Dharamsala, May 28
Coming out of hibernation, former tourism minister and Congress MLA from Shahpur Vijay Singh Mankotia today fired a salvo at Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh by releasing an audio CD with telephonic conversations regarding monetary transactions allegedly with voices of the CM, his wife Pratibha Singh, a former Shimla DM considered close to the CM and some other people close to the royal family.

The conversations in the audio CD give clear indications of monetary transactions and accepting bribes for issuing no-objection certificates to many industrial barons for setting up projects in the hill state.

The names of many industrial houses related to the power, liquor, industry, hotel, cement and steel sectors have also come up in the recorded telephonic conversations conveying that they had allegedly paid money to get no-objection certificates for setting up projects.

Talking to the mediapersons, Major Mankotia said nothing could deter him from fighting the nexus of corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and power brokers in Himachal Pradesh.

He said Virbhadra Singh was playing a politics of terror to suppress his critics but time had changed and his terror would in no longer prevail upon politics of the hill state. Saying that time had come to show the door to corrupt politicians, he asked the Congress high command to immediately expel the Chief Minister and bring in new leadership to regain the lost glory of the party in the state.

He said if party president Sonia Gandhi could take stern action against senior leaders like Sukh Ram and Natwar Singh why action could not be taken against Virbhadra Singh, who was allegedly minting money from project clearances.

He urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to order an inquiry into the audio tape by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

When asked why he had chosen this time to release the audio CD when electioneering for the Hamirpur Lok Sabha byelection was in full swing, Major Mankotia said that he received this audio CD only a couple of days back. Moreover, exposing corruption did not require any particular time, he added.

He also levelled charges of corruption against certain ministers of the Virbhadra Cabinet and a few senior bureaucrats, claiming that they were also collecting money for the Chief Minister from the industrial barons seeking NoCs for setting up industries. 

New Delhi, May 28
Himachal Pradesh today requested the Centre to allocate its power share of 632.4 MW directly to Delhi, Haryana, Punjab during April to October to meet the acute power shortage in these states during the summer.

Speaking at the Chief Ministers' conference on the power sector here Himachal power minister Vidya Stokes said the state government had 12 per cent free power totalling 632.4 MW from the NHPC and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited power plants set up in the state.

The minister said the government had already requested the Centre to allocate surplus power to the needy states during the summer. The Ministry of Power had intimated that it was for the home state to decide whether it would utilise this power itself or sell it to other states on mutually agreed terms which has resulted in double transactions of the power - the first transaction is from the generation station to the state electricity board and the second is open access from the state electricity board to the buying state, which increased the landed cost of power.

She requested the Centre to avoid double transaction for the same power and sought allocating the state's share directly to the needy states like Delhi during the summer.

She requested the Centre to sanction all schemes amounting to Rs 457.80 crore for all 12 districts under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojna submitted by the state government. She said the Centre had sanctioned a Rs 25.02-crore scheme for Chamba district for which the first instalment of Rs 7.33 crore was released during March.

The minister said the Centre had sanctioned Rs 322.78 crore for strengthening and upgrading the transmission and distribution system under the APDRP schemes.

She said 80 per cent of the physical scope of work had been achieved within the sanctioned scheme costs. She said revised schemes for seven circles costing Rs 73.6 crore under the APDRP scheme had been approved by the Centre and sought the release of additional Rs 73.6 crore immediately so as to implement all such schemes in a time- bound manner.

Stokes said all district and session courts had been designated as special courts for speedy trial of power theft cases. 

Mandi, May 28
In its bid to protect forests from timber mafia, the Forests Department has finally got down to brass-tacks. The department today directed the divisional forest officers (DFOs) and conservators of forests to undertake visits to forests every month to check illicit felling and other such activities in their respective jurisdictions.

The directions followed after principal chief conservator of forests Pankaj Khullar convened a meeting of forest officers in Shimla recently following a series of reports on illegal felling.

Pankaj Khullar said: “It will be mandatory for the DFOs to inspect forests for a minimum of 6-8 days and for conservators to visit the forests for five days every month and send the compliance report to the department every month. We will fix accountability of officers in each division in case illegal felling is detected.”

He said the inspection of forests was mandatory for DFOs and conservators. Such provisions were already there in the state forest policy, he added. “The fresh directions aim at ensuring protection and better management of forests in the state,” he added.

Shimla, May 28
The BJP today complained to the Election Commission (EC) of India to take note of the violation of the model code of conduct by the Congress which was using employees' leaders to influence the government servants.

In a representation sent to chief election commissioner N. Gopalaswamy, secretary of the state BJP H.N. Kashyap requested that the intervention of the commission was must to ensure free and fair elections. "There are over three lakh employees in the state and as such the role of the employees' organisations is important and crucial in any election," he said.

The BJP has pointed out that employees' leaders like Lakshmi Singh Machaan is asking employees to vote in favour of the Congress. "A few days back he made an appeal to the employees of Bilaspur, Una and Hamirpur to vote in favour of the Congress," he said.

He said that the Congress leaders had made several announcements to woo the youth and the employees, which was a clear case of violation of the model code of conduct.

The BJP has pointed out that ruling Congress leaders, including the Chief Minister, ministers and legislators, were misusing their official vehicles and staff to influence the voters.

The BJP urged the Election Commission to ensure that there was no violation of the code of conduct.

Shimla, May 28
It has certainly been an unusually cold May in the ‘Queen of Hills’, but the good news is that the per-monsoon showers that the state has been getting this time have been normal.

With light to moderate rainfall during the last three days, it has been quite cold in the month of May, with the temperature being almost five degrees below normal. Being caught unawares, it is the tourists who have been forced to make woolen purchases as they thought May would be quite pleasant in Shimla.

During the pre-monsoon season beginning from March 1 and continuing till May 28, Shimla has received 218.6 mm of rain. Though the normal rain during this period is about 240 mm but 218mm is also considered normal. As such it is even considered good for the crops and fruits.

It was on May 2, earlier this month that the mercury dipped to 17.6° C. This is probably one of the lowest maximum temperatures for the month of May, when it is the peak summer time in the capital.

The coldest May so far in the last two decades has been in 1997, when on one occasion the maximum temperature touched 15.8 ° C.

It is mainly because of the light showers that the temperature has been low. The maximum temperature today was 22.2° C, which is almost five degrees below normal. Today’s minimum temperature was 9.8° C while for May the normal minimum temperature is 16° C.

“It is mainly because of the light and moderate spell of rain caused by the western disturbances that the temperature is about six days below normal,” informed Manmhoan Singh, incharge of the local meteorological office.

The weather forecast for the next 24 hours is rain and thunderstorm with hailstorm in isolated places.

Chamba, May 28
A number of local residents have been duped of around Rs 70 lakh by a fake company.

The fraud came to light when people found the shutters of the company office locked this morning. The manager and employees of the company had allegedly fled during the night.

The company had been collecting advance from customers for delivery of articles of their choice. While receiving the advance payment, the customers were assured that the booked items would be made available in 15 days and the receipts were issued to them accordingly.

The company had put on display samples of various consumer goods to help customers make a choice. The company had started booking orders for even cars and motorcycles.

Initially, the company even delivered the booked item as per promises made to the customers. However, today when customers came to the showroom for collecting the goods booked by them, they found the shutters of the company’s showroom locked.

The company had reportedly started functioning in Chamba around one month and a half ago. It had taken on rent a big building for its showroom. It had even obtained a VAT number from the taxation department and fulfilled other business formalities.

The police, which was already doubtful about the functioning of company, had taken photographs of the company staff. A manhunt has been launched to arrest the accused.

Hamirpur, May 28
While main contestants Prem Kumar Dhumal and Ram Lal Thakur are busy wooing voters for the Hamirpur by election, women voters, which are in majority in the parliamentary constituency, are keeping the contestants guessing by holding the key of victory in their hands.

The number of women voters is higher than their counterparts in the constituency. The number of male voters is 5, 70,955, the women voters have strength of 5,81,322 out of the total 11,52,277 electors.

Overall, the women voters are not only in majority in the constituency but their number is also high in 9 segments out of the total 17 Assembly segments.

The number of women voters is higher in all five Assembly constituencies of the district i.e., Hamirpur, Nadaun, Bamsan, Mewa and Nadaunta; out of the total 3, 44,645 voters, the number of men is 1, 66,349 and that of women is 1,78,296. The number of women voters is also higher in Ghumarwin Assembly segement under Bilaspur district where their number is 36,647 against the 35,872 men voters.

Similarly, the number of female voters in Gagret Assembly constituency of Una district is higher being 32,062 while men voters are 31,082.

In three Assembly segments, which falls under Kangra district, the women voters exceed the men. In Jaswan Assembly constituency the women voters are 28,236 against 27,351 men voters, in Pragpur, while the number of men voters is 30,660 the number of women voters is 31,364 and in Jawalamukhi the number of women voters is 32,854 and that of men voters is 31,907.

So far, no party or candidate has made any special appeal or has launched a special drive to win women voters for the crucial Hamirpur byelection.

Cong: BJP misleading voters
Tribune News Service

Hamirpur, May 28
Food and civil supplies minister Singhi Ram has accused BJP leaders for allegedly misleading the voters about the price rise.

Addressing a press conference here he said, “It was amendment in the Price Control Act by the previous NDA government which brought wheat, rice and pulses out of the control Act and also pulled out pulses from the schedule items, which has led to rise in prices of these food items.”

He said “With the efforts of the UPA and the state government, prices have now been brought under control, and for this, the government has banned forward trading. The state government is giving a subsidy of 100 crore to provide cheap ration.” 

Nurpur, May 28
After a long wait the state Education Department has issued orders to start science (medical and non-medical) and commerce streams in the local BTC Government Girls' Senior Secondary School, but even after nineteen months, the state government has failed to provide basic infrastructure to the school.

The orders issued by the director, higher education, would fulfil the longstanding demand of the residents for all streams in the girls school which was upgraded by the state government on September 29, 2005.

It is pertinent to mention that Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had sanctioned a separate government girls school following the demand made by local municipal council president R.K. Mahajan on September 9, 2005, and inaugurated the same after twenty days.

Only the arts stream was launched that time. But so far, no expansion of the building for providing classrooms to +1 and +2 classes has been done.

Intriguingly, the orders for starting additional streams were issued but no infrastructure or lecturers have been provided in the institution to run the science and commerce classes. The present building is too small to accommodate the existing classes. Where the new classes will run is a matter of concern for the school administration.

According to information, 214 students of +1 and +2, have been enrolled in the school.

Deputy director, Education Department, Sarv Chand Dhiman, when contacted said the selection of lecturers was possible only after June 8, following the expiry of the model code of conduct, enforced in Kangra in wake of the Hamirpur byelection.

Meanwhile, the proposal of constructing an additional building with an estimate of Rs 1.50 crore is being submitted to the government.

Kangra, May 28
Farmers of 15 villages of the district had been moving from pillar to post for the past more than seven years for getting irrigation facilities for 1,220 hectares of land, but neither the present government nor the previous BJP government did anything to redress their problem.

Satish Kumar Sharma, a resident of the Ladoh village, said the land in Parnoh, Ladoh, lower Ladoh, Panchrukhi, Saliana, Banorie, Tatial, Mewa Brigade and other villages had practically gone barren because of government apathy.

He said farmers in these villages depended on rain for irrigation and had to face hardship when there was no rain. On the other hand, water flowing in rivers and the nullahs went waste as there had been no effort by the government to create a water-storage facility in the area.

Farmers said the "kuhal" in the area was in dilapidated condition. Had it been repaired, it would have been of immense help to them. The farmers said a number of ministers had been approached by them for ensuring irrigation facilities, but to no avail.

Satish Sharma said when Virbhadra Singh took over as the CM, their hopes were renewed, but nothing had happened so far although the term of the government was about to end now.

He said the Superintending Engineer, IPH, Dharamsala, informed them on February 26, that the "kuhal", which was a private property earlier, had been taken over by the government and a Rs 40.21-lakh plan prepared by the department and the DPR submitted to the principal adviser-cum-secretary (planning) vide letter dated June 19, 2006. However, the approval had not been accorded approval even after one year, he said.

On the other hand, the superintending engineer, IPH, maintained that the work could be taken up only after the approval from the government was received.

Baddi, May 28
The Allahabad Bank opened it new branch, here today. A.C. Mahajan, chairman and MD of the bank inaugurated this branch, which is the 6th in the state. DC Solan Rajesh Kumar and HP DIG Pradeep Kumar were also present at the function.

Speaking during the occasion, Mahajan highlighted the achievements of the bank. He said the bank, which started its operation in April 1865 from Allahabad, enjoyed the privilege of being the oldest joint stock bank in the country. He maintained that the bank aims at catering to over 2,00,000 crore customers by March 2010.

To accelerate the country’s economy and to generate employment for the masses, the bank extends financial support in the productivity and infrastructure sectors, asserted Mahajan.

S.L. Kalra, DGM, Allahabad Bank, Chandigarh Zone said the zone had a network of 35 branches in Punjab, Haryana and HP. As Baddi has developed into a major industrial hub of the region, the bank plans to financially support its entrepreneurs - both in the small scale and SME sectors. The bank has also formulated different schemes for traders, farmers, women entrepreneurs, self-help groups and corporate houses, Kalra said.

Shimla, May 28
The issue of trivialisation of content and sensationalisation of news came up for discussion during the national seminar on ‘contemporary issues in mass communication’ being organised by the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Himachal Pradesh University (HPU).

Chairing the morning session today, Ram Mohan Pathak, head, Department of Journalism, Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi said understanding ethics had become a major requirement. He added that news organisations must ensure that there is no sensationalisation of news for better ratings.

Presenting a paper on ‘Trivialisation of content in Indian Media’, Bindu Sharma, from the Department of Communication, Management and Technology, Kurukshetra University said objectivity and reporting were on the decline in the Indian media. “The changing needs and psychology of the media consumers have contributed to the process of trivialisation,” she remarked. — TNS