Dalhousie, October 1
The Army chief, Gen N.C. Vij, today said we should feel proud that India was reckoned among the brilliant countries of the world as the Indians serving across the world were deemed brilliant and genius.

General Vij was presiding over the founder’s day celebrations of the prestigious Dalhousie Public School here today.

Recalling the days of yesteryear of pre-Independence, General Vij said the country has passed through hard days and now with the constant dedication and hardwork of fellow Indians, the country has surpassed most of the countries in development taking place in various spheres.

General Vij appealed to the faculty and students of school to look out for their duty and responsibility by enthusing courage and faith in their life to forge ahead with the progress of the nation.

On this occasion he also congratulated the people of Dalhousie on the completion of 150 years of Dalhousie depicting its grand history.

Dr (Capt) G.S. Dhillon, Director-cum-Principal of the school, welcomed General Vij for gracing the occasion.

He exhorted the students to join armed forces not only as a vocation but to serve the motherland in the right earnest.

On this occasion, students presented a show of cultural dances, music and sports.

Maj-Gen Mandhata Singh and Maj-Gen Vinod Chopra, VSM were also present on the occasion.

Shimla, October 1
Over 1,500 children drawn from various local schools participated in a state-level rally organised to mark the national Blood Donation Day here today.

Mrs Pratibha Singh, MP and vice-chairperson of the state Red Cross, flagged off the rally from the Ridge and inaugurated a blood donation camp organised by Ashadeep, an NGO. She urged the media to educate the masses and dispel misconceptions regarding blood donation.

Mr Mukesh Agnihotri, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, said the government had established 15 blood banks in different parts of the state and a blood bank was coming up at Rampur. Mobile blood donation vans were being purchased to give fillip to the campaign, he said, adding that 1,700 posts of various categories were being filled in the Health Department.

All doctors who were on deputation had been asked to join their parent department. He said the government would check the private practice of in-service doctors.

Mr Sushil Tanwar, president, of the NGO said the main objective of the organisation was to help the poor.

As many as 55 women donated blood in the camp which was exclusively for women.

Swati Rana DAV School, Lakkar Bazar, and Sanjeeta Raddi of Chaura Maidan, won the first prize in the slogan-writing contest.

The rally was sponsored by the state Health and Family Welfare Society and the blood donation camp by the State Bank of India.

NAHAN: A blood donation camp was organised at IITT Engineering College, Kala Amb. The Deputy Commissioner of Sirmaur, Mr M.L. Sharma, presided over the function organised on this occasion.

Mr Sharma announced that a list of blood donors would be prepared at the district level and through a website it would be available on the Internet with complete information.

On the occasion 60 NSS volunteers donated blood.

HAMIRPUR: National Voluntary Blood Donation Day was observed here on Friday by holding rallies and blood donation camps.

The CMO, Dr Suman Sharma, flagged off a rally of the students of local Silver Bells Public School.

A blood donation camp was also organised at the local Shanti Niketan College of Education. Twenty students donated blood.

Nurpur, October 1
The PCC chief and Power Minister, Ms Vidhya Stokes, has said that the utterances relating to the injustice to Kangra district made by the former Tourism Minister, Major Vijai Singh Mankotia, who had been dropped from the Cabinet following the downsizing exercise, however, were not an anti-party activity, but were not raised at a proper time.

Addressing a press conference here yesterday before launching his campaign for Congress candidate Neeraj Bharti in the Guler byelection, she said Major Mankotia’s utterances might be due to his own emotions but he should be careful as the byelection in Guler was closeby.

When asked, whether as the PCC chief she would justify the dropping of a number of ministers from Kangra district alone in the wake of fulfilling the legal obligation of downsizing the ministry, Ms Stokes parried a direct answer but said that it was a prerogative of the Chief Minister and he had to decide. She replied in the affirmative when asked if she was consulted on this issue.

Rejecting the allegation of discrimination against Kangra district, Ms Stoke said in the Guler byelection only the development carried out by the local former MLA and newly elected MP, Mr Chander Kumar was the main poll plank. She said the Congress was also seeking support of the elctorate on the performance of the Virbhadra Singh government in the state during the past two years.

On the issue of widespread resentment among the people over the recent hike in the power tariff, she said the government had to follow the recommendations of the Electricity Regulatory Commission.

“The government will educate the masses about the power tariff hike,” she added. Asked about the rising inflation rate eversince the UPA government came to power, she reiterated the former NDA government was responsible for the present mess but the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, was a noted economist who was sure to control the inflation rate within the next six months.

Shimla, October 1
The state unit of the BJP today demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh following issuing of notices to him and the state government in a special leave petition (SLP) filed in the Supreme Court by BJP spokesperson Randhir Sharma.

Addressing a press conference here today, the state BJP chief, Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, said the Congress high command should ask Mr Virbhadra Singh to step down as Chief Minister. “The BJP demands his resignation but it would be more appropriate if Mr Virbhadra Singh himself resigns on moral grounds as notices have been issued to him,” said Mr Bhardwaj.

He said the SLP had been filed in the Supreme Court following a hurried reinvestigation and dismissal of the Sagar Katha case, regarding allotment of khair wood, after the Congress came back to power. He said the Supreme Court asked them to file a reply. He added that the matter would now come up for hearing in November.

The BJP chief alleged that after resuming power, Mr Virbhadra Singh, got the matter reinvestigated and the matter was dismissed within 15 days. “The very fact that he was both the accused as well as the prosecutor, being the Chief Minister of the state, the decision had to go in his favour,” he alleged.

“If Ms Uma Bharti could resign from the Chief Ministership of Madhya Pradesh after her name figured in a totally politically motivated case, I feel Mr Virbhadra Singh should do the same as allegations of undue favour to the Sagar Katha Udyog have been levelled against him,” demanded Mr Bhardwaj.

Mr Bhardwaj, also accused the Congress of misusing government machinery for ensuring the victory of its candidate, Neeraj Bharti. “Seeing the writing on the wall a frustrated Congress party is violating the model code of conduct, complaints of which have already been made to the Election Commission,” he said.

Hamirpur, October 1
The state unit of the HP BJP has complained to the Election Commission of India against the HP Government for misusing the official machinery during the Guler byelections. The party has also sent a copy of the complaint to the HP State Electoral Officer.

Mr Rajendra Rana, BJP Joint Media in charge, HP, in a statement here today, alleged that many government employees were also taking an active part in the election campaign of the Congress nominee against the EC rules. He demanded immediate action against such persons.

Mr Rana asked the Election Commission to stop the misuse of the official machinery by the Congress and ensure that elections were held in a free and peaceful manner and there was no rigging during the elections.

Malana (Kulu), October 1
An anti-cannabis joint operation launched in this village by a 230-strong contingent of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and a Kulu police team has triggered an exodus of tourists, mainly foreigners and an odd group of sadhus, from the Malana valley.

They feared police action as they came scouting for Malana’s high-quality charas and to get a feel of Malana’s unique culture.

Over a dozen of tourists from Israel and Sweden, who came to the valley a day before the anti-cannabis khaki team went on the rampage destroying the cannabis contraband crop being cultivated deep in the upper reaches of the valley near the timberline, packed off the backpacks and fled from the Malana village back to safer havens in Manikaran and Kasol in the Parbati valley.

As soon as the armed team converged on the village, the villagers sounded the red -alert asking the tourists to vacate the guesthouses to make rooms for the police force. Even the guest houses or joints within the village which served tea, food and other items to the anti-cannabis team members last year were shut down this time.

But there were four guesthouses run by the villagers available for the team members.

“I don feel comfortable here as the police is camping here,” says Mr Carsten, who claims to be a Yoga teacher from Denmark, who and his friend came crossing the Chandrakhani pass from Naggar in the Kulu valley to this village.

“I came to know about Malana though a guide books as it is famous for its temple and houses which the outsiders can not touch and its cannabis stocks are popular in Denmark”, he added while they left for the Rasol village, chasing the famed Malana-Rasol-Kasol charas trek in the Parbati valley.

Over a dozens tourists from Israel, who identified themselves as university students on their way back from the village, said that a large police force was coming to the village to cut the cannabis and they would have to vacate the guest houses.

“I was staying on in the village for week or so, but we got scared and left the village”, say Mr Shai and Mr Tomar, two Israeli tourists, adding that the village was popular as a unique tourists place higher up in the mountain among the Israelis and was popular for its charas.

While the world’s oldest surviving democracy attracted a few Indian tourists as it was located on a 9-km-long tough steep trekking route, but the village had become a haven for odd drug cartels, who came scouting for the charas in the guise of tourists, sadhus and pilgrims, said local sources.

Lately, Malana had become a haven for Israeli tourists, scouting for charas and cheap accommodation.

The villagers said that the trekkers from Israel, Holland, Denmark came to the village every year as soon as snowline receded in May-June.

The flow continued till winter when snow locked the village.

For pilgrims and sadhus the villagers provided utensils, rice and wheat floor from the temple treasury. The temple, which no body could touch without the permission of the Malana’s own 11-member parliament, has two serais for the pilgrims, who could stay here free of cost said Mr Dhaulat Ram, vice-president, Malana panchayat, adding that tourists flow this year was not that good.

Shimla, October 1
The statutory functioning of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Regulatory Commission has come to a halt due to the failure of the government to provide requisite funds, approve the service regulations and send a panel of officers to facilitate appointment of a regular Secretary and other matters.

The commission has stopped adjudicating matters, including power purchase agreements (PPAs), consumer complaints, tariff review and compliance of its directions, and hearing of cases is being deferred indefinitely. The matter has been taken up with the government and cases will be listed for hearing only when the financial situation improves, it further says.

The gravity of the financial crisis could be judged from the fact that the Chairman of commission, Mr S.S. Gupta, has been functioning from his residence since September 13 as funds are not available even for purchasing petrol for his official vehicle.

The commission is not even in a position to buy postage stamps and pay telephone bills of consultants hired by it to conduct various studies. Cases are piling up with each passing day and work on other important matters like framing of various regulations under the Electricity Act 2003, is also not being taken up.

Mr Gupta and Mr Shamsher Singh, Chief Secretary, have been at loggerheads over the appointment of Secretary to the commission. The situation took an ugly turn after government treasury stopped passing bills on the basis of a letter written by the Chief Secretary in June that the post of Secretary could be held only by a state administrative officer.

The commission had earlier repatriated the then incumbent, Mr Akshay Sood who was holding additional charge of the post on the plea that it was whole time job, and given charge to one of its officers.

Subsequently, a high level meeting was held on July 31 to resolve the crisis at which several decisions were taken.

However, the crisis persisted and the functioning of the commission came to a standstill as no follow up action was taken. Mrs Purnima Chauhan , a state administrative service officer, was placed at the disposal of the commission on a temporary basis ,pending the appointment of a regular Secretary for which the Department of Personnel was to be sent a penal of officers. However no panel was sent even as Mrs Chauhan relinquished charge of Secretary on September 6.

No action was taken to implement the decision as a result of which the commission plunged into a statutory crisis.

Shimla, October 1
To save the ‘Queen of Hills’ from further turning into a concrete jungle, the government is considering imposing a complete ban on construction activity in the core area and reducing the number of storeys from five to three in most parts of the town.

There was complete consensus among environmentalists, town planners and heritage lovers over these issues at the technical session organised by the Department of Town and Country Planning, before the finalisation of the Development Plan for the capital town.

It was felt that the complete ban on construction in the green area of the town needs to be extended to the core area, which mainly falls around the Circular or Cart Road and near Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC). At present construction of two-storeyed buildings are allowed in the core area.

“The most important issues of environment, heritage, traffic and transportation will shape the destiny of the Development Plan for the town till 2021,” said an official. With the town falling in seismic Zone IV, susceptible to earthquakes, it was felt that barring the periphery areas, the number of storeys should be restricted to three rather than the present five.

“Shimla during the last 25 years has witnessed an unprecedented degradation, with focus on concentrated construction activity in selected pockets, leaving entire planning area at the mercy of urbanisation and consumerism forces,” said Mr J.R. Verma, during his address.

He said unfortunately local bodies, including the municipal corporation, failed to devise schemes in accordance with the Acts, within the framework of the Interim Development Plan (IDP).

There was consensus among all participants at the technical session that to save the town from further degradation, five-storeyed structures be allowed only in the periphery areas like Kufri, Ghahati, Shoghi and other Special Area Development Authority (SADA).

The spatial planners, including architects and engineers, too expressed concern over the deteriorating situation as far as haphazard and unsafe construction activity in the town is concerned. “Instead of focusing on eco-tourism, in accordance with natural and cultural imperatives, the town is growing in a haphazard and lop-sided manner,” they opined.

The spatial planners pointed out that the basic infrastructure scenario was in a dismal state and in spite of huge investment by the government on planning, the town continued to be dictated by population pressure.

It was felt that there is an urgent need for taking remedial measures so that the beauty of the town can be safeguarded by way of regulatory control, while promoting eco-tourism.

All these proposals will be contained in the proposed Development Plan, which is being given final shape before it is submitted to the government for final approval.

Nurpur, October 1
Resentment prevails among the residents of the town and its surrounding areas against the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for not granting permission to organisers to celebrate Dasehra on the premises of Government Senior School.

The local Raja Sahib Dasehra Club has been celebrating the festival there for the past over 70 years. The school is housed in the old Nurpur fort, which is now a protected national monument. The ASI has given notice to the Himachal Pradesh Education Department to shift its school from the fort campus.

The club has been taking permission from the office of the ASI, Shimla, eversince the latter is undertaking repair of the fort. The ASI has even closed the gate of the fort and no vehicle is allowed in the school premises which also provided an approach to the historical Brij Raj Swami temple of Lord Krishna.

In the temple thousands of devotees pay obeisance on Janamashtmi every year. But the closed door has become a major hindrance for the devotees.

The organisers have sought permission from the ASI to celebrate Dasehra from October 15 to 23. But a communication from the Assistant Superintendent, ASI, Shimla, denied the permission.

The president of the club, Mr R.K. Mahajan, who is also president of the local municipal council, said Dasehra was being celebrated since long on the school premises. He informed that the club had been facing a lot of inconvenience in taking permission from the ASI authorities due to their non-cooperative attitude.

He urged the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to take up the issue with the Central Government. 

Shimla, October 1
The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board has promoted three Superintending Engineers to the rank of Chief Engineer.

Mr K.K. Vaidya, Superintending Engineer in the office of the Chief Engineer (Projects), has been promoted and posted as Chief Engineer, private sector projects, vice Mr R.C. Sharma, who retired yesterday.

Mr Arun Kumar Sharma, Director (Planning), has been promoted and posted as Chief Engineer, Larji project, while Mr A.K. Awasthi, Director (Design), takes over as Chief Engineer, Design, Sundernagar, on promotion.

Hamirpur, October 1
The Barsar police yesterday arrested four more persons in connection with the death of Anil Kumar, whose body was found in a khud near Soother village in the district three days ago. The police had earlier arrested four persons in the case.

A case under Section 302, IPC, has been registered against these persons for killing of Anil Kumar.

Arrested persons have been identified as Hans Raj, Ravinder, Gian Chand and Yog Raj, all of Baltahoo village.

DSP Mohinder Singh said that no more persons were now wanted by the police in this case.

Hamirpur, October 1
Dang-di-kwali forest of Hamirpur, located on the Hamirpur-Palampur highway, is emerging as a dumpyard for waste material. Anyone who wishes to dump garbage visits the forest and leaves it there.

This has been going on for the past several years without any action by the district administration and the Departments of Public Works and Forest. Pedestrians keep their faces muffled while crossing this stretch due to foul smell emitting from the garbage dumps.

The garbage has been bothering morning and evening walkers, besides blocking the road.

The situation worsened last summer with the burning of pine, for which the garbage had been dumped on the road.