Shimla, December 16
In a conciliatory move ahead of the counting of votes, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) chief Virbhadra Singh has rescinded the expulsion of 24 low-rung activists. They are from Sullah, Dharamsala, Rampur, Rohru and Shimla constituencies.

They have been issued show-cause notices and given 10 days to reply. Further action will be taken after the receipt of their replies. They had been expelled on the basis of complaints of anti-party activities from candidates and block and district units.

Virbhadra Singh confirmed that disciplinary action against them would be started afresh and that fresh notices had been sent through registered post. He said the proper process was followed while initiating this action against those facing serious complaints of working against official party candidates.

He said the expulsions had been ordered after the activists failed to file their replies within the stipulated period. Most of them had complained to the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) that they had not received any notice.

Virbhadra Singh said the previous notices had been sent through ordinary post and it was not possible to ascertain whether or not these reached them. In the interest of fair play and justice, he decided to rescind the expulsions and start the process afresh, he added.

The expulsions had raised a storm of protest from the anti-Virbhadra camp, particularly former HPCC chief Kaul Singh Thakur and former minister GS Bali. Those expelled had also condemned the action. They had taken up the matter with the AICC.

Office-bearers of the Shimla urban unit of the party, led by its president Pradeep Singh, had rushed to New Delhi to lodge a complaint with the party high command. They had met Central leaders, including AICC general secretary and state party affairs in charge Birender Singh, AICC secretary Asha Kumari and Union ministers Anand Sharma and Chandresh Kumari.

They had termed the action as illegal and unwarranted and maintained that they were not issued notices before being expelled. The Congress high command had stayed the expulsions and constituted a committee comprising Congress Legislature Party leader Vidya Stokes, former HPCC Chief Viplove Thakur and former minister Kuldeep Kumar to look into all poll-related complaints.

The committee had met here earlier this week as the record pertaining to the expulsions could not be placed before it prior to that. The committee had sought the record from the HPCC. With the expulsions having been rescinded and the process of disciplinary action being started afresh, the committee will not have much to do now.

Shimla, December 16
While the political managers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are busy formulating post-poll strategies to deal with any possible scenario, veteran Congress leader Sukh Ram has come out of self-imposed political exile and thrown his weight behind Virbhadra Singh.

The credit will go to the state Congress chief if the party wins the electoral battle, Sukh Ram said here today. The former Union Telecommunications Minister, who engineered Virbhadra’s ouster in 1998 by lending support to the PK Dhumal-led BJP in the wake of a hung Assembly, maintained that he had differences with Virbhadra, but only on policy matters.

“I have seen him campaign extensively for the party in the recent Assembly elections in all 68 constituencies with zeal and dedication. I had supplemented his efforts in Mandi and Kullu districts. If the Congress wins, it will be due to the vision, devotion and efforts of Virbhadra Singh,” Sukh Ram said.

He said Virbhadra had the advantage of having been the Chief Minister five times and had the ability to play an effective role. He claimed that the trend among the people was of tilting towards the Congress and presumed that the party would form the next government.

Asked specifically whether or not he backed Virbhadra’s candidature for the chief minister’s post, he said it was the prerogative of the Congress high command. He added that the high command would take a decision keeping in view the 2014 General Election.

Sukh Ram stated that the high command would instal a leader who could ensure the victory of the party in all four Lok Sabha seats in the state. Asked to name the leader, he evaded a straight reply and said everybody, including the high command, was aware of who it was.

Sukh Ram hails from Mandi district, from where former state Congress chief Kaul Singh Thakur is a candidate for the post of chief minister. Sukh Ram’s son Anil Sharma, a former minister, had contested the elections from Mandi. Sukh Ram’s support to Virbhadra points to the emergence of new political equations in the state Congress.

While the BJP has no leadership issue, with incumbent Chief Minister PK Dhumal the sole choice, there are many claimants to the top post in the Congress. Kaul Singh Thakur has thrown enough hints that he is in line for the post.

Congress Legislature Party leader Vidya Stokes and Union minister Anand Sharma, both of whom enjoy the backing of the party high command, are also being tipped for the coveted post.

Shimla, December 16
Former Telecom Minister Sukh Ram has urged the UPA government to revert to the Telecom policy framed in 1994, which was amended by the NDA regime, when Pramod Mahajan was the minister, to bypass the competitive bidding route for the allotment of Spectrum and it ultimately led to the 2G mess.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said the policy, which was duly approved by Parliament, laid down that operators for mobile services were to be selected through the process of competitive bidding. However, after the Congress was ousted from power, his successor Mahajan changed the guidelines from “highest tender” basis to “first-come first-serve” basis which proved to be a flawed policy, as a result of which technically sound bidders had to bid adieu, but multinational companies like Air Tel and Hutch managed to secure their base.

The policy of “first come first serve” was further amended to auction with the base price fixed by the government which fell out during implementation and the legal wrangles which followed ended up with the Supreme Court cancelling the auction of 2G Spectrum.

The fresh auctions were not successful and sound bidders did not participate due to lack of constancy in the government policy. Foreign investment companies also stayed away from the auction in the absence of categorically framed guidelines.

He said he would meet Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal to revert to the time-tested policy of competitive bidding framed in 1994 along with sound criteria for auction of Spectrum to win the confidence of foreign investors.

He said his pioneering efforts to modernise and expand the Telecom sector had yielded results and it was bringing an annual revenue of over Rs 68,000 crore without imposing any tax on people. A small state like Himachal with a population of 68.56 lakh had over 70 lakh mobile phones and 2.95 lakh fixed lines. It contributed Rs 1,000 crore to the national exchequer annually by way 12 per cent service charges and Spectrum charges.

Hamirpur, December 16
The All-India Congress Committee (AICC) has started a campaign for beneficiaries to directly capitalise on various subsidies being given to the people through schemes launched by the Centre with an eye on the next General Election in 2014.

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has started a direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme as a pilot project in 51 districts of the country, including the districts of Hamirpur, Una, Bilaspur and Mandi in the state.

For creating awareness among Congress workers and the common man, AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi held a one-day meeting in New Delhi on December 14, to which all district presidents from the 51 districts covered under the pilot project were invited.

This meeting is being given importance as the Congress is reportedly planning to reap a rich harvest of votes through the DBT scheme by reaching the beneficiary directly. The party had benefited in a big way through schemes like MNREGA and loan waivers for farmers during the General Election in 2009.

The main thrust in the meeting was to ask party organisations to make the people aware of the DBTs given to people by the UPA government and involve the Congress in the enrolment of people under various projects for liquefied petroleum gas, subsidised rations, opening bank accounts and Aadhar enrolment.

One reason behind this meeting was to counter the Opposition’s effort to take credit for various schemes launched by the UPA government like MNREGA, NRHM and other schemes.

AICC leaders told district-level leaders to make the people aware of various schemes launched by the UPA government and inform the Centre of lapses in enrolment.

While district Congress presidents were directed to convene panchayat-level awareness camps, they were authorised to write directly to the Union Finance Minister and the AICC headquarters in New Delhi.

Shimla, December 16
The BJP has ridiculed the statement of Pradesh Congress Committee (PPC) chief Virbhadra Singh asserting that the Congress will set up Special Investigation Team (SIT) for corruption cases after assuming the office.

Party vice-president Ram Swaroop Sharma and spokesperson Ganesh Dutt said the party would have welcomed any such move to end corruption if it had come from a leader who had not been booked for graft.

They said the illegal occupation case of 161 bigha, sagar katha case and CD case were well known to all and the Rs 2.28 crore bribery case detected by the Income Tax Department was the latest addition. Until exonerated, Virbhadra Singh should not talk of SIT.

There would been no occasion for the Congress to set up SIT and this would be clear on December 20 when the counting of votes would take place, they said.

People were disillusioned of policies of the UPA regime which had failed to check price rise and put a cap on the number of subsidised cooking gas refills, they said.

Manali, December 16
The cold wave has further tightened its grip over the Manali region. The higher reaches received fresh snowfall last night, resulting in a considerable fall in the day and night temperature.

The upper areas were covered with a thick white blanket. The sun shone this morning, bringing some respite from the cold wave, but dark clouds were back in the sky in the afternoon.

All tourist places nearby bustled with tourists. Hundreds of tourists visited the Hadimba Devi temple, the club house, the Manu Rishi temple and Vashisht village, famous for the Vashisht Rishi temple and hot sulphur springs.

Hundreds of tourists rushed to Bahang and Nehru Kund to enjoy fresh snowfall. With a good spell of snowfall, people in the tourism industry were happy, expecting a rise in tourist inflow on the eve of Christmas and the New Year.

Traffic on the Manali-Rohtang road was also disrupted at several places beyond Nehru Kund. Tourists going on a sight-seeing tour to the Solang valley had to stop at various places between Bahang and Nehru Kund.

As a precautionary measure, the traffic police stopped the movement of vehicular traffic near Nehru Kund. The ski slopes of the Solang valley also received fresh snowfall.

Shimla, December 16
Chief Minister PK Dhumal has requested the Centre to announce new industrial packages for north-western states of Himachal and Uttarakhand in view of their locational disadvantages due to hill topography.

Speaking on the 107th annual session of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industries in New Delhi, he sought the inclusion of Shivalik hills and Kandi areas in the new industrial package.

He said the industrialisation process would be much faster as the state had created a modern infrastructure like roads, electricity, housing for developing new industrial estates. He said international agencies had appreciated social and developmental programmes of the state and the World Bank had sanctioned Rs 1,150 crore for development.

He requested the Centre to decentralise the planning process to formulate policies based on the geographical needs of each state.

He suggested setting up of a Trans-Himalayan Development Agency to formulate policies and programmes exclusively for the hill states along with the involvement of experts associated with hill development, who were familiar with local needs, raw material and manpower for the better utilisation of the local resources.

The Chief Minister said the state had the highest literacy rate in the country and the lowest infant mortality rate and the target was to achieve zero per cent infant mortality rate. Health insurance cover had been provided to its citizens under which all the government hospitals had been directed to provide free medicines to indoor patients. Health insurance cover up to Rs 1.75 lakh had been provided for serious ailments.

He said the state was power surplus and provided electricity at most reasonable rates to the industrial sector, while only Re 1 per unit was being charged from APL families and 70 paisa per unit from BPL families.

Shimla, December 16
The state high court has directed the District Controller, Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Kullu, to provide consumer cards/ration cards to Nepalese applicants/migrant labourers in Kullu district provisionally and they shall also be supplied all essential articles as are given to other ordinary ration card holders for six months.

This order was passed by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Rajiv Sharma during the hearing of a petition filed by the Mool Pravah Akhil Bharat Nepal Ekta Samaj, Kullu, to issue directions to the government for supplying ration cards to Nepalese residing in Kullu for a long time for purchase of essential commodities from fair price shops.

The District Controller, Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs in his reply, had stated that there was no provision in the HP Specified Articles (Regulation of Distribution) Order, 2003 to issue permanent ration cards to such persons. However, under its Clause 10(4), temporary ration cards could be issued to those persons, who have no fixed or identifiable place of dwelling on payment of the required fee, but this ration card can be used for drawing kerosene only where such persons temporarily resides.

He also informed the court that the state had sought clarification from the Centre in this regard five years ago, but no clarification had been received so far.

It directed the Central Government to give clarification to the state and to file a reply to the petition within two months and also directed the Director, Food and Civil Supplies, HP, at Shimla, to provide required quantity of essential articles to the District Controller, Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs.

Jamthal (Bilaspur), December 16
Over 350 oustees rendered homeless and landless by the 800-MW Koldam hydropower project here still cry for proper houses, hospital facility, water supply, street lights and school playground in the rehabilitation colony developed shoddily by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) at Jamthal and Kangu.

The oustees have refused to take possession of plots developed by the NTPC on the ground that “these colonies abound in miseries rather than providing facilities for them”.

“The plots are raised on the retaining walls that have crumbled at several places. The drains are blocked, road is clogged as maintenance by the Relief and Rehabilitation Department is absent,” the oustees rued.

The NTPC has been spending Rs 108 crore under the Local Area Development Authority fund. But this fund is being spent elsewhere, they charged.

They have no regular water supply, no hospital facility, no school playground, no streetlight and garbage collection facility in the colony, said Kala Ram, Hari Ram and Bhandari Ram, landless oustees from Harnoda village.

Villagers resent that patients have to go Bilaspur or Sundernagar even for minor ailments. The Koldam dispensary charges Rs 11 from oustees, and Rs 50 from non-oustee patients for a check-up. “The government-run health centre has no doctor and medicine,” they said.

“The plot is so shoddy and improper that we cannot build even small rooms on it. The NTPC has just performed a formality. We sacrificed our land to project for a few wads of currency and we get a shoddy treatment as the project is nearing completion,” said Amarnath, secretary, Gramin Visthapit Vikas Committee (GVVC), Jamthal, a colony set up for the oustees from Harnoda, Kasol and Chamoan villages, which sacrificed over 1,500 acres of fertile land to the project.

Oustees who fall in Mandi district had rejected to be settled on a deserted hill of Kangu where the NTPC spent lakhs of rupees on the development of the colony.

“The district administration and the NTPC ignored consent of oustees. Now, just one person is settled in this colony there,” they said.

Out of the over 350 oustees from Kasol, Harnoda and Chamoan, 70 oustees have built their houses in this colony so far.

“We have no other place to go. Others are unwilling because plots are not developed properly,” they said.

President, GVVC, RK Chaudhary said they took the matter with the district administration and the NTPC, but to no avail.

Koldam, General Manager, AK Nanda said they built the colony as per the land allotted by the government.

“They have not taken possession of plots due to other reasons. We are taking up the matter with the district administration to sort out the issue,” he added.

Kangra, December 16
A red human chain with the theme “Stick to the promise on AIDS” was created by youth of the Red Ribbon Club (RRC), Dronacharya College of Education, Rait, near here, and an awareness event was organised at Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Shahpur, yesterday.

Disclosing this here, Dr RK Sood, Kangra District AIDS Programme Officer, said pledges by over 200 youth, sticky notes with slogans and phrases reminding all to “stick to their commitment” were all over spreadng the message of the ultimate goal: “Zero HIV”.

GS Pathania, MD of the college, said it was a call to reinvigorate and galvanise the movement of the youth in the face of this unprecedented global crisis that affected all.

Block Development Officer Pradeep Kumar stated that one of the greatest barriers to further progress was HIV-related stigma and discrimination. Stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV continued to fuel ignorance, injustice, denial and hate. The youth pledged their commitment to decreasing the stigma and discrimination and promoting safer sexual practices amongst their peers.

At this crucial juncture when the world seems to be losing momentum in the fight against the AIDS epidemic, with millions of new people infected last year, the show of solidarity is an energising step - where youth show the way and reignite the momentum.

Ashwani Dhiman, Principal, GSSS, Shahpur, added, “AIDS remains one of the world’s most serious health challenges” and sought solidarity in fighting it. 

Solan, December 16
With no check on violations of building norms, the town and surrounding areas are being transformed into a jungle of concrete, with up to six-storey structures coming up.

The state government has stipulated the three-plus-one-storey norm, but adherence to it is not being ensured by the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department. The municipal committee (MC) has also failed to take steps to keep a check on such violators.

The National Disaster Management Authority recently organised a three-day awareness programme on capacity development of the incident response system, in which officials stressed on abiding by building norms to minimise damage in case of an earthquake.

The state is in the seismic zone and an earthquake of a magnitude of eight on the Richter scale may strike here in the near future and cause widespread damage.

While surface geology and adherence to building norms play a decisive role in determining the damage that an earthquake causes, poor regulation has made the area vulnerable to the maximum damage.

There is not much utility of such awareness programmes if regulators failed to check violations and buildings raised by flouting norms continue to come up in every nook and corner.

The Solan area falls in seismic zone IV, which is highly prone to earthquakes. The state government had woken from slumber after the Bhuj earthquake in 2001.

It had introduced measures like restricting the height of buildings and making it mandatory for a structure engineer to inspect a site before a new construction was raised. These norms remain merely on paper.

The TCP Department only issues notices to violators, which fails to deter them. The MC has failed to take effective steps to check such violations, emboldening builders to raise up to six-storey structures.

Apart from the town, such violations are visible all along National Highway 22. Multi-storeyed buildings have come up in the Barog and Khil ka mor area in violation of most of the norms.

There have been several big landslides in the Barog area, causing loss to life and property, but builders indulge in crass commercialisation, not giving much thought to norms. 

Shimla, December 16
The two-day Shimla Literary Festival came to a close with the launching of “The Gurkha’s Daughter”, a collection of short stories on the lives Nepalese-speaking people, authored by advertisement executive-turned-writer Prajwal Parajuly.

The president of the Guru Kalp, a non-government organisation which organised the festival, said it was an honour to launch a book published by London-based publishing house Quercus. The book is being distributed in India by Penguin.

Parajuly said “The Gurkha’s Daughter” was the first of the two books he had agreed to write for the publisher. The second book was a novel, “Land Where I Feel”, was also based on Nepalese diaspora. This was the third launch in the country after Delhi and Kaling Pong.

He said after some more launches of the book in Indian cities, he would have a world-wide tour for the promotion of the book. Similar launch functions would be organised in London, Oxford, Cambridge, New York, Johannesburg, Sydney and other key cities.

“Abandoning the world of glamour to venture into the world of creative writing was not a planned or conscious decision, but a dictate of destiny. I got bored with my job as an advertisement executive in a New York-based company and decided to quit without having any idea what to do next. I decided to travel across India along with my friend and it was during my visit that the idea of writing fiction struck me,” Parajuly said while narrating his story.

“My book found a place among weekly top 10 rating within no time and went up to the third position. Not only that, reviews by literary critics have also been excellent,” he said.

He said he was happy to have launch the book in Shimla as he had written the first story “Let the Sleeping Dogs Lie” for the book during his stay at Manali.

Having written two books on Nepalese diaspora, he was sure that his third book would have nothing to do with Nepalese. Being a son of a Nepalese mother and Indian father and born and brought up at Kaling Pong in Sikkim, he knew Nepalese culture and people well and that was the only reason focusing on Nepalese-speaking people in the maiden writing effort.

Deputy Mayor Tikender Pawar, Deputy Commissioner Subhashish Panda and well-known writers Som P Ranchan and Meenakshi Chaudhary were among those present at the launch. 

Dharamsala, December 16
The traditional rainwater harvesting system of lower hill areas is being neglected by the government. Much is being said and proposed about the need for rainwater harvesting, but the tradition acumen of the people is being neglected.

Traditional rainwater harvesting structures are known as ‘khatris’ in the local dialect. These are used in water-scarce areas of Kangra and Hamirpur districts, commonly known as ‘changar’.

The knowledge of forming ‘khatris’ is slowly dying with traditional artisans. Local residents of the Khudian area near Jwalamukhi say local artisans select the place for forming the structure.

The basic criterion for selecting the place is the presence of thick vegetation over sandy rock. Artisans chisel a room-type structure around 10 feet by 12 feet with a 45-degree gradient in the hill. It can store up to 1 lakh litres of water.

Sources say water percolates into ‘khatris’ through the roof. In some cases, skilled artisans find permanent streams of water in the hills through which water seeps the year round.

‘Khatris’ are generally full to the brims in the monsoon as the area receives heavy rain. In summer and winter, ‘khatris’ are the lifeline of any ‘changar’ area. People used to fetch water from ‘khatris’ during summer.

These days, they mostly depend on government supply from water tankers. The water of traditional rainwater harvesting is used for animals and washing.

Dr Arun Chandra, who runs a non-government organisation in the area, says ‘khatris’ also help in recharging water in surrounding areas and maintenance of vegetation growth as cement and concrete are not used. He says people used to have their own ‘khatris’, which were locked for the purpose of personal use. With the augmentation of water supply schemes in ‘changar’ areas, only a few are constructing ‘khatris’ now, he rues.

To prevent biological contamination of water in ‘khatris’, hand pumps can be installed outside those, he suggests. Hand pumps will give water throughout the year due to storage of water in ‘khatris’, he points out.

Dr Chandra suggests that the construction of ‘khatris’ be included in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. People should be allowed to construct ‘khatris’ while working under the scheme, he adds.

‘Khatris’ are a part of the traditional knowledge of people of ‘changar’ areas. The traditional rainwater harvesting system deserves government protection as it saves water and helps in protecting the ecology of the area.

Shimla, December 16
Chief Minister PK Dhumal has complimented the Department of Personnel and the National Informatics Centre (NIC) for bagging an award of excellence for the development software application “Manav Sampada”, a green governance tool.

The award was given under the G2E category during the recent CSI annual conference in Kolkota earlier this month by Prof PVS Rao of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, a Padma Shri awardee.

The application was developed as a human resource solution to the massive manpower of 2,34,705 employees with 146 government departments posted in 27,918 offices across the state.

It provides an interface for integration of data with other e-governance applications already running, such as e-salary, e-samaadhaan, e-sameeksha, e-attendance, e-sanchaalan and e-PDS, along with user authentication and master data of offices, vacancies, employee strength and online transactions.

In the last financial year, 35 lakh transactions had been made through “Manav Sampada”, including transfers, postings, promotions, increments and employee service record.

By saving paper, postage, fuel and employee cost to the tune of Rs 38.63 crore per month, it had improved the carbon credit rating of the state. The green value of “Manav Sampada” is worth Rs 5.5 crore per month. It is the first integrated application of the country for a single signing on for 17 e-governance applications.

It also provides GIS integration for comparative reporting for area-specific micro-level manpower planning and SMS-based dissemination of information to all stakeholders, the government Secretariat, heads of departments, employees and citizens.

Solan, December 16
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau today arrested Kapil Dhiman of the Drug Licensing Authority here after raiding various places and confirming that he owns property disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Bureau’s Additional Director-General of Police KC Sadiyal said they were yet to assess the total worth of all his property and bank accounts at various places which have been seized. Raids continued till late in the night at his Chambaghat-based residence and other places.

An amount of Rs 1.5 lakh was recovered from his house, which was found stacked in white envelopes, with each having a different denomination, lending credence to the fact that it had been received from different sources. The origin of the cash was being ascertained.

Bureau sleuths also seized papers of some property owned by his sister at Bajaura and a partnership deed indicating his share in a pharmaceutical unit.

They also found several accounts with banks like the ICICI and the HDFC, an ICICI Prudential life insurance policy worth Rs 6.5 lakh and fixed deposits worth Rs 6.5 lakh.

Six high-end Apple i-phones and between 16 and 18 bottles of liquor, each worth around Rs 5,000, were among the articles recovered from his residence.

A bureau team also raided his friend’s house in Mohali. Raids were also conducted in Kullu and Zirakpur last evening. His parents were also brought from Zirakpur to Solan last evening.

Dhiman owns a motorcycle and a car. Papers of a plot at Rewari were also found, besides electronic items like cameras, video cameras and watches.

Papers of property owned by his kin were also recovered and the ownership was yet to be ascertained. Investment details of Rs 10 lakh were also found in his nephew’s name, which were being verified.

Palampur, December 16
A day-long workshop on “Intellectual Property and Innovation Management in Agricultural Research” was organised by the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) and CSK HP Agriculture University here today.

Experts from the NRDC, scientists from the university and students took part in the workshop.

In his inaugural address, Vice-Chancellor SK Sharma, who was the chief guest on the occasion, highlighted the importance of understanding the intricacies of the intellectual property rights (IPR), geographical indicators (GI), copyrights, patents and all other laws important to protect farm research and innovations.

Dr SK Sharma said ever since the country became a signatory to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995, it became mandatory to follow certain rules, regulations and laws to accelerate trade under the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement. As farm research was for the farming community so there had been some misconceptions that only industry need to get patents for their commercial products. “The Indian Council of Agricultural Research had formulated a comprehensive document on such issues which every scientist should read and re-read as a sacred document,” he advised.

The Vice-Chancellor said his university had taken initiative to get the GIs for red rice, kalazira (cumin seed) and some other typical region based crops in the state and had also established the IPR cell which would be strengthened in the future. “The university is in the process to get its trade mark ‘Palam’ registered for its farm produce. The institutions, scientists and researchers may get huge financial benefits if they patented innovations were commercialised so they must be trained in such issues,” he said.

Dr SP Sharma, Director of Research, said albeit patenting was a long process. If research projects were planned in line with the IPR issues, the results were bound to be useful in terms of new technology and its commercialisation. He elaborated about the patents granted to the university and the patents submitted.

Amitabh Mishra, Deputy Manager, National Research Development Corporation, VK Sahu, scientific officer, NRDC and Dr JC Rana, Head, NBPGR, Shimla, also gave technical lectures.

Suwarna Pandey and RP Yadav, patent attorneys addressed issues related to patent laws.

Kangra, December 16
Thousands of students from different government and private schools of Kangra, Chamba and Mandi districts of this hill state took a multiple-choice question (MCQ) competition oraganised by Vivekananda Kendra, a spiritually oriented service mission, at four different centres in the district today.

Students of Classes IX, X, XI and XII from more than 50 schools attended the competition which was aimed at sharpening the intellect of students so that they face competitions at the national level with better results.

PR Agnihotri, convenor, local branch of Vivekananda Kendra, said students were given 2,546 multiple-choice questions related to science, technology, mathematics, spiritualism, religion, culture, history, besides national and international things of importance to study and 200 questions to be completed within one and half hours.

The competition was organised at GAV Public School, Kangra, Green Field Public School, Nagrota Bagwan, Rainbow International Public School, Nagrota Bagwan, and ABM Public Senior Secondary School, Maranda, Palampur, at 11 am.

Agnihotri said next year the number of questions would be increased to 3,000 with a target of 10,000 questions to be set as the syllabus for this competition in the coming five years.

He said 12 students, three from each class securing first, second and third positions, would be honoured on Youth Day, January 12, 2013, in connection with the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

The kendra was planning to start career counselling for youth in different schools so that their future was shaped in the right perspective. 

Palampur, December 16
Warnings to all medical officers posted at government hospitals in the state from the state government to avoid over-medication and not to prescribe costly and substandard medicines to patients continue to be ignored.

In Kangra district, hardly any medical officer bothers about the warning from the Director Health Services. Doctors continue to prescribe those medicines for which companies provide them incentive.

The state government has failed to check the rampant corruption prevailing in the Health Department. The police and vigilance agencies have become silent spectators and the common man is being cheated.

The indoor record of various hospitals in the district shows that in the the last three or four years, doctors have repeatedly prescribed particular brands of companies which have obliged them.

There is a big market for substandard medicines in the absence of any check. A senior officer with the Health Department admitted that over 300 brands of substandard medicines were being sold in the state on prescription. Asked about the warning from the Director Health Services, a doctor remarked, “Nobody has the authority to challenge prescriptions of doctors, be it the Director Health Services or the Principal Secretary Health.”

Bilaspur, December 16
The leopard which carried away a two-and-a-half-year-old girl and injured her seriously yesterday has been declared a man-eater. The state government has ordered it to be shot dead at the first sight as it has become a serious threat to human lives.

The leopard had yesterday carried away a girl Shagun in the presence of her mother and grandmother, who were working in the fields. Later, it was chased by villagers at Kaamli Kothi village near Ghumarwin.

Divisional Forest Officer DR Kaushal said here today that the villagers had been authorised to kill the leopard at the first sight while the department was arranging its own hunters. He said the district had only three cages and all of these had been deployed at various places for catching the leopard.

Kaushal said Shagun was recovering at the PGI, Chandigarh. The doctors at the Regional Hospital had found her condition to be critical due to deep wounds on her neck and other injuries on her body.

He said he had visited the hospital yesterday and handed over Rs 25,000 to her parents as immediate financial help from the state government.

He said full financial help would be given to the girl’s family on recommendations of doctors.