Shimla, August 6
In case the government does not register an FIR and order CBI investigation into the birthday bash of former minister G.S. Bali to the CBI, the BJP would seek intervention of the High Court to ensure action against the guilty.

Addressing a press conference here today, Satpal Jain, in charge of BJP affairs in Himachal, said though the option of moving the High Court on the Bali episode was open, the party would like to follow the normal course of law.

“Once the five-member fact-finding committee submits its report on August 10, the BJP will approach the SSP, Kangra, seeking the registration of an FIR against those involved in the immoral act,” he said. He added that the matter would be taken up with the Governor as well as the Speaker, questioning the continuation of Bali as a legislator.

He said the terms of reference of the five-member committee headed by former minister and MLA Ramesh Dhawala would be to ascertain if the hotel had permission under Excise Act to serve liquor, permission for holding a late-night party and if the call girls were paid then a case be registered under the Illicit Immoral Trafficking Act.

“First, it was the audio CD against the Chief Minister and later the video CD against Bali, which has exposed the true face of the Congress,” remarked Jain. He alleged that on this issue both Virbhadra Singh as well as Bali were silent and were trying to hush up the matter.

Jain expressed surprise that so far no action had been taken even by the central leadership of the Congress against Bali for the immoral act, which was telecast nationwide, by a television channel. “Is the Congress high command, including AICC chief Sonia Gandhi keen to hush up the matter as they have been completely silent on the issue,” he quipped.

Jain clarified that the BJP was not just targeting Bali but any person be it a politician, bureaucrat or any other VIP, action under the law should be taken against those who were present at the party. He added that it is only a thorough probe by the CBI which will reveal the names of all those who were present at the party.

Shimla, August 6
The high court today asked the government to make clear its stand on ordering an inquiry into the controversial birthday party of former transport and tourism minister G.S. Bali.

The matter was brought to the notice of the court by one Vijay Kumar, a resident of Kangra district. He had filed a public interest litigation seeking judicial probe into the issue. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice V.K. Gupta and Mr Justice Rajiv Sharma orally directed the advocate-general to make clear the stand of the government on the issue by August 8.

The petitioner has stated that Bali resigned from the Cabinet after a sting operation, but no further action has been initiated into that episode by the state government thereafter. Even the news channels have gone silent on the issue.

Hamirpur, August 6
CITU has given a call for a nationwide strike on August 8 to protest the UPA government’s failure to frame a policy for the unorganised sector and bring legislation in this connection in Parliament.

Addressing a press conference here, CITU secretary Kashmir Thakur said : “ While lakhs of workers would join the strike at the national level, more than 20,000 workers affiliated to CITU unions would strike work in Himachal Pradesh.”

Though it was agreed in the UPA common minimum programme (CMP) that the central government would form a policy for the unorganised labour sector by bringing legislation in Parliament but it has failed to do so though a draft for such an act has been prepared 14 times. Thakur said the four-day general council meeting of CITU from May 27 at Kolkota decided to highlight this issue by paralyzing work to draw the attention of the government.

He said 93 per cent of the labour force was unorganised though it contributed 65 per cent of the production in the country. aWorkers in power projects, other unions and workers like panchayat chowkidars etc would join the strike in the state in support of the above demands, besides demanding a labour welfare board in the state. 

Kumarhatti, August 6
The outbreak of ‘buckeye rot’ disease in tomato crop in the area is expected to cause substantial losses to farmers, who were already facing slump in market prices. The disease-struck tomato fruit develops concentric ring patterns that look like dark patches. This makes the crop un-remunerative.

“The disease struck the crop within a span of few days. It eclipsed the hope of from the sale of crop,” rued the depressed growers.

According to experts in the district agriculture office, ‘buckeye rot’ occurs when temperatures fall at night after a heavy rain during the day. Though the disease was common, it was lack of knowledge on the part of growers as to how the crop was to be tackled, pointed out the experts. The impact of the disease on the tomato crop could be reduced if the growers followed the recommended spray schedules regularly.

Solan, August 6
With the state advocate-general terming the appointments made through the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) contrary to the existing recruitment and promotion (R&P) rules of appointments in the Education Department, the state government’s employment policy has come under the scanner.

The government had formulated the policy despite large-scale opposition from qualified youth in 2006. The unemployed youth had been terming it as backdoor entries to adjust favourites as not only were the rules relaxed but little consideration was given to candidates having qualified the mandatory NET and SET for appointments as school and college cadre lecturers.

Even appointments made against TGT and PGT posts were bereft of mandatory B.Ed qualifications at times. Reducing the state cadre posts to panchayat level, the interview committees were led by the lesser read panchayat members.

The letter, bearing no. CWP 939/07 12112 written by the advocate-general to secretary (Education), Government of Himachal Pradesh, on July 27, 2007, clearly stated that the policy framed by the government in this behalf would not be of any assistance as no policy could be allowed to prevail against the R and P Rules. The letter was written in response to the Education Department’s clarification on the PTA policy, which had been challenged in the state high court.

Even the government’s plea that the appointments made though PTA had nothing to do with them as they were made by a private body held no water as the appointees were being financed by the government by providing 95 per cent aid. Further, the letter, available with The Tribune, further stated that legally it led to a conclusion that the government had abdicated its function in this regard to the PTA since it was being financed by the government itself.

Vindicating the stand of the unemployed youth, the letter clearly stated that the process was tantamount to providing employments through the backdoor as the appointees were financed by the government.

While emphasising the need for reviewing the issue, the advocate-general has advised the government to undo the process by substituting the PTA appointments by those made under the rules.

This legal clarity has come as a major embarrassment for the government which had all along been professing that it had provided employment to thousands of youth through the PTA policy.

Nahan, August 6
Sirmaur district BJP president Baldev Bhandari claimed at a press conference here that hundreds of vehicles loaded with tomato and other off-season vegetables had been stranded in various parts of the district for the past several days due to the closure of ‘kutcha’ roads leading to inner parts of the district. He said the government seemed unconcerned about the problem and no extra efforts were being made to reopen these roads at the earliest.

He flayed the Sirmaur district administration for not making any pre-monsoon arrangements to keep link roads open in the harvesting season of off-season vegetables. The administration was not sensitive enough to understand the problems faced by the farmers.

He said as a large number of villages in the district were without any link road, people had to walk several kilometres to reach a road.

He claimed the Congress never bothered for the development of Sirmaur district during its 50-year rule in the state. The result being that the state lagged behind in every field. Recently, the Union Government declared Sirmaur as the most backward district of the state and put it on the list of 200 most backward districts of the country.

He said a programme had been launched to strengthen the BJP in the district. During this campaign, senior leaders of the state would visit every village and motivate workers to work for bringing the party to power.

Bilaspur, August 6
The state government is trying to bring about a “Blue Revolution” by giving a big boost to fish production in the state which would help to promote employment opportunities, apart from encouraging tourism in the state.

This was stated by Tarun Shridhar, secretary, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Department, while presiding over a meeting of the State Aqua-Culture Fishing and Marketing Society at the HP Fisheries Directorate.

Shridhar said every year 6,800 tonnes of at least six fish varieties was being produced in water bodies, rivers and tanks, while the production of popular and costly trout had risen to 3,800 metric tonnes. He said the department was giving top priority to increase the production of trout fish. Last year, the department earned more than Rs 1 crore from fish production.

Director, fisheries, B. D. Sharma said some 35,000 fingerlings of six varieties of ornamental fish were being developed at the centre while another 18,000 fingerlings were being prepared for being released in to the Gobind Sagar or for distribution among private fish producers. 

Shimla, August 6
The elections for the Students Central Association (SCA) of Himachal Pradesh University along with associated colleges in the state will be held on August 18.

Vice-chancellor Anil Wilson said here today that the process would be strictly as per the recommendations put forth by the Lyngdoh committee as directed by the apex court.

He said the entire process would be over within a week. This, he added, would include displaying of voter list, nominations, scrutiny, withdrawals and the declaration of the result.

As per the election schedule, the voter list will be put up on August 13, the nominations and scrutiny will take place on August 16 and voting will be held on August 18. The counting of votes will take place on the same day and the results will be declared in the evening.

Nahan, August 6
Four persons were killed, three of them on the spot, and one was critically injured when a truck (HP 51- 3277) fell into a gorge near Sangrah, about 70 km from here, around 11.45 p.m. last night. The truck was on its way to Sangrah from Mandoli village.

As per the Renuka police, Kundia (48) and Satpal (30) of Mandoli village and Baldev (17) of Khala Kyar died on the spot while Hari Ram (38) of Badon village succumbed to his injuries on the way to hospital. — OC

Kangra, August 6
Parveen Kumar(35) of Nariata village was murdered at Jamherh village, near Nagrota Bagwan, late last night.

Kangra police chief Gyaneshwar Singh said six persons took wine at Kothian village in the Nagrota Bagwan area of this subdivision last night. He said they reportedly went together on a tractor last night after drinks and one of them communicated to the family of Parveen Kumar that he was lying on the roadside.

According to the police, as the victim bore injuries on the body, his family suspected a foul play. The SSP said the police sent the body for a postmortem today, registered a case and rounded up five persons.

The suspects are Dina Nath, Daleep Singh, Hari Singh, Ashwani and Dev Ananad of Bihar. DSP Jeet Singh said the preliminary autopsy report said the body bore injury marks inflicted from sharp and blunt-edged weapons.

Dharamsala, August 6
Industrial firms that got plots in the state under special economic benefits but could not set up their production units in the stipulated time of two years are in for a trouble.

The Industry Department and the State Industrial Development corporation had in the past few days slapped notices on hundreds of such industrial firms to cancel their plots on this basis.

The exercise had possibly come in the wake of the multi-crore scam detected by the state vigilance and the anti-corruption bureau a few weeks ago in Una district in which a case of fraud was registered against six industrial firms.

As per sources in the Industry Department, notices had been served on 30 industrial firms in Kangra district following their failure to set up production units in two years. These firms had got allotted plots at Sansarpur, Nagri, Dhaliara and Nagrota Bagwan industrial hubs.

In Una district, notices had been served on more than 100 such industrial firms. In the Mehatpur industrial area, 137 industrial plots were allotted by the state government to various firms, out of which 16 firms had failed to set up their industrial units so far.

Similarly, in the Tahliwal industrial hub, 123 plots were allotted, out of which 14 were still lying vacant. At Gagret, 30 out of 65; at Amb, 10 out of 29; and at Jeetpur Behri 34 out of 36 industrial plots were lying vacant.

Dharamsala, August 6
The Forest Department today stopped the construction work going on at the bus stand coming up on a BOT basis at McLeodganj.

The construction work on the controversial hotel-cum-parking complex, adjoining the bus stand site was also stopped, last month. The work had been stopped on both sites, following directions of the central empowered committee of the Supreme Court. The committee was looking into the violation of forest laws on these two sites.

Few weeks back, the chief secretary and the local district magistrate had given an undertaking before the committee that the construction work was stopped on the controversial sites but it still continued on the bus stand site.

Later, the conservator of forests of the northern regional office of the Union Government wrote a letter to the principal secretary to stop the construction work on both sites following which the Forest Department had sought the help of the local police to stop the construction work.

The construction work was being carried out by M/s Prashant Surya Constructions company that was given both projects on BOT basis by the state government through its bus stand management and development authority.

Shimla, August 6
The cultivation of off-season vegetables is fast picking up in the hill state. Attracted by remunerative returns, more and more farmers are switching to vegetable cultivation from traditional crops. As a result the area under off-season vegetable and production are increasing.

According to J.C. Rana, director of agricultre, 6.21 lakh tonnes of vegetables were produced in 35220 hectares in 2001-02, whereas the production increased to 9.91 lakh tonnes and the area under vegetables to 52053 hectare in 2006-07. It generated a revenue of about Rs 778 crore. Besides providing remunerative returns to farmers, it is providing employment in the form of transportation, packing, loading & unloading, buying and selling the produce.

He said there were possibilities for growing garlic, ginger, potato and spices as cash crops. The farmers were taking to cash crops in place of traditional crops. As much as 21000 hectares was diversified from traditional crops to cash crops at the end of 10th Five-year Plan.

According to a survey, mid-June to mid-September were the months when there was no supply of vegetables from other states except Uttarankhand in the market yards of Delhi, Chandigarh, Ambala, Karnal, Jalandhar and Ludhiana. These months were the best period for the supply of vegetables from Himachal. In some districts, cauliflower was produced from April to October, cabbage from April to September, tomato from July to the 2nd week of October, peas from July to mid-November, capsicum from March to September while garlic and potato are produced from July to September. These vegetables face less competition and fetch good prices.

Shimla, August 6
Himachal Pradesh will participate in the India International Trade Fair,2007, to be held from November 14 to November 20 at New Delhi as a partner state.

A meeting in this connection was held under the chairpersonship of additional chief secretary (industries) Parminder Mathur here today. Mathur said the inclusion of Himachal Pradesh as a partner state in the 27th edition of this annual mega event would provide an opportunity to highlight at the national level the achievements of the state in different sectors.

During this fair, the Department of Industries would make power-point presentations and distribute brochures highlighting the policy package for setting up industries in the state.

The additional chief secretary said the theme of the fair was processed foods and agro industries and preference would be given to food processing units in the display area as well as in allotment of shops and sale counters.

The departments such as industries, tourism, information technology, bio-technology and MPP and power would also make presentations regarding their packages for investment. She said that 28 stalls, 14 sale counters and 22 display windows would be made available on rent to private industries. The fair would also provide an opportunity for highlighting the rich cultural heritage of the state as four cultural evenings would also be organised.

Kangra, August 6
Residents of Baldoa village under the Haripur police station here have demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged atrocities committed by police personnel headed by Haripur SHO during the intervening night of August 2 and 3 leaving 12 arrested persons in the police custody with grievous injuries.

Raising the demand here today, the villagers, headed by president of Azad Yuva Mandal Baljeet Gularia, said 14 villagers, including two brothers of Sarita, 22, a dowry death victim, were brutally tortured in the Haripur police station while being on police remand.

Guleria said the SHO had illegally tortured villagers in police custody.

He said as the people had lost faith in the police, they approached the CJM, Dhera, and the court passed orders for the medical examination of the people in police custody.

Meanwhile, Kangra district police chief Gianeshwar Singh said he had ordered an inquiry into the allegation of police atrocities in police custody with out receiving any formal complaint from the affected persons. SSP Singh said he acted suo moto on the basis of some newspaper reports asked Kangra DSP Jeet Singh the job of inquiry.

Nurpur, August 6
Thousands of beekeepers in Kangra district who after getting vocational training have adopted beekeeping as their principal vocation have become jobless. Mite, a dreaded parasite, has broken the backbone of entrepreneurs engaged in beekeeping. Inquiries reveal that mite has been gripping honeybees for the past about two years but no government agency has so far come to their rescue. As a sequel, mite has attacked honeybee boxes prepared by investing thousands of rupees and hard work.

Mite attack either kills honeybees or they leave the boxes causing huge losses to the beekeepers. According to an estimate, as many as 500 entrepreneurs had been engaged in beekeeping but most of them been rendered jobless due to the mite attack.

According to Diler, Des Raj, and Gurnam of Manerh village and Karam Singh and Mahinder of Kuliana village, they were earning handsomely from beekeeping two years ago but the mite attack had played havoc, forcing them to do labour work to make both ends meet. They also lamented that no government agency had come forward to render succor to them in this connection. “The government has even failed to provide insecticide spray meant for curbing the mite attack,” they rued.

Once Kangra district in general and Nurpur subdivision in particular were known for producing honey but due to the mite attack honey production has fallen drastically. 

Hamirpur, August 6
Former Union minister and national vice-president of the BJP Shanta Kumar has demanded steps to check road accidents in the state.

Addressing mediapersons here, he said, “Though an inquiry is launched by the state government after every major accident, no lesson is learnt from these reports. The government should take effective measures to check road accidents.”

He said while strict action should be taken against those indulging in drunken driving, the procedure of issuing driving licences should also be made more stringent.

Talking about the claim of BSP leaders to provide reservation on economic basis, he said, “The BJP had provided benefits to 1 lakh economically weaker families in 1977 and after one year of implementation of this scheme, 10 per cent families were brought out of the economically weaker criteria.”

“Even now, 10 crore families in the country are provided ration at cheaper rates and that initiative was also taken by the previous NDA government,” he added.

He said, “Families living below poverty line should be included in the reservation categories and creamy layers among the SC and ST categories should be left out.”

He said, “There is no scope for the third front in the state as the BJP is the only alternative of the Congress.” 

Shimla, August 6
The Himachal division of the Life Insurance Corporation of India has topped in the northern zone by collecting a premium of Rs 230 crore in the first four months of the current financial year, registering a growth of 33 per cent over the last year.

Stating this at a press conference here today senior division manager M.K.Kemmu said out of this, Rs 220 crore was contributed by the unit -linked plans, money plus and market plus. It bagged the third position in the country in absolute volume of premium. The division also secured the top slot in terms of number policies recording 75 per cent growth with 1.05 lakh policies sold over the period.

He expected to collect Rs 100 crore more by August 14, 2007, when the money plus plan was going to close. It had been the most successful policy of the corporation till date, fetching a premium of Rs 14,000 so far. It brought one crore policies within a short period of 100 days.

Kemmu maintained that entry of private sector had not hurt the corporation much in the state. He said the corporation had already opened two satellite branches at Jogindernagar and Rohru for the convenience of customers and it had planned to open two more at Manali and Sarkaghat.