H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

State BJP unit asserts
Shimla, October 11
By accepting the resignations of senior party leader, Dr Shiv Kumar, and the entire unit of the Kangra Assembly constituency, the state BJP high command has sent a clear message to the cadres that it will not buckle under pressure.

HP okays irregular admissions
Shimla, October 11
The Himachal Pradesh Government has regularised the admission of over 40 students of three private dental colleges who were admitted through the backdoor in the 2000-01 academic session, ignoring those on the merit list of the Combined Entrance Test conducted by Himachal Pradesh University.

• 2 killed as bus falls into gorge

Contestants of the first Miss Tibet competition Lhakpa Dolma (L) from India and Tenzin Deki of the United States sit near a picture of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, on Friday. The organisers say the contest is planned to draw international attention to the plight of the Tibetans living under Chinese occupation, but critics say it violates Tibetan traditions. — Reuters   In video (28k, 56k)

State BJP unit asserts
Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 11
By accepting the resignations of senior party leader, Dr Shiv Kumar, and the entire unit of the Kangra Assembly constituency, the state BJP high command has sent a clear message to the cadres that it will not buckle under pressure.

The decision has come close on the heels of the action against Mr Narinder Thakur and Mr Mohinder Sofat, who have been spearheading the dissidence in the garb of “Mitra Milan”. Like Mr Sofat, Dr Shiv Kumar is also a staunch supporter of Mr Shanta Kumar, the Union Minister for Rural Development. He had been contesting the Assembly poll from Palampur, the home town of the minister.

In Kangra, the party accepted the resignations of the president, Mr Prem Basola, who is close to the Shanta faction. But at the same time accepted the resignations of all the 23 office-bearers and executive members, all of whom were the supporters of Mr Vidya Sagar, the state Agriculture Minister.

The spate of resignations had brought the factional war into open with Mr Vidya Sagar accusing the district party unit of interfering in his constituency and the latter retaliating by slapping a show-cause notice on him.

A two-member committee comprising Mr Ram Swaroop, organising secretary and Mr Ganesh Dut, the spokesperson, was deputed to look into the matter and resolve the crisis. The committee came to the conclusion that both the district unit and Mr Vidya Sagar had transgressed their respective jurisdictions.

The party has been in turmoil for the past over two years, but the leadership had been unable to either resolve the issues or take action against the erring members.

It remains to be seen whether the sudden hardening of the stand by the high command will help contain dissidence or make things worse for the faction-ridden party in the run up to the Assembly poll. Political observers, however, feel that party was trying to put its house in order too late in the day. Action against any faction of the party will prove counter productive and undermine its electoral prospects.

HP okays irregular admissions
Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 11
The Himachal Pradesh Government has regularised the admission of over 40 students of three private dental colleges who were admitted through the backdoor in the 2000-01 academic session, ignoring those on the merit list of the Combined Entrance Test conducted by Himachal Pradesh University.

The issue had been hanging fire over the past one year as the university had refused to register the students admitted irregularly in the garb of management seats. Some of them were even not eligible for admission.

As per the decision, the admissions made through the backdoor will be adjusted against the NRI quota over the next four years. In all, 44 such cases were detected out of which six pertained to 1999-2000. Himachal Dental College, Sundernagar, Bhojia Dental College and DAV Dental College have 60 seats each out of which nine are set apart under the NRI quota. The NRI seats in DAV College will be curtailed to five for the 2002-03 and 2003-04 sessions to adjust the eight irregular admissions.

Similarly, in the case of the Sundernagar Dental College, where the maximum number of 19 seats was filled through the backdoor, the NRI seats will be reduced by five each during 2002-03,2003-04, 2004-05 sessions and four in 2005-06. The irregular admissions in Bhojia College will be regularised by curtailing the NRI seats by four in 2002-03 and 2003-04 and three in 2004-05.

Further, as per the decision all those ineligible in terms of age and qualification at the time of admission will be discharged by the colleges. The decision is open to misinterpretation as under the rules, the candidates are required to fulfil the conditions of age and qualification in the academic session in which they seek admission. Some students had not attained the minimum age of 17 years or had not cleared the plus two examination in 1999-2000. All these students should be discharged. However, colleges are interpreting the decision differently. They maintain that the admissions for the year 1999-2000 were actually made in 2000-01 and by that time, they had become eligible.

The government has not taken the advice of the Dental Council of India, the apex regulatory body for dental colleges which lays down the norms for admissions and infrastructural facilities. The council is supposed to check such malpractices in admissions by taking deterrent action against the erring institutions. It remains to be seen how the council reacts to the decision of the government.

2 killed as bus falls into gorge
Our Correspondent

Chamba, October 11
Two persons were killed on the spot when a Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus rolled down the road and fell into a 150-ft deep gorge at Jot, about 26 km from Chamba, today.

The deceased have been identified as driver Charan Dass and conductor Onkar Singh. There were no passengers in the bus. The bodies have been handed over to their family members. The accident reportedly occurred due to deep fog in the morning. A case has been registered.