Shimla, March 19
BJP candidate Vimla Kashyap has been unanimously elected to the Rajya Sabha for the lone seat falling vacant in the state on April 4. She was the only candidate who had field a nomination for the seat as the opposition Congress had decided not to field a candidate. Secretary of the Vidhan Sabha Goverdhan Singh who is also the returning officer declared her elected after expiry of deadline for withdrawal of papers.

The seat is falling vacant due to expiry of the term of Union Industry and Commerce Minister Anand Sharma.

Vimla Kashyap is the first BJP woman candidate to go to Rajya from the state. She is the seventh woman MP to represent the state in the House of elders. Leela Mahajan, Satyawati Parmar, Usha Malhotra, Chandresh Kumari and Viplov Thakur (all Congress) and Mohinder Kaur (Janata Party) were others who had the honour.

It will be for the first time that two out of the three Rajya Sabha members are from the state. Viplov Thakur of the Congress is a sitting Rajya Sabha member. Veteran BJP leader Shanta Kuamr is the third member.

Shimla, March 19
Proposal of the government to set up a state arbitration tribunal might not come through as the total number of such cases in all departments, boards and corporations is not likely to cross 300.

With the government undertaking an exhaustive exercise to tabulate the total number of arbitration cases in all departments, boards and corporations, the results are not very encouraging. The number of such cases, so far, is about 133 with inputs from the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) and the Forest Department yet to be obtained. With the maximum number of arbitration cases pending in the Public Works Department (PWD) and Irrigation and Public Health (IPH), the number of total cases is not likely to cross 300. “We have already sent the case to the Law Department for examining the possibility of setting up an arbitration tribunal and enacting the Arbitration Act,” said sources.

Even thought the total number of arbitration cases is small and the possibility of setting up the tribunal seems remote, the matter could finally be placed before the Cabinet for a final decision. The initiative to collect data with regard to arbitration cases was taken so as to get an exact picture of the total cases and their nature department-wise.

Details in this regard had been sought from all secretaries, heads of departments and boards and corporations, all deputy commissioners, divisional commissioners and other government institutions by Principal Secretary (PWD) PC Kapoor.

Though many government agencies have pending arbitration cases, it is the PWD department, IPH, Forest and the HPSEB which have the highest number of arbitration cases. A very few departments like the PWD have a designated superintending engineer (SE), arbitration, considering the large number of such cases in the department.

Since some of the states like Gujarat have a full-fledged arbitration tribunal which helps in not just speedy but judicious disposal of such cases, it was thought that the possibility could be explored in Himachal. It was being felt that if arbitration cases were dealt by competent and trained personnel, a large number of cases would be resolved through mediation.

Shimla, March 19
The state government has no control over the price of cement as it is not an essential commodity. This was stated by Food and Civil Supplies Minister Ramesh Dhwala in the Vidhan Sabha today.

The issue was raised during Question Hour by Congress MLA Prakash Chaudhary who drew attention to the fact that rates of cement were being increased frequently and, though produced in Himachal Pradesh, it was being sold at lower rate in the neighbouring states. Dhwala said cement was free-sale commodity and the government could not force manufacturing companies to reduce prices.

He said the ACC had increased the rate by Rs 5 per bag twice this year, first on January 23, and again on February 7.

The companies had different pricing in different states depending on market situation. There was not much difference as the selling price of a bag of cement was Rs 266 in Chandigarh, Rs 268 in Ludhiana and Rs 274 in Jalandhar, whereas it was being sold at Rs 274 in Shimla and Rs 268 in Hamirpur within the state.

Talking about parking problem, Urban Development Minister Mohinder Singh said the government was aware of the problem at local Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) Hospital and it proposed to build a five-storeyed structure with a capacity of 375 vehicles for the purpose on space made available after construction of Auckland Tunnel along with a bridge on the Circular Road. Much would depend on the private party which would get the project to be executed on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis, he added.

The process had been initiated but there were some problems as the site involved both forest and private land. Permission would have to be obtained for diversion of land under the Forest Conservation Act and private land would also have to be acquired, he said.

Dharamsala, March 19
ABVP activists, who have been sitting in a dharna for the past many days, today lost cool and ransacked the office of director of the regional centre of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) here.

The ABVP activists entered the office of director Kuldeep Agnihotri and broke the furniture to register their protest. The students have been sitting in dharna demanding transfer of regional centre to new building brought in Khaniara village. They have also been demanding that professional courses like MBA be started at the regional centre.

However, since the government or the HPU authorities failed to pacify the students, they went on rampage and ransacked the director’s office.

The director, who was in Shimla today, cited the incident as unfortunate. He said he had come to Shimla to appraise the vice-chancellor about the demands of the students. He said the centre was not being shifted to the new building, as it had not yet been handed over to them by the PWD that was constructing the structure.

The regional centre at Dharamsala is the only centre of the HPU outside Shimla. However, it is being run in a ramshackle building and on ad-hoc basis. Though there are about 500 students at the centre who are doing various courses ranging from LLB, MA in various subjects and Masters in Journalism and Mass Communication, there are four to five permanent faculty members at the centre. Rest all teachers have been recruited on ad-hoc basis from local areas.

Since ad-hoc teachers are paid about Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 per month, the centre has failed to attract good students.

The students also do not have any hostel or good library facility. The government has brought this building at Khaniara village, near Dharamsala, for regional centre. However, its construction work is pending since years.

Interestingly, the ABVP, which is considered as student wing of the ruling BJP, has taken up cudgels to improve the situation at the regional centre.

The regional centre authorities reported the matter to the police, which is likely to register a case in this regard.

Dharamsala, March 19
Central University is likely to start from here. Highly-placed sources told The Tribune that the classes  for Central University are likely to start from Dharamsala despite the fact that the state government  is proposing to start them from Jawalamukhi.

The union ministry for HRD might set up the central university campus at two places in Kangra district. The sources told The Tribune that the team that had come to inspect the sites for Central University might propose two campuses of the institute, including the one at Dharamsala, and the other at Dehra.

A senior official while talking to The Tribune on condition of anonymity said from the deliberations with the visiting team it seemed that they might set up the university campus at two places. This means that the head office and other administrative offices of the university might be set up at Dharamsala keeping in view the proximity to domestic airport, and many other colleges might come up at land proposed by the state government at Dehra.

Keeping in view the proximity of Dehra the government had offered a campus at Jawalamukhi to start the classes of the university temporarily from the next academic session this year.

Congress leaders led by former MLA of Dharamsala and presently MP from Jodhpur Chandresh Kumari had shown the land near Indrunag temple near Dharamsala for setting up the university.

However, the experts are doubtful if the university could be established in the hill proposed by Congress MP. The PWD authorities are finding it hard to maintain the single lane road to the temple as landslides damage the road during monsoons. The structural engineers would not recommend bringing up such a huge infrastructure on a fragile hill, they said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal who arrived here this evening said that the state government was open to the idea of establishment of a Central University at any place. We just want that the university should come up at the earliest in Kangra district. It is for the union ministry of HRD to decide regarding the location of the university, he said.

The Centre might decide for two campuses of the university to appease both the factions.

Solan, March 19
Water management is the core issue of focus for the floriculture industry, which is witnessing an appreciable growth in the country and hence every drop of water needs to be conserved.

This was said by Chief Secretary Asha Swaroop while addressing a three-day symposium on “Lifestyle floriculture- challenges and opportunities” at Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, today.

The national-level symposium is being attended by over 100 scientists, progressive farmers and managers from across the country. While dwelling upon the significance of floriculture, she said the state government had started the Pt Deen Dayal Upadhayay Kisan Bhagwan Samridhi Yojna, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna and watershed project to facilitate the farmers. Under these schemes 80 per cent subsidy was being provided by the government for poly houses and other infrastructure, irrigation facilities and planting material of elite germplasm.

The chief guest presented the Lotus Puruskar to Dr NK Dadlani, Rose Puruskar to Avtar Singh while Dr HP Singh was conferred with the lifetime achievement award and VC Dr KR Dhiman was also honoured on the occasion. Swaroop also released the university publication on the occasion.

Rewalsar (Mandi), March 19
Residents of Rewalsar were shocked after they spotted a newborn girl floating in Rewaslar lake. The police retrieved the body and sent it for a post-mortem examination at the zonal hospital here.

Though residents, pilgrims and anti-female foeticide groups expressed their anguish over the whole incident, the police is still clueless.

Even Mandi DSP Narender Kumar dismissed the case casually and expressed his ignorance whether the newborn baby was boy or girl. “The body was found floating in the lake and medical report is awaited,” he added, and passed the buck on investigating officer Dola Ram.

The DSP, however, said it appeared to be a case of unwanted child as the body was dumped in the lake under mysterious circumstances.

Dola Ram said the baby was a girl child. “We have sent the body for a post-mortem examination and report is awaited,” he added.

“We are verifying as to which hospital reported deliveries in the past 24 hours and trying to gather information in the case,” SP Sonal Agnihotri said.

He said a case of death and miscarriage under Section 318 of the IPC had been registered at the Balh police station after they received a complaint from Yadvinder Sharma, a resident of Rewalsar.

President of Rewalsar nagar panchayat B Gupta and residents have demanded a probe into the incident.