use of information
technology for monitoring the
various works.” SNS
men and fruit growers and
government utilities.
He said that they would
be allowed to enter the
state accordingly.
The spokesperson said
the restrictions imposed
by the state government
for issuing e-passes were
only meant for other peo-
ple. He said that this has
been done to discourage the
entry of people who want
to come to the state with-
out any valid reason.
advantaged students may join
the nearly 32 million children
who were already out of school
before COVID-19 struck.
Phone helplines are report-
ing a surge in calls from chil-
dren suffering violence and
abuse during confinement at
home. Some children are
struggling with depression,
even resulting in attempts at
suicide. Raising concern over
the reverse migration in view
of the lockdown, the report said
the devastating impact on
children was apparent in many
parts of the region.