Shimla, January 3
The Himachal government has proposed the 11th five-year plan for Rs 14,000 crore and annual plan for Rs. 2100 crore for 2007.

Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh revealed on the inaugural session of the planning meeting convened to discuss with MPs and MLAs of Solan, Shimla, Mandi, Chamba, Bilaspur and Sirmaur their priorities, here today. The 11th five-year plan begins in 2007 and concludes in 2012.

The Chief Minister said the state was making balanced and uniform development and record funds were being procured from different sources for development to complete the projects in a time-bound manner.

Mr Virbhadra Singh said during the current year annual plan meeting had decided all-priority schemes of the MLAs for the past three years would be posed for NABARD funding. He said up to December, 2006 the government had posed to NABARD 1,250 project reports totalling Rs. 1136 crore for funding under the RIDF programme. He said 716 projects worth Rs. 506 crore had been sanctioned and efforts were afoot to get remaining projects also sanctioned under NABARD 
programmes.

The government had decided to continue with the past practice to include three ongoing and three new schemes each in roads, minor irrigation and water supply schemes as prioritised by the MLAs. He appealed to the members to focus on the completion of schemes under execution rather than on new schemes alone. There is no shortage of funds for development which needed to be procured and utilised first for the completion of ongoing schemes to benefit people of the respective area, he emphasized.

Mr Virbhadra Singh said the objective of the 11th plan would also include increasing farm income, accelerating hydro-power development, provision of essential public services, especially for the poor and disadvantaged sections of society, developing vital infrastructure, nurturing human capital, protecting environment and improving governance. He urged members to make use of the Planning department's website to update themselves.

The Chief Minister said the government had put a check on ‘unproductive’ expenditure and financial discipline was being observed in the utilization of public money. He said no wasteful expenditure was being permitted.

Kumarhatti, January 3
The state government relaxed the ban on sale of land in Baddi area today. To check haphazard growth of industries the government had imposed a ban in the Baddi belt. Confirming the development a top-ranking official at Shimla said private landowners could now sell their land for commercial of other purposes.

Moreover, the land could be given through government agencies like HIMUDA, HPSIDC and the Department for Industries, the official said. Permission under Section 118 of the HP Land and Reforms Act had also been relaxed.

It may be mentioned here that the government move to impose the ban had sparked widespread criticism. A writ was also filed by Baddi residents in the HP High Court against the government decision.

The ban was imposed to enable the newly formed Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh Development Authority to prepare a master plan for the Baddi belt.

Mandi, January 3
“Double murder” case at Karari-Paplog village in Sarkaghat today took a new turn as parents of the victims and the accused defended their offsprings Mr Jiwa Nand Sharma, father of one of the victim Kamal Kishore alleged a conspiracy behind the killing of his son and Anjana was killed when she came to defend him.

In fact, his mobile phone (9418136075) responded “switched off”. It has not been recovered by the police till today. Who has destroyed his phone?”, he questioned.

On the other hand, Mr Rajbir Singh Patial, father of accused Avinash, who had allegedly killed his sister Ms Anjana and her alleged paramour Kishore on January 1, reached from Pangi, where he is posted told The Tribune he had lost his daughter, who is no more and his only son, who now is in jail.

Mr Patial said his son did it in an instant reaction, killing both of them when he found them in a room in the house and there was no other motive behind. “After killing the victims, he locked the room from outside before surrendering to the police”, he claimed.

But both parents, Mr Sharma and Mr Patial, agreed diseased Kishore and accused Avinash were good friends and played cricket that day and had tea at Kishore’s house.

Demanding a high-level inquiry into the case, Mr Jiwa Nand said his son had called his friend around 11.30 pm on New year eve, but when his mother called him around mid-night when he did not come home, his mobile went “switched off” till today. “How a 20-year-old boy can kill two persons and no body in the house heard the screams?”, he questioned.

Mr Jiwa Nand cited medical reports of the victims, which showed no sexual intercourse as the proof of his son’s innocence. “The police has shown me the reports which showed no evidence of physical relation”, he claimed.

DSP in charge of Sarkaghat Sanjay Gandhi, who visited the spot said the “spot examination and interrogation of the accused suggested so far that crime was committed in the locked room. “The accused hit on the head and neck of the victims and the blows were too fatal for screams. The sound if any could not be heard from the room to an outsider or his mother sleeping on the first floor”, he explained.

He added the police was looking into the allegations of boy’s father also and were trying to recover the phone of Kishore. “The accused is in police remand for five days”.

Shimla, January 3
Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) here, may have shortly the facility of corneal transplant, giving vision to many visually handicapped persons as the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is keen on setting up an eye bank in the state.

Last week Joint Secretary in the union ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Vineet Chaudhary asked the IGMC authorities to propose creation of the facility in the state medical college. The Rs 1 crore cost for setting up of the eye bank would be borne by the Centre. Medical Superintendent, IGMC, Dr Hardyal said a proposal would be prepared by Ophthalmology department at the IGMC for the setting up of the eye bank. Setting up and functioning of the eye bank has to be in accordance with guidelines laid down by autonomous body, the Eye Bank Association of India in 2001.

In the absence of an eye bank here, there is no scope for pledging and donating eyes despite many queries by people in this regard. Sources in the Health Department said there was a proposal to set up an eye bank at IGMC almost a decade back but even then the authorities concerned had rejected the proposal stating it was not required.

Head of the Ophthalmology Department at IGMC, Dr K.P. Chaudhary said the decision to set up an eye bank has to be taken at the highest level. “Seeing very limited demand for corneal transplant in the state, it would not be a very cost effective proposition seeing investment and recurring cost of running an eye bank,” he added. As per guidelines laid down by the Eye Bank Association of India, there can be three kinds of set up — eye bank, eye collection centre and an eye donation centre. Only the Eye Bank Society at the PGI Chandigarh has been doing a good job. However, with not many eye donations taking place there is a long waiting period for those seeking corneal transplant.

One problem being faced is a large number of people are pledging eyes but all of these are not being converted into actual donation. One major reason for this is after the death of a person either the family members are not aware of the fact that eyes have been pledged and in some cases they are reluctant to donate these.

Shimla, January 3
The employers in Himachal Pradesh will no longer have to wait for weeks together for getting names of eligible candidates sponsored by the employment cell of the Department of Labour and Employment. They can select candidates with requisite qualification and experience at the click of the mouse from anywhere in the country.

Thanks to the unique initiative of the department to provide a platform to the employers and job seekers through the web portal (http://himachal.gov.in/jobportal), formally launched by Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, on Monday evening. The job-seekers, too, will get information from the Internet about vacancies available in various companies and organisations in Himachal Pradesh.

The process of compulsory notification under the Employment Exchange (CNV) Act has, thus, been web-enabled. The Chief Minister announced that in addition to 20 persons to be sponsored by the employment cell on the basis of seniority, subject to eligibility, 10 more candidates could be picked up by the employer after going through the database.

Letters to candidates and intimation thereof to the employer will be generated electronically, once the employer feeds in the criteria. The entire database of all semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled job-seekers throughout the state will be made available on this portal, irrespective of the preference exercised by a candidate. This will give a much wider selection field to all employers.

In addition, unemployed youth will be provided a web interface to register themselves for being picked up by the employers directly for a selection process. Candidates can also apply directly after seeing availability of vacancies on the portal.

The employers need to go through a simple registration process and their user name will be activated after verification regarding existence of a unit. The portal will provide a transparent and efficient interface for the three stake-holders — the department, the employers and the jobseekers.

The software for the portal has been developed by the state unit of National Information Centre. Hardware and data entry is by the State Department of Information of Information Technology.

Parwanoo, January 3
The issue of leasing out of 7,300 square metres of land to the local Municipal Council by Himuda has taken a new turn after the latter decided to lease out the half portion of the land to Government Senior Secondary School to construct its building.

The ground, which was currently being used by the MC, has become a bone of contention between the council and Himuda. The MC was making strong efforts to get the land transferred to it permanently. Unmoved, Himuda had refused to accept it’s plea, as norms were a major hurdle in accepting the MC demand.

As per Himuda, the land in town could not be transferred but could be leased out further. The ground land was leased out again to the MC recently after the completion of the earlier lease period. However, the decision to give the half portion of the ground to the school had badly affected the MC plan. Himuda took this decision in its recent meeting in Shimla.

Confirming the development, Mr Sushil Kumar Mittal, Executive Officer of the MC, said Himuda move was bound to affect the MC plan. To raise internal revenue, the MC had planned to construct parking places, commercial complexes and shopping complexes on the ground land, pointed Mr Mittal. These all were planned under the Central Government funded Rs 2 crore Industrial Development of Small and Medium Town project, he maintained.

Moreover, Parwanoo town had only one ground that could be used for multi-purpose functions, he asserted. The school was currently running along the Kalka-Shimla National Highway. Interestingly, the shifting of the school from its present site was also a long pending demand of local residents.

Palampur, January 3
The government will spend over 70 crore on the construction of new Bikram Batra Degree College complex, new OPD block of local civil hospital, mini secretariat and upgrade of six water supply. schemes in the Palampur constituency in six months. Mr Brij Behari Lal Butail, political Adviser to the Chief Minister stated this on Tuesday. Also a garbage disposal plant will be set up in the town. Land for it had been selected and case sent to the government for approval. Thirty per cent of the cost of the plant will be borne by the Municipal Council. — OC

Manali, January 3
The five-day state level winter carnival -2007 started with fanfare at Nehru Park known as Ram Bagh in the heart of the town here today. Mr Raj Krishan Gaur, Agriculture Minister, inaugurated the carnival.

Local folk artistes in their traditional costumes drawn from different part of the country assembled at the compound of the Goddess Hadimba at Dhungri temple near here to pay obeisance to the Goddess. A special pooja was performed at Dhungri temple.

The artistes took out a colourful cultural procession from the Dhungri temple to Ram Bagh. The procession consisted of fascinating “jhankis” displaying the folk culture, folk art, old tradition and the way of life of the local residents of the Kulu valley and other parts of the country. Mahila mandals of the surrounding areas of Manali performed an active role in the cultural procession.

Later, Mr Raj Krishan Gour, Agriculture Minister, inaugurated 330 m bypass near Ibex Hotel junction to Manali Bridge. The bypass will help de-congest the bazaar.

While addressing a gathering at Ram Bagh, the minister disclosed that the road starting from Ram Bagh crossing was declared a no traffic zone. He added that all the traffic to Rohtang Pass and Left Bank would pass through the bypass.

Hamirpur, January 3
The incident of a leopard being caught in a trap laid in Mattan Sidh area by locals on Monday night has prompted the Wildlife Department to expedite the study on growing incidents of man-leopard conflicts in Hamirpur.

Mr Sanjay Sood, DFO, said as per a census conducted two years ago, the population of leopards was 30 in Hamirpur district, which has 22 per cent of the total area under forest cover.

With the increase in incidents of man-leopard conflicts in the district, the Wildlife Institute of India has begun a study to find ways to avoid such conflicts. The Wildlife Department has already put up over a dozen of its own traps outside villages where there is a threat perception. The locals are also being made aware of precautions like not allowing their children venture out at night.

"The trap had been laid by some miscreants, apparently to catch a wild boar or porcupine. However, the two-year-old male leopard landed in it and its rear legs got struck. A crowd of nearly a thousand villagers converged on the spot and threw stones and poked wires inside the trap. When the Wildlife Department team reached there, it tranquilised, operated upon the leopard and today sent it to the Animal Re-habilitation Centre in Palampur," he said.

Even though there are complaints of leopard menace from different areas, especially the Sujanpur, Toni Devi and Bhareri wildlife blocks, the Wildlife authorities deny that there is any threat to the locals living close to the forest areas. Instances of leopard attacking pet dogs and cattle are common in these blocks.

Shimla, January 3
The Wildlife Department has decided to sterilise lions and bears at the Renuka Safari and leopards at the Tuti Kandi animal rescue home to resolve problem of inbreeding.

At present male and female animals have been kept in segregation, in violation of the guidelines of the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), to ensure there was no inbreeding. As per CZA norms animals in captivity have to be kept in pairs as isolation causes emotional stress, leading to behavioural changes and other complications.

The decision to segregate the animals was taken after a number of lions died mysteriously in the Renuka Lion Safari. Investigations by experts had revealed that high mortality was due to inbreeding. Tuti Kandi rescue home has been facing problem of unwanted breeding. Last year four cubs were born raising total number to 18 in the home which can accommodate only 12 animals. Moreover, breeding in captivity has to be in accordance with the norms and only for the purpose of conservation of endangered species.

In all four lions, two bears and as many leopards will be sterilised in next two months. Once sterilised the animals could be kept in pairs in accordance with the guidelines of the CZA. The department will also maintain the studbook to keep record of parentage to ensure there was no inbreeding.

Only 13 lions have been left in the Renuka Safari and the youngest animal is five years old. Lions have life span of 14 to 20 years and most of the old lions will die in the next five to seven years.