The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Himachal Pradesh Edition

By-elections: Political activity picks up
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 6
With the announcement of by-elections to the Rohru and Jwali assembly segments on November 7, political activity in the state has picked up even though the formal announcement of the candidates by both the ruling BJP as well as the Congress is yet to be done.

The polling in the two assembly segments will be held on November 7 while the counting of votes will take place on November 10. Even though the code of conduct in the two districts of Kangra and Shimla has come into effect from today itself but the notification in this regard will be issued on October 14. The last date for filing of nominations is October 21 and the last date for withdrawal is October 24.

The Rohru seat earlier held by Union Minister Virbhadra Singh has been lying vacant ever since he resigned from the assembly after being elected to the Lok Sabha. The Jwali seat in Kangra was with the BJP till its legislator, Rajan Sushant, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kangra seat.

As far as the Congress party is concerned, the candidates are a foregone conclusion and only a formal announcement is to be made. With Virbhadra Singh representing the Rohru seat continuously from 1990 onwards, his wife and former MP Pratibha Singh is the strongest contender the party can field.

“She is a known face as she has extensively campaigned for her husband in Rohru while he remained busy in electioneering in other parts of the state,” said a senior Congress leader. In Jwali too, the candidature of Sujan Singh Pathania, who lost to Sushant is almost certain.

It is the BJP which is still undecided about its candidate from Jwali as there are a number of contenders. Besides, Sudha Sushant, wife of Rajan Sushnat, his brother and some other BJP leaders are also in the race for the party ticket. “It is a fact that Sushnat’s wife has resigned as a government teacher to contest the elections but as far as the party is concerned, no decision has been taken so far,” said a senior office bearer.

Even Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal today said the state election committee would shortly decide on the name of the candidates. “It is the achievements of the BJP regime in Himachal and the discriminatory attitude of the Centre which will be our main poll planks,” he said.

As far as Rohru seat is concerned, BJP is almost certain to field Khsuhi Ram Balnatah, who has always tasted defeat at the hands of a stalwart like Virbhadra. With BJP being in power and Virbhadra himself not being in the field, Balnatah would be seeking sympathy votes.

BCS celebrations end
Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 6
The five-day sesquicentennial celebrations at Bishop Cotton School (BCS) today got over with a Chapel Service and the release of a commemorative stamp by the Postal Department to mark the occasion.

Union Minister for Steel Virbhadra Singh was the chief guest on the occasion. He formally declared the sports meet open as students took part in athletics, gymnastics and other events. The school also conferred the highly elite “Spartan” title on Virbhadra Singh, who is also an alumnus of the BCS.

The grand finale got over with an impressive torchlight-massed PT display by 360 students.

Earlier in the day, the Postal Department released Rs 5 stamp, bearing the impressive school building photograph and the stained glass window of the founder of BCS, Bishop George Edward Lynch Cotton, in the school Chapel.

With today being the death anniversary of Bishop George Cotton, homage was paid to him by the school. It was on this day in 1863 that he had passed away in a tragic accident. It was on July 28, earlier this year that the 1956 batch along with the school commissioned his bust on the campus.

The school also remembered those students who had laid down their lives during the Great World War between 1914-18, Indo-Pak war- 1947, Palestinian War- 1948 and in the World War- II between 1927 to 1936.

BSNL appoints private agents to recover dues
Our Correspondent

Solan, October 6
With default payments mounting to several lakhs, the BSNL has appointed private recovery agents to recover their dues. This step will help the telecom department to recover dues that failed to be recovered in the absence of a stringent recovery system. Several industries had pending dues to the tune of lakhs, which failed to be recovered despite a lapse of several years.

GM Solan Secondary Switching Area Ashwani Salwan, while interacting with the media on the occasion of ninth BSNL week, said the step would help recover pending revenue from the defaulters.

Salwan also listed various new schemes that had been made available by the BSNL. It included blackberry services, prepaid WLL, roaming on WLL data card and lifetime free SIM card.

Seeing popularity of mobile phones among students, the BSNL had reintroduced the student power scheme for prepaid connections. After the successful launch of 3G mobile services in Shimla, the BSNL was now in the process of launching it in Solan, Baddi and Nahan. In addition to this field, trial of IPTV services was in process and this would also be launched soon, the GM informed.

He also informed that with a view to encouraging landline connections an innovative scheme whereby a free lifetime plan SIM would be made available to customers who have a landline connection for more than five years. This basic telephone service had taken a dip after the introduction of mobile phones with customers preferring to get their connections disconnected. This scheme was aimed at encouraging the use of landline telephones.

When asked about the slipshod services of the staff in failing to provide information about their various schemes to customers, the GM said a nodal officer had been appointed to address such issues.

Probe ordered into field irrigation racket
Tribune News Service

Mandi, October 6
The Agriculture Department has ordered an inquiry into the “Rs 7.96-lakh field irrigation scheme racket” that was exposed by the Right to Information (RTI) Act at Bandish village under Katola panchayat in Drang in these columns. The district agricultural officer, Mandi, has been entrusted to submit report within a week.

Though preliminary inquiry into the field irrigation scheme has found “local political tussle” in the whole issue between the two rival groups at Katola, the fact remains that villagers have never received water in the irrigation Kuhal after a few months it was completed by the soil conservation wing of the Agricultural Department.

According to villagers, even if it is political tussle it is for welfare of the villagers. “We are sufferers as Rs 7.96 lakh was spent on the scheme which is as good as defunct today,” they asserted.

The villagers demanded action into the case bringing erring officials of the soil conservation wing and the executive agency, Krishak Vikas Sangh (KVS), headed by the then panchayat pradhan, Katola, to book. Even the department has not cared a bit for repairing the scheme as it has spent Rs 7.96 lakh on it in 2007, they said.

The villagers said the soil conservation officer would not do justice to them, as the wing was party in the case. “The inquiry should be done by an independent agency so that truth comes out,” they demanded.

On the other hand, deputy director, Agriculture, Manmohan Singh said the DAO had been deputed to probe into the matter and would submit report within a week. “We are allotting funds for repair of the scheme,” he added admitting that the scheme lies defunct.

Raid-de-Himalaya begins today
Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 6
Expressing concern over the process of climate change Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today underlined the need for organising eco-friendly car rallies to preserve the fragile Himalayan ecology.

He said the global warming was posing a grave challenge to the human beings and it could be stopped by taking environment friendly measures. The state government had already initiated various steps directed towards the preservation and conservation of Himalayan ecology which needed to be supplemented by every environment conscious citizen. Protecting the greenery and scenery of Himachal Pradesh was essential for maintaining its natural beauty.

He performed the flagging off ceremony of the 11th edition of the Raid-de-Himalaya car rally being organised by the Himalayan Motorsport Association in collaboration with the state tourism department and the state youth service and sports department.

The event will commence tomorrow morning when 108 participants competing in X-Treme and Adventure Trials versions of the rally takeoff for the six-day odyssey during which they will traverse over 1,800-km in the tough mountain terrain.

The participants included Deepa Mehta, who had been disabled to extent 75 per cent by a paralytic stroke. She has come all the way from Pune to take part in the event as navigator for Rakesh Diwan, three-time winner of the Adventure Trial event. Wife of a retired Indian Army officer, 40-year-old Deepa wants to change mindset of society by participating in an event which tests the endurance of the even those physically fit.

Incidentally, her name has twice found way into the Limca Book of Records for crossing a kilometre stretch of the Yamuna river against the current in 2008 and covering 58-km by riding a special bike during the current year.

Virbhadra apprehends use of muscle power
Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 6
Union Steel minister Virbhadra Singh today said the ruling BJP would use muscle and money power during the by-polls to be held on November 7 as even during the last Lok Sabha elections they had resorted to such tactics on an unprecedented scale.

The union minister whose wife Pratibha Singh is likely to be fielded as the Congress candidate from his traditional seat of Rohru, which he vacated to be an MP, said he was fully prepared to meet the challenge from the ruling party. He accused the BJP of introducing this new culture of muscle and money power to woo the electorate, which was alien to the hill state till recently.

“This government is highly vindictive as it has been using government machinery to fabricate and lodge false cases against its political opponents,” he said. Virbhadra Singh, however, warned that the nefarious attempts of the BJP regime would not only fail but would boomerang on them ultimately.

Sounding optimistic he said the Congress would register victory at both Rohru as well as Jwali. “We will seek votes on the work done by the UPA regime and successive Congress governments in the state and the failure of the Dhumal government in Himachal,” he said.

“The claims of Dhumal as well as his ministerial colleagues in taking credit for Himachal’s top ranking as per a survey conducted by a magazine are completely hollow as they too have clearly mentioned that it was for the 2003-08 period when the Congress was in power,” he remarked.

He said not even a single scheme or project for which the present regime had taken credit had been started or executed by the BJP regime.

CM flags off fleet of nine buses
Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 6
Chief Minister PK Dhumal today flagged off a fleet of nine buses acquired under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in the first leg to shuttle between different destinations within the municipal limits of the capital city.

Speaking on the occasion, chief minister said with the flagging off of the mini buses under the JNNURM all major destinations had been connected with regular and frequent bus service from 7 am to 10 pm.

He said the first fleet of buses would be connecting Vikas Nagar, New Shimla, Basant Vihar, Sanjauli, Lakkar Bazar, Mehli and Dhalli areas with the Inter State Bus Terminus and peripheral areas while one bus would be operating as ‘Mudrika’ which would originate from Sanjauli and pass through Chhota Shimla, Talland, Bus Stand, Tara Hall, Lakkar Bazar, IGMC to complete the circle.

He said purpose behind starting an efficient local bus service was aimed at providing people convenient transportation facility and to reduce the vehicular traffic on roads in the town so that vehicle owners were not forced to travel within the municipal limits in their own vehicles and thus help in reducing traffic congestion.

Govt takes U-turn on free air tickets
Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 6
While the austerity drive initiated by the UPA government has made even ministers to fly in economy class, it has taken a U-turn on the issue of checking misuse of free air tickets offered by various airlines under frequent traveller scheme by government officials.

Information supplied under the right to information act by the union department of personnel and training to RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya reveals that the instructions issued on September 23,2008, to prevent the misuse of free air tickets have been modified. “The ministry has in consultation with the ministry of finance modified the instructions to the extent that government servants will be allowed to avail the facility of free companion ticket offered by airlines for international travel only,” it said in a response to his application filed on July 17,2009.

Interestingly, the instructions to prevent misuse were issued only after Bhattacharya sought information under the RTI Act about the details of air tickets purchased for official travel by ministers and officials along with expenditure incurred and the free tickets availed over the past five years.

While various ministries provided details of expenditure and particulars of travellers, they did not furnish the details of free tickets, maintaining that these were issued directly to the persons concerned.

However, subsequently it issued a circular to check misuse of free air tickets which stated ‘henceforth all mileage points earned by government employees on tickets purchased for official travel will be utilised by the department concerned for other official travel by their officers.

Any usage of these mileage points for purposes of private travel by an officer will attract departmental action. This is to ensure that the benefits out of official travel, which is funded by the government, should accrue to the government.’

Bhattacharya laments that these instructions have been modified within nine months and at a time when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has initiated an austerity drive.

If travelling by economy class could save government funds, utilisation of free tickets for official travel could save much more. Senior bureaucrats have been undertaking air travel frequently just to earn mileage points for free tickets before instructions were issued.

Now that the instruction has been virtually withdrawn, they will do the same now and at the cost of state exchequer.

The RTI information reveals that expenditure on tickets purchased for travel of Rajya Sabha members from 2004-05 to 2007-08 alone amounted to over Rs 7.33 crore.

LPG Shortage
Irate mob blocks road
Our Correspondent

Solan, October 6
An irate mob of locals today blocked the Baddi-Barotiwala road near the police station for nearly half-an-hour after they failed to get LGP supply today. The people used empty cylinders to block the traffic and shouted slogans in protest.

The locals had earlier too protested against the lack of LPG supply on October 2. Though Baddi town was slated to get this supply every Monday and Thursday, since the supply was lesser than the demand a lot of people had been forced to go without cylinders despite the dealer making available some cylinders.

An official of the Food and Civil Supplies Department said as against the usual supply of 56 vehicles only 52 had been received by the Indian Oil depot here last month and even now as against the usual quota of 10-11 vehicles one-two vehicles were less than the requirement. Besides, with the plethora of marriages around the LPG supply was further reduced and therefore some shortage was being felt. But he added that it was a temporary problem and the situation was not so grim.

The irate crowd was, however, satisfied only after the intervention of the Baddi SP who assured them to look into the matter. The half-an-hour traffic halt, however, put commuters to hardships as being the industrial hub hundreds of vehicles commuted daily on the Baddi-Barotiwala road.

With the population of the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial area experiencing a steep rise after the industrial growth, the shortage of LPG cylinders had become a perennial problem. Though the area had an Indian Oil depot, the policy of oil and petroleum companies to regulate the supply as per the prevailing rates of oil in the international markets often created shortages here inviting protests from the public, opined an official.

Man gets 10-year jail
Our Correspondent

Chamba, October 6
Special Judge Chamba SC Kainthla has convicted Ramu of Mandola village falling under the Tissa police station of Chamba district for carrying charas and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh.

In default of payment of fine, the convict shall further undergo rigorous imprisonment for a year.

The accused was caught red-handed with 6 kg of charas on January 1, in a traffic checking at Patla Mod.

Accordingly, the case was registered against the accused and the matter was put before the court for trial. The accused was held guilty for carrying charas and sentenced under Section 20 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act.

Woman sets herself on fire
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, October 6
Sheela Devi, 43, wife of Chand Lal of Keharana village today set herself on fire by pouring kerosene following an altercation with her husband. She was rushed to Civil Hospital with serious burn injuries and referred to Tanda Medical College (TMC) where she succumbed to the injuries.

According to the local police, subdivisional magistrate Nurpur ID Bhardwaj recorded the statement of the woman in the hospital here before referring
to TMC.

In her statement, the deceased had alleged that her husband had been torturing her mentally and physically because of which she took the extreme step.

Following her statement, before the SDM the police arrested her husband Chand Lal and an FIR under Section 498-A was registered against him.

The deceased was mother of three kids and accused was a labourer under NREGA in the gram panchayat.

8 injured in accident
Our Correspondent

Kullu, October 6
Eight tourists, including three women and two children, were injured in an accident yesterday. Two of the injured were serious.

The vehicle rolled down into 50-metre deep gorge at Achhrau Nallah in Banjar subdivision of this district last evening.

The tourists were from Hawrah in West Bengal and were on their way from Kinnaur to Kullu via Jalori Pass.

The seriously injured were referred to regional hospital here while the remaining were admitted to the government hospital in Banjar.

The police said the cause of the accident was negligent driving.

Code of conduct enforced
Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 6
Chief Electoral Officer Anil Khachi today said with the announcement of by-elections to be held on November 7, the code of conduct had been enforced with immediate effect in Shimla and Kangra districts.

He said that photo electoral rolls would be used in by-polls and display of election photo identity cards was necessary.

He said that Election Commission had issued directions to protect environment during election process and orders had been issued to remove hoardings and banners depicting government achievements.

Spectacular Karva Chauth on Ridge
Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 6
The “queen of hills” will witness a grand spectacle of lights after the sundown tomorrow when thousands of married and unmarried women will converge on the historic Ridge to perform “arti” of the rising moon on the occasion of Karva Chauth.

The tradition of women worshipping the moon collectively has made the festival of “feasting and fasting” a special annual event for the city and it celebrates it in its unique way.

As the sun goes down in the west and darkness descends on the hills, women of all ages with “puja thalis” in their hands make a beeline for the Ridge, a vantage point for sighting the moon early. In the process, the city witnesses the biggest “unorganised” congregation of women.

Actually, the Ridge, where a number of spurs join, divides the watershed of the Sutlej and Yamuna basins. The water from which flows down to the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, respectively. Located in the heart of the city, the elevated ground enables the fasting women to sight moon much earlier than the low-lying areas like Lower Bazar, Ruldu Bhatta, Lal Pani, Kanhlog and Kaithu.

The city witnesses an informal fashion parade as hordes of women draped in shimmering “saris”, colourful bridal suits and other attractive apparel and laden with jewellery, stroll through the Mall and the Scandal Point on way to the Ridge which is transformed into a huge Karva Chauth “angan”.

It is a riot of colour as women vie with each other in showing off their expensive but elegant wears. By the time the “silver disc” makes its appearance on the eastern horizon from behind the Ellysium hill, every inch of the ground is occupied.

Thousands of resplendent oil lamps add to the glitter as women offer prayers to seek blessings of the celestial Lord for the long life, well-being and prosperity of their spouses.

The “dance of lights” on the ground and the twinkling stars in the sky form an ethereal connection between heaven and earth. The en masse offering of water during the prayers gives a thorough wash to the Ridge.

Creation of Sujanpur subdivision
Campaign to mobilise public opinion launched
Dharam Prakash Gupta
Tribune News Service

Hamirpur, October 6
Residents of Sujanpur block have whipped up a campaign to make the block as a new subdivision under Hamirpur district. After raising this demand at various platforms, now the people of the area have come out with a systematic campaign on this issue to highlight the demand further.

Sensing the mood of the people even a few BJP leaders have also taken an initiative to join this campaign to draw attention of the state government for creation of Sujanpur subdivision.

The residents argued that they have been raising this demand for quite sometime as Sujanpur fulfils every criterion for its upgrade into a subdivision.

Their argument has been further strengthened after the recent delimitation exercise, as Sujanpur has become a new assembly constituency by reorganisations of assembly constituencies and inclusion of areas of old Bamsan and Hamirpur assembly constituencies.

Since all other assembly constituencies falling under Hamirpur district are already having subdivisions, the people are demanding the status of a subdivision for the Sujanpur assembly constituency too.

As a part of the campaign, a few leading residents, including BJP leaders, have launched a signature campaign in this area to mobilise public opinion on the issue.

Teams of people are visiting villages and are obtaining signature of residents on a demand charter and about 10,000 signatures will be collected in next few weeks.

This demand charter along with these signatures will be handed over to Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal drawing his attention on the aspiration of residents for the creation of a separate subdivision for Sujanpur.

State BJP spokesman and former chairman of media advisory committee Rajinder Rana, who is playing an active role in the signature campaign for Sujanpur subdivision, said, “The signature campaign is already going on and we will submit about 10,000 signatures of the residents of this area to the Chief Minister for creation of Sujanpur subdivision.”

Holidays prove boon for hoteliers
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Kullu/Manali, October 6
Partly spurred by Navratras, puja days in West Bengal and a spell of holidays, the week-long international Kullu Dussehra has sent the occupancy rates soaring in the otherwise slack tourist season about this time of the year in the Kullu-Manali tourist circuit, bringing cheers to hoteliers, cab drivers and travel agents for the last one week.

Conspicuous among tourists moving in here are hordes of students’ groups from different states including Delhi, Gujarat, West Bengal and Punjab, revealed hoteliers.

Moving from shrine to shrine from Shimla’s Kali Bari, Bilaspur’s Naina Devi, Mandi’s Tarna Mandir, Kullu’s Bijli Mahadev and Manali’s Hadimba Devi, family tourists from West Bengal have painted this hill station into a little Kolkata.

“It is pilgrimage time for Bengali people as Navratas are worshipped as special Durga Puja days in West Bengal,” said Sisir Sanyal, a bank manager from Kolkata, who was here to witness Dussehra.

The devtas’ procession, music instruments and local handicrafts are unique and make Dussehra a special attraction for outsiders,” added Shubrananshu, another tourist.

Besides Kullu Dussehra, even snowy Rohtang Pass has become another attraction for tourists. “Devis and Devtas are unique here. But snowfall at the Rohtang Pass adds to the thrill of travelling,” said Tapan Vaghela, a tourist from Ahmedabad. “We have holidays during Navratras and it is travelling time in Gujarat,” added his friends Mukul and Amit.

Even a sprinkling of foreign tourists has chosen Dussehra time to visit the Kullu valley. “This time we have received a good number of foreigners during Dussehra,” commented Subhash C Sharma, a travel agent in Kullu.

President Manali Hoteliers’ Association Tek Chand Thakur said the occupancy rates soared from 30 per cent in the last week of September to 75 per cent in all categories of hotels in Manali.

Even the HPTDC-run hotels have registered over 75 per cent occupancy this time. “It is a good season. We have bookings up to 75 per cent and occupancy rates may even go up till Diwali,” said AGM marketing BN Kapur.

DC-cum-chairman district tourism council and vice-president Kullu Dusshera committee BM Nanta said they roped in foreign troupes from Russia and Egypt for cultural performance, who were well-received by the audience. “Dussehra is publicised which helps in attracting more tourists and even local handicrafts sellers have a good business,” the DC added.

3-G services launched
Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, October 6
The BSNL today launched 3-G services in Dharamsala today. While addressing a press conference GM BSNL Deepak Chaturvedi said we are adding 3G services in the area.

The 3G services had been launched at Dharamsala, Palampur and Chamba by installing 15 of 3-G towers at Dharamsala exchange, cricket stadium, Dari, Ram Nagar, Tapovan, Kotwali Bazar, Khara Danda Road, Dharamsala RSU, Sidhpur, Yol, Chari Road, Macleodganj, Chamba TE, Palampur TE and Chimbalhar
Palampur.

He further said Bharat Sanchat Nigam Limited was celebrating BSNL week from October 1 to 7. BSNL came into existence on October 1, 2000. After formation of BSNL, Dharamsala Telecom District had introduced many new world level Telecom Services like WLL, Mobile, 3-G telephone service, MLLN, Broadband, CLI based Internet, Fixed Line Pre paid (FLPP). All requirements of services were sold under BSNL brand uniformly irrespective of services or products.

Presently there are total 224 telephone exchanges working in this Telecom district out of which 189 Telephone Exchanges are on Optical Fibre.

In the current financial year there is a master plan to connect most of the remaining exchanges on Optical Fibre media by laying 300-km of new cable. In addition to this, all the exchanges of this Telecom District will be connected on OFC rings.

There are 57 WLL stations working in the Telecom district. While 32 new stations had been planned during the current financial year to clear the oldest waiting list and to ensure 100 per cent coverage and connections on demand in the whole Telecom district. Five new stations had been installed at Dalhousie, Kangra, Surani, Mehmoor and Bhuana for the enhanced data
service on WLL.

Broadband services are available in 74 cities. In the current financial year, this service is planned in 92 more cities. The MLLN services are available in 38 cities. In the current financial year, this service would be extended in 55 more cities and towns, he added.