Shimla, September 4
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has issued notices to the state government and the HRTC on the frequent bus accidents in the state.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary directed the authorities to file their replies by the next date and posted the matter for further hearing on September 17.

The court also directed the government to explore the possibilities for the creation of posts of mobile traffic magistrate in each district and special mobile traffic magistrate in Shimla and Dharamsala to prevent reckless driving and avoid accidents by conducting traffic checks and spot trials within their jurisdiction.

The Bench passed the order on a petition filed by Ajay Sipahiya and others from Solan, alleging that private buses indulged in reckless driving without trained and expert drivers were posing a constant threat to the lives of commuters and others.

It was further alleged that the sole motive of private bus owners was profit maximisation, which they achieved by avoiding expenditure on maintenance of a bus and installation of safety equipment, overcrowding, overspeeding and engagement of untrained drivers, etc.

Treating the petition as a Public Interest Litigation, the court directed the government to file a reply within a week and apprise the court on the steps taken by it to prevent occurrences of vehicular accidents.

The petitioners cited various newspaper reports, alleging that in 2014, 557 persons have already been killed and 2,612 injured in 1,422 accidents reported up to June 30 and there were 3,100 drivers employed in the HRTC to run 2,000 HRTC buses i.e. merely three drivers for two buses on an average and some of them suffered from medical complications.

More than 300 old HRTC buses ply on roads endangering the lives of commuters as well as other road users. It was also alleged that the state government had not taken any concrete step to prevent accidents in the state.

Shimla, September 4
Apple growers, feeling the pinch of lower crop yield this year, are worried as Washington Industry groups have predicted an all-time record of harvest of 14 crore boxes which is 8.9 per cent higher than the earlier record of 12.9 crore boxes in 2012.

The fear of US apple flooding the Indian markets has stemmed from the fact that Russia had recently announced banning fruits and other food products from the US, the European Union, Canada, Australia and Norway for one year in retaliation for sanctions imposed on it by the West.

Washington ships about 6,00,000 cartons of apples annually into Russia. Horticulture experts said largescale import of red and golden delicious apple to India could not be ruled out.

Further, with the strengthening of the rupee, the imports have become cheaper and Himachal apple growers, who are getting between Rs 1,400 and 1,700 per box in local markets, may fail to cash in on scanty crop.

The apple crop was 3.69 crore boxes in 2013 and 7.39 crore boxes in 2012 and the growers got remunerative returns, but the crop is 40 per cent less than last year this time.

The state has already exported over 1.10 crore boxes to terminal markets and the peak marketing season, which lasts from August 15 to October 15, is on and 3.5 lakh to 4-lakh boxes are exported every day, sources in the Horticulture Department said.

There is a huge demand of apple in the USA and only 30 per cent apple is exported. The impact may not be more due to poor crop, but in years to come, the imports will hit the apple market, sources said adding that in 1998 the import of apple started with just 1111 MT, but last year the quantity rose to 2 lakh MT.

Leaders of political parties cutting across party lines have urged the government to increase the import duty and if need be “declare apple as special product” for imposing heavy import duty.

The BJP government had been raising this demand when the UPA was in power, but it was not conceded and now the Congress government is raising it. Again there has been no positive action so far.

“We have been demanding that apple should be treated as a special product and heavy import duty should be imposed. We have already met the Union Finance Minister and Commerce Minister”, BJP leader and former Horticulture Minister Narinder Bragta said.

The import of cheaper apple from other countries was also the main issue in the Lok Sabha poll in Himachal and the BJP had promised to take up the issue if the NDA government returned to power.

Shimla, September 4
After deferring the Students Central Associations (SCA) elections for a year, Himachal Pradesh University Executive Council’s decision to put a nominated body in place may be delayed by another two months.

Activists of the ABVP polish shoes during a protest against fee hike at HPU in Shimla on Thursday. Tribune photo

Highly placed sources in the university said the high-level committee constituted under the chairmanship of Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof RS Chauhan is in a fix as the Lyngdoh Committee report will be the basis for nominating SCA members and as per the recommendations, ad hoc arrangement can only be for six to eight weeks, whereas the EC has postponed student body polls for a year.

The committee constituted on August 26 was required to submit the report by September 3, but the deadline has already expired and there are no signs of report being submitted in the near future.

Sources also revealed that the committee has suggested forming a council of meritorious students based on the last year academic performance and sportspersons, NCC and NSS cadets and nominate the president and general secretary from among them to give fair representation to all.

In a case there is no consensus over election of the president and general secretary from among nominated panels, they would be elected through voting by nominated members.

Meanwhile, the HPU today released the comparative fee structure and proposed recommendation of Resource Mobilisation Committee (RMC) which clearly shows that the increase in fee was more than 50 per cent in most cases, while it was more than 20 times in case of BEd, MEd, BJMC, MJMC and some other courses.

The free proposed is lower than the fee structure of Punjab University, but would be the highest ever hike in a go at HPU.

Not only this, a recommendation has been made to increase 10 per cent hike in fee every year and the proposed hike for various courses ranged between Rs 50 to Rs 6,000, while as per the existing fee structure the fee ranged between Rs 50 to Rs 1,000 and the students were not prepared to accept the steep fee hike.

However, the fee structure of Punjab University was still much higher and ranged between Rs 800 and Rs 7,700.

Student bodies express resentment

The students’ bodies today resorted to different measures to protest fee hike and deferment of the SCA elections. ABVP activists took to “Gandhigiri” to lodge their protest by polishing shoes of the public at HPU and HPU affiliated colleges. The protest was symbolic that students would now have to polish shoes to pay their fee and the money collected today would be given to the HPU Vice-Chancellor.

NSUI members blocked the road at the Summer Hill Chowk for a while to express their resentment. A scuffle between SCA members and the police was also reported on the campus, when students were going to submit a memorandum to VC ADN Bajpai. Meanwhile, SFI activists, whose chain-hunger strike entered the sixth day today, threatened to convert the hunger strike into fast unto death in case their demands were not met.

ABVP holds shoe-polish protest

Nurpur: Members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Nurpur unit, held a shoe-polish protest on the Arya Government College premises here today.

Led by unit president Pitamber Thakur students raised slogans against Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) Vice-Chancellor (VC) ADN Bajpai for hiking college fees.

They held placards with anti-government and anti-VC slogans. ABVP secretary Satpal Singh said they were protesting across the state against the decision of HPU to enhance college fees five times. He said the ABVP had decided to collect money by resorting to shoe polish protest and would send the collected money to the VC through a cheque.

He said the ABVP would further intensify its stir if HPU did not revoke fee hike. — OC

Solan, September 4
The poor maintenance of several alternate routes, which can reduce the inflow of traffic on the National Highway (NH)-22, is leading to frequent traffic jams, especially between Parwanoo and Dharampur.

Heavy influx of tourist vehicles during the weekends cause traffic jams on NH-22. Apple-laden trucks also block the roads leading to long-hour traffic jams.

Motorists prefer to use the Kalka-Shimla national highway despite various alternate routes as their condition is poor due to lack of timely repair and maintenance.

While tourists coming to Kasauli can conveniently use the Parwanoo-Jangeshu road, its poor condition deters them from using it.

The Band-Chamiya-Patta Mehlog road is an alternate road connecting Kasauli with the industrial belt of Baddi. But, it is in a pitiable condition as the side drains remain a threat for drivers during rain.

The Kamli-Bhojnagar road is an alternate road to reach Kumarhatti from Parwanoo, but it is also in an appalling condition.

Interestingly, the Public Works Department (PWD) has been carving new roads, while the existing ones cry for repair and timely maintenance.

“There will be no need to widen NH-22 if all these roads are well maintained. It can also save hundreds of trees from being axed if the four-lanning of NH-22 between Parwanoo and Shimla is executed,” said Sunil Chauhan, an apple orchard owner, who was stuck in a traffic jam on the highway for hours last Sunday.

Palampur, September 4
The local police today filed a challan in the court against a contractor and the Public Works Department (PWD) as they were found guilty in a bridge collapse case in December 2011.

A senior officer told mediapersons that the Pathankot-Mandi national highway collapsed in December 2011 in which one person was killed and five others were injured.

He said after an investigation of two years, the police found the contractor and the PWD guilty.

“The contractor who was executing the construction of the bridge and two officers of the state PWD have been made accused by the police,” he added.

The police have pleaded for the prosecution of all the three persons named in the challan under different provisions of the Indian Penal Code. It may be recalled that the bridge collapsed when the contractor was installing a concrete slab on one part of the bridge, killing one person on the spot.

Later, the state government ordered a magisterial probe into the incident. The inquiry report also stated that the design of the bridge was also defective.

Solan, September 4
The industrial units eligible for the Central Investment Subsidy (CIS) scheme have been provided relief by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry by relaxing the earlier norm of not considering expansion activity undertaken after the registration.

Such units will now be eligible to avail this subsidy if they make their claim within a period of one-year.

The relaxation has come as a relief to the investors, but their claims have been held up as they had expanded their commercial activity after seeking registration.

Vinod Khurana, president, Nalagarh Industries Association, said this norm was considered irrational as it was introduced much later than the announcement of the CIS scheme. But, the fact was that several units had already claimed this subsidy even after undertaking expansion.

An official of the Industries Department said the issue was also taken up by the state government with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Relief had now been granted to the investors by directing all the eligible units to put forth their claims within one-year.

The investors have been bound not to change the location without taking the prior approval of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

All the new industrial units and existing industrial units are eligible for the CIS scheme at 15 per cent rate of investment of plant and machinery, subject to a ceiling of Rs 30 lakh.

However, in case of micro, small and medium enterprises, a ceiling of Rs 50 lakh is available and the scheme is applicable till March 2017.

Shimla, September 4
Terming the 100 days of the Modi government the best, the state BJP today congratulated the Prime Minister and his Cabinet ministers for their efforts to meet the expectations of the comman man.

State BJP spokesperson Ganesh Dutt said Modi’s statement “Na khaunga, na khane dunga” has made a mark with the public. He lashed out at the Congress government for asking the account of 100 days. He said the Congress should give the account of 60 years before pointing their finger at the BJP government.

Taking a dig at the previous Congress government, he said the Food and Supplies Minister in the Congress regime had once stated that inflation would increase for six months, but the BJP government took strong steps to control price rise and as a result onions, which were sold at Rs 100 per kg during the UPA-II tenure, is priced at Rs 30 per kg today. The price of petrol was reduced thrice in one month and decreased by Rs 5.50 per litre.

Under the leadership of Narendra Modi, relations with the neighbouring countries have improved. The growth rate, which was 4.6 per cent during the previous Congress government, has increased to 5.6 per cent. An SIT had been constituted to get black money deposited in foreign banks.

Condemning Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s statement in which he said the BJP had failed to meet the expectation of the public in its 100-day rule, he asked the Chief Minister to list his achievements in the past 600 days of being in power.

Una, September 4
Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri today distributed relief cheques amounting to Rs 87.42 lakh to victims of natural calamities, beneficiaries of various welfare schemes and people suffering from various ailments as the cost of treatment at a programme.

The programme was organised by the District Welfare Department at the Haroli rest house here.

A sum of Rs 12 lakh was distributed to 11 families, who were victims of natural disasters, while Rs 9.5 lakh was given to 42 beneficiaries for treatment of various ailments from the Chief Minster’s Relief Fund. The minister distributed funds to the tune of Rs 38.3 lakh to beneficiaries of low-cost housing schemes and Rs 7.25 lakh to 29 persons living below the poverty line as financial assistance for the marriage of their daughters.

Deputy Commissioner Abhishek Jain, SP Anupam Sharma, SDM Dhanvir Thakur, Block Development Officer Dr Richa Verma, District Welfare Officer Shashi Bijalwan, former Vice-Chairman of the Agro Packaging Corporation Omkar Sharma and Haroli Block Congress president Ranjit Rana were also present.

Shimla, September 4
A three-day meeting-cum-training camp of the BJP Mahila Morcha will be held at Kullu from September 6 for organisational skills.

Members of the state working committee and office-bearers will meet on September 6 and interactive sessions with women cadres be held on September 7 and 8. The focus will be on training the cadres in organisational and electoral skills and strengthening the mass base so that eligible candidates are available for the next year’s PRI poll.

Besides, BJP general secretaries JP Nadda and Saroj Pandey, National Mahila Morcha president Vijay Rahatkar, former Chief Minister PK Dhumal, state BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti and other senior leaders will address sessions. This will be the first visit of Rahatkar after assuming the office of the National Mahila Morcha president, state Mahila Morcha president Ritu Sethi said.

The role of women in PRI polls is crucial as 50 per cent seats are reserved for women and at present the percentage of elected women PRI members is 58 per cent.

State party chief Satpal Singh Satti said the meeting would enable the women to understand their role and responsibilities as elected PRI members.

Kangra, September 4
Early detection can lead to the modification of underlying unhealthy behaviours such as inappropriate diet, inadequate physical activity, tobacco and alcohol use. Hence, an initiative has been taken by the state Health Department where health institutions having low client load (OPD) will conduct community screening and preventive health check-up camps for population above 30 years of age.

This was stated by Dr BM Gupta, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Kangra, yesterday. Directions had already been issued to the field staff and other officers in this connection, he added.

The CMO said chronic and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardio-vascular diseases, cancer, chronic lung diseases and diabetes, contributed to a large proportion of deaths and disabilities globally. As per the global burden of disease report of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the leading cause of death in the South-East Asia (SEA) region is ischemic heart diseases and strokes.

He said in WHO’s country profiles, 2014, NCDs accounted for 60 per cent deaths. As per the National District-Level Household Surveys Round IV, results for Kangra indicated that proportion of population having blood sugar level more than 140 was 14.5 per cent, while those having high blood pressure (hypertension) is 37.9 per cent and diseases of CVS were 6.4 per cent.

The burden of NCDs and resultant mortality was expected to increase unless massive efforts were made to prevent and control NCDs and their risk factors, Dr Gupta asserted.

He said as per sources, there were 10 institutions in the district where the daily client load was 10 or lower. So, every Friday a community camp would be conducted there, whereas 20 institutions having client load of 11-20 will conduct fortnightly camps. In addition, about 22 institutions having medical officers, where client load is 21-40, will conduct a monthly preventive health community camp.

The CMO said these institutions would adopt one village initially and the villages were being identified.

The preventive camps would cover blood pressure, obesity and tobacco use. Diabetes screening would be added later with procurement of glucometres. The patients would be advised lifestyle modifications and referred for investigations, if needed, he said. Dr RK Sood, District Programme Officer for NCDs, said the checkups would also encourage proper control of BP.

Una, September 4
The Una district administration has set up four shelter homes for women who are victims of domestic violence in different parts of the district.

This was stated by Deputy Commissioner Abhishek Jain today. He presided over a meeting to review the implementation of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.

He said the centres were set up at Jalgran village in Una block, Saloi village in Amb block, Khad village in Haroli block and Bangana block headquarters.

“These shelter homes have been opened in safe residential areas, preferably owned and managed by family heads who are widows,” he added.

Rajesh Chauhan, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate-cum-Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority, was also present in the meeting.

Ira Tanwar, District Programme Officer of the Mother and Child Health Department, said 22 female supervisors of Anganwari centres were designated as protection officers under the Act.

The DC directed that a wide publicity of the provisions under the Protection of Women from the Domestic Violence Act should be done at the grass-root level.

He said victims of domestic violence would be provided free medicines from the District Red Cross Society or the Rogi Kalyan Samitis under various government health institutions.

Shimla, September 4
Rapid degradation of environment due to industrialisation, power projects, unauthorised constructions, illegal mining and unregulated traffic are posing a grave threat to the tourism industry in the state notwithstanding the state government has received a development policy loan of $100 million from the World Bank.

The government will utilise the development policy loan for “Green Growth and Sustainable Development” and has finalised the environment master plan document for managing the fragile environment of the state and also prepared the sectoral guidelines for the new initiative.

The State Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board had been constituted for the purpose of containing the industrial effluents and pollution and adopt necessary measures to conserve natural resources.

The action plan on climate change has been finalised as part of adoption and mitigation strategies and it has been approved by a national expert committee.

The centre on climate change has been strengthened for getting the required inputs for combating the climate changes due to the depletion of ozone layer and keeping in view the likely impacts of climate change on the livelihood of people, the research on climate change impacts on agriculture, horticulture will be carried out through the centre on climate change.

The State Pollution Control Board is regularly monitoring the water and air quality and compiling the data of cement, textile and pharmaceuticals industries and it has already uploaded the ambient air and water quality data of 10 towns of the state and 219 locations of major rivers and their tributaries.

On the persuasion by the state board, 37 power projects have installed the requisite equipment for ensuring 15 per cent discharge of water into water bodies.

However, environmentalists are not enthused by the steps taken by the government and point out that the state Cabinet in its last meeting approved the ordinance to amend the Town and Country Planning Act to regularise about 25,000 illegal constructions and rewarding violators.

Shimla, September 4
The India International Friendship Society (IIFS) honoured Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri with the Rashtriya Gaurav Puraskar for his contributions in the field of politics in New Delhi today.

Speaking on the occasion, Bharmouri thanked the society for honouring him with the award. He said: “Such functions play a vital role in boosting the morale of people working in different fields in the society besides motivating others to work with zeal.”

He said: “Non-governmental organisations play an important role in shouldering the responsibility of the government in socio-economic development of the country.” Referring to the all-round development in Himachal Pradesh, he said the state was not only known for its scenic beauty and rich culture, but had also emerged as a role model of development for other states.

He said Himachal was one of the favourite tourist destinations and was fast emerging as a favourite destination for investors as well.

He urged entrepreneurs to come forward to set up their units in the state which was offering best incentives and other facilities as compared to other states.

Bharmouri said the state government had imposed a complete ban on felling of trees which had helped in increasing the green cover in the state by 25 per cent.

Himachal had been adjudged as the best state in the category of bigger states in health and investment sectors, he added.

Shimla, September 4
Ashok Sharma will be the new Assistant Solicitor General of India. He has been appointed by the President of India for defending the cases of the Union of India before the HP High Court.

As per the notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice he has been appointed for a term of three years.

Sharma started his practice in 1986 and remained the president of the HP High Court Bar Association thrice. He was also the Assistant Advocate General for the state and remained standing counsel for various boards and corporation, including the BSNL, HRTC and HP Vidhan Sabha.

Shimla, September 4
The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA), headed by BJP MP Anurag Thakur, today moved the High Court for seeking a stay on the orders of the Municipal Corporation, Shimla, to demolish the “illegal building” constructed at the cricket academy at Lalpani here.

The Municipal Corporation has served a notice on the HPCA on September 2 to demolish the illegal structure, failing which the corporation will pull it down at the cost of the HPCA.

The Municipal Corporation, which had already cut the electricity and water connections of the building, maintained that the academy building had been constructed in the green belt where all sorts of constructions were banned.

However, the HPCA claimed that the land was given on a 99-year lease to it by the state government and all required permissions were obtained from the Union Forest and Environment Ministry prior to constructions of the building.

However, the MC, which is the competent body to pass the building plans in the city, has maintained that it has not even approved the maps of the building and as such there is no question of getting environment clearance from the Union Government.

As many as 80 budding sports persons are being imparted training in this academy.

Sundernagar, September 4
While deciding an appeal under the Consumer Protection Act, the HP State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Shimla, headed by Justice (retd) Surjit Singh, has ordered Tata Motor Finance Ltd to pay Rs 2 lakh, along with interest at 9 per cent per annum, to a complainant for forcefully taking into possession his truck.

The commission further ordered the company to pay Rs 5,000 as litigation expenses to complainant Hem Raj, a resident of Chowk village, near Sundernagar, the owner of the truck (HP-65-3072).

Hem Raj purchased a truck in November 2011, which was financed by Tata Motor Finance. He had to pay Rs 11.16 lakh in return of the loan. The complainant had been paying the amount regularly and till December 2012, he had paid Rs 3.23 lakh. On December 2, 2012, he was coming from Leh to Sundernagar, when musclemen of the finance company forcibly took the possession of the truck.

He filed a complaint before the Consumer Forum, Mandi, which was allowed by the forum on November 19, 2013. The forum directed Tata Motors Finance to hand over the vehicle to the complainant and pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh and further pay Rs 1,000 per day as penalty to the complainant, from the date of filing complaint till the vehicle was handed over.

The company filed an appeal against the order of the consumer forum before HP State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. The commission imposed Rs 5,000 as the appeal was time barred and admitted the appeal for hearing.

During arguments, it was revealed that the vehicle had been sold by the company. So the commission ordered the decision.

Shimla, September 4
A woman, Krishna of Charahi village in the Karsog area, allegedly committed suicide by jumping into the Sutlej at Pandoa, 70 km from here, today.

Sources said the woman wanted to visit her parents, but was not allowed by her in-laws, following which she took the extreme step.

A case has been registered under Sections 304 and 506 of the IPC. — TNS