Shimla, December 26
Good governance and delivering on the development front are the main challenges Virbhadra Singh faces in his final innings as the Chief Minister.

He has already declared that he would quit electoral politics. He faces the daunting task of fulfilling the expectations of the people to leave the political scene on a high note.

Shimla, December 26
The new ministers will have to remain without any departments for a day or two more as the stalemate continues, with the ministers of the “anti-Virbhadra Singh camp” lobbying hard with the high command to secure plum portfolios.

Kaul Singh and GS Bali, both from the rival camp, and the No. 2 in the Cabinet, Vidya Stokes, have rushed to Delhi to meet Central leaders.

Sources said the three leaders wanted the portfolios of their choice as Stokes was the next senior-most minister after Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, while Bali and Kaul Singh came from Kangra and Mandi - the two big districts of the state.

Kaul is likely to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi ostensibly to make a courtesy call and compliment her for the victory of the party under her leadership. However, sources said the allotment of portfolios would also be discussed. He was also likely to meet her political secretary Ahmad Patel. The main plea of these leaders was that senior leaders deserved good portfolios.

Virbhadra is already in Delhi to attend the meeting of the National Development Council to be held on December 27. He is hosting a dinner tonight for all IAS and other officials currently on deputation with the Centre. Thus, any discussions on portfolios can take place only after the meeting.

Local sources said there was a tussle among top leaders over the key portfolios like the PWD, Irrigation and Public Health, Power, Tourism and Transport. The tentative proposal was to give Tourism and Urban Development to Sudhir Sharma, Industries to Mukesh Agnihotri, Health to Bali, Agriculture to Sujan Singh, Forest to Thakur Singh Bharmouri, Education to Dhani Ram Shandil and Food and Civil Supplies to Prakash Chaudhary.

Party sources said Stokes did not want the Power portfolio that she held in her earlier term as such the only other departments befitting her stature were the PWD and Irrigation and Public Health while Bali was keen on having Tourism along with Health on which Kaul also had an eye.

Bali denied that he was lobbying for any particular portfolio.

Shimla, December 26
Emphasising that employees were an inseparable part of the government, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today exhorted the staff of the state secretariat to work with dedication as they were sitting at the hub of the administration.

Addressing a gathering of staff at the secretariat complex here today, he said employees were the backbone of the government and played an important role for the all-round development of the state. The government as well as people expected speedy implementation of policies and programmes meant for the welfare of the public.

He said he considered people of Himachal as one family and he was confident that the new government would get full cooperation from employees. The government would be taken care of as they were its part and parcel.

He lauded the efforts of the employees who had gathered under the banner of the HP Secretariat Employees Mahasangh to felicitate him.

He said the Congress government had never discriminated against employees and had always maintained cordial relations with them. It expected them to be impartial, clean, efficient and effective in running the administration with collective efforts.

Daulat Ram Chauhan, chairman of HP Secretariat Employees Confederation, hailed Virbhadra’s acquittal in the infamous CD case and termed him a “jan nayak” who understood the issues of employees.

He said the rights of employees were out-rightly denied by the previous regime and a number of them were victimised on political grounds.

He also welcomed the decision taken in the Cabinet to reinstate employees in the State Secretariat who were sent back to their parent departments.

Thakur Singh Bharmouri, Minister, Neeraj Bharti and Vinay Kumar, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS), Anirudh Singh, MLA, and S Roy, Chief Secretary, were among those present also present.

Mandi, December 26
Residents of Didar in Seraj gheraoed the office of the Regional Manager of the HRTC and later raised slogans in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office demanding HRTC bus service on the Thalot-Didar road inaugurated in June last.

Gathering under the banner of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the villagers charged that the HRTC had not started the bus service on the 
Thalot-Didar road even after six months. They had to travel on foot crossing the Beas bridge to catch a bus to Mandi.

DYFI’s Bali Chowki coordinator Meer Chand, Mahender Rana and others said they had held a protest on December 6 last, but to no avail. The former Transport Minister had diverted buses to Dharampur without justification, they charged.

Kangra, December 26
Starting from the wee hours of Christmas and till the New Year 2013 dawns, hundreds of spiritual seekers from across the country, including some non-resident Indians from the United States, arrived here to seek blessings through special discourses for the manifestation of the Divinity within and learn some tips to lead a healthier life.

Bharti suggested following such programmes rather than following Western methods of celebrations of New Year. A week-long self-enlightenment programme organised in the Sadha Shiv Mandir here is an annual feature since 1995.

Vijay Kumar, organiser of the camp, said, “We begin the New Year in a unique manner with participants being tuned to the divine consciousness through meditational practices and tips to live a healthy life ahead”. He said the recent incident of the Delhi gang rape was shocking and sent shivers down the spine, but such camps helped in transforming society.

Prof Chanderhash Sharma, former Dean and HOD, Lal Bhadur Shastri University, Delhi, said, “Good health is not just about eating healthy and exercise. It also includes positive mental health, healthy self-image and life style”.

Solan, December 26
To curb wasteful expenditure worth crores incurred in opening new retail outlets, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural gas has directed oil manufacturing companies not to open any new outlets.

Issuing directions, the ministry in its December 3 notification has made it clear that only the prospective dealers would make such investments to open new retail outlets.

These directions have been issued to all public-sector OMCs, including the Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited.

The OMCs have also been directed to specify suitable standards of service and safety of retail outlets and equipments through a suitable retail outlet scheme. The companies have also been told that all future ROs should be automated.

The HP Petroleum Dealers Association has termed the directions as a positive move as it would help save wasteful expenditure worth crores in opening new ROs.

Association president Sukumar Singh said since the oil companies had been opening ROs without field investigations and gauging the financial feasibility the expenditure incurred by the OMCs burdened the tax payer besides causing unhealthy competition among these companies.

Since frequent hike in the petrol prices burdened the common man, the oil companies should desist from increasing its administrative overhead expenditure by opening new outlets without proper field investigations as they add to the losses, Singh said.

Solan, December 26
The All-India Food Processors Association, New Delhi, has conferred two prestigious awards on scientists of Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, for their significant contribution to the food industry.

The scientists who belong to the Department of Food Scientists and Technology have been awarded the NN Mohan Memorial Award and the Dr JS Pruthi Memorial Award for their papers published in the Indian Food Packer during 2011-2012. These awards will encourage more research in food, science and technology.

The NN Mohan Memorial Award has been given to the paper titled, “Solid State Fermentation of Apple Pomace: Effect of yeast species, addition of molasses and nitrogen sources,” authored by A Devarajan, VK Joshi, RK Goyal and BB Lal.

The selection panel while terming it as a relevant study to the apple processing industry said utilisation of apple pomace, which was generally a waste but could produce value-added products, was of great significance and could help in making processing operations more viable and profitable.

It could also help improve the environment and the results of the study would be of immediate value to the processing industry to harness and convert the processing waste into value-added products like ethanol and animal feed.

Dr JS Pruthi Memorial Award has been awarded to the paper titled, “Preparation and evaluation of nutrient rich, value-added products from Seabuckthorn” authored by Manisha Kaushal, PC Sharma, Rakesh Sharma and VK Joshi.

The study involved a new, high-value fruit that has high ascorbic acid content and other bioactive compounds that fare high on the health and wellness platforms. The innovative process used in the development of fruit bars using foam mat drying process offers fastest drying and the products retain the quality and nutrition almost comparable to vacuum-dried products.

Kullu, December 26
Hoteliers and travel agents in the state are relying on the state government to restore flights to the airports at Manali in Kullu, Gagal in Kangra and Jubbarhatti in Shimla. Operations were suspended at these airports for more than six months.

The hoteliers and travel agents hope that the new Chief Minister would take up the matter with the Civil Aviation Ministry of the Congress-led UPA government to get the flights of Air India or other private airliners started again to boost tourism in the state.

President Manali Hoteliers’ Association, AR Thakur, has congratulated Virbhadra Singh on taking over as the Chief Minister and hope he will do everything possible to rev up the sagging tourism sector in the state. The Air India and Kingfisher had stopped their operations in the state hitting the hospitality industry adversely over the last six months, he said.

They have taken up the matter with the former Chief Minister and the state government and the Centre, but nothing has been done in this direction so far, he rued.

Though the arrival of tourists increased over the last few days for the Christmas and New Year celebrations, but there are no bookings thereafter, they pointed out. The good road and air-connectivity are a must for tourism, but both are in a bad shape, they said.

The Kingfisher airlines stopped its flights after the airliner ran into trouble but the government-run Air India has pleaded that the pilots are demanding special fees to land the aircrafts at three hill airports on the ground that they need extra efforts to make the aircraft land safely at the airports here.

Earlier also, Virbhadra Singh, Shanta Kumar and PK Dhumal had taken up the matter with the Centre.

Officials said the state government is aware of the matter and would take it up with the Centre.

Panchkula, December 26
Newly elected Doon MLA Ram Kumar Chaudhary, wanted in the Jyoti murder case, was denied anticipatory bail by the local court here today.

Chaudhary had applied for anticipatory bail on December 24 in the court of Sanjay Sandhir.

The Panchkula police presented a spate of proofs before the Judge against the bail application.

It was also stated that Chaudhary did not join the investigations when called by the police.

The counsel of Chaudhary, AS Sukheja, said it was a political conspiracy and the evidence provided by the police in no case mentions that Chaudhary was the main accused in the case.

Sukheja said the warrants were issued after Chaudhary won the elections, but the police said they had secured the warrants on December 19 itself. The counsel of the victim was also present during the hearing wherein they too mentioned the evidences and pleaded that the bail may be denied.

The Panchkula police had raided the residence of Chaudhary last evening as well but he was not available there.

It was on December 24 when the MLA filed a bail application in the local court, the decision of which was pending for today.

A large police team comprising Panchkula police and the Himachal Police officials had sealed all the routes to avoid Chaudhary’s escape during the CLP meeting and Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s oath ceremony, but Chaudhary failed to turn up.

It was on December 21 when the Panchkula police reached Chaudhary’s residence with the arrest warrants secured against Ram Kumar Chaudhary and his three accomplices, Dharampal, Gurmeet and Paramjeet. Jyoti was found murdered on November 22 near Sector 21, Panchkula, and was reportedly handling the financial matters of Chaudhary during the election period. The sim card dealer, Ashish Kumar, who sold sim cards procured on fake documents to the accused was also arrested.

On December 20, the accused won elections from the Doon constituency on the Congress ticket.

Buti Ram, the father of Jyoti, had alleged threat to his life, saying that he was offered Rs 50 lakh to settle the case near a Hoshiarpur village and when he refused to accept the offer, he was threatened with dire consequences.

Palampur, December 26
A BCom student was allegedly beaten up by teachers in a local educational institution of the town here yesterday.

The student had lodged a complaint in a local police station stating that he was beaten by teachers of the college. He said he was taken to a room where a few teachers of the college thrashed him.

In his complaint, he informed the police that he had received injuries and was feeling uncomfortable. The student demanded action against the college teachers, the police said.

Manmohan Singh, DSP, Palampur confirmed that the police had received a complaint in this regard. A police officer had been deputed to investigate the matter, he said. However, no arrests had been made so far.

A local social organisation has expressed concern over the incident and urged the state government to initiate measures to check such incidents where innocent students become victims of teachers.