Solan, December 4
The sympathy factor failed to make any impact on voters in the Renuka and Nalagarh constituencies with the kin of both former legislators being rejected by them.

Being political greenhorns, Gurnam Kaur, wife of former Nalagarh MLA HN Saini, and Vinay Kumar, son of former Renuka MLA Prem Singh, failed to cut ice with the voters who opted for candidates on the basis of their individual standing. Lakhwinder Rana, on the contrary, managed to win their sympathy by appealing for one chance after having lost twice.

Even the educational qualification of the candidates seems to have made an impact with people rejecting the under-matriculate Gurnam Kaur and opting for a graduate, Lakhwinder Rana, in Nalagarh and a matriculate, Vinay Kumar, failing to impress the voters as against mechanical engineering graduate and bureaucrat Hriday Ram in Renuka.

While the lack of development appeared to be a prominent issue for the voters, the indifference of the BJP government towards the maintainence of roads and bridges in Nalagarh proved dear. Other issues like bungling in the Rajpura Cooperative Society, which was Saini’s home turf, added to the BJP’s defeat.

Despite hectic campaigning by Chief Minister PK Dhumal in both the constituencies, the absence of Shanta loyalists from active campaigning proved how they had left the fate of the poll to the CM. Though ministers of the Shanta camp, including Kishan Kapoor and Ramesh Dhawala, did come to Nalagarh but they failed to make their presence felt among the voters. It was known that a section of staunch supporters of HN Saini also preferred to stay away from the campaigning thus sending conflict-ridden signals to the voters.

The Congress, on the other hand, managed without any major rally in Nalagarh though PCC chief Kaul Singh had assigned poll duties to several MLAs and senior leaders.

In Renuka, on the contrary, the individual standing of the candidate appears to have done more harm than mustering sympathy for Congress candidate Vinay Kumar. BJP’s Hriday Ram, however, managed to convince the electorate that his long administrative experience and the support of the BJP government would help develop their area which had been bereft of even basic amenities.

With the term of the newly elected MLAs being restricted to one year, the voters, acting against traditional choice, have foregone their political affiliations at least for now to give these new candidates a year to prove themselves.

Shimla, December 4
Despite winning one seat each in the byelections, the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress are both terming the poll outcome as a favourable indication for the Assembly poll due next year.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal claimed that the people of Renuka had ultimately voted for development, having realised that it was only the BJP which could ensure development of Sirmaur that remained neglected so far. He said the government was committed to accelerating the pace of development in the area and people would see the change for themselves in times to come. The victory of the BJP in Renuka, he said, was a lesson for Congress leaders who had tried to defame the BJP by their nefarious designs and also made a hue and cry over actions which they had themselves carried out to defame the ruling party. The people of the state were wise enough to judge what was right and what was wrong.

The Congress, on the other hand, maintains that the results of the byelections are a clear indication that it is on a comeback trail. General secretary of the party Kuldeep Rathore said the performance of the Congress, which trounced the BJP in its stronghold of Nalagarh, was much more creditable than that of the BJP. It was not the victory of the BJP in Renuka but that of money, liquor and muscle power. The ruling party had virtually turned the peaceful state into Bihar and abused the state machinery in a manner which was unheard of in the electoral history for the state. The innocent people of Sirmaur could not withstand the state pressure as the BJP still had about a year in office but it would be altogether a different scenario in the Assembly poll.

State BJP chief Khimi Ram asserted that the victory in Renuka was more significant and it had established that the party was capable of making inroads into the Congress stronghold under the leadership Chief Minister Dhumal. He said the party would analyse the reason for the defeat in Nalagarh. A former minister, Vaijy Mankotia, said the results only indicated that the people were disillusioned with both the BJP and the Congress and they were looking for a third political alternative to break the hegemony of the two parties.

Solan, December 4
With BJP workers failing to accept the party’s defeat in Nalagarh, a meeting convened under the chairmanship of constituency in charge Narender Bragta and party general secretary Ram Swaroop Sharma at Chowkiwala transformed into a blame game this afternoon.

As the meeting progressed and the workers were pondering over the reasons for the defeat, some BJP workers cited the proximity of a senior bureaucrat, JS Rana, elder brother of Congress winning candidate Lakhwinder Rana, to the Chief Minister as the reason for the defeat as it was sending conflicting signals against their candidate to the masses. They said since JS Rana was a close confidant of the Chief Minister and was given plum postings, the electorate failed to show support for BJP’s official nominee Gurnam Kaur. They argued that lack of developmental work in the constituency and poor conditions of roads had led to their defeat. They have demanded removal of JS Rana from the plum post of Director, Industries, within a week failing which, they said, the Nalagarh mandal of the BJP would resign. Party’s state president Khimi Ram, however, said they would ponder over the reasons of the defeat and steps would be taken to strengthen the weaknesses.

The meeting was held in a charged atmosphere with the workers blaming senior leaders for failing to reach the grassroots level to win their confidence and muster support of the voters. Finding it difficult to accept defeat in Nalagarh, which they had been considering as their bastion, the BJP activists pointed out that had the government undertaken timely development of the area, they would not have faced defeat at the hands of the Congress.

Bragta, however, tried to convince the workers that they would ponder over the reasons of the defeat and take measures to strengthen the party. He pointed out that the Chief Minister had addressed several public meetings in the constituency which had helped them muster support of the voters. 

Shimla, December 4
The Rashtriya Krishi Bima Yojna will be implemented during the rabi 2011-12 season for wheat and barley crops.

Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited will be the implementing agency. The risks covered under the scheme include fire, lightning, storm, cyclone, drought, dry spells and pests and diseases. The scheme is compulsory for the farmers availing seasonal agricultural operation (SAO) loans from financial institutions and optional for non-loanee farmers.

The level of indemnity for wheat and barley crops is kept at 60 per cent and 80 per cent of the average yield, respectively. Small and marginal farmers are eligible for 50 per cent government subsidy on the total premium. The cut-off date for accepting the crop insurance proposals for non-loanee farmers is January 31, 2012, and for loanee farmers March 31, 2012.

The wheat units (tehsil or sub-tehsil) selected for the scheme are Bilaspur Sadar, Namhol, Sri Naina Devi, Ghumarwin, Bharari, Jhandutta, Chamba, Churah, Bharmour, Holi, Bhyattiyat, Sihunta, Dalhousie, Salooni, Sarkaghat, Baldwara, Sandhol, Sundernagar, Nihri, Karsog, Mandi Sadar, Kotli, Aut, Chahiot, Thunag, Bali Chowki, Jogindernagar, Padhar, Lad Bharol, Shimla (Rural), Junga, Suni, Theog, Kumarsain, Rampur, Nankhari, Jubbal, Rohru, Tikar, Chirgaon, Ddra Kawar, Chopal, Kupvi, Nerva, Sirmaur, Nahan, Dadahu, Paonta Sahib, Kamrau, Pachhad, Rajgarh, Renuka Ji, Nohra Dhar, Shillai, Ronhat and Nichar, Sangla, Kalpa and Hangrang.

The units for barley crop include Churah, Bhattiyat, Bharmour, Holi, Chamba, Dalhousie, Salooni, Nichar, Kalpa, Sangla, Pooh, Moorang, Hangrang Karsog, Bali Chowki, Thunag, Jogindernagar, Shimla (Rural), Junga, Rampur Nankhari, Rohru, Tikkar, Jubbal, Chirgaon, Dodra Kawar, Chopal, Nerwa, Rajgarh, Pachhad, Renuka Ji, Nohra Dhar, Shillai and Rohnat.

Shimla, December 4
CM Prem Kumar Dhumal has mourned the death of legendary film actor, director and producer Dev Anand, who passed away in London.

In his condolence message, he said with the death of Dev Anand, an era of the film industry has come to an end. Dev Anand was a versatile actor and a great human being. The void created in the Indian film industry by his demise would be difficult to fill.

He said Dev Anand had special attachment with Himachal Pradesh as he studied in Government College, Dharamsala. — TNS

Dharamsala, December 4
Seabuckthorn, that is being promoted as a crop for cold desert areas of the country, has many medicinal properties that “can add value for farmers cultivating it”. This was revealed by scientists who had come here to participate in a national-level conference on seabuckthorn plant at CSK Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University at Palampur.

GP Dubey and his team, working at the BHU, Varanasi, have developed dugs for cardiovascular diseases and memory disorders from various parts of the plant. Scientists of the DIPAS (DRDO) made a presentation of their drugs produced from seabuckthorn for health problems of Army men posted at high altitudes like Ladakh.

The national conference was organised under the National Agricultural Innovation Project.

A former DRDO Director, Dr RC Sawhney, a seabuckthorn expert, inaugurated the conference.

SK Sharma, Vice-Chancellor, while addressing the conference, said a model was being developed on value chain of the seabuckthorn crop. In this project, scientists would help farmers generate additional income from seabuckthorn and help in ecological restoration of degraded cold desert areas.

SP Sharma, Director of Research, said afforestation of the plant was required for the control of soil erosion, which was causing silt in the rivers. The plant would also provide additional sources of fuel wood and fodder to farmers.

During the conference, scientists made presentations of new research on various aspects of seabuckthorn cultivation, processing and drug development.

AR Khan and his team, working at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra of the university at Kukumseri, said they had trained about 600 farmers in seabuckthorn cultivation on marginal land, particularly in the Chandra and Bhaga valleys of the Lahaul area.

Varinder Singh, organising secretary of the conference, said a high-yielding and mild thorny genotype of seabuckthorn (hippophae salicifolia) had been found to be rich in vitamin C and omega fatty acid.

YS Dhaliwal and Ranajana Verma presented details of seabuckthorn food products, whereas VK Sharma presented feed for animals and poultry developed from the plant product.

SP Tyagi and AC Varshney have standardised oil dose for treatment of gastric ulcer in dogs.

S Raina of Amity University, Noida, discovered a new species, whereas DP Attrey stressed the need for quality control of fruit and raw material and their products.

Dharamsala, December 4
Ram Gopal temple, located in Damtal area of Kangra district, is situated in an old fort belonged to the rulers of former Nurpur state. Walls of the temple carry famous Kangra style miniature frescoes that depict the wars fought by Rajput warriors and durbars of local kings. Sources here said paintings were created by local artists during the reign of Nurpur rulers about three centuries ago.

However, the temple is at the verge of losing the centuries-old treasure due to the lack of upkeep. The temple was earlier being managed by local Mahants. Now, its control has been restored with the government by the Supreme Court.

A visit to the temple revealed that an outside wall of the temple still has the Kangra paintings, but has been damaged due to the mishandling by local electricians and carpenters.

The paintings, however, can be restored with the help of experts of Kangra paintings. State government’s action is immediately required for preservation of the heritage. There are a very few Kangra miniature wall paintings that could be preserved or restored if action is taken immediately. Besides the Damtal temple, Kangra wall paintings are still surviving in old forts of Kangra rulers in Sujanpur Tira.

The deputy commissioner Kangra, RS Gupta, who has recently taken over as the administrator of temple said they would try to restore the wall paintings in Damtal temple. However, the state government has to adopt a concrete long term policy for preserving the heritage.

Kangra paintings flourished during the famous ruler, Sansar Chand Katoch. Although the Kangra style painting has some similarities with other miniature painting styles of the country, it has its own uniqueness as well. The artists use local materials like stones and leaves of local trees for procuring colours. They use a bit of gold and locally produce poison for long life of the paintings. Kangra paintings are used generally to draw Gods such as Radha Krishna or local rulers. An offshoot of Kangra paintings is Guler paintings that flourished during the reign of Guler rulers.