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| Friday, January 5, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Around 4000 HIV cases in HP Karmapa still awaits decision on stay State-level R-Day function in Shimla Vets panel to ensure better standards Cable operators to boycott 2 channels PCOs in HP to be tele-info centres |
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| Addl levy sugar for HP consumers Expedite cases of land transfer: council Forces put on high alert in Chamba Block development election postponed Hamirpur tops in road density Financial aid to Shivaratri fair discontinued Dhumal urged to revise bus fares Contempt notice to college society Teenagers ‘accessing’ obscene sites Virbhadra’s portrait removed
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| Around 4000 HIV cases in HP SHIMLA, Jan 4 — The total number of HIV positive cases in Himachal Pradesh has been estimated to be between 3,500 to 4,000. The HIV sentinel surveillance data collected in 1999 indicated that over 80 per cent of the cases were in Hamirpur, Kangra, Shimla, Bilaspur and Mandi districts. Until November 30, 2000, 26,837 persons were screened and out of which 267 were found to be HIV positive. These included 82 full-blown cases of AIDS. The incidence of reproductive track infection (RTI) and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is also very high. Community-based studies carried out in Hamirpur revealed that prevalance of the STDs through syndromic diagnosis at 23.9 per cent and by etiological diagnosis at 3 per cent. The prevalence was higher among women. However, seropositivity for syphllis, which was 37.04 per cent in 1952, had declined to 0.73 per cent in 1999. The overall prevalence of the RTI and the STDs is still quite high. The profile for major diseases indicated that incidence of acute bronchitis was highest at 17.18 per cent, followed by anaemia 15.81 per cent, dental diseases 11.18 per cent, gastroenteritis 9.72 per cent, skin diseases 9.54 per cent and tonsils 7.17 per cent. The five year data of cancer patients at the Regional Cancer Centre, Shimla, indicates that prevalence of cancer of genitourinary organs had been highest at 32 per cent, followed by cervix 24 per cent, head and neck and respiratory organs 20.2 per cent, digestive organs 10.4 per cent and breast 9.8 per cent. There has been a constant increase in the number of cases from 818 in 1995 to 4,750 in 1999. As the state is prone to road accidents every year a large number of persons are killed and crippled. The number of accidents shot up from 909 in 1988 to 1,918 in 1996 and the number of persons killed from 386 to 748, respectively. The number of persons injured also went up from 1,427 to 3,758 over the period. This clearly indicates that the state needs facilities to cope with the problem of trauma which is going to rise with each passing year. The disease trends indicate that disease like leprosy, polio, measles, pertursis and diphtheria are likely to be eradicated, while the changing lifestyle will lead to an increase in the incidence of diseases like diabetes, cancer, trauma STDs, including AIDS and cardio-vascular disorders. The increase in life expectancy and the consequent rise in elderly population will lead to increase in geriatic health problems. Thus incidence of obstructive pulmonary disease, senility, arthritis cancer, neurological disorders and psychiatric problems will also increase. The incidence of tuberculosis, water-borne diseases, nutritional disorders like anaemia will remain at the same level. |
| Karmapa still awaits decision on stay DHARAMSALA, Jan 4 — Even after a year of his arrival in McLeodganj on January 5 last year, the head of the Karma Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism, Ogyen Trinley Dorjee, is still awaiting a final decision by India on his formal status. The 17th Karmapa, who after fleeing from Tibet made a sudden appearance at the headquarters of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile on January 5 last year, has yet to get a formal approval of the authorities to make his stay in India legal. Having made the Gyuto Tantrik Monastery at Sidhbari on the outskirts of the town his temporary abode, there is restriction on his free movement to other Buddhist centres, even within the state. Even though the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, had made a personal request to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and met the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, regarding the Karmapa, India has adopted a policy of wait and watch. Earlier, it was being felt that after the visit of the Indian President to China, the matter would be settled, but even now the situation remains just the same. The Minister for Religion and Culture in the Tibetan government, Mr Tashi Wangdi, said though they had not heard from the authorities in Delhi lately, the matter was being processed by the people concerned. “The delay has no doubt caused some concern among those close to the Karmapa, but he is being looked after and there seems to be no urgent problem,” he stated. Though the Karmapa is studying at the Gyuto Monastery, his confinement is frustrating him. His repeated requests to the authorities to allow him to visit the Sherabling Monastery at Bhattu near Baijnath, about 70 km away, have also been turned down. The Sherabling Monastery was set up by Tai Situ Rinpoche, one of the four senior regents of the Karma Kagyu sect. He is considered to have masterminded the escape of the Karmapa from Tibet. With a controversy regarding the real Karmapa being raked up by a section of the Kagyu sect, Indian intelligence agencies are still looking into the matter. Another senior regent of the Kagyu sect, Gyalsab Rinpoche, had claimed that another Tibetan boy, Thaye Dorjee, was the real Karmapa. The denial of permission to the Karmapa to attend the 300th birth anniversary celebrations of the eighth Tai Situpa, a Tibetan scholar, at the Sherabling Monastery in November last, had caused a lot of disappointment to his followers who had come from the world over. Those close to the Karmapa feel that if the Indian authorities are unwilling to let the Karmapa go to the Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, they should at least have no objection on his stay at Bhattu. |
| State-level R-Day function in Shimla SHIMLA, Jan 4 — The state-level Republic Day function on January 26 will be celebrated at Shimla where Dr Suraj Bhan, Governor, will preside over the function. The statehood day will be held at Sundernagar in Mandi on January 25 which will be presided by the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal. Mr Dhumal, Mr Roop Dass Kashyap, Minister of State for Urban Development, Mr Rajan Sushant, Minister of State for Revenue, Mr Ram Lal Markanda, Minister of State for Animal Husbandry and Mr Ram Dass Malangar, Deputy Speaker, HP Vidhan Sabha, will also attend the Republic Day function here. Mr Gulab Singh Thakur, Speaker, HP Vidhan Sabha, will preside over the function at Nahan, Mr Hari Narayan Singh Saini, Minister of State for Town and Country planning, will also attend the function at Nahan. Mr Kishori Lal Vaidya, Industry Minister, will preside over the function at Mandi and Mr J.P. Nadda, Health Minister, at Dharamsala. Mr Ravinder Singh Ravi, Minister of State for Technical Education and Mrs Sarveen Chaudhary, Parliamentary Secretary (LEP), will also attend the function at Dharamsala. Mr Kishan Kapoor, Transport Minister, will preside over the function at Kulu. Mr Karan Singh, Minister of State for Primary Education, will also attend the function at Kulu. Mr Ramesh Chand, IPH Minister, will preside over the function at Rekong Peo and Mr Chet Ram Negi, Parliamentary Secretary (TD), will also attend the function. Mr Mansa Ram, Food and Supply Minister, will preside over the function at Hamirpur and Mrs Urmil Thakur, Parliamentary Secretary (Health), will also attend the function. Mr Roop Singh Thakur, Forest Minister, will preside over the function at Una and Mr Parveen Sharma, Minister of State for Excise and Taxation, will also attend the function at Una. Mr Vidya Sagar, Agriculture Minister, will preside over the function at Bilaspur where Mr Rikhi Ram Kaundal, Minister of State for Cooperation, will also attend the function. Mr I.D. Dhiman, Education Minister, will preside over the function at Chamba and Mr Mohan Lal, Minister of State for Ayurveda, will also attend the function there. Mr Prakash Chaudhary, Minister of State for Rural Development, will preside over the function at Keylong, while Mr Narinder Bragta, Minister of State for Horticulture at Solan. |
| Vets panel to ensure better standards SHIMLA, Jan 4 — The Veterinary Council of India (VCI) has decided to lay down minimum standards for veterinary institutions, including dispensaries, to ensure high professional standards of veterinary services in the country. This was disclosed here today Dr M.L. Kaushal, Vice-President of the VCI, while speaking at a seminar on role of the veterinary council in development of professional efficiency. He said the standards, which were being finalised by the council, would be notified after the approval by the Government of India. He said the council was making efforts to ensure that veterinary practice was carried on, on professional lines. Earlier, inaugurating the seminar Dr R.L. Markandey, Minister for Animal Husbandry, underlined the need for strict enforcement of provisions to regulate the working of registered veterinary practitioners. He expressed satisfaction that India was the largest producer of milk in the world and that the per capita availability of milk in Himachal was higher than the national average. The State Veterinary Council had already established a library and was planning to provide computerised information on latest trends in the diagnosis and treatment of animals for various diseases. The necessity of adopting updated technology to meet the deadlines imposed by the WTO. (World Trade Organisation) on the international trade of animals and livestock products, was emphasised upon. India, for example, had to be declared free from mad cow disease within the grace period as specified by the WTO before it could trade in milk products. Dr L.R. Sharma, President, State Veterinary Council, informed the council had already prepared a syllabus for the veterinary pharmacists which had been adopted by the State Department of Animal Husbandry and it was now suggesting means to improve the implementation of artificial insemination programme in the state. Dr B.C. Bist, Director, Animal Husbandry, also spoke on the occasion and apprised the gathering of the scope of specialised services in the profession. |
| Cable operators to boycott 2 channels SHIMLA, Jan 4 — Cable operators of Himachal Pradesh have decided to boycott the Star Sports and ESPN channels in protest against the “unreasonable” increase in subscription rates by the local distributor of these channels. Mr Ashok Gupta, secretary of the State Operators Association, alleged the distributor was exploiting the operators by charging exorbitant subscription rates. He said that the operators all over the state would continue to boycott these channels until the latest hike in rates was withdrawn. He alleged that during the past five years the rate had been revised six times and it had now reached Rs 16 from Rs 3.30 per connection per channel. Meanwhile, the China Telecom, one of the local operators which is against the boycott of the channels, has complained to the Deputy Commissioner that the association has threatened to damage its office. The association, however, denied the charge. It held an emergency meeting here today at which China Telecom was expelled from the membership of the association. SOLAN, Jan 4 — The Chief General Manager, Himachal telecom circle, Mr N.S. Gill, said here today that all public call offices in Himachal Pradesh would shortly be upgraded to public tele-info centres equipped to provide fax and Internet services and at select places even ISDN facilities besides the usual basic telephone services. Mr Gill, who addressed a press conference here today, said the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd planned to introduce highly competitive cellular mobile phone services in the state during the current year. To begin with, 12,000 connections would be sanctioned out of which 2,000 had been set aside for the Solan telecom district. He said a proposal for incorporating caller identity feature in the telephone instruments provided to customers by the nigam was under active consideration. He complimented the Solan telecom district for bringing down the fault rate per 100 connections to eight as against the Himachal average of 12. Earlier, Mr Gill, released the new telephone directory of Solan switching area. Mr S.K.K. Bose, General Manager, Solan telecom district, said the new directory being a yellow pages one was the first ever of its kind here. He said the subscribers could collect their copies from four different distribution centres set up for the purpose in this town. At other places the directories could be collected from respective telephone exchanges. |
| Addl levy sugar for HP consumers SHIMLA, Jan 4 — The Himachal Government has decided to grant an additional quota of levy sugar to eligible consumers at the rate of 300 gm per consumer for the current month and 200 gm per consumer for February. Stating this here today Mr Mansa Ram, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, said that the decision had been taken keeping in view of the availability of additional stocks with the government. The normal quota is 700 gm per month. He said the government was keen to provide relief to the poor consumers. It was supplying 10 kg wheat at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 4.65 per kg and 10 kg rice at Rs 6.90 per kg to families below poverty line. He further stated that special allotment of foodgrains had been made to all consumers in the flood-affected areas of Kinnaur district for a period of six months in addition to their normal quota. Sufficient stocks of rations had already been transported to these areas through helicopters and on mules and coolies and there was no scarcity of foodgrains in this flood-ravaged district at the moment, he claimed. Expedite cases of land transfer: council SHIMLA, Jan 4 — The advisory council for monitoring the cases of land transfer and permission under Section-118 of the State Tendency and Land Reforms Act has stressed the need to expedite the disposal of cases. The council, which met here today under the chairmanship of Mr S.S. Negi, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Revenue, asked the information technology department to earmark the area to parties concerned for setting up units. He added that they should move the cases through the Deputy Commissioner for transfer of land. Similarly, the industry, tourism and power and other departments were advised to keep in touch with the Revenue Department for prompt disposal of cases. It was also stressed that the different departments must sent duly completed cases to the Revenue Department to avoid unnecessary correspondence. It was informed in the meeting that no case was pending for disposal in the Revenue Department. |
| Forces put on high alert in Chamba KANGRA, Jan 4 — The security forces have been put on maximum alert in the forward areas of the Chamba district bordering Jammu and Kashmir despite heavy snowfall in the higher reaches following the peace initiative taken by the Prime Minister and silence adopted by the militant guns in Jammu and Kashmir. Disclosing this while addressing a press conference here today, Mr A.K. Puri, Director-General of Police, said due to heavy snowfall in the area militants’ infiltration into Himachal was not possible but even then a high alert had been sounded to maintain proper vigil. He, however, said that no additional fresh forces would be deployed in these border areas. Mr Puri said he was here to assess the law and order situation in the town. He added that the situation in the town had deteriorated since the last five years and required some corrective steps before it went out of hand. He said efforts would be made to see that the police officers did not get involved in controversies which affect the credibility of the police. He sought help from people to maintain law and order under the community policing scheme which had been launched in 22 police station areas in the state and would be expanded to remaining 62 police stations by March 31, 2001. The DGP said that special police cells would be set up during the current year in the state to control the drug abuse which was fast spreading among students and to monitor the activities of drug-addicted youths in schools and colleges. He said the traffic rules would be effectively enforced and speed radars would be installed in Mandi, Kangra and Shimla districts within a month to check accidents. Mr Puri said Rs 13 crore were sanctioned by the Central Government to set up an India Reserve Battalion (IRB) on February 3 this year and 675 constables would be appointed. Earlier, the DGP held a meeting with the citizens here to assess the law and order situation and sought help from them in this regard.
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| Block development election postponed NURPUR, Jan 4 — The election to the chairman and vice-chairman of the local Block Development Committee (BDC) was postponed today following boycott by the newly elected Congress-supported BDC in protest against the alleged abduction of some BDC members by the BJP. The local MLA and Vice-Chairman of the HP Tourism Development Corporation, Mr Rakesh Pathania, alongwith 18 BDC members arrived there. But owing to lack of quorum, the Returning Officer-cum-SDM, Mr Vidhan Chand, announced the postponement of the election till the next date.
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| Hamirpur tops in road density HAMIRPUR, Jan 4 — Home district of the Chief Minister, Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, Hamirpur is heading towards a road communications revolution if the present trend of road construction and its allied activities are taken into consideration. It tops in road density in the North which stands at 116.72 km per 100 sq km. Almost all villages of this district have been linked kutcha or pucca roads. The road length in 1972, when Hamirpur was made a district was just 285 km. Now it stands at 1,305 km including 697 km of pucca and 607 km of kutcha roads. Similarly, the number of bridges in the district that was only 21 earlier has reached 80. During the past two and half years, a sum of about Rs 120 crore has been spent on road communications here. During this period, as many as 186 km of new roads were constructed. The Public Works Department, also constructed 25 buildings and seven bridges in various parts of the district. Ten bridges are still under construction and are expected to be completed before the next fiscal year. The state government has made a provision for about Rs 49 crore in the current year’s Budget for road and allied activities. Three major road links connecting the interiors of the Bamsan area have been constructed at a cost of about Rs 6.72 crore. These road links are Sujanpur-Sandhol road, Tounidevi-Uhall-Kakker-Bajrol-and uhal-Jandroo-Bagehra via Hinduan di Dhar. A bridge costing about Rs 40 lakh has been constructed near Bagehra village to provide on all-weather road link for people living in Sujanpurtira and Jangelberi. The Central Government has also sanctioned the construction of another national highways, linking Shimla with Kangra via Hamirpur. Rupees 8 crore have been sanctioned for this. The state government has also sanctioned Rs 8 crore from Nabard for metalling Una-Bhota highway via Barsar. MANDI, Jan 4 — The Himachal Pradesh Government will not lend any financial assistance to the international Shivaratri fair which will be held in the town from February 21 to 28 this year. This was stated at a meeting of the mela committee, presided by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Prabodh Saxena, today. The government has withdrawn the aid for this centuries-old fair for the first time in the past 50 years. On becoming the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh had declared it a state fair. Later, its status was enhanced to an “international carnival”. The decision of the government to disown and neglect the fair by withdrawing financial assistance has come as a rude shock to the people of the town. The financial crisis has forced the mela committee to do away with the practice of providing coloured turbans to distinguished participants in the shobha yatra which used to be a star attraction. Mementos will also not be presented this time due to the financial constraint. The Shivaratri Fair Committee had generated about Rs 40 lakh from various sources last year. The process of reducing aid to the mela had begun last year. The Department of Tourism had provided a sum of Rs 1 lakh to the committee. No amount will be given by the department this year as its own budget has been drastically cut. It has been envisaged to collect Rs 15 lakh from Shivaratri lottery and Rs 7 lakh from the allotment of plots for stalls at Padal Ground. Another Rs 6 lakh is expected from advertisements in the Shivaratri souvenir. |
| Dhumal urged to revise bus fares SHIMLA, Jan 4 — The Himachal Pradesh Private Bus Operators Association has urged the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, to revise the bus fares in view of the hike in the prices of diesel. Mr Dev Raj Sharma, president of the association, said the Chief Minister had assured that a decision in this regard would be taken after the panchayat poll. Now that the election was already over the government should revise the fares with immediate effect. He also expressed concern over the imposition of entry tax by various nagar panchayats and municipal bodies and urged Mr Dhumal to implement his earlier assurance that the tax would be collected only at entry points to the state. |
| Contempt notice to college society SHIMLA, Jan 4 — The Himachal Pradesh High Court took serious notice of “concealment and misrepresentation” of facts by the management of the controversial IITT Engineering College, Kala Amb, in a petition filed by the institution in connection with the introduction of information technology course and issued a notice against the petitioner for initiating contempt proceedings against the Board of Governors and Mr Atul Sharma, Vice-President of the College Society. The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice C.K. Thakkar and Mr Justice K.C. Sood granted permission to the management to withdraw the petition, but burdened it with an exemplary cost of Rs 50,000. It also denied the petitioner the liberty to agitate on the issue at any other fora. The court also took objection to concealment of the fact that it had filed two writ petitions at the Delhi High Court and that HP University had obtained stay orders. Besides, the management had filed a plea in the HP High Court last year, which was withdrawn. This was not brought to the notice of the court. “This type of forum shopping amounted to abuse of the judicial process and interference in the administration of justice,” the Bench remanded. It was argued by the Advocate-General, Mr Sanjay Karol, that the petitioner college had filed the petition with malafide intention and to abuse the process of law. It was contended that the petitioner had filed a petition before the Delhi High Court in 1999 and obtained a favourable order. However, the petitioner alleged that HP University did not obey the order and the petitioner had to file a contempt petition before the Delhi High Court, whereby the court directed, the university to issue roll numbers to students of information technology and conduct the examinations for the year 2000-2001. The Advocate-General stated that HP University on the very next day filed a petition before a Division Bench at the Delhi High Court wherein the Bench staged the earlier order passed by the single-Judge. The Advocate-General further stated that the petitioner had knowledge of all facts and those facts were suppressed by the petitioner before this court.
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| Teenagers ‘accessing’ obscene sites SHIMLA, Jan 4 — With winter vacation having started in schools and colleges here, cyber cafes in the town are flooded with teenagers fiddling with computers to open the desi baba.com, granny.com, xxx.com and other sex web sites. This trend is catching up with school children and college goers. There are around 25-30 cyber cafes in the town. Even Summer Hill, Sanjauli and Kusumpti have cyber cafes. As these cafes are small, people wait in a queue for their turn. “The Internet is the most happening thing. We can chat with our friends, relatives and even leave messages for them. But teenagers are spending several hours to open other websites on which there is no proper, check, says Pratibha Sharma. This is despite higher rates being charged by cyber cafes here as compared to those in the neighbouring states. “So what if we open violent sites. This is the new generation and it is a very good pass time,” says a college student. The Telecom Department has reduced the Internet rates, but private cyber cafe owners have doubled their charges. Though some of these cyber cafe’s have got connections from the Telecom Department, they are still charging double. The rates have been slashed down from Rs 60 to Rs 30 per hour. “We have reduced the rates and we charge Rs 4,500, Rs 2,300, Rs 500, Rs 250 and Rs 150 for 1000 hours, 500 hours, 100 hours, 50 hours and 25 hours, respectively, says Mr B.R. Kashyap, General Manager (Telcom). “We have no concern with private connections” he adds. The private cafes are not willing to reduce their rates. “The Telecom Department has free phones but we have to pay phone bills,” says a cyber cafe operator. | |
Virbhadra’s portrait removed SHIMLA, Jan 4 — Group rivalry in the Congress in Himachal Pradesh has taken an ugly turn with unidentified persons having removed the photograph of the CLP Leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, from the office of the newly appointed PCC, chief Mrs Vidya Stokes, here. Supporters of Mr Virbhadra Singh have taken strong exception to the incident and alleged that Mrs Stokes and her coterie are trying to “humiliate” their leader by indulging in such “childish” acts. Mr Singhi Ram, MLA, said a stalwart like Mr Virbhadra Singh could not be “sidelined.” On the other hand, Mr Kuldeep Singh Rathore, coordinator of the PCC, said the portrait of Mr Virbhadra Singh had been re-installed and an inquiry ordered into the incident. He said action would be taken against the errants. Hamirpur DC honoured HAMIRPUR, Jan 4 — Ms Anuradha Thakur, the first woman Deputy Commissioner of Hamirpur, was honoured by people of Hamirpur settled at Chandigarh, for her role in dealing with problems facing ex-servicemen, war widows and the down-trodden. A memento was presented to her by Mr Rajinder Rana on behalf of the Maharana Pratap Society. A memento was presented to Mr Rana also.
Teachers to get special training NAHAN, Jan 4 — Speaking on the occasion of state-level integrated training programme for teachers here today, Director Primary Education, Mr Rajender Thakur, said special training would be imparted to teachers so that they could develop specific skills in dealing with mentally-challenged children. He said a team of medical officers of the Education Department would visit schools for medical check up of students. He further said Rs 1,18,395 would be spent to provide artificial limbs to handicapped children.
Plea to remove cops from campus SHIMLA, Jan 4 — The Student Central Association of Himachal Pradesh University has demanded removal of police force from the campus. The association has alleged the police force was causing inconvenience to the students.
No water supply for 6 days SOLAN, Jan 4 — Citizens of Barotiwala and adjoining areas who are being supplied potable water by the Irrigation and Public Health Department, have demanded an inquiry into the suspension of water supply for the last six days since December 30. The supply was suspended abruptly on December 30 when the lone pumping set of the water supply scheme broke down, reportedly on account of the burning of the coils of its motor. The sudden failure of IPH water supply forced people to fetch water from far off sources after requisitioning the services of trucks and tractors at exorbitant rates. The water supply were restored today.
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