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FIR lodged in bitumen scam
Directions to cut illegal connections
Hawala Case Probe
Meteorologists have reason to cheer
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HRTC bus runs short of fuel, stops
Unemployed ayurvedic docs express resentment
Medical College
Health plans for every district soon
Una SEZ opposed
Soil health cards
Pensioners oppose trust proposal
Misbehaviour by employees alleged
Quake rocks Mandi area
Police Commemoration Day observed
Prem Raj Mahajan dies
Road march organised
Godown gutted
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FIR lodged in bitumen scam
Shimla, October 21 A case has been registered under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC on the charges of cheating and forgery. DIG, Vigilance, Ashok Sharma confirmed that a case was registered as regards Una division today. “This is the first case that has been registered in connection with irregularities detected in bitumen supply. Investigations as regards the remaining divisions is under way,” he said. The transport company concerned, M.K. Enterprises of Chandigarh, and officials of the PWD and Him Agro who could face action in the case. The transport company was entrusted with the task of supplying 3,400 drums of bitumen by Him Agro between April 1, 2007, to June, 2008. Later, it was found that 800 drums had never reached Una. On the other hand, the papers showed these as “received” at the given destination. The scam had prominently figured in the chargesheet prepared by the BJP while it was in the opposition. Alleging large-scale irregularities, the BJP had demanded that a probe be ordered into the supply of bitumen. In fact, BJP legislator from Dharampur (Mandi) Mahender Singh had raised it in the Assembly on a number of occasions. |
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Directions to cut illegal connections
Shimla, October 21 The urban local bodies, the irrigation and public health department and the state electricity board have been asked to ensure that no unauthorised structure was given power, water or sewerage connection in violation of the section 83(A) of the town and country planning Act and report compliance by November 3. Illegal constructions have been mushrooming in the state as the government did not make any sincere effort to enforce the law. Instead it came out with a series of policies to regularise unauthorised structures in blatant violation of the law. Now that the court has asked it to file a status report on the action taken against the offenders, it has issued directions to various agencies. How serious the authorities have been about enforcing the building laws could be judged from the fact that out of the total over 13,000 illegal structures detected officially till date only 81 illegal structures were demolished and another 85 sealed. In 2567 cases water supply and electricity has been disconnected. Most of the remaining 7396 illegal structures have been provided basic amenities like water and sewerage in violation of the law. The existing law has other penal clauses like simple imprisonment, which could extend up to six months, and or a fine of up to Rs 2000 for raising constructions in violation of rules and regulations. But the authorities concerned have all these years have not pursued even the worst cases of violation to the logical conclusion. The lack of political will was the main hurdle which prevented the departments from enforcing building laws. There are 54 planning areas in the state in all out of which 34 are governed by the Special Area Development Authority headed by respective deputy commissioners and 12 were under the urban local bodies. Only eight planning areas and some peripheral areas of district headquarters were directly under the town and country planning department. Thus, deputy commissioners and municipal commissioners will have a lot to answer. |
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Hawala Case Probe
Dharamsala, October 21 Kangra SP Atul Phulzele admitted that no one had been sent as yet to Jammu and Kashmir after the September 22 incident to apprehend the culprit. He said, “We are waiting for the forensic report in the case to move further. The team will be sent only after the matter is taken up with the higher authorities of the J&K Police,” he said. However, sources said policemen here had expressed their unwillingness to go to that state again to apprehend the culprits until full cooperation was ensured from the police there. A team of five Himachal Police officials, including ASIs Rakesh Kumar and Subhash, head constables Tarsem Singh and Jaswant Singh and constable Vinod Kumar had gone to Jammu and Kashmir to nab to culprits in the case last month. They had taken along two accused, Kishori Lal and Pardeep of the Titu area of Shimla. On identification of one of accused, the police party caught hold of Manzoor Ahmed, who had allegedly sold foreign currency to Himachal resident in Kulgam police district of Anantnag district. However, the police party was in for a shock. Instead of helping them in their task, J&K cops from the Kazipur police station in Anantnag district let the accused go and detained the raiding party. The J&K cops also allegedly misbehaved with cops from Himachal. The raiding party had to return without the main accused in the case. The Himachal Police maintained that the culprit arrested by its raiding party had links with a terrorist organisation as per its information. They were also expecting a major breakthrough in hawala operations being carried out in Himachal under the aegis of J&K terrorist organisations had the culprit been arrested. The inquiry into the case started when the Kangra police arrested five persons from Khandwal barrier and seized $ 2,500 and some poppy husk from them. The accused in the case told the police during interrogation that they had procured foreign currency from a Kashmiri resident. |
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Meteorologists have reason to cheer
Shimla, October 21 The Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) has been observing this interesting phenomenon that is in sharp contrast to rising temperatures and increased glacial melting at practically all other places. The body is trying to look into the factors that could be responsible for this fall in temperatures, which, of course, is a very positive development. “Though it is premature to come to any conclusion at this juncture, the fact is that the temperature in the Karakoram ranges has decreased by a degree or two and at other times has remained constant,” said Amrik Singh, a scientist from the SASE, Chandigarh. The trend had been continuing for the past 10 years, although it would only be after observing it for another 50 years that any definite conclusion could be drawn, he said. He, however, added that in case the trend of decrease in temperature continued, the establishment would certainly try to pinpoint the reasons behind it and undertake complete analysis of the temperature and other weather-related data. Besides exchanging data with the India Meteorological department (IMD), the SASE is also collaborating with the Swiss Federal Research Institute, Switzerland, and various IITs for data analysis and other avalanche-related observations. The establishment plays a crucial role in making avalanche forecast, which is very crucial for the Indian Army deployed in areas above 15,000 feet. It is already in the process of strengthening its observatory network and at present has 43 automatic weather stations, which it intends increasing to 100 during the next three years. |
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HRTC bus runs short of fuel, stops
Hamirpur, October 21 The journey of long route HRTC bus (HP-67-7515) plying on Amritsar-Hamirpur route was cut short at Rangas at 10 am causing inconvenience to the passengers travelling in the bus. Kapil Bassi, a journalist travelling in the bus, said, “The bus stopped midway, near Rangas, causing great inconvenience to the passengers, especially long distance passengers carrying luggage and travelling with kids.” According to bus driver, the bus was not provided adequate diesel, as there was shortage of diesel in the depot nowadays. Sources in the HRTC, Hamirpur, said, “This shortage has been created due to delay in making the payment to the Indian
Oil Corporation.” “Shortage of diesel in the HRTC diesel pump at Hamirpur is continuing for the past few days and diesel in 40 buses was filled on Monday from private diesel stations.” Divisional manager of the HRTC Hamirpur Beeri Singh lost his temper when this correspondent telephoned him to take his version and shouted before banging the phone “I am not aware and I am not suppose to talk”. Regional manager of the HRTC, Hamirpur, Daljeet Singh said, “Diesel supply was delayed due to some payment problem, but now it has been made available through our diesel pump.” |
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Unemployed ayurvedic docs express resentment
Nurpur, October 21 Sanjiv Guleria, the state president of the association, in a statement here today said the unemployed doctors had appeared in interviews conducted by the state Ayurvedic Department twice during the previous Virbhadra Singh regime and even submitted affidavits for batch wise appointments to fill sanctioned posts of ayurvedic doctors, but the then government had meted out injustice to the unemployed doctors by annulling these posts at an eleventh hour. He alleged that the previous government had victimised ayurvedic doctors in service by creating anomalies in their pay scales and done injustice to the unemployed doctors by ordering cancellation of sanctioned posts of ayurvedic doctors repeatedly and did not fill even a
single post. He claimed that the unemployed doctors had fallen prey to these cancellations and crossed the upper age limit for their appointments. He urged the Chief Minister to relax the upper age limit for batch wise appointments and fill vacant posts of ayurvedic doctors, 50 per cent batch wise and 50 per cent through the public service commission. |
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Medical College
Mandi, October 21 Convener of the samiti Sunder Lohia said they had the support of 45 organisations and the protest would continue till their demand was met. Lohia said various organisations had been volunteering to continue the fast and they had already received representations for it till November 30. The samiti warned that the government would have to pay for its dillydallying attitude towards the public demand. Samiti members refused to buy health minister Rajiv Bidal’s proposal to start the medical collage in public-private partnership. They said, “The government can start a private medical college, but first it should open a government medical college to which the 500-bedded zonal hospital, Mandi, can be attached.” Activists said they would never allow the government to attach the zonal hospital to a private medical college. Those who sat on chain fast today were: Bhupinder Thakur, Kushal Bhardwaj, Joginder Walia, Prabash Rana, Jagdish Thakur, Amar Singh Raghava. |
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Health plans for every district soon
Shimla, October 21 This was stated by health minister, Dr Rajiv Bindal, while speaking at the review meeting of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) here today. He said that a plan worth Rs 3.24 crore had been prepared to generate health awareness in 3243 gram panchayats about AIDS, anaemia, hygiene, female foeticide and mother child welfare would be generated under the programme. Bindal said during the past six months the government had spent Rs 26 crore under the NRHM. “During the tenure of the previous Congress regime a total of Rs 48 crore had been sanctioned but only Rs 12 crore was utilised on providing improved medical services to the people and the remaining money was left unspent,” he said. |
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Una SEZ opposed
Shimla, October 21 Convener of the body Guman Singh said wondered how the government had granted permission for a project requiring over 32 sq km of land knowing fully well that the land was a scarce in the hill state. He said the entire area falling between Mubarakpur, Gaget and Daulatpur Chowk, in which there were 23 thickly populated villages, would be acquired for the project. In all, over 60,000 persons would be displaced, the highest number for any project since the setting up of the Pong Dam. The government had been discouraging storage dam projects mainly to avoid uprooting of people and there was no reason for not applying the same yardstick for SEZs. |
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Soil health cards
Shimla, October 21 Stating this here today, Director, Agriculture, J.S. Rana said as part of the ‘Apni Mitti Pehchano Abhiyan’ the department will collect 50,000 soil samples for testing in its laboratories from November 1 to 15. “Issuing of soil health cards will help farmers to go in for cultivation of the crop which is most suited for their land and use nutrients accordingly,” he said. |
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Pensioners oppose trust proposal
Kangra, October 21 P.R. Agnihotri, president of the local unit of state pensioners’ welfare association, said here today that if the “Pension Trust of HPSEB” was formulated this would violate applicable service conditions and pension rules of the HPSEB employees. He said such type of trust was nowhere set up in the country by any state government. Agnihotri said the pensioners were seeking personal attention of Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal, national vice-president of the BJP Shanta Kumar and the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly to see that the state government did not approve the proposal. He said both the BJP and the Congress in their election manifestos, during the previous polls, had made a commitment that interests of the pensioners would be protected and assured their welfare at par with the pensioners of Punjab. He said the pensioners in an extraordinary meeting here today opposed the said proposal. |
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Misbehaviour by employees alleged
Solan, October 21 The management alleged these employees had been vitiating the work atmosphere by indulging in acts of indiscipline, including threatening other employees and hurling abuses at senior staff members. They were also threatening to manhandle them. This forced the management to lodge complaints with the Barotiwala police. Even the Labour Department had been informed about their behaviour. Supporting the management, work contractor Rakesh Baloni said new workers had to be made available to the unit after they failed to turn up for work by October 18. Now there was no vacancy in the unit, he added. The management claimed the employees were being given the PF and ESI benefits. However, a dispute in that regard was already before the labour officer. |
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Quake rocks Mandi area
Mandi, October 21 According to residents, mild tremors were felt in several parts of the district. The intensity of the tremors was more in Kamru Nag valley, believed to be the home of the rain god, they added. According to the BBMB-managed laboratory, the intensity of the quake was 5.3 on the Richter scale. Deputy chief engineer of the BBMB C.L. Gupta said tremors lasted for around four seconds. These were more pronounced in the Sundernagar area. “The quake was of mild intensity and did not cause any damage to the dams or property in the area,”
he added. SDM, Gohar subdivision, Sunil Sharma said two tremors were felt in the area, but no loss of life or property was reported so far. |
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Police Commemoration Day observed
Hamirpur, October 21 Hamirpur SP Asif Jalal said 863 policemen laid their lives while serving the nation during the last one year and in today’s function they were paid rich tributes by reading commemoration details and organising a parade by the Hamirpur-based policemen. |
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Prem Raj Mahajan dies
Shimla, October 21 He was chairman of the State DAV Managing Committee. He hailed from Chamba and was the elder brother of prominent Congress leader late Des Raj Mahajan. |
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Road march organised
Hamirpur, October 21 The main aim of this march was to highlight national integration, environment protection and such other social issues. Scouts from throughout the state marched through the main bazar shouting slogans and singing songs of national integration. |
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Godown gutted
Shimla, October 21 According to fire officer Dalip Thapa, three fire engines were rushed to the godown of the pharma factory and it took around three hours to douse the flames. The loss of property was estimated at Rs 3 lakh. The cause of the fire could not be ascertained so far.
— UNI |
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