Shimla, November 25
With investigation in the alleged phone-tapping case being in the final stages, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau will question former Home Secretary and four senior IPS officers, above the rank of Inspector General of Police (IG), regarding their role in granting permissions for putting phones under surveillance while they were nodal officers.

The Vigilance Bureau is likely to summon these officers in the next few days for questioning to ascertain their role. Officials of the Vigilance Bureau have already prepared a questionnaire for the officers.

Sources in the Vigilance Bureau said permissions in 247 cases had been granted by the Home Department during the six-month period between July and December 2012 on the request of the CID.

“However, the number of phones, which were put on surveillance illegally, is more than this number as per the detailed technical examination of the hard discs of the technical wing by forensic experts,” pointed out officials.

Cellular companies BSNL, Airtel and Reliance had told Vigilance sleuths that as per law, they had destroyed the entire record so they could not tell which numbers were intercepted.

It was on the night of December 24, 2012, a day before Virbhadra assumed office as Chief Minister that the hard discs of computers of the technical wing of the CID were seized. It was alleged that the phones of several persons, including politicians, bureaucrats and journalists, were illegally tapped.

The FIR in the phone-tapping case was registered on June 26, 2013, but it did not mention any individual as it was only after the investigations were to be completed that the responsibility had to be fixed and the persons allegedly involved in it would be named. The case was registered under Section 26 of the Indian Telegraph Act and the Information Technology Act.

With the record of permissions granted for phone tapping, both by the Home and the CID, being destroyed within six months as per law, the inquiry team only has a record for the period between July and December 2012.

“We have been able to lay our hands on some recorded conversations, dating back to almost three years which, even if recorded with permission, could not have been retained for such a long period,” said a police officer.

Shimla, November 25
A committee constituted for suggesting the measures to restore the glory of the Khajjiar lake in Chamba has filed its report before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) here today.

In its report, the committee suggested some measures to be taken but for undertaking these, financial assistance is required. The counsel for the state submitted before the NGT that the state would forward its proposal for financial assistance along with the utilisation certificates, showing utilisation of the finances for dredging of the lake to the Ministry of Environment and Forest, within two weeks.

Whereas the counsel for the Ministry of Environment and Forest stated before the tribunal that such proposal would be processed and a decision to extend the financial assistance would be taken expeditiously.

After recording their statement, the NGT has directed all stakeholders to submit their objections as well as suggestions concerning the report of the committee. These will be considered by it. The tribunal has listed the matter for further hearing on January, 2, 2014.

The report was filed before the NGT in compliance to its earlier order vide which a committee was constituted to examine the problems faced by the Khajjiar lake in Chamba and suggest by way of a complete and comprehensive report the measures required to be taken for the restoration of the Khajjiar lake to its original status along with restoration of environment of that area.

Shimla, November 25
The Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) has decided to allow all those students of post-graduate classes who have filled up their examination forms but have not yet received their roll numbers to appear in the examinations.

An official spokesperson said here today that this permission would be subject to the condition that before the last paper of the examination, they will settle the discrepancies of their forms in the examination branch of the university otherwise their result will not be declared.

Vice-Chancellor Prof ADN Bajpai said all the centre superintendents throughout the state and outside Himachal had been directed to allow the candidates to appear in the exams on the basis of the proof of filling of the examination form such as receipt of registered letter sent to the university, counter-folio of IPO and receipt of bank draft or receipt of the fee paid at the university counter with proof of identity.

The VC further stated that most of the examination forms which did not have proper record or did not reflect eligibility were rejected; in some cases, candidates have not indicated the semester and roll number for the previous semester or class.

Hamirpur, November 25
The suspension of three forest officials posted at Gopalpur zoo, two of them found absent by the Forest Minister a few days ago, has brought to light the casual attitude of officers posted there.

Forest Range Officer Shushil Guleria and two Deputy Range officers Dheeraj Katoch and Harnam Singh posted at the zoo were suspended for dereliction of duty. While the Deputy Rangers have been suspended for being absent from the duty, the Range Officer reported for duty without wearing his uniform.

The minister, during his visit, had also noted several deficiencies prevailing in the zoo and found that the fencing of the cages housing animals were worn out and torn at many places.

The minister has ordered the suspension of all three officers and a departmental inquiry has been started against them.

This zoo is under the direct control of DFO, Wildlife, Hamirpur, and the CCF, Wildlife, Dharamsala.

Divisional Forest Officer, Hamirpur, Shubhash Prashar had rushed to the zoo site and later, Chief Conservator of Forest, Wildlife, Suresh Kumar also reached the zoo to investigate the matter.

The Forest Minister was also concerned about the bad condition of the paths inside the zoo. It was also reported that animals inside the zoo were not being fed properly and health and hygiene was a neglected affair at the zoo.

The CCF, Wildlife, said, “The forest officials have been put under suspension and departmental inquiry has been initiated against them."

The DFO said, “We are trying to improve the facilities in the zoo and major work is being undertaken there. We strive to ensure the proper upkeep of the animals. I would make regular visits to the zoo.”

Dharamsala, November 25
Continued illegal mining in the Chaki river along the Punjab-Himachal border is threatening national and state infrastructure, including railway bridges, roads and water supply schemes. While there has been a complete ban on mining in river beds by the National Green Tribunal, sources told The Tribune that mining had been taking place in the river bed in the early hours in Himachal.

Villagers residing along the banks of the Chaki alleged that some miscreants used heavy cranes for illegal mining in the early morning hours. They kept their men posted along the road to keep guard of any raids by officials while illegal mining was on.

The fact that illegal mining has been going on in the area is illustrated by the fact that a large number of trucks laden with crushed material pass through the area every day and pay tax at the excise and taxation barrier of the Himachal Government. A truck laden with crushed material recently killed a local woman after which villagers ransacked the excise and taxation barrier.

The area that is prone to illegal mining includes lands owned by the Damtal temple. The temple owns hundreds of acres land along the borders of Punjab and Himachal and a huge stretch of the Chaki that in fact lies on the border of both the states.

Earlier, the Damtal temple was being governed by a mahant. Many unscrupulous people had taken land on lease from the mahant for peanuts and installed stone crushers there.

They mined in the Chaki to such an extent that its river bed in some areas has gone down by about 40 to 50 feet.

About two years ago, the Himachal Government took over the Damtal temple in keeping with Supreme Court orders. There was a move by the district administration to evict the illegal occupants of the Damtal temple land. In this process, many stone crushers were also stopped. The process is still going on and the administration is finding it difficult to remove the encroachers.

However, illegal mining is still taking place as the area in the river bed of Chaki is very vast and it is difficult to guard it constantly.

Many government departments, including the Indian Air Force, Railways, National Highways and Irrigation and Public Health Department of the Himachal Government, have been writing to the district authorities regarding the threat posed to their infrastructure due to illegal mining. Even the Himachal High Court took cognisance of damage being caused to railway bridges due to illegal mining and appointed a committee under deputy commissioner Kangra to suggest measures to check the menace. The committee has suggested a complete ban on mining within 1 km of the railway bridges that was accepted by the court.

The railway service to the Kangra valley remained suspended for many months after the railway bridge on the Chaki got damaged.

Sources here also indicated that the Chaki riverbed had been eroding every year during monsoons. The department should start the work for reclaiming the riverbed through plantation and other methods to save national infrastructure.

Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, Paul Rasu said they had implemented a complete ban on mining in the Damtal temple land. However, if any mining activity was noticed, strict action would be taken against the miscreants.

Chamba, November 25
Continuing with the implementation of the ban imposed by the National Green Tribunal recently on mining on riverbeds and also on the units supplying the building material, which have not obtained environmental clearance, the officials of the Forest Department carried out a night-long patrolling recently along the road leading from Kalhel to Chamba and Koti in the district.

For the purpose, four teams of forest officials comprising 14 forest officials and three police personnel had been constituted.

These teams, headed by Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) ARM Reddy, have conducted forays on the offenders and imposed suitable penalties under various sections of the Indian Forest Act.

A private jeep carrying sand illegally from the Kandla nullah was apprehended and later released after imposing penalty of Rs 4,000 on its owner. Similarly, a vehicle carrying wooden furniture frames from the Pathankot side and transporting wood after sunset and without getting an entry of the check post located at Tunnuhatti was imposed a penalty of Rs 5,000.

During the raids, the team also apprehended three persons, namely Kailash Chand, Kirparam and Hemraj at Pukhri Chowk when they were illegally transporting finished window and door frames of deodar obtained from an unknown source and without any valid documents were imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000.

CCF ARM Reddy said due to the onset of winter, incidents of crimes were likely to increase.

A total of 24 cases had been detected and various vehicles apprehended. These were found extracting sand and gravel and released by forest officials of Masroond and Sundla forest blocks after compounding these. A total fine of Rs 45,093 had been realised from the offenders in Chamba forest circle during the raids, the CCF said.

Shimla, November 25
Justice Dev Darshan Sud has assumed the charge of Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh. Born on February 18, 1952, at Kangra, he did his schooling from St Edward's School, Shimla in 1967, B Com from the Faculty of Commerce and Business Management, Panjab University, Chandigarh in 1970, LLB from Himachal Pradesh University in 1977 and LLM from Delhi University in 1980.

He practised in civil, criminal, constitutional and taxation matters in the Supreme Court of India, Delhi High Court, Tees Hazari, Patiala House, Income Tax Tribunal and Central Excise Tribunal in New Delhi from 1980 to 1983.

He practised in Shimla from 1983 at the HP High Court in Shimla. He was designated as senior advocate in 1997. He was elevated as Judge, High Court of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla, on November 27, 2006.

Mandi, November 25
The three-day Mandi Utsav, being organised by the Samvad Yuva Manch and the Himachal Pradesh Society for Sports, Culture and Environment, began here last evening on the Seri manch.

Rural Development Minister Anil Sharma was the chief guest at the opening ceremony of the utsav.

Addressing a gathering, the minister lauded the efforts of the organisers for providing a forum to budding artistes. He announced Rs 11,000 for the organisers on this occasion.

The first evening of the festival was observed as natya sandhaya and plays were presented by artistes. Child artistes presented their items in the opening programme.

Solan, November 25
The shortage of the field staff in the Drug Control Administration is affecting the regulation on pharmaceutical units in the state due to the cases of illegal drugs reportedly manufactured here.

Though as per the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, every unit has to be inspected once every year, the presence of inadequate field staff is a deterrence in implementing this norm. A unit was thus inspected before the grant of licence or during its renewal only. No surprise visit is conducted by the drug control administration. This has emboldened pharma units such as MBP Pharmaceutical and Montek Biopharma in Baddi to indulge in storing 975 kg of controlled chemicals used in the manufacture of ice drug.

Three drug inspectors are supposed to look after 390 units in the BBN industrial area, apart from attending to about 400 retail licences. The situation is almost similar in the remaining Solan district where a single drug inspector is handling 80 pharma units of Parwanoo, Solan and nearly 400 retail licences.

With less than 300 working days in a year, a drug inspector in the BBN can barely perform routine inspections, leaving virtually no time to visit a unit even once a year.

In the absence of regular inspections, a Kala Amb pharma unit, Vardhman Pharma, not only carried out its production activities for more than four years after expiry of its manufacturing licence, but also managed to grab government contracts from Tripura and Chhattisgarh on fake documents. The state government has failed to adhere to the recommendations of the Mashelkar Committee. It had recommended that one drug inspector should be appointed for every 200 sales premises and 50 manufacturing unit.

Hamirpur, November 25
Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Dhungari, Hamirpur, has won the international school award instituted by the British Council of India.

This award was received by Principal of the school Ambush Kumar and lecturer of the school Sunil Kumar at a ceremony held at Hotel Taj recently from Rob Lince, Director of the British Council in India.

The council selects two schools every year in North India for their excellent work in different areas. 

Shimla, November 25
A climate proofing project will be soon implemented in the state with the assistance of German state agencies to address the concerns arising due to increasing climate variability by giving a boost to core forestry activities.

The main focus will be on rejuvenation of the ever-depleting natural water resources by making watersheds resilient to current and future climatic changes through forestry activities and building adaptive capacities of local communities, besides improving livelihoods.

The approach will be watershed based such as the Mid-Himalayan Watershed Development Project, but the focus will be on improving the eco-system by adopting best silvicultural practices for management over the entire basin.

The five-year project will be implemented with the technical and financial assistance of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and German government-owned development bank (KfW).

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests RK Gupta said the Forest Department was preparing a detailed project proposal which was to be submitted to the two agencies before March 31.

As depleting water sources are a major concern in the hills, the emphasis will be on their conservation. The water sources will be mapped using the satellite system and monitored on a regular basis to ascertain the impact of interventions. The watersheds will be protected under the spring sanctuary programme for conservation and enhancement of natural water sources. The plan to develop Van Sarovars in the forest areas will be integrated into the project activities.

Besides conservation of soil and water, development of pastures, crop management, the focus will be on promoting natural regeneration along with afforestation to help enhance the growing carbon stocks.

Remote sensing tools will be used for long-term monitoring to evaluate the success of new plantations and if certain species showed a high mortality in a particular area, they will be classified as unsuitable for that area and replaced by a more suitable species. Silvicultural measures such as pruning of new forest plantations will be carried out to ensure proper growth and maximise the growing carbon stock, which serves as a sink for greenhouse gases.

Mandi, November 25
Office-bearers of the HP State Veterinary Officers Association led by its president Dr Sushil Sharma met Minister for Rural Development and Animal Husbandry Anil Sharma recently and presented a 22-point charter of demands.

The association impressed upon the minister to strictly follow the precedence of 50 per cent direct recruitment of veterinary officials in the department and not to amend the existing Recruitment and Promotion Rules.

The association urged the minister to take up the matter of regularisation of contractual veterinary officers, who had completed six years of service.

A representation was also made by the association on the behalf of recently regularised veterinary officers for counting of contractual service for all financial and other benefits i.e. release of time scale, study leave, etc.

Various other demands like strengthening of HP Livestock Development Board, provision of diagnostic labs and mobile veterinary units at sub-division level, special budget for extension activities at sub-division level, mobile allowance to veterinary officers and supply of computers and broadband connectivity to all the veterinary institutions were also discussed in the meeting.

Nurpur, November 25
The body of the deceased Havaldar Chuni Lal (45), son of Bholu Ram, arrived at his native village Lapiana in Jawali sub-division this morning and was cremated today. The Havaldar was posted in 75 Battalion of the CRPF in Srinagar and had reportedly committed suicide in a state of depression by firing at himself with his service rifle.

In his dying declaration, the deceased, father of two children, had named his two seniors who had been torturing him mentally for the past some time. He was even upset over his wrong and unjustified duties.

His family received his body this morning while protesting. The commanding officer of the CRPF came up with a verbal assurance that a fair and impartial inquiry would be conducted and legal action taken against the culprits.

Meanwhile, Sumana Devi, wife of the deceased Havaldar, through his counsellor Rakesh Mankotia from Jawali, has forwarded all documentary evidence relating to the circumstances that led to her husband's suicide, to the CRPF authorities.

Initially, Balbir Singh, brother-in-law of the deceased and a witness, submitted his affidavit to the authorities narrating Hav Chuni Lal’s tale of woes, along with the dying declaration said to have been dictated to him before the suicide by the deceased.

Family sources said the Commanding Officer of the CRPF had also assured security to the family members and witnesses whenever they happened to visit Srinagar to depose before the authorities.

Shimla, November 25
The online Himachal Photoshoot Contest 2013 organised by the Department of Tourism recently to promote the state as a tourist destination attracted 820 participants from across the country.

In all, 3,393 pictures focusing on four themes, nature, adventure, heritage and culture and religion, were received for the contest. Besides the northern region, entries were received from far-off states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, West Bengal and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

Director of Tourism Mohan Chauhan said the objective of the contest was to harness the state’s tourism potential.

The first prize of Rs 10,000 in Nature theme category was won by Munish Chandel from Bhakra (Bilaspur), the second prize of Rs 7,000 by Anil Walia (Ghaziabad) and the third prize of Rs 5,000 by Akash Deep (Hamirpur). In Adventure theme, the first three prizes were bagged by Neelkhanth Gangrade (Indore), Aswita Dutta Sarkar (Gurgaon) and Navjot Singh (Ropar) respectively.

In Heritage theme, the top two positions went to Ranjana Sharma (Shimla) and Arvind (Dharamsala) while in Culture & Religion theme, Pawan Kumar Kaushal (Mandi), Akash Deep (Hamirpur) and Shiva Gour (Dharamsala) were the winners. Consolation prizes were awarded to 29 participants.

Baddi, November 25
The Container Corporation of India’s (CONCOR) much-awaited container freight station (CFS) being set up in Baddi is awaiting deployment of staff by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) to begin its operations.

Though the issue has been taken up with the Delhi-based head office of the CBEC for approving the deployment of the new staff, including an office in charge and inspector, by the state government in August, no headway has been made in this case. No work can begin till the CBEC appoints staff as customs clearance has to be accorded to various export consignments.

The CFS is being set up at a cost of Rs 56 crore after the state government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CONCOR in October 2008.

As many as 87 bighas of land was thereafter provided at Shitalpur at a nominal lease to set up this facility and a road is being constructed for the purpose by the state government.

As a similar facility of a dry port exists only at Ludhiana in the region, the CFS will boost exports from this region.

Though initially a CFS is being set up, it will be converted into an inland container depot once rail connectivity is provided. Officials of CONCOR are hopeful that the area will soon get rail connectivity as a survey is already underway.

A visit to the site today revealed that a majority of the physical work of the project has been completed, including the setting up of the platform and office space, while some work is in progress.

Once completed, this depot will help provide cheap mode of transportation to various export-oriented units which send their goods to ports in Gujarat and Mumbai. The goods will first be transported to CONCOR’s Dapper-based station from where these will be trans-shipped to various ports, including Mundra and Pipavav in Gujarat and Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai. Cargo can be transported to other ports too once demands pour in.

Export-oriented units like Vardhman Textiles, Sara Textiles and pharmaceutical units will benefit from this facility. The pharmaceuticals exported from the state are worth Rs 9,000 crore.

Manali, November 25
Fire services in the Kullu valley have not been able to match up to the increasing population and growing infrastructure as only two fire stations, one in Kullu and another in Manali, are taking care of the vast district.

The Manali fire station is offering its service from Solang and Kothi in the north to the Katrain and Naggar in the south. The Kullu fire station is taking care of the rest of the area, including towns of Kullu and Bhuntar. This station is also responsible for dousing fire in remote villages of Banjar division.

While machinery worth crores of rupees is rusting without roof in Manali since the station was opened here, lack of small fire tenders prevents firemen from reaching the remote villages where only light vehicles can reach.

The number of houses, hotels and other commercial structures has increased manifold in the past few years, but at present, the fire stations of the district are unable to tackle an emergency situation like multiple fire incidents in various parts of the district.

Most of the villages here are connected with narrow roads which do not allow a large vehicle. It has been seen many a time that firemen find themselves helpless when they unable to take fire tenders and other fire-fighting equipment to the spot. Both Kullu and Manali fire stations have one small fire tender which can be taken to villages with a narrow road, but one small machine proves ineffective in dealing with large fire incidents.

Most of the fire incidents in Kullu district are reported in winters when residents use fire to keep themselves warm. Sources said stocking of fodder and fuel wood inside or near the houses were some of the main reasons behind fire incidents in the Kullu valley.

Lack of road connectivity is another hurdle when it comes to taking fire tenders to the spot. Solang, Mohani and Malana villages of Kullu where dozens of houses were gutted had also suffered the brunt due to lack of proper roads. Residents have been demanding fire stations at Patlikuhal, Banjar, Anni and Nirmand for a long time.

Sundernagar, November 25
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Mandi, during a camp at Sundernagar has directed Trackon Courier Pvt Ltd, Sundernagar, and Trackon Courier Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, to pay Rs 8,000 (cost of a mobile phone) plus 9 per cent and Rs 3,000 compensation to Nishant Kaundal of Dhanotu village, Sundernagar. The forum has directed the firms to also pay Rs 1,000 as the cost of the complaint to the complainant.

The consumer had sent a mobile phone through courier to Satinder Singh of New Delhi on June 28, 2012, which never reached the destination. So the complainant had filed the complaint.

But the courier companies alleged that their liability was limited and they could pay only Rs 2,000.

The forum held that the opposite parties had admitted that the parcel was lost in transit, which showed negligence on the part of the officials, amounting to deficiency in service.