Shimla, July 14
With problems being faced in hatching and survival of Western Tragopan chicks, the Wildlife Department is seeking opinion of John Cordon and other experts from the Wildlife Institute of India and Central Zoo Authority to ensure success of the breeding and conservation programme of the pheasants in Himachal.

The experts discussed various issues pertaining to breeding and conservation programme of Western Tragopan and Chir pheasant here today at a meeting of the Core Group for Pheasant Conservation in Captivity in the state.

“We have decided to develop an alternate site at Gopalpur, 26 km from the present site in Sarahan, so that all birds do not face the same problems and we have another aviary,” said AK Gulati, Principal Chief Conservator, Wildlife.

He said land had already been identified at Gopalpur, located on the Rampur-Sarahan road, where a bigger aviary would be set up so that there would be two separate sites, one at Sarahan and the other at Gopalpur for running the breeding programme.

He admitted that this year hatching was poor and the lone chick born could not survive. Reasons for it were being looked into, he added.

Besides looking into issues of reintroduction of hatched birds, their diet and environment, wildlife authorities are keen to have two separate set up for the breeding programme. At present, breeding of Western Tragopan is being done at Sarahan and that of Chir Pheasant at Chail.

As far as Chir Pheasant is concerned, the wildlife wing has got better success. “We have 17 chicks and six parent pairs at the aviary near Chail and are hopeful to have a good founder stock of the rare birds,” said Gulati.

With the chicks being barely three weeks old, utmost care is being undertaken about their nourishment, temperature, protection from mother and other such factors, which are crucial for the survival of chicks.

Shimla, July 14
In a damage control exercise, state returning officer Rajani Patil has convened a meeting of leaders of Sulah block here tomorrow to settle the dispute over organisational polls which had led to an open protest by former MLA Jagjivan Pal who observed fast at Congress Bhawan here yesterday alleging irregularities.

Pal had objected to the manner in which Sanjay Rana was declared elected and demanded a probe into the matter. The exercise was aimed at accommodating rival groups as had been done in case of many other blocks.

Sanjay Rana contested the last assembly election from the Thural constituency which has been wiped out during delimitation with major portion merged into Sulah, the constituency of Jagjivan Pal. Hence, the conflict of interests between the two. The final result of the polls in Sulah will depend on the outcome of the meeting. Election to Kutlehar and Kangra blocks has also been held up for similar reasons.

Meanwhile, decision of Union Minister Anand Sharma of not giving up the post of PCC delegate, to which he was unanimously elected from the Shimla(urban) block, has had the desired effect. Party men were divided during the election with former MLA Harbhajan Singh alleging that he was overlooked during unanimous election of Pradeep Bhuja as president of the unit.

The matter of filling the vacancy caused due to Sharma’s refusal to accept the post was left to Singh who decided it in the favour of outgoing president Anand Kaushal. Patil also appointed assistant returning officers (AROs) for conducting polls in the remaining seven blocks which were held up due to differences among leaders. Satish Bittu was appointed ARO for Rohru, HK Chand Saini for Dehra, Sanjiv Kuthiala for Jwalamukhi, Manish Thakur for Jisinghpur, Madan Chaudhari for Kangra, Kanta Negi for Kullu and Sudhir Azad for Jogindernagar.

Jispa (Lahaul-Spiti), July 14
Tribals of Jispa, Darcha, Tholing, Gemur, Yurnath and other villages are up in arms under the banner of the Jispa Dam Jan Sangharsh Samiti (JDJSS) over the 300-MW Jispa Dam on the Bhagha river here. The central government has declared it as a project of “national importance under the Indo-Pak Indus water treaty”.

They protested outside the DC office at Keylong recently opposing the dam. Villagers said the dam would submerge their cultivable fields, houses and dry up summer water springs.

Tobdan, a noted tribal writer, said they have no problem with the dam, but the tunnel would wipe out spring water sources. “This in turn will uproot villagers from their cultivable lands as tunnel will dry up the fields,” he said.

JDJSS convener Ajay Lahauli said they have nurtured fields in this cold desert over the centuries like their babies. The tribesmen said the Rohtang Tunnel would open opportunities for them to make life easier in the snowbound region. On the other hand, the central government had assigned the project to the state government-run HP Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL).

According to a preliminary report of the HPPCL, about 200-m-high Jispa Dam will uproot 90 houses and submerge fertile land, sea buckthorn and willow trees in Jispa, Darcha and other small hamlets in the area. It will also submerge a part of the Keylong-Jispa NH under the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

The MD, HPPCL, Tarun Kapur, said the corporation had a comprehensive relief and rehabilitation policy for project-affected people.

Dharamsala, July 14
Senior Congress leader GS Bali has started preparations for another birthday bash. Bali, who represents the Nagrota Bagwan Assembly constituency, is known for marking his birthday a mega event. He used to parade around on an elephant to greet his followers.

Though earlier it used to be a big fair in which singers and dancers were invited to entertain the crowds, this year Bali has decided to keep it a low-key affair. While addressing a press conference here today, Bali said this year the main event for the occasion would be a medical camp. It would be inaugurated by PGI director Dr Talwar. Besides medical experts from AIIMS New Delhi, Rotary Eye Hospital at Miranda in Palampur and Fortis Hospital would also be invited in the camp. The patients will get free medicines, hearing aid and other facilities, he claimed.

However, the birthday bash would have some glimpse of the past also. Famous pop singer Shivani Kayshap, junior Daler Mehndi and Chetan Rana would perform during the four-day celebrations that would start with a medical camp on July 24 and end on July 27, the birthday of Bali. The parade on elephant and camels would also be as usual.

Meanwhile, Bali also alleged that the state government was dithering in giving land for central university campus at Dharamsala. He alleged that it was strange that the state government was offering land for Akshardham temple at Dharamsala, where as it was stating that no land was available for the central university.

Shimla, July 14
Over 120 non-essential items, mostly falling in the category of luxury goods, will become dearer from tomorrow with the government raising the rate of VAT (value added tax) from 12.50 per cent to 13.75 per cent.

As per the government notification all items included in Part III of Schedule A will now be taxed at 13.75 per cent in line with the consensus arrived at the meeting of empowered committee of finance ministers. The step will help the state mop up additional revenue to the tune of Rs 60 crore.

The main items include cosmetics, leather goods, furniture, refrigerators, electronic goods, vehicles, marble, tiles and other such items.

The government has, however, spared diesel and petrol, which would be continued to be taxed at the rate of 14 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively. Similarly, rate of VAT on the items in Part I of the Schedule which are taxed at 1 per cent (precious items like gold) and those in Part II taxed at 4 per cent (foodgrain and other essential commodities) and Part III taxed at 5 per cent (other general items) will remain unchanged.

Himachal is the 16th state to increase VAT and unlike Punjab which has imposed 1 per cent surcharge, it has opted to hike the rate by 1.25 per cent. As such the additional burden will be passed onto the consumers by the traders.

The main reason for increasing VAT is that the he state wants to make up for the loss of revenue on account of deferment of the Goods and Services Tax which was to be implemented from April, 2010.

The state has been lagging in raising resources and its tax to gross domestic product has been one of the lowest in the country at 6.30 per cent.

Shimla, July 14
Outbreak of gastroenteritis in the Dhingu Bowri area of Sanjauli has claimed life of a 12-year-old boy and resulted in hospitalisation of about 20 persons from the same locality.

Sources in the health department said outbreak of gastroenteritis had taken place due to consumption of contaminated drinking water from the old bowri. Doctors at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) confirmed the death of Manoj, who was brought dead to the hospital last night. He is learnt to be the son of a Nepali labourer.

More than 20 patients have been admitted at the IGMC after complaining of gastroenteritis. A team of doctors from the IGMC and Ripon today visited the area. They advised people not to consume water from the bowri and use only piped MC water for drinking purpose, that too after boiling it. They also ordered proper chlorination of water being consumed by people.

The Municipal Corporation (MC), on its part, has been undertaking analysis of the water being supplied to various parts of the town. “The MC is not responsible for maintaining the bowris and we can only advise people not to drink this water,” said AN Sharma, Commissioner, MC. He said no formal complaint about water contamination had been received and samples, which were analysed on a daily basis, had been found fit for consumption.

Meanwhile, people residing in the area complained that about 10 families were getting water supply from Dingu bowri which was not treated or maintained by any government agency. Moreover, construction work in the area had led to even more contamination in the bowri, they added.

Solan, July 14
The IBM India has recruited 80 women engineering graduates in a drive conducted under the aegis of Rayat Bahra education group last week. The drive which was initially planned for a day was extended to two days seeing good turnover of women from all over the northern region.

The group, which is coming up with Bahra University, near Kiarighat in Solan district, expects to commence its first session in September.

Chairman of the Rayat- Bahra group Gurvinder Singh in a press release issued here today said the IBM India was also collaborating with them in the upcoming Bahra University. This would help equip students with the latest technological skills that could increase their job prospects in the future.

The IBM was long-term strategic partner of the Rayat-Bahra group and would be conducting many more recruitment drives in the state in the near future. Faculty members in the Computer Science Department of the Rayat-Bahra group of institutions were being trained directly by the IBM. This helps them train students in exclusive software programmes of the company and this was a unique feature of this upcoming university.

Committed to provide quality education and tie-up with key players besides IBM, Infosys and HP Intel have signed up memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the group in the software sector. About 16 leading corporate houses have also entered into MoU with the group to provide better opportunities to students.

He said in the current recruitment drive many students from Himachal have also been recruited. They have been given offers by the company and would be joining next month.

The company had also relaxed its minimum eligibility condition from 70 per cent to 60 per cent for women graduates in Himachal as a special effort to promote them.

“During the recruitment drive we have also evaluated parameters in which students of Himachal are lacking. We will be conducting free training sessions for graduates to help them improve their skills as per the requirements of the multinational companies,” he said.

The chairman also thanked BJYM president and Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur for encouraging women to participate in this exclusive recruitment drive targeted at providing opportunities to the young engineering graduates.

Shimla, July 14
The state will have 400 MBBS seats with the opening of three new medical colleges and increase in number of seats in the two existing government colleges.

Stating this while presiding over a review meeting, here today, Health Minister Rajiv Bindal said the number of MBBS seats in the local Indira Gandhi Medical College had been increased from 65 to 100 and efforts were afoot to increase seats in the medical college at Tanda from 50 to 100. He said a new medical college was coming up at Mandi with the help of the Employee State Insurance Corporation at a cost of Rs 600 crore.

Similarly, work was in progress to set up medical colleges in Palampur and Kasuali Assembly constituencies. Keeping in view the shortage of medical specialists the number of seats in various postgraduate courses had been increased from 39 to 75. The Tanda college had been upgraded to the level of a postgraduate institute and five students have already been admitted to postgraduate classes. Efforts were on to get 32 more seats in postgraduate courses at Tanda and introduce super specialties at the IGMC.

Steps were being taken to open medical colleges in Hamirpur, Una, Sirmaur and Mandi districts to help meet the huge requirement of doctors in the state.

He said last year 230 students were admitted to BSc (nursing) course and this year 540 students would be admitted as more colleges would become functional.