NDA manifesto directionless, says Virbhadra
Our Correspondent

Chamba, April 9
The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, has described the election manifesto of the NDA as a ‘document of compromise’ and a ‘manifesto of consensus’.

While talking to mediapersons here today, the Chief Minister said the entire manifesto was ‘directionless’ and there was nothing new for the betterment of the country.

The Chief Minister lamented that the temple issue had always been BJP’s election issue and alleged that the BJP had been using the ‘Ram Temple’ issue only for winning elections. He, however, stated that the Congress was not against the temple and the holy buildings of other religions.

Even in its 1999-election manifesto, the NDA had promised to provide jobs to as many as one crore persons every year but it had failed to fulfill its promise.

The Chief Minister criticised the BJP leaders in the state for opposing development issues from time to time.

While addressing an election public meeting in Chamba, the Chief Minister accused the former NDA government of encouraging the privatisation of the public sector which had led to cut-throat competition in commerce and industry and had led to unemployment.

Asking the NDA government why it could not institute probe and take action in the Bofors case during its five-year rule, the Chief Minister advised the BJP leaders not to defame the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the case.

The Chief Minister said the Vajpayee government was responsible and answerable for all scams and chaos. He advised the people not to vote for corruption but to root out the corrupt and inefficient government at the Centre.

Earlier, Mr Chander Kumar, a Congress candidate from Kangra Lok Sabha constituency, Ms Asha Kumari, Education Minister Mr Harsh Mahajan, Animal Husbandry Minister also addressed the public meeting.

Virbhadra hits back at Shanta on research trust
Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 9
Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, yesterday ridiculed the statement of Mr Shanta Kumar, alleging that Rs 200-crore Central aid for the Vivekanand Medical Research Trust (VMRT) had been stalled by him and said the former Union minister had played truant with the people by keeping them in the dark over the feasibility and progress of the project.

He said Mr Shanta Kumar was apprehending that his dubious role in the functioning of the trust might cause trouble to him in the elections and he was resorting to lies to save his skin.

He said the Centre had at no point of time conveyed to the state any decision regarding the release of Rs 200 crore for setting up an AIIMS-like project. He asked Mr Shanta Kumar and Ms Sushma Swaraj, Union Health Minister, to make public details pertaining to any such decisions taken by the Centre.

He also wanted to know when the matter was examined by the Centre and did the Union Health Ministry ever obtain the feasibility report or an estimate or requirement of funds from the VMRT for the project.

He further asked him to apprise him if the matter was ever considered by the Financial Adviser of the ministry and cleared by it.

He said Ms Swaraj was indulging in a poll stunt to help Mr Shanta Kumar, who was in the dock over the alleged irregularities and nepotism in the affairs of the VMRT.

The Chief Minister said there was not even an iota of truth in the assertions of Mr Shanta Kumar that the Centre had proposed to construct six hospitals, including one at Palampur, to be developed on the lines of AIIMS. He said no such decision had been taken or conveyed to the state.

On the contrary, he said, the state had relentlessly followed up with the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare the case of Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College, Tanda, for inclusion under the Central proposal. Unfortunately, the Centre had failed to respond to the request of the state, he said.

He drew the attention to the Budget speech of the Union Finance Minister, in which he had categorically proposed to upgrade six medical colleges in different states to the status of AIIMS. The name of the VMRT did not figure in the list, he added. Prior to this, the Prime Minister had announced a decision on six medical colleges of the level of AIIMS in his Independence Day speech, but there was no mention of the VMRT. This clearly showed that there was no proposal of upgrading the VMRT to the status of AIIMS and Mr Shanta Kumar was deliberately indulging in falsehood to derive political mileage, he said.

The Chief Minister pointed out that Mr Shanta Kumar had admitted that a super-speciality hospital required more than Rs 200 crore and he was now proposing that the project should be taken over by the government. Having known this, it was deceit on the part of Mr Shanta Kumar to have collected funds from people without telling them that the project was not feasible unless taken over by the government, he stated.

BJP men ready to shift loyalty claims Cong leader
Our Correspondent

Kangra, April 9
Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Other Backward Classes (OBC) Financial Corporation and the Local Congress MLA, Mr Surender Kaku, yesterday said that differences within the BJP in the Kangra assembly segment had come to such a pass that a section of party leaders and workers were in touch with him regarding joining the Congress and he had taken up the matter with the party high command.

Stating this addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Mr Surender Kaku said this section of the BJP cadre would join the Congress in near future.

Differences within BJP had cropped up following the induction of the former Agriculture Minister, Mr Vidiya Sagar into the BJP despite opposition by members of the BJP executive of the Kangra Mandal and other grassroot level workers.

Mr Surender Kaku, however, refused to divulge the names and the number of the BJP senior workers and leaders who were in touch with him for deserting their party and joining the Congress.

He said he would not say much about the development as it was the BJP’s internal matter and as they wanted to join the Congress his role was inevitable.

Mr Kaku said the Congress was organising a maha sammelan in this town on April 12, which would be addressed by Prof Chander Kumar, Forest Minister and the Congress candidate. He said the Congress wave was evident in the rural areas and development was the main poll plank in Himachal Pradesh.

He criticised Mr Vidiya Sagar, former Agriculture Minister, who rejoined the BJP on Wednesday.

Thakur criticises BJP for ignoring ex-servicemen
Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, April 9
The Congress candidate from the Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, today criticised the BJP for its failure to accept the one rank, one pension demand of ex-servicemen. The way the BJP had acted on this issue was ridiculous and proved that it had no love and affection for ex-servicemen and members of their families.

Launching the party’s election campaign at Kuthera village in the district, he said the Congress was for ex-servicemen, members of their families and the serving soldiers. The Congress had always provided benefits and facilities to ex-servicemen and would continue its commitment for help them, he asserted.

He exhorted ex-servicemen and members of their families to reject the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections for their benefit and welfare. He said the Congress and development were complementary. The party would develop India the way it had done during the last 50 years of its rule, he promised.

The Congress candidate blamed the BJP for ignoring the interests of the poor, especially farmers, women and youth. He said the resolve of the BJP to give one crore jobs to the youth during the last five years was a big fraud. The party had failed to fulfil this commitment and had now come out with the same resolve, he said. He told the people that if they believed in the BJP, they would be in-crisis and the nation would be doomed.

The Congress leader came down heavily on the state BJP and its top leaders for resorting to character assassination of senior Congress leaders only to come back to power. Such tactics would not yield favourable results for them, he claimed.

Ms Anita Verma, All-India Congress Committee Secretary, while addressing the audience, told the people that if they once again committed a mistake to vote for the BJP, it would be the last time they would vote, as the BJP would resort to presidential form of government. She appealed to the people to repose their faith in the Congress.

She claimed that the state government led by Mr Virbhadra Singh had developed all parts of the state on an equal basis. She said the Chief Minister had given Rs 100 crore for the Hamirpur district for development during the last one year.

Mr Thakur inaugurated the media centre of the Congress at Hamirpur. He said this centre would be helpful for the mediapersons to get information about the Congress and its election activities.

Pak seeks India’s help to set up NCC-like body
Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service

Parwanoo, April 9
Pakistan has approached the Indian Army to seek advice on setting up a youth organisation in that country on the pattern of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) here. The Defence Advisor at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, Brig Akram Sahi, visited the NCC Directorate-General a few days ago in this regard.

The Pakistani officer was briefed about the NCC activities in India and was given reference matter on the NCC’s charter, organisational structure, funding pattern and its training philosophy, NCC Director-General, Lieut-Gen B.K. Bopanna, disclosed to TNS here today. He was enroute to Shimla on an official visit to interact with the state government leadership and inspect various NCC units.

General Bopanna said there is no youth organisation in Pakistan similar to the NCC. “They do have several military colleges, but those are purely academic and do not impart any sort of military training,” he remarked. Basic military training was introduced in these institutes after the 1965 Indo-Pak war, but was later discontinued apparently due to lack of funds.

Also on the anvil is a youth exchange programme between the NCC cadets and Pakistani students. The NCC chief said that Defence Minister, George Fernandes is also keen that such a project takes off. It is yet to be seen who will be nominated from the Pakistani side for the programme.

The scope of the Youth Exchange Programme (YEP) has also been increased. Seven more countries, including the USA, Australia and New Zealand, along with some South-East Asian countries like Indonesia and Malaysia have been added to the YEP list. This takes the total number of countries to 17. Under the YEP, cadets from similar organisations in select countries visit India, while the NCC cadets are sent abroad.

Though expressing satisfaction over the number of NCC cadets getting a commission in the Army, the Director-General said there was a scope for improvement as far as the number of cadets getting commission in the Air Force and the Navy was concerned. “A survey at the Indian Military Academy has revealed that over 30 per cent of the cadets there have been in the NCC. At the Officers Training Academy, there are more NCC cadets than the vacancies reserved for them,” he said.

General Bopanna, however, was not satisfied with the quality of youngsters coming forward to join the NCC. “The quality needs to improve. This is one of our thrust areas,” he said. To this end, the NCC has introduced a selection criterion, where officers judge the personality, level of interest and medical fitness of students before enrolling them.

This has led to a cut in the boys’ strength and the vacancies are being filled by girls. Presently, girls comprise about 20 per cent of the NCC strength and the endeavour is to raise the strength of girls to 33 per cent in the next two years.

Nathpa dam issue resolved
Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 9
The Himachal government and the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam have reached an agreement over the issue of dam height of the Nathpa Jhakri project hanging fire for the past five years.

The Nigam has agreed to carry out all safety measures suggested by the government to protect the underground Bhabha hydel project, located upstream by the riverside, from being inundated after the height of the dam at Nathpa is increased from 57 metres to 62 metres. It will raise a protection wall for the safety of the powerhouse and construct suitable structure to convey the tailrace water through the 733-metre diversion tunnel direct into the river downstream the dam to ensure smooth functioning of the project. The measures were likely to cost Rs 40 crore.

It also agreed to compensate the state electricity board for any loss of generation during the construction of protection works and stand guarantee for any damage or loss caused to the 120 MW project due to the raising of the dam height. The protection works and construction of tunnel were likely to take 18 to 24 months.

The state government had been against the raising the height of the dam by 5 metres on the ground that it will lead to the submergence of a much larger area, including the tailrace of Bhabha project. The original height of the dam was worked out keeping in view the safety of the upstream project.

The matter was referred to the Water and Power Consultancy Organisation (WAPCO), which conducted detailed study to assess the likely implications of the increase the height of the dam. It recommended that height of the dam should be increased only after resolving the issues relating to safe operation of the Bhabha project. It will certainly ensure better capacity utilisation of the 1500 MW project but involve fresh environmental clearance and other approvals. It also gave the option to build a dam with foundation designed for 62-metre height so that it could be increased later after resolving the related issues.

Accordingly, the Nigam went ahead with the construction of the dam with foundation designed for the increased height. The dam was raised to 62 metres, except the central blocks, which were pegged at 57 metres. The Nigam had been left with no option after the Centre laid down new norms, making it mandatory for all hydroelectric the projects to have a minimum peaking power of three hours. If the height was kept at 57 metres the peaking time will be just 1.66 hours as such there was no option but to increase the height to 62 metres. Besides ensuring a peaking time in excess of three hours it will enable the Nigam to generate an additional 713 million units of electricity per day.

Mr Tarun Kapoor , a director of the Nigam, said now the an agreement had been reached on the issue, the entire dam will be raised to 62 metres and simultaneously measures to ensure the safety of Bhabha project will also be carried out. The project will be made operational for increased height only after taking the necessary environmental and other clearances.

Imprisonment given by panchayat suspended
Our Correspondent

Sundernagar, April 9
The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Mandi, Mr R.K. Sharma, has suspended the sentence of Darshnu Devi and Hima Devi of Kathalag village, Mandi district, till the disposal of the appeal.

The court, however, imposed a fine of Rs 1000 each on them.

Both appellants were convicted by a Bench of panchayat, headed by president of gram panchayat Padhiun, Lekh Ram and sentence them to the imprisonment for six months and a fine of Rs 1000.

They were sentenced under Sections 447, 379, 506, 34 of the Indian Penal Code for cutting tree after trespassing the land of Shyam Singh, and threatened him and his family members.

Interestingly, the panchayat has no power to sentence anyone under the provisions of Section 33 of the H.P. Panchayati Raj Act. Even the panchayat has no power to impose fine.

The appellants made an appeal under Section 67 of the H.P. Panchayati Raj Act challenging the order of panchayat which was passed by the Bench on March 29, 2004, sentencing the appellants, who were not present during the proceedings.

They alleged that the order passed by the panchayat was illegal as it had exercised the powers which were not vested in it. The court, while admitting the appeal, suspended the sentence.

Police crackdown on illicit liquor trade
continues, 6 held
Our Correspondent

Kangra, April 9
Police raids continued during the past 24 hours in Kangra district in order to curb the flourishing illicit liquor trade. Six persons, including a woman, were arrested from six different places and the police seized 6,05,880 ml of country made liquor, 15,500 ml illicit liquor and also impounded a vehicle used in the crime. Two working stills were also smashed, the police said here today.

Kangra district police chief S. Jahoor H. Zaidi today told The Tribune that Ravinder Kumar, a resident of Barmad, was arrested at Ranchi More Damtal, falling under Indora police station of this district, in the wee hours today and 47,880 ml of the country made liquor was recovered from his possession. A Tata Sumo (HP 54 3941) used in the crime was impounded by the police.

Mr Zaidi said three persons, including a woman, were arrested in three different raids in the Nurpur police station area last night.

Two working stills at Churad and Pandhoo villages were smashed and 15,500 ml illicit liquor was seized. He said Kiran Bala was arrested under the Excise Act from Dabi village, while Raju was arrested from Churad village. Budha Ram from Pandhoo village was also arrested under the Excise Act.

He said that under Dharamsala police station Madan Lal was arrested from Badyee village last night and 27,000 ml of country made liquor was recovered from his possession and Tilak Raj from Padar Jadrangal under same police station was also arrested under the Excise Act following the recovery of 5,31,000 ml country made liquor from his possession.

Improve temples’ maintenance, says Governor
Our Correspondent

Kangra, April 9
Himachal Pradesh Governor V.S. Kokje told the state government to improve the maintenance of the government-controlled temples and suggested that these temples should be developed on the pattern of temples in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

The Governor was talking to mediapersons in the Bajjreshwari Temple here on Wednesday after he paid obeisance in the temple. He said by improving the maintenance of the temples the state would earn more income.

He also suggested that the priests should follow the “pooja” pattern as was done in the temples in Maharashtra. He said the priests should be well versed in the field of religious scriptures and should have proper knowledge of method of worship. He said the priests should also brief pilgrims about the historical background of these shrines.

Justice Kokje suggested that the state government should set up hotels and restaurants in the vicinity of the temples so that the pilgrims and the temple managements both get benefited.

Forum seeks ban on feeding monkeys
Our Correspondent

Palampur, April 9
The Palampur Welfare and Environmental Protection Forum has  urged the Himachal Pradesh Government  to impose a ban on the feeding of  monkeys on various highways of the state by the visitors. The state government should initiate effective measures in this regard and  tourists should be discouraged from offering eatables to monkeys.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Mr K.B. Rahlan and Ravinder Sood, president and general secretary, respectively, of the forum said the Gagret-Chintpurni, Jwalamukhi-Kangra highways had become dangerous as groups of monkeys were roaming there in search of food. A large number of tourist from Punjab, Haryana and other neighbouring states come to  Chintpurni and Jwalamukhi, Kangra and Chamunda temples daily, they feed monkeys because of religious reasons. The government should install  boards on highways  directing tourists not to offer eatables to the monkeys.

The problem is acute on  the Mubarkpur-Chintpurni and Jwalamukhi Kangra highways.

Palampur woman is officer in Army
Our Correspondent

Palampur, April 9
Ms Rajni Sharma, a resident of Paprola, near here, has become the first  woman in the state  to join the Army as a commissioned officer.  She was commissioned on March 20 after completing her refresher course at  Officer  Training School in Chennai.

Ms Sharma  had completed her  studies at Palampur and Paprola. She did postgraduation and later topped in LLB examination conducted by HP University. She was posted in Judges Advocate-General Branch of Eastern Command in Kolkata.

Her father Anriduh Sharma told The Tribune here yesterday that from the beginning Rajni was keen to join the Army. She had qualified the all-India competition for selection to the Judges Advocate-General Branch of the Army in her first attempt.

Anti-encroachment drive launched
Our Correspondent

Kumarhatti, April 9
To check encroachments and use of polythene bags a team of Subathu Cantonment Board officials led by its president, Brig S.S. Sambyal, yesterday inspected the main bazaar area. The officials advised civilians to refrain from encroaching government land. Officials also called upon the civilians to avoid polythene bags.

Brig Sambayal had convened a meeting with civilians and representatives of the surrounding panchayats in which civilians were warned against encroachments.

Suspension of Negi revoked
Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 9
Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, state BJP chief, today revoked the suspension of Mr Jagat Singh Negi, prominent leader of Sirmour district, along with 12 other leaders.

He had been suspended for anti-party activities after he contested Assembly elections from the Shilai constituency as an Independent on denial of ticket.