Shimla, February 17
A special entrance test will be conducted by Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) to fill 27 postgraduation seats in medical colleges even though the entrance held earlier, which only 17 candidates had qualified, will remain valid.

The piquant situation arose as only 17 candidates were able to qualify for the 44 seats of MD and MS in two government medical colleges at Shimla and Tanda. The modalities for holding a special entrance test are being worked out and Medical Council of India will also be consulted.

The in-service general duty officers (GDO) today met Health Minister Rajiv Bindal and vice-chancellor of Himachal Pradesh University Prof Sunil Kumar Gupta to find a way out to ensure that 27 postgraduation seats will not go waste. This is all the more important considering the fact that there is an acute shortage of specialists in Himachal as a result of which even the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has also been suffering.

The minister later held a meeting with the VC, principal secretary (Health), director medical education and principal of Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC). Since the internship of fresh passout MBBS doctors is still underway and will be complete in April, the government too does not seem to be in a hurry to hold the special entrance test.

It is perhaps for the first time that barring two doctors from the reserved category, all general duty officers (GDO), serving in government health institutions for whom 50 per cent of the PG seats are reserved, have not been able to qualify MD and MS courses, results for which were declared three days back.

The in-service doctors, who are serving in various parts of the state and are the backbone of the state health services, say the results are demoralising and ultimately it is the people of the state who will suffer. They point out that even last year, 11 seats of degree and diploma had been left vacant as sufficient candidates could not qualify.

They point out that even the topper in this year’s MD exams has been able to score merely 58 per cent, which is relatively low as compared to previous occasions.

There are a total of 44 PG seats, which are filled through the All-India Entrance Examination while the remaining 44 are filled through the entrance conducted by HP University.

Solan, February 17
With the drug controller notifying a ban on the paediatric use of the analgesic, nimesulide suspension, following imposition of a ban by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, its manufacturing, sale and distribution has been put on hold in the state since last evening.

Drug controller Navneet Marwaha said an intimation had been sent to the director, health services, all drug inspectors, and presidents of Chemist and Druggist Associations and the Himachal Drug Manufacturers Association to ensure its compliance at their end as licence to manufacture the product had been withdrawn.

He added that the doses of 100 mg and above would be required to bear a warning, “not for children below 12 years of age” on their label.

Interestingly, the drug is banned in most of the countries but MNCs like Panacea Biotech and Dr Reddy’s Lab were among its key manufacturers in the state. The directions followed the recommendations of a sub-committee of the government’s chief advisory body, the Drug Technical Advisory Board.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisations of India have also banned its use. A ban on its production would severely impact these MNCs which manufactured these on a large scale in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial area.

The drug has been under the government scanner for long as several reports of adverse reactions, including liver toxicity, were coming forth. While the drug has only been banned for paediatric use, physicians recommend its ban even for adults. Barring a few nations, the drug is banned in most of the countries. Several European countries, the Irish Medicines Board and the Singapore Health Science Authority were among those who had banned its use. Interestingly, the drug was never used in Switzerland, where it was invented.

The drug controller has also notified a ban on other drugs, including the use of human placenta extract and its formulations, cisapride, a drug which increases motility in the upper gastrointestinal tract, phenylepropsalamine which is used as a stimulant decongestant.

The use of sibutramine and R-sibutramine, which are used for losing weight, has also been banned as studies have confirmed that these drugs increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases like heart attack and stroke.

Marwaha added that the manufacturers had been directed to withdraw their stock from the market with immediate effect failing which an action under Section 18 of the Drug and Cosmetics Act, 1940, would be taken against them.

Dharamsala, February 17
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said that yesterday’s address of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the media was an expression of helplessness.

“It is for the Prime Minister to decide whether the interests of country are supreme or of the coalition government. In my opinion, the interests of the country should be supreme,” Dhumal said.

When asked to comment about the clean chit issued to the Karmapa by the Union Ministry for Home, the Chief Minister said: “I do not want to comment on it as it is their prerogative. It was Central agencies that were probing the issue of violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). Now they have issued a clean chit of the Karmapa over the issue”, the CM said.

The Chief Minister also said three IPL matches from May 17 to 20 would be organised in Dharamsala. It would give a boost to the tourism in the region. The government had already planned to develop Dharamsala as a sports city. For that purpose, the necessary infrastructure was being developed in the area.

The Chief Minister said the state had raised its demand to abolish the Recruitable Male Population formula with the Centre so that every eligible youth could join the armed forces to serve the nation.

Solan, February 17
With the Himachal Pradesh School Education Board having fixed JBT counselling for students across the state at Dharamsala, students have resented this arrangement.

Since aspirants from far-off places like Lahaul Spiti, Kinnaur, Bilaspur, Kullu, Manali, Shimla, Sirmaur, Solan etc., will have to reach Dharamsala, thet are a worried lot.

A JBT aspirant from Sirmaur told The Tribune that going to Dharamsala in this inclement weather would leave them harassed as it was a more than 12-hour journey.

Since the students called for the counselling would far exceed the total number of seats, the parents along with their wards would face a tough time in Dharamsala which does not have ample accommodation at subsidised rates.

Board secretary Prabhat Sharma said since a state-level merit list had been prepared, their was no choice but to call all students to Dharamsala for counselling. Though earlier the district level DIETs had conducted their counselling, this year the board had been entrusted with the responsibility to conduct admissions for both government-run DIETs and 17 private JBT institutions.

As many as 1,651 seats were available in the 12 DIETs of all districts and another 950 in the private institutions. The counselling had been planned from February 21 to March 11.

The students were demanding creation of more counselling centres at centrally located places so that they could be spared of the tedious journey in the prevailing inclement weather conditions.

Dharamsala, February 17
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today carried out surprise checks in zonal hospital and government offices at Dharamsala today.

The CM went to the zonal hospital along with deputy commissioner RS Gupta and interacted with patients there. The patients and doctors were surprised to see the CM. The CMO Kangra also reached the spot after receiving the news of the surprise visit of the CM to the hospital.

He also carried out surprise checks at the offices of the chief engineer, electricity board and chief engineer, PWD.

Later, the CM told The Tribune that he had carried out surprise checks to evaluate the working of government offices. The patients in the zonal hospital were being dealt properly and doctors were in their rooms.

However, in PWD and electricity board offices, some employees were absent and general sanitation was not good.

The CM has directed officials to maintain good sanitary conditions and ensure the presence of their staff during office hours. No action has been recommended against the absent employees and they were let off by giving a warning.

The CM also said biometric machines would be installed in all government offices across the state to ensure that the officials follow office timings. The machines were likely to be installed in Kangra mini secretariat soon.

Shimla, February 17
The failure of the government to put in place the required transmission network has landed the 100-MW Malana-II project in trouble.

Allain Duhangan Hydro Power Limited (ADHPL) is setting terms that will make wheeling of power through its transmission line, as per the arrangement made by the government, an expensive and uneconomical proposition.

The promoter of the project, Everest Power Private Limited (EPPL), has approached the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to settle a dispute over the sharing of the ADHPL transmission line for wheeling its power.

The company said power was evacuated as per the terms laid down by ADHPL and the wheeling charges would range from 70 to 80 paise per unit as against 30 paise per unit, if the PGCIL transmission system came up.

It would make the power expensive and create various problems as the company had a power purchase agreement with the Punjab State Electricity Broad, the company added.

It wanted a sharing agreement based on the norms laid down by the CERC as per which the wheeling charges and the transmission and distribution losses were to be shared in proportion to the energy transmitted.

However, ADHPL maintained that the norms were applicable only for transmission licensee, whereas it was a generating company having a dedicated transmission line.

It wanted the Malana project to bear the entire additional burden of T and D losses, which rose disproportionately with the increase in quantum of energy transmitted. Even with the CERC norms, the wheeling charges would come to around 50 paise per unit.

In fact, ADHPL suffered because of the failure of PGCIL to built the proposed pooling station at Bhanala and the two transmission lines to Nalagarh and Amritsar in time. With no system in place for evacuation of power, it had no option but to construct a 168 km long line right up to Nalagarh, which costs Rs 375 crore.

The Central Electricity Authority (CEA), which earlier had taken a serious note of the failure of the state electricity board to implement the transmission plan, blamed the board for the problem.

It is leading to a situation where projects are coming up without the required system for evacuation of power in place.

Tarun Kapoor, managing director, state transmission utility, said the government had already made a provision in the hydropower policy to facilitate wheeling of power through a transmission line having spare capacity from any project.

He added that the provision was made irrespective of the fact whether a transmission licensee or a dedicated line of a specific project owned it.

The government would approach the CERC for an early hearing to resolve the issue at the earliest, he said.

Shimla, February 17
Horticulture Minister Narendar Bragta urged the Centre to open an Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in the state for which the land had already been identified.

The minister made the request in a meeting with the Union HRD Minister, Kapil Sibal, in New Delhi today.

He said the state government had already identified 132 acre for the institute.

He said the state government would provide the land free of cost, adding that it was ready to bear 35 per cent of the total expenditure to be incurred for the setting up of the institute.

He said the Union Minister had assured that the institute would be opened in the state after the completion of all formalities.