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Woman pays heavily for doctor’s ‘negligence’
Kinnaur first computerised district of state
Helipad awaits Centre’s nod for
Panel constituted to probe poll debacle
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Ex-minister cremated with state honours
Mankotia’s tirade against corruption
Ram Dev inaugurates naturopathy centre
Conclave on hydro power generation
80 houses destroyed in fire
Snow in HP areas
Kokje, CM felicitate people on Id
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Woman pays heavily for doctor’s ‘negligence’
Solan, November 3 Ms Sumati’s poverty-ridden family makes ends meet by working as farm labourers. Her husband got Sumati admitted at the regional hospital here two years ago after she was diagnosed to be operated on for a gynaecological problem. She was operated upon and her uterus was removed by Dr Amrish Kapoor in surgery that lasted over two hours. Soon after this she complained of severe backache and stomach pain. Hospital records revealed that she was re-admitted in the hospital here on September 3 and operated upon in the second week of September. She was discharged on September 26. At least two ultrasound tests were done here while one was conducted at the hospital another was conducted at a private clinic. The two, however, failed to detect any pus in her stomach. With little relief from pain and complications she was referred to Kamla Nehru Hospital at Shimla. She was admitted at Shimla in a critical condition with pus coming from the stomach and severe pain. An ultrasound test at Shimla revealed that pus had accumulated in her stomach. Doctors operated on her on October 25 and removed two metres of cloth from her stomach after cutting stitches of earlier operation. Ailing Sumati who has not been able to sleep for the past 50 days heaved a sigh of relief. The relief has come at exorbitant cost of Rs 50,000 incurred by her family. Chief medical officer, Dr
R. P. Sahni said an in-depth inquiry would be held in a week’s time. He said a preliminary report had, however, been sent to the director. He said one doctor could not be held accountable for the error but onus rested on the team of paramedical staff which assisted the doctor. Aspects like pre and post operative details of the case would be looked. The records had been sealed to rule out of any change being effected by the doctor concerned, he added. The case has put a question mark over the working of the doctor, who has stayed here for over nine years. Despite being transferred, he got the transfer cancelled. Trend of doctors referring cases for ultrasound tests to private clinics has also been exposed. The clinic failed to detect pus proves that innocent and poor patients are made to spend Rs 400 to Rs 500 on tests which reveal nothing. A similar test in the hospital costs merely Rs 60. The doctors agreeing to the trend of referring cases to private clinics said it was due to lack of paramedical staff. The errant doctor is said to be politically connected. |
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Kinnaur first computerised district of state
Reckong Peo, November 3 Earlier, a video conferencing centre and an e-governance centre were established at the district headquarters here with the assistance of National Informatics Centre (NIC). Congratulating the youngest District Magistrate of the state, Dr Amandeep Garg (31), for bringing the tribal district on the map of the country, he promised all possible financial assistance to modernise this remote area. The CM said the state government would now focus on
computerising work related to other departments. He said with the computerisation of the Revenue Department, people would be able to retrieve their revenue documents within no time. “It will also help in maintaining transparency and efficiency in the revenue system, putting a check on any type of tampering of the records,” he added. The computerisation of the Revenue Department is significant as the district is spread across hostile terrain. This will facilitate people to get their work related to the Revenue Department done in no time. The state government has provided revenue officials with necessary computer training before beginning the computerisation process. The CM further said effort was afoot to install e-kiosks at public places from where people would be able to retrieve revenue documents by inserting a few coins. This would be a role model for other states of the country, he claimed. Online services will help shift the load off revenue staff as earlier the patwari had to write the record repeatedly and kanungo had to check the data. The time thus saved will be utilised in settling other grievances relating to revenue matters. The CM also handed over copies of computerised records to the
tehsildars of Kalpa, Sangla, Moorang, Nichar, Pooh and Hangrang on the occasion. Later, he inaugurated a tourist information centre and shopping arcade constructed at a cost of Rs 30 lakh and laid the foundation stone of the DRDA building to be constructed at a cost of Rs 37 lakh. |
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Helipad awaits Centre’s nod for commercial use
Shimla, November 3 The initiative to get the helipad opened for commercial fights to ferry high-spending tourists has been taken by the Oberoi Group, which has its Wildflower Hall Resort close by. The permission of President House is required for security reasons, as the helipad is located by the Presidential Retreat, where VVIPs stay during their visit to the “Queen of Hills”. The state government has already sent the case to the Centre for allowing the helipad to be used for commercial flights when no VVIP is staying at the Presidential Retreat. In fact, the retreat is in use only once or twice a year when the President, Prime Minster or some other VVIP visits the hill station. The state’s security agencies have already cleared the proposal. The CID has in its report stated that opening the helipad for commercial flights will not pose any security threat. The group has an aviation wing with a fleet of two aircraft. If the helipad is opened to commercial flights, it will acquire a helicopter to fly tourists from Delhi and Chandigarh to the Wildflower Hall Resort. It will also operate helicopter flights for sightseeing and transport tourists to various other destinations in the state. “Our objective is to promote class tourism by bringing high-spending tourists from across the world,” says General Manager, Oberoi Clarke’s hotel, Raman Khanna here. A helipad was required to make best use for the Rs 100-crore property, Wildflower Hall Resort, which has been attracting celebrities in the past. It was the venue for the Blair-Manmohan summit in September last but the event could not materialise due to bad weather. Once the facility of helicopter fights is available, it can host international conferences, besides attracting high-end tourists, Mr Khanna explains.
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Panel constituted to probe poll debacle
Shimla, November 3 Headed by Mr Kuldeep Kumar, general secretary of the PCC, the committee has Mr Arun Sharma, Mr Ajay Solanki and Mr Suresh Kumar as members. It will visit all the educational institutions to ascertain the reasons for the poor performance of the organisation. It will submit its report by December 15. Appropriate action will be taken on the report by the PCC chief. It is for the first time that the party has taken the affairs of its students’ wing so seriously and set up a committee to inquire into the electoral debacle. The move is significant as Mr Kewal Pathania, president of the state unit of the NSUI, is a staunch loyalist of Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister . More importantly, he has been eying the post of State Youth Congress Chief currently held by Mr Sukhwinder Singh of the rival Ms Vidya Stokes camp. Ms Thakur, however, maintained that the sole purpose of the probe was to know the reasons, which led to the defeat of the frontal organisation, fix responsibility and take corrective action. She said the NSUI was the nursery of the party and party could not afford to neglect it. Factional politics apart, it is quite clear that Mr Pathania, is heading for a tough time. Ms Thakur has initiated the process of revamping the frontal organisations of the party and the youth wing and the students wing are in line for a complete overhauling. Factional considerations are
likely to weigh heavy during the exercise. |
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Ex-minister cremated with state honours
Chamba, November 3 The wreaths on behalf of the Himachal Pradesh Governor, Mr V.S. Kokje, and the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, were laid by the Officiating Deputy
Commissioner, Mr Chaman Singh, and the Superintendent of Police, Chamba, Mr J.P. Singh. The Governor, the Chief Minister and the Animal Husbandry and Urban Development Minister, Mr Harsh Mahajan, expressed shock over the sad demise of Kishori Lal and prayed for peace to the departed soul. Among the BJP leaders, former Himachal Chief Minister Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, President, Himachal BJP, Mr Suresh Chandel, Member of Parliament, Mr Suresh Bhardwaj and Mr Kripal Parmar, both Rajya Sabha MP along with many other BJP leaders attended the funeral procession and paid tributes. The eldest son of Kishori Lal, Mr Rakesh Vaidya, lit the pyre. Kishori Lal breathed his last at the Tagore Hospital, Jalandhar, last evening and his body was brought from Jalandhar this morning. He was 72 and survived by his wife and three sons. He had started his political career from the erstwhile Jan Sangh. He remained the Cabinet minister thrice in the Himachal Ministry and legislator of the Himachal Vidhan Sabha for six times. Meanwhile, a condolence meeting was also held at the local Circuit House in which a former Chief Minister, Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, and other BJP leaders and workers observed a two-minute silence and paid their tributes to the departed soul. Members of the local bar association abstained from the work as a mark of respect to the departed soul. The Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Ms Viplove Thakur, and Ms Asha Kumari and Kuldeep Pathania, both MLAs, have expressed grief over the demise of Kishori Lal. Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh Mahajan Sabha has expressed
grief over the sad demise of BJP leader and a former Industries Minister, Mr Kishori Lal. The general secretary of the sabha, Mr Hari Chand Gupta, said the state had lost a leader who relentlessly worked for the upliftment of the poor and needy. He offered condolences to the bereaved family and prayed for peace of the departed soul.
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Mankotia’s tirade against corruption
Palampur, November 3 He said he would soon uncover corrupt officials and political leaders and submit a detailed list of such functionaries to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Addressing a press conference here, he said he had received hundreds of letters from all over of the state bearing names of corrupt officials and political leaders along with documentary evidence. He said his team was studying the documents for corroboration and would later prepare files of each corrupt officer and hand these over to Ms Gandhi in New Delhi on December 1. He said most of the corrupt officials were occupying key posts in the state government and had shelter of top ruling party leaders. He said these officials had amassed wealth in crores but no action had been initiated against them. Major Mankotia said it was a matter of grave concern that there was a nexus between ruling party leaders and corrupt officials. He said these officials had purchased huge properties, including plots, flats, and bungalows in Delhi, Chandigarh, Panchkula and Shimla. He added that middlemen had been receiving huge amounts for transfer and postings of state officials. New industrial units coming to the state had been finding it difficult to establish because of rampant corruption at every level, he added. In his reply to a question, he said he would not hesitate to raise such issues in the state Assembly. He said Ms Gandhi had during the Congress Chief Ministers’ conclave in Chandigarh specifically asked them to break the nexus between corrupt officials and politicians. He said he had met senior functionaries of the Congress high command in New Delhi and apprised them of the situation. Referring to the issue of lower areas of the state being discrimination against, he said these areas had not received their due share from the government. |
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Ram Dev inaugurates naturopathy centre
Palampur, November 3 Swami Ram Dev said that he had a dream that the entire country should be free from all disease and it could only be possible with the help of yoga which was the cheapest mean for the treatment of all ailments. He said medicines worth Rs 20 lakh crore were consumed every year in our country, but despite all this there was no permanent cure for ailments in the medical science. Their adverse reactions and side-effects were also causing a large number of deaths in the country. He said the time had come to shift to the old traditional system of medicines. Mr Shanta Kumar said the naturopathy centre was equipped with all the latest modern facilities. The main object of the centre was to teach the art of healthy living and provide treatment for all ailments through naturopathy. |
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Conclave on hydro power generation
Shimla, November 3 The initiative is being taken by the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), which is organising the first conclave of hydro power developers in the Sutlej basin here on November 5 . Mr M. Gopalakrishnan, an authority on hydro power development, will deliver the keynote address at the conclave. Problems like recurrent flash floods and high levels of silt content, which are being perceived as a threat to generation of power in the Sutlej basin, would be discussed by experts. Mr R.V. Shahi, Union Power Secretary, and the state Chief Secretary, Mr S.S. Parmar, will inaugurate the conclave. Participants from the Bhakra-Beas Management Board (BBMB), the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Jai Prakash Hydro Power Ltd, the HP Pollution Control Board, the Science and Technology Department, the HP State Electricity Board, the Central Electricity Authority and the SJVN would be present at the conclave.
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80 houses destroyed in fire
Kulu, November 3 One person with burn injuries was admitted to a local hospital where doctors described his condition as serious. More than 140 head of cattle perished in the fire that broke out at about 9 pm, he said. Kulu Additional District Magistrate H.R. Chauhan said 353 people of 80 families were rendered homeless in the fire which, the police believes, might have been caused by a short-circuit. He said the Deputy Commissioner, the SP and other senior district officials rushed to the incident spot with relief material. The district administration has announced an immediate relief of Rs 5,000 each to the affected families and distributed blankets, tents and 60 quintals of wheat and rice, he said. Mr Chauhan said several people had been asked to take shelter in a local school temporarily. The NHPC was constructing tins sheds for the people who had lost their houses in the fire. Efforts were on to assess the total loss due to the fire, he said, adding that according to preliminary estimates property worth more than Rs 2 crore was destroyed. Official sources said by the time fire engines arrived a majority of the houses in the villages were completely burnt.
— UNI |
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Snow in HP areas
Shimla, November 3 The Dhauladhar ranges in Kangra district, the Rohtang and Kunzam passes, Chandra Khem pass and Suraj Tal and Chander Tal also experienced a moderate snowfall. Strong-velocity icy winds swept the region, causing sharp fall in the temperature. The minimum day temperature dropped by two to three degrees, making people shiver even in heavy woollens.
— PTI |
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Kokje, CM felicitate people on Id
Shimla, November 3 In his message Mr Kokje said that teachings of Prophet Mohammad were relevant in present times too. Mr Virbhadra Singh, while extending his best wishes to the Muslim brethren, said the occasion would strengthen the bonds of fraternity and brotherhood and promote communal
harmony. |
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