Kangra, March 23
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said today that to boost tourism in the state, the Himani Chamunda Devi shrine would be developed on the pattern of the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir and the Chamunda temple town would be connected with Himani Chamunda by a 12-km road.

Subsequently, Himani Chamunda would be connected with the Chamba town through a tunnel to cut down the distance between the Chamunda temple town and Chamba by 270 km. This project was his government’s priority, he added.

He said this while talking to mediapersons at the local Fortis Hospital today after inaugurating a Rs 4-crore cath lab at the hospital. Virbhadra said Fortis Hospital in Kangra was a modernised and well-equipped hospital providing quality health care for people of this region.

He said for the road and tunnel projects connecting Nandkeshwar Dham with Holi via Himani Chamunda, the orders for preparing a DPR and conducting the survey on priority had already been issued to the PWD authorities. The Chief Minister said annually thousands of pilgrims visit the Himani Chamunda Devi shrine after walking a distance of 12 km, but after it would be connected by this road, pilgrim tourism would be boosted in the area.

In reply to a question that the DRPGMC, Tanda, was facing a shortage of hostels for students as admissions to the college had gone up from 50 to 148 annually, the he said new hostel buildings would be constructed for students.

Virbhadra said he would visit the Tanda college shortly to know about the issues faced by the institution.

He said in the recent Budge,t VAT on the Aviation Turbine Fuel was reduced from 5 per cent to 1 per cent to attract private companies to initiate Heli Taxi services between Shimla, Buntar and Kangra. He said the Union Civil Aviation Ministry should take cognisance of the issue immediately and get the regular flights started from Kangra, Kullu and Shimla. Virbhadra said ecently the trail flight of the Spice Jet airways was conducted and hoped that the flights would start soon.

Shimla, March 23
The inquiry ordered by the Revenue Department into the land purchase made by the 14 private universities in the state could land some of them in trouble as the probe will also look into other aspects like felling of trees, land use, encroachment of government land and adherence to teacher-student ratio.

The Revenue Department has directed the Deputy Commissioners (DC) of Solan, Shimla, Kangra, Una and Hamirpur districts to look into 14 specific areas to detect if there have been violations of any kind in the setting up of the universities. A list of 14 private universities, out of which eight are in Solan and two in Kangra district, has been attached,

The DCs have been asked to entrust the probe to an officer not below the rank of ADC or ADM. They have been directed not to probe into the matter themselves as the DC in his capacity as Collector has to initiate proceedings in case of violation of Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reform Act.

An important aspect that the DCs have been asked is to identify the person from whom the land had been bought and for how long he had it in his possession.

“This will reveal if the land purchase was made just prior to seeking permission by the university to purchase land or it was in his name for a considerable period of time,” said sources.

If the land was bought only recently, he would be asked the source of funds and where had he invested the sale proceeds.

“It is not just the violation of the land norms which will be probed, but other aspects like illegal felling of trees while undertaking construction, encroachment on government land, especially while constructing approach road, adherence to 70 per cent jobs for Himachalis and if any portion of the land bought has been alienated will be looked into,” revealed a senior official.

In fact, the sale of land to outsiders and granting permission to private universities to acquire huge chunks of land was the most serious allegation leveled by the Congress against the BJP while it was in the opposition.

It was the highlight of the Congress manifesto, which is to be handed over to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau for a thorough probe. It is based on the inquiry report of the DCs that the government will take action against violators.

Una, March 23
The state government has decided to bring the clearance of files for industrial projects in the state under the Service Guarantee Act.

Minister for Industries and Labour Mukesh Agnihotri gave this information while talking to The Tribune here today.

He said the basic objective of bringing the industrial project files under the Act was to ensure their timely clearance. There had been complaints from corporate investors that many departments concerned inordinately delay permissions that hit the viability for their projects.

To avoid such hassles for investors coming to Himachal Pradesh, the state government has decided to fix a time limit of 90 days for clearance of files relating to major investments in the state.

In case the officials of the departments concerned failed to clear files under the stipulated time period they would be liable under the Service Guarantee Act of the state, the minister said.

When asked about the lapse in the industrial package in the state after January 7, 2013, the minister said he would visit the Union Minister for Industry and Commerce and the Union Minister for Finance after the Budget session and take the issue of continuance of financial subsidy for industrial projects coming up in the state with them.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has already taken up the matter with the Centre.

After the lapse in the industrial package to the state on January 7, 2013, the 15 per cent capital subsidy for industrial projects, including hotels, coming up in the state was finished by the Union Government.

Agnihotri said efforts were being made to find land banks for setting up industrial clusters in the state. The Industries Department had been given the task of developing three new industrial areas in the state at Una, Solan and Kangra districts. Officials of the said districts had been asked to locate government land for establishing the industrial areas.

The minister said the Tata Group had also shown interest in making investments in the state. The government would welcome leading corporate houses for making investments in the state as this could generate employment for the youth.

To encourage industrial investment, the state has decided to charge just one per cent Central State Tax (CST) for an initial period of five years. While responding to a query, the minister admitted that the state was facing the issue of power crunch especially during the winter months when the discharge in river decreases.

“We will encourage big units to have captive power plants to solve the issue,” he added. The minister was in Una today and visited various areas in his Haroli Assembly constituency.

Bilaspur, March 23
Drawing curtain on the seven-day annual historical and cultural Nalwaadi fair, chief guest Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh presented the Best Wrestler of Nalwaadi title in the general category to Johanny Chaudhary of Sundernagar for downing wrestler Sunny of Naaliyan, Punjab, in the final bout of the four-day wrestling bouts competitions at Luhnu Maidan here this evening. Renowned wrestlers from 10 states of the country participated in the contest.

The Chief Minister presented a Bhim Gada and cash of Rs 71,000 to Johanny and Rs 51,000 to runner-up Sunny. Wrestlers in third and fourth positions, Dharmendra from Alamgeer and Manu from Delhi, got Rs 25,000 and Rs 20,000, respectively.

The Chief Minister also bestowed title of Him Kumar on best youth wrestler on Rajat from Kangra, while Gurbachan of Nalagarh was runner-up. Rajat was presented the Silver Mace called Abhimanyu Gada and Rs 31,000 and runner-up Gurbachan Rs 21,000. Third and fourth wrestlers in this category Chaman of Bilaspur district and Mankotia of Hamirpur district got Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000, respectively.

Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister said the Nalwaadi fair provided an opportunity to thousands of families to help improve their economy, and help revive the rich hill culture, apart from providing time for interaction and learning from governmental developmental exhibition set up here.

He said Rs 21.55-crore Sewerage Plan had been approved for Bilaspur town, work on which would start soon. He said 65 per cent construction work of ambitious Rs 64.65-crore Kol Dam drinking water scheme had been completed for providing drinking water to scores of gram panchayats of this district from the Dam Lake.

He said the government had provided a budget for the construction of Hydro Engineering College near here, while another Rs 165-crore Berry Dadollan bridge project was under its consideration.

Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated Rs 5.81-crore bridge over the National Highway at Ghaghas and also the Rs 1.68-crore District Attorney building here.

Dharamsala, March 23
The police arrested an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) constable for allegedly raping a minor girl of Dharamsala town today.

The constable was a member of the ITBP contingent for the 61st All-India Police Games that concluded here yesterday. He was deployed as a helper in the bus that ferried the ITBP team.

Police sources here said the victim in her complaint alleged that she was returning home after watching the closing ceremony of the games when the incident took place.

She alleged that the accused first asked her phone number and when she refused to give the same, he took her to an isolated place and raped her. The ITBP team was staying in a school near the victim’s home.

The victim after reaching home in the evening narrated the incident to her parents following which a case was registered under Section 376, IPC, at the Dharamsala police station. The accused was arrested while he was sleeping in the bus.

ASP, Kangra, Mohit Chawla said the medical examination of the victim had been conducted and the report was awaited. “We have also sent clothes of the victim and the accused to the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Dharamsala,” said Chawla, refusing to divulge the name of accused. He said the accused was posted in Jalandhar. Meanwhile, the local court has sent the accused to three-day police remand.