H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Delimitation: Kangra BJP gives bandh call
Shimla, October 25
The working paper circulated by the Delimitation Commission to its associate members for redrawing the boundaries of the Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies has caused a political turmoil in the state with leaders not only of the opposition Congress but also of the ruling BJP alleging a “conspiracy” and threatening to take the issue to the court of the people.

Teachers’ panel to probe NIT violence
Hamirpur, October 25
Students of third year classes will resume their studies at the Hamirpur National Institute of Technology from October 28. Students of first and second year had resumed their studies since October 22. The NIT had been closed indefinitely following violent incidents on its campus in August.

Viral fever, not measles, caused deaths: minister
Chamba, October 25
Mr Mohan Lal, Minister of State for Ayurveda, has said it was due to the negligence of the Health Department authorities that seven children had died at Pantah and Guwaloo panchayats in the district in September and October.

Recruits from the Indian Army's Gurkha Regiment train in Sabathu, Himachal Pradesh, on Thursday. The drill is part of a 42 week training program the recruits undergo before being sent to various units in the army. — Reuters

SHO indicted in timber smuggling case
Shimla, October 24
An inquiry ordered by the police in the Gohar timber smuggling case has indicted the SHO, Gohar, and other police officials for misusing a truck of the department for transporting timber unauthorisedly.

Obscene posters: cops gather more clues
Chamba, October 25
The vigilance cell of the Police Department has gathered some more clues against a gang of at least three persons suspected to be involved in pasting and distributing anti-social and obscene posters in the Chamba region that touches militancy-infested state of Jammu and Kashmir.

IPH engineers charge-sheeted
Shimla, October 25
The Vigilance Department has filed charge sheet in the court of the Special Judge (Forests) Shimla, against the Superintending Engineer, Executive Engineer, AES Junior Engineer and range and block officers of the municipal corporation under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

SSSB working: notices to Chief Secy, MLA
Shimla, October 25
The H.P. High Court has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and MLA Atma Ram on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Mr Anup Kumar in which the working of the H.P. Subordinate Staff Selection Board has been questioned.

Delimitation: Kangra BJP gives bandh call
Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 25
The working paper circulated by the Delimitation Commission to its associate members for redrawing the boundaries of the Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies has caused a political turmoil in the state with leaders not only of the opposition Congress but also of the ruling BJP alleging a “conspiracy” and threatening to take the issue to the court of the people.

The BJP leaders of Kangra, the home district of the Union Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, have come out openly against the proposals and given a call for Kangra bandh on November 5 in support of their demand for the deferment of the delimitation exercise till the ensuing Assembly elections.

Led by Mr Dulo Ram, president of the Kangra BJP, the enraged ministers, legislators and other leaders, descended at Oakover, the resident of the Chief Minister, and bluntly told Mr Dhumal that the whole exercise smacked of a conspiracy to weaken Kangra district. They said there was no logic in reducing the number of Assembly seats in the district from 16 to 15 on the basis of population as it would tantamount to penalising the district for effectively implementing the family planning programme.

Similarly, they pointed out that the population of Kulu had increased because a large number of people from the adjoining Lahaul and Spiti area had settled in the district. This fact should be taken into consideration and the issue settled between the two district. Migration of population from one district to an adjoining district should not lead to reduction in seats in another far-off district.

They also disapproved of the undue haste in the delimitation exercise which could affect the political prospects of the people for the next 30 years and urged Mr Dhumal to impress upon the commission to defer it till the ensuing Assembly poll to be held in February.

Mr Dhumal expressed helplessness in the matter and said the commission was set up under an Act of Parliament. It was carrying out the exercise in the entire country as per the parameters laid down in the Act.

He said the government had not sent any proposals and more over it was only a working paper for the first meeting of the commission and not even a draft for proposed delimitation. He advised the party leaders to represent their case before the commission and said any representation to the government would also be forwarded to it.

Apparently dissatisfied by the response of the Chief Minister, the leaders held an emergency meeting at the residence of Mr Krishan Kapoor, Transport Minister, and decided to mobilise public opinion in favour of the deferment of the delimitation. It was decided at the meeting that partymen in the entire district would hold rallies and submit representations at the subdivisional level on October 29. Thereafter select leaders would proceed to Delhi to put their case before individual members of the commission before its first meeting on October 30.

Those present at the meeting included Dr Rajan Sushant, Mr Ravinder Ravi, Mr Ramesh Dhwala, Mr Krishan Kapoor, all ministers, Mr Vipin Parmar, Ms Nirmala Devi, Mr Des Raj, Mr Atma Ram, all legislators, Mr Dulo Ram and Mr Kamal Padha, district President and general secretary, respectively, and other office-bearers and former legislators.

Teachers’ panel to probe NIT violence
Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, October 25
Students of third year classes will resume their studies at the Hamirpur National Institute of Technology (NIT) from October 28. Students of first and second year had resumed their studies since October 22.

The NIT had been closed indefinitely following violent incidents on its campus in August.

Final year students will join the classes from November 5.

Meanwhile, all is well on the campus and students are actively taking part in their studies. Efforts are still on to have close relations between the students and the teachers.

However, some restrictions have been imposed by the NIT authorities on the students. No male student will be allowed to visit the institution from gate No. 1. All students will enter into the campus from gate No. 2. Besides, they will not be allowed to go beyond the residence of the Director of the NIT.

Similarly, the present semester for the final year students has been advanced by two months. This will prevent them from taking admissions either to the MBA or any other courses next year. They will have to wait for one more year to take admissions to these courses.

Dr S.K. Bhowmick, acting Director of the institute, said the situation on the campus was under control.

Talking to this correspondent, he said a committee comprising three teachers, led by Dr R.L. Sharma, had been constituted to probe the August 25 incidents. It would work only after third and final year students join their classes.

He described reports which appeared in a section of the media as baseless that eight students had been arrested by the police regarding the violent incidents on campus. He appealed to the media not to distort the facts and try to help the authorities to maintain peace on the campus.

Viral fever, not measles, caused deaths: minister
Our Correspondent

Chamba, October 25
Mr Mohan Lal, Minister of State for Ayurveda, has said it was due to the negligence of the Health Department authorities that seven children had died at Pantah and Guwaloo panchayats in the district in September and October.

Addressing mediapersons here last evening, the minister, however, said the children, in fact, died because of viral fever, which got converted into pneumonia. He clarified that the cause of the deaths was not measles. This was revealed in the diagnostic investigations conducted by a team of doctors.

The minister said the rumours about 13 deaths were totally unfounded. He admitted that there was a shortage of staff in the health institutions in the area.

The minister said that the children who had died due to the disease were Vijay Kumar, Halki, Bhojo Devi, Sandeep, Baby, Deepak and Sapna Devi.

The minister said in the wake of the deaths, the Health Department had constituted 12 teams of health officials, headed by specialists, to visit and medically examine the residents of the affected panchayats. The teams would carry medical equipment and medicines with them.

He said the teams had been asked to camp in the area till the cause of the disease, pneumonia or viral fever, was not rooted out completely. So far about 500 residents of the area had been immunised during the recent campaign launched in about 14 panchayats of Salooni tehsil and Bhalei sub-tehsil.

The minister informed that the state government had decided to train 600 persons in the state to assist the staff deployed in health institutions.

Mr Rahul Anand, Deputy Commissioner, and Dr Vinay Ram, Chief Medical Officer, of Chamba were present during the press conference.

SHO indicted in timber smuggling case
Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 24
An inquiry ordered by the police in the Gohar timber smuggling case has indicted the SHO, Gohar, and other police officials for misusing a truck of the department for transporting timber unauthorisedly.

The inquiry conducted by Mr I.D. Bhandari, Inspector-General of Police, has established that the police truck (HP-33-0255) was requisitioned for transporting of timber illegally and not for patrolling as claimed by the police officials.

The seizure memo prepared by the SHO, Mr Lal Chand, under Section 102 was an afterthought and a cover up for the alleged action after the villagers intercepted the truck along with the timber. The sleepers and rafters being carried in the truck were TD timber allotted to the right holders and partly belonged to one Tara Chand. Under the rules, transportation of TD timber is not permitted beyond the defined area.

The driver Hira Lal and constable Naginder were not in uniform at the time of the incident. The truck was used for the same purpose on May 1 and May 6,2002.

Obscene posters: cops gather more clues
Our Correspondent

Chamba, October 25
The vigilance cell of the Police Department has gathered some more clues against a gang of at least three persons suspected to be involved in pasting and distributing anti-social and obscene posters in the Chamba region that touches militancy-infested state of Jammu and Kashmir.

According to reliable source, the gang includes a retired teacher and two government employees. The police has been keeping a strict vigil on these anti-social elements and investigating concrete evidences to establish a prima facie case to arrest them. Since the gang has been pasting the posters to create communal disharmony, it would be booked for any untoward incident that occurs in the area, the sources say.

The latest developments in the posters-scandal probe are an outcome of directives given by the Himachal Industries Minister, Mr Kishori Lal, recently.

Meanwhile, Mr S.P. Dhall, President, Municipal Council, has banned the pasting of any type of posters within the municipal limits without the permission of the competent authority of the council and by depositing the prescribed fees.

IPH engineers charge-sheeted
Our Correspondent

Shimla, October 25
The Vigilance Department has filed charge sheet in the court of the Special Judge (Forests) Shimla, against the Superintending Engineer, Executive Engineer, AES Junior Engineer (IPH) and range and block officers of the municipal corporation under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The anti-corruption zone has filed challans against Mr H.K. Anand, the then SE (IPH), Rampur, Mr J.C. Gupta, former XEN, IPH, Rampur, Mr Dinesh Kumar Negi, AE, Mr Santosh Kumar Sharma, AE, Mr Harish Chand Kapoor, AE, Mr Avatar Krishan Saini, JE, and owners of private firms in the court of the Special Judge under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B, IPC, and Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

It said they had misused their position to benefit “unregistered” firms at Rampur, some of which were in the name of the sons of Mr Anand. Some firms were non-existent. Repairs of IPH vehicles were carried out by these firms at exorbitant rates and false entries had also been made in records, the Vigilance Department alleged.

SSSB working: notices to Chief Secy, MLA
Legal Correspondent

Shimla, October 25
The H.P. High Court has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and MLA Atma Ram on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Mr Anup Kumar in which the working of the H.P. Subordinate Staff Selection Board has been questioned.

It had been alleged that rules of business for the working of the board have not yet been notified and the board is working under the whims of the government and its Chairman S.M. Katwal. It has been further alleged that the MLA had issued a letter to the Chairman of the board for the selection of four candidates. On the recommendation of the politician, two candidates had been selected.

The petitioner prayed that an independent inquiry be ordered into the board functioning.

The court also issued notices to Mr S.M. Katwal, Chairman of the board, Secretary, Home, and Secretary of the board. It directed all respondents to file their reply within four weeks.

HP to be power surplus by 2010
Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, October 25
Mr Rajinder Rana, Chairman of the Sarv Kalyankari Society, Chandigarh, has welcomed the setting up of several Hydroelectric projects in Himachal in collaboration with the private sector. The supply of quality and regular power supply will fuel development in the hill state. He said in a statement issued here today that the state would be surplus in power by 2010. Though the Dhumal government had made rapid strides in various fields of development, its contribution in revenue reforms was commendable. He mentioned the issuance of “Kisan Books” to farmers in this connection.

Candidates sore with UGC
Our Correspondent

Chamba, October 25
Candidates who have applied for the UGC-NET examinations for the posts of Lecturer in different disciplines from this region are up in arms against the authorities who have failed to send the application forms required for these posts. The last date for submission of forms, which was October 25, is now over.

According to information, an advertisement in this connection appeared in the Employment News in its issue of September 14-20. Accordingly, aspirants sent bank drafts of Rs 450 each, but to no avail. The candidates have decided to seek judicial remedy.

Students submit demand charter
Our Correspondent

Shimla, October 25
Members of the Student Central Association (SCA) of Himachal Pradesh University organised a rally on the campus and submitted a memorandum to the university authorities. Their demands include provision for more buses, withdrawal of fee hike for MCA students, setting up of a placement cell for professional course, voting rights for research scholars, university website and restoring the autonomy of the university.