Mandi, January 21
The 97-year-old Emerson House building, in the heart of this temple town, is being given a new lease of life as it is being restored with its “pahari” style slate roof along the lines of Shimla’s Gaiety Theatre. The Public Works Department (PWD) has been allotted Rs 34 lakh for the purpose.

Apart from being vandalised by government tenants, this building has become a free-for-all, including political parties and student unions, for slogan wall-writing right under the nose of the district administration and the Department of Art, Language and Culture.

After the dilapidated condition of the building highlighted by the media over the years, a five-member technical team from the Department of Art, Language and Culture inspected the building on August 8 last year and advocated its conservation immediately.

DR Shashni, Executive Engineer, PWD, told The Tribune that the restoration work would start after the finalisation of the tender this month and was expected to end by March.

He said Rs 34 lakh had been allotted for the restoration work. The slate roof would be restored in its original shape. The old wooden floors and planks would also be replaced in their original form along the lines of the Gaiety Theatre in Shimla, he added.

The Emerson House building with its distinct slate roof, curved wooden glazed verandahs and high rooms give Mandi town a distinct aura that otherwise is getting lost in the concrete jungle that has come up across the town, said art lovers.

The team members, state curator MS Negi, architectural engineer CL Kashayap, archaeologist Naresh Thakur, registration officer (antiquity) Hari Chauhan and additional regional engineer Sudarshan Thakur, had found that its slate roof had almost collapsed and seepage and leakage were rampant in rooms.

No proper drainage system was being maintained by government departments and a private restaurant owner in this building.

“Government offices, court rooms and its offices have turned the Emerson House into a junkyard as many rooms are being used as storerooms for discarded materials,” the team observed.

Mandi DC Devesh Kumar said the Emerson House would be restored in its original form and would add to the beauty of the town as the PWD had already started the conservation process.

Solan, January 21
With a view to ensuring uniformity and quality education in private universities, a common management and engineering entrance test will be conducted from the next academic session in Himachal.

Apart from ensuring that the minimum percentage for B Tech entrance should be 55 in plus II, the HP Private Educational Institutions (Regulatory Commission) today decided to evolve a strategy to streamline functioning of all private universities in the state.

In a meeting held between the commission and Vice-Chancellors (VCs) of private universities here today, the commission’s Chairperson Sarojini Ganju Thakur said there was a need to establish norms for admissions for various courses being run by private universities.

While the VCs were unanimous in their view for holding a common entrance test for various streams, it was also felt that apart from admitting students on the basis of CMAT and AIEEE, a common entrance should also be held for students of Himachal as a large number of students in the state failed to appear for these national-level tests owing to lack of information.

The commission also raised issues related to the need for the adoption of broadly similar academic calendar in all private universities. Thakur said fee was collected in two equal instalments in an academic year at the beginning of each semester and no university would be allowed to charge advance fee for the next semester.

The Chairperson introduced Wipro Mission 10 K programme, an innovative project, for enhancing employability of engineering graduates. She said a workshop to apprise the private universities about this programme would be held in mid-February.

The commission said the courses offered by private universities should commence at the 10 plus II level and approval for new courses would have to be sought. Advance approval would be provided for such courses before March 15 every year. A uniform semester system would be applicable for all the universities.

Dinkar Burathoki, Additional Director, Higher Education, said mock tests and awareness information programmes for B Tech courses should be conducted in government schools. He directed the VCs to update their websites regularly and provide information about faculty, courses fee structure, etc.

Shimla, January 21
Raising questions on the inquiry conducted by the Foundation for Advanced Management of Elections (FAME), which has declared his election as the state Youth Congress chief as “null and void”, Vikramaditya Singh, Union Minister Virbhadra Singh’s son, said today that the move was part of a “pre-meditated conspiracy” against him.

Vikramaditya, who despite bagging the maximum number of votes and that too with an impressive margin of over 3,500 votes, has suffered a major setback. Not only because of the decision to hold fresh election, but also because he has been declared ineligible to contest the elections again.

He has termed the decision as unfair and against the principle of natural justice.

“I feel victimised for no fault of mine and feel terribly helpless as I am not even allowed to defend myself,” he said, reacting to the outcome of the FAME inquiry into allegations of violation of the poll code of conduct against him.

Vikramaditya, however, added that he had full faith in the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and was confident that he would get justice.

The 22-year-old, who made his political debut by staking claim for the post of the state Youth Congress president, went to the extent of stating that FAME had not conducted any inquiry.

“FAME did not conduct any inquiry to my knowledge and never considered any of the evidence given by me,” he remarked.

“I was never given copies of the complaints against me nor was I given a chance to defend myself. I submitted my explanation with full facts and evidence on whatever I found out at my own level,” he said.

Vikramaditya went on to say that the people of the state know how fair and comprehensive his victory was as he got two third of the total votes.

“I cannot even imagine to violate the code of conduct and my campaign was absolutely ethical and above board,” he said.

He added that the decision would not deter him from working for the interest of state youth who had believed in him and extended their whole-hearted support to him.

Shimla, January 21
With vehicular traffic on the Shimla-Kangra National Highway remaining obstructed for three days following heavy snowfall, the Shimla Nagrik Sabha today urged the government to construct an alternate passage from Shimla to Ghanatti via Taradevi.

In a representation given to Chief Minister PK Dhumal here today, the sabha said an alternate connectivity to Shimla-Kangra road, which is National Highway 88, must be provided to ensure smooth plying of traffic even in case of snowfall.

“Since the road got blocked at Dhanda, Totu and Tawi Mor due to snow, the traffic could not be restored on the NH-88 causing a lot of inconvenience to commuters,” said Tikender Panwar, convener of the sabha.

He said an alternate route via Taradevi, Badheri and Shilli could help keeping the NH-88 through in case of snow.

He said with the Dhami Rampur road remaining non-functional for three days, passengers, including women and children, had to walk long distances in extreme cold. This, he added, could be avoided if an alternative all-weather road could be linked for which a trace had already been made.

Panwar said barely 500 m of this road had to be constructed, as the remaining exists and was still functional. “In this case this road be declared as a national highway, the problem can be solved permanently as this portion is relatively warmer,” he added. 

Shimla, January 21
Justice Lokeshwar Singh Panta, a former Supreme Court Judge and Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal, will take oath as Lokayukta of Himachal Pradesh on February 3.

Even though a decision on Justice Panta’s appointment had been taken almost six months back, it is only on February 3 that he will finally take an oath and assume office. The post of Lokayukta had fallen vacant on the retirement of Justice Bhawani Singh in May last year, who remained Chief Justice in states like Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh.

Justice Panta had specially been assigned the task of heading the National Green Tribunal by the Chief Justice of India and it is owing to this responsibility that he was unable to assume office of the Lokayukta immediately after the state government finalised his name. Justice Panta has the honour of being the first Chairman of the tribunal, which has been set up only last year.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal, Chief Justice Joseph Kurian and Leader of Opposition Vidya Stokes had given their consent. Having earned the rare distinction of being elevated to the Supreme Court, Justice Panta was an obvious choice.

Another cause for delay in Justice Panta taking over as Lokayukta was the long search for a suitable person to take over the National Green Tribunal, which has emerged as a very important body, keeping an eye on all major issues concerning environment, forestry, land issues and traditional rights of locals.

The appointment of Justice Panta was made by the Ministry of Forests and Environment on October 18, 2010, for a term of five years. However, it was only in May 2011 that the tribunal formally started functioning.

Justice Panta hails from Jubbal area of Shimla district and remained a judge of the HP High Court for several years. He was later elevated to the Supreme Court, a rare honour for anyone from the hill state. 

Shimla, January 21
Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary was sworn in as Additional Judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court here today. Chief Justice Kurian Joseph administered the oath of office to the newly appointed Judge in a simple but impressive ceremony.

Judges of the high court Justice RB Misra, Deepak Gupta, Surinder Singh, Sanjay Karol, Kuldip Singh, Rajiv Sharma and VK Sharma and Chief Secretary of the state Rajwant Sandhu and DGP DS Minhas and registrars of the high court CB Barowalia, SC Kainthla, Advocate-General RK Bawa along with a large number of dignitaries, including retired judges, members of the Bar Council and the Bar Association, were among those who were present.

He joined the HP higher judicial services in 1995 and served as the Additional District & Sessions Judge at Shimla, Mandi, Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti. He also served as the District and Sessions Judge at Hamirpur and Kullu.

He was appointed as Registrar General-cum-Principal Secretary to the Chief Justice in the state high court on October 2010.

Justice Chaudhary has an experience of about 12 years as an advocate in the state HC, subordinate courts and the erstwhile HP Administrative Tribunal.

Dharamsala, January 21
Lack of facilities and remote areas are no bar for those who have a strong will power. Anchal Rana, a BSc second-year student from Dharamsala Government College, has made a name for herself in a sport where women of Himachal have not yet ventured. She has become the first professional pistol shooter from the state. Besides Anchal, Sonia Rai, from the CISF is the only woman from Himachal to have taken up professional pistol shooting. She, however, got her training in Delhi while Anchal has trained in the fields of Himachal.

Anchal won a bronze medal in 25 m, .22 pistol junior shooting team event while representing India in an international competition that was held at Doha Qatar on January 14 this year.

Anchal has become the first female to have entered the shooting sport in the region. She started shooting with her father’s .22 pistol at the age of 15. Talking to The Tribune she said she used to watch her father, who is also a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, shooting at their private range in the village.

Gauging her acumen in shooting, her father introduced her to the world professional shooting. Since then Anchal has never looked back. She won individual medals in many national and international shooting events with her .22 pistol.

Her father Gurbhachan Singh was elated at the news of his daughter winning a medal at Doha Qatar. Talking to The Tribune he said Anchal had won the medal despite meagre facilities available for training. She had been training at a shooting range created at their native Gumer village on the Jawalamukhi-Kangra road. The shooting range comprises just a target fixed on a hillock.

Gurbhachan Singh said a shooting range was created by the Kangra Rifle Association at Gumer village. However, that range had been washed away in the monsoon. Now Anchal had to practise in their shooting range created along the small hillock.

Though there are 150 members of the National Rifle Association in Kangra district, there is no professional facility for training in the sport.

Anchal’s father said the state government should create at least 10-m indoor ranges in the state where junior-level entrants to the sports could train. Besides, shooting was a very costly sport. If the government provided some kind of support to budding shooting players from the state, they could easily make a name for themselves at the national and international levels, he said.

Kangra district has the highest number of gun licences issued in the state for self protection. Keeping guns has been a tradition in many families of the district. However, shooting has not come up as a sport in the area, but for exceptions like Anchal Rana.

Shimla, January 21
Five youths, working in Airtel cellular company, were killed when their car rolled down the road into an 800-ft-deep gorge near Tutikandi on the Shimla by-pass last night.

According to the police, the mishap took place at around 12.15 am near the HRTC petrol pump. The vehicle (HP-63B-1214) skidded off the road, killing all five. It was only in the morning that somebody informed the police about the mishap and the bodies were retrieved from the mangled remains of the car.

The deceased, all of whom were working at the Kasumpti office of the company, four of whom worked in cellular companies, have been identified as Vinod Kumar (Theog), Devinder Singh (Theog), Pankaj (Sujanpur), Rajeev (Phagwara) and Amit Sharma (Amritsar). SDM Rajeev Kumar said as an immediate relief, a sum of Rs 10,000 had been given to family members of the deceased. 

Dharamsala, January 21
The milk of high-yielding foreign cow varieties contains a protein that is associated with high incidence of heart diseases and diabetes. On the contrary, the milk of low-yielding local cows has a protein that prevents these diseases.

Veterinary scientists of CSK Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University have made these claims after recent research findings.

Subhash Sharma, a scientist who was associated with the research project, while talking to The Tribune, said in their research project around 97 per cent of “desi” cows investigated under the project contained good A2 B-casien protein. On the other hand, most high-yielding cows such as Holstein and Jersey contained an alternative A1 allele protein that had been shown to be associated with heart diseases, autism and diabetes.

He said many findings of foreign scientists had also associated the A1 allele protein found in milk of high-yielding foreign cows with the said diseases.

However, it was for the first time that A2 B-casien protein had been identified in the milk of local cows that was not associated with any disease. This protein seemed to be the reason due to which the milk of local cows was considered healthy, he said.

The Rs 85-lakh research project, under which the findings were made, was sanctioned under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna to study the immunological and immune-genetic profiling of the hill cattle for their disease resistance potential. The preliminary studies carried out at the Department of Veterinary Microbiology at Dr GC Negi College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences of the Palampur agriculture university had said the local cattle were highly adaptogenic and had better innate and adaptive immune responses to fight infectious diseases like TB, FMD, and Brucellosis.

Under this project, significant leads had also been obtained on the quality of milk and antimicrobial properties of urine.

Though it may sound rightist, the scientists working in the project had also claimed that the urine of local cow was also studied for its antimicrobial properties. It was processed and added in very minute quantities to an antimicrobial agent. The urine of local cow was able to enhance the antimicrobial activity of that agent by 20-25 percent, they claimed.

The local cattle serves as a sole bread winner for farmers and landless livestock owners of the state especially in the mid and higher hills through provision of animal traction, milk products and manures.

These animals are of short stature, highly adaptable to hilly terrain, disease resistant and thrive on poor pastures.

However, due to loss of natural pastures to urbanisation and weeds, farmers rearing local cows faced increased shortage of fodder. Keeping local cows is becoming uneconomical for them and they are shifting to rearing hybrid varieties.

Manali, January 21
After inclement weather conditions and moderate-to-heavy snowfall for the past one week in the upper Kullu valley, clear sky and bright sun greeted tourists and local residents today.

Despite clear skies in the morning, temperature of the upper Manali region was recorded as very low and most parts of the region witnessed extreme climatic conditions.

Several localities in Manali and adjoining areas went without water early today as water in pipes was frozen. People were seen heating pipes in the morning.

Vehicular traffic was also hit in the morning due to icing on the roads and vehicles were moving at a snail’s pace.

This year Manali and its environs have experienced a good spell of snowfall and many elders predict that it will be beneficial for the crops. Snow is also considered as a white manure for apple orchards.

The Solang valley also experienced season’s heavy snowfall and became alive with visitors coming in a large numbers. After a bright sunny day today, hundreds of tourists in Manali rushed to the Solang valley to enjoy snow-related activities and fresh snowfall.

Tourists were seen enjoying paragliding, skiing, yak riding, sledging and riding on snow mobiles and having photo sessions. The snow mobiles carry two persons besides the driver. The ride starts from the ground and extends upstream ski slopes.

Shimla: It was almost after a fortnight of intense cold wave that residents had some respite from the chill with bright sunshine today.

Even though the cold wave conditions are likely to continue till January 26 with a fresh Western Disturbance approaching, the bright sunshine this morning was more than welcome. The minimum temperature in Shimla was recorded at -1.2°C. Traffic in the Summer Hill and the Boileauganj areas of the town remained suspended last evening and this morning on account of the snowfall that took place yesterday.

The NH-22 has been re-opened for heavy vehicles. The traffic has been restored on all the major roads in Shimla town even though the vehicular movement in the upper parts of the district is still affected. Power supply in many parts of Shimla, Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti, Kullu and Chamba still remains affected.

Shimla, January 21
Even though the picturesque Dharamsala cricket stadium has caught the fancy of cricket-loving fans across the world, the approval granted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to the stadium for one-day international and T20 matches has paved the way for holding more international games.

The approval from the ICC was conveyed to the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) here recently.“I am extremely grateful to the ICC and the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) for approving our stadium for one-day international and T20 matches,” said MP Anurag Thakur, who is the president of the HPCA.

Even though five IPL matches were held in Dharamsala during the third and the fourth IPL season, the ICC approval will definitely help give a boost to the stadium for being chosen as the venue for official international matches.

Besides, a three-day practice match between Pakistan and the Board President XI was played here in 2005.

David Boon, ICC match referee, had inspected the stadium on December 12 and based on his report the approval has been granted.

Thakur said Boon had given good ratings to the facilities in the stadium like pitches, outfield, practice area, players changing rooms, score board, indoor stadium, gymnasium, pitch covers and CCTV cameras. He praised the equipment maintenance facility of the HPCA.

“I feel, the ICC’s approval of our venue will certainly write a new chapter of not just cricket, but also in making Dharamsala a world-renowned tourist destination,” he added.

Hamirpur, January 21
Education Minister ID Dhiman today inaugurated a cattle dispensary at Sahlvien. Addressing the gathering after the inauguration ceremony, the minister talked about various measures taken by the government for various sections of the society.

Dhiman said showing its firm commitment towards the welfare of members of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities, the state had increased the allocation of the budget from 11 per cent to 25 per cent of the total budget in the last fiscal and sanctioned Rs 816 crore for implementing development schemes for these sections.

Talking about the government resolve to promote dairy farming in the state, he said the government was making every effort to provide facilities to farmers and had launched a special scheme for the purpose.

He said under the Mukhyamantri Arogya Dhan Yojna, 99 cattle dispensaries had been opened and by March 31, every panchayat would get a dispensary. As many as 100 farmers had also been given cattle-care kits, he added.

The minister also appealed to the youth to benefit from the Doodh Ganga Yojna and take up dairy farming since there was a great demand of milk in the state and a large supply of the same was still coming from neighbouring states. He also inaugurated a cattle dispensary at Aman.

Kangra, January 21
All the meat shops and wine shops should be removed from this temple town within 1-km radius of the Brajeshwari temple, one of the 52 Shakti peeths, and towns where Shakti Peeths were located be declared as “holy towns”.

The demand was raised by Swami Mahant Virandranand Giri, state president, Sanatan Dharam Matth Mandir Suraksha Samiti, in a letter to the Governor of the state Urmila Singh recently. Swami Giri alleged that meat and wine shops were hurting the religious sentiments of pilgrims visiting the town in lakhs throughout the year.

He said the state government must come forward with its stand whether the Brajeshwari temple was a Shakti peeth or not, and if it was, the government must take effective steps to shift all the wine and meat shops out of 1-km radius from the temple.

Swami Giri demanded that Shakti Peeths of Kangra, Chamunda, Jawalamukhi, Chintpurni and Naina Devi should be declared “holy towns” on the pattern of Haridwar.

He was also critical of the district administration for allegedly constructing shops on NH 88 outside the Civil Hospital here, violating the directions of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. He alleged that the state Electricity Department disconnected power connections to these shops under court orders, but now at the same place new shops were being constructed .

He threatened that if his demands were not met with, the samiti would move the state High Court and agitate on the streets.

Sundernagar, January 21
Prof Ken Gonsalves, eminent expert in materials and chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, has joined IIT, Mandi, as Visiting Distinguished Professor, initially for six months.

He holds the position of the Celanese Acetate Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina. According to Professor Gonsalves, he plans to continue these areas of research at IIT, Mandi.

Dr Gonsalves is highly enthusiastic about the potential at IIT, Mandi, as it develops programmes with an emphasis on the eco-profile of HP as well as of a national and international stature. Simultaneously, the education of the next generation scientists and engineers is of significant importance tohin as well as K-12 STEM.

Kangra, January 21
Prakash Chand (52) of Nagmord village, Baijnath, died in the DRPGMC Tanda here yesterday after he allegedly consumed poison at his home on Thursday feeling frustrated over the failure of the police to trace out his missing son from Baddi for the past nine months.

The police recovered an unsigned suicide note from his body in which he had written that his son was kidnapped on May 2, 2010, from Baddi and the police had failed to trace him out. In the note he charged the SP, the DSP and the SHO for their failure to find his son.

He alleged that he met Chief Minister PK Dhumal on June 23, 2010, during his open darbar, but he too did not listen to his grievance. He alleged that Rs 43,500 were with drawn from the account of his kidnapped son too.

He further alleged that the MLA of his constituency Capt Atma Ram told him that the incident had taken place in another constituency so he could not help him.

The note added that he had a 25-year-old handicapped son and another 28-year-old son who had turned frustrated following the kidnapping of his brother. The note added that he was fed up now and was taking this extreme step.

Raj Kumar, his brother, confirmed that the suicide note was in the handwriting of his brother Prakash Chand. The police, however, said as the suicide note was unsigned, its authenticity and the handwriting would be verified.