H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Shanta not being sidelined: BJP
Mandi, June 17
The state Council of the BJP which met at Beas Sadan here today resolved after day-long deliberations to leave no stone unturned to bring back the party to power in the coming elections.

Reservation benefits for HP OBCs in offing
Nurpur, June 17
The Himachal Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, at a press conference here yesterday brushed aside all efforts of one faction of the BJP to take credit for granting the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to Gaddis and Gujjars of the new merged areas of Himachal Pradesh and asserted that it was a landmark achievement that the state’s proposal had been acceded by the Union Cabinet.

No-trust move against parishad chief fails
Dharamsala, June 17
The much-advertised no-confidence motion against the chairperson of Palampur Nagar Parishad, Mrs Shama Sawhney, could not be carried today as requisite number of members did not attend the meeting.

Budding vets back agitating teachers
Dharamsala, June 17
The pen-down strike of teachers of the veterinary college of Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University, Palampur, took a new turn today when the students of the college also came out in support of their teachers.

Children’s play, cops’ ordeal
Parwanoo, June 17
An interesting case of children playing hide and seek at a local hotel here made the local police run in search of a 4-year-old girl yesterday. Sources say Mr Sanjeev Jolly along with his wife and two children checked in Hotel Winds Moor on June 14 and was staying in rooms no. 108 and 109.

Rain, snow in Himachal
Shimla, June 17
Pre-monsoon rains lashed Himachal Pradesh today even as high-altitude areas experienced snowfall, bringing a sharp fall in the temperature.

Harassment by barrier staff alleged 
Parwanoo, June 17
Daily commuters to Himachal Pradesh are a harassed lot today because they are made to pay entry tax more than once at the barriers, put up to collect the tax by the contractors authorised by the Himachal Pradesh Government.

Manipuri kids get feel of Himachal
Kumarhatti, June 17
The tourist resort of Barog, near here, has special tourists this summer. As many as 14 schoolchildren, aged between 13 and 14, from a group of 30, who are on a visit to Solan district from Manipur are nowadays staying at Barog under a cultural exchange programme being organised by the Home Ministry in Himachal Pradesh through Nehru Yuva Kendras.

NSUI activist dies in mishap
Bilaspur, June 17
Abhilash, an NSUI activist from Hamirpur district, was killed and four others were injured when the Tata Sumo in which they were travelling rolled down a gorge near Kallari yesterday.

Produce school record, AG told
Shimla, June 17
The HP High Court today directed the Advocate-General (AG) to produce the original record relating to Government High School, Kharanhan, where teaching posts are lying vacant since March, 2000.

Sepoy cremated
Hamirpur, June 17
The mortal remains of Sepoy Ravinder Kumar of Bela village were consigned to the flames on a bank of the Beas, near Nadaun town of the district, last evening. Ravinder Kumar was working in 12 Dogra Regiment and he lost his life fighting Pakistani troops in Jammu and Kashmir.

Shekhar Gupta is HAS body chief
Shimla, June 17
Mr Shekhar Gupta has been elected president of the Himachal Administrative Service Association.

Shanta not being sidelined: BJP
Our Correspondent

Mandi, June 17
The state Council of the BJP which met at Beas Sadan here today resolved after day-long deliberations to leave no stone unturned to bring back the party to power in the coming elections.

Briefing mediapersons, party in charge, Mr O.P. Kohli said it had been decided to hold public meetings at all constituencies of the state which would be jointly addressed by the Chief Minister and Mr Shanta Kumar.

He said the election campaign would be spearheaded by the Chief Minister and Mr Shanta Kumar would be actively involved in it. He said it was absurd to presume that Mr Shanta Kumar was being sidelined.

He said workers had been directed not to hold meetings in the name of “mitra mandal”, reflecting factionalism.

The council meeting was attended by the Chief Minister, and Union Minister, Shanta Kumar, besides delegates from all 68 constituencies and office-bearers of the party.

Reservation benefits for HP OBCs in offing
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, June 17
The Himachal Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, at a press conference here yesterday brushed aside all efforts of one faction of the BJP to take credit for granting the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to Gaddis and Gujjars of the new merged areas of Himachal Pradesh and asserted that it was a landmark achievement that the state’s proposal had been acceded by the Union Cabinet.

The issue has triggered a controversy when both factions of the BJP led by the Union Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, and the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, and the Congress are trying to take credit for this in view of the ensuing Assembly poll in the state.

The Chief Minister while greeting the beneficiaries of ST status claimed that his government had been making concerted efforts to grant same status to those deserving communities left in the state.

About reservation to other backward classes (OBCs), the Chief Minister pointed out that it was also promised in the poll manifesto of the BJP. This issue was under consideration of the OBC commission which had been preparing its draft. “The government will take a decision on receiving commission’s report”, he added. He also informed that a new scholarship scheme was being launched for the children of OBC who would get scholarship after the plus two class.

The Chief Minister turned down the suggestion of the senior Congress leaders of the state whose statement had appeared in a section of the press that the government should form a commission for the re-organisation of districts in the state. He said the state was fully competent for it. He also categorically denied any proposal submitted to the Centre for its approval. The government has been contemplating the issue and will take a decision at an appropriate time,” he asserted.

No-trust move against parishad chief fails
Our Correspondent

Dharamsala, June 17
The much-advertised no-confidence motion against the chairperson of Palampur Nagar Parishad, Mrs Shama Sawhney, could not be carried today as requisite number of members did not attend the meeting.

The Palampur Nagar Parishad has been in news for some time as most of the members have time and again shown their dissatisfaction with the style of functioning of the chairperson Mrs Sawhney and the vice- president, Mr Satish Nagpal. There are seven elected members of the nagar parishad. Five members had earlier passed a vote of no confidence against the two but two members later wrote to the Deputy Commissioner withdrawing their opposition. The Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, Mr Prabodh Saxena, had directed the members to hold another meeting to discuss the no-confidence motion and the meeting was slated for today.

According to official sources, only two members, Mr Swaraj Kumar Bali and Mrs Santosh Verma were present. Mr Balwant Thakur, Mr Surinder Kumar Sood and Mrs Suman, who had earlier supported the no confidence motion did not attend today’s meeting. In the meanwhile Mr Satish Nagpal has submitted his resignation from vice-presidentship . It is said the resignation is part of a compromise formula.

Budding vets back agitating teachers
Our Correspondent

Dharamsala, June 17
The pen-down strike of teachers of the veterinary college of Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University, Palampur, took a new turn today when the students of the college also came out in support of their teachers. The veterinary teachers had been demanding 25 per cent non practising allowance (NPA) on the Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR) pattern. Presently, they were being paid fixed NPA at a par with other veterinarians in the state. Some time back, the Board of Management of the university had accepted the demand. When financial liabilities were taken into consideration, the university had found itself incapable of releasing the allowance. The matter had been referred to the state government for grant of additional sum and the Finance Secretary had refused to release any funds.

The agitation was not drawing any support from teachers of other colleges as they did not stand to benefit from this decision. Agriculture and other teachers had been opposing veterinary teachers. Member of university Senate and more than 150 teachers, in separate letters to the Governor, the Chief Minister and the state government, had opposed any move to accept the demand. They argued that the university could not adopt double standards. The financial position of the near-bankrupt university was also proving a stumbling block in implementing the decision. According to university sources, travel allowance and medical bills of employees amounting to more than Rs 1.5 crore had not been cleared by the finance wing of the university for want of funds.

The acting Vice-Chancellor, Dr V.K. Gupta, said he had appealed to the veterinary teachers to postpone their agitation till the Vice-Chancellor, who was away, came back. He said as acting Vice-Chancellor, he was not in a position to take any decision in this regard.

Children’s play, cops’ ordeal
Our Correspondent

Parwanoo, June 17
An interesting case of children playing hide and seek at a local hotel here made the local police run in search of a 4-year-old girl yesterday.

Sources say Mr Sanjeev Jolly along with his wife and two children checked in Hotel Winds Moor on June 14 and was staying in rooms no. 108 and 109. Mr Jolly was also accompanied by his two relatives and their children. Yesterday, he along with his family came to the reception to check out from the hotel at about 11 a.m.

His children along with the children of his relatives kept on playing hide and seek on the staircases of the hotel. Suddenly, Mr Jolly found that his 4-year-old daughter Suriya was missing. He enquired from the children but they also could not give a satisfactory answer.

Mr Jolly started searching for his daughter in the hotel but could not find her. At this the local police was informed. The Station House Officer of the local police station along with his staff also arrived. Mr Jolly suspected that his daughter had been kidnapped by one of the hotel staff.

The local police started questioning the staff one by one. The police also sent search parties in the town to trace the girl. Instructions were passed to seal all roads going out of the town. Local people also started searching for the girl.

At about 2 p.m., the drama ended when one of the constables again started searching in the rooms. When he went inside room no. 107, he saw the girl hiding behind refrigerator lying in the room. When the girl was asked about this, she said she saw people coming to and going out of the room but she thought they were also playing hide and seek with the children and that is why she had not come out.

Rain, snow in Himachal

Shimla, June 17
Pre-monsoon rains lashed Himachal Pradesh today even as high-altitude areas experienced snowfall, bringing a sharp fall in the temperature.

The capital town of Shimla and its adjoining areas received moderate rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning, since morning, lowering the temperature to 13.2°C at the historic Ridge.

Tourist places of Wildflower Hall, Kufri, Naldehra and Narkanda in Shimla district and the key tourist resort of Manali in Kulu district also received rain.

It also rained in Kangra and Kulu, providing relief to people. Upper reaches in tribal district of Lahaul-Spiti experienced snowfall while lower reaches reported rain. Keylong, headquarters of the tribal district received intermittent rain.

The Rohtang Pass, access to Lahaul-Spiti district, and Dhauladhar mountain ranges, facing the Kangra valley, also received snowfall. UNI

Harassment by barrier staff alleged 
Our Correspondent

Parwanoo, June 17
Daily commuters to Himachal Pradesh are a harassed lot today because they are made to pay entry tax more than once at the barriers, put up to collect the tax by the contractors authorised by the Himachal Pradesh Government.

The government had levied the entry tax at the various entry points of Himachal Pradesh in 1998 and had announced that the tax was payable only once in 24 hours while entering Himachal Pradesh.

Mr Vinod Gupta of Parwanoo alleged that he had got a token pass made for his car, which was valid up to June 30, after paying Rs 200 at the Parwanoo barrier but when he was on his way to Vikas Nagar on Friday, he was stopped and forced to pay the entry tax again.

Subash, a resident of Kalka town, also said he had to commute daily to Parwanoo, Baddi and Barotiwala in connection with his business. He said he had got a token pass made for his car from Rana and Company of Parwanoo on June 1 for full month but when he visited Baddi on June 16, his pass was rejected. He was issued a slip and charged Rs 30.

Subash said this was violation of the order of the Chief Minister who had said at the time of levying the tax that this had to be paid only once even in the cases of permanent passes.

Manipuri kids get feel of Himachal
Our Correspondent

Kumarhatti, June 17
The tourist resort of Barog, near here, has special tourists this summer. As many as 14 schoolchildren, aged between 13 and 14, from a group of 30, who are on a visit to Solan district from Manipur are nowadays staying at Barog under a cultural exchange programme being organised by the Home Ministry in Himachal Pradesh through Nehru Yuva Kendras. During the 10-day programme, they will get a feel of the local culture. In a noble gesture, Shri Alakdata Youth Club, Barog, has arranged for the stay of some children with local family.

The children have started learning Hindi and Pahari. Three other groups comprising 30 children each from Manipur are touring Una, Dharamsala and Kulu. 

NSUI activist dies in mishap
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, June 17
Abhilash, an NSUI activist from Hamirpur district, was killed and four others were injured when the Tata Sumo in which they were travelling rolled down a gorge near Kallari yesterday. The NSUI delegates were on their way to attend an NSUI conference at Naina Devi. One of the injured, Babloo, was brought here to the regional hospital and the remaining three — Manoj, Sanjeev and Sunil — were admitted to Naina Devi Primary Health Centre.

Later, all programmes scheduled for the first day of the conference, “Disha-2002”, were cancelled and a condolence meeting was held.

Produce school record, AG told
Our Legal Correspondent

Shimla, June 17
The HP High Court today directed the Advocate-General (AG) to produce the original record relating to Government High School, Kharanhan, where teaching posts are lying vacant since March, 2000.

These directions were issued by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice W.A. Shishak and Mr Justice Arun Kumar Goel on a petition filed by the Kharanhan Gram Panchayat of Nankhari tehsil in Shimla district.

The petitioners had stated that the Education Department had not provided teaching staff in the school since March 2000, when the school was upgraded. They said many representations had been made to the respondents in this regard.

The petitioners alleged that due to the shortage of teaching staff in the school, students were leaving the school. 

Sepoy cremated
Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, June 17
The mortal remains of Sepoy Ravinder Kumar of Bela village were consigned to the flames on a bank of the Beas, near Nadaun town of the district, last evening. Ravinder Kumar was working in 12 Dogra Regiment and he lost his life fighting Pakistani troops in Jammu and Kashmir.

The martyr was given a state funeral. A police contingent reversed arms and fired shots in the air when Mr Sunil Kumar, his elder brother, lit the pyre.

The district administration was represented by Mr R.S. Jasrotia, SDM, Nadaun, and Mr Yogesh Guleria, DSP, Hamirpur, and the state government by Mr Babu Ram Mandyal, MLA. They also laid wreaths on the body and consoled the bereaved family.

Shekhar Gupta is HAS body chief
Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 17
Mr Shekhar Gupta has been elected president of the Himachal Administrative Service (HAS) Association.

Mr Amitabh Awashti has been elected general secretary and Mr Arun Sharma senior vice-president.

The other office-bearers are: Mr K. R. Bharti and Mr J. R. Katwal — vice-presidents; Mr M. P. Sood — joint secretary; Mr B. R. Jamwal — treasurer; Mr H. N. Kashyap — press secretary; and Mr B. M. Nanta — chief adviser. An 11-member executive committee has also been elected.