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4.55 tonnes of hypnotic injections seized
Govt’s focus on development with human face: CM
Cong, BJP oppose delimitation panel proposals
Kinnaur remains cut off from Shimla
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Japanese woman seeks admn’s help in tracing her son
Panel to wean villagers away
from drug cultivation
Delimitation panel proposals opposed
3 pilgrims from Ajnala killed
in accident
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4.55 tonnes of hypnotic injections seized
Solan, August 14 Investigations by The Tribune revealed that Remedies Pharmaceuticals had sent a consignment comprising gentamicin and amikacin injections, each of 10 mg, on August 2 from here to Verma Pharmaceuticals, New Delhi. The batch numbers of gentamicin injections was 308 while that of amikacin was 305. These injections were to be exported to Dubai. The injections were sent through the railways and the unit gave a written declaration stating that the medicines were harmless. The wrong declaration would now earn the unit additional action from the railway authorities, senior officials said. Medical specialists said spurious gentamicin injections could lead to kidney disorders while spurious amikacin could lead to problems for patients with a history of kidney problems. The gentamicin injections had failed along with seven other injections after eight samples were lifted by the officials of the Drug Department in 2002. The unit’s licence had been suspended for some time. Other drugs whose samples had failed in 2002 included an injection dexamethasone and an eye drop, ciprofloxacin. In yet another case in 1992, drugs which had been rejected from an export consignment were found illegally stacked on the premises of a commercial complex here. The case was, however, dismissed owing to lack of evidence. A perusal of the unit records revealed that the unit regularly sent these injections to Verma Pharmaceuticals in Delhi. An earlier consignment was sent in July where amikacin injections worth Rs 2,141 and numbering 13 had been despatched from the local unit. The rate of these injections was officially quoted as Rs 154.40 in the invoice enclosed with the consignment. The unit was earlier sending regular consignments to various places in Punjab, including Bathinda and parts of Haryana. This practise was discontinued in February 2004 when the railways withdrew its transit package facility. The Drug Inspector, Mr Kapil Dhiman, said the licence of the unit had been cancelled after seven of its drugs had failed the test. The order was revoked after the unit complied with the directions and added that the case was being proceeded lawfully. He said no laxity was found in the manufacturing process nor were any complaints received. |
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Govt’s focus on development with human face: CM
Shimla, August 14 Outlining the priorities of his government on the eve of the Independence Day, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said accelerating the pace of development was essential to bring prosperity to the sate but it would be meaningless if it failed to improve the quality of life of the people at large. The government at the Centre and that in the state were committed to speeding up development as was evident from the Rs 4,000 crore special development initiative announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. To ensure that the benefits percolated down to the poor and the underprivileged sections, there was a need to give top priority to the social services sector, he said. The government had earmarked over 48 per cent of the total plan Budget for this vital sector. The state had emerged as the most progressive one in the country as far as social services were concerned. Over two lakh people were being given Social Security Pension of Rs 200 per month, out of which 28,481 pension cases were sanctioned by his government soon after coming to power in 2003, he said. Another 15,000 eligible persons would get pension from this year. The state was giving a grant of Rs 25,000 for the remarriage of widow. Another Rs 5,100 was being given for the marriage of destitute girls and Rs 5,100 for the marriage of disabled. The rehabilitation grant for the inmates of “Nari Sadan” and “Bal and Balika Ashram” had been enhanced from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000 last year and the subsidy for construction of new houses to poor Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other Backward Classes families had been raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 22,000, he said. As many as 3,528 houses had been constructed under the Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojna and 4,611 under the Indira Awas Yojna for the poorest of the poor during past two years. For providing free legal assistance to the poor, the income limit had been increased to Rs 50,000 per annum and the income limit for creamy layer had also been raised from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.50 lakh. The government had also provided three per cent reservation to the physically handicapped persons in jobs, he said. Education, health and road communication were other priority areas of the government as these had a direct bearing on the common man, the Chief Minister said. Professional and technical education institutes were being opened to create a pool of qualified people who could get employment not only within but also outside the state. The government was also encouraging opening of educational institutions in the private sector in the state. In all, 724 new senior secondary, high and middle schools had been opened during the past two years in the state and another 275 schools and three new colleges were proposed to be opened during the current financial year. Health infrastructure was also being paid special attention and the state compared favourably with the rest of the country in respect of most health indicators. Around 250 doctors and as many paramedical employees had been appointed to man medical institutions in far-flung areas. A Health Vision 2010 policy document had been prepared to provide better and specialised medical services at the doorstep of the people in a phased manner, he added. The government had formulated a plan to connect every panchayat by road in next three years. As many as 807 road projects involving an expenditure of Rs 781.36 crore had been sanctioned under the Prime Minister Gramin Sadak Yojna
(PMGYS) and 166 schemes worth Rs 213.54 crore under the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) scheme since 2003-04. Other priorities included provision of drinking water facility for all 6,000 left out habitation over the next three years at a cost of Rs 500 crore, generation of 8000 MW of additional power and setting up a bio-technology park to promote commercial processing of bio-drugs and aromatic plants. On growth of industries, he said the special package granted by the Centre to the state had attracted 5,404 industrial units involving an investment of Rs 11,247 crore having a potential to provide employment to 1.81 lakh persons. |
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Cong, BJP oppose delimitation panel proposals
Palampur, August 14 Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that Mr Ravinder Ravi, BJP MLA and former minister from
Thural, and Mr Sudhir Sharma, Parliamentary Secretary in the present government from
Baijnath, now will have no assembly segments to contest the elections as
Thural, the stronghold of the BJP, would be abolished and Baijnath would come in the list of reserved constituencies as per proposals of the commission. Mr
B.B.L. Butail, Political Adviser to the Chief Minister, will face tough time in the coming assembly elections as he would lose 17 panchayats of his constituency comprising 15,000 voters, which were considered as the Congress stronghold. It is learnt that the final decision to this effect would be taken up on August 16 at New Delhi at a meeting of the commission. Meanwhile, both the Congress and the BJP had openly opposed the proposal of the Delimitation Commission. In separate press statements issued here yesterday these leaders said that great injustice was being done with the Palampur region by reducing the number of assembly segments to four from five. They said commission had not touched other parts of the state. They opined the commission should respect the public sentiments as the people of these areas had been aligned with a particular constituency for the past 30 years and before detaching their areas they should have been taken into confidence. A number of leaders had lodged their protests with the commission for making major changes in their constituencies. |
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Kinnaur remains cut off from Shimla
Reckong Peo (Kinnaur), August 14 Reckong Peo, around 250 km from Shimla, is one of the remotest tribal areas of the country. Kalpa and Pooh are situated even further, around 16 km and 50 km, respectively, from Reckong Peo. Though, there is an alternative route through the upper Himalayas from Keylong and Rohtang to the area, it is not recommended for travelling keeping in view the present condition. Local officials claim that the road network for light vehicles through the NH-22 would be resumed by next week. However, keeping in view the slow pace of repair work at the sites, it might take another month before light-vehicle traffic can be restored. The resumption of traffic for heavy vehicles on this road could take months as winter is approaching and the area records heavy snowfall each year. The Tribune correspondent had to trek at least 4 km along the Sutlej, near Karhsham, amid dynamite blasts, being carried out to pave the way for reconstructing a stretch of NH-22. The alternative route from where commuters trek to approach a transit arrangement is also under construction. The working condition of migrant labourers is also abysmal. Yesterday, at least five labourers were buried under sand while they were working on the alternative route. However, they were taken to the Civil Hospital at Reckong Peo, where the doctors declared them out of danger. In another incident, a jeep fell into the Sutlej claiming the life of the driver. The stocks of essential commodities like medicines have been airlifted from Shimla, while the distribution of petrol and diesel has been restricted by the district administration. Permits are being issued by the Food and Supplies Department to local residents for petrol and diesel. According to official records, the reserve stock of petrol was 16,218 litres, diesel 13,133 litres, kerosene 9,710 litres and 25,074 LPG cylinders, while 3,219 quintal of wheat and 4,463 quintal of rice were available. The inflow of tourists has also been affected, hitting the local hotel industry. A number of vehicles were still stranded at various points. |
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Japanese woman seeks admn’s help in tracing her son
Mandi, August 14 While talking to The Tribune here today Ms Tsogino Yeno, mother of the missing Kazuya Yeno, said they had been under tremendous agony ever since the Japanese Embassy told them that her son had jumped into the river and his body was untraceable. “I believe that he was alive somewhere”, she added. Ms Yeno is
accompanied by her younger son, Junichi Yeno, Kazuya Yeno’s girl friend Ms Yoko Taguochi, his uncle Mr Toshiharo Arita, all from a small hamlet of Kumamoto in Tokyo. They met the SP, Mandi, Mr Ajay Yadav, and requested him to find Yeno, dead or alive. The SP said Yono had suddenly jumped into the surging Beas in full view of passengers near Hanogi temple on August 2 when the bus halted there. The passengers tried to save him, but body disappeared in Pandoh dam. |
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Panel to wean villagers away
from drug cultivation
Shimla, August 14 In each of these districts, the Deputy Commissioner will be the Chairman of the committee and Conservator of Forests, Divisional Forest Officers, Superintendent of Police and Subdivisional police officer concerned, Deputy Director, Agriculture, District Revenue Officer, Assistant Commissioner, E&T, General Manager, GIC, and Project Officer, District Rural Development Agency, will be the members. The Deputy Director, Horticulture, will be its member secretary. The DIG, CID, will coordinate monthly and bimonthly meetings of the committee. The committee will submit the project in specific identified areas like trout farming, exotic vegetables, herbal plants and orchards to provide an alternative to the villagers who had been indulging in the illegal cultivation of narcotics. |
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Delimitation panel proposals opposed
Nahan, August 14 Crossing party barriers, BJP and Congress workers united in this regard. The BJP MLA from the Paonta area and district president of the BJP, Mr Sukh Ram Chaudhry, Paonta BJP mandal president Kuldeep Thakur, and Congress leader Chain Singh, among others, addressed the rally. It was decided to launch an agitation against the proposals. They said the proposals would affect about 42,000 people of the Paonta area who were proposed to be included in the Renuka Assembly constituency. They alleged that the commission had ignored their culture, geographical condition and linguistic identity. |
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3 pilgrims from Ajnala killed
in accident
Palampur, August 14 Police sources told The Tribune that a truck carrying over 50 persons from Ajnala in Punjab was on its way to the Jwalamukhi Temple. When it reached near Gurnwar village, the driver lost control over the truck and the vehicle rammed into a parked truck on the road, killing three persons on the spot. Mr Manohar Lal Sharma, SDM, Dehra Gopipur, reached the spot and supervised the relief and rescue operation. The killed persons have been identified as Heena (20), Sonu (28) and Umesh (30), all residents of Ajnala. Later the SDM gave an ex-gratia payment of Rs 50,000 each to next kin of those killed in the accident. |
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