Santokhgarh (Una), November 9
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today laid foundation stones of various development projects in Una district.

Virbhadra used his typical satires to target opponents that left people guffawing. When he was presented a sword at the Santokhgarh public rally, Virbhadra swayed it in the air and said it was for those who harmed the interests of the poor. His act left people laughing in their chairs.

He also said, "Mediapersons are shooting me with camera and they should not worry as I will not register cases of murder against them."

Earlier, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stones of development projects worth Rs 28 crore in the Haroli Assembly constituency of Minister for Industry Mukesh Agnihotri. The project included construction of a Civil Hospital worth Rs 5 crore and labour hostel worth Rs 5 crore.

The rally was the show of Rajeev Gautam, son of former Una MLA Varinder Gautam, who was a staunch loyalist of Virbhadra Singh.

Virbhadra promised to upgrade the primary health centre of Santokhgarh. He, however, said it was important to post doctors and staff at the health centres than constructing new buildings. He said the present government was committed to recruiting more doctors, and paramedical staff in various health institutions of the state.

On a complaint of various Congress leaders that the condition of the Santokhgarh-Una road was in a poor state, he said he would do the needful.

Virbhadra said PK Dhumal was an inauguration Chief Minister. He just inaugurated the schemes started during the previous Congress government. He also said many development schemes such as the Rs 922-crore Swan channelisation project and Rs 45-crore IndianOil depot had been sanctioned for Una district. He also promised a CSD canteen for Una.

The Chief Minister sanctioned Rs 5.01 lakh for the Valmiki temple in Santokhgarh. Mukesh Agnihotri said many political rivals had tried to outperform Virbhadra but had to lick the dust at the end.

Later, Virbhadra participated in a rally organised to mark the start of the two-day Som Bhadra festival in Una this evening.

Una, November 9
The takeover of SVSD College, Bhatoli, in Una district, again hogged the limelight during the visit of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to the area today.

The Chief Minister, addressing a public rally at Santokhgarh in Una district, said the Congress government during its previous stint had taken over the college. However, the management of the college went to the court. Later on the BJP government did not represent the case of the state in the court due to which the court ordered against the takeover of SVSD College, he said.

He said he had received many complaints of embezzlement in the college. A committee had been sent to find out the facts behind the allegations. The government would take action after recommendations of the committee were received, he said.

Earlier, addressing a public rally, Congress leaders Satpal Paizada and Rajiv Gautam also demanded for the college takeover.

A seven-member team headed by Suresh Kumar, Dean of Studies from Himachal Pradesh University, also reached the college campus. Team members refused to divulge the details of their inquiry.

Congress leaders perceive SVSD College as a breeding ground for BJP cadres and want the institute to be taken over. The fact that BJP candidate from the Haroli Assembly constituency Ram Kumar, who lost to Mukesh Agnihotri, now the Minister for Industries, in the last Assembly elections, was the lecturer in the college.

The BJP on the other hand maintains that the government should not take over the college.

The Congress government on September 14, 2006, had taken over the college. However, the management committee of the college moved the Himachal High Court. The court struck down the takeover of the college on the plea that it was taken over against the policy of the state government.

As per the High Court order the previous government de-notified the college and handed it over the private management.

Sources said efforts were being made allegedly to take over by the government as kin of a bureaucrat of the state were working here.

They said the bureaucrat wanted the college to be taken over as it would facilitate the entry of his kin in government jobs and further their transfers to favoured locations.

Shimla, November 9
The Congress today asked all Block and District Congress Committees (BCC and DCC) to send a panel of names of candidates to be fielded for the Lok Sabha poll to the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee by November 30.

“Winnability is the only condition for their selection and if a minister, MLA or MP qualifies it, the party will not be averse to fielding him,” said Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, addressing the state executive of the HPCC here today.

The party chief also directed DCC and BCC presidents to prepare a detailed report of grievances of party workers and send it to the PCC office by November 15.

“A delegation of the HPCC will meet the Chief Minister to chalk out the strategy for the Lok Sabha elections and also share the grievances of the party workers with him,” he said.

A decision was taken by the executive that all sitting party legislators and former MLAs will make financial contributions to help in the smooth running of the DCC and BCC affairs. It has been decided that every MLA will contribute Rs 10,000 to the DCC and the BCC of his area, while former MLAs will contribute Rs 5,000 for meeting the expenses of the bodies.

Sukhu also announced that the party would organise workers’ convention at the district level in November and December. “All 68 Congress blocks have given a positive feedback about the functioning of the government and the Congress is confident of registering victory in all four parliamentary seats,” he said in his address.

The HPCC chief also asked the DCCs and BCCs to form Congress committees at the panchayat level and start holding their regular meetings. He also exhorted party workers to maintain discipline and work towards dispelling the false propaganda led by opposition parties against the Centre as well as the state government.

He further said a workers awareness campaign would be started and in view of the tribal areas becoming inaccessible due to snow, the campaign would be completed in these areas by November-end.

The meeting was attended by PCC office-bearers, vice-presidents, general secretaries, treasurer, spokespersons, executive members and district presidents of the Congress. Some prominent leaders who attended the meeting included Chander Kumar, Ram Lal Thakur and Gangu Ram Musafir.

Solan, November 9
The new Chikni bridge, which is being constructed after the old one had collapsed six and a half years ago, may finally be completed by March next year.

The old bridge had collapsed in 2007 and locals had been facing problems in commuting in the area, especially during the rain when motorists had to take a longer detour through NH 21-A.

In order to avoid longer journeys, people had been wading through the water-ridden Chikni khad, putting their lives at risk.

Cases of vehicles getting struck in the khad during the rain had been common and people were eagerly awaiting completion of the new bridge. Apart from consuming more time, the detour was leading to wastage of fuel.

Investors whose industrial units are located across the Chikni khad and locals who reside in the area rued that the state government failed to hasten the pace of construction and its progress was slow.

With considerable damage having been caused to the old bridge, work estimates for the new structure had to be revised at least thrice as modifications were suggested by officials of the Ministry of Surface Transport, Roadways and Highways.

It was finally fixed at Rs 8.23 crore in August 2010 and this had delayed construction of the new bridge. The Ministry of Highways and Surface Transport took three years to grant approval for this Rs 8.23-crore project in August 2010 and work begun in March 2011.

Chief Engineer, NH, Anil Sharma said almost 80 per cent of the crucial work comprising sinking of the wells had been completed and the remaining work was scheduled to be completed by March next year.

This included laying of the super structure. The work was initially delayed due to shortage of certain items though those were made available later.

Rakesh Thakur, a senior executive working with an industrial unit, said it was surprising that the construction of this bridge was not given priority and people were forced to face hardship due to the tardy pace of work.

Though the slow progress of the bridge had echoed in both parliamentary and Vidhan Sabha polls, politicians appeared to have failed to raise the issue effectively, he added.

Palampur, November 9
Brij Behari Lal Butail, Speaker of the state Assembly, today said all villages falling in the Palampur constituency had been linked with motorable roads. The town, therefore, had become the first constituency of the state having road links to every village, he added.

Brij Behari Lal Butail, Speaker of the HP Assembly, inaugurates the Mahila Mandal Bhavan in Palampur on Friday. Photo: Ravinder Sood

Butail said 90 per cent roads in the town had also been metalled.

Talking to mediapersons after inaugurating a Mahila Mandal Bhavan at Band Vihar village, 10 km from here, last evening, he said his next step would be to strengthen the drainage system of all roads falling in the town so that these could be saved from destruction during the monsoon season. Last monsoon, most of the roads had suffered extensive damage in the absence of proper drainage of rainwater.

Butail also disclosed that he had planned to make the town a model constituency of the state with all modern amenities like drinking water, metalled roads, best education institutions and a stable supply of electricity. A new power sub-station would be set up near HP Agriculture University to check power failures during peak hours, he said.

The HPSEB had already awarded a contract in this regard and it would be operational in the next six months. He said he had asked HPSEB officials to ensure an uninterrupted power supply in the town.

Kangra, November 9
The construction of Beetul Road at Rs 91.42 lakh in the Chari panchayat of the Shahpur Assembly segment will be completed by March next year.

Kewal Singh Pathania, vice-chairman, Himachal Pradesh Forest Corporation, said this last evening while addressing a public meeting at Chari after laying the foundation stone of a bhawan and a stage for the Ram Leela ground in the village.

He said the government was working for the overall development of the state. He said better education, good health services, proper drinking water facilities and road connectivity was the priority of Virbhdra government.

He said efforts were in progress to connect all villages of the Shahpur constituency by roads so that social and economic conditions of the people get improved. He said in Chari panchayat, Tharoat bridge was constructed at a cost of Rs 1.18 lakh.

Pathania said the road leading to the cremation ground would be constructed and a hand pump be installed for residents of Gorkha Basti near the hospital. He also announced that solar lights would be installed in Chari.

He announced Rs 2 lakh for Monika Sharma, a resident of Drehni village, who is suffering from cancer, and Rs 1 lakh for Kamlesh Kumar of Salli village for their treatment from the Chief Minister's fund.

Chamba, November 9
One person, Ravinder Kumar, was arrested for carrying 800 gm charas and the car he was travelling in was also impounded by the police near zero point of Jassourgarh in an outlying area of Churah here this morning, a police report said.

The report said a police party, which was on patrol, stopped his vehicle and on checking recovered charas from him.

A case under Sections 20 and 25 of the NDPS Act had been registered at the Tissa police station, the report said, adding that further investigation was underway.

Shimla, November 9
State BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti today cautioned the police and other government officials not to become tools in the hands of the Congress regime which was trying to settle scores with its political opponents by implicating them in false cases.

In a statement issued here, Satti said the police was adopting different yardsticks in dealing with students belonging to the ABVP and those belonging to other student outfits.

“The discriminatory approach of the police and other officials was evident from the sections used while registering cases against ABVP activists which were non-bailable while the SFI students involved in the clash got bail,” he alleged.

Satti said the government used force against the protesting ABVP activists who were peacefully registering their protest against the government. “The BJP will not tolerate one sided action and the government must immediately release the students and take back the cases registered against them,” he demanded. He warned the officials not to act at the behest of the political bosses.

Sundernagar, November 9
A workshop to finalise the annual operational plan regarding the training of faculties for government engineering colleges, pharmacy colleges and polytechnics of Himachal Pradesh was organised by the National Institute of Technical Teacher Training and Research (NITTTR), Chandigarh, at the Directorate of Technical Education, Sundernagar, yesterday. Vijay Chandan, Director, Technical Education, Himachal Pradesh, was the chief guest on the occasion.

During his address to participants, Chandan said the training should be the focus of the programmes formulated by the Indian Council Technical Education as it was the need of the hour for the fast-growing technological world.

He also insisted on the use of the video conferencing facility in institutions for advanced teaching and learning processes.

Sixty faculty members, including principals, heads of departments and other senior faculty members from government engineering colleges and polytechnics, participated in the workshop to prepare and finalise the short-term courses as per the need of the curriculum being taught in various courses conducted by these institutions.

The team of experts was headed by Prof Rajesh Mehra, who had specially come here from the NITTTR, Chandigarh.

According to sources, the training schedule for the academic session 2014-15 was finalised during this one-day e-workshop.

Bilaspur, November 9
Former MLA and Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) state vice-president Karam Dev Dharmani was injured seriously when he slipped from a staircase and fell to the ground at his residence at his village near Ghumarwin near here yesterday.

Reports said Dharmani had received serious injuries in the head and backbone. He was taken to the Ghumarwin Civil Hospital and then rushed to the Regional Hospital here.

HLP district president DR Sharma told mediapersons that the condition of Dharmani was stable.

Bilaspur, November 9
The police at Ghumarwin near here has arrested all three accused Ashwini, Suneel and Ajay for attacking three youths under Sections 307, 326 and 506, IPC, near Baddu. An FIR was got registered four days ago by complainants Neeraj, Santosh and Ashish of Ghumarwin areas.

Reports said two groups of youths, who were travelling in two separate vehicles, suddenly confronted each other on a road near Baddu and had a scuffle. During the scuffle, one of the accused took out a sharp-edged weapon (khukri) from his vehicle and attacked two of the complainants, injuring them seriously while the third one received minor injuries.

The police had registered an FIR at the victims’ instance and was searching for the accused.

The two victims, Neerah and Ashish, were first rushed to the Regional Hospital here and then to the IGMC, Shimla, due to the serious nature of their injuries. They are under treatment there.

Bilaspur, November 9
Sultan Mohammed (33), a resident of the Gurdwara market area here, was found dead in a drain of the cricket stadium at the Luhnu grounds here yesterday.

Reports said his body was detected by grounds men of the stadium when they were preparing to remove out water from the drains.

Since the stadium is surrounded by the Gobind Sagar from three sides, water seeps into this ground. To prevent it from doing any damage to the stadium, a wall around it has been constructed. A drain around it also pulls this water out.

This seeped water has to be taken out at regular intervals from this drain and pumped back into the Gobind Sagar.

Sultan Mohammed had been missing from his house for the last two days. The police took out his body from the drain and sent it for postmortem to the local Regional Hospital. A case has been registered.