Shimla, December 24
BJP’s decision to install Mr Jai Ram Thakur as the state party chief has come as a major setback to the faction led by former union minister Shanta Kumar, who had been opposing his name right from the beginning.

The decision was taken at Lucknow yesterday in the presence of BJP chief Rajnath Singh. It was conveyed to Mr Shanta Kumar, Mr P.K. Dhumal and Mr Suresh Bhardwaj that the central leadership wanted the election to be unanimous and Mr Thakur, MLA from Chachhiot in Mandi district, had been chosen to take the top party post in the state.

The entire election process, including nomination and final election, will be completed on January 5. It is expected that Mr O.P. Kohli, National Election Officer, and Mr Sahib Singh Verma, former Delhi Chief Minister and in charge of the party affairs in Himachal Pradesh, would be present at the election, which has been delayed due to factionalism and failure in forging unanimity on one name.

It is being felt that the high command decided on Mr Thakur as they felt that he was not too aligned with any faction and was a non-controversial man with strong organisational background. “The central leadership felt that that the new party chief should not be from a particular group as it will further intensify squabbling,” admitted a senior leader. Moreover, with his election the party could hope to strengthen its base in the central belt of Mandi.

Mr Shanta Kumar, who is also the national vice-president of the party, had been backing former Speaker Radha Raman Shastri and Mr Bal Nahata for the post. On the other hand, Mr Dhumal, who was keen on the name of Mr Kripal Parmar, former MP, had agreed to Mr Thakur’s election. The high command had asked the Shanta Kumar faction to decide on one name so that there can be unanimous election.

Shimla, December 24
Senior state police and Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) officials yesterday took an aerial survey of the border area between Chamba and Jammu and Kashmir.

The team led by the ADGP, Mr D.S. Manhas, also interacted with the locals at Killar in the Pangi area. He was accompanied by senior officials from the Home Department and the ITBP.

Mr Manhas said it was a routine survey, which was done by the government and various security agencies from time to time.

He added that there was no threat of infiltration of militants as strict vigil was being maintained along the border between the two states.

The Himachal Police and ITBP personnel were manning the borders between Chamba and Jammu and Kashmir to check infiltration of militants.

The locals during their interaction with the senior officials demanded the opening of some police and ITBP posts as a protection against the threat of militants, who might infiltrate into the Chamba area, which shares 260 km border with Jammu and Kashmir.

They also demanded that the posts, which had been closed down, should be reopened.

The locals also requested the officials that they should be given some training by the forces for self protection. They also raised the issue of giving some kind of remuneration to the members of the village defence committees, who were guarding the area against the infiltration of militants.

Chamba, December 24
The Union Ministry of Tourism and Culture has introduced “Incredible India Bed and Breakfast” scheme to attract those house owners who have furnished rooms with proper facilities to spare for tourists.

All such establishments would be recognised by the Department of Tourism and the same would be marketed and promoted by the Indian Tourism offices in India and overseas.

According to an official communiqué issued recently by the Union Ministry of Tourism and Culture to the Governments of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Union Territory of Chandigarh, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, National Capital Region of Delhi and Rajasthan, the scheme was expected to give the tourists an opportunity to stay with an Indian family and experience the culture, cuisine and warmth of a nation known for its 
hospitality.

"Since the hotels and other supplementary accommodation are an integral part of a tourist's visit to a place, the services offered by them can make his visit memorable", the communiqué stated. So with the aim of providing comfortable home stay facilities of standardised world class services to the tourists, and to supplement the availability of accommodation in the metros and tourist destinations, the ministry has planned to classify fully operational rooms of home stay facilities as "Incredible India Bed and Breakfast (B&B)” establishments under the scheme, the communiqué said.

The Regional Classification Committee, as specified in the guidelines, would inspect and assess the B&B establishments based on facilities and services offered.

Accordingly, the committee would classify these establishments into two categories such as “gold” and “silver”, the communiqué revealed.

Shimla, December 24
More parking lots will be created in the capital town so as to accommodate the large number of vehicles of the locals as well as the tourists.

The Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, stated this while addressing a gathering at Jakhu here today. He inaugurated a parking lot near the temple and said the parking areas had been created but with the increasing number of vehicles they were proving to be insufficient.

The Chief Minister said suitable locations were being identified to make the parking lots in and around the town, on which work would be done on a war-footing. “With higher standard of living and more people purchasing vehicles, more parking space would be required to check roadside parking, which creates traffic hazards,” he remarked.

He also inaugurated the new building of Government High School built at a cost of Rs 10 lakh. “The state has reached a saturation point as far as the expansion of educational institutions was concerned and now focus would be on infrastructure development and quality education,” he said.

Mr Virbhadra Singh said efforts were on to make Himachal the centre of par excellence learning in association with private players, who were keen to set up universities in the hill state. “We have now decided to introduce English from Class I instead of fifth standard as being proficient in it is a must to excel and explore new horizons,” he said.

The Chief Minister announced that Government High School, Jakhu, would be shifted to a near by sunny and warm place for the convenience of the students.

Shimla, December 24
With the completion of the Vidhan Sabha building at Tapovan, near Dharamsala, in a record seven-month time, the four-day winter session of the Assembly will be held in the new complex from December 26.

Constructed at a cost of Rs 7 crore, the Vidhan Sabha building will be inaugurated tomorrow. Last year the winter session of the state Assembly was held outside the state capital for the first time. In the absence of a Vidhan Sabha complex last year, the session was held in Prayas Bhavan from December 26 to 29.

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting will be held at Dharamsala on December 25 evening. The BJP Legislature Party meeting has already been held here in the Vidhan Sabha earlier but the opposition members are likely to meet again in Dharamsala to discuss their strategy.

During the brief winter session a total of 407 questions will be raised in the House by legislators. Besides, discussions will be held on key issues like deteriorating law and order situation, price rise, unemployment, the local resentment against the coming up of the Karcham-Wangtoo power project in Kinnuar, HP-CPMT paper leak and the financial position of the state.

Besides, over two dozen issues will be raised under Rules 62, 63, 67, 101, 117 and 130. With the session being held in Dharamsala, it is expected that issues specifically concerning the Kangra region will be raised. Infact, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr P.K. Dhumal, has already said that regional discrimination with the lower parts of the state would be the main issue as far as BJP was concerned.

The entire Vidhan Sabha staff have already moved to Dharamsala, while senior officials of the state government will also make a move to the second capital of the state. The Secretariat is already looking deserted as all MLAs, ministers and officials have started leaving for Dharamsala where the Vidhan Sabha complex will be inaugurated by the Speaker, Mr Gangu Ram Musafir, tomorrow.

Solan, December 24
Alleging irregularities in the appointment of two horticulture development officers (HDOs), Chairman of the Joint Action Committee Gopal Dass Verma has demanded its annulment.

Addressing the mediapersons here yesterday, Mr Verma said it was shocking how the class-I gazetted posts were being filled without any sanction from the service commission or issuance of any advertisement.

He produced copies of the appointment letters and claimed that the two candidates, Jagat Singh Negi and Vinay Kumar Bhardwaj, had been given regular appointment ignoring the norms as per a notification issued on July 28, 2006. Blaming Horticulture Commissioner-cum-Secretary J.P. Negi for facilitating the appointments, he said no interview was conducted for these appointments.

Mr Verma further alleged that Arun Sen, a close kin of the chief minister, had sold property worth crores on the basis of fake power of attorney. He also produced a letter of complaint by the villagers of Deori near Kasauli, to the governor, alleging that the then tehsildaar Kasauli, in connivance with Sen, had made a fake registration of 30 bighas originally belonging to a charitable trust at Tickethatti in 2002. This land was later sold by Sen.

The official has demanded a CBI probe into the entire episode where the CM’s kin had been benefited by misusing official machinery. He said another environmentalist Baljit Malik had also levelled such allegations against Sen in a case before the state high court.

Hamirpur, December 24
With its plan to set up four new centres the National Institute Technology (NIT), Hamirpur, has submitted a proposal to the state government for setting up of an extension centre in the state.

Sources said the NIT authorities had sought at least 100 acres, preferably in the adjoining areas of Kangra district, for setting up research centres. As per the initial proposal, activity centres would be set up in the fields of material science, biotechnology, bio-infomatics and nano technology. These would eventually be upgraded to full-fledged departments offering courses in accordance with the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes of the NIT. It has already got approval from the Ministry of Human Resource and Development for introducing these subjects.

Confirming this, the NIT Director, Prof I.K.Bhat, said it would be better if additional land was allotted somewhere near Jwalamukhi of Baijnath or Kangra as these places were close to Hamirpur district. 

Kangra, December 24
Mr Sukhvinder Singh, Principal, GAV Public School, has been selected for this year's ‘International Gold Star Millennium Award’ for his contribution in strengthening the India- Nepal cooperation in the field of education.

The award constituted by the ‘Citizens Integration Peace Society’ (CIPS) would be conferred on him at a conference on ‘India-Nepal Friendship and Economic Cooperation’ at Kathmandu on February 7.