Shimla, May 24
The incident of alleged ragging at the Bishop Cotton School (BCS) has turned out to be a case of minor altercation among students over shifting of beds.

The report of the fact-finding inquiry into the incident, conducted by the deputy commissioner on the direction of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, has concluded that it was not ragging or bullying of junior resident students but only a skirmish.

The fact-finding report, received by the state government, said the incident was only an altercation over shifting of beds of students in the dormitory.

One new entrant junior student was finding himself out of place with the new school environment and caused confusion.

The Chief Minister said the Head Master of the BCS had got conducted the fact- finding inquiry and reported the same through the deputy commissioner with complete facts and figures and statements of the students named in the incident.

He said all named students denied their involvement in any such incident, which actually had not taken place at all.

He said the BCS happened to be one of the oldest and globally reputed educational institutions where students took admission from different parts of the world and the management shouldered full responsibility and took parent-like care of the children during their studentship.

Such an incident had not been reported from BCS in the past. It was unfortunate that a minor skirmish between the young students had been termed as ragging.

He said the students carried out their academic pursuits in a strict environment and there was zero tolerance for disturbance of any kind.

The school authorities kept a strict vigil over the movements and activities of its students, leaving no chance for students to involve themselves in indiscipline.

Dhumal asserted that his government was committed to make Himachal Pradesh a ‘ragging-free state’ and it had already promulgated a legislation to make ragging a cognisable offence, attracting fine and imprisonment.

The law and order authorities had been asked to take strict action against students involved in ragging activities in private and public sector educational institutions.

He urged the people to remain vigilant against such incidents and cooperate in maintaining a conducive academic atmosphere to help make the hill state an educational hub of the country.

All the educational institutions had been directed to print important telephone numbers in the prospectus so that the students could contact the highest authorities in any emergent situation.

Shimla, May 24
The public sector Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) organised a marathon here today to create awareness among people and underline the need to save energy as part of its foundation day celebrations.

Chairman-cum-managing director of the SJVN HK Sharma flagged off the 3.5-km race in which a large number of employees and members of their family participated.

Starting from the state secretariat at Chotta Shimla, the marathon concluded at Hotel Peterhof via the Mall.

The marathon was organised to propagate the "Save Energy" message among the people of the state capital.

The participants were divided in four categories --- men, women, veterans and children. The first three positions in the men’s category were bagged by Ashish Kumar, Arun Bhatia and Rajat Kainthla respectively.

Similarly, Sonia Sharma, Meena and Kavita Verma won the first , second and third positions respectively, in the women’s category.

Ratan Lal Sharma, IS Dhiman and Chatarr Singh won in the veterans’ class and Pushkar Sharma, Anurag and Abhinav Sharma in the children’s category.

The SJVN was founded on May 24, 1988, in the name of Nathpa Jhakri Power Corporation for the implementation of 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Project.

Over the years, the company has expanded its operations from a single unit to multi-unit and from a single state to multi-state operator.

It is implementing three projects in Himachal Pradesh, three in Uttarakhand, one in Nepal and two in Bhutan.

Shimla, May 24
Mild to moderate showers across the state provided the much-needed relief to the people, who have been reeling under intense heat.

The high velocity winds, which accompanied the rain, brought down a sharp decline in the day temperature.

The forest department heaved a sigh of relief as the showers doused the raging forest fires and cleared the layer of smoke and dust, which obscured the hill ranges.

The maximum temperature in the state capital dipped to 22.7 degree Celsius and minimum to 15.4 degree Celsius. In all 5 mm of rain was recorded.

Dharamsala recorded the highest rainfall of 10 mm. Sundernagar, Solan, Kalpa, Mandi, Manali and Bhuntar also received mild showers.

Kalpa in Kinnaur was the coldest with a minimum of 4.2 degree Celsius and maximum of 24 degree Celsius.

The local met office has forecast dry weather for plains and lower hill areas and isolated rain and thundershowers for mid-hills and higher reaches.

Kangra (OC): The Kangra valley on Sunday experienced hailstorm and rain and mild snowfall on the higher reaches of Dhauladhar mountain range overlooking the lush green Kangra valley.

It was a hot summer day as usual but in the afternoon, the sky got overcast with clouds and it rained giving respite to the people from the scorching heat.

The higher reaches of the Dhauladhar mountain range experienced mild snowfall bringing down the temperature in the valley.

Reports of rain were received from Dharamsala, Palampur, Mallan, Shahpur, Gaggal, Nagrota Bagwan and Jawalamukhi. Kangra town experienced rain and hail with storm.

The pilgrims, who were there at Jawalamukhi in large numbers, it being a Sunday, were rushing for shelter following heavy rain in the town today.

The valley experienced hail and storm, damaging the litchi and mango fruit crops. Agriculture experts said litchi and mango crops were affected by hail and storm, both qualitatively and quantitatively.

The experts said had the rain continued for some more time, it would have been good for the crops, including maize.

Shimla, May 24
Hundreds of patients suffering from retina and vitreous diseases have to go out of state for treatment because of lack of facilities for advanced medical care here.

The state boasts of two medical colleges, but it does not have a retina surgeon and the advanced equipment required to provide retina services.

As the patients of diabetes, hypertension, vascular and collagen tissue disease, AIDS, degenerative disease and cancer generally develop retina vitreous diseases, these services have become essential.

The state also does not have the facilities for carrying out advance investigations of glaucoma. In absence of eye banks, even cornea grafting, for which surgeons are available, is not being carried out in the state.

Thus, a majority of eye patients have no option but to go to Chandigarh, Pathankot, Amritsar, Ludhiana and other places for treatment.

It is not only a time-consuming and costly affair, but also causes inconvenience to the patients and their attendants. They are virtually fleeced by private surgeons.

Recently, laser-based retinal photocoagulation treatment was started at the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) here, but it will serve only a fraction of patients.

The advanced equipment required for retino-vitreous surgery like endo-laser machine, microscope and lenses, costs around Rs 1 crore, which is not a huge amount keeping in view the large government spending on the health sector.

When the eyes of diabetic patients get affected, they have no choice but to go out of the state for pan retinal photocoagulation. Same was the case with diseases that required retinal surgery.

As many of the patients do no have the resources to frequently visit retina centres outside the state, most of them end up losing their eyesight. The problem could be solved if retina surgeons are made available at Shimla, Dharamsala and Mandi.

Government hospitals are not even concerned about properly maintaining the equipment that is available.

For instance, the phacoemulsification system, slit lamp and a microscope at Ripon Hospital are out of order since February.

The District Blindness Control Society has ample funds for repairs and maintenance, but these are not being put to good use.

There are three eye surgeons in the hospital and with one out of the two sets of equipment out of order, only half the number of patients can be operated here.

Shimla, May 24
The challenge from fanatics and extremists notwithstanding, the inability of popular governments to deliver is emerging as the main bottleneck in promotion and strengthening of democracies across the world, says Mark Salter, an expert from the Stockholm-based Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).

“Mere installation of a democratic regime is not enough, it has to deliver on the governance front and fulfil the expectations of the people for a smooth and lasting transition to democracy. It is a tall order as new elected governments lack requisite skills and capacity to govern and these cannot be built overnight,” Slater said.

He was here to attend a meeting on “Customary governance and democracy building” held at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study.

“While guiding principles of democracy are universal, a uniform pattern of democracy could not be implemented across the globe because of traditional authorities and systems of governance, social and communal conflicts and other peculiar local factors that come into play. The best course is not to superimpose a system and rather to build on the customary governance structures by carefully identifying the issues they pose for democracy. It is a long-drawn process, but essential for a smooth and lasting transition with deepening of roots of democratic governance. For instance, in India the traditional structure of governance was available the form of panchayati raj,” he explained.

The democratic system must evolve from within for which the IDEA had been playing the role of a facilitator and providing all possible assistance, Salter said.

Kojo Busia, an expert from the Economic Commission of Africa, threw light on other challenges for democratic governance like management of diversity, conflict resolution, corruption and lack of accountability of leaders.

There were a number of countries in Latin America, Africa and other parts of the world where indigenous factors were of great significance for stability of democracy.

Besides drawing positives from the traditional structures of governance, indigenous knowledge was the richest resource for environment management, which was an area of urgent concern in view of global warming and climate change, he said.

At least 20 experts from across the world representing various organisations engaged in the promotion of democracy participated in the two-day meeting that concluded here today.

Dharamsala, May 24
The recent Lok Sabha elections have seen resurgence of national parties. It is a positive trend. The people have voted maturely and rejected caste-based, regional and vote bank politics.

This was stated by national vice-president of the BJP and former Chief Minister of the state Shanta Kumar while addressing a press conference here today.

He was accompanied by state minister for transport Kishan Kapoor and district president of BJP Vipin Parmar.

Though the BJP had won lesser seats, yet it had emerged as the second biggest party in the country. The NDA also emerged as the second largest coalition.

This indicated that the people of the country were moving towards two-party system in the country.

The emergence of regional parties over the past two decades and unstable governments at the Centre, except the NDA government headed by Atal Behari Vajpayee, were not in the interest of the country.

The NDA and the UPA would emerge as two main national political coalitions in the country in future, he said.

Shanta Kumar also admitted that there was strong undercurrent among the masses in favour of the UPA. The BJP and other parties failed to gauge that.

A brain storming exercise was going on within the party to look into the reasons for its defeat in the current elections, he said.

He, however, added that despite a strong undercurrent across the country, the prospects of the BJP were not hit in Himachal where it won three of the four seats. It was a referendum on the working of the state government, he said.

On the question of former Congress Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh being denied a cabinet berth in the first lot, Shanta Kumar said Virbhadra Singh was a grassroot-level leader who won the Mandi seat despite a BJP wave in the state.

By denying him the cabinet berth, the Congress had rejected the popular mandate. This would definitely work in favour of the BJP in the coming days, he added.

Hamirpur, May 24
A section of Congressmen in the state are trying to portray the elevation of Anand Sharma, a Rajya Sabha member from the state, to the Union Cabinet as a setback to the newly elected Lok Sabha MP and former Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh.

There are many in the state Congress who feel this is just being done to create discord between the two senior Congress leaders.

A section of the Congressmen was hoping that Virbhadra Singh would be inducted into the Union Cabinet keeping in view his seniority and vast experience --- he served as the Chief Minister of the state for five terms --- it felt let down when his name did not figure in the team of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

There are many Congressmen who say, “Elevation of Anand Sharma to the Union Cabinet has been made purely on the basis of merit and his performance as Minister of State (MOS) for Foreign Affairs in the outgoing Manmohan Singh government. Moreover, it is the prerogative of the PM to choose his Cabinet.”

Few Congressmen also “see a design in the move, terming it as a setback to Virbhadra Singh. It is just an attempt to create a divide between the former and Anand Sharma to foster their own interests by fanning factionalism in the party.”

They claim, “While Virbhadra Singh has served as the CM of the state for almost two decades, he still is one of the most respected leaders of the state and if the PM and the Congress high command feel like using his services at the Centre, he will be given responsibility according to his stature.”

Anand Sharma’s supporters in the state Congress also narrate various development schemes undertaken in Himachal with his initiative as MOS “while the state got benefited to the tune of Rs 23,000 crore through different projects given by the UPA; while Anand Sharma also used his good relations with the PM and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi for brining these projects to the state. He also contributed in the revival of CRI, Kasauli, etc.”

Commenting on the issue general secretary and spokesman of the state Congress Kuldeep Rathor said, “Anand Sharma has been inducted into the Union Cabinet by the PM for his performance and merit and the state will definitely benefit by this.”