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Bindal under EC scanner
Washing plant for stone crusher opposed
6 back Virbhadra’s action
Cong members resent expulsions
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UK varsity educationist holds interactive session
Complete probe in 3 months, HC tells Vigilance
Man accuses docs of negligence
Restore bus service on Jassur-Jawali route: Residents
Farmer saved from fraud
One nabbed with liquor
Woolly aphid hits orchards
Employees pay tributes to NGO leader
Online booking of HRTC buses at Jassur
Himachal reeling under cold wave
Pigeons fly under dark clouds in Shimla. Photo: Amit Kanwar
Residents protest against Indora tehsildar
Nagrota Bagwan faces frequent traffic jams
Submit report on Salappar-Tattapani road every month: HC
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Bindal under EC scanner
Shimla, November 22 Bindal’s insistence on seeking the postal ballot for about 100 service employees from Nahan can land him in trouble. The belligerent BJP leader is trying to find his feet on new turf in Sirmaur district as Solan, his home constituency, has been reserved for a Scheduled Caste legislator. There are 1.16 lakh Army and service voters in Himachal Pradesh who can cast their vote through the postal ballot till December 20, the day of counting. “There are reports that he is tracking service voters and is trying to influence them, which amounts to a violation of the model code of conduct,” says Narinder Chauhan, Chief Electoral Officer. He has admitted that Bindal sought the postal ballot for some service voters even though it cannot be given after November 3, the day before polling. The Election Commission of India (ECI) is seized of the matter and has directed the state Chief Electoral Officer to take strict note of this fact as the action hints at the BJP leader trying to influence service voters. Sources have disclosed that 470 of the 680 ballot papers issued in Nahan have been cast. With 28 days to go for counting, the casting of more votes is expected. The votes can be received till 8 am on the day of counting. The ECI has sought daily reports on the status of the postal ballot due to the pressure tactics exerted by some candidates. “It has been brought to my notice that between 125 and 150 service voters in Nahan have been issued forms, but they have not received those,” claims Bindal. He adds that they should be provided the postal ballot. A similar plea has been taken by some other candidates, including former state Congress chief Kaul Singh Thakur. Political analysts point out that some candidates are trying to raise the issue of postal ballot denial so that they can make out a case for a petition if they lose by a small margin.
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Washing plant for stone crusher opposed
Solan, November 22 Villagers had been protesting against the setting up of this plant for the past four days. They asked how the board had accorded permission for this plant when they had raised objections and even forest officials had expressed similar views. A large number of women had also been protesting against the plant, which they said would pollute the Sarsa river and erode their land. They added that the land, which was given on lease to the party concerned, was not fit for mining as it had no stones over it and setting up of this plant would only lead to illegal mining from the adjoining land. Panchayat pradhan Gurdai too asked how had the board failed to give any credence to the objections raised by the panchayat as well as forest officials. The Mining Department had leased out this land two years ago, but the lessee was now setting up a screening plant for reaping optimum benefits. DFO RS Jaswal said they had blocked the forest route leading to this land where the plant was being set up. Chetan Joshi, Superintending Engineer of the board, said he was inspecting the site and refused to divulge any details. Residents are, however, threatening to move the court if the board failed to cancel the consent granted to the plant. Balkrishen Sharma, general secretary of the local NGO, Himparivesh, said there was no material for setting up a screening plant at the site and objections of residents were justified. He added that it would lead to blatant deterioration of groundwater as plants like these use large quantities of water on a regular basis. Besides, it would also pollute the environment.
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6 back Virbhadra’s action
Shimla, November 22 In a joint statement, they said, “Zero tolerance of indiscipline by the HPCC president is a welcome step to strengthen the party organisation. Party men holding positions of responsibility who betray the party at a crucial time need to mend their ways. Loyal workers who put their heart and soul in working for the success of the party should be suitably rewarded.” The statement further read, “Virbhadra Singh is one leader who will not tolerate indiscipline. This is evident from the fact that some of his close associates have also been expelled for working against the party on the recommendations of block and district committees.” Those who issued the statement included HPCC spokesman Kewal Singh Pathania, Solan unit spokesman Ajay Chauhan, Shimla unit media coordinator SP Katyal, Shimla unit spokesman Atul Sharma, Mandi unit spokesman Tarun Pathak and Una unit spokesman Sandeep Kanwar. Taking on the anti-Virbhadra camp, which had strongly opposed the expulsions, they said the leaders threatening to go to the party high command should first analyse their actions and then approach the HPCC president with their clarifications instead of fuelling factionalism by involving senior leaders. They pointed out that the creation of differences between leaders was not in the interests of the party. They added that the challenge of ‘Mission 2014’ was looming large and the party organisation had to be strengthened, for which Virbhadra Singh was striving. They further wrote that the need of the hour was to sort out differences and amicably resolve grievances. They added that the Congress president had full faith and confidence in him and he could take any appropriate action to strengthen the party for the impending electoral challenge.
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Cong members resent expulsions
Palampur, November 22 Around a dozen Congress members from Baijnath, Rajgir and Nagrota Bagwan told mediapersons here yesterday that the state party president had adopted a pick-and-choose policy. They pointed out that party leaders from Sulah and Dharmsala were expelled while no action was taken against those who had openly campaigned against Kishori Lal in Baijnath and GS Bali in Nagrota Bagwan. The Congress workers said the state party president should have initiated action against all workers involved in anti-party activities during the Assembly elections if he was sincere to create discipline. They said Virbhadra Singh should have waited till the announcement of the election results before expelling party workers. The added that they would take up the issue with Sonia Gandhi. They said most of the workers expelled were from the Kaul Singh Thakur camp while no action was taken against those from the Virbhadra Singh faction who had worked against party candidates in the elections.
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UK varsity educationist holds interactive session
Solan, November 22 She was on a two-day visit following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two universities. Prof PK Khosla, Vice-Chancellor, Shoolini University, was in the UK in May as a delegate to the UK-India Skills and Training Partnership Conference, organised by the Indian High Commission. In an interactive session with the students, she said, “Shoolini students can pursue higher education and research in biotechnology and related disciplines at Ulster University.” She added, “The essence of cooperation between the two educational establishments is to establish academic and scholarly cooperative projects and to undertake dual degree programmes at the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels with the provision to transfer credits on a reciprocal basis.” Professor Khosla said, “The agreement between the universities provides an opportunity to our students to visit foreign countries for research projects on biotechnology related topics.” He assured limited financial support from Shoolini University to students opting for higher education and research at Ulster University. Prof Atul Khosla, dean of the School of Business Management, said Shoolini University had developed a similar type of exchange programme for management students of Ulster University. Ulster University is the largest university in Northern Ireland providing education in biomedical disciplines and related fields.
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Case of financial irregularities at Nauni varsity Our Correspondent
Shimla, November 22 The order was passed by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Rajiv Sharma on a petition filed by Chaman Negi, alleging that the head of the department of floriculture and landscaping was involved. It was further alleged that the amounts donated by various business houses for organising a symposium in the university from March 19 to 21 in 2010 were misappropriated. It was pointed out that complaints in this regard were submitted to the Chief Minister, the Solan Superintendent of Police and the Vice-Chancellor of the university, but to no avail.
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Man accuses docs of negligence
Hamirpur, November 22 He has sent a copy of the complaint to Superintendent of Police (SP), Hamirpur. Copies of the same have also been sent to the DG, the DC, Hamirpur, and the Director, NIT. Hema Kant, a resident of Badmal village, Bolangir district of Oddisha, was pursuing MTech (civil) in the NIT. He had fallen ill on August 6, 2012, and had died on August 11. Initially, the deceased was taken to the medical centre in the NIT and was reportedly diagnosed with suffering from malaria and treated by the medical officer there for two days. Later, the condition of Hema Kant had worsened and he was admitted to Regional Hospital, Hamirpur, on August 9, and died on August 11. In his complaint, the father of the deceased, who is at present residing at Tita Nagar in Oddisha, said they belong to a weaker section of society and his son had aspired to become a scientist, but his life and career was cut short due to the alleged negligence of the doctors treating him. SP, Hamirpur, Madhusudan said: “We have received a complaint from Ram Dass Manjhi and would take action against the guilty in the case.”
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Restore bus service on Jassur-Jawali route: Residents
Nurpur, November 22 Pradhans of these panchayats have submitted a memorandum to the Regional Manager (RM), HRTC depot, Pathankot. They said residents of the areas were facing hardship in visiting Jawali tehsil. The affected villages are remote areas of Jawali subdivision. |
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Farmer saved from fraud
Bilaspur, November 22 He had claimed that when Jai Ram of Kallar village, near here, would deposit Rs 25,000 in the bank account of Maseer Ved Mirza, Rs 50 lakh would be deposited in his account. The farmer collected Rs 25,000 and approached the clerk at the counter of the SBI branch at Auhar. When the clerk asked him, Jai Ram narrated the incident. The bank staff persuaded him that it was a fraud. — OC
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One nabbed with liquor
Mandi, November 22 He has been booked under relevant sections of the Excise Act. The vehicles have been impounded and an investigation is on.
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Woolly aphid hits orchards
Mandi/ Kullu, November 22 “The pests remain dormant in the monsoon season. The systemic insecticide spray is not possible as trees have shed their leaves at this point of time. The absorption is through leaves only and the pests can survive,” said farmers. The insects suck the tree sap that can affect the health and bloom in the next year. The insects hibernate in soil sapping roots in winter. The most affected orchards are in Seri-Bagra-Churag-Karsog, Snor belt in Mandi, Kullu valley-Manikaran, Banjar, Dalash- Jaban apple belt in Kullu district and the Shantha-Dewat-Maroag and Chopal, Jubbal-Kotkhai, Spail valley in Rohru and the pockets in Kotgarh and Kumarsain belt in Shimla district. Chairman, Ecohorts, Nandpur, Laxman Thakur said the woolly aphid was in more acute form in neglected orchards. “The most effective method to control it is to use the right spray at the right time in trees during summers and by making a ring around the tree trunk with insecticides granules mixed in the soil,” he added. Farmers rue that they had sprayed insecticides as per the spray schedule, but the woolly aphid has flared up this time in an epidemic form in the apple belt. Sprays are spurious or insects havebecome immune. They are confused as they have no convincing remedy to control the menace. Insects have flared up this time due to an ideal temperature condition. A female insect lays down over 150 eggs and multiply in hundreds on trees, scientists said. The pest saps nutrition from tree buds and roots and affect the fruit crop. Etymologists say that the insects start shifting from the soil to trees in summer and migrate to the soil in winters and this cycles need to be broken to control insects. In charge of the Bajora Fruit Research Station, Kullu, Dr Jayant said farmers could resort to spray on woolly aphid infested right now. “We have recommended spraying darmet in infested orchards as it will kill the insect if it has not come down in the soil”, he added. Scientists said insects invade the neglected orchards. “If you dig a 2.5-cm deep ring around the trunk in the soil and cover it with thimet granule, it will kill the insects when they scale up the tree in March-April,” Dr Jayant added. |
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Employees pay tributes to NGO leader
Bilaspur, November 22 Led by NGOs Federation state president Ram Singh, employees garlanded the statue of Sharma and remembered him for spending his life to strengthen unity among employees. Ram Singh said it was under his leadership that the federation fought a 35-day strike in the state which forced the then government of Chief Minister Yashwant Singh Parmar to accept their demands and give them benefits. He expressed unhappiness that nowadays NGOs were divided into several factions and the state federation had lost its glory and stature to get demands of employees accepted from the government. Ram Singh also paid tributes to other NGOs leaders like Purna Nand Madhukar, Lekh Ram Sharma and OP Sharma who also played a prominent role in the welfare of employees. The meeting also observed a two-minute silence and prayed for NGOs federation state secretary-general Dilip Bhatia who died of heart attack on Monday night. Prominent leaders Chet Ram Varma, Chand Ram, YB Thapa, Gyan Chand, Chaman Lal, Rajender Sharma, Malkit Singh Chandel and Ram Lal Sharma were also present. Led by Inder Singh Thakur and Lekh Ram Kaundal, followers of two other NGO factions, also held meetings at separate places to celebrate the foundation day of the federation.
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Online booking of HRTC buses at Jassur
Nurpur, November 22 This was stated by Suresh Dhiman, officiating regional manager, Pathankot depot. He said in the first phase, the facility was provided for only Pathankot depot’s long-route buses. But in the second phase, it would be provided for other depots also. Dhiman added that online booking would benefit passengers who were earlier facing hardships for getting tickets in crowded buses. |
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Himachal reeling under cold wave
Dharamsala, November 22 The local Meteorological Department forecast mainly dry weather over the next four days. The minimum temperature recorded at Keylong was the lowest in the state at -0.7 degree Celsius. Kalpa recorded a low of 1.4 degree Celsius and Manali recorded a minimum temperature of 5.5 degree Celsius. Mercury was at 3 degree Celsius in Bhuntar, 4 degree Celsius in Solan, 4.2 degree Celsius in Sundernagar, 5.5 degree Celsius in Mandi, 7.6 degree Celsius in Shimla, 7 degree Celsius in Palampur and 8.8 degree Celsius in Dharamsala. Shimla recorded a maximum of 15.9 degree Celsius, Sundernagar 18.6 degree Celsius, Bhuntar 19 degree Celsius, Kalpa 15.2 degree Celsius, Dharamsala 22.2 degree Celsius, Una 25.4 degree Celsius, Nahan 22.8 degree Celsius and Solan 21.5 degree Celsius. — PTI |
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Residents protest against Indora tehsildar
Nurpur, November 22 They raised slogans and alleged that the works in the office were being delayed. Elderly and physically challenged persons visiting the office were experiencing hardships as they remained unattended. Jaidev Singh, pradhan of Bhogrwan gram panchayat, who was also present on the occasion, said if the working of the office did not improve, villagers would stage a dharna and gherao the tehsil office. Meanwhile, tehsildar, Indora, Rakesh Kumar said the post of naib tehsildar had been lying vacant for the past three months and he was busy during the past two days with meeting of district revenue officers at Dharamsala and another meeting with the SDM, Nurpur. Admitting enormous office work load, he asserted that he had brought some changes in the office for improving the work culture and streamlining routine works that had upset some vested interests. He claimed that some miscreants were behind this protest demonstration. |
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Nagrota Bagwan faces frequent traffic jams
Kangra, November 22
The Pathankot-Mandi National Highway passing through the town is an important road connecting famous shrines of Chamunda Devi, Shiv temple of Baijnath and Mahakali temple with Kangra and rest of the country, besides helping adventure tourists to reach Billing, the world’s best take- off site for paragliding. Frequent traffic jams on this road are creating difficulties for tourists, pilgrims and local commuters. A traffic jam that occurred today left hundreds of vehicles stranded for nearly an hour leaving a number of schoolchildren in lurch as over 12 school buses were caught in the traffic jam. It was only after nearly an hour when a police official arrived on the Kawari road on the national highway that the traffic started getting normalised. Residents of the town said jams like these had become a routine affair and demanded that traffic policemen should be deployed at various points to avoid such situations. They added that illegal encroachments were also adding to the commuters’ woes.
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Submit report on Salappar-Tattapani road every month: HC
Shimla, November 22 A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Rajiv Sharma passed the order on the basis of a letter to the Chief Justice from the non-government organisation Pratigya, alleging that the construction of the road was started in 1980, but not completed till date. Treating the letter as a public interest litigation, the HC had earlier directed the Mandi Zone Chief Engineer to file an affidavit on the progress of
the work. He had complied with the order. After perusing it, the HC directed the authorities involved in the work to take steps to complete it at the earliest. |
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Work to rule decided upon
Chamba, November 22 The Himachal Transport Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti has decided to follow the work-to-rule policy until its demands are conceded to by the state government. This decision has been taken at a meeting of the samiti under the chairmanship of district president Kuldip Kumar. The samiti has discussed various issues concerning the staff during the meeting. Its main demands include 7 per cent dearness allowance, night allowance of Rs 130 and the implementation of the decision on grade pay.
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Pinegrove lift basketball title
Solan, November 22 Mayo College Boys School, Ajmer; Daly College, Indore; Lawrence School, Ootacamund; JD Birla School, Ranikhet; and the hosts also participated. Pinegrove School won all their league matches. Its players Deepak Jindal, Mukul Yadav, Vinay Partap Singh and Madhav Padha were selected for the SGFI under-14 nationals, to be held next month in Maharashtra.
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HPU VC gets award
Shimla, November 22 The award was given to him in recognition of his outstanding contribution in the field of education. The citation of this award has named Bajpai as “laureate of the year”. — TNS
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The woolly aphid pest has erupted in an epidemic form that has almost painted the apple belt of Shimla-Mandi-Kullu as “woolly white”, sending panic waves among famers.
“The pests remain dormant in the monsoon season. The systemic insecticide spray is not possible as trees have shed their leaves at this point of time. 
Dharamsala, November 22
