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Scrap apartment Act, say environmentalists
‘Reservations for minorities against Islam’
e-governance projects win awards
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Villagers lodge FIR against pradhan
RTI Act creating awareness
Singhi Ram’s statement irks Cong
Defence personnel, civilians clash
Man gets one-year jail term
Tibetans paint imaginary face of Panchen Lama
IPL Row
Tourists make a beeline for Manali
Notices issued on encroachment
Pathankot-Mandi NH cries for attention
Israeli national arrested
Leopard attacks woman
‘Country must have a judiciary panel’
Charas seized
Drive to maintain water supply
Gram sabha meetings on Oct 2
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Scrap apartment Act, say environmentalists
Shimla, April 25 Vast stretches of once lush green hills have been transformed into veritable concrete jungles with clusters of huge multi-storeyed structures coming up all over the place in utter disregard to slope norms and building laws. Builders have played havoc with the ecologically fragile hills which even attracted averse notice of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh and they had advised the state to take measures to stem the rot. Shimla and Solan districts are the main victims of excessive construction where a maximum number of flats have been built and the present government has only made things worse by giving nod to more than dozen private universities in the area. Apex forum of non-government organisations, the Himalaya Niti Abhiyan (HNA), has rejected the recent amendment to make the Act stringent and termed it as a ploy to oblige colonisers selectively by allowing flats to come up in areas where politically influential people and their supporters had land holdings. Chairman of the HNA Kulbhushan Upmanyu said the hills did not have the carrying capacity to support large population and the declining rain and snow, declining discharge in streams and abnormal increase in average temperature, were clear environmental indicators that the hills had be burdened much beyond their carrying capacity. The local people were already reeling under its impact with perennial shortage of water, traffic jams, waster disposal and even power shortage. Chief Minister PK Dhumal has been urging the Centre to frame a separate Himalayan policy but he should first mend the state’s own policies and the first thing he should do is to scarp the apartment Act and declare areas above 3,000 ft as eco-sensitive zone to reduce influx of people from outside, he said. Only minimal construction be allowed for the benefit of the local people. More so because most of the built-up flats were either unoccupied or purchased by rich people from neighbouring states to spend a few days in hills in summer, he added. If small housing projects were needed, the government should itself acquire land and invite tenders for execution of projects on turnkey basis so that flats were available for the local people at affordable costs, Upmanyu said. Even HIMUDA be asked to follow the policy of Chandigarh where only those residing in the Union Territory continuously for three years were eligible for applying for flats build by the housing board. In contrast, HIMUDA has be selling majority of flats to outsiders, he said. |
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‘Reservations for minorities against Islam’
Shimla, April 25 Delivering the keynote address at a seminar on “Reservation for religious minorities and national unity”, organised by the Panchnad Shodh Sansthan here today, he said any religion which diluted the national identity, weakened both the country and religion and Islam did not permit it. He quoted from the holy Quran and other sources to drive home his point. He pointed out that countries which followed liberal Islam made remarkable all-round progress whereas those which stuck to fundamentalism not only suffered due to indifferent governance, but also weakened the religion and the society itself. The leaders of the country would do a great service by not pursuing such a move which would undermine the national unity, he added. Beg said the country might not suffer a physical division, but the mental divide it would cause would be much more dangerous for a plural society. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister PK Dhumal said the Congress had pursued vote-bank and divisive policies over the years. National unity was more important than politics which the Congress failed to understand, he added. Various commissions set by it like the Rangnath Commission and the Sachhar Commission served only to weaken national fabric of the country. President of the sansthan Shyam Khosla said it was an explosive issue which needed an informed debate to create awareness among the people, and his organisation was providing a forum for it. |
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e-governance projects win awards
Shimla, April 25 These awards were given by Thiru A. Raja, Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology, at an exclusive award presentation ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. These awards are an initiative to acknowledge the exemplary initiatives in e-governance using the medium of World Wide Web. The Himachal Pradesh Police portal at hppolice.nic.in has been set up to facilitate interaction between the public and the police, providing the citizens a platform to interact with police effectively. HIMPOL provides facilities like online payment of traffic challans, online complaint or information to the police stations and FIR. The portal has a lot of other information for the public and its officers. |
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Villagers lodge FIR against pradhan
Shimla, April 25 One of the villagers Rajinder Verma said they were attacked by the family members of pradhan Amar Singh and some hired goons after they objected to illegal mining being carried but by him which had damaged the water supply. He said the villagers asked the driver of the JCB machine to call Amar Singh so that they could discuss the matter and get the illegal mining stopped. However, the pradhan arrived at the spot with his family members and some outsiders, armed with swords, rods and other lethal weapons, who attacked the villagers straightaway. In the meantime, Verma reached the spot and tried to intervene but was also attacked. The pradhan, who enjoyed political patronage, had let loose a reign of terror in the area and had been promoting the interests of outsiders. The villagers alleged that the government was encouraging land mafia in the name of tourism promotion and some politically influential people who could manage permission under Section 118 of the Land Tenancy Act were involved in the land deals. Not only owners of valuable existing properties were being harassed to sell off their assets but also hired goons from neighbouring states were being used for the purpose. They threatened to start direct action if no action was taken against the pradhan. Executive director and owner of Shilon Resorts Harmeet Singh Ghai said he could not enter the hotel which was virtually taken over by the hired goons. His only folly was that he nominated an outsider as a director, who promised to get the resort sold off. The hired goon was residing in his hotel and they were running their nefarious activities from there. No action had been taken against him despite his repeated complaints, he added. The villagers alleged that the pradhan had not been arrested though several non-bailable offences were made out against him. Superintendent of Police RM Sharma said a counter FIR had also been registered by the pradhan against villagers and action would be taken after investigation. |
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RTI Act creating awareness
Shimla, April 25 As many as 17,869 applications were received by 124 public authorities in 2008-09. Only 10,105 applications were received in the previous year. The applicants filed appeals with the designated authorities in 338 cases, while the commission received 204 complaints and heard 184 second appeals. A fee of Rs 8,07,939 has been collected by various public authorities during the period. The State Information Commission is also playing an important role by disposing of the appeals under the Act on a priority basis. Public Information Officers furnished the desired information and there were 259 cases where the applications were rejected, which was a negligible 1.4 per cent of the total applications. Last year, the rejection of applications was the double at 2.8 per cent of the total applications. The RTI Act has the potential to make government and the people work in unison for the development and ensure transparency in the instruments of governance. There are many illustrative cases of physically handicapped persons securing their due, women getting old age pension, students getting correct evaluation of exams, damaged roads being repaired after question were posed under the RTI Act to the authorities concerned. |
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Singhi Ram’s statement irks Cong
Shimla, April 25 Over 24 party leaders, in a joint statement, pointed out that the party ticket was denied to Singhi Ram on the adverse recommendation of the party unit as people had turned against him due to his dictatorial attitude. The party leaders had urged the high command to nominate some other candidate for the seat. They termed the charge of Singhi Ram that he was being harassed and terrorised because he was a Dalit as mischievous and misleading and urged him not to issue such misleading statements. If Singhi Ram was a dedicated congress worker, he should explain why he did not participate in the campaign during the last Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha polls, they questioned. |
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Defence personnel, civilians clash
Kasauli, April 25 Parwanoo SDPO Narvir Rathode said trouble began when five Air Force personnel and wife of one of them who had come to Kasauli picked up trouble with employees of a local hotel when they were making inquiries for food on the Lower Mall around 10.30 pm. A verbal dispute soon took an ugly shape when the personnel, peeved at the use of objectionable words for the woman accompanying them, started hitting the hotel employees with some sticks leading to a clash between the two groups. The situation become tense when a large number of people from Pine Mall who had gathered nearby for a religious function learnt that locals were being thrashed by some outsiders. Large number of people gathered at the site and one Ajmer Singh was left injured. A powerful blow by a cudgel hit him hard and his five teeth were broken. Two of the five defence personnel received minor injuries. The Kasauli SHO immediately rushed to the spot and brought the Air Force personnel and injured Ajmer to the police station. Their medical examination was conducted at the CHC, Dharampur, this morning. A case under Sections 323, 341 and 325 has been registered against Squadron Leader R Nanda, Flight Lieutenants RC Katoch, RD Mangalkar and W Ramola. Another personnel R Patni, who was accompanying them, had already left Kasauli. Five of them were posted at 3 BRD, Air Force Station, Chandigarh, and their commanding officer Anuj Bhardwaj arrived today at Kasauli after learning about the dispute. They were arrested late last evening and later let off on bail. A separate case under Sections 341, 323, 294 and 34 of the IPC for wrongful confinement, causing hurt and hurling obscene comments in public had been got registered by the Air Force personnel against the locals, including the employees of the local hotel. Cantonment executive board members, including Devinder Gupta, Krishna Murthy, Manmohan and others, tried to resolve the situation by holding talks with the affected people. Though the defence personnel tried to resolve the issue amicably, their efforts failed to yield results. |
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Man gets one-year jail term
Bilaspur, April 25 The driver was also sentenced to three-month imprisonment and fine of Rs 500 under Section 279 of the IPC. Earlier, Assistant District Attorney Rahul Chopra told the court that the driver had injured the girl with his jeep (HP018-0179) when she was returning from her school along with another student after the school hours on October 20, 2006, near Lethwin village. However, the girl died later. |
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Tibetans paint imaginary face of Panchen Lama
Dharamsala, April 25 Now, 21-year-old, the safety and whereabouts of the Lama have yet to be confirmed by the Chinese authorities, who continue to deny access to him. To celebrate the birthday, the Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA) launched the Panchen Lama artwork campaign. More than 20 acclaimed Tibetan artists created a portrait of the imaginary face of the Panchen Lama as a 21-year-old man. The art piece will be chosen as a new emblem for campaign material calling for the Lama’s release. Kirti Dolkar Lhamo, president, TWA, said, “Our Panchen Lama Art campaign is designed to give Tibetans a beautiful, updated image of a figure they respect and revere. Currently, the images we use to remember him are of a young child, but he has now reached adulthood. All we can do is to visualise him by using our imaginations.” The TWA is committed to campaigning for the safe return of the Panchen Lama to his rightful abode and to seeing the complete restoration of his political and religious rights. “Until this happens, we will do everything in our power to keep the plight of the Panchen Lama at the forefront of people’s minds. This new art campaign is part of our continued efforts to raise awareness and we hope it will also create a meaningful visual reference for Tibetans,” she said. Also as part of the TWA awareness campaign, young monks and nuns from the monastic institutes in and around Dharamsala wrote essays, expressing their thoughts on the Panchen Lama, their spiritual leader. The TWA will have the literary expressions (prose or poetry) sent to Du Qinglin, head of the United Front Work Department of the Tibet Autonomous region, with a request to deliver them to the imprisoned Panchen Lama. The TWA also sent an appeal to the Chinese government to heed to the true aspirations of the Tibetan people, particularly the survivors of the Kyegudo earthquake. As per Tibetan traditions, the Panchen Lama heads the committee that finds the new Dalai Lama. The Tibetans also fear that the Chinese government might declare its own Panchen Lama to influence the selection of the Dalai Lama. |
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CPM: Seal HPCA records
Tribune News Service
Shimla, April 25 In a statement here today, it said the records of the association could be burnt down as had happened in the case of the State Subordinate Services Selection Board. Its link with the IPL and the revelations of the murkier deals involving the latter called for a thorough probe into the large-scale irregularities in the HPCA and expose the ugly reality. The mystery how an association, which was perennially short of funds, suddenly turned into the richest sports organisation of the state handling crores could be resolved only by a probe, it said. The onus was squarely on the government to clean the stables after conducting a comprehensive multi-agency investigation and restore the fair name of the game which had been besmirched by such dubious activities, earning it the tag of “cricket land mafia”, the CPM demanded. Income tax authorities should scan the accounts of the HPCA to find out who contributed to its coffers and whether laws of the land were being breached, it added. Role of the regulatory agencies must also be investigated to know if they had exercised their statutory powers to protect the interest of public exchequer and whether corporate houses and other entities, granted tax waivers and other concessions by the government, had a role in it. The major question was why the “one man, one post” formula was not implemented in the HPCA as given the amount of money it raised, it questioned. It was a fact that the so-called permanent members of the HPCA were enjoying a lavish lifestyle on the board’s money and had virtually debunked cricket. Questions like how many non-Himachali players represented the state and whether they were asked to pay money for it and also the amount they received in turn for playing also called for answers, it said.
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Tourists make a beeline for Manali
Manali, April 25 The main attraction for the tourists is the huge deposits of snow at various snow points, popularly known are the Rahla waterfall, Beas Nullah and Marhi. This snow points moves higher and higher till it reaches Rani Nullah and further towards the Rohtang Pass. Hundreds of tourists who have arrived in Manali from all over the country made a beeline for Beas Nullah. A festive atmosphere prevailed at Beas Nullah, as tourists were seen enjoying skiing, yak and horse ride and throwing snowballs on
each other. |
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Notices issued on encroachment
Nurpur, April 25 According to information, the NH authorities had pasted notices on the structures raised on the highway asking the encroachers to remove structures within a week otherwise they would remove them with assistance of the police and administration. Assistant engineer of the NH subdivision at Nurpur TC Kaundal said in the first phase action would be taken against 21 encroachers and in the second phase remaining nine encroachments would be removed for which copies of ejection orders were being awaited. He said the NH authorities had filed cases against highway encroachers under the Roadside Control Act, 1968. |
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Pathankot-Mandi NH cries for attention
Palampur, April 25 Official sources said financial approval for new jobs on the highway had been either turned down or sent back to the state PWD. The highway demands repairs and metalling at various points between Nurpur and Palampur. It may be recalled that this is one of the most significant roads of the country, which links Pathankot with Leh via Manali. After the disturbed conditions in the state, this road had gained more importance as the army authorities had been using it for moving supplies to Leh and other border areas. This road was declared as national highway in 1987, keeping in view the defence requirements for the movement of heavy equipment to Leh and other forward areas. Even after 23 years, the state PWD could not convert even 50 per cent portion of the road into a national highway. The state government has virtually neglected this road and funds provided by the Ministry of Surface Transport from time to time were allegedly transferred to other national highways. The Army authorities are likely to resume the defence supplies to Leh through this road by the end of May. The PWD, who look after the highway, is well conversant that this was the only route for carrying army supplies to Leh, Kargil and other border areas before the closing of high passes like Rohtang and Baralacha, but it had initiated no steps to repair the damaged portions of the road. Seventy-year-old small bridges at Mator and Kotla are on the verge of collapse but no efforts were made to construct new bridges. Several accidents had taken place on these points in the past two years. The Ministry of Defence has considered this road as the safest route for carrying army supplies and other heavy defence equipment to border areas as the Srinagar-Leh Highway falls within the firing range of the Pakistan army. |
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Israeli national arrested
Mandi, April 25 According to the police, Ely Tel was coming from the Pandoh side when the police patrol searched him under suspicion and found that he was not carrying his passport and other documents. He was staying at Kasol, the hub of the Israelis. Further investigation in the case was on.
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Leopard attacks woman
Bilaspur, April 25 Earlier, the reports said the woman was suddenly attacked by a fully grown leopard when she was cutting grass in her fields during the evening hours. The leopard was hiding behind thick bushes. The leopard pounced upon her without any warning. She was saved after she raised an alarm and some other women working in their fields nearby rushed to save her. Kiran was badly mauled by the leopard. —
OC
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‘Country must have a judiciary panel’
Shimla, April 25 This was stated by Rajeev Dhawan, senior advocate of the Supreme Court (SC), at
a seminar on the subject “Judicial Accountability” organised by the Himachal High Court during its ruby jubilee celebration lecture series programme. He said age of judges should be same so that there was no race for the SC. He said our judicial system and the constitutional values had deep roots and it had survived successfully for past 60 years. On the issue of pendency, he said judges in the country were disposing off more than 2,000 cases in a year and more expectation would amount to inhuman approach. He said transfer of an allegedly corrupt judge was not a correct method to deal with corruption. The correct approach would be to take away judicial work from him and expose him in public. He added that politics and judiciary were the two wheels of democracy and they could not part ways.
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Charas seized
Mandi, April 25 The police said it searched Suresh on suspicion at Bindravani barrier when he was on his way from Pandoh and recovered charas from his possession. In the second case, the police arrested Agrasen after it recovered the contraband from him.
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Drive to maintain water supply
Nurpur, April 25 According to SDM IS Bhardwaj, who presided over the subdivisional meeting of officials of revenue and Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) department on Thursday in the wake of water problem in the area, elected representatives, mahila and yuvak mandals would assist in the campaign. “The executive officer of the municipal council and block development officers will supervise the campaign in urban and rural areas, respectively,” he said. The IPH department was directed at the meeting to submit list of villages facing acute water problem forthwith so that demand of requisitioning water tankers could be put in the proposed district-level meeting to be presided over by Kangra Deputy Commissioner on April 27, the SDM added.
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Gram sabha meetings on Oct 2
Shimla, April 25 He said gram sabha meetings would be organised every year on October 2 in all gram panchayats of the state on account of Gandhi Jayanti. “Only persons with clean image would be included in the vigilance committee being constituted by the gram sabha,” he said. A provision had been included in the amended PRI Act that qualification and norms which had been fixed for panchayat office-bearers, would be the same for selection of members of the vigilance committee, he added. He said after enforcement of the PRI Act, no person would be registered as a voter at the same time for local body and panchayat. He further said a voter would have to specify at the time of registration whether he wanted to register as a voter for local body or panchayat. Thakur said a provision had also been made in the amended PRI Act for public participation so that
sub-gram sabhas could be made more active. The latter had also been empowered to authorise 50 per cent representatives of the families of their areas for participating in gram sabha meetings out of which 50 per cent would be women representatives, he added.
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Expressing strong apprehensions about an adverse fallout of reservations for religious minorities on national unity, former Union Minister Arif Beg.
Dharamsala, April 25
Manali, April 25
