Shimla, September 15
CPM leader and Rajya Sabha MP, Sitaram Yechury today said going ahead with the nuclear deal would amount to capping India’s strategic programme and weaponisation and the intention was not to destabilise the UPA regime but to save the country from its adverse implications.

Addressing a press conference here today the CPM leader said the review committee constituted to look into various issues would meet on September 19. “We want that for the time being the government should press the pause button as there should be no haste in signing a deal as once it is operationalised there can be no going back,” he said.

He said signing of the deal was a very critical issue as it concerned the common man as it would decide how our resources are to be used to make us self-reliant. He added that by becoming a puppet in the hands of the USA, India will lose support of most of the developing nations as they are opposed to the US dictates.

Yechury said once India signs the deal there can be no going back so the Prime Minister should not show haste in signing it and it was better to address the concerns being expressed. “Before the deal is operationalised, India will have to first sign agreements with the Atomic Energy Agency and Nuclear Suppliers Group and then the US Congress will ratify it,” he said.

He said if China and Japan could sign a nuclear deal where disputes would be settled under international law and arbitration tribunal then why was India being bound by the Hyde Act, which would be a hurdle in India progress and self-reliance.

“Signing a deal which will affect the country’s self reliance and progress is obviously a departure from the common minimum programme (CMP) as there is no mention of any kind of strategic alliance with the USA in it,” he opined. On the issue of the country going in for a mid-term poll he said the government would be responsible for the instability arising out of any violation of the common minimum programme (CMP).

He also termed the BJP’s stand on the nuclear deal as ‘hypocritical’ and said despite opposing it outside they prevented a discussion on it in Parliament through repeated disruptions. “Our support to the UPA regime was to keep the communal forces out of power and it was solely based on the CMP, which they must fulfill and strictly adhere to” he added.

Yechury also delivered a lecture on the implications of the nuclear deal at HP University auditorium.

Kumarhatti, September 15
Reacting to the Chief Minister’s statement over enacting a new law to check the hiring of labour on contract, the AITUC has reiterated that with the notification under Section 10 of the Contract Labour Regulation and Abolition Act, 1970, the contract labour could be curbed.

Therefore, there was no need to make any new law, AITUC asserted.

“It was in fact state government’s dilly-dallying approach to issue a  notification under the Act that has led to hiring of manpower on contract  in a big way by the employers”, maintained Jagdish Bharadwaj, the state chief of AITUC, while talking to this reporter .

The Section prohibits employment of contract labour in manufacturing units and permanent nature of work, he asserted. It’s good that the government has at least woken up to the menace, but the need of the hour is to take some practical steps rather than making mere claims, he pointed out.

Disagreeing with the government’s claim of over 70 per cent employment to Himachalis in units, Bharadwaj said the figures were distorted to give wrong impression.

In reality the Himachalis have managed to get only 25-30 per cent employment. Ironically, most of this 25-30 per cent manpower was on contract.

“The labour department has proved to be a mute spectator as far as checking the ever growing menace is concerned, entrepreneurs are deriving maximum benefit from this by hiring manpower on their own terms and conditions.”

Bharadwaj said the modus operandi of employers involved hiring contract labour through private contractor for loading-unloading and housekeeping work but later the labour hired for this work is used on machines and other directly related work.

Interestingly, the labour department has to issue licence due to political pressure, said Bharadwaj. 

Nurpur, September 15
Following a warning given by parents of pupils of Government Senior Secondary School, Sadwan, in this subdivision given on September 11 to lock the school premises after 15 days if the government failed to start regular studies in the school especially for students of Class IX and X, the Education Department (ED) yesterday swung into action.

The print media has also highlighted the ongoing poor state of affairs in the school due to lack of coordination and proper administration. The deputy director of secondary education Balwant Patial yesterday spent the whole day in the school in an effort to set the things right. He heard the grievances of the parents and local panchayat representatives in this connection. The parents stressed on their demand to transfer the teaching staff responsible for the present situation.

Patial, however, confirmed that he had given three days ultimatum to the teaching staff to restore regular studies in the school and had also strictly directed the school lecturers, who were reluctant to teach Class IX and X, to follow the directions of the state education department to implement the time-table for these classes with immediate effect. He informed that the school administration had been directed to submit its report in this connection by September 17.

He clarified that he would recommend to the education department that strict action should be taken against the erring teaching staff if they did not adhere to the directions. 

Solan, September 15
A former additional advocate general Sandeep Kaushik was killed and his wife Roma and minor son Udit were injured when the car (HP-03-C-2700) which Kaushik was driving had a head on collision with a pick-up van (CHO3-X-3606) on the NH-22 near Sanwara today afternoon. Kaushik was on his way to Chandigarh.

According to the police the driver of the pick-up van fled from the spot soon after the accident. Kaushik was declared brought dead by the doctors at CHC, Dharampur, while his son and wife were referred to Regional Hospital at Solan after being given preliminary treatment there. His body was handed over to his family members after a post mortem.

DSP of Parwanoo Bhagat Thakur said the pick-up van had been impounded while efforts were on to trace its driver.

The death of this promising 42-year-old lawyer, who was currently practising in the state high court, has sent shock waves among the state BJP as he was the president of the state legal cell as well as an executive member of the party’s national legal cell. He was an assisting lawyer to the BJP in prominent cases against the government, including the defamation suit filed by former Chief Minister P.K Dhumal against the former CM of Punjab Capt. Amarinder Singh and union minister of state for external affairs Anand Sharma. Senior leaders including state’s in-charge Satpal Jain, P.K Dhumal, state BJP vice-president Dr Rajiv Bindal, etc, reached Dharampur by evening from where they would leave for Nahan to attend the last rites of Kaushik.

He had also contested a number of controversial policy decisions of the present government like appointments on PTA basis, CPMT case, quashing of appointments of chief parliamentary secretaries, etc.

Mandi, September 15
Members of a family at Dadaun village in Jogindernagar subdivision trapped a leaopard in the Ladbhoral area, about 65 km from here today when it attacked their pet dog.

According to the villagers, the leopard had been on the prowl in the Ladbharhol area and attacked the dog tied behind the grilled verandah of the house.

But the predator was caught inside the hole of the grill and was trapped inside the verandah of the house.

The family members heard the panicky barks of the dog and came out of their house only to find the leopard trapped inside the room.

The alert family members shut the door and locked the leopard inside the room and informed the wild life officials.

The team of forest officials arrived at the scene to trap the animal.

They told The Tribune that they had tranquilized the animal which was 3 years old. The animal was then put in a cage and sent to the Gopalpur zoo.

Dharamsala, September 15
The district jail of Dharamsala is overcrowded as the number of inmates here is almost double than the jail’s actual capacity. This overcrowding has allegedly affected the facilities being provided to the inmates in violation of human rights.

B.C Katoch Assistant Superintendent of the jail revealed to The Tribune that there were as many as 212 inmates, including convicts and undertrials, lodged in the jail as on date against the actual capacity of 120 prisoners. The figures, however, vary on a day-to-day basis and sometimes even go up to 250.

At present as many as 44 prisoners, including one woman, are serving life term in the jail. As many as 34 others, including two women, found guilty of other heinous crimes and 30 prisoners, including one woman, were serving sentences for various other crimes. The remaining, including a few women, were undertrials.

The figures of prisoners clearly indicate that the numbers of undertrials lodged in the jail alone were close to the actual capacity of the jail.

Interaction with several undertrials lodged in the jail during the past couple of weeks revealed that the standard of sanitation and hygiene was poor in the jail. They were of the view that overcrowding was the basic problem that had thrown every system and facility out of gear in the jail.

On the other hand, there was also a shortage of security staff in the jail. As many as 16 new recruits presently under training will be joining duty by next month, he said.

There are 14 CCTV cameras installed at various locations on the premises of the jail but they often remain non-functional due to technical snags, revealed sources in the jail.

Replying to a question, B.C Katoch revealed that to the best of his knowledge no proposal was being considered by the state government to increase the capacity of the jail. So the woes of the inmates seem to be far from over and there seems to be little hope for them.

Shimla, September 15
The Himachal Pradesh government today announced a three-year extension of the Germany-aided ‘WASH’ drinking water project in the state.

The current phase of the project is to continue till January 31, 2008 and thereafter the second phase of the project will be launched for the next three years, principal secretary irrigation and public health department Deepak Sanan said.

He earlier presided over the seventh meeting of the Project Steering Committee here today. He said the HP government was encouraging schemes with public participation for supply of safe drinking water in villages.

Panchayat participation in the implementation of drinking water schemes was being ensured, Sanan added. Under the project, the government has adopted the format of public participation for some villages on pilot basis. — PTI 

Shimla, September 15
Forest research activity is likely to be resumed in Jammu and Kashmir, almost after a gap of two decades, with the state government agreeing to provide land for the purpose to the Himalayan Forestry Research Institute (HFRI).

Forest research activity had been virtually abandoned ever since the state came in the grip of militancy. As a result no steps were taken to address issues like the outbreak of forest diseases, climate change and genetic studies of the growing stock. With the rise in temperature due to global warming, the temperate northern hill areas were no longer free from forest diseases.

Over the past one decade, a number of forest diseases had been reported from the region. In fact, pest attack on ‘salix’ was a serious problem.

The HFRI has taken the initiative to revive research activities in the state. The institute has in consultation with the Forest Department selected four places in different agro-climatic zones for setting up three field stations and a “Van Vigyan Kendra”.

The three field stations would be set up at Nagbani in Jammu, Gandharbal in Srinagar and Gupuk in Ladakh. The Van Vigyan Kendra will be established at Sidhari for providing training to farmers. Director of the HFRI, Mohinder Pal, said about 6 to 7 hectare was required for each field station and the government had promised to provide it at the earliest.

He said the institute would focus on the the propagation of wicker willow which was an important economic species of the state. Tackling problem of pests in salix would be a priority. Funds for the purpose would be provided by the Forest Research Council of India, he added.