Dharamsala, April 11
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today inaugurated the Chamba Pattan bridge, fulfilling a long-standing demand of residents of the Pragpur area.

Earlier, people of the area used to cross the Beas using a “temporary bridge made after joining boats” or by boats. The temporary bridge at times proved fatal. One such tragic accident claimed the lives of 60 persons when a boat carrying them sank in the Beas. The incident that occured on June 5, 1976, is still etched on the minds of the elderly.

PWD officials claimed that the Chamba Pattan bridge was the first of its kind in the state as it had been built without any pillars. This 200-metre-long and 32-metre-high bridge has been constructed at a cost of Rs 17.65 crore in a record period of three years.

The bridge is expected to benefit over 20,000 people. Besides providing connectivity to 14 panchayats of the adjoining areas, the bridge will also shorten the distance to Chandigarh and Una by 30 km.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated various development projects in Una district last evening. He said a modern marketing yard on the lines of the modern marketing yard at Parala would be constructed in Una at a cost of Rs 100 crore to facilitate farmers of the lower areas. Farmers should cultivate off season as well as organic vegetables as the demand for these was increasing. This could strengthen the economy of the farmers, he said.

Dhumal said he had taken up the matter of one rank one pension in Parliament when he was an MP to protect the interests of ex-servicemen. The matter was being pursued with the Centre even now. The rights of the ex-servicemen would be safeguarded at all costs, he said.

The Chief Minister said the state government was implementing schemes worth Rs 1,100 crore to promote agriculture and allied activities, which included the Bhed Palak Yojna, the Rs 353-crore Pandit Deen Dayal Kisan-Bagwan Samridhi Yojna, the Rs 300-crore Doodh Ganga Yojna and the Rs 321-crore Crop Diversification Scheme.

He inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of various developmental schemes worth Rs 7 crore in the Kutlehar Assembly segment. The projects inaugurated included a building of Government Senior Secondary School, Dhundla, constructed at a cost of Rs 65 lakh and wayside amenities for tourists and pilgrims at Mata Jamasani Devi constructed at a cost of Rs 22.25 lakh. He laid the foundation stones of a science laboratory at Government Senior Secondary School, Bangana, to be constructed at a cost of Rs 90 lakh, flood protection works to be undertaken on Lunkhari khad at a cost of Rs 2.85 crore and a bridge to be constructed on Baggi Nullah at a cost of Rs 1.01 crore.

Shimla, April 11
To prohibit the teaching fraternity in Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) from any kind of political indulgence, the authorities have initiated a process for framing an ordinance by consulting other universities in the country where teachers cannot dabble in politics.

Vice-Chancellor of the HPU ADN Bajpai who, on assuming office, had listed banning of politics for teachers as one of his top priorities, has constituted a three-member committee which will study all aspects and then recommend framing an ordinance, which currently grants liberty to the teaching community to be politically active and also contest the Assembly elections.

The three-member committee, headed by Prof OP Chauhan from the Law Department, will have Prof Kamal Manohar Sharma and the Assistant Registrar (Administration) as its members. “I have constituted a committee and asked the members to study similar ordinances that exist in other universities in the country,” said Bajpai.

The recommendations of the committee will be placed before the executive council for approval before it is sent to the Governor. Several universities, including those in Madhya Pradesh, have banned politics for teachers.

It is the pre-occupation of some teachers with politics and discrimination with students along political lines which has given rise to the thinking that teachers should enjoy this liberty of dabbling in politics while teaching in the university.

There are several teachers in the HPU whose priority remains contesting the Assembly elections and they obviously work towards that end. There have already been some teachers, including Prof Amar Singh Pal (Law) and Pramod Sharma (Management) who have contested the Assembly elections unsuccessfully with many more aspirants across party lines.

The HPU is considered a breeding ground for politicians as some them have been very active in student politics here on the campus, before making it to the Assembly or Parliament. They include JP Nadda, Rajya Sabha MP and national general secretary of the BJP, state BJP chief Satpal Satti, CPM leader Rakesh Singha and legislators Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Randhir Sharma, Vipin Parmar and Ram Lal Markanday.

Even during student clashes on the HPU campus, which has been witness to many a bloody battle, the involvement of teachers has been established. They are also actively involved in chalking out strategies during student elections. Many feel banning political indulgence for teachers could go a long way in raising the academic standards and ending discrimination by teachers along political lines.

Solan, April 11
Even as the cash-starved Himachal Pradesh University is patting its back for having generated funds by providing a golden opportunity to all postgraduates to improve their score, the lack of clarity on the syllabus is making candidates run from pillar to post.

The university had recently notified that all postgraduates, irrespective of their batch, could avail of a golden opportunity to improve their score by paying a fee of Rs 5,000. While the exercise is slated to generate funds for the cash-strapped university, no information about the syllabus is available for students.

This is creating a piquant situation for the aspirants who, in a bid to improve their score, are availing of this opportunity. With the university staff itself not clear how to conduct these exams, the aspirants are wondering what to study.

Ravi Sharma, a postgraduate in English, who had passed out in 2001, said he had visited the university to find out what syllabus he would have to study for the exam. Despite visiting various departments, including the academic branch and the English Department, he could get no clarity. He added that he was informed by some officials that the new syllabus would be applicable while others said an equivalence would soon be prepared keeping in view the old and the new syllabus. This equivalence would then be conveyed to the students.

Since these exams take place in May-June and a candidate who opts to improve his score will have to spend a reasonable time in studying, the delay in chalking out the equivalence would fail to solve any purpose.

The university is running postgraduate courses in 22 subjects and all passouts, irrespective of the batch, are eligible to improve their score. While officials of the examination branch said that the matter pertained to the academic branch and they were only concerned about the conduct of the exams, those in the academic branch, too, did not seem to be aware of any such issue.

University Registrar CP Verma said no such issue had been brought to his notice, but it would soon be placed before the university’s equivalence committee for an early disposal. 

Shimla, April 11
The exercise for electing a new team of officer-bearers for the state Youth Congress will be carried out afresh after the election of Vikramaditya, son of Union Minister Virbhadra Singh, was set aside by the Foundation for Advanced Management of Electoins (FAME).

According to the programme announced by state returning officer Murali A Shetty, the re-election will be held on April 19 for which polling stations will be set up at 18 places across the state. Nominations will be filed on April 15 and scrutiny will be conducted on the same day after 4 pm.

The candidates will be allowed just three days for canvassing from April 16 to 18. The counting of votes will take place in Shimla on April 21. The election will be held only for the post of state president. There will be no minimum voter turnout requirement for the poll. Anyone who secures more than 500 votes will be assured of a party post. Further, anyone who has already got a position in the previous election will continue to retain it even if he does not will the second poll. Thus, if a current general secretary fails to win the poll or does not poll 500 votes, he will still continue in office.

Anyone who was eligible to contest the previous poll will be eligible, except those debarred by FAME. Besides, setting aside the election of Vikramaditya, FAME had also debarred him from contesting the poll. — TNS

Shimla, April 11
As the Assembly poll draws near, infighting in the top echelons of the faction-ridden Congress is not only intensifying but also percolating down to lower-rung leaders and workers.

The rally addressed by Union Minister Anand Sharma at Palampur and the informal get-together organised by Virbhadra Singh here provided ample evidence of the factional divide plaguing the party. Unity has never been a strong point of the Congress in the state but it managed to come to power riding the anti-incumbency wave. Virbhadra Singh fought running battles during the run-up to the elections with his rivals within the party (Sukh Ram in 1993 and Vidya Stokes in 2003) and using all his political skills and acumen managed to become the Chief Minister.

The tussle for chief ministership has already begun in the Congress and Virbhadra Singh has, by his actions and assertions, made it clear that he is in the race. However, the ground realties have changed over the past three years and he has been at the receiving end in the party.

The denial of the party ticket to his wife Pratibha Singh for the Rohru bypoll and the quashing of his son Vikramaditya’s election as the state Youth Congress president provide ample evidence of it. With no hope from the high command, Virbhadra Singh already seems to be on a no-holds-barred mode, attacking the state leadership and taking his fight to the people as evident from his plan to address rallies across the state.

The elections are still six months away, but it is already obvious that Virbhadra Singh will be taking on state Congress president Kaul Singh, who enjoys Anand Sharma’s backing. Anand Sharma’s writ runs in the high command. Indications are that he would hold more such rallies in the days to come. The political equations are changing fast and Leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes, who earlier headed the anti-Virbhadra Singh camp and backed Kaul Singh, has adopted a neutral posture.

Anand Sharma maintains that he has no intent to enter the state politics and Stokes also asserts that she is not in the race, but party insiders say given their proximity to the high command, they will always remain within the “zone of consideration”.

The Congress high command will have to tread cautiously and put its house in order and ensure that it goes to the polls as a united force. The drubbing it received in Punjab and its “below-expectation” performance in Uttarakhand has made it apparent that banking on anti-incumbency alone will not help. Its problems seem to be multiplying with Virbhadra Singh building pressure for declaration of the leader well in advance, breaking from the past tradition.

The high command will have to address the issue on priority, after carefully weighing the pros and cons as it cannot allow the worsening of the leadership tussle during the run-up to the polls.

Kangra, April 11
The Himachal Pradesh Government, headed by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, has failed to deliver goods and in taking up major projects for the welfare of people of this hill state.

This was stated by Anand Sharma, Union Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles, while talking to mediapersons here today before he left for Delhi. He said Himachal Pradesh was overburdened due to huge debts during the past five years and alleged that the Chief Minister was speaking contrary to the facts that the Central Government was not granting adequate funds for the development of the state.

He said despite funding from the GOI the money was not adequately utilised in rural development, NRHM and MNERGA.

Anand Sharma was in town on the request of the former Transport Minister and sitting MLA from Nagrota Bagwan over breakfast. In reply to a question regarding fissures in the Congress, Anand Sharma said, “We all will have to work together and the need of the hour is unity at various levels in the party because people of the state are waiting for a change.”

He said there would be a definite change in the government in this hill state during the coming Assembly polls. He said, “I am sure the BJP government, because of its track record, will now be thrown out of power.”

About tea gardens being sold in violation of the law, the minister said the land was state subject of the state government. However, the matter was taken up with the state government. Anand Sharma said 7,500 hectares of land would be brought under the cultivation of Kangra tea so that its production would increase to meet the market requirement.

Anand was here along with HPCC chief Kaul Singh Thakur, former MP Viplove Thakur, BBL Butail, MLA Sukhvinder Sukhu, former Minister Asha Kumari, Ajay Mahajan and others. 

Manali, April 11
The entire upper Manali region experienced a fresh spell of snowfall, while lower parts were lashed by rain, resulting in a considerable fall in the day temperature.

At a time when the plains in the country have started become warm, hundreds of tourists who have come to this hill station from various states were in for a surprise today to see the upper areas of the Manali region on the Manali-Rohtang Pass road covered with a white blanket of snow.

Hundreds of tourists rushed to Gulaba to have a glimpse of the fresh snowfall. A jovial environment prevailed in Gulaba, about 20 km from here, on the Manali-Rohtang Pass road today. Gulaba is popularly known as Snow Point. Tourists were seen enjoying yak rides, skiing, sledging, making snowmen, throwing snowballs at each other and having photo sessions.

The higher reaches in the Kullu valley, including the 13,050-foot-high Rohtang Pass, the gateway to the Lahaul-Spiti valley, the Marhi meadows, the Brighu slopes, the Hamta Pass, the Chanderkhani Pass, Beas Kund and Dhundi experienced a fresh spell of snowfall.

The fresh spell of snowfall in the Rohtang region has brought cheer to those associated with the tourism industry. They feel that it will boost tourism and usher in a long summer season in Manali.

Chamba, April 11
The Chamba Welfare Association, a local NGO, has honoured local artist Vijay Sharma who was conferred the Padma Shri Award by President of India Pratibha Patil at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi on April 4.

Presiding over the function organised in honour of Vijay at the Bachat Bhawan here today, Deputy Commissioner Sharabh Negi said the conferrment of the Padma Shri to Vijay was an outcome of his dedication to painting since his childhood.

The DC expressed his desire to give a much-needed fillip to the promotion of art of painting in this hilly region by providing all possible assistance on the part of the government.

Thanking members of the association, Vijay said, “The award has entrusted on me a great onus towards budding artists and the society to keep the invaluable art alive for the posterity.”

Association president KK Mahajan and general secretary YR Sehgal urged the government to start a school of Chamba art at the ancient building of Rang Mehal.

Mandi, April 11
The District Consumer Grievances Redressal Forum, Mandi, headed by Rajiv Bhardwaj, directed a musical band party to return Rs 5,000 for not playing music during the marriage of two sons of the complainant with 9 pc interest. The forum also imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 and Rs 2,000 as the cost of litigation.

Disposing the complaint filed by Pyar Chand of Bhoor, Sarkaghat, the forum found Krishan Kumar of Jaisinghpur, Kangra, and Beli Ram, Sandhol, guilty — TNS