Shimla, November 28
With no ice on the Asia’s oldest natural rink, the ice-skating season is unlikely to commence from December 1.

The rink, which is normally covered by a thick sheet of ice by this time, is completely dry and the ground staff have not even started sprinkling water due to warm weather.

Normally, frosting starts around the middle of November and water also freezes naturally under the sky. However, there has been no frosting so far and with the local Met office predicting dry weather for the next few days, ice-skating season will be delayed by more than a week.

“We cannot spread water on the rink until frosting starts as it will not freeze and create slushy conditions on the surface. Only a spell of snow and rain could help bring down the temperature and we have no option but to wait for the weather God to oblige”, said Bhuvanesh Banga, Secretary of the Shimla Ice-Skating Club, which manages the rink.

The excessive construction and deforestation in and around the city has degraded the environment and its impact is becoming discernible in the changing micro-climate, the main factor behind the shrinking of the skating season.

With snow becoming increasingly scarce, ice-skating has emerged as a major attraction for the winter revellers in recent years. However, with towering deodars fast making way for multi-storeyed concrete structures, the weather conditions are becoming unsuitable for ice-skating.

The mercury plummeted in the first week of the month following early spells of snow in the higher reaches and the city recorded the lowest temperature of 4.1 Celsius on November 9 and the maximum temperature also came down to 14.9 Celsius.

With mercury remaining constantly below normal in the first half of the month, hopes of an early start to the ice-skating season were raised. However, the weather took a turn as the mercury started rising with the city recording a minimum of 10.5 degree Celsius, 5.5 degrees higher than normal, on November 24. The maximum temperature touched 21.9 on November 23 (4 degrees higher than normal).

Last year, inclement weather spoiled the first two weeks of December but suitable conditions thereafter ensured a reasonable 64 sessions during the season which extended till February 9. There was a time in the 1960s when 120 to 140 sessions was the norm and the season extended to almost four months. Nowadays, the season has squeezed down to almost two months due changing micro-climate.

This year, the ice-skating enthusiasts will shell out more money as the club has raised the membership fee for children aged up to 14 years to Rs 1,000 and for adults to Rs 2,000.

Dharamsala, November 28
The inquiry, initiated into fund misuse in the office of the BDO, Pragpur, in Kangra district, is nearing completion. Funds allotted under MGNREGA had been embezzled by officials of the block by forging signatures of senior officials and false resolutions of panchayats.

Sources here said the officials posted in the block, including accountants and certain bank officials, embezzled about Rs 42 lakh from the development funds by forging the signatures of BDOs who were posted in Pragpur during the stint of the previous BJP government.

Pragpur BDO-cum-assistant commissioner Lalit Jain had terminated the services of an accountant working on contract in the local panchayat samiti and accused in the scam. Two other accountants had been suspended.

The sources said since these accountants were permanent employees, the case for the termination of their service was pending with the Director, panchayat and rural development.

The sources also said the role of former BDOs during the period had also been probed into by the Director.

The scam came to the fore in January this year when then BDO, Pragpur, Ekta Kapta noticed that an accountant had forged her signatures on a cash book. She informed the higher authorities after which a team of auditors was sent to for a probe. The auditors, in their report, claimed that funds worth about Rs 42 lakh have been embezzled.

Lalit Jain has now submitted a detailed inquiry report to the Director, Rural Development. The police have also registered the case and confiscated the entire record.

The sources said the role of local bank officials was also under scanner as they issued bearer cheques to the accused.

Due to the inquiry, the MGNREGA scheme had come to a halt in Pragpur. The situation was such that no BDO-level officer was ready to work in the area.

Lalit Jain said now the development works in the block had been streamlined. An amount of Rs 2.7 crore had been released to various panchayats for execution of development works of MGNREGA.

He further said Rs 42 lakh had been released under the planning schemes such as the State Development Plan, the MP and MLA local area development schemes. Another Rs 70 lakh had been released under other related schemes.

Shimla, November, 28
The Himachal Pradesh High Court today directed the state government to file its response to an application filed by the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) and its president Anurag Thakur. The application had urged the court to implead Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Director General of Police Sanjay Kumar, Kangra SP Balbir Singh Thakur, and Kangra District Magistrate C Paulrasu as respondents.

While granting time to the state, a Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Kuldip Singh directed the state to file objections by December 19 to another application by the HPCA to place on record certain additional documents.

In its present application, the HPCA had alleged that the entire state machinery was under the influence of Virbhadra Singh, therefore, they were not expecting objectivity from the respondents (DC and SP, Kangra) whose actions were illegal, perverse, arbitrary and mala fide.

It is alleged that to take over the HPCA, Virbhadra Singh has been instrumental in getting false and malicious criminal prosecution launched against the petitioners. It is alleged that he ensured through the district administration that the petitioners were forcibly ousted from cricket stadiums and lands. 

Shimla, November 28
The newly elected state Youth Congress president Vikramaditya Singh has urged the government to reduce the minimum age for the skill development allowance from 18 to 16 years so that a larger number of youth can take advantage of the scheme.

In a letter to Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, Vikramaditya said reduction in age would enable the youth to opt for training under the Skill Development Skill scheme and acquire the necessary skills immediately after the completion of their basic education. This would enable them to avail employment opportunities and set up self-employment ventures as soon as they passed Class X.

He also urged the minister to organise rozgar melas as per the policy of the state government in all the districts.

He said besides the Labour and Employment and Industries Department, the Power Department should be involved in employment camps as a large number of private projects were coming up in the state which required manpower. The presence of recruiting teams from various industries and power companies should be ensured for selecting youth as per their requirements.

Vikramaditya said coordination was required between private industries and government departments for identifying necessary modular employment skill programmes for youth. There was a vast scope for employment in the private sector, particularly in industrial units.

Shimla, November 28
The fate of 600 directors physical education (DPEs) posted in government senior secondary schools in the state hangs in the balance as the November 20 notification issued by the Director, Higher Education, giving a higher pay scale of Rs 6,400-Rs 10,640 to 244 DPEs, who fulfil National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE) norms as per the High Court direction, left the former categories in an anomalous situation.

As per the notification, a copy of which is available with The Tribune, the Director has sanctioned the pay scale of Rs 6,400-Rs 10,640 to 244 DPEs as per the order issued by the High Court from June 2008. The directorate had released the list of those who fulfilled the qualifications.

But the notification had left another 600 DPEs in the lurch as the department had created an anomaly in the pay scale, they resented.

These 600 DPEs contended that they were teaching the same subject and did the same work. “We are getting the Rs 5,480-8,925 pay scale and our grade pay is Rs 3,600 per month, which is less than that of the physical education teachers (PETs) teaching the junior sections in middle and high schools. The PETs grade pay is Rs 4,400 and if a PET is promoted as DPE, he will get Rs 3,600 pay grade”, they rued.

HP DPEs Association state president Dinesh Jhagta, former state president Lalit Chauhan, Atul Katoch (Kangra), Satish Chauhan (Shimla), Man Singh (Mandi), Raj Kumar (Bilaspur), Yogesh Chona (Chamba) and Sureder Lakharwal (Sirmaur) today thanked the director for implementing the high court order. “But the anomaly in the pay scale of 600 other DPEs should be removed and they should be given the same pay scale”, they demanded.

On the other hand, the directorate stated that the pay scale was given to the 244 DPEs as they had the qualifications as per NCTE norms and the high court has ordered the implementation of the pay scale from June 2008. If some DPEs had qualifications as per NCTE norms, they were entitled to the new scale, it stated.

Shimla, November 28
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today sought uniform funding under various schemes in the ratio of 90:10 as the Central and state share in Himachal.

The Chief Minister called on Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi. He raised the issue of the difference in the funding pattern under the schemes to special-category states such as HP and the North-eastern states.

“While the north-eastern states are getting funds in the ratio of 90:10, these are not applicable to Himachal Pradesh, where the funding varies from 20 per cent to 75 per cent, depending upon the schemes,” he stated. He demanded that all Central ministries should be directed to provide uniform funding for all schemes for Himachal Pradesh.

Virbhadra also demanded the release of Rs 750 crore for providing balance amount under special plan assistance (SPA) through savings or additionally in order to fully finance the annual plan for 2013-14. He demanded the revival of special industrial package till 2020 by providing income tax and central excise duty exemption to the industrial units for next 10 years.

Meets Sibal for reliable mobile network

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has demanded the supply of alternative back-up of power such as solar power to ensure the reliable mobile network in the remote, inaccessible and tribal areas of the state.

He raised the issue at a meeting with Communications Minister Kapil Sibal at New Delhi today. He told Sibal that mobile towers in the remote areas stop functioning due to disruption of electricity supply on account of heavy rainfall and snowfall, resulting in life being paralysed.

He requested the Union Minister to take effective steps for ensuring reliable mobile network in all areas of the state.

Virbhadra also requested him for reliable high-speed broad band services, especially in the tribal and backward areas, to ensure connectivity with the rest of the world when they were cut off due to heavy snowfall and other natural calamities.

The Union Communication Minister assured him that the ministry would pass necessary instructions to the field staff to ensure reliable telecom services in the state.

Shimla, November 28
The police will depute the Tourism Police at 20 popular tourist destinations and transit points at various places in the state.

With the number of tourists visiting the state soaring to 1.61 crore in 2012, the need for the police chipping in along with other government agencies such as the Tourism Department is felt. Trained police personnel will be deputed at these places, frequented by a large number of tourists by the next summer season in April.

The towns where they willl be deployed include Kufri, Mashobra, Tutikandi bypass, the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT), Parwanoo, Solan bypass, Chambaghat, Bhuntar, Dhalpur, Paddal, Dharamsala, McLeodganj, Dalhousie, Tunnuhatti, Mehatpur, Kala Amb and Ghaggas. It is the tourism and traffic wing of the police which will depute this personnel after giving them proper training.

"Considering the heavy influx of tourists and their vehicles at various destinations in the state, we intend to depute trained police personnel to assist tourists, which will also ensure their safety," said Director-General of Police Sanjay Kumar. He said the police would guide visitors about the places to be visited, transportation services and connectivity to the place, eating places and other information.

He added that tourists would also be advised about the safety norms and timing regarding visiting a place. Tourism officials point out that the presence of the Tourism Police will check fleecing of visitors by taxi operators, hoteliers and owners of parking slots.

Though the proposal had been in the pipeline for quite some time, finally they will now be trained and posted all over the state. "The Tourism Police will be a big help in guiding tourists, especially foreigners who, at times, are fleeced," admitted police officials.

The rape of an American tourist at Manali last year had raised concerns about the safety of women at such places. The Tourism Police can help and guide tourists, especially women, from venturing out late in the night or to unsafe places. With a lot of workforce in the hospitality sector, hailing from outside the state, the chances of a lot of miscreants being active cannot be ruled out.

Efforts will be made to post more police personnel at other places in the state, including the border areas and places with heavy vehicular movement.

Shimla, November 28
Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise KH Muniyappa will lay the foundation of the Rs 100-crore Tool Room project in Baddi next month.

This was stated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh after a meeting with the Union minister in New Delhi yesterday.

He said he had invited Muniyappa to lay the foundation stone of the tool room and he agreed.

The Chief Minister informed the Union minister that the state government had already transferred the land for the purpose and would provide all required logistic support and other facilities for setting up a tool room.

He urged the minister to announce a package for the revival of the Village and Khadi Board in the state and set up fruit-processing clusters and promoting village industries and other small and cottage industries in the state.

Muniyappa said his ministry would shortly call meetings of banks chiefs for ensuring the timely sanction of bank loans for setting up small industries in the state.

The tool room will help in the skill development of rural youth and increase chances of employment, both in public and private sectors.

Shimla, November 28
A strong judiciary means a strong rule of law, which is an essential component for a peaceful and protected society. This was stated today by Mansoor Ahmad Mir, newly appointed Acting Chief Justice of HP High Court, while addressing a full court held in the court in his welcome.

Speaking on the occasion, Justice Mir asked the advocates to refrain from seeking unnecessary adjournments so that time-bound justice could be done. He also laid stress on making the lok adalat and mediation or alternative dispute resolution more effective.

He further said, "Pendency of cases in the courts is something that hurts me, but the circumstances these add to the delayed disposal is within our system and should not come in the way of your efforts to see that justice to the aggrieved party is done at the earliest."

Justice DD Sud said the state would benefit from Mir’s legal knowledge. Shravan Dogra, Advocate General and Chairman, Bar Council of HP, Ashwani Pathak, president, HP HC Bar Association, and Sandeep Sharma, Assistant Solicitor General of India, also spoke on the occasion. Registrar General AC Dogra conducted the proceedings.

HP HC Justices DD Sud, Sanjay Karol, Kuldip Singh, Rajiv Sharma, VK Sharma and Dharam Chand Chaudhary were present on the occasion. Justice Surjit Singh, president, HP State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Principal Secretary (Law) Chairag Bhanu Singh and Registrars of HC Sureshwar Thakur, Sushil Kukreja, KS Chandel and Arvind Malhotra, along with other dignitaries, were also present.

Shimla, November 28
State BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti today said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh would now have to prove his innocence in the allegations of sudden increase in his income as the Delhi High Court had asked the CBI to file its report.

In a statement here, Satti said the BJP had all along been demanding a probe into these allegations, faced by the Chief Minister. "The BJP welcomes the High Court order, asking the CBI to file its report in February," he remarked.

Virbhadra, who claims that his political career is spotless, should now prove that all allegations being levelled against him are baseless," he said. He added that it was high time that the CM came out clean or faced action. 

Palampur, November 28
The state government is yet to initiate steps for the safe handling of waste generated from hospitals, medical health institutions, colleges and university laboratories.

The indiscriminate disposal of waste generated from government medical institutions in the district has become a major health hazard and risk to human population.

A few private health institutions have already tied up with a private company of Pathankot for the collection and disposal of medical waste at their own level.

Despite the fact that Kangra has a large number of private and public health institutions, there are no provisions for the scientific handling of bio-medical waste.

Many khuds and water streams of the Kangra valley have been badly polluted by the dumping of medical and other waste. These streams are a major source of drinking water for people of lower areas as the Irrigation and Public Health Department has itself tapped water from these streams for drinking water supply schemes.

Scientists confirmed that HIV, hepatitis, jaundice, typhoid and other epidemics spread through the contamination of water.

The Government of India has already taken steps to regulate the wastes generated in medical and health institutions. The notifications to this effect have been circulated to the states. Subsequently, the Bio-Medical Waste Management and Handling Rules have been forwarded to the states by the Union Government.

However, the state government recently issued notices to 30 private hospitals in the state for the proper handling of bio medical waste, but more steps are needed to implement these rules and notifications in the state.

In the absence of any treatment plant, municipal councils and panchayats of the district are dumping the entire medical waste in a stream. 

Sundernagar, November 28
A workshop on the “Role of Forensic Science” was held by the Himachal Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory at the District Bar Association, Mandi, on Saturday.

Justice VK Sharma of the Himachal Pradesh High Court was the chief guest on the occasion.

Justice Sharma said lawyers were supposed to know something about everything and learning forensic science was also a part of it.

Justice Sharma said without learning forensic science, it was not possible for advocates to interpret scientific reports which formed a part of investigation records.

He also praised the team of forensic experts headed by Dr Arun Sharma, Director, Forensic Science Laboratory, Himachal Pradesh, for holding such a workshop. He said this workshop would prove useful for advocates as they would know about the role of forensic science in investigation.

Experts delivered talks on cyber crime and how it was investigated, toxicology and how poisoning cases were detected, frauds committed with forged documents and how writing was matched with a sample.

Earlier, office-bearers of the District Bar Association, Mandi, welcomed Justice Sharma and honoured him with a Himachali cap and shawl.

Solan, November 28
With the state government having declared mushroom cultivation an agriculture activity, growers are awaiting grant of subsidies from the government to help revive its declining production in Solan, which is known as the mushroom city of India.

Acceding to the long-standing demand of mushroom growers, the state government in its November 8 notification has declared mushroom cultivation an agriculture activity. This move has been welcomed by the growers who are now awaiting grant of various subsidies as is available to other agriculturists, including implementation of subsidised power tariff. Mushroom growers are presently charged commercial tariff at the rate of Rs 4.95 per unit, while the subsidised rate available to agrarian growers is 50 paise per unit.

The commercial rate of power added substantially to the cost, thus making the activity a costly proposition.

The growers are also demanding low interest rate of about 5 per cent from banks and other financial institutions as against the present rate of interest of 11 per cent to 12 per cent. Being a highly perishable commodity whose raw materials had to be transported from other states like Delhi, Haryana and Punjab, the manufacturing cost was already 10 per cent more than their counterparts from the neighbouring states, said Vikas Benal, a progressive mushroom grower of Solan, who had set up a mushroom unit here.

He said a monthly power tariff of nearly Rs 2 lakh was being paid by him on commercial rates and since the raw material had to be transported from other states and even the end product was transported to other states, they failed to compete with mushrooms available at cheaper rates from the neighbouring states.

He said since no facility had been made available to the growers till now, they were lagging behind and cheaper mushroom from Haryana and Punjab was making inroads in Solan. He said growers in Haryana were not only made available the latest technical know-how but also given several facilities to pursue the venture.

Benal said the growers should also be exempted from income tax as was available for other agriculture activities and unless the state government extended some subsidies to them, the survival of small and marginal farmers was next to impossible.

Mushroom cultivation around this town began way back in 1960 and gradually the town became well known for producing good quality button mushrooms that were sent to other states also. 

Palampur, November 28
CSK HP Agriculture University today promoted its five dozen employees.

After these promotions, the vacant post of Deputy Registrar, four vacant posts of Assistant Registrar, six of Section Officer, 11 of Superintendent, 14 of Senior Assistant, and some other positions of Technical Assistant and Field Assistant have been filled.

The Non-teaching Employees’ Union expressed gratitude to Dr KK Katoch, Vice-Chancellor of the university, for fulfilling their long-pending demand of promotions.

Those promoted included PC Sharma as Deputy Registrar, Kamal Singh Jamwal, PC Kaundil, Subhash Chand Sood and Pathanu Ram as Assistant Registrars and Swarupa Nand, Dalip Singh, Arjun Singh, Lila Mani, Kuldip Chand and Deep Kumar as Section Officers. Besides, Rishi Dev Sharma has been promoted to the post of Senior Private Secretary. The Vice-Chancellor has also allowed changing the designation of Technical Assistant Grade-I to that of Farm Managers for which the Technocrats Welfare Association has thanked Dr Katoch.

Shimla, November 28
The Constitution of India is a wonderful document. This was stated by Acting Chief Justice Dev Darshan Sud while addressing the Adhivakta Parishad conference held in the High Court auditorium on the occasion of Constitution Day organised by the HC unit of the parishad.

“Our Constitution is federal in nature and there is a separation of powers between the Legislature, Executive and the Judiciary,” Justice Sud said.

Ashok Sharma, president of the state unit of the parishad, said the purpose of such conference was to make lawyers and the public aware of their fundamental rights and duties.

Justice Sanjay Karol, Justice Kuldeep Singh, Justice Rajiv Sharma, Justice VK Sharma and Justice DC Chaudahry and Assistant Solicitor General of India Sandeep Sharma and members of the Bar were present on the occasion.

Ashwani Pathak, president, HC Bar Association, and advocates Vivek also addressed the gathering. 

Shimla, November 28
As many as 50 per cent patients who rush in from the peripheries at the Emergency of the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), the state's premier referral hospital, rough it out on trolleys as the 11-bedded Emergency remains occupied most of the time.

No tests are available for Emergency patients from 7 am to 4 pm as the Emergency labs function from 4 pm to 7 am; they pay a hefty amount at private labs, rue patients.

"Chaos rules at the Emergency when serious cases such as those pertaining to trauma rush in here, as it has limited space. The 30-bedded trauma wards also remain occupied, so we keep patients on trolleys to treat them as we are told that there is no bed in general wards,” said the medics on duty.

The Emergency has only 11 beds. Every time, half the number of the patients have to remain on ice-cold trolleys. The patients need to be shifted within 24 hours after first-aid treatment to the respective wards, but the wards are reported to be full, said the doctors.

But it needs a “phone call” to admit patients in the wards. Chuinu Ram was referred to the IGMC from the Civil Hospital, Chopal, as his urine passage was blocked.

“The doctors gave us medicine and asked us to come here after three days as there was no bed in the ward,” rued Prem, his son.

He is not alone. Many patients face a tough time as they don’t have connections, said attendants. But the doctors denied this. “We attend to every patient well in time,” said the EMO, IGMC.

Registrars (senior residents) do turn up on occasions. But consultants rarely make a round of the Emergency even if they are on call; they leave hospital in the afternoon, revealed insiders.

Besides, there are two ward boys and two nurses on duty at the Emergency at one time. But the Emergency needs at least four each. The attendants have to run here and there in panic to call the nurses and doctors, patients resented.

The Emergency has two oxygen cylinders and two regulators, but no ventilator. The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) located on the other side has 10 ventilators. “But we need an ICU unit attached to the Emergency as well. We can attend to just four patients at a time. In case we have more patients, we have no option here,” said a doctor.

The IGMC Emergency gets 120-140 patients in winter and in summer, the number is above 300 in 24 hours' time. “We need 120 trolleys, whereas we have 62 donated trolleys. We need 100 wheelchairs, while we have 52 donated chairs to cope up with the rush of patients,” said Rajesh Saraswat, Manager, Lok Kalyan Sabha, an NGO that runs a service for free at the IGMC. “We charge refundable security of Rs 100 from the patient so that they bring these back when they do not need it after the patient is discharged," he added.

Medical Superintendent Ramesh said they depute four doctors - one registrar and a resident for each of four specialties headed by a consultant at the Emergency round-the-clock to attend to the patients.

IGMC Director SS Kaushal said they were making the best use of the available services and space. 

Mandi, November 28
Residents of Mandi did not get their daily supply of fresh fruits and vegetables on Tuesday as retailers boycotted routine auction at the Sabzi Mandi to oppose the district administration's move to fix margins to regulate prices of fruits and vegetables in the town.

Hundreds of fruit and vegetable retailers did not participate in the auction to buy the produce brought to the market, opposing the district administration's fixing of margin at 25 per cent.

On persistent demand of consumers to regulate skyrocketing prices of fruits and vegetables, the district administration had instructed the wholesalers and retail sellers to sign forms Q and R to determine prices of produce sold and purchased, on the basis of which, 25 per cent margin is allowed under the Essential Commodities Act.

Form Q is signed for determining the price of produce sold by the growers to commission agents (wholesalers) while form R is signed for selling the produce sold by the commission agents to the retailers.

Since the price of farmers' produce sold by the growers and purchased by the retailers for selling in the market can only be determined by the forms Q and R, on the basis of which, margin is allowed, the district administration had made it mandatory to get the forms signed instantly to check unreasonable profits.

President of CITU Bhupinder Singh, who has taken up the cause of Retail Fruit and Vegetable Union, said, "Fixing 25 per cent margin is not practical since the retailers are incurring several overhead expenses and the forms Q and R cannot be singed instantly."

Deputy Commissioner of Mandi Devesh Kumar said, "Signing forms Q and R at the time of selling and buying the growers' produce is mandatory under the Essential Commodities Act and we have appealed to the commission agents and the retailers to sign the forms on the spot."

Shimla, November 28
The police have launched a hunt to nab a hair dresser, Malu, suspected to be behind the burglary that took place at a beauty parlour in Middle Bazaar here on Tuesday. The thief decamped with two gold bangles and cash worth Rs 70,000.

The police have sent a team to Haridwar, the home town of the hair dresser.

The police have been clueless so far as the owner of the parlour has not given any of the details, including phone numbers and photo identity proof, of the hair dresser, which are mandatory from the security point of view.

Rajesh Kumar, owner of the beauty parlour, alleged that Malu was a prime suspect as he fled the scene after the burglary.

Additional Superintendent of Police Somya Samashivan said, “We have sensitised owners who keep domestic helps, migrant labourers and workers to get their registration at nearby police station for safety and security.” 

Shimla, November 28
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will organise Tourism Fest 2013, an international tourism event, from December 5 to 7 in Chandigarh.

CII Tourism panel convener Ajit Butail said the Indian hospitality industry had emerged as one of the key industries in the country.

China, Macau, the Philippines, Germany, Thailand and the states of West Bengal, Delhi, Chandigarh, Punjab and Rajasthan had confirmed their participation in the three-day festival. International Golf Tourism Cup, International Dance Festival, Chefs Meet and International Food Festival were some of the concurrent activities at the main event.

Tourism Director Mohan Chauhan said the tourism fest was an initiative to bring together key players of the hospitality industry and provided a platform to customers, tour operators and travel agents.

He said the Department of Tourism would put up an exhibition and organise familiarisation tours from December 8 to 10 to Shimla and Manali from Chandigarh.

The HPTDC would organise the Himachal Food Festival and Himachali cultural programmes would also be presented during the event.

Palampur, November 28
The Himachal Pradesh government will construct an alternative road to upper areas of Palampur comprising three panchayats. This decision was taken at a high-level meeting of state and Army officers held here today under the chairmanship of Brij Behari Lal Butail, Speaker of the state Assembly.

Talking to mediapersons, Butail said this decision had been taken keeping in view the hardships being faced by villagers because of security checks by the Army authorities. He said the present road to these areas was passing through the Army cantonment and local residents were feeling harassed because of regular security checks while coming to Palampur and returning home.

Butail said he had asked the PWD to prepare a DPR for the release of funds. Army officers said they were bound to check every one passing through the cantonment.

Earlier, the Speaker presided over a prize distribution function at Government High School, Lohana. He also inaugurated the school building. 

Solan, November 28
A 21-year-old girl, Mandeep Kaur, was killed on the spot and her brother grievously injured when a speeding truck (HP-12-D-4780) hit the bike (HR-01-H-7708) they were riding on the Gullerwala-Baruna road near Nalagarh this morning.

The duo was on their way to Baruna from Ropar where the girl had come to learn computers at a local institute when the accident occurred. The youth, Kuljind Singh, was taken to the First Referral Unit at Nalagarh, from where he was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. They hailed from Hardo Namoh village of Anandpur Sahib tehsil in Ropar district.

A case of rash and negligent driving had been registered against driver Joginder Singh who had been arrested, said Nalagarh DSP Nischint Negi.

Nurpur, November 28
A spate of thefts at few shops in Nurpur town has created panic in the business community here.

The locks of as many as 10 shops were found broken today morning. Burglars decamped with valuables worth thousands of rupees. Earlier also, a theft was committed at two shops in the main bazaar.

Nurpur Beopar Mandal president Ashwani Suri, who accompanied the theft victims at the police station for lodging their complaints, rued that there was no night patrolling of the police in the markets. The Nurpur Beopar Mandal president lamented police inaction in nabbing the burglars.

Former Member of Legislative Assembly Rakesh Pathania, while expressing concern over the burgeoning thefts and burglaries in the area, alleged that narcotic drugs trafficking and the sale of illegal liquor in authorised vends were flourishing in the town.

Meanwhile, local MLA Ajay Mahajan, who is in Delhi these days, said he had directed the police to start night patrolling with immediate effect.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajiv Atre said a case under Sections 457 and 380 of the Indian Penal Code had been registered in this connection. 

Shimla, November 28
The Centre has agreed to the state’s proposal to establish an administrative tribunal in the state based in Shimla under the provisions of Administrative Tribunal Act, 1985.

Principal Secretary, Personnel, SKBS Negi said the Union Ministry of Personnel and Training had granted the approval for two posts of administrative members and one post of judicial member for the Tribunal. — TNS