Solan, November 15
With a view to curbing the menace of paid news, the Election Commission (EC) is strictly monitoring the news and advertisement content appearing in various print and electronic media in the district.

The district election officer has been directed to constitute district-level committees to scrutinise all newspapers and locate political advertisements in the garb of news coverage appearing within the election period.

According to the directions of the EC, even surrogate advertisements in the form of news eulogising a particular candidate or a party or similar news reports denigrating the opponents intended at unduly influencing the voters and appearing in more than one newspaper are being strictly monitored as it is being felt that such news is being published by the newspaper authorities in collusion with candidates or a party.

The district committees have been directed to keep a watch on the election news and features appearing in channels.

The observers appointed by the EC are monitoring all advertisements appearing the media and are also obtaining the rates of advertisements and circulation of newspapers from the Director, Public Relations, so as to ensure that all advertisements were added in the expenditure of the contesting candidates.

The EC has also laid down guidelines for reporting which say that a newspaper while reporting on the actual campaign should not leave out any important point raised by a candidate and make an attack on his opponent and should not indulge in canvassing of a particular candidate/party. It should allow the right of reply to the other candidate or party and in case these directions are not adhered to, it will lead to a prima facie investigation of paid news.

District election officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner C Palrasu convened a meeting of representatives of political parties and media yesterday to educate them about these directions and ensure their compliance.

Shimla, November 15
Armed with documentary evidence against corruption-related issues in the state, dissident leaders, who have constituted the Bhrastachar Mukti Morcha, will meet party chief Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi on November 19 to air their grievances about rampant corruption and party affairs in the hill state.

Significantly, the invitation to the morcha has been extended by the party chief just before the arrival of LK Advani’s rally in Himachal even though the possibility of a majority of the disgruntled leaders staying away from the show at Mandi and Nahan cannot be ruled out. Senior BJP leaders, who have joined hands to form the morcha, held a meeting here today under the chairmanship of its convener, Maheshwar Singh, former state BJP chief and MP.

Though it is not certain as to who all will be meeting Gadkari, Shanta loyalists, including ministers and MLAs who had skipped the state executive meeting, could also join the morcha leaders during the crucial meeting with Gadkari.

“All corruption-related issues, whether they pertain to a minister, MLA or an officer, will come under the scanner of the morcha and we are collecting concrete evidence in this regard,” said Maheshwar. He said even though the cause for which Advani was taking out a rally was common to their morcha, due to his pre-occupation at home with regard to a religious programme, he would be unable to attend the rally at Mandi tomorrow.

Members of the core group of the morcha discussed the issues to be raised with Gadkarki and decided their future course of action. It is reliably learnt that the morcha members will provide documentary evidence of serious corruption charges against two ministers close to the Chief Minister and the stakes that senior BJP leaders, including MLAs and MPs and ministers, have in some high-profile projects, especially in the state capital. The benevolence being showered on some tainted officers by the Dhumal regime is also likely to be brought to the notice of the high command.

The dissident leaders are also likely to raise the issue of sidelining of one section of dedicated and senior party leaders as preference is being given to a handful of leaders. The issue of chairmen of boards and corporations not being appointed, except for a handful of people close to the Chief Minister is also likely to be brought to the notice of the party chief. “The handful of appointments have been made in complete defiance of the earlier decision that those who did not contest the Assembly elections would be given preference,” said a senior leader.

Dharamsala, November 15
Industries, Labour and Sainik Welfare Minister Kishan Kapoor today launched a scathing attack on former Congress leader and state president of the Ex-serviceman League of Himachal Vijay Singh Mankotia.

Kapoor while addressing a press conference here today blamed Mankotia for the delay in construction of the Sainik Bhawan at Dharamsala. He alleged that Mankotia wanted to get the land, marked for construction of the bhawan, transferred in the name of the ex-servicemen league. However, the league is not in a position to spend any money on the construction of the project.

The state has already sanctioned an amount of Rs 25 lakh for the project. The league wants the money, for the construction of the bhawan, to be transferred to it.

However, the government wants its own agency to carry out the construction. The deadlock created by the league, headed by Mankotia over the ownership of land of the Bhawan and usage of money sanctioned for the project, has delayed the project, Kapoor alleged.

He alleged that Mankotia was unnecessarily dragging his name into the controversy over the project and further claimed that Mankotia during his stint as the minister in the state government failed to do anything for ex-servicemen.

About the recent demand of the league regarding the installation of the statues of martyrs at the Vidhan Sabha complex in Shimla, Kapoor said it was an old issue. Senior BJP leader Shanta Kumar during his stint as the state Chief Minister in 1990, first sanctioned Rs 1 lakh for the memorial of Capt Dal Bahadur. The previous BJP government led by Chief Minister PK Dhumal again sanctioned Rs 7 lakh for the memorial in 1998.

The present government had also sanctioned Rs 22 lakh for the project.

Shimla, November 15
Undeterred by the hue and cry made by environmentalists and increasing opposition by local people to cement plants, Reliance Cementation Private Limited (RCPL), the cement arm of the Anil Ambani Group, is in line for setting up the biggest project in the hill state till date.

The company has proposed a 5-million-tonne-capacity plant based on Sangrothi limestone deposits in the Chopal area of Shimla district for which bids have been invited for the grant of “prospecting licence”. In the normal course, the government allows a 2-million-tonne plant unit and in case of existing plants the second unit is allowed as part of expansion plan years later.

In all, nine companies, including all exiting players in the state, are in the race for the project. The other companies are ACC, Lafarge, JK Cements, Laxmi Cements, Ambuja, Dalimia, Abhijit Group and Atha Mines, which have proposed 2-million-tonne plants. The Sangrothi limestone deposits are in the vicinity of the Gummah deposits site where India Cements is already in the process of establishing a 2-million-tonne plant. The government decided to grant a prospecting licence for the plant as the deposits fall in the “probable” category and detailed geological investigation will be required to be carried out to assess the exact quantum.

Normally, 130 million tonnes of proven deposits are enough for a 2 to 3-million-tonne plant having a life of 60 years. According to preliminary estimates of the department, the probable deposits at the site are more than 150 million tonnes. Five-million-tonne plants will be possible, though it will have a life of around 40 years.

Director of Industries JS Rana said the technical and financial evaluation of bids was being carried out on the basis of which allotment would be made. The government had earlier granted the prospecting licence to Indo Rama Hydroberg Limited but it was cancelled early this year as the company did not make any progress during the stipulated three-year period.

The government has granted extension to Dalmia Industries, which was granted the prospecting licence for setting up a cement plant based on the Kariyali-Kothi-Salbagh limestone deposits in the Sunni area of Shimla district. The state already has four big cement projects at Barmana (ACC), Darlaghat (Ambuja), Rajban (CCI) and Bagha (Jaypee) having an aggregate capacity is 12.06 million tonnes. Besides, four projects are in the pipeline at Sundernagar, Al Sindi (both in Mandi), Broh-Shind (Chamba) and Chopal (Shimla). They will produce an additional 7.27 million tonnes of cement.

Mandi, November 15
Unfazed by the dissident activity and the annoyed team of his couple of Cabinet Ministers, Chief Minister PK Dhumal and his loyal team of ministers and the state BJP have tried to put their “might” to make LK Advani’s Jan Chetna Yatra rally tomorrow at the Paddal Maidan in this temple town a launching pad for kick-starting its election campaign for the state Assembly elections due in 2012.

The BJP party has made “anti-corruption and good governance” as party’s punchline for the rally to counter the Congress offensive against corruption ahead of the Renuka and Nalagarh byelections due for this month.

Dhumal himself will reach here this evening to supervise preparation for the rally.

The BJP national leadership has projected Dhumal as the “party’s poster boy” of good governance in Himachal along with LK Advani, who figures as the former Deputy Prime Minister in glossy hoardings that have come up across national highways. But Dhumal’s detractor Shanta Kumar is sidelined in the background, along with his much junior BJP president Khimi Ram, a Dhumal’s loyalist.

Advani will be accompanied by his daughter Pratibha Advani, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, chief spokesperson of the party Ravi Shankar Prasad and general secretary Anant Kumar.

They will land here in a helicopter flying from Pathankot airport at around 10.45am. Apart from Dhumal, party national vice-president Shanta Kumar and general secretary JP Nadda will participate in the rally among others.

The state BJP has made Advani’s yatra as a virtual election campaign as it would be completing four years of its term in December and each Assembly will rope in at least 3,000 persons from 10 segments in the district, informed Jai Ram Thakur, Rural Development Minister, a rally in charge. Party workers from Hamirpur and Kangra will also come for the rally, he added.

PWD Minister Gulab Singh Thakur and Jai Ram Thakur monitored the rally arrangements for the past three days here and asserted that it would be a grand success. But the ministers ducked the questions on dissidents’ activities saying that the party was aware about the development.

Meanwhile, Mandi SP Pupul Dutta said all security and parking arrangements have been made for the rally.

Solan, November 15
Pinegrove School’s Information Technology (IT) team brought laurels to the school by bagging the maximum number of awards in the two-day IPSC Information Technology Festival - 2011 hosted by Bhavans, Vadodara.

The six-member team comprising students from Class IX to XII secured positions in all the six events - IT quiz apart from the digital cartoon making, e-collage, debate, power point presentation and C++ programming, thus setting the highest standards of excellence for a third year in a row.

The tasks were conceived and animated by students on an impromptu basis. The events tested students’ intelligence, alertness, insight, speed and imagination. The team bagged the first position in the e-collage section.

Deepak Goyal exhibited immense presence of mind in the digital cartoon making by securing the second position on the impromptu topic “Implementation of CCE in Schools”.

The power point presentation by Garvit Chaudhary and Ravyansh on “India of My Dreams” also secured the second position and was highly appreciated by judges.

In the IT quiz, the team comprising Angad Vittal and Ravyansh also bagged the runners-up position.

Tanveer Grewal exhibited his debating skills and was awarded a third position in the highly competitive debate section.

Masterminds Angad Vittal and Nitin Gupta brought home laurels by securing the second position in the C++ programming competition.

Gurpreet Singh, trainer and manager of the team, while lauding the efforts of the students, said: “The team exhibited great overall prowess and glorified the trust of the school.”

IPSC is a conference of 80 top boarding schools across the country, including Rashtriya Military Schools and Sainik Schools too. Altogether 13 renowned IPSC schools participated in the IT fest. Among them were - Bhavan’s, Baroda; Rajkumar College, Rajkot; Pinegrove School, Subathu; Mayo College for Boys, Ajmer; Mayo College for Girls, Ajmer; The Scindia School, Gwalior; Tashi Nangyal, Gangtok; Daly College, Indore; VDJS, Hissar; Sainik School, Kapurthala; Sanik School, Rewa; and Lawrence School Lovedale, Ooty.

Shimla, November 15
Expressing serious concern over the issue of increasing accidental rate in the state due to overloading and rash and negligent driving by private operators and state-owned roadways, the state high court today directed state Superintendents of Police and regional transport officers (RTOs) to file separate affidavits explaining the number of accidents took place in their respective areas during the past two years and the investigation conducted in this regard.

The court further asked the authorities to clarify in their affidavit as to whether the license of the driver of the offending vehicles had been suspended as per the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act and the rules.

It also directed them to inform, whether there was any provisions or instructions regarding debarring the offender driver from driving any vehicle who involved in the accident for a specified period.

The court further directed RTOs to clarify as to the system available for control of pollution caused by vehicles and whether there was any periodic check-up in that regard and if the result thereof is entered in the records.

It passed this order on a petition filed by Ajay Kumar alleging that the maximum buses were being plied by private bus operators and the HRTC were being driven on route in violation of the law and they also commit the offences of overloading beyond the sitting capacity of the bus and by driving the bus by inexpert drivers.

He also cited the example of a recent accident took place near the Lift, Shimla, resulting the death of a lady, who was crushed by two private buses due to their overloading, rash and negligent driving.

Meanwhile, the court listed the matter for further hearing on December 19.

Shimla, November 15
Taking serious note of the issue of women and girls missing from the state during the past five years, the state high court has directed the Additional Director-General of Police (CID) to investigate all such cases since 2006 and submit a preliminary report before the court with regard to the progress made in the cases within six weeks.

The court passed these orders on a letter addressed to the Chief Justice by Ramesh Chand of Rano Shashan village in Arki. The petitioner had alleged that his married daughter, Kiran Bala, was missing since September 2010, but the police had not been able to trace her so far. The petitioner had also alleged the role of her in-laws in her missing in his complaint to the police, but it had failed to take any action against the accused.

The court, in its earlier orders, had directed the IGP to file a consolidated district-wise report of all women missing. According to the affidavit filed by the IGP, there are 848 such cases during the past five years: 166 from Una, 127 from Mandi, 96 from Sirmaur, 96 from Baddi police district, 89 from Solan, 86 from Kangra, 70 from Kullu, 38 from Shimla, 26 from Kinnaur, 21 from Bilaspur, 14 from Hamirpur, 11 from Chamba and eight from Lahaul and Spiti.

The court observed that such a high number of missing women and girls during the past five years was shocking.

The court directed the Principal Secretary (Home) to file an affidavit as to whether there was any mechanism at the level of the government for processing this data with a view to analysing the pattern of such cases.

Kangra, November 15
The state has a rising number of lung cancer and cervix cancer cases owing to the unhealthy lifestyle of its people and about 95 per cent of lung cancers and 70 per cent of head and neck cancer in males can directly be attributed to smoking, a principal risk factor for the ailment.

Unlike the past, lung cancer has started registering its presence in the state and is spreading at an alarming rate.

Dr Rajeev Bedi, Head, Medical Oncology, Fortis Hospital, Mohali, stated this here today.

He suggested to generate awareness regarding the growing number of cancer cases and the ways to prevent them.

Dr Bedi, recipient of a gold medal and the Geeta Mittal Award for his best cancer research for 2002 by the then President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, had key areas of interest in the breast, lung, gynaecological cancer, GI cancer, leukaemia, and cancer of bone marrow transplant.

Dr Bedi said the shadow of cancer looms large over Himachal, with state at present facing a formidable challenge of curing around 10,000 cases and the mounting cases of cancer, especially lung cancer, was a concern for doctors.

“As the number of cancer patients has been going up, the state has to tackle about 1,800 to 2,000 fresh cases each year. We get a large number of cases of lung cancer amongst males followed by head and neck cancers. Genitory-urinary tract and gastro-intestine tract (GIT),” Dr Bedi said. The disease was also prevalent amongst women in the state.

Cases of gynaecological and cervix cancers topped the list, followed by breast and GI cancers.

According to the studies conducted in the state, districts like Sirmaur, Chamba, Kullu, Shimla, Mandi and Kangra in the state had been found to have a higher share of the disease.

He added that lack of education and awareness about health and hygiene, repeated pregnancies and early marriages were the primary reasons for uterine cancer.

Emphasising the need of early detection of cervix cancers enabling complete cure from the disease, he said a simple and affordable pap smear test during a gynaecological examination should be made compulsory for every woman.

Mandi, November 15
Hindi scholars, writers, poets and critics differ on the contribution and legacy of Ageya, a writer, and Shamsher Bahadur, a poet inspired by English poets like ST Coleridge and novelist Ezra Pond. However, they agree that they are relevant in their own way to modern society and art and literature.

Speaking at a two-day seminar organised by the National Book Trust and the HP Art, Literature and Language Academy here today as part of their centenary celebrations, Education Minister ID Dhiman praised the discussion by various writers and critics.

Vijay Vishal read a paper on Ageya. Prof Sunder Lohia, who presided over the discussion, said they could benefit from Ageya’s thought today by balancing his criticism and praise. He also released NBT books on the occasion on these writers and urged the participants to reap benefits from these.

Kangra, November 15
Two persons were killed and three others injured in different road accidents in the Kangra valley during the past 24 hours, the police said here today. Kangra district police chief DS Thakur said a motorcyclist was killed this evening when his bike collided with a private bus at Dhaliara.

He said the private bus was on its way from Chintpurni to Dehra and the motorcyclist was going to Dhaliara from Dehra when the accident took place. He was rushed to the Dehra Civil Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The deceased was identified as Rajinder Singh (35) of Dhaliara.

Thakur said Dehra DSP Manmohan Singh rushed to the spot after the accident.

He said in another accident, motorcycle rider Gamodin of Bhedkhad village died on the spot when his motorcycle hit a school bus at Jachh today.

He said Mohan Kalia, who was riding a motorcycle, was injured and admitted to a hospital when his bike hit a Qualis at Khehar yesterday in a road accident in the Valley.

The SSP said two persons were injured and rushed to the DRPGMC, Tanda, near here, today when a motorcycle driven by Abhinash Dhiman of Bhadwar with three others hit a car coming from the wrong side at Bindra-Ban.

Shimla, November 15
Union Minister Virbhadra Singh will campaign for the coming byelections to the Renuka and Nalagarh Assembly seats in two phases.

In the first phase, he will address 10 public meetings and two workers’ meetings in the Renuka constituency from November 18 to 20. The public meetings will be held at Jamukoti, Barag, Naya Pinjaur, Nani Dhar, Rohnat, Koti Baunch, Jarwa, Ghandori, Boghdhar and Barog. Workers’ meetings will be held at Charana and Lana Cheta.

In the second phase, he will address big public meetings from November 26 to 28 in both Renuka and Nalagarh.