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Wednesday,
August 7, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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ICMR
grants Rs 7 cr for HP Medical
college may get new lease of life Creation
of districts a gimmick: Cong Illicit
liquor trade on the rise HVC keeps
poll options open |
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Morcha
to contest 68 Assembly seats 250
trees felled to encroach on land Red
oasis in drought Rain
disrupts air service to Kulu 
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ICMR grants Rs 7 cr for HP Una, August 6 Mr Nadda said the remaining Rs 2 crore would be spent on setting up basic cancer-detection infrastructure at the Tanda medical college and at zonal hospitals in Mandi, Hamirpur and Bilaspur. He said the facilities would be extended to all remaining zonal hospitals in a phased manner. Mr Nadda said the department had taken the lead in major reforms like decentralisation of powers to make the administration more effective, creation of an exhaustive drug policy based on successful models followed by developed and developing countries, and issuing notification regarding involving Panchayati Raj institutions in the health sector. Mr Nadda said Himachal was the only state in the country where the Revised National TB Control Programme was being implemented at the grassroots level. He said as part of the Modified Leprosy Elimination Programme of the Union Government, 12,000 patients were examined throughout the state. |
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Medical
college may get new lease of life Dharamsala, August 6 The team had inspected the hospital and some faculties on Monday and had discussions with the Health Minister, Mr J.P. Nadda, the Director, Medical Education, the Principal of the college, and faculty members. According to reliable sources, the MCI team was not too happy with the efforts made till date for providing infrastructure at the college. They pointed out the temporary arrangements of teaching faculty and paramedical staff, and expressed displeasure over delay in starting the construction work for an attached hospital at Tanda. Mr Nadda, who hosted a dinner for the MCI team and the officials, tried to convince the team about the efforts made and assured them about the commitment of the state government to fulfil all norms set up by the MCI. The visiting team was apprised of the completion of all formalities for the recruitment of more than 200 paramedics for the college. It was also informed about the efforts to raise a loan for the construction of a hospital building as the work had already been entrusted to a Central agency According to the sources, the MCI team accepted the arguments and showed its willingness to grant provisional recognition to the college for another year. |
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Creation
of districts a gimmick: Cong Shimla, August 6 Addressing newspersons, here today, he said the state was reeling under debt and the present government alone had raised loans to the tune of Rs 7,000 crore. It was even finding it difficult to pay salaries to the employees, yet it was bent upon creating new districts to further burden the already strained exchequer. He said it was out and out a political move. He supported the demand of the people for creating a new district of Sarkaghat, comprising of Gopalpur, Dharampur, Jogindernagar and Mandi districts. The Congress spokesperson also accused the government for misleading the people on the assistance given by the Centre to the state. He said the Congress would raise the issue in the Vidhan Sabha during the ensuing monsoon session. Expressing dissatisfaction over drought relief measures in the state, Mr Rao demanded that farmers should be paid compensation at the rate of Rs 3,000 per hectare. |
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Illicit
liquor trade on the rise Dharamsala, August 6 Earlier the distillation of illicit liquor was carried out by certain tribes settled in the border areas adjoining Punjab but due to phenomenal rise in profits from this illegal trade others have also joined in. In many villages like Chhanni, Majra, Thakurdwara under the Nurpur subdivision, the illicit distillation and the sale of spurious liquor has become a lucrative trade. These bootleggers have spread their tentacles in the interior areas of Palampur, Maranda, Kangra, Nagrota Bagwan and other small towns. According to sources, people have adopted ingenious ways to avoid detection. Earlier, certain tribes which monopolised this trade did not have clout but now due to money, muscle and political backing they are able to run their business openly. The police and excise officials show their inability to check the trade. Unfortunately most of the cases fail in courts due to lack of independent witnesses and good legal advice available to kingpins of the trade. Mr N.D. Sareen, additional SP, Kangra, agreed that the trade of illicit liquor is on the rise. He said special raids were conducted by the police from Dharamsala and stills were raided and cases registered. According to him while the police conducted raids from time to time and destroyed the stills these were set up in no time. |
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HVC keeps poll options open Kangra, August 6 The State Minister for PWD and HVC MLA from Lahaul and Spiti, Dr Ram Lal Markanday, while addressing a press conference at PWD Rest House on Sunday said that the BJP-HVC might have a poll alliance for the Assembly elections in the state but the party had not ruled out other options. Dr Markanday deplored the BJP leadership of Lahaul and Spiti for creating stumbling blocks in the development of the district. He condemned the criticism of the BJP leadership of the district demanding his expulsion from the state Cabinet. He announced that the only left out village of Spiti division, Kaphunchuk would be connected by road link on August 15, 2002. He said the Budget provisions for Lahaul had been increased from Rs 14.28 crore to Rs 22.38 crore and for Spiti from Rs 10.78 crore to Rs 29 crore. |
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Morcha to contest 68 Assembly seats Mandi, August 6 Talking to mediapersons at the local Circuit House he said people in the state were disillusioned with the BJP-HVC alliance government and wanted a change. Replying to a question he maintained that the morcha could extend support to any party which would be in a position to form the government. Mr Mahinder Singh came down heavily on former Union Minister Sukh Ram. He said he was expelled from the HVC because Mr Sukh Ram could not bear his increasing popularity and feared that he could not install his son as party president as long as he was there. The former minister described the move of making new districts as untimely and added that a state reeling under acute financial crisis could not afford to increase the non-plan expenditure. But he favoured a district for Sarkaghat if the government wanted to go ahead with the misadventure. |
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250 trees felled to encroach on land Mandi, August 6 Sources said those involved in the illicit felling included elected panchayat representatives of Tuna and Dishdi. Extensive damage was caused in the Bakede Nal, Birdhar and Bagh forests. Some members of village forest development committees on the condition of anonymity told newspersons that the trees had been felled in demarcated protected forest (DPF) where felling was prohibited without the permission of the Centre. It was further learnt that large-scale devastation of forests had been started in the far-flung areas allegedly in connivance with some revenue officials in the wake of the government’s decision. Divisional Forest Officer, Nachan, was not available for his comments. Mr D.C. Khanduri, Conservator (Forest), Mandi circle, said he had no information in this connection. He would order immediate investigation into the matter, he added. The Himachal Pradesh High Court had directed the state government last week that it should ensure that no new encroachments were regularised. |
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Red oasis in drought Shimla, August 6 The village in Pachhad area, known for cash crops and vegetables, has lived up to its name although crops in the entire area have dried up due to drought. The tomato production has been possible due to the use of waters from a village pond measuring about 100-feet long, 50-feet wide and 8-feet deep for irrigation purpose by farmers. A sum of Rs 80,000 had been spent on the construction of the earthen pond and 20 farmers’ families of the village who had shifted to cash crops were directly benefited by the waters of the pond, Sirmaur Deputy Commissioner Onkar Chand Sharma said.
UNI |
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Rain disrupts air service to Kulu Shimla, August 6 A dense fog, accompanied by rain, enveloped the capital town of Shimla and adjoining areas, reducing visibility considerably. A private airlines service to Kulu from Delhi-via-Shimla was cancelled here because of bad weather. The plane returned to Delhi. The Shimla-Kalka national highway and the 320-km Hindustan-Tibet road also remained shrouded in fog at certain places which reduced visibility to few metres and forced vehicular traffic to move with headlights on. Kangra, Kulu, Solan, Sirmaur and Shimla districts also experienced rain. Rain-related incidents have claimed lives of seven persons in the state so far.
UNI |
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Last chance for supplementary exams Shimla, August 6 A spokesman for the university said eligible students could submit examination forms along with the fee of Rs 500 upto August 27 and thereafter with a late fee as per the rules. |
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MC chief seeks MLA’s resignation Dalhousie, August 6 |
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