Mandi, September 12
Around 25 representative organisations of the Mandi Medical College Sangharsh Samiti (MMCSS) today blocked the National Highway-21.

They were protesting in support of their demand for the “government medical college in Mandi”. They also blocked roads in all other towns of the district.

Accusing the BJP government of “not guarding the interests of the common man”, the MMCSS protestors sat in dharna on the highway and raised slogans against the Dhumal government.

The district administration did not take cognisance of the Supreme Court’s verdict that forbids jamming of national highways.

The protesters warned that they would take the agitation to the village-level if their demand was not met.

The convener of MMCSS, Sunder Lohia, and the president of citizens’ council,
Mandi, P.C. Bisht, claimed that they would continue to protest till their demand
for the restoration of the government medical college in Mandi was not accepted
and implemented.

“We would never allow the government to attach the zonal hospital to a private company and will sit in dharna at the hospital,” they said.

They claimed that the Shimla zone and the Dharamsala zone had government medical colleges, but the central Mandi zone was ignored.

The MMCSS held a protest at Jogindernagar, Sundernagar, Sarkaghat, Karsog, Chail-Chowk, Balichowki, Dharampur, in the district.

They have demanded the cancellation of this order at the earliest. They have threatened to launch an agitation if this order is not withdrawn immediately.

Shimla, September 12
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has urged the Centre to ensure that the condition of 70 per cent employment to Himachalis was adhered to by all central public-sector undertakings involved in the execution of hydroelectric projects in the state.

He raised all pending issues pertaining to the power sector during his meeting with the union minister of state for commerce and power Jairam Ramesh in New Delhi last evening and sought his intervention in seeking state’s share in the Bhakra-Beas Management Board (BBMB) projects.

He said the state had been demanding its legitimate share of free power, relief and rehabilitation of oustees at all hydroelectric projects executed by the BBMB.

He said the matter had been raised time and again at all fronts with the Government of India, but to no avail.

He said that thousands of families had been ousted to pave the way for the construction of the Bhakra Dam, Pong Dam and the BSL Project but the issues of legitimate share of free power and other incentives to the oustees, as per the agreement, were still pending.

Dhumal said the NHPC, the NTPC and the SJVNL authorities were yet to implement the condition of 70 per cent employment in their projects, which was being viewed seriously by the state government.

He sought intervention of the minister to get the local people their share of employment in all such projects.

He said the state government was extending all possible help to the project executing authorities while they were ignoring the interests of the state.

He also drew his attention to the slow pace of work in Parbati, Kol Dam and other projects which needed to be expedited for completion in a time-bound manner.

He said the state government would consider the request of the union government to undertake the execution of 40-MW hydroelectric project at Baggi in Sundernagar.

The Chief Minister directed the state forest department to prepare a proposal for the first stage (750 MW) of the 2051-MW Parbati Project being executed by the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) afresh and submit it to union ministry of environment for early clearance.

Jairam Ramesh assured that he would look into the issues raised, particularly the non-implementation of the employment condition by the NHPC, the NTPC and the SJVNL authorities and the state’s share in various projects.

Shimla, September 12
The state police has not only been inefficient in solving cases of heinous crimes but also least bothered about accountability of officers responsible for its indifferent performance on this vital front.

There have been 221 unsolved cases of murder during the past 10 years. The number was quite high in view of the fact that on an average only about 120 murders are committed annually in the state.

Quite surprising no one in the force has been held responsible despite the high failure rate and the authorities have not been found any of these cases fit to be handed over to the CBI for investigation.

The information procured from the police department under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by Dev Ahshish Bhattacharya, a Delhi-based RTI activist, reveals that it has been totally satisfied with efforts put in by investigating officers and senior officers who monitored the cases, none of whom lost the time-bound promotion.

It further informs that under the police Act there is a provision for taking action in case of deliberate omission on the part of the officers, if it leads to failure of cases.

However, no such instance has come to notice where laxity or deliberate omission on the part of officers which resulted in cases remaining unsolved.

The cases have been investigated properly and all the complainants have been given copy of the final report.

No case was found fit to be transferred to the CBI as the local police had put in the efforts to solve the cases.

None of the complainants requested for handing over the case to the CBI and there is no mandatory law to transfer such cases to the apex investigating agency.

The officers concerned visited the spot and issued instructions regarding investigations. As such in the absence of any negligence no adverse entries have been made in their annual confidential reports.

Terming the indifference of police to tracing heinous crime cases in a peaceful state like Himachal as criminal, Bhattacharya demanded that the government should set up a high-level committee headed by the chief secretary and having director-general of police and other senior officers a member for fixing responsibility for laxity and monitoring the cases on regular basis.

The maximum number of 41 unsolved cases are in Shimla district, followed by Kangra 36, Kulu 31, Chamba 23, Solan 18 and Una 17.

Shimla, September 12
The high court today rejected the bail plea of retired general manager of the HP Tourism Development Corporation Ramesh Kapoor, who is allegedly involved in tempering his service records to show his age four years less than the actual.

Justice Rajiv Sharma passed the order on a petition filed by Kapoor. According to the prosecution, the date of birth of Kapoor in his school records was February 22, 1944, which was overwritten as 1948 in his service records.

A case under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of IPC was registered against him. It was alleged that Kapoor had tempered his date of birth by rubbing and thereafter re-written it as February 22, 1948, and has also intentionally taken out his matriculation certificate from the personal file with a view to get wrongful gain in service period.

The police registered a case against Kapoor for forgery and causing loss to the government in terms of salary, emoluments and post-retrial benefits. The action in the case was taken after allegations were raised by an employee of the HPTDC.

While opposing the pre-arrest bail application, prosecution contended that Kapoor was an influential person and he could hamper the investigation, if released on bail.

It was said that the investigation was at an initial stage and more record was to be recovered from his possession, for which his custodial interrogation was required.

Shimla, September 12
Harry Baweja, film producer and director, feels despite having the most picturesque locales, it is lack of infrastructure and accessibility that has discouraged filmmakers to shoot in India.

Baweja was here in connection with the talent hunt being organised by the Centre for Media and Entertainment Studies (CMES). He was the co-chairman of the show.

“We are more keen to shoot abroad, as one simple letter to the authorities ensures all clearances and facilities unlike in India, including Mumbai,” he says.

“The output is far better when a person works with a free mind rather than being embroiled in obtaining clearances that mars creativity and affects the quality of the film,” he said.

Sharing his personal experience about a 10-day trip to Dev Prayag and the Ranikhet area, he said due to poor infrastructure much time was lost in traveling and arranging for the shoot.

Baweja feels Himachal too has ideal locations. Sharing his experience here, he said there were no procedural wrangles and he had good experience.

He said shooting in Mumbai was a difficult task, as several permissions from Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC), Coastal authorities and others had to be taken that force filmmakers to shoot at foreign locations.

Talking about cinematic tourism, he said cinema had a major role in selling any location as an ideal tourist destination.

“There is data to substantiate the fact that tourist inflow from India to countries like Singapore, Australia, Korea and New Zealand has picked up after Bollywood films were shot there,” he says.

He says the talent hunt for youth from North India being organised by CMES-ITFT will help them identify their potential and venture into the filed of their interest.

“The basic objective is to prepare the youth from North India for over 4,000 jobs related to media and entertainment industry,” he said.

The auditions for the talent hunt will be held at Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) on September 20.

Refusing to be drawn into any controversy on the Amitabh Bachchan - Raj Thackrey issue, he played safe by refusing to utter even a word.

‘No comments’ is all he said about this disturbing trend, which could make it very difficult for the film industry and outsiders working and living in Maharashtra.

Shimla, September 12
The Union Ministry of Tourism has approved the proposal for setting up of a food craft institute at Dharamsala at cost of Rs 4.75 crore.

Stating this here today, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said the institute would be another gift of the state government to the Kangra district after the proposed Central University, which would be set up at Dehra.

He said the union ministry of tourism has demanded transfer of 3 acres of land to the FCI Society for setting up the campus of the institute.

The Central Government would provide an assistance of Rs 4.75 crore for construction and providing other facilities at the institute.

The state government would meet the expenditure incurred on the project in excess of the funds sanctioned by the Centre.

Dhumal said the State was emerging as an education hub in the country and the focus was on opening quality institutions of higher learning and strengthening the existing infrastructure.

Shimla, September 12
ATM facility will be provided at all branches of the Himachal Pradesh Cooperative Bank in a phased manner for the convenience of customers.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the Board of Directors (BoD) of the
bank, held under the chairmanship of Khushi Ram Balnatah, president of the bank,
here yesterday.

The board decided to covert part-time workers having completed 10 years of service as full-time daily wagers on the analogy of the state government.

The wages of part-time workers having less than 10 years of service have
also been enhanced.

The board also decided to enhance the consolidated honorarium of contract appointees as per the government norms by allowing initial basic pay of respective category and 50 per cent DP as consolidated honorarium.

The board approved the implementation of the assets and liability management (ALM) system in the bank as per the guidelines of NABARD and RBI for efficient management of funds.

Under the ALM system, the bank will analyse the position of its assets in relation to its liabilities to see the impact of risks and manage its credit, interest rate, liquidity, market and operation, solvency and contingent risk.

Kumarhatti, September 12
Accidents have become a routine on the Kalka-Shimla national highway. Certain spots on the highway have become virtual death traps.

Over the years, hundreds of people have lost their lives in fatal accidents on this highway. It witnesses maximum traffic on weekends and holidays.

Most of those making a beeline to various tourist spots in the hill state are not accustomed to driving in the hills.

What complicates the situation further is the fact that most of the youth drive vehicles after consuming liquor.

Most of the accidents in the past have taken place during the night and involved
tipsy drivers.

In fact, the 25-km stretch of the highway from Parwanoo to this town is the
most dangerous.

There is no arrangement for providing immediate help to the accident victims, especially if these take place in odd hours.

The stretch has numerous sharp curves that make it an arduous task for motorists to drive freely. The mushrooming of roadside dhabas and eating joints has further aggravated the problem.

Despite a sharp increase in the number of accidents, the PWD has failed to put signboard at crucial points.

The need of the hours is to put signboard at dangerous curves and locations alerting the motorists about the sharp curves ahead.

Dharamsala, September 12
Water overflowing from the village “kool” (a natural drain) is posing a serious threat to around 12 houses of Dalits at Khaniara village here.

Most of these are kutcha houses and their walls have turned damp. Residents said the retaining walls of some of these houses had got damaged and developed cracks.

Dharamsala, September 12
Members of district bar association today once again reiterated their demand for a circuit bench of the high court at Dharamsala.

The bar members raised the demand in the presence of Chief Justice of the Himachal High Court Jagdish Bhalla.

The Chief Justice visited the district bar room today on the invitation of members
of the bar.

He was in the district to inaugurate the three-day conference on NDPS and
related laws being organised by the HP State Judicial Academy at Palampur
Agriculture University.

The president of bar association Tek Chand Rana said the demand for circuit bench at Dharamsala was based on geographical conditions of the area.

The people from Chamba, Kangra, Hamirpur and Una had to travel for at least eight hours to reach Shimla.

If a circuit bench of high court is established at Dharamsala it would be a relief to the people of lower hills.

Though the lawyers raised the demand for a separate high court bench today, the CM secretariat has already conveyed to the bar that the matter was discussed with the Chief Justice who has expressed the opinion that it was not possible legally.

Nahan, September 12
A seat of deity (made of silver) and the donation box of the Surdhar Devta temple at Sadhori village were stolen today.

According to the police, when a priest came to the temple in the morning, he found that locks of the temple were broken.

He immediately called villagers and informed the police. An FIR was registered in this connection. As per the report, the silver seat of the deity was of Rs 50,000.

The donation box also had good amount of cash, the sources said. However, ancient idols were safe.

Solan, September 12
Opposing the draft proposal of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Development Plan, scores of villagers today protested in front of the office of the Chief Executive Officer at Baddi and demanded exclusion of the rural areas from the ambit of the plan.

The villagers who have organised themselves under the Kisan Sangarsh Samiti asserted that the plan was not favourable for the agrarian community which comprised 90 per cent of the community.

They raised slogans in front of the CEO’s office and demanded immediate removal of some of the objections

The agitating villagers-Avtar Singh, J.S.Dukhiya, Narata Ram , Pratap Singh Mehta, Lakshmi Singh, Randeep Singh Thakur, Gurcharan Singh and others said that it was unfair to charge hefty fee at the rate of Rs 200 per sq mt in lieu of change in land use as it amounted to several lakhs.

Further more dues in the form of fee for getting building plans approved too would put an undue drain on their pocket.

While these bindings served no purpose in the rural areas the master plan appeared to be benefiting the industrialists only.

Villagers also demanded a Hindi transcript of the plan as the English version was not understood by them.

The villagers also opposed the fragmented approach of the plan whereby industrial activity had been permitted within the rural habitations.

They also contended that the farmers having small land holdings would stand to suffer the most as they would be compelled to leave space for setbacks as per the provisions of the Town and Country Planning.

Not only this the plan would bring their 70 to 75 per cent irrigated fertile land under the purview of industrialisation and this was contrary to an apex court judgment whereby no irrigated and fertile land can be acquired.

Moreover, they added that with the plan being applicable till 2035 they would have to wait for payments in case they sold off their land.

BBNDA’s CEO Dr Amandeep Garg, however, said that several cluster-level meetings were being held to educate the masses and there was a lot of misinformation which needed to be clarified.

Shimla, September 12
Chairman of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority A.K. Goswami has stressed the need to address critical issues like solid waste management, sewage management, water conservation, rainwater harvesting and adopting solar-passive technology for energy conservation.

Presiding over the first meeting of the authority in New Delhi today, he said while evaluating project proposals the environment management plans should be thoroughly examined to ensure that there was no adverse impact.

Twelve project proposals worth more than Rs 600 crore were examined for the grant of environment clearance after appraisal by the state expert appraisal committee.

The President reportedly said she would take steps to ensure promotion of such articles through government institutions.