Shimla, April 28
With BJP stalwarts Shanta Kumar and P.K. Dhumal expressing their reluctance to contest the Hamirpur byelection, the party could not decide on the prospective candidate at a high-level meeting held here today.

The meeting was presided over by former Delhi Chief Minister and in charge of party affairs in Himachal Sahib Singh Verma. He is learnt to have held separate meetings with both leaders to get their opinion at the party office. The other names discussed included former health minister J.P. Nadda and Anurag Thakur, son of Dhumal.

Other senior leaders, including former union minister Shanta Kumar, former Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal, state party chief Jai Ram Thakur, state organisation secretary Mahender Pandey and MP and former state party chief Suresh Bhardwaj attended the meeting.

This was probably the first meeting of the party where all senior leaders were present for discussing strategy for the Hamirpur byelection.

The party has decided to take feedback from various quarters to decide on the issue whether heavyweights like Shanta Kumar and Dhumal should be fielded or some other names be considered. The central election committee of the party will release the final list on May 8.

Names of candidates for the 25 wards from the over 250 applications received by the party were also shortlisted at the meeting. While there was unanimity on one name from Summer Hill, Kanlog and Tutikandi wards, only two to three names had been shortlisted from other wards.

Meanwhile, the Congress scrutiny meeting was chaired by IPH minister Kaul Singh Thakur. It was decided that those keen to contest on the party ticket must apply along with an affidavit that in case of denial of the party ticket, they would not contest against the official candidate.

Shimla, April 28
The Cabinet today granted approval for the extension of the Nalagarh-Baddi-Barotiwala Special Area (NBBSA) by including 124 hamlets along with the Swarghat-Ropar road.

The Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh here today, granted approval for the inclusion of more villages to the NBBSA. With this, the total number of villages will go up to 242 while the area under the NBBSA would increase to 312 sq km. A consultant has been engaged to prepare the master plan of the area, which is witnessing industrial boom.

The government also granted approval for filling 120 posts of specialist medical officers, which includes 45 posts in anaesthesia, 35 in obstetrics and gynaecology and 40 in surgery in the health and family welfare department. Approval was granted for filling vacant posts of house surgeons in HP Government Dental College and 40 posts of veterinary officers in the animal husbandry department.

Approval was also granted for filling 4,422 posts of different categories in various departments. This includes filling 94 posts of physical education teachers. The Cabinet also approved relaxation in educational qualifications to 1,267 daily wagers completing eight years of service in the IPH department for the regularisation of 4,108 daily wagers.

The Cabinet also approved creation of one irrigation and public health division and six subdivisions along with 32 posts of different categories for Shah Nehar project. It also approved the opening of town and country planning office at Rohru.

Nahan, April 28
A stray dog created panic in the town after it bit as many as 25 persons today. The dog went berserk and bit whosoever came in the way.

The dog, reportedly mad, attacked some schoolchildren at about 2.30 pm and went on biting every person who came in its way. No body could control the animal and the number of persons bitten by it rises to 25, including eight children and one Army man.. Eyewitnesses said the dog was very violent.

According to Dr D. K. Oberoi, chief medical officer, Sirmour, 25 persons with dog bites reported in the district hospital till late evening. Four persons with serious injuries on the different parts of their body had been referred to IGMC, Shimla, he said, adding that they required special treatment and medicines that were not available here.

The local residents said earlier the dog had bitten over 18 other dogs in the town. Fearing more such incident, they said the menace of stray dogs had risen in the recent past with no action from the authorities.

The resident said the dog was big in size and it was very difficult to counter its violent attacks, which is why some people who tried to control the animal were severely bitten. There are over 200 stray dogs roaming in the streets of the town without any check, the locals added.

Meanwhile, a team of workers from the local Municipal Council went to catch the dog but in vain. MC executive officer R. R. Sharma and vice-chairman Avinash Gupta were also out with the MC team in the hunt for the animal.

Sharma said some villager near the cantonment area killed the dog late this evening and it was buried by the MC workers. 

Chamba, April 28
As many as 30 children have been hit by a mysterious fever in the interior most Kugti tribal village of Bharmour tribal subdivision in Chamba district. The outbreak of the fever was initially noticed amongst two-three children of the village early this week, but it soon gripped about 30 children.

Observing the seriousness of the matter, the villagers reported the mater to local MLA Thakur Singh Bharmouri and the block medical officer of the Primary Health Centre, Bharmour.

Bharmouri has directed the medical officer to send a team of doctors and paramedical staff along with medicines and other related apparatus. The team is yet to reach the village.

The tribal village is having a health sub-centre and an ayurvedic dispensary both however, are running without doctors and other staff.

Bharmour has also directed the medical department to depute a doctor temporarily for camping in the area.

Meanwhile, Jia Lal, state president, tribal morcha of the BJP expressed concern over the plight of the villagers and blasted the Congress government for depriving the village of basic amenities. 

Dharamsala, April 28
At a time when the state government is busy finalising reforms in the overall functioning of the police system in order to streamline the civil justice delivery system in the hill state, Kangra district police has shown some remarkable results with 100 per cent increase in conviction rates with the overall figures of solving the heinous crimes standing at 96 per cent during the last year.

As per the details available, the district police had managed to solve 96 per cent of the total cases registered under heinous crimes last year.

On the other hand, the conviction rate in criminal cases that was just 7.5 per cent in 2005 had jumped to 15.64 per cent in 2006. The conviction rate in heinous crimes like murder, rape and attempt to rape, it was 15 per cent in 2005. The figures jumped to 25 per cent last year.

SP Ajay Yadav told The Tribune that he had initiated few changes in the system of investigations that had given good results. The main stress had been given on preparing the witnesses for recording statements in the court, getting scientific inputs into collecting evidences and of course good legal opinion in important cases.

It may be mentioned that the state police had recently circulated questionnaires, seeking public opinion on bringing reforms in the working system of the police.

The measures adopted by the Kangra police could well be implemented in the state, comments Vishav Chakshu Puri, a local lawyer.

He says a holistic proposal which forces everyone to assume responsibility for the process of delivery at different stages of investigations and trials will be effective in preventing negligence and undue delays.

Meanwhile, state principal secretary of home affairs and vigilance bureau S. Vijay Kumar held a meeting with police officials at Dharamsala today to review the law and order situation and discuss the proposed reforms.

The official who had recently appointed law officers in the offices of the SPs at all district headquarters to assist the police, was impressed with the improvement in the conviction rate in Kangra district and suggested ways and means to further improve it.

Shimla, April 28
A meeting of the executive council (EC) of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) was held here today. Vice-chancellor Anil Wilson chaired the meeting. Keeping in view the model code of conduct in force due to the Shimla municipal corporation elections, the EC did not take up issues pertaining to appointment and promotions. Only academic issues were taken up during the meeting.

The council approved the recommendations made by the faculty of physical sciences, engineering and technology and education with some changes.

The other academic decisions taken by the EC included the revision of the syllabi and scheme of examination for BSc courses, approval of examination scheme and syllabus of BTech (textile technology), bringing ordinances pertaining to BPharmacy in line with those in other technology courses and approval of modifications in the MEd syllabus.

The vice-chancellor made special reference of the academic activities being held on the campus. He said the national conference organised by the chemistry department on ‘Recent advances in analytical sciences and applications’ was perhaps one of the biggest conference held on the campus in recent years.

Shimla, April 28
The CPM today issued the first list of candidates to be fielded from eight of the 25 municipal corporation (MC) wards.

Addressing a press conference here today, CPM district committee secretary Sanjay Chauhan and Tikender Singh Panwar said the party had finalised the names of eight candidates. “The CPM will field its candidates in 15 wards, while it will enter into an alliance in the remaining 10,” he said. As per the list, Thakur will contest on the party ticket from ward number 1, Malvinder Kaur - ward 3, Dhani Ram Kashyap - ward 5, Tripta Gill - ward 11, Kishori Dhadwalia - ward 13, Subhash Sharma - ward 19, Meera Sharma - ward 20 and Daleep Kaisth - ward 22.

Chauhan said the CPM was committed to provide a viable alternative to the present Congress-ruled Shimla MC.

“For achieving the purpose, the CPM will form a broad front of various political organisations and progressive individuals who are concerned about the development of the town,” he said.

Shimla, April 28
The six-bedded intensive care unit (ICU) at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) was made fully operational from today.

The IGMC principal said critically sick patients had been admitted to the unit. This was done after undertaking the mandatory fumigation process and receipt of the laboratory report that the place was germ-free, the principal added.

Shimla, April 28
The state Election Commission (SEC) has appointed the deputy commissioner, Shimla, as the authorised officer for filing details of election expenses under Section 13-B of the Himachal Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1994.

The SEC said every contesting candidate could incur expenditure up to Rs 15,000, under Rule 34 of the HP Municipal (election) Rules, 1994. The account of expenditure will be kept in a register as per form number 25. The details of expenditure will have to be filed within 30 days from the date of declaration of results.

The candidates have been directed to maintain all documents in this connection.

Andretta (Palampur), April 28
Andretta, a small village situated 10 km from Palampur, is known as a village of artists. It is sad that the state government, so far, has not declared it as a heritage monument. The village has the potential of attracting tourists from all over.

Nora Richard, an Irish writer and dramatist came to the village in mid-30’s and permanently settled here. She taught drama to students from Punjab and various other parts of the country in the village. Later, she was honoured by Punjabi University, Patiala. She donated her house and land to Punjabi university, which is preserving it as a heritage monument.

Students from Punjabi University on October 29, every year, come here and celebrate the birth anniversary of Nora Richard. They enact a drama in her memory. From Lahore, Nora had also called B.C. Sanyal, a well known painter, and sculptor and professor Jaidyal. They had also lived in the village.

Famous artist Sardar Sobha Singh, the painter of Sikh Guru, also settled here and lived until his death. After Nora’s death in 1971, there was vacuum in cultural activities here. Now, B.C. Sanyal’s daughter, Amba, has started a new venture, - Nora’s Centre for Arts”.

Mini, son of Sardar Gurcharan Singh, has also settled down here. He has started an “Andretta Pottery and Craft Society”. The society sells its rangoli-patterned glazed earthern ware all over the world. Besides, Mini had also set up a museum with complete collection of Himachal village pottery, which is on the verge of extinction today.

Dharamsala, April 28
While inaugurating a sniffer dogs training centre at Palampur, today, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) director-general Tilak Kak said they had also planned to start a transport wing comprising horses and mules for faster movement of men and material in the difficult terrains of the upper Himalayan regions.

He said 400 horses and mules would soon be inducted in the force.

He said security assignments of Indo-Nepalese and Indo-Bhutanese borders were different from patrolling on other border areas as there were no visa restrictions on these routes.

There were about 60 posts situated at a height of more than 9,000 feet being manned by the SSB on Indo-Nepalese and Indo-Bhutanese borders, where no motorable roads existed and it was difficult to transport material there, he said. The DG said, earlier, a small number of their dogs were trained at the centres of the Border Security Force but now it was felt that sniffer dogs could play a vital role in patrolling on high altitudes. Presently, 50 dogs were deployed by the SSB and about 150 more were required, the DG said. Since, the BSF was not in a position to train so many dogs that was the reason as to why the SSB had decided to set up its own training centre at Palampur.

Chamba, April 28
The reservoir of the Chamera Dam in Chamba district cannot by itself be an independent tourist attraction. It can, of course, serve as an additional charm for the tourists visiting the Chamba valley.

The agencies responsible for tourism development have not yet identified any attractions nor explored the prospects of places in the valley, which attract tourists.

Though certain plans to harness tourism in the lake have been drawn up and some time ago a ‘tourism cooperative society’ was formed but all these remain in the doldrums. Tourism in the valley has to be geared up to catch up with development in other parts of the country.

The river Ravi flows through deep valleys and has no approachable banks. Its major tributary meeting just upstream of the dam is the Siul river. Geologically, the mountains in this region are comparatively fragile and are not sturdy enough to withstand pressures. Ruthless deforestation through decades has made them more vulnerable.

The dam site is at Chaurah and the two tails of reservoir extend up to Sundla on the Siul and up to Kiyani on the Ravi.

For a long time, the people of this region have been thinking in terms of tourism, which hopefully is the only alternative left for them to earn a decent living.

The reason for this situation is the unorganised development of the region. The valley is narrow and does not have wide banks, except at few places near Udaypur, Kiyani and Rajpura. At both these places the tail of the reservoir is not deep enough for various activities. However, rides along the river on boats or a ferry can be made an attraction. Fish farming can be developed in the reservoir besides water sports, which can hardly be witnessed in the past few years, need to be introduced.

The poor accessibility around the lake will remain the biggest hurdle in the way of development. First of all, an intensive survey for the identification of certain areas for the development has to be conducted where integrated tourist infrastructure may be provided and designed to beckon tourists.

The tourist infrastructure includes a properly constructed and well-maintained road network, parking facilities, hotels and restaurants and a commercial shopping facility and above all an affordable transport.

The summer and post-monsoon season of Chamba is charming. The Chamera dam, which on one hand is generating power for the nation, may be used to add to the prospects of tourism as well.

The District Tourism Development Office (DTDO), located at Chamba, is at the moment run by a clerk and a peon with an additional charge of the District Tourism Development Officer, Dharamsala.

The tourism activities in Dalhousie-Chamba tourist circuit to attract tourists cannot be boosted unless a permanent DTDO is posted here.