Shimla, November 14
Even as its own role in the bitumen scam has come under the scanner of investigating agencies, the nodal agency Him Agro has imposed over Rs 2.85 crore penalty on the four defaulter companies, who failed to make deliveries or took payment without making supply.

According to sources, the Him Agro swung into action only after the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau started a probe into the bitumen scam and even sought entire records from the Him Agro. The much delayed action is being viewed as a face saving device and a damage control exercise to get a clean chit for itself in the whole investigation.

“The heavy penalty has been imposed on four main companies who were awarded the contract for supplying bitumen from the refineries of the Indian Oil Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum located at Panipat,” said a senior official. The penalty imposed on MK Enterprises, Chandigarh, is Rs 94.33 lakh, Amit Singla and Company Rs 1.67 crore, Brijlal and Mohan Lal Company Rs 13.75 lakh and Haryana Transport company Rs 9.23 lakh.

Police sources said even though the Him Agro had imposed penalty on the defaulter companies after much delay, its own officials could not escape action, as there had been lapse on their part too. The Vigilance Bureau is in fact event looking into the reasons for extension of the contract awarded to these companies beyond March 31, 2008, when the contract had to expire. The contract was extended till June 30, 2008, despite the fact that irregularities had already come to light by then.

The SP of a special investigation unit in the Vigilance Bureau, Hardesh Bisht, confirmed that heavy penalty had been imposed on the defaulter companies by the Him Agro following inquiry into the bitumen scam.

He confirmed that the entire record had been summoned from the PWD and the Him Agro.

The Vigilance Bureau is in the process of examining the records of the PWD, Him Agro and other agencies in all districts barring Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti. In fact FIRs have already been registered concerning irregularities in Una and Hamirpur divisions of the PWD so far.

It was in May earlier this year that the Vigilance Bureau had seized records from 22 divisions of the PWD regarding irregularities in bitumen supply between March 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008. It was during investigations that it was detected that at several places entries had been made in the stock registers of the PWD when the supply had not been made at all. In other cases the stocks had reached their destinations almost six months late.

Dharamsala, November 14
Just days before the much hyped special meeting of November 17, the Dalai Lama has made it clear that there is no particular agenda for reaching a particular outcome in the meeting.

In a message issued here today for all Tibetans across the world, the Dalai Lama said the special meeting is being convened with the purpose of providing a forum to understand the real opinions and views of the Tibetan people through free and frank discussions.

“Since I was very young, I realised that the transformation of our governance into a democratic system was of utmost importance for Tibet’s immediate and long-term interest. Therefore, after taking responsibility as the spiritual and political leader of Tibet, I worked hard to establish such a democratic set-up in Tibet.

Unfortunately, we were unable to achieve it under repression of the People’s Republic of China. However, immediately after coming into exile judicious reforms were introduced in the structure of our governance and a newly-elected parliament was constituted. The reason I have persisted in encouraging the establishment of a democratic system is based entirely on the need to secure a solid and sustainable future system of governance for Tibet. This is not because I was reluctant or wanted to shirk my responsibility. It is extremely important that we take stock of history and our past experience, as well as learn from the present world situation in order to keep up our struggle.

All Tibetans should uphold and strengthen the institution of the Central Tibetan Administration by means of which we will be able to preserve the Tibetan cultural heritage in exile until the issue of Tibet is resolved,” reads the message.

Dharamsala, November 14
To improve efficiency of the Agriculture Department officials, the state government was considering giving choice stations to them.

P.C. Kapoor, principal secretary of the agriculture, gave this information while addressing a state-level workshop of farm officers on rabi crops. The workshop was organised at Palampur Agriculture University here today.

He, however, added that the agriculture officers should justify their choice of posting by performance. The idea of giving choice of posting to the agriculture officers had only been mooted to motivate them into working with more dedication in their own areas.

A lot of money is being put in the agricultural sector and various new programmes were being implemented to make the hill agriculture viable. However, money alone cannot achieve growth unless extra efforts are put in to achieve the targets, the principal secretary said.

Dr Tej Partap, vice-chancellor, in his presidential remarks said crisis in agriculture sector had attracted lot of attention and money. Everybody concerned with farming would have to reorient strategy to keep their relevance in the coming times. He advised that adequate attention should be paid towards marketing. There should be close cooperation and linkages among farm universities, agricultural and allied departments, agro-companies and farmers.

Dr J.C. Rana, director of the Agriculture, said 3.80 lakh hectares had been brought under cultivation in rabi season and production target was fixed for 7.22 lakh tonnes. Fifty thousand soil samples were collected and 65,000 quintal seed was being made available to the farmers. Only treated seed would be made available to the farmers and 2 kg vermin compost would also be made available to each farm family to propagate organic farming.

Dr S.C. Sharma, director of the Research, said the university had developed new varieties of wheat-Aryan (HPW-251), linseed- Bhagsu and chickpea-GPF and technologies have been developed for controlling diseases and pests in protected cultivation. Similarly, the university was concentrating in producing quality breeder and foundation seeds.

Dr K.K. Katoch, director of the Extension Education, disclosed that only 40 per cent technology was reaching farmers so the university was reorienting its extension plans by involving media to reach the farmers settled in far flung areas. New publications on production technologies of rabi, kharif and vegetable crops have been published recently, he said.

Around 250 farm officers, scientists and progressive farmers took part in the one-day workshop.

Chandigarh, November 14
After the BJP it is now the turn of the Congress to claim credit for the development works in Himachal Pradesh, apparently with an eye on the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Close on the heels of the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal claiming credit for the major development works in the hilly state, his bete noire and Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Thakur Kaul Singh today targeted the 11-month-old Dhumal government, claiming that all major projects in the state were undertaken at the initiative of the Congress-led UPA government at the centre.

“The only achievements of the Dhumal government have been political vendetta against political adversaries and undoing of the pro-people decisions of the previous Congress government,” the former assembly speaker alleged.

Claiming that the people were fed up with the “anti-people” policies of the BJP government, the Congress leader claimed that in view of the anti-incumbency factor, the Congress would romp home victorious in the next Lok Sabha poll on all three seats in the state.

On the selection of the candidates for the three Lok Sabha seats, he claimed that victory of the candidates would be main criteria for the selection of candidates to be finalised by the party high command. On his claim to the Hamirpur seat, he said he was ready to contest provided the high command asked him to contest the election from the crucial seat, currently being representated by Dhumal’s son Anurag Thakur.

Apparently, ignorant about Chandigarh administration’s refusal to let the Chandigarh-Baddi rail link pass through its reserve forest area, he claimed that Chandigarh had nothing to do with the project and it would be completed in a stipulated time as the budget provisions had been made for the project in the last Railway Budget.

The Congress leader claimed that the UPA, led by its chairperson Sonia Gandhi, would get majority in the next Lok Sabha elections as the NDA was a “divided house”.

Shimla, November 14
Civil supplies and consumer affairs minister Ramesh Dhwala has refuted the allegation of Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kaul Singh that the raids were being conducted by his department on shops owned and managed by Congressmen.

He said that the charge that the state machinery was being misused to harass the Congressmen was baseless and raids were being conducted by the flying squads of the department only to check corruption, hoarding and exploitation of consumers by traders. At times he himself remained present on the spot to keep a vigil on the functioning of the department.

Dhwala said it did not behove a leader of Kaul Singh’s stature to make such malicious and baseless charges against the government which was trying to protect the interests of the consumers.

Shimla, November 14
While seeking deferment of the personal hearing scheduled for tomorrow by a week to enable its representatives from abroad to arrive, the Brakel Corporation has also demanded reconstitution of the review committee, headed by the chief secretary, set up for the purpose, to ensure fair play.

In a detailed representation to the chief secretary it had drawn the attention to the fact that principal secretary, Power, Ajay Mittal who had authored the draft order for cancellation of the 960 MW twin Jhangi-Thopan-Powari projects was one of the members of the committee. It was a settled law that no person could sit on judgment in his own case and as such he could not be a part of the committee. It was in the interest of justice that he rescued himself from the committee.

Denying the charge of misrepresentation and non-disclosure of information the company had asserted that the structure of the bidders as well as the project company was fully in compliance with the terms and conditions of the bid. This fact had been completely ignored in the draft order.

Solan, November 14
Employment of contractual labour has emerged as a crucial factor of concern for officials in industrial areas with units having much larger contractual intake than regular employees.

These observations were made by a team of officials from various departments comprising Industries, Labour and Pollution Control Board during a surprise checking conducted in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial areas today.

Member secretary of the Industries Department Tilak Sharma said about eight to nine units were visited and this joint committee sought details on the percentage of Himachalis employed as well as about the total number of regular and contractual employees in these units.

The purpose was to ensure compliance of labour laws as well as the state industrial policy. It was found that the pharmaceutical units generally had a higher percentage of contractual labour than permissible which was an adverse reflection of their working.

While out of the units inspected two had lower percentage of Himachali youth, as per the industrial policy these units, including KRM Tyres and a pharmaceutical unit, would now be served a notice for compliance of the employment norms, confirmed officials.

Environment engineer Brij Bhushan of the state Pollution Control Board said samples from seven units had been lifted and a suitable action would be initiated against them if any violations were found in their laboratory report.

Officials said this was a routine checking and was aimed at ensuring the units compliance towards various laws. 

Shimla, November 14
Having secured a loan of Rs 3800 crore from the Asian Development Bank for the execution of four major hydroelectric projects, the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation plans to take advantage of the carbon market initiative (CMI) of the bank to secure carbon credits under clean development mechanism (CDM) for some of the projects.

The corporation has decided to assign the task of preparing the project document for the 195 MW Kashang hydroelectric plant for availing the carbon credit facility under CDM to the bank and a formal agreement in this regard was likely to be signed shortly. It has already hired a consultant for carrying out the required documentation for the 111 MW Sawra Kuddu project to a private consultancy company.

The advantage of taking the services of the Asian Development Bank is that the corporation would not have to spend any funds for the purpose and the entire exercise right from feasibility studies, documentation, monitoring, and certification of carbon credits and their subsequent sale would be carried out by the bank. It is a specialised job requiring expertise which the bank has, explains managing director of the corporation Tarun Kapoor. The bank will provide upfront financing and technical support to enable new project ideas that may be hampered by capital and capacity constraints.

The corporation will avail the carbon credit facility for all four projects, Sawra-Kuddu (111 MW), Kashang-I, II and III (195 MW), Sainj Project (100 MW) and the Shongtong-Karchham Project (402 MW) which will together generate 3,434 million units of electricity annually. The sale of carbon credit will thus fetch around Rs 175 crore to the corporation per annum at the prevailing rates of certified emission reduction) units (CERs).

Further, the upfront payment scheme under the Future Carbon Fund can have a significant impact on the financing plans for CDM projects as a medium-scale hydropower project can receive as much as 7 to15 per cent of its total financing needs by pre-selling the expected carbon credits.

Dharamsala, November 14
The district administration has finally awakened to the threat being posed by stray dogs in the region. It organised camps with the help of NGOs here today to vaccinate the stray dogs against rabies. The Himalayan Nature Society in association with the District Veterinary Department and Tibet Charity, an NGO, organised a vaccination camp for street dogs around Dharamsala as well as the Norbulingka Institute area.

They have been given the target of vaccinating 300 dogs in a span of three days. On the first day, over 50 dogs were vaccinated.

Dharamsala SDM D.C Rana, senior veterinary officer, Dharamsala, K.C. Katoch and mobile veterinary officer Sanjay Sharma are also associated with the campaign.

The district administration provided the vaccines, while the technical support and van was provided by the District Veterinary Department.

Shimla, November 14
The state government has sought a package of “Direct To Home” (DTH) sets for the state on the pattern of north-eastern states. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in a communication to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requested to sanction a similar package keeping in view the similar topography of the state.

He said the state had received as many as 20,000 DTH receiving systems for installation in tribal areas. But there was demand for additional sets along with requisite number of colour TV sets in the tribal areas. He urged the Prime Minister to sanction 20,000 more DTH sets along with colour TVs to help the state to meet the demand.

Dhumal has also written a letter to union minister for chemicals and fertilisers Ram Vilas Paswan to direct the authorities concerned to arrange the supply of 22,500 tonne of NPK (12:32:16) and 7,500 tonne of NPK(15:15:15) fertilisers to the state for the ensuing rabi season.

Shimla, November 14
With studies indicating that an alarming 29 per cent of schoolchildren in urban areas of the state are into smoking, various voluntary organisations and government agencies have stressed the need for stricter implementation of the Tobacco Control Act.

The Himachal Pradesh Voluntary Health Association (HPVHA) organised a seminar-cum-workshop for NGOs and law enforcers on tobacco control, here today.

A study conducted by Dr Balraj Singh of the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla, among the schoolchildren indicated that 29.3 per cent of them smoke.

Out of this figure 31 per cent children attending private schools smoke while 28.6 per cent children in government schools smoke. The situation in rural Himachal is no better and what is worrisome is the fact that this number of smokers among schoolchildren is on the rise.

“During a survey conducted by the HPVHA it was shocking to see that some schoolchildren get hooked to smoking at a very young age of eight to 10 years,” said Narender Sharma, executive director, HPVHA.

He added that despite a ban on sale of cigarettes within 100 yards of schools and other educational institutions, they were readily available within that distance.

He said the situation among students was so alarming that many were seeking help of the de-addiction centre being run by the Psychiatry Department of the IGMC.

“There is need to initiate the tobacco control programme, strengthen capacity building efforts and make the public, especially the vulnerable groups, aware about the ill-effects of smoking,” Sharma said. He felt that in case the government agencies as well as the NGOs work sincerely towards making Shimla smoke free, the target is very much achievable within the next six months time.

Principal secretary, Health, Deepak Sanan stressed the need for creating an environment where the community is made aware of the ill effects so that penal action and coercion work better.

IG, Law and Order, S.R. Mardi also spoke about the role of law enforcers. Dr Ravi, head of Psychiatry at the IGMC and Amit Yadav, legal officer, Hriday Shan, also spoke on the occasion.

Mandi, November 14
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, film division, has launched a national screening programme for all children in the government-run schools throughout the country to inculcate an awareness about the abuse of domestic child labour, the uses of bio-diesel, new and renewable sources of energy and herbal heritage.

According to documents available, the ministry has given rights to the Bhartiya Shiksha Abhiyan (BSA), an NGO in Pune, for the screening of these films produced by the film division.

These films will show stories on child labour, the importance of bio-diesel and depleting herbs

The nodal franchisee of the BSA, Mountain Expeditions, Himachal Pradesh, Khem Raj Thakur said: “We have launched a screening programme in schools in Bhuntar, Nagwani, Pandoh and in Mandi and Kullu districts. We will cover the entire state by 2009.”

Thakur said film titled ‘Bhiku O Bhiku’ related to child abuse showed a story of Bhiku who was locked up in a room.

Mandi, November 14
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Bahadur Singh here today sent two lawyers-Surinder Singh and Sanjay Kumar and Roop Lal, a stamp vendor, into judicial custody till November 20 after taking specimen of their signatures.

The lawyers have been charged with attesting the “forged” documents of an agreement signed between property dealer-cum-middle man Malik and Khub Ram, the benami dealer in the case with a back date.The Mandi police had arrested the lawyers working in the district courts, Shimla, yesterday, while Roop Lal was arrested from Mandi earlier.

Roop Lal has been charged with affixing stamps on the forged documents of the deal with a back date.