Bumper crop, bumper problem
Marketing of apple has always been a tricky affair. A bumper crop does not always mean bumper returns to the apple growers but it does create a variety of problems for them. Despite all arrangements, the growers have to put up with the shortage of packaging material and trucks for transportation of the produce and more importantly bad roads. The glut in the market sends the prices crashing and making the growers all the more vulnerable to exploitation by the arhtias.

Road to connectivity
Construction work on the road link from Chamba to Killar via Sach Pass is in full swing
The construction work on one of the most treacherous roads of Himachal Pradesh, the 170 km long Chamba-Killar state highway, passing through the 14,500-feet Saach Pass, is going on a war footing.

Labourers widening the road between Bhagotu-Killar road.

Integrating efforts for industrial progress
The industrial fraternity of the region has finally found some tangible support from political circles. Cutting across party lines, six of the state’s seven MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have promised to work out a common proposal for industry betterment.

Eco-friendly holiday
Located in the interiors of the state, eco-tourism resorts are emerging as a favourite holiday destination
Congestion, aesthetic degradation and lack of basic infrastructure in popular hill stations is making tourists opt for a holiday at eco-tourism resorts. In the past two decades, tourist places like Shimla, Kullu, Manali and Kasauli saw speedy but unplanned growth.

On the right trek
It’s the peak of the trekking season and I have had queries from trekkers about blisters. So here are some tips. Buy proper trekking boots, not Hunters, as the cloth rubs against the soft skin above the heels and causes blisters. Buy footwear after noon.

It’s all about the ball game
Shimla’s remained the ultimate symbol of many enviable sports brought here by the Raj and tennis is one of them
Wherever Roger Federer sports his racquet, the crowd is there.When I, as one of the ten thousand capacity spectators in Lindner Family Tennis Court, went to see him in the finals of Cincinnati Masters, where he made short work of the American James Blake — beating him 6-1; 6-4— I had fulfilled my desire of seeing the world’s number 1 tennis star playing alive in front of me.

The Shanty Town
Bhawarna, an ancient town of Kangra, 12km from Palampur, is crying for the attention. This town, which used to be a major business centre of the Kangra valley, is losing most of its business activities to nearby places like Palampur, Kangra and Sujanpur Tira. Thanks to the apathy of the state government who has not initiated any step for its development.

Garbage littered roads is a common sight here. — Tribune photograph

Anandi-Kamal award for Delek Hospital
Recognising the humanitarian work, the Voluntary Health Association of India, a Delhi-based registered health care organisation, has decided to honour the Tibetan Delek Hospital at Dharamsala with the Anadi-Kamal award of the year. 

CITIZEN FIRST
Highway’s sanitation drive
This is in reference to an article in your paper on 22 August. Himachal government has been allotted funds for sanitation work and though a beginning has been made there is a lot more to be done.

Khachi basks in Priyanka’s glory
Being the one with the power of attorney given by none other than Priyanka Gandhi for fulfilling formalities required for purchase and construction of a house in the Shimla hills, Kehar Singh Khachi, a Congress leader is the most sought after man these days.

This is no acting
Lending her voice to issues like female foeticide, honour killings and domestic violence against women take up most of her time. No wonder, it’s hard for her to spare some moments for acting or script writing, the other love of firebrand CPM leader Subhashini Ali. Being the president of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, Subhashini Ali is taking up issues concerning women, be it in the tribal areas of Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand or in Kerala and West Bengal.