The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Doctors raise tempo for demands Tribune News Service Mandi, May 21 The Himachal Pradesh Medical Officer Association (HPMOA) yesterday raised its tempo on the long pending demands of doctors and urged the Chief Minister to look into “bureaucratic hurdles” being created in amending the recruitment and promotion (R&P) rules to start the promotional cadre of Block Medical Officers (BMOs), notified by the government last year. Though the Health Department has learnt to have bid for a time of 15 days to amend the rules, the HMOA said the Personnel and Law Departments were acting as “roadblocks” as the rule files have been doing rounds of these departments for months. The HMOA members rued that despite promises, the government had not updated the seniority list of doctors for the past decade and had not given PG increments to doctors. It had also not filled five posts of Deputy Director and Joint Director in the Health Directorate for the past six months. The general secretary, HMOA, Dr J.N. Chauhan, said “the government had appointed two HAS officers as Project Director, National Rural Health Mission(NRHM), and Additional Director, who were allegedly blocking promotional avenues for the doctors”. “We oppose this and government should appoint doctors on these technical posts as other states have done,” asserted Dr Chauhan. The president, All-Himachal Contractual Medical Officers Association (AHCMOA) Dr Rajesh Verma, said the government’s proposed move to amend the rules would benefit not only over 425 doctors, but also patients in remote areas. “The government should prepare a batch-wise seniority list in a transparent manner,” he added.
	Students block traffic on quota Our Correspondent Palampur, May 21 Students of local Veterinary and Animal Sciences College of HP Agricultural University also joined anti-reservation movement today. Students abstained from the classes and took out a procession on the university campus. They threatened to go on an indefinite strike if no early action was taken by the government to withdraw its decision to introduce the reservation in higher education . At Paprola, 15 km from here, over 200 students of Rajiv Gandhi Ayurvedic College today took out a procession in the town and blocked vehicular traffic on the Pathankot- Mandi highway. Students from graduate and postgraduate classes joined the procession. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on both sides and passengers were put into great inconvenience. Later, the police intervened and persuaded the students to lift the jam.
	Sanctuaries at Naina Devi, Norgu may be scrapped Rakesh Lohumi Tribune News Service Shimla, May 21 The Naina Devi sanctuary and the Norgu sanctuary are among the four protected wildlife areas proposed to be scrapped under the rationalisation exercise carried out by the Forest Department. Besides, boundaries of 15 other protected areas are proposed to be redrawn by excluding inhabited and cultivated areas and including those important for wildlife conservation. The proposal will be put up before the State Wildlife Board , which is meeting on May 20 for approval. Thereafter, it will be sent to the National Wildlife Board. Spread over an area of 278 sq km, the Norgu sanctuary in Chuhar Valley of Mandi district is the biggest protected area proposed to be de-notified. Naina Devi sanctuary(123 sq km) in Bilaspur is also significant ,while the Darlaghat ( 6.50 sq km) and Sili ( 2 sq km) are indeed small. The department maintains that these sanctuaries will not serve the purpose of providing a safe habitat for wildlife because of “too much human interference” or “very small area”. The Norgu and Naina Devi sanctuaries are dotted with human habitations, which is not conducive to proper management of protected areas as there is much biotic interference. Whatever reasons the department may advance to justify the scrapping of these sanctuaries , the fact is that the government has been under pressure from the local people to exclude their villages from the sanctuaries. They maintain that development activity has been affected and their forest rights, like grant of trees under timber distribution rules, curtailed in the areas which fall in the sanctuaries. Environmentalists are not in favour of tinkering with protected areas frequently as it affects wildlife. Besides, the government is not empowered to effect any changes as the Supreme Court has debarred states from de-notifying protected areas. Mr K.K.Gupta, Principal Chief Conservator of Wildlife, says that proper management of protected areas with large human population is indeed a problem. The state already has as much as 12 per cent of its total geographic area under sanctuaries and national parks as against the national average of 4 per cent. Even after the rationalisation exercise, the total protected wildlife area will increase marginally as some areas rich in wildlife that were left out will be included. The largest area of about 850 sq km is to be included in the Kibber sanctuary, the habitat of the rare snow leopard and marmot, in the cold desert of Spiti.
	Slow work on Chamera CAT plan draws flak Our Correspondent Chamba, May 21 The catchment area treatment (CAT) plan sanctioned by the Chamera hydroelectric project (Stage-II) in Chamba district with an outlay of Rs 10.72 crore as part of an environment management plan, has come in for flak from various quarters. For the construction of the 300 MW Chamera project, (Stage-II) by the NHPC, eight debris disposal sites from Karian to Bagga along the Chamba-Bharmour highway in and around the catchment area have been identified. However, four additional sites were approved by the Himachal Government. All these sites were inspected by officers of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests as well as the state government’s Pollution Control Board from time to time during the construction period. After the construction of the project, the sites were handed over to the state Forest Department for plantation under the CAT plan for which an amount of Rs 10.72 crore has so far been funded by the NHPC. Further, for all sites, Rs 50 lakh under the green belt plantation and Rs 47 lakh under the compensatory afforestation plan have also been released to the Forest Department. However, it has come to light that the progress of work on the CAT plan is going on a snail’s place and the Forest Department is in the firing line from various quarters. If the situation remains the same, there will be a question mark on the progress and completion of the plan. The Chamera project (Stage-II) was constructed at a cost of about Rs 1,700 crore on a turnkey basis with an Indo-Canadian consortium on the Ravi.
	BJP condemns Pope’s remarks Tribune News Service Shimla, May 21 Mr Ganesh Dutt, a senior BJP leader, has condemned the statement of the Pope Benedict-16 urging the government not to enact a law to ban religious conversions and said that it amounted to interferring in the internal matters of the country. He said here today the Christian missionaries had been engaged in religious conversions on a large scale and they were using foreign money for the purpose.
	BJP comeback inevitable: Gaur Tribune News Service Chamba, May 21 Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and member of the National Executive of the BJP Babu Ram Gaur has predicted that the comeback of the BJP to power at the national level is inevitable whenever the general elections take place in the country. Mr Gaur said today people of the nation were now remembering the golden days of the previous BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre. Mr Gaur underscored the need for strengthening the BJP at a time when the nation was passing through a critical juncture.
	BJP condemns Pope’s remarks Tribune News Service Shimla, May 21 Mr Ganesh Dutt, a senior BJP leader, has condemned the statement of the Pope Benedict-16 urging the government not to enact a law to ban religious conversions and said that it amounted to interferring in the internal matters of the country. He said here today the Christian missionaries had been engaged in religious conversions on a large scale and they were using foreign money for the purpose.
	Recruitment of nurses next month, says CM Tribune News Service Shimla, May 21 The Himachal government will conduct walk-in interviews to fill the posts of nurse next month. This was stated by Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, while presiding over the valedictory function of the Nurses Week celebrations here yesterday. He said eligible nurses would be recruited on contract basis for different health institutions to ensure that healthcare did not suffer for want of adequate staff. He said there was no ban on recruitment to functional posts in various departments and 35,000 more posts of different categories were being created to provide more employment avenues to the youth. He said the state government had framed a policy under which the Himachalis would be given preference in employment. Mr Virbhadra Singh said the government was making concerted efforts to invite private sector to open a nursing college of international standard in the state. He said there was no dearth of employment opportunities for the qualified and trained nurses as they were in great demand in every part of the world. The chief minister said the government would explore the possibility of opening a medical college in the private sector in Mandi. Earlier, the chief minister took stock of the progress of the auditorium-cum-library building being constructed for Indira Gandhi Medical College and directed the authorities to speed up the construction work.
	Students allege bias by lecturer, probe ordered Tribune News Service Mandi, May 21 The district administration has directed the Deputy District Education Officer, Mandi, to probe allegations levelled by over 30 students of plus 2 against a lecturer of physics of Government Senior School (Boys), Mandi. The students complained to the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mandi, yesterday that the physics lecturer had discriminated against over 30 students and awarded them 10-15 marks out of 30 in practical board examination because he was biased against them. On the other hand, he had given 27 out of 30 marks to his favourites, while they did not score well in the written examination as the results showed, they alleged. Though the school principal denied the allegations, but the district administration ordered an inquiry into the matter. ADC R.S. Gupta said the students had given a written complaint, levelling charges of bias and discrimination against the physics lecturer while awarding marks in practical board examination. “The deputy district education officer will conduct the inquiry into the matter,” he added.
	Forest guards to get weapons Tribune News Service Shimla, May 21 The state government will equip forest guards and other field staff with weapons to protect the forest from smugglers and anti-social elements. This was stated by the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, while chairing a meeting of the State Board for Wildlife, here today. “The forest guards had so far been performing their duty unarmed but the need of the hour is to provide them with weapons in checking smuggling. He said the attack on forest guards and other field staff was a cause of concern and this had compelled the government to consider giving them weapons. “In case there is the need, we will bring about the necessary legislation to make this proposal effective,” he stated. Virbhadra Singh emphasised the need for providing special attention to the programme concerning conservation and breeding of pheasants. He said Himachal happened to be the home of seven rare species of pheasants out of a total of 17 found in the country. “Out of these seven species, while Monal had been declared the state bird, the western tragopan and the cheer Pheasant were among the endangered species,” he said. He said Rs 5 crore would be spent on the project for captive breeding of the western tragopan. “Explore possibilities of carrying out captive breeding through artificial insemination , incubator process and constitute a team of experts to suggest ways to increase their population in the state,” he suggested. He said rationalisation of the boundaries of sanctuaries and national parks had emerged as the need of the hour since 793 villages, 1.16 lakh human population and 1.83 lakh cattle head and 448 sq km of cultivated and private and cultivated land had been brought within the boundaries of the wildlife sanctuaries.
	63 persons get pension Our Correspondent Nahan, May 21 Mr G.R. Musafir, Speaker HP Vidhan Sabha, gave social security pension to the 63 needy persons who included a number of old, widows and handicapped persons of Pacchad tehsil, at a function organised by the department of Social Justice and Empowerment at Sarahan, about 40 km from here, today. Addressing a gathering on this occasion the Speaker said that during the last three years Rs 1.90 crore had been spent on providing pension to 364 beneficiaries of social security and disabled persons in the tehsil. He asked politicians of the state to come forward with positive attitude towards the development projects in the state and give constructive suggestions.
	Generation target surpassed at Nathpa Tribune News Service Shimla, May 21 The 1500-MW Nathpa Jhakri hydroelectric project of the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam has surpassed the energy generation target fixed by the union ministry of power for the period from April 1 to May 18, 2006, by 48 million units. As against the target of 967 million units for the period the project has already generated 1015 million units. The installed capacity is 1500 MW but it generated up to 1550 MW of power for short durations. The discharge in the Sutlej has swelled from 335 cumecs on May 5 to 841 cumecs on May 17.
	Tributes paid to Rajiv Gandhi Tribune Reporters Shimla, May 21 Tributes were paid to late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at his 15th death anniversary. Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, paid floral tributes to the former Prime Minister and administered a pledge of communal harmony to the people on the occasion. Later, he inaugurated a blood donation camp organised by the state unit of the National Students Union of India to mark Sadbhavana Divas. He appreciated the role of the younger generation in maintaining communal harmony. He said that a grateful nation would remember the visionary leader for ages to come. He was instrumental in establishing the three-tier Panchayati Raj system in the country and preparing the nation for the 21st century.
	Bhanu heads Shimla Press Club Shimla, May 21 Mr Krishna Bhanu was unanimously elected president of the Shimla Press Club on Friday. Mr Gian Thakur was elected general secretary. He defeated Mr Vijay Puri. Mr Ashwini Verma and Mr Dhananjay Sharma were unanimously elected vice-presidents and Mr Vikas Panwar treasurer. Ms Bhawani Negi, Mr Bhupinder Chauhan, Mr Lokender Bekta, Mr Pankaj Sharma, Mr Rakesh Khanduri, Mr Suraj Thakur and Mr Viraj Sharma were elected members of the governing body. — TNS
	5-yr-old student killed in accident Our Correspondent Palampur, May 21 Chirag Katoch (5), a student of KG in the local Mount Carmel School, was killed and six other students were injured when a van carrying them to their native villages collided with a bus of the same school on the Dehan-Punnar road this afternoon. It has been learnt that the driver of the van lost control of the vehicle and hit the bus coming from the opposite direction. Chirag was killed on the spot while Ajay, driver of the van received serious injuries. Six other students travelling in the van were also injured A case under Section 304-A of the IPC has been registered against the driver of the van. Meanwhile, the Save Palampur, local voluntarily social organisation, in a press statement issued here today, expressed shock over the tragedy.
	Govt to boost cultivation of medicinal plants Tribune News Service Shimla, May 21 The Forest Department will propagate cultivation of medicinal plants and jatropha which yields bio-diesel. Stating this while inaugurating the two-day meeting of Conservators of Forests here on Friday, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Forest Minister, said the department had raised 3.16 crore saplings of forestry and medicinal plants, including 15 lakh saplings of jatropha, which were sufficient for the coming planting season. He asked the department to make all efforts for the removal of encroachment on forest land. The Principal Secretary, Forests, Mr Ashok Thakur, said key issues like restructuring of the department, promotions of officials and delegation of powers to senior forest officers were under active consideration of the government.