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Political vendetta over the IPL matches at Dharamshala

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HPCA Stadium (Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium) is a cricket stadium located in the city of Dharamshala in the lap of the snowcapped Dhauladhar ranges of Himachal Pradesh. So far it had hosted nine IPL matches.

Political rivalry between Congress and BJP has yet again started and this time the issue involves over the hosting of IPL matches at Dharamshala. The feud over the IPL is soaring in the state. HPCA is being headed by Anurag Thakur son of the former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, hence, it involves political rivalry between the Congress and BJP.

Currently the state of Himachal is being governed by the Congress party, therefore, when HPCA approached the State Govt for the hosting of IPL matches, the Govt wanted the functionaries of HPCA to approach them after getting a clearance from the union home ministry and the Election Commission of India. Due to the election year, state Govt has shown its inability to provide enough security for the IPL matches at Dharamshala. Nonetheless, the HPCA has termed this decision as unfortunate.

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According to the HPCA claim, hosting IPL matches in the past at Dharamshala boosted the tourism industry and also generated good revenue for the locals and the areas nearby. However, as the state Govt is not willing to provide security clearance for the IPL matches it is evident that the state will incur financial losses.

It is a very sensitive issue as many bureaucrats of the state are facing probe into the irregularities of permission granted to HPCA during the tenure of BJP, without placing the matter in the cabinet. The charges have been framed over the irregularities and cheating against some of the senior bureaucrats of the state. The association of bureaucrats has shown their resentment to the Govt for involving them into this matter.

This issue came to light in the month of August last year when the State Govt in its cabinet meeting decided to take over HPCA under its control which lead to the cancellation of its lease, granted by the BJP Govt. HPCA which was registered as a sports society initially has come under the scanner on converting itself to a company without the government’s approval. However, HPCA has challenged the State Govt’s decision and filed a petition in the court. The court has maintained status quo on the matter.

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Congress and the HPCA are not only engaged in a legal battle but the Vigilance Bureau is also holding a probe into violations of revenue and forest laws. On the other hand Congress leaders are denying the allegations levelled on them by the HPCA officials for not hosting the IPL matches in the state. According to them the Govt is keen to host IPL matches but due to elections in the state it will be impossible to provide enough security to the players as most of the security will be deployed for the elections. Congress leaders alleged that the HPCA president misguided the facts about not hosting the IPL matches in the state to the BCCI despite knowing the truth.

Organizing IPL matches in HPCA Stadium, Dharamshala will not only boost the tourism industry in Himachal but will also bring an international acclaim to the state. Sadly, the political vendetta between the two political parties has not only brought a revenue loss to the state but has also dismayed the hopes of many young cricket aspirants.

However, despite the political bowling and batting on this issue, people of Himachal are hopeful and looking forward to the positive outcome which will bring good revenues and give an international acclaim to their state.

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Article Contribution by Ankit Justa

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Shimla City – Private Bus Operators Seen Creating Nuisance by Blocking Road

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Shimla-In yet another instance, two private bus operators in Shimla city were seen creating a nuisance for the public by jamming the traffic. A reader clicked some pictures at the BCS bust stop in Shimla city on February 19, 2022, at about 8 PM and shared them with us. The reader alleged that two private bus operators, namely ‘Komal’ and ‘Chadda’, indulged in a verbal spat, most probably over their schedule. While the drivers argued, one of the buses remained parked in the middle of the road, choking the traffic. The staff of these two buses indulged in a verbal spat for about 5-10 minutes during which the general public faced a huge inconvenience. The reader has requested the Traffic Police Shimla to take action against such operators and discourage them from adopting such a bullying attitude that they don’t even hesitate to block the entire road.

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If you have relevant issues/complains that you want the people and the government to see and read about, you can publish blogs on Himachal Watcher. Send us your blogs with pictures/videos at editor [at] himachalwatcher [dot]com

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Littering – A Grave Threat to Sundernagar Lake and Its Aquatic Life

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Sundernagar-Many people visit the Sundernagar lake in Mandi district and litter along the road. Winds carry all those packets and plastic bottles into the lake. This practice of littering is unlawful because it costs millions in clean-up projects. It portrays a bad picture of an area. Littering is a huge threat to the aquatic life too. In my view, the solution is awareness, responsibility, sensibility and concern for nature. We as a society need to play a big role. At least, dustbins should be installed along the lake. Otherwise, the negligence in the present will affect us in near future.

-Blog and Picture By Divya Acharya, Sundernagar

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If you have relevant issues/complains that you want the people and the government to see and read about, you can publish blogs on Himachal Watcher. Send us your blogs with pictures/videos at editor [at] himachalwatcher [dot]com

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Shimla-Based IT Start-Up Scaling Global Market in Short Span of Time

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Shimla based it company netgen solution

Shimla-A youth from a small town of the Mandi district – Sarkaghat- started as a freelancer and went on to launch his own start-up in 2014. By 2021, the start-up grew into a company that has garnered international clients  and also designed and developed websites and web apps for several Departments of the Himachal Pradesh Government.   

Netgen IT Solutions Pvt Ltd- a young agile company- has, so far, developed websites for the Department of Information Technology,  Women & Child Development, Rope & Rapid Transport Development Corporation, HP Milk Federation Cooperation,  and the HP AIDS Control Society.

Besides, it also developed  HimSuraksha Abhiyan App (National Health Mission) and the website of the Department of Tourism & Civil Aviation along with a  Services Portal.

Further, the website of the Department of Information & Public Relations and the single window system was also developed by NetGen.

Having developed over 2500 websites, Netgen IT Solutions has an imprint of having worked for clients spread over 25 countries in Europe, America, Asia and Australia.

Bootstrapped as a Start-Up on 7th July 2014, the company has evolved to offer a diverse set of services for web, e-commerce and mobile solutions that have enabled Global and Indian business to adapt to a Digital First environment. In seven years, this Shimla-based company has carved out a niche for itself.

The company started with a small team of just four people, and today it employs strong-heeled 25 IT professionals. The skillset of web developers, designers, networking specialists, social media marketers and others is expanding with the growth of the company.

To mark the NetGen Foundation Day, the company hosted a live inter-action of the team members with some clients to understand the need for future technologies and solutions for a fast-changing business environment in the shadow COVID pandemic.

Mr Rajneesh Rana, Founder and Managing Director of the company, is a computer science graduate. Speaking about the company’s journey, Rana’s says, “Stepping out from working as a freelancer at the small township of Sarkhaghat, in Himachal Pradesh, to launching a start-up company, was my first step in entrepreneurship. The company was founded on a shoe-string budget with a small capital outlay. After overcoming the initial hesitancy, we’re on the firmer ground today.”

With the growth in demand for IT Services, the company in the initial year faced manpower shortages. The management took to train and equip freshers in a mentorship program to meet its needs for IT Professionals and also to equip others to find gainful employment elsewhere. Netgen till date has trained over 50 freshers with essential and advanced IT skills. Most of them for the first time in their careers got exposure to the IT Industry.

The company’s IT Technical Team today is professionally equipped to work in 20+ technologies that can be deployed across a vast network of industries. 

The Netgen team of IT professionals has expanded the services that the company now provides. A multitude of projects employing creative website design-development; customised software products; e-Commerce solutions; server administration – web security – networking services; mobile application design – development; social media marketing; stand completed.

“There is a growing demand for many other IT and IT-enabled services that the company has successfully delivered for Global and Indian clients,” said Rajneesh. 

“Since the breakout of the COVID pandemic, the demand for online services has increased. It created an environment that demands moving things onto digital platform, bringing more opportunities for the IT sector ,” added Rajneesh.  

“Take the case of the Government of Himachal Pradesh, India. To secure baseline health data of the over 70 lakh residents in the state and to prepare effective strategies for countering the spread of the pandemic in challenging hilly terrain, the state government needed a simple but effective IT-enabled solution to capture the data as fast as possible,” he said.   

“The ‘Him Suraksha Abhiyan’ application designed and developed by NetGen IT Solutions was used by thousands of teams spread under 2300+ sub-centres. In just over a month, the software solution created successfully captured the data of over 68 lakh residents of Himachal Pradesh,” he added.

The 70:30 Percent (%) Global – Domestic revenue stream of Netgen has prepared the company to expand both its export and domestic service portfolios, said Rajneesh. 

Mr Ravinder Makhaik, Director of the company says, “growing steadily, Netgen is a debt-free, profit-making company. A healthy mix of domestic and international businesses, with sound financials, gives the company strength to take up more challenging projects. Our portfolio of government projects is making good progress.”

Founded as a 1 lakh authorized capital company and with annual revenues rising at a 25 % compounded annual growth rate, the Netgen Board of Directors has decided to expand the authorized capital of the company to Rs 10 lakh to meet future growth needs.

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