Shimla, May 19
Union Minister Virbhadra Singh said today that the party high command must identify the “black sheep” who had obliged the BJP by providing the Congress charge sheet as they have amply exhibited their loyalty towards Chief Minister PK Dhumal even in the past.

Virbhadra, who arrived here today said in case the charge sheet released by the BJP was the actual one prepared by the Congress then it was certainly a shameful act.

“Those who have done this good deed for Dhumal and bad deed for the Congress must be identified and isolated within the party as in the past too they have indulged in such acts,” he remarked.

The former Chief Minister said everyone was aware of these “black sheep” and it was high time they are taken to task.

“We must admit that it is a betrayal on part of someone from our party as the charge sheet had been finalised and approved otherwise how could it reach the BJP,” he quipped.

He, however, added that since he was not a member of the charge sheet committee he was not aware if the document released by the BJP was the real Congress charge sheet.

“Had all the charges against the Dhumal regime been included in the charge sheet, it would have been much more voluminous than the one released by the BJP,” he said.

The minister went to the extent of saying that the Congress needs to fear these “black sheep” more than even the BJP as they were harming the party than anyone else.

“The public which has had a bad taste of the BJP rule will back the Congress but it is such disloyal people against whom we need to guard,” he opined.

Refuting BJP accusations about Jaypee Industries being favoured by the Congress regime headed by him, he said the high court judgment is clear.

“The order makes mention of my speaking order in which I have said that clearance to the thermal plant is against the policy of the Congress regime and officers responsible for this dereliction must be taken to task along with cancellation of the license,” he said.

“If you have made a mistake it is better to admit it rather than pass the buck to others, which is an old habit of Dhumal,” he added.

Everyone knows it is the BJP regime headed by Dhumal which reviewed the decision of the Congress regime of not allowing thermal power plant in the state.

The Union Minister said all commercial ventures like the IPL must be subjected to taxation, which is applicable to all other similar profit-making bodies, he said this when asked about the issue of making charges for security arrangements for matches at Dharamsala by the HPCA.

“I fully endorse the views of the Union Sports Minister that politicians must not be heading sports body as unfortunately they had turned sports field into a political arena,” he added.

Shimla, May 19
The Congress campaign for the Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC) elections today gained momentum with the arrival of Union Minister Virbhadra Singh, who addressed public meetings in Totu, Sanjauli Chowk, Dhalli and Chamiana areas.

Even though Congress legislators had been campaigning in the respective wards where they had been given duties, but it was the arrival of Virbhadra in the town which gave a spurt to the Congress campaign.

HPCC chief Kaul Singh Thakur and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Vidya Stokes also shared the dais with Virbhadra in Sanjauli to everyone’s surprise, as their presence was not expected at the meetings.

The former Chief Minister, who arrived from Delhi this morning, is much in demand as party nominees from various wards thronged his residence with requests to spare a few minutes to address meetings in their areas.

He addressed a total of five public meetings at Totu, Engine Ghar, Sanjauli Chowk, Chamiana and Dhalli.

“I would have liked to devote more time to campaign for party nominees, but I am not sure how much time I will be able to take out keeping in mind the Parliament session and other engagements,” he said when asked about his rejoining campaigning.

He could spend a day or two towards the end of the campaign.

With barely a week left for the polls, the campaign has picked up with the BJP too holding road shows in various wards.

Local legislator Suresh Bhardwaj, BJP spokesperson Ganesh Dutt and other leaders today held a road show in Nabha in the presence of its Mayor and Deputy Mayor candidates.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal and state BJP chief Satpal Satti are likely to join the campaign soon. CPM leader Sita Ram Yechury is also expected to seek votes for CPM candidates next week.

Though the ruling BJP has so far not roped in any national-level leaders to campaign for party nominees, ministers and party legislators have been assigned duties in the 25 wards as the town divided into five zones with each having equal number of wards.

With the BJP, the Congress and the CPM being the main political players in the run up to the MC poll, the three parties are making all efforts to woo voters.

While the CPM and the Congress have released their election manifesto, the BJP is likely to release it in a day or two.

The campaign has begun picking up as one can see the fluttering banners and flags of all political parties and appeal for votes being made on loudspeakers along with road shows by nominees with their supporters.

Shimla, May 19
Chief Minister PK Dhumal has stressed the need for regular updates through research and development in the field of medicine to keep updated with the latest research and global findings.

He was addressing the inaugural ceremony of the two-day Medicine Update Shimla - 2012 organised by the Department of Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), here today.

He said exhaustive research was taking place in the field of medicine across the world and the latest remedies were being made available for ailments, which had remained incurable till now.

Dhumal said regular updating of the profession was the need of the hour to keep pace with the latest trends.

Dhumal said medical conferences were the need of the hour to keep professionals updated with the latest research and development in the discipline, besides sharing knowledge with fellow professionals in the best interest of humanity.

He said the state had emerged a role model for all other states with its best health indicators in the country.

He said the state was poised to gain new heights on the development front with the strengthening of the health sector.

He said the IGMC had pioneered health education in the state and produced some of the best medical professionals who have earned laurels by rendering specialised medical services in prestigious institutions across the world.

Dr Ashok Sharma, Head of the Medicine Department and Chairman of the Organising Committee, welcomed the Chief Minister and said such conferences had been providing opportunity to budding professionals to update their professional calibre.

Solan, May 19
An environmental NGO, Him Parivesh Environment Protection Society, has refuted the recent claim of the management of Jaypee Associates that its Bagheri-based thermal plant had not been constructed.

Balkrishen Sharma, general secretary of the NGO, while providing documentary proof about the plant, said not only had a major part of the thermal plant been constructed in 2009, but also its diesel generation unit was under construction at the time of its public hearing.

The work had to be halted later as complaints of the plant having been constructed prior to the public hearing were made before the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

He added that since the plant failed to get environment clearance later, its remaining machinery could have been sent back but by that time a major part of the construction had already been completed.

The documents procured by the NGO from the State Pollution Control Board said the first notice was slapped on the plant on July 17, 2007, for initiating the construction without environmental clearance. Besides, the plant management continued its work.

Flagrant violations of the management were illustrated when despite receipt of a second notice on March 22, 2009, to stop the work, it continued the construction and went on to initiate production in January 2010 without obtaining environment clearance.

Jagjit Singh Dhukiya, president of the NGO, said despite the high court’s recent orders on the illegal plant it was surprising how such false claims continued to be made by the Jaypee management.

Their PIL had exposed the truth about the Bagheri plant.

He said since the closure of the plant would cause unemployment, the cement plant, which had otherwise been declared illegal, had been allowed to run.

He added that the manner in which the Jaypee group was indulging in such irregularities in its various projects spoke volumes about their ways of operation.

Nurpur, May 19
In the scorching heat of May when the cultivation of marigold is a distant dream in the plains of neighbouring Punjab and Haryana, farmers of lower hills in Himachal Pradesh have succeeded in growing this flower round the year, thanks to the efforts and research by scientists of the local Regional Horticulture Research Station, Jachh, near here.

A group of 22 students of the final year of BSc (Horticulture) from the Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, visited a blooming marigold field of a progressive flower grower, Sushil Salaria, at Chakwari near Raja Ka Talab recently under the university’s Experimental Learning Programme.

Salaria, who has been cultivating marigold on around 30 kanals since last year, said after getting full technical backup and seeds of marigold from the local horticulture research station, he had successfully cultivated the current summer crop and was expecting 150 quintals of the produce worth Rs 4 lakh. At present, he was selling his produce in Kangra and Kullu districts and in Amritsar in Punjab by transporting it in buses. He said there was a problem of marketing the flowers.

Accompanying the students’ group, floriculture scientist of the station Ashwani Sharma said he had undertaken extensive research to ensure the success of round-the-year cultivation of marigold in the lower hills of the state. “The lower hills of the state are neither very hot during the summer nor too cold during the winter, thus offering congenial conditions for the cultivation of marigold round the year. Each rupee invested in marigold cultivation is fetching a return of over Rs 3 which was more than given by any other cash or food crop,” he maintained. He said the station had been producing seeds and saplings of quality marigold and providing these to growers. He claimed that the round-the-year marigold cultivation could alter the fortune of farmers in lower areas of the state.

Solan, May 19
With the Excise and Taxation Department making it compulsory for bar licensees to purchase a minimum quota of liquor from the local licensee every month, resentment was prevailing among hoteliers against this policy.

The department had made lifting of 13 cases of liquor for a hotel located in a rural area and 25 cases for a hotel located in an urban area mandatory every month since April this year after the new excise policy came into effect.

While the department was monitoring this on a quarterly basis, any failure to do this could lead the department to forfeit the security. Hoteliers also feared that they could lose their bar license in future and, hence, were forced to follow this stipulation.

Though liquor sale was a profitable venture for hoteliers, the lean tourist season this year had made it difficult to utilise the required liquor quota this year, rued hoteliers.

They added that they were compelled to purchase the mandatory quota despite low demand and ensuring its sale was also tough as they could not force guests not to consume liquor which they carry along. Since liquor sold in hotels was costlier, tourists generally brought their preferred brands along with them.

Officials of the department, however, asserted that the move was aimed at ensuring local sales as hoteliers generally bring liquor from other licensees but tourism in Kasauli, Chail, Barog and other places in the district suffered this year due to various reasons.

Accounting various reasons for the low tourist flow, Gurpreet Singh, general manager, Kasauli Resorts, said the most important reason was cheaper airfares being offered to South Asian countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, which was almost comparable to a holiday package in Himachal.

He added that Jammu and Kashmir also played a role in pulling away a larger percentage of tourists from Himachal. With hotels in Chail witnessing nearly zero occupancy this time of the year which is considered the peak tourism season, hoteliers were a worried lot.

Devinder Verma, a hotelier from Chail, said the reduction in the number of summer holidays in Delhi and other places also contributed to lack of tourists.

Shimla, May 19
Chief Minister PK Dhumal conferred the Zee Himachal Shikhar Samman upon people who had excelled in various fields by way of their exemplary acts at a function organised by a TV channel, Zee TV, here last evening.

Prominent amongst the award winner was former Olympian hockey gold medallist and Arjuna Awardee Charanjit Singh from Una.

Others who were conferred awards for their outstanding contribution in their respective fields include Nisha Devi, wife of martyr Roshan Lal (Chamba), for the supreme sacrifice her husband made while fighting against terrorists in Srinagar; Jamuna Devi of Mandi, a street vegetable vendor, for educating her children and making one of them an Army officer; Rani Devi of Jogindernagar, a paraplegia patient, for putting up a brave fight against all odds; and Mukesh of Sundernagar, an HIV positive victim, for successfully recovering from the disease and educating people about the disease.

Others who were honoured include Hari Datt Sharma of Manvi village in Sirmaur, a handicapped teacher who had been teaching with his feet; Fula Devi Chandel, renowned Ghat dancer from Bilaspur district; Pushpa Thakur of Nohangi village in Hamirpur for excelling in athletics; and Karnail Rana, a renowned folk singer.

The Tourism Department also won accolades for its publication “Har Gaon Ki Kahani”.

The Chief Minister congratulated the winners and Zee Network for spotting the unsung heroes.

Palampur, May 19
Health services at the Civil Hospital, Palampur, have been paralysed following transfer of three post-graduate (specialist) doctors.

In the past one month, the state government had ordered the transfer of three doctors from this institution. Dr Anurag Sharma, gynaecologist, was transferred to Kangra, Dr Sumit Sood, ophthalmologist, to Nahan and Dr Rajesh Ahluwalia, general surgeon, to Joginder Nagar.

With the transfer of Dr Anurag Sharma, the Gynaecology Department is the worst affected as all delivery and caesarean cases are being referred to Dr Rajendra Prashad Government Medical College (DRPGMC), Tanda, or private nursing homes daily. In private nursing homes, the minimum delivery charges are Rs 10,000 and Rs 25,000.

Likewise, in the absence of the general surgeon, all surgical operations in the Civil Hospital have come to a standstill. Earlier, Dr Rajesh Ahluwalia was under training and later he was shifted to Joginder Nagar. The surgical OPD of the hospital has been locked for the past few days. Hundreds of patients visiting the Surgical Department go back disappointed or are referred to the DRPGMC, Tanda.

With Dr Sumit Sood’s transfer to Nahan in Sirmaur district, the Ophthalmology Department has also been locked.

The worst sufferers are pregnant women and accident cases. In the past one week, three women delivered in the ambulance while being shifted from Palampur to the DRPGMC, Tanda. For accident victims, there was no one in the hospital who could give them first aid and perform minor surgeries before referring them to Tanda.

Meanwhile, Parveen Sharma, local BJP MLA, has lodged his protest over the unwanted and untimely transfer of doctors from the Civil Hospital. He said all the three specialist doctors were transferred without his consent, despite the fact that he was MLA of the ruling party.

He said there was resentment among local residents over the shifting of doctors which had hit health services in three subdivisions viz Baijnath, Palampur and Jaisinghpur. He said he would take up the matter with the Health Minister and the Chief Minister.

Enquiries made by this correspondent revealed that because of internal fighting among doctors, most of the doctors had been shifted from here or they opted for postings in other hospitals. Besides, there were serious complaints against them with the Health Minister and that could also be one of the reasons for the transfers. 

Solan, May 19
Welcoming the decision of the state high court regarding opening of new petrol pumps by three oil companies, the HP Petroleum Dealers Association said yesterday the move would help save wasteful expenditure of public money.

The association had filed a petition against the irrational decision of the three oil companies to open new pumps in unrepresented and represented areas of the state without undertaking any survey but merely in an attempt to outperform each other.

Though the companies had been claiming to be doing so in public interest, the association had asserted that it failed to serve any public cause with each new pump leading to wasteful expenditure as there was no shortage of oil where new pump were being proposed without any need.

Sukumar Singh, president of the association, said instead of squandering away people’s hard-earned money collected through taxes on setting up infrastructure for opening new pumps, it was better to curb expenditures and get rid of loans that were burdening the government.

The association also welcomed the court’s decision to notify petroleum products so that they could be controlled and regulated by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, which was constituted in 2006 by the Central Government.

Shimla, May 19
The state high court has directed the chief architect to prepare a model building plan for children homes in the state and asked Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to file an affidavit about the condition of these homes in their respective districts by July 10.

Justice Surinder Singh has also directed the Chief Secretary to inform the court about the framing of rules under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000.

The court has directed the Chief Architect to expedite the case of Balika Ashram Garli in Dehra tehsil.

It has also directed the Principal Secretary, PWD, to improve the pathetic road condition of Balika Ashram, Mashobra (Shimla) and fence the ashram as a security measure.

This order came on a petition filed by advocate Archna Dutt with the plea to direct the state to implement the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act.

The petitioner brought to the notice of the court that the condition of children homes in the state was not hygienic.

It was stated that the government was running children homes in rented accommodations in isolated places.

It was also mentioned that space was not sufficient in buildings and necessary sanitation facilities and other facilities were also lacking in such homes.

Mandi, May 19
The State Consumer Commission has stayed the order of the District Consumer Forum, Mandi, that had awarded compensation of Rs 13,000 and payment of Rs 8,000 as the cost of litigation to two complainants to be paid by SDM, Sarkaghat, Kishori Lal for deficiency in service.

The commission stayed the order of complainants Baldev Singh and Ranjit Singh, both residents of Sarkaghat, after analysing official records submitted by the SDM in his support. They had pleaded before the commission that Ranjit had obtained “copies of documents and entries of records which were not maintained in the revenue office”.

In the second complaint lodged by Baldev, the SDM office pleaded that the applicant had filled the form wrongly for getting the copy of the order passed by the tehsildar, Sarkaghat, as land acquisition. Even the tehsildar tried to correct the form to help him out, but Baldev moved the forum, stated the official press note here yesterday.

The District Consumer Forum had passed the order on April 5 directing the SDM to pay the complainants.

The state commission, however, stayed the order and placed the next hearing in the case on July 3 this year.

Chamba, May 19
All the members belonging to various religious institutions of Chamba district situated adjacent to the borders of Jammu and Kashmir have reached a consensus to ban animal sacrifice on the premises of such shrines realising that the killing of animals as a sacrifice is a “crime”.

This decision to prohibit animal sacrifice in holy places came up in a district-level meeting on safety and security of famous historic religious institutions held under the chairperson of the Superintendent of Police, Chamba, Kuldeep Sharma at the district police headquarters yesterday.

After thorough deliberations in the meeting, the members agreed to ban animal sacrifice by way of bringing resolutions in their religious institutions or by taking other measures as would be deemed suitable to curb such old customs based on superstitions, the SP said after the meeting.

The SP said as many as 150 priests of religious institutions, which included temples, gurdwaras, churches and mosque, hailing from the length and breadth of Chamba district, attended the meeting.

The SP briefed the members about the safety and security measures to be taken in places of worship such as installation of CCTV cameras and registration of religion institutions.

He urged priests to establish fire fighting and alarm systems and at the same time making provision of guards or chowkidars in each establishment. The SP added that station house officers of all the police stations in the district had been directed to visit every religious establishment once in a month with a view to making liaison with the temple functionaries.

Dharamsala, May 19
The IPL match between the Kings XI Punjab and the Delhi Daredevils today paralysed Dharamsala and exposed the limitation of a small town in handling big crowds.

A large number of spectators arrived here last evening. They were staying in McLeodganj and adjoining tourist spots with hotel facilities in the area packed to their capacity.

The road to McLeodganj was clogged with vehicles coming down this morning. Though the traffic cops tried their best, narrow roads provided them with limited options.

Though the programme of VVIPs, including J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal was cancelled, Himachal Chief Minister PK Dhumal arrived here this afternoon to preside over the match.

Many corporate honchos also arrived this afternoon. The small domestic airport of Kangra was packed to its capacity after receiving eight chartered flights and two helicopters.

Chief Secretary of Himachal Sudripta Roy also arrived here this afternoon. Besides, viewing the match here, the Chief Secretary, who also holds the post of Secretary, Tourism, would preside over a meeting of the upcoming food and craft institute at Khaniara, near Dharamsala.

Since the entire match tickets sold out for today’s match, there was heavy influx of vehicles towards Dharamsala. The police had diverted the traffic from Chaitru to the Shela crossing, 7 km from here. It took hours even for local residents to reach Dharamsala from Kangra, which is otherwise 15 minutes journey.

It was gala time for local restaurants and eating joints. They charged exorbitant rates from consumers and remained packed almost for the entire day.

Many spectators complained regarding exorbitant rates charged by official caterers within the stadium. Munish, a spectator from Punjab, alleged that by charging more than the maximum retail price, the organisers were violating consumer laws.