Shimla, March 11
Heavy rain lashed mid and lower hills of the state while higher reaches and tribal areas had another spell of moderate snowfall Stormy conditions prevailed in the region for the second day.

Shimla received 36 mm rain, while Kufri, Kharapathar and Narkanda experienced more snow, causing a sharp fall in the temperature.

Narkanda, Kharapathar and Fagu received 25 cm snow while Shali and Hatu Peak received 30 cm snow.

The vehicular traffic on Hindustan-Tibet National Highway was disrupted.

The tribal areas experienced moderate to heavy snowfall and Keylong , Bharmaur and Kalpa received 35 cm, 15 cm and 10 cm snow, respectively, while the high-altitude tribal areas were covered under a thick blanket of snow. Jubbal in Shimla district was wettest with 60 mm rain, while tourist resort of Manali had 48 mm rain, followed by Tissa 47 mm, Kheri 45 mm, Saloni 37 mm, Kotkhai 36 mm, Kandaghat 32 mm, Baldwara 30 mm, Karsog 28 mm, Solan 26 mm, Kasauli 25 mm, Rajgarh, Dharampur and Sunni Bhajji 24 mm each.

An avalanche threat loomed large in high-altitude tribal areas following heavy snowfall. Bharmaur recorded minimum temperature at -10°C, while Keylong recorded a low of -4.7°C, followed by Kalpa and Manali -1°C, Dalhousie 1.4°C, Shimla 2.2 °C and Nahan 5°C, respectively.

The local Met office has predicted inclement weather for tomorrow also.

Kangra, March 11
Heavy rain and hailstorm lashed the Kangra valley today, while the Dhauladhar mountain range experienced fresh snow.

The sky remained overcast throughout the day, but air connectivity continued at its normal pace.

A senior scientist of the oil seed research station of the HPKV said rain, hailstorm and low temperature had damaged crops. He said besides oil seeds and gram and lentil pulses, fruits such as plum and peach were damaged at their flowering stage.

Kangra recorded 30 mm rain during the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, lightning damaged a house at Ansui village. There was disruption in power supply due to bad weather.

Shahpur, Mallan, Palampur, Nagrota Bagwan, Icchhi, Gaggal, Ranital, Dhraman, Jawalamukhi, Dehra, McLeodganj, Bhagsunag, Naddi and Dharamsala received rain.

Shimla, March 11
Residents faced an eight-hour-long power cut after a tree fell on the main Totu-Bharari transmission line due to a storm that lashed the city last night.

Adding to the miseries of the city residents was the fresh chill that had been sweeping the state for the past two days.

“There was no electricity since morning and we faced a tough time,” rued Sandeep Thakur, a resident of New Shimla.

Banking and business sectors were affected as the power backup conked off after an hour. Many government offices had to rely on diesel-run generators.

Major areas, including The Mall, Lower and Middle Bazaars, New Shimla, Totu and Bharari, were hit by the power cut.

The HPSEB tried to feed other pockets through alternative lines till the main line was restored, said engineers.

BC Negi, Managing Director, HPSEB, said the staff managed to restore the line around 4 pm.

Shimla, March 11
Four families were rendered homeless after a major fire broke out in a three-storey building near Jain temple at the Middle Bazaar in Shimla today.

A major tragedy was averted as the fire brigade immediately reached the spot and stopped the fire from spreading to the adjoining buildings.

There was no loss of human life. The fire reportedly broke out at 3:10 pm. Two fire tenders, positioned 150 metres away, doused the flames. Tikender Singh Pawar, Deputy Mayor, Shimla Municipal Corporation, also arrived at the spot and assisted in fire-fighting operation.

The cause of the fire and actual loss is yet to be ascertained. Shimla Deputy Commissioner, Dinesh Malhotra, said immediate relief and shelter had been provided to the affected families. The fire broke out during the day while it was drizzling, which helped in controlling it in time.

Saurabh, an eye-witness said, around 20 firemen took around 30 minutes to bring the fire under control.

Shimla, March 11
The future of the first batch of around 150 MBBS students in the newly set up Maharshi Markandeshwar Medical College Hospital (MMMC) near Kumarhatti in Solan is at stake as its management has failed to sort out its affiliation.

The Medical Council of India (MCI) allowed the college to admit 150 students in the first MBBS batch. The MMMC authorities had informed the council the college was affiliated to the Maharshi Markendashwar University (MMU) at Kumarhatti. Sources said the university did not have the power to affiliate the college under the MM University (Establishment and Regulation) Act 2010.

The state government granted Essentiality Certificate to the Maharshi Markendashwar University Trust on August 24, 2012. The MCI on July 12, 2013, granted “letter of intent” to the Trust to set up the college.

Two days later, the Medical Council of India issued the “letter of permission” to the secretary Maharshi Markandeshwar University Trust, Ambala, to set up a new medical college. Though the letter was issued to the Trust, the approval came from the MCI’s board of governors.

The college applied to the State Department of Health on July 22, 2013 for approving the fee structure and admission procedure, applicable only to those colleges affiliated to the Himachal Pradesh University (HPU).

While applying for the Essentiality Certificate, the management had agreed to the HPU affiliation as well as to a 50 per cent seat quota.

The government decision to allow the MMM College to go ahead with admission process raised a controversy as to why the college applied for fixing the fee structure if it was a private college affiliated to a private university.

A meeting chaired by Acting Chief secretary P Mitra in its January 1 meeting decided that “The MMM College is a medical college affiliated to HPU and all formalities are to be completed by the college”.

The minutes of the meeting were conveyed to the college on January 10, but the college management is yet to tell how it will implement the government’s directions.

The government has also informed the MCI about its decision, but there has been no response. It is uncertain who would conduct the exams for the first semester students.

Shimla, March 11
In a bid to prepare for the forthcoming World Trade Organisation (WTO) regime, the clamour for planting high-yielding rootstocks apple varieties has picked up among apple farmers in the state.

But farmers are not prepared to meet this free trade challenge as they lack infrastructure and the rootstocks apple plants at reasonable price. The Churah-based cooperative society is selling about 10,000 apple trees raised on rootstocks after the society procured them from an Italian Griba company in Theog to promote root stocks in the apple belt.

We are charging Rs 400 to Rs 420 per tree from farmers. A rebate would be given to bulk buyers, said OP Sharma, general manager of the society.

On the other hand, the Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, would be raising about 40,000 root stocks apple plants by next year as the university had signed a MoU with Griba company, said Dr Vijay Thakur, Vice-Chancellor of the university.

But university and promoters have yet to win the confidence of farmers who have raised their old orchards on seedlings.

There are some individual farmers, who have raised root stocks-based orchards in some isolated pockets in Kotgarh, Kotkhai, Ruildhar and Maroag (Chopal) that accounts for less than one per cent of the total area under apple crop in the state.

The rootstocks apple was the only way out to meet the WTO challenge, said Rakesh Singha, president, Himachal Apple Association. The university had failed to develop even a single rootstocks that could suit local soil and climate conditions. The price of rootstocks apple trees was unaffordable to small and marginal farmers, he added.

The import duties should be more than 50 per cent to save domestic apple from getting ruined as farmers have primitive transport system. The USA, Europe and China were new players in the apple industry, said Laxman Thakur, chairman, ECO Horticulture society.

Managing director, HP Produce, Processing and Marketing Corporation (HPMC), Jagdish Sharma, who has raised a M-9 rootstocks orchard in Theog said, “Farmers need a complete switch over to rootstocks apple to sell and compete in global markets, which is dominated by low-gestation apple varieties. Efforts should be made to educate farmers on how to raise orchards as seedlings take ten years to fetch samples.”

But Dr Vijay Thakur said the university had tried its best to popularise the rootstocks by developing colonial rootstocks, but there were no takers as sloppy terrain and climatic conditions act as irritants. We would provide rootstocks plants next year at Rs 300 per tree, he added. 

New Delhi, March 11
Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s wife and Congress’ sitting Lok Sabha member from Mandi today said disunity and mistrust among party leaders in the state was a major challenge for the party on the eve of the General Election.

Set to be fielded again from the Mandi seat which she won by a margin of 1.36 lakh votes in the last elections, Pratibha Singh in veiled, but obvious references to factionalism in the state Congress over the issue of ticket distribution for upcoming polls said the older guard was finding it difficult to take the young along.

The reference was clearly to Himachal Pradesh Congress president Sukhwinder Sukhu who has been pushing for the candidature of state industry minister Mukesh Agnihotri from Hamirpur at a time when the Chief Minister has repeatedly recommended BJP rebel and independent MLA from the region Rajinder Rana.

Talking about the transition in the party under the leadership of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and the continuing tensions between the older and the younger guard, Pratibha Singh said, “Rahuji’s experiment to field the young in important positions is welcome and desirable but I feel it needs to be remodelled to ensure maximum electoral returns.

Disunity between the old and young on issues of critical political importance should not cost the party dear. That balance has to be struck,”Pratibha Singh said.

Positive about winning maximum Lok Sabha seats in Himachal, the sitting Mandi MP said while the wave of BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was palpable, he would have no impact in Himachal.

She backed up her claims by recounting the last Assembly elections in the state where she said the candidates of BJP lost despite Modi touring tribal areas in their favour.

“The Modi wave is hyped up though we can sense it but in Himachal it will have no impact,” she said admitting that corruption and inflation were the two factors that had harmed Congress’ public image.

When questioned on whether she would not lose out on votes in the upcoming polls considering her name and that of the CM has cropped up recently in a case where they are accused of accepting cash loans from the promoter of a hydro power firm in return for the favour of extension to his project granted by the CM.

Defending herself and the CM, Pratibha said, "Ï have a simple question: if the CM is so corrupt, why do people elect him again and again? This is his sixth term. Moreover, we have nothing to hide. We have clearly said we needed money for the upkeep of our palaces. The banks denied a loan to the CM as he was overage. I was denied a loan because the properties were not in my name and I could not have pledged them. So we took loan from a friend and are now returning the same. What’s a wrongdoing there?” she asked.

Solan, March 11
In a major boost to the BJP, four office-bearers of the Himachal Lokhit Party, district president AK Dhar, party nominee for the Solan Vidhan Sabha seat OP Kant, senior vice-president AK Wasuja and vice-president Subhash Sharma, joined the BJP along with their supporters today.

Dr Rajiv Bindal, general secretary, state BJP, and MLA, Nahan, said the Congress-led UPA government had meted out a step-motherly treatment to Himachal by not releasing adequate funds for natural disaster.

Addressing mediapersons at Baddi after presiding over a meeting of district BJP unit, he said the state had suffered losses worth Rs 2,935 crore and a compensation of Rs 1,935 crore had been sought, but the claim was ignored.

He said the Centre had extended special aid to Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar and recently formed states but Himachal had been given a step-motherly treatment. Its ration quota had been reduced and price of sugar had been enhanced.

Bindal said even the special industrial package extended to the state by the former BJP government had been curtailed.

He said the failure to extend the package with all concessions had affected employment generation.

Lashing out at the Congress government's failure to get the rail network extended, he said the Centre had been misleading the people on the issue of rail expansion for the last 10 years.

He said the Congress government had even failed to get its due of 7.11 per cent share despite the apex court's ruling and this had denied Rs 4,200 crore to the state.

Bindal said the common man suffered with the price of LPG registering a steep increase.

He criticised Rahul Gandhi for failing to address the grievances of the youth and said the Congress was neck-deep in corruption.

Others present included Virender Kashyap, BJP nominee for Shimla and sitting MP, MLAs and other office-bearers of the district BJP.

Shimla, March 11
The Congress has begun preparations for the rally of AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi to be held at Dharamsala on March 20.

Addressing a press conference here today, Naresh Chauhan, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson, said Rahul would address the rally at 11.30 am on Police Ground in Dharamsala. He said Rahul would be honoured by ex-servicemen for getting their long pending demand of one rank, one pension approved by the government.

“Ex-servicemen will honour Rahul Gandhi at the Tanda Medical College auditorium at 10.30 am after which he will leave for Dharamsala to address a gathering,” Chauhan said. The rally which was earlier scheduled for March 8 had been postponed, he added.

He said thousands of party workers, supporters and people would gather in Dharamsala to hear the views of Rahul on various issues concerning Himachal and the entire country. He said the main focus of the rally would be on the Lok Sabha elections. He said ministers, MLAs and all party office-bearers had been entrusted responsibilities for the rally.

He said PCC office-bearers, Executive Committee members, MLAs, ministers, block observers, District Congress Committee presidents, Block Congress Committee presidents and heads of frontal organisation would participate in an interaction session with Rahul Gandhi after the rally.

Shimla, March 11
The BJP today accused the Congress of violating the code of conduct and said the issue of colourful advertisement regarding the progress of MGNREGA in Mandi district was a serious violation of code of conduct.

In a complaint to the Chief Election Officer, BJP spokesperson Ganesh Dutt pointed out that even after the code of conduct came into force, Congress leaders were inaugurated incomplete buildings and used state helicopter on March 5.

The Transport Minister assured the employees that their demands would be considered at a meeting in Dharamsala Secretariat on March 8.

Shimla, March 11
The High Court today adjourned the hearing on a petition seeking quashing of an FIR against the HPCA and its president Anurag Thakur for March 19, 2014.

During the course of hearing, the counsel for the petitioners sought adjournment and it was granted and the case was adjourned for the next date.

Acting Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmed Mir passed this order on a petition filed by the HPCA and its president Anurag Thakur for seeking quashing of FIR registered against the cricket body. The FIR was registered by the Dharamsala office of the Vigilance Bureau on August 1, 2013.

It was contended in the petition that once the state government had withdrawn its decision of cancellation of lease deeds, no criminal action could be maintained. It added that the FIR did not disclose any offence and the Prevention of Corruption Act was not attracted as the petitioners were not public servants.

It was alleged that the FIR was an attempt to grab the control of the HPCA.

Shimla, March 11
The Election Department today issued directions to the Food and Supplies Department to withdraw public distribution system (PDS) bags and ration cards carrying pictures of political leaders. The decision has been taken after the BJP filed a complaint regarding photographs of political leaders on PDS bags and ration cards.

A spokesman said the Food and Supplies Department had said, “No PDS bag or ration card carrying photographs of political leaders is being given to consumers now”.

The department clarified that the bags with photographs were provided to those beneficiaries, who were invited at the launch of a scheme under the National Food Security Act, 2013, on September 20, 2013, much before the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct.

Draft forms were being sent to all District Food and Supplies Controllers (DFSCs) and Block Development Officers (BDOs). All BDOs had been directed to print forms without any photograph for the gram panchayats for the distribution to panchayat secretaries so that fresh forms may be made available to public. In the urban areas, DFSCs would ensure that people get plain forms.

The Food and Civil Supplies Department also said SMSes had been sent to all panchayati raj members and gram panchayat secretaries and DFSCs, BDOs and inspectors had also been informed.

Mandi, March 11
The revenue officers in Kullu, Mandi, Bilaspur and Hamirpur districts have been asked to ensure strict implementation of the model code of conduct.

Onkar Sharma, Divisional Commissioner, Central Range, has also asked them to videograph all public meetings.

Addressing a meeting of revenue officers here today, the commissioner has also instructed them to expedite the decision of revenue cases to provide relief to people and decide cases pertaining to unauthorised encroachment and anganwadi workers on priority.

He also asked them to work in close coordination with other departments to speed up development works.

Deputy Commissioners of Mandi, Kullu, Bilaspur and Hamirpur were present at the meeting. — TNS

Shimla, March 11
Independent MLA Rajinder Singh Rana has shot off a letter to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, justifying his claim for the ticket from Hamirpur.

Even as the decision on the candidate from Hamirpur is still pending, the letter from Rana is being viewed as a last-ditch effort to convince party bosses to declare him as the nominee. It is learnt that during the last two days, CM Virbhadra Singh too has impressed upon the high command in Delhi that Rana was the most suitable candidate that Congress could field.

“My loyalty towards the Congress must not be doubted as I am willing to forgo my Assembly seat if the Congress gives me the ticket,” said Rana. He added that in the letter written to Sonia, he had pointed out that he had been an associate member of the Congress in the Assembly for the past more than one year. Incidentally, Rana was a Dhumal loyalist who, on being denied the BJP ticket, had contested as an independent. Party sources said Virbhadra had hardened his stand and made it clear that it would not be possible for him to spare Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri for contesting from Hamirpur. Agnihotri too is reluctant to contest against sitting BJP MP Anurag Thakur.

However, state Congress Committee president Sukhwinder Sukhu too has tried to convince the high command that Agnihotri was the strongest candidate that the party could field.

“Before the ticket is finalised, everyone has the right to express opinion on the candidates and as such I do not believe that Sukhu is opposing me,” said Rana, when asked about the reservations that party president has on his name. He added that he was confident that the Congress would finally clear his name and would contest from Hamirpur.

He, however, evaded a reply on the issue of the Congress giving him the Assembly ticket from Sujanpur if he lost the parliamentary elections. “Though the CM has already clarified the position on this issue earlier, this is a question which needs to be dealt with at the later stage and not now,” he said.

To be able to contest the Lok Sabha election, Rana will have to lose his membership from the Assembly by resigning before filing his nomination. In he loses, he will become a natural claimant for the Assembly ticket from Sujanpur which he had won with a margin of over 14,000 votes.

Una, March 11
One person was killed on the spot as lightning struck the premises in which he was working at Thathal village under the Amb sub-division of the district here today.

Two others, who received severe burn injuries, have been admitted to the Amb Community Health Centre.

The deceased has been identified as Bhim Singh (40), a resident of Kathmandu. The injured include Ram Piare (35) from Dhandhari village and Dinesh Kumar (18) from Rajasthan.

Superintendent of Police Anupam Sharma said three persons were working in a private enterprise when lightning struck. He said the body had been shifted to the Una District Hospital for a postmortem examination.

It may be mentioned that a public call office (PCO) was burnt in Una a few days ago due to lightning. Heavy rainfall and strong winds were witnessed in the region late last night. There were reports of damage to standing wheat and mustard crop.

Palampur, March 11
Hundreds of Tibetans took out a procession and supported the movement for freedom of Tibet here today.

The procession was taken out on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day against repression and occupation of Tibet by the People’s Republic of China in 1959.

Protesters marched through various streets raising anti-China slogans. Later, a rally was organised at the Gandhi ground. Tibetans leaders paid tributes to bravemen, women and youths who sacrificed their lives for the cause of the Tibetan community, particularly those who lost their lives during the non-violent protests carried out in Tibet.

The leaders appealed to the international community to press the Chinese government to allow the United Nations High Commissioner for the entry of the Human Rights Groups to Tibet. They sought access to diplomats and the international media.

This way, the truth about the grave situation in Tibet could be unveiled and self-immolations abated, they added.

Various speakers said continuing vicious cycle of repression in Tibet had forced a number of Tibetans setting themselves on fire. They disclosed that since 2009, 126 Tibetans had self-immolated for the cause of their nation. Such a high toll was perhaps unprecedented in the recent world history.

They said though most of the self-immolators were monks, their ranks included full spectrum of Tibetans — nomads, farmers and students — from Tibetan regions of U-Tsang, Kham and Amdo, including Lhasa, the capital city.

Tibetans and Indians of Bir, Chauntra and Tashi Jong (HP), including monks, nuns and students, participated in the procession.

Solan, March 11
The Centre released the first instalment of Rs 3.25 crore for a composite testing laboratory coming up at Baddi.

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma had announced setting up the lab during his visit to the state in September last year. The lab will facilitate 320 pharmaceutical units housed in the industrial Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh belt.

While the total project costs Rs 8 crore, the first instalment will help in preparing a detailed project report to finalise the lab requirements.

Since the Himachal Drug Manufacturing Association (HDMA) will help run the lab, the Centre had sought information from the state government whether it had the wherewithal to do so.

“The association is now on a lookout for a suitable land. Some sites have been inspected, but the final site is yet to be selected,” SL Singla, president of the association, said.

Singla said they would make testing facilities available at half the price to small-scale investors. The working of the lab would be supervised by the HDMA once it was set up.

He said since the state did not have a referral lab and there was only one composite testing lab at Kandaghat, which catered to the pharmaceutical sector comprising 700 units in the state, the HDMA would try to get this lab recognised by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration of Laboratories. This could then be enlisted as a government-accredited lab, which would help pharma manufacturers.

Solan, March 11
District Collector (DC) Madan Chauhan today vested 34.1 bigha land bought illegally by a Delhi resident by violating the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972, in the state government. A special investigating team of the police had earlier inquired into this case and recommended to the Deputy Commissioner to vest it in the government.

This has become the first case where the land is vested in the government.

Chauhan said it had been found that Delhi resident Sudhir Marwaha had presented a fake agriculturist certificate on March 8, 2011, to buy the land which included 12.13 bigha in Kothi village in Solan and 21.17 bigha in Chapla and Savar villages in Kasauli tehsil.

Marwaha had used a fake stamp paper and also forged signatures of a revenue official to prepare a fake certificate. This had formed the basis of several land deals in Kasauli and Sirmaur.

The police have also registered a case of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy against Marwaha and his accomplice Harminder Singh. They had connived at making a fake certificate to facilitate various land deals in Solan and Sirmaur districts.

The case had come to light in 2013 when a complaint was made by Ramesh Chauhan, Dinesh Kumar, Bhupinder and Rajinder Singh that a fake certificate had been used to purchase land in Solan and Sirmaur districts.

Several cases of land bought on fake agriculture certificates have been surfacing in Solan and Sirmaur but little have been done. This has emboldened the wrong-doers who are buying land against norms.

Madan Chauhan urged the people to come forward with such complaints and said their names would be kept secret.

Nurpur, March 11
Rakesh Kumar (45) of Raja ka Talab was injured seriously and later succumbed to his injuries when a speeding Mohindra Jeep (HP-22B-1979) collided with his motorcycle (HP 38A-5307) at Rod on the Jassur-Talwara highway last evening.

According to information, the accident victim was rushed to the Nurpur Civil Hospital from where he was referred to the Tanda Medical College in Kangra. The family then shifted him to a private hospital at Pathankot where he succumbed to his injuries.

DSP Manoj Joshi said the police had registered a case under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC against Jeep driver Balkar Singh of Basan Da Mor. He was arrested and bailed out by the police.

Meanwhile, the body of the deceased had been handed over to the family after a post-mortem examination.

Una, March 11
Santosh Kumari from Jalandhar was found dead in a tented accommodation near the Dera Baba Badbhag Singh shrine in Mairi village of the district today. She had come to pay obeisance during the ongoing Hola Mohalla fair.

During the10-day fair, hundreds of tents have been pitched to accommodate devotees.

Amb DSP Sagar Chand said a case had been registered and the body sent to hospital for a post-mortem examination.

In another incident, Amritsar resident Parkash Kaur, wife of Mahinder Singh, was allegedly drugged and looted by some persons. Police sources said the woman was still in a dazed condition at the Amb Community Health Centre, but had reported lost gold jewellery and cash.

Even though the Himachal Government has enforced the guidelines on the use of red beacons on vehicles of constitutional authorities as per Supreme Court directives, there are some who just can't get over the use of this status symbol.

Notwithstanding the fact that the new guidelines have come into effect from March 10, there are several officers, especially in the police, who have stopped using the flasher but refuse to remove it from atop their vehicles. Many vehicles can still be seen with the red lights, though covered, as officials are no longer entitled to use these.