Nurpur, May 8
Over 50 inflated Pakistani balloons landed in the flood area of Pong Dam reservoir at Dhameta in Jawali sub-division today, creating panic among local residents.

According to information, these balloons were first noticed by students of Gurukul Senior Secondary School, Dhameta, as these were lying near the school. The school staff then informed the Fatehpur police station.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Jawali, DC Verma, along with local Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) and the police, rushed to the spot and after conducting preliminary investigations, took the balloons in possession.

Doctors at the Community Health Centre, Fatehpur, examined the balloons.

According to the DSP, Jawali, forensic examination of the balloons would be undertaken to rule out any possibility of prevalence of virus or any harmful poisonous gases in them.

The inflated balloons reportedly had the name of Pakistan People Party’s candidate Chowdhary Ahmad Mukhtiar. 

Dharamsala, May 8
The District Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has claimed to have busted a racket in which tickets for the forthcoming IPL matches were being sold in black in Dharamsala town.

SP, Vigilance, Vimal Gupta told The Tribune that they got information from reliable sources that tickets were being sold in black in the Kotwali market at Dharamsala. Vigilance officials called on a number given to them. The person on the phone said tickets were available with them. The officials in disguise demanded 10 tickets from the person. He, however, offered them just four tickets and demanded Rs 2,500 for tickets valued at Rs 800, the SP said.

The Vigilance called constables from Una district and set a trap for the accused. Today a man came and gave four tickets worth Rs 800 to the Vigilance officials in disguise and charged Rs 10,000 from them. The Vigilance arrested him. He was later identified as SK Montu of Kolkata in West Bengal.

He was working as a goldsmith in the Kotwali market of Dharamsala.

A case under Section 420, IPC, has been registered against him and further investigation is on, the SP said.

The SP also admitted that the arrested man might be a small fry in the scandal involving the sale of tickets for IPL matches. "We have information that persons selling tickets in black are in possession of 300 to 400 tickets. Ten tickets, comprising five each valued for Rs 500 and Rs 800, have been recovered from the accused" he said.

"The Rs 300 tickets are reserved for local students and can only be sold after the students show their identity cards at the ticket counter window. It is strange that even such tickets are being sold in black by the ticket selling agency for the matches. It clearly illustrates that there might be some connivance of the ticket selling agency in the scam," he said.

Allegations that tickets for IPL matches were being sold in black were being levelled for the past four years ever since the matches were first organised at Dharamsala. Being a tourist spot, Dharamsala is a favourite spot for spectators who throng this small hill station during the IPL matches. However, this expose might lead the Vigilance and Anti-corruption officials to the organisers of the matches in the coming days.

Kullu, May 8
Even as the Deputy Commissioner (DC), Mandi, ordered a magisterial inquiry into today’s accident near Nagwani in Mandi district that resulted in the death of 39 persons, including 10 women and two children, the government is yet to take any action against the Regional Transport Officers (RTOs) and the traffic police for their failure to check overloading and speeding by private operators and Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses.

The surviving passengers complained that since the Kullu-Anni private bus came under Kullu RTO and the Kullu traffic police, they should have checked the vehicle from overspeeding.

The accident took place near Jogni Mata Temple on the Kullu-Nagwani stretch of the National Highway-21, allegedly due to reckless driving. The driver overtook another vehicle, but lost control and plunged into the Beas, said passengers who fell out from the bus.

They alleged that the son of the owner of the bus was driving the vehicles and was talking on the phone when the accident took place. He jumped from the bus and ran away from the spot.

“We have booked him under Sections 304-A and 279 of the IPC,” Superintendent of Police (SP), Mandi, RS Negi said.

The police said they had deployed highway traffic patrol to check drunken driving and speeding. But the menace remained unchecked on the highway.

DC, Mandi, Devesh Kumar said a magisterial inquiry into the accident had been ordered and would take action under the law when facts came to light. “It is the collective responsibility of RTOs, police and district administration to check speeding and overloading,” he added.

DC, Kullu, Sharab Negi and SP, Kullu, BK Dhawan said the investigation would be carried out by the Mandi administration as the accident had occurred in the jurisdiction of Aut police station, Mandi. However, they assisted in the rescue work as the scene of the accident was closer to Kullu.

Shimla, May 8
Hitting back at the Opposition for urging the Governor to order a probe into the Congress chargesheet by a sitting Judge of the high court, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said today that criminal offences were dealt by vigilance agencies.

Reacting to the letter written by Dhumal to the Governor in this regard, he said the demand was irrelevant as judicial probe was called for in the matters where some fact-finding exercise was required, whereas offences of criminal nature were to be investigated as per the laid down procedure by police agencies.

Going a step further, chairman of the State Pollution Control Board Kuldeep Singh Pathania asked Dhumal to first disclose the number of cases the BJP government got investigated from any sitting Judge of the high court while he was the Chief Minister.

He advised the BJP to wait and watch for the results instead of making needless hue and cry as investigation had to take its own course with set principles of guidelines to be followed so that only those found guilty were brought to book. He said it seemed that Dhumal had lost faith in the investigating agencies of the state due to retirement of certain top police officers.

He reminded Dhumal that the chargesheet framed by the BJP against the Congress regime were also investigated by the state vigilance and the CID and the matters pertaining to Section 118 of the HP Land and Tenancy Act were probed by a retired Judge of the high court.

He said only in case of violation of public policies or rules, a probe by a sitting Judge was called for. There was no such hard law, which puts the onus of probing criminal charges on a sitting Judge. The BJP created uproar over the infamous audio CD case in which Virbhadra Singh had himself initiated steps for adjudication and was later on absolved of charges, he said.

He said a total of 33 allegations were enquired into by the BJP during its regime.

Shimla, May 8
After 49 years of his death, a succession row has erupted among the immediate clan of the Maharaja of Sirmaur, Rajender Prakash. His adopted son, who was duly recognised as the successor by the Government of India in 1966, has challenged the attempts to usurp his title by his aunt, who wants to now install her grandson as the heir apparent.

It is the announcement by Padmini Devi, daughter of Maharaja Rajender Prakash, to hold a “tikka” and “installation” ceremony to declare her maternal grandson as the successor to her late father which has enraged Uday Prakash. Uday is the son of Nalini Devi, the elder daughter of Maharaja of Sirmaur, while Padmini Devi, married into the Jaipur royal family, is the younger daughter.

“It is not only unconstitutional and against the legal norms of the Hindu society, but also against the spirit of democracy to hold succession of a Maharaja, when under the Constitution, the use of all such titles has been abolished long ago,” said Uday Prakash here today. He said he would be moving an application before Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and the Sirmaur district administration to stop holding of any such ceremony by Padmini Devi as it was way back in 1971 that all privy purses, privileges and titles were abolished.

She now intends to undertake the installation of nine-year-old Lakshay Raj Singh, son of her daughter Diya Kumari, after changing his “gotra” to that of the erstwhile rulers of Sirmaur. The ceremony is scheduled for May 15 at the Sirmaur palace in Nahan.

It was in 1965, a year after the death of Maharaja of Sirmaur, that his elder wife decided to adopt Uday, son of her daughter Nalini, as the successor to the late Maharaja. Even then, there was a controversy as two persons, besides Uday, claimed succession. A distant collateral, Narbir Singh and another person, Raoraja Virender Singh, claiming to be the son of the Maharaja, sought claim to the title of the Maharaja of Sirmaur.

It was following a long-drawn legal exercise under which the matter was referred to the Union Law Ministry for determining the legal heir in April 1965. The issue was settled in favour of Uday Prakash. “The law ministry on May 25, 1965, examined the case and recommended my recognition as the successor to the later ruler, as my adoption was held valid against the claims of the other two,” revealed Uday.

The case for declaring his succession as valid was duly examined by the then Law Minister, Ashok Sen, and by eminent lawyer MC Chagla. “The matter also went to the Cabinet for an approval on July 14, 1966, as directed by the Prime Minister,” Uday Prakash said. He added that he had dutifully performed all rituals and duties of the successor since his adoption.

Invitations have been sent to prominent erstwhile rulers of Rajasthan and Himachal who are divided over the legality and validity of the ceremony.

Manali, May 8
Protesting against the Himalayan ski village project in the Manali hills, villagers in Kothi-Palchan-Burwa, Goushal and Vashisht belt have said they may give a second thought to the project only if Ford company enrols them as shareholders. They also demanded that Alfred Brush Ford, the great grandson of Henry Ford, should personally come and interact with them and explain his real intention regarding the project.

The villagers and gram panchayat pradhans of the area said the Dev Samaj of Kullu valley had opposed the ski village project during the Jagati ritual of “devis” and “devtas” at Naggar Jagti Pat Temple in 2006. “The devtas take holy bath in Bhrigu lake and joginis, the divine spirits, live in the higher reaches. Ropeways will be taking tourists there, which is bound to defile the sacred spots,” they claimed.

The pradhans of Palchan, Burwa, Goushal and Vashisht gram panchayats are divided over the project. But they demand that if Alfred Brush Ford and other shareholders have real intention to set up the project, they should come in person here and explain to the people how it would give employment to the locals, promote world-class winter Olympics and protect the environment.

The detailed project report (DPR) of the company was not specific about its location as it entailed a wide area that had created a doubt regarding the intention of the company, Singhi Ram, pradhan of the Palchan Panchayat, said.

“We cannot give assurance on behalf of the public, who own land and rights in the area,” he said.

The villagers are discussing pros and cons and the company is yet to come out with its actual DPR before the people.

However, the land owners should be made as the shareholders in the company and enrolled on the board of directors of the company if the project had to see the light of the day, AR Thakur, president, Manali Hoteliers Association, said.

On the other hand, Lal Chand Katoch, president, Janjagran and Vikas Manch, Kullu, an NGO, said they had made an appeal to the double Bench of the high court as the state government withdrew the case against the company from the high court recently. “We oppose the ski village as it will destroy environment and ecology and dry up water sources by making artificial snow, defile sacred lakes and streams in the region,” he said.

He said the manch had cited the resolutions of 12 gram panchayats that fell in the project area, which had opposed the ski village.

“The BJP government did nothing for the last five years and the present government is going ahead with the project, though no one knows the real intention of the company,” members of the manch said.

Katoch said they would even move the apex court to oppose the project as it would be an environment disaster in the valley.

He said the government wanted to give exclusive rights to the company and they wanted to access 30,000 bighas of land in the up hills of Palchan, Burwa, Vashisht and Goushal panchyats, which was unacceptable as the area was ecologically sensitive, he claimed.

However, Ajay Dabra, Managing Director of the Himalayan ski village company, refused to say anything on the issue saying they needed more time before they made a statement as they never expected that the government would withdraw the case from the high court. 

Shimla, May 8
To mark the World Red Cross Day and 150 years of the organisation's existence, a function was held at the Raj Bhawan today. Speaking on the occasion, Governor Urmila Singh lauded the role of the Red Cross in providing succour to the suffering humanity.

She said it was a moment of pride for the organisation to celebrate 150 years of its existence. The whole world acknowledged the immense contribution of the Red Cross in serving humanity.

Shimla, May 8
In an initiative to check the spread of thalassaemia, a blood-related genetic disorder, the local municipal corporation has decided to implement a pilot project for mass screening of people to identify carriers of the disease.

As the electrophoresis test for detecting thalassaemia positivity is very costly and so far not conducted in the state, the corporation has come up with a plan for mass screening of people to confirm the thalassaemia negativity using the inexpensive NESTROFT (naked eye single tube red cell osmotic fragility test).

“The protocol for carrying out the test has been developed and validated with the help of the Microbiology Department of the Indira Gandhi Medical College and the screening will commence soon,” said municipal health officer Omesh Bharati while giving details of the pilot scheme on the World Thalassaemia Day here today.

So far no survey or study had been conducted to ascertain the prevalence of the disorder, but projections indicated that about 2.7 per cent of the population could be carriers (thalassaemic minors) of the disease, which is quite high. If both the parents are carriers, there is 25 per cent possibility of their offspring turning out to be thalassaemic majors and not merely carriers. “The only way to prevent the spread of the disease is to identify the carriers and prevent such marriages,” he said.

The approach adopted for confirming the negativity will enable to know the people that are not carriers and it will take care of over 90 per cent of the population. The vulnerable among the remaining 10 per cent could then be tested for the expensive thalassaemia positivity.

The red blood cell membrane of those carrying the disease is weak and breakdowns easily. The NESTROFT uses this vulnerability to confirm the negativity. In case there is a breakdown of the cells, the chemical solution used to test the blood shows turbidity and a single line could not be seen through it and the person concerned could be a carrier, which could be confirmed using positivity tests. If there is no turbidity, it is confirmed that the person is not a carrier of the disease.

Children suffering from the disorder require blood transfusion after every few weeks and it leads to various blood-related problems like iron overload and kidney failure. 

Kangra, May 8
Rural people in the state should be made aware about thalassaemia, one of the most common gene mutations in the world. They should be told to come forward for the noble cause of blood donation as this simple gesture could help children living with the disease.

This was stated by Dr V Kaul of ICTC Regional Ayurvedic Hospital, Paprola, at a seminar held here in connection with Thalassaemia Day today.

He said May 8 was observed around the world as Thalassaemia Day.

He said significant, often life-threatening complications, were common in the most severe forms of the disease.

He said prospective prevention of the disease included mass screening, genetic counselling and prenatal diagnosis.

Dr VK Mahajan, vice-president, Indian Medical Association, Kangra, and PR Agnihotri, a social activist, demanded that the state government should come forward to provide the facility of thalassaemia testing in the state. 

Kala Amb, May 8
A three-year-old boy was burnt alive, while six migrant labourers suffered burn injuries when 25 jhuggis in the Kheri area of the Kala Amb industrial area caught fire today morning. The injured were admitted to a local hospital. The police said the jhuggis caught fire due to a kitchen fire and spread soon to the adjoining jhuggis. The child was alone at home when the incident took place as his parents were working at a nearby industrial unit.

Since there is no fire station here, fire tenders from Nahan are requisitioned in case of any fire incident. — TNS

Hamirpur, May 8
Deputy Commissioner Ashish Singhmar today carried out a sudden inspection of the Regional Hospital, Hamirpur, to take stock of the health facilities there. He directed the district health authorities to take steps to improve the facilities.

Taking a serious note of leakage in walls and floors of the hospital, the Deputy Commissioner directed the heath authorities to take steps to stop the leakage, carry out necessary repairs and get the walls painted after taking up the matter with the Public Works Department (PWD).

He said, "There is no paucity of funds as these are available under different schemes of the government. Lack of funds should be no excuse for improving facilities in the hospital."

After inspecting medicines in the hospital campus, Singhmar directed the department to make arrangements for cheap medicines being provided under the Jan Aushadhi scheme and circulate a note to all doctors about the availability of these medicines."

Singhmar said Rs 20 lakh had been provided for this scheme in the current budget.

He asked the health authorities to install benches for patients outside eye the OPD, install fans in special wards and keep bathrooms clean and corridors well lit. 

Shimla, May 8
The High Court has directed the state Electricity Board to take appropriate legal action against electricity bill defaulters within two weeks and file a compliance report before the court.

While passing this order, a Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice RB Misra, clarified in the order that if any notice was received from the Board by any of the defaulters, no forum would entertain any proceedings on that behalf, except this court.

The court passed this order after perusing the affidavit filed by the Board, in which it had placed a list of defaulters, who were in arrears of more than Rs 25 lakh as on December 6, 2012. The list further mentioned about 76 defaulters, including government departments of the state, and the aggregate outstanding amount receivable from all these was stated to be around Rs 91.75 crore. The court passed this order on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in this regard. 

Shimla, May 8
With the launch of an online drug and food licensing system, chemists, drug manufacturers and those engaged in food business will not have to go to various offices to get a licence. Under the system, the entire process will be carried out without any human interaction.

Applications will be filed online and the entire process up to the grant of licence will take a maximum of 21 days. The salient feature of the system is that there will be no physical movement of file from district or state headquarters or within offices. The officials concerned dealing with the subject after scrutinising the application can raise queries only once, which will be conveyed to the applicant through an SMS.

The time period for various officials has been fixed and the system has an inbuilt monitoring system. If any official fails to clear the file within the stipulated period, the system will be locked automatically. He will not be able to deal with any file concerned with licensing until the file, which had been delayed, is cleared. The drug licence will also have the photograph of the pharmacist.

Himachal is one of the three states,besides Kerala and Chhattisgarh, in the country in which the centralised online drug licensing system is being rolled out in the first phase.

Speaking after launching the online facility, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said the system would help bring transparency in the licensing process and improve the efficiency of the department. It would benefit about 5,500 chemists and drug manufacturers and over 60,000 food retailers, he said.

Health Minister Kaul Singh said Himachal had emerged as the pharmaceutical hub of the country and drugs worth over Rs 35,000 crore were being produced annually in the Baddi-Barotiwala industrial area alone. Out of this, medicines worth over Rs 9,000 crore were being exported and the products were of high quality as evident from the fact that over 33 per cent of the manufacturing units had obtained WHO certification.

The online system for food licensing will enable the government to cover even small villages right down to the panchayat level. Petty retailers with a turnover up to Rs 12 lakh have only to get registered after paying a fee of Rs 100 and those having a higher turnover are required to obtain licence for which the fee is Rs 2,000.

Palampur, May 8
Frequent showers this summer and low temperature prevailing in the area have proved to be a boon for forest officials this year as no major fire incident has been reported in Kangra district till now.

Forests in middle and lower hills of the state are prone to fires between April and June keeping officials of the department on tenterhooks.

Himachal has one of the richest and most varied forests in the northern India, particularly the Himalayan pine variety, which is highly valued for its superior timber.

Information gathered revealed that this year again, the Forest Department had not been able to take up the required preventive measures like controlled burning of forests and maintenance of fire lines. It carried out controlled burning over a small forest area only. However, rain has come to the rescue of the department.

As per norms, controlled burning has to be carried out in at least over one-third of the total forest area susceptible to forest fires. The total area under pine forests, where controlled burning is required, is 1,50,000 hectare and as such preventive measures are to be carried out on over 50,000 hectare, which needs huge funds.

Though the Forest Department requires about Rs 40 crore for carrying out various control measures, it received only around Rs 2 crore annually for the purpose.

Dharamsala, May 8
Seven-a-side mini-football launched by a number of professionals including from Dharamsala a few years ago has attracted a large number of youth. The small club We and Football started organising the tournament in different parts of the country. The tournament was organised in Dharamsala last year.

Club president Prayank Mahajan of Dharamsala said more than 40 teams had participated in the open and under-19 categories last year.

He said participants included Nirmalites, Molon Labe (juniors and seniors), District Football Academy Dharamsala, SAI Football Academy Kangra and teams from Dalhousie, Bir and Chandigarh.

He said this edition of the seven-a-side mini-football tournament would be held at the Government College ground here on May 11 and 12 which would only feature the under-19 category.

He further said We and Football had been organising mini-football events across North India and the upcoming event would be the 22nd overall.

He said the last event was conducted in Lucknow. He added that We and Football organised the first National Freestyle Championship in Goa last year which was judged by Luis Figo.

Mahajan said the entry fee for the upcoming tournament was Rs 700. He said winners would get Rs 7,000 and runners-up Rs 4,000 with outstanding players being awarded merchandise gifts.

Shimla, May 8
The HP State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed the National Insurance Company to pay Rs 24.57 lakh with 9 per cent interest per annum as insurance claim to Om Prakash of Kullu district, who is the MD of OMR Constructions Company Limited.

Apart from this, the commission also imposed Rs 1 lakh as compensation and Rs 15,000 as costs on the insurance company.

The complainant had filed a complaint against the insurance company on the ground that he purchased an excavation machine for Rs 42 lakh in 2010, which was insured with the company for Rs 38 lakh for the period from February 25, 2011, to February 24, 2012.

The complaintant said during the insurance period, on August 13, 2011, when the machine was parked at Kartah, near a work site, a cloudburst occurred on the hill side of the parking site, as a result of which there was a huge landslip. Debris consisting of huge boulders fell on the machine and completely damaged it.

He further claimed that the report was lodged with the police and the company was also apprised of the incident on the same day. The company deputed an engineer, who visited the spot on August 17, 2011, and reported that the machinery had been completely damaged at the site. The complainant sought insurance money, but to no avail.

The company repudiated the claim on the ground that this was a case of plant and machinery insurance with fixed location and any loss outside the location was not covered under the policy. Further the machine was in transit.

While allowing the complaint, the commission headed by its president Justice Surjit Singh, observed, “As per the insurance policy, the location details of the machine was given as Bajaura Kullu. Since it was a machine meant for excavation of earth, it could not have had a fixed location. It was required to be moved from one place to another for excavation job”.

The machine was insured against loss/damage at any place wherever it was taken for excavation work. The commission held that the repudiation of the claim by the company was not justified and they were liable to pay the money as assessed by their surveyor.

Nurpur, May 8
An absconding accused wanted by the Indora police in this subdivision surrendered before the Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, at Indora yesterday.

According to police information, the accused had been booked by the local police in an attempt to murder case on March 26 last and was escaping arrest. Vikas of Chuharpur near Indora had allegedly stabbed a local youth Sachin Sharma and injured him seriously.

DSP Rajiv Atre said a case under Sections 307, 323, 324 and 506, IPC, had been registered against him, but he was evading arrest. He said after his surrender in the court the local police arrested him.

Shimla, May 8
The Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission will launch e-payment gateway system to provide the facility for the payment of examination fee online to candidates applying online for various posts.

Stating this here yesterday, Secretary of the commission RN Batta said the e-payment gateway would be started in collaboration with the Punjab National Bank and candidates could make the payment online by using different debit and credit cards. The procedure for paying examination fee through e-challan would also continue as per the past procedure, he added.

Kangra, May 8
The Medical Council of India (MCI) team, which completed a two-day inspection of Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (DRPGMC), Tanda, in view of the third intake of 100 MBBS students in the coming academic session, concluded that there was a shortage of faculty and resident doctors, as per the MCI norms.

The state government has assured the MCI team that this shortage will be overcome by September 30.

Director, Medical Education (DME), Himachal Pradesh, Dr Jaishri Sharma today said the MCI team comprising Dr Bharat Chander Choudhary, Professor, Department of Pathology, Government Medical College PRPV, Uttrakhand and Dr JG Bhatt, Professor, Department of Surgery, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhaya Medical College, Rajkot, Gujarat, was satisfied with the infrastructure and other facilities at the DRPGMC, Tanda. However, it pointed out shortage of faculty and resident doctors.

She said the state government was already on the job and had taken steps to overcome this deficiency in the college. The Public Service Commission had also been apprised of the situation and asked to fill up these posts. Dr Sharma said these posts would be filled up before September 30, the start of the next session.

The MCI grants permission for admission of MBBS students for five years. But every year it holds an inspection to grant permission on annual basis, as per the norms of the council.