Kangra, July 20
The All-India Lok Jan Shakti Party (AILJSP) has started spade work in the state to initiate a move to form a viable alternative to the Congress and the BJP in Himachal Pradesh as these had failed to deliver the goods on the development and economic fronts.

Mr Ramel Singh Badyal, national general secretary of the All-India Lok Jan Shakti Party, in a statement here yesterday stressed upon the need to create a ‘third front’ in the state to provide a better alternative to people who are fed up with policies of the successive Congress and the BJP governments in the state.

He alleged that Congress led government of Mr Virbhadra Singh had not fulfilled even a single poll promise extended to the people of the state and had forgotten the main poll promise of eradicating corruption nourished by the BJP government.

Mr Badyal asked Mr Virbhadra Singh to disclose the number of people arrested on corruption charges during his tenure and how many had been sentenced . He alleged that the state government was not transparent on the issue of appointments.

He said law and order machinery in the state had crumbled and illegal liquor trade was flourishing at the village-level and liquor mafia was working hand in glove with the police. He said under these circumstances the people of the state were looking for a viable alternative to provide succor to the suffering people.

Shimla, July 20
The activists of the Students Federation of India today staged a statewide protest against the commercialisation and privatisation of education under Congress rule.

The protesters burnt the effigies of Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, who, they alleged, was responsible for disastrous policies.

The federation alleged that the police resorted to a lathi charge on the Himachal Pradesh University campus and tried to snatch the effigy.

A spokesperson of the federation said that with this the first phase of its agitation was completed. The action programme for the second phase would be decided during its conference to be held at Mandi on July 23.

Chamba, July 20
In a murderous attack some unidentified persons assaulted Mr Ashish Chadha, a son of Mrs Ranu Chadha, who is the district president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the dense deodar forest, near Lakkarmandi, when he was on his way from Chamba to Dalhousie via Khajjiar last evening.

In this connection, an FIR has been lodged with the Chamba police.

Mr Ashish Chadha alleged that these persons, numbering about seven, attacked him with lathis and damaged his car which he was driving. As a result, he sustained some injuries and got first-aid in the hospital. “After I received injuries, my car was driven back to Chamba by one of my friends for lodging an FIR with the police”, Mr Chadha said and added that he failed to understand what was their motive behind the attack.

Mr Chadha, who is an hotelier and resident of Dalhousie, had come to Chamba along with his friends for some private work.

Shimla, July 20
The state unit of the BJP has alleged that the murderous attack on Mr Ashish Chaddha , a party leader and councillor of the Dalhousie Municipal Council, was the result of a deep-rooted conspiracy. The BJP state unit has demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident.

Addressing a press conference, here today, Dr Rajiv Bindal, spokesperson of the party, said the assault was a very serious issue as Mr Chaddha had filed a petition in the Supreme Court and had got a stay on orders of the High Court quashing charges in a land scam case against senior Congress leader and former minister Asha Kumari.

He said Mr Chaddha had been assaulted with rods and sticks during night on the narrow Dalhousie-Khajiar road and his vehicle could have rolled into a khud. He said keeping in view the fact that he was locked in a legal battle with a powerful Congress leader it was essential to identify the culprits and find the facts. Only a judicial probe could help unmask those behind attack he added.

Mr J.P.Nadda , a former minister , also condemned the attack and said those involved in corruption cases could go to any extent. He said if the government failed to bring the guilty to book then the BJP would launch a state-wide stir.

He said the incident was a reflection on the state of law and order in Congress regime.

Shimla, July 20
Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, has asserted that there would be no let-up in the drive against encroachments on forest land and asked the encroachers to surrender the land voluntarily.

Presiding over the 56th Vana Mahotsava at Arhal in Rohru yesterday, he said the encroachers were being removed from the encroached land across the state and the people must cooperate with the government in making the campaign a success. He said about 60 per cent land of the total geographical area of the state was classified as forest land but only about 35 per cent was under forest cover. Increasing the green cover by bringing the maximum area under forest was need of the hour.

Mr Virbhadra Singh gave a clarion call to the students to plant one sapling each near the school and supplement the government’s efforts to increase the green cover. He said that the Forest and Education Departments should coordinate with the Revenue Department to get land for plantation.

The Chief Minister said that state had the forest wealth valued at crores of rupees and it was the duty of every citizen to help conserve and preserve it.

Earlier, Mr Virbhadra Singh, launched the afforestation drive by planting a sapling of cedar.

Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Forest Minister, stressed upon the need for close coordination between to Forest Department and the public to make the plantation drive a success.

Kulu, July 20
The district administration has ordered issuing of identity cards to all the labourers engaged in this district for any kind of work. This action has been taken on the directions of the government after the information supplied by the Intelligence Bureau that 55 Pakistan nationals had reached India to witness the Indo-Pak cricket match at Mohali and were reported missing and they might have taken shelter in Kulu, Shimla and Kinnaur districts of Himachal Pradesh.

Mr Chamel Singh, Deputy Commissioner has ordered that the registration of labourers would be mandatory for the employers and the labourers themselves. The registration could be done at all the police stations and police posts in the district.

Mr A. P. Singh, Superintendent of Police, here said the practice of registration of Kashmiris, Nepalese and Tibetans was already there, but now the labourers from outside Himachal would also be registered. They would be issued identity cards after verification of their permanent addresses.

It may be recalled that Kulu-Manali had hundreds of migrants from Kashmir, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and adjoining states. These people have been engaged either in shawl, carpet, blankets business or engaged at ongoing power projects.

Dalhousie, July 20
The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) is all set to execute six hydroelectric projects with a total installed capacity of 2481 MW in different states, a spokesman of the corporation said here today.

The spokesman said the projects included the 520-MW Parbati stage-III project, the 231-MW Chamera stage-III project, the 330-MW Kishanganga project, the 240-MW Uri stage-II project in Jammu and Kashmir, the 160-MW Teesta Low Dam stage-IV project in West Bengal and the 1000-MW Siyom project in Arunachal Pradesh. The Union Ministry of Power had also accorded its approval for the “mega power project status” to the 2000 MW Subansiri Lower Project in Arunachal Pradesh and the 520-MW Parbati stage-II in Himachal.

During the last fiscal year, the NHPC had registered a net profit of Rs 684.58 crore as against Rs 621.38 crore during the previous year. The turnover had jumped to Rs 1,668.27 crore during the last financial year as compared to Rs 1,414.43 crore during the previous year.

The corporation had achieved the highest-ever generation of 11,286.43 million units as against the target of 10,800 million units.

Mandi, July 20
Over 15 houses built under the Indira Awas Yojna (IAY) in ward no 2 of the Mandi Municipal Council (MMC) have come up in the flood-prone zone along the Beas risking the life of its occupants.

Though the water level of the Beas has receded this time, but the residents of the IAY-houses have raised their security concern as the government has allotted them these house without sparing a thought on the danger from the surging Beas.

During the monsoon the Beas level rises abruptly when the BBMB opens its all the five flood gates at Pandoh Dam.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Subhasish Panda, said the houses could not be built under the IAY in the urban area. We would check how the houses were built, he added.

The councillor of the ward no 2, Mr Virender Sharma, said he had taken up the matter with the administration. “The water has entered the houses last week, endangering their life”, he said.

The beneficiaries of the IAY revealed that they had no idea that the houses were unsafe. “We face danger from both the Beas whenever it rises during rains, and from landslide,” they rued.

Sources in the MMC revealed that the houses were built under the IAY after the beneficiaries got Rs 25,000 under the scheme.

The president, MMC, Ms Sushila Sonkhla, said she was not aware of the problem as she was out of station. “But we will look into the complaints of the residents”, she added.

Shimla, July 20
The HP High Court yesterday set aside the order passed by the HP State Women’s Commission which directed petitioner Jagat Ram to pay Rs 1 lakh as maintenance allowance to his wife in a matrimonial dispute.

The petitioner has challenged this order before the high court on the ground that the commission had no jurisdiction to pass such an order.

While setting aside the order passed by the commission, a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice Arun Kumar Goel and Mr Justice K.C. Sood observed that the commission had no jurisdiction to pass the order. Writing for the bench, Mr Justice Goel further observed that the Act, nowhere authorises it to pass such orders.

The husband and wife reached on amicable settlement with the former agreeing to pay Rs 40,000 to the latter as “istridhan” and the court disposed of the petition.

Shimla, July 20
The government has refuted the allegation of Mr P.K. Dhumal, a former Chief Minister, accusing it of adopting different standards for fruit growers of upper and lower hills.

The Director of Horticulture in a press note here yesterday, pointed out that the government had been implementing market intervention scheme for mango and citrus fruits for the lower areas, too, and it was not correct to say that it was adopting double standards to create regionalism in the state.

Horticulture was the top priority and earnest efforts for its development were being made in all the areas of the state. The government had released a sum of Rs 818.96 lakh against a liability of Rs 1513.21 lakh for payment to the apple growers through HPMC and HIMFED procurement agencies for the procurement of apples under the market intervention scheme 2004. It also cleared the pending liability of the previous government amounting to Rs 1496.65 lakh on this account for the year 2001 to 2003.

Shimla, July 20
The Himachal Pradesh Government has issued guidelines for (SCP) special component plan for the financial year 2005-06 for the speedy economic and social development of the Scheduled Castes in the state.

As per the guidelines, the state Planning Department will earmark 11 per cent outlay of the total state plan for the special component plan to the department of Social Justice and Empowerment. Of the total resources available under the SCP, 60 per cent will be allocated in proportion to the inter-district distribution of the population of scheduled castes, 10 per cent in proportion to the number of villages with more than 50 per cent concentration of SC population and 30 per cent in proportion to the actual number of Scheduled Castes families in individual district.

The total used for determining the proportions for all the three indicators will comprise all areas of Himachal Pradesh, except the tribal districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti and subdivisions of Pangi and Bharmour in Chamba district.

All districts will prepare their plan in consultation with the district level officers under overall supervision and guidance of the Deputy Commissioner. The plan so prepared shall be approved by the Districts Level Formulation and Review Committee (proposed to be constituted) before sending the same to the department of social justice and empowerment.

After compilation of the districts level plans, the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment will prepare the draft annual special component plan in consultation with the departments concerned. While making sectoral allocations local needs, current and prospective, will be kept in view.

The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment will submit the final proposals under SCP to the state Finance Department. After the approval of the plan, the department will convey the approved scheme-wise plan figures to the department concerned for implementation.

Districts level formulation and review committee will monitor the progress of SCP after every quarter at the districts level, whereas at the State-Level, the secretary concerned will review the progress with the different department after every quarter.

Shimla, July 20
The Himachal Pradesh High Court today granted bail to the prime accused in the porn CD case.

While accepting the bail plea of Mr Vijay Sood, the court observed that the investigation in the case was almost complete and the challan would be filed soon. So it was a fit case to grant bail to the accused.

It is recalled that the accused was arrested on May 12, 2005, on the statement of two women, featuring in the CD, who alleged that they were raped by the accused.

Shimla, July 20
The Practising Architects Association of Himachal Pradesh has expressed concern over the alterations carried out in the Central Telegraph Office (CTO) building, a historical landmark of the city and a heritage building, in violation of the norms prescribed for heritage zones.

The association pointed out that the telecom authorities have ignored the rules for heritage structures as per which no alteration or addition could be carried out to the main façade of the building without specific permission of the heritage advisory committee set up by the state government. However, three temporary tin roofs had been installed as a protection for the air conditioners and the windows had also been changed from wood to aluminium.

It said the manner in which the alteration had been carried out in violation of the rules reflected the insensitivity of the telecom authorities towards the heritage of the city.

A spokesperson for the Town and Country Planning Department said the site would be inspected and if any violation of the rules was detected appropriate action would be initiated in the matter.

Parwanoo, July 20
A manager and a worker of a local factory were crushed to death by a speeding truck near the barrier here this evening.

While Raj Kishore, a manager with Kamla Enterprises, Sector 1, died on the spot, Vijay Kumar, a worker, was declared brought dead at the ESI hospital.

Vijay, who hailed from UP, was presently staying at Kalka. Both were going back to their homes on scooter (UP-53D-7077) when a speeding truck (CHW 7425) coming on their back run them over around 6.30 pm. The trucks driver fled from the spot and could not be arrested till the filing of the report.