Shimla, July 7
With work on the much-delayed World Bank-funded road project being executed by Chinese firm Longijian Road and Construction Company going on at a snail’s pace, the state has decided to issue a notice to the firm for the tardy progress. There is a possibility of the contract being cancelled not being ruled out.

Sources said the government had asked the World Bank consultant to assess the work and submit its report so that a final decision could be taken on rescinding the Rs 354-crore project given to the Chinese company.

The decision was taken at the review meeting held to assess the progress with regard to the Theog-Hatkoti-Jubbal-Rohru and Mehatpur-Una-Amb road.

“We are most unhappy with the slow pace of work, but a final decision will be taken on the basis of the report of the World Bank consultant,” confirmed a senior official.

He said the progress of work was far from satisfactory and at this pace it seemed difficult that the project would get completed in the near future. The possibility of rescinding the project could also not be ruled out, he added.

Despite being given extensions in the past also, the Chinese company has not been able to expedite work, which has come to a standstill since the past 15 days.

With the apple season from the lower belts of Jubbal, Kotkhai and Rohru likely to start shortly, worried apple growers have already conveyed their concern to the government.

Earlier also, apprehensions have been expressed about the delay in the work on this road, which is an important road because it links all apple belts. Two years ago, growers had resented the poor condition of the road that had resulted in constant traffic jams.

Though the task of construction of the two roads was awarded to the Chinese company in June 2008, owing to strict visa restrictions imposed by the Ministry of External Affairs, majority of the Chinese workforce had to leave abruptly. Ever since the work has suffered and the firm has not been able expedite the work despite giving assurances that they would complete the project as per the extended dateline.

A contract for the two roads of about 120-km was awarded under the World Bank-funded project, work on which began in June 2008 and was to be completed by November 2010.

Dharamsala, July 7
The district police has written to the Union Ministry for Home seeking clarification regarding action to be taken in case of 382 Tibetans whose visa has expired but were not willing to go back to Tibet.

SP, Kangra, Diljeet Thakur said: “We are waiting for reply from their headquarters and the Union Ministry for Home to take action against Tibetans whose visa has expired. But till date the police has no clue regarding 90 Tibetans who have gone missing. We have asked the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) to trace the missing Tibetans or else action will be taken against them under law.”

About 90 Tibetans who had come to Dharamsala on pilgrim visa had gone missing under mysterious circumstances a few days ago. They had come to pay obeisance to the Dalai Lama, but had overstayed their visa limit, along with the other Tibetans.

Police officials had ordered their deportation and the Central Government refused to extend their visa. About 382 Tibetans had entered India for pilgrimage purpose.

Sources said after extending their stay from time to time. The Ministry of Home Affairs in February this year has issued a notification to deport these Tibetans till June 30, 2012.

These Tibetans were supposed to report at the police headquarters here before June 30 with their documents verified by Tibetan settlement officers.

But only 292 of them have done so, while 90 have failed to appear before the police.

However, the sources also said the CTA was lobbying with the Indian Foreign Ministry to get visa of Tibetans facing deportation extended.

They have been maintaining that the volatile situation was prevailing in Tibet due to self-immolations by Tibetans.

The Chinese government had started a crackdown against Tibetans. In such a scenario, deportation would not be safe for Tibetans, who are to be deported back to Tibet, the CTA sources said.

Police officials said they were going to submit a report to the Home Ministry regarding missing Tibetans and seeking directions regarding further action to be taken against them.

Some are of the opinion that these Tibetans might have decided to stay here in view of the grim situation inside Tibet.

The sources also confirmed that citing the reason for critical situation in Tibet some of them had also submitted the application to the Ministry of Home Affairs but the government had initially turned down their request.

Tibetans coming to India to pay obeisance to Dalai Lama first report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ office in Nepal and then the ministry issues them a special entry permit that was a kind of visa after which they were allowed to visit India.

Most of them were given permission to stay in India for periods ranging from three to six months, which later might be extended.

Mandi, July 7
Home-stay unit owners in the state have urged Chief Minister PK Dhumal to increase the room limits from the present three rooms to five rooms to make the home-stay scheme an economically viable enterprise for them. Besides, tariff should be decided as per services and comforts and the value of the property made available for tourists.

Narrating the problems that are facing to The Tribune, owners of the home-stay units said they had to go through the same procedure and formalities as was the case with a commercial guest house. “Besides, we have to maintain all records and keep the hospitality staff round the year,” they added.

From young entrepreneurs to innovative villagers, response to the home-stay scheme has been good in Kullu district, where more than 140 home stay units have come up since 2008 when the scheme was formally launched. More than 300 units have come up in the state so far, they said.

The criteria should be the family should be living there or interacting with tourists so that they get a real feel of home, said Raju Bharti, a home-stay unit pioneer in the Tirthan valley.

The home-stay units owners further said the government should not dictate the tariff. The tariff should be charged evaluating both services and comforts provided to the guests and the heritage and antique status of property, said a young entrepreneur, who runs heritage a home-stay unit in Katrain.

President of Home-Stay Units Ved Ram Thakur said they had requested the state government to increase the room limits from three to five, and hoped for a positive response. “Tourism is the only source of self-employment and income for young people, and if five rooms are made available they can work whole time and earn, and will not run after government jobs,” he added.

Chief Secretary Sudipta Roy, who also heads the Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation, said, “The demand of home-stay units appears to be reasonable and we will consider this at an appropriate forum sympathetically as they have a point.”

But hoteliers take home-stay unit owners’ demand with a pinch of salt saying that the government must draw a line between a commercial hotel and a home-stay unit. “The home-stay units are exempted from service and income tax returns and get subsidised water and electricity charges,” said Gajender Thakur, president, Manali Hoteliers’ Association (MHA).

Hamirpur, July 7
Poor response to engineering courses in the state from students in the current session has forced Himachal Pradesh Technical University (HPTU), Hamirpur, to extend the admission dates.

The last date for buying prospectus for engineering courses, which was June 30 earlier, has now been extended to July 10 by the university.

Though about 6,000 seats in different engineering courses are available in the state in 16 private and one government- run engineering colleges here, about 3,000 prospectuses were purchased by students till June 30.

Even during the last session about 4,600 seats were filled and remaining 1,600 were left vacant.

While several reasons are being attributed towards the declining trend of students not taking engineering courses, job opportunities and concern to opt for the best was always high on the minds of students and their parents.

Anil Verma, father of a student pursuing an engineering course, said: “In fact only those students are getting better placements and pay packages who were studying in reputed colleges and thus they always look for the best options.”

The HPTU and its affiliated colleges are taking measures to attract students towards the technical education.

Vice-Chancellor, HPTU, Dr Shashi Dhiman said: “We have taken measures to improve manpower and infrastructure in engineering colleges and many colleges have made substantial improvements.”

He said, “We have involved experts from NIT, Hamirpur, and IIT, Mandi, to improve academic standards, revised 12 courses and introducing VLSI and cloud computing courses and trying to collaborate with big companies like Microsoft for sustained up-grade of our courses in consonance with the need of industry. Colleges are also being asked to establish placement cells in colleges.

Shimla, July 7
Chief Minister PK Dhumal said today that toppers in all the 124 education blocks of the state would get awards under the Elementary Meritorious Scholarship Scheme for Students of Government Schools in the state.

He gave away awards to meritorious students of different streams bagging top 10 positions in Class XII and Class X examinations at the “Pratibha Samman Samaroh”, organised by a Hindi daily here today.

The Chief Minister said the government was providing meritorious scholarships under the Medhavi Chhatarvriti Yojna, the Ambedkar Chhatravriti Yojna and the Thakur Sen Negi Chhatravriti Yojna to meritorious students of vulnerable sections of society.

He said with a view to inculcate spirit of competitiveness amongst elementary students, the government had decided to bring them under the fold of scholarships.

He said a total of 12 such scholarships would be given in each of the 124 education blocks in the state thereby selecting a total of 1,488 successful meritorious students.

Dhumal said qualified eligible students would get an annual scholarship of Rs 800 and for continuation of the scholarship in the next higher class, they would be required to pass the examination of the respective class with minimum B-Grade.

He said the government would spend Rs 12 lakh per annum over the new scheme. He said the distribution process of free school uniform to 9. 27 lakh students was in progress and was to be completed by the end of this month.

Kangra, July 7
More than a 70-year-old ropeway foot bridge over the Banner river connecting the Kangra Mandir Railway station and seven other panchayats with the town was damaged due to heavy rain this morning.

Following heavy rain yesterday and during the night, water left the bridge damaged. Lakhs of pilgrims who arrive by train at the Kangra Mandir Railway station every year for visiting the Brajeshwari temple use this foot bridge.

Ironically, the two pillars of the bridge are being taken care of by the PWD and the foot bridge by the Forest Department. As the authorities did not act swiftly, villagers put tarpaulin at the damaged site to avoid further damage.

Parmod Kumar, pradhan of Bhatti village, said residents of Bhatti, Tarsoo, Sakot, Sammela, Palvane and Gloal villages use this bridge for their daily movements.

Villagers risking their lives were seen crossing the damaged bridge which had already been declared unsafe for use.

Meanwhile, local MLA Sanjay Choudary also visited the spot today and directed the authorities to take effective steps to reconstruct the retaining pillar.

The villagers said if the state government was not interested in repairing the bridge, the seven panchayats would contribute and repair it. Pramod gave an ultimatum to the state government to get the damaged bridge repaired within 21 days.

After a long dry spell, Kangra received heavy rain, about 250 mm rainfall, during the first week of July. Though delayed, the rain is quite useful for the sowing of different kharif crops like maize, soybean, cowpea, sesame and black gram.

Farmers are also making use of rain water for transplanting paddy crop in Kangra and surrounding areas. The rain is also useful for standing crops of summer vegetables grown in the region. 

Kangra, July 7
During the on-going national-level training camp for Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) leaders from across the country and its executive body meeting, it was decided to hold “Congress hatao, desh bachao” rallies at 150 commissioner headquarters in which 30 lakh BJYM workers would participate from August 9 to September 9.

Disclosing this at a press conference here today, BJYM national chief Anurag Thakur said people were feeling cheated at the hands of the UPA government because of rampant corruption, unemployment and terrorism and were fed up with the system. He said nearly 25,000 wokers would participate in each rally.

Anurag said the BJYM, in another move, had decided to hold protest rallies in September throughout the country outside a particular department directly involved in public dealing and which would be responsible for its failure to deliver the goods.

He said in September every Friday would be observed as “Black Friday” because it was on Friday that the UPA government had taken over.

He said during this training camp efforts were made to explore the hidden leadership qualities among the youth. The youth were briefed about the history of the BJP. The venue was named after great martyr Capt Vikram Batra and other martyrs.

Anurag said Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley was supposed to address the youth here today, but could not make it because of bad weather. He said Jaitley had reached Chandigarh from Jammu, but the flight for Kangra was cancelled.

Industries Minister Krishen Kapoor and IPH Minister Ravinder Ravi too participated in the workshop today.

Anurag said the Yuva Sankalp Rally would be held here tomorrow and be addressed by national BJP chief Nitin Gadkari, Chief Minister PK Dhumal, former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar and state BJP chief Satpal Satti.

Shimla, July 7
It is the Himachal Lokhit Morcha (HLM) that will bring all political parties opposed to the two main players, the BJP and the Congress, under one umbrella to give shape to the much desired third front in the state.

Prominent leaders of the HLP, including former ministers Mahinder Singh Sofat and Tikku Thakur, Dr Onkar Shaad from the CPM and Roshan Lal Dogra from the CPI met here yesterday and announced the formation of the morcha.

“The sub-committee of the morcha has already been able to arrive at a consensus on 21 crucial issues which after approval from the all-party convention to be held here on July 12 will take the shape of our common minimum programme (CMP),” said Sofat.

While the BJP and the Congress are gearing up for the Assembly poll by holding rallies across the state, the CPM, the CPI and the HLP have forged an alliance under the banner of HLM, which will provide a political alternative to people.

The morcha is likely to seek the support of Team Anna, who have already hit out at former Union Minister Virbhadra Singh and also at Chief Minister PK Dhumal by making corruption one of its most important poll plank.

It is to keep pace with the hectic political activity being indulged in by the ruling BJP and the main Opposition party that the constituent parties of the morcha have decided to finalise a common minimum programme (CMP) before the elections by holding a convention.

The issue of corruption, price rise and unemployment are likely to figure in the CMP but certain Himachal-specific issues like sale of prime land in the state in violation of Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reform Act, setting up of private universities and rampant corruption by ministers in the BJP 
regime would also be prominently highlighted.

The possibility of other political party like the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Samajwadi Party, the NCP and others joining the morcha cannot be ruled out in the future.

These parties do not have much presence in Himachal and it is only during the elections that they field candidates to make their presence felt.

“We have asked our party members and supporters to gear up as the Assembly poll are nearing so that we can defeat the anti-Himachal forces, which includes both the BJP and the Congress as they have failed to protect the interest of the state,” said Tikku Thakur.

Shimla, July 7
Fighting for the rights of three lakh single women in the state, the Ekal Nari Shakti Sangthtan has been chosen by the European Union (EU) commission under a multinational project to expand its activities and take up the cause of aggrieved women.

State convener of the sangthan Nirmal Chandel said single women from across the state gathered here today to urge the government to address the issues being faced by them.

“We today submitted a memorandum to the Chairperson of the State Commission for Women and the Director, Women and Child Development, highlighting the problems being faced by them,” said Chandel.

She said their pension must be enhanced to Rs 1,000 from Rs 330 per month. The commission had chosen Himachal, along with Rajasthan and Maharashtra, for the implementation of a Rs 65-lakh project to addressing the issues of single women.

“Our body had won the Ashoka Foundation Change Maker Award two years ago and now the EU commission has recognised our efforts. But the state government has not done enough to improve our plight,” she remarked.

She said as per the 2001 census, there were 2.29 lakh single women, who were either divorced, widow or single.

“This figure that was 16.5 per cent of the total population a decade ago, has now crossed the three-lakh mark, but few benefits are accruing to them,” she said.

She said though ration cards for them had been made, they were hardly getting any food items because of the small size of their family.

“Since most of us have been denied right in the ancestral property, we have no land. So we want the government to provide us 100 kanals so that we can undertake cooperative farming and not beg before others,” said Chandel.

She added that single women should be either covered under the National Rural Health Mission or the health insurance scheme as they were unable to bear the cost of medical expenses.

Kangra, July 7
A pain clinic was started in the Department of Anesthesia, Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (DRPGMC), Tanda, today. It is housed in the Surgery OPD complex and functions on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm.

Disclosing this here today, Dr Anil Chauhan, Principal, DRPGMC, Tanda, said on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, various procedures pertaining to pain therapy would be performed in the operation theatre. Cases pertaining to cancer, traumatic and other chronic pains, which were not cured by traditional methods, would be treated in the pain clinic.

Dr BS Rana, Assistant Professor, has joined the Department of Medicine, after completing DM Hepatology from the PGI, Chandigarh. A liver clinic for liver and biliary disease had also started functioning in the Medical OPD complex and services would be available on Tuesdays and Fridays from 9:30 am to 4 pm. Endoscopy services would be provided on Mondays and Thursdays, Dr Chauhan added.

Palampur, July 7
Residents of the town have opposed the recent decision of the state government to convert the multi-storeyed parking complex of the town into a shopping complex.

Residents had asserted that the government should not deviate from its original plan and only construct a multi-storeyed parking, which was urgently needed in the town.

Ajit Baghla, former president, Palampur Municipal Council, while addressing mediapersons here today said basic concept of construction of multi-storyed parking was to solve parking issues being faced by residents of the town.

He said 1,000 vehicles were added to the town every month and there was no parking facility in the town. In the original plan there was no provision for a shopping complex and the government had given funds only for a multi-storeyed parking complex.

He said now the state government assigned the job to a private party under BOT, who instead of constructing the parking complex had planned to convert four floors out of six into a shopping complex to earn high rent.

Baghla urged the Chief Minister to review its decision and keep all the six storeys open for parking at par with Shimla.

Nurpur, July 7
Ritu, student of Government Middle School, Larth, is the first school-going child in Kangra district whose free and successful heart surgery has been performed at the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla, under the state government-sponsored Mukhya Mantri Vidhyarthi Swasthya Programme (MMVSP).

Under this programme doctors of Nurpur medical block during health screening of students of government schools in the area had diagnosed Ritu (11) and Neha (13), students of Class VI of the same school, with heart ailments. The duo was referred to the IGMC, Shimla, for treatment. Neha was prescribed medicines for her heart ailment, but Ritu’s ailment was finally diagnosed as Petrology of Fallot which required heart surgery.

Her father Kishori Lal did not have sufficient money for performing her heart surgery. But her surgery has been performed following the disbursement of Rs 1.75 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Kishori Lal who, along with his treated daughter, visited the office of the Block Medical Officer (BMO), Gangath, today. He expressed gratitude to the state government’s MMVSP and Health Department for treating his daughter free of cost.

BMO Neerja Gupta said under the MMVSP as many as 9,000 students had been examined by doctors by visiting government schools in the area. Kultar Dogra, Chief Medical Officer, Kangra, said Ritu was the first student who had undergone free heart surgery at the IGMC under state-sponsored MMVSP. “Students of government schools with poor vision are also being given free spectacles,” he added. 

Bilaspur, July 7
A state-level conference of the Himachal Nari Sabha concluded here last evening. It was presided over by a panel of six women leaders, sabha national general secretary Anni Raja, national treasurer Aruna Sinha and state office-bearers Vimla Shashtri, Bimla Viswapremi and Meera Thakur.

The conference was attended by nearly 200 women delegates from across the state.

State sabha general secretary Meera Sharma said here today that the conference opposed the proposal to close cheaper government depots under the Public Distribution System and provide financial help under the National Food Security Act. The sabha said it would oppose this decision as it would be dangerous for a large section of the population.

It also opposed any proposal to increase the prices of LPG. On the other hand, it demanded that LPG cylinders were already selling at high prices and it must be brought down to help poor families.

Leaders from other progressive organisations, including former MLA and Himachal Kisan Sabha state general secretary KK Kaushal, Himachal state CPI secretariat member Pravesh Chandel, advocate and BDTS Action Committee vice-president Ranjit Singh, were among those who spoke.

The meeting decided to send state delegates to attend the Nari Sabha national conference being held in Chennai from August 8 to 11 and elected 10 delegates for the same.

Bimla Vishwapremi was elected president of the state sabha, Meera Sharma was re-elected state general secretary, Vimla Shashtri vice-president, Meera Thakur joint secretary and Leela Thakur treasurer. A 15-member state executive committee was also elected.