Dharamsala, November 21
All 15 committees of the Tibetans participating in the conclave here have submitted the suggestions put forward by over 580 delegates.

Sources said about 800 suggestions regarding the future strategy to be adopted in dealing with China were put forward by the delegates.

While majority of delegates stood by the policy of adopting the middle-way approach, a sizable number favoured complete independence.

About 80 per cent of the participants stood committed to the Dalai Lama’s leadership and his middle-way approach.

They resolved that any decision taken by the Dalai Lama while dealing China would be acceptable to them.

However, 20 per cent participants, mostly youth, said they had complete faith in the leadership of the Dalai Lama, but they wanted complete freedom from China.

They said they were in favour of seeking complete freedom, as the talks with China were not yielding any result.

As per another suggestion, a time period should be fixed for the middle-way approach to succeed.

A suggestion was put forward that the middle-way path should be pursued for three years only.

If China failed to respond to the middle-way approach of seeking autonomy, tougher measures should be adopted.

The suggestions put forward by the delegates would also be discussed tomorrow after which the speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile would brief the media on the issue.

“Discussions like the present one are good, but these are not going to yield any results,” he maintained.

Shimla, November 21
The panchayati raj institutions (PRI) and the municipal local bodies will be vested with regulatory powers under the new Town and Country Planning Act, likely to be placed before the Cabinet for approval shortly.

It is after intense deliberations that a consensus has been arrived at where the PRIs and municipal local bodies will exercise the powers to approve building plans and other regulatory works being looked after by the Town and Country Planning department till now.

The new Act will replace the existing Town and Country Planning (TCP) Act, 1977. Another major objective of the new Act is to check the haphazard growth of urban corridors along the national and state highways, which is leading to ribbon development and is likely to hamper further expansion and growth plans.

Since under new TCP Act the entire state, including all rural areas, will be brought under its ambit, the involvement of PRIs and local bodies is being considered a must.

“The PRIs and local bodies will have to hire TCP professionals so that they can take care of all technical aspects and ensure smooth implementation of the Act,” said a senior official.

Earlier, it was decided to create district-level committees (headed by the respective deputy commissioner) and subdivisional committees (headed by SDMs) for looking after the regulatory functions under the new Act. Now it has been decided that the PRIs and local bodies be handed over the task.

Although the new Act will bring the entire state under its cover, no permission will have to be sought from any agency for rudimentary construction activity being undertaken for personal use in rural areas.

However in the 34 planning areas and 20 special areas in the state, the regulatory authority will be the TCP Department.

However, all permissions will have to be sought from the TCP authorities in case of any construction in the potential urban areas and 100-m width (on both sides) along the national and state highways and 50-m width of district roads.

The PRIs will be entrusted with the regulatory powers so that any medical or engineering college, hotel or any other commercial complex coming up in the rural area under its jurisdiction cannot evade payment of user charges.

Shimla, November 21
With the use of internet services becoming an integral part in execution of the most conventional crimes these days, the Una police has decided to tighten the noose around such elements using cyber cafes to give shape to their anti-social activity.

The Una, SP, N.Venu Gopal today held a meeting with all the cyber café owners of the district to ensure the strict implementation of some of the guidelines framed to check cyber related crime.

“Since the use of internet services is being made by most of the anti-social elements whether it is a fraudulent bank transaction or some terrorist activity, we decided to frame certain guidelines for the cyber café owners so that such crimes can be curbed and their help can be sought in nabbing the culprits,” said Venu Gopal.

He sought the cooperation of the cyber café owners in the implementation of these guidelines. They have clearly been directed to stick to closure timing of 11 pm like any other commercial establishment.

“They have been told not to allow children below the age of 12 years to use internet facilities unless accompanied by their parents or guardian as minors access porno sites on the net,” he said.

The café owners have been asked not to allow any user inside the cyber café til they establish their identity.

The café owners will have to keep a Xerox copy of the identity whether it is a card issued by an educational institution, a passport, a driving licence, a PAN card, a ration card or photo credit or debit cards.

The café owners have also been directed to keep a record of the photographs of the internet users through web camera, which will have to be maintained for a period of two to three months.

Shimla, November 21
The controversy regarding allotment of two mega power projects to the Brakel Corporation today took a new turn with the Dutch company urging the government to take a consistent stand on all the seven projects allotted on the recommendations of a single committee which evaluated the bids.

The company could not be singled out for cancellation of projects on the grounds that it lacked qualification as the committee had adopted the same process for all the projects.

The representatives of the corporation while appearing before the high-powered committee headed by the Chief Secretary to plead their case here today asserted that the company fulfilled all the requirements of the bid and presented certain documents obtained under the RTI Act concerning the processing of bid by the committee in support of its plea.

The company had earlier submitted a detailed reply to the notice served on the company by the government for cancellation of the twin Jhangi-Thopan and Thopan Powari hydroelectric projects.

It had also sought personal hearing to clarify its position with regard to the
charges of suppression and misrepresentation of facts and doubts raised about
its technical and financial capabilities on the basis of which the allotment of
projects was being cancelled.

The government had after considering the reply set up a six-member committed under the chief secretary with principal secretary to the chief minister and principal secretaries finance, power, industries and forests as members.

Presenting the case in a chronological order they drew attention to the fact that the recommendations of the evaluation committee were first approved by state electricity board and then by the infrastructure development board of which the chief secretary and principal secretaries of finance and power were the members. The projects were allotted and pre-implementation agreement could not be signed because of announcement of elections.

Even the present government reviewed the allotment and after satisfying itself on all counts accepted the upfront premium of Rs 200 crore after which the Cabinet decided to allot the projects with some changed inactions.

The government had informed the high court through an affidavit and also the company that it would accept the upfront premium only after the issue was settled. However, now it was threatening to forfeit the same and cancelled the project.

Shimla, November 21
The PTA Lecturers and Teachers Union today claimed that studies in over 220 government schools all over the state had been badly hit, as they had been functioning on the services of the PTA appointees.

President of the union Vivek Mehta today released a list of 1,317 PTA teachers working in 220 schools, who have joined the strike.

He said with such a huge number of teachers being on strike, studies had been affected in educational institutions.

He said the details of exact number of teachers all over the state would be released shortly. As per the details issued by him today, the number of teachers in Mandi is 554, Shimla-222, Kangra- 138, Sirmaur- 98, Una- 90, Chamba- 73, Kullu-39, Bilapur-38, Kinanur-37 and Hamirpur- 28.

He hoped that the government would understand the gravity of problem and hold talks with the union to resolve the problem amicably.

Even as the fast strike by the teachers entered the 45th day today, the union has threatened to gherao the Chief Minister and ministers during the Assembly session at Dharamsala beginning on December 11.

Shimla, November 21
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today staged a demonstration outside the deputy commissioner’s office against the arrest of Sadhvi Pragya and others associated with various Hindu organisations.

The VHP activists protested as part of their campaign against ‘Santon Ka Apmaan.’ They resented the move of the government to drag the name of Pragya and others in the Malegaon blasts case.

They said the VHP along with other Hindu organisations would continue to hold protests against such acts of the government.

Nurpur, November 21
The rules and regulations laid down by the state wildlife department are allegedly being thrown to winds at internationally declared Ramsar site earlier known as wildlife sanctuary in Pong lake wetland on the foothills of Kangra district.

To top it all, this is happening under the supervising staff of the department deputed at Nagrota Surian and Dhameta in Jawali subdivision.

The Pongdam reservoir, spreading over an area of 24,000 hectare, was declared as the national wetland in 1994. It got international recognition in 2002 when it was declared as international Ramsar site.

According to the international standards, the site should be treated as a silence
zone because thousands of foreign migratory birds descend here every year in the
winter season.

The site is being maintained with global funds due to its international recognition. The wetland is also being used for fishing by as many as 1,500 local families who earn their livelihood by catching fishes.

But now they have left traditional method of fishing on boats and are using steamers with diesel operative pump causing a lot of noise pollution, disturbing silence requisite for migratory birds.

A visit to the wetland on Friday revealed that the Sihal and Dhameta areas of the wetland were found to be worst affected with noise pollution.

According to the enquiries made by The Tribune, it became clear that the state forest department’s wildlife wing had laid down its guidelines to maintain silence on national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, which are mentioned in “Enchanting Himachal, a guide to National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries’.

Its page 48 depicts all rules and regulations for maintenance on sanctuaries where shouting, hunting, fishing, teasing, usage of radio, playing of CD players and other musical instruments have been banned.

On this issue, DFO of the wildlife S.K.Guleria, Hamirpur, expressed concern over the violation of the department’s guidelines in maintaining silence in the wetland sanctuary and said he would direct his subordinate officials to curb the menace with immediate effect.

Kullu, November 21
The Forest Department has made a comprehensive plan to start “eco-tourism” with the partnership of private sector.

This was stated by forest minister Jagat Prakash Nadda here today on the closing function of the 14th HP State Forest Sports and Duty meet.

He said forest rest houses would be thrown open for tourists visiting the interiors of the state. The plan would also include herbal destinations in the state.

Nadda called upon forest officials to achieve the target of bringing forestation on the 36 per cent forestland in the state by putting sincere efforts.

The forest minister said “physically fit” forest officials and sportspersons would be given special promotions in the department.

He said the forestation could be possible only when the staff was fit to visit difficult terrains in the mountains.

He said the World Bank had chosen Himachal Pradesh to execute the Carbon Credit scheme. The scheme carried “payment for the environment saves” and called upon people to plant broad leaves trees for more oxygen.

Deputy speaker of the Vidhan Sabha Khimi Ram Sharma, MLA Govind Singh Thakur and principal chief conservator of forests Vinay Tandon were present at function.

Dharamsala, November 21
Speaker of the Himachal Assembly Tulsi Ram today inspected the second assembly building that had been recently handed over to general administration department.

He also held a meeting of district officials to review the arrangements in view of
the forthcoming winter session scheduled to held in the new building from December
12 to 17.

The building was formally handed over to the under secretary, Himachal Vidha Sabha, by PWD officials last month.

Besides the main assembly hall, it has separate galleries for VIP guests, officials and the Press. It also has retiring rooms for the Speaker and the Chief Minister, a lounge and a canteen for the MLAs.

The hospitality department of the state is likely to take over the canteen facilities here. A sum of around Rs 14 crore has been spent on construction of the building.

The ministerial block is also nearing completion. It will have offices of ministers and their staff.

Shimla, November 21
Himachal has requested the union civil aviation ministry to revoke its decision to withdraw the Delhi-Kullu flights which had been discontinued for the past some time.

Chief minister, P.K. Dhumal today raised the matter with the Chief Managing Director of Air India, Raghu Menon at New Delhi, today.

“It is surprising when all other private airlines are making huge profit on this route, Air India had decided to suspend its flights on the pretex of losses,” he said.

He said it was only regular and dependable flights which can win the confidence of the travellers and ensure good air traffic.

Dhumal stressed that during the winters there was likely to be a spurt in the high spending tourists and as such there must be regular flights.

He added that good air connectivity was a must for attracting tourists and with only limited flights to few places in Himachal, Air India must continue with its flights on the Delhi-Kullu circuit.

He regretted that Air India was shying away from its responsibility of providing good air connectivity on the excuse of losses.

He said even the Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel had assured that regular flights would operate on the Delhi-Kullu route.

Kangra, November 21
The state government was spending Rs 100 crore on irrigation and drinking water schemes in Kangra district during the current financial year.

This was disclosed by Ravinder Singh Ravi, Minister for Irrigation and Public health, while addressing a public meeting after laying the foundation stone of Rs 98 lakh water lifting scheme at Boardkuvaloo on the outskirts of this town today.

More than 4000 inhabitants of 21 localities would be benefited by the scheme when it starts functioning, Ravi said.

He said in order to redress the problems of the people regarding drinking water supply, complaint registers have been kept in the offices of Irrigation and Public Health Department.

He said the officers of the department had been directed to attend to these complaints earnestly and effectively.

He said that officers and employees working with dedication would be honoured with a citation and cash award of Rs 50,000.

Dharamsala, November 21
The Institute of Himalayan Bio-resource Technology (IHBT), Palampur, is going to host a national seminar on analytical sciences.

It is being organised jointly by the Indian Society of Analytical Scientists (ISAS)-Delhi Chapter and the IHBT on the theme “Analytical Innovations for Process and Technology Development”.

A spokesperson for the IHBT said the event would be organised from November 23 to 25 and scientists from various academic and industrial organisations take part in it.

Shimla, November 21
With the generation going down in various hydroelectric projects due to drop in temperature, the state government has requested the Centre to allocate additional 22 lakh units of electricity per day from unallocated pool.

The state faces shortage of power during winter season, as discharge in rivers decline due to slowdown in the melting of snow leading to less generation.

In fact, during peak winter, the generation drops to almost 25 per cent, forcing the state to procure additional power from neighbouring Punjab, Haryana and the Centre.

According to sources, the state electricity board had estimated a shortfall of 350 million units from November 2008 to March 2009 after taking into account the power available from banking arrangements made with various states.

However, the state has not received any power so far and with sudden decline in temperature, the demand crossed 180 lakh units per day and the availability has gone down to 165 lakh units per day.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal met Union minister for energy Sushil Kumar Shinde at New Delhi today and urged him to immediately allocate additional 22 lakh units of electricity per day to meet the growing demand of the energy during winter season.

Shimla, November 21
The failure of the union ministry of fertilisers and chemicals to allot the indented quantity complex fertilisers has led to shortage during the current rabi sowing season in the state.

A spokesperson of the agriculture department said here today that the fertiliser requirement was assessed jointly by the HIMFED, the nodal agency for procurement, and the department of agriculture well before the crop season and communicated to Government of India for making allotment.

He said there was a deficit in the allotment of fertilisers to the extent of 2500 tonnes in October and 6800 tonnes in November. He said the state was facing shortage of fertilisers required at the time of sowing.

Although, procurement and distribution of fertilisers in the state had been entrusted to HIMFED and IFFCO, these agencies would be able to supply fertilisers only if allotment was made by the ministry.

Hamirpur, November 21
The students of Sainik School, Sujanpur, have once again excelled well in qualifying written test for entering the National Defence Academy (NDA).

Of 66 students, more than 60 have cleared this exam and with this the school has
created a record by sending maximum students to the Armed forces for the past
several years.

Last year the success rate of students who qualified for the test was 85 per cent, while it is 92 per cent this year.

The school had also won ‘Rajya Rakshmantralya’ trophy twice in 1994 and 1998 for sending maximum cadets to the NDA among all Sainik schools in the country.

Principal of the school S.S Minhas congratulated all students for the success. Those who have qualified the written test are Mridul Thakur, Sahil Sharma, Yogeshwar Negi, Shekhar Bhardwaj, Pankaj Datwalia, Akshay Gabru, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ankit Kumar, Anmol Rattan, Sahil Katoch, Hitesh Pramar , Prakhar, Akshit Kaushal, Chirag Sud, Nitin, Vivek Thakur, Subham Kaundal, Ankur Masand, Sahil Rana, Shashwat Kunal, Sharat Chander Jha, Sharad Singh, Amandeep Thakur, Panshul Gupta, Anil Kumar Yadav, Rahul Chaudhary, Sandeep Rana, Ankush, Raman, Arun Dhiman, Himanshu, Nishant Bhardwaj, Gagandeep Negi, Jaydeep, Nitin Negi, Himkush Chandel, Miraj Thakur, Niraj Sharma, Abhishek Sharma, Amit Chauhan, Vishav Thakur, Ankit Kaushal, Abhishek Ranjan, Rohit Kumar, Prikishit Sharma, Bharat Pathania, Vishal Thakur, Abhinav Kumar, Madhvender Singh, Abhishek Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Pranav Sharma, Ankush Soni, Akshay Saklani, Sachin Rana, Abhinandan Chandel, Sushil Garg and Suraj Prakash Rai.