Shimla, November 4
The state government and GAIL (India) Ltd today signed a cooperation agreement for the extension of the proposed Dadri-Bawana-Nangal natural gas pipeline till Himachal.

The agreement was signed here today by director Industries, Manoj Kumar, and B.C. Tripathi, director (Marketing), GAIL, in the presence of Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal and U.D. Chaubey, chairman-cum-managing director, GAIL.

The gas pipeline will bring clean and environment friendly fuel to various consumers in the state, which will include industrial, domestic and transport sectors and the availability of the gas will usher the use of more efficient energy resource. The industries have to otherwise bear huge transportation costs of raw material to and fro from the market.

A joint exercise for the assessment of the demand potential of natural gas and allied products in Himachal Pradesh would also be undertaken, besides looking into the feasibility of extending the proposed Dadri-Bawana-Nangal pipeline into the industrial areas.

Under the agreement, GAIL will use its technical and commercial expertise to assess the demand in the industrial and transport sector while the state Industries Department will act as the nodal agency for facilitating information pertaining to fertiliser, power, industrial, domestic and transport sectors and coordinating grant of all necessary permission and clearance for development of gas infrastructure in the state.

Speaking on the occasion Dhumal said the cooperation agreement reached between the state government and GAIL (India) Ltd would go a long way in preserving the natural environment of the state and keeping it pollution free, as with the number of industries coming up in the state the number of heavy vehicles on its roads was also increasing.

He said at present there were two cement industries in the state and because of them the number of heavy vehicles on the roads had gone up considerably and with seven more cement industries in the pipeline the number of trucks plying on the roads everyday would go up to about 20,000 and one could but only imagine the pollution they would cause with diesel as fuel.

He said as the state government was now talking in terms of a carbon neutral Himachal and prevent dangers of global warming which is having a direct bearing on the glaciers located in the state.

Shimla, November 4
The government has finalised an action plan for total computerisation of the rural development department under which all the 76 development blocks and 3243 gram panchayats of the state will be covered.

Secretary, information technology, B.K. Aggarwal said sere today that under the plan a Block Management Information System (MIS) would be put in place using the software developed by the NIC (national informatics centre) for maintenance of accounts and monitoring of construction works. The system works on the double entry system of accounting and generates all mandatory reports on the click of a mouse. He said that the financial transactions were captured directly from the vouchers and linked with development works being executed through panchayats.

He said video conferencing facility would be created in each block which would also be used by the farmers for taking advice from the experts of agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and fisheries departments. The network would be extended to the two farm universities of the state. He said that the video conferencing between farmers and experts would be organised on fixed days at each block.

He said it was comprehensive software which covered almost all functions of panchayat.

Shimla, November 4
Private educational institutions cannot refuse to furnish information sought under the Right to Information Act and it was the responsibility of the education department to access information and supply it to the applicant.

The issue was taken up by the state information commission with the education department after it received a number of complaints that private schools were refusing to provide information and that even the education department was not entertaining applications on the plea that they were not under its control.

State information commissioner S.S. Parmar rejected the contention that the education department could not seek information from the private institutions as they were not under the government control and maintained that enforcing the state private educational institutions (Regulation) act,1997, was its responsibility. All the private institutions located within the state were covered under it and there were enough regulatory provisions which made it mandatory for them to furnish all information pertaining to infrastructure, accounts, and appointment of staff, enrolment and other aspects.

The joint director, higher education, who is also the Public Information Officer(PIO) has as a follow-up measure sent copies of the act to all the deputy directors who were the PIOs for districts with directions for its implementation in letter and spirit. He had made it clear to the field officers that private educational institutions were bound to provide information to the PIO and that refusal to do so could attract action under the act.

Further, whenever any application under the right to information act was received by the department it would be the responsibility of the PIO concerned to access the required information from the private educational institution so that it could be supplied to the applicant within the stipulated timeframe.

It is worth mentioning that private educational institutions have been all these years mostly refusing to furnish information as a result of which the department had not been able to compile authentic and complete data regarding enrolment, drop-outs, gender-wise performance of students, infrastructure, fee-structure and student-teacher ratio on the basis of which various education-related indicators are worked out for the state. However, the government made no effort to enforce the act until the matter reached the state information commission.

Dharamsala, November 4
The present government has started a campaign to oust hundreds of anganwari workers and PTA teachers from job across the state allegedly due to biased and politically inclined selections by the previous Congress government.

However, this exercise is creating a legal maze in which the officers who made selections can end in soup if the candidates decide to move court against their removal in many cases. The government while ousting the candidates is not holding the officers who made these selections accountable for overlooking merit or other facts.

Investigation by The Tribune has revealed that in most of the cases anganwari workers have been removed on the plea that the income certificates produced by them were fake. The income certificates for recruiting anganwari workers are prepared by tehsildars (local magistrates) of respective areas. The certificate is form affidavit in which giving wrong facts is punishable under the law.

The district and subdivision magistrates in many cases have held the income certificates of anganwari works fake and ordered the ouster of the candidate. However, legal experts are of the view that in their capacity as district or subdivisional magistrate the officers can just verify if the certificates issued by competent authorities were attached along with the application form. They cannot hold the certificates as fake.

The income certificates can be held as fake only after an inquiry is held by a competent officer. In that case, the officer who overlooked the facts while producing the certificate should also be held accountable and action should be initiated against him.

In case of PTA teachers also in cases where the merit has been overlooked action should also be initiated against the officers who carried out the selection. However, presently only the candidates are being victimised as they are being ousted from jobs whereas the officers who circumvented the rules or overlooked the merit to make recruitments allegedly on political grounds are not being held accountable.

The sources here told that if the officers are held accountable for overlooking merit and laid down procedure in selections, in future nobody will bend rules on diktats from political masters.

Bilaspur, November 4
Paras Ram and Prabhi Devi of Sai Brahamana village near here, parents of murdered daughter Kamla Devi, have urged Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal to come to their help and order immediate arrest of those responsible for her murder on the night of August 1 at Dahad village near here.

Addressing mediapersons here today, they said Raj Kumar of Dahad and their daughter got married in February this year without their consent. They said that they belong to a Dalit family while Raj Kumar belonged to high caste.

Paras Ram said for a few months Kamla Devi lived happily at the house of her in-laws, but suddenly her in-laws started to harass her for dowry and one day she was turned out of the house and maltreated and asked to go to her parents. Thereafter, they both lived separately and on August 1 she received a phone call from her husband that he was seriously ill and that she should come immediately to his place. She rushed in a vehicle that very moment.

They said that to their utter dismay and surprise she was found murdered on the next morning in bushes near the house of her in-laws. They alleged that she was killed while on way to her husband during the night according to a plan and conspiracy, which was more than evident due to the events leading to this tragedy.

The parents also alleged that a couple of police officers in the investigating team are in league with the culprits through a police tout and now instead of tracing the murderer and arresting the culprits they were being threatened by some police officers of lower ranks that if they insisted in further probe of this case they would be arrested and hauled up.

Paras Ram had met the Chief Minister and presented a detailed memorandum in this regards saying that he had lost confidence in the police here and the Chief Minister should send a police team from Shimla to probe this murder and arrest the culprits to give justice to them and their daughter.

Nurpur, November 4
The body of Hans Raj, son of Sahib Singh, a resident of Samker in Jawali subdivision, was found in Pong dam reservoir today.

The deceased a language teacher had been missing under mysterious circumstances since Sunday and his wife had lodged a missing report with the local police on Monday.

According to Jawali DSP H.R. Kaundal, the family members who were searching the missing teacher in the dam reservoir area today, just 1 km away from Samker village, found slippers of the deceased on its bank. They also noticed the body floating in the reservoir. He told that no injury mark was found on the body.

A case under Section 174 of the CrPc has been lodged. The body was handed over to the family after a post-mortem.

Meanwhile, the parents and wife of the deceased suspected it to be a case of murder and demanded inquiry into the case. They pleaded that the deceased had left home on a motorcycle before going missing and it was found nowhere on the spot. Moreover, the body was found floating in knee-deep water of the reservoir. The police has started investigations in this connection.

Hamirpur, November 4
A week-long course on working and applications of electronic systems (WAES’08) being organised by the electronics and communication engineering department of the NIT began here today. It was inaugurated by director of the institute I.K. Bhat. Registrar of the institute A.L. Sharma was the guest of honour on the occasion.

Bhat highlighted the achievements of the institute in every field, especially for the development and uplift of the community. He encouraged all participants to learn practical aspects from experts.

Head of the department Rajeevan Chandel spoke about department’s achievements over the past three years. The present course would enable participants to understand the working and applications of important electronic devices and systems, she said.

She said emphasis would be on electronic communication designs during the workshop.

Dr Chandel delivered a lecture on electronic devices and measuring equipments. The lab session on basic electronics was held in the afternoon.

The course is being conducted under the Services to Community Programme of the TEQIP for the faculty, staff and students of various polytechnics, and vocational schools around Hamirpur.

Sixty-five participants have registered for the course.

Kangra, November 4
Former transport and tourism minister G.S. Bali lambasted on the Dhumal government for indulging in political victimisation by ordering mindless inquiries against their political opponents and deviating from the basic issues of the state, which required to be addressed by the government. He said this while addressing a press conference at his residence here this afternoon.

He said he was not against holding any inquiry, but it should not be a selective one. He asked the government to collect evidences first and then only order an inquiry. He alleged that inquiries were being ordered in view of the forthcoming Lok Saba polls only.

He said the government was indulging in petty politics and everyday the sun was rising with a new order of inquiry.

Bali expressed concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. He said 18 women were killed in this peaceful state after Dhumal took over as the Chief Minister. He said this land of goddesses was turning to the land of demons because the law enforcing agencies were involved in victimising political opponents through inquiries and going far away of public problems.

He said, “Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal should be more serious about deterioration in law and order of the state and should review it.”

Dharamsala, November 4
The Congress is trying to rope in BJP dissidents to win elections. Leaders like Narinder Thakur that the Congress is claiming to have poached from the BJP have RSS background. Even after joining the Congress, these leaders have not denied affiliations with their past. It is strange that the Congress is now relying on BJP dissidents with RSS background whom the Congress had been opposing for so long.

This was stated by minister for public health and irrigation Ravinder Ravi while talking to mediapersons here today. He was at Dharamsala secretariat to listen the grievances of people. He said the leaders who had left the BJP were being rejected by the voters. Their exit would not have any impact on the prospects of the BJP in the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

Anurag Thakur, son of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, is the only sitting MP (from Hamirpur) of the party in the state. The Congress has three sitting MPs from Kangra, Mandi and Shimla parliamentary constituencies.

With all likelihood that the sitting MPs would get the ticket, Congress leaders, including Kangra MP Chander Kumar, have already started their election campaign. On the other hand, the BJP leadership is perplexed over the allotment of party ticket from the Kangra constituency.

Kangra, November 4
The Youth Congress has threatened to take to the streets against the state government for its alleged failure to maintain law and order. It has announced to launch a statewide agitation to force the government to rise to the occasion and improve the law and order situation in the state.

Addressing a press conference here today, state president of the HP Youth Congress Manmohan Katoch said the law and order had deteriorated to such an extent that the brother of the state chief of the BJP Yuva Morcha murdered an engineering student.

Katoch warned the state bureaucracy to desist from acting as puppets in the hands of the ruling BJP and provide equal opportunities to all sections of the people without taking into consideration their political alliance.

He said a bank was waving interest of the well-off farmers aligned with the BJP while poor farmers owing allegiance to the Congress were being refused the same facility.

He was also critical of Dhumal on the PTA issue. He said the government should provide jobs to the unemployed and not render them jobless.

Shimla, November 4
The class III and class IV employees of the Life Insurance Corporation of India held a demonstration here today in protest against the decision of the Central Government to raise the ceiling for foreign direct investment in the insurance sector from 26 to 49 per cent.

The protesters raised slogans disapproving the policy of liberalisation and foreign direct investment.

Divisional secretary of the Northern Zone Insurance Employees Association Devi Dass said the twin policies were neither in the favour of the country nor the employees.

Ultimately, the people would have to bear the consequences of such wrong policies, he added.

He said the employees would observe one-hour and two-hour stay-out strike to press the government for acceptance of the demand of the association pertaining to wage revision.

The association would launch a countrywide campaign to generate awareness among the people about the adverse impacts of the policies during which conventions would be organised at about 100 places and memorandums would be submitted to all MPs.

Shimla, November 4
Wedding celebrations of Dr Anuj Bali, a veterinary doctor and Pratibha, a teacher, turned into mourning the moment news about the bus accident near Kufri in which over a dozen relatives of both the bride and the groom were killed poured in.

The marriage which was supposed to be a grand affair was solemnised late in the night but only to complete the marriage ceremony sans any celebrations. Instead of dancing and merry-making the relatives were seen crying as many close relatives  of the bride and the groom were killed.

Three brothers, Krishan Chand Kainthala, Tara Chand Kainthala and Paras Ram Kainthala, all residents of village Damod, died in the mishap. The wife of Tara Chand, Lakshmi Kaintahla, was also killed in the accident. The three were maternal uncles of the bride, Pratibha, whose relatives had been camping in Ram Mandir here for the marriage.

The baraat was to arrive here tonight and the three maternal uncles were to perform several important rituals. Besides the Kainthala family, about 10 other victims, all collaterals from Damod village near Narkanda were also killed while they were coming to attend the wedding.

Four members of Bali family hailing from Kacheen Ghati village near Chamoli khud were also killed as they too were on their way to attend the same wedding but were from the side of the groom at Shimla. This included Prem Sukh Bali (62), Yoganand Bali (64), Chetan Bali (23) and Vivek Bali, uncle and cousins of the groom. The relatives and family of the groom had assembled at the local Bindu Raj Dharamshala from where they were to go to Ram Mandir.

Shimla, November 4
The ever-increasing incidence of fatal accidents involving private buses has made safety of passengers a matter of prime concern in the hill state.

Today’s bus accident near Kufri has once again highlighted the need to take effective measures to make travel by private buses safer, more so because the new policy of the government is to encourage privatisation of passenger transport services. The rate of accidents in case of private buses is abnormally high in comparison with the buses of the state road transport corporation.

There were 186 bus accidents during 2004 in which 179 persons died and 731 were injured. Out of these, 152 pertained to private buses while the corporation’s buses were involved in only 34 mishaps. In 2006, private buses accounted for as many as 131 out of the total 158 accidents in which 146 persons were killed and 740 injured. The figures were startling as the corporation’s annual bus mileage of 14.5 crore km was almost equal to the mileage of private bus operators. The only conclusion one could draw is that private buses are five times more prone to mishaps than the state road transport buses.

The reasons are far to many. The drivers engaged by private transporters often lack proper training and ignore road discipline. They are ill-paid, made to work for long hours and often asked to perform duty without proper rest. Cutthroat competition among transporters leads to over speeding and negligent driving. They often hire drivers with unsure skills whenever regular drivers are not available to perform duties.

Every major bus mishap is invariably followed by an inquiry, but the reports keep gathering dust and no concrete action follows. There is still no system of providing training to drivers engaged by private bus operators. It is, thus, hardly surprising that most of the accidents are the result of human failure. Mechanical failures, poor road conditions and inclement weather also lead to accidents, but only occasionally.

In 2004, human failure caused 178 out of the total 186 accidents, while just five were due to mechanical failure. The trend was similar in 2006 with human failure accounting for 151 out of the total 158 mishaps while only two were caused due to mechanical failure.

The number of mishaps have more than doubled over the past 14 years. The figure was 1,390 in 1993 that went up to 2,955 in 2007. On average, about 825 persons die in road accidents every year in the state. The highest death toll (959) was recorded in 2007.

Solan, November 4
The employees union of HIMFED has demanded immediate removal of their MD. Members of the union have termed his behaviour as anti-employees.

In a meeting held here today, they also resolved to observe one-day strike against his alleged anti-employee attitude on November 12. They demanded that a high-level inquiry should be conducted into the purchase of super phosphate fertiliser. They said it was intriguing why no proper committee had been constituted to purchase the fertiliser and why time and again an official who was already facing inquiry in such cases was involved in the purchase.

Union’s general secretary Rajinder Thakur said the Chief Minister should order a high-level probe into the matter as he headed the Co-operatives Department.

The union also took stern note of the faulty transportation contract granted for lifting apples under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) to a person who lacked any fleet. They also demanded a thorough probe into the case as it had caused loss worth lakhs to the exchequer.

The employees termed the tenure of the present MD as inimical to their interests. Their ex gratia Diwali bonus had been held up unduly, they alleged. They added the same MD had also delayed grant of bonus to employees while he was heading the Kangra Central Co-operative Bank. He did that although the bank was showing a profit of ar 67 crore, they added. The same official had delayed their case by three months which proved that he was anti-employees.

They also put forth their other demands, including rectification of alleged faulty promotions executed in 2006 and implementation of other service rules.

Shimla, November 4
The high court has directed the principal secretary, town and country planning, to file a fresh affidavit as regards the latest status of cases of unauthorised construction detected by the department and explain what action has been taken by it till date under the TCP Act.

While passing this direction, Justice Rajiv Sharma further directed the secretary to explain in the affidavit the status of each and every case within two weeks. The court also directed him to inform it in how many cases the state had ordered to disconnect the water and electricity connections and how many were compounded by the authorities concerned.

The court passed this order after perusing the affidavit filed by the TCP secretary in compliance of its earlier order. Dissatisfied with the affidavit, the court observed the affidavit did not disclose the exact status of these cases. The state informed the court that around 13,000 cases of unauthorised construction were detected by it. Out of these, 204 were compounded, 15 demolitions were carried out, water and electricity connections were disconnected in 852 case while the exact status of the remaining case was still awaited.