Shimla, April 29
Concerned over the mushrooming of illegal learning centres and off-campus study centres, the state Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission has urged the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) to take immediate steps to effectively deal with the problem.

The magnitude of the problem became evident after the commission received details of over 250 such centres in response to a public notice issued by it to seek documentary evidence of the required mandatory approvals, affiliation, courses offered, enrolment and other relevant information. The exercise was carried out after the commission received several complaints regarding illegal learning centres being run in the franchise mode and offering regular courses.

Sources said a majority of the franchise centres had not filed details with the commission and the actual number of such centres might be anything between 500 and 1,000. In fact, the documents of approvals submitted by some of the centres contained lists of other franchises, many of which had not responded to the public notice. According to the policy of the UGC, the state, private and deemed universities are not allowed to open learning centres and off-campus study centres, affiliated colleges and institutions run through franchise outside the state without approval of the UGC and the Distance Education Council (DEC) and the government.

The commission has taken up the matter with the HRD Ministry, the UGC and the DEC in view of the inadequacy of the legal framework and ambiguity created due to overlapping roles of these regulatory bodies. The ministry has already convened a meeting to discuss the issue and it is likely to take a decision in the matter on the basis of the recommendations made by the Menon Committee on Reforms in Distance Education.

Interestingly, most of the private universities are not finding enough students, while the illegal distance learning centres in the state are virtually minting money by enrolling thousands of students. The centres are mainly associated with Sikkim Manipal University, Punjab Technical University and Karnataka State Open University. The main reason was that the degree of a state university, irrespective of the manner in which one obtained it, was considered authentic and carried more weight than the one offered by private universities, many of which were running unapproved courses without following the admission norms and some of these had even admitted students after Class X by introducing an integrated course, which “will never be recognised”.

Most of the unauthorised centres had published their own prospectus and were charging almost double the fees specified by the parent university and also fleecing students by charging an additional amount for superfluous add-on courses. Even under the distance learning mode, universities can only have counselling centres and there is no provision of regular classes as major part of the learning has to be in the self-instruction mode. However, the learning centres are offering regular courses and holding classes.

Dharamsala, April 29
National vice-president of the BJP Shanta Kumar, who has been keeping away from the affairs of the state unit of the party, today showered praises on leaders of the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP).

Addressing press conference here today, Shanta Kumar said making “mission repeat” a success was difficult for the BJP government in case all disgruntled leaders of the party did not come together.

He said he could not forget the contribution of HLP leaders to the BJP in the state. Maheshwar Singh joined the party when the BJP was formed in late seventies despite being under tremendous pressure from his family and political opponents. He remained the party president and party MP and worked very hard for the party.

Mohinder Singh Sofat established the party in Shimla and Sirmaur districts. He sold his truck that was a source of his livelihood to establish the party in the district. Some leaders hatched a conspiracy and misguided the national leadership and the party ticket was denied to Sofat. “It was my mistake that I stopped him from contesting as an Independent and he paid the political price for it. The party ‘killed’ a politically dedicated worker,” he said.

Radha Raman Shastri remained in jail for 19 months during the Emergency for the party. He did not yield to all kind of atrocities and stood by the party.

“How can I forget the contribution of such people to the state BJP,” Shanta Kumar said.

Asked if he would try to bring back the HLP leaders into the party, Shanta Kumar said, “I have been suggesting that all leaders of the party should come together and devise a strategy for bringing the party back into power in the state, but nobody is listening to me.

Party leaders in the state are suffering from three types of intoxication. A few leaders have been intoxicated by power, others by money power and the third group by isolation and humiliation within the party.”

Asked about the formation of new districts in the state, Shanta Kumar satirically said. “I have been working for the party for the past more than 50 years and belong to Kangra district. However, it seems the leaders who were born after I served jail for the party have grown old enough to take a decision on their own. Since nobody is consulting me regarding the formation of new districts, I will not like to say anything regarding it. I will say anything only if the party consults me on the issue.”

“The party was voted back to power in Punjab because a surgical operation was performed and four ministers and five chairmen facing corruption charges were dropped. I have been openly saying that party leaders facing charges of corruption should be dropped.”

He said the episode in which Bangaru Laxman, former national president of the party, was convicted was a “black chapter” in the history of the BJP.

New Delhi, April 29
The Supreme Court has stayed a Himachal Pradesh High Court order directing the state government to recruit a partially colour-blind person as a constable.

A Bench comprising Justices KS Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra also stayed the contempt proceedings initiated against the state Home Secretary and the Inspector-General of Police, Shimla, for not complying with the HC order passed in December 2010.

The Bench passed the order after senior counsel Govind Goel and advocate Mohan Lal Sharma contended that the HC had no jurisdiction to ignore the Punjab Police Rules which were applicable to Himachal Pradesh. Under the rules, no candidate suffering from red-green colour vision defect could be appointed in the Police Department.

In the July 14, 2011, order, the HC had acknowledged that the candidate involved in the case had failed the medical examination conducted by the Medical Superintendent, Zonal Hospital, Solan, as well as by the medical board at the Indira Gandhi Medical College.

Nevertheless, the HC directed the state government and the police to appoint him “in any of the branches/wings where a person with partial red-green colour vision defect can discharge his normal duties”. The state government and the Police Department moved the SC, challenging the HC verdict.

In another case, the SC has stayed a November 15, 2011, order of the Himachal HC for regularisation of a chowkidar in the Forest Department from August 27, 2014, upon completion of eight years of daily wage service. The chowkidar had joined the department on compassionate grounds following the death of his father, who was a forest worker, in 2005.

A Bench comprising Justices DK Jain and Anil Dave passed the order earlier this month on an appeal filed by Ajay Tyagi, Principal Secretary (Finance).

Appearing for the government official, counsel Goel and Sharma had contended that the HC order was against the policies of the state which was already grappling with cases involving compassionate employment of about 2,000 candidates.

Shimla, April 29
The Congress manifesto for the Shimla Municipal Corporation poll will be virtually a “vision document” outlining the action plan for dealing with the main problems faced by the city and the road map for its growth.

While the term of the corporation is five years, the manifesto will cover a time period of 10 years (up to 2012). Breaking from tradition, the party has changed the entire concept of the manifesto. It will no more be a political exercise undertaken by a committee comprising senior leaders of the party. The manifesto will be drafted by a committee, largely of a non-political nature, with administrative and legal experts as members

The committee, headed by general secretary Kuldeep Rathore, has SK Alok (a retired IAS officer), Dr JN Baroowalia (a former judge), SG Negi (a retired officer) and Mayor Madhu Sood on it.

The document will be prepared by ensuring the participation of the public for which the committee will hold open meetings. The party has also invited suggestions from residents so that their concerns can be addressed in the manifesto.

The first public interaction was held by the committee today in which the participants expressed concern over the haphazard growth of the city and underlined the need for preserving its natural beauty.

Kuldeep Rathore, who presided over the meeting, said it was a worthwhile exercise as the people gave valuable feedback regarding the problems of the city and also suggested possible solutions.

The misuse and violation of Section 118 of the Land Reforms and Tenancy Act was a major concern, apart from traffic congestion, lack of parking and deficiencies in civic amenities and related issues.

The committee will hold some more meetings before finalising the draft and the final manifesto will be approved by the party.

Shimla, April 29
A two-day international conference on Vitiligo, a chronic pigmentation disorder that causes white patches on the skin, has underlined the need for stepping up research effort to find a permanent cure for the disease and creating awareness among people to deal with the social stigma associated with leucoderma.

President of the International Federation of Pigment Cell Research Mauro Picardo said intensive investigation to identify the cause of the destruction of cells responsible for forming pigmentation was required at the global level. At present, the incidence of leucoderma ranged from 3 to 8 per cent in different regions, which was quite significant.

More importantly, there was a social stigma attached with leucoderma as people considered it a dreaded disease due to ignorance, which affected the quality of life of the patients. The fact was that except for the white patches, the disease had no implications for the persons suffering from the disease. There was need for creating awareness among the people so that they treated such patients as normal persons.

Earlier, inaugurating the conference, Health Minister Rajeev Bindal said the conference, covering a wide array of topics of pigmentary disorders, would go a long way in updating the knowledge of medical specialists and apprise them of the latest advances in the field of Vitiligo research. The experiences of international and national experts would benefit both medical professionals and the patients suffering from Vitiligo.

He said there was need for developing a consensus on various existing issues in understanding the pathogenesis and treatment of Vitiligo.

The conference was organised by the Vitiligo Academy of India in collaboration with the Dermatological Society of India.

Bilaspur, April 29
The Himachal Pradesh State Nursing Institutions Association has decided to meet the Chief Minister soon to apprise him of the problems being faced by these institutes in performing their duty towards trainees in particular and society in general. This was decided at a meeting of the general house of the association held at Shimla recently under the chairmanship of association’s state chief adviser Jeet Singh Rabba.

Association’s general secretary Kashmir Singh Thakur said it was decided at the meeting that all Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife (ANM) institutes training girls at present should be given recognition and the Himachal Nursing Council should follow a pattern of educational qualifications for training of GNM courses based on those approved by the neighbouring Punjab and Haryana Nursing Councils.

The meeting also stressed that the prospectus of GNM BSc course be made available at the earliest and the management should be authorised to fill all seats itself under the “management quota”.

He said in other adjoining states the admission process for new sessions in these courses had already started and even in Himachal requests were already pouring in for necessary information from prospective applicants and their parents. They demanded that admission process should be allowed soon in Himachal also.

In charges of all institutions of the state participated in the meeting, which unanimously elected Ankit Gupta of Solan as association’s state president and Rajan Mittal (Rampur), Bhuvneshwari Devi (Mandi), Rajendra Mandyaal (Jogender Nagar) and Dr Aseema Jain (Nalagarh) as vice-presidents.

Kashmir Singh Thakur (Bilaspur) and Sachin Jain (Nahan) were elected state general secretaries and Lalit Sharma (Dharamsala), Vikram Singh (Nalagarh) joint secretaries and Dr Jeet Singh Rabba state treasurer.

Manali, April 29
The Jogni Sangharsh Samiti and the private water miller company here are on a collision course on the issue of the construction of the 1-MW Chohad Nullah Project on the Jogni Fall in the uphill of this tourist town. The dispute over the project site reached a high point on April 21 when over 200 villagers fenced the Narol boundary, disallowing the water miller company to lay the pipeline.

In turn, the company lodged a fresh FIR against AR Thakur, a retired DIG (BSF) and a resident of Vashisht village, who is the adviser of the samiti, and asked the district administration to allow it to lay the pipeline.

But Thakur claimed that he was not even present at the site when the villagers fenced the area.

“Strangely, the FIR is lodged at the Kullu police station whereas the site lies under the jurisdiction of Manali,” he added.

He said it was a matter of religious sentiments of people of the Upper Kullu valley and the community was opposing the site. The company had no land lease deed and not following norms while constructing the project, he claimed.

Mani Ram, upradhan, Vashisht panchayat, claimed that the panchayat had not given an NOC to the company.

“We will oppose this project as the Jogni Fall is worshipped as an abode of Goddess Jogni and devis and devtas come here for taking a holy dip from time to time over the centuries,” claimed Gupt Ram, Kardar of the local goddess.

On the other hand, MD of the company Surinder Sud claimed that they had all the mandatory clearances from the forest and revenue authorities and an NOC from the Burwa panchayat as the site lay in its jurisdiction not in Vashisht.

The high court has directed the district administration to allow the company to work, he claimed.

Sud said they have built a powerhouse, but certain villagers were obstructing the work on the laying of a pipeline to the intake site, which is located 200 m below the Jogni Fall.

He said the company had no intention of hurting religious sentiments of people. “We have no remedy other than seeking justice from the court,” he said.

DC, Kullu, BM Nanta said the administration had taken cognisance of the high court order and a complaint had been lodged.

“But we will demarcate the site as and when either villagers or company applies for demarcation,” he added.

Shimla, April 29
Having submitted the “cash-on-camera” video CD involving BJP MP Virender Kashyap to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, RTI activist Dev Ahsish Bhattacharya has urged the party’s national president Nitin Gadkari to take action in the matter in the wake of a court verdict in the Bangaru Laxman case.

He has submitted a copy of the CD to him along with a letter pointing out that the Himachal Police did not conduct proper investigation into the case, perhaps due to the fact that the MP belonged to the ruling party.

He further said the BJP was claiming that it had initiated the action against Bangaru Laxman just after the expose and it would be better to take similar action in the present case. In fact, this CD was more damning than the Bangaru Laxman CD as the BJP government in Himachal Pradesh had actually sanctioned almost a dozen universities in Solan district of Himachal from where Virender Kashyap hailed.

Pointing out the flaws in the inquiry conducted by the state police, he demanded that an independent probe by the CBI was warranted in the case.

Palampur, April 29
Two persons were arrested for allegedly opening fire at a social gathering near Baijnath last night. However, no one was injured in this incident.

Sarvan Singh, SHO, Baijnath, told mediapersons that a party was in progress at Bhulana village near Baijnath. After 10 pm the DJ music system at the party was switched off as per directions of the government. One of the guests present at the party wanted to replay the music system. When host of the party Nirmal Singh refused, he brought out his licensed gun and opened fire making the situation tense.

Later, Nirmal Singh informed the police about the incident and said besides opening fire in his house, the accused disturbed the entire gathering, abused him and also damaged the music system.

A police party from Baijnath immediately reached the village, arrested Sanju and Parvinder who had allegedly opened the fire. A case under Sections 307, 452, 427 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code was registered against the accused. The police also impounded the gun of the accused and recovered empty cartages from the spot.

Shimla, April 29
La Martiniere Kolkata once again maintained its lead over Bishop Cotton School (BCS) by winning the 17th Dr Samuel Slater Memorial Inter-School English debate, the final of which was held at the local BCS.

The final between La Martiniere, Kolkata, and BCS, Shimla, yesterday was a repeat of last year as the two had been pitted against each other even then in the finals. The topic for the final debate today was “No detention policy up to the secondary school level has caused more harm than good.”

Additional Chief Secretary Sudipto Roy was the chief guest at the final.

Participants from 15 reputed schools all over the country, including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Shillong, Assam and Lucknow, took part in the debate which started at the BCS on April 25.

The debate competition is held every year as a tribute to Reverend Slater, who was appointed the first Headmaster of Bishop Cotton School and went on to serve the school for 20 years. In 1995, after 136 years of its existence, it was felt that there was a need to bring about an inter-public school debating exchange spread over a period of four days to facilitate friendship, exchange of views and ideas with a view to foster student inter-action so that they could get together and debate in a friendly and competitive spirit.

Consequently, in 1996, a debate was started with the format on the Cambridge pattern to generate a healthy debate on certain prevalent issues faced by the country.

Solan, April 29
Baddi-based Elin Appliances has once again established its supremacy in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) category by bagging the prestigious DL Shah National Award on Economic of Quality by the Quality Council of India (QCI).

The award was conferred by Union Minister for Tourism Subodh Kant Sahay and QCI Chairman Arun Maitra and Member, Planning Commission, in New Delhi. The award was received by the unit’s team comprising plant’s Director Kamal Sethia, plant head JS Kang and managers Manoj Sharma and Avinash Karwa.

The company’s name was shortlisted from several entries and the QCI team assessed the unit on various quality parameters after visiting the unit.

Kang said their cautious check on various quality-related aspects had helped them achieve this honour.

The unit was set up in 2008 and it has procured various quality certifications like ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004.

Bilaspur, April 29
The state Youth Congress has demanded that in view of the recent order by the Special Judge/District and Sessions Judge here under the Prevention of Corruption Act against his son, Jhandutta BJP MLA Rikhi Ram Kaundal should resign from his post of Deputy Speaker in the state Vidhan Sabha on moral grounds.

He said this order was passed by a learned Judge against contractor Raj Kumar Kaundal, son of Rikhi Ram Kaundal, on the petition of Rajesh Mishra, an RTI activist, who presented in court RTI documents as proof of large-scale irregularities in the allotment of contracts to Raj Kumar worth several crores of rupees.

Kangra, April 29
Burglars decamped with cash Rs 61,000 from a hardware store on the Dharamshala Road near the general bus stand here after breaking the shutter from the backside of the shop in the wee hours today. SDPO, Kangra, Dinesh Kumar said the burglars had broken the shutter and entered a hardware store owned by Ashok Sharma. He said the burglars broke open the cash box inside the shop and decamped with the money in it.

The police registered a case and investigation was in progress, he said. He said suspected people were being questioned.