HIMACHAL PRADESH

The Chief Minister said that the farmers will now get the subsidy of Rs 1200 per bag on DAP from the existing Rs 500 per bag. Despite the international price hike, the farmers would get the Fertilizers at old rates of Rs 1200 per bag, he said.

Thakur said that DAP is the second most commonly used fertilizer in India. The annual consumption of DAP is around 1200 to 1500 MT in Himachal Pradesh.

He said that farmers normally apply this fertilizer in Rabi season in potato and wheat crops just before or at the time of sowing. It is majorly used in Una, Kangra and some parts of Paonta Sahib and Nalagarh in the state. Last year, the actual price of DAP was Rs 1700 per bag in which the Central Government was providing a subsidy of Rs 500 per bag, he added.

The Chief Minister further said that recently, the international prices of phosphoric acid, ammonia etc. used in DAP had gone up by 60 percent to 70 percent, resulting in an increase in price of DAP bag to Rs 2400 per bag.

Himachal Pradeshhas been able to save Covid-19vaccinedoses by achieving zerowastage.
NHM mission director Nipun Jindal said 19,86,812doseshad been administered in the state till May 7 and stock received by the state was 21,19,710, while stock available at cold chain points after utilisation according to eVIN was 1,60,730. Hence, he said, vaccine wastage in the state was -1.4%, whereas it was as high as10% in other states.

He said vaccinators in Himachal Pradesh had been trained to load and administer the doses with attention to wastage. He said it was observed that in most of the vials there were extra doses.

He said according to data, Himachal Pradesh has the highest full immunisation coverage among all states in the country. He said Himachal Pradesh sustained its routine immunisation activities duringCovidpandemic as well and this had been possible because of team efforts and intensive microplanning, monitoring and supervision.

After the opening of Rohtang Tunnel, the inflow of tourists has increased many folds inLahaul-Spiti districtofHimachal Pradeshafter which now lack of facilities for the visitors are being felt in the district.

Realising the need to create the required to facilitate tourists, now theTourism departmentunderNew Asian Development Bankfunded project, has proposed to develop tourism infrastructure under sub project titled Tourism Allied Activities at Greater Rohtang Tunnel Entry & Exit point (North & South Portal)” at a cost of Rs 60 Crore.

Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu in a written reply to the question asked by Lahaul-Spiti MLA Ravi Thakur stated that preparation of detailed project report (DPR) is under progress for this.

He said that the tourism department has released Rs 20,89,16,589 for the development of tourism infrastructure in Lahaul-Spiti district under various schemes.

Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday met several Union Ministers in New Delhi to raise issues related to the hill state.

During his visit to Delhi, Thakur met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and Union Power Minister RK Singh. During his meeting with the Railways Minister, the Chief Minister urged him for expansion of the RAILWAY Network in the state.

He said that the has made efforts to give pace to the work on Bhanupali-Bilaspur railway line so that it could be completed soon. He requested the Union Minister to speed up the work on this railway line and added that extension of this line up to Leh is very important from a strategic point of view. He apprised that a full length survey on the line is completed and urged for taking further action in this matter.

Thakur also requested for starting the work immediately on Baddi-Chandigarh railway line as land acquisition work on the side of Himachal Pradesh has been done. This would be helpful in connecting with the Baddi-Amritsar-Kolkata corridor and boost industrial activities in the industrial belt of the state, he said.

Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Sunday urged the Union Government to enhance the disaster fund for Himachal Pradesh as the State is prone to various types of natural disasters due to difficult topographical and climatic conditions.

He was virtually addressing the inauguration function regarding setting up of two Doppler Weather Radar for the State, virtually from New Delhi by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India Dr. Jitendra Singh. These Doppler Weather Radars have been established at Jot in Chamba district and another at Murari Devi in Mandi district of the State.

The CM said that one Doppler Weather Radar was installed at Kufri in Shimla district on 15th January, 2021 and with the commissioning of these additional two radars, about 70 per cent area of the State will be covered for Weather forecast. He said that still about 30 per cent area of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti district will not be covered under these Radars.

Exploring the possibility of generating and using green hydrogen as fuel and promoting power storage projects like pump storage and battery energy storage system are the key features in the draft of the New Power Policy of the state. The policy, which is likely to be revealed soon, will replace the Policy that was notified way back in 2006.

Green hydrogen is at an early stage of entering the Energy sector in India. Its good that the State Government is keen on exploring the possibilities of using hydrogen as fuel in power sector and energy storage projects. All stakeholders in power sector will be happy with this initiative, said a power sector expert. The draft of the New Power Policy was distributed among various stakeholders on November 6, and they were asked to revert with suggestions by November 30.

Hydrogen is emerging as an important Source Of Energy since it has zero carbon footprints. Given the abundant availability of water, the state is in an advantageous position as far as the generation of green hydrogen is concerned, said the expert.

Also, theres a lot of thrust on promoting and enhancing solar power. The state has set a target of generating 1995 MW energy through solar projects by 2030. The other key objectives put forth in the draft include harnessing and commissioning 10,000 MW of hydro energy by 2030 and have an operation capacity of 20,948 MW, expediting development of hydro-electric projects, promoting and establishing a power trading entity in the state, to protect the rights of local inhabitants for Irrigation and drinking water, etc.

Sat Prakash Bansal, Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP), said that the university and the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) would soon organise an international conference on Promotion of Buddhist Studies and Culture across Buddhist Circuit. Its aim is to promote Buddhist culture in India and in Buddhist circuit.

He said that the central university and the IBC would jointly organise the conference in February next year. The Dalai Lama, Chief Minister, Governor and the Union Culture Minister were expected to attend it. Bansal said that the representatives of seven countries with whom they wanted to promote relations would also be invited.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigams (SJVN) subsidiary Green Energy Limited (SGEL) and Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) at Guwahati for developing 1,000 MW floating solar power projects in Assam by incorporating a joint venture company.

An of Rs 6,000 crore will be made by the SJVN for developing the project. During the construction and operation stages, approximately 4,000 persons will get direct and indirect EMPLOYMENT. Carbon emissions reduction to the tune of 1,07,383 tonne for first year and 24,70,732 tonne for complete life span will be achieved from this project.

Assam has the floating solar power generation potential of around 3,000 MW, out of which SJVN would develop 1,000 MW floating solar projects across the state, spread over 4,500 hectares of water area.

Archana Thakur of Palampur is the first woman engineer of the state to head the state PWD. She was appointed the Engineer-in-Chief, PWD, by the .

She said it is the dedication to service that had brought her the honour of heading the prestigious PWD, which faced the toughest challenge of cutting hills to make roads, which are a lifeline in a state like HP that has negligible air and rail connectivity.