Shimla, September 29
Succumbing to pressure from promoters of private institutions repeatedly and yielding to their demands, the government has made a “mess” of the technical education in the state.

Instead of looking into the real reasons for low admissions in private institutions, the government has been lowering the eligibility criteria time and again in blatant violation of the State Private Technical and Vocational Educational Institutions (Regulations of Admission and Fixation of Fee) Act and the Private Universities Act. The legislations clearly lay down that admissions will be carried out on the basis of specified common entrance test. By relaxing norms and lowering the criteria, students are being attracted to make profits from the “business of education”.

There is no reason for the government to do so, as the Supreme Court has only last week in its verdict upheld the policy of the UGC to lay down any qualifying criteria and asserted that the “courts shall not interfere in matters of education unless there is a violation of statutory provisions”.

Further, by regularising illegal admissions after the process is over, the government is not only rewarding those violating norms, but also doing grave injustice to law-abiding institutions, which leave the seats vacant.

As Leader of Opposition, Congress veteran Vidya Stokes in the Vidhan Sabha had accused the Dhumal government of turning Himachal into “Bihar” by opening substandard private universities. But the Congress has also not taken any credible action to stem the rot.

The dismal state of private institutions can be judged from the fact that out of the total 14,000 students, who cleared the entrance test conducted by the State Board of Technical Education, only 1,200 took admissions in private polytechnics against 9,000 seats. They could manage to fill only about 3,700 seats; out of which 2,500 students were admitted in violation of norms.

Similarly, over 9,000 students from the state appeared in the joint engineering entrance (JEE) examination. But the 16 private colleges, which have over 7,500 seats, could manage to fill only 33 percent of seats, which included a larger number of ineligible students. The situation was somewhat better in private universities as 13 out of the total 16 institutions complied with norms and left the seats vacant instead of admitting ineligible candidates.

The reasons for low admissions are not far to seek. Lacking requisite faculty and other infrastructure, the private polytechnics and engineering institutes have been consistently showing very poor results. The result of first year in polytechnics has been as low as 5 per cent, and 11 per cent in the final year. The situation is not different in case of engineering colleges, with pass percentage of seven to 20.

Worse, they have a backlog of 10 to 15 papers to clear in the final year and a large number of them leave without obtaining the degree. While the students and parents, who pay a hefty fee, suffer the promoters make quick money at their cost.

Shimla, September 29
World number 9 Luis Leas Pinto from Portugal today further increased his lead on the second day of the Discovery Montra MTB-2013 mountain biking rally.

Cyclists at Gada Kuffar near Narkanda, 65 km from Shimla, on Day 2 of the Discovery Montra MTB-2013 on Sunday.

There was no stopping the 28-year-old professional biker, who got off to a flying start on the opening day and continued his dream race from where he left Saturday evening. Showing his class, Pinto completed the competitive section in quick time, leaving all other riders behind by several kilometres.

At the end of the first stage, he was followed by his fellow countryman Eduardo Pereira at the second spot, while the Indian Army team closely trailed behind at the third position.

In the Two Category team event, the defending champions, Team Army, comprising Shishirman Karki and Naresh Deb Burman, was in the lead so far.

Among the women competitors, Laxmi Magar of Nepal was leading in the first half of today’s race. Another rider from Portugal, Luiz Canto Moniz, was leading in the Masters Category.

Starting from the base camp at Gada Kuffar, around 70 riders took the picturesque route meandering through Matiana, Manan and Mauri villages on way to Narkanda. Most bikers safely crossed the gruelling bike-and-hike section coupled with a steep uphill stretch till Manan village. A few bikers faced mechanical difficulties. Manan residents came out in large numbers and hung around with the support staff to cheer the riders as they completed the uphill section.

From passing rivulets to carrying their bikes on shoulders across forestry alleys, the tracks had everything in store for them. There was hardly any rest for the riders as lunch hours have been done away with to test their endurance and skills. However, special arrangements have been made for them by setting up food zones to supply them with the required carbohydrates and fluids to boost energy. 

Dharamsala, September 29
Come October 24, people of Kangra will be watching pilots with handgliders and paragliders dotting the sky in the area. The pre-World Cup paragliding championship that will be organised at Bir Billing in Kangra district next month will bring the state on the world map of adventure sports.

Paragliders making preparations to fly at Bir Billing in Kangra. Photo: Ravinder Sood

The state government is making all efforts to make the event a success at the international level.

Minister for Housing and Urban Development and Billing Paragliding Association president Sudhir Sharma said the association had publicised the event at an international level to attract the best talent in paragliding sport. The event would also be covered by international sports channels like Star Sports.

Sky diving from helicopter, hand gliding and air acrobatics would be star attractions during the tournament.

“It is for the first time that we have hired a helicopter that will remain on standby at Billing for any kind of emergency during the championship,” said Sharma.

Association vice-president Suresh Thakur said 155 pilots, including 75 international ones, had already registered for the tournament. After the screening, we would allow 110 pilots to participate in the championship. The championship would be organised from October 24 to 30.

Sources here said the association was planning to invite a Union Minister for inauguration and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for the closing ceremony, besides inviting a Bollywood celebrity to add spice to the championship.

During the stint of the previous BJP government, the Sports Department had taken the onus of organising a paragliding championship in association with the Tourism Department. However, now with the Congress coming to power in the state, the onus of organisation of the championship has once again been entrusted to local paragliding association.

The Billing paragliding site that has steep gradient and clear valley downhill is among the best paragliding sites in the world. It was first identified by an Israeli pilot in 1982. He first started hand gliding from Billing. Paragliding sport was introduced in the region in late 1980s.

Since then many pre-World Cup championships have been organised at Billing. However, lack of basic amenities as accommodation facilities for coming players and back up rescue system were bottlenecks for successful organisation of bigger paragliding events at Billing.

In the last two years, a few foreign pilots lost their lives after they drifted towards the higher reaches of Dhauladhar mountain range and no helicopter was available carrying out the rescue operation. However, this year to instill confidence in participants, a helicopter would be available for rescue operations. 

Dharamsala, September 29
Despite the fact that the Himachal government has written to the BCCI against HPCA president Anurag Thakur, he was today re-elected joint secretary of the BCCI, consecutively for the third term.

The Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Himachal Pradesh, had recently written to the BCCI regarding the alleged wrongdoing of Anurag. He had informed the board that Anurag had converted the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) society to HPCA company without informing the state government.

The letter was written in view of the annual general meeting of the BCCI in Chennai today.

However, despite the Registrar's letter, Anurag was elected joint secretary for a further one-year term in Chennai today, HPCA sources said.

He has been joint secretary of the BCCI since September 2011. Commenting on this move, Anurag said, "I am honoured to have been reappointed joint secretary. I've thoroughly enjoyed my term till now and look forward to developing the achievements of the BCCI further. I have always been passionate about cricket and being part of the BCCI is indeed a great opportunity for me to do something good for the sport. I look forward to working towards forming zonal cricket academies in every zone so that budding cricketers get the right kind of exposure and training."

However, Anurag's troubles in the state are far from over. The Registrar, who had issued a notice to the HPCA regarding its conversion from society to company, is to deliver his order on the reply filed by the HPCA to the notice.

Anurag, after the HPCA annual general meeting held at Dharamsala on September 23, had maintained that the Registrar did not have any authority to issue them the notice as the HPCA was now a company. The HPCA had also passed a resolution condemning the state government for interfering in their affairs.

Solan, September 29
A team of Excise and Taxation Department, which included an Excise and Taxation Officer, was brutally assaulted and abducted by 10 persons at Kumarhatti on Saturday late night. The team had set up a naka to check vehicles indulging in tax evasion. The Dharampur police today arrested all the accused.

The incident took place around midnight when Excise and Taxation Officer (ETO) Sher Singh and Assistant ETO Arun Kumar, along with a peon, imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on a truck owner for carrying scrap without proper documents.

The excise officials, who are presently deployed in the Baddi area, were conducting raids to nab tax evaders outside their jurisdiction as per the new directions issued by the department.

The police said the truck driver informed scrap owner Gama Ram about the action. Gama came to the spot in two vehicles with around 10 men and attacked the officials. They dragged the officials into their vehicles after beating them up severely.

Gama allegedly took the officials to Kandaghat and later informed the police that they were making undue demands. However, ETO Sher Singh, in his complaint to the police, said his clothes were torn off and he suffered injuries as the men attacked them with sticks.

The officials got respite when their senior officials, including Joint Commissioner KK Sharma, Additional Commissioner (Collector South Zone) BC Negi came to Kandaghat this morning.

The Kandaghat police registered an FIR against Gama and nine others for kidnapping, rioting, criminal intimidation, assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duty, voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant and abduction under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. The case was transferred to the Dharampur police station where all 10 were arrested.

Dharamsala, September 29
The state government is trying to attract industry and lobby hard with the Union Government for grant of the industrial package, but it is not utilising its biggest strength, surplus availability of power, to its advantage. This has been revealed in a survey conducted among industrialists in the state.

Industrialists said though the availability of power was not a problem in Himachal, its distribution network left much to be desired. There was consistent tripping in industrial areas. The voltage was not stable, which was not good for machinery and industrial production.

Sukhjit Agro Industries vice-president Rakesh Chawla said though Himachal was power surplus, the industry here was getting power at a very high rate, which has been increased to about Rs 7 per unit. It was among the highest in the country.

“Flat rates of power are being charged from the industry. In West Bengal, the rates of power have been reduced to half at night when the demand of power decreases. In Himachal also, the power should be given at subsidised rates to the industry during the periods when the demand is low, said Chawla, who is also vice-president of the Bathu-Bathri-Tahliwal (BBT) Industrial Association, Una.

BBT industrial area president Pawan Thakur said the state government was charging hefty duty up to 17 per cent on power from the industry. The duty had been imposed with retrospective effect on certain units. Minister for Industries Mukesh Agnihotri had promised waiver in electricity duty for industry in the new industrial policy. “We hope that it will help in mitigating the power expenditure and act as an incentive for the industry in the state,” he said.

Sources said the state power board had not been able to improve its distribution network due to paucity of funds. The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board has the highest establishment expenditure in the entire country. The board has about 20,000 surplus staff. The employee cost of the HPSEB is about Rs 1.47 per unit. This contributes significantly is increasing the power rates in Himachal, the sources said.

The sources also said the state government was selling its power share from private power projects in the state at about Rs 2.90 per unit to the board, whereas the board had to further distribute it at lower rates. This also increased the debt burden of the board.

However, in case Himachal had to attract industry, it had to use good quality and comparatively cheap power as its unique selling point (USP).

The state can provide excess power to the industry in the state. Presently, the situation is such that in the lean period the state has to sell its power at lower rates, whereas in the peak season that is generally winters in Himachal, it had to buy at higher rates.

The state could bank its power with the industry in the state for lean periods. The sources, however, said the power board of the state did not have advance equipment to bank its power with the industry in the state.

With financial situation in a precarious condition, it seems unlikely that the state can extend benefits as waiver on electricity duty to the industry.

Nurpur, September 29
A sub-committee constituted by the Board of Directors of the Himachal Pradesh State Forest Corporation (HPSFC) to explore possibilities of modernisation and financial viability of the corporation will submit its detailed report to the state government within the next month.

This was stated by Vice-Chairman of the HPSFC Kewal Singh Pathania, who is heading this committee, at a press conference here today. He said there was a wide scope of financial viability as so far the corporation had not tapped marketing of the state forest produce in a big way.

“Our hill state is producing maximum and quality species of timber trees which can fetch remunerative market prices to the corporation. The committee will suggest launching of a website of the HPSFC with uploading of quality species of timber. Apart from this, the committee will suggest setting up of modern furniture houses at district levels in the state as pilot project to enhance the corporation’s income and generate employment opportunities. The corporation can also promote bamboo cultivation in Kangra, Hamirpur and Una districts.

The committee will also suggest modernisation of resin extracting technique and to convert the same into more refine quality before launching in the market,” he said.

Pathania said in a view to ensure financial viability of the HPSFC, a major thrust would be given on marketing of forest produce for which the committee had explored maximum possibilities. After inspecting and visiting timber sale depot of the corporation here, Pathania said he supported the demand of the locals to open a retail outlet here to meet the requirement of domestic timber consumers of the area and he would put forward the demand in the meeting of the Board of Directors of the corporation. 

Bilaspur, September 29
A policy document for Bilaspur district has been prepared for solving farmers’ problems, including the safety of their produce, from hordes of monkeys, stray cattle and wild animals.

Ajay Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, stated this while presiding over a meet the press regarding achievements of Departments of Agriculture and Horticulture and the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) here on Friday. He said this document would be implemented under a concerted plan in close cooperation of five Departments of Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Forests. The document had been prepared under ATMA for ensuring its speedy success.

Sharma said the Agriculture Department had introduced low-cost and easily handled reaper combine machine here in the district for helping farmers.

He said stress was being laid on diversification of crops, more and more use of farm manure and bio-fertilisers and organic farming. Farmers were advised to grow papaya and other crops which monkeys avoided like jimikand, ginger, haldi, bhindi and gandhyali to reduce losses.

He said the growing of the gainda flower around crops helped a lot as monkeys had a strange allergy from this flower and they avoided coming near this flower.

He said a co-operative society had been registered for producing organic fertilisers at Bhadrog near here. It would also educate farmers and train them in this respect.

Dr GC Lakhanpal, Deputy Director, Agriculture, Dr Shashi Sharma, Deputy Director, Horticulture, and Dr LR Dhiman, Director, ATMA Project, gave details of achievements of their departments. 

Shimla, September 29
The old Hindustan-Tibet road in Kinnaur district will be restored and upgraded to facilitate plying of regular bus services to provide convenient transportation facility to tribal people round the year.

Stating this while addressing a public meeting at Reckong Peo, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said today that the government had provided every possible assistance to restore normalcy in the flood-hit district and also ensured timely supply of essential commodities through helicopter during the period of natural disaster.

He said the government ensured that there was no shortage of funds for the restoration and relief works in the district and the roads were reopened within a record time.

He directed the Public Works Department to carry out tarring work on a priority basis in the district.

Virbhadra said suitable land would be provided to rehabilitate families who had lost their houses in the natural calamity. He asked panchayat functionaries to help the Revenue Department to identify the victims, who needed to be compensated. He said the damaged portion of the Thakur Sen Government Degree College building in Reckong Peo would be replaced by a light-weight hi-tech structure and announced Rs 3 crore for the purpose.

Addressing another public meeting at Sangla, the Chief Minister said a sewerage scheme would soon be made operational for the famous tourist destination of Sangla and it would become the first village in the state to have this facility.

He said a sewerage scheme was mooted during his last term, but the previous BJP government failed to start it. He said the work on this scheme had been completed and it would be made functional soon.

He said the government was considering giving TD rights to the tribal people and the opinion and suggestions of the common people were being sought before taking a final decision.

He asked the gram panchayats to make random checks of structures being raised to ensure that the construction was carried out as per the guidelines of the Town and Country Planning Department.

MP Pratibha Singh thanked the Chief Minister for announcing various schemes and projects during his four-day tour of the tribal districts and redressing their grievances and problem on spot.

Mandi, September 29
Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister PK Dhumal today rubbished Punjab and Haryana’s claim of Rs 1,650 crore in power arrears due from the hill state.

Dhumal said the two states were misleading as the Supreme Court had awarded arrears worth Rs 4,250 crore to Himachal as per its share of 7.19 per cent in all projects of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).

Addressing BJP’s media workshop here today, Dhumal said Himachal should get its share in BBMB projects, irrespective of which party raised the issue.

“The cost of construction claimed by the neighbouring states was automatically merged in the projects, as the merged areas were parts of Punjab when these were conceived and constructed,” he asserted and urged the party workers to take the issue to the grass-root level. Dhumal the BJP was ready to lead an all-party delegation to the Centre to expose claims made by Punjab and Haryana as the state’s interest is supreme.

He further said the Congress had staged a walkout when the BJP government proposed to move the Centre by taking an all-party delegation to demand the extension of the industrial package for Himachal till 2020.

He said the Food Security Bill wasn’t clear on who would be covered under it. “Our calculation is a family will get 166 gm rice and wheat and 41 gm dal daily, which is not enough to feed a nuclear family,” he added and asked the party workers to make people aware of the fact.

On Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s statements that the BJP government had put the state under huge debt, Dhumal dished out figures and said the Congress had taken loans worth Rs 8272 crore during its last stint in 2003-07, whereas the BJP government had taken Rs 5,670 crore loan during 2007-2012.

He said the Congress government had taken a loan worth Rs 2,400 crore in the last nine months of its rule. “We had given interim relief of 20 per cent to pensioners and employees,” he added.

BJP president Satpal Satti said the BJP would stage a protest at all district headquarters on October 3 against the biggest-ever hike of 30 per cent in bus fare, which had put extra burden on the common man.

Former Chief Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Shanta Kumar and Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur were conspicuous by their absence in the workshop.

Palampur, September 29
The Estimate Committee of the Vidhan Sabha visited the HP Agriculture University here yesterday and held meetings with the Vice-Chancellor and heads of the departments.

Talking to mediapersons, Estimate Committee Chairman Kuldip Kumar said it would recommend to the state government to enhance the allocation of grant given to the university every year for encouraging research.

He asked agriculture scientists to ensure that benefits of research in the farm sector were available to farmers. Besides, all research works should be done keeping in view the local the environment, topography and weather conditions and needs of farmers.

Committee members Sarveen Chaudhry and Maheshwar Singh asked the agriculture experts to initiate steps to check the menace of monkeys and other wild animals, which had been causing extensive damage to crops in the state. They added that it was a serious matter as over 2,500 panchayats of the state were affected with the problems and farmers had abandoned the cultivation in their fields.

All the members of the committee were of the view that mechanisation of agriculture should be given top priority in the state as there was an acute shortage of manual labour in the state. They said small farming equipment like farming tractors should also be introduced in the state on a par with European countries to boost the agriculture production.

Mandi, September 29
The Employee Service Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Medical College at Ner Chowk is all set to start from the academic session of 2014 as the ESIC has moved an application seeking the Medical Council of India’s (MCI) approval, the last date for which is September 30.

The ESIC under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, which governs the ESIC, has signed an MoU with the state government over attaching the 300-bedded Mandi Zonal Hospital to the ESIC Medical College last month clearing the stage to start its first batch in 2014.

The Chief Minister had made an announcement here during the Independence Day address at a state-level function. “However, the ESIC construction company has upped the pace of work to complete lecture theatres as the corporation will start classes from the ESIC campus,” said officials.

“Though the ESIC is yet to set up machineries and equipment in the hospital that will take another year, the construction company has been directed to ready the buildings to run 100 students batch next year,” revealed insiders.

As many as 100 students had already been deprived of being enrolled as medicos in 2013 as the MCI could not appeal to the MCI in 2012, revealed sources.

The super-speciality 500-bedded ESIC Medical College and Hospital had already run three years behind its schedule. The ESIC’s medical commissioner had done a survey over the faculty positions at the zonal hospital recently. Barring a few vacancies, it found it to be suitable to start the medical college, the sources said.

The ESIC Medical College will enrol 100 students for MBBS, 40 from the state and 40 from the open pool and 20 students reserved for ESIC employees, who come under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Taking a cue from its medical college, Gulbarga, Karnataka, last year by attaching the government hospital to it, the state government signed the MoU giving its nod for the college.

Dr DS Dhiman, Dean, ESIC medical college, said they had moved the case to the MCI for starting the college next year. “The faculty position can be improved and zonal hospital fulfils the MCI condition to start the first batch in 2014,” he added.

Solan, September 29
The move of the state government to enhance certain goods carried by road (CGCR) tax on cement and clinker would enhance the rate of cement by Rs 5 to 10, thus making cement more costly in the state.

The Excise and Taxation Department has increased the CGCR tax on clinker from Rs 135 per tonne to Rs 160 per tonne for every 250 km and double on any further distance while for cement it has been increased from Rs 6.50 per bag to Rs 7.70 per bag.

Earlier, there was a move to increase the CGCR tax on clinker by Rs 15. This tax has been earlier revised in 2008.

The enhanced rates were approved in the recent Cabinet meeting. The field staff of the Excise and Taxation Department was, however, unaware of any such enhancement in the rates and even the senior officials pleaded anonymity while confirming the news.

The move will adversely affect the price of cement in the state as managements of cement companies said this would push up cement rates by Rs 5 to Rs 10 per bag. Though the state government has been trying to reduce the price of cement in the state as it is cheaper in the neighbouring states, the increase in the CGCR will make cement more costly in the state.

This enhanced tax will generate additional resources to the fund-starved state exchequer. An official of a major cement unit said this enhanced CGCR tax would pose an annual burden of about Rs 10 crore to Rs 12 crore on their plant.

This tax was applicable on intra-state movement of goods and since it was not levied in any neighbouring state, it would make cement costlier for the common man. A 50-kg cement bag is priced at Rs 282 to 300 in the neighbouring states, while its price in Himachal ranged from Rs 295 to Rs 330.

Cement manufacturers, while condemning this move, said since the utility of cement in the entire state was around 2 metric tonne per annum, they had to sell a major chunk of their cement in other states and enhancement of the CGCR tax would mean further enhancement of the rates.

They added that the enhancement of the tax would directly hit the common man while that on clinker would enhance the manufacturing cost.

Kullu/Keylong, September 29
Hopes of residents and hoteliers were dashed to the ground after the visit of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to Kaza was cancelled due to bad weather.

Residents, including hoteliers, had pinned hopes on the Chief Minister's tour yesterday to apprise him and Member of Parliament, Mandi, Pratibha Singh of the problem of water and electricity in this distant region of Spiti subdivision in the Buddhist tourist circuit. The area has seen a steep drop in the number of tourists this year.

The state electricity board had deputed a team to make electricity available as the Chief Minister was expected to visit, the residents said.

As the Manali-Spiti road has opened, foreign and domestic tourists have been making a beeline for Kaza, Kee and Tabo, famous for its monasteries the world over.

“We have to carry water in buckets and drums to cater to the needs of the tourists daily,” rued Ramesh, a hotelier at Kaza. There are about 300 tourists these days in Spiti, but we do not have water for them, he added.

"The IPH water supply from Shili Nullah is not functioning properly and Kegti stream scheme is small and not enough for the entire population," the residents added.

The electricity remains a problem as power cuts are regular and electricity was restored just to make it easy for the Chief Minister’s visit. “We have to buy candles for Rs 10 each that last for two hours daily from the local market,” said an employee at Kaza.

While the IPH blames it on the silt and repairs works being carried out on the schemes, HPSEB engineers said that they had not received the machinery to replace the jaded turbine of the 1.5-MW Rongtong project.

DC, Lahaual-Spiti, BS Thakur said the Chief Minister tour to Kaza was cancelled due to bad weather and his helicopter landed at the Bhuntar airport.

Kala Amb, September 29
A case of cheating and production of spurious drugs under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act was registered today against Vardhman Pharma at Kala Amb after officials of the Drug Control Administration seized a huge cache of illegal drugs manufactured in the unit in its two-day raid.

Drug Controller Navneet Marwaha said besides issuing a drug alert to all the drug controllers of the country for withdrawing from the markets all the drugs manufactured by the unit, it was known that forged documents had been used to supply drugs to various governments, including Tripura and Chhattisgarh, besides some drugs for the Central government by this unit, the licence of which had expired in 2009.

Marwaha said the unit had also supplied veterinary drugs to a dairy farm at Dhurkara, near Ambala, and the Drug Controller, Haryana, had been informed to take stock of the situation.

The raid led to the confiscation of four truckloads of illegal drugs packed in about 700 boxes. The consignment was to be sent to Tripura for government supply. Various labels of drugs manufactured at industrial plots like 32 Industrial Area, Kala Amb, 43-B, Industrial Area, Kala Amb, Himalayan Laboratories, etc, had been seized.

Marwaha said bank transactions of the unit would also be enquired into to ascertain about their business transactions.

According to preliminary investigations, Meenakshi Jain owned the unit, while the power of attorney was vested in the name of MC Jain.

The unit’s several drugs had been found to be substandard and spurious in the drug alert issued by the National Regulatory Authority in July this year. These drugs were seized by the Drug Control Administration of Tripura which included fox tablet, vexim-bt tablet, vcin-250 tablet, amika-500 injection, amika-100 injection and cloxa-500 capsule.

A large quantity of drugs meant for the Tripura government were also seized today, while another bill of drugs meant for sale in Chhattisgarh for Rs 7.81 lakh was also found from the unit. Costly antibiotic, injections and veterinary drugs were among the drugs seized. 

Bilaspur, September 29
The Himachal Pradesh State NGOs Federation has urged the Chief Minister to order the immediate vacation of unjustified victimisation of prominent NGOs leader OP Goyal, state president, HP state Tourism Development Corporation Employees Union.

Talking to mediapersons here today, state federation president Ram Singh, accompanied by number of leaders, including general secretary Chaman Sharma and vice-president Amar Nath Khurana, said Goyal was victimised as he had fearlessly fought for employees' rights and also exposed some officers' corrupt acts boldly.

It were these officers who had manipulated his victimisation and ensured that he was kept perpetually harassed and stopped from performing duties as a trade union leader.

The Chief Minister had already ordered the vacation of his victimisation after hearing his side of the story in the last meeting of the state Board of Directors of the Tourism Development Corporation.

Ram Singh said though two months had lapsed, yet the Chief Minister's specific orders had not been implemented till now, resulting in Goyal's continued harassment.

It has urged immediate orders on this score to provide justice to him at the earliest.