Corruption charges baseless: BJP
SHIMLA, Nov 17 — The allegation of senior Congress leaders that the Chief Minister's office had become a fountain head of corruption has evoked a strong reaction from state BJP leaders.

Maintain sanctity of temples: Swami
SHIMLA, Nov 17 — Swami Krishnanand, President of the Hindu Mahasangh, has expressed concern over the growing commercial activity around various temples, particularly those brought under the Hindu Religious Shrines and other Charitable Endowments Act, and urged the government to take effective steps to maintain their sanctity.

DYFI to stage dharnas today
SHIMLA, Nov 17 — The state unit of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) will stage dharnas tomorrow at all district headquarters in protest against the recent diesel price hike.

Russian scholar in Shimla
SHIMLA, Nov 17 – Dr Ninel Gagurova, an eminent scholar from the Institute of Oriental Studies of Russian Academy of Sciences, said here today that the ideals of Kabir were relevant even today not only for India also but for the entire world.

Phone exchange at Namgia
SHIMLA, Nov 17 – Mr B.R. Kashyap, General Manager, Shimla telecom district, today inaugurated a new telephone exchange at Namgia, in the remotest pocket of the tribal Kinnaur district.

14 lakh leprosy cases in India
From Our Correspondent

KANGRA, Nov 17 — India alone has 60 per cent of the global leprosy cases. The detention of four lakh new leprosy cases in the country has taken the number of leprosy patients in the country to 14 lakh.

Disclosing this today while talking to this correspondent, Dr N.B. Reddy, Director, Training, Shiflen Leprosy Training Centre, Karigari, Tamil Nadu, who is here in connection with the five-day training programme for medical officers of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Manipur, said Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were topping the list of leprosy-prone states with the maximum number of patients there. He disclosed that Goa, Arunachal Pradesh and Haryana were three such states in the country where the number of leprosy patients was the lowest. He said that no state in the country had been declared leprosy-free as yet.

Dr Reddy said leprosy was facing a stage of elimination with cases below than one per 10,000 recorded in most of the areas in the country. He said Himachal Pradesh had already attained this level but still the remaining cases were to be treated and disabled cases to be rehabilitated. He said Sasaka Memorial Health Foundation of Japan was providing drugs free of cost to the Government of India for leprosy patients.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had started a programme in India to eliminate leprosy by the end of the year 2000. In some states like Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh it was difficult to achieve this target as these states had nearly 50 per cent of the total leprosy cases on the national level, Dr Reddy said.

He, however, hoped that the multi drug therapy would help them in controlling the disease. Dr Reddy said with this new therapy 20 to 30 per cent of the patients got treated with one dose of the three medicines. He said patients with two to five lesions got cured within six months. Patients with more than five lesions could be cured within a year.

Dr Reddy hoped that as leprosy was in a crucial stage of elimination the community and the health system would gear up to implement the steps undertaken towards this end.

Dr Reddy said through M. Lao programme which was carried out in Himachal Pradesh 30 fresh leprosy cases were detected in March, taking the number of leprosy cases to 530 in the state. In Kangra district alone there are 70 such cases.

Dr Reddy said the training camp currently going on here was the first of its kind in the state in which 27 doctors from Himachal Pradesh, four from Manipur and one doctor from Amritsar in Punjab were participating. He said camps were held earlier in Chandigarh, Delhi, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Shillong and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He said the trained doctors from these camps would impart training to other doctors, health workers and anganwari workers so that the information, education and communication were percolated among the common people. He said these doctors and the other workers would educate the people at the grassroots level so that the affected people could voluntarily come out in the open and report for treatment.

He said there were leprosy hospitals at Chamba with 37 beds, Mandi, Kangra and Sirmour with 30 beds each and at Kullu with 10 beds. Besides, there was one missionary hospital with indoor capacity of 110 beds at Palampur for which grant-in-aid was being given.

BJP denies Congress charge on graft
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Nov 17 — Mr Kishori Lal, the Industry Minister, has ridiculed the statement of senior Congress leaders, Mr Sat Mahajan and Mr Virbhadra Singh, alleging that the Chief Minister’s office had become the fountainhead of corruption.

In a rejoinder issued here today, he claimed the Congress leaders had not been able to digest the "spectacular achievements" of the present government and were making allegations just to gain "cheap popularity".

He alleged that during Congress rule there was rampant corruption at all levels, regionalism was at its peak and in the matter of development a few areas were getting preferential treatment.

The people of Himachal Pradesh had not forgotten the alleged misrule of the Congress and they had rejected the party during the recent Lok Sabha elections. Instead of learning a lesson from the defeat, the Congress leaders had started making baseless charges against the present government, he further alleged.

Mr Kishori Lal said that it was during Congress rule that "wrong methods" were adopted for appointment, ignoring the competent and deserving candidates. He said the Shukla Committee had pointed out a large number of irregularities in the appointment made during the Congress rule.

Financial irregularities were also the creation of the Congress government which paid a commission on loans. The former Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh gave undue benefits to Sagar katha factory at a time when his government was about to go, he alleged, adding that the government would inquire into this matter and all irregularities in this regard would be made public.

The present government was committed to equal and balanced development of all areas and during the past 18 months, it had succeeded in resolving outstanding issues like Shahnahar project, Anandpur Sahib hydroelectric project and Thein Dam with neighbouring states, he claimed.

No headway in rail blasts case
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Nov 17 — The police is still clueless about which militant outfit was responsible for the bomb blasts in the Pooja Express near Damtal, which claimed 14 lives last week.

Though the name of the Khalistan Zindabad Force (FZF) is being taken by the Punjab police, it is only after the report of the forensic experts is received that one can say with certainty which militant outfit was behind the blasts. No militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the bomb blasts in the Pooja Express, which was on its way from Jammu to Jaipur.

The possibility of RDX having been placed in the compartment where the blast took place is also not being ruled out.

Though the needle of suspicion is pointing towards the KZF, its involvement has also not been ascertained. The KZF is a Jammu-based organisation and it is being felt that its members masterminded the blasts as these days they are being starved of funds by the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), who had allegedly been backing them in the past.

Immediately after the blasts the Himachal Pradesh police had alleged that Jammu and Kashmir militants were responsible for the blasts. However, the initial suspicion about five youths in their early twenties being involved in the blasts has not been corroborated by various agencies.

According to sources, the main hurdle being faced in the investigation of this train blast is the involvement of a number of agencies and the lack of coordination between them. With the train blasts taking place at a site from where the borders of both Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab are close, the police of these two states along with the Himachal police is involved in the investigations. It is a well-established fact that militants have been active both in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, whereas in Himachal Pradesh there have been only stray incidents of militant strikes. In this case, while the site of blasts is in Himachal Pradesh, those responsible for them could be based in Punjab or Jammu and Kashmir.

The Director-General of Police, Mr T.R. Mahajan, said that the police was working on all possible angles and was in touch with the Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir police.

Mr Mahajan said that vigil was being maintained along the Chamba areas bordering Jammu and Kashmir. He informed that December 15 had been set as the deadline for the police forces to move down to lower areas before the snowfall.

He added that those passes and areas which remained accessible even during summer would be guarded by the forces. The movement of the forces would, however, depend upon the climatic conditions.

The DGP said that Himachal Pradesh was being provided funds by the Centre for buying sophisticated equipment.

The SSP, Kangra, Mr K.C. Sadyal, said that investigations in the bomb blast case were on and he was in touch with the Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir police.

Banks told to fund private sector
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Nov 17 — Mr A.K. Goswami, Chief Secretary, has called upon the bank and other financial institutions to provide funds to the private sector for setting up hydroelectric projects in the state.

Presiding over the state level bankers committee meeting here today, he said a new equity structure had been formulated for financing hydroelectric projects with a generating capacity of more than 100 MW in which the private sector would contribute 26 per cent equity share, 25 per cent would be raised from the public and the rest 49 per cent would be mobilised through bank credits. No financial institutions would be allowed to have equity more than 26 per cent.

The banks could increase the credit-deposit ratio in the state by financing hydel projects which required a lot of capital investment.

Mr Goswami suggested that a committee of banks should be constituted for financing small power projects upto 25 MW capacity. At present, 200 odd such projects were in the pipeline.

While commending the overall achievement of 57 per cent up to September 30 under the Rs 505.20 crore annual commitment for the year, the Chief Secretary expressed concern that the achievement was only 41 per cent in the agricultural sector, which could be due to failure of the apple crop.

Earlier, Mr Sharda Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, United Commercial Bank, suggested that recovery camps should be organised after giving due notices to the loanees.

Corruption charges baseless: BJP
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Nov 17 — The allegation of senior Congress leaders that the Chief Minister's office had become a fountain head of corruption has evoked a strong reaction from state BJP leaders.

Taking exception to the charge, Mr Khushi Ram Balnatah, General Secretary of the party, said Mr Virbhadra Singh and Mr Sat Mahajan had no locus standi to make such accusations as it was during their party's regime that corruption was legalised in the form of commission in raising loans at exorbitant rates of interest.
He also refuted the allegation of saffronisation of educational institutions and said "RSS shakhas" were conducted in schools even during the Congress regime. He said the RSS was a social organisation which pursued its independent programmes and the government had nothing to do with it. It had not been given any benefit by the government, he added.

Regarding recruitments to government jobs, he said all appointments were being made following the due procedure and jobs were not being given on "chits" as had happened during the Virbhadra Singh's regime.

Mr Jai Ram Thakur and Mr Baldev Sharma, both legislators, also condemned the allegation of corruption saying it was baseless and motivated.

In a joint statement they said the Congress leaders had lost their equipoise due to the massive defeat of the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls. Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, was committed to giving a transparent and responsive administration to the people. It did not behove senior leaders like Mr Mahajan and Mr Virbhadra Singh to make such baseless allegations.

Maintain sanctity of temples: Swami
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Nov 17 — Swami Krishnanand, President of the Hindu Mahasangh, has expressed concern over the growing commercial activity around various temples, particularly those brought under the Hindu Religious Shrines and other Charitable Endowments Act, and urged the government to take effective steps to maintain their sanctity.

In a statement here yesterday, he lamented that temples were being converted into picnic spots which hurt the religious sentiments of the people. He also urged the government to ensure that offerings made by devotees were properly accounted and utilised for the upkeep of the temples.

Swami Krishnanand urged the Centre to take immediate steps for the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya. It was an emotional issue and delay in construction of the temple could again surcharge the atmosphere.

DYFI to stage dharnas today
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Nov 17 — The state unit of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) will stage dharnas tomorrow at all district headquarters in protest against the recent diesel price hike.

Demanding the immediate roll back of the hike, the federation pointed out that there was no justification for it in view of the prevailing international prices. The diesel price came down from $ 163.15 per tonne in September 1997 to $ 91.73 per tonne in August 1998 and further to $ 83.39 per tonne in February 1999 when it started increasing.

The retail price in the country was Rs 11.53 per litre in September 1997. Now when the international price had again reached the same level, the retail price had been increased to Rs 16.54 per litre which could not be justified.

The impact of the hike was already being felt with the increase in bus fares and spiralling prices of all commodities.

Russian scholar in Shimla
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Nov 17 – Dr Ninel Gagurova, an eminent scholar from the Institute of Oriental Studies of Russian Academy of Sciences, said here today that the ideals of Kabir were relevant even today not only for India also but for the entire world.

Delivering a lecture on "Kabir and Bhakti Movement" at Himachal Pradesh University, she said the conflict over religion, beliefs and territorial issues could be solved through the teaching of saints, gurus and prophets like Kabir whose poetry could help the synthesis of Hindu-Muslim culture.

Prof S.K. Gupta, Vice-Chancellor, who presided over the lecture, stated that the most significant contribution of Kabir was his anti-caste stance.

Phone exchange at Namgia
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Nov 17 – Mr B.R. Kashyap, General Manager, Shimla telecom district, today inaugurated a new telephone exchange at Namgia, in the remotest pocket of the tribal Kinnaur district.

He said that with the commissioning of the exchange, Chhupan, village situated at the height of about 11,500 feet, which saved as the base for international trade centre of Tibet-China border, had also been connected with the rest of world with telephone.

The STD code for Namgia exchange is 01785.