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Sunday,
July 13, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Race for Youth Cong chief’s
post BJP charges on ‘shivir’ baseless, says Cong Strengthen BJP’s media cell, says Dhumal Mahajan promises watershed project for each block |
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Balh valley project phase II soon Diarrhoea among top 10 causes of death in HP Appeal against stay on bus fare hike likely Bodies of drowned boys found Three hurt in landslide
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Race for Youth Cong chief’s post hots up Shimla, July 12 On the other hand, claimants for the Youth Congress chief post have rushed to Delhi to seek their godfather’s blessings for the coveted post. Prominent among those in the race are Mr Rajesh Dharmani from Ghumarwin in Bilaspur district, Mr Atul Sharma, former state NSUI chief, Mr Ajay Solanki from Sirmour, Mr Kewal Singh Pathania, state NSUI chief from Shahpur in Kangra district, Mr Joginder Singh Kanwar from Kumarsain in Shimla district and another strong contender is Mr Sudhir Sharma, MLA from Baijanth and a staunch Virbhadra loyalist. Some Youth Congress activists from Shimla district are forwarding the name of Mr Rohit Thakur, MLA from Jubbal-Kotkhai. But the equations will depend on the blessings of the high command and also the state leadership. While Mr Atul Sharma and the Kewal Singh Pathania are staunch loyalists of Mr Virbhadra Singh, Rajesh Dharmani, Mr Ajay Solanki and Mr Joginder Kanwar belong to the Stoke’s faction of the Congress. Sources say Mr Sudhir Sharma is the hot favourite as he has the Chief Minister’s blessings, but some say he may be offered a chairmanship of some corporation. Another strong factor that will emerge in deciding the post is the regionalism card whether the state YC chief will be from lower Himachal or old Himachal. Mr Kewal Pathania and Mr Rajesh Dharmani hail from lower Himachal and have a good base at the grassroots level, while Mr Atul Sharma, Mr Ajay Solanki and Mr Joginder Kanwar belong to old Himachal. Reliable sources in the Youth Congress say the prized cake will be bagged by Mr Sudhir Sharma, MLA, as he has the blessings of Mr Virbhadra Singh and enjoys a good rapport with All-India Youth Congress chief, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala. They also say the dark horse could be Mr Rohit Thakur, MLA from Jubbal-Kotkhai. |
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BJP charges on ‘shivir’ baseless, says Cong Shimla, July 12 He said the BJP was making such wild charges only to belittle the success of the brainstorming session during which a strategy to oust the NDA regime was finalised. Referring to the statement of Mr L.K. Advani, Deputy Prime Minister, that the BJP would contest the elections on the planks of development and security, Mr Rathore said the issues would boomerang on the party as it had failed the people on both counts. According to the latest report of the UNDP India had slipped from the 124th position to the 127th in over all development over the past one year Similarly, the security of the country had been jeopardised as never before. There had been numerous scams involving defence deals and terrorist activities had touched a new high. He said the Congress would launch a nationwide stir to highlight the failures of the NDA government. |
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Strengthen BJP’s media cell, says Dhumal Chandigarh, July 12 Talking to media persons here, Mr Dhumal, who is here to attend the three-day camp for BJP MLAs from five states, said it was very important to improve the image of the party and the individuals attached to it before facing the elections. In the recent elections to the Himachal assembly, his party could not face the propaganda barrage unleashed by the Congress party and lost the poll. “It was a totally negative propaganda but proved to be effective. We on the other hand kept on harping on our achievements on the development front but did not cut much ice with the voters”. The party will have to find a way of countering the negative propaganda unleashed by the Opposition. |
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Mahajan promises watershed project for each block Nurpur, July 12 The minister said the state government had also decided to construct community toilets in every gram panchayat. “The government will give a boost to the dairy farming and provide self employment opportunities to the unemployed youths,” he added. He said the people living below poverty line would be provided with basic infrastructure for dairy farming. The Panchayati Raj minister reiterated that the gram panchayats were being strengthened but at the same time the transparency and accountability in their funding would be ensured. On the occasion, he informed about the sanctioning of new drinking water supply scheme worth Rs 1.30 crore for the Jonta gram panchayat. |
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Balh valley project phase II soon Mandi, July 12 Rs 5 crore would be spend during this financial year on drinking water and minor irrigation schemes in the Balh valley. At a public meeting after presiding over an annual function of a senior secondary school at Gagal in the Balh valley, the minister said efforts were on to finish the second phase at the earliest to cover the land on the left bank. He said Himachal Pradesh had 5.8 lakh hectares that were cultivable, of which, only about 60,000 hectares had assured irrigation. Various big, medium and small projects were in progress in the state to cover another 3.5 lakh hectares in a phased manner. The state planned to be number one in literacy rate in the country and it was spending 17 per cent of its budget on education. The minister pledged Rs 5 lakh for a stadium in the school and said all vacant posts of teachers and lecturers in schools would be filled soon. A Rs 5,000 cash prize was given to students who had presented a cultural programme. |
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Diarrhoea among top 10 causes of death in HP Chandigarh, July 12 The study by the PGI’s Community Medicine Department was undertaken with the objective of quantifying the burden of disease and injury amongst the 60.77 lakh population of the hill state. “The assessment of the burden of disease and injury in human population is a relatively new concept, which provides a lot of scope for health policy analysis,” said Prof Rajesh Kumar, Head of the Community Medicine Department. A similar study had been conducted in rural Andhra Pradesh recently. The exhaustive study, undertaken on the basis of data collected from 544 health institutions in the state, indicated the top 10 causes of mortality and morbidity. “Amongst the male population, diseases like lower respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, road accidents, ischaemic heart disease, self-inflicted injury, asthma and tuberculosis are the main causes for death,” said Dr J.S. Thakur, Assistant Professor in the Community Medicine Department. Amongst the female population in the state, infectious diseases, maternal and
perinatal conditions, diarrhoea, respiratory infections, tuberculosis and maternal haemorrhage were the most prevalent health problems. “A very interesting fact that came to light during the study was that almost 15 per cent of the people either die or sustain injuries in road accidents, fall or self-inflicted injury, highlighting the need for trauma centres at every district hospital in the state,” said Dr Thakur. He added that this percentage was very high as compared to other places. Though infectious disease like tuberculosis, malaria, measles and leprosy continued to constitute a major chunk of the disease burden (53.8 per cent), the transitional phase that the state was undergoing indicated the emergence of non-communicable and congenital diseases. Among the non communicable diseases on the rise were heart problems, asthma, epilepsy and cancer of the stomach, cervix and breast. Despite having a national programme for the control of tuberculosis, this communicable disease continued to remain a major public health problem in Himachal Pradesh. Another area of concern for the Health Department was the profound gap in safe motherhood and child survival interventions as maternal and perinatal conditions and severe anaemia affect many women. “With epilepsy figuring in the list of top 10 diseases afflicting the population of the state, there is an urgent need to focus attention towards providing medical experts in this field,” felt Dr Thakur. |
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Appeal against stay on bus fare hike likely Solan, July 12 Asserting that the hike in the fare of buses plying for private schools was the need of the hour since the HRTC was incurring losses and left that this section of the society was in a condition to pay the hiked amount. Addressing mediapersons, he stressed on adopting strict measures to bring the tax evaders to book and said those paying tax would be granted concessions. When asked as to how a
transporter operating in the region and had been evading tax was made a Director in his department, he said he would look into the matter. He announced setting up of additional barriers in the state to check tax evasion by vehicles of other states. The matter, he said, would soon be sought before the Cabinet for final clearance. |
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Bodies of drowned boys found Chandigarh, July 12 Two of the deceased belonged to Goindwal Sahib and the third was from Ferozepore. They were identified as Ramandeep Singh and Navdeep Singh of Goindwal Sahib and Rakesh Arora of Ferozepore. The fourth boy, who was also swept away by the strong currents but was rescued, was identified as Ranpreet Singh of Patiala. They were probably on a pilgrimage to Hemkunt Sahib. |
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Three hurt in landslide Dharamsala, July 12 The landslide
caused by heavy rain sent a large number of stones rolling down near the Bhagsu Nath waterfall and some people had narrow escape as they hid themselves in a small cave. Two of the injured persons, Pawan Kumar, and Amar Kumar, were shifted to Dr Rajender Prasad Medical College, Dharamsala, official sources said.
— PTI |
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