New Delhi, February 7
The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Himachal Pradesh government seeking its response to a plea for making Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh a party to a case relating to the controversy over the Dharamsala Cricket Stadium.

A Bench comprising Justices BS Chauhan and J Chelameswar also sent notice to the state on HP Cricket Association President Anurag Thakur’s plea for quashing the FIR against him for the alleged irregularities in securing land for the stadium and its subsequent management.

The apex court passed the order on three pleas filed by Thakur, who is also BJP MP from the state, over the stadium controversy. Appearing for Thakur, senior counsel PS Patwalia pleaded for making the CM as a respondent as the stadium had been brought under the control of the state government at his behest and directive.

The state High Court had passed an order on January 8, 2014, refusing to make the CM as party. Thakur had come to the SC, challenging the HC order.

Thakur, son of former CM and BJP leader Prem Kumar Dhumal, had also pleaded for the transfer of the case against him outside the state. The apex court has sought the state government’s response to this plea as well. The state government has been given two weeks’ time for filing its response.

Patwalia said the Cabinet had held a meeting on October 26, 2006, late in the evening and taken a politically motivated decision to forcibly take over the stadium. Arguing for the state government, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi however said the Cabinet had subsequently revoked its decision and as such the allegation of mala fide intention was no longer valid.

Patwalia, however, said an order passed by the Registrar of Societies against his client on the issue was still valid.

According to Additional Advocate General Suryanarayana Singh, the “extremely valuable” land was allotted to HP Youth Services (HPYS) in 2001, when Dhumal was the CM, but HPYS transferred it to the Himalayan Players Cricket Association, registered in Kanpur.

Singhvi said among the irregularities were conversion of the character of the association from that of a society to that of a non-profit making company and construction of guest houses and a seven-star hotel on the land.

Patwalia pleaded for restraining the state government from filing a charge sheet against Thakur as a follow-up to the August 2013 FIR against him for allegedly “usurping” the land. Rejecting this, the Bench said he was free to challenge the charge sheet once it was filed. During the hearing, the Bench remarked that it was unfortunate that cricket had become a game for big money and was being managed by those who had never held a ball or a bat.

Thakur had named as many as 10 wings of the government as respondents, including the Registrar of Societies, Secretaries in the departments of Revenue, Sports, Town and Country Planning, Excise and Taxation and Education, besides the Kangra district collector.

Shimla, February 7
The BJP today described the Budget as a bundle of announcements with eye on the Lok sabha polls with no direction to bring down the deficit which may touch five per cent of the gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).

Reacting to the budget, the leaders of the opposition P K Dhumal said that an attempt has been made to mislead the people by making announcements and there was nothing new in the budget.

The schemes and programmes initiated by the BJP (e.g. polytechnic colleges and Industrial training Institutes) have been repeated and the government which claims that party manifesto has been adopted as policy document has backed out of the promise to give unemployment allowance to the educated youth.

Shimla, February 7
The State Election Committee (SEC) of the BJP has cleared the names of candidates for Kangra, Hamirpur and Shimla Lok Sabha seats, while the name of a retired Army officer figures Brig Kushal Thakur in the panel formed for the Mandi segment.

The State Election Committee of the BJP met at Badsar in Hamirpur last evening. The meeting was attended by Balbir Punj, National Vice-President and in-charge of Himachal. Others who were present, included PK Dhumal, Shanta Kumar, Satpal Singh Satti, Suresh Bhradwaj, and Jai Ram Thakur.

While there was complete consensus among members on the candidature of Shanta Kumar (Kangra), Anurag Thakur MP (Hamirpur) and Varinder Kashyap MP (Shimla), the opinion was divided on the nominee to be fielded from Mandi. While majority felt that Seraj MLA Jai Ram Thakur would be the most formidable candidate, but he expressed his reluctance to contest again.

It was amid these deliberations that the name of Brig Kushal Thakur (retd), a decorated Army officer who played a crucial role in capturing certain areas during the Kargil war, was floated. It was argued that fielding him from Mandi would not just help in wooing retired and serving soldiers in this segment, but a positive signal would also go out in the state.

Thakur hails from Nagwain and it is learnt that his name had been suggested by senior retired Army officers after Narender Modi's rally in Rewari.

The name of Manali MLA Govind Thakur had also been included in the panel. Finally, SEC decided to make a panel of four names to be recommended to the Central Election Committee of the BJP. The four names in the panel for Mandi, includes Brig Kushal Thakur, Gobind Thakur, Ram Swaroop State BJP General Secretary and Ajay Rana.

As such it is only Mandi seat from where the SEC of the Congress has also cleared the name of Pratibha Singh, sititng MP and wife of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Party sources said though Jai Ram Thakur was out of the race for the time being, his candidature could still not be ruled out.

Thakur had contested the last election against Pratibha Singh, who had won by a huge margin of 1.36 lakh votes in the June 2013 by-elections.

He is undoubtedly the strongest candidate, but considering his reluctance, the party could field someone else like Brig Kushal Thakur.

Shimla, February 7
Even as farmers expressed mixed reaction to the Budget, contractual employees were unhappy with the proposals which ignored their interests. They also warned the government that it should regularise them before it was too late.

Reacting to the Budget presented in the Vidhan Sabha here today, Ecohorts chairman Nandpur Laxman Thakur said the Budget proposals had addressed 
cattle problems.

But for the 32,000 contractual employees pressuring the government to regularise them ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Budget came as a disappointment. It made no mention of demands of contractual employees, including college lectures and school teachers and clerical staff. The government might think twice before it was too late, warned Dr Harshvardhan Khimta, state convener of the All-Himachal Contract Employees. 

Manali, February 7
Manali and its adjoining areas received season’s heaviest snowfall on the second consecutive day today. Normal life was hit as the entire upper Kullu valley also experienced moderate to heavy snowfall.

An avalanche threat loomed large over some areas of the upper Manali region. The district administration warned people against crossing the avalanche-prone areas.

After a widespread snowfall in the upper Kullu valley, most of the Manali-bound buses were suspended near Patlikulh, 19 km from here, causing great inconvenience to tourists and locals. Only light vehicles plied between Manali and Patlikulh.

All buses on the Manali-Naggar-Kullu (left bank) road also remained suspended. Due to heavy snowfall on the Manali-Rohtang road, vehicular traffic was disrupted between Manali and Solang and Kothi village.

Power supply in several parts of the upper Kullu valley was also disrupted since last night causing great inconvenience to the tourists and locals.

The higher reaches in Kullu valley, including Pir Panjal range, Rohtang Pass, the gateway to Lahaul-Spiti district received heavy snowfall. Due to fresh spell of snow, the upper Manali region was in the grip of severe cold wave leading to further decline in the day and night temperatures, as icy winds continued to lash the region.

Manali, February 7
An avalanche caused massive damage at the Khanoni nullah near Vashisht village today destroying several trees. However, no loss of human life was reported.

Meanwhile, the administration has asked people in the upper Manali areas to stay alert in the wake of fresh snowfall in the higher reaches.

SDM, Manali, Vinay Dhiman, said the threat of an avalanche looms large over the avalanche-prone areas of the upper Manali region, on Manali-Rohtang road, Nehru Kund, Kulang, Palchan, Kothi, including Kalath on the Manali-Kullu (NH), where local residents had been asked to stay indoors.

He said the alert had been also sounded to panchayat pradhans of the surrounding villages in Manali region. — OC

Palampur, February 7
Palampur Heavy rain accompanied with high-velocity winds and thunderstorm lashed the Palampur region last night disrupting normal life.

The upper reaches of Dhauladhar experienced the heaviest snowfall of the season.

Power supply, telecommunication and transport services in Palampur and its adjoining villages were adversely affected.

Vehicular traffic in the upper areas of Baijnath subdivision was suspended. Following heavy snowfall, Chhota and Bara Bhangal valley were cut off from the rest of the region.

Bus services between Baijnath and Luhardi, Baijnath Baragram and Baijnath Multhan were suspended. The entire valley was without power for the past 48 hours.

A senior officer of PWD said several buses were held up at different places. He said the JCB machines could be pressed to remove snowfall from roads only if the weather permitted.

Meanwhile, a government spokesman said there was adequate stock of essential commodities in the valley. Government fair-price shops had sufficient foodgrains to meet the requirements of locals for the next one month. 

Kullu, February 7
The tourist town of Kullu received 5 cm snowfall, the season’s first, today. The higher reaches in the entire district received heavy snowfall since yesterday. More than 76 cm snow was recorded in Manali till 4 pm today, which continued till the filing of the report.

Heavy snowfall during the past 24 hours disrupted life in Kullu-Manali area blocking many link roads. Bus traffic was suspended from Bandrol to Manali on the National Highway-21. Sources from the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) here confirmed that buses were not plying beyond Bandrol due to heavy snow. However, small vehicles were plying on the route helping tourists and others to reach Kullu.

The link roads connecting Bhuntar-Manikaran-Barsheni, Bhuntar-Tocha, Kullu-Balihani, Kullu-Kalang, Kullu-Bijlimahadev, Kullu-Katola, Banjar-Gada Gusheni, Banjar-Bathad, Banjar-Gambhir and Banjar-Ghiyagi were blocked due to snow and landslides. Ten buses of the HRTC and a few buses of private operators were stuck in the rural areas, the sources added.

The sole Air India flight operating from Delhi to Kullu was also cancelled due to bad weather. Tourists, especially the honeymooners, enjoyed fresh snow fall, but had a hard time due to the steep fall in the temperature today.

Snow is a boon for apple farmers of the lower belt of the district and a welcome delight for localites. -OC

Rains lash Kangra valley, snowfall on Dhauladhar

The Kangra valley was lashed with rain while the Dhauladhar mountain range experienced fresh snowfall dropping the temperature considerably. The sky was overcast in the morning and the valley experienced cold-wave conditions throwing life out-of-gear. The foothills of Dhauladhar too witnessed snowfall today. 

Chamba hills wrapped in white mantle

Chamba: The higher hills in Chamba district and adjoining Pir Panjal ranges have been experiencing fresh heavy snowfall for the past 48 hours, according to reports reaching here this evening. The reports said heavy snow had deposited on the high altitude ranges of Bharmour and Pangi tribal areas and Pir Panjal ranges.

The low-lying areas had heavy downpour accompanied by thunderstorm and lightning last night, the reports said.

Meanwhile, an official spokesperson appealed to the public to be careful.

Shimla, February 7
Transporters, including truck and taxi operators, have rejected the state Transport Department's proposal to allow touts as transport service providers (TSPs) in each Regional Transport Office (RTO) in the state.

As per transporters, legalising the services of the touts as TSPs in an RTO office would put them and other private vehicles owners at the mercy of the TSPs. Instead, the Transport Department should set up a transparent computerised system for the public at each RTO office displaying a citizen charter, they demanded.

"The touts operate allegedly in league with 'babus' at each RTO office and charge commission for work like the renewal of driving licence, transport licence, issuing of route permits and the like, which is illegal," they charged.

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of transporters, including unions of taxis and commercial vehicles and truckers, the number of which surpasses over one lakh vehicles in the state, has opposed the legalisation of touts as TSPs.

"We reject the proposal. The department should issue the citizen charter at each RTO office, mentioning the fees and time that each service will need for the applicants," said Jeet Ram, president, JAC.

The department should set up the computerised service centre in each RTO office so that the applicants get the licence and permits in a time-bound manner. The department should get the help of the police and RTOs should check the menace of touts, who allegedly work in league with certain clerks in the RTO offices in the state, said members of the Nagrik Sabha.

"It is strange that the Transport Department is legalising the touts as TSPs," said Rajiv Kumar, a transporter.

"Whenever we go to an RTO office, touts swarm the place. The time has now come to provide transparent services to the public, but the department is legalising the touts," charged transporters.

Denying any nexus of staff with the touts, Additional Director, Transport, Sanjiv Sharma said they had a computerised system for providing service to the applicants at RTO offices.

"But the department has proposed to issue licences to commission agents as TSPs. They will charge a fixed fee for each service as it will check the touts, who otherwise charge the applicants exorbitantly," he added.

Nurpur, February 7
A local court sent Mohit Singh of Kehali Mandi (Samba) in Jammu and Kashmir to five-day police remand last evening. The police had arrested Mohit in a theft case. The accused had allegedly committed nine burglaries in a night in the town on November 27 last year. The police succeeded in identifying him from the CCTV footage taken from Shani Dev Temple at Niazpur locality. A police party tried to arrest him at his native village many times, but was unable to find him at home.

DSP Manoj Joshi said the police got information that the accused had been arrested by the Hiranagar (Jammu) police in a theft case. “The police filed a petition in the Hiranagar court and took custody of the culprit on Wednesday,” said the DSP.

He said the police would investigate to collect evidence against the culprit and try to establish his involvement in other thefts in the Nurpur area during the past few months. 

Solan, February 7
The administration of the Regional Hospital here has initiated an inquiry into alleged negligence of a doctor in a case where a woman delivered a stillborn baby yesterday.

The husband of the woman, Dalip Kumar, who hails from Kunihar, said his wife had been given January 29 as the date for delivery. But since nothing happened that day, he had got her wife Santosh Kumari admitted to the hospital on January 30.

He further alleged that she went into labour pains yesterday evening and since the gynaecologist was not in the hospital at that time, efforts were made to contact him. The hospital staff, including a paediatrician, helped her deliver the baby that was stillborn.

Dalip alleged that he had requested the doctor to discharge his wife if he could not conduct her delivery as the due date had passed. He even told the doctor that a radiologist of the clinic where he had got her ultrasound test conducted had suggested him to get the baby delivered, but it was delayed by the gynaecologist at the Regional Hospital.

Medical Superintendent Dr Yashwant Verma said Dr Lalit Gupta had been assigned the task to enquire into the matter, though he added that no negligence had as yet come to the fore in the case. 

Chamba, February 7
Forest officials of Chamba district have decided to greet their forest minister on his 67th birthday tomorrow by planting saplings of deodar, ban, oak, chulli, pajja and other broad-leaved plants at a muck dumping site in Dunali, his constituency, on way to Bharmour.

Officials of the Chamba forest division, local public of Mehla, Bakani, Batot and other adjoining villages would be involved in the celebration. On the occasion, the Forest Department would also distribute medicinal plants free of cost to the public to encourage their cultivation across the length and breadth of the district. The department would also engage the Belij hydroelectric project authorities for making the premises and surroundings of the power station greener.

Giving this information here today, Chief Conservator of Forests ARM Reddy said by adopting this noble way of celebrating the birthday, forest officials would plead with the public to plant a sapling on their birthday every year. This practice would ameliorate environment of the region, he added.

Chamba, February 7
One house developed cracks and the electrical wiring of about six houses was damaged after lightning struck these at far-off Phagot village in Raipur panchayat of Bhattiyat subdivision here on Tuesday night, a report said here yesterday.

However, there was no loss of life, the report said.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Bhattiyat Amit Mehra said revenue officials of the area had been directed to rush to the incident site and take stock of the situation.

The SDM appealed to residents of the area to coordinate with the officials in providing information about such incidents of natural calamities so that they could be provided assistance as per the relief manual. 

Shimla, February 7
Facing a complaint against the new electromechanical meters and inflated bills, Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited yesterday stopped the installation of these meters under the restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) in 14 towns across the state.

The HPSEB move followed after consumers complained of inflated electricity bills in Shimla, Solan, Baddi, Mandi, Dharamsala, Kullu and other towns. As many as 14 towns have been covered under the scheme.

As per HPSEBL, the complainants can refer the case to the sub-division concerned to redress faulty billings. Replacement of the balance electromechanical meters has been stopped temporarily till changes in data are incorporated in the computerised billing system. No surcharge will be taken from the consumer for wrong billing, said the officials. According to consumers, the bills have increased three to four times ever since the new meters were installed.

Shimla, February 7
Various departments of the state government, state public undertakings, universities and local bodies incurred an expenditure of over Rs 17.68 crore on advertisements from January 1 to November 30, last year. Maximum advertisements, costing Rs 9.32 crore, were released by the Information and Public Relations Department. The print media had a lion’s share of Rs 15.42 crore, said official sources. The electronic media, including Doordarshan, Akashvani and other TV channels, got advertisements worth Rs 2.35 crore.

The Health and Family Welfare Department spent Rs 71.70 lakh on advertisements. The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment released advertisements worth Rs 50.2 lakh. The Tourism and Civil Aviation Department released advertisements amounting to Rs 47.95 lakh. The Information Technology Department spent Rs 27.70 lakh on promotion, while the Irrigation and Public Health Department's total expenditure on advertisement was Rs 25.90 lakh. The Excise and Taxation Department spent Rs 17.57 lakh on ads.

Among the public undertakings, the Civil Supply Corporation topped in releasing advertisements worth Rs 75.08 lakh, the state Electricity Board spent Rs 60.60 lakh, followed by Himachal Pradesh University (Rs 49.32 lakh), HP Urban Development Authority (Rs 41.83 lakh). Municipal councils and nagar panchayats also released advertisements worth Rs 35.83 lakh.

Bilaspur, February 7
The Government of India, Ministry of Law and Justice (Department of Legal Affairs) has sought reaction and comments of the Himachal Government over all issues and objections raised by the Himachal Pradesh State Employees Confederation over state government’s proposal to revive Himachal Pradesh Administrative Tribunal. The tribunal was closed several years ago and the state government wants to revive it on employees demand.

State president of the HP State Employees Confederation Vinod Kumar said here today the confederation had objected to the revival of this tribunal, which had proved itself as white elephant for the state government. He said the tribunal was spending huge funds of the poor hill state. It was not serving the purpose for which it was set up as it had failed to provide quick and cheaper justice to employees of the state. As many as 23,000 cases were pending with the tribunal without any solution and relief to employees for the last several years.

The confederation also expressed doubts regarding the tribunal being insulated against any direct or indirect pressures of the state government due to some of its provisions. In almost all cases, the state government was the respondent against all complaints and petitions of employees. This was against principles of natural justice as the respondent was appointing authority of judges in the tribunal.

Shimla, February 7
The Himachal Pradesh Medical Officers Association (HPMOA) yesterday sought a probe into the exorbitant fee structure notified by the Health and Medical Education Department for private medical colleges in the state as it would almost loot students enrolled in these colleges.

In a memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, the HPMOA demanded that the fee structure in private colleges be looked into and made comparable with that in adjoining states like Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand.

As per the notification by the previous principal health secretary, the fee structure in private colleges for MBBS in Himachal Pradesh is Rs 5 lakh. This fee is charged from those students who are selected on merit from HPU. For others, a private medical college will charge Rs 9 lakh as fee plus other charges, they claimed.

They cited the fee structure of Punjab for comparison. It was Rs 2 lakh for those selected on merit list and Rs 6 lakh for others as per the Punjab Government notification No. 5/3/2010-3HB-III/4397 issued on July 30, 2013.

The association further claimed the State Medical Council had become a defunct body for the last few years as it had failed to monitor medical profession and practices. It had failed to check quacks in the state and people of state were paying the price through their nose, they said.

The election of the State Medical Council had not been conducted by the Director, Medical Education, who had also been president of the council for the last many years, they pointed out.

Youth killed in road mishap

Nahan, February 7
A youth was killed while two others were grievously injured when a pick-up utility vehicle (HP-71-2265) rolled down into a gorge on the Dadahu-Haripur road on Tuesday.

The driver, Ram Dutt (26) of Lana Masur village, was killed on the spot while two others, Kalyan and Rajinder, were referred to the PGI, Chandigarh, in the evening after receiving preliminary treatment at Dadahu and Nahan.

Kalyan and Rajinder hailed from Khillaur and Banlong villages. Prithvi Singh, Tehsildar, Sangrah, visited the spot after receiving information about the accident. He extended a financial assistance of Rs 20,000 to next of kin of the deceased and Rs 5,000 to the two injured. — TNS

He also welcomed the efforts for augmenting the railway connectivity to Baddi and greenfield airport for Shimla.

Terming the focus on skill development as a positive step, Arun Rawat, vice-chairman, CII Himachal Pradesh, said focus on agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairy, hydro energy and tourism will help explore the vast potential of these sectors and bring revenue to the state.

Sanjay Khurana, Convenor, CII HP Panel on Economic Affairs, said measures like deduction in excise duty, proposals to simplify administration of taxes, movement of goods at barriers and incentives for new investments in stamp duty, electricity duty along with strengthening of Single Window System will help attract investment.

SL Singla, President Himachal Drug Manufacturers Association, while lauding the government for reducing the electricity duty, said it would especially help promote new investment. He said the announcement to bring 80,000 youth under the skill development allowance scheme will help enhance the level of employable skills, thus booting employment and helping the industry.

The Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Industries Association however opined that the reduction in electricity duty was much less than 2 to 4 per cent announced in the budget though a special rate of meagre 5% for the new industry will go a long way in attracting fresh investment.