Dharamsala, November 11
President of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) and BJP MP from Hamirpur Anurag Thakur presented himself before the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau here today.

The Vigilance had summoned Anurag for questioning in a case registered against the HPCA for allegedly converting the HPCA society into a company without permission from the state government.

Sources said Vigilance officials posed about 50 questions from Anurag. Most of the queries pertained to conversion of the HPCA society into a company. He was also asked about the alleged encroachment by the HPCA on the land of Government College here without any permission. Anurag arrived at the Vigilance office at 10.30 am. He was questioned for about two hours.

Talking to The Tribune later, Anurag said he was cooperating with the investigating agencies. The HPCA had nothing to hide from the government. “I will reply to the queries of the Vigilance if summoned in future also,” he said.

The Vigilance officials were tightlipped about the queries posed to Anurag.

The previous encounter of Anurag with the Vigilance had turned political. Anurag was initially summoned by the Vigilance on October 24. However, when officials came to know that October 24 was Anurag’s birthday, they decided to summon him on October 31.

On October 24, a large number of Bharatiya Janata Youva Morcha members gathered at Dharamsala and accompanied Anurag to the office of the Vigilance.

On October 26, the state government cancelled all lands given on lease to the HPCA and in the midnight operation took over all properties of the organisation. On November 5, the Himachal High Court granted status quo ante in favour of the HPCA after which the properties were handed over back to the cricket organisation.

The vigilance later also registered a case against Anurag and others who had accompanied him to the Vigilance office on October 24 for allegedly trying to pressurise the investigating officer.

Sources here said three HPCA officials, including treasurer Attar Singh, vice president Surinder Thakur and joint secretary Prem Thakur, have applied for anticipatory bail in the District and Sessions Court in a case registered against the HPCA.

Hamirpur, November 11
Though the state government has reserved seats for different categories in the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses, beneficiaries are being “denied” reservation on the "pretext" of online booking system by HRTC staff.

The state government has reserved seats for Members of Legislative Assembly/ Members of Parliament, freedom fighters, handicapped persons and press correspondents in the HRTC buses, besides 33 per cent seats for women passengers. The HRTC has also earmarked 2 and 3 number seats for physically challenged, 4, 5 and 6 number seats for MLA/ MP/ press correspondents and 8 and 9 number seats for freedom fighters.

As per the HRTC notification, women passengers are supposed to get 33 seats in every bus i.e. seat numbers 10 to 24 in a 47-seater bus, seat numbers 10 to 23 in a 42-seater bus, seat numbers 10 to 21 in a 37-seater bus and 10 to 19 in a 29-seater bus.

To provide earmarked seats to their beneficiaries, all the reserve category seats have been kept out of the purview of counter and online bookings and are given to passengers of these categories on request or released in the open category if not claimed by any beneficiary some time before the departure of the bus.

For quite some, the HRTC staff has been “denying reservation” to beneficiaries notified by the state government to different categories and even earmarked seats are not given to them on the “pretext” of online booking.

However, the HRTC staff is not "concerned" to provide 33 per cent seats reserved for women passengers.

“We are being denied reservation on the pretext of online booking despite these seats not being booked online,” complained beneficiaries.

While the HRTC staff said they had instructions to book seats online, the beneficiaries alleged that the reserved seats were given to oblige their relatives and friends.

Dr RN Batta, Managing Director of the HRTC, said, “All seats in Volvo and luxury buses are booked online and for all other buses we have issued instruction not to book reserve category seats online and provide earmarked seats to their beneficiaries on request”. 

Dharamsala, November 11
HPCA president Anurag Thakur, who chaired the first meeting of the cricket body executive here today after reclaiming the properties from the state government, said they would construct a museum in the Dharamsala International Cricket Stadium to commemorate the contribution of Sachin Tendulkar to the cricket.

The HPCA would also name an enclosure of the stadium after Sachin. The enclosure would have a wax statue of Sachin. This was decided at the meeting, Anurag said while talking to The Tribune.

He further said the HPCA would consult international experts for the construction of the museum.

The stadium receives about 1,000 visitors everyday and the museum will be a tribute from the HPCA to the cricket maestro.

“Besides Sachin, the museum will have the artefacts of former Indian players who contributed to catapulting the cricket team as champions. I will write to Kapil Dev, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sunil Gavaskar to give their bats or gloves for display in the museum,” Anurag said.

Anurag, who was earlier at loggerheads with the state government, avoided making any statement against the government. He said as president of the HPCA he wanted to contribute to the promotion of cricket in Himachal Pradesh.

Bilaspur, November 11
All Congress activists and leaders should take nothing to chance and move in their areas to counter the BJP propaganda. They should come to light all policies and programmes of the Central Government and also the achievements of the Virbhadra government. This call was given by state Congress observer and party Discipline Committee member Krishna Mohini while addressing a meeting of the Bilaspur Sadar Congress Election Committee presided over by its president, Colonel AP Gauttam (retd) here today.

Krishna Mohini said overconfidence always betrays and Congressmen should take the Hamirpur seat as a challenge as the BJP had to be unseated from this seat as now people were fed up with those BJP leaders who had been repeatedly occupying this seat.

Krishna Mohini said BJP MP Anurag Thakur had not a single achievement to show. “The previous BJP government did not solve even a single problem of Bhakra Dam oustees, though it always made tall claims on this score,” she added.

The meeting decided to launch preparations for smooth victory of the party candidate in this constituency and decided to form committees for all 46 zonesm including 34 gram punchayats and 11 Nagar Parishad wards.

A constituency level steering committee, headed by Colonel AP Gauttam (retd) and Bambar Thakur, MLA, was formed. MLAs Dr Babu Ram Gauttam and Tilak Raj Sharma and leaders Rajender Pal Thakur, Gopal Sharma, Pratap Kaundal, Tejaswi Sharma, Kamlender Kashyap, Raj Kumar Tadu, Anjana Dhiman, Godawari, Mast Ram Varma, Rattni Pundir, Shashi Bala, Surender Thakur, Hem Raj Thakur, Dr Narender Sankhyayan, Jiwan Singh Thakur, Prem Lal Dhiman and Mast Ram are its members. 

Shimla, November 11
Former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition PK Dhumal today said the Congress party had never been sympathetic towards the Scheduled Castes (SCs) except for treating them as a vote bank.

Dhumal was speaking at the state executive meeting of the BJP Scheduled Caste Morcha here today. "While for the Congress the SCs are nothing more than a vote bank, the BJP has always taken several welfare measures for this section of society," he said.

He said while the BJP was in power in Himachal, several steps like the construction of an Ambedkar Bhawan in every constituency, scholarships for students from the reserved category and allocation of 25 per cent of the funds for welfare schemes for the Scheduled Castes were taken.

"All development works in the state have come to a standstill ever since the Congress came to power. There is no ration at fair price shops and uniforms have not been made available to students in government schools," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, state BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti reiterated his party's commitment towards protecting the interests of the Scheduled Castes and said in future too his party would work towards their welfare. "The Congress will have to pay a heavy price in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls for the rampant corruption and unprecedented price hike," he said.

Ramesh Chander Ratan, general secretary, National Scheduled Castes Morcha, also addressed the workers.

Kangra, November 11
The state government had decided to upgrade five of the 10 operation theatres (OTs) of the DRPGMC, Tanda, to modular operation theatres at a cost of Rs 5 crore.

Transport and Technical Education Minister GS Bali said this while speaking at a two-day workshop on the role of ultrasound in anaesthesia, critical care and pain management during a continuing medical education (CME)-cum-second annual meet of the HP Chapter of the Indian Society of Anaesthesiology (ISA). It was organised by the Department of Anaesthesia, DRPGMC, Tanda, and culminated last evening at the Sobha Singh Auditorium of the college.

Bali said such academic interactive sessions for the benefit of people of the region should be encouraged. He said anaesthetists were the most important persons for surgical care of patients and had an important role to play in ICU care. He said anaesthetists should draw a line whether they want to work in government sector or in private sector, but should not inter-mix the two.

Anil Chauhan, Principal of the college, appreciated the work done by the Department of Anaesthesia in imparting round-the-clock back up services to all the clinical departments and ICU patients.

Dr SS Sodhi, president, HP Chapter of ISA and Prof and Head of Anaesthesia at the IGMC, emphasised the need of participation of anaesthetists posted in peripheral hospitals in such events so that qualitative services could be provided in peripheral areas also.

During the academic session, various lectures on anaesthesia, critical care and pain management were delivered in detail by different speakers.

In post-lunch session, paper and poster presentation were made by postgraduate students of the IGMC, Shimla, and DRPGMC, Tanda. This was followed by the general body meeting of the HP Chapter of the ISA.

Shimla, November 11
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh inaugurated the four-day International Lavi Fair at Rampur, about 125 km from here, today.

The over 400-year-old trade fair is famous for traditional items like pashmina wool, kalazira, chilgoza, walnuts, almonds and other dry fruits.

Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister said a government degree college would be opened at Nankhari for which the Deputy Commissioner of Shimla had been given directions to identify suitable land.

He said a new bridge would be constructed near the new bus stand at Rampur to ease traffic congestion and the remaining two panchayats of Koot and Kashapath would be provided road connectivity for the start of summer. He said a target had been set to construct 475-km motorable roads, 40-km jeepable roads and cross drainage over 620-km road length in the state. Besides, mettaling and tarring work would be undertaken on 570 km of road.

The state had launched the Rajiv Gandhi Ann Yojana under which 36.82 lakh people were being provided 3 kg of wheat at Rs 2 per kg and 2 kg of rice at Rs 3 per kg. Besides, Antodaya families were also being given a quota of 15 kg of rice and 20 kg of wheat per month.

Educated youth, aged between 18 and 35 years of age, were being given skill development allowance and they were also being provided avenues for employment and self-employment.

He also inaugurated exhibitions put up by various government departments, NGOs and public sector undertakings. Hereleased a souvenir brought out by the Lavi Fair Organising Committee.

Earlier, Virbhadra Singh inaugurated a multi-speciality health camp at Khaneri hospital and the new arts and library block building of the Rampur College constructed at a cost of Rs 4.66 crore.

MP Pratibha Singh said the fair was important for its historical and cultural point of view. It had in recent years emerged as one of the big commercial events of North India. 

Dharamsala, November 11
Wazir Ram Singh Pathania, the martyr from erstwhile Nurpur state, was today remembered on his martyrdom day observed at Wasa Wazira in Kangra district.

KPS Rana, a prominent Congress leader from Punjab who was the chief guest at the function, said historians and society had not done justice to three major Rajput warriors, Banda Bahadur, Zorawar Singh and Wazir Ram Singh Pathania, who had fought against the Mughals and the British.

The place where Banda Bahadur fought his last battle in Gurdaspur needed to be preserved historically. However, it was in a state of neglect though the SGPC had constructed a gurdwara over the place. Similarly, the places where Wazir Ram Singh Pathania had fought guerrilla war against the British, despite his limited resources, should also be preserved, he said.

Wazir Ram Singh Pathania was son of Sham Singh, wazir of Nurpur state. When the British sought to annex the Nurpur state after the Anglo-Sikh war, Ram Singh Pathania at a tender age of 18 years revolted against them. He fought the guerrilla war against the British with limited sources in the Shivalik hills around Nurpur. He was finally caught by the British and sent to the Rangoon jail in Burma where he died.

Ram Singh Pathania is revered as martyr among the Rajputs of Kangra district. Every year a programme is held in Nurpur subdivision to commemorate him. However, till date nothing has been done by the state government to preserve the heritage of the martyr, said by locals.

Shimla, November 11
Himachal is all set to shift its focus on sustainable tourism development as the new policy has been prepared with World Bank technical assistance.

The new policy for sustainable tourism development is likely to be placed before the Cabinet at its next meeting. Even as the number of tourists visiting Himachal has gone up from 60 lakh in 2005 to 1.61 crore in 2012-13, the endeavour now is to promote sustainable tourism so that the aspect of carrying capacity of any destination and not putting further pressure on the existing infrastructure is borne in mind.

The new policy has been based on a study conducted by a US NGO, Sustainable Development and the Special Planning Institute at the University of Ahmedabad. The thrust is on attracting more visitors, encouraging greater participation of private players and keeping in mind the carrying capacity of the tourist destinations.

Till now, tourism promotion was being done on the basis of Tourism Policy of 2005 which will be replaced by the new policy with the thrust on sustainable tourism promotion. All stakeholders, including the Urban Development Department and municipal bodies, were involved in the formulation of the new policy.

“The policy for sustainable tourism development is based on a pilot study of Greater Dharamsala, which included the tourist sites in the vicinity such as McLeodganj, Kangra, Palampur and adjoining areas,” explained Subhashish Panda, Secretary, General Administration Department (GAD), who was involved in the policy formulation while heading the Tourism Department. Under the pilot study, a blueprint of tourism promotion in Dharamsala will also be accorded approval by the Cabinet.

The policy looks at the immediate steps that need to be taken such as creating parking slots, improving roads etc.

Himachal has all kind of destinations to offer as there is pilgrim, adventure, culture and eco-tourism which caters to all kinds of visitors. The ancient Buddhist monasteries and temples in the two tribal districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti are fast emerging as major attractions for foreigners, Bengali, Gujarati and Maharashtrian tourist.

Mandi, November 11
Activists of the Left wing frontal organisations, including the Himachal Kisan Sabha, CITU, SFI, Janvadi Mahila Samiti and Himachal Apple Growers Association, today staged a protest rally at Rohanda, Chowki, Nihri and Charkhari. They were demanding the deployment of a proper strength of doctors at the Community Health Centre (CHC), Rohanda, and the completion of roads and proper teaching staff in schools.

Addressing protesters, who were leading the procession of the activists to the state-level protest rally to be held in Shimla tomorrow, Kushal Bhardwaj and Bupender Singh, Kisan Sabha leaders, alleged that neither the previous BJP regime nor the present Congress government had deployed a proper strength of doctors at the Rohanda CHC, which had just two doctors catering to 20 gram panchayats.

Besides, the posts of teacher in many schools in 22 gram panchayats were lying vacant, they claimed. The worst-hit were students studying science in senior secondary schools as most schools had no science teacher, they claimed.

They further said farmers could not grow vegetables in the area as they lacked irrigation facilities. The farmers had to take their produce to the Dhalli subzi mandi in Shimla as there was no market yard in the area, the activists said.

Farmers were faced with a crisis as the government had not taken any concrete steps to solve the menace of wild animal in the region, they said.

Bhupender said the degree college, declared at Nihri last year after they protested and which was later cancelled by the Congress, should be restored.

Bilaspur, November 11
Kiran Devi of Kunanu village, a teacher in a private school, became a victim of jewellery snatching by an unknown youth in broad daylight at Berry (on the Guggaghat-Panjgaain road) yesterday.

Reports said Kiran alighted from a bus at her routine stop in front of the Gugga Ghat rain shelter after school hours and started walking for her village on this road to Punjgaain.

But in the midway, a youth suddenly appeared on the road and attacked and pushed her on to a heap of stones where she fell and fainted.

When she regained consciousness she found her gold jewellery and money missing.

The police has registered a case and is investigating the matter.

Panjgaain gram panchayat president Gambhari Devi, Mahila Mandal president Banita Sharma and village elders Sunder Lal Sharma, Kamal Kishore, Kuldip Guttam, Shamsher Gauttam and Suresh Mahajan have demanded for increased police patrolling in this area.

Nurpur, November 11
A cart driver and his horse were killed on the spot when a speeding Tata Sumo (HP-01-0524) hit the cart on the Pathankot-Mandi national highway at Chhatroli near here this morning.

The police said the cart driver had been identified as Dhanater Singh (70) of Raja Ka Bagh. Sumo driver Vikas Kumar of Gajreda in Bilaspur and two other vehicle occupants Sanjay and Rishi were injured seriously in the mishap.

The injured were rushed to the local Civil Hospital.

A case under Sections 279, 337 and 304 (A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against the vehicle driver.

Meanwhile, the police handed over the deceased person’s body to his family after postmortem.