Shimla, December 10
Cracking the whip on rebels, Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kaul Singh today expelled Seema Chauhan and Harish Janartha, who contested for the post of Mayor and Deputy Mayor, respectively, in the recent Shimla Municipal Corporation election, defying the party decision. They had contested elections against the official party candidates. While Chauhan lost, Janartha was elected as Deputy Mayor. As both leaders were from the camp headed by Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh, who has been at the receiving end, the factional divide is bound to widen.

The action has been taken in consultation with the All-India Congress Committee and the two leaders have been sacked without serving a show-cause notice.

Obviously, the high command has not taken kindly to the open defiance of party decision which caused embarrassment to both Kaul Singh and CLP leader Vidya Stokes. They had, after holding consultations with the party councillors, decided to field Madhu Sood for the post of Mayor and Sudhir Azad for Deputy Mayor.

However, the Virbhadra Singh faction, led by Janartha, maintained that the candidate selected by the party did not enjoy majority.

Kaul Singh, who was in Delhi early this week, had a series of meetings with central leaders, including Mohsina Kidwai, Janarthan Diwedi and Oscar Fernandes, and apprised them of the unsavoury events in the run-up to the elections of Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

He said notices were being served on those who proposed the names of the rebel candidates and action would be taken after receiving their replies.

The development is an indication of the hardening stand of the high command and Kaul Singh may take action against the six leaders who were served notices for indulging in anti-party activities during the by-election to Rohru seat. The leaders had submitted their replies and the matter was referred to the state disciplinary committee. Those in the firing line include president of Shimla (rural) unit, Vidya Sagar, PCC treasurer RV Negi, general secretary of state mahila Congress Gita Negi, organising secretary of the All-India Sewa Dal, president Rohru Mahila Congress Kiran Dutta and block spokesperson Raj Kumar.

Mandi, December 10
The CPM-supported Kisan Sabha today accused the state government of mortgaging the interests of farmers and locals in terms of 70 per cent job quota in the ESIC medical college project under construction at Ner Chowk near here.

Flaying the state government’s dilly-dalling stand on the job quota issue in the ESIC project, the sabha has demanded that the state government should clear its stand on the job quota for Himachali in project works. “The government has been preaching at various forums that they have secured 70 per cent jobs for Himachalis in all projects coming up in Himachal,” the leaders said.

CPM general secretary and Kisan Sabha leader Kushal Bhardwaj stated that the state government had swept the job quota issue to the sidelines in the ESIC medical college project.

“We will hold a protest march on December 15 if the government fails to clear its stand on the issue,” they asserted. The government, in a recent communication to the Mandi DC, has stated that the contractor of the ESIC project was not bound to implement the quota in its firm.

Shimla, December 10
Forest Minister JP Nadda has directed officials of his department to ensure the presence of field staff at the meetings of gram sabhas to educate the masses regarding the ambitious “Apna-Van Apna- Dhan” scheme.

Presiding over a review meeting of the forest department here on Tuesday, he underlined the need to associate more and more people in afforestation drive of winter-grown species.

He said sites for construction of “van sarovars” in the high alpine grazing pastures and forests should be selected after taking into consideration the interests of Gaddis and Gujjars.

The sarovars would, on one hand, raise the water table and on the other, help combat and extinguish forest fires which were a serious threat to flora and fauna.

Nadda stressed the need to develop the forest nurseries in such a way by using advanced techniques, including poly houses, to produce better quality root stocks and saplings within the time frame.

Referring to the forest wealth in the state, the minister said innovative means were being discovered to control forests fires and services of Home Guards jawans were also being taken for the purpose.The minister also reviewed the progress of annual afforestation programme done by the department.

Avay Shukla, Additional Chief Secretary, forests, urged the officials present to complete the construction of “van thanas” at the earliest and said that efforts would be taken to remove illegal encroachments on forest land.

Manali, December 10
The 13,050-ft-high Rohtang Pass, the gateway to Lahaul-Spiti, experienced fresh snowfall last evening while lower parts of the region were lashed by rains, snapping the road link between Manali and the Lahaul-Spiti valley. In the wake of the snowfall, the Manali-Keylong road was again closed for vehicular traffic.

Higher reaches of the entire Kullu valley, including the Pir Panjal ranges, Brighu slopes, Chanderkhani Pass, Hampta slopes, Marhi meadows, Gulaba, Kothi, Dhundi and the famous ski slopes of the Solang valley also experienced fresh snowfall. The entire upper Manali region remained in the grip of severe cold wave following a further decline in the temperature. Traffic on the Manali-Rohtang Pass road was disrupted at several places beyond Kothi, about 13 km from here, today.

Meanwhile, most of the tourists rushed to Kothi and Solang valley to experience the fresh snowfall. All tourist taxis and buses had to stop near Kothi, and later return.

Icy winds lashed the entire region throughout the day, intensifying the cold wave conditions and forcing local residents to remain indoors.

Mandi, December 10
The state government’s recent decision to open a technical university at Hamirpur, the home district of Chief Minister PK Dhumal, has raised the ire of Congress spokesperson and former Sundernagar MLA Sohanlal Thakur and Mandi councillor Gagan Kashayap who today accused the Chief Minister of “promoting regionalism and discriminating against people of Sundernagar and Mandi district, which has no university”.

Talking to The Tribune here yesterday, Sohanlal said Dhumal was promoting regionalism as he had overlooked the recommendations of the department to start the technical university at Sundernagar. “Even the BBMB surplus land in the colony was identified for this university here,” he claimed.

He said the recent decision by the state Cabinet had exposed the double talks of the BJP. “It was the BJP which had been propagating that Sundernagar could be the capital town of the state. But its action has proved that the party is only misleading people of Mandi to garner votes,” he asserted.

He said the directorate of technical education and engineering college were located in Sundernagar and, as such, a technical university should have ben opened at Sundernagar to make it a technical education hub.

Gagan Kashyap, a councillor in the Mandi municipal council, also echoed similar sentiments. He said all three ministers in the Dhumal Cabinet had failed to protect the interests of people of Mandi as the technical university was being opened at Hamirpur which already had National Institute of Technology.

Kashyap said the CM should rethink over the decision. “He is looking after the interests of Hamirpur only and ignoring Mandi region which has no university,” he said.

Shimla, December 10
The Medical Council of India (MCI) team today visited Kamla Nehru Hospital, which houses the gynaecology department of Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) and other health centres associated with it.

The team today completed its inspection for granting permission to enhance the MBBS seats from the present 65 to 100. The team today visited Kamla Nehru Hospital, the rural health centre at Mashobra, the urban health centre at Boileauganj and the para-clinical department located in the college.

The MCI will prepare its report and inform the state government about its decision later.

The team held a series of meetings with the IGMC principal, medical superintendent and other faculty members to ascertain the actual position on various fronts.

Baddi, December 10
Global economic meltdown had impacted the carbon credit market drastically with the European markets registering a drop in prices from the earlier 20 Euro to as low as 8 Euro though it has now stabilised at 13 Euro.

These findings emerged during a day-long seminar organised by the CII at Baddi yesterday. With the Copenhagen summit on climate change assuming importance the world over, the seminar dwelt on the climate change and carbon market challenges and opportunities at Baddi.

The delegates, representing industry from across Himachal, dwelt on the need to develop clean mechanism and the need to fix voluntary carbon standards in view of increased pressure from the developed nations.

A consultant, representing Agrinergy Consultancy Private Limited, elaborated in length on the entire process, including the improving qualification probability, monitoring of registered projects, prevailing carbon price trends, its sales structure, carbon project financing and feasibility.

Its director Robert Taylor, while explaining the importance of adopting technically sound carbon credit policy, said the global scenario was fast changing and since the first phase of global carbon credit agreement was expiring in 2012, it threw up a larger challenge for the next two years. He asserted that there was little probability of India bowing to pressure from the US and other developed countries.

Earlier, Ashok Sharma, CEO, Shivalik Solid Waste Management Limited, said the need to cut carbon emissions had increased after drastic changes were experienced in the climate the world over. He said it was the duty of each industrial unit to contribute his share towards this cause.

Brij Bhushan, regional officer, State Pollution Control Board, highlighted the need to adopt the right approach in the industrial sector to create the right ambience. He said the state government was doing its bit to make earn carbon credits by adopting environment-friendly approach. 

Dharamsala, December 10
The 20th anniversary of the Nobel Prize for Peace, that was conferred on the Dalai Lama in 1989, was celebrated with fervour at Mcleodganj, the centre for Tibetan government-in-exile today. The Tibetans organised a cultural programme in the main temple to celebrate the event. Local Tibetan artistes performed at the function.

The conferring of Nobel Prize for Peace on the Dalai Lama was the turning point for Tibetan struggle against China. It was, in a way, an international recognition for the Tibetan struggle.

The award money that came with the Nobel Prize also helped in improving the economy of Tibetan government-in-exile that helped its people.

The Kashag, Tibetan parliament-in-exile, in a statement issued today, thanked the Dalai Lama for his tireless struggle for Tibet and its people. It is because of his effort that the language, culture and heritage of Tibetan people has been preserved, he said.

Shimla, December 10
He may be only five-and-a-half, but the bravery he showed in walking up a gorge in the middle of a rainy night saved his father’s life.

Memories of that fateful day haunt kindergarten student Madhur Negi every now and then as he inquires about his mother, older brother and grandmother, who did not survive. The car in which the Negi family was travelling had rolled down a gorge near Baggi due to poor visibility on November 14.

“Madhur, who was miraculously unhurt, walked 100 metres up the gorge into which the car had rolled down. He reached the road head at 8.45 p.m. and sought help from a vehicle. Had he not, he would have been orphaned…” says Vinod Bhardwaj, a family friend of the Negis. Madhur’s father, Krishan Negi is a schoolteacher. So was his mother, Neeraja.

“Even cops and rescuers took an hour to reach the vehicle,” says Bhardwaj. “It was raining heavily when the three occupants of a hearse van saw the little boy. They almost ignored him, mistaking him for a ghost as the area is known to be haunted.”

The van occupants spread word in nearby villages for help. Krishan, who had major head injuries, was rushed to hospital while the bodies of the other three were extricated from the mangled car.

Even as three lives were lost, the grieving family and friends marvel at Madhur’s courage. He often talks about his 12-year-old brother, Seshav, mother Neeraja, and grandmother. A kindergarten student at Roots Country School, Baggi, Madhur is an all-rounder and participates in various activities. “The courage shown by Madhur needs to be appreciated so that other children are encouraged,” say friends and family.

However, November 14 will never be Children’s Day for little Madhur ever again. It will only be the death anniversary of his loving mother, mischevious brother and doting grandmother.