Rs 2.51 lakh donated to fight Covid

Shimla: Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and his family members have donated Rs 2.51 lakh towards the PM Cares Fund and the ‘HP COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund’. They presented the cheques to Governor Bandaru Dattatreya at Raj Bhavan. “The nation and society give us throughout life. Therefore, it becomes our duty in times of crisis to give back some of what we have taken from them,” said Justice Thakur. oc

SHGs make sanitizers for govt agencies

Shimla: Three self-help groups (SHGs) at Lana Bhalta in Rajgarh subdivision are busy making low-cost, quality sanitisers for government agencies. With support from the Rural Development Department (RDD), the first consignment of 5,000 sanitisers has already been provided to officials at Shimla and a similar number of sanitizers are being manufactured. Director, RDD, Lalit Jain said the SHGs were trained to manufacture this product using isopropyl alcohol, aloe vera and glycerin and a 250-ml bottle was priced at Rs 100. Each bottle fetches a profit of Rs 20 and an effort was afoot to bring down the cost. The initial seed money was provided by the department. TNS

Govt must pay salaries to pvt sector staff: HPCC

Kullu: HPCC spokesperson Arun Sharma said the government should pay salaries to private sector employees till the situation becomes better for businesses. He said that private companies were facing economic crisis due to lockdown and it had become difficult for most of them to give salaries to their employees. He said the tourism industry had been hit hard and the government should pump in some funds to revive it. He said electricity bills of hotels should be waived during the period of lockdown. Sharma said other industries and businesses were also affected and the government should provide some bailout package by providing relief on tax, rent, fee, bank loan installments, bills and other government levy during this period. OC

Stationery shops to open from 8 am to 11 am

Dharamsala: Kangra Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Prajapati on Friday issued orders allowing stationery and book shops to open for three hours from 8 am to 11 am during curfew relaxation hours in the district. With most schools in the district starting online classes, the demand for stationery and school books was being made by parents. tNS

Don’t post messages about Tablighis: DGP

Shimla: DGP SR Mardi on Friday appealed to residents to not post or forward messages of social boycott of people associated with the Tablighi Jamaat on social media and unitedly fight the Covid-19 threat. He said that country-made liquor was dangerous and asked liquor vends not to promote it. He added that the sale of ‘pan’, ‘kheni’, ‘gutka’ and chewing gum was banned in the state. Till now, 97 members of the Tablighi Jamaat have been booked for non-disclosure of their travel history in 20 cases while 11 persons entering Shimla district from Nerva have been arrested. TNS