The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

HC stays Registrar’s order on Coop Bank chief
Legal Correspondent

Shimla, April 2
The Himachal Pradesh High Court today stayed the implementation and operation of order passed by the Registrar, Co-operative Societies for revoking the suspension of Mr K.K. Kaushal as the Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh State Co-operative Bank. The court also stayed the order of the Registrar to drop charges against Mr Kaushal.

These directions were issued by a Division Bench, comprising Mr Chief Justice W.A. Shishak and Mr Justice L.S. Panta, on a petition filed by the Himachal Pradesh State Co-operative Bank Union for directing the Secretary, Cooperative, the Registrar, (Co- operative), and the Managing Director of the bank to take appropriate civil and criminal action against the Chairman of the bank for misappropriation and embezzlement of funds of the bank and for restraining Mr Kaushal from acting as the chairman of the bank.

Petitioner alleged that Mr Kaushal after assuming the charge of chairman of the bank started misutilising the facilities provided to him. He misused the vehicles provided to him by the bank. The petitioner alleged that there was embezzlement and misappropriation of funds of the bank by filing of false TA and DA bills by Mr Kaushal. The misappropriation in this regard ran into lakhs of rupees. Mr Kaushal also undertook foreign tours without the prior permission of the Registrar, Co- operative, which was necessary as per the directions issued by the state government from time to time.

According to the petitioner, on March 6 members of the union and other employees of the bank met the Chief Minister and handed over a complaint against Mr Kaushal and the Chief Minister ordered inquiry into the matter. The petitioner stated that in February the Registrar wrote a letter to the MD of the bank and no explanation was sought from Mr Kaushal for the misappropriation of funds. The petitioner further alleged that on February 22 the Registrar dropped proceeding against Mr Kaushal and on March 1 in compliance with the report of the statutory auditors the Registrar suspended the entire Board of Directors of the bank, including the Chairman.

It is pertinent to mention that on March 28, the Registrar passed order of revoking the suspension of Mr Kaushal and other Board of Directors.

The petitioner prayed to the court to quash the order issued by the Registrar of dropping the proceedings against the chairman and also direct the Secretary and Registrar, Co-operative, to remove Mr Kaushal from the post of president of the bank.

While hearing the matter the court further issued the notices to the Secretary, Co-operative, the Registrar, Co-operative, and the MD of the bank and directed them to file their reply within three weeks.

Work on Uhl hydel project to start soon
Our Correspondent

Mandi, April 2
The Himachal Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Thakur Gulab Singh, said today that work on the Rs 478.74 crore 100 mw Uhl hydro electric project, stage III, would start during the current financial year and Rs 15 crore had been provided for it in the Budget and more money would be made available depending on the progress of the work.

Mr Thakur, who was addressing a public meeting on the occasion of inauguration of Jogindernagar fair, said the project was being executed by the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board and it would generate employment for the people of the area. The generation cost of the project would be the cheapest, he added.

He said Himachal Pradesh had the hydel power potential of 20,300 mw of which only 1,549 mw had been harnessed.

Mr Thakur said an ambitious plan had been drawn up for the development of Jogindernagar. A sum of Rs 30 lakh had been sanctioned for the science block to be added to the government degree college, while a sum of Rs 85 lakh had been provided for the expansion and modernisation of the hospital building.

Former Vidhan Sabha Speaker and sitting Congress MLA from Darang constituency and Chairman, state marketing board, also addressed the meeting.

Earlier, Thakur Gulab Singh laid the foundation stone of the Rs 54-lakh sub-market yard complex for Jogindernagar with provision of manifold facilities for farmers and staff.

Mr Kashyap said a network of market yards were being constructed all over the state to help farmers market their produce at remunerative price and save them from the exploitation of the middlemen.

HPU departments sans facilities
Ranjna Sharma

Shimla, April 2
Even as Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) has been introducing new courses almost every year, several of its departments lack basic facilities. Some departments are without proper infrastructure and accommodation facilities. Many posts are also lying vacant in these departments.

Recently the university decided to discontinue postgraduate courses in the commerce and management faculty from the next academic session. Masters in international business management, masters in personal management and masters in finance courses will be discontinued. These courses were introduced for a very short period in the campus.

Various faculties like the Department of Visual Arts, the Department of Geography, the Department of Physical Education lack accommodation and infrastructure facilities. The Department of Visual Arts, the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Department of Geography are being run in congested rooms. Till date no separate blocks have been set up for these departments. Students don’t even have basic facilities like drinking water and toilets.

There is only one room for students of visual arts. There is no space for the display of their paintings. Students of geography and physical education face similar problems. Laboratories for practical subjects are in a bad condition. Students allege that the apparatus and equipment in the laboratories are not up to the mark.

To top it all, the library of the university has also failed to provide proper material to the students. According to students the library does not have latest books on the subject. When contacted, the pro-Vice Chancellor, Mr N.K. Sharda, said new blocks would be constructed if funds are provided by the UGC and the state government.

Lecturers upset at ‘raw’ treatment
Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, April 2
Members of the HP School Lecturers Association are highly upset over the failure of the state government to listen to their sad plight and for giving a raw treatment to them.

Mr Joginder Rao, president of the association has appealed to all teachers’ organisations to support their demands and not to resort to anti-trade unionism. He said it was a matter of great shock that while science teachers were getting practical allowance, the same was not given to the school lecturers.

He claimed that members of the HP College Lecturer Sangh and Allied College Lecturers Association had also supported their agitation to shun the practical examination of plus one and two classes. He said the sangh would boycott the examinations if their demands were not met shortly.

Medical students resent fee hike
Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, April 2
Resenting the hike in tuition fee, students of Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College have demanded that they should be charged the fee on a par with their counterparts at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla.

In a signed statement, the students belonging to the 1999-2000 batch said despite the fact that the fee mentioned in the prospectus for both IGMC and their college was Rs 2,177, they had been charged Rs 22,000. The students said they had to approach the court for their admission following the starting of the college without the prior approval of the Medical Council of India.

They demanded that the fee deposited by them should be refunded or adjusted as the students of the IGMC had only paid Rs 2,177. They said they were lagging behind their IGMC counterparts by almost a year and a half.

House damaged in blast
Our Correspondent

Kangra, April 2
A house was damaged in a blast at Sunehar village on the Pathankot-Mandi national highway in the subdivision at 1.30 a.m. today.

The Kangra district additional police chief, Mr N.D. Sareen, said the blast was triggered by planting gelatin rods in the wall of the house of Uttam Chand in the village and using a detonator to blast these. Cracks developed in the building, due to the blast, Mr Sareen said. There was no loss of life due to the blast, he said.