Hamirpur, April 22
Rajinder Rana, Congress nominee from Hamirpur, is probably the only candidate come out with a booklet listing all his achievements during his 15-month tenure as an Independent MLA from Sujanpur.

Once a hardcore BJP man and Dhumal loyalist, Rana, who, resigned as an Independent MLA from Sujanpur to join the Congress, has come out with his 33-page report card, listing each and every development work, big or small, during his tenure as an Independent MLA.

“While others are seeking votes in the name of Narendra Modi or the party, I want my electorate to judge me on the basis of my performance in my 15-month tenure as an Independent MLA,” he says in an oblique reference to his opponent Anurag Thakur, sitting MP from Hamirpur.

Besides his report card being his trump card, the highlight of his speech at every meeting is the special generosity and large heartedness that Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has extended to him.

“I was able to perform and fulfil the promises made to the people of my constituency only due to the blessings of Raja Saheb, who was magnanimous in granting so much for Sujanpur,” he says expressing his indebtedness.

The highlight of the report card is the opening of a SDM office at Sujanpur, laying of the foundation stone for the construction of a Rs 3.80-crore mini secretariat and a police post at Tauni Devi.

He has given each and every details of the approved projects and their funding, upgrade of schools, drinking water schemes, roads, electricity works and various welfare schemes.

Failing to get the BJP ticket from Sujanpur, Rana parted ways with his mentor and decided to contest as an Independent in the 2012 Assembly poll. The convincing victory margin of over 14,000 made Rana confident and ambitious.

Rana, who is in a bit of trouble owing to his political miscalculation with the Election Commission of India (ECI) deciding to hold simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and Assembly bypoll, is not letting the anxiety get the better of him. “I have struck an emotional chord with the people of Sujanpur during the last 15 years and have full faith in them,” he says.

The fact that he was able to secure the Congress ticket for his wife Anita Rana for the Assembly bypoll has led to a lot of heartburn among the partyand the BJP.

It is probably for the first time that a husband and a wife are contesting the elections together. 

Nahan, April 22
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said the manner in which Narendra Modi was being projected by sidelining all senior leaders of the BJP, it appeared as if he had a panacea for all ills, while the fact was that Modi alone couldn’t find a solution to all problems.

The CM addressed poll meetings at Janglabhud, Banethi and Sarahan in Sirmaur.

He said the local BJP MLA was not concerned with the problems of the people and he was interested in electoral gains. He said the anti-people stance of BJP leaders was revealed when their MLAs boycotted the Assembly session. It seemed they had nothing to do either with the development of the area or with the people and their sole motive was to grab power by befooling the people.

Attacking the BJP, he said they were puzzled over the growing popularity of the Congress and foreseeing the defeat of its all four candidates, they were issuing misleading statements.

He said former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal was confined to Hamirpur only as he could visualise the defeat of his son Anurag Thakur this time. He said the politics of lies and vendetta practised by the BJP was not going to last long.

He said his government had proposed to set up three medical colleges in the state out of which one would be opened in Nahan. Virbhadra said as far as the education sector was concerned, many milestones had been achieved in this sector and during the last one-and-a-half years, more than 500 schools were either opened or upgraded, besides 14 colleges had been opened.

He urged the people to support Congress candidate Mohan Lal Brakta and ensure his victory for the overall development of the state.

Dharamsala, April 22
Reacting to the statement of former BJP minister Kishan Kapoor that unemployment has grown in the state, Congress Minister for Housing and Urban Development Sudhir Sharma today said Kapoor had failed to bring any industry to Kangra during his stint as Industry Minister.

In a press note here, Sudhir Sharma said Kapoor remained as minister for about three years. During that period the industrial package for the state was also in place. However, still he failed to bring any industry.

He further said the government had laid the foundation stone of IT park in the Dharamsala Assembly constituency.

"We will bring the IT industry in Dharamsala that will provide jobs to hundreds of locals," Sudhir Sharma said.

He also said BJP candidate from Kangra Shanta Kumar should answer the allegations being levelled against him by AAP candidate Rajan Sushant.

Sudhir Sharma alleged that Shanta should state before the people regarding his plans for promoting tourism in Kangra.

The BJP had always tried to divide the people on the basis of region and caste. It was only the Congress that had carried equal development in all parts of the state, he said.

The minister said the government had planned an Asian Development Bank-assisted project for promotion of tourism in Kangra.

Theog (Shimla), April 22
Former Chief Minister PK Dhumal today reiterated that BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's declaration that all corrupt politicians from Parliament and state Assemblies would be weeded out was a clear signal for Virbhadra Singh.

"Virbhadra Singh, who is being chased by the CBI, should read between the lines and I repeat that the Congress government in the state will fall after the Lok Sabha polls as cases against Singh will be investigated in an expeditious manner and taken to logical ends," he asserted.

"It is just like 'Buy one, get one free' and if the UPA government is ousted, the fall of the state government is imminent," he said while addressing an election rally here.

Taking a dig at Virbhadra Singh for taking shelter under constitutional provisions, he reminded that the first duly elected government in Kerala, headed by ES Nimoodaripad, was dismissed by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and later four BJP governments were dismissed by the Congress government in December 1992, but there was not even a murmur from Congress leaders.

Launching a frontal attack on the Congress government, Dhumal said it had no achievement to count and had wasted 17 months in fabricating cases against opponents. "But we will not be cowed down by such tactics and fight the designs of the government legally and in the court of people," he said.

The tenure of the BJP government had been full of achievements and all sections of society benefited and development was on fasttrack, but during the Congress regime all development had come to a standstill, financial situation had worsened and the government had failed to check corruption, price rise and unemployment.

Ridiculing Virbhadra Singh for repeatedly claiming that there was no Modi wave in the state, Dhumal said he should see the writing on the wall and accept the ground realty that the people have already given the mandate in favour of Modi and the NDA.

Addressing another rally near Dhalli, 12 km from Shimla, Dhumal said the BJP would sweep the polls and win all four seats in Himachal as people were fed up with the government and itching for a change. 

Jubbal (Shimla), April 22
Sitting MP and BJP candidate from the Shimla (Reserve) Lok Sabha constituency Virender Kashyap today backed the demand of a section of apple growers, facing stiff competition due to import of cheaper apple, to grow opium.

Kashyap had been making this demand for the past three years but now he had come out openly in support of the locals and raised the demand from public platform in his election meetings.

Cultivation of opium as an alternative crop should be allowed so that farmers, who are dependent on apple cultivation and facing stiff competition from imported apple under the WTO regime, could look for remunerative returns, he pleaded.

This would also check illegal cultivation of cannabis (charas) and apple growers, whose demand for enhancing the import duty on apple from 50 per cent to 100 per cent has not been acceded by the government, would get a major relief and illegal cultivation of narcotics would also be checked, he said while addressing an election meeting at Saraswati Nagar (Jubbal) in the upper Shimla region.

"Opium has the proven medicinal uses and the pharmaceutical industry is dependent on import of opium which is also used in morphine and if its cultivation is legalised, the huge foreign exchange on imports will be saved," he said.

"Like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and parts of UP, Himachal too should be allowed to cultivate opium as this will help in strengthening the economy of rural people," Kashyap said, reminding that poppy cultivation was not banned before Independence and its cultivation was a common practice in Sirmaur, Shimla, Mandi and Kullu.

However, the Narcotics Bureau, the police and other surveillance agencies are opposed to the demand and believe that it would give boost to illegal cultivation of poppy, opium and cannabis in the garb of legalised cultivation.

Illegal opium cultivation has increased several-folds in the state in the last two decades an according to narcotics control bureau (NCB) estimates, Himachal illegally produces 40,000 kg of opium annually, worth Rs 240 crore in the market. 

Palampur, April 22
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will formally launch the election campaign for the parliamentary elections from Palampur, which is the home turf of BJP candidate Shanta Kumar, tomorrow.

Urban Development Minister and senior Congress leader Sudhir Sharma while briefing mediapersons here today said the Chief Minister would address election meetings at the Palampur, Sulaha, Jaisinghpur and Baijnath constituencies to kick off the election campaign in support of party candidate Chander Kumar.

He said the Chief Minister would also meet different societies to mobilise their support for the Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The minister predicted the party would sweep all four seats in the state. He said in the past one year, the Chief Minister had launched various schemes for the welfare of the people, including regularisation of daily wagers, para teachers, revamping of the PDS system and strengthening the fair prices shops owned by the government.

He said the state government had also enhanced the quota of subsidised foodgrains. He said in the Kangra Chamba parliamentary constituency, the Congress had a mass base with 14 MLAs representing the Assembly segments.

Mandi, April 22
BJP candidate from Mandi Ram Swaroop Sharma has accused the state government of failing to undertake development work in its present term.

Addressing election meetings under Sarkaghat Assembly segment today, he said, "The state government, during its present term, remained busy in effecting transfers and launching vendetta against its political opponents.”

Sharma accused Congress leaders of allegedly threatening government employees to work in favour of the Congress candidate.

He said, “Mandi MP Pratibha Singh could not bring any major project for the area or implement any scheme to create employment opportunities for unemployed youths.”

Local MLA Inder Singh also addressed the meeting.

Dharamsala, April 22
The campaign for the elections is gathering pace. In the Kangra parliamentary constituency, while the BJP is harping on national issues and depends on Narendra Modi, the Congress is relying on state issues and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

BJP leaders, including Shanta Kumar, party candidate from Kangra, concentrate on criticising the UPA government for its failures. Shanta maintains in his public addresses that corruption, unemployment and price rise have been on the rise during the stint of the UPA government.

Black money stashed in foreign banks is also one of the favourite subjects of Shanta Kumar. He states that as MP he participated in a UN convention on black money.

During the convention, a Swiss government representative maintained that they treated black money of other countries deposited in their banks as stolen money. He maintains, "I wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. However, despite the fact that the Swiss government wanted to return the black money of India kept in their banks, the government did not even demand their money back from it." Shanta Kumar hardly touches the state-specific issues in his public speeches.

Other BJP leaders such as JP Nadda, national general secretary of the party, who have campaigned in the state, have maintained their focus on national issues and the Modi campaign. Nadda has maintained that the Modi government is getting an overwhelming response in the country and Himachal people should not miss the bandwagon. Congress leaders are stressing on state-specific issues during their election campaign.

Chander Kumar is maintaining during his public rallies that most of the development in the constituency has been affected by Virbhadra Singh. He says that most of the government offices in Dharamsala and the Assembly building, where the winter session was held, was brought by Virbhadra Singh. He has been maintaining that Shanta Kumar had not done anything for Kangra during his stint as CM and as Union Minister for Food and Civil Supplies.

Virbhadra Singh, on the other hand, has been maintaining in his speeches that Himachal was created only by the Congress. BJP leaders had even opposed the merger of the Punjab hill areas into Himachal. They opposed the statehood status for Himachal, Virbhadra Singh maintains.

The other Congress leaders in their public addresses also rely on the achievements of Virbhadra Singh.

Giving their future planning for Himachal, Shanta Kumar promises to take up the issue of developing the Manali-Leh railway line and connecting the Una-Talwara broad-gauge railway line to narrow gauge Pathankot-Joginder Nagar railway line at Jwalamukhi.

Chander Kumar on the other hand promises to develop tourism in the areas around the Pong Dam lake.

Ukhali (Hamirpur) April 22
BJP candidate from Hamirpur Anurag Thakur has criticised Congress leaders for levelling baseless allegation against him and threatened to sue them.

Addressing election meetings at Ukhali, Mair, Balh and Baloh today, he said, "Congress leaders have no issue and anything to speak against me in the elections. That's why they are levelling allegations against me to hide their frustration."

"Their allegations about my foreign jaunts and MP Local Area Development Fund are not true and I will take legal action against them," he added.

He said, "Instead of starting a vilification campaign against me, Congress leaders should explain who is responsible for price rise, corruption and employment and what the UPA government and state government have done to check these."

Criticizing Congress leaders for calling him a high-profile leader, he said, "What is wrong in representing the country at international forums. It should be a matter of pride for the state as the Speaker of Parliament chose him to be part of delegations to foreign countries to represent India."

Talking about 15-month tenure of the Congress government in the state, he said, "The state government has failed on every front and even its promise to give unemployment allowance to youths has not been fulfilled."

Kullu, April 22
Six houses and seven shops were gutted last night as a fire broke out in Banjar subdivision of this district. Loss of property worth over Rs 2 crore was estimated while no loss of life was reported in the incident in which four families were rendered homeless.

The nearest fire station being in Kullu town, eyewitnesses said it took a over two hours for the fire tenders to reach Banjar town while fire reduced the property to ashes. The shops included a utensils store being run by Joginder Singh, Bagga jewellers, a medical store being run by Ramesh and those of Varun, Ajay Gupta, Vijay and Beliram. The damaged residences belong to Shyam Sunder Sharma, Praveen Kumari Joshi, Ajay Gupta, Ajay Mehta, Anil Sharma and Hitesh.

Kullu DC Rakesh Kanwar reached the spot and consoled the fire victims. He assured them that speedy relief would be provided as per the government manual.

Banjar SDM Virender Sharma said Rs 20,000 were provided as a measure of immediate relief to the victims who lost their dwellings while Rs 5,000 was provided to the owners of the gutted shops. The cause of the fire has not yet been ascertained.

The government and the administration conveniently forget the promises made during elections or at the time of natural calamities. Fire accidents in the villages of Sainj, Sidhwa, Chaddiyar, Shrikot, Goshala and now Banjar involving gutting of huge properties were never considered a matter of serious thought. The government has failed to set up fire stations in headquarters of major subdivisions of this district despite repeated demands of residents. Congress MLA from Banjar had earlier requested the Chief Minister to sanction a fire station at Banjar and Sainj valleys.

Though fire stations cannot be provided at all villages, awareness campaigns could be initiated to prevent such occurrences. The government should initiate some action plan and chalk out awareness campaigns among the villagers to give the issue a serious thought.

Regular and concrete efforts are required to educate masses on prevention and control of fire incidents. Stacking of fodder, firewood and use of sub-standard electricity implements and power overloading prove lethal in villages and this goes on unchecked.

Solan, April 22
With the crucial fire certification failing to be a mandatory requirement in the industrial areas, fire incidents were not only becoming common, but a little was being done to take preventive measures.

Property worth crores has been gutted in the industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) and Parwanoo in the past few months.

Though no loss of life has been reported in the recent fire incidents, the rising cases have become a cause of concern to the people residing in the vicinity of the industrial units. Since all industrial areas have a mix land use pattern where housing and industrial areas co-exist, people were reeling under fear when such incidents take place.

No lessons appear to have been learnt from the past where precious human lives had been lost in various fire incidents in the BBN area. Though an inquiry conducted by the chief executive officer of the BBN Development Authority in 2009 had clearly indicated that nearly 30 per cent industrial units, located in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) industrial area, lacked the requisite fire preparedness and they had been declared unsafe, while another 5 per cent had been found to be highly vulnerable as they lacked even the basic fire safety measures, nothing was done to step up fire preparedness.

This was a manifest in the fresh cases of fire where fire fighting equipment was found to be woefully inadequate vis-à-vis the industrial units and it was also found that a cursory fire-fighting mechanism installed at the inception of an industrial unit failed to be upgraded and such ill-equipped systems failed to work during emergencies, confided S Arul Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Baddi police district.

He said fire situations added to the burden of the police which was already dealing with the crime-prone industrial area where heinous crimes were also taking place.

Though a committee comprising the Baddi SP, SDM, labour officer, commandant Home Guards and a fire officer had enquired into the fire preparedness of nearly 720 industrial units in 2009 after a major fire incident led to the death of nine industrial workers, its report appears to have been reduced to mere papers as none of the directions were adhered to.

The casual approach adopted by the units where a majority of them had failed to avail a permanent fire-safety certificate and had continued to run on provisional certificates in the absence of due compliance from the Fire Department had been cited as the major reason for laxities in fire-preparedness.

Even the building designs where norms like setbacks were being flagrantly violated left little scope for fire fighting in case of a accident. The committee had, therefore, recommended adoption of national building code as a mandatory provision, but its failed to be abided by.

Kangra, April 22
The Earth and Environmental Society, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP), celebrated Earth Day on the campus here today.

CUHP Vice-Chancellor Prof Furqan Qamar, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 and founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson with a focus on environmental awareness. He stressed on the need to get synchronised with the nature and natural processes to cope with natural disasters. He stressed upon the need to develop suitable ways and means to retard anthropogenic affects on global environment.

He suggested innovative ways to reduce the affect of natural disasters. He stressed for the non-conventional use to develop some advanced warning system. Qamar said the need of the hour was to develop indigenous solutions to regional environmental problems.

The Vice-Chancellor expressed pleasure that the HoD and faculty of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences celebrated the Earth Day. He praised the awareness programme carried out by students of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at different schools.

Dr Subhankar Chatterjee first welcomed the Vice-Chancellor and explained the need to achieve sustainable future. Geetanjali and Arundati displayed the presentation of different awareness programmes carried out by students on different themes at Army Public School, Yol Cantt, Adhunik Public School, Sidhbari, New Era School Chhattri, Shahpur and Government Senior

Secondary School Shahpur. The themes were earthquake, waste management, pollution and human health, biodiversity and its conservation and climate change.

Later, Prof AK Mahajan, Dean, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, gave an overall view of earthquake hazard of the Himalayan region and how to save people from earthquakes. He also gave tips on do’s and don’ts of earthquake.

Dr Anurag Linda thanked all dignitaries, students and principals of various schools for sending their students for quiz competition on environmental problems and LC Patyal, divisional watershed development officer, HP Mid Himalayan watershed development project, Dharamsala, for supplying plants during the event.

Kangra, April 22
A two-day workshop on data analysis using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS), organised by the Department of Economics and Public Policy, Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP), temporary academic block, Shahpur, concluded today.

The workshop was organised for postgraduate students, research scholars and faculty members.

Professor Balkrishan, an expert on data analysis using different statistical software packages and a retired professor of business management at Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, conducted the workshop.

During the workshop, Balkrishan discussed applicability of statistical packages in analysing cross-sectional, time series and panel data on different aspects of the economy.

Highlighting the importance of the workshop, Prof HR Sharma, HoD of Economics and Public Policy Department, CUHP, said in the present scenario, the public and private sectors were increasingly looking for trained economists and data analysts who had sound theoretical understanding and requisite skills to analyse data on various economic parameters like demand, elasticity of demand, supply and elasticity of supply for better planning and forecasting in a closely integrated globalised world.

Sharma said organising such workshops on the empirical estimation of different theoretical parameters enabled students in understanding functioning of the economy, acquiring necessary data analysing skills. It improved their employability in both public and private sectors besides helping them in writing policy documents including research reports and research proposals, he said.

Una, April 22
The Una Excise and Taxation Department has put under scanner 25 liquor vends in Una district which have reported a sale exceeding 30 per cent as compared to April last year.

The step was taken to ensure free and fair conduct of the Lok Sabha poll, said Deputy Commissioner (DC) Abhishek Jain while interacting with mediapersons here today.

Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner Ujjwal Singh Rana said there were 91 liquor vends in the district and daily monitoring of the sales was being done by the department during the run up to the elections. The action comes in the wake of reports that political parties generally woo electorate by doling out liquor.

The DC informed that meetings with senior police officers from Hoshiarpur and Ropar districts of Punjab were held today in view of the elections. He said during the polling day, checking on all eight inter-state borders of Una district with Ropar and 12 with Hoshiarpur would be intensified and liquor vends would remain closed from May 5 to 7.

The DC said a search of vehicles during police checks had revealed that currency worth Rs 15 lakh was being transported without valid documents. He said the cash had been deposited in the treasury and would be handed back to owners only after verification of the source of money. He informed that 404 litres of Indian Made Foreign Liquor and 169 litres of country liquor were impounded during checks.

Jain informed that about 3,300 personnel would be deployed on poll duty in the district and election duty passes be issued to all of them. Those belonging to the Hamirpur parliamentary segment would be allowed to cast their votes at the polling booth where they be deployed for duty, he said.