The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Himachal Pradesh Edition

Govt mulls buying medicines from pharma firms
Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 4
The government said today that it would explore the possibility of purchasing medicines in bulk directly from leading pharmaceutical companies who had manufacturing units in Himachal so that the prices worked out to be less.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal, during the Question Hour in the Assembly, said invariably the prices of certain medicines went up due to high packaging cost.

“The health department will look into the aspect of making bulk purchases directly from the units located in Himachal so that the price works out to be less,” he said in reply to a suggestions made by Congress legislator GS Bali.

The query with regard to allocation of funds for purchase of medicines by the health department was made by Congress legislator Gangu Ram Musafir.

Health Minister Rajiv Bindal said the Civil Supplies Corporation made supply of medicines according to the demand placed by the health department.

He said during 2009-10, a sum of Rs 15.23 crore was allocated for purchase of medicines and Rs 10.57 crore for equipment. “The government has been able to make a saving of Rs 2.50 crore by purchasing only L1 grade medicines rather than high grade drugs,” he said. All 120 samples of these medicines have been found to be of quality, he added.

Bindal said a sum of Rs 16 crore had been put at the disposal of Rogi Kalyan Samitis, who had to get the budget approved by the committee with provision for auditing being there.

In reply to another question by Kuldeep Singh Pathania, PWD Minister Gulab Singh Thakur said the money deposited by telecom companies was being spent on works within the division where they undertook work. Verma pointed out that at several places the roads were in a bad shape due to digging undertaken by companies leading to accidents.

“We are looking into the aspect of revising the rates charged from telecom companies as rate of cement, labour bitumen has also gone up considerably,” he said.

A sum of Rs 59.19 crore had been received from the telecom companies during the past two years, he added.

In reply to another question by Rakesh Verma about completion of the Theog-Hatkoti road, the minister said he would ensure that work on the road being constructed by a Chinese company was completed by December, 2013.

“The work has suffered due to visa restrictions imposed by the Centre but now it has been resumed and hopefully it would be completed on time,” he said.

Fresh snow in Manali region
Our Correspondent

Manali, March 4
The tourist town of Manali and its adjoining region experienced fresh spell of snow today while the lower parts of the region were lashed with rain leading to a sharp fall in the day temperature.

The entire upper Manali region has been covered with a thick white blanket. The snowfall, which started this morning, continued till the filing of this report.

Traffic on the Manali-Rohtang road was disrupted at several points beyond Nehru Kund, 5 km from here, today. Due to fresh layer of snow on the road motorists had a tough time driving from Nehru Kund to Palchan.

Commander, 38, BRTF, SK Doon said due to fresh snowfall, snow-clearing operations on the Manali-Rohtang Pass road were also disrupted. He said the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which was clearing snow between Gulaba and Rahla fall, had to stop work and the snow-clearing team had to bring all snow-clearing equipment to the lower camp.

Meanwhile, hundreds of tourists who had come to Manali from nearby plains to enjoy snow were delighted to see the fresh snowfall. A festive atmosphere again prevailed in the town, as tourists were seen enjoying in the snow and making snowmen and riding on yak.

‘CD case has disgraced state’
Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 4
The din of the CD issue was today heard in the Assembly as Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Vidya Stokes said the hill state had been disgraced by such an unhealthy trend and steps must be taken to eradicate corruption.

Participating in the debate on the motion of thanks on the Governor’s address, Stokes said Himachal was often referred to as a state with CD culture. “There is talk of CDs involving an MP, politicians and an official which is so unfortunate considering that Himachal always enjoyed a very high reputation,” she remarked.

She said the state would be doomed if steps were not taken to check corruption. “It would have been much better if the officials had not compromised with corruption for fear of being given a sideline posting,” she lamented.

Expressing displeasure of her party over the flourishing land mafia, she said they had spread their tentacles to even the remote tribal areas like Kinnaur, which needed to be protected. “It was almost five decades ago that Dr Parmar as the Chief Minister had put strict regulations in place to prevent sale of land to outsiders which was now being flouted with impunity,” she said.

Stokes said had it not been for the liberal assistance from the Centre in the form of welfare schemes, Himachal would have found the going very tough.

“Himachal has every right to seek more assistance from the Centre for which we too fully support the BJP regime. However, there should be a word of gratitude and not just adverse propaganda about the Centre not giving the hill state its due,” she stated.

She said Himachal could have won several awards but the harsh reality was that people were not getting quality education, health services and agricultural supplies.

Earlier, initiating the debate on motion of thanks on the Governor’s address, BJP MLA Suresh Bhardwaj said Himachal had emerged as a leading state in several sectors including education, health and environment. “Himachal is fast moving towards becoming the first carbon-neutral state in the country as steps like banning polythene have been taken to protect the fragile Himalayan ecology,” he said. He said Himachal had been ranked first in implementation of most of the central schemes.

Thai govt denies visas to Dalai Lama’s kin
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, March 4
The Thailand government has denied visas to the sister and brother-in-law of the Dalai Lama. Sources available here told The Tribune that sister of the Dalai Lama, Jetsun Pema, and her husband, a cabinet minister in government-in-exile, had applied for visas from the Thailand government to attend a three-day cultural event in Bangkok beginning on March 5. The decision has allegedly been taken due to diplomatic pressure from China, the sources added.

The couple was to take part in a Tibetan spirituality, art and cultural event, entitled “From the Himalayas to the Chao Phya River” hosted at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre from March 5 to 7.

Jetsun Pema, the first Tibetan woman to have held a cabinet berth in the Tibetan government-in-exile, was scheduled to deliver a speech on “Buddhist Education for Tibetan school-in-exile” and “Tibet: My story”, on March 6.

China has been exerting pressure on foreign countries against entertaining the Dalai Lama or his close aides since the uprising in Tibet just before the Beijing Olympics last year. Though Chinese authorities, in the recent past, had once again initiated dialogue with envoys of the Dalai Lama, they are openly showing their displeasure with the countries who are entertaining the exiled leader.

China had, in the recent past, summoned the US ambassador and expressed displeasure at the meeting between President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama.

Snake charmers with rare variety go scot-free
Forest officials’ role raises suspicion
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service

Una, March 4
Forest officials of Una have courted controversy by allowing snake charmers with a python and other rare variety of snakes go scot-free. Animal lovers from the district yesterday caught snake charmers who were displaying snakes before the public.

Prabhat Bhatti, a wildlife activist, while talking to The Tribune, alleged that the snake charmers were carrying a rare snake---rock python. “Besides, they also had 11 other snakes that were kept in poor conditions. We called the forest officials and handed them the snakes and the python that were being kept illegally. However, today we were astonished to find that the forest officials had allowed to go the snake charmers scot-free along with the rare variety of snakes. They have committed an illegal act and action should be taken against the forest officials,” he alleged.

The python is protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Act and there is a minimum punishment of at least three years for keeping the animal in captivity. The other types of snakes with the charmers were also protected under various schedules of the Act. Una DFO RK Raj, when contacted, admitted that the snake charmers were detained. He, however, denied that they had any python with them.

He said the snake charmers were from a tribal community of Rajasthan that had been allowed to keep snakes.

When asked if the snake charmers had ownership certificates of snakes with them, the DFO said the tribal communities did not need any ownership certificates.

Inquiries by The Tribune from various wildlife experts revealed that no tribal community had been allowed under the Wildlife Act of 1972 to keep protected snakes under captivity.

As per Section 50 (4) of the Wildlife Act, any wild animal seized by the forest or wildlife authorities is a case property and has to be produced before the nearest judicial magistrate within 24 hours. Section 39 of the Wildlife Act also states that protected animal once seized by forest or wildlife authorities is a government property.

In the recent past, the chief wildlife warden of Punjab has been placed under suspension for violating the said sections of the Act.

Villagers aggrieved over IPH scheme
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, March 4
Residents of Badol village and its surrounding areas have registered a protest against the upcoming water supply scheme of the IPH Department in their area. The residents of five villages led by their pradhans met Kangra Deputy Commissioner RS Gupta and alleged that the water supply scheme being constructed in the area would harm their interests.

They alleged that the scheme was being constructed on natural khull (natural water source coming from mountains) of their village. The khull is basic water source for irrigation for local people. Besides, it also feeds the natural drains in lower areas.

Already we are suffering water shortage for irrigating fields due to construction micro hydel project in the area. They alleged that the micro hydel project authorities store water for some time and then release it at one go. This has disturbed the natural flow of water in the khull and thus affected the irrigation of their fields.

The residents also alleged that they were not taken into confidence by the IPH authorities before making the scheme. The residents of villages in which the scheme was being brought also did not have knowledge regarding the area for which it was being built.

The DC directed the IPH authorities to look into the matter.

The chief engineer, IPH, Dharamsala, said he had deputed superintendent engineer to go to the spot and redress grievances of locals. The case is one isolated incident in which the locals have come at loggerheads with the authorities for limited water resources in the area.

The Kangra valley, especially the areas on the foothills of the Dhauladhar mountains, is full of natural sources of water. However, with the change of climate and decreasing rain the fight for water is increasing. The micro hydel projects and water supply schemes that have come up in the area have brought the locals in tiff with authorities over the right for natural sources of water.

Fabindia’s expo draws crowds
Our Correspondent

Kasauli, March 4
Fabindia’s first-ever exhibition in this cantonment town showcasing a varied range of garments and home furnishings drew a good crowd of locals with nearly 40 per cent of the garments being sold.

The three-day special exhibition, which began today, was a special hit with women who continued to throng the place throughout the day.

Offering an extensive and contemporary range of products in both textile and non-textile the exhibition had much to offer to the visitors. “Since our products use traditional techniques and skills they offer distinct quality and designs which attract customers. “We managed to exhaust almost 40 per cent of our products on the very first day,” confided Neha, representative of Fabindia, here.

With an exclusive range of home furniture and handy products like purses, photo frames, lamp shades, flower vases, etc, there were eager inquires from visitors.

“It is the unique design and texture of cotton fabric which is being offered in this exhibition at affordable prices which has lured me to come here. Since this place has few such exhibitions I wanted to make use of this opportunity to shop for some garments,” commented Rima a visitor.

Tourism staff hail management’s move
Tribune News Service

Mandi, March 4
The HP Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) karamchari sangh has welcomed the management’s move to hold examination for promotion of managers or senior managers and has demanded that over 60 utility workers, cooks, beldars and other employees, who have put in more than 10 years in service, should be regularised.

In a joint statement, HPTDC karamchari sangh general secretary Sita Ram Sharma and president DR Chauhan hailed the state government’s decision to hold examinations for promotion of the managers or senior managers instead of seniority criteria.

Earlier, the corporation held such examinations for promotion of the lower staff only and now same yardsticks will be being applied for the higher staff, which is a welcome step, they added.

They stated that this new step would increase professionalism that in turn would benefit the corporation in the long run as the right people with right qualification and ability would come forward.

Army Chief visits ARTRAC
Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 4
Chief of the Army Staff Gen Deepak Kapoor paid a two-day visit to the Army Training Command (ARTRAC) here. Accompanied by wife Kirti Kapoor, who is president of the Central Family Welfare Organisation, Gen Kapoor was on a farewell visit to the command. He had earlier served here as the Army Commander in 2005.

The Chief was updated on the latest achievements of ARTRAC by Lt-Gen AS Lamba, GOC-in-C, ARTRAC.

While interacting with officers of the headquarters, he complimented them for their professionalism and dedication to the organisation. He reiterated that as the think tank of the Army, the ARTRAC had the onerous role of continuously upgrading and institutionalising training of the Indian Army to be able to win future wars.

Kirti Kapoor interacted with Sabinder Lamba, regional president of the Family Welfare Organisation ARTRAC, and other women. Reminiscing her long innings as an Army wife, she spoke about the virtuous role of an Army officer’s wife.

A formal social function was organised in their honour. The General and his wife were nostalgic about their long innings in the Army and felt proud to belong to one of the finest organisation of the country.