Director, Health Services, granted bail

Shimla: The court of Special Judge (Forest) on Saturday granted conditional bail to Director, Health Services, Dr Ajay Gupta, who was arrested by the vigilance and anti-corruption bureau in connection with the alleged medical equipment purchase scam on the night of May 20. Dr Gupta has been directed to join investigation whenever required by the investigating agency. He was arrested after an audio clip of him and another person mentioning bank accounts and Rs 5 lakh in connection with the purchase of 6,500 PPE kits costing over Rs 1 crore went viral. TNS

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HC ex-Chief Justice’s death mourned

Shimla: A virtual full court reference was held through a video conference on Saturday to mourn the death of Justice V Ratnam, former Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court. Justice Ratnam (87) passed away in Chennai on May 23. He had served as the Chief Justice of the HP High Court from January 29 to July 31, 1994. Chief Justice L Narayana Swamy said Justice Ratnam was an eminent jurist having profound knowledge of all branches of law. He was very hardworking, disciplined and a religious person. A two-minute silence was observed as a mark of respect for the departed soul. OC

Dharamsala’s Ananay wins online photo contest

Shimla: Ananay Mahajan of Dharamsala has won the online photo contest “Click and unlock Himachal at its Best-Ghar Ke Jharokhe Se” organised by the state Tourism and Civil Aviation Department. He has been given a reward of Rs 10,000 while Harrison Salwani from Dhanwar (Chamba) and Arpit Kathuria from Shahdara (Delhi), who stood second and third, respectively, have been given Rs 8,000 and Rs 5,000 as reward, said Yunus Khan, Director, Tourism and Civil Aviation, here on Saturday. The contest was organised from May 1 to May 20 and 3,484 photos were received through email. TNS

Baddi steel unit management booked

Solan: The Barotiwala police registered a case against the management of Kundlas Loh Udyog, a steel manufacturing unit, and a driver for bringing eight persons from Punjab in a vehicle to Baddi for working in the factory without permission on Friday. A police team, deployed at Burrawala village, noticed the vehicle. When inquired, the driver could not produce any valid permit. The workers in the vehicle said they had been called by the factory management to work. TNS

970 migrants leave for Dhanbad

Solan: As many as 970 migrants left for Dhanbad in Jharkhand by a Shramik train from Kalka on Saturday evening. Deputy Commissioner KC Chaman said the migrants were brought to Kalka in HRTC buses from various places in the state and provided masks, water bottles, and food packets for their onwards journey. Milk, cerelac packets and oral rehydration salt packets were also provided to them for their children at various stalls set up at the railway station. The Rotary Club arranged slippers for children, as many of them were seen walking barefoot. TNS

Buses to ply 7am to 7pm from Monday

Shimla: The government on Saturday issued orders to resume public transport between 7 am and 7 pm with 60 per cent occupancy within the state from June 1. The order, issued by the Transport Department, listed the safety protocol to be followed both in buses and at bus stands and shelters. No e-pass would be required for plying buses and district magistrates and police chiefs have been asked to manage crowd. All state buses except AC ones have been allowed with mandatory mask wearing for all passengers and sanitisation of buses. Aarogya Setu app is a must for all passengers. TNS