Shimla, May 21
Not willing to forego its claim on the strategic Annandale Ground here, the state government today decided to allow its use by the Army without renewing the lease but sought a proper place and protection of the state-leased helicopter parked at the ground. The issue came up for discussion during the civil-military liaison meeting here today.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Western Command General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Lieut-Gen Sanjiv Chachra and senior officers with the state government and the Army attended the meeting. It was recommended that a joint committee of civil and Army officials should be set up for the management of the ground.

Sources said the Army was keen on getting on lease the ground by citing its strategic and operational importance as a mounting base for operations, the state government wanted to retain the possession. General Chachra pointed out that the state government was no longer accepting the lease amount from the Army.

“We have assured the Army that we will maintain status quo and allow its use but proper arrangement must be made for cementing the area earmarked for parking the state-leased helicopter,” said an official. The proposal had reportedly been turned down by the Army earlier.

Officials pointed out that the helicopter was being parked there since 1995 and there was an urgent need to cement the area where it was parked.

The state government had withdrawn arbitration proceedings some time back and decided to maintain status quo on possession. It had allowed Army use without foregoing its claim as the owner.

The issue of constructing the 450-MW Shontong Karcham project which was getting stalled due to some area within 1,200 yards of the Army ammunition dump at Powari was discussed as well.

The matter was pending in court but the state government urged the Army to consider relocating its dump to a forward location. The Army sought land for relocating the dump.

Director-General of Police B Kamal Kumar urged the Army authorities to alert the state about any threat of infiltration by militant outfits in the Chamba area where the state shared a 260-km boundary with Jammu and Kashmir.

“The Himachal Pradesh Police personnel are maintaining a strict vigil along the border after the withdrawal of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police but we have sought redeployment from the Centre,” he stated.

Shimla, May 21
Concerned over huge time and cost overruns in the implementation of hydroelectricity projects, the government has decided to put in place a web-based monitoring system to help track each project against stipulated timeline.

Besides facilitating effective monitoring, the system will ensure transparency in the entire process from allotment to commissioning of projects.

The focus will be on projects assigned to independent power producers which face problems due to the delay in obtaining clearances. The projects will be divided into five categories based on the mode of allotment for monitoring.

The projects allotted through the memorandum of understanding route and the international competitive bidding route with fixed or variable upfront premium will be kept in different categories.

Small projects up to 5 MW allotted by nodal agency Himurja which come under the Directorate of Energy after enhancement of capacity will be in a separate category.

The details of projects including salient features like domain and particulars of the independent power producers with details of allotment will be uploaded for ready reference.

Information regarding the extensions granted, the contribution to the Local Area Development Fund and the employment provided to local residents will be monitored.

The status of projects under implementation with regard to mandatory clearances like environment, forests and techno-economic will be monitored against the milestones set in the agreement for allotment.

Principal Secretary for Power SKBS Negi says the software being developed by the National Informatics Centre is being tested and validated before its launch.

He says it will not only facilitate effective monitoring but also enable the government to ascertain with the click of a mouse whether or not the conditions like providing employment to the local population are being adhered to.

Chief Engineer for Energy Subhash Gupta says the data regarding 109 projects with an aggregate capacity of 8,417.42 MW already commissioned will be uploaded.

He says those include 64 small projects of 207.57 MW under Himurja, 23 projects of 477.55 MW under the HPSEBL and 13 projects of 1,829.4 MW in the private sector.

Eighty projects with a combined capacity of 4,232.75 MW are under construction, 306 projects of 3,011.47 MW are in the process of obtaining clearances and 170 projects of 5,113.32 MW are under investigation.

Work on the field has not been started on some projects allotted more than 15 years ago. The effective monitoring will go a long way in expediting the work and ensuring the timely completion of projects.

Shimla, May 21
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will face off again with the Election Commission announcing June 23 as the date for the byelection to the Mandi parliamentary constituency.

The result will reflect the popularity graph of the Congress even though six months is not a long enough period to judge the performance of the government.

The constituency has been a traditional stronghold of the Congress which will have the advantage of being the party in power. The seat fell vacant when Virbhadra Singh resigned after taking over as the Chief Minister.

The Congress is likely to field Virbhadra's wife Pratibha Singh. She won from the constituency in 2004 while Virbhadra won in 1971, 1980 and 2009.

The BJP may field former minister Jai Ram Thakur even though Ram Swaroop Sharma and Ajai Rana are in the race for the party ticket as well.

The BJP will miss Maheshwar Singh who had quit the party and floated the Himachal Lokhit Party before the Assembly elections. He won the seat thrice on the BJP ticket but had announced that his party would oppose the BJP now.

The Congress lost the seat for the first time in 1977 but wrested it back in 1980 and retained it in 1985. Maheshwar won in 1989 for the first time. Former Union Telecommunications Minister Sukh Ram won in 1991 and 1996.

Maheshwar won in 1998 with the help of the Himachal Vikas Party headed by Sukh Ram. Maheshwar won with a bigger margin in 1999. Pratibha won in 2004 after Sukh Ram's return to the Congress. Virbhadra won again in 2009.

With the announcement of the election date, the model code of conduct came into force with immediate effect. Chief Electoral Officer Narinder Chauhan said the notification would be issued on May 29.

He said the last date for filing nominations was June 6 and the last date to withdraw was June 8. He said polling would be held on June 23 and the counting of votes would take place on June 27.

Manali, May 21
A 100-member team under the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Manali, and the Divisional Forest Officer, Kullu, today demolished 12 permanent dhabas at Marhi, while 50 private vendors removed their temporary stalls from the Beas nullah after the team zeroed in on these tourist spots on the Manali-Rohtang stretch of the Manali-Leh highway.

Tourists were stopped at the Kothi Barrier to carry out the demolition of illegal structures at Marhi.

“Also, they were not allowed beyond Kothi today as Tuesday is observed as the maintenance day for the Border Roads Organisation, which maintains the Manali-Leh Highway,” said officials.

The district administration started the anti-encroachment drive today as the High Court has asked it to remove all the structures between Kothi and Rohtang by May 30 and submit the compliance report to the court on June 10.

As the team armed with 30 policemen and JCB machines reached the Beas nullah, vendors removed their makeshift tents from the spot.

However, the team faced resistance from dhabha owners requesting that they would be ruined as they have been running the shelters since 1956.

As many as 16 dhaba owners have obtained stay from the High Court on the ground that they were not running any commercial activity and using it for domestic purpose. The High Court has asked their consul to prove that the dhabhas are non-commercial and residential in nature and placed the records before the court tomorrow.

The team found that there was no land revenue record of the Beas nullah, Marhi and Rohtang as the entire land belonged to the Forest Department.

“We have demolished 12 permanent dhabas while vendors themselves removed 50 makeshift stalls," Vinay Dhiman, SDM, Manali, said.

Meanwhile, an action committee of nine villagers, including mahila mandals, today submitted a memorandum to the SDM, Manali, urging him that the operation should be stopped till they get a legal remedy.

The drive would continue till all the encroachments were removed from the land under the Forest Department, said HL Negi, DFO, Kullu.

“The Tourism Department is the user agency and it will forward the case of setting up of stalls and dhabhas as per carrying capacity to the department for an approval from the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The ministry will fix some royalty for temporary space allotted to the right holders of the area,” he added. There was no law and order problem there as the operation went on smoothly, said Shamsher Singh, DSP, Manali. 

Manali, May 21
Hundreds of villagers from nine villages, including Shanag, Burua, Goshal, Kulang, Palchan, Ruar, Kothi and Solang, took out a protest march on the Mall Road, Manali, to protest the government’s move of putting a ban on various commercial activities between Kothi and the Rohtang pass.

Villagers gathered outside the SDM office in Manali and submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. They urged the state government to reconsider their plea to resume all the commercial activities here, which were their source of income.

The villagers formed the Upper Manali Paryatan Vikas Manch to protect their rights and help the government in promoting safe and environment-friendly tourism.

Bilaspur, May 21
As many as 70 per cent of diseases are directly or indirectly caused by drinking contaminated water and no less than 3.4 million people die every year due to consumption of polluted water.

This was stated by Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Forests and Fisheries) Rajesh Dharmani, who was the chief guest, while addressing a large gathering after inaugurating a Rs 7.84-lakh Regional Water Testing Lab at IPH Bhawan in Ghumarwin, near here, on Saturday.

Dharmani urged farmers to get water of their sources tested through this lab and ensure that they were not drinking polluted water. This test would cost them Rs 20 and the IPH Department was itself duty-bound to get water of all sources of its departmental schemes tested for ensuring clean drinking water to villagers.

He said this year the government was spending Rs 1,735 crore on water supply in the state and it was determined to provide potable water to all villages of the state within the next five years.

Dharmani told IPH officials to hold regional camps regularly and update people regarding the necessity of keeping water sources clean and also its proper utilisation.

He added that all areas with acute water scarcity should be provided with clean and chlorinated drinking water.

Shimla, May 21
The failure of various public authorities to properly maintain the record in accordance with the office manual is the main reason for the delay in providing information sought under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, says State Chief Information Commissioner Bhim Sen.

“On one hand files are not being maintained as per the manual and on the other most public authorities have failed to make pro-active disclosures on their websites as required under Section 4 of the Act,” he pointed while interacting with mediapersons here today.

He said the RTI Act was a potent tool in the hands of the common man which could be used to make corruption-free the administration, create awareness among the masses and provide to officers concerned training to make it effective.

He said the commission had taken an initiative in this regard by holding training programmes and workshops through the Himachal Institute of Public Administration which had organised workshops in rural areas to educate the people. He said nodal officers with each department were being imparted training and public information officers were ensuring that there was no delay in furnishing information.

Sen said the Act had been in force for more than six years and it was a long enough period for officers concerned to get familiarised with the law and provide information promptly.

He said the commission was taking a stringent view of delay by imposing a penalty in 85 cases totalling Rs 5.61 lakh and awarding in 169 cases Rs 2.52 lakh as compensation to appellants.

He said the percentage of appeals and complaints received were declining which indicated that the performance of public information officers was improving.

He said 84 appeals and complaints against 2,654 RTI applications were received in 2006-2007 which was 3.2 per cent. He said the number was 293 against 10,105 applications in 2007-2008 which was 2.8 per cent.

He said it dipped to 2 per cent in 2008-2009 and further to 1.4 per cent in 2010-11 when 803 appeals and complaints were received against 55,463 RTI applications.

Kangra, May 21
The Media Society at the Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) conducted a workshop on “Changing Contours of Journalism Practices and Regulation in the Internet Age” on the university campus today.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Gita Bamezai, Professor of Communication Research at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, said the sole responsibility of the consumer was to find out the difference between good and bad news in this era of paid news. “Today journalism has turned from a mission to a mere business,” she said.

She also emphasised on the importance of communication as a fundamental human right. “Communication is one of the most important human rights. If there is no communication, there is no development for the country,” she added.

Dr Pradeep Nair, Head, Department of Mass Communication and Electronic Media, proposed the vote of thanks. Dr Rabindranath Manukonda, Dean of the School of Journalism, Mass Communication and New Media, and other faculty members of the school were also present on the occasion.

Hamirpur, May 21
The state Chief Information Officer (CIO) has slapped a fine of Rs 9,750 on former Executive Engineer (XEN) and Assistant Engineer of HP State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL), Toani Devi, Public Information Officer (PI0) and Assistant Public Information Officer, respectively, of the HPSEBL, for delay in providing information to an applicant under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

In its order, the CIO has also directed the HPSEBL to pay Rs 1,500 to applicant Onkar Singh Chandel of Hamirpur district as legal expenses.

The applicant had applied for information from the XEN (Operation), Hamirpur, of the HPSEBL under the RTI Act regarding power supplied to a stone crusher situated in the district on July 19, 2012, which was not provided in time. The applicant had again sought this information under the RTI Act, but it was supplied to him with a delay of over three months, on September 27, 2012.

The applicant had approached the CIO demanding action against the PIO for delaying the information and violating proviso of the RTI Act. Putting a penalty of Rs 250 per day for the delay, the CIO has put a fine of Rs 9,750 on the HPSEBL and also directed it to pay Rs 1,500 to the applicant as the legal cost for pursuing this case. 

Shimla, May 21
The HP High Court has stayed the transfer orders of Savita Sharma, Head Teacher, Government Primary School, Tarshooh, Bilaspur.

The court passed the interim order on a petition filed by her, alleging that she had been ordered transfer just on the instructions of former MLA Ram Lal Thakur, who was harassing and victimising her for political consideration. It was further alleged that she had been transferred to a place more than 150 km away with intent to politically victimise her. On the basis of the recommendations made by Ram Lal, an unofficial note, bearing No. 29931, issued on April 11, 2013, was sent to the office of the Director of Elementary Education in which it was pointed out that the petitioner might be transferred from Swarghat block (Bilaspur).

It was further alleged that the petitioner had been ordered to be transferred to Government Primary School, Bhadroun (Bilaspur). It was alleged that the former MLA had no authority to recommend the transfer of employees. While passing this order, a Division Bench comprising Justice DD Sood and Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary further directed the state to file its reply.

The Director, Elementary Education acted on the basis of the unofficial note. The manner in which she had been transferred on the basis of the note issued by the leader of a political party is unsustainable and deserves to be quashed and set aside.

Nurpur, May 21
Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has said the new state working committee will be constituted shortly and some new faces will be accommodated in his team.

Addressing a press conference here last night before leaving for Chamba district, he said his new team would not have more than 31 members. He was welcomed by Congress workers on his arrival.

He said the Congress was gearing up its rank and file in view of the General Election due next year. He added that he was holding district-level conventions across the state in which all party leaders were taking part.

“Ten of the 12 districts have been covered. Workers’ interaction meetings at the parliamentary constituency level have been scheduled after the conventions,” he stated.

Asked if the state government was extending cooperation to the party, he replied that there was coordination between the government and the organisation. He claimed that the government was doing well.

“The government is committed to zero tolerance of corruption and criminalisation,” he claimed. He predicted that the Congress would win all four Lok Sabha seats.

The HPCC chief disclosed that he had received 317 complaints of anti-party activities against workers and leaders from official candidates for the last Assembly elections.

“After investigating the complaints the party expelled 35 workers and issued 84 show-cause notices. Such workers should not be given any responsibility or post in the government,” he reiterated.

Local legislator Ajay Mahajan, Himachal Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation Limited Director Yogesh Sundri and block Congress president Baldev Pappi were present.

Chamba, May 21
Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri has urged the people to vote for Chander Kumar, a former MP from Kangra, for the forthcoming Lok Sabha General Election.

The minister was speaking at a Congress workers’ rally, which was presided over by the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Sukhvinder Singh, at Chamba today.

Bharmouri also urged the workers to gear up for the victory of the party.

Those who were present on the occasion included former MP Chander Kumar, AICC secretary Asha Kumari, HP Pollution Control Board chairman Kuldip Singh Pathania, MLA Ajay Mahajan and district Congress Committee president Surinder Bhardwaj.

Virbhadra Singh pays tributes to Rajiv Gandhi at the Sadhbhawana Chowk in Shimla on Tuesday.

Others present on the occasion included ministers Vidya Stokes, Sudhir Sharma and Dhani Ram Shandil, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Inder Dutt Lakhanpal and Rohit Thakur, Mayor, Shimla Municipal Corporation, Sanjay Chauhan and Deputy Mayor, Tikender Panwar.

Respect workers, says Sukhu

CHAMBA: HPCC president Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has categorically stated that only that political party which respects its workers is strengthened and maintains uprightness and moral values of the party.

Addressing Congress workers here today, the HPCC chief said those party workers who would work hard would certainly be respected and those who undermined the reputation of the party would be dealt with sternly. Congress workers who had worked against party candidates during the previous Assembly elections had been issued notices, he added.

For the future Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, Congress party tickets would be allotted only on the recommendations of Block Congress Committees, Sukhvinder assured the party workers, adding party workers would not be ignored.

On the occasion, Himachal Forest Minister TS Bharmouri, former MP Chander Kumar, AICC secretary Asha Kumari, HP Pollution Control Board Chairman Kuldip Singh Pathania, MLA Ajay Mahajan and DCC president Surinder Bhardwaj also spoke.

Rajiv helped in uplift of villages

BILASPUR: Rajiv Gandhi brought the country on the forefront of nations by introducing and encouraging latest technological advances. He also helped in uplift of villages by enforcing constitutional provisions to give enhanced powers to Panchayati Raj Institutions.

This was stated by Dr Babu Ram Gauttam, former MLA and district chairman of the Congress Rajiv Gandhi Panchayati Raj Sangathan, while offering floral tributes to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his death anniversary at a district-level function here today.

Those present on the occasion included Ram Prakash Dhiman, Mast Ram Varma, Sita Ram Sharma, Roop Lal Sharma, Ranjit Chaudhary, Surrender Kumar, Ramesh Kumar, Anil Kumar, Ram Dass and presidents of all the four Sangathan Block Committees of the district.

Bilaspur, May 21
Property worth Rs 3 lakh was destroyed as a cowshed of a dairy farmer, Kartar Chand of Bhagatpur village under Naghiyaar gram panchayat, caught fire last night.

Reports said Chand rushed to the cowshed and succeeded in releasing 15 cattle. He raised an alarm after which villagers rushed to the spot and helped him in dousing the fire. However, everything kept in the cowshed was burnt to ashes.

Villagers led by Naghiyaar panchayat president Meenakshi urged the district administration to provide an immediate relief to the farmer. — OC

Sundernagar, May 21
Improving technical education in the state is one of the top priorities of the government as it will benefit around 60,000 students who are undergoing technical trainings at various institutions.

This was stated by Sohan Lal Thakur, MLA, Sundernagar, and newly appointed Chief Parliamentary Secretary, while addressing a gathering of students and teachers at Government Polytechnic College, here today. He said the government would open a new engineering college at Kangra and five new polytechnic colleges in different parts of the state. Vijay Chandan, Director, Technical Education, was also present on the occasion. Students presented a colourful cultural programme on the occasion and prizes were given to meritorious students.

Solan, May 21
The HP Ayurvedic Officers Association has hoped that their long-pending demands like the grant of 4-9-14 pay scale will soon be implemented and a key issue on the disparity in pay of allopathic and ayurvedic doctors appointed through the Rogi Kalyan Samiti (RKS) will be removed.

RKS ayurvedic doctors were paid Rs 16,000 and their counterparts Rs 20,000. Rajender Thakur, general secretary, district unit of the association, said they welcomed the appointment of Rakesh Kalia, MLA, as the Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Ayurveda. — TNS

Dharamsala, May 21
A 13-year-old girl from the UK, Grace, who was studying at International Sahaja Public School, Naddi, 10 km from here, died under mysterious circumstances today.

Sources said the girl reported stomach pain at the school today afternoon. She was taken to a local hospital by the school authorities where she was declared brought dead.

The police said it was informed about the girl's death by the school authorities. “No case has been registered yet and we are awaiting the postmortem report,” the police said.

However, the school authorities declined knowledge about the student's death. Monika, secretary of the school, said she had not yet received an official confirmation of the student’s death. “Anything regarding the matter can only be said after the official confirmation of the death is received," she said.

When told by The Tribune that the student’s postmortem was being performed at Dharamsala, the secretary said she was not authorised to comment on the issue. She also refused to divulge the phone number of the school principal and said the information regarding the death would be divulged at an appropriate time. The other authorities of the school were not available for comments.