Shimla, March 8
The big fight in Hamirpur between the ruling Congrees and the BJP is yet to begin as the Congress has not decided its candidate. Ditto for the BJP in Mandi.

Contrary to expectations, the Congress did not finalise the candidate from Hamirpur at its meeting in Delhi to decide candidates from various states yesterday.

Though the likelihood of the Congress fielding former MP Chander Kumar from Kangra and Rohru MLA Mohan Lal Brakta from Shimla Lok Sabha seat is high, a final decision in this regard is awaited.

For Mandi, the Congress Central Screening Committee has cleared the name of its sitting MP Pratibha Singh. There is indecision on the seats of Kangra, Rohru and Hamirpur.

The BJP has cleared the names of three of its candidates from Hamirpur, Kangra and Shimla. A formal decision is awaited for Mandi. The decision could be taken at the BJP’s meeting in Delhi on March 12. The names under consideration include those of sitting MLA Govind Thakur and Kargil hero Brig Kushal Thakur (retd).

Sources said the top brass of the Congress was still unsure about the candidate to be fielded from Hamirpur, from where Anurag Thakur, BJP MP and son of former Chief Minister PK Dhumal, will contest for a third term.

Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and MLA from Sujanpur Rajinder Rana are under consideration for being fielded from Hamirpur.

“I have already conveyed my views to the high command at the Central Election Committee meeting where the state Congress president and AICC general secretary were present,” said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

He said the final decision from the high command was awaited. Virbhadra is backing the candidature of independent MLA from Sujanpur Rajinder Rana who is an associate member of the Congress in the Assembly.

At the same time, state Congress chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has recommended the name of Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who is reluctant to contest.

Hamirpur, March 8
Former Chief Minister PK Dhumal today said rebels who had left the party and joined the HLP were welcome in the BJP.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Dhumal said, “Some partymen had left the BJP and joined the HLP, but many of them have joined back and a few more are willing to rejoin the party.”

He said, “All such partymen are welcome to join the BJP. This will strengthen the party for its battle in the forthcoming parliamentary elections.”

Dhumal said, “The state government has violated the model code of conduct by transferring 700 state government employees after the announcement of the elections and the BJP has made a complaint to the Election Commission in this regard.”

“The Election Commission of India has been apprised of the helicopter misuse on the day of announcement of the election,” he added.

He alleged, “The state government has created an atmosphere of fear and certain officials are trying to terrorise the employees. They warned the officers to desist from such tactics.”

Former BJP MLA from Ghumarwin, Karam Dev Dharmani, who had left the party to join the HLP, returned to the BJP today and was present at the press conference.

State BJP president Satpal Satti was also present on the occasion. 

Solan, March 8
With the cantonment board refusing to supply adequate water to the Central Research Institute (CRI) at Kasauli, the country’s premier institute is facing a dire shortage of water to meet its production requirements.

Earlier the institute, including its residential and official campus, was being provided nearly 75,000 litres of water every day, but the supply had been reduced by 30-40 per cent these days. As per board officials, the supply will further reduce by March 31.

The board, which looks after the water distribution, has been pleading for water, thus forcing the institute management to arrange water through tankers.

Manufacturers of life-saving injections, including the Diptheria Pertussis Tetanus group vaccines, and crucial anti-sera for rabies, snake bite, etc, use the tank water drawn from open natural sources which is unfit for manufacturing work.

Such water has to be treated first and then tested before putting it to use in the manufacturing processes. This has not only increased the hardships of the institute staff, but their plea to restore the entire supply has also failed to be addressed by the board.

Since the management of the institute was going through a major phase of initiating production of vaccines under manufacturing norms laid down by the World Health Organisation, any issues with the purity of water could adversely affect its production activities.

Sources from the institute confided that many problems were faced when tank water was used in manufacturing activities.

Institute Director Dr Sunil Gupta said the casual approach adopted by the authorities had disheartened them.

He said the institute had apprised the officials concerned of the problem, but to no avail.

Deputy Commissioner Madan Chauhan said he had requested the Irrigation and Public Health Department to help the institute. He would take up the matter with the defence authorities so that the research institute did not suffer, he said.

Una, March 8
The 10-day Hola Mohalla fair commenced at the famous Baba Badbhag Singh shrine at Mairi village of Amb subdivision in Una district today.

The shrine has been named after Sikh spiritual leader Badbhag Singh. It is believed that Sikh fighters gave a tough resistance to Afghan king Ahmad Shad Abdali’s forces, who invaded parts of Punjab. Badbhag Singh also led one such struggle, during which he is believed to have reached Mairi village, 40 km from Una.

Here, with his divine powers, Badbhag Singh is believed to have flooded a rivulet to keep the Afghan army away. He later went into penance in the dense forests of Mairi and is learnt to have captured Nahar Singh, who was troubling local residents.

Nahar Singh was caged and nailed to a ber tree. Before releasing Nahar Singh, Badbhag Singh cured people suffering from mental illnesses and blessed childless couples.

The shrine has a ber tree, where people pay obeisance, have bath in the adjoining stream Charan Ganga and discard old clothes as part of the rituals. The fair attracts around eight to 10 lakh devotees from northern states, particularly Punjab.

The district administration has claimed to have made adequate arrangements of essential items, electricity, health and sanitation.

The entire shrine area has been divided into nine sectors and about 1,000 security personnel have been deployed.

Solan, March 8
The decision to auction inter-state toll tax barriers for three years as against the earlier norm of annual auctions appears to have clicked well, with both Solan and Sirmaur districts selling off in the first round itself.

While in Solan district, the four barriers in Parwanoo were successfully auctioned for Rs 13.31 crore after fetching an increase of 15.26 per cent over the previous year, in Sirmaur, the four toll barriers were auctioned at Rs 14.15 crore, registering an increase of 11 per cent today.

Interestingly, though only two bidders came forward for the Parwanoo barriers, the four barriers of Sirmaur district saw as many as 120 bidders.

In the earlier annual auctions, the department had been facing problems in recovering the dues from the contractors as one year was considered a short period to settle down and earn profits after incurring various costs.

The auctions were held in the presence of the deputy commissioners of both districts and officials of the Excise and Taxation Department.

Sundernagar, March 8
The biggest cattle fair of northern India, the Narwar fair, will be organised here from March 22 to 28.

Harikesh Meena, Sundernagar SDM and Chairman of the Nalwar Mela Committee, while presiding over a meeting of officers from different departments and representatives of various organisations, said here yesterday that this year instead of six, five cultural nights would be organised. There would be an inter-college music competition.

He appealed to government departments and representatives of various organisations to work for the success of the seven-day cattle fair.

He said this year a target revenue of Rs 90 lakh had been fixed for the fair. The revenue mostly came from rent of plots allotted for shops and exhibitions, duty on the sale of cattle and donations from various organisations.

He took a serious view of the fact that senior officers of many departments did not attend the Mela committee meeting, but sent their juniors to attend it.

Shimla, March 8
The state may have made rapid strides in road construction and created a vast network of 25,770 km of roads in the tough hilly terrain, but their maintenance, especially in rural and remote areas, is posing serious challenges.

The repair and maintenance of roads damaged during the rainy season and snowfall have become a major headache for the Public Works Department (PWD) due to paucity of funds and shortage of departmental staff. The annual budget for the maintenance of roads, which is about Rs 385 crore, was not sufficient even for patchwork and the condition of roads in rural areas was pathetic.

To overcome the problem of funds and manpower, the PWD has prepared a draft policy envisaging routine maintenance, periodic maintenance, emergency maintenance and special repairs and creation of a dedicated maintenance fund on the analogy of the funds already created for roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), senior PWD officials said.

As per the draft proposal, the government would constitute a standing empowered committee to decide on the annual allocation of funds with a reasonable share for rural roads, explore avenues for mobilising additional resources and formulate an action plan for the “time-bound” removal of maintenance backlog.

It said the state should identify the backlog and remove it within five years. The funds for this purpose would be made available from the plan funds.

As per the survey by the department, the backlog of periodic maintenance as on January 2014, the length of very good and good roads is 5,267 km, fair roads 5,135 km and poor and very poor roads is 3,728 (total 14,130 km) and as per renewal cycle of five years, the cost of maintenance will be Rs 282.60 crore, while Rs 150.90 crore will be required for the maintenance of non-backlog roads.

After the implementation of the PMGSY, 1,000 km roads were constructed annually and the value of rural road assets was estimated at Rs 9,813 crore, which included Rs 4,999 crore for 6,885 km new connectivity and 2,339 km upgraded roads under the PMGSY. Under the non-PMGSY category, the value of the 15,546-core-road network was Rs 4,664 crore and Rs 150 crore for 1,000 km non-core roads.

Other measures planned in the draft policy, included setting up of a special task force to deal with emergency situations, institution of performance evaluation system to inform the government about delivery of maintenance system, formulation of calendar of training programme for technical officers and initiating outreach programmes to enhance training facilities for class-C and class-D contractors.

Palampur, March 8
Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) senior vice-president Subhash Sharma today said the party would not field its candidate for the Kangra-Chamba Parliamentary seat in the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll. The party would support Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Dr Rajan Sushant.

Addressing mediapersons here today, Sharma said the HLP would maintain distance from the Congress and the BJP and oppose both the parties in the elections.

He said the HLP had emerged as the third force in the state as it had secured a considerable number of votes in last Assembly elections and kept the BJP out of power in the state. He said there was no plan for an HLP-BJP merger in the state.

He said most of their leaders had left the BJP on the corruption issue during Prem Kumar Dhumal’s regime and till date the BJP had not initiated any action against its corrupt leaders who were still occupying high positions in the party.

Sharma said the HLP supported the policy and programmes of AAP which had strong convictions and launched a movement to fight against corruption in high offices and political system in the country.

He said the BJP had failed to launch aggressive campaign against the ruling Congress who had ruined the state in the past one year.

Village women, ignorant of International Women's Day, return home after collecting cattle fodder in Dharamsala on Saturday. Photo: Kamaljeet

The workshop culminated with the valedictory address of Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary. Retired judges of the Hight Court Justice DP Sood, Justice AK Goel and Justice DD Sud, Advocate General Shrawan Dogra, HP High Court Bar Association president Ashwani Pathak, Registrar General AC Dogra, High Court Registrars Sureshwar Thakur, Sushil Kukreja, KS Chandel and Arvind Malhotra, Judicial Academy director CB Barowalia, Joint Director Yaswant Chogal and Deputy Director Anuja Sood and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

Street plays, awareness campaign held

International Women’s Day was celebrated at the APG University today by celebrating achievements of women in all spheres of life.

The Department of Law held various activities, including poster making and staging street plays on topics such as honour killing, acid attacks, female foeticide, sexual harassment at work place, rape, eve-teasing and domestic violence. A workshop was held on sexual harassment with High Court Judge Justice SS Thakur (retd) being the key speaker. Law Department Director Trisha Sharma also spoke on the occasion.

Students also held a campaign on traffic rule and safety for women drivers at the St Bede’s Chowk and near the railway station.

‘Curbing crime against women is need of hour’

Additional Chief Secretary Social Justice Department PC Kapur said women empowerment could be ensured only when society was made free from domestic violence and women harassment.

Addressing the state-level International Women’s Day here today, PC Kapur said there was a need to change the mindset on women and ensure proper implementation of various women and child programmes in which all women organisations should come forward in the state. He said all social groups and organisations should join hands to eliminate the social evils such as female foeticide and discrimination against woman in society.

Woman and Child Development Department Director Madhubala Sharma gave a brief account on various schemes started by the state government.

Tug of war, leg race and sack race, musical chairs competitions were held on the occasion.

10 women scribes honoured

KULLU: As many as 10 women journalists of the Kullu valley were honoured on the eve of International Women’s Day at a function organised by the Press Club, Kullu, here yesterday.

Chief guest Dr Shivani Singh, wife of Banjar MLA Karan Singh, said women were the pillars of society.

Shalini Rai, Priyanka Rajput, Renuka Gautam, Nina Gautam, Kamlesh Verma, Neetu Sood, Indu Patiyal, Veena Jamwal, Nisha Kayath and Asha Dogra were presented mementos for their contributions to strengthen the fourth pillar of democracy. Renuka Gautam appreciated the efforts of the club to recognise the contributions of women.

Kullu, March 8
A peculiar custom saw residents of Malana village consuming halal meat of a ram yesterday. That marked the beginning of week-long Fagli festival. Residents also offered prayers to Mughal Emperor Akbar. It is said Akbar's men once forcibly snatched coins from two saints. They had brought those coins from Malana. The emperor's treasury is said to have been sullied as a result. He was afflicted with an ailment.

Legend has it that when Akbar came to know the facts through divine visions, he wished to personally pay homage to the village deity Jamlu Devta at Malana. He sent his own image along with the coins in order to rid himself of the curse.

It is said after being cured, he put out an edict stating that the inhabitants of the village would never be required to pay taxes. The image is worshipped since then and halal meat of a ram is offered, all in the name of tradition.

Kardar Brestu Ram and temple priest Surjanu said the vow came about as a result of a communication that is believed to have occurred between Jamlu Devta and Akbar. The villagers have thus stuck to the custom. In the evenings, women dance wearing traditional attires to propitiate Jamlu Rishi's wife Renuka. Residents of 12 villages are said to have joined in.

Palampur, March 8
LPG consumers in the state will now get a cylinder at Rs 452 from March 10 onwards instead of Rs 1,243.

Earlier oil companies in the state had discontinued the sale of subsidised cylinders from January 1, 2014, to consumers, who had to buy an LPG refill at Rs 1,243.

Official sources told this correspondent here today that three oil companies operating in the state had already received an e-mail from the Centre directing them to provide LPG cylinders to all consumers on old subsidised rate of Rs 452 per refill, whether they were linked with Aadhaar Card or not.

This decision has come as a major relief to those, who either could not make their Aadhaar Card or their cards were rejected because of some technical reason.

In rural areas, people had started using fuel wood for cooking instead of buying an LPG cylinder. All LPG dealership in the state were closed today and will also remain closed tomorrow since some changes were required in the electronic servers to facilitate the sale of subsided cylinders. After making the amendments, regular sale of LPG will begin from March 10.

LPG dealers of the district have hailed the decision, as they were facing several problems. Some consumers complained that they were not getting subsidy credited to their bank accounts.

Over 25 per cent LPG consumers in the state have still not linked the direct transfer of cash subsidy to their accounts, because of which they had to buy a cylinder for Rs 1,243.

Kullu, March 8
One Puran Chand (22) was badly injured, while three others managed to escape in a bear attack at Narauli village of Banjar subdivision in this district on Thursday. The bear attacked the villagers while they were working in their fields. Manohar Lal, Kamal Nayan and Raj Kumar and others managed to flee, but the ill-fated victim could not evade the assault by the beast. He was badly injured and recovering at Banjar hospital.

SDM Banjar Virender Sharma said Rs 5,000 had been provided to the victim as immediate relief.

There is an atmosphere of fear amongst residents because of wild beasts prowling close to their habitation. They have appealed to the authorities for help. Forest officials said due to snowfall in upper reaches, animals tended to descend from the mountains to the plains. They advised them to avoid wandering alone in early morning and nocturnal hours.

Nurpur, March 8
Two youths lost their lives in two hit-and-run cases in the last 24 hours near here. Sandeep Kumar (23) of Kaletar in Chuwari tehsil of Chamba district died on the Pathankot-Mandi national highway here today when a speeding truck hit the bike he was driving. The deceased was in the Indian Air Force and on leave. He had purchased a new motorcycle and was going to Pathankot to collect documents of his bike.

In another hit-and-run case, a vehicle hit a motorcycle at Nagabari, near here, on the Pathankot-Mandi national highway last evening. In the mishap pillion-rider Veeru Ram of Sarna (Pathankot) died on the spot, while Onkar Singh of the same village, who was driving the motorcycle, was injured seriously. He was rushed to a private hospital at Pathankot. The bike riders were going to their relatives at Baduee near Nagabari. DSP Manoj Joshi said the police had registered FIRs. — OC