Shimla, December 5
The Union Ministry of Power has stopped release of funds to the state and put all its proposals on the back burner in view of its failure to trifurcate the power board that has ceased to be a legal entity after the Centre refused to grant it permission to continue in the unbundled form.

The State Electricity Regulatory Commission has also taken notice of the news report published in The Tribune in this regard and it was likely to give statutory advice to the government on the issue.

Concerned over the development, the state government has started an urgent exercise to deal with the situation and to find a way out as the stakes were really high. The contravention of a Central Act not only showed the state in bad light but it could also jeopardise the Rs 3,600-crore Asian Development Bank loan. Ninety per cent of the said amount is to be granted as outright grant by the Centre as a special concession to enable it to become economically self-reliant.

The point to ponder over is whether a state utility that does not have a valid licence can be granted and allowed to spend government funds?

The realisation has dawned in the government circles that with the Centre adopting a tough posture, the unbundling exercise will have to be carried out without any further delay. Besides Himachal Pradesh, the power board of Kerala has also been denied extension.

Chief secretary Asha Swaroop has convened a meeting of senior officers of the board and the government to discuss the possible way out on Decembers 8. Besides considering immediate steps to be taken to save the situation, various options for the unbundling of the board will also be considered.

Sources in the commission said the only way out for the government was to invoke Section 172(d) of the Act under which it could suspend operation of any provision of the Act for a maximum period of six months. The notification would have to be made effective retrospectively (from the date on which the extension granted by the Centre for the board to continue as an unbundled entity expired). It would give a similar advice to the government to save it from a possible embarrassing situation on account of the crisis of legality facing the board.

The commission has already summoned the chief engineers concerned of the board to know about the preparedness for carrying out trifurcation of the state power utility. The board and the government will have to show urgency now as the whole exercise will have to be completed within a stipulated period.

Shimla, December 5
Efforts to save the historic Ridge and the surrounding area which has become a sinking zone could finally yield results as geologists have been able to detect solid rock at a depth of 4.5 mt during the sub-strata study.

Contrary to the expectations of the geological wing of the Industries Department, which is undertaking the sub-strata study, the solid rock was detected at not much of depth. Four more holes will be drilled to undertake the sub-strata study so that recommendations can be made to the PWD for undertaking erection of the retaining wall and other protection measures.

“The fact that we have been able to hit solid rock at a depth of 4.5 mt is very encouraging and within a month and a half we will complete the project report and submit it to the local municipal corporation (MC) for further action,” said Arun Sharma, a state geologist.

He added that it was on the basis of the strata study that the PWD would be given recommendations with regard to the depth of the foundation and other steps to be taken. “Another aspect which will have to be taken care of is proper drainage system as it is not adequate at the moment,” he said. He said any kind of seepage like the one from the public toilets near The Ridge too was very damaging and would have to be  plugged completely.

The MC has already submitted the detailed project report (DPR) to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with regard to undertaking of protection measures around The Ridge. The MC has sought a sum of Rs 4 crore for erecting a retaining wall and taking other steps to strengthen The Ridge and surrounding areas. Besides this the MC has sought Rs 6 crore for undertaking restoration works of the historic British time building housing its office in the heart  of the town.

Even though faults have been developing along The Ridge for the past many years but it was the major landslide after the monsoons, which claimed two lives and buried several shops of the Tibetans which forced the authorities to take some corrective measures. With huge amounts required for the protection measures it was decided to approach the  ADB for funding.

During the drilling undertaken by the geologists near the Rivoli bus stand, solid rock could be detected only at a depth of almost 10 mt. As such the sub-strata study undertaken till now at The Ridge has shown very encouraging results.

Mandi, December 5
The case of “alleged illegal confinement and thrashing of advocate Gitanand Thakur” seems to have turned into a prestige issue between lawyers and the police. Members of the Mandi Bar Association (MBA) today deserted courts against the alleged “police highhandedness”, while the police tightened the loose ends in the case against advocate.

The work came to halt in the district and other courts in Karsog, Sundernagar, Jogindernagar, Gohar and Sarkaghat subdivisions as lawyers abstained from attending courts following the call given by the Bar.

The police has booked Gitananad Thakur under Sections 332, 353 and 506 of the IPC and Sections 114 and 118 of the Police Act for allegedly trying to prevent policemen from doing their duties on intervening night of November 29- 30.

The police has also registered a case under Section 354 of the IPC against the elder brother of Gitanand Thakur after a woman lodged a case against him at the Mandi (Sadar) police station. The police said a woman from Gutkar had filed a written complaint against the lawyer alleging outraging of modesty.

The Bar association today formed a committee to protest against the alleged “police highhandedness”. The action committee had urged the legal fraternity to abstain from courts on December 10 throughout the state.

U.S. Thakur, brother of Gitanand Thakur, has denied woman’s allegation telling reporters that he did not even know the woman and had never offered any legal services to her.

Des Raj alleged the police was acting in a vindictive and a revengeful manner implicating advocates in false cases.

SP M. Chandra Sekhar, however, said both cases had been registered as per facts. He had written to the DIG (central range) to appoint an investigation officer in the case to ensure fair probe, he said. “The police has no ulterior motive and law will take its course in both cases,” he added.

Solan, December 5
A team of officials led by the assistant drug licensing authority seized a huge quantity of sedatives valued around Rs 40,000 from the premises of Akshat Medicos and its owner’s residence located at Dattowal village of Nalagarh tehsil this morning.

The officials, including assistant drug licensing authority Navneet Marwaha, SDPO Nalagarh Sanjeev Lakhanpal, SHO Dhanvir and drug Inspector Garima Sharma, descended on the shop around 10.30 am and found 12 bottles of cough syrup Rexcof and 3,600 tablets of Momolit tablets.

The team subsequently searched the residence of the shop owner and seized 458 bottles of Rexcof, 240 capsules of Spasmo, 280 capsules of Proxyvon and 13,100 tablets of Momolit. The chemist could not produce any purchase record for these drugs. Being schedule H drugs, these cannot be sold without a prescription slip.

The chemist has been booked under Sections 18(c) and (A) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. Interestingly, two of the four brands seized were locally manufactured in the BBN area. The officials were trying to find out the origin of these drugs as it could unearth some nexus of illegal sale of such drugs.

Meanwhile, president of the district unit of the HP State Drugs and Chemist Association O.P. Ghai said the chemist involved was not a member of their association. Any member found indulging in such practices would be thrown out of the association as they did not promote drug abuse in that manner, he added.

Shimla, December 5
Chief Secretary Asha Swaroop has underlined the need for ensuring active community participation for conservation of natural resources like water and land which were coming under increased pressure with each passing day.

Inaugurating the a state-level workshop on “Watershed management” she said degradation of land, scarcity of water, poverty, draught and decline in forest cover and sinking water table were the major areas of concern. She said the new common guidelines for watershed development project issued by the Centre would go a long way in achieving the objective of conserving the natural resources

She said watershed development was a priority area and a number of such programmes were being implemented by various departments like agriculture, forest , rural development under centrally funded schemes. The department of rural development was implementing watershed programmes under Hariyali guidelines while the forest department was implementing the mid-Himalayan watershed project being funded by the World Bank.

Keeping in view the pivotal role of human population enhancing livelihood was a major issue in sustainable watershed management. 

Shimla, December 5
As Kufri and its adjoining area are considered model habitat for wildlife, a proposal has been chalked out to hand over 1,015 hectares of the catchment area around the state capital to the wildlife authorities.

At present, 1,875 hectare area (including the entire catchment area) falls under the Shimla (urban) forest division. It is on the plea of the wildlife authorities that a decision has been taken to hand over the catchment area to them for the conservation of wildlife.

Since the area constitutes 1,015 hectares out of total 1,875 hectares under the Shimla (urban) forest division, it has been decided that the wildlife authorities be entrusted the task of conserving and protecting wildlife in the area. Kufri, which is part of the catchment area already, has a Himalayan Nature Park that has many animals, including leopards, black bear, deer, snow leopard etc.

It was three years ago that the state government had taken a decision to transfer the entire forest area in and around Shimla, including the catchment area that was under the control of the MC, to the forest department for better management and conservation.

Ever since it is the Shimla (urban) forest department that has been looking after the management of the forest area in the state capital and its suburbs.

Aut (Mandi), December 5
With bitter memories of Mumbai terrorist attacks fresh in their minds, commuters, including tourists, today went into a terror mode inside the 3 km long Aut traffic tunnel on the National Highway-21 here after a Maxi cab carrying four persons caught fire in the tunnel and blasted off.

The thick smog emerged from both ends of the tunnel after the vehicle (HP 01 K 1823) caught fire.

Four passengers, including driver Maheshwar Singh, escaped unhurt from the vehicle, which was completely destroyed.

There was panic all around among travellers who were crossing the tunnel that time around as the rumour mill had a free run that there was some terrorist bomb blast inside the tunnel.

Maheshwar Singh said they were coming from Kullu and were on their way to Banjar when suddenly a spark in the engine triggered fire. “We rushed out of the vehicle to save our lives, he added.

DC Mandi, Onkar Sharma, SP Mandi M Chandra Sekhar and other officials from Larji power house and the NHPC rushed to spot to deal with the situation as the tunnel remained full of smoke for one and half hours in the noon, bringing traffic to standstill.

The SP said the police was investigating the incident to rule out any possibility of any mischief in the cause of fire. But it appeared to be a case of mechanical failure. 

Nahan, December 5
A cultural function and variety of presentations of Indian theatre marked the annual day celebrations of Adarsh Vidya Niketan Senior Secondary Public School, Nahan, here today. The function was presided over by Ganesh Dutt, vice-chairman of the HIMUDA.

Ganesh Dutt lauded all-round achievements of the school and termed it the best school of the state. He called upon all government and public schools of the state to follow the line of excellence in the field of quality education adopted by this school.

K. K. Chandola, principal, described achievements of the school in education and other fields.

A large number of students were also honoured . On this occasion an impressive cultural programme was organised which impressed the audience.

Hamirpur, December 5
The NIT Teachers Association, Hamirpur, has demanded a vigilance inquiry into the alleged “pick and choose” policy being adopted by the authorities while making recruitments and effecting promotions.

The association brought the issue to the notice of the chairman of the board of governors and the registrar of the NIT last month. A reminder was also sent to the authorities concerned, but to no avail. A general body meeting of the association was held here yesterday and it was decided that a direct action would be initiated if no action was taken in the matter.

The main grudge of the NIT teachers is the alleged ‘pick and choose policy’ being adopted by the management while making appointments, effecting promotions and preparing seniority list in different faculties of the institute.

The association has demanded “giving selection grade equivalent to assistant professor on the basis of teaching experience to all lecturers uniformly and not in the manner it has been done in case of a particular lecturer in the EED department”.

The teaching community has also resented “the appointment of professor and assistant professor in the department of architecture in which case not only the minimum qualification norms were relaxed in violation of the AICTE rules of December 2005 to help some favourites”. Some teachers without PhD degrees were allegedly appointed on these posts.

The association has demanded a Vigilance inquiry into the matter. The association has demanded that ME and M.Tech be fixed as minimum educational qualification for appointing assistant professors in the NIT, like other engineering institutions throughout the country. It has also urged the board of governors to put all further appointments in abeyance till final recruitment and promotion (R& P) rules were finalised.

The teachers have also demanded to finalise the seniority list and put it on the official website of the NIT to stop any kind of ‘discrimination’.

NIT registrar A.L. Sharma said, “We have received the demand charter from the association and will look into it and inquire if the alleged irregularities have been committed?”

Bilaspur, December 5
Deputy commissioner Amar Singh Rathore has asked officers of the Agriculture Department to go to the fields and apprise farmers about the latest developments in advanced farming and to ensure that they got full advantage of all facilities being provided by the government.

He was addressing mediapersons in his office here today. The Agriculture Department presented a detailed report of its programmes and performance during the year till now.

Deputy director of agriculture Anil Sood said the department was laying emphasis on balanced use of fertilisers and emphasising on the use of conventional fertilisers. He said that farmers were also being encouraged to construct polyhouses with local material, including bamboo and eucalyptus as it helped reduce the cost. “Bamboo and eucalyptus-based polyhouses are said to last at least for 20 years, while these cost almost one-third as compared with iron-based polyhouses,” he added.