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Congress rout to impact people’s mood in state
CM: Verdict against Cong
Strong wave against Congress: BJP
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A ray of hope for third front: Parties
Tuberculosis patients suffer as govt short of medicines
Row over fee: Roll numbers of 5,000 students withheld
VIGNETTES
Involve Army men in decision-making process: Convener
Mandi asks for fruit, veggie price regulation details
Restrict entry of heavy vehicles into town: NGO
Handball c’ship from tomorrow
Shifting of fish farming agency office opposed
51 units of blood collected
Five awarded for nature conservation
2 killed in road mishaps
Man gets life term for murder
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Congress rout to impact people’s mood in state
Shimla, December 8 The electorate have been traditionally favouring the party in power in the state in the Lok Sabha poll, but the virtual rout of the Congress will make its task tougher. The Congress is having only a thin majority with 36 seats in a 68-member House, though it has roped in four Independents. The BJP is not far behind with 26 seats. Subsequently, the Congress had cemented its position by winning the Mandi Lok Sabha bypoll by a huge margin. However, the electoral setback in the four states will have an impact on the mood of
the people. The narrow gap of about 16 months between the Assembly poll and the Lok Sabha election has been proving advantageous for the party in power as the anti-incumbency factor does not come
to play over such a short period. Further, the employees are more concerned with the party
in power. In 2009, the BJP, which was in power in the state, won three out of the four Lok Sabha seats, defying the general pro-UPA trend seen elsewhere in the country. Only Virbhadra managed to win the Mandi seat due to his personal clout. Similarly, in the 2004 poll, it was the Congress which got the advantage of the party in power and won three seats by comfortable margins. The BJP could retain its stronghold of Hamirpur from where Suresh Chandel emerged victorious. In the 1996 Lok Sabha poll too, the ruling Congress had made a clean sweep. The blockbuster debut of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi should also be a cause for concern for the Congress and the BJP as it indicates people’s growing disillusionment with the two parties and that they are looking for a credible third alternative. In fact, the electorate of Shimla had in May 2012 given a rebuff to the two parties by making the CPM victorious for the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor for which the direct election was held for the first time. In 1998, former Telecom Minister Sukh Ram had floated the Himachal Vikas Congress. He not only succeeded in dislodging the Congress from power, but also won the Shimla Lok Sabha seat in alliance with the BJP. In the last Assembly poll, the breakaway BJP headed by Maheshwar Singh formed the Himachal Lokhit Party but managed to win only won seat. However, after the performance of AAP, it could contest the Lok Sabha poll seriously and if a third political option does emerge at the national level parties such as HLP, and CPM could cause headache to the two main contenders. The third party may not win any seat, but they could upset the electoral arithmetic by cornering significant number of votes. |
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CM: Verdict against Cong
Mandi, December 8 In an informal talk with mediapersons on the sidelines of a public meeting at Padhar today, he said, "In Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party changed the political scene and damaged the prospects of the Congress." He said, "Though the election results have gone against the Congress in the states, they will have no bearings on the next Parliament elections, since these are contested on local issues." |
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Strong wave against Congress: BJP
Shimla, December 8 Party leaders claimed that the Modi wave was sweeping the country. The party workers burst crackers to celebrate the victory across the state. Leader of Opposition PK Dhumal said it was an indication of the strong anti-Congress wave sweeping the country and it had also brought to the fore the BJP as a clear alternative under the leadership of Modi. The Congress had been rejected by the electorate and the writing was on the wall for the party which would be routed in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll. He said the win had enthused the rank and file of the party and the workers would now put in a more vigorous effort to win the 2014 Lok Sabha poll. State BJP chief Satpal Satti said the Modi wave had taken the four states by storm and the Congress was being thrown out. The performance of the party had provided momentum for an unprecedented victory in the coming Lok Sabha poll. With this, the process of making the country Congress-free had started. The projection of Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate had made a wave like the one in 1977 when the Janata Party won the poll. |
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A ray of hope for third front: Parties
Shimla, December 8 The first-timer AAP leader Arvind Kejrival not only defeated Sheila Dikshit, but also showed that common man could enter the Vidhan Sabha and the Lok Sabha, said the leaders here while reacting to the outcome of the Assembly elections in four states. “The message of Delhi elections is clear that people have rejected both Congress and BJP and there is a wave for change for the third front,” said Maheshwar Singh, Kullu MLA and HLP state president. AAP state leader Desraj Sharma said the Delhi results had shown that the common man could enter the state Assembly and Parliament on the new platform. AAP has constituted district units and Arvind Kejrawal would also tour Himachal in the days to come, he added. AAP addressed issues such as the security of women, problem of electricity and got people’s participation”, said Rakesh Singha, state CPM leader. |
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BJP workers celebrate victory
Una, December 8 Satti termed the results a countdown for the Congress-led UPA government. He said the verdict of the people was against corruption, inflation and insensitivity of the Congress towards the needs of the people. He said Modi was destined to become the next Prime Minister, while the people of the country had yet again outrightly denounced their faith in the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. |
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Tuberculosis patients suffer as govt short of medicines
Kangra, December 8 Dr RK Sood, District Tuberculosis Officer, said it was four months ago that the Central Government had asked the state government to procure medicines at the local level. He said the STD centre at Dharampur, which was the nodal centre for the RNTCP in the sate had recently finalised the tenders to purchase medicines. Dr Sood said patients were being provided medicines free of cost and to purchase them locally was difficult as there were no funds under the miscellaneous head. He said the state government was requested to provide funds under this head and the request was pending before the government. Sources said it would take two more months to finalise the supply order. The medicines were not available in PHCs, CHCs, Civil Hospitals and the medical colleges, showing insensitivity towards patients. Dr Anil Chauhan, Principal, DRPGMC, Tanda, said they had decided to purchase medicines from the Roghi Kalayan Samiti funds till the supply was restored. Dr Dinesh Sood, Medical Superintendent, DRPGMC, Tanda, said for the past three months medicines were being purchased from the market. Medical experts said TB patients were at the receiving end due to the problem. Fifty per cent of AIDS patients were dying because of TB and it was essential to control the spread of the disease to prolong the life of
HIV patients, said a medical expert. TB patients demanded that state government expedite the procuring process so that they were relieved of the trauma they were facing for the past four months. Tuberculosis is major health problem in the world. Technologically advanced countries have achieved spectacular results in its control. However, India accounts for one-fifth of the global burden of tuberculosis. It is one of the leading causes of mortality in India, killing two persons every three minutes. By December 2009, more than 11 million patients were treated, saving more than 2 million lives. The success of DOTS in India has contributed substantially to the success of TB control programme in the world. The Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) is the largest TB control programme in the world with more than 1,00,000 patients undergoing treatment every month. |
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Electrical repair works begin in Sundernagar
Mahesh Chander Sharma
Sundernagar, December 8 Officials of the HPSEB said the works worth Rs 7 crore were awarded by to High Tech Company of Baddi. The company had to replace 8,000 old meters, erect 35 distribution Sub Stations , further to augment 15 distribution sub-stations and to do various works such as erection and reconducting of various low tension wires up to 29 km and high tension lines up to 22 km in Sundernagar under the Restructure Power Development Scheme. The board had already paid about Rs 2 crore as advance to purchase the material but not a single transformer could be erected. Due to non-execution of work, residents were suffering from the problem of overloading, low voltage, tripping of electrical supply and forced electrical cuts. Many instances of burning of transformers were reported in the past. The day the matter was highlighted by the correspondent, the work was started. A delegation of residents yesterday met Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and apprised him about the non-execution of work due to which lakhs of residents were suffering. They demanded that the firm should be blacklisted which had also been awarded work for augmentation of electrical works in five different towns.
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Row over fee: Roll numbers of 5,000 students withheld
Dharamsala, December 8 About 5,000 students are likely to lose at least one academic semester as they will not be allowed to sit in examinations being conducted by the technical education board for the first semester. The examinations for the first semester are scheduled to start from Monday. The state technical education board had imposed a penalty of Rs 13,000 per student on the colleges that admitted students who did not appear in the PAT entrance test for admissions. Each college owes an amount ranging from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 30 lakh to the state technical education board on this account. Secretary of the state Technical Education Board Verma said they were acting as per the directions of the state government. "We had mentioned in the prospectus for admissions to diploma colleges that in case the students did not appear in the entrance test, a penalty of Rs 13,000 would be imposed on the colleges that admitted them," he stated. He said just three colleges had deposited the penalty imposed by the board. The controversy over the issue has been going on since the last government decided against allowing admissions in technical courses, including diploma and engineering courses, in colleges of the state for students not fulfilling the mandatory condition of appearing in entrance examinations conducted either at the state or national level. The present government has decided to carry on with the policy. This year, thousands of diploma and engineering students who had not appeared in any entrance test were admitted by diploma and engineering colleges in the state. After hectic lobbying by the affected students and college managements, the state government gave one-year relaxation from the entrance test for admissions to diploma and engineering colleges. However, the relaxation was given with a rider: That the regulating bodies can impose a penalty on colleges for admitting students who did not appear in the entrance test. Since then, the state technical education board and Himachal Pradesh Technical University have been pressing the diploma and engineering colleges to deposit the penalty for admitting students who had not appeared in any entrance test. The engineering colleges moved the Himachal High Court, that provided them stay over the penalty imposed by the Himachal Pradesh Technical University. However, the diploma engineering colleges have not got any relief. A director of a private diploma college, talking to The Tribune on condition of anonymity, said in case the state Technical Education Board did not allow their students to sit in examinations, it would dent their image. |
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Two talented artists of Shimla
Shriniwas Joshi
Avtar was born in 1940 in Peshawar (Pakistan). Their family migrated to Shimla after the Partition. He did his postgraduation in English in 1970 and then took to teaching. He writes in Hindi and Punjabi. He has six poetry books to his credit besides a book of stories in Punjabi and several stories by established writers translated into Punjabi. His latest hardbound book of 50 poems published in 2013 is ‘Bagh ki Vapasi’ (See photo) and costs Rs 150. I like his epigrammatic way of writing, which is short, pithy saying, generally in verse, often with a quick satirical twist in the end. Coleridge defines epigram: “What is an epigram? A dwarfish whole, Its body brevity, and wit its soul.” Avtar, in his poem, "Kaun kehta hai tum satyavadi ho?’ (Who says that you are truthful?), says: “Aey Darpan, Sabhi kehte hain, Tum Jhooth nahin bolte, Phir bhalaa, Daayen ko Baayaan, Baayen ko Daayaan, Kyon batate ho?” (Oh, Looking Glass, Say class and mass, You lie not, Why then you show? , Right as Left, Left as Right).
Nirmal Verma, the great philosopher and author who had spent early years of his life in Shimla, writes in his essay "Environment for Creation" that he once went to Wisconsin in the US, his Indian friend took him out to acquaint him with the city. When they returned home, his friend appeared unhappy. On asking the reason, she said, “You have come to Wisconsin for the first time and all through you were seeing Shimla here. You have not seen Wisconsin at all.” So, Avtar, it happens. Shimla definitely hangs around you when you are out. It happens with me too. Fifty poems in the book are 50 priceless gems so the book deserves place in the bookshelf of Hindi lovers. KL Noatay was in the news recently for he got the third prize in an competition on essay writing organised by the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi. The topic was "Violence against Women - causes and how to combat the menace." He had worked in the Forest Department as Assistant Conservator from where he opted for the Border Roads Organisation, where he was positioned as the Director that equated him to the rank of Colonel in the Army. His home is in Walterton Estate of Shimla and his interest on the trees and herbs is alive. He had been writing for The Tribune on the trees of Himachal Pradesh. He does not have any book to his credit though he has a manuscript on "Asia’s useful trees, plants and medicinal herbs - phonology, propagation, exploitation and protection" ready to go to the press. His other interest is shooting with camera. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting organised a competition on National Highways in 2001 and Noatay won a prize for the North-West region when he photographed trucks driving on Gato loops (See photo). There are 21 steep turns with increasing elevation here near the Sarchu Valley. It is one of the many awards that he has won in photographing. TAILPIECE
Poet: It is an outstanding photograph. Your camera must be very expensive. Photographer: It is an excellent poem. Your pen must be very expensive. |
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Five schools to be upgraded in Drang
Padhar (Mandi), December 8 Addressing a public meeting here today, he said, “Our government has opened several schools closed by the previous BJP government keeping in view the topography and problems of the hilly region so that no child has to walk more than 1 or 2 km to reach a school.” He said now several steps were being taken to better the power supply through the Rajiv Gandhi Bijali Yojna. He said several schemes had been launched to provide drinking water and irrigation facility and recently an Rs 1,000 crore scheme had been started for channelisation of the Swan and 73 rivulets in Una district, besides the Shah Nahar scheme after spending Rs 387 crore and the Feena Singh Irrigation Scheme in Kangra district. He announced to upgrade Khiun, Kippar and Banon middle schools to high schools and Kashna, Kuddah, Baderan and Ropari primary schools to middle schools and start science classes at Padhar College. Earlier, he laid the foundation stones of the mini secretariat and police station at Padhar. Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur, Excise and Taxation Minister Prakash Chaudhary and Rural Development Minister Anil Sharma also addressed the public meeting. |
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Involve Army men in decision-making process: Convener
Shimla, December 8 He said the ministry had expressed its intention to extend benefits to all categories, but the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (DESW) was taking the system for a ride and the ministry had not taken any action on the issue. He said 90 per cent of the judgements passed by courts and tribunals in favour of ex-servicemen had not been implemented. "There are numerous such examples where the DESW staff had not only misguided the government, but also went against the interests of the veterans at large, he charged. "The political class has little time and inclination to seriously understand, consult and involve the ex-servicemen and serving soldiers in the decision-making process," Khushal Thakur said. In India, the Army had been deliberately kept out of the policy formation process even after six decades of loyal and dedicated service to the nation, Khushal added. |
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Mandi asks for fruit, veggie price regulation details
Mandi, December 8 The Mandi district administration, on persistent demand of the consumers to check skyrocketing prices of fruits and vegetables, had regulated the prices by displaying a price list in the main bazaar based on sale and purchase of these items in the local Sabzi Mandi and fixing the margin. Principal Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, has asked the district administration to supply it the relevant details and mechanism used for regulating the prices of fruits and vegetables in Mandi town. The district administration has impressed upon the commission agents to submit forms R and Q (which is mandatory under the Essential Commodities Act) depicting daily sale proceeds between the growers and the commission agent and the retailers. And on the basis of forms R and Q, the daily rates are being determined, adding 45 per cent margin for the retailers, which are being displayed for the consumers. YN Vaidya, president, Mandi Citizen Council, said, “We had been on the forefront, demanding regulation of prices of the fruits and vegetables. This should be done everywhere.” State Secretariat Member, CPI, Desh Raj Sharma has also demanded the replication of this system everywhere to check unreasonable profiteering by the commission agents. DC, Mandi, Devesh Kumar said, “Principal Secretary Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, has asked us to supply the details of the methods applied here to
regulate the prices.”
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Ambulance handed over to Rotary Club
Kangra, December 8 He announced to donate Rs 5.25 lakh to the club for setting up a pathological laboratory at the DRPGMC, Tanda, despite the fact that the college had well-equipped laboratories and staff. The state government had already signed an MoU with Ranbaxy for carrying out tests in the medical college of the hospital.
The club claims that the laboratory would be run on no-profit basis. Many eyebrows were raised over the distribution of funds by the MP "without logic". Despite the availability of 108 ambulance service in the state, many ambulances had already been donated by the MP. The facility of a pathological lab already exists at the college. Meanwhile, 570 general patients and 185 eye patients were examined at the camp. Twenty poor patients will also undergo cataract surgery. Dr Sushant honoured university topper Sonika Koti and Joyti Saini, a scientist who stood seventh in a national-level competition. Divesh Bharti, another student, Ravinder Choudary, an Excise and Taxation Officer, were also
honoured. |
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Restrict entry of heavy vehicles into town: NGO
Palampur, December 8 In its meeting here today, the NGO urged the administration to issue a notification to this effect immediately. It said the traffic situation in the town had gone from bad to worse in the last one year. Addressing mediapersons, Dalip Sharma, spokesperson of the NGO, said the narrow Mandi- Pathankot national highway passing through the town had become a major traffic hazard, therefore, all the heavy vehicles should be diverted via the Holta bypass to reduce traffic inflow in the town.
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Bus for industrial workers flagged off
Una, December 8 The minister announced that an auditorium would be constructed in Dulehar village and a labour hostel would come up in the Tahliwal industrial area in lines with another one in the Bathu industrial area, the foundation stone of which was laid by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh during his visit to Una in November. He said a 66-KW electrical sub-station for Gondpur and a bus stand for Dulehar had also been sanctioned. A total of 251 public complaints were received at the programme, out of which 201 were addressed on the spot, while the remaining were referred to departments concerned. On the occasion, the minister directed the state road transport officials to re-route the Haroli-Haridwar daily bus service via Dulehar to give benefit to the people living in the remote areas.
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Handball c’ship from tomorrow
Bilaspur, December 8 He said a total 31 teams from almost all states and also those of Services, Railways and National Handball Academy had given their consent to participate. He said it would be inaugurated by him on December 10, while the CM would be chief guest on December 15. He said 700 players would take part. He said there would be day and night competitions, which would be held at the ground of Government Boys Senior Secondary School in Raura sector.
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Shifting of fish farming agency office opposed
Palampur, December 8 In Kangra district alone, 72 hectares are under fish farming and over 300 families have been benefited from it. Fish growers are worried as they have to go for all matters to Bilaspur now. Hamir Chand, Assistant Director, Fisheries, confirmed that he had already received the orders. A deputation of the residents called on Speaker Brij Behari Lal Butail today and urged him to ask the state government to cancel the orders.
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51 units of blood collected
Shimla, December 8 What irked donors was that the team reached the camp venue at 11 am, while the organisers kept on waiting for them. Ajay Srivastav, chairman, Umung Foundation, said they could collect just 51 units of blood as the team reached the camp late. "Normally, we collect over 80 units of blood," he said. The camp was inaugurated by Sushil Tanvar, a convener, Ashadeep, an NGO, to make up for the shortage of blood at the
KNH.
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Five awarded for nature conservation
Shimla, December 8 The awards were given to Dilbagh Singh, a boatman from Nagrota Suriyan in Pong Dam, and Mukesh Dhiman, who runs a shop in the same area, for their knowledge about migratory birds. Devinder Singh Dadhwal, a former range officer of Nagrota Suriyan, who has written an illustrated book with photographs of birds, was also given the award. The contribution of Virender Sharma, a forest guard, who has been associated with captive breeding of endangered western tragopan at Sarahan Pheasantry, was also recognised by conferring the award. The trust also awarded former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Ashwani Kumar Gulati in recognition of his lifetime dedicated service to the cause of the conservation of nature. The awards were given by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh at a function here yesterday.
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2 killed in road mishaps
Kangra, December 8 ASI, Traffic, Subhash said the body was taken to the DRPGMC, Tanda, for a postmortem. The truck driver was in police custody. The police have registered a case under Sections 304 A and 279, IPC, against the truck driver. In another incident, Vipin Kumar (26), a resident of Birta village in Kangra, who was allegedly under the influence of liquor, dashed his Santro car (HP 20 6641) into a parked vehicle at the Ghurkhari chowk here last night. He died on the spot. Three other youths sustained minor injuries in the accident. They were travelling in the car at the time of the accident. In another accident, a canter dashed into another canter at lower Rajol leaving Subhash Chand, driver of one of the two canters, injured. He was rushed to DRPGMC, Tanda.
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Man gets life term for murder
Kullu, December 8 The accused was also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 and in case of non-payment of fine, he would further undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months, the judgment added.
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One morning I received a call from Avtar Engill, a poet of Himachal Pradesh. I asked him the reason for his living longer in the USA than in Shimla these days.
He replied that he was blessed with a grandchild there, a gift to him at the age of 71. I did not disclose to him that I got this gift when I was 73 but did tell him that a grandchild is such a lovely toy for elderly that we exclaim, “O Grandchild! Why were you not born before my child?”
His poem on Shimla conveys indirectly that this town haunts all when they leave it. “Is Jaadui nagar mein/ Jo bhi aayaa/ Kabhi laut nahin paayaa/ Yahaan se/ Yadi koi Bhaagaa/ To bhi Deodaruon ke nagar ne/ Usei nahin tyaagaa/ Woh chupke-chupke uske peeche gayaa/ Usei apni baahon mein bharaa/ Aur uske sapnon par/ Kabzaa kar liya.” (He who came to this magical town, never returned. If one happened to leave, then the town of Deodars kept its pull. It went stealthily after him, embraced him and settled in his dreams.)