Shimla, January 5
The Himachal Pradesh Government today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Eastern Mineral and Trading Agency (EMTA) for setting up a 500-MW pithead power plant, likely to be set up in West Bengal.

As per the MoU, a joint venture company, to be called Himachal EMTA Power with both the partners having 50 per cent equity share, will be set up for setting up the plant. It will have eight directors, four representing each partner.

The chairman will be of the state government, while managing director will be from the private company. The state will pursue with the Centre the case for allotment of a coal mine, identified by the EMTA in West Bengal, for the plant.

The project, which is likely to cost Rs 2,500 crore, will be executed on debt-equity ratio of three is to one (3:1) and it will be completed in four years. The power generated will be shared equally by the two partners and its tariff will be decided by the electricity regulatory authority.

The private partner will develop the mine as a captive fuel source for the plant, set up the plant and operate it. The registered office of the joint venture company will be in Shimla and the corporate office at the place where the plant will be set up.

Nahan, January 5
The district authorities have failed to get the CT (Computerised axial Tomography) scan machine installed at Nahan Civil Hospital, which cost the hospital more than Rs 8 crore, despite an assurance by Mr Gangu Ram Musafir, Speaker, Vidhan Sabha, at a district-level workshop held in May 2006.

The equipment has been rusting in the hospital for over seven months. Patients needing scanning are advised to go to Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh. At times they are asked to go to private clinics who charge exorbitant rates, said a doctor on the conditions of anonymity.

The posted strength of doctors in this 200-bed hospital remains 11 against the sanctioned strength of 24. This has been a major impediment in the smooth functioning of the hospital, says Dr Devender Oberoi, Chief Medical Officer of the local Hospital.

There are seven pharmacists as against the sanctioned strength of 12 and 25 Class IV employees against the sanctioned strength of 45. Two posts of Matron are lying vacant. There has been a decline in the number of patients visiting the hospital- 97,962 in 2006 as against 1,18,623 in 2005.

The reason for the same may be attributed to unsatisfactory medical services due to severe staff shortage and the setting up of referral hospitals at Shillai, Rajgarh and Sanghera, said Dr Sanjay Sharma, officiating Medical Superintendent.

The 15- year-old ultrasound machine needs to be replaced. “To improve services in this hospital, we would need magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),” says Dr DD Sharma, a specialist in radiology.

The old subscription fee of 25 paise ought to be revised to Rs 2, said an OPD patient. Specialists here are often put on general duties whereas their expertise must be utilised for optimum results.

“Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, had announced that before the government completed five years, the town would be provided with CT scan facilities. The residents are keeping their fingers crossed,” said Mr BB Katoch, a social activist.

Shimla, January 5
The proposals finalised by the Delimitation Commission headed by Justice Kuldeep Singh for redefining the political boundaries of 68 Assembly and four Parliament seats will be notified on January 10.

Though the recommendations of the commission may not come into effect for the state Assembly elections due to be held early next year, the redefining of political boundaries as regards Assembly constituencies may create problems for many.

As per the proposals of the commission, there will be a large number of changes in Shimla district. The Rohru constituency, which is represented by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, will be reserved. Besides, the Chopal constituency is also likely to be made a reserved constituency.

With the principle of rotation being followed in reservation and de-reservation of seats, the SC seats of Kasumpti and Rampur are likely to be thrown open for general category candidates.

Though the number of Assembly seats in the state will remain 68, Kangra district will have one constituency less, while there will be an addition in case of Kullu district. The Sulah segment in district, which happens to be the home constituency of BJP stalwart Shanta Kumar, will be wound up.

This will reduce the number of Assembly segments in the largest and politically the most significant district of the state from 16 to 15. The main objective behind reducing the number of seats in Kangra is to have 17 Assembly segments each in all four Lok Sabha seats.

A new constituency of Manali is being carved out which will increase the total number of seats in Kullu to four. The four constituencies now will include Kullu, Ani, Banjar and Manali.

The Assembly segment of Solan will also be reserved.

Those associate members of the commission from the state included, IPH Minister Kaul Singh Thakur, Major Vijai Singh Mankotia, Kuldeep Pathania, Dr Prem Singh and Harinaraian Saini, all MLAs. The four Lok Sabha MPs were also members of the commission.

Shimla, January 5
The State Single Window Clearance and Monitoring Authority cleared 10 new industrial projects with proposed investment of Rs 90 crore here last evening.

With this, the total investment in the state during the coming three years has gone up to 21,652 crore with potential to provide employment to about 3,01,333 persons.

Presiding over a meeting, Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, said the state government was giving impetus to industrialisation and ample facilities were being provided to entrepreneurs. He said the land for industrial purposes should be acquired through negotiation and the land owners should be rehabilitated properly.

He said workers should be provided suitable residential accommodation, so that they could lead a decent life. He said private players were also being encouraged to construct residential accommodations for the skilled and unskilled workers.

Mr Virbhadra Singh said the Union Government had enacted the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006, to promote competitiveness among entrepreneurs. He said the industrial proposals up to Rs 10 crore would be considered under the medium enterprises while investments above Rs 10 crore under large enterprises.

He said the new enactment would speed up the completion of the formalities at different levels, thereby saving the time of the entrepreneurs.

Dalhousie, January 5
The national chairman of the Youth Hostels Association of India (YHAI), Dr Harish K. Saxena, has censured the unwarranted actions of the local administration creating hurdles in the way of local youth hostel’s functioning.

Dr Saxena, who is also the president of the International Youth Hostels Federation (IYHF), was here today on a visit to the Youth Hostel, Dalhousie, to meet participants of the ongoing National Himalayan Winter Trekking Expedition.

Taking exception to the recent notice issued by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) and the board put up by the municipal council near the premises of the hostel claiming its possession over the land, Dr Saxena said he would take up the matter with the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, and the Himachal Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, for initiating punitive action against the officials acting arbitrarily to tarnish the reputation of the youth hostel authorities.

He said it was astonishing to note that the SDM, Dalhousie, had issued a notice to the hostel authorities directly instead of acting through his superior, the Deputy Commissioner.

The MC had put up a board near the ground instead of discussing and deciding on such issues in the management committee. “It has also been brought to my notice that the same SDM had locked the gates of the ground unilaterally in December, 2004, and later reversed his action on the intervention of the state government,” he said.

He said, “The land for the hostel, which was constructed in 1972, has not so far been transferred in the records. The hostel presently has only one-third of the land that was sanctioned originally. The Deputy Commissioner of Chamba had issued a no objection certificate for the land in 2003, still the land has not been transferred in the revenue records. This despite the fact the physical possession of the land had been with the hostel for around 34 years now.”

“The government has constituted a management committee with the Principal Secretary, Youth Service and Sports, as its chairman and the Deputy Commissioner of Chamba as its vice-chairman. Hence, local problems should be sorted out in the meeting of this committee only,” he added.

The land, including the ground, should be transferred in the name of the youth hostel in revenue records without further delay, he said. 

Kangra, January 5
Himachal government will explore the possibilities of opening of a modern global university in Kangra district for which land is being identified.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh stated this today while addressing a meeting at Dharamsala. He said the state was poised to emerge as ‘Knowledge Hub’ in the country where quality education in different disciplines would be available to Himachalis and students from all parts of the country.

He said the government had three universities and more were in the offing in association with experienced and competent private players, which could open centres of excellence learning in collaboration with the international universities so that degrees awards were recognised globally. He said the government had received several proposals from good education houses which were under the consideration of the government.

Earlier the Chief Minister dedicated the directorate of Horticulture building constructed at cost of Rs 92 lakh to the people of the state, especially to horticulturists, on the first day of the first phase of his winter Sojourn to the lower districts of the state which began from today after he was received by the people of the area for the visit.

Mr Virbhadra Singh said the government was contemplating a policy for the benefit of the small and marginal farmers and extend them best assistance for optimum use of their limited holdings. He said Himachal was one of the few states which had implemented the land reforms and provided the right of ownership to the tillers and improved their economic status. He said as a result of land reforms the state was left with no big holdings and the additional land got vested with the tillers or the government.

He said with small and marginal holdings the state’s farmers were making optimum utilisation of land by cultivating cash crops and diversifying traditional cropping practices. He said in the recent past progressive farmers opted for cash crops, horticulture, herbiculture, floriculture and off-season vegetables which was improving their economy.

He said the horticulture sector was contributing Rs 1,500 crore to the State Domestic Product and 6000 to 7000 hectares of land was being added annually to the horticulture sector as horticulturists were replacing old root stock and carrying new plantations regularly and 20 to 25 lakh of fruit plants were being distributed to them annually. Annual fruit production had reached 6.96 lakh metric tonnes compared to only 1,200 metric tonnes in 1950. He said not only apple but species of marketable fruits were being cultivated which had strengthened the horticulture sector.

Mr Virbhadra Singh said he had approached the Union Government for the creation of All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) like facilities at Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Kangra at Tanda, where the government had invested over Rs 350 crore on infrastructure building, machinery and equipments.

The Chief Minister said over 90 per cent of state’s population was dependent for livelihood on agriculture and horticulture sectors. He advised agriculture and horticulture scientists to educate farmers on the latest trends in farming so that benefit of research reached farmers.

Mr Virbhadra Singh distributed Rs 41.52 lakhs of subsidy among 215 beneficiaries of Kangra district, Una, Kulu and Hamirpur under the Horticulture Technology Mission.

Earlier the Chief Minister visited the gurdwara here to pay obeisance on the 341st Gur Purv of Guru Gobind Singh and greeted members of the Sikh community.

Later the Chief Minister also dedicated the ‘Writer’s Home’ to the writers of the state constructed at a cost of Rs 60 lakh at Dharamsala and inaugurated a lift in the mini secretariat building at Dharamsala where he also heard grievances of people of the area.

Mr Singhi Ram, Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Horticulture Minister said the horticulture sector was poised to be modernised as growers were changing old root stock with fast-growing species. He said Rs 80 crore National Horticulture Technology Mission was benefiting horticulturists and urged people to make use of it.

Ministers, MLAs and chairpersons of different Boards and corporations were present on the occasion.

Kumarhatti, January 5
A man allegedly raped his aunt at Kabankalan, near here, on Wednesday. The victim, a widow in her late 30s, reported the matter to police yesterday. The accused, Hardev (30), a bachelor, was arrested late last evening at Bhojnagar.

As per information, the victim was alone at her home when Hardev in an inebriated condition forced his way inside the house that was just adjacent to his house.

Hardev’s family members were in a Solan hospital attending to an ailing relative. The victim had just returned home after visiting a relative.

Hardev raped his aunt and fled from the spot.

The rape was confirmed, said the police investigating officer.

A case under Section 376 of the IPC has been registered against Hardev.

Kangra, January 5
Four persons have been arrested for smuggling country liquor in this district since the past 24 hours, police said here today. Two trucks used for smuggling the liquor boxes have also been impounded.

The additional police chief, Mr Santosh Patial, said Sukhdev Singh and his driver were arrested at the Hanuman Chowk yesterday evening and 700 boxes of country liquor seized from them. The truck (HP 20 5748) was impounded by the police.

In another case, Balvinder Singh of Raipur Una was arrested and 500 boxes of liquor was seized at Manie falling under Shahpur police station. The truck (HP 20 0978) used for smuggling liquor boxes was also impounded.

Yashpal Singh was arrested at Pekhloo for possessing country liquor. Cases under the Excise Act have been registered against the four persons.