Shimla, February 19
Following the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana, the Himachal Government today decided to switch over to licensing system from the existing tender-cum-open auction of liquor vends.

Under the new excise policy approved by the state Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, here today, the liquor vends would be allotted through a licensing system. Applications would be invited for each vend and allotment made through a draw of lots. The objective is to break the monopoly of liquor contractors and increase revenue.

The new policy is expected to increase the excise revenue through sale of liquor from the present Rs 300 crore to Rs 380 crore. The prices of liquor will come down significantly but still remain higher than Punjab as the rate of VAT in the state is 20 per cent as compared to 4 per cent in the neighbouring state.

At present the entire liquor trade is controlled by a handful of contractors who were charging exorbitant rates which varied from place to place. The new policy will bring in hundreds of players in the trade and ensure uniform prices throughout the state. It will be mandatory to display the price list and the maximum price will also be printed.

The prices of liquor will be worked out on the basis of the last year’s auction, but the government expects a hike in the revenue on the presumption that lower rates of liquor will lead to higher sales. Moreover, the number of vends could also increase.

Each applicant will have to remit Rs 5,000 along with the application and licence fee will range from Rs 25,000 to Rs 5 lakh, depending on the quota. Half of the fee will have to be deposited at the time of allotment. The quota of the IMFL (India-made foreign liquor) has been fixed at 60 lakh proof litres and that of the country liquor at 1.25 crore proof litres.

The import duty on beer has been reduced from Rs 3 to Rs 2 per bottle and on country liquor from Rs 7 to Rs 5 per proof litre.

The Cabinet approved the text of the Governor's Address to be delivered on the opening day of the Budget session commencing on February 22.

It approved allotment of two biswa of land in rural and one biswa in urban areas to the landless having an annual income of not more than Rs 10,000 and those belonging to the below poverty line families.

It gave its nod for amendment to the Town and Country Planning Act to help incorporate the provision for construction of barrier-free structures for the convenience of the physically challenged persons. It also gave government guarantee to the state electricity board for raising Rs 117 crore as loan for the construction of the Sawra Kuddu project.

The Council of Ministers approved creation of a new subdivision of the Irrigation and Public Health Department at Uhal in Hamirpur district for the execution of the Bamsan-Lagwalti drinking water scheme. The subdivision will be under the control of Hamirpur Division.

Nahan, February 19
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh announced the construction of new bridge over the Bata River between Kirat Pur and Toka Nagla areas to facilitate the people of more than 12 panchayats of the area here yesterday. He asked the PWD authorities to submit the estimate of the bridge for its formal approval immediately, so that work on the site was started as soon as possible.

The Chief Minister made this announcement while responding to the demands of Congress workers, who met him along with local leader Kirnesh Jang at the Paonta PWD rest house today. Accepting another demand of the workers, Mr Virbhadra Singh announced the upgrade of middle school at Palhauri village to high school. He said it would start functioning from the coming academic session.

He also announced that the PWD would soon take over the work of the road between Dhaulan Kuan and the Giri Nagar project.

The Chief Minister assured a delegation of the Paonta Chamber of Commerce, the Beopar Mandal and the Paonta Truck Operators Union that the Lal Dhang Paonta road would be recarpeted on priority. Earlier, the Chief Minister received a warm welcome from the residents of the Paonta area on the Yamuna bridge on his return from Dehra Dun after a electioneering tour.

Shimla, February 19
Decks have been cleared for the reappointment of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPSs) and Parliamentary Secretaries (PSs) with the withdrawal of all appeals filed in the Supreme Court challenging the order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court vide which the appointments were held void and quashed.

It was the last hurdle in the way 
of the appointment CPSs and 
PSs. The appointments were held void ab initio by the high court in August 2005 on the grounds that the Chief Minister had no power to make such appointments. Ever since the government had been looking for legal remedies so that the CPSs and PSs could be appointed afresh.

It enacted a law empowering the Chief Minister to appoint CPSs and PSs and taking care of other objections raised by the high court. The state Cabinet had only last week approved the creation eight posts of CPSs and four of PSs.

The only obstacle in the way of reappointment was that the matter was pending with the apex court, as Mr Mukesh Agnihotri, one of the affected CPSs, and the government had challenged the high court order.

The state could have 12 ministers, including the Chief Minister, but at present only 11 were in position. The vacancy caused due to the resignation of Ms Asha Kumari, had not been filled. The berth could be filled as and when the Chief Minister decides to appoint CPSs and PSs.

Shimla, February 19
The special police team investigating the HP-CPMT question paper leak case is likely to file a charge sheet against over 100 persons within the next three days before the expiry of the deadline on February 26.

The police team had sought time from the High Court after the six weeks’ additional time given to it earlier had expired on January 31. The police had sought more time in order to remove the procedural objections pointed out by the prosecution in the charge sheet that had been prepared by them against the accused.

The High Court had extended the deadline of the police team to February 26 when it has to file the charge sheet and submit its report. The High Court had given six weeks’ more time to the police team probing the case on December 19 on the condition that this was the last time they were being given an extension for completing the investigations.

Dharamsala, February 19
A German woman Staffeny Martina, who is in her late twenties and presently under judicial custody in the district jail here, is pregnant. This was revealed in her medical tests after she complained of vomiting.

She was arrested by the police on January 17 on charges of prolonged illegal stay after the expiry of her visa. Her visa expired in July last year. She was also reportedly under the influence of drugs at the time of her arrest.

Confirming her pregnancy, Mr O.P.Sharma, Superintendent of the district jail, said he had also informed about this to the office of the local District Magistrate and parents of the woman, who are in Germany.

The medical tests had detected a pregnancy of about eight weeks. "We have also got conducted tests like CT-Scan," he added.

The jail authorities had recommended psychological counselling for her. Since there was no psychologist presently on duty in the zonal hospital here, the jail authorities had sought a special permission from the court to take her to Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital at Shimla.

Mr Sharma said that special care was being taken of her in the cell.

He further disclosed that the parents of Staffeny Martina had faxed a letter to their daughter last week. The letter was handed over to her and the reply was also sent back to them.

Mr Sharma said that she was unmarried and had come to India on a study visa to do a degree in ayurveda somewhere in Gujarat. Meanwhile, District Magistrate of Kangra Bharat Khera said that he did not know whether any unmarried German girl lodged in the jail was pregnant.

Shimla, February 19
With the over 3 lakh simian population in the state becoming a major nuisance, the wildlife wing of the Forest Department has launched its monkey sterilisation project.

The two veterinary doctors with the wildlife wing performed operations on 10 male monkeys on February 17 as well as today.

The monkey catchers from Ballabhgarh and Ghaziabad had been summoned to catch the monkeys who have to be operated upon.

The old buildings housing the museum and the office of the wildlife staff at Tutikandi had been renovated to make a proper hospital for undertaking the task of sterilisation.

A sum of Rs 6 lakh had been spent on the construction of the operation theatre and operations were being performed with the latest machinery. The wildlife wing had received Rs 50 lakh from the state government for the project, on which a total of Rs 82 lakh would be spent.

The department had procured two laser sterilisation machines, costing Rs 6 lakh each, and a laparoscopy machine. Officials said the monkeys would have to be kept for five days at the hospital. In the first phase, the department had set a target of sterilising 5,000 monkeys.

Dharamsala, February 19
The 14-year-old girl, who had been forced into prostitution in Kangra district and was recently rescued from the clutches of two woman pimps, today identified three persons who had raped her.

The pimps and three rapists had been arrested in this regard and were in judicial custody at the district jail here.

The identification parade was held in the presence of a judicial magistrate and the jail superintendent at the jail.

The girl identified the trio, Nek Ram, Hoshiyar Singh and Happy, though one of the accused had shaved his moustache.

The police was still on the look-out for six more persons who had allegedly raped her.

After the identification parade, the criminal cases lodged against the two pimps and those who had raped her had become stronger, said the police. The police had received a list of telephone calls of the mobile in her possession and was hopeful of arresting the other accused soon.

Nurpur, February 19
A large number of people who were allotted land on lease in the shamlat areas of the gram panchayats in the state by the then government in 1970-1971 have been running from pillar to post to get ownership rights.

These landless people had worked hard and developed the shamlat areas into cultivable land. Before leasing out the land the departments of forest and revenue had given no-objection certificate to the government for allotting the land. Due to the anomaly on the part of the revenue department the allottees have till date not got ownership rights of the land allotted to them more than three decades ago.

The lands were allotted to the beneficiaries when the shamlat land in rural areas was owned by the gram panchayats. But in 1975-1976 the land was taken over by the state government throughout the state. The successive as well as present governments had failed give ownership rights to the beneficiaries thus causing a lot of resentment among them.

Revenue and Panchayati Raj Minister Sat Mahajan said he directed the Financial Commissioner, Revenue Department, to formulate a draft proposal to grant ownership rights to the allottees. It would be presented in the meeting of the state Cabinet.