Shimla, March 20
Mrs Viplove Thakur, Pradesh Congress Committee chief, was today elected to the lone Rajya Sabha seat falling vacant in the first week of April.

Mr J.R.Gazta, secretary, Vidhan Sabha, who is also the retuning officer, declared Mrs Thakur elected after the expiry of the deadline for the withdrawal of nominations. It was a mere formality as the main opposition BJP had decided not to field a candidate.

Mrs Thakur comes in place of Mr Kirpal Parmar of the BJP who is completing his term on April 6. With this, the Congress will have two members in the Upper House from the state, while the BJP will be left with only one.

Mr Kaul Singh, Irrigation and Public Health Minister, Mr Harbahjan Singh and Mr Sukhwinder, both legislators, and other Congress leaders were present when she was declared elected. Later, she was brought to Congress Bhavan in a procession by her supporters.

Mrs Thakur is the sixth woman to enter the Upper House from the state. Mrs Leelawati, Mrs Satya Parmar, Mrs Mohinder Kaur, Mrs Usha Malhotra and Mrs Chadresh Kumari are the others to represent the state. 

Shimla, March 20
The piercing cold wave sweeping the entire tribal belt and other higher reaches in Himachal continued unabated as the high-altitude areas in the tribal region and other high mountain ranges and passes had another spell of heavy snowfall, while the adjoining areas were lashed by intermittent rain.

The Lahaul valley was experiencing heavy snowfall since early this morning and Keylong, headquarters of the district, had recorded about 30 cm of snowfall. Koksar and Sissu had 25 cm of snowfall, while Udaipur had 35 cm of snowfall. Patseao recorded 10 cm of snowfall, while Dhundi and Solang Nullah had 20 cm and 10 cm of snowfall.

The lower areas of Chamba, Kullu, Mandi and Shimla had intermittent rain, while the Churdhar ranges in Sirmaur district and higher reaches in Mandi and Kullu districts experienced fresh snowfall.

Avalanche threat loomed large over high-altitude areas in the tribal valleys and the district administrations of the districts had advised people to restrict outdoor movement and desist from venturing to cross the high mountain passes on foot.

Meanwhile, the Chamba-Bharmaur highway was blocked due to landslides at numerous places, a report from Chamba said.

The landslides were triggred due to intermitant rain coupled with cutting, digging and excavation of hill slopes. — PTI

Palampur, March 20
Mr Tarun Shreedhar, Managing Director of the HP Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC), in a press statement issued here today stated that there was no financial crisis in the HPTDC. He said after a gap of five years the corporation had come out of the red and had earned a net profit of Rs 2 crore this year which was a great achievement.

In reference to a news item appeared in The Tribune yesterday, Mr Shreedhar clarified that the HPTDC was paying salaries to its staff regularly. Besides, the process for the regularisation of daily wagers and ad hoc staff was almost complete.

He said as far as renovation of its hotels was concerned, it was being taken up in a phased manner and soon all the complexes all over the state would be renovated. He said after the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission, the financial health of all the PSUs had deteriorated. He said all efforts were being made to make the corporation a big profit-making venture of the state.

He said as far as occupancy in the hotels was concerned, the hotels in Shimla, Manali, Dharamsala, Dalhousie and Chandigarh had a high rate of occupancy, but the hotels situated in the tribal and snow-bound areas like Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti, Sarahan and Narkanda had a poor occupancy. Therefore, the average occupancy in the HPTDC hotels was restricted to about 50 per cent.

Mr Shreedhar said the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh was taking keen interest in the affairs of the HPTDC and the state and Central Governments had been providing the necessary financial assistance to the HPTDC from time to time.

Mandi, March 20
Like four lepers who have succumbed to the curse of leprosy over the past six months here, 65-year-old Nikka Ram, a leper from Balh, is lying on the deathbed after he was almost abandoned by the staff of the Leprosy Hospital, Kandvari, at the Leper Colony here about two weeks ago. The plight of six other lepers in the colony is no better.

But health officials claimed the lepers feign illness and want to stay on in the colony built on the government land for the past 24 years in the town under the garb of disease.

Nikka Ram is on liquid diet, as he is in trauma. "I have nobody with me", he rued.

A chowkidar in the colony today cleaned him and gave him some medicine, as he was writhing in pain, said a volunteer.

But the in charge of Kandvari Leprosy hospital Dr Mahesh Mehta said that like other patients, Nikka Ram wanted to go back home after he was treated there. "The lepers from Mandi district sought to go back home after treatment. They have no caretakers with them still the hospital gives them the best possible facilities here", he claimed.

Mr Lavan Thakur, a local social worker, who used to give food to lepers from time to time, said four lepers had already died at the Leper Colony after they were dropped back from Kandavari over a period of time. They were identified as Hima Ram, 46, Padmu Ram, 78, Ghola, 58, and Chevnu, 55", he claimed.

The plight of other six lepers in the Leper Colony is the same as they have nobody to take care of them, said Mr Thakur. "Some of them are blind and live together to assist one another. Local residents go there occasionally, but there is no nurse to give them medicines and change their bandages", he added.

Shimla, March 20
National Medicinal Board has sanctioned 54 projects to individual farmers worth Rs 7.66 crore under contractual farming scheme for encouraging herbal cultivation in the state.

Stating this while inaugurating a two-day seminar on Herbal Business and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) of ayurvedic drugs at the Himachal Institute of Public Administration here today, Mr Avay Shukla, Principal Secretary, Indian System of Medicines, said 10 other projects worth Rs. 1.07 crore had also been sanctioned under promotional scheme for government and non-governmental organization.

He said the state was producing more than 2000 tonnes of herbs worth Rs 10 crore annually. More than 66 per cent of the total geographical area of the state comprised forest land which where herbs grow wild.

As many as 100 hectares of land had been brought under cultivation of medicinal plants in Kullu under Vanaspati Van Project. Farmers were being encouraged to adopt inter-cropping to increase income from small land holdings.

Mr Shukla said that the farmers should be sensitized about the quality of drugs and scientific exploitation of medicinal plants. A herbal museum had been established at Jogindernagar so as to acquaint the farmers regarding medicinal plants.

Mr V.C. Katoch, Director, Ayurveda, said that three herbal gardens had already been established in the state and one more would be established soon. Sixty drug manufacturing units were producing medicines as per the Good Manufacturing Practice of Ayurvedic drugs in the state.

Shimla, March 20
Multipurpose medicinal plant seabuckthorn will be planted on 120 hectares in the cold desert of Lahaul valley.

Mr R. Selvam, Deputy Commissioner, said nurseries of seabuckthorn would be raised during the ensuing summer in difficult villages so that adequate planting material was available for the purpose. He said subsidy worth Rs 1.5 lakh would be given to farmers for raising nurseries on one acre of land. Besides a subsidy of Rs 13,000 would be available for plantation on one hectare.

Mr Selvam said a plan had been prepared to plant saplings along roads in the district. He said areas had been earmarked for forest horticulture, agriculture and other concerned departments and would be started during summer.

Kumarhatti, March 20
To help Himachalis get jobs in the industry the state government is contemplating to computerise the manpower data. The latest data containing the detailed curriculum of prospective youths registered with various employment exchanges of the state will be handy for industrialists to recruit suitable people.

It is reliably learnt that the move has been planned to enable employers to enrol 70 per cent Himachalis in industrial units in the state. At present finding suitable candidates is a big problem for the industrialists. The manpower hunt for industry has so far proved to be a tough affair despite interviews being conducted in various remote areas of the state. The present data available online, which is relating to the availability of technical, skilled manpower registered with the Central Employment Cell, Directorate of Labour and Employment, Shimla, was updated only till December 2003. In this data bank one can only find the total number of manpower available for 68 categories of professions.

The present data is virtually of no use. As per the plan the data of available manpower will be made available as a ready reckoner to industrialists. The interviews and other formalities will be finalised through online as per the wish of the employers. 

Nahan, March 20
As per a police report, two miscreants of Nepali origin last night offered intoxicated biscuits to five Nepali labourers at the Paonta bus stand.

After consuming the biscuits the labourers fell unconscious and miscreants fled after looting their cash and other valuables.

All the Nepali labourers — Krishna, Shriram, Dasu, Babu Ram and a woman — were lying in a state of unconsciousness at Geeta Mandir Dharamshala at Paonta Sahib.