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Discrepancies alleged in MBBS admissions
Rain brings misery to paddy farmers
BJP to bite dust on Kangra issue: CM
Cong propaganda false: Dhumal
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Delay in reimbursement of ESI bills irks workers
Residents oppose MC’s ‘parking hall’ proposal
Wrong parking of trucks poses danger to motorists
Tashi Yangchen crowned Miss Tibet 2004
Bhanu heads Shimla Press Club
Boom to bust, floriculturists seek revival
Viral infection strikes farm
animals
Leopard attacks man in Hamirpur
Three juvenile undertrials still at
large
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Discrepancies alleged in MBBS admissions
Solan, October 11 While this violated the clause laid down in the university prospectus stating that each candidate would have to compete against their own category, this anomaly enhanced the intake of students from the various reserved categories. Further, two seats were allotted to the students of J & K migrants while it had to be ascertained whether the said students resided in J & K or not at any point of their education. The inclusion of other categories like Tibetan refugees has also been taken an exception and students felt that barely few seats were left for the general category. The Secretary (Health) heading the admission committee, while clarifying the anomalies, said as per an apex court ruling if a student from any reserved category secured higher marks he had to be treated in the general category. He added that he would conduct an inquiry if other anomalies were brought to his notice by the aggrieved students. Alleging further anomalies in the HP PMT examination paper, an aspirant, Ankur Guliani, said three questions were deleted due to the fault of the HP University authorities and evaluation was made out of 147 instead of 150 violating clause 5.9 of the prospectus. Despite making a representation to the HPU about the deleted questions and for inclusion of question no 104, no response was received in this regard, rued Ankur. Further the entire merit list of the HPU was changed within 10 days of the declaration of the result . Ankur alleges that his rank plummeted from 59 to 79. Pointing a needle of suspicion on the transparency of the HPU, students contended that a provision of showing the replica of the answersheets as is the case in Karnataka CPMT should be adopted here. Another section of students rued that despite getting 112, 103 and 90 marks in the HP PMT, they were denied admission by the HPU. These students alleged that though they had not appeared for any earlier counselling, but the university Deputy Registrar had allowed their application enabling them to appear for this session of the counselling. The waiting list which started from 89 marks took no note of these three students denying them a just chance to secure admissions in the left over BDS seats. This is despite the fact that the university had advertised all students to appear for counselling for the left over seats, lamented the aspirants. |
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Rain brings misery to paddy farmers
Mandi, October 11 From Jarol through Sunder Nagar, Ner Chowk and Balh valley, the piles of paddy can be spotted drenching and rotting in the fields with farmers watching the destruction mutely for the past 12 hours. The paddy farmers have not insured the crop, this year hoping that they would fetch a good harvest as the weather had been favourable except for a brief drought. The drought destroyed the crop only in the areas like Sadar, Mundroo, Gohar, upper Karsog and other areas in the district, where the irrigation facilities were not available, the farmers. The farmers rued that they had harvested over 25- 30 per cent of paddy in the district, but the rain had ruined the yield lying in the open. “I thought that the weather would clear up, thus I left the crop uncovered in the field”, said Mr Jivan Singh, a farmer in Mundroo panchayat in the Mandi Sadar, where the harvesting season is at its peak. In the Gohar and Sarkhaghat areas, the farmers have reported to have harvested over 30-40 per cent of crop. “I harvested the crop yesterday and stocked it in the house due to rain but there are many farmers here who have no space to store their yield”, said Mr Ramesh Chand, a farmer from Sarkhaghat. In Kulu district, the paddy and maize have been hit by the rain as the farmers had delayed the paddy plantation this year due to drought. In the irrigation-deficient areas, the farmers have to face vagaries of weather. Over 10- 15 per cent of their crop lying in the fields has been destroyed, rued the farmers, adding that the rain has shown no sign of stopping till this evening. The Deputy Director, Agriculture, Mandi, Mr V.C. Awasthi, said the rain would affect the harvested crop lying in the fields. “If the rain continue for a day or two, it would hit the crop badly. But the standing crop would not be affected much. So far we had not received as to how much the crop has been damaged due to the rain in the district”, he added. The officials said the paddy farmers had not insured the crop this year as they were expecting a good harvest. “Only 80 farmers from Sarkaghat had insured the maize crop, which had been more or less harvested”, they added. |
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Heavy snow disrupts Raid
Shimla, October 11 The rally, which was to culminate at Manali today, got stuck in Lahaul and Spiti as snow blocked the Bara La Cha and Rohtang Pass. A spokesperson for the Himalayan Motorsport Association, which is organising the event, said the participants took off from Pang for the final leg this morning. While some of the vehicles were able to cross the Bara La Cha Pass, the remaining were stranded. He said the exact position could not be known as the satellite phone link was snapped. He said with Rohtang Pass under 40 cm of snow, the rally would not be able to make it to Manali as scheduled. However, all participants were expected to reach Kelyong. Earlier, the fourth leg of the rally was cancelled after some environmental groups of Ladakh threatened to disrupt it. |
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Snow disrupts
Raid-de-Himalaya
Shimla, October 11 The rally, which was to culminate at Manali today, got stuck in Lahaul and Spiti as snow blocked the Bara La Cha and Rohtang Pass. A spokesperson for the Himalayan Motorsport Association, which is organising the event, said the participants took off from Pang for the final leg this morning. While some of the vehicles were able to cross the Bara La Cha Pass, the remaining were stranded. He said the exact position could not be known as the satellite phone link was snapped. He said with Rohtang Pass under 40 cm of snow, the rally would not be able to make it to Manali as scheduled. However, all participants were expected to reach Kelyong. Earlier, the fourth leg of the rally was cancelled after some environmental groups of Ladakh threatened to disrupt it. |
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BJP to bite dust on Kangra issue: CM
Shimla, October 11 In a statement here today, he said the poll results in Arunachal and the trends in Maharashtra clearly indicated that the wind was blowing in favour of the Congress and that the party would also emerge victorious in Guler. He said the party whose ministers and legislators revolted against their own government in protest against the step- motherly treatment meted out to Kangra had no locus standi to raise the issue of discrimination. He also took to task the BJP leaders for spreading canards on the issue of the MoU as fiscal reforms and the fact that they were coming out with one explanation or the other daily, proved their guilt. Mr Virbhadra Singh said, while in power, the BJP indulged in gross nepotism and favouritism and even institutions like the state Service Selection Board were not spared and jobs were given to favourites at the cost of the deserving. Mr Virbhadra Singh said it had always been the endeavour of his government to speed up the development process in Kangra district and developmental schemes amounting to about Rs 100 crore had been started in the area during his last winter sojourn. He said Rs 350 crore was being spent on the development of Dr Rajinder Prasad College. He said his government had sanctioned social security pension of Rs 200 per month to 28,481 new beneficiaries last year, taking the total number to about 2 lakh. He said marriage grant to poor helpless girls had been enhanced from Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,100 and a sum of Rs 25 lakh had been sanctioned during the last financial year to benefit 9,089 such beneficiaries. |
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Cong propaganda false: Dhumal
Shimla, October 11 In a press not issued here, the BJP leader said the paragraph about the MoU in the CAG report, till March 31, 2003, should settle the issue once and for all. “Even the public has seen through the misleading statements of Congress leaders. Seeing the writing on the wall, the Chief Minister and his ministerial colleagues are trying to launch a false propaganda,” he alleged. Mr Dhumal said the Congress was completely on the defensive on the issue of regional discrimination against Kangra and it was for this reason that Mr Virbhadra Singh, in every election meeting of his, had been trying to pacify the public of Guler on the issue. “The fact that the Congress has always discriminated against Kangra is clear from the fact that despite having 11 legislators from the district, only two have been inducted in the Cabinet, while during our tenure there were six ministers from Kangra,” he said. Mr Dhumal said during the BJP regime the mini-Secretariat building, the Shah Nehar project, the Khauli and Neugal power projects, the law college at Dharamsala, the polytechnic College at Thural and many other projects had been undertaken for the people of Kangra. |
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Delay in reimbursement of ESI bills irks workers
Kumarhatti, October 11 Most of the workers have to invest their hard-earned savings for medical treatment. But a long delay in settling their dues make the matter worse for them. The lengthy procedure of clearing bills at different stages often caused undue harassment to workers who were left with no other option but to wait for long. For workers it was a virtual ordeal to make repeated visits of local ESI dispensaries to inquire about their claims. About three months ago reimbursement dues totalling Rs 2.5 crore were settled after workers had approached the Consumer Court, said Mr Om Dutt Sharma, vice-president of the Himachal Pradesh CITU. The state government has failed to pay any heed to the problem as huge ESI reimbursement claims has again been accumulated for settlement, he alleged. The respective local ESI dispensaries forward the workers’ claim to the district health authorities at Solan that generally takes a long time to clear the bills, he said. There was an urgent need to speed up the reimbursement procedure so that workers could get back their money in time, he maintained. We clear the claims as soon as we receive instructions from the state government, asserted Mr Wangial, officiating Regional Director of the Regional ESI Office, Parwanoo. To provide timely financial help in emergency cases, the office has formed a revolving fund by deducting Rs 50 from each worker’s contribution to the ESI fund, he added. |
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Residents oppose MC’s ‘parking hall’ proposal
Chamba, October 11 In a press note issued here today, Mr T. S. Jasrotia, general secretary of the Chamba Welfare Association said the ground floor of the new building should be converted and developed into a ‘town hall’ with proper seating arrangements and furnishings to meet such diverse needs as holding and arranging meetings, talks, functions, conferences, symposia, shows, exhibitions, etc. Mr Jasrotia said at the moment there was no such accommodation to hold such day-to-day activities. Mr Jasrotia also expressed concern over the deteriorating condition of the Akhandchandi Palace and urged the state government to preserve this monument as part of national heritage. The Akhandchandi Palace was at present housing the government postgraduate college. But the college authorities had failed to save this building from acts of vandalism by college students. Mr Jasrotia demanded the shifting of the college from there to the Public Works Department complex. |
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Wrong parking of trucks poses danger to motorists
Sundernagar, October 11 These trucks are parked in a dangerous manner and at times the traffic is blocked. The PWD, Sundernagar, has stacked ‘bajari’ at many places here posing danger to pedestrians and motorists. In the depot of the Forest Corporation, truckloads of timber are brought from various parts of the state and is auctioned here once a month. After the auction, the timber is transported to adjoining states. The depot authorities allow only those trucks into the campus which are to be unloaded. The other trucks remain parked outside the gate on the narrow road. This road leads to Shimla and Kinnaur via Karsog and is a busy highway. This place is virtually a death-trap for pedestrians as there is no space to walk. During the night, a long queue is noticed at this place. The authorities have been apprised of the problem but no action has been taken so far. |
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Tashi Yangchen crowned Miss Tibet 2004
McLeodganj, October 11 A computer engineering graduate from Pune University and employed at present with the Information Technology Department, Gangtok, she took no time to define beauty for the judges in the concluding interview section of the contest. Answering the question, “Whom do you consider most beautiful and why?” Tashi said someone with inner beauty, who knew how to carry himself and had beauty of the mind was most beautiful. Ms Tsering Kyi, winner of Miss Tibet 2003 crown, along with Mr Lobsang Wangyal, director of the Lobsang Wangyal Productions that organised the contest, crowned Tashi. Ms Kyi shared her experiences with the audience. Earlier, the evening saw some impressive performances of Tibetan folk music and western dances. The five contestants also decided to get over their nervousness by dancing to a Tibetan song as the judges put the results together. “We may be crowning only one, but all five of them are winners,” said Mr Wangyal. Mr Palden Gyaeso, political prisoner who spent nearly 33 years behind bars in Tibet, honoured Ms Meghan Howard, an American, who “showed the courage to display the Tibetan flag at a function in Howard University while a Chinese leader was delivering his speech.” A Tibetan Film Festival was also organised along with the contest during the past three days. The audience award for Best Feature Film was given to “Kundun” and the award for the Best Tibetan Film went to “The Cup”. Speaking to mediapersons after the contest, the winner said that the contest was not just about outer beauty. “In my own way, I’ll try to contribute to the Tibetan cause, doing different things from my two predecessors,” she said. She also said that Tibetan girls needed education and that she would like to help them in becoming more aware of their culture, the Tibetan cause and also the Miss Tibet pageant. “But before all this, I’m anxious to rush to my parents in Sikkim,” she said. |
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Bhanu heads Shimla Press Club
Shimla, October 11 Earlier, Mr G.C. Pathania (Doordarshan), was unanimously elected general secretary of the club. Mr Gian Thakur (Dainik Tribune) was elected treasurer. Mr Rakesh Lohumi , Mr Ganesh Dut, Mr Ajay Srivastav, Mr Sita Ram Khajuria, Mr Pankaj Sharma, Mr Vijay Puri and Mr Viraj Sharma were elected members of the Governing Council. |
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Boom to bust, floriculturists seek revival
Ghaneta (Palampur), October 11 It is the short-lived success story of three villages — Ghaneta, Doranand Dharang — which got a project sanctioned from the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) in 1994. Soon, the number of registered member-farmers rose to 257 and more than four lakh flower spikes were produced in the first season. In the second season, said Mr Shiv Pal Singh, vice-president of the federation, the DRDA engaged a marketing agency, which asked the farmers to raise their produce to 20,000 spikes per day. “The agency used to import bulbs from Holland and also sell the produce of lilium, carnation, daffodils, tulips and birds of paradise in the international market. But once the agency parted ways in 1995, the picture ceased to be all that rosy. The office of the federation now lies deserted on the entry to the village,” he said. Most small-time farmers, he said, had raised loans to increase their produce and in the absence of an agency to take the spikes to the market, they were soon pushed into heavy debts. Ravinder, a farmer from the area, said, “I was using my land to grow lilium and the produce was of international standards. But after a few seasons, we did not have proper supply of bulbs and even the produce went waste. I had to sell some property to get out of the debts.” “In 1995, there was a loss of about Rs 2 crores due to lack of a marketing agency. The total area under plantation eventually came down from 40 hectares to 4 hectares in these years,” said Mr Shiv Pal Singh. Mr Manik Ram, another farmer from the adjoining village of Dhoran, added, “I used to grow nearly 10,000 bulbs of lilium in one kanal and sell these for nearly Rs 1.5 lakh. The bulbs from this produce would give me a profit of over Rs 50,000 the next season,” he recalled with nostalgia. Mr Shiv Pal Singh, also the panchayat president of Ghaneta village, said they had recently met officials of the district administration, asking them to sanction the remaining amount of around Rs 60 lakh out of the DRDA project of Rs 2.5 crore sanctioned in 1994. “The project was doing so well that the administration had included floriculture in its list of activities to achieve self-reliance for the district by 2000. No one could apprehend that everything would come crashing down due to lack of proper marketing,” he said. “Wiser by past experience,” said Mr Vinod, another farmer, “we will now pool the resources and do our own marketing, without depending on an outside agency.” “Unlike the mid-90s, now there is no dearth of markets and we can easily sell the produce in Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jammu, besides Delhi. As per our proposal, we plan to buy smaller bulbs, which are much cheaper. But this will not be possible without government help as farmers have no money for investment,” said Mr Shiv Pal Singh. |
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Viral infection strikes farm
animals
Kulu, October 11 Though migratory shepherds have started moving from higher pastures to lower areas following snowfall last week, the disease, diagnosed as PPS infection with symptoms of diarrhoea, continue to be a major cause of concern in Malana valley, Kashladhi and in Lug valley. "I have lost over 20 heads of cattle last month. Two or three sheep get sick very day", said Mr Swarnu Ram, a resident of Malana village. "A doctor came here from Manikaran for few hours and gave medicines before going back in the evening. But the animals continue suffer", he complained. The epidemic broke out near Angnat Jot located in the higher reaches of Malana valley. Sources told The Tribune that each shepherd had lost 10-20 sheep and goats due to the epidemic this year, but the government had not paid them even a penny. "For poor people like us, the livestock is the only source of livelihood", said Mr Brihsru Ram, another shepherd from Malana. Shepherds from Kasladhi in the Jari areas in Kulu district reported a similar epidemic that killed over 82 sheep and goats. Dr T.R. Lakhanpal, Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry, Kulu, said the epidemic had been nipped in the bud. The best way to prevent the epidemic was to immunize the livestock when they go from lower areas to higher areas in early summer, said Dr Lakhanpal. When asked about compensation, Dr Lakhanpal said the department had already forwarded a list of affected shepherds to the district administration. "We are listing more cases when the shepherds come down from higher pastures. We are encouraging shepherds to insure livestock before they move higher", he added. Animal husbandry officials said teams would be deputed to camping sites of shepherds so that their herds were immunized during the coming summer. "We have a new team of pharmacists ready for next year and the government has taken steps to encourage cattle rearing as a source of livelihood in the state", claimed Dr Lakhanpal. |
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Leopard attacks man in Hamirpur
Hamirpur, October 11 Jaishi Ram of the Daroon village was attacked by the prowler last night while he was returning home after performing his duties. He fought bravely with the leopard. Local villagers admitted him to the Bhoranj Hospital. Medical officer posted there said his condition was serious. People of the Bhoranj tehsil are highly upset over the growing incidents of leopard attacks on villagers. But the forest authorities have not taken any action so far. They have demanded protection from the big cats. A spokesman of the Department of Forests said the department was seized of the situation and a cage would be installed in the Bhoranj tehsil. Four persons have been injured in leopard attacks in the tehsil in the past one week. |
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Three juvenile undertrials still at
large
Una, October 11 Superintendent of Police Dinesh Yadav said police teams had been sent to various places in search of these boys. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Rajneesh Kumar has ordered an inquiry into the escape of five undertrials from Bal Grah which is being conducted by Mr Sanjay Sharma, SDM, Una. It may be recalled that five undertrial children escaped from the Bal Grah, out of which two were later apprehended. According to Mr Anupam Sharma, DSP, all these children were facing trial for various offences ranging from rape to drug abuse. |
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