Shimla, April 23
The state Cabinet today decided to invite fresh bids for the 960-MW Jangi-Thopan Powari hydro power project in Kinnaur district. The Cabinet met here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

It decided to rebid it as a single project under the new power policy. Since the previous bidders had taken the matter to court, the government decided to reject the representation of M/s Brakel Corporation NV and Reliance Infrastructure.

The project was awarded to Brakel on December 1, 2006, during the previous Congress regime. During the Bharatiya Janata Party regime, Reliance, which bid the second lowest, challenged the allotment in court.

The court cancelled the allotment on October 7, 2009. The court gave the government the liberty to either advertise again the project or act on previously invited bids. The matter is pending in the Supreme Court.

The Cabinet also approved the introduction of the Centrally sponsored scheme of Vocationalisation of Higher Secondary Education under the National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework.

Vocational education will be introduced at 100 senior secondary schools with courses in automobile, information technology, retail and security with a view to improve the employability of students.

The Centre had sanctioned Rs 4,463 lakh for the state to introduce these vocational courses while the share of the state would be Rs 562 lakh.

The Cabinet gave its nod to enhancing the grant for inter-caste weddings from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 announced by the Chief Minister in his Budget speech.

Approval was accorded to the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue (Amendment) Act, 2013. Provisions of Sections 34 and 35, in existence before Act 41, 2011, were restored, authorising revenue officers to attest mutations during field visits.

The Cabinet also decided to establish Regional Transport Authority (RTA) offices in all districts except Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur.

The Cabinet also approved enhancing war ‘jagirs’ from Rs 2,000 per month to Rs 3,000 per month by amending the War Awards Act, 1972.

It approved the enhancement in the annual income limit for appointment of ‘aanganwari’ workers, helpers and mini ‘aanganwari’ workers from Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000.

The Cabinet gave approval to enhancing the fixed medical allowance of employees and pensioners from Rs 250 to Rs 350 per month with effect from April 1, 2013.

Approval was also given to enhancing the cash credit limit of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation from Rs 30 crore to Rs 50 crore.

The Cabinet gave its nod to bring under government control Shri Dron Mahashiv Temple, Shivbari, Ambota, Amb tehsil, Una district, under the Himachal Pradesh Hindu Public Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1984.

The Cabinet approved notifying the State Council of Educational Research and Training as the State Academic Authority instead of the Academy Authority under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.

The Cabinet gave its nod to setting up a Himachal Pradesh commission for protection of child rights having headquarters in Shimla with one chairperson and six other members.

Shimla, April 23
The Congress may want to adopt a slow and cautious approach on the phone-tapping issue but not the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) leaders. The HLP wants the issue to echo in Parliament with the help of non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parties so that nobody’s privacy is intruded in the future.

Lone HLP legislator Maheshwar Singh and other party leaders met Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath in New Delhi today to discuss the phone-tapping issue. They are likely to bring the issue to the notice of several other political parties.

These include the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal. They are expected to discuss the issue with senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh as a part of their strategy to bring into national spotlight the issue.

Those accompanying Maheshwar Singh included former minister Mahender Sofat and former legislators Khushi Ram Balnatah, Babu Ram Mandyal and Dulo Ram. All of them are former BJP leaders who had parted ways with the saffron party and floated the HLP.

“If need be, we will meet Union Home Minister P Chidambram to seek his intervention to bring to book those had been responsible for invading the privacy of individuals,” said Maheshwar Singh. Unhappy with the slow pace of investigation, the HLP wants the issue to be debated by all parties in Parliament by rising above narrow political considerations.

“The state government is probing the matter at its own level but we want the entire nation to know how the privacy of not just politicians but even bureaucrats and others was impinged upon in a peaceful and law-abiding state like Himachal Pradesh,” said Maheshwar Singh.

The probe had been assigned to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. “We were unable to raise the issue in the Assembly as the government cited provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act. There have been instances when similar issues were debated in Parliament and we will take up the issue with Central leaders,” said Maheshwar Singh.

HLP leaders ask why the phone-tapping issue should not be brought into focus at the national level when the BJP had protested nationwide against alleged attempts to get call details of its leaders. “Investigations are on but it is certain that the HLP will not remain silent on the issue as we want the guilty to be booked,” he said.

Solan, April 23
The move to regulate admission to private universities in the state through national and state-level admission tests has failed to find favour with managements of private universities which fear a majority of seats will fall vacant.

A delegation of managements of private universities met Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in Shimla yesterday and voiced their concern on this issue.

The move is a step to ensure adherence to quality in various professional courses like BTech, MTech, BPharma, MPharma, MCA and MBA.

According to the latest notification issued by the Himachal Pradesh Private Education Institutions Regulatory Commission, admission to these courses will be made as per national or state-level entrance examinations.

Since all private institutions affiliated to the Himachal Pradesh University are following this norm, non-adherence will create disparity within the state.

The step has been necessitated following poor performance of students from private universities at various professional courses, especially engineering.

Since the focus is on filling maximum seats, minimum eligibility criteria takes a backseat. This leads to students either failing or passing with low scores, reducing chances of gainful employment.

When contacted, GS Bali, Minister for Technical Education, said there was a need to ensure quality in professional courses and regulate the admission process as it would ensure admission to students with calibre.

He said an unregulated process would lead to churning out students with low scores whose knowledge and perception would not lead them anywhere in life.

Managements of private universities said there was no such norm in neighbouring states and it would lead to an exodus of students to other states.

The managements said a limited number of students appeared in national and state-level examinations and the norm would deprive students of the chance to get admission in the state.

The Department of Higher Education had initiated a series of mock tests since August last wherein each private university had been entrusted with adopting a cluster of government senior secondary schools.

The school students were trained for appearing in joint engineering entrance examinations so that students of rural schools could be trained for engineering entrance examinations.

Mandi, April 23
Himachal Pradesh Non-Government College Teachers’ Association president CP Kaushal yesterday said the management of DAV College in Kangra should find an amicable solution to teachers’ demand of dearness allowance (DA).

He said here that a delegation would meet the Chief Minister to apprise him of problems being faced at St Bede’s College in Shimla, MLSM College at Sundernagar, SVSD College at Bhatoli, DAV College in Kangra and DAV College at Kotkhai, which were government-aided colleges. He said the association supported the agitation of teachers with DAV College in Kangra.

He said Samresh Lohia (DAV-Kangra) was general secretary, PK Madan (SVSD-Bhatoli) senior vice-president, Rajender Sharma (DAV-Kangra) vice-president, RK Verma (SVSD-Bhatoli) joint secy, DV Pathania (Bede’s-Shimla) treasurer, Mukesh Verma (MLSM-Sundernagar) press secry and RK Jistu (DAV-Kotkhai) adviser. — TNS

Shimla, April 23
Making a foray into the wind power sector, the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) achieved an important milestone when the first turbine was installed for its maiden wind power project at Khirveri in Maharashtra.

A total of 56 turbines of 850 KW each will be installed for the 47.6-MW project to generate 85.65 million units of electricity annually. The turbine will be test run after performing pre-checks. The turbines will be installed one after the other and synchronised one by one. The stabilisation of the project will take two months.

The SJVN had awarded the contract for installation of turbines to the Spanish company M/s Gamesa Wind Turbine for the project coming up over 51.3 hectares. The total cost has been pegged at Rs 300 crore and the feed in tariff for the power generated will be Rs 5.67 per unit.

RK Agarwal, Executive Director, Business Development, said the work on constructing of a 22-km-long transmission line for connecting the project to the power grid was on. Commercial operations of the project will be possible only after it is completed and the grid stabilisation achieved by October.

As per benchmarks laid down in the memorandum of understanding signed by the SJVN with the Union Ministry of Power, the project has to generate 55 million units during the current financial year.

Primarily a hydro power company which owns and operates the largest 1,500-MW Nathpa Jhakri project, it has been diversifying and has signed an memorandum of understanding with the Bihar Government for setting up a 1,360-MW thermal power plant at Buxar and another for a 5-MW solar power plant in Gujarat.

The company has 10 hydro power projects in Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Nepal and Bhutan. It has drawn up a plan to add 5,000 MW to its capacity during the next Five-Year Plan.

Kullu, April 23
Hoteliers-cum-bar owners have opposed the 500-litre ceiling on hard drinks from local licensed liquor retailers as part of the new excise policy implemented from this year.

They have urged Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to waive the ceiling on the grounds that they had limited a bar clientele in the short tourist summer season and it would adversely affect them.

The Excise Department remains firm, saying it was a precondition and bar owners had no basis to oppose it. Manali Hoteliers Association president AR Thakur said the ceiling for hoteliers was ill-founded.

He said the bar was a facility for in-house guests and they could not be compelled to drink to fulfil the 500-litre criterion. They had taken up the matter with the Excise Minister, he added.

The Excise Department had been imposing a penalty of between Rs 5,000 and Rs 30,000 for violations and not renewing licences, hoteliers rued.

“They are not complying with the 500-litre ceiling a year. How are bars viable for them? There are over 1,000 licensed bars in the state. Ten per cent owners are not complying with the ceiling rule,” said Excise Commissioner RS Negi.

He said it had nothing to do with hotel rooms which were independent premises given to them. “They have to buy liquor from local retailers. They should surrender the licence if it is not viable for them,” he added.

Kangra, April 23
On the occasion of World Book Day, the School of Education, Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP), in association with the National Book Trust (NBT), organised a workshop on the campus here today.

Dr Manas Ranjan Mahapatra, Editor and Head, National Centre for Children’s Literature at the NBT, delivered a key-note address during the workshop.

Dr Mahapatra said there was a declining interest among book readers and popularity of books was facing a serious challenge in the face of growing new media forms and technologies.

He further said, “Providing books to children will be the best way to promote a reading habit among them.”

Interacting with the faculty and other participants at the workshop, Dr Mahapatra stressed on the need for teachers and parents to inculcate reading habits among children. He said the NBT was planning to promote more books in regional languages.

Dr Shekhar Sarkar, author and coordinator of the Dharamsala Book Fair, informed the gathering that the NBT would be organising a six-day book fair at the Police Ground in Dharamsala from May 8 to 14.

Dr Arbind Kumar Jha, Dean, School of Education, Prof IV Malhan, Dean, School of Mathematics, Computer and Information Science, Prof Arvind Agrawal, Dean, School of Social Sciences, Dr Rabindranath Manukonda, Dean, School of Journalism Mass Communication and New Media, faculty members and students attended the workshop.

Dr Manoj Kumar Saxena, Associate Professor, School of Education, proposed a vote of thanks. 

Kangra, April 23
The School of Earth and Environmental Sciences (SoEES), Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP), yesterday celebrated Earth Day 2013, which was declared open by Prof AK Mahajan, Dean, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Vice-Chancellor, CUHP, Prof Furqan Qamar, who was the chief guest at the valedictory function, highlighted the importance of the day and stressed on the need for practising green in all our activities.

Professor Qamar said Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 and founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson with a focus on environmental awareness. He also spoke on the importance of the day in the face of continuous degradation of the environment by anthropogenic activities. He said in the present global scenario, the earth was demanding protection and conservation of forest, river, soil, water, atmosphere, ocean etc.

Professor Mahajan addressed the gathering with a brief introduction on the day.

The inauguration was followed by a talk by Dr Anupam Sharma, Associate Professor, SoEES, giving details of the origin of the earth and its age.

Dr Deepak Pant, Associate Professor, SoEES, stressed on using the four dustbin culture in every house: first - biodegradable waste; second - non-biodegradable recycle; third - biodegradable recycle waste; and fourth - hazardous waste dustbin.

Students of the school took this up as a challenge to make the public aware of cleanliness, green earth and earthquake-resistant structures in the state.

The students participated in a debate on topics, “Use of Biotechnology” and “Save the Earth”, followed by a quiz competition based on questions on the earth and environmental sciences. They also participated in the rangoli-making and painting competitions on the theme of “Save the Earth’’.

Mandi, April 23
Keshav Naik, a contractor from Balh supported by Excise and Taxation Minister Parkash Chaudhary, was declared Director of the state Cooperative Society. He defeated his nearest rival BJP-supported Kashmir Singh Raput by 51 votes in an election held here today.

Naik secured 102 votes out of 196 votes. Rajput got 51 votes, while another Congress candidate Narain Singh Guleria, Mandi Sadar Block president, ended as a poor third securing 43 votes. There were 223 voters from Mandi district.

Hamirpur, April 23
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau today claimed to have caught red-handed a sub-inspector (SI) while accepting from a complainant Rs 8,000 as bribe.

SI Ashwani Kumar, posted at the Nadaun police station, was arrested from a shop at the main bazaar here. Sanjeev Gandhi, Superintendent of Police, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Mandi, confirmed the arrest of the SI.

Prakash Chand of Putrial, facing a case at the Nadaun police station some time back, had approached the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau.

He complained that the SI had been demanding Rs 8,000 from him and had threatened to get his bail cancelled if the amount demanded was not paid.

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau then formed a team headed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police to nab the SI after receiving the complaint.

The team arrested him this morning reportedly while accepting the money from the complainant. A case under Sections 7 and 13 of the Anti-Corruption Act was registered against the SI.

Said Jagat Ram, SP, Hamirpur, “I have not received formal information regarding the arrest of the SI. We will put him under suspension as soon as we get it.”

Dalhousie, April 23
The police today succeeded in recovering 200-m-long telephone cable, which was stolen from the hydroelectric project area of Banikhet yesterday, a police report said here today. The cost of the cable is about Rs 1.50 lakh.

The report said on the basis of a complaint registered with the Dalhousie police station by NHPC employee Pritam Singh, the police swung into action and nabbed Ramesh Kumar and Tilak from their village near Dradda falling in Dalhousie tehsil.

Later, the police recovered the stolen telephone cable from a nullah near the project site, the report said.

Further investigation was on in the case.