Shimla, January 8
The temperature in most parts of the state plummeted further with snow in some parts and widespread rain in the lower areas.

Girl students shiver after rain in most parts of the Kangra valley dipped the mercury on Tuesday. Tribune photo by S. Chandan, Ashok Raina

Though it has been snowing in the higher reaches of the state for the past two days, the nearby tourist resorts of Narkanda and Kufri have also been experiencing snow since this afternoon. There was more than 6 cm of snowfall at Narkanda by 4.30 p.m. The Churdhar and Haripur Dhar peaks in Sirmaur district are also reported to have experienced snow.

There have been reports of snow even from Manali and Dalhousie in Chamba district. Keylong, the district headquarters of Lahaul Spiti, recorded 15 cm of snowfall while it was 8 cm at Rekong Peo. Residents in the Pangi area of Chamba have been advised to stay indoors for fear of avalanches due to a heavy snowfall.

The day temperatures in most parts of the state went down further with the night temperature being on the rise with overcast sky. The maximum temperature in Shimla today was 10°C while the minimum temperature was 5.6°C. Sundernagar recorded a high of 14.8°C and a low of 3.9°C. The maximum temperature in Dharamsala was 12.3°C, 12.1°C at Nahan, 7.4 °C at Una

The temperature at Patsio was minus 10°C, minus 6.9 °C at Keylong and minus 1.5 °C at Dhundi and Bhang Manali and minus 1.8 °C at Kalpa.

The local MET office said that with a western disturbance lying over north Pakistan and neighbourhood, there was possibility of more rain and snow during the next 24 hours. There was possibility of a heavy snowfall at some places in the next 48 hours.

Kangra: The Kangra valley experienced rain on Tuesday, breaking a long dry spell while the Dhauladhar ranges experienced a heavy snowfall, leading to a considerable fall in the temperature.

Cloudy since morning it started raining this afternoon, inconveniencing schoolchildren the most. The regular three-hour power cut added to the trauma of the people. Reports of rain were also received from Palampur, Mallan, Jawalamukhi, Shahpur, Nagrota Bagwan, Dehra, Gaggal, Dharamsala and Gaggal. Reports of snowfall were received from Bara Bangal and Billing. The minimum temperature at Kangra was recorded at 2 °C.

Shimla, January 8
Leaving scope for further expansion, only seven or eight ministers will take oath tomorrow with most of the old faces being inducted in the first phase of the expansion of the Dhumal Cabinet.

In the first phase of the expansion of the Dhumal Cabinet, seven or eight ministers are likely to take oath tomorrow. Chief minister P.K. Dhumal, former union minister Shanta Kumar and state party chief Jai Ram Thakur returned from Delhi today after getting the list of probables approved by the high command.

Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal himself confirmed that in the first phase tomorrow only seven to eight ministers would take oath. “Since there are so many senior people it would not be possible to accommodate all of them,” he said.

The Chief Minister further added that as such the possibility of young and new faces being inducted in the first phase was quite bleak. The swearing-in ceremony will take place at Raj Bhawan at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

The BJP MLAs whose names were certain include Krishan Kapoor, J.P. Nadda, Narinder Bragta and Gulab Singh Thakur. Other probables who could be made ministers in the Dhumal Cabinet include Ravinder Singh Ravi from Kangra, Tulsi Ram from Chamba, Shraveen Chaudhary from Kangra and Harinarain Saini from Solan, Khimi Ram from Kullu.

It is learnt that the portfolios to be given to the newly inducted ministers had also been decided and the approval of the high command had been taken in this regard. Both Dhumal and Shanta Kumar held a meeting with national party chief Rajnath Singh after which the Chief Minister and in charge of party affairs in Himachal Satya Pal Jain met L.K. Advani.

It was still not certain whether state party chief Jai Ram Thakur would be inducted into the Cabinet or he would be asked to continue with the organisational responsibility. In case Jai Ram Thakur is not inducted the possibility of Roop Singh Thakur being made a minister was high. There is also a possibility that Roop Singh Thakur might be given the post of Speaker as he is a senior and experienced leader.

Some of the prominent senior MLAs who are unlikely to be inducted in the first phase of the expansion include Rajan Sushant from Kangra, Mohinder Singh from Mandi and Rikhi Ram Kaundal from Bilaspur. However, with a second expansion of the Cabinet likely to be done at a later stage after the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker are filled, some of these senior leaders could be inducted.

Shimla, January 8
Next time you visit Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, do not go by your tradition of touching feet to greet him - that does not behove the spirit of 
democracy.

Garlands, bouquets, shawls or mementoes are also not welcome from every visitor because these involve gross wastage of money.

A notice pasted on the main gate of secretariat says visitors are prohibited from touching feet of the Chief Minister and instead, every member of the delegation presenting a garland or bouquet to him, only one out of two is allowed.

The notice is put in accordance with the wishes of the Chief Minister, who is against wastage of money on purchase of garlands and bouquets to greet him and prefers to live like a commoner, sources in his office said today.

The incumbent Chief Minister wishes to change the tradition of touching feet of the Chief Minister by visitors because it is against the principles of democracy, the sources said.

The delegate or group visiting the Chief Minister could present only one garland or bouquet to him, according to the notice.

Recently talking to mediapersons during a visit to his home district of Hamirpur, Dhumal had spoken against wastage of money on bouquets, garlands, shawls and mementoes by the people or delegations visiting him. He had also asked the BJP workers not to waste money on these things.

The sources said the guideline was applicable inside the secretariat as well as outside. — PTI

Shimla, January 8
With beleaguered former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh not keen on becoming the CLP leader the Congress high command has started the exercise to choose his successor.

A meeting of the newly elected legislators has been convened here for January 10 to be attended by general secretary and in charge of party affairs in the state R.K.Dhawan. Two other senior central leaders, Mohsina Kidwai and K.C.Lenka, will also attend the meeting as observers. PCC chief Viplove Thakur will also be present.

The central leaders will reach here a day earlier and hold informal consultations with the legislators to ascertain their views regarding the choice of the new CLP leader. Former PCC chief Vidya Stokes and former irrigation and public health minister Kaul Singh are the front-runners for the spot, though the name of former Speaker Gangu Ram Musafir is also doing the rounds. Vidya Stokes has remained the CLP leader earlier too.

The normal practice has been to leave the choice of the leader to party president Sonia Gandhi but this time the party may have to decide the issue forthwith as the first session of the new Vidhan Sabha is commencing at Dharamsala on January 11. The election of the Speaker will also take place during the session.

While Sonia Gandhi will have the final word on the choice of the new leader, the views of the legislators will also be taken into consideration. Both Stokes and Kaul Singh have their supporters among the newly elected legislators. Virbhadra Singh is not taking any interest in the matter and there are indications that he may not even go for the first session of the Vidhan Sabha at Dharamsala. Sources close to him say that he is likely to visit the south for ayurvedic treatment which could take a few months.

The party had gone through a similar situation after its defeat in the 1990 assembly poll under the leadership of Virbhadra Singh. The high command had backed Vidya Stokes for the post and she did not have any problem in becoming the CLP leader. For the past three decades all CLP leaders have been from Shimla district and if the party decides to change the tradition this time the choice may fall on Kaul Singh. If he gets the nod he will be the second CLP leader from Mandi district after Sukh Ram who held the post in 1977. 

Shimla, January 8
Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal will hold the first Cabinet meeting after the swearing-in ceremony of the ministers tomorrow. The ministers will also be allocated portfolios.

The session, which was to begin on January 10, will now start on January 11. As such, the Assembly will have only two sittings, on January 11 and 14. The MLAs will be administered oath on the first day and the election of the Speaker will also be held the same day.

The Governor’s address will be on January 14.

McLeodganj, January 8
Even as the hullabaloo over violations of forest and building laws by a private construction company in the construction of bus stand and hotel-cum-parking projects coming up at McLeodganj is far from over, the state government has come up with another fresh project to construct a separate parking complex adjoining these controversial sites.

Sources in the government and local administrative circles said at least 50 pines and deodar trees in-between the bus stand site and the Nowrojee News Agency and General Store would be axed to level the land and pave the way for the construction of a new parking complex.

The previous government had silently cleared the new project just before the elections to benefit a certain construction company. The owner of the company enjoys close relations with senior politicians of the Congress and bureaucrats.

The construction works on the bus stand and hotel-cum-parking projects were stopped six months back by the central-empowered committee of the Supreme Court in response to a petition filed by Atul Bhardwaj, a Dharamsala-based environmentalist and Samir Mehta of the Bombay Environment Action Group. They had demanded the demolishing of the illegal constructions and had sought punishment for the guilty officials, who had given permission to construct them without seeking prior permission from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

CEC Chairman V.P. Jayakrishnan personally visited these controversial sites on September 27, last year. He verified the facts and heard the views of the owner of the construction company, the petitioners and the senior officials of various departments of the state government.

The state government and the DM were asked to file affidavits verifying the facts and exact position of these projects latest by January 15, before the CEC, after which a final decision would be announced by it.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the government said the idea of the new parking project was mooted keeping in view of the immediate requirement of a parking lot for taxis. The fate of the previous projects was hanging in fire. The government could not wait till the decision of the court as the congestion of traffic was increasing day-by-day in the town, the official added. 

Shimla, January 8
The power supply situation in the state has eased off somewhat due the additional supply being made available by Gujarat and Orissa.

Gujarat has agreed to provide 150 MW power during night hours as a result of which there will be no power cuts during nights for the next few days. Besides, the state electricity board has also arranged 20 MW power from Orissa during daytime. The Power Trading Corporation will also start providing 100 MW power from 10 am to 5 pm over the next couple of days.

A spokesperson of the board said efforts were on to arrange more power to meet the shortfall. The additional availability would help relax power cuts to some extent. The situation, which was changing every day, was being monitored on daily basis, he added.

The extreme cold condition, which reduced the flow in rivers and streams to a trickle, has severely affected state’s own generation. As against the normal 24 lakh units, the daily generation these days is around 20 lakh units.

The gap between demand and supply has been increasing and the overall shortfall ranges between 25 to 30 per cent. Against the daily demand of 185 lakh units, the availability has come down to 140 lakh units.

The additional availability has brought down the gap from 45 lakh units to 30 lakh units. The board was trying to manage another 20 lakh units that would help normalise the situation.

Mandi, January 8
Most of the over 60,000 BSNL prepaid customers in the Mandi region faced a harrowing time today as their outgoing mobile phone calls failed to mature due to a snag at the main operating office at Chandigarh.

The customers complained that they were not being able to make calls from their mobile phones for hours. SMS network was also affected. Similar reports were also received from other parts of the state. The snag remained unrectified for more than five hours.

BSNL officials said there was some problem in the operating system at the Chandigarh office. “However, it has been rectified and services are normal now,” they claimed.