Shimla, April 11
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) faces the leadership crisis in Shimla and Mandi as volunteers have accused some leaders of hijacking the party which has sent negative signals among voters.

AAP was kept in the dark by Shimla candidate Subhash Chander, who has a dubious track record as an NGO federation leader, charged AAP volunteer DR Bhardwaj, who worked in the Hazare movement. “The court of the Shimla Municipal Corporation has penalised Subhash for not paying his house rent worth Rs 20.18 lakh and arrears of water bills are not included in this and his selection has demoralised AAP workers,” he alleged.

The AAP volunteers, who had worked to establish party when Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal launched their anti-corruption movement in Delhi, had been sidelined, they resented.

“AAP national panel never sought our feedback before declaring the candidates for Shimla and Mandi seats. The party faces tough task ahead as certain leaders and anti-social elements have hijacked the party,” they charged.

AAP was struggling to find roots in the state. They hailed the decision of giving a ticket to Kamal Kanta Batra, mother of Capt Vikram Batra, the 1999 Kargil war hero, as she had been involved in social service, and Rajan Sushant from Kangra as he enjoyed a clean image, they claimed.

The candidature of Jai Chand Thakur, a retired agriculture officer, was being opposed as he was not involved in social service, said Des Raj, a state AAP volunteer, who has launched padyatras of farmers to raise awareness about wildlife menace and rights of Himachal in projects and was on hunger strike with Anna Hazare.

National AAP in charge for Himachal Col DP Atre said AAP had yet to open office in Shimla and appoint the officer-bearers. “National leaders will come to Himachal for campaigning and things will be sorted out,” he added. 

Shimla April 11
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his ministerial colleagues Vidya Stokes and Kaul Singh Thakur today lambasted the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) and the BJP for playing dirty politics against the Governor, who is the constitutional head of the state.

In a statement issued here, Virbhadra said HPCA spokesperson, who demanded removal of the Governor, was a pawn in the hands of his mentors, PK Dhumal and Anurag Thakur. “Before issuing such a statement, he should know what it means to target the Governor as this amounts to insulting a constitutional authority,” he said.

The Chief Minister said office-bearers of the HPCA were being used by the Dhumals as they did not have the courage to oppose them. “They are the agents of the BJP and their interference in state politics reflects that the sports body is not safe in their hands and a new democratically elected body needs to be constituted,” he remarked.

He said making reckless statements against the Governor was the insult of the constitutional provisions and Dhumal and his son need to learn lessons.

“Why should the HPCA be so agitated over the grant of prosecution sanction against Dhumal and Anurag as its responsibility is to promote sports and not to defend BJP leaders,” he quipped.

It meant that they were more interested in the Dhumals rather than in cricket. Anurag and Dhumal were playing dirty politics in the garb of the HPCA, alleged the Chief Minister and were distracting the people from the real issues of development.

The Chief Minister said the HPCA must apologise for its irresponsible comments against the Governor.

Vidya Stokes and Kaul Singh, in a separate statement, also condemned the irresponsible behaviour of the HPCA. “It is unfortunate that the BJP and the HPCA have levelled unfounded allegations against the Governor which reflect their utter disregard for the highest constitutional office in the state,” they regretted.

They said the demand of the HPCA office-bearers to oust the Governor on the issue revealed the unholy nexus between BJP leaders and the HPCA, which is behaving more like a political body than a sports body. 

HPCA Case

* HPCA spokesperson, who demanded removal of the Governor, is a pawn in the hands of his mentors, PK Dhumal and Anurag Thakur

* Office-bearers of the HPCA are being used by the Dhumals

* Why should the HPCA be so agitated over the grant of prosecution sanction against Dhumal and Anurag as its responsibility is to promote sports

Una, April 11
Member of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) from Haroli segment and former vice-chairman of the Agro Packaging Corporation Omkar Sharma today said former minister Vijay Joshi’s entry into the BJP made no difference either to the Congress or the BJP.

In a communiqué, he said Joshi had lost his security deposits in the last three Assembly elections from here.

Joshi, a former Congress minister and three-time MLA, had joined the BJP in the presence of Leader of the Opposition Prem Kumar Dhumal and state BJP president Satpal Singh Satti on Thursday in Una.

Sharma said Joshi had begun his career as Janata Party MLA in 1977 and joined the Congress in the next elections. Thereafter, as his relations with then Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh turned sour, he joined Sukh Ram’s Himachal Vikas Congress, he said.

The PCC member said Joshi contested the last Assembly elections on the Bahujan Samaj Party ticket and joining the BJP now was his political compulsion as his political base had eroded.

Sharma claimed that since Joshi had changed a number of political parties, his ideology was not clear.

Kangra, April 11
Himachal Congress chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today asked party workers to begin door-to-door campaign and create awareness among voters regarding the achievements of UPA I and II Governments, besides the state government.

The state Congress president was addressing Kangra and Nagrota Bagwan block Congress committees and office-bearers of both Assembly segments at Sarotri and Kholi. The meeting was attended by Transport and Technical Education Minister GS Bali, Kangra DCC chief Suman Verma, Block Congress Committee presidents and members, elected panchayat pradhans, zila parished and block samiti members, women Congress workers and former MLA Surneder Kaku.

He said the Congress was banking on the achievements of the UPA Government which included the MGNREGA, Food Security Bill, RTI, Women Bill and the Lokpal Bill. He stressed on strengthening the organisational network at booth and panchayat level and boost the poll campaign in the Kangra constituency. He said during the freedom struggle and after the Independence, it was the Congress which played a vital role in shaping the future of women, youth, the Army and ex-Army personnel.

Mandi, April 11
Pratibha Singh, Congress candidate from Mandi and wife of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, today said the Congress was seeking votes on development front.

Addressing election meetings at the Sarkaghat Assembly segment, she said while the Congress was seeking votes on development works undertaken by the Centre and the state government, the BJP was relying on Narendra Modi.

She said the party was talking about development works done by the UPA government, but the BJP was spending crores of rupees to build an image of Modi by issuing advertisements.

Talking about various development schemes pursued by her during her tenure as an MP, she said, "Though I had a very short tenure, I utilised this opportunity to bring various scheme for the Mandi constituency."

“The UPA government started several institutions in Mandi district, including IIT at Kamand, ESIC medical college at Ner Chowk, Mother Child hospital and a cancer centre at Mandi”, she said.

Talking about other schemes sanctioned by the Central Government, she said work on Rohtang tunnel was started by the Congress government.

Taking a dig at the BJP, Singh said they had failed to carry many development works during their tenure and people were looking forward to elect Congress candidates in the state.

Solan, April 11
With the Union Ministry of Railways failing to initiate any project on the expansion of railway network in the key industrial areas of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh and Kala Amb-Paonta Sahib, investors are terming it a major poll issue.

Arun Rawat, president, Himachal Chapter of Confederation of Indian Industries, while expressing disappointment over the dilly-dallying attitude of the Centre over granting crucial rail projects to Himachal, said, “Where there is a will, there is a way and where there is no will, there is a survey.”

He said apart from announcing surveys time and again, little progress had been made in this direction and it was lamentable to note that Container Corporation of India had to curtail their plan to construct a mere container freight station at a cost of Rs 56 crore in absence of a rail link, though it planned to construct an inland container depot initially.

This would have helped immensely in making available a cost-effective mode of transporting raw material and finished goods as the freight cost was among the highest in the state’s industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN), Rawat said.

The Ministry of Railways had been announcing rail links near Ghanoli-Dehradun via Baddi-Nalagarh-Jagadhari-Surajpur-Kala Amb-Poanta Sahib initially. Later, Baddi was proposed to be connected through Ghanoli rail line. But despite lapse of several years, no such project has been finalised.

All hopes of the industrial areas were finally dashed when in a response to a question raised by MP Hamirpur Anurag Thakur in the last session of Parliament, the ministry replied that these projects were not being taken up.

Though the state government in October had announced that the construction cost of a new railway line connecting Baddi would be shared with the Centre as per an agreement signed with the Ministry of Railways, there was no mention of these projects in the rail budget.

The ministry had also included the Parwanoo-Darlaghat line survey under the socially desirable project connecting backward areas and its survey was proposed to be updated, following which it was to be processed through the Planning Commission for approval. This had also remained a mere announcement, thus disappointing investors.

Chamba, April 11
BJP candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency, Ram Swaroop Sharma, today said the BJP would not tolerate any disruption in the agitation launched by women of the remote Holi tribal area of the Bharmour tribal subdivision who were opposing the construction of 180-MW Bajoli-Holi hydroelectric project over the Ravi.

Ram Swaroop Sharma, who was on his way to the Bharmour Assembly constituency for his election campaign, said this while speaking to mediapersons at Chamba here. The Bharmour tribal Assembly constituency of Chamba district is a part of the Mandi parliamentary constituency. “I will go to the Holi area and meet the protesting women and also sit on a dharna from tomorrow at Holi along with protesters," Sharma said.

He condemned the police action of the ruling government on the peaceful protest of the women as they had been demanding the construction of the project on the right side of the river which was barren and without human habitation.

Sharma said tourism would be promoted in a bigger way for which expansion work of the railway line from Jogindernagar would be undertaken. Likewise, the construction work on the tunnels from Holi to Uttrala and Bairagarh to Pangi to reduce the distances and make the highways all-weather would also be undertaken, he stated.

“The Mandi parliamentary constituency was represented by the Congress for a long time, but could not bring out any major development to the expectations of the people,” Sharma regretted.

Shimla, April 11
The World Bank has decided against funding the 612-MW Luhri hydro-power project on the Sutlej. As a result, the Centre has decided to drop the project. It had been facing strong opposition from its beginning.

Terming the decision of the World Bank a victory for the Satluj Bachao Jan Sangharsh Samiti, Nek Ram Sharma said the World Bank's decision to drop the $650 million funding for the project, whose estimated cost was about $1150 million, would save the last stretch of the river from disappearing.

Sharma said the decision of the World Bank came after an appraisal by a USAID team, which had been commissioned to review the environmental and social impacts of the project. The team visited India in November-December 2013 and interacted with all stakeholders, including project developer Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), the affected people and non-governmental organisations concerned.

"Though the report is yet to be released, sources have revealed that the project has been dropped due to the opposition by local community and the status of the project on the World Bank's official website indicates as 'dropped'," he said.

He added that in order to avoid the embarrassment of the World Bank withdrawal, the government decided to withdraw the application, the same ploy that was used in 1993 when the World Bank decided to pull out of the Sardar Sarovar Project.

The Satluj Bachao Jan Sangharsh Samiti, which had challenged the environment clearance granted to the project last year by the National Green Tribunal, had been opposing the project because of the impacts of the proposed 38-km-long tunnel to be constructed as part of the project.

People of 78 villages of Kullu, Mandi and Shimla districts would have been affected by the project and its tunnel.

In response to submissions by the samiti and groups such as SANDRP and Himdhara, the project capacity was reduced from 775 MW to 612 MW by the Union Ministry of Environment. However, objections were raised with the government in March 2013 on the plea that reduction in its capacity was no solution and the project must be scrapped.

"We welcome the decision of the World Bank as it will encourage the communities to oppose an unjust project," said Sharma.

Victory over Luhri

* The project has been dropped due to the opposition by local community

* People of 78 villages of Kullu, Mandi and Shimla districts would have been affected by the project and its tunnel

* The decision came after an appraisal by a USAID team, which had been commissioned to review the environmental and social impacts of the project

Solan, April 11
Residents of five panchayats of the Shillai sub-division comprising Kyari Guna, Bakras, Milla, Koti Utrau and Asiyari have decided to boycott the Lok Sabha poll. They say the Timbi-Bakras road has become an accident-prone zone due to its bad shape.

Villagers held a meeting at Timbi after 18 persons were killed in an accident on the Paonta Sahib-Timbi road last Monday.

They say poor bus services force them to commute in overloaded private jeeps.

Rajinder Chauhan, a former Block Development Committee chairman, said despite tall promises by politicians to improve the condition of roads in the constituency, a little had been done and there were hardly any HRTC buses to facilitate people. He said buses plying on roads were old, thus increasing the probability of accidents.

The villagers submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner through the tehsildar conveying their resolve to boycott the poll. They resented the abysmally poor condition of roads and false promises extended by the politicians who made their appearance only during the elections.

Chauhan said the condition of the Timbi-Bakras road was not even fit to ply utility vehicles, but overloaded buses carrying more than 65 passengers were plying on the road with impunity. He said despite several accidents in the past, the government did not bother to widen the roads. The local panchayat pradhans meeting, which was attended by about 200 persons, unanimously decided to boycott the poll as a mark of protest.

Kuldeep Sharma, secretary, Jan Sawa Sanghthan, a society constituted by the local youth, said it was pitiable to note that the condition of 10-km stretch of the Timbi-Milla road had been deteriorating every day. He said the narrow potholed road had made driving risky and little repair had been undertaken ever since it was laid.

He said several youth had lost their lives in these accidents, adding that no HRTC bus were plying there. Students had to walk on foot to reach their schools, despite the government announcing free travel facilities, he said. 

Palampur, April 11
Restoration and conservation work on the Sobha Singh Art Gallery was completed at Andretta, 12 km from here, today.

International art restorers Ian Barrand and Bhajan Hunjan from London spent two weeks to critically assess, conserve and restore around a dozen paintings by famous artist Sobha Singh.

The experts, who were on their second visit in less than three years, also worked on various artifacts and personal belongings of the artist at the Sobha Singh Museum and his studio. Due to excessive humidity, overexposure to light and dust, some of the paintings had developed minute cracks on the surface, paints and some of the frames had turned brownish. A couple of frames of the paintings were partially damaged when these were transported for exhibitions out of the gallery.

The experts, who had brought their tools and chemicals from London, worked dexterously to rejuvenate the classic works. They used some locally available material to repair dampness in the walls. They worked in the personal library of the artist and suggested the use of acid-free material to prolong the life of multi-colour reprints, letters, diaries, drawings and books of the artist. They documented the works and would send a detailed report with recommendation to the family members of the artist.

Ian Barrand suggested some changes surrounding the art gallery and the museum building and provision of dehumidifiers in the premises to control humidity. He said the paintings should be rotated after a couple of years with the stored works. He appreciated the family of the late artist for meticulously maintaining the rich legacy of the saint-artist. Bhajan Hunjan termed the religious works of the artist highly valuable for the coming generations as these were full of spiritual aura and said the stored works were in perfect shape.

The Sobha Singh Memorial Art Society organised a function to honour the experts. Society president KG Butail presented Himachali caps and shawls to them and admired them for their dedicated and professional work. He said the society would extend its help in the installation of specialised equipment to avoid any damage to the paintings. The family members informed the experts that they intended to convert the premises used by the artist as Sobha Singh Memorial in future. At present, the premises houses the art gallery on the ground floor and the museum on the first floor. A proposal to organise a month-long workshop-cum-training on art at Andretta in April next year was also discussed where both the experts agreed to join to train artists and students.

Hamirpur, April 11
Himachal Pradesh Technical University (HPTU) has invited online applications for courses offered by its affiliated colleges. Students can apply for these courses by downloading a prospectus from the university website.

Admissions to the courses will be held on merit-based entrance tests to be conducted at national or state level under various categories.

Initially, online applications have been invited for admission to B Pharma 2014-15 for which the university will conduct a state-level entry test on May 31.

The HPTU registrar has clarified that students can apply for the courses by downloading the prospectus-cum-information book from the university website.

University authorities said admission to B Tech and M Tech would be made on the merit position of the candidate in the JEE (Main) and GATE and for MBA on the basis of the CMAT and for M Pharma on the basis of the GPAT.

Admissions to MCA will be made through a state-level common entrance test to be conducted by Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla.

Kangra, April 11
A national-level management fest, Himspark ’14, began at the Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) of Shahpur here today. Balram Dogra, Vice-Chancellor of Sri Sai University, Palampur, who was the chief guest at the function, said such activities offered a platform to students to enhance their communication, decision-making and managerial skills.

Prof Balram Dogra, chief guest of Himspark ’14, being welcomed during the inaugural function by Pro-VC Yoginder Verma at the CUHP in Kangra on Friday. Photo: Ashok Raina

The two-day festival was organised by the Management Society of School of Business and Management Studies of the CUHP. It was aimed at providing a creative platform to management students to compete with their peers from the best B-Schools of the country.

Addressing the audience, Prof Balram Dogra said by exploring their hidden talent, students would surely achieve their goals.

Yoginder Singh Verma, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, CUHP, said, “A few years ago, smartness and fastness in a person were considered to be a must for achieving success. But with the passage of time, new dimensions are added to it. Nowadays, for success, one should have vision, strategy and high moral values.”

Dr Bhawna Bhardwaj, convener of the festival, said around 100 students from different universities and colleges of the region and outside were participating. During the management fest, skills of students were tested through different events such as business quiz, corporate walk, marketing madness, panel discussion, flip-flop, case study, rock show and on-line marketing.

Registrar Jagdish Chand Rangra, finance officer BR Dhiman, Dean, Student Welfare, Prof HR Sharma, Proctor Dr Roshan 
Lal Sharma, Deans and heads of different departments, faculty members, staff and students attended the function. 

Shimla, April 11
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has directed the HP Public Service Commission (HPSSC) to display the marks secured by each candidate in preliminary as well as main examinations of the Himachal Pradesh Administrative Services (HPAS) on the official website at the time of declaration of the result.

The court further clarified in its order that the commission need not wait for the completion of the entire process till the recommendations are made for appointment.

A Bench comprising Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice VK Sharma directed the commission to get the answer sheets evaluated on the spot by a team of experts--- not less than three in number and each expert shall award his own marks and after the evaluation, average of the marks given by the experts shall be final.

The Bench passed this order on a petition filed by Poonam Thakur alleging that she successfully cleared the preliminary examination of the HPAS Combined Competitive Examination 2011 and had done well in the main examination (Mains). She was expecting to score more than cut-off marks in the Mains. However, when the result was declared by the commission, her name did not figure on the list of successful candidates.

It was further said in the petition that she had sought information under the Right to Information Act from the Public Information Officer of the commission about the cut-off marks for the general category and highest marks secured by a general category candidate in the HPAS (Main) Examination 2011.

She was informed by the commission that the final process of the HPAS examination has not yet been completed and the requisite information would be supplied after making the final recommendation for appointment.

However, the petitioner secured 414 marks in the main examination and cut-off marks in the general category were 510.

Shimla, April 11
The administration of Government Senior Secondary School, Portmore, has denied the allegations by Ajay Srivastav, chairman of Umang Foundation, that differently abled girls have been denied admission in Class XI and hostel facility by the school authorities. It has further maintained that no hearing or visually impaired girl has applied for admission so far.

The institution abides by the instructions of the government and has started admissions from April 7, a school spokesman has stated.

The allegation that the institution is deliberately keeping these students in the lurch is baseless and objectionable as at present, 20 differently abled girls, of whom eight are visually impaired and 12 hearing impaired, are studying in the school, while 19 among them have been provided accommodation in the school hostel, it has been stated. The state government is bearing all the expenses, it has been maintained.

Two special labs have been provided by the Department of Higher Education. From time to time, inspection is being conducted by Education Department officials. The school follows instructions from the higher authorities for differently abled girls, it has been stated.

The school is accountable to the Education Department and the government rather than to any private organisation, it has been asserted.

The intent behind the allegations is to defame the institution by twisting and misinterpreting the facts, the spokesman has said.

Srivastav asserted that the school authorities had been unsupportive and insensitive and he had to approach the High Court or higher authorities every time to get justice for differently abled girls.