Solan, July 10
The district and sessions judge, Solan, today remanded Sanjay Gupta, a 1988-batch IAS officer and Ashok Sehgal, plant manager, General Industries Corporation (GIC), who were caught with Rs 2 lakh in cash from a private hotel at Parwanoo yesterday, to one-day police remand. The duo was produced in the district courts this evening.

Earlier, the police found cash worth Rs 2.5 lakh at the Kasumpti-based official residence of Gupta at Shimla and about 750 gm gold and some silver.

In addition to this bank lockers and several passbooks belonging to him and his wife were confiscated from his father’s residence in Panchkula last evening.

Another bank locker keys have been found from his Shimla residence. Officials in the vigilance and anti-corruption bureau said his offices were also searched and certain records were taken into custody.

It may be mentioned that the officer who held the charge of MD, HP GIC, as well as HP Financial Corporation was under the bureau’s scanner for quite some time.

Highly-placed sources revealed that adequate information about his involvement in several such deals had come through where Sehgal had been acting as his conduit who procured money from industrialists.

The antecedents of Sehgal, whose tenure in the HIMFED was marred by several financial irregularities, were also being inquired into.

Officials were trying to trace the origin of the money and it was learnt that the cash was stacked in an envelope bearing the address of a Nalagarh-based industrial unit.

Gupta was earlier too embroiled in a corruption-related case where he was booked for irregularities in the purchase of linked chains and high density pipes while he was posted as project director, Desert Development Project, Peo, in 1994-1995.

The case involved irregularities worth Rs 55 lakh but the case after being inquired into in 1994 had been handed over to the CID. However, the then BJP government did not grant it prosecution sanction.

Shimla, July 10
The new state BJP chief Khimi Ram today said that his endeavour would be to bring about decorum in the party as small acts of indiscipline like going to the media on party matters reflected badly on the government.

He was talking to media persons at the state BJP headquarters here today in the presence of Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal and outgoing BJP president and now minister, Jai Ram Thakur.

“When people go to the media on petty affairs it negates the entire work and achievements of the state government,” he said.

Khimi Ram said the performance of the BJP regime headed by Dhumal during its one and a half year rule had been very impressive and the party must benefit from it.

He said that he would like to gear up the party organisation with an eye on the panchayati raj elections.

Speaking on the occasion Dhumal said the organisation would get the full support and help of the government.

“The government cannot raise an organisation but the organisation can help formation of many governments,” he remarked.

He said the party could be in and out of power but the organisation would always remain supreme.

The chief minister said the BJP would register victory both at Jwali and Rohru for which by-elections were to be held.

Minister for the Panchayati Raj, Jai Ram Thakur said he was very satisfied with his tenure as the party chief.

“During my tenure as state BJP chief the party fared well as we won two Hamirpur Lok Sabha by-elections, assembly elections and three of the four parliamentary seats,” he said.

Dharamsala, July 10
The Congress leadership in the state is criticising the state government for making three parliamentary secretaries. However, the party leaders are perplexed on moving court against the move.

A few of the senior Congress leader on condition of anonymity said, “How can we move court against the act framed by our own government.”

The state leaders have in fact chosen to criticise the BJP government on moral grounds. State president of the Youth Congress Manmohan Katoch said they would expose the BJP on the issue in the entire state.

The statements would be published in the form of leaflets and distributed among the public to expose the real face of the BJP leaders. They have dual standards that they adopt while out of power or in power.

It is irony that despite contesting case against installation of parliamentary secretaries by the Congress up to the Supreme Court, the same BJP leaders were now supporting the move.

He also alleged that the maximum representation in the Cabinet had been given to the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency. The constituencies like Shimla and Kangra have been ignored.

Spokesperson of the HPCC and former MLA OP Rattan has alleged that the BJP had lost face in the state by appointing parliamentary secretaries.

He alleged that in the expansion of the ministry a particular section of society had been given benefit.

By making parliamentary secretaries, the present government has illustrated that all was not well in the state BJP.

The factionalism has already started creeping into the party with senior leaders like HN Saini airing their grievances openly.

Dharamsala, July 10
Debate has been initiated at the national level regarding the role being played in higher education by deemed universities that have mushroomed across the country in the past few years.

A survey by The Tribune in Kangra district revealed that many deemed universities have set up their shops in the area.

The university centres being run just in shops in some cases were duping students and taking benefit of lacunae in the system.

The state and deemed universities that have opened up centres in Dharamsala include Manipur University, Jadhavpur University, ICFAI etc.

The centres here are offering all types of courses ranging from MBA, BBA, BCA and many professional courses.

The fee being charged from students in some cases was in lakhs. After union minister for HRD Kapil Sibal had announced that the status of deemed universities would be reviewed the ICFAI centres have stopped taking students.

The ICFAI University centre here had refunded the fee of about 45 students they had enrolled for the current session.

ICFAI is a deemed university stationed at Hyderabad. The UGC had not approved any of the outstation centres of the university.

However, the people running the centre here had been giving degrees to candidates from various state universities based in Uttarakhand and Sikkim.

Sources said the student intake had been stopped from this year, as the university authorities feared the wrath of the Union Ministry for HRD.

Now, that new students are not being taken, old students of the centre are perplexed about their status.

Though the ICFAI university centre had a building, other universities centres operating in the region are being run from shops.

The sources said deemed to be universities are registered under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956. They are not allowed to run outstation centres.

The state universities are registered under Section 2 (f) of the Act. Though the Union HRD Ministry had decided to review the working of deemed to be universities, it should also keep a check on the state universities.

Himachal is fast becoming another hub for state universities. The state government in the recent past had given permission to many education societies to open up private universities in the state.

However, the deemed or state universities have been mushrooming in the country for the past about 10 years.

Mandi, July 10
Rejecting the magisterial inquiry into the alleged case of medical negligence at Zonal Hospital, Mandi, on June 29, the HP Medical Officers Association (HPMOA) yesterday urged Chief Minister PK Dhumal to form a technical committee to look into the case.

They demanded to cancel the transfer order of medical superintendent Dr DP Handa, as no case of negligence has been found on his part.

Supporting Dr Handa, the HPMOA opposed the magisterial inquiry at the meeting and transfer of Dr Handa into the case would come as a setback to doctors in general as he had done a good work in improving services at the hospital.

“There is no negligence in the case related to the premature delivery of patient on part of the MS,” they asserted.

HPMOA general secretary Dr Jiva Nand Chauhan said they had faxed the letter to the CM to constitute a technical committee to look into to the matter, as magisterial inquiry was not acceptable to doctors.

The magisterial inquiry as happened at the government medical college at Tanda in the ragging case had no solution unless a technical committee was constituted as the Supreme Court did in the Aman Kachroo case, he said.

The HPMOA claimed that transfer order of Dr Handa should be cancelled, as it would dampen the morale of doctors who are putting in extra work improving services for patients at the hospital.

“Dr Handa should be asked to go on leave till technical committee submits its report in the case,” they said.

On the hand, patient Anita Kumari and her husband had reasons to be furious over the delay of 20 minutes at the gate of the ground floor, as it was their male child after three daughters.

But the patient suffered acute pain a day before the delivery and a 31-week-old baby was brought dead inside the labour room, said doctors.

Before requesting Dhumal to cancel Handa’s transfer, the HPMOA took the matter of constituting a technical committee with Health Minister Rajiv Bindal. He had assured them that “he would take up the matter with the CM”.

Shimla, July 10
Peeved at the privatisation of health services and hike in user charges, the CPM today staged a protest outside the IGMC here.

CPM leaders accused the BJP regime of having converted government hospitals into money collecting shops.

“Rogi Kalyan Samitis (RKS) that were formed to protect the interest of patients are being used to fleece people by ordering an exorbitant increase in charges at hospitals,” alleged district committee secretary Sanjay Chauhan.

Member, State Secretariat, Tikender Panwar said the very concept of the public-private partnership was a step towards privatisation that would ultimately make health services unaffordable for the common man.

He said women were the worst hit as the charges of delivery had been enhanced from Rs 75 to between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 along with many other charges for stay in the hospital.

They said a massive campaign would be launched to protest against the hike in user charges all over the state.

Manali, July 10
With mercury rising in the plains and the monsoon continuing to elude the Kullu valley, Manali is witnessing a healthy rush of domestic and foreign tourists.

The day time weather is comfortably warm while the evenings are pleasantly cool.

This year Manali has become the most popular tourist destination in peak season of May and June among visitors and still a large number of tourists are thronging this internationally famous tourist destination every day.

According to SDM, Manali, Rajeshwer Goel, this year there was about 25 per cent increase in the traffic flow to Kullu-Manali compared to the last year.

There are 571 registered hotels in Kullu-Manali , 50 restaurants and bar, 412 travel agents, 319 outdoor photographers and 106 guides, he added.

He said this year adventure tourism was seeing a rapid increase in the Kullu valley.

The main attraction for the tourists was the 13, 050 high Rohtang Pass, which was popularly known as “snow point.”

Deluxe buses, cars and taxis can be seen in hundreds driven towards the Rohtang Pass every day.

DSP, Manali, Ashish Sharma, said in spite of heavy increase in number of tourists this year traffic in Manali region remained well under control.

Unlike previous years there were no traffic jams as proper strength of police officials along with walkie talkie sets were deployed in Manali town as well as on the Manali- Rohtang Pass road, he added.

Sharma said a motor cycle and a van were being kept on the move on this route.

In addition to this a large number of sign boards to educate visitors regarding parking places were installed.