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| Saturday, June 24, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Cong
‘charge sheet’ against Dhumal Consciousness greatest gift:
Tandon HP Govt accused of giving raw deal
to Muslims Demand to hike support price of
apple Kin of deceased beat up nurse |
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Panel urges allotment of
land to dam oustees Landslide blocks Manali road Man convicted of shooting wife 1 killed, 17 hurt in bus mishap Selection of Vidya Upasaks stayed
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Cong ‘charge sheet’
against Dhumal SHIMLA, June 23 — The Congress party today finalised its charge sheet against the BJP-HVC combine government headed by Mr P.K. Dhumal in which cases of "deteriorating" law and order, favouritism and nepotism and also alleged financial irregularities have been highlighted. The five-member committee headed by Thakur Kaul Singh, which was appointed for preparing the charge sheet, held its meeting here this afternoon to finalise its contents. Reports from the district units were sought for the "charge sheet". The "charge sheet" will be printed and handed over to the PCC chief, Mr Sat Mahajan, on June 28 for being presented to the President. Cases of transfer of employees because of alleged political vendetta have been highlighted. It has been alleged that an influential person from Punjab was allowed to purchase landed property at Barog in the Solan district in violation of the law and the government allegedly rushed through the process of granting permission for purchase of land and the registry was done the very next day. An instance of alleged encroachment on government land by a senior leader of the ruling party is also being mentioned. Besides Mr Kaul Singh,
other members of the committee is preparing the charge
sheet are, Mr Vijay Singh Mankotia, Mr N.C. Parashar, Mr
Ram Lal and Mr Singhi Ram. |
Consciousness greatest gift: Tandon SHIMLA, June 23 — Scientific investigations alone will not unlock the mystery of the brain, mind and consciousness and their integrated functioning could be best understood by adopting a holistic multi-disciplinary approach, says Mr P.N. Tandon, internationally-renowned neuroscientist and President of the National Brain Research Centre Society. "Despite remarkable advance in the field of neurosciences in recent years, which generated a wealth of information regarding the structural and functional organisation of the brain, we are nowhere near resolving the mystery", Dr Tandon observed during an interview with The Tribune. The availability of modern imaging techniques like positron emission tomography (PET) had come in handy in studying the intricate neuronal microcircuitry, the individual neurons, their organelles and their role in neuronal communication, information transmission and storage, but the knowledge thus generated had only added to the confusion, he pointed out. The human mind, he said, had been an enigma which denied the scientific community a hat-trick of notable research breakthrough in the 20th century. The mystery of atom and gene, most crucial elements of the universe, was unravelled, but the riddle of brain-mind-consciousness relationship remained unresolved. On the basis of his life-long observation of the brain as a neurosurgeon, he was convinced that the mystery of consciousness is inexorably linked to the mystery of the brain and it was more likely to be resolved, if it ever did, by adopting a holistic approach. No doubt the quest is difficult but the path could be made easier and more illuminated if the neurobiologists took psychologists, cognitive scientists, psychiatrists and philosophers along with them on the one hand and mathematicians, physicists and computer scientists on the other. It was essential if all aspects of the mind, including its most puzzling attribute of consciousness, were to be understood. Besides the recent developments in neurosciences and computer sciences, particularly artificial intelligence and neural networks, have benefited both, mind and consciousness, in many ways and as a consequence whole new fields of computational neuroscience and neuroinformatics had emerged. A closer interaction between neuroscience and information science would undoubtedly be more rewarding, but to understand the mechanism underlying thoughts, emotions, creative urges and other higher mental functions would remain a challenging task. Dr Tandon believes that the greatest gift of God is not life but consciousness. Regarding the advances made in understanding the working of the brain, he said contrary to the belief held earlier that most functions were subserved by a distinct region of the brain, the latest studies revealed that more often than not they were distributed in several different parts. For instance it was well established that there was a primary visual area, but now it had been found that there were at least three dozen allied areas involved which took care of colour, shape, depth, distance movement and other aspects connected with vision. Experiments had revealed that stimulation of various parts of the brain produced movement but never the coordinated activity resembling even a simple voluntary act. It resulted in crude sensations, numbness or tingling but not one of a gentle touch of a loved one or a vision of beauty. It never produced a sense of curiosity, adventure, pity or piety or faith. Regarding the status of neurosurgery in the country he said facilities comparable with advanced countries like the USA were available. The best possible treatment could be provided, but the country was lagging behind in basic neuroscience research. He planned to set up a centre of excellence. However, the much-needed impetus to research could be provided only if facilities were made available in more institutions. There were in all about 700 to 800 neurosurgeons and almost an equal number of neuro-physicians in the country, which was woefully inadequate for a population of 100 crore. At least 10,000 neurosurgeons and neurophysicians were required to have one each for a million people. In contrast, in Japan there was one neurosurgeon for 7,500 persons. He fervently hopes that
the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre expeditiously
implements its plan to set up a positron emission
tomography facility which would give a boost to brain
research in the country. |
HP Govt accused of giving
raw deal to Muslims SHIMLA, June 23 — The Jamiyat-Ulema Himachal has accused the Dhumal government of giving a raw deal to Muslims in the state and sought the intervention of the Minorities Commission of India for safeguarding their interests. In a letter to the Chairman of the commission the Secretary of Jamiyat Ulema, Mr Mumtaz Ahmed Qasmi, has complained that the BJP-led government had discontinued the positive measures initiated by the previous Congress regime for the welfare of minorities, particularly the Muslims, by merging the state Minority Finance and Development Corporation with another corporation on the pretext of curtailing expenditure. Besides, Janab Gulzar Muhammad Bharti was removed from the chairmanship of the corporation before the expiry of his term. Thereafter the post remained vacant until the corporation was merged. Obviously, the BJP did not want to give any representation to the Muslims in the government at any level. Not only that Muslims were deliberately overlooked in recruitment to government jobs, not a single person from the community was selected during the recent recruitment of clerks. He has also taken exception to a calendar published by the government for 2000 depict two sons of a Sikh Guru being walled around. It reflected a deliberate attempt to sow the seeds of hatred between Muslims and Sikhs. The BJP government had also done away with the practice of nominating one candidate to the Shimla Municipal Corporation from the Muslim community. The BJP government had
also ignored Urdu which was taught as a compulsory subjet
in the state. The only reason was that it was associated
with the Muslims. |
Demand to hike support price of
apple SHIMLA, June 23 — The Himachal Pradesh Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association has demanded a support price of Rs 5 per kg for apple for the ensuing harvesting season. The association which met here yesterday pointed out that the support price had been increased by Re 1 only since 1989. The prices of farm inputs, packing material and transportation had over the past 11 years increased manifold and the existing support price of Rs 3.75 per kg was not enough even to meet the cost of production. It also cautioned the government against sending the fruit procured under the market intervention scheme to market as it affected the prices of the superior grade of apple. It was also not feasible economically and in certain cases even the cost of transportation for taking the procured fruit to market was not recovered. The association urged the government to ensure that procurement centres were opened by July 20 at all places. It lamented the fact that the government had not given any relief to the growers whose apple crop had been ruined by a hailstorm. It demanded that food for work programmes be started in areas where more than 75 per cent of the crop had been damaged and recovery of farm loans suspended. It also drew the
attention of the government towards the shortage of
insecticides like bevestine and mancoz which have been
recommended for spraying during the present crucial stage
of the crop. |
Kin of deceased beat up
nurse SHIMLA, June 23 — The enraged attendants of a patient, who died in the cardiac care unit (CCU) of the Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital here today, severely beat up the nurse on duty and smashed window panes. The patient Brij Mohan, who was admitted to the CCU died at around 4 p.m. The attendants of the patients alleged that he died due to the negligence of the staff who did not provide him proper medical care despite their repeated pleas. Satish, a son of the deceased, and another attendant had an altercation with the nurse on duty after Brij Mohan’s death and they allegedly turned violent. According to Mr Atma Ram, President of the Indira Gandhi Medical College Employees Union, they beat up Mamta, the nurse, who sustained injuries. They also smashed the glass of the CCU. The employees went on a lightning strike in protest against the beating of the nurse and held a rally to demand action against deceased’s attendants. They demanded immediate arrest of the attendants and adequate security for the hospital staff. The Medical College Teachers Association and the Resident Doctors Association condemned the beating of the nurse and expressed solidarity with the striking staff. Mr Dinesh Malhotra, Additional Director, Administration, said security had been provided but it was not adequate to deal with the huge crowd of attendants which gathered in the hospital every day. One of the attendants
who hurt his hand and the nurse were sent for a medical
examination. |
Panel urges allotment of land
to dam oustees SHIMLA, June 23 — The state-level Pong Dam Oustees Rehabilitation Advisory Committee has urged the government to seriously pursue the case of 1,500 oustees for allotment of land at Ramgarh in Rajasthan. The committee which met under the chairmanship of Mr Arvind Kaul, Financial Commissioner (Revenue), discussed in detail the various problems being faced by the oustees. The members called upon the government to get the land allotted to the oustees through effective negotiations with the state government. The issue of providing irrigation facilities to the allottees in Rajasthan was also discussed at the meeting. The non-official members representing the oustees strongly pleaded for providing irrigation facilities to the ousted families settled at different places in Rajasthan. The Financial Commissioner (Revenue) assured the members that the problems being faced by the oustees would be sorted out and solved at the earliest. The matter of clearing encroachments, providing irrigation facilities and other problems related to revenue and law and order assistance would be taken up again with the Rajasthan Government and a quick solution would be found. He further informed the committee that the Rajasthan Government had already reserved a total of 10054 hectares of land in the Ramgarh area for allotment to about 1,500 Pong Dam oustees being settled there. Mr Kaul said proper identity cards would be issued to the oustees so that incidents of wrong allotment of land could be checked. He said the issue of
giving special category status to the oustees would also
be taken up with the Rajasthan Government as well as with
the Defence Minister. |
Landslide blocks Manali road MANDI, June 23 — Hundreds of vehicles were stranded following landslide on National Highway 21 at Thalaut between Mandi and Kulu this afternoon. Many vehicles took the alternative route to Kulu and Manali via Kataula and Kandhi. The Mandi-Kataula road which was breached by a cloudburst on June 15 was closed and vehicles took the longer Darang road. Local hotels could not accommodate the pile up of tourists. A spokesman of the PWD told reporters that machines were clearing the debris and the road was likely to be opened to light vehicles by the evening. Meanwhile Mr K.K.
Kashyap Executive Engineer said the Mandi-Kataula road
would be cleared by tomorrow evening. |
Man convicted of shooting
wife NAHAN, June 23 — Mr Janeshwar Goyal, Sessions Judge, Nahan, has convicted Vimal Kumar, resident of Dharghat village in Rajgarh tehsil, for killing his wife and sentenced him to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 10,000 under Section 302, IPC. He was further sentenced to undergo imprisonment for four years and to pay a fine Rs 5000 under the Arms Act. According to Mr Kulwant
Singh, Public Prosecutor, the incident took place on
February 2, 1999, at about 7 p.m. when the convict
returned home after an absence of about five days. When
his wife Kaushlaya Devi asked him about his absence, an
altercation took place. Vimal Kumar picked up his
father’s gun and shot his wife. |
1 killed, 17 hurt in bus
mishap MANDI, June 23 — One person was killed and 17 others injured, two of them seriously, when a private bus HP-031-7202 fell on the bank of the Beas near Pandoh today. The Bilaspur-bound bus
was coming from Kulu. The injured were out of danger,
said Mr Prabodh Saxena, Deputy Commissioner. |
Selection of Vidya Upasaks stayed SHIMLA, June 23 — The Himachal Pradesh Tribunal has stayed the selection of Vidya Upasaks against the post of JBT teachers in Solan district. The stay has been
granted by a bench of the tribunal comprising Mr Atar
Singh and Mr Narinder Thakur, member (Administration) and
Member (Judicial), respectively, till further orders. |
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