Shimla, September 22
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said a three-member independent committee would be constituted to review the fee issue raised by students.

The committee will be headed by retired High Court Judge Justice VK Sharma and two members will be Chairperson, Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission, Sarojini Ganju Thakur and former Pro Vice-Chancellor of Indus International University AR Chauhan.

The decision was taken to pacify students opposing fee hike and deferment of the Students Central Association (SCA) elections in Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) and affiliated colleges.

Stating that the interests of students would be safeguarded and nobody be allowed to vitiate the atmosphere in educational institutions, he said the committee would submit its report within one month.

Talking to a delegation of the NSUI, he said no hike had been made in the tuition fee as well as hostel fee by the government. The delegation apprised him that in certain cases, fee had been hiked considerably and requested him to review it in the larger interests of students. It also requested him to maintain law and order and restore the atmosphere in educational institutions.

The CM also held a meeting with the Principal Secretary, Education, the Vice-Chancellor of HPU and senior officers of the Education Department and directed them to take appropriate measures for maintaining atmosphere in the educational institutions.

BJP MLA and former member of the HPU Executive Council Suresh Bhardwaj demanded immediate roll back of the unjustified hike in the fee structure. In a press statement issued here, he said the decision of the government was anti-student. It would deprive the youth of their basic right to get higher education.

Terming the hike in fees structure (100 to 2000 per cent) baseless, he said during the BJP regime, an additional Rs 18 crore were given apart from the existing Rs 63 crore budget, making it a total of Rs 81 crore to enhance the facilities given to students of the university whereas the Congress government had reduced it to Rs 62 crore.

Shimla, September 22
The grievances of students of undergraduate classes regarding the results of the first semester under the Rashtriya Uchchtar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) will not be entertained directly by the university.

Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), which declared the result of RUSA choice-based credit system (CBCS) first semester on September 19, has asked the principals of all colleges affiliated to HPU to constitute grievance and redressal mechanism/cell to address the problems of students related to incomplete and undeclared results.

The grievance and redressal mechanism will be constituted as per the provision (Section 7) of the CBCS and a Grievance Redressal Committee (GRC), headed by the college principal and comprising the head of the department, course teacher and senior teacher, will be set up, said Controller of Examination, HPU, Prof Shyam Kaushal.

Under this provision, students will have the right to make an appeal against the component of evaluation and such appeals will be addressed to the principal of the college on a prescribed form, citing the reason for complaint.

All grievances of students of undergraduate classes will be reported to the grievances and redressal cell in the college for incomplete and undeclared result and after settling the issues pertaining to roll number, subject code, major and minor, the colleges will take up the unresolved issues with the university.

The results are available at www.hpuniv.hp.gov.in and can be accessed by students.

Sources in the examination branch said initially out of 2.45 lakh award received in the first year of undergraduate courses, discrepancies were detected in 90,000 cases and some colleges did not generated the 14 digit roll number for conducting examinations.

However, HPU directed the colleges to immediately send the required data online so that the system could be streamlined and the mess in the examination branch already reeling under staff crunch could be cleared and finally the results were declared.

Mandi, September 22
At least 75 persons have tested positive for the scrub typhus fever in the district so far. Last year, the number of cases reported from the district was 74.

Talking to The Tribune, Dr Dinesh Kumar Thakur, District Programme Officer, Integrated Disease Surveillance (IDS), said out of the 405 cases reported from the district, 75 had tested positive for the scrub typhus fever in the past three months.

He said there was no need to panic as the disease was declining and it was easily treatable. He said the guidelines had been issued to the Block Medical Officers (BMOs) about treatment and preventive measures to be taken.

He said as a precautionary measure, people had been advised to fully cover their body while working in the fields and before sitting on grass, spread a sheet over it.

He said in case of a fever, the patient should rush to the nearest Public Health Centre (PHC) where doxicyclenie, a drug used in treating the disease, was readily available.

Dr Thakur said while comparing the data of the past three years, it was found that the maximum number of cases was reported in September.

Symptoms of the disease include high-grade fever, pain and formation of lymph nodes in the body, he said and added that the disease was caused by mite infected with the larvae of orientia tsutsugamushi organism.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Deshraj Sharma said instructions had been issued to doctors at the PHCs and other health centres to treat the patients on priority.

Shimla, September 22
The state Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau today quizzed BJP MP from Shimla (Reserved) constituency Virender Kashyap in connection with the “cash-on-camera” case of 2009, when he was not holding any office.

Kashyap appeared in the office of SP, Shimla, DW Negi, also holding the additional charge of SP Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, and was questioned for about an hour on various points and was given a detailed questionnaire. He reportedly sought time to reply to the questions.

The case filed by an RTI activist is pending in the High Court which had asked the Vigilance Bureau to file the status report by September 25.

Negi said it was a procedural requirement and investigations were in progress.

A case under Section 9 of the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against him on March 6 this year after the Lok Sabha elections were announced and he was re-nominated as the BJP candidate from Shimla.

In the sting operation, Kashyap was allegedly caught on camera accepting a bribe from a private party for helping it secure permission for setting up an educational institution in the state in 2009.

The investigating official said the case was registered after the authenticity of the video CD was proved by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory of Chandigarh.

“The Superintendent of Police in Solan, on the directions of the Director General of Police, had constituted a special team on January 5, 2010, to conduct an inquiry into the matter. The team submitted its report and concluded that no cognisable offence was made out,” the petition said.

However, the Himachal High Court had on November 19, 2013, issued notice to BJP MP Virender Kashyap on a petition filed by RTI activist for quashing a police inquiry report giving a clean chit to him after he was allegedly caught accepting cash on camera.

A division bench of Justice DD Sud and Justice Kuldeep Singh had asked the state government and Kashyap to file replies within four weeks.

The petitioner had alleged the state government inquiry in 2010 was not fair and was aimed at hushing up the matter and sought a fresh free and fair inquiry into the case.

Solan, September 22
Doon MLA Ram Kumar Chaudhary today directed the Industries Department officials to verify claims of industrial units of having given 70 per cent employment to the Himachali youth.

Addressing a meeting of various officials at Nalagarh, he said the management of industrial units claimed that they were fulfilling this mandatory norm, but the reality appeared to be different as a large number of local youth failed to get any employment and were forced to remain unemployed despite attaining professional degrees.

He pointed out that the affidavits of Himachali youth submitted by the managements in the Industries Department should be physically verified. He demanded that the youth of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) be given an added preference and at least 50 per cent reservation in jobs.

Taking the officials of the State Pollution Control Board to task for failing to check air and water pollution in the BBN belt, he said they should ensure that the managements of industrial units built fish ponds at the exit of effluent treatment plants as this alone would ensure that they have treated the toxic effluents effectively.

He assured the people of taking up the issue of facilitating the registration of land deals on undivided plots with the chief minister and asked the officials to furnish him a list of vacant posts in the respective departments.

The MLA, who had remained absent from his constituency for more than a year-and-a-half, as he was facing trial in a murder case, reviewed the progress of various developmental schemes in the constituency and directed officials to speed up works such repair of roads damaged during rains, irrigation and potable water schemes, etc. He also directed the HRTC regional manager to ensure regular plying of buses on rural routes where bus connectivity was low.

Chandigarh, September 22
The General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, Lt Gen KJ Singh, visited the forward posts in the state and reviewed the operational preparedness in the sector. HP shares about 200 km of its eastern border with Tibet.

During his two-day visit, the Army Commander was briefed about operational and logistics matters pertaining to that sector by local commanders. He later addressed the troops deployed there.

He complimented them for their high morale despite serving in a remote and difficult area. He also met top civilian functionaries, a statement here today said.

Shimla, September 22
The Pakistani delegation on the Indus Water Commission led by Mirza Asif Beg reached Keylong, district headquarters of Lahaul-Spiti today and will visit the 120 mw Miar hydropower project in Udaipur tomorrow.

The three-member team from Pakistan is in Himachal to see the proposed site of the Miar hydropower project which has been awarded to Moser Baer on the Miar tributary of the Chanderbhaga river near Udaipur.

It is under the 1960 Indus Water Treaty that Indian and Pakistan can inspect sites of development works such as projects or dams to check that no diversion has been created to the river flow, which could deny it the unhindered flow.

Beg, Pakistan Commissioner on the Indus Water Treaty, along with two advisers, arrived in Manali yesterday. They left Manali this afternoon and are expected to visit the Miar project site and other places only tomorrow morning.

It is for the first time since the treaty was signed on September 19, 1960, by Jawaharlal Nehru and Ayub Khan in Karachi that Pakistan has expressed the desire to visit the Chenab basin, which is called the Chanderbhaga in Himachal. K Vohra, Commissioner, Indus Water, PK Saxena, Senior Joint Commissioner, and P Dorje Gyamba, Director, Central Water Commission (Himachal), are accompanying the delegation.

The Miar project has been awarded to Moser Baer in 2009 and the company has obtained all clearances from the Centre and state but is yet to begin work. Though several mega hydroprojects have come up in the Sutle and Ravi basin, as far as the Chenab basin is concerned, sites for projects have been identified and none of the projects have been completed.

Shimla, September 22
Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu today demanded elections of the state as well as district bodies of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) to ensure elected representatives to the cricket body, currently headed by BJP MP Anurag Thakur.

Addressing a press conference here, the Congress chief raised questions over the voting rights given to 25 life members of the HPCA. “How can these 25 people appointed be given voting rights and rather it is the duly elected district bodies which should have the voting rights,” he demanded. He said the matters concerning the HPCA in court was a separate issue but he wanted that there was an elected body which runs its affairs in the state.

“If Anurag has nothing to fear and he believes in transparency then he should have no objection to the holding of elections,” he quipped. He said the Congress regime was holding a Vigilance probe into all allegations included in the chargesheet prepared against the BJP regime and cases against the HPCA were only part of it.

Supporting the decision of the state government to defer student polls and hold indirect elections, Sukhu said violence on the campus was intolerable. “Normalcy and peace has to be restored on the campus so that the academic atmosphere does not get vitiated and we fully support the government,” he said. He, however, said the fee hike should not be very steep and there should be some rationale in the enhancement so that students from all economic backgrounds could afford higher education.

Sukhu also lashed out at the Modi regime for giving a stepmotherly treatment to Himachal. “Ever since the BJP came to power at the Centre, Himachal is being discriminated whether it pertains to the Railway Budget or the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra despite the fact that the people of Himachal for the first time backed the BJP on all four Lok Sabha seats,” he said.

He dismissed speculation about the resentment among some party MLAs. “It is only legitimate that MLAs have grudges and we address them,” he said.

Shimla, September 22
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today announced a prize of Rs 6 lakh to Samresh Jung for winning a bronze medal in the team event of 10 metre air pistol shooting in the 17th Asian Games in South Korea.

Congratulating him for the feat, he said Samresh Jung, who belongs to Sirmour district of Himachal Pradesh, had brought laurels to the state and the people of Himachal were proud of him.

Earlier, in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, he won five gold, one silver and one bronze medals and since then there was no looking back for him. Born on May 5, 1970, Jung is a shooter and an air pistol specialist.

The Chief Minister said the government was committed to creating better sports facilities for the budding players. Efforts were afoot to create stadiums to meet the required national and international standards.

The government was promoting the rural games in a big way and more infrastructural facilities were being created for strengthening the rural game activities so that more students represents the state in sports events.

Shimla, September 22
Governor Urmila Singh, also the president of the state Red Cross Society, today announced enhancement of honorarium of Red Cross volunteers to Rs 10,000 per month and dearness allowance to the employees of the society, with effect from 2010. She was addressing the annual general meeting of the State Red Cross Society at the Raj Bhawan here today.

Stating that Red Cross youth activities should be promoted for speeding up humanitarian activities, she said such wings in educational institutions could play a significant role in day-to-day Red Cross activities as well as during natural disasters and other emergent situations.

She said being a hilly state, Himachal Pradesh was prone to natural disasters. She advocated a strong disaster management mechanism and proper focus on training of volunteers for any such occurrences.

The Governor also honoured the representative of the Deputy Commissioner of Lahaul and Spiti for the best performance in respect of submission of State Red Cross share.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Kaul Singh Thakur directed the Deputy Commissioners to accelerate the pace of Red Cross activities at the district level to strengthen the state and ensure timely submission of state share of funds.

He reiterated that three new medical colleges would be set up at Chamba, Hamirpur and Nahan by spending Rs 567 crore. Also, Rs 45 crore each have also been sanctioned to the state for upgrading two hospitals at Shimla and Mandi into cancer hospitals.

Kaul Singh said Rs 29.59 crore was sanctioned for providing generic medicines to patients in hospitals. A decision had been taken to provide free ambulance services to expectant mothers and children below one year along with their mothers on 102 toll free number. As many as 125 ambulances would provide this service across the state, he added.

Jammu, September 22
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has completed half of the nearly 9-km Rohtang tunnel in Himachal Pradesh.

Defence spokesman Col SD Goswami today said: “The Construction of the 8.8 km Rohtang tunnel in Himachal Pradesh is under progress by the Border Roads Organisation, wherein 4.4 km of tunnel has already been completed.”

The feasibility study of Zojila and Z-Morh tunnel in the Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh region was already complete, he said.

The construction of Zojila-Z morh tunnel, which would ensure all-weather connectivity between Kashmir and Ladakh region, is likely to commence next year, Goswami said.

A 592-meter cable-stayed bridge was under construction on Ravi river at Basohli in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, he said.

This bridge, which will connect the Doda-Kishtwar-Kathua belt with Punjab, will be the first of its kind in the northern India and will enhance connectivity between Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. — PTI 

Hamirpur, September 22
Six youths were arrested and taken into custody as agitating students locked the gates of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Government Post Graduate College here today.

The college administration had to call the police as the students were allegedly prohibiting the staff and other students from entering the premises.

Student leaders who were apprehended by the police included five members of the Students Federation of India (SFI) and one from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). They were later released after recording their statements.

SFI activist Jasveer Singh said their struggle against fee hike would continue till the state government took back its decision.

“Six students were arrested form the college and warned before releasing,” said SP Ajay Bodh.

Hamirpur, September 22
Vijay Agnihotri, district BJP president and Nadaun MLA, today said a state-level best polling booth award function would be organised at Baroha on September 25, to mark the birth anniversary of Pt Deen Dyal Upadhyay.

Addressing a press conference today, he said 71 polling booths in the state had been chosen for the award.

He said the literature written by Deen Dyal Upadhyay, along with a memento, would be given by the chief guest to the winner. He said though efforts were being made to invite national leaders but if they are unavailable, former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal would honour the best performers of the Lok Sabha elections. — OC

Solan, September 22
To ensure better coordination among the officials of various areas bordering Baddi and the local law enforcing agencies, the proposal of a police post on the Baddi-Siswan road was taken up by the Baddi police with their Punjab counterparts at a meeting held in Baddi today.

G Shiva, Superintendent of Police (SP), Baddi district, said since the Baddi-Siswan Road lay amidst a secluded forest area where mobile connectivity was minimal, criminals often used the route to flee the area. Setting up a police post on this road will help check such activities.

He said in order to curtail delays in sharing crucial information related to criminals, telephone numbers and email IDs have been shared among officials of the neighbouring sub-divisions of Punjab and Haryana. This will ensure speedier coordination in nabbing the miscreants and will help the police teams of all states.

Since mobile connectivity was minimal on this route, the CID officials will take up the issue of strengthening connectivity with various cellular operators, he added.

It was worth mentioning that organised crimes like dacoities, murders, rape, etc have been witnessed in the state’s industrial area of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh.

The SP said he would also request the Director General of Police to take up these issues with their counterparts of other states during inter-state meetings.

The meeting was attended by SDMs and DSPs of neighbouring states, apart from the police officials of Baddi.

Hamirpur, September 22
Former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said the turmoil over the fee hike in the state was the creation of the state government.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said had the government engaged students in dialogues at an early stage, the issue could have been resolved easily. He said it was the undemocratic approach of the government that had led to a sudden eruption in student violence.

“Police force is being used to silence the voice of students which is undemocratic,” he rued. He said it was unfortunate that student unrest occurred every time the Congress government came to power.

Dhumal said if the demands of the students were not addressed, the student agitation could aggravate. He said the attack on the Vice-Chancellor by a group of students was also deplorable and no one should be allowed to indulge in such illegal activities.

He said though it was necessary to make government-run universities and colleges self-reliant but the hike in the fee must not be alarming. He said the state government had aggravated the problem by cutting down grants to universities.

“In the session 2012-13, our government had given Rs 72 crore to Dr YS Parmar University of Forestry and Horticulture, Solan, and Rs 82 crore to Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, but the government had reduced it and given only Rs 48 crore and Rs 65 crore,” he added.

He said retired professors of the agriculture university, Palampur, too were not getting their pension on time, which was a clear indication of the poor financial health of the state.

He said the government had deprived poor students of education by hiking the fee abnormally. It was the duty of the government to provide education to all.

Reacting on stripping the powers of panchayati raj institutions (PRIs), Dhumal said the state government had let down the dream of former Prime Minister, late Rajiv Gandhi, who had made 73rd amendment in the Constitution to empower PRIs. He said it was also unfortunate that development works in those panchayats had come to a halt where members in PRIs had affiliation with the BJP.

He said out of 77 Block Development Committees (BDCs), 52 BDCs and out of 12 Zila Parishads (ZPs) eight ZPs were being headed by BJP-backed candidates. He said this had hampered the overall development work in the state.

Shimla, September 22
Loans worth Rs 3.55 crore have been disbursed to members of minority communities and persons with disabilities during the current financial year.

This was stated by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dhani Ram Shandil, while presiding over a meeting of Board of Directors of the Himachal Pradesh Minorities Finance and Development Corporation, Shimla, today. He said 85 beneficiaries of minority communities were given funds of Rs 2.24 crore while 34 persons with disabilities had been provided loans to the tune of Rs 1.31 crore.— TNS

Kangra, September 22
“Tourism is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. As an economic activity, it is an engine of job creation, irrespective of the skills and education and is a promoter of forward and backward linkages”.

Prof HR Sharma, Dean of School of Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Management, stated this during his inaugural speech as the chief guest of the World Tourism Week here today. The event is being organised by the Tourism society of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP).

Dr Suman Sharma, convener, Tourism Society, welcomed Prof HR Sharma and other guests, Dr Roshan Lal Sharma, Dean of Humanities and Languages, and Dr Ravindranath Manukonda, Dean of New Media and Mass Communication. The tourism festival will end on September 27, Dr Suman said.

Dr Suman Sharma said winners of the collage competition, community tourism-based photo caption competition and rangoli competition, would be announced on September 26.

Himachal school tourism quiz competition would be held tomorrow while inter-university and college quiz competition and declamation competition, on “Tourism and Community Development” on September 24, she added.

A workshop on “Role of tourism stakeholders in local community development in Himachal Pradesh” would be part of the tourism week and held on September 25. A tree plantation drive would be launched on September 27 and tourists at Kangra Airport and bus-stand would also be welcomed the same day, Dr Suman said. 

Shimla, September 22
The five-day Shimla Classical Music Festival concluded here yesterday with world famous Indian classical singers Pt Rajan Mishra and Pt Sajan Mishra enthralling the audience with their performance. During their jugalbandhi, they showed immense skill, imagination and energy by presenting the Banares style of classical music.

Parveen Sultana, noted classical singer, Ustad Jawad and Mazar Ali Khan, shehnai player Pt Daya Shankar, vocalist Pt Chhannu Lal Mishr and Pt Vishwamohan Bhatt performed during the festival.

Shimla, September 22
The shooting of the film “Shimla Mircha” produced by famous director and producer Ramesh Sippy started in the Queen of Hills Shimla. Residents and tourists made a beeline to the shooting spots which included The Ridge, Mall Road and vicinity of the Vidhan Sabha.

Most of the people who had gathered to catch a glimpse of Hema Malani, who will be working with Sippy after four decades, werea disappointed as her scenes were not scheduled for the day. — TNS