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Shimla: It seems HIMUDA has taken its position as a government agency too seriously. This is the reason HIMUDA is flouting construction rules in many parts of the state. First, it was a 15 crore bust stand in Mandi without the map and then came construction of another bus stand in Dharampur in the flood zone. Now, suddelnly an RTI enquiry has unearthed another such incident in sarkaghat. HIMUDA is constructing a 38 crore boundary wall around Sarkaghat college and that too without formal demarcation.  It is being assumed that in order to benefit few people, HIMUDA  has taken this step of constructing the boundary wall without formal demarcation. The wall is almost complete and after Lawan Thakur’s enquiry into the matter, HIMUDA, college administration and the area’s administration has come under the scanner. However, no one is ready to take the blame. one party says another is responsible and another says the third party is responsible. The College principal, R.C Sharma said, they had asked the SDM office to do the demarcation before the construction began and after repeated efforts from their side, the office took no appropriate actions. On the other hand SDO, HIMUDA, Kushal Sharma said, demarcation has already been applied for and it was only after combined inspection, in which even college administration was present, the construction of the wall was started.

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Shimla: While on the one hand the state government claims to be making effort to streamline the transfer policy, an RTI query has found that in SDM office, Sarkaghat, many employees have not been transferred for 18 to 28 years. There are nine out of seventeen employees who have stayed here since decades. The most surprising part in the entire scenario is that despite the complaints of the employees present there, these nine employees have managed to stay here. This could be due to their political backing and it seems they will continue to without any further transfer for another decade to come. This might have never come out in the open until advocate Santosh Kumar made an effort to procure the information from the SDM office under RTI. With this, it becomes quite clear that there are lot of things that need to be brought out of the wraps for people to know. While this happens in the SDM office, SDM himself is surrounded with controversies after controversies. Many complaints of corruption have been filed against him, so if we say that SDM could have been a ray of hope in the transfer case, then we are expecting too much.

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Shimla: A report tabled in the Lok Sabha during recent monsoon session by a parliamentary panel has observed that the Center has no roadmap to revive the three state-run vaccine producing plants in the country including CRI Kasauli, Pasteur Institute of India in Coonoor in Kerala and the BCG Vaccine Laboratory in Guindy, Tamil Nadu.

The Parliamentary panel, including Rajya Sabha MP and Congress leader from Himachal, Viplove Thakur, observed that every attempt was made to create hurdles so that the process of making the three centers ‘goods manufacturing practices’ compliant continues for long and their vaccine production remains suspended. The report pointed out that prices of vaccines in the country have shot up with the closure of units, as within just two years prices of vaccines have shot up more than double.

Terming the abandoning the production ‘not guided by sound reasoning’, it observed that there is nothing substantial on record on which the decision was taken. The panel said in its report that production at the Pasteur Institute of India in Coonoor is likely to begin in December, but the ministry is silent on allowing the BCG Vaccine Laboratory in Guindy to restart production.

Himachal Pradesh has been demanding revival and modification of CRI.

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Shimla: The new disability law should ensure social security cover for the mentally-challenged in the country, the apex federation representing the parents of persons with mental retardation demanded here on Thursday.

“The new law should have a provision of a monthly pension of Rs 1,000 for the family members of all the categories of disabled, including the mentally-challenged,” JP Gadkari, president of Bangalore-based Parivaar, told reporters. Parivaar is the apex federation of associations of parents of persons with mental retardation. He said there should be one per cent reservation for these persons in all categories of government jobs on the pattern of reservation for hearing and speech-impaired and physically-challenged.

The union ministry of social justice and empowerment is replacing the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunity, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act of 1995 with a new law. It has constituted a panel comprising NGO representatives and government functionaries to draft the new law.

“The Parivaar (also a member of the panel) would submit its recommendation to the panel in December,” said Gadkari, who is here to attend the two-day regional meeting of parents’ representative of persons with mental retardation, beginning Friday.
The Parivaar is the only apex national-level organisation having 203 parent associations and NGOs working for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

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Shimla: Professor Michael Driscoll, vice-chancellor of Middlesex University, UK, while on visit to Shimla today said his university would be happy to enter into any sort of collaboration with the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies. He added that fellows from the institute would be welcome to visit the university to have interaction and forge an academic partnership.

Presenting 17 rare photograph  of the Viceroy Lodge, now known as Indian Institute of Advance Studies, to the institute, Driscoll said he was fascinated to see the building representing the joint heritage of India and Britain, the two countries with a deep connection.

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Shimla: The Child International Society bicycle rally ended here on the historic Ridge Maidan today with 21 participants from across the globe participating in the event. The participants, mostly foreign girls, were welcomed by the local people by handing over garlands to them as they arrived here this afternoon after covering 314 kms on their by cycles. The rally had started on August 31 from tourist destination Manali.

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Dharamsala: US government’s special coordinator on Tibetan issues, Maria Otero, has said she would continue to lead the United State’s efforts in support of the Tibetan people, an official press release issued by the Tibetan government-in-exile here claimed today.

Quoting a letter issued by Otero, under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs, the release said: “As the administration’s special coordinator on Tibetan issues, I continue to lead the United State’s efforts in support of the Tibetan people. I have met on several occasions with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, including last year in Dharamsala, India, along with President Obama’s senior advisor Valerie Jarrett. I have met with Tibetan refugees in India and continue to promote education, humanitarian, and development assistance to Tibetans.”

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Nahan: A private bus conductor was injured seriously when he fell down from the roof of the bus when the driver suddenly started it off at Puruwala on Nahan-Paonta road today.

The injured, Lucky Mehta, was taking fare from passengers who were sitting on the roof when the bus driver suddenly put his feet on the accelerator paddle. The conductor was immediately rushed to a hospital in Uttarakhand in a critical condition where his condition is said to be stable.

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Chamba: The dilapidated school building of Government Primary School, Kunairh, in Chamba district collapsed today after heavy rains, rendering hundreds of student roofless. Fortunately, no one was inside when it collapsed.

Report received here said that the school building was in a delipated condition as it was not rubberised by the authority on time, despite local people having demanding its maintenance several times. Charging government official of negligence, locals demanded early construction of a new building. They said that other school buildings under Bathyat sub-division were also unsafe. School buildings at Kalhitra, Baikabag, Kuthairh and Doata villages of Chawari education block are also in a similar condition, needing urgent maintenance.

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Shimla: Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) today declared the results for Bachelor of Science (BSc), Nursing, entrance exam. The exam was conducted on August 22, 2010. To know more about the results, candidates can visit the university’s official website.