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Chandel claims conspiracy behind his expulsion
16 new jaundice cases reported
Farmers advised to protect fruit plants from frost
Mahila morcha protests against price rise
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Two HRTC managers suspended
AIDS threat looms large
Drive against
encroachments Rain, snow in Chamba region
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Chandel claims conspiracy behind his expulsion
Bilaspur, February 9 He has termed it a deep-rooted conspiracy by the ruling group at the Centre against opposition parties, refuting the allegation of accepting bribe. Addressing mediapersons at the Electricity Board Rest House here today, Mr Chandel said he had been demanding a CBI inquiry on the issue, but neither the Centre, nor the Parliamentary Committee had assigned the probe to the CBI. He said this was being done to protect the persons who were behind the conspiracy and to save other top Congress leaders who were actually involved in the scandal. He said this had been proved by the fact that the TV channel concerned claimed that it had proof of involvement of 54 Members of Parliament and Rs 70 lakh changed hands. He asked why only 11 Members of Parliament had been singled out for expulsion and why others were spared. Mr Chandel claimed that the procedure adopted by the Parliamentary Committee was undemocratic, very speedy, secretive and against all principles of justice and fair play. He said he had not been allowed any opportunity to defend himself, this being the first such instance in the political history of any democratic country. He categorically stated that the Supreme Court had never given any decision regarding the actual involvement of any of the 11 Members of Parliament concerned, but observed that Parliament was competent to take action against its members. He said the Congress leaders who had been criticising him had not understood the judgement, adding that no court had held him guilty.
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16 new jaundice cases reported
Shimla, February 9 The number of total jaundice cases reported so far since the outbreak of the disease have reached 154. The Irrigation and Public Health Department and the Municipal Corporation is monitoring the situation round the clock. Water samples being collected from various localities are being tested regularly. After being briefed by doctors of the Department of Community Medicine, IGMC, the students covered over 2,500 houses in the localities of Kasumpti, Vikasnagar, Panthaghatti, Mehli, Chotta Shimla, Kanlog, Krishna Nagar, Boileauganj, Chakkar, Kaithu, Tutikandi, New Shimla and Sanjauli. The IGMC students interacted with the residents and educated them about the importance of preventive measures such as drinking water, which has been boiled for 20 minutes, washing hands with soap and avoiding eating overly ripe fruits. |
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Farmers advised to protect fruit plants from frost
Shimla, February 9 A spokesperson of the department said to shield plants from frostbite, the 4-5 year- old plant be covered with dry grass, sarkanda or hessian cloth in such a way that the southeast direction was kept open for enough sunlight and air. Where the facility of irrigation was available, light irrigation could be done regularly.The graftable plants to mango be irrigated regularly so that the basins remained moist. |
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Mahila morcha protests against price rise
Shimla, February 9 The state BJP chief, Ms Rupa Sharma, said similar demonstrations would be held at all district headquarters. "The UPA regime at the Centre and the state government have failed to take effective steps to check the sky rocketing prices," she said. |
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Two HRTC managers suspended
Shimla, February 9 The action against Pankaj Singhal, Deputy Divisional Manager, and Mohinder Singh, Regional Manager, was taken after the matter was brought to the notice of Transport Minister G. S. Bali. |
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AIDS threat looms large
Sujanpur (Hamirpur), February 9 The children are living with him after they lost their parents to AIDS last year in the Sujanpur area of Hamirpur district, which has the highest number of AIDS patients in Himachal Pradesh. The health of the youngest of them, a 6-year-old girl, is deteriorating with each passing day. Sant Singh spends his days frequenting the Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centre (VCTC) set up in the district hospital and interacting with members of the NGOs working for AIDS patients in the Sujanpur area. Even though the girl and her 10-year-old brother tested HIV positive last month, Sant Singh says he cannot bring himself to get his eldest grandchild, a 14-year-old girl, tested. “What if she is found positive and the word spreads, her whole life would be ruined. She appears to be okay and there seems to be no signs of her being infected,” said Sant Singh. Anil, a counsellor at the VCTC, when contacted by The Tribune, said, “Sant is very upset about his youngest grandchild turning very weak. We suggested that she should be put on Anti-Retro Viral Treatment, which might bring about some improvement in her health. The boy appears to be keeping good health.” The father of the children, who had migrated to Mumbai, was a truck driver. He was infected with the AIDS virus there and passed it on to his wife, which eventually led to parent-child transmission in the case of the two younger children. When the 6-year-old girl was tested for HIV on January 12, the report from the head office of VCTC in Shimla did not come as a surprise for her grandfather, who already had the apprehension that she had inherited the virus from her parents. With no government-sponsored programme for re-habilitation of children orphaned due to AIDS, the guardians of such children prefer to approach NGOs instead of coming to the health authorities for help. When contacted, District Health Officer Dr P. R. Katwal said re-habilitation of children who have lost both parents to AIDS would be part of the third phase of the Prevention of AIDS Programme, scheduled to begin from April this year. He added that the district health department was willing to provide free lodging, treatment and education to children orphaned due to AIDS by entering into alliances with NGOs. “But the problem is that the guardians of such children do not come to us for help,” he said. Out of the 63 children, in the age group of 0-14 years, screened for HIV in Hamirpur district from March 2003 to December 2006, 20 were found to be positive. But the district health authorities have no record of how many of these children have been orphaned and need re-habilitation. Dr Katwal added that the chances of parent to child transmission of AIDS was 30 per cent and not all children with infected parents were HIV positive. “After the awareness campaign launched by the health department, the spread of the virus has come down to 24.6 per cent in the district and the spread of the disease is being gradually controlled,” he said.
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Drive against
encroachments
Kumarhati, February 9 A team led by Mr Manmohan Sharma,SDM,Nalagarh,visited the Baddi market to take stock of the encroachments yesterday. The team inspected the area from the bus stand to market area on the Sai road. Unauthorized rehris and other encroachments were removed. The team exhorted shopkeepers to help the administration implement traffic norms.Residents were advised to park their vehicles in earmarked areas. —
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