HPMC to make 1 lakh bottles of cider
SHIMLA, Dec 1 — The state government-owned HPMC has decided to manufacture 1 lakh bottles of cider every year so as to consume the piled-up stocks of apple juice concentrate.

BJP erodes Cong votebank
DHARAMSALA, Dec 1 — The vote bank of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Baijnath constituency has gone up by 17 per cent, as compared to the elections, held in February.

AIR, Doordarshan staff launch stir
SHIMLA, Dec 1 — Programme staff members of the All India Radio and Doordarshan in Shimla, Hamirpur and Dharamsala stations launched an agitation today in support of their demands.

Race for VC's post hots up
From Kanwar Yogendra

SHIMLA: The race has hotted up for HPU Vice-Chancellor's post as the incumbent's tenure comes to an end on January 11. Every day the "political gurus" are receiving the bio-data of new disciples. The office of Himachal Pradesh University Vice-Chancellor has also become a part of the spoils now. No matter if you are a brilliant scholar or an academician of a repute but what matters is your access to ruling party politicians and their degree of influence.

Many teachers from within and outside HP University are now eyeing this office. Everyone and anyone holding the professor's post are trying to exert influence by using political, regional, loyalty and proximity cards, but unfortunately no one talks of the merit or excellence of those deserving the top university post.

The academic atmosphere on the campus, on the other hand, is deteriorating because of too much politicisation, says a teacher. Favouritism is exercised at each and every step which even includes petty appointments of examination superintendents and supervisors, he adds. Round the year there were strikes and class boycotts, which resulted in a further cut in the number of teaching hours on the campus, informs an economics lecturer.

Now many names have come up for the VC's post. Discussions about the "would-be incumbent" are going on in every corner of the campus. After talking to a cross-section of teachers, employees and students, Dr R L Blokhra of the Chemistry Department appears to be a hot contender. He is a great scholar who has served at a NASA scientist for three years and held positions of Dean of Studies and Sciences earlier.

Dr Sagar Sharma of the Psychology Department, Dr Lokesh Kaul of the Education Department, Dr K C Sharma of the Physics Department are other contenders for the post. A junior teacher from the Management Department is also in the fray, cashing in on the logic of earlier appointments made by the government.

The BJP has made a mockery of these institutions and anything can be expected from it now, he adds. BJP men were appointed to posts like Pro-VC, Chairman of the Education Board and Director of the HPU regional centre, various deans and wardens, he further adds.

Prof C L Kundu, Vice Chancellor, hopes for an extension and is supported by both BJP and Congress factions. He claims to have restored peace and order on the campus and was instrumental in many infrastructural developments by bringing massive grants and increasing the university budget. A Nehru Literacy Award winner, Prof Kundu denies any political consideration in his appointment as V.C, but says it was through a proper search committee comprising eminent academicians. He is critical of ideological considerations for such posts and demands merit as the sole criteria.

Some names from outside the HPU like Dr R N Pal of Punjabi University, Dr Bhuwan Chandel, Dr T R Sharma, Dr Subhash Walia, all of Punjabi University, are also talked about.

But whoever will become V.C, one thing is clear and agreed by all that the office has lost its importance, and autonomy over the past few years. Still there is a ray of hope, even with this erosion, feel some in the faculty. It is extremely surprising that there are teachers even in a small university like HPU who are beyond such spoils in the system and who have never lobbied and would never run for such posts. They are considered scholars by one and all.

HPMC to make 1 lakh bottles of cider
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 1 — The state government-owned HPMC has decided to manufacture 1 lakh bottles of cider every year so as to consume the piled-up stocks of apple juice concentrate.

The HPMC has been issued the licence to manufacture cider (sweet wine) last week.

The Minister for Horticulture, Mr Narendera Bragta, told TNS here today that the cider manufacturing unit will be set up at Jarol in Mandi district.

He said for the first time a consignment of about 300 boxes of apple had been exported to Britain from Himachal Pradesh. The consignment of Kinnauri apple was shipped to the UK from Mumbai after it was approved by a team of horticulture experts.

Mr Bragta said about 2000 metric tonnes of apple juice concentrate had piled up with the HPMC and of this, 1000 metric tonnes of concentrate was lying unsold for the last one year for want of buyers. He said global tenders had been floated for the disposal of the unsold concentrate and here China was giving India a tough competition in the world market.

Mr Bragta, who is himself an orchardist and has handled the current apple season in the state, said he was aiming at putting up juice dispensers in all important towns, particularly in the northern states. He said about 2 crore apple boxes had been sent to various markets from the state this season.

He further said his effort was to streamline the horticulture university and also the Horticulture Department so that Himachal Pradesh could become the fruit state in real sense. Effort was to transmit the research of the scientists from the laboratory to the orchards. Brain-storming sessions had already been held with experts.

The minister said that mango, lichi and other fruits of the lower areas were also being taken care of by the government.

BJP erodes Cong votebank
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Dec 1 — The vote bank of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Baijnath constituency has gone up by 17 per cent, as compared to the elections, held in February.

The BJP candidate, Mr Dulo Ram, won the byelection, with an impressive margin of 6,897, defeating his Congress opponent, Mr Sudhir Sharma.

It is perhaps for the first time that the victory margin in the Baijnath election has been so huge. Despite the fact that Congress stalwart, Mr Sant Ram, represented this constituency for a very long period, his victory margin against his traditional rival Mr Dulo Ram, was never as large.

In the last elections in February, the Congress candidate, Mr Sant Ram polled 15,684 votes, or 44 per cent of the total votes polled. His opponent, Mr Dulo Ram of the BJP, got 14,782 votes, 41 per cent of the total votes. The HVC candidate, Mr Kishori Lal, had got 4,911 votes about 14 per cent of the total.

The performance of the BJP in the byelection has been far better, with its number of votes up from 41 per cent to 58 per cent. This time Mr Dulo Ram got 21,092 votes. The Congress candidate and son of Mr Sant Ram, Mr Sudhir Sharma, who made his debut in electoral politics, got 14,195 votes, almost 39 per cent.

Although the HVC candidate in the last elections, Mr Kishori Lal had rejoined the Congress, the Congress vote bank came down heavily. Mr Dulo Ram who was in the election arena for the fifth time, won the election for the second time. He earlier defeated the Congress leader, Mr Sant Ram in 1990.

Another fact which has once again become clear is that Himachal is basically a two-party system, with the Congress and the BJP being the two main parties. The four other contestants, the JD, SP, CPI and BSP managed merely three per cent of the votes. The only exception to the dominance of these two political parties has been the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) of former Communication Minister, Mr Sukh Ram, last year. Some HVC candidates performed well in the last assembly elections, but the Baijnath byelection was contested jointly by the two coalition partners, the BJP and the HVC.

There has been a lot of talk of a third force emerging in Himachal everytime there are elections, but so far it has not emerged. Though some parties like the SP and the BSP are making desperate bids to establish their base in Kangra, so far they have failed miserably.

AIR, Doordarshan staff launch stir
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 1 — Programme staff members of the All India Radio and Doordarshan in Shimla, Hamirpur and Dharamsala stations launched an agitation today in support of their demands.

The Programme Staff Association has threatened to stop the broadcast of programmes if their demands are not accepted by December 9.

Their demands included implementation of the revised pay scales, filling of all vacant posts and holding of a meeting of the Departmental Promotion Committee.