Shimla, February 12
Life in most parts of Shimla, Sirmour and Solan districts remained hit as snow and rain continued to lash the region for the third consecutive day today.

The city had intermittent snow throughout the day and by evening it had 20 cm of snow taking the total during the current spell to 92 cm. According to Mr Manmohan Singh ,in charge of the local weather office the 62 cm of snow recorded in the past 24 hours was the highest on a single day in February since 1908 when 63.5 cm of snow recorded on second day of the month. Other highs were 55.9 cm (February 18,1978) and 54 cm (February 2,2002). In the past 58 hours 97 cm of rain and snow was recorded.

Narkanda had 90 cm of snow, while the nearby Hatu Peak recorded the highest snowfall of 120 cm. Chini Bangla, and Fagu had 80 cm each and the Chail area 40 cm to 50 cm. The tribal belt had moderate snow with Keylong recording 18 cm ,Kalpa 16 cm and Patsio and Udaipur 2 cm each. Dhundi near Rohtang pass had 76 cm and Solang Nullah 20 cm. Manali was having intermittent showers.

People in upper Shimla , Kinnaur, Shilai, Haripur Dhar and parts of Solan district had to go without newspapers, vegetables, milk and other necessities as traffic beyond Shimla remained suspended for the second day today. Buses were plying only on the Shimla-Kalka national highway which was opened last evening. Snow cutters were used and a major part of the Circular road had been cleared but roads leading to Rampur, Kinnaur, Rohru, Jubbal Kotkhai and Chopal remained blocked.

The Hindustan -Tibet road was under 80cm of snow at places and traffic was unlikely to be resumed in the next 24 hours. The PWD had started clearing the road from Kumarsain side and Kandiali side but it will take at least 36 more hours open it. However, normal bus services was likely to resumed to Dharamsala, Mandi.

The State Electricity Board staff had to work overtime to restore power supply which had been disrupted due to heavy snow. High water content in the snow caused extensive damage to trees, some of which fell and others lost branches as a result of which power lines were snapped at numerous places. Some localities remained without power for more than 48 hours. The supply was restored temporarily to most localities by evening and it would take sometime to maintain the damaged lines.

The disruption of power affected mobile phone networks, particularly that of the BSNL which functioned at 25 per cent of the installed capacity. The office-goers and other commuters had to tread long distances in snow. Streets wore a deserted look as inclement weather kept people indoors. However, tourists, mostly honeymooners, had a good time. The couples could be seen having photo session on the Ridge, the Mall and other places.

Kangra: The Kangra valley had incessant rain on the third day today and the Dhauladhar range and its foothills, overlooking the Kangra valley had heavy snowfall throwing life in the valley out of gear.

People shivered with cold due to cold wave-like conditions in valley following snowfall on mountains and rain in the valley. The worst-hit were the schoolgoing children.

Kangra town had 9.2 mm of rain in the last 24 hours. Traffic on certain link roads was disrupted following the rain.

Solan: With the region witnessing 144.2 mm of rain in the past two days prospects of stone fruits like pear, peaches, plum and apricot bearing a moderate harvest have increased. Stone fruits comprise major cash crop of the district and prevailing drought lasting over two months had damaged them by 50 per cent.

According to Dr I.P. Sharma, Professor and Head of the Department of Soil Sciences, Dr Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, rain augured well for stone fruits and wheat crop, though it has suffered major losses. Since the stone fruits have not reached flowering stage the rain augured well for it.

Incessant rain, however, blocked the Dharampur Garkhal road since Saturday afternoon. A private bus got stuck in a drain near Mangoti Mor on Saturday due to land sinking in. This disrupted traffic on the road for more than a day. Traffic was restored today afternoon.

Mandi, February 12
The fresh spells of snow and rain have a given a "healing touch" and have brought about a "normalising effect" on the apple crop and Rabi crop in the state.

The snow and rain have checked chances of early apple crop triggered by the two-month-long dry spell as the minimum temperatures have been hovering below 5 degree centigrade for the past three days.

Scientists and farmers revealed that the fresh snowfall in the apple belt in Mandi-Kulu-Shimla had fulfilled its chilling requirements of 12 hours in most of apple belt except in the Kulu valley, where farmers need a week of chill to fulfil the chilling need as the dry spell had already take its toll on the pre-sprouting stage.

"The snow will have a normalising impact on the apple crop in the days to come as it has reduced the chances of early crop as minimum temperature has been hovering below 5 degree centigrade in the apple-belt", commented Dr. SP Bhardwaj, a senior fruit scientist.

Mr. Nakul Khullar, an orchardist at Baragrah Estate near Naggar in Kulu said the farmers still needed more chilling hours in the Kulu valley. "The two-month-long dry spell is over and we expect chilling weather will continue for more days to have a positive effect on the apple crop".

Dr J.C. Kuniyal, a senior scientist at the GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development said the sifting of season cycle triggered by the dry spell had been broken as rabi and other crops had got a healing touch.

Dr. Kuniyal added the snowfall has recharged the glaciers and water channels to some extent, ending water scarcity in the region. But the snow carries a high water content in February and hence melting of snow is faster as compared with other what is the case snow fall in January".

Nahan, February 12
Ex-Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition in the state Vidhan Sabha, Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, today lambasted the state government for deciding to appoint Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPSs) and Parliament Secretaries (PSs) in the state, overlooking that the matter was pending in the Supreme Court, and that it would be in violation of the rule made by the Union Government in this regard.

Mr Dhumal said such appointments would be a burden on the state exchequer, which has already been overloaded by the Congress government with loans of thousands of crores. He said the Congress had failed to fulfill its election promise to give government job to at least one member of each family. It has, instead, tried to give jobs to Congressmen, and the current decision to appoint CPSs and PSs in the state is one such attempt of the government to give job to Congress MLAs.

Mr Dhumal charged that during the Congress regime in the Centre and states, prices of essential commodities had touched a new high.

He said the Himachal Government had totally failed to implement the industrial package brought by the BJP government. He said that the Chief Minister had made provision of opening of only five degree colleges in the next Five Year Plan.

Shimla, February 12
Dismissed Lok Sabha MP Suresh Chandel could make the going difficult for the BJP in the forthcoming Hamirpur parliamentary byelection, as he has announced that he would be seeking justice in the court of the public.

With the byelection likely to take place in April-May along with the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, both the BJP and the Congress are looking for the probable candidates. Winning the seat would be equally crucial for both, as the outcome would have a direct bearing on the Assembly elections due in Himachal Pradesh within a year.

The announcement by Mr Chandel that he was innocent and would, thus, seek justice in the court of people has upset the BJP camp. Besides having to counter allegations of corruption which the Congress will use as the main election plank, the party will have to work overtime to negate the damage that Mr Chandel’s presence in the election arena could have on its prospects.

Sources within the BJP said the possibility of Mr Chandel contesting on the ticket of the Bhartiya Jan Shakti party, floated by Ms Uma Bharti, was high. “Though after his name figured in the money-for-question scam and the subsequent dismissal from the Lok Sabha, there would be few who would want to rally behind Mr Chandel, he certainly has some personal following in the constituency,” admitted a senior BJP leader.

The name of former BJP chief and leader of the Opposition, Prof P.K. Dhumal, is doing the rounds for being fielded for the Hamirpur seat. “Having remained a two-time MP from Hamirpur, he is the best candidate that the BJP can field,” admit partymen. However, under the present circumstances, it remains to be seen whether he would agree to take the plunge.

Besides Mr Dhumal, the other probable candidates could be Mr Jagat Prakash Nadda, who hails from Bilaspur district and was a frontrunner for the post of the state party chief recently.

On the other hand it is unlikely that Forest Minister, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, would be fielded by the party, as he lost the last two elections to Mr Chandel. Ms Anita Verma could be fielded by the Congress, as besides being a woman leader, she has a clean image and could give a fight to the BJP.

It is reliably learnt that Congress MLA from Una district Mukesh Agnihotri is keen to contest the Hamirpur Lok Sabha election. 

Shimla, February 12
Eagerly awaiting lodging of a complaint on the Internet, the state’s police is yet to receive even a single online complaint in 11 police stations of the state provided the link since January 1.

So far only 11 police stations in the three districts of Shimla, Solan and Bilaspur have been linked through Common Integrated Police Application (CIPA) where online complaints can be lodged but one can also use the HP police website to make complaint under any of the 88 police stations in the state through the internet.

Keen on providing the facility of registration of complaints on the Internet, Director General Police (DGP), Ashwani Kumar has ensured that this is done at the earliest. On January 1, Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh launched the facility for the convenience of Himachal people which has second in literacy after Kerala in the country.

The lone online message received in Shimla district so far is the one sent by the Chief Minister to the Sadar police station wishing them happy new year at the launch function since then none of the four police stations including Sadar Thana, Shimla East, Shimla West and Theog has received any online complaint.

Even in Solan district not even a single complaint has been received in the four police stations of Kandaghat, Sadar Solan, Dharampur and Parwanoo. Situation in Bilaspur district too is similar where three police stations at Barmana, Sadar Bilaspur and Ghumarwin are yet to receive an online complaint.

The government intends linking 29 more police stations with CIPA facility under the second phase which, is under way. Remaining police stations are likely to be linked through CIPA by 2008. “It is probably lack of awareness about the facility extended to public which has resulted in not even single complaint on the Internet,” said a senior officer.

While launching the facility people had been advised that while lodging complaint of any kind, they should write their address and contact number so that in case of registration of an FIR, the signature can be obtained. “In case of heinous or other crimes of serious nature, which warrant immediate police intervention people have been advised to not rely on the Internet but report it to the police station concerned immediately,” explained Mr S.P. Singh, SP, Shimla.

Mandi, February 12
Ms Pratibha Singh, MP from Mandi, will inaugurate the week-long international festival of Shivratri here. Over 216 ‘devtas’ are participating in the festival. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will be the chief guest for the closing ceremony on February 23.

The Shivratri mela will feature the ‘shobha yatra’ of Lord Madhav Rai from the town to the historic Paddal Madain, the venue for the divine 'darbar' for the ‘devtas’.

Besides the ‘darbar’, visitors will get a taste of Pop and Himachali culture during the cultural nights at Seri Munch. This year, the committee has invited four artistes and two Himachali artistes for the show.

The first night would feature Abhijit, a popular Hindi playback singer. On February 18 and 19, Himachali artistes Anuj Sharma of Indian Idol fame, who hails from Kangra district and Rajiv Thapa from Chamba will perform at Seri Munch.

Local fashion designers will feature in a fashion show where traditional and modern Himachali handlooms will be on display on February 19.

Udit Narayan will perform on February 20 while qawwali singer Ahsan Bharti and Mika will perform on February 21 and 22, respectively. Others cultural troupes will also perform during these cultural nights.

The festival will feature an open wrestling championship that will carry a cash prize of Rs 20,000. The festival will feature other sports events.

Solan, February 12
The National Research Centre for Mushroom (NRCM) has been recommended to act as the national repository of mushroom collection. All researchers will deposit their cultures and collections in the national mushroom gene bank here.

Efforts will be made at the centre to develop superior hybrids of mushrooms through biotechnology.

These recommendations were made during a two-day international conference on Mushroom Biology and Biotechnology held here at the NRCM.

Stress was laid on improving the use of thermophilic microbes for quick composting and further transferring it to the users. Poor farmers would be provided integrated farming systems blending the conventional agriculture with high income generating activities like mushroom production, beekeeping, flori-culture and poultry.

It was also recommended to make use of the spent mushroom substrate as organic manure which would improve the health and productivity of the soil.

Stress was also laid on diversifying the mushroom production activity by including the common button mushroom like oyster mushroom, milky mushroom, paddy straw mushroom, shiitake and medicinal mushroom reishi. The plenary session was chaired by Dr H.P Singh, deputy director (horticulture), ICAR, Delhi.

Sundernagar, February 12
The leopard cub which was caught by residents of Lohara, Nalsar and Bhiura of Balh in Balh Valley on Tuesday evening (Feb 6) and handed over to the Forest Department and shifted to Gopalpur zoo in Kangra district expired on February 8 at Gopalpur zoo. The Conservator, Forest, Mandi Circle, ordered an inquiry into the matter to ascertain any negligence of the forest staff in handling the animals.

Two leopard cubs were spotted by residents of three villages. Many people gathered on the spot and tried to catch the leopard cubs with the help of dogs as the cubs were giving them sleepless nights. One cub ran into the nearby forest and other hid itself in a cave to be chased later by local residents with the help of dogs and handed over to forest officials in the presence of the DFO, Sundernagar. Residents said the dogs had inflicted injuries on the cub.

It was the second time residents of this locality had handed over a leopard cub after catching it to the forest department (last year a leopard was caught by residents and handed over to forest official which is thriving in Gopalpur zoo).

Forest officials brought the leopard cub to Sundernagar and it was shown to a veterinary doctor who did not examine it. Although the forest staff insisted that animals be shifted to Gopalpur zoo. Next morning it was told by forest officials that the DFO Sundernagar wanted the animal be shifted at night.

A jeep was hired and a team of four persons headed by a Deputy Ranger started journey to Gopalpur at 8 pm which is 150 km from here and the animal was handed over next morning to the zoo staff.

As the leopard cub was spotted in the morning it took eight hours to overpower it. It was in an exhausted condition when it was caught by local residents. Since dogs also chased it. Some injuries were caused to it. It required immediate medical aid which could not be provided to it and a hasty decision to transport animal to a distance of 150 km which were in exhausted condition proved fatal to animal and it breathed last on February 8 at Gopalpur. Animals were transported disregarding norms laid down by the Central Zoo Authority, Ministry of Environment and Forests.

According to Dr Sajay Pandit, veterinary doctor from poultry farm Sundernagar the cub was brought to him in a cage exhausted and wet. Decision to transport the animal was of the Forest officials.

According to Mr V.K. Singh, Conservator, Wildlife, Dharamsala, the animals were brought in injured condition to the zoo from Sundernagar and its condition started deteriorating and it expired. He added he would take necessary action when the post-mortem report was received.

According to Mr Surinder Guleria, DFO, Wildlife, Hamirpur, after death its body was consigned to flames in the presence of a committee of Forest officials after a postmortem examination on the night of February 8 in Gopalpur zoo as per provisions of the Wildlife Act.

Mr R.S. Kishtwaria, a Wildlife Expert, Palampur who used to attend animals said a team of expert doctors from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute Palampur (Kangra) conducted a post-mortem examination of cub and a report would be available in a week. He added since the animal was exhausted and injured and required immediate medical aid it was not provided in this case.

Mr C. S. Singh, a Conservator, Forest Mandi Circle said he had ordered an inquiry into the matter and action as per law would be taken against those found guilty.

According to a senior wildlife official the leopard was handled by public wrongly as they tried to chase the animal. Better course in these cases is to let animals leave the place and secondly it was handled negligently by the forest officials. Strict legal action was required in the matter, he added.

Residents claim the leopard had turned their lives miserable.

Dharamsala, February 12
The Himachal Pradesh Attorneys (Prosecution) Association has expressed its condolences to the family members of R.S. Dhaulta, District Attorney Vigilance, Shimla, who died at Shimla, recently.

In a meeting held under the chairmanship of N.K. Sharma here today, the members paid its tributes to the departed soul. A silence of two minutes was observed.