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Virbhadra opens Renuka fair
Dharamsala film fest courts another controversy
Fire in Minto Court building triggers demands for safety review of heritage buildings
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53 heritage buildings under fire threat
VIGNETTES
DC orders probe into building fire
Opposition flays CM’s remark on Giri water plan
Baddi turns into hub of export units
Illegal slate mining goes on in
Khaniara
Excise Dept sees 20% hike in tax collection
Admn to ban entry of heavy vehicles in Palampur
Shanta worried over rising bus mishaps
Khara Danda road a nightmare for commuters
Need to set up trauma centre in every dist
40 attend 2-day literary festival in Mandi
Ban on animal sacrifice opposed
Patients screened for plastic surgery at camp
Raising Day celebrated
NGO holds annual function Centre for all-round growth of state: MP
Woman sarpanch attacked
21 hurt in Una road mishap Varsity bags Rs 73.7 lakh Central project
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Virbhadra opens Renuka fair
Renukaji, November 2 Addressing people, he said fairs and festivals were inseparable part of the people of Himachal Pradesh and the Renuka fair also had a historic significance. The fair marks the union of Lord Parshuram with his mother Goddess Renuka once a year on the eve of “Dashmi” and the devotees, who throng the area from various places, take a holy dip in the Renuka lake on Prabodhini Ekadashi. He said the fair promote unity, brotherhood and love for fellow-beings. The CM later laid the foundation stone of ~6.50 crore Lift Drinking Water Supply Scheme which will benefit 7,000 people residing in 225 areas of various panchayats, including Birla, Thana Kasoga, Panjahal, Nauni, Devka Purla, Baneti, Nahan and Sain-Ki-Ser at Dadahu. He also laid the foundation stone of the first phase of police station building at Dadahu which will be constructed at a cost of ~70 lakh while the overall cost of the entire project, including residences, is pegged at ~1.80 crore. Earlier, the Chief Minister was given a rousing reception by the people and artistes, who played traditional music at the Maina Bag helipad. The Chief Minister inspected the site of Renuka Dam being constructed by the HP Power Corporation. He said he was satisfied with the ongoing progress of the dam and added that it would serve the power requirement of the state as well as the National Capital Region of Delhi. The CM also addressed the grievances of the people and inaugurated exhibitions set up by various government departments, highlighting the development activities and also presided over the meeting of the Renuka Shrine Board. Among others who were present included Vidya Stokes, Irrigation and Public Health Minister, Vinay Kumar, CPS, GR Musafir Vice-Chairman, State Planning Board, Harsh Vardhan Chauhan, Chairman, Employment Generation and Resource Mobilisation, Deputy Commissioner Ritesh Chauhan, SP Balbir Thakur and other officials of various departments. Other jobs done
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Dharamsala film fest courts another controversy
Dharamsala, November 2 After a much hue and cry, most of them had to leave the venue without watching the ongoing screening of films at McLeodganj. Organisers refused to comment on the issue. A source here said: “The tickets that are sold to viewers are in the form of wrist-bands with no details of the seating capacity, which resulted in a mess.” The event is going on in two parts — at Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts and Club House of the Tourism Department. Sources said the authorities provided DIFF organisers 50% discount on the booking of tourism hotels. “We were here for the weekend and after we came to know that a film festival was on, we thought of attending it. But the organisers here spoilt our tour. They are not allowing us to enter despite the fact that we have the passes (bands) with us,” said Kartik Sharma, a tourist from Chandigarh, who was here with his friends. Nearly 30-35 youths were denied entry on Saturday night. Taxation authorities too had turned up at the venue on Saturday and served a notice to the organisers for holding commercial activities without permission.
Two types of bands were being sold at the counters ranging from Rs 150 to 800. Not only this, bags, T-shirts and badges brandishing DIFF were
also being sold at the counters on which objection was raised. “The way the tickets are being sold, it is impossible to make an account of the sale they have made as no receipts are being given to buyers. These are the main points highlighted in the notice served to the organisers,” taxation authorities said. Sources said this time the administration had realised that McLeodganj, being the seat of world-famous spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, makes a unique selling proposition to gather sponsorships calling foreign donations for holding such events here. Not only film festivals, but various events related to social causes are making a brisk business. Entertainment tax and other fee would be imposed on organisers. Taxation authorities have asked them to appear at the office by Monday. |
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Fire in Minto Court building triggers demands for safety review of heritage buildings Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service
The mishap again exposed the inadequacy, lack of professionalism and preparedness in dealing with such fires to which the 329 heritage buildings, listed by INTACH in the erstwhile summer capital of the British, are highly vulnerable. More than 50 such precious heritage buildings have already been lost to fire since Independence. The fact that there is extensive use of wood in these buildings makes these highly prone to fires and signals complete preparedness to avert a mishap. “It appears that we refuse to learn from the past and to what avail are all these mock drills if we are caught napping when the system needs to be in place,” questions Raaja Bhasin, historian and writer. What has left everyone not just sad but perturbed is the fact that the fire station was intimated about the mishap almost 90 minutes after the fire broke out. In fact, help was sought from the Army only after 11 pm when the situation had already got out of control. It was on the night of January 28, 2014, that 100-year-old Gorton Castle, housing the office of the Accountant General (AG) was damaged. Nine months down the line, the situation is not much different. The list of colonial architectural masterpieces that have been lost to such fires is endless. The prominent buildings lost to fire include Kennedy House, one of the first buildings of Shimla, Wildflower Hall, Himachal Dham, Walker Hospital of the Army, Peterhoff, Western Command and many more. To make matters worse, the fire tenders took more than 20 minutes to reach the spot from the Mall, which is barely two km away and ran out of water within half an hour. Even as the Fire Department is blaming the Municipal Corporation and the Irrigation Department for not ensuring water supply to the hydrants, the question is that what is the use of having fancy mock drills when all departments are found to be failing in case of fire. “Fire personnel took almost 20 minutes locating the water hydrants, out of which only one was functional and that too with a flow that was nothing more than a trickle,” said Brig SK Kataria, Chief Engineer at the project . He says the fire tenders left for a refill and returned only after an hour at 11.15 pm when all was lost. Witnesses say had the water hydrant been functional and with full pressure, the fire could have been easily contained. “It is only when the fire tenders went for a refill that the situation got out of hand,” said Raman Jain, who lives in the vicinity. He admits had the hydrants in the vicinity been functional, the building could have been saved with little damage. “It was terrible to see that the fire tenders were all lined up for a refill while the fire was raging until Cecil offered to fill couple of these from their pumps. Are these tenders not kept filled to tackle an emergency,” is how Himanshu Sud, a local reacted in disbelief.
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53 heritage buildings under fire threat
Shimla, November 2 In the case of the BRO Minto Court headquarters (Deepak Project), fire men were informed by Vijay Kumar, a resident, at 9.34 pm almost about one hour after the breaking out of the fire around 8.25 pm, said firemen. By 10 pm, all three fire tenders ran out of water and two fire hydrants did not fit into the hose pipes and one hydrant worked but it had no pressure. In the case of 109-year-old Gorton Castle fire on January 28 this year, the inquiry, conducted by the ADM Law and Order, censured the Accountant General's office, which was housed in the building, for its lack of fire preparedness. The inquiry had not only indicted the AG’s security branch, headed by a class-III officer Rakhpal Singh, and the defunct internal hydrant and fire alarm system, but also exposed a sorry state of fire safety preparedness in all heritage buildings in the city. Neither the staff knew how to handle a fire emergency, nor did the fire alarm system work, admitted officials. The plight of other 53 heritage buildings, including CTO, Secretariat building, the advanced study institute, state library, Town Hall, GPO building and others is no better, admitted officials. The prominent buildings lost to fire include
No fire norms
Minto Court fire
Gorton Castle fire
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Honesty personified was RSS Chauhan
Shriniwas Joshi
This gesture sealed the lips of late-comers and paved the way for timely presence of officials in the board. He, by personal example, had made the biometric attendance machine redundant. He would never use the official pen for writing his private letters. He used to travel by an ordinary bus when on a private mission. The commodity of officers, like him, belongs to “Satyug”. Chauhan was born in April 1931 at Kiari village in Kotkhai to Moti Ram and Belmati and left us forever in October 2014 at Chandigarh while staying with his doctor daughter. He had his elementary education in Kotkhai and then shifted to Ambala and ultimately to Harcourt Butler School, New Delhi. He was a brilliant student so he took admission in the BE course in Delhi College of Engineering. He decided to serve his state and joined the state government and served it outstandingly to rise to the highest position in the electricity board. His sincerity, commitment, dedication and impeccable integrity made him a standing icon that is generally quoted. I came close to him after both of us had retired from the public service. He was a great lover of flowers and had advanced knowledge about the foliage and flowers. I called him an engineer by profession and a floriculturist by design. He had founded Shimla Amateur Garden and Environment Society (SAGES) by then. He gave me its admission form and almost ordered, “Fill it, deposit the fee and start working for Green Shimla: Clean Shimla.” Whatever interest I have in flowers today is due to that noble soul. When he went to London in 1998 to stay with his daughter there for a short while, he faced several hurdles on flight to bring flower-bulbs for many of us. I had the privilege of getting a hyacinth bulb that gave beautiful blue-coloured flowers decorating my drawing room for several weeks. He had also brought a gadget from there to save his garden from the monkey pillaging. The gadget is used in London to protect the gardens from the ingress of rabbits and dogs as it emitted invisible rays which repelled the animals from entering there. He met me a few days after and I asked him how the gadget was working? He said, “What grey matter these monkeys have under their skull? They simply bypass its scanning area and make unauthorised entry into the garden.” He lost his beloved wife Vijay Lakshmi in 2005 and that made him solitary. His presence at the meetings of SAGES that he loved like his baby, which actually was, gradually reduced from “once in a while” to zero. But he kept a close watch on its activity and would not spare the executive by passing a word, if he found any negligence on their part. He had donated a trophy in the name of his wife to SAGES for the best Private Large Garden and had named the trophy as the Stokes Memorial Trophy. He was prudently frugal in living. Once he told me a story of the Indians ordering more than what they could consume in a restaurant in Germany. The ladies in the next table reported about the wastage to the Social Security Organisation. An officer came and slapped a fine of 50 marks on the Indians. The moral, he said, was: “Money is yours but resources belong to the society. Do not waste those.” He had proficiently edited SAGES newsletter for several years. RSS died in a Chandigarh hospital of septicemia one week after surgery of his thigh bone but Himachal always lived with him; so he had wished that his ashes be immersed in the Sutlej near Kotkhai. TAILPIECE: Flower withers; but the seed remains. — Kahlil Gibran
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DC orders probe into building fire
Shimla , November 2 DC Malhotra said the inquiry had been ordered and the SDM (urban) would conduct the inquiry and submit the report in a month. Though Brig Kataria ruled out any foul play, a CBI case against some project officers in an alleged digital telephone exchange scam raises suspicion. The fire was reported at 9.34 pm, almost an hour late yesterday despite the BRO’s claim that the sentry was on duty at the headquarters. The fire broke out in the first floor of the two-storey building. It housed the key data in computers and documents related to the Deepak Project. The CBI has already filed a chargesheet against Brig JK Narang, then engineer, BRO (Deepak Project) and Lt Col Chanchal Jhamb, another key BRO official, and two managers of Siemens company in the Rs 1.25 crore digital telephone exchange scam in a special CBI court here last year. The CBI has charged them under Sections 420, 471, IPC and 31/ D of the Prevention of Corruption Act. According to sources, the special CBI court had filed a chargehsheet in the court on October 15 last year, revealed sources. The CBI claimed that it had established that the two officials committed a loss of Rs 60 lakh to the exchequer while setting up the 14 digital telephone exchanges in BRO offices in Manali, Lahaul-Spiti, Shimla, Kinnaur and Uttarakhand in 2007-2009. The CBI found that Narang and Jhamb allegedly misused their official position and bought equipment at higher rates. They invited limited tender to benefit Siemens rather than calling the mandatory open tender, violating the norms, the CBI charged. In another case, CBI had caught an Army official posted with Deepak Project for allegedly selling diesel in Lahaul a few years ago and the case was still pending, revealed sources. Brig Kataria said the CBI had already taken possession of all documents and the fire had no connection with the old cases. “We are ordering departmental inquiry into the fire incident, which seemed to be caused by short-circuit”, he claimed. Deputy Mayor, Shimla, Tikender Panwar, who monitored the fire-fighting operation, demanded that the CBI should probe the fire. Needle of suspicion
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Opposition flays CM’s remark on Giri water plan
Solan, November 2 In a statement issued here today, Bindal said the foundation stone of the scheme was laid in 2001-2002 and it was completed in 2008 and since then it has been providing water to the people of Solan and its surrounding areas. He said it was only the BJP government which had bothered to provide a drinking scheme to the residents of Solan, while the Congress in its 50-year rule had failed to undertake any such initiative. Even the earlier scheme on river Ashwani was a gift of the BJP government, he said. Bindal said the chief minister should have instead gifted people some new scheme and said the BJP government led by PK Dhumal had not only constructed a subzi mandi in 2001 at Solan which was further expanded in 2008, but had benefited the agrarian community as business worth ~200 crore was being transacted through it annually, which had immensely helped farmers. Bindal said the Barog bypass, 64 rural roads and various irrigation schemes for villagers, medical college and new buildings for various schools were constructed during their term, while the Congress was merely taking credit for schemes initiated by the BJP. He said the Modi government at the Centre had lowered the rate of petrol six times to give reprieve to the common man, while the state government had enhanced VAT on diesel thus putting an added strain on the pocket of common people. Bindal also condemned the statement of the CM, where he had said that the BJP MLAs were merely going to the Vidhan Sabha to get allowances. He said the BJP was interested in running the House, but the CM was running away from it even though the speaker had asked him to continue with the session. |
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Cong has ignored previous govt’s projects in Palampur
Palampur, November 2 The Congress Government took over the reins of the state in 2012. It has virtually put all these development project in cold storage. The funds allocated for these projects by the previous government have already elapsed or been transferred to other projects. During the BJP regime, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Cabinet ministers laid the foundation stones of a dozen development projects in the town, such as three parking projects, drinking water supply schemes and residential complex for medical officers inside the civil hospital compound. However, the construction for these projects is hanging fire because of lack of political will. Former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal laid the foundation stone of a multi-storey parking project in the town on June 8, 2008. Till date, the construction of this project has not started. The local Municipal Council had transferred the land to state urban development department three years ago but it is yet be finalised who will execute the project, the state government or some
private agency under Build Operate and transfer (BOT) basis. Dhumal had also laid the foundation stone of a residential complex for doctors at Palampur Civil Hospital in 2010. Despite allocation of Rs 3 crore, the project is hanging fire. The then Urban Development Minister Thakur Mohinder also laid the foundation stone of two parking projects. He allocated Rs 60 lakh in the first phase for these. However, the new government failed to take up the construction of these projects. MLA Parveen Sharma laid the foundation stone of a tourist information centre at Palampur but its construction was not taken up. Later,
the funds allocated lapsed and were transferred to other project. Enquiries made by this correspondent revealed that despite adequate funds, in the absence of political will, no officials of the state
government bothered to take up the construction of these projects. The key projects
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Baddi turns into hub of export units
Solan, November 2 Since the EOUs are exempted from Central excise, the industrial houses which had invested here to reap benefits of the 2003 Central industrial package have either shifted their domestic products to their sister concerns in states where the package is still valid or have converted their units to EOUs. The pharmaceutical industry, which comprised a major chunk of the investment, was the first to adopt this trend. Renowned names like Dr Reddy’s Lab, Alkem, Cadila, USB, Glenmark, Aristo, etc, have converted their plants here to EOUs. Navneet Marwaha, Drug Controller, said nearly 80 per cent units had either been converted into EOUs completely or had transformed their major operations for exports. They were exporting their products to various countries, such as the European Union, USA, African countries and Brazil. He said this would help in manufacturing of quality drugs as such units have to strictly adhere to international regulatory norms and they are inspected by the regulatory authorities of such countries prior to the grant of authorisation. Almost 125 units were World Health Organisation’s (WHO) norms compliant and another 20 others were in the process of getting this compliance in the near future, he added. A similar situation is prevelant in other sectors, such as textiles, where renowned names like Vardhman, Sara Textiles, etc, are manufacturing a large chunk of their goods for exports. “BBN faced problems like exorbitant transportation costs for bringing raw materials and transporting finished goods to markets. Therefore, running industries with major incentives of the Central industrial package having lapsed has become less profitable and investors are therefore turning to exports,” said Vinod Khurana, president, Nalagarh Industries Association. He said the prevailing recession in the market had further given rise to this tendency and since tax concessions were still available in other states like Jammu and Kashmir and north eastern states, investors in the BBN area were switching over to exports. The turning point
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Illegal slate mining goes on in
Khaniara
Dharamsala, November 2 Due to the failure of the state government to deposit the said amount, the residents of Khaniara have lost the right to carry out for slate mining in the Dhauladhar hills. The state government has failed to deposit Rs 1.6 crore as net present value (NPV) of 25 hectare forest land that was to be diverted for mining purpose with the Compensatory Afforestation Monitoring and Planning Authority (CAMPA). According to documents available with The Tribune, the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests had given March 13, 2014, deadline to the state government for deposition of NPV with the CAMPA, pending which it had threatened to cancel ad hoc permission for mining on the land in question. Sources here said till date the state government had not deposited the NPV, but illegal mining on the land was continuing. The state government had to deposit ~1.60 crore as NPV with CAMPA before any mining was to be allowed on the forest land, the sources here said. Forest officials are blaming people carrying out mining in Khaniara for the current situation. They said, “We had asked people carrying mining in Khaniara to deposit the said amount. Since they were the beneficiaries of the decision, they should have deposited the fund.” However, most of the miners are poor people who belong to the SC or ST communities and were not in a position to shell out Rs 1.6 crore. Since now the ad hoc permission of the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests for mining in 25 hectare land in Khaniara village stands withdrawn, hundreds of families of the area depending on mining of slates would be rendered unemployed. They would be rendered unemployed due to “mishandling” of the case by the state government officials. Khaniara village was once a hub of slate mining for the entire state. However, due to environment concerns and the impact of mining on the Dhauladhar mountains, the Supreme Court had banned mining in the area. The state government represented the case of the people of Khaniara, whose main source of livelihood was slate mining, in the Supreme Court. The court then allowed mining in 25 hectare forest land in Khaniara village in 2002. However, before the forest land could be diverted for mining purpose, the state government through its Mining Department had to deposit NPV of forest land with the CAMPA. The sources here also alleged that the entire mining taking place in Khanirara village was illegal. As per rules, the NPA had to be deposited the by the state government with the CAMPA. Till the amount was deposited, no mining could be allowed on the land in question. The CAMPA authority has been set as per the directions of the Supreme Court for compensatory forestation of areas that are being diverted from conservation of the Forest Act. However, despite the fact that NPA has not been deposited and forest land has not been diverted on paper, illegal mining is continuing. However, forest officials, who were responsible for checking illegal activities on the forest land, have turned blind eye to the illegal mining. Mining woes
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Excise Dept sees 20% hike in tax collection
Solan, November 2 Figures collected from the Excise and Taxation Department revealed that Rs 2,558 crore have been collected till September as against Rs 2,133 crore collected last year in this period. As many as Rs 478 crore were collected on account of excise, Rs 61 crore through the passenger goods tax, while the other taxes, including luxury goods collections, stood at Rs 186 crore. The department targeted to collect more than Rs 4,000 crore in this fiscal and given the grim financial condition which the state faced, the department was a major revenue generator for the state. The officials had paid added stress to the collection of luxury tax as it had been far below expected in the past years. A series of surprise checks on hotels across the state helped enhance the luxury tax collections, thus adding significantly to the overall tax collections, though cases of realising flat rate of luxury tax from unregistered hotels was yet to be streamlined as it led to loss of revenue. JC Chauhan, Commissioner, Excise and Taxation Department, said they also endeavoured to facilitate the dealers by amending the input tax restricted goods. Officials confided that introduction of measures, such as monthly video conferencing, helped save time and the performance of the field officials was being monitored on a regular basis. They added that plugging weak areas, like added vigil on escape routes and checking of buses used by some traders to procure goods, had also helped in checking tax evasion. The department is, however, facing problems in realising entry tax from builders who pay merely one-third tax on articles like iron, cement, tiles, wood, etc, thus causing loss worth lakhs to the department every month. A case in this regard is pending in the court. |
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Roads on border in Kangra cry for attention
Palampur, November 2 Though the state government in September this year had set a month’s deadline to repair all damaged state and national highways in the state, a number of roads linking Kangra with Hamirpur, Mandi and Una districts are yet to be repaired
as they are full of potholes making it quite difficult to drive. A 60-km stretch of the Palampur-Hamirpur highway has become a bane for the tourists visiting Himachal Pradesh. Another important road, Dehara Gopipur-Jwalamukhi, is also in a bad shape. This is one of the busiest road as thousands of pilgrims daily come from Punjab, Chandigarh and Haryana to visit shrines at Chintpurni, Jwalamukhi, Barjeshwari and Chamunda in Kangra district. The condition of national highway between Kotla and 32 Miles has gone from bad to worse as the national highway wing of the PWD has completely “neglected” this stretch of the road. At many points no bitumen is seen on the surface. Despite repeated complaints to officials concerned, no steps have been initiated to repair the road. The condition of internal roads in Palampur, Baijnath and Jaisinghpur sub-divisions is also not good. Almost all internal roads are full of potholes. A senior PWD official when asked about the poor quality of construction said action would be taken against erring contractors. However, the PWD has so far failed to serve even a single notice to erring contractors. At present, the state PWD is under scanner regarding the way it handled the execution and supervision of this project. |
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Admn to ban entry of heavy vehicles in Palampur
Palampur, November 2 While presiding over the meeting, the SDM said the narrow Mandi – Pathankot National Highway, passing through the town, had become a major traffic bottleneck, resulting in frequent traffic jams in the town. Unless the entry of heavy vehicles was banned, there would be no relief from the jams. “There is no other alternative to solve the traffic problems of the town and save the public from the regular traffic jam,” he added. The participants said the number of accidents had also gone up. Later, it was unanimously resolved to stop the entry of heavy vehicles, including long-route buses, into the town immediately and divert them through Holta- HP Agriculture University bye pass. It was resolved that buses coming from Dharmsala would also follow the Holta bypass route to reach the new
bus stand. Attari assured the residents that he would request the Deputy Commissioner to issue a notification to this effect under the Motor Vehicle Act. This could take 10 days for implementation. He said over 300 vehicles were being added to the town every month, which the narrow internal roads were not fit for. He termed the traffic situation alarming and said the administration and police could no longer be a mute spectator. |
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Shanta worried over rising bus mishaps
Palampur, November 2 Shanta Kumar said rise in the number of road accidents had put a question mark on the safety of passengers. Though the state government knew that 95 per cent of the state’s population was dependant on government transport, their safety had been neglected. He said there had been manifold increase in the number of light and heavy vehicles in the state and the inter-state traffic had also gone up but the width of most of the roads was the same as it was 20 years ago. The MP said the conditions of the internal roads, where frequent bus accidents were taking place, was worse. “None in the government is bothered to improve or widen the roads” he added.
Shanta said the state government should initiate measures to widen the narrow roads on war footing and remove black spots so that fatal accidents were averted. The Union Government was ready to help the state if major projects in this regard were submitted to the
Centre. He could also plead the case of the state for sanction of funds if a report was placed before the Union Government, he added. |
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Khara Danda road a nightmare for commuters
Dharamsala, November 2 A manager of a hotel in McLeodganj said his guests complained about the poor condition of roads and asked him to update the hotel website with the road condition. Suresh, owner of a hotel at Dharamkot, said the Mcleodganj-Dharamkot road is encroached. He said the road had been reduced to 10 feet because of encroachments. Roads to Bhagsunag and Naddi are also in a bad shape. The Bhagsunag road passes through a bottleneck near McLeodganj, leading to traffic jams during the tourist season. The bottleneck has been created due to encroachments on the road. During the previous BJP government, the Public Works Department (PWD) had planned to connect Bhagsunag with Indrunag area. However, the plan has not been materialised after the Congress government came in to power. When contacted the PWD authorities, they said a contract for strengthening the Gaggal to McLeodganj road, worth ~11 crore, has been awarded. Sources said a plan for developing the 4 km Khara Danda road as concrete road had also been approved. The work on the main Mcleodganj-Dharamsala road is nearing completion, the work on Khara Danda road is yet to be started.
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Need to set up trauma centre in every dist
Una, November 2 Orthopaedic surgeon
Dr Mohinder Kaushal from Zirakpur, who hails from Una district, gave a presentation on minimal invasive endoscopic
spine and knee surgery, while Dr Ritesh Soni from Una made a presentation on the latest
developments in pelvic bone surgery. During deliberations, the speakers said by 2020, road accidents would be one of the biggest contributors towards trauma. Former Chief Medical Officer Dr Shiv Paul Kanwar said the entire medical fraternity should come forward to set up trauma centres at the district level which will help save many precious lives. The medics also expressed the need to spread emergency management awareness among the masses since the first hour after the injury, termed as the golden hour, was very critical. Dr Jagdishwar Kanwar of Kanwar hospital was also present. |
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40 attend 2-day literary festival in Mandi
Mandi, November 2 Giving examples, he said the victims of the 1984 riots, Bhopal gas tragedy, Babri Masjid and Gujarat riots were still awaiting justice. Speaking on the occasion, senior journalist and author Alok Srivastava said the ideologies with which the war of Independence was fought in the 20th Century had changed in the 21st Century. Historian Sudhir Vidharthi said freedom fighters were being divided on the basis of caste and religion. The first session was moderated by author Alpana Mishar, while Vinod Tewari, Mukesh Verma, Niranjandev Sharma and Gangaram Raji also expressed their views. |
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Ban on animal sacrifice opposed
Mandi, November 2 He said a petition had been filed in the Supreme Court by the Kullu and Mandi kardar unions in this regard. He said 180 kardars (representatives of the deities) had attended the meeting and unanimously raised their voice against any kind of change in the centuries-old traditions. They were against any deviation during the Shivratri Mela, he added. The samiti urged the Chief Minister to lay the foundation stone of the Dev Sadan at the earliest as there were no proper arrangements for stay of deities in the town during the Shivratri Mela. |
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Patients screened for plastic surgery at camp
Una, November 2 The camp was inaugurated by senior ayurvedic officer Dr Ram Narayan Prabhakar. Dr Pasricha said most of the patients suffered from deformities in lips and the palate, while some with burn scars were also shortlisted for surgery. He said nearly 700 patients have been treated by the hospital free of cost through similar camps organised by Himotkarsh Parishad in Una, Kangra, Palampur and Dalhousie in the past.
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Raising Day celebrated
Mandi, November 2 Capt Het Ram Sharma, district convener, IESM, said it was the second celebrations of the Raising Day of the Intelligence Corps here and now onwards, the ambit of the celebrations would increase every year. Among those present on the occasion include Capt Baldev Pathania, RK Thakur, Sarvan Chauhan, RK Chauhan, MK Gurung, Kehar Singh, Subedar Prem Thakur, Surender Dev, Amba Prasad, PS Katoch, Sansar Chand, Naib Subedar VL Jaswal, Naresh Thakur, Havildar Lal Singh, Gulab Singh and Dewan Singh Guleria. |
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Dharamsala, November 2
Mandi, November 2
accident at Pandoga village in Una district today.
The injured were from Ajaula village of Kapurthala district in Punjab and were going to pay obeisance at the Pirnigaha shrine in Una.
Preliminary reports revealed that the driver decided to hit the vehicle against a roadside hillock after its brakes failed.
The injured were shifted to the Una district hospital. A case has been registered and further investigations are on.
OC
Shimla, November 2
As the Chairman of the HP State Electricity Board, RSS Chauhan overheard a few officials chatting that the executives use official vehicles to come to workplace and then check the attendance registers to cross-mark those who come late without even having a feel of their difficulty that they face in footing the way. Chauhan that day decided to go to office on foot and one could see him smartly dressed (See photo) and pacing to the office even when there was heavy snowfall.
