Manali, February 4
The entire upper Manali area experienced a fresh spell of snowfall today, renewing cold wave conditions in the region. Snowflakes also greeted tourists in Manali town this afternoon.

Tourists were thrilled to see the upper Manali region donning a white mantle. Meanwhile, hundreds of tourists rushed to the Solang valley to experience the fresh snowfall.

Vehicular traffic in the upper Manali region was disrupted and motorists had a tough time in the afternoon due to the fresh snowfall on the road between Nehru Kund and Solang valley.

The famous ski slopes of the Solang valley also experienced a fresh spell of snowfall today. It brought smiles on the faces of winter sports lovers who had come from different parts of the country to participate in the Alpine Premier League.

The 14,000-ft-high Bhrigu ski slopes and the 12,000-ft-high Hamta slopes, famous for helicopter-skiing, also experienced heavy snowfall.

The higher reaches in the Kullu valley, including the 13,050-ft-high Rohtang Pass, the gateway to Lahaul-Spiti valley, Pir Panjal range, Marhi, Gulaba, Kothi, Dhundi and the Chanderkhani Pass, also received moderate to heavy snowfall today.

Kullu: Cold wave conditions again intensified in the Kullu valley after a short respite - when the day temperature rose to double digits during the first part of the week. The minimum temperature remained sub-zero during the past 24 hours while the maximum could not reach double figures.

The higher reaches around Kullu experienced another spell of heavy snowfall while the lower parts of the valley had incessant rains during the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner BM Nanta has announced a holiday on Monday in all the schools in the district due to very cold weather conditions and based on the weather forecast for the next 72 hours.

Shimla, February 4
Private universities in the state have agreed to carry out admissions to various management, computer and information technology courses for the 2012-13 academic session on the basis of the common entrance tests conducted by Himachal Pradesh University (HPU).

The sub-committee of Vice-Chancellors of private universities set up to consider the possibility of bringing admissions to these courses under the purview of the entrance conducted by HPU has come out with this positive recommendation.

The State Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission has already taken up the matter with HPU and a final decision will be taken on the matter shortly.

It will help both the private universities and the HPU as a higher number of candidates will make the conduct of the test more economical.

HPU is already conducting the test for institutions affiliated to it. For the 2013-14 session, the admission to management courses will be carried out on the basis on the national test (CMAT) for which the universities will be required to notify the essential requirements on their websites well in advance.

The private universities, which have agreed to admit students to various B.Tech-level engineering courses on the basis of AIEEE only from the 2013-14 session, are not keen to adopt this new measure from the ensuing academic session on the plea that the students in the state lacked awareness, but this is not true.

Admission to all the colleges affiliated to the HPU is being carried out on the basis of the national test for the past several years.

Admission to these colleges, before they became constituents of private universities, was carried out only on the basis of AIEEE.

However, evading AIEEE for the ensuing session may not help the private universities much. The commission has prescribed a higher minimum percentage (55 per cent marks) in Plus Two examinations for admission to the BTech course which is higher than the eligibility of 45 per cent for AIEEE. Last year, the private universities admitted even those with 40 per cent marks.

Further, the universities will have to provide details of students admitted to each course along with the registration number on their websites after completing the admissions.

Shimla, February 4
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SV and ACB) today registered a case in connection with the multi-crore pulses purchase scam in the state Civil Supplies Corporation after detecting irregularities in the tendering process.

The investigating agency after scrutinising the tenders detected manipulations in the terms and conditions of the tender resulting in wrongful gains to certain firms.

On the basis of the findings, it was concluded that the manipulations had caused a loss of over Rs 1 crore per month to the corporation.

Prima facie, it was found that the bidding process was adversely affected due to the unauthorised manipulation of tender conditions.

It was done deliberately by officers of the corporation to favour certain firms, said DIG, (SV and ACB), Himanshu Mishra.

A case under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered but so far, only one person has been named in the FIR.

The development has come close on the heels of an allegation levelled by BJP dissidents that the government was trying to hush up the pulse purchase scam as those involved in it were close to a leader in the ruling coterie.

The alleged irregularities in the tenders pertain to charges for transporting pulses from the Mumbai port, grading and packaging by the corporation.

The corporation procures over 3,700 metric tonnes of pulses every month for distribution through fair price shops to over 16 lakh ration card holders across the state.

The pulses include ‘chana dal’, ‘urd dal’ and ‘kala chana’. The government has been providing a subsidy of over Rs 120 crore under the subsidised ration scheme annually.

The government had ordered an inquiry after the issue was raised in the Vidhan Sabha during the winter session. The inquiry had revealed irregularities in the tendering process after which two officers of the corporation - a general manager and an assistant procurement officer - were suspended a few days ago.

Dharamsala, February 4
The district police has issued an alert following reports of the use of satellite phone in the Pong Dam area. Highly placed sources here told The Tribune that the police had received intelligence inputs regarding the satellite phone, following which the alert had been issued to officials concerned.

SP, Kangra, Diljeet Thakur confirmed that an alert had been sounded to police officials in the Pong Dam area.

He, however, said the exact location of the use of satellite phone was yet to be confirmed. The use of satellite phone is restricted in the country due to security reasons.

In the recent past, the police had confiscated a satellite phone from a foreigner in the McLeodganj area.

After verification, the police had found that the foreigner had come to McLeodganj for trekking. He was using the phone for trekking in high reaches of the Dhauladhar ranges. Earlier also, the police had received reports of the use of satellite phone in Una district and Baijnath area of Kangra district.

The intelligence agencies suspect that many remote areas of Himachal were being used as hideouts by militants, especially from Jammu and Kashmir. Some Hizbul militants had been also arrested by the Kangra police last year.

Shimla, February 4
Launching a counter attack on the state BJP, which is gunning for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G Spectrum case, the state Congress today asked the party to look at its own track record before raising an accusing finger at the UPA.

General secretary of the party Kuldeep Rathore said there was a series of scams during the NDA regime, including coffin purchase scandal, Bofors ammunition purchase scandal, telecom scam and UTI scam, and no action was taken in any case. Yet, BJP leaders had the cheek to demand the resignation of the Prime Minister against whom there was nothing in the Supreme Court judgment yesterday.

He said the UPA government had taken action in all cases, and ministers and leaders involved in the 2G Spectrum scam and CWG scam were sent behind bars.

In contrast, the BJP took no action against its national president Bangaru Laxman and minister Judeo who were caught on camera accepting bribes. They were still members of the party, he said.

Worse still, the party recently inducted in its ranks tainted leaders like Babu Ram Kushwaha who was thrown out by the BSP for indulging in corruption. The situation was alarming in the state and the BJP’s own leaders had levelled serious charges of corruption against the Dhumal government and had even quit the party in disgust.

Hamirpur, February 4
BJP dissidents, who had formed the Himachal Lok Hit Party (HLHP) yesterday, received a boost as more than 12 party activists from Hamirpur not only joined the new party, but also launched a scathing attack today on the BJP leadership, from Hamirpur district, the home district of Chief Minister PK Dhumal.

Prakash Thakur, the newly appointed district president of the HLHP, said, “Today, the ruling BJP in the state has become a party dominated by land mafia, contractors and the corrupt. Honest party men are feeling suffocated in the party.”

Addressing a joint press conference here today, he said, “People will show a mirror to the BJP in the coming elections in the state as the party has become the means of a few top leaders to serve their own ends.”

Thakur said, “Certain leaders of the BJP from the district, who did not even have a bicycle, have raised palatial houses.”

Reiterating HLHP leaders’ allegation of selling prime land to outsiders by the state government, he said, “The state government is allotting land to outsiders. Private universities are being opened irrationally and these are not going to benefit students in any way. But the state government has found a novel way to sell prime land.”

The HLHP will soon hold a party meeting at Hamirpur and many leaders of the BJP are keen to join the party, Thakur said.

The BJP members who resigned from the party are: Subhash Banyal, Ajeet Singh Rana, Chander Mohan Kapil, Mukesh Katoch, Chaman Soni, Ashok Kumar, Meena, Kavi Raj, Krishan Kumar, Pushpa Devi, Gaurav Bhardwaj and Satish Banyal.

Talking to mediapersons, they said, “We are resigning from the primary membership of the BJP and posts held by us and are joining the HLHP.”

Shimla, February 4
Keen to secure maximum funds for strengthening the basic infrastructure in its various departments, Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) is preparing a road map for development for the 12th Five-Year Plan

The university received only Rs 14.5 crore from the University Grants Commission (UGC) during the 11th plan. It is preparing a plan to seek at least Rs 60 crore during the next plan.

A meeting of the working group set up to prepare the plan based on the Golden Vision Document 2020 was held under the Chairmanship of Vice-Chancellor ADN Bajpai here yesterday.

Presiding over the meeting, the Vice-Chancellor said suggestions would be sought from all stakeholders by circulating a public notice and also displaying it on the website of the university.

He said the Golden Vision Document 2020 would act as a guiding post for drafting proposals at the micro level in various departments and institutes and offices of the university.

Further, the core group of the university would apprise the Chancellor, Chief Minister and Education Minister about its priorities and also seek their suggestions for the expansion of facilities for higher education in the state for the 12th Five-Year Plan.

Bajpai said the document would focus on strengthening of the higher education network in the hill state through expansion of the main campus, enhancement of the Regional Centre at Dharamsala, creation of a new campus for evening studies, raising buildings for the University Institute of Information Technology (UIIT), College of Business Studies and University College of Legal Studies.

Besides, the plan would include three new outstation campuses and other required structures like examination halls, international students’ hostels, university guest house, Vice-Chancellor’s residence and expansion of distance education mode.

The working group has to explore the possibilities of seeking financial grant for opening of new campuses in Lahaul and Spiti, Solan and Una and the feasibility of starting the department of archaeology.

It was also decided that two sub-committees be constituted to prepare a draft for the finalisation of the 12th plan proposals, one consisting of all the Deans of Faculties to identify the needs of the departments and the other comprising professors TC Bhalla, SP Bansal, BS Marh and Rajinder Kumar Sharma, Director, ICDEOL, to prepare and examine the priorities of the university.

Una, February 4
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today began his two-day visit to Una district. He will inaugurate various developmental projects and attend social and political functions in Una and Gagret Assembly constituencies.

The CM today announced major sops for diploma engineers of Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) Ltd.

He presided over a state-level conference of the HPSEB Diploma Engineers Association. While addressing the function, Dhumal said the promotion quota for diploma engineers for the post of SDO in power boards would be increased to 40 per cent. Earlier, the promotion quota for diploma engineers was 38 per cent.

On the demand of the association, the CM said after 16 years of service, diploma engineers would get the designation of Assistant Electrical Engineer at the place of their posting.

Dhumal said in the future meetings of the HPSEB, representatives of diploma engineers would also be invited.

The Chief Minister said the present government had filled 370 posts of junior engineer. Another 66 vacant posts of diploma engineer in the HPSEB would be filled soon, he said.

Earlier, the CM inaugurated a residential complex for Animal Husbandry Department employees built at the cost of Rs 75 lakh and a veterinary hospital set up at a cost of Rs 1 crore and a primary health centre at a cost of Rs 75 lakh.

He also attended a function organised by Agorgaya Bharti, an NGO committed to promoting Ayurveda.

Addressing the gathering, the CM said India possessed 7.32 per cent of the biodiversity in the world.

Himachal, being a Himalayan state, had rare medicinal plants in abundance. The state government was encouraging farmers to take up cultivation of herbs.

The CM also participated in a religious function organised by a local guru Bal Baba.

During his visit to Una, the CM was accompanied by local BJP MLA and parliamentary secretary Satpal Satti.

Bilaspur, February 4
Led by Sandip Kumar, Kul Bhushan and Archana Kumari, a team of doctors and para- medical staff inspected and checked the health of students of Government Primary School at Jhandutta, near here, under the Mukhya Mantri Vidyarthi Swasthya Yojana and found that out of 509 girls and boys checked, 433 were afflicted with some disease or the other.

Reports said two students were even found afflicted with mental ailments and required special treatment, while 53 children were given treatment then and there.

As many as 170, the maximum of those checked, were found anaemic and 58 with dental problems, five with skin troubles, 27 with eyes afflictions, seven with ear problems and 128 with stomach diseases. Four cases were referred to Shimla and two to Bilaspur Regional Hospital, while treatment of 39 students was started at Jhandutta Community Health Centre.

The doctors advised teachers and urged parents to be careful about children’s health and ensure that they not only remained neat and clean and develop hygienic habits, but also were given nutritious food.

Chamba, February 4
Roads in far-off Bairagarh, Tepa and Devikothi highland areas of Chamba district still continue to be under heavy snow since January 7 when the entire mountainous region was lashed by heavy blizzard.

A deputation of inhabitants of these areas, led by Himachal Pradesh BJP Scheduled Castes Morcha vice-president Jai Singh, met Deputy Commissioner (DC), Chamba, Sharabh Negi and apprised him of the problems being faced by them.

He demanded that the workforce of the Public Works Department along with snow cutters be pressed into service and roads opened so that ration could be transported easily and life of people could return to normal.

Hamirpur/Barmana, February 4
The Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board (HPPCB) has served a notice to the Associated Cement Companies (ACC) plant in Barmana to take steps to check air and noise pollution being caused by the cement plant in the area within 25 days.

A team of the HPPCB, after receiving complaints from the public and workers working in the cement plant, had visited the plant and found high levels of air and noise pollution.

The complainants had urged the pollution control board to direct the ACC management to take immediate steps to check the pollution as it was adversely affecting their health.

People of the area had been complaining about the dust, smoke and other hazardous particles in the air being emitted by the cement plant for causing respiratory problems to the residents.

Even survey reports conducted by medical teams had confirmed the prevalence of a high number of respiratory problems in the residents after the installation of the cement plant in 1985.

Member secretary of HPPCB Sanjay Sood said, “On the complaints of the people, our team inspected the Barmana cement plant and found large amounts of air and noise pollution. The board has directed the cement company to replace old filter bags to check fusitive air emission and install acoustic filters to check the noise pollution within 25 days.”

He said, “The board has also asked the cement company to carry out a health survey in the area and our team would make another inspection to check the follow-up action in the matter.”

Solan, February 4
Even as several controversies surround the existing 2.54-million tonnes per annum (mtpa) capacity JP Cement plant at Bagha in Arki tehsil, the plant is all set to expand its capacity to 4.04 mtpa.

The plant is also set to expand its clinker production capacity from 2.05 mtpa to 4.80 mtpa. The locals who were promised jobs and adequate compensation for their land had to run from pillar to post not only to get a suitable compensation, but also to get timely freight hike for transporting cement and clinker. This has not only shaken the confidence of the locals about the lack of commitment on part of the plant management, but the March 5 public hearing for the expanded capacity is sure to generate a lot of opposition from people.

The issue relating to the unscientific disposal of muck by the existing plant had become a cause of concern for the locals whose fields had been damaged by the muck. Besides, traditional irrigation channels had also been damaged by the plant.

Block Congress Committee president Sanjay Awasthy, terming the public hearing as an eyewash, said the state government was merely appeasing corporate houses. He added that since the rehabilitation plan agreed upon was yet to be fulfilled and promises like setting up a 48-bedded hospital, ITI and jobs to the local youth had not been fulfilled, this public hearing would again belie their hopes.

Trucks carrying cement and clinker were already choking the transportation system, and the expansion in the capacity of cement production by 1 mtpa and clinker by 2.75 mtpa would increase the number of trucks considerably.

Not only has the existing plant become a source of perennial problems for the locals, but also a cause of air pollution.

Besides disputes relating to the use of forest land for non-forest purposes like the construction of a housing colony by the plant in Bilapsur district without the mandatory environmental clearances were issues which were already under the scanner. 

Bilaspur, February 4
Central Commerce and Industries Minister Anand Sharma has sanctioned the Rs 4.35-crore Ultra-modern Sabzi Mandi Project for Ghumarwin near here.

Talking to mediapersons here recently, Ghumarwin Congress MLA Rajesh Dharmani said the sabzi mandi would consist of two cold storages of 25 metric tonnes each and have two cold chain vehicles of Rs 25 lakh each.

He said there would be machines for cleaning, grading and packing of vegetables, fruits, sophisticated flowers and herbs and facilities like training centres for training of farmers concerned.

Dharmani said a collection centre for herbs and vegetables and fruits would be set up in Karsog of Mandi district. This sabzi mandi would benefit the farmers who would be encouraged and trained to collect and manage the “green wealth” of the state.

He said at present most of this green wealth either went waste or rotted due to lack of awareness regarding its handling. Dharmani said poly house owners would also benefit from the project as they would get all the facilities through this mandi.

The MLA said while the project would give a boost to economy of thousands of farmers, it would provide direct employment to 250 farmer families.

Nurpur, February 4
Kangra Central Co-operative (KCC) Bank disbursed loans to the tune of Rs 7.44 crore among 299 beneficiaries of Nurpur and Indora zones by holding a customer awareness camp at Bodh near here recently. The camp was presided over by JS Rana, General Manager of the bank.

Addressing a large number of farmers and entrepreneurs of the area, Rana briefed a them about a number of bank loan schemes which were directly linked with the state government’s schemes like Doodh Ganga Yojana, poultry and dairy farming and Kisan Credit Cards.

The camp was also addressed by Dr Suman, District Development Manager, NABARD, and Assistant General Manager SC Rana.

Later, talking to mediapersons, General Manager JS Rana said such awareness camps were also being organised in Kangra, Hamirpur, Una, Lahaul-Spiti and Kullu districts with an objective to educate bank customers about new loan schemes. Four out of five districts had been covered so far. He said NABARD was sharing subsidy component in bank loans being dispersed under government schemes.

Chamba, February 4
Resentment prevails among orchardists belonging to 42 gram panchayats falling in Churah subdivision of Chamba district over the non-availability of apple saplings.

The orchardists say the wintry weather is a suitable season for the plantation of apple saplings. But sadly, the state government could not provide them with apple saplings at the right time. This problem can badly affect their economy, they add.

“The apple plants purchased from the open market are expensive as one plant costs more than Rs 30,” the orchardists complain.

They are demanding that the government supplies apple saplings in time and in future it makes arrangements for growing nurseries of apple plants in the area.

Officials were not available for comments.