Shimla Apr 26 PTI Himachal Pradesh Youth Congress activists on Tuesday held a demonstration with empty buckets and pitchers in Shimla against water scarcity in the states capital Led by Indian Youth Congress general secretary Amarpreet Lali and HPYC president Negi Nigam Bhandari Youth Congress activists carried out a protest march against the municipal corporation from Lower Bazaar to the deputy commissioners office The protestors carried empty buckets and pitchers in their hands during the march and broke the pitchers outside the municipal corporation office to lodge their protest Addressing the protesters Bhandari claimed that water scarcity has broken its record in March this year Water is being supplied once in two days against the BJPs promise of its round the clock supply in the Shimla municipal areas Bhandari held the negligence and mismanagement by the state government and the MC administration for the water scarcity Shimla city requires 45 million litres of water but it is getting only 3667 million litres nine million litres less than the need he added They also submitted a memorandum to the Shimla deputy commissioner regarding water scarcity and many other problems in the city PTI DJI RAX RAX

Shimla Mar 28 PTI Three people were killed and two others injured as a car overturned in Himachal Pradeshs Chamba district on Monday a disaster management official said The car met with the accident on Chamba Jot road today morning he added The deceased were residents of the Sahoo area of Chamba district he added The injured have been admitted to Medical College for treatment he added PTI DJI RAX RAX

Shimla Feb 25 PTI A woman was killed in a landslide incident in Himachal Pradeshs Shimla district on Friday a state disaster management official said Shimla District Emergency Operation Centre DEOC identified the victim as Ramla Devi of Cheog village in Theog tehsil and said she was hit by boulders during a landslide incident near Dundi Mata temple in Nerwa subdivision of Shimla district The woman was rushed to the Nerwa Community Health Centre where she was declared brought dead a DEOC official said PTI DJI RAX RAX

Shimla Jan 20 PTI A steep five-time hike has been registered in active cases in Himachal Pradesh in the last ten days a senior health official said on Thursday There has been a consistent rise in the number of active cases since January 8 he added The trend shows that the number of active cases has increased from 2793 on January 8 to 14918 as on January 19 he added Out of a total of 1924051 active cases in the country 14918 cases were from Himachal Pradesh as of January 19 he added The numbers of admissions of COVID-positive patients have also increased he said adding the bed occupancy has also increased by nearly five times in ten days Total 51 beds were occupied by COVID positive patients on January 8 he said adding of them 31 patients required oxygen and three needed ventilators Furthermore he said as on January 19 out of total 14918 active cases 249 COVID patients required admission in COVID-dedicated institutions He said of the 249 admitted patients 132 patients needed oxygen and two patients have been on ventilators The rest 115 patients are maintaining good oxygen levels on room air The government spokesperson said most of the patients are stable and maintaining well on or off oxygen Of the total admission of COVID positive patients 09 per cent of patients required ICU or ventilators he added He appealed to the public not to panic and follow all COVID protocols of wearing masks maintaining social distance frequently washing hands and using sanitisers irrespective of the vaccination status PTI DJI RAX RAX

Shimla Nov 19 PTI A 19-year-old youth hanged himself to death in Himachal Pradeshs Kullu district on Friday a police official said Hailing from Gujrati Colony In Punjabs Jalandhar Rohit Kumar committed suicide by hanging himself to death in his room near Thakur Dental Clinic in Dhalpur falling under Kullu Sadar police station Kullu Superintendent of Police Gurdev Sharma saidThe reason behind the suicide is yet to be ascertained he added His body has been kept in Kullu regional hospital where a postmortem will be conducted on Saturday PTI DJI RAX RAX

Shimla Oct 27 PTI Himachals poll panel chief C Paulrasu on Wednesday toured various areas under Mandi parliamentary constituency to take stock of the October 30 byelection preparedness there an official spokesperson said Various areas of the Lok Sabha constituency that Chief Electoral Officer Paulrasu visited along with Chief Secretary Ram Subhag Singh and police chief Sanjay Kundu included Lahaul-Spiti Kinnaur and Kullu districts and Pangi sub-division of Chamba district A direct contest is expected between late Chief Minister Virbhadra Singhs wife Pratibha Singh of the Congress and Kargil war Hero Khushal Singh Thakur of BJP there Byelections for the Mandi parliamentary seat and Arki Fatehpur and Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly seats will be held on Saturday which will decide the fate of 18 candidates in the fray On this occasion the chief secretary directed the administration to make proper lodging and boarding arrangements for the staff deployed on the polling duty as the valley had already experienced fresh snowfall While presiding over a meeting of senior officers of the Kinnaur district at Reckongpeo the chief secretary assured them that the state government would also arrange state and Army helicopters if required due to inclement weather Singh said the Mandi parliamentary constituency had a tough terrain as it consists of remote and tribal areas and there are chances of fresh snowfall in its higher reaches Keeping this in view he asked the administration to deploy adequate man and machinery for ensuring smooth polling besides maintaining proper law and order situation He also directed officials to ensure that the polling material and parties should reach the remotest polling stations well in time On this occasion Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Apurav Devgan informed the CEO that 129 polling stations have been set up in the district and the polling parties would leave for their destinations on October 28 Later the CEO and officials also took stock of arrangements at the counting centre and the strong room to keep the electronic voting machines safely after the polling While interacting with Kullu district officials at Bhuntar the chief secretary had a detailed discussion with them on the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct arrangements made for the polling parties polling booths and the strong room District Electoral Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Ashutosh Garg informed the Chief Secretary that proper arrangements had been made for polling at all the four assembly constituencies -- Manali Kullu Banjar and Ani In all 604 polling centres have been set up in the Kullu district including six critical and 55 sensitive centres Earlier they visited Killar the headquarters of the Pangi valley in the Chamba district to review various arrangements for the by-elections Resident Commissioner Balwan Chand informed Chief Secretary Singh that there were 37 polling stations in the Pangi area The bypolls to the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency and three assembly seats of Arki Jubbal-Kotkhai and Fatehpur were due as they fell vacant following the deaths of sitting lawmakers The Mandi seat fell vacant as BJP MP Ram Swaroop Sharma was found hanging in his official residence in New Delhi on March 17 Former state minister and Fatehpur Congress MLA Sujan Singh Pathania former minister and Jubbal-Kotkhai MLA Narinder Bragta and former chief minister and Arki MLA Virbhadra Singh died in February June and July respectively Counting for the Mandi Lok Sabha and the three assembly seats will be held on November 2 after voting on October 30 A total of six candidates including Ambika Shyam of the Rashtriya Lokniti Party Munshi Ram Thakur of the Himachal Jankranti Party and independent candidates Anil Kumar and Subhash Mohan Snehi are in the fray for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat bypoll Twelve other candidates are trying their luck for the three assembly seats of Arki Fatehpur and Jubbal-Kotkhai Rebel BJP candidate Chetan Singh Bragta is seen to be giving a tough fight to the BJPs Neelam Seraik in Jubbal-Kotkhai where four candidates including Congress Rohit Thakur and independent Suman Kadam are in the fray A direct contest is likely between BJPs Rattan Singh Pal and Congress Sanjay in Arki where independent candidate Jeet Ram is also trying his luck In Fatehpur the main contest is expected between Baldev Thakur of the BJP and Bhawani Singh Pathania of the Congress In Fatehpur Pankaj Kumar Darshi of the Himachal Jankranti Party and independents Ashok Kumar Somal and Rajan Sushant are also in the fray PTI DJI RAX RAX

Shimla Oct 27 PTI The electioneering for bypolls on the Mandi Lok Sabha seat and three assembly segments in Himachal Pradesh seats ended on Wednesday evening With poll campaigning for three assembly seats -- Arki Fatehpur and Jubbal-Kotkhai too ending at 6 pm on Wednesday the stage has been set for the October 30 polling which will decide the fate of 18 candidates in the fray With the electioneering coming to an end now the candidates will now be limited to door-to-door visits to request voters for their votes for them on October 30 The last day of electioneering was marked by Union Minister Anurag Thakur addressing a public meeting in support of Jubbal-Kotkhai BJP candidate Neelam Seraik On the other hand Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Bhaghel and former minister and CWC member Rajeev Shukla held a rally in favour of Arki Congress contestant Sanjay Avashthi on the last day of electioneering A total of six candidates including Ambika Shyam of the Rashtriya Lokniti Party Munshi Ram Thakur of the Himachal Jankranti Party and independent candidates Anil Kumar and Subhash Mohan Snehi are in the fray for the Mandi Lok bypoll Twelve other candidates are trying their luck for the three assembly seats of Arki Fatehpur and Jubbal-Kotkhai Rebel BJP candidate Chetan Singh Bragta is seen to be giving a tough fight to the BJPs Neelam Seraik in Jubbal-Kotkhai where four candidates including Congress Rohit Thakur and independent Suman Kadam are in the fray A direct contest is likely between BJPs Rattan Singh Pal and Congress Sanjay in Arki where independent candidate Jeet Ram is also trying his luck In Fatehpur the main contest is expected between Baldev Thakur of the BJP and Bhawani Singh Pathania of the Congress In Fatehpur Pankaj Kumar Darshi of the Himachal Jankranti Party and independents Ashok Kumar Somal and Rajan Sushant are also in the fray The bypolls for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat and three assembly seats of Arki Jubbal-Kotkhai and Fatehpur were due as they fell vacant following the deaths of sitting lawmakers The Mandi seat fell vacant as BJP MP Ram Swaroop Sharma was found hanging in his official residence in New Delhi on March 17 Former state minister and Fatehpur Congress MLA Sujan Singh Pathania former minister and Jubbal-Kotkhai MLA Narinder Bragta and former chief minister and Arki MLA Virbhadra Singh died in February June and July respectively Counting for the Mandi Lok Sabha and the three assembly seats will be held on November 2 after voting on Saturday PTI DJI RAX RAX