Shimla, December 30
Chief Minister PK Dhumal said the government would consider holding of direct election for the posts of vice-president of municipal corporation, municipal committee, nagar panchayats and other local bodies with a view to ensuring more transparency in the election process at the grassroot level.

He was speaking at the state-level function held at Mandi today to mark the completion of two years of the BJP government in the state.

“This decision will strengthen the democratic system in real sense and this is the main objective of our government,” he said.

He said the biggest achievement of the BJP regime was winning the faith of the people, which was evidently clear from the mandate given by the electorate to the BJP time and again and rejecting the Congress.

Dhumal said the Rs 263-crore project of Japan Agency of International Cooperation to produce organic fertilisers was being finalised with the Japan government to give boost to organic farming in the state.

He said the Scheduled Caste Component Plan outlay had also been enhanced by 25 per cent to Rs 668 crore for this year.

“The IIT classes will start in Mandi from the next academic session, besides work on the construction of the ESI Medical College at Ner Chowk would be completed soon,” he said. He added that one more private medical college would be established in the Sarkaghat area.

He said his government had taken a number of pro-poor and common man decisions, including enhancing the daily wages from Rs 75 to Rs 110, and a substantial increase in the social security pensions.

“All daily wage and contractual employees, who have completed eight years of regular service, had been regularised which had benefited about 40,000 persons in different departments,” he stated.

Dhumal said besides implementing the recommendations of the 5th Pay Commission of Punjab, all DA instalments had been paid to employees giving them benefit worth thousands of crores of rupees.

The Chief Minister also released the Identity Card Scheme of the Medical Representatives Association of Himachal Pradesh to save girl child on the occasion.

Others who spoke on the occasion included in charge of BJP affairs in Himachal Satya Pal Jain, state BJP chief Khimi Ram, ministers Gulab Singh Thakur, Jai Ram Thakur and Mahender Singh.

Chamba: Empowerment of women is one field in which the state government has forged ahead with concerted efforts under the leadership of Chief Minister PK Dhumal during the past two years.

Leaders of the BJP, including former Rajya Sabha member Kirpal Parmar, MLAs Renu Chadha and BK Chauhan, besides district BJP president Mohan Lal, said while addressing a rally organised at Chamba to highlight the achievements of the BJP rule.

Shimla, December 30
With the process of holding of organisational elections in the Congress starting, the Virbhadra and Stokes camp are once again pitted against each other as lobbying is on to ensure that their loyalists are elected as delegates to the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC).

The appointment of Rajni Patil, a senior Congress leader from Maharashtra as the Pradesh Returning Officer (PRO) by the AICC has set the ball rolling for holding of organisational elections in Himachal. She will be holding a meeting with the senior party leadership here on January 4, to discuss the election formalities.

With the district returning officers (DRO) and assistant returning officers (ARO) having the final say in the election of the HPCC delegates, the two camps are now trying to ensure that leaders from their camp are entrusted the task of holding the party election so that they get majority.

With the membership drive getting over, the elections to the mandals will be held shortly after which the district bodies will be elected. Even as chances of HPCC chief Kaul Singh Thakur being re-elected are high, the two camps have already started lobbying.

With both CLP leader Vidya Stokes and HPCC chief Kaul Singh Thakur joining hands, there will be a major tussle between the two camps to ensure that they get hold over the reins of the party. While Stokes camp is likely to put its weight behind Thakur so that he gets another term, Virbhadra is keen that his man occupies the top party post in the state.

Despite the fact that Virbhadra has moved to the Centre, he will be keen that his man becomes the HPCC chief. The names of former ministers - Harsh Mahajan and Gangu Ram Musafir being the candidates from the Virbhadra camp are doing the rounds.

Besides one delegate each being elected from the 68 Assembly constituencies, the 13 district Congress committee chiefs and all former party presidents will have a vote.

Even though leaving the final decision in the appointment of the HPCC chief as per the Congress tradition is left to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, all the same the two factions are not willing to take a chance and want that they have a majority in the HPCC.

The tussle over the party elections in the coming days will intensify as battle lines are virtually drawn between the Virbhadra and Stokes camp.

Shimla, December 30
The BJP accused the Congress of failing to play the role of a constructive opposition as it had unnecessarily been raising issues for the sake of creating controversies, as the two-year BJP rule was full of achievements.

Addressing a press conference here today, state BJP spokesperson Ashok Kapatia said the two-year regime of the BJP had been spectacular with thrust being on accelerating the pace of development, especially in the rural areas. “Since there are no issues against the BJP regime, the Congress is just trying to criticise for the sake of criticising as they have nothing concrete against the government,” he said.

“There has been perfect coordination between the government and the party resulting in welfare schemes aimed at uplift of the poor and needy and protecting interests of all other sections,” he said.

“Though the Congress is trying to take credit for various projects like the IIT, NIFT, ESI hospital, I want to ask them why they cannot start them while they were in power,” he said.

Kapatia said despite financial constraints the government had been able to ensure that the pace of development work does not get affected. “The mandate given by people to the BJP in successive elections is a vindication of the fact that the BJP has undertaken uniform and balanced development of the state,” said Kapatia.

He said in its two-year rule the government had enhanced the social security pensions, daily wages, provided 50 per cent reservation to women in panchayati raj institutions and provided jobs to 14,000 persons. “With the UPA regime completely failing to check price rise the common man has been burdened as this has resulted in exceptional increase in prices of foodgrains,” he said.

When asked about the BJP defeat in Jawali by-election, Kapatia said it was due to the inherent weaknesses in the local unit of the party, which cost the BJP heavy. He added that the party would take corrective measures and strengthen the organisation.

He said functions were held today in all districts except Lahaul-Spiti to mark the completion of two years of the government. He added that functions in this regard would continue for the next 15 days.

Bilaspur, December 30
Led by four Deputy Superintendents of Police, more than 350 policemen and officials will be on security duty at the Naina Devi shrine where the New Year Fair begins from January 1.

Superintendent of Police Kuldip Sharma stated this while giving details of the arrangements made for the fair at the shrine where large numbers of devotees were expected to throng during the first three days of the New Year.

He said three police barriers would be fixed at the vantage points of all three roads to the shrine and all vehicles and those coming to the fair would be checked with a view to avoiding any untoward incident.

The SP further said apart from normal policemen on day and night vigil in the nine sectors, in which the entire fair area had been divided, policemen in plain clothes would also keep a watch over any unsocial and rowdy elements, which would be sternly dealt with. Sharma said four high frequency sets and 25 other sets have been provided to the security personnel and four door metal detectors would be operated to scan devotees. He urged all devotees to avoid travelling in trucks, tempos and other large vehicles, other than transport buses, as all such vehicles shall not be allowed to cross police barriers to avoid traffic jams and other inconveniences.

Shimla, December 30
The HP High Court Bar Association today held a protest and abstained from court against the reduction in winter vacation in order to increase the number of working days.

The association is so perturbed over the issue that it has decided to send a strongly worded resolution against this move of the judges of the high court to the President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India and five senior-most judges of the Supreme Court with a request to appoint a Chief Justice in this high court.

The association, which met under the chairmanship of its president Ashok Sharma, made it clear that advocates were not opposed to increasing the number of working days, but certainly not at the costs of reduction in the winter vacation.

In its General House held here yesterday, the association had expressed resentment over the administrative decision of the high court to curtail the winter vacation in order to increase the number of working days. Terming the decision as a direct confrontation with the bar association by rejecting its proposal of adjustment of vacations, the association has decided to launch an agitation against this action of the high court.

However, the move of the high court to reduce the winter vacations was not acceptable to the advocates in view of the extreme cold condition in the state capital. Moreover, the high court had not taken the bar association in confidence before revising the next year calendar.

He stated that the association had requested the high court to enhance the working days and working hours due to severe cold conditions in Shimla. It is for the first time in the history of the court that the winter vacation had been reduced by five days. It may be mentioned here that the high court would reopen on February 22 as per the revised calendar after the five-week winter vacation and would again close for four days from February 27 to March 3, which did not make much sense.

Dharamsala, December 30
Narcotics trade in Majari village has reached highest echelons of the police. DGP Punjab Police PS Gill has written to Himachal DGP GS Gill regarding the gravity of narcotics trade in Majari village.

According to sources, the Punjab DGP has written that there have been reports emanating from various quarters that a large number of villagers in Majari village under the Kot Kehloor police station of Bilaspur district are indulging in illegal trade of poppy husk and smack.

The whole issue has been examined in detail by Ropar SSP LK Yadav who reported that many drug lords were located in the village. They operate all over the region, including Punjab, and whenever pressure in mounted upon they sneak into Himachal Pradesh. When the Himachal Pradesh police raid the village, the traffickers shift themselves to Punjab side.

The criminals of the village are usually armed with sharp-edged weapons and do not hesitate to attack the police. It is reported that sometime ago, they killed a state police employee. Many families of the village are thriving on this drug trade from generation to generation. Even women and children are used as couriers for the narcotic activities, the Punjab DGP has reportedly stated in his communication.

He has urged the Himachal DGP to look into the issue from his office. He also suggested common strategy on part of the police from both states for tackling the situation in Majari village.

The Punjab DGP had recently visited the Majari village. The issue of narcotics trade in Majari village was taken up in these columns in the recent past. It was reported that the village had a unique topography. While the village was a part of Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, it was surrounded on all sides by Punjab villages. The unique topography of the village had shielded its residents, who indulge in narcotics trade, from police of both states.

Initially, the village was famous for illicit liquor that was sold in the surrounding areas of Punjab. However, slowly certain residents of the village graduated to narcotic trade, including that of opium and now smack.

In the recent past, the police caught couriers from the Jharkhand area that were supplying drugs. Large numbers of cases under the NDPS Act had been registered against residents of Majari, including women, at both Punjab and Himachal police stations. However, the registration of cases had not deterred the village from indulging in the narcotics trade.

Police officials, who have studied the scenario, said the network developed by narcotic dealers of Majari need to be broken. They were apprehensive of the network as at some stage it could even be used by anti-national forces.

According to villagers, the most potent solution to the problem can be establishment of permanent police picket in the village. The villagers are hopeful that now that the highest police echelons have been informed about the problem, permanent police picket in the village might become realty.

Kangra, December 30
India will be the leading country with maximum number of diabetic patients in days to come in view of its population size. The need is to organise management on the rural and peripheral areas to contain its implications.

The concern was expressed during a national workshop on integrated management of diabetes mellitus organised by the Department of Community Medicine, DRPGMC, Tanda, in collaboration with the ICMR and State Rehabilitation Centre at Tanda yesterday.

Dr VM Katoch, director-general, ICMR, New Delhi, inaugurated the workshop and said DRPGMC, Tanda, was having a great infrastructure and the need for organising research works on the issues relevant to the hill state, particularly diabetes, would be fully funded by the ICMR.

Katoch said, “Diabetes is a global problem with devastating human, social and economic impact.” The workshop was attended by medical faculty from all parts of Northern India, and expressing concern over this silent killer they said today more than 250 million people worldwide were living with diabetes and each year another 7 million people develop diabetes.

They said diabetes causes about 5 per cent of deaths globally each year, 8,700 people lost their lives every day with six deaths occurring every minute. The experts on the subject were of the opinion that 80 per cent of people with diabetes live in low and middle income countries and were middle-aged (45-64).

The diabetic deaths were likely to increase by more than 50 per cent in the next 10 years without an urgent action and suggested preventive steps be taken in rural and peripheral areas of the country. The workshop was addressed by men of eminence in the field of medical science on different issues of diabetes.

Dr GS Toteja from the ICMR, New Delhi, spoke on nutrition-related issue of diabetes; Dr TS Mahant, Fortis Health Care, Mohali, spoke on cardiovascular risk in diabetes; and among others who spoke on complications of diabetes related to eyes, heart, kidneys and nerves were Dr Deoki Nandan, director, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi; Dr CS Dhull, director, Pt. BDS Medical University, Rohtak; Dr Anil Chauhan, principal, DRPGMC, Tanda; Dr Rajinder Singh, HoD, Surgery, PGI, Chandigarh; and Dr Rajesh Kumar from PGI Chandigarh, Dr PN Gupta from GMC, Chandigarh.

Dharamsala, December 30
The year 2009 has been a year of mixed fortunes for Kangra, the biggest district of Himachal Pradesh in terms of population. About 25 per cent of the state’s population resides in Kangra district.

The death of first year student Aman Kachroo of Tanda Medical College in March this year allegedly due to ragging rocked the country. The Supreme Court notice in the matter forced the state to bring in anti-ragging ordinance. The principal of the college was put under suspension and four students were arrested for killing Aman.

The international paragliding event, which was organised every year in the Bir area of Kangra district, earned disrepute. The Russian pilot lost his life and another is still missing. Some other pilots who had come to participate in the pre-world cup paragliding championship were injured. The government intervened in the matter and cancelled the event.

The controversy over the location of the central university proposed in Kangra had ultimately delayed the project. The BJP wanted the university to be located in the Dehra area. The government proposed over 500 acre in the Dehra area for the project. However, certain Congress leaders and locals of Dharamsala wanted the university to be located near district headquarters. Due to the said imbroglio, the Union Ministry for HRD had decided to send the site finding committee once again in the state. However, Vice-Chancellor of the university Farhan Kanwar had, however, been appointed which kindled the hope that university might start functioning from the next academic year.

On the political front, former Congress MLA from Dharamsala Chandresh Kumari, went to the paternal place and won as MP from Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Due to her exit, many Congress leaders had now started eyeing the Dharamsala assembly constituency.

Vijay Singh Mankotia, the fire brand leader of the Congress, who is known for his tirades against former CM Virbhadra Singh, announced his exit from active politics after resigning as the state convener of the BSP. Though he has announced his exit from active politics, a section of Congress leaders from the state want him back to strengthen the party in the district.

The ruling BJP lost the Jawali assembly constituency byelections. The party faced embarrassment due to outbursts from party MP Rajan Sushant against his state government.

Among the major achievement of the state government, the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) started functioning from Kangra this year. The foundation stones of BSF battalion in the Shahpur area and food and craft institute at Khaniara were also laid. The food and craft institute is likely to become functional from next year. 

Kullu, December 30
State president of the BJP Khimi Ram Sharma took a sigh of relief as election to the post of the president of the Kullu Mandal was solemnised unanimously on Monday. The election to the Kullu Mandal, home area of the state president, had to be postponed earlier due to infighting and differences within the BJP.

Khimi Ram had the credit of settling the in-party issues amicably and four mandal presidents of the district were elected unanimously.

The party election in charge of the BJP confirmed that the presidents of Ani, Banjar, Manali and Kullu were elected unanimously. He said the executive committees of the mandals would be constituted with mutual consultation of all mandals.

He said Balamkund Rana, Hira Lal, Om Prakash and Khushal Chauhan were elected unanimously as mandal presidents of Manali, Kullu, Banjar and Ani mandals, respectively.

MLA Govind Singh Thakur, district BJP president Ram Singh and many senior leaders of the party expressed solidarity with the party and unanimous elections were the confirmation, they said.

Bilaspur, December 30
A police party raided a house at Kutheda, near Ghumarwin, and recovered a large quantity of prohibited contraband and intoxicants from there and arrested Raj Kumar and Sanjiv Kumar. The police has registered a case under the NDPS Act at the Ghumarwin police station.

The contraband recovered in the raid includes 1 kg of charas and opium, 1,440 capsules of prohibited intoxicants and around 100 bottles of prohibited liquor of various varieties.

Superintendent of Police Kuldip Sharma said both accused were presented in the court yesterday and were remanded in police custody till January 1.

He said the possibility of a gang operating in the trade was not ruled out and the police was trying to inquire who all were involved in the illegal trade.

According to preliminary investigation, it was revealed that most of the customers of the accused persons were either youths or school students. Moreover, the accused used to carry the contraband in their personal vehicles.

The SP warned that such activities would be curbed with a heavy hand. He said the police had prior information of the illegal activities of these youths.

He said public cooperation was helping the police to track down such accused persons. He thanked the people for their priceless cooperation in such matters.