Shimla, February 16
Residents here could finally get relief from traffic woes as the local Municipal Corporation today signed an agreement with the Urban Mass Transit Company (UMTC) for preparing a City Mobility Plan (CMP) for the state capital.

The Joint Commissioner of the corporation, KK Sharma, signed the agreement with the UMTC, a joint venture comprising the Delhi Urban Development, Andhra Pradesh Transport Corporation and International Leasing and Financial Services.

It will prepare the CMP for the town within the next six months by taking into account the existing traffic infrastructure and the needs of the town.

The CMP, which has become the need of the hour in view of the increasing traffic, will help explore ways to tide over all traffic-related problems.

As part of the CMP, an inventory of the transport infrastructure, including pedestrian paths and other pathways, will be prepared and the existing transport pattern and its growth will be analysed. — TNS

Shimla, February 16
Earning a top assignment in the World Health Organisation has not helped senior IAS officer Manisha Sridhar as she has been charge-sheeted by the state government for her alleged disobedience of its orders and absenting from duty without proper sanction.

An inquiry has been instituted against her and additional chief secretary Harinder Hira has been appointed as the inquiry officer.

Manisha Sridhar had gone on deputation to the WHO in July 2009 for one year. She was not sponsored by the Government of India but directly recruited as an international professional on the basis of professional qualification and competence for the highly specialised job related to intellectual property rights (IPRs).

More importantly, she was looking after the IPR issues pertaining to medicine and medical technology, an area in which the developing countries like India have been at the receiving end due to predominance of experts from the developed world, mostly the USA and the European Union. She was found most suitable by the WHO as the topic of her Ph.D, which he obtained from IIT, Delhi, was intellectual property rights.

It is perhaps for the first time that such strong and unusually prompt action is being taken in such a matter. Turning down her request for extension, she was asked to return at the end of November After serving a chargesheet, within two months an inquiry officer has also been appointed to carry out further proceedings.

Sources point out that she might have landed in trouble due to lack of communication and misunderstanding as she was not on deputation to the Government of India and had been directly recruited by the WHO, which is matter of pride for any state.

Even now the issue could be settled amicably if the government allows cadre clearance for extension of deputation which will regularise the intervening period.

The government has been following an inconsistent policy with regard to allowing officer to go on deputation. Some officers are called back on the plea that there is shortage of officers while others are allowed to proceed on deputation. 

Dharamsala, February 16
The Phina Singh canal that has been an election issue in Nurpur subdivision of Kangra district since long will now be a reality.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal has told newsmen that the Centre had sanctioned Rs 205 crore for the project. The project had also got clearance from the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests. The project was conceived by a sarpanch from the Nurpur area. His concept was that a canal could be brought from the Chaki river flowing in Kangra district to irrigate the areas of Nurpur. As he had conceived the idea, the residents named it after him. The demand for construction of the canal was the main agenda for politicians contesting from the area.

The present government had sent a detailed project report of the canal to the Centre for approval in 2009.

Dhumal said the forest clearance for the canal from the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests had also been received. The work on the canal was progressing at a slow pace. Now that the clearance had been received, the work would be expedited, he said.

Earlier this morning, Dhumal flagged off 21 ambulances that would provide services in Mandi, Chamba and Kullu districts. Dhumal said with 21 ambulances being made operational yesterday under the “Atal Swathya Sewa”, the non-tribal areas of the state had been covered under the scheme.

Dharamsala, February 16
The Himachal government will move court against a recent decision of the Delhi government to impose a 6 per cent market fee on fruit producers from the state who sell their produce in mandis there.

Minister of Horticulture Narinder Bragta gave this information while talking to The Tribune here today. He said earlier also, the Himachal government had moved court to get the market fee waived.

The Delhi government had then assured it that the market fee would be transferred to buyers from the mandis. However, now once again they had amended the rules and imposed the 6 per cent market fee on the state farmers.

Bragta further said: “We are also looking for alternative markets for horticulture produce in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Besides, the government has decided to strengthen its own mandis so that the farmers are not forced to move out of the state to sell their produce. In this direction, a new mandi is being brought up at Parala area of Shimla.”

The Chief Minister has also ordered the department to look for a suitable site for establishing a mandi in the lower areas of the state.

Addressing a press conference, the minister earlier said the state government had given a final notice to Indage wines. The company was given land by the state government in Shimla and Mandi districts for establishing wineries. As per the agreement with the company during the previous stint of the BJP government, 10 per cent share of the company was with the Himachal government, 10 per cent with HPMC, 20 per cent with fruit growers and rest 60 per cent with company promoters.

However, the Congress government transferred the entire share of the proposed Indage wines to the promoters of company. Despite that the company has not started production. Now the government has issued a final notice to the company after which the agreement signed with them would be annulled, he said.

The minister also said an experiment was being carried in government mango orchards to develop technology for protecting mango crops from the frost. Horticulture experts were using foggers to maintain temperature in mango orchards. If the experiment was successful, it would be transferred to farmers, he said.

Mandi, February 16
The ceiling of library building of Postgraduate Valabh College collapsed today, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister PK Dhumal on November 7, 2009. Fortunately, there was no student in the classroom as B.Ed classes were off these days.

Students, lecturers and college management have demanded an inquiry into the construction of the building.

They charged that the ceiling collapsed just within a year as the PWD compromised with the quality of material used in the building and deviated from the map specifications.

College principal MS Jamval said lecturers and members of the Students’ Council Association (SCA) entered the library building at 9 am this morning to hold its annual function in conference hall in this building and found that the ceiling had collapsed on the floor. Even the remaining part of the ceiling could also collapse anytime on the conference hall, he added.

SCA president Atul Awasthi and other office-bearers rued that the students were facing a lot of problems due to a lack of space. “Had there been B.Ed classes at that time, it would have been a major disaster in the college”, the students added.

PWD chief engineer BD Joshi said he was on leave, but he would look into the matter.

Dharamsala, February 16
Minister of Horticulture and Technical Education Narinder Bragta said the government was coming up with five new polytechnic colleges in Kullu, Sirmour, Bilaspur, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts. Additional polytechnic colleges were being opened to cater to the needs of the industry coming up in the state.

He also said two more engineering colleges were being opened in Bilaspur and Shimla districts. The engineering colleges would get financial support from hydro power corporations such as the NHPC, the NTPC and the SJVN. The SJVN had already committed Rs 15 crore for the project coming in Shimla, the minister said.

Shimla, February 16
After three days of incessant rain and hailstorm, the state capital today experienced a fresh spell of snowfall, the third of the season late this evening.

The prevailing cold wave conditions further intensified with most parts of the state being lashed by rain and the higher parts receiving fresh snowfall during the last 24 hours. The “Queen of Hills” was draped in white as snow started late this evening.

The mercury in most parts of the state further dipped with higher reaches of the state, including the tribal district of Kinnaur and Lahaul Spiti, receiving heavy snowfall. The inclement weather conditions have prevented chopper services to Lahaul Spiti for the last few days making it difficult for people, especially the sick, to be air-lifted. In fact, the waiting list of the persons wanting to move out of the valley has crossed 400. The list includes about 10 patients and a large number of students who have to appear for various examinations, including the Himachal Administrative Services (HAS) main exams from February 18.

The minimum temperature in the town today dipped to 2.4 degrees Celsius. The vehicular movement to interior parts of Shimla district was affected due to heavy snowfall at Kharapatthar. Most areas in Kinnaur district also received heavy snow resulting in cold wave conditions intensifying further.

Even as the state capital was lashed by snow and rain, some of the schools reopened today after the winter vacation as children braved the cold to make it to school on time. As per the forecast by the local Meteorological Centre, the weather will continue to remain bad during the next 24 hours and there will be further decline in the temperatures.

Dharamsala, February 16
Addressing the 6th meeting of the Other Backward Classes Welfare Board at Dharamsala today, Chief Minister P K Dhumal said the state government would review the list of BPL families as complaints were pouring from different quarters questioning the the eligibility of BPL beneficiaries. 

This review would be done at the gram sabha meeting scheduled for the first Sunday of April this year. He directed the authorities to detect the fake social security pensioners who were drawing illegal benefits. — TNS